Deep Questions with Chase Thompson:: Recent Episodes
Chase A. Thompson
We all have deep questions, and this podcast will dive in by answering your deepest questions, interacting with skeptics, answering critics and building faith among those who believe. To submit a question or comment, check out our website: www.DeepQuestionspod.com Your host is Chase A. Thompson, a pastor and writer who has been podcasting since 2005 and is known worldwide for his love of cereal and enjoyment of a good, deep discussion. Deep Questions with Chase Thompson - An Apologetics Podcast on Important Bible Questions
Today's episode covers the history of Lent and explores whether Christians should celebrate it. John Piper, Charles Spurgeon, Tim Challies and others weigh in (via quotes)
This will be more of a pop-history overview, and not a deep dive, but that should be sufficient for most who are curious about the origins of Lent, or are unfamiliar with its practice.
First, and this is pretty important, Lent is NOT a mandated biblical practice, BUT in many ways it has roots in biblical practices, and many wings of the Christian church have been practicing Lent, or Lent-like observances since at least the second or third century, possibly earlier, but the word Lent itself is first mentioned by the Council of Nicaea in 325 AD, though the way they mention it, it is clear that this is an accepted practice of the church at the time. In other words, the first extant mention of Lent is 325 AD, but the church had been observing Lent for quite some time before that.
Second, what does the word even mean? Has somebody borrowed something? Not at all. Lent comes from an old English word, lencten, which stood for the spring season…that word seems to come from a word that could potentially mean long, as in longer days, which begins to happen in the Spring season. In other languages, like Greek and Latin, the word for Lent Tessarakostí and quadragesima, indicates 40 - as in the 40 days before Easter.
Also, why does Lent start today when today, Ash Wednesday is not 40 days before Easter, but FORTY-SIX? Well the answer lies in church history, and the practice of the early church to FEAST on Sundays. In 601, Pope Gregory I moved the beginning of Lent to 46 days before Easter, allowing for the usual 40 days of fasting plus six Sundays of feasting when the rules of fasting did not apply. Into modernity, the Lenten season is 46, rather than 40 days, and most suspend fasting on Sundays. Further, most Christians who observe Lent do not do a complete fast. In the early church, Christians might have fasted from meat, or rich foods, or richly seasoned foods. Many today fast until sundown. Almost nobody does a complete food fast, as the one that Jesus did in the wilderness.
In this episode of the Every Church Flourishing Podcast by the Great Commission Association of California, hosts Pastor Christopher Cole and Dr. Chase Thompson interview the senior directors of the GCA, including Dr. Michael Stewart, Ms. Lannette Lozano and Dr. Se J. Won about topics ranging from prayer to mission fields, to prayer and great pastoral resources. Chase and Chris also taste test Lester's Fixins Ranch Dressing Soda and barely survive the experience. In terms of what makes a church healthy and flourishing, there's no good answer to that question that doesn't begin with what Jesus said in John 15 about abiding in Him. - Chris Cole.
"I've been to churches where there is an inauthentic, almost Stepford Wives too bright, too shiny kind of vibe where people greet you like you're their long-lost brother that they haven't seen in years…I would much prefer, rather than bright hot, gleaming and polished smiles, I would much prefer something more genuine, warm real and authentic. The way to make that happen is not a program, but to preach the Gospels, preach the epistles, and cultivate a people who value biblical humility, biblical serving, biblical gentleness and biblical warmth. There's no program or strategy that replaces the kind of outflow of the Fruit of the Spirit that should come from an authentic church with real greeters - that is massively important to reach your community. It may not grow you into a megachurch, but it will grow you into a place where people will come and feel welcomed and feel real warmth. "
"People don't want to be sold on Jesus. That's not the same as saying we don't want to invite them to a real-world encounter with the Good News of Jesus Christ and the hope that we have…When we center the gospel into the middle of authentic relationships, it should overflow into how we greet guests, do outreaches, and how we teach people to grow up into disciples of Jesus." Chris Cole Resources mentioned: Thom Rainer's Becoming a Welcoming Church.
Daniel Henderson's Old Paths, New Power: Awakening Your Church through Prayer and the Ministry of the Word.
"There is a great need for spiritual renewal and awakening…for us to see something that can't be explained by numbers or logic, for us to see God move in such a way that we can only say that was God. If I'm not right with God, then what we do, doesn't really matter." Dr. Se J. Won.
Waking the Dead - John Eldredge (Dr. Stewart)
"Who we are matters more than what we do. We must have a good sense of our relationship with Christ, and who we are in ourselves and how we interact with other people." Chris Cole.
Steve Cuss - Managing Leadership Anxiety, Yours and Theirs
Peter Scazzero: The Emotionally Healthy Leader: How Transforming Your Inner Life Will Deeply Transform Your Church, Team, and the World.
Dr. Se J. Won, "Many people go through unknown pains…unknown trials and challenges that they can't talk about or say outloud. Pain is not a curse." Paul Brand: The Gift of Pain.
YouVersion Bible App on Android or iTunes.
Chris Cole, "As an ex-missionary, I have put a lot of weird things into my mouth, and this Lester's Ranch Dressing Soda might be moving close to my top ten of weird things to put in my mouth."
"As a Baptist pastor, you would not know what a Pina Colada tastes like!"
The UNsecret to baptizing more people. Hint: There's not a strategy, trick, or hack.
Hi everybody! Please check out my NEW podcast, Every Church Flourishing at www.EveryChurchFlourishing.com or podfollow.com/ecf. Don't miss the earlier BeachCast.tv episode in THIS feed about Kid Rock Vs. Bad Bunny and Progressive vs. Conservative Christians.
On this inaugural episode, hosts Dr. Chase Thompson and GCA Assistant Director Pastor Chris Cole discuss the importance of ministry TOGETHER, and interview the directors of the Great Commission Association of churches located in North/Central California.
Rational Ministry Topics covered:
Interview with the senior directors of the Great Commission Association, including Dr. Mike Stewart, Dr. Se J. Won, Pastor Christopher Cole and School Superintendent Ms. Lanette Lazano.
A move of God at a local church in Salinas, California that took the pastor by surprise.
Free ProPresenter program called FreeShow: https://freeshow.app/features Review of FreeShow, a free alternative app to ProPresenter
Living in Indonesia and visiting Singapore for medical care as a missionary.
Great prayer resources
Crazy, Beyond The Pale. Topics covered:
Chupa Chups Bubble Gum Soda Tasted and Reviewed on a scale of 1 Spurgeon (gross!) to 5 Spurgeons (The Prince of Sodas!)
Medical Halitosis.
Keywords
church, ministry, community, Great Commission Association, COVID-19, church support, church leadership, podcast, church flourishing, relationships, Building Community in Ministry, Navigating Church Leadership Changes
Summary
In this episode of the Every Church Flourishing podcast, hosts Pastor Chris Cole and Dr. Chase Thompson discuss the importance of community in ministry, share personal experiences from recent church services, and explore the impact of COVID-19 on churches. They interview the senior directors of the Great Commission Association (GCA), highlighting the organization's role in supporting churches and fostering relationships among church leaders. The conversation emphasizes the value of collaboration and the need for churches to work together to flourish in their mission.
takeaways * Community is essential in ministry, as Jesus sent disciples two by two. * The Great Commission Association is a diverse network of churches. * Healthy churches adapted more quickly to COVID-19 challenges. * Relationships in ministry foster support and collaboration. * GCA provides resources and care for churches in need. * Personal experiences in ministry can be deeply impactful. * Humor can play a role in connecting with church members. * Church attendance has significantly changed post-COVID. * The importance of being on mission together cannot be overstated. * Every church has the potential to flourish with the right support.
titles * Building Community in Ministry * The Role of the Great Commission Association
Sound Bites * "We are a phone call away." * "We are a family of churches." * "We are a mission agency."
This episode is a weak attempt to steady the room when everything feels like it's tilting into tribalism. With all the controversy on the two half-time shows, I decided to do some research on Kid Rock and Bad Bunny. What started as a simple effort to understand a controversy grew into a deep, data-driven investigation, over twenty pages of notes, because I don't just want to give another lame opinion, but to offer something more backed by evidence than that.
How can believers of various stripes be so polarized that one group praises one half-time show while condemning the other, and another group does the exact reverse, each claiming moral or Christian justification?
Today we consider how political identity can hijack Christian discernment, like sports rivalries where "right" and "wrong" depend on which jersey you wear.
Anchoring the entire conversation is Romans 14: "Blessed is the one who does not condemn himself by what he approves." What are we praising—publicly, loudly—and what might that praise be doing to our souls?
If you're tired of outrage, tired of "team politics," and ready for a thoughtful, Scripture-shaped lens on a cultural flashpoint, download Episode 1 and listen for the deeper question underneath the noise:
Search for "Interestingpod" on Apple Podcasts, or just go to www.InterestingPod.com to subscribe!
BEACHcast podcast coming SOON - Stay tuned!
Features a preview of the Debut Single "Young Romilly Sinks" by Bolton 'band' The Bolton Bardeaters. Hi guys! It's been about two years since I've launched a podcast, but I wanted to give you what I hope is exciting news. First, if you keep listening, you're going to hear the trailer for a new podcast that launches this week called the InterestingPOD hosted by me. It's the first podcast I've produced in almost two years, and I'm really excited about it. I'd tell you more, but if you'll keep listening just a few minutes, the trailer will tell you everything you need to know. Another bit of news too - this podcast, which began in 2019 as the Bible Mystery podcast, is about to have it's fifth rebirth as the BEACHcast. The Beach kind of has a double meaning. I live in the Monterey/Salinas area of California now, just a few miles from the beach, and I've always been a beach guy. More than that, Beachcast is an acronym that stands for Bible Exploration, Apologetics and Church History, and that podcast is planned to launch ALSO in July of 2025. I look forward to talking to you about some fascinating Bible topics like Whether Christians should Pray to Mary/Pray to the Saints, the Reliability of the Bible, Can historians prove Jesus existed? Does communion/the Eucharist, literally turn into the Body and Blood of Jesus? What is the Number of the Beast - is it 666, or maybe even an older number written down in the oldest manuscript of Revelation that we have! There will be lots more of those kind of topics too, as we relaunch shortly to explore the Bible, apologetics and the fascinating world of Church history. I'm Doctor Chase, your host, but if you meet me in real life, it's just plain Chase. I have a doctoral degree in counseling, and am finishing up work on a PhD in history, and I love doing a deep dive on these kinds of topics, and I hope you'll join in! Ok, that's all for the beachcast…just stay tuned - I hope to have the first episode out later in July, Lord willing and the Creek don't rise.
Oh yeah, by the way - the first episode of InterestingPOD, which will drop later this week, is about the Bolton Strid. If you don't know what that is, you will soon, but I'll just tell you it's one of the most dangerous stretches of water in the entire world, and is supposed to have a 100 percent fatality rate for anybody who falls in, even though it mostly looks like a regular river. But buddy, it's anything but regular. Before I play the trailer for the upcoming podcast, let me play a clip from a song about the Bolton Strid from a band we "commissioned" for the first episode of InterestingPOD. (each episode will have its own song!) The band is local to Bolton, in Northern England where you'll find the Strid, and they're called the Bolton Bardeaters. Here's their song about the Strid, which features lyrics by Friend of the Show William Wordsworth. Buckle up…it hits hard.
The following podcast is from a school project that I am working on in pursuit of a doctoral degree in counseling. This will likely be a pilot episode of a future podcast that is planned to release sometime in the Fall of 2023, but potentially under a new name. Stay tuned, or write Chaseathompson@gmail.com with questions or updates. Today we discuss whether or not Christians can be depressed and discover a whole slew of famous people - Christian and otherwise - who have struggled deeply with depression. We also discuss ways to wrestle with and overcome depressive episodes.
Abortion: the most controversial issue in America. Though the Bible doesn't use the word "abortion," the Bible most certainly speaks to the topic. Does the Bible teach that the unborn are persons? Is there scientific or philosophical evidence that could indicate the unborn are persons? Today we look at abortion through the lens of the Bible.
In part two of our interview with Mike Licona, we discuss his seven hour debate with religion scholar and skeptic Dr. Bart Ehrman. What caused Ehrman to abandon his faith and become an aggressive critic of Christianity? Dr. Licona also shares how he discusses faith and the resurrection of Jesus with skeptics and strangers.
Today we interview best-selling author Dr. Mike Licona - a Youtuber and college professor who specializes in the resurrection of Jesus. Dr. Licona went through a long period of doubt - while in seminary! - and came through the other side convinced that Jesus historically rose from the dead. How did that transformation happen? Dr. Licona also discusses his relationship with his mentor Dr. Gary Habermas, probably the foremost expert on the resurrection in the world.
Today we interview best-selling author Dr. Mike Licona - a Youtuber and college professor who specializes in the resurrection of Jesus. Dr. Licona went through a long period of doubt - while in seminary! - and came through the other side convinced that Jesus historically rose from the dead. How did that transformation happen? Dr. Licona also discusses his relationship with his mentor Dr. Gary Habermas, probably the foremost expert on the resurrection in the world.
Today we interview best-selling author Dr. Mike Licona - a Youtuber and college professor who specializes in the resurrection of Jesus. Dr. Licona went through a long period of doubt - while in seminary! - and came through the other side convinced that Jesus historically rose from the dead. How did that transformation happen? Dr. Licona also discusses his relationship with his mentor Dr. Gary Habermas, probably the foremost expert on the resurrection in the world.
What is the most important way to live your life, according to Jesus? In this episode, we look at the life and habits of Mary of Bethany - a woman commended by Jesus. We contrast her with the irritability and anxiousness of her sister, Martha. How is it that Mary was praised by Jesus, while Martha was so disturbed and short-tempered?
What is the most important way to live your life, according to Jesus? In this episode, we look at the life and habits of Mary of Bethany - a woman commended by Jesus. We contrast her with the irritability and anxiousness of her sister, Martha. How is it that Mary was praised by Jesus, while Martha was so disturbed and short-tempered?
What is the most important way to live your life, according to Jesus? In this episode, we look at the life and habits of Mary of Bethany - a woman commended by Jesus. We contrast her with the irritability and anxiousness of her sister, Martha. How is it that Mary was praised by Jesus, while Martha was so disturbed and short-tempered?
Over the last ten years, the United States has averaged MORE than one mass-shooting event PER DAY. How should Christians react to such violence? Should Christians loudly show their support for guns and gun ownership, or does God's Word call us in a different direction?
Does unanswered prayer prove that God doesn't care? How is it that a good God, who listens to and loves His people, sometimes doesn't answer their prayers? Unanswered prayer is an issue addressed throughout the Bible, and we will discuss several reasons prayers go unanswered. Today we also discuss how noted Bible scholar Bart Ehrman lost his faith, the origin of Thor's enemy Gorr, and what both have to do with unanswered prayer.
One question that Christians don't talk about enough is HOW should we actually study our Bibles? Should we read them cover to cover, starting at the beginning? Should we follow a Bible reading plan? Should we spend more time in the Old Testament or New Testament? Today we discuss Dr. Sean McDowell's Bible reading plan and its merits. We also discuss what percentage of the Bible is Old Testament vs New, and how that should inform our Bible reading decisions.
Today we discuss a question that probably isn't asked enough: Do all parts of the Bible have equal importance? Are there some chapters, or verses, or even books that are more important than others? Interestingly, as Jesus Himself will tell us - some parts of the Bible are indeed more important than others, and knowing this will better prepare us to study the Bible in a more advantageous way.
Apologist and author Lonny Robison joins us to discuss interacting with skeptics, atheists and anti-theists (?) on the internet. Is that a fruitful and wise activity? We also discuss Dr. Craig Keener's massive work on miracles, recounting testimonies of people healed of migraines, holes in their hearts, and even an older lady who was enabled to walk again after years in a wheelchair! What do all of these miracles mean, and can they be used as evidence to prove biblical accounts to skeptics?
In part 2 of our interview with New Testament scholar and best-selling author Craig Keener, we discuss how modern-day miracles demonstrate how reliable the Bible is. Dr. Keener shares with us the mind-blowing story of how Barbara Cummiskey was healed of multiple issues after doctors sent her home to die. Multiple doctors and nurses are eyewitnesses of this incredible healing, and Dr. Keener will tell us all about it. We also discuss how Christians today might themselves experience more miracles.
On this first episode of the Deep Questions Pod, our guest is Dr. Craig Keener, author of Miracles Today, and a two-volume (1200 page!) scholarly work on Miracles. Dr. Keener is a New Testament scholar, prolific author, and without a doubt, the foremost authority in the world on miracles in history, and modern miracles. Dr. Keener shares some amazing miracles stories today, including some that he personally witnessed and experienced! He also shares about his writing career, how he wrote his four-volume (4,400 page!) commentary on the book of Acts, and how he met his wife Medine, who was a refugee in Congo for 18 months. An absolutely fascinating interview - be sure to subscribe to the podcast so you can hear part two, coming in the next episode.
This is a short trailer for the Deep Questions podcast - visit the show's website at www.Deepquestionspod.com!
This is the Deep Questions Podcast, and I’m your host, Chase Thompson, a pastor and writer in Salinas, California. On the Deep Questions pod, we want to dive into the deepest Spiritual questions that humans have: Is the Bible reliable? Did Jesus really rise from the dead? Why are some churches and Christians toxic? Was there a conspiracy in the early church to change the Bible and transform a humble carpenter into the Son of God? Is the Shroud of Turin a Hoax, or the genuine burial Shroud of Jesus? That’s just a sample of the questions we will tackle. Like I said, I’m Chase, and I’ve been podcasting since 2005. I’m also a writer, and the pastor of Valley Baptist church, in Salinas, California. I’ve got five kids and a lovely wife named Janet, and all of us originally hail from Birmingham, Alabama. If you want to get in touch with me with a question for the show, or a comment, then please go to our website, www.Deepquestionspod.com and hit the contact form there. I especially love to hear from critics, atheists and skeptics - even snarky ones, because I love critics, skeptics and atheists! You can also find me on social media - chaseathompson on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.
Today we finish the daily run of a Bible podcast that has lasted over 730 episodes - and I reflect on the incredible value of reading God's Word every day, without missing a day. We need the Word of God in our lives!
Jesus sends His disciples out on the Great Commission to tell the Word about His death, resurrection and teachings, but FIRST, He tells them to WAIT in Jerusalem until they are clothed in power from the Holy Spirit - what does this mean?
Today is a very different episode - we look at the life of Reverend Frank M. Barker Jr., pastor of Briarwood Presbyterian in Birmingham, and see how the power of death is swallowed up by the resurrection of Jesus.
Revelation 22 is the last chapter of the Bible - what is it all about? How does the Bible actually end? What is the last word in the Bible, and the last promise in the Bible? What does the ending of the Bible mean?
Today we look at one of the most hope-filled chapters in the Bible and find what may well be the single greatest promise in all of Scripture. Also - will Christians live forever in Heaven? Actually, we won't, according to Revelation 20!
Both John in Revelation and Daniel in the Old Testament describe a "Great White Throne Judgment" of God where people are judged based on their works- their righteous deeds. Does this mean that salvation is somehow by works? If not, then why is this judgment at the end times based on works?
Today we conclude our discussion of whether or not the whore of Babylon/Babylon the great - the evil entity that all of Heaven rejoices when it is burned - is actually the institutional church of today. Also: What will Jesus be like when He returns?
Today we read a very unnerving chapter that discusses the downfall of Babylon the Great/The Whore of Babylon, and consider whether or not this refers to those who call themselves the church today.
Solomon was the wisest man who ever lived and blessed by God in every way. His life ended poorly, however, as he failed to live by his own wise counsel. How did that happen, and how can we avoid the same?
Where do we acquire wisdom from? How can we become wise? Does it take a great amount of effort to be a genuinely wise person?
One of the most mysterious and debated entities in the Bible is the "Whore of Babylon" or the "Great Harlot" Today we discuss various theories on who exactly this mysterious person or group actually is.
Seven angels pour out seven bowls of terrible judgment on the people of the Earth in Revelation 16. Are these judgments justified, or too harsh? What will the end of the world be like?
In Revelation 15 we see a wonderful picture of the saints singing on Heavenly pavement - a sea of fiery glass, apparently - and they are singing two different songs: The Song of Moses and the Song of the Lamb. What are these songs all about?
Three interesting topics today: Who is the beast described in the book of Revelation? (Part 2) What is the Mark of the Beast, and could we get fooled into getting it, like by an injection or vaccine? (no!) and, finally, What does 666 represent?
Fascinating topic today: The book of Revelation talks about two figures that will be worshipped by everybody on Earth who is not saved by Jesus - these two figures are the dragon and the beast. Who could the dragon and beast possibly be? (part 1 of 2)
Wisdom is a word that is used a lot, but how is it defined- how does the Bible define wisdom? Is there any difference between wisdom and smarts? How can somebody become more wise?
Today we read the last Psalm and discover it is absolutely pure and single-minded in purpose - this Psalm is all about worship: Why praise? Where praise? How praise? And who praises? Let's dive deep into worship talk today!
Today we discuss a little known Christmas passage - Revelation 12- which tells about the birth of Jesus from a spiritual and spiritual warfare perspective. We also learn from Scripture the key to overcoming Satan.
Revelation 11 presents us with two mysterious figures who prophesy on earth for 3.5 years, do miracles, and call down God's judgments. Who are these powerful and faithful witnesses?
If you were to see an angel, what would it look like? Do Angels have wings? Can they fly? Do they look human, or quite a bit different than humans? Why do people seem to pass out in terror every time an angel is around?
Who is the King of the Abyss known as Apollyon? Is he Satan, or a demon, or some other mysterious and terrifying being? Also - who are the strange "locusts" that he is the king of? Reading Revelation 9 - a most mysterious Bible chapter!
Focused on the End Times today - what will they be like? Revelation 8 has a glaring description, which includes the mysterious "star" Wormwood. What is Wormwood?
How can we possibly describe God's nature and character in just a few words? In Psalm 145:8, we find what might just be the perfect short description of exactly who God is.
Psalm 148 is a wonderful and soaring song of praise to God - but, does it call for dragons or sea monsters to actually worship God from the depths of the sea?? Sort of.
Two end-times mysteries today. #1 What happened to the tribe of Dan - who is not listed in the list of the tribes of Israel sealed in Revelation 7. More controversially - who are the 144,000 mentioned in the book of Revelation? Are they faithful and elite Jehovah's Witnesses?? No!
Today our focus is on the end-times. Who are the four horsemen of the apocalypse, and what is an apocalypse, anyway? Also: What is the scroll that Jesus opens in the book of Revelation, and what do it's seals represent?
Some have used the Bible to justify racism. Others have accused the Bible of somehow supporting racism. What's the truth of the matter - does the Bible teach that Christianity is to be a white person religion only? Is Christianity to be an American religion only. NO, NO, NO!
Does God have a physical appearance or a particular color? We might think the answer is no, but John describes God as having a very particular color in today's passage. Also: who or what are the Seven Spirits of God?
Should we ever whine or complain to God in prayer? Today we discuss prayers for deliverance - how we should cry out to God when we are in desperate need for Him.
Jesus wrote seven letters to His churches almost 2000 years ago, but what does He have to say to His churches TODAY? Aren't those old letters outdated? No, actually - they are as fresh today as they were then. Also: What Does Jesus commend in the church and what does He disfavor?
When did you come into being? Did you begin to exist at conception or - did your soul exist before your body was made? Also- is it possible for us to fully understand God and His ways?
Did Jesus write or dictate any letters in His lifetime, or did others write about Him? Today we look at 4 of the 7 letters that Jesus wrote, and consider another possible/improbable letter written by Jesus. Also: Revelation says that Pergamum is the place where Satan's throne is - what does that mean?!
What will the return of Jesus be like - will everybody around the world be able to see His return? Also: What does the risen and glorified Jesus look like in Heaven now? Does He still have an appearance like a human man? John answers both questions for us - and more - in the first chapter of the book of Revelation.
Jude is a fascinating, but short book of the Bible. In it, the author warns us against slandering an sort of heavenly being, including Satan himself. We aren't supposed to talk bad about the devil? Also: How can we practically pray in the Spirit - is praying in the Spirit the same thing as praying in tongues?
Why has it taken so long for Jesus to return - what is causing His slowness? You might be surprised to find out that He hasn't delayed long at all, because time is quite different from God's perspective than from ours. Today we focus on the second coming and how time works differently for God!
Both 2nd Peter 2 and Jude 6 talk about angels who are kept in dark chains for a particular sin they committed. Were these angels the ones referred to in Genesis 6:1-4 - the ones who had relations with human beings? Also: the dangers of false teaching.
What Bible verse is repeated more than any other? Plus: What a wonderful Psalm of Thanksgiving teaches us about the act of Thanksgiving!
Two short, but deep Psalms today, and two topics. First, we discuss the wonderful blessing of unity and the strange use of metaphors in the Old Testament. Second we discuss "raising hands" in worship. Is this a charismatic-only practice?
The Bible commands us to make our calling and election sure, but how can we do that if salvation is an act of God, and not based on the works of man. Does assurance of salvation come from our good works?
Two topics today: What does Paul mean when he writes that those who aren't working shouldn't be eating? Plus: Who is the Man of Lawlessness described in 2nd Thessalonians 2, and how can he have so much power?
Fake news hit the Thessalonian church in the first century when a FAKE apostle Paul somehow wrote to them that Jesus had already come back - which apparently caused something of a panic in this church. In today's passage, Paul writes to settle and encourage the Thessalonians, telling them that TWO important things would happen before Jesus returns. Today we discuss those two events.
What will the Second Coming of Jesus be like? Peaceful? Fiery? Frightening? Encouraging? Today we discuss Paul's description of the return of Jesus and discover why the Old Testament calls it the "great and terrible" day of the Lord.
Some trivia: What is the shortest verse in the Bible? (Hint: It's NOT "Jesus Wept," well, not exactly) More importantly: how can we avoid quenching or grieving the Holy Spirit?
Psalm 131 is one of the shortest and wisest chapters in the Bible,teaching us how to avoid controversy and troubles by not engaging in those things which are beyond us. Also: C.S. Lewis on the news and media.
No matter who you are, or where you are - the great truth about God is that He is overflowing with abundant mercy, and He is a rescuer. Look to Him and find salvation.
Two big questions today: How will the return of Jesus unfold - what will be the end-times order of events? Second question: How can we 100% know the absolute and guaranteed will of God for our lives RIGHT THIS SECOND?
Paul the apostle was one of the most effective soul winners, ministers, preachers and evangelists who ever lived. What does the Bible tell us about his methods of ministry and discipleship? How can we spread the good news like Paul did?
How do we help when our friends and family and fellow church members are going through terrible trials? Paul gives us a great blueprint to effectively help in our 1 Thessalonians 4 passage today.
Paul discusses Jesus rescuing us from "the coming wrath" in 1 Thessalonians 1. What is the coming wrath? Who is angry, and how does Jesus rescue us from that anger? Today, we discuss the last day's judgment and more!
What is the best way to demonstrate to Jesus that we love Him? We get an interesting peek into the answer to that question by listening in on a dialog between Peter and Jesus after Peter denied Jesus three times.
Sleep - most of us spend about 1/3 of our lives sleeping, but you rarely,if ever, hear a sermon about sleep, or a discussion of what the Bible teaches about sleep. Does the Bible have much to say about sleep? Yes, as it turns out.
Gossip and lies have the power to wound us deep in our souls. How should a Christian handle things when they are the target of unfair rumors or slander? Also: Does God's Word promise to keep Christians from ALL harm?
Today we consider the individual experiences some of Jesus' followers had with Him after His resurrection, and also discuss how the holy day among some Jews switched from Saturday to Sunday after the resurrection. What could have caused such a shift?
What were the last words said by Jesus before He died - Matthew, Luke and John all give us three different possibilities. Are these contradictions, or marks of genuineness? ALso: What is the single most important word in the Bible?
As Christians, how are we to act when people mistreat us, attack us, and unjustly accuse us of things. Should we vehemently defend ourselves in the name of truth and justice, or has Jesus shown us a quite different way?
The longest prayer of Jesus is in John 17 - what can we learn from reading His prayer? Interestingly - Jesus begins His prayer very, very simply, and He mixes in normal conversation with His requests + more insights on prayer form Jesus.
Christian "extremists" have been in the news over the past few years - people doing violent or harmful things and claiming to do so in the name of Jesus, or in God's name. Such things have been going on for at least 2,000 years - what causes people to attribute terrible deeds to God or Jesus?
Today we finish Psalm 119 and discuss the benefits of delighting in God's Word and the fact that humans are broken - even the best of us - and are like wandering sheep.
Psalm 119 is basically a love poem - an ode, but not to a romantic interest, instead, the entire Psalm - longest in the Bible - is focused on the goodness of God's Word and the blessings that come to those who read it, savor it and seek to follow it.
Jesus says that we will bear great fruit if we abide in Him and will be able to do absolutely nothing if we don't...so what does it mean to abide in Jesus, and how can we abide?
Today we discuss one of the more controversial claims about Jesus - are there many paths to God, or only one? Did Jesus conclusively teach that He Himself was the only, single way to God the Father and Eternal life?
How are Christians supposed to love each other? In John 13, Jesus gives us a mind-blowing and utterly illogical example of how we are to love each other, and in doing so, the King of Kings takes on the likeness of a humble, foot-washing servant.
Today we look at Mary of Bethany - a spiritual giant in the Bible that is not as well known as she should be. Nobody in the Bible exemplified a Great Commandment lifestyle more than Mary, and we can learn much from her!
How many people does the Bible record that Jesus raised from the dead? I suspect the actual number might surprise you + how did Jesus cope when friends and those around Him faced death - what was His reaction?
When you hear the word "meditation" what do you think of? There is a vast amount of difference between eastern meditation and biblical meditation, and today we explore that difference, as well as the great spiritual benefit that is found in meditation on the Bible.
In Psalm 119, the Psalmist mentions how it was fair and good or God to cause him affliction. Does God cause affliction and trouble for His people - does God cause bad things to sometimes happen to us today?
How does Jesus define our relationship with Him - how should our relationship with Him be? Is He like our best friend, or does He give us an even better metaphor than that?
One of the biggest question of all - why does God allow bad things to happen to people that don't seem to deserve it. Why does God let bad things happen to ME? Today we discuss some of the reasons the Bible gives for our suffering.
How can you know beyond a shadow of a doubt that you are saved by Jesus and destined for Heaven? In John 8, Jesus tells us how we can have real and genuine assurance of salvation. Also, did Jesus really save an adulterous woman from being stoned?
How can we have true living water from Jesus? It turns out that water is eternal, free and wonderful, and was purchased by Jesus and His death on the cross. Because He died thirsty, we never have to thirst again!
Was Jesus loved by the commoners and hated by the elites? Not exactly - it turns out that Jesus was so radical, that He could turn off normies and the top 1 percenters with the same teaching, and today we will hear about a teaching of Jesus that caused many of His DISCIPLES to turn away and stop following Him. What teaching?
Are you in a difficult place right now - your nose buried in the metaphorical dust of some difficult trial or terrible time? If so - today's pod discusses how you can be rescued and intensely invigorated by God. Check it out!
Psalm 119 is the longest chapter in the Bible, and one of the richest and deepest. In the first few chapters, the Psalmist gives us a great key and power to overcome sin in our lives - what is that key?
A Great Controversy exists on the exact relationship of Jesus with God? Is Jesus God -are they the same? Is Jesus also the Son of God? Today we discuss the Bible's teaching on the deity of Christ.
One of the most fascinating conversations in the Bible is the one between Jesus and the woman at the well. Society's rules said Jesus shouldn't talk to, or even acknowledge a foreign woman, but Jesus not only engaged her in conversation, but He had a deep and spiritual conversation with her that led to her salvation. How did He do it?
Most people assume that being born again just means to become a Christian, but Jesus uses this metaphor to communicate some of the deepest truths about following Him. What does it mean to be born again, and how can you be born again?
Was Jesus peaceful and serene all of the time when He was on the earth? It turns out that Jesus appeared angry at least sometimes. What in the world could make Jesus mad?
Today we discuss a clue in the text of the Bible that demonstrates that it was NOT written to mislead people. Also: was Jesus God AND Man?
Huge topic today: How does God's sovereignty and human free will interact? Do humans have free will? Does God cause all things to happen, or are other forces in control?
Negative bias: It means that humans are more likely to remember bad things and insults than to remember blessings and compliments. Why do we have a bias towards the negative, and what does the Bible prescribe to help us?
Today we focus on the power of humility - how in the world can humility be powerful? It turns out that walking in humility invites God's grace and blessing and living a prideful life invites the opposition of God. Ouch!
Fiery trials should not surprise us, says the Bible, because they will certainly come. How can we go through these difficult ordeals and survive and keep our eyes on God? Also: the limits of Christian freedom.
Today we discuss one of the more controversial claims about Jesus - are there many paths to God, or only one? Did Jesus conclusively teach that He Himself was the only, single way to God the Father and Eternal life?
More wrestling with sexism and the Bible today (and how the Bible is not, actually, sexist at all when we read all of the commands to wives AND HUSBANDS. Also: Does the act of being baptized save you?
You've probably heard me say it before: The church is NOT a building, except today, Peter is going to tell us that yes,in fact, the church is a kind of building. What kind of building are we, and who are YOU in light of God's calling?
Does God Protect His faithful through difficult troubles, or does He let them go through those troubles? Also - should we be snarky to each other...or act differently?
Today we talk about law enforcement, governments and justice. What kind of role does law enforcement and the government have according to the Bible? Should governments show great mercy to those who do wrong?
Psalm 100 - a very short chapter - is filled with a wonderful how-to all about worship. How should we approach God? What should our attitude of worship be? How should we come into the presence of the Maker of the universe? All these questions and more are answered in this glorious Psalm.
Two big topics today: #1 - The danger of false teaching and our command to welcome and show hospitality to those who are true Christian teachers + The greatest joy a parent can have is not when their kids are successful, but when they are walking in God's truth.
How does the Word of God teach us how to handle door to door false teachers when they come and visit?
How are Christians supposed to love each other? In John 13, Jesus gives us a mind-blowing and utterly illogical example of how we are to love each other, and in doing so, the King of Kings takes on the likeness of a humble, foot-washing servant.
John speaks of a mysterious "sin that leads to death" in 1 John 5, and instructs Christians NOT to pray about somebody committing that sin. What kind of sin leads to death, and why in the world should we not pray about it when we see it?
In 1 John 4 we are told to test the spirits to see if they are teaching truly or falsely. Does this passage mean that we are to literally speak to and interrogate spirits somehow? If so - how can we do this?!
Two topics today: 1 John 3 gives us a hint that Christians will transform into something different when they go to Heaven - what will Christians become, upon death? Also - what is a sign that we are going to Heaven and a sure sign that we aren't?
Today we discover that there is a fascinating and unsettling connection in the Bible between fear and worship. Why?
Today we discuss one of the most comforting Psalms in Scripture and learn why Spurgeon tells us to be afraid of being afraid.
People say all the time that Christianity isn't a religion, it's a relationship - what does that mean? How can we actually know God and Jesus and be in a relationship with them? Today's passage explains the answer...
What is God made of- what is His essence, and what does that mean to us? Also - how can we possibly be made clean again so that we can have fellowship with a God of pure light who has no darkness, or unrighteousness, in Him?
Today we see a glorious and Trinitarian summary of the Great News of Jesus in Titus 3, and also discuss several very practical commands that Paul gives us regarding our behavior, most of which are not even remotely easy to follow.
In Titus 2, Paul describes what sound doctrine looks like, and it is a lot more practical than we might expect. ALSO: Did you know a church in Crete claims to have the original skull of Titus?!
Many people claim to be followers of Jesus - does self identifying as a Christian make you one? No, as it turns out.
Karl Marx famously alleged that religion was a kind of illusionary painkiller that made people feel better, but really did nothing to improve their overall condition. Does the Bible read like a book designed to offer illusionary pleasure? NO, it does not.
What can we learn from the prayers of David - who seemed to be in constant trouble - that will help our own prayer life to be richer and more fruitful?
Today we hear the story of Demas, one of Paul's co-workers that is mentioned multiple times in Scripture - and somebody who abandoned Paul and appears to have turned his back on the faith. What kind love did Demas struggle with which caused him to run away from God? That same love can be equally or more dangerous for us!
Who are the mysterious enemies of Moses named Jannes and Jambres that Paul mentions in 2nd Timothy? Also: What does Paul says the signs of last days will be?
Paul tells Timothy to fan into flame the gift of God in his life - how can WE do this - how can we rekindle God's spiritual gifting in our lives?
How do we fight the good fight of the faith - does this mean fighting with other people, engaging in spiritual warfare, or something entirely different?
Why does God allow wicked people to prosper and do well? In today's episode, we consider how the Psalmist Asaph almost lost his faith when he saw bad people living good lives- until he stepped into the sanctuary to worship God and His perspective was completely changed.
Multiple times in the Psalms- almost 50 - God is declared to be our refuge - a shelter from trouble and distress. How then can it be that our refuge from trouble can also be the source of our troubles and distresses?!
Two big topics today, that we treat with an introductory overview. How does the Bible command that men treat women? The answer is very practical and important to understand. Also: Did Jesus make wine with alcohol? Are Christians forbidden from drinking any alcohol?
It turns out that demons don't teach the kinds of things we would expect them to...but are much more subtle. Also - is there any danger in Christians embracing conspiracy theories and QAnon?
You know the church isn't a building, but a people. Today, we read how the church is also the household of God and a pillar and foundation of truth in the world. What does that mean for our calling as the people of God?
In 2nd Timothy 2, Paul tells women to be quiet and dress modestly. Do such commands indicate the Paul was sexist, or the Bible was sexist? I don't believe so, and today, by looking at the many commands to MEN in the Bible, we make the case that the Bible isn't sexist at all, but outlining what is pleasing to God.
Today we list out at least ten biblical reasons why Jesus came from Heaven to earth and also discuss the humility of Paul. + Bonus trivia: Who wrote the SECOND most books in the Bible after Paul?
Today we discuss how God's goodness sustains and upholds us just like a rich and nutritious meal. Also - how and why we should preach truth to ourselves.
In Psalm 59, David is facing a group of agents of the king who want to kill him. Even though we don't normally face that exact situation, we can learn much from how David spiritually responded to being in a crisis.
Paul commands Christians to examine themselves and test themselves to see if they are actually in the faith, rather than Christians in name only. What sort of test is he talking about, and how can somebody know whether they are genuinely saved by Jesus?
Jesus tells the thief on the cross, "Today you will be with Me in Paradise," So - where is Paradise and what is Paradise, and why was Paul caught up to Paradise? Also = the power of weakness and where is the third Heavens?
The Bible teaches that Satan disguises himself as an angel of light- what does this mean - is Satan even an angel? We also learn in today's passage that followers of Satan can similarly disguise themselves AND we discuss what real spiritual maturity and leadership looks like.
Today we discuss spiritual warfare and how to NOT fight with your basic human impulses. Spiritual warfare: The Bible teaches we do NOT wrestle against humans, but does that mean we always are fighting against evil spirits in spiritual warfare...or, is spiritual warfare more about HOW a Christian engages?
Giving is a controversial Bible teaching - today we discuss how God blesses those who give...is giving a way to get rich? Also: why pastors and leaders should never compel people to give.
David finds himself in a terrible situation in Psalm 55 - captured by his arch enemies, and held in their capital city. He claims, however, that He will trust God and NOT be afraid. How can we do the same - trust God and not fear in seemingly hopeless situations?
What if we've done something really, really horrible - the kind of thing that no human would ever approve of, much less God. How do we turn back to God? How do we ask His forgiveness? Today, in Psalms 51, we see how a murderer sought forgiveness from God.
Today we discuss what the Bible teaches about giving - how giving under compulsion is not allowed - and also discuss the difference between tithing and giving. Does the New Testament command Christians to tithe?
Today we discuss how God uses regular old humans to comfort the downcast + a life or death difference between Godly sorrow and worldly sorrow. One leads to life and salvation, the other leads to death!
Today's passage has one of the most quoted Scriptural commands: Do not be unequally yoked. But what does Paul mean here? Is he forbidding marriage? Business partnership? Today we explore this command and also discuss the best four word description of a Christian.
Tough but important topic today: What happens to a Christian immediately after death? What kind of body will a Christian ultimately have - a brand new body, a resurrected old body, or somewhere in between?
Seminary can be tough, but Paul has advice today for pastors and church leaders that helps to avoid frustration + the privilege and humility of being clay pots.
Today we discuss the most misinterpreted Bible verses and the ones that are often taken out of context and used on greeting cards, church signs, and coffee mugs. Is such a thing dangerous? You bet it is! Also: Does God promise His most faithful people will avoid trouble?
Is it possible for a mature and seasoned follower of God to be depressed? Absolutely, and we will encounter at least three examples of that in the Bible today while also discussing how and why to speak the truth to ourselves.
Why are some Bible passages difficult to understand - am I the problem? Also: How is it that Christians are supposed to be like living letters written by God to a lost and dying world.
Must Christians pray until God reveals His will on every major decision? Actually, no - the Bible does not call us to live this way and make decisions this way. On today's episode, we outline a 5 step process for making God-honoring decisions that is quite freeing!
Will super-spiritual and mature Christians be able to avoid more and more trials and afflictions? No, says the example of the apostle Paul...but - there is good news! God is the God of ALL comfort. What does this mean?
Today we consider the rise and fall of Mars Hill church and its pastor, Mark Driscoll, and see what lessons we can learn from Christianity Today's podcast about his leadership AND we discuss how opposition and troubles does not close the door on effective ministry.
The core and center of Christianity is the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. Today we explore what Paul taught about how crucial and essential the resurrection is to all Christians.
Patience is difficult and it is especially difficult when we are desperate for rescue and troubles are closing in all around us. In today's episode we see how King David waited patiently, and hear from Charles Spurgeon on how you and I can wait patiently.
Psalm 37 is full of promises of God's ultimate triumph and the utter downfall of all who seek to rule and destroy the innocent and the weak - it is full of great promises and encouragements, which help us to obey the primary command of this Psalm: DO NOT FRET!
The Bible says every saved Christian has a spiritual gift, but does not tell us how to discover what our particular spiritual gift is. How can we know how God has gifted us? Is it wise to take a spiritual gifts test?
Without the kind of love that Paul describes in 1 Corinthians 13, a person will amount to nothing, even if they are the best looking, smartest, richest and most faithful. How can this be?
There is a lot of confusion in the church today about spiritual gifts - and quite a bit of controversy too, but the Bible's longest teaching on spiritual gifts begins with this line, "I don't want you to be ignorant about spiritual gifts." Today we see what the Bible teaches us about spiritual gifts so that we will not be ignorant!
How could the Lord's Supper possibly be a dangerous activity? As we discover in 1 Corinthians 11, being selfish and me-first is a great way to end up sick, weak, or even asleep.
People often say that God will not give us more than we can bear, but the Bible teaches something completely different. Also: should Christians seek to avoid offending people, should we not worry about that at all?
God is our refuge and shelter and stronghold. Does this mean that we will be protected from all harm? Were the great saints of the Bible completely protected because of their faith?
Great promise from Scripture today: Weeping lasts for a time, but then comes joy. What does this mean, and how can we who are going through sorrowful times look forward to the joy that is forthcoming?
Paul is one of the most effective messengers of the message of Jesus that ever lived - how was he so fruitful? He will tell us today that the key to his method is slavery - he became slaves to those he sought to reach. Should we still do this today?
Big theological topic today: Most people assume that the Bible teaches that there is only ONE God, but various passages throughout the Old and New Testaments seem to indicate that there are many gods, and one overall God. What does the Bible teach - could there be many gods? Also: the dangers of lots of Bible knowledge without love or humility.
Today is PG13, as we are talking about sex. First, we grapple with Paul's teaching that it is better for a Christian to be single, but it is good to be married. Next we discuss the importance of sex in Christian marriage, and how husbands and wives are never allowed to deprive each other.
Two big topics today: Should I act to preserve my rights in a dispute with another Christian? More importantly: The Bible lists sins that will prohibit you from entering Heaven - what does this mean, and am I barred from Heaven by committing just one of these sins?!
Tough topic today: Church discipline, judging, and excommunication. Should Christians judge? Should Christians ever expel people from the church? In today's chapter, the apostle Paul will tell us one of the few times a Christian should judge.
First: How should we handle it when we feel like we are abandoned, or that God is ignoring our prayers? Scond: How can we manage all of the fears that we face? Can the Psalms help us with that? Are the Psalms honest about fear?
Will there be fear in Heaven? I believe so, because the Bible tells us that there is already abundant fear in Heaven - the fear of the Lord. Today we see five promises of blessing in the Psalms for those who fear God.
Does the church have a God given business that it is supposed to be doing? Sort of. Also: How is the Kingdom of God not about talk and words, but about power?
What is the only biblically ordained church growth method? It turns out to be quite different from most modern methods, and it involves planting, watering, building, and laying the right foundation, as each part does its work. Today we discuss real biblical evangelism and discipleship!
Paul speaks quite enigmatically in 1 Corinthians 2, discussing God's hidden wisdom, and a long-hidden mystery of God. What are these things - what could God be hiding?? (Or, is something deeper afoot, Watson?)
Paul says there must be NO - zero divisions in the church, and pastor Tony Evans today will help us see how the truth of God's Word can guide us away from race-based divisions, class-based divisions, and other possible disagreements.
Christians believe that Jesus rose from the dead at least in part because the Bible teaches it. How then can we know the Bible is reliable - isn't it just another religious book filled with outrageous stories and claims? Also: How Christians should answer the questions of skeptics.
Today we wade into a huge discussion: Sovereignty vs. Free Will. How is God our Shepherd - does He guide very detail of our life? Does He force His will on us? Is there such a thing as free will? Today we receive wisdom from C.S. Lewis on sovereignty and free will.
On the cross, at the lowest and hardest point of His life, Jesus was forsaken by His Father. Why did such a terrible thing happen?
While Jesus was dying on the cross, the religious leaders mocked Him viciously, suggesting that He should be able to save Himself from death, if He was truly the Messiah. Unbeknownst to them, if Jesus did save Himself, then He would have demonstrated that He was not the Messiah at all, according to the prophet Isaiah and other Bible prophecies.
Today we see how Jesus gives us a completely different definition of greatness than the world does. Also - we look to the Scriptures to see all of the many ways that Satan, or the Devil, seeks, to attack Christians and oppose the will of God.
Two more topics today: What defines true giving in the eyes of Jesus - the amount you give numerically, or something else? ALSO: How can we best be ready for the end times and the second coming, according to Jesus Himself?
In Luke 19, we see the amazing character of Jesus, befriending and dining with Zacchaeus, when everybody else pretty much hated him. We also see Jesus unambiguously declaring Himself to be God AND we learn several truths about the Second Coming from the Parable of the Talents/Minas.
Today we discuss how reading through the Psalms helps us parse and process our emotions, especially emotions like doubt and anxiety. Also, we marvel at how God can save anybody and send them to Heaven if literally ALL people are unrighteous.
In reading the Psalms today, we find that many have the feeling that they are alone - that nobody else around them is seeking the Lord, but we will also find out that the Lord protects those who are His, and hears their groaning.
Most shows geared for kids and teens these days have a mantra: Believe in yourself! Be yourself! How does such a philosophy stand up to the teaching of Jesus? Not very well, we will find out today, as Jesus shows us a Pharisee who believed in himself and a tax collector, who was a great sinner, and yet was heard by God.
The disciples uttered a wonderful prayer when Jesus told them that they must forgive people over and over again, and we can learn much about obedience and faithfulness from that prayer.
The Bible says very little about what happens immediately after we die, but today's passage is one of the few that addresses that question, so we discuss it, as well as Jesus' mysterious statement that Lazarus the beggar was in a place called 'Abraham's Bosom.' Does this refer to Heaven, or purgatory, or some other place?
The prodigal son is one of the most famous teachings of Jesus, but there are many misconceptions that people have about it. Most don't know exactly what prodigal means, nor do they know that this is a parable about TWO sons, and not just one, and that a big focus in the parable is the JOY of the father over the return of His son. Today we talk prodigal sons and joy over finding lost things.
Jesus teaches several parables in Luke 14, one of whom calls His listeners to hate their fathers and mothers. Why would Jesus teach such a strange thing, and is there a deeper meaning to what He said, considering that Jesus commanded His followers to love everybody, including their enemies?
Sometimes we are so satisfied in the way that God answers our prayers and brings justice against those who do evil...and sometimes, we don't understand God's ways or His delays at all. We see both of these realities reflected in the Psalms, which genuinely mirror our emotions and feelings so well at times. Today we struggle to understand the justice of God.
Forgiveness is important and commanded by Jesus in Scripture - Christians must forgive! However, what about a situation where a person has done something evil, and they are neither sorry nor repentant about what they have done. Must we forgives in that situation also?
Jesus discusses disasters in today's chapter, and asks a penetrating question - do the worst disasters happen to the worst people? Do bad things happen to the most bad people? Actually, no says Jesus. How do disasters work?
Jesus strongly opposed the Pharisees and other religious leaders - often because they were such big hypocrites. What is hypocrisy - what is a hypocrite? Why did Jesus single out this behavior as so worthy of His challenge?
Today we discuss Jesus' call to persist in prayer and read a fascinating letter from a teenage orphan dying in her hospital bed that calls her friend to turn to Jesus and keep on asking, seeking and knocking on the door of prayer.
In Luke 10, Jesus sends out 72 of His followers to go and share the good news, and their mission is remarkably successful. They come back overjoyed, remarking that even demons had submitted to their names. Jesus then sits them down and challenges them on this, turning their rejoicing away from marvelling at their success, towards marvelling at God's grace. Why did He do this?
Big question today - what does it look like to come to Jesus, and are all who actually do come to Him saved? Did Jesus ever turn would be followers away from Himself?
The Psalms are raw, transparent, honest and utterly vulnerable. In Psalm 6, David indicates that he has prayed and prayed for God's deliverance, but God's rescue seems delayed. How do we pray and cling to hope when our prayers aren't quickly answered?
Both Psalm 3 and 4 discuss sleeping - even sleeping when you are in the middle of an army of enemies camping all around you. How can we sleep better- does the Bible offer a miraculous way to get more rest? Well...yes and no. Today we talk about sleep and resting in Gentle Jesus.
Jesus was so meek and mild that children flocked to Him and normally repelled people like prostitutes, tax collectors and lepers all wanted to be with Him. But, Jesus does something in Luke 8 that absolutely terrifies the disciples and causes them to question everything about Him. What does Jesus do?
Jesus was rarely surprised by anything on earth, but when he encounters the great faith of a Roman Centurion, Jesus marvels and comments that He had never seen such great faith in the Jewish people. What made the Centurion's faith great, and how could he be full of faith and also humble?
How can we have an eternally successful life? Jesus gives us the key today. For any human to say what Jesus said - "Live your life doing exactly what I say and you will be eternally successful) would be ridiculous and audacious. But when the King of Kings says it- we should pay attention.
When faced with a man who is in a terrible need of immediate healing, Jesus does an astounding thing: instead of healing the man, Jesus FIRST forgives Him. Why would Jesus do something so unexpected, and what truth does this act shout to us? Also: How Jesus calls the unpopular and the sinful to follow Him.
Did you know that there is an episode in the gospel of Luke where an enraged crowd from Jesus' hometown tries to murder Him in cold blood? Did you further know that the reason this crowd was enraged with Jesus, is because Jesus was basically confronting the racism or xenophobia in His hometown? Today we discuss this amazing episode found in Luke 4.
Psalm 2 reveals what appear at first to be two different sides of God: His anger at sin and His loving and protective nature. How can this be? How are we supposed to joyfully tremble in fear in the presence of God? Is it possible to rejoice and be afraid at the same time?
In today's passage, the prophet Zechariah looks into the future and sees the last days. It will be a great day for Israel and a terrible day. He sees destruction and calamity coming, but also God's deliverance and living water flowing out of the city. Wha
The genealogies or birth records of Jesus in Matthew and Luke are different in some places. Is this evidence of possible errors in the Bible? Also - all about John's proclamation that Jesus separates people with his winnowing fork - what is that all about?!
Luke 2 tells an amazing story - all about Jesus, the Son of God, being born to a virgin and having His birth announced by a choir of angels to a group of cowering shepherds. Could such events actually be real and factual? How can we possibly know whether or not the story of Christmas is genuine?
In Luke 1, a priest is struck unable to speak, because he did not believe the prophecy of the angel Gabriel. Once this priest is enabled to speak again, he gives a powerful prophecy himself about the coming of Jesus, and why He came: To shine light into the darkness. How does Jesus do this?
Some have charged that the Bible encourages racism and even slavery. When reading the Bible, however, one finds a different story: man-stealing is punishable by death, and Paul encourages those in servitude to get free and masters to give up their servants. Today we discuss slavery and the Bible
Today we learn about one of the great unknown and unsung heroes of the Bible - and find out how needed and necessary his ministry of wrestling in prayer is needed in today's church.
Zechariah the prophet has an amazing vision: Joshua, the high priest is standing before God on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, holiest day of the year for the Jewish people, and yet Joshua is covered in poop and filthy clothes! How could this be, and how does God clean Joshua, AND US?
Today we discuss how churches have misused a chapter in the Old Testament to justify the building of expensive church buildings so that God has a good home to dwell in. Also: The blessings of obedience,and how God withholds His blessings to lead us to Himself.
How should Christians react to critics, false teachers, enemies and those who can't drive well? It turns out that the Bible identifies the kind of responses, reactions, attitudes and behaviors that Christians are to have in ALL situations - and what we are called to is quite challenging!
Following rules is good, right? It can be, but when we rely on following rules to make us more spiritual, we find ourselves in the trap of legalism. When we consider ourselves better than others because we follow the rules better than they do, we find ourselves in the trap of judgmentalism. Why are legalism and judgmentalism so dangerous and impotent?
The Bible characterizes people who are sinners as enemies of God, which is quite surprising. How is it possible to move from enemies to become friends with God? (Hint: It's nothing that WE can do!)
Today we will learn from Paul how to avoid being over-worried and over-thoughtful about the circumstances that we are facing in life, and how to walk in God's supernatural peace in all circumstances.
I know, I know - that's a pretty weird title, and almost offensive, right? Would you believe it is almost a word for word quote of what the apostle Paul says in Philippians 3? What could such a sentence mean?!
One of the great truths of the Bible is found in one of its most obscure books, Habakkuk. God tells Habakkuk in this book that "The just shall live by his faith." What does this wonderful truth, repeated in the New Testament, mean?
Today's passage in Micah depicts God coming down to visit Israel, and we will see God in all of His terror and splendor, as the mountains melt like wax at His approach.
In today's chapter, Philippians 2, we find a glorious and ancient hymn to Jesus that focuses us in on His wonderful attitude, and calls us to the same humble and servant-hearted attitude that Jesus had.
Paul the apostle writes the letter to the Philippians from jail, where he has been unjustly imprisoned. In that letter, he discusses how his imprisonment has not limited the good news of Jesus, but caused it to expand by raising up other messengers. Bad things that happen to us can have wonderful long term results!
Is the armor of God something we put on in our imagination so that we might be protected from invisible attacks that we would never notice? Actually not - the Armor of God is a Bible metaphor for a series of practices and habits that we develop around God's Word to protect us from very real spiritual attacks.
A most controversial passage today - in Ephesians 5:22, Paul calls wives to submit to husbands. Is Paul being sexist? As it turns out, Paul also calls husbands to sacrifice for their wives - both partners in marriage are given difficult commands to obey in Ephesians 5. How do we live this out?
We tend to think little of anger, especially if we control our anger pretty well and don't release it in shouting, or swearing, or violence. The Bible has a different view on anger, seeing it as dangerous and completely ineffective. What can the Bible teach us about the danger of anger?
Today we see Jonah the prophet angry because God is filled with mercy and compassion. What Jonah doesn't notice, and we do is that Jonah himself is spared multiple times by the same patience and mercy of God that he is so angry about. #irony
In the belly of a great fish - on the verge of blacking out, and maybe dying - Jonah cries out to God in deep distress, and God answers and rescues him. What can we learn from Jonah's prayer about praying when we are in trouble?
I love a good mystery, don't you? Today we learn about the ultimate mystery from Ephesians 3: The mystery of Christ - what could the mystery of Christ possibly be?
Today we rejoice in one of the great truths of the Reformation - that salvation is NOT earned by epic deeds or works of righteousness, but is a gracious GIFT from God that we partake of through faith.
Today we look at several prayers in the Bible - some apostolic prayers and a prayer that Jesus prayed - and learn how to pray more faithfully and fruitfully.
Does Paul in Romans 16 say that Phoebe was a deacon? Should Women serve as deacons/deaconesses in a church? The biblical evidence seems to suggest that they should, according to John Piper, Thomas Schreiner and David Platt.
Many who have been raised up in church have been taught NOT to be people-pleasers, but Romans 15 contains a command to do just that - to please people. Is this a contradiction? Are Christians indeed called to be people pleasers?
Why would God call His prophet Hosea to marry a prostitute? Today we seek to answer this question, and find in the book of Hosea a call to return to God for all who are now distant from Him.
Daniel was cast into the lion's den by jealous government officials who expected him to be quickly devoured. Amazingly, Daniel was spared and at peace, while the king couldn't sleep a wink that night, even though the king was safe in his palace. How could Daniel have so much peace when faced with scary lions?
Jesus prayed for Christians to be in absolute unity, and yet there are thousands of denominations and even more horror stories about church fights. Why do Christians fight so much, and what does the Bible call us to instead?
Paul commands Christians to put on Christ so that we don't gratify our sinful nature. How does one follow such a command - how can we "put on" Jesus. John Piper gives us some wisdom today to understand what Paul meant.
The Bible calls us away from conforming to the ways of the world, and into the transformed life - where our thoughts, actions, habits and words are different than what we see around us. How can a Christian live the transformed life?
In Romans 11, Paul encourages us to consider and think about God's kindness AND His severity. How can a person be both kind and severe?
Jesus says that faith is powerful - it can even move mountains! How can faith grow - how can we increase our faith - is there a way that the Bible teaches us that we can grow in faith? As it turns out...there is!
Great topic today, and one of the top mysteries of the Bible: WHO was the fourth man that was seen in the fiery furnace with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego? Was it Jesus or an angel, or somebody else?
Daniel and his friends refused the finest food of the king of Babylon. Why did they do this, and what can we learn from them about how to live in a society that might be hostile to Christianity?
Today we pose a controversial and important question: Must Christians always support the nation of Israel? What sort of attitude should Christians have about Israel and conflicts involving Israel? The Bible's answer might surprise you!
Romans 8 contains so many wonderful promises and hope-filled passages of Scripture, that it might be the single most hopeful chapter in the entire Bible. Today we look at some of the most wondrous truths in the Bible and revel in the hope of this majestic chapter!
Paul opens up in Romans 7, and gives us a brutally honest assessment of his struggle against sin, concluding that he (and we!) are slaves to sin, even though we delight in God's law and want to do God. How can we escape this slavery - who can rescue us? John "Amazing Grace" Newton chimes in to point us to our source of rescue.
Today we discuss the centuries long disagreement over the mode of baptism - sprinkling or dunking. How clear is the Bible on that question? We also discuss death...but not in a dark way. Romans 6 shows us that our being baptized into the death of Christ is the Jesus way that leads to abundant life and eternal life.
Romans 5 is a wonderful source of verses that condense the gospel into beautiful chunks of goodness, but it also has a mysterious and difficult to follow truth - that Christians should rejoice in suffering. How could such a thing be possible - how (and why!) should we rejoice in difficult times?
Strange and fascinating topic today: Why did Satan rebel, and what was his role before he turned against God? What made him fall and be expelled from God's Heaven? Does Ezekiel 28 gives us the deepest clues in the Bible about the origin and motivations of the Devil, the enemy of God?
What are cherubim - are they angels? Do they have four wings or six wings? four faces or one face? We discuss the fascinating heavenly beings called cherubim today, and trace them from Genesis through Revelation.
Abraham was born over 4000 years ago in modern Iraq. He was a man of faith, but he frequently messed up, passing off his wife as his sister twice, and seeing her marry (or almost marry) other men. Why is Abraham important to Christians who are not native born Israelis? How was Abraham counted by God as righteous considering his multiple mess-ups?
Today we discuss the 'Roman Road to Salvation,' which is a way of presenting the good news with only six verses, and find an even more compressed way to share the gospel in Romans 3 that only has 3.5 verses. We also discuss how Jesus is the mercy seat or propitiation for our sins.
Today we discuss God's promise of a new heart and how the spiritual circumcision of the heart leads to a new creation and a new person.
Today we discuss sainthood. The Roman Catholic church requires the title 'saint' to only be given to those who have been dead 5 years, have lived a life of heroic virtue, and have somehow managed to have 2 miracles happen after they have died. This differs quite radically from what the Bible teaches in multiple ways.
Today we address claims from Oneness Pentecostals that you must speak in tongues and be baptized ONLY in the name of Jesus to be saved. Do such teachings line up with Scripture? Should people be baptized in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, or ONLY in the name of Jesus?
Jeremiah is known as the "Weeping Prophet" because his life was so difficult and almost nobody listened to his prophecies, or turned to the Lord under his teaching. He seemed to have fought depression, and at least one time wished he had never been born. He did, however, look forward into the future prophetically and saw great hope coming in the form of God's New Covenant. What is this hope all about?
In Isaiah 58, God tells His people that there is a type of religious behavior that is more harmful than helpful, but also a kind of fasting and worship that caused Him to bless us greatly. What activity can we do that invites the blessing of God?
At the trial of Jesus, the crowds shouted that the responsibility of the blood and death of Jesus should be on their heads and their children's heads. This brutal and bloodthirsty statement gives us a wonderful preview of the gospel. Also - how much is 30 pieces of silver, the betrayal price of Jesus, worth today? Was it a fortune?
Today we look at a man during Jesus time that made the biggest mistake in history, and un unsung, unfamous woman who probably invested her life and understood Jesus and His priorities better than almost everybody has ever lived.
The Parable of the Sheep and Goats is incredibly striking, as Jesus describes here how He will separate people into those who are going to Heaven and those who are going to destruction. What is the difference between the two groups?
Today we look at nine signs of the end times, according to Jesus - and discuss WHEN He might be coming, and why it is very tricky - impossible, actually - to nail down the when. (It's quite easy to know what we should be doing between now and then, however.
The Pharisees are widely known as the enemies of Jesus. What caused such trouble between Jesus and the Pharisees? Why did they hate Him, and why did Jesus teach strongly against them? Also: The dangers of Christian titles.
Why did Jesus have to die a violent death? Was this some kind of cosmic child abuse? Today we delve into the deep and most important truth of substitutionary atonement - the death of Jesus in our place. The most beautiful truth ever.
In today's passage, we see a hopeful prophecy about the future peace and prosperity of Israel. Plus: Does Isaiah 14 gives us a veiled set of clues about the origin and ultimate fate of Satan/Lucifer?
Will married people on earth be also married in Heaven? Will single people on earth be able to find a spouse in Heaven? Will marriage persist eternally? Also: What Jesus said was the most important and greatest command in the Bible.
Was Jesus gentle, as in when He rode on a donkey and blessed the little children, or was He fierce, as when He made a whip and drove people out of the temple? It turns out that Jesus was and is...BOTH!
Jesus is called "Son of David," by blind men and a foreign woman in the Bible. What does this title mean - given that Jesus' human father was named Joseph, how can He be the son of David?
Today we discuss wealth and riches. Why is it harder for rich people to be saved, according to Jesus? Was there really a needle gate in Jerusalem where the camels had to stoop down to get in?
Surprisingly, Jesus wants His followers to be great, but the way of greatness is does NOT at all line up with the Western view of greatness. Instead, humility and servanthood, says Jesus, is the ONLY way to be eternally great in the Kingdom of Heaven!
Today we discuss the dangers in spiritual practices like horoscopes, mediums and psychics, as well as the importance of turning away from the wrong things, and turning to the right things.
As most famous verse: The Virgin will conceive and bring forth a child. Did you know that this verse was originally spoken of in a military context? The importance of standing firm in the faith.
We face a seeming Bible contradiction today: Jesus tells the disciples they failed to cast an unclean spirit out because of a lack of faith in Matthew 17, but in Mark 9, He says they failed because of a lack of prayer. Does Matthew or Mark have it wrong? Actually, when we dig deeper, we see an amazing truth here, not a contradiction or error.
Two topics today. First: What does Christ mean? Was this the last name of Jesus? Second: What does it mean that we must take up our cross and lose our life to find it?
The disciples often had difficulty grasping what Jesus was saying to them - and particularly struggled with His parables, frequently asking Him for explanations. One woman, however - a pagan and foreign woman - actually immediately understood one of the most complex parables of Jesus, and gives us all a lesson in persistent and bold faith in the process.
3 topics today: #1 How did Jesus grieve when faced with His own death and the death of His relative John the Baptist? #2 Why did Jesus' disciples believe in ghosts - are ghosts real, according to the Bible? #3 The danger of staring at our trials and troubles and not staring at Jesus.
The Parable of the Sower is probably the most important parable in the Bible - mainly because Jesus seems to imply that this parable is the key to understanding the other parables. What does this parable - seemingly about gardening or farming - have to teach us about eternal life and following Jesus?
Our focus today is on prayer and intercession. Going on the example of Job interceding successfully for his sinful friends, we talk about how important intercession is, and read through some encouragements to prayer from spiritual giants.
In Job 1, a great man suffers a series of terrible tragedies, one after another. His response is incredible: He worships God wholeheartedly, even though his heart is broken. How can we go through tragedies and trials like this?
The Unforgivable sin: that there could be a sin that God will NOT forgive is quite shocking to us, and genuinely scary. There is great confusion about what the unpardonable/unforgivable sin is, but fortunately, Jesus explains it quite clearly and simply in Matthew 12, which we discuss today.
Doubt is not a topic that Christians talk about very much, but the Bible addresses it frequently, and probably in a more nuanced way than you might expect. Doubt is very common, and even some of the greatest saints in the Bible wrestled with doubts. How can we overcome doubt?
Two topics today: 1st: Should Christians bless houses and households when they enter them? (Jesus commands His disciples to do this!) Second: What does it mean that Jesus tells us that those who lose their life for His sake will have life, and those who hang onto their lives will not have life at all?
Today we discuss divine healing. Does God still heal? If He does, what role does faith play? Must I have great faith to be healed? Could my lack of faith be causing healing prayers to not be heard?
Today we see 2 pictures of great faith, and one example of a lack of faith. All of these will help us understand what faith looks like in our lives. We will also discuss the mysterious question that the demon possessed man asks Jesus.
Our focus today is on how the joy of the Lord is our strength and also the duty and privilege that pastors and parents have of teaching the Word of God.
Today we discuss two huge theological truths: God's sovereignty and providence, and have help understanding them from the Bible and an excellent illustration from pastor Tim Keller.
Two short topics today: How dangerous is hypocrisy, and why does Jesus preach so strongly against it? (Also: What is hypocrisy, exactly?) We will also discuss the scariest verse in the entire Bible, which is found in Matthew 7.
Today we discuss God's cure for anxiety- how we can walk in peace and run from worry when we are beset by difficult circumstances.
Today we are going to focus on light and grapple with a most important question: who is the light of the World? At first, Jesus is the light of the World, but then He assigns that title His followers - US. What does it mean that WE are to be the light of the world?
God led Jesus into a real desert, and the book of Luke tells us that when Jesus came out of the desert, He came out in the power of the Holy Spirit. Sometimes God will take you and I into a spiritual sort of desert. It can be lonely, and difficult, but today we discuss how the spiritual deserts of our life can be great for us.
John the Baptist warns the Pharisees in Matthew 3 of the dangers of trusting in their genetics - their relationship to Father Abraham - for their salvation. In "Christian" nations, many people make a similar mistake. Today our focus is on where salvation actually comes from.
For centuries, God's prophets had warned the residents of Jerusalem that judgment would come if they didn't follow God wholeheartedly - they ignored those commands, and were taken into captivity by the kingdom of Babylon. What can Christians learn about God and judgment from this event - will God judge the whole earth in the future?
A catastrophe is recorded in 2nd Kings 17 - 11 tribes of Israel are utterly defeated by the Assyrians and taken into captivity. Why did this devastating event happen to God's people, and what can we learn from this?
Two topics today: Was Jesus a refugee? If so, what does that mean for us? Also: Does God still speak to His people in dreams? How can we know a certain dream is from God, or not? What precautions should we take with dreams?
The Bible clearly teaches that Jesus was born of a virgin named Mary, who was wed to Joseph. The Catholic church further teaches that Mary remained a virgin her whole life, that Jesus' other brothers and sisters came from a prior marriage Joseph had, and that Mary lived her life without sin. Is there any biblical basis for these beliefs?
Today we hear an amusing anecdote about the time I made a face at a police officer (and rightly got pulled over!) as well as the danger of complaining about others when Jesus - the judge! - is right at the door, listening and watching.
Almost two thousand years ago, James warned Christians that they don't know the future, God alone does, so we should be careful about making long term plans - we should do so with humility and understanding of God's sovereignty. Spurgeon warned his congregation of the same truths in the 1800s, and in modern times those truths are just as needed!
Almost two thousand years ago, James warned Christians that they don't know the future, God alone does, so we should be careful about making long term plans - we should do so with humility and understanding of God's sovereignty. Spurgeon warned his congregation of the same truths in the 1800s, and in modern times those truths are just as needed!
The meaning of true biblical wisdom has become quite obscured over the years, so today we have a refresher on what the Bible teaches us about wisdom, focusing in particular on the fact that Godly wisdom is gentle and peace-loving.
Solomon's son becomes king, and is immediately faced with a dilemma: Follow the leadership advice of his friends, or his father's elder counselors. Rehoboam chooses wrongly in a spectacularly awful way, but we learn a lot about leadership ourselves from his blunder.
Today we here an amazing prayer from Solomon, and find in it a key to returning to God when we are far away from Him. While returning to God might seem complicated, it is almost always simple.
Today we wrestle with a big question: Do James and Paul contradict each other? Is one saying that salvation is by faith and works, and the other saying that salvation is by faith alone? A careful reading will show that both are emphasizing different sides of the same truth, as Charles Spurgeon and Got Questions helps us see.
James 1 gives Christians a definition of the kind of religion that God is after. That kind of religion which is pure and undefiled will be both holy and will focus on taking care of those in desperate need. Some Christians denominations embrace 1/2 of what James is saying, and not the other 1/2. How can we bring the two sides of undefiled religion together?
Today we discuss the Bible promise that we will reap a harvest/blessing/benefit/impact if we do NOT give up in doing good and serving. Of more importance, we focus in on the one thing that Paul bragged about, and consider whether we should also brag and boast about the same thing. (We should!)
What does a mature Christian look like? Will they have great preaching ability, or lead a large church, or have miraculous gifts, or super nice sneakers? Actually, according to Jesus and Paul, we will be able to tell whether or not somebody is walking with Jesus by the fruit of their life. How can you and I produce this fruit of the Spirit? (Hint: we can't!)
It is enough that Jesus died to pay the price for our sins - we don't deserve such a gift. Eternal life with God is even more undeserved and unearned, and an incredibly wondrous gift also. Today's passage in Galatians shows us that forgiveness and eternal life aren't the only wonderful blessings that come through what Jesus did for His people!
King David is probably the most influential person in history on worship music and worship singing. He was also a great man of prayer. Today we read through one of the prayers of David, and learn three principles to help us in our prayer lives.
Today we read about David dancing before God with all of His strength, and note how his wife criticizes him for such an ostentatious spectacle. This leads us to discuss the things God delights in and the things that seem to anger God greatly in the Bible.
How is it possible for a vile sinner to be declared 'not guilty?' Today we discuss one of the great and central truths of Christianity and hear one of the best illustrations ever from Charles Spurgeon.
Is it possible that there could be a downside to being nice? Surely not - surely the Bible wants us to always be nice and kind, right? Well - yes it does, but as pastor John Piper points out to us today, there is a weakness inherent in some nice people. How can we guard against that weakness?
Adding something to a good thing, or changing the makeup of that good thing can turn it into a bad thing, as a drug mixup disaster in 1937 demonstrates to us. in Galatians 1, Paul warns the Galatians to not add to or subtract from the gospel, and tells them to not even listen to an ANGEL with a different gospel. An angel?!
Three quick topics today: Can angels look and act like humans? (Yes! Says Hebrews 13) Are rules about food helpful at all? Where will we spend the large majority of existence?
The Bible calls us to fix our eyes on Jesus so that we can persevere and overcome in difficult times. How can we do this - does this command mean that we should be able to literally see Jesus?
God sends Samuel to anoint the next king from among the sons of Jesse. When Samuel sees Eliab, the oldest, tallest and handsomest, he immediately assumes that he has found the next king of Israel. God, however, has an entirely different plan, and explains to Samuel the dangers of making appearance based judgments.
The Israelites demanded a king, but the man of God Samuel knew that this was a bad idea. God allowed it to happen, however, and this put Samuel in the position to mentor that first king, King Saul. As Charles Spurgeon points out, we can learn much about hearing God's Word from the way that Samuel instructed Saul.
How is it possible that a prostitute is commended by the New Testament as a champion of faith? What does this tell us about faith and salvation that is surprising? Also: Where, according to the Bible, is our primary citizenship?
In the Old Testament, we see the Hebrew people so afraid of coming near God that they demand Moses speak to God instead of them, and they stand far off trembling and afraid. The New Testament, however, calls us to draw very close to God - how can this be possible?
The sight of blood is often enough to make somebody recoil in horror or turn away in shock. Why, then does the Bible focus so much on blood - why is blood so important? How does the blood of Jesus possibly cleanse somebody from sin or play a part in forgiveness?
Three questions for today. What is Heaven like? (clues are in Exodus 26-27!) What is Jesus doing today, and our main topic: Does the Bible teach that the Old Testament Law is obsolete?
Who Was Melchizedek - could he have actually been an appearance of Jesus? Hebrews 7 seems to point us in that direction. Also, what is the best thing that is currently happening in all of creation right now? Hebrews 7 will tell us, and it is mind-bogglingly good news.
Today our focus is on the story of Ruth and Naomi - both widows who saw God move incredibly in the midst of their tragedy. What truths about God can we learn from this Moabite woman and the book with her name?
God has sent His people, the Israelites, to the Promised Land to fight and defeat the Canaanite people there. Surely this means that God is on the Israelite's side and opposed to the Canaanites, right? Actually, as Joshua will find out, no - it does not mean that.
Hebrews 6 contains several stark warnings that cause most reading it to wonder if Christians can lose their salvation. Is such a thing possible? If not, then what are the warnings in Hebrews (and other Bible passages) actually warning us about?
Begotten is an old fashioned and confusing word, but it represents an important truth about Jesus - that He is God's ONLY BEGOTTEN son. What does this mean - does it mean that Jesus is created?
Hebrews 4 tells us that God's Word is alive and active - how can Words have life, and bring life? We are also told that God's Word is sharp - like a sword? What does this metaphor mean - how is the Bible sharp and able to divide between soul and spirit?
Today we consider how the Word of God calls us to encourage each other daily, and how we must also receive daily encouragement. What can we do when we are in an environment devoid of daily encouragement?
Today we see in Hebrews that Jesus our Lord was fully human. (He was also fully God!) Being fully human means that Jesus suffered in every way that we do - including in being tempted to sin. And because He overcame, so can we. Because He suffered - He has mercy on us when we suffer!
In Joshua 1, God tells Joshua that one way that he is sure to prosper and be successful is to meditate on God's Word, because meditation will ensure obedience. Why should Christians today also meditate on Biblical truth?
Deuteronomy 28 has some wonderful blessings of God that He gives to those who obey His Word. It also has some terrifying consequences for disobedience that are enough to shake the stoutest of hearts. Today we consider the blessings and curses of God.
Today we discuss the role or job of angels - what does the Bible say angels do on for Christians? Also, of greater import, how can we know who God the Father is by knowing about Jesus? How does Jesus reveal to us His Father?
Everybody has heard of snake-handling, right? Although only a tiny percentage of 'churches' in America practice snake-handling, most people are quite aware of the so called snake-handling churches. Is there any Scripture justification for such practices, or are snake-handling churches blatantly disobeying God's commands?
Today we see God promising Paul (through an angel) to protect everybody whom Paul is sailing with - all 276 men. Unfortunately, a terrible storm causes the boat to break apart and sink at sea - how does God keep His Word to Paul?
Today we consider Paul - a bitter, angry, enraged enemy of Jesus that was gloriously saved by God. Why did God save Paul and use Him so mightily? Couldn't He have found somebody different who wasn't trying to murder as many Christians or get them put to death?
How can we know that the Bible contains reliable and genuine eye-witness accounts? Today we discuss the reliability of the Bible, and specifically, the genuine way that Luke records instances in the book of Acts without bias, editorializing or editing out embarrassing incidents.
When the Ten Commandments were given to the people of Israel, they were so terrified that they asked Moses to go near God and listen, rather than they themselves. They wanted to hide in their tents - away from the presence of God. The coming of Jesus, however, has changed that for us. How?
In Numbers 21 we read that the Israelites bitterly complained, leading to a plague of venomous snakes, and salvation from that plague of snakes by one bronze snake, lifted up on a pole. If one simply looked at that bronze snake, they would love. Jesus Himself uses this passage to proclaim salvation by faith in Him, and Charles Spurgeon would be saved by following the counsel of this passage - Look to Jesus and live!
In Acts 24, Paul talks to Roman Governor Festus about righteousness and judgment to come...which ends up scaring the pagan Roman governor. Today we discuss why this topic stirred up fear in him, and what exactly the judgment to come is all about.
Today our focus is on a statement of Paul that tore apart the Sanhedrin - ruling council - of the Jews - that he was on trial for his hope in the resurrection of the dead. What is this hope that Paul had - will all be resurrected after death? (Also: Why Paul made such a good messenger for Jesus.)
Three topics in today's fast-paced show: #1 Does God Speak to People In Trances? #2 Are there racists in the Bible? Today we meet several, behaving like toddlers having a temper-tantrum. #3 - Why did God save Paul, considering that Paul was an avowed enemy of Jesus?
In today's Bible chapter, we meet four daughters of Philip the evangelist, who were prophesying, which leads us to discuss female ministers in the Bible - including a full list of all of the prophetesses in the Bible. Can you name them all?
Today we discuss crying - should men cry? Of course - when the time is right. In Acts 20, we see tears discussed 3 different times, and also find Paul quoting Jesus on giving, but we can't find in the Gospels where Jesus actually said, "It is more blessed to give than to receive." How did Paul know Jesus said this?
In Numbers 14, it appears that Moses 'changes' God's mind in prayer, and causes God to take a different path. Does prayer really change God's mind, or is something deeper at work here? Also - discussing God's Kindness and His Justice.
Today we return to the Old Testament and learn about ordination, as we read about the ordination of Aaron and his sons. We also discuss the blood sacrifices of the Old Testament - why was there so much blood in the OT, and what connection do Christians today have with blood?
Today we consider the discipleship strategy of Paul- reaching a whole region by daily teaching about Jesus and leading discussions in a secular lecture hall. We also discuss the coming/filling/empowering of the Holy Spirit - does He come before salvation, during salvation, or after salvation?
Two topics today: #1 What was a tentmaker in the first century, and what does that word mean now? Also - Overcoming timidity and learning to boldly speak more about Jesus?
The first century church was vibrant and effective in evangelism - reaching multitudes quickly and effectively. Was this because of their methods, or because of their message? Today we discuss first century church evangelism.
Today we cover three episodes in the life of Paul, and ask why Timothy ahd to be circumcised, what in the world is a python spirit, and how a Philippian jailer and his WHOLE family somehow came to faith at the preaching of a prisoner.
Paul and Barnabas get into a sharp disagreement in today's chapter, but the Bible doesn't tell us which one of them was in the correct position, which brings up a very common question faced by many Christians: How can we handle disputes in situations where the Bible doesn't clearly tell us what to do?
Today we see that God's glory filled the tabernacle so thickly, that not even Moses could go inside. What is glory - is it a physical thing, or a spiritual thing? How does the Bible describe the glory of God?
Today we discuss the Ten Commandments. What does it actually mean to take the Lord's name in vain? And, what name is meant - what is God's name? Also - what do we learn about the character of God in the Ten Commandments?
Today we see an incredible episode in which townspeople initially want to sacrifice and honor Paul and Barnabas as gods and heroes, and just a short while later - they try to murder Paul. Humans are fickle and, as Paul teaches the church - trials are necessary to grow in Christ.
You are on trial, and the prosecutor, who has truckloads of evidence against you, needs only prove that you have done one single solitary wrong act in the entirety of your life to find you guilty. Every human would be found guilty in such a court, but a verdict of 'Not guilty' can be given to some - not because they haven't sinned, but because 0f what, or rather whom, they believe in. How can this be?
Personal angels, guardian angels - lots of people have opinions about angels and what they do, but what does the Bible teach? Is it possible that each human, or each Christian actually has an angel assigned to them? Also: Charles Spurgeon on guardian angels. (He's a believer in them!)
Something remarkable happened in the early city of Antioch. A few Jewish Christians began to share the gospel not just with other Jewish people, but also gentile pagans and non-believers...and God saved many of those, leading to the birth of the most important church in history!
In Acts 10, Peter is summoned to speak at the house of a Roman centurion named Cornelius. At the house, Peter gives a splending and concise proclamation of the message about Jesus, and the Holy Spirit falls on those listening. Today we discuss Peter's brilliant (and short!) summary of the good news, and what we can learn from it in communicating with skeptics, critics, agnostics and unbelievers.
Today we explore the surprising and sobering dangers of grumbling and complaining, and hear encouragements from Paul and James in the Word of God (and Charles Spurgeon) that will help lead our hearts way from belly-aching.
Today we look at the leadership methods of Moses - how he led a complaining and panicky bunch of whining Israelites and pointed them to God's rescue.
Did the evil Saul have his name changed by Jesus to become Saint Paul? Actually...no - that didn't happen at all. Also - what can we learn from Barnabas - a man of great encouragement?
Today we read about a great conversation between the deacon Philip and a Ethiopian official in the queen's court. Philip engages this man with a friendly question, and this has a discussion with him about a Bible passage, that leads to a discussion about Jesus, that ultimately leads to the Ethiopian official getting saved, and sharing the gospel with an entire people group. What did Philip do in that conversation that we can learn from?
Stephen the deacon was the first recorded martyr in the history of the church. He was killed by men who were enraged that he spoke truth to them. It was murder - plain and simple, but rather than cry out for justice and punishment as he was dying, Stephen prayed for mercy and forgiveness. Why? Is there more power in forgiveness than anger?
Today we discuss the passover and the destruction that came along with it. Were the people of Israel saved by their character, or money, or looks or fame? Actually, no - they were saved by blood. How?
God has His own personal, name, and He gives it to Moses in chapter 3 of Exodus, appearing out of a burning bush. God's name is quite mysterious though - what does it mean, and what does it tell us about the nature of God?
The first internal controversy to hit the early church is recorded in Acts 6 - there is tension between the Hebrew and Greek widows over the amount of ministry and help they were receiving. The apostles solved this problem with the appointment of deacons - serving ministers. Bonus discussion: Did one of the early deacons go rogue and become a heretic??
In Acts 5, we see the disciples blatantly disregard the orders of the ruling authorities to not preach about Jesus. Other New Testament Scripture, however, tells Christians that they must obey the ruling authorities - how can Christians navigate this issue? Is there a time for civil disobedience?
In Acts 4, the early church sees its leaders arrested and threatened for preaching that Jesus rose from the dead. How do they respond to this? Intense prayer, that leads to amazing boldness and a strengthening of their proclamation of Jesus - which also includes the audacious claim that Jesus is the single ONLY way to be saved. How can this be?
Today we read Acts 3 and consider the behavior of Peter and John after a man is miraculously healed. They deflect attention from themselves and send it towards Jesus, proclaiming the good news. How can we tell the difference between genuine ministers of Jesus and fakes?
Today we read Acts 2, see the birth of the church, and think about what early church gatherings must have been like. We will also hear an extended description of an early church gathering from Justin Martyr, who lived from 100-165, and he describes a normal Sunday morning gathering in church roughly 100 years after the resurrection of Jesus.
Today we discuss how the disciples made a big decision after Jesus ascended into Heaven - they prayed and cast lots. Should Christians today still cast lots? We also talk about the beginning of the spread of the good news across the Roman Empire, and how such a spread must have been supernaturally empowered by the Holy Spirit.
Two quick topics for today. First: The Longer ending of Mark. Was there part of the original Gospel of Mark that was lost? Also - were the ancients gullible about things like the resurrection from the dead?
God miraculously provided a child named Isaac to the aged couple Abraham and Sarah, but in our Genesis 22 passage that we'll read today, we discover that God calls Abraham to sacrifice that child of the promise. Even though God intervened and prevented it from happening, why would God do such a thing in the first place?!
Today we discuss the wonderful truth that Abram/Abraham believed God and was considered righteous by God because of His faith - not because of His works. This great truth is the wonderful foundation of the New Testament good news of salvation by grace through faith, and not by works. Featuring some encouraging wisdom from Charles Spurgeon.
Today we are reading Mark 15, and considering the beautiful injustice of the crucifixion of Jesus. It was not fair that He - completely innocent - died a terrible death, but it is that death that saves us from suffering the same penalty. Why did God Abandon Jesus? We close with some reflections from pastor Tim Keller, answering that question.
Is it possible to love Jesus TOO much? Of course it's not...but, those who live a life of extravagant devotion to Jesus should not be surprised if such a focus leads to criticism...even criticism by other Christians.
Today we discuss what Jesus says are the signs - or indicators - that His return is imminent. We also discuss how He tells us to live in light of His return, and get some wisdom from Charles Spurgeon on being alert and watchful
Today we discuss the conservative and liberal parties in Jesus' day - which side was He on? More importantly, we focus in on the Greatest and 2nd Greatest commandment, and hear some wisdom on those from pastor John Piper.
In today's reading in Mark 11, we consider why Jesus cursed a fig tree - odd for a variety of reasons, especially considering it was apparently out of season. More importantly, we learn two powerful keys to prayer from Jesus, and also hear about forgiveness from John Newton.
Our focus today is on the call of Abram - why did God choose this man who would try to pass of his wife as his sister? We will also discuss how foolish white supremacy is in light of the ethnic origins of Jesus and Abram.
Today we discuss what would seem to be an oxymoron - the spiritual danger of wealth and privilege. Why does Jesus say it is hard for rich people to enter Heaven, and is it possible to be a Godly person of wealth?
Today we will hear about Jesus casting a demon out of a boy, after His disciples failed in that same task. Later, they ask Him why they failed, and Jesus gives them the key to persistent spiritual victory. What is it? Features some wisdom from spiritual giant Charles Spurgeon.
Today we learn that 'Christ' wasn't the last name of Jesus, but a title that means, "Messiah." What does it mean that Jesus was the Messiah - the chosen/anointed one of God?
Most humans are very concerned with appearance - what we look like, what people think about us, what they say when we aren't around...that sort of thing. It turns out that God isn't that way at all, and Jesus warns us strongly to not be a people who merely give lip service to God. Today we get wisdom on that from Jesus in Mark 7 and also John "Amazing Grace" Newton.
Today we read Mark 7, and discuss the humanity and deity of Jesus, and how the disciples could not see who Jesus was early on because of the hardness of their hearts. Are we also hard-hearted, or walking in faith? We also hear some words of encouragement from pastor Tony Evans.
Today we discuss the literally worst thing that has ever happened in recorded history - and how God inserted a lovely bit of good news into the midst of this horrible news. We will hear from Jonathan Edwards, John Newton, and John Piper today as well, discussing the Fall of Man.
Today we are reading Genesis 1 and discussing the many important truths that come out of the fact that humans are made in the Image of God. We also receive some wisdom from John Piper as to how we should treat each other, given that we are made in God's Image.
Today we discuss the curious incident between Jesus and the superhumanly powerful Gerasene demoniac. Why do so many pigs have to die in this amazing encounter? We also hear some wisdom from Tim Keller on this question.
Today we are discussing how to hear the Word of God fruitfully and effectively, and our guest spiritual giant is Charles Spurgeon.
Today we discuss the possibility of being angry and not sinning, and the fact that Jesus got angry more than once. What could possibly cause one so gentle as Jesus to become angry?
Today we read Mark 2, and discuss the amazing incident where Jesus first forgives a desperately ill man, rather than healing him first. Why would Jesus do such an audacious thing?
NEW Podcast - Bible 2021, Ten minutes of truth a day. We will dive into a chapter a day of God's Word, read it together, hear some wisdom from past and present spiritual giants and learn more about the Bible. Join us for a great year in the Word!
Today we finish reading through the Bible for 2020, which brings up an important question: How does the Bible end? As we look at Revelation 22, the last chapter of the Bible, we see 5 important parts of the ending of the Bible, including: Hope, division, warning, reward and return! Join us as we discuss the end of the Bible, and prepare for Bible2021!
Two main topics today: Why was the Bible written (and can people get saved by Jesus simply through reading the Bible?) + Who is the bride of Christ, according to Revelation 21 - the answer might surprise you!
Popular culture depicts Satan as a happy inhabitant and ruler of Hell, with his job being the torment of bad humans who have been sent there. Is that true at all? Also: Did the Romans take Jesus' life on Good Friday?
When Jesus first came to the earth, He was born in humble circumstances, and lived a life of meekness and humility, riding on a humble donkey into Jerusalem before He was killed. Will His Second Coming be like this? Surprisingly, No!
John 17 features the longest prayer of Jesus recorded in the Bible. In that prayer, Jesus prays that His followers would enjoy the same kind of unity with each other that Jesus enjoys with His Father. He also prays for God the Father to protect the followers of Jesus by "His name." What does it mean for God to protect us by His name?
Two topics today: #1 - How the reliability of the Bible is demonstrated in the skeptical response of the disciples to Jesus. Also: How can we have the peace that Jesus promises us in John 16:33?
In John 15, Jesus tells His disciples if they do this one thing, they will be very fruitful in their lives, but if they don't, they will be unable to do ANYTHING. Also: Ten Christmas myths busted by the Bible. (Jesus was not born in an Inn!)
Many are offended at the idea that one religion has the corner on truth, salvation, or the afterlife. Claims of exclusivity can seem prideful and arrogant, and yet Jesus unquestionably claimed that He was the ONLY way to Heaven. What are the implications of this radical claim?
144,000 is a number with special significance to many sects and cults and offshoots of Christianity. Does the Bible teach, as Jehovah's Witnesses claim, that only 144,000 people will go to Heaven with Jesus? (No!) Also: Why was Jesus' command to His disciples to love each other a new command?
Two questions today: Why did Judas Iscariot betray Jesus? What could possibly motivate somebody to engage in the worst act of treason in the history of the world? We also look at Mary of Bethany, a hero of mine, and ask what is the greatest investment in the history of the world?
Today's episode is slightly different - we read a book based on Revelation 12 called, "The Baby Who Overcame a Dragon." an action packed and biblical retelling of the Christmas story. We also further discuss the deity of Jesus.
Two questions today: One a trick question that most will miss, and the other a discussion of the divinity of Jesus. Did Jesus claim to be God? Yes, He most certainly did, and we discuss several of the ways that Jesus taught that He was God, and why it caused the Jewish people to try and murder Him several times.
As many times as angels are mentioned in Scripture - almost 300 times, the Bible gives very scarce details as to what angels actually look like. On today's episode, we look at the longest descriptions of angels in the Bible, and find they probably differ greatly from what we had imagined!
How can we truly know we are saved disciples of Jesus? Did any of Jesus' disciples ever abandon Him? Today we discuss how Jesus said people will know whether or not they are His followers.
Today we discuss an important principle in the Bible that is taught in many different ways: The battle belongs to the Lord, Apart from me you can do nothing, Some trust in horses and some in chariots, but we trust in the name of the Lord. All of these are summarized by an angel's message in Zechariah 4: "Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the LORD."
In John 6, Jesus teaches the Jews and His disciples that He is the bread of life. This teaching is so controversial and divisive that it causes the Jews to grumble at Jesus (who was previously very popular) and causes many of the disciples of Jesus to walk away from Him. Why did this happen, and what does it mean that Jesus is the bread of life?
In John 5, Jesus tells a paralyzed man that He has healed to stop sinning, "or something worse may happen to you." Does this mean that all of the bad things that have happened to us have occurred directly as a result of a particular sin?
Today we discuss the songs of Heaven sung to the Lamb in Revelation 5, which leads to one of the greatest mission stories in history: Dober and Nitschmann selling themselves into slavery to take the good news to slaves in the West Indies. A must listen!
Two topics today. First we discuss the amazing setting of the throne room of God, as described in Revelation 4 - the lights, the sounds, the colors - it must be incredibly overwhelming! We also discuss the future of Israel and Judah. Will Israel have long term peace? Will God's temple be rebuilt in its former glory?
Jesus treats lukewarmness in His church with the strongest possible language - but what does it mean to be lukewarm? As we look at Jesus' letter to the Laodicean church in the book of Revelation, we will find that it might challenge us in surprising ways!
On today's podcast, we discuss the chilling letter of Jesus to the church at Ephesus. This was a church that, on the surface, seemed to have it all - good theology, lots of ministry and enduring persecution...but they had lost their love, which put the existence of the church in jeopardy. Also: Great comment from a listener on the resurrection!
Two topics today: Does Jesus indicate in Revelation 1 that every church somehow has its own angel? Also, we discuss another strong thread of evidence that demonstrates the historical reliability of the resurrection of Jesus.
As He was dying, Jesus told the repentant thief on the cross that he would be with Jesus in paradise that very day. What and where is the Paradise that Jesus spoke of? Also - should Christians challenge and slander the devil?
How dangerous is ambition and wanting to be first? What kind of leader does Jesus call His followers to be, and how does He talk about greatness? Also: What should we do when we are dissatisfied or distressed about how God is answering our prayers - we'll learn the answer from the prophet Habakkuk.
Two questions today: Is there ever a situation that the Bible says that Christians should withhold hospitality from somebody? (Yes!) Also: What the does the famous verse, "The just shall live by faith" mean?
Two important questions today, one practical and one spiritual. Should Christians, according to the Bible pay taxes? Second question: Since John tells us that God will answer our prayers when we pray according to God's will, HOW can we know we are praying prayers that line up with His will?
Christians are commanded in the book of 1 John to "test the spirits." Does this mean that Christians are to actively seek out spiritual beings and test them on their theology, or does John intend something else in this seemingly mysterious command?
Christians in many western countries are not very accustomed to persecution for their faith, but when we read the Word of God, we find several promises that hatred and persecution will visit every Christian - how must we respond to this?
Jesus describes the condition of the world at the time of His return in a very interesting and perhaps unexpected way. Will the world be awaiting His return, just going about their business, or will trouble abound everywhere? Also: What teaching of Jesus caused the disciples to immediately realize they lacked the faith to follow it fully?
Two topics today. First: What is confession, and should we only confess to a priest or a pastor? Second: When terrible tragedies and troubles hit, how can we endure? Today we read the parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus - the only parable with a proper name - and learn what our life should be based on.
Nearly 2000 years seems like an awfully long time for the church to wait for the return of Jesus. Why has He tarried so long? Does the Bible seem to indicate that the return of Jesus will be quick, or slow - can we know WHEN He will return? How should we wait?
In today's passage, Jesus will give us a practical parable with deep spiritual implications that will demonstrate God's habit of knocking the prideful down a few pegs, and uplifting the humble. We would do well to remember Jesus' command here because it is imminently practical and deeply spiritual.
Jesus is asked a a pointed question in today's passage: Will only a few people be saved? His answers is a bit mysterious and doesn't seem to directly answer the question, but He does seem to address it in other places in Scripture. Will only a few find Heaven?
Anxiety and Worry are probably at an all time high in the world today, but Jesus tells us in Luke 12 not to worry, not to be afraid, and not to be anxious. Since such a thing is easier said than done, He also gives us some keys/cures as to how we can NOT worry or be anxious.
Today we consider a profound and astonishing parable of Jesus on how to be effective in prayer. Does He really teach His followers to persistently pester God until He answers our prayers?
Some people have sold millions of books by alleging that there are hidden codes and mysterious messages somehow encoded in the Bible. Other people - going back hundreds of years - have taught that even the most basic teachings of the Bible have highly detailed hidden meanings. Should we chase after such mysteries?
Jonah was probably the greatest preacher prior to Jesus, seeing the largest city in the world at the time brought to deep repentance by his message, which led to God relenting from His plan to destroy Nineveh. Why did Jonah get angry at God for this act of mercy?
Parables a a bit like a riddle - kind of mysterious and not easy to understand on first listening. Why did Jesus use parables so much in His teaching - didn't He want everybody to quickly understand what He was teaching?
Today we talk about an activity that might, on the surface, seem quite harmless, but is in fact a deadly spiritual danger to us. Also: some great words from Charles Spurgeon on how to be content!
Today's podcast is a necessary challenge for us. There is a type of friendship that we can have that brings us into a hostile relationship with God. What sort of friendship is this, according to the Bible, and how can we avoid the horrifying reality of having God hostile towards us?!
In our passage today, jesus is confronted by a desperately ill man that is in dire need of physical healing. Rather than heal the man FIRST, Jesus instead does something astonishing that reveals this man's - and our - biggest need.
There is a narrative that teaches that all of the common people loved and embraced Jesus and followed Him completely, while the elite and the religious leaders rejected Him. In today's Luke 4 passage, we see a group of common, blue-collar people absolutely enraged at Jesus, and actually try to kill Him. Why do they do this, and what does it reveal about OUR own hearts?
Two topics today: First, John the Baptist calls people to 'produce the fruit of repentance." We discuss what that means, and how repentance is an action that moves away from one thing and towards another. We also grapple with how it could be possible to find any sort of joy in the midst of the hardest trials.
Two questions today: First: Who was the first named person to share Jesus with other people? The name might just surprise you. Second: Was Jesus raised in a Christian family? The question might seem a bit silly, but the answer points to a profound aspect of Jesus that some forget.
Today we discover the dangers of a "bitter root" growing up among the people of God, and that this metaphorical bitter root probably isn't at all what we think it is. We also focus on the key to continuing to follow God and be faithful through hard times - how we can run the 'race' well.
The Bible teaches that a Christian's first nationality is not his country of origin, but his country of destination - Heaven. What implications are there to Christians being strangers and exiles on earth?
We continue discussing the massive importance of the blood of Jesus today. Why is blood so important in both the Old and New Testaments. Also: Should Christians 'plead the blood of Jesus' in prayer, or is this some kind of superstition?
Two questions today: A listener wonders what his father is doing in Heaven and we discuss why blood is so central to Christianity. Why is it necessary for there to be blood poured out so that somebody might be forgiven?
Is God impressed by mighty warriors, amazing athletes, powerful people, or commanding leaders? It turns out that He is not impressed by those kinds of people at all, any more than you or I a are impressed by a larger than average flea, or a particularly powerful earthworm. What does impress God, and whom does He pay attention to?
Jesus has done so much for His people - living a perfect life without sin, teaching us the truths of the Father, and sacrificing His life on the cross for our sins, so that all who believe in Him by faith will be saved from wrath and given everlasting life in Heaven. But what is Jesus doing right now? Surprisingly, Jesus is still ministering and blessing His people, even after having done so much!
Hebrews 6 is a sobering chapter that ends on an amazing note, discussing the wonderful hope that is secure and steadfast and immovable in Heaven for all who are followers of Jesus. What is this hope, and what makes it so secure?
The first sermon in the history of the church was preached out of Joel chapter 2, which is our focus passage for the day. In this chapter, we find a wonderful - and troubling - description of the return of Jesus and the end times.
The Bible teaches that God's Words are living and active and can even judge the thoughts and motivations of humans. How can this be possible - how can words on a page have life and be active? How can words actually make judgments and lead? Today we explore a fascinating biblical truth and wonderful mystery: The Life and presence of God in His Word.
There are sobering warning passages in Hebrews, cautioning those who profess to be in Christ and warning them to not fall away. Does this mean that it is possible for a truly saved Christian to fall away from Jesus? Today we discuss this question, as well as the danger of the church seeking one-time decisions for Christ, rather than Christ-followers.
Many have been under the slavery of the fear of death - a fear so crippling that it can keep you up at night, and cause a cold sweat on your brow. In today's passage in the book of Hebrews, we learn how to overcome the fear of death - better yet, we learn that Jesus has overcome the fear of death for us. How?
Angels probably have an outsized importance in western culture compared to their role in the Bible, but it is quite true that angels are very important. Just how important are they, and what sort of role do they play in the life of followers of God?
Unity is critically important in God's eyes, and brings His great blessing on any people that are united together in love and truth. Jesus says it is a key to proclaiming the good news, and today's focus Psalm says it is like oil flowing down Aaron's beard. What in the world does that mean, and why is unity so important?
As this episode was recorded, the 2020 U.S. presidential election was too close to call, and the outcome was in doubt. What does the Word of God say to us in a situation like this? In such a divided time, how can we be encouraged if our candidate loses, or how can we avoid being hurtful if our candidate wins? + Worst dad jobs.
What is the blessed hope of Christians - the most important and hopeful thing that all Christians are looking forward to? Today we discuss that hope - when faith becomes sight.
Godliness is not a trait that can be produced by humanity - we cannot by our efforts make ourselves more godly...but in today's reading from the book of Titus, Paul reveals a supernatural activity that can and will produce godliness in the lives of those who partake of it.
In 2nd Timothy 4, Paul gives an eerily accurate description of a time in the future where religious people (who likely call themselves Christians) will not put up with truth from God's Word, but will seek out teachers who will say nice and inoffensive things to them. Paul here seems to be describing our present age, and thus gives us advice on how to live in it. We also conclude with the 'SPOOKIEST' story in the entire Bible, in which a dead person comes back to life and terrifies a group of already scared men!
Today we discuss having a good and profitable hope in hard times, and how to be faithful when the culture around us isn't. We also continue in our spookiest Bible stories mini series, with the second scariest Bible story!
Today we begin looking at the 5 spookiest stories in the Bible, including a story about a supernaturally empowered man who lived in a graveyard and howled all of the time and the time a group of men were in a small boat, miles away from land when a storm hit and as they were trying to get back to land, they saw a ghostly figure approaching! More seriously, we also discuss the Bible's discipleship strategy.
Paul writes to a young minister in 2nd Timothy who might be struggling with fear and timidity and assures him that God is not the one who has given that 'spirit of fear' to Timothy, nor anyone else, because God doesn't give a spirit of fear. What does this mean, practically, why is 'do not fear' one of the most often repeated commands of the Bible, and HOW can we overcome fear when we are struggling with it?
The Bible has many warnings for the wealthy and warnings against the wholehearted pursuit of riches. Does this mean that it is actually a sin to be rich? Today we dive into the very nuanced biblical teachings on money, riches and giving with the help of our old friend Charles Spurgeon.
Gossip - most people know that gossiping is wrong, but are actually quite confused about what, precisely, gossip is. Today we discuss what the Bible means when it forbids gossip and we find out just how dangerous and destructive gossip can be.
Paul warns his protege Timothy to watch out for false teachings inspired by demons and lying spirits...and then he proceeds to tell Timothy what sorts of teachings that he means. While many would expect demonic teachings to be more overtly evil and awful, it turns out that the kinds of demonic teachings Paul was warning Timothy about are surprisingly mundane, but yet very, very dangerous.
How important is happiness? Many preachers have extolled the benefits of joy, while considering happiness a more fleshly pursuit. The Bible, however, seems to speak of both of those terms in the same way, and on today's podcast the mighty man of faith George Muller is going to show us how to be happy in the Lord on a daily basis.
If you've grown up in the church, you've very likely heard at least one - perhaps many - sermons based on Paul's instructions to women in 1 Timothy 2 to dress modestly. Why are these commands in the Bible, and what is Paul meaning in his use of the word 'modest?"
Paul calls Timothy (and Christians) to "fight the good fight." COnsidering that Jesus taught Christians to turn the other cheek, this command raises some important questions: Who should Christians fight and how should they fight? Is Paul using figurative language hear to reveal a deep spiritual truth, or should we all be looking for somebody to punch in the nose?
We all know that Jesus was compassionate and taught His followers to give to, sacrifice for and care for the least of these - the hungry, the poor, the naked, the alien/stranger/foreigner, etc. Today we consider that there is a surprising exception to the command to feed the hungry in Scripture. The apostle Paul commands that members of this one particular group must not be fed - can disqualify you from being a recipient of food help from the church??
Daniel 6 contains one of the best known and most iconic stories in the Bible: Daniel and the Lion's den. In this story, a pagan king is tricked into signing an execution warrant for the righteous Daniel. God rescues Daniel in an amazing and miraculous way. A second near miracle in the passage is perhaps less well-known. Why is it that the pagan king Darius was so worried and concerned for Daniel, and what does that teach us about how to be good Christians in the workplace?
Most people think that church growth is the #1 sign of a healthy church. Do we get this idea from anywhere in the Bible? Today we consider what seems to be signs of a healthy and strong church in the eyes of Paul from his letter to the Thessalonians, and also briefly survey Mark Dever's "9 Marks of a Healthy Church."
In a fascinating story from today's Bible reading, God sends a lying spirit to ensnare the evil king Ahab and bring about his destruction. Does this mean that God governs and uses evil to bring about His will and do good?
King Ahab was just awful - a murderer, an idolator, and a whiny, selfish and spineless king. He was one of the worst kings in Israel's history and God pronounces a terrible judgment on Ahab through the prophet Elijah...but all of the sudden, God shows great mercy - what happened to cause that?!
If you ask the average man on the street if God gets angry, he will probably answer in the negative, because most people can't picture how a good and loving God could actually be angry. When you read the Bible, however, you find that God does indeed get angry and does so frequently. How can this be? How can a kind, loving and good God be angry?
Elijah was a mighty man of God, and had seen incredible spiritual victories and miracles in his lifetime. Suddenly, however, he is threatened by the queen and runs in fear of his life, giving up, and asking God to kill him. How did Elijah fall from victory to hopelessness so quickly, and what can we do when we find ourselves in the same situation?
The New Testament book of James exhorts Christians to pray like Elijah, who prayed to God after 3.5 years of no rain, and God answered and sent rain. What was Elijah's secret? It turns out that there is no hidden mystery to how Elijah prayed...he just prayed with profound persistence, and so can you and I!
Epaphras, an unsung Bible hero, was constantly 'wrestling' in prayer for the Colossian church. The results of this wrestling, according to the apostle Paul, was maturity in Christ and great assurance of faith. What does it mean to wrestle in prayer, how can we do it, and what sort of impact might it make in our local church and city?
In Colossians 3, Paul lists out a number of behaviors that Christians must put to death in themselves, and the list contains such seemingly major sins like sexual immorality, and other seemingly banal/common sins like anger and slander. What can we learn from this, and what behaviors and attitudes are Christians called to embrace, or put on?
Today we discuss spiritual friendships and the C.S. Lewis insight that adding friends to a group doesn't dilute the friendship, but enhances it. We also discuss Paul's insight in Colossians that Christians will know Jesus and God's ways better in a loving community than as individuals.
In my youth, I used to frequently pray for the 'starving children in Africa.' Do such general prayers offered for people we've never seen or met actually have any impact, or are they just religious acts of emptiness? Today we discover that Paul devoted significant time praying for a group of Christians that he had never personally seen - what can learn about prayer from this practice of Paul?
An argument has shaken the church at Philippi, and news of the disagreement reaches Paul, who writes back, urging the two combatants to AGREE. He doesn't say which one is write, or wrong - he makes no ruling on the source of the conflict, only commands agreement. As we study the New Testament, we find this command to agree repeated multiple times - MUST we be in agreement, and if so, then HOW?!
Today we discuss strong language and the Bible. It turns out that there are myriad examples of very strong and offensive (but not foul) language in the Bible, including Paul's use of a very strange Greek term in Philippians 3 that can best be translated as 'crap' or 'dung.' Why would Paul use language like this, and what important point was he making with such a strong word?
Solomon was the wisest to ever live. Brilliant, blessed beyond measure and the son of a great and mighty man of God. He talked to God face to face at least twice, and led one of the greatest worship gatherings in the entire Bible. All of these advantages, and yet Solomon fell away from God in his old age. Why did Solomon fall away, and what can we learn from his fall that will help us to NOT fall away?
The Apostle Paul says an astounding thing in Philippians 1: That he would rather die and be with Jesus, than to live and stay on earth...he also talks about death as gain, and as a good thing. Most people - even most Christians - have a much less positive view of death. Was Paul crazy, or did he know something that most of us don't know?
Most people have heard that 'Agape' means 'God's unconditional love,' Is that true, or just another "preacher myth?" Today we discuss the nature of God's love for His people - does He love all unconditionally? The biblical answer is somewhat complicated...
"Wives, submit to your husband," says one of the most controversial and disregarded Bible passages. Is this a command for modern days, or is it hopelessly outdated? Today we discuss Paul's commands to wives AND husbands, and find out that both have a very difficult mandate to live with, and a wonderful example to draw strength from.
Some people gravitate towards truth a little more and others have a personality that might make them stronger on the love side of things, but not quite as able to boldly speak truth. Which is more important for a Christian to embrace - love or truth? Plus: What should our spiritual response be when we are trapped in devastating circumstances?
There are dozens of prayers in the Bible - not just the Lord's prayer. When we read through these prayers we find some interesting facts: most prayers in the Bible don't start with 'Dear God,' and end with 'amen.' Digging deeper, we also find great insight into how to pray and what to prioritize in prayer. Today we learn how to pray from the Bible's apostolic prayers.
The Gospel (or, the good news) is the very centerpiece of Christian theology - pointing to salvation by grace (unearned) through faith (belief!) in Jesus and what Jesus did on the cross. Our faith doesn't save us, nor do works save us, but the work of Jesus saves us...so there is never a reason to boast, nor is there a reason to fear that we aren't good enough for eternal life in Heaven, because it is not our goodness that saves us, but the perfect goodness of Jesus.
Given the opportunity to ask for anything under the sun, Solomon chose to ask God for wisdom and discernment - the ability to lead well and choose rightly between good and evil. Today we discuss that decision and the great need for wisdom in 2020, when life has become as confusing as it could possibly be.
Both Adonijah and Joab grab the horns of the altar in a desperate attempt to save their lives from King Solomon. This act only saves one of them - did Joab do something wrong, or was he trusting in the wrong thing to save him? Today we discuss how to be saved by grabbing the real and spiritual altar, as well as the dangers of trusting in external religious acts like going to church, listening to sermons, and taking the Lord's Supper.
Paul's letter to Galatians was written, at least in part, because the church there was being led astray by a false teaching that combined the doing of good works like circumcision with faith in Jesus. Paul writes to correct such heresy, warning those that choose to trust in good works for even part of their salvation are severing themselves from Christ. Is it possible that trying to do good could separate us from God?
For many Christians, the good news means that Jesus died to save us from our sins - which is true, praise God - but is such a short summary of the good news of what Jesus has done for us, that it lacks some of the important blessings of being saved by jesus, such as being ADOPTED as sons of God and being co-heirs, along with Jesus. Today we are talking about the glorious truths of adoption and our inheritance as sons of the King!
To the Jewish people, dying on a tree (dying on a cross...) meant that the person who died was under God's curse, so this was a terrible way to die. Paul tells us in our Galatians reading today that Jesus was not only under God's curse because of the way He died, but that HE WAS A CURSE. What does this even mean?
Two big discussions today: First we tackle the issue of why parts of the Bible are so violent and horrifying. Second we discuss how Paul called out Peter for hypocrisy - is this a huge deal that a disciple of Jesus who wrote books of the Bible would be a hypocrite? We also discuss what hypocrisy is, exactly.
The Psalms are unflinchingly honest, and today's reading contains an extended lament that God isn't listening to or heeding the Psalmists prayer. Surely you have been in that place, right? You've prayed and prayed and prayed, but God hasn't rescued you yet. How do we deal with that situation - what is the right response?
Paul commands Christians in today's passage to 'test' and 'examine' themselves. Does such an act cause doubt and undermine assurance of faith? How does a Christian actually test themselves - what does that look like, and why is it so important that it is a command repeated multiple times in the Bible?
Today we discuss one of the most profound and deep mysteries of the Bible, Paul's statement that, "When I am weak, then I am strong." Paul's discussion of weakness in 2nd Corinthians 12 is so counterintuitive and yet absolutely central and crucial to the Christian life. If you think God is about the business of making you strong, healthy, wealthy and confident, then today's Bible passage will quickly challenge that erroneous idea, and replace it with a far better, and more encouraging one!
Most Westerners think of Satan as a red-skinned being with a pointy tale and a pitchfork, but the Bible says that we are more likely to encounter him as "an angel of light." What does this mean to us practically, and how can we recognize this sort of deception?
Paul talks about spiritual warfare and the 'weapons of our warfare' in today's Bible passage from 2 Corinthians. What sort of weapons are Christians given, how do we use them, and who do we use them against? Are these weapons given for fighting and ruling over other people?
Giving might be one of the most controversial Bible topics. Should Christians give under compulsion? Will God make rich those who give much? Is it right for pastors and tv preachers to receive offerings through guilt and manipulation? Today we study the Bible's teaching on giving, and find that there are surprising blessings associated with giving, but not necessarily the blessings that the charlatans preach about.
King David has committed treachery and murder, and is now paying a heavy price for his sins, watching his family and his kingdom fall apart. Why must there be a price for sins? Why won't God just wave His hands and forgive sins? Is God more merciful or more just?
In our Bible passage today, the apostle Paul contrasts the dangers of worldly and empty sorrow with the blessings of Godly sorrow. How can we know the difference between the two? Also: Story time about the older gentleman with powers who taught me to memorize the Word of God.
Many try to 'sell' Christianity and attract adherents through promises of stress free life, health, wealth and prosperity. Are such promises of easy living compatible with biblical Christianity? No, it turns out - the Bible is a far more authentic and truthful description of the sorrows and joys of life than are many best selling 'puff' books.
In our readings today, King David has fallen from grace and committed horrible crimes. God send Nathan - a friend and prophet - to confront David for his evil deeds and to pronounce judgment on him - but also to bring grace. What does this teach us about God's character and why do we still need Nathans in our lives today?
King David, the supposed hero of the Israelites and one of the greatest leaders in the Old Testament, commits adultery, possible rape AND cold-blooded murder in today's passage from 2nd Samuel. Where did David go wrong? What led him to commit the brutal crimes he committed? What can we learn from David's fall?
Today we discuss whether or not Jesus wrote a literal letter to an Edessan King called Agbar, which is a claim made by Eusebius, writing in the 300s. More importantly, we will see how Jesus uses His people as His letters to the world.
Paul says that Christians smell like death to some people - turning them off and smell like the fragrance of beautiful life to others - pointing them to Jesus. How can this be? How can we smell one way to some, and a different way to others?
David is on the run from a powerful enemy who desires to murder him. This enemy, Saul, has almost killed David several times before, and his determination seems to be growing. Further, David finds himself in the territory of his greatest enemy, the Philistines, and they are holding him captive. With great reason to fear, David writes, "When i am afraid, I will trust in God." HOW DO WE DO THIS OURSELVES? Doesn't fear make it harder to trust God?
Fascinating story in 2 Samuel 6: David dances with all his might before the Lord in a way that utterly embarrassed his wife, and she criticizes him sharply, and hates him for it. Was David right to worship God with such exuberance, or was his wife Michal right to try and rein his passion in?
1st Corinthians 15 details the most important event in human history: the resurrection of Jesus. In recent years, scholars believe they have discovered a hidden creedal message buried in the text of this chapter - one that gives great evidence to the resurrection of Jesus and the earliest church's belief in that event. + A Weet-Bix cereal review for you Aussies and Kiwis.
In 1 Corinthians 14, Paul commands believers to eagerly pursue spiritual gifts, especially the gift of prophecy. Is this command still active and relevant for today? Should Christians still seek to prophesy? If so - what does the gift of prophecy indicate - is it the prediction of the future, or something deeper than that? Today we hear from Wayne Grudem's book on Prophecy and his excellent Systematic Theology textbook.
Today we talk about one of the most well known passages in the Bible: 1st Corinthians 13 - is it underrated, overrated, or properly rated? We will find that love is critical, central and indispensable for the Christian life. We will also hear some wonderful stories of love from John Newton, The Apostle John and writer Greg Lucas.
The Body of Christ - The Church - is not meant to be a one man show, nor an organization where a few stars rise to the top and do all of the public ministry, and the rest sit back and spectate. The church is to be a body where every person - every member - has a supernatural empowerment for ministry and a crucial role to play. Today we talk about the importance of spiritual gifts and hear a selection from Sam Storms' excellent Beginner's Guide to Spiritual Gifts.
How should the Lord's Supper/Communion be taken? Is this merely a meal to be had in church? A fancy ritual to be done in an exact order? When we actually read what Jesus and Paul taught about communion, we see that it isn't a ritual but a proclamation of the good news and an opportunity for the church to love one another in an obvious and powerful way.
Today we discuss the dangers of shallow Bible reading, and also the appearance of God and other spiritual beings in the Old Testament. Our focus is in a wonderful promise from the Psalms that God is our refuge and strength. Charles Spurgeon helps us to see how that beautiful truth applies to our lives.
Two big topic today, one spiritual and important, and the other a little more X-Filesish. Paul states that his evangelism strategy to reach the world with the good news of Jesus was to 'become all things to all people.' What does this mean, and what does it look like for us to emulate? Also - today we read 1 Samuel 28 where a medium called the Witch of Endor supposedly raises the 'ghost' of Samuel - could such a thing be possible? Was it really Samuel whom she raised?
Does God promise to completely protect and prosper all of the really, really good people that follow Him? No, He doesn't, and today we look at a seemingly hopeless Psalm and see how the apostle Paul found great hope and encouragement in it.
1 Corinthians 7 contains lots of practical and intimate advice for those married and those who are single. Paul urgest married people not to deprive each other sexually, and gives some surprising reasons to avoid doing that. He also discusses singleness and gives several reasons why it is better to be single...while also saying that it is good to be married. How can this be - and why?!
Many think all sins are the same, but Paul dispels that myth utterly and completely in 1st Corinthians 6, noting that some sins have eternal consequences, and that sexual sins are quite different than others. What is it that makes sexual immorality different, and why is this important for us to consider?
Excommunication is a word that almost sends a chill down your spine. Kicking people out of the church sounds so severe, when so many churches try so hard to get people IN the church! Is there ever a time for church discipline or excommunication?
So many denominations and division! Why are churches so divided? Is the Catholic church the one original and true (and only!) church on the earth right now? Are all Protestants guilty of dividing the Body of Christ? How important are denominations, and how dangerous are they?
Jesus prays for His disciples to be one, and Paul commands the church to seek unity, as do many other Bible passages. Why then do we see disunity in the church sometimes? Why are there so many denominations? Is this a sign that Catholics are correct and Protestants are breaking away from the one true church?
Many times in the Bible, Paul speaks of the long hidden mystery of God. In fact, he says that his whole ministry is focused on proclaiming that mystery. What is the mystery of God, and why is it such a central part of the message and teaching of Paul? Also are there cuss/swear words in the Bible?
The Psalms are wonderful books of the Bible that contain incredible worship, prayers that make the heart soar, and the most genuine of gut-wrenching cries to the Father for deliverance. Some Psalms - called the imprecatory Psalms - contain prayers asking God for violence and judgment against the Psalmist's enemies. Should Christians pray such prayers against OUR enemies, or has Jesus taught us a different way?
Sometimes the darkness doesn't lift fast enough, the trial doesn't end soon enough, and it seems like we are utterly abandoned and hopeless. Jeremiah was facing such a situation in Lamentations - probably a trial worse than any most of us have faced. He had been unjustly imprisoned, his house lost, his city burning, his King blinded and in captivity, and himself kidnapped and forced to go where he didn't want to go. How did Jeremiah find comfort and hope going through such terrible hardship?
David and Goliath is one of the most famous Bible stories out there, and with that popularity has come lots of myths about the story that are not consistent with what the Bible account says. How did Goliath die? Was David just a child? And, perhaps most importantly, does this story mean that you and I should go out and defeat our own personal Goliaths - or is there a deeper meaning?
Brave, tall and mighty King Saul has been rejected for disobeying God repeatedly, so God sends Samuel to anoint a new king - one of Jesse's sons. Samuel, upon seeing the striking Eliab, assumes that this kingly looking young man is the one to succeed Saul - but that assumption, based on outward appearance, is false. God teaches Samuel (and us!) a valuable lesson...He doesn't care about outward appearance, but the inner person.
We know how to put on clothes, or gloves, or a hat, but Paul tells Christians in Romans 13 to 'put on Christ.' What does this mean - is it a reference to salvation, or to something that a Christian should do in their relationship with Christ. Charles Spurgeon gives reasons that Paul is talking about the latter option on today's podcast.
Have you noticed how divisive things are lately? Republicans vs. Democrats, maskies vs. non-maskies, tp on the outside vs. on the inside, etc. It seems rhetoric has really ramped up. In the midst of all of the hatred and attack, how are Christians supposed to act towards their enemies and political opponents? The answer might just challenge you!
King Saul was amazing to behold - he was several inches taller than any other Israelite, and was also brave, strong and bold. In addition - at least at the beginning of his reign - he seemed to be winsome, humble, self-effacing, and an admirer of Samuel, the righteous man of God. Unfortunately, very early in his reign, Saul did something that on the surface might seem like a minor transgression, but it ultimately cost him his throne. What did Saul do, and why was it a big deal?
Samuel was mighty in the Lord, even from early childhood. When it was time for him to 'retire' from leading the Israelites, he left his post with a challenging speech that closed with an amazing and underrated exhortation to the people of God. We would do well to hear Samuel's counsel and follow it even today!
In the wonderful Psalms 25, the psalmist declares that God guides His people into truth. Today we discuss HOW God guides us into truth, and we discover that there are two major ways that He leads us and guides us to His truth and in His truth.
Paul offers powerful hope in his letter to the Romans, telling them (and us!) that, though we are going through suffering, we are 'more than conquerors' through Jesus. How does this work? Most Christians don't feel or act like more than conquerors, so how can we walk into this already existing reality of overcoming?
Jesus is a great and mighty savior, and the apostle Paul was transformed and powerfully used by Him in the Bible. How then is it that Paul calls himself a wretched man still struggling mightily with sin AFTER salvation? Was Paul exaggerating, or should Christians expect to struggle against sin their whole lives?
So many times in the Old Testament, we see the people of God turn away from His commands and His worship and then some sort of defeat, trouble or disaster strikes. How can we be on the Lord's side? How can the repeated cycle of sin, judgment, punishment, tears and rescue be broken? Today we discuss the rescue of the Lord and the dangers of spurning Him!
Romans 5 is one of the most underrated chapters of the Bible and it is absolutely stuffed with powerful gospel-goodness. What is the good news of Jesus? Paul repeats it several times and in several ways in Romans 5: While we were sinners, Christ died for us! Today we talk about the good news and how it has brought us to peace with God.
Everybody knows that the Ark of the Covenant is super-powerful and invincible, right? It actually melted Nazis in the Raiders of the Lost Ark! It caused the walls of Jericho to fall down! It killed Uzzah when he touched it! It even blessed the household of a Philistine when King David left it there and fled back to his palace. Since the Ark of the Covenant was so powerful, and seemingly undefeatable, how did the Israelites get destroyed by the Philistines in battle, and have the Ark taken? What could have happened??
Is salvation through Jesus by grace through faith the only way to get to Heaven? Theoretically, it is also possible to 'earn' one's way into Heaven by living a sinless and perfect life. (In the same way that it is also theoretically possible to hit 100,000 hole in ones in a row.) Romans 3, however tells us that ALL have sinned and fallen short of God's glory, and are therefore disqualified from Heaven. How does Jesus then justify His people so that they are able to qualify for eternal life?
Paul in Romans 2 says that certain behaviors among those who believe in God can actually be so severe that they lead to blasphemy among those who don't know God. We learn that hypocritical judgmentalism is near the top of that list. How do we avoid being hypocrites and ungodly judges?
Hannah was an amazing woman, but she was childless and that devastated her. Her rival taunted her, her husband was an oaf who couldn't comfort her, and her pastor/priest thought she was drunk. How did she handle such difficulty in the midst of heartbreak? With great grace and trust in the Lord. Hannah demonstrates to us how to live our lives when we are full of despair and anxiety AND are suffering from the barbs and insults of others. She also shows us the joy of full surrender to the plans and hand of God.
Ruth is, on its surface, a sad book set in a dark time. It tells the story of Naomi - a good Hebrew woman married to a Jewish man who has two sons married to two Moabite daughters. Sadly, Naomi's husband dies early, and then both of her sons also die, forcing Naomi to return to her home country embittered and grieving, with her daughter in law Ruth following her. It is here that hope begins to shine, and God's plan begins to unfold in the darkness. Even in the darkest times, God is working His sovereign plan for the good of those who love Him and for His glory!
It sure feels like God sometimes turns His back to His and stops listening to our prayers. We pray and pray, but don't sense that we've been heard, and our current crisis just seems to get worse and worse. Most Christians would say that God never abandons His children, but Psalms 10 might seem to indicate that He does...could such a thing be possible? We turn to Charles Spurgeon for some wisdom on today's question.
Most people know that Saul/Paul started out as an enemy of Jesus, but most don't know how bad it was. Saul/Paul imprisoned men and women, signed off on their death in an official capacity, tried to get Christians to blaspheme God, and threatened to murder them. Why in the world did Jesus choose to save such an enemy, and what does that say about the grace of God?
Why is the ending of the book of Judges so shocking and hopeless? It is because all of the people were ignoring the Word of God and simply doing what seemed or felt right in their own eyes. How dangerous is it to go with out gut and do what we 'feel' is best? Is there absolute truth, or is it all subjective?
We can learn to pray and worship in a better and deeper way by reading and learning the Psalms. Sometimes, however, we are not able to form words, or come up with the right words. Can it be possible to effectively pray without using words?
Both the Old Testament and the New Testament warn about the dangers of anger, but also suggest that it is possible to be angry without sin. How dangerous is anger? What does sinless anger look like? Is there such a thing as righteous anger? How must Christians handle their anger?
Anxious, negative and depressing thought patterns might just be at an all time high right now among people, as the pandemic rages on, and the world is shook by various trials and troubles. Meditation on God's Word is a powerful supernatural gift and discipline from God that can help us win the war of our mind and walk in greater joy and hope, rather than despair and anxiety.
Most Christians consider 'compromise' to be a bad and dangerous thing - and it is! when it comes to clear teachings, doctrines and commands of the Bible. On the other hand, compromising our personal opinions and convictions (those that aren't based on clear Bible teachings) might sometimes need to be done. Today we examine a couple of instances in Acts 21 where Paul and his friends might have compromised their opinions. Was this a good thing?
The most unjust thing in history happened when the perfectly innocent Jesus was nailed to a cross by sinful human hands. While on the cross, paying the price for all of the sins of humanity, Jesus was completely forsaken by His Father. Why did this horrible thing happen, and why is it wonderful for you and me?
in 167 BC a ruler named Antiochus IV Epiphanes intentionally set up a horrible thing in God's Temple in order to defile it. This was the first abomination of desolation. Jesus also looks forward to the future in Mark 13 and Matthew 24, predicting that another, even worse, abomination of desolation would come in the future. What might this be?
When teaching about the last days, Jesus mentions that a most mysterious sign of the end times: The Abomination of Desolation, which will apparently be set up in the temple of God. Join us for a two part episode that explores what this abomination might be and what it signifies.
There is a fascinating clue in Judges 13 which might indicate that the Angel of the Lord is a pre-incarnation appearance of Jesus.
Episode #215 is delayed due to a vacation related equipment issue. Lord willing, it will be out tonight. Sorry for the inconvenience!
Right before His crucifixion, Jesus was praying with great drops of blood and seemingly shook to His very core by the 'cup' He was about to drink. We learn in Jeremiah that this cup is the cup of the wrath of God. What does this mean exactly, and how is it the best news in history that Jesus drank this cup, when it is actually you and I that were supposed to drink the cup?
Controversy erupted in the church, as recorded in Acts 15. Some former Pharisees believed that all non-Jewish Christians were obligated to be circumcised and follow the Old Testament Law. Paul and Barnabas were opposed to that, and a great convention of the disciples, apostles and elders happened, where they prayerfully discussed this issue. Under the leadership of the Holy Spirit it was concluded that non-Jews were NOT under the law, with four exceptions.
A desperate father comes to the disciples of Jesus for help. His precious son is tormented by an unclean spirit that seeks to throw him down, and cause him to injure himself. Try as they might, Jesus' disciples cannot heal the boy or cast out the unclean spirit. When Jesus is able to do so with relative ease, the disciples ask Him later the reason for their failure. Mark gives one answer of Jesus, Matthew another. Which is the proper answer: prayer or faith, or is something deeper going on here?
Some friends of a blind man bring him to Jesus and ask Jesus to touch the man, assuming that the touch of Jesus will somehow heal their friend. Amazingly, Jesus does not comply with their request, but takes the man out of town and SPITS in his eye, which ultimately results in the man's complete healing. Great story - but WHY did Jesus SPIT in the man's eyes?
Guardian angels - heavenly protectors assigned by God to each one of His children. It's a romantic and comforting idea, but could it possibly be true? Today's passage in Acts 12 demonstrates that many people in the church believed in something like a guardian angel (though that term is never used in the Bible.) What did Jesus say about guardian angels?? Listen in to find out!
Some people have the false idea that a Christian is incapable of being depressed. This idea vanishes upon a close examination of Scripture and church history which shows that saints like King David, Paul the apostle, Moses, Elijah, Jeremiah, Charles Spurgeon, Job, Hannah the intercessor and many others struggled with despair and depression. Can a Christian be depressed? Absolutely. Is there hope? Beyond a shadow of a doubt!
The Israelites are in big trouble. The nation of Midian - far larger and mightier - keeps invading and taking their food, burning their crops, and taking their cattle. Israel is powerless to resist them, so they turn from their idolatry and cry out to God for help. God raises up Gideon - the youngest man in the weakest family in Israel. Why?!
Human kingdoms come by force and power, human philosophies take hold by coercion, rhetoric, charisma and brilliance, but not so with the Word of God. The Gospel - the message by Jesus and about Jesus - does not come by coercion or force like a boulder or grenade, but it comes with transformative and organic power like a seed. How does the Word of God bring change, and why is that change more powerful than any sort of human change?
People often talk about Mighty MEN of God, but rarely discuss mighty WOMEN of God. When you look in the Bible, however, you see some wonderful examples of brave and bold women who were mighty in the Lord, and on today's podcast we discuss five of them: Jael, Deborah, Jehosheba, Ruth and The Syrophoenician woman.
A dramatic scene in Mark 2 - 4 friends of a very ill paralyzed man cut a hole in the roof and lower this man down in front of Jesus, hoping that the Master will heal their friend. Jesus, however, does something remarkable and surprising: He forgives the sins of he paralytic. Why does Jesus do this FIRST?
Jesus - on the most important mission in the history of missions - and able to heal and cure all who were hurt, sick or dying - had the habit of withdrawing to lonely/deserted places in order to pray and seek His Father. Did Jesus simply do this because He was introverted and needed a break, or is something deeper at work here?
Today we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus as we read the last chapter of Matthew. Most skeptics of Christianity believe that the resurrection of Jesus couldn't possibly have happened, because people don't just come back from the dead. A careful analysis of the historical record, however, shows that belief in the resurrection is both rational and reasonable and likely the best explanation for the spread of Christianity.
The government of the US and most nations are right now issuing many new and inconvenient and controversial laws and commands. Are Christians obligated to obey governing authorities and commands, or can they simply 'go with their conscience.' Are there any cases in Scripture where civil disobedience is allowed? What is a Christian to do when he or she is commanded to do something that makes them uncomfortable, or seems unfair?
When faced with a difficult decision, most Christians endeavor to 'hear from God' so that they can know which direction to go. While it is true that God sometimes spoke to His people in the Bible, it appears that He usually guided them in far more mundane and normal ways. Today we discuss how Christians should make decisions, and whether or not they need to 'hear from God' before deciding what to do.
Many Christians believe that the right way to make a decision is to pray until you "feel peace" about a certain direction. The net result is that some are led by their feelings. As we look at how people made decisions in the Bible, we find that they employed a vastly different decision making process than most Christians do today.
The traditional view of Christian decision-making basically boils down to attempting to discern God's secret will on a particular matter, and then going that direction. Is that the way that people in the Bible made decisions? Today we discuss decision making from a biblical context, and also whether or not it is a sin to cast lots, as the disciples did in Acts 1.
The Anakim and Rephaim are two mysterious foes of the Israelites mentioned in several books of the Old Testament. They were apparently extremely tall (possibly giants) and were also very fierce. Who were these strange people, and what association do they have with Goliath of Gath and the Nephilim?
Some translations Psalms 148 in the Bible indicate that 'dragons' or 'sea monsters' are worshipping God. Could such a thing be possible? Does the Bible genuinely teach that dragons and sea monsters are real creatures?!
Can you picture Jesus getting angry? There are a few episodes in Scripture where Jesus does indeed get angry (and He didn't sin when He was angry, see Ephesians 4:26) Perhaps the angriest that Jesus ever got was when merchants and moneychangers were turning His Father's house into a den of thieves and a marketplace. Why did this offend Jesus so much, and what application does it have for us today?
Jesus - the greatest to ever walk the earth...the most powerful...the richest...the most authoritative came to be a SERVANT. What a mind-boggling thought! Further, He tells His followers that being a servant is the ONLY way for them to be great. How does that work - how is serving others the only way to eternal greatness?
Many have attempted to explain Jesus' metaphor about the camel going through an eye of a needle and the impossibility of rich people getting saved. What did Jesus mean by this metaphor? Was there really a 'Needle' gate in Jerusalem that camels had to stoop down low to get through? Will NO rich person ever be saved?
Conflict is inevitable, even among Christians, because Christians are still sinners and haven't fully tamed their tongues. Jesus, however, mandates a particular process that Christians MUST follow when somebody has sinned against them - what is that divine process for handling conflict and making peace?
In Jeremiah 3, God condemns the pretense of the people of Judah. They pretended to be sorrowful for their sins, and pretended to want to follow God, but it was an all act - a grand display of outward religion, that was meaningless on the inside. Today we discuss what real repentance does - and does not - look like.
A most humorous moment happens in Matthew 16 when Jesus challenges His disciples to avoid the yeast of the Pharisees, and they assume that He is literally talking about bread. It turns out that Jesus was actually talking about the teaching the Pharisees, which raises our big question. What did the Pharisees teach, and what made it so bad?
Everybody knows that Jesus did not have a high view of the religious leaders of His day, as He was constantly challenging the Pharisees and Scribes about how they handled God's Word. Today's episode is a discussion of one of Jesus' strongest challenge to those leaders about how they elevated human traditions to the level of God's commands.
The last chapter in Isaiah reveals that there is a certain kind of person that God looks with favor on. It is not a confident person, nor a successful person, nor a courageous person, or a prideful person. Who does God bless and look favorably on? Also: What is the worst that death can do to a Christian?
Imagine the scene: The warriors of Israel are preparing for what is likely their biggest battle in the history of their country - the first major battle of the conquest of the Promised Land against the mighty and fortified city of Jericho. God instructs Joshua to have ALL of the soldiers of Israel CIRCUMCISED. BEFORE THE BATTLE! Why would God command such a seemingly preposterous thing?
How important is unity in the church? Jesus notes that a divided house can't possibly stand, calling His people to be united and avoid disunity. How can this happen? Also: Is Beelzebul that same entity as Satan?
Jesus was meek, humble and lowly upon His first visit to earth, but - as Isaiah 63 shows us - will return as a powerful and magnificent warrior. What will the return of Jesus look like, and how does 'vengeance is mine' work out?
Let's face it - snakes don't are not at all looked upon very highly in the Bible. From the Garden of Eden, to the Exodus wilderness, to the serpent's appearance in Revelation, snakes are associated with evil, lies, deception, venom, death and, of course, the devil himself. Why then does Jesus tell His followers to be as shrewd as SNAKES?!
Moses was one of the greatest leaders who ever lived, and therefore Joshua faced a daunting task when he was chosen to lead the Israelites following the death of Moses. Five times, God exhorts and urges Joshua to be 'strong and courageous.' That's easier said than done, right? Good news, however: God gives Joshua two keys - two foundations to stand on to help him be strong and courageous. What are they?
A most curious and perplexing incident happens in Matthew 8. Jesus is confronted by a supernaturally powerful demoniac, who is possessed by multiple demons. These demons immediately recognize Jesus, acknowledge His power, exhibit fear of Him, and BEG to be cast into a nearby herd of pigs, rather than be destroyed or exiled into the abyss. Astonishingly, Jesus COMPLIES...WHY?!
It's the most famous Bible verse in the world right now - "Judge not!" Everybody knows this passage, but not everybody understands what Jesus is forbidding here. What does it mean to judge somebody? Is it judgmental to call sinful behavior sinful? Is Jesus telling us all to simply mind out business - to live and let live? Let's dive into 'judging not!'
Is God impressed by religious activities like going to church, memorizing Bible verses, fasting, and doing good deeds? The answer might surprise you, because God, as we learn in Isaiah 58, isn't after hollow deeds and feats, but something much deeper.
Jesus identifies Himself as the light of the world multiple times in the Gospel of John, but then turns around and says that His people will be the light of the world during the Sermon on the Mount. What does this change mean, and how can Christians possible be the light of the world?
In Matthew 4, Jesus and Satan have a showdown, or duel, of sorts in the wilderness. Satan seeks to tempt Jesus, and one of the ways he does so is through twisting the Word of God. If he had the audacity to attempt such a thing against Jesus, the Word made Flesh, you know he will try to do it with followers of Jesus. So - how does Satan twist the Word? How does he tempt us to twist the Word?
A famous verse that is often shared on social media is Isaiah 53:5, "By His stripes, we are healed." Many Christians believe that this passage is a declaration that God will heal all physical maladies suffered by Christians. Is this how Isaiah 53:5 should be taken - or is there something deeper going on?
God is both just and merciful. Not 50% just and 50% merciful, but 100% of both. Does this mean that ALL humans will be saved? Actually, it doesn't. ALL are invited by Jesus to drink the water of life - FREE - but most will reject the offer, and they will be on the outside of Heaven/the City of God, according to the very last chapter of the Bible.
The Lamb's Book of Life is mentioned at least ten times in the Bible, and seems to be a book that was written before humans were created and contains the names of all of those who will inherit eternal life and be allowed into the City of God. Alarmingly, those who's names aren't written in the Book of Life are cast into the lake of fire. What does the Bible tell us about the Lamb's Book of Life, and how can we possible be sure our names are in it?
Bible-believing Christians know that salvation is by grace through faith, and not by works, right? Revelation 20, however, notes that The Great White Throne Judgment is based on works, and there are other verses that teach this as well. How can salvation be by grace through faith, while judgment is all about works? Today we wrestle with faith and works with a little help from Pastor and author John Piper.
The first time Jesus came to earth - born in a manger, travelled with His disciples, rode on a donkey, allowed Himself to be crucified - He came meek, lowly and mild. He was never weak, but was incredibly gentle. Many are surprised to find that the return of Jesus will be anything but gentle!
The first time Jesus came to earth - born in a manger, travelled with His disciples, rode on a donkey, allowed Himself to be crucified - He came meek, lowly and mild. He was never weak, but was incredibly gentle. Many are surprised to find that the return of Jesus will be anything but gentle!
In Deuteronomy, it is said that the vilest murderers will be hung on a tree, and also that those who are hung on a tree are under God's curse. What does it mean to be under God's curse, and how did Jesus take the full brunt of that curse for us so that we don't have to?
Revelation 17 introduces readers to the 'whore of Babylon,' a wicked entity who rides on the back of the beast, causes Kings of the earth to commit immorality with her, and is drunk with the blood of the saints that she has killed. Who is the frightening entity, and what does the 'Babylon' in her title refer to?
Psalm 106 recounts how the people of Israel constantly rebelled against God by their sins, by their ignoring of His commands, by their worship and pursuit of other God, and even by their murder of their own children in sacrificing them to other gods. Yet this same Psalm also begins and ends proclaiming that 'the steadfast love of the Lord endures forever.' How can God's love endure forever in the face of our constant sin?
All throughout the Bible, the people of God are reminded to REMEMBER all that God has done: His rescues, His mighty acts, His love, His judgments and His punishments. It would seem that this is one of the primary ways His people seek His face, according to Psalms 105, and is one of the primary ministries of the Holy Spirit - to remind people to REMEMBER the Words of Jesus. Today, we discuss the importance of remembering what God has done in the past.
666 = This number, known even by those who aren't Christians, can be enough to send a chill down your spine. Most know that 666 is somehow associated with the antichrist or the beast, but don't exactly know how. On today's episode, we go in depth into the number 666 and also discuss the enigmatic 'mark of the beast.' What might it be, and how can one ensure that they don't get it?
The Antichrist and the two beasts of Revelation seem to form some sort of diabolical anti-God trio in the last days. We learn about the beast from today's focus chapter, Revelation 13, which is tightly connected to Daniel chapter 7. Who are the beasts of revelation? Are they people, kings, kingdoms, countries, or possibly even spiritual powers?
Revelation 12 contains one of the most chilling phrases in the Bible, "And there was war in Heaven." How could there be violence, problems and WAR in HEAVEN? When did this war happen? Who were the sides fighting? What were the results of this way? Today's pod discusses the war in Heaven and attempts to understand it biblically.
Revelation 11 introduces us to two enigmatic figures that the church has spent the last 1900 years trying to discover their identities. The two witnesses of revelation prophesy in sackcloth, can cause plagues, breath fire, and stop the rain. They preach about Jesus, apparently, but are killed by a beast that comes out of the abyss. Who are these mysterious witnesses? Are they people from the Old Testament returned to earth? The church? Two unknown prophets? We discuss this Bible mystery today.
God owns the 'cattle on a thousand hills.' He is above comprehension in power and majesty. Does He - as high and lofty as He is - favor the elite and powerful, or the poor, lowly and oppressed? Over and over again that Scripture answers that question in a very surprising way.
Two parter today. In part one, we discuss the enigmatic and terrifying angel of the abyss/king of the locusts/Abaddon/Apollyon of Revelation 9. Who is he, and what sort of creatures does he command? Does he serve God, or the enemy? Also - the world say, "If you've got it, flaunt it!" Is this biblical wisdom? We'll see today King Hezekiah show us the dangers of such thinking.
Circumcision is a physical (and painful!) sign of the covenant that God gave to Abraham. All males in Israel were to be circumcised. Later, however, Moses (and then Paul) begin to talk about the 'circumcision of the heart.' Today's episode is all about what the circumcision of the heart is, and how it can happen to non-Jewish people.
In Isaiah 37, we are presented with a fascinating and frightful scenario: The mighty King of Assyria is threatening to wipe Israel off the map and utterly destroy them. This is not an empty boast, as it turns out, because Assyria has done this to many other countries, and they are the world's major power at the time. How does righteous King Hezekiah respond to this insurmountable threat?
Revelation 6 shows 4 horsemen released by Heaven to bring various judgments and manifestations on the earth. There is a white horse, a red horse, a black horse and a pale/greenish horse. Who are the four Horsemen of the apocalypse, what do they represent, and why is the fourth horse green? (With an assist from Sherlock Holmes and George Eldon Ladd)
Many people have taught for years (or assumed!) that the Bible forbids interracial marriage, despite the fact that many of the Bible's best known figures - like Moses! - enjoyed interracial marriage. Does the Bible forbid interracial marriages? Not at all! Why then do some people believe that the Bible does so?
Today's pod covers two important topics. #1 - What is the Greatest commandment, according to Jesus, and where is it found? Is it one of the Ten Commandments? #2 - What is Heaven like now? What sort of beings surround the throne of God, and what colors would we see if we were there? The Bible tells us!
Revelation contains 7 letters from Jesus to various churches in Asia Minor. To one of those churches, the church of Laodicea, Jesus threatens to vomit them out of His mouth. What a colorful - and terrifying! - threat. The reason Jesus does this is because of the church's lukewarmness - today's podcast asks: What does it mean to be lukewarm, and why does Jesus take it so very seriously??
In the book of Revelation, Jesus writes a letter to seven different churches. In His first letter, to the church at Ephesus, He tells them that - even though they have been faithful in many ways - they have left their FIRST love...and because of this, they are on the verge of ceasing to be a church. What is the first love that Jesus is referring to here, and why is abandoning it so serious?
The Bible gives very little as to the physical description of Jesus when He was on the earth with His disciples. Interestingly, however, the Bible is much more detailed in its description of Jesus in His glorified/Heavenly/Resurrected form, and the description of the Heavenly Jesus by John in Revelation 1 is equal parts beautiful and terrifying. What does Jesus look like now, in Heaven?
Angels are very powerful and somewhat mysterious heavenly beings that are not described with a high amount of detail in the Bible. Archangels, of which Michael is one, are even less covered by biblical texts. Given how little the Bible says, what can we know about these powerful beings? How many of them are there? What are there names? How much power do they have? Today's episode covers archangels!
Most Christians believe that the Bible teaches that there is only ONE God. And that is true, the way that most Christians mean it. However, there are many passages in the Bible (like our focus passage: Psalms 82) that seem to indicate that there are many other Heavenly beings/deities/gods (little 'g') that are under God's rule. Psalms 82 even seems to indicate that God presides over these heavenly beings in a sort of divine council. What's that all about?
False teachers have, in many cases, become more aggressive in proselytizing and door to door 'evangelism' than genuine teachers. How should Christians respond to false teachers? With debate? Discussion? Hospitality? Hostility? Burning oil? The second letter of John gives good and practical advice here.
Numbers 35 introduces us to a very mysterious figure in the Bible: The Avenger of Blood. It is the job of this avenger to kill (yes, kill!) those who commit intentional murder. How did this Old Testament process of justice and judgment work, and are we still in an 'eye for an eye and tooth for a tooth age?" Also: Cities of Refuge.
Consider for a moment: What kind of people are Christians known to be by those outside of the faith? Do we have a good reputation? If you stopped a non-believer, and asked them what their one word adjective to describe Christians would be - what do you think their answer would be? If we went to God's Word to see what kind of people we should be, and also sought a one-word answer, what would that word be? What kind of people MUST Christians be, above all else?
The Bible describes death as an enemy, and indicates that this is the last enemy that will be defeated by God. Isaiah 25 gives us a big hint as to what is going to happen to death when Jesus returns, and Revelation 21 finishes spelling it out with some incredibly encouraging news.
1 John 2 talks about a certain group of people who have overcome the 'evil one.' Given that the evil one is far smarter, stronger and more powerful than any human, this sounds like a pretty amazing claim. How can Christians resist and even conquer the evil one?
Most people believe - rightly so - that God is kind, merciful and loving. In their minds, a kind and merciful God could never be angry...but the Bible is quite clear that God is angry with sin. As we explore this aspect of His character, we will see how good, just, moral and right it is that God is angry with grievous sin.
Some critics of the Bible have charged that it seems to indicate the second coming will be quite swift, and the fact that Jesus hasn't returned for almost 2000 years seems - to them - to undermine the credibility of the Bible. Is this charge true - does the Bible really indicate the return of Jesus will be swift? 2nd Peter 3 will show us that this is not at all the case. We're also talking about sea dragons and leviathans in this episode!
The church lost a great servant of the Gospel today in Ravi Zacharias, and we have a brief tribute to him on today's pod, along with an excellent short devotion he wrote on sharing the gospel with neither animosity, nor compromise. Our Big Bible question is all about the angels in prison of 2nd Peter - why did God have angels bound up in darkness and chains, and sent to prison - what did they do?!
Jesus says that the narrow road to salvation is a road that not many will follow - giving us the idea that most people won't become Christians. Jesus also warns, in Matthew 7, that many people will come to Him on the judgment day claiming to be Christians, but He will tell them, "I never knew you!" How then can a Christian know that they are saved - how can we have assurance of salvation? The Bible gives us an answer to this question, and Dr. R.C. Sproul is going to help us see it in today's episode.
To exalt somebody means to lift them up, promote them, or to think very highly of them. Surprisingly, the Bible indicates - many times over - that there is a certain kind of person that God delights to exalt and raise up. What kind of person is this? What character trait attracts the attention and promotion of the Lord?
Most people focus on times and dates when discussing the last days and the return of Christ. The Bible, however, does not. In fact, 1 Peter 4 tells Christians that there is something they should be focusing on - above all - as the end times gets nearer and nearer. What is it?
Today we discuss apologetics - is it all about saying we are sorry for being a Christian? Of course not! 1 Peter 3:15 calls Christians to be able to give an answer/defense as to why they have hope. Today we talk about the two areas that Christians should be experts on (The resurrection and the reliability of the Bible) and also HOW Christians should approach discussing faith with skeptics, critics, and the curious.
1 Peter 2 declares that Christians are a NEW race - does this nullify our existing ethnicities, or enhance them? This chapter also teaches that followers of Jesus are a ROYAL PRIESTHOOD. Can it be that you are royalty? That you are a priest of God Most High? YES!
The Bible makes it quite clear that Christians will endure discipline, affliction, suffering, trials and other unpleasantness. Why are such things necessary? Why doesn't God just protect us from ALL harm and trouble?
Elijah was a human being just like us. Weak, scared, anxious, even sometimes suicidal...and yet he prayed prayers that shook the earth and changed history. James 5 tells us to pray like Elijah - how can we do this? How can our prayers be more effective?
Hello everybody, and Happy Tuesday to you! Welcome into the most ridiculous, and yet profoundly titled episode of the Bible Reading Podcast. If the end of the world happens today, or a cure for coronavirus is announced, or World War 3 begins between the Bulgarians and the elite warriors of Burkina Faso, and you're wondering why in the world I'm not commenting on that in the intro...it's because I'm recording this episode early on Monday morning - I think it is the first time I've recorded two episodes in one day, but after 135 episodes, they all sort of run together in my mind.
Today's Bible readings consist of Numbers 21 (our SECOND straight day with Numbers as the focus passage!), plus: Psalms 60-61, Isaiah 10:5-34, and James 4. Our focus question of the day is not quite as outrageous as it sounds because Jesus HIMSELF makes the comparison between Him and the Bronze snake on a pole of Numbers 21 - so, let's go read that passage (warning if you are scared of snakes) and also Jesus' reference to that story in John 3, and then discuss what it all means.
14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.
John 3:14-15
Because I'm about to head out for a short road trip to Colorado, I'm going to be leaning into my preacher friends a little more over these next couple of episodes, and today that is great news for you, because our old friend Tim Keller is going to help us understand why Jesus is comparing Himself to the bronze snake, and this is an incredible message.
On every truck, plaque, uniform, building that has anything to do with medicine (hospitals, doctors, the medical) you will see an insignia with a serpent, usually coiled around a pole. It’s called the caduceus. It is the symbol of healing. It’s one of the very oldest symbols of healing we know. You’ve seen it thousands of times in your life. Do you know what it points to? Do you know what all of the medical facilities of this entire country are referring to? They’re referring to the incident which we’ve just read that is one of the most bizarre incidents anywhere in the Bible.
It’s a story, as we read, about an episode in the life of the children of Israel in which they began to really complain against God, to impute evil motives to God, to be very unhappy with the way in which God was treating them. God responds by sending into their midst a plague of poisonous serpents, snakes, that bite the Israelites. They begin to die. They pray. God hears the prayer, and he says to Moses, “Here’s how I’m going to cure them. Put a bronze serpent on a pole.”(The poles in all of the symbols are really a cross without a little top piece. It’s a “T.” A cross without a top piece and one or two snakes entangled, intertwined, coiled around it.) “Put it up so anyone who looks at it will be healed of their disease.” If you look at that, if we didn’t have any other interpretation of that, it would really be a very confusing story. First of all, God looks vindictive. The people are bellyaching. They’re complaining. They’re unhappy with the manna he gave them. They’re unhappy with the desert situation. God sends these poisonous serpents, so he looks vindictive.
Secondly, he looks impulsive and indecisive, because he seems to change his mind. They pray, and then he says, “Okay. I’ll heal you.” Thirdly, he seems petty and idiosyncratic. This is God! Can’t he say, “You’re healed”? What’s with the bronze serpent? How weird to make them look on the very thing that was killing them in order to save them. If you read the whole thing, you say, “It seems to mean nothing. It doesn’t make much sense.”
Except that Jesus Christ points back, and because Jesus Christ said this and showed the meaning of it, that’s the reason why this symbol is emblazoned on all the medical technology and places of medicine and healing in the world. He said, “Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.” Then he says the famous verse, “For God so loved the world …”
Whenever you see a hospital, whenever you see an EMS truck or something and you see the snake around the pole, do you think right away, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life”? You should, because that’s what it means. You say, “Well, okay. How does it mean it?”
What Jesus is saying, what Numbers is saying, what God is saying in the incident and, therefore, indirectly, of course, what every single one of those insignias is saying is there is only one disease that can really kill you. There is only one disease that really can kill you and that disease has one and only one remedy. Let’s look at the disease, which, of course, is sin, and let’s look at the remedy, which, of course, is the Son of Man lifted up.God has to show them there is a provision. God says, “Put a bronze snake up on a pole.” What does that mean? If there had only been one snake and the snake was sort of slithering around and biting people and they were getting sick and then it was going away, everybody would be upset. What would they do? The only way anybody could rest and be at peace again would be if some hunter came in to find the snake. As the hunter was going in, everybody was scared. You had to watch where you were going and all that.
What if the hunter caught the snake, crushed the snake, and destroyed it? The only way to bring hope back to the camp … What would the hunter do? You know what they would do. You’d lift the snake up on the pole with which you killed it. You smack a snake, and then you lift it up. In fact, the smartest thing to do with a snake, as you know, is not to hold it like this but to put it up with pinchers. You would walk through the camp and say, “I got it!” To hold a snake up on a pole means it’s dead. It’s gone. It’s been destroyed. It’s been captured.
Everybody would look and say, “We have hope again.” What God is saying to the Israelites, not to us, by putting that up is, “I am the One who healeth thee. I am the One who can stop the snakes and heal you of the poison. I am the hunter. I have the power. I am the One who puts the snake up on the pole. Look to me, not to the snake so much. To look to the snake is to look to me. Look to me in my power. Look to me in my mercy and you’ll be healed.” That’s what they did.
What he was saying was, “I am the One who heals you. Have hope in me.” But Jesus goes further and says, “Let me tell you what it really meant. As the snake in the wilderness was lifted up, so I will be lifted up.” The first thing it means is Jesus will die. A lifted-up snake was a dead snake. A lifted-up snake was a crushed snake. A lifted-up snake was a snake that had been smitten. For Jesus Christ to be lifted up did not just simply mean he went up the steps or something.
He says, “As the snake in the wilderness was lifted up, I will be lifted up,” which means, “I will die. I will be smitten. I will be crushed.” But it goes beyond that. He doesn’t just say, “I’m going to die.” Here’s what he says. He’s not just saying he will die, but he says, “I will die as the Serpent.” What is the Serpent? The Serpent is the sin. The Serpent is Satan. The Serpent is not just Satan. It represents the whole thing. It represents the evil that fell into our hearts. It represents the seed of the Serpent in us.
It represents the mistrust of God, the rebelliousness, and the thirst. It represents all the things sin is and all the things sin deserves. Therefore, when Jesus says, “I will be lifted up as the Serpent, I will be struck, I will be destroyed, I will die, but I won’t just die. I will die as the Serpent. I will die in the place of the Serpent …” You notice in 2 Corinthians 5, Paul does not say, “God made Jesus Christ sinful.” Of course, he couldn’t have made Jesus Christ sinful.
If Jesus Christ had been sinful, if he had become selfish and wicked and as picky as we are, he would never have gone to the cross. He never would have loved us to the end. What it says is, “God made him sin who knew no sin that we might become the righteousness of God in him.” It doesn’t say he made him sinful. He made him sin. It doesn’t mean he made him a Serpent. He made him as a Serpent. He treated him as the Serpent should be treated. He treated him as sin should be treated.
Now you know why, when Jesus was on the cross, and what he meant when he said, “I thirst.” Do you remember that? “I thirst.” It wasn’t just a physical thirst. He was taking upon himself hell. Do you know what hell is? Do you remember the parable of Lazarus and the rich man? Do you remember the place where the rich man goes to hell? It says he was burning up with thirst, and he prayed to Father Abraham, “I see Lazarus up there in heaven. Could he come and cool my tongue?” He prays the prayer of thirst.
It’s not because of fire. Don’t you see? Hell is a place where you are finally cast away from God. The thirst that begins here (the picky, picky, picky that begins here) has now become a raging fire. That’s all. Your conscience that is bothered here becomes a roaring lion. Your inability to find love here becomes an absolute, raging forest fire. That’s what hell is. It’s the insatiability of spiritual thirst. A tremendous emptiness that makes you unhappy with everything here, but it’s nothing compared to what will happen when you finally get your way.
What sin wants is to get away from God so you can be completely your own boss. When that finally happens, that little teeny bit of thirst will become a raging fire. That is what fell on Jesus. Jesus Christ took exactly what we would have experienced in hell forever. He got the fever. He got the convulsions. He got the raging thirst. He got the unquenchable fire. He said, “I thirst.” It all fell on him. Why? Because, of course, it says in Isaiah, “… with his stripes we are healed.” He heals all our sins, and he carries all our diseases.
C. You just look. As the snake in the desert was lifted up, so the Son of Man will be lifted up. How do you get saved by the snake? You just look. You don’t walk up to it and sort of rub it three times. You don’t go over to it and bow down three times. You don’t pray a sinner’s prayer in front of it. All you do is look.
Years ago, there was a guy named Charles Spurgeon who became a great Baptist preacher, but he was under agony in his soul. He was pretty sure he was a sinful person. He didn’t know how God could accept him. He went, because of a snowstorm, into a tiny, little primitive Methodist chapel, and the minister couldn’t get there because of the snowstorm.
Some poor deacon got up and had to preach. There were only four people present. He opened his text up, and he’d never preached a sermon before. The text was from Isaiah 45. It said, “Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth; for I am [a righteous] God [and a Savior] and there is none else.”
He got up and said, “Do you see what this is saying? You don’t do anything in order to be saved. You just have to look. You don’t say, ‘Oh, I need to work up to you in love.’ To look is to admit you have no loyalty in love. You don’t have to walk over to God. You don’t have to jump hoops to God. All you have to do is look. You have to admit he’s done everything necessary for you. You just have to look and see that he has saved you.” Spurgeon began to say, “Wait a minute! I don’t have to do? I just have to look? I just have to believe? I just have to receive?”
Because there were only four people in the service, finally the deacon looked down and he saw only one visitor. He said, “Young man, you look miserable, and you’re going to stay miserable until you obey my text.” At that point, Spurgeon suddenly realized he had been running and jumping and somersaulting, and all God wanted him to do was look and to admit he couldn’t save himself. That’s how sin is remedied.Timothy J. Keller, The Timothy Keller Sermon Archive (New York City: Redeemer Presbyterian Church, 2013).
Hello friends, and happy Monday to you all! As you might recall, I'm preparing for a short road trip this week, and trying to record a few extra episodes before I head out on the road, so the next few episodes might be a little shorter than normal. Have no fear, I should be back to my normal long-winded self by next weekend. Today's Bible readings are sort of complicated - thank you Robert Murray M'Cheyne - but they are still awesome. I actually had to debate between three different passages for our focus question, so that's a good sign. We're reading Numbers 20, Psalms 58 and 59, Isaiah 9-10:4 and James 3. Our focus question comes from the Numbers passage, and it concerns the episode at Meribah that caused God to say that Moses would not be able to go into the promised land. In this episode, we see the truth of James 3:1 (on our reading today) played out: "Not many should become teachers, my brothers, because you know that we will receive a stricter judgment." Let's read Numbers 20, and see how Moses gets disqualified, and also read about the death of Aaron.
Heartbreaking passage in many ways. The fact that Moses is barred from entering into the earthly promised land is quite stunning, since this is God's testimony about Moses:
5 Then the Lord descended in a pillar of cloud, stood at the entrance to the tent, and summoned Aaron and Miriam. When the two of them came forward, 6 he said:
“Listen to what I say:
If there is a prophet among you from the Lord,
I make myself known to him in a vision;
I speak with him in a dream.
7 Not so with my servant Moses;
he is faithful in all my household.
8 I speak with him directly,
openly, and not in riddles;
he sees the form of the Lord.So why were you not afraid to speak against my servant Moses?”
Numbers 12:5-8
So - why was God so...so what with Moses? Numbers actually does not say God's reaction, but we do later learn in Deuteronomy that God was indeed angry with Moses. But why? I think that this was a bigger deal than what we see at first. I see two big things that Moses did. First, He disobeyed the direct command of God. Moses was told to speak to rock, but He struck the rock instead. Of this incident, Spurgeon cleverly said:
Certainly Moses erred in smiting the rock, for he was bidden to speak to it. The best of men are men at the best.
C. H. Spurgeon, The Interpreter: Spurgeon’s Devotional Bible (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1964), 128.
Disobedience is serious, but I wonder if the second thing Moses did was even worse. In vs. 11, this happens:
Moses and Aaron summoned the assembly in front of the rock, and Moses said to them, “Listen, you rebels! Must we bring water out of this rock for you?”
Numbers 20:11
Is this Moses attempting to take credit for a miracle that originated with God? It is certainly possible, and that would be an egregious sin - and one that is often alive and well in church leaders today. I think that this is the reason that God says this later in Deuteronomy:
51 For both of you broke faith with me among the Israelites at the Waters of Meribath-kadesh in the Wilderness of Zin by failing to treat me as holy in their presence.
Deuteronomy 32:51
Of this second failure, Spurgeon writes:
Angry he certainly was; and when, reverting to a former miracle, the Most High directed him to take the wonder-staff—his rod of many miracles—and at the head of the congregation “speak to the rock,” and it would “give forth its water,” in the heat and agitation of his spirit he failed to implement implicitly the Divine command. Instead of speaking to the rock be spoke to the people, and his harangue was no longer in the language calm and dignified of the lawgiver, but had a certain tone of petulance and egotism. “Hear now, ye rebels; must we—must I and Aaron, not must Jehovah—fetch you water out of this rock?” And instead of simply speaking to it, he raised the rod and dealt it two successive strokes, just as if the rock were sharing the general perversity, and would no more than the people obey its Creator’s bidding. He was angry, and he sinned. He sinned and was severely punished
C. H. Spurgeon, The Treasury of David: Psalms 88-110, vol. 4 (London; Edinburgh; New York: Marshall Brothers, n.d.), 392.
I think that the major issue here was the petulance and egotism of Moses. This is a temptation to those who would lead God's people and a deadly danger to give into. Shepherds and leaders of God's people must constantly point them to Jesus and to the abundant blessings at the right hand of the Father. When leaders/pastors/elders/deacons begin to read their own press clippings - so to speak - when they begin to feel as if they are the one feeding/protecting/taking care of the people, then the eyes of the people can turn from God to the human leaders...and this is dreadful. Hebrews 12 instructs us to keep/fix/focus our eyes on Jesus - the author and finisher of our faith. When that focus shifts from Jesus to a human leader - even an incredibly gifted one - than our gaze is on that which cannot save nor sustain us. Psalms 34:5 notes that those who look to God for rescue are 'radiant' and they will never be ashamed. When we look to human leaders for our salvation - instead of to God - then our faces will not be radiant and we will indeed be disappointed. I'll close with some wise words from Jonathan Edwards:
[Moses] had a great zeal for God, and he could not bear to see the intolerable stiff-neckedness of the people, that they did not acknowledge the work of God, and were not convinced by all his wonders that they had seen. But human passion was mingled with his zeal, Psal. 106:32, 33. “They angered him also at the waters of strife; so that it went ill with Moses for their sakes: because they provoked his spirit, so that he spake unadvisedly with his lips.” Hear now, ye rebels, says he, with bitterness of language.—Secondly, He behaved himself, and spake, with an assuming air. He assumed too much to himself; Hear now, ye rebels, must we fetch water out of this rock? Spiritual pride wrought in Moses at that time. His temptations to it were very great; for he had had great discoveries of God, and had been privileged with intimate and sweet communion with him, and God had made him the instrument of great good to his church. But though he was so humble a person, and, by God’s own testimony, meek above all men upon the face of the whole earth, yet his temptations were too strong for him. Which surely should make our young ministers, that have of late been highly favoured, and have had great success, exceeding careful, and distrustful of themselves. Alas! how far are we from having the strength of holy, meek, aged Moses! The temptation at this day is exceeding great to both those errors that Moses was guilty of. There is great temptation to bitterness and corrupt passion with zeal; for there is so much unreasonable opposition made against this glorious work of God, and so much stiff-neckedness manifested in multitudes of this generation, notwithstanding all the great and wonderful works in which God has passed before them, that it greatly tends to provoke the spirits of such as have the interest of this work at heart, so as to move them to speak unadvisedly with their lips. And there is also great temptation to an assuming behaviour in some persons. When a minister is greatly succeeded from time to time, and so draws the eyes of the multitude upon him, when he sees himself followed, resorted to as an oracle—and people ready to adore him, and as it were to offer sacrifice to him, as it was with Paul and Barnabas at Lystra—it is almost impossible for a man to avoid taking upon him the airs of a master, or some extraordinary person; a man had need to have a great stock of humility, and much divine assistance, to resist the temptation. But the greater our dangers are, the more ought to be our watchfulness, prayerfulness, and diffidence, lest we bring ourselves into mischief
Jonathan Edwards, The Works of Jonathan Edwards, vol. 1 (Banner of Truth Trust, 1974), 403.
Hello friends, and happy Lord's Day to you all! Some of us have the privilege of worshipping together in person today, and some - like us - are still in quarantine. Wherever you fall along that spectrum, I pray that the Lord would bless you and keep you safe - that He would preserve your life and give you a wonderful gathering today. I am excited about our own church gathering, even though it is livestream. At our church - Valley Baptist Church in Salinas - we have had some wonderful times 'meeting' together over the internet - primarily because so many church members have been able to participate. We have great times of interactive prayer and so many encouraging testimonies and words have been sent in - we've even had multiple worship leaders lead us via video. It's not as great as being together in person, but I still look forward to our gathering every week. We'd love to have you join us at 11am Pacific on Facebook live - just go to VBC Salinas on Facebook, like our page, and you will be alerted when we go live...or just check out the recording.
Today, Robert Murray M'Cheyne - the original author of the Bible reading plan we are following this year - decided to get a little bit creative. Creative, or crazy...I'm not sure. Our readings are Numbers 19, Psalms 56-57, Isaiah 8 and 9:1-7, and James 2. Tomorrow the readings are even more, uhm, interesting. Do remember that the next few episodes might be a little shorter than normal, as I am preparing for a brief road trip this week and recording some episodes ahead of time. Yesterday was a fake shorter episode that ended up being average - this episode will likely be shorter. That said - NEVER, EVER trust a preacher's estimate of time, and mine in particular. I'm not very good at estimating how long something will last.
I have found that the Psalms have been particularly comforting to me as we have gone through this pandemic/quarantine time. I don't live and fight daily battles with anxiety and fear, but these past eight weeks have definitely increased the levels of those horrible things in my life, and maybe yours too. As things have progressed, I have found great comfort and assurance in reading through the Psalms and praying through them. I learned from Ben Patterson, via Kevin DeYoung, an excellent way to pray through the Psalms that I'd like to share with us now:
Sometimes it’s the simplest things that make the biggest difference. For many years I’ve used the 3 R’s I learned from Ben Patterson to pray through Scripture. This simple tool has helped me pray the Bible more than any other single strategy. I’ve used in my devotional times and have employed it often in leading others in prayer.
- Rejoice
- Repent
- Request
With every verse in the Bible we can do one (or more likely, all three) of these things. We can rejoice and thank God for his character and blessings. We can repent of our mistakes and sins. We can request new mercies and help.
Source: https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/kevin-deyoung/how-to-pray-using-scripture/
Let's take that and apply it to Psalms 57:
Be gracious to me, God, be gracious to me,
for I take refuge in you.
I will seek refuge in the shadow of your wings
until danger passes.
2 I call to God Most High,
to God who fulfills his purpose for me.
3 He reaches down from heaven and saves me,
challenging the one who tramples me.Selah
God sends his faithful love and truth.
4 I am surrounded by lions;
I lie down among devouring lions—
people whose teeth are spears and arrows,
whose tongues are sharp swords.
5 God, be exalted above the heavens;
let your glory be over the whole earth.
6 They prepared a net for my steps;
I was despondent.
They dug a pit ahead of me,
but they fell into it!Selah7 My heart is confident, God, my heart is confident.I will sing; I will sing praises.
8 Wake up, my soul!
Wake up, harp and lyre!
I will wake up the dawn.
9 I will praise you, Lord, among the peoples;
I will sing praises to you among the nations.
10 For your faithful love is as high as the heavens;
your faithfulness reaches the clouds.
11 God, be exalted above the heavens;
let your glory be over the whole earth.Psalms 57: 1-11
Hello friends and welcome to the weekend! As a heads up, the next few podcasts might be a little on the shorter than normal side, as I am preparing for a small road trip with my daughter, and will have to record a few episodes to upload while gone. So - the plan is - Lord willing! - for there to be an uninterrupted stream of episodes all next week, but to do that, I'll need to record a few in advance. Rejoice ye podcast saints who like the shorter episodes, but mourn all ye who yearn and hearken with joy unto the longer episodes. This should all return back to normal by next Saturday. Today's Bible readings include Numbers 17 and 18, Psalms 55, Isaiah 7 and James chapter 1, which is our focus passage for today, based on the final verse:
26 If anyone thinks he is religious without controlling his tongue, his religion is useless and he deceives himself. Pure and undefiled religion before God the Father is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself unstained from the world.
James 1:27
So - is there a religion that God calls pure and faultless? Yes! And it is James 1:27ism. Thanks for listening to today's show - Godspeed!
Okay, I'm kidding. Shorter, but not quite that short...we haven't even read Numbers yet! One thing to address before we get to the big question. The word 'religion' here in James 1:26-27 is the Greek word 'θρησκεία thrēskeía.' In one sense, 'religion' is a pretty good translation of the word, but to a modern reader, I believe that the word 'religion' means something quite a bit different than what James is communicating here. When most here the word 'religion' they think about all of the various different religions of the world - all of the different practices of faith and beliefs about salvation, etc. That doesn't appear to be - at all - what James is talking about here. I think a better translation of the word is 'God-fearing,' for at least two reasons. #1 Threskia is derived from a Greek word 'θρησκός thrēskós' which means fearful or trembling, and is sometimes used in the context of worshipping God. #2 James isn't talking about all of the religions of the world and how to please their various deities; He is telling Christians how to please God - how to walk in a God-fearing, God-pleasing way. That said, I can't find a SINGLE modern translation that agrees with me, so you should trust the translators and not me.
Regardless, I believe that every modern Bible translator would agree that James 1:26-27 is indeed teaching us what God finds pure and faultless, and there are three elements to it:
#1 To please God, we MUST control our tongues - our words, our speech. The good news is that we don't have to speculate what James was talking about in terms of using our words in a God-pleasing way, because he tells us a few paragraphs later:
9 With the tongue we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in God’s likeness. 10 Blessing and cursing come out of the same mouth. My brothers and sisters, these things should not be this way.
James 3:9-10
#2 To please God, we must look after orphans and widows - those who are fatherless, motherless or parentless and those who have lost their husbands. How big of a deal is this to God? I'm glad you asked:
- 16 Circumcise your hearts, therefore, and do not be stiff-necked any longer. 17 For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality and accepts no bribes. 18 He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the foreigner residing among you, giving them food and clothing. Deuteronomy 10:16-18
- The Lord watches over the foreigner
and sustains the fatherless and the widow,
but he frustrates the ways of the wicked. Psalms 146:9 - “Do not mistreat or oppress a foreigner, for you were foreigners in Egypt.22 “Do not take advantage of the widow or the fatherless. 23 If you do and they cry out to me, I will certainly hear their cry. Exodus 22:22-23
- 19 When you are harvesting in your field and you overlook a sheaf, do not go back to get it. Leave it for the foreigner, the fatherless and the widow, so that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hands. 20 When you beat the olives from your trees, do not go over the branches a second time. Leave what remains for the foreigner, the fatherless and the widow. Deuteronomy 24:18-20
- 28 At the end of every three years, bring all the tithes of that year’s produce and store it in your towns, 29 so that the Levites (who have no allotment or inheritance of their own) and the foreigners, the fatherless and the widows who live in your towns may come and eat and be satisfied, and so that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hands. Deuteronomy 14:28-29
- Sing to God, sing in praise of his name,
extol him who rides on the clouds;
rejoice before him—his name is the Lord.
5 A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows,
is God in his holy dwelling.
6 God sets the lonely in families,
he leads out the prisoners with singing;
but the rebellious live in a sun-scorched land.A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling. Psalms 68:5 - “How long will you defend the unjust
and show partiality to the wicked?
3 Defend the weak and the fatherless;
uphold the cause of the poor and the oppressed.
4 Rescue the weak and the needy;
deliver them from the hand of the wicked. Psalms 82:2-4 - This is God castigating the other elohim. - Cursed is anyone who withholds justice from the foreigner, the fatherless or the widow.”Then all the people shall say, “Amen!”- Deuteronomy 27:19
- 3 This is what the Lord says: Do what is just and right. Rescue from the hand of the oppressor the one who has been robbed. Do no wrong or violence to the foreigner, the fatherless or the widow, and do not shed innocent blood in this place. 4 For if you are careful to carry out these commands, then kings who sit on David’s throne will come through the gates of this palace, riding in chariots and on horses, accompanied by their officials and their people. Jeremiah 22:3-4
- 9 “This is what the Lord Almighty said: ‘Administer true justice; show mercy and compassion to one another. 10 Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the foreigner or the poor. Do not plot evil against each other.’ Zechariah 7:9-11
- But you, God, see the trouble of the afflicted;
you consider their grief and take it in hand.
The victims commit themselves to you;
you are the helper of the fatherless. Psalms 10:14 - Do not move an ancient boundary stone
or encroach on the fields of the fatherless,
11 for their Defender is strong;
he will take up their case against you. Proverbs 23:9-11
Wash and make yourselves clean.
Take your evil deeds out of my sight;
stop doing wrong.
17 Learn to do right; seek justice.
Defend the oppressed.
Take up the cause of the fatherless;
plead the case of the widow. 18 “Come now, let us settle the matter,”says the Lord.“Though your sins are like scarlet,they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson,they shall be like wool. Isaiah 1:16-18
#3 - Pure and faultless God-fearing is to keep yourself from being stained/transformed by the world. James goes on to elaborate on this point sharply as well:
4 You adulterous people! Don’t you know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? So whoever wants to be the friend of the world becomes the enemy of God. 5 Or do you think it’s without reason that the Scripture says: The spirit he made to dwell in us envies intensely
James 4:4-5
As a kid, you sometimes wonder if your parents have favorites. As a youth minister, I definitely saw parents with kids who were their favorites and kids who weren't. As a dad of 5, I haven't really had to struggle with that much, all my kids are very different, but I've not ever had a favorite - they are all my favorite. I wonder sometimes about God, though. Does He have favorites...if He does, I think I know who they are: widows and orphans, and I'm not even kidding.
The Lord is near the brokenhearted;
he saves those crushed in spirit.
Psalms 34:18
Hello everybody and happy Friday to you. After a long and rambly Coronavirus intro yesterday, today's intro is short. I would say short and sweet, but it's actually just short.
Comment: Jesse: I don't see the video Set your eyes that you mention. I will go look for it on youtube. FIXED!
Today's Bible readings include Numbers 16, Psalms 52-54, Isaiah 6 and Hebrews 13. Our focus passage is the famous throne room passage of Isaiah 6, in which Isaiah (in the year King Uzziah dies) sees God high and elevated on His throne, attended and accompanied by these mysterious creatures called 'seraphim' that only appear in one chapter in the entire Bible! Let's go read Isaiah 6, and then discuss what these beings might be.
In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a high and lofty throne, and the hem of his robe filled the temple. 2 Seraphim were standing above him; they each had six wings: with two they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they flew. 3 And one called to another:
Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Armies;
his glory fills the whole earth.4 The foundations of the doorways shook at the sound of their voices, and the temple was filled with smoke.
5 Then I said:
Woe is me for I am ruined
because I am a man of unclean lips
and live among a people of unclean lips,
and because my eyes have seen the King,
the Lord of Armies.6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me, and in his hand was a glowing coal that he had taken from the altar with tongs.
Isaiah 6:1-6
What a fascinating passage! For one, we get some insight into the physical appearance of God, which was covered in depth in episode 69 of the podcast. He is often depicted in the midst of smoke and fire and accompanied by shaking and other marvels. And often there are various and sundry heavenly beings surrounding the throne, including the seraphim we see here.
Fascinating creatures, these seraphim. They can fly, they can talk, and they have six wings - a pair that covers their face, a pair that covers their feet, and a pair for flying. I have been familiar with Isaiah 6 for a very long time, at least since I was a teenager. I suspect - but don't remember - that the pastor of the church I grew up in referred often to this text, because I was very familiar with it in my youth, and it was amongst the more interesting Bible passages out there. What do you picture when you picture the seraphim in this passage - what do these beings look like in your mind's eye? I can tell you that for almost my entire life I just thought of them as six-winged angel looking beings - human looking creatures, probably dressed in white and having two big feathered wings on their back, and a small set of feathered wings covering their faces and feet. Is that an accurate picture? I have no idea - I've never seen a seraph!
However, when you begin to study angels and demons from what the Bible teaches, and not just what is depicted in pop-culture, a different picture of these beings emerges. For one, angels don't have wings. Cherubim and seraphim do indeed have wings, but we nowhere see cherubim and seraphim described as angels, so I believe it is wise to conclude that these are a different class of heavenly beings entirely. Likely related to angels, but different somehow. We are given much information about cherubim, including the intriguing possibility in Ezekiel that Satan himself was possibly a cherubim.
You were the seal of perfection,
full of wisdom and perfect in beauty.
13 You were in Eden, the garden of God.
Every kind of precious stone covered you:
carnelian, topaz, and diamond,
beryl, onyx, and jasper,
lapis lazuli, turquoise and emerald.
Your mountings and settings were crafted in gold;
they were prepared on the day you were created.
14 You were an anointed guardian cherub,
for I had appointed you.
You were on the holy mountain of God;
you walked among the fiery stones.
15 From the day you were created
you were blameless in your ways
until wickedness was found in you.Ezekiel 28: 12-15
This is a fascinating passage, but it tells us next to nothing about seraphim. What are they? Well - other than the brief Isaiah 6 description of these beings, literally the only other thing we can know from the Bible about seraphim comes from the etymology of their name. Unfortunately, that is where our mystery deepens, because - based on the name - many scholars believe that seraphim are either burning/smoking/fiery heavenly beings with wings OR they are cobra-like snake beings. And no, I'm not joking about that. The trouble is that the name seraphim can either come from the verb saraph, which in Hebrew means burning, or from the noun saraph, which in Hebrew indicates a venomous snake like creature. (Presumably because their venom 'burns,' when it is injected.) So - which is it? Unfortunately, we don't know from the Bible text alone, so we will turn to an expert on angels in the Bible, Logos scholar in residence, Dr. Michael Heiser, and he writes:
A number of passages in the Bible utilize the concept of fire in depicting the presence of God. Among the most familiar is Genesis 3:24, where Yahweh stations cherubim with flaming swords at the entrance to Eden to ensure the fallen Adam and Eve do not reenter. In nonbiblical portrayals of divine presence (e.g., the tablets from Ugarit), fiery messengers guard the divine presence.
In Isaiah 6, fiery guardians, seraphim, are present in the throne room of God. The word “seraphim” derives from either the noun saraph (“serpent”; compare the Egyptian word seraf) or the verb saraph (“to burn”). The two meanings likely overlap in Isaiah 6. King Hezekiah’s relationship with Egypt, which coincided with Isaiah’s ministry, influenced the royal iconography during Hezekiah’s reign. Seraphim may therefore refer to a cobra and its burning venom (Egyptians considered cobras to be divine guardians). Psalm 104:4 also refers to fiery “ministers” in Yahweh’s presence.
Aside from fiery beings, many biblical passages describe both Yahweh’s throne room and presence as fiery and full of smoke. In Exodus 3, Yahweh appears to Moses in a burning bush. After the Israelite people have left Egypt, the divine presence moves with them in a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire at night (Exod 13:21–22; 14:24). Yahweh at one point descends on Mount Sinai in fire and smoke (Exod 19:18; 24:17; compare Rev 15:8). Other passages create the impression that fire is a stock image in describing the appearance of Yahweh (Deut 4:36; Psa 144:5; 2 Sam 22:7–13). At times a rushing or stormy wind accompanies fire imagery (Ezek 1:4; Isa 28:2; 29:6; 30:27–30; Psa 50:3; compare Heb 12:18). Other passages describe God Himself as a consuming fire (Deut 4:24; 9:3; compare Heb 12:29), and Yahweh uses fiery bursts and lightning bolts as weapons against his enemies (Josh 10:11; Psa 18:7–14; 21:9; 148:8; 2 Sam 22:13–15; Isa 30:30).
This imagery carried into the New Testament, most prominently in the events of Pentecost in Acts 2:
And when the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in the same place. And suddenly a sound like a violent rushing wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. And divided tongues like fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages as the Spirit gave them ability to speak out (Acts 2:1–4).
The stormy aura of “a violent rushing wind” accompanied by flaming “tongues” indicates that the gathered disciples are now in the divine presence; the throne room of God has come to them. This fire is associated with the Holy Spirit—the presence of God. As with other prophetic figures, the apostles are commissioned in the divine presence by the divine presence.
Michael S. Heiser, “Fire as a Motif of Divine Presence,” in Faithlife Study Bible (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2012, 2016).
Now, Heiser doesn't tip his hand here as to what his best guess on seraphim is - snake-like being, or burning heavenly being, but he does in his book The Unseen Realm:
The seraphim of Isa 6:2, 6 that attend Yahweh’s throne may also have been fiery beings if the noun derives from the verb saraph (“to burn”). It is more likely that seraphim derives from the Hebrew noun saraph (“serpent”), which in turn is drawn from Egyptian throne guardian terminology and conceptions. If that is the case, Egyptian imagery relating to the divine throne guardians includes fire as well.
Michael S. Heiser, The Unseen Realm: Recovering the Supernatural Worldview of the Bible, First Edition. (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2015).
So - can it be that the throne of God is attended and protected by heavenly and flying snake-like beings? It is possible, but I would say that I am at about 50-50...maybe even 60-40 in favor of seraphim being heavenly flying creatures that are somehow burning with something that resembles fire. My only reason for leaning in this direction is because of the astonishing prevalence of FIRE in so many of the narratives - Old and New Testament - that describe the setting of the throne room of God, and so few narratives that describe anything serpent-like in relation to God. There's also the feet thing. Snakes don't have feet, but I do believe that Satan - the tempter in the garden of Eden - did have feet before he was cursed, so the being the deceived Adam and Eve was likely some sort of reptile/dragonish creatures - at least at first, and not a snake-like creature.
This is a mystery - one of many - that I look forward to learning personally in Heaven!
Hello everybody, and happy Thursday to you! Today is the beginning of week 8 of quarantine for us in central California/The Bay Area. That seems like a long time. If you had told me at the beginning of the year that my whole city would spend 8 weeks in quarantine this year, and you somehow convinced me it was absolutely true, then after I got over my stunned silence, I guess I would begin to prepare for the end of the world...anything that could keep a whole city/state/country in quarantine for weeks at a time must be horrifying. And yet the reality of what we've experienced has been somewhat less than most Outbreak style movies would depict. It is unnerving, and i don't really think people are exaggerating the coronavirus by and large, at least I don't think the experts are. Some experts seem to consider it slightly worse than the flu and some experts seem to consider it slightly less worse then Captain Trips or XDR Tuberculosis, but when taken in total, the experts seem to paint a pretty accurate picture: Coronavirus is quite serious - more so than flu, but it is not a death sentence to most people. i'd love to know what we will think in a couple of years. Did we overreact or underreact to this threat? Honestly, I think it might be too soon to tell, but my guess is that - in the moment at least - we properly reacted. Two years from now when we are likely to have effective Covid treatments, I suspect that we will will look back and think that we overreacted, but we don't have effective treatments now - at least not in large scale. My money's on Remdesivir, and has been since March. I am not literally investing in it, however, though I would if I could! Well... you didn't come here for the coronavirus musings of a non-expert, so let's get to the meat of the podcast:
Today's Bible readings include Numbers 15, Psalms 51, Isaiah 5 and Hebrews 12. Back to Hebrews for our focus passage, and to Hebrews 12:1-3 for the origin of that question. Honestly, since the pandemic has hit, this has been probably my most comforting Bible passage - Hebrews 12:1-3 or Psalms 34.
Therefore, since we also have such a large cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us lay aside every hindrance and the sin that so easily ensnares us. Let us run with endurance the race that lies before us, 2 keeping our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith. For the joy that lay before him, he endured the cross, despising the shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.3 For consider him who endured such hostility from sinners against himself, so that you won’t grow weary and give up.
Hebrews 12:1-4
As I said, Hebrews 12:1-4 has become a most precious passage to me over these past 8 or so weeks of uncertainty and fear. 7 weeks of quarantine with a family of 7 - all of us eager to be anywhere but home - can be trying and wearying. This passage gives us great counsel on how to get through times of weariness, times of hindrance and times when we just want to give up. What is that counsel? We are to Keep our eyes on Jesus, or FIX our eyes on Jesus. When we consider Him, we will - somehow, someway - have the strength to keep going. It's a great passage, and very spiritual sounding...but the big question is this: HOW (practically speaking) do we keep our eyes on Jesus since He is no longer here on earth, and is invisible to us?
Here's the thing: The Bible is not just giving us spiritual counsel that is impossible to follow in a practical way. I believe there are at least TWO big ways, as we have discussed in part before, that we can keep/fix/focus on Jesus and consider Him.
#1 - We consider Jesus and fix our eyes on Him through His Word - by reading His teachings, His message, and reading the Gospel's description of His life, death and resurrection. This is using what many call our 'mind's eye,' but with the Word of God, I believe it goes beyond mere imagination. We are told earlier in Hebrews 4:12 that God's Word is "living and active," and I'm not sure that most of us have fully apprehended just exactly what that passage means. I am quite certain that it means that the Words of the Bible are far different from the words of other books. When we read Tom Sawyer, we don't encounter Mark Twain, but only his imagination. Likewise reading anything by Shakespeare, Milton, Dante, Lu Xun, Steinbeck, Hemingway or Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn. All of these are brilliant writers and minds, but we don't actually interact with THEM when we read their books, because they are all dead. When we read the Word of God, however, we DO encounter God and His living and active presence. I don't know exactly how this works, but John 1 tells us that Jesus IS the Word of God. Revelation 19 tells us that Jesus' name is 'the Word of God.' What does this mean? I don't know for certain, but I believe these passages mean that we actually - somehow, someway - encounter Jesus in His Word. Not merely His teachings, but HIMSELF. We see this a little bit in John 15. Initially, Jesus is talking about His disciples abiding in Him, and He in them/us, but then He shifts in verse 7:
If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you want and it will be done for you.
John 15:7
It is almost as if the Word of Jesus and the presence of Jesus are...synonymous, similar - I struggle with words here, but I believe the Bible is pointing us to a very interesting dynamic in which the living Word in us is more than a mere remembrance of the teaching of Jesus but is itself the presence of Jesus. The bottom line is this: The primary way we look to Jesus as the author and perfecter/finisher of our faith - and the primary way we consider/concentrate on Jesus is through His living Word.
I also believe that there is a second way, that is somewhat related to the first way. Yesterday, in Hebrews 11, we discussed how faith is SUBSTANCE/REALITY/CONCRETE - the REALITY of what is hoped for and the proof for what is seen. A few days ago, in Hebrews 8 and 9, we saw how Jesus - as the High Priest of Heaven is actively in the Tabernacle of Heaven mediating between God and Man (drawing us and God the Father closer) and interceding for His people. Jesus is - RIGHT NOW - mediating/ministering/interceding in the Heavenly Tabernacle. Ministering before God the Father on behalf of His followers. I believe we can look to Jesus in the Heavenly Tabernacle by faith, in the same way John Piper talked about yesterday in His discussion of faith in Hebrews 11. Since faith is not mere hope, but a concrete assurance of reality - we KNOW that Jesus is in the tabernacle praying for His and mediating for us. As Robert Murray M'Cheyne, the Scottish author of the Bible reading plan we are following says:
“If I could hear Christ praying for me in the next room, I would not fear a million enemies. Yet distance makes no difference. He is praying for me."
Pastor Robert Murray M'Cheyne
And that's it. By faith we BELIEVE with real CERTAINTY that Jesus is praying for His people and mediating on our behalf - and KNOWING THAT gives us perseverance and strength and hope and energy and causes us NOT to quit! In this way, we are SEEING JESUS - LOOKING TO JESUS - CONSIDERING JESUS. Let me close with two more encouraging truths:
“It is a consoling thought that Christ is praying for us, even when we are negligent in our prayer life; that He is presenting to the Father those spiritual needs which were not present to our minds and which we often neglect to include in our prayers; and that He prays for our protection against the dangers of which we are not even conscious, and against the enemies which threaten us, though we do not notice it. He is praying that our faith may not cease, and that we may come out victoriously in the end."
Louis Berkhoff - Systematic Theology
Who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us.
Romans 8:34
Hello friends and happy Wednesday to you! Today we are covering a Bible passage that many might be familiar with, as this is a favorite for preachers to preach through - and with good reason! Hebrews 11 is rich with meaning and lots depth and encouragement. This passage gives us not only a definition of faith, but a plethora of illustrations that demonstrate to us what faith is, and how it might look in our lives. In addition to Hebrews 11, we will also be reading Numbers 14, Psalms 50 and Isaiah 3 and 4.
Let's go read Hebrews 11 and then return and discuss our major question: What is faith?
Did you catch the Hebrews definition?
Now faith is the reality of what is hoped for, the proof of what is not seen. 2 For by this our ancestors were approved. 3 By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was made from things that are not visible.
Hebrews 11:1-3
That is a very interesting definition of faith, isn't it? Hebrews 11:1 in the ESV says this, "Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen." and in the NIV, "Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see." and the NLT, "Faith shows the reality of what we hope for; it is the evidence of things we cannot see." In the KJV: "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen" In the Lexham, "Now faith is the realization of what is hoped for, the proof of things not seen,"and the Young's Literal, "And faith is of things hoped for a confidence, of matters not seen a conviction"
All of these translations are expressing the same Greek words in a slightly different way of explanation, but the meaning is clear: faith is not mere hopeful belief that something might happen - "I hope this quarantine will be over soon," "I hope Alabama wins the 2020 national championship," "I hope my doctor visit goes well." It is good to hope, but faith is something different - it is not hopefulness in an uncertain outcome in a wishful sense, but it is assurance, confidence, reality, realization and substance. Faith is a concrete belief in a reality - that is the point of what Hebrews is telling us, and that reality/substance/confidence/assurance/conviction produces actions....and not actions like merely going to church, or going through religious motions. Actions like Noah building an Ark for years in the middle of dry land. Actions like Abraham heading out on a life-changing move of himself and his whole family to a land he didn't know and had never seen. Actions like Rahab welcoming the Israelite spies and risking her life to protect them. Actions like Joshua leading a musical/prayer march around the walls of a well-fortified city that led to its capture. And actions like Moses refusing to live as fake royalty in the house of Pharoah. Hebrews is telling us that faith is a bedrock reality that causes people to make life-changing, life-altering decisions that are risky and stupid if our faith is somehow misplaced. Faith is concrete substance/reality/confidence/assured says Hebrews 11 and faith leads to action and life-change. Here are a few other definitions:
- "Faith is a living, daring confidence in God's grace, so sure and certain that a man could stake his life on it a thousand times." Martin Luther
- "True faith, not head knowledge, is a firm conviction that brings personal surrender to God and His Word." Kay Arthur
- "Faith means being sure of what we hope for now. It means knowing something is real, this moment, all around you, even when you don't see it." Joni Eareckson Tada
- "TRUE faith is reliance. Look at any Greek lexicon you like, and you will find that the word πιστευειν does not merely mean to believe, but to trust, to confide in, to commit to, entrust with, and so forth; and the marrow of the meaning of faith is confidence in, reliance upon. Let me ask, then, every professor here who professes to have faith, is your faith the faith of reliance? You give credit to certain statements, do you also place trust in the one glorious person who alone can redeem? Have you confidence as well as credence? A creed will not save you, but reliance upon the anointed Saviour is the way of salvation." - C. H. Spurgeon, Flashes of Thought (London: Passmore & Alabaster, 1874), 146.
- “Faith is the evidence of things not seen”; that is, it is their being evident. This verse is as much as if he had said, “Faith is the being present of things that are to come, and the being clearly seen of things that are not seen.” Jonathan Edwards, Notes on Scripture, ed. Harry S. Stout and Stephen J. Stein, vol. 15, The Works of Jonathan Edwards (London; New Haven: Yale University Press, 1998), 81.
- "Faith is a grounded, justifiable knowledge, and not a fancy, or ineffectual opinion; having for its object the infallible revelation and certain truth of God; and not a falsehood, nor a mere probability, or ‘verisimile.’" Richard Baxter, William Orme, The Practical Works of the Rev. Richard Baxter, vol. 12 (London: James Duncan, 1830), 54.
- "We all in one sense ‘believe’ we are mortal: but until one’s forties does one really believe one is going to die? On the edge of a cliff can’t one believe, and yet not really believe, that there’s no danger? But certainly this real belief in the truths of our religion is a great gift from God. When in Hebrews ‘faith’ is defined as ‘the substance of things hoped for’,179 I wd. translate ‘substance’ as ‘substantialness’ or ‘solidity’ or (almost) ‘palpableness’." - C. S. Lewis, The Collected Letters of C. S. Lewis, ed. Walter Hooper, vol. 3 (New York: HarperCollins e-books; HarperSanFrancisco, 2004–2007), 751.
- Faith is to believe what you do not see, or to trust words about a hidden thing which truly exists, though you cannot see it with your eyes. About the things that we see we have knowledge, and not faith.Elliot Ritzema, 300 Quotations for Preachers from the Early Church, Pastorum Series (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2013).
Great definitions there - let me close with a bit of exposition from John Piper to give us a fuller idea of what exactly faith is:
Hebrews 11:1 says, “Faith is the conviction—or better, the evidence—of things not seen.” And then the writer illustrates this in verse 3 when he says that “we understand by faith” that God created the world. In other words, faith is not just a responding act of the soul; it is also a grasping or perceiving or understanding act. It is a spiritual act that sees the fingerprints of God. This does not mean that you believe them into being. That would be wishful thinking—the power of positive thinking. That is not authentic faith. Real faith is based on real Truth. It looks deeply at the world God has made—looks through it, so to speak—and by the grace of God, it sees the glory of God (as Psalm 19:1 says) standing forth off the creation like a 3-D image.
The Substance of Things Hoped For
Now that leaves us just a few minutes to focus on the other part of the definition of faith in verse 1: “Now faith is the assurance—or the substance—of things hoped for.” It may be that all this means is that faith is a deep confidence that the promises of God will come true so that we bank on them. That would be enough to free us from the fears and greed and worldliness that block the flow of radical, risk-taking, sacrificial love. If we have a strong conviction that God will care for us and bring us to glory and fulfill all his promises to us forever, then we will be free from self-indulgence and free for serving others.
But I think it means more—or maybe this is just a way of filling up this meaning with all that’s really here. The word “assurance” here can mean “nature” or “substance” or “reality” or “essence” in other places, for example, Hebrews 1:3 (“exact representation of God’s nature”). If that is what is meant here, then we should think like this.
What could the “substance” or “nature” of things hoped for mean? I think it could mean that faith apprehends the goodness and the sweetness of what God promises so clearly that this goodness and sweetness are substantially present in faith. In other words, faith grasps—lays hold of—God’s preciousness so firmly that in the faith itself there is the substance of the goodness and the sweetness promised. Faith doesn’t create what we hope for—that would be a mere mind game. Faith is a spiritual apprehending or perceiving or tasting or sensing of the beauty and sweetness and preciousness and goodness of what God promises—especially his own fellowship, and the enjoyment of his own presence.
Faith does not just feel confident that this is coming some day. Faith has spiritually laid hold of and perceived and tasted that it is real. And this means that faith has the substance or the nature of what is hoped for in it. Faith’s enjoyment of the promise is a kind of substantial downpayment of the reality coming.
John Piper, Sermons from John Piper (1990–1999) (Minneapolis, MN: Desiring God, 2007).
As a bonus, here are two other great quotes on faith:
"Let us see to it that we keep God before our eyes; that we walk in His ways, and seek to please and glorify Him in everything, great and small. Depend upon it, God’s work, done in God’s way, will never lack God’s supplies." Hudson Taylor
“Furnish thyself with arguments from the promises to enforce thy pravers, and make them prevalent with God. The promises are the ground of faith, and faith, when strengthened, will make thee fervent, and such fervency ever speeds and returns with victory out of the field of prayer…. The mightier any is in the Word, the more mighty he will be in prayer.” - William Gurnall
Hello friends, and Happy Tuesday to you. I realize with some chagrin that I missed wishing you a happy Star Wars day yesterday, but I can wish you a happy Cinco De Mayo today. Today's Bible readings include Numbers 11 and 12, Psalms 49, Isaiah 2 and Hebrews 10, which is our focus passage. Today we finish up our discussion of The Perseverance of the Saints, or Once Saved Always Saved, which basically deals with the question: Can a Christian lose their salvation?
Part One of the series was episode 121
Part Two was Episode 124
And today is the finale, The Return of the Jedi of our discussion of the Perseverance of the Saints. This is an important theological discussion, but it is a very, very important practical pastoring and real life spirituality question to consider, especially in the West. The fact is that there are many in the U.S. and other Western countries that proclaim Jesus with their lips, but deny Him with their lifestyle, as the old quote goes. In other Words, they are Christian in name only. Perhaps this is because they made a one time decision eons ago in their childhood, or perhaps it is because they grew up in church, or grew up with a very religious mom, or in a very religious area, or what have you.
In the same way that almost everybody that grows up in Alabama is either an Alabama fan or an Auburn fan - whether you like/know anything about football at all - many people born into religious families or churchy areas consider themselves Christians. However, it needs to be understood that Jesus Himself did not consider being a follower of His to be something you are born into, something you naturally inherit from your parents, or a decision you make in the heat of the moment when the choir is on the third verse of "Just as I Am," and the preacher is pleading for sinners to come, and you walk the aisle simply because you got caught up in the moment. Generally, when Jesus called people - He told them to FOLLOW HIM, and He meant that quite literally. Matthew left his money and his tax collecting business and began to literally FOLLOW Jesus all around the country. Peter, James, John and Andrew abandoned their fishing business and followed Jesus. Mary Magdalene and the other ladies that took care of Jesus and the disciples left their lives behind, and literally travelled around the country with Him - hanging on His every Word, and serving Him actively.
The Jesus way, however, is not how usually how churches have treated following Jesus over the past few decades. Instead, many churches, pastors and evangelists have preached for 'decisions,' which is when you give a message and an invitation at the end of it, and invite people - usually with a strong emotional appeal - to give their lives to Jesus - usually by praying and 'asking Him into your heart." I think there are many good things about proclaiming the good news in a way where somebody should be led to make a decision, but the fact is that most Western churches don't follow the pattern of Jesus and the disciples when proclaiming the Gospel, and that has led to many more people making decisions for Christ than actually becoming genuine followers of Christ. As we discussed in episode 124 - this is not a terribly big surprise, because Jesus shows in in Mark 4 - the Parable of the Sower - that many of the people who receive the Word of God - even some who receive it joyfully - do not ultimately go on to be saved. They believe for a moment in time - maybe an extended moment in time - but their belief is not actually a saving belief in Jesus, because 'they have no root,' and they don't persevere in following Him.
Hebrews 2, 3, 6 and 10 all contain strong warnings to followers of Jesus - urging them to not quit, but to persevere and continue on in the faith. Hebrews 10 contains a particularly sober warning for any who would backslide (a fancy old-school religious term that basically means moving away from Jesus and His teachings.):
26 For if we deliberately go on sinning after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, 27 but a terrifying expectation of judgment and the fury of a fire about to consume the adversaries. 28 Anyone who disregarded the law of Moses died without mercy, based on the testimony of two or three witnesses. 29 How much worse punishment do you think one will deserve who has trampled on the Son of God, who has regarded as profane the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace? 30 For we know the one who has said,
Vengeance belongs to me; I will repay,
and again,
The Lord will judge his people.
31 It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God....
35 So don’t throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. 36 For you need endurance, so that after you have done God’s will, you may receive what was promised.
37 For yet in a very little while,
the Coming One will come and not delay.
38 But my righteous one will live by faith;
and if he draws back,
I have no pleasure in him.39 But we are not those who draw back and are destroyed, but those who have faith and are saved.
Hebrews 10
Some see in those verses a strong warning against falling away - a warning that true Christians can and do fall away, and when they do, they are potentially lost forever, unless they quickly turn back and follow Jesus. Others see a strong exhortation to hold onto faith, and find great assurance (in other Bible passages) that genuinely saved Christians won't lose their salvation because they are held secure not by their own strength, but by the power of God.
Seminary professor and author Wayne Grudem addresses this question head-on in his most excellent Systematic Theology, making a convincing case to believe that a genuinely saved Christian will not be lost:
There are many passages that teach that those who are truly born again, who are genuinely Christians, will continue in the Christian life until death and will then go to be with Christ in heaven. Jesus says,
I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me; and this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up at the last day. For this is the will of my Father, that every one who sees the Son and believes in him should have eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day. (John 6:38–40)
Here Jesus says that everyone who believes in him will have eternal life. He says that he will raise that person up at the last day—which, in this context of believing in the Son and having eternal life, clearly means that Jesus will raise that person up to eternal life with him (not just raise him up to be judged and condemned). It seems hard to avoid the conclusion that everyone who truly believes in Christ will remain a Christian up to the day of final resurrection into the blessings of life in the presence of God.2 Moreover, this text emphasizes that Jesus does the will of the Father, which is that he should “lose nothing of all that he has given me” (John 6:39). Once again, those given to the Son by the Father will not be lost.
Another passage emphasizing this truth is John 10:27–29, in which Jesus says:My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me; and I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish and no one shall snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.
Here Jesus says that those who follow him, those who are his sheep, are given eternal life. He further says that “no one shall snatch them out of my hand” (v. 28). Now some have objected to this that even though no one else can take Christians out of Christ’s hand, we might remove ourselves from Christ’s hand. But that seems to be pedantic quibbling over words—does not “no one” also include the person who is in Christ’s hand? Moreover, we know that our own hearts are far from trustworthy. Therefore if the possibility remained that we could remove ourself from Christ’s hand, the passage would hardly give the assurance that Jesus intends by it.
But more importantly, the most forceful phrase in the passage is “they shall never perish” (v. 28). The Greek construction (οὐ μή plus aorist subjunctive) is especially emphatic and might be translated more explicitly, “and they shall certainly not perish forever.” This emphasizes that those who are Jesus’ “sheep” and who follow him, and to whom he has given eternal life, shall never lose their salvation or be separated from Christ—they shall “never perish.”3Wayne A. Grudem, Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine (Leicester, England; Grand Rapids, MI: Inter-Varsity Press; Zondervan Pub. House, 2004), 788–790.
He further elaborates on the perseverance part of the Perseverance of the Saints doctrine here:
While Scripture repeatedly emphasizes that those who are truly born again will persevere to the end and will certainly have eternal life in heaven with God, there are other passages that speak of the necessity of continuing in faith throughout life. They make us realize that what Peter said in 1 Peter 1:5 is true, namely, that God does not guard us apart from our faith, but only by working through our faith so that he enables us to continue to believe in him. In this way, those who continue to trust in Christ gain assurance that God is working in them and guarding them.
One example of this kind of passage is John 8:31–32: “Jesus then said to the Jews who had believed in him, ‘If you continue in my word you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” ’ Jesus is here giving a warning that one evidence of genuine faith is continuing in his word, that is, continuing to believe what he says and living a life of obedience to his commands. Similarly, Jesus says, “He who endures to the end will be saved” (Matt. 10:22), as a means of warning people not to fall away in times of persecution.
Paul says to the Colossian Christians that Christ has reconciled them to God, “in order to present you holy and blameless and irreproachable before him, provided that you continue in the faith stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel which you heard” (Col. 1:22–23). It is only natural that Paul and the other New Testament writers would speak this way, for they are addressing groups of people who profess to be Christians, without being able to know the actual state of every person’s heart. There may have been people at Colossae who had joined in the fellowship of the church, and perhaps even professed that they had faith in Christ and had been baptized into membership of the church, but who never had true saving faith. How is Paul to distinguish such people from true believers? How can he avoid giving them false assurance, assurance that they will be saved eternally when in fact they will not, unless they come to true repentance and faith? Paul knows that those whose faith is not real will eventually fall away from participation in the fellowship of the church. Therefore he tells his readers that they will ultimately be saved, “provided that you continue in the faith” (Col. 1:23). Those who continue show thereby that they are genuine believers. But those who do not continue in the faith show that there was no genuine faith in their hearts in the first place.
A similar emphasis is seen in Hebrews 3:14 (NASB): “For we have become partakers of Christ, if we hold fast the beginning of our assurance firm to the end.” This verse provides an excellent perspective on the doctrine of perseverance. How do we know if “we have become partakers of Christ”? How do we know if this being joined to Christ has happened to us at some time in the past?10 One way in which we know that we have come to genuine faith in Christ is if we continue in faith until the end of our lives.Wayne A. Grudem, Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine (Leicester, England; Grand Rapids, MI: Inter-Varsity Press; Zondervan Pub. House, 2004), 792–793.
Finally, Grudem concludes with a pastoral call to hold fast and hold firm to the Gospel and to Jesus:
At this point, in terms of pastoral care with those who have strayed away from their Christian profession, we should realize that Calvinists and Arminians (those who believe in the perseverance of the saints and those who think that Christians can lose their salvation) will both counsel a “backslider” in the same way. According to the Arminian this person was a Christian at one time but is no longer a Christian. According to the Calvinist, such a person never really was a Christian in the first place and is not one now. But in both cases the biblical counsel given would be the same: “You do not appear to be a Christian now—you must repent of your sins and trust in Christ for your salvation!” Though the Calvinist and Arminian would differ on their interpretation of the previous history, they would agree on what should be done in the present.
But here we see why the phrase eternal security can be quite misleading. In some evangelical churches, instead of teaching the full and balanced presentation of the doctrine of the perseverance of the saints, pastors have sometimes taught a watered-down version, which in effect tells people that all who have once made a profession of faith and been baptized are “eternally secure.” The result is that some people who are not genuinely converted at all may “come forward” at the end of an evangelistic sermon to profess faith in Christ, and may be baptized shortly after that, but then they leave the fellowship of the church and live a life no different from the one they lived before they gained this “eternal security.” In this way people are given false assurance and are being cruelly deceived into thinking they are going to heaven when in fact they are not.
Wayne A. Grudem, Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine (Leicester, England; Grand Rapids, MI: Inter-Varsity Press; Zondervan Pub. House, 2004), 806.
Hello friends, and happy Monday. Another week begins. A week of uncertainty in the U.S. as many are still in lockdown - such as us in California, and others are beginning to come out of lockdown, and wondering if it is safe to do so. Regardless of your situation, I want to encourage us all to remember that God is our ever-present refuge. Whether you are locked down and antsy, or being released back into work and other situations, the safest place we have in all of the earth is in the refuge of God Almighty. Go back to Psalms 46 again and again this week if your heart tries to stray into fear, frustration, anxiety and other tough emotions.
Today's Bible readings are Numbers 11, Psalms 48, Isaiah 1, and Hebrews 9. Tomorrow we will continue our series on the Perseverance of the Saints, but today our topic is a more basic and central topic: Is God pleased by our religious activities. Most people would probably answer 'yes,' to that question, but the answer isn't quite as cut and dried as that, as Isaiah 1 is about to show us. Dictionary.com gives a definition of religion as, "the practice of religious beliefs; ritual observance of faith." And Merriam Webster's second definition of religion is, "a personal set or institutionalized system of religious attitudes, beliefs, and practices." So in the eyes of many, religion is a ritual observation of faith in one's beliefs, attitudes and practices. The basic question of religion in almost all of its forms is this, "What can I do to please God?" Or, if one's faith is polytheistic, "what can I do to please the gods?" Most of those who are not Bible-believing Christians would assume that Christianity is much the same as that - basically a set of dos and don'ts (as typified in the Ten Commandments), mixed with the call of Jesus to love people, mixed with going to church regularly enough to keep God and the pastor/priest/rector/bishop/whatever happy. Is that what God requires? Let's read Isaiah 1 and find out!
Here's the pertinent part for us to review again:
“What are all your sacrifices to me?”
asks the Lord.
“I have had enough of burnt offerings and rams
and the fat of well-fed cattle;
I have no desire for the blood of bulls,
lambs, or male goats.
12 When you come to appear before me,
who requires this from you—
this trampling of my courts?
13 Stop bringing useless offerings.
Your incense is detestable to me.
New Moons and Sabbaths,
and the calling of solemn assemblies—
I cannot stand iniquity with a festival.
14 I hate your New Moons and prescribed festivals.
They have become a burden to me;
I am tired of putting up with them.
15 When you spread out your hands in prayer,
I will refuse to look at you;
even if you offer countless prayers,
I will not listen.
Your hands are covered with blood.Isaiah 1:11-15
What's the deal here? A good observant Jewish person, upon hearing the words of the prophet Isaiah, would probably be thunderstruck, thinking, "I thought God liked us to pray, and go to times of worship, and make offerings and celebrate the festivals of the Bible and sacrifice animals?!" And the issue here is that God is NOT pleased with outward and external works of religion that are not accompanied by inward heart change, repentance, the no-compromise embrace of the truth of God's Word, the practice of biblical justice/love and compassion and relationship with Him. Put it another way, God does not want us to merely go to church and then live however else we want to live otherwise. God is not pleased by our church attendance, our offerings, our outward religious practices, our sacrifices or our worship if we are not transformed followers of His bringing His Kingdom and His ways to the world. You don't just have to take my word for it, or Isaiah's either, because this theme permeates Scripture:
I hate, I despise, your feasts!
I can’t stand the stench
of your solemn assemblies.
22 Even if you offer me
your burnt offerings and grain offerings,
I will not accept them;
I will have no regard
for your fellowship offerings of fattened cattle.
23 Take away from me the noise of your songs!
I will not listen to the music of your harps.
24 But let justice flow like water,
and righteousness, like an unfailing stream.Amos 5:21-24
Wow - God can HATE church assemblies?! That's fairly mind-blowing. What is the problem here - we see it a little bit in vs 24, and more clearly a few verses earlier:
Therefore, because you trample on the poor
and exact a grain tax from him,
you will never live in the houses of cut stone
you have built;
you will never drink the wine
from the lush vineyards
you have planted.
12 For I know your crimes are many
and your sins innumerable.
They oppress the righteous, take a bribe,
and deprive the poor of justice at the city gates.Amos 5:11-12
God cares deeply about the poor and the oppressed - He cares deeply about justice, and He calls His people to care deeply about the same things He cares about!
More evidence:
10 “I wish one of you would shut the temple doors, so that you would no longer kindle a useless fire on my altar! I am not pleased with you,” says the Lord of Armies, “and I will accept no offering from your hands.
Malachi 1:10
One more bit of evidence, from Isaiah 58:
Tell my people their transgression
and the house of Jacob their sins.
2 They seek me day after day
and delight to know my ways,
like a nation that does what is right
and does not abandon the justice of their God.
They ask me for righteous judgments;
they delight in the nearness of God.”3 “Why have we fasted, but you have not seen?
We have denied ourselves, but you haven’t noticed!”“Look, you do as you please on the day of your fast,
and oppress all your workers.
4 You fast with contention and strife
to strike viciously with your fist.
You cannot fast as you do today,
hoping to make your voice heard on high.
5 Will the fast I choose be like this:
A day for a person to deny himself,
to bow his head like a reed,
and to spread out sackcloth and ashes?
Will you call this a fast
and a day acceptable to the Lord?
6 Isn’t this the fast I choose:
To break the chains of wickedness,
to untie the ropes of the yoke,
to set the oppressed free,
and to tear off every yoke?
7 Is it not to share your bread with the hungry,
to bring the poor and homeless into your house,
to clothe the naked when you see him,
and not to ignore your own flesh and blood?
8 Then your light will appear like the dawn,
and your recovery will come quickly.
Your righteousness will go before you,
and the Lord’s glory will be your rear guard.Isaiah 58:3-8
Our conclusion is this: God does not merely call people to be religious and to engage in the trappings of religion - going to church, giving offerings, worshipping, praying, etc. Yes - those things are good and Godly and Holy, and profitable - but, unaccompanied by a life transformed by Jesus, they are empty and hollow and meaningless. We are not saved by offerings, or church attendance, or sacrifices, or ANY external act of religion. Rather, we are saved by grace alone through faith alone in Jesus alone. As saved followers of Jesus, our lives are to be characterized by transformation, by love and mercy, justice for the oppressed, acts of kindness to all, and intimate abiding with Jesus, His Spirit, and His Word. Apart from those things, the external trappings of religion like church attendance, giving offerings, etc - don't really matter. God is not looking for church attenders - as good as that is - but followers of Jesus who exemplify God's call in Isaiah 1:
Wash yourselves. Cleanse yourselves.
Remove your evil deeds from my sight.
Stop doing evil.
17 Learn to do what is good.
Pursue justice.
Correct the oppressor.
Defend the rights of the fatherless.
Plead the widow’s cause
18 “Come, let’s settle this,” says the Lord.“Though your sins are scarlet,they will be as white as snow;though they are crimson red,they will be like wool.19 If you are willing and obedient,you will eat the good things of the land.Isaiah 1:16-19
As a closing, let's ponder this wisdom from the book of James:
26 If anyone thinks he is religious without controlling his tongue, his religion is useless and he deceives himself. 27 Pure and undefiled religion before God the Father is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself unstained from the world.
James 1:26-27
Happy Lord's Day, Brethren and Sistren. Today is a wonderful day to celebrate the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living! If you don't have a digital church home - what a strange thing to say! - please consider joining our digital church home - just go to Facebook and search VBC Salinas, and join us for our service at 11am Pacific. We would love to have you! Today's Bible readings include Numbers 10, Psalms 46 and 47, Song of Songs 8, and Hebrews 8. Our focus question comes from Hebrews 8. Don't ask me to explain what's going on in Song of Songs 8. That's a very unusual passage, and I need to spend some more time researching the meaning of Song of Songs. Some believe it to be a book with a dual meaning - on the surface about the marriage and intimacy of Solomon and his bride, but deeper below that a commentary on the relationship between God and His people. I lean pretty strongly in that direction, but there are some scholars, pastors and teachers who are pretty adamant that Song of Songs is ONLY about Solomon and his bride. Either way, Song of Songs 8 is pretty perplexing to me. Today's big Bible question comes from a small part of Hebrews 8:
By saying a new covenant, he has declared that the first is obsolete. And what is obsolete and growing old is about to pass away.
Hebrews 8:13
That's interesting language, to be sure - is Hebrews 8 (and many other Hebrews passages) teaching that the Old Testament is obsolete - no longer binding on New Covenant Christians?
It's a great question that is actually somewhat divisive - there are good and Godly men and women on both sides of the debate. Some believe that the Old Testament is no longer binding/authoritative on Christians, some believe that both the Old and the New Testament are BOTH equally binding on Christians, and some believe that the Old Testament ceremonial laws and commands are no longer binding, but the moral commands are still binding. My view, as discussed in a previous episode, is that non-Jewish New Covenant believers in Jesus are NOT under the commands of the Old Testament, but the New Testament, and I believe that this is what Hebrews 8 is referring to. Jesus fulfilled the Old Testament, and, though it is still Scripture and useful and the Word of God, we are not under the authority of the Law and Old Covenant, because it has been fulfilled - we are under the New Covenant. I like how Michael Houdman of GotQuestions.org phrases it:
“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished.” (Matthew 5:17-18)
It could not be any more clear. Absolutely nothing in the Law will disappear until everything is accomplished. In order to demonstrate that “everything is accomplished,” all we need to do is demonstrate that something from the Law has disappeared. Is there something that has disappeared? Yes! What? The sacrificial system!
The Old Covenant sacrificial system is no longer in effect, and it was a major aspect of the Old Covenant Law. Not even the most ardent defender of the Hebrew Roots Movement will argue that God still wants us to be offering animal sacrifices today. So, if the Old Covenant sacrificial system has “disappeared,” what does that mean? It means, according to Matthew 5:17-18, that “everything is accomplished.”
If “everything is accomplished,” what does that mean? It means that the Old Covenant Law has been fulfilled. How was it fulfilled? It was fulfilled by Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ lived a life of perfect obedience to both the letter and the spirit of the Old Covenant Law. Jesus Christ died to fulfill the Old Covenant sacrificial system. Jesus fulfilled/completed the entirety of the Old Covenant Law. Therefore, followers of Jesus Christ, those who have accepted by grace through faith His death and resurrection as the atoning sacrifice for their sins, are not under the authority of the Old Covenant Law.
“For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.” (Romans 10:4)
“So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian.” (Galatians 3:24-25)
“…by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances…” (Ephesians 2:15)
It is not complicated. Jesus fulfilled all of the Law. The Old Covenant has been fulfilled. Observance of the Old Covenant Law is not a requirement, or even a recommendation, for New Covenant believers.
Now, if you want to observe the Old Covenant feasts and festivals in remembrance of the fact that Christ perfectly fulfilled them, wonderful! If you even want to attempt to live under the Old Covenant Law, there is nothing in the New Covenant that would prevent you from doing so. It would be part of your freedom in Christ.
But, I still have no idea why anyone would want to exchange what is described in Hebrews 8—10 as “more excellent,” “with better promises,” and “greater and more perfect,” in order to live under what is described as “a shadow,” and “obsolete.”
Source: https://www.gotquestions.blog/old-covenant.html
Does this mean that the Old Testament isn't valuable, or is no longer the Word of God? Of course not! It is valuable and profitable in every way, but we are now no longer under the Law/Old Testament, but under grace/ the New Testament. (Go read Acts 15 for more, and also check out episode 15 - are we still under the Old Testament.)
Happy Saturday, Friends, and welcome into the first ever NFY episode Bible Reading podcast. This particular episode, if I was recording it from my home state of Alabama, deep in the hollers of L.A. - lower Alabama, of course, I would rate this NFY - Not For Young'uns. Don't worry -we're not going to get too saucy, but it is a bit of a mature topic.
Short episode today, because I have a massive plumbing job to go finish up on, so that's good news for some of you, and maybe not so good for others. For those that prefer the longer shows, know that I'd much rather be podcasting than plumbing!
Today's Bible readings include Numbers 9, Psalms 45, Song of Songs 7 and Hebrews 7. I don't know if you've noticed it, but Song of Songs, AKA Song of Solomon has a lot of sexual language in it, and some of it is fairly explicit. I'm not going to quote anything, but chapter 5 in particular is very, very....colorful in its language, and today's chapter is too. Some of the language is quite strange to us - some very funny and odd euphemisms and metaphors were used thousands of years ago:
Song of Songs 1:9 "I compare you, my darling,
to a mare among Pharaoh’s chariots."
2:9 "My love is like a gazelle
or a young stag.
See, he is standing behind our wall,
gazing through the windows,
peering through the lattice."
4:1 "Your hair is like a flock of goats
streaming down Mount Gilead."
4:2 "Your teeth are like a flock of newly shorn sheep
coming up from washing,
each one bearing twins,
and none has lost its young."
4:4 "Your neck is like the tower of David,
constructed in layers.
A thousand shields are hung on it—
all of them shields of warriors."
5:12 "His eyes are like doves
beside flowing streams,
washed in milk"
But don't laugh too hard, because some of our metaphors and euphemisms are kind of odd too. Most people think Christians are prudes, and that the Bible is anti-sex, but is that true? In fact, there is a word in our culture, puritanical, that is named after a particular group of Christians and means, "having standards of moral behavior that forbid many pleasures." The only thing is - the Bible itself is not at all anti-sex (within certain bounds) and the Puritans weren't puritanical either. Consider a few of these quotes from our Puritan friends:
Puritan William Gouge, writing in the 1600s says, ""One of the best remedies that can be prescribed to married persons (next to an awfull feare of God, and a continuall setting of him before them, wheresoever they are) is, that husband and wife mutually delight each in other, and maintaine a pure and fervent love betwixt themselves, yielding that due benevolence one to another which is warranted and sanctified by God’s word, and ordained of God for this particular end. This due benevolence (as the Apostle stileth it) is one of the most proper and essentiall acts of marriage: and necessary for the maine and principall ends thereof: as for preservation of chastity in such as have not the gift of continency, for increasing the world with a legitimate brood, and for linking the affections of the married couple more firmly together. These ends of marriage, at least the two former, are made void without this duty be performed. As it is called benevolence because it must be performed with good will and delight, willingly, readily and cheerefully; so it is said to be due because it is a debt which the wife oweth to her husband, and he to her (1 Corinthians 7:4).
Source: (Gouge, Of Domesticall Duties, 215-216; cf. 234-235)
Richard Steele at around the same time wrote:
1 Corinthians 7:3-5 . . . plainly shows that even the sober use of the marriagebed is such a mutual debt, that it may not be intermitted long without necessity and consent. . . . Neither desire of gain, nor fear of trouble, nor occasional distastes, nor pretence of religion, should separate those from conjugal converse and cohabitation, (unless with consent, and that but for a time,) whom God hath joined together.
(Steele, “Duties of Husband and Wife,” 275)
It is also worth knowing that one man, James Mattock, was excommunicated from the his Boston Puritan church for denying his wife her conjugal/sexual rights for two years.
As well, there are several sex-positive passages in the Bible - all written in the context of marriage:
each man should have sexual relations with his own wife, and each woman should have sexual relations with her own husband. 3 A husband should fulfill his marital duty to his wife, and likewise a wife to her husband. 4 A wife does not have the right over her own body, but her husband does. In the same way, a husband does not have the right over his own body, but his wife does. 5 Do not deprive one another—except when you agree for a time, to devote yourselves to prayer. Then come together again; otherwise, Satan may tempt you because of your lack of self-control.
1 Corinthians 7:2-5
How beautiful you are and how pleasant,
my love, with such delights!
7 Your stature is like a palm tree;
your breasts are clusters of fruit.
8 I said, “I will climb the palm tree
and take hold of its fruit.”
May your breasts be like clusters of grapes,
and the fragrance of your breath like apricots.
9 Your mouth is like fine wine—Song of Songs 7:6-9
Let your fountain be blessed,
and take pleasure in the wife of your youth.
19 A loving deer, a graceful doe—
let her breasts always satisfy you;
be lost in her love forever.
20 Why, my son, would you lose yourself
with a forbidden woman
or embrace a wayward woman?Proverbs 5:18-20
And that last passage really kind of nails the Bible teaching on sex overall - that sex was designed for husband and wife - not merely for procreation (as some Christians in the past misguidedly thought) but also for PLEASURE. Yes - the Bible points us to the pleasure of knowing God and following His ways - including the blessing of pleasure of sex inside of marriage. That said, the Bible is explicit in its condemnation of sexual pleasure apart from the marital relationship as we see here in Proverbs 5:20. So -
is the Bible anti-sex? Not at all - the Bible encourages husbands and wives to have delightful and pleasurable and regular sex. Sex is made for marriage, and it is created to make marriage pleasurable and fruitful. Yes, all sex outside the bounds of marriage is forbidden by the Bible, but sex inside of marriage is never treated like a gross or unclean thing in the Bible, and not at all like a necessary evil, but rather like a beautiful gift that is designed to bless and sustain both husband and wife. God is not anti-pleasure, He is the source of the greatest pleasures!
You reveal the path of life to me;
in your presence is abundant joy;
at your right hand are eternal pleasures.Psalms 16:11
Hello friends, and a happy May to you! Today's Bible readings include Numbers 8, quite a bit shorter than chapter 7, and also Psalms 44, Song of Songs 6 and Hebrews 6. Today is part two of our continuing discussion on the Perseverance of the Saints, and our big question is, does Hebrews 6 indicate that a saved person can become unsaved? Here's the pertinent section:
4 For it is impossible to renew to repentance those who were once enlightened, who tasted the heavenly gift, who shared in the Holy Spirit, 5 who tasted God’s good word and the powers of the coming age, 6 and who have fallen away. This is because, to their own harm, they are recrucifying the Son of God and holding him up to contempt. 7 For the ground that drinks the rain that often falls on it and that produces vegetation useful to those for whom it is cultivated receives a blessing from God. 8 But if it produces thorns and thistles, it is worthless and about to be cursed, and at the end will be burned.
Hebrews 6:4-8
That's a pretty sobering passage, and its not the only one in Hebrews - there are several. In fact, it is one of many 'warning' passages in the Bible, where people are warned to not fall away from God. Consider these others:
Now I want to make clear for you, brothers and sisters, the gospel I preached to you, which you received, on which you have taken your stand 2 and by which you are being saved, if you hold to the message I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. - 1 Corinthians 15:1-2
21 Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. 22 But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation— 23 if you continue in your faith, established and firm, and do not move from the hope held out in the gospel. This is the gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, have become a servant. - Colossians 1:21-23
12 See to it, brothers and sisters, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. - Hebrews 3:12
The saying is trustworthy, for: If we have died with him, we will also live with him; if we endure, we will also reign with him; if we deny him, he also will deny us; - 2nd Timothy 2:11-12
My brothers, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back, let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins. - James 5:19-20
These are some sobering passages, to be sure. Hebrews 6 as a whole is also sobering, so let's go read it, and come back and discuss our big Bible question.
Again - we see and hear a strong warning in Hebrews 6. May nothing I say today take away from that warning in the least. Our main question is this: Does Hebrews 6 demonstrate that a saved person might lose their salvation? I believe the answer to that question is a firm "no," BUT, I do believe that Hebrews 6 demonstrates that one who appears in every way to be a believer might indeed lose that appearance. I know that is as clear as mud, but I believe we can explain things as we go forward.
Can somebody who is saved by Jesus, somehow or someway become unsaved? I believe the answer to that question is a firm and clear 'no!' as demonstrated by these Scriptures:
My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand. - John 10:27-29
Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life. - john 5:24
For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. - Romans 8:38-39
All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out. - John 6:37
And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. - Philippians 1:6
For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, - Ephesians 2:8
In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, - Ephesians 1:13
For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.” - John 6:40
And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified. What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? - Romans 8:28-31
Hebrews 7:5 Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them.
How do we reconcile all of these passages with the first passages we read - the warning passages? I believe the answer is given to us as something like a clue in Hebrews 6:7-8 " 7 For the ground that drinks the rain that often falls on it and that produces vegetation useful to those for whom it is cultivated receives a blessing from God. 8 But if it produces thorns and thistles, it is worthless and about to be cursed, and at the end will be burned." This passage should remind you of the parable of the Sower that we referred to in episode one of our series on the Perseverance of the Saints, and I believe that the author of Hebrews is indeed referencing that teaching of Jesus. Let's refresh our memories:
13 Then he said to them, “Don’t you understand this parable? How then will you understand all of the parables?14 The sower sows the word.15 Some are like the word sown on the path. When they hear, immediately Satan comes and takes away the word sown in them.16 And others are like seed sown on rocky ground. When they hear the word, immediately they receive it with joy.17 But they have no root; they are short-lived. When distress or persecution comes because of the word, they immediately fall away.18 Others are like seed sown among thorns; these are the ones who hear the word,19 but the worries of this age, the deceitfulness of wealth, and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.20 And those like seed sown on good ground hear the word, welcome it, and produce fruit thirty, sixty, and a hundred times what was sown.”
Mark 4:13-20
Four different types of soil - four different types of people who the Gospel seed is delivered to. Person/soil #1 hears the Word of God, but immediately loses/forgets/ignores it, according to Jesus. These people are not saved at all. Person/soil #2 is like rocky ground - they hear the Word and respond with joy - but it is a SHALLOW joy without root - it is a surface response that does not go into the soul and mind. Have you ever had a friend eagerly make a commitment to you to do something, and then blissfully blow it off as if the commitment has never happened? This is what is going on here. This is a person who hears the Word and seems to believe and accept it, but they do so in a most shallow way. Because their acceptance is shallow - any sort of trouble or distress that comes along (whether immediately or a long time down the road) the shallow-hearer and responder to the Word of God will immediately fall away. Was this person a saved Christian? NO! But they appeared to be. They looked like somebody who truly believed, because their emotions demonstrated interest, but they were bandwagon fans of Jesus and not committed followers. Hebrews is written as a warning to such shallow-believers - those who have heard the good news and had an emotional response to it, but they are not true-believers.
Person/soil #3 is in a similar place. These are people that are busy, or successful, or popular, or lovers of the world. They hear the Word of God and respond to it - it sounds good to them, and they say yes to Jesus in the same way they might say yes to anything that sounds good. They are interested, but busy, and have other priorities. They decide to follow Jesus, but they are already following so many other things, and they will continue to follow new things as well. They make a commitment and appear to be a Christian based on their words, but a close look at their lives show they aren't really following Jesus, but merely going to church and doing some religious things. They may feed the poor. They may pray when in trouble. They may thank God when they win an award. They may read popular Christian books, and wear cross necklaces and such...but they aren't followers of Jesus - the thorns of this world (the concerns of the modern age, the desire to be wealthy and successful and many other sorts of desires) effectively choke them out. They care about Jesus and church and stuff like that, but not really any more than they care about other things. This person is not a genuine follower of Jesus, but believes themselves to be, and will identify as a follower of Jesus. However, verses like Luke 9:23 ("Then he said to them all, “If anyone wants to follow after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow me.") would strike them as the Word of a fanatic, and not the Word of 'their' Jesus. Again, the warning passages of Hebrews are written to people like this - they've heard the Word and sort of believe, but they are being choked out by every other thing that is important to them. I believe the Hebrews 6 reference to thorns and thistles is a direct reference to this Mark 4 teaching of Jesus which identifies the thorny soil as unsaved soil.
Let's close with a great challenge from brother Spurgeon:
God save us from a lifeless profession! May we never be like certain trees, of which John Bunyan said, that they were green outside, but inwardly they were so rotten that they were only fit to be tinder for the devil's fire-starting kit. Many professors are too beautiful appearing not to be false; too obviously saintly outside not to be loathsome within; for there is an over-doing of the grave’s white paint. You feel convinced that there would not be so much whitewashing and repair-work on the outside if there were not so much rottenness inside to be concealed. The smell of roses or of lavender is sweet, but much scent excites much suspicion - what smell are the scents meant to mask? Oh, let us, each one who professes tonight, say to himself, "I was baptised on a profession of my faith, but was I ever baptised into Christ? When the Holy name of the triune God was named on me, did I then enter into the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit? I have come often to the communion table; but have I communed with Christ there? My name is on the membership-roll, but is it written in heaven? I have said to others I am a Christian, but am I in very deed known unto Christ? Or will He say to me on that day of judgment, 'I never knew you: depart from me you workers of iniquity'?" (Matthew 7:21-23)
These are solemn questions. Many persons are temporary followers of Christ, and outwardly, as far as the human eye can follow, they appear to be real followers of Christ. I believe in the final perseverance of the saints; but I do not know, nor can any man know, how near a man may approach to the likeness of a saint and yet after all apostatise (fall away.) Nor is any one of us able to say of himself, or of his fellow churchmembers, "We never shall fall away."
Now, beloved, what was the beginning of our confidence? Well, the beginning of my confidence was, "I am a sinner, Christ is a Savior; and I rest on him to save me." Long before I began with Christ he had begun with me; but when I began with him it was, like I was a completely bankrupt man who had nothing of his own, and looked to Christ for everything. I know when I first cast my eye to his dear cross and rested in him, I had no value of my own, it was all demerit. I had nothing deserving in me, except that I felt I was hell-deserving: I had not even a shade of virtue that I could confide in. It was all over with me. I had come to an extremity. I could not have found a quarter’s worth of goodness in myself if I had been melted down. I seemed to be all rottenness, a dunghill of corruption, nothing better, but something a great deal worse. I could truly join with Paul at that time, and say that my own goodness was as if it were dung. “Dung” is a strong expression that he used; but I do not suppose he felt it to be strong enough. He says, "I count my goodness and good deeds as worth the same as dung, that I may win Christ, and be found in him."
Well, that is how we began with Christ. We were nothing at all, and Jesus Christ was all in all. Now, brothers, we are not made partakers of Christ unless we hold this fast to the end. Have you got beyond that? Are you something creditable in your own reckoning? I am worried about you. Are you in and of yourself a better person now than you were then? I am afraid for you, friend. Do you remember the place you were in when you found Jesus? you dared not lift your eyes, to heaven, but cried, "God be merciful to me a sinner." Now in Christ you walk in a far more noble place than that, for you are made to sit with Jesus in the heavenly places. But, I ask you, apart from Christ, have you any different place from that of deep self humiliation? If you believe yourself to be something, apart from Christ, then you have not held the beginning of your confidence fast even until now. Begin to suspect yourself. This is the position to always take, namely that you , “have nothing, but in Christ, possess everything.”
Let your mindset be, “I am the worst of sinners, and yet - Christ died for me! Where else was the beginning of your confidence in salvation? May we not say of it that it was only and wholly, fully and exclusively, in the blood and righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ?
Source: https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/1042.cfm
6 And I am sure of this, that he who began ha good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. - Philippians 1:6
Hello friends, and happy Thursday to you. A bit of a heavy topic today - depression - but there us much hope in the Word when we go beyond the surface. This will be a continuing series for us also, and like our discussion of the Perseverance of the Saints, it will be spread out, rather than consecutive. Today's Scripture readings include Numbers 7 (the longest chapter we've read thus far, and the fourth longest chapter overall in the entire English Bible.), Psalms 42-43, Song of Solomon 5 and Hebrews 5.
Can a Christian be depressed is our big question of the day. Medical doctor and Christian author John Lockley writes: “Being depressed is bad enough in itself, but being a depressed Christian is worse. And being a depressed Christian in a church full of people who do not understand depression is like a little taste of hell.”
Psalms 42 is our focus passage, and it is a wonderful Psalm full of soaring emotion that goes up and down. I am finding a greater and greater appreciation of the Psalms as we are reading them through during quarantine. I generally do the podcast late at night, once the kids and my wife are in bed. I finish quite late, take a walk, wind down, and go to bed. I find that the Psalms have been occupying my thoughts in the morning, and that it has been very fruitful to reread the Psalms from the previous night's reading first thing as I am waking up. The Psalms are such a wonderful expression of thoughts, prayers and praises to God - I find they are teaching me to pray and worship utilizing the Words of Scripture more and more. Consider the powerful emotions found in the words of Psalms 42:
My tears have been my food day and night,
while all day long people say to me,
“Where is your God?”
4 I remember this as I pour out my heart:
how I walked with many,
leading the festive procession to the house of God,
with joyful and thankful shouts.
5 Why, my soul, are you so dejected?
Why are you in such turmoil?
Put your hope in God, for I will still praise him,
my Savior and my God.
6 I am deeply depressed;Psalms 42:3-6
You can see where we get our focus question for the day - right here in the Holy-Spirit inspired words of Scripture, the Psalmist notes that he is depressed, and that tears have been his food. I note here, as I've noted many times, that reading the Bible dispels one of any notions that the Word of God is full of the kind of sunshine pumping, pollyannish, your best life now kind of faith that is so often proclaimed by televangelists on various 'Christian' tv channels. The Word of God is genuine, authentic, deep and often reflects the real anguish and pain of being an actual living and breathing human.
This is one of the most honest and genuine passages in the Bible, and there are dozens. Most of us are unfamiliar with the depth and genuineness of the Bible. I honestly blame preachers for that. They/we tend to avoid passages like Psalms 42, and negative things. NOTE the switch between vs 8 and 9 - the flip flop. That is so characteristic of us - especially when in the throes of depression.
The Lord will send his faithful love by day;
his song will be with me in the night—
a prayer to the God of my life.9 I will say to God, my rock,
“Why have you forgotten me?
Why must I go about in sorrow
because of the enemy’s oppression?”Psalms 42:8-9
If you've ever had this kind of jarring flip-flop from faith to fear and back again - YOU ARE NOT ALONE! It happened to many of the spiritual giants in the Bible. Let's go read Psalms 42-43, and then come back and briefly discuss the possibilities of a Christian being depressed.
If you define depression in a very general and sort of vague way - maybe that depression is an extended and persistently depressed mood - keeping in mind that I'm neither a doctor, nor psychologist, I think you'll find that several giants in the Bible qualify as depressed. The Sons of Korah, authors of our Psalm today, and others count. As does Elijah and Moses, both mighty men of God that were so downcast that they told God they were ready to die. Jeremiah also fits that bill, wishing he hadn't been born, and worse. Hannah in 1st Samuel declares that she is a woman with a broken heart, and King David (Psalms 69) also went through several periods of seeming depression.
Other giants of the faith have too, such as Charles Spurgeon:
“I am the subject of depressions of spirit so fearful that I hope none of you ever get to such extremes of wretchedness as I go to.’” Charles Spurgeon.
“It is all very well for those who are in robust health and full of spirits to blame those whose lives are sicklied or covered with the pale cast of melancholy, but the [malady] is as real as a gaping wound, and all the more hard to bear because it lies so much in the region of the soul that to the inexperienced it appears to be a mere matter of fancy and diseased imagination. Reader, never ridicule the nervous and hypochondrichal, their pain is real; though much of the [malady] lies in the imagination [thought-processes] it is not imaginary.”
Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, 3 vols. (Newark, Del.: Cornerstone, 1869), 2.132.
And John Piper:
I cannot tell you how many hundreds of times in the last twenty-eight years at Bethlehem I have fought back the heaviness of discouragement with these very words: “Hope in God, John. Hope in God. You will again praise him. This miserable emotion will pass. This season will pass. Don’t be downcast. Look to Jesus. The light will dawn.” It was so central to our way of thinking and talking in the early eighties that we put a huge “Hope in God” sign on the outside wall of the old sanctuary and became known around the neighborhood as the “Hope in God” church.
John Piper, Sermons from John Piper (2000–2014) (Minneapolis, MN: Desiring God, 2014).
So - can a Christian have depression, or be depressed? You bet they can! I see nothing in Scripture that would lead me away from that conclusion, and volumes that affirm it. If you are now fighting depression know that you are NOT alone - many saints in the Bible and throughout church history also waged war against depression. I do not have an easy antidote for you, or a fake cure-all. I do want to close out with a hopeful passage from God's Word, though:
Psalm 34:18: The Lord is near the brokenhearted; He saves those crushed in spirit.
I'd also like to recommend David Murray's book, Christians Get Depressed Too. 5 stars, and very helpful, comforting, and faithful to God's Word!
I do realize that this is short commentary, but do not despair, as this will be a topic we return to fairly regularly as we go through the Psalms!
Happy Wednesday, friends! Today we in California are celebrating an astounding SIX weeks of sheltering in place, and it looks like a few more weeks are on tap. I guess celebrating is the wrong word there. We are LAMENTING six weeks of sheltering in place. Lord deliver us from this pandemic!
Today's Bible readings don't have anything to do with coronavirus, but do equip us to live and thrive in times of pandemic, trials and troubles. We are reading Numbers 6, Psalms 40 and 41, Song of Songs 4, and Hebrews 4. Our Big Bible question comes from the famous and well-known verse in Hebrews 4:12:
For the word of God is living and effective and sharper than any double-edged sword, penetrating as far as the separation of soul and spirit, joints and marrow. It is able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
Many Christians grew up hearing that passage fairly regularly, but when you actually think about what it means, you realize what a strange statement it is. How in the world is the Word of God a living thing? A sharp thing? A penetrating thing, or a judging thing? Let's go read Hebrews 4, and then see if we can find out more.
And we're back, and we haven't had our question answered yet, at least in Hebrews 4. We do remember, however, that Hebrews began in chapter 1 by discussing the power of God's Word:
3 The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact expression of his nature, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.
Hebrews 1:3
All things are SUSTAINED by the powerful Word of Jesus. Further, as we keep reading Hebrews, we discover:
3 By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was made from things that are not visible.
Hebrews 11:3
This, beyond a shadow of a doubt, demonstrates the awesome POWER of the Word of God, but it doesn't answer our question - How is God's Word living and active, or living and effective? For that answer, we need to turn to the parable of Jesus that is effectively the key to understanding every parable of Jesus - the Parable of the Sower:
13 Then he said to them, “Don’t you understand this parable? How then will you understand all of the parables?14 The sower sows the word.15 Some are like the word sown on the path. When they hear, immediately Satan comes and takes away the word sown in them.16 And others are like seed sown on rocky ground. When they hear the word, immediately they receive it with joy.17 But they have no root; they are short-lived. When distress or persecution comes because of the word, they immediately fall away.18 Others are like seed sown among thorns; these are the ones who hear the word,19 but the worries of this age, the deceitfulness of wealth, and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.20 And those like seed sown on good ground hear the word, welcome it, and produce fruit thirty, sixty, and a hundred times what was sown.”
Mark 4:13-20
So, we see here exactly how God's Word is living and active, because Jesus tells us that the Word of God is like a SEED. It has life, and it gives life. It blooms and grows, just like a seed, but instead of being sown or buried in the ground,the Word of God is sown into people who listen to it, and bear fruit depending on how they respond to the seed/Word of God. And, from that same chapter:
24 And he said to them, “Pay attention to what you hear. By the measure you use, it will be measured to you—and more will be added to you.25 For whoever has, more will be given to him, and whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.”
Mark 4:24-25
Here we see that the Word of God/Living seed comes into a person by virtue of that person HEARING (reading) God's Word. The more you hear - and the more you WANT TO HEAR - the more fruit you will bear and Godly transformation you will see in your life. Jesus here compares eager listeners to those coming to get something good with either a small measure - think a teaspoon, or something like that vs. the person who comes with a great big old bucket. The one who DESIRES more of the Word - a greater measure - will see more fruit in their lives than those who just want a drop or two. Finally, in verses 26-29, we see:
26 “The kingdom of God is like this,” he said. “A man scatters seed on the ground.27 He sleeps and rises night and day; the seed sprouts and grows, although he doesn’t know how.28 The soil produces a crop by itself—first the blade, then the head, and then the full grain on the head.29 As soon as the crop is ready, he sends for the sickle, because the harvest has come.”
Mark 4:26-29
We see here that Word of God is the thing that brings transformation and change in people. They aren't changed by their own wills, or by the work of the pastor or a teacher, they are changed because the Word of God is LIVING - like a seed - and when it gets into the soil of our lives/minds/hearts/emotions, it brings growth, transformation and salvation!
This is what is meant when it is said that the Word of God is "living and active." It's not like mere words on paper, because it is (as we learned in Timothy), God-BREATHED. My words are Chase-breathed. They might be memorable, they might be funny, they might be awkward or random or strange. They might be accompanied by bad-breath, or they might be said while I'm itching my noise, because I have the world's itchiest nose...but they most certainly won't be God-breathed and LIVING, unless I am quoting the Word of God. My words don't have life or bring life - they are just Words. God's Words created all that is, and also brings transformation to reality and to human beings alike. I love how Tim Keller expresses the biological nature of God's Word:
I want you to think about the image Jesus has chosen for the Word of God, for the gospel. Even though, by the way, he could because these are used in the Old Testament. He doesn’t choose an image of the word of God as a hammer. He doesn’t choose the image of the word of God as a fire. He doesn’t choose the image of the word of God as a sword.
He chooses a seed, and a seed is weak, a little thing. You don’t drop a seed into the ground, saying, “Bombs away!” because you drop a seed and you can’t even find the seed after you dropped it. Three out of the four soils reject the power of the word. The first one doesn’t let it in at all. The second one is excited about Jesus but really just wants miracles, really just wants good times, really wants just needs to be met. The third group, of course, is very, very concerned about what the world thinks and about the issues of the world and gets choked.The seed is so weak. It’s not a hammer. It’s not a fire. A hammer crushes its opposition. Fire blasts the opposition. The sword slashes through the resistance. The seed seems so weak.
Why would Jesus Christ characterize the gospel as something so weak? If we think a little bit more about the metaphor, let’s admit seeds have a paradoxical weakness and strength. Here’s an acorn. What’s an acorn? We talked about this a couple of weeks ago. On the one hand, in that acorn is everything necessary to grow a huge tree, and then out of that tree could come hundreds of other acorns.
Out of every one of those trees could come hundreds of other acorns. Do you realize a single acorn has the power in it to cover the entire face of the earth in wood? No hammer, no fire, no sword has the power to do that, and yet you could stick that acorn on the ground and crush it and it’s gone. Power and yet weakness.
G. Campbell Morgan tells an interesting story. He was in Italy once, and he went into a graveyard. This was a kind of tourist attraction, because there was one very, very old grave, centuries old. It was either a king or some wealthy man, and there was this enormous, incredibly thick slab of marble over the grave. It was huge and thick, yet an acorn had fallen into the grave.
Over the years somehow, it had grown up, found a way out of the one side, then got bigger and bigger and bigger. It took centuries. Eventually, it became this huge tree. Over the centuries it had cracked that marble slab and rolled it off into two pieces. Everybody used to come and see that.
Isn’t it amazing? An acorn, something of course if you dropped it on the slab, it never would’ve done a thing. You can just stamp it out with your foot, and yet if you give it a chance to release its power, it can do something a team of horses couldn’t do. Why does Jesus Christ characterize the word of God, the gospel, as a seed? Here’s the reason why.
If you’re reading the gospel of Mark, up to this point some people have pointed out every single soil is somebody’s response to Jesus. The first soil is the Pharisees and the religious leaders. They rejected him. The second soil is the crowds. They’re happy with him but as long as he’s doing miracles. The third soil is his family, who’s very upset with the fact that they’re losing face and the fact of the shame and the fact that they’re losing honor because of what he’s doing.
In other words, the parable of the soils is not just a parable of how people respond to the Word but how people respond to Jesus, and Jesus did not come as a hammer. Jesus did not come as a fire. Jesus did not come as a sword. He came, not to judge, but to be judged, not to be strong, but to be weak and to die, because seeds only release their power if they fall into the ground and die.
If Jesus had come as a sword, if Jesus had come as a hammer, if Jesus had come as a fire, we would’ve all been dead meat, but Jesus Christ came as the ultimate seed. He says it himself in John 12. “Unless a seed falls into the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed, but if it dies, it produces much fruit.”
In the garden of Gethsemane, the night before Jesus Christ was to go to the cross, he was facing infinite suffering. He was facing cosmic abandonment. He was going to pay the penalty for our sins. Even the foretaste of that, even the hint of it, the prospect of it, smote the eternal Son of God to the ground in such shock that blood came out of his pores.
He looks up to heaven and says, “Is there any other way?” The answer of heaven is, “My life cannot be released into them unless you become a seed, unless you go into the ground and die.” And he did. He became voluntarily weak for us. He became a seed that goes into the ground and dies, but that is the secret of the gospel’s power, because the power of the word is the weakness of the Lord.
When you see him doing that for you, if you see him doing that for you, if you see the beauty of his weakness, that comes into your life, and that’s the power that will change you. The weakness of the Lord is the power of the word. Nothing else will change you like that. Nothing else will change you like seeing the beauty of his weakness for you, his willingness to be the ultimate seed.Timothy J. Keller, The Timothy Keller Sermon Archive (New York City: Redeemer Presbyterian Church, 2013).
Happy Tuesday, friends! Today we are celebrating the birthday of the most famous writer in the history of the state of Alabama, Harper "To Kill a Mockingbird" Lee. Fun fact: No mockingbirds die during that book. Jay Leno and Jessica Alba also have birthdays today. Happy birthday, Jessica!
Today's Bible readings include Numbers 5, Psalms 39, Song of Songs 3, and Hebrews 3. Our focus question comes from the middle of Hebrews 3:
"12 Watch out, brothers and sisters, so that there won’t be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. 13 But encourage each other daily, while it is still called today, so that none of you is hardened by sin’s deception. 14 For we have become participants in Christ if we hold firmly until the end the reality that we had at the start." Hebrews 3:12-14
Hebrews 3:13 has long struck me as an incredibly important command in Scripture, but one that the church honestly doesn't practice regularly enough. We must hear this command - and follow it - now, more than ever. In a world where the plague hides around every corner, and people are prisoners in their homes cowering in fear, anger, or both...we need to be daily ENCOURAGING each other. By phone, by text, by Facetime, by Zoom, by smoke-signal, by any and all means necessary. This is a crucial command, and it's not just simply about lifting somebody's spirits...it is actually life or death, if I am understanding the context of the passage properly. Let's read Hebrews 3, and then discuss.
Key word for the day is 'Encourage,' but the Greek word used there is not exactly the same as our word for encourage. It's the word: "παρακαλέω parakaléō," and it means to be called to one's side. It is a very active verb - and it implies drawing near to somebody. It is also the word used by Jesus in Matthew 5:4 - blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted/parakaleo'd. So the word has an aspect of comforting to it, but also an aspect of encouraging somebody AND an aspect of asking/beseeching somebody. I think the context of the overall passage helps to illuminate what the Word of God is calling us to, and why it is so important. Hebrews, similar to 1 and 2 Thessalonians, is written to a group of believers who are being tempted (by trials/tribulations/persecution) to turn away from Jesus. One of the Bible antidotes that is prescribed for us when we are weary and ready to quit is this ministry of daily encouragement/beseeching/comforting. WE ALL NEED IT. It is not a weakness to require daily encouragement/beseeching/comforting any more than it is a weakness to require daily vitamins, minerals, water and air - we were designed by our Creator to NOT function well without this daily ministry of encouragement/beseeching/comforting.
Where does the beseeching part come in? Great question. Are you a wrestling fan? I'm not talking about entertainment wrestling, though I grew up a big fan of the WWF/WWE - I'm talking about real wrestling. I believe the beseeching part of parakaleo can be compared to a fan or a family member of a particular wrestler that is just about to get pinned by his opponent shouting encouragements to him to not give up. We all need to GIVE that ministry of daily encouragement/parakaleo to each other and we all need to RECEIVE that ministry of daily encouragement/parakaleo FROM each other. The fact is, you never know when somebody feels like they are about to be pinned - daily encouragement/parakaleo ministry is a necessity in the Body of Christ to keep us going forward and overcoming.
You might be wondering why I called this a life or death issue earlier. I can assure you, that I am not engaging in hyperbole. One of the very thorny issues that is raised by the book of Hebrews, beginning in this chapter, and expanded on in several other chapters, is the issue of apostasy, or falling away. Can a Christian lose their salvation? That is a question that we are going to explore in depth over the next two weeks, or so. I believe that the Bible teaches something that many call the Perseverance of the Saints, the view that a truly saved Christian will NOT ever lose salvation, but that view is a difficult one to hold in light of all of the sobering warnings in the book of Hebrews about falling away. I have seen some people hold so tightly to 'once saved, always saved,' that they practically nullify any impact that the warning passages of Hebrews 3, 6, 10 (and others!) might have, and I think that is a danger. Hebrews 3, 6, and 10 are written to be sober and scary warnings about turning away from Jesus, and I believe fidelity to God's Word requires us to treat those warnings in a sober and serious way.
On the other hand, I have seen people so over-emphasize the warning passages in Hebrews, that they way-underemphasize the saving and preserving power of God and, in turn, inflate the role of man in His own salvation by saying something like, "The only way you'll be saved is if you hold tight to the rope in your own power and strength and never let go." I concur with the idea that if preserving my salvation was all up to me and my power to be faithful, I'd be doomed - If I could fumble away my salvation, I sure would do it. But I believe the teaching of the Bible is that GOD is the one who preserves those who are His. Yes! We must hold firmly to the truths we have been taught, but it is the grip of God and His grip strength that is the deciding factor in my salvation, and not my own grip strength.
We will dive deeply into these issues in future episodes. This will be a 3-5 part series on the Perseverance of the Saints, but they all won't be back to back - instead, we will discuss them as we get to each of the warning passages in Hebrews. Stay tuned for that! For now, let's close by strongly taking heed to the truth in Hebrews 3:14, "For we have become participants in Christ if we hold firmly until the end the reality that we had at the start." ESV, "14 For we have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end." Many Christians and churches emphasize making a one-time decision for Christ, and it is all about the fact that we have decided to follow Jesus. That is great, and I want to preach so that people will follow Jesus for sure, but in my preaching and teaching, I put my less emphasis on the 'I have decided part." and much MORE emphasis on the "FOLLOW JESUS" part. The Christian life is NOT about making a one-time decision in a moment of time that gives you fire-insurance for all of eternity, any more than marriage is all about saying, "I do," and then you just sit back and reap the rewards of your one time decision to say those words. Instead, following Jesus is about holding firmly from beginning to end. Or, as Paul puts it:
Now I want to make clear for you, brothers and sisters, the gospel I preached to you, which you received, on which you have taken your stand 2 and by which you are being saved, if you hold to the message I preached to you—unless you believed in vain.
1 Corinthians 15:1-3
23 Let us hold on to the confession of our hope without wavering, since he who promised is faithful
Hebrews 10:23
Happy Monday, friends - and God bless all of you essential workers, first responders, medical professionals and others that are headed into work today to keep our country going, to serve the needs of the people, and to heal and help the sick. We are more grateful for you than we have ever been before, and that gratitude and appreciation is long overdue.
Today's Bible readings include Numbers 4, Song of Songs 2, Psalms 38 and Hebrews 2. Our focus question remains on the issue of slavery and the Bible. Specifically, we will compare what the Bible calls doulos/bond-servants/slaves with what most westerners think when they hear the term 'slave.' I'm reading some excerpts from my book The Bible and Racism, which is available on Amazon, and has never been featured as a Oprah Winfrey's book of the month for reasons I can't begin to fathom.
It should be remembered, that the Israelites themselves started out as slaves, aliens and strangers in a strange land. They were under the yoke of slavery for over 400 years, a fact prophesied by God to Abraham in Genesis 15. The Israelites knew first hand the horrors of slavery for centuries.
In Matthew 6:24 Jesus teaches, “No one can be a slave of two masters, since either he will hate one and love the other, or be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot be slaves of God and of money." This is Jesus' first mention of slavery, and it is interesting on two different counts. First, Jesus demonstrates here that one can be a slave and love one's master. Second, it introduces us to the New Testament use of the word "slave." In this particular instance, the word Jesus uses is the verb "douleuō" which means either to be a slave OR to be a servant. The same verb is used in Luke 15:29, "but he answered his father, ‘Look, these many years I have served you, and I never disobeyed your command, yet you never gave me a young goat, that I might celebrate with my friends."
In this case, the verb is used by the elder brother in Jesus' famous parable of the prodigal son. The elder brother was obviously not a slave in his father's household, but he did work and serve his father. The fact is that the Greek verb "douleuō" and the Greek noun "doulos" from which it is derived can be used to indicate either slavery or service, and the meaning of the word is probably more in line with our English word servant, than our connotations of the word "slave."
Matthew 20:26-28 "It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, 27 and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, 28 even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” In vs 26, the word used by Jesus that the ESV translates as "servant," is the Greek word "diakonos" and the word that Jesus uses in vs 27, translated as "slave," is "doulos" Diakonos is the Greek word that was used for somebody who waited on tables in the first century - a server. It was co-opted by the church to mean "deacon," in Acts 6, and ultimately came to also mean "minister." Jesus' teaching here is revolutionary - He is saying that the key to greatness, and the key to becoming first, or chief, is to be a servant or slave.
In context, it appears that the words servant and slave are used very similarly here by Jesus, and they are used glowingly. In the upside-down Kingdom of Jesus, being a servant is being great, and being a slave is opening the door to being chief. This proclamation goes right along with Jesus' teaching in Mark 10:31, "Many who are first will be last," in the Kingdom of Heaven and eternity. It should be said here that being a master - especially the master of a slave - would be the opposite of servanthood, and in many ways, the opposite of being great.
Romans 6: 15-23 15 "What then? Are we to sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! 16 Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? 17 But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, 18 and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness. 19 I am speaking in human terms, because of your natural limitations. For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification. 20 For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. 21 But what fruit were you getting at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. 22 But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life. 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
The word "bond-servant" (doulos) appears in about 36 verses in the New Testament, with Romans 6 and Galatians 4 being the two densest discussions of the topic. While Paul's discussion of slavery (or bond-servitude) here is largely metaphoric, there are still two noteworthy facts about slavery in the Bible found in this passage. First, as indicated by vs. 16, New Testament slavery does carry implications of obedience. Second, Paul here contrasts two polar opposites that humans will serve: Either they will be slaves to sin, a terrible master that brings only death, or they will be slaves to God, a master that brings freedom, sanctification, and eternal life. In Pauline theology, all humans are slaves to something, a fact that has extreme implications when discussing the complicated issue of slavery in the Bible. In the way that Paul discusses slavery, the key question relates to how good the master is. If the master is sin itself, or a cruel human, then slavery is a terrible evil. If the master is God, or a Godly human, then servant-hood is very different.
American Christians, no matter their race, hopefully cringe in their inner-selves when they hear the word slavery. The system of slavery in America from its inception until the late 19th century was race-based, cruel, godless, an abomination and diametrically opposed to the understanding of slavery/servitude in the Bible. Slavery in the Bible was far more similar to what we think of when we think of somebody serving as a butler, or a housekeeper, or a groundskeeper. No, it wasn't a glorious position, and yes, sometimes slaves were taken advantage of, but first century slavery, at least the type discussed in the New Testament, was NOT race-based, and shared little in common with the race-based, kidnapping focused slavery of England and the Americas.
The idea of being slaves to God or Christ is a recurring theme in the New Testament, far more prevalent than is commonly understood, appearing in Matthew 6:24, Matthew 22:3-10, Mark 13:34, Luke 12:37, Luke 12:38, Luke 12:45, Luke 17:10!, John 15:15, Acts 2:18, Acts 4:29, Acts 16:17, Ephesians 6:6, Philippians 1:1, Colossians 3:24, 1 Peter 2:16, Romans 6:22, Romans 16:18, Revelation 1:1, Revelation 2:20, Revelation 6:11, Revelation 7:3, Revelation 19:2, Revelation 19:5, Revelation 22:3, and Revelation 22:6, and quite possibly at least a dozen other verses.
The most frequent name used to designate general followers of Jesus in the New Testament is the word "brothers." Unless I am mistaken, the second most frequent name for general followers of Jesus in the New Testament is "slave/servant/doulos." (The word "disciple"also frequently refers to followers of Jesus, but is more often applied to the original 12 disciples of Jesus, and is not used at all after the book of Acts) Let this idea sink in, because it is crucial: followers of God, according to the Bible, are slaves/servants/douloses of Him. To be a servant is not a bad thing, according to Jesus, but is the very key to greatness. Americans and Westerners look down on serving and servitude, but Jesus practically glorified it. That acknowledged, I want to reiterate that race-based slavery is a cruel and horrid abomination, and its perpetrators deserve nothing more than derision.
1 Corinthians 12:12-14 12 "For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. 13 For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit."
The early church was made up of slaves, freeman and nobles. It was composed of Jews, Greeks, Romans and other 'barbarians.' There were all shades of skin color, and all manner of economic class together when the early church met. Sometimes, this dynamic led to favoritism and partiality, but multiple times in Scripture, the church was sternly warned to not give any place to favoring one people group over another. As Paul notes here in 1 Corinthians 12, all of the members - slave or free - were baptized by ONE Spirit into ONE Body. The coming of Christ Jesus, His death on the cross and His resurrection has destroyed every dividing wall in humanity. To reiterate: Slaves, free, nobles, rich, poor, Gentiles, Jews, strangers, aliens and the like are all now saints, citizens, members of the household of God, and co-heirs with Christ. All other titles and positions are meaningless.
. 2 Corinthians 4:5 For we are not proclaiming ourselves but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your slaves because of Jesus. Once again we see a normative New Testament usage of the word doulos/servant/slave. Paul is proclaiming that he and his apostle team are 'slaves' to the Corinthians. In doing so, he is also demonstrating the lack of racial baggage that adhered to the word doulos in the first century.
The book Racism and the Bible covers many more verses in this discussion and goes much deeper. If this is an issue you still want to grapple with, I'd encourage you to get the book, or just leave a comment, and I'll send you a .pdf of the chapter in question if you'd like. I'll move to a close:
So, what is the conclusion of this complicated question, does the Bible indeed condone slavery? The answers is primarily no, with a couple of important caveats. The first and primary answer is no - the Bible soundly and roundly condemns any sort of race-based slavery, and any sort of slavery that includes kidnapping, violence, coercion, or threatening behavior. On the other hand, the Bible does condone doulos/servant/slavery, at least in a sense of the word 'condone,' by not calling for the utter abolishment of slavery. That answer at first might seem wishy-washy, but it accurately reflects the tenor and tone of the Bible's teaching about slavery and servitude. As we have seen above, the writers of the Bible, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, had no trouble whatsoever referring to themselves as slaves of Christ, and didn't blink an eye about calling followers of Jesus to slavery/servitude of God. The word 'doulos/servant/slave,' though it was a lowly word and position, simply did not carry the same racial baggage and negative connotations to them that it does to us.
Writer John Ellis gets it correct in this nuanced discussion of slavery and the Bible: "It’s true that the Bible never explicitly condemns slavery, but it never condones it either. It does regulate, liberally regulates, an already existing institution – an institution that had little resemblance to the slavery found in the American South."
Right off the bat, Exodus 21:16 flatly forbids and condemns what most people mean when they reference slavery. Look, if God’s Word clearly states, and it does, “Whoever steals a man and sells him, and anyone found in possession of him, shall be put to death”, it’s hard, at least with a straight face, to claim that the Bible condones slavery as defined by 18th and 19th century America. I know many preachers tried to make that case, but they were horribly and sinfully mistaken - trying to justify their wickedness, rather than being led by God's Word.
Truth be told, the slavery that the Bible discusses would be more appropriately termed “indentured servitude.” For one thing, there was no racial element involved.
Fair enough, but the Bible is one thing and the Church another, right? I mean, the Church supported slavery, didn’t it? Well, no. In fact, many of the Christians and churches that opposed American chattel slavery on moral and religious grounds often pointed to the reality that the version of slavery practiced during Biblical times would not allow for American chattel slavery. Referring to slavery in the Old Testament, Kentucky Baptist preacher James M. Pendleton wrote in the 1840s, “there are points of material dissimilarity between that system and our system of slavery.”
One of those “points of material dissimilarity” was that if the Southern slaveholders were to practice the type of slavery that was regulated by the Bible, they would have to enslave whites as well as Africans. Noted historian Mark Noll points to the anti-slavery arguments of Minister John Fee, among others of the time, that the concept of slavery based on race was not only absurd but unbiblical. Unfortunately, this argument failed to make inroads with the Southern slaveholders, and Mark Noll concludes with the telling statement that this failure “reveals that factors other than simple fidelity to Scripture were exerting great influence [over Southern slave-holders].” (Source: https://adayinhiscourt.com)
Now, to our final answer: Does the Bible condone slavery? I believe the answer is no. Does the Bible outlaw/forbid slavery - also no, but it absolutely does outlaw the kind of race-based, kidnapping fueled slavery practiced in Western countries in the last 500 years. I think the best way to express the Bible's position on slavery, taking into account the whole counsel of the New Testament, is that the Bible strongly discourages slavery, calls for equality, kindness, mutual respect, and mutual benefit in boss and bondservant type relationships, elevates servanthood to a position of greatness, and forbids any and all kinds of racism.
Happy Lord's Day to you, friends and family! As I write this greeting, I've just finished uploading a series of testimonies and words of encouragement from members of our church family to be shown in today's livestream. I'd love to invite you to join us - just go to Facebook and search for VBC Salinas, and you can jump on and worship and pray with us, and hear a message on standing firm in the midst of trials and tribulations from 2nd Thessalonians. Today's Bible readings include Numbers 3, Song of Solomon 1, Psalms 37 and Hebrews 1. I'm excited about our two new books and look forward to reading them together with you!
Today we are continuing our discussion from yesterday on slavery in the Bible, and will likely conclude it tomorrow. Our big Bible question is: Does the Bible condone slavery? Ultimately, I believe that we will demonstrate that the New Testament strongly discourages slavery and strongly promotes equality in a very cutting edge and modern way. There have definitely been church people throughout the years that have taught that the Bible blesses slavery, but that was usually not the majority in the church, and such teaching was absolutely the opposite of what the Bible taught. Today we will begin by looking at some voices from throughout church history that strongly opposed slavery and stood for righteousness, and we will also consider some Bible passages that are quite illuminating. Paul's letter to Philemon has sparked us on this discussion, as it is basically a very nicely worded command from Paul to Philemon to let his bond-servant Onesimus go. I treat this entire subject at length in my book The Bible and Racism that is available on Amazon for less than the cost of 7 luxury yachts. What a deal!
More than that, the gospel has a consuming power... Once fairly set alight, it will burn, and blaze, and spread till others shall cast away their evil habits, and turn unto the living God. I cannot help noticing in history the consuming power of the gospel of Christ. There have been old systems of iniquity that have been hoary with age, but when, at last, they have been attacked by the Church of God with the sword of the Spirit, and the gospel of Christ, they have been utterly destroyed. There was, for instance, that abominable institution of slavery, and there was a part of the Church of Christ which tried to palliate it, and spoke of it as “a divine institution, a peculiar institution,” and I know not what; but when the Church of God denounced slavery as a thing utterly inconsistent with Christianity, the thing was burnt up right speedily, and passed away. There are many more social and political wrongs that will have to perish through the burning power of the gospel; and there is much in our hearts, and much in our lives, and much all round about us that will have to go as the gospel fire burns more and more vigorously. But remember that it must be God’s Word that will burn out the evil. We cannot do much with our poor thinkings and tinkerings; it is the eternal truth, the everlasting verities, brought to bear upon the sons of men, that shall soon separate between the dross and the gold, consuming the one and leaving the other pure. (Source: C. H. Spurgeon, “God’s Fire and Hammer,” in The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit Sermons, vol. 42 (London: Passmore & Alabaster, 1896), 172. Note: This message was preached by Spurgeon in 1886)
Do you not mark how God hath followed you with plagues, and may not conscience tell you, that it is for your inhumanity to the souls and bodies of men - To go as pirates and catch up poor Negroes, or people of another land that never forfeited life or liberty, and to make them slaves, and fell them, is one of the worst kind of thievery in the world, and such persons are to be taken for the common enemies of mankind; and they that buy them as beasts, for their mere commodity, and betray or destroy or neglect their souls, are fitter to be called devils than Christians. It is an heinous sin to buy them...because by right the man is his own; therefore no man else can have a just title to him. Richard Baxter, a Puritan preacher and writer from the 1600s. (Source: The Practical Works of Richard Baxter)
Consider with yourselves, if you were in the same condition as the blacks are, who came strangers to you, and were sold to you as slaves. I say, if this should be the condition of your or yours, you would think it hard to measure. Yea, and a very great bondage and cruelty. And therefore, consider seriously of this, and do you for and to them, or any other, to do unto you, were you in like slavish condition; and bring them to know the Lord Christ. George Fox, Quaker preacher, 1671. (Source: Source: A caution and warning to Great-Britain and her colonies, in a Short representation of the calamitous state of the Enslaved Negroes in the British Dominions : Collected from various Authors, and submitted to the Serious consideration of all, more especially of those in power. By Anthony Benezet and William Warburton, 1779. )
We ourselves, who profess to be Christians, and boast of the peculiar advantage we enjoy, by means of express revelation of our duty from heaven, are in effect just like these very untaught and rude heathen countries. With all our superior light, we instill into those, whom we call savage and barbarous, the most despicable opinion of human nature. We, to the utmost of our power, weaken and dissolve the universal tie that binds and unites mankind. We practice what we would exclaim against, as the utmost excess of cruelty and tyranny, if nations of the world, differing in colour, were possessed of empire, as to be able to reduce us to a state of unmerited and brutish servitude. Of consequence, we sacrifice our reason, our humanity, our Christianity, to an unnatural sordid gain. We teach other nations to despise and trample under foot all obligations of social virtue. We take the most effectual method to prevent the propagation of the gospel by representing it as a scheme of power and barbarous oppression, and an enemy to the natural privileges and rights of men. Perhaps all that I have now offered may be of very little weight to restrain this enormity, this aggravated iniquity. However, I shall still have the satisfaction of having entered my private protest against a practice which, in my opinion, buds that God, who is the God and Father of the Gentiles, unconverted to Christianity, most daring and bold defiance, and spurns at all the principles, both of natural and revealed religion. James Foster. (Source: Discourses on All the Principle Branches of Natural Religion and Social Virtue, 1749)
The issue of racism and the Bible, as we have seen, is actually a fairly simple one. The Bible heartily and completely condemns racism of any kind, and unequivocally declares that all humans are equally made in the Image of God, and equally related to each other through Adam and Eve. God shows no partiality, and the gospel and its benefits are for every tribe, nation, tongue and people.
Less simple is the topic of slavery and the Bible, primarily because the writers of the Bible acknowledge the existence of slavery but are not wholly concerned with toppling the institution. Before we discuss the particulars of why that might be, it is important to consider an overview of what exactly the Bible does teach about slavery. The majority of the passages below will be New Testament passages. This does not discount the teaching of the Old Testament, but it is a recognition that Christians of the past 19 centuries have been primarily governed by the New Testament. The Old Testament was written to the Jewish people, and it is Scripture and profitable for Christians today, but the New Testament is binding and authoritative for Christians today.
Yes - there is an entire book of the New Testament, Paul's letter to Philemon, that is concerned with the issue of slavery. Philemon is a Christian and a slave owner (!) that is a friend of Paul, and was apparently saved through Paul's ministry. Paul doesn't directly ask Philemon to release Onesimus, but you could argue that he absolutely does ask for, and even command, the release of Onesimus, a fact made obvious by vs. 14 ("your good deed."), vs. 16 (no longer a slave!), vs. 19 (Paul will repay any debt of Onesimus) and vs. 21 ("Since I am confident of your obedience. I know you will do more than I say") Even if one doesn't fully agree with that premise, it is unquestionable that Paul directs Philemon to no longer consider Onesimus a slave, but to treat him as Philemon would treat Paul - a lofty command, to be sure. While the Bible doesn't indicate whether Philemon followed Paul's directive or not, church history tells us that he did, and Onesimus went on to become a bishop in the early church. Henry Halley tells the story in his Bible handbook:
The Bible gives no hint as to how the master received his returning slave. But there is a tradition that says his master did receive him, and took Paul’s veiled hint and gave the slave his liberty. That is the way the Gospel works.... Christ in the heart of the master made the master recognize the slave as a Christian brother and give him his liberty. There is a tradition that Onesimus afterward became a bishop of Berea. The Mosaic slave laws and the writings of Paul benefited and protected the slaves as best as possible in their situation. God’s desire for any who are enslaved is freedom (Luke 4:18; Gal. 5:1). Those who are set free in Christ then need to be prepared to walk in liberty. Pagan nations had a much different outlook toward slaves, believing slaves had no rights or privileges. Because of the restrictions and humane aspect of the Mosaic laws on slavery, it never existed on a large scale in Israel, and did not exhibit the cruelties seen in Egypt, Greece, Rome, Assyria and other nations. (Source: Henry Halley's Bible Handbook with the New International Version, 2008)
Hello friends, and happy weekend to you. Yes, if you're like me - the weekend doesn't mean as much as it used to, because all the days bleed together. Sundays are still special, however, because our church gathers together online, we worship and pray together live - online - and we listen to the Word together live. It's not the same, but it's not bad either. I find myself looking forward to it, and to the small group meetings with leaders and other people that also happen on Sunday. When you are starved for contact with other people, I guess you take it how you can get it! Tonight's Bible readings include: Numbers 2, Ecclesiastes 12, Psalms 36 and Philemon 1. Philemon is our focus passage tonight, and it brings up an important, but very controversial topic. Does the Bible condone slavery?
The answer is a bit, shall we say, complicated. I had an interesting conversation by text this week with friend and pod listener Lamar who was commenting that some of the slavery spoken of in the Leviticus passages did indeed sound a like lot chattal slavery, as practiced by the U.S. and England, and other countries in the 1800s and prior. Lamar's speculation was that perhaps God allowed such things - as He allowed husbands to write their wives a certificate of divorce in Old Testament times - because of the hardness of the Israelites' hearts. I believe that is a good and sound explanation of what was going on.
I will say that much of the American/England system of slavery was built on kidnapping, and was race-based - white people oppressing and kidnapping and enslaving black people. This was not at all what servitude in New Testament times was like, and it wasn't even what the kind of slavery/bond-servanthood spoken of in the Old Testament was like either. In 2017 I wrote a book called "The Bible and Racism," that addresses how the Bible handles issues of race. Only a fool uses the Bible to justify racism, and yes, I'm aware that there were many foolish preachers that attempted to do just that in prior centuries. Today's question will be answered, in part, by chapter 6 of The Bible and Racism. If you'd want to buy that book, it is available on Amazon, and when you buy a copy, I get enough money to buy a small box of Raisin Bran, which is important at my age. ;) Well, let's read Philemon and then come back and discuss whether or not the Bible condones slavery:
Does the Bible Condone Slavery From: The Bible and Racism, by Chase A. Thompson
"And the same law commands “not to muzzle the ox which treadeth out the corn: for the labourer must be reckoned worthy of his food.” And it prohibits an ox and ass to be yoked in the plow together pointing perhaps to the want of agreement in the case of the animals; and at the same time teaching not to wrong any one belonging to another race, and bring him under the yoke, when there is no other cause to allege than difference of race, which is no cause at all, being neither wickedness nor the effect of wickedness." Clement of Alexandria, Christian theologian who lived from 150 AD - 215 AD
The AnteNicene Fathers (Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Company, 1885), 368.
"God, who produces and gives breath to men, willed that all should be equal, that is, equally matched. He has imposed the same condition of living on all. He has opened wisdom to all. He has promised immortality to all. No one is cut off from His heavenly benefits.… In His sight, no one is a slave; no one is a master. For if all have the same Father, by an equal right we are all children. No one is poor in the sight of God but he who is without justice. No one is rich, but he who is full of virtues.… For this reason, neither the Romans nor the Greeks could possess justice. For they had men differing from one another by many degrees: the poor and the rich, the humble and the powerful, private persons and the highest authorities of kings. However, where all persons are not equally matched, there is no justice. And, by its nature, inequality excludes justice.… However, someone will say, “Are there not among you some who are poor and others who are rich? Are not some servants and others masters? Is there not some difference between individuals?” There is none. Nor is there any other cause why we mutually bestow upon each other the name of brothers, except that we believe ourselves to be equal. We measure all human things by the spirit, not by the body. Although the condition of our bodies is different, yet we have no servants. For we both regard and speak of them as brothers in spirit and as fellow-servants in religion.… Therefore, in lowliness of mind, we are on an equality: the free with the slaves and the rich with the poor. Nevertheless, in the sight of God we are distinguished only by virtue.… The person who has conducted himself not only as an equal, but even as an inferior, he will plainly obtain a much higher rank of dignity in the judgment of God. Lactantius, circa 305 AD,
quoted in: A Dictionary of Early Christian Beliefs: A Reference Guide to More than 700 Topics Discussed by the Early Church Fathers (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, 1998), 236.
The above passages, and dozens of others like them, demonstrate the views that the early church had about slavery and race. While there were indeed bond-servants in the early church, both slaves and rich, laborers and merchants, foreigners and natives, were all accorded the title, "brother." Although the church in latter years would too often give in to opulence and worldliness, the church in the first few centuries carefully sought to heed Paul and James' biblical warnings against showing favoritism and partiality towards anyone. To read Lactantius' words, written around 300 AD, is to read refreshing words of equality and unity, the likes of which the modern world has yet to fully grasp, even 1700 years later.
In October of 2014, Boston Globe columnist and spirituality writer Margery Eagan related the following experience from her Catholic church, and left dangling a provocative question: Since the Bible condones slavery (and the modern church does not), should not the modern church "discount and dismiss" what Paul said about homosexuality?
I do want to address, and perhaps challenge, the first part of Margery's question, since most people assume it to be true. Does the Bible, the New Testament in particular, actually condone slavery? The answer to that question is, as one would imagine, quite complex. The Bible has been tragically used and abused for centuries in the name of propping up one false ideology or the other. This dynamic happens when humans seek to read INTO the Bible their own beliefs and search out phrases, words and stories to justify themselves, rather than reading OUT of the Bible truths for life.
I teach survey-level New Testament and Old Testament courses at a local liberal arts college. At the beginning of each of those classes, I take a Bible and physically demonstrate two different approaches to Scripture. Holding it over my head, I explain that we can view the Word of God as authoritative - that we must follow it and submit to it - we can't read into the Bible our worldview, biases and feelings, but we must read out of it the foundation for our worldview, biases and feelings. The view that the Bible is above us represents a high view of Scripture - that it is God's Word (not the word of man) and that we must seek to understand what is written and follow it. When we understand the grammar, vocabulary and context of a passage, in other words, we will know the meaning of that passage.
The second major way we can approach Scripture, I demonstrate by putting the Bible on the floor, and explain to the students that in this approach, the Bible is beneath us, and rather than read out of Scripture authoritative direction, we read into Scripture our own views, picking and choosing which Scriptures to follow and which to reject, and interpreting what the Bible has to say in light of our own views and opinions. With this approach, some Bible passages are ignored, or completely reinterpreted by us to mean something entirely different than what the grammar, vocabulary and context of the verse says.
There are technical terms for both of these different approaches to Scripture, with eisegesis denoting the approach that seeks to read meanings into the Bible text, and exegesis indicating the approach that seeks to bring out of the text its intentions and meaning. Dr. James White offers an excellent definition of eisegesis below, and shows how it differs from an exegetical approach:
Eisegesis is the reading into a text, in this case, an ancient text of the Bible, of a meaning that is not supported by the grammar, syntax, lexical meanings, and over-all context, of the original. It is the opposite of exegesis, where you read out of the text its original meaning by careful attention to the same things, grammar, syntax, the lexical meanings of the words used by the author (as they were used in his day and in his area), and the over-all context of the document. As common as it is, it should be something the Christian minister finds abhorrent, for when you stop and think about it, eisegesis muffles the voice of God. If the text of Scripture is in fact God breathed (2 Tim. 3:16) and if God speaks in the entirety of the Bible (Matt. 22:31) then eisegesis would involve silencing that divine voice and replacing it with the thoughts, intents, and most often, traditions, of the one doing the interpretation. In fact, in my experience, eisegetical mishandling of the inspired text is the single most common source of heresy, division, disunity, and a lack of clarity in the proclamation of the gospel.
(Dr. James White - Pulpit Crimes, 2006)
Almost all Christians have engaged in eisegesis at some point, but it is a very dangerous practice. Unfortunately, my use of the word "dangerous" here is quite literal. Eisegetical methods of interpretation have led to much bloodshed and acrimony between people who call themselves Christians. There have been wars and killings and thousands of denominational splits, all because we humans have a tendency to look to Scripture for divine approval of our thoughts, actions and opinions, rather than seeking to base our thoughts, actions and opinions on a right understanding of Scripture.
Supporters of race based slavery have engaged in significant and aberrant eisegesis in reading into Scripture Divine commendation for their abominable practices. While it is true that the Bible does not completely ban the practice of bond-servitude, a careful examination of Scripture will demonstrate that the bond-servitude of the Bible and the race-based slavery of Europe and the Americas are vastly different.
I'd like to share a very interesting, and extremely important piece of history as a way to close out this chapter, and bridge into the discussion of the next chapter. The passage below is one of the earliest descriptions of Jesus and His followers by somebody not in the Bible. It was written by the Roman governor of Bithynia, a man named Pliny the younger, and was addressed to the Roman emperor Trajan. The date of writing was approximately 112 AD, and Pliny is writing to inform the emperor of a new movement of people who worship Christ as a God, and bind themselves to pledges to not steal, commit adultery, lie, or be untrustworthy. Pliny was very concerned about these strange people, because they appeared to him to be members of a secret society, which he had forbidden in his district. Therefore, he captured two young girls and interrogated them to find out the truth about these Jesus-followers. Note below how the two young girls are ministers (deaconesses) in the church AND they are slaves/bond-servants. This is steady proof, from an outside source, that the early church viewed slaves as worthy and qualified for some of the most crucial positions that the church had to offer!
They declared that all the wrong they had committed, wittingly or unwittingly, was this, that they had been accustomed on a fixed day to meet before dawn and sing antiphonally a hymn to Christ as a god, and bind themselves by a solemn pledge (sacramento) not to commit any enormity, but to abstain from theft, brigandage, and adultery, to keep their word, and not to refuse to restore what had been entrusted to their charge if demanded.
After these ceremonies they used to disperse and assemble again to share a common meal of innocent food, and even this they had given up after I had issued the edict by which, according to your instructions, I prohibited secret societies.
I therefore considered it the more necessary, in order to ascertain what truth there was in this account, to examine two slave-girls, who were called deaconesses (ministrae), and even to use torture. I found nothing except a perverted and unbounded superstition. I therefore have adjourned the investigation and hastened to consult you, for I thought the matter was worth consulting you about, especially on account of the numbers who are involved. For many of every age and rank, and of both sexes, are already and will be summoned to stand their trial. For this superstition has infected not only the towns, but also the villages and country; yet it apparently can be checked and corrected.
(Source: F. H. Blackburne Daniell, “Trajanus (1), M. Ulpius (Nerva),” ed. William Smith and Henry Wace, A Dictionary of Christian Biography, Literature, Sects and Doctrines (London: John Murray, 1877–1887), 1040.)
Happy Friday, Faithful Friends. Today's Big Bible Word is Alliteration. Oh wait, it is actually peace-making. Everybody knows that Jesus said that the peacemakers are blessed (for they will be called children of God), but many may not know what it actually means or looks like to be a peacemaker. Today we read Numbers chapter 1, Psalms 35, Ecclesiastes 11 and Titus 3, which is one of the best and most practical chapters on peacemaking in the entire Bible - even if it doesn't use the actual word peace-maker. Follow the commands in the chapter, and you will be a bringer of peace to almost any situation.
I love how Spurgeon closed a sermon on the Beatitudes many years ago, commending the life of peacemaking to his congregation:
Are any suffering? Let us weep with them. Do we know one who has less love than others? then let us have more, so as to make up the deficiency. Do we perceive faults in a brother? let us admonish him in love and affection. I pray you be peacemakers, everyone. Let the Church go on as it has done for the last eleven years, in holy concord and blessed unity. Let us remember that we cannot keep the unity of the Spirit unless we all believe the truth of God. Let us search our Bibles, therefore, and conform our views and sentiments to the teaching of God’s Word. I have already told you that unity in error is unity in ruin. We want unity in the truth of God through the Spirit of God. This let us seek after; let us live near to Christ, for this is the best way of promoting unity. Divisions in Churches never begin with those full of love to the Saviour. Cold hearts, unholy lives, inconsistent actions, neglected [prayer] closets; these are the seeds which sow schisms in the body; but he who lives near to Jesus, wears his likeness and copies his example, will be, wherever he goes, a sacred bond, a holy link to bind the Church more closely than ever together. May God give us this, and henceforth let us endeavour to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
C. H. Spurgeon, “True Unity Promoted,” in The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit Sermons, vol. 11 (London: Passmore & Alabaster, 1865), 11.
Spurgeon is absolutely right - disunity and peace-breaking almost never begin with those who are full of love for Jesus. If you love the body of Christ - the people of God - you will be unwilling to do anything that could harm them. Christians should do everything possible to maintain unity in the church! That said, we need to see that this passage in Titus concerns our conduct and treatment of people in the church AND outside of the church. Sometimes I have seen Christians that are overeager to fight, quarrel, argue and otherwise stir up trouble online, and with non-believers. I believe Titus 3 - and many other Bible chapters - steer us away from such behavior. Is your social media a sounding board for complaints or disagreements? Do you regularly ignite arguments with your strong opinions? Are you prone to getting into quarrels with people who just don't get it, and need to be set straight? Well, I think Titus 3 might have something to say to us - let's read it!
Remember that Titus is part of the pastoral epistles - letters written by Paul to Timothy and Titus to help them know how to pastor/shepherd and teach Christians in these young churches. It is very clear that the Holy Spirit, speaking through Paul, is urging peace and unity to be critically important facets of any church. Remember these passages back in Timothy:
23 But reject foolish and ignorant disputes, because you know that they breed quarrels. 24 The Lord’s servant must not quarrel, but must be gentle to everyone, able to teach, and patient, 25 instructing his opponents with gentleness.
2 Timothy 2:23-25
The Lord's servant - you and I! is not allowed to quarrel with people. Instead, we must be gentle and patient. Consider all of the peace-making passages we've just read in Titus - it is very clear that Paul is ending this letter with a hope that the church would abound in peace and avoid fighting and controversy and division:
Titus 3:2-3 "to slander no one, to avoid fighting, and to be kind, always showing gentleness to all people 3For we too were once foolish, disobedient, deceived, enslaved by various passions and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, detesting one another."
Titus 3:9, "But avoid foolish debates, genealogies, quarrels, and disputes about the law, because they are unprofitable and worthless."
Titus 3:10-11 " 10 Reject a divisive person after a first and second warning. 11 For you know that such a person has gone astray and is sinning; he is self-condemned."
The advice is crystal clear: No fighting. No slander. Avoid debates, quarrels, and disputes. Reject divisive people. Be kind. Show gentleness to everybody. As a reminder, this applies to our behavior in church and out of church - with Christians and with everybody. Christians are the last people that should be looking to argue or quarrel online (or anywhere!) - about politics, theology, religions, etc. We are to be a peace-seeking and -peace-loving people. The world has enough debates, quarrels and disputes, says Paul, let's not add to it, but, rather let us be gentle and, rather than fuss, fight, debate and quarrel, rather "Let our people learn to devote themselves to good works for pressing needs, so that they will not be unfruitful." (Titus 3:14)
Forbearance is a great word that is not used very frequently anymore, except in debt relief. It is almost an archaic word. Are you familiar with it? It means to refrain from exercising a legal right - especially to refrain from enforcing a debt owed. So, in a Christian sense, when we practice forbearance with each other, we are being graceful, overlooking offenses and the need for somebody to pay us back if they have slighted us somehow. Pastor John Piper tells in this little snippet, which we will close with, how the practice of forbearance is helpful for the practice of peace-making and unity building:
He pleads with the church to walk worthy of our calling. Specifically, the way he wants to emphasize is that we be “diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (v. 3). We walk unworthily of our calling in Christ if we disregard the unity of the body and don’t expend any effort to safeguard what Christ died to obtain. “Be diligent,” Paul says, “Be eager, be earnest” to keep the unity given by the Spirit of God and obtained with the blood of Christ (2:16).
This is Paul’s prison burden for the church at Ephesus. If we have any empathy for a suffering saint, it should make us say, Yes, that is utterly crucial. How, brother Paul? How shall we do this?
His answer is found in verse 2. The character traits that will preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace are humility, gentleness, patience, forbearance, and love. So he says that a life worthy of our calling and leading to unity of Spirit is “with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing forbearance to one another in love.” If you are humble, you will be gentle, and if you are patient, you will be forbearing or enduring. And if you are gentle and forbearing in love, you will be a peacemaker and a unity preserver. So be diligent and eager to be a humble and patient person by the power of Christ.
John Piper, Sermons from John Piper (1990–1999) (Minneapolis, MN: Desiring God, 2007).
Happy Thursday to you, friends! Today was a beautiful and warm day in central California, and I think that has many people - including my kids - antsy for a return to regular life. I am rooting for that to be sooner, rather than later, but fully expect it to be later rather than sooner. Alas. On a walk today with my wife, she asked me how much longer I thought the quarantine and shut down would last. I obviously have no idea, but the answer I gave her kind of came out of nowhere, and went something like this, "Until the people of God begin to walk in the fear of the Lord again." I didn't really intend for that kind of Bible-juke to come out, but there you go. I do believe there is some truth to the statement, especially after reading Leviticus 26 yesterday. I don't know about you, but that passage rattled me.
Today's Bible readings are from Leviticus 27, Psalms 34, Ecclesiastes 10 and Titus 2. A few episodes ago, we talked about the fear of the Lord. Perhaps the main thing we saw in that episode is that the Bible discusses the fear of the Lord frequently, and points to walking in the fear of the Lord as absolutely crucial to prospering, protection, and persevering in the faith. It will be a theme we return to fairly regularly, much like the resurrection, the Gospel, spiritual gifts, repentance, and others. Today we are going to get some practical advice from the Psalms that gives us directions on HOW to fear the Lord - what it looks like when we fear the Lord. Let's go read Psalms 34 and then come back and discuss it.
First, we see the beautiful promise of God to be free from fear:
I sought the Lord, and he answered me
and rescued me from all my fears.
5 Those who look to him are radiant with joy;
their faces will never be ashamed.
6 This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him
and saved him from all his troubles.
7 The angel of the Lord encamps
around those who fear him, and rescues them.Psalm 34:4-7
And then we see the how-to of God-fearing:
Come, children, listen to me;
I will teach you the fear of the Lord.
12 Who is someone who desires life,
loving a long life to enjoy what is good?
13 Keep your tongue from evil
and your lips from deceitful speech.
14 Turn away from evil and do what is good;
seek peace and pursue it.15 The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous,
and his ears are open to their cry for help.
16 The face of the Lord is set
against those who do what is evil,
to remove all memory of them from the earth.
17 The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears,
and rescues them from all their troubles.
18 The Lord is near the brokenhearted;
he saves those crushed in spirit.Psalms 34:11-18
How do you walk in the fear of the Lord? It's pretty simple:
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Keep your tongue from evil. The word for 'evil' in Hebrew is 'רַע raʻ, rah' it means the opposite of good - hurtful, malicious, wicked - against the ways of God. This is a fairly blanket term and would include pretty much anything that God's Word forbids - swearing, complaining, attacking, grumbling, tearing down, course and crude joking, hate speech, etc. 2. Keep your lips from deceitful speech. This doesn't merely include lying, but also deceit, guile and deception. In other words, to walk in the fear of God, you should be straightforward and honest in your words.
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Turn away from evil. This is another way of saying repent - turn away from evil deeds and actions and walk in God's ways.
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Seek AND pursue peace. This double command seems to indicate an impassioned pursuit of peace, not just a half-hearted attempt at it. A person of God will not only desire to be peaceful, but will seek and PURSUE IT.
What are the promises of walking in this way? Myriad. Long life and blessing. The protection of God. The Angel of the Lord camping around you. Rescue from adversaries and the refuge of the Lord. This is the way, walk in it!
Let's close with a brief word from brother Spurgeon:
He who can manage his tongue can manage his whole body; for the tongue is the rudder of the ship, and if that be properly held, the vessel will be rightly steered. If thou wouldst escape the quicksands and the rocks, look well to thy tongue; keep it from evil, that it speak neither blasphemy against God nor slander against thy fellow-men; and keep thy lips from guile, that is, from deceit, from double meanings, from saying one thing and meaning another, or making other people think that you mean another,—an art all too well understood in these days. God make us plain-speaking men, who say what we mean, and mean what we say! When, by the grace of God, we are taught to do this, we have learned a good lesson.
C. H. Spurgeon, “The Great Change,” in The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit Sermons, vol. 42 (London: Passmore & Alabaster, 1896), 347.
Happy Wednesday, friends. I have refused for many years to call Wednesday 'hump-day' as a matter of principle, and I still refuse, so don't hold your breath hoping for me to wish you a happy hump-day at some point. It won't happen, unless I have been kidnapped and forced to do the podcast against my will, at which point, I will signal my need for rescue by uttering that greeting. Hopefully, we won't have to cross that bridge at any point in the future, but this podcast has many enemies, so you never know.
Today's Bible readings include Leviticus 26, Ecclesiastes 9, Psalms 33 and Titus 1. As we have mentioned before, Ecclesiastes is not the happiest of Bible books. I'm not sure that I'd go to this book if my soul was downcast, and I was desperate for an encouraging pick-me up. That said, there is indeed wisdom to be found here, and the whole thrust of the book is found in its finale, so let's hold off on being too harsh until we get there. One of the profound observations that Solomon is going to share with us today is that life simply isn't fair, and he is going to share that truth with us in a bunch of different and soul-crushing ways. You might be saying - I don't think I'm up for much of a soul-crushing episode of the podcast right now - what with a virus stalking the lands like an invisible and scary stalky thing, and you'd be right, and that is why this is NOT going to be a soul-crushing episode, but a soul-LIFTING episode. So - just hang on. Let's read Ecclesiastes and come back and discuss.
Wow. That was a bummer. Hang on for a few more minutes, because good news is coming. First, let's discuss the bad news we've just read. Solomon has just told us in several different ways that life is not fair at all. Consider:
vs 2. Solomon says that DEATH awaits all - the virtuous and the sinner, the fool and the wise. UNFAIR! "2 Everything is the same for everyone: There is one fate for the righteous and the wicked, for the good and the bad, for the clean and the unclean, for the one who sacrifices and the one who does not sacrifice. As it is for the good, so also it is for the sinner; as it is for the one who takes an oath, so also for the one who fears an oath."
vs. 11 - the best don't always win, though it would be fair for them to do so. "Again I saw under the sun that the race is not to the swift, or the battle to the strong, or bread to the wise, or riches to the discerning, or favor to the skillful; rather, time and chance happen to all of them."
vs 15. Poor heroes who are wise are completely forgotten because they are poor, "15 Now a poor wise man was found in the city, and he delivered the city by his wisdom. Yet no one remembered that poor man."
That's just in chapter 9. If you've been paying attention, Solomon has already told us numerous unfair things as well. How about Ecclesiastes 8:14, "There is a futility that is done on the earth: there are righteous people who get what the actions of the wicked deserve, and there are wicked people who get what the actions of the righteous deserve. I say that this too is futile." Ouch! This is the height of unfairness!
How about 7:15, "In my futile life I have seen everything: someone righteous perishes in spite of his righteousness, and someone wicked lives long in spite of his evil."
Or 6:2, "God gives a person riches, wealth, and honor so that he lacks nothing of all he desires for himself, but God does not allow him to enjoy them. Instead, a stranger will enjoy them. This is futile and a sickening tragedy."
And finally, 3:19-22 "For the fate of the children of Adam and the fate of animals is the same. As one dies, so dies the other; they all have the same breath. People have no advantage over animals since everything is futile. 20 All are going to the same place; all come from dust, and all return to dust. 21 Who knows if the spirits of the children of Adam go upward and the spirits of animals go downward to the earth? 22 I have seen that there is nothing better than for a person to enjoy his activities because that is his reward. For who can enable him to see what will happen after he dies?"
Are you depressed yet? Wow - that's some heavy stuff. People often think Christians are pollyannas or sunshine-pumpers - people given to irrational and excessive optimism. I'm honestly not sure you can read the Bible - Old or New Testament - and come away thinking the Bible is anything but genuine, authentic, truthful and gritty. The Word of God does not whitewash things. I'll admit - many preachers do. Many televangelists do. Some moms and dads do. Some Sunday School teachers also....but the Bible doesn't. Solomon shows us today that life is NOT fair. Those who try hardest don't always win. Some wonderful people die young and some horrible people live a long and materially blessed life. Sometimes the wicked prosper and the righteous suffer. Who can understand such things?
But the real thing is what Solomon keeps coming back to: death. In his understanding - death comes for all, and the rich/wise/virtuous/humble are no better off than the wicked/foolish/haughty or animals, from what he can tell. And there's the important pivot for us. As far as Solomon knew, death was the same for all. There are some hints that he knew the righteous would be ultimately rewarded and the wicked ultimately punished, but it is like he is peering through the fog and can't really see clearly at all. Despite all his wisdom and learning, he is utterly perplexed. I wonder how much of that is due to the 1 Kings 11:4 dynamic? ("When Solomon was old, his wives turned his heart away to follow other gods. He was not wholeheartedly devoted to the LORD his God, as his father David had been.") Probably quite a bit, actually - but the other thing that made things about the afterlife foggy was the fact that God had not revealed it Old Testament believers as fully as Jesus does in the flesh. And when Jesus comes on the scene, we learn just precisely how UNFAIR things are - especially eternal things.
One of the greatest little summations of that unfairness is found in Luke 22:37
For I tell you, what is written must be fulfilled in me: And he was counted among the lawless. Yes, what is written about me is coming to its fulfillment.”
Luke 22:37
This, my friends, is the absolute pinnacle of unfairness. Jesus, the perfect God-man, was counted as a rebel, as a sinner, as a criminal that deserved the worst punishment of all, crucifixion. He knew no sin, but suffered the penalty for all of our sins. There has never been something so unfair happen before or since, and there never will be again!
Romans 4:25, "He was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification."
1 Corinthians 15:3, "3 For I passed on to you as most important what I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,"
2nd Corinthians 5:21, "He made the one who did not know sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God."
Colossians 2:14 "He erased the certificate of debt, with its obligations, that was against us and opposed to us, and has taken it away by nailing it to the cross."
John 6:40, ""For this is the will of my Father: that everyone who sees the Son and believes in him will have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”
If only Solomon could look upon this most unfair of all things. I am quite sure it would completely erase his lamenting, and cause him to joyfully exult in the divine unfairness of it all - the sacrifice of the perfect Jesus for His most imperfect sheep. Solomon was absolutely right that life was and is unfair, but he just misunderstood the direction that the River Unfair flowed. It does not flow against us, brothers and sisters, but for us in every way - thanks be to Jesus the Messiah!
Meditate on this beautiful and glorious bit of unfairness and rejoice that you see more clearly than the wisest man of ancient days (because of Jesus.):
He was despised and rejected by men,
a man of suffering who knew what sickness was.
He was like someone people turned away from;
he was despised, and we didn’t value him.
4 Yet he himself bore our sicknesses,
and he carried our pains;
but we in turn regarded him stricken,
struck down by God, and afflicted.
5 But he was pierced because of our rebellion,
crushed because of our iniquities;
punishment for our peace was on him,
and we are healed by his wounds.
6 We all went astray like sheep;
we all have turned to our own way;
and the Lord has punished him
for the iniquity of us all.Isaiah 53:3-6
Hello everybody, and happy Tuesday to you! I am at day 32 or 33 of my partial Nazarite vow - no beer and no wine is going okay, and I have the haircut part is down pat - I have an unruly mop on my head that will begin to look cavemanesque in about 3 days. Unfortunately, I'm not doing so well on the rest of the fruit of the vine part, as I eat a bowl of Raisin Bran with banana slices nearly every day, and raisins are verboten for a Nazarite. I suppose I'll just remain an Alabama/California hybrid with shaggy hair.
Anyway...today's Bible readings include Leviticus 25, Ecclesiastes 8, Psalms 32 and 2nd Timothy 4. A shout out to my wonderful sun John Caedmon who told me earlier today that he agreed with my decision to stop ending the podcast readings with Ecclesiastes, because, and I quote, "Ecclesiastes is kind of depressing." Yes, my son - yes it is. The good news is that it gets better at the end, and that is sort of the point of the book, and sometimes it is the point of our lives as well. For those who are in Christ - no matter how bad things are now - it gets better at the end. I know that is not an original or insightful sentiment, but what it lacks in freshness it makes up for in hope and bedrock truth.
Our focus passage today is in Psalms 32, though I admit that there were several things in 2nd Timothy 4 that drew my attention - maybe we will catch them on the second read through. Our Big Bible question of the day is all about forgiveness. How is forgiveness joyful? Let's read Psalms 32, and then return and discuss the joy of forgiveness:
How joyful is the one
whose transgression is forgiven,
whose sin is covered!
2 How joyful is a person whom
the Lord does not charge with iniquity
and in whose spirit is no deceit!3 When I kept silent, my bones became brittle
from my groaning all day long.
4 For day and night your hand was heavy on me;
my strength was drained
as in the summer’s heat.Selah
5 Then I acknowledged my sin to you
and did not conceal my iniquity.
I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,”
and you forgave the guilt of my sin.SelahPsalms 32:1-5
There is a very simple but profound couplet of truths in the first part of Psalms 31. First: There is GREAT joy from the Lord for that person who realizes their sin, knows the danger and damage of that sin, knows the holiness of the Lord, and yet finds that God has - in mercy - forgiven their sin. Twice the Psalmist here acknowledges the utter joy of forgiveness. That is truth #1, and it is an important truth for us in pandemic times. The call of the Father is echoing all across the world right now - repent and follow Jesus! For those that hear the call and do repent and follow Jesus, HOW JOYFUL for them that their sins will be forgiven and not held against them! How joyful that they are NOT disqualified from eternal Heaven - made only for the perfect - because their sin no longer counts against them! There is amazing joy in forgiveness.
But don' t miss the second great truth here: There is GROANING and HEAVINESS and WEAKNESS and ILL HEALTH for those who HIDE their sins. Brothers and sisters - if you are hiding your sin right now - whatever it might be - pornography, alcoholism, abuse, outbursts of anger, gossip, slander, criticism, complaining and grumbling, cheating, lying, stealing - whatever....HOW HEAVY that is on your soul! It makes your bones brittle, and your heart weary, and your whole body and soul are impacted. What is the answer - CONFESS TO GOD - and FIND JOY FROM HIS FORGIVENESS!
There is a major choice facing all those who are concealing sin: Keep hiding it and nurturing it until it eats away every drop of strength and joy you have, or kill it by confessing it to God and walk in the joy that comes from forgiveness. Easy choice, right?! I say this as a man who struggled with pornography for over a decade in my youth. Sin may be delightful for a moment, but concealed sin weakens you and eats at you and kills you slowly. Confessed sin brings forgiveness and joy and depth of relationship with God the Father!
Mary Magdalene is one of the most interesting people in the Bible. She was a devoted follower of Jesus, and her love for Him is so pronounced and so obvious in the Bible that it has produced lots of speculation - even speculation that she loved Him in a romantic way. I believe the truth is much more profound and deep than a simple crush, however.
Though the Bible does not explicitly say it, there has been a tradition in the church for almost 2000 years that Mary Magdalene was a saved and redeemed prostitute. That tradition is so old that there might well be some truth to it, but we just can't know. We do know, however, that Mary was delivered of SEVEN demons by Jesus - which must have meant that she spent a significant portion of her life tortured by those same demons, and her reputation undoubtedly suffered from that trauma as well. We also know that Mary was the first person that Jesus revealed Himself to after the resurrection - the first person that He talked to, post-resurrection. This is an incredible honor, and it could be said without too much exaggeration that Mary Magdalene was the first member of the church of Jesus - the first witness to His resurrection, and the first evangelist - bringing the good news to the disciples. What does she have to do with forgiveness, I hear you asking? Excellent question - let's turn to New York pastor Tim Keller to give us the remarkable answer:
When you read the commentaries, an awful lot of the commentaries say, “The reason Mary was there and she wouldn’t go home and she stayed there was because she was hysterical. She was so emotional she couldn’t see the angels through her tears. She was so hysterical she couldn’t see Jesus was who he was. She was hysterical.” That’s not true. The more I’ve been looking at this, it’s not true at all. Absolutely not.
By the way, in today’s New York Times there’s an interesting article in the entertainment section, of all places, by the New York Times religion writer, in which I guess somebody asked him, “How do the angels depicted on TV sitcoms and TV shows compare with biblical angels?” Gustav Niebuhr says, “Not a lot.” He says, “When most people see angels they fall down. They’re overwhelmed.”
By the way, in Luke 24 and in Mark 16 when the other women see these angels dressed bright (and Mary saw they were bright), it says they were dressed in white. How do we know this? The only source of any of this information is from Mary. Mary remembers it. But when the other women saw these very same angels, we’re told they fell to the ground. They were in alarm. The angels always had to say, “Don’t be afraid. Don’t be afraid.”
Mary looks at them. They ask a question and Mary says, “I’m looking for Jesus.” This is not hysteria. Hysterical people freak when they see things like this. This is not hysteria. Then she talks to Jesus. Why doesn’t she recognize Jesus? Because she’s hysterical? No. We will see as we go on through the resurrection accounts that nobody recognizes Jesus at first. His resurrection self means that he has been changed, though he’s still himself, and people have to look, like if you look at somebody you haven’t seen in 25 years. “Oh, it is you.”
She didn’t recognize him, but here’s what’s interesting. She’s not hysterical. She deduces, “If this is the gardener, if this is the supervisor of the grounds, then nobody could have done a body snatching without his help or at least his okay. He will know it.” That’s deduction. She’s not enraged, and she’s not hysterical. She says, “Sir.” Very steely. She doesn’t say, “Where is he?” She says, “Sir, if I personally have to go find the swollen, stinking, decayed body of my Lord, if I have to go find him and pick him up myself, I’m going to do that. Where is he? Do you know where he is?”
This is not a hysterical woman. This is a woman who is iron. This is a woman who is relentless. This is a woman who is a laser beam. She’s a drill. She’s going to get through anything. “Angels, schmangels. Where’s my Lord? Gardeners, I don’t care.” How did this happen? I’ll tell you. Jesus says it’s simple arithmetic. Jesus Christ says in Luke 7, “The one who is forgiven much, loves much.”
I want to press you on this. It’s simple arithmetic. She loved him more than anybody else. That’s why she’s still there. Everybody else is gone. It’s the reason she came. It’s the reason she hasn’t left. It’s simple arithmetic. She knew she was a sinner. She knew she was broken. She knew how big her debt was. She knew it, and Jesus had said, “You can be a child of God.” This is the reason Marys are chosen. This is the reason Marys are used. It’s people who know they’re sinners, it’s people who know the depth of their sin, who love like this.
Let me apply this to you. For some of you, there’s no joy or tears. There’s no incredible confidence like Mary has, and there’s no weeping either. Your religion is sort of a matter of duty. You’ve always been religious. You were raised in a church. You come to church now. This is not hysteria. Don’t you dare look at this like that. This is love. This is relentlessness. This is doggedness. This is commitment born of grace.
I’ll tell you the reason you don’t have the joy of Mary, and I’ll tell you the reason you’re not used by God like Mary. I’ll tell you why you’re not changing people’s lives like Mary. I’ll tell you why you don’t have this greatness of heart like Mary. This might sound very strange to modern New Yorkers. You don’t know you’re a sinner. You are superficial in your understanding of your brokenness.Very often the Marys of the world who were addicted to sex and inner demons, they know. Do you know what a slave you are? Do you know what a slave you are to achievement, to position, to status, maybe in some cases to moral superiority? Do you realize you have hijacked your life just as much as Mary did? You’re avoiding Jesus as Savior and Lord, even if you’re using him as an example.
Until you see yourself as sinful as Mary saw herself, you’re not going to be used. Isn’t it amazing? It’s the Marys of the world God uses, and nobody else. “Well,” you say, “but I’m not a prostitute. I’ve never been. I’ve not been a mental patient.” I’m trying to say it’s the Marys of the world or the people who know they’re no different than the Marys of the world, and only those people, who will ever be used.
By the way, there’s one other little tangential footnote. This second point is the divine priority of grace, and there’s one other thing we’d better get through our heads by looking at Mary here. Jesus chose her first. What does this mean? It means Christians ought to every day try to get their snobbery out, throw it on the ground, and stamp on it, try to kill it.
The Bible says because of this dynamic, the people who know the least about God, in ages past and today and in ages to come, will always be the people who are running things. This is a terrible thing for New Yorkers to hear. If you look down your nose at brothers and sisters who are beneath you in achievement, beneath you in education, beneath you in social status, beneath you in economic status, you’re just not reading the Bible. Get your snobbery out. Throw it on the ground every day and trample it and think of Mary.Timothy J. Keller, The Timothy Keller Sermon Archive (New York City: Redeemer Presbyterian Church, 2013).
Happy Monday, friends. I tried to come up with a better intro situation than that, but my creative brain failed me miserably. My apologies for such a vanilla greeting. You honestly deserve better than that, and I've let you down. It is important to note, however - that I haven't persecuted you by letting you down. Persecution is a different thing entirely, and a discussion about persecution is what today's podcast is about. As far as segues and intros go, I give that one a 3.5 out of 10.
Today's Bible readings include Leviticus 24, Ecclesiastes 7, Psalms 31, and 2nd Timothy 3. At some point soon, we are going to do a Big Bible Question from Leviticus - probably all about animal sacrifice, and why that is a thing anyway - but today is not that day. Instead, we are focused on a promise that Paul makes in 2nd Timothy 3 that is quite interesting, and not the kind of promise that you write down on your fridge or bathroom mirror to encourage yourself every morning.
12 In fact, all who want to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.
2nd Timothy 3:12
How many who want to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted? 100? 1/4? 1/3rd? 74%? NO - ALL< ALL, ALL. So - what does that mean? Let's go read the passage and come back and discuss persecution.
First, let's identify what persecution actually is: The biblical word used here is kind of interesting, and it means in its root forms to make somebody flee, or run away. Persecution used in a biblical context (biblical persecution) does not necessarily have to be physical only. You can most certainly persecute somebody with words or be persecuted with words, as Jesus notes in Matthew 5:11-13 (quoted below.) So persecution can have a physical impact or a verbal impact, and can probably include things like shunning, denying privilege or promotion, etc. Basically biblical persecution is making somebody suffer - in pretty much any significant way - because of their Christian beliefs. I hear Christians throw the word 'persecution' around pretty regularly. Some argue that they are victims of persecution, when it is likely that they are actually suffering for their own bull-headedness, or bad-temper, or misbehavior. Others say that what Christians experience in American and other wealthy nations is nothing at all like persecution. I think the truth of the matter is somewhere between those to polar opposite positions.
Here are FIVE things that AREN'T biblical persecution: 1. When you post or say something that is overtly political in nature (defending your favorite politician, saying how they are God's man, or God's choice, or more Godly than the other person, etc.) and you catch flack for such statements - this is not biblical persecution. It may be obnoxious, it may hurt you feelings, it may be uncalled for, but you aren't being persecuted in a biblical sense when you are making some sort of political stance. (Note: standing up for biblical truth is a different story entirely, but standing up for a political party or person is likely going to draw debate and disagreement, maybe even name-calling. This is unpleasant, perhaps unfair, but not biblical persecution) 2. When you express your Christian faith and beliefs in an overly harsh, or angry, or defensive, or attacking way, and people clap-back on your attitude, then you are not being persecuted for your godliness, you are being rebuffed because of your attitude. Consider 1 Peter 2:19-20, "20For what credit is there if when you do wrong and are beaten, you endure it? But when you do what is good and suffer, if you endure it, this brings favor with God." It is worth noting that attitude and tone matter immensely in the Bible. Sharing truth with a haughty and arrogant tone is not at all Godly, and when people call you out for it, it is likely the haughtiness they are reacting to, not your belief. In sum: If you are being a jerk - even a TRUTHFUL jerk, and you suffer for it - you aren't being persecuted...you're reaping what you sow. Speak the truth in LOVE.
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If somebody disagrees with you on a doctrinal position (baptism by immersion or by sprinkling, spiritual gifts continue, or have ceased, freewill vs. sovereignty, etc.) as long as it is just a disagreement - this does not constitute persecution. Now, if you are a group of Reformed people who believe in infant baptism and not believer's baptism, and take one who believes in that form of baptism and tie his hands and feet behind his back to a pole, and then drown him in a river for his beliefs, then, yes, absolutely that is persecution, and it is also cold-blooded murder. And it is what Zwingli and the Swiss Reformed did to the Anabaptist Felix Manz during the Protestant Reformation.
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When the Starbucks barista or greeter at Walmart says 'Happy Holidays' to you, instead of 'Merry Christmas,' this does not constitute persecution.
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Finally, and I think this might be controversial, but I think in MOST instances, the government not allowing church gatherings during the coronavirus pandemic is NOT persecution. Now - there are some areas where I think it is borderline. There is definitely a Constitutional question that needs to be raised and discussed - can the government even tell churches what to do in this case? But them trying does not seem to be persecution, when the same order applies to all gatherings of people, and not just some. I do question that some liquor stores and marijuana dispensaries count as 'essential businesses,' which they do in California. I would argue that the church is far more essential to mental and spiritual health than alcohol and marijuana. I disagree with the orders in those ways, I just don't believe they measure up to persecution.
Bottom line - I think Christians should be prudent, wise and judicious about the use of the word 'persecution.' Not every bit of unpleasantness we endure is because of persecution.
Here are 5 facts about biblical persecution: 1. Jesus says that you are BLESSED when people persecute you. Matthew 5:11-13, "11 “You are blessed when they insult you and persecute you and falsely say every kind of evil against you because of me. 12 Be glad and rejoice, because your reward is great in heaven. For that is how they persecuted the prophets who were before you." 2. Persecuted people, in particular, have great shelter and refuge in God. He is near the broken-hearted, so says Psalms 9:9-10 "The Lord is a refuge for the persecuted a refuge in times of trouble. 10 Those who know your name trust in you because you have not abandoned those who seek you, Lord." 3. If people are hostile to Jesus and His teachings, they will be hostile to us. If they are open to Jesus, they should be open to us. "Remember the word I spoke to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours." A pastor near us in Santa Cruz, Dan Kimball, wrote a very interesting book I read over a decade ago, "They Like Jesus, but not the Church." The premise of the book is that unchurched people really appreciated Jesus, but found a lot of hypocrisy and bad attitudes in the church. The fact is that Christians should track one to one with Jesus in terms of persecution. 4. Persecution, as bad as it is, has no power to separate us from Christ. "Who can separate us from the love of Christ? Can affliction or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword" Romans 8:35 5. How are Christians called to respond to persecution? Surprisingly enough - with blessings and goodwill! Romans 12:14, "Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse."
Let's tag in Dr. Thomas Schreiner - a pastor and seminary professor to help us better understand what exactly persecution is, and how Christians should deal with it:
Quite often I hear people say that Christians aren’t being persecuted in the United States. What they mean is that we aren’t suffering physically for our faith, in contrast to so many Christians in other parts of the world. I recognize, of course, that there is a significant difference between what is happening to Christians here and to Christians elsewhere who are sacrificing their lives or being tortured for their faith.
Still, it isn’t right to say that Christians in the United States are free from persecution. We should be more precise: We are free from physical persecution.
Consider what 1 Peter says about the suffering of believers:
In this [salvation in Christ] you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith — more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire — may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. (1 Peter 1:6–7)
Later he writes:
Since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves with the same way of thinking, for whoever has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, so as to live for the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for human passions but for the will of God. For the time that is past suffices for doing what the Gentiles want to do, living in sensuality, passions, drunkenness, orgies, drinking parties, and lawless idolatry. With respect to this they are surprised when you do not join them in the same flood of debauchery, and they malign you. (1 Peter 4:1–4)
And he goes on to talk about suffering in 1 Peter 3:13–17 and 4:12–16, and we see from these texts that sometimes the suffering was quite intens
Peter doesn’t use the word persecution to describe what the readers are experiencing, but they are clearly suffering for their faith, and that is another way of saying they are being persecuted. They are being slandered for being Christians, and they are also maligned for not indulging in the same lifestyle as unbelievers. Peter says they shouldn’t be surprised at the fiery trials they face.
But here is the crucial point to see in all these passages: Peter says nothing about physical suffering when he describes the difficulties his readers were experiencing. They were criticized by people in the world; they may have experienced some persecution from governing authorities (1 Peter 2:13–17), and they were certainly out of step with society. But nothing is said about believers being put to death, or flogged, or stoned — in fact, Peter makes no mention of any kind of physical mistreatment.
We see something similar in the words of Jesus when he said to his disciples, “Blessed are you when people hate you and when they exclude you and revile you and spurn your name as evil, on account of the Son of Man!” (Luke 6:22).
Notice how Christians were maligned, criticized, and rejected for not following the societal ethos of their day. In the same way today, many are astonished that we have such a restrictive sexual ethic. Many contemporaries think we are detrimental to society, and many in the Roman world thought the same thing about Christians. They oppose us because we don’t approve the sin that is celebrated in many quarters (as in Romans 1:32).
So what did the persecution look like? The maltreatment Peter talks about consists of verbal abuse and presumably included unjust discrimination in everyday life. Even though they weren’t experiencing physical abuse, they were genuinely suffering....
When persecuted we are tempted to threaten and to seek revenge, but we are called to endure suffering as Christ did and to entrust final judgment to God (1 Peter 2:23). We are to love those who hate us and show them kindness and grace, the same kindness and grace our Savior lavished upon us.
As Christians in the United States, we also experience suffering since we are maligned for our faith. The persecution may be relatively light; we recognize that our brothers and sisters in other parts of the world face something much more severe than what we are experiencing. But all believers in Christ are persecuted in one way or another (2 Timothy 3:12). Verbal abuse and various forms of discrimination are still suffering according to 1 Peter.
None of us knows what the future holds for believers in the United States, but Peter exhorts us in his first letter to be ready for fiery trials, to follow the pattern of our Lord and Savior, and to live by a faith that knows with certainty that eternal glory comes after this moment of suffering.
After you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. (1 Peter 5:10)
https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/you-will-be-persecuted-with-words
Happy Lord's Day, Brothers and Sisters! Today, I am livestream preaching out of 1st Thessalonians 5 for the church that am a pastor at, Valley Baptist Church in Salinas, California. I'd love for you to join us on the livestream at 11am Pacific time zone, or to just head on over to our Facebook page whenever, and check out the video. Throw out a comment to let me know you are there - just search for VBC Salinas on FB, and that will get you to us. Get to the site from our webpage - Bible Reading Podcast, home to well over 600 pages of transcript from the show -every episode has a blog entry there that you can read and look up what you might have missed. Today's Bible readings on this shorter than normal episode are: Leviticus 23, Psalms 30, Ecclesiastes 6 and 2nd Timothy 2. Our focus passage remains in Timothy, and we are talking about one of the most well known Bible passages/commands- "Flee youthful lusts!"
Many, many times (especially as a youth pastor) I have talked about this passage in ministry, almost always with the gist being that we are to stand against other temptations, but flee from sexual lust - especially when we are young.
For example, I've probably taught along these lines a quite a few times: “In Ephesians 6:10-12 you are commanded to make your stand against the devil. In James 4:7 you are given the promise that if you resist him, he will flee from you. Nevertheless in II Timothy 2:22 you are commanded to flee youthful lust. It is rather amazing that you are commanded to be strong, take your stand, and fight against fallen angels, while at the same time, you are commanded to flee with fear from youthful sexual desire. This demonstrates that the youthful lust of your flesh and the unbridled sensuality of your culture is more dangerous than a face to face battle with the devil.”
But what If I told you that we might be actually missing what this very important verse is saying to us? The word here that we are supposed to flee from is ἐπιθυμία epithymía. Interestingly, it doesn’t actually mean lust, not exactly - at least not the way we usually use the word 'lust' in society. For instance, see Luke 22:15
| Luk 22:15 | And he said unto them, With desire G1939 I have desired to eat this passover with you before I suffer: |
The word in Greek more appropriately means Over-desire, heavy desire. So - We are supposed to flee from ungodly over-desires. Which ones are Paul talking about in 2 Timothy? Let’s read the passage and then come back and discuss.
Don't get me wrong - I believe we SHOULD flee lust - and every other sin and temptation, but that doesn't seem to be the context of what Paul is talking about here. Let me tag in pastor Ray Ortlund, who does a great job explaining this passage:
The “youthful passions” in this context are not sexual. Paul has in mind the passion for controversy, that feeling inside that relishes a fight and loves to be proved right and even prophetic. Instead, “The Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, . . . patiently enduring evil” (2 Timothy 2:24). But there is something about us, especially in our youthful immaturity, that lusts to raise protests and set the world right and make sure everyone cares as passionately as I do, because I’m on the side of the right, I’m the defender of the downtrodden, I get it more than others do, etc.
In this world of blatant, horrible wrongs, it is not hard to get angry. It is hard not to get angry. But “the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God.” It just doesn’t. Because it can’t. No matter how right the cause is, the anger of man only makes things worse. Sometimes the youthful don’t see how clever evil is, how easy it is for us to add to evil while intending good, how hard it is for us to be angry and not sin and complicate things further. Exposing and confronting wrongs — real wrongs with real victims — is good, but not simple. Not for us. What is simple is creating more victims by rushing to judgment with guns ablazing and a golden heart pursuing a noble cause.
Personally for me, as a pastor, I long to be the kind of man that sinners want to move toward, not away from. Inevitably, for every one of us, there will come a moment when we have sinned so stupidly that our future is in peril, or when we have been sinned against so destructively that we fall into despair. When that happens — not if it happens — to whom will we go? Not to the fault-finders and finger-pointers. Desperate people will go, if they have any courage left, to a pastor who is known for good news of great joy for all kinds of people. They will go to a man who is known for being kind to everyone, a man who understands sowing and harvesting shalom for other people. And if the pastors within the acquaintance of a person in serious trouble are not like that, if those pastors are known only for their trenchant criticisms — Oh, what a loss!
There is a continuum in pastoral ministry, with rebuke at one end, comfort at the other, and various strategies between. Wise pastors move along that continuum constantly, interacting with people as we understand their needs moment by moment. Personally, I default toward comfort. Unless a person is defiant against the Lord, the ministry of comfort is more consistent with the tone of the gospel — good news for bad people through the finished work of Christ on the cross and the endless power of the Holy Spirit.Jesus said, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God” (Matthew 5:9). They, and they only.
https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/ray-ortlund/flee-youthful-passions/
One concluding thought - please don't take this as permission to indulge sexual lust in your mind - that is not at all what this episode is about. There are volumes of passages in the Bible that warn us away from indulging lust in the wrong way. This episode is merely focused on pointing us to why many modern Bible translations don't warn us to flee youthful lusts, but rather, as the CSB, "Flee youthful passions."
Happy Saturday, Brothers and Sisters! Today's Bible passages include Leviticus 22. Psalms 28 and 29, Ecclesiastes 4, and 2nd Timothy 1. Sharp-eared listeners probably noticed yesterday that we skipped over Ecclesiastes 4, and went straight for 5. Today, we rectify that mistake by reading chapter 4, and tomorrow we will go to Ecclesiastes chapter 6. I know that is confusing, and I feel like if Robert Murray M'Cheyne were alive today, he'd be quite disappointed in my performance.
Our focus passage is from 2nd Timothy 1, which contains all sorts of wonderful nuggets of Scripture. We could focus on vs 12, which is fantastic and was made into a song that I sang much in my youth:
But I am not ashamed, because I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that he is able to guard what has been entrusted to me until that day.
2nd Timothy 1:12
We could tie into our discussion yesterday on fear with verse 7
7 For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but one of power, love, and sound judgment.
2 Timothy 1:7
We could talk about holding on to sound teaching and guarding it by the power of the Holy Spirit:
13 Hold on to the pattern of sound teaching that you have heard from me, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. 14 Guard the good deposit through the Holy Spirit who lives in us.
2 Timothy 1:13-14
Or, we could talk about how Paul imparted a spiritual gift to Timothy by the laying on of his hands:
6 Therefore, I remind you to rekindle the gift of God that is in you through the laying on of my hands.
2 Timothy 1:6
But as great as all of those might be, we're actually going to focus on verses 9-10, which is one of those short passages in the Bible that are miles and miles deep. This is one of the briefest yet deepest and most theological summaries of the Gospel/Good News in the entire Bible:
9 He has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began. 10 This has now been made evident through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who has abolished death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.
2 Timothy 1:9-10
Let's go read the whole chapter in total, even though we just read several chunks of it. It's quite helpful to read it all fully in context to understand what's going on.
So - here are some giant diamonds of truth from just verses 9-10. #1 God Has Saved us and CALLED. He didn't save us because of our good deeds, or our goodness, but by His intentional choice and grace. Salvation begins in the heart of God not the mind of man. When did God decide to extend grace to us - BEFORE TIME BEGAN. HOW did God decide to extend grace to us? In the person of Jesus! His plan, which Paul says was a mystery in past times, was made realized and obvious by the appearance, ministry, death and resurrection of Jesus. What did Jesus do?
#1 He ABOLISHED death. Interesting Greek word there - it means Jesus rendered death inoperable, ceased it, destroyed it, caused it to no longer function. How did He do this? By Himself overcoming death! Remember the promise of John 14:19 "Because I live, you too will live!" Yes, believers in Christ will still die if He doesn't return soon, but that death doesn't work anymore - it doesn't end things - it doesn't cease!
Progressive revelation is a principal of hermeneutics (or, Bible interpretation) that shows how the Bible truths, covenants, commands, etc, progress over time from Genesis through Revelation. Remember Luke 24 - Jesus with Cleopas and his friend on the Emmaus road, and then Jesus with the disciples in the locked room? In that chapter, Jesus explained to the disciples all of the Scriptures that were written in the Old Testament concerning Himself. The appearance of Jesus brought the Old Testament messianic prophecies into much clearer understanding as He fulfilled each prophecy. New Testament believers knew more about the nature and character of God - and His commands - and the future because of the ministry of Jesus and the teachings of the apostles. This is especially true of life after death, and the eternal fate of those who have trusted in Jesus. There is definitely hope for an afterlife in the Old Testament, but because Jesus had not defeated death yet, it was a foggy and unclear hope. Maybe you remember two days ago when we read Ecclesiastes 3 - perhaps you noticed that Solomon's conception of the afterlife was not what you might have expected? The reason for this is, of course, that he was unfamiliar with what Jesus would do, and how Jesus would overcome death and provide eternal life in Him:
19 For the fate of the children of Adam and the fate of animals is the same. As one dies, so dies the other; they all have the same breath. People have no advantage over animals since everything is futile. 20 All are going to the same place; all come from dust, and all return to dust. 21 Who knows if the spirits of the children of Adam go upward and the spirits of animals go downward to the earth? 22 I have seen that there is nothing better than for a person to enjoy his activities because that is his reward. For who can enable him to see what will happen after he dies?
Ecclesiastes 3:19-22
Solomon was one of the wisest in the Old Testament, but he had no idea what happened after death. Once Jesus came and ABOLISHED death, it became much clearer.
Not only that, but Jesus also brought a much clearer focus on what is meant by eternal life and immortality. For instance:
“Don’t let your heart be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. 2 In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? 3 If I go away and prepare a place for you, I will come again and take you to myself, so that where I am you may be also.
John 14:1-3
So, in sum - Old Testament believers in God knew very little about what we call the afterlife. Yes, God revealed to them many things, but the coming of Jesus and His abolishing of death revealed FAR more, and shined light on eternal life, eternal hope, and the Heavenly Kingdom of God. Spurgeon has a great answer to the question of how Jesus abolished death, so let's close out with that:
Let us remember that death is AN ENEMY TO BE DESTROYED. Remember that our Lord Jesus Christ has already wrought a great victory upon death so that he has delivered us from lifelong bondage through its fear. He has not yet destroyed death, but he has gone very near to it, for we are told that he has “abolished death and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.” This surely must come very near to having destroyed death altogether.
In the first place, our Lord has subdued death in the very worst sense by having delivered his people from spiritual death. “And you hath he quickened who were dead in trespasses and sins.” Once you had no divine life whatever, but the death of original depravity remained upon you, and so you were dead to all divine and spiritual things; but now, beloved, the Spirit of God, even he that raised up Jesus Christ from the dead, has raised you up into newness of life, and you have become new creatures in Christ Jesus. In this sense death has been subdued.
Our Lord in his lifetime also conquered death by restoring certain individuals to life. There were three memorable cases in which at his bidding the last enemy resigned his prey. Our Lord went into the ruler’s house, and saw the little girl who had lately fallen asleep in death, around whom they wept and lamented: he heard their scornful laughter, when he said, “She is not dead but sleepeth,” and he put them all out and said to her “Maid, arise!” Then was the spoiler spoiled, and the dungeon door set open. He stopped the funeral procession at the gates of Nain, whence they were carrying forth a young man, “the only son of his mother, and she was a widow,” and he said “Young man, I say unto thee arise.” When that young man sat up and our Lord delivered him to his mother, then again was the prey taken from the mighty. Chief of all when Lazarus had laid in the grave so long that his sister said “Lord, by this time he stinketh,” when, in obedience to the word, “Lazarus come forth!” forth came the raised one with his graveclothes still about him, but yet really quickened, then was death seen to be subservient to the Son of man. “Loose him and let him go,” said the conquering Christ, and death’s bonds were removed, for the lawful captive was delivered. When at the Redeemer’s resurrection many of the saints arose and came out of their graves into the holy city then was the crucified Lord proclaimed to be victorious over death and the grave.
Still, brethren, these were but preliminary skirmishes and mere foreshadowings of the grand victory by which death was overthrown. The real triumph was achieved upon the cross,—When Christ died he suffered the penalty of death on the behalf of all his people, and therefore no believer now dies by way of punishment for sin, since we cannot dream that a righteous God would twice exact the penalty for one offence. Death since Jesus died is not a penal infliction upon the children of God: as such he has abolished it, and it can never be enforced. Why die the saints then? Why, because their bodies must be changed ere they can enter heaven. “Flesh and blood” as they are “cannot inherit the kingdom of God.” A divine change must take place upon the body before it will be fit for incorruption and glory; and death and the grave are, as it were, the refining pot and the furnace by means of which the body is made ready for its future bliss. Death, it is true thou art not yet destroyed, but our living Redeemer has so changed thee that thou art no longer death, but something other than thy name! Saints die not now, but they are dissolved and depart. Death is the loosing of the cable that the barque may freely sail to the fair havens. Death is the fiery chariot in which we ascend to God: it is the gentle voice of the Great King, who cometh into his banqueting hall, and saith “Friend, come up higher.” Behold, on eagle’s wings we mount, we fly, far from this land of mist and cloud, into the eternal serenity and brilliance of God’s own house above. Yes, our Lord has abolished death. The sting of death is sin, and our great Substitute has taken that sting away by his great sacrifice. Stingless, death abides among the people of God, but it so little harms them that to them “it is not death to die.”
Further, Christ vanquished death and thoroughly overcame him when he rose. What a temptation one has to paint a picture of the resurrection, but I will not be led aside to attempt more than a few touches. When our great Champion awoke from his brief sleep of death and found himself in the withdrawing-room of the grave, he quietly proceeded to put off the garments of the tomb. How leisurely he proceeded! He folded up the napkin and placed it by itself, that those who lose their friends might wipe their eyes therewith; and then he took off the winding sheet and laid the graveclothes by themselves that they might be there when his saints come thither, so that the chamber might be well furnished, and the bed ready sheeted and prepared for their rest. The sepulchre is no longer an empty vault, a dreary charnel, but a chamber of rest, a dormitory furnished and prepared, hung with the arras which Christ himself has bequeathed. It is now no more a damp, dark, dreary prison: Jesus has changed all that.
The angel from heaven rolled away the stone from our Lord’s sepulchre and let in the fresh air and light again upon our Lord, and he stepped out more than a conqueror. Death had fled. The grave had capitulated.
Well, brethren, as surely as Christ rose so did he guarantee as an absolute certainty the resurrection of all his saints into a glorious life for their bodies, the life of their souls never having paused even for a moment. In this he conquered death; and since that memorable victory, every day Christ is overcoming death, for he gives his Spirit to his saints, and having that Spirit within them they meet the last enemy without alarm: often they confront him with songs, perhaps more frequently they face him with calm countenance, and fall asleep with peace. I will not fear thee, death, why should I? Thou lookest like a dragon, but thy sting is gone. Thy teeth are broken, oh old lion, wherefore should I fear thee? I know thou art no more able to destroy me, but thou art sent as a messenger to conduct me to the golden gate wherein I shall enter and see my Saviour’s unveiled face for ever.
C. H. Spurgeon, “Christ the Destroyer of Death,” in The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit Sermons, vol. 22 (London: Passmore & Alabaster, 1876), 702–705.
Happy Friday! I'm getting started on the pod late tonight, so I must cut out a lot of the normal banter, and funny jokes you normally hear in this space. That was actually my funny joke for the day, as I know my other jokes aren't actually that funny. Our Bible readings today are Leviticus 21, Psalms 26 and 27, Ecclesiastes 4 and 1 Timothy 6. Our focus question comes from Psalms 27, and in this passage David discusses how he will not give into fear, because God is his stronghold. As we have talked about before, I suspect fear around the world is at its highest level in my lifetime, so our Big Bible question is all about how to NOT be afraid. Let me caution you upfront, so that I am not the spiritual equivalent of a used car salesman. I do believe that the Bible gives us multiple way to overcome fear, but because we are human, there is no permanent cure for fear in the sense that you take it once and poof! you are cured forever. In the same way that people need daily food to live on, Christians need daily bread from God to live on. Part of that provision is the Word of God to help us overcome sin, to resist temptation, and to walk in faith, rather than fear.
Here is my experience and testimony: I have not had a life that has been characterized by fearfulness, but I have had many extended times in my life where fear and anxiety have taken hold, and enveloped me in some sort of spiritual wrestling match where I was pinned to the mat far more often than I overcame. In those times of trial, fear, and anxiety, I have been humbled, and my courage has often trickled away like water out of a leaky bucket. My only hope in those times - the only antidote to fear and anxiety that I could find, was a constant and persistent clinging to the Word of God and prayer. Seeking God and immersing myself in His Word has always overcome fear in my life, but - to be very frank - it usually comes back, and one serving of God's Word and abiding in Him is not adequate medicine to eradicate the virus of fear from my soul. The reason for this is not a fault in the medicine of God's Word and Abiding through prayer, but the reason is a fault and weakness in my own soul + the Divine purpose and wisdom of our Creator. God did NOT create man and give him the ability to overcome every obstacle by his own power. God created man to be incapable of overcoming apart from ABIDING in His Creator, and the greater the battle that comes against us, the greater the abiding in God and His Word needs to be. So - I say this to you who are battling anxiety, depression, weariness, fear, sorrow, and hopelessness right now: In Christ, you face a winnable battle, and here is your promise to rest on:
9 Let us not get tired of doing good, for we will reap at the proper time if we don’t give up.
Galatians 6:9
Cling to the Cross. Believe the gospel and read it in the Word every day. Remind yourself frequently that Jesus died to pay the price for your sins, and that 'because He lives, you will live too.' Consume the Word. Pray constantly. Trust God. When your eyes stray from Him and fall on something that makes you fear, tear your eyes away from that and fix your eyes on Jesus. Looking to Him will enable you to overcome, even when you are weary and fainthearted, so says Hebrews 12:1-3.
So - in a spiritual war with fear, whether it is constant in your life, or only occasional, how do we overcome? Step one is making sure the 'anchor' of your life - your faith and trust - is in Jesus. I'm not merely being spiritual here. Ask yourself when you are afraid what you are hoping in. Maybe you're afraid of the coronavirus...what is your deepest hope? Is it that science will discover a cure? That politicians will make the right decisions? That you will be protected by your excessive prudence and hygiene practices? All of those things are good, but none of them are our anchor. Our anchor is Jesus. Step one in overcoming fear is looking to Jesus. Some have already been doing that, but even if you haven't already been doing that, then there is still time to hold fast to the anchor of Jesus.
I love Tim Keller's message on Psalms 27, so I want to briefly tag him in here to talk about how the Lord is our stronghold, and we overcome fear by looking to Him:
Somebody may ask, “What part of David’s life would this have been part of? When was this? When did this happen?” The answer is it could have been anytime because David is continually in trouble. If you read his life, he is always struggling. He is always wrestling. When he is a young man before he becomes king, what is he doing? He is out in the wilderness running for his life. He is on the lam.
As soon as he becomes king, when he is a young king, where do we see him? When he becomes king, his enemies come in, and they decide they’re going to attack him before he gets established. The next thing you know, he has to flee the capital. He is out in the wilderness running for his life. Then he is an old man. It’s different now. He is an old king. What do we see? We see his son Absalom doing a coup d’état. There is David, out in the wilderness running for his life.
I mean, he is just like us. He is always in trouble. He is always struggling. It’s so amazingly realistic...It doesn’t say, “He will keep me safe from the day of trouble.” It doesn’t say that. It says, “He will keep me safe in the day of trouble.” It assumes there’s trouble...
Here it says, “God will keep me safe so when my enemies are all around me, when the trouble is all around me, in the day of trouble … not from the day of trouble … in the midst of my enemies …” Even Psalm 23 says that. “He prepares a table before me …” Where? Not after he has made those stupid enemies run off. He has whacked them. They’re on the run. No, it’s in the presence of my enemies.
Have you ever thought about that? There is no promise in Psalm 23 that he will take those enemies and run them away. The promise is he will prepare a table for you in the presence of the enemies. He doesn’t promise the absence of enemies. Even if you go to Romans 8, in Romans 8:28, it says, “… all things work together for good to them that love God …” You say, “Well, that means nothing really bad can happen to me.”
You see, Romans 8:29 , immediately after Romans 8:28, says, “For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son …” What that means is here’s the promise. Nothing will come into your life but that which realizes the greatness and the nearness and the likeness of Jesus Christ in your life.It doesn’t say nothing will come into your life that’s really bad. It says nothing will come into your life but that which will realize the greatness, the likeness, and the nearness of Jesus Christ. The reason why we shouldn’t be surprised, we shouldn’t say, “What?” is because there was a Person who lived on earth who was very, very great and who loved God with all his heart, soul, strength, and mind, and who was very used by God, and God brought things that were really, really, really, really bad.
He never had any friends who understood him. He never got married and had children. He was beaten. He was tortured. He was destroyed. He was killed. He was rejected. Those are really, really bad things. That was the end of his life. Jesus says a servant is not above his master. Safety does not mean safety from trouble; it means safety in trouble. It means that this is the promise. In the midst of your trouble, all the important parts of you will be utterly safe.
All the greatest joys, all the important things, all the things you really care about, all of your highest interests, all of the things that are the most valuable to you will be absolutely safe. Nothing can be touched in any of the vicissitudes of life but those things which are secondary, those things which are not of the essence of your joy or who you are. That’s the promise.
If that’s the promise, what that means is it still comes back to the same thing. It means there is a condition you can be in so you can move out into the world, trusting God and being absolutely fearless. Absolutely fearless! Total courage. Not afraid of what happens. Not afraid of what’s about to happen. Not afraid … “If an army comes and besieges me, I will not fear.” See, that’s the promise. The promise is you can live in that condition.
See, most of us think when you read that, “Ah! The promise, therefore, is if I trust God, I really won’t have to suffer.” That’s not it. If I trust God, I will become a great heart. My heart will be strong. I will be afraid of nothing. My head will be exalted above my enemies who are surrounding me. That’s what it promises.
Why does this work? I’ll tell you why. God does not promise that you will not suffer, but he does promise one thing. There is only one thing he will never take from you. He will never take himself from you. He will never turn his back on you. He will never say, “Oops! You finally sinned one time too many. How many times have you done that? That’s it! How many times have you promised me? That’s that.” No, he will never ever do it.
Do you know why he’ll never do it? Do you know why you can be confident that whether you feel him today or you don’t feel him, even though you’re seeking him, that he will never cast you off, that he will receive you, that he will not turn his face from you? Because Jesus lost the one thing. Do you realize that? Jesus lost the one thing. Jesus wanted only one thing in his life, because he was a perfect Man of God. He only wanted one thing.
On the cross, even in the garden of Gethsemane, he turned, and he said, “I seek your face.” What did he get? He got the back of God’s hand. He is the only person who this has ever happened to, and it never will happen again. Somebody said, “I seek your face,” and God gave him the back of his hand. Why? So when we seek his face, we’ll never get the back of his hand, even though we fall down, even though we fail.
That’s the reason why you can say, “Though an army besiege me, my heart will not fear.” Because I know I have the one thing. I’ll have the one thing. I’m getting the one thing that will never be taken from me. Because Jesus lost it, you got it. Let’s pray.Timothy J. Keller, The Timothy Keller Sermon Archive (New York City: Redeemer Presbyterian Church, 2013).
Let me assure you: Because of the mercy of our God, we will get through this coronavirus storm. I don't know when, and I don't know how, but the people of God will not all be sunk in this storm. When we do - let me encourage you to turn to the anchor of your soul and hold fast to Him BEFORE the next storm comes. There will be another storm, and another after that. Those who overcome those storms best will be those who already have the ship of their lives secured by the anchor of Jesus.
19 We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain. 20 Jesus has entered there on our behalf as a forerunner,
Hebrews 6:19-20
See! There are two vessels yonder, and a storm is coming on. I see a great hurrying and scurrying on the deck of one. What are they at? They have a great anchor, and they are throwing it out. The storm is coming, and they want to get a good hold, for fear lest they should be driven on the shore.
But on the deck of the other vessel, I see no bustle at all. There is the watch pacing up and down as leisurely as possible. Why are they not in a panic? “Ahoy there! Ahoy! What makes you so calm and assured? Have you got out your anchor? See you! Your comrades in the other vessel, how busy they are!” “Oh!” says the watch, “but we had our anchor out a long while ago, before the storm came on, and therefore we have no need to trouble now, and hurry to throw it out.
Now, you who are full of doubts, and fears, and troubles, you know the way to be safe is to throw out the anchor of faith, but it would be better still if you had the anchor of faith out already, so that you could trust in God, and not be afraid at all.C. H. Spurgeon, “Fearing and Trusting—Trusting and Not Fearing,” in The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit Sermons, vol. 59 (London: Passmore & Alabaster, 1913), 333.
Hello everybody and happy Thursday to you. Today brings us to a controversial topic among modern Christians that is not very controversial in terms of the Bible - at least from a grammatical place. You'll notice that the question we are covering is phrased in two different ways: CAN Christians drink wine, and SHOULD Christians drink wine. There is a reason for this, because each of the questions has a slightly different answer from the Bible. Today's Bible passages are Leviticus 20, Psalms 25, Ecclesiastes 3 and 1 Timothy 5. The reason the topic of wine is coming up today is from our focus passage in 1st Timothy 5, where Paul gives this word of advice to Timothy:
23 Don’t continue drinking only water, but use a little wine because of your stomach and your frequent illnesses.
1 Timothy 5:23
This is an interesting passage, and it brings up a large amount of questions. First - is this a command to us, or to Timothy or BOTH? And that is an excellent question to consider from the Word of God. At the beginning of this chapter, Paul writes to Timothy, "Don’t rebuke an older man, but exhort him as a father, younger men as brothers, 2 older women as mothers, and the younger women as sisters with all purity." Is that a command to Timothy, or to Christians, or both? I think almost all Bible teachers would say both for 1 Timothy 5:1-2. We generally consider commands in the Word spoken authoritatively to individuals or churches (for instance, a command of Jesus to Peter, a letter from Paul to the Ephesians, a letter from Peter, etc) to apply to all of us. However, there are some cases where commands in the Scripture do not apply to ALL who read them. For instance, I don't believe 1st Timothy 4:12 is very applicable to senior saints, "Don’t let anyone despise your youth, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, and in purity. " Likewise, 1 Peter 3:7 is a powerful and important passage, but it is not binding or applicable to my 8 year old daughter. "Husbands, in the same way, live with your wives in an understanding way, as with a weaker partner, showing them honor as coheirs of the grace of life, so that your prayers will not be hindered." Ultimately, I don't believe that our focus passage is a COMMAND for ALL that they MUST drink wine. That's our first issue to discuss. Our second is a little more complex.
What does the Greek word for wine (οἶνος oînos) actually mean? Does this word refer to intoxicating wine, or new/unfermented wine. There are three basic views on this subject. I'm not going to go very deep into them, but they are worth recounting at a basic level.
View #1 - Oinos is usually or often unfermented/sweet wine. In other words, the wine that Paul is telling Timothy to drink and the wine that Jesus made at the Wedding in Cana were what we would call grape juice - perhaps with a trace of alcohol, but not nearly enough to become intoxicated. This view has been held by many people throughout church history, and you can find some very long arguments on the internet that seem to prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that it is the correct view, until you actually research some of the other views. I recall that Donald C. Stamps, the author of the study notes in one of my first ever study Bibles, bought for me by my wife when we were dating, was very much in favor of this view. I loved Mr. Stamps and his notes, and I recall that he argued vociferously and uncompromisingly that oinos always meant unfermented wine, and that Jesus would NEVER ever make wine that could make somebody intoxicated. This view is generally called the two-wine view, and it asserts that when the Bible says something positive about wine (such as this passage, The Last Supper, the wedding at Cana, etc) that unfermented grape juice is in view. But when the Bible says something negative about wine - fermented wine is being discussed.
View #2 Oinos can indeed contain alcohol, but not in the same proportion as current wines, and certainly nowhere near as much of an ABV as stronger drinks of modern times like vodka, whisky, scotch, etc. Currently our modern wine is usually around 12-14 percent ABV, but can be as low as around 5 percent, and get a little higher. Though there is no way to be certain, I've read some research that seems to indicate that first century and Old Testament wine would be of a lower ABV than modern wine. If this is the case - and it is hard to be definitive if it is - then Paul's advice to Timothy would be about a very weak wine compared to what is called wine today. Charles Spurgeon - and many others - were strong proponents of this view:
YOU know the narrative. Jesus was at a wedding feast, and when the wine ran short, he provided for it right bountifully. I do not think that I should do any good if I were to enter upon the discussion as to what sort of wine our Lord Jesus made on this occasion. It was wine, and I am quite sure it was very good wine, for he would produce nothing but the best. Was it wine such as men understand by that word now? It was wine; but there are very few people in this country who ever see, much less drink, any of that beverage. That which goes under the name of wine is not true wine, but a fiery, brandied concoction of which I feel sure that Jesus would not have tasted a drop. The fire-waters and blazing spirits of modern wine manufacturers are very different articles from the juice of the grape, mildly exhilarating, which was the usual wine of more sober centuries. As to the wine such as is commonly used in the East, a person must drink inordinately before he would become intoxicated with it. It would be possible, for there were cases in which men were intoxicated with wine; but, as a rule, intoxication was a rare vice in the Saviour’s times and in the preceding ages. Had our great Exemplar lived under our present circumstances, surrounded by a sea of deadly drink, which is ruining tens of thousands, I know how he would have acted. I am sure he would not have contributed by word or deed to the rivers of poisonous beverages in which bodies and souls are now being destroyed wholesale
C. H. Spurgeon, “The Waterpots at Cana,” in The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit Sermons, vol. 26 (London: Passmore & Alabaster, 1880), 493.
View #3 is pretty simple. Oinos/wine in the New Testament is practically the same as wine today. Jesus made something similar to the kind of wine you can buy in the store today, and Paul told Timothy to drink something similar to the kind of wine that is sold today.
I believe view number #1 is held by many sober-minded and Godly people who have seen the ills and harms of alcohol, and they want to protect as many people as possible from it. Unfortunately, I don't believe that view holds up to historical scrutiny very well, and it just falls apart under grammatical/contextual scrutiny. For one, Ephesians 5:18, "And don’t get drunk with wine, which leads to reckless living, but be filled by the Spirit." The word there for wine is our word oinos, which is the same word for wine in 1 Timothy 3:8, where Paul writes, "Deacons, likewise, should be worthy of respect, not hypocritical, not drinking a lot of wine, not greedy for money." Clearly both of these passages are discussing fermented wine - which can lead to drunkenness - and they are using the word oinos. Titus 2:3 also suggests that older women should not drink too much wine, using the same word. Thus I believe it is very difficult to make the case that oinos always refers to unfermented wine. Indeed, since the Greek New Testament frequently discusses 'new' wine, and clearly has a Greek phrase for the same, I believe it is far more likely that most, if not all, uses of the term oinos in the Bible refer to wine that could potentially intoxicate somebody.
In my mind, such grammatical and contextual reading makes option #1 highly unlikely. Which brings us to the second or third option. Is wine in the Bible much the same as modern wine, or does Bible wine have less alcohol than modern wine? I've researched this question a bit, and the answer is quite hard to come by. It does seem that there are several historical references to wine being diluted by water - either to purify the water, or make the wine last longer, or be less potent, or all three. Regardless, it is difficult to be definitive. My best guess, given the evidence, is that New Testament wine contained less alcohol than most modern wines. It does not appear that first century Jews, Romans or Greeks would have had access to distilled beverages, so it is highly unlikely that the writers of the Greek New Testament even knew of stronger and more intoxicating beverages than wine.
So - where does that leave us? Can Christians drink wine? I believe the answer is, quite simply: the Bible does not forbid it in most cases. In case you can't tell from the inflection, the key part of that sentence is the last part - "in most cases." The most important and critical thing to remember about drinking anything is the oft-repeated prohibition in both the Old and New Testaments about getting drunk:
And don’t get drunk with wine, which leads to reckless living, but be filled by the Spirit:
Ephesians 5:8
For the drunkard and the glutton will become poor, and grogginess will clothe them in rags.
Proverbs 23:21
“Be on your guard, so that your minds are not dulled from carousing, drunkenness, and worries of life, or that day will come on you unexpectedly
Luke 21:34
48 But if that wicked servant says in his heart, ‘My master is delayed,’ 49 and starts to beat his fellow servants, and eats and drinks with drunkards, 50 that servant’s master will come on a day he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know.
Matt 24:48-50
Let us walk with decency, as in the daytime: not in carousing and drunkenness; not in sexual impurity and promiscuity; not in quarreling and jealousy.
Romans 13:13
But actually, I wrote you not to associate with anyone who claims to be a brother or sister and is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or verbally abusive, a drunkard or a swindler. Do not even eat with such a person.
1 Corinthians 5:11
And, most soberingly:
19 Now the works of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, moral impurity, promiscuity, 20 idolatry, sorcery, hatreds, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambitions, dissensions, factions, 21 envy, drunkenness, carousing, and anything similar. I am warning you about these things—as I warned you before—that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
Galatians 5:19-21
9 Don’t you know that the unrighteous will not inherit God’s kingdom? Do not be deceived: No sexually immoral people, idolaters, adulterers, or males who have sex with males, 10 no thieves, greedy people, drunkards, verbally abusive people, or swindlers will inherit God’s kingdom.
1 Corinthians 6:9-10
Understand - I did not quote every negative thing in the Bible about getting drunk. There is a lot in there. It is not funny or anything to toy around with from a Bible view. Christians may NOT drink wine to get drunk, and may not drink wine to drunkenness. How drunkenness is defined, we don't know, but quite clearly a change in feeling, thinking and behavior is involved. I don't think it is wise to endeavor to walk up to the line of sin, and get as close as possible without going over. One other caveat about drinking: Christians may not do it if it causes other people to stumble. This does not mean that it literally makes them fall over, but that it might be a temptation to them, or it might make them upset, or it might make them angry, or whatever. You might think, "well, that is their problem - I have liberty!" Spoken like a true westerner, I'd say. But that's not what the Bible teaches. If my liberty hurts somebody else or makes them stumble - then I am disallowed from engaging in my liberty. Why not - to impinge on my freedom? Not at all, but rather to protect the conscience and walk of my brother or sister:
13 Therefore, let us no longer judge one another. Instead decide never to put a stumbling block or pitfall in the way of your brother or sister. 14 I know and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself. Still, to someone who considers a thing to be unclean, to that one it is unclean. 15 For if your brother or sister is hurt by what you eat, you are no longer walking according to love. Do not destroy, by what you eat, someone for whom Christ died. 16 Therefore, do not let your good be slandered, 17 for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit. 18 Whoever serves Christ in this way is acceptable to God and receives human approval.19 So then, let us pursue what promotes peace and what builds up one another. 20 Do not tear down God’s work because of food. Everything is clean, but it is wrong to make someone fall by what he eats. 21 It is a good thing not to eat meat, or drink wine, or do anything that makes your brother or sister stumble. 22 Whatever you believe about these things, keep between yourself and God. Blessed is the one who does not condemn himself by what he approves. 23 But whoever doubts stands condemned if he eats, because his eating is not from faith, and everything that is not from faith is sin.
Romans 14:13-23
Romans 14 is one of the most practical, underrated and important biblical passages there is. If we all paid more attention to Romans 14, there would be so much more peace and unity in the world and especially in the church! I believe that most Christians have the liberty to drink wine, according to the Bible. They MUST not get drunk - whether in private, or in public. No exceptions. They also must not cause another to stumble because of what is eaten or drank. If eating meat causes a vegetarian to stumble, says Paul, then do NOT eat meat around them. (you can do so at home, or when they are not around.) If drinking wine causes somebody to stumble, then do not do it around them. (You can do so at home, or when they are not around.)
Now - to our final question: Should Christians drink wine? And here's the thing: I don't believe I am allowed to answer that question based on Romans 14:22, "Whatever you believe about these things, keep between yourself and God." And in fact, I hope just talking about this issue today doesn't transgress that passage. The bottom line is this - whatever your view on wine - avoid getting drunk and avoid causing other people to stumble. Are you a teetotaler? Great! Don't cause a Christian non-teetotaler to stumble, and don't condemn him with your view. Are you a non-teetotaler? Great! Don't cause a Christian teetotaler (or non-drinker) to stumble, or beat him over the head with your view - and don't drink around him out of respect and love for him/her and their views! Peace and unity are far more important than our beverage of choice.
Happy Four Weeks in Quarantine, everybody - maybe your quarantine has been less than ours? Our Bible readings today are Leviticus 19, Psalms 23 and 24, Ecclesiastes 2 and 1 Timothy 4.
For many people in the past, Psalm 23 was almost as popular and well-known as John 3:16. I am not quite sure that is the case for younger generations, but my generation of church kids was frequently exposed to this Psalm, and for good reason - it is one of the most comforting passages in Scripture! Let's read it and then come back and discuss it. (We'll add Psalms 24 in the reading too, but mostly focus our discussion on 23):
The Lord is my shepherd;
I have what I need.
2 He lets me lie down in green pastures;
he leads me beside quiet waters.
3 He renews my life;
he leads me along the right paths
for his name’s sake.
4 Even when I go through the darkest valley,
I fear no danger,
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff—they comfort me.
5 You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies;
you anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
6 Only goodness and faithful love will pursue me
all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the Lord
as long as I live.Psalm 23
The Shepherd metaphor is abundantly used in Scripture. In modern society, it is considered an insult to call people 'sheep,' or 'sheeple,' but it does not appear to have had the same connotation in Bible times. Human shepherds could be men or women (Rachel, wife of Jacob, was a shepherdess), and though it was not necessarily a high-level job in society, many of the Old Testament's prominent people (Abraham, Moses, King David, Jacob, Abel, the prophet Amos) were shepherds at some point. As we see above, God is a shepherd of his people, and Jesus, in John 10, identifies Himself as 'The Good Shepherd.'
11 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 12 The hired hand, since he is not the shepherd and doesn’t own the sheep, leaves them and runs away when he sees a wolf coming. The wolf then snatches and scatters them. 13 This happens because he is a hired hand and doesn’t care about the sheep. 14 “I am the good shepherd. I know my own, and my own know me, 15 just as the Father knows me, and I know the Father. I lay down my life for the sheep.
John 10:11-15
In Ezekiel 34, God calls to account the leaders of His people, chastizing them as bad shepherds:
34 The word of the Lord came to me: 2 “Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel. Prophesy, and say to them, ‘This is what the Lord God says to the shepherds: Woe to the shepherds of Israel, who have been feeding themselves! Shouldn’t the shepherds feed their flock? 3 You eat the fat, wear the wool, and butcher the fattened animals, but you do not tend the flock. 4 You have not strengthened the weak, healed the sick, bandaged the injured, brought back the strays, or sought the lost. Instead, you have ruled them with violence and cruelty. 5 They were scattered for lack of a shepherd; they became food for all the wild animals when they were scattered. 6 My flock went astray on all the mountains and every high hill. My flock was scattered over the whole face of the earth, and there was no one searching or seeking for them. 7 “‘Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord. 8 As I live—this is the declaration of the Lord God—because my flock, lacking a shepherd, has become prey and food for every wild animal, and because my shepherds do not search for my flock, and because the shepherds feed themselves rather than my flock, 9 therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord!10 “‘This is what the Lord God says: Look, I am against the shepherds. I will demand my flock from them and prevent them from shepherding the flock. The shepherds will no longer feed themselves, for I will rescue my flock from their mouths so that they will not be food for them.
Ezekiel 34:1-10
This gives us great insight into HOW the Lord is our shepherd. He had appointed human leaders and priests to take care of His people, but they were neglecting their 'sheep,' and only taking care of themselves. So God says He is going to do their job, which includes: strengthening the weak, healing the sick, bandaging the injured, bringing back the strays and seeking the lost. Charles Spurgeon has some great insight into this passage, so let's turn to him and read his verse-by verse commentary:
I hope we all know this Psalm by heart; may we also know it by heart-experience! It is a sweet pastoral song just suited to our Sabbath evening worship. There is here no din of arms, no noise of war; but there is a delicious hush, only broken by the gentle tinkling of the sheep bell. God give us that sweet rest to-night!
Verse 1. The LORD is my shepherd;
All true rest begins with Jesus, as all the comfort of the sheep is provided for them by their shepherd.
“The Lord is my shepherd.” Is it so? Can you look up, poor defenceless sheep, and say, “The Lord is my shepherd”?Then comes the blessed inference:—I shall not want.
I do not want, I cannot want; I never shall want with such a Shepherd as I have. He will provide for me; more than that, God himself is my provision. All I need I have, for “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.” I cannot provide for myself, but I shall not want. Famine may come, and others who have no God to go to, may pine and perish; but in the worst season I shall not want, for “The Lord is my shepherd.”He maketh me to lie down in green pastures:
I am so weak that I even need God’s help to enable me to lie down; but “He maketh me to lie down.” Yes, the rest of the soul is so hard to attain that nobody ever does reach it except by the power of God. He who made the heavens must make us to lie down if we are really to rest. What delightful rest it is when we lie down in his pastures, which are always green! Did you ever find them dry? Our Shepherd makes us not only to feed, but so to feed that we lie down in the midst of the pastures. There is more than we can eat, so the Lord makes a couch of it for us: “He maketh me to lie down in green pastures:”He leadeth me beside the still waters.
There is, first, contemplation: “He maketh me to lie down.” Then there is activity: “He leadeth me.” There is also progress, and there is provision for our advance in the heavenly way: “He leadeth me.”
He leadeth me beside the waters of quietness; not by the rushing torrents of excitement, nor by the place of noisy strife. “He shall not strive, nor cry; neither shall any man hear his voice in the streets.”
“He leadeth me beside the still waters.” Not, he drives, or drags; but he himself leads, going first to show the way. It is for me to follow, happily to follow, where “He leadeth me beside the still waters.”He restoreth my soul:
He can do it at once. He restoreth now. He is a restoring God. “He restoreth my soul.” He brings my wandering spirit back when I forsake his ways; and having done that, he leads me, even more carefully than before, for a second time we have the psalmist’s declaration, “He leadeth me.”3, 4. He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil:
Though death’s shadow hovers all around me, and damps my spirit, though I feel as though I must die, and cannot bear up under present trial any longer, “Yea, though I walk,” for I do walk, I will not quicken my pace, I will not be in a flurry, I will not run for it. Though death itself shall overshadow me, I will keep up my walk with God. Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil.” There is none, therefore I will not fear any. We often feel more afraid through our fear itself than through any real cause for fear. Some people seem to be ever on the lookout for fear where there is none. Do not you see any, nor let any enter your heart; say with the psalmist, “I will fear no evil:”—For thou art with me;
Should a sheep fear when the shepherd is with it? What cause has it to fear if that Shepherd is omniscient, omnipotent, and full of tenderness?Thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
Thy rule and thy correction: thy rod [of correction], with which I sometimes am made to wince; thy staff, with which I am supported. These are my comforts; why should I fear?
Are you drinking in all this precious truth, dear friends? Are you feeling it in your soul’s deepest experience?Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies:
There is a fight going on, and there are enemies all around. You do not generally have tables set in the hour of battle; but God keeps his people so calm amid the bewildering cry, so confident of victory, that even in the presence of their enemies a table is spread with all the state of a royal banquet. “Thou preparest a table.” There is a cloth on the table, there are the ornaments on it, and there are all the accompaniments of a feast: “Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies.” They may look on if they like; they may grin, they may wish they could devour, but they cannot sit down at the table, and they cannot prevent me from sitting down at it. Let them blow their trumpets, let them fire their guns: “Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies.” It is the very perfection of security and repose that is here described. I know of no expression, not even that of lying down in green pastures, that is more full of restfulness than this: “Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies.”Thou anointest my head with oil;
At some feasts, they poured perfumed oils on the heads of the guests, so God will leave out nothing that is for the joy and comfort of his people. “Thou anointest my head with oil.” You shall have delicacies as well as necessaries; you shall have joy as well as safety; you shall be prepared for service as well as preserved from destruction.My cup runneth over.
I have not only what I wish, but I have more; not only all I can hold, but something to spare: “My cup runneth over.” If this is the case with your cup, dear friend, let it run over in thankful joy; and if you have more of this world’s substance than you need, ask the poor and needy to come and catch that which flows over.Surely—
This is another of the psalmist’s inferences, and a very sure one. He does not say, “Perhaps,” but, “Surely”—Goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life:
Here is a prince of the blood royal of heaven attended by two body guards,—goodness and mercy,—which keep close behind him. These are the grooms that ride on the horses of salvation: “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me.” “Goodness”—to provide for me; “mercy”—to blot out my sin. “Goodness and mercy shall follow me,”—not only now and then, but, “all the days of my life.” When I get grey-headed and feeble, and have to lean heavily upon my staff, these twin angels shall be close behind to bear me up, and bear me through.And I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.
Even while I am here in this world, I will be—“No more a stranger or a guest, But like a child at home,”dwelling with God; and by-and-by, in the fullest sense, “I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.”I always compare this Psalm to a lark. It begins on the ground among the sheep, but up it goes till you may hear its blessed notes echoing among the stars: “I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.” It has its nest in the grass of the green pastures; but it flies up like the strains of sweetest music rising even to the skies: “I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.” God grant that this may be the portion of every one of us, for his great name’s sake! Amen.
Happy Tuesday, friends! Tomorrow will mark our 4th week in quarantine here in California, a sentence I never thought I would write for a variety of reasons. Hope you guys are holding tight out there - holding tight to Jesus and His promises, holding tight to each other in love and humble service, and holding tight to the inner-workings and leadings of the Holy Spirit of God! Today, we are continuing in our pursuit of a biblical gender studies degree in discussing a topic that is somewhat controversial, but probably not as much as yesterday's topic. Here is our big Bible questions: What is a deacon, and does the Bible allow women to serve as deacons? Today's Bible passages are: Leviticus 18, Psalms 22, Ecclesiastes 1 and 1 Timothy 3.
So, when I was a kid, I went to church, and I remember two important things about deacons. #1 Deacons were the guys who were most likely to wear a suit to church. #2 I remember going to more than one church service where deacons were ordained, and that was a fascinating thing. The deacon being ordained would sit in a chair - or kneel on the ground - and the other deacons would come and lay hands on him, and whisper in his ear. I think that they were probably praying for him, but young Chase thought they were sharing secrets that were for deacons only, and that was pretty interesting. I'd have given up a pretty hefty amount of my childhood treasures to hear some of those secrets. So - what are deacons, anyway? Are they besuited men that are solemn and tell each other secrets a few times a year? Not really. Let's go to the Bible:
Acts 6:1 6 In those days, as the disciples were increasing in number, there arose a complaint by the Hellenistic Jews against the Hebraic Jews that their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution. 2 The Twelve summoned the whole company of the disciples and said, “It would not be right for us to give up preaching the word of God to wait on tables. 3 Brothers and sisters, select from among you seven men of good reputation, full of the Spirit and wisdom, whom we can appoint to this duty. 4 But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.” 5 This proposal pleased the whole company. So they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit, and Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolaus, a convert from Antioch. 6 They had them stand before the apostles, who prayed and laid their hands on them.7 So the word of God spread, the disciples in Jerusalem increased greatly in number, and a large group of priests became obedient to the faith.
Acts 6:1-7
A couple of translations of verse 2:
HCSB: “It would not be right for us to give up preaching about God to handle financial matters.
NLT: teaching the word of God, not running a food program.
Wycliffe: we leave the word of God, and minister to boards.
MAYBE THE BEST and MOST ACCURATE: International Children’s Bible stop our work of teaching God’s word in order to serve tables.
All of these are attempting to translate this phrase: Διακονέn Diakoneōn τράπεζαis trapezais, which means to serve/minister to 4 foots. Deacons were called to bring unity to the early church - to take care of the people’s needs and SERVE. A deacon, therefore, is a leader servant who ministers, or a minister who serves in a leading way, or a minister-servant, who leads the rest of the church in ministry/service. Deacons have a lead role in churches as ministers and as servants. Servant is a bad word to many people, but we must remember that Jesus came as a servant, exalted servanthood in His teaching, and proclaimed that - if anybody on earth wanted to be great, they MUST be a servant. Deacons get a head start on that. Let's go to 1 Timothy 3 and read about the qualifications for deacons, and then return and discuss them.
There are a few named deacons in the Bible, and they didn't just help out the church with table-waiting type things. Stephen was a deacon who preached the Word of God powerfully - with SIGNS and WONDERS accompanying his message (see Acts 6:8.) Some teach that only the apostles taught with signs and wonders, but this is not the case. Philip was also a deacon, and he also proclaimed the message of God accompanied by signs/miracles and wonders. So - deacons were and are important in the church and carry out practical and spiritual acts of ministry/service.
What about women? Are women allowed, according to the Bible, to serve as deacons? As I explained in yesterday's show, I am theologically what is known as a Complementarian, which means that I believe men and women have equal value and worth, but different roles in the Kingdom of God and the family. Paul wrote yesterday in 1 Timothy 2, that he did not allow a woman to have authority over a man, and in 1 Timothy 3, and Titus, he is going lay out two major offices in the church: Elders/overseers and deacons. We'll talk about elders/overseers in a few days - probably when we get to Titus, but most (but not all!) Protestants equate elders/overseers with pastors/shepherds, and I believe that, from everything I can see in Scripture, that the office of pastor/shepherd should be a male. Practically every Complementarian agrees with that position. Practically every Egalitarian - which is a school of thought that says the Bible does not differentiate at all between the sexes in terms of role and function, does not. More on that in a few days. The one area where many Bible-believing Complementarians don't necessarily agree on is in our question of the day: Does the Bible allow for women to be deaconesses. Let's consider a couple of Bible passages:
I commend to you our sister Phoebe, who is a servant of the church in Cenchreae. everything.
Romans 16:1 CSB
I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a deacon of the church in Cenchreae.
Romans 16:1 NIV
So - two translations, with two different words! The issue, as you might have guessed, is that the Greek word 'Διακονέn Diakoneōn' can be translated as 'deaconess' OR 'servant.' So - was Paul commending Phoebe as a deaconess, or as a servant? That's the rub, and our big question of the day!
Here is my take on the issue: in 1st Timothy and Titus, Paul gives qualifications for elders/overseers and deacons. That seems to me, and to many churches, to be two different offices in the church. The elders seem to be tasked with leading and teaching, and the deacons with serving and ministering. Some churches, however - particularly baptist churches - seem to blend those two offices into one office, and usually call that one office a 'deacon.' In those cases when that happens, the deacons usually serve as a hybrid of deacons and elders. Other churches have two separate offices - the deacons serve and minister, and the elders lead and preach. When a church is set up in that manner, I see no scriptural issue whatsoever with having female deacons, because the Bible makes it very clear that there were women who did have powerful ministry and serving roles in the early church, including Phoebe, Chloe, Philip's daughters (who prophesied), Priscilla, and many others. When the primary role of deacons in a church is to minister and serve, then I believe that it is a good thing to have female deacons, because I believe the Bible is very clear that ALL are called to minister/serve - men and women. Three very prominent Baptists, who are also Complementarians, agree wholeheartedly with this, John Piper, David Platt, John Calvin and Thomas Schreiner:
*Were Women Deacons? By John Piper*
Probably yes. There are four observations that incline me to think that this office was held by both men and women.
1. The Greek word for deacon can be masculine or feminine in the same form. So the word itself does not settle the issue.
2. In the middle of the qualifications for deacons in 1 Timothy 3:8-13 Paul says, "The women likewise must be serious, no slanderers, but temperate, faithful in all things." This could be the wives of the deacons, but could also be the women deacons. The latter is suggested by the fact that no reference to women is made in 3:1-7. Since women were not candidates for the eldership in the New Testament (1 Timothy 2:12-13) because of its authoritative function in teaching and oversight, the absence of the reference to women in 1 Timothy 3:1-7 would be expected. But this confirms the probability that the reference to women in 3:11 is to women deacons, not merely to wives of deacons.
3. The deacons were distinguished from the elders in that they were not the governing body in the church nor were they charged with the duty of authoritative teaching. So the role of deacon seems not to involve anything that Paul taught in1 Timothy 2:12 (or anywhere else) which is inappropriate for women to perform in the church.
4. In Romans 16:1, Phoebe is very probably called a deacon. "I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a deacon(ess) of the church at Cenchreae, that you may receive her in the Lord as befits the saints, and help her in whatever she may require from you, for she has been a helper of many and of myself as well."
It appears then that the role of deacon is of such a nature that nothing stands in the way of women's full participation in it. Within the deaconate itself, the way the men and women relate to each other would be guided by the sense of appropriateness, growing out of the Biblical teaching of male and female complementarity.https://www.desiringgod.org/messages/biblical-eldership-session-1
Some worry that appointing women as deacons violates 1 Timothy 2:12, where women are prohibited from teaching or exercising authority over men. We must recognize, however, that deacons occupy a different position from elders/pastors/overseers. The latter is one office, as Ben Merkle has convincingly argued, in which two qualities are required that are not required of deacons. First, elders must have an ability to teach biblical truth and correct deviant teaching (1 Tim. 3:2; 5:17; Titus 1:9). Second, they must have gifts of leadership (1 Tim. 3:4–5; 5:17; Titus 1:7). And remarkably, teaching and exercising authority over men is the very thing disallowed for women in 1 Timothy 2:12. Women therefore may serve as deacons because the diaconal office is one of serving, not leading. Deacons don’t teach and exercise authority, but rather help in the church’s ministry.
In many Baptist churches, deacons along with the staff pastor or pastors lead the church, but in these instances the deacons are really functioning as elders—and in such cases the deacons should be called elders, pastors, or overseers.
The earliest evidence we have is that deacons helped care for the poor and sick. There is some freedom in how deacons serve, since the New Testament doesn’t prescribe precise responsibilities. In the church I serve as an elder, deacons carry out many responsibilities. We have role-specific diaconates—that is, deacons of finance, of hospitality, of ushering, of greeting, of building maintenance, of sound, and so on. The deacons don’t meet together regularly as a group, since their tasks differ dramatically.
Christians who love God’s Word differ on whether women may serve as deacons, but the evidence presented here suggests they may do so. And in such a ministry they are a great blessing to the church, and the women who serve are encouraged as they use their gifts.
Thomas Schreiner, pastor and professor at the Southern Baptist Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky. https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/bible-support-female-deacons-yes/
Platt Secret Church 2010: And the last question there, what about women? We’ve seen that elders are men. What about deacons? And basically there are two schools of thought on this one. Can women be deacons? There are two schools of thought. One says yes and the other says no. So here’s the deal... there are Bible-believing scholars and pastors that I respect greatly that are on both sides of this picture. Some of you might be thinking, “Well, look at 1st Timothy 3, like, it’s pretty easy. Like, it says, ‘Deacons must be dignified, not double-tongued,’ et cetera. And then it says in 11, ‘Their wives, likewise, must be dignified, not slanderous, but servant-minded, faithful in all things. Each deacon can be the husband of one wife.’” So some say, “Well, that just – it’s that easy.”
I don’t think it’s necessarily that easy here. Four things I want you to think about that point to what I think is a possibility that, yes, yes, women can be deacons in the church. And I want you to follow with me. Number one, consider the translation. When you get to verse 11 there, and you probably have a note, and it’s not here, but in your Bible you’d have a note that’s at the bottom that says the “their” there is – the “their” there – their wives there, is it not in some manuscripts? And the picture is, many people, many Bible scholars, believe that this is just talking about women. And there’s ambiguity there. Consider the transition here. Paul transitions at that point in the same way that he transitioned when he went from elders to deacons, then to the third picture of what some would say deaconesses.
Consider the elder’s wives, like, “Why did he not say anything about elder’s wives, especially when an elder had more responsibility in the home and more leadership responsibility in the church in a sense? They said nothing about elder’s wives.” And then consider what I call the Phoebe factor. Romans 16:1, “I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a servant of the church at Cenchreae,” and the Word there for servant is deaconess, deaconess, which would seem to point to a deacon role.
Now, here’s the deal. What I think is important, because there are all kinds of different pictures of church structure represented around this room. And there are churches represented in this room that, if I could be honest, deacons basically serve as elders. And deacons are more of an overseeing body. If that’s the case in a church then I would not say, then, women should be deacons, because that – they’re basically serving as elders in an overall role. But when it comes to, okay, somebody leading out in a hospitality ministry, somebody leading out in a variety of different ministries and you look in the New Testament and you see 17 different women that Paul mentions that are in significant leadership positions in the church doing different things in the church, serving in different ways in the church. I think the reality is if we have a proper understanding of elders and deacons and where they fit, I think it makes total sense that it’s certainly possible. So how it all works – every member of the church as a minister of the gospel. Ephesians 4, makes that clear: Every member of the church, minister.
David Platt - Secret Church, 2010
“He first commends to them Phoebe, to whom he gave this Epistle (of Romans) to be brought to them; and, in the first place, he commends her on account of her office, for she performed a most honorable and a most holy function in the Church; and then he adduces another reason why they ought to receive her and to show her every kindness, for she had always been a helper to all the godly.” John Calvin, Commentary on Romans.
“Deaconesses were created not to appease God with songs or unintelligible mumbling, not to live the rest of the time in idleness, but to discharge the public ministry of the church toward the poor and to strive with all zeal, constancy, and diligence in the task of love.” John Calvin, Institutes, IV. XIII. 19.
Happy Monday, friends! How was your celebration of the resurrection yesterday? Ours was obviously radically different. For one, the quarantine, for two, all of us lived in Alabama until the Summer of 2018, so this was our second Easter apart from our family back home in Dixie. Our church was not able to gather together in person in one room or place, but two interesting things happened. First, for the live-stream of our church's Easter celebration, we had so many people play a role. Three different worship teams - one a husband, wife and friend who led from our church building, another one of our deacons leading from his home, and then my wife and our two eldest daughters leading from our house, with an assist from my son reading Scripture. In addition to that, we had testimonies and encouraging words and Scriptures from at least seven other families, and then a short message from me. I was exhilarated and encouraged by hearing from so many of our church family. As we discussed last week, the church isn't just made up of a pastor and worship team, but a whole family gifted to reach the lost, build each other up, and serve the King.
And then, we had an extra treat in the afternoon. My wife and daughters, joined with our pastor neighbor and his family for a time of worship outside in the afternoon. They played and sang from their yard, and we from ours, maintaining more than six feet of distance. Other neighbors came and joined in - all maintaining distance, with one family across the street. Four churches were represented. It wasn't a huge crowd, and it wasn't the most polished worship set ever, but it was really amazing and exhilarating to experience. Our together-celebration was lowered, but our proclamation was increased in a variety of ways. Thanks be to God.
As you might have noticed, I sometimes steer clear of controversy on this show. There is a reason for that, and it is not that I want to avoid controversy. The main reason I avoid it is because biblical controversy is best handled in a local church setting, in the midst of relationships and leadership and pastoring. Where questions and discussion can happen face to face and unfold via relationship. A podcast just doesn't allow that to happen. I don't avoid every controversial passage, but do dance around a few that I'd be much rather cover in our local church context. That said, we're not going to steer so broadly around controversy today. We're going to turn the bow of this ship into the storm. We're not going straight into the middle of this storm, and by that metaphor, I mean I am not going to answer every possible objection and issue some might have with 1 Timothy 2, but I do want to give at least the beginnings of an answer. Batten down the hatches!
1st Timothy 2 is quite the controversial passage. Who does Paul think he is to tell women how to dress and to be quiet? Well, I'm not going to dive deep into this, but I will share a couple of things. In 1st Timothy 2, Paul does indeed tell women to dress in Kosmios/κόσμιος apparel. This is a difficult word to translate well, because it only appears twice in the Bible. The other time it appears is in 1 Timothy 3:
An overseer, therefore, must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, self-controlled, sensible, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, 3 not an excessive drinker, not a bully but gentle, not quarrelsome, not greedy.
1 Timothy 3:2
The same word that is translated as 'modest' in 1 Timothy 2 is translated as 'respectable' in 1 Timothy 3. So, Paul in one passage tells women to dress in this way, and in the second passage tells church leaders to behave and have this kind of character. Sensible/modest/appropriate. Who does this guy think he is? And the answer is that he is, under the inspiration and direction of the Holy Spirit, writing the Words and commands of God. That's what the Word of God is for. It is to tell us how God wants us to live, how to please Him. Sometimes that manifests itself in how we dress, sometimes in how we behave. We are followers of God, and we follow Him via His Word:
16 All Scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, for rebuking, for correcting, for training in righteousness, 17 so that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.
2nd Timothy 3:16-17
Ok, I hear you saying - I guess some of that makes sense, but what about this WOMEN MUST BE SILENT business. That just sounds ridiculous, sexist, and old-fashioned. I can appreciate where you are coming from, but I don't think that 'sexism' is the right conclusion, and I think I can come pretty close to proving that. First, allow me to say that I am what is called a biblical Complementarian theologically. That means I believe that God has given men and women equal worth and value, but different roles in the earthly Kingdom of God. Not everybody agrees with that, but I believe that it is beautiful when practiced biblically, with no hint of selfish sexism. Take Ephesians 5:
22 Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord, 23 because the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church. He is the Savior of the body. 24 Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives are to submit to their husbands in everything.
Ephesians 5:22-24
WHOA! How can it NOT be sexist to ask wives to submit to their husbands?! Have you met men?! Yeah, I get it. But, let's back out a little bit and see the verse in its context:
21 submitting to one another in the fear of Christ. 22 Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord, 23 because the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church. He is the Savior of the body. 24 Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives are to submit to their husbands in everything. 25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself for her 26 to make her holy, cleansing her with the washing of water by the word. 27 He did this to present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or anything like that, but holy and blameless. 28 In the same way, husbands are to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. 29 For no one ever hates his own flesh but provides and cares for it, just as Christ does for the church, 30 since we are members of his body. 31 For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two will become one flesh. 32 This mystery is profound, but I am talking about Christ and the church. 33 To sum up, each one of you is to love his wife as himself, and the wife is to respect her husband.
Ephesians 5:21-33
So - this gives us a little bit of a clearer picture as to what is going on here. Paul calls wives to submit to their husbands, and I believe that is the Word of God. Keep reading - Paul then calls husbands to love their wives like Christ loved the church - by providing and caring for her. How did Christ take care of His church? BY DYING for it!! So - wives are called to SUBMIT. Husbands are called to SACRIFICE. Which of those two 'S' words are easier? Is it easier to sacrifice your wants/needs/desires/safety/physical well-being for another? To endure pain for them so that they don't have to? To utterly give yourself for them? OR is it easier to submit to a person - an imperfect person?! The fact is that BOTH of those things are hard. You might believe that husbands and wives should EQUALLY submit to each other and EQUALLY sacrifice for each other. You're entitled to your opinion, but that's not how the Bible lays it out. Husbands must sacrifice themselves for their wives. Wives are called to submit to their husbands.
Is that sexist? I think a husband demanding submission who is unwilling to sacrifice is indeed sexist and sinful and abhorrent and a perversion of marriage. The greatest possible perversion of marriage is husband to wife physical or mental or emotional abuse. That a man could be called to sacrifice himself for his wife, and rather than do that, he abuses her? That is an abomination, and it is infuriating, and such men will face incredibly harsh judgment. They should be in JAIL on earth, and tortured in eternity. Likewise, I think a wife who demands her husband sacrifice himself for her (in the way Christ laid down His life for the church) and then refusing to follow His Godly leadership is also sexist, in a way. Husbands are to bear the bulk of sacrifice in the relationship, though wives should sacrifice for their husbands from time to time. Wives are to bear the bulk of the submission in the relationship, though husbands should certainly submit to their wives in things from time to time, as is fitting in an Ephesians 5:22 sort of way. That is what I believe the Bible teaches. Does that make me sexist? I don't think so, but you can feel free to think of me that way. Ultimately, I want to please God and love my wife well.
Back to the silence thing. First of all, let me say that I believe the translators of the KJV somehow missed it when they translated the Greek word 'ἡσυχία hēsychía' as 'silence.' I think the translators of the CSB got the sense of the word much better by using the word 'quiet.' I do not believe that Paul is here forbidding women to speak in the least. First of all, etymologically, it comes from a root word that means to 'be settled.' For instance, consider a passage that uses the same word:
12 Now we command and exhort such people by the Lord Jesus Christ to work quietly and provide for themselves.
2 Thessalonians 3:12
Is 2 Thessalonians 3:12 - directed at men and women - a command to be silent? It certainly doesn't appear that way. 'Silent' doesn't make any sense whatsoever in that passage. Quiet does. Being settled does. Since Paul is writing to Timothy about pastoring, and since he is about to introduce the topic of elders/pastors, I believe the context is 1 Timothy 2 in about how women should act during a church gathering when they are being taught. I note here that the same word is used of the men in Acts 22:
“Brothers and fathers, listen now to my defense before you.” 2 When they heard that he was addressing them in Aramaic, they became even quieter
Acts 22:2
In other words, the men were listening and being quiet - which seems somewhat appropriate for some church services. (Although I actually like interaction in teaching quite often - as did Jesus, Paul and others) So - is Paul telling women to dress modestly, be quiet and submit? It all depends on how you frame it. Framed in a biblical way, those commands make sense and are lovely and beneficial for all. Paul does indeed tell men to be work in a quiet/sensible matter, to submit to all governing authorities, to sacrifice for their wives, to be gentle to them and never harsh, to not ever be bitter with her, and to love/take care of her in the same way the husband takes care of himself.
Beloved: There are commands in the Bible from God. Some of them are written to women. Some to men. Some to children. Some - many - to pastors/shepherds/leaders. Some to followers. Some to moms. Some to fathers. Some to bosses, some to workers. This is what is meant by the Lordship of Christ. This is what is meant by 'following Him.' If you don't want to be told how to live life and what to do, you are going to struggle with the Bible and following Jesus completely.
If you think you can pick some verses and commands to really love and follow and then rule the others as archaic and dated, then God isn't Lord -you are. You are the arbiter of your behavior in that scenario. This sort of approach doesn't work as workers in the workplace, nor as law-abiding citizens under traffic laws, etc., or as students in school, nor soldiers in the military, and it sure doesn't work under the authority of the King of Kings. Is He good? Do you trust Him? Is He really working all things for the good of those who know Him and are called according to His purposes? He is - so follow Him and trust His ways and commands. It's not easy to sacrifice for my wife, but I must. I'm sure it can often be difficult for her to follow my leadership, but I can sure help with that by sacrificing for her, by being gentle, taking care of her, loving her, listening to her, cherishing her, and by never being bitter or harsh with her, or the kids.
One more thing: The beginning of this passage is important and often ignored by Christians. I can't think of a time in my lifetime that it has been more important for Christians to walk in and embrace the whole truth and counsel of the beginning of 1 Timothy 2:
First of all, then, I urge that petitions, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for everyone, 2 for kings and all those who are in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity. 3 This is good, and it pleases God our Savior, 4 who wants everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.
1 Timothy 2:1-4
This is an hour to pray for our leaders. Whatever you think of our president, vice president, governor and congressional leaders - HIT YOUR KNEES and pray for them! Let me be very clear - this is not a partisan text in the least. It means that Christians should have been crying out to God for Barack Obama and Bill Clinton with the same amount of vigor and fervor as they cry out to God for Donald Trump and George W. Bush. There is not a president beyond the reach of God's hand, nor is there a world leader that we should not pray for. Allow me to close with some thoughts from a younger John Piper on our calling as Christians to pray for our world leaders, and allow me to challenge you to raise the level of your prayers for our leaders - in these desperate times, we must pray that they repent, that they listen to wisdom, that they seek the Lord and that God would work mightily through them. Not just our favorites, but all of them. If I'm a sailor on a boat going through a terrific storm, and I have a number of disagreements with our ship's captain, you'd better believe I'm going to be rooting for him and praying for him in the midst of the storm, because I don't want to go down with the ship. That's logical. Plus, we have this clear command to do so, and it has no exceptions!
After Paul has stressed that we pray for all men, he singles out kings “and all in high positions” to make sure that we include them. Why? It is clear from verses 4–7 that what Paul wants to emphasize is that nobody be excluded from our good will, for nobody is beyond the grace of God. Why then do kings and those in high positions come in for special mention? I can see at least two reasons.
The first is that these people had characteristics that made it especially difficult for the early Christians (and for us) to pray for them. For example, they were so distant, so remote, if not in actual miles, then at least in accessibility. It is hard to pray earnestly for someone you don’t know, and especially hard to pray for somebody you never see. Yet, this difficulty must be overcome, Paul says. You must pray for them: emperors like Nero, proconsuls like Gallio, governors like Pilate, kings like Herod. They may seem remote and inaccessible, but remember, they are not remote and inaccessible to God. And by prayer you can get as close as one of their intimate advisers.
Another characteristic that makes rulers hard to pray for is that they are often godless men, insensitive to the promptings of the Holy Spirit. This was almost universally true in Paul’s day. And in most countries around the world today I think it would still be true. I am not automatically enthused when a politician claims to have had a religious experience. It does not matter where or when we have lived, to obey God’s command to pray for all in high positions will involve us in praying for many people indifferent or hostile to our faith.
But this should not cause us to hesitate one moment to pray for them, first, because God may save them and bring them to a knowledge of the truth, and second, because God uses rulers to accomplish his purposes whether they believe in him or not. When God wanted to punish his rebellious people, Israel, he turned the haughty king of Assyria into the rod of his anger (Isaiah 10:5) and stirred him up to attack Israel. Once Nebuchadnezzar, the great king of Babylon, said to himself:
Is not this great Babylon which I have built by my mighty power as a royal residence and for the glory of my majesty? (Daniel 4:30)
And God took away his reason and made him eat grass like an ox until he learned this lesson (Daniel 4:34, 35):
The dominion of the Most High is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom endures from generation to generation; all the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing; and he does according to his will in the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth, and none can stay his hand, or say to him, “What doest thou?”
No king, no president, no premier, no Ayatollah can stay the hand of the Lord when he has purposed to do a thing. “The king’s heart is a stream of water in the hand of the Lord; he turns it wherever he will” (Proverbs 21:1). “Many are the plans of the mind of a man (of a king!), but it is the purpose of the Lord that will be established” (Proverbs 19:21).
Therefore, we have strong encouragement to pray for kings and for all in high positions, whether they are believers or not, because our God reigns, and none can stay his hand!
John Piper, Sermons from John Piper (1980–1989) (Minneapolis, MN: Desiring God, 2007).
Happy Resurrection day, friends! On this day, and every day, let us rejoice and celebrate the most significant event that has ever happened - the day death was defeated. Shoutout to the guy in the Greensboro/High Point North Carolina area who downloaded 95 episodes of the show yesterday. I don't see who downloads the show, of course, but when somebody downloads 95 episodes in one day, it jumps out on the stats, and I always look where they are from. 95 episodes of this show would equate to well over 50 hours of content. I'll be praying for you, brother or sister. ;)
Whether you are quarantined in your house, or somehow able to gather with other believers - nothing diminishes the glory and joy of the resurrection of Jesus! If you don't have an online church to worship with, allow me to invite you to join the livestream of Valley Baptist church today at 11AM pacific. Just go to Facebook and type in VBC Salinas, and join us!
On almost every episode of the show so far, we have focused on the Bible passages we read for the day, and we will continue in that vein, by and large. Today is an exception. Today, we briefly focus on the glorious resurrection of Jesus! Our Bible passages will include: Leviticus 16, Psalms 19, Proverbs 30 and 1 Timothy 1. Our focus question comes from Luke 24:
On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they came to the tomb, bringing the spices they had prepared. 2 They found the stone rolled away from the tomb. 3 They went in but did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. 4 While they were perplexed about this, suddenly two men stood by them in dazzling clothes. 5 So the women were terrified and bowed down to the ground. “Why are you looking for the living among the dead?” asked the men. 6 “He is not here, but he has risen! Remember how he spoke to you when he was still in Galilee, 7 saying, ‘It is necessary that the Son of Man be betrayed into the hands of sinful men, be crucified, and rise on the third day’?” 8 And they remembered his words.
Luke 24:1-8
Why, indeed, were the women coming to the tomb to embalm the body of Jesus? Hadn't He told them that He would be raised from the dead on the third day?! In answering that question, I'd like to read you a portion from my book Easter Fact or Fiction, which is available on Amazon, and when you buy a copy, you can get out of one hour of purgatory. Okay, that's probably not true.
I know it is old school and quite dated, but I love the song “He’s Alive” by Don Francisco. That old hippie can sing, and every time I hear the song, I cry tears of gratitude. If you aren’t familiar with the song, here is the first part of the lyrics:
The gates and doors were barred And all the windows fastened down I spent the night in sleeplessness And rose at every sound Half in hope of sorrow And half in fear the day Would find the soldiers breakin’ through To drag us all away And just before the sunrise I heard something at the wall The gate began to rattle And a voice began to call I hurried to the window Looked down into the street Expecting swords and torches And the sound of soldiers’ feet But there was no one there but Mary So I went down to let her in John stood there beside me As she told me where she’d been She said they’ve moved Him in the night And none of us know where The stone’s been rolled away And now His body isn’t there We both ran towards the garden Then John ran on ahead We found the stone and empty tomb Just the way that Mary said But the winding sheet they wrapped Him in Was just an empty shell And how or where they’d taken Him Was more than I could tell Oh something strange had happened there Just what I did not know John believed a miracle But I just turned to go Circumstance and speculation Couldn’t lift me very high ‘Cause I’d seen them crucify Him Then I saw Him die. (He's Alive - Don Francisco)
I’m getting teary-eyed just reading the lyrics!
The truth that Francisco’s song captures so well is the fact that the disciples DID NOT EXPECT JESUS TO RETURN FROM DEATH! Even though He had told them multiple times that He would rise again on the third day, they either didn’t understand, or take Him seriously at all, despite the fact that, according to Matthew, He plainly told the disciples THREE times, at least, that He would die and be raised up again. In fact, Matthew 27:63 notes that even the chief priests and the Pharisees knew that Jesus had said He would rise again; that is why they requested a guard to prevent anybody from rolling the stone away from the tomb! So, of course, since Jesus told them that He would rise again on the third day, the disciples made a field trip to the graveyard that Sunday to wait, right? Right?! This is something I have never really understood about those guys. I don’t know that I would have believed that Jesus could come back from such a terrible and bloody death as the one represented by His crucifixion, but I do think I would have made the walk over to the cemetery Sunday morning just to see if something might happen, wouldn’t you have at least done that?
The fact that NONE of the disciples of Jesus went to the grave that Sunday morning clearly demonstrates that they were not slack-jawed yokels that would believe anything
because they were so primitive and dumb. They knew death was final just like people in 2017 know that death is final. In fact, due to most deaths occurring in and around homes (and not in hospitals) they were probably more exposed to death than most moderns are, and thus more confronted regularly by its hostility and finality.
C.S. Lewis calls the view that the ancients were dumb, primitive and uninformed, “chronological snobbery.” While it is true that they didn’t have iPhones, and they couldn’t call an Uber to get around to places, the fact is that they were actually quite intelligent, not jaded, and fully aware of the finality of death.
While the disciples didn’t show up at the tomb of Jesus on the third day. The faithful women certainly did surely they would be waiting with eager joy to see the promised return of their messiah, right? Actually, the women didn’t come to greet a resurrected Jesus, they came laden with burial spices, wondering who would roll away the tomb door. They came to prepare the corpse of Jesus for eons of rotting in a tomb. Even the faithful women did not believe that Jesus would be bodily resurrected.Not only that, but even when Jesus appeared to the disciples in person
after the Resurrection, the Bible states that “some doubted.” We might assume that first century people were much more likely to believe that somebody could rise from the dead, than we moderns would be, but the evidence shows that they would be just as incredulous – if not more so – than modern, scientifically oriented people. That they had a prompt change of heart about the possibility of resurrection demonstrates and gives some level of proof that something happened to change their mind and take away their doubts.One more bit of evidence to the idea that the disciples and followers of Jesus were not expecting a resurrection. As noted in the Scripture quoted at the beginning of this chapter, a follower named Cleopas and his unnamed friend were walking on the Emmaus road on the first Easter Sunday. Despite the fact that Jesus had been raised from the dead, and had already appeared to the women at the tomb, Cleopas and the other disciple were discouraged and arguing. Surely they must have been discouraged because they hadn’t heard Jesus was raised from the dead yet, correct? Unfortunately, that is not the case. According to Luke 24, Cleopas and friend had indeed been told that the women had seen the resurrected Jesus in the flesh! Why were they discouraged? Because they DID NOT believe the women! They were so certain of the finality of death that, despite Jesus’ multiple statements that He would rise after death, and despite hearing about the women’s claims to have seen Jesus, they still didn’t believe. This clearly demonstrates that the majority of the disciples and followers of Jesus fully expected Him to stay dead, and also demonstrates the high unlikelihood of their being involved in some sort of resurrection scam.
Happy Easter-Eve, friends! Whether you celebrate Easter or not, do allow me to prod and urge you to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus this Sunday - and EVERY Sunday! Our celebration in many churches will be muted in the sense that we won't physically be together, but I have resolved to make my proclamation of the resurrection louder than ever, and I hope you join me! We've even 'decorated' outside this year, for perhaps the first time ever. Not with bunnies and eggs, but with messages about the resurrection, and I'm planning on giving away as many resurrection books as I possibly can tomorrow and Saturday to those that walk by our house. (We live in a very walky neighborhood.)
Our front yard, thanks to my wife and kids! Shoutout to Pradeep Kumar who left an interesting comment on the Biblereadingpodcast.com site yesterday: Comment: Dear sir Please explain what’s end times and how can we save ourselves from this Dire consequences. Thanking you
Yours sincerely
Pradeep kumar
Pradeep - I have good news for you! Today we are indeed talking about the end times and salvation from its dire consequences through Jesus, the savior and deliverer. Our focus passage today is mostly based on yesterday's reading, which was split into a two parter, as I am endeavoring now more than ever to keep episodes just under 30 minutes a day as often as possible. That said, one of our readings today, 2nd Thessalonians 3, seems to echo back to 2nd Thessalonians 2, so that is something to consider.
3 But the Lord is faithful; he will strengthen and guard you from the evil one
2 Thessalonians 3:3
Our Bible readings for today include Leviticus 15, which is on bodily discharges, and is a chapter I would not at all be able to read through in sixth grade without losing it. And also, Psalms 18, Proverbs 29 and the aforementioned 2 Thessalonians 3 passage. I'm cheating a bit, hope that's ok, but the focus question is mostly derived from yesterday's reading of 2 Thessalonians 2:
3 Don’t let anyone deceive you in any way. For that day will not come unless the apostasy comes first and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the man doomed to destruction. 4 He opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he sits in God’s temple, proclaiming that he himself is God.5 Don’t you remember that when I was still with you I used to tell you about this? 6 And you know what currently restrains him, so that he will be revealed in his time. 7 For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work, but the one now restraining will do so until he is out of the way, 8 and then the lawless one will be revealed. The Lord Jesus will destroy him with the breath of his mouth and will bring him to nothing at the appearance of his coming. 9 The coming of the lawless one is based on Satan’s working, with all kinds of false miracles, signs, and wonders, 10 and with every wicked deception among those who are perishing. They perish because they did not accept the love of the truth and so be saved.
2 Thessalonians 2:3-10
So - to quickly summarize yesterday, Paul is telling the Thessalonians church (and us, by extension) that, though they may have heard about rumors that Jesus had come back, to not be alarmed, because He hasn't returned (at the time of Paul's writing) and that TWO very noticable and important things would have to happen BEFORE Jesus returned. Those two things are the apostasy/rebellion we discussed yesterday, and the revealing of the Man of Lawlessness that we will discuss today. Before we discuss more about this individual, let's talk a little about one practical implication of what Paul is saying here. One way to read this passage is to say that, there's no way whatsoever that Jesus' return is imminent - could happen at any moment - because the apostasy hasn't happened and the lawless man hasn't been revealed. The problem with that statement is that Jesus taught His return would be a bit of a surprise - even to believers - and that we wouldn't know when it would be. The possibility exists that the man of lawlessness has indeed been revealed (I doubt he will have an M.O.L. tattoo on his forehead), and the apostasy that Paul has spoken of might have happened, or be happening. The western church has seen a remarkable amount of professing believers turn away in the last decade or so - could that be the apostasy? I don't think so, but it COULD be.
My favorite theologian, Wayne Grudem, addresses this issue by quoting a number of Bible passages that declare the seeming imminence of the return of Jesus, and then
The end of all things is at hand. (1 Peter 4:7)
But the day of the Lord will come like a thief and then the heavens will pass away with a loud noise, and the elements will be dissolved with fire, and the earth and all the works that are upon it will be burned up. (2 Peter 3:10)
The time is near. (Rev. 1:3)
Behold, I am coming soon. (Rev. 22:7)
Behold, I am coming soon bringing my recompense, to repay everyone for what he has done. (Rev. 22:12)
He who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming soon.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus! (Rev. 22:20)
What shall we say to these passages? If there were no passages in the New Testament about signs that would precede Christ’s return, we would probably conclude from the passages just quoted that Jesus could come at any moment. In this sense, we can say that Christ’s return is imminent.7 It would seem to blunt the force of the commands to be ready and to watch if there was a reason to think that Christ would not come soon....
Except for the spectacular signs in the heavens, it is unlikely but possible that these signs have already been fulfilled. Moreover, the only sign that seems certainly not to have occurred, the darkening of the sun and moon and the falling of the stars, could occur within the space of a few minutes, and therefore it seems appropriate to say that Christ could now return at any hour of the day or night. It is therefore unlikely but certainly possible that Christ could return at any time.
But does this position do justice to the warnings that we should be ready and that Christ is coming at a time we do not expect? Is it possible to be ready for something that we think unlikely to happen in the near future? Certainly it is. Everyone who wears a seatbelt when driving, or purchases auto insurance, gets ready for an event he or she thinks to be unlikely.23 In a similar way it seems possible to take seriously the warnings that Jesus could come when we are not expecting him, and nonetheless to say that the signs preceding his coming will probably yet occur in the future.
This position has positive spiritual benefits as we seek to live the Christian life in the midst of a rapidly changing world. In the ebb and flow of world history, we see from time to time events that could be the final fulfillment of some of these signs. They happen, and then they fade away. During the blackest days of World War II, it seemed very likely that Hitler was the antichrist. During times of persecution against the church, it can seem more likely that Christians are in the middle of the great tribulation. When we hear of earthquakes and famines and wars, it makes us wonder if the coming of Christ might not be near. Then these events fade into the background and world leaders pass off the scene, and the tide of events leading to the end of the age seems to have receded for a time.
Then once again a new wave of events will break on the world scene, and once again our expectation of Christ’s return is increased. With each successive “wave” of events, we do not know which one will be the last. And this is good, because God does not intend us to know. He simply wants us to continue to long for Christ’s return and to expect that it could occur at any time. It is spiritually unhealthy for us to say that we know that these signs have not occurred, and it seems to stretch the bounds of credible interpretation to say that we know that these signs have occurred. But it seems to fit exactly in the middle of the New Testament approach toward Christ’s return to say that we do not know with certainty if these events have occurred. Responsible exegesis, an expectation of Christ’s sudden return, and a measure of humility in our understanding, are all three preserved in this position.
Wayne A. Grudem, Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine (Leicester, England; Grand Rapids, MI: Inter-Varsity Press; Zondervan Pub. House, 2004), 1104–1105.
I wholeheartedly agree with Grudem. It does not appear that the events foretold in Scripture to happen before the return of Jesus have happened, but I could be mistaken, and Jesus commanded us to be alert, ready, and working according to the Master's will, so that He would bless us when He returns, so that is what I want to be about the business of doing.
Let's talk about the Man of Lawlessness. Who in the world is this referring to? As Grudem mentioned, many guesses have been made over the years as to who this individual is: Hitler, Napoleon, Nero, Nicolae Carpathia, and many others. Thus far, all of those guesses have been mostly wrong, but John does tell us that there will be many antichrists in 1st John 2:18. Let's go back to Grudem for more on the Man of Lawlessness/Antichrist:
Many attempts have been made throughout history to identify the man of lawlessness (the “antichrist”) with historical figures who had great authority and brought havoc and devastation among people on the earth. The ancient Roman emperors Nero and Domitian, both of whom severely persecuted Christians, were thought by many to be the antichrist. (Many Roman emperors, including these two, claimed deity for themselves and demanded to be worshiped.) In more recent times Adolf Hitler was commonly thought to be the antichrist, as was Joseph Stalin. On the other hand, many Protestants since the Reformation, especially those who were persecuted by the Catholic Church, have thought that one or another of the popes was the antichrist.
But all of these identifications have proved false,21 and it is likely that a yet worse “man of lawlessness” will arise on the world scene and bring unparalleled suffering and persecution, only to be destroyed by Jesus when he comes again. But the evil perpetrated by many of these other rulers has been so great that, at least while they were in power, it would have been difficult to be certain that the “man of lawlessness” mentioned in 2 Thessalonians 2 has not yet appeared.
Wayne A. Grudem, Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine (Leicester, England; Grand Rapids, MI: Inter-Varsity Press; Zondervan Pub. House, 2004), 1103.
I agree with Grudem in linking the Man of Lawlessness with the Antichrist. There is a fair amount of debate about this whole topic, so I will attempt to steer a middle course, and avoid big claims here. That said, I believe that the Man of Lawlessness is the individual that Daniel speaks of in Daniel 7-8
Near the end of their kingdoms,
when the rebels have reached
the full measure of their sin,
a ruthless king, skilled in intrigue,
will come to the throne.
24 His power will be great,
but it will not be his own.
He will cause outrageous destruction
and succeed in whatever he does.
He will destroy the powerful
along with the holy people.
25 He will cause deceit to prosper
through his cunning and by his influence,
and in his own mind he will exalt himself.
He will destroy many in a time of peace;
he will even stand against the Prince of princes.
Yet he will be broken—not by human hands.
26 The vision of the evenings and the mornings
that has been told is true.
Now you are to seal up the vision
because it refers to many days in the future.” 27 I, Daniel, was overcome and lay sick for days. Then I got up and went about the king’s business. I was greatly disturbed by the vision and could not understand it.Daniel 8:23-26
I think, in a very real sense, that the 'little horn' in Daniel 8 is a reference to the real life ruler Antiochus Epiphanes, but in the same dual-fulfillment sense of prophecy we see in Isaiah 7-9, this little horn will be MOST fulfilled in a future ruler that will be the ultimate antichrist. This ruler seems to be again referenced in Daniel 9, and also by Jesus in Matthew 24:
15 “So when you see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by the prophet Daniel, standing in the holy place” (let the reader understand), 16 “then those in Judea must flee to the mountains. 17 A man on the housetop must not come down to get things out of his house, 18 and a man in the field must not go back to get his coat. 19 Woe to pregnant women and nursing mothers in those days! 20 Pray that your escape may not be in winter or on a Sabbath. 21 For at that time there will be great distress, the kind that hasn’t taken place from the beginning of the world until now and never will again. 22 Unless those days were cut short, no one would be saved. But those days will be cut short because of the elect. 23 “If anyone tells you then, ‘See, here is the Messiah!’ or, ‘Over here!’ do not believe it. 24 For false messiahs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders to lead astray, if possible, even the elect. 25 Take note: I have told you in advance. 26 So if they tell you, ‘See, he’s in the wilderness!’ don’t go out; or, ‘See, he’s in the storerooms!’ do not believe it. 27 For as the lightning comes from the east and flashes as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.
Matthew 24:15-27
This passage seems to indicate that there might be more than one of these active antichrists, with perhaps one of them being specifically the one spoken of in 2nd Thessalonians and Daniel, and other books. Revelation, as you might expect, also speaks of this individual, and - like Daniel, Matthew 24, 1st John and other books that speak about the man of lawlessness/Beast/antichrist, seems to indicate that there might be several active antichrists:
And I saw a beast rising out of the sea, with ten horns and seven heads, with ten diadems on its horns and blasphemous names on its heads. 2 And the beast that I saw was like a leopard; its feet were like a bear's, and its mouth was like a lion's mouth. And to it the dragon gave his power and his throne and great authority. 3 One of its heads seemed to have a mortal wound, but its mortal wound was healed, and the whole earth marveled as they followed the beast. 4 And they worshiped the dragon, for he had given his authority to the beast, and they worshiped the beast, saying, “Who is like the beast, and who can fight against it?”
5 And the beast was given a mouth uttering haughty and blasphemous words, and it was allowed to exercise authority for forty-two months. 6 It opened its mouth to utter blasphemies against God, blaspheming his name and his dwelling, that is, those who dwell in heaven. 7 Also it was allowed to make war on the saints and to conquer them. And authority was given it over every tribe and people and language and nation, 8 and all who dwell on earth will worship it, everyone whose name has not been written before the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who was slain. 9 If anyone has an ear, let him hear:
10 If anyone is to be taken captive,
to captivity he goes;
if anyone is to be slain with the sword,
with the sword must he be slain.Here is a call for the endurance and faith of the saints.11 Then I saw another beast rising out of the earth. It had two horns like a lamb and it spoke like a dragon. 12 It exercises all the authority of the first beast in its presence, and makes the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast, whose mortal wound was healed. 13 It performs great signs, even making fire come down from heaven to earth in front of people, 14 and by the signs that it is allowed to work in the presence of the beast it deceives those who dwell on earth, telling them to make an image for the beast that was wounded by the sword and yet lived. 15 And it was allowed to give breath to the image of the beast, so that the image of the beast might even speak and might cause those who would not worship the image of the beast to be slain. 16 Also it causes all, both small and great, both rich and poor, both free and slave, to be marked on the right hand or the forehead, 17 so that no one can buy or sell unless he has the mark, that is, the name of the beast or the number of its name. 18 This calls for wisdom: let the one who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man, and his number is 666.
Revelation 13
So, after reading all of that, I am sure things are just as clear as mud for you. Do keep in mind that this is the Bible READING podcast, and not the Bible ANSWERS podcast, or the Bible KNOW IT ALL Podcast. I'm sort of kidding, but ultimately, as we discussed earlier this week - some of these deep mysteries of the Bible about eschatology are NOT meant to be known yet, no matter how hard we try. I believe they will become progressively clearer to the church and believers alive during the generation of Christ's return, because that will be important information to them at the time, but it hasn't been super important for the church in the past few hundred years to know the answers to all of these questions, because they weren't the generation that would live to see the return of Jesus. I believe the nearer we get to that generation, the clearer it will be. So many people have asked me, including my own kids, if the coronavirus pandemic now means the return of Jesus is closer. I tell them - maybe. Probably not, but maybe, and that I have an eyebrow raised and my Bible radar turned up to a higher than normal level of alert.
WHO is the Man of Lawlessness/Antichrist? I don't know. He will be powerful. He will be a man of guile and intelligence. He will have great power and an ability to deceive. It appears that He will be empowered by Satan, and have the ability to stand against the archangel Michael in terms of power. He will wage war on true followers of Jesus - the saints - and He will have great success, for a time, in that war. So - back to Pradeep's question at the beginning: How can we save ourselves from this dire situation? And the humbling and scary answer is - WE CAN'T. We don't have the power to stand up against the enemies of the last days. But that doesn't mean all hope is lost. For those who are in Christ - saved by grace through faith, having believed in their heart that Jesus is Lord and God raised Him from the dead, and CONFESSED/PROFESSED those things with their words - true Christians will be delivered and saved BY GOD and by the COMING OF CHRIST. See here in Daniel 7:
21 As I looked, this horn made war with the saints and prevailed over them, 22 until the Ancient of Days came, and judgment was given for the saints of the Most High, and the time came when the saints possessed the kingdom.
Daniel 7:21-22
Ultimately deliverance comes from the Ancient of Days and His power. But - we are not without weapons of our warfare, which are mighty in God, says Paul, to the pulling down of strongholds. Among those weapons is the fact that true followers of Jesus are washed in His sacrifice, and thus the enemy has no hold on them, or no ability to eternally wound them. We also have the earth-shaking power of our testimony and proclamation of the Gospel:
10 And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God. 11 And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death.
Revelation 12:10-11
Look to Jesus and be saved, all the earth and rest in His salvation and His power and His soon return, in which all who have trusted in Him will not be put to shame, but will be delivered and redeemed forever!
Happy Good Friday, friends! It is going to be incredibly strange celebrating the Resurrection of Jesus this weekend while under quarantine, but that is not going to damper my celebration. The best news in history cannot be dampened by a silly pandemic, nor was it dampened by any of the dozens of pandemics that have happened since the first century. In Christ Alone is one of my favorite modern Christian songs, and on this good Friday, I glory in the truth of this verse:
There in the ground His body lay,
Light of the world by darkness slain:
Then bursting forth in glorious day
Up from the grave He rose again
And as He stands in victory
Sin's curse has lost…In Christ Alone, Stuart Townend.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8kvFtXphmMU Do yourself a favor, and watch the video above and worship! Today is a day of celebration and thanksgiving. Thanks be to God the Father and to the Son for His enormous, incomprehensible sacrifice.
Today's Bible passages are Leviticus 14, Psalm 17, Proverbs 28 and 2nd Thessalonians 2. Our focus passage, and the topic of our discussion both today and tomorrow will be based on the 2nd Thessalonians passage. Here is the pertinent part:
Now concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to him: We ask you, brothers and sisters, 2 not to be easily upset or troubled, either by a prophecy or by a message or by a letter supposedly from us, alleging that the day of the Lord has come. 3 Don’t let anyone deceive you in any way. For that day will not come unless the apostasy comes first and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the man doomed to destruction. 4 He opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he sits in God’s temple, proclaiming that he himself is God.5 Don’t you remember that when I was still with you I used to tell you about this? 6 And you know what currently restrains him, so that he will be revealed in his time. 7 For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work, but the one now restraining will do so until he is out of the way, 8 and then the lawless one will be revealed. The Lord Jesus will destroy him with the breath of his mouth and will bring him to nothing at the appearance of his coming. 9 The coming of the lawless one is based on Satan’s working, with all kinds of false miracles, signs, and wonders, 10 and with every wicked deception among those who are perishing. They perish because they did not accept the love of the truth and so be saved. 11 For this reason God sends them a strong delusion so that they will believe the lie, 12 so that all will be condemned—those who did not believe the truth but delighted in unrighteousness.
2nd Thessalonians 2:5-12
Paul says here - very clearly, and unmistakably, that the Second Coming/Return of Jesus will NOT occur until TWO things happen: #1 The Apostasy (or Great Apostasy) and #2 The revealing of the Man of Lawlessness. Tomorrow our focus will be on WHO the Man of Lawlessness might be, and today our focus is on what in the world this apostasy is all about. First, let's talk about the word Paul uses - 'apostasy,' because it is not a very common word. In English, the word means, "the abandonment or renunciation of a religious or political belief." It comes from the Greek word that Paul uses here, "ἀποστασία apostasía" which means to "forsake," or "fall away," and itself comes from a word that indicates a divorce. This is a concept that is developed powerfully in the Old Testament, where God often describes Himself as a Bridegroom, and His people Israel are a bride that has been unfaithful, and fallen away. For instance, this passage in Jeremiah 3:
If a man divorces his wife
and she leaves him to marry another,
can he ever return to her?
Wouldn’t such a land become totally defiled?
But you!
You have prostituted yourself with many partners—
can you return to me?
This is the Lord’s declaration.
2 Look to the barren heights and see.
Where have you not been immoral?
You sat waiting for them beside the highways
like a nomad in the desert.
You have defiled the land
with your prostitution and wickedness.
3 This is why the showers haven’t come—
why there has been no spring rain.
You have the brazen look of a prostitute
and refuse to be ashamed.Jeremiah 3:1-3
Hosea also compares Israel's falling away from God the same as an unfaithful spouse. Indeed, God commands Hosea the prophet to marry an unfaithful woman named Gomer, who ultimately cheats on him, so that the unfaithfulness of Israel can be demonstrated in vivid and devastating ways. Note the promise at the end of Hosea, however:
I will heal their apostasy;
I will freely love them,
for my anger will have turned from him.
5 I will be like the dew to Israel;
he will blossom like the lily
and take root like the cedars of Lebanon.Hosea 14:4-5
To apostatize, then, is to renounce or fall away from faith in the same sort of way as an unfaithful spouse breaks away from a marriage to be with another. Notice the RELATIONAL language employed. When people say, quite tritely, that Christianity is a relationship, not a religion, this is the sort of thing they are talking about.
Theologically speaking, Paul is pointing out here in this passage that Jesus will not return for His Second Coming until there is a significant 'falling away' or apostasy. Unfortunately, Paul gives us almost zero details as to this coming apostasy, and the word he uses there is used quite infrequently in the Bible. I think, however, that Matthew 24 gives us quite a bit of insight into what Paul is referring to, and I believe - but can't prove - that the apostasy that Paul is referring to in 2 Thessalonians 2, is the 'falling away' that Jesus is referencing here:
“Tell us, when will these things happen? And what is the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?” 4 Jesus replied to them: “Watch out that no one deceives you. 5 For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and they will deceive many. 6 You are going to hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, because these things must take place, but the end is not yet. 7 For nation will rise up against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these events are the beginning of labor pains. 9 “Then they will hand you over to be persecuted, and they will kill you. You will be hated by all nations because of my name. 10 Then many will fall away, betray one another, and hate one another. 11 Many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. 12 Because lawlessness will multiply, the love of many will grow cold. 13 But the one who endures to the end will be saved. 14 This good news of the kingdom will be proclaimed in all the world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.
Matthew 24:3-14
Note here how lawlessness and falling away are connected together so tightly - this makes me even more certain that Paul's Thessalonians reference is to Jesus' Olivet discourse. Paul also seems to talk about this falling away/rebellion/apostasy in 1 Timothy 4, and probably 2nd Timothy 3 as well:
Now the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will depart from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and the teachings of demons, 2 through the hypocrisy of liars whose consciences are seared.
1 Timothy 4:1-2
But know this: Hard times will come in the last days. 2 For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, proud, demeaning, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 unloving, irreconcilable, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, without love for what is good, 4 traitors, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5 holding to the form of godliness but denying its power. Avoid these people.
2 Timothy 3:1-5
I believe that the Bible is telling us something very important here, and I don't believe most who teach on the end-times emphasize it enough: Before the return of Jesus happens, there will be a noticable, remarkable falling away by professing Christians. This happens all throughout church history (just as Jesus explained that it would in the Mark 4 parable of the sower), but this apostasy has been called the 'Great' apostasy, because it will be obvious that it is happening. Will all of the church fall away? Of course not! But many who profess only with their mouth will turn from Christ when it becomes less expedient (and perhaps more dangerous) to follow Him. I come from the Bible belt - millions of people identify as Christ followers, but know Him not. Before Jesus returns, a remarkable and heart-rending apostasy will happen, and a 'Man of lawlessness' will be revealed, perhaps even leading the charge in the apostasy. And then, at some point, the end will come. That's what we see here in today's short 2nd Thessalonians passage. What does that mean for our following of God in this day and hour? I'd like for John Piper to answer that question for us, in closing:
“So be sober for prayer, because the great danger facing us is that we fall in love with this world and become spiritually dull and the day come upon us like a thief and we be destroyed. O pray, brothers, pray for the coming of the kingdom and for your strength to endure and escape the trap of spiritual apathy. Pray that you may be able to stand before the Son of Man.”
And that’s exactly the way I would talk about the coming of the Lord today. It is just around the corner. The end is near indeed. If anyone dallies with sin and the world, thinking, “I have lots of time,” he plays the fool. The Judge is at the door. And the time remaining should be spent in earnest prayer that we not be made drunk and hard by the cares and pleasures of this world.
John Piper, Sermons from John Piper (1990–1999) (Minneapolis, MN: Desiring God, 2007).
The world has changed. I feel it in the earth. I smell it in the air. Much that once was is lost; for none now live who remember it. Time no longer has any meaning. Is today Thursday, or is it all just one long endless day? Oh wait, I mean - Happy Thursday and welcome into the REAL episode #100 of the Bible Reading podcast! I'm going to celebrate by taking the day off. See you tomorrow! Okay, maybe not. Today's Bible readings include Leviticus 13. Psalms 15 and 16, Proverbs 27 and 2nd Thessalonians 1. Today's Big Bible question is from Proverbs 27:6:
Better an open reprimand than
concealed love.
The wounds of a friend are trustworthy,
but the kisses of an enemy are excessive.Proverbs 27:6
I don't know about you, but I'd generally rather be greeted by a holy kiss, rather than a friendly wounding, but Proverbs here is telling us something significant. An enemy might give excessive kisses, compliments, flattery, etc, but when a real friend wounds you, then you can be sure that those wounds are trustworthy. What is up with that, and why are we wounding each other anyway - shouldn't we just encourage each other and stay away from wounding altogether? Let's read the Proverb and come back and talk about whether or not it is appropriate to sometimes wound your friend.
Think about the worst injury you've ever had. For me, the worst physical injury I've had was a shoulder injury that I obtained one morning in 1991 when a friend of mine and I skipped school, and went caving in a remote area. I was attempting to climb up a wall in the cave when the rocks under my feet gave way, and all my weight was hanging on my right arm, which promptly dislocated, and did so six other times as I tried to climb out of the chasm I was in. Despite two surgeries, one by one of the best surgeons in the world - Dr. James Andrews - My shoulder has literally hurt almost every day since then. Not 100 percent of the time, but enough. If a friend had offered to kick me in the shins that day, and given me a bruise of a wounding, instead of a lifetime of shoulder pain, I would have been a fool to turn it down. Yes, the shin-kick would hurt, but a million times less than the shoulder injury has hurt. This is the dynamic the Proverbs is telling us about. The wounds from a friend help us to avoid the often permanent and sometimes catastrophic maimings from sin.
I have had the privilege of having a number of high caliber, high quality friends. People that weren't just in it for the fun of it, or to have a good time, or to their own advantage, but faithful friends and brothers who were great teammates, and helped me to be a better man. I can think of multiple times in my life where a friend stepped in front of me when I was headed towards trouble, and had a hard conversation with me - warning me and (lovingly!) wounding me, to spare me from much greater and more catastrophic injury. I can think of several times in my life - times that I am immensely grateful for now - when a loving friend has stepped in my way and wounded me in order to help me.
Once, in the mid 90s, I had become disillusioned with church - with the hypocrisy and the loving of traditions instead of the love of God and His Word. I was befriended by a group that seemed passionate and on fire for God. Some thought they were a cult, but all I could see was their refreshing passion! I began to meet with them some. Not whole hog, but some. A Christian friend grew very concerned about that, did some research, and had a very hard meeting with me in which he solemnly warned me about joining that group. It wasn't hard because he was mean, but it was hard because it was awkward, and I didn't listen at first. He won me over, however, and I am eternally grateful that he chose to wound me, rather than let me suffer a fate worse than wounding. In the latter 90s, I had a friend who valued integrity walk beside me and lovingly wound me many times over my habit and sin of lying and telling half truths. Over the course of years, and many faithful wounds, I was brought to repentance, and learned to value the truth in a much greater way, probably saving myself and my family the damage that would have been done by thousands of lies and half-truths. This same friend also lovingly wounded by in the early 2000s over my habit of pirating music and games. Digital thievery surely wasn't as bad as physical thievery, right? More wounds, more repentance, and more maimings from sin avoided. I can recount countless other times, but the point is that when somebody loves us and wants the best for us, we can trust that their wounds are designed for our best.
Jesus Himself gives us a pattern for those types of helpful woundings:
15 “If your brother sins against you, go and rebuke him in private. If he listens to you, you have won your brother. 16 But if he won’t listen, take one or two others with you, so that by the testimony of two or three witnesses every fact may be established. 17 If he doesn’t pay attention to them, tell the church. If he doesn’t pay attention even to the church, let him be like a Gentile and a tax collector to you.
Matthew 18:15-17
So - WHEN should you wound a friend?
#1 - When it will clearly and obviously benefit and help them in the long run. Be careful when 'wounding' a friend with your words when you will be the primary benefactor of their repentance. Wounds from a friend a trustworthy precisely because they aren't motivated by selfish causes, but by love for another.
#2 When what they are doing is clearly and obviously unbiblical and will lead them into the dangers of sin. Avoid wounding a brother of the kind of doubtful matters addressed in Romans 14. Is your brother not celebrating the Sabbath the way you do? Does he eat only vegetables, and you eat meat? Does he celebrate Easter, and you don't (or vice-versa!) does he believe in open communion, and you believe in 'fencing the table?' It's fine to have an opinion on these doubtful matters, and to even discuss that opinion from the Bible in order to reach a consensus, but it is not find to WOUND a friend over doubtful matters.
5 One person judges one day to be more important than another day. Someone else judges every day to be the same. Let each one be fully convinced in his own mind. 6 Whoever observes the day, observes it for the honor of the Lord. Whoever eats, eats for the Lord, since he gives thanks to God; and whoever does not eat, it is for the Lord that he does not eat it, and he gives thanks to God. 7 For none of us lives for himself, and no one dies for himself. 8 If we live, we live for the Lord; and if we die, we die for the Lord. Therefore, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord. 9 Christ died and returned to life for this: that he might be Lord over both the dead and the living. 10 But you, why do you judge your brother or sister? Or you, why do you despise your brother or sister? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God.
Romans 14:5-10
-
When you can do the wounding with the meekness and humility of Christ, and without a plank in your own eye - or hypocrisy. If you are a drunkard thinking you need to wound a liar (or vice-versa), then Jesus' counsel to you would probably be to first remove the plank from your own eye.
-
When you can be sure that you yourself aren't a professional critic, or friend-wounder. If you find yourself in the position of being a constant friend wounder, it is possible that you are giving into judgmentalism and a spirit of criticism, rather than actually seeking the overall good of your brother. It is not your business to criticize, it is your business to EDIFY.
Don’t criticize one another, brothers and sisters. Anyone who defames or judges a fellow believer defames and judges the law. If you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge.
Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear
James 4:11 and Ephesians 5:29
TRUE friends are very scarce. We have a great many acquaintances, and sometimes we call them friends, and so misuse the noble word “friendship.” Perhaps for some, after a bit of adversity, when these so-called friends have looked out for their own interests, and left us to do the best we can for ourselves, that word friendship may come back to us with sad and sorrowful associations. The friend in need is the friend indeed, and such friends, I say again, are scarce. When you have found such a man, and proved the sincerity of his friendship; when he has been faithful to thy father and to you, grapple him to thyself with hooks of steel, and never let him go. It may be that, because he is a faithful friend, he will sometimes vex you and anger you. See how Solomon puts it in this very chapter: “Open rebuke is better than secret love. Faithful are the wounds of a friend.”
It takes a great deal of friendship to be able to tell a man of his faults. It is no friendship that flatters; it is small friendship that holds its tongue when it ought to speak; but it is true friendship that can speak at the right time, and, if need be, even speak so sharply as to cause a wound. If you are like many other foolish folk, you will be angry with the man who is so much your friend that he will tell you the truth. If you are unworthy of your friend, you will begin to grow weary of him when he is performing on your behalf the most heroic act of pure charity by warning you of your danger, and reminding thee of thine imperfection. Solomon, in prospect of such a case, knowing that this is one of the greatest trials of friendship among such poor imperfect beings as we are, tells us not to forsake our friends, for this reason...the man who has been to us and to our family a true friend: “Thine own friend, and thy father’s friend, forsake not.”
C. H. Spurgeon, “The Best Friend,” in The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit Sermons, vol. 45 (London: Passmore & Alabaster, 1899), 289.
Happy Wednesday, friends! Today marks THREE weeks of sheltering in place for those of us in central California, and it is for me, a personal record for sheltering in place/staying home and social distancing, beating my previous record of 5 days when I had the flu in 5th grade and two weeks when my mom's car was hit by a moving van when I was 8 or so.
Are you going crazy yet? I sort of see some signs that my family is, therefore I am planning on building a temporary shelter/respite place in the laundry room for me and the boy, because he still seems mostly sane.
Today's Bible readings include Leviticus 11 and 12, Psalms 13 and 14, Proverbs 26 and 1 Thessalonians 5. Yeah, Robert Murray M'Cheyne kind of went crazy on us today! Today's big Bible question: Will College Football Happen this year?! I go live to my special guest, Ryen Russillo for his take. Oh, wait, that's actually a topic for a different show - our actual question is: Will it be possible for Christians to know that that the coming of Jesus is soon? Well...what do you think? Don't guess yet - let's read 1 Thessalonians 5, then come back and discuss it, and then we will read our other 50 Bible chapters for the day.
Here's the pertinent part of 1 Thessalonians to help us answer the question:
About the times and the seasons: Brothers and sisters, you do not need anything to be written to you. 2 For you yourselves know very well that the day of the Lord will come just like a thief in the night. 3 When they say, “Peace and security,” then sudden destruction will come upon them, like labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. 4 But you, brothers and sisters, are not in the dark, for this day to surprise you like a thief.
1 Thessalonians 5:1-4
Will Jesus REALLY come back in 1994? Spoiler alert: NO! The picture for today's episode of the show is a copy of the book 1994?, with my desktop and microphone in the back. Yes, that is a CVS prescription bottle that is acting as a space on my microphone boom arm. More importantly, is the book 1994? one of my great theological treasures! You can't tell from the picture, but the book is a 551 (!) page, well researched book by author and radio host Harold Camping that was written in 1992 and makes the very bold claim that Jesus will return in 1994. In fact, the back of the book contains this stunningly wrong prediction:
"Whether we like it or not, the end of history is almost upon us. Abundant biblical information focuses on 1994 as the likely end of the world. This information should be declared to the world because it severely and eternally impacts each and every individual of the more than 5.5 billion people of the earth."
1994? 1992, by Harold Camping
I'll be honest with you. I haven't read this book, and I've barely opened it. I bought it for 25 cents at a Trussville library sale as an illustration of the fact that people have been trying to predict the exact date of the second coming for hundreds of years, and have struck out every time. Tonight, for the first time, I read a few paragraphs of this book, and I've got to tell you that my mind is blown. Some how, some way, Brother Camping calculates that the date the world began was on 11,013 B.C. I am afraid that I have no idea whatsoever how Camping arrived at that date, as I turned to page 442, and just started reading. I do not have time to read a whole 550 page book of nonsense, even if I wasn't doing a daily Bible podcast. So, the world apparently began on 11,013 B.C., and here is how, according to Camping, we get to 1994:
Especially interesting is Jacob's age when he came under the care and protection of Joseph. When asked of Pharaoh his age, he answered in Genesis 47:9 "And Jacob said unto Pharaoh, 'The days of the years of my pilgrimage are an hundred and thirty years. Few and evil have the days of the years of my life been, and have not attained unto the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their pilgrimage. From this verse, Camping makes the following conclusion, "We can't help but see the parallel between this account and the pilgrimage of believers in this world. When do we escape the evil days of this earth? In one sense we escape them when we become saved, but the final escape is the end of the world. We see again how 13000 years, or the year 1988 stands out as the end of the world.
This is the sort of reasoning you get in books of this ilk - books that attempt to pin down the exact date of the return of Jesus. Many, many attempts have been made to this in the past. The Jehovah's Witnesses predicted the second coming, and other important Bible prophecy events, would happen in 1878, 1881, 1914, 1918, 1925 and more, but all of these events were busts, and had to be retconned. Camping himself recalculated his dates, and came up with a "beyond a shadow of a doubt" return of Jesus that would happen on May 21, 2011. When that failed, he moved the date to October 21, 2011. When that failed - he very wisely, and humbly repented of his silliness, shared the Matthew 24:36 truth that 'no man knows the day or the hour of the return of Jesus," and then began to study the Bible to learn about about what it taught and about Jesus, than to try and figure out dates and such. Good job, Mr. Camping. You messed up, but you got there eventually in the grace of God.
The problem with trying to discern the exact date of the return of Jesus is what Jesus Himself claimed about His Second Coming: The angels in Heaven didn't know the date, Jesus the Son of God didn't know the date, but ONLY the God the Father knew the date of His return. I think that means that the timing of the return of Jesus is not ENCODED or hidden somehow, someway in the Bible - but, quite literally ONLY the Father knows that date.
Now, that said and believed, we have a curious thing here in 1st Thessalonians: "But you, brothers and sisters, are not in the dark, for this day to surprise you like a thief." Jesus, as He said, is going to return like a thief in the night - in a way that will surprise the world...but, according to Paul - those believers who aren't in the dark WON'T be surprised by the return of Jesus. Instead, they will be ready. Is this a contradiction between the teaching of Paul, and the teaching of Jesus? Not at all. In fact, the teaching of Jesus largely emphasized the same thing:
35 “Be ready for service and have your lamps lit. 36 You are to be like people waiting for their master to return from the wedding banquet so that when he comes and knocks, they can open the door for him at once. 37 Blessed will be those servants the master finds alert when he comes. Truly I tell you, he will get ready, have them recline at the table, then come and serve them. 38 If he comes in the middle of the night, or even near dawn, and finds them alert, blessed are those servants. 39 But know this: If the homeowner had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into. 40 You also be ready, because the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.”
Luke 12:35-40
So - the Second Coming should NOT hit Bible-believing, blood-bought followers of Jesus by surprise. Why not - because they know the hour? NO! Because, NO MATTER WHAT HOUR IT IS, they are living and acting like the Master (Jesus) could return at ANY MOMENT! Think of it like this: You work at an office, and the boss is away. If everybody is diligently working while the boss is away, then his return won't shake anybody up in the least, and it certainly won't surprise anybody, or alarm anybody (least of all, the boss), because all of the workers are diligently and alertly doing what they are supposed to do. Suppose, however, that the workers goof off. They play games on their phones, make personal calls, peruse social media, and get a game of poker going in the break room. When the boss returns then - THEY WILL BE SURPRISED - exactly like a sleeping homeowner of a house that a cat-burglar breaks in. You're not surprised by such a thing if you are waiting and watching alertly, but it catches you way off guard if you are sleeping or goofing off. The antidote to being surprised is NOT knowing the exact time of the boss's return, but knowing that he could return at ANY SECOND, and doing exactly what He commanded you to do while He was gone.
I think that is the primary reason why Paul is telling believers that the coming of Jesus should not catch them like a thief in the night - because they are awake and alert. That said, I think there might be a secondary sense here too. Maybe. The fact is that Jesus describes (in Matthew 24, Luke 22, etc) and Paul describes (in this passage and several others) and other Old and New Testament books do indeed give us some hints about how things are going to look around the time of the return of Jesus. This information on the Second Coming is somewhat vague, and I believe purposely so. If it wasn't, then we believers, being human, would likely procrastinate on the Great Commission and wait until the last minute, and it is clear that though Jesus didn't know the exact date of His return, He did seem to know the Second Coming would be far in the future (see Matthew 25:19, Matthew 24:48, among other hints), thus He sent the believers out with urgency, and we still have that same urgency. Our mission is to be serving the King and His Kingdom when He returns!
Will we know His arrival is getting near? I think the answer is MAYBE. Some true believers from all centuries have believed they lived in the time of Jesus' return, and thus far, they have all been wrong. That means the signs of Jesus' coming could be misinterpreted. That said, I believe that the nearer we get to His return, the clearer the events unfolding on earth will match the events foretold in Scripture. The principle is: The Nearer we get, the clearer. I think it is telling that Jesus, in Luke 12, said the disciples would not know the hour. I take that to mean that we will not know the exact date, but that the Body of Christ on earth at the time will not be surprised like a thief in the night (even though Jesus will indeed come like a thief in the night!) for two reasons: #1 They will be working, alert, awake, watching, and crying out Maranatha - come, Lord Jesus! #2 - The Body of Christ on earth at that time will begin to see a more closely matched set of circumstances and events unfolding that unmistakably matches biblical prophecy. That generation won't know the day or the hour either, but I suspect that they will have a collective sense that it is going to happen soon.
Greetings and salutations, friends, and happy whatever day it is. I think it is Tuesday today, but the days are running so much together, that I am only pretty sure it is April, and that we are still, sadly, in 2020, the most remarkable and craziest year of my life. Yesterday our eight year old was talking about the NEXT time a pandemic came along, and wondering what we might do then, and my first thought was that pandemics are very rare, my second thought was I hope there is no NEXT pandemic, and my third thought was that this particular pandemic, for an 8 year old, is going to take up a significant portion of her life if it stretches much further. Perhaps such things will be somewhat normal in her mind. I hope that this never becomes normal, however.
Hope you all are holding up well! Today's Bible readings are Leviticus 10, Psalms 11 and 12, Proverbs 25 and 1st Thessalonians 4. Our focus passage is derived from Psalms 11:1, "I have taken refuge in the Lord." In today's short episode, I'd like for us to consider two things about this passage: What it means, theologically, that the Lord is a our refuge AND practically, how can we take refuge in Him? Let's read those two Psalms passages, and come back and discuss.
So -what is your favorite hymn? Mine changes, but I think my usual answer is a Mighty Fortress is Our God by Martin Luther:
A mighty fortress is our God,
a bulwark never failing;
our helper he, amid the flood
of mortal ills prevailing.
For still our ancient foe
does seek to work us woe;
his craft and power are great,
and armed with cruel hate,
on earth is not his equal.
This hymn is based upon passages like Psalm 11:1, and also, even more specifically, it is based on Psalms 46:
God is our refuge and strength,
a helper who is always found
in times of trouble.
2 Therefore we will not be afraid,
though the earth trembles
and the mountains topple
into the depths of the seas,
3 though its water roars and foams
and the mountains quake with its turmoil.Selah
4 There is a river—
its streams delight the city of God,
the holy dwelling place of the Most High.
5 God is within her; she will not be toppled.
God will help her when the morning dawns.
6 Nations rage, kingdoms topple;
the earth melts when he lifts his voice.
7 The Lord of Armies is with us;
the God of Jacob is our stronghold.Selah
8 Come, see the works of the Lord,
who brings devastation on the earth.
9 He makes wars cease throughout the earth.
He shatters bows and cuts spears to pieces;
he sets wagons ablaze.
10 “Stop your fighting, and know that I am God,
exalted among the nations, exalted on the earth.”
11 The Lord of Armies is with us;
the God of Jacob is our stronghold.SelahPsalm 46:1-11
Verse 5 is one of the most quoted verses on Instagram, but we should probably point out that the 'her' in this case is not a particular female that God will keep from failing or toppling, but the City of God - the Refuge of God, the Shelter of God that we are talking about today. Many times in the Scriptures, particularly in the Psalms, we are pointed to God's protection over His people - that HE HIMSELF is our shelter/refuge/fortress. Consider these comforting truths:
I have asked one thing from the Lord;
it is what I desire:
to dwell in the house of the Lord
all the days of my life,
gazing on the beauty of the Lord
and seeking him in his temple.
5 For he will conceal me in his shelter
in the day of adversity;
he will hide me under the cover of his tent;
he will set me high on a rock.Psalms 27:4-5
19 How great is your goodness
that you have stored up for those who fear you
and accomplished in the sight of everyone
for those who take refuge in you.
20 You hide them in the protection of your presence;
you conceal them in a shelter
from human schemes,
from quarrelsome tongues.Psalm 31:19-20
The Lord is my rock,
my fortress, and my deliverer,
my God, my rock where I seek refuge,
my shield and the horn of my salvation,
my stronghold.
3 I called to the Lord, who is worthy of praise,
and I was saved from my enemies.Psalm 18:2-3
But let all who take refuge in you rejoice;
let them shout for joy forever.
May you shelter them,
and may those who love your name boast about you.
12 For you, Lord, bless the righteous one;
you surround him with favor like a shield.Psalm 5:10-12
for you have been a refuge for me,
a strong tower in the face of the enemy.
4 I will dwell in your tent forever
and take refuge under the shelter of your wings.SelahPsalm 61:3-5
So - how does God protect us? How is He a Shelter? I offer three ways here (and note that this is NOT an exhaustive list. )
1. He supernaturally protects us by His sovereign Will. Consider Romans 8:26-28, "26 In the same way the Spirit also helps us in our weakness, because we do not know what to pray for as we should, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with unspoken groanings. 27 And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because he intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.28 We know that all things work together for the good of those who love God, who are called according to his purpose." I included that first part because it is important. God sovereignly protects His people as a fortress by sovereignly and particularly causing all events to work together for the GOOD of those who KNOW Him and are CALLED according to His purpose. This means that the God who NUMBERS THE HAIRS ON YOUR HEAD also orders the everyday affairs and details of your life to protect you and propel you into His good purposes and pleasures. It won't always be easy, or pain-free, but it will always be for your ULTIMATE GOOD. That is a protection and a shelter from God. Bonus: The Holy Spirit is praying for us in our weakness. (Jesus is too, according to Hebrews!)
- He supernaturally protects us by His sovereign power, and His angels. First, the angels. God commands and organizes His angels to protect His people, so says passages like Psalm 34:7 ”The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear Him, and He delivers them.” AND Hebrews 1:14, “Are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation?”* Also, God Himself protects us, according to numerous passages like Psalm 121:4-5, "Indeed, the Protector of Israel does not slumber or sleep.5 The Lord protects you;***" Also consider the promise to Israel in Isaiah 41, that Christians inherit also, because we are grafted into the vine of Israel as God's people:
I brought you from the ends of the earth
and called you from its farthest corners.
I said to you: You are my servant;
I have chosen you; I haven’t rejected you.
10 Do not fear, for I am with you;
do not be afraid, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you; I will help you;
I will hold on to you with my righteous right hand.Isaiah 41:9-10
- He supernaturally protects us by His salvation and preservation for eternal life. John Piper, years before the coronavirus pandemic, tweeted out, "World death rate holds steady at 100%. (Hebrews 9:27) "It is appointed for people to die once—and after this, judgment." This tweet is very appropriate today, because the fact is, we are all going to die one day. Some tragically, some early, some horribly, and so on, and so forth. This is discouraging, or it would be if it were not for the supernatural preservation and salvation of Jesus! Here's his promise, "Everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life." 1st Thessalonians 4, another passage we will read today, points us very specifically to this hope. JESUS IS COMING AGAIN! And when He does, the dead in Christ will rise first, and meet the living in Christ people and they will be MADE NEW - in the twinkling of an eye - in a blink - our old perishable and mortal bodies will be made immortal and imperishable. No matter how badly it ends for some of us - WE WILL NOT PERISH, because the moment our heart stops beating, and we breathe our last, in the next moment, we will step into eternity as a blood-washed, Christ-saved, Grace-purchased child of God, and what we will step into is many magnitudes better and more joyful than what we are stepping out of!
Allow me to close with this bit of good news from John Piper about how God is our refuge:
God Is Your Refuge and Strength
And you will follow his lead if you believe that he is your refuge and strength, which is what verse 1 says: "God is our refuge and strength." People turn away from the risks of significance and choose the brief security of success because they don't really believe this—that God is their strength, and God is refuge, and God is their defender and their refreshment.
But I want you to believe it. Look at the connection between verses 2–3 and verse 6. "Though the mountains shake in the heart of the sea; though its waters roar and foam . . . " The words for "shake" and "roar" are the same Hebrew words used in verse 6: "The nations rage [roar] and the kingdoms totter [shake]."
The point of using these same words like this is to show that whether the threat to us is from nature (with earthquakes and floods and storms, verses 1–3) or from political upheaval and wars (verse 6)—whether our world is shaking from nature or from the nations, God is our refuge.
And not just a refuge but an active counter force and a source of peace and refreshment. Verse 6b says that God's response to the raging nations is this: "He utters his voice and the earth melts." His response to dangerous seas that roar and foam is to become for us (note verse 4) another kind of water—river (not a tumultuous sea)—a river whose streams make glad the city of God.
This is the secret this morning to whether you will choose significance or mere success: The risks of significance turn out to be no risk at all if you believe that God is your refuge and strength and defender and refreshment. I pray that you will believe it and that God will make plain the path of significance.
https://www.desiringgod.org/messages/god-refuge-for-his-people-exalted-among-the-nations#god-is-your-refuge-and-strength
Happy Monday, Friends! Today is DAY 20 of Quarantine/Shelter In Place/Stay Home Order for us in rainy central California. Yes, I said rainy. Boo. I'm not complaining about shelter in place, because it actually seems to be working, and I am kind of glad that California was the first to begin issuing those sorts of orders, but like you, I'm praying for God to heal our land, and things return to the new normal. If you're paying attention to the numbers and the graphs, today was an interesting day for the U.S. Maybe a good day, but let's see if its an anomaly, or a trend. I'm praying for a trend!
Today's Bible passages are: Leviticus 9, Psalms 10, Proverbs 24 and 1st Thessalonians 3. Our focus is on standing firm, which is the thing that prompted Paul to write his letter to the Thessalonians in the first place. The thing is, the Thessalonians were in a very similar place to where many of our churches are right now. The were undergoing a heavy, heavy trial. Not a plague of virus, but more a plague of persecution. Paul and Silas founded the church in Thessalonica, and initially things were going well. They preached in the Jewish synagogues there, and several Jews converted and began to follow Jesus, along with several God-fearing Greeks (who were Greek/Gentile people that had adopted some of the beliefs and customs of the Jews) and several prominent Thessalonian women. So the young church was a rather eclectic mix of Jews, Gentiles that had adapted Jewish customs, and then just regular old Greeks. Unfortunately, many of the remaining Jewish people in the synagogue - many of whom had rejected Paul and Silas' teaching - they were apparently very upset and the founding of this new church, and the teaching of Paul and Silas, and they ignited a city-wide riot, which led to Paul and Silas leaving the city in order to help restore peace. Paul and Silas travelled to Berea and preached there, but the incensed Jewish people of Thessalonica sent a band of agitators to Berea, and they also vigorously opposed Paul and Silas.
So - this church in Thessalonica was just weeks or perhaps months old, and had very immature leadership, and their pastors/church planters were forced to leave the city. Again and again, Paul and Silas tried to come back and visit the Thessalonian church to encourage them, but again and again they were prevented from doing so. And this made Paul more and more concerned that the church might be undone by these attacks, and not standing firm. So, he sent Timothy to encourage the church and check on their wellbeing, and the letter of 1st Thessalonians is Paul's response to the news that the church was doing well and walking in faith. Let's read the short chapter now, paying special attention to Timothy's report.
6 But now Timothy has come to us from you and brought us good news about your faith and love. He reported that you always have good memories of us and that you long to see us, as we also long to see you. 7 Therefore, brothers and sisters, in all our distress and affliction, we were encouraged about you through your faith. 8 For now we live, if you stand firm in the Lord. 9 How can we thank God for you in return for all the joy we experience before our God because of you, 10 as we pray very earnestly night and day to see you face to face and to complete what is lacking in your faith?
1 Thessalonians 3:6-10
You can tell that Paul is absolutely brimming with joy when he hears that the church is STANDING FIRM in the Lord. Considering how young that church was, and considering how strong the opposition against them was, it is a genuine miracle that they were standing firm. The good news is that, even though their human pastors had left, their chief pastor/shepherd - Jesus, the head of the church, had never abandoned them. I am reminded of His promise:
14 “I am the good shepherd. I know my own, and my own know me, 15 just as the Father knows me, and I know the Father. I lay down my life for the sheep...27 My sheep hear my voice, I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one will snatch them out of my hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all. No one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. 30 I and the Father are one.”
John 10:14-15 and 27-30
That passage, in turn, reminds me of the wonderful song In Christ Alone by Stuart Townend - one of my favorite modern worship songs, that my wife and daughters led our church to sing during our livestreamed worship time yesterday.
No guilt in life, no fear in death,
This is the power of Christ in me;
From life’s first cry to final breath,
Jesus commands my destiny.
No power of hell, no scheme of man,
Can ever pluck me from His hand:
Till He returns or calls me home,
Here in the power of Christ I’ll stand.In Christ Alone, Stuart Townend
This passage and the song it is based on give us our first clue and our first hope in standing firm during affliction: The power to stand does not come from ourselves, but from Christ our Savior and Preserver - the AUTHOR and the FINISHER of our faith. What else does God's Word say to us about standing firm? Let's begin with Philippians 4:1 - "So then, my dearly loved and longed for brothers and sisters, my joy and crown, in this manner stand firm in the Lord, dear friends." Now, if you're like most people you might only read one chapter a day of the Bible, and while it is great to read at least a chapter a day, sometimes we miss things when we don't read bigger chunks of Scripture, like the meat of what Paul is saying in Philippians 4:1. He's just finished telling the Philippians HOW to stand firm in the Lord in trials and afflictions, but you've got to go back a few verses to see it:
12 Not that I have already reached the goal or am already perfect, but I make every effort to take hold of it because I also have been taken hold of by Christ Jesus. 13 Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and reaching forward to what is ahead, 14 I pursue as my goal the prize promised by God’s heavenly call in Christ Jesus. 15 Therefore, let all of us who are mature think this way. And if you think differently about anything, God will reveal this also to you. 16 In any case, we should live up to whatever truth we have attained. 17 Join in imitating me, brothers and sisters, and pay careful attention to those who live according to the example you have in us. 18 For I have often told you, and now say again with tears, that many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. 19 Their end is destruction; their god is their stomach; their glory is in their shame. They are focused on earthly things, 20 but our citizenship is in heaven, and we eagerly wait for a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ. 21 He will transform the body of our humble condition into the likeness of his glorious body, by the power that enables him to subject everything to himself.
Philippians 3:12-21
This one section here has several truths that will help you and I to stand firm in a situation like the one we are faced with now - when the whole world is shaking!
Step #1 - Forget what is behind. Worrying about the past is as counterproductive to standing firm as worrying about the future, which Jesus also cautions us about. We stand firm by trusting God TODAY and walking in HIS DAILY BREAD. (Remembering Matthew 6:34, "Therefore don’t worry about tomorrow, because tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own"
Step #2 Pursue Heavenly goals, not earthly goals. This is an allusion to Seeking FIRST the Kingdom of God. We stand firm by, first and foremost prioritizing the love of God, the loving of our neighbor and the seeking of the King of God. Vs. 19 shows the deadly danger that comes from focusing on earthly goals - such a pursuit ends in destruction. But those who first pursue the king and His Kingdom - who follow Jesus - they have this amazing promise from Jesus in Matthew 19:29
And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or fields because of my name will receive a hundred times more and will inherit eternal life.
Matthew 19:29
#3 Focus on the Hope that is the Return of Jesus. We are citizens of Heaven, says Paul - and as citizens of Heaven, we eagerly await the Return of the King to establish His Heavenly/Earthly Kingdom forever. In that hope, and in the eager waiting for the return of Jesus, is strength to stand firm. TWICE in the very short letter of Paul to the Thessalonians here he refers them to the Second Coming of Jesus and tells them to take comfort, hope and encouragement in His return:
13 We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, concerning those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve like the rest, who have no hope. 14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, in the same way, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. 15 For we say this to you by a word from the Lord: We who are still alive at the Lord’s coming will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16 For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the archangel’s voice, and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are still alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. 18 Therefore encourage one another with these words.
1 Thessalonians 4:13=18
So - there's three ways that we stand firm in the midst of global affliction and shaking. We don't worry about yesterday or tomorrow, but rest in God's daily bread provision of protection for us. We pursue Heavenly goals and the Kingdom of God rather than earthly/worldly goals, and we anticipate, hope for, and rest in the hope of the Second Coming of Jesus. Let's ask Charles Spurgeon to close us out with a brief comment on 1 Thessalonians 3:8
When I have seen God’s people steadfast, my fears have fled. Yes, I have said, the Lord keeps the feet of his saints. He is a wall of fire round about his own. If it were possible, the powers of evil would deceive the elect, but it is not possible. The saints are steadfast, and each steadfast one cheers his minister and helps him lay aside his anxieties and rejoice in the certainty that the gospel will triumph.
The steadfast people benefit our life by stimulating us to greater exertion. I believe the steadfast help the minister to a high degree of usefulness. When the man of God sees his people living to God at a high rate of piety, he speaks many things that otherwise he never would have spoken. He glories in the work of God, and with no bated breath or trace of hesitation, he points to his people and cries, “See what God has done!” He exults over converts with a holy joy. He cries, “See what they used to be and what they are now! See how life has been made to spring up in the midst of death and how light shines where before darkness reigned.” Take away the living evidences of divine power from the church, and you lower the preacher’s spirit at once and deprive him of power to demonstrate his commission by the signs that follow it. Of godly established Christians, I may quote the words of David, “Happy is the man who has filled his quiver with them. They will never be put to shame when they speak with their enemies at the city gate” (Ps 127:5). The best answer to all the opponents of the old-fashioned gospel is the godly zeal of a fervent church.
Spurgeon, The Spurgeon Study Bible: Notes (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2017), 1614.
And I would add to what Spurgeon says here that it is not only ministers that are excited and encouraged to see Christians standing firm, but also OTHER CHRISTIANS, moms, dads, brothers, sisters, etc.
Happy Lord's Day, Friends! I trust that, even if you are among the millions who are sheltering in place, that you know that your heart and your Spirit are not shackled. This is the day that the Lord has made - let us REJOICE and BE GLAD in it. Rejoice in the Lord always, I say it again - REJOICE! Easter Sunday - when the church celebrates the glorious resurrection of Jesus - is one week away. It is looking like many hundreds of thousands of churches will not be able to meet in person in sanctuaries, and that might mute our together-celebration of the greatest event in history, but let it not mute your proclamation. In fact, allow me to encourage you this year, in 2020, in the midst of a global pandemic, to AMPLIFY your proclamation. Decorate your house. Your sidewalks. Your car. Your windows. Fly the Banner: HE IS RISEN. SHOUT it to the mountaintops. Maybe our gatherings will be less, but may our PROCLAMATION be the LOUDEST ever!
Today's Bible passages are Leviticus 8, Psalms 9, Proverbs 22 and 1st Thessalonians 2. Our question is all about ministry to people, and it isn't just applicable to pastors. All Christians are ministers in some way or another. Perhaps teaching Sunday school, or kids, or youth, or adults, or whatever. How should Christians minister to each other? Let's read 1 Thessalonians chapter 2, and pay particularly close attention to verses 5-11.
5 For we never used flattering speech, as you know, or had greedy motives—God is our witness— 6 and we didn’t seek glory from people, either from you or from others. 7 Although we could have been a burden as Christ’s apostles, instead we were gentle among you, as a nurse nurtures her own children. 8 We cared so much for you that we were pleased to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own lives, because you had become dear to us. 9 For you remember our labor and hardship, brothers and sisters. Working night and day so that we would not burden any of you, we preached God’s gospel to you. 10 You are witnesses, and so is God, of how devoutly, righteously, and blamelessly we conducted ourselves with you believers. 11 As you know, like a father with his own children, 12 we encouraged, comforted, and implored each one of you to live worthy of God, who calls you into his own kingdom and glory.
1 Thessalonians 2:5-11
Interesting wisdom there, right? We usually think of leaders as bold, brash, loud, confident, and charismatic, but Paul uses words here like gentle, nurturing, comfort, care and encourage. The overall image of a leader is a gentle/soft/meek leader. I am reminded here about two descriptions of Jesus, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords:
Tell Daughter Zion,* “See, your King is coming to you, gentle, and mounted on a donkey, and on a colt, the foal of a donkey.”***
Matthew 21:5
15 Jesus was aware of this and withdrew. Large crowds followed him, and he healed them all. 16 He warned them not to make him known, 17 so that what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled:
18 Here is my servant whom I have chosen,
my beloved in whom I delight;
I will put my Spirit on him,
and he will proclaim justice to the nations.
19 He will not argue or shout,
and no one will hear his voice in the streets.
20 He will not break a bruised reed,
and he will not put out a smoldering wick,
until he has led justice to victory.
21 The nations will put their hope in his name.Matthew 12:15-21
Jesus is Lord of all, and yet He did not ride on an ostentatious war-horse entering into Jerusalem, but a humble donkey. He was so gentle, that He would not even break an already weakened peace of stubble, nor blow out a struggling candle. Paul, likewise, ministered among the Thessalonians as a gentle nurse might take care of a child. In fact, no less than 5 times in the letters of 1-2 Timothy and Titus, Paul required and commanded pastors and leaders in the Body of Christ to be GENTLE. In a world that looks for leaders with the characteristics of a Lion, the Word looks for those who follow the LION and behave like LAMBS. So - let's talk about meekness. The meekness of Jesus, and the promise of Jesus that the meek will inherit the Earth. To lead us in that talk, I'd like to tag in Pastor Tim Keller from New York City. The following excerpt on meekness is from a sermon he taught on the woman caught in adultery:
Today we’re going to look at another one of the traits of character Jesus Christ reveals in himself that is given to us as well as characteristics of the heart we should be cultivating in ourselves. If you go to Paul’s famous catalog in Galatians 5, which is called the fruit of the Spirit, near the very end you get to a little word that, in the modern translations, is usually translated gentleness. I’m going to show you why … Even though it’s a worse word, it’s a little bit of a better word. In the older translations it’s called meekness.
Paul says one of the fruit of the Spirit is meekness. Jesus says, “Blessed are the meek.” Why? Why didn’t he say, “Blessed are the meek, for they shall be comforted”? When you think of meek people, you think of poor, distressed, anxious, meek little milk-toast people, and you think, “Oh yes, Jesus is going to say, ‘Blessed are the meek, for they shall be comforted.’ ” No. “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.”
Then Jesus says in his most famous of all invitations … He says at the end of Matthew 11, “Come unto me all ye who are weak and heavy-laden.” He says, “Take my yoke upon you and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly of heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” When you think of meek people, you think of troubled people, people with low self-esteem. You think of people who are depressed and anxious and who are always wringing their hands or their Bibles. You think of people who are filled with turmoil in their hearts. Jesus says, “You will never, ever, ever get rest until you learn from me how to be meek.
There will be no rest in your life until you get meekness. There will be no rest in your life until you come and learn meekness and humility of me.” So let’s do it. We’d better do it.
Obviously, we have two problems. Not only do we not have meekness in our lives, we obviously don’t even understand it, because the way Jesus talks about it isn’t even the way it fits in our minds. We don’t even have a good definition of it. So let’s go, and let’s see a place where Jesus Christ’s own humility, what he called his meekness and lowliness of heart, is exhibited. (And then Keller begins to talk about John 7:53-8:11 - the woman caught in adultery. I'm going to skip a bit until we get to the place he begins to talk about Jesus doodling on the ground when the Pharisees want to have the woman stoned)...
What is he doodling? Everybody wants to know. All sorts of people have come up with all sorts of ideas, but it doesn’t tell us. Therefore, there’s only one thing the writer is really trying to get across here, if anything at all. That is, he is unflappable. He is poised. He is calm. He is fearless. One of the things you have to recognize (I already alluded to this) is this word Jesus says … “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.” “I am meek and lowly of heart.”
It’s the same Greek word every place. Unless you understand the word, you’ll never begin to even get the hang of what Jesus means when he talks about meekness. The Greek word is praus. It has different forms. Do you know what it means? It comes from the word for an animal, a powerful wild animal, that is now submissive and receptive to the rider, a tamed wild animal. If Kathy and I ever feel like just crying for joy … You know, sometimes you say, “Hey, would you like to cry for joy?” “Yeah, let’s do that.”
So we put on the video of The Black Stallion, and we watch Kelly Reno jump on the back of this enormous, incredible, powerful beauty of a horse that’s called “The Black,” and he rides through the surf. Unless you look at that, unless you see this enormous power that voluntarily has submitted, this huge, huge power submitting to this little kid … I mean, let’s face it. If they’re going to have a battle, who’s going to win?
This enormous beauty and this enormous power is now submissive and responsive to the desires of the little boy, of the rider. Until you get a grip on that, you don’t understand meekness. Jesus Christ did not give up his power. Jesus Christ did not give up his greatness. He’s a moral beauty. He says, “I can command angels right now to come down and do this.”He still has his power. He still has his glory. He’s not exercising it. Why not? Because he has put it all under. He is submitting everything he is, and he’s receptive to us (we’re the riders), to her, and even (as we’re going to see) to them. He should just wipe them out. He doesn’t. He tries to teach them. He tries to open their eyes. He tries to wake them up.
Now what is the point? You are not humble unless you’re gentle, but you’re also not humble unless you are absolutely fearless. Fearlessness is a sign of humility. What an unfortunate thing that meekness and weakness rhyme in English. Maybe the Devil did that. I don’t know. It could have been. In our minds they go together now, and in the theology of Christ they are utter opposites. Meekness and weakness are opposites. In biblical understanding, the meekest would be the strongest. Why? I’ll tell you why. Humility. Meekness is not thinking less of yourself. Jesus knows who he is, that he’s being so gentle. He doesn’t say, “Oh dear, who the heck am I?” Jesus never talks like that.This is the thing that’s so scary about Jesus. He walks on through, and he says, “I am the Lord of heaven and earth. I saw Satan fall from heaven like lightning. Before Abraham was, I Am.” He makes these incredible claims. “I’m judge of all the earth. I can forgive sins.” He never, ever, ever knocks himself down and says, “Oh, I’m nothing.” He never says that. Get this. He acts like nothing, but he knows he’s not.
See, that’s the exact opposite of the world’s understanding of humility. In fact, that’s the opposite of most of us. Most of us feel inferior and act superior to compensate for it. Jesus Christ knew he was superior and acts the inferior. He puts all of his power and glory under the interest of other people. Real humility is not thinking less of yourself; it’s thinking of yourself less. Real humility is being free from needing to focus on yourself. It means freedom from self-consciousness.
Timothy J. Keller, The Timothy Keller Sermon Archive (New York City: Redeemer Presbyterian Church, 2013).
Happy Saturday, friends! Here in sunny and cold California, our shelter in place order has turned into a STAY HOME order, which is a little more restrictive. We've been sheltering in place now since March 18 and STAYING HOME starts today. We're still allowed to go to the store for essential needs, and we can go for walks while maintaining #socialdistancing, so it doesn't change things a ton for us. Today we took a nice family walk on a trail through rolling hills near our house, and had a good old time playing in trees and dry river beds and such. Normally, we would focus on 1st Thessalonians for today's pod, but it just so happens I'm preaching on 1st Thessalonians this Sunday, so I didn't want things to be redundant for our church family, many of whom listen to this pod. Which brings us to a fascinating passage in Psalms 7:
My shield is with God,
who saves the upright in heart.
11 God is a righteous judge
and a God who shows his wrath every day.
12 If anyone does not repent,
he will sharpen his sword;
he has strung his bow and made it ready.
13 He has prepared his deadly weapons;
he tips his arrows with fire.Psalms 7:10-13
That's kind of terrifying, right? I have a pretty nice bow, but I'm not a bow hunter. I also have a few nice swords, a couple of which are pretty deadly, but I am not a knight or Samurai warrior. If you got word that I was coming after you with my bow, I guess you should be pretty nervous, but honestly, I'm no Robin Hood, and you'd probably be fine, especially if you are moving. I'm a little better with the sword, but one time I chopped off the tip of my own toe with a sword, so you might escape from that situation pretty well too. However...to have God stringing His bow? That's just terrifying. Not only that, but He apparently has other DEADLY weapons and HE TIPS HIS ARROWS WITH FIRE? What in the world is going on here?! Let's read our Psalms passages and then come back and talk about what is going on.
So - really scary stuff. Those who do not repent, God sharpens His sword, strings His bow (and those fiery arrows), and gets His other deadly weapons ready. Let's talk about repenting first. What does it mean? The Hebrew word is שׁוּב/Shub and it means to turn back or return. In the New Testament, the Greek word is Μετανοήσατε (Metanoēsate) and it is the FIRST word out of Peter's mouth when people respond to his message at Pentecost in Acts 2:
37 When they heard this, they were pierced to the heart and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles: “Brothers, what should we do?”38 Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, each of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 For the promise is for you and for your children, and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call.”
Acts 2:37-39
The word there means to change your mind. So both the Old Testament and New Testament words for repentance essentially mean to turn away from one direction and turn towards another direction - in the context of Psalms 7, to turn your mind and thinking away from sinful ways or human ways and to turn towards God's ways. As John Piper notes, the Greek word for “repent” refers to “a change of the mind’s perceptions and dispositions and purposes. . . . Repenting means experiencing a change of mind that now sees God as true and beautiful and worthy of all our praise and all our obedience.” Let's consider some other explanations of repentance from various pastors and theologians:
The first principle we see [in learning about repentance] is the putting off and the putting on. We touched on it, but we have to hit it. The putting off and the putting on. Putting off means stop doing something, and putting on means start doing something. Everybody knows that change is two-factored, right? Everybody knows that in order to turn, metanoia (repentance means to turn), you can’t turn toward unless you turn away. You can’t turn away without turning toward something else. It’s two-factored. That seems so obvious.
Timothy J. Keller, The Timothy Keller Sermon Archive (New York City: Redeemer Presbyterian Church, 2013).
Repentance is a discovery of the evil of sin, a mourning that we have committed it, a resolution to forsake it. It is, in fact, a change of mind of a very deep and practical character, which makes the man love what once he hated, and hate what once he loved.
Charles Spurgeon
Repentance means turning from as much as you know of your sin to give as much as you know of yourself to as much as you know of your God, and as our knowledge grows at these three points so our practice of repentance has to be enlarged.
J.I. Packer
You might have noticed that I am talking about 'repentance' far more in the last 30 days than I did in the first 60 days of this podcast. There's a reason for that. Almost every time I turn to God and His Word and pray in the midst of this pandemic, I get the word to 'repent,' as I've mentioned before. I certainly believe that God is calling me to personally turn away from other things and turn towards Him in this season, I also believe that is call going out to all people in all nations right now, so I am very, very attuned to the call of God in His Word to repent, and I am extremely moved now, more than ever, of the truth of 2nd Chronicles 7:
13 If I shut the sky so there is no rain, or if I command the grasshopper to consume the land, or if I send pestilence on my people, 14 and my people, who bear my name, humble themselves, pray and seek my face, and turn from their evil ways, then I will hear from heaven, forgive their sin, and heal their land. 15 My eyes will now be open and my ears attentive to prayer from this place.
2 Chronicles 7:13-15
Ponder that passage and pray it. Listen to the Word of God in this season and respond to the leadings of His Spirit. Allow me to close with a great partial message from John Piper on Jesus' call to repent:
Unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. (Luke 13:3, 5)
The first demand of Jesus’ public ministry was, “Repent.” He spoke this command indiscriminately to all who would listen. It was a call for radical inward change toward God and man.
Two things show us that repentance is an internal change of mind and heart rather than mere sorrow for sin or mere improvement of behavior. First, the meaning of the Greek word behind the English “repent” (metanoeo) points in this direction. It has two parts: meta and noeo. The second part (noeo) refers to the mind and its thoughts and perceptions and dispositions and purposes. The first part (meta) is a prefix that regularly means movement or change.1 So the basic meaning of repent is to experience a change of the mind’s perceptions and dispositions and purposes.
The other factor that points to this meaning of repent is the way Luke 3:8 describes the relationship between repentance and new behavior. It says, “Bear fruits in keeping with repentance.” Then it gives examples of the fruits: “Whoever has two tunics is to share with him who has none, and whoever has food is to do likewise” (Luke 3:11). This means that repenting is what happens inside of us that leads to the fruits of new behavior. Repentance is not the new deeds, but the inward change that bears the fruit of new deeds. Jesus is demanding that we experience this inward change.
Why? His answer is that we are sinners. “I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance” (Luke 5:32). What was Jesus’ view of sin? In the parable of the prodigal son, Jesus describes the son’s sin like this: “He squandered his property in reckless living . . . [and] devoured [it] with prostitutes” (Luke 15:13, 30). But when the prodigal repents he says, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.” Therefore, throwing your life away on reckless living and prostitutes is not just humanly hurtful; it is an offense against heaven—that is, against God. That’s the essential nature of sin. It’s an assault on God.
We see this again in the way Jesus taught his disciples to pray. He said that they should pray, “Forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us” (Luke 11:4). In other words, sins that God forgives are compared to the ones people commit against us, and those are called debts. Therefore, Jesus’ view of sin was that it dishonored God and put us in debt to restore the divine honor we had defamed by our God-belittling behavior or attitudes. That debt is paid by Jesus himself. “The Son of man came . . . to give his life a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45). But for us to enjoy that gift he says we must repent.
Repenting means experiencing a change of mind that now sees God as true and beautiful and worthy of all our praise and all our obedience. This change of mind also embraces Jesus in the same way. We know this because Jesus said, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God.” Seeing God with a new mind includes seeing Jesus with a new mind.
No one is excluded from Jesus’ demand to repent. He made this clear when a group of people came to him with news of two calamities. Innocent people had been killed by Pilate’s massacre and by the fall of the tower of Siloam (Luke 13:1-4). Jesus took the occasion to warn even the bearers of the news: “Unless you repent, you will all likewise perish” (Luke 13:5). In other words, don’t think calamities mean that some people are sinners in need of repentance and others aren’t. All need repentance. Just as all need to be born anew because “that which is born of the flesh is [merely] flesh” (John 3:6), so all must repent because all are sinners.
When Jesus said, “I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance” (Luke 5:32), he did not mean that some persons are good enough not to need repentance. He meant some think they are (Luke 18:9), and others have already repented and have been set right with God. For example, the rich young ruler desired “to justify himself” (Luke 10:29) while “the tax collector . . . beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ [and] went down to his house justified [by God!]” (Luke 18:13-14).
Therefore, none is excluded. All need repentance. And the need is urgent. Jesus said, “Unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.” What did he mean by perish? He meant that the final judgment of God would fall on those who don’t repent. “The men of Nineveh will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, something greater than Jonah is here” (Matthew 12:41). Jesus, the Son of God, is warning people of the judgment to come, and offering escape if we will repent. If we will not repent, Jesus has one word for us, “Woe, to you” (Matthew 11:21).
This is why his demand for repentance is part of his central message that the kingdom of God is at hand. “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel” (Mark 1:15). The gospel—the good news—is that the rule of God has arrived in Jesus to save sinners before it arrives at his second coming in judgment. So the demand to repent is based on the gracious offer that is present to forgive, and on the gracious warning that someday those who refuse the offer will perish in God’s judgment.
After he had risen from the dead Jesus made sure that his apostles would continue the call for repentance throughout the world. He said, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem” (Luke 24:46-47). So the demand of Jesus to repent goes to all the nations. It comes to us, whoever we are and wherever we are, and lays claim on us. This is the demand of Jesus to every soul: Repent. Be changed deep within. Replace all God-dishonoring, Christ-belittling perceptions and dispositions and purposes with God-treasuring, Christ-exalting ones.
https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/thoughts-on-jesuss-demand-to-repent
Oh yes, one more question: DOES God shoot people with arrows? I believe this passage is employing poetic language to communicate that God vigorously pursues people and calls them to repent. Does He literally shoot people with arrows?! Let's just say this:
30 For we know the one who has said,
Vengeance belongs to me; I will repay,
and again,
The Lord will judge his people.
31 It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
Hebrews 10:30-31
Happy Friday, friends! For many of us out there, the days are kind of just running into each other right now. I had two different pastor friends share that same thought with me at different times today. Our current situation is a bit surreal, isn't it? Almost like it is a dream. The world is shaking, but God is our refuge in times of trouble. Isaiah was written to the Israelites, but followers of Christ are also inheritors of the promises of God to Israel, because we have been grafted into the same vine that they are in, according to the Bible. That means that we can rest in the beautiful promise of Isaiah 43:
Now this is what the Lord says—
the one who created you, Jacob,
and the one who formed you, Israel—
“Do not fear, for I have redeemed you;
I have called you by your name; you are mine.
2 I will be with you
when you pass through the waters,
and when you pass through the rivers,
they will not overwhelm you.
You will not be scorched
when you walk through the fire,
and the flame will not burn you.
3 For I am the Lord your God,
the Holy One of Israel, and your Savior.Isaiah 43:1-2
Today's Bible readings are Leviticus 6, Psalms 5-6, Proverbs 21 and Colossians 4. Our focus passage today is Colossians 4, specifically verse 2. Let's read the whole passage and then come back and focus on prayer.
2 Devote yourselves to prayer; stay alert in it with thanksgiving.
Colossians 4:2
Let me admit something to you: Once, twice, three times a day, this coronavirus thing shakes me up. Maybe it is when I'm reading the stats and looking at the graph of the rising cases in America. Earlier it was when I was watching the graphs and rising cases in Italy, and wondering if it would hit the U.S. that hard. Spoiler alert, it appears to be doing just that. Sometimes I get concerned about my children, my wife, our church family and all of the precious saints there. My mom and dad and sister and brother and other family in Alabama, and my church family there. These are troubled times, to be sure, and it gets to me every day.
2008-2009 was an interesting period in my life. I had been in ministry for many years at that point, but I was just beginning a role as the full time senior pastor of a church in my hometown, and I was as excited as I could be, and I came in boldly. Until, that is, a crippling attack of anxiety and fear hit me from out of nowhere. One of the things about Covid 19 is that its novel - new, and our bodies don't have any sort of built up defense against it. I was in a similar place in 2008-2009. Anxiety and fear were new to me, in large part. It was something I had never significantly struggled with in the past (except for my irrational fears of sharks, ghosts and spiders - the unholy trio of things that scare me.) I was completely and utterly unprepared to deal with fear and anxiety, and it just hit me like a Category 5 hurricane hitting an old mobile home. I crumpled, and crumpled for a long time. The ONLY thing that helped - literally - was the Word of God and prayer. I had believed that prayer was important before, but had never had to rely on God like a lifeline until that storm of anxiety hit. I saturated myself in the Word and in prayer, and in due time - gradually, God pulled me out of the miry clay, so to speak.
At this point, I am not at all near where I was in 2008, but the anxiety level has increased. Hurricane 2008 taught me to turn to God in His Word and Prayer at the first sign of rain, and God has graciously led me back to that place again in this pandemic season. Each night when the podcast is done - even if its late - I go out and walk and pray, and God meets me there and that time with Him has been an anchor in a storm that is getting fiercer every day. Many of you are scared. Some more than me, some less than me, and some about that same. Allow me to exhort you: Whether you think this thing is a big deal or not, take heed of the command in God's Word: "Devote yourselves to prayer; stay alert in it with thanksgiving."
What does DEVOTE mean? The Greek word there is made up of two Greek words - one means towards, or to, and the other means endure. In other words, the Word of God is calling us to ENDURE TOWARDS or INTO PRAYER. This is a season that I believe the Holy Spirit is waking up the Body of Christ to ENDURING TOWARDS Prayer. Have you heard the call of the Spirit to increased times and devotion to prayer? His command is pointing us that way - we MUST heed that call. This is also a Romans 12:12 hour:
Rejoice in hope; be patient in affliction; be persistent in prayer.
Romans 12:12
To be clear, it is ALWAYS a Romans 12:12 and Colossians 4:2 season, but this is an hour and season where it is ACUTELY IMPORTANT that the people of Jesus be devoted in prayer, rejoicing in hope, patient in affliction and persistent in prayer. This podcast is listened to in several different countries, and all of them are absolutely up against the ropes right now, and the church of Jesus in every corner of the world should right now be rising up and being DEVOTED TO PRAYER! To help encourage us all in that direction, I'd like to turn to one of my heroes of the faith, George Mueller of Bristol. He was a mighty man of prayer and faith - a pastor and founder of orphanages who never asked for money or provision from humans, but only prayed to God about such matters, and he kept a running tally of the thousands of times God answered his prayers. Here is Mr. Muller teaching us how to pray in the midst of trials and afflictions:
George Muller of Bristol
Matthew 7:7–11: “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: for every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone? Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent? If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask Him?” If we believe that it will be even as the Lord Jesus said, with what earnestness, perseverance, expecting faith, shall we give ourselves to prayer! Though the answer be long delayed, though, as to sight, the answer to our prayers can never be received; yet, since we believe, walk by faith, we shall continue to expect an answer to our prayers, as assuredly as our petitions are according to the mind of God, are asked in the name of the Lord Jesus, and we exercise faith in the power and willingness of God to help us.
Again, the testimony of God the Holy Ghost, in Romans 8:28, is: “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose.” Now, if we lay hold on it by faith, bring to it in faith our greatest trials, difficulties, afflictions, bereavements, etc., our hearts will be comforted, we shall obtain peace to our souls. I have been a believer in the Lord Jesus for forty-four years, but I have invariably found that my greatest trials have proved my greatest blessings; they have worked for my good. But suppose we did not see this to be so, while yet in the body, we have nevertheless to exercise faith concerning what God says; we have to walk by faith, regarding that word of His, “That all things work together for good to them that love God,” and then will the heart be comforted and sustained.
Three years ago God allowed two most heavy trials to befall me. They continued month after month. I said to myself, “This too works for my good;” and I continued day by day, while the afflictions lasted, to make known my requests unto God, that He would graciously be pleased to sustain me under them, and, in His own time, deliver me out of them. There was hanging in my bed-room in a frame a text, “Open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it” (Ps. 81:10), upon which my eyes fell as I rose in the morning; and my heart said to my heavenly Father, “I do open my mouth wide; wilt Thou graciously be pleased to do according to Thy word? and wilt Thou fill it!”
I continued patiently, believingly, expectingly, to look to God for help, and He did deliver me out of these two most heavy afflictions, and I have thus become further acquainted with Him. All this I say for the comfort and encouragement of my younger brethren and sisters in Christ. Will you, then, the next time that you are in trial, seek to remember this for your comfort? You may not be able to see how such and such a heavy trial can work for your good; but it will most assuredly, as God has said. And if even in this life you should not see it, you will do so in the world to come; but generally we see it already in this life.
The reason why the children of God are so frequently overpowered by difficulties and trials is, because they attempt to carry their burden themselves, instead of casting it upon God, as He not only graciously allows them to do, but commands them to do; and therefore they lose the promise which is coupled with the command; they find themselves not sustained. “Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and He shall sustain thee” (Ps. 55:22). This does not mean simply that we should pray to God in our trials and afflictions, but that we should exercise faith in the power and willingness of God to help us under our trials; and by this we know whether we have only used words in prayer, or whether we have, in believing prayer, exercising faith in God, spoken, to Him about our trials. If the latter was the case, then, though the trial still lasts, the burden thereof is gone, because we have laid it upon God, to bear it for us; but if we have not exercised faith in God, we are still carrying the burden ourselves.
All these matters are so deeply important, because if we do not walk by faith we cannot be happy in God, and therefore cannot bear such a testimony for God as we should bear were we indeed happy. Our very countenances should testify of our peace and joy in God, in order that thus the unconverted may be stirred up to seek for themselves after that which makes the children of God so happy.
George Müller, Jehovah Magnified: Addresses (Bristol, England: The Bible and Tract Depot of the Scriptural Knowledge Institution, 1876), 49–53.
Happy Thursday, Friends! Day 16 of shelter in place here in Sunny and windy central California. We have not resorted to cannibalism yet. We have resorted to all sorts of pranks, however, including my daughters pretending to be burglars breaking in last night at 1am and filming me coming outside with a machete to see what was going on. We also had every picture in our house today covered with Shrek faces, and my monitor covered with Kim-Jong-Un pictures, so that is something.
Shout out to my brother or sister in Harare, Zimbabwe yesterday who downloaded a bunch of episodes of the show! Today was actually one of the best days ever for the show, with over 400 downloads in one day, which is awfully nice of you people - I'm glad you are listening and that we are hearing the Word of God together! Shoutout also to KRF78 for her or his most encouraging iTunes/Apple podcasts review!
Excellent podcast for daily Bible study!☆☆☆☆☆I love this podcast. I love the combination of a reading plan with a daily study of pertinent Bible study questions. Highly recommend!Krf78
Today's Bible passages are Leviticus 5, Psalms 3 and 4, Proverbs 20 and Colossians 3. Our focus passage today is derived from Colossians, and is yet again focused more on one verse than the whole passage:
16 Let the word of Christ dwell richly among you, in all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another through psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts.
Colossians 3:16
Today we are going to talk about how the Body of Christ - the Church - was set up in the New Testament. Before we do, I need to remind you that I am the pastor of a church that you should come visit online at: https://www.facebook.com/VBCsalinas/ I would like you to visit in person also, but I guess it's not yet time for that. #pandemic. Anyway - I am a pastor, have been one for a long time. I like pastors. Some of my best friends are pastors. Some of my spiritual heroes are pastors. Keep that in mind when I say this: Far too often, the modern Western church is way, way too pastor-centric, when you compare it to the way "church" is described in the Bible. I present the above passage as exhibit 1. For exhibit two, I invite you to go and search for how many times the word 'pastor' shows up in the Bible. Go ahead...I'll wait. I'm just kidding. The word pastor appears exactly ONCE in the CSB and the NIV, and ZERO times in the ESV. Yes, it appears 9 times in the KJV, but 8 of those times are in the Old Testament book of Jeremiah, and they aren't referring to church pastors, because that book was written hundreds of years before the birth of the church in Acts 2.
So - what gives, are pastors illegit? No, I don't believe so. If you search for 'shepherd' and 'elder,' you will find quite a bit more hits, and I believe both of those words are synonymous with pastor when used in the context of the people. You will find that Paul appointed elders (plural) in every church, so they were definitely important - especially those who focused on preaching and teaching. (1 Timothy 5:17) Even then, however, you do NOT get the idea from the New Testament that the church was very pastor-centric. Instead, it was very Jesus-centric and very member-centric.
Consider some of these gifts of the Spirit passages:
10 Just as each one has received a gift, use it to serve others, as good stewards of the varied grace of God. 11 If anyone speaks, let it be as one who speaks God’s words; if anyone serves, let it be from the strength God provides, so that God may be glorified through Jesus Christ in everything.
1 Peter 4:10-11
7 A manifestation of the Spirit is given to each person for the common good: 8 to one is given a message of wisdom through the Spirit, to another, a message of knowledge by the same Spirit, 9 to another, faith by the same Spirit, to another, gifts of healing by the one Spirit, 10 to another, the performing of miracles, to another, prophecy, to another, distinguishing between spirits, to another, different kinds of tongues, to another, interpretation of tongues. 11 One and the same Spirit is active in all these, distributing to each person as he wills.
1 Corinthians 12:7-11
26 What then, brothers and sisters? Whenever you come together, each one has a hymn, a teaching, a revelation, another tongue, or an interpretation. Everything is to be done for building up. 27 If anyone speaks in another tongue, there are to be only two, or at the most three, each in turn, and let someone interpret. 28 But if there is no interpreter, that person is to keep silent in the church and speak to himself and God. 29 Two or three prophets should speak, and the others should evaluate. 30 But if something has been revealed to another person sitting there, the first prophet should be silent. 31 For you can all prophesy one by one, so that everyone may learn and everyone may be encouraged. 32 And the prophets’ spirits are subject to the prophets, 33 since God is not a God of disorder but of peace.
1 Corinthians 14:26-33
Putting aside the debate about whether or not some of the gifts mentioned above ceased (I believe they didn't)...but no matter what your view of the gifts, I'm sure you can see in the passages we just read that the early church was anything but a one-man-show. It was a Body of Christ show that pointed everybody to the head of the Body of Christ - JESUS.
Lack of proper biblical emphasis on this topic -the gifts of the Spirit - leads to an immature and stunted Body of Christ that depends on the gifts of 3-5 important people while everybody else is along for the ride. Think of the arm-wrestler who lifts everyday on his right arm, but the rest of his body is atrophied. A church that only has 3-4 people evidently serving/using their gifts is a freak show, not the Body of Christ. Everybody is called to USE their gifts for the building up of others. Everybody plays Ball - when that happens, the church GROWS into maturity and fruitfulness.
YOU have a spiritual gift. You are empowered to minister to people and build up the church. Colossians 3:16 gives us this amazing picture of the whole church, lively and active and ministering to each other in various ways.
1 Corinthians 12:7 7 A demonstration of the Spirit is given to each person to produce what is beneficial: Symphero - better for everybody, together-profitable.
Consider - without the Gift of Exhortation - (Parakaleo - called alongside somebody for support) there will be people in the Body who feel crushingly alone, and will despair, suffering far more than they should, and being weakened by it. An Exhorter walks beside those who are suffering - TWO ARE BETTER THAN ONE - and fights together with them. GET OFF THE MAT!
Without the gift of giving - many of us would suffer remarkable financial hardships. God, through the gift of giving, provides money through His people at just the right time to fuel the ministries of the church, to provide for the needs of widows, orphans and those who are struggling greatly. My Father in Law has this gift, and I can’t tell you how many times it has been such a rich blessing to us.
Without the gift of leadership, there would be little cohesive togetherness. Some projects simply cannot be done by 1-2 people - leaders are needed in those situations. Everybody would go their own way, but a gifted leader (not one who leads by power, or bullying, or strength) is a delight to follow and rally around. A gifted leader does not diminish who you are, or your calling in any way, but enhances it!
Without the gift of mercy, those who are suffering would rarely truly be comforted. The truly wounded - the abused, the suffering, would do so in silence, and ultimately come to believe that the church is unloving, or God Himself is unloving. The Gift of mercy TRUMPETS the LOVE of God and the LOVE of His people to those who need to hear it most. When you are suffering, your ability to hear and perceive love is SMASHED. It takes LOUD examples of love, shown consistently over time. This is the gift of mercy.
Without the Gift of Service, there would be SO many important things undone when we gather. Diapers would not be changed in nursery, trash would not be picked up, coffee wouldn’t be made, people wouldn’t be helped when they have their hands full. This gift almost cheats, because Jesus’ key to greatness is serving. Some are gifted to be GREAT in the Kingdom of Heaven eternally.
Without the Gift of Faith Probably several of us would have quit gathering together with other Believers. Many would not have been healed or prayed for. In a group like this, the gift of Faith enhances every ministry, every outreach, every prayer offered. When the odds look terrible, and people want to quit, or not even try, the gift of faith sees the majesty and power of God and says, “Behold the Lamb!”
Rise up gifted members of the church and embrace your role and calling - even if you are 'sheltering in place' let your light (the light of Jesus in you) shine before men so that they will see Jesus and glorify God the Father!
Happy Wednesday, friends! Today is officially episode 94, but only because I messed up yesterday and skipped a number. Therefore, episode #92 never officially existed. Or maybe it did, and had the 8 secrets of humanity on it, but the Illuminati got a hold of it and deleted it. The illuminati is always messing up things like podcasts, and the world and stuff. Alas. Speaking of numbers, today is day #15 of shelter in place for us central Californians. I heard lots of criticism around the country - some of it extreme and absurd - for that move when it happened, but it actually seems to have kept cases on a lower level here for now, which is actually a blessing. I never thought I'd see the day when I would defend a broad-reaching government order to stay sheltered in place, but the world has gone mad, so there you go.
I had the privilege of talking on the phone today to a first-responder/fire-fighter who is a daily listener to the show. Shout out to you, Rooster. Very interesting conversation! He told me all of the precautions and such that first responders are having to take now in the midst of this coronavirus catastrophe, and it was pretty extreme to hear. These are unnerving times for all of us. Pray for our first responders - our firefighters, medics and police officers. Pray for our nurses and doctors and other medical care and support staff too. Double shout-outs to all of you guys and ladies who are on the front lines of this scary situation. May the Lord bless you and keep you and shine His grace and favor on you! Thank you from the bottom of the hearts from the rest of us.
Today's Bible readings are Leviticus 4, Psalms 1 and 2, Proverbs 19 and Colossians 2. Our focus passage today is actually a focus verse, which is found in Proverbs 19:
The fear of the Lord leads to life;
one will sleep at night without danger.Proverbs 19:23
Let's talk about the fear of the Lord, shall we? We haven't focused much on Proverbs so far in the pod, but this is an excellent place for us to begin, and this is an excellent time for us to discuss the fear of the Lord. I suspect that, if you could measure the net amount of fear in the world by some sort of tangible measurement - perhaps a GigaPhobe, than I believe that the amount of fear in the world, and the amount of fear in the United States of America hasn't been higher in my lifetime. People were shook during and shortly after the 911 attacks, but there was also great confidence that our nation's military and leadership would be able to battle back against terroristic attacks, and better defend the country. People are more shook, I perceive, by this coronavirus threat - primarily because our best minds and our best leaders and all of our money has been of no avail to us at this point.
And yet, one of the most common and repeated commands of the Bible is to "fear not." Conversely, one of the most commonly repeated commands of the Bible is also to fear the Lord! In this paradox, we find some important wisdom, that I believe Jesus beautifully, and terrifyingly sums up:
28 Don’t fear those who kill the body but are not able to kill the soul; rather, fear him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. 29 Aren’t two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them falls to the ground without your Father’s consent. 30 But even the hairs of your head have all been counted. 31 So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.
Matthew 10:28-31
To sum up - don't fear murderers and scary things. Don't fear diseases and illness. DO fear God the Father. But, overall - don't be AFRAID. Interesting advice - and quite paradoxical at first glance. Looking back at our Proverb - it is also a little paradoxical, isn't it? It seems a bit self-contradictory to say that the fear of the Lord will lead to life AND will help you sleep well at night! And yet, that's precisely what the fear of the Lord does! That brings us to our main question - what exactly does it mean to fear the Lord? I'm glad you asked. I've heard preachers and pastors try to explain the fear of the Lord in terms of respect, or obedience, or reverence - and all of those are definitely aspects of the fear of the Lord, but are we actually supposed to be afraid of the Lord?
In answering the question, let's begin with the Hebrew word used: יִרְאָה yirʼâh, yir-aw. It is a noun, but in terms of etymology, it is from a Hebrew verb which means, "to be afraid." Most of the time when this word is used in the Old Testament, it is used in the context of the fear of the Lord, so those passages don't exactly illuminate the type of fear of God that we are to walk in. Psalm 55:5, however does give us a good idea what the word itself means:
My heart shudders within me;
terrors of death sweep over me.
5 Fear and trembling grip me;
horror has overwhelmed me.Psalm 55:5
Yiraw and trembling grip me, says the Psalmist - horror has overwhelmed me. I'd say that is a pretty good indication that the fear of the Lord means exactly what it sounds like it means. The fear of the Lord is also mentioned several times in the New Testament, such as in these passages:
So the church throughout all Judea, Galilee, and Samaria had peace and was strengthened. Living in the fear of the Lord and encouraged by the Holy Spirit, it increased in numbers. (Acts 9:31)
Therefore, since we know the fear of the Lord, we try to persuade people. What we are is plain to God, and I hope it is also plain to your consciences. (2 Corinthians 5:11)
The Greek word there is phobos, and it is the same word used famously in Luke 2:9 of the shepherds keeping watch over their flocks, "The Glory of the Lord shone round about them and they were sore phobos/afraid."
At least grammatically, the word 'fear' in the phrase 'fear of the Lord,' means precisely what it seems to mean. Fear! How can this be a good thing to be afraid of God?! Let's look at some Proverbs on the fear of the Lord and close up by talking about HOW the fear of the Lord is, in fact, a good thing AND a COMFORT to us.
Ten Verses of Wisdom on the Fear of the Lord: The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; all who follow his instructions have good insight. His praise endures forever. Psalm 111:10
The fear of the Lord is pure, enduring forever; the ordinances of the Lord are reliable and altogether righteous. Psalm 19:9
How happy is everyone who fears the Lord, who walks in his ways!... Your wife will be like a fruitful vine within your house, your children, like young olive trees around your table. 4 In this very way the man who fears the Lord will be blessed. Psalm 128:1-4
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and discipline. Proverbs 1:7
“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding. Proverbs 9:10
The fear of the Lord prolongs life, but the years of the wicked are cut short. Proverbs 10:27
In the fear of the Lord one has strong confidence and his children have a refuge. The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life, turning people away from the snares of death. Proverbs 14:26-27
Iniquity is atoned for by loyalty and faithfulness, and one turns from evil by the fear of the Lord. Proverbs 16:6
Charm is deceptive and beauty is fleeting, but a woman who fears the Lord will be praised. Proverbs 31:30
When all has been heard, the conclusion of the matter is this: fear God and keep his commands, because this is for all humanity. Ecclesiastes 12:1
That's quite a bit of Scripture - do you notice how often the fear of the Lord is connected with fleeing from evil, and being protected by God?
Here is what I think is going on. Consider these four Proverbs:
11:4 Wealth is not profitable on a day of wrath,
but righteousness rescues from death.
11:8 The righteous one is rescued from trouble;
in his place, the wicked one goes in.
Proverbs 12:7 The wicked are overthrown and perish,
but the house of the righteous will stand.
14:11 The house of the wicked will be destroyed,
but the tent of the upright will flourish.
There are dozens and dozens and dozens more Proverbs like this. Beyond question, the teaching of the Bible is that God protects the righteous. In Christ, we are not made righteous by our own acts, but by the sinless perfection of Jesus. That doesn't mean, however, as Paul is quick to note, that Christians have a license to sin - God forbid. Old Testament followers of God were called to righteousness and were protected when they obeyed and pursued the Lord. The same is true for New Testament believers. We are not saved by works of righteousness, but by Jesus. That said - SIN is still a deadly danger to Christians - one that modern, Western Christians have not paid nearly enough attention to. James is very stark in his warning:
14 But each person is tempted when he is drawn away and enticed by his own evil desire. 15 Then after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin, and when sin is fully grown, it gives birth to death.
James 1:14-15
As I have told you before, I do not know why this plague of coronavirus is shaking the world. I am confident, however, in how we should respond to it, and I believe that this is from the Lord. We must REPENT. Turn from our sins large and small. Consider our ways. Ask the Lord to search us and repent from anything He brings to mind. How does the fear of the Lord fit into repenting? Proverbs 16 tells us, "One turns from evil by the fear of the Lord. "Proverbs 16:6 Brothers and sisters, as I've mentioned before, I believe the Lord has His church right now in a place of repentance. Turning away from sin and worldliness and turning to Him. Healing comes when we do that. Healing comes when our leaders do that. Pray for our leaders to repent. Our government leaders and our spiritual leaders. Great protection will come on our cities, states and countries when we and our leaders turn to God in the fear of the Lord.
ISAIAH 2:
5 House of Jacob,
come and let us walk in the Lord’s light….
11 The pride of mankind will be humbled,
and human loftiness will be brought low;
the Lord alone will be exalted on that day.
12 For a day belonging to the Lord of Armies is coming
against all that is proud and lofty,
against all that is lifted up—it will be humbled—
…
17 The pride of mankind will be brought low,
and human loftiness will be humbled;
the Lord alone will be exalted on that day.
18 The idols will vanish completely.
19 People will go into caves in the rocks
and holes in the ground,
away from the terror of the Lord
and from his majestic splendor,
when he rises to terrify the earth.
20 On that day people will throw their silver and gold idols, which they made to worship,
to the moles and the bats.
Happy Tuesday, Friends! Our Bible passages today are: Leviticus 2 and 3, Proverbs 18, John 21 and Colossians 1. Our focus passage is in Colossians 1, which contains yet another hymn/creedal statement about Jesus - very similar to Philippians 2. Before we get there, however, I'd like to focus just a bit on the post resurrection appearances of Jesus as described in John 21. Some of the disciples have gone out on the lake to fish, and they have spent all night fruitlessly trying to catch fish, and coming up utterly empty. Upon their return, a mysterious person near shore (100 yards away, approximately) calls out to them and tells them to lower their nets. This is unusual, and not at all the place to lower their nets - probably too shallow, but they do, and catch an incredible haul of fish. John notices that the mysterious person is, in fact, Jesus, and Peter - ever impulsive - jumps into the water and swims 100 yards over to Jesus, leaving the other guys to drag the nearly bursting nets, which contain 153 large fish. Now, I love fishing - it is one of my favorite things to do, so I took a break from writing this article to actually go and research what type of fish that John, Peter and the guys might have caught. Interestingly - the Sea of Galilee/Sea of Tiberias here is actually a lake - a pretty big lake, but not massive. Chances are, the fish that the disciples caught (which the Bible does not name) was a species of tilapia - some of which are known as the Saint Peter's fish, because that was traditionally thought to be the kind of fish that Peter caught with a coin in its mouth.
But I digress...a lot. My bad. Back to the story - the disciples have caught all of those fish, and the RESURRECTED KING Jesus is meeting them on shore. And what has He done for them - the LORD OF ALL who has already given His life and suffered for their sins? HE HAS COOKED THEM BREAKFAST!! How cool is that? He grilled them some fish, and had breakfast ready. I had not really noticed that before until reading John 21 earlier today, and it struck me what a kind and loving thing that was to do for a bunch of hungry guys who had been out fishing all night. But, again, that isn't our focus passage today. Our focus passage is Colossians 1 - let's read it together, and then return to discuss this amazing hymn/description of Jesus in verses 15-20.
He is the image of the invisible God,
the firstborn over all creation.
16 For everything was created by him,
in heaven and on earth,
the visible and the invisible,
whether thrones or dominions
or rulers or authorities—
all things have been created through him and for him.
17 He is before all things,
and by him all things hold together.
18 He is also the head of the body, the church;
he is the beginning,
the firstborn from the dead,
so that he might come to have
first place in everything.
19 For God was pleased to have
all his fullness dwell in him,
20 and through him to reconcile
everything to himself,
whether things on earth or things in heaven,
by making peace
through his blood, shed on the cross.Colossians 1:15-20
What a powerful description of Jesus - it is stirring, and I would encourage you to read it in the Bible yourself a few times, as passages like this have a beautiful way of focusing on the nature and character of Jesus. Jesus is the Image of God - He is the creator AND sustainer of all things. He is the head of His body - the church, the people of Jesus. He is the beginning and the firstborn from the dead. He is the FULLNESS of God. He is the reconciler who brought sinful man and Holy God into a right relationship by making peace and covering our sin with His blood, which was poured out on the cross. Man, oh man - praise Him! What do we learn about Jesus from this passage? Let's ask Spurgeon and Piper:
In order to preach the gospel fully, there must be a very clear description of the person of Christ; and we preach Christ as God,—not a man made into a God, nor a God degraded to the level of a man, not something between a man and a God; but “very God of very God,” one with his Father in every attribute,—eternal, having neither beginning of days, nor end of years; omnipresent, filling all space; omnipotent, having all power in heaven and on earth; omniscient, knowing all things from eternity; the great Creator, Preserver, and Judge of all, in all things the equal and the express image of the invisible God. If we err concerning the Deity of Christ, we err everywhere. The gospel that does not reveal a Divine Saviour is no gospel at all; it is like a ship without a rudder, the first contrary wind that blows shall drive it to destruction, and woe be to the souls that are trusting to it! No shoulders but those almighty ones which bear the earth’s huge pillars up can ever carry the enormous weight of human guilt and human need.
We preach to you Christ the Son of Mary, once sleeping in his mother’s arms, yet the Infinite even while he was an infant; Christ the reputed Son of Joseph, toiling in the carpenter’s shop, yet being all the while the God who made the heavens and the earth; Christ, who had not where to lay his head, the despised and rejected of men, who is, nevertheless, “over all, God blessed for ever;” Christ nailed to the accursed tree, bleeding at every pore, and dying on the cross, yet living for evermore; Christ suffering agonies that are indescribable, yet being at the same time the God at whose right hand there are pleasures for evermore. If Christ had not been man, he could not have sympathized with you and me, nor could he have suffered in our stead.
How could he have been the covenant Head of the sons and daughters of Adam if he had not been made in all points like them, except that he was without sin? With that one exception, he was just as we are, bone of our bone, and flesh of our flesh, yet he was as truly God as he was man, the One of whom Isaiah was inspired to prophesy, “His name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.” So, in preaching Christ crucified, we preach the glory of heaven conjoined with the beauty of earth, the perfection of humanity united with the glory and dignity of Deity.
C. H. Spurgeon, “Preaching Christ Crucified,” in The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit Sermons, vol. 56 (London: Passmore & Alabaster, 1910), 482–483.
There are two more phrases in the verse to look at, but they are easily combined, and in fact do go together: “He [Christ] is the radiance of His [God’s] glory and the exact representation of His nature.” Or, as we saw from the original words: “He, being the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his nature … sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.”
The difference between this qualification for sitting at God’s right hand and the other two is that those described what Christ did, while this describes who he is. What he does is “uphold all things by the word of his power,” and “make purification of sins” by the worth of his blood. But what is he? Who is he? That’s our last question this morning. Who died for sins? Who rose from the dead? Who upholds the universe by the word of his power? Who is sitting at the right hand of God?
The answer is: Christ is “the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his nature.” What does this mean? It’s important that we take these two phrases together, because they control each other and keep us on track.
When it says that Christ is the exact representation of God’s nature, we are to realize that to see Christ is to see God. Jesus said, “If you have seen me, you have seen the Father” (John 14:9). Colossians 1:15 says, “He is the image of the invisible God.” To see what God is like, you see what Christ is like.
But that could be taken in an entirely wrong way. Suppose you take it to mean that Christ represents God the way a photograph or a painting represents a person, or the way an authorized letter represents the king, or the way a wax impression represents a golden ring. That would be totally wrong. And the other phrase here is meant to protect us from that misunderstanding. He is the exact representation of God’s nature not the way a painting represents a person, but the way radiance represents glory. Verse 3 says, he is “the radiance of God’s glory.”
An Analogy of Sun and Sunlight
In other words he relates to God the way radiance relates to glory, or the way the rays of sunlight relate to the sun. Keep in mind that every analogy between God and natural things is imperfect and will distort if you press it. Nevertheless, consider for example,
There is no time that the sun exists without the beams of radiance. They cannot be separated. The radiance is co-eternal with the glory. Christ is co-eternal with God the Father.
The radiance is the glory radiating out. It is not essentially different from the glory. Christ is God standing forth as separate but not essentially different from the Father.
Thus the radiance is eternally begotten, as it were, by the glory—not created or made. If you put a solar-activated calculator in the sunlight, numbers appear on the face of the calculator. These, you could say, are created or made by the sun, but they are not what the sun is. But the rays of the sun are an extension of the sun. So Christ is eternally begotten of the Father, but not made or created.
We see the sun by means of seeing the rays of the sun. So we see God the Father by seeing Jesus. The rays of the sun arrive here about eight seconds after they leave the sun, and the round ball of fire that we see in the sky is the image—the exact representation—of the sun; not because it is a painting of the sun, but because it is the sun streaming forth in its radiance.
So I close this morning by commending this great Person to you that you might trust in him and love him and worship him. He is alive and sitting at the right hand of God with all power and authority and will one day come in great glory. He has that exalted place because he is himself God the Son; and because he upholds you and me by the word of his power; and because he made a perfect purification of sins.Would you not know the one who holds you in being, and offers you purification from your sins, and reveals God to you the way light reveals the sun?
John Piper, Sermons from John Piper (1990–1999) (Minneapolis, MN: Desiring God, 2007).
Finally, I want to close with verses 21-23, which form a kind of thesis statement for the letter to the Colossians, and also serve as a great summary and exhortation of the good news:
21 Once you were alienated and hostile in your minds expressed in your evil actions. 22 But now he has reconciled you by his physical body through his death, to present you holy, faultless, and blameless before him— 23 if indeed you remain grounded and steadfast in the faith and are not shifted away from the hope of the gospel that you heard. This gospel has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and I, Paul, have become a servant of it.
Colossians 1:21-23
One of these days, we will talk about that little 'if' in vs 23, which is very similar to what is found in 1st Corinthians 15:
Now I want to make clear for you, brothers and sisters, the gospel I preached to you, which you received, on which you have taken your stand 2 and by which you are being saved, if you hold to the message I preached to you—unless you believed in vain
1 Corinthians 15:1-3
Yes, one day soon we will talk about the perseverance of the Saints, but today, allow me to simply exhort you to remain grounded and steadfast in the faith, not shifting away from the hope of the gospel. Rejoice that it is not your strength that holds on to the rope of rescue of the Gospel, but the strength of Jesus that clings to you!
Happy Monday, everybody! Godspeed and safety and rich blessings to all of you essential workers out there - may the Lord bless you and keep you safe as you serve this country! Nurses, doctors, scientists, first responders, and medical folks - we are rooting for you and praying for you! Thank you for being healers and servants of Jesus and His people in these crazy times. May the Lord bless you and keep you safe and shower His comfort on you!
Today is day 13 of shelter in place for many of us in Central California, yesterday most of my family enjoyed a lovely hike together on trails near our house (which is allowed under our order!). For those who are under shelter in place and it's allowed - try to get out and walk in the sunlight every day. It is a wonderful time to pray and walk in your city and neighborhood - to seek the Lord and bathe in His light. Today's Bible readings are fantastic, and I had to choose between multiple topics that would have been excellent to cover. Leviticus 1, Proverbs 17 (which has some great quarantine wisdom!), John 20 (THE EMPTY TOMB!) and Philippians 4. I came very close to focusing on Philippians 4 today, with the questions: What exactly does "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me mean? Does it mean I can score all the touchdowns, and be successful in life, or something different?" But I think we will hold off on that discussion until we come back around to Philippians 4, Lord willing. Our focus today - surprise - is the empty tomb of Jesus. How important is it to Christians - especially when the whole world is shaking in its boots about the spread of a scary illness? So - let's read John 20 together, and then come back and hear from Gary Habermas, one of the best teachers I've ever had, and a prominent expert on the resurrection.
I have had some great professors in my seminary days, and Gary Habermas was one of the best. He teaches apologetics primarily, and his focus is on the resurrection of Jesus. He is one of the foremost experts in the world on the resurrection, and has debated many prominent atheists. He was a fantastic and riveting teacher, and that class left a huge impression on me. I'd like to turn to Dr. Habermas to give us some reasons to believe that the empty tomb of Jesus was a historical event, and not merely a religious belief.
Major Arguments for the Empty Tomb
(1) Perhaps the most powerful argument favoring the empty tomb concerns its location and the events surrounding it. The Gospel accounts are unanimous that Jesus was buried in a tomb that was located in Jerusalem. Few critics question this, holding that Jesus died and was buried in the city. Most also agree that early Christian preaching took place here, leading to the birth of the church.
But it is precisely since Jesus' grave was located nearby that we have a serious problem if it was anything but empty. Unless Jesus' tomb was unoccupied, the early Christian preaching would have been disproved on the spot. How could it be preached that Jesus had been raised from the dead if that message were starkly confronted by a rotting body? Exposing the body would kill the message and be an easy disproof of Christianity before it even gained momentum. Thus, Jerusalem is the last place for the early Christian teachings to gain a foothold unless Jesus' grave was empty. A Sunday walk to the tomb could have settled the matter one way or another.A creative response might be to assert that perhaps the body was indeed in the tomb, but that, very soon afterwards, the body would have been unrecognizable, due to its decomposition. Or perhaps the tomb was still simply closed without being opened for inspection.1 But these questions miss entirely the point of the Christian preaching that the tomb was empty. Therefore, if any body was found in Jesus' tomb, whether Jesus' or even someone else's, or if it were still closed, this would have contradicted the teaching that it was empty. In Jerusalem, the mistake would have been exposed in no time.
(2) The most-mentioned argument in support of the Gospel accounts is the unanimous agreement that women were the first witnesses to the empty tomb. While it is not strictly true that women were disallowed from testifying in a court of law, it was clearly the case that there was a strong prejudice against using female testimony for important matters.2
Notwithstanding this common stance, the Gospel accounts insist in their proclamation that the women were the star witnesses to the empty tomb. But why should these writers highlight female testimony unless the women really were the first to discover this fact? To do so would be to weaken their case considerably in the eyes of most listeners. Given this situation in first century Palestine, we can only conclude that the Gospel authors were clearly convinced that the women had discovered the empty tomb. They were more interested in reporting the truth than they were in avoiding criticism. This argument is very widely recognized and few scholars have challenged it, which testifies to its strength.
(3) While the empty tomb accounts in the Gospels are later than Paul's writings, it is crucially important that the empty tomb accounts are witnessed by many. In other words, whichever major view of Gospel origins one takes, the empty tomb narratives arose from more than one independent source. In fact, scholars think that there could be as many as three or four independent traditions in the Gospels, which very strongly increases the likelihood that the reports are both early and historical. Along with the Jerusalem location and the testimony of the women, I think that these are the best arguments in favor of the empty tomb.
(4) Most recent scholars seem to agree that, while Paul does not explicitly mention the empty tomb, the early tradition that this apostle reported to others in 1 Corinthians 15:3-4 implies an empty tomb. The listing of the Gospel content moves from Jesus' death, to his burial, to his resurrection from the dead, to his appearances. This sequence strongly suggests that, however it may have been transformed, Jesus' body that died and was buried is the same one that was raised afterwards. Thus, what was placed in the ground is precisely what emerged. In short, what went down is what came up. Such a process would have resulted in the burial tomb being emptied.
That Paul does not specifically mention the empty tomb keeps this from being as strong a point as it could have been. Still, to say so clearly that Jesus' dead body was buried, raised, and appeared would be a rather strange process unless the tomb had been vacated in the process.
(5) Many scholars also concede that Acts 13 may very well contain another early tradition, an early sermon account that was included in a book that was written at a later date. This report, found in Acts 13:29-31, 36-37, is attributed to Paul and clearly teaches that Jesus' body was placed in a tomb. Then he was raised and appeared to His followers without undergoing any bodily decomposition. If so, here we would have an early text where Paul even more strongly acknowledged the empty tomb, because Jesus appeared and his body did not experience any decay.
(6) According to reports that are found in Matthew 28:11-15, Justin Martyr3 and Tertullian,4 for almost two centuries or more, the Jewish leaders tried to explain that the tomb was empty because Jesus' disciples stole His body. This means that the Jewish hierarchy even acknowledged the fact that Jesus' body was no longer there!
However, even skeptics freely recognize that the explanation provided by the Jewish leaders was exceptionally weak. For example, if the disciples stole Jesus' body, how can we account for their incredible transformations, such as forfeiting their family years, as well as their jobs, health, and even their peace, all for the right to be chased for decades around the Roman Empire, just so they could preach a message that they clearly knew was a false tale? Further, how do we explain their willingness to die for what they knew was a false proclamation of Jesus' resurrection? Moreover, how does this explanation allow us to account for the conversion of Jesus' brother James, who had rejected Jesus' message? And we also lack any convincing reason for Paul's conversion from Judaism. So, all for the sake of providing a clearly unconvincing alternative account, the Jewish leaders even admitted the empty tomb!
(7) A word should be said about the scholarly thesis of N.T. Wright5 and others. In the ancient world—whether pagan, Jewish, or Christian—writings up until the second century A.D. were in complete agreement that the very definition of resurrection was clearly a bodily notion. In fact, there are almost no exceptions to this ancient view that being raised from the dead is something that, if it ever occurred, could happen only to the body. So it had this same meaning throughout the Old Testament and Gospel accounts, as well as in Paul's writings and the rest of the New Testament teaching about Jesus. This would indicate that Jesus' resurrection was conceived in a bodily manner, necessitating that the tomb was empty.6
Conclusion
These are some of the reasons why a majority of contemporary scholars recognize the fact of the empty tomb. Still other arguments could be provided, as well. That is why historian Michael Grant concludes that "the historian . . . cannot justifiably deny the empty tomb" because if we apply the same historical criteria that we use elsewhere, then "the evidence is firm and plausible enough to necessitate the conclusion that the tomb was indeed found empty."7 In light of arguments such as those we have produced here, this conclusion seems to be very difficult to avoid. The normal application of historical rules to the various data indicates that, just shortly after his death, Jesus' tomb was indeed found empty.
Happy Lord's Day, dear friends! If you don't have a streaming church home - or if you do, and you want more, I guess, then please allow me to invite you to join our church - Valley Baptist Church in Salinas - for a livestreamed time of worship, Word and prayer tomorrow. Our church is going through the book of Proverbs, and the message is on Quarantine wisdom - because there is a surprising amount of applicable wisdom in Proverbs for those of us who are quarantined or close to it. Our website is: https://www.facebook.com/VBCsalinas/ Come join us!
Today's Bible passages include Exodus 40 - the Glory of the Lord fills the Tabernacle - what an awesome passage for the Lord's Day. We are also reading Proverbs 16, John 19, and Philippians 3 - a particularly rich day of feasting on the Word in the New Testament passages. Because I am recording this on Saturday night/early Sunday, it will be a shorter than normal podcast, because I want to maintain focus on celebrating the Lord's Day today with the church I am pastoring. Our focus today is the crucifixion of Jesus in John 19, and in this passage we hear the last Word of Jesus, which He said right before He died. I vividly remember a sermon that our pastor preached on this word when I was in college eons ago, and I vividly remember the word to this day - 'Tetelestai," Which simply means, "It is finished." We are going to focus this episode on that one BEAUTIFUL Word of Jesus, because it loudly proclaims the Good News in and of itself.
I very rarely discuss grammar here on the podcast, but this Word of Jesus deserves more scrutiny than normal. For one, it is in the perfect tense, which has some important implications according to one of my Greek grammar textbooks:
The perfect tense in Greek corresponds to the perfect tense in English, and describes an action which is viewed as having been completed in the past, once and for all, not needing to be repeated. Jesus’ last cry from the cross, TETELESTAI (“It is finished!”) is a good example of the perfect tense used in this sense, namely “It [the atonement] has been accomplished, completely, once and for all time.”
Larry Pierce, Tense Voice Mood (Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software, n.d.).
In further discussing this amazing word, let's start with one old school Baptist - Herschel Hobbs, and then close out with an older school Baptist - Charles Spurgeon.
With a clear voice Jesus uttered one last word from the cross: tetelestai (John 19:30). The papyri throw great light on this word. If a promissory note were paid, the one holding the note wrote “telelestai” across it. A deed to property was not in effect until it was dated and signed. When this was done, the clerk wrote “tetelestai” across it.
Another example of its use was when a father sent his son on a mission. The son was not to return until he had performed the last act of the mission. When he did return from a successful mission, he used tetelestai to report it.What do these meanings say to us? In eternity the Son gave the Father a promissory note that He would pay the price for humanity’s redemption (see Heb. 10:5–7). On Calvary the note was paid-in-full. Tetelestai! The Son reported His completed mission to the Father. Tetelestai! Perhaps when the waiting hosts in heaven heard of the completed work of Jesus heaven rang with it. TETELESTAI! And the Father smiled His approval.
Herschel H. Hobbs, My Favorite Illustrations (Nashville, TN: Broadman Press, 1990), 218.
And now, here are some blessed words from friend of the show, Charles Spurgeon:
IN the original Greek of John’s Gospel, there is only one word for this utterance of our Lord. To translate it into English, we have to use three words; but when it was spoken, it was only one,—an ocean of meaning in a drop of language, a mere drop, for that is all that we can call one word. “It is finished.” Yet it would need all the other words that ever were spoken, or ever can be spoken, to explain this one word. It is altogether immeasurable. It is high; I cannot attain to it. It is deep; I cannot fathom it. “Finished.” I can half imagine the tone in which our Lord uttered this word, with a holy glorying, a sense of relief, the bursting out of a heart that had long been shut up within walls of anguish. “Finished.” It was a Conqueror’s cry; it was uttered with a loud voice. There is nothing of anguish about it, there is no wailing in it. It is the cry of One who has completed a tremendous labour, and is about to die; and ere he utters his death-prayer, “Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit,” he shouts his life’s last hymn in that one word, “Finished.”...
Dear friends, once more, take comfort from this “It is finished,” for the redemption of Christ’s Church is perfected. There is not another penny to be paid for her full release. There is no mortgage upon Christ’s inheritance. Those whom he bought with blood are for ever clear of all charges, paid for to the utmost. There was a handwriting of ordinances against us; but Christ hath taken it away, he hath nailed it to his cross. “It is finished,” finished for ever. All those overwhelming debts, which would have sunk us to the lowest hell, have been discharged; and they who believe in Christ may appear with boldness even before the throne of God itself. “It is finished.” What comfort there is in this glorious truth!
And I think that we may say to the Church of God that, when Jesus said, “It is finished,” her ultimate triumph was secured. “Finished!” By that one word he declared that he had broken the head of the old dragon. By his death, Jesus has routed the hosts of darkness, and crushed the rising hopes of hell. We have a stern battle yet to fight; nobody can tell what may await the Church of God in years to come, it would be idle for us to attempt to prophesy; but it looks as if there were to be sterner times and darker days than we have ever yet known; but what of that? Our Lord has defeated the foe; and we have to fight with one who is already vanquished. The old serpent has been crushed, his head is bruised, and we have now to trample on him. We have this sure word of promise to encourage us, “The God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly.” Surely, “It is finished,” sounds like the trumpet of victory; let us have faith to claim that victory through the blood of the Lamb, and let every Christian here, let the whole Church of God, as one mighty army, take comfort from this dying word of the now risen and ever-living Saviour, “It is finished.” His Church may rest perfectly satisfied that his work for her is fully accomplished.
C. H. Spurgeon, “Christ’s Dying Word for His Church,” in The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit Sermons, vol. 40 (London: Passmore & Alabaster, 1894), 29.
Happy Saturday, friends - how's everybody out there doing in quarantine land? I hope you are getting a walk everyday, if that is possible where you live. Allow me to urge you to press into the Lord in prayer right now. We must pray in the midst of this crisis - let the son of God find faith on earth in His people now! (Luke 18:1-9). I was enjoying a nice evening walk last night before bed, engrossed in a podcast, when I was nudged by the Spirit to pray, and it was a wonderful time of communion and intercession with God. May we prioritize abiding in Christ right now more so than ever in this season!
Today's Bible passages are Exodus 39, Proverbs 15, John 18 and Philippians 2, which is our focus passage. In that chapter, Paul gives us one of the deepest descriptions of the person and character of Jesus. Let's read it, focusing in our attention on verses 5-11:
5 Adopt the same attitude as that of Christ Jesus,
6 who, existing in the form of God,
did not consider equality with God
as something to be exploited.
7 Instead he emptied himself
by assuming the form of a servant,
taking on the likeness of humanity.
And when he had come as a man,
8 he humbled himself by becoming obedient
to the point of death—
even to death on a cross.
9 For this reason God highly exalted him
and gave him the name
that is above every name,
10 so that at the name of Jesus
every knee will bow—
in heaven and on earth
and under the earth—
11 and every tongue will confess
that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.Philippians 2:5-11
Many scholars believe the above verses are an early hymn of the church, or a creed that was repeated among Christians, or both, which is why these verses are set apart in many Bibles. Paul wrote them in a chiastic structure, which is indicative of ancient and modern poetry. Further, this section doesn't use words and word order in quite the same way that Paul usually wrote, which seems to indicate the possibility that somebody other than Paul wrote this hymn/creed, and Paul was sharing it - not in a plagiaristic way - but as a reference that they would all be familiar with. (Certainly, Paul could have also written the creed/hymn as well) From a scholarly point of view, this passage is important, because Philippians was probably written by Paul in the mid 50s AD, but this creed would have been earlier than that - perhaps much earlier. It demonstrates that early Christians - prior to the writing of this letter - worshipped Jesus as Lord. But, we aren't here to talk about scholarly things - we are here to talk about the character of Jesus!
Notice the intro here - Christians are to 'adopt' the same attitude that Jesus had. More literally, Paul is saying that Christians should have the mind, or mindset of Christ. What does this mean? It means several things, reading through the passage.
Christians are saved children of God, but like Jesus, we are not to seek to EXPLOIT that status or use it to our advantage.
Like Jesus, we are to take the form and nature and character of a SERVANT (the Greek word is doulos - often translated as 'slave,' but more in line with a bondservant than the monstrosity of racial slavery perpetuated in many Western countries in previous centuries.
Like Jesus, we are to HUMBLE ourselves, and be willing to SERVE others - even in menial ways.
Like Jesus, we are to humble ourselves and OBEY God - even when He calls us to difficult things.
The good news is that Jesus - living a humble, obedient and servant-hearted lifestyle that was characterized by suffering was greatly glorified by His Father afterwards. That promise is also given to Christians who follow the mindset and attitude of Jesus in 2nd Timothy 2:12 "if we endure, we will also reign with him." In this same light, consider Romans 8
16 The Spirit himself testifies together with our spirit that we are God’s children, 17 and if children, also heirs—heirs of God and coheirs with Christ—if indeed we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him.
Romans 8:16-17
Likewise 2nd Corinthians 1:7
7 And our hope for you is firm, because we know that as you share in the sufferings, so you will also share in the comfort.
2 Corinthians 1:7
Pastor Tim Keller has a wonderful take on this passage, and I'll close with it here:
What did he do? Here’s what he did. This is the heart of it all. Right in the center of this passage it says, “Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing …” Do you know what that Greek word is? Kenosis. Does that sound familiar to you? It says he emptied himself. Though he was God, he emptied himself. The big question theologians have been asking for about 2,000 years is, “Emptied himself of what?” It doesn’t say; it just says he emptied himself.
Some people say, “Of course, he was God, so he emptied himself of his deity, he emptied himself of his divinity.” That’s not what it says. It never says he gave up being God. It says he started being a servant. He did not shed his divine nature. He assumed a human nature, and more than that, he became not just a King, he became a servant. There it is. He emptied himself of his glory, not his deity.
If you were transported to heaven, then or now, and you saw Jesus as God, his Godness manifested itself through an expression of glory, his beauty, his brightness. It would just knock you down. When you see something beautiful, when you see a piece of art, or a waterfall, or anything that’s just absolutely beautiful, even earthly things that are beautiful, you have to adore. Right? It’s so glorious; it just evokes adoration. Jesus Christ came without that. Isaiah 53 says, “He had … no beauty that we should desire him.”
He emptied himself of his glory. He emptied himself of his beauty. He emptied himself of that which evokes honor. He came, and he was lonely and poor. Eventually, he was beaten, tortured, and killed. He emptied himself of his glory. He became small, not a king at all. He became rejected. He became beatable, and he was beaten. He became rejectable, and he was rejected. He lost all of his glory. He came without his glory. He didn’t stop being God, but he emptied himself of his glory.
“Therefore God has highly exalted him …” Why? Why is he resurrected? Why is he up there? Because he saved us. He took our punishment upon himself. He redeemed a new humanity, and he’s leading us into the future. So there it is. There’s the trajectory. What is the trajectory, everybody? The way up is down. The way to be truly rich is to give away. The way to rule is to serve. The way to become infinitely happy is to not seek your own happiness but to seek the happiness of others.The most glorious thing of all, the greatest form of glory, is to give away your glory for somebody else. The word kenosis shows up twice. Look at it. You and I are desperately trying to fill ourselves with glory, but we end up empty. Jesus Christ, who had true glory, emptied himself so we could be full. Full? Yes. Because Jesus Christ became small, we are big in the eyes of the Father. Because Jesus Christ lost all of his glory, we are now given his righteousness and his record.
This is what the gospel is: Jesus Christ was treated the way we deserve so now when we believe in him we are treated the way he deserves to be treated. Do you know what this means? Jesus Christ looks at you and says, “To me and in me, you are more precious than all the jewels that lie beneath the earth.”
To the degree you know that and believe that, to the degree you are gripped and praising God and singing about Jesus’ trajectory for you, you will be able to walk that same trajectory here, because you will know the way up is down, the way to be rich is to give away, the way to be happy is not to seek your own happiness but the happiness of others. When you see he did that for you, that fills you up so you’re not empty anymore. You’ll be able to not have to think about yourself, and out you go.
Timothy J. Keller, The Timothy Keller Sermon Archive (New York City: Redeemer Presbyterian Church, 2013).
Hello everybody, and welcome in to day #8 of Shelter in place for those of us in Central California. I should have marked a week yesterday, but hours sort of bleed into days now, and days bleed into weeks. Things are surreal here, but Heaven is NOT shook. The King is on His Throne and Jesus is at the right hand of the Father ever living to intercede for His people. Let us be praying to Him for repentance, forgiveness, and healing of our land as we face this plague - He is FAITHFUL!
Today's readings include Exodus 38, Proverbs 14, John 17, and Philippians 1. John 17 is our focus passage today, as we look at the longest prayer of Jesus recorded in the entire Bible. I'm not going to make you wait very long to see what Jesus prayed THREE times for when praying to His Father for Christians that would come after His ascension - let's read the passage, and find out!
20 “I pray not only for these, but also for those who believe in me through their word. 21 May they all be one, as you, Father, are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us, so that the world may believe you sent me. 22 I have given them the glory you have given me, so that they may be one as we are one. 23 I am in them and you are in me, so that they may be made completely one, that the world may know you have sent me and have loved them as you have loved me.
John 17:20-23
Did you catch it? Three times He prayed that His followers would be ONE - not just any type of oneness either. Review those verses - Jesus was praying that His future followers - US! - would have the same oneness with each other, as Jesus and the Father have. In other words, COMPLETELY ONE! This is an incredible prayer, and, I think a tremendous tragedy that Christians do not take this call to unity more seriously. Far too often, Christians are ready to separate from each other for various doctrinal, personal injury, or personal belief issues. The net result of this is incredible division in the church - tens of thousands of denominations - and an incredible confusion of our message of the Gospel to the World. As Jesus notes, when Christians are in unity with each other - experiencing the oneness that is shared by the Holy Trinity - then the world BELIEVES that the Father sent Jesus. I don't think it is a leap in logic at all to affirm the converse of that statement - that the people of the world have no idea what to believe when Christians are not in unity. 35 years ago, the comedian Emo Philips wrote a joke that was voted as the funniest joke in religion. I actually think it is more sad, than funny, but I will read it to you (without endorsing Emo, because I am unfamiliar with most of his comedy) because I find the joke very insightful:
Once I saw this guy on a bridge about to jump. I said, "Don't do it!" He said, "Nobody loves me." I said, "God loves you. Do you believe in God?"He said, "Yes." I said, "Are you a Christian or a Jew?" He said, "A Christian." I said, "Me, too! Protestant or Catholic?" He said, "Protestant." I said, "Me, too! What franchise?" He said, "Baptist." I said, "Me, too! Northern Baptist or Southern Baptist?" He said, "Northern Baptist." I said, "Me, too! Northern Conservative Baptist or Northern Liberal Baptist?"He said, "Northern Conservative Baptist." I said, "Me, too! Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region, or Northern Conservative Baptist Eastern Region?" He said, "Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region." I said, "Me, too!" Northern Conservative†Baptist Great Lakes Region Council of 1879, or Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region Council of 1912?" He said, "Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region Council of 1912." I said, "Die, heretic!" And I pushed him over.
https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2005/sep/29/comedy.religion
I believe that many outside of Christianity view the church in this sort of way - there are so many splinters in christendom that they either laugh, or dismiss us, or don't know who to turn to for big questions and help during a crisis. Our disunity disrupts our message, and that is sad, and a deadly danger to the church. I have seen deep, deep Christian brothers and sisters separate over issues that don't involve major sin, or compromise, or even a disagreement over major doctrines, but over far more minor and disputed issues. Every time I see it, it grieves me, because that is NOT at all what Jesus prayed for in His people, and I'm not always sure how we can justify separation from other believers over such things when Jesus clearly seems to be praying for the opposite.
It's not just the Church (big 'C' I am very blessed to experience remarkable unity in the last two churches I've served in, really the last three) I'm concerned about either. Consider this striking teaching of Jesus in the context of what is going on right now in the United States of America (or the United Kingdom...or your country, if it is very divided):
25 Knowing their thoughts, he told them: “Every kingdom divided against itself is headed for destruction, and no city or house divided against itself will stand. 26 If Satan drives out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then will his kingdom stand?
Matthew 12:25-32
I very rarely discuss politics on this podcast, and just as rarely discuss it in a church setting. Not because I believe the Constitution silences preachers - that is NOT at all what Thomas Jefferson intended with separation of Church and State (please read what HE actually wrote about it), but because I find politics to be deeply divisive, and I honestly try to avoid that which is divisive in the Body of Christ. But if you will suffer the tiniest bit of political commentary, I'm going to give it now: The United States - and many countries around the world - are facing the gravest crisis we've seen since World War 2. (I suppose if the Cuban Missile Crisis had led to Nuclear war, we could include that in the discussion too!) Consider what Jesus said in light of the U.S. Our country is the most divided and polarized that it has ever been in my lifetime. It is sickening, and it is alarming, and before you start pointing fingers, allow me to say that there is NOBODY out there right now in all of the political arenas that can pick up stones and throw them.
EVERY politician I am aware of - at least on the national level - seems to be fueling the fires of division and attack, rather than seeking to bring about the kind of unity that is required to save the nation. There may be some exceptions, I just don't know them. Jesus says that a house divided cannot and will not be able to stand. Divided kingdoms are headed for DESTRUCTION. I'm not pointing fingers at our president, or our previous president, or your prime minister, or what have you. There are massive amounts of blame out there, and it seems like millions of Americans on both sides of the aisle (and even libertarians and non-partisans in the middle) seem to delight in attacking, criticizing, snarling, snarking, arguing, judging and prognosticating doom.
I worry more about what this toxic atmosphere will do to our countries than I worry what Covid19 will do to us. We CANNOT stand against this threat divided and hating each other. Some of you are massive partisans - meaning you root with all of your heart for your party and will all of your heart against the other party. The problem is - the other party - no matter which one it is - represents almost half of Americans. You can't hate them and despise them without risking the destruction of the whole enterprise. Imagine that your words - spoken or written - are like bullets, and you are on a floating raft on the ocean. Every time you let loose a vehement attack, a hateful insult, or an angry criticism, you fire a bullet. Maybe that bullet strikes its target, and somebody on board the boat is wounded, or worse. Maybe that bullet lodges into the raft itself, and the whole thing that is keeping you afloat is threatened. Our liferaft can't take bullet after bullet. How do I know this?? Because Jesus said a kingdom divided against itself WILL BE DESTROYED, and I believe Him.
So - lay down your guns. I'm not saying you have to agree with the other side. I'm not saying you have to call evil good, or anything like that. I am saying this:
14 For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” 15 If you bite and devour each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.
Galatians 5:14-15
That passage, and Jesus' house divided speech don't just apply to the church. They apply to marriages, friendships, small groups, large groups, workplaces, and yes, countries and cities and governments. Our greatest danger in the good old U.S.A. right now is not Covid19 - as bad as it is! Our greatest danger is that we seem to be expressing far more hate for our neighbor than love for our neighbor. Let's close with these anointed Words of God that, hopefully, might be sufficient to point us in a better direction:
2 Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. 3 Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.
Ephesians 4:2-3
Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, 2 then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. 3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, 4 not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.
Philippians 2:1-4
5May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you the same attitude of mind toward each other that Christ Jesus had, 6 so that with one mind and one voice you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Romans 15:5-6
11 Finally, brothers and sisters, rejoice! Strive for full restoration, encourage one another, be of one mind, live in peace. And the God of love and peace will be with you.
2nd Corinthians 13:11
10 I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another in what you say and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly united in mind and thought.
1 Corinthians 1:10
8 Finally, all of you, be like-minded, be sympathetic, love one another, be compassionate and humble. 9 Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult. On the contrary, repay evil with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing.
1 Peter 3:8=9
16 Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited.
Romans 12:16
Christ would have all his people joined in communion with himself, and with his Father; and when that is the case, then will men know that Christ came into the world for a definite purpose: “that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.”
C. H. Spurgeon, “‘I Will;’ Yet, ‘Not as I Will,’” in The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit Sermons, vol. 40 (London: Passmore & Alabaster, 1894), 419.
Answer to question #2: I don't know. Today's podcast would be the easiest and shortest Bible Reading podcast ever, if the only question we had to deal with was "where is the Ark of the Covenant?" Because, despite being one of the top daily Bible podcasters in all of South Salinas, I have no earthly idea where the Ark currently is. In fact, of the two famous Arks that I am familiar with - Noah's and this one, I know where neither are, although I do recall watching a great documentary on it when I was a kid. If I had to guess where both Arks were, I'd guess EurasiCA, which is to say, somewhere in Europe, Asia or Africa. That's pretty specific, so you all should get looking! I will say this, however...by the end of today's episode, I may not be able to tell you where the Ark of the Covenant is NOW, but I do think we can discover where it WILL BE SOON!
In the meantime, I've got a Bible Podcast to do, and today's readings include our focus passage, Exodus 37, Proverbs 13, John 16 and Ephesians 6. Today we are talking about Arks - one specific ark, to be clear, but before we do that, we need to try and clear up some confusion. Have you ever wondered why the Ark of the Covenant and Noah's Ark are both arks, but they are radically different from each other?? Me too! I can't tell you how many nights of sleep that I have lost trying to figure this mystery out. Actually I can - so far, it is zero, but if this opening lasts much longer, it might be one. So - here's the thing - counterintuitively, the Hebrew word for Noah's ark is actually the word, " תֵּבָה têbâh," and it is translated as "a chest, an ark, or a coffer." The only other place the word is used is in the early chapters of Exodus, to refer to the floating basket that Moses was put in before it was sent down the river to the household of Pharaoh. It is a curious word, and probably best for us to think of it as a floating box, rather than a 'boat.' It does not appear that Noah's ark was really made for anything but to be a floating container, while a boat or ship is for transportation and other uses.
The Ark in our focus passage today is a different Hebrew word entirely, " אָרוֹן ʼârôwn" An arown can be a chest, or even a coffin (Joseph was buried in an 'arown) and comes from a Hebrew verb meaning to gather, pluck (like fruit) or collect, and hence you might put what you gather or collect into an arown. The similarity, of course, is that both words indicate a container type of thing. In Koine Greek, in which the New Testament is written, you find that both words for ark are conflated into one word: κιβωτός, κιβωτοῦ Kibotos, or Kibotou. I'd think things would have been simpler to translate them as slightly different words in the Greek (and subsequently, the English,) but the New Testament authors never asked my opinion for some reason, so we now have one word for two slightly different kinds of arks.
The first mention of the Ark of the Covenant is in Exodus 25. You might be wondering, "well, why didn't we cover this way back when we were reading in Exodus 25?" And my answer would be, "Well, mr. Smarty pants: I was hoping to find the location of the Ark of the Covenant between that episode and now, because that would have made for a better podcast, but I didn't." Then I would wink at you so you'd know I was joking, but I probably wouldn't reveal the real answer to you, because it is above top secret. Oh yeah, here's that first appearance:
10 “They shall make an ark of acacia wood. Two cubits and a half shall be its length, a cubit and a half its breadth, and a cubit and a half its height. 11 You shall overlay it with pure gold, inside and outside shall you overlay it, and you shall make on it a molding of gold around it.
Exodus 25:10
So now, let's go read about the Ark being made by Bezalel, and then come back and discuss it a little more.
The Ark was about 52 by 31 by 31 inches, and was covered in hammered gold all around, with four gold rings in each of the corners to carry it with via poles. The ark was made of shittim wood, which is a word that you have to be sure to pronounce correctly as it does not sound like you'd think it does based on looking at it. This wood comes from the red acacia tree, which is a thorny tree that grows to about 30 feet tall, and is found throughout parts of Africa and the Middle East. On top of the Ark is the mercy seat, or kapporet, which is probably the most significant part of this object. A good description can be found at Gotquestions.org, so I'll just borrow it and give them credit:
The real significance of the Ark of the Covenant was what took place involving the lid of the box, known as the "Mercy Seat." The term ‘mercy seat’ comes from a Hebrew word meaning “to cover, placate, appease, cleanse, cancel or make atonement for.” It was here that the high priest, only once a year (Leviticus 16), entered the Holy of Holies where the Ark was kept and atoned for his sins and the sins of the Israelites. The priest sprinkled blood of a sacrificed animal onto the Mercy Seat to appease the wrath and anger of God for past sins committed. This was the only place in the world where this atonement could take place.
The Mercy Seat on the Ark was a symbolic foreshadowing of the ultimate sacrifice for all sin—the blood of Christ shed on the cross for the remission of sins. The Apostle Paul, a former Pharisee and one familiar with the Old Testament, knew this concept quite well when he wrote about Christ being our covering for sin in Romans 3:24-25: "…and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith." Just as there was only one place for atonement of sins in the Old Testament—the Mercy Seat of the Ark of the Covenant—so there is also only one place for atonement in the New Testament and current times—the cross of Jesus Christ. As Christians, we no longer look to the Ark but to the Lord Jesus Himself as the propitiation and atonement for our sins.
https://www.gotquestions.org/ark-of-the-covenant.html
Over the next few days and weeks, we will read much about the Ark of the Covenant, as it appears in the Scriptures well over a hundred times. As a bit of foreshadowing, however, let's jump in a time machine, and take a look at a couple of those passages:
3 When the troops returned to the camp, the elders of Israel asked, “Why did the Lord defeat us today before the Philistines? Let’s bring the ark of the Lord’s covenant from Shiloh. Then it will go with us and save us from our enemies.” 4 So the people sent men to Shiloh to bring back the ark of the covenant of the Lord of Armies, who is enthroned between the cherubim. Eli’s two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, were there with the ark of the covenant of God. 5 When the ark of the covenant of the Lord entered the camp, all the Israelites raised such a loud shout that the ground shook.
1 Samuel 4:3-5
Can you spot what went wrong? YES! The Israelites trusted in THE ARK and not the GOD of the Ark. What happened next was a horror story. The Philistines panicked and wiped out the Israelite army, captured the Ark, and when the high priest heard about it, he fell backwards in his chair and broke his neck because he was extremely old and overweight. And no, I'm not actually making that up. You can go read the story if you'd like - it's worse than I'm making it out to be. One more picture of the Ark - this one in the FUTURE:
15 Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever.” 16 And the twenty-four elders who sit on their thrones before God fell on their faces and worshiped God, 17 saying,
“We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty,
who is and who was,
for you have taken your great power
and begun to reign.
18 The nations raged,
but your wrath came,
and the time for the dead to be judged,
and for rewarding your servants, the prophets and saints,
and those who fear your name,
both small and great,
and for destroying the destroyers of the earth.”19 Then God's temple in heaven was opened, and the ark of his covenant was seen within his temple. There were flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder, an earthquake, and heavy hail.Revelation 11:15-19
Well, there you go - the future location of the Ark of the Covenant, as promised. Let's read some more Scripture together, shall we?
Most of the time I apologize for it when I have a click-baity title, but not this time. This time, I'm almost proud. You know what click-bait is, right? It is a title to an article that somebody shares on social media, or is an ad on a website that is worded so that you click on it. Maybe you've seen some of these ads - my least favorite are the ones that show what appears to be a disgusting skillet full of boiled bananas and a caption like, "gut surgeons say - don't eat this one vegetable." OR - "Gut surgeons say to eat this one vegetable to be regular," Or something like that. Well, on today's podcast, I am actually going to tell you the real and ultimate hidden Levitical secret code for being regular every day, and it is found in the book of Exlaxodus, chapter 2. Okay. I'm not proud of that joke. I apologize. Day six of shelter in place has got me so worked up, that my comedy material has sunk to new lows. More seriously, I would urge you to pray for each other, and pray for me and pray for all believers as we go through these scary times. If there is a way I can pray for you, please reach out and leave a comment at Biblereadingpodcast.com - it would be a privilege to lift you up in prayer, and a great encouragement knowing that you are praying for my family of seven hunkered down in Salinas, California.
Today's Bible readings include Exodus 36. Proverbs 12, John 15 and Ephesians 5. Our focus passage for the day remains in John, and we are looking at a critically important teaching of Jesus. There are a lot of important passages in the Bible, and a lot of important teachings of Jesus, but I want to be really clear that this one, in particular is crucial. Consider the way that Jesus talks about this passage. Getting the truth of it means that you will bear much fruit, which shows that you are a follower of Jesus. Not walking in the truth of it puts you in danger of being the kind of branches that are gathered up and tossed into the fire. Not only that, but walking in the truth of this passage opens up a deeper, richer and more effective prayer life, as Jesus says that following His teaching here is a critical key to having answered prayers. So - enough dancing around it. What is this key teaching of Jesus? It is simply this: To ABIDE in Him like a branch that is connected to the grapevine. (ESV, NASB, KJV) To REMAIN in Him (CSB). To STAY JOINED to Him. (CEV) The word picture is that we are a branch grafted into the vine. Just like a branch removed from a vine rooted in the earth will NOT bear any fruits, so we will not bear any fruits with our lives if we are not rooted and grounded in Jesus the true vine. Let's read the passage, and come back and discuss it.
“I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. 2 Every branch in me that does not produce fruit he removes, and he prunes every branch that produces fruit so that it will produce more fruit. 3 You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. 4 Remain in me, and I in you. Just as a branch is unable to produce fruit by itself unless it remains on the vine, neither can you unless you remain in me. 5 I am the vine; you are the branches. The one who remains in me and I in him produces much fruit, because you can do nothing without me. 6 If anyone does not remain in me, he is thrown aside like a branch and he withers. They gather them, throw them into the fire, and they are burned. 7 If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you want and it will be done for you. 8 My Father is glorified by this: that you produce much fruit and prove to be my disciples.
John 15:1-8
John is not the only place in the Bible that discusses our relationship with Jesus using a kind of garden metaphor. Colossians 2 and Ephesians 3 also do the same thing:
Let your roots grow down into him, and let your lives be built on him. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness.
Colossians 2:7 New Living Translation
14 For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, 15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, 16 that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, 19 and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
Ephesians 3:14=19
The one big question that should occur to us, upon seeing the importance of abiding is - HOW?! How do we abide in Jesus? I think the answer is given to us in verse 7, "If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you want and it will be done for you " In order for us to abide in Jesus, HIS WORDS MUST FILL US - live in us, dwell in us. We must go to the Bible daily and more so that the Words of our master dwell in our hearts through faith. In doing this, we remember that - somehow, someway - Jesus is THE WORD. When we are reading and meditating on His teachings, we aren't just interacting with words, but WORDS - THE WORD!
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the WORD WAS GOD.
John 1:1
When we abide in the Words of Jesus - we are abiding in Jesus! But we don't just learn the Words of Jesus - we must be DOERS of His Word. Ponder well John 14:23-24 from yesterday - meditate on it.
23 Jesus answered, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. 24 The one who doesn’t love me will not keep my words. The word that you hear is not mine but is from the Father who sent me.
John 14:23-24
And now let's close with a word from our beloved brother Spurgeon:
“Do not merely find a temporary shelter in me, as a ship runs into harbour in stormy weather, and then comes out again when the gale is over; but cast anchor in me, as the vessel does when it reaches its desired haven. Be not as branches that are tied on, and so can be taken off, but be livingly joined to me. ‘Abide in me.’ ”As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can you, except you abide in me.
You must bear fruit, or else be cast away; but you cannot bear any fruit except by real union and constant communion with Jesus Christ your Lord.
"I am the vine, you are the branches: he that abides in me, and I in him, the same brings forth much fruit: for without me you can do nothing. "Not merely will you do very little, but you can do nothing at all if you are severed from Christ. You are absolutely and entirely dependent upon Christ both for your life and for your fruit-bearing. Do we not wish to have it so, beloved? It is the beginning principle of apostasy when a man wishes to be independent of Christ in any degree, when he says, “Give me the portion of goods that is owed to me. that I may have something in hand, some spending money of my own,” No; you must, from day to day, from hour to hour, and even from moment to moment, derive life, light, love, everything that is good, from Christ. What a blessing that it is so!
"If a man abides not in Jesus, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned." There is a sad future in store for tares, according to another parable; but, somehow, there is a much sadder lot reserved for those that were, in some sense, branches of the vine,—those who made a profession of faith in Christ, though they were never vitally united to him; those who for a while did run well, yet were hindered. What was it that hindered them that they should not obey the truth? Oh, it is sad indeed that any should have had any sort of connection with that divine stem, and yet should be cast into the fire!
"If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, you shall ask what you will, and it shall be done unto you." Do not think that all men can pray alike effectually, for it is not so. There are some whom God will hear, and some whom God will not hear. And there are some even of his own children, whom he will hear in things absolutely vital and essential, to whom he never gave carte blanche after this fashion: “Ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.” No if you will not hear God’s words, he will not hear yours; and if his words do not abide in you, your words shall not have power with him. They may be directed to heaven, but the Lord will not listen to them so as to have regard unto them. Oh, it needs very tender walking for one who would be mighty in prayer! You shall find that those who have had their will at the throne of grace are men who have done God’s will in other places; it must be so. The greatest favourite at court will have a double portion of the jealousy of his monarch, and he must be specially careful that he orders his steps aright, or else the king will not continue to favour him as he was wont to do. There is a sacred discipline in Christ’s house, a part of which consists in this, that, as our obedience to our God declines, so will our power in prayer decrease at the same time.
C. H. Spurgeon, “The Last Words of Christ on the Cross,” in The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit Sermons, vol. 45 (London: Passmore & Alabaster, 1899), 504.
Happy Tuesday, friends! Today is day #6 of shelter in place for many of us, and things are pretty scary right now. Let me encourage you, as I have before, to not let the Word of God be overwhelmed in your mind by the reports of the world. Don't stick your head in the sand - by any means - but DO stick your head in the Word, first, foremost and most!
Today's Bible readings are Exodus 35, Proverbs 11, John 14, and Ephesians 3 and 4, because I inexplicably left off Ephesians 3 from yesterday's episode - shame on me! Exodus 35 is focused on the sabbath which - I promise - we will cover in depth very soon. Also on the slate for a future show: Do Old Testament passages like Psalm 91 promise Christians living in the pandemic age that God will keep them from getting sick? Today's topic is one of the most important we've ever covered, and it will possibly cost us some listeners, because it is one of those hard truths from the Bible that not everybody likes. That said, it is a teaching of the Bible that is absolutely indisputable. Over and over again, the Bible clearly, consistently and unequivocally points to Jesus as the only way of salvation. I'd like to start this discussion by discussing a bestselling book and movie that some might be familiar with - The Shack. I wrote a book on the Shack a few years ago that challenged the universalist theology found therein called UnShackled: Facing Suffering With The REAL Jesus. It is available on Amazon, and if you buy a copy today, I will send you an autographed square of toilet paper - an invaluable prize!
Most critics of The Shack tend to point out the female representations of deity as being the most disturbing problem about this book. I believe, however, that the most concerning and unbiblical aspect of The Shack is its universalism. What, precisely is universalism? It is the belief that all humans will spend eternity with God in Heaven. Young’s particular viewpoint is that the death of Jesus on the cross essentially saved every human whether they come to Jesus in their lifetime or not.
Witness this exchange between Papa and Mack: Papa sat forward and crossed her arms on the table. “Honey, you asked me what Jesus accomplished on the cross, so now listen to me carefully: through his death and resurrection, I am now fully reconciled to the world.” “The whole world? You mean those who believe in you, right?” “The whole world, Mack. All I am telling you is that reconciliation is a two-way street, and I have done my part, totally, completely, finally.
‘Papa’ is making the case here that the death of Jesus on the cross accomplished universal reconciliation – the world is now fully reconciled to her through what Jesus did on the cross. While that may sound nice and comforting, it is not what the Jesus of the Bible teaches. You can also see Young’s universalism come out in the fact that Papa, and Jesus (and Mack, his wife and all of their kids too) are huge fans of Bruce Cockburn, the Unitarian-Universalist musician from Canada. Such an odd and seemingly random detail, mentioned several times in the book, is not added lightly.
That Young intends his book to espouse his universalistic views is made clear in his follow-up theology book, called Lies We Believe About God. In that book, which details the theology that underlies the fiction of The Shack, Young writes: “God does not wait for my choice and then “save me.” God has acted decisively and universally for all humankind. Now our daily choice is to either grow and participate in that reality or continue to live in the blindness of our own independence. Are you suggesting that everyone is saved? That you believe in universal salvation? That is exactly what I am saying! Here’s the truth: every person who has ever been conceived was included in the death, burial, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus.”
What is the problem with universalism? Doesn’t God love everybody? Yes! He does love everybody, but the Bible is VERY clear (and Jesus is the CLEAREST of all) that NOT everybody will be saved. Universalism has generally been considered a heresy (meaning unorthodox/contrary to the clear teaching of the Bible) by all major branches of Christianity since the beginning, and rightly so!
Consider these specific proclamations of Jesus:
“The one who believes in the Son has eternal life, but the one who refuses to believe in the Son will not see life; instead, the wrath of God remains on him.” John 3:36 “Anyone who believes in Him is not condemned, but anyone who does not believe is already condemned, because he has not believed in the name of the One and Only Son of God.”
John 3:18
“And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
Matthew 25:46
“Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”
John 14:6
“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord!’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of My Father in heaven. On that day many will say to Me, ‘Lord, Lord, didn’t we prophesy in Your name, drive out demons in Your name, and do many miracles in Your name?’ Then I will announce to them, ‘I never knew you! Depart from Me, you lawbreakers!’”
Matthew 7:21-23
Consider these Scriptures also:
Now as they were speaking to the people, the priests, the commander of the temple police, and the Sadducees confronted them, 2 because they were provoked that they were teaching the people and proclaiming the resurrection from the dead, using Jesus as the example. 3 So they seized them and put them in custody until the next day, since it was already evening. 4 But many of those who heard the message believed, and the number of the men came to about 5,000.
5 The next day, their rulers, elders, and scribes assembled in Jerusalem 6 with Annas the high priest, Caiaphas, John and Alexander, and all the members of the high-priestly family.[b] 7 After they had Peter and John stand before them, they asked the question: “By what power or in what name have you done this?”
8 Then Peter was filled with the Holy Spirit and said to them, “Rulers of the people and elders: 9 If we are being examined today about a good deed done to a disabled man—by what means he was healed— 10 let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene—whom you crucified and whom God raised from the dead—by Him this man is standing here before you healthy. 11 This Jesus is:
the stone rejected by you builders,
which has become the cornerstone.12 There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to people, and we must be saved by it.”
Acts 4:4-12
“This is what the Lord says— Israel’s King and Redeemer, the Lord Almighty:I am the first and I am the last; apart from me there is no God.7 Who then is like me? Let him proclaim it. Let him declare and lay out before me what has happened since I established my ancient people, and what is yet to come— yes, let them foretell what will come. 8 Do not tremble, do not be afraid. Did I not proclaim this and foretell it long ago? You are my witnesses. Is there any God besides me? No, there is no other Rock; I know not one.”
Isaiah 44:6-8
For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus, 6 who gave himself as a ransom for all people.
1 Timothy 2:5
“You are my witnesses,” declares the Lord, “and my servant whom I have chosen, that you may know and believe me and understand that I am he. Before me no god was formed, nor shall there be any after me. I, I am the Lord, and besides me there is no savior.
Isaiah 43:10-11
I think the above passages leave no doubt whatsoever that Jesus is the only way to salvation. I guess if you are still on the fence, and somehow the dozen or so verses above did not convince you, it might be good to ask yourself this question: Why did Jesus pay the ultimate price on the cross - not only suffering the pinnacle of human abuse - but also taking on the wrath of the Father for ALL of the sins of humanity - if there was another way for people to be saved? Why did He plead with His Father to take this cup of the cross and the punishment for our sins away from Him if there was another way for people to be saved?
Happy Monday, friends! Today begins day #5 of shelter in place for us in central California. Yesterday, when my son and I went for a walk in our neighborhood - which is in the city of Salinas, California - we happened upon a gaggle of turkeys atop our neighbor's house. It would seem the animals are retaking their former territory with less and less humans on the street. I, for one, welcome our new turkey overlords, as long as they can clear up this coronavirus thing...you can count on me to vote straight turkey in the November elections. Now on to more serious things - today's Bible readings include Exodus 34, Proverbs 10, John 13 and Ephesians 3. Our focus passage is from Exodus 34, which has long been one of my favorite passages in the Old Testament. Some people who have not actually read the Bible have the idea that the 'God of the Old Testament' is harsh and judgmental and terrifying, but the 'God of the New Testament' is merciful and kind. Well, the fact is - the God of the Old Testament and the God of the New Testament are quite the SAME, and He doesn't change. He is both kind/merciful and Holy/a consuming fire.
I heard a great Tim Keller sermon today on this dynamic that talked about how Jesus was a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek, according to Hebrews. For a Jewish person, this would have been a most astonishing statement. For them the priests were the ministers of health and mercy in their society -the social workers, the medics, the nurses, and the ministers all in one, really. This is why Jesus commanded the cleansed and healed lepers to go show themselves to the priests in Luke 17. Those lepers were healed, but the priests, in their compassion/social work function, would need to have a record of them being cleansed. They were the compassionate arm of the governmental leadership of the people of God. The kings, on the other hand, were far more focused on justice. If you did wrong, it was the king and his administration's job to punish evil and protect the citizens. This can be pretty clearly seen in Romans 13, where Paul describes the role of the King and the high judicial authorities:
2 So then, the one who resists the authority is opposing God’s command, and those who oppose it will bring judgment on themselves. 3 For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Do you want to be unafraid of the authority? Do what is good, and you will have its approval. 4 For it is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, because it does not carry the sword for no reason. For it is God’s servant, an avenger that brings wrath on the one who does wrong.
Romans 13:2-4
The king brings justice and carries the sword, but the priest is a minister of mercy, compassion and kindness - two wildly different offices. The thing about Melchizedek, however, is that he alone in the Old Testament was a priest AND a king. In fact, as we've discussed before, I consider Melchizedek to be a Christophany - an Old Testament appearance of Christ. Jesus, like Melchizedek, was and is a KING and a PRIEST. He is a FOREVER PRIEST, and He is the KING OF ALL KINGS - He combines the justice/judgment/holiness/authority of the King with the compassion/mercy/tenderness of the priest. And, as you might expect, Jesus is like His Father who was also abounding in mercy AND a just/Holy and almighty Judge. Let's read Exodus 34 and see how God describes HIMSELF:
5 The Lord came down in a cloud, stood with him there, and proclaimed His name Yahweh. 6 Then the Lord passed in front of him and proclaimed:Yahweh—Yahweh is a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger and rich in faithful love and truth, 7 maintaining faithful love to a thousand generations, forgiving wrongdoing, rebellion, and sin. But He will not leave the guilty unpunished, bringing the consequences of the fathers’ wrongdoing on the children and grandchildren to the third and fourth generation.
Exodus 34:5-7
Such an interesting passage! In particular, I am stirred by the fact that God says He is rich in "faithful love," and that He maintains that "faithful love," to a thousand generations. Back in my seminary days, I took a Hebrew exegesis class, and one of our assignments was to write a long paper on ONE word. I thought it was going to be one of the toughest and most boring assignments I've ever had. First, because Hebrew was a very hard language to learn. Entirely different characters, no punctuation, no vowels per se, and the script reads right to left, rather than left to right. Nevertheless, this assignment has become one of my favorite and most fruitful assignments I've ever had. Almost no other assignment in seminary quite revealed the character of God to me like studying this ONE Hebrew word: סֶד cheçed, kheh'-sed. We don't really have an English equivalent for that word, but faithful love or covenant love is an approximation. I'd like to share a little bit about that word, if you'll let me. Not as an academic study, but to illuminate for us the character of God a little better:
The Hebrew word chesed, signified by the Hebrew chet, seghol vowel, samek, seghol vowel then dalet, is a significant Old Testament word that has generated quite a bit of theological controversy in recent scholarship. Often translated with benevolent words like “mercy”, “love” or the King James Version’s “lovingkindness” none of those words capture the full meaning of the Hebrew, but they do come close. Many scholars contend that chesed is best understood in the context of covenantal relationship; while others counter that it is not fully dependent on contractual obligations. This project will examine chesed in a variety of Old Testament passages, defining its range of meaning from context while seeking to determine whether the covenantal view of chesed is fully accurate. Further, as chesed is such a common word in the Old Testament, the focus here will be on the positive aspect of the word and will further zoom in on the aspect of chesed as expressed by God towards man.
Chesed is used frequently in the
Old Testament, appearing roughly 250 times (246 according to TLOT[1]
and 245 according to NIDOTTE[2]),
and is distributed widely as well, appearing more than once in at least 25 Old
Testament books, ranging from the earliest (Genesis and Job) to the latest,
(Esther and Malachi.)[3] By
far, the book of Psalms contains the most instances of chesed, with at least 125, accounting for over half of the word’s
usage in the Old Testament. Chesed
can refer to inter-human relationships but roughly 75 percent of the time when
it appears in the Old Testament, it is referring to God’s relationship and
dealings with man.[4]
Chesed
in Old Testament Context
Prior
to the twentieth century, chesed was
almost always translated using words such as mercy, faithfulness, love and
kindness.[5] Gesenius’
Hebrew-Chaldee Lexicon to the Old Testament, first published in 1847, uses the
words “zeal”, “love”, “desire”, “mercy” and “benevolence”.[6]
Brown Driver Briggs, appearing in 1906, similarly uses the words “kindness” and
“goodness” specifying “kindness, especially as extended to the lowly, needy and
miserable”[7]
The traditional understanding of chesed was strongly challenged in 1927 with the release of a very influential doctoral dissertation published in Germany by Nelson Glueck. This work contained a detailed argument that chesed should be understood in light of covenant relationship, and was therefore more a function of loyalty and fidelity than simply mercy and kindness. R. Laird Harris summarizes Glueck’s view, “He built on the growing idea that Israel was bound to its deity by covenants like the Hittite and other treaties. He held that God is pictured as dealing basically in this way with Israel. The Ten Commandments were stipulations of the covenant, Israel’s victories were rewards of covenant keeping, her apostasy was covenant violation and God’s chesed was not basically mercy, but loyalty to His contractual obligations.”[8] Further elucidation of Glueck’s view is found in the Theological Lexicon of the Old Testament, “[according to Glueck] chesed does not refer to a spontaneous, ultimately unmotivated kindness, but to a mode of behavior that arises from a relationship, defined by rights and obligations.”[9] This view has been widely accepted among certain scholars, and has greatly influenced modern understanding of the meaning of chesed, and as such, the nature of God’s relationship with the Hebrew people. A full examination of the context and uses of chesed in the Old Testament, however, seems to quite clearly refute Glueck's position.
Glueck’s contention must be dealt with in any discussion of the definition of chesed, both because of its widespread scholarly acceptance, and because there are a few Old Testament passages that seem to validate his proposal. The stakes of properly defining chesed are quite high – is God kind and loving to only certain people (and even then only because of obligation/covenant,) or is He merciful and kind to all because it is in His nature? It is easy to see how this word understood in a strictly covenantal way can lead to a false dichotomy between the God of the Old Testament (loving out of obligation, and punishing with wrath) and the God of the New Testament (loving and merciful).
Context
in the Hebrew language is of paramount importance in understanding word
meanings. Glueck, and other scholars after him have paid careful attention to
all of the instances of chesed that
appear in passages connected to covenant themes. Note the appearance of the
word in covenantal context in 1 Kings 3:6, “Solomon answered, "You have
shown great kindness (chesed) to your
servant, my father David, because he
was faithful to you and righteous and upright in heart. You have continued this
great kindness (chesed) to him and
have given him a son to sit on his throne this very day.” (NIV, emphasis mine)
First note that the NIV translates both cheseds
as kindness. Looking at the KJV, we find that it translates the first chesed as “mercy”, and the second as “kindness”.
The literal NASB uses “lovingkindness” in both spots. Second, the word “because”
is important here, it indicates to the many advocates of Glueck’s thesis
evidence of the covenantal nature of chesed.
Another chesed passage contains similar covenantal thought, “Continue your
love (chesed) to those who know you,
your righteousness to the upright in heart. (Psalms 36:10, NIV) Again, many
modern scholars see an almost quid pro
quo here: God’s chesed is given
to those who know Him and his righteousness (tsadoq) to the upright. Surveying other translations, we see that
where the NIV translates chesed with
love, the KJV uses “lovingkindness”, the Amplified follows the KJV (As does the
NKJV and NASB) and the ESV chooses to use two words to express its translation:
“steadfast love”.
Another
passage that seems to confirm the Glueck hypothesis is 2 Samuel 22:26, “To the
faithful (chacyd – an adjectival form
of chesed) you show yourself faithful
(chesed), to the blameless you show
yourself blameless. (NIV, also closely paralleled in Psalms 18:25)
Interestingly, the NIV uses “faithful” here, adding another element of meaning
to the word, while the NASB translates “kind” and the KJV uses “merciful”.
While the passages above and a handful of others seem to confirm the covenantal nature of chesed, it should be noted that there are many instances of chesed in the Old Testament that do not contain even a veiled reference to covenant or agreement. A clear example of this is found in 1 Kings 20:31. In this passage, the Syrian king Benhadad had just seen his army defeated by Israel’s army, and he is facing the prospect of death. The text reads, “His officials said to him, "Look, we have heard that the kings of the house of Israel are merciful. (chesed) Let us go to the king of Israel with sackcloth around our waists and ropes around our heads. Perhaps he will spare your life.” (NIV) The context here has nothing to do with covenant in any way; it is simply listed as a character trait of the kings of Israel, irrespective of their relationships (particularly in this case, with an enemy). Most major translations, including the KJV, the NASB, and the NKJV use merciful here as well, and this is a strong indication that mercy must be at least a significant primary sense of chesed, the context here makes it very clear.
Turning again to God’s relationship with humanity, Exodus 34:6 describes an encounter between Moses and God in the midst of the reception of the Ten Commandments. Though the receiving of the commandments are the setting of this passage, it is clear that God’s description of Himself has nothing contextually to do with the setting, “And the LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed, The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness (chesed) and truth.” (KJV) The KJV uses “goodness” for chesed here, while the NIV opts for “love” and the NASB uses “lovingkindness” Given that God’s declaration of His love, mercy and long suffering happened directly after a great falling away by the Israelites, it is difficult to see how he is proclaiming His chesed here only in the context of covenant. This declaration of God and His abiding chesed is similarly found in Psalm 86:15, 103:8, 145:8, and as late as Nehemiah 9:7 (among others).
There
is at least one instance, perhaps more (see Jonah 2:8), where chesed substitutes as a name for God.
Psalm 144:2 declares, “He is my loving God (chesed)
and my fortress, my stronghold and my deliverer, my shield, in whom I take
refuge, who subdues peoples under me.” The NIV here adds “God” to the passage,
translating chesed as “loving God”.
One final contextual view of chesed will be considered. Psalm 51 is known as David’s penitential prayer to God after the murder of Uriah and adultery with Bathsheba. In this Psalm, David cries out for forgiveness and a restoration of His relationship with God, and bases his please on God’s chesed. The NIV renders verse 1, “Have mercy on me O God according to your unfailing love (chesed); according to your great compassion, blot out my transgressions.” David’s plea is not based on His relationship or covenant with God, nor on God’s promises, but on God’s character – He is chesed. Again here, we see chesed translated in a slightly different way as unfailing love in the NIV and lovingkindness in the KJV and NASB.
Several things are clear from the above passages. First, chesed is translated a myriad of ways, but always seems to carry with it the idea of kindness, love, mercy and benevolence. Though it is an archaic term, “lovingkindness” is proposed as the best translation, as it best encompasses all of the nuances called for by the contexts listed above, if one were to use two words, perhaps “loving mercy” would be even more appropriate.
Second, though chesed is often used in covenantal passages, it is quite a stretch to say that the word should be defined in that context only, because it is used in so many other contexts, where it clearly means kindness, love or mercy, but has no connection to anything even remotely covenantal. John Piper, writing when he was a professor at Bethel college in 1979, comes to a similar conclusion. He writes, “Therefore, God’s chesed (and the mercy that flows from it), understood in its most fundamental sense precedes and grounds the covenant rather than vice versa. It is that which moved God in his sovereign freedom to graciously initiate a relationship with Israel.”[10] Yes, God is in covenant with Israel, but His covenant was preceded by His chesed, His chesed does not come about because of the covenant.
Spiritual application of this truth is two-fold. Primarily, when we study chesed, we see a God who is abounding in grace, love and mercy. His kindness is everlasting, and His mercy is sure. Secondly, this truth can be used apologetically, particularly with the one who denies the truth of the Bible, because of the false assumption that the God of the Old Testament was only wrathful and different from the God of the New Testament, who is more merciful. Careful analysis of chesed shows that this isn’t true at all.
Conclusion
Chesed therefore is a most important word to understand if one desires to understand the attributes of God and His relationship with His people. God’s lovingkindness does not spring out of obligation, nor is it only available to a select few, nor is it only open to those who are pure hearted and lovers of God. Lovingkindness is an aspect of God’s being, independent of His relationship with man, but informing every facet of that relationship.
[1] Ernst Jenni and Claus Westermann, Theological Lexicon of the Old Testament,
trans. Mark E. Biddle (Peabody: Hendrickson Publishers, 1997), 449
[2] William A. VanGemeren, New International Dictionary of Old
Testament Theology and Exegesis. (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1997), 211
[3] Theological
Lexicon of the Old Testament, 449
[4] New
International Dictionary of Old Testament Theology and Exegesis. 211
[5] R. Laird Harris, Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament,
Volume 1. (Chicago: Moody Press, 1980), 305
[6] William Geseneius, Hebrew and Chaldee Lexicon, trans. Samuel
Prideaux Tregelles (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1979), 293-294
[7] Francis Brown, S.R. Driver and Charles
A. Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon
of the Old Testament. (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1951), 338
[8] Theological
Wordbook of the Old Testament, 305
[9] Theological
Lexicon of the Old Testament, 451
[10] John
Piper, “Prolegomena to Understanding Romans 9:14-15: An Interpretation of
Exodus 33:19,” Journal of the Evangelical
Theological Society 22 (September, 1979): 210-211.
Happy Lord's Day, dear friends. Today is Shelter in Place day #4 for all of us Californians. Yipee! I want to remind you that if you are also sheltering in place, your flesh may be locked down, so to speak, but we are people of the Spirit of God - we are NOT locked down! The Body of Christ is not stymied by this because the Word of God is not muffled and neither the Head of the Church, Jesus, nor the Holy Spirit are under any sort of restrictions whatsoever. God reigns supreme now, and we are His people. I'd like to invite you to join our church today for its worship, prayer and Word livestream Sunday morning at 11am Pacific time at: https://www.facebook.com/VBCsalinas/
Today's Bible passages include Exodus 33, Proverbs 9, John 12 and Ephesians 2. Our focus passage is Ephesians 2, and we are talking about what the church is from that passage. As a reminder, our podcasts on Sunday are usually the shortest of all for several reasons. 1, to not take away at all from your local church celebration of the Lord's Day, and also because I am a pastor, and my focus on Saturday should mostly be on preparing for our own church gathering. So, it's great for you, if you like a shorter podcast, but don't worry if you like the long-winded ones - usually Monday's podcasts are especially lengthy.
The book of Ephesians, though short, has some of the deepest insights into the church -the Body of Christ - in the entire Bible. Yesterday's Ephesians passage began the discussion about the church in the last few verses:
He exercised this power in Christ by raising him from the dead and seating him at his right hand in the heavens— 21 far above every ruler and authority, power and dominion, and every title given, not only in this age but also in the one to come. 22 And he subjected everything under his feet and appointed him as head over everything for the church, 23 which is his body, the fullness of the one who fills all things in every way.
Ephesians 1:20-23
So - we learn here that the church is something that is born out of the resurrection of Jesus, and that Jesus Himself is the HEAD of the church. We also learn that the church is, in some way, the Body of Jesus. We learn even more about the church in Ephesians 2:
17 He came and proclaimed the good news of peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. 18 For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. 19 So then you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with the saints, and members of God’s household, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone. 21 In him the whole building, being put together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. 22 In him you are also being built together for God’s dwelling in the Spirit.
Ephesians 2:17-22
Now, this is profound. We learn here that the church is NOT a building, not a service, but a PEOPLE - a PEOPLE in which God's Spirit lives in them. What kind of PEOPLE is the church? Well - we aren't strangers or foreigners to each other...much more than that! We are, in fact, MEMBERS OF GOD's HOUSEHOLD - FAMILY MEMBERS! Some of us are lonely. I have good news - if you are in Christ - your loneliness is temporary. You have a beautiful eternal family that you will spend your eternity with. Some of us have had bad families and bad fathers - I have good news...this family has a wonderful Father, and incredible Head in Jesus, and your eternal brothers and sisters are going to be made wonderful, precious, and not the least bit annoying by the sanctification of Jesus.
In many places around the world right now, the church is not able to gather physically because of the current pandemic situation. This is a tragedy in that we miss seeing the church, which is the PEOPLE. The building is nothing more than that - bricks, stones, wood, concrete, desks, chairs, etc. Useful to have, but NOT the church, according to Ephesians 2. I love how Spurgeon expounds on this passage in one of his sermons:
Remember, again, the saying of the apostle Paul at Athens, “God that made the world and all things in the world, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made with hands.”
When men talk of holy places they seem to be ignorant of the use of language. Can holiness dwell in bricks and mortar? Can there be such a thing as a sanctified steeple? Can it possibly happen that there can be such a thing in the world as a moral window or a godly door post? I am lost in amazement, utterly lost, when I think how addled men’s brain, must be when they impute moral virtues to bricks and mortar, and stones, and stained glass.I wonder how deep does this consecration go, and how high? Is every crow that flies over the edifice at that time in solemn air? Certainly it is as rational to believe that, as to conceive that every worm that is eating the body of an Episcopalian is a consecrated worm, and therefore there must necessarily be a brick wall, or a wide gravel-path to protect the bodies of the sanctified from any unhallowed worms that might creep across from the Dissenters’ side of the cemetery. I say again, such child’s play, such Popery, such Judaism, is a disgrace. And yet, notwithstanding, we all find ourselves at different times and seasons indulging in it. That at which you have just now smiled is but pushing the matter a little further, an error into which we may very readily descend; it is but an extravaganza of an error into which we all of us are likely to fall. We have a reverence for our plain chapels; we feel a kind of comfort when we are sitting down in the place which somehow or other we have got to think must be holy.
Now let us if we can, and perhaps it takes a great sturdiness and independence of mind to do it—let us drive away once and for ever, all idea of holiness being connected with anything but with a conscious active agent; let us get rid once and for ever of all superstitions with regard to a place. Depend upon it, one place is as much consecrated as another, and wherever we meet with true hearts reverently to worship God, that place becomes for the time being God’s house. Though it be regarded with the most religious awe, that place which has no devout heart within it, is no house of God; it may be a house of superstition, but a house of God it cannot be. “But, still,” says one, “God hath a habitation; does not your Bible text say so?” Yes, and of that house of God, I am about to speak this morning. There is such a thing as a house of God; but that is not an inanimate structure, but a living and a spiritual temple. “In whom,” that is Christ, “you also are built together for a habitation of God through the Spirit.” The house of God is built with the living stones of converted men and women, and the church of God, which Christ hath purchased with his blood—this is the divine edifice, and the structure wherein God dwells even to this day.
C. H. Spurgeon, “The Tabernacle of the Most High,” in The New Park Street Pulpit Sermons, vol. 5 (London: Passmore & Alabaster, 1859), 337–338.
Hello Friends - we've made it to the weekend, not that it means as much as it used to. Our family went for a walk today - still allowed under day three of the California Coronavirus shutdown - and my sixteen year old son asked what day it was tomorrow. Upon finding out it was Saturday, he sort of sadly remarked, "I guess that doesn't really mean anything anymore." And honestly, at least in the short term - I suppose he's right to some degree. How rapidly the world has changed, and yet, how constant is the character and love of God:
5 “I will come to you in judgment, and I will be ready to witness against sorcerers and adulterers; against those who swear falsely; against those who oppress the hired worker, the widow, and the fatherless; and against those who deny justice to the resident alien. They do not fear me,” says the Lord of Armies. 6 “Because I, the Lord, have not changed, you descendants of Jacob have not been destroyed.
Malachi 3:5-6
He is still on His throne. Yes, He is shaking the world, but He is good, and we are not consumed because of His great mercy. Today's Bible readings include Exodus 32, Proverbs 8, John 11 and Ephesians 1. Exodus 32 contains what may be one of the most unintentionally funny passages in the Bible - a passage that shows us 80+ year old men are capable of coming up with excuses for their bad behavior that are just as bad as the excuses of children and teenagers:
21 Then Moses asked Aaron, “What did these people do to you that you have led them into such a grave sin?”22 “Don’t be enraged, my lord,” Aaron replied. “You yourself know that the people are intent on evil. 23 They said to me, ‘Make gods for us who will go before us because this Moses, the man who brought us up from the land of Egypt—we don’t know what has happened to him!’ 24 So I said to them, ‘Whoever has gold, take it off,’ and they gave it to me. When I threw it into the fire, out came this calf!”
Exodus 32:22-24
Our focus passage today is John 11, and our big Bible question comes from verses 23-26
23 “Your brother will rise again,” Jesus told her.24 Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.” 25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me, even if he dies, will live. 26 Everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?”
John 11:23-26
Things are scary right now, and if most of us are being honest, our great fear is all about death. Maybe we aren't ourselves afraid to die, but maybe we are afraid somebody close to us will, and that is why the world is shaking from this coronavirus situation. To be clear, this is NOT another flu, or a spicy flu. Consider Italy, which is being devastated by the Coronavirus. During this flu season from October to January 20 approximately 2.7 MILLION people in Italy got the flu (certainly more have since then) During that time period, around 240 people died. 2.7 MILLION infected and 240 deaths. That's bad - that's a lot of flu, and a lot of sadness to lose 240 people. However, the Coronavirus is quite different. Thus far, since January, 47000 Italians have gotten the coronavirus and more than 4000 have died. I'm NOT saying this to frighten you in the least, but to sober us up - especially those of us who are dismissing this as overhyped and overblown. This thing is bad, and it is devastating Washington, California and New York right now in a way that shows us Americans are NOT exempt in the least from this thing.
So - what is our response? To be afraid?? No, actually. My son tonight sent me a fantastic video from Francis Chan that underscored one important theological truth that we should all be aware of right now: The MOST OFTEN REPEATED COMMAND IN THE BIBLE IS, "FEAR NOT!" So - HOW can we not give into fear in the midst of this scary pandemic? I'm glad you asked - let's read John 11, and then come back and talk about it.
The reason that we don't give into fear in the face of a very real and powerful enemy like coronavirus is because the worst it can do is kill. You might think that is pretty bad, and it is pretty bad...but it is not an ultimate bad. It is a temporary bad. I recall when I was a teenager - the exact age of my son now - I was riding on my ten speed in the slanted cul-de-sac that our home was located on. I was wearing shorts, and spinning in ever tightening circles until all of the sudden, my bike lost leverage, and I skidded across the asphalt. Unfortunately, that skid took off almost a square foot of flesh from the side of my thigh - which was horrible painful. It took about a month or more to heal, and it was miserable for that month, because it would 'weep' or drain through my bandages and my clothes. GROSS! But you know what? That was so long ago, and so temporary, that I chuckle about it now, and don't even cringe. Death will be like that when we are standing in the promise of Jesus being the resurrection and the life. Consider this paradoxical promise of Jesus in Luke 21:
16 You will even be betrayed by parents, brothers, relatives, and friends. They will kill some of you. 17 You will be hated by everyone because of my name, 18 but not a hair of your head will be lost. 19 By your endurance, gain your lives.
Luke 21:16-18
YOU WILL BE BETRAYED, you will be HATED, you will be KILLED...but NOT A HAIR WILL BE LOST! How in the world can that be? And the wonderful answer is that Jesus is the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in Jesus - even if they die - WILL LIVE! That's good news. For the follower of Jesus, to LIVE is Christ and to DIE is GAIN! How?! Because He IS the RESURRECTION and the LIFE! Consider Hebrews 6:
17 Because God wanted to show his unchangeable purpose even more clearly to the heirs of the promise, he guaranteed it with an oath, 18 so that through two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to seize the hope set before us. 19 We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain. 20 Jesus has entered there on our behalf as a forerunner,
Hebrews 6:17-20
And 1 John 3:
See what great love the Father has given us that we should be called God’s children—and we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it didn’t know him. 2 Dear friends, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet been revealed. We know that when he appears, we will be like him because we will see him as he is. 3 And everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself just as he is pure.
1 John 3:1=3
In the coronavirus, we are facing a scary enemy, to be sure...but we face it with an all-powerful, all-knowing, all-merciful Jesus - with a HOPE in HIM that is FIRM AND SECURE like an anchor in our soul. Let's close with a couple of C.S. Lewis thoughts on Jesus as the resurrection and the life. The first is pretty deep, so feel free to read it at the website, or back up and listen a couple of times:
He is the representative ‘Die-er’ of the universe: and for that very reason the Resurrection and the Life. Or conversely, because He truly lives, He truly dies, for that is the very pattern of reality. Because the higher can descend into the lower He who from all eternity has been incessantly plunging Himself in the blessed death of self-surrender to the Father can also most fully descend into the horrible and (for us) involuntary death of the body. Because Vicariousness is the very idiom of the reality He has created, His death can become ours. The whole Miracle, far from denying what we already know of reality, writes the comment which makes that crabbed text plain: or rather, proves itself to be the text on which Nature was only the commentary. In science we have been reading only the notes to a poem; in Christianity we find the poem itself.
C. S. Lewis, A Year with C. S. Lewis: Daily Readings from His Classic Works, ed. Patricia S. Klein, 1st ed. (New York: HarperOne, 2003), 139.
Then we come to the strangest story of all, the story of the Resurrection. It is very necessary to get the story clear. I heard a man say, ‘The importance of the Resurrection is that it gives evidence of survival, evidence that the human personality survives death.’ On that view what happened to Christ would be what had always happened to all men, the difference being that in Christ’s case we were privileged to see it happening. This is certainly not what the earliest Christian writers thought. Something perfectly new in the history of the Universe had happened. Christ had defeated death. The door which had always been locked had for the very first time been forced open. This is something quite distinct from mere ghost-survival. I don’t mean that they disbelieved in ghost-survival. On the contrary, they believed in it so firmly that, on more than one occasion, Christ had had to assure them that He was not a ghost. The point is that while believing in survival they yet regarded the Resurrection as something totally different and new. The Resurrection narratives are not a picture of survival after death; they record how a totally new mode of being has arisen in the Universe. Something new had appeared in the Universe: as new as the first coming of organic life. This Man, after death, does not get divided into ‘ghost’ and ‘corpse’. A new mode of being has arisen. That is the story. What are we going to make of it?
C. S. Lewis, God in the Dock, ed. Walter Hooper (HarperOne, 1994), 169–170.
Then Aslan stopped, and the children looked into the stream. And there, on the golden gravel of the bed of the stream, lay King Caspian, dead, with the water flowing over him like liquid glass. His long white beard swayed in it like water-weed. And all three stood and wept. Even the Lion wept: great Lion-tears, each tear more precious than the Earth would be if it was a single solid diamond. And Jill noticed that Eustace looked neither like a child crying, nor like a boy crying and wanting to hide it, but like a grown-up crying. At least, that is the nearest she could get to it; but really, as she said, people don’t seem to have any particular ages on that mountain.
“Son of Adam,” said Aslan, “Go into that thicket and pluck the thorn that you will find there, and bring it to me.”
Eustace obeyed. The thorn was a foot long and sharp as a rapier.
“Drive it into my paw, Son of Adam,” said Aslan, holding up his right fore-paw and spreading out the great pads towards Eustace.
“Must I?” said Eustace.
“Yes,” said Aslan.
Then Eustace set his teeth and drove the thorn into the Lion’s pad. And there came out a great drop of blood, redder than all redness that you have ever seen or imagined. And it splashed into the stream over the dead body of the King. At the same moment the doleful music stopped. And the dead King began to be changed. His white beard turned to grey, and from grey to yellow, and got shorter and vanished altogether; and his sunken cheeks grew round and fresh, and the wrinkles were smoothed, and his eyes opened, and his eyes and lips both laughed, and suddenly he leaped up and stood before them—a very young man, or a boy. (But Jill couldn’t say which, because of people having no particular ages in Aslan’s country. Even in this world, of course, it is the stupidest children who are most childish and the stupidest grown-ups who are most grown-up.) And he rushed to Aslan and flung his arms as far as they would go round the huge neck; and he gave Aslan the strong kisses of a King, and Aslan gave him the wild kisses of a Lion.
At last Caspian turned to the others. He gave a great laugh of astonished joy.C. S. Lewis, Words to Live by: A Guide for the Merely Christian, ed. Paul F. Ford, Adobe Digital Edition. (HarperCollins e-books, 2009), 255–256.
Hello friends, and welcome into the Bible Reading Podcast. This is Day 3 of Shelter in Place for us Californians, and such decisions are likely coming for many across the United States. These are strange and scary times, but the Body of Christ is no stranger to tribulation and trials! Today's Bible passages are Exodus 31, Proverbs 7, John 10 and Galatians 6. One day soon we will discuss one of the bigger Bible questions out there: Do the Old Testament Sabbath Commands still apply to New Covenant Christians? But today our focus is more pastoral, and less theological. Consider this beautiful passage in Galatians:
9 Let us not get tired of doing good, for we will reap at the proper time if we don’t give up. 10 Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us work for the good of all, especially for those who belong to the household of faith.
Galatians 6:9-10
This is such an important passage for the time we find ourselves in. We will be fruitful in this season as the blood-bought church of the Living and Resurrected Jesus IF WE DO NOT GIVE UP. And, in the midst of this pandemic, we must WORK FOR THE GOOD OF ALL - especially for those who are in the faith. Just briefly, let us consider the part of this command that many of us aren't going to get, unless it is shouted at us a bit. Paul, under the inspiration and AUTHORITY of the Holy Spirit, commands us to Work for the GOOD of ALL. Who does ALL include? I'm glad you asked.
If you are a die-hard Republican, ALL includes Democrats. and Vice-versa.
If you are a big Alabama fan, ALL includes Auburn fans, and vice-versa.
You love the 49ers? ALL includes the Raiders, and vice-versa
If you are a saved follower of Jesus who believes He is the only way to salvation (as I do!) then ALL includes Islamic people, atheists, agnostics, and people who think Christians are fools.
If you are a cessationist, all includes charismatics and contiuationists. (and vice-versa)
If you are a Calvinist, ALL includes Arminians!
If you are a Baptist, ALL includes Methodists (and vice versa)
Maybe you are getting it now. I hope I am! Aside from this command to do good to all - which is an excellent reminder for us right now, I want to focus on the promise in Scripture that we will REAP and be fruitful IF WE do NOT give up! Let's talk a little about perseverance, beginning with a few Bible passages to spur us on and encourage us NOT to give up:
Ten Bible Verses on Perseverance and NOT Giving Up:
But as for you, brothers and sisters, do not grow weary in doing good.
2 Thessalonians 3:13
Therefore, since we have this ministry because we were shown mercy, we do not give up.
2 Corinthians 4:1
But the one who looks intently into the perfect law of freedom and perseveres in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but one who does good works—this person will be blessed in what he does.
James 1:25
12 A man who endures trials is blessed, because when he passes the test he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love Him.
James 1:12
3 And not only that, but we also rejoice in our afflictions, because we know that affliction produces endurance, 4 endurance produces proven character, and proven character produces hope. 5 This hope will not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.
Romans 5:3-5
2 Consider it a great joy, my brothers, whenever you experience various trials, 3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. 4 But endurance must do its complete work, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking nothing.
James 1:2-4
10 Don’t be afraid of what you are about to suffer. Look, the Devil is about to throw some of you into prison to test you, and you will have affliction for 10 days. Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life.
Revelation 2:10
17 You will be hated by everyone because of My name, 18 but not a hair of your head will be lost. 19 By your endurance gain your lives.
Luke 21:17
8 Be sober-minded, be alert. Your adversary the devil is prowling around like a roaring lion, looking for anyone he can devour. 9 Resist him, firm in the faith, knowing that the same kind of sufferings are being experienced by your fellow believers throughout the world.
1 Peter 5:8-9
11This saying is trustworthy:
For if we have died with Him,
we will also live with Him;
12 if we endure, we will also reign with Him;
if we deny Him, He will also deny us;
13 if we are faithless, He remains faithful,
for He cannot deny Himself.2nd Timothy 2:11-13
“A society of good Christian people will split into pieces over a petty quarrel, or mere matter of opinion, while all around them the masses are perishing for want of the gospel. A miserable little mouse, which no cat would ever hunt, takes them off from their Lord’s work. Again, intelligent men will spend months of time and heaps of money in inventing and publishing mere speculations, while the great field of the world lies unploughed. They seem to care nothing how many may perish so long as they can ride their hobbies. In other matters a little common sense is allowed to rule, but in the weightiest matters foolishness is sadly conspicuous. As for you and me, John, let us kill a mouse when it nibbles our bread, but let us not spend our lives over it. What can be done by a mousetrap or a cat should not occupy all our thoughts.
“The paltry trifles of this world are much of the same sort. Let us give our chief attention to the chief things,—the glory of God, the winning of souls for Jesus, and our own salvation. There are fools enough in the world, and there can be no need that Christian men should swell the number. Go on with your ploughing, John, and I will go on with my preaching, and in due season we shall reap if we faint not.”Charles Haddon Spurgeon, John Ploughman’s Pictures: More of His Talk (Redding, CA: Pleasant Places Press, 2005), 57.
THIS verse occurs in the Epistle to the Galatians, which so plainly sets forth the grand doctrine of justification by faith, and teaches us, most plainly, that salvation is not of works, but of grace. As if to confound for ever those who say that the doctrine of free grace is unpractical, the apostle, before he closes his epistle, exhorts believers to labour, and in the verse before us gives us a sentence worthy to be printed in letters of gold and hung up for ever before the eyes of all Christian workers, “Be not weary in well doing.” It is true, my brethren, that you are not to save yourselves by well doing. Your motive is not selfish, but because you are saved already you desire to manifest the power of gratitude, and to prove to all the world that those who receive a free salvation are the very men who most cheerfully labour to please God and to bring glory to his name. O ye who are debtors to infinite mercy, “Be not weary in well doing.”
The apostle, at the time he wrote our text, had in his mind’s eye the well doing which by its alms does good unto all men, and also that kindness which leads hearers of the gospel to communicate in all good things unto him that teacheth. Truly it is easy to be weary in these matters. Almsgiving certainly is disheartening work. One is so continually being deceived that giving to the poor becomes a weary business. Impostors abound on all sides: this city of London swarms with impostors who would deceive Solomon himself. I do not wonder that men are driven to organize their charity, which frequently means bringing it to an end. The tendency is to excuse themselves because at some time or other they have been victimized.
A cruel hardness is abroad which talks philosophy, and renounces almsgiving for fear of disturbing our delightful social economy. Almsgiving, if we are to believe some men, has become a crime... To these people it seems odd that our Lord should have commended anything so inconsistent with political economy as giving to the poor. According to the modern school we may expect those to be blessed who see people hungry and give them no meat, thirsty and give them no drink, sick and in prison and never visit them... I trust, however, that the Christian spirit which is compassionate to the poor will never die out among us, and that, notwithstanding all the difficulties under which we may have to labour, we may not be weary in well doing, for despite all deceits and impositions, in due season we shall reap if we faint not.
C. H. Spurgeon, “The Cause and Cure of Weariness in Sabbath-School Teachers,” in The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit Sermons, vol. 23 (London: Passmore & Alabaster, 1877), 625–626.
CLOSING BLESSING AND BENEDICTION (Meditate on this Jewel of Encouragement:)
11 May you be strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, for all endurance and patience, with joy 12 giving thanks to the Father, who has enabled you to share in the saints’ inheritance in the light. 13 He has rescued us from the domain of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of the Son He loves. 14 We have redemption, the forgiveness of sins, in Him.
Colossians 1:11-14
Hello friends, and welcome to Shelter in Place, Day #2. We managed to survive the first day, but already the kids are growing restless. Today's Bible passages are Exodus 30, Proverbs 6, John 9, and Galatians 5. One of these days, I'd like to explore John 9:41, but today is not that day.
“If you were blind,” Jesus told them, “you wouldn’t have sin. But now that you say, ‘We see,’ your sin remains.
John 9:41
Today is the day we consider the Bible's teaching on the fruit (singular!) of the Spirit. This comes from Galatians 5:
19Now the works of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, moral impurity, promiscuity, 20 idolatry, sorcery, hatreds, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambitions, dissensions, factions, 21 envy, drunkenness, carousing, and anything similar. I am warning you about these things—as I warned you before—that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, and self-control. The law is not against such things. 24 Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit. 26 Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.
Galatians 5:19-26
Those that are of the flesh, that is to say - those that are untransformed humans will live their lives in a way that is dominated by the works of the flesh - there will be outbursts of anger, hatreds, strife and jealousy, as well as the pursuit of drunkenness, sexual promiscuity with multiple partners outside the bounds of marriage, cliques, coveting and jealousy, and basically of the things that one can see celebrities modeling on Instagram on any given day. These represent the values and vices of the world - those things that humans pursue and desire and give their lives to, along with those weaknesses in humanity that come out in unfiltered ways among those are are not transformed by the Gospel and the Spirit. Paul is not merely saying that the BAD people of the world display the works of the flesh, but that EVERY human will live and breathe the works of the flesh, because they have been corrupted by the Fall in Genesis 3, and their hearts are bent towards the evils mentioned here, and bent away from the character traits of God. Consider God's assessment of unredeemed humanity in Genesis 6:
5 When the Lord saw that human wickedness was widespread on the earth and that every inclination of the human mind was nothing but evil all the time, 6 the Lord regretted that he had made man on the earth, and he was deeply grieved.
Genesis 6:5-6
So - when you see 'works of the flesh,' don't think bad guys, think humanity. However, as Paul has been sharing with us, those who believe the Gospel are transformed. This isn't a work of self-discipline in the same way that somebody who is out of shape can work very hard and become extremely physically fit - the transformation from God is not an outer effort of the flesh like working out, but an inner ministry and re-creation of the Holy Spirit that transforms the very nature, desires and inclinations of a person. Indeed, that transformation is so radical and complete that Paul talks about it in terms of death - the death of the 'old man' - the man of flesh and humanity and the new life that comes from the indwelling Spirit of Christ:
19 For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live for God. 20 I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. 21 I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died for nothing.
Galatians 2:19-21
That transformation and salvation, says Paul, does NOT come from the efforts of the flesh, or through works, or through obedience to all of God's commands - the transformation happens by grace, through faith, and is an activity of the Spirit. Growth and sanctification also do not come as a work of the flesh or through human effort, but it is a continuous and ongoing work of transformation by the Spirit.
Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law or by believing what you heard? 3 Are you so foolish? After beginning by the Spirit, are you now finishing by the flesh? 4 Did you experience so much for nothing—if in fact it was for nothing?
Galatians 3:2-4
An issue we have, however, is that the flesh desires things that are often the opposite of what the Holy Spirit would have us desire.
16 I say then, walk by the Spirit and you will certainly not carry out the desire of the flesh. 17 For the flesh desires what is against the Spirit, and the Spirit desires what is against the flesh; these are opposed to each other, so that you don’t do what you want. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
Galatians 5:16-18
The old self, or the old man, as Paul calls it, often tries to come back from the dead, as it were, as a sort of zombie, and lead our hearts back to the desires and works of the flesh.
take off your former way of life, the old self that is corrupted by deceitful desires, 23 to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, 24 and to put on the new self, the one created according to God’s likeness in righteousness and purity of the truth.
Ephesians 4:20-24
The good news for a saved follower of Jesus is that our old self/old man was CRUCIFIED, so though sometimes the desires return to us, that old man is dead, dead, dead.
5 For if we have been united with him in the likeness of his death, we will certainly also be in the likeness of his resurrection. 6 For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be rendered powerless so that we may no longer be enslaved to sin, 7 since a person who has died is freed from sin.
Romans 6:5-7
So now, we don't live a life that is filled with the things of the old self (like sexual immorality, greed, idolatry, factions, cliques, jealousy, etc) but a life that is filled with the nature and blooming in us character of Jesus - these character traits of Jesus are called the fruit of the Spirit. As we learn from Him, seek first His Kingdom, follow His ways, and follow Him, then the fruit of the Spirit will grow in our lives. We can't make that fruit grow, but IT WILL GROW if we are abiding in Jesus. Consider John 15:
“I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. 2 Every branch in me that does not produce fruit he removes, and he prunes every branch that produces fruit so that it will produce more fruit. 3 You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. 4 Remain in me, and I in you. Just as a branch is unable to produce fruit by itself unless it remains on the vine, neither can you unless you remain in me. 5 I am the vine; you are the branches. The one who remains in me and I in him produces much fruit, because you can do nothing without me.
John 15:1-5
The Fruit of the Spirit does NOT come to us in the same way that fitness and a chiselled body comes to a weightlifter. The Fruit of the Spirit grows in the soil of our lives naturally as long as we are rooted and grounded in Christ.
6 So then, just as you have received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, 7 being rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, and overflowing with gratitude.
Colossians 2:6-7
Let's close with some spiritual wisdom on the fruit of the Spirit from a man who was my first spiritual hero (when I was 8 or 9, I devoured biographies about him) the British missionary to China, Hudson Taylor:
Fruitfulness.--The careful student of Scripture will notice the parallelism between the teaching of the First Psalm and that of our LORD in the Gospel of John, where in the sixth chapter we are taught that he who feeds on CHRIST abides in Him, and in the fifteenth chapter that he who abides brings forth much fruit. We feed upon CHRIST the incarnate WORD through the written Word. So in this Psalm he who delights in the Law of the LORD, and meditates upon it day and night, brings forth his fruit in his season.
There is something beautiful in this. A word spoken in season how good it is; how even a seasonable look will encourage or restrain, reprove or comfort! The promise reminds one of those in John about the living water thirsty ones drink, and are not only refreshed, but become channels through which rivers of living water are always flowing, so that other thirsty ones in their hour of need may find seasonable refreshment.
But the figure in the Psalm is not that of water flowing through us as through a channel; but that of fruit, the very outcome of our own transformed life--a life of union with CHRIST. It is so gracious of our GOD not to work through us in a mere mechanical way, but to make us branches of the True Vine, the very organs workers, for there is a fundamental difference between fruit and work. Work is the outcome of effort; fruit, of life. A bad man may do good work, but a bad tree cannot bear good fruit.
The result of work is not reproductive, but fruit has its seed in itself. The workman has to seek his material and his tools, and often to set himself with painful perseverance to his task. The fruit of the Vine is the glad, free, spontaneous outcome of the life within; and it forms and grows and ripens in its proper season. And what is the fruit which the believer should bear? May it not be expressed by one word--Christliness? It is interesting to notice that the Scripture does not speak of the fruits of the SPIRIT, in the plural, as though we might take our choice among the graces named, but of the fruit, in the singular, which is a rich cluster composed of love, joy, peace, longsuffering, etc. How blessed to bring forth such fruit in its season!
"His leaf also shall not wither." In our own climate many trees are able to maintain their life throughout the winter, but unable to retain their leaves. The hardy evergreen, however, not only lives, but manifests its life, and all the more conspicuously because of the naked branches around. The life within is too strong to fear the shortened day, the cold blast, or the falling snow. So with the man of GOD whose life is maintained by hidden communion through the Word; adversity only brings out the strength and the reality of the life within. The leaf of the tree is no mere adornment. If the root suggests to us receptive power in that it draws from the soil the stimulating sap, without which life could not be maintained, the leaves no less remind us of the grace of giving, and of purifying. They impart to the atmosphere a grateful moisture; they provide for the traveller a refreshing shade, and they purify the air that is poisoned.... Keep a tree despoiled of its leaves sufficiently long and it will surely die. So unless the believer is giving as well as receiving, purifying his life and influence, he cannot grow nor properly maintain his own vitality. But he who delights in the Law of the LORD, and meditates in it day and night--his leaf shall not wither.
Hudson Taylor: The Works of Hudson J. Taylor
Happy Shelter in Place Day, Friends! I find myself living in the part of Central California right now that has been essentially shut down for the next 22 days, and our Shelter in Place order just went into effect about an hour ago. These are strange, strange times! So – sometimes people ask me how it’s going doing a daily podcast. I can tell you that each episode takes just a little under 3 hours from start to finish, which includes writing the episode, recording it, editing it in Audacity, and entering all of the pertinent information into a WordPress and Libsyn post. Longer episodes take longer, shorter episodes can be around 2 hours of time. Last night was one of the later nights for the show. One of my daughters wanted to watch a show with me, and I’ll take just about any excuse I can to spend time with them, so we watched a show together, which began after midnight. Then I wrote a fairly long pastoral email to the congregation of the church I pastor about the coronavirus pandemic. When I say fairly long, I mean over 1800 words, so about 6 pages worth. We’re in California, and on a virtual lock-down, so hopefully they had a little extra time to read. One of the problems being in a church that is pastored by somebody who fancies himself as a writer is that you can get very long emails from time to time. If you are a leader at the church I pastor, you got a 2100 word email from me AND an 1800 word email from me within the space of 4 days. I should repent in sackcloth and ashes for that, I suppose, but these are trying times we live in right now, filled with dangers like novel viruses, lack of toilet paper, and novel-length emails from pastors.
ANYWAY, the point of what I was trying to say earlier before I rambled was that I didn’t start WRITING the podcast until around 3AM. Fortunately, I had some great material from pastor David Platt to use, so I didn’t have to write a ton of original material myself. It was, however, one of the few times since I began this daily podcast in January that I kind of just wanted to go to bed, and not spend 2 hours or so on a podcast. HOWEVER – when I got to the point of recording it, and I got to the part where I was just reading the Scriptures into the microphone, that’s when I noticed something that happens practically every time I do the podcast: THE WORD OF GOD ENCOURAGED ME. It gave me HOPE. It built me up. It elevated my mood. Almost every time I record this show, I come away encouraged. Not because I like recording and editing a podcast – that can get a little tedious…but because the WORD of God is powerful, and supernatural, and it just builds me up in faith, because faith comes by HEARING THE WORD OF GOD. I just wanted to share that with you as a benefit. You can get that same benefit – without the 2-3 hours of writing, recording and editing by simply READING (or listening!) to the WORD OF GOD! If you haven’t done so yet, allow me to encourage you to listen to the other half of today’s episode – episode #78 – I split today’s show into two parts so it wouldn’t be too long.
In today’s reading, we encounter the story of the woman caught in adultery, known to scholars as the Pericope Adulterae. Many scholars, including many evangelical ones, consider this passage to be a later edition to the New Testament, and in most modern Bibles, this part of John is set apart to show doubt about the passage. So – what’s going on here, and was this story original to John’s Gospel, or was it a later edition?
The Pericope Adulterae, found in John 7:53-8:11, is surrounded by more controversy and conjecture than any other New Testament Passage with the possible exception of the ending of Mark. The authorship and placement of this pericope has been hotly debated at least since the fifth century, and there are still scholars lined up on opposite sides of the issues surrounding this passage.
Attempting to extract meaning and application from this passage is almost meaningless without first wrestling with the genuineness of the text and the mass of evidence for and against it. The issue is simple to grasp – if this pericope is a genuine and accurate happening in the life of Jesus, then it carries just as much weight as the rest of the New Testament. Conversely, if the passage is a later edition with no basis in fact (i.e. it never happened) then the passage is notable only for its historical value and the question of how it became inserted into many manuscripts of the New Testament. Though it will be argued that there is no way to be certain of the historicity of this passage, the preponderance of the evidence points to it being a genuine happening in the life of Jesus, and as such it does have application in the modern church and it can inform how we live and interact with each other.
Summary of the Passage
7:53-8:2 The Pericope Adulterae begins with a somewhat awkward[1] transition from the previous narrative. The stage is set here; Jesus has spent the night at the Mount of Olives and dawn finds Him mingling with the crowd near the temple courts. His very presence attracts a crowd and notably (for the fourth Gospel)[2] Jesus sits down to teach them.
8:3-8:6a As Jesus is teaching the people, The scribes and Pharisees bring in a woman and stand her in front of the crowd. They explain to Jesus that the woman was caught in the act of committing adultery, and (on the surface) they present her to Jesus for judgment. The question is, should the woman be stoned in accordance with the law of Moses? The text informs us that this question is a trap for Jesus, a classic catch 22, there is no clear way that Jesus can give a verdict here without opening Himself up to some basis for accusation, either in the eyes of the Roman authorities, or the people.
8:6b-8:9 Perplexingly, Jesus doesn’t answer their questions immediately, indeed, He never gives them the verdict. Instead, He leans over and writes on the ground. The accusers persist in their questioning, and Jesus finally responds with His classic retort, challenging any one of the accusers without sin to be the one that casts the first stone. Though we don’t know how much time passed after Jesus’ challenge, one can almost be assured of an awkward silence, punctuated by occasional stones hitting the soft earth as they fall from the hands of the accusers. Beginning with the eldest among them, the scribes and Pharisees melt away into the crowd.
8:10-8:11 Jesus and the accused woman are left as the center of attention. He initiates dialogue her, asking the obvious questions – where is everybody? Is no one left to condemn? Upon her acknowledgment that they have all left, Jesus also refuses to condemn the woman, but warns her to leave behind her life of sin.
Controversy and Canonicity: Contra Johannine
This Pericope is a wonderful piece of literature; very moving and dramatic. Jesus cleverly meets the challenge of the scribes and Pharisees without compromising and without falling into a trap, and the woman caught in sin is given a second chance to repent. It’s a powerful story, but is it genuine? Did it really happen? If it did really happen, why is there so much evidence against it being an original part of the gospel of John? A survey of the evidence for and against genuineness is presented below.
The majority of New Testament scholars are fairly adamant that the Pericope Adulterae is non-Johannine in origin. The ancient manuscript evidence is indeed stacked against this Pericope. Bruce Metzger points out that all major early Greek manuscripts omit the Pericope, including our oldest and most respected early manuscripts, Codex Sinaiticus, Codex Vaticanus, p66 and p75.[3] Though some Old Latin manuscripts include the Pericope, many omit it as well, and the early Syriac, and Coptic manuscripts do not contain the passage[4]. Codex Bezae is the only major Greek manuscript prior to the 8th century that this pericope appears in, and Bezae is known for its many interpolations. In fact, Metzger states,
“No other manuscript has so many and such remarkable variations from what is usually taken to be the New Testament Text. Codex Bezae’s special characteristic is the free addition (and occasional omission) of words, sentences and even incidences.”[5]
Further manuscript evidence against the Johannine nature of the Pericope is the variety of places it is attached in some of the manuscripts that do contain it. In some manuscripts, it appears after John 7:36, in some after John 7:44, some as an addition at the end of John’s gospel, some after Luke 21:28, and some even after Luke 24:53.[6] Though the number of manuscripts that displace this pericope is not overwhelming, the mere fact of its varied appearance in even a few manuscripts tends to cast doubt on the concreteness of its location after John 7:52.
The final bit of manuscript evidence is the unusually high number of textual variants found in the manuscripts that do contain the pericope. Gary Burge points out that line per line, these twelve verses contain more textual variants across the manuscript tradition than almost any other passage of scripture. [7]
There is also much patristic evidence, especially in the east, stacked against the passage. This pericope is not mentioned by any Greek Father until Euthymius Zigabenus in the 12th century and isn’t found in the writings of the early Fathers in the west either. Thus, it is omitted by Origen, Clement, Cyprian, Irenaeus, Tertullian, Cyril and Chrysostom,[8] even in writings where it would seem to be an appropriate resource for them to use. While Zane Hodges tries to make the case that the absence of the Pericope in these church fathers constitutes an argument from silence, and thus proves nothing[9], the fact of the matter is that this is more empirical evidence stacked against the pericope, and it adds weight to the non-Johannine argument.
While the manuscript evidence would seem to be the greatest evidence against the Pericope, there are also suspicious grammatical and contextual features of the text. Statistical analysis of the text has claimed to show several features which “prove” its non Johannine nature. Vern Poythress has examined the grammatical use of the conjunctions “de”, “oun”, “kai”, and “asyndeton” in the Gospel of John, and developed some general rules that John appears to follow. Upon examination of the adulteress pericope, it would appear that there are enough variations in its use of conjunctions (compared with the rest of John) to allow Poythress to conclude that this Pericope is not written by John.[10]
Further grammatical evidence focuses on the words that are used in the passage. Bryant and Krause point out that approximately nine percent, or 15 of the words used in this pericope do not occur elsewhere in the gospel, the highest percentage for a passage of this size in John[11]. The Mount of Olives, The scribes, and the phrase “early morning” are not found anywhere else in the gospel of John, but all are somewhat common in the synoptic gospels. In addition, only here in John is Jesus addressed as teacher.
While some of these unique words can be explained by the nature of the story, as well as the semi-technical judicial language employed, there are still a high frequency of unique words and constructs here compared with the rest of John.
Finally, there is contextual evidence that seems to indicate this pericope is out of place. Borchert[12] and many others believe that the text disrupts the flow of the Feast of Tabernacles narrative. Many point out its similarity in time and setting to Luke 21:37-38, and (as mentioned above) some manuscripts place the passage right after verse 38 because it seems to be a better fit. It is also true that the flow of the text from 7:52 to 8:12 is smooth and uninterrupted when this passage is removed, but of course, that could be said of many passages!
Controversy and Canonicity: Pro Johannine
Most scholars believe the evidence against the Pericope Adulterae is overwhelming, but there is much positive evidence for the ancientness of this event, and even some evidence that would seem to indicate the text is Johannine and not at all out of place.
The strongest evidence for the veracity and Johannine nature of the Pericope comes from the manuscripts and church fathers of the west. Several Old Latin manuscripts do in fact contain the Pericope. Hodges argues valiantly that the absence of the passage in our earliest and most reliable manuscripts (Sinaiticus, Vaticanus, p66 and p75) is due to those manuscripts being of a proto-Alexandrian origin, and thus likely coming from the same (ancient) exemplar, one which had the passage intentionally excised.[13] He posits that the Pericope was removed from some texts very early (before 200), but that the passage was quite possibly in the original autograph.
The Patristic evidence for the Pericope is surprisingly strong in the west. Several church fathers in the fourth and fifth century mention the text, beginning with Pacian of Barcelona, and including Ambrose, Ambrosiaster, Jerome and Augustine. Jerome and Augustine in particular add much to the pro Johannine side of the argument, providing significant ancient evidence and speculation on the passage.
Jerome includes the Pericope Adulterae in his Latin Vulgate translation of the scriptures, thus cementing its future acceptance among the Catholic church. In his Dialogue against the Pelagians, Jerome makes a very intriguing reference to this passage,
“In the Gospel according to John in many manuscripts, both Greek and Latin, is found the story of the adulterous woman who was accused before the Lord.”[14]
This comment is very significant in considering the Pericope Adulterae, and would seem to stand as the strongest pro-Johannine evidence available. As Hodges points out[15], Jerome was well traveled, and would have had a wide exposure to both Greek and Latin texts, many of which were older than any that has survived to this day. Jerome’s statement should carry much more weight with modern New Testament textual scholars than it appears it does.
Augustine goes even further than Jerome does in his commentary on the passage, acknowledging the already existing controversy over the passage and offering a reason for it’s removal from some manuscripts,
“Certain persons of little faith, or rather enemies of true faith, fearing, I suppose, lest their wives should be given impunity in sinning, removed from their manuscripts the Lord’s act of forgiveness toward the adulteress, as if He who said ‘sin no more’ had granted permission to sin.” [16]
While Augustine’s hermeneutical approach to the passage contains a common mistake (Jesus did not specifically forgive the adulterous woman), his observation is very relevant and offers an intriguing possible explanation for the manuscript problems (and textual variances) associated with this passage. Hodges further quotes Ambrose who makes a similar suggestion to Augustine’s – that the passage is a stumbling block.
The contextual argument against this pericope is perhaps the easiest to answer.
While many commentators have pointed out the “disruption” of the Feast of Tabernacles narrative that this pericope seems to effect, Allison Trites convincingly argues the opposite; the entire passage fits into the overall theme of controversy in John 1-12.[17] Other contextual clues could be seen to indicate the proper placement of this passage. For one, it would seem that the story is a great illustration of John 3:17, “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.” (John 3:17, NIV)
The Pericope can also be seen in a literary sense as a response to the question posed in John 7:26, “Here he is, speaking publicly, and they are not saying a word to him. Have the authorities really concluded that he is the Christ?” (John 7:26, NIV)
While much has been made of the grammatical analysis of this pericope, specifically focusing on what is considered non Johannine grammar, there has been some grammatical work on the passage that offers different conclusions. Alan Johnson has used some of the existent grammatical statistical methods on other, non disputed passages of John, and concluded that some of those would be considered non Johannine based on the very same methodology used on the Pericope Adulterae. In addition, he also points out several grammatical features in this passage that are consistent with the rest of John, including the use of “de”, “touto” and “legein” [18]
My own grammatical analysis of the passage has produced some interesting results, further casting doubt on the ability of statistical grammatical analysis to effectively determine canonicity and authorship questions. The phrase “meketi amartane” (no longer sin, or stop sinning) only occurs here in the pericope and in John 5:14, where Jesus likewise instructs the paralytic to stop sinning. “ina ecosin” (that they might) is a phrase found only in verse six, and John 17:13. “Kai palin” (and again) in verse 8 is found six other times in John but only once in Luke. Finally, the phrase “eis ten gen” (in the earth) from verse 6 is found 23 times in the New Testament, 5 are in John, and 12 are in Revelation – so of the 23 times that phrase is used, 17 times it is Johannine. That analysis might be used to impress upon some a level of certainty that John did write this passage, but in fact, in the final analysis it doesn’t add much to the argument one way or the other – except to possibly refute those who use statistical grammatical analysis to “prove” that this Pericope is non-Johannine.
A thorough survey of the evidence reveals one thing quite clearly: the authorship and position of the Pericope Adulterae is not an easy issue to decide. It is perplexing and frustrating to see the certainty that is exhibited by many scholars on both sides of this issue. Bruce Metzger, Phillip Comfort, Kurt Aland, Raymond Brown, George Beasley-Murray, Leon Morris and many others all make absolute statements on the Pericope and point to overwhelming evidence that it is either non-canonical or non Johannine. Beasley-Murray goes so far as to write, “It is universally agreed by textual critics of the Greek NT that this passage was not part of the Fourth Gospel in its original form.”[19]
What an outrageous and misleading statement! On the other hand, there are a few scholars (Elmer Towns, some scholars in the King James only camp, and several Dallas Theological Seminary professors) who are equally adamant that this passage is certainly genuine, and right where it belongs in the New Testament. The fact is that the best and most irrefutable evidence against the Johannine nature of the Pericope Adulterae is its lack of attestation in many of our earliest and best surviving manuscripts. When this manuscript evidence is considered in light of Jerome’s quote above on all of the Greek and Old Latin manuscripts he saw that contained the Pericope (and likely were older than most that we have now) we have a clear conundrum, one that cannot be fairly answered without new evidence coming to light.
Thankfully, one thing is agreed upon by most N.T. scholars – this pericope is very old[20] and very likely to be an accurate event in the life of Jesus. Thus Metzger writes that John 7:53-8:11, “has all the earmarks of historical veracity”[21], and Raymond Brown writes, “There is nothing in the story itself, or its language that would forbid us to think of it as an early story concerning Jesus.”[22]
If this Pericope is in fact a genuine event in the ministry of Jesus – how is it that it is absent in so many early Biblical texts? To put the issue another way, Phillip W. Comfort offers a list of suspect passages in the Textus Receptus, including the Pericope Adulterae. He challenges those who would argue for the inclusion of these questionable passages to, “come up with good arguments as to why scribes (in the early centuries) would have purposely excised these passages.”[23] Gary Burge proposes an interesting, though improvable suggestion that answers both questions: the Pericope Adulterae text was excised from some early manuscripts for theological reasons. Burge points to the unbiblical Doctrine of Penance, as articulated by early church fathers like Tertullian, Clement and Cyprian. Sexual sins in the eyes of many of the early church fathers were very grave, and in some cases unforgivable.[24] In light of that, it is conceivable that this passage was removed, under the impression that it was or too light on a sin, or in fear (As Augustine suggests above) that it would give others license to sin without fear of reprisal. It is also a possibility that the text is a real happening in the life of Jesus that never was put into the gospels because of the fear listed above (or for another reason – as John says, if everything Jesus did was written down, the world couldn’t contain the books!)
A Deeper Look at the Text
We now turn our attention back to the text itself, and from the perspective that it is a genuine happening, and is placed in the appropriate place in the text. Examining this passage in its literary context, we see that Jesus’ ministry, previously marked by amazing miracles and healings at the time of the adulterous pericope had become quite controversial. Jesus’ teachings were very challenging, and He even lost some disciples because of them.
In the events leading up to the encounter, Jesus brothers urge Him to go the Feast of Tabernacles, and he temporarily declined, only to come later and begin to interact with the people. As He teaches, many people believe in Him, and many don’t – causing arguments and strife. The temple guards are sent to arrest Jesus, but they themselves become arrested by His words and fail to complete their job. The Pharisees and other religious leaders meet in anger, considering what to do and finding no solution. It is directly after this that the incident with the adulterous woman happens.
The Old Testament, in Deuteronomy 22 states, “If a man is found sleeping with another man’s wife, both the man who slept with her and the woman must die.” (Deuteronomy 22:24, NIV) Leviticus 20 states similarly, “If a man commits adultery with another man’s wife—with the wife of his neighbor—both the adulterer and the adulteress must be put to death.” (Leviticus 20:10, NIV) These were the laws of Moses referred to in vs. 5 of this passage. Curiously, there is no mention of the man that was with the woman – this has led many to conclude that the situation was a set up from the beginning, (i.e. the woman was also “trapped”) The scribes and Pharisees, therefore, were wanting Jesus to rule on a case that was flawed from the beginning – they were asking Him to incompletely apply the law of Moses to this situation.
This was merely another attempt by the religious leaders to put Jesus in a position where there is no good way out. A similar incident occurs in Matthew 22 (and the other Synoptics): Jesus is asked whether it is right to pay taxes to Caesar, if He answers yes, then the crowds would get angry with Him, if He answers no, then He risks making enemies of the Roman leaders. Also, Jesus uses the same technique against the religious leaders in Matthew 21 when asked who gave Him his authority, His return question, was John’s Baptism from heaven or not, could not be answered in such a way as to not cause the leaders problems. In this particular instance, if Jesus were to “rule” that the woman should be stoned, He would run afoul of Roman laws against mob violence[25] and if He let the woman off the hook, then He would be countermanding the Law of Moses.
The response of Jesus to this dilemma, certainly knowing the religious leader’s hearts and motives, is very interesting: He merely stoops down and writes on the ground. Much ink has been wasted trying to determine what exactly it was that Jesus wrote in the ground. Beasley-Murray offers a good list of past suggestions: Was He writing out His decision in the case before verbally announcing it? Was he writing out a passage from Exodus that warns against supporting a wicked man as a malicious witness? Was He writing in the dust to remind the scribes of Jeremiah’s words, “Those who turn away from you will be written in the dust, because they have forsaken the Lord, the spring of living water.” (Jeremiah 17:13, NIV).[26] I prefer Raymond Brown’s proposal; that Jesus was merely doodling[27], possibly to consider how to handle the situation wisely, possibly in prayer. The fact is that what Jesus wrote has not been recorded, so it clearly was only an important issue for the exact time the incident took place, if even then.
By suggesting that the one who is without sin cast the first stone, Jesus brilliantly defuses the situation. It’s very possible He could be referring to Deuteronomy 17, which prescribes that nobody should be put to death on the testimony of just one witness, and that the witnesses should be the first one to cast the stone. Is Jesus pointing to the possibility of the corruption of the witnesses here – understanding that the woman, though guilty, was caught in an elaborate set up, and thus invalidating the “prosecution’s” case against her, or is He articulating a more basic principle – if you are sinless you can participate in her stoning? This is a difficult question to answer; Stephen James argues somewhat convincingly that what Jesus means by “without sin” in this context is that their case must be presented without evil motives, and in accordance with the law of Moses (how many witnesses to the act were there, more than one? What of the man?) The religious leaders knew their motives weren’t correct, and therefore left the scene.[28]
It is also important to point out here that in defusing the scene the way He did, Jesus did not abrogate the Law of Moses, nor did He completely uphold it – He chose a third, an option that leaves open the question of whether those laws were still applicable in His mind.
The incident ends with Jesus challenging the woman to go and leave her life of sin. Modern and ancient preachers and commentators alike have written or preached that Jesus actually forgave the woman – this is not the case – Jesus did not explicitly forgive her as recorded in the text, He simply chose not to condemn her, and exhorted her to also stop sinning.
Application
If we accept the hypothesis that this Pericope is an accurate and genuine happening, then how does it apply today? Did it abolish the death penalty, as many have argued? Did it usher in an age of more leniency on sin? What sort of standard is Jesus setting for those who would be in a position to judge or pronounce punishment over another? While it is very important to not draw doctrine out of a narrative that doesn’t explicitly indicate doctrinal things, this text can still go beyond being a beautiful story of the mercy and wisdom of Jesus and find application in our modern setting.
The first application to consider is what this story says about the death penalty, if anything. As Stephen James points out, many (including John Howard Yoder, Dwight Erricson, Lewis Smedes, G.H. Clark, Charles H. Milligan etc) have used this passage to argue for the abolishment of the death penalty.[29] A careful reading of the text will clearly show that Jesus does not abolish the death penalty, indeed, He doesn’t even address the issue. Thus, both opponents and proponents of capital punishment will need to look in other places to justify their beliefs.
I believe the real modern application of this passage is found in Jesus’ challenge to the religious leaders, “If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.” (John 8:7 NIV) There seems to be a profound connection to this principle and the plank-eye principle that Jesus articulates in Luke 6 – in order to help remove the speck from your brother’s eye, you must first remove the plank from your own. The principle is this, that we should judge and purify ourselves, worrying less about the bad things we see in other people – until our own issues are dealt with – then we will see clearly to help others out. The principle is not advocating merely minding your own business – it is advocating personal holiness that can lead to corporate holiness when we help and challenge each other in right heart and attitude. The Pharisees and scribes were not at all interested in the principle behind the Mosaic laws they were urging Jesus to rule on (i.e. purge the evil from among you), they were just interested in accomplishing their own agendas. The church today cries out for those who would walk in holiness and near the heart of God to the point where we can see clearly enough to help our brothers out with the specks in their eyes, and we can pass judgments rightly.
Conclusion
An objective look at the Pericope Adulterae, its context, its grammar and its manuscript history leads one to the conclusion that this passage has been rightly seen as controversial through the ages. There is not the kind of overwhelming evidence that is needed for dogmatic statements regarding the authorship and canonicity of John 7:53-8:11 either for or against. There is substantial evidence, however, to demonstrate that this text represents a genuine and accurate event in the life of Jesus, and as such it can inform the modern believer about the nature of Jesus and the importance of holiness in the realm of judgment.
[1] Somewhat awkward, but not completely out of place – see below.
[2] Some scholars point out that Jesus sitting and teaching is a common feature of the Synoptic Gospels, and cite it as further proof of the Non-Johannine authorship of the Pericope – see John 6:3, however for another instance of Jesus sitting down among the people. Borchert, Gerald The New American Commentary Volume 25A: John 1-11. (electronic edition) Logos LibrarySystem (Nashville: Broadman Press, 1996)
[3] For a full list of the major Greek manuscripts that omit this pericope, see: Metzger, Bruce M. A Textual Commentary on the Greek New Testament, Second Ed. (New York: Oxford, 1992.), 219-220
[4] Brown, Raymond E. John 1-11. Anchor Bible 29. Garden City:
Doubleday, 1982, 335
[5] Metzger, Bruce M. The Text of the New Testament – Its Transmission, Corruption and Restoration, Third Ed. (New York: Oxford, 1992.), 50
[6] The Text of the New Testament – Its Transmission, Corruption and Restoration p. xxix
[7] Burge, Gary M. “A Specific Problem In The New Testament Text And Canon: The Woman Caught In Adultery (John 7:53-8:11)” (Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 27 no.2), 144
[8] “A Specific Problem In The New Testament Text And Canon: The Woman Caught In Adultery (John 7:53-8:11)” 142
[9] Hodges, Zane C. “Problem Passages in the Gospel of John
Part 8: The Woman Taken in Adultery (John 7:53-8:11)” (Bibliotheca Sacra 136 no. 544 (October, 1979), 329
[10] Poythress, Vern S. “Testing for Johannine Authorship by Examining the Use of Conjunctions” (Westminster Theological Journal 46, no. 2 Fall 1984), 362
[11] Bryant, Beauford H. and Krause, Mark S. John. The College Press NIV Commentary. (Joplin: College Press, 1998)
[12] Borchert, Gerald – John 1-11 The New American Commentary. (Nashville: Broadman Press, 1996)
[13] “Problem Passages in the Gospel of John Part 8: The Woman Taken in Adultery (John 7:53-8:11)” 323
[14] As quoted in “Problem Passages in the Gospel of John Part 8: The Woman Taken in Adultery (John 7:53-8:11)” 330
[15] “Problem Passages in the Gospel of John Part 8: The Woman Taken in Adultery (John 7:53-8:11)” 330
[16] As quoted in “Problem Passages in the Gospel of John Part 8: The Woman Taken in Adultery (John 7:53-8:11)” 331
[17] Trites, Allison A. “The Woman Taken in Adultery” (Bibliotheca Sacra 131 no. 522 April, 1974) 138-144
[18] Johnson, Alan F. “A Stylistic Trait of the Fourth Gospel in the Pericope Adulterae” Bulletin of the Evangelical Theological Society (IX Spring, 1966) 91-96
[19] Beasley-Murray, George R. The Gospel according to John The Word Biblical Commentary. (Dallas: Word Incorporated, 1999.)
[20] Raymond Brown quotes Eusebius, who in turn quotes Papias writing near the time of the Apostles about a woman who was brought before Jesus accused of many sins. Brown also mentions the 3rd century Syrian Didascalia Apostolorum, which gives clear reference to the events of the Pericope Adulterae which indicates that 2nd century Syria knew of the narrative. John 1-11, p. 335
[21] Textual Commentary on the Greek New Testament, p. 220
[22] John 1-11, p. 335
[23] Comfort, Phillip W. Encountering the Manuscripts (Nashville: Broadman and Holman, 2005) p.99
[24] “A Specific Problem In The New Testament Text And Canon: The Woman Caught In Adultery (John 7:53-8:11)” pages 146-148
[25] John 1-11 The New American Commentary
[26] The Gospel according to John The Word Biblical Commentary
[27] John 1-11. Anchor Bible 29 p. 334
[28] James, Stephen A. “The Adulteress And The Death Penalty.” (Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 22 no. 1 March, 1979) pages 49-50.
[29] “The Adulteress And The Death Penalty.” Pages 45-46
Happy Shelter in Place Day, Friends! I find myself living in the part of Central California right now that has been essentially shut down for the next 22 days, and our Shelter in Place order just went into effect about an hour ago. These are strange, strange times! So – sometimes people ask me how it’s going doing a daily podcast. I can tell you that each episode takes just a little under 3 hours from start to finish, which includes writing the episode, recording it, editing it in Audacity, and entering all of the pertinent information into a WordPress and Libsyn post. Longer episodes take longer, shorter episodes can be around 2 hours of time. Last night was one of the later nights for the show. One of my daughters wanted to watch a show with me, and I’ll take just about any excuse I can to spend time with them, so we watched a show together, which began after midnight. Then I wrote a fairly long pastoral email to the congregation of the church I pastor about the coronavirus pandemic. When I say fairly long, I mean over 1800 words, so about 6 pages worth. We’re in California, and on a virtual lock-down, so hopefully they had a little extra time to read. One of the problems being in a church that is pastored by somebody who fancies himself as a writer is that you can get very long emails from time to time. If you are a leader at the church I pastor, you got a 2100 word email from me AND an 1800 word email from me within the space of 4 days. I should repent in sackcloth and ashes for that, I suppose, but these are trying times we live in right now, filled with dangers like novel viruses, lack of toilet paper, and novel-length emails from pastors.
ANYWAY, the point of what I was trying to say earlier before I rambled was that I didn’t start WRITING the podcast until around 3AM. Fortunately, I had some great material from pastor David Platt to use, so I didn’t have to write a ton of original material myself. It was, however, one of the few times since I began this daily podcast in January that I kind of just wanted to go to bed, and not spend 2 hours or so on a podcast. HOWEVER – when I got to the point of recording it, and I got to the part where I was just reading the Scriptures into the microphone, that’s when I noticed something that happens practically every time I do the podcast: THE WORD OF GOD ENCOURAGED ME. It gave me HOPE. It built me up. It elevated my mood. Almost every time I record this show, I come away encouraged. Not because I like recording and editing a podcast – that can get a little tedious…but because the WORD of God is powerful, and supernatural, and it just builds me up in faith, because faith comes by HEARING THE WORD OF GOD. I just wanted to share that with you as a benefit. You can get that same benefit – without the 2-3 hours of writing, recording and editing by simply READING (or listening!) to the WORD OF GOD! If you haven’t done so yet, allow me to encourage you to listen to the other half of today’s episode – episode #78 – I split today’s show into two parts so it wouldn’t be too long.
In today’s reading, we encounter the story of the woman caught in adultery, known to scholars as the Pericope Adulterae. Many scholars, including many evangelical ones, consider this passage to be a later edition to the New Testament, and in most modern Bibles, this part of John is set apart to show doubt about the passage. So – what’s going on here, and was this story original to John’s Gospel, or was it a later edition?
The Pericope Adulterae, found in John 7:53-8:11, is surrounded by more controversy and conjecture than any other New Testament Passage with the possible exception of the ending of Mark. The authorship and placement of this pericope has been hotly debated at least since the fifth century, and there are still scholars lined up on opposite sides of the issues surrounding this passage.
Attempting to extract meaning and application from this passage is almost meaningless without first wrestling with the genuineness of the text and the mass of evidence for and against it. The issue is simple to grasp – if this pericope is a genuine and accurate happening in the life of Jesus, then it carries just as much weight as the rest of the New Testament. Conversely, if the passage is a later edition with no basis in fact (i.e. it never happened) then the passage is notable only for its historical value and the question of how it became inserted into many manuscripts of the New Testament. Though it will be argued that there is no way to be certain of the historicity of this passage, the preponderance of the evidence points to it being a genuine happening in the life of Jesus, and as such it does have application in the modern church and it can inform how we live and interact with each other.
Summary of the Passage
7:53-8:2 The Pericope Adulterae begins with a somewhat awkward[1] transition from the previous narrative. The stage is set here; Jesus has spent the night at the Mount of Olives and dawn finds Him mingling with the crowd near the temple courts. His very presence attracts a crowd and notably (for the fourth Gospel)[2] Jesus sits down to teach them.
8:3-8:6a As Jesus is teaching the people, The scribes and Pharisees bring in a woman and stand her in front of the crowd. They explain to Jesus that the woman was caught in the act of committing adultery, and (on the surface) they present her to Jesus for judgment. The question is, should the woman be stoned in accordance with the law of Moses? The text informs us that this question is a trap for Jesus, a classic catch 22, there is no clear way that Jesus can give a verdict here without opening Himself up to some basis for accusation, either in the eyes of the Roman authorities, or the people.
8:6b-8:9 Perplexingly, Jesus doesn’t answer their questions immediately, indeed, He never gives them the verdict. Instead, He leans over and writes on the ground. The accusers persist in their questioning, and Jesus finally responds with His classic retort, challenging any one of the accusers without sin to be the one that casts the first stone. Though we don’t know how much time passed after Jesus’ challenge, one can almost be assured of an awkward silence, punctuated by occasional stones hitting the soft earth as they fall from the hands of the accusers. Beginning with the eldest among them, the scribes and Pharisees melt away into the crowd.
8:10-8:11 Jesus and the accused woman are left as the center of attention. He initiates dialogue her, asking the obvious questions – where is everybody? Is no one left to condemn? Upon her acknowledgment that they have all left, Jesus also refuses to condemn the woman, but warns her to leave behind her life of sin.
Controversy and Canonicity: Contra Johannine
This Pericope is a wonderful piece of literature; very moving and dramatic. Jesus cleverly meets the challenge of the scribes and Pharisees without compromising and without falling into a trap, and the woman caught in sin is given a second chance to repent. It’s a powerful story, but is it genuine? Did it really happen? If it did really happen, why is there so much evidence against it being an original part of the gospel of John? A survey of the evidence for and against genuineness is presented below.
The majority of New Testament scholars are fairly adamant that the Pericope Adulterae is non-Johannine in origin. The ancient manuscript evidence is indeed stacked against this Pericope. Bruce Metzger points out that all major early Greek manuscripts omit the Pericope, including our oldest and most respected early manuscripts, Codex Sinaiticus, Codex Vaticanus, p66 and p75.[3] Though some Old Latin manuscripts include the Pericope, many omit it as well, and the early Syriac, and Coptic manuscripts do not contain the passage[4]. Codex Bezae is the only major Greek manuscript prior to the 8th century that this pericope appears in, and Bezae is known for its many interpolations. In fact, Metzger states,
“No other manuscript has so many and such remarkable variations from what is usually taken to be the New Testament Text. Codex Bezae’s special characteristic is the free addition (and occasional omission) of words, sentences and even incidences.”[5]
Further manuscript evidence against the Johannine nature of the Pericope is the variety of places it is attached in some of the manuscripts that do contain it. In some manuscripts, it appears after John 7:36, in some after John 7:44, some as an addition at the end of John’s gospel, some after Luke 21:28, and some even after Luke 24:53.[6] Though the number of manuscripts that displace this pericope is not overwhelming, the mere fact of its varied appearance in even a few manuscripts tends to cast doubt on the concreteness of its location after John 7:52.
The final bit of manuscript evidence is the unusually high number of textual variants found in the manuscripts that do contain the pericope. Gary Burge points out that line per line, these twelve verses contain more textual variants across the manuscript tradition than almost any other passage of scripture. [7]
There is also much patristic evidence, especially in the east, stacked against the passage. This pericope is not mentioned by any Greek Father until Euthymius Zigabenus in the 12th century and isn’t found in the writings of the early Fathers in the west either. Thus, it is omitted by Origen, Clement, Cyprian, Irenaeus, Tertullian, Cyril and Chrysostom,[8] even in writings where it would seem to be an appropriate resource for them to use. While Zane Hodges tries to make the case that the absence of the Pericope in these church fathers constitutes an argument from silence, and thus proves nothing[9], the fact of the matter is that this is more empirical evidence stacked against the pericope, and it adds weight to the non-Johannine argument.
While the manuscript evidence would seem to be the greatest evidence against the Pericope, there are also suspicious grammatical and contextual features of the text. Statistical analysis of the text has claimed to show several features which “prove” its non Johannine nature. Vern Poythress has examined the grammatical use of the conjunctions “de”, “oun”, “kai”, and “asyndeton” in the Gospel of John, and developed some general rules that John appears to follow. Upon examination of the adulteress pericope, it would appear that there are enough variations in its use of conjunctions (compared with the rest of John) to allow Poythress to conclude that this Pericope is not written by John.[10]
Further grammatical evidence focuses on the words that are used in the passage. Bryant and Krause point out that approximately nine percent, or 15 of the words used in this pericope do not occur elsewhere in the gospel, the highest percentage for a passage of this size in John[11]. The Mount of Olives, The scribes, and the phrase “early morning” are not found anywhere else in the gospel of John, but all are somewhat common in the synoptic gospels. In addition, only here in John is Jesus addressed as teacher.
While some of these unique words can be explained by the nature of the story, as well as the semi-technical judicial language employed, there are still a high frequency of unique words and constructs here compared with the rest of John.
Finally, there is contextual evidence that seems to indicate this pericope is out of place. Borchert[12] and many others believe that the text disrupts the flow of the Feast of Tabernacles narrative. Many point out its similarity in time and setting to Luke 21:37-38, and (as mentioned above) some manuscripts place the passage right after verse 38 because it seems to be a better fit. It is also true that the flow of the text from 7:52 to 8:12 is smooth and uninterrupted when this passage is removed, but of course, that could be said of many passages!
Controversy and Canonicity: Pro Johannine
Most scholars believe the evidence against the Pericope Adulterae is overwhelming, but there is much positive evidence for the ancientness of this event, and even some evidence that would seem to indicate the text is Johannine and not at all out of place.
The strongest evidence for the veracity and Johannine nature of the Pericope comes from the manuscripts and church fathers of the west. Several Old Latin manuscripts do in fact contain the Pericope. Hodges argues valiantly that the absence of the passage in our earliest and most reliable manuscripts (Sinaiticus, Vaticanus, p66 and p75) is due to those manuscripts being of a proto-Alexandrian origin, and thus likely coming from the same (ancient) exemplar, one which had the passage intentionally excised.[13] He posits that the Pericope was removed from some texts very early (before 200), but that the passage was quite possibly in the original autograph.
The Patristic evidence for the Pericope is surprisingly strong in the west. Several church fathers in the fourth and fifth century mention the text, beginning with Pacian of Barcelona, and including Ambrose, Ambrosiaster, Jerome and Augustine. Jerome and Augustine in particular add much to the pro Johannine side of the argument, providing significant ancient evidence and speculation on the passage.
Jerome includes the Pericope Adulterae in his Latin Vulgate translation of the scriptures, thus cementing its future acceptance among the Catholic church. In his Dialogue against the Pelagians, Jerome makes a very intriguing reference to this passage,
“In the Gospel according to John in many manuscripts, both Greek and Latin, is found the story of the adulterous woman who was accused before the Lord.”[14]
This comment is very significant in considering the Pericope Adulterae, and would seem to stand as the strongest pro-Johannine evidence available. As Hodges points out[15], Jerome was well traveled, and would have had a wide exposure to both Greek and Latin texts, many of which were older than any that has survived to this day. Jerome’s statement should carry much more weight with modern New Testament textual scholars than it appears it does.
Augustine goes even further than Jerome does in his commentary on the passage, acknowledging the already existing controversy over the passage and offering a reason for it’s removal from some manuscripts,
“Certain persons of little faith, or rather enemies of true faith, fearing, I suppose, lest their wives should be given impunity in sinning, removed from their manuscripts the Lord’s act of forgiveness toward the adulteress, as if He who said ‘sin no more’ had granted permission to sin.” [16]
While Augustine’s hermeneutical approach to the passage contains a common mistake (Jesus did not specifically forgive the adulterous woman), his observation is very relevant and offers an intriguing possible explanation for the manuscript problems (and textual variances) associated with this passage. Hodges further quotes Ambrose who makes a similar suggestion to Augustine’s – that the passage is a stumbling block.
The contextual argument against this pericope is perhaps the easiest to answer.
While many commentators have pointed out the “disruption” of the Feast of Tabernacles narrative that this pericope seems to effect, Allison Trites convincingly argues the opposite; the entire passage fits into the overall theme of controversy in John 1-12.[17] Other contextual clues could be seen to indicate the proper placement of this passage. For one, it would seem that the story is a great illustration of John 3:17, “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.” (John 3:17, NIV)
The Pericope can also be seen in a literary sense as a response to the question posed in John 7:26, “Here he is, speaking publicly, and they are not saying a word to him. Have the authorities really concluded that he is the Christ?” (John 7:26, NIV)
While much has been made of the grammatical analysis of this pericope, specifically focusing on what is considered non Johannine grammar, there has been some grammatical work on the passage that offers different conclusions. Alan Johnson has used some of the existent grammatical statistical methods on other, non disputed passages of John, and concluded that some of those would be considered non Johannine based on the very same methodology used on the Pericope Adulterae. In addition, he also points out several grammatical features in this passage that are consistent with the rest of John, including the use of “de”, “touto” and “legein” [18]
My own grammatical analysis of the passage has produced some interesting results, further casting doubt on the ability of statistical grammatical analysis to effectively determine canonicity and authorship questions. The phrase “meketi amartane” (no longer sin, or stop sinning) only occurs here in the pericope and in John 5:14, where Jesus likewise instructs the paralytic to stop sinning. “ina ecosin” (that they might) is a phrase found only in verse six, and John 17:13. “Kai palin” (and again) in verse 8 is found six other times in John but only once in Luke. Finally, the phrase “eis ten gen” (in the earth) from verse 6 is found 23 times in the New Testament, 5 are in John, and 12 are in Revelation – so of the 23 times that phrase is used, 17 times it is Johannine. That analysis might be used to impress upon some a level of certainty that John did write this passage, but in fact, in the final analysis it doesn’t add much to the argument one way or the other – except to possibly refute those who use statistical grammatical analysis to “prove” that this Pericope is non-Johannine.
A thorough survey of the evidence reveals one thing quite clearly: the authorship and position of the Pericope Adulterae is not an easy issue to decide. It is perplexing and frustrating to see the certainty that is exhibited by many scholars on both sides of this issue. Bruce Metzger, Phillip Comfort, Kurt Aland, Raymond Brown, George Beasley-Murray, Leon Morris and many others all make absolute statements on the Pericope and point to overwhelming evidence that it is either non-canonical or non Johannine. Beasley-Murray goes so far as to write, “It is universally agreed by textual critics of the Greek NT that this passage was not part of the Fourth Gospel in its original form.”[19]
What an outrageous and misleading statement! On the other hand, there are a few scholars (Elmer Towns, some scholars in the King James only camp, and several Dallas Theological Seminary professors) who are equally adamant that this passage is certainly genuine, and right where it belongs in the New Testament. The fact is that the best and most irrefutable evidence against the Johannine nature of the Pericope Adulterae is its lack of attestation in many of our earliest and best surviving manuscripts. When this manuscript evidence is considered in light of Jerome’s quote above on all of the Greek and Old Latin manuscripts he saw that contained the Pericope (and likely were older than most that we have now) we have a clear conundrum, one that cannot be fairly answered without new evidence coming to light.
Thankfully, one thing is agreed upon by most N.T. scholars – this pericope is very old[20] and very likely to be an accurate event in the life of Jesus. Thus Metzger writes that John 7:53-8:11, “has all the earmarks of historical veracity”[21], and Raymond Brown writes, “There is nothing in the story itself, or its language that would forbid us to think of it as an early story concerning Jesus.”[22]
If this Pericope is in fact a genuine event in the ministry of Jesus – how is it that it is absent in so many early Biblical texts? To put the issue another way, Phillip W. Comfort offers a list of suspect passages in the Textus Receptus, including the Pericope Adulterae. He challenges those who would argue for the inclusion of these questionable passages to, “come up with good arguments as to why scribes (in the early centuries) would have purposely excised these passages.”[23] Gary Burge proposes an interesting, though improvable suggestion that answers both questions: the Pericope Adulterae text was excised from some early manuscripts for theological reasons. Burge points to the unbiblical Doctrine of Penance, as articulated by early church fathers like Tertullian, Clement and Cyprian. Sexual sins in the eyes of many of the early church fathers were very grave, and in some cases unforgivable.[24] In light of that, it is conceivable that this passage was removed, under the impression that it was or too light on a sin, or in fear (As Augustine suggests above) that it would give others license to sin without fear of reprisal. It is also a possibility that the text is a real happening in the life of Jesus that never was put into the gospels because of the fear listed above (or for another reason – as John says, if everything Jesus did was written down, the world couldn’t contain the books!)
A Deeper Look at the Text
We now turn our attention back to the text itself, and from the perspective that it is a genuine happening, and is placed in the appropriate place in the text. Examining this passage in its literary context, we see that Jesus’ ministry, previously marked by amazing miracles and healings at the time of the adulterous pericope had become quite controversial. Jesus’ teachings were very challenging, and He even lost some disciples because of them.
In the events leading up to the encounter, Jesus brothers urge Him to go the Feast of Tabernacles, and he temporarily declined, only to come later and begin to interact with the people. As He teaches, many people believe in Him, and many don’t – causing arguments and strife. The temple guards are sent to arrest Jesus, but they themselves become arrested by His words and fail to complete their job. The Pharisees and other religious leaders meet in anger, considering what to do and finding no solution. It is directly after this that the incident with the adulterous woman happens.
The Old Testament, in Deuteronomy 22 states, “If a man is found sleeping with another man’s wife, both the man who slept with her and the woman must die.” (Deuteronomy 22:24, NIV) Leviticus 20 states similarly, “If a man commits adultery with another man’s wife—with the wife of his neighbor—both the adulterer and the adulteress must be put to death.” (Leviticus 20:10, NIV) These were the laws of Moses referred to in vs. 5 of this passage. Curiously, there is no mention of the man that was with the woman – this has led many to conclude that the situation was a set up from the beginning, (i.e. the woman was also “trapped”) The scribes and Pharisees, therefore, were wanting Jesus to rule on a case that was flawed from the beginning – they were asking Him to incompletely apply the law of Moses to this situation.
This was merely another attempt by the religious leaders to put Jesus in a position where there is no good way out. A similar incident occurs in Matthew 22 (and the other Synoptics): Jesus is asked whether it is right to pay taxes to Caesar, if He answers yes, then the crowds would get angry with Him, if He answers no, then He risks making enemies of the Roman leaders. Also, Jesus uses the same technique against the religious leaders in Matthew 21 when asked who gave Him his authority, His return question, was John’s Baptism from heaven or not, could not be answered in such a way as to not cause the leaders problems. In this particular instance, if Jesus were to “rule” that the woman should be stoned, He would run afoul of Roman laws against mob violence[25] and if He let the woman off the hook, then He would be countermanding the Law of Moses.
The response of Jesus to this dilemma, certainly knowing the religious leader’s hearts and motives, is very interesting: He merely stoops down and writes on the ground. Much ink has been wasted trying to determine what exactly it was that Jesus wrote in the ground. Beasley-Murray offers a good list of past suggestions: Was He writing out His decision in the case before verbally announcing it? Was he writing out a passage from Exodus that warns against supporting a wicked man as a malicious witness? Was He writing in the dust to remind the scribes of Jeremiah’s words, “Those who turn away from you will be written in the dust, because they have forsaken the Lord, the spring of living water.” (Jeremiah 17:13, NIV).[26] I prefer Raymond Brown’s proposal; that Jesus was merely doodling[27], possibly to consider how to handle the situation wisely, possibly in prayer. The fact is that what Jesus wrote has not been recorded, so it clearly was only an important issue for the exact time the incident took place, if even then.
By suggesting that the one who is without sin cast the first stone, Jesus brilliantly defuses the situation. It’s very possible He could be referring to Deuteronomy 17, which prescribes that nobody should be put to death on the testimony of just one witness, and that the witnesses should be the first one to cast the stone. Is Jesus pointing to the possibility of the corruption of the witnesses here – understanding that the woman, though guilty, was caught in an elaborate set up, and thus invalidating the “prosecution’s” case against her, or is He articulating a more basic principle – if you are sinless you can participate in her stoning? This is a difficult question to answer; Stephen James argues somewhat convincingly that what Jesus means by “without sin” in this context is that their case must be presented without evil motives, and in accordance with the law of Moses (how many witnesses to the act were there, more than one? What of the man?) The religious leaders knew their motives weren’t correct, and therefore left the scene.[28]
It is also important to point out here that in defusing the scene the way He did, Jesus did not abrogate the Law of Moses, nor did He completely uphold it – He chose a third, an option that leaves open the question of whether those laws were still applicable in His mind.
The incident ends with Jesus challenging the woman to go and leave her life of sin. Modern and ancient preachers and commentators alike have written or preached that Jesus actually forgave the woman – this is not the case – Jesus did not explicitly forgive her as recorded in the text, He simply chose not to condemn her, and exhorted her to also stop sinning.
Application
If we accept the hypothesis that this Pericope is an accurate and genuine happening, then how does it apply today? Did it abolish the death penalty, as many have argued? Did it usher in an age of more leniency on sin? What sort of standard is Jesus setting for those who would be in a position to judge or pronounce punishment over another? While it is very important to not draw doctrine out of a narrative that doesn’t explicitly indicate doctrinal things, this text can still go beyond being a beautiful story of the mercy and wisdom of Jesus and find application in our modern setting.
The first application to consider is what this story says about the death penalty, if anything. As Stephen James points out, many (including John Howard Yoder, Dwight Erricson, Lewis Smedes, G.H. Clark, Charles H. Milligan etc) have used this passage to argue for the abolishment of the death penalty.[29] A careful reading of the text will clearly show that Jesus does not abolish the death penalty, indeed, He doesn’t even address the issue. Thus, both opponents and proponents of capital punishment will need to look in other places to justify their beliefs.
I believe the real modern application of this passage is found in Jesus’ challenge to the religious leaders, “If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.” (John 8:7 NIV) There seems to be a profound connection to this principle and the plank-eye principle that Jesus articulates in Luke 6 – in order to help remove the speck from your brother’s eye, you must first remove the plank from your own. The principle is this, that we should judge and purify ourselves, worrying less about the bad things we see in other people – until our own issues are dealt with – then we will see clearly to help others out. The principle is not advocating merely minding your own business – it is advocating personal holiness that can lead to corporate holiness when we help and challenge each other in right heart and attitude. The Pharisees and scribes were not at all interested in the principle behind the Mosaic laws they were urging Jesus to rule on (i.e. purge the evil from among you), they were just interested in accomplishing their own agendas. The church today cries out for those who would walk in holiness and near the heart of God to the point where we can see clearly enough to help our brothers out with the specks in their eyes, and we can pass judgments rightly.
Conclusion
An objective look at the Pericope Adulterae, its context, its grammar and its manuscript history leads one to the conclusion that this passage has been rightly seen as controversial through the ages. There is not the kind of overwhelming evidence that is needed for dogmatic statements regarding the authorship and canonicity of John 7:53-8:11 either for or against. There is substantial evidence, however, to demonstrate that this text represents a genuine and accurate event in the life of Jesus, and as such it can inform the modern believer about the nature of Jesus and the importance of holiness in the realm of judgment.
[1] Somewhat awkward, but not completely out of place – see below.
[2] Some scholars point out that Jesus sitting and teaching is a common feature of the Synoptic Gospels, and cite it as further proof of the Non-Johannine authorship of the Pericope – see John 6:3, however for another instance of Jesus sitting down among the people. Borchert, Gerald The New American Commentary Volume 25A: John 1-11. (electronic edition) Logos LibrarySystem (Nashville: Broadman Press, 1996)
[3] For a full list of the major Greek manuscripts that omit this pericope, see: Metzger, Bruce M. A Textual Commentary on the Greek New Testament, Second Ed. (New York: Oxford, 1992.), 219-220
[4] Brown, Raymond E. John 1-11. Anchor Bible 29. Garden City:
Doubleday, 1982, 335
[5] Metzger, Bruce M. The Text of the New Testament – Its Transmission, Corruption and Restoration, Third Ed. (New York: Oxford, 1992.), 50
[6] The Text of the New Testament – Its Transmission, Corruption and Restoration p. xxix
[7] Burge, Gary M. “A Specific Problem In The New Testament Text And Canon: The Woman Caught In Adultery (John 7:53-8:11)” (Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 27 no.2), 144
[8] “A Specific Problem In The New Testament Text And Canon: The Woman Caught In Adultery (John 7:53-8:11)” 142
[9] Hodges, Zane C. “Problem Passages in the Gospel of John
Part 8: The Woman Taken in Adultery (John 7:53-8:11)” (Bibliotheca Sacra 136 no. 544 (October, 1979), 329
[10] Poythress, Vern S. “Testing for Johannine Authorship by Examining the Use of Conjunctions” (Westminster Theological Journal 46, no. 2 Fall 1984), 362
[11] Bryant, Beauford H. and Krause, Mark S. John. The College Press NIV Commentary. (Joplin: College Press, 1998)
[12] Borchert, Gerald – John 1-11 The New American Commentary. (Nashville: Broadman Press, 1996)
[13] “Problem Passages in the Gospel of John Part 8: The Woman Taken in Adultery (John 7:53-8:11)” 323
[14] As quoted in “Problem Passages in the Gospel of John Part 8: The Woman Taken in Adultery (John 7:53-8:11)” 330
[15] “Problem Passages in the Gospel of John Part 8: The Woman Taken in Adultery (John 7:53-8:11)” 330
[16] As quoted in “Problem Passages in the Gospel of John Part 8: The Woman Taken in Adultery (John 7:53-8:11)” 331
[17] Trites, Allison A. “The Woman Taken in Adultery” (Bibliotheca Sacra 131 no. 522 April, 1974) 138-144
[18] Johnson, Alan F. “A Stylistic Trait of the Fourth Gospel in the Pericope Adulterae” Bulletin of the Evangelical Theological Society (IX Spring, 1966) 91-96
[19] Beasley-Murray, George R. The Gospel according to John The Word Biblical Commentary. (Dallas: Word Incorporated, 1999.)
[20] Raymond Brown quotes Eusebius, who in turn quotes Papias writing near the time of the Apostles about a woman who was brought before Jesus accused of many sins. Brown also mentions the 3rd century Syrian Didascalia Apostolorum, which gives clear reference to the events of the Pericope Adulterae which indicates that 2nd century Syria knew of the narrative. John 1-11, p. 335
[21] Textual Commentary on the Greek New Testament, p. 220
[22] John 1-11, p. 335
[23] Comfort, Phillip W. Encountering the Manuscripts (Nashville: Broadman and Holman, 2005) p.99
[24] “A Specific Problem In The New Testament Text And Canon: The Woman Caught In Adultery (John 7:53-8:11)” pages 146-148
[25] John 1-11 The New American Commentary
[26] The Gospel according to John The Word Biblical Commentary
[27] John 1-11. Anchor Bible 29 p. 334
[28] James, Stephen A. “The Adulteress And The Death Penalty.” (Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 22 no. 1 March, 1979) pages 49-50.
[29] “The Adulteress And The Death Penalty.” Pages 45-46
Download the other episode too - it contains the discussion of the Woman Caught in Adultery!
Happy Tuesday, friends! Another short podcast today, due to an incredibly long pastoral letter written tonight. This should help make up for our very long episode yesterday! Today's Bible passages are Exodus 28, Proverbs 4, John 7 and Galatians 3 - which is our focus passage. Our big question is focused in on one of the deepest and most beautiful - and central! -truths of Christianity: That salvation and justification (being made righteous in the eyes of God) is NOT by our actions, works, or internal goodness, but by BELIEVING in Jesus - the one who does the action and has the internal goodness. Let's read Galatians 3, and then come back and discuss Justification by faith.
Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law or by believing what you heard? 3 Are you so foolish? After beginning by the Spirit, are you now finishing by the flesh? 4 Did you experience so much for nothing—if in fact it was for nothing? 5 So then, does God give you the Spirit and work miracles among you by your doing the works of the law? Or is it by believing what you heard— 6 just like Abraham who believed God,and it was credited to him for righteousness?
Galatians 3:2-6
We see and hear Paul's heart VERY clearly in Galatians, because he is wearing it on his sleeve, and he is PLEADING with the Galatians NOT to abandon the core of Christianity - saved by grace, through faith - in favor of the core of RELIGION: salvation by works and earning God's favor. He reminds the Galatians that the presence of the Holy Spirit was NOT given to them because they completely followed the law, but because of their BELIEF! He reminds them that growing in the Christian life is also not by striving works, but by a work of the Spirit through grace and faith. The illustration he uses so that they will understand what he is telling them is the illustration of Abraham. God didn't choose Abraham and save Abraham because Abraham was special - God chose Abraham in grace, and saved him because ABRAHAM BELIEVED God's promise! Let's turn to our friend pastor David Platt to help us understand that God CHOSE Abraham by grace (not Abraham's merit):
First, for Abraham to believe God means that he was transformed by the sovereign grace of God. I want you to think about this with me. This whole story started at the end of Genesis 11 and beginning of Genesis 12. Abraham was from Ur of the Chaldeans. This is a pagan people in a pagan place. We have no indication whatsoever in Genesis 11 or 12 or anywhere else that there was something in Abraham that caused God to say, “I need to make him the father of my people.” The initiative is completely with God. You see it in Genesis 12:1–3. Five times God says, “I will do this.” You see no emphasis on what Abraham is doing in this picture. It’s all based on the gracious initiative of God. God is saying, “I’m going to bless him.” It is God calling out Abraham. Why Abraham? We know Job was living around this time. I’m sure there were other people that, maybe, even were better people. Why did God choose Abraham?
What we’re seeing here is that it’s nothing more than the sovereign grace of God at work. He called out Abraham. He chose Abraham by His grace, and that’s the story we’re going to see in the rest of Abraham’s life. Let’s admit it: this father of faith in the Bible is not always the most stellar character. This is a guy who’s willing to lie on a couple of different occasions in order to try to protect his life. This is a guy who almost gives his wife away to the king of Egypt. This is a guy who struggles with his faith numerous different times, but the picture is that this is intentional. God is showing us that the picture of His covenant is not going to be based on what is found in man and what man can produce on his own. It’s going to be found in the grace of God, and the picture is that Abraham’s entire life, his faith itself, is evidence of God’s grace in his life. He was transformed by the sovereign grace of God.
David Platt, “Believing God,” in David Platt Sermon Archive (Birmingham, AL: David Platt, 2010), 2392–2393.
Next, let's consider what it means that Abraham was JUSTIFIED by FAITH. It is important to realize that WE are also justified by faith - that's why I think it is super important for us to understand what Paul is saying here. We'll go back to our friend David Platt to help us understand what faith involves:
Paul builds this whole picture of Abraham being justified by faith, Abraham having righteousness credited to him because he believed God, because he believed the promises of God, because he had faith. But then what’s so cool is you get to the end in verse 22. It’s talking about faith and Abraham. He says, “This is why ‘it was credited to him as righteousness.’ ” But listen to this. “The words ‘it was credited to him’ were not written for him alone, but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness—for us who believe in Him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead” (Rom. 4:23–24). The whole picture is believe, have faith, and that’s why you get to this triumphant pronouncement in chapter 5:1 that says, “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
The picture is faith dominates this. Now we’ve got to be clear on what faith means here because...people have all kinds of ideas, even in the Church, about what faith is and there’s a faith that leads to salvation and there’s a faith that doesn’t lead to salvation.
So what is the Biblical faith, saving faith that is being talked about here, a faith that leads to salvation? I want to show you two facets of it in Romans. Faith involves first, turning. What happens in chapter 4 and 5, he develops this picture we are justified by faith alone. Then you get to 6:1 and listen to what he says. He builds this case of being justified by faith and then he says, “What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life” (Rom. 6:1–4). When you place your faith in Christ, when you trust in Him, that means you turn from sin. You don’t live in sin any longer.
So faith is a turning first from our sin. You see this even clearer down in verse 11–14 in chapter 6. He says, “… count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.
Faith next involves trusting. Turning from sin, turning to Him, and He becomes our life, Jesus. We turn from sin and ourselves and we turn to Jesus. This is what it means to have faith in Jesus. He becomes our life. Look at 8:10–11. Listen to how he talks about this transformation that happens and look at the picture of trusting in Jesus Christ. Romans 8:10–11, “… If Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness. And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you.” When you see the character of God and the sinfulness of man and the sufficiency of Christ, and you turn from your sin and you trust in the sufficiency of Christ, then He becomes your life.
Paul develops this in depth. Keep going to the right, Romans 10:9, a familiar verse to many of us. Look at Romans 10:9. This is faith that leads to salvation. Romans 10:9, “… If you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. As the Scripture says, ‘Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame.’ For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all,” third time we’ve seen the word “Lord” in these few short verses, “and richly blesses all who call on him, for, ‘Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord,’ ” fourth time, “ ‘will be saved’ ” (Rom. 10:9–13).
So faith involves a turning and it involves a trusting in Jesus, a trusting in Jesus first of all as Lord, trusting in Jesus as Lord. If you confess with your mouth Jesus is Lord, the dominant title for Jesus in the book of Acts and the book of Romans is Lord, is Lord.
David Platt, “The Sufficiency of Christ and the Necessity of Faith,” in David Platt Sermon Archive (Birmingham, AL: David Platt, 2008), 1496–1497.
Hello friends, and welcome in to the show. I hope you are staying safe out there! This Sunday, yesterday, was the first time in over 25 years of ministry that I have been part of a church that cancelled the Sunday gathering for anything that wasn't storm - snow/tornadoes/hurricane related. It was heart-wrenching to do so. I think it was the right choice, but it bothers me in a deep place, and I guess that's the thing about leading in a crisis - sometimes there is no GOOD choice. May the Lord give us all wisdom as we navigate through this time! I read a quote today from a school superintendent who said, " “In the end, it will be impossible to know if we overreacted or did too much, but it will be QUITE apparent if we under reacted or did too little.”
If you are interested, we live-streamed our worship and prayer time, and I preached - from the Living room of our house, with family present - on "Pandemic wisdom." You can watch the video here: CLICK HERE. Note that we had a little bit of lighting and sound difficulties, but it was our first time broadcasting worship, word and prayer from our house. I think we'll learn from it and improve, Lord willing. Stay safe out there, brothers and sisters and radiate the love and comfort of grace through His Word and His Gospel! Today's passages are Exodus 27, Proverbs 3, John 6 and Galatians 2. Our focus passage is in John 6, and it is honestly one of the most controversial passages in the entire Bible. For one, Jesus addresses head on a topic that I have seen many Christians and some churches split over: predestination. Perhaps more jarringly, John 6 contains this remarkable and jarring verse:
53 So Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life in yourselves. 54 The one who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day, 55 because my flesh is true food and my blood is true drink. 56 The one who eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him.
John 6:53-56
Honestly, if I had been one of Jesus' disciples and heard Him say this, I might have pulled Him aside and did what Peter did when Jesus announced His plans to be crucified. I'd have tried to dissuade Him from speaking on such a topic. I suppose I would have received the same as Peter did, but the fact remains that this particular teaching of Jesus is worded in such a way that we are stunned to read it, and wonder what in the world Jesus could be referring to. Let's read John 6 together, and then come back and discuss it.
Where does Food come from? Kids today would say Walmart, or Safeway, or Publix. People one hundred years ago would say that food came from plants and animals...from the fields and hunting the forests. Vastly different today. Similarly, if I were to ask you- what is the staple food of our region? What food do all of us live on? That would be an odd question, because we live on such a wide variety of food. Billions, however, around the world would answer that question with “rice” or “rice and fish” Similarly, in first century Israel, the people ate bread and fish as their staple food. Morning, noon and evening. That was their food. Bread was their sustenance. That was their food. Keep that in mind today as we listed to Jesus teach us through His word.
One more question: Why do you work? Well, I guess to make money, right? Why do you make money? To buy stuff, and pay bills on the stuff that you already bought. Here’s the thing - in the first century….something like 85 percent of laborers wages went to FOOD. So if you asked them then why do you work, they would look at you and say, “why, i work to eat!” These things we need to understand in order to get John 6.
I’ma go all Bible code on you for a moment: The word bread appears 250 times in the entire Bible. There are 1189 chapters in the Bible, hence the word appears, on average, 1 in every 4.8 chapters. In John 6, however, the word bread appears an astounding 19 times - at a frequency OVER 95 times greater than what is to be expected. This is one way we can arrive at the theme of a passage. :)
The topic of predestination is, as mentioned earlier, one of the most controversial theological topics there is. It might just be #1. I have seen 3 families leave one church - 11 years ago, or so - because two people that were not teaching brought up the topic of predestination at a Wednesday night Bible study, and signalled that they agreed with it. So, I don't intend to ignite a controversy amongst listeners, but lets at least brush by this issue, in preparation for a deeper dive coming up soon:
37 All that the Father gives me will come to me,...39 I should lose nothing of all that he has given me...44 No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day. (more than just about His disciples) 65 And he said, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father.”
John 6
This is an incredible summary of how biblical predestination works: the John 6:68-70 dialog. There will be some in the sovereignty camp who focus exclusively on Jesus’ words - “Have I not chosen you, the twelve?” OTOH, there will be some in the freewill camp that focus on Peter’s words - “You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed.” Both are true...Followers of Jesus have made real, unforced genuine decisions to believe in Him, as Peter has said. Likewise, as Jesus has noted - He chose them, not vice-versa. (John 15:16), and nobody can come to Jesus unless they are drawn first by the Father. BOTH are true. I believe Jesus’ words are above Peter’s words, just as I believe that the sovereignty of God over -arcs man’s freewill...but both are real and true.
When it comes to salvation, I believe that the greatest power/force is not choice, but God’s sovereignty. God’s sovereignty does not at all nullify free will or choice, but it does dwarf those things. If you have strong opinions about this issue, then you are welcome to them...just be sure that your grandest focus is on Jesus, the Gospel, the greatest commandments and the Great Commission.
And now, to the even more stark words of Jesus in this passage: "Eat my flesh and drink my blood" is a powerful way of speaking, and I believe Jesus did so here intentionally. But that sort of speech isn’t one hundred percent foreign to our way of speaking. We speak of “devouring a book” or “drinking up a lecture”, or “chewing over an idea” or “ruminating (chewing the cud) over a decision.”
Is Jesus talking about communion here? I think the non-simple answer here is that Jesus is not completely talking about communion here...but there is a very real connection. Go to the Last Supper - note how Jesus held up the bread and said that it was His body broken for them, and the juice was His blood spilled for them. Rather than John 6 looking forward to communion, and ultimately indicating that people would really eat Jesus’ flesh in communion...I believe that The Last Supper passage looks back at John 6, where Jesus is reminding His disciples that they are called to a daily bread type following of Him. And that His body and blood, broken and shed on the cross, were DAILY life to them as believers. The Gospel that saved them would be the Gospel that sustained them DAILY - just as bread and juice sustained their biological life. They could no more live without the daily intake of Jesus' broken body and blood (through faithful believing in the good news/abiding in Jesus) than they could live without daily food.
In an Agrarian society - a farm society, they understood something that we don’t. In order for life to be sustained, one has to consume dead things. Life is sustained by the death of something else. When Jesus fed the thousands - they ate dead wheat, dead fish. When we go to Chik Fil A - we are eating dead chicken, dead wheat, dead pickles. Things that had to die in order to sustain us. Jesus is saying to us and to His true followers that the ONLY way for Him to give us eternal life is for Him to DIE and us to DAILY consume Him. Apart from daily abiding in Jesus (John 15) then we are able to do nothing. Just like you are weak apart from daily liquid and caloric intake. Apart from Jesus - we will die. We have a one time view of the Gospel - we believe it ONCE (deciding to follow Jesus) and then we are good to go. This is absolutely FOREIGN to Jesus’ teaching. Instead, He calls us to follow Him daily taking up our cross. He calls us to daily bread. You want to see how this works? Try eating one meal a month. Or in a lifetime. It doesn’t work that way and neither does faith. (Credit to Dr. D.A. Carson here for some of the verbiage - from his book, "For the Love of God.")
25 When they found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, “Rabbi, when did you come here?” 26 Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. 27 Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him God the Father has set his seal.” 28 Then they said to him, “What must we do, to be doing the works of God?” 29 Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.”30 So they said to him, “Then what sign do you do, that we may see and believe you? What work do you perform?31 Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’” 32 Jesus then said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. 33 For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” 34 They said to him, “Sir, give us this bread always.” 35 Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst
John 6:25-35
When the people found Jesus He says, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves” What does that mean? It means that they were looking for more food. Another miracle...but they didn’t understand what that miracle SIGNified or signified. In this particular case, the people were seeking Jesus at a surface level - for another miracle...more food. They didn’t realize He was giving them a SIGN that He was the Living Bread - that He was to be their sustenance and their life. After He told them that, He told them not to WORK for the food that perishes (in other words, not to have a WORK based approach to God)
But it zoomed over their head. How did they respond to that? They asked, “What must we do, to be doing the works of God?” They are religionists. They have the typical mindset of religion, which is a viewpoint of God that if we scratch His back, then He will scratch ours. In other words, what can we do for God to get Him to do what we want/need. Its paganism, quid pro quo - tit for tat. And it is the dominant religious view in America. WHAT DO WE DO to PLEASE GOD (so that He can please us?)
Jesus, probably shaking His head, said - The work that God requires is to BELIEVE ON ME. Sheesh! The arrogance and fanaticism of this guy! If you were reading this book as an atheist or non-believer, you would read this as the stark saying that it is. “Are you kidding me? The thing that makes God happy is to believe in THIS GUY? Who the heck is He?” And the Jews understand what Jesus is saying here, and they demand that He prove that He is worthy of that kind of faith. One day of feeding the thousands isn’t enough to prove it. Maybe bread for them for years might be...They demand that Jesus keep providing for them TEMPORAL blessings. Bread that would have fed their bodies for years, but done NOTHING to stave off death! In the present, looking back hundreds of years - what good would that temporary bread have done them? If that is all that Jesus did for them...then they would be long dead and hellbound with stomachs full of miracle bread. Big whoop.
Even today hundreds of millions of “Christians” think this way. We have a child in the hospital...what can we do to make God hear our prayers and heal our child? We have a big exam to take - how can we make God happy with us so that we can pass our exam? How can we get God to give us what we need? There is a pandemic of coronavirus spreading and killing people...how can we get God to hear our prayers of protection and healing?! That is the view of God that most “Christians” in America STILL HAVE.
But here’s the thing with God - He is perfectly happy in and of Himself. He is not lonely (Trinity = perfect relationship) He is perfectly content. PERFECTLY. What does that mean? It means He needs nothing!!! Have you ever tried to shop for the person that has everything? Its’ hard - even though nobody truly has everything. BUT -God does. He has everything. We have nothing that can persuade Him. Its like trying to bargain with Warren Buffet with a penny. God needs nothing. He has never needed anything. That means that there is no bargaining with God. No tit for tat - no “I’ll do this if you do that.” He has no needs. None.
So, knowing God is fully content, and possesses everything - how can we please Him? And here is the radical, freeing answer...Have faith in Jesus - Follow Jesus with your life. That is mind blowing and revolutionary - even to some of you listeners to this podcast. Your job is not to please God with what you do - but who you believe in. Who you believe in and the faith that is in Jesus is the very thing that will actually empower and enable you to do all of the deeds that God calls you to do, but yet doesn’t need you to do. Faith without deeds is dead says James, but we show our Faith (which comes first) by what we do - which is an outflow of faith in Jesus.
We must stop trying to EARN our way into God’s graces. You’ll never, ever, ever do it. It will wear you out and make you bitter and hateful. You KNOW people like that. burnt out on church and burnt out on God. Bitter. Angry. Sad. Forlorn. Always feeling rejected. In so many cases - they tried to buy their way into heaven by doing good deeds, by going to church, reading the Bible and everything they did fell short, because they didn’t have enough good deeds to buy their way into God’s graces. The only thing that doesn’t fall short is having the kind of faith in Jesus that produces fruit and actions. The very thing they never tried.
And now - what of you? Are you tired of working for bread that is here today and gone tomorrow? Are you weary of trying to please God and always wondering where you stand to Him. I have a direct word from Jesus to you. COME TO ME ALL YOU WHO ARE WEARY AND HEAVY BURDENED, AND I WILL GIVE YOU REST. Believe.
Hello friends, and welcome in to episode 75 of the Bible Reading Podcast. I hope you are all staying safe out there and walking in faith. Today's podcast covers Exodus 26, Proverbs 2, John 5 and Galatians 1. We will have a bit of a short episode today, because it is Saturday night, and one wants to be ready for the gathering of believers tomorrow. Speaking of - how are you all doing church this week? Our church had originally decided, as of Wednesday, to meet with extra, extra precautions. However, in a sort of emergency meeting on Saturday, we decided to go to online church for this Sunday. We might continue that, or not, but we have a bit more work to do to ensure protection for all. It breaks my heart not to meet, but we will be broadcasting worship and Word from our living room today. Join us! I'll share it on my Facebook page - feel free to connect with me there, and also share in our church FB page: VBC Salinas. Our big Bible question of the day is all about wisdom: How do we get wisdom? It is an important question, considering the command in Proverbs 4:7, " Wisdom is supreme—so get wisdom. And whatever else you get, get understanding " The problem is that wisdom does NOT come easy. Let's ask Spurgeon what he has to say about the topic:
Brethren in the ministry, you who are teachers in the Sabbath school, and all of you who are learners in the college of Christ Jesus, I pray you remember that prayer is your best means of study: like Daniel you shall understand the dream, and also the interpretation, when you have sought after God; and like John you will see the seven seals of precious truth unloosed, after you have cried out much. “Yea, if you cry after knowledge, and lift up your voice for understanding; if you seek her as silver, and search for her as for hidden treasures; then shall you understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God.”
Stones are not broken, except by an earnest use of the hammer; and the stone-breaker usually goes down on his knees. Use the hammer of diligence, and let the knee of prayer be exercised, too, and there is not a stony doctrine in Revelation which is useful for you to understand, which will not fly into shivers under the exercise of prayer and faith. “Bene orasse est bene studuisse” was a wise sentence of Luther, which has been so often quoted, that we hardly venture but to hint at it. “To have prayed well is to have studied well.” You may force your way through anything with the leverage of prayers. Thoughts and reasonings may be like the steel wedges which may open a way into truth; but prayer is the lever, the pry-bar which forces open the iron chest of sacred mystery, that we may get the treasure that is hidden inside for those who can force their way to reach it. The kingdom of heaven still suffers violence, and the violent take it by force. Take care that you work away with the mighty implement of prayer, and nothing can stand against you.
C. H. Spurgeon, “The Golden Key of Prayer,” in The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit Sermons, vol. 11 (London: Passmore & Alabaster, 1865), 152. slightly modernized
To Spurgeon's excellent word about praying for wisdom, I would add John Piper's powerful truth that heavenly wisdom MUST happen in the context of the community of Jesus - the church:
Now it would be a wrong conclusion to say that all we need in order to get wisdom is a solitary life of serious prayer. Just us and God and prayer. Wisdom in the New Testament does not ordinarily come like that. Listen to these verses from James 3:13–15:
Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom. But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth. This is not the wisdom that comes down from above.
Wisdom is marked by meekness, and freedom from selfish ambition, and freedom from bitter jealousy, and freedom from boasting. In other words, wisdom rises in relationships of meekness and humility and love and servanthood rather than jealousy and selfishness. Wisdom is not a solitary attainment. It is a community or a corporate or a relational attainment. Loners are not wise. Wisdom is given and found and forged in the fires of committed relationships.
John Piper, Sermons from John Piper (2000–2014) (Minneapolis, MN: Desiring God, 2014).
Welcome into another episode of the Bible Reading Podcast. In order to give you a break from what everybody is talking about, the only time I am going to say the c-word is right now: CORONAVIRUS. Check out yesterday's episode #73 if that wasn't enough for you. Today's Bible readings include Exodus 25 (the tabernacle), Proverbs 1 (WHAT HAPPENED TO PSALMS?!), 2 Corinthians 13 (Paul's farewell), and our focus passage, which is John 4 - Jesus talking with the woman at the well. Today's episode is probably going to be a short one, because I have just finished writing and sending the longest email any pastor has ever sent to a church leadership team in the history of the world. If you are interested in reading it, I plan to publish it in a special 25 volume collector's hardback set after the current crisis abates. You can have it for the low, low price of $299.99...but wait -there's more!! Actually, no, there's not. Let's get started. We will read John 4, and then come back and discuss:
10 lessons that we can learn from Jesus in how to interact with people. 1. ENGAGE. Don’t just sit there - even when it is awkward. Vs. 7. “Give Me a drink,” Jesus said to her, 8 for His disciples had gone into town to buy food. Note: You don’t have to engage with everybody. John 5: beggar at Bethesda pool. Sometimes engaging deeply with just a few people is better than engaging superficially with everybody. 2. Be guided by BIBLICAL rules not by HUMAN rules and traditions. Vs. 8 “9 “How is it that You, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?” AND vs 27, “27 Just then His disciples arrived, and they were amazed that He was talking with a woman. ” COL 2: “20 If you died with the Messiah to the elemental forces of this world, why do you live as if you still belonged to the world? Why do you submit to regulations: 21 “Don’t handle, don’t taste, don’t touch”? 22 All these regulations refer to what is destroyed by being used up; they are commands and doctrines of men. 23 Although these have a reputation of wisdom by promoting ascetic practices, humility, and severe treatment of the body, they are not of any value in curbing self-indulgence.” vs. 16 also: “16 Therefore, don’t let anyone judge you in regard to food and drink or in the matter of a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day. 17 These are a shadow of what was to come; the substance is the Messiah.”
What is the Bible rule? One of them: 1 Timothy 5:”Do not rebuke an older man, but exhort him as a father, younger men as brothers, 2 older women as mothers, and with all propriety, the younger women as sisters.” 3. Ignore racist traditions that aren’t biblical “For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.” vs 9. Interracial marriage, etc. 4. You don’t have to use a canned opening...conversationally point to Jesus and spiritual things. “10 Jesus answered, “If you knew the gift of God, and who is saying to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would ask Him, and He would give you living water.” He didn't use a canned or cliche'd opening like: "if you died tonight, where would you go?" Jesus talked to the woman, and brought up the good news QUICKLY and Engagingly. 5. Similar: The Gospel is not a memorized set of propositions. Almost every time in Scripture, when the good news of Jesus is shared - it is shared differently, but EVERY time pointing back to Jesus. “13 Jesus said, “Everyone who drinks from this water will get thirsty again.14 But whoever drinks from the water that I will give him will never get thirsty again—ever! In fact, the water I will give him will become a well of water springing up within him for eternal life.” 6. Be open to what can be called Prophetic evangelism: vs 16. “16 “Go call your husband,” He told her, “and come back here.” LISTEN and be led by the Spirit. 1 corinthians 14: “23 Therefore, if the whole church assembles together and all are speaking in other languages and people who are uninformed or unbelievers come in, will they not say that you are out of your minds? 24 But if all are prophesying and some unbeliever or uninformed person comes in, he is convicted by all and is judged by all. 25 The secrets of his heart will be revealed, and as a result he will fall facedown and worship God, proclaiming, “God is really among you.” You might say - I don't believe in such things, I'm a cessationist! Well, I'm not, but Charles Spurgeon at least thought he was a cessationist:
A man was won for Christ because the preacher pointed to him and said, "There is a man sitting there who is a shoemaker; he keeps his shop open on Sundays; it was open last Sabbath morning. He took ninepence and there was fourpence profit on it; his soul is sold to Satan for fourpence." The man was afraid to go and hear Spurgeon again for fear he might tell the people more about him, for what he said at first was all true. But at last he came, and the Lord met with him.
One Sunday evening Mr. Spurgeon, pointing to the gallery, said, "Young man, the gloves you have in your pocket are not paid for." After the service a young fellow came beseeching him not to say anything more about it, and the circumstances led to his conversion.... He once said that there was a man in the gallery listening to him with a gin bottle in his pocket. It so happened that there was such a man, and he was startled into conversion.
- It is rarely - if ever - necessary to CONDEMN. “17 “I don’t have a husband,” she answered.You have correctly said, ‘I don’t have a husband,’” Jesus said. 18 “For you’ve had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have said is true.”
John 3:17 “For God did not send His Son into the world that He might *condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.”
Luke 6:37 “Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not *condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.”
John 8: “10 When Jesus stood up, He said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” 11 “No one, Lord,” she answered.
“Neither do I condemn you,” said Jesus.***”
8. Warnings, however, are appropriate, when delivered in a Christ-like way. (HOW HE DELIVERED THEM) John 8:““Go, and from now on do not sin anymore.” John 5:14 (to the Bethesda/paralyzed man, “14 After this, Jesus found him in the temple complex and said to him, “See, you are well. Do not sin anymore, so that something worse doesn’t happen to you.” ”) Jesus rarely seems to begin with the sin, unless he was dealing with hard-hearted religious leaders. The Gospel comes first.
- Jesus breaks down ALL dividing walls - your words should too. “21 Jesus told her, “Believe Me, woman, an hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. 22 You Samaritans worship what you do not know. We worship what we do know, because salvation is from the Jews. 23 But an hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth. Yes, the Father wants such people to worship Him. 24 God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”
10. Point people to Jesus. “26 “I am He,” (the Messiah) *Jesus told her, “the One speaking to you.”” (Jesus pointed people to Himself)
28 Then the woman left her water jar, went into town, and told the men, 29 “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did! Could this be the Messiah?” 30 They left the town and made their way to Him*....
Shout out to Keith Heltsley and the guy in St. Louis that downloaded 83 episodes of the podcast today. Welcome aboard!
Keith's comment:
My own preference in bible translations are the ESV and CSB. I won’t claim to be fluent in Greek or Hebrew, but have studied both enough to know these two translations are both faithful to word order, but flexible enough to make sense to the English reader.
I like the use of Yahweh for the reason that uppercase letters to designate the formal name for God are lost on me. As a blind person who relies on reading through listening to the scripture being read, LORD is pronounced the same as Lord, or lord. It’s nice to use something different without the reader needing to stop and clarify every time, or to pause my text to speech software to set it to read by character, assuming there may be a need to stop and notice a difference… and it can be difficult to pick up on subtle differences in context to know whether I need to check.
KJV, ESV, CSB, NASB (and its update) are all excellent. They’re all good, but since the grammar, and certain words used in 1611 have drifted, the KJV is becoming cumbersome to understand. Literal meanings of words have drifted to the point that a modern reader has to continually filter “what did this mean to the original audience?” “What did these words mean to English readers in 1611?” “What do these words mean to modern English understanding?”
If nothing else, and the modern reader has no tools or knowledge of original languages, comparing multiple versions side by side give a more rich understanding of the underlying, original language, and a deeper meaning that translators can’t achieve with a single word for word translation. .The more versions to cross reference in parallel, the better.
Happy Friday, Everybody! We are still in crisis mode around the world - battling an unseen and terrifying foe - the coronavirus. I believe that this will be a worldwide fiery trial that will leave virtually no community untouched. If that prediction is accurate, then that will mean that the church - the Body of Christ - will go through extensive suffering and weakness over the coming weeks, and many of us will ask the question, "WHY" as loudly as we possibly can to God. I don't think that this will surprise you, but even though I'm a pastor and host of a daily Bible reading podcast, I am not on the list of those who get explanations from Heaven as to why things are happening the way they are. Why are we facing this pandemic? I know as much - or less - than Job knew at the beginning of his fiery trial in Job 1. That said - we do have the Word to inform us and encourage us, so let's turn there:
Dear friends, don’t be surprised when the fiery ordeal comes among you to test you as if something unusual were happening to you.13 Instead, rejoice as you share in the sufferings of the Messiah, so that you may also rejoice with great joy at the revelation of His glory.
1 Peter 4:12
One of the major things we need to learn from the Word of God is that fiery trials/ordeals WILL COME. We aren't supposed to be surprised by them. I usually am surprised by these trials - but I shouldn't be. They are part and parcel of the Christian life. If somebody has told you that following Christ will protect you from trials, then somebody has lied to you. Consider 1 Thessalonians 3. Paul is writing to a church that was going through severe persecution, and he began his encouragement to them with these words:
And we sent Timothy, our brother and God’s coworker in the gospel of Christ, to strengthen and encourage you concerning your faith, 3 so that no one will be shaken by these afflictions. For you yourselves know that we are appointed to this. 4 In fact, when we were with you, we told you in advance that we were going to experience affliction, and as you know, it happened.
1 Thessalonians 3:2-4
So - trials, affliction, troubles - they are coming. As Jesus promised us - In this world, you will have tribulation...BUT TAKE HEART - HE HAS OVERCOME THE WORLD! (John 16:33)
I have a love-hate relationship with 2 Corinthians 12. I love the truths found in there, and they are amongst the deepest and most profound truths in the Bible. When all of the American/Western way says to seek to be strong in wealth, health, security and popularity, the Bible - especially in the letters to the Corinthians - calls Christians to the POWER of WEAKNESS. Which is one of those divine paradoxes that make more Divine sense than rational human sense. The last time I preached on 2 Corinthians 12 at VBC in Salinas was in November of 2018. In November, I had been sick for about 4 weeks with a nasty case of bronchitis. It began to get better - a little bit, just long enough for me to develop a severely painful infected tooth - that had to be removed. A few days after that, I developed influenza A, which invited its friend bilateral pneumonia in the next week. I preached the following Sunday, and preached on the power of weakness, in about as weak a state as possible. I love that my church doesn't depend on my strength to shepherd them and to save them from their sins. I love them very much, but do not have the power to save them, nor do I have the power to spiritually protect them. I love that my family doesn't depend on me to save and protect them. I try my best, but I can't. I am, in and of myself, insufficient to save a one of them. I want to be the hero...but I'm not - I'm far too weak, and so are you. Ironically, that is where the power of God meets us - in our weakness. Dumpster story.
A theology of powerful weakness.
1 Corinthians 1: 22 For the Jews ask for signs and the Greeks seek wisdom, 23 but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to the Jews and foolishness to the Gentiles. 24 Yet to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ is God’s power and God’s wisdom, 25 because God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God’s weakness is stronger than human strength.
1 Corinthians 2: 2 When I came to you, brothers, announcing the testimony of God to you, I did not come with brilliance of speech or wisdom. 2 For I didn’t think it was a good idea to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. 3 I came to you in weakness, in fear, and in much trembling. 4 My speech and my proclamation were not with persuasive words of wisdom but with a powerful demonstration by the Spirit, 5 so that your faith might not be based on men’s wisdom but on God’s power.
This is Paul - a man who came to the Corinthians in weakness, fear and trembling. A man without persuasive and charismatic words of wisdom. Probably not a great speaker.
Later, in 2nd Cor. 10, he says this: 10 For it is said, “His letters are weighty and powerful, but his physical presence is weak, and his public speaking is despicable.”
That’s what the description was of Paul - weak in presence, and low in public speaking ability. HE APPEARED WEAK, not powerful. However, He does note this in 1 Corinthians 4:20 20 For the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power.
So - if the Kingdom of God is not about talking ability, and it is not about wealth, nor good looks, nor human power..then what is it about?
2nd Corinthians 12:3-10 I know that this man—whether in the body or out of the body I don’t know, God knows— 4 was caught up into paradise. He heard inexpressible words, which a man is not allowed to speak. 5 I will boast about this person, but not about myself, except of my weaknesses. 6 For if I want to boast, I will not be a fool, because I will be telling the truth. But I will spare you, so that no one can credit me with something beyond what he sees in me or hears from me, 7 especially because of the extraordinary revelations. Therefore, so that I would not exalt myself, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to torment me so I would not exalt myself. 8 Concerning this, I pleaded with the Lord three times to take it away from me. 9 But He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” Therefore, I will most gladly boast all the more about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may reside in me. 10 So I take pleasure in weaknesses, insults, catastrophes, persecutions, and in pressures, because of Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
A fundamental truth that we all need to grasp when we are talking about ministering to people and overcoming trials is that the power DOES NOT COME FROM US. When it does come from us, it is LESS POWERFUl.
2 Corinthians 4: 5 For we are not proclaiming ourselves but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your slaves because of Jesus. 6 For God who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of God’s glory in the face of Jesus Christ.7 Now we have this treasure in clay jars, so that this extraordinary power may be from God and not from us. 8 We are pressured in every way but not crushed; we are perplexed but not in despair; 9 we are persecuted but not abandoned; we are struck down but not destroyed. 10 We always carry the death of Jesus in our body, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. 11 For we who live are always given over to death because of Jesus, so that Jesus’ life may also be revealed in our mortal flesh.
So. God’s power is made more manifest and active in our weakness. God has given us His good news to share to a lost and dying world and put His power IN US to accomplish His will on earth. Church, we might be about to go through some of the darkest days in our lifetimes. If we do, many of us will be made far weaker than we want to be. You might think that will DIM our gospel light and our ability to minister to a frightened, panicky, sick and dying world, but it WILL NOT! Our weakness is precisely the thing that God uses to manifest HIS power into the world. Lean into Him, dear brothers and sisters. If He so chooses to weaken you - I pray for your comfort, but also remember to pray for POWER in the midst of weakness. The light of Christ shines brightly in weak clay pots like ourselves, and this might just be our hour to brightly shine the light of Jesus in a way that the Western church has failed to do over the past decades. I'll close with Daniel 12. It speaks of the end-times Saints of God brightly shining the light of Christ as they are persecuted and struck down by the enemy. I am not implying that we are in the end times, but I am sharing that we CAN and we MUST shine like the stars in the Heavens as we go through this pandemic - remembering that there is no power IN and OF OURSELVES to shine, except for the POWER OF CHRIST in us, the Hope of Glory!
At that time
Michael, the great prince
who stands watch over your people, will rise up.
There will be a time of distress
such as never has occurred
since nations came into being until that time.
But at that time all your people
who are found written in the book will escape.
2 Many who sleep in the dust
of the earth will awake,
some to eternal life,
and some to disgrace and eternal contempt.
3 Those who have insight will shine
like the bright expanse of the heavens,
and those who lead many to righteousness,
like the stars forever and ever.Daniel 12:1-3
Hello everybody, and welcome into the Bible Reading podcast. Scary times out there, right? The world is shaking right now - in fear of the unknown, and in fear of the known. Remember, brothers and sisters - we have a message of hope and salvation in Jesus. Remember that we also represent a Savior - Jesus, who is the hope for the whole world. We are not guaranteed to be protected from the illness going around, but all who are in Christ are guaranteed eternal life in Heaven, and a wonderful inheritance. Look to Jesus and be saved. Look to Jesus and be encouraged. Look to Jesus and be filled with hope. Look to Jesus and believe! So - how do we live in the midst of a deadly pandemic? Let me encourage you to turn to the Word of God on a daily basis, and invite others to join you. We will receive wisdom from the Lord on every page of the Word of God on how to be the people of God in the midst of fiery trials and tribulations. For instance, let's just consider some of the verses we will be reading today out of Exodus 23, Job 41, John 2, and 2nd Corinthians 11:
- "You must not spread a false report." (Exodus 23:10)
- "You must not oppress a resident alien; you yourselves know how it feels to be a resident alien because you were resident aliens in the land of Egypt." Exodus 23:9
- "So the Jews replied to him, “What sign will you show us for doing these things?” 19 Jesus answered, “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it up in three days.” 20 Therefore the Jews said, “This temple took forty-six years to build, and will you raise it up in three days? 21 But he was speaking about the temple of his body. 22 So when he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they believed the Scripture and the statement Jesus had made." (John 2:18-22)
- "Five times I received the forty lashes minus one from the Jews. 25 Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I received a stoning. Three times I was shipwrecked. I have spent a night and a day in the open sea. 26 On frequent journeys, I faced dangers from rivers, dangers from robbers, dangers from my own people, dangers from Gentiles, dangers in the city, dangers in the wilderness, dangers at sea, and dangers among false brothers; 27 toil and hardship, many sleepless nights, hunger and thirst, often without food, cold, and without clothing." 2nd Corinthians 11:24-27
All of those verses, and others, will provide wisdom for us and encouragement and point us to hope in Jesus. As we walk through this valley of the shadow of death, may we fear no evil as God and His Word is with us. Today's topic, planned out a few days ago, is all about Monsters in the Bible - Leviathan and Behemoth. These are creatures that God Himself describes in the book of Job, and are very, very puzzling creatures indeed. What in the world are they? Let's start with Behemoth:
Look at Behemoth,
which I made along with you.
He eats grass like cattle.
16 Look at the strength of his back
and the power in the muscles of his belly.
17 He stiffens his tail like a cedar tree;
the tendons of his thighs are woven firmly together.
18 His bones are bronze tubes;
his limbs are like iron rods.
19 He is the foremost of God’s works;
only his Maker can draw the sword against him.
20 The hills yield food for him,
while all sorts of wild animals play there.
21 He lies under the lotus plants,
hiding in the protection of marshy reeds.
22 Lotus plants cover him with their shade;
the willows by the brook surround him.
23 Though the river rages, Behemoth is unafraid;
he remains confident, even if the Jordan surges up to his mouth.
24 Can anyone capture him while he looks on,
or pierce his nose with snares?Job 40:15-24
So - here are our clues: He eats grass. He has a strong back and a powerful tail. He has strong legs and lives around swamp-like area, probably near the river. He is difficult to capture, and can survive in rapids. What sort of monster are we talking about here?! The Hebrew word is בְּהֵמוֹת behêmôwth, and there are lots of theories about what is signified by that word. The etymology is not very helpful, because the word root simply means an untalking or mute beast. Context is not helpful, because the Hebrew word is a practical hapax legomena - not appearing anywhere else in the Old Testament. Some think that it is a dinosaur that is being referred to, others point to a creature like a hippopotamus. You might think a hippo is a cuddly and cute sort of creature that doesn't fit the mighty description of the Behemoth, but hippos are surprisingly dangerous animals. Weighing in from 3000-9000+ pounds (Toyota Camry's weigh around 3400 pounds!) and capable of running over 18.6 miles per hour, hippos kill between 500-3000 people every year. They also have 20 inch long teeth! The only problem with the hippo=behemoth theory is explained here by Gotquestions.org:
"Some commentators identify the behemoth as a hippopotamus, a rhinoceros, or an elephant. However, the description of its cedar-like tail in Job 40:17 hardly fits the stubby or rope-like tails of those animals. Another theory is that Job 40 describes a type of dinosaur such as a diplodocus or an apatosaurus. Such sauropods were the largest of all land animals (ten times heavier than elephants), were marsh-loving plant-eaters, had tails like trees, and could truly be called “kings” of the animals."
https://www.gotquestions.org/behemoth.html
However, a biologist named Dr. Michael Bright has suggested that the biblical description of a 'tail like a cedar tree' refers more to shape, and not power, and thus a hippo's tail could be a possibility. By the way, if you've never seen a hippo pooping, do yourself a favor, and check out THIS VIDEO. Often, when hippo's poop, they rapidly spin their tail like a helicopter, and spray their poop all over the place. This apparently impresses female hippos, and also helps the male mark his territory. I have not conducted experiments, but I suspect that this will not work on human females. Please leave a comment on the blog if I'm incorrect in that assertion.
That said, my best guess is to go along with Dr. Bright, and agree that the Bible is likely describing a hippo, or something like a hippo. Aside from the poop thing, they really are amazing creatures that are probably the most dangerous land animal in Africa. Perhaps Behemoth was an extinct species of hippo (such as hippopotamus major, which would be larger than modern hippos - 10000 pounds, 14+ feet long, 7 feet high at the shoulder...maybe even a more impressive tail.) I'm not ready to say mystery solved, but I think an slightly larger than today's hippo fits the description of behemoth pretty well. What about Leviathan?
Can you pull in Leviathan with a hook
or tie his tongue down with a rope?
2 Can you put a cord through his nose
or pierce his jaw with a hook?
3 Will he beg you for mercy
or speak softly to you?
4 Will he make a covenant with you
so that you can take him as a slave forever?
5 Can you play with him like a bird
or put him on a leash for your girls?
6 Will traders bargain for him
or divide him among the merchants?
7 Can you fill his hide with harpoons
or his head with fishing spears?
8 Lay a hand on him.
You will remember the battle
and never repeat it!
9 Any hope of capturing him proves false.
Does a person not collapse at the very sight of him?
10 No one is ferocious enough to rouse Leviathan;
who then can stand against me?
11 Who confronted me, that I should repay him?
Everything under heaven belongs to me.
12 I cannot be silent about his limbs,
his power, and his graceful proportions.
13 Who can strip off his outer covering?
Who can penetrate his double layer of armor?
14 Who can open his jaws,
surrounded by those terrifying teeth?Job 41:1-14
This is a bit more of a formidable beast, and a bit more difficult to identify as well. The Hebrew word is לִוְיָתָן livyâthân , and this creature appears in a couple of different places in the Old Testament, including Isaiah and Psalms:
" On that day the Lord with his relentless, large, strong sword will bring judgment on Leviathan, the fleeing serpent—Leviathan, the twisting serpent. He will slay the monster that is in the sea."
"Here is the sea, vast and wide,
teeming with creatures beyond number—
living things both large and small.
26 There the ships move about,
and Leviathan, which you formed to play there."Isaiah 27:1 and Psalm 104:25-26
The root of the word comes from a word meaning wreathed, or joined together, and can perhaps give the impression of a long creature, possibly with segments or ridges. Some speculate that the leviathan was a sea dragon, or perhaps a now extinct species of water-dinosaur, or perhaps an extinct or undiscovered sea-monster of some sort. Apparently its mouth is very dangerous, and its skin is very hard. Given the description in Isaiah 27:1 of a 'twisting' serpent, I think a saltwater crocodile is a good possibility. These creatures can reach astounding lengths and sizes, even today, and could possibly have been larger in antiquity. Salties today can grow to 20 feet long, and weigh over 2300 pounds. Nile crocodiles used to kill around 1000 people per year, and still kill hundreds of people per year, so they match the ferocity that is attributed to leviathan in this passage. Possible the leviathan was a, now extinct forebear of modern Nile and Saltwater crocodiles, or perhaps it was a now extinct sea creature that is not really included in the fossil record as of yet. Perhaps as well it was some sort of large and fierce shark - another modern animal that could fit most of the biblical description of the leviathan. I wish I could give a more definitive answer - I'm pretty strongly team hippo on the behemoth, but way more open on the leviathan. What do you think? Leave a comment, and let me know!
Happy Tuesday, friends! Our Bible passages today are Exodus 22, Job 40, John 1 and 2nd Corinthians 10. Today we are still focused on the women witnesses of the wondrous resurrection of Jesus, but I would be remiss to not at least point us towards that magisterial passage in John 1, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." Let's turn it over to Spurgeon for a moment to point us in a great direction on this passage:
John is especially careful that we should know that Jesus is a real and true Person, and therefore he tells us that the Divine Word, of whose fullness we have received, is most assuredly God.
No language can be more distinct and explicit than that which John uses concerning Jesus. He ascribes to Him the eternity which belongs alone to God: “In the beginning was the Word.” He beyond all question claims Divinity for Him: “The Word was God.” He ascribes to Him creative power: “All things were made by Him; and without Him was not any thing made that was made.” He ascribes to Him self-existence, which is the essential characteristic of God: “In Him was life.” He claims for Him a nature peculiar to God: “God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all;” and he says that the Word is “the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.” No writer could be more definite in the expressions he uses; and beyond all question he sets forth the true and proper Deity of that Blessed One whom we all must receive if we would obtain eternal salvation.
Yet John does not fail to demonstrate that our Lord was also man. He saith, “the Word was made flesh,”—not merely assumed manhood, but was made flesh; made not merely man, as to His nobler part, His soul, but man as to His flesh, His lower element. Our Lord was not a phantom, but one who, as John declares in his first Epistle, could be seen, and heard, and touched, and handled.
“The Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us.” He lived with the sons of men,—a carpenter’s shed His lowly refuge, and the caves and mountains of the earth His midnight resort in His after life. He dwelt among sinners and sufferers, among mourners and mortals, Himself completing His citizenship among us by becoming obedient unto death, “even the death of the cross.” Thus, while He is so august a person that Heaven and earth tremble at the majesty of His presence, yet is He so humble a person that He is not ashamed to call us “brethren.”
C. H. Spurgeon, Christ’s Incarnation: The Foundation of Christianity (Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software, 2009), 65–66. Slightly modernized
As promised yesterday, we continue discussing Luke 24 today - the resurrection is most certainly worth a two-part episode and much more! Our topic is all about the women who were the FIRST witnesses of the resurrection of Jesus. (The below is taken from Easter: Fact or Fiction: 20 Reasons to Believe Jesus Rose From the Dead):
...According to Matthew 28, the first two witnesses to the risen Jesus were women, Mary Magdalene and “The other Mary.” Luke adds that Joanna was there, as well as “other women,” and seems to indicate that “the other” Mary, was Mary the mother of James. All four gospels, written down by different men, in different places and at different time periods ALL feature a female (Mary Magdalene) as the first witness of the resurrection of Jesus. That some gospels also mention the presence of other women is far from contradictory, but is the very essence of differing eyewitness testimony. Some details will be included by some authors, and omitted by others. The bottom line is this: women, several of them, were the first witnesses of Jesus’ resurrection.
The Women at the Tomb of Jesus - The First Witnesses! Additionally, Mary Magdalene, perhaps the foremost of these female witnesses, had what might be considered a sketchy past: Jesus had driven not one, but SEVEN demons out of her at one point. All of this leads to an incredibly important question: If, in the first century, the testimony of women was not considered as reliable by any culture, why does the Bible clearly, and in great detail, portray women as being the first and primary witnesses to the risen Jesus? That question also begets another important question: How is it, given the assumed unreliability of women, that so many thousands of people eagerly believed the account of the resurrection of Jesus – many at the cost of their own lives?
Though it is not part of the Bible, and not considered Scripture, there is an apocryphal document called the Epistula Apostolorum, which dates to roughly 120 A.D. It is supposedly an eyewitness account of the apostles, and covers issues like the resurrection of Jesus, some of His parables, and several prophecies. This document contains a depiction of the resurrection, and contains extended dialog between Jesus and the women at the tomb. It is interesting, for the purposes of our discussion here, because it depicts what would have likely been the attitude of men in the first century to the proclamation of women that Jesus rose from the dead; specifically, it portrays the 11 remaining disciples utterly refusing to believe the testimony of the women until they actually see Jesus.
I’m not posting this below because I am certain that this is a reliable record, written by the apostles, of what happened on the first Easter Sunday, but because it is a good example of how first century men would have viewed the testimony of women:
Concerning whom we testify that the Lord is he who was crucified by Pontius Pilate and Archelaus between the two thieves and was buried in a place which is called the place of a skull (Kranion). And thither went three women, Mary, she that was kin to Martha, and Mary Magdalene and took ointments to pour upon the body, weeping and mourning over that which was come to pass. And when they drew near to the sepulchre, they looked in and found not the body 10 And as they mourned and wept, the Lord showed himself unto them and said to them: For whom weep ye? weep no more. I am he whom ye seek. But let one of you go to your brethren and say: Come ye, the Master is risen from the dead. Martha came and told us. We said unto her: What have we to do with thee, woman? He that is dead and buried, is it possible that he should live? And we believed her not that the Saviour was risen from the dead.
Then she returned unto the Lord and said unto him: None of them hath believed me, that thou livest. He said: Let another of you go unto them and tell them again. Mary came and told us again, and we believed her not; and she returned unto the Lord and she also told him. 11 Then said the Lord unto Mary and her sisters: Let us go unto them. And he came and found us within and called us out; but we thought that it was a phantom and believed not that it was the Lord. Then said he unto us: Come, fear ye not. I am your master, even he, O Peter, whom thou didst deny thrice; and dost thou now deny again? And we came unto him, doubting in our hearts whether it were he.
Then said he unto us: Wherefore doubt ye still, and are unbelieving? I am he that spake unto you of my flesh and my death and my resurrection. But that ye may know that I am he, do thou, Peter, put thy finger into the print of the nails in mine hands, and thou also, Thomas, put thy finger into the wound of the spear in my side; but thou, Andrew, look on my feet and see whether they press the earth; for it is written in the prophet: A phantom of a devil maketh no footprint on the earth. 12 And we touched him, that we might learn of a truth whether he were risen in the flesh; and we fell on our faces (and worshipped him) confessing our sin, that we had been unbelieving.
What a fascinating passage, and almost humorous in its depictions of the disciples utterly refusing to listen to the female witnesses! The only possible rational reason that the Bible depicts women as the first witnesses
of the resurrection of Jesus (and prominent witnesses at His crucifixion) is that it factually happened. The depiction of these women as witnesses to what should be considered the most monumental event in the history of the world, makes no sense whatsoever if the biblical accounts of Jesus’ resurrection are invented or even embellished.
Here’s why: There are perhaps five main theories about who Jesus was which can be summed up with the five “M’s” used by Southern Evangelical Seminary President Alex Mcfarland. Was Jesus merely a MYTH? That is, was he a legendary sort of character that was invented whole cloth by the lower class culture of Jerusalem who were seeking a hero to look up to? Or, was Jesus a MAN, simply a great teacher, who lived a great life and had a great influence on people, but nothing more than a special, and mortal, human being. In this view, either the followers of Jesus held Him in much higher esteem than they should have, or Jesus Himself had the most remarkable delusions of grandeur in history.
A third option is that Jesus was a MYSTIC, that is to say that perhaps He did possess some form of esoteric knowledge and power that elevated Him over the rest of humanity. Perhaps He was something more than merely a man, perhaps a first century alchemist of sorts, or even something like a mutant from comic book fame. Under this theory, Jesus wasn’t God, nor was He immortal; and He certainly wasn’t able to save humanity, but He was something more than an average person.
A fourth possibility is that Jesus was/is a MISREPRESENTATION. This theory, popularized by writers like Dan “Da Vinci Code” Brown, posits that the church (or some other body) deified Jesus long after His death, and magnified Him and His accomplishments, in some sort of bid to gain power and control people. In this view, Jesus was merely a teacher that got heavily promoted after His lifetime into something more.
MESSIAH or MASTER is the final possibility of who Jesus was and is. That isthat Jesus is everything the Bible claims Him to be He is the son of God, the King of Kings, and the savior of Israel and all of humanity. Really, aside from ridiculous theories (Jesus was an alien, etc.) those are the five options as to who Jesus was.
If He literally and historically rose from the dead, then several of those possibilities are eliminated outright. In light of those potential identities of Jesus, ponder this question: Why invent and insert women as the first witnesses on Easter morning if the resurrection was a myth, or intentional deception? There is no plausible reason for the women to be portrayed as witnesses of this event, except for the simplest reason of all: it really happened that way. If the early church was simply inventing the story of Jesus’ resurrection, wouldn’t it have made far more sense to utilize a prominent and well respected witness? Perhaps somebody like Joseph of Arimathea, or even Simon the Pharisee, or Nicodemus, a Pharisee AND member of the ruling council – any of these (and dozens of others) would make for more believable and impacting witnesses, if one wants to allege that the disciples, or some other group fabricated the story of Jesus resurrection.
In N.T. Wright’s epic book on the resurrection of Jesus, he states this case quite brilliantly. Consider well his questions, and the implications of their answers:
Even if we suppose that Mark made up most of his material, and did so some time in the late 60s at the earliest, it will not do to have him, or anyone else at that stage, making up a would-be apologetic legend about an empty tomb and having women be the ones who find it. The point has been repeated over and over in scholarship, but its full impact has not always been felt: women were simply not acceptable as legal witnesses. We may regret it, but this is how the Jewish world (and most others) worked. The debate between Origen and Celsus shows that critics of Christianity could seize on the story of the women in order to scoff at the whole tale; were the legend-writers really so ignorant of the likely reaction? If they could have invented stories of fine, upstanding, reliable male witnesses being first at the tomb, they would have done it. That they did not tells us either that everyone in the early church knew that the women, led by Mary Magdalene, were in fact the first on the scene, or that the early church was not so inventive as critics have routinely imagined, or both. Would the other evangelists have been so slavishly foolish as to copy the story unless they were convinced that, despite being an apologetic liability, it was historically trustworthy?
N. T. Wright, The Resurrection of the Son of God, Christian Origins and the Question of God (London: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 2003), 607–608.
Hello everybody, and welcome into the Bible Reading podcast - a welcome respite from all of the coronavirus news going around, and filled with enough good Scripture to encourage and edify our souls! Today's passages include Exodus 21, Job 39, Luke 24, and 2nd Corinthians 9. I honestly went back and forth over the topic for today's show. I strongly considered and even began writing about Jesus' command to the disciples to tarry in Jerusalem until they were, "clothed with power from on high," and almost talked about Paul's blessed command to give in 2nd Corinthians 9, but ultimately, I couldn't get away from the allure of talking about the resurrection again, so that is today's focus. It is honestly just hard not to focus on the greatest event in history every time you encounter it in the Bible. With lots of fear going around because of this pandemic scare, I am grateful that - no matter how bad this or any situation gets - those who are saved by grace through faith in the finished work of Jesus on the cross have the wonderful promise of eternal life in Him. Because He lives - we who follow Him will live and not perish. Praise His name! The resurrection is the antidote for all of our fears! By the way, today's episode is a two parter, because I couldn't drop two straight 40 minute episodes on you. Selections from today's show are from my book: Easter Fact or Fiction - Twenty Reasons to Believe Jesus Rose from the Dead, which is available on Amazon. Every time you buy a copy of that book on Amazon, I make a little over two dollars - which is enough to buy my precious children about two rolls of toilet paper. Or, it would be if every store in Salinas wasn't sold out of toilet paper!! I'm tempted to do an episode that attempts to castigate toilet paper hoarders, but I can't really find a Scripture on that, for some reason.
Here is a good question from Willem Dykstra about my choice of the CSB for the primary BRP podcast Bible.
Hi Chase,
I am just curious, why is it that you use the CSB, Christian Standard Bible version? Or at least, why do you use it in your Bible Reading Podcast?Up until your podcast, I had never heard of this version I did just a little googling and only remembered from my googling that it seems to be an updated version of the HCSB. Anyway, when I was just a wee lad growing up in Southern Ontario and attending one of the two Christian Reformed Churches in Bowmanville, Ontario, I think the various Christian Reformed Churches in that area used the RSV. I believe some were also still using the good old KJV (Linus’s speech in the Peanuts Christmas special would not be the same without it). Around the time I started college, or shortly after that (or maybe just before), all the Christian Reformed Churches almost immediately went to the NIV. Every good Dutch, Christian Reformed person will tell you the NIV published by Zondervan (Another great Dutch name) is the Christian Reformed Church’s gift to the rest of Christiandom (I mean, our denomination is even mentioned in the preface and everything) I remember my theology professor when I went to college at Dordt University in Sioux Center, IA, (then it was called Dordt College) although he was a faithful Christian Reformed member did not like that they did the “LORD” in uppercase when they should have used the actual name Yahweh or something like that. I can’t seem to recall if I got his umbrage correct (that was a long time ago). Anyway, fast forward to the time I am now married and living in Minnesota attending Dr. John Piper’s church, Bethlehem Baptist. I remember that he felt very strongly about the ESV and said this would be the last and best version he would ever use. And our church, both campuses at that time, only used the ESV from then on, and I have been using it ever since.Anyways, sorry if I just wrote too much info here. I did not even go into the fact that several years ago (or maybe decades), it seemed Zondervan Publishing and the NIV had fallen from grace when many people took umbrage (myself included) when Zondervan decided to publish a gender-neutral version of the NIV. I don’t remember what this new version is even called (NIrV I think or something like that, but I digress again), but anyways if you have read this far, I really am wondering why is it that you use the CSB?
Great question, Willem! I've been a Christian for almost 40 years now, and here is a list of the translations I have favored over the years:
1970s (as a child) The King James Version Plus the Living Bible. (I was a child!)
1980s-early 2000s: The NIV 1984
1998/99-2002ish: The Updated NASB
2002-2008 The 1984 NIV + The Updated NASB
2008-2013 The ESV
2013-2020 The Holman Christian Standard + The ESV + The CSB. My primary preaching translation for the past 7 years has been the HCSB.
The reason I chose the CSB for the Bible Reading podcast, is because I thought that more readers would have it than the HCSB, which remains my favorite translation. The biggest difference I see between the CSB and the HCSB is the translation of the Tetragrammaton - the personal name of God. the CSB prefers LORD and the HCSB prefers Yahweh:
Comparison of Psalm 83:18
HCSB: May they know that You alone— whose name is Yahweh— are the Most High over all the earth.
CSB: May they know that you alone— whose name is the LORD are the Most High over the whole earth.
I believe the best way to translate the name of God is indeed to use 'Yahweh,' but I do not believe that LORD is wrong.
Today's Big Bible Question is all about the women who were the first witnesses of the resurrection of Jesus. This is a big deal, because the testimony of women was not viewed favorably in the first century, and the fact that all FOUR Gospels feature women as the first witnesses of the resurrection is very significant historically. I believe it offers solid corroaboration to the authenticity of the Gospel accounts. Why have women as the first witnesses of Jesus if you are fabricating a story, or legendizing a story? The only sensible reason to feature women prominently as the first witnesses of the biggest event in history is if they were really the first witnesses. One thing I noticed in yesterday's reading of Luke 23 - that I had glossed over in the past - is that the women were not only witnesses of the crucifixion and the resurrection of Jesus, but also very close and careful eyewitnesses of the burial of Jesus:
55 The women who had come with him from Galilee followed along and observed the tomb and how his body was placed. 56 Then they returned and prepared spices and perfumes.And they rested on the Sabbath according to the commandment.
Luke 23:55-56
It should be noted that for one to argue that the early church fabricated the resurrection of Jesus, one has to commit to the very same sexism that many of the men of the first century were quite guilty of - they must disparage the testimony of women! Consider the words of Josephus and Strabo - one a well known Jewish/Roman historian and the other a notable Roman first century sexist philosopher:
A. “But let not a single witness be credited; but three, or two at the least, and those such whose testimony is confirmed by their good lives. But let not the testimony of women be admitted, on account of the levity and boldness of their sex, nor let servants be admitted to give testimony on account of the ignobility of their soul; since it is probable that they may not speak truth” - Jewish/Roman historian Josephus, pointing out the belief that women of his day should not testify in court
B: “In dealing with a crowd of women at least, or with any promiscuous mob, a philosopher cannot influence them by reason or exhort them to reverence, piety and faith; nay, there is need of religious fear also, and this cannot be aroused without myths and marvels” - Strabo, a first century philosopher sharing a quite common view of women at the time: that they were immune to reason and comparable to a “promiscuous mob.”
A. Flavius Josephus and William Whiston, The Works of Josephus: Complete and Unabridged (Peabody: Hendrickson, 1987), 117.
B. Richard Bauckham, Gospel Women: Studies of the Named Women in the Gospels (Grand Rapids, Mich.: W.B. Eerdmans, ©2002), 270
They weren't the only ones, either! Consider the Mishnah a compilation of the Jewish oral law that was actively used by the Scribes and Pharisees during the first century. (and not the Word of God.) One of the Rabbis found within testifies that, due to their menstrual issues, “women are not competent witnesses to be relied on…they are not halakhically admissible as reliable witnesses.”
There are many more examples than just those, and I imagine some of you are mad right now, so let me just sneak in one other somewhat infuriating quote written by our backwards ‘friends’ from antiquity. Celsus was a Greek philosopher and an adamant opponent of Christianity who lived in the second century. Of the resurrection, and the fact that a woman was the first witness of the risen Jesus, Celsus opined:
“But we must examine this question whether anyone who really died ever rose again with the same body. Or do you think that the stories of these others really are the legends which they appear to be, and yet that the ending of your tragedy is to be regarded as noble and convincing—his cry from the cross when he expired, and the earthquake and the darkness? While he was alive he did not help himself, but after death he rose again and showed the marks of his punishment and how his hands had been pierced. But who saw this? A hysterical female, as you say, and perhaps some other one of those who were deluded by the same sorcery, who either dreamt in a certain state of mind and through wishful thinking had a hallucination due to some mistaken notion, or, which is more likely, wanted to impress the others by telling this fantastic tale, and so by this cock-and-bull story to provide a chance for other beggars.”
James Stevenson, A New Eusebius: Documents Illustrating the History of the Church to AD 337 (London: SPCK, 1987), 133.
As you can see here, Celsus’ major attack on the validity of the resurrection account is that it was first witnessed and propagated by a hysterical woman (Mary Magdalene) and, another “one of those,” who was “deluded by the same sorcery.” On behalf of women everywhere, I am offended for you! Be reminded that, though this backwards attitude towards women was staggeringly rampant in the first century, that was not the case with Jesus, the apostles, nor the early church. Perhaps you’ve imagined that the “Jesus Team” consisted of Jesus and the twelve disciples, and those thirteen went around from city to city healing the sick and sharing the good news. You’d be partly right, but the Jesus team was actually quite a bit larger than that, as there were a number (the Bible says “many) of women that also travelled with Jesus and had a critical role on the team, paying for lodging and expenses, etc. Jesus Himself was radical in the way He treated women, having multiple deep individual encounters with them at a time when it would be scandalously inappropriate for a Rabbi to have a one on one conversation with a female.
Compare the New Testament to any other document of antiquity, and you will find that it was radically forward thinking in its ethos of women. To be sure, in many cases, women were treated quite poorly in the earliest centuries, and were viewed in a way that does not comport with modern reality. I could add many other quotes to demonstrate this historical fact, but that is not necessary to make the primary and pertinent point here: having a female witness to something monumental in the first century might be a little bit…inconvenient, to say the least. As Josephus notes above, there were many cultures in antiquity where a woman was not allowed to testify in court. In other ancient cultures, they might have been allowed to testify, but their testimony would not have carried as much weight as the testimony of a man. In some of those situations, where women were actually allowed to testify, it would take the testimony of two women to override the testimony of one man. Why is such a cultural issue critical in discussing the resurrection of Jesus? Because, according to Matthew 28, the first two witnesses to the risen Jesus were women, Mary Magdalene and “The other Mary.” Luke adds that Joanna was there, as well as “other women,” and seems to indicate that “the other” Mary, was Mary the mother of James. All four gospels, written down by different men, in different places and at different time periods ALL feature a female (Mary Magdalene) as the first witness of the resurrection of Jesus.
Stay Tuned for part two tomorrow!
Happy Monday, friends - hope you are all washing your hands, not touching your face, and - most importantly - starting your day with the Word of God! Thank you for joining us for the Bible Reading Podcast. Promo. Today's readings include Exodus 20 (The Ten Commandments), Job 38 (God Speaks to Job out of the whirlwind), Luke 23 (The crucifixion of Jesus) and 2nd Corinthians 8. Though we aren't focusing on 2 Corinthians today, one of the deepest and richest verses in all of Scripture is right there in the middle of chapter 8, and I would be remiss if I didn't mention it:
For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ: Though he was rich, for your sake he became poor, so that by his poverty you might become rich.
2nd Corinthians 8:9
Today's focus passages will be our Exodus AND Job passages, because both are applicable to our big Bible question of the day. Allow me to confess upfront, that our question of the day isn't exactly fair, because the Bible doesn't full describe the appearance of God, but it does often describe His surroundings, and that will be our primary focus of discussion for the first part of the episode. The second half of the episode will include some awesome Scriptures that describe the appearance of God. Let's consider Job 38:1 first of all. All of the sudden, God is on the scene, and He is ready to call Job and his friends to account for their words. Surprisingly, God is in a whirlwind:
Then the Lord answered Job from the whirlwind. He said:
Job 38:1
Job sees God in a whirlwind This is a very strange passage - strange for its suddenness, I suppose, and strange for the fact that God is IN A WHIRLWIND. We are given absolutely zero introduction or context here. Job and his friends don't look up and see a storm forming in the distance, or anything like that...just - all of the sudden, God is there, and He is speaking out of a whirlwind. The Hebrew word used here for whirlwind is the word סַעַר sah' -ar, and it means, tempest, storm, hurricane, or whirlwind. I suppose 'tornado' would be in the semantic range of the word as well. It is the same word used in 2nd Kings 2:
The time had come for the Lord to take Elijah up to heaven in a whirlwind ...
11 As they continued walking and talking, a chariot of fire with horses of fire suddenly appeared and separated the two of them. Then Elijah went up into heaven in the whirlwind.
2 Kings 2 verses 1 and 11
It is also the same word used in Jonah for the storm that God sent to turn Jonah back from Tarshish to Nineveh, and also in Zechariah 9:
Then the Lord will appear over them,
and his arrow will fly like lightning.
The Lord God will sound the trumpet
and advance with the southern storms.Zechariah 9:14
I believe it is fair to say that there is a strong association between God and this whirlwind (He will also speak out of it later in Job.) Do most people picture God's presence as manifesting in a storm? Perhaps not...but here we are. God (sometimes!) abides in the whirlwind...but not always! Consider Elijah's encounter with God (one of my favorite Bible passages!):
Suddenly, the word of the Lord came to him, and he said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” ...11 Then he said, “Go out and stand on the mountain in the Lord’s presence.” At that moment, the Lord passed by. A great and mighty wind was tearing at the mountains and was shattering cliffs before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. 12 After the earthquake there was a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire there was a voice, a soft whisper. 13 When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. Suddenly, a voice came to him and said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”
1 Kings 19:10-13
God was not in the storm here, nor the fire, nor the earthquake, but in the soft whisper. Fascinating, beautiful, an a little unsettling, but in a good way, I think. Let's turn to our Exodus passage - how does God appear in Exodus?
18 All the people witnessed the thunder and lightning, the sound of the trumpet, and the mountain surrounded by smoke. When the people saw it they trembled and stood at a distance. 19 “You speak to us, and we will listen,” they said to Moses, “but don’t let God speak to us, or we will die.”20 Moses responded to the people, “Don’t be afraid, for God has come to test you, so that you will fear him and will not sin.” 21 And the people remained standing at a distance as Moses approached the total darkness where God was.
Exodus 20:18-21
There are a few verses in the Bible that just give me chills. The 1st Kings 19 passage is one. Revelation 12 (There was war in Heaven) is another. Matthew 7:23 (I never knew you - depart from me you lawbreakers!) is a third. Exodus 20:21 is absolutely in the mix as far as most chilling Bible verse. araphel - thick darkness, gross darkness, total darkness. God is here dwelling in a mountain surrounded by lightning, thunder, thick smoke, fire, and a terrifyingly loud trumpet sound. Just picturing what the Israelites might have seen in my mind's eye is enough to produce at least a little of the shuddering that they felt:
16 On the third day, when morning came, there was thunder and lightning, a thick cloud on the mountain, and a very loud trumpet sound, so that all the people in the camp shuddered. 17 Then Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain. 18 Mount Sinai was completely enveloped in smoke because the Lord came down on it in fire. Its smoke went up like the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mountain shook violently. 19 As the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses spoke and God answered him in the thunder
Exodus 19:16-19
So far, we have seen that God can inhabit total darkness (surrounded by fiery and smoky storms), He can inhabit a calm and gentle whisper, and He can inhabit a whirlwind. Pretty fascinating, I'd say, but we aren't done yet! Isaiah saw a picture of the Lord:
6 In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a high and lofty throne, and the hem of his robe filled the temple. 2 Seraphim were standing above him; they each had six wings: with two they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they flew. 3 And one called to another: Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Armies;
his glory fills the whole earth.Isaiah 6:1-3
Not a big description of God Himself (more on that in a moment) but we do see Him here on a lofty and high throne - and He is wearing a robe with a LONG train or hem, which is fairly interesting. So - it is reasonable to believe that when God appears to humans - He is wearing some kind of clothing. We learn some more about the appearance of God in Exodus 24:
9Then Moses went up with Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of Israel’s elders, 10 and they saw the God of Israel. Beneath his feet was something like a pavement made of lapis lazuli, as clear as the sky itself.11 God did not harm the Israelite nobles; they saw him, and they ate and drank.12 The Lord said to Moses, “Come up to me on the mountain and stay there so that I may give you the stone tablets with the law and commandments I have written for their instruction.” 13 So Moses arose with his assistant Joshua and went up the mountain of God. 14 He told the elders, “Wait here for us until we return to you. Aaron and Hur are here with you. Whoever has a dispute should go to them.” 15 When Moses went up the mountain, the cloud covered it. 16 The glory of the Lord settled on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it for six days. On the seventh day he called to Moses from the cloud. 17 The appearance of the Lord’s glory to the Israelites was like a consuming fire on the mountaintop. (note! lapis lazuli is important, apparently, as Ezekiel sees God on a throne of lapis lazuli in Ezekiel 10) Lapis lazuli is a beautiful deep blue rock! (See below)
Exodus 24:9-17
God's throne and the ground he walked on were apparently made of lapis lazuli. Also: God has feet! (Or at least, His appearance can manifest with feet) As well, as verse 17 shows us, God can also appear as if He is a consuming fire, or as if He is dwelling in a consuming fire. Likely both, as Hebrews 12:29 tells us, "For our God is a consuming fire." I realize that we have not seen a very detailed description of the appearance of God yet - and there is a very good reason for that - but, believe it or not, the Bible does give us a good bit more about the appearance of God than we've seen so far. Let's examine a few more passages, beginning with Exodus 34-35:
13 Now if I have indeed found favor with you, please teach me your ways, and I will know you, so that I may find favor with you. Now consider that this nation is your people. 14 And he replied, “My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.” 15 “If your presence does not go,” Moses responded to him, “don’t make us go up from here. 16 How will it be known that I and your people have found favor with you unless you go with us? I and your people will be distinguished by this from all the other people on the face of the earth.” 17 The Lord answered Moses, “I will do this very thing you have asked, for you have found favor with me, and I know you by name.” 18 Then Moses said, “Please, let me see your glory.” 19 He said, “I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim the name ‘the Lord’ before you. I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.” 20 But he added, “You cannot see my face, for humans cannot see me and live.” 21 The Lord said, “Here is a place near me. You are to stand on the rock, 22 and when my glory passes by, I will put you in the crevice of the rock and cover you with my hand until I have passed by. 23 Then I will take my hand away, and you will see my back, but my face will not be seen.”...
4 Moses cut two stone tablets like the first ones. He got up early in the morning, and taking the two stone tablets in his hand, he climbed Mount Sinai, just as the Lord had commanded him.5 The Lord came down in a cloud, stood with him there, and proclaimed his name, “the Lord.” 6 The Lord passed in front of him and proclaimed: the Lord—the Lord is a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger and abounding in faithful love and truth, 7 maintaining faithful love to a thousand generations, forgiving iniquity, rebellion, and sin. But he will not leave the guilty unpunished, bringing the fathers’ iniquity on the children and grandchildren to the third and fourth generation 8 Moses immediately knelt low on the ground and worshiped.Exodus 34:13-23 and Exodus 35:4-8
What do we see here? Most importantly, we learn the character of God: Compassionate and gracious - slow to anger, and abounding in my favorite Hebrew word Chesed - faithful love! Punishing sin and maintaining love to a thousand generations...praise His holy name! (By the way, that is good news for us living thousands of years after Moses - God is still maintaining His love, because we have not yet exhausted a thousand generations since Moses) Two other things we learn: First, we learn that no human can see God face to face and live - this is very important, and it means that we will not have a full descriptive of God in the Bible. Second, we see God dwelling in the clouds again - and that is important. (Perhaps worth remembering: when Jesus ascended into Heaven, He ascended into the clouds...when He returns, He will return on the clouds of Heaven (Matthew 26:64). There is a very strong associating in Scripture between God and clouds!
Just a few more passages to go, and these passages will contain the most deeply descriptive words about God in the Bible. Let's begin with Daniel 7:
9 “As I kept watching, thrones were set in place,
and the Ancient of Days took his seat.
His clothing was white like snow,
and the hair of his head like whitest wool.
His throne was flaming fire;
its wheels were blazing fire.
10 A river of fire was flowing,
coming out from his presence.
Thousands upon thousands served him;
ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him.
The court was convened,
and the books were opened.Daniel 7:9-10
Thus far, this is our most detailed description of God. Clothing white as snow, seated on a throne of FLAMING FIRE - with WHEELS OF FLAMING FIRE and the his hair, on His head was like the whitest wool. So - God does have a head, He does have hair, He does have feet. Further, we see a RIVER OF FIRE coming out from the presence of God. We often associate fire with Satan, and cartoons like to depict him ruling a fiery hell, but in the Bible fire purifies, and God is often seen in the midst of fire, and He sometimes appears AS FIRE. Satan does not rule from Hell - he's not there yet. When he is sent to hell, it won't be to rule, but to suffer. Our next picture of God comes from Ezekiel, and buckle your seat belts, because it is remarkable!
3 the word of the Lord came directly to the priest Ezekiel son of Buzi, in the land of the Chaldeans by the Chebar Canal. The Lord’s hand was on him there.4 I looked, and there was a whirlwind coming from the north, a huge cloud with fire flashing back and forth and brilliant light all around it. In the center of the fire, there was a gleam like amber. 5 The likeness of four living creatures came from it, and this was their appearance: They looked something like a human, 6 but each of them had four faces and four wings... 13 The likeness of the living creatures was like the appearance of blazing coals of fire or like torches. Fire was moving back and forth between the living creatures; it was bright, with lightning coming out of it. 14 The creatures were darting back and forth like flashes of lightning. ... 25 A voice came from above the expanse over their heads; when they stopped, they lowered their wings. 26 Something like a throne with the appearance of lapis lazuli was above the expanse over their heads. On the throne, high above, was someone who looked like a human. 27 From what seemed to be his waist up, I saw a gleam like amber, with what looked like fire enclosing it all around. From what seemed to be his waist down, I also saw what looked like fire. There was a brilliant light all around him. 28 The appearance of the brilliant light all around was like that of a rainbow in a cloud on a rainy day. This was the appearance of the likeness of the Lord’s glory. When I saw it, I fell facedown and heard a voice speaking.
Selections from Ezekiel 1
Did you see it - another whirlwind! Also - FIRE and CLOUDS AND LIGHTNING AND MORE LAPIS LAZULI! And, our clearest description of the appearance of God (or the likeness of His glory) yet: HE LOOKED HUMAN, but He gleams like amber. Fire enclosed His upper torso AND His lower torso. There was a brilliant RAINBOW like light all around God. This is a fascinating picture we are beginning to see. One more passage (and maybe a bonus one!) - this one from Revelation:
After this I looked, and there in heaven was an open door. The first voice that I had heard speaking to me like a trumpet said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this.” 2 Immediately I was in the Spirit, and there was a throne in heaven and someone was seated on it. 3 The one seated there had the appearance of jasper and carnelian stone. A rainbow that had the appearance of an emerald surrounded the throne.4 Around the throne were twenty-four thrones, and on the thrones sat twenty-four elders dressed in white clothes, with golden crowns on their heads. 5 Flashes of lightning and rumblings and peals of thunder came from the throne. Seven fiery torches were burning before the throne, which are the seven spirits of God. 6 Something like a sea of glass, similar to crystal, was also before the throne...
Revelation 8: 2 Then I saw the seven angels who stand in the presence of God; seven trumpets were given to them.3 Another angel, with a golden incense burner, came and stood at the altar. He was given a large amount of incense to offer with the prayers of all the saints on the golden altar in front of the throne. 4 The smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, went up in the presence of God from the angel’s hand.
Revelation 4:1-6 and Revelation 8:2-4
What an awe-inspiring picture we are given in Revelation of the wonder and majesty of God! Notice the trumpets (we heard those back in Exodus!) the lightning and thunder! The fiery torches in the presence of God! A sea of glass/crystal in front of the throne! Rainbow light - perhaps tinted green like an emerald - shining around the throne. And God Himself - the Ancient of Days - with an appearance like a jasper stone and a sardius (or carnelian stone.) There is a good amount of discussion as to what exactly John intended here, but my best guess is reddish crystals that swirl with other colors, as pictured below:
God appeared like a Jasper - perhaps with the color of the above. What a beautiful stone! This is a polished carnelian stone - beautiful and reddish like the Jasper. Perhaps the red refers to the redemptive blood of Jesus? One last description of God to discuss, and this will be a great place to conclude this extremely long episode. Have you ever wondered what Jesus - the Son of God and God Himself actually looks like NOW - In His glorified form? Well - we have a wonderful, beautiful picture of that in Revelation, chapter 1.
9 I, John, your brother and partner in the affliction, kingdom, and endurance that are in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. 10 I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and I heard a loud voice behind me like a trumpet 11 saying, “Write on a scroll what you see and send it to the seven churches: Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea.”12 Then I turned to see whose voice it was that spoke to me. When I turned I saw seven golden lampstands,13 and among the lampstands was one like the Son of Man, dressed in a robe and with a golden sash wrapped around his chest. 14 The hair of his head was white as wool—white as snow—and his eyes like a fiery flame. 15 His feet were like fine bronze as it is fired in a furnace, and his voice like the sound of cascading waters. 16 He had seven stars in his right hand; a sharp double-edged sword came from his mouth, and his face was shining like the sun at full strength.17 When I saw him, I fell at his feet like a dead man. He laid his right hand on me and said, “Don’t be afraid. I am the First and the Last, 18 and the Living One. I was dead, but look—I am alive forever and ever, and I hold the keys of death and Hades.
Revelation 1:9-18
Today is the Lord's Day, Friends - and that means a shorter than normal podcast for us. Rest your ears, wash your hands and enjoy your extra time this Sunday! As a pastor, much of my Saturday is spent getting ready for Sunday, and therefore I try to take it a little easier than normal on the Saturday night podcast. Today we are reading some great Bible passages, though: Exodus 19, Job 37, Luke 22 and 2nd Corinthians 7. In Luke 22, Jesus is with His disciples for their last meal together before the crucifixion. Here is the passage in Luke:
14 When the hour came, he reclined at the table, and the apostles with him. 15 Then he said to them, “I have fervently desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. 16 For I tell you, I will not eat it again until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.” 17 Then he took a cup, and after giving thanks, he said, “Take this and share it among yourselves. 18 For I tell you, from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.” 19 And he took bread, gave thanks, broke it, gave it to them, and said, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”20 In the same way he also took the cup after supper and said, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood,which is poured out for you. 21 But look, the hand of the one betraying me is at the table with me. 22 For the Son of Man will go away as it has been determined, but woe to that man by whom he is betrayed!”23 So they began to argue among themselves which of them it could be who was going to do it.
Luke 22:14-23
SO - why are Christians all across the world going to eat crackers or bread and drink the fruit of the vine today during church today? Is it for a tasty snack, which is how young Chase viewed communion in his childhood. Well - tasty grape juice, the crackers were always bitter and odd, and very, very tiny. Is communion a way to break up the monotony from time to time? An act of cannibalism...or something much more?
The practice of communion in the church is so unusual that in the early 200s a Roman writer accused Christians of consuming infants during the worship times - obviously combining the nativity story and the communion element of worship. In fact Hoc Est Corpus Meum - the Latin for ‘This is my body’ which Jesus said at the initial Last Supper is the probable origin for the magical phrase ‘Hocus-pocus’. It shows that people have been confused for years about the practice of Christians taking communion and what exactly it means.
Let's go back a few days to 1st Corinthians and read Paul's explanation of communion:
For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: On the night when He was betrayed, the Lord Jesus took bread, 24 gave thanks, broke it, and said, “This is My body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of Me.” 25 In the same way, after supper He also took the cup and said, “This cup is the new covenant established by My blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.” 26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.
1st Corinthians 11:23-26
AGAIN - DEATH. Why are Christians so focused on death?? It’s weird and morbid, right? Except, death is the most universal reality we all face, and the most terrifying thing. If you are young, you care little about death, unless it has stolen somebody precious from you. The older you are, the more death has laid its marks on you. On your hair, your beard hair, your body, your knees, your joints, your husbands and wives, your families and friends. The Bible rightly describes death as a terrible enemy, because it is. The worst.
You know why death is so important to Christians if you’ve ever faced it. But - the thing is - when we are focused on the death of Jesus - we are not celebrating in some sort of macabre way that He suffered by having His Body broken and His blood spilled. We are celebrating that HE LOVED US SO MUCH THAT HE WENT THROUGH A HORRIFIC DEATH TO SAVE US FROM GOING THROUGH A HORRIFIC DEATH. We proclaim the Lord’s Death because it SAVES US FROM OUR OWN DEATH!!! Because we’ve died with Him - WE WILL LIVE WITH HIM!! BECAUSE HIS BODY WAS BROKEN - OUR BODIES WILL BE UNBROKEN BECAUSE HIS BLOOD WAS GRUESOMELY POURED OUT - OUR BLOOD WILL BE PRESERVED.
So - why do Christians eat bread and drink the fruit of the vine in church on Sunday mornings? #1 Because Jesus told us to do so in remembrance of the Good news of His death in our place - the gospel. #2 Because it not only helps us remember the good news - and be thankful for it - but it also helps us proclaim it to our families, our children, our friends and to any visitor that shows up. Communion is our way of remembering AND proclaiming the greatest news in history! Allow me to close with some fantastic news - and an incredible insight - from Spurgeon:
And as to our Lord’s going away from us into heaven, it does at first sight have a very sorrowful aspect. We should be glad if He should occupy that chair (on the stage) tonight and say, “Take, eat; this is My body.” Oh, what a happy crowd would you all be who love Him, if He stood in this pulpit tonight and showed you His hands and His feet. We would stand at the posts of His doors for a whole week together to get a sight of Him. If He had His throne in Jerusalem in the present, what pilgrimages would we make if we might but come anywhere near His blessed person, and might kiss the very dust He trod upon! For what a precious Lord was He! Oh, in our times of sorrowing, if we could but once see His face, those dear lustrous eyes that seem to say, “I know your sorrows, for I have felt the same,” that blessed countenance that would speak consolation, though it said not a word, and would say to every mourner, “I will help you. I have borne your burden of old”—would it not be a joy to see Him? Surely I would be glad enough to cease my ministry, and you might be glad enough, however useful you might be, to give up your work as the stars hide their diminished heads when the sun rises.
But, brethren, there is no cause for sorrow...for our sorrow is turned into joy. It is a great gain to us not to have the Saviour here. And do you see how? He said, “If I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you.” Now, it is a nobler thing to have the Spirit of God dwelling in us than it would be to have Jesus Christ dwelling upon earth. For, as I have hinted, if He were on earth we could not all get at Him; He could only be in one place at a time, and how would the poor be able to get where He is? And if He walked through all the world in a natural way, it is only now and then He could come to one place, and so some of us would have to be pining all our lives to see Him. But now the Holy Ghost is here. The Holy Ghost is wherever believers are. “Do you not know that He dwells in us for ever?”
C. H. Spurgeon, Able to the Uttermost: Twenty Gospel Sermons (Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software, 2009), 50. Slightly modernized
Hello everybody, and welcome into another episode of the Bible Reading Podcast with a slightly click-baity title. Is Coronavirus a sign of the END OF THE WORLD?? Stay tuned for the exciting answer!
Today's Bible passages are Exodus 18 - in which Moses learns some excellent practical wisdom from his father in law Jethro. And no, I don't mean the guy on Beverly Hillbillies. Though I will throw in a nugget of television trivia for absolutely no charge if you ORDER NOW! Jethro (that is, actor Max Baer Jr.) is still ALIVE despite the fact that the show he starred on as an adult premiered in 1962, almost 60 years ago! (What other Bible-Reading Podcast gives you nuggets of useless information like that?!) We will also be reading Job 36, 2nd Corinthians 6 and Luke 21, which will serve as our focus passage. Luke 21 is somewhat paralleled in Matthew 24 and Mark 13. and is known as the Olivet Discourse. While most fully recorded in Matthew 24, Luke still gives us a deep insight into Jesus' teaching on the Last Days and His return, including this line that is on a lot of people's minds this week:
10 Then he told them: “Nation will be raised up against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. 11 There will be violent earthquakes, and famines and plagues in various places, and there will be terrifying sights and great signs from heaven.
Luke 24:10-11
The keyword there, in case you missed it, is PLAGUES. As I record this podcast, the whole world is in the midst of the Coronavirus panic, and probably for good reason. When I used to be on a podcast called The Gospel Friends, we would rate news of the world in a game we called BDLD, Big Deal, Little Deal, or No Deal. My take as somebody who is not a medical doctor, nor who knows anything at all about COVIDs #1-18, is that the Coronavirus will be a Big Deal. Not a mammoth deal, but a big deal. And here's our 99 cent question: Does the coronavirus portend the end of the world and the return of Jesus? And the answer: maybe, but probably not. In the same way that the Plague of Justinian of 541-542 (25-50 million deaths), the Black Death of 1333-1353 (75-200 million), the Spanish Flu 1918-1920 (100 million), The Asian Flu of 1957-58 (2 million), Russian Flu of 1889-1890 (1 million), or the worst plague that nobody has heard of: The Cocoliztli Epidemic in Mexico of 1545-48 (5-15 million) was not portending the immediate arrival of the last days and the return of Jesus, I don't think the Coronavirus pandemic demonstrates to us that Jesus is going to immediately return. At the same time, however, it should cause Christians to raise an eyebrow at least. Sickness/plagues/pandemics are a consistent sign that Jesus says will point to His return, but the general picture we get is not of one of these types of issues in isolation, but all of them happening together - in concert - along with 'signs in the heavens, and many other things. The general picture is one of incredible upheaval - and even then, that is just the beginning of the preparation for the return of Jesus:
You are going to hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, because these things must take place, but the end is not yet. 7 For nation will rise up against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these events are the beginning of labor pains.
Matthew 24:6-8
The thing about predicting the exact time of the return of Jesus is that it is not possible to do from Scripture, as we've discussed before. The Bible does not have encoded in it the time of Jesus' return. How do I know this? Because Jesus said that He didn't know when His second return would be, ONLY the FATHER knew. So I don't want to spend a lot of time talking about the WHEN of the Last Days, but rather to focus on what Jesus focused on in regards to the Last Days, and that is on BEING AWAKE and READY.
Hypochondriacs beware!! In 1918, the world was hit with a devastating epidemic - The Spanish Flu epidemic. The bad thing about this particular flu was that it hit healthy young adults the hardest. Ultimately it killed many more people than World War 1 - About 50-100 million total. Mass graves had to be built. It was unimaginably devastating. SO bad, that the US government kept many many secrets about the spread of the illness and how many people died. According to the Stuff You Missed in History Class Podcast, telegraph operators were given codebooks that they could not understand, and used to transmit disease info to Washington.
You’ve probably heard of the Spanish Flu, and its scary. I don't believe the Coronavirus will hit us that hard. However, in the midst of that epidemic a much scarier epidemic took hold for over 10 years. You’ve probably never heard of it, because it didn’t kill as many people...but it is terrifying, and not well understood, even today. Encephalitis Lethargica. The disease attacks the brain, leaving some victims in a statue-like condition, speechless and motionless.[3] Between 1915 and 1926,[4] an epidemic of encephalitis lethargica spread around the world; Encephalitis lethargica is characterized by high fever, sore throat, headache, lethargy, double vision, delayed physical and mental response, sleep inversion and catatonia.[3] In severe cases, patients may enter a coma-like state The disease can last YEARS! During the outbreak, more than a million died, and many more were left frozen inside their useless bodies, in institutions. No-one knew what had caused it, or how to treat it. Even today, the cause isn’t known for sure: Probably related to strep throat, and probably treatable and prevented by antibiotics, considering there hasn't been another outbreak for over 100 years. (It does sometimes show up, but rarely) (Info above sourced from Wikipedia and other websites.)
EVEN MORE TERRIFYING THAN THAT...Is Spiritual Encephalitis Lethargica. Much more common...much more dangerous.
9 So justice is far from us, and righteousness does not reach us. We look for light, but all is darkness; for brightness, but we walk in deep shadows. 10 Like the blind we grope along the wall, feeling our way like people without eyes. At midday we stumble as if it were twilight; among the strong, we are like the dead.
Isaiah 59: 9-10
The Church at Sardis had spiritual Encephalitis Lethargica
Revelation 3 “And to the angel of the church in Sardis write: ‘The words of him who has the seven spirits of God and the seven stars.“‘I know your works. You have the reputation of being alive, but you are dead. 2 Wake up, and strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your works complete in the sight of my God. 3 Remember, then, what you received and heard. Keep it, and repent. If you will not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come against you.
Jesus, in love, stings the church at Sardis in a way that makes a lot of sense to them. It had been a boom city many years before, but by the time of Jesus’ letter, the city was not doing nearly so well. Sort of like Detroit. The church was like that even more - good reputation...impressive works. Probably big and successful...but dying. As Dick Lucas says, these letters are like iodine put on a cut...Not meant to harm...meant to heal...but the truth will sting a bit. There is NO indication in the letter of Jesus to the church at Sardis that it had deviated from sound biblical teaching. Based on the other churches, and Jesus’ challenge to them, I suspect Sardis had solid, Biblical theology, and WAS ASLEEP. WE CAN TOO!!
Not only that - but Sardis was known for its works and good deeds. Not a dead looking church. Good, solid teaching, and lots of works to point to. And yet, despite the fact that the teaching is solid, and that the works are happening...Jesus looks at Sardis and says - you are dead...WAKE UP!
Right now in Turkey, there is approximately 1 Bible believing Christian for every 21000 citizens. THIS WAS THE CRADLE OF CHRISTIANITY. All 7 letters were written to churches in Turkey/Anatolia. The locus of Christianity has moved dozens of times over the years. For the last couple of hundred, it has largely been in America...that is shifting. The Holy Spirit does not appear to breathe very frequently on institutionalized believers or churches..instead, the Eyes of the Lord roam throughout the earth, looking for those whose hearts are fully His, that He might strengthen them. (2 Chron 16:9) Parents - this means that we should not be concerned about introducing our children to our religion….our traditions...but to our God and to His son. Not our ways of walking out our religion, but the person of Jesus, the teachings of Jesus and the teachings of the Bible. Methods change….truth doesn’t.
The main thrust of the letter: WAKE UP!! (It is presented as a command and a threat.) Studying this through this week, I was astounded to find out how important the call of Jesus to His church to wake up and stay awake is.
- Matthew 24: 42 Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. 43 But know this, that if the master of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into. 44 Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.
- Mark 13: 33 Be on guard, keep awake. For you do not know when the time will come. 34 It is like a man going on a journey, when he leaves home and puts his servants in charge, each with his work, and commands the doorkeeper to stay awake. 35 Therefore stay awake—for you do not know when the master of the house will come, in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or in the morning— 36 lest he come suddenly and find you asleep. 37 And what I say to you I say to all: Stay awake.”
- Luke 21: 35 For it will come upon all who dwell on the face of the whole earth. 36 But stay awake at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that are going to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.”
- 1 Thess. 5 5 For you are all children of light, children of the day. We are not of the night or of the darkness. 6 So then let us not sleep, as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober.
- 1 cor 15: 34 Wake up from your drunken stupor, as is right, and do not go on sinning. For some have no knowledge of God. I say this to your shame.
- Romans 13: 11 The hour has come for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed. 12 The night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light.
- Revelation 16: 15 (“Behold, I am coming like a thief! Blessed is the one who stays awake, keeping his garments on, that he may not go about naked and be seen exposed!”) Brothers and sisters - in the face of a looming and scary pandemic, let us look to Jesus - the beautiful author and finisher of our salvation - fearing only God, and trusting only Jesus to save us. Let us be wise and shrewd and prudent, and most especially, considering all of the passages we've just read today - LET US BE AWAKE AND READY WHENEVER THE MASTER CHOOSES TO RETURN!
Good news - tonight's topic is super-fun! I can't imagine anything funner than talking about what happens when we die. Okay, I guess I am being a little tongue in cheek, but stay with me - I think you will be encouraged. Our Bible passages for tonight include Exodus 17, Job 35, Luke 20, and our focus passage, 2 Corinthians 5.
In answering this question - which is incredibly important - let's start by discussing the issue of how we do BIBLICAL theology in the first place. In other words, how do we answer hard questions like this from the Bible?
Most people have a theology - a certain way they think about God and the things of God. But how to we approach these big questions? Maybe we’ve heard things from our parents. Maybe we apply our own logic to things. (MY God would never do that…) Maybe our church or pastor has told us their take. When engaging in biblical theology, one passage to keep at the front of our thinking is:
Isaiah 55: 8 “For My thoughts are not your thoughts,and your ways are not My ways.”This is the Lord’s declaration.9 “For as heaven is higher than earth,so My ways are higher than your ways,and My thoughts than your thoughts.
Three steps to a Biblical theology:
- Start with the Bible - what does the Bible say about a particular subject. Not just ONE verse, but many. (For instance - to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord is just a small part of what the Bible has to say about what happens after death, or the intermediate state)
- Account for the difference between Old Covenant passages and New Covenant passages. The New Testament must take precedence over the Old Testament, and it must interpret it.
11 Now if perfection came through the Levitical priesthood (for on the basis of it the people received the law), what further need was there for another priest to appear, said to be according to the order of Melchizedek and not according to the order of Aaron? 12 For when there is a change of the priesthood, there must be a change of law as well. 13 For the one these things are spoken about belonged to a different tribe. No one from it has served at the altar. 14 Now it is evident that our Lord came from Judah, and Moses said nothing about that tribe concerning priests.15 And this becomes clearer if another priest like Melchizedek appears, 16 who did not become a priest based on a legal regulation about physical descent but based on the power of an indestructible life. 17 For it has been testified:
You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.18 So the previous command is annulled because it was weak and unprofitable 19 (for the law perfected nothing), but a better hope is introduced, through which we draw near to God.
Hebrews 7:11-18
- With humility, prayer, and the leadership of the Spirit -keep returning to the Word of God.
3 Biblical Truths about Death: 1. Death is here because of sin. We do NOT take this seriously enough. Romans 6:23, “23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” 2. Death is an ENEMY. 1 Corinthians 15: “24 Then comes the end, when He hands over the kingdom to God the Father, when He abolishes all rule and all authority and power. 25 For He must reign until He puts all His enemies under His feet. 26 The last enemy to be abolished is death.” 3. Death will END one day. Revelation 21, “3 Then I heard a loud voice from the throne: Look! God’s dwelling is with humanity, and He will live with them. They will be His people, and God Himself will be with them and be their God. 4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. Death will no longer exist; grief, crying, and pain will exist no longer, because the previous things have passed away.”
10 Bible Verses/Passages on What happens after Death: 1. Genesis 3:19 You will eat bread by the sweat of your brow until you return to the ground, since you were taken from it. For you are dust, and you will return to dust.” Hebrews 9:27 “ 27 It is appointed for people to die once—and after this, judgment” MEANING: YOU ARE ALL GOING TO DIE! BUT: John 3:16 “For God loved the world in this way: He gave His One and Only Son,so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life.” Perish = Rot, ruin, be utterly destroyed. Cease. Come to ruin. We WILL die - almost all of us. We will NOT Perish. 2. 2nd Samuel 12: 19 When David saw that his servants were whispering to each other, he guessed that the baby was dead. So he asked his servants, “Is the baby dead?” “He is dead,” they replied. 20 Then David got up from the ground. He washed, anointed himself, changed his clothes, went to the Lord’s house, and worshiped. Then he went home and requested something to eat. So they served him food, and he ate. 21 His servants asked him, “What did you just do? While the baby was alive, you fasted and wept, but when he died, you got up and ate food.” 22 He answered, “While the baby was alive, I fasted and wept because I thought, ‘Who knows? The Lord may be gracious to me and let him live.’ 23 But now that he is dead, why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I’ll go to him, but he will never return to me.” MEANING: IN THE OT, THERE WAS AN UNDERSTANDING ABOUT A PLACE OF THE DEAD.
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Daniel 12:1-3 and 13 “At that time shall arise Michael, the great prince who has charge of your people. And there shall be a time of trouble, such as never has been since there was a nation till that time. But at that time your people shall be delivered, everyone whose name shall be found written in the book. 2 And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. 3 And those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the sky above; and those who turn many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever... “13 But as for you, go on your way to the end; you will rest, then rise to your destiny at the end of the days.” A RESURRECTION!
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Luke 16 “19 “There was a rich man who would dress in purple and fine linen, feasting lavishly every day. 20 But a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, was left at his gate. 21 He longed to be filled with what fell from the rich man’s table, but instead the dogs would come and lick his sores. 22 One day the poor man died and was carried away by the angels to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried. 23 And being in torment in Hades, he looked up and saw Abraham a long way off, with Lazarus at his side. 24 ‘Father Abraham!’ he called out, ‘Have mercy on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this flame!’25 “‘Son,’ Abraham said, ‘remember that during your life you received your good things, just as Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here, while you are in agony. 26 Besides all this, a great chasm has been fixed between us and you, so that those who want to pass over from here to you cannot; neither can those from there cross over to us.’” NOTE: NOT SAID TO BE A PARABLE. HADES IS THE PLACE OF THE DEAD. SOME INDICATION OF AN INTERMEDIATE STATE HERE.
Intro to this story, Luke 16:15 “You are the ones who justify yourselves in the sight of others, but God knows your hearts. For what is highly admired by people is revolting in God’s sight.”
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2 Corinthians 5, “5 For we know that if our temporary, earthly dwelling is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal dwelling in the heavens, not made with hands. 2 Indeed, we groan in this body, desiring to put on our dwelling from heaven, 3 since, when we are clothed, we will not be found naked. 4 Indeed, we groan while we are in this tent, burdened as we are, because we do not want to be unclothed but clothed, so that mortality may be swallowed up by life. 5 And the One who prepared us for this very purpose is God, who gave us the Spirit as a down payment. 6 So, we are always confident and know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord.
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1 Corinthians 15:35 35 But someone will say, “How are the dead raised? What kind of body will they have when they come?” 36 Foolish one! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. 37 And as for what you sow—you are not sowing the future body, but only a seed, perhaps of wheat or another grain. 38 But God gives it a body as He wants, and to each of the seeds its own body. ... 42 So it is with the resurrection of the dead: Sown in corruption, raised in incorruption; 43 sown in dishonor, raised in glory; sown in weakness, raised in power; 44 sown a natural body, raised a spiritual body. This is vivid imagery here - A dead body is planted in the ground like a seed. And like a seed, it blooms into something completely vibrant and different.
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1 Corinthians 15:50 Brothers, I tell you this: Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, and corruption cannot inherit incorruption. 51 Listen! I am telling you a mystery:We will not all fall asleep, but we will all be changed, 52 in a moment, in the blink of an eye, at the last trumpet.For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we will be changed.53 For this corruptible must be clothed with incorruptibility, and this mortal must be clothed with immortality. 54 When this corruptible is clothed with incorruptibility, and this mortal is clothed with immortality,then the saying that is written will take place: Death has been swallowed up in victory.55 Death, where is your victory? Death, where is your sting? 56 Now the sting of death is sin,and the power of sin is the law.57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!
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1st Thessalonians 4, “13 We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, concerning those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve like the rest, who have no hope. 14 Since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, in the same way God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep through Jesus. 15 For we say this to you by a revelation from the Lord: We who are still alive at the Lord’s coming will certainly have no advantage over those who have fallen asleep. 16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the archangel’s voice, and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are still alive will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air and so we will always be with the Lord. 18 Therefore encourage one another with these words.”
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Revelation 20: .11 Then I saw a great white throne and One seated on it. Earth and heaven fled from His presence, and no place was found for them. 12 I also saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life, and the dead were judged according to their works by what was written in the books.13 Then the sea gave up its dead, and Death and Hades gave up their dead; all were judged according to their works. 14 Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire.15 And anyone not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire
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Revelation 21 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea no longer existed.2 I also saw the Holy City, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared like a bride adorned for her husband. 3 Then I heard a loud voice from the throne: Look! God’s dwelling is with humanity and He will live with them. They will be His people, and God Himself will be with them and be their God. 4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. Death will no longer exist; grief, crying, and pain will exist no longer, because the previous things have passed away.
Boil it down: What do we learn about death and the intermediate state according to the Bible?
- In the Old Testament and New Testament, when people died...they went somewhere - the place of the dead...Sheol/Hades.
- Death was also described as sleeping (in the dust) in both the OT and New Testament. How could death be like sleeping in the ground AND going somewhere? Acts 2:29 “Brothers, I can confidently speak to you about the patriarch David: He is both dead and buried, and his tomb is with us to this day.
- We find the answer in 1 Cor 15: 51 Listen! I am telling you a mystery:We will not all fall asleep, but we will all be changed, 52 in a moment, in the blink of an eye, at the last trumpet.For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we will be changed.53 For this corruptible must be clothed with incorruptibility, and this mortal must be clothed with immortality.
- So - how does that work? We can INFER from Scripture that our Body stays in the ground and our spirit/soul goes to a temporary Heaven or place of the dead. (Bosom of Abraham?) Paul - better for him by far that he die. If you are in Christ like Paul or Lazarus - that place will be better. There is an AMAZING lack of info in the Bible about the intermediate state. 1 Cor 13: “We see through a glass darkly” 1 Thess 5:23, “23 Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely. And may your spirit, soul, and body be kept sound and blameless for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
- We are coming to an age, in Christ, where THERE WILL BE NO MORE DEATH. DEATH WILL BE ENDED. In Christ, believers will be welcomed into the new heavens and new earth (Revelation 21:1). Unbelievers will be cast into the lake of fire (Revelation 20:11-15). All people will go to one of those two places, based on whether or not they were in Christ. (John 3:36).
CLOSE: ROMANS 8: 10 Now if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. 11 And if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead lives in you, then He who raised Christ from the dead will also bring your mortal bodies to life through His Spirit who lives in you.
Today's Bible passages include Exodus 16 - God sends Manna!, Job 34 - Elihu continues, Luke 19 Zacchaeus meets Jesus and repents!, and our focus passage, which is 2nd Corinthians 4. One of my favorite teachings in the Bible is that we humans are clay pots/jars, but God entrusts His great light, His presence and gospel to us to live in these imperfect dwellings, and we will hear from Spurgeon on that in a moment, but that is not our focus question today. Rather, our focus question is a rather dark one, but an important truth to understand. According to the Bible, who is the 'god' of this age? Before we plumb the depths of that dark question, let us get some light first, so I'll begin with a couple of encouraging words from our dear brother Charles Spurgeon on the wonderful truth that we are jars of clay (earthen vessels, since he quoteth from the King James), with the splendor of Christ in us.
The weakness of the preacher only shows the power of God when he uses such poor means to accomplish so great an end. Never let us refuse to do good because our abilities are slender; let us the rather yield up our weakness unto the Lord that he may use it to his own glory.
C. H. Spurgeon, The Interpreter: Spurgeon’s Devotional Bible (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1964), 695.
God might have put the priceless treasure of the gospel into the golden vessels of cherubim and seraphim; and he might have sent angels, who would never suffer, who would never err, who would never sin, to preach the Word; but, instead of doing so, he has chosen to send the gospel to men by commonplace beings like themselves. “We have this treasure in earthen vessels,” and this overflows much to God’s glory; and, dear friends, the great object of the sending of the gospel into the world is the glory of God. He would manifest his mercy to men that his mercy might be glorified; and therefore he has committed the gospel, not to the trust of perfect men, but to the trust of poor, shallow, earthen vessels like ourselves.
C. H. Spurgeon, “Why the Gospel Is Hidden,” in The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit Sermons, vol. 58 (London: Passmore & Alabaster, 1912), 70–71. slightly modernized
So - let's read 2nd Corinthians 4, and you can see if you can discern who 'the god of this age.' is.
3 But if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. 4 In their case, the god of this age has blinded the minds of the unbelievers to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.
2 Corinthians 4:3-4
Most Christians would probably think that the Bible teaches that the 'god of this age' would be God Himself - and He most certainly is the one and only, overall God of Gods and King of Kings. However, the earth is under the current dominion of Satan at the moment. He is the 'god of this age,' who, according to Paul, is warring against the gospel and blinding the minds of unbelievers so they don't hear the Word of God, or they don't understand it unto salvation. Consider these passages:
19 We know that we are of God, and the whole world is under the sway of the evil one.
1 John 5:19
13 Then he said to them: “Don’t you understand this parable? How then will you understand all of the parables? 14 The sower sows the word. 15 Some are like the word sown on the path. When they hear, immediately Satan comes and takes away the word sown in them.
Mark 4:13-15
This should be quite alarming to us! In addition to prowling about like a roaring lion (1 Peter 5...) the Bible is telling us here that Satan is warring against the delivery of the Word of God - he steals the word when it is preached, and he prevents people from understanding it. Furthermore, he is the god of this age, and the whole world is under his sway. Not only that - but he controls a kingdom, according to Jesus.
18 If Satan also is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand?
Luke 11:18
And twice (in John 12 and John 14), Jesus notes that Satan is the ruler of this world. Let's turn to John Piper for some wisdom on what this means for us:
That is simply a stunning statement: THE WHOLE WORLD LIES IN THE [POWER] OF THE EVIL ONE. What an amazing role and status this statement gives to Satan! He holds the whole world in his power. Is this your view of the world? Do you reckon with a satanic global power that influences all the world so deeply that John says the world simply lies in its power?
This is what we are up against. Not to be aware of it, not to be stunned by it, is to be very vulnerable to it.
But what does it mean? Well, if the whole world lies in the power of the evil one, then the evil one is a ruler of this world, and this world is an evil place to live, and this time we live in is an evil time. This is what we read in other parts of the New Testament as well.
"The Present Evil Age" Take this "world" or this "age," for example. Paul says in Galatians 1:4 that "Christ gave himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age." The age we live in is simply called "evil." The world lies in the power of the "evil one" and so the age of this world is "evil." In Ephesians 5:16 Paul says, "Redeem the time, for the days are evil." The days are evil, the age is evil because the world and all the days of the world lie in the power of the evil one.
So Paul tells Christians (in Colossians 1:13) that what happened to them when they were converted is that they were "delivered from the dominion of darkness" and transferred into the kingdom of Christ. The implication is that this age is ruled by a "dominion of darkness." It's an "evil age" because the world lies in the power of a dark and evil master. To become a Christian is to be delivered from this dominion, or this authority and power.
"The God of This Age"You can see the same thing when you look at the New Testament descriptions of Satan. In 2 Corinthians 4:4 Paul says, "The god of this age has blinded the minds of the unbelievers." Note the phrase, "the god of this age." It's not surprising that if the whole world lies in the power of the evil one, then this evil one should be called the "god of this age."
Similarly in Ephesians 2:2 Paul says to the Christians who had been delivered from the dominion of darkness, "You all once walked according to the age of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who is now at work in the sons of disobedience." Satan is called the "prince of the power of the air." I don't know any better way to interpret this than literally—that the air we breath, the atmosphere in which we live and move, is permeated by a personal evil power—the "power of the air." And so the whole world (as John says) lies under this evil power. And that power has a prince or a ruler called here "the prince of the power of the air." He shapes the powerful patterns of the age and seems to do this mainly by working (as Paul says) "in the sons of disobedience." He somehow fills the whole atmosphere—the air—with his power, but he is specifically at work inside those who walk in disobedience to Christ. Satan has the greatest freedom to "work" where the human will is most ready to disobey the will of God.
https://www.desiringgod.org/messages/what-are-we-up-against
So - that's bad news. I suspect that some of you will be surprised by all of this information. I find that preachers, churches, and even Christian parents tend to minimize the threat of Satan, and to water down what the Bible says about his power and influence in the world. This could be due to ignorance, or it could be due to a greater focus on the power of God - I'm not sure - but I am pretty sure that we should soberly reckon with the enemy we are faced with and what the Bible teaches us about his power. It is frightening, and we can't stand against him at all in and of ourselves. But - there is good news. Plenty of it. We need to realize and rejoice that God wins in the end, and Satan will be utterly defeated:
20 The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet.
Romans 16:20
10 The devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet are, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.
Revelation 20:10
We also have promises that God will protect us:
3 But the Lord is faithful; he will strengthen and guard you from the evil one.
2 Thessalonians 3:3
We know that Jesus has prayed for us, and He continues to pray for us, because He ever lives for intercession:
15 I am not praying that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one.
John 17:15
He has delivered us:
He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son,
Colossians 1:13
And He has called us to stand, resist and conquer (and He will empower us to do so with His Word in us!):
I have written to you, young men,
because you are strong,
God’s word remains in you,
and you have conquered the evil one.1 John 2:15
He has equipped us with armor and a weapon to resist and be shielded:
11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. 12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. 14 Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. 16 In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one;
Ephesians 6:11-16
And he has promised us that the enemy will flee when we resist him:
Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you.
James 4:7
3 No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him. 4 They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. 5 And night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever.
Rev 22:3-5
I guess I should start by apologizing for the slightly click-baity title. There is a tension in doing Christian things on social media, and I've been wrestling with it for years, having begun podcasting in 2005. You want to have titles for things that are eye-catching, but you don't want to rope people in with false-promises, flash, or over-dramatizations. I suppose I could have titled today's podcast something like, 'some stuff on prayer,' but that seems like it would not be very inspiring. I could have gone to the other extreme: 'The Pope and Southern Baptist President J.D. Greear both beg you to listen to this one awe-inspiring, can't miss podcast on how to become a WaRrIoR in PRAYER!!' But that would be a lie, because I don't really know the Pope, and I doubt he and J.D. would beg you to do much of anything in unison. So, I settled on, "What is Jesus' Most Important Teaching on Prayer?" I guess that perseverance in prayer may NOT actually be His most important teaching on prayer (He never says...) but I do think it is really important, and I'm sorry if my headline pulled you in with a false promise. I'll include my attorney's name and number at the end of this post if you would like to pursue legal action.
In addition to a DRAMATIC discussion about prayer from Luke 18, we are also reading Exodus 15, which contains the first (I think) worship song in the Bible AND a beautiful instance of dancing in worship led by Moses' sister Miriam. Job 33 features young Elihu attempting to lay some wisdom down on Job and his friends and 2 Corinthians 3 shares the powerful truth that Christians are 'living letters' from God to the world. I love that illustration! ONE important thing! I left off an amazing quote by C.S. Lewis on forgiveness from yesterday's show. I want to include it today because it is a good and challenging word for us.
We say a great many things in church (and out of church too) without thinking of what we are saying. For instance, we say in the Creed “I believe in the forgiveness of sins.” I had been saying it for several years before I asked myself why it was in the Creed. At first sight it seems hardly worth putting in. “If one is a Christian,” I thought, “of course one believes in the forgiveness of sins. It goes without saying.” But the people who compiled the Creed apparently thought that this was a part of our belief which we needed to be reminded of every time we went to church. And I have begun to see that, as far as I am concerned, they were right. To believe in the forgiveness of sins is not nearly so easy as I thought. Real belief in it is the sort of thing that very easily slips away if we don’t keep on polishing it up.
We believe that God forgives us our sins; but also that He will not do so unless we forgive other people their sins against us. There is no doubt about the second part of this statement. It is in the Lord’s Prayer; was emphatically stated by our Lord. If you don’t forgive you will not be forgiven. No part of His teaching is clearer, and there are no exceptions to it. He doesn’t say that we are to forgive other people’s sins provided they are not too frightful, or provided there are extenuating circumstances, or anything of that sort. We are to forgive them all, however spiteful, however mean, however often they are repeated. If we don’t, we shall be forgiven none of our own.C. S. Lewis, A Year with C. S. Lewis: Daily Readings from His Classic Works, ed. Patricia S. Klein, 1st ed. (New York: HarperOne, 2003), 262.
"My present deadness I attribute to want of sufficient time and tranquility for private devotion. Oh that I might be a man of prayer!" Henry Martyn.
“Intercessory prayer is exceedingly prevalent. What wonders it has wrought! The Word of God teems with its marvelous deeds. Believer, thou hast a mighty engine in thy hand, use it well, use it constantly, use it with faith, and thou shalt surely be a benefactor to thy brethren.” – C. H. Spurgeon
“There is no way that Christians, in a private capacity, can do so much to promote the work of God and advance the kingdom of Christ as by prayer.” – Jonathan Edwards
4 Key Teachings of Jesus on Prayer: 1. NEVER EVER GIVE UP! Luke 18:1-8 "One day Jesus told his disciples a story to show that they should always pray and never give up." Also 1 Thessalonians 5:17, " pray constantly,** "
- BE IMPUDENT!! Luke 11: 5 Then, teaching them more about prayer, he used this story: “Suppose you went to a friend’s house at midnight, wanting to borrow three loaves of bread. You say to him, 6 ‘A friend of mine has just arrived for a visit, and I have nothing for him to eat.’ 7 And suppose he calls out from his bedroom, ‘Don’t bother me. The door is locked for the night, and my family and I are all in bed. I can’t help you.’ 8 But I tell you this—though he won’t do it for friendship’s sake, if you keep knocking long enough, he will get up and give you whatever you need because of your shameless persistence. (impudence) 9 “And so I tell you, keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. 10 For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.
Definition of IMPUDENCE : the quality or state of being impudent 1. Characterized by offensive boldness; insolent or impertinent. Synonyms: Audacious, Bold, Brash, brassy, impertinent, etc.
Isaiah 62:6-7 I have posted watchmen on your walls, O Jerusalem;they will never be silent day or night. You who call on the LORD,give yourselves no rest, 7 and give him no rest till he establishes Jerusalem and makes her the praise of the earth.
3. HAVE FAITH _ DON”T DOUBT!! Mark 11:20-25 In the morning, as they went along, they saw the fig tree withered from the roots. 21 Peter remembered and said to Jesus, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree you cursed has withered!” 22 “Have faith in God,” Jesus answered. 23 “I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him. 24 Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. 25 And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.”
Two keys to prayer here in this passage. #1 Have faith. Doubt quenches prayer. How to overcome doubt? Pray with other people and pray with the WORD - Faith comes by the WORD. MEDITATE to begin prayer
#4 FORGIVE!! Can you see one other key to prayer in Mark 11? Forgive those you have something against FIRST in prayer. Also consider Matthew 6:12-15 “This is how you should pray: Our Father in heaven, let your name be kept holy. Let your kingdom come. Let your will be done on earth as it is done in heaven. Give us our daily bread today. Forgive us as we forgive others. Don’t allow us to be tempted. Instead, rescue us from the evil one. “If you forgive the failures of others, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you don’t forgive others, your Father will not forgive your failures "
Ten Great Quotes on Praying With Perseverance. Always Pray, Never Give Up! "Our praying, however, needs to be pressed and pursued with an energy that never tires, a persistency which will not be denied, and a courage which never fails." E.M. Bounds
“Have you any days of fasting and prayer? Storm the throne of grace and persevere therein, and mercy will come down.” – John Wesley
"O brother, pray; in spite of Satan, pray; spend hours in prayer; rather neglect friends than not pray; rather fast, and lose breakfast, dinner, tea, and supper--and sleep too--than not pray. And we must not talk about prayer, we must pray in right earnest. The Lord is near. He comes softly while the virgin slumbers." Andrew A. Bonar
“Much of our praying is like the boy who rings the door bell, but then runs away before the door is open.” Quoted by Leonard Ravenhill
“It is not enough to begin to pray, nor to pray aright; nor is it enough to continue for a time to pray; but we must patiently, believingly, continue in prayer until we obtain an answer; and further we have not only to continue in prayer unto the end, but we have also to believe that God does hear us, and will answer our prayers. Most frequently we fail in not continuing in prayer until the blessing is obtained, and in not expecting the blessing.” – George Müller
"Elijah was a man skilled in the art of prayer, who altered the course nature, strangled the economy of a nation, prayed and fire fell, prayed and people fell, prayed and rain fell. We need rain, rain rain! The churches are so parched that seed cannot germinate. Our altars are dry with no hot tears of penitents. Oh for an Elijah! When Israel cried for water, a man smote a rock, and that flinty fortress became a womb out of which a life-giving stream was born. "Is anything too hard for the Lord?" God send us a man that can smite the rock! - Leonard Ravenhill, When Revival Tarries.
“None can believe how powerful prayer is, and what it is able to effect, but those who have learned it by experience. It is a great matter when in extreme need to take hold on prayer.” – Martin Luther
"There is no power like that of prevailing prayer -- of Abraham pleading for Sodom, Jacob wrestling in the stillness of the night, Moses standing in the breach, Hannah intoxicated with sorrow, David heart-broken with remorse and grief, Jesus in sweat and blood. Add to this list from the records of the church your personal observation and experience, and always there is cost of passion unto blood. Such prayer prevails. It turns ordinary mortals into men of power. It brings power. It brings fire. It brings rain. It brings life. It brings God."
Samuel Chadwick
“The Church has not yet touched the fringe of the possibilities of intercessory prayer. Her largest victories will be witnessed when individual Christians everywhere come to recognize their priesthood unto God and day by day give themselves unto prayer.” John R. Mott
"The devil is aware that one hour of close fellowship, hearty converse with God in prayer, is able to pull down what he hath been contriving and building many a year." John Flavel
BONUS: “The one concern of the devil is to keep Christians from praying. He fears nothing from prayerless studies, prayerless work, and prayerless religion. He laughs at our toil, mocks at our wisdom, but trembles when we pray.” – Samuel Chadwick
Today's episode is all about the Coronavirus. Oh wait, that's what every other news item is about. Today we are talking about forgiveness, and - believe it or not - that is more important than #covid19! Our passages include Exodus 14, which includes God's miraculous rescue of the Israelites via the Red Sea collapse on Pharaoh's army. Job 32 introduces us to Elihu, a very enigmatic figure in Job who rebukes both Job's friends and Job, and might just be right on the money. In 2nd Corinthians 2, Paul urges forgiveness and comfort for one who had sinned, that Paul apparently had recommended church discipline on previously. Notice his gentleness here - it is good to call people to repentance, and church discipline is very biblical and very needed - but so is gentle restoration also. Our focus passage is Luke 17, in which Jesus teaches us some challenging things about forgiveness:
3Be on your guard. If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him. 4 And if he sins against you seven times in a day, and comes back to you seven times, saying, ‘I repent,’ you must forgive him.” 5 The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith.”
Luke 17:3-5
Forgiveness is critically important to the Christian life. Our faith is built on forgiveness through Jesus' sacrifice on the cross, but our faith is also contingent on forgiveness. By that I mean, even though I wholeheartedly believe in and affirm salvation by grace through faith, I also wholeheartedly believe in and affirm the teaching of Jesus that says that we will NOT be forgiven for our sins if we do not forgive those who sin against us.
14“For if you forgive others their offenses, your heavenly Father will forgive you as well. 15 But if you don’t forgive others, your Father will not forgive your offenses.
Matthew 6:14-15
John Piper has a very good explanation of this dynamic:
The way I would put it is like this: If the forgiveness that we received at the cost of the blood of the Son of God, Jesus Christ, is so ineffective in our hearts that we are bent on holding unforgiving grudges and bitterness against someone, we are not a good tree. We are not saved. We don’t cherish this forgiveness. We don’t trust in this forgiveness. We don’t embrace and treasure this forgiveness.
We are hypocrites. We are just mouthing. We haven’t ever felt the piercing, joyful wonder that God paid the life of his Son. I mean, how in the world could I hold a grudge against somebody when I have not been offended nearly like God has been offended — so highly that he has to pay the life of his Son in order for me to be forgiven?
That is exactly the point of Matthew 18 with the parable of the unforgiving servant — which is like a parabolic form of Matthew 6:15 — where the servant owes the king a billion dollars. It is just off the charts what he owes, and he gets forgiven freely. But then he goes out and he feels it so little; it means so little to him that he strangles his fellow servant for ten dollars. And when the king hears about it, he sends him to jail. And Jesus concludes that parable like this: “So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you if you do not forgive your brother from your heart” (Matthew 18:35).
https://www.desiringgod.org/interviews/if-i-fail-to-forgive-others-will-god-not-forgive-me
Many of you have been hurt. Some of you have been hurt terribly - and you have lifelong wounds in your soul, spirit and emotions. Some of you have been physically abused - some sexually abused - some abandoned, and some of you have been treated in all sorts of cruel and horrible ways. The ways in which we humans hurt each other is inexcusable and gut-wrenching and yet the Lord calls us to forgive. I want to try and persuade you - using Scripture - why you must forgive those who hurt you. Why that is good for you. Why that is Christ-honoring. Why that does not mean justice won't happen. Let's read Luke 17, then look at a few more Scriptures on forgiveness, and then consider what forgiveness is, why it is necessary, and what it is not.
Five Powerful Verses on Forgiveness:
30 And don’t grieve God’s Holy Spirit. You were sealed by him for the day of redemption. 31 Let all bitterness, anger and wrath, shouting and slander be removed from you, along with all malice. 32 And be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving one another, just as God also forgave you in Christ.
Eph 4:30-32
“Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven
Luke 6:37
And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven will also forgive you your wrongdoing.”
Mark 11:25
12Therefore, as God’s chosen ones, holy and dearly loved, put on compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience, 13 bearing with one another and forgiving one another if anyone has a grievance against another. Just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you are also to forgive.
Colossians 3:12-13
21 Then Peter approached him and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? As many as seven times?” 22 “I tell you, not as many as seven,” Jesus replied, “but seventy times seven.... 34 And because he was angry, his master handed him over to the jailers to be tortured until he could pay everything that was owed. 35 So also my heavenly Father will do to you unless every one of you forgives his brother or sister from your heart.”
Matthew 18:21-35 selections
I think those passages (and others like them) make it pretty clear that forgiveness is both necessary and commanded. We must forgive - there is no option. But...But...But... I hear some of your objections now in my mind - imagining your struggle. Allow me to recommend a book/resource for those for whom forgiveness is a struggle. The book Total Forgiveness by R.T. Kendall has been a tremendous blessing to me, as has Dr. Kendall himself. For those that aren't familiar, Dr. R.T. Kendall is an American pastor, who pastored Westminster Chapel (formerly pastored by Martyn Lloyd-Jones and G. Campbell Morgan) in England for 25 years. In my younger years as a minister, I had the opportunity to meet Dr. Kendall several times, and was always amazed at his kindness, graciousness, and willingness to give friendly council and advice. Total Forgiveness is the best resource I've ever encountered on forgiveness, and I've recommended it to dozens of people that have been wounded. Partially because forgiveness is commanded clearly by the Word of God but also because one of the most healing things a wounded person can do is to forgive the person that hurt them. That may not make a lot of sense, but we need to realize what forgiveness is not: (Condensed from Total Forgiveness):
- Forgiveness is not approval nor excusing of what the person who hurt you did. God does not approve of sin - He hates sin! Jesus showed great mercy to the woman caught in sin in John 7:53-8:11, but also called her to leave her life of sin. When you forgive somebody, you are not saying that you are ok with what they did to you. Forgiveness does not excuse what a person did to you. "Just as God forgives people without approving their sin, we also must learn that forgiving people does not imply an endorsement of their evil deeds." (Total Forgiveness, p. 12)
- Forgiveness does not justify the wrong that somebody has done. To justify something means to make it 'right,' or 'just.' Forgiveness does not handle sin that way - it is not suggesting that what somebody did that was wrong was, in fact, righteous.
- Forgiveness is not pardoning the wrong that somebody did. A pardon releases another person from the consequences of the wrong that they did. Forgiveness does not grant a pardon for wrong deeds. Dr. Kendall gives an excellent illustration of this dynamic: A young woman in his congregation was raped by a man from another country. The police wanted the woman to testify against this man at his trial, but she was concerned, knowing that God had called her to forgive the man, and also knowing that - if this man was convicted, he would be deported to his home country, and his home country automatically executed convicted rapists. She came to Dr. Kendall for counsel, and he advised her to testify, and she did - testifying as to what the man did to her, without hate and malice in her heart. The man was found guilty and deported, but the young woman forgiving this man did not at all mean that she pardoned him. Justice rightly demanded that he pay for his actions.
- Forgiveness is not always reconciliation. As Dr. Kendall notes, "Reconciliation implies a restoration of relationship. When a husband and wife totally forgive each other, it will usually mean a reconciliation - but not always. The bitterness and the desire to punish the other person may be gone, but the wish to restore things to the way they were may not necessarily be so strong. If your spouse is unfaithful and sleeps with your best friend, both your marriage and your friendship will probably never be the same, no matter how genuine the forgiveness that is offered. An injured person can forgive an offender without reconciliation. It is wonderful indeed if the relationship can be restored, but this must not be pressed in most cases. Some things can never be the same again. It takes two to reconcile, and there must be total willingness on both parts." (Total Forgiveness, p. 14-15) So - what is forgiveness? I like how John Piper breaks it down here:
I think this is a very biblical definition of forgiveness. Each of its parts comes from a passage of Scripture.
- Resist thoughts of revenge: Romans 12:19, "Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, 'Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,' says the Lord."
- Don't seek to do them mischief: 1 Thessalonians 5:15, "See that no one repays another with evil for evil.
- Wish well to them: Luke 6:28, "Bless those who curse you."
- Grieve at their calamities: Proverbs 24:17, "Do not rejoice when your enemy falls, and do not let your heart be glad when he stumbles."
- Pray for them: Matthew 5:44, "But I say to you, love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you."
- Seek reconciliation with them: Romans 12:18, "If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men."
- Be always willing to come to their relief: Exodus 23:4, "If you meet your enemy's ox or his donkey wandering away, you shall surely return it to him."
I note here that Kendall and Piper disagree with whether or not reconciliation is necessary in order to forgive. If you'll forgive me, allow me to take a middle position, and agree that sometimes reconciliation is necessary, but other times (sexual abuse, physical abuse, the example that Dr. Kendall used of adultery, and other similar cases) FULL reconciliation may not be possible or mandated, but forgiveness may still be offered.
Today's Bible passages include Exodus 13 (the aftermath of the Passover), Job 31 (a fascinating and powerful meditation on holiness for worshippers of Yahweh), 2nd Corinthians 1 (the comfort of Christ to those who are suffering.) and Luke 16 - our focus passage of the day. In this passage, Jesus is focused on issues related to money and possessions, and perhaps the most difficult to understand parable of Jesus is present -the Parable of the Dishonest Manager. Is Jesus praising a manager who behaves dishonestly and unethically in this passage? It's very confusing, and caused some raised eyebrows at our family devotional reading for tonight. Here is Dr. Darrell Bock's take on this particular parable:
Luke 16:1–8 contains probably the most difficult parable in Luke. It clearly teaches about the use of money and the responsibility attached to its presence, but how precisely is that point made? Two options stand out. The manager was dishonest in reducing the bills of the master’s creditors but was thinking ahead; so Jesus commends his crafty, forward-looking use of resources. The manager may have been dishonest earlier, but in reducing the bills, he is simply cutting out some of his own hefty commission in hope of goodwill later. If so, Jesus commends him for his creative use of foresight that provides for his care later.
The choice between the options is one of those cases where the interpretive decision is difficult. Either option can be correct. Jesus may be using a negative example of an unethical action to make the point about the use of resources in a negative way. But I prefer the option that argues the manager acted with foresight in this situation by cutting himself out of the bill short term, so that people he knows will have compassion on him later. Thus Jesus’ point is not built on an example of dishonesty. It illustrates precisely Jesus’ point, namely, to use the resources God gives us wisely and generously.
Darrell L. Bock, Luke, The NIV Application Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1996), 418–419.
Dr. Bock may well be correct here, but I believe the major point that Jesus is making is not - you should be dishonest like the dishonest manager. Rather, it would appear that the major point He is making is that you should use your money for something other than buying super-nice things and constantly treating yourself, etc - but instead use your money on things that can make an eternal difference - like making friends, building relationships and taking care of people. That sort of an investment is an ETERNAL investment, because it will pay dividends, so to speak, in the eternal Kingdom of Heaven but buying mansions, expensive cars and the most elite designer clothing will not make a jot of difference in the Kingdom of Heaven. This seems to comport with another powerful teaching of Jesus:
19 “Don’t store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves don’t break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
Matthew 6:19-20
So - let's talk about money. This is one of those areas where people have strong opinions, and they hold tightly to their opinions. I'll go ahead and say it again - I believe that followers of Jesus are under the authority of the Word of God. One of the two or three most fundamental questions of Christianity is this: Must you obey what God says to you through His Word? If the answer to that question is yes - absolutely - we obey all that the Word of God commands us to do, then I believe that to be one of the distinguishing marks of being a disciple - a saved follower of Jesus. If your answer to the question is something other than an unequivocal yes, then it is likely that you aren't following Jesus as Lord, but you merely regard Him as a good teacher, or something like that. When we pick and choose our theology - rejecting some of the New Testament commands of the Bible as dated, or not applicable to us, then WE are Lord. We decide what we want to follow or not. The trouble with US being Lord is that we can't save ourselves.
So - how we obey the New Testament commands about money - and how we handle the New Testament teachings about money - says a lot about WHO our Lord is. I say all of that because what the Bible teaches about money is usually not compatible with the 'American Dream.' The Bible is consistently against the pursuit of wealth when that wealth is to be spent on oneself. The Bible consistently warns against the heart-changing dangers of wealth also. It is not a sin to be rich, and I praise God and am eternally grateful for the Kingdom-minded, giving-focused people I know who have skill at earning money, but yet pursue the Kingdom of God. Indeed, being well-off isn't a sin (see 1 Timothy 6:17-19, +Joseph of Arimathea, Zaccheus, etc) but it is a sin to be self-centered and to spend your life in the pursuit of mammon/worldly wealth rather than in the pursuit of the Kingdom of God. As Jesus warns us here in Luke 16 - we can't pursue both kingdoms - wealth and God's Kingdom at the same time. We can pursue one or the other, but not both. Let's read the passage, and then talk about the Bible's teaching on money.
Ten Bible Passages That Teach About Money And Riches:
5 Keep your life free from the love of money. Be satisfied with what you have, for he himself has said, I will never leave you or abandon you.
Hebrews 13:5
10 The one who loves silver is never satisfied with silver, and whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with income. This too is futile. 11 When good things increase, the ones who consume them multiply; what, then, is the profit to the owner, except to gaze at them with his eyes? 12 The sleep of the worker is sweet, whether he eats little or much, but the abundance of the rich permits him no sleep.
Ecclesiastes 5:10-12
6 But godliness with contentment is great gain. 7 For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out. 8 If we have food and clothing, we will be content with these. 9 But those who want to be rich fall into temptation, a trap, and many foolish and harmful desires, which plunge people into ruin and destruction. 10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, and by craving it, some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.
1 Timothy 6:6-10
15 He then told them, “Watch out and be on guard against all greed, because one’s life is not in the abundance of his possessions.”
Luke 12:15
As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy. They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life.
1 Timothy 6:17-19
A good name is to be chosen over great wealth;
favor is better than silver and gold.Proverbs 22:1
Some soldiers also questioned him, “What should we do?” He said to them, “Don’t take money from anyone by force or false accusation, and be satisfied with your wages.”
Luke 3:14
For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?
Mark 8:36
Riches do not profit in the day of wrath, but righteousness delivers from death.
Proverbs 11:4
Remove far from me falsehood and lying; give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with the food that is needful for me, lest I be full and deny you and say, “Who is the Lord?” or lest I be poor and steal and profane the name of my God.
Proverbs 30:8-9
Happy Lord's Day, friends! As has become our habit today's pod will be short and sweet. Lot's of Scripture, not much commentary. Our Bible passages for the day include Job 30, Luke 15, 1 Corinthians 16 and our focus passage Exodus 12, which is the Passover passage. Notice the most important passages:
7 They must take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and the lintel of the houses where they eat them... 13 The blood on the houses where you are staying will be a distinguishing mark for you; when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No plague will be among you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt... 21 Then Moses summoned all the elders of Israel and said to them, “Go, select an animal from the flock according to your families, and slaughter the Passover animal. 22 Take a cluster of hyssop, dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and brush the lintel and the two doorposts with some of the blood in the basin. None of you may go out the door of his house until morning. 23 When the Lord passes through to strike Egypt and sees the blood on the lintel and the two doorposts, he will pass over the door and not let the destroyer enter your houses to strike you.
Excerpts from Exodus 12
As a reminder, God had sent Moses and Aaron to Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, to tell him to let the Israelites go from their slavery. Pharaoh, refused again and again - even in the face of terrible supernatural plagues that God was sending His way. So God finally sends the final plague, which would cause the death of the firstborn in every house in the country of Egypt - EXCEPT for the houses with blood on their doors. Let's read the Exodus passage, and come back for a discussion.
Shared by my friend Manny Acosta on Facebook. The meme/graphic above makes the entire point of this passage in such a powerful way: God's Angel of Destruction didn't spare the houses where good people lived - nor the houses where the Israelites lived- he spared ONLY the houses where there was blood painted over the doorposts. This was not a salvation by merit, nor a salvation by ethnicity, but a salvation by blood - which points us to the blood of Jesus. Allow me to quote from two Spurgeon sermons on this very topic:
MY own sight of the precious blood is for my comfort; but it is the Lord’s sight of it which secures my safety. Even when I am unable to behold it, the Lord looks at it, and passes over me because of it. If I am not so much at ease as I ought to be, because my faith is dim, yet I am equally safe, because the Lord’s eye is not dim, and he sees the blood of the great Sacrifice with steady gaze. What a joy is this!
The Lord sees the deep inner meaning, the infinite fulness of all that is meant by the death of his dear Son. He sees it with restful memory of justice satisfied, and all his matchless attributes glorified. He beheld creation in its progress, and said, “It is very good”; but what does he say of redemption in its completeness? What does he say of the obedience even unto death of his Well-beloved Son? None can tell his delight in Jesus, his rest in the sweet savour which Jesus presented when he offered himself without spot unto God.
Now rest we in calm security. We have God’s Sacrifice and God’s Word to create in us a sense of perfect security. He will, he must, pass over us, because he spared not our glorious Substitute. Justice joins hands with love to provide everlasting salvation for all the blood-besprinkled ones.C. H. Spurgeon, The Cheque Book of the Bank of Faith: Being Precious Promises Arranged for Daily Use with Brief Comments (New York: American Tract Society, 1893), 36.
"And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt " Exodus 12:13, King James Version
There are some, as we have said, who desire a token/good luck charm of their safety from man, a poor thing when they get it, and not worth asking for; and there are others who desire it from God in the form of a sign or a wonder, or else they will not believe... but God says to all those who desire a token for good, “The blood shall be to you for a token.” What more can we desire? All the squadrons of the angelic host could not better assure us if each one brought a message from heaven. The best of all evidences of divine love is the cross. The strongest of all assurances of safety, the surest of all pledges of favour, the best token of grace that a man can possibly behold is the sprinkled blood, by which he is cleansed from sin. “The blood shall be to you for a token.”
Before we dive into this subject, let us notice that the blood which was a token to God’s people was not merely that which had been shed by the sacrifice of an unblemished lamb, but blood which had been caught in a basin, had been taken by the person at the head of the household in his own hand, and recognised as poured out for him. Then the branch of hyssop was laid to soak in the basin, and afterwards the blood was sprinkled upon the lintel and the door-posts; this blood thus appropriated was the token. By... faith we must take Christ to be ours; we must, in a word, believe in the atonement which he has made, for an atonement which is not believed in is no atonement to us. Our Lord Jesus laid down his life for us, but he that does not believe in him shall by no means partake of any of the blessings of his death.
The sprinkled blood preserved the houses of the Israelites; and it is the blood of Jesus accepted by us, relied upon, and applied to our consciences which delivers us from death. This sprinkling, moreover, was done in a very public manner; they stained the frame and the two side posts, so that every passer-by might see it, yes, and must see it. So salvation is premised not alone to believing, but to confession with the mouth. “He that with his heart believeth, and with his mouth makes confession of him shall be saved;” and so the grand commission at the end of the gospel of Mark puts it, not “he that believeth shall be saved,” but “he that believeth and is baptised shall be saved;” for if we believe in Christ we must not be ashamed of him. Shame about faith would argue insincerity of faith. True faith in the Saviour is so potent a principle of our lives that it must be seen whether we publish it or not, and we must be willing that it should be seen: yes, this should be the most visible point in our lives, our glory and our delight, that we do indeed believe in the Saviour Jesus Christ.
Oh that every one of you, my dear hearers, used the cross for its proper purpose! I grieve that any among you should need me to ask you—The Lamb is slain but you have never caught the blood, you have never sprinkled it with the hyssop branch of faith, and consequently you are not saved. Oh that each one of you could say, “My faith is resting in the substitutionary work of Jesus.”
C. H. Spurgeon, “The Sacred Love-Token,” in The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit Sermons, vol. 21 (London: Passmore & Alabaster, 1875), 481–482. slightly modernized.
Happy Leap Year, Friends! Today is the rarest day in our calendar, with the one exception being the legendary February 30th that sometimes shows up on milk carton expiration dates. Because the Robert Murray M'Cheyne Bible Reading Plan that we are following does not include February 29th (or February 30th, for that matter) we could have had a free day today, but that wouldn't be seemly. The pod must go on! Today's Scripture is 1 Corinthians 15 - the resurrection chapter. Let's read it and then come back and discuss some reasons to believe in the resurrection and some reasons to believe in the reliability of the Bible. For more reasons to believe:
Easter Fact or Fiction - 20 Reasons to Believe Jesus Factually Rose From the Dead Book
Jesus Defeated Death - How Can We Know For Sure?! (Episode 44)
What Was The Central Event of Christianity? (Episode 17)
http://chaseathompson.com/2017/05/17/1-20-reasons-believe-jesus-factually-rose-dead-1-empty-tomb/ http://chaseathompson.com/2017/05/17/2-20-reasons-believe-jesus-factually-rose-dead-2-hysterical-women/
“So if you were going to make up a story about the resurrected Jesus Christ, you would never make up a story like this. You might have some luminescent, radiant Jesus bursting through the doors and everyone shielding their eyes, but instead what do you have? Would you, if you were making up a story do this? He just appears in their midst and says, “Do you have anything to eat?” Look how magnificent. Look what a faith-building experience. “And they gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he ate it.” Seriously, if you were making up a story about the resurrected Jesus, you just wouldn’t say things like this. Why would this be there? How mundane. How odd. How completely uninspiring. Why would that be there? The only right answer is, if you’re reading literature, it must have happened. Why else would you put it in? Legends are not like this."
Pastor Tim Keller - Sermon, Redeemer New York.
One of the oddest things about the resurrection accounts in all four gospels is their obvious lack of drama and embellishment. As Dr. Keller points out, Jesus just kind of appears in the midst of the disciples. They do cower, thinking he is a ghost, but after getting their courage back, Jesus quite anticlimactically asks for some boiled fish. If Hollywood had scripted the resurrection, Jesus would have come back in a blaze of glory, surrounded by a fiery glow. Thomas, upon expressing doubts, would have either been divinely smited down, or, Jesus would have answered his doubts with such a perfect put-down, that the disciples would have spent the rest of their lives reminding him how he’d been put in his place by the master. After Jesus met with the disciples, He would have flown off and utterly wiped the floor with Pilate and Herod…maybe even Caesar over in Rome. It would have been a blaze of glory and revenge, and every bad guy would have learned their lesson the hard way.
When all was said and done, Jesus would have rocketed back up to Heaven with an amazing display of light and sound. Jesus is back…and this time, it’s personal. That’s what would have happened if the resurrection of Jesus had been mythically embellished or fabricated, or exaggerated or invented. There would have been more drama – more comeuppance for the bad guys, and more adoration for Jesus.
Instead, He ate some fish. He had a discussion with Peter about John. He broke bread with Cleopas and another guy walking on the Emmaus road. Other than the coming back from the dead part…it just seems kind of mundane, doesn’t it? Even the ascension into Heaven is downplayed in the Gospels and Acts. Think about it: JESUS FLOATED UP INTO HEAVEN! How amazing that must have been to see, and yet Luke (who describes the ascension in the greatest detail) merely writes this, “51 And while He was blessing them, He left them and was carried up into heaven. 52 After worshiping Him, they returned to Jerusalem with great joy.” (Luke 24:51-52)
Matthew and John don’t even write about the ascension, and when Luke revisits it in Acts, all he adds is a small little detail about the disciples view of Jesus being blocked by a cloud, and the appearance of two guys (angels?) in white clothes who chide the disciples for looking up at the sky. Any writer – even a mediocre one – could have made that scene sound AMAZING, and could have done so without embellishing or exaggerating even a little bit! And yet, they didn’t…the drama was kept to an absolute minimum.
I propose that this is a signifier of real historical testimony, and the trustworthiness and sobriety of the Gospel writers. They didn’t have to add to the story. They didn’t have to stir up drama. They just told it like it happened, and even seemingly downplayed some of the more amazing things. Upon His return, Jesus appeared to the women first, and His brother and Peter and 500 other believers. None of them seem to be particularly important! Why not Herod? Why not Pilate? Why didn’t Jesus seek revenge on His executioners? Maybe organize a beat down of the Roman soldiers who had flogged Him? Alternatively, why didn’t He meet with somebody important like Joseph of Arimathea, or the high priest? Wouldn’t it have been great to have seen Caiaphas’ face when Jesus returned? Wouldn’t that have been a better story? And yet, none of that happened. Instead, what we get is narrative that does not exaggerate nor embellish, and is therefore all the more reliable because of it.
Every now and then, I get a bit of a wild hair and promote a Bible Reading Podcast post on Facebook. Please like the Bible Reading Facebook page on Facebook, by the way! Recently, I promoted a post that really brought out some trolls with some interesting swears and anti-Christian memes. No problem there. Also some people came out with some reasons NOT to believe in Jesus. Usually when I hear those, they are quite erroneous, but some folks had some decent responses, so I'd like to share a little bit of the dialog that we had.
Lawrence Bible Reading Podcast No Roman historian had actually met Jesus. Elastic stretches and truth ceases to be truth once it is retold. None of the stories in the bible were recorded by anyone who was there at the time that the bible claims that they allegedly happened. The bible stories were written by people without first hand eyewitness account centuries after they were supposed to have happened. I have heard people refer to this as mythology
Bible Reading Podcast Lawrence - This is, quite frankly, an absurd argument to make. Why would a Roman historian journey to Israel to meet a Jewish man who - according to the Bible - stayed the entirety of His ministry inside a country that is about 1/3 the size of Scotland? There would be no reason in the world for such a thing to happen. #2 There are exactly THREE Roman historians of any significance that were writing during the time of Jesus' active ministry. Were you aware of this? Here they are:
#1 Seneca the Elder. He died in A.D. 39. He wrote a history of Rome, but it is almost entirely lost to history, as are MANY of the books and writings of the first century due to age, disintegration, intentional destruction and events like the fires at the libraries of Antioch and Serapeum.
#2 Claudius the emperor - He died in A.D. 49. He wrote copiously - an 8 volume history of Carthage and a 20 volume history of the Etruscans. ALL OF HIS WORKS ARE LOST. Did he write about Jesus? I suppose it is possible, but highly unlikely that you would write about Jesus in a history of Carthage and the Etruscans.
#3 Marcus Cluvius Rufus - He was a Roman historian and statesmen who wrote during the first century. ALL OF HIS WORKS ARE LOST TO HISTORY.
So, Lawrence - given that we have THREE Roman historians writing during the time of Jesus, and given the fact that almost 100 percent of their historical works are LOST to history - what conclusions can we draw from this? That's correct - no conclusions whatsoever. Later Roman historians wrote extensively about Jesus. They possibly did during His lifetime too - Or not! - but we have no idea either way.
As to the second half of your paragraph - you are again making wild claims without the least bit of evidence backing them up. The New Testament accounts claim to be first hand. They are very early, and there are thousands of Greek manuscripts that back up the claim that they are very early. Were they written in the first century by eyewitnesses? I believe they absolutely were, but I cannot prove that beyond a shadow of doubt. (how could you, really?) I believe the preponderance of evidence over the years indicate they were. There is absolutely ZERO proof - ZERO! That the New Testament accounts were NOT written in the first century by eyewitnesses.
Not every scholar agrees on that one way or the other, but there is no evidence - historical, paleographical, or linguistic that indicates that the New Testament accounts were anything other than what they claim to be.
Bible Reading Podcast Philip Basically what you are saying, Philip is that you don't trust the reports of the eyewitnesses that were on site for the ministry of Jesus, and that you would only trust the reports of historians that were hundreds of miles away - in their own country - and who's works are lost to history. For a geography refresher, it is worth noting that the distance from Rome to Jerusalem is over 3,500 kilometers. The length of the entire nation of Israel is around 400 kilometers, for perspective.
In other words, your skepticism is completely without basis. The four Gospels are eyewitness accounts written by people who lived in the land where the events occurred and lived during the time the events occurred. I suspect the only reason you reject them as reliable is because you don't like their conclusions.
Also on your Josephus contention - you are way outside the bounds of modern critical Bible scholarship. I'm not talking about Christian scholars, but scholars of antiquity. There are at least two mentions of Jesus in Josephus. The first and most extensive may indeed be an interpolation, but that has not been 'proved,' as you say. It is quite the matter of debate, though the consensus is that it is indeed an interpolation. The modern scholarly consensus is also that the interpolation was laid on top of an authentic passage about Jesus - just one that was added to by later Christian scholars. The other major mention of Jesus in Josephus is doubted by very few scholars, and almost all of them believe it to be genuine. So the overwhelming consensus of modern critical scholars is that Josephus wrote about Jesus.
It is fine if you want to be a skeptic, but you need to know that the vast majority of the skepticism that you have expressed in this post is actually based on faulty historiography, and skeptical theories that most modern scholars dismiss.
In an era that lacked internet, telegraph, television and newspapers, the news about Jesus - who spent his entire life in a country 1/3rd the size of Scotland - travelled slowly and organically, but it did indeed reach and transform the ENTIRE Roman Empire. Nobody doubts that fact. A question for you to grapple with in your skepticism is this: How did the testimony and message of Jesus take hold of and transform the entire Roman Empire?? Lest you just assume that they were morons who would believe anything, it might be worth remembering that, historically, many people of this time claimed to be gods, including many of the Roman emperors. How did their message not transform the world, while the message of Jesus did? You can't explain it by money, power, ethnicity, clever strategy or really any other way. Something has to explain the power of the message of Jesus. I believe the explanation is the Resurrection and the Holy Spirit. How do you explain it?
One other note - given what you have written so far, I suspect you have a great respect for Roman historians. One of the earliest Roman historians we have surviving works from is Pliny the Younger. He wrote about Christians in the early second century. However, in terms of manuscripts, we have only ONE portion of Pliny's writing that dates to earlier than the 9th century, and it is from the late 5th century - hundreds of years after the events that Pliny records. Historians don't have a problem with this at all, considering we actually have a total of ZERO manuscripts from Greek historians or Roman historians that date to the first century on ANY subject. Pliny the younger's historical records are considered quite reliable, despite the paucity of manuscript evidence to document their connection to the second century. There are many Greek New Testament fragments and manuscripts of the Bible that date MUCH earlier than the oldest surviving Pliny the Younger manuscript. There are old Latin ones, and Coptic ones as well - all scattered across the Middle East. The sheer volume of extant and old New Testament manuscripts dwarf any other ancient document from Greece or Rome. This should demonstrate some level of remarkable reliability to all but the most hardened skeptic.
If your skepticism doesn't stand up to evidence that seems to disprove it, is it really intellectually honest or just an unwillingness to believe despite significant evidence to the contrary?
Hooray - we made it to Friday! Today we are only reading three chapters. Why? Because Robert Murray M'Cheyne's original Bible reading plan was designed for a non leap year, so we have some freedom here to be creative. We'll read Exodus 11 today (the tenth plague death of the firstborn) plus Job 29 and Luke 14. Rather than continue on in reading 1st Corinthians, we will continue on in discussing 1st Corinthians 14 from yesterday. Tomorrow, on the 29th, we will only read 1st Corinthians 15 - the resurrection chapter, and we will be focused on the resurrection. Today is the day we finish up our discussion of spiritual gifts.
Every saved Christian in the church is important, necessary, and dependent on the others. We cannot live without each other! The pastor cannot say to the evangelist, “we don’t need you, our members can just invite other people and we can grow that way!” Likewise, the teacher cannot say to the faith-gifted person, “We don’t need your faith, we just need to teach the Word of God more!” I’ve illustrated this truth before with a strange saying: There are no Supermen in the Body of Christ – And no Aquamen either. You see, when I was a kid, the one cartoon that everybody watched was the Super Friends, that lovely cartoon about Superman, Wonder Woman, Batman and Robin, Apache Chief, Samurai, Zan and Jayna, Black Vulcan and even good old El Dorado:
El Dorado could not talk to fish.
In saying that there are no Supermen in the Body of Christ, I mean that nobody has all of the gifts in one package, and nobody is like Superman in that he/she is a one man army – fast, strong, invulnerable, and not needing of anybody else. The list of powers given to Superman in the comic books are absolutely ridiculous. Super-strength. Super speed. Super breath. Heat vision. Time travel. Faster than light-speed flight, Extended life-span. Healing Factor. Eidetic Memory. Superhuman hearing AND smell. X-Ray Vision. Mind control. Invulnerability. RAINBOW BEAMS FROM HIS HANDS.
Superman’s only real weakness is that he got sick around one particular meteorite from a world light-years away (that didn’t exist anymore.) I don’t know about you, but I have very rarely encountered meteorites in my day to day life, and if that was my only weakness, I could go years and years without encountering it. There’s nobody in the Body of Christ like Superman – all the powers and no weaknesses, and no real need for other teammates.
I once had a book by a fairly well known church leader that had words to this effect on the back, “Dr. XXXXX is a Prophet-Apostle who functions as a pastor and evangelist in the Body of Christ. He has been a teacher for xx years” Honestly – I’m not so sure that is all true! That sounds like several major equipping gifts functioning in the same person. Such a gifted person could very well be a one man show that could do all of the major work of ministry while everybody else merely watched. The problem with that scenario is that the church is not meant to be an elite collection of professionals who do the work of ministry, and every one else just simply watches and cleans up after the service. I do NOT believe that this is what Paul means in his description of the function of spiritual gifts in 1 Corinthians 12 and 14. All gifts are needed, all roles are needed, and nobody has been called to be the one-man-army of ministry that does all the visible work. There are no Supermen in the Body of Christ.
Likewise, there are no Aquamen in the Body of Christ either. By that, I mean that nobody has a lame, useless gift that doesn’t strengthen the church. Now, don’t hear me throwing a lot of shade in Aquaman’s direction. Other than Superman, Aquaman was actually my favorite of the Super Friends. In fact, due to my love of swimming and snorkeling as a teenager, several of my friends actually dubbed me “Aquaman.” That said, Aquaman has been parodied many times as having powers that aren’t particularly conducive to fighting crime. Despite the fact that most of our planet is covered by water, the vast majority of crime and super-villainary actually takes place on land. Being able to communicate with sea life is rarely useful on land, a fact famously lampooned by the Cartoon Network years ago in a commercial where Wonder Woman and Aquaman are captured by the Legion of Doom. As they are being lowered into a boiling cauldron of acid, Aquaman attempts to use his powers to free them, and then very soberly tells Wonder Woman that his “ability to talk to fish isn’t helping!” Wonder Woman just rolls her eyes, as the audience gets the unspoken joke: Aquaman is mostly useless as a Super Friend. NOT so in the church. As Paul explains, even gifts that aren’t obvious or prominent are actually essential to the Body of Christ. Indeed those giftings (and the people who have them) might even be due “greater honor” than those with more prominent gifts. Everybody in the Body of Christ is needed and absolutely essential to the successful and joyful completion of God’s great mission to His Church: To love Him with all of our heart and to take His Gospel to the ends of the earth.
Dear Christian: You need to work in tandem with other members of the Body of Christ. You are not a spiritual Superman that can “take the team on your back” and lead everybody to victory. On the other hand, you are also not a useless Aquaman that has no real impact on the Body of Christ that you are part of. You are a core member of the Body of Christ – no matter what your spiritual gift is. Whatever Christian fellowship or group that you are part of desperately needs you, and you need them – join with them, and serve God together with joy, power and fruitfulness!
1 Corinthians 14:26, “What should you do then, brothers and sisters? When you come together, each one has a song, has a lesson, has a revelation, has a tongue, has an interpretation. Let all these things be done for the strengthening of the church“
8. Spiritual gifts cannot be neglected, lest they become dormant. I find it fascinating that somebody that was as fruitful as Timothy would require not one, but two reminders in Scripture to fan his gifting into flame, and not let it lie dormant. Keep in mind that he was on Paul’s apostolic team, a church planter, probably a pastor, possibly an apostle, and co-author of more biblical books than anybody save Paul himself. If Timothy needed those kinds of reminders, then how much more do we? Don’t let your gift lie dormant – fan it into flames!
2 Timothy 1:6-7, “For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands, for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.”
9. The variety of spiritual gifts given, and the variety of roles that gifted people will have, are meant to bring UNITY (in diversity) to the Body of Christ, not disunity. The way forward to unity, real unity in the Body of Christ/church, is kind of interesting. Rather than God making all of His people similar, with similar passions, roles and giftings, He has instead purposed to fit the body together with remarkable diversity and differences; and He has done so with the intention that there be NO DIVISION IN THE BODY. Yes, we are different! Different passions, different gifts, different callings – but that should not separate us – we should be so unified that when one of us suffers, we all suffer, and when one of us is honored, then we all rejoice. Gifts of the Spirit aren’t meant to divide, but to unite!
1 Corinthians 14:24-26, “Instead, God has put the body together, giving greater honor to the less honorable, So that there would be no division in the body, but that the members would have the same concern for each other. 26 So if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it.“
- One can apparently be remarkably gifted in terms of spiritual gifts, but not be at all mature or loving. Such a person should not be praised, emulated or followed due to the dynamism and strength of their gifting – they are NOTHING. Let me say again – a person can be remarkably gifted as a pastor, or teacher, or prophet, or evangelist, or televangelist, and the fact that they are strongly gifted does not mean that they are to be imitated and followed. Spiritual fruit (see Galatians 5) is a much more reliable indicator of maturity than spiritual gifts. Moreover, Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 13 that one can be very gifted – with some of the highest or most spiritual seeming gifts, but if they aren’t manifesting obvious love, then they are of no count in the Body of Christ – they are nothing! I believe that one of the reasons why the Western church has seen so much scandal in the past fifty years is because we have elevated strongly gifted people to prominent (and unaccountable) positions of leadership, but we have not rightly evaluated the maturity or love level of those people to discern whether or not they should be in such places of leadership.
1 Corinthians 13:2 “And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.”
I will close with one more big chunk of Scripture. I believe that 1 Corinthians 14:26-31 MIGHT be the clearest and deepest picture we have of the powerful, fresh, first century gathering of believers – one of the most detailed descriptions of a church gathering in the Bible. Note that Paul is upholding an ideal here – this is, I believe, what we are to look like when we gather. We don’t look like this. Indeed, I don’t believe I know of any gathering of Christians in America that does, but this is the picture of the first century church, given to us in Scripture, that I believe we are supposed to seek to attain:
1 Corinthians 14:26-31, “26 What then is the conclusion, brothers? Whenever you come together, each one has a psalm, a teaching, a revelation, another language, or an interpretation. All things must be done for edification. 27 If any person speaks in another language, there should be only two, or at the most three, each in turn, and someone must interpret.28 But if there is no interpreter, that person should keep silent in the church and speak to himself and to God. 29 Two or three prophets should speak, and the others should evaluate. 30 But if something has been revealed to another person sitting there, the first prophet should be silent. 31 For you can all prophesy one by one, so that everyone may learn and everyone may be encouraged. 32 And the prophets’ spirits are under the control of the prophets, 33 since God is not a God of disorder but of peace.”
Happy Thursday, Friends! SHARE/REVIEW. Today's Bible passages kick off with two terrible plagues in Exodus 10: Locusts and Darkness. Pharaoh's grip is certainly loosening on the Israelites! Job 28 is an interesting passage, and serves as a meditation on wisdom - probably written/spoken by Job. It ends with this incredible paragraph, and it is worth reading it twice today:
Where then does wisdom come from,
and where is understanding located?
21 It is hidden from the eyes of every living thing
and concealed from the birds of the sky.
22 Abaddon and Death say,
“We have heard news of it with our ears.”
23 But God understands the way to wisdom,
and he knows its location.
24 For he looks to the ends of the earth
and sees everything under the heavens.
25 When God fixed the weight of the wind
and distributed the water by measure,
26 when he established a limit for the rain
and a path for the lightning,
27 he considered wisdom and evaluated it;
he established it and examined it.
28 He said to mankind,
“The fear of the Lord—that is wisdom.
And to turn from evil is understanding.”Job 28:20-28
In Luke 13 Jesus answers a very modern question about those who are victims of 'natural disasters' and other calamities. Do they generally happen to people because they are more sinful? I tell you no, says the Master, but unless we repent, we will also perish. We continue our mini-series on spiritual gifts today, based on our focus passage of 1st Corinthians 14. Our big question of the day is about whether the modern Western church is too pastor-centered or not. We will also be discussing several basic and biblical truths about spiritual gifts.
Before we dive into that, I'd like to share a story, then our 1st Corinthians passage. This story is a throwback to an earlier discussion we had on this show when reading about Joseph: Does God still speak in Dreams and Visions? Today I had the privilege of having lunch with a pastor friend from Mexico, who currently helps leader our ministry network here in the Central Coast of California area. My brother is a Southern Baptist, and has been for decades. He told me about a pair of visits he made to Saudi Arabia while working for a job with a large logistics company when he was a bi-vocational pastor. While in Saudi-Arabia, he would read Christian books in the lunch room, and some of the Saudi workers at his company would come and talk to him about Jesus, and he would share the gospel with them. (Not realizing that such activity is illegal in Saudi Arabia.) One of the workers in the factory heard the gospel and had a dream later that week in which Jesus came to him in a white robe. That man was gloriously saved that week, and told my pastor friend about it. My friend went home, but was almost immediately summoned back to Saudi Arabia within a day or two. Upon returning, one of the head bosses pulls him into a conversation about the worker that got saved. My friend thought he was in trouble, but it turns out that this boss had also had a dream about Jesus in a pure white robe, and he wanted to know more about Jesus and the gospel. He too believed and was gloriously saved, and those two are seeing other people in the company become saved as well. So - does God still speak in dreams and visions? According to my Southern Baptist brother...yes He does! Let's read 1 Corinthians 14 together.
Ten Important Truths About Gifts of the Spirit (Continued from yesterday) 4. We are commanded in Scripture to eagerly/earnestly desire spiritual gifts, both as a group, and individually. This is especially true of the gift of prophecy: 1 Cor. 12:31-29 Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? 30 Do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret? 31 But eagerly desire the greater gifts. AND: 1 Cor 14:1 1 Follow the way of love and eagerly desire spiritual gifts, especially the gift of prophecy. AND: 1 Corinthians 14:39,“Therefore, my brothers, be eager to prophesy, and do not forbid speaking in other languages.“
5. We are ALL supposed to USE our Spiritual gifts – they aren’t supposed to lie dormant. 1 Peter 4:10 “Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms.” AND ROMANS 12:6 “Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith.” I note here that this command applies to ALL believers, at the very least, all believers who actually know what gift they have been given. This would seem to mean that one MUST use whatever gift they have regardless of opportunity or role in a fellowship. This is a tricky concept. In most churches, only about twenty percent (or less) of the people are actually actively serving in areas that line up well with their spiritual gifts. Often this is the fault of the leadership – the pastors, elders, deacons, etc. The buck must stop with them. When I read 1 Corinthians 12-14, and Romans 12, and Ephesians 4, I see the Body of Christ/church depicted as a group where multiple people speak, sing, teach, prophesy, exhort, encourage, etc.
Yet in the Western church, we have this artificial, wholly unbiblical division between “lay people” and “clergy.” With the “clergy” or professional ministers/pastors doing the vast majority of the ministry work. I myself serve as the “senior pastor” of a fellowship (not a biblical title…) and I decry the concept of a division between “lay people” and “clergy.” Indeed, I believe it is one of the weakest parts of the Western church. Yes – the Bible calls for leadership in the Body of Christ, but all are called to minister to each other and empowered by the Holy Spirit to do so. There is not a special class of people in the church called to minister, and everybody else serves menially and watches. We are all called to minister, and church leaders MUST make room for all saved believers to minister in ways that the Holy Spirit has gifted them to. As well, those that are not in church leadership, but are saved by Jesus, need to realize and rejoice in the fact that they have been gifted by God to edify and encourage other believers, and they MUST use their gifts for that role.
6. When we serve with our Spiritual gifts, the fellowship/congregation (us) will grow. This appears to mean growth in Spiritual maturity(see below), and in numbers. Eph. 4:16, “16 From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.” Ephesians 4 is one of my favorite chapters in the entire Bible. It is so deep, powerful and beautiful, and shows quite clearly that God has given gifted people to the church in order for the church/Body of Christ to grow in love, to grow in numbers, to grow in encouragement, to grow in strength, and to grow in maturity. As each part of the Body of Christ DOES ITS WORK, the whole Body will be brought to maturity and growth. Conversely, when even a few parts of the local Body of Christ are not exercising their gifting/doing their work, then there will be immaturity, less love, more discouragement, more weakness, and a decrease in ability to reach the lost and fulfill the Great Commission.
7. Every gift and gifted person is necessary. Stop and think for a moment, and try to name all of the pastors that you know, both local and national, living and dead. If you have been a Christian for any number of years, then I imagine you can name at least two dozen pastors. Some of my favorites are: John Piper, Charles Spurgeon, Tim Keller, Dick Lucas, Matt Chandler, Martyn Lloyd Jones, Mark Dever, Frank Barker, Edwin Jenkins, David Platt, Ron Lotz, David McConnell, Hudson Taylor (who pastored as a missionary), and many others. The funny thing about us knowing so many pastors is that the word “pastor” in the New Testament really only appears ONCE in terms of describing an actual role or office in the church. As well, unless I am misremembering, I don’t believe that the New Testament ever identifies a pastor by name, though you could possibly make the case that Timothy was a pastor, maybe Titus as well. The reason I bring that up is that we are in a very pastor-centric state right now in the Western church, but the New Testament itself is not at all pastor-centric. I’ve always found that odd. As a pastor myself, I’m not offended personally that the church is very pastor-centric, but I am offended biblically speaking. We are pastor-teacher heavy! Paul takes careful pains to disabuse the Corinthian church of the notion that only some giftings are necessary or highly spiritual. In fact, he warns them to consider every gift “NECESSARY.” Necessary is a strong word. You can’t live without necessary things, and Paul clearly outlines in 1 Corinthians 12:20-22 that ALL of the gifts – even ones that might not seem important, or might seem odd – are necessary. We all need each other – we all need every gift that the Holy Spirit chooses to distribute in a particular fellowship at a particular time.
This particular foundational truth is a big deal to me. At the church I am privileged to pastor at, we have a saying that helps define us, “Everybody plays ball.” It is one of my life statements, and, I believe one of the clearest teachings of Scripture that the modern church often misses. I realize that it is a sports analogy, but what is meant here is that every saved Christian has a gift that is CRUCIAL and NECESSARY and even INDISPENSABLE to the Body of Christ. Everybody gets to participate and use their spiritual gift. Everybody gets to have the joy of being used by God to build up His people. Everybody gets to be on the great adventure of ministry. There are NO benchwarmers in the Body of Christ – everybody plays ball!
“So the body is not one part but many. 15 If the foot should say, “Because I’m not a hand, I don’t belong to the body,” in spite of this it still belongs to the body. 16 And if the ear should say, “Because I’m not an eye, I don’t belong to the body,” in spite of this it still belongs to the body. 17 If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? 18 But now God has placed each one of the parts in one body just as He wanted. 19 And if they were all the same part, where would the body be?20 Now there are many parts, yet one body.21 So the eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” Or again, the head can’t say to the feet, “I don’t need you!” 22 But even more, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are necessary.”
1 Corinthians 12:20-22
Our readings start with Exodus 9 which features a continuance of the struggle between Pharaoh and his magicians in the blue corner, weighing in at a combined weight of 550 pounds, and Moses and Aaron in the near corner, weighing in at around a hair under 300 pounds. Yes, it's a handicap match, but it is Pharaoh and his boys that are ultimately on the underpowered side. Job 27 sees Job continue his painful discourse and Luke 12 contains many powerful teachings of Jesus, including His cure for anxiety.
Today we begin a three part series on spiritual gifts. Because this podcast follows the Robert Murray M'Cheyne plan, which was designed during a non-leap year, we will have an extra day in February to work with. Thus for the next three days, we will focus on 1st Corinthians 12-14, and on the 29th, we will discuss 1 Corinthians 15 - the resurrection chapter of the Bible. The next time we go through 1st Corinthians, our focus will be much more on the love chapter - 1st Corinthians 13. But, as a nod to the extreme importance of 1 Corinthians 13, and as a foretaste of our future discussion on the passage, I'd like to turn to our friend Pastor Charles Spurgeon to help us frame our discussion of spiritual gifts in their proper context:
Two things are in the text [of 1st Corinthians 12-13]. There is, first, a good way. And, second, there is “an even better way.” First, the good way is for each individual Christian to “desire the greater gifts.” Paul was referring to spiritual gifts—gifts we ask God for, gifts we may expect the Spirit of God to bestow on us, gifts that can be used in the church of Christ, gifts we desire to possess that we may use them to the glory of God.
A certain way may be good, but another way may be even better. Gifts are good, but love is better. We should desire spiritual gifts, but above all we should seek love—the best love, the noblest love, the greatest love—that is, love to God, love to fellow believers, and love to the church of God. This is “an even better way.” We should seek this love, first, because we need it. I do not know if we need all the gifts, but I am sure we need this love. Next, we should seek this love because we can have it. There is no limit to God’s love. Perhaps even though we covet earnestly the greater gifts, there may be some gifts we will never receive. But all can have love. We need to get more love, also, because we will then be more useful. I am not sure any of us would be more useful if we had more gifts. Not every gift makes a person useful, but I am sure divine love makes us useful. A gift is often barren, but love is always fruitful. We need to get more love so we will glorify God. How little glory God often gets out of great gifts! Gifts may be prostituted to the vilest purposes, but love always brings glory to God’s holy name. Remember, also, that though we are to desire great gifts, we will lose them one day. But if we have this love, we will keep it, and it will keep us. This divine love gives us the foretaste and pledge of glory. The person who is full of the majestic grace of divine love truly is blessed.
Spurgeon, The Spurgeon Study Bible: Notes (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2017), 1551.
The Bible never gives us a direct and inspired definition of what a spiritual gift is exactly, but there are enough teachings in the Bible on the topic that we can come up with a pretty good definition ourselves, based on what the Bible teaches. I'll list a few, and then give you mine:
[Spiritual gifts] are gifts of grace granted by the Holy Spirit which are designed for the edification of the church.
Thomas Schreiner from his book: Spiritual Gifts, What They are and why They Matter.
A spiritual gift is a God-given ability, distributed to individual Christians by the Holy Spirit that allows him/or her to work through their lives to help the church execute its mission on earth.
Dr. Roger Barrier https://www.crosswalk.com/faith/spiritual-life/how-to-identify-and-effectively-use-your-spiritual-gifts.html
A spiritual gift is an expression of the Holy Spirit in the life of believers which empowers them to serve the body of Christ, the church.
Lifeway's Gene Wilks: https://www.marinerschurch.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/DOC-Spiritual-Gifts-List-LW.pdf
“[Spiritual] gifts are abilities God gives us to meet the needs of others in Christ’s name.”
Pastor Tim Keller
Spiritual gifts [are] the abilities given by the Spirit which express our faith and aim to strengthen the faith of others; they are abilities by which we receive the grace of God and disburse that grace to others.
Pastor John Piper: https://www.desiringgod.org/messages/spiritual-gifts
I completely agree with all five definitions above - they are all solid, and each one captures a slightly different nuance of the Bible's teaching on gifts of the Spirit. Note how the focus is on who the giver is - the Holy Spirit - and the focus is on what the purpose of the gifts are - the building up of the followers of Jesus. Almost every definition above makes mention of those two dynamics, because Paul's teaching on spiritual gifts makes those two points crystal clear. Here's my own personal definition: "Spiritual Gifts are various supernatural empowerments of grace given to Christians by the Holy Spirit to be used for building up others and pointing them to Jesus." The main things I add to my definition is that spiritual gifts are SUPERNATURAL - they are not natural talents, but rather supernatural abilities. This doesn't mean that Christians have super-powers, of course, but that the power-source for these abilities is not human, but of the Spirit, thus making it supernatural. I also suggest that spiritual gifts should point people to Jesus and build them up because it seems to me that this is what Paul is driving at in Ephesians 4:
11 And he himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, 12 equipping the saints for the work of ministry, to build up the body of Christ, 13 until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of God’s Son, growing into maturity with a stature measured by Christ’s fullness. 14 Then we will no longer be little children, tossed by the waves and blown around by every wind of teaching, by human cunning with cleverness in the techniques of deceit. 15 But speaking the truth in love, let us grow in every way into him who is the head—Christ. 16 From him the whole body, fitted and knit together by every supporting ligament, promotes the growth of the body for building up itself in love by the proper working of each individual part.
Ephesians 4:11-16
The Spiritual gifts therefore work to build us up/edify us and also work to point us upwards towards (and into) maturity in Christ. I'll close our discussion on these gifts today with:
Three Foundational Truths About Spiritual Gifts: 1.Everybody in the Body of Christ has a spiritual gift. Every saved believer in Jesus has been empowered with at least one special, supernatural ability to serve others and glorify God.
2. These gifts are distributed by the Holy Spirit as He wills. Paul makes it very clear in 1st Corinthians 12, below, that these abilities from God are directly given to believers by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the giver of spiritual gifts AND is “active in them,” indicating that He is not only the initial gift-giver, but also the gift-activator, and the gift-sustainer.
3. These gifts are given for the benefit of others. According to Paul, who repeats this truth multiple times in 1 Corinthians 12 and 14, spiritual gifts are not primarily given for self-edification, but for the building-up of others in the Body of Christ/church. This is why Paul challenges the Corinthians, who were zealous for the operation of spiritual gifts, “So also you—since you are zealous for spiritual gifts, seek to excel in building up the church.” 1 Cor. 14:12 Note that Paul did NOT chastise the Corinthians for being interested in spiritual gifts – not even the controversial gifts like healing, miracles, prophecy and tongues. In fact, Paul says things like this, “I thank God that I speak in other languages more than all of you.” 1 Cor. 14:18, and, “Pursue love and desire spiritual gifts, and above all that you may prophesy.” 1 Cor. 14:1 Though Paul orders the Corinthians to have orderly parameters on the operation of spiritual gifts, he never disparages ANY of the gifts, and he implores the Corinthians multiple times to desire the operation of spiritual gifts among them, especially the gift of prophecy. It is NOT immature to be interested in spiritual gifts – it is actually commanded that we be desirous of these graces in our midst.
Primary Scriptural Foundation for Truths #1-3: 1 Corinthians 12:7-11: “7 A demonstration of the Spirit is given to each person to produce what is beneficial: 8 to one is given a message of wisdom through the Spirit, to another, a message of knowledge by the same Spirit, 9 to another, faith by the same Spirit, to another, gifts of healing by the one Spirit, 10 to another, the performing of miracles, to another, prophecy, to another, distinguishing between spirits, to another, different kinds of languages,to another, interpretation of languages. 11 But one and the same Spirit is active in all these, distributing to each person as He wills.”
This is the amazing story of God’s grace. God saves us by His grace and transforms us more and more into the likeness of His Son by His grace. In all our trials and afflictions, He sustains and strengthens us by His grace. He calls us by grace to perform our own unique function within the Body of Christ. Then, again by grace, He gives to each of us the spiritual gifts necessary to fulfill our calling. As we serve Him, He makes that service acceptable to Himself by grace, and then rewards us a hundredfold by grace.
Transforming Grace by Jerry Bridges
Our passages today are Job 25 and 26, and for once, one of Job's friends actually makes some sense, or at least just doesn't spew out garbage, so that is an improvement. (Keeping in mind that God Himself rebukes Job's friends at the end of the book of Job.) Luke 11 has two powerful teachings on prayer: The Model Prayer/Lord's Prayer and Jesus' exhortation to ask and keep on asking, knock and keep on knocking and seek and keep on seeking. (That is the actual verb tense that is in the Greek of Luke 11 - indicating a continuous and ongoing action of persevering asking, seeking and knocking.) 1 Corinthians 12 Begins the longest extended teaching in the Bible on Spiritual Gifts, and will be the focus of our next two episodes, but today we are in Exodus 8. God has sent Moses and Aaron to tell Pharaoh to let the Israelites free, and has given them some miraculous signs to show Pharaoh that God is powerful and means business. We saw this yesterday in Exodus 7:
10 So Moses and Aaron went in to Pharaoh and did just as the Lord had commanded. Aaron threw down his staff before Pharaoh and his officials, and it became a serpent. 11 But then Pharaoh called the wise men and sorcerers—the magicians of Egypt, and they also did the same thing by their occult practices. 12 Each one threw down his staff, and it became a serpent. But Aaron’s staff swallowed their staffs. 13 However, Pharaoh’s heart was hard, and he did not listen to them, as the Lord had said.
20 Moses and Aaron did just as the Lord had commanded; in the sight of Pharaoh and his officials, he raised the staff and struck the water in the Nile, and all the water in the Nile was turned to blood. 21 The fish in the Nile died, and the river smelled so bad the Egyptians could not drink water from it. There was blood throughout the land of Egypt. 22 But the magicians of Egypt did the same thing by their occult practices.
Exodus 7
A very similar dynamic will happen today in chapter 8 - so let's read it and come back and discuss what is going on.
5 The Lord then said to Moses, “Tell Aaron: Stretch out your hand with your staff over the rivers, canals, and ponds, and cause the frogs to come up onto the land of Egypt.” 6 When Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt, the frogs came up and covered the land of Egypt. 7 But the magicians did the same thing by their occult practices and brought frogs up onto the land of Egypt.
Exodus 8:5-7
I believe the Bible is absolutely inspired and inerrant - all that it affirms is true and factual. This account quite clearly shows that the magicians of Egypt were able to do some incredible things: Turn their staffs into snakes, turn water into blood and produce a plague of frogs. How is this possible? We have two major possibilities: #1 The Egyptian magicians pulled some sort of trickery and sleight of hand - akin to a modern Criss Angel/David Copperfield type. #2 The Egyptian magicians tapped into a different power source other than God. Gotquestions.org tends to favor the first option:
The second option, and the more probable, is that the magicians simply created illusions. Through sleight-of-hand and conjurer’s tricks, they deceived their audience into believing that they were performing the same miracles as Moses and Aaron. The first illusion, that of turning the staffs into snakes, may have been performed by snake charming, which was widely practiced in ancient Egypt (and even some today). There was a way in which snake charmers could cause a snake to stiffen like a staff and relax on command. Since the magicians were summoned after Aaron threw down his own staff, they would have had time to prepare the trick in advance. As for turning the Nile to blood, only dye is needed to make water run red. The frogs may be a more complicated illusion, but, just as modern illusionists can pull rabbits out of hats, Pharaoh’s magicians could have summoned frogs.
https://www.gotquestions.org/Pharaohs-magicians-miracles.html
I will definitely admit that this is a possibility, but as near as I can tell, the text of each of these passages does not seem to lend itself to trickery. Each time, the Word of God says that the Egyptian magicians "did the same thing by their occult practices/enchantments." I heavily favor option #2 as the most compatible with the biblical text. Somehow, someway, spiritual beings/demons/elohims/Satan himself empowered these magicians. Is such a thing possible? I believe the Bible indicates the answer is yes - Satan does have power, and he can empower people, from time to time. Consider these passages:
The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with how Satan works. He will use all sorts of displays of power through signs and wonders that serve the lie,
The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders,
2 Thessalonians 2:9 NIV, then KJV
I do note here that some versions use the phrase 'false' signs and wonders, and that is within the range of meaning of the Greek word. I prefer the NIV and KJV translations here, because lying wonders seems to more properly fit the context - since it is saying that Satan will come with POWER. If he is coming with power - then his signs and wonders will likely be real - not the kind of trickery a cruise ship magician does. Jesus makes this even more explicit and clear in Matthew 24:
“If anyone tells you then, ‘See, here is the Messiah!’ or, ‘Over here!’ do not believe it. 24 For false messiahs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders to lead astray, if possible, even the elect.
Matthew 24:23-24
Beyond question, Jesus is teaching here that there will be last days false prophets and false messiahs that will perform 'GREAT' signs and wonders in front of the people. The prophets are false. The messiahs are false. Their signs and wonders are great, and very real indeed. Likewise, Deuteronomy 13 demonstrates that false prophets can produce accurate predictions, signs and wonders:
“If a prophet or someone who has dreams arises among you and proclaims a sign or wonder to you, 2 and that sign or wonder he has promised you comes about, but he says, ‘Let us follow other gods,’ which you have not known, ‘and let us worship them,’ 3 do not listen to that prophet’s words or to that dreamer.
Deuteronomy 13:1-3
The case of Simon Magus, the magician in Acts 8, is quite inconclusive, but the case of the Gerasene demoniac and the demon-possessed man that beat naked the seven sons of Sceva is not. Both of those individuals had supernatural strength that was provided to them by the demons that were demonizing them. Perhaps most spectacularly (and terrifyingly) of all, is the Beast of Revelation 13:
Then I saw another beast coming up out of the earth; it had two horns like a lamb, but it spoke like a dragon. 12 It exercises all the authority of the first beast on its behalf and compels the earth and those who live on it to worship the first beast, whose fatal wound was healed. 13 It also performs great signs, even causing fire to come down from heaven to earth in front of people. 14 It deceives those who live on the earth because of the signs that it is permitted to perform in the presence of the beast, telling those who live on the earth to make an image of the beast who was wounded by the sword and yet lived. 15 It was permitted to give breath to the image of the beast, so that the image of the beast could both speak and cause whoever would not worship the image of the beast to be killed.
Revelation 13:11-15
Finally, we arrive at the demonic spirits of Revelation 16, who have the power to do signs:
14 For they are demonic spirits performing signs, who travel to the kings of the whole world to assemble them for the battle on the great day of God, the Almighty.
Revelation 16:14
Beyond a shadow of a doubt, the Bible teaches that Satan and demons have a high level of power and authority. This power and authority pales in comparison to Yahweh God's power and authority, but it far outshines the power of any human. I believe that the Egyptian magicians were somehow tapping into this power in a way that, no doubt, impressed Pharaoh, but their power would ultimately be shown as completely impotent in the face of God's increasing plagues against Egypt, and they knew it quickly:
16 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Tell Aaron: Stretch out your staff and strike the dust of the land, and it will become gnats throughout the land of Egypt.” 17 And they did this. Aaron stretched out his hand with his staff, and when he struck the dust of the land, gnats were on people and animals. All the dust of the land became gnats throughout the land of Egypt. 18 The magicians tried to produce gnats using their occult practices, but they could not. The gnats remained on people and animals.19 “This is the finger of God,” the magicians said to Pharaoh. But Pharaoh’s heart was hard, and he would not listen to them, as the Lord had said.
Exodus 8:16-19
Interestingly, though the magicians of Egypt are not named here, it is very possible that Paul names them in the New Testament.
6 For among them are those who worm their way into households and deceive gullible women overwhelmed by sins and led astray by a variety of passions, 7 always learning and never able to come to a knowledge of the truth. 8 Just as Jannes and Jambres resisted Moses, so these also resist the truth. They are men who are corrupt in mind and worthless in regard to the faith. 9 But they will not make further progress, for their foolishness will be clear to all, as was the foolishness of Jannes and Jambres.
2 Timothy 3:6-9
Origen of Alexandria (180s A.D.-230s A.D.) wrote that Paul got the name of Jannes and Jambres (Neither of which appears in the Old Testament) from an extra-biblical book which named the magicians in the Exodus narrative. Apparently in this book the impotence of the Egyptian magicians is highlighted even more than in the Biblical account. I appreciate the conclusion from Gotquestions.org's article on this matter, so we will close this part of the pod with it:
Whether they were creating illusions or performing actual miracles, the Egyptian magicians were eventually stymied by God’s power. They were unable to summon gnats (Exodus 8:16–19), turn the sky dark (Exodus 10:21–23), call down hailstones (Exodus 9:22–26), or duplicate any of the other plagues. God’s power is great enough to defeat both man’s conniving and Satan’s power with ease.
https://www.gotquestions.org/Pharaohs-magicians-miracles.html
Happy Monday, friends. May the Lord bless you and carry you through this sometimes grim day. Today's Bible readings include Exodus 7, wherein Pharaoh's magicians perform some amazing feats, a topic that we will tackle in episode #56 tomorrow. Job 24 continues Job's epic speech? Rant? Lament? I'm not sure how to classify his third speech. It's something, though - wow! In Luke 10 Jesus sends out not 12, but 72 disciples and also tells us the amazing Parable of the Good Samaritan, one of the most well-known stories in all of human history. Our focus question comes from 1 Corinthians 11. This is an interesting and fairly controversial chapter. The first part concerns head coverings, and the second contains instructions, exhortations and warnings about The Lord's Supper/Communion/Eucharist/Breaking of the Bread. (These four phrases all refer to the same ordinance in the Christian church. Eucharist comes from the Greek word for 'Thanksgiving' and it is found in 1 Corinthians 11:34) We will probably cover head coverings later this year when we go through 1st Corinthians again, but today we are going to zero in on Paul's mysterious and terrifying warning about the dangers of taking Communion in an unworthy manner. Let's read the text and pay special attention to the warning, then we will come back and discuss it.
Just in case you missed it, here is the text that we are discussing today:
27 So then, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sin against the body and blood of the Lord. 28 Let a person examine himself; in this way let him eat the bread and drink from the cup. 29 For whoever eats and drinks without recognizing the body, eats and drinks judgment on himself. 30 This is why many are sick and ill among you, and many have fallen asleep. 31 If we were properly judging ourselves, we would not be judged, 32 but when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined, so that we may not be condemned with the world.
1 Corinthians 11:27-32
When you understand that 'fallen asleep' is a biblical metaphor used to indicate death, then you understand how serious Paul is being here. He is saying that some in the Corinthian church have become weak, sick and some have even died because of the way they handled the communion. Pause and let that sink in for just a moment. The New Testament is telling us here that, if we partake of communion in an improper way on Sunday morning, then we are running the risk of weakness, sickness or death. When I first read that in the Bible many years ago, I was quite shocked - especially so because I don't recall having ever been warned about such a thing in the churches I grew up in. It might surprise you to hear that communion is such a serious matter, but we should know that it was at the very center of Christian practice in the first few centuries of the church. I believe the modern church takes the practice of communion far too lightly, and probably far too infrequently. It was a dispute over the meaning of communion in England in the 1500s that caused Bloody Mary, the Catholic Queen of England, to order the deaths of almost 300 Protestants who had a different view of communion than did the Catholics. This number included 55 women, 4 children and more than two dozen church leaders and pastors. What was the exact nature of the dispute? Here's British Bishop J.C. Ryle on the answer to that question:
The doctrine in question was the real presence of the body and blood of Christ in the consecrated elements of bread and wine in the Lord's Supper. Did they, or did they not believe that the body and blood of Christ were really, that is corporally, literally, locally, and materially, present under the forms of bread and wine after the words of consecration were pronounced? Did they or did they not believe that the real body of Christ, which was born of the Virgin Mary, was present on the so-called altar so soon as the mystical words had passed the lips of the priest? Did they or did they not? That was the simple question. If they did not believe and admit it, they were burned.
John Charles Ryle, Light from Old Times (Moscow, Idaho: Charles Nolan Publishers, 2000, first published 1890)
Thankfully, Catholics don't kill Protestants over communion disagreements anymore, but the above struggle does demonstrate that communion is not merely a quarterly snack of crackers and juice that the church sometimes does. Rather, it is a life-giving, Gospel-proclaiming, faith-building, thankful heart-producing, Christ-focusing act that causes us to remember and proclaim that central truth of Christianity - that the body of Jesus was broken (instead of ours!) for sin; and the blood of Jesus was violently spilled out (instead of ours!) for our sin. When we eat and drink the bread and fruit of the vine, we proclaim the Lord's death and resurrection and return together.
How can such an act be dangerous? I believe the answer to that question lies in the very importance of the act itself. Though some churches treat it as such, communion is no light matter, or peripheral issue. Listen again to Paul's instructions on the matter:
17 Now in giving this instruction I do not praise you, since you come together not for the better but for the worse. 18 For to begin with, I hear that when you come together as a church there are divisions among you, and in part I believe it. 19 Indeed, it is necessary that there be factions among you, so that those who are approved may be recognized among you. 20 When you come together, then, it is not to eat the Lord’s Supper. 21 For at the meal, each one eats his own supper. So one person is hungry while another gets drunk! 22 Don’t you have homes in which to eat and drink? Or do you despise the church of God and humiliate those who have nothing? What should I say to you? Should I praise you? I do not praise you in this matter!
1 Corinthians 11:17-22
It would appear that the central trouble to communion in the Corinthian church was related to disunity. Something was causing disunity - a lack of unity so profound that Paul is suggesting that they would be better off to not even have church on Sunday! (vs. 17, reminiscent of Malachi 1:10, "How I wish that one of you would shut the Temple doors, so that you would not light useless fires on my altar! I am not pleased with you," says the LORD Almighty, "and I will accept no offering from your hands.") What was the exact nature of this disunity? Apparently people were selfishly seeking to eat and drink (so the early church communion was more than simply a tiny cracker, and a thimbleful of juice!) and not allowing the whole church to eat and drink! Some were overeating, and some were getting drunk, while others were going hungry and thirsty. Verses 33-34 confirm that this dynamic is going on:
33 Therefore, my brothers and sisters, when you come together to eat, welcome one another. 34 If anyone is hungry, he should eat at home, so that when you gather together you will not come under judgment.
1 Corinthians 11:33-34
Thus the purpose of communion was not necessarily to eat a full meal and receive nutritional sustenance, it was more of an act of worship and remembrance - but some people were taking the opportunity to 'pig-out' and, in doing so, were being unwelcoming, rude, inhospitable and downright selfish.
Modern Christians have a funny view of sin - funny in that it is not often very informed by biblical truth, but more by societal dictates and our own logic. We rightly realize the soul-endangering nature of sexual sin, but consider greed and verbal abuse to be somewhat lesser sins, and yet 1 Corinthians 6 notes that all of those sins are soul-endangering and disqualifying from the Kingdom of Heaven. What about complaining? We almost laugh it off, but God sent a deadly judgment of fire against complaining Israelites in Numbers 11. Likewise, the kind of pride and selfishness that characterized some of the Corinthians' practice of eating and drinking all of the food before others could eat seems fairly innocuous to us, but it was deadly serious (literally!) to the Lord. There is no place in the Body of Christ for a 'me-first' kind of selfishness. And that gets us to the antidote and proper approach for communion, which was, according to Paul:
27 So then, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sin against the body and blood of the Lord. 28 Let a person examine himself; in this way let him eat the bread and drink from the cup. 29 For whoever eats and drinks without recognizing the body, eats and drinks judgment on himself.
1 Corinthians 11:27-29
Before communion happens, we must examine ourselves and reflect on the rest of the church, considering our place in the Body of Christ. As members/body parts - we are no more or less important than anybody else. We must honor them above ourselves, and we must put their needs ahead of our own. They must do the same for us, and when we are doing that in union - we become the beautiful, radiant, sweet-smelling Body of Christ - lovingly caring for each other in a kind of unity that proclaims the gospel of Jesus to a lost and dying world. (see John 17)
Allow me to close with a wonderful meditation from Pastor John Piper on this passage. We, as humans, consider a punishment of death or even sickness to be incredibly harsh. This is primarily because our understanding only covers the 70-80 years of our lives. Our Heavenly Father does not view time in this narrow lens. If we are saved by Jesus and adopted as His brother and a Son of God, then we are eternal beings. Our mortal life on earth is but a finger-snap. If, in death or sickness, God can spare us from worse things (yes, there are many things worse than death for created beings who are saved to live in eternal bliss with God the Father!) then it is gracious of Him to do so. In this we can see that even discipline is love. Consider well Pastor Piper's words:
Sometimes death is a disciplinary deliverance to save us from condemnation. “A number [have died]…so that [they] will not be condemned along with the world.”
This is not the reason for every death of God’s precious saints. Don’t jump to the conclusion that your sickness or your death is owing to a trajectory of sinning that God must rescue you from. But suppose that this is indeed what happens?
Is that encouraging? Will thinking about this help you die more peacefully and with greater faith and hope? My answer is that everything in the Bible is meant to help you die and to be encouraging for your faith in the light of truth (Romans 15:4).
How then would this truth strengthen us for a hope-filled death? It would happen like this: is not a great threat to our peace the thought that we are sinners? Does not the thought that God is sovereign and could lift this sickness threaten us with fearful feelings that he must be against us? And how shall we handle these fears when we know that we are indeed sinners and have corruption remaining in us? In those moments, we look for some encouragement from the Bible that God is willing to save believers who have sinned and are very imperfect.Yet we know that God is holy and hates sin, even sin committed by his children. We also know that God disciplines his children with sorrowful experiences (Hebrews 12:11). We are not among those who say God has nothing to do with the painful experiences of life. So we look for help and hope from God’s utterly realistic Word. And we find it in 1 Corinthians 11:32, that even the death of saints—even the death of saints which is “discipline” and “judgment”—is not condemnation, but salvation. God is taking this sinning saint because he loves him so much he will not let him go on in sin.
This is our solid encouragement. What it says to all of us is this: we do not need to be certain whether the time of our death is owing to our sinning, or to the devil’s cruelty (Revelation 2:10), or to God’s other wise purposes. What we need is the deep assurance that even if my dying is owing to my own folly and sin, I can rest peacefully in the love of God. At such a moment, these words will be precious beyond measure: “We are disciplined by the Lord so that we will not be condemned.”
Learning to die with you all,
Pastor John
https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/what-if-our-dying-is-discipline
Happy Lord's Day, everybody! Today's pod will be short, and hopefully sweet as we discuss the powerful truth that Jesus is our advocate. We will be reading Exodus 6, Job 23, Luke 9 and 1 Corinthians 10 today. I'd like to give a shoutout to Lamar, who gave a remarkably encouraging review on iTunes:
Neither bland nor monotonous☆☆☆☆☆Three things going on here: first it’s a Bible reading podcast just as titled, the readings are pleasant and joined with interesting and often very practical discussion. If you’re looking for a reading plan, Chase follows one that will take you thru the Bible in a year also repeating important books. If you’re like me and have repeatedly fallen off yearly reading plans but still feel compelled to read, pick a chapter out of the day’s reading plan (notably the focus passage from the notes) and read it before listening and then you’re cracking a book as well as getting your volume of Scripture input daily. Primarily, this is a daily reading podcast. You typically don’t have to backtrack to benefit as there are few discussions that continue day-to-day and most critical scripture passages will get repeated tho I suspect the discussion will remain fresh. Chase attempts and pleasantly achieves a dramatic and fun reading of scripture and models a good way to read scripture to your children and yet does not offend this listener’s sense of maturity. There is good topical discussion surrounding daily focus passages that is approached with solid biblical theology but is not a theology podcast that wanders into the weeds. It’s a good listen to go along with a great read. LaMaR925 via Apple Podcasts ·United States of America ·02/19/2020
Thank you, Lamar! Today's focus question comes from our Job passage, specifically verses 1-7 where Job wishes that he could face God in a courtroom, and expresses the hope that he might be found innocent, if only a fully righteous advocate/lawyer could be found to plead with God on Job's behalf. As a reminder, an advocate is a person who speaks or writes in support or defense of a person.
Then an upright man could reason with him,
and I would escape from my Judge forever.Job 23:7
This echos Job's earlier cry for a lawyer/advocate who might intercede with God on Job's behalf from Job 16:
Earth, do not cover my blood;
may my cry for help find no resting place.
19 Even now my witness is in heaven,
and my advocate is in the heights!
20 My friends scoff at me
as I weep before God.
21 I wish that someone might argue for a man with God
just as anyone would for a friend.Job 16:19-21
Job realizes that having some sort of upright/righteous/holy lawyer that had access to Heaven would be an incredible help to him - perhaps such an advocate could speak to God on Job's behalf and intercede for him. The wonderful news for us in the New Covenant era is that Jesus has become the very advocate that Job wished for - even far beyond his wildest dreams. Check out this beautiful truth from 1 John 2:
My little children, I am writing you these things so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ the righteous one. 2 He himself is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours, but also for those of the whole world.
1 John 2:1-2
Our great trouble is that our lives have missed God's mark of perfection - we have fallen short of His holiness in every way possible, and our sins have earned us judgment, and the penalty is death. This is terrifying because the Bible teaches us in multiple places that at the end of our lives and at the end of the world all humans will face judgment in God's courtroom. We already know our plea: guilty. The just Judge has all of the evidence needed to convict us and sentence us to death. However, the Judge is also merciful, and He has provided an advocate for us. That advocate is Jesus, and not only does Jesus 'represent' those who are His in the Father's courtroom, He is also the one who pays the penalty for their sin - IN FULL! - to the court's satisfaction. No wonder the Bible calls this the 'Good News!' I'll close this short reflection with some fantastic and encouraging words from our friend Charles Spurgeon about the joyful news of Jesus our Advocate:
“If any man sin, we have an advocate.” Yes, though we sin, we have him still. John does not say, “If any man sin, he has forfeited his advocate,” but “we have an advocate,” sinners though we are. All the sin that a believer ever did, or can be allowed to commit, cannot destroy his interest in the Lord Jesus Christ, as his advocate. The name here given to our Lord is suggestive. “Jesus.” (Jesus means Yahweh saves) Ah! then he is an advocate such as we need, for Jesus is the name of one whose business and delight it is to save. “They shall call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins.” His sweetest name implies his success. Next, it is “Jesus Christ”—Christos, the anointed one. This shows his authority to plead. The Christ has a right to plead, for he is the Father’s own appointed advocate and elected priest. If he were of our choosing he might fail, but if God has laid help upon one that is mighty, we may safely lay our trouble where God has laid his help. He is Christ, and therefore authorized; he is Christ, and therefore qualified, for the anointing has fully fitted him for his work. He can plead so as to move the heart of God and prevail.
What words of tenderness, what sentences of persuasion will the anointed use when he stands up to plead for me! One more letter of his name remains, “Jesus Christ the righteous.” This is not only his character BUT his plea. It is his character, and if the Righteous One is my advocate, then my cause is good, or he would not have espoused it. It is his plea, for he meets the charge of unrighteousness against me by the plea that he is righteous. He declares himself my substitute and puts his obedience on to my account. My soul, you have a friend well fitted to be your advocate, he cannot help but succeed; leave yourself entirely in his hands.
C. H. Spurgeon, Morning and Evening: Daily Readings (London: Passmore & Alabaster, 1896).
Today's Bible readings feature some high drama as Moses and Pharaoh have their first showdown in Exodus 5. If we are being fair, I think we have to give Pharaoh the win for round 1, but this struggle will go on for several rounds, so stay tuned. Job 22 features some comforting and wise words from Job's awesome friends. Actually, no - that was sarcasm. Job's dumb friend Eliphaz actually asks Job this gem of a question:
Isn’t your wickedness abundant
and aren’t your iniquities endless?Job 22:5
What a horrible question to ask somebody who is going through terrible tragedy, heartbreak and depression. Once again, #DontBeLikeJobsFriends! Finally, in 1 Corinthians 9, Paul opens up and talks about his role as a minister of the Gospel and an apostle. Our focus passage for today is Luke 8, and our big Bible question comes right out of the first few verses, so let's read that chapter first, and then come back and discuss the women who took care of Jesus.
If you ask most church people the question, "who all traveled with Jesus?" I suspect the most common answer would be something that included Jesus and His 12 disciples, and pretty much nobody else. Interestingly, that doesn't appear to be the correct answer to the question, at least not all of the time, because we find this fascinating paragraph leading off Luke 8:
Afterward he was traveling from one town and village to another, preaching and telling the good news of the kingdom of God. The Twelve were with him, 2 and also some women who had been healed of evil spirits and sicknesses: Mary, called Magdalene (seven demons had come out of her); 3 Joanna the wife of Chuza, Herod’s steward; Susanna; and many others who were supporting them from their possessions.
Luke 8:1-3
By and large, the twelve disciples get all of the press (well, except for Jude/Thaddeus, Nathaniel, Simon the Zealot, the second James (James, son of Alpheus) and Philip the disciple) but Luke reveals to us something incredibly important: The practical and financial needs of Jesus and His twelve disciples were met by this large group of women that traveled with them. We don't know for sure that these women were always with Jesus, but they obviously were for the long village to village stretch described by Luke here, and it is probably not a stretch to believe that they accompanied Jesus and the disciples on many missions.
I have been a pastor for a very long time, and I can tell you that the people who voluntarily give of their resources to meet the physical and financial needs of ministry are hugely important in the life of every ministry and every church. No, the Kingdom of God is NOT built on money, but there are many needs that need to be met, and the way that God has ordained those needs be met is through the sacrificial giving of the people of God, and (at least according to Luke) the primary financial support of the Jesus team was this group of ladies. I know of no other passage that indicates other people funded the ministry of Jesus, though I'm sure some did. What this means is that women were crucial to the first century ministry of Jesus and they are crucial to the twentieth century ministry of Jesus. Theologically, I am what's known as a complementarian, which is a discussion we will be having in some upcoming passages of Scripture, but I will say this: any man or person who doesn't realize the massive contribution and importance of women in the Body of Christ is a dull and silly person. In honor of such, I'd like to briefly highlight five important, but lesser-known women in the New Testament. I think it is fair to say that most of them are unsung heroes of the Word of God. Fortunately for all of you, I have not written a song about any of them, so they will remain unsung, at least by me, but I do want to point them out and recognize their contributions to the Great Commission and the mission of Jesus:
- Phoebe, Romans 16. Phoebe was a diakonos of the church in Cenchreae, and since that word can be translated as 'minister,' or 'servant,' or 'deacon,' there has been a long debate through the years over whether or not Phoebe was a deacon. We won't enter that debate today - one day - but she is obviously remarkably important to the Body of Christ. She is the first one that Paul 'shouts out' at the end of Romans, and he orders the Roman church to assist her and take care of her. Paul also points out that Phoebe has supported many in the ministry, Paul included. My wife and I named our fifth child Phoebe in honor of this Phoebe. To my knowledge, Phoebe is the youngest listener to this podcast, and the most faithful Thompson listener, so a shout out to you, young Phoebe - daddy loves you very much!
I commend to you our sister Phoebe, who is a servant of the church in Cenchreae. 2 So you should welcome her in the Lord in a manner worthy of the saints and assist her in whatever matter she may require your help. For indeed she has been a benefactor of many—and of me also.
Romans 16:1-3
- Chloe - 1 Corinthians 11. Speaking of women in the Bible that we named our daughter's after, Chloe was a prominent figure in the early church, and also the name of our firstborn daughter. We don't know much about Chloe in the Bible, but it appears from the passage below that she was very concerned about the issue of unity in the early church and alerted Paul to it - probably in the hopes that he would be used to help restore unity.
10 Now I urge you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree in what you say, that there be no divisions among you, and that you be united with the same understanding and the same conviction. 11 For it has been reported to me about you, my brothers, by members of Chloe’s household, that there is rivalry among you.
1 Corinthians 11:10-11
- Nympha, Colossians 4. We also don't know much about Nympha, but she was obviously a Colosse home-owner, and she was prominent enough in the early church that a church-group actually met in her home!
5 Give my greetings to the brothers in Laodicea, and to Nympha and the church in her home.
Colossians 4:5
- Anna the prophetess, Luke 2. I suppose if I asked a group of biblical scholars who was chronologically the first person named as a prophet/prophetess in the New Testament, most would not get the correct answer, which is Anna. (Yes, Zechariah prophesied before Anna, but the Bible does not identify him as a prophet.) The most remarkable thing about Anna was not that she was a prophetess, however, the most remarkable thing is that she SERVED GOD AT THE TEMPLE IN JERUSALEM FOR 84 YEARS WITHOUT LEAVING. That is utterly incredible - what a mighty woman of God!
There was also a prophetess, Anna, a daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was well along in years, having lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, 37 and was a widow for 84 years. She did not leave the temple complex, serving God night and day with fasting and prayers. 38 At that very moment, she came up and began to thank God and to speak about Him to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem.
Luke 2:36-38
- SO MANY MORE! How about Mary, mother of John Mark (probably a widow, the church met at her house to pray in Acts 16.) Lois and Eunice - Godly women who raised and discipled Timothy. Lydia - a wonderfully hospitable woman that was saved through the ministry of Paul, and immediately hosted his apostolic team in her house. Tryphena and Tryphosa - servants of the Gospel mentioned in Romans 16. Mary (a different Mary!) who worked very hard for the church at Rome (Romans 16:5). Damaris - one of the first converts to Christianity in Athens. Apphia - the only woman to have a book of the Bible co-written to her (the book of Philemon). Julia, Junia, Claudia and Nereus' sister - all saints mentioned by name by Paul in some of his letters. All of these women had crucial and important roles in the early church. Praise God for our dear sisters in the faith!
**I note here that this list doesn't include more notable women of the New Testament like Mary of Bethany, Mary the mother of Jesus, Priscilla, and others who are more well known.
Allow me to close with the massive role that multiple women played in the discovery and announcement of the resurrection of Jesus. It should be noted and proclaimed that they were the FIRST witnesses of His resurrection!
55 The women who had come with him from Galilee followed along and observed the tomb and how his body was placed. 56 Then they returned and prepared spices and perfumes.And they rested on the Sabbath according to the commandment. 24 On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they came to the tomb, bringing the spices they had prepared. 2 They found the stone rolled away from the tomb. 3 They went in but did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.
4 While they were perplexed about this, suddenly two men stood by them in dazzling clothes. 5 So the women were terrified and bowed down to the ground. “Why are you looking for the living among the dead?” asked the men. 6 “He is not here, but he has risen!Remember how he spoke to you when he was still in Galilee, 7 saying, ‘It is necessary that the Son of Man be betrayed into the hands of sinful men, be crucified, and rise on the third day’?” 8 And they remembered his words. 9 Returning from the tomb, they reported all these things to the Eleven and to all the rest. 10 Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them were telling the apostles these things. 11 But these words seemed like nonsense to them, and they did not believe the women. 12 Peter, however, got up and ran to the tomb. When he stooped to look in, he saw only the linen cloths. So he went away, amazed at what had happened.
Luke 23:55-Luke 24:12
Rejoice, everybody! It is Friday, and if you live in sunny central California, you get to enjoy temps in the 70s today with sunshine and no humidity. If you're in the area, come visit us at Valley Baptist Church in Salinas! If you're not, then I am sorry to brag on our weather - your's probably isn't as nice. After 1.5 years as a native Californian, I've learned that the four most California things possible are: #1 Mentioning how great the weather is #2 Eating Avocados #3 Skateboarding #4 Buying bags at the grocery store because I am literally incapable of remembering to get them out of my trunk and bring them into the store. Enough nonsense - Today's Bible passages include Job 21, where we see Job at his best: a man of sorrows that maintains an excellent sense of dark sarcasm in answering his mean friends:
Pay close attention to my words;
let this be the consolation you offer.
3 Bear with me while I speak;
then after I have spoken, you may continue mocking.Job 21:2-3
In Luke 7, we see the remarkable example of the Roman Centurion's faith, and Jesus' compassion and power on full display as He resurrects the only son of the Widow of Nain. 1 Corinthians chapter 8 is focused on eating food sacrificed to idols - not a big deal in much of the West - but also discusses how to NOT be a stumbling block to people when we use our freedom to eat and drink. It also contains this powerful nugget of wisdom, " Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up " (1 Corinthians 8:1) Our focus passage remains in Exodus today, and our Bible question concerns what might be one of the most mysterious (and totally unexplained!) events in all of the Bible. Let's read the whole of Exodus 4, and be on the lookout for the mysterious happening. Notice how there is not pretext or postscript that explains our event in question.
Did you catch it?! There, right at the end of Exodus 4, almost IMMEDIATELY after God has called and pushed Moses into leading the Exodus out of Egypt, God goes to Moses to KILL HIM! Yes - I said kill him, because that's exactly what the Bible says! WHAT IN THE WORLD?! Here's the text again, in case you missed it:
On the trip, at an overnight campsite, it happened that the Lord confronted him and intended to put him to death. 25 So Zipporah took a flint, cut off her son’s foreskin, threw it at Moses’s feet, and said, “You are a bridegroom of blood to me!” 26 So he let him alone. At that time she said, “You are a bridegroom of blood,” referring to the circumcision.
Exodus 4:24-26
SO MANY QUESTIONS! The foremost question is: WHY does God seek to kill Moses, but there are other questions too: HOW was God going to kill him? WHY did Moses' wife circumcise her son, and throw the tip at the FEET of Moses? WHY did that appease God? And finally, what in the world did she mean by, "surely you are a bridegroom of blood to me?" Let me begin our answers with a strong caution: I think we can offer an extremely plausible explanation for much of what is happening here, and we can offer an explanation that is sound in a biblical sense. However, our explanations will AT BEST be CONJECTURE. (conjecture is an opinion or conclusion that comes from incomplete or missing information.) Biblical conjecture is ok - I think - as long as we say right up front that we are speculating - making educated guesses at best.
Putting all of the pieces of the puzzle together, it would appear that God was going to bring the most severe discipline possible to Moses, because Moses was willfully refusing to obey God's commands and have his son circumcised. Let's turn to our French friend John Calvin for a good speculation/conjecture about what is going on here:
The expression, “the Lord met him,” is here used in a bad sense, for an adverse meeting, or hostile encounter; as though Moses should say that the hand of the Lord was against him to interrupt his journey. In what form He appeared we don't know, except that the words pretty plainly imply that Moses was assured of His anger, so as to be aware that his death was near...
The cause is not [directly] expressed for which he perceived that God was so angry with him; except that we may gather it from what follows. For why should Zipporah have taken a sharp stone or knife and circumcised her son, had she not known that God was offended at his uncircumcision? It is sufficient for us to know that he was terrified by the approach of certain destruction, and that, at the same time, the cause of his affliction was shown to him, so that he hastened to seek for a remedy. It would never have otherwise occurred to himself or his wife to circumcise the child to appease God’s wrath; and it will appear a little further on, that God's anger was satisfied by this offering, since he withdrew his hand, and took away the signs of his wrath.
I therefore unhesitatingly conclude, that vengeance was declared against Moses for his negligence, which was connected with still heavier sins; for he had not omitted his son’s circumcision from forgetfulness, or ignorance, or carelessness only, but because he was aware that it was disagreeable either to his wife or to his father-in-law. Therefore, lest his wife should quarrel with him, or his father-in-law trouble him, he preferred to gratify them than to give occasion for divisions, or enmity, or disturbance. In the meantime, however, for the sake of the favor of men, he neglected to obey God. This false dealing was no light offense, since nothing is more intolerable than to defraud God of his due obedience, in order to please men. There was a mixture too of distrust and ingratitude in it; for, if the favor of God had had its proper weight in the eyes of Moses, he would not have been stopped by the fear of man from this holy duty.
John Calvin and Charles William Bingham, Commentaries on the Four Last Books of Moses Arranged in the Form of a Harmony, vol. 1 (Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software, 2010), 105–106. Slightly modernized
I agree with John Calvin (my agreement shouldn't carry much weight!) The issue appears to be that Moses, though aware of God's command to circumcise, REFUSED to circumcise his son in order to appease his wife, and possibly his father in law too. This would explain Zipporah's cryptic "bridegroom of blood to me" comment. Very likely, she is expressing distress and possibly even disgust at the necessity of performing such an operation on an infant. For a more complete and deep explanation of the practice of circumcision, please refer back to episode 16 of this podcast, in which we spent a good bit of time exploring the topic, and the fact that New Testament Christians are NOT required to be circumcised.
As a reminder - God commanded Abraham to institute circumcision for all males born to his descendants as a way of setting them apart from all of the other peoples of the land. Perhaps the best reasoning for circumcision I've ever heard was quoted in depth on episode 16 of the show, but basically amounts to this: Abraham's son Isaac was born in a miraculous way to a mom and dad who were way beyond the age of childbearing. As such, the entire nation of Israel was the miraculous doing of God - it didn't happen in a natural way, but a supernatural way. Every time a Hebrew male would begin to be intimate with his wife, in order to produce a child, they would both be reminded - by the sign of circumcision - that they were a people uniquely created by God. This miraculous birth also foreshadowed the birth of the soon coming messiah Jesus - born to a virgin to save His people - and the entire world - from their sins.
In the Old Covenant, circumcision was SUPREMELY important - as a sign and a reminder of God's goodness. That Moses would compromise on this most important commandment demonstrated that he would compromise on other important commandments too, and I speculate that God could not allow one of His major leaders in all of human history to lead His people into compromise. Thus did God come near to force Moses to repent, or to take His life if He stubbornly maintained his refusal to obey God. We might think this a bit over the top on God's part, but it is worth remembering a dynamic that we learn about in the New Testament: God's leaders and God's teachers WILL BE JUDGED MORE SEVERELY. Why? Because when they compromise and sin, they lead more people away than just themselves.
Not many should become teachers, my brothers, knowing that we will receive a stricter judgment
James 3:1
As John Calvin rightly pointed out, Moses should have been more full of the fear of God than the fear of what his wife or father in law might say to him. God is a consuming fire - He is awesome, mighty and powerful, and Moses was attempting to be a people-pleaser, and not a God-pleaser - a dangerous road to go down - LITERALLY! for a man of God.
You might be tempted to read such passages as this, and think as many do - that God was more harsh in the Old Testament, and more merciful in the New Testament, but such a view would be completely inaccurate. God is ALWAYS Holy. He is ALWAYS merciful. Consider Ananias and Sapphira - killed in the New Testament for their sin of lying to God's apostles. Consider the danger that Paul warns about in 1 Corinthians 11 (a topic we will cover in 3 days!) where he suggests that it is possible for people to DIE if they do not properly honor God in the way they partake of the Lord's supper. Finally, consider Jesus' stark and important warning about the fear of God in Matthew:
Don’t fear those who kill the body but are not able to kill the soul; rather, fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.
Matthew 10:28
It is not at all hyperbole when Proverbs 9 tells us that the "fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom." May we take His commands with the utmost sobriety and seriousness! Allow me to close with an encouraging word from Charles Spurgeon:
Again, as Jesus did not utter a word against his adversaries, so he did not say a word against any one of us. You remember how Zipporah said to Moses, “Surely a bloody husband art thou to me,” as she saw her child bleeding; and surely Jesus might have said to his church, “You are a costly spouse to me, to bring me all this shame and blood-shedding.” But he gives liberally, he opens the very fountain of his heart, and he does not scold us. He had counted on paying the ultimate price, and endured the cross, despising the shame.
“This was compassion like a God,
That when the Saviour knew
The price of pardon was his blood,
His pity ne’er withdrew.”C. H. Spurgeon, “The Sheep before the Shearers,” in The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit Sermons, vol. 26 (London: Passmore & Alabaster, 1880), 350–351.
Today's Bible readings include Job 20 in which Zophar, Job's friend, will erroneously tell us that the wicked are always punished while on earth, and their plans never succeed in the long run. Luke 6 contains Luke's shortened version of the Beatitudes as well as Jesus' challenge to the Scribes and Pharisees about the Sabbath. 1 Corinthians 7 is a bit of a confusing passage (in places) that has lots of advice on marriage, including: 1. You don't have to get married, but you certainly can if you want to and you must if you are burning with sexual desire. 2. Husbands and wives have authority over each other's bodies. The husband has authority over his wife's body AND the wife has authority over her husband's body. One implication of this principle is that neither party is allowed to withhold regular sex from the other, with the ONLY exception being a mutually agreed upon break in order to more intentionally seek the Lord for a short season. Our focus passage is in Exodus 3 - the famous Burning Bush passage where God calls Moses and sends him to rescue the Hebrews. In this passage, God reveals His name and His nature to Moses in a deeper way than we have seen before, and our big question today is what is God's name, and what does His name mean? Let's read Exodus 3 and then discuss it.
13 Then Moses asked God, “If I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what should I tell them?”14 God replied to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: I AM has sent me to you.” 15 God also said to Moses, “Say this to the Israelites: The LORD, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you. This is my name forever; this is how I am to be remembered in every generation.
Exodus 3:13-15 CSB
14 God replied to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: I AM has sent me to you.” 15 God also said to Moses, “Say this to the Israelites: Yahweh, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you. This is My name forever; this is how I am to be remembered in every generation. 16 “Go and assemble the elders of Israel and say to them: Yahweh, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, has appeared to me and said: I have paid close attention to you and to what has been done to you in Egypt. 17 And I have promised you that I will bring you up from the misery of Egyptto the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites—a land flowing with milk and honey. 18 They will listen to what you say. Then you, along with the elders of Israel, must go to the king of Egypt and say to him: Yahweh, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us. Now please let us go on a three-day trip into the wilderness so that we may sacrifice to Yahweh our God.
Exodus 3:14-18 Holman Christian Standard Bible
YHWH First and foremost, I need to point out what appears to be a discrepancy, but actually isn't. The Christian Standard Bible, the translation we are reading through, uses LORD in vs 15 and following of Exodus 3. The Holman Christian Standard Bible, my favorite translation, uses 'Yahweh' in vs. 15 and following. What gives? The answer is that God gives Moses His name - His personal name! - in Exodus 3:14, and that name is Yahweh, in the Hebrew. His name means, "I am that I am," or "I am Because I am." Most modern Bible translations, the King James Bible included, translates 'Yahweh' to LORD with all capitals to indicate that God's name is being used. Why would they do this? There are a few reasons. For one, most modern Bibles are translations, and therefore they seek to translate every word from one language into another. Occasionally that is difficult when faced with Hapax Legomena (as mentioned in episode 47 ) and when faced with difficult or disputed words like Nephilim, discussed in episode #6. In those cases, translators sometimes resort to transliterations, which is an attempt to take the sound of a word in the source language (such as Biblical Hebrew or Greek) and represent it in the target language (such as English.) This obscures the MEANING of the word, but preserves the SOUND of the word. The trouble with doing this with Yahweh is that our original Hebrew Bibles don't have vowel sounds, only consonants. Because the early Hebrews refused to say God's name out loud, we don't know exactly how the name should be pronounced, because we only have the four Hebrew consonants. Let's tag in Gotquestions.org to help us understand this dynamic better:
In the original Hebrew, God’s name transliterates to YHWH (sometimes written in the older style as YHVH). This is known as the tetragrammaton (meaning “four letters”). Because of the lack of vowels, Bible scholars debate how the tetragrammaton YHWH was pronounced.The tetragrammaton consists of four Hebrew letters: yodh, he, waw, and then he repeated.
Some versions of the Bible translate the tetragrammaton as “Yahweh” or “Jehovah”; most translate it as “LORD” (all capital letters).Contrary to what some Christians believe (and at least one cult), Jehovah is not the Divine Name revealed to Israel. The name Jehovah is a product of mixing different words and different alphabets of different languages.
Due to a fear of accidentally taking God’s name in vain (Leviticus 24:16), the Jews basically quit saying it out loud altogether. Instead, when reading Scripture aloud, the Jews substituted the tetragrammaton YHWH with the word Adonai (“Lord”). Even in the Septuagint (the Greek translation of the Old Testament), the translators substituted Kurios (“Lord”) for the Divine Name.
Eventually, the vowels from Adonai (“Lord”) or Elohim (“God”) found their way in between the consonants of YHWH, thus forming YaHWeH. But this interpolation of vowels does not mean that was how God’s name was originally pronounced. In fact, we aren’t entirely sure if YHWH should have two syllables or three.Any number of vowel sounds can be inserted within YHWH, and Jewish scholars are as uncertain of the real pronunciation as Christian scholars are. Jehovah is actually a much later (probably 16th-century) variant. The word Jehovah comes from a three-syllable version of YHWH, YeHoWeH. The Y was replaced with a J (although Hebrew does not even have a J sound) and the W with a V, plus the extra vowel in the middle, resulting in JeHoVaH.
https://www.gotquestions.org/YHWH-tetragrammaton.html
God's name is Yahweh, and - even though we don't know exactly how to pronounce it, we know what it means - it means that God is the ONLY non-created, non-caused being in the multiverse. Where did God come from? He is, because He is. Who created God? Nobody - He is because He is. How did God become God - He always has been - He is, because He is. We pointed out in episode #31 of this pod that there are many elohims (spiritual beings/gods with a little 'g') mentioned in the Bible, but there is only ONE Yahweh. He is the GOD above Gods, LORD of all Lords, KING Of Kings. There is no one beside God - He is that He is.
Interestingly, the name 'Jesus,' comes from Yahweh as well. It means, 'Yahweh Saves,' or, 'salvation is of Yahweh.' And one of the most obvious ways that Jesus told us that He was God was by using God's name in John 8. John Piper shared about this in a sermon from 2011, and I think that this will be a good closer for us:
So the Jews said to him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?” Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.” So they picked up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple.”
There it is—the clearest, most forthright claim in this Gospel that Jesus is Yahweh, the God of Israel, the great “I am” of Exodus 3:14 and the prophets. If he only wanted to claim pre-existence, he could have said, “Before Abraham was, I was.” But he means to say more than mere pre-existence. He says, “Before Abraham was, I am.” Exodus 3:14: “God said to Moses, ‘I AM WHO I AM.’ And he said, ‘Say this to the people of Israel, “I AM has sent me to you."’ ”
John Piper, Sermons from John Piper (2000–2014) (Minneapolis, MN: Desiring God, 2014).
All of the pundits said it couldn't be done. The odds were 3720-1 against, but we have made it to episode #50 of the Daily Bible Reading Podcast. If you've been here from the beginning, pat yourself on the back, but don't get too carried away, because we have some Bible reading and Bible talking to do. Today's passages include: Exodus 2, which introduces us to Moses, one of the most important people in the entire Bible. We will also read Luke 5, in which Jesus calls His twelve disciples and 1 Corinthians 6, in which Paul gives an incredibly strong warning to Christians about sexual immorality. Our focus remains on comforting well those who are suffering, and that means our focus passage for the day is in Job 19, and the very first verses show us how difficult we can make it on our friends who are suffering if we say and do the wrong things (like Job's friends did!)
How long will you torment me
and crush me with words?
3 You have humiliated me ten times now,
and you mistreat me without shame.Job 19:2-3
We DO NOT want to be like Job's friends - we want to help those we love who are going through trials, so today we are going to discuss some ways that we can actually comfort the grieving. Let's read our passage in Job first, and then consider how we can walk with the hurting in a helpful way.
For whatever reason, when we are suffering, we often feel alone - even if people are trying to reach us and express love to us. Something about going through acute suffering, grief, depression and pain alienates us from those who aren't going through the same thing. We can see Job expressing the pain from this dynamic in this chapter:
He has removed my brothers from me;
my acquaintances have abandoned me.
14 My relatives stop coming by,
and my close friends have forgotten me.Job 19:13-14
Because those who suffer often feel alienated and isolated, we who love them must try extra hard, and persist in trying for a long time, to communicate our love for our friends. With that in mind, here are:
Three thoughts on what TO say to those who are mourning, grieving or hurting: Sometimes you don’t have to SAY anything. We all stumble for words when we are interacting with somebody in extreme grief. They are hurting, and we have a natural - and wholesome - instinct to try and comfort them and soothe their pain. I suspect that this dynamic is the main reason why we say so many stupid and inaccurate things to people who are mourning. We want to help, and words are failing us…so we just say something. However, it is far better to say nothing than it is to say something harmful. Remember the example above about the slightly awkward and tall lady at my friend’s sister’s funeral? That lady had no words, so she just mourned with a mourning mother - in a genuine and quiet way. Shared suffering is powerful - often far more powerful than even the best clichés.
“Remember the prisoners, as though you were in prison with them, and the mistreated, as though you yourselves were suffering bodily.”
Hebrews 13:3
The WORD of God is comforting. While I think it is wise to avoid merely quoting a Bible verse to somebody who is suffering (The Word of God is LIVING and ACTIVE and POWERFUL; but treating it like a mere Band-Aid cheapens it somehow) I believe it is powerful to share Scripture with those who are suffering. Not in a drive-by way - but in the context of demonstrating love through time and your presence. In the midst of that - a powerful Scripture like Revelation 21 (quoted below) is indeed comforting and helpful. The truth that one day, God will wipe away every tear is a precious truth. The truth that some people will be crying right up until the point of Jesus’ Second Coming and triumphant victory is a sobering reality.
“He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. Death will no longer exist; grief, crying, and pain will exist no longer, because the previous things have passed away.”
Revelation 21:4
Persist and remember those who have suffered loss, even after a lot of time has passed. Grief is a very, very lonely process, and a very lonely emotion. When you are suffering the grief of the death of a loved one, it often feels like nobody else in the entire world has suffered quite like you are suffering. And that grief lasts a very, very long time. Most friends of people who are mourning will, after a certain amount of time, attempt to bring their relationship with the mourner back to a more normal place. This, in and of itself, is not necessarily a bad thing. As Christians, we DO grieve, but not as those who have no hope. We grieve WITH hope - knowing that God will one day wipe every tear from our eye. That said - we still grieve, and we still remember those whom we have lost. As the friend of somebody in mourning, do them the kindness of remembering their loved one, and remembering that they are probably still in pain. It might be easier to never bring up the departed loved one - perhaps to spare the feelings of your suffering friend - but avoid that temptation. Remember them vocally, and continue to comfort your friend weeks, months and even years after their loss. I close this chapter with two very powerful thoughts on death and mourning from two people whose lives were scorched deeply by it. George Mueller was a mighty man of prayer. In his autobiography, he wrote this paragraph about how God sustained him after the death of his dear wife:
“The last portion of scripture which I read to my precious wife was this: “The Lord God is a sun and shield, the Lord will give grace and glory, no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.” Now, if we have believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, we have received grace, we are partakers of grace, and to all such he will give glory also. I said to myself, with regard to the latter part, “no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly”—I am in myself a poor worthless sinner, but I have been saved by the blood of Christ; and I do not live in sin, I walk uprightly before God. Therefore, if it is really good for me, my darling wife will be raised up again; sick as she is. God will restore her again. But if she is not restored again, then it would not be a good thing for me. And so my heart was at rest. I was satisfied with God. And all this springs, as I have often said before, from taking God at his word, believing what he says.”
Jehovah Magnified, by George Mueller, p. 80
Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a German pastor who resisted Hitler and the rise of the Nazi’s - a decision which ultimately led to him being executed. He wrote these words while facing death:
“Why are we so afraid when we think about death? Death is only dreadful for those who live in dread and fear of it. Death is not wild and terrible, if only we can be still and hold fast to God’s Word. Death is not bitter, if we have not become bitter ourselves. Death is grace, the greatest gift of grace that God gives to people who believe in him. Death is mild, death is sweet and gentle. It beckons to us with heavenly power, if only we realize that it is the gateway to our homeland … Death is hell and night and cold, if it is not transformed by our faith. But that is just what is so marvelous, that we can [by our faith in Christ] transform death.”
(Source: Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy. By Eric Metaxes)
Welcome to the Bible Reading Podcast! (Encourage Sharing on SM/Reviews, etc) Today's readings include Exodus Chapter 1 - which means we have completed the entire book of Genesis together - Go team! Sadly for the Israelites (in the short term!), Exodus opens with this ominous bit of foreshadowing in chapter 1, vs. 8, " A new king, who did not know about Joseph, came to power in Egypt." In Luke 4, we will see how Jesus overcomes the attacks of Satan in the desert by the expert use of the Sword of the Word of God. 1 Corinthians 5 is all about church discipline, a biblical practice that is sadly neglected in many of our churches. Our focus remains in Job today, and we will be reading chapters 17 and 18, and asking the question how can we help and encourage the hurting and suffering. As I mentioned yesterday, part of what I’m sharing below is from my first book, Unshackled: Facing Suffering With the Real Jesus (and Not the Shack, or Pop-Culture Christianity,) which holds the Guinness book of World records for longest book by an unknown author.
I have been in pastoral ministry for over twenty-five years, and in that time have ministered to dozens of families who are mourning the death of those nearest to them. Some of the deaths are more…bearable (?) than others, if death can be in any way bearable at all. I’ve done the funeral for a lovely World War 2 veteran of D-Day who had been married to his wife for roughly 70 years. That was hard, and I am sure it still is for his surviving wife - I cannot imagine being separated from my wife of 20 years - how much more difficult must it be to be separated from a spouse of 70?! This funeral was sad - with much tears and grieving, but also was celebratory - rejoicing in a faithful marriage of almost 70 years, and celebrating the life of a remarkable man who had lived a long and amazing life.
Some of the funerals I have done are nothing but grieving, mourning, tears, tragedy and incredible sadness. Many years ago, while still a young, greenhorn youth minister, I was summoned to the hospital one night due to a wreck involving one of our youth. I will never forget that night - sitting next to this young man’s mom and dad, as we awaited news in the waiting room. When the surgeon walked in, he had a grim look on his face, and very coldly and callously told this young man’s parents that he had died on the operating table. Though that night was twenty years ago, I can still clearly hear the gut-shredding wail of his mom in my mind, and the look on her face as she mourned the death of her only child. Heartbreaking. Words failed that night. And the surgeon's communication and lack of compassion only added to the misery. (Though I am quite sure he tried his best!)
Another funeral involved a family that I did not know at all - but our church had helped them with food previously, and thus they asked our church to provide a pastor for the funeral. In this particular tragedy, a very young married couple had a lovely baby that was killed one night when the husband got either drunk or stoned (or both) and inadvertently rolled over on the baby that they were co-sleeping with, and smothered him. Both the husband and the wife were at the funeral, as was their family - and they wanted me to share words of comfort and hope into what seemed for all the world like a hopeless situation.
What do we say in situations like these? Maybe you’ve never faced a scenario like the above, and maybe you aren’t in ministry….but I guarantee that you will, multiple times in your life, be the friend or family member of somebody who has lost a loved one to death…and they will look to you for support, love, help and comfort. How do you handle that? What can you say to make things better? Well - here’s the thing to remember that is very important: IT IS LIKELY THAT YOU DO NOT HAVE THE POWER IN THAT MOMENT TO MAKE THINGS BETTER. And when we try to make things better, we end up saying things that are factually untrue, or are meaninglessly cliche and in doing so, it is possible that we can make things worse! Let's read our Job passages, and then come back and discuss what we should not say to those who are suffering.
Here are five things that I have heard people actually say to those who are grieving, and a brief word on why to NEVER say these things:
Top Five Worst Things to Say to Those Who Have Lost a Loved One 1. “God Needed a new angel in Heaven!” UGH!! Please don’t say this - ever, to anybody. First of all, how in the world can this expression, as false as it is, ever be comforting to somebody that has lost a child, or a family member? “God was running short on something, so He - the God of everything who has everything - actually took a child or loved one from me?!” This is a cruel statement, and it is not comforting at all - not in the least. Secondly - it is not even remotely true. The Bible does NOT teach that people become angels when they die…in fact, when Christians die, they become like Jesus - with a body like His! (See Philippians 3:20-21, “But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.” ) Note: Two people in an online internet discussion thread mourning the death of one of my heroes, Steve Irwin, used the “God Needed an Angel” line” Sigh. A direct quote, “to lose a father is something a child should never go through, but today God needed a new angel and he just wanted the best” Please don’t use that expression! God does NOT kill people to stock up on angels. 2. “God only takes the best!” This is foolish and illogical, because God takes EVERYBODY. We will all die! (Hebrews 9:27, “it is appointed for man to die once”) Please don’t tell people that God only takes the best - it just doesn’t make any sense, isn’t accurate in the least, and is actually incredibly non-comforting and confusing! 3. “Well, at least you…” OR: “Be thankful that…” There are many ways that this phrase ends, but most of the time it begins the same way: “At least you still have your other children!” “At least you still have your husband/wife/dog/Playstation 4!” “At least you had a few years with them before they left!” “Be thankful that they didn’t have too suffer long!” None of these phrases are comforting, and they are all ultimately quite petty. Essentially, the message is: “Stop whining about this death, and be happy, because you are making me unhappy/uncomfortable!” If you are tempted to try to console somebody with a sentence that begins, “At least you…” then please, stop and reconsider. And yes, while it is good to be thankful always - ordering a grieving person to be thankful is insensitive and unaware of the Ecclesiastes 3:4 dynamic. There is indeed a time to rejoice and a time to mourn. It is right, good and biblical for us to mourn, so don’t try to steer people away from mourning - mourn with them! 4. “I know how you feel…” We are humans and we often think in metaphors and comparisons. Mourning death is one of those places where we should avoid this at all costs. When somebody has lost a child, the only people who TRULY know at least a little bit about how they feel are other people who have lost a child. When somebody has lost a parent, or a spouse, again, the only people who know how they feel are people who have lost a parent or a child. If you are comforting somebody who is mourning a loss that is exactly like one you have experienced, then it is kind and comforting and soothing to share your grief with them - but even then, it is rarely encouraging to use the phrase, “I Know how you feel.” Be very careful with this expression, as you really don’t know how that person is feeling. Even though their situation might look on the surface exactly the same as one you have been through, chances are that there are many differences beneath the surface. 5. “God has a plan…” YES! God does indeed have a plan. He is completely sovereign and in control. His sovereignty isn’t harsh, and He loves us with an everlasting and unfathomable love, even when we walk through the valley of the shadow of death. And yet - if somebody doesn’t have a very deep biblical understanding of the loving nature of God and His sovereignty, then this statement isn’t comforting at all. Even for those who do understand such passages as Romans 8:28-29 in a very deep way - the phrase, “God has a plan.” can be a little flummoxing. Why does God’s plan involve the death of my loved one? God does indeed have a plan, but those words aren’t the best words to comfort somebody who is suffering in the moment. Can you imagine Peter and John comforting Jesus, as He prayed with agony in the Garden of Gethsemane, with this line? So - those are some phrases that really should be avoided. In fact - the whole idea that we can share a sentence or two with somebody and actually help/comfort them is an idea which, with perhaps rare exceptions, should be avoided. Grieving with those who grieve rarely involves the sharing of a pithy saying or two. Rather, grieving with those who grieve far more often involves walking beside them, listening to them, praying for them, crying with them and just simply being there. Those who are suffering don’t often need a sentence or two saying to feel better. They need something far deeper than that. On tomorrow's episode #50, we will cover some helpful things to say to those who are suffering, and some helpful ways to say those things. Hope you can join us then! For now, I will close with this great quote from Nancy Guthrie's article on comforting those who are grieving:
But here’s the truth. When you’ve gone through the loss of a loved one, it’s almost as if there is a barrier put up between you and every person in your world. And it’s not until that person acknowledges your loss that that barrier comes down. And it doesn’t have to be anything brilliant.
And sometimes it can even be wordless. I can think of times when I was going through grief when someone just came next to me and squeezed my hand or gave me even a knowing look, with that sense of, “I know what’s going on, and I’m sad and I’m in a sense speechless.”|
And then one of the really beautiful things some people did was actually weep in my presence. And I know that sounds awkward for some people — I think especially men. I know for my husband, he wouldn’t say, “Wow, I was really hoping people would come and cry with me.” That wasn’t the form his grief took.
But for many of us, when you’re carrying this huge load of sorrow and you look up, and you see someone who is shedding tears — that they are so identifying with your loss that they are in a sense carrying some of the load of sorrow for you — that’s an incredible gift to give to someone who’s grieving.
https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/what-do-we-say-to-grieving-people
Happy Monday, friends! I want to open with a shoutout to Willem Dykstra of Minnesota, who left an encouraging iTunes review, "Excellent podcast and edifying for anyone that seeks to be in God's Word daily. Also entertaining Chase could be an actor in movie or stage or at least a voice actor" Thank you, Mr. Dykstra!
Today's Bible readings include Genesis 50, a chapter that spans a long chronological period and sees the burial of Jacob, Joseph forgiving his brothers who sold him into slavery, and the death of Joseph himself. Luke 3 is all about John The Baptist's ministry, his baptism of Jesus, and his ultimate arrest for daring to call out a political leader for sinful behavior. In 1 Corinthians 4, the apostle Paul discusses humility, and delivers this powerful line, "The Kingdom of God is not a matter of talk, but of power." Our focus passage today is in Job 16. and is based on Job's deeply painful lamentation that his friends are 'miserable comforters,' rather than encouragers:
You are all miserable comforters.
3 Is there no end to your empty words?
What provokes you that you continue testifying?
4 If you were in my place I could also talk like you.
I could string words together against you
and shake my head at you.
5 Instead, I would encourage you with my mouth,
and the consolation from my lips would bring relief.Job 16:2-5
“Grief is a very lonely experience. You know, even if all your friends are there for you in the best way possible — your spouse is there for you, all of those things — the essence of grief is a deep, pervasive loneliness. And it means so much for people around us to overcome the awkwardness — and maybe even the desire and fears that I’ll say the wrong thing — to say something. Honestly, the most painful thing is when you’ve had a loss and someone around you—because of the awkwardness — never acknowledges it. That’s what hurts the most. Because what it says to you is that person you love who died doesn’t even really merit a mention. And that’s devastating….But for many of us, when you’re carrying this huge load of sorrow and you look up, and you see someone who is shedding tears — that they are so identifying with your loss that they are in a sense carrying some of the load of sorrow for you — that’s an incredible gift to give to someone who’s grieving.”
https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/what-do-we-say-to-grieving-people "What Do We Say to Grieving People?"
Poor Job! Our question of the day is all about how we can help, encourage and comfort those who are going through difficult times. Part of what I'm sharing below is from my first book, Unshackled: Facing Suffering With the Real Jesus (and Not the Shack, or Pop-Culture Christianity.) Yes, that is the real title of the book, and yes it is way too long of a title. Like I said, it was my first book, but William Shakespeare said it was the best book ever written in the English language. Or maybe he didn't, I've heard it both ways.
Suffering is difficult to go through. I imagine I've just blown your mind with that profound statement. But it might be good for us to acknowledge how hard suffering is - especially suffering that stretches on for days and weeks and months. When we suffer, we long to feel better. When our friends suffer, we want to help them, and that is a good thing, obviously, if that desire to help our friends comes from a loving concern for their well-being. Far too often, I have seen Christians make a bad situation worse by poorly chosen words or empty "greeting card" style sentiments. The fact is that when our friends and family suffers, we suffer...and we don't want to suffer, so sometimes - selfishly - we want our friends and family to stop suffering so that WE will feel better. And that leads us to say dumb things like, 'cheer up,' or 'wipe that frown off your face,' or, 'God needed a new angel in Heaven,' or some dreck like that. Sometimes we fail to be good comforters because we simply want those suffering around us to stop suffering, because they are harshing our mellow. Other times, we are like Job's friends, and we fail to properly comfort people because we make false assumptions, make arrogant statements, or just plain say dumb and inaccurate things. Let's read Job 16 now, and see how our friends can be impacted when we are 'miserable comforters,' instead of healing helpers.
Romans 12:15 is one of the most powerful, profound and short verses in the Bible on real friendship and ministry to people in general.
Rejoice with those who rejoice; weep with those who weep.
Romans 12:15
I was recently in a position of suffering, and was profoundly helped by friends and brothers and sisters in Christ. As I mentioned a few days ago, I spent a night in the hospital last week. I thought it was a big deal, but it ended up being tachycardia brought on by some medication I take to treat my relatively mild asthma. At one point, however, I thought I was having a heart attack. (I wasn't!) and my wife was visiting friends and family back in our home state of Alabama 2,200 miles away. I was in a pretty anxious state, and my wife didn't know how to help. So - she made what ended up being a very wise and helpful decision. She called our friend and church member Kevin Low and told him what was going on. A short while later, Kevin was at the hospital, and he stayed with me for hours. Literally. I encouraged him to go home several times as it got later and later, but he stayed with me until well after 1 AM, when I was good and settled in a room.
I'll never forget that act of kindness. It's not so much that Kevin knew exactly the right things to say (though he did a very good job of that!) but it was his presence that made the difference. Other friends came too, and I am grateful for their ministry. None of them were pastors, and none of them were professional-hospital-visitors, but they all did a wonderful job of communicating God's love and grace to me by their mere presence. We sometimes don't help people who are suffering because we don't know the precise words to say, but generally speaking, its not about that at all. When somebody is going through a crisis - it is not your WORDS of wisdom that they need, but your PRESENCE and your LOVE expressed in obvious ACTION. The book of Job is very, VERY clear that we aren't always going to understand our suffering and the reasons behind it. It is also very, VERY clear that trying to explain the reasons for something that ONLY God understands is folly, and likely to earn the wrath of God and increase the misery of your friends. If you don't know the right things to say, just stand in the right place. (Nearby!)
Recently, my wife and I went to the funeral of one of our dear friend’s sisters. She died suddenly, and her mother, Mrs. Martin, was left to bury her daughter - something that often happens in this cruel world, but should never, ever happen. Mrs. Martin is a Godly, vibrant and joyful woman who has hundreds of friends through the church that she has been a member of for almost 30 years. The visitation for the funeral was quite crowded, and Mrs. Martin - though herself suffering the loss of her youngest daughter - was kindly ministering to everybody that had come to see her. She was hugging them all and smiling at them - deeply grieving inside, but not so much on the surface. I watched as one of her friends walked up to her; one more mourner in an extremely long line of friends. This friend was a tall woman that seemed a bit awkward. She said nothing, but simply leaned over and hugged Mrs. Martin and cried - not gentle and appropriate tears, and not loud and attention grabbing tears…but deep, heartfelt tears that came from a genuine place of mourning. The two ladies just hugged and cried for quite some time - no words were said. As the taller lady walked away, she noticed one of her friends in the line, and looked at her friend and simply said, “I didn’t know what to say, so I just cried.” Though there is no way to know for sure, I believe that this lady - out of hundreds of people that came to the funeral that day to comfort Mrs. Martin - was probably one of the most comforting by far. No words were exchanged - but it was obvious to an outside observer how much it meant to Mrs. Martin to have somebody actually weep with her.
This will be a topic that we will explore tomorrow, and maybe the day after that - the call to comfort the suffering is important enough to warrant a few days of focus for us, especially as we behold the day by day botched job of Job's friends in that department. I'll close with an encouragement from one of my heroes of the faith, George Muller:
“When sometimes all has been dark, exceedingly dark, with reference to my service among the saints, judging from natural appearances; yea, when I should have been overwhelmed indeed in grief and despair, had I looked at things after the outward appearance; at such times I have sought to encourage myself in God, by laying hold in faith on His mighty power, His unchangeable love, and His infinite wisdom, and I have said to myself: God is able and willing to deliver me, if it be good for me; for it is written: “He that spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?” Romans 8:32.”
http://chaseathompson.com/2017/02/10/comforting-mourn-ten-encouraging-quotes-grief/
Merry Christmas, everybody! Today's readings begin with Genesis 49, which largely consists of Jacob/Israel's blessing over his boys (and Joseph's two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh.) As we might expect from one such as Jacob/Israel, the blessing is very, very strange and unique in many ways, including where he calls out his eldest son for sleeping with his concubine/wife. #awkwardfamilymoments Job 15 features some more inaccurate drivel from Job's wrong (according to God) 'friend' Eliphaz, who fat-shames the wicked with this passage:
Though his face is covered with fat
and his waistline bulges with it,
28 he will dwell in ruined cities,
in abandoned houses destined to become piles of rubble.
29 He will no longer be rich; his wealth will not endure.
His possessions will not increase in the land.Job 15:27-29
Not cool, Eliphaz. In 1 Corinthians 3, Paul again addresses the issue of unity in the church, pointing out that picking certain people and following them (instead of Christ!) is a sure and dangerous sign of spiritual immaturity. Our focus passage for today is Luke, chapter 2: and so today we are celebrating Christmas in February. It's a tale as old as time, true as it can be. Everybody knows that Joseph and Mary, after a long and trying donkey ride, tried to stay at an Inn in Bethlehem and ended up staying in an animal stable because there was no room for them in the inn, right? Not so fast, my friend. It may just be that our understanding of the birth of Jesus might need a few tweaks. Let's read the Word and then come back and consider it.
Notice the CSB translation of Luke 2:7
Then she gave birth to her firstborn son, and she wrapped him tightly in cloth and laid him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.
Luke 2:7
Is this accurate? What we have here is evidence that New Testament scholars have realized something important about the birth of Jesus - there may not have been an inn involved at all. Hol' up, I hear some of you saying: Are we implying that the Bible is wrong? Absolutely, positively not! Others are saying, the King James Version says "Inn," and that was good enough for Moses, and it was good enough for Paul, and it is good enough for me!
And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn
Luke 2:7 King James Version
Our issue here is an extremely minor one, but a terribly interesting one too. The only place in the Bible that discusses WHERE Jesus was born is in Luke 2, and there is VERY little information about where (and when!) He was born. Our question of the day revolves around the Greek word, " καταλύματι/katalumati" and what we have here is a translation issue. Does καταλύματι/katalumati mean 'Inn,' or does it mean something else? Generally speaking the best way to answer such a question in the Bible is to consider other uses of the Word in other Bible passages - especially those by the same author.
Where Bible scholars have trouble pinning down the exact concept or thing meant by a particular biblical author when he uses a particular word is when the word is rarely - or never - used in other Scripture. There is a phrase that describes a word in the Bible that is only used in one place, and it is 'hapax legomena' The New Testament has just under 700 hapax legomena, and the Old Testament has around 1500. This is about what you would expect in a body of works of that size, considering that Homer's Iliad has a little over 1000.
One of the most mysterious, and difficult to translate words in the entire Bible is found in Jesus' prayer in both Matthew 6:11 and Luke 11:3. "Give us this day our daily/ἐπιούσιος bread." Most modern scholars translate ἐπιούσιος as 'daily,' meaning that Jesus is teaching us to ask for daily provision. Many, if not most, ancient translators and early church fathers translated ἐπιούσιος as something along the lines of 'supernatural,' or 'super-substantial.' Because the word is used in the exact same context in both passages, neither use helps us understand what the Word means, and there is NO OTHER occurrence of the word in all of the rest of Greek literature. (Except for the Didache, which quotes the verse exactly from the Bible.)
Fortunately, our word καταλύματι/katalumati is NOT a hapax legomena, but it is only found in two other places in the New Testament. Happily, one of those places is later in the Gospel of Luke, so that gives us a really good idea how Luke himself uses the word.
“Listen,” he said to them, “when you’ve entered the city, a man carrying a water jug will meet you. Follow him into the house he enters. 11 Tell the owner of the house, ‘The Teacher asks you, “Where is the guest room where I can eat the Passover with my disciples?”’ 12 Then he will show you a large, furnished room upstairs. Make the preparations there.”
Luke 22:10-12
Our word in question in this passage is translated as 'guest room,' and Jesus even describes it for us: a large, furnished room that is upstairs. That seems to be a very, very strong point in favor of NOT translating our word to Inn, but leaning towards 'guest room,' as the CSB does. I'll give one more bit of evidence that tips the scale. It is very clear that Luke (and other New Testament authors) have a word that they use for 'inn,' and that word is πανδοχεῖον. It is found in Luke 10:34, in the middle of the Parable of the Good Samaritan:
He went over to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on olive oil and wine. Then he put him on his own animal, brought him to an >inn>, and took care of him.
Luke 10:34
These two bits of evidence are strong enough, to me, that I believe that Mary and Joseph were NOT rejected by an innkeeper (there is never one mentioned.), but that the house they were planning on staying in - probably the house of one of their relatives - had a full guest room.
Our next question: Was Jesus born in a stable? The answer is, probably not. Not a single animal is mentioned in Luke 2, but there is, of course, a manger - which is an animal food trough. Christians outside of the Middle East for hundreds of years have assumed that Jesus was born in a stable, largely because they are unfamiliar with a typical first century Jewish house, and they believe that mangers belong in stables. However, Kenneth E. Bailey ( a New Testament scholar who lived in the Middle East for 60 years) and Monte F. Shelly paint a different, and far more persuasive picture:
“Any Palestinian reading the phrase, “She laid him in a manger,” would immediately assume that the birth took place in a private home, because he knows that mangers are built into the floor of the raised terrace of the peasant home.” 7 Typical village home in Palestine with attached guest room “Simple village homes … were often an extension of a small cave if one was available.” Justin Martyr [c. AD 160] “grew up in the Holy Land … and he records that Jesus was born in a cave. This cave tradition is the universal assumption across all of the ancient Eastern Christian churches.” “Simple village homes often had but two rooms. One was exclusively for guests. That room was attached to the end of the house or … on the roof … (1 Kgs 17:19). The main room was a ‘family room’ where the entire family cooked, ate, slept and lived.” They slept on mats that they would take up in the morning (Matt 2:9–11). “The end of the room next to the door, was either a few feet lower than the rest of the floor or blocked off. … Each night into that designated area, the family cow, donkey, and a few sheep would be driven. And every morning those same animals were taken out and tied up in the courtyard of the house. … A guest room [was on the flat roof], or … the end of the house. The door on the lower level serves as an entrance for people and animals. The farmer wants the animals in the house each night because they provide heat in winter and are safe from theft. … The elongated circles represent mangers dug out of the lower end of the living room. … If the family cow is hungry during the night, she can … eat. … Mangers for sheep can be of wood and placed on the floor of the lower level.” 9 “Such homes can be traced from 1000 BC up to 1950.” 10 Guest Room kataluma Family Living Mangers Room Steps “Stable” Several verses imply such a house. One lamp on a candlestick gives “light to all … in the house” (Matt 5:15). “The woman had a fat calf in the house” (1 Sam 28:24). When Jephthah vowed to sacrifice whatever came out “of the doors of my house to meet me,” he apparently expected an animal to come out (Judg 11:31). After healing a woman on the Sabbath, Jesus asked, “Doth not each one of you on the sabbath loose his ox or his ass from the stall, and lead him away to watering?” (Lk 13:15) In an ancient Arabic New Testament, this verse says, “does not every one of you untie his ox or his donkey from the manger in the house and take it outside and water it?” 11 Early Christians believed Isaiah was referring to Jesus in the manger when he said, “The ox knows his master, and the donkey his owner's manger” (NIV Isa. 1:3), Since the second century, an ox and a donkey have been included in art and nativity scenes. “But that manger was in a warm and friendly home, not in a cold and lonely stable”
http://www.sviewp.com/RCbook/Bailey-%20Christmas%20-%20Middle%20Eastern%20Eyes.pdf
In this understanding, Jesus would not have been born in a stable, but more of what modern people in the West might call a basement, or a garage. Does ANY of this impact anything important about the birth of Jesus, or the Gospel? Of course not! But it is fun, and interesting, to dig deep into the original languages of the Bible and learn as much as we can about the world of Jesus.
Today's passages include this encouraging little ditty from our depressed friend Job, "Anyone born of woman is short of days and full of trouble." (Job 14:1), and it only gets worse from there. This chapter is all depressing and absolutely hopeless. Fortunately, it's wrong. God tells Job this at the end of Job, and Job confesses that he spoke out of ignorance. Job wasn't sinfully wrong - he was ignorantly wrong in his assertions and claims. In the second half of Luke (from vs. 38 on) we see Mary's beautiful song of praise and Zechariah's stirring prophecy. 1 Corinthians 2 sees Paul contrasting the power of speech with a different (and higher) kind of power. Our focus passage in Genesis 48 for today, and it is all about blessing...and it's high time we talked about blessing on this podcast. Let's read and then discuss this neglected command, calling and privilege that Christians have today.
A few days ago when we read Romans 12 together, we heard this COMMAND from Paul. (all caps!) in verse 14, "Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. " Dozens of times in Scripture, the people of God are called to bless people. Unfortunately, In current times, when I say the word blessing, the first two things that most people think of is #1 prayer before a meal, and #2 something you give to people when they sneeze so that demons don’t fly up their nose in a vulnerable moment. Neither thing is remotely related to the biblical idea of a blessing. Before we go deeper in blessing, I do want to rabbit trail on sneezing for a moment.
Sneezing is a very interesting human phenomenon that religious people have made a big deal about over the centuries. In Islam the prophet Muhammad instructed Muslims who sneeze to say " “Thanks to Allah”, and whoever hears them say that should reply “may Allah have mercy on you“, and the person who sneezed should reply “May Allah Guide you to the right path and calm your mind”, and for repeated sneezes, they keep replying the same reply for a maximum of three times, by then the reply is changed to meaning “May Allah heal you“ and the replies stop. According to the Hadiths, the Islamic god likes sneezing, but yawns are from the satan.
Lest you think I am making fun of Islamic people, Christians have also had peculiar ideas about sneezing. The early church father Augustine wrote of a number of superstitions he was familiar with:
Some people are often so superstitious that they even dare to strike a dog that has run between them, but not without paying the penalty. Sometimes the dog sends his smiter quickly away from a ridiculous practice to a real physician. Other practices like this are: to tread upon the sill when you cross in front of your house; to go back to bed if you sneeze while putting on your shoes; to return home if you stumble on your way to a certain place; to be more disturbed by the premonition of a future calamity than concerned about the present damage if mice gnaw at your clothing.
Augustine of Hippo, Christian Instruction; Admonition and Grace; The Christian Combat; Faith, Hope and Charity, ed. Roy Joseph Deferrari, trans. John J. Gavigan et al., Second Edition., vol. 2, The Fathers of the Church (Washington, DC: The Catholic University of America Press, 1950), 89.
Our friend Augustine also had some pretty interesting rules that he laid down to Christians about sneezing:
At banquets, we should not be forever spitting or violently coughing or blowing our nose. We must consider the feelings of our companions at table, and avoid disgusting or nauseating them by our crude conduct, testifying to our own lack of self-control. Not even cattle or asses relieve nature at their feeding troughs, yet many people blow their nose and keep spitting while engaged at table. Again, if a sneeze take us by surprise, or, even more so, a belch, we need not deafen our neighbor with the noise and in so doing exhibit our lack of manners. A belch should be released silently, as we exhale, with our mouths shut, not wide open and gaping like the masks of the tragedy. The irritation that causes a sneeze may be relieved by quietly holding the breath; therefore, we should suppress the accumulated force of the breath politely by controlling our exhaling, so as to try to pass unnoticed if some of the excessive air, under pressure, escapes.
It is a sign of boorishness and of lack of discipline to want to add to the noises, rather than lessen them. And those who scrape their teeth so much that they draw blood from their gums, besides injuring themselves, also annoy their companions. And beyond a doubt, scratching the ear and irritations to prompt sneezing are gestures proper to swine, suggestive of the search for immoral pleasures.Clement of Alexandria, Christ the Educator, trans. P. Simon Wood, vol. 23, The Fathers of the Church (Washington, DC: The Catholic University of America Press, 1954), 145.
I hope you learned something about sneezing from that - but this pod is NOT about sneezing, it is about blessings. A blessing is a theological reality and a biblical privilege that we do NOT walk in enough. Right before Jesus left - what did He do?? THE VERY LAST THING….
50 Then He led them out as far as Bethany, and lifting up His hands He blessed them. 51 And while He was blessing them, He left them and was carried up into heaven. 52 After worshiping Him, they returned to Jerusalem with great joy. (Luke 24:50-52)
Before we had kids, we made some great friends who were slightly older than us, and they did have kids. It was such a treasure to be around people that had experience with such things, even though they were only a few years older than us. One thing I learned from the dad, Michael - every night before his kids went to bed, he would call them over (or go to them) and bless them. I don’t mean pray for them, though he would do that some too. I mean, he would bless them. Some might be asking - what does that mean?
Let’s look at Numbers 6, 22-27: "The Lord spoke to Moses: 23 “Tell Aaron and his sons how you are to bless the Israelites. Say to them: 24 May Yahweh bless you and protect you; 25 may Yahweh make His face shine on you and be gracious to you; 26 may Yahweh look with favor on you and give you peace.27 In this way they will pronounce My name over the Israelites, and I will bless them.”
DO you see that at the end? The priest Aaron blesses the people, and then God says - I WILL BLESS THEM. WOW - if only we were priests, right? Then we could bless people too - AND GOD WOULD BLESS THEM!!
And here it is - WE ARE! Take a look at 1 Peter 2:9 and see that WE ARE PRIESTS!
But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for His possession, so that you may proclaim the praises of the One who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.
1 Peter 2:9
WE ARE PRIESTS! Not just the pastors among us, but ALL CHRISTIANS! We are the Light of the World, We are a City on A Hill. We are a Royal Priesthood, we are the Body of Christ - We are Jars of Clay, in and of ourselves, but inside us is the incredible treasure of Jesus - Christ in us, the Hope of Glory! So, we are commanded to bless, and I believe God blesses what we bless. SO I BLESS MY KIDS OFTEN, and bless my friends and strangers often too. Earlier this week, I had the privilege of blessing some people in the hospital with me. Fellow patients, as well as nurses and medical professionals. Not because I'm a pastor, but because I'm a child of the King with the privilege and honor to bless people.
And - here's some more good news: NOT ONLY DOES GOD BLESS WHEN WE BLESS - HE WILL BLESS US FOR BLESSING OTHERS!
Now finally, all of you should be like-minded and sympathetic, should love believers, and be compassionate and humble, 9 not paying back evil for evil or insult for insult but, on the contrary, giving a blessing, since you were called for this, so that you can inherit a blessing
1 Peter 3:8-9
There is power and benefit in the blessing of a person of God - power so serious that Jacob fought for it and Isaac wept when he realized that he had blessed the wrong person.
Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse….If your enemy is hungry, feed him.If he is thirsty, give him something to drink.For in so doing you will be heaping fiery coals on his head .21 Do not be conquered by evil, but conquer evil with good.
Romans 12:14 and 21
Bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.
Luke 6:28
When we are reviled, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure it; 13 when we are slandered, we respond graciously.
1 Corinthians 4:12-13
When we bless we are CONQUERING with GOOD because there is LIFE CHANGING POWER IN BLESSING. It brings the presence of God and the purifying power of God into a place that is desecrated and tainted by the stain of sin.
Still recovering a bit from my hospital stay today, but rejoicing at the grace of Jesus and His people as I went through that small ordeal. Today's readings begin with Genesis 47, where we see Joseph initiate a 20% tax on the Egyptians output, which seems like a pretty fair number if that is the sum total of taxes paid by the Egyptian people. Sounds like something of a flat tax proposal - but I note that Pharaoh keeps the land...so most Americans wouldn't go for that. Job 13 features our broken-hearted hero offering up many heart-wrenching lamentations to God. We begin a new book today - The Gospel According to Luke, and the whole first chapter is devoted to the preparation for the birth of Jesus. Thanks to Robert Murray M'Cheyne's reading plan, we are only reading the first 38 verses of Luke today. Zechariah's prophecy is fantastic, and underrated, as far as I'm concerned. Our focus passage is also from a new book, 1 Corinthians, and we are zeroing in on what is the essential core of the Christian message in this passage. Let's read it together, and then wrestle with the questions it raises.
Allow me to open with a question: What cause or what person are you a Champion for?
- I have an online “friend” who claims to be a Christian and a minister. I’m in a group she is in, and 90+ percent of her posts are about the importance of biblical feminism - her words, not mine. She is a champion for biblical feminism - that seems to be the most important thing to her.
- I have other friends, who, at various times are evangelists for essential oils, various wrapping things - that actually work, if I’m being informed correctly, different nutritional beverages and shakeologies, something called “Crossfit” which I’m not sure is a Christian thing or not, but apparently makes you look quite svelte, various other nutritional things, and such. They are champions for those products and ideals.
- Myself? I post about this podcast an awful lot, and about what our church is doing. - I’m also trying to become a writer, and therefore I can tend to post about my books and articles a good bit, especially when I have just written one. I suppose that makes me a champion for ….myself? That sounds quite embarrassingly narcissistic, so lets move on, shall we?
- What about you? What are YOU a champion for? Is it Home-schooling? (I agree - I’m a huge fan) Is it organic foods? Breast feeding? Natural birth? Fantasy football? A particular politician? Enmity against a particular politician? Cereal? A third party candidate? A football team? Vaccinations - or non vaccinations? What is YOUR thing that you are eager to talk about - eager to persuade people on. YOUR soapbox issue? I would ask you to consider that you are a champion for that thing.
Let me ask it in a more pointed way: What are you an EVANGELIST for.
Mom and Dad - your kids need Jesus. You can discipline them, and you should. You can teach them, and you should. You can train them, and you should. You can educate them, and you should. YOU CANNOT CHANGE THEM. YOU CANNOT SAVE THEM. They need Jesus. Are you, in their eyes, primarily a champion of Jesus? ARE YOU, IN THEIR EYES, PRIMARILY AN EVANGELIST TO THEM OF JESUS?!
Day in, day out they need Jesus. As toddlers, as tweens, as teens and as adults - they need to be constantly seeing you point them to Jesus.
CONSIDER THIS A PARENTING PASSAGE, A PREACHING PASSAGE, A TEACHING PASSAGE, or a LEADING PASSAGE: 1 Corinthians 1:20 Where is the philosopher? Where is the scholar? Where is the debater of this age? Hasn’t God made the world’s wisdom foolish? 21 For since, in God’s wisdom, the world did not know God through wisdom, God was pleased to save those who believe through the foolishness of the message preached. 22 For the Jews ask for signs and the Greeks seek wisdom, 23 but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to the Jews and foolishness to the Gentiles.
Spurgeon: “The motto of all true servants of God must be, ‘We preach Christ; and him crucified.’ A sermon without Christ in it is like a loaf of bread without any flour in it. No Christ in your sermon, sir? Then go home, and never preach again until you have something worth preaching.” A sermon without Christ as its beginning, middle, and end is a mistake in conception and a crime in execution. However grand the language it will be merely much-ado-about-nothing if Christ be not there. And I mean by Christ not merely his example and the ethical precepts of his teaching, but his atoning blood, his wondrous satisfaction made for human sin, and the grand doctrine of look to Him in faith and live"
No Christ in your parenting, ma'am? Sir? No Christ in your marriage? No Christ in your pastoring? No Christ in your leading? Then scrap it all and start over again - with Christ as the keystone and the foundation. Parenting without Jesus in its beginning, middle and end is a mistake in conception and a crime in execution...it is much ado about nothing.
Hebrews 12:1-2 WE MUST BE EVANGELISTS WHO TEACH OUR KIDS TO FIX THEIR EYES ON JESUS: And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, 2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith.
Hello everybody, and I'm sorry for being late on this edition of the podcast. I have a decent excuse, I think. Yesterday (Wednesday) at 4pm, I went out and jogged a few miles. Got home, showered and ate in preparation to go teach at our church, Valley Baptist Church, which you should visit if you are in Salinas/Monterey. Unfortunately, my heart started racing and wouldn't stop, and so I had my eldest daughter drive me to the emergency room. They admitted me and ran more tests on me than I took in fifth grade, and drew more blood out of me than a hefty vampire eats in a decade. I know, I know - fat shaming vampires is wrong. I am sorry, Drac. Anyway...they finally let me out around 6pm and said that everything with my heart was good, and thank you for all of the blood. So - here I am. Drained, but unwilling to miss a day on our podcast venture.
Today's readings are in Genesis 46, which sees Israel leave and settle in Egypt. Job 12, which sees Job fire an awesome snarky snap-back at Zophar, and Romans 16 in which Paul commends the mysterious Phoebe. One episode soon, we will discuss whether or not Phoebe was a deacon, but today's focus is on the resurrection, and how we can know Jesus overcame death. Because I lost a day to my involuntary blood-donation drive, I am going to read a chapter out of my book Easter, Fact or Fiction, which discusses an interesting - maybe absurd - reason to believe Jesus rose from the dead. Yes, I know that is slightly lame. To counterbalance it, I'll send a free copy of that book - paperback form - to anybody who leaves an iTunes review this week. Just screenshot it and send it to my email address. That might be lame too, but cut me some slack, as I am bloodless. (Look for a future upcoming episode on the so-called longer ending Mark - is it legit?)
In Genesis 45, which we are reading today, something profoundly important happens that will determine the next 400+ years in the lives of God's people, the descendants of Abraham. Joseph reveals himself to his brothers, and tells them to go get their father Israel (Jacob) and bring him to Egypt. Unbeknownst to all of them, the family of Israel would stay in Egypt for hundreds of years, and bloom into a great nation - a nation of slaves - who will be rescued by God through a murderer with a speech impediment named Moses. Job chapter 11 introduces us to a new friend of Job, Zophar, and he is a bit of an idiot from the start. That may sound unkind, but Zophar's first words (to a man who has just lost his entire family -other than his mean wife - and all his possessions) are insults (calling Job a babbler and ridiculer) and false accusations. Zophar accuses Job of declaring himself pure in God's sight, and then urges Job to repent. The only problem is that, according to God, Job hadn't sinned, and had nothing to repent of. There are a lot of Zophars in Christendom - they sound very spiritual, and they say some good things, but there is venom on their tongue and they often accuse the innocent. Let's not be Zophars! Mark 15 is focused on the crucifixion of Jesus, the most unjust occurrence in all of human history - in our favor. In Mark 15, we see something interesting about Jesus' followers. Generally most people focus on the male disciples, but it is clear from the New Testament that Jesus also had female followers that were absolute crucial to His ministry:
40 There were also women watching from a distance. Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James the younger and of Joses, and Salome. 41 In Galilee these women followed him and took care of him. Many other women had come up with him to Jerusalem.
Mark 15:40-41
These women "took care" of Jesus - they ministered to the chief minister! That's pretty amazing. Our focus passage today is Romans 15, and we will continue our discussion on unity from yesterday. As we read it, pay close attention to verses 5 and 6:
5 Now may the God who gives endurance and encouragement grant you to live in harmony with one another, according to Christ Jesus, 6 so that you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ with one mind and one voice.
Romans 15:5-6
By God's grace and nothing else, I have been able to serve in various pastoral ministries for the last 25 years. At some point in those early days of ministry, I encountered Jesus prayer in John 17 that we discussed a good bit on yesterday's episode #42. His plea to God the Father that His followers be in complete unity struck me to the depths of my being - it resonated with me as something very, very crucial. The first two churches that I served in had conflict issues among the senior staff and overall leaders of the church. I was part of the junior staff at both of those churches, and didn't have much say in the direction of the church, so I missed out on most of the direct conflicts, but caught little hints along the way. One day over 20 years ago, I found a little note written from one pastor to another pastor that suggested that I had somehow "chosen sides" in an ongoing church conflict, and I was quite astonished at this, as I didn't really understand the nature of the conflict, nor was a I aware that there were sides to it, and I certainly wasn't aware that I had chosen a side. Heartbroken, I resigned from that ministry to focus on finishing up my college degree. There were no hard feelings at all, as I remained with that church for years after, and respected all of the men in leadership. I just didn't understand the conflict. At the next church I served in, there was also conflict among the leaders - conflict which eventually led to the senior pastor converting to Roman Catholicism (!), and a meeting that threatened to split the church. I am pretty sure, in my young immaturity and zeal, that I contributed to that conflict in ungodly ways, so I quietly resigned from that church as well after three years of ministry with an incredible group of kids. Somewhere in the midst of all of that, I began to be strongly impressed by the Bible's teaching on unity, and resolved to the best of my ability to work towards unity in the church. If Jesus prayed for it to happen, it must be important, right?!
The problem is that unity does not come easily. You have your opinions, I have mine, and other people have theirs. We are all sinners with an inborn flaw that causes us to walk in pride and not realize that we are doing so. Unity has to be fought for, and I am one of the chief enemies of unity, so my sinful nature, my pride, and my desire to be right has to be crucified. It is NOT an accident that Paul calls us to make EVERY EFFORT to be at peace with each other:
2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, 3 making every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. 4 There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to one hope at your calling
Ephesians 4:2-4
This is an important and central issue in the church - this is not one we can miss on. The eyes of non-believers, baby-believers, children and the next generation of pastors and leaders are on those who are now leading the church. They are listening to our dinner table conversations, overhearing our complaints, and reading our social media posts. If they see us walking in disunity, pride, and demanding our own way, then they will grow up and do the same thing, maybe even worse. Eyes are on us, leaders of the church, and thus does the Bible say to us to make EVERY EFFORT to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.
As a Church let us shake off envyings; let us all rejoice in God’s light; and as for pride—if any of you have grown vainglorious of late, shake it off. I hope to exercise a ministry in this place which will drive out those of you who will not acknowledge your brothers when they are poorer or of less education than yourselves. What if the man mars the Queen’s English when he talks—what does that matter, so long as his heart is right? As long as you can feel he loves the Master, surely you can put up with his faults of language, if he can put up with your faults of action. Then let us cultivate everything that would tend to unity. Are any sick? Let us care for them. Are any suffering? Let us weep with them. Do we know one who has less love than others? then let us have more, so as to make up the deficiency. Do we perceive faults in a brother? let us admonish him in love and affection. I pray you be peacemakers, everyone... Let us remember that we cannot keep the unity of the Spirit unless we all believe the truth of God. Let us search our Bibles, therefore, and conform our views and sentiments to the teaching of God’s Word. I have already told you that unity in error is unity in ruin. We want unity in the truth of God through the Spirit of God. This let us seek after; let us live near to Christ, for this is the best way of promoting unity.
Divisions in Churches never begin with those full of love to the Saviour. Cold hearts, unholy lives, inconsistent actions, neglected prayer closets; these are the seeds which sow schisms in the body; but he who lives near to Jesus, wears his likeness and copies his example and will be, wherever he goes, a sacred bond, a holy link to bind the Church more closely than ever together. May God give us this, and henceforth let us endeavour to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. I commend the text to all believers, to be practiced through the coming year.
C. H. Spurgeon, “True Unity Promoted,” in The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit Sermons, vol. 11 (London: Passmore & Alabaster, 1865), 10–11.
Jesus commands unity and oneness in His church and prays for it. The very idea that continuationist believers like John Piper, Sam Storms, Martyn Lloyd Jones, J.I. Packer and D.A. Carson should not be in the same church with cessationist believers like Charles Spurgeon, Tim Keller, Thomas Schreiner, and David Platt hurts my heart and goes against the prayer of Jesus for unity in John 17. Do you picture arriving at the gates of Heaven, and Jesus addressing you with something like, "Well done thou good and faithful servant - you only stuck closely and had the biblical oneness and unity I commanded with those who adhered to the 1689 London Baptist Confession, and you refused to worship together with or partner in the Great Commission with anybody else"? Because, I don't believe that is going to happen. When Paul commanded Christians to be of one mind and one voice, and Jesus prayed for unity among His followers, I don't believe we have the freedom to separate from each other over non-essential doctrinal issues like spiritual gifts, our interpretation of the last days, what kind of worship we should conduct, the clothes we should wear, or the exact nature of how God's sovereignty works in determining salvation. We may not all go to the same church, but we must all - clearly and obviously - demonstrate the unity of the Spirit made possible by the bond of peace that binds us together in Christ.
Greetings to all of the peace-loving and unity-seeking listeners to the Bible Reading Podcast - you guys are the best! And if you are are the kind who likes nothing better than a good argument with other Christians - who takes joy out of showing simpletons how wrong they are, and can't push away from the keyboard when you find somebody wrong on the internet, well then maybe this episode is for you. Cheers!
Today's Bible readings begin with Genesis 44, where Joseph initiates his reunion with his treacherous brothers by implicating the youngest in a theft. Job 10 continues Job's gut-wrenching speech from yesterday, containing some of the most honest and most unfiltered commentary in the entire Bible. For those who do not believe a follower of God can be depressed, then Job has something to say about that. (As does Elijah, Moses, David, and many, many other heroes of the faith):
“Why did you bring me out of the womb?
I should have died and never been seen.
19 I wish I had never existed
but had been carried from the womb to the grave.
20 Are my days not few? Stop it!
Leave me alone, so that I can smile a little
21 before I go to a land of darkness and gloom,
never to return.
22 It is a land of blackness like the deepest darkness,
gloomy and chaotic,
where even the light is like the darkness.”Job 10:18-22
Mark 14 sees Jesus leading the Last Supper, and experiencing painful betrayal, followed by his arrest at the behest of the Sanhedrin. It also has Mark's retelling of the adoration and worship of Mary of Bethany, which was the subject of episode 26 of this podcast. Our focus passages for today and tomorrow will be Romans 14 and 15, and they are all about unity, agreement and a sincere call to avoid arguments and conflict among followers of Christ. Let's read!
Worth remembering that the biblical commands about unity also apply to husbands and wives! Christians are known by many to be argumentative and divisive, which is heartbreaking considering Jesus' prayer for oneness in John 17:
20 “I pray not only for these, but also for those who believe in me through their word. 21 May they all be one, as you, Father, are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us, so that the world may believe you sent me. 22 I have given them the glory you have given me, so that they may be one as we are one. 23 I am in them and you are in me, so that they may be made completely one, that the world may know you have sent me and have loved them as you have loved me.
John 17:20-23
When Jesus' followers are not in the unity that He prayed for, then we are muffling the communication of the good news to the world and are missing out on an opportunity to let the world know that Jesus was sent by the Father. I believe this hinders our evangelism massively in the U.S. and other parts of the Western world where nonbelievers look around and see hundreds, if not thousands, of denominations and scoff at Christians. Christian unity is essential to Gospel fruitfulness, according to the prayer of Jesus. I love Romans 14 because it gives Christians practical and powerful commands and advice on finding unity. Consider these verses:
1. Accept anyone who is weak in faith, but don’t argue about disputed matters.
4. Who are you to judge another’s household servant? Before his own Lord he stands or falls.
10. But you, why do you judge your brother or sister? Or you, why do you despise your brother or sister? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God.
13. Therefore, let us no longer judge one another.
13. Instead decide never to put a stumbling block or pitfall in the way of your brother or sister.
19. So then, let us pursue what promotes peace and what builds up one another.
21. It is a good thing not to eat meat, or drink wine, or do anything that makes your brother or sister stumble.
21. Whatever you believe about these things, keep between yourself and God.
Romans 14
Consider what it would be like if Christians followed just the above commands in Romans 14! No arguments about disputed matters. No judging. Pursuing what promotes peace. No stumbling blocks or pitfalls. Keeping your opinion to yourself on issues that the Bible is not clear on. Consider these awesome words from Pastor Richard Baxter, an English Puritan from the 1600s:
Lastly, observe how we sin against the sad experience of the church in all ages, by laying our religion or unity upon these smaller or unnecessary things. What hath distracted the church so much as contendings about their ceremonies and orders, and precedency and superiority!
The Practical Works of the Reverend Richard Baxter
What wisdom! How many Christians, churches and denominations have divided over SMALL or UNNECESSARY things?! How many Christians and churches have been distracted by arguments over church service orders and other Christian ceremonies? How many Christian groups have splintered over biblically unclear issues like eschatology/last days, the issue of alcohol, the issue of dress, raising hands in worship, music style, Bible translations, the exact nature of communion and more? You might have a firm and clear opinion on some of those matters, and I do too, but we have multiple commands and mandates in Scripture to be in unity, to be one in thought and mind, to be at peace with each other, and we must stop ignoring those commands in the church! I love what Pastor Mark Dever said about this topic in a recent sermon. I beg you to come read these words on the Bible Reading Podcast website so that you remember them well:
I think that millennial views need not be among those doctrines that divide us. . . . I am suggesting that what you believe about the millennium—how you interpret these thousand years—is not something that it is necessary for us to agree upon in order to have a congregation together. The Lord Jesus Christ prayed in John 17:21 that we Christians might be one. Of course all true Christians are one in that we have his Spirit, we share his Spirit, we desire to live out that unity. But that unity is supposed to be evident as a testimony to the world around us. Therefore, I conclude that we should end our cooperations together with other Christians (whether near-ly in a congregation, or more at length in working together in missions and church planting and evangelism and building up the ministry) only with the greatest of care, lest we rend the body of Christ for whose unity he’s prayed and given himself. Therefore, I conclude that it is sin to divide the body of Christ—to divide the body that he prayed would be united. Therefore for us to conclude that we must agree upon a certain view of alcohol, or a certain view of schooling, or a certain view of meat sacrificed to idols, or a certain view of the millennium in order to have fellowship together is, I think, not only unnecessary for the body of Christ, but it is therefore both unwarranted and therefore condemned by scripture. So if you’re a pastor and you’re listening to me, you understand me correctly if you think I’m saying you are in sin if you lead your congregation to have a statement of faith that requires a particular millennial view.I do not understand why that has to be a matter of uniformity in order to have Christian unity in a local congregation.
https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/justin-taylor/dever-you-are-in-sin-if-you-lead-your/
I wholeheartedly agree with Dever here, and would count it a privilege to go to church with him and serve alongside him, even though he and I disagree on several of the issues he mentioned (including the Millennium) - but these disagreements PALE in comparison to the dozens of New Testament commands and urgings to pursue UNITY. Note that I am not suggesting that we must never contend for the faith or for clear biblical truth and commands - we must not compromise on that which the Bible clearly commands. There is indeed a time to stand up and contend for clearly revealed biblical truths, but we must avoid contending on 'doubtful issues,' and we must seek the guidance of the Word of God and His Spirit to walk in the wisdom to know the difference. I think Jared C. Wilson captures the crucial balance and wisdom required quite well on this issue, so allow me to close with some words from him:
We live in crucial times for the church, especially in the West. There are skirmishes a’plenty, opportunities every day to go to war with our neighbors, with our brethren, with every Twitter rando with an itchy keyboard finger. We are called to wage relentless war on our sin (Heb. 4:12) and the spiritual powers of wickedness (Eph. 6:12). But not every invitation to battle with flesh and blood ought to be accepted. And rarely should such invitations be given.Those in Christian ministry ought to especially take this to heart. Fighting is sometimes necessary. Liking to fight is not. In fact, it is forbidden.Consider whether you are in fact with every caustic tweet chipping away at your qualification for ministry. It is not manly to get up every morning thinking of the brethren as your enemies, not even the ones you disagree with on important matters. “The Lord’s servant is not to be quarrelsome” (2 Tim. 2:24). Pastors are forbidden argumentativeness (1 Tim. 3:3).And while the Lord’s violent cleansing of the temple may offer some model of holy zeal worth emulating, he said an awful lot more directly about blessing those who hate, praying for those who persecute, and turning the other cheek. Those are direct orders.
https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/jared-c-wilson/some-men-just-like-the-fight/
Welcome in to the show that my middle daughter says is a little bit too long, but C.S. Lewis has called the finest podcast he's ever listened to. Today's Scriptures feature the emotional reuniting of Joseph with his brothers and Benjamin in Genesis 43. We also find out the interesting tidbit that Egyptians consider it disgusting to eat at the same table as Hebrews for some odd reason. Sadly, the sin and stain of racism finds a foothold in almost every culture and people. In Job 9 we see Job answering the charges of his 'friend' Bildad, who has suggested that Job's children were killed because of their sins and he has urged Job to turn to God and be healed and refreshed, but Job says that he is too afraid of God to seek Him. Mark 13 is a much shorter version of the Olivet Discourse from Matthew 24, and it is centered on the end-times teaching of Jesus. Romans 13 urges Christians to submit to governing authorities, to be good citizens and to put on the person and ways of the Lord Jesus Christ, instead of the ways of the world.
Today we will conclude (or, rather pause) our discussion of dreams, visions and the more supernatural gifts of the Spirit. It is a subject we will return to in earnest at the end of February when we read 1 Corinthians 12-14, which represents the longest extended teaching in the Bible on the gifts of the Spirit. We received an anonymous bit of feedback on the the website today, and also heard from quite a few people on social media, most of whom seemed to indicate that they had an experience or two with God communicating to them via dreams.
I have dreamed a true dream. I will not give the details, because it does not reflect well upon the dreamer nor those dreamt of. But it happened on a Saturday night, and it came to pass, with some metaphorical license, the following morning. From this dream I learned that the praise and worship of the Living God is of infinitely more importance than our individual strife.
In considering whether or not spiritual gifts like tongues, prophecy and the like have ceased, and the very related question of whether God still speaks to His people via dreams and visions, it should be noted that the Bible does not make an obvious separation between what most would call 'supernatural' gifts and the more mundane gifts. For instance, consider our passage from yesterday in Romans 12, and then read the short list in 1 Corinthians 12:
6 According to the grace given to us, we have different gifts: If prophecy, use it according to the proportion of one’s faith; 7 if service, use it in service; if teaching, in teaching; 8 if exhorting, in exhortation; giving, with generosity; leading, with diligence; showing mercy, with cheerfulness.
Romans 12:6-8
28 And God has appointed these in the church: first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, next miracles, then gifts of healing, helping, administrating, various kinds of tongues. 29 Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all do miracles? 30 Do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak in other tongues? Do all interpret? 31 But desire the greater gifts.
1 Corinthians 12:28
In these two lists, we see that there seems to be no delineation between gifts like healing, tongues and prophecy and gifts like teaching, helping, administrating, giving and service. If the Bible somehow taught that SOME of those gifts (that we are twice commanded to desire) will cease very soon after the compilation of the New Testament, then one would think that the New Testament writers would clearly categorize the gifts between temporary and permanent, but the very opposite is true. They are all mixed together in spiritual gift lists in a way that seems to argue against some of them being temporary and some permanent. Sam Storms, writing for the Gospel Coalition (which is a group of Christians that are devoted to Jesus and His Word - and includes BOTH cessationists like Thomas Schreiner and continuationists like Storms) makes the case that there does not seem to be any Scripture that indicates that some of the listed gifts will cease at some point. (With the exception of 1 Corinthians 13:8, discussed yesterday)
Furthermore, beginning with Pentecost and continuing throughout the book of Acts, whenever the Spirit is poured out on new believers they experience his charismata. There is nothing to indicate these phenomena were restricted to them and then. Such appear to be both widespread and common in the NT church. Christians in Rome (Rom. 12), Corinth (1 Cor. 12-14), Samaria (Acts 8), Caesarea (Acts 10), Antioch (Acts 13), Ephesus (Acts 19), Thessalonica (1 Thess. 5), and Galatia (Gal. 3) experience the miraculous and revelatory gifts. It’s difficult to imagine how the NT authors could have spoken any more clearly about what new covenant Christianity is supposed to look like. In other words, the burden of proof rests with the cessationist. If certain gifts of a special class have ceased, the responsibility is his or hers to prove it.
We must also give room to the explicit and oft-repeated purpose of the charismata: namely, the edification of Christ’s body (1 Cor. 12:7; 14:3, 26). Nothing I read in the NT or see in the condition of the church in any age, past or present, leads me to believe we’ve progressed beyond the need for edification—and therefore beyond the need for the contribution of the charismata. I freely admit that spiritual gifts were essential for the birth of the church, but why would they be any less important or needful for its continued growth and maturation?
There is also the fundamental continuity or spiritually organic relationship between the church in Acts and the church in subsequent centuries. No one denies there was an era or period in the early church that we might call “apostolic.” We must acknowledge the significance of the personal, physical presence of the apostles and their unique role in laying the foundation for the early church. But nowhere does the NT ever suggest that certain spiritual gifts were uniquely and exclusively tied to them or that the gifts passed with their passing. The universal church or body of Christ that was established and gifted through the ministry of the apostles is the same universal church and body of Christ today. We are together with Paul and Peter and Silas and Lydia and Priscilla and Luke members of the same one body of Christ.
https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/continuationist/ Sam Storms
Ultimately, I agree with Storms. The burden of proof is on the cessationist to show that certain New Testament teachings are no longer valid or applicable, and I have yet to read a cessationist argument from Scripture that demonstrates this. Yes, there are absolutely people who go way beyond the bounds of the Bible in their practice of some spiritual gifts but this counterfeit behavior (which could be demonic in some cases, or simply fleshly immaturity in others) does not disprove the genuine and biblical operation of some spiritual gifts any more than the prevalence of false teachers in the U.S. today invalidates the possibility of any real Bible teaching.
I believe that Peter's quote in Acts 2 settles the issue of the contemporary occurrence of dreams and visions from God for us. God promises in the Old and New Testament that He will pour out His Spirit on people "in the last days," and that they will see visions and dream dreams. This passage indicates that dreams and visions will happen in the last days. Since Peter suggests that Pentecost is a fulfillment of Joel's prophecy about the Spirit being poured out and dreams/visions coming, then I can't see how that is not valid for us today. I don't think we've moved past 'the last days,' and I see no Scripture in the entire Bible that indicates that God has stopped speaking to His people in these ways.
And it will be in the last days, says God,
that I will pour out my Spirit on all people;
then your sons and your daughters will prophesy,
your young men will see visions,
and your old men will dream dreams.
18 I will even pour out my Spirit
on my servants in those days, both men and women
and they will prophesy.Acts 2:17-18
Let's be real: Would it be easier if God ONLY spoke to Christians through His Word? Would it be less messy, easier to manage, etc? Absolutely it would. There are way too many false prophets and false dreamers out there, and you can see them daily in your social media feed, and you can easily find them by turning on your television. So many false teachers and believers out there that are preying on widows and stealing from the vulnerable. Unfortunately, most of them seem to be of the continuationist/charismatic bent. But humans and church leaders don't get to make the call that God no longer does this or that because some people are abusing it. We don't have that power. Instead, we must seek to hold people to the Word of God, rather than nullify it. We uphold the absolute authority of God's Word - not by changing it to stamp out heresy, but by walking according to it.
19 Don’t stifle the Spirit. 20 Don’t despise prophecies, 21 but test all things. Hold on to what is good. 22 Stay away from every kind of evil.
1 Thessalonians 5:19-20
DON'T stifle the Spirit
DON'T despise prophecies
Test ALL things
HOLD on to what is GOOD
STAY AWAY from every kind of EVIL.
19 When they say to you, “Inquire of the mediums and the spiritists who chirp and mutter,” shouldn’t a people inquire of their God? Should they inquire of the dead on behalf of the living? 20 Go to God’s instruction and testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, there will be no dawn for them.
Isaiah 8:19-20
Should we separate over these issues? I do not believe so. We will discuss this question in depth in two days, when we get to Paul's beautiful and majestic call to oneness in Romans 15.
I'll close with two more gems from Spurgeon. One a dream with a profound meaning and the other a caution about the importance of esteeming dreams and extra-biblical revelation overmuch.
A certain king would build a cathedral, and, that the credit of it might be all his own, he forbade anyone to contribute to its erection in the least degree. A tablet was placed in the side of the building, and on it his name was carved as the builder. But one night he saw in a dream an angel, who came down, and erased his name; and the name of a poor widow appeared in its stead. This was three times repeated, when the enraged king summoned the woman before him, and demanded, “What have you been doing, and why have you broken my commandment?” The trembling widow replied, “I loved the Lord, and longed to do something for his name, and for the building up of his church. I was forbidden to touch it in any way, so in my poverty I brought a wisp of hay for the horses that drew the stones.” Then the king saw that he had laboured for his own glory, but the widow for the glory of God, and he commanded that her name should be inscribed upon the tablet
C. H. Spurgeon, My Sermon Notes & 2: Genesis to Malachi, vol. 1 (Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software, 2009), 369–370.
Remember, it is “whosoever calls upon the name of God,” not whosoever dreams about him. Dreams may do good. Sometimes people have been frightened out of their senses in them; and they were better out of their senses than they were in, for they did more mischief when they were in their senses than they did when they were out; and the dreams did good in that sense. Some people, too, have been alarmed by dreams; but to trust to them is to trust to a shadow, to build your hopes on bubbles, scarcely needing a puff of wind to burst them into nothingness. Oh, remember, you want no vision, no marvellous appearance! If you have had a vision, or a dream, you need not despise it; it may have benefited you: but do not trust to it
C. H. Spurgeon, Words of Wisdom for Daily Living (Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software, 2009), 89–90.
Today's passages include Job 8, which introduces us to Bildad the Shuhite, who is a better friend to Job at the beginning of his speech than Eliphaz. Mark 12 features Jesus' in-your-face to the Pharisees and Scribes parable about a vineyard owner who's violent tenants won't listen to Him. And we will close with Romans 12, which is one of my favorite passages in the Bible. First Paul challenges us to not conform to the world around us, but rather to be transformed into a new creature with a renewed mind. Paul also discusses the gifts of the Spirit in this passage, which is a big part of our focus today.
In Romans 12, we learn that Christians actually belong to each other. This is quite a challenging thought in individualistic Western countries, but it fits perfectly with Paul’s use of the “body” metaphor to describe the church. We further learn that God has given each Christian different/various gifts of the Spirit, and whatever your gift is, you “MUST” use it! The use of and operation in spiritual gifts is NOT an option for Christians (see also 1 Peter 4:10-11). This is a command – Christians who are gifted in exhortation MUST exhort; those gifted in showing mercy MUST do so cheerfully; and those gifted in teaching MUST teach! These gifts are a privilege and a joy – but they are not optional. Far too often churches have turned into a theater like atmosphere where people go to watch the performers and entertainers on stage - this is not the pattern of the Bible. In the past, something similar happened - churchgoers went and watched the priest/pastor/reverend/bishop/officiant/rector/whatever preach and perform the sacraments, but they barely joined in. The church is not to be a place where we go and watch, but a people that gather together and minister to each other in the power of the Spirit!
Shout out to Margaret Agnew of Northern Ireland who has left a very encouraging and kind review on iTunes. She writes, "I am listening to these daily Bible readings in Northern Ireland and Christ has given me a great number of blessings from hearing the Bible passages every day. I originally found Chase through a much earlier podcast he did called The Gospel friends. Would highly recommend this podcast to anyone who wants daily sound bite readings to study and think about. Peace in Christ to you Chase. Margaret Agnew." Thank you, dear Margaret. What a delight and encouragement it is to get a nice review like that, and especially one from Northern Ireland - a place I want to visit with my whole heart! Look up Mark's Mess podcast with Mark Adams, when you have a chance. It is delightful and features a fellow Northern Ireland International Liver (along with his daughters.) If you liked Gospel Friends, I'm sure you'd love that pod.
Today we continue our discussion of dreams and visions with Joseph - a mighty man of God who interpreted dreams and received messages from God in dreams. As we read through Genesis 42, ponder with me whether or not God has ceased interacting with His people in this way.
Today's question - does God still speak in dreams and visions - is a subset of a much, much bigger question, and that question is this: Does God still empower and interact with people the way He did during the New Testament, or are we in a post-New Testament era? Does God still empower people with miraculous gifts like healing, tongues, prophecy and words of knowledge, or have those gifts ceased? Does God still speak by prophecy, dreams and visions, or does He now ONLY and EXCLUSIVELY speak by the Bible? These are BIG questions, and we will return to them again and again over the year as we read through the Bible. To give a very basic and high level overview, there are two major ways to answer the questions above, and many nuances of position between those two ways. The cessationist view believes that the answer to most or all of the above questions would be in the negative. No, God does not speak through dreams, visions or prophecy today, but only through His Word. No, God does not give the gifts of tongues, healing, prophecy, miracles, etc, today because those gifts were exclusively given to authenticate the Bible as the Word of God, and we no longer need those gifts today. On the the other end of the spectrum are the charismatics and Pentecostals, which believe the answer to all of the questions asked are a resounding yes - God still does give those gifts, and in some cases, certain groups believe that God goes BEYOND what is seen in the New Testament in terms of empowering such gifts. In between those two poles are views like soft-cessationism, which believes that most (but possibly not all) miraculous gifts have ceased under most circumstances, but this view allows that God is sovereign and might sometimes, in some places, still empower such gifts and still send messages via prophecy, dreams or visions. The continuationist viewpoint is more cautious than most charismatic and Pentecostal viewpoints, and seeks to balance a respect for primary authority of the Word of God with an openness to miraculous gifts.
I myself am a continuationist, along with such scholars and pastors as John Piper, Wayne Grudem, Sam Storms, D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, D.A. Carson, Matt Chandler, and many others. There are charismatic people that I have a great deal of respect for, and some of my ministry heroes, like Charles Spurgeon, are closer to the cessationist camp. I am a continuationist not primarily because of my spiritual experiences, but primarily because I am convinced that the Word of God points us in a direction that assumes (and even commands) the practice of all of the spiritual gifts listed in the Bible.
I am going to summarize the cessationist viewpoint in a few short sentences, but do know that this is too short and too shallow to be fair, exactly, but this is a short podcast that can't go into the depths that a 300-400 page Thomas Schreiner or Richard Gaffin book can. There are several cessationist arguments, but two major ones are this: 1 Corinthians 13 notes that tongues and prophecy (and also things like dreams and visions, presumably) will cease "when the perfect comes." (1 Corinthians 13:10) Many cessationists believe that Paul is referring to the completion of the New Testament canon in this passage, so that the gist of what he is saying is that prophecy, tongues, and things like that will cease when the Bible is complete. Continuationists, however, believe that Paul is not at all referring to the completion of the New Testament canon, but rather to the return of Jesus and His beginning of eternity. Here is the passage - pay special attention to verse 12. With the completion of the New Testament are Christians now in a place where they 'fully know' moreso than Paul did? Does Paul see in a foggy mirror then, but Christians today (because we have a completed New Testament canon) now see clearly - face to face?? I don't believe so, and therefore I don't believe that 1 Corinthians 13 is talking about the completion of the Bible canon, because vs 12 quite clearly rules that out to me.
Love never ends.
But as for prophecies,
they will come to an end;
as for languages, they will cease;
as for knowledge, it will come to an end.
9 For we know in part,
and we prophesy in part.
10 But when the perfect comes,
the partial will come to an end.
11 When I was a child,
I spoke like a child,
I thought like a child,
I reasoned like a child.
When I became a man,
I put aside childish things.
12 For now we see indistinctly, as in a mirror,
but then face to face.
Now I know in part,
but then I will know fully,
as I am fully known.
13 Now these three remain:
faith, hope, and love.
But the greatest of these is love.1 Corinthians 13:8-13
The second major cessationist argument is based on passages like Ephesians 2:20 and Hebrews 1:1-2, and states that gifts and offices like prophets and apostles were for the foundation of the church, and not for the continuance of the church.
So then you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with the saints, and members of God’s household, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus Himself as the cornerstone.
Ephesians 2:19-20
Long ago God spoke to the fathers by the prophets at different times and in different ways. 2 In these last days, He has spoken to us by His Son. God has appointed Him heir of all things and made the universe through Him.
Hebrews 1:1-2
Do the passages above clearly teach that tongues, prophecy, dreams, visions, miracles, healing and more have ceased? I don't believe so, but they are generally the go-to passages for the cessationist argument, and I honestly do not believe that they make a powerful case - from the Bible - that the gifts have ceased or will ceased, especially when they are compared with Bible passages that seem more clear and obvious in their meaning:
39 Therefore, my brothers, be eager to prophesy, and do not forbid speaking in other languages. 40 But everything must be done decently and in order.
1 Corinthians 14:39-40
Pursue love and desire spiritual gifts, and above all that you may prophesy.
1 Corinthians 14:1
Consider this question: Is the cessationist case clear enough from Scripture that Christians should disregard clear biblical commands like 1 Corinthians 14:1 and 1 Corinthians 14:39-40? I don't believe so. If it was, I believe that it would be the only case where one New Testament Scripture would nullify or cancel another New Testament Scripture.
Tomorrow we will continue this discussion, so stay tuned!
In our Bible readings for today as we follow the Robert Murray M'Cheyne plan, we will begin with Job 7. In this passage, Job is crying out in anguish and the deep bitterness of a crushed and wounded spirit. It is honest and powerful and bracing and nearly hopeless. One of Job's complaints is that when he tries to escape his pain by sleeping or napping, God sends him haunting dreams and visions. More on that in a moment. In Mark 11, we see Jesus coming into Jerusalem to give His life as a ransom for many. Before the crucifixion, however, He cleanses the temple of money changers and befuddles the chief priests, scribes and elders of Jerusalem. Romans 11 contains the implications of the rejection of Jesus that we are about to read in Mark. At the time of Romans 11, Jesus has been rejected by the leaders of Israel, crucified, resurrected, and ascended into heaven for several years. Paul is writing in light of that rejection of the savior, and giving hope for the future, including a tantalizing (and highly debated!) promise in Romans 11:26, "All Israel will be saved."
As promised yesterday, our focus today is on dreams and visions, and our focus passage is Genesis 41, which features Joseph interpreting dreams for Pharaoh and being elevated to a high place in his kingdom. Dreams in general are a frequently addressed phenomenon in the Bible, both in the Old Testament and the New Testament, and the word appears just shy of 100 times in the Bible. After we read Genesis 41 together, we will have a brief discussion on the nature of dreams in the Bible, and whether or not God still speaks that way.
The first clear time that God speaks to somebody in a dream in the Bible occurs in Genesis 20, when God has a conversation with King Abimelech. Jacob and Laban also have dreams with great spiritual significance, and it could be argued that some of Abraham's encounter with God in Genesis 15 occurred during a dream. Dreams would be a prominent feature in the life of Joseph, son of Jacob. He had multiple prophetic dreams in his youth, and interpreted multiple prophetic dreams in his adulthood. His brother's even (sarcastically) referred to him as a dreamer, or even an expert dreamer.
They said to one another, “Oh, look, here comes that dream expert!
Genesis 37:19
In Numbers, God tells the leaders of Israel that He himself speaks to prophets via dreams and visions (but with Moses, He spoke face to face.)
5 Then the Lord descended in a pillar of cloud, stood at the entrance to the tent, and summoned Aaron and Miriam. When the two of them came forward, 6 he said: “Listen to what I say:
If there is a prophet among you from the Lord,
I make myself known to him in a vision;
I speak with him in a dream.Numbers 12:5-7
So, God confirms that He speaks to His people here in dreams and visions - at least during the Old Testament/Old Covenant times. There is also a cautionary warning given in Deuteronomy 13, however, that there can and will be false prophets and false dreamers:
“If a prophet or someone who has dreams arises among you and proclaims a sign or wonder to you, 2 and that sign or wonder he has promised you comes about, but he says, ‘Let us follow other gods,’ which you have not known, ‘and let us worship them,’ 3 do not listen to that prophet’s words or to that dreamer.
Deuteronomy 13:1-3
Jeremiah 23 contains a very similar warning from God - this one even more stark:
24 Can a person hide in secret places where I cannot see him?” —the Lord’s declaration. “Do I not fill the heavens and the earth?” —the Lord’s declaration.25 “I have heard what the prophets who prophesy a lie in my name have said: ‘I had a dream! I had a dream!’ 26 How long will this continue in the minds of the prophets prophesying lies, prophets of the deceit of their own minds?...I am against those who prophesy false dreams”—the Lord’s declaration—“telling them and leading my people astray with their reckless lies. It was not I who sent or commanded them, and they are of no benefit at all to these people”—this is the Lord’s declaration.
Jeremiah 23:24-26+verse 32
By the day of King Saul, it is apparent that one of God's obvious ways of guiding His people was through dreams. We can see this in 1 Samuel 28, when Saul is flummoxed (and ultimately goes down a bad path) because God won't speak to him in dreams:
He inquired of the Lord, but the Lord did not answer him in dreams or by the Urim or by the prophets.
1 Samuel 28:6
After the exile of Israel, we encounter a young man named Daniel, one of the few people in the entire Bible that there is nothing negative said about their life and no sinfulness is recorded. (this does not mean that Daniel was sinless, but it probably does mean that he led an unusually righteous life.) I note here that the two most prominent dreamers in the Bible (Joseph and Daniel) both led lives of exemplary righteousness and Godliness. Jacob, another prominent biblical dreamer, did not, however, so we can't make too many conclusions about a connection between dreaming and Godliness.
God gave these four young men knowledge and understanding in every kind of literature and wisdom. Daniel also understood visions and dreams of every kind.
Daniel 1:17
The prophet Joel gives a tantalizing end-times prophecy about dreams and dreamers in Joel chapter 2, that becomes quite important on the birth-day of the church in Acts 2:
After this
I will pour out my Spirit on all humanity;
then your sons and your daughters will prophesy,
your old men will have dreams,
and your young men will see visions.
29 I will even pour out my Spirit
on the male and female slaves in those days.Joel 2:28-29
A simple word search will show that the vast majority of the occurrence of dreams from God happened in the Old Testament, but that doesn't mean that this practice died out. In the New Testament, God communicates with Joseph, father of Jesus, in a series of dreams, directing the holy family to safety during the early years of Jesus's life. God also speaks to the wise men in dreams and to Pilate's wife, warning her that her husband should not condemn the innocent Jesus. There are also a series of incidents in the book of Acts where the word dream is not used, but what happens is quite similar to God communicating in a dream:
8 Passing by Mysia they went down to Troas. 9 During the night Paul had a vision in which a Macedonian man was standing and pleading with him, “Cross over to Macedonia and help us!” 10 After he had seen the vision, we immediately made efforts to set out for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.
Acts 16:8-10
9 The Lord said to Paul in a night vision, “Don’t be afraid, but keep on speaking and don’t be silent. 10 For I am with you, and no one will lay a hand on you to hurt you, because I have many people in this city.”
Acts 18:9-10
The above gives us a sort of high-level and brief overview of dreams in the Bible. We didn't cover every passage or principle, but enough to have an elementary understanding. In our overview what we have here is a pattern of God speaking in the Old Testament AND the New Testament to His people. It is obviously not a frequent occurrence, but rather a rare and special happening. Tomorrow we will go deeper into our primary question: Does God STILL speak to His people with dreams and visions, but I will close today with a good answer from Gotquestions.org's Michael Houdmann and some fascinating dream-anecdotes from Charles Spurgeon:
I firmly believe that the Bible is the perfect and complete Word of God. It contains everything we need to know to follow God's will for our lives. While it does not give specific instructions related to the personal situations and decisions we face, it does provide all the wisdom we need to be able to make right judgments in those situations and decisions.With that in mind, I do not see any reason for God to “supplement” His Word with additional revelation. But, at the same time, there is nothing in the Bible that indicates God NEVER speaks today. I do not know the mind of God, and therefore I do not claim to know every reason why God might say something to someone (Isaiah 55:8-9; Romans 11:34).What I do know is this: if God were to speak today, what He said would be in perfect agreement with His Word. God does not contradict Himself. God does not change His mind. Compare any supposed message from God with God's Word, and if the message in any way is in contradiction or disharmony with God's Word, reject the message. If you think God has spoken to you, but are unsure about it, ask Him for confirmation (Judges 6:36-40; 1 Samuel 3:1-10). Seek wise counsel from men and women of God whom you respect and trust (Proverbs 11:14; 15:22).
https://www.gotquestions.blog/God-still-speak.html
I READ a story the other day of an elder of a Scotch kirk, who at the elders’ meeting had angrily disputed with his minister, until he almost broke his heart. The night after he had a dream which so impressed him, that his wife said to him in the morning, “Ye look very sad, Jan; what is the matter wi’ ye?” “And well I am,” said he, “for I have had a dream that I had hard words with our minister, and he went home and died, and soon after I died too; and I dreamed that I went up to heaven, and when I got to the gate, out came the minister, and put out his hands to welcome me,” saying, “Come along, Jan, there’s nae strife up here, I’m so glad to see ye.” So the elder went down to the minister’s house to beg his pardon, and found in very truth that he was dead. He was so smitten by the blow that within two weeks he followed his pastor to the skies; and I should not wonder but what his minister did meet him, and say, “Come along, Jan, there’s nae strife up here.” Brethren, why should there be strife below? Let us love each other, and by the fact that we are co-heirs of that blessed inheritance, let us dwell together as partakers of a common life, and soon to be partakers of a common heaven.
C. H. Spurgeon, Flashes of Thought (London: Passmore & Alabaster, 1874), 449–450.
I have heard of a man who had a dream in which he thought he stood at the gates of heaven, and his wife with him. She went in, but the porter shut him out, saying, “The other day you said to your wife, ‘You may go to church and pray for us both.’ Now she shall go to heaven for you both, and you must stop outside.” Is that not just? There must be a personal hearing and listening to the Word for yourself. I ask you, do not make yourself absent from the hearing of the Word, for “faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word about Christ” (Rom 10:17).
Charles Spurgeon, Galatians, ed. Elliot Ritzema, Spurgeon Commentary Series (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2013).
Myconius, the friend of Luther, had made up his mind that he would not help Luther, but that he would keep in a monastery, quiet and alone. The first night he went there, he had a dream to this effect:—he dreamed that the Crucified One appeared to him, with the nail-prints still in his hands, and that he led him away to a fountain, into which he plunged him,—a fountain of blood. He beheld himself washed completely clean, and being very rejoiced thereat, he was willing to sit down; but the Crucified One said, “Follow me.” He took him to the top of a hill, and down beneath there was a wide-spreading harvest. He put a sickle into his hand, and he said, “Go and reap.” He looked round him, and he replied, “But the fields are so vast, I cannot reap them.” The finger of the Crucified One pointed to a spot where there was one reaper at work, and that one reaper seemed to be mowing whole acres at once. He seemed to be a very giant, taking enormous strides. It was Martin Luther. “Stand by his side,” said the Crucified One, “and work.” He did so, and they reaped all day. The sweat stood upon his brow, and he rested for a moment. He was about to lie down, when the Crucified One came to him, and said, “For the love of souls, and for my sake, go on.” He snatched up the sickle again, and on he worked, and at last he grew weary once more. Then the Crucified One came to him again, and said, “For the love of souls, and for my sake, go on.” And he went on. But once he dared to pause, and say, “But, Master, the winter is coming, and much of this good wheat will be spoiled.” “No,” said he, “reap on; it will all be gathered in before the winter comes,—every sheaf. I will send more labourers into the harvest, only do thou thy best.” So now, methinks, the Crucified One takes me to the brow of that hill, and yourselves with me, and shows us this great London, and says, “See, this great field is ripe for the harvest, take your sickles, and reap it.” You say, “Lord, I cannot.” “Nay,” says he, “but for the love of souls, and for the sake of the Crucified One, go on and reap.”
C. H. Spurgeon, “The Sluggard’s Reproof,” in The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit Sermons, vol. 48 (London: Passmore & Alabaster, 1902), 82–83.
And, an excellent teaching to close out with:
You must also surrender yourself at discretion to his method of operating upon you. One says, “I would believe in Jesus, sir, if I felt the horror and terror which some have experienced on account of sin.” What do you demand of God that he should drag you through horrors and terrors before you will believe? Submit yourself to be saved in a gentler way. “But I read of one,” says another, “who had a dream: I would believe if I saw a vision too.” Must God give you dreams? Must he play lackey to you, and save you in your preferred way? He tells you plainly, “If you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ you will be saved.” Will you believe or no? For if you do not, neither dreams, nor visions, nor terrors, nor anything else can save you. There is God’s way, sinner: I ask you, and perhaps your answer will settle your fate for ever, will you follow that way or not? If you will not, you have chosen your own destruction; but if you will have it, and will submit yourself to be saved by believing in Jesus Christ, it is well with you. I know there are some in this place who feel ready to burst, for their broken hearts are saying, “I will yield at once. Oh, if he would but save me.” How glad I am to hear you say so, for “he gives grace to the humble.” I recall the time when I have stood and cried to God, “O God, if I must lie on a sick bed till I die, I don't care as long as you have mercy on me; if you will but conquer my proud will, and make a new man of me, you may do whatever you please with me; only save me from the guilt, the power of sin.” It was when the Lord brought me down there that he enabled me to see life and salvation in Jesus Christ; and if he has brought you down to that point, sinner, then you have nothing to do but simply trust the Lord Jesus Christ, and you are assuredly saved.
C. H. Spurgeon, “Unconditional Surrender,” in The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit Sermons, vol. 22 (London: Passmore & Alabaster, 1876), 71. modernized
Today's passages features a Genesis episode (chapter 40) where Joseph gets out of jail because of his ability to interpret dreams. I ALMOST did that as the focus passage for the day in order to ask the question: Does God STILL speak to His people in dreams and visions? However, since Joseph interprets some more dreams in tomorrow's Genesis passage, we will wait one more day to have that discussion. I erroneously told you yesterday that today's Job 6 passage featured more of Eliphaz's blather, but I was factually incorrect - it actually has Job's reply, which is much more solid. In Romans 10, we are reading about the incredibly glorious truth of righteousness by faith alone, and Mark 10 sees Jesus teaching about marriage and divorce, as well as challenging the Rich Young Ruler to give it all away.
We do have a submitted question to cover today, and it actually came from two listeners! As mentioned yesterday, my old friend Cortney Johnson from Birmingham wrote in and said:
"I would love for you to expand, if possible, on Mark 8 :22-26. Verse 24 has always captured my attention. There are no mistakes by Jesus, or accidents. I would love your insights on what this means and why it is in the Bible. My wife Susan and I love this podcast!"
Cortney and Sudan were the parents of some wonderful teenagers in a youth-group I pastored in the 90s. Not my first ministry job, but my first real ministry job as an adult. They were some of the best parents, counselors and leaders I have every worked with - church people like them are worth their weight in inkjet ink, or platinum, or palladium, or plutonium, or whatever material is worth at least 100 times the value of gold. They have seen extreme suffering in this life - the kind of pain that nobody should ever had to walk through. I know it has crushed them many times over, but they have stayed faithful, and hundreds of people have seen that and rejoiced and been strengthened by their testimony. I look forward to the day that Jesus returns and wipes every tear from their eyes. Maranatha! One of the hardest things in ministry is leaving one church (and the amazing people there) and moving to another. God has blessed my family to give us incredible people in every church that we've served in, but leaving behind those incredible people to move onto the next assignment, or the next state, can be heart-rending. I'm glad we have eternity to look forward to in order to see those relationships reconnected and deepened.
Interestingly, our 8 year old daughter asked me the same exact question that Cortney did on the way home from cheer-leading tonight, so I am delighted to take a stab at an answer here. It is important for me to note that 'a stab at an answer,' is about as good as we can do here, because the Bible does not explain this unique situation to us at all. To review, here is the passage:
22 They came to Bethsaida. They brought a blind man to him and begged him to touch him. 23 He took the blind man by the hand and brought him out of the village. Spitting on his eyes and laying his hands on him, he asked him, “Do you see anything?”24 He looked up and said, “I see people—they look like trees walking.”25 Again Jesus placed his hands on the man’s eyes. The man looked intently and his sight was restored and he saw everything clearly. 26 Then he sent him home, saying, “Don’t even go into the village.”
Mark 8:22-26
The MOST curious thing to me is that Jesus SPIT in the man's eyes! Nobody's asked about that one, but the best answer I have heard for why Jesus would do this came from John Calvin, who suggested that Jesus healed people in a variety of ways in order to show that the power for healing was not from a specific METHOD but from Himself and His Father. The question Cortney asked, and the question that Phoebe asked, however boils down to this: Why did it take TWO times to heal this man's eyes? It is an excellent question, because this is the only two-stage healing by Jesus in the entire Bible. There are two primary theories that seek to answer this question, and I favor the second one over the first.
Theory #1, put forward by pastor Ray Pritchard, and many others, is that the blind man needed two touches to demonstrate how important spiritual vision is, and how it takes some time (not instantly!) to attain it. Pritchard connects this episode to the episode above it in Mark 8 where the disciples believe that Jesus has warned them about the yeast/leaven of the pharisees because they forgot bread. If you will remember, Jesus is frustrated with the disciples' lack of understanding and says to them, "having eyes, do you not see?!" Pritchard believes the two-stage healing is a demonstration of the way that spiritual vision develops in us. Click the link below for the whole article, but the gist is this:
It’s possible to have eyes and not see very clearly.
And that’s precisely what Jesus was saying to his disciples. “Do you have eyes and yet not see what I am saying?” “Do you have eyes and yet not see clearly who I am?” Cloudy spiritual vision afflicts every Christian to some degree. None of us sees as clearly as we would like for now we see through a glass darkly. Or we see as if we are looking at a cloudy mirror. Eugene Peterson catches the meaning with this paraphrase: “We don’t yet see things clearly. We’re squinting in a fog, peering through a mist” (1 Corinthians 13:12 MSG). That applies to all of us.Squinting through a fog. Peering through a mist. That’s what this blind man experienced. When he was partially healed, he saw men as trees walking. No one sees life with perfect clarity. All of us have spiritual nearsightedness to one degree or another.https://www.keepbelieving.com/sermon/men-as-trees-walking/
That is certainly a possible interpretation, and one that would be accurate and not contradicted by other passages. I tend to believe that Jesus or Mark, in writing this episode, would draw our attention to this a little more clearly, but this could definitely be your answer. My answer is somewhat more mundane, but also a bit more plausible. I think our big clue is in verse 23, "He took the blind man by the hand, and brought him out of the village," Now that is a strange thing for Jesus to do - why did He do it?! My theory is that Bethsaida was very similar to Nazareth. If you will recall, Jesus traveled to Nazareth, His hometown, in the middle of His ministry. The people there mocked Him and rejected Him, and Mark closes the account of Jesus' visit to Nazareth with this chilling passage:
4 Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his hometown, among his relatives, and in his household.” 5 He was not able to do a miracle there, except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and healed them. 6 And he was amazed at their unbelief.
Mark 6:4-6
The general unbelief and lack of faith in a particular area, like Nazareth, somehow prevented many miracles being done in that place. Interestingly, it appears that Bethsaida was a similarly dull spiritual place. Consider Jesus' rebuke of Bethsaida in Matthew 11:
20 Then he proceeded to denounce the towns where most of his miracles were done, because they did not repent: 21 “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles that were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented in sackcloth and ashes long ago.
Matthew 11:20-21
I believe that Jesus took the man out of town before He healed him because of the lack of spiritual receptivity in Bethsaida. That two touches were needed before full healing happened seems to me to indicate that a Nazareth type dampening situation was occurring. A big objection here might be that I might be saying that there was something that Jesus could not do, and I suppose that is indeed what I am implying. Jesus was FULLY God and FULLY man while on earth - I believe in and absolutely affirm what theologians call the hypostatic union. I stand with Athanasius! That said, we know of at least two places in Scripture where there seem to be ....I struggle to get the right word here....limits? on the omnipotence of Jesus. The Mark 6:5 passage is one. "He was NOT able..." Jesus' lack of knowing the exact date and hour of His return is another. (Only the Father knows, according to Jesus)
Take this answer with a salt-shaker or two. I love this question, and am quite comfortable speculating on questions like this, as long as we are clear that we are engaging in speculating. It is dangerous to confidently answer questions like this with our opinion, or with something that we have deduced from the Bible, or something like that. I love it when Sherlock puts the clues together and solves a mystery, but this is totally different. Questions like these, which begin with something like, 'Why did God do X," or "Why did Jesus do X," must be answered with many disclaimers, because His ways are NOT our ways and His thoughts are NOT our thoughts. His ways are higher, and therefore we will NOT be able to effectively guess His motivations very well when we aren't directly told why He did something. I hope that makes sense!
A shout out to my old friend Cortney Johnson of Alabama who has asked an excellent question about healing based on yesterday's Mark 8 passage. Lord willing, I plan on grappling with that question during tomorrow's episode #38. Unfortunately, it's a pretty hard question, so I might have to phone a friend. I hope Dr. Wayne Grudem is not still sore at me for rolling his yard a few years ago. ;)
Today's passages are, with one exception, thick and meaty in the sense that they are absolutely loaded with important doctrines, edifying biblical truths, and fantastic passages. Unfortunately, Eliphaz' advice in Job 5 is an absolute clunker, and we have to read it again tomorrow. The value of Job 3-5 is not in the fact that it is proclaiming truth to us (according to God at the end of Job, Eliphaz was wrong, wrong, wrong!) but the value is that it is a clear demonstration of how NOT to 'help' somebody when they are suffering. Pro tip #1 - Don't tell people they are suffering because of their sinfulness - that is not your business, and it was most especially not Eliphaz' business in these three chapters.
Genesis 39 sees Joseph put into an incredibly awkward place through no fault of his own, and demonstrates how God's sovereign hand invisibly guides our lives into the precise place that He wants us to be. Romans 9 is beautiful and difficult at the same time. This section of Romans is dealing with a very biblical and very controversial doctrine called 'predestination,' or the "P" word, as I and other ministry colleagues have sometimes referred to it as. A church that I was pastoring at many years ago lost three families after one Wednesday night Bible study in which I, who was the pastor and leading the Bible study that night, read the 'P word' as I read through Ephesians 1. Two lovely gentlemen that were present at the Bible study spoke up eloquently and appropriately during the discussion time and made a pretty convincing case theologically for predestination. I stayed quite neutral, as it was my first year pastoring this particular church. Maybe that was cowardly, and yet three families, who were offended that the word was even mentioned in a positive light, left the church after that. This is a true story, but I am happy to say that I have seen this sort of behavior very rarely in churches over 25 years of ministry. But - it raises an interesting question that I have not fully decided yet. Should this podcast tackle deep and thorny theological issues? I don't mind the controversy, because we are going to hit controversy in almost every Bible passage out there. The real question is how deep are we going to go into biblical theology? I don't have an answer yet, but I'm sure one will come soon. Stay tuned!
As powerful, deep, and amazing as Romans 9 is, our focus passage for today is in Mark chapter 9, and our specific question concerns exorcism. How is it that Jesus was able to cast the demon out of the young man in Mark 9 and His disciples couldn't? This is no mere academic question! Jesus is quite clearly disappointed and dismayed at His disciples' inability to cast this demon out and bring relief to this boy. We don't see Jesus display this level of frustration with His followers very much, so I think it is significant, and that we need to learn from it, so let's read the passage and dig in.
So - why could the disciples not drive this demon out? The answer that Jesus gives is that this demon can only come out by prayer. (I note here that some textual variants read, "prayer and fasting.") This answer gives us two problems. Problem #1 is that Jesus does not obviously pray during this episode, so if the demon can only come out by prayer, and Jesus doesn't obviously pray, then how was the demon cast out? Problem #2 is that Matthew also tells us this exact story, and in that passage, Jesus says something different. Or, does He?!
When they reached the crowd, a man approached and knelt down before him. 15 “Lord,” he said, “have mercy on my son, because he has seizures and suffers terribly. He often falls into the fire and often into the water. 16 I brought him to your disciples, but they couldn’t heal him.”17 Jesus replied, “You unbelieving and perverse generation, how long will I be with you? How long must I put up with you? Bring him here to me.” 18 Then Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of him, and from that moment the boy was healed.19 Then the disciples approached Jesus privately and said, “Why couldn’t we drive it out?”20 “Because of your little faith,” he told them. “For truly I tell you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will tell this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”
Matthew 17:14-20
On the surface, we seem to have a contradiction here. Matthew and Mark are both telling us about the same exact situation, and yet Jesus gives one key in the Matthew passage and a different key in the Mark passage. What gives? And the answer is that Jesus is essentially saying the same thing in both episodes! (And it is likely that Jesus said both things in this episode, and Mark recorded one facet of what Jesus was saying, and Matthew another, and that is precisely how eyewitness testimony works.)
So, how could Jesus be saying the same thing in both passages? In Mark, He tells us that the key to casting these kinds of demons out is prayer, and in Matthew He says it is faith. I believe the answer to this little riddle is found in Luke 18:
Now he told them a parable on the need for them to pray always and not give up. 2 “There was a judge in a certain town who didn’t fear God or respect people. 3 And a widow in that town kept coming to him, saying, ‘Give me justice against my adversary.’ 4 “For a while he was unwilling, but later he said to himself, ‘Even though I don’t fear God or respect people,5 yet because this widow keeps pestering me, I will give her justice, so that she doesn’t wear me out by her persistent coming.’” 6 Then the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. 7 Will not God grant justice to his elect who cry out to him day and night? Will he delay helping them? 8 I tell you that he will swiftly grant them justice. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”
Luke 18:1-8
This parable is about the importance of persistence in prayer, a message that Jesus repeats multiple times in several different ways. Look how Jesus ends this parable, however: It is a parable about praying persistently, but His final question is about FAITH! Specifically His question is like this: When I return, will I find faith on the earth? He is basically saying that the key to praying effectively is to pray with persistence and not give up - will He see this kind of FAITH (that is faith that is manifested in a life of persistent and prevailing prayer) when He returns to earth? Now, apply that lesson back to our two problems with Mark 9, and we will see that it answers both of them quite well. There is no contradiction between Jesus' answer to the disciples in Mark 9 or Matthew 17 - the ONLY thing that casts the demon out is the kind of faith that manifests itself in a lifestyle of persistent prayer. Jesus is not telling His disciples that they should have stopped and prayed for the boy in the moment. This is not the source of His disappointment. His disappointment lies in the fact that they themselves had not been cultivating a lifestyle of persistent and prevailing prayer that would build up the kind of faith and authority that would have been able to cast the demon out. They were followers of Jesus with impotent prayer lives, and therefore they were "little-faiths," a state that Jesus was constantly frustrated with them about.
He said to them, “Why are you afraid, you of little faith?” Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm.
Matthew 8:26
Aware of this, Jesus said, “You of little faith, why are you discussing among yourselves that you do not have bread?
Matthew 16:8
If that’s how God clothes the grass, which is in the field today and is thrown into the furnace tomorrow, how much more will he do for you—you of little faith?
Luke 12:28
What about us? When Jesus returns, will He find us living a life of prevailing faith because of our persistent prayer lives, or will He also be sighing at us for our lack of power and lack of faith, which is directly traced to our lack of a persevering prayer life?
In the 1800s, pastor Charles Spurgeon uttered this lament over his city of London, knowing that they would see revival if they would only take hold of Jesus' promise in Luke 18. May it awaken us, quicken us and spur us on to a lifestyle of prevailing and powerful prayer. May we not be of those of little faith, but of those who overcame.
"A CITY of three million, not wholly given to idolatry, but still very much given to sin, and we ourselves are so weak in the midst of it! if we could but realize this invitation, and then take hold upon the omnipotent arm of God, and by an overcoming faith, such as only God could give to any one of us, believe it possible for the Lord Jesus to save this city, and then go forward boldly expecting him to do it, we might see more than we have ever seen. And now, what if I prophesy that we shall see it! what if I say, that if God will but stir up his people everywhere for prayer, he will do a work in our day that shall make the ears of him that hears it to tingle, not with horror, but with joy! He will yet let the world know that there is a God in Israel. Truly that which hinders us is our lack of faith, for if the Son of man should return to us, would he find faith on the earth? O unbelieving church, O thankless generation, you are not restricted in God, ye are restricted in your own self; and if you could but believe him, and so prove him by your faith, he would again open the windows of heaven and pour you out a blessing, such that you would not have room enough to receive it!"
C. H. Spurgeon, Flashes of Thought (London: Passmore & Alabaster, 1874), 365–366. Slightly modernized
Today we are continuing in our discussion of suffering and are concluding our brief and barely more than shallow answer of the question: Why do bad things happen to comparatively good people. We will be reading Job 4, and enduring the dumb and wrong-headed advice of one of Job's well-meaning (but misguided!) friends. We will also read Mark 8, where Jesus miraculously feeds the 4,000 AND teaches His disciples to avoid the leaven of the Pharisees (which is hypocrisy!) And conclude with Romans 8, which will begin to shine light on one of the most important (and controversial) theological concepts of the Bible, predestination and will give us one of the most powerful and comforting single passages in all of Scripture - a passage which is incredibly fitting for our discussion today:
We know that all things work together for the good of those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.
Romans 8:28
As we read the tragic story of Judah and Tamar, we need to be reminded that not all of what Old Testament saints do is correct and God-pleasing. Judah is an extreme hypocrite in this passage, and wonderfully illustrates Jesus' warning in Mark 8 to avoid hypocrisy. Tamar's way of holding her father in law to his promise is also less than ideal. The subject of Onan and his death probably deserves its own separate episode, but my kids listen to this podcast, including my 8 year old, and I am not keen to explain this situation to her in depth just yet. I am, however, planning on compiling these episodes into a series of Bible questions books which will be released on Amazon over the year of this podcast. I'll very likely cover the Onan situation in there, and will let you know when that book is available. (Hopefully early Spring.) I am quite sure you will be waiting with bated breath. ;) So - let's go read our Genesis and Job passages, then discuss suffering, and finally conclude with Mark 8 and Romans 8.
Why Does Suffering Happen? I don’t understand suffering. I don’t understand the periods in my life where the suffering level is high...but it is illogical and ignorant to lose faith because of suffering. Think of it this way. If I promise to give you $20 every Sunday for a year...and I DO, wouldn’t that make me reliable?? The Bible promises suffering and a lot of it. The Bible promises that good people will suffer. The Bible promises that people - lovely people...even children... will die unexpectedly. The Bible is honest. God is honest. We LIVE IN A FALLEN WORLD ruled by death and the Devil. The Bible promises resurrection and redemption and eternal life. It does not promise an EASY life characterized by no suffering. Philosophers call Epicurus’ question that we called yesterday 'THE PROBLEM OF EVIL.' I see no problem whatsoever. What we see in the world - all the tragedy and heartache - is what we should expect given what the Bible tells us. If, 200 years from now we’ve solved all of the world's sickness and inequalities and are living in a utopia, then we will have a problem - THE PROBLEM OF COMFORT. Because that will actually contradict the nature of life that the Bible promises. The existing and impact of evil and suffering do not contradict the Bible but actually REINFORCE it. If you have wondered about suffering. Join the club. EVERYtime I suffer, I shake my head and wonder WHY? (even though the Bible says...don’t be surprised, I always am.) I am not saying that suffering is not a problem - it is a problem, absolutely. I am saying that nobody should use suffering and evil in the World in a way that somehow invalidates the Bible as a reliable book - the amount of evil and suffering in the world is exactly what we would expect given the teaching of the Bible.
For the last two episodes, we've laid some biblical groundwork to develop a pretty good overview of suffering according to the Bible. Therefore with a basic Biblical theology of suffering under our belts...let’s move on to the specific major question. Why do bad things happen to seemingly good people?? Here are some answers:
- Bad things sometimes happen to good people for God’s ultimate glory. John 9: 1 As He was passing by, He saw a man blind from birth. 2 His disciples questioned Him: “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”3 “Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” Jesus answered. “This came about so that God’s works might be displayed in him.
- Sometimes bad things happen to comparatively good people for the purpose of discipline: Hebrews 12 “7 Endure suffering as discipline: God is dealing with you as sons.” That discipline is not meant to destroy, but to shape you and build character. It can be a sign that you are God's child.
- Sometimes bad things happen to good people for growth/perseverance/hope Romans 5“3 And not only that, but we also rejoice in our afflictions, because we know that affliction produces endurance, 4 endurance produces proven character, and proven character produces hope.”
- Sometimes bad things happen to good people for the spread of the Gospel and maturity of the church. “My children, I am again suffering labor pains for you until Christ is formed in you.” Galatians 4:19
- Often bad things happen to good people for inexplicable and unexplained in this lifetime reasons. (See: Job/Jeremiah) READ Acts 14: “19 Then some Jews came from Antioch and Iconium, and when they had won over the crowds and stoned Paul, they dragged him out of the city, thinking he was dead. 20 After the disciples surrounded him, he got up and went into the town. The next day he left with Barnabas for Derbe. 21 After they had evangelized that town and made many disciples, they returned to Lystra, to Iconium, and to Antioch, 22 strengthening the disciples by encouraging them to continue in the faith and by telling them, “It is necessary to pass through many troubles on our way into the kingdom of God.” SAYS THE JUST STONED GUY.
We won’t always know WHY…..BUT the Bible gives a resounding ANSWER for suffering - The Resurrection.
Then I heard a loud voice from the throne:
Look! God’s dwelling is with humanity, and He will live with them.They will be His people, and God Himself will be with them and be their God. 4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. Death will no longer exist; grief, crying, and pain will exist no longer,because the previous things have passed away.5 Then the One seated on the throne said, “Look! I am making everything new.” He also said, “Write, because these words are faithful and true.” 6 And He said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give water as a gift to the thirsty from the spring of life. 7 The victor will inherit these things, and I will be his God, and he will be My son. 8 But the cowards, unbelievers, vile, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars—their share will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”Revelation 21:3-8
In closing, you CANNOT read the Bible and not expect suffering. ALL HUMANS SUFFER. JESUS - the most righteous Suffered MOST of all. That’s the bad news. The good news is that, in Christ - our sufferings will literally pale in comparison to the glories to come. That is the blessed hope. Yes, Jesus came for us to have abundant life, but that life WILL include suffering. Suffering is necessary, says Paul, literally a few days after he was nearly stoned to death. It is unavoidable. The real question is - are you in Christ? Because if you are, then you have the HOPE that one day your sufferings will be tiny compared to the glory that will come to you as one who has been saved and redeemed by Jesus.
One final word, since this is our last episode (for now) on the problem of evil and the question of why good people suffer. These past few episodes have met the problem of evil on a philosophical level - seeking to address skeptics and those who might doubt God or the truth of the Bible because of their suffering, or the suffering in the World. The philosophical level is not where you should meet people when they are suffering. They don't FIRST need an explanation, or an apologetic, they first need care, compassion, and your own tears weeping with them. This is what Job's friends got right, at least for a little while, during the first week where they just sat quietly with Job. You don't have to explain suffering or spout off philosophical reasons to believe while somebody is going through catastrophe. Just be there. Hold their hand. Pray for them. Weep with them. Be near. Serve them. Let your words be few and your presence be obvious.
Our reading passages for today are Genesis 36 and 37, Job 3, Mark 7 and Romans 7. In Genesis we get to read a very long list of Esau's relatives, which isn't the most inspiring chapter in the Bible, but we also meet Joseph in Genesis 37, a man of God who will become one of the more inspiring characters in the Bible. Job 3 sees Job finally talking after a week of silence (and the scraping of his boils with broken pottery shards.), and he is as depressed and undone as we would expect him to be after Satan put him through the ringer. In Mark 7, Jesus is going to blister the scribes and pharisees for overvaluing and overemphasizing their silly (and legalistic!) human traditions, and undervaluing the actual commands and instructions of God. Romans 7, our final read of the day, Paul uses death in marriage to illustrate how those who have died with Christ are free from the Old Testament law. We don't have a focus passage today, but we will read Job 3 first, because we are continuing our discussion from yesterday's big question: Why do bad things happen to comparatively good people? And, FYI, its such a big discussion that it looks like it will spill over into tomorrow as well.
Let me say this from the beginning, before we read Job. For literally thousands of years, people have sought to disprove the possibility of an all-mighty and all-loving God by pointing to the presence and reality of suffering, especially the kind of suffering that we would deem 'unfair.' A thorough reading of the Bible - even a surface reading, really - is enough to disabuse one of the notion that good people will not suffer. Today we meet Joseph - possessing the finest character among all his brothers, and yet he will probably suffer the most out of all of them and the vast majority of his suffering is extremely unfair. (Spurgeon said of Joseph, "Joseph was Jacob’s best loved and most tried son. Whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth.")
John the Baptist and Job also illustrate this issue, but there is an even more obvious illustration that the best in the Bible sometimes suffer the most. The central character and focus of the Bible is Jesus Christ, the son of God. The most unfair thing that ever happened in history was His torture, crucifixion, and death on the cross bearing our sins. The central message of the Bible demonstrates beyond question that bad things will happen to the best of people, and therefore nobody should be surprised when it happens to us. Good people suffering does not disprove biblical truth, it demonstrates and confirms biblical truth. If good people almost never suffered, then we might have reason to doubt the reliability of the Bible in some way or, at least, its relatability, because good people suffer all throughout the Bible. And, as we will see when we read Job 3, that suffering is not minimal or surface suffering, but deep and relatable agony.
After this, Job began to speak and cursed the day he was born. 2 He said: 3 May the day I was born perish,
and the night that said,
“A boy is conceived.”
4 If only that day had turned to darkness!
May God above not care about it,
or light shine on it.
5 May darkness and gloom reclaim it,
and a cloud settle over it.
May what darkens the day terrify it.
6 If only darkness had taken that night away!
May it not appear among the days of the year
or be listed in the calendar.
7 Yes, may that night be barren;
may no joyful shout be heard in it.
8 Let those who curse days
condemn it,
those who are ready to rouse Leviathan.
9 May its morning stars grow dark.
May it wait for daylight but have none;
may it not see the breaking of dawn.
10 For that night did not shut
the doors of my mother’s womb,
and hide sorrow from my eyes.
11 Why was I not stillborn;
why didn’t I die as I came from the womb?
12 Why did the knees receive me,
and why were there breasts for me to nurse?
13 Now I would certainly be lying down in peace;
I would be asleep.
Then I would be at restJob 3:1-13
Just listening to that is hard, and even though Job lived thousands of years ago, I imagine that many of us can relate to what Job is going through. He sounds absolutely and utterly depressed and crushed and even suicidal. And why wouldn't he be? He's lost everything but his wife, and she keeps telling him to curse God and die.
5 Biblical Teachings on Suffering: 1. Suffering is universal and unavoidable. Jesus promises it in John 16:33. Peter says don’t be surprised when it comes, as if something odd was happening. 1 Peter 4:12-13 “12 Dear friends, don’t be surprised when the fiery ordeal comes among you to test you as if something unusual were happening to you.13 Instead, rejoice as you share in the sufferings of the Messiah, so that you may also rejoice with great joy at the revelation of His glory.” 2. Suffering, in many ways, is a good thing in the long run. . “ 10 My goal is to know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death,” Phil 3:10
“24 Now I rejoice in my sufferings for you, and I am completing in my flesh what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for His body, that is, the church.” Col 1:24
Along those lines, consider this wisdom from Spurgeon:
WE should never have such fellowship with Jesus as we do if we had not such troubles as we have. You cannot see the stars in the daytime, but they tell us that if you go down into a well you can. Sometimes God sinks wells of trouble and puts his servants into them, and then they see his starry promises. You might hunt in vain for glowworms by day, but they shall all be seen at night, and so shall the comfortable words and thoughts of Holy Scripture. The fire-flies shall flash best at night when the sunlight is gone, and so oftentimes the light of the promises is better seen in the night of trouble than in the day of outward prosperity. The black foils of trouble shall bring out the brighter jewel of divine grace. You cannot know Christ except by following in his footsteps. Poverty will reveal him who for our sakes became poor; sickness will show him whose visage was more marred than any man’s; shame will teach you his shame, and suffering will reveal to you his suffering; and even death itself, which shall remove the foundations, shall give you conformity to his death that you may have part in his resurrection.
- Suffering in a Christian can happen because of discipline..
“For the Lord disciplines the one He loves and punishes every son He receives. 7 Endure suffering as discipline: God is dealing with you as sons. For what son is there that a father does not discipline? 8 But if you are without discipline—which all receive—then you are illegitimate children and not sons.”Hebrews 12:6-8
- Suffering in a Christian can also happen because of God’s favor!
“4 Therefore, we ourselves boast about you among God’s churches—about your endurance and faith in all the persecutions and afflictions you endure. 5 It is a clear evidence of God’s righteous judgment that you will be counted worthy of God’s kingdom, for which you also are suffering, Thessalonians 1:4-5
- Our suffering will pale in comparison to the glory that is to come.
A. “ For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is going to be revealed to us.” Romans 8:18
C. H. Spurgeon, Flashes of Thought (London: Passmore & Alabaster, 1874), 472.
We are going deeper tomorrow into this question tomorrow, but let me expound briefly on that last Romans passage. The Bible teaches that humans are eternal creatures, and that means that our 80 or so years of living on the Earth are a short, short time in light of eternity. That also means that the amount of time we are suffering in our existence will also be short compared to eternity. When viewed through the lens of eternity, the idea of a good God allowing suffering to happen is not so shocking, especially when that suffering can have good effects.
I'm a football fan, specifically a University of Alabama fan. (And have been for 40+ years, suffering through the Dubose, Shula and Francione years, as well as the Price day) Paul 'Bear' Bryant was a legendary coach at Alabama, but before he was at Alabama, he was at Texas A&M university, a mediocre football team prior to Bryant's arrival. He purposed to toughen the men up, so in 1954, he took a big group of players to Junction, Texas and sought to forge them into men. Most who went to the camp quit before it was over, but the survivors became known as the 'Junction Boys,' and they would go on to eventually lead Texas A&M back into football relevance. The suffering in Junction did not lead to immediate success, but it did lead to long-term success, and most anybody that understands football understands that Coach Bryant wasn't being cruel to his players, but he was shaping their character and building them into a stronger football team.
I am not at all here comparing God to a football coach, but am pointing out that most astute football people can understand the concept of difficult periods of practice leading to a stronger, better football team with greater character and perseverance. If we can understand that, then perhaps we can understand how God might use the suffering of our life for a similar, but much, much loftier goal.
3 And not only that, but we also rejoice in our afflictions, because we know that affliction produces endurance, 4 endurance produces proven character, and proven character produces hope. 5 This hope will not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.
Romans 5:3-5
Today and tomorrow, for the first time in the long and storied 34 day history of this podcast, we are going to do a two-part episode. The reason for this is that we are going to grapple together with a big question that has vexed the hearts of humans for thousands of years: Why does suffering happen? This question is quite apropos for today's Bible readings (and for tomorrow's reading also), so it should fit in well. Today we read Genesis 35, Job 2, Mark 6 and Romans 6. In the Genesis passage, Jacob decides to follow Yahweh, the God of Israel, wholeheartedly, and to put away the other idols and gods from among his entourage. Romans 6 features a beautiful theological passage from Paul about becoming slaves to God and leaving behind our slavery to sin. In our two focus passages for today, Job 2 and Mark 6, we see two incredibly righteous and GOOD people (Job and John the Baptist) suffer horribly. What's worse, although both men exemplary lives that stand out even among the other saints of the Bible, neither man knows why they are going through the extreme suffering they are going through. John the Baptist is beheaded and dies alone in prison, not really understanding his situation at all, and Job is afflicted with the loss of his family, his wealth, his possessions and his health, and is at a complete loss to explain why. Both of these situations raise our big question of the day: Why does God allow bad things to happen to good people? Let's read Mark and Job together, and then discuss the situation.
In order to get at an answer to this big question, we should consider how we do Bible theology, or more specifically, how do go to the Word of God to answer life’s biggest questions? Here are three things to remember in seeking answers to our questions from the Bible:
- Rather than just focusing on one single verse, we must consider the whole counsel of God. Put another way, to answer the question of what happens when we die, we must attempt to survey all that the Bible has to say about this question, and not just one verse. The reason for this is that while every passage in the Bible is true - not every passage in the Bible is the COMPLETE truth. For instance, in 1 Corinthians 13, the apostle Paul describes love, and we learn that it is patient, kind, and not at all jealous. All of these are true statements about love, but they aren't the ONLY true statements about love in the Bible. In order to find out the complete teaching of the Bible about love, we have to go to other passages. In doing so, we find out in the Song of Solomon 8 that not only is love patient, kind and longsuffering...but it is also POWERFUL - as powerful as death. (Song of Solomon 8:6) Therefore, in order to have a complete understanding of love from the Bible's perspective, we need the truths in 1 Corinthians 13 AND Song of Solomon 8, among many other passages also. Similarly, to gain a biblical understanding of suffering, and why it happens, we have to survey the whole Word. That is the process of developing a biblical theology - it involves finding out all of what the Bible teaches and reveals about a particular topic.
- Our second task is to account for the difference between Old Covenant passages and New Covenant passages. The New Testament must take precedence over the Old Testament, and it must interpret it. Consider Hebrews 7 and 8, and note how the New Testament/New Covenant has surpassed the Old. Hebrews 7:18-19, "So the previous command is annulled because it was weak and unprofitable 19 (for the law perfected nothing), but a better hope is introduced, through which we draw near to God.”
Hebrews 8:7 For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion for a second one...13 By saying a new covenant, he has declared that the first is obsolete. And what is obsolete and growing old is about to pass away.
This does not mean that the Old Testament is not the Word of God, or that we don't need it, but we are no longer living in Old Testament/Old Covenant times, now we are living in the age of the New Testament. 3. Finally, With humility, prayer, and the leadership of the Spirit, we must keep returning to the Word of God so that our theology and understanding does not drift from truth. We should hold our theology with a degree of humility and repeatedly keep returning to the Scriptures to test and confirm that we are walking in the truth. Like an unmoored ship, we humans have a tendency to drift away from truth, and we must discipline ourselves to return - over and over again - to the authority of the Word of God.
So, with that understanding in mind, back to our question: Why do BAD things happen to GOOD people? This question has been asked in various forms for literally thousands of years. Epicurus was a Greek philosopher that lived 300 years before Jesus, and for him, the purpose of philosophy was to attain the happy, tranquil life, characterized by peace, freedom from fear—and aponia—the absence of pain. Supposedly Epicurus helped to formulate what has been called the Epicurean Paradox/Riddle of Epicurus “Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able?Then he is not omnipotent. Is he able, but not willing? Then he is malevolent. Is he both able and willing? Then whence cometh evil? Is he neither able nor willing?
Then why call him God?”
In answering this question, I want to point out a fundamental disagreement between Epicurean theology and biblical theology: Epicurus sought to avoid all forms of suffering and fear while The Bible PROMISES the experience of suffering, John 16:33 “You will have suffering in this world.” and The Bible COMMANDS it. 2 Timothy 2:3 “3 Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus.”
Some read Epicurus for the first time and marvel at how modern he sounds...and his philosophy is very similar in some ways to modern atheism, though less sophisticated. However, I find it lacking and pollyannaish. Living a life that seeks to avoid suffering is like living a life that seeks to avoid air, or death or things that smell bad. Unrealistic and impossible. While many Christians and preachers have a pollyanna-type theology that is quite shallow and doesn't reckon well with suffering, The Bible itself does NOT approach death and suffering in an unrealistic, pie in the sky way - but in a gritty and realistic way...with hope. Further, the Bible speaks of suffering FREQUENTLY.
SO - here’s our question, but before we get too deep into an answer, we need to make some adjustments. "Why do bad things happen to good people?" is a bit of a flawed question from a biblical sense. Yes, John the Baptist was a great human being - the greatest human being born in history, according to Jesus. Yes! Job was a great guy also - the Bible says he was the greatest man in his area of the world. The better and more accurate question is: Why do bad things happen to SEEMINGLY good people - or COMPARATIVELY good people. ( Remembering that Romans 3:10 notes that there isn’t even ONE fully righteous person.)
Part 1 of this question is: Why do bad things happen? Why is there suffering in the world? The Bible gives a clear answer to that question and the answer is THE FALL.
16 He said to the woman: I will intensify your labor pains; you will bear children in anguish. Your desire will be for your husband, yet he will rule over you. 17 And He said to Adam, “Because you listened to your wife’s voice and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘Do not eat from it’: The ground is cursed because of you. You will eat from it by means of painful labor all the days of your life. 18 It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. 19 You will eat bread by the sweat of your brow until you return to the ground, since you were taken from it. For you are dust, and you will return to dust.”
Genesis 3:16-19
12 Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, in this way death spread to all men, because all sinned.”
Romans 5:12
SO - ALL suffering has its root in the Fall in the Garden of Eden. SIN causes suffering. But why do comparatively good people suffer? Why is there so much tragedy in the world? Time to dig deep into the teachings of the Bible on suffering - and why suffering happens. As we do, note these three characteristics of the Bible’s teaching on suffering:
- The Bible does NOT shy away from talking directly about suffering. You simply cannot spend much time studying suffering in the Bible and walk away thinking you will be immune to it.
- The Bible does NOT promise freedom from suffering for the most devout followers of Jesus. Instead, it promises JUST THE OPPOSITE.
- The Bible gives a myriad of reasons for suffering, and doesn’t always seek to offer explanations for why seemingly good people are going through bad things. Jeremiah - the longest book in the Bible - is about a faithful prophet that never has one conversion or moment of seeming fruitfulness in his ministry. Why? It is never fully explained, and yet Jeremiah is obviously quite faithful to the end. Job is a whole book devoted to suffering, and it is about a good man that suffers horrific suffering. Job NEVER knows why. The call of Ezekiel in Ezekiel 1-4 (4th longest book in the Bible) indicates his ministry will be a ministry of repeated suffering.
And that is enough for a beginning answer about suffering. Tomorrow we will continue grappling with the question of why bad things happen to seemingly good people, but I want to close with a testimony/story below from pastor David Platt. Platt wrote the best-selling book Radical, pastored the church at Brook Hills in Birmingham, Alabama, and was the head of the Southern Baptist International Mission Board for a time. Below he tells the story (during a sermon on Job!) of how he came to be pastor of one of the largest churches in Birmingham while still in his twenties:
I was thinking this morning, even as I was preparing and looking over this text again, of the purpose of God in suffering, even in my speaking in front of you about the purpose of God in suffering. It was almost three years ago to the day when Heather and I were living in New Orleans and hurricane Katrina came and sent our house under water, about ten feet of water in our one-story house there and our world turned upside down. I remember us sitting at a shelter in Central Louisiana, and we had set up a video projector where we were showing the news on the side of a wall.And it was one of those times, after Katrina had happened, when they were doing helicopter flyovers in the city of New Orleans. And I had been telling Heather, “Heather, I’m sure our house is fine, everything’s okay.” You know, giving her all the assurance that I had no authority to give whatsoever, just what you say during those times. And we see this helicopter flyover our neighborhood and we see this gas station, and we think, well, that gas station looks familiar, and it’s about two or three blocks up from where our house was and it was up to the top of the building with water. And it was one of those times when Heather and I lock eyes and we realize our life has just turned upside down.And so we are not going be able to go back home for a while, forever really as it came to be, because a few months later I start filling in preaching with this church in Birmingham, Alabama, and they invite me to come back a few more times, and long story short, here I am. That’s the picture of the purpose of God. Three years ago I never could have imagined as I was sitting and looking at our house under water that tonight I’d be talking to you about the purpose of God in suffering as the pastor of this church in Birmingham, Alabama. He’s got a purpose, it’s sometimes different, but it is always good, never oppressive, always good.
David Platt, “The Gospel, God’s Purpose, and Suffering,” in David Platt Sermon Archive (Birmingham, AL: David Platt, 2008), 1566.
Today's episode is rated pg-13, and that is a first for us. Of course, I am being a little tongue in cheek by using such a rating, but what I am trying to communicate is that the subject matter isn't necessarily for children - not my discussion, but the passage that we are reading. For our readings today, we are in Genesis 34, a very upsetting passage in which Dinah, daughter of Jacob is raped. Though it doesn't make it better, the revenge on those who raped her is every bit as satisfying as any revenge-themed movie you've ever seen. We continue in Mark, which sees the fascinating incident with Jesus and the legion of demons that he drives into a herd of pigs, an episode which we will no doubt cover later on in the podcast run. Romans 5 will then continue our beautiful view of the good news of Jesus, proclaiming the powerful truth of death in the first Adam, and life everlasting available in the second Adam, Jesus.
Also today we begin a new book - Job (pronounced JOBE, not JOHB) which is one of the literary masterpieces of the Bible, and a book which will flex many of your theological convictions. The primary theme of Job is suffering, sovereignty and the character of God. A fascinating thing happens in Job 1 and 2 - we are given a peak into the throne room of God, where we will get a glimpse at what is probably God's Divine Council as well as a conversation between God and The Satan. That will be our focus passage today, as we consider who the 'Sons of God' were, and why the Devil came with them (twice) to a meeting in God's throne room. Let's read it - prepare to be surprised if you've never read Job before!
6 One day the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came with them. 7 The Lord asked Satan, “Where have you come from?”
Job 1:6-7
Job doesn't give us a lot of subtext or explanation here - all of the sudden, we are taken to a scene in the throne room of God, and these beings called 'Sons of God' are presenting themselves before THE King of Kings - God Most High, and Satan is strolling in there with them. So many questions! Who in the world were the 'Sons of God?' Isn't Jesus the ONLY Son of God? Was the Satan somehow a 'son of God?' To at least try to answer these questions, lets first look at the text of the Bible:
Genesis 6:1, "The sons of God saw that the daughters of mankind were beautiful, and they took any they chose as wives for themselves."
Genesis 6:4, "The Nephilim were on the earth both in those days and afterward, when the sons of God came to the daughters of mankind, who bore children to them. They were the powerful men of old, the famous men."
Job 1:6, " One day the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came with them."
Job 2:1, "One day the sons of God came again to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came with them to present himself before the Lord."
Job 38:7, "Where were you when I established the earth?
Tell me, if you have understanding.
5 Who fixed its dimensions? Certainly you know!
Who stretched a measuring line across it?
6 What supports its foundations?
Or who laid its cornerstone
7 while the morning stars sang together
and all the sons of God shouted for joy? "
This is every exact occurrence of the Hebrew phrase " בְּנֵי הָאֱלֹהִים " (Bene-Elohim/sons of God) in the Old Testament. From this very limited sampling, we can conclude with a fairly high degree of grammatical certainty that, in at least some instances, the 'sons of God' in the Hebrew Old Testament were NOT human. (How could they be since God Himself says in Job 38 that they were present at the creation of the world and were shouting for joy then?) Some confidently postulate that the 'sons of God' are the human offspring of Seth, but that simply does not fit the context of the Job passages or really the Genesis passage either.
As mentioned in our episode on the Nephilim, episode 6, I further believe that the grammatical and contextual uses of the Hebrew phrase here indicate that the 'sons of God' in Genesis 6 and Job were NOT human, but were some sort of Heavenly being. Most assume that they are angels, but that doesn't appear to be the case either, as angels tend to serve as messengers (that is what the Hebrew for their name means) and these beings do not appear to be messengers. So - what are they? Sadly, the Bible never tells us exactly, but I believe it is likely that what we are seeing in Job 1 and Job 2 is what is described in a bit fuller detail in Psalm 82: The Divine Council of Yahweh, referred to earlier this week:
God stands in the divine assembly;
he pronounces judgment among the gods:Psalm 82:1-4
Here is another picture of what might well be the divine council:
Then Micaiah said, “Therefore, hear the word of the Lord: I saw the Lord sitting on his throne, and the whole heavenly army was standing by him at his right hand and at his left hand. 20 And the Lord said, ‘Who will entice Ahab to march up and fall at Ramoth-gilead?’ So one was saying this and another was saying that. 21 “Then a spirit came forward, stood in the Lord’s presence, and said, ‘I will entice him.’ 22 “The Lord asked him, ‘How?’ “He said, ‘I will go and become a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets.’ “Then he said, ‘You will certainly entice him and prevail. Go and do that.’
1 Kings 22:19-22
From these Scriptures, we see that God 'holds court' from time to time and meets with various heavenly beings and considers their council. Why would an omniscient being do this? I think the answer lies in relationship rather than the need of council. God did not need humans. He was not lonely, and thus created humanity in the same way one adopts a puppy for companionship. God Himself, as Trinity, is in the ultimate relationship and is completely fulfilled in Himself, but His actions seem to indicate that He is a God who delights in relationships with others. But why was The Satan in God's throne room? (Satan isn't a name, it is a role - it means, "The accuser.) That is a big, big question, and the surprising truth is that, up until a certain time, Satan had access to Heaven:
7 Then war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon. The dragon and his angels also fought, 8 but he could not prevail, and there was no place for them in heaven any longer. 9 So the great dragon was thrown out—the ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the one who deceives the whole world. He was thrown to earth, and his angels with him. 10 Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say, The salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have now come, because the accuser of our brothers and sisters, who accuses them before our God day and night, has been thrown down.
Revelation 12:7-10
At some point, apparently during the time of humans being on earth, Satan was cast out of Heaven. A plain-sense reading of Revelation 12 indicates that - even well after The Fall of Genesis 3, Satan had access to Heaven. How do we know? Because vs. 10 notes that Satan had been accusing the brothers and sisters in front of GOD (day and night!) BEFORE he was cast out of Heaven. If this happened pre-creation, or even pre-Fall in the Garden, there were no brothers and sisters to be accused! Therefore I believe that Job is giving us a picture of what things were like in Heaven pre-the War in Heaven of Revelation 12 - prior to Satan being cast out of Heaven.
Allow me to close with this powerful encouragement from Charles Spurgeon:
How few Christians there seem to be who really understand the covenant of grace! “As in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.” We fell, not by our own fault, but by Adam’s fault; and we rise, not by our own virtue, but by virtue of our union with Christ. If you are in Christ, believer, you are safe while Christ stands. You cannot drown the body until you drown the Head. My foot may be deep in the stream, but until the waves roll over my brow, my foot is not drowned; and until Christ shall perish, no soul that is one with Christ can be destroyed; for he said to his disciples, “Because I live, you shall live also.” ... May the Spirit of God glorify Christ by taking these things of Christ, and revealing them unto you, and making them personally yours!
C. H. Spurgeon, “The Spirit’s Office Towards Disciples,” in The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit Sermons, vol. 53 (London: Passmore & Alabaster, 1907), 512. Slightly modernized.
Happy February! Today we are reading Genesis 33 - Jacob finally meets Esau face to face. Will there be blood? We are also reading Esther 9-10, though chapter 10 is one of the shorter chapters in the Bible. Romans 4 discusses the beautiful truth of justification by faith (and not works!), and normally that would almost certainly be our focus passage, but Mark 4 contains what I believe is the most important parable Jesus taught - the Parable of the Sower.
Shoutouts: Dr. Og Keep: It was odd that Episode 28 was so controversial. The only part of it that left me confused was the part about Jesus bringing us concrete.
Keith Heltsey: At the Life-truth.com Podcasting network.
Joy in the Word: Consider whether you find yourself in this story:
“She took her children to the park to break the monotony of summer days, and instead she broke her own heart. She watched her children run to the playground as another car drove into the parking lot. The car ground to a quick stop, and a young, vibrant woman with a beaming smile leaped out of the driver’s seat and virtually skipped to a secluded table near an adjoining lake. The imagination of the mother watching began to race. Who could this young woman be meeting in such a secluded spot with so much enthusiasm. Was this a long awaited and carefully planned rendez-vous with an over-busy husband? A lunch date with a best friend, or a tryst between secret lovers? The mother determined to stay on the lookout for whoever got out of the next car. No one else came immediately, and the mother soon grew busy watching her children, breaking up fights, cleaning up skinned knees and such. When she finally did glance up again at the secluded woman, what the woman saw made her heart skip a beat. The woman was reading a Bible and praying. The person she had leapt from the car to meet with such enthusiasm was her Lord. The mother recognized with pain that penetrated her spirit that she no longer had that same enthusiasm. Once the excitement of her own relationship with God had overwhelmed her. Once the joy of her salvation had burned warm and bright, but now the fervor was gone. Faith had become a dreary duty; God had become a detached, frowning bystander. Something had happened over the years of her walk with the Lord. She didn’t know exactly what it was, but she did know that she would not now skip to meet Him. She had lost something wonderful and she wept there in the park for her loss.
Bryan Chapell: Holiness by Grace: Delighting in the Joy That Is Our Strength
I think most Christians under-appreciate, undervalue, and underestimate the power of the Word of God, myself included. One of the reasons why I'm doing a daily Word-focused podcast, and post about it most days on social media, is because I think that there is great power in God's Word. It's not like dynamite in that you can just casually toss it around, people hear it, and BOOM - they are transformed into mature followers of Jesus over night the Word of God is much more organic than that. One of the main ways that Jesus taught about the power and impact of the Word is by comparing it to a seed. A seed is small and not terribly dynamic at first impression, but it can grow into a tremendous organic living thing. When Jesus taught the disciples about the power and impact of the Word in His Parable of the Sower, they didn't get it at first, which prompted Him to say, " 13 Then he said to them: “Don’t you understand this parable? How then will you understand all of the parables? " That one line says to me that the Parable of the Sower has within it a key to unlock all of the other parables. Let's read it!
I heard the testimony of a preacher I admired at one time, and he said that he came to Jesus while smoking pot and listening to a person saved for a mere 2 weeks preach to him. He said he read in the King James Version for a little while after that, and notes that he didn't hardly understand any of it, but he underlined a bunch of passages because he knew they were the words of eternal life. He followed Jesus by faith, even though his mind was hazy from the pot and his understanding was low; nevertheless, he was radically saved.
The writer Donald Whitney tells the story of a man in KC that had just got saved and was hungry to know God in a deeper way. Shortly after salvation, he was severely injured in an explosion, whereby his face was disfigured, and he lost both hands. He was so discouraged that he couldn’t read the Bible anymore. Then he heard of a woman in England who read braille with her lips. He tried it, but his lips were too dead. On an off chance, his tongue happened to brush the braille, and he found he could read with his tongue. As of the writing of the book, the man had read the entire Bible through 4 times! That’s passion. That’s understanding the power of the Word.
Since this podcast is an ongoing concern, and since we will encounter the Parable of the Sower SIX times over the next year, and since this parable in particular is incredibly deep and meaningful - we won't be able to plunge its depths today. However, we can gain at least a few powerful nuggets of truth that will be worth our time:
“Consider carefully what you hear,” he continued. “With the measure you use, it will be measured to you—and even more 25 Whoever has will be given more; whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him.”
Mark 4:24-25
Listening to and absorbing the Word is critical here. The deeper it goes – the more you listen, meditate, absorb – the greater the work of the Kingdom in your life. The shallower it goes, the less. With the measure you use to receive the Word, that will be the measure of the power, transformation, encouragement and fruitfulness of the Word in your life! Think of it this way. When you come to the Word, you can bring a small cup, and hear only a bit, or you can bring a giant barrel and get TONS of it. There is a direct correlation to the amount of fruitfulness in your life and your getting – hearing of the Word of God. So then - the person that might look at a Verse of the Day app four times a week will be receiving an intake of the Word, but only a tiny, tiny amount - almost certainly not enough to live on. The person who changes her schedule and priorities to make time for the Word of God - for real depth in the Word - that person will receive from that an abundance!
One caution: Be sure you are listening to the Word of God. A preacher's opinion, a pastor's sermon mostly devoid of Scripture, a best-selling book that tells you to wash your face and mentions God a little bit but is mostly devoid of God's Word, a Sprinkle of Jesus and Jesus Calling - these are NOT the Word of God. Just because somebody talks about God does not mean that they are bringing the Word of God. The message of pastors and preachers must be soaked in God's Word, based on God's Word, completely agree with God's Word and be filled with God's Word to be of any use and power to you - otherwise you are just getting opinion. Jesus Calling, the bestselling 'devotional' book, is not God's Word, but rather the words of a modern writer who somehow claims to be speaking for God.
A Sprinkle of Jesus is not the words of Jesus, but a counterfeit meant to give you a shiver and a comforting feeling, but contains 0% The Word of God! It would be like having a deficiency of Vitamin C and taking an orange candy to correct that deficiency, but the candy is completely devoid of any vitamins whatsoever, even though it is the right color and shape. Beware imitations.
Imagine writing to your favorite sports star or celebrity and asking for an autograph. In most cases that celebrity never reads your request, and what you get back in return is a glossy picture with a facsimile autograph on it done by machine, or by an assistant. There is no value in it, because the person you are interested in hasn't interacted with you in the least - their assistant has (or their assistant's assistant!). Can we receive good things from modern preachers, pastors and writers? I believe so, and I am myself a modern preacher, pastor and writer! The danger comes when I (or anybody else) try to pass off my words as the Word of God, or my opinion as God's opinion. I don't speak for God, and my words of teaching (and my books, and this podcast...) are only valuable when they adhere to God's Word and are founded on God's Word and point you to God's Word. My opinion is worth about what it costs you, which is nothing. It is worth much less than that - and becomes a danger to your soul - when I try to frame my opinion as the actual Words of God. It is a dangerous and brazen thing for a writer or teacher to take their words and speak/write them as if they are the Words of God.
“Because I am your constant Companion, there should be a lightness to your step that is observable to others."
Sarah Young, Jesus Calling
You will have suffering in this world. Be courageous! I have conquered the world.”
Jesus, John 16:33
Notice the difference between these two quotes! Jesus never calls His followers to something quite so superficial as a 'lightness in their step,' because the Bible is much more realistic and grounded than that.
Consider these two quotes below from 'Sprinkle of Jesus' Does this sound like the Jesus of the Bible?
Not Jesus! CERTAINLY not Jesus! This kind of thing is much more akin to Buddhism than the teachings of Jesus. Imagine texting the one you love, or a special friend. Imagine that their assistant, or secretary, or even a virtual assistant that is a thousand miles away from them answers you, and tells you something sweet and lovely that they (the secretary/assistant) made up themselves. That's nice and everything, but you haven't actually heard from the person you love, but from a substitute. There are no substitutes for God's Word, so let us be about the business of reading, studying and following it!
Welcome to episode #31 of the Bible Reading Podcast. Today's passages are Esther 8, in which Esther and Mordecai save the Jews from Haman's edict; Mark 3 and the calling together of Jesus' 12 disciples and Romans 3, in which we learn that absolutely nobody is able to achieve God's standards in and of themselves. Our focus passage for the day shifts back to Genesis and our old friend Jacob "The Goatman" BenIsaac, which I believe would be a pretty good wrestling name for Jacob. Genesis 32 sees God literally get a hold of Jacob, and Jacob getting a hold of God, and things get better for our 'hero' from there.
Wrestling was my jam when I was a kid, and I was privileged to grow up in the era of Hulkamania. You'd better believe I said my prayers and took my vitamins. Other than Hogan, my two favorites growing up were Ricky 'The Dragon' Steamboat and Billy Jack Haynes. I myself was a wrestler of some renown, basically a professional really, having won the 5th and 6th grade wrestling titles at my school for my weight class. My specialty move was the full nelson, which I know is illegal in real wrestling, but it was the only move I knew, which explains why I had to retire early, and never became a collegiate wrestling legend. Think of the greatest wrestling matches in history: Hulk Hogan vs. Andre the Giant, Randy 'Macho Man' Savage vs. Ricky The Dragon Steamboat. The Rock vs. Mankind, Stone Cold Steve Austin vs. Triple H and even the best real wrestling match of my lifetime, which saw Rulon Gardner defeat Alexander Karelin, a giant of a man who hadn't lost a wrestling match in 13 years. Go look that match up when the pod is over! But none of those matches even compare with the wrestling match we are going to read about today, because, at one point in history, a man wrestled with a Heavenly being and prevailed. Let's read about it!
Jacob Wrestles... So - here's the big question. Did Jacob actually defeat God in a wrestling match? Our answer, unfortunately, is a little complicated, because this one big question raises three other questions. #1 - Does the verb used in Genesis 32:28 "Prevailed in the CSB) indicate that Jacob WON the match? #2 Was Jacob actually wrestling God - as in YHVH the God of the Israelites and the Most High God? #3 - Did this being allow Jacob to win in order to bless him? So - let's tackle the three questions in order:
#1 - Does the text here indicate that Jacob 'won' the match in the same way that, say, Rulon Gardner won against Karelin, or the Patriots beat the Rams in last year's Super Bowl? To answer that question, we need to consider the Hebrew word "yakol " This is a verb that occurs nearly 200 times in the Bible. Of those times, approximately 15 percent of the time, it is translated as 'prevail,' or something very similar to prevail. (As a refresher, 'prevail' means, " prove more powerful than opposing forces; be victorious ") 15 percent is not a very high number, so this is not the normal meaning of the word. About 90 times - 40 percent of the occurrences, or so - the word is translated as "could" or "able," both of which are far more neutral verbs that don't necessarily indicate victory, but do indicate perseverance. Unfortunately, that is about as far as we can go. Most of the time when this Hebrew word appears, it doesn't seem to indicate outright victory, but there are many times that it does. Unfortunately, context and grammar does not help us to definitely, beyond a doubt, establish whether or not Jacob actually wrestled God and won. The text could merely be saying that Jacob wrestled and did not give up, or he wrestled and persevered. Even if it is the less victorious meaning of the verb, it should still be acknowledged that this is something of a tremendous accomplishment - one that caused Jacob to be tremendously blessed, and changed the entire naming of the people of God. You might say that the name change to Israel proves that Jacob 'won' the match, but I don't think so - Israel means to strive with God or contend with God - a meaning that doesn't indicate victory.
#2 - Was Jacob actually wrestling with God? This is an interesting question that has an extremely long and not satisfyingly clear answer, and it will begin a discussion for us that won't end today. The heading of my Bible on this section of Genesis 32 says "Jacob Wrestles with God," so that settles it, correct? Well - not yet, actually. The headings in our Bibles were not inerrantly inspired by the Holy Spirit, because they were not part of the original text of the Bible. Clearly, Jacob believes that he has wrestled with God - because He names the place "Penuel" which is the Hebrew word for "face" and the Hebrew word for 'god,' put together. And indeed, Jacob is correct - the Hebrew of this passage and the Hebrew of a passage like Hosea 12 (which refers back to this passage) both tell us that Jacob has wrestled with an Elohim:
In the womb he grasped his brother’s heel,
and as an adult he wrestled with God.Hosea 12:3
Case closed, right?! The text says it right there - Jacob wrestled WITH GOD. Except...that word Elohim in the Hebrew is a very, very interesting word with a broader sense of meaning than we might realize. This fact will become very important as we read through the Bible, so we may as well begin to grapple with it now. (pun intended.) Consider Strong's definition of Elohim:
אֱלֹהִים ʼĕlôhîym, el-o-heem'; plural of H433; gods in the ordinary sense; but specifically used (in the plural thus, especially with the article) of the supreme God; occasionally applied by way of deference to magistrates; and sometimes as a superlative:—angels, × exceeding, God (gods) (-dess, -ly), × (very) great, judges, × mighty.
Strong's Concordance
So - that word can mean gods (with a little 'g') It can mean the one supreme God and it can also be used for angels, magistrates (government leaders) and judges. Which is interesting. You might be thinking - wait a minute! There's only one God, right?! And yes - there is only one Supreme Almighty God, and that God is Yahweh, which is the name that God gives to Moses for Himself. But, perhaps a bit confusingly, there are many Elohims. Consider Psalm 82:
God stands in the divine assembly;
he pronounces judgment among the gods:
2 “How long will you judge unjustly
and show partiality to the wicked?Selah
3 Provide justice for the needy and the fatherless;
uphold the rights of the oppressed and the destitute.
4 Rescue the poor and needy;
save them from the power of the wicked.”
5 They do not know or understand;
they wander in darkness.
All the foundations of the earth are shaken.
6 I said, “You are gods;
you are all sons of the Most High.
7 However, you will die like humans
and fall like any other ruler.”Psalm 82:1-7
If that is not enough for you, consider these passages:
Lord, there is no one like you among the gods, and there are no works like yours.
Psalm 86:8
For the Lord is great and is highly praised; he is feared above all gods.
Psalm 96:4
So - what gives here? Several different Bible passages that seem to affirm that there may be more than one God? And I guess, not to be a politician or anything, but the key thing is what your definition of 'God' is. The Bible is quite clear that there are indeed many Elohims, but there is ONLY ONE GOD ABOVE GODS (Or, God Almighty) He is ONE in the sense that He is ABOVE ALL. Consider how these passages in Exodus Deuteronomy puts it:
Lord, who is like you among the gods?
Who is like you, glorious in holiness,
revered with praises, performing wonders?Exodus 15:11-12
For the Lord your God is the God of gods and Lord of lords, the great, mighty, and awe-inspiring God, showing no partiality and taking no bribe.
Deuteronomy 10:17
And that is the key. There are many heavenly beings (living in the 'heavens,' but not necessarily in Heaven,) but only ONE God who is the Creator and Master and Lord. He is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. And that is why I am unsure that Jacob wrestled THE GOD. Maybe I haven't convinced you, but I believe I might be able to if I tag in my partner Hosea again:
The Lord also has a dispute with Judah.
He is about to punish Jacob according to his conduct;
he will repay him based on his actions.
3 In the womb he grasped his brother’s heel,
and as an adult he wrestled with God.
4 Jacob struggled with the angel and prevailed;
he wept and sought his favor.
He found him at Bethel,
and there he spoke with him.Hosea 12:1-4
Did you catch it?! At first the text notes that Jacob wrestled with God, and then the text notes that He wrestled/struggled with the angel and prevailed. WHAT GIVES? And the answer, I believe, is that God sometimes manifests or appears as The Angel of YHVH, or the Angel of the Lord. Who is the Angel of the Lord? That is a question for another upcoming podcast, but very briefly, the Angel of the Lord first appears in Scripture in Genesis 16, when He rescues Hagar, mother of Ishmael, and sends her back to Abraham's family. The next appearance of the Angel of the Lord is in Genesis 22, when the Angel of the Lord prevents Abraham from sacrificing Isaac. Consider this passage and see how closely tied together the identity of the Angel of the Lord and Yahweh God are:
1But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!”He replied, “Here I am.”12 Then he said, “Do not lay a hand on the boy or do anything to him. For now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your only son from me.” 13 Abraham looked up and saw a ram caught in the thicket by its horns. So Abraham went and took the ram and offered it as a burnt offering in place of his son. 14 And Abraham named that place The Lord Will Provide, so today it is said: “It will be provided on the Lord’s mountain.” 15 Then the angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time from heaven 16 and said, “By myself I have sworn,” this is the Lord’s declaration: “Because you have done this thing and have not withheld your only son, 17 I will indeed bless you and make your offspring as numerous as the stars of the sky and the sand on the seashore. Your offspring will possess the city gates of their enemies. 18 And all the nations of the earth will be blessed by your offspring because you have obeyed my command.”
Genesis 22:11-18
So - did Jacob wrestle with God? I believe the answer is a somewhat weak and qualified 'yes.' In a sense, he did indeed wrestle with God, but it is important to recognize the mystery in a passage like this.
#3 Final question: Did The Angel of the Lord/God allow Jacob to "win." As discussed above, it is unclear whether or not Jacob actually 'won' this match in the same way that we use the word 'won.' If there was a referee there, I do NOT believe that the ref would have held up Jacob's hand and said, "Ladies and gentlemen, here is your winner!" I think that this being had power that dwarfed the strength and tenacity of Jacob, and yet He was obviously impressed with Jacob's perseverance. This will be a theme we see repeated in the Bible too - spiritually and otherwise - God appears to be moved by perseverance. Jacob 'prevailed' in that he displayed remarkable courage and refusal to quit. God/the Angel of the Lord, could have ended this match in a nano-second (as we will soon see in other appearances of the Angel of the Lord), but I believe that this text shows, in the same way a father enjoys 'wrestling' with His toddler, that God/the Angel of the Lord, might also enjoy wrestling with His children.
Callback to a previous episode: What is the blasphemy of the Spirit A.K.A. the unforgivable sin?
Addendum: For those who are curious - does the view above indicate that I believe the Hebrews practiced some sort of polytheism? Not in the least! Here's Dr. Michael Heiser with a detailed answer to that question:
The biblical writers refer to a half-dozen different entities with the word elohim. By any religious accounting, the attributes of those entities are not equal.
•Yahweh, the God of Israel (thousands of times—e.g., Gen 2:4–5; Deut 4:35)
•The members of Yahweh’s council (Psa 82:1, 6)
•Gods and goddesses of other nations (Judg 11:24; 1 Kgs 11:33)
•Demons (Hebrew: shedim—Deut 32:17)3
•The deceased Samuel (1 Sam 28:13)
•Angels or the Angel of Yahweh4 (Gen 35:7)The importance of this list can be summarized with one question: Would any Israelite, especially a biblical writer, really believe that the deceased human dead and demons are on the same level as Yahweh? No. The usage of the term elohim by biblical writers tells us very clearly that the term is not about a set of attributes. Even though when we see “G-o-d” we think of a unique set of attributes, when a biblical writer wrote elohim, he wasn’t thinking that way. If he were, he’d never have used the term elohim to describe anything but Yahweh.
Consequently, there is no warrant for concluding that plural elohim produces a pantheon of interchangeable deities. There is no basis for concluding that the biblical writers would have viewed Yahweh as no better than another elohim. A biblical writer would not have presumed that Yahweh could be defeated on any given day by another elohim, or that another elohim (why not any of them?) had the same set of attributes.
The Unseen Realm, Dr. Michael Heiser
Today's Bible passages feature the incredible absurdities of Jacob (and his sneaky wife Rachel!) in Genesis 31, some very satisfying comeuppance for the antisemite Haman in Esther 7, and Jesus healing, forgiving, and calling a seemingly ignoble tax-collector to His team of disciples in Mark 2. Romans 2 is our focus passage of the day, and it is all about hypocrisy and its dangers. Even though the word 'hypocrite' is not found in the chapter at all, Romans 2 contains one of the most detailed - almost poetic - descriptions of hypocrisy in the Bible. Today we will change our format up ever so slightly by first reading Romans 2, and discussing how hypocrisy can blaspheme God's name, then we will read Esther 7, and cover the one big (and grisly) Bible mystery in that passage. Shout-out to my friend and Valley Baptist church-goer Dan Blair who suggested the topic for today's podcast (because he was reading ahead into Romans) and also shout out to the people that attacked one of our church Facebook posts this week for being an excellent demonstration that hypocrisy is not just something that Christians do, but that anybody can engage in hypocrisy!
Let's jump right into Romans 2, and come back for a deep discussion of hypocrisy!
Hypocrisy is a big, big deal. If you Google the word to come up with a concise and easy to understand definition (as I did), you will find this gem presented to you from the Oxford dictionary, "[hypocrisy is] the practice of claiming to have moral standards or beliefs to which one's own behavior does not conform; pretense." Of all the definitions I read, and there are many, I believe that this one correlates most closely to the behavior that Jesus seeks to challenge and condemn so many times. Interestingly, Google also serves up a picture to go along with hypocrisy, and it is a challenge to those of us, like myself, who are pro-life.
Hypocrisy is dangerous. In most modern versions of the Bible, the word 'hypocrite' and its cognates appear about 30 or so times in most translations of the Bible. Of those appearances, about 75 percent of them are referenced by Jesus, and it is clear that this is an issue that is exceedingly important to Him. Consider just these four passages to get an idea of how Jesus feels about hypocrisy: (I note here that passage #1 gives a crystal clear definition of hypocrisy by Jesus.)
27 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which appear beautiful on the outside, but inside are full of the bones of the dead and every kind of impurity. 28 In the same way, on the outside you seem righteous to people, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.
Matthew 23:27-28
5 “Whenever you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites, because they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by people. Truly I tell you, they have their reward. 6 But when you pray, go into your private room, shut your door, and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
Matthew 6:5-6'
He answered them, “Isaiah prophesied correctly about you hypocrites, as it is written: This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me.
Mark 7:6
Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me take out the splinter that is in your eye,’ when you yourself don’t see the beam of wood in your eye? Hypocrite! First take the beam of wood out of your eye, and then you will see clearly to take out the splinter in your brother’s eye.
Luke 6:42
So, according to Jesus, hypocrisy is appearing to be religious on the outside, but being dead and wicked on the inside/in secret. Hypocrisy is doing gaudy religious behavior so that you appear to be righteous. Hypocrisy is honoring God with our words (and social media posts) but being distant from Him in our hearts, and hypocrisy is judging other people for minor sins when we ourselves are engaging in major sins. In case you can't tell from what Jesus and Paul said, this behavior is incredibly dangerous to our own souls. It is also remarkably confusing to people who are NOT Christians. And, as Paul has shown us, this leads to them blaspheming (aggressively insulting and speaking against) the name of God.
When we Christians claim to believe the truths of the Bible, and strongly expound them on social media, and yet don't live up to the words of our mouths and the words of our posts, we are engaging in hypocrisy and increasing the level of blaspheme against the name of God. When we Christians claim to believe the teachings of the Bible, and then lionize and support people who live in opposite ways to the Word of God, then we are confusing non-believers, and engaging in the kind of hypocrisy that increases the level of blasphemy of God's name in the world. When we Christians come out against the immoral behavior of non-Christians and condemn that behavior, and then are later caught doing that same thing - or worse!- then we are engaging in the kind of hypocrisy that raises the level of blasphemy in the world and causes the world to view the teachings of the Bible with extreme skepticism. Our behavior and beliefs must correlate with our actions, and both must be governed by the Word of God and the leadership of the Holy Spirit. There is no justification - pragmatic, political, philosophical or otherwise - for any of those kinds of hypocrisy. We MUST flee from behavior that is hypocritical, lest we run afoul of our Master Jesus, or increase the level of blasphemy in the world.
May such words not be true of us! Here are ten powerful quotes on hypocrisy:
When you see a man with a great deal of religion displayed in his shop window, you may depend upon it he keeps a very small stock of it within.
Charles Spurgeon
He that puts on a religious habit abroad to gain himself a great name among men, and at the same time lives like an atheist at home, shall at the last be uncovered by God and presented before all the world for a most outrageous hypocrite.
Thomas Brooks, The Privie Key of Heaven (1665).
We ought to read the psalms that curse the oppressor; read them with fear. Who knows what imprecations of the same sort have been uttered against ourselves? What prayers have Red men, and Black, and Brown and Yellow, sent up against us to their gods or sometimes to God Himself? All over the earth the White Man’s offence ‘smells to heaven’: massacres, broken treaties, theft, kidnappings, enslavement, deportation, floggings, lynchings, beatings-up, rape, insult, mockery, and odious hypocrisy make up that smell.
C. S. Lewis, Christian Reflections, ed. Walter Hooper, EPub Edition. (HarperOne, 2014), 119. NOTE: This was written more than ten years before the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.
He talks about prayer, of repentance, of faith, and of the new birth; but he only knows how to talk about them. I have visited his family and have observed him both at home and abroad, and I know what I say is the truth. His house is as empty of religion as the white of an egg is devoid of flavor. There is no prayer offered in his house, nor any sign of repentance for sin. Yes, even an animal serves God far better than Talkative.“To all who know him, he is the very stain, reproach, and shame of religion. Because of his reputation, the neighborhood in which he lives hardly has a good word to say about him. The common people who really know him say, ‘A saint abroad and a devil at home.’
John Bunyan, Description of 'Talkative' a hypocrite who poses as a Christian in Pilgrim's Progress.
A hypocrite is the picture of a saint; but his paint shall be washed off, and he shall appear in his own colors.
Reverend John Mason
COALS of fire cannot be concealed beneath the most sumptuous apparel, they will betray themselves with smoke and flame; nor can darling sins be long hidden beneath the most ostentatious profession, they will sooner or later discover themselves, and burn sad holes in the man’s reputation. Sin needs quenching in the Saviour’s blood, not concealing under the garb of religion.
C. H. Spurgeon, Feathers for Arrows (London: Passmore & Alabaster, 1870), 115.
O, what may man within him hide, Though angel on the outward side!
William Shakespeare, Measure for Measure
Hypocrisy leads a man to pretend to be what he is not. His only hope lies in not being discovered; but, as Christ declares that “there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; neither hid, that shall not be known;” hypocrisy becomes insanity as well as iniquity. Therefore, keep clear of it in every shape and form.
C. H. Spurgeon, “God’s Glory Our Reward,” in The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit Sermons, vol. 53 (London: Passmore & Alabaster, 1907), 104.
Hypocrisy is hateful to God and humanity. It does not bring a reward, and it is utterly useless for the salvation of the soul. It is rather the cause of its damnation. Although sometimes it may escape detection for a little while, before long, it is sure to be uncovered and bring disgrace on them.
Cyril of Alexandria 300s-400s AD Arthur A. Just, ed., Luke, Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2005), 203–204.
If a man preaches but does not practice what he preaches, he is like a well of water where everyone can quench their thirst and wash their dirt, but which cannot clean away the filth and dung that is around it.
Poeman, A Christian monk from the 300s-400s AD Elliot Ritzema, 300 Quotations for Preachers from the Early Church, Pastorum Series (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2013).
As to the issue of Haman, almost certainly, he was not hanged on a the version of the gallows that most of us would be familiar with. The Hebrew verbiage is a bit ambiguous here, but it could be read to indicate the Haman was impaled on a pole/tree/spike, or that he was hung (as in, attached) to a pole and left to die. Probably not dropped through the gallows as we think of it.
In the work of the Greek historian Herodotus, impalement is regularly presented as a Persian punishment (see The Histories, 1.128, 3,132, 3.159, 6.30 as examples). Given the setting of Esther, it thus seems likely that the manner of punishment for Haman was in fact impalement. In other words, the fifty-cubit “tree” built by Haman was intended to display Mordecai’s body impaled in such a way that no one could avoid seeing it. As it turned out, however, it was Haman, whose death (and the folly leading to it) was put on display for the entire population. This view is also confirmed by both recent commentaries (by Jon Levenson, for example) and by older commentaries (Keil and Delitzsch). In this case, I think the TNIV and the NLT to be more correct in their translation than the ESV or the NASB.
https://www.ligonier.org/blog/was-haman-hanged-or-impaled/
So I got an interesting letter this week from a friend of the podcast, and boy oh boy, is he in a mess! Let me read it to you, and see if you might have any ideas how to help my friend:
Dear random podcast host,
My name is Yacov Ben Yiṣḥāq, and I have a problem I'm hoping that you can help me with. It is fairly complicated, but it all started when I stole the blessing of the firstborn from my mean-tempered, smelly, hairy and unreasonable brother Hesau. He would have wasted it anyway, but when he found out, that lunk-head decided to kill me. Fortunately, I ran away from home and went far away to my uncle's compound, where I promptly fell in love with my cousin, Ra-hel. Yeah, I know you Americans kind of find that icky, but it was mostly ok where I come from and Ra-hel is so hot that I literally cried the first time I saw her. No, I'm not emo. Anyway, so, I asked my uncle if I could marry Ra-hel, and he said yes, and we had a marriage and everything, and it was great. Maybe I celebrated a little too hard, if you get my drift, but it was my wedding, and most people only get one of those. So anyway, after the big wedding, me and the wife went to the tent for the woo-hoo (let the reader understand) and in the morning I woke up not to Ra-hel but to her way less hot sister Leah!! SO, as any nephew would do in this situation, I went to my uncle and demanded an explanation. He said that I shouldn't worry, that he would give me Ra-hel AND Leah, and that all I had to do was work for him FOURTEEN years. FOURTEEN! That is a long time. But, you know - Ra-hel being so beautiful she made me cry and all, I agreed to it. Well, fast forward a few years. And, believe it or not, being married to a couple of sisters (and their servants...don't ask, long story!) is complicated. I've had a bunch of kids by Ra-hel, and Leah, and their servants, and now my wives all fight over me, and over getting pregnant, and everything, and one of them appears to be a thief, and honestly, I sometimes think maybe it would have been easier if I had just let Hesau knock my block off. What do I do?!
Signed, Harassed and Hopeless in Haran
Well, Harassed and Hopeless, never having married sisters before, and never having married a first cousin before, and never having married any concubines or servants of my wife before, I am honestly at a loss for how to help you. Let me think about that for a minute as we read Genesis 30, our first Bible passage of the day.
So - Jacob is in a mess, and SPOILER ALERT - things are going to get messier before they get better. Before we get back to answering the letter from our friend seeking advice, let's take a look at one interesting detail here: The whole spotted/speckled goat thing. What in the world is going on here?! Honestly, your guess is as good as mine. There are two main theories here, and both of them could be true with a high view of the Bible.
Jacob's Speckled Sheep Theory #1 - Jacob's putting peeled branches in the watering troughs of the sheep was silly superstition and had absolutely NOTHING to do with the health of those sheep and how they multiplied. Jacob thought he was doing something clever, but what he was doing was the equivalent of ancient hocus-pocus (old wives' tales) and it was actually God who supernaturally increased Jacob's flocks. This theory is put forward quite well by Gotquestions.org:
The biblical answer to the mystery of how Jacob’s peeled poles resulted in speckled sheep is found in the next chapter: Jacob says to Rachel, “I’ve worked for your father with all my strength, yet your father has cheated me by changing my wages ten times. However, God has not allowed him to harm me. . . . So God has taken away your father’s livestock and has given them to me. In breeding season I once had a dream in which I looked up and saw that the male goats mating with the flock were streaked, speckled or spotted. The angel of God said to me in the dream, . . . ‘Look up and see that all the male goats mating with the flock are streaked, speckled or spotted, for I have seen all that Laban has been doing to you’” (Genesis 31:6–12). The Bible does not teach the validity of visual, prenatal influence over genetics. Whatever superstitious, nonsensical ideas were behind Jacob’s placement of the branches in the troughs, it was God who caused the increase in the speckled sheep and goats. All of Jacob’s work had been for naught. Peeling the branches and setting them out in front of the flocks was really a lack of faith on his part. Jacob’s schemes to increase his flock were unnecessary, because God had already determined to enrich him. God graciously worked, not because of Jacob’s streaked branches, but in spite of them.
https://www.gotquestions.org/Jacob-speckled-spotted.html
Theory #2, Suggested by Answers in Genesis, is that Jacob's putting of these peeled branches in the water troughs was, among other things, actually giving these flocks some vitamins and minerals and helpful things that caused them to be healthier and reproduce with more vigor:
Several sources claim the poplar and almond trees have medicinal properties for both humans and livestock. There are several scientific journal papers that mention that the particular trees from which Jacob peeled sticks supposedly cure urogenital problems, reduce fevers, work as anti-inflammatories and aid in reducing reproductive disorders. All of these would make an animal healthier, and more likely to produce healthy offspring. Several studies have been done on poplar and almond tree bark, leaves, nuts, and twigs (small diameter branches, or what Scripture called “sticks”), and they mentioned that sheep would eat these and that ewes especially benefited from them. Also, many of the chemical compounds would still be beneficial even by simply steeping in water. Some of those benefits are highlighted below.
https://answersingenesis.org/genetics/animal-genetics/jacobs-odd-breeding-program-genesis-30/
I gotta say, that Answers in Genesis article is pretty darn impressive. If you've got about 25 minutes, go read it. They make a very thorough and well documented scientific case that Jacob might just have been onto something with those sticks in the water. Why are they so concerned with vindicating Jacob's methods? Because some people have used this passage to undermine the credibility of the Bible, as AIG says:
Genesis 30:37–31:16 is a section of Scripture often held up to ridicule by skeptics, and even some of those committed to biblical inerrancy and authority struggle with understanding and explaining to others. So many questions have been raised: Does Jacob’s “peeled bark” practice have any bearing on how sheep and goats breed? Does it offer any health or reproductive value? Did God instruct Jacob in this practice? Was it his intention, and if so was it deceitful for Jacob to seek to appropriate the flocks of Laban, his father-in-law? Was this an entirely natural phenomenon, or was there a large dose of providential direction involved?
https://answersingenesis.org/genetics/animal-genetics/jacobs-odd-breeding-program-genesis-30/
Honestly, I lean towards the Gotquestions.org explanation, but I won't be surprised either way. I do NOT believe that this is an issue that undermines the inerrancy of the Bible in any way, shape or form. Why is that? Because NOT EVERYTHING IN THE BIBLE IS TRUE! Whoa, whoa, whoa - sound the liberal alarm, ring the heretic bell...no, hang on. I am absolutely, positively, with all my heart and soul committed to biblical inerrancy as it has been held by the giants of the faith for centuries. But there are times when sinful humans in the Bible affirm wrong things. Let's take our chapter here, for instance. Consider this passage:
3 Then she said, “Here is my maid Bilhah. Go sleep with her, and she’ll bear children for me so that through her I too can build a family.” 4 So Rachel gave her slave Bilhah to Jacob as a wife, and he slept with her. 5 Bilhah conceived and bore Jacob a son. 6 Rachel said, “God has vindicated me; yes, he has heard me and given me a son,” so she named him Dan.
Genesis 30:3-6
Rachel was frustrated that she was not getting pregnant and having babies by Jacob. Her solution? To give her servant Bilhah to her husband so that he could make babies with her. When that plan worked, Rachel concluded that God had vindicated her and given her a son. IS THIS TRUE? Did God vindicate Rachel by this plan working? Honestly, I don't think so...I think Rachel is WRONG here and justifying herself. Was Sarah doing the right thing when she gave her servant Hagar to her husband? The context of the Bible shows quite conclusively that this was a wrong thing to do. Here are a couple of other examples:
Job's friend Bildad, trying to explain why Job's children were tragically killed, tells Job in no uncertain terms that it was their sin that killed them:
"If your children have sinned against him, he has delivered them into the hand of their transgression”
Job 8:4
Later, God takes Job's friends to task and rebukes them for their lousy council and wrong statements to Job. Thus we can't look at any of the statements of Job's friends as being truthful, because God Himself tells us in the book of Job, "After the Lord had finished speaking to Job, He said to Eliphaz the Temanite: “I am angry with you and your two friends, for you have not spoken the truth about Me, as My servant Job has" (Job 42:7)
Or, consider the powerful and encouraging words of the prophet Zedekiah and his friends, "March up and succeed!" (You could almost see that on a t-shirt, or an inspirational calendar, right?)
9 Now the king of Israel and King Jehoshaphat of Judah, clothed in royal attire, were each sitting on his own throne. They were sitting on the threshing floor at the entrance to Samaria’s gate, and all the prophets were prophesying in front of them. 10 Then Zedekiah son of Chenaanah made iron horns and said, “This is what the Lord says: ‘You will gore the Arameans with these until they are finished off.’” 11 And all the prophets were prophesying the same, saying, “March up to Ramoth-gilead and succeed, for the Lord will hand it over to the king.”
2 Chronicles 18:9-11
The only problem? EVERY ONE OF THOSE PROPHETS WERE FALSE PROPHETS and their prophecies were worth as much as slightly used toilet paper.
What about the New Testament? Surely we can trust the disciples James and John to say things that are 100 percent trustworthy, right?
52 He sent messengers ahead of Him, and on the way they entered a village of the Samaritans to make preparations for Him. 53 But they did not welcome Him, because He determined to journey to Jerusalem.54 When the disciples James and John saw this, they said, “Lord, do You want us to call down fire from heaven to consume them?”
Luke 9:52-54
SHOULD WE call down fire from Heaven on people who don't receive Jesus? The unsurprising answer is NO, which is revealed to us in the next two verses when Jesus rebukes James and John for their silliness.
So, considering the above, we can see that Sarah's example is not showing us that a good way to have kids is to give your husband another woman. Job's friends do not teach us how to encourage those who are going through tragedy, and we can learn nothing from Zedekiah son of Chenaanah about prophesying accurately. And that also means that Jacob's actions aren't infallible, and his interpretations aren't infallible, and his stick in the water trough trick may not actually have been all that effective. We don't know one way or the other because the Bible doesn't tell us one way or the other, and that is okay. We don't need to speculate in the absence of clear Scripture.
What's the point? The Bible is ABSOLUTELY AND UNQUESTIONABLY true in all that it affirms. But it is crucial that we make sure that we are latching onto something the Bible affirms. Imagine a scenario where somebody does exactly what Jacob did, and their flocks don't multiply at a ridiculous rate. Does that mean the Bible was wrong? Of course not! The Bible never affirms or denies that Jacob's stick trick was effective or not. It doesn't tell us whether or not Rachel's contention that God vindicated her was correct, and it never directly says that polygamy is a sin, but sure shows how complicated it is over and over again!
There are times that the behavior and words of key characters in the Bible are suspect and unbiblical (in that they go against God's commands) and thus, by context and interpreting Scripture with Scripture, we understand and follow God's Words. For more, you can read the Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy, which I completely agree with and hold to. CLICK HERE)
Oh yeah - and Jacob, son of Isaac, old buddy - I wish I knew what to tell you about your situation. It is one of the trickiest I've ever heard of, and it sounds like you caused a lot of the problems. Next time maybe get a good look at your wife before you actually consummate that marriage. That seems like good advice to me. Trust God, and I'm sure He will be found faithful.
Oh, and don't let go until He blesses you.
Welcome into episode 28 - we are now four weeks into doing a daily Bible podcast. Thank you to those who have been here since the beginning all those many days ago and welcome aboard to any newcomers. As a reminder - our goal is to be in God's Word daily and encourage others to do the same. No need to go back and read yesterday's readings, unless you just have the time to do that and want to. Please share the show with friends and family!
My son recently asked me what my favorite episodes were so far, and I thought that was a good question. Here are five I particularly enjoyed reading about, writing about, and recording the episode (not in a particular order):
Sunday's Episode about the devotion of Mary of Bethany and how she exemplifies the first and greatest commandment is a recent favorite.
The Nephilim episode, number 6, was a favorite because is a fun topic to discuss and research. For awhile it was the most popular episode in terms of downloads.
Are Christians bound to follow the Old Testament AND the New Testament is a very important question that most Christians don't think about enough from a scriptural perspective.
Last week's episode on the Last Days/End Times emphasizes that the WHEN is not the most important thing, but our readiness for the return of Jesus the King.
Finally, Judging is a very misunderstood teaching in the Bible. Some people judge others way too much, while others believe the Bible forbids every type of judgment. The biblical answer is somewhere between those two extremes.
Today's episode is focused on what I believe is the central event of Christianity and our great hope - the resurrection, AKA the victory of Jesus over death. Interestingly, the Bible speaks of death as an enemy, and anybody who has lost a loved one can testify that death does indeed come like an enemy and causes tremendous heartache and pain.
25 For He must reign until He puts all His enemies under His feet. 26 The last enemy to be abolished is death.
1 Corinthians 15:25-26
Three days after His grisly death on the cross (See yesterday's episode on the crucifixion...), Jesus walked out of the tomb alive again, having handed death its first permanent defeat. Often, when I talk about the resurrection, I seek to give people reasons to believe that the resurrection of Jesus was a REAL historical event that factually happened. The second book I wrote, Easter: Fact or Fiction, has twenty of those reasons to believe in the resurrection, and it is probably my favorite book of those I've written. If you interested in apologetics, it might be worth checking out. Rather than take an apologetics/reasons to believe approach today, I would rather simply focus on the HOPE that comes from the factual and historical resurrection of Jesus. Paul talks twice about that hope in the famous resurrection chapter (1 Corinthians 15):
If I fought wild animals in Ephesus with only human hope,what good did that do me? If the dead are not raised, Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.
1 Corinthians 15: 32
16 For if the dead are not raised, Christ has not been raised. 17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins. 18 Therefore, those who have fallen asleep in Christ have also perished. 19 If we have put our hope in Christ for this life only, we should be pitied more than anyone.
1 Corinthians 15:16-19
In the first quote above, Paul talks about some of his harrowing adventures sharing the gospel in and around Ephesus, and is saying how worthless those brushes with death would have been if Paul and his team only had human hopes - if there is no resurrection, he is saying, go live a life of partying and pleasure, because you're just going to die suddenly one day. In the second passage, Paul is saying that there is no hope for Christians, and Christianity is the most pitiful religion and philosophy in the world if the resurrection isn't real and factual. BUT IT IS REAL AND FACTUAL. Jesus has overcame death, and therefore He will overcome death in us:
20 But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. 21 For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead also comes through a man. 22 For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive.
1 Corinthians 15:20-22
Because of this - we have hope, and I want to close with a meditation on hope I wrote a short while ago:
“Be strong and courageous, all you who put your hope in the Lord.” Psalm 31:24
A Meditation on Resurrection Hope: Hope is one of my favorite things in all of the world, and I spend a lot of my time hoping for things. Often I hope for very rational things. I hope that my kids will be healthy this month. I hope that my wife and I will be good parents, good spouses, and good friends. I hope that our monthly income will be enough to cover our monthly outflow...that sort of thing. Other times, my hopes can be a little more colorful, which is a polite way to say extremely unrealistic.
As a young teenager, I desperately hoped to be able to one day have adamantium claws and a healing factor, so that I could be more like my childhood hero Wolverine. I later hoped to become a professional baseball player who would be a power pitcher AND a good hitter. Somebody who would hit at least a 300, with a few dozen homers to boot. Yeah...neither of those hopes have been even remotely fulfilled, and certainly never will. Alas. That’s the thing about hope - it is only as good and valuable as its object. Hoping that something will happen, does NOT make it more likely to happen, does it? That’s just not how hope works. The amount of hope we have in something does not correlate with the likelihood of that thing happening. Therefore, in order for hope to be a positive and valuable thing, the object of hope - the thing that is hoped for - must be solid and secure, or the only thing that will result from hope is disappointment.
The Bible doesn’t really talk about hope the way that most people do today. We might say, “I hope it rains.” or “I hope that Alabama wins the football game Saturday,” meaning that we have a desire for something to happen that is uncertain. We use the word ‘hope’ in a way that is synonymous with our desires - we might as well say, “I WANT it to rain.” or “I WANT Alabama to win Saturday.” That’s how most English speaking people use the word ‘hope.’ Biblical hope is not focused on something that is wished for...but something that is a certainty.
Consider 1 Corinthians 15:19, 32- “If we have put our hope in Christ for this life only, we should be pitied more than anyone….32 If I fought wild animals in Ephesus with only human hope, what good did that do me? If the dead are not raised, Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.” What Paul means by that passage, which clearly contrasts human hope and biblical hope, is that the resurrection of Jesus from the dead is the source and object of biblical hope. If that hope is a false hope - if Jesus didn’t really/genuinely/historically rise from the dead - then Christians are the most pitiful fools and time-wasters in the entire world. The focus of biblical hope is the resurrection of Jesus, and it is a sure hope and anchor, according to Hebrews 6 - a certain and historical fact that is worthy of people putting the entirety of their confidence in. The Bible urges Christians to put their hope in certain things (like the resurrection) and warns Christians against putting their hope in uncertain things, like seemingly powerful armies/technology/human sources of power, etc. (“The horse is a false hope for safety; it provides no escape by its great power.” Psalm 33:17)
This biblical hope is intensely practical, and it informs everything about the Christian life. Consider these five hope-focused Scripture passages, and the practical implications they mention that are reality because of biblical hope:
- Biblical hope impacts the way we view death - the way we behave at funerals. Yes! Christians grieve in the face of death...but not as those who are of the world. “We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, concerning those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve like the rest, who have no hope.” 1 Thessalonians 4:13
- Biblical hope is transformative - it changes our very nature, and makes us like Jesus. “Dear friends, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet been revealed. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him because we will see Him as He is. 3 And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself just as He is pure.” 1 John 3:2-4
- Biblical hope results in powerful and practical confidence. Not self-confidence, but God-confidence. “Therefore, having such a hope, we use great boldness. We are not like Moses, who used to put a veil over his face so that the Israelites could not stare at the the end of what was fading away.” Hebrews 3:12-13
- Biblical hope is a defining characteristic of the Christian life - it is absolutely essential. Those who do not possess a sure hope in the resurrection of Jesus are not actually Christians. “But Christ was faithful as a Son over His household. And we are that household if we hold on to the courage and the confidence of our hope.” Hebrews 3:6
- Biblical hope is protective, and the Bible compares it to armor. When our hope and focus is on the solid foundation of Jesus overcoming death, then we are protected from doubt and any other attacks from the enemy. “But since we belong to the day, we must be serious and put the armor of faith and love on our chests, and put on a helmet of the hope of salvation.” 1 Thessalonians 5:8
Hope is a beautiful thing, and it is a centerpiece and essential component of Christianity. We are defined by hope, and we should overflow with hope. (Romans 15:13) Because of hope, we should be bold and confident witnesses to a world full of wishers and dreamers. They are looking for something to place their hope in, but so many things have disappointed and failed them. Biblical hope will not. No matter what you are facing now, no matter how much your life or family has been devastated by the effects of the fall, no matter how hopeless you might feel, know that the fact is that Jesus is returning to redeem those who are His own. He is returning to make things right. He is returning to crush death, end sickness, and wipe away every tear. He is coming. It is a certain guarantee. Rest in that. Hope in that. Rejoice in that! Look to Him and live forever in realized hope.
“Let us strive to know the Lord. His appearance is as sure as the dawn. He will come to us like the rain, like the spring showers that water the land.” Hosea 6:3
“History ends with the resurrection. Resurrection is complete restoration, but only after death and destruction. This avoids the unbalanced optimism of modernity but also the hopelessness of dystopianism. On the final day of history, we know that our Redeemer will stand upon the earth, and that in our new resurrected bodies we will see God (Job 19:25-26) In the words of the poet Seamus Heaney “The longed-for tidal wave of justice can rise up — and hope and history rhyme.” - Tim Keller.
https://www.redeemer.com/redeemer-report/article/when_hope_and_history_rhyme
Today's passages are quite heavy in many ways. In Genesis 28, Jacob is sent away from his family (and his elder brother who, understandably, wants to kill him) to go find a wife and raise a family. Esther 4 sees Queen Esther contemplating risking her life by approaching the King and asking for him to somehow stop the slaughter of the Jews that he has already sanctioned. In Acts 27, Paul is bound for Rome as a prisoner aboard a sturdy ship with almost 300 other people. That ship is beset by a terrible storm that ends up grounding the ship and causing its destruction. And, darkest and heaviest of all, Matthew 27 is focused on the terrible suffering of Jesus on the cross at Golgotha.
It's Monday - not normally most people's favorite day of the week. And our topic for the day is heavy. But, let me assure you and encourage you: When you fully understand the depth of the pain and suffering of the crucifixion, I think your final emotion will be relief, rather than heaviness. Relief that you were spared (or could be spared) from such a fate by the eternal love of the Father and His Son. Let's read Matthew 27 and then dig in!
If you will recall, before Jesus was arrested, He was praying in the Garden, anticipating what was coming, and asking God to deliver Him with great drops of bloody sweat coming off of Him. The prayer of Jesus here was intense beyond any sort of level that most of us can understand, and He almost was overcome just in the act of praying. Consider what Tim Keller says:
"If the anticipation of these sufferings, if the very taste of these sufferings sent the Son of God into shock, what must it have been to drink them to the bottom?"
Timothy J. Keller, The Timothy Keller Sermon Archive (New York City: Redeemer Presbyterian Church, 2013).
The Scourging - metal balls that injure the organs. Pieces of metal that sink in and rip the flesh 3rd century - EUSABIOUS "their bodies were frightfully lacerated - their veins were laid bare, and the inner muscles, sinews, even entrails, were exposed." By His stripes we were healed. Not mainly about physical healing - but about the deeper healing of a person from their sins.
The Crossbar - Chest contusion onto marble - 100 pounds drove his chest into the ground.
Crucifixion - We get the word “excruciating” from there. The Roman statesman Cicero called it "the most cruel and disgusting penalty" The Jewish historian Josephus, "the most wretched of deaths."
The Sponge - Roman toilet paper. Got sick, learned to dip it in Gall/Vinegar to clean it.
The Spear: Pierce me in the side and heart, blood will come out. Blood and water for Jesus because either his heart was literally torn from the crossbar, or hypovolemic shock from the scourging.
Despite all of what you just heard about the sufferings of Jesus - the depth of the sufferings of Jesus for us and the love that is shown can only be seen in His taking on of the wrath of God for us. In the Garden - take this cup from me. What cup? Five times in the Bible - the cup of God’s Wrath. Jesus drank the cup of wrath in our place - every spanking that we deserved..every discipline...NOT HIS PHYSICAL SUFFERINGS. Ponder this - an infinite God can suffer infinitely. Yes He died in our place, but more than that, He suffered wrath for us. The punishment that was due to be paid for our sins was instead poured out on the perfect Jesus.
Yet He Himself bore our sicknesses,
and He carried our pains;
but we in turn regarded Him stricken,
struck down by God, and afflicted.
5 But He was pierced because of our transgressions,
crushed because of our iniquities;
punishment for our peace was on Him,
and we are healed by His wounds.
6 We all went astray like sheep;
we all have turned to our own way;
and the Lord has punished Him
for the iniquity of us all.Isaiah 53:4-6
"Some have inquired, what was the occasion of that distress and agony [in the Garden of Gethsemane], and there have been many speculations about it, but the account which the Scripture itself gives us is sufficiently full in this matter, and does not leave room for speculation or doubt. The thing that Christ’s mind was so full of at that time was, without doubt, the same with that which his mouth was so full of: it was the dread which his feeble human nature had of that dreadful cup, which was vastly more terrible than Nebuchadnezzar’s fiery furnace. He had then a near view of that furnace of wrath, into which he was to be cast; he was brought to the mouth of the furnace that he might look into it, and stand and view its raging flames, and see the glowings of its heat, that he might know where he was going and what he was about to suffer. This was the thing that filled his soul with sorrow and darkness, this terrible sight as it were overwhelmed him. For what was that human nature of Christ to such mighty wrath as this?
Jonathan Edwards, The Works of Jonathan Edwards, vol. 2 (Banner of Truth Trust, 1974), 867–868. Slightly modernized
God’s Wrath is real - It is mentioned around 600 times in the Old Testament. God’s Wrath is personal - just like His love. God’s wrath is necessary- It is Justice for those who commit spousal abuse, child abuse, murder, Hitler - evil in the world must be met with righteous wrath and unbiased punishment. GOD IS JUST AND LOVING. Our sins have justly earned us punishment and because God is perfectly just, He can't just wave away our sins - there must be a price paid for them. However, if we had to pay that price - if I had to pay that price, and if you had to pay the price for your sins - it would utterly annihilate us. It is literally a debt that we are unable to pay. So - God can't wave away the debt of our sin, because He is perfectly just, and He won't force us to pay the debt of our sin because He is perfectly love - and that is why Jesus paid it all.
The pain of the cross was not merely the physical aspects of being crucified. Hundreds of thousands of people were crucified in the ancient world. Many have suffered that fate. It's horrible, but the crucifixion wasn't unique. What was unique is that Jesus was crucified and, in the midst of being crucified, the entire punishment that was due all of the sins of humanity was poured out on Him. A mere mortal would have been ground to powder instantly, but it could be said that an infinite God can suffer infinitely. Jesus was fully God and fully man. He suffered and died of His wounds in crucifixion but He also suffered a vast amount more as the punishment that bought us peace was cast down upon Jesus. That, I believe, is the true torture and the true brilliance of the Cross. If Jesus had merely died on the cross and overcame death - that would be great and all, but that wouldn't help us much. After all, how much payment can one death on the cross cover? I guess one capital punishment can cover one person's heinous crimes. One life to save a life...but this isn't what happened with Jesus. Not only did He die a sinner's death - HE DIED MILLIONS UPON MILLIONS OF SINNER'S DEATHS. And thus, in His death and suffering we have peace.
Tonight at a wonderful prayer gathering, we sang a song that I love every part of, except the last line, which implies that Jesus, while hanging on the cross, thought of ME most of all. How that could be true for everybody singing the song, I'm not sure, but if that song makes people think that Jesus died on the cross smiling and happily thinking that He was glad to give His life for us, then I think that is inaccurate. I believe that Jesus DID think of me (and you!) while on the cross...but not in a happy, whimsical way...but He thought of me when He was paying the terrible price of my sins. His thoughts of me were likely agonizing. And yet He endured, and paid the price, and overcame death, and offers all who believe in Him eternal life. And that is far better, to me, than the silly thought that Jesus was suffering to the highest extent possible for a being to suffer while on the cross, and while doing so was happily thinking about me with a silly grin on His face.
I rejoice at the crucifixion. We should weep for the price that it cost our savior to redeem us. But those tears should be tears of joy and gratitude, not the bitter tears of somebody facing a terrible punishment. The resurrection and crucifixion stand at the literal center - the crux - of Christianity. Without the crucifixion, we are lost in our sins and still owe the righteous price that a 100 percent just God demands. Without the resurrection, there is no hope for a future life enjoying the paradise that the crucifixion bought for us - we are here one day, and gone the next. But, because of the crucifixion, all those who look to Jesus in wholehearted faith, believing that He died in your place, and following Him - they will be saved from the punishment due their wrongdoing, but not merely that. They will also be viewed by God the Father as fully righteous, because perfection has covered their wrongs.
Each of you says, “I’m with Paul,” or “I’m with Apollos,” or “I’m with Cephas,” or “I’m with Christ.” 13 Is Christ divided?Was it Paul who was crucified for you? Or were you baptized in Paul’s name? 14 I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius, 15 so that no one can say you were baptized in my name. 16 I did, in fact, baptize the household of Stephanas; beyond that, I don’t know if I baptized anyone else. 17 For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to evangelize—not with clever words, so that the cross of Christ will not be emptied of its effect.18 For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but it is God’s power to us who are being saved. 19 For it is written: I will destroy the wisdom of the wise,and I will set aside the understanding of the experts.20 Where is the philosopher? Where is the scholar? Where is the debater of this age? Hasn’t God made the world’s wisdom foolish? 21 For since, in God’s wisdom, the world did not know God through wisdom, God was pleased to save those who believe through the foolishness of the message preached. 22 For the Jews ask for signs and the Greeks seek wisdom, 23 but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to the Jews and foolishness to the Gentiles. 24 Yet to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ is God’s power and God’s wisdom, 25 because God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God’s weakness is stronger than human strength.
1 Corinthians 1:12-25
Welcome to episode #26 of the Bible Reading podcast! We've made it through 25 episodes, which I think is a bit of a milestone. I hope this pod is an encouragement to you, and that it helps to drive you towards daily Bible reading. One of my motivations for continuing to do the show is your comments, reviews on iTunes, emails, and when you share the show on social media. As a podcaster, that is very exciting and it kind of propels you forward - and that's true for any podcast, but especially true for a daily podcast. Another motivation for continuing is the very interesting fact that a few of my kids regularly listen to the podcast, because our whole family is going through the Bible together this year. (I think I'm safe to mention this today, because we have church tomorrow/Sunday, when this episode comes out, and they will probably be too busy to listen on Sunday. Anyway, its a big encouragement, and that it seems to sometimes spur them on towards wanting to be in the Word of God more and understand it. And that is our goal on this show - to urge people on in God's Word - deeper in reading it, deeper in understanding it, and deeper in following it. Onward and upward!
Our focus today is an unsung woman in the Bible who is one of my heroes, and her name is Mary of Bethany. We learn about Mary in all four Gospels, and every time we see her, she manages to be at the feet of Jesus.
A few episodes ago, we read through Matthew 22 together, and we heard the best question I think anybody ever asked Jesus: What is the first/greatest (i.e. MOST IMPORTANT) commandment? And His answer was that the greatest and most important commandment in life was to love God with all of our heart, mind, soul and strength. I believe that Mary of Bethany, whom we encounter today in Matthew 26, is perhaps the best example of a first commandment life in the entire Bible. Let's read about her!
Mary of Bethany anoints the feet of Jesus with incredibly expensive perfume. Now the Matthew passage we read doesn't identify the woman who did this incredible act of worship, but John 12 does:
Six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany where Lazarus was, the one Jesus had raised from the dead. 2 So they gave a dinner for Him there; Martha was serving them, and Lazarus was one of those reclining at the table with Him. 3 Then Mary took a pound of fragrant oil—pure and expensive nard—anointed Jesus’ feet, and wiped His feet with her hair. So the house was filled with the fragrance of the oil.4 Then one of His disciples, Judas Iscariot (who was about to betray Him), said, 5 “Why wasn’t this fragrant oil sold for 300 denarii and given to the poor?” 6 He didn’t say this because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief. He was in charge of the money-bag and would steal part of what was put in it.7 Jesus answered, “Leave her alone; she has kept it for the day of My burial. 8 For you always have the poor with you, but you do not always have Me.”
John 12:1-8
If the Lord enables it, I plan on doing this daily podcast all year - not missing a single day. If that happens, we will encounter Mary of Bethany in our reading several times, and each time I hope to point to her as a great example of somebody who "gets it" - the most important commandment! Hope you don't mind me talking about her too much!
You see, one of the great dangers of our Christian walk is that we will overemphasize the trivial and under-emphasize the critically important. Indeed, Satan himself often works to keep Christians from focusing on the greatest commandment, and tries very hard to deceive us into spending all of our time and energy on comparatively minor activities:
I am afraid, lest as the serpent [Satan] deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds should be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ.
2 Corinthians 11:3
The enemy’s attack is designed to lead us away from pure, sincere, simple devotion to Jesus. Spiritual Warfare. Is it succeeding?
When we first encounter Mary, we see her in Luke 10:39: "Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet and listened to his teaching. 40 But Martha was distracted with much serving. And she went up to him and said, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me.” 41 But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, 42 but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.”
Martha was distracted with much serving. Scripture calls us to serve much and to help to meet humanitarian needs in a practical way BUT NOT FIRST. Distracted: (Greek word: Perispao) - Drawn away, busy.. With what? Much Serving the word there means Deaconing/Ministry. It is possible to be distracted by overmuch serving, and under sitting at the feet of Jesus in worship and the intake of His Word.
J Jesus Himself here tells Martha that Mary made the best choice possible - she chose the good thing in sitting at the feet of Jesus, feasting on His words in adoration. Serving is good - but if we serve/minister overmuch and worship and feast on the Word of God too little, we will have a catastrophic failure. The first commandment (loving God) must come first - it is the first priority.
Consider her WASTE- she blew her life savings in five minutes. WHAT A WASTE, the disciples say. I say - WHAT AN INVESTMENT. She made this investment 2 thousand years ago, and it thunderstruck the creator of the world and the redeemer of mankind. Others saw her as wasting her life, but She live her life in the greatest way possible. We know more about her than all but 10 of the Apostles, and many other heroes of the Bible.
What she has done will be remembered - Something provocative: I believe that every pope will be behind Mary of Bethany in the Kingdom of Heaven. Most pastors, church leaders, missionaries too.
Consider this: Often people criticize the Bible as backwards in its relationship to women. In truth, however, it is amazing how many female heroines are praised in the Bible. Mary of Bethany, Mary Magdalane, Syro-Phoenician Woman, Deborah, The women who traveled with Jesus and took care of them.
Mary understood what Jesus meant about His death - she likely understood when the disciples were still clueless, because she was preparing Him for His burial. Think of all the people Jesus could have invested in before His death. Nicodemus, Joseph of Arimathea, Silas, Barnabas, etc. Jesus went to Mary, Martha and Lazarus.
Hello everybody! We now have a FACEBOOK PAGE! Please 'Like' and 'Share' it, so that I can make millions of dollars podcasting, and become a dark Jedi quadrillionaire, or something like that. Today's reading is in Genesis 26 (Isaac and Rebekah), Esther 2 (Esther becomes the Persian Queen), Acts 25 (Paul, still on trial, appeals to Caesar), and Matthew 25 - Jesus' call to the least of these.
I believe one of the most important parts of being a father is to help your kids avoid your biggest mistakes. For instance, when I was 8, I picked up an electric cable lying across the road (in the rain) and it nearly electrocuted me. Shout out to my friend Beau Armistead, who actually saved my life that day - by kicking me until I let go of the wire. My kids know that story backwards and forwards. Why? A. Because I repeat my stories too much and B. Because I DON'T want them to grab a live electric cable! The hospital said I should have died. I don't want to judge Abraham too much on this podcast, but I can't help it today. I feel like he should have sat Isaac down a few dozen times and told him: NEVER TELL PEOPLE YOUR WIFE IS YOUR SISTER!!
I guess things were different back in Abraham's day. My family moved from Alabama to California in 2018 to pastor Valley Baptist Church in Salinas. I feel like God has blessed me with a beautiful wife, and I love her very much. That said, I never once thought that I'd better tell the men of Salinas that she was my sister in order to avoid their killing of me. Maybe I'm just naive and somebody will come along pretty soon and kill me and take my wife, or maybe there is a better way to handle things when you think your wife is super-hot. Maybe learn martial arts or something, I don't know.
Since the last two podcasts ran long, and since our goal is to keep each podcast in the 30 minute range (give or take a few minutes), today's episode is not going to represent a deep dive into what is a critically important question. Instead, we are going to (mostly) let the Word of God do the talking, and instead just dip our feet in the water of this discussion, knowing that throughout the year, we will keep returning to this important question. Is Social justice biblical? That is our big question today, and the answer is...yes and no. I suspect roughly zero of you are satisfied with such an answer, but before we unpack it too much, let's go ahead and read Matthew 25
So, I hope the impact of Jesus' words there has shaken you. It should. Here He is saying, quite clearly and unmistakably, that those who DO NOT TAKE CARE OF THE LEAST OF THESE WILL BE BANISHED TO HELL. And those who DO take care of the least of these will inherit the eternal Kingdom of God. "What about the gospel?" I hear you saying?! "We aren't saved by works," I hear you shouting! And you are absolutely right. Those who hear the gospel and follow Jesus in wholehearted faith will be saved, and that salvation will be by grace, and not by works. Remember Ephesians 2:8-9:
For you are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God’s gift— 9 not from works, so that no one can boast.
Ephesians 2:8-9
So - how can Matthew 25 AND Ephesians 2:8-9 BOTH be true? And the answer is that if you are truly saved by grace through wholehearted faith in Jesus, you WILL minister to Him by taking care of the least of these, because God will give you a new heart. This ministry is INDISPENSABLE to a Christian. Taking the Words of Jesus here seriously and literally (as we should), all Christians must be engaged in the ministry of seeing to the needs of the least. No exceptions. So, that probably means that I believe that social justice is biblical, right? And the answer is, of course, that it depends on what you mean by 'social justice.' If you mean by that phrase that Christians and the church should take care of the needs of the least of these, then you and I are in wholehearted agreement. We take care of them by feeding them, clothing them, showing hospitality to them and serving them with the same love and respect that we would show to Jesus the King of Kings Himself, because, according to Him, when we are ministering to the least of these, we are ministering to Him.
It should be noted, however, that the term 'social justice,' is quite loaded, and means different things to different people. It is NOT a term found in the Bible. It is a fairly new term in the English language, and has become quite the buzz word in the past few decades. I can find one use of the term dating back to the 1700s, and a smattering of usage in the 1800s, but the concept of social justice didn't really begin to take shape until the 1900s. If by 'social justice,' it is meant that the church and Christians should accept and celebrate behavior that is clearly unbiblical, then the answer is then that social justice is NOT biblical.
The Bible is absolutely opposed to any form of racism, and especially racism against races in a particular society that might be considered among the 'least of these.' Absolutely, all lives matter, but in a majority white society, I am comfortable with the message that black lives matter, especially considering that this country (and many churches) proclaimed the opposite of that for centuries. All lives matter in Canada, but French-Canadians and first nations people matter in particular - not because they are better or superior to other Canadians, but because they are closer to being the least of these that Jesus has called his people to minister to and reach out to. All lives matter in my city and your city, but we are called by Jesus to a particular ministry and focus on the lives who are hungry, in prison, strangers/foreigners and those without basic possessions like clothing. (And let me be clear - 'least' is not a statement of value, or worth, or dignity, or beauty, or anything like that, but a statement of privilege. Privilege is not merely about skin color, but is also about wealth, and ability vs. disability, and many other complex things.)
I was reading through a Twitter thread earlier in which many people who have various physical disabilities were broken-hearted because they weren't being understood well in their longing to have equal access to Uber rides and that sort of thing. We in the church should be at the forefront in terms of compassion for these kind of issues and more - serving those who are differently-abled sacrificially and joyfully. We would do well to remember passages like this one:
Kindness to the poor is a loan to the Lord, and he will give a reward to the lender.
Proverbs 19:17
While also remembering that God does not call us to favor the poor over the rich or the rich over the poor:
“Do not act unjustly when deciding a case. Do not be partial to the poor or give preference to the rich; judge your neighbor fairly.
Leviticus 19:15
So - is social justice biblical? When it lines up with the commands of the Word of God - it is! When it deviates from the commands of the Word of God, it is not. Social justice is not the gospel, and feeding the hungry - though commanded by God in Scripture - will not save anybody's eternal soul. We must be people of the Word of God, that takes the Good News of Jesus to the World. As we go, we must be people who take care of the least of these, because this we are commanded to do, and those who are in real need are close in a special way, to Jesus.
I need to tell you that two of the most important Bible-related events in my life were concerned with the theme of taking care of the least of these, identified by Jesus in Matthew 25:31-46 as those who are hungry, those who are thirsty, those who are without clothing, those who are sick, those who are in prison, and those who are foreigners and strangers. My first sermon ever delivered in 'big church,' came in 1995 - 25 years ago - and was out of this passage. I still remember 'finding it' as a young minister, certain that I'd heard it before, but having never felt the full brunt of Jesus' call to the least of these, and I was so bursting with conviction over this passage, that I just had to teach on it! The second instance was a New Years Eve in the early 2000s. My wife and I, unusually, found ourselves home early, and she got in bed to go to sleep, and crashed at about 11:45. I was in bed with her, but reading the Bible. As the clock struck the New Year, I was reading Isaiah 58, and the words were washing over me like a torrent of truth:
Isn’t this the fast I choose:
To break the chains of wickedness,
to untie the ropes of the yoke,
to set the oppressed free,
and to tear off every yoke?
7 Is it not to share your bread with the hungry,
to bring the poor and homeless into your house,
to clothe the naked when you see him,
and not to ignore your own flesh and blood?
8 Then your light will appear like the dawn,
and your recovery will come quickly.
Your righteousness will go before you,
and the Lord’s glory will be your rear guard. 9 At that time, when you call, the Lord will answer;
when you cry out, he will say, ‘Here I am.’
If you get rid of the yoke among you,
the finger-pointing and malicious speaking,
10 and if you offer yourself to the hungry,
and satisfy the afflicted one,
then your light will shine in the darkness,
and your night will be like noonday.
11 The Lord will always lead you,
satisfy you in a parched land,
and strengthen your bones.
You will be like a watered garden
and like a spring whose water never runs dry.Isaiah 58:6-11
When you combine both of those passages, and dozens and dozens of others, you see God's heart for the poor and the least of these emerge from the Scripture. This is only the beginning of our discussion on God's call to the least of these - to the oppressed, poor, homeless, and afflicted. We will go deeper, Lord willing.
Good news! Today’s episode has no discussion of dung or thighs, or anything at all untoward. Bad news! Today’s topic – Eschatology/The End Times/The Last Days might just be more controversial! Our focus passage today is Matthew 24, and I consider this to be the longest and clearest teaching in the Bible on eschatology and the return of Jesus. Most people want to begin with Revelation when discussing the last days, but Revelation is tricky and difficult for a variety of reasons. Don’t get me wrong – Revelation is one of my favorite books, and I love it, but it is anything but crystal clear and basic. Matthew 24, on the other hand, is quite a bit more clear, even though there is still great debate about many aspects of the chapter. Probably the most important debate concerns timing. Is Jesus talking about a far distant future in Matthew 24, or is He discussing something that will happen in the lifespan of His disciples? We will also be reading Genesis 25, which tells us about Abraham’s second wife, and also the birth of his grandchildren Jacob and Esau. Acts 24 has Paul standing trial before governor Felix, proclaiming his belief in the resurrection of the dead.
And that gets us to Esther – a brand new book, which means we have finished our second book together, and we have begun a tradition on this podcast that when we finish a book, we summarize it, so here is a summary of Nehemiah: Chronologically, the book of Nehemiah is the last historical book of the Old Testament – though Esther occurs in most Bibles after Nehemiah, the events of Esther happened prior to the events of Nehemiah (Somewhere roughly in the neighborhood of the timeline of Ezra 6-7.) Nehemiah was a contemporary of the prophet Malachi, the titular character of the last book of the Old Testament. Nehemiah, a descendant of Jewish people, was the cup-bearer to King Artaxerxes, the Persian King. Upon hearing about distressing conditions in his homeland, Nehemiah appeals to the king for permission to come back, which is granted. Nehemiah returns to Jerusalem, and finds the city defenseless and under scrutiny by several nearby enemies and critics. Nehemiah organizes both the rebuilding and defense of Jerusalem, and also reinstates the biblical festival of booths/tabernacles, which is a joyful celebration. Nehemiah was a mighty man of prayer (see Nehemiah 1 and 9) and was uncompromising in his call to holiness, physically attacking some Jewish men who disobeyed God’s laws. Nehemiah successfully completed the walls around Jerusalem and enabled that city and its people to begin to reclaim their identity and some measurement of prosperity.
Shoutouts today to Michelle Haffner, from Florida who left an encouraging comment on Biblereadingpodcast.com and also Bible Scholar Og Keep, who had an interesting observation on yesterday’s pod about Abraham’s servant, “An interesting point about this mission… if this trusted servant were Eleazar of Damascus (Genesis 15) then seeking a wife for Abraham’s son is an action against self-interest. It shows that his love for Abraham exceeded his own ambitions. ” We also have some reader feedback. This is from Mr. Tubberville in Auburn, Alabama. “Dear sir: We object to the use of the word ‘titular’ yesterday in your podcast when talking about Nehemiah. Surely a better (and more understandable) word could have been chosen?!” Well, Tommy, you make a great point! I think “eponymous” would have been a much better choice. My apologies. And now, let’s read Matthew 24 together!
In discussing Matthew 24, let me draw your attention to one very frustrating aspect of this chapter. The disciple’s question was so imprecise, that it has left many scholars confused and debating for hundreds of years. “Tell us, when will these things happen? And what is the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?” (Matthew 24:3) With hindsight, we can see that these are two totally different questions. Question #1 asks when the temple will be destroyed. We now know that 70 AD is the historical answer. Question #2 is the more significant one for us: What is the sign of the return of Jesus and the end of the age? I am way of over-simplifying, but there are 5 main viewpoints that attempt to answer this question, and dozens of sub-viewpoints that fall under these. (The graphic below only captures 4 of those viewpoints.)
Christian Millennial Views (Somewhat incomplete) Here is a summary of the Five Major Viewpoints on the Return of Jesus and the End Times: 1. Historic Premillennialism/Post-Tribulational Premillennialism. This view believes that Jesus will return to the earth prior to the “Millennial Reign,” or “Millennium,” (a 1000 year reign of Jesus on the earth in the Heavenly City called ‘New Jerusalem’) and AFTER a 7 year period of great wrath, judgment, trouble and punishment called ‘The Great Tribulation.” Some historic premillennialists believe in a rapture, which is a ‘catching up’ of God’s people into the air with a returning Jesus. In this view, the New Testament church is the fulfillment of God’s promises to Israel.
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Dispensational Premillennialism. (I.E. The ‘Left Behind’ View) This view believes that Jesus will return to earth before a time of trouble known as ‘The Great Tribulation.’ He will rapture (or catch up) His church – all faithful believers living and dead, and then return with them to Heaven. After seven years of wrath, tribulation and judgment, Jesus will return again with His people and reign for 1000 years from His holy city on earth, along with all of the saints who left with Him, and perhaps some who have been saved during the seven year Great Tribulation. This view is called premillenial as it places the return of Christ before the thousand year millennium and it is called dispensational because it is founded in the beliefs of dispensationalism. (Google that for more details) The key belief here is that this view believes that Jesus will spare the church from God’s wrath and tribulation by rapturing them from the earth BEFORE the Great Tribulation. This viewpoint sees the Second Coming happening in TWO stages – a first Second Coming FOR the church, and a second Second Coming WITH the church. In this view, Israel and the church are two distinct entities, and God has two distinct redemption plans for them.
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The Postmillennial view usually does not view the ‘millennium’ as being a literal thousand year period, but more of an extended lengthy period of time. In this view, Jesus reigns on the earth (spiritually, from Heaven) and His followers increase His influence all across the globe. The good news of Jesus goes forth, and the Kingdom of Jesus and His fame gradually grows on earth, until such a time as Jesus returns and immediately initiates the judgment of the wicked and the eternal state. This view is called ‘postmillennial,’ because Jesus returns after the millennium, which is not a 1000 year literal reign of Jesus on the earth, but an increase of His influence on earth that culminates in His return.
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Amillennialism or nunc-millennialism holds that the Kingdom of God on earth began with the resurrection of Jesus, and that Jesus now reigns at the right hand of the Father over the church. This viewpoint does not see the millennial reign as being a literal, thousand year reign in the future, but more of a spiritual and somewhat symbolic reign of Jesus that is happening NOW (nunc means ‘now’) Most amillennialists believe that Jesus will physically return at the end of this church-age (or now-millennium) and inaugurate the eternal state. The amillennial view sees the victory of Jesus and the establishment of His Kingdom as a two-stage event. Stage 1 was begun in the first century with the resurrection of Jesus and the establishment of His church on Pentecost. Stage two will be when Jesus physically returns. The between state is living in the ‘already, but not yet’ victory of Jesus spiritually by faith, which will soon become a present and tangible victory of Jesus that will be apprehended by sight.
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Preterist (partial-preterist) The preterist viewpoint believes that some events foretold by the Bible have already happened (partial-preterism) or ALL events foretold by the Bible, including the return of Jesus, have already happened (full preterism.) The full preterist view holds that the return of Jesus, the final judgment, and all things prophesied in the New Testament were fulfilled in A.D. 70 when the Temple in Jerusalem was destroyed. It is rare to find an evangelical scholar who is a full preterist, but many are partial preterists, holding that the destruction of the temple in 70 AD fulfilled some major parts of prophetic Scripture, but that the Final Judgment and full Return of Jesus has not happened yet.
So – are you dizzy yet? I imagine some will be surprised at the number of views of the last days that people have! Please know that many will believe that I have over-simplified things, and left significant viewpoints out, which is likely true. Consider this – the church has long been unclear about when the second coming of Jesus would occur, and for good reason! When Jesus was here, He told His disciples that ONLY HIS FATHER knew the time and date of His Second coming – not even Jesus knew!
Now concerning that day and hour no one knows—neither the angels of heaven nor the Son —except the Father alone.
Matthew 24:36
I am going to make the assumption that the Father did not reveal those dates to the other writers of Scripture either, which means that any attempt to find the exact date of the return of Jesus in the Scripture is absolutely silly. You might be thinking – well, the Word of God was written by people under the influence of the Holy Spirit – and you are exactly right! But, going on what Jesus said – the Holy Spirit did NOT know the time and date of Jesus’ return either – ONLY THE FATHER. I note here with some amusement that even in the 100s AD, there was quite a bit of difference of opinion among Godly Christians as to the time and date of the return of Jesus, as evidenced by the dialog between Christian Justin Martyr and Trypho the Jew:
“I and many others are of this opinion [premillennialism], and [believe] that such will take place, as you assuredly are aware; but, on the other hand, I signified to you that many who belong to the pure and pious faith, and are true Christians, think otherwise.”
Justin Martyr – Dialog with Trypho the Jew, 160 A.D.
Lifeway research in 2016 did a survey of 1000 Protestant American pastors to ask them what views of the end-times they held to, and the results were interesting. Links to the full study (and screenshots) can be found at our website, but here is a taste of what was discovered:
http://lifewayresearch.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Pastor-Views-on-the-End-Times-January-2016.pdf Source: http://lifewayresearch.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Pastor-Views-on-the-End-Times-January-2016.pdf PRIMARY REASON I BELIEVE THE POST TRIBULATION VIEWPOINT:
1. Matthew 24: 29 “Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 30 Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. 31 And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.
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Mark 13: Mark 13:24 “But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, 25 and the stars will be falling from heaven, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken. 26 And then they will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory. 27 And then he will send out the angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven.
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Luke 21: 25 “And there will be signs in sun and moon and stars, and on the earth distress of nations in perplexity because of the roaring of the sea and the waves, 26 people fainting with fear and with foreboding of what is coming on the world. For the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 27 And then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. 28 Now when these things begin to take place, straighten up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”
(I don’t see TWO second comings in those passages – one before the rapture and one after the rapture) As we go through the Bible, we will get to other passages – some of which are used by Pretribulation people as foundational, some by partial preterists, some by amillennialists and some by historic premillinnialists like myself. WHEN Jesus returns is NOT the important thing, despite the fact that all of us focus on it and debate the timing the most. If it was important for us to know precisely, I suppose we would know. The WHEN is not important though. What is the key, most important thing about the teaching of the last days? The answer is readiness. Here is a short summation of the entire last day’s teaching of Jesus in this passage: Matthew 24:44 – TWENTY WORDS. 44 Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect. Regardless of your view, the command is: BE READY!! Whether you are Amillenial, Pre-Trib or Post Trib, or even Preterist. Ultimately, it doesn’t matter a huge amount…IF YOU ARE TRULY READY!!
What does that look like?
A. Luke 12: 35 “Stay dressed for action and keep your lamps burning, 36 and be like men who are waiting for their master to come home from the wedding feast, so that they may open the door to him at once when he comes and knocks. 37 Blessed are those servants whom the master finds awake when he comes. Truly, I say to you, he will dress himself for service and have them recline at table, and he will come and serve them. 38 If he comes in the second watch, or in the third, and finds them awake, blessed are those servants! 39 But know this, that if the master of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have left his house to be broken into. 40 You also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.”
Whew! That was a long episode. Two long ones in a row. I plan on making up for it with two SHORT episodes in a row. Stay tuned to see if it is possible to hold to that plan. The problem with the Bible is that it is just so deep and interesting that there is always something fascinating to explore!
Good news! Today's episode has no discussion of dung or thighs, or anything at all untoward. Bad news! Today's topic - Eschatology/The End Times/The Last Days might just be more controversial! Our focus passage today is Matthew 24, and I consider this to be the longest and clearest teaching in the Bible on eschatology and the return of Jesus. Most people want to begin with Revelation when discussing the last days, but Revelation is tricky and difficult for a variety of reasons. Don't get me wrong - Revelation is one of my favorite books, and I love it, but it is anything but crystal clear and basic. Matthew 24, on the other hand, is quite a bit more clear, even though there is still great debate about many aspects of the chapter. Probably the most important debate concerns timing. Is Jesus talking about a far distant future in Matthew 24, or is He discussing something that will happen in the lifespan of His disciples? We will also be reading Genesis 25, which tells us about Abraham's second wife, and also the birth of his grandchildren Jacob and Esau. Acts 24 has Paul standing trial before governor Felix, proclaiming his belief in the resurrection of the dead.
And that gets us to Esther - a brand new book, which means we have finished our second book together, and we have begun a tradition on this podcast that when we finish a book, we summarize it, so here is a summary of Nehemiah: Chronologically, the book of Nehemiah is the last historical book of the Old Testament - though Esther occurs in most Bibles after Nehemiah, the events of Esther happened prior to the events of Nehemiah (Somewhere roughly in the neighborhood of the timeline of Ezra 6-7.) Nehemiah was a contemporary of the prophet Malachi, the titular character of the last book of the Old Testament. Nehemiah, a descendant of Jewish people, was the cup-bearer to King Artaxerxes, the Persian King. Upon hearing about distressing conditions in his homeland, Nehemiah appeals to the king for permission to come back, which is granted. Nehemiah returns to Jerusalem, and finds the city defenseless and under scrutiny by several nearby enemies and critics. Nehemiah organizes both the rebuilding and defense of Jerusalem, and also reinstates the biblical festival of booths/tabernacles, which is a joyful celebration. Nehemiah was a mighty man of prayer (see Nehemiah 1 and 9) and was uncompromising in his call to holiness, physically attacking some Jewish men who disobeyed God's laws. Nehemiah successfully completed the walls around Jerusalem and enabled that city and its people to begin to reclaim their identity and some measurement of prosperity.
Shoutouts today to Michelle Haffner, from Florida who left an encouraging comment on Biblereadingpodcast.com and also Bible Scholar Og Keep, who had an interesting observation on yesterday's pod about Abraham's servant, "An interesting point about this mission… if this trusted servant were Eleazar of Damascus (Genesis 15) then seeking a wife for Abraham’s son is an action against self-interest. It shows that his love for Abraham exceeded his own ambitions. " We also have some reader feedback. This is from Mr. Tubberville in Auburn, Alabama. "Dear sir: We object to the use of the word 'titular' yesterday in your podcast when talking about Nehemiah. Surely a better (and more understandable) word could have been chosen?!" Well, Tommy, you make a great point! I think "eponymous" would have been a much better choice. My apologies. And now, let's read Matthew 24 together!
In discussing Matthew 24, let me draw your attention to one very frustrating aspect of this chapter. The disciple's question was so imprecise, that it has left many scholars confused and debating for hundreds of years. “Tell us, when will these things happen? And what is the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?” (Matthew 24:3) With hindsight, we can see that these are two totally different questions. Question #1 asks when the temple will be destroyed. We now know that 70 AD is the historical answer. Question #2 is the more significant one for us: What is the sign of the return of Jesus and the end of the age? I am way of over-simplifying, but there are 5 main viewpoints that attempt to answer this question, and dozens of sub-viewpoints that fall under these. (The graphic below only captures 4 of those viewpoints.)
Christian Millennial Views (Somewhat incomplete) Here is a summary of the Five Major Viewpoints on the Return of Jesus and the End Times: 1. Historic Premillennialism/Post-Tribulational Premillennialism. This view believes that Jesus will return to the earth prior to the "Millennial Reign," or "Millennium," (a 1000 year reign of Jesus on the earth in the Heavenly City called 'New Jerusalem') and AFTER a 7 year period of great wrath, judgment, trouble and punishment called 'The Great Tribulation." Some historic premillennialists believe in a rapture, which is a 'catching up' of God's people into the air with a returning Jesus. In this view, the New Testament church is the fulfillment of God's promises to Israel.
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Dispensational Premillennialism. (I.E. The 'Left Behind' View) This view believes that Jesus will return to earth before a time of trouble known as 'The Great Tribulation.' He will rapture (or catch up) His church - all faithful believers living and dead, and then return with them to Heaven. After seven years of wrath, tribulation and judgment, Jesus will return again with His people and reign for 1000 years from His holy city on earth, along with all of the saints who left with Him, and perhaps some who have been saved during the seven year Great Tribulation. This view is called premillenial as it places the return of Christ before the thousand year millennium and it is called dispensational because it is founded in the beliefs of dispensationalism. (Google that for more details) The key belief here is that this view believes that Jesus will spare the church from God's wrath and tribulation by rapturing them from the earth BEFORE the Great Tribulation. This viewpoint sees the Second Coming happening in TWO stages - a first Second Coming FOR the church, and a second Second Coming WITH the church. In this view, Israel and the church are two distinct entities, and God has two distinct redemption plans for them.
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The Postmillennial view usually does not view the 'millennium' as being a literal thousand year period, but more of an extended lengthy period of time. In this view, Jesus reigns on the earth (spiritually, from Heaven) and His followers increase His influence all across the globe. The good news of Jesus goes forth, and the Kingdom of Jesus and His fame gradually grows on earth, until such a time as Jesus returns and immediately initiates the judgment of the wicked and the eternal state. This view is called 'postmillennial,' because Jesus returns after the millennium, which is not a 1000 year literal reign of Jesus on the earth, but an increase of His influence on earth that culminates in His return.
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Amillennialism or nunc-millennialism holds that the Kingdom of God on earth began with the resurrection of Jesus, and that Jesus now reigns at the right hand of the Father over the church. This viewpoint does not see the millennial reign as being a literal, thousand year reign in the future, but more of a spiritual and somewhat symbolic reign of Jesus that is happening NOW (nunc means 'now') Most amillennialists believe that Jesus will physically return at the end of this church-age (or now-millennium) and inaugurate the eternal state. The amillennial view sees the victory of Jesus and the establishment of His Kingdom as a two-stage event. Stage 1 was begun in the first century with the resurrection of Jesus and the establishment of His church on Pentecost. Stage two will be when Jesus physically returns. The between state is living in the 'already, but not yet' victory of Jesus spiritually by faith, which will soon become a present and tangible victory of Jesus that will be apprehended by sight.
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Preterist (partial-preterist) The preterist viewpoint believes that some events foretold by the Bible have already happened (partial-preterism) or ALL events foretold by the Bible, including the return of Jesus, have already happened (full preterism.) The full preterist view holds that the return of Jesus, the final judgment, and all things prophesied in the New Testament were fulfilled in A.D. 70 when the Temple in Jerusalem was destroyed. It is rare to find an evangelical scholar who is a full preterist, but many are partial preterists, holding that the destruction of the temple in 70 AD fulfilled some major parts of prophetic Scripture, but that the Final Judgment and full Return of Jesus has not happened yet.
So - are you dizzy yet? I imagine some will be surprised at the number of views of the last days that people have! Please know that many will believe that I have over-simplified things, and left significant viewpoints out, which is likely true. Consider this - the church has long been unclear about when the second coming of Jesus would occur, and for good reason! When Jesus was here, He told His disciples that ONLY HIS FATHER knew the time and date of His Second coming - not even Jesus knew!
Now concerning that day and hour no one knows—neither the angels of heaven nor the Son —except the Father alone.
Matthew 24:36
I am going to make the assumption that the Father did not reveal those dates to the other writers of Scripture either, which means that any attempt to find the exact date of the return of Jesus in the Scripture is absolutely silly. You might be thinking - well, the Word of God was written by people under the influence of the Holy Spirit - and you are exactly right! But, going on what Jesus said - the Holy Spirit did NOT know the time and date of Jesus' return either - ONLY THE FATHER. I note here with some amusement that even in the 100s AD, there was quite a bit of difference of opinion among Godly Christians as to the time and date of the return of Jesus, as evidenced by the dialog between Christian Justin Martyr and Trypho the Jew:
"I and many others are of this opinion [premillennialism], and [believe] that such will take place, as you assuredly are aware; but, on the other hand, I signified to you that many who belong to the pure and pious faith, and are true Christians, think otherwise."
Justin Martyr - Dialog with Trypho the Jew, 160 A.D.
Lifeway research in 2016 did a survey of 1000 Protestant American pastors to ask them what views of the end-times they held to, and the results were interesting. Links to the full study (and screenshots) can be found at our website, but here is a taste of what was discovered:
http://lifewayresearch.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Pastor-Views-on-the-End-Times-January-2016.pdf Source: http://lifewayresearch.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Pastor-Views-on-the-End-Times-January-2016.pdf PRIMARY REASON I BELIEVE THE POST TRIBULATION VIEWPOINT:
1. Matthew 24: 29 “Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 30 Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. 31 And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.
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Mark 13: Mark 13:24 “But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, 25 and the stars will be falling from heaven, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken. 26 And then they will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory. 27 And then he will send out the angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven.
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Luke 21: 25 “And there will be signs in sun and moon and stars, and on the earth distress of nations in perplexity because of the roaring of the sea and the waves, 26 people fainting with fear and with foreboding of what is coming on the world. For the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 27 And then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. 28 Now when these things begin to take place, straighten up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”
(I don’t see TWO second comings in those passages - one before the rapture and one after the rapture) As we go through the Bible, we will get to other passages - some of which are used by Pretribulation people as foundational, some by partial preterists, some by amillennialists and some by historic premillinnialists like myself. WHEN Jesus returns is NOT the important thing, despite the fact that all of us focus on it and debate the timing the most. If it was important for us to know precisely, I suppose we would know. The WHEN is not important though. What is the key, most important thing about the teaching of the last days? The answer is readiness. Here is a short summation of the entire last day’s teaching of Jesus in this passage: Matthew 24:44 - TWENTY WORDS. 44 Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect. Regardless of your view, the command is: BE READY!! Whether you are Amillenial, Pre-Trib or Post Trib, or even Preterist. Ultimately, it doesn’t matter a huge amount...IF YOU ARE TRULY READY!!
What does that look like?
A. Luke 12: 35 “Stay dressed for action and keep your lamps burning, 36 and be like men who are waiting for their master to come home from the wedding feast, so that they may open the door to him at once when he comes and knocks. 37 Blessed are those servants whom the master finds awake when he comes. Truly, I say to you, he will dress himself for service and have them recline at table, and he will come and serve them. 38 If he comes in the second watch, or in the third, and finds them awake, blessed are those servants! 39 But know this, that if the master of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have left his house to be broken into. 40 You also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.”
Whew! That was a long episode. Two long ones in a row. I plan on making up for it with two SHORT episodes in a row. Stay tuned to see if it is possible to hold to that plan. The problem with the Bible is that it is just so deep and interesting that there is always something fascinating to explore!
Today we are reading through Genesis 24, Nehemiah 13, Matthew 23 and Acts 23. Yesterday's discussion topic included dung, and today's discussion topic is also a little questionable, but the prayer part is going to have some great encouragements from lots of people, including our old friend Charles Spurgeon, so stick around for that. Maybe tomorrow's reading won't have anything in it that would make my wife blush. You just never know about Genesis, though - there is always something interesting going on in Genesis! Speaking of...in today's Genesis chapter, we see Abraham preparing to die, and sending his servant out to find a wife for Isaac. Interestingly, Abraham makes his servant swear an oath in a most unusual (to us!) way. Then Nehemiah 13 sees our titular character go WWE style crazy on some of his fellow Israelites who have disobeyed God's commands. He beats them, curses them, and pulls out some of their hair. This is an interesting form of pastoral discipline that is rarely practiced today in most places. At least, I rarely practice it. (Though one time I picked up another pastor and threatened to power bomb him, but I think he deserved it. Or maybe not - it was all in good fun.) Matthew 23 shows Jesus as an emotional and passionate powerhouse, displaying all of the energy and vigor of Nehemiah, but doing it in a tender and broken-hearted way as He confronts the Scribes and Pharisees. Finally, Acts 23 sees Paul before the Sanhedrin - the Jewish ruling council - charged with disregarding the law of Moses and bringing a non Jewish person into the Temple. There is not a single chapter in the Bible that is not God's Word, nor devoid of application to the Believer, but these four chapters are even more full than normal - today is a day of rich Scriptures to meditate on and ponder throughout the day!
Shoutouts to Todd Hitt from Arkansas for leaving an encouraging comment on the website, www.Biblereadingpodcast.com and to Pastor Brian Branam in Georgia for leaving a very kind review on iTunes! Thank you both so much. When you are doing a daily podcast, It is a great encouragement to hear from people, and I am very grateful for you. On to Genesis.
So - question number 1: WHY did Abraham require his servant to swear an oath in such an unusual way? It is worth remembering here that modern Americans, at least, often swear an oath with uplifted hand, or a hand on the Bible, or a hand on our heart. It is also worth remembering that New Testament Christians are to be people of such absolute integrity that we don't swear oaths at all. When we give our word on something, it is as if we have sworn an oath - there is to be no flippant lack of integrity in followers of Christ!
12 Above all, my brothers and sisters, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or with any other oath. But let your “yes” mean “yes,” and your “no” mean “no,” so that you won’t fall under judgment.
James 5:12
It was different in Abraham's time - they were under the Old Covenant, and Abraham wasn't sinning by requiring this oath from his servant, nor was Jacob sinning when he required a similar oath - in the exact same 'hand under thigh' manner - with his son Joseph. So -what gives here? Well, the first thing you should know here (and this is mildly PG) is that it is very possible -perhaps even likely, that the word 'thigh' here is a euphemism for the reproductive organs. Consider this claim from Drs. Freeman and Chadwick:
The word thigh—Hebrew, yarek—is a euphemism; that is, a mild or indirect word that is substituted for one that is considered too harsh, blunt, or offensive. Without question, the servant’s hand was placed beneath Abraham’s procreative organs (these words are also euphemisms). Whether the placement of the hand had to do with the act of circumcision instituted by God, and thus gave a covenant solemnity to the oath, is not known. It has been said by some that it had reference to the long-range effects that the servant’s mission would have upon Abraham’s descendants, or that it symbolized that even his yet unborn children would avenge any violation of the act. But neither of these explanations seem to fit Israel’s request to his son Joseph to take his body out of Egypt and bury it where his fathers are buried, when the same manner of swearing an oath was used (see Genesis 47:29).
James M. Freeman and Harold J. Chadwick, Manners & Customs of the Bible (North Brunswick, NJ: Bridge-Logos Publishers, 1998), page 34
In elaborating on this viewpoint, the excellent website Gotquestions.org explains things a little further:
"The thigh was considered the source of posterity in the ancient world. Or, more properly, the “loins” or the testicles. The phrase “under the thigh” could be a euphemism for “on the loins.” There are two reasons why someone would take an oath in this manner: 1) Abraham had been promised a “seed” by God, and this covenantal blessing was passed on to his son and grandson. Abraham made his trusted servant swear “on the seed of Abraham” that he would find a wife for Isaac. 2) Abraham had received circumcision as the sign of the covenant (Genesis 17:10). Our custom is to swear on a Bible; the Hebrew custom was to swear on circumcision, the mark of God’s covenant. The idea of swearing on one’s loins is found in other cultures, as well. The English word testify is directly related to the word testicles."
https://www.gotquestions.org/hand-under-thigh.html
So, this oath was made under delicate circumstances to say the least. We swear oaths on our hearts, or on our Bibles, and Abraham and His offspring, by doing this action, were swearing oaths on the promise/covenant of God to make Abraham into a great nation. One caveat: While Freeman and Chadwick seem overwhelmingly convinced that the Hebrew word for 'thigh' here is absolutely a reference to the loins/reproductive organs, I would just say that the grammatical evidence is not so convincing. While we certainly have passages were yarek is used for loins:
26 All the persons who are coming to Jacob to Egypt, coming out of his thigh, apart from the wives of Jacob's sons, all the persons [are] sixty and six.
Genesis 46:26 Young's Literal Translation
You'll note there that I had to go to Young's Literal Translation because almost every other modern translation - even the NASB - translates this passage as 'Jacob's descendent's rather than persons coming out of Jacob's yarek, which is the more word for word translation. Obviously here yarek doesn't denote 'thigh,' but rather loins/reproductive organs. But there are other Scriptures where yarek obviously does refer to the thigh, and not the reproductive organs:
21 Ehud reached with his left hand, took the sword from his right thigh, and plunged it into Eglon’s belly
Judges 3:21
25 When the man saw that he could not defeat him, he struck Jacob’s hip socket as they wrestled and dislocated his hip.
Genesis 32:25
Ehud had his sword strapped to his yarek - obviously his thigh/hip and the Angel of the Lord dislocated Jacob's yarek or thigh/hip and not his reproductive organs, which wouldn't make sense in that context. So - we have some ambiguity here, and that's okay. We can't be definitive and say for 100 percent certain where Abraham's servant put his hand on Abraham, or what that meant exactly. What we do know, and what is the important part, is the fact that this was obviously an intimate and extremely important pledge that was made and honored by the servant. I'm glad we do it differently today!
Of more importance to us spiritually, I invite you to notice what the servant did when God clearly and unmistakably answered his prayer:
26 Then the man knelt low, worshiped the Lord, 27 and said, “Blessed be the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, who has not withheld his kindness and faithfulness from my master. As for me, the Lord has led me on the journey to the house of my master’s relatives.”
Genesis 24:26-27
This is a great reminder to me personally. Sometimes I have been guilty of praying hard for something and when God has answered my prayer abundantly - I don't always thank Him with the same vigor that I sought His favor. But Abraham's servant did. His response was not merely a thankful sentence or two uttered in haste, but a whole-body act of worship, submission and prayer! We talked about this passage tonight at our church's prayer meeting and was reminded of the time that Jesus healed 10 lepers in Luke 17. 9 of the lepers, upon discovering that they were healed miraculously, went on their merry way and lived their life, but the other leper sought Jesus ought and loudly thanked Him. We must be like the one Samaritan leper and Abraham's servant, who both gave of themselves to offer to God a real thanksgiving for His divine work on their behalf, and not like the ungrateful 9 lepers.
Here's a few great quotes on thankfulness to help us: 1. “A sensible thanksgiving for mercies received is a mighty prayer in the Spirit of God. It prevails with Him unspeakably.” –John Bunyan 2. “Be thankful. God has commanded it—for our good and for His glory. God’s command to be thankful is not the threatening demand of a tyrant. Rather, it is the invitation of a lifetime—the opportunity to draw near to Him at any moment of the day.” –Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth
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“No duty is more urgent than that of returning thanks.” Ambrose of Milan
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"If you search the world around, among all choice spices you shall scarcely meet with the frankincense of gratitude. It ought to be as common as the dew-drops that hang upon the hedges in the morning; but, alas, the world is dry of thankfulness to God!....I put it in another shape to you who are God’s people—most of us pray more than we praise. You pray little enough, I fear; but praise, where is that? At our family altars we always pray, but seldom praise. In our closets we constantly pray, but do we frequently praise? Prayer is not so heavenly an exercise as praise; prayer is for time, but praise is for eternity. Praise therefore deserves the first and highest place; does it not? Let us commence the employment which occupies the celestials. Prayer is for a beggar; but methinks he is a poor beggar who does not also give praise when he receives an alms. Praise ought to follow naturally upon the heels of prayer, even when it does not, by divine grace, go before it. If you are afflicted, if you lose money, if you fall into poverty, if your child is ill, if chastisement visits you in any form, you begin to pray, and I do not blame you for it; but should it be all praying and no praising? Should our life have so much salt, and so little sweet in it? Should we get for ourselves so often a draught from the rock of blessing, and so seldom pour out a drink-offering unto the Lord Most High? Come, let us chide ourselves as we acknowledge that we offer so much more prayer than praise!" - Charles Spurgeon
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“If there was ever a secret for unleashing God’s powerful peace in a situation, it’s developing a heart of true thanksgiving.” –Lysa Terkeurst
Matthew 23 word for word as portrayed in the Matthew Video (The Visual Bible):
https://youtu.be/PmK9Mvsyfqs?t=10913
If this podcast were written and recorded by my precious wife, it would be vastly different - more sober-minded, serious, and a good bit shorter. It would have the same Scripture passages, but you would never have an episode about cavemen and dung. However, this podcast is not by my wife, so today's episode is on cavemen and dung.
I suppose it is a bit silly headed of me to attempt to tackle three questions in today's episode, but they are all interesting, and all worthy of an answer, so hopefully it will work out for us. As a bonus, we have special guest Charles Spurgeon with us to answer the best and most important question, so that will be a big help, I'm sure. Today's passages are Genesis 23, which is about the death of Abraham's precious wife Sarah, and his attempts to find her a burial place. Nehemiah 12, which mentions the Dung Gate and also has about a thousand Hebrew names for me to stumble over. Matthew 22 which features Jesus' awesome (and unsettling!) Parable of the Wedding Banquet, and finally, Acts 22, which gives us the story of Paul's salvation on the Damascus Road from Paul's own perspective. Let's start with Genesis 23, then Matthew 22, then some commentary, then the rest of the passages. Slightly different order on the podcast today.
I got a question a couple of weeks ago from podcast listener Sherry, who asked where cavemen fit into the biblical timeline, and whether or not most humans lived in caves at one point in time. Great question! I think many of us picture there being an era of history (or prehistory) on the earth where the majority of humans lived in caves, and were thus cavemen (or cavepeople, if we are being inclusive.) With an understanding that I am a history major, but not an archaeologist or anthropologist, let's tackle this question with a few facts about humans and cave-dwelling:
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Yes! Humans have, over the years, lived in caves. However, there was never a time when the majority of humans on the planet lived in caves for the following three major reasons: 1. There just aren't that many caves around! Some regions are blessed with a plethora of caves , but most areas of the earth lack caves, or only have a few. 2. Caves are dark and dank, and not usually ideal places to live because humans need sunlight and they need LIGHT to see, and even very large caves only have a small amount of livable space that has light. I was a spelunker for a long time, and I can tell you that caves are DARK - like darker than you can possibly imagine. 3. Caves tend to attract non-human dwellers like snakes, bears, hyenas, wolves and Captain Cavemen, all of which are a threat to humans. So - while humans did use caves, and bury their dead there, and camp there from time to time and draw art there, most humans of a given society did NOT live in caves. (Though some did, certainly.) 2. There are some modern people who still live in caves, or houses built into caves. I would love this! Google "Amboise Troglodyte" home, and you can find an Airbnb for a Cave house that you can RENT for only $89 a night the next time you are in France's Loire Valley.
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There were people in the Bible who lived in caves! Job mentions them (see Job 30:6) and suggests that desperate people and outlaws lived in such caves. I, for one, am tired of stereotyping cave-dwellers. Get with the times, Job, you Boomer - it's 2020!
The Dung Gate in Jerusalem Before it Was Enlarged. Question #2 - One of my all time favorite middle school jokes is appropriate for today: What's brown and sounds like a bell? DUNG! More importantly, what was the Dung Gate of Jerusalem? And the answer is that, at least in Nehemiah's time, it was about what you'd imagine it to be - an entrance/exit from Jerusalem where trash, refuse and human and animal waste were taken outside of the city. Sha'ar Ashpoth is the Hebrew name of used in Nehemiah, and it means 'Gate of Garbage.' During the days of the First temple in Jerusalem (before Ezra and Nehemiah), most of the refuse and ash and leftovers from sacrifices were taken out through this gate to a nearby dump-like area. Today's Dung Gate in Jerusalem is likely in a far different place than the original was, and serves as one of the main entryways into the oldtown area.
And here's the top four verses about dung in the Bible. (Yes, there's more than just these 4!)
Don’t you know that ever since antiquity,
from the time a human was placed on earth,
5 the joy of the wicked has been brief
and the happiness of the godless has lasted only a moment?
6 Though his arrogance reaches heaven,
and his head touches the clouds,
7 he will vanish forever like his own dung.Job 20:4-7 Zophar the Naamathite
Because of all this, I am about to bring disaster on the house of Jeroboam:I will wipe out all of Jeroboam’s males,
both slave and free, in Israel;
I will sweep away the house of Jeroboam
as one sweeps away dung until it is all gone!1 Kings 14:10
24 Some time later, King Ben-hadad of Aram brought all his military units together and marched up and laid siege to Samaria. 25 So there was a severe famine in Samaria, and they continued the siege against it until a donkey’s head sold for thirty-four ounces of silver, and a cup of dove’s dung sold for two ounces of silver.
Siege in Samaria 2 Kings 6:24
7 But everything that was a gain to me, I have considered to be a loss because of Christ. 8 More than that, I also consider everything to be a loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. Because of him I have suffered the loss of all things and consider them as dung, so that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own from the law, but one that is through faith in Christ—the righteousness from God based on faith.
Philippians 3:7-9
Well, I hope you are as fascinated by Scripture on dung as I am! 5th grade Chase would be proud that 40 something year old Chase recorded a podcast about dung. I'm not sure that is a good thing or not. What is a good thing, however, is this explanation by friend of the show Charles Spurgeon on the Wedding Banquet Parable that Jesus tells in Matthew 22:
This is the glorious rule of the gospel still. Those who were first called to the great wedding feast were the Jews; they would not come, and therefore, Jerusalem was destroyed. Now the gospel is preached to all nations, and all sorts of people in all nations; yet the same sinful rejection of the invitation is constantly being repeated. You, who hear the gospel from Sunday to Sunday, are called by it to come to the great supper; and, as some of you will not come, God, in his infinite mercy, is sending his gospel to the poorest and the vilest of mankind. Many of them do come, and thus the Lord provokes you to jealousy by a people who were not a people; and astonishes you as you find that many come from the East, and from the West, and from the North, and from the South, and sit down in the kingdom of God, while you, who reckoned yourselves to be the children of the kingdom, because you have long been privileged to hear the gospel, shall be cast out.
The king’s servants “gathered together all as many as they found, both bad and good.” The best gathering into the visible church is sure to be a mixture; there will be some coming into it who should not be there.And when the king came in to see the guests,
For whom he had provided luxurious garments suitable for the wedding,—for, as we provide what is supposed to be appropriate array for mourners at a funeral, so, in the East, they provide, on a much larger scale, suitable apparel for wedding guests.He saw there a man which had not on a wedding garment: He might have had one, for it was provided. The fact that he had not one was as great an insult to the king as a refusal of his invitation would have been. He was not bound to provide himself with a wedding garment; he could not have done it, for he was probably one of those swept up out of the highways. But there it hung, and he was requested to put it on; but he refused, and he had the impertinence to sit there without the indispensable wedding garment. If he could not show his contempt for the king in one way, he would do so in another; and he dared, in the midst of the wedding feasters, to defy the authority of the king, and to refuse to do honor to the newly-married prince.
And he saith unto him, Friend, how did you come here not having a wedding garment? And he was speechless.
He could give no reply; the king’s presence awed him into silence.Then said the king to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and grinding of teeth.
You may manage to get into the church even though you are not converted; but if you are not trusting in Christ, you are not saved, and your false profession will only make your destruction the more terrible. Woe unto us unless we are found wearing the righteousness of Christ,—unless our lives are made holy by the gracious influence of his blessed Spirit! These are the wedding garments which we are to wear. If we have them not, our presence at the festival will not avail us in the great testing time that is coming.For many are called, but few are chosen.
All who hear the gospel are called, but the call does not come with equal power to every heart. And with some, the power with which it comes is not that which saves; it only convinces the intellect, so that an outward homage is paid to the Word, and the inward obedience of the soul is not rendered to the Lord. God grant that each of us may have on the wedding garment when the King comes in to see the guests!C. H. Spurgeon, “Faith: Life,” in The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit Sermons, vol. 48 (London: Passmore & Alabaster, 1902), 599–600.
Today marks three straight weeks of doing DAILY episodes of the Bible Reading Podcast. I've literally been podcasting off and on since early 2005, and have never tackled a daily podcast. It is an interesting experience, to be sure. Each episode takes around 2.5 hours from start to finish. This includes:
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Reading over the day's Scriptures earlier in the day, and considering which chapter should be the focus chapter, and what Bible question should we tackle.
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Actually writing the episode out in manuscript form (as a blog post) and doing some research in commentaries and in books of Godly teachers and writers. I primarily use Logos for this step, because I've heavily invested in it over the years, and can quickly find relevant to the passage information from people like Charles Spurgeon, John Piper, David Platt, Jonathan Edwards, C.S. Lewis, Hudson Taylor, George Muller, Martyn Lloyd Jones and hundreds of others. Logos is incredibly helpful for this type of research!
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Using the unpublished blog post as a rough draft, I record the show on Audacity - a free, powerful and somewhat complicated audio editor and recorder.
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After recording the show, I go through the recording and edit it. I need to remove every cough and sniffle and loud intake of breath - every time I pause to take a drink, or my chair creeks to loudly AND, worst of all, every time I misspeak or get something out of order and have to restart. That means I get to look at 25-40 minutes worth of audio waveforms, as depicted in the screenshot below:
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After editing the show in Audacity, I export it as a large .Wav file, and then upload it to Auphonic, which is an audio editor. Auphonic polishes up the audio and makes it sound a little better. That process usually takes about 20 minutes. After that, I download the completed audio file as a 96KBPS .mp3 file and go to the final step.
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The final step is to upload the completed mp3 to this Wordpress site, and insert it into my blog post via a plugin made by my podcast host Libsyn. I have to manually fill in all of the details by hand (name of the show, subtitle, show number, show season, description, etc., and also insert a picture for the artwork. When this process is complete, I then press the publish button, and choose what time I want the episode to go live. (I usually post it at 3:30 AM Pacific Standard time so that those on the East coast can have it in their podcast app by 6:30 AM.
And that is, more or less, how you make a podcast! WAKE UP! It's time to get to the meat of the show, and here is our main Bible question of the day: Why did God ask Abraham to sacrifice his only son?!
As the beginning of an answer to this difficult question, I'd like to start in the New Testament - at the very end of the Gospel of Luke. In that passage, Jesus has been crucified and has risen from the dead, but most of His disciples and followers aren't aware. Two of them, Cleopas and an another unnamed man are walking down the Emmaus road when Jesus encounters them, and asks them what they are debating about. I'll pick up in Luke 24 for the rest of the story:
So they said to him, “The things concerning Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet powerful in action and speech before God and all the people, 20 and how our chief priests and leaders handed him over to be sentenced to death, and they crucified him. 21 But we were hoping that he was the one who was about to redeem Israel. Besides all this, it’s the third day since these things happened. 22 Moreover, some women from our group astounded us. They arrived early at the tomb, 23 and when they didn’t find his body, they came and reported that they had seen a vision of angels who said he was alive. 24 Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but they didn’t see him.”25 He said to them, “How foolish you are, and how slow to believe all that the prophets have spoken!26 Wasn’t it necessary for the Messiah to suffer these things and enter into his glory?” 27 Then beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted for them the things concerning himself in all the Scriptures.
Luke 24:19-27
So - this is our big clue #1 - That the Old Testament Scriptures point to Jesus. This passage in particular is a foreshadowing of the ministry of Jesus. Consider all of the parallels between Isaac's almost sacrifice and Jesus' actual sacrifice (Courtesy of Gotquestions.org):
The Old Testament story of Abraham is the basis of the New Testament teaching of the atonement, the sacrificial offering of the Lord Jesus on the cross for the sin of mankind. Jesus said, many centuries later, “Your father Abraham rejoiced at the thought of seeing my day; he saw it and was glad” (John 8:56). The following are some of the parallels between the two biblical accounts:
• “Take your son, your only son, Isaac” (v. 2); “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son…” (John 3:16).
• “Go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there…” (v. 2); it is believed that this area is where the city of Jerusalem was built many years later, where Jesus was crucified outside its city walls (Hebrews 13:12).
• “Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering” (v. 2); “Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures” (1 Corinthians 15:3).
• “Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and placed it on his son Isaac” (v. 6); Jesus, “carrying his own cross. . .” (John 19:17).
• “But where is the lamb for the burnt offering?” (v. 7); John said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29).
• Isaac, the son, acted in obedience to his father in becoming the sacrifice (v. 9); Jesus prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will” (Matthew 26:39).https://www.gotquestions.org/Abraham-Isaac.html
Do you see there the parallels between Isaac and Jesus? Picture young Isaac trudging up the hill, heading towards the sacrifice with a heavy weight of wood strapped to his back and weighing him down. And then hundreds of years later, Jesus, the only begotten son of God, trudging up a hill in a similar area (maybe the same hill!) with the wood of the cross strapped to His back - heading to His own sacrifice. In both cases, the father is leading the son to his death, and in both cases, the son obediently follows.
Would Abraham have followed through with this, and actually killed his son? It certainly appears so...but do recall that Abraham confidently told his servant at the bottom of the mountain that he AND Isaac would return. Recall also that Abraham, in faith, told Isaac that GOD would HIMSELF provide the sacrifice. I don't believe Abraham was deceiving Isaac - I believe he was trusting in God to spare Isaac OR EVEN RAISE HIM FROM THE DEAD! (" He considered God to be able even to raise someone from the dead " Hebrews 11:19)
So - the almost-sacrifice of Isaac is a picture to us of the very real sacrifice of Jesus. Our astonishment (and even offense) at the seeming audacity of God to grant Abraham a child, and then shortly after demand his sacrifice, shows to us the worth of Isaac, and the worth of a child, and the depth of a father's love. We, those of us who are parents at least, can sympathize with Abraham on a deep level and began to fathom the cost of giving up a child. And that is precisely the point. That Abraham was willing to sacrifice Isaac showed Abraham's level of trust in God - it showed his deepest feelings towards God. Likewise, God's willingness to sacrifice His one and only begotten son shows us the depth of feelings that He has towards His people.
The beautiful exchange that happens atop Mount Moriah - when the ram is substituted for the beloved Isaac, looks forward to an even MORE BEAUTIFUL exchange that will happen in the future when WE are the one's scheduled to be sacrificed on the cross for OUR sins (and deservedly so!) but God rescues us through His son at the last minute, and HE is sacrificed in OUR place. HE is the sacrificial ram that saves the life of us in the same way the ram caught in the thicket gave his life for the life of Isaac. Allow me to close with some excellent thoughts on this episode from Glen Scrivener, writing on the Gospel Coalition website:
So the whole episode concludes: “Abraham called that place The Lord Will Provide. And to this day it is said, On the mountain of the Lord it will be provided” (Gen. 22:14). Notice the future tense. God will provide. What will he provide? The Lamb of God, the Offspring of Abraham, the Beloved Son, the Hope of the World. One day, on that very mountain, God would provide the ultimate atonement. And many knew it. For centuries afterward they would point to that hill and say: “The true sacrifice is coming, and that’s where he’ll be provided.” God didn’t ask Abraham to go through with the sacrifice. But one dark Friday, God would provide. The beloved Son of the Father would walk willingly up that hill, carrying the wood on his back. And there he would be slain to save and bless the world. If we attempt to read the Bible primarily as a rulebook, it crumbles between our fingers. With such a mindset, Genesis 22 is a scandal and a barrier to faith. Yet when Scripture is read as intended, we see it as a testimony to Christ. Suddenly we realize that all the Bible, and all believers in every age, are fixed on the one truth that towers above all others: “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29).
https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/abrahams-sacrifice-genesis-22/
Today we are reading Genesis 21, Nehemiah 10, Matthew 20 and Acts 20. Way before my time, there was a TV show called, "I Love Lucy," which I occasionally watched in my childhood on syndication. If you aren't familiar with the show, it followed the crazy antics of Lucy Ricardo. Lucy was an extremely impulsive and creative woman, to put it mildly, and she was always getting into trouble in one way or the other. Lucy's husband Ricky, the far more sensible one in the marriage, would often ask her for an explanation of her disasters, saying things like, "Lucy, 'Splain!" (Interestingly, he never said the catchphrase often contributed to him, "Lucy, you have some 'splaining to do!" Nor was 'Beam me up, Scotty" every heard on Star Trek nor "Just the facts, ma'am, on Dragnet, and Mr. T. Never actually said, "I pity the fool" on the A-Team." but I digress.)
Sometimes as our family reads through Genesis, I feel like our kids come to me with the equivalent of, "Dad - you've got some 'splaining to do!" about this or that happening in Genesis. Why did Lot try to give his daughters to a band of bloodthirsty rapers? Why did Abram try to pass off his wife as his sister - so much so that another man married her?! Why did Lot's daughters...ok, you get the point. The fact of the matter is that Genesis is not the story of God's best saints, nor the story of upright and mighty heroes, but rather the story of weak-willed, foolish and sinful people who do not deserve sainthood and who are not moral exemplars. In fact, I was thinking about Genesis in the shower last week, and especially thinking about what a jerk Lot was, and how strange it was that God chose to save him. In the midst of those thoughts, another voice broke into my mind and said, "Lot didn't deserve to be saved!" And, as I considered those words, my first thought was, "He sure didn't - it's ridiculous! Lot didn't deserve to be....oh....yeah...I get it." That's really the whole point of Lot and the other sinners in the Bible. They don't deserve to be saved. WE don't deserve to be saved - that's what grace is! Grace is UNEARNED, UNMERITED, UNDESERVED favor. We are Lot.
6 For while we were still helpless, at the right time, Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For rarely will someone die for a just person—though for a good person perhaps someone might even dare to die. 8 But God proves his own love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Romans 5:6-8 THIS IS THE GOSPEL - THE GOOD NEWS OF JESUS.
Today's focus passage is found in the teachings of Jesus from Matthew 20. It is one of the shorter, and more offensive teachings of Jesus; it is also one of His most profound teachings, and a truth we MUST grasp!
25 Jesus called them over and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those in high positions act as tyrants over them. 26 It must not be like that among you. On the contrary, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, 27 and whoever wants to be first among you must be your slave; 28 just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
Matthew 20:25-28
The fact of the matter is that we consider servants and slaves to be a position that is so low that it is actually offensive. Yes, there is slavery in the Bible. The kind of slavery in the Bible is more akin to what we would call indentured servitude than what most Western people think when they hear the word, 'slavery.' The kind of slavery practiced by America and other Western countries up until the 20th century is an abomination, a horror, and an indefensible moral outrage. The kind of slavery practiced in the Bible is different, in many ways, but still not good. It needs to be said that the people of God in Israel were enslaved by the Egyptians for 400 years, and there were many other instances of slavery in the Bible, and, quite clearly, nobody particularly enjoyed being a slave, or aspired to continue being in slavery. And yet here we have Jesus saying this horribly offense (and beautifully profound) statement: If anybody wants to be great in MY Kingdom - they must be a servant and a slave to all!
And here is the sobering truth: The thing we consider to be one of the lowest practices of humanity - 'serving' somebody, is in the eyes of Jesus, one of the highest practices of humanity. Servant Greatness is one of the key themes of the Bible. I have said it before - when I see a gifted person serving, I always think to myself, “Ah-hah - That person understands the key to greatness.” When I see a gifted person operating in his or her gifts and intentionally NOT serving, or even seeking to BE served themselves - I wonder if they’ve understood the call of Jesus rightly. The greatest pastors, leaders, apostles among us must always serve.
Thinking about Karl Marx's charge against religion: First, I don't grant that Christianity is religion. Religion is all about working to please God and earn salvation. Christianity is about the work that has been done on your behalf by God in order to please God. But, I'll humor Marx just this once: If religion is indeed the opiate of the masses, why follow the Jesus Way? Why go lower? Why sacrifice? Why submit? Why be humble? Why seek to serve others more than yourself? Why give radically? Understand that Jesus says the way to greatness is to SERVE. This is not an opiate – this is like smelling salts. Religion puts you to sleep like opium. The teachings of Jesus stir you to life with their power. I can see how somebody might say that about sunshine-pumping prosperity preachers who promise you wealth, and health and the blessing of God and that all God wants for you is your best life now, but that is not biblical Christianity, that is something else entirely, a twisted shell of biblical Christianity. The Jesus way is the way of serving. Tribulation is promised in this life, but the rewards of following Jesus and living life as a servant are eternal greatness, life everlasting, and blessing literally beyond our ability to comprehend! Consider this encouraging word from Charles Spurgeon on Serving:
"I have spoken of meekness towards God; but those who are truly meek are also gentle towards their fellow-men. I wish that all Christians had this character, and that they might not be rough, over-bearing, proud, and hectoring, as some are. There are some who seem to think that nobody would esteem them if they did not kick everybody as they went along. They seem to fancy that all other people as well as themselves are made of iron, and that their power will not be known unless they dash themselves against all who come near them; but it should not be so among the children of God. Oh, that we might learn that holy courtesy which is one of the true marks of a Christian! Oh, that we might have a tender regard for other people’s feelings, because we have a fellow-feeling with them, and that we might pass through the world, not anxious to be noticed, but rather to be unnoticed, not desirous to be great, but willing to be little, eager rather to wash the saints’ feet than to have them crown our heads, desirous not so much to be ministered unto as to minister, for true greatness lies in the sacrifice of self for the good of others! Remember how our Lord said to his disciples, “Whosoever will be chief among you let him be your servant.” This is always the rule in the Church of Christ, God makes it to be so, though it seems not according to the usual bent of human nature. The Lord takes great delight in those who are of such a meek, and quiet, and humble, and lowly disposition."
C. H. Spurgeon, “‘Beautiful for Ever,’” in The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit Sermons, vol. 43 (London: Passmore & Alabaster, 1897), 124–125.
Four keys to being a Great Servant: 1. Romans 14: Be wary of Judging: 3 The man who eats everything must not look down on him who does not, and the man who does not eat everything must not condemn the man who does, for God has accepted him. 4 Who are you to judge someone else’s servant? To his own master he stands or falls. And he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand.
2. Serve people, put them above yourself, but you are not to be a people pleaser. Galatians 1:10 - 10 Am I now trying to win the approval of men, or of God? Or am I trying to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ.
3. Don’t argue, but be gentle! 2nd Timothy 2: 23 Don’t have anything to do with foolish and stupid arguments, because you know they produce quarrels. 24 And the Lord’s servant must not quarrel; instead, he must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful. 25 Those who oppose him he must gently instruct, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth,
4. Watch out for titles! Matthew 23: 8 “But you are not to be called ‘Rabbi,’ for you have only one Master and you are all brothers. 9 And do not call anyone on earth ‘father,’ for you have one Father, and he is in heaven. 10 Nor are you to be called ‘teacher,’ for you have one Teacher, the Christ. 11 The greatest among you will be your servant. 12 For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.
Finally, we would do well to remember Philippians 2:5-8 *5Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: 6Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature[of a servant, being made in human likeness. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself*
Happy Lord's Day to you, friends and family! Today is episode 19, and we are reading about Sarah's rescue from Abimelech in Genesis 20 (because Abraham lied again!); The great prayer of confession from Nehemiah 9 (that makes TWO amazing prayers in this book!); The Rich Young Ruler in Matthew 19, and a botched exorcism in Acts 19 that leaves the would be exorcists naked, bleeding and profoundly embarrassed. Those people who say the Bible is boring have most likely only skimmed the surface - so let's dig into the depths!
Today's featured passage is Acts 19, and the main topic we are focusing in on is the attempt by the foolish sons of Sceva to exorcise a demon. It's a very funny story in many ways:
13 Now some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists also attempted to pronounce the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, “I command you by the Jesus that Paul preaches!” 14 Seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish high priest, were doing this. 15 The evil spirit answered them, “I know Jesus, and I recognize Paul—but who are you?” 16 Then the man who had the evil spirit jumped on them, overpowered them all, and prevailed against them, so that they ran out of that house naked and wounded. 17 When this became known to everyone who lived in Ephesus, both Jews and Greeks, they became afraid, and the name of the Lord Jesus was held in high esteem.
Acts 19:13-17
I've been in few fights in my day, and I've seen a few more, but I have never in my life seen somebody beaten so badly that they run from the fight NAKED. When I was a kid, one of my earliest memories was of a dream that happened over and over and over again for several years. I lost track of how many times it happened because of the fog of age, but I recall this dream haunting me for an inordinate amount of time. In the dream, I would be in my bed, and Satan would come up into my room - usually through my closet, because we all know how scary closets can be! He would come through my closet, pick me up, and start to take me away. The whole time, I KNEW WHAT I HAD TO DO. If I could only utter the name 'Jesus,' I know I would be rescued! But, each time, Satan would take me down my non-existent closet stairs into Hell, and my voice would absolutely fail me. No matter how hard I tried - in my dream - I could not say the name 'Jesus.' I still get a shiver of terror thinking about that dream.
In Acts 19, we have a real life version of a demonic encounter where these impostering sons of Sceva vainly try to imitate Jesus and Paul the apostle. They encounter a demon possessed man, and try to...control the man? Cast the demons out? It's not very clear in the text, but they try to challenge the wickedness with the name of Jesus...and presumably, they are able to pronounce the name just fine. BUT THE MERE SAYING OF THE NAME OF JESUS DOES NOT HELP! What gives?
And the answer is this: The name of Jesus is not magical, in and of itself. I still remember the shock I had as a child when I pulled out a Jesus Alou baseball card from a Topps wrapper, and thinking how horrid that a family had named their child Jesus, when there should be one and only Jesus! Of course, it turns out that the name Jesus is actually quite common in Latin America, and the name Jesus (Hebrew Yehshua) was extremely common in the first century in Israel - there were literally hundreds of people in Israel named 'Jesus' during the ministry of Jesus Christ, son of Joseph and Mary. And thus we see here why the mere mention of a name that is quite common did not have the power to control a demonic entity...because it is not the NAME of Jesus (i.e. the word 'Jesus') that is powerful, but it is the PERSON of Jesus that is powerful. Yes! At the NAME OF JESUS, every knee will bow, and every tongue confess, but read that whole passage in Philippians 2:
For this reason God highly exalted him
and gave him the name
that is above every name,
10 so that at the name of Jesus
every knee will bow—
in heaven and on earth
and under the earth—
11 and every tongue will confess
that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.Philippians 2:9-11
See how in verse 11 - the reference is to a PARTICULAR Jesus. Consider Acts 4 - a person is miraculously healed in the NAME of Jesus:
8 Then Peter was filled with the Holy Spirit and said to them, “Rulers of the people and elders: 9 If we are being examined today about a good deed done to a disabled man, by what means he was healed, 10 let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified and whom God raised from the dead—by him this man is standing here before you healthy. 11 This Jesus is the stone rejected by you builders, which has become the cornerstone.12 There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to people by which we must be saved.”
Acts 4:8-12
What is the difference? The sons of Sceva knew the name Jesus, but Peter KNEW JESUS. Not just the name, but the specific Jesus - Jesus Christ of Nazareth. The power in the name of Jesus is not about the KNOWLEDGE of the name it is about the KNOWING of the person. Thus was Paul able to cast out a demon in Acts 16:
Paul was greatly annoyed. Turning to the spirit, he said, “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her!” And it came out right away.
Acts 16:18
He did not merely know the way to pronounce the name of Jesus - HE KNEW JESUS. It is not mere knowledge that has power, it is in the KNOWING of Jesus. Facts have no power over dark spirits, and no power to accomplish spiritual work. This is why it is possible to go to seminary, learn the Bible, and have great knowledge, but no fruit...because it isn't about knowledge it is about the knowing of Jesus. Consider the chilling words of Jesus in Matthew 7:
21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven. 22 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, didn’t we prophesy in your name, drive out demons in your name, and do many miracles in your name?’ 23 Then I will announce to them, ‘I never knew you. Depart from me, you lawbreakers!’
Matthew 7:21-23
More positively, consider His description of Christianity in John 17:
23 I am in them and you are in me, so that they may be made completely one, that the world may know you have sent me and have loved them as you have loved me.
John 17:23
Christianity is not about knowledge, it is about Jesus in us, and we in Him - "Christ in us, the hope of glory", as Paul describes in Colossians 1. There was no Jesus in the sons of Sceva - they knew the name, they did not know the person, and therefore there attempts fell flatter than flat. May that not be true of us! Allow me to close with these great words of Charles Spurgeon:
We long to see the people saved; but in order to that, they must be born again, and this we cannot accomplish ourselves. Change a stone into flesh! Try that at home with a piece of stone on your table, before you attempt it with the hard hearts of men. Create a soul between the ribs of death! Try that in a charnel-house before you pretend to create within a sinner, dead in sin, the spiritual life. Of regeneration we may say, “This is the finger of God.” If our religion be not supernatural, it is a delusion. If the Holy Spirit be not with you, you are like Jannes and Jambres, attempting to work a miracle without Jehovah’s aid; and you will be baffled, and detected for an impostor. You will fail, like the seven sons of one Sceva, a Jew, who tried to cast out devils: the devils do not know you; they would know Jesus; they would know the Holy Spirit; but at your idle efforts they mockingly laugh. Only those people who never do any spiritual work talk about what they can accomplish. When you get into the sacred service, you find how great your weakness is; you feel out of your depth when you come to deal with souls, and you must have the Holy Spirit or fail.
We must not conclude that because so many good people give their time to God’s work, that necessarily the work is done. No, there is nothing done unless the Holy Spirit does it. We never personally go a step towards heaven, and we never lead another one inch on the way, apart from the Holy Spirit. We must have the Holy Spirit, and if we have him not, all our machinery will stand still; or if it goes on, it will produce no effect whatever.C. H. Spurgeon, “‘Is the Spirit of the Lord Straitened?,’” in The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit Sermons, vol. 37 (London: Passmore & Alabaster, 1891), 433–434.
Genesis 19, Nehemiah 8, Matthew 18 and Acts 18
One thing I'm learning as we venture through reading four chapters of the Bible together every day - there will always be something important to talk about - way too many important things to talk about, given that this podcast tries to stay under 40 minutes per episode. Because we will be reading the New Testament together twice in 2020, I'm generally preferring Old Testament passages at this point in the year. That means we will miss out (for now) on deep discussions about servanthood being the key to greatness, Jesus' method for conflict avoidance and peacemaking, the absolute necessity of total forgiveness and the first appearance of Apollos. No worries, we will hit all of those topics at some point this year! Today's topic is a surprising one and unexpected topic - at least, I hope it is. Many people consider Christians to be stoic, staid, stern, stodgy, and stolid. (I pretty much exhausted my 'st' adjectives there) There is most assuredly a call for Christians to have a sober and aware mindset, as Peter tells us:
Be sober-minded, be alert. Your adversary the devil is prowling around like a roaring lion, looking for anyone he can devour.
1 Peter 5:8
But our reading in Nehemiah also show us that sometimes, God's prescription is unmitigated joy and celebration.
“This day is holy to the Lord your God. Do not mourn or weep.” For all the people were weeping as they heard the words of the law. 10 Then he said to them, “Go and eat what is rich, drink what is sweet, and send portions to those who have nothing prepared, since today is holy to our Lord. Do not grieve, because the joy of the Lord is your strength.” 11 And the Levites quieted all the people, saying, “Be still, since today is holy. Don’t grieve.” 12 Then all the people began to eat and drink, send portions, and have a great celebration, because they had understood the words that were explained to them.
Nehemiah 8:9-12
You might have the impression that Jesus was a kind of dour guy. I remember my first exposure to seeing Jesus portrayed outside the Bible was a movie made in the 70s called "Jesus of Nazareth." I don't remember hardly anything about that movie, except that Jesus had long hair (which He almost certainly didn't have in real life) and He was incredibly somber.
While it is absolutely true that Jesus was a man of sorrows (Isaiah 53:3), I believe that was not a description of Jesus' entire life, but rather a description of His death on the cross (read the passage in context.) In His ministry, we see much evidence that Jesus was a man of joy, kindness and love. I don't believe a sour and somber person would be the type to tell the disciples (multiple times) to allow the children to come and see Him up close! This is one reason why I am such a huge fan of the word for word from the Bible Matthew videos, produced in the 90s. That portrayal of Jesus showed joy and warmth, which is precisely what I see in the biblical portrayal of Jesus.
SO - are to party all the time, and ALWAYS be overflowing with joy, so that no grief is ever seen on our faces - as the people were commanded in Nehemiah 8? And the answer is - of course not! Jesus Himself wept - which means we will weep. If you think the Christian life is to be free from suffering and weeping, then you have probably bought into the kind of fake Christianity that is pedaled by some popular Word-Faith preachers on T.V. Jesus promises His followers that they WILL HAVE tribulation in this world. (John 16:33 - note also His assurance that He has overcome the world!) We are also told that God will wipe the tears away from every believer when Jesus returns for the second time - a comforting truth which indicates that some of us will be crying up until the Second Coming. As the book of wisdom Ecclesiastes teaches us, our lives will sometimes contain weeping and mourning, and sometimes be filled with dancing and laughing. Embrace both!
a time to weep and a time to laugh;
a time to mourn and a time to dance;Ecclesiastes 3:4
I love the wisdom that Paul gives us in Romans 12, and that is a good place to conclude this discussion (for now!)
Rejoice with those who rejoice; weep with those who weep. 16 Live in harmony with one another.
Romans 12:15
We are called to be people of HARMONY. This means that we will sometimes be weeping, sometimes rejoicing, but - in the Body of Christ and filled with the Spirit of Christ - NEVER alone!
Today's Bible reading is Genesis 18, Nehemiah 7, Matthew 17 and Acts 17. Once again, we are faced with several thick and significant scriptural passages: Genesis 18 features three 'men' visiting Abraham and Sarah, one of whom is God Himself. It also features an incredible intercessory conversation between God and Abraham about the fate of Sodom. In Matthew 17, we see The Transfiguration of Jesus and His meeting with Moses and Elijah high atop a mountain. And in Nehemiah, well - we have an incredibly long list of Hebrew names, and I'm sure I'll butcher several of them, but especially Nephishesim and Pochereth-hazzebaim. Our featured chapter today is going to be Acts 17, because it is strongly focused on the resurrection, and I think the resurrection is the central event of our faith, and there's literally nothing I enjoy more than talking about the resurrection and rational reasons to believe that the resurrection of Jesus was a literal, historical event. If that interests you too, then you might check out my book, Easter Fact or Fiction: 20 Reasons to Believe that Jesus Factually Rose from the Dead. (CLICK HERE) And yes, this podcast is absolutely my secret method for becoming the next Bill Gates 99 cents at a time by luring you into buying my books on Amazon!
Great passage, Acts 17 - so many wonderful episodes here. I would be remiss not to mention the Bereans, who eagerly received God's Word through Paul AND searched the Word of God to confirm the teachings of Paul. For this response, Paul commends them as 'of more noble character" than the Thessalonians. Many online ministries, often called 'discernment ministries,' have sought to emulate these Noble Bereans by evaluating the teaching of many Bible teachers, and judging whether or not that teaching lines up with the Bible. That's great, to a degree. As a pastor, I want the people in our church to search the Scriptures, know the Scriptures, follow the Scriptures, and measure my teaching against the Scriptures.
Discernment is wonderful and biblical. But - the Bereans EAGERLY heard the Word. They did not have the posture of professional critics. They weren't hanging on Paul's words to judge them and then go and post on their blog all the errors they perceived. They eagerly listened and then confirmed the truth of Paul's preaching with the Word. Not as professional critics, but as eager listeners who valued the Word of God. The Body of Christ does not need people who's sole purpose is to attack and tear down other ministries. People who spend all their time criticizing may not realize it, but they will slowly become monsters worse than those they criticize. When you set yourself up as the judge and arbiter of all that is biblically orthodox, you are assuming a position for yourself that is not really available in Christianity. So - yes! Call people passionately to biblical truth, but take care that you do not yourself violate God's commands on HOW to do so, and take care that you do not become a professional or hobbyist criticizer. Rather, be an encourager and an exhorter. The world is already overpopulated with critics. We need faithful biblical truth holders who walk in uncompromising doctrinal truth AND uncompromising humility and gentle love. /Soap box
In Acts 17, we see Paul bring up the resurrection of Jesus 3 times in three different circumstances: To the people of Thessalonica, the to the men of Athens, and during his message at the Aeropagus. In all three instances, we see how crucial and central the message of the resurrection is:
2 As usual, Paul went into the synagogue, and on three Sabbath days reasoned with them from the Scriptures, 3 explaining and proving that it was necessary for the Messiah to suffer and rise from the dead: “This Jesus I am proclaiming to you is the Messiah.
Acts 17:2-3
17 So he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and with those who worshiped God, as well as in the marketplace every day with those who happened to be there. 18 Some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers also debated with him. Some said, “What is this ignorant show-off trying to say?” Others replied, “He seems to be a preacher of foreign deities”—because he was telling the good news about Jesus and the resurrection.
Acts 17:17-18
29 Since we are God’s offspring then, we shouldn’t think that the divine nature is like gold or silver or stone, an image fashioned by human art and imagination. 30 “Therefore, having overlooked the times of ignorance, God now commands all people everywhere to repent, 31 because he has set a day when he is going to judge the world in righteousness by the man he has appointed. He has provided proof of this to everyone by raising him from the dead.”
Acts 17:29-31
Very little of what Paul proclaims is mentioned, but in every case, he keeps pointing back to this one central and massive truth: Jesus Christ died and was raised from the dead. This is the very center of the Christian faith - the central truth and the primary claim that everything else radiates out from. In 1 Corinthians 15 (THE resurrection chapter) we see that the entirety of Christianity falls down without the resurrection:
Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say, “There is no resurrection of the dead”? 13 If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised; 14 and if Christ has not been raised, then our proclamation is in vain, and so is your faith. 15 Moreover, we are found to be false witnesses about God, because we have testified wrongly about God that he raised up Christ—whom he did not raise up, if in fact the dead are not raised. 16 For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. 17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins. 18 Those, then, who have fallen asleep in Christ have also perished. 19 If we have put our hope in Christ for this life only, we should be pitied more than anyone.
1 Corinthians 15:12-19
Did you catch that? If Christians are just following Jesus because He offers comfort, or because He is a good moral teacher, or something like that, then they are to be pitied more than anyone. There are many churches and denominations in the world that have drifted so far from the Bible that they have essentially humanized Jesus. Despite the fact that the message from the earliest days of the first century Christian church has been Christ crucified and raised from the dead, some church going people think that the miracles in the Bible are myths, legends, and exaggerations. They teach that the real miracle of the Feeding of the Five Thousand was that Jesus taught people to share. They teach that Jesus didn't walk on water, but that he walked on a shallow, slightly underwater shoal. They teach that Jesus didn't truly rise from the dead, but that He somehow lives on in the hearts and memories of His followers, with His natural body dying and decaying. Hogwash, all of that! Paul says that this type of attitude - a resurrectionless Christianity - is the most pitiful thing in the entire world, and I couldn't agree more! Over and over again in Acts, we have seen the earliest apostles and teachers proclaim this one primary truth: Jesus rose from the dead. Christian - let that be the center of your proclamation of the good news as well. In this is hope, in this is truth, in this is the good news to a lost and dying world!
This Jesus of Nazareth was a man attested to you by God with miracles, wonders, and signs that God did among you through him, just as you yourselves know. 23 Though he was delivered up according to God’s determined plan and foreknowledge, you used lawless people to nail him to a cross and kill him. 24 God raised him up, ending the pains of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by death.
Acts 17:22-24
Top Twenty Quotes on the Resurrection of Jesus (From Spiritual Giants like Spurgeon, Lewis and more!) In no particular order...
The New Testament writers speak as if Christ’s achievement in rising from the dead was the first event of its kind in the whole history of the universe. He is the ‘first fruits’, the ‘pioneer of life’. He has forced open a door that has been locked since the death of the first man. He has met, fought, and beaten the King of Death. Everything is different because He has done so. This is the beginning of the New Creation: a new chapter in cosmic history has opened.
C. S. Lewis, A Year with C. S. Lewis: Daily Readings from His Classic Works, ed. Patricia S. Klein, 1st ed. (New York: HarperOne, 2003), 172.
He died, but he vanquished death; in himself he put an end to what we feared; he took it upon himself and he vanquished it, as a mighty hunter he captured and slew the lion. Where is death? Seek it in Christ, for it exists no longer; but it did exist and now it is dead. O life, O death of death! Be of good heart; it will die in us, also. What has taken place in our head will take place in his members; death will die in us also. But when? At the end of the world, at the resurrection of the dead in which we believe and concerning which we do not doubt.
Augustine - 300s-400s AD: Thomas C. Oden and Christopher A. Hall, eds., Mark, Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2005), 244–245.
The whole system of Christianity rests upon the fact that “Christ is risen from the dead;” for, “If Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain: ye are yet in your sins.” The divinity of Christ finds its surest proof in his resurrection, since he was “Declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead.” It would not be unreasonable to doubt his Deity if he had not risen. Moreover, Christ’s sovereignty depends upon his resurrection, “For to this end Christ both died, and rose, and revived, that he might be Lord both of the dead and living.” Again, our justification, that choice blessing of the covenant, is linked with Christ’s triumphant victory over death and the grave; for “He was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification.” Nay, more, our very regeneration is connected with his resurrection, for we are “Begotten again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.” And most certainly our ultimate resurrection rests here, for, “If the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.” If Christ be not risen, then shall we not rise; but if he be risen then they who are asleep in Christ have not perished, but in their flesh shall surely behold their God. Thus, the silver thread of resurrection runs through all the believer’s blessings, from his regeneration onwards to his eternal glory, and binds them together.
C. H. Spurgeon, Morning and Evening: Daily Readings (London: Passmore & Alabaster, 1896).
And if death was formerly strong, and on that account an object of terror, but now after the sojourn of the Saviour, and the death and resurrection of His body, it is evident that it is by the very Christ who ascended the cross that death has been brought to naught and vanquished.
Athanasius of Alexandria, Athanasius: On the Incarnation of the Word of God, trans. T. Herbert Bindley, Second Edition Revised. (London: The Religious Tract Society, 1903), 95.
I want you to notice that this evidence was all the better, because they themselves evidently remained the same men as they had been. “They were terrified and affrighted, and supposed that they had seen a spirit”; and thus they did exactly what they had done long before when he came to them walking on the waters. In the interval between his death and his appearing, no change has come over them. Nothing has happened to them to elevate them as yet out of their littleness of mind. The Holy Spirit was not yet given, and therefore all that they had heard at the Last Supper, and seen in Gethsemane, and at the cross had not yet exercised its full influence upon them: they were still childish and unbelieving. The same men, then, are looking at the same person, and they are in their ordinary condition; this argues strongly for the correctness of their identification of their well-beloved Lord. They are not carried away by enthusiasm, nor wafted aloft by fanaticism; they are not even as yet upborne by the Holy Spirit into an unusual state of mind, but they are as slow of heart and as fearful as ever they were. If they are convinced that Jesus has risen from the dead, depend upon it, it must be so. If they go forth to tell the tidings of his resurrection, and to yield up their lives for it, you may be sure that their witness is true, for they are not the sort of men to be deceived
C. H. Spurgeon, “The First Appearance of the Risen Lord to the Eleven,” in The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit Sermons, vol. 33 (London: Passmore & Alabaster, 1887), 220.
Now Paul is laying a foundation here that, if we’re not careful, can seem pretty elementary to us. Okay, Jesus rose from the dead, and we can almost read these verses with a ho-hum sense of monotony, thinking, “Yeah, yeah, yeah, okay, I know that.” But think about that. Because there’s nothing ho-hum about that. We’re talking about a man who died, who died a violent death, the most violent death conceivable in that day. And then, after three days dead, He came to life and appeared to people. Can you imagine going to somebody’s funeral, going to their burial, seeing their dead body placed in the ground. And then a week later that person physically walking up to you and saying, “Hello.” That’s crazy! It’s crazy good; it’s the greatest news in all the world: Death has been defeated! May this never be ho-hum for us. May we never forget that the reason we gather together every Sunday is not to hear this pastor or that pastor preach. The reason we gather together every Sunday is because for the last 2000 years, Christians have come together on the first day of the week to remember that Jesus has risen from the dead, and He is alive!
David Platt, “The Church at Brook Hills—Part 2,” in David Platt Sermon Archive (Birmingham, AL: David Platt, 2014), 4522–4523.
He has changed sunset into sunrise, and through the cross brought death to life; and having wrenched man from destruction, He has raised him to the skies, transplanting mortality into immortality, and translating earth to heaven.
Clement of Alexandria 100s-200s AD: Elliot Ritzema, 300 Quotations for Preachers from the Early Church, Pastorum Series (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2013).
Wherefore he is also said to be “firstborn from the dead,” not because he died before us, since we died first, but because he suffered death for us and abolished it, and therefore, as man, was the first to rise, raising his own body for our sakes. Therefore, since he has risen, we too shall rise from the dead from him and through him.
Athanasius 200s-300s AD: William C. Weinrich, ed., Revelation, Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2005), 5.
Actually he conquered death by his resurrection. This was the day of grace’s triumph: this day he showed to heaven, to hell, and to earth, that death was conquerable; yea, that this personal death was actually overcome. The blessed souls beheld it to their joy, beholding in the resurrection of their Head, a virtual resurrection of their own bodies. The devils saw it, and therefore saw that they had no hopes of holding the bodies of the saints in the power of the grave. The damned souls were acquainted with it, and therefore knew that their sinful bodies must be restored to bear their part in suffering. The believing saints on earth perceive it, and therefore see that their bonds are broken, and that to the righteous there is hope in death; and that our head being actually risen, assureth us that we shall also rise. “For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him:” (1 Thess. 4:14:) and as “Christ being raised from the dead, dieth no more, death hath no more dominion over him;” (Rom. 6:9;) so shall we rise and die no more. This was the beginning of the church’s triumph. “This is the day that the Lord hath made, (even the day which the church on earth must celebrate with joy and praise, till the day of our resurrection;) we will rejoice and be glad in it.” (Psalm 118:24.) The resurrection of our Lord hath, 1st, assured us of the consummation of his satisfaction; 2d, of the truth of all his word, and so of his promises of our resurrection; 3d, that death is actually conquered, and a resurrection possible; 4th, that believers shall certainly rise when their head and Saviour is risen to prepare them an everlasting kingdom, and to assure them that thus he will raise them at the last. A bare promise would not have been so strong a help to faith, as to the actual rising of Christ, as a pledge of the performance. “But now Christ is risen from the dead, and become the first-fruits of them that slept:” (1 Cor. 15:20:) “for because he liveth, we shall live also.” (John 14:19.)
Richard Baxter and William Orme, The Practical Works of the Rev. Richard Baxter, vol. 17 (London: James Duncan, 1830), 538–539.
We are more than conquerors over death through Christ. God gives us the victory over death. But more than victory. Death is defeated by Jesus. He is bound in the chains of resurrection power so that he cannot destroy us. But more than that. More than that! Death is handed over, bound and defeated, as a servant to the church. We are more than conquerors because death is not just defeated and kept from destroying us; it is enslaved and made the servant of God’s people... So death is your servant. The enemy is defeated, bound, enslaved, and delivered into the service of the saints.So it was not naïve romanticizing when Zeke Rudolf called death sweet names. It was not immature glamorizing or embellishing of death when Andrew Rivet said that he had learned more truth about God during ten days in the valley of death than in fifty years of study. Defeated death had become their servant. The terrible enemy had become the tutor of heaven. So it is with the enemies of God. Even in their destruction they are made to serve the saints.
John Piper, Sermons from John Piper (1990–1999) (Minneapolis, MN: Desiring God, 2007).
Everywhere deceit recoils upon itself and against its will supports the truth. Observe: It was necessary to believe that he died, and that he rose again, and that he was buried and that all these things were brought to pass by his enemies. Note, at any rate, these words bearing witness to every one of these facts. “We remember that that deceiver said, when he was yet alive” (he was therefore now dead), “ ‘After three days I rise again.’ Command therefore that the sepulcher be sealed” (he was therefore buried), “lest his disciples come and steal him away.” Since the sepulcher was sealed, there could be no funny business. So then the proof of his resurrection has become incontrovertible by what they themselves have put forward. For because the tomb was sealed, there was no deceitfulness at work. But if there was no sleight of hand and the sepulcher was found empty, it is clear that he has risen, plainly and incontrovertibly. Do you see how even against their will his enemies contend for the proof of the truth?
John Chrysostom 300-400s AD Manlio Simonetti, ed., Matthew 14-28, Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2002), 301.
It would not have sufficed for the chief priests, scribes and Pharisees to have crucified the Lord our Savior if they had not also guarded the tomb, called in the military, sealed the entrance and, as far as they were able, resisted the resurrection. Their concern for these details serves only to advance our faith; the greater their precautionary care, the more fully is revealed the power of the resurrection. Thus he was buried in a new tomb cut from rock. If the tomb had been constructed from a mound of stones, it could have been said that his body was excavated from underneath the stones and secretly removed. That he had to be buried in a sepulcher is also shown by the prophecy which says, “He will dwell in a deep cave cut from the strongest rock,” and again, two verses further: “You will see the king in his glory.
Jerome 300s-400s AD: Manlio Simonetti, ed., Matthew 14-28, Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2002), 302.
So the angel became an evangelist and herald of the resurrection to the women. “Do not seek,” he says, “the one who” always “lives,” who in his own nature is life, “among the dead. He is not here,” that is, dead and in the tomb, “but he has been raised.” He has become a way of ascent to immortality not only for himself but also for us. For this reason he made himself nothing and put on our likeness, that “by the grace of God,” just as the blessed Paul says, “he might taste death on behalf of all.”23 And so he has become the death of death
Cyril of Alexandria, 300s-400s AD: Manlio Simonetti, ed., Matthew 14-28, Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2002), 307.
“Then go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead, and behold, he is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him.” The angel here is preparing the women to take the good news to the other disciples. They are to tell of the evidence that made them believe—the empty tomb. Furthermore, “he is going before you to Galilee.” He says this to relieve them from anxieties and the fear of danger, that their faith not be hindered
John Chrysostom 300-400s AD Manlio Simonetti, ed., Matthew 14-28, Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2002), 308.
“CAN these dry bones live?” is still the unbeliever’s sneer. The doctrine of the resurrection is a lamp kindled by the hand which once was pierced. It is indeed in some respects the key-stone of the Christian arch. It is linked in our holy faith with the person of Jesus Christ, and is one of the brightest gems in his crown. What if I call it the signet on his finger, the seal by which he hath proven to a demonstration, that he hath the king’s authority, and hath come forth from God?
C. H. Spurgeon, Flashes of Thought (London: Passmore & Alabaster, 1874), 360.
It is by the power of the resurrection of Christ that Thomas, who was so deep and obdurate in unbelief, was so suddenly changed, became an entirely different man, who publicly and freely confesses that he not only believes that Christ is risen, but is also enlightened by the power of Christ’s resurrection so that he firmly believes and confesses that he, his Lord, is the true God and man; so he will also arise from the dead on the judgment day and live forever with him in indescribable glory and blessedness.
Martin Luther and John Sander, Devotional Readings from Luther’s Works for Every Day of the Year (Rock Island, IL: Augustana Book Concern, 1915), 261.
It’s one thing to “believe that” Jesus rose from the dead and is who He said He was, but it’s another to “believe in” Him as Savior. Every one of us, at some point in our investigation of the claims of Christianity, has to move from “belief that” to “belief in.” I can remember when this happened for me. As a rebellious, self-reliant detective, I initially denied my need for a Savior, even though I accepted what the Gospels told me about that Savior. In order to take a step from “belief that” to “belief in,” I needed to move from an examination of Jesus to an examination of me. As I read the Gospels for a second and third time and explored all of the New Testament Scripture, I began to focus more on what it said about me than what it said about Jesus. I didn’t like what I saw. Over and over again, I recognized the truth about my own character, behavior, and need for forgiveness; I began to understand my need for repentance. The facts about Jesus confirmed that He was the Savior; the facts about me confirmed my need to trust in Him for forgiveness. I was now ready to move from “belief that” to “belief in.”
Alive by J. Warner Wallace, 2014
Then we come to the strangest story of all, the story of the Resurrection. It is very necessary to get the story clear. I heard a man say, ‘The importance of the Resurrection is that it gives evidence of survival, evidence that the human personality survives death.’ On that view what happened to Christ would be what had always happened to all men, the difference being that in Christ’s case we were privileged to see it happening. This is certainly not what the earliest Christian writers thought. Something perfectly new in the history of the Universe had happened. Christ had defeated death. The door which had always been locked had for the very first time been forced open. This is something quite distinct from mere ghost-survival. I don’t mean that they disbelieved in ghost-survival. On the contrary, they believed in it so firmly that, on more than one occasion, Christ had had to assure them that He was not a ghost. The point is that while believing in survival they yet regarded the Resurrection as something totally different and new. The Resurrection narratives are not a picture of survival after death; they record how a totally new mode of being has arisen in the Universe. Something new had appeared in the Universe: as new as the first coming of organic life. This Man, after death, does not get divided into ‘ghost’ and ‘corpse’. A new mode of being has arisen. That is the story. What are we going to make of it?
C. S. Lewis, God in the Dock, ed. Walter Hooper (HarperOne, 1994), 169–170.
Great, then, was the mercy of God the Father. He sent the creative Word, who, when he came to save us, put himself in our position, and in the same situation in which we lost life. He loosed the prison bonds, and his light appeared and dispelled the darkness in the prison, and he sanctified our birth and abolished death, loosing those same bonds by which we were held. He showed forth the resurrection, becoming himself the firstborn from the dead, and raised in himself prostrate man, being lifted up to the heights of heaven, at the right hand of the glory of the Father.
Irenaeus 100s-200s AD: William C. Weinrich, ed., Revelation, Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2005), 4–5.
Humanity must embrace death freely, submit to it with total humility, drink it to the dregs, and so convert it into that mystical death which is the secret of life. But only a Man who did not need to have been a Man at all unless He had chosen, only one who served in our sad regiment as a volunteer, yet also only one who was perfectly a Man, could perform this perfect dying; and thus (which way you put it is unimportant) either defeat death or redeem it. He tasted death on behalf of all others. He is the representative ‘Die-er’ of the universe: and for that very reason the Resurrection and the Life. Or conversely, because He truly lives, He truly dies, for that is the very pattern of reality. Because the higher can descend into the lower He who from all eternity has been incessantly plunging Himself in the blessed death of self-surrender to the Father can also most fully descend into the horrible and (for us) involuntary death of the body. Because Vicariousness is the very idiom of the reality He has created, His death can become ours. The whole Miracle, far from denying what we already know of reality, writes the comment which makes that crabbed text plain: or rather, proves itself to be the text on which Nature was only the commentary. In science we have been reading only the notes to a poem; in Christianity we find the poem itself.
C. S. Lewis, A Year with C. S. Lewis: Daily Readings from His Classic Works, ed. Patricia S. Klein, 1st ed. (New York: HarperOne, 2003), 139.
After our question yesterday about the Old Testament and the Jerusalem Council in Acts 15, a promise was made that we would cover circumcision in a future episode. Well, your long time of waiting has come to an end. Today is the day we tackle the painful issue of circumcision. I'll go ahead and let you know also that this is not the last time we will discuss this issue, as it will come up again and again in both the Old and New Testament. Allow me to begin, and sum up this and every discussion we have about circumcision with a fairly amusing little ditty that you should remember, "Circumcision of the heart is the heart of the matter in circumcision." Shout out to my friend and VBC church member Dan Blair, who has often discoursed with me on the subject of the Covenant with Abram, and on the circumcision of the heart.
One of my favorite Bible preachers in the 90's told the story of Joshua 5 one time in a sermon. If you don't remember what went down in that passage, let me summarize. Joshua and the military men of Israel have crossed over the Jordan River into the Promised land and are preparing to battle many different tribes and nations for that land. Before any blow is delivered, God tells Joshua to circumcise all of the fighting men of Israel. The way this British preacher tells the story is both poignant and humorous, envisioning Joshua's telling of all of the soldiers that they would have to be circumcised, and the groans and questions that must have ensued from those thousands of FULLY GROWN AND DEVELOPED MEN. One bloke in particular asks Joshua, "What does God want with me foreskin?!" Now, I'm quite aware that the Israelites don't have British accents, but every time I think about circumcision, I think of that poor British-Israelite soldier asking that question.
Now, I need to pause and remind you that this episode is slightly P.G. Parental guidance suggested. Mainly because I have to use the 'p' word...but only one time. Some of you don't really know what circumcision is, and therefore the story from Joshua 5 is not all that funny or painful to you. So...what is circumcision, exactly? I'm glad you asked!
Not really, actually. I'm kind of embarrassed to talk about it. But - here it is. I think I'll read a definition from Medicine Net:
Circumcision: Surgery that removes the foreskin (the loose tissue) covering the rounded part at the end of the penis. Circumcision may be performed for religious, cultural or health reasons. Newborn circumcision diminishes the risk for cancer in that area and lowers the risk for cancer of the cervix in sexual partners. It also decreases the risk of urinary tract infections and lowers the risk of sexually transmitted diseases, especially HIV. The Latin "circum-" means around (or about). Circumcision is, literally, a cutting around. Circumcision dates back to prehistoric times. It is one of the oldest surgical operations known to have been performed by ancient people.
https://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=2739
Now - me reading that might get the anti-circumcision crowd after me. Please don't - Medicinenet may be right or wrong about the benefits of that practice, but that's not what we're talking about today, so if you have a beef with them, take it up with them. :)
Now that we know the 'what' of circumcision, we get to the two most important questions: 1. WHY did God command circumcision, and 2. Should baby boys still be circumcised? Let's start with question #1
WHY in the world did command THIS strange surgery as the SIGN of the covenant? That is a phenomenally good question. Logos scholar Micheal Heiser has the best (and most succinct) answer to this question that I've ever read, so I'm just going to quote him here:
When God told Abraham to be circumcised, he was past the age of bearing children and his wife, Sarah, was incapable of having children (Gen 18:11). Nevertheless, it would be through Sarah’s womb (Gen 17:21; 18:14) that God would fulfill his promise of innumerable offspring to Abraham (Gen 12:1–3). God’s covenant with Abraham could only be realized by miraculous intervention. The miraculous nature of Isaac’s birth is the key to understanding circumcision as the sign of the covenant. After God made His promise to Abraham, every male member of Abraham’s household was required to be circumcised (Gen 17:15–27). Every male—and every woman, since the males were all incapacitated for a time—knew that circumcision was connected to God’s promise. It probably didn’t make any sense, though, until Sarah became pregnant. Everyone in Abraham’s household witnessed the miracle of Isaac’s birth. From that point on, every male understood why they had been circumcised: Their entire race—their very existence—began with a miraculous act of God. Every woman was reminded of this when she had sexual relations with her Israelite husband and when her sons were circumcised. Circumcision was a visible, continuous reminder that Israel owed its existence to Yahweh, who created them out of nothing.
https://blog.logos.com/2017/03/whats-deal-circumcision-bible/
That's a great answer, and a very clear explanation of the value and necessity of circumcision. It was a sign - not visible to everybody, but visible EVERY time a new Israelite was conceived that it was Yahweh Himself that sustained the Israelite people. Hopefully that clears things up for us, but it doesn't answer our big practical question: Must baby boys and uncircumcised men be circumcised?
Let's start with a key verse from yesterday that helped guide us to the answer of our biggest question yet: Must Christians obey the Old Testament commands? Romans 7:66 But now we have been released from the law, since we have died to what held us, so that we may serve in the new way of the Spirit and not in the old letter of the law.
Clearly, the Old Testament COMMANDED circumcision for the Jews - in no uncertain terms. However, because we are released from the law - according to Romans 7, our big question now is: what does the New Testament say?
Galatians 1:6 I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you to live in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel — 7 which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ.
Galatians 3:10 For all who rely on the works of the law are under a curse, because it is written: Everyone who does not continue doing everything written in the book of the law is cursed.
HOW were they trying to pervert the Gospel?
Gal 5:2-12 2 Take note! I, Paul, tell you that if you get yourselves circumcised, Christ will not benefit you at all. 3 Again I testify to every man who gets himself circumcised that he is obligated to keep the entire law. 4 You who are trying to be justified by the law are alienated from Christ; you have fallen from grace. 5 For through the Spirit, by faith, we eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness. 6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision accomplishes anything; what matters is faith working through love….12 I wish those who are disturbing you might also get themselves castrated!
Galatians 5:2-12 (selections)
1 Corinthians 7 is even more clear: Let each one live his life in the situation the Lord assigned when God called him. This is what I command in all the churches. 18 Was anyone already circumcised when he was called? He should not undo his circumcision. Was anyone called while uncircumcised? He should not get circumcised. 19 Circumcision does not matter and uncircumcision does not matter. Keeping God’s commands is what matters.
1 Corinthians 7:17-19
This question for Paul gets to the very heart of the good news, which explains why he wished that the circumcision-demanding false teachers would go ahead and castrate themselves. Was the Gospel/Good News of Jesus Faith PLUS Works (circumcision is a work!) or was it Faith alone? Is salvation synergistic (our effort PLUS God's effort=salvation) or is it monergistic (God's effort alone = salvation)? And the crystal clear answer in the New Testament, over and over again, is that salvation is by FAITH ALONE, THROUGH GRACE ALONE, and NOT BY WORKS. Salvation is monergistic, not synergistic. It is God who saves, and we who are saved - we do not contribute to our salvation. And thus, circumcision is NOT salvific - it does not help bring about salvation, and neither does any other thing, such as baptism, etc.
Even in the Old Testament, it became clear that the inward reality of the heart would be more important than the outward reality of the sign of circumcision. For instance, we see in Deuteronomy:
14 The heavens, indeed the highest heavens, belong to the Lord your God, as does the earth and everything in it. 15 Yet the Lord had his heart set on your fathers and loved them. He chose their descendants after them—he chose you out of all the peoples, as it is today. 16 Therefore, circumcise your hearts and don’t be stiff-necked any longer. 17 For the Lord your God is the God of gods and Lord of lords, the great, mighty, and awe-inspiring God,
Deuteronomy 10:14-17
Paul expands on this powerful idea in the second chapter of Romans (again, shout out to my friend Dan!)
25 Circumcision benefits you if you observe the law, but if you are a lawbreaker, your circumcision has become uncircumcision. 26 So if an uncircumcised man keeps the law’s requirements, will not his uncircumcision be counted as circumcision? 27 A man who is physically uncircumcised, but who keeps the law, will judge you who are a lawbreaker in spite of having the letter of the law and circumcision. 28 For a person is not a Jew who is one outwardly, and true circumcision is not something visible in the flesh. 29 On the contrary, a person is a Jew who is one inwardly, and circumcision is of the heart—by the Spirit, not the letter. That person’s praise is not from people but from God.
Romans 2:25-29
Final question: Is it a sin for me to be circumcised, or a sin for us to circumcise our son? And the answer is: Not at all, unless you are relying on circumcision to somehow secure salvation for yourself or your child. In other words, if you believe (for whatever reason) that you or your child should be circumcised, then Romans 14 absolutely gives you the freedom to go in that direction. Make a wise and well informed decision, and don't trust in circumcision to save you - but know that you have liberty in this matter.
There are so many interesting themes in today's four chapters in our daily Bible reading! The way this podcast works, for those that are new, is that I try and choose one big Bible question to discuss for each daily episode, and then one spiritually encouraging passage from a spiritual giant. My own personal goal is to try and make MOST of the shows under 30 minutes, though on deep topics that doesn't always happen. We are 15 episodes into the podcast, and I can tell you honestly that there has never been a day where I have had to really dig deep to find a topic worth talking about. In fact, almost every day, the opposite is true. There are a dozen great things to talk about in each day's reading, and I can only choose one.
Today, more so than almost any day prior to this, we have many great topics and themes to choose from. Should we talk about the rich and powerful abusing the families and poor people in Nehemiah? Should we talk about how honorable Nehemiah was, in that he did not take advantage of all of the luxuries offered to him because he was mindful of the plight of his people? Should we talk about Sarai's shameful mistreatment of her servant Hagar, and how the Angel of the Lord intervened and saved the life of Ishmael, the ancestral father of the Islamic people? (Could this early mistreatment explain some of the enmity between the Jewish and Arabic peoples?!) Should we instead talk about how the Pharisees amplified their own human traditions, and presented them as of more importance than the actual commands of God? (I almost went with this one, because the church today still has this problem in a large measure.)
All of the above would be excellent topics to consider; ultimately, however, I believe the big question we should discuss today is the same one the early church met about during the first churchwide council in Acts 15 - How much of the Old Testament are Gentiles like me and most of you bound to follow?
Before we dive into our main question today, let me say this one MASSIVE caveat: My view on this question could be very wrong. I have been in ministry for well over 25 years. I have been a student of the Bible for a long time. I have wrestled with this particular question for over a decade, and it makes me tremble. I believe that the answer I'm going to give is the proper answer biblically, but there are many, many mighty men of God whom I respect and admire tremendously that do not agree with me. Do NOT take my word on this issue as authoritative. The majority of you listeners don't know me personally, and even if you do - this is a question that you should be wrestling with in the Scripture and in prayer. All that said - and I hope it wasn't virtue signalling, but rather a warning to do your own scriptural due diligence - I believe that Christians are NOT under the Old Testament/Old Covenant commands, but are rather under the New Testament/New Covenant commands. By this I mean that I believe that the council of the apostles in Acts 15 decided this very issue and concluded that all Gentile Christians (followers of Jesus not born into ethnic Israeli families) are under New Testament commands AND the following four commands:
- Do not consume food that you know was offered to idols before or during its preparation.
- Do not consume blood.
- Do not eat anything that was strangled to death
- Do not engage in sexual immorality as defined in the Bible.
Items 1-3 all seem to be quite connected to separating Christians from the pagan practices of food preparation throughout the Roman empire. Commenting on those passages, Ben Witherington says:
"Also relevant to our discussion is the evidence that the choking of the sacrifice, strangling it, and drinking or tasting of blood transpired in pagan temples. In regard to the former, we have evidence from the magical papyri of the attempt to choke the sacrifice and in essence transfer its life breath or spiritual vitality into the idol, and in regard to the latter R. M. Oglivie points to the practice, mentioned occasionally in the literature, of the priest tasting the blood of the sacrifice. The singular reference to blood at the end of the decree would be superfluous after the reference to abstaining from things strangled or choked if the meaning was to avoid meat with the blood still in it. It is more likely that each item in the decree should be taken separately and all be seen as referring to four different activities that were known or believed to transpire in pagan temples."
Ben Witherington III, The Acts of the Apostles: A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1998), 464.
So - I believe these commands are still binding on Christians today. We must not knowingly eat food that was prepared according to pagan practices (though see Paul's discussions of this in Romans 14 and 1 Corinthians) and we must abstain from sexual immorality. Beyond that, we are no longer under the commands of the Old Testament, but the commands of the New Testament. Does that mean we are free from Ten Commandments? It does not, because 9 of the Ten Commandments are still commanded in the New Testament/Covenant.
I need to stress here that I am not at all what is known as an antinomian. I do believe that Christians are still under God's (New Testament) commands, and we must follow them. I believe that the Old Testament is still the Word of God, and we must NOT seek to be unhitched from it - but New Testament Christians are no longer under law, but under the grace of the New Covenant. Thomas Schreiner captures this quite well in his Gospel Coalition article:
"Saying that the old covenant has passed away doesn’t mean the Old Testament is no longer (or somehow less) the Word of God. All of the Scriptures, both Old and New Testament, are the final authority as God’s infallible and inerrant word. All of the Old Testament has a revelatory and pedagogical authority for believers in Jesus Christ. We must interpret the Old Testament in terms of God’s progressive revelation in his covenants in order to discern how to apply it today. New Testament writers don’t decide how to apply the Old Testament based on the moral, ceremonial, and civil divisions, where the moral law continues to function as a moral norm. Such categories are actually quite useful, and there is significant truth in such divisions, but the New Testament itself doesn’t apply the Old Testament law to believers based on these categories. Doing so can introduce distortions when applying the Old Testament to our lives."
https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/old-covenant-response-andy-stanley/
Here are some Scriptures to consider in asking the question: Are we under the Old Testament? Consider these Scriptures, and then go read them in their wider context!
Romans 6:14-15 14 For sin will not rule over you, because you are not under law but under grace….15 What then? Should we sin because we are not under law but under grace? Absolutely not!
Romans 7:6 6 But now we have been released from the law, since we have died to what held us, so that we may serve in the new way of the Spirit and not in the old letter of the law.
Ephesians 2:15 15 He made of no effect the law consisting of commands and expressed in regulations
Galatians 3: 24 The law, then, was our guardian until Christ, so that we could be justified by faith. 25 But since that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian, 26 for you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.
Galatians 5: 5 Christ has liberated us to be free. Stand firm then and don’t submit again to a yoke of slavery. 2 Take note! I, Paul, tell you that if you get yourselves circumcised, Christ will not benefit you at all. 3 Again I testify to every man who gets himself circumcised that he is obligated to keep the entire law. 4 You who are trying to be justified by the law are alienated from Christ; you have fallen from grace...vs 18 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
And finally, and perhaps MOST importantly:
Hebrews 7 11 If then, perfection came through the Levitical priesthood (for under it the people received the law), what further need was there for another priest to appear, said to be in the order of Melchizedek and not in the order of Aaron? 12 For when there is a change of the priesthood, there must be a change of law as well….18 So the previous command is annulled because it was weak and unprofitable 19 (for the law perfected nothing), but a better hope is introduced, through which we draw near to God.
We will discuss some other more specific issues - like the Sabbath - at a later date.
Today we have a fascinating situation in Genesis 15 whereby God and Abram make a covenant, some deep encouragement from Acts 14, Builders rebuilding the walls in Nehemiah with a sword in one hand and a trowel in the other (shout out to Charles Spurgeon!) and two of Jesus' most well known miracles: the feeding of the five thousand and His walking on water. Our Bible question of the day is: Why does Abram cut animals in half to make a covenant with God?
Genesis 15 is monumental in both the Old Testament and the New Testament. This is the beginning of the story of God's people - the Israelites. It is the beginning of His promise to bless the descendants of Abram and cause them to flourish. No less than three books in the New Testament refer directly back to verse 6, where it says that Abram believed God and it was counted or credited to him as righteousness. This is one of the absolute pillar and foundational verses of New Testament faith. Religion in almost every other sector of the world has always been about earning your way to God. God is on the mountain, so to speak, and religion serves as a series of rules that are designed to please the deity, and elevate our status with whatever god we might be seeking to please. Religion is about DOING ACTIONS. Do these actions and God will be happy with you - Do NOT do these actions, or God will be angry with you. To be clear there are commands and warnings in Christianity too...but the CORE of Christianity is BELIEF not WORKS. Abram believed God, and such a belief was added to his account to make him righteous in the eyes of God. What did Abram do here in this massively important covenant episode? HE FELL ASLEEP! He didn't DO anything - God alone walked through the severed animals, but, even though Abram did no action, it was still credited as righteousness to him, because he had faith in God's promise. Paul discusses this in depth in Romans 4:
What then will we say that Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh, has found? 2 If Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about—but not before God. 3 For what does the Scripture say? Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him for righteousness.4 Now to the one who works, pay is not credited as a gift, but as something owed. 5 But to the one who does not work, but believes on him who declares the ungodly to be righteous, his faith is credited for righteousness.
Romans 4:1-4
Amazing! Christianity is not about WORKING to make God happy with us, or DOING things to make God save us and give us life eternal in Heaven - it is about BELIEVING what has already been done for us by Jesus. And therefore, Abram/Abraham is our father - not merely because he was in the line and genealogy of Jesus, but primarily because he was apparently the FIRST to explicitly believe God in a way that it was credited to him as righteousness. Paul continues:
19 He (Abraham) did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body to be already dead (since he was about a hundred years old) and also the deadness of Sarah’s womb. 20 He did not waver in unbelief at God’s promise but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, 21 because he was fully convinced that what God had promised, he was also able to do. 22 Therefore, it was credited to him for righteousness.23 Now it was credited to him was not written for Abraham alone, 24 but also for us. It will be credited to us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. 25 He was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.
Romans 4:19-25
This here, my friends, is the absolute CORE of the Christian faith - Heaven is for perfect people with absolutely impeccable righteousness. All humans have sinned, somehow, some way, and have therefore fallen short of being able to get into Heaven on our own merits. BUT, thanks be to God, if we believe in God and His resurrection of Jesus - that He was crucified for our sins and raised to make us right with God - then we will have that perfect righteousness credited to our account - by faith - that opens the doors to Heaven and eternal life. That is the core of Christianity. It is not what you DO to be saved, but your faith in what Jesus has done for you!
So, Abram believed God's promise, and then God went a step further, and made a covenant - as solemn a promise as there can be - with Abram. The way this is done is fascinating - Animals are cut in two and Abram waits for God, falling into a deep sleep. Suddenly, God Himself comes down (in some sort of terrifying darkness) and walks between the cut part of the animals while Abram sleeps. What is this all about?
Before we offer an answer, I want to encourage you to picture this incredible scene in your minds: God comes to Abram and makes a promise to him. We must keep in mind here that Abram did NOT come from a family of Yahweh (the God of Israel and the Bible) followers. He came from a family of polytheists who worshiped many gods! (see Joshua 24:2, "Joshua said to all the people, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘Long ago your ancestors, including Terah, the father of Abraham and Nahor, lived beyond the Euphrates River and worshiped other gods. ") So, much of this would be new to Abram, but Abram believes God. And, still believing God, he asks for some kind of sign or assurance that God would keep His Word, and this is when God calls Abram to gather some animals and cut them in half. Abram does this, leaving a path through the carcasses of the animals, and he waits. And waits. And waits. Eventually some buzzards, or other similar birds, come by and tries to eat animal carcasses, but Abram drives them away. And he waits, and waits, and waits - until after the sunset, Abram falls into a deep sleep...and then - God comes down. What a mysterious way He comes down - "suddenly great terror and darkness descended on him. "! Then God, represented by a torch and smoking fire-pot, walks through the animals carcasses to seal the deal, so to speak. What a strange ritual! Fortunately, Jeremiah 34 gives us quite an important clue as to what is going on here in this ancient practice:
"As for those who disobeyed my covenant, not keeping the terms of the covenant they made before me, I will treat them like the calf they cut in two in order to pass between its pieces."
Jeremiah 34:18
As mentioned above - a covenant is a big, big, big deal. Some churches have membership covenants, and, as a pastor, I am honestly scared to do that - because a covenant goes far beyond a mere promise, as this incidence shows. In ancient times, when the two participants in a covenant slaughtered animals and walked between them, the meaning was clear and literally visceral: If I break this covenant - or you do - may we become as this dead, slaughtered animal. A covenant is quite literally a life or death matter. And I note here again, that only God walked through the animal parts - a declaration, of sorts, that God would keep His end of the covenant no matter what Abram's descendants did. And God has done so - He has kept and maintained His covenant with Abram. Perhaps you've heard the phrase "to cut a deal?" I believe that phrase has its origin in this ancient practice. I'm glad we don't cut deals this way anymore!
One more bit of encouragement: This is Charles Spurgeon, commenting on Acts 14:22, "We must go through many trials to enter the Kingdom of God"
"Perseverance is the badge of true saints. The Christian life is not a beginning only in the ways of God, but also a continuance in the same as long as life lasts.... He only is a true conqueror, and shall be crowned at the last, who continues until war’s trumpet is blown no more. Perseverance is, therefore, the target of all our spiritual enemies. The world does not object to your being a Christian for a time, if she can but tempt you to cease your pilgrimage and settle down to [worldly pleasures.] The flesh will seek to ensnare you, and to prevent your pressing on to glory. “It is weary work being a pilgrim; come, give it up. Am I always to be mortified? Am I never to be indulged? Give me at least a break from this constant warfare.” Satan will make many a fierce attack on your perseverance; it will be the mark for all his arrows. He will strive to hinder you in service: he will insinuate that you are doing no good; and that you want rest. He will endeavor to make you weary of suffering, he will whisper, “Curse God, and die.” Or he will attack your steadfastness: “What is the good of being so zealous? Be quiet like the rest; sleep like others do, and let your lamp go out as the other virgins do.” Or he will assail your doctrinal sentiments: “Why do you hold to these creeds? Sensible men are getting more liberal; they are removing the old landmarks: fall in with the times.” Wear your shield, Christian, therefore, close upon your armor, and cry mightily unto God, that by his Spirit you may endure to the end."
C. H. Spurgeon, Morning and Evening: Daily Readings (London: Passmore & Alabaster, 1896). (slightly modernized)
Today we are reading Genesis 14, Nehemiah 3, Matthew 13 and Acts 13, following the Robert Murray M'Cheyne Bible reading plan. Our big Bible question of the day is all about Melchizedek, one of the most interesting and mysterious figures in the Old Testament. As of today, we are 3 chapters into Nehemiah, and we've barely talked about him! I hope to rectify that in an upcoming episode of the podcast. For now, we begin with Genesis 14, which is an action packed passage, to be sure!
When I was a kid, I thought the Bible was boring, but I don't actually remember why. I also thought Lord of the Rings was boring and inscrutable when I tried to read it in 4th or 5th grade, and honestly both of those opinions are childish rubbish. The Lord of the Rings is one of the best works of fiction ever written, and the Bible is chock full of fascinating and interesting things, and this passage is a great example of that. Military strategists and historians should study this passage because it is honestly one of the first incidents in all of recorded history that features advanced war tactics and what we now call guerrilla warfare. Considering that military tactics were much more conventional even during the times of the Revolutionary War and the Civil War, I find it fairly interesting Abram was thousands of years ahead of his time in terms of strategy. Think about it:
he divided his forces against the far superior forces of King Chedorlaomer and attacked them by night - Abram had military wisdom! Using the clever tactic of a night attack with his army split into two groups, he succeeded in rescuing Lot and recovering all the plunder (all the goods) seized by the partnership of the five kings. And then, on the way back from this stunning victory, Abram encounters a mysterious figure, who brings him some bread and wine and blesses him. This person is Melchizedek, and Abram gives him a tithe/tenth of all the spoils of the battle. For thousands of years since then, people have speculated about who, exactly this guy Melchizedek was.
"King and priest. None other of the house of David save our Lord Jesus Christ could claim the union of these two offices. In Christ we have a King and a priest, as also with Melchisedech of old, a great type of Jesus."
C. H. Spurgeon, “Seeing Jesus,” in The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit Sermons, vol. 61 (London: Passmore & Alabaster, 1915), 47.
"Clearly, from a passage in Hebrews there is something v. special about Melchisedech, but I don’t know what it is. There’s lots to find out, here and hereafter, isn’t there?"
Letter to Mrs. Johnson, C. S. Lewis, The Collected Letters of C. S. Lewis, ed. Walter Hooper, vol. 3 (New York: HarperCollins e-books; HarperSanFrancisco, 2004–2007), 608.
"WE will not enlarge upon the story of Melchisedec, nor discuss the question as to who he was. It is near enough for us to believe that he was one who worshipped God after the primitive fashion, a believer in God such as Job was in the land of Uz, one of the world’s grey fathers who had kept faithful to the Most High God. He combined in his own person the kingship and the priesthood; a conjunction by no means unusual in the first ages. Of this man we know very little; and it is partly because we know so little of him that he is all the better type of our Lord, of whom we may enquire, “Who shall declare his generation?” The very mystery which hangs about Melchisedec serves to set forth the mystery of the person of our divine Lord. “Without father, without mother, without descent, having neither beginning of days, nor end of life; but made like unto the Son of God; he abideth a priest continually. Now consider how great this man was, unto whom even the patriarch Abraham gave the tenth of the spoils.”
C. H. Spurgeon, “First King of Righteousness, and after That King of Peace,” in The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit Sermons, vol. 30 (London: Passmore & Alabaster, 1884), 121.
7 Reasons I believe that Melchizedek was actually a Christophany - an Old Testament manifestation/appearance of Jesus:
- His name: King of Righteousness and King of Salem/Shalom. This is not persuasive, just evidential.
- Melchizedek was a priest AND a king. This was specifically forbidden by God, and King Uzziah - who tried to be both king and priest - was struck by leprosy for doing so. There are two king-priests in the Bible: Jesus and Melchizedek.
- Melchizedek served wine and bread to Abraham. This seems a bit on the nose, doesn't it? It doesn't have to be a nod towards Jesus serving wine and bread to the disciples - the New Testament never draws that connection - but it certainly seems significant to me.
- As mentioned in Psalms and Hebrews, Jesus was priest in the order of Melchizedek, not the order of Aaron, as every other priest of the Jewish people were. Consider this: why in the world would Jesus - God's son and God Himself - be of the order of ANY human priesthood? That seems rather absurd, doesn't it?
- The writer of Hebrews, in discussing Melchizedek and Jesus in depth and in parallel, seems to go out of his way to make the case that Melchizedek was significant and great, which is fairly odd considering that the Old Testament devotes a mere handful of verses to Melchizedek. But, consider these quotes from Hebrews, "Now consider how great this man was: even Abraham the patriarch gave a tenth of the plunder to him." (Hebrews 7:4) "But one without this lineage collected a tenth from Abraham and blessed the one who had the promises.7 Without a doubt, the inferior is blessed by the superior. " (Hebrews 7:6 - did you catch the obvious implication that Melchizedek was greater than Abraham?)
- Perhaps the primary function of a priest was to be a mediator between humans and God. There were many thousands of priests, but still Paul could say in 1 Timothy 2:5, "There is one God and one Mediator who can reconcile God and humanity—the man Christ Jesus. " There is only ONE priest like Jesus - who reconciles God and humanity - only ONE mediator like him. Considering how the writer of Hebrews talks about Jesus and Melchizedek in parallel - literally the only two priests in history that are in the order of Melchizedek, it would seem that these two priests are actually the same priest, with different names. (Consider Isaiah in this regard: Jesus will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.")
- The above items are certainly weighty, but not altogether convincing, and if they were the only evidence that tied Jesus and Melchizedek together, I would be content to stay with Spurgeon and Lewis and say that there is no solid biblical proof that Jesus and Melchizedek were the same person. However, there is one more passage that we have in the book of Hebrews about Melchizedek, and I can't imagine how that description of him could possibly be about anybody but Jesus Himself. Consider:
" Without father, mother, or genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but resembling the Son of God, he remains a priest forever."
Hebrews 7:3
There's really only two options here: either the writer of Hebrews was simply exaggerating a lot, or Melchizedek is an appearance of Jesus. How could a human being not have a father or mother? How could a human being not have a genealogy or genetic relatives? How could a human being not have a beginning? How could a human being be immortal and NOT DIE? How could a human being be a priest FOREVER?!? The writer of Hebrews makes it crystal clear in chapter 7 vss. 23-24 that all other priests prior to Jesus died ("Now many have become Levitical priests, since they are prevented by death from remaining in office. 24 But because he remains forever, he holds his priesthood permanently. ")
So - that's my case for Melchizedek being more than simply a type of Christ, but an actual manifestation of Jesus Himself. There are other places in the Old Testament where this might have happened also, and theologians usually call this a Christophany. One prominent example is when Joshua meets the Commander of the Armies of the Lord prior to the Jericho battle, and Joshua falls down and worships, and the Commander does NOT stop him, as every other angelic being does in that situation.
Today's Bible reading for January 12 is Genesis 13, Nehemiah 2, Matthew 12 and Acts 12. Our focus passage will be Matthew 12, and we are asking a big Bible question today: What is the Blasphemy of the Spirit, the unforgivable sin?
SHOUT OUT TO THE PEOPLE WHO HAVE COMMENTED AND LEFT REVIEWS!!! On Apple Podcasts: Monte O, Kerri P, Cortney and Angel. And also people who have commented on the blog that they were listening: Angie from Knoxville, Og from Salinas, Cortney J. from Birmingham and Ms. Judy Bloom from parts unknown. THANK YOU! So - let's read our first chapter, and then get into our discussion.
What is the Unforgivable sin??
It’s a terrifying reality: Jesus warned His disciples and the Pharisees that there was a sin that could be committed that was unpardonable – unforgivable for all eternity. People have speculated and worried about this teaching of Jesus for hundreds of years. What precisely is the unpardonable sin? How can we know whether or not we’ve done it? Let’s dive in!
The Didache First century – RIGHT after the NT: Now concerning the apostles and prophets, deal with them as follows in accordance with the rule of the gospel. (4) Let every apostle who comes to you be welcomed as if he were the Lord. (5) But he is not to stay for more than one day, unless there is need, in which case he may stay another. But if he stays three days, he is a false prophet. (6) And when the apostle leaves, he is to take nothing except bread until he finds his next night’s lodging. But if he asks for money, he is a false prophet.
(7) Also, do not test or evaluate any prophet who speaks in the spirit, for every sin will be forgiven, but this sin will not be forgiven.35
Michael William Holmes, The Apostolic Fathers: Greek Texts and English Translations, Updated ed. (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 1999), 263–265.
ANDREAS Andreas of Caesarea (Greek: Ἀνδρέας Καισαρείας; 563 – 637) : It is the sin of heresy, or of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, which leads to death. If one man sins against another, pray for him. But if he sins against God, who is there who can pray on his behalf?
And if even after all this, our opponents are still unwilling to learn and still unable to understand, they should at least stop speaking evil. They should not divide the Trinity lest they be divided from life.82 They should not classify the Holy Spirit with the creatures, lest, like the Pharisees of old who ascribed the works of the Spirit to Beelzebul,83 they too, on account of equal audacity, incur along with them the punishment which is unpardonable both now and in the future.
Athanasius Works on the Spirit: Athanasius’s Letters to Serapion on the Holy Spirit,
Grave-robbing, or the opening of graves, is divided into two kinds too, like theft, according to the present Canon, to wit, into pardonable and into unpardonable grave-robbing. For if the fellow opening the grave does not denude the dead person’s body, thus refraining from dishonoring (for that is what is meant by the expression “sparing devoutness”) the dead, but only takes the stones found in the grave, in order to use them in the building of any other work that is preferable and more beneficial to the community, though this too is by no means anything to be praised, yet custom has made it pardonable.2
St. Nicodemus of the Holy Mountain – 1700s, Greek Orthodox church.
Swearing is a dreadful and harmful thing; it is a destructive drug, a bane and a danger, a hidden wound, a sore unseen, an obscure ulcer spreading its poison in the soul; it is an arrow of Satan, a flaming javelin, a two-edged sword, a sharp-honed scimitar, an unpardonable sin, an indefensible transgression, a deep gulf, a precipitous crag, a strong trap, a taut-stretched net, a fetter that cannot be broken, a noose from which no one escapes.
19. Are these enough, and do you believe that swearing is a dreadful thing and the most harmful of all sins? Believe me, I beg you, believe me! But if someone does not believe me, I now offer proof. This sin has what no other sin possesses. If we do not violate the other commandments, we escape punishment; on the other hand, in the matter of oaths, we are punished just the same both when we guard against transgressing and when we transgress.
St. John Chrysostom, 300s AD St. John Chrysostom: Baptismal Instructions,
Hilary of Poitiers actually points us in a more biblical direction, in discussing the unpardonable sin: Every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven to men, but blasphemy of the Spirit will not be forgiven.67 With a very grave qualification, he condemns the view of the Pharisees and the perversion of those who also think like them. He promises pardon of all sins but refuses pardon for blasphemy of the Spirit. While other words and deeds are treated with a generous pardon, there is no mercy if it is denied that God is in Christ.
68 And in whatever way one sins without pardon, he is gracious to us and reminds us again that sins of every kind can be completely forgiven, though blasphemy against the Holy Spirit cannot be forgiven. For who is so completely beyond pardon as one who denies that Christ is of God, or repudiates that the substance of the Spirit of the Father resides in him
Hilary of Poitiers, Commentary on Matthew, ed.
Spurgeon – Nobody knows what that sin is. I believe that even God’s Word does not tell us, and it is very proper that it does not. As I have often said, it is like the notice we sometimes see put up, “Man-traps and spring gun set here.” We do not know whereabouts the traps and guns are, but we have no business over the hedge at all. So, “there is a sin unto death;” we are not told what that sin is, but we have no business to go over the hedge into any transgression at all. That “sin unto death” may be different in different people; but, whoever commits it, from that very moment, loses all spiritual desires. He has no wish to be saved, no care to repent, no longing after Christ; so dreadful is the spiritual death that comes over the man who has committed it that he never craves eternal life.
C. H. Spurgeon, Pictures from Pilgrim’s Progress: A Commentary on Portions of John Bunyan’s Immortal Allegory (Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software, 2009), 73–74.
Billy Graham:
The sin of the religious leaders, blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, was a refusal to accept the witness of the Holy Spirit to who Jesus was and what He had come to do, and then submit their lives to Him… Once again, the unpardonable sin is not some particularly grievous sin committed by a Christian before or after accepting Christ, nor is it thinking or saying something terrible about the Holy Spirit. Rather, it is deliberately resisting the Holy Spirit’s witness and invitation to turn to Jesus until death ends all opportunity.
Billy Graham is echoing the Augustinian (300s AD) view: Now the man who, not believing that sins are remitted in the Church, despises this great gift of God’s mercy, and persists to the last day of his life in his obstinacy of heart, is guilty of the unpardonable sin against the Holy Ghost, in whom Christ forgives sins.
Augustine of Hippo, “The Enchiridion,” in St. Augustin: On the Holy Trinity, Doctrinal Treatises, Moral Treatises, ed.
Augustine was reflecting the Origen view (early 300s): The Spirit dwells in those who live by faith. But those who once having been counted worthy to share in the Holy Spirit and then having finally and decisively turned their backs from grace are by this act said to have blasphemed against the Holy Spirit (ORIGEN Who, then, is not amazed at the exceeding majesty of the Holy Spirit when he hears that he who speaks a word against the Son of man may hope for forgiveness, but that he who is guilty of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit has no forgiveness—either in the present world or in that which is to come. Origen
What then is it? The unforgivable sin of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is an act of resistance which belittles the Holy Spirit so grievously that he withdraws forever with his convicting power so that we are never able to repent and be forgiven. – John Piper. Lee ann penick MODERN: There is only one “unpardonable sin” that can separate us from God for eternity. It is the ongoing, willful refusal to accept Christ as Lord and Savior and the forgiveness He offers.
Jacob Arminius defined it as “the rejection and refusing of Jesus Christ through determined malice and hatred against Christ”.
Nancy Hardesty “Ultimately the refusal to allow women to fully use their gifts in the church and in the world is a form of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit.” Pope John Paul II writes “‘blasphemy’ does not properly consist in offending against the Holy Spirit in words; it consists rather in the refusal to accept the salvation which God offers to man through the Holy Spirit, working through the power of the Cross”, and “If Jesus says that blasphemy against the Holy Spirit cannot be forgiven either in this life or in the next, it is because this “non-forgiveness” is linked, as to its cause, to “non-repentance,” in other words to the radical refusal to be converted. This means the refusal to come to the sources of Redemption, which nevertheless remain “always” open in the economy of salvation in which the mission of the Holy Spirit is accomplished.
SO – What is The unforgivable sin?? – is it, as Origen, Augustine, Billy Graham, Pope John Paul 2 Lee Ann Penick suggest – the rejection of the Holy Spirit/not becoming a follower of Jesus?? Is it, as John Chrysostom claimed, swearing oaths? Is it the robbing of graves in a thieving manner? Is it not letting women use their spiritual gifts in the church? Is it Heresy? Is it, as Athanasius and many other church fathers declared, being wrong on the Trinity and calling the Holy Spirit a created being, rather than God Himself? Is it testing prophetic utterances of prophets?? (NO! – 1 Thessalonians 5:19-21 Don’t stifle the Spirit. 20 Don’t despise prophecies, 21 but test all things. Hold on to what is good.)
Confused? You should be!! People talk about this issue all of the time, but it doesn’t appear that all of them get their views from the Bible, so let’s begin there in seeking our answer.
Matthew 12:24 24 When the Pharisees heard this, they said, “The man drives out demons only by Beelzebul, the ruler of the demons.”
25 Knowing their thoughts, He told them: “Every kingdom divided against itself is headed for destruction, and no city or house divided against itself will stand. 26 If Satan drives out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then will his kingdom stand? 27 And if I drive out demons by Beelzebul, who is it your sons drive them out by? For this reason they will be your judges. 28 If I drive out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come to you. 29 How can someone enter a strong man’s house and steal his possessions unless he first ties up the strong man? Then he can rob his house. 30 Anyone who is not with Me is against Me, and anyone who does not gather with Me scatters.31 Because of this, I tell you, people will be forgiven every sin and blasphemy, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven.32 Whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him. But whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the one to come.
Mark 3: 22 The scribes who had come down from Jerusalem said, “He has Beelzebul in Him!” and, “He drives out demons by the ruler of the demons!”
23 So He summoned them and spoke to them in parables: “How can Satan drive out Satan? 24 If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. 25 If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand. 26 And if Satan rebels against himself and is divided, he cannot stand but is finished!
27 “On the other hand, no one can enter a strong man’s house and rob his possessions unless he first ties up the strong man. Then he will rob his house. 28 I assure you: People will be forgiven for all sins and whatever blasphemies they may blaspheme. 29 But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin”— 30 because they were saying, “He has an unclean spirit.”
Luke 12: 8 “And I say to you, anyone who acknowledges Me before men, the Son of Man will also acknowledge him before the angels of God, 9 but whoever denies Me before men will be denied before the angels of God.10 Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven,but the one who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven.
So, I see two major ways we need to answer this question. Contextually and grammatically. What does the CONTEXT of the usage of ‘unpardonable sin’ tell us, and what does the grammar/word meanings tell us?
We find a massively important clue in Mark 3:30, where Mark tells us precisely WHY Jesus warned the Pharisees and Scribes about this sin. “Because they were saying, He has an unclean spirit.” The exact same situation is described in Matthew 12:31 “31 Because of this, I tell you, people will be forgiven every sin and blasphemy, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven” The scribes and pharisees are accusing Jesus of doing miraculous things – specifically driving out demons – by the power of Beelzebul rather than by the power of God.
Therefore, we know at least this: Ascribing something like an exorcism that is factually done by the power of God and His Holy Spirit to Demonic influence is AT BEST dangerously close to Blaspheming the Holy Spirit, and could, in fact, be blaspheming the Holy Spirit. (Jesus does not make it crystal clear that the scribes and pharisees were actually committing this sin, or merely getting close to committing it. It would seem like the latter is the best option.)
Practically speaking, what does this mean?? It means we need to be extremely careful about stating confident opinions on spiritual matters that we don’t have 100 percent clarity from Scripture on. Let me give a couple of examples:
- Pushed over at Brownsville.
- Charles Carrin praying for us at GVAG.
- Flamboyant preachers on tv wadding up their coats and throwing them on people, who pass out. Blowing on people, who pass out. Etc. Most of this is probably fraudulent, some of it horribly so. BUT – we should be incredibly careful about pronouncing opinions on what God’s spirit would do, and wouldn’t do. For instance, there was a revival going on in the 90s that became very well known and reached a lot of people. I heard about some of the things going on at that revival that were disturbing, and sounded – quite frankly – ridiculous. So, I assumed that the movement wasn’t of God, but was just flaky people doing flaky things – at best. HOWEVER…a few years later, I met the leader of the movement, and spent some time with him. He struck me as a genuine follower of God – a man who loved Jesus, and who was humble. I still don’t know what to think about that revival. God does, and I leave it to Him. It’s outside of my realm of influence. According to Jesus – there is grave danger in ascribing the works of the Holy Spirit to Satan. You better be 100 percent sure you’re right before doing such thing…and you’d better ask the question – HOW Do i Know FOR SURE that my opinion is right on this matter? If you can’t answer that question with extreme clarity, then be careful saying what the Holy Spirit will or will not do, and be careful saying whether or not something is of Satan, or not. Contextually, that is at least a large part of what blaspheming the Holy Spirit is about.
What is blasphemy, exactly? More on that in a moment….
Side question – is Beelzebul = Satan?? It’s a great question, and I have a fairly lame answer…’maybe.’ Beelzebub (“Lord of the flies”) and Beelzebul (“Lord of the skies/heavenly realms”) both refer to the same entity.
In the Testament of Solomon, 1st century, non-Scripture, pseudoepigraphic text. Beelzebul (not Beelzebub) appears as prince of the demons and says (6.2) that he was formerly a leading heavenly angel who was (6.7) associated with the star Hesperus (which is the normal Greek name for the planet Venus (Αφροδíτη) as evening star). Seemingly, Beelzebul here is synonymous with Lucifer. the text describes how Solomon was enabled to build his temple by commanding demons by means of a magical ringthat was entrusted to him by the archangel Michael.
The Bible reference comes from 2 Kings 1: 1 After the death of Ahab, Moab rebelled against Israel. 2 Ahaziah had fallen through the latticed window of his upper room in Samaria and was injured. So he sent messengers instructing them: “Go inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron, if I will recover from this injury.” 3 But the angel of the Lord said to Elijah the Tishbite, “Go and meet the messengers of the king of Samaria and ask them, ‘Is it because there is no God in Israel that you are going to inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron?’ 4 Therefore, this is what the Lord says: ‘You will not get up from your sickbed—you will certainly die.’” Then Elijah left.The name also appears in Luke 11, where we can see the clearest connection between Beelzebul and Satan: Luke 11:14 Now He was driving out a demon that was mute. When the demon came out, the man who had been mute, spoke, and the crowds were amazed. 15 But some of them said, “He drives out demons by Beelzebul,the ruler of the demons!” 16 And others, as a test, were demanding of Him a sign from heaven. 17 Knowing their thoughts, He told them: “Every kingdom divided against itself is headed for destruction, and a house divided against itself falls.18 If Satan also is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? For you say I drive out demons by Beelzebul. 19 And if I drive out demons by Beelzebul, who is it your sons drive them out by? For this reason they will be your judges. 20 If I drive out demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has come to you.
So, Jesus mentions Satan and Beelzebul in the same context, but not in a way that indicates that they are the same entities.
My best guess is that Beelzebul is a separate entity from Satan, but I confess that I do not know, and my guess is based on the fact that the Bible never clearly identifies the two as the same entity.
What exactly is Blasphemy?
Luke 12:10 points us in the right direction – anyone who ‘speaks a word against the son of man will be forgiven.’ but the one who blasphemes the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven. Matthew 12:32 makes it even more clear: 32 Whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him. But whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the one to come.
Similarly: Isaiah 37:23 Isaiah 37:23
Who is it you have mocked and blasphemed? Who have you raised your voice against and lifted your eyes in pride? Against the Holy One of Israel!
The Word itself, Greek Blasphemos, is a combo of two words. Blaptō, which means, ‘to HURT’ and Pheemay, which means fame, report, or something like ‘reputation.’ So, etymologically, the word has a root meaning of injuring somebody’s fame, or good name. The word can mean ‘defame’ or ‘revile’ and isn’t always used of a deity. Paul speaks of being ‘defamed’ or blasphemed by people for being an apostle. Paul commands the church in Titus 3:2 not to slander/Speak evil of (or BLASPHEME) any person, which is a command that Christians would do well to take far more seriously than we do. 2 Peter 2:10 and Jude vs 8 both warn against blaspheming angels, demons, and other spiritual beings.
So- blasphemy is speaking evil of someone. Hurting them with your words, harming their reputation. Thus, blaspheming the Holy Spirit is speaking evil of Him, reviling Him, defaming Him, seeking to harm His reputation. The Pharisees and Scribes were doing that – or coming dangerously close – when they said that it was Satan/Beelzebul empowering Jesus, when it was factually the Spirit of God Himself.
R.C. Sproul: Their statements were directed against Jesus. So, He said to them: “You can blaspheme Me and be forgiven, but when you question the work of the Spirit, you are coming perilously close to the unforgivable sin. You are right at the line. You are looking down into the abyss of hell. One more step and there will be no hope for you.” He was warning them to be very careful not to insult or mock the Spirit.
Is it really unforgivable, and WHAT IF I HAVE COMMITTED IT?!
AUGUSTINE: It is not that this was a blasphemy which under no circumstances could be forgiven, for even this shall be forgiven if right repentance follows it
Thomas C. Oden and Christopher A. Hall, eds., Mark, Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2005), 48.
I’m worried that I have committed the unforgivable sin??
Graham: Many Christians have heard that there is an unpardonable sin and live in dread that something grave they have done before or after conversion might be that sin. Their fears are unfounded. While there is an unforgivable sin, it is not one that a true believer in Jesus Christ can commit.
Sproul: Humanly speaking, everyone who is a Christian is capable of committing the unforgivable sin. However, I believe that the Lord of glory who has saved us and sealed us in the Holy Spirit will never let us commit that sin. I do not believe that any Christians in the history of the church have blasphemed the Spirit.
As for those who are not sure they are saved and are worried they may have committed the unpardonable sin, I would say that worrying about it is one of the clearest evidences that they have not committed this sin, for those who commit it are so hardened in their hearts they do not care that they commit it. Thanks be to God that the sin that is unpardonable is not a sin He allows His people to commit.
I don’t share Graham and Sproul’s assurances, though I respect them both deeply. The Bible NEVER says a believer is unable to commit the unpardonable sin. Jesus NEVER indicates that, and I see no other passage that promises such…just a sober warning.
I think Piper strikes a better balance when talking about it:
Piper: The fact that there is an unforgivable sin — that there comes a point in a life of sin after which the Holy Spirit will no longer grant repentance — that fact should drive us from sin with fear and trembling. None of us knows when our toying with sin will pass over into irrevocable hardness of heart. Very few people feel how serious sin is. Very few people are on the same wavelength with Jesus when he said in Mark 9:43, “If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life maimed than with two hands to go to hell, to the unquenchable fire.”
Instead, many professing Christians today have such a sentimental view of God’s justice that they never feel terror and horror at the thought of being utterly forsaken by God because of their persistence in sin. They have the naïve notion that God’s patience has no end and that they can always return from any length and depth of sin, forgetting that there is a point of resistance which belittles the Holy Spirit so grievously that he withdraws forever with his convicting power, leaving them never able to repent and be forgiven.
They are like the buzzard who spots a carcass on a piece of ice floating in the river. He lands and begins to eat. He knows it is dangerous because the falls are just ahead. But he looks at his wings and says to himself, “I can fly to safety in an instant.” And he goes on eating. Just before the ice goes over the falls he spreads his wings to fly but his claws are frozen in the ice and there is no escape — neither in this age nor the age to come. The Spirit of holiness has forsaken the arrogant sinner forever.
Another of the devil’s fiery darts is this, “You have committed the unpardonable sin.” Ah! this arrow has rankled in many a heart, and it is very difficult to deal with such cases. The only way in which I argue with a person thus assailed is to say, “I am quite certain that, if you desire salvation, you have not committed the unpardonable sin, and I am absolutely sure that, if you will now come and trust Christ, you have not committed that sin, for every soul that trusts Christ is forgiven, according to God’s Word, and therefore you cannot have committed that sin.”
C. H. Spurgeon, Pictures from Pilgrim’s Progress:
My close – God the Holy Spirit is all powerful. Tremble:
I don’t want to blunt the warnings of Jesus with false assurance. It is likely that – if you are worried you’ve committed the unpardonable sin, that you haven’t because only the Spirit’s work in your life would make you fear the Lord. But the way that Jesus addressed this is with the highest level of seriousness…so must we. This passage RIGHTLY inspires fear in us, and that’s ok, it should. It is obviously recorded in the Scripture for that purpose.
Proverbs 1:7
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and discipline.
Proverbs 2:5
you will understand the fear of the Lord and discover the knowledge of God.
Proverbs 10:27
The fear of the Lord prolongs life, but the years of the wicked are cut short.
Rev 14:6 6 Then I saw another angel flying high overhead,(I) having the eternal gospel to announce to the inhabitants of the earth—to every nation, tribe, language, and people.(J)7 He spoke with a loud voice: “Fear God and give Him glory, because the hour of His judgment has come. Worship the Maker of heaven and earth, the sea and springs of water.”
The word for fear there has the same meaning as our word fear. It means FEAR.
Luke 12: In the same breath that Jesus speaks about the unpardonable sin, He says this:
4 “And I say to you, My friends, don’t fear those who kill the body, and after that can do nothing more. 5 But I will show you the One to fear: Fear Him who has authority to throw people into hell after death. Yes, I say to you, this is the One to fear! 6 Aren’t five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten in God’s sight. 7 Indeed, the hairs of your head are all counted. Don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows!
Treat the Holy Spirit with great – remarkable sobriety – fear and wisdom. Fear the Lord, as Jesus said, and don’t be afraid to trust Him – He who knows all of the sparrows and numbers our hairs, counts us as of great worth and Loves the World enough to send His son to rescue it.
Here’s the good news: GREEAR: False gods mutilate us; the true God mutilated himself for us.
The prophets of Ba’al begin by dancing around their altar. They end by slashing at themselves until their blood runs (1 Kings 18:28). False gods always push us toward destruction: “Work harder. Do better. Obtain more. You still aren’t getting my attention. Slash yourself!” So we slash at our bodies by going through crash diets to attain that perfect figure. We slash at our families by overworking to make extra money. We slash at our souls by compromising our integrity to get someone’s affection.
False gods push us to mutilate ourselves, because we desperately want to win their approval. But only one God was ever mutilated for us—Jesus Christ. This story ends with a magnificent fire coming from heaven, but as Jesus himself points out to his first disciples, the fire was not intended for sinful humanity (Luke 9:51–56). It was ultimately intended for him: of all the characters in this story, Jesus is not Elijah, calling down fire; he is the sacrifice who receives the fire of judgment.
At the cross, Jesus took into his body the fire of God’s justice so that we could take into our lives the fire of God’s love. Other gods demand dancing, slashing, mutilation. But Jesus Christ is the only God who was slashed and mutilated for us. As Tim Keller has said, “Every other god will make your blood run; only the true God bleeds for you.”
Let's celebrate! We've made it through 10 episodes, and have FINISHED OUR FIRST BOOK TOGETHER. Great! Today we are reading Genesis 12, Nehemiah 1, Matthew 11, and Acts 11 together. We will start with Matthew 11, because something very significant and almost unsettling happens in that passage. The focus is on John the Baptist, a cousin of Jesus who has risen to incredible prominence in Israel as a preacher of revival. God had given John a tremendous ministry and a huge impact on his country, preparing for the public ministry of Jesus. John was a man of uncompromising righteousness and passionate pursuit of God. Whether he was asked about it, or not - we don't know - but at some point, John proclaimed his view - solidly grounded in Scripture - that Herod the Tetrarch (essentially the president/political figurehead in Israel) was sinning by having intimate relations with his brother Phillip's wife. This infuriated Herod, and he wanted to kill John, but he didn't have the courage to do that, so he simply had John arrested and jailed instead. And that is where we pick up our reading today.
Before we get back to John the Baptist and doubts, one thing that I think will be helpful for us is to do a very brief summary of every book that we finish. So here is a brief summary: Ezra was a scribe, priest, and zealous expert in the law. The time period covered by the book is right around 450 B.C. and records the return of the Jewish people to Jerusalem after a 70 year exile in the Babylonian area. Chapters 1-6 of Ezra are about the return of a small advance group of Jewish people that are sent to secure Jerusalem and prepare for the building of the temple. Unfortunately, the enemies of Jerusalem mount a campaign to prevent the rebirth of that city, and there is quite a bit of back and forth between them, the advanced Jewish preparation team, and the government of King Darius and King Artaxerxes. Ultimately, the Persian government sides with the Jewish people and orders the work on the temple and the walls to continue.
Interestingly, Ezra is not actually one of the advance scouts, and does not appear in his own book until chapter 7, when he is introduced to us by way of a brief genealogy. Ezra leads a team returning to Jerusalem with literally thousands and thousands of pounds of treasure (and no military guard!) and praises God upon his safe arrival. Later, Ezra discovers that many of the people of God have disobeyed His commands and married foreign wives; a situation that Ezra resolves by calling for the sending away of all of those foreign wives. And that is Ezra - an interesting guy with a passion for God and great faith who solves a thorny problem in quite a controversial way.
Back to Matthew 11 and John the Baptist. John is in jail, and apparently feels like he has misunderstood God's plan, or that something has gone wrong. So he sends his followers to go ask Jesus what's up. John is going through what appears to be a significant crisis of doubt - and who can blame him? He is in a dank and dark dungeon and basically just awaiting his execution, which will come fairly soon. It is worth remember here that Jesus called John the Baptist the greatest human being ever born in history (or, at least, in a tie for first place with that title according to Luke 7:28, "I tell you, among those born of women there is no one greater than John. " And here we see the GREATEST ever struck by a massive wave of doubt. Which brings us to a question that lots of Christians have, but rarely voice. And that question is this: Am I the only Christian that wrestles with doubt? And the answer is - OF COURSE YOU AREN'T! Here is John the Baptist, conceived in a miraculous way, the one who heard God's voice and saw the heavenly dove descend on Jesus at His baptism - the greatest human ever....and he is struggling with doubt. And sometimes I do too. And if you are being honest - I'll bet you get hit by waves of doubt too! How do we handle them?
I love this letter from one of my writing heroes C.S. Lewis, because it is so honest and transparent:
Dear Sister Madeleva
Thank you for your most kind letter. I will direct Fabers to send you a copy of the little book, but it may shock your pupils. It is ‘A Grief Observed’ from day to day in all its rawness and sinful reactions and follies. It ends with faith but raises all the blackest doubts en route.
Since my wife’s death I have been very ill myself and last July I was, while unconscious given extreme unction. It would. have been such an easy death that one almost regrets having had the door shut in one’s face—but nella sua voluntade è nostra pace (In His will is our peace)
I am now retired from my work and live as an invalid, but am quite contented and cheerful. I am afraid laziness has more to do with this than sanctity! All blessings.
Yours most sincerely
C. S. LewisC. S. Lewis, The Collected Letters of C. S. Lewis, ed. Walter Hooper, vol. 3 (New York: HarperCollins e-books; HarperSanFrancisco, 2004–2007), 1460–1461.
In this letter, written about a month before Lewis was to die, he mentions his book "A Grief Observed." Which is about his battle with doubt and faith that came when he watched his beloved wife H. Joy Gresham die of cancer. C.S. Lewis, as I mentioned, is one of my heroes, and probably the biggest reason for that is because he was not a hollow Christian brimming with empty positivisms, fake smiles and repacked religion, but he was a man of full and deep thought about the things of God and Jesus. This book is a stunning display of that reality, and it deals with grief and doubt on a level that is so real and visceral that one can't read it and think that the author was anything less than a genuine person. In his introduction to the book, Lewis' stepson (and the son of Lewis' wife who had died, the object of his grief) writes this:
"C. S. Lewis, the writer of so much that is so clear and so right, the thinker whose acuity of mind and clarity of expression enabled us to understand so much, this strong and determined Christian, he too fell headlong into the vortex of whirling thoughts and feelings and dizzily groped for support and guidance deep in the dark chasm of grief. How I wish that he had been blessed with just such a book as this. If we find no comfort in the world around us, and no solace when we cry to God, if it does nothing else for us, at least this book will help us to face our grief, and to “misunderstand a little less completely.”
Douglas H. Gresham, “Introduction,” in A Grief Observed (HarperOne, 1996), xxx–xxxi.
So - if doubt can grip Lewis and doubt can grip John the Baptist, then you can be sure that it can grip normal folk like you and me. John the Baptist, in his great moment of despair, looked to Jesus for answers, and you and I can do no better. We have no records of his longings, griefs and lamentations as he awaited death, but we do have the words of Lewis as he went through the valley of the shadow of death, and I'll read them here so that they may comfort and encourage you who are dealing with grief and doubt at the moment:
"Feelings, and feelings, and feelings. Let me try thinking instead. From the rational point of view, what new factor has H.’s death introduced into the problem of the universe? What grounds has it given me for doubting all that I believe? I knew already that these things, and worse, happened daily. I would have said that I had taken them into account. I had been warned—I had warned myself—not to reckon on worldly happiness. We were even promised sufferings. They were part of the programme. We were even told, ‘Blessed are they that mourn,’ and I accepted it. I’ve got nothing that I hadn’t bargained for. Of course it is different when the thing happens to oneself, not to others, and in reality, not in imagination. Yes; but should it, for a sane man, make quite such a difference as this? No. And it wouldn’t for a man whose faith had been real faith and whose concern for other people’s sorrows had been real concern. The case is too plain. If my house has collapsed at one blow, that is because it was a house of cards. The faith which ‘took these things into account’ was not faith but imagination. The taking them into account was not real sympathy. If I had really cared, as I thought I did, about the sorrows of the world, I should not have been so overwhelmed when my own sorrow came. It has been an imaginary faith playing with innocuous counters labelled ‘Illness,’ ‘Pain,’ ‘Death,’ and ‘Loneliness.’ I thought I trusted the rope until it mattered to me whether it would bear me. Now it matters, and I find I didn’t....(DOUBT!)
Bridge-players tell me that there must be some money on the game ‘or else people won’t take it seriously.’ Apparently it’s like that. Your bid—for God or no God, for a good God or the Cosmic Sadist, for eternal life or nonentity—will not be serious if nothing much is staked on it. And you will never discover how serious it was until the stakes are raised horribly high, until you find that you are playing not for counters or for sixpences but for every penny you have in the world. Nothing less will shake a man—or at any rate a man like me—out of his merely verbal thinking and his merely notional beliefs. He has to be knocked silly before he comes to his senses. Only torture will bring out the truth. Only under torture does he discover it himself. And I must surely admit—H. would have forced me to admit in a few passes—that, if my house was a house of cards, the sooner it was knocked down the better. And only suffering could do it....The terrible thing is that a perfectly good God is in this matter hardly less formidable than a Cosmic Sadist. The more we believe that God hurts only to heal, the less we can believe that there is any use in begging for tenderness. A cruel man might be bribed—might grow tired of his vile sport—might have a temporary fit of mercy, as alcoholics have fits of sobriety. But suppose that what you are up against is a surgeon whose intentions are wholly good. The kinder and more conscientious he is, the more inexorably he will go on cutting. If he yielded to your entreaties, if he stopped before the operation was complete, all the pain up to that point would have been useless. But is it credible that such extremities of torture should be necessary for us? Well, take your choice. The tortures occur. If they are unnecessary, then there is no God or a bad one. If there is a good God, then these tortures are necessary. For no even moderately good Being could possibly inflict or permit them if they weren’t."C. S. Lewis, A Grief Observed (HarperOne, 1996), 36–38.
Sometimes when tragedy strikes, all we can do is respond like Job:
20 Then Job stood up, tore his robe, and shaved his head. He fell to the ground and worshiped, 21 saying: Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will leave this life.
The Lord gives, and the Lord takes away.
Blessed be the name of the Lord.22 Throughout all this Job did not sin or blame God for anything.Job 1:20-21
Today's big Bible question comes from a biblical situation that our British friends might call a 'sticky wicket,' which means a difficult situation. The scribe and priest Ezra has discovered that some of the Israelite men have disobeyed God's command and intermarried with Canaanite women, and he is very disappointed, ultimately calling on those men to send their foreign wives away. Which brings up our big question: Is interracial marriage unbiblical? Does mixed-race marriage displease God now and did it ever displease God? (By the way, if this discussion interests you, you might want to read my book The Bible and Racism, what the Bible REALLY says about racism.)
Today's Bible reading on the podcast will seek to correct a mistake I made yesterday. If this is your first time here, then this is our plan: To promote DAILY Bible reading. We are doing that by reading through the Robert Murray M'Cheyne Bible reading plan. His goal was to lead his congregation to read the entire Bible through in one year, and his plan allows that to happen when followed daily with the added bonus that you'll read the Psalms and New Testament twice. I'd love for you to read the entire Bible through in a year with us, but that is not the goal of this podcast (or the Bible 2020 initiative at our church.) Again, my goal is to help lead you in DAILY Bible reading. That means that you can pick up this goal in early January, or the middle of Summer, or late October, or whenever...and be successful! If you miss a day's reading only go back and do it if you have the time and if it won't compromise your Bible reading for today. The goal is DAILY BIBLE READING. For the church I'm pastoring, I'd love for us all to be reading the same passage on the same day - if we miss a day...no big deal! We'll make it up...or not - the goal is to forge ahead and develop a daily Bible reading habit.
That said, yesterday I made a mistake, and left out Genesis 10, which we were supposed to read. I'll read it today for the sake of completeness. But first, let's read Ezra 10....
So, Ezra the scribe discovered in chapter 9 (yesterday's reading) that the Israelites had disobeyed God's commands and intermarried with the Canaanites. This upset him so much that he tore his clothing and pulled out his hair AND pulled out his beard hair. As the possessor of a beard, I can tell you that pulling out your beard hair hurts like crazy. What was the problem? Well, the problem was that God had forbidden the Israelites from marrying the woman of Canaan. (Note: Not ALL foreign women) Here's the passage:
3 You must not intermarry with them, and you must not give your daughters to their sons or take their daughters for your sons, 4 because they will turn your sons away from me to worship other gods. Then the Lord’s anger will burn against you, and he will swiftly destroy you.
Deuteronomy 7:3-4
SO - you see the point here, I hope? The children of Israel could not marry the people of the promised land area (Identified in vs 2 as, " Hethites, Girgashites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites, seven nations more numerous and powerful than you " because they would turn the hearts of the Yahweh following Israelites towards other Gods. This was NOT a race issue. I note here that the Israelites were NOT white and the Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, etc. black. I guess in modern parlance, they would all be brown, or whatever, but these are people all from the same part of the world, and they are all directly descended from Noah's sons. I'll say again: This was NOT a race issue, or a skin color issue. All of these people would almost certainly have looked the same and have been of very nearly the same race. Keep in mind that Abraham, the father of the Israelites, was himself from Ur of the Chaldeans/Tell el-Muqayyar which is in modern day IRAQ. So - the children of Israel are basically ethnic Iraqi people.
So -some rapid fire questions:
- Are Christians still forbidden from marrying people from Canaan? Answer - In the New Testament, Paul commands Christians to not be "unequally yoked." in 2nd Corinthians 6. Based on the full context of the verse ("Do not be bound together with unbelievers; for what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness?" 2 Corinthians 6:14) Christians have long taken that as a prohibition on a Christian marrying an unbeliever, and I agree with that interpretation. This does NOT forbid interracial marriage, but interfaith marriage.
- Is interracial marriage wrong, according to the Bible? ABSOLUTELY NOT - NOT IN ANY WAY, SHAPE, OR FORM. The Bible does NOT speak out against interracial marriage - only interfaith marriage. Moses, the most prominent leader of the Israelites, was married to an African/Cushite woman that was almost certainly black-skinned. Were you aware of this? Were you further aware that Miriam, Moses' sister, criticized him for this marriage? Well, let's take a look at Numbers 12:
12 Miriam and Aaron criticized Moses because of the Cushite woman he married (for he had married a Cushite woman). 2 They said, “Does the Lord speak only through Moses? Does he not also speak through us?” And the Lord heard it. 3 Moses was a very humble man, more so than anyone on the face of the earth.4 Suddenly the Lord said to Moses, Aaron, and Miriam, “You three come out to the tent of meeting.” So the three of them went out. 5 Then the Lord descended in a pillar of cloud, stood at the entrance to the tent, and summoned Aaron and Miriam. When the two of them came forward, 6 he said:“Listen to what I say:
If there is a prophet among you from the Lord, I make myself known to him in a vision; I speak with him in a dream. 7 Not so with my servant Moses; he is faithful in all my household.8 I speak with him directly,openly, and not in riddles;he sees the form of the Lord.So why were you not afraid to speak against my servant Moses?” 9 The Lord’s anger burned against them,and he left.10 As the cloud moved away from the tent, Miriam’s skin suddenly became diseased, resembling snow.
Numbers 12:1-9
SO- TL;DR: Miriam criticized Moses for marrying a black woman. God came down and defended Moses and gave Miriam a skin disease until Moses interceded and prayed for her to be healed.
Further, the book of Ruth is about a Moabite woman named Ruth who marries a Jewish man named Boaz. Ruth, the Moabitess, is in the genealogy of Jesus. There are other examples of this in Scripture as well. In sum, NO! The Bible does NOT forbid interracial marriage. Here's John Piper with more on the subject.
- Final question: Did Ezra do the right thing in making the Israelites divorce their foreign wives in Ezra 9-10.
This is a thorny question to me, and an answer is difficult to come by. We should note here that there is no indication in the text of Ezra 9 or 10 that God COMMANDED Ezra to tell the Israelites to put away their foreign spouses. Ezra is definitely trying to please the Lord, but we don't see any Scripture where God commands this to happen, and the book of Ezra does not include God telling Ezra for this to happen. I note that Malachi 2:16 tells us that God hates divorce. I also note that Paul addresses this issue with extreme clarity in 1st Corinthians 7:
If any brother has an unbelieving wife and she is willing to live with him, he must not divorce her. 13 Also, if any woman has an unbelieving husband and he is willing to live with her, she must not divorce her husband. 14 For the unbelieving husband is made holy by the wife, and the unbelieving wife is made holy by the husband. Otherwise your children would be unclean, but as it is they are holy.
1 Corinthians 7:12-14
I am honestly not sure if Ezra commanded the Israelites to do the right thing in divorcing their foreign wives in this situation. I'm not sure if that was the way to repent, or not. I am sure of this, however, Paul's command that I just read is crystal clear. If a believer is in a marriage with an unbeliever, the Christian MUST NOT DIVORCE their spouse.
If you've grown up in church - and maybe even if you haven't - you've probably heard of the conversion of Paul the apostle. Initially, as the story goes, Saul was an enemy of Christians and had them arrested. He was even at the murder/martyrdom of the deacon Stephen, and was apparently the government official there that signed off on his impromptu (and likely illegal) execution. So far, so good - all accurate. Then, later on the Damascus Road, as Acts 9 tells it, Saul meets Jesus, and becomes a Christian. For the rest of his life after meeting Jesus, Saul is now known as Paul because Jesus has not only changed his heart, but changed his name! Great story, bro, but... is that what really happened? Actually, it isn't. But - before we discuss Saul/Paul and biblical names, let's read Acts 9 together!
Fantastic testimony! Saul is such a notorious enemy of Christians that when God directly tells the prophet Ananias to go pray for him, Ananias has the temerity (or perhaps, the foolishness) to try and tell God that He was mistaken about sending Ananias to go and pray healing for Saul. God convinces Him that He's right, and Ananias is wrong - duh - and then Saul is healed and delivered. And then, Ananias gives him his new name - right? Actually, no. Saul is still Saul. In fact, in Acts 9:19-20, we see that Saul has become an evangelistic dynamo:
"Saul was with the disciples in Damascus for some time. 20 Immediately he began proclaiming Jesus in the synagogues: “He is the Son of God.”
But...his name is still Saul! Later, Saul goes to Jerusalem to try and join the church there, but they are still afraid of him, so he decides to change his name to something more Jewish sounding, right? Actually, no - he remains Saul...and Saul is a Hebrew name! Then we take a Saul break for a couple of chapters to let Peter eat some goats and pigs and such. At the end of chapter 11, the focus turns back to Saul, who has been sort of exiled to his hometown of Tarsus partially because Christians are afraid of him, but mostly because people that aren't Christians are after him. But - praise God! - good old Barnabas, the son of encouragement, comes along, and takes Saul (that's still his name) to the church in Antioch, which is a Greek/Gentile city that would be in modern day Turkey. At Antioch, Saul becomes a valued member of the church AND IS STILL CALLED SAUL.
Finally, we get to Acts 13. The Gentile church at Antioch is flourishing, and filled with seasoned prophets and teachers from many different nations, including at least two Africans: Lucius of Cyrene and a guy named Simeon the Black (which is a pretty cool name, if you ask me). The Holy Spirit sets apart two of those prophet/teachers for an evangelism mission, and calls them out by name: Barnabas and SAUL. Yes, God Himself calls him Saul years after His conversion. And then we get to the changeover - blink and you miss it!
9 But Saul—also called Paul—filled with the Holy Spirit
Acts 13:9
And after that its Paul, the whole Paul and nothing but the Paul. Following that verse, the only time we hear the name "Saul" in the Bible is when Paul is recounting His testimony on the Damascus road. In every other instance, he is simply called 'Paul.' So - our big question: Why did Saul become Paul? And the answer is - HE DIDN'T! Saul is both a Roman citizen and a Hebrew citizen, and as such, he would have two names - a very common practice in the first century. I have a good friend with Mexican origins who is called Johnny by most people here in Salinas, California, but his real name is Juan. Something very similar is happening here with Saul/Paul. (Read more about dual names here) Some dual names came about because a person had an encounter with God, and God changes their name. Abram becomes Abraham, and Jacob the deceiver becomes Israel the overcomer. But in Saul's case - Saul was his Hebrew name, and Paul his Greek/Gentile name, and that is what he went by once God called him to take the good news of Jesus to the Gentiles. I have no doubt that if one of Paul's old Hebrew friends had seen him, that he would have hailed him as 'Saul.' and Paul/Saul would have answered without batting an eye.
One last little rabbit trail about names. Let's say that you and I encounter a certain dashing British fellow (or lady, as is the case at the moment) who is a Doctor, but not the medical kind. And this Doctor has a an interesting blue police box that is larger on the inside than on the outside and - HOLY COW! it can go back in time. If our Doctor friend asks me where to go - I'd immediately ask to go back to first century Jerusalem - I want to see Jesus!
Here's the sort of interesting thing. If I could speak Aramaic - which was the dominant Jewish spoken language at the time - I would have a very hard time finding Jesus, no matter how many people I asked. They would probably look at me like I was crazy, and tell me they had never heard of a 'Jesus!' What if I asked for Saul, or Paul or Luke, or Matthew, or Peter? I'd get the same response! Why - because those people are myths that only appear in the Bible? NO!! Because Jesus wasn't called Jesus when He was here, and neither was Saul/Paul called Saul/Paul, or Luke called Luke or Matthew called Matthew or Peter called Peter! Confused yet? Well - don't be. Those names are ENGLISH - and English was not a language in the first century A.D. Saul's name would be pronounced more like "Shaul." (with an SH!) His Greek name would have been Paulos. How about Peter - you mean Petros (Greek) or Shimon Ben Yonah (Hebrew) or Keephah - the apparent Aramaic transliteration of the word 'stone.') Luke would be Loukas, and Matthew would be Levi or Matthean. What about Jesus? Well, most likely, he would have been Yehoshua Ben Yosef, which was later shortened to Yeshua Ben Yosef. Both are shortened forms of Joshua, son of Joseph, and the Hebrew name means "YHVH is salvation." Jesus name in Greek is apparently a transliteration of the Hebrew, and is " Iesous" which is pronounced sort of like Ee-ay-soos. Our English word 'Jesus' comes from that via a complicated bit of etymology that would be somewhat boring to non word-geeks. Here's a bit of a stunner if you haven't realized it yet: the name 'Jesus' and the name 'Joshua' are the same names in terms of meaning and origin. Joshua is an anglicized version of Yeshua and Jesus is an anglicized version of the Greek Iesous. (note: anglicized means " make English in form or character. ")
We will talk at length about the name Jesus/Iesous at some point in an upcoming pod, but for now it is good to simply remember that Jesus/Peter/Paul/Luke/Mark, etc. are Anglicized versions of Greek/Hebrew/Aramaic names.
Today's reading is fairly meaty - big, important and theologically rich passages in Genesis 8, Ezra 8, Matthew 8 and Acts 8. However, because the last two episodes of the Bible Reading podcast went long, today's big Bible question is an important one that will be fairly short. Does God care about animals? I suppose a subset to that question - one that we will cover in depth at a later date - is a very common biblical question: Will there be animals in Heaven? Before we dive into that, however, let's read our passage for today - Genesis 8.
John Owen was an interesting fellow. A nonconformist pastor, theologian and writer in the 1600s in England, he was also an MP and an Oxford Academic. He was a bright mind and a lover of Jesus and had an interesting take on today's Genesis passage, and how we might apply it to our lives in 2020. As I write this, it looks possible that the U.S. - my home country - might be about to go to war with Iran. Australia is on fire, and other things have people in a very disquieted, alert and heavy state of mind. Owen asks and answers a question about how Christians should live and trust God when going through such dark and difficult times. Listen to his answer:
What is our duty with respect to dark and difficult dispensations of God’s providence in the world?
The fourth and last peculiar duty which I shall mention is, to hide ourselves. And how shall we do that? The storm is coming; get an ark, as Noah did when the flood was coming upon the world: which is stated for a precedent of all judgments in future times. There are two things required to provide an ark,—fear and faith:—
(1.) Fear: “By faith Noah, being moved with fear, prepared an ark.” If he had not been moved with the fear of God’s judgments, he would never have provided an ark. It is a real complaint; we are not moved enough with the fear of God’s judgments. We talk of dreadful things that can befall human nature, and expect them every day; but yet we are not moved with fear. “Yet were they not afraid,” said Jeremiah, “nor tore their garments.” Nor do we do so. Habakkuk, upon the view of God’s judgments, was in another frame, chap. 3:16, “When I heard,” saith he, “my belly trembled; my lips quivered at the voice: rottenness entered into my bones, and I trembled in myself, that I might rest in the day of trouble.” This is the way to find rest in the day of God’s judgments....
(2.) FAITH We cannot well provide an ark for ourselves, unless we be guided by faith, as well as moved by fear. “By faith, Noah prepared an ark.” How many things have you heard of that encourage faith;—the name of God, the properties of God, and the accomplishment of the promise of God. By virtue of all those properties, encourage faith in providing an ark.
But you will say, “We are yet at a loss what this providing of an ark and hiding of ourselves is. ‘A prudent man foresees the evil, and hides himself.’ God calls us to enter into the chamber of providence, and hide ourselves till the indignation be over and done. If we knew what this was, we should apply ourselves unto it. I will tell you what I think in one instance:—give no quiet to your minds, until, by some renewed act of faith, you have a strong and clear impression of the promises of God upon your hearts, and of your interest in them. If it be but one promise, it will prove an ark. If, under all these seasons, moved with fear, acted by faith, we can but get a renewed sense and pledge of our interest in any one promise of God, we have an ark over us that will endure, whatever the storm be. Think of it, and if nothing else occur to you, apply your minds to it, that you may not wander up and down at uncertainties; but endeavor to have a renewed pledge of your interest in some special promise of God, that it belongs unto you, and it will be an ark in every time of trouble that shall befall you. (slightly modernized)John Owen, The Works of John Owen, ed. William H. Goold, vol. 9 (Edinburgh: T&T Clark, n.d.), 397–398.
You probably caught the verse that triggered today's Bible question, because it was the first verse we read: "God remembered Noah, as well as all the wildlife and all the livestock that were with him in the ark." (Genesis 8:1) So - God was thinking about Noah AND the wildlife and the livestock in the Ark. There are several indications in Scripture of God's love for animals:
9 Then God asked Jonah, “Is it right for you to be angry about the plant?”“Yes, it’s right!” he replied. “I’m angry enough to die!”10 So the Lord said, “You cared about the plant, which you did not labor over and did not grow. It appeared in a night and perished in a night. 11 But may I not care about the great city of Nineveh, which has more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot distinguish between their right and their left, as well as many animals?”
Jonah 4:9-11
Your righteousness is like the highest mountains,
your judgments like the deepest sea.
Lord, you preserve people and animals.Psalm 36:6
He causes grass to grow for the livestock
and provides crops for man to cultivate,
producing food from the earth,
15 wine that makes human hearts glad—
making his face shine with oil—
and bread that sustains human hearts.Psalm 104:14-15
28 Don’t fear those who kill the body but are not able to kill the soul; rather, fear him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. 29 Aren’t two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them falls to the ground without your Father’s consent. 30 But even the hairs of your head have all been counted. 31 So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.
Matthew 10:28-31
So - Yes! God cares about animals, and watches over them. God knows when animals die and cultivates the earth to preserve their lives. We might also mention Proverbs 12:10 here as well, "Whoever is righteous has regard for the life of his beast, but the mercy of the wicked is cruel." But - could animals have eternal life? That's a different question entirely - one we will spend quite a bit more time on in a future episode. We do know for sure that there are horses in Heaven, because Jesus is riding on one in Revelation 19. Isaiah 6 also gives us the tantalizing idea that eternity will indeed have animals:
The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat, and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together; and a little child shall lead them. The cow and the bear shall graze; their young shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. The nursing child shall play over the hole of the cobra, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder's den. They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain; for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.
Isaiah 6:9-10
More on that later. Thanks for reading!
Until tomorrow, Godspeed!
When I was a kid growing up, the most well known Bible verse was probably John 3:16. Even people who didn't go to church knew about that verse, and would probably see it quoted on TV, or held up on a sign at some point every year. I think that has changed in the last few years - the most well known Bible verse today, at least to people that would not identify as Christian, is likely Matthew 7:1, "Do not judge, so that you won't be judged." Our main question of the day is: "must Christians never judge? Let's read the chapter together, and then discuss what Jesus is teaching here.
In a 2013 message when David Platt, former head of the Southern Baptist IMB, was pastor at the Church at Brookhills in Birmingham, he tackled the issue of church discipline - something that is commanded in Scripture. The thorny question for many in the church is how can church discipline happen when we are told not to judge each other? It's a great question, and Platt gives a great answer:
“What about Matthew 7:1,” people ask. Well, keep going to Matthew 7:5. Yes, Jesus gives us warnings about judgment in Matthew 7:1, but when you keep reading, you hear Jesus say, “Why do you see the speck [of sin] that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log [of sin] that is in your own eye?… first, take the log out of your own eye, and then …” Follow this! “… you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.” (Matthew 7:3, 5). The whole implication is that you need to look inward first and humbly examine your own purity, so that you can help a brother or sister become pure. People say, “Well, it’s not my place to judge you, and it’s not your place to judge me.” But we just read in 1 Corinthians 5, church, that it is our place to judge. Look at 1 Corinthians 5:12. “Is it not those inside the church whom you are to judge?” (1 Corinthians 5:12) The question is, how? We’re going to talk about how in a moment, but suffice to say at this moment that we don’t hide behind phrases like, “It’s not my place to judge,” or, “He who is without sin, let him cast the first stone. So since I still sin, I can’t say anything.” Brother or sister, if you see me walking into sin, caught in sin, being pulled into sin, please don’t use super-spiritual jargon like that. Pull me back. And let God use the whole deal to sanctify you in the process, too! That’s what Matthew 7:1–5 is all about; it’s what 1 Corinthians 5 is all about.
David Platt, “The Cross and Christian Discipline—Part 1,” in David Platt Sermon Archive (Birmingham, AL: David Platt, 2013), 3919–3920.
David Platt's teaching here reminds me of Galatians 6:1, " Brothers and sisters, if someone is overtaken in any wrongdoing, you who are spiritual, restore such a person with a gentle spirit, watching out for yourselves so that you also won’t be tempted." This does show us that sometimes Christians are called to help restore and lead other Christians to repentance when they sin - but it MUST be done with a gentle and humble spirit. There is never any room in the people of God for what people call judgmentalism or pharisaical attitudes. Jesus gives us an incredible picture of what that is in Luke 18:
9 He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and looked down on everyone else: 10 “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.11 The Pharisee was standing and praying like this about himself: ‘God, I thank you that I’m not like other people—greedy, unrighteous, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week; I give a tenth of everything I get.’13 “But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even raise his eyes to heaven but kept striking his chest and saying, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner!’ 14 I tell you, this one went down to his house justified rather than the other; because everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”
Luke 18:9-14
The self-righteous attitude of the Pharisee here is always wrong and always at odds with Jesus' commands about judging. However, as Platt has pointed out - there IS a time to make judgments among the people of God. And those judgments can and should happen in only one particular area: INSIDE the church in terms of church discipline.
Before we discuss that, I do need to say a word about what is NOT being forbidden by Jesus here. When the Bible is very clear about a certain practice, lifestyle, behavior, attitude of mind, or action being sinful and against God, it is NOT even remotely judgmental to teach and practice biblical truth. MOST of society considers people in the church to be judgmental when they proclaim certain truths in the Bible and call people to repent of their sins. While there is CERTAINLY a way to do this in a pharisaical, extremely arrogant and self-righteous way, that does NOT necessarily mean the person is judgmental. John the Baptist, for instance, was beheaded for calling out the sexual sin of Herod the Tetrarch, who had been trying to be intimate with his brother's wife. John told him that such behavior was NOT biblical. Was John the Baptist being judgmental? ABSOLUTELY NOT - he was being RIGHTEOUS and obeying Jesus' other major command on judging, "Stop judging according to outward appearances; rather judge according to righteous judgment.” (John 7:24)
Standing on biblical truth in a humble way that is preceded by self-repentance and not accompanied by hypocrisy is NOT being judgmental. Jesus is NOT outlawing that - He is NOT advocating a "to each his own" kind of philosophy. Paul in 1 Corinthians 5 is very clear that the church must make judgments when there are people who are claiming the name of Jesus, but not living the teachings of Jesus:
11 But actually, I wrote you not to associate with anyone who claims to be a brother or sister and is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or verbally abusive, a drunkard or a swindler. Do not even eat with such a person. 12 For what business is it of mine to judge outsiders? Don’t you judge those who are inside? 13 God judges outsiders. Remove the evil person from among you.
1 Corinthians 5:11-13
It is also clear from Scripture that the Word of God IS A JUDGE of our actions. Consider Hebrews 4:12 " 12 For the word of God is living and effective and sharper than any double-edged sword, penetrating as far as the separation of soul and spirit, joints and marrow. It is able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. "
So, in that one fairly narrow arena, Christians are commanded by the Word of God to make righteous judgments and to make those judgments in a righteous way. A righteous judgment is one that is done in accordance with the Bible and not opinion. Do you think somebody is wrong for being a vegan? The Bible tells you NOT to judge them in Romans 14. Do you think somebody is being unethical and insensitive for eating meat? The Bible tells you NOT to judge them in Romans 14. Because the Bible neither condemns vegetarianism nor meat-eating, then Christians must not pass moral judgment on such things. In areas where the Bible DOES give clear commands, however, it is unfaithful for us to fail to follow those commands and call other Christians to as well. When we AGREE with the Word that something is a sin, we aren't make an ungodly judgment, but are making a righteous judgment.
A righteous judgment is a biblical judgment, but even righteous judgments must be done in a righteous way. You simply CANNOT make a judgment if you have not repented of the obvious sin in your life - otherwise, you will be a plank-eye looking down on a speck-eye, and that is foolishness, as Jesus pointed out. Once God has cleansed the plank from your eye, you will be in a better place to make a righteous judgment in a righteous way, and you will do so with the HUMILITY of somebody who has just had a plank taken out of his eye, and not the ARROGANCE of a self-righteous jerk. Frankly, there are way too many self-righteous jerks running around in Christian clothing, and they are bringing shame to the name of Jesus.
Even though I believe that Jesus allows (and even commands) for a certain narrow type of making judgments (given the above parameters), I believe the preponderance of Scripture gives us multiple warnings about making judgments. The overarching concern seems to be that Christians walk in humility, not hypocrisy, and be quicker to point the finger at our own sin (and repent of it!) than to point the finger at the sins of others. These Scriptures bear that philosophy out, and should be a challenge to every fiber of our judgmental, pharisaical and self-righteous beings:
Romans 14:2-4: " 2 One person believes he may eat anything, while one who is weak eats only vegetables. 3 One who eats must not look down on one who does not eat, and one who does not eat must not judge one who does, because God has accepted him. 4 Who are you to judge another’s household servant? Before his own Lord he stands or falls. And he will stand, because the Lord is able to make him stand."
Psalm 31:8-10 " Speak up for those who have no voice,
for the justice of all who are dispossessed.
9 Speak up, judge righteously,
and defend the cause of the oppressed and needy. "
Romans 2:1-3 " Therefore, every one of you who judges is without excuse. For when you judge another, you condemn yourself, since you, the judge, do the same things. 2 We know that God’s judgment on those who do such things is based on the truth. 3 Do you really think—anyone of you who judges those who do such things yet do the same—that you will escape God’s judgment? "
Romans 14:9-12 "9 Christ died and returned to life for this: that he might be Lord over both the dead and the living. 10 But you, why do you judge your brother or sister? Or you, why do you despise your brother or sister? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God. 11 For it is written,As I live, says the Lord, every knee will bow to me, and every tongue will give praise to God.12 So then, each of us will give an account of himself to God.13 Therefore, let us no longer judge one another. Instead decide never to put a stumbling block or pitfall in the way of your brother or sister."
1 Corinthians 4:3-5 " 3 It is of little importance to me that I should be judged by you or by any human court. In fact, I don’t even judge myself. 4 For I am not conscious of anything against myself, but I am not justified by this. It is the Lord who judges me. 5 So don’t judge anything prematurely, before the Lord comes, who will both bring to light what is hidden in darkness and reveal the intentions of the hearts.
Colossians 2:16-17 " 16 Therefore, don’t let anyone judge you in regard to food and drink or in the matter of a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day. 17 These are a shadow of what was to come; the substance is Christ. "
James 2:2-6 "2 For if someone comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and dressed in fine clothes, and a poor person dressed in filthy clothes also comes in, 3 if you look with favor on the one wearing the fine clothes and say, “Sit here in a good place,” and yet you say to the poor person, “Stand over there,” or “Sit here on the floor by my footstool,” 4 haven’t you made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?5 Listen, my dear brothers and sisters: Didn’t God choose the poor in this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom that he has promised to those who love him? 6 Yet you have dishonored the poor."
James 4: " 11 Don’t criticize one another, brothers and sisters. Anyone who defames or judges a fellow believer defames and judges the law. If you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge. 12 There is one lawgiver and judge who is able to save and to destroy. But who are you to judge your neighbor? "
I'll close this section on Judging with some great Gospel truth that reminds us who the ultimate judge is: " 30 “Therefore, having overlooked the times of ignorance, God now commands all people everywhere to repent, 31 because he has set a day when he is going to judge the world in righteousness by the man he has appointed. He has provided proof of this to everyone by raising him from the dead.” Acts 17:30-31
Today's reading is Genesis 6, Ezra 6, Matthew 6, and Acts 6. It may be that our focus reading for the day should continue in Matthew 6, because Jesus' teaching there is so majestic and beautiful that no passage should really overshadow it. If you will indulge me a bit, we will return to Matthew tomorrow for our focus, but today - we are going to discuss the Genesis passage. Genesis 6 has long been one of my favorite passages in the Bible. It is fascinating, scary, and very, very mysterious. I wrote a book last year called Angels, Ghosts and other Bible Mysteries (on Amazon) that is very focused on many of the mysteries that are brought up in this passage. If you like this discussion, you will probably enjoy that book. If not, then skip the book!
Before we get to the question and answer section, however, let's mine some spiritual gold from this passage.
Here is a powerful and encouraging word from our friend and mentor, Charles Spurgeon:
My brethren, how displeased the great God has been with men. He said that it repented him that he had made men upon the earth. That was a striking expression which is used in Genesis 6:6: “It grieved him at his heart.” He seemed to grow so weary of man’s wanton wickedness that he was sorry that he ever made beings capable of so much evil. Yet he is so well content with his beloved Son, who has assumed our nature, that we read of him, “The Lord is well pleased for his righteousness’ sake: he will magnify the law, and make it honourable.” (Is. 42:21). The Lord looks down upon those who are in Christ with an intense affection, and loves them even as he loves the Son, for that is the meaning of this word, “In whom I am well pleased.” All who are in Christ Jesus are pleasing to God; yea, God in Christ looks with divine satisfaction upon all those who trust his Son: he is not only pleased, but well pleased. If you are pleased with Jesus, God is pleased with you: if you are in the Son, then you are in the Father’s good pleasure
C. H. Spurgeon, “The Voice from the Cloud and the Voice of the Beloved,” in The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit Sermons, vol. 29 (London: Passmore & Alabaster, 1883), 355–356.
I would say that Genesis 6 presents us with one of the top five mysteries in the Bible - especially if you read it in the King James Version! Check this out:
And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them,That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose.And the Lord said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years.There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown.
Genesis 6;1-4, King James Version
SO MANY QUESTIONS! What is going on here? Are angelic beings having relations with human women (apparently...) were the offspring of those unions giants (maybe...but that's not the best translation.) did God send the flood because heavenly beings and earthly beings were having relationships?! These are all tough questions and likely too big for our short little podcast to cover, but I'll try to at least give a short answer to some of them. (maybe we'll do a special episode on this chapter at some point)
Question #1: Are heavenly beings in Genesis 6 actually having children with human females?
The answer to this question depends on who, exactly, the "sons of God" are in Genesis 6. There are three main theories. The first is that they are powerful men and leaders that were human - maybe significantly above average humans. Think body-builders, great/tall athletes, charismatic politicians, etc. Theory #2 is that these 'sons of God' are descendants of Seth, thus making the 'daughters of men,' primarily descendants of Cain. This theory is the one I have heard most at seminary and in academic circles. Theory #3 is that 'sons of God' are some type of heavenly creature - an angel, or something like an angel.
I personally see no grammatical or historical evidence of theory #1. All of the sudden these guys realized that human females were beautiful (vs. 2)? This theory doesn't seem to fit the context of the verse very well, and theory #2 even less so. There is literally NOWHERE in Scripture that suggests that the daughters of men were of the line of Cain and the sons of God were of the line of Seth. Seth is mentioned ten times in the Bible, and only twice after Genesis 5. (Once in a genealogy in Luke and in 1st Chronicles) Cain is mentioned only 3 times after Genesis 5, and all three times are in the New Testament, and do not discuss his descendants at all, but only his murder and his wrong-offering. Genesis six mentions neither Cain nor Abel, so this theory - and it is a popular one - simply has no biblical support whatsoever that I can find.
Which brings us to theory #3 - the sons of God are some type of heavenly creature. Believe it or not, this theory has the most textual support by far. The phrase 'sons of God,' occurs three times outside of Genesis in the Old Testament. All three times are in the book of Job, and all three times are clearly speaking of heavenly creatures - angels, or something like angels. That is a strong bit of evidence in favor of viewing these sons of God as Heavenly beings. Vs. 2 is also strong contextual evidence in favor of theory 3. Consider this verse, "The sons of God saw that the daughters of mankind were beautiful." if that verse is simply talking about human males, the descendants of Seth, or whomever, then it is a strange, strange passage. Did it really take hundreds (or thousands!) of years for human males to realize that human females were beautiful? Frankly, I think that is silly. I believe the biblical text is pointing us to theory #3 that these beings were heavenly.
One more bit of evidence, and this evidence is weak, but worth noting. The Book of Enoch is not a biblical book, and was not written by the Enoch spoken of in Genesis. It was not canonical, and I do not believe it to be inspired. It is, however, a very old book and it was read by people in the early church, and many early church fathers. Scholars' best guess is that the book of Enoch dates to around 100-300 years before the birth of Jesus, though some sections could be older. That book is very, very clear about who the 'sons of God' in Genesis 6 were. Listen to this!
Book of Enoch – Enoch 15: And He answered and said to me, and I heard His voice: 'Fear not, Enoch, thou righteous man and scribe of righteousness: approach hither and hear my voice. And go, say to the Watchers of heaven, who have sent thee to intercede for them: "You should intercede" for men, and not men for you: Wherefore have ye left the high, holy, and eternal heaven, and lain with women, and defiled yourselves with the daughters of men and taken to yourselves wives, and done like the children of earth, and begotten giants (as your) sons? And though ye were holy, spiritual, living the eternal life, you have defiled yourselves with the blood of women, and have begotten (children) with the blood of flesh, and, as the children of men, have lusted after flesh and blood as those also do who die 5 and perish. Therefore have I given them wives also that they might impregnate them, and beget children by them, that thus nothing might be wanting to them on earth. But you were formerly spiritual, living the eternal life, and immortal for all generations of the world. And therefore I have not appointed wives for you; for as for the spiritual ones of the heaven, in heaven is their dwelling. And now, the giants, who are produced from the spirits and flesh, shall be called evil spirits upon the earth, and on the earth shall be their dwelling. Evil spirits have proceeded from their bodies; because they are born from men and from the holy Watchers is their beginning and primal origin; they shall be evil spirits on earth, and evil spirits shall they be called. [As for the spirits of heaven, in heaven shall be their dwelling, but as for the spirits of the earth which were born upon the earth, on the earth shall be their dwelling.] And the spirits of the giants afflict, oppress, destroy, attack, do battle, and work destruction on the earth, and cause trouble: they take no food, but nevertheless hunger and thirst, and cause offences. And these spirits shall rise up against the children of men and against the women, because they have proceeded from them.
One objection that many have to theory #3 is from Matthew 22:30, " 30 For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage but are like angels in heaven." I do not believe this objection holds much water for two reasons: #1 Genesis 6 seems to be talking about intimate relations and not necessarily marriage. It is possible to have relations and not be married. #2, Jesus specifically mentions "angels in Heaven," and Genesis 6 is quite obviously dealing with beings that are on earth. Perhaps angels in Heaven do not marry, but the beings in Genesis 6, be they human or angels are not at all in Heaven, and don't seem to be concerned with the rules of Heaven.
Another objection might say that Heavenly beings are without gender, but I don't see that in Scripture either. There are Heavenly beings in Zechariah 5 that are female (not necessarily angels) and the Heavenly beings in Genesis 18 are clearly male. Can heavenly beings procreate? The only bit of biblical evidence in favor of that possibility would seem to be here in Genesis 6 and I see nothing anywhere else that gives me the idea that they are incapable of such things.
Question #2: Is Genesis 6 telling us that giants used to exist on the earth?
Not necessarily - the Hebrew word there is the word Nephilim. It is a difficult word to translate because it only appears in one - or two - other places in the entire Old Testament. Reference #1 is from Numbers 13 and is probably where the King James translators got the inspiration to use the word, "giant."
30 Then Caleb quieted the people in the presence of Moses and said, “Let’s go up now and take possession of the land because we can certainly conquer it!”31 But the men who had gone up with him responded, “We can’t attack the people because they are stronger than we are!” 32 So they gave a negative report to the Israelites about the land they had scouted: “The land we passed through to explore is one that devours its inhabitants, and all the people we saw in it are men of great size. 33 We even saw the Nephilim there—the descendants of Anak come from the Nephilim! To ourselves we seemed like grasshoppers, and we must have seemed the same to them.”
Numbers 13:30-34
So - these Nephilim are clearly quite big and impressive...but are they giants? I live in Salinas, California - about an hour from where the Golden State Warriors play basketball. If I went over to practice one day, and somehow, someway got a chance to shoot around with those guys, I'd probably come home and tell my family that I felt like a grasshopper. I'm 6'1, but compared to Kevin Looney (6 feet, 9 inches) or Willie Cauley-Stein (7 feet!) I'm quite short. I believe that these Nephilim were the offspring of heavenly beings and human females, so it is certainly possible that they possessed traits that were above human capability, but we just can't be sure about their size at all, beyond saying that they were likely significantly larger than the Hebrews.
Question #3: Did God flood the earth because of human-angelic relationships?
If definitely seems like there is a subtle relationship between God flooding the world and whatever was going on with these sons of God and daughters of men. Could 2nd Peter 2 be giving us a clue about this?
4 For if God didn’t spare the angels who sinned but cast them into hell and delivered them in chains of utter darkness to be kept for judgment; 5 and if he didn’t spare the ancient world, but protected Noah, a preacher of righteousness, and seven others, when he brought the flood on the world of the ungodly;
2 Peter 2:4-5
That passage is quite interesting, but also fairly obscure. I'm not sure we should build a lot of theology on it. The fact is, however, that the first part Genesis 6 seems to indicate that the sins of humans grieved God in the context of the flood.
5 When the Lord saw that human wickedness was widespread on the earth and that every inclination of the human mind was nothing but evil all the time, 6 the Lord regretted that he had made man on the earth,and he was deeply grieved. 7 Then the Lord said, “I will wipe mankind, whom I created, off the face of the earth, together with the animals, creatures that crawl, and birds of the sky—for I regret that I made them.” 8 Noah, however, found favor with the Lord....
Genesis 6:5-8
The second part of Genesis 6, however, seems to make room for more than humans to be involved in the judgment.
11 Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight, and the earth was filled with wickedness. 12 God saw how corrupt the earth was, for every creature had corrupted its way on the earth. 13 Then God said to Noah, “I have decided to put an end to every creature, for the earth is filled with wickedness because of them; therefore I am going to destroy them along with the earth.
Genesis 6:11-13
So, my conclusion to the question is a weak 'maybe.' If the sons of God are indeed heavenly beings, as I suspect they are, it would appear that their dalliance with human females had at least a small part to play in the flooding of the earth. We might go too far past the text if we say much more than that.
I'll close with the conclusions of Jonathan Edwards - probably American's foremost theologian - on the question of the giants/nephilim:
“And there were giants in the earth in those days,” etc. “Pausanias, in his Laconics, mentions the bones of men of a more than ordinary bigness, which were shown in the temple of Aesculapius at the city of Asepus; and in the first of his Eliacs, of a bone taken out of the sea, which aforetime was kept at Pisa, and thought to have been one of Peleps’. Philostratus, in the beginning of his Heroics, [says] that many bodies of giants were discovered in Pallene, by showers of rain and earthquakes. Pliny, Bk. 7, ch. 16, says, ‘That upon the bursting of a mountain in Crete, there was found a body standing upright, which was reported by some to have been the body of Orion, by others, the body of Eetion. Orestes’ body, when it was commanded by the oracle to be digged up, is reported to have been seven cubits. And almost a thousand years ago, the poet Homer continually complained, that men’s bodies were less than of old.’ And Solinus, ch. I, ‘Were not all that were born in that age, less than their parents?’ And the story of Orestes’ funeral testifies the bigness of the ancients, whose bones, when they were digged up, in the 58th Olympiad at Tegea, by the advice of the oracle, are related to have been seven cubits in length. And other writings, which give a credible relation of ancient matters, affirm this, that in the war of Crete, when the rivers had been so high as to overflow and break down their banks, after the flood was abated, upon the cleaving of the earth, there was found a human body of three and thirty foot long, which L. Flaccus, the legate, and Metellus himself, being very desirous of seeing, were much surprised to have the satisfaction of seeing, what they did not believe when they heard.” Grotius, De Veritate, Bk. 1, sec. 16, notes.
“Josephus, Bk. 5, ch. 2, of his ancient history. ‘There remains to this day some of the race of the giants, who by reason of the bulk and figure of their bodies, so different from other men, are wonderful to see, or hear of. Their bones are now shown, far exceeding the belief of the vulgar.’ Gabinius, in his history of Mauritania, said that Antaeus’ bones were found by Sertorius, which, joined together, were sixty cubits long. Phlegon Trallianus, in his 9th chapter of Wonders, mentions the digging up [of] the head of Ida, which was three times as big as that of an ordinary woman. And he adds also, that there were many bodies found in Dalmatia, whose arms exceeded sixteen cubits. And the same man relates out of Theopompus, that there were found in the Cimmerian Bosphorus, a company of human bones twenty-four cubits in length.” Le Clerc’s notes on Grotius, De Veritate, Bk. 1, sec. 16.
“We almost everywhere in the Greek and Latin historians meet with the savage life of the giants, mentioned by Moses. In the Greek, as Homer, Iliad 9, and Hesiod in his Labors. To this may be referred the wars of the gods, mentioned by Plato in his Second Republic, and those distinct and separate governments, taken notice of by the same Plato, in his third book of Laws. And as to the Latin historians, see the first book of Ovid’s Metamorphosis, and the 4th book of Lucan, and Seneca’s third book of Natural Questions, Ques. 30, where he says concerning the deluge, ‘That the beasts also perished, into whose nature men were degenerated.’ ”Jonathan Edwards, Notes on Scripture, ed. Harry S. Stout and Stephen J. Stein, vol. 15, The Works of Jonathan Edwards (London; New Haven: Yale University Press, 1998), 506–508.
By the way, Augustine - writing all the way back in the 300s! Makes a case contra the above, and believes that the sons of God were merely men. His reasoning is that there are at least two men in the Bible that are designated as angels/messengers that were obviously human, and that is likely what is going on here too. I respect and admire Augustine, but disagree with him here, noting that "sons of God" does not, of necessity, equate to angels.
WHETHER WE ARE TO BELIEVE THAT ANGELS, WHO ARE OF A SPIRITUAL SUBSTANCE, FELL IN LOVE WITH THE BEAUTY OF WOMEN, AND SOUGHT THEM IN MARRIAGE, AND THAT FROM THIS CONNECTION GIANTS WERE BORN
- In the third book of this work (c. 5) we made a passing reference to this question, but did not decide whether angels, inasmuch as they are spirits, could have bodily intercourse with women. For it is written, “Who maketh His angels spirits,”4 that is, He makes those who are by nature spirits His angels by appointing them to the duty of bearing His messages. For the Greek word ἄγγελος, which in Latin appears as “angelus,” means a messenger. But whether the Psalmist speaks of their bodies when he adds, “and His ministers a flaming fire,” or means that God’s ministers ought to blaze with love as with a spiritual fire, is doubtful. However, the same trustworthy Scripture testifies that angels have appeared to men in such bodies as could not only be seen, but also touched. There is, too, a very general rumor, which many have verified by their own experience, or which trustworthy persons who have heard the experience of others corroborate, that sylvans and fauns, who are commonly called “incubi,” had often made wicked assaults upon women, and satisfied their lust upon them; and that certain devils, called Duses by the Gauls, are constantly attempting and effecting this impurity is so generally affirmed, that it were impudent to deny it.5 From these assertions, indeed, I dare not determine whether there be some spirits embodied in an aerial substance (for this element, even when agitated by a fan, is sensibly felt by the body), and who are capable of lust and of mingling sensibly with women; but certainly I could by no means believe that God’s holy angels could at that time have so fallen, nor can I think that it is of them the Apostle Peter said, “For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment.”1 I think he rather speaks of these who first apostatized from God, along with their chief the devil, who enviously deceived the first man under the form of a serpent. But the same holy Scripture affords the most ample testimony that even godly man have been called angels; for of John it is written: “Behold, I send my messenger (angel) before Thy face, who shall prepare Thy way.”2 And the prophet Malachi, by a peculiar grace specially communicated to him, was called an angel.3
- But some are moved by the fact that we have read that the fruit of the connection between those who are called angels of God and the women they loved were not men like our own breed, but giants; just as if there were not born even in our own time (as I have mentioned above) men of much greater size than the ordinary stature. Was there not at Rome a few years ago, when the destruction of the city now accomplished by the Goths was drawing near, a woman, with her father and mother, who by her gigantic size over-topped all others? Surprising crowds from all quarters came to see her, and that which struck them most was the circumstance that neither of her parents were quite up to the tallest ordinary stature. Giants therefore might well be born, even before the sons of God, who are also called angels of God, formed a connection with the daughters of men, or of those living according to men, that is to say, before the sons of Seth formed a connection with the daughters of Cain. For thus speaks even the canonical Scripture itself in the book in which we read of this; its words are: “And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them, that the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair [good]; and they took them wives of all which they chose. And the Lord God said, My Spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years. There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became the giants, men of renown.”4 These words of the divine book sufficiently indicate that already there were giants in the earth in those days, in which the sons of God took wives of the children of men, when they loved them because they were good, that is, fair. For it is the custom of this Scripture to call those who are beautiful in appearance “good.” But after this connection had been formed, then too were giants born. For the words are: “There were giants in the earth in those days, and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men.” Therefore there were giants both before, “in those days,” and “also after that.” And the words, “they bare children to them,” show plainly enough that before the sons of God fell in this fashion they begat children to God, not to themselves,—that is to say, not moved by the lust of sexual intercourse, but discharging the duty of propagation, intending to produce not a family to gratify their own pride, but citizens to people the city of God; and to these they as God’s angels would bear the message, that they should place their hope in God, like him who was born of Seth, the son of resurrection, and who hoped to call on the name of the Lord God, in which hope they and their offspring would be co-heirs of eternal blessings, and brethren in the family of which God is the Father.
Augustine of Hippo, “The City of God,” in St. Augustin’s City of God and Christian Doctrine, ed. Philip Schaff, trans. Marcus Dods, vol. 2, A Select Library of the Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers of the Christian Church, First Series (Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Company, 1887), 303–304.
Today our Bible readings in the Robert Murray M'Cheyne plan are Genesis 5, Ezra 5, Matthew 5 and Acts 5. Our focus passage is Matthew 5, and how could it not be? In this passage, we see the beginning of the most famous and well known sermon ever taught by anybody, the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus here lays down His ethic, His commands, His way of life and His motivations. When we think about the Great Commission of Matthew 28, we should remember that a large part of it - almost half! - is that we teach the world to observe and obey the teachings of Jesus. A good place to start with that (co)mission is here, in Matthew 5.
Our question of the day concerns what might be the most famous verse from the most famous sermon ever, verse 5. Even those who haven't been to church in years are familiar with this verse where we are told that the meek (or gentle, in some translations) are blessed. What an interesting and almost counter-intuitive message! This teaching raises a couple of compelling question: what does it mean to be meek; and how, exactly, are the meek blessed?
The Greek word that is used here is praotēs, and the good news for us is that it is used so frequently in the Bible that we can get a very good idea of what it means.
First, Matthew 21:5 Tell Daughter Zion,
“Look, your King is coming to you, gentle, and mounted on a donkey, even on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden.” So meekness refers to the kind of King who would ride on a donkey. It has an element of humility to it.
Colossians 3:12 " 12 Therefore, God’s chosen ones, holy and loved, put on heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience, " Here we see that meekness also has an element of gentleness to it - the kind of gentleness that fits in perfectly with compassion, kindness, humility and patience.
Titus 3:1-2 helps us understand meekness also, " Remind them to be submissive to rulers and authorities, to obey, to be ready for every good work, 2 to slander no one, to avoid fighting, and to be kind, always showing gentleness to all people. " So meekness here is represented by a person who avoids arguments, quarrels and talking bad about other people. Sounds lovely, right!
Gotquestions helps us here too, "Meekness models the humility of Jesus Christ. As Philippians 2:6–8 says, “[Jesus], being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross!” Being “in the very nature God,” Jesus had the right to do whatever He wanted, but, for our sake, He submitted to “death on a cross.” That is the ultimate in meekness. "
Here's some powerful wisdom from John Piper on meekness:
Now let’s stand back and see if we can see the portrait whole. Meekness begins when we put our trust in God. Then, because we trust him, we commit our way to him. We roll onto him our anxieties, or frustrations, our plans, our relationships, our jobs, our health. And then we wait patiently for the Lord. We trust his timing and his power and his grace to work things out in the best way for his glory and for our good.
The result of trusting God and the rolling of our anxieties onto God and waiting patiently for God is that we don’t give way to quick and fretful anger. But instead, like Moses we give place to wrath and hand our cause over to God and let him vindicate us if he chooses. And then, as James says, in this quiet confidence we are slow to speak and quick to listen. We become reasonable and open to correction. Meekness loves to learn. And it counts the blows of a friend as precious. And when it must say a critical word to a person caught in sin or error, it speaks from the deep conviction of its own fallibility and its own susceptibility to sin and its utter dependence on the grace of God....
What effect does Jesus want this promise to have on the disciples? I think the answer is that he wants the promise to give them strength to continue in their meekness. This is the way the promise works in verse 12: “Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so men persecuted the prophets who were before you.” In other words, the promise of great reward gives the disciples strength to endure persecution with joy.
So I think the promise that the meek shall inherit the earth is intended by the Lord to give us the strength to endure in meekness when the natural inclination would be to defend ourselves or retaliate or give way to fretful anger....If you are a disciple of Jesus Christ, sitting at his feet on the mount this morning, that is, if you trust him and commit your way to him and wait patiently for him, God has already begun to help you and will help you more. And the primary way that he will help you is to assure your heart that you are a fellow heir of Jesus Christ and that the world and everything in it is yours. He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, will he not freely give us all things with him? All things! No good thing will he withhold from those who walk uprightly. “Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth.”
John Piper, Sermons from John Piper (1980–1989) (Minneapolis, MN: Desiring God, 2007).
A most curious incident happens in Genesis, chapter 4. Adam and Eve have been banished from the Garden of Eden, and they begin a family. Cain is the firstborn, and he grows up to become a farmer. Abel is the second child, and he becomes a shepherd. Here is the story of Cain and Abel from Genesis 4:
The man was intimate with his wife Eve, and she conceived and gave birth to Cain. She said, “I have had a male child with the Lord’s help.” 2 She also gave birth to his brother Abel. Now Abel became a shepherd of flocks, but Cain worked the ground. 3 In the course of time Cain presented some of the land’s produce as an offering to the Lord. 4 And Abel also presented an offering—some of the firstborn of his flock and their fat portions. The Lord had regard for Abel and his offering, 5 but he did not have regard for Cain and his offering. Cain was furious, and he looked despondent.6 Then the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you furious? And why do you look despondent? 7 If you do what is right, won’t you be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, but you must rule over it.”8 Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let’s go out to the field.” And while they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him.9 Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is your brother Abel?”“I don’t know,” he replied. “Am I my brother’s guardian?”10 Then he said, “What have you done? Your brother’s blood cries out to me from the ground! 11 So now you are cursed, alienated from the ground that opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood you have shed.12 If you work the ground, it will never again give you its yield. You will be a restless wanderer on the earth.” - Genesis 4:1-12
If you've ever felt like a failure as a parent - I have, many times - then consider Adam and Eve, the first parents. Their eldest literally killed their second born - what a horrific thing to endure for a father and mother! Adam and Eve lived in perfection and paradise, and within a very short time, the world went from sinless beauty to horrifyingly dark. Sin is that way, isn't it? It can start out small and seem somewhat innocuous, but sin always leads to worse and worse consequences. James describes the slippery slope of sin this way:
"Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death. " - James 1:15
God saw what was coming, and warned Cain to turn away from his jealousy and lust for anger, but Cain ignored the warning, and killed his brother in cold blood. Most of us that read this passage can see why Cain did what he did - it is not justifiable in the least, but we have all been upset when one person is commended, and we are not. A more mysterious question is this: Why did God reject Cain's offering, and not Abel's? Sadly, the Bible doesn't say directly, but there are some very solid clues that point us in the right direction. Hebrews 11:4, for instance, tells us this, " By faith Abel offered to God a better sacrifice than Cain did. By faith he was approved as a righteous man, because God approved his gifts, and even though he is dead, he still speaks through his faith. "
At least part of the answer is that Abel's sacrifice was by faith, and Cain's was not. Another clue might be found in the letter of Jude in the New Testament. In that letter, the church is warned about a group of false teachers who have turned away from the ways of God, and have, "have traveled in the way of Cain." Again, the specific error of Cain is not identified, but in the context of Jude it does seem to have to do with false teaching/false practice/false worship.
Our final major clue, and the one that I believe is the most important, comes to us in Leviticus chapter 17:11, " For the life of a creature is in the blood, and I have appointed it to you to make atonement on the altar for your lives, since it is the lifeblood that makes atonement."
In the eyes of God, the only way for sin to be atoned for - (atone means to make amends or reparation, to make things right) - is for there to be the shedding of blood. Because the life of an animal or human is in its blood, the only way to cover sin - to pay for sin - to make things right - is for there to be the spilling of blood. Abel's sacrifice recognized this truth and adhered with it, but Cain's sacrifice did not. I believe that this simple fact explains why Cain's sacrifice was rejected. Not because God loves shepherds more than farmers, but because only blood can cover sin - nothing else...not vegetables, not offerings, not money, not power, not fame, nor possessions. This is why Jesus had to come and die - why His perfect blood had to be poured out. Because only blood can cover sins. Imperfect blood - the blood of normal animals and humans is limited in its effect, but the blood of a perfect and sinless human is infinite in its covering effect. Therefore the writer of Hebrews tells us:
22 So Jesus has also become the guarantee of a better covenant.23 Now many have become Levitical priests, since they are prevented by death from remaining in office. 24 But because He remains forever, He holds His priesthood permanently. 25 Therefore, He is always able to save those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to intercede for them.For this is the kind of high priest we need: holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens. 27 He doesn’t need to offer sacrifices every day, as high priests do—first for their own sins, then for those of the people. He did this once for all when He offered Himself.
Hebrews 7:22-27
Now that, my friends, is the good news. The sacrifice of Jesus was ONCE for all. We don't have to earn our way in to Heaven. For all who look to Jesus in faith believing - their way into eternal life with the Father is paid for by the perfect sacrifice of Jesus, the spotless lamb.
Today's Bible Readings in the RMM Bible Reading Plan are from Genesis 3, Ezra 3, Matthew 3 and Acts 3. Our focus passage is Genesis 3, which is all about the Fall of Man in the Garden of Eden.
Encouraging Quote of the Day from Tim Keller, "
In the beginning of history, it was a disaster. Adam and Eve, garden of Eden … What happens? Sin, Serpent … you know the story. Everything is horrible. Death, destruction, evil. Everything is horrible, except there’s a glimmer of hope. Do you know what it is? It’s a promise.
In Genesis 3:15, God says, “I promise that one descendant of Eve is someday going to bruise the head of the Serpent and destroy evil. I promise.” Scroll forward to centuries later. God starts talking to Abraham. He says, “I’m going to save the world through your descendants.” One night Abraham says, “But how can I be sure?”
In Genesis 15, God shocks Abraham (and anybody who understands what he’s doing in Genesis 15) when he appears and passes between the pieces of a dead animal and says, “I will save the world through one of your descendants, even if it means I have to die.” A second promise. Then, years and years later, Jesus Christ comes into the world, and he’s a man of complete integrity. He always means what he says, always says what he means. Absolute integrity.
At the very end, in the ultimate act of integrity, he sets his face like a flint to go to Jerusalem, and he goes to the cross. Why? He’s fulfilling his promise. He’s fulfilling the promise of God, and everything is before him. Everything comes down. Everything opposes him. Hell itself comes down, and he says, “No, I’ve made a promise,” and he goes to the cross and dies for us.
You’ve been saved by the integrity of Jesus. You’ve been saved by the promise keeping of Jesus Christ. That should humble us away from ever using truth against people, but, on the other hand, it convinces us there is a truth. We can’t be relativists at all. It destroys our fear of telling the truth. Therefore, O friends, look at the integrity of Jesus. Look at what he did for you on the cross, and become people of integrity."
Timothy J. Keller, The Timothy Keller Sermon Archive (New York City: Redeemer Presbyterian Church, 2013).
Question of the day: What is the Protoevangelium (A.K.A. Protoevangelion/Protoeuangelion?
The word protoevangelium (or protevangelion) simply means "first good news," or "first gospel." Genesis 3 is the worst news in the Bible, really. Up until the Fall in the Garden, things were going pretty great. There was no sickness, death, depression, strife, anxiety, body image issues, or anything like that. Adam and Eve were naked and unashamed - which means they had a level of transparency with each other that went far beyond whether or not they wore clothing. Everything changed, however, when Eve was tempted by the serpent Satan, and Adam stood idly by doing nothing. They both disobeyed God and sin, death, anxiety, fear, and more entered the world. Prior to this, God walked in the garden face to face with humans, but after this, there was a large gulf of separation between God and man. Bad, bad news - almost the entire chapter...except for one tiny glimmer of hope. We see it in Genesis 3:15:
I will put hostility between you and the woman,
and between your offspring and her offspring.
He will strike your head,
and you will strike his heel. - Genesis 3:15, CSB
In that one little passage, where God is pronouncing divine punishment on the serpent Satan, there is a promise: Somebody is coming to crush the head of the enemy. Who was the offspring of the woman Eve? Ultimately, this passage is looking forward to the coming of Jesus, the savior.
Why did Jesus come? 1 John 3:8 tells us that Jesus came to "destroy the work of the devil." How did he accomplish this? The answer is in Hebrews 2 (and many other places in the Bible):
" Now since the children have flesh and blood in common, Jesus also shared in these, so that through his death he might destroy the one holding the power of death—that is, the devil— 15 and free those who were held in slavery all their lives by the fear of death. "
The sinless Jesus - Himself innocent, but dying on the cross to pay the price of sin, crushed the head of Satan - the devil - by this act of self-sacrifice. He utterly defeated Satan - the one holding the power of death- by His resurrection, which was a tremendous triumph. Because of Jesus' victory here - all who look to Him in wholehearted believing faith will be saved and set free from all fear of death, because death and Satan no longer have any hold on them. The is the Protoevangelion - the first good news.
Today's Bible reading for January 2 is in Genesis 2, Ezra 2, Matthew 2 and Acts 2. These include some incredibly significant passages! Matthew 2 details the visit of the Wise Men/Magi with Jesus when He was extremely young, as well as Herod's attempts to snuff out His life by killing all male Bethlehem children who were 2 years of age and younger. In response to the threats against them, Joseph leads Mary and Jesus into exile in Egypt, where they stay for no more than 2 years. (We know this because Herod died around 4 B.C. and Jesus was likely born sometime between 6 B.C. and 4 B.C., so it is possible that Jesus and His family only sojourned in Egypt for a few weeks/months. To understand how it was that Jesus was born 4-6 B.C., scroll down to the bottom)
The Genesis 2 passage is a detailed description of the creation of man and woman, and God's first verbal interactions with them, which comes in the form of a command - they may eat from ANY tree in the Garden of Eden EXCEPT the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. (Interestingly, the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil was NOT the only named tree in the Garden of Eden - there was also the Tree of Life, which Adam and Eve could freely partake of.)
"In the beginning, “the man and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame.” The sexual arena stands to the fore, of course; yet there is a symbol-laden depth to the pronouncement. It is a way of saying that there was no guilt; there was nothing to be ashamed of. This happy innocence meant openness, utter candor. There was nothing to hide, whether from God or from each other. How different after the Fall. The man and the woman hide from God, and blame others. The candor has gone, the innocence has dissipated, the openness has closed. These are the immediate effects of the first sin."
D. A. Carson, For the Love of God: A Daily Companion for Discovering the Riches of God’s Word., vol. 1 (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 1998), 25.
Ezra two is one of the more difficult reads in the Bible - especially out-loud! because it is an extremely long list of names, and many of them are hard to pronounce. I'm going to enjoy reading that passage on today's podcast.
Acts chapter 2 sees the disciples of Jesus - men and women - gathered together in prayer, and seeking to be clothed with power from on high. On the Day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit comes on them in a powerful and obvious way, and they speak in other languages, or tongues, and proclaim the good news of Jesus to thousands of Jewish people and foreigners. 3,000 of those respond to the message, and the church is birthed on the Day of Pentecost. This is our featured passage of the day.
"Rich were the blessings of this day if all of us were filled with the Holy Ghost. The consequences of this sacred filling of the soul it would be impossible to overestimate. Life, comfort, light, purity, power, peace; and many other precious blessings are inseparable from the Spirit’s benign presence. As sacred oil, he anoints the head of the believer, sets him apart to the priesthood of saints, and gives him grace to execute his office aright. As the only truly purifying water he cleanses us from the power of sin and sanctifies us unto holiness, working in us to will and to do of the Lord’s good pleasure. As the light, he manifested to us at first our lost estate, and now he reveals the Lord Jesus to us and in us, and guides us in the way of righteousness. Enlightened by his pure celestial ray, we are no more darkness but light in the Lord. As fire, he both purges us from dross, and sets our consecrated nature on a blaze. He is the sacrificial flame by which we are enabled to offer our whole souls as a living sacrifice unto God. As heavenly dew, he removes our barrenness and fertilizes our lives. O that he would drop from above upon us at this early hour! Such morning dew would be a sweet commencement for the day. As the dove, with wings of peaceful love he broods over his Church and over the souls of believers, and as a Comforter he dispels the cares and doubts which mar the peace of his beloved. He descends upon the chosen as upon the Lord in Jordan, and bears witness to their sonship by working in them a filial spirit by which they cry Abba, Father." Source: C. H. Spurgeon, Morning and Evening: Daily Readings (London: Passmore & Alabaster, 1896).
What was Pentecost?
Pentecost is the Greek name of a Hebrew festival (Shavuot) that was instituted by God all the way back in the book of Exodus. The focus of the Feast of Weeks, also known as the Feast of the Harvest, was to celebrate God's provision of wheat, and other early harvested food-crops, to His people. Deuteronomy 16 gives some details:
9 “You are to count seven weeks, counting the weeks from the time the sickle is first put to the standing grain. 10 You are to celebrate the Festival of Weeks to the Lord your God with a freewill offering that you give in proportion to how the Lord your God has blessed you. 11 Rejoice before the Lord your God in the place where he chooses to have his name dwell—you, your son and daughter, your male and female slave, the Levite within your city gates, as well as the resident alien, the fatherless, and the widow among you. 12 Remember that you were slaves in Egypt; carefully follow these statutes.
Pentecost/Shavuout usually occurs sometime between May and June of our current calendar year, and is still celebrated by many Jewish people. They celebrate the holiday by reading the book of Ruth (much of which took place at harvest time) and enjoying a feast with various dairy based treats.
P.S. Time is a funny thing, and dating is a funny thing. We are in the year 2020 according to most Western calendars, but the Western (Gregorian) calendar isn't the only one that is in use. The Chinese calendar is much older than the Western, and we are in year 4716 according to their reckoning, moving to 4717 on January 25, 2020. According to the Hebrew calendar, we are in year 5780, and according to the Islamic calendar, we are in the year 1441. Confusing, right?! The Gregorian or Western calendar is came into use in the 16th century and is based on an understanding that reckoned year 1 as the time that Jesus was born.
Interestingly, and obviously when you think about it - our understanding of year 1 would not have been held by the inhabitants of the Roman Empire living at the time - the vast majority of which would have no idea who Jesus of Bethlehem would be, or understand the concepts of A.D., B.C., or C.E. and B.C.E. Instead, year 1 to them would have been the Year of the Consulship of Caesar and Paullus or 754 AUC in Rome. The A.D. and B.C. system that designated A.D. 1 did not come into being until 525 A.D. when it was put forward by a monk named Dionysius Exiguus, and it appears that he miscalculated the time of the birth of Jesus by a few years, so that Jesus was actually Himself born in the B.C. period. Strange, I know! Exiguus' system was not widely used until the 800s A.D., so that up until the ninth century, the vast majority of Western people did not date things the way we currently do.
To further clarify, A.D. stands for a Latin Phrase, "Anno Domini" which means "in the year of the Lord**" 1 A.D. was thought to be the year that Jesus was born. B.C. means 'Before Christ,' and time is measured in years distant from the birth of Christ. For instance, an event that took place 100 years before the time considered to be the birth of Jesus would be reckoned as 100 B.C. and an event that took place 100 years after the time considered to be the birth of Jesus would be reckoned as 100 A.D. There is no year 0 in this scheme. Much more information here in the Wikipedia article.
** A.D. has never stood for 'After Death,' despite the commonly held misconception.
JANUARY 1 readings in Robert Murray M'Cheyne Bible Reading Plan: Today's Scriptures are Genesis 1, Ezra 1, Matthew 1 and Acts 1. Here is how the show is going to go, at least at first. Each day, we will start out reading a chapter from one of the day's selections. Then we will ask and answer a question about that passage, and throw in some biblical encouragement also. After that - you can be done with the episode...but for those who want to LISTEN to the entire selection for the day, the other three chapters will be read after the first one. There is no practical spiritual difference between hearing the Word of God and reading the Word of God. Both are equally profitable, so it is not at all 'cheating' to listen to the Word rather than read it - provided your mind doesn't wander. Consider Romans 10:17
So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.
All about Ezra (from Theopedia)
Nehemiah 8:1-6 "When the seventh month came and the Israelites had settled in their towns, all the people gathered together at the square in front of the Water Gate. They asked the scribe Ezra to bring the book of the law of Moses that the Lord had given Israel. 2 On the first day of the seventh month, the priest Ezra brought the law before the assembly of men, women, and all who could listen with understanding. 3 While he was facing the square in front of the Water Gate, he read out of it from daybreak until noon before the men, the women, and those who could understand. All the people listened attentively to the book of the law....vs 6 6 Ezra blessed the Lord, the great God, and with their hands uplifted all the people said, “Amen, Amen!” Then they knelt low and worshiped the Lord with their faces to the ground."
"BABYLON had overthrown Judah, and now in its turn it was vanquished by Cyrus: this was greatly for the good of the Jews, for the Persian king became their friend and patron, according to ancient prophecies. Thus the Lord’s purposes were fulfilled. When his time is come, all things work together to accomplish his designs...These vessels were the lawful spoil of Cyrus when he captured the city of Babylon and its temples: a generous spirit prompted him to restore them to their ancient use. God knows how to provide for his own temple; Cyrus restored the vessels, but the Lord’s hand was in the matter." Source: C. H. Spurgeon, The Interpreter: Spurgeon’s Devotional Bible (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1964), 456.
A note on the new direction of the Bible Mystery Podcast. For 2020, we are now the Bible Reading Podcast - focused on daily encouragement from God's Word with devotional thoughts from spiritual giants, question and answer + more!
Episode 4: Busting Shroud Myths, Part 2:
In one statement, John Walsh (His book The Shroud) observed: “The Shroud of Turin is either the most awesome and instructive relic of Jesus Christ in existence ... or it is one of the most ingenious, most unbelievably clever, products of the human mind and hand on record. It is one or the other; there is no middle ground.”
I did a recent - July, 2019 - survey of Baptist Pastors on The Shroud of Turin. Of those that responded to the poll - only 3.5 percent believed that the Shroud was the genuine burial cloth of Jesus. Half of them were agnostic - it was an interesting historical artifact that could not be verified, and just slightly under half 41 percent - believed the Shroud to be a forgery. I did a much larger poll in The Astonishing Legends facebook group - a group of people that are quite open and interested in paranormal things. In that survey, 132 out of 350 - 38 percent - believed the Shroud to be a hoax, which is very similar to the Baptist pastor’s percentage. However, there were more true believers in the paranormal group, with 37 out of 350 - 11 percent - believing that the Shroud was the genuine burial cloth of Jesus. Shroud agnostics - believing the Shroud to be interesting, but unverifiable - represented 181 out of 350 respondents, just over half at 52 percent. Therefore, based on my informal surveys of a little over 400 people - roughly half of those respondents are just like me - uncertain about the Shroud. Over the next few episodes of this podcast, we are going to cover the history of the Shroud of Turin, and the most modern research and findings. Maybe by the time we are done, we’ll all still be Shroud agnostics, but maybe - just maybe - we will together unearth enough information to change our minds and develop a clearer and more definitive view of one of the most controversial and noteworthy artifacts of church history.
Today, we are continuing to bust some myths about the Shroud. Next episode we will present 10-25 arguments in favor of the authenticity of the Shroud, some arguments against it, and likely conclude this series.
- Myth: The Shroud has always been owned by the Catholic Church, and they have officially endorsed it. In fact, it appears that the Catholic Church did not have official possession of The Shroud until 1983 when the royal House of Savoy conveyed ownership of The Shroud to The Holy See. If you remember your AP Modern European History, you might remember that the Savoys began as a small ruling family in the Alps northwest of Italy proper, and grew to become the dominant royal family in Italy, reigning over the country from 1861-1946, and also briefly ruled Spain in the 1800s. Although the Catholic church does not have an official position on The Shroud, several Popes and other church officials have commented favorably about it, including: Cardinal Ratzenberger/Pope Benedict, who called The Shroud, “A truly mysterious image, which no human artistry was capable of producing. In some inexplicable way, it appeared imprinted upon cloth and claimed to show the true face of Christ, the crucified and risen Lord".” (This was said when Ratzenberger was a Cardinal, and was not said officially/Ex Cathedra, so it was not considered an official endorsement of the whole church.
Pius 11, 1936, “These are not pictures of the Blessed Virgin, it is true, but pictures that remind us of her as no other can. Since they are pictures of her Divine Son, and so, we can truly say, the most moving, loveliest, dearest ones that we can imagine." What a strange quote - am I wrong that it seems to be suggesting that pictures of Mary, mother of Jesus, would be more remarkable than pictures of Jesus, the son of God? When any theology places more attention, emphasis and weight on Mary than they do on Jesus, this is where I have a massive difference with them. Source of quote “The Shroud, a Guide” by Gino Morreto. (I note here that I can’t find this quote by Pius 11 elsewhere) 2. Pope John Paul II
"Since it is not a matter of faith, the church has no specific competence to pronounce on these questions," the late Pope John Paul II said in 1998. ALSO: “The Holy Shroud is the most splendid relic of the Passion and Resurrection [of Our Lord Jesus Christ]. We become what we contemplate... Why don't we contemplate the Icon of Icons: The Holy Face of Jesus!" Instead of icons made by man, let us venerate the greatest icon of all: The Holy Face of Jesus!” and also, “The Shroud is an image of God's love as well as of human sin ... The imprint left by the tortured body of the Crucified One, which attests to the tremendous human capacity for causing pain and death to one's fellow man, stands as an icon of the suffering of the innocent in every age."
Most recently, Pope Francis commented on The Shroud during his first Easter address:
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
I join all of you gathered before the Holy Shroud, and I thank the Lord for offering us this opportunity, thanks also to new devices. We do not merely “look” if we are looking at it, it is not a simple look, but it is a form of veneration, a look of prayer and also it is a way of letting him look at us. This face has eyes that are closed, it is the face of one who is dead, and yet mysteriously he is watching us, and in silence he speaks to us.
How is this possible? How is it that the faithful, like you, pause before this icon of a man scourged and crucified? It is because the Man of the Shroud invites us to contemplate Jesus of Nazareth.
This image, impressed upon the cloth, speaks to our heart and moves us to climb the hill of Calvary, to look upon the wood of the Cross, and to immerse ourselves in the eloquent silence of love.
Let us therefore allow ourselves to be reached by this look, which is directed not to our eyes but to our heart. In silence, let us listen to what he has to say to us from beyond death itself. By means of the Holy Shroud, the unique and supreme Word of God comes to us: Love made man, incarnate in our history; the merciful love of God who has taken upon himself all the evil of the world to free us from its power.
This disfigured face resembles all those faces of men and women marred by a life which does not respect their dignity, by war and violence which afflict the weakest… And yet, at the same time, the face in the Shroud conveys a great peace; this tortured body expresses a sovereign majesty. It is as if it let a restrained but powerful energy within it shine through, as if to say: have faith, do not lose hope; the power of the love of God, the power of the Risen One overcomes all things.
So, looking upon the Man of the Shroud, I make my own the prayer which Saint Francis of Assisi prayed before the Crucifix: Most High, glorious God, enlighten the shadows of my heart, and grant me a right faith, a certain hope and perfect charity, sense and understanding, Lord, so that I may accomplish your holy and true command.
Amen.
One Catholic commentator on St. Francis’ speech above noted, “"The shroud draws [people] to the tormented face and body of Jesus and, at the same time, directs [people] toward the face of every suffering and unjustly persecuted person." This is condemning/damming the Shroud with faint praise and reinforces that Pope Francis really does think (wrongly) that the Shroud is just another fake icon.”
I agree with that commentator - reading between the lines of St. Francis’ pronunciation, speech, it is quite clear that he is either a Shroud Agnostic, or possibly even thinks it is a forgery.
So - it would seem that, in the Catholic church, the opinions on the authenticity of The Shroud are quite varied. It appears that more Catholic leaders consider The Shroud authentic than do leaders of other major religious groups, but the fact that The Vatican has stopped short of pronouncing the Turin Shroud should possibly give us pause. Do they have reason to suspect it is inauthentic - unreleased reasons? Possibly.
I’ll say this - I don’t understand religious veneration of objects. That seems completely contra to the clear teachings of the Old and New Testaments. Some branches of Christianity do this, but I think they are missing it. If The Shroud is authentic, then it is fascinating and wonderful, but not at all worthy of a single drop of religious devotion. If it is inauthentic, then it is less so. Either way, it is a fascinating artifact.
If genuine, it is one of the great treasures of history and should be in our finest museum. Just don’t worship it - it is a linen cloth. It didn’t die for you. It has no power to save you. I see no indication that it holds any special significance to God. I own a collectible card with a verified piece of a jacket that Elvis Presley sang in and wore. If I had the whole jacket - what would that avail me? Would it help me dance better? Sing better? Become more famous? Could I bring it to Graceland and get free entry for wearing it? Could I take it to surviving members of Elvis’ family, and ask to become an honorary Presley? None of those things. And The Shroud would get you less far in Heaven than The Presley jacket would get you in Graceland.
What should we do if it is inauthentic? Burn it, throw it away? Of course not! I still believe it belongs in our finest museums of art (as opposed to history) If it is art - it is incredible art. Mystifying and awe-inspiring.
Whatever it is - The Vatican isn’t saying for sure one way, or another. They appear to be fans, but in a mostly unofficial capacity.
- Maybe Myth: The Shroud has been fully replicated. One of the major issues that has surrounded The Shroud from the beginning has been that, up until recently - even skeptics agreed that the way The Shroud was produced is unknown and thus postulating a medieval forgery was quite difficult, because nobody knew how a person could forge such an image with medieval equipment. There have been other ancient technologies that have been a mystery to modern man. Damascus steel, for instance, has not been inarguably replicated by modern blacksmiths. Roman Concrete has a kind of durability that modern concrete lacks, and scientists are only recently discovering some of the secrets to its longevity. Archimedes is said to have developed a sort of heat ray that was powerful enough to burn up boats from a significant distance away, but it is difficult for us to replicate such a ray using the technology that Archimedes would have had 200 years before the birth of Jesus. To that list, we should certainly add The Shroud, for if it is a forgery - it is an incredibly sophisticated, impressive and technologically advanced one.
N.D. Wilson’s amazing 2005 article in Christianity Today, entitled “Father Brown fakes The Shroud” is a must read for Shroud enthusiasts. Unfortunately, the only possible way to read it is to get your hands on that 2005 magazine in a library somewhere, or pay CT $30 for a digital subscription - which is what I did. 15 years ago N.D. Wilson supposedly figured out how one might fake The Shroud of Turin, and since that time, I have heard several people say or intimate that The Shroud had conclusively been proven a fraud with the 1-2 punch of #1 1988 medieval dating and #2 Wilson’s reproduction.
Wilson’s method of duplicating The Shroud is ingenious. Basically, he and an artist friend painted a reverse image on a large pane of glass, and then had the sun shine through that image onto a Linen cloth over a period of several days. The sun bleached the cloth - lighter in areas of heavy paint and darker in areas of light paint. The resulting image does indeed look fairly authentic and Shroud-like to the naked eye. It does prove that it is possible, with the right equipment, to put a negative-like image like The Shroud onto a linen cloth. Here are some objections that have been raised:
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The cloth contains pollen from plants only found in Palestine - that would be difficult for a European forger to get. For one, he would have no idea that such a thing could potentially authenticate The Shroud. Wilson notes that the cloth could have been procured from a first century, Jewish grave, which I suppose is technically possible.
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The figure in the Turin Shroud is pierced through his wrists, not through his hands. In recent years, it has been discovered that crucified people would have to have been pierced through their wrists (and not their hands) in order to actually be suspended from a cross. This does not at all contradict the Passion accounts in all four Gospels in the Bible, because the Greek word used for ‘hands’ can also include the wrist area, unlike our English, which more clearly delineates between the two. Almost the totality of medieval art depicts the nails used during the crucifixion of Jesus being located in the hands, rather than the wrists. If the Shroud were a forgery, it is remarkable in the extreme that the forger would have known to include nail holes in the wrists, rather than in the hands.
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I am not an expert on 1300s era glass technology, but some who are have argued that the kind of large and flat pane windows that would have been needed to sun-bleach the painted image of a man onto a large linen cloth would not have been available in the early medieval period. This is a fairly strong objection that I don’t believe Wilson’s article - as thorough as it is - addresses fully.
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The figure on the Shroud has real wounds and real blood. This, of course, means that it was more than merely a sun-bleached image. Wilson contends that somebody had to have been murdered in order for forgers to make The Shroud using his method. Again, such a thing is technically possible.
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It appears to some that the figure in The Shroud has coins in its eyes - and the type of coins appear to be first century coins that would have been commonly used in Israel during the time of Christ. That a medieval forger would be able to add such a detail is fairly astonishing. Of course, as with everything surrounding The Shroud, others (and Wilson, I presume) argue that there are no coin impressions in the eyes of the Shroud-figure.
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Finally, if The Shroud is a forgery, those who painted the image on the glass had a remarkable and accurate knowledge of both the full details of Roman crucifixion and how the body would have responded to such crucifixion. Additionally, the anonymous forgers would have had to have a strong knowledge of anatomy and wound-effects, as the wounds on The Shroud figure are consistent with what modern medical technology would expect. Wilson contends that there were many medieval people with deep and accurate knowledge of anatomy, and the only reason we don’t expect the forgers to have such knowledge is because we have a sort of bias against people from the past and assume they are unsophisticated and unintelligent. Such bias is certainly real, I will readily admit, though it does seem that medical history of the last 500 years demonstrates that medieval medicine and anatomy was indeed quite primitive.
So - did Wilson definitively prove that medieval forgers could have produced The Shroud? Maybe, maybe not. Even Wilson admits, “I have not proved much. Or, I do not think that I have. Men and women who have believed in the Shroud will continue to believe. There is a fireman somewhere in Italy who risked his life to save the Shroud. I have a great deal of respect for that man. Perhaps I've given those who disbelieve more reason for noses lifted in the air, but I have not proved that the Shroud was faked. What I have done is crudely demonstrate that such an image could easily be produced in a matter of weeks by wicked men with no scruples, a little imagination, and a little more skill. The fact that it could have been faked does not mean that it was, though I believe it to have been. ”
I’ll say this - Wilson’s supposed forgers would have had to be: remarkably intelligent, gifted with art, well supplied with very rare (if existent) glass panes, and have an astonishing - for the time - knowledge of medicine, Roman history and human anatomy. Additionally, they would have had to be in possession of a cloth from Palestine, and possibly even pollen that had come from Palestine as well.
There have been other attempts to recreate the Shroud as well. In 2009 the University of Pavia organic chemistry professor and skeptic society member Luigi Garlaschelli produced a fairly convincing (at first glance) reproduction.
He describes his attempt: "What you have now is a very fuzzy, dusty and weak image, Then for the sake of completeness I have added the bloodstains, the burns, the scorching because there was a fire in 1532."
Garlaschelli says his work disproves the claims of the shroud's strongest supporters.
"Basically the Shroud of Turin has some strange properties and characteristics that they say cannot be reproduced by human hands,"For example, the image is superficial and has no pigment, it looks so lifelike and so on, and therefore they say it cannot have been done by an artist."
"The procedure is very simple. The artist took this sheet and put it over one of his assistants," "His good idea was to wrap the sheet over the person underneath because he didn't want to obtain an image that was too obviously a painting or a drawing, so with this procedure you get a strange image, Time did the rest,"
As you might imagine, there are several people who disagree that Garlaschelli has produced a convincing replica. Dr. Thibault Heimburger has written an extensive and scientific rebuttal of Garlaschelli’s method, essentially arguing that it does not really duplicate all of the elements of the Shroud, but is only a superficial likeness. His paper, linked in the shownotes, concludes:
L.G. concluded: “We have also shown that pigments containing traces of acidic compounds can be artificially aged after the rubbing step (…) in such a way that, when the pigment is washed away, an image is obtained having the expected characteristics as the Shroud of Turin. In particular the image is pseudo negative, is fuzzy with half-tones, resides on the top-most fibers of the cloth, has some 3D embedded properties and does not fluoresce”. I think to the contrary that the image has none of these characteristics (except negativity and nonfluorescence). L.G. used a sophisticated method and a new interesting hypothesis, and he got the best Shroud-like image today. It is interesting to notice that even so, the properties of his image remain in fact very far from the fundamental properties of the Shroud image. 9 For the moment, the Shroud image remains unfakeable.
Source: https://www.shroud.com/pdfs/thibault-lg.pdf
Shroud blogger Stephen Jones has also debunked the replication of Garlaschelli: http://theshroudofturin.blogspot.com/2018/08/my-critique-of-borrini-m-garlaschelli-l.html
- The complex herringbone twill pattern of the Shroud was not possible in the first century.
Some Shroud skeptics have speculated that the particular pattern of sewing used on the Shroud is too complex and advanced have been created in the first century.
In the Summer of 2000, archaeologists James Tabor and Shimon Gibson stumbled upon a freshly robbed first century grave outside of Jerusalem. Amazingly, the grave still had bodies in it, and one of them was encased in a somewhat intact first century shroud - the first shroud of that era that has been recovered in or around Jerusalem. Tabor writes of this discovery in a way that is very dismissive of the Turin Shroud:
Although 1st century cloth has been found at Masada and in caves in the Judean Desert, nothing of this sort had ever been found in Jerusalem. Apparently that niche, sealed with a blocking stone, had a geological fissure that kept water from seeping in and rotting the material.
The tomb had any number of interesting features. DNA studies were done on all the individuals represented in the tomb—the first time, so far as we know, that this had even been done in an ancient Jerusalem tomb of this period. Textile analysis was done on the cloth—it turned out to be a mixture of linen and wool, not woven together but layered with a separate head piece. It had a distinctive 1st century weave—in contrast to the Shroud of Turin.
News articles from major sites like BBC and CNN concluded that this was yet more evidence that the Shroud was a fake. From the CNN article:
“And in addition, the weave of the shroud raises fresh doubts about the Shroud of Turin, which many people believe was used to wrap the body of Jesus.
According to researchers involved in the excavation and subsequent testing, the recently discovered shroud lends more credible evidence that the Shroud of Turin does not date to Roman times when Jesus died but from a later period.” SOURCE: http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/meast/12/16/mideast.ancient.shroud/index.html
However, it should be noted that none of the researchers actually engaged in much textile research, nor were they textile experts. They were simply taking the design and weave of one 1st century burial cloth and concluding that all other 1st century burial cloths from that area would have a similar weave-pattern. That seems plausible at first, but it turns out that it is not true.
Hamburg textile expert Mechthild Flury-Lemberg is a recognized art historian and expert on the restoration of ancient textiles. She was able to examine and work on restoration/repair of the Shroud in 2001/2002 and published a book on it. She concludes on chapter of that book by saying:
“The seam that connects the 8 cm wide strip to the larger segment is not a simple one. The type of seam construction chosen clearly displays the intention to make the seam disappear on the face of the cloth as much as possible. This is another reason to believe that the Shroud was planned and produced by professionals. The sewing has been done from the reverse of the fabric and the stitches have been executed with great care and are barely noticeable on the face of the Shroud. The seam appears flat on the face and raised like a roll on the reverse of the fabric . Examples of this same kind of seam are again to be found among the textile fragments of Masada, already mentioned above. To conclude this chapter it can be said that the linen cloth of the Shroud of Turin does not display any weaving or sewing techniques which speak against its origin as a high quality product of the textile workers of the first century A.D.” SOURCE: Sindon by Mechthild Flury-Lemberg, pages 59-60, December 2001.
John Tyerer, a chartered textile technologist, “It would be reasonable to conclude the linen textiles with ‘Z’ twist yarns and woven 3/1 reversing twill similar to the Turin Shroud could have been produced in the first century Syria or Palestine.” (Source: The Shroud and The Controversy by Gary Habermas and Kenneth E. Stevenson, pg. 69)
4. The Shroud was myth-busted by John Calvin, among many others, who show us that The Scripture demands TWO burial cloths (one for the head, one for the body) and not ONE.
The Sudarium of Oviedo, long believed to be the "napkin" that was wrapped around Our Lord's head after His crucifixion and death, has been shown to have 120 "points of coincidence" with the Shroud, including the same AB blood type.
Researchers assert, "The only possible conclusion is that the Oviedo sudarium covered the same face as the Turin Shroud."
John Calvin: 4 Arguments against The Shroud:
- THERE ARE MULTIPLE ‘SHROUDS’ THAT CLAIM TO BE GENUINE. It is now time to treat of the “sudary,” about which relic they have displayed their folly even more than in the affair of the holy coat; for besides the sudary of Veronica, which is shown in the Church of St Peter at Rome, it is the boast of several towns that they each possess one, as for instance Carcassone, Nice, Aix-la-Chapelle, Tréves, Besançon, without reckoning the fragments to be seen in various places.Now, I ask whether those persons were not bereft of their senses who could take long pilgrimages, at much expense and fatigue, in order to see sheets, of the reality of which there were no reasons to believe, but many to doubt; for whoever admitted the reality of one of these sudaries shown in so many places, must have considered the rest as wicked impostures set up to deceive the public by the pretence that they were each the real sheet in which Christ's body had been wrapped.
Answer: That counterfeits exist does not at all prove that there is no genuine article. Rather, a counterfeit shroud (or three) can be a fairly convincing proof that - at least at one time - there was a significant genuine shroud.
2. THE BIBLE DOES NOT RECORD A CLOTH WITH AN IMPRESSION ON IT.
St John, in his Gospel, relates even how St Peter, having entered the sepulchre, saw the linen clothes lying on one side, and the napkin that was about his head on the other; but he does not say that there was a miraculous impression of our Lord's figure upon these clothes, and it is not to be imagined that he would have omitted to mention such a work of God if there had been any thing of this kind.
Answer: John 21:25 25 And there are also many other things that Jesus did, which, if they were written one by one, I suppose not even the world itself could contain the books that would be written.
This is a clear argument from silence. That doesn’t mean it carries now weight - it does indeed carry some weight...but not enough to actually disprove the veracity of the Shroud. It should be pointed out that the miracle of the Shroud IF it happened and IF it was noticed by the ladies or the disciples would NOT have been all that significant in comparison to the resurrection of Jesus or the appearance of angels at the tomb. One can quite easily answer this argument from silence with another plausible argument from silence, and it is one I’ve not heard before. Consider how short, relatively speaking, each of the Gospels are - the Longest is Luke, checking in at just under 20000 words. In total, all four Gospels are approximately 65,000 words - not very lengthy. This is about the size of a shortish paper-back novel. Given the relative brevity of these accounts, I find it remarkable that ALL FOUR Gospels mention the grave clothes of Jesus. Why? It would seem there would be little reason to record any details about the grave clothes unless...possibly...something remarkable happened to them. Now - is that argument enough to convince a skeptic? Of course not - because it is a very, very weak argument! So is Calvin’s argument here that the Gospels would have mentioned it if something miraculous happened with the grave-wrapping of Jesus.
3. THE CLOTHES WERE GUARDED AND LEFT IN THE GRAVE. Another point to be observed is, that the evangelists do not mention that either of the disciples or the faithful women who came to the sepulchre had removed the clothes in question, but, on the contrary, their account seems to imply that they were left there. Now, the sepulchre was guarded by soldiers, and consequently the clothes were in their power. Is it possible that they would have permitted the disciples to take them away as relics, since these very men had been bribed by the Pharisees to perjure themselves by saying that the disciples had stolen the body of our Lord ?
This one is not terribly difficult to answer. None of the gospels record the detail of removing the clothing, which could be because they did indeed remove it, but did not notice an image imprinted on it. It is highly unlikely they would have left cloth behind in the grave for reasons both sentimental and practical. As well, it should be noted that the Gospels do not record the presence of a guard at the tomb AFTER the resurrection of Jesus.
4. THE SHROUD IS ONE CLOTH AND THE BIBLE CLEARLY SHOWS THAT TWO CLOTHS SERVED TO BURY JESUS.
I shall conclude with a convincing proof of the audacity of the Papists. Wherever the holy sudary is exhibited, they show a large sheet with the full-length likeness of a human body on it. Now, St John's Gospel, chapter nine teenth, says that Christ was buried according to the manner of the Jews ; and what was their custom ? This may be known by their present custom on such occasions, as well as from their books, which describe the ancient ceremony of interment, which was to wrap the body in a sheet, to the shoulders, and to cover the head with a separate cloth. This is precisely how the evangelist described it, saying, that St Peter saw on one side the clothes with which the body had been wrapped, and on the other the napkin from about his head. In short, either St John is a liar, or all those who boast of possessing the holy sudary are convicted of falsehood and deceit. * *
This is probably Calvin’s most well known argument contra the Shroud and the one that I hear most well-educated Protestants make when I bring up the Shroud to them That the Bible suggests a plurality of gravecloths, but the Shroud is only one cloth. On the surface, this might seem like a pretty compelling claim against the Shroud, but it is not quite as open and shut as Calvin would have us believe.
The most relevant passage in the Bible to this discussion is John 20: 6 Then, following him, Simon Peter came also. He entered the tomb and saw the linen cloths lying there. 7 The wrapping that had been on His head was not lying with the linen cloths but was folded up in a separate place by itself.
Pretty clear, right - according to John’s Gospel, there were not ONE but TWO burial cloths that wrapped Jesus. One, mentioned in vs 6 (Greek: ὀθόνια (othonia)/PLURAL) and the other in verse 7 - a cloth wrapped around Jesus’ head. (Greek: σουδάριον Soudarion)
Here’s the thing, though - Many Shroud researchers, including Kenneth Stevenson, Gary Habermas, Ian Wilson, Barrie Schwortz and others contend that the Shroud shows evidence that there was a head cloth wrapped around the Shroud figure’s neck and head - most likely to hold the jaw in place.
It would appear that the Sudarion was not a very significant part of the grave cloths that wrapped Jesus, as Matthew, Mark and Luke do not mention it in particular. Consider:
Mark 15:46 46 After he bought some fine linen, he took Him down and wrapped Him in the linen. Then he placed Him in a tomb cut out of the rock, and rolled a stone against the entrance to the tomb.
Luke 23:53 and 24:12 52 He approached Pilate and asked for Jesus’ body. 53 Taking it down, he wrapped it in fine linen and placed it in a tomb cut into the rock, where no one had ever been placed...12 Peter, however, got up and ran to the tomb. When he stooped to look in, he saw only the linen cloths. So he went home, amazed at what had happened.
And Matthew 27: 59 So Joseph took the body, wrapped it in clean, fine linen, 60 and placed it in his new tomb, which he had cut into the rock. He left after rolling a great stone against the entrance of the tomb.
So, the three synoptic gospels - Matthew, Mark and Luke - don’t mention the head-wrapping, or the sudarion, but John does. Could this indicate that the sudarion was a smaller garment - one that would not have left much of an imprint on the Shroud? Possibly. But, again, I emphasize - The Shroud seems to allow for the existence of a head-scarf type wrapping, as well as ones around the wrists and feet. Rather than the Biblical account disproving The Shroud, it actually seems to describe it quite well.
5. THE ABUNDANCE OF FAKE RELICS PUT FORWARD BY MEDIEVAL CATHOLICS PROVES THE SHROUD IS ALSO FAKE. St Honoratus has a body at Arles, and another at the island of Lerins, near Antibes.St Giles has a body at Toulouse, and a second in a town bearing his name in Languedoc.I could quote an infinite number of similar cases. I think that the exhibitors of these relics should at least have made some arrangement amongst themselves the better to conceal their barefaced impostures. Something of this sort was managed between the canons of Trêves and those of Liége about St Lambert's head. They compounded, for a sum of money, not to show publicly the head in their possession, in order to avoid the natural surprise of the public at the same relic being seen in two different towns situated so near to each other. But, as I have already remarked at the commencement of this treatise, the inventors of these frauds never imagined anyone could be found bold enough to speak out and expose their deceptions.
This is really more of a subset of argument #1, and it is a fairly strong argument. However, it must be said that not every statement made by a dishonest person is a lie, and it is perfectly possible that not every relic claimed by the medieval Catholic church was fake. Most likely were. Were they ALL fake? I’m not convinced they were.
So - Hopefully you’ve enjoyed this little bit of busting myths.
You can probably tell that I want the Shroud to be the real thing. There’s several reasons for this, but none of them are apologetics-related. In other words, I don’t want the Shroud to be the real burial cloth of Jesus because I think that would help prove the Bible to be reliable, or Jesus to be the resurrected Son of God. No article could prove such a thing. I do, however, want the Shroud to be real and genuine in the same sort of way that I want there to be a real Loch Ness Monster, or an extant Holy Grail somewhere out there. The world is a more interesting place with a legit Nessie swimming around in the cold waters of Scotland, and it is a more interesting place with real, tangible artifacts from the time of Jesus. Does that bias me? Possibly it does, and I don’t want to enter this discussion biased. It does make me consider the claims of debunkers with a greater skepticism, however, and that might not be a bad thing.
I love John Calvin and am quite persuaded by his soteriological leanings in the realm of theology. That said, I believe his debunking of The Shroud is somewhat ham-handed, especially his contention that it is easily proved false by John 20 argument that the Bible says there were two different kinds of grave-clothes. I believe that there were indeed two different kinds of graveclothes used on Jesus - the Bible is explicit about this - there was a linen cloth that the body of Jesus was wrapped in, and a head covering (of some sort) that went along with it. That said, the Shroud appears to show evidence of there being a head scarf or head wrapping of some sort, and even if it didn’t, one could easily see how the Shroud figure could have been wrapped in more than one cloth. I have little patience for people who believe the extraordinary simply because somebody told them it was so - gullibility is delightful in children, but unbecoming and unsophisticated in adults. I also have little patience for those who claim to debunk complex objects and possibilities with overly-simplistic and reductionist arguments. It is definitely possible - even plausible - that the Shroud of Turin is a medieval forgery, but the fact that John 20:7 mentions a sudarion that was on the head of Jesus does not necessarily debunk the authenticity of The Shroud in any sore of logical, philosophical or archaeological way.
Ok - that was a long episode. ONE more Shroud episode coming up - a summation of sorts. I hope to have 20-25 reasons to believe the Shroud could be authentic as well as a number of reasons to NOT believe in the authenticity of The Shroud. Thanks for being patient, and thanks for listening. Please leave a positive review if you are so inclined.
Episode 4: Busting Shroud Myths, Part 2:
In one statement, John Walsh (His book The Shroud) observed: “The Shroud of Turin is either the most awesome and instructive relic of Jesus Christ in existence ... or it is one of the most ingenious, most unbelievably clever, products of the human mind and hand on record. It is one or the other; there is no middle ground.”
I did a recent - July, 2019 - survey of Baptist Pastors on The Shroud of Turin. Of those that responded to the poll - only 3.5 percent believed that the Shroud was the genuine burial cloth of Jesus. Half of them were agnostic - it was an interesting historical artifact that could not be verified, and just slightly under half 41 percent - believed the Shroud to be a forgery. I did a much larger poll in The Astonishing Legends facebook group - a group of people that are quite open and interested in paranormal things. In that survey, 132 out of 350 - 38 percent - believed the Shroud to be a hoax, which is very similar to the Baptist pastor’s percentage. However, there were more true believers in the paranormal group, with 37 out of 350 - 11 percent - believing that the Shroud was the genuine burial cloth of Jesus. Shroud agnostics - believing the Shroud to be interesting, but unverifiable - represented 181 out of 350 respondents, just over half at 52 percent. Therefore, based on my informal surveys of a little over 400 people - roughly half of those respondents are just like me - uncertain about the Shroud. Over the next few episodes of this podcast, we are going to cover the history of the Shroud of Turin, and the most modern research and findings. Maybe by the time we are done, we’ll all still be Shroud agnostics, but maybe - just maybe - we will together unearth enough information to change our minds and develop a clearer and more definitive view of one of the most controversial and noteworthy artifacts of church history.
Today, we are continuing to bust some myths about the Shroud. Next episode we will present 10-25 arguments in favor of the authenticity of the Shroud, some arguments against it, and likely conclude this series.
- Myth: The Shroud has always been owned by the Catholic Church, and they have officially endorsed it. In fact, it appears that the Catholic Church did not have official possession of The Shroud until 1983 when the royal House of Savoy conveyed ownership of The Shroud to The Holy See. If you remember your AP Modern European History, you might remember that the Savoys began as a small ruling family in the Alps northwest of Italy proper, and grew to become the dominant royal family in Italy, reigning over the country from 1861-1946, and also briefly ruled Spain in the 1800s. Although the Catholic church does not have an official position on The Shroud, several Popes and other church officials have commented favorably about it, including: Cardinal Ratzenberger/Pope Benedict, who called The Shroud, “A truly mysterious image, which no human artistry was capable of producing. In some inexplicable way, it appeared imprinted upon cloth and claimed to show the true face of Christ, the crucified and risen Lord".” (This was said when Ratzenberger was a Cardinal, and was not said officially/Ex Cathedra, so it was not considered an official endorsement of the whole church.
Pius 11, 1936, “These are not pictures of the Blessed Virgin, it is true, but pictures that remind us of her as no other can. Since they are pictures of her Divine Son, and so, we can truly say, the most moving, loveliest, dearest ones that we can imagine." What a strange quote - am I wrong that it seems to be suggesting that pictures of Mary, mother of Jesus, would be more remarkable than pictures of Jesus, the son of God? When any theology places more attention, emphasis and weight on Mary than they do on Jesus, this is where I have a massive difference with them. Source of quote “The Shroud, a Guide” by Gino Morreto. (I note here that I can’t find this quote by Pius 11 elsewhere) 2. Pope John Paul II
"Since it is not a matter of faith, the church has no specific competence to pronounce on these questions," the late Pope John Paul II said in 1998. ALSO: “The Holy Shroud is the most splendid relic of the Passion and Resurrection [of Our Lord Jesus Christ]. We become what we contemplate... Why don't we contemplate the Icon of Icons: The Holy Face of Jesus!" Instead of icons made by man, let us venerate the greatest icon of all: The Holy Face of Jesus!” and also, “The Shroud is an image of God's love as well as of human sin ... The imprint left by the tortured body of the Crucified One, which attests to the tremendous human capacity for causing pain and death to one's fellow man, stands as an icon of the suffering of the innocent in every age."
Most recently, Pope Francis commented on The Shroud during his first Easter address:
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
I join all of you gathered before the Holy Shroud, and I thank the Lord for offering us this opportunity, thanks also to new devices. We do not merely “look” if we are looking at it, it is not a simple look, but it is a form of veneration, a look of prayer and also it is a way of letting him look at us. This face has eyes that are closed, it is the face of one who is dead, and yet mysteriously he is watching us, and in silence he speaks to us.
How is this possible? How is it that the faithful, like you, pause before this icon of a man scourged and crucified? It is because the Man of the Shroud invites us to contemplate Jesus of Nazareth.
This image, impressed upon the cloth, speaks to our heart and moves us to climb the hill of Calvary, to look upon the wood of the Cross, and to immerse ourselves in the eloquent silence of love.
Let us therefore allow ourselves to be reached by this look, which is directed not to our eyes but to our heart. In silence, let us listen to what he has to say to us from beyond death itself. By means of the Holy Shroud, the unique and supreme Word of God comes to us: Love made man, incarnate in our history; the merciful love of God who has taken upon himself all the evil of the world to free us from its power.
This disfigured face resembles all those faces of men and women marred by a life which does not respect their dignity, by war and violence which afflict the weakest… And yet, at the same time, the face in the Shroud conveys a great peace; this tortured body expresses a sovereign majesty. It is as if it let a restrained but powerful energy within it shine through, as if to say: have faith, do not lose hope; the power of the love of God, the power of the Risen One overcomes all things.
So, looking upon the Man of the Shroud, I make my own the prayer which Saint Francis of Assisi prayed before the Crucifix: Most High, glorious God, enlighten the shadows of my heart, and grant me a right faith, a certain hope and perfect charity, sense and understanding, Lord, so that I may accomplish your holy and true command.
Amen.
One Catholic commentator on St. Francis’ speech above noted, “"The shroud draws [people] to the tormented face and body of Jesus and, at the same time, directs [people] toward the face of every suffering and unjustly persecuted person." This is condemning/damming the Shroud with faint praise and reinforces that Pope Francis really does think (wrongly) that the Shroud is just another fake icon.”
I agree with that commentator - reading between the lines of St. Francis’ pronunciation, speech, it is quite clear that he is either a Shroud Agnostic, or possibly even thinks it is a forgery.
So - it would seem that, in the Catholic church, the opinions on the authenticity of The Shroud are quite varied. It appears that more Catholic leaders consider The Shroud authentic than do leaders of other major religious groups, but the fact that The Vatican has stopped short of pronouncing the Turin Shroud should possibly give us pause. Do they have reason to suspect it is inauthentic - unreleased reasons? Possibly.
I’ll say this - I don’t understand religious veneration of objects. That seems completely contra to the clear teachings of the Old and New Testaments. Some branches of Christianity do this, but I think they are missing it. If The Shroud is authentic, then it is fascinating and wonderful, but not at all worthy of a single drop of religious devotion. If it is inauthentic, then it is less so. Either way, it is a fascinating artifact.
If genuine, it is one of the great treasures of history and should be in our finest museum. Just don’t worship it - it is a linen cloth. It didn’t die for you. It has no power to save you. I see no indication that it holds any special significance to God. I own a collectible card with a verified piece of a jacket that Elvis Presley sang in and wore. If I had the whole jacket - what would that avail me? Would it help me dance better? Sing better? Become more famous? Could I bring it to Graceland and get free entry for wearing it? Could I take it to surviving members of Elvis’ family, and ask to become an honorary Presley? None of those things. And The Shroud would get you less far in Heaven than The Presley jacket would get you in Graceland.
What should we do if it is inauthentic? Burn it, throw it away? Of course not! I still believe it belongs in our finest museums of art (as opposed to history) If it is art - it is incredible art. Mystifying and awe-inspiring.
Whatever it is - The Vatican isn’t saying for sure one way, or another. They appear to be fans, but in a mostly unofficial capacity.
- Maybe Myth: The Shroud has been fully replicated. One of the major issues that has surrounded The Shroud from the beginning has been that, up until recently - even skeptics agreed that the way The Shroud was produced is unknown and thus postulating a medieval forgery was quite difficult, because nobody knew how a person could forge such an image with medieval equipment. There have been other ancient technologies that have been a mystery to modern man. Damascus steel, for instance, has not been inarguably replicated by modern blacksmiths. Roman Concrete has a kind of durability that modern concrete lacks, and scientists are only recently discovering some of the secrets to its longevity. Archimedes is said to have developed a sort of heat ray that was powerful enough to burn up boats from a significant distance away, but it is difficult for us to replicate such a ray using the technology that Archimedes would have had 200 years before the birth of Jesus. To that list, we should certainly add The Shroud, for if it is a forgery - it is an incredibly sophisticated, impressive and technologically advanced one.
N.D. Wilson’s amazing 2005 article in Christianity Today, entitled “Father Brown fakes The Shroud” is a must read for Shroud enthusiasts. Unfortunately, the only possible way to read it is to get your hands on that 2005 magazine in a library somewhere, or pay CT $30 for a digital subscription - which is what I did. 15 years ago N.D. Wilson supposedly figured out how one might fake The Shroud of Turin, and since that time, I have heard several people say or intimate that The Shroud had conclusively been proven a fraud with the 1-2 punch of #1 1988 medieval dating and #2 Wilson’s reproduction.
Wilson’s method of duplicating The Shroud is ingenious. Basically, he and an artist friend painted a reverse image on a large pane of glass, and then had the sun shine through that image onto a Linen cloth over a period of several days. The sun bleached the cloth - lighter in areas of heavy paint and darker in areas of light paint. The resulting image does indeed look fairly authentic and Shroud-like to the naked eye. It does prove that it is possible, with the right equipment, to put a negative-like image like The Shroud onto a linen cloth. Here are some objections that have been raised:
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The cloth contains pollen from plants only found in Palestine - that would be difficult for a European forger to get. For one, he would have no idea that such a thing could potentially authenticate The Shroud. Wilson notes that the cloth could have been procured from a first century, Jewish grave, which I suppose is technically possible.
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The figure in the Turin Shroud is pierced through his wrists, not through his hands. In recent years, it has been discovered that crucified people would have to have been pierced through their wrists (and not their hands) in order to actually be suspended from a cross. This does not at all contradict the Passion accounts in all four Gospels in the Bible, because the Greek word used for ‘hands’ can also include the wrist area, unlike our English, which more clearly delineates between the two. Almost the totality of medieval art depicts the nails used during the crucifixion of Jesus being located in the hands, rather than the wrists. If the Shroud were a forgery, it is remarkable in the extreme that the forger would have known to include nail holes in the wrists, rather than in the hands.
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I am not an expert on 1300s era glass technology, but some who are have argued that the kind of large and flat pane windows that would have been needed to sun-bleach the painted image of a man onto a large linen cloth would not have been available in the early medieval period. This is a fairly strong objection that I don’t believe Wilson’s article - as thorough as it is - addresses fully.
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The figure on the Shroud has real wounds and real blood. This, of course, means that it was more than merely a sun-bleached image. Wilson contends that somebody had to have been murdered in order for forgers to make The Shroud using his method. Again, such a thing is technically possible.
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It appears to some that the figure in The Shroud has coins in its eyes - and the type of coins appear to be first century coins that would have been commonly used in Israel during the time of Christ. That a medieval forger would be able to add such a detail is fairly astonishing. Of course, as with everything surrounding The Shroud, others (and Wilson, I presume) argue that there are no coin impressions in the eyes of the Shroud-figure.
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Finally, if The Shroud is a forgery, those who painted the image on the glass had a remarkable and accurate knowledge of both the full details of Roman crucifixion and how the body would have responded to such crucifixion. Additionally, the anonymous forgers would have had to have a strong knowledge of anatomy and wound-effects, as the wounds on The Shroud figure are consistent with what modern medical technology would expect. Wilson contends that there were many medieval people with deep and accurate knowledge of anatomy, and the only reason we don’t expect the forgers to have such knowledge is because we have a sort of bias against people from the past and assume they are unsophisticated and unintelligent. Such bias is certainly real, I will readily admit, though it does seem that medical history of the last 500 years demonstrates that medieval medicine and anatomy was indeed quite primitive.
So - did Wilson definitively prove that medieval forgers could have produced The Shroud? Maybe, maybe not. Even Wilson admits, “I have not proved much. Or, I do not think that I have. Men and women who have believed in the Shroud will continue to believe. There is a fireman somewhere in Italy who risked his life to save the Shroud. I have a great deal of respect for that man. Perhaps I've given those who disbelieve more reason for noses lifted in the air, but I have not proved that the Shroud was faked. What I have done is crudely demonstrate that such an image could easily be produced in a matter of weeks by wicked men with no scruples, a little imagination, and a little more skill. The fact that it could have been faked does not mean that it was, though I believe it to have been. ”
I’ll say this - Wilson’s supposed forgers would have had to be: remarkably intelligent, gifted with art, well supplied with very rare (if existent) glass panes, and have an astonishing - for the time - knowledge of medicine, Roman history and human anatomy. Additionally, they would have had to be in possession of a cloth from Palestine, and possibly even pollen that had come from Palestine as well.
There have been other attempts to recreate the Shroud as well. In 2009 the University of Pavia organic chemistry professor and skeptic society member Luigi Garlaschelli produced a fairly convincing (at first glance) reproduction.
He describes his attempt: "What you have now is a very fuzzy, dusty and weak image, Then for the sake of completeness I have added the bloodstains, the burns, the scorching because there was a fire in 1532."
Garlaschelli says his work disproves the claims of the shroud's strongest supporters.
"Basically the Shroud of Turin has some strange properties and characteristics that they say cannot be reproduced by human hands,"For example, the image is superficial and has no pigment, it looks so lifelike and so on, and therefore they say it cannot have been done by an artist."
"The procedure is very simple. The artist took this sheet and put it over one of his assistants," "His good idea was to wrap the sheet over the person underneath because he didn't want to obtain an image that was too obviously a painting or a drawing, so with this procedure you get a strange image, Time did the rest,"
As you might imagine, there are several people who disagree that Garlaschelli has produced a convincing replica. Dr. Thibault Heimburger has written an extensive and scientific rebuttal of Garlaschelli’s method, essentially arguing that it does not really duplicate all of the elements of the Shroud, but is only a superficial likeness. His paper, linked in the shownotes, concludes:
L.G. concluded: “We have also shown that pigments containing traces of acidic compounds can be artificially aged after the rubbing step (…) in such a way that, when the pigment is washed away, an image is obtained having the expected characteristics as the Shroud of Turin. In particular the image is pseudo negative, is fuzzy with half-tones, resides on the top-most fibers of the cloth, has some 3D embedded properties and does not fluoresce”. I think to the contrary that the image has none of these characteristics (except negativity and nonfluorescence). L.G. used a sophisticated method and a new interesting hypothesis, and he got the best Shroud-like image today. It is interesting to notice that even so, the properties of his image remain in fact very far from the fundamental properties of the Shroud image. 9 For the moment, the Shroud image remains unfakeable.
Source: https://www.shroud.com/pdfs/thibault-lg.pdf
Shroud blogger Stephen Jones has also debunked the replication of Garlaschelli: http://theshroudofturin.blogspot.com/2018/08/my-critique-of-borrini-m-garlaschelli-l.html
- The complex herringbone twill pattern of the Shroud was not possible in the first century.
Some Shroud skeptics have speculated that the particular pattern of sewing used on the Shroud is too complex and advanced have been created in the first century.
In the Summer of 2000, archaeologists James Tabor and Shimon Gibson stumbled upon a freshly robbed first century grave outside of Jerusalem. Amazingly, the grave still had bodies in it, and one of them was encased in a somewhat intact first century shroud - the first shroud of that era that has been recovered in or around Jerusalem. Tabor writes of this discovery in a way that is very dismissive of the Turin Shroud:
Although 1st century cloth has been found at Masada and in caves in the Judean Desert, nothing of this sort had ever been found in Jerusalem. Apparently that niche, sealed with a blocking stone, had a geological fissure that kept water from seeping in and rotting the material.
The tomb had any number of interesting features. DNA studies were done on all the individuals represented in the tomb—the first time, so far as we know, that this had even been done in an ancient Jerusalem tomb of this period. Textile analysis was done on the cloth—it turned out to be a mixture of linen and wool, not woven together but layered with a separate head piece. It had a distinctive 1st century weave—in contrast to the Shroud of Turin.
News articles from major sites like BBC and CNN concluded that this was yet more evidence that the Shroud was a fake. From the CNN article:
“And in addition, the weave of the shroud raises fresh doubts about the Shroud of Turin, which many people believe was used to wrap the body of Jesus.
According to researchers involved in the excavation and subsequent testing, the recently discovered shroud lends more credible evidence that the Shroud of Turin does not date to Roman times when Jesus died but from a later period.” SOURCE: http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/meast/12/16/mideast.ancient.shroud/index.html
However, it should be noted that none of the researchers actually engaged in much textile research, nor were they textile experts. They were simply taking the design and weave of one 1st century burial cloth and concluding that all other 1st century burial cloths from that area would have a similar weave-pattern. That seems plausible at first, but it turns out that it is not true.
Hamburg textile expert Mechthild Flury-Lemberg is a recognized art historian and expert on the restoration of ancient textiles. She was able to examine and work on restoration/repair of the Shroud in 2001/2002 and published a book on it. She concludes on chapter of that book by saying:
“The seam that connects the 8 cm wide strip to the larger segment is not a simple one. The type of seam construction chosen clearly displays the intention to make the seam disappear on the face of the cloth as much as possible. This is another reason to believe that the Shroud was planned and produced by professionals. The sewing has been done from the reverse of the fabric and the stitches have been executed with great care and are barely noticeable on the face of the Shroud. The seam appears flat on the face and raised like a roll on the reverse of the fabric . Examples of this same kind of seam are again to be found among the textile fragments of Masada, already mentioned above. To conclude this chapter it can be said that the linen cloth of the Shroud of Turin does not display any weaving or sewing techniques which speak against its origin as a high quality product of the textile workers of the first century A.D.” SOURCE: Sindon by Mechthild Flury-Lemberg, pages 59-60, December 2001.
John Tyerer, a chartered textile technologist, “It would be reasonable to conclude the linen textiles with ‘Z’ twist yarns and woven 3/1 reversing twill similar to the Turin Shroud could have been produced in the first century Syria or Palestine.” (Source: The Shroud and The Controversy by Gary Habermas and Kenneth E. Stevenson, pg. 69)
4. The Shroud was myth-busted by John Calvin, among many others, who show us that The Scripture demands TWO burial cloths (one for the head, one for the body) and not ONE.
The Sudarium of Oviedo, long believed to be the "napkin" that was wrapped around Our Lord's head after His crucifixion and death, has been shown to have 120 "points of coincidence" with the Shroud, including the same AB blood type.
Researchers assert, "The only possible conclusion is that the Oviedo sudarium covered the same face as the Turin Shroud."
John Calvin: 4 Arguments against The Shroud:
- THERE ARE MULTIPLE ‘SHROUDS’ THAT CLAIM TO BE GENUINE. It is now time to treat of the “sudary,” about which relic they have displayed their folly even more than in the affair of the holy coat; for besides the sudary of Veronica, which is shown in the Church of St Peter at Rome, it is the boast of several towns that they each possess one, as for instance Carcassone, Nice, Aix-la-Chapelle, Tréves, Besançon, without reckoning the fragments to be seen in various places.Now, I ask whether those persons were not bereft of their senses who could take long pilgrimages, at much expense and fatigue, in order to see sheets, of the reality of which there were no reasons to believe, but many to doubt; for whoever admitted the reality of one of these sudaries shown in so many places, must have considered the rest as wicked impostures set up to deceive the public by the pretence that they were each the real sheet in which Christ's body had been wrapped.
Answer: That counterfeits exist does not at all prove that there is no genuine article. Rather, a counterfeit shroud (or three) can be a fairly convincing proof that - at least at one time - there was a significant genuine shroud.
2. THE BIBLE DOES NOT RECORD A CLOTH WITH AN IMPRESSION ON IT.
St John, in his Gospel, relates even how St Peter, having entered the sepulchre, saw the linen clothes lying on one side, and the napkin that was about his head on the other; but he does not say that there was a miraculous impression of our Lord's figure upon these clothes, and it is not to be imagined that he would have omitted to mention such a work of God if there had been any thing of this kind.
Answer: John 21:25 25 And there are also many other things that Jesus did, which, if they were written one by one, I suppose not even the world itself could contain the books that would be written.
This is a clear argument from silence. That doesn’t mean it carries now weight - it does indeed carry some weight...but not enough to actually disprove the veracity of the Shroud. It should be pointed out that the miracle of the Shroud IF it happened and IF it was noticed by the ladies or the disciples would NOT have been all that significant in comparison to the resurrection of Jesus or the appearance of angels at the tomb. One can quite easily answer this argument from silence with another plausible argument from silence, and it is one I’ve not heard before. Consider how short, relatively speaking, each of the Gospels are - the Longest is Luke, checking in at just under 20000 words. In total, all four Gospels are approximately 65,000 words - not very lengthy. This is about the size of a shortish paper-back novel. Given the relative brevity of these accounts, I find it remarkable that ALL FOUR Gospels mention the grave clothes of Jesus. Why? It would seem there would be little reason to record any details about the grave clothes unless...possibly...something remarkable happened to them. Now - is that argument enough to convince a skeptic? Of course not - because it is a very, very weak argument! So is Calvin’s argument here that the Gospels would have mentioned it if something miraculous happened with the grave-wrapping of Jesus.
3. THE CLOTHES WERE GUARDED AND LEFT IN THE GRAVE. Another point to be observed is, that the evangelists do not mention that either of the disciples or the faithful women who came to the sepulchre had removed the clothes in question, but, on the contrary, their account seems to imply that they were left there. Now, the sepulchre was guarded by soldiers, and consequently the clothes were in their power. Is it possible that they would have permitted the disciples to take them away as relics, since these very men had been bribed by the Pharisees to perjure themselves by saying that the disciples had stolen the body of our Lord ?
This one is not terribly difficult to answer. None of the gospels record the detail of removing the clothing, which could be because they did indeed remove it, but did not notice an image imprinted on it. It is highly unlikely they would have left cloth behind in the grave for reasons both sentimental and practical. As well, it should be noted that the Gospels do not record the presence of a guard at the tomb AFTER the resurrection of Jesus.
4. THE SHROUD IS ONE CLOTH AND THE BIBLE CLEARLY SHOWS THAT TWO CLOTHS SERVED TO BURY JESUS.
I shall conclude with a convincing proof of the audacity of the Papists. Wherever the holy sudary is exhibited, they show a large sheet with the full-length likeness of a human body on it. Now, St John's Gospel, chapter nine teenth, says that Christ was buried according to the manner of the Jews ; and what was their custom ? This may be known by their present custom on such occasions, as well as from their books, which describe the ancient ceremony of interment, which was to wrap the body in a sheet, to the shoulders, and to cover the head with a separate cloth. This is precisely how the evangelist described it, saying, that St Peter saw on one side the clothes with which the body had been wrapped, and on the other the napkin from about his head. In short, either St John is a liar, or all those who boast of possessing the holy sudary are convicted of falsehood and deceit. * *
This is probably Calvin’s most well known argument contra the Shroud and the one that I hear most well-educated Protestants make when I bring up the Shroud to them That the Bible suggests a plurality of gravecloths, but the Shroud is only one cloth. On the surface, this might seem like a pretty compelling claim against the Shroud, but it is not quite as open and shut as Calvin would have us believe.
The most relevant passage in the Bible to this discussion is John 20: 6 Then, following him, Simon Peter came also. He entered the tomb and saw the linen cloths lying there. 7 The wrapping that had been on His head was not lying with the linen cloths but was folded up in a separate place by itself.
Pretty clear, right - according to John’s Gospel, there were not ONE but TWO burial cloths that wrapped Jesus. One, mentioned in vs 6 (Greek: ὀθόνια (othonia)/PLURAL) and the other in verse 7 - a cloth wrapped around Jesus’ head. (Greek: σουδάριον Soudarion)
Here’s the thing, though - Many Shroud researchers, including Kenneth Stevenson, Gary Habermas, Ian Wilson, Barrie Schwortz and others contend that the Shroud shows evidence that there was a head cloth wrapped around the Shroud figure’s neck and head - most likely to hold the jaw in place.
It would appear that the Sudarion was not a very significant part of the grave cloths that wrapped Jesus, as Matthew, Mark and Luke do not mention it in particular. Consider:
Mark 15:46 46 After he bought some fine linen, he took Him down and wrapped Him in the linen. Then he placed Him in a tomb cut out of the rock, and rolled a stone against the entrance to the tomb
Luke 23:53 and 24:12 52 He approached Pilate and asked for Jesus’ body. 53 Taking it down, he wrapped it in fine linen and placed it in a tomb cut into the rock, where no one had ever been placed...12 Peter, however, got up and ran to the tomb. When he stooped to look in, he saw only the linen cloths. So he went home, amazed at what had happened.
And Matthew 27: 59 So Joseph took the body, wrapped it in clean, fine linen, 60 and placed it in his new tomb, which he had cut into the rock. He left after rolling a great stone against the entrance of the tomb.
So, the three synoptic gospels - Matthew, Mark and Luke - don’t mention the head-wrapping, or the sudarion, but John does. Could this indicate that the sudarion was a smaller garment - one that would not have left much of an imprint on the Shroud? Possibly. But, again, I emphasize - The Shroud seems to allow for the existence of a head-scarf type wrapping, as well as ones around the wrists and feet. Rather than the Biblical account disproving The Shroud, it actually seems to describe it quite well.
5. THE ABUNDANCE OF FAKE RELICS PUT FORWARD BY MEDIEVAL CATHOLICS PROVES THE SHROUD IS ALSO FAKE. St Honoratus has a body at Arles, and another at the island of Lerins, near Antibes.
St Giles has a body at Toulouse, and a second in a town bearing his name in Languedoc.
I could quote an infinite number of similar cases. I think that the exhibitors of these relics should at least have made some arrangement amongst themselves the better to conceal their barefaced impostures. Something of this sort was managed between the canons of Trêves and those of Liége about St Lambert's head. They compounded, for a sum of money, not to show publicly the head in their possession, in order to avoid the natural surprise of the public at the same relic being seen in two different towns situated so near to each other. But, as I have already remarked at the commencement of this treatise, the inventors of these frauds never imagined anyone could be found bold enough to speak out and expose their deceptions.
This is really more of a subset of argument #1, and it is a fairly strong argument. However, it must be said that not every statement made by a dishonest person is a lie, and it is perfectly possible that not every relic claimed by the medieval Catholic church was fake. Most likely were. Were they ALL fake? I’m not convinced they were.
So - Hopefully you’ve enjoyed this little bit of busting myths.
You can probably tell that I want the Shroud to be the real thing. There’s several reasons for this, but none of them are apologetics-related. In other words, I don’t want the Shroud to be the real burial cloth of Jesus because I think that would help prove the Bible to be reliable, or Jesus to be the resurrected Son of God. No article could prove such a thing. I do, however, want the Shroud to be real and genuine in the same sort of way that I want there to be a real Loch Ness Monster, or an extant Holy Grail somewhere out there. The world is a more interesting place with a legit Nessie swimming around in the cold waters of Scotland, and it is a more interesting place with real, tangible artifacts from the time of Jesus. Does that bias me? Possibly it does, and I don’t want to enter this discussion biased. It does make me consider the claims of debunkers with a greater skepticism, however, and that might not be a bad thing.
I love John Calvin and am quite persuaded by his soteriological leanings in the realm of theology. That said, I believe his debunking of The Shroud is somewhat ham-handed, especially his contention that it is easily proved false by John 20 argument that the Bible says there were two different kinds of grave-clothes. I believe that there were indeed two different kinds of graveclothes used on Jesus - the Bible is explicit about this - there was a linen cloth that the body of Jesus was wrapped in, and a head covering (of some sort) that went along with it. That said, the Shroud appears to show evidence of there being a head scarf or head wrapping of some sort, and even if it didn’t, one could easily see how the Shroud figure could have been wrapped in more than one cloth. I have little patience for people who believe the extraordinary simply because somebody told them it was so - gullibility is delightful in children, but unbecoming and unsophisticated in adults. I also have little patience for those who claim to debunk complex objects and possibilities with overly-simplistic and reductionist arguments. It is definitely possible - even plausible - that the Shroud of Turin is a medieval forgery, but the fact that John 20:7 mentions a sudarion that was on the head of Jesus does not necessarily debunk the authenticity of The Shroud in any sore of logical, philosophical or archaeological way.
Ok - that was a long episode. ONE more Shroud episode coming up - a summation of sorts. I hope to have 20-25 reasons to believe the Shroud could be authentic as well as a number of reasons to NOT believe in the authenticity of The Shroud. Thanks for being patient, and thanks for listening. Please leave a positive review if you are so inclined.
Jessica Spitz, writing recently for NBCNews.com, basically asserts that science has proven - again and again - that The Shroud of Turin is conclusively a fake. The centerpiece of her argument is the carbon dating of The Shroud. She writes:
Forensic scientists have once again concluded that the Shroud of Turin, supposedly the burial cloth Jesus was wrapped in after his crucifixion, was artificially created.
The Shroud, which is kept in the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Turin, Italy, has long been a subject of controversy within the Catholic community. Believers say its stains are the blood of Jesus, while others have questioned whether the stains are even blood at all.
The new research is in line with numerous previous studies that have concluded that the Shroud is not authentic. Earlier carbon dating work has determined that it dates to 1260 to 1390; Jesus is generally believed to have died in the year 33. And a blue ribbon panel called the Turin Commission concluded in 1979 that stains on the garment are likely pigments, not blood, while textiles experts and art historians have suggested that the materials and images are not from the right era. SOURCE
Reading the article, it sounds very, very definitive. Science has CERTAINLY concluded in many ways that The Shroud is a fake, and this new study just adds more evidence. So - let’s take a look at some of these definite proofs and consider whether or not they can convince us that The Shroud is a forgery. Spitz summarizes how this particular 2018 scientific inquiry ‘proved’ the Shroud of Turin false in this way:
In the most recent study, forensic scientists used blood pattern analysis to investigate the arm and body position necessary to yield the pattern seen on the Shroud. Using a living volunteer and a mannequin to model several positions, researchers determined that the patterns were consistent with multiple poses, which contradicts with the theory that Jesus was buried in the cloth lying down.
In other words, reading between the lines, the researchers concluded that the blood splatter pattern on The Shroud conclusively could NOT have come from a victim that was lying still, but one that was moved about some. Think about it for a moment. Does the fact that the figure on The Shroud shows evidence of being moved AFTER being wrapped in the burial cloth indicate that The Shroud itself must be a forgery? I’m not sure how one could come to that conclusion - especially considering the Biblical testimony that the followers of Jesus took steps to prepare the body of Jesus for permanent burial. As well, we see clear evidence in Matthew that the body of Jesus was wrapped in linen AND THEN MOVED into the tomb. Surely such a thing could account for “multiple poses.” Consider:
So Joseph took the body, wrapped it in clean, fine linen, 60 and placed it in his new tomb, which he had cut into the rock. He left after rolling a great stone against the entrance of the tomb. 61 Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were seated there, facing the tomb. (Matthew 27:59-61)
So - does the fact that the Shroud Figure had “multiple poses” conclusively prove that The Shroud is a fake? Of course not - Scripture is clear the body of Jesus was moved, which could certainly account for those multiple poses. But don’t take my word for it.
Victor Weedn, chairman of forensic sciences as George Washington University in Washington, D.C., said in an interview that while the experimental approach seemed to make sense, he was "skeptical of this analysis," saying there was no reason to believe that the body could not have been moved while being transported.
"We're not dealing with things we really know about," Weedn said. "We just don't know if this cloth was laid on someone who just laid there or was wrapped around the body or moved some before being put in a particular place."
Weedn is an Ivy League professor with a Juris doctorate and a Medical doctorate - a brilliant man. I think we can consider this particular scientific study conclusively debunked.
As a side note, I believe these passages about the burial of Jesus and the preparation of His body in particular are quite interesting relative to the resurrection of Jesus, and I’ve written about it fairly extensively in my book on the resurrection Easter: Fact or Fiction. We often assume the ancient followers of Jesus were quite gullible and not at all sophisticated - that they would have glibly accepted the idea of a person coming back to life because they would not have understood it to be scientifically impossible. However, biblical evidence clearly contradicts this - the disciples of Jesus DID NOT expect Him to return. They hid out and mourned. An expensive linen cloth was used to wrap the body of Jesus - strange behavior if one expected him to return in a few short days - why waste the cloth? The female followers of Jesus DID NOT expect Him to rise from the dead - they came to prepare His body for permanent entombment. Even Mary Magdalene, upon seeing the open tomb of Jesus did not assume resurrection, but asked where His lifeless body had been moved to. The followers of Jesus did not expect the resurrection, despite Jesus’ claims that He would return from the dead.
Probably the biggest single evidence against the authenticity of The Shroud - at least in most people’s mind - is the results of the 1988 radiocarbon dating, which concluded that the fabric was from the 1300s, give or take 200 years. If that conclusion was accurate, then The Shroud would very obviously be a medieval forgery of some sort. I believe that the number of congruences between the figure in The Shroud and the biblical account of the passion, suffering and crucifixion of Jesus are too numerous for one to assume that the figure in The Shroud is anyone but Jesus, and thus - if the cloth is from the 1300s, then The Shroud is an intentional forgery meant to mislead. The trouble is, that there is much debate - scientific, theological, and philosophical - about that carbon dating figure. In one of the groups mentioned above, we can see the two polarizing opinions that people have adopted based on this carbon dating:
N.S: “No one has been able to replicate how it was made, which is fascinating. And one of the fiber samples taken for carbon dating turns out to have been a repaired section so that accounts toward the dating inconsistencies. I've always been interested in the Shroud and it's physical characteristics.
On the other hand, A.M. wrote: I feel like the “carbon dating was from a repaired section” thing has been taken as gospel (no pun intended) without looking at the evidence against that theory; among them the fact that the weaving is not typical of judaean fabrics of the early first century CE, and that several experts including a textile restoration specialist have said that the section from which the sample is taken is microscopically indistinguishable from the rest of the cloth, which is simply not possibly if the repair were undertaken in the time to which the sample dates. There have been many, MANY attempts to prove the 14th century origin date wrong, and all of them have been failures or have been ginned up with test results that were not able to be duplicated and independently verified.
A survey of headlines on major websites shows a similar pattern: Confident and contradictory claims that appear to be irrefutable. For instance:
Life Site News: Scientists debunk theory that Shroud of Turin is medieval ‘hoax’
NBC News:
Forensic research (once again) suggests the Shroud of Turin is fake.
BBC News: Turin Shroud Older than Thought.
Independent.Co.Uk: 628-year-old fake news: Scientists prove Turin Shroud not genuine (again)
USA Today: New Test Dates Shroud of Turin to Era of Christ.
Reuters: New Forensic Tests Suggest Shroud of Turin is a Fake.
History.com: Shroud of Turin Isn’t Jesus’ Burial Cloth, Claims Forensic Study
Phys.org - Study of Data from 1988 Shroud of Turin testing suggests mistakes.
Dozens - or more - studies have sought to undermine the 1988 C14 tests. Some have been quite convincing...other, a bit less so. For instance, from a Churchmilitant.com article:
“A theory surfaced in 2014 that the earthquake when Our Lord died on the Cross might have impacted the Shroud's radiocarbon results.
Radiocarbon dating is based on measuring radioactive decay, the process by which atoms lose neutrons. The group of scientists in Italy made the case that the tremors on Good Friday possibly caused emissions of neutrons from the earth's crust, impacting atoms in the Shroud's fibers. If atoms in the Shroud were affected by neutron emissions, this would massively skew the results of radiocarbon dating.” Source
Are you confused yet? I sure am. I think it is obvious that scientific consensus isn’t 100 percent behind the hoax or genuine side of The Shroud debate. So - what’s the story on that C-14 dating that conclusively and supposedly proved The Shroud was faked?
Here’s what happened: (FROM WIKIPEDIA SO AS TO BE NEUTRAL)
On April 17, 1988, ten years after the S.T.U.R.P. project had been initiated, British Museum scientific director Michael Tite published in Nature[31] the "final" protocol:
- the laboratories at Oxford, Zürich, and Tucson would perform the test;
- they would each receive one sample weighing 40 mg., sampled from a single portion of weave;
- the laboratories would each receive two control samples, clearly distinguishable from the shroud sample;
samples would be delivered to the laboratories' representatives in Turin;
each test would be filmed;
- there would be no comparison of results (nor communication) between laboratories until the results be certified as definitive, univocal, and complete;
Samples were taken on April 21, 1988, in the Cathedral by Franco Testore, an expert on weaves and fabrics, and by Giovanni Riggi di Numana. Testore performed the weighting operations while Riggi made the actual cut. Also present were Cardinal Ballestrero, four priests, archdiocese spokesperson Luigi Gonella, photographers, a camera operator, Michael Tite of the British Museum, and the labs' representatives.
As a precautionary measure, a piece twice as big as the one required by the protocol was cut from the Shroud; it measured 81 mm × 21 mm (3.19 in × 0.83 in). An outer strip showing coloured filaments of uncertain origin was discarded.[37] The remaining sample, measuring 81 mm × 16 mm (3.19 in × 0.63 in) and weighing 300 mg, was first divided in two equal parts, one of which was preserved in a sealed container, in the custody of the Vatican, in case of future need. The other half was cut into three segments, and packaged for the labs in a separate room by Tite and the archbishop. The lab representatives were not present at this packaging process, in accordance with the protocol.
The labs were also each given three control samples.
In a well-attended press conference on October 13, Cardinal Ballestrero announced the official results, i.e. that radio-carbon testing dated the shroud to a date of 1260-1390 AD, with 95% confidence. (SOURCE: Wikipedia)
So - that’s that, right? 95 percent confidence by three different labs that The Shroud was from the 12-1300s. End of story. The radiocarbon dating slammed the door on The Shroud’s authenticity for many, many people. One of the foremost Shroud researchers and proponents, who was himself a member of the original STURP team of scientists who studied the Turin Shroud in the late 1970s, is a man named Barrie Schwortz. He runs Shroud.com, which is probably the most visited site devoted to the TS on the internet. In commenting on the results of the dating, Schortz describes the reaction by Shroud devotees:
“As soon as the dating results were leaked to the press, the world of the Shroud came to a complete and sudden halt. Many researchers took this as the final word and disengaged completely. The years of hard work by the STURP team and the many papers they published in the peer-reviewed scientific literature was immediately disregarded and ultimately, forgotten. These were indeed the bleak years of Shroud research.” (SOURCE)
Except, there were objections raised about the radiocarbon testing almost from the beginning. Actually, to be fair, there were objections raised YEARS before the testing actually took place. Professor William Meacham is an archaeologist who writes articles with titles like, “High-throughput field phenotyping using hyperspectral reflectance and partial least squares regression (PLSR) reveals genetic modifications to photosynthetic capacity” and “Determination of the original firing temperature of ceramics from Non Nok Tha and Phimai, Thailand” Before The Shroud was carbon-dated, Meacham cautioned against letting the results be the end-all determinant of the authenticity or lack thereof of Shroud. In 1986, he wrote:
“In recent discussions on the possible authenticity of the Turin Shroud, the question of the value of C-14 dating persistently recurs. Virtually all researchers agree that the test should be performed; sufficiently small samples can now be measured so that the appearance of the relic is not altered. Several C-14 dating proposals are now under consideration by the Archbishop of Turin.
In contrast to these positive developments, however, there appears to be an unhealthy consensus approaching the level of dogma among both scientific and lay commentators, that C-14 dating will "settle the issue once and for all time." This attitude sharply contradicts the general perspective of field archaeologists and geologists, who view possible contamination as a very serious problem in interpreting the results of radiocarbon measurement. In this paper I shall examine the issue of the reliability of C-14 testing to produce an "absolute date" on the linen sheet known as the Holy Shroud of Turin and believed by some to be the gravecloth of Christ...Reviewing recent Shroud literature of all persuasions, I find little awareness of the limitations of the C-14 method, an urge to "date first and ask questions later," and a general disregard for the close collaboration between field and laboratory personnel which is the ideal in archaeometric projects. Regarding the Shroud, consultations should take place among archeologists, historians, conservationists, cellulose chemists and of course radiocarbon scientists in order to formulate a specific C-14 sampling and dating procedure. As I shall endeavor to demonstrate below, the radiocarbon measurement of the Shroud is a complex issue, and the inclusion of all relevant expertise is highly important.”
Later, Dr. Meacham concludes his long and excellent paper on this issue, “My own tentative proposal for dating the Shroud is that at least five samples be taken: 1) a single thread from the middle of the cloth, between dorsal and ventral images; 2) a small piece cut just in from the edge next to the site of Raes' piece I; 3) a piece of the charred cloth; 4) a piece cut from the side strip next to the site of Raes' 11; 5) a piece of the backing cloth sewn on in 1534. The principal samples would be 1 and 2, with 3 possibly confirmatory; 4 would hopefully clarify the question of an added side strip: 5 would be a control for modern contamination. All samples would be subjected to elaborate pretreatment, SEM screening and testing (microchemical, mass spectrometry, micro-Raman) for impurities or intrusive substances such as higher order hydrocarbons, inorganic and organic carbonates. Samples 2-5 would be measured by both gas proportional and accelerator counting. Samples of a least 3sq. cm each would be required for intensive pretreatment (likely to sacrifice a portion of the sample), measurement of fractions, and controls for micro-testing. A total of 12 sq. cm. or so of the relic itself would thus be required. Selvage edges would be avoided, as in the British Museum inter-comparison experiment (Burleigh et al 1985:3). In view of the myriad contamination possibilities, at least two fractions of each sample should be measured, by each counting method, if possible.
In the end, with luck, we would have at least two or three radiocarbon ages in good agreement and possibly, quite possibly, indicative of the true calendrical age of the Shroud linen. That is all we would be justified in claiming.
The existence of significant indeterminant errors can never be excluded from any age determination. No method is immune from giving grossly incorrect datings when there are non-apparent problems with the samples originating in the field. The results illustrated [in this paper] show that this situation occurs frequently. Regardless of the C-14 result, evidence from other sources would of course remain of considerable importance in the overall evaluation of the age and origin of the relic.
A C-14 age later than the first century would not of course constitute scientific proof of the inauthenticity of the Shroud, since radiocarbon dating is a based on a number of unverifiable assumptions -- the most important in this context being that the carbon extracted from the sample is indeed identical with the carbon absorbed from the environment when the sample was alive. But of course C-14 measurement does usually provide a reliable indication of true calendrical age.” SOURCE (CLICK HERE)
Over the years, many have raised objections to the method and conclusions of the test, which most certainly did not follow the protocols that Professor Meacham called for. The main objections raised included the possibility of contamination of the sample (due to more than one fire that The Shroud was exposed to - as well as the touch of hundreds/thousands of medieval hand), as well as the location of the sample being near the edge of the garment - an area some have thought to be part of a medieval repair.
Think of it like this: Have you heard of the Ship of Theseus? It’s one of the more fascinating thought experiments and it has been around for thousands of years, at least since 500 years before the time of Jesus. So - who was Theseus? He was the possibly mythical founding king of Athens. The thought experiment goes like this: Let’s say Theseus had a great battle ship that he won some big battles in. Over the years, the ship has to be repaired some planks are damaged, the mast is broken, rot sets in, etc. After a few decades, due to the nature of wood, fabric and rope (and the corrosive effect of salty winds and oceans) - all of the original parts of Theseus’ ship has been replaced. Not all at once, of course - but over the years, bit by bit. The philosophical question is this: Is it still Theseus’ ship despite the fact that there is not a single original part left?? The second part of the thought experiment is to consider another hypothetical. What if Theseus kept in a storehouse EVERY single part of his boat that was replaced. Further still, what if somebody was able to restore and repair every single former part of the ship, and then completely rebuilt it - using the original parts and to the exact specifications of the original. Which of the two boats is more the original ship of Theseus??
Well, that’s not the Bible mystery we are here to solve today, but it does serve as an oblique introduction to one of the major issues with testing The Shroud. - What if The Ship of Theseus - or a similar ship - was somehow in service for hundreds of years - dating back to an indeterminate time. Perhaps some modern scientists would want to radiocarbon date the ship to test how old it was. That test would only be accurate if one took a sample from an original plank on the ship. If the ship was originally built in 1525, but then repaired in multiple places in 1875, and the sample taken for the carbon test was from a repaired plank, then one could quickly see how the c14 test would fail to ascertain the real age of the ship, right? Well, that is exactly what many claim has happened with the 1988 radiocarbon dating of The Shroud. Many claim that the sample tested was either from a section subject to some unknown medieval era repairs, or it was tainted by a medieval fire, or medieval hands, etc. This is why professor Meacham argued in 1986 that radiocarbon dating should not be the only way that the date of The Shroud was determined.
A 2000 study by Joseph Marino and his wife Sue Benford found interesting results based on x-ray analysis of the TS sample sites. They found what they believe to be a seam in the sampled area of the fabric which is indicative of a repair made much later than when the cloth was originally made. The seam they found is diagonal and runs through the entire strip of the piece of fabric that was divided into three parts and sent to three different labs. Marino and Benford indicate that the variance of roughly 200 years found in the c14 dating of Arizona, Zurich and Oxford seems to correspond to the location of this diagonal seam, which caused the researchers to theorize that the repair was skewing the results of the dating test, and causing the three results to fall outside of the bounds of date agreement that statistical analysis would expect for three tests of the same exact cloth. Interestingly, after my first episode on the T.S., Mr Marino contacted me and sent some very helpful research my way.
Raymond Rogers was a chemist and thermal analysis expert who served for nearly 40 years at the Los Alamos National Laboratory. He was a high ranking military analyst as well, and wrote and edited numerous scientific journal articles. Rogers was the head of chemical analysis for the original STURP team that studied The Shroud. After the 1988 c14 testing, Rogers was initially convinced for years by the results of the test, but began to reconsider those results after reviewing the paper mentioned previously by Joe Marino and Sue Benford. Rogers reexamined some fiber samples from the Turin Shroud in order to debunk the debunkers. He was surprised to find clear microscopic evidence that a cotton patch had been skillfully weaved into the original linen of the tested part of the Turin Shroud. Rogers also noted that x-ray fluorescent photography done of The Shroud demonstrated that the part of the cloth where the sample was taken glowed a different color than the rest of the cloth, which would likely be an indicator that different fabric was contained in the tested sample. In 2005, shortly before his death from cancer, Rogers wrote a scientific paper on The Shroud for the chemistry journal Thermochimica Acta that contained a detailed chemical analysis of The Shroud fibers, (with pictures) and a discussion of the likely contamination of the sampled section of the cloth. The paper concludes:
“If the shroud had been produced between a.d. 1260 and 1390, as indicated by the radiocarbon analyses, lignin should be easy to detect. A linen produced in a.d. 1260 would have retained about 37% of its vanillin in 1978. The Raes threads, the Holland cloth, and all other medieval linens gave the test for vanillin wherever lignin could be observed on growth nodes. The disappearance of all traces of vanillin from the lignin in the shroud indicates a much older age than the radiocarbon laboratories reported...Because the shroud and other very old linens do not give the vanillin test, the cloth must be quite old. It is thus very unlikely that the linen was produced during medieval times...The combined evidence from chemical kinetics, analytical chemistry, cotton content, and pyrolysis proves that the material from the radiocarbon area of the shroud is significantly different from that of the main cloth. The radiocarbon sample was thus not part of the original cloth and is invalid for determining the age of the shroud. Because the storage conditions through the centuries are unknown, a more accurate age determination will require new radiocarbon analyses with several fully characterized and carefully prepared samples” SOURCE
More recently, Summer of 2019, a peer reviewed academic journal called Archaeometry, produced by The University of Oxford, published a very interesting article that called into question the results of the c14 dating of The Shroud. If you aren’t familiar, Archaeometry “is an international research journal covering the application of the physical and biological sciences to archaeology and the history of art. The topics covered include dating methods, artifact studies, mathematical methods, remote sensing techniques, conservation science, environmental reconstruction, biological anthropology and archaeological theory.”
An international team of researchers led by French researcher Tristan Casabianca obtained the raw results from the original 1988 radiocarbon testing and did some significant statistical analysis of those results, and also looked for other possible issues.
In a recent interview with the French magazine L’Homme Nouveau (The New Man), Casabianca summarized the findings of his team’s study:
“In 1989, the results of the shroud dating were published in the prestigious journal Nature: between 1260 and 1390 with 95% certainty. But for thirty years, researchers have asked the laboratories for raw data. These have always refused to provide them. In 2017, I submitted a legal request to the British Museum, which supervised the laboratories. Thus, I had access to hundreds of unpublished pages, which include these raw data. With my team, we conducted their analysis. Our statistical analysis shows that the 1988 carbon 14 dating was unreliable: the tested samples are obviously heterogeneous, [showing many different dates], and there is no guarantee that all these samples, taken from one end of the sheet, are representative of the whole fabric. It is therefore impossible to conclude that the shroud of Turin dates from the Middle Ages.”
The paper itself is incredibly complex, and very heavy on a type of statistical analysis that is well over my head in most places. I’ve read and reread portions of that paper, though, and I feel like I understand it well enough to note that it raises some very troubling concerns about the results of the 1988 dating. Some of those concerns include:
- Significant contamination of various pieces of the very small Shroud samples sent to each laboratory. The paper notes:
“ Despite the close visual inspection of the TS by textile experts and the loss of weight of approximately 25% after the cutting (FOIA 2017, 162), Oxford found and removed several textile fibres of different colours, including one identified by a textile laboratory to be cotton, ‘possibly of Egyptian origin and quite old’ (Anonymous 1988; FOIA 2017, 104). Oxford mentions that in one subsample there may have been ‘glass’, perhaps sodium Radiocarbon dating of the Turin Shroud 7 © 2019 University of Oxford, Archaeometry ••, •• (2019) ••–•• chloride crystals (Wilson 1995, 18; FOIA 2017, 103). In the original draft, Arizona indicated that ‘a red thread and three blue threads’ were removed from one of their subsamples (Turin Shroud Archive). In 2010, Arizona recognized that they had kept one piece of an undated TS subsample. On this subsample, the authors identified foreign material invisible to the naked eye, including a blue substance described as ‘apparently wax’ (Freer-Waters and Jull 2010, 1522) and some cotton fibres. Zürich may have found an assortment of debris (Marinelli 2012, 26).”
- Significant statistical differences between the raw dates obtained by the three labs that each tested a similar sample of the Turin Shroud. Recall that a very small piece of the TS was cut off and sent to three different labs. One in Arizona, one in Zurich and one in Oxford. Supposedly all three labs returned the same results for the dating of the TS, but according to Casabianca’s statistical survey of the raw results, that claim is not true. He shows that there was significant statistical variance between the results obtained by the three labs, especially the Arizona lab. Now, I’m going to read a part of the paper where Casabianca’s team makes this claim, but I do not claim to fully understand what’s going on here:
The analysis of the Arizona counts showed further interesting aspects. The eight counts of the Arizona data were categorized into four groups (A1 and A2, A3 and A4, A5 and A6, and A7 and A8) because they were executed on the same day using the same standards. The non-parametric Kruskal–Wallis test (Table 5; see also Table S10 for the assumptions) shows highly statistically significant differences even if we consider the eight counts both separately and gathered (p-values < 0.0001). The results show that the different assessments produced by the same laboratory (raw vs. Nature) are not statistically significant, whereas the analysis of the raw radiocarbon dates confirmed that the different laboratories produced different assessments and that these differences are, in most cases, statistically significant.
That might be the most understandable section out of the paper’s discussion of the statistical anomalies between the dates obtained by the three labs. Ultimately, I take it that Casabianca’s work is demonstrating that the lab results are different enough that something must account for the difference - contamination, medieval repairs, botched handling, etc.
- The dates obtained by the labs on the small samples they were given, appear to vary throughout the length of the sample, rather than remain the same. In other words, different parts of the small sample size tested by each lab test out with a statistically significant different date, a result which could be explained by contamination, and many other factors. The paper makes this claim about the non-homogenous results:
Moreover, our statistical analysis of the raw data supports the conclusion of Riani et al. (2013). They used the known locations of the tested samples in each laboratory and showed a significant decrease in the radiocarbon age as one gets closer to the centre of the sheet (in length, from the tested corner). This variability of the Nature radiocarbon dates in a few centimetres, if linearly extrapolated to the opposite side of the TS, would lead to a dating in the future.
So - those are some significant scientific issues raised with the 1988 dating in this paper, and many other scientific studies are cited which reveal similar problems with the dating. Casabianca’s paper concludes this way:
“The discussed statistical analysis reinforced the argument against the goodness of the radiocarbon dating of the TS, suggesting the presence of serious incongruities among the raw measurements. Our results, which are compatible with those previously reported by many other authors (Brunati 1996; Van Haelst 1997, 2002; Riani et al. 2013), strongly suggest that homogeneity is lacking in the data. The measurements made by the three laboratories on the TS sample suffer from a lack of precision which seriously affects the reliability of the 95% AD 1260–1390 interval. The statistical analyses, supported by the foreign material found by the laboratories, show the necessity of a new radiocarbon dating to compute a new reliable interval. This new test requires, in an interdisciplinary research, a robust protocol. Without this re-analysis, it is not possible to affirm that the 1988 radiocarbon dating offers ‘conclusive evidence’ that the calendar age range is accurate and representative of the whole cloth.
This is not a lightweight attack on the credibility of the 1988 radiocarbon dating of The Shroud. If you are a committed and convinced Shroud-skeptic, then I have no beef with you, since I am currently a Shroud-agnostic. However, if you have based your assured skepticism primarily on the radiocarbon dating of The Shroud, then I would encourage you to sit down and try to read Casabianca’s paper. It’s not an easy read in the least, and you might need some Tylenol, but i believe it does poke significant holes in the credibility of that 1988 test - enough holes that I believe that the test represents minor evidence - at best - against the genuineness of The Shroud, rather than conclusive evidence.
So - has 1988 radiocarbon dating conclusively shown that The Shroud was a medieval hoax? I believe that scientists (textile experts, statisticians, chemists, historians and archaeologists) have raised enough objections with the method and the conclusions of the original 1988 test to say, ‘no.’ This, of course, does NOT prove that The Shroud is the original burial cloth of Jesus, nor does it prove that The Shroud was produced originally in the first century. What it does suggest - strongly, I’d say - is that we need an updated radiocarbon testing of The Shroud. One that utilizes fabric far closer to the middle of The Shroud, and one that uses fabric that is checked and rechecked for contaminants, repairs and reweaves prior to the testing. What does The Vatican have to lose here? I realize that they want to preserve the Turin Shroud as well as possible - it is a priceless artifact whether it is genuine or not. However, I believe the loss of a small portion of the middle, non-imprinted section of The Shroud is an acceptable loss, and a worthwhile risk. If the updated testing again shows a medieval date, then nothing significant has been lost, considering that The Shroud already bears the scars of years of use and fire damage, and considering that The Vatican has never officially vouched for the authenticity of the cloth. If, however, the test comes back as dating to near the time of Christ, then imagine the clamor and positive publicity over such a finding? It would be immense, and clearly worth the risk. Worth the risk, of course, if The Vatican truly believes The Shroud could be authentic. Next episode we will consider to what degree The Vatican really does esteem The Shroud, and maybe bust a few more myths along the way.
Today, I think it would be helpful to have an episode that takes a broad and wide view of The Shroud - that covers all of the basics, so that we’re all on the same page. That’s the focus of this episode - let’s call it an overview of The Shroud of Turin, but the material we cover won’t all be introductory level.
As I mentioned in the first episode, I first heard about The Shroud way back in the very early 80s from In Search of. PLAY CLIP
Hearing Mr. Spock - Leonard Nimoy - talking about The Shroud was fascinating to my young mind, and understanding that their might - just might - be a possible artifact from the time of Jesus - that Jesus actually touched - that could actually have a real picture of Jesus - inarguably the most famous person that ever lived - was mind-blowing. So, I read up on The Shroud as I grew older. Most of my Presbyterian church leaders didn’t believe in The Shroud - dismissing it as a Catholic hoax, but I wasn’t fully convinced. The fact is - once you see pictures of it, then you begin to take it at least a little bit seriously. If The Shroud is a fake - it is an amazing one, and the deeper you dig into it, the more remarkable it becomes.
Some Terms You Should Know:
- Icon: An icon is a religious work of art, usually a painting. Sometimes icons are statues or carvings, or other artistic renderings. Most of the time those pictured in icons are Jesus, Mary, or other saints in the Bible. Some Christians, including many Reformed Christians, consider paintings of Jesus to be violations of the second commandment of the Bible - "Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image" The oldest surviving icon of Jesus - dating from the 500s - is copied below.
Let’s answer 4 big questions today in our overview:
- What exactly is The Shroud?
The Shroud of Turin is a linen cloth that is 14.5 feet long and 3 feet, 7 inches wide and has the somewhat faded negative image of a man on it. Essentially think of the image like a photo-negative - the areas of dark and light are reversed. The darkest areas of the imprint of the man in The Shroud appear light, and vice-versa. The weave of The Shroud is a fine herringbone twill weave. I’m not an expert on textiles, but most experts that I’ve read seem to think that such a weave would have been possible and used in 1st century middle eastern areas. Like all things related to The Shroud, that is debatable. The burial cloth of Jesus is indeed listed in the Scriptures, so we know that the body of Jesus was actually wrapped in a linen cloth. There is not enough of a description of that cloth to know whether or not The Shroud is similar. As many have pointed out, there is no Scripture whatsoever that seems to indicate some kind of miraculous imprint of Jesus was left on the burial cloths. To be fair, there is no Scripture to indicate that the disciples examined the cloths, only that they saw them. Considering that there is very little information in Scripture about what happened directly after the resurrection of Jesus, and that the Bible writers focused on The Great Commission there, I don’t think it is a very strong argument from silence to say that because the Bible doesn’t mention something miraculous regarding the burial cloths of Jesus, therefore it did not happen.
John 19: 38 After this, Joseph of Arimathea, who was a disciple of Jesus—but secretly because of his fear of the Jews—asked Pilate that he might remove Jesus’ body. Pilate gave him permission, so he came and took His body away. 39 Nicodemus (who had previously come to Him at night) also came, bringing a mixture of about 75 pounds of myrrh and aloes. 40 Then they took Jesus’ body and wrapped it in linen cloths with the aromatic spices, according to the burial custom of the Jews. 41 There was a garden in the place where He was crucified. A new tomb was in the garden; no one had yet been placed in it.
John 20: 20 On the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early, while it was still dark. She saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb. 2 So she ran to Simon Peter and to the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put Him!” 3 At that, Peter and the other disciple went out, heading for the tomb. 4 The two were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and got to the tomb first. 5 Stooping down, he saw the linen cloths lying there, yet he did not go in. 6 Then, following him, Simon Peter came also. He entered the tomb and saw the linen cloths lying there. 7 The wrapping that had been on His head was not lying with the linen cloths but was folded up in a separate place by itself. 8 The other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, then entered the tomb, saw, and believed. 9 For they still did not understand the Scripture that He must rise from the dead.
The figure on The Shroud is interesting. He is tall - significantly taller than the average Jewish man of the first century, which was, according to different sources, somewhere between 5’2 and 5’5. The Shroud figure would be anything from around 5’8 to 6’2, with a figure around 5’11 seeming to be fairly likely. The man is well built and quite muscular, and has a beard, shoulder length hair, and a moustache. The Shroud is in excellent condition for its age, but not in mint condition. It has survived numerous fires and movings, and has some scars and singeing from fire. There were fourteen large patches and 16 or so smaller patches that were sewn onto The Shroud to repair it in the 1530s, all of those patches were removed in 2002 by a restoration team who sewed The Shroud onto a new cloth backing.
- What is the history of The Shroud?
This question might have its own episode, because it is quite complex, and very, very disputed. Amongst the difficulties in determining the real history of The Shroud is the lack of photographic and artistic evidence, and the fact that there are more than one burial cloths that are claimed to be the burial cloth of Jesus. As you might know, the medieval period was quite focused on biblical relics, and many unscrupulous people profited greatly from displaying supposed pieces of the true cross, fingerbones of the apostles, grails used at The Last Supper, etc. Many who believe that The Shroud is genuine believe that the history of it can be traced all the way back to The Image of Edessa, which was supposedly given to King Abgar of Edessa by Thaddeus, one of the 70 disciples of Jesus mentioned in Luke 10 - possibly even the Judas Thaddeus that was one of the 12 apostles of Jesus. However, the connection to The Shroud and The Image of Edessa is fairly disputed and tenuous, and we won’t discuss it yet.
The Shroud of Turin can clearly trace its history to the 1300s. Geoffroi de Charny was a well known and well respected French knight, who was known as a great warrior and a man of honor. He wrote three books in chivalry, served King Jean II, was a founding member of The Order of The Star, and carried the Oriflamme into battle. The what, you say? The Oriflamme was the royal battle standard (or flag) of the French army, and it was a significant honor to be the knight who carried this banner into battle. De Charny was killed by five English knights in the 1356 Battle of Poitiers against the English, and his king was taken captive. Historian Jean Froissart describes De Charny’s fall in that battle:
“There Sir Geoffroi de Charny fought gallantly near the king (and his fourteen-year-old son). The whole press and cry of battle were upon him because he was carrying the king’s sovereign banner [the Oriflamme]. He also had before him his own banner, red, with three white shields. So many English and Gascons came around him from all sides that they cracked open the king’s battle formation and smashed it; there were so many English and Gascons that at least five of these men at arms attacked one [French] gentleman. Sir Geoffroi de Charny was killed with the banner of France in his hand, as other French banners fell to earth.
So, real life Game of Thrones kind of material here. De Charny was obviously a pretty amazing person. There is some question about how he acquired The Shroud, which we will go into later, but one of the first undisputed images of The Shroud comes from a Pilgrimage of Lirey medal that dates to de Charny’s time and area.
To give you a bit further of an idea into the character of Geoffroi de Charny, we can go to the record of the happenings before The Battle of Poitiers, to a meeting amongst the British and French leadership recorded by English Knight John Chandos (on the opposing side of de Charny):
The King, to prolong the matter and to put off the battle, assembled and brought together all the barons of both sides. Of speech there he (the King) made no stint. There came the Count of Tancarville, and, as the list says, the Archbishop of Sens (Guillaume de Melun) was there, he of Taurus, of great discretion, Charny, Bouciquaut, and Clermont; all these went there for the council of the King of France. On the other side there came gladly the Earl of Warwick, the hoary-headed (white or grey headed) Earl of Suffolk was there, and Bartholomew de Burghersh, most privy to the Prince, and Audeley and Chandos, who at that time were of great repute. There they held their parliament, and each one spoke his mind. But their counsel I cannot relate, yet I know well, in very truth, as I hear in my record, that they could not be agreed, wherefore each one of them began to depart. Then said Geoffroi de Charny: 'Lords,' quoth he, 'since so it is that this treaty pleases you no more, I make offer that we fight you, a hundred against a hundred, choosing each one from his own side; and know well, whichever hundred be discomfited, all the others, know for sure, shall quit this field and let the quarrel be. I think that it will be best so, and that God will be gracious to us if the battle be avoided in which so many valiant men will be slain.”
The Shroud stayed in the Di Charny family until 1453 when it was transferred to the House of Savoy, a royal family in northern Italy. In 1389, a Bishop Pierre D’arcis actually wrote about The Shroud, and said that it was a fake. I’ll quote from his letter, and then give some reasons that his conclusion is controversial:
The case, Holy Father, stands thus. Some time since in this diocese of Troyes the Dean of a certain collegiate church, to wit, that of Lirey, falsely and deceitfully, being consumed with the passion of avarice, and not from any motive of devotion but only of gain, procured for his church a certain cloth cunningly painted, upon which by a clever sleight of hand was depicted the twofold image of one man, that is to say, the back and front, he falsely declaring and pretending that this was the actual shroud in which our Saviour Jesus Christ was enfolded in the tomb, and upon which the whole likeness of the Saviour had remained thus impressed together with the wounds which He bore. This story was put about not only in the kingdom of France, but, so to speak, throughout the world, so that from all parts people came together to view it. And further to attract the multitude so that money might cunningly be wrung from them, pretended miracles were worked, certain men being hired to represent themselves as healed at the moment of the exhibition of the shroud, which all believed to the shroud of our Lord. The Lord Henry of Poitiers, of pious memory, then Bishop of Troyes, becoming aware of this, and urged by many prudent persons to take action, as indeed was his duty in the exercise of his ordinary jurisdiction, set himself earnestly to work to fathom the truth of this matter. For many theologians and other wise persons declared that this could not be the real shroud of our Lord having the Saviour's likeness thus imprinted upon it, since the holy Gospel made no mention of any such imprint, while, if it had been true, it was quite unlikely that the holy Evangelists would have omitted to record it, or that the fact should have remained hidden until the present time. Eventually, after diligent inquiry and examination, he discovered the fraud and how the said cloth had been cunningly painted, the truth being attested by the artist who had painted it, to wit, that it was a work of human skill and not miraculously wrought or bestowed. Accordingly, after taking mature counsel with wise theologians and men of the law, seeing that he neither ought nor could allow the matter to pass, he began to institute formal proceedings against the said Dean and his accomplices in order to root out this false persuasion. They, seeing their wickedness discovered, hid away the said cloth so that the Ordinary could not find it, and they kept it hidden afterwards for thirty-four years or thereabouts down to the present year.
I would consider this memorandum to be one of the stronger evidences against the authenticity of The Shroud. It fails to be completely convincing, however, for three primary reasons:
- D’Arcis’ memo mentions that the Lirey Shroud was painted, and the painter confessed. The Turin Shroud shows no evidence or sign whatsoever of being painted, and it has been carefully and chemically analyzed for paint.
- There are several other documents of the same time period that dispute what is in this memorandum. For instance, D’Arcis claims that his predecessor had The Shroud removed because it was a fake, but other documents from the time assert that The Shroud was removed for protection because of war nearby. It is possible – though not proven – that D’Arcis memo was motivated by political issues, or perhaps by competing relic claims. D’Arcis was the Bishop of Troyes – was he disturbed/bothered by people flocking to nearby Lirey to see The Shroud? While his letter claims he is not writing for competitive purposes, it is easy to see why a Bishop of a nearby town – lacking a profound relic – might be opposed to The Shroud drawing crowds elsewhere.
That said, I certainly appreciate his anti-profit and anti-swindling the faithful stance, and wish more churchmen of the time held to it. This alone gives the memo an air of authority and authenticity.
- The memo is unsigned, unsealed, and not found in any official Vatican records. This likely means it was unsent to the Antipope. Did D’Arcis reconsider the authenticity of The Shroud? What made him withhold the sending of the memo?
In 1418, Geoffroi De Charny’s granddaughter Margaret, married Humbert of Villersexel, the Count De La Roche, and a significant noble. One month later, the leaders of the Chapel at Lirey, where The Shroud was being kept, temporarily gave it to Count Humbert for safekeeping at his castle Montfort. Humbert dies in 1438, and Margaret hangs onto The Shroud, much to the annoyance of the canons at Lirey, and they sue her in church court to get it back. Margaret takes The Shroud with her on a tour of France, where it is seen by many frenchmen. Margaret dies in 1460, and in 1464, Duke Louis I of Savoy agrees to pay the church at Lirey a yearly stipend, seemingly in exchange for The Shroud. Thus ownership of The Shroud essentially passed into the hands of The Savoy family.
While The Savoy family had possession of The Shroud, they primarily had it kept in Sainte-Chapelle in Chambery, which was the capital city of the Savoy region. It also toured around France and the parts of modern day Italy, being showcased in Turin in 1473 and a few other times.
Unfortunately, in 1532, near-disaster strikes as Fire breaks out in the Sainte Chapelle, Chambéry. Almost everything in the chapel is damaged and destroyed, but The Shroud manages to survive. The case it is held in is seriously damaged by the fire, which causes a drop of molten silver to melt through The Shroud, and several obvious scorch marks are made. That said, the damage is not fatal to any important parts of the image, and the sisters of Poor Clare, tasked with caretaking of The Shroud, repair it in 1534, and sew it onto a new backing called The Holland cloth.
In 1578 the Shroud was taken to Turin with great fanfare by The Savoy family. Upon arrival, it is greeted by rifle salute, and displayed to a crowd of 40,000 later in the year. With only a few exceptions, The Shroud has remained in Turin to this day.
- What have scientific tests shown so far?
This is a most controversial question, because there have been dozens of scientific inquiries. I’ll briefly focus on two scientific inquiries here - STURP’s research in the late 70s and the radiocarbon dating from 1988.
The radiocarbon dating is the one everybody knows about, so let’s start there. In April, 1988, a very small portion of The Shroud was removed - approximately 3 inches long and a little over half an inch wide. That strip was cut in half, and The Vatican stored half it away for future testing. The remaining strip, approximately 1.5 inches long and a little over half an inch wide, was divided into 3 strips and send to three separate labs in Arizona, Oxford, England, and Switzerland. All three labs came back with results that were very similar, and the consensus was that The Shroud material dated from somewhere between the 1200s and the 1300s, which proved the relic to be a medieval hoax in most people’s minds.
As with everything Shroud wise, there have been many criticisms of the original testing. Noted chemist Ray Rogers has written and published one of the more interesting challenges noting that the chemical vanillin was readily found in the samples of The Shroud used for radiocarbon dating, but completely absent from other parts of the main body of The Shroud. Rogers claimed in the scientific journal Thermochimica Acta, "The fact that vanillin cannot be detected in the lignin on shroud fibers, Dead Sea scrolls linen, and other very old linens indicate that the shroud is quite old. A determination of the kinetics of vanillin loss suggest the shroud is between 1300 and 3000 years old. Even allowing for errors in the measurements and assumptions about storage conditions, the cloth is unlikely to be as young as 840 years"
I do not understand textile chemistry nearly well enough to dispute or confirm Rogers’ findings, but I am intrigued by then.
More recently, research Tristan Casabianca’s team found that the 1988 carbon dating was unreliable, as only pieces from the edges of the cloth were radiocarbon tested. Many scholars believe that The Shroud, particularly the edge parts, might have been compromised significantly by several of the fires that have impacted it, especially the 1532 fire. That fire, as well as centuries of display and handling could, in their view, radically alter results from radiocarbon dating.
Casabianca obtained a lot of insight into the 1988 radiocarbon testing via a freedom of information inquiry, and upon examining the original data and process of testing, concluded, “The tested samples are obviously heterogeneous from many different dates. There is no guarantee that all these samples, taken from one end of the shroud, are representative of the whole fabric. It is, therefore, impossible to conclude that the Shroud of Turin dates from the Middle Ages.”
Shroud researcher Russ Breault, upon reviewing Casabianca’s newly uncovered information, stated, “this tells us there is something anomalous with the single sample used to date The Shroud. This is something we have long suspected because the corner chosen was absolutely the most handled area of the cloth, exactly where it was held up by hand for hundreds of public exhibitions over the centuries. If you were looking for the worst possible sample location, you would choose from one of the two outside corners — right where the sample was cut in 1988.”
That said, it should be considered here that no scientist that specializes in radiocarbon testing has raised significant questions about the method of dating used in the 1988 testing.
Summary of Sturp’s 1978 findings:
No pigments, paints, dyes or stains have been found on the fibrils. X-ray, fluorescence and microchemistry on the fibrils preclude the possibility of paint being used as a method for creating the image. Ultra Violet and infrared evaluation confirm these studies. Computer image enhancement and analysis by a device known as a VP-8 image analyzer show that the image has unique, three-dimensional information encoded in it. Microchemical evaluation has indicated no evidence of any spices, oils, or any biochemicals known to be produced by the body in life or in death. It is clear that there has been a direct contact of the Shroud with a body, which explains certain features such as scourge marks, as well as the blood. However, while this type of contact might explain some of the features of the torso, it is totally incapable of explaining the image of the face with the high resolution that has been amply demonstrated by photography.
The basic problem from a scientific point of view is that some explanations which might be tenable from a chemical point of view, are precluded by physics. Contrariwise, certain physical explanations which may be attractive are completely precluded by the chemistry. For an adequate explanation for the image of the Shroud, one must have an explanation which is scientifically sound, from a physical, chemical, biological and medical viewpoint. At the present, this type of solution does not appear to be obtainable by the best efforts of the members of the Shroud Team. Furthermore, experiments in physics and chemistry with old linen have failed to reproduce adequately the phenomenon presented by the Shroud of Turin. The scientific consensus is that the image was produced by something which resulted in oxidation, dehydration and conjugation of the polysaccharide structure of the microfibrils of the linen itself. Such changes can be duplicated in the laboratory by certain chemical and physical processes. A similar type of change in linen can be obtained by sulfuric acid or heat. However, there are no chemical or physical methods known which can account for the totality of the image, nor can any combination of physical, chemical, biological or medical circumstances explain the image adequately.
Thus, the answer to the question of how the image was produced or what produced the image remains, now, as it has in the past, a mystery. We can conclude for now that the Shroud image is that of a real human form of a scourged, crucified man. It is not the product of an artist. The blood stains are composed of hemoglobin and also give a positive test for serum albumin. The image is an ongoing mystery and until further chemical studies are made, perhaps by this group of scientists, or perhaps by some scientists in the future, the problem remains unsolved.
- Why care?
It doesn’t prove anything one way or the other about Jesus, so in my mind, it is not a crucial artifact, and certainly shouldn’t be used to prove or disprove somebody’s faith. If the Shroud is ultimately proved to be a hoax, how big of a deal is that? I would say - religiously speaking - it is not a big deal at all. None of the Christian faith rests on The Shroud of Turin being genuine. While it is true that the burial cloth of Jesus is indeed mentioned a few times in the Bible, it is not given particular attention, and no central or tertiary claims of Christianity rest on the Shroud. What if - somehow, someway, The Shroud was proven to be the genuine burial cloth of Jesus? I think that would be a HUGE deal...but not a religiously huge deal. Here’s what I mean: If The Shroud could be authenticated, then what we would have is a cloth that was actually wrapped around the single most important and well-known person in all of history. Not only that, but we would have a near-photograph of Jesus, and we would know His size, and what He looked like. It would be incredible to know for sure whether or not The Shroud was genuine...but what would its genuineness prove? That Jesus existed? Sure, there are some people who doubt the existence of Jesus, but some people also doubt the moon-landing, and many other obvious facts of history but almost no serious scholar denies that Jesus existed. Would a genuine Shroud PROVE the resurrection of Jesus, which is the central claim of Christianity? Of course not! How could it? I believe beyond a shadow of a doubt that Jesus rose from the dead, but The Shroud could neither prove nor disprove that. In my understanding, The Shroud is an amazing historical artifact - especially if it is proved genuine - but it is not an amazing focus of faith.
To wit, in John 5, Jesus strongly challenged the people who were following him and said:
39 You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me,40 yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life.
A challenging verse that I think has application in this situation: The Shroud is not capable of saving people from their sins and should not be an object of religious veneration. All veneration and honor should go to Jesus. That said, The Shroud is still - if genuine - one of the most amazing pieces of history in the world. We should not worship it, but there is nothing wrong with being interested and fascinated by it.
Today’s episode is a beginning. It does not YET represent rigorous research, but only a skimming. My opinion at the beginning of this journey is a middle opinion. Call me a Shroud agnostic, at least for now. There are Shroud atheists out there that quickly and completely dismiss the Shroud. They may be right, but I’m not sure they’ve thoroughly researched their conclusions. Likewise, many faithful Shroud believers seemingly assume its real and don’t really interact with some legitimate reasons for debunking. The fact is that there is pretty solid evidence on both sides, which probably explains why The Shroud still has its believers and detractors. This is not a religious issue for me - I am firmly convinced that Jesus rose from the dead with or without The Shroud, and even wrote a book about the resurrection of Jesus. (Easter: Fact or Fiction.)
Why should I - a Baptist preacher who doesn’t believe at all in the Roman Catholic concept of relics or icons, do a long series on the Shroud of Turin? Protestants have taken two positions on the Shroud over the years. I can neatly frame those two positions by quoting from two of my heroes, Charles Spurgeon and C.S. Lewis:
On the negative, anti-Shroud side, we have Charles Spurgeon:
Spurgeon on the Shroud: Do you not think, too, that some seekers miss comfort because they forget that Jesus Christ is alive? The Christ of the Church of Rome is always seen in one of two positions—either as a babe in his mother’s arms, or else as dead. That is Rome’s Christ, but our Christ is alive. Jesus who rose has “left the dead no more to die.” I was requested in Turin to join with others in asking to see the shroud in which the Saviour was buried. I must confess that I had not faith enough to believe in the shroud, nor had I curiosity enough to wish to look at the fictitious linen. I would not care a penny for the article, even if I knew it to be genuine. Our Lord has left his shroud and sepulchre, and lives in heaven. To-night he so lives that a sigh of yours will reach him, a tear will find him, a desire in your heart will bring him to you. Only seek him as a loving, living Saviour, and put your trust in him as risen from the dead no more to die, and comfort will, I trust, come into your spirit.
C. H. Spurgeon, “A Gospel Sermon to Outsiders,” in The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit Sermons, vol. 23 (London: Passmore & Alabaster, 1877), 701–702.
On the more open side and curious side, we have C.S. Lewis:
Dear Sister Penelope
I am ashamed of having grumbled. And your act was not that of a brute—in operation it was more like that of an angel, for (as I said) you started me on a quite new realisation of what is meant by being ‘in Christ’, and immediately after that ‘the power which erring men call chance’ put into my hands Mascall’s two books in the Signpost series which continued the process.102 So I lived for a week end (at Aberystwyth) in one of those delightful vernal periods when doctrines that have hitherto been only buried seeds begin actually to come up—like snowdrops or crocuses. I won’t deny they’ve met a touch of frost since (if only things would last, or rather if only we would!) but I’m still very much, and gladly, in your debt. The only real evil of having read your scripts when I was tired is that it was hardly fair to them and not v. useful to you.
I enclose the MS. of Screwtape. If it is not a trouble I shd. like you to keep it safe until the book is printed (in case the one the publisher has got blitzed)—after that it can be made into spills or used to stuff dolls or anything.
Thank you very much for the photo of the Shroud. It raises a whole question on which I shall have to straighten out my thought one of these days.
yours sincerely
Clive Lewis
C. S. Lewis, The Collected Letters of C. S. Lewis, ed. Walter Hooper, vol. 2 (New York: HarperCollins e-books; HarperSanFrancisco, 2004–2007), 493–494.
I note here that Lewis had the picture of the head of the Shroud of Turin framed, and it hung on the wall of his bedroom for the rest of his life.
On this particular issue, count me with C.S. Lewis - at least for now. While I believe Spurgeon is correct in condemning Shroudish idolatry, or the worship of The Shroud, I think he was too hasty in his conclusion that The Shroud was an absolute fake. It certainly may be, but it would appear that Spurgeon’s theological prejudice against the Roman Catholic church led him to dismiss the Shroud’s genuineness as a possibility, rather than some scientific, theological or historical reason.
Top Ten Facts about the Shroud of Turin:
1 Coins in eyes. Perhaps the most compelling ‘fact’ about The Shroud is not a fact in everybody’s eyes. I’ve erased and retyped that sentence now twice, because it was a legit, “no pun intended.” line. Be that as it may, researchers have apparently discovered what may be coins in the place of the eye-sockets on the image of the man in The Shroud. (Because the image is so small, there is heavy debate about this ‘discovery.’) We are going to possibly spend an entire episode on this one issue, so I’m not going to go too deeply into it now, but the supposed coins at least appear to be first century coins - and there is some evidence - scant, but some - that Jewish people of the first two centuries were buried with coins in their eyes.
- You’ve probably heard that The Shroud was carbon 14 dated and found conclusively to be a medieval hoax. That conclusion was highly debated in the 1980s, and has been ever since. More recently, data has surfaced that has cast more doubt on the original conclusion. Researcher Tristan Casabianca and his team were able to gain access to the raw data of the original 1989 dating, and found some significant issues. In a recent interview with the French “New Man” magazine, Casabianca says:
“In 1989, the results of the shroud dating were published in the prestigious journal Nature: between 1260 and 1390 with 95% certainty. But for thirty years, researchers have asked the laboratories for raw data. These have always refused to provide them. In 2017, I submitted a legal request to the British Museum, which supervised the laboratories. Thus, I had access to hundreds of unpublished pages, which include these raw data. With my team, we conducted their analysis. Our statistical analysis shows that the 1988 carbon 14 dating was unreliable: the tested samples are obviously heterogeneous, [showing many different dates], and there is no guarantee that all these samples, taken from one end of the sheet, are representative of the whole fabric. It is therefore impossible to conclude that the shroud of Turin dates from the Middle Ages.”
As I mentioned at the beginning - I’m a Shroud agnostic at this point. I’ve heard various reasons to debunk the 1989 dating of the Shroud for years, and I’ve heard people confidently quote that dating as if that completely and utterly convinced them. I remain unpersuaded either way...at this point.
3.. The blood stains on The Shroud appear to be human blood. From Historycollection.co:
Many skeptics regarding the Shroud of Turin’s authenticity have long claimed that the image seen on the linen cloth is nothing more than a figure that an artist painted. In 1978, scholar John Jackson got permission from the Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist to carry out tests to determine what kind of paint may have been used. What he found when he tested pieces of the cloth is that no binding or mixing agents were used in the color, meaning that it did not correspond with the known painting practices of the fourteenth century. In fact, what was used to create the image on the shroud wasn’t paint at all. It was blood. Jackson’s truly astounding find, though, was that it was human blood on the shroud. The blood type has been identified as type AB. Furthermore, there are two distinctive types of blood found on the cover: pre-mortem blood, the kind before a person dies, and post-mortem, which has undergone changes following death.
4. The Shroud has withstood the rigors of time, and multiple disasters. This, of course, doesn’t guarantee its authenticity, but it is curious. In 1503, the Shroud was displayed at Bourg-en-Bresse for Archduke Philip the Handsome, who was the grandmaster of Flanders. A contemporary account by a courtier that was present named Antoine de Lalaing writes about the 1503 display of the Shroud: "The day of the great and holy Friday, the Passion was preached in Monsignor's chapel by his confessor, the duke and duchess attending. Then they went with great devotion to the market halls of the town, where a great number of people heard the Passion preached by a Cordeilier. After that three bishops showed to the public the Holy Shroud of Our Lord Jesus Christ, and after the service it was shown in Monsignor's chapel." Of more interest to us here, Lalaing also mentions that the authenticity of The Shroud is seemingly proved by its having been tried by fire, boiled in oil, laundered many times 'but it was not possible to efface or remove the imprint and image.' 29 years after Lalaing wrote this, the entire chapel that held The Shroud burned, and its protective case melted. The Shroud itself suffered little damage beyond some scorching and one small hole that was brought about by melted silver dripping through.
5. Whether you believe the Shroud is the true burial cloth of Jesus or not, all agree that the Shroud is very old and very fragile. Most cloth from hundreds of years ago has long since disintegrated, so to protect the Shroud from damage, it is kept inside a hermetically sealed box that is filled with 99.5 percent argon and .5 percent oxygen. Why argon? Well, if you remember your high school chemistry, then you might remember that Argon is a noble gas, and noble gases are largely inert, meaning that they don’t react with many other elements. This means that decay and breakdown are much less likely6. The burial cloth of Jesus is indeed mentioned in the Bible.
Luke 23: 50 There was a good and righteous man named Joseph, a member of the Sanhedrin, 51 who had not agreed with their plan and action. He was from Arimathea, a Judean town, and was looking forward to the kingdom of God. 52 He approached Pilate and asked for Jesus’ body. 53 Taking it down, he wrapped it in fine linen and placed it in a tomb cut into the rock, where no one had ever been placed.
Luke 24: 9 Returning from the tomb, they reported all these things to the Eleven and to all the rest. 10 Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them were telling the apostles these things. 11 But these words seemed like nonsense to them, and they did not believe the women. 12 Peter, however, got up and ran to the tomb. When he stooped to look in, he saw only the linen cloths. So he went home, amazed at what had happened.
John 19: 40 Then they took Jesus’ body and wrapped it in linen cloths with the aromatic spices, according to the burial custom of the Jews. 41 There was a garden in the place where He was crucified. A new tomb was in the garden; no one had yet been placed in it. 42 They placed Jesus there because of the Jewish preparation and since the tomb was nearby.
John 20: 3 At that, Peter and the other disciple went out, heading for the tomb. 4 The two were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and got to the tomb first. 5 Stooping down, he saw the linen cloths lying there, yet he did not go in. 6 Then, following him, Simon Peter came also. He entered the tomb and saw the linen cloths lying there. 7 The wrapping that had been on His head was not lying with the linen cloths but was folded up in a separate place by itself. It is quite significant that both Luke AND John mention the burial cloth of Jesus. Luke is part of what is called the synoptic gospels - Matthew, Mark and Luke. They are considered highly related and all three contain very similar wording and material in places, which have caused some to speculate that there was an earlier oral (or written) source that all three accounts drew from, sometimes that source is called ‘Q,’ which stands for the French word Quelle (which means ‘what’ in French, but can also mean ‘source.’ John, however, is not usually considered to be derived from the Q source, so it is an additional layer of attestation that Jesus was buried in a linen cloth.
7. It is also mentioned multiple times by Early Church Fathers. For instance:
ORIGEN (184-253 AD): “He wrapped it in a clean linen shroud and put it in a new tomb” where no one was buried, thus preserving the body of Jesus for its glorious resurrection. But I think that this shroud was much cleaner from the time it was used to cover Christ’s body than it ever had been before. For the body of Jesus retained its own integrity, even in death, so that it cleansed everything it touched and renewed even the new tomb which had been cut from rock.
Manlio Simonetti, ed., Matthew 14-28, Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2002), 300.
HILARY OF POITIERS (310-367): Joseph of Arimathea, having asked Pilate to return Jesus’ body, wrapped it in a shroud, placed it in a new tomb carved out from a rock and rolled a stone in front of the entrance to the tomb. Although this may indeed be the order of events and although it was necessary to bury him who would rise from the dead, these deeds are nevertheless recounted individually because each of them is not without some importance. Joseph is called a disciple of the Lord because he was an image of the apostles, even though he was not numbered among the twelve apostles. It was he who wrapped the Lord’s body in a clean linen shroud; in this same linen we find all kinds of animals descending to Peter from heaven.7 It is perhaps not too extravagant to understand from this parallel that the church is buried with Christ under the name of the linen shroud.8 Just as in the linen, so also in the confession of the church are gathered the full diversity of living beings, both pure and impure. The body of the Lord, therefore, through the teaching of the apostles, is laid to rest in the empty tomb newly cut from a rock. In other words, their teaching introduced Christ into the hardness of the Gentile heart, which was uncut, empty and previously impervious to the fear of God. And because he is the only one who should penetrate our hearts, a stone was rolled over the entrance to the tomb, so that just as no one previous to him had been introduced as the author of divine knowledge, neither would anyone be brought in after him. From Hilary’s commentary on Matthew.
Manlio Simonetti, ed., Matthew 14-28, Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2002), 300.
BEDE: The vanity of the rich, who even in their graves cannot do without their riches, receives its condemnation from the simple and unassuming interment of the Lord. Hence indeed the custom of the church was derived, that the sacrifice of the altar should not be commemorated by wrapping the elements in silk, or any colored cloth, but in linen; as the body of the Lord was buried in clean fine linen
Thomas C. Oden and Christopher A. Hall, eds., Mark (Revised), Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1998), 227.
8. Sadly, devotion to the Shroud (which might be idolatry...more on this later) has actually led to deaths. For example, in May of 1647 at a public showing of the Shroud, some members of the large crowd die of suffocation. What a terrifying way to go!
9. In September of 1939 at the dawn of World War 2, the Shroud is secretly taken to the Benedictine Abbey of Montevergine approximately 588 miles away. During the journey, the Shroud passes through Naples and Rome. The Shroud was returned to Turin in 1946, post war. In explaining the decision to move the Shroud, Father Andrea Cardin (the library curator at Montevergine) wrote, “"The Holy Shroud was moved in secret to the sanctuary in the Campania region on the precise orders of the House of Savoy and the Vatican.
"Officially this was to protect it from possible bombing (in Turin). In reality, it was moved to hide it from Hitler who was apparently obsessed by it. When he visited Italy in 1938, top-ranking Nazi aides asked unusual and insistent questions about the Shroud." It should be remembered here that Italy was allied with Germany during WW2, but the Italians still sought to protect their most precious artifact from Hitler. Interestingly, Father Cardin notes that the Nazis almost located The Shroud, "In 1943 when German troops searched the Montevergine church, the monks there pretended to be in deep prayer before the altar, inside which the relic was hidden. This was the only reason it wasn't discovered."
- In 1898, Secondo Pia, an Italian photographer, takes the first ever photograph of The Shroud. Just four years afterwards, in 1902, an agnostic professor of anatomy named Yves Delage wrote and presented a scientific paper (to the Academy of Sciences in Paris) that made a strong case for the Shroud not being a forgery, but a genuine medical artifact. Dr. Delage concluded that the image therein was likely the body of Christ.
With that, I’ll close this episode with a word from Shroud critic, and personal hero Charles Spurgeon:
Next to this, our faith most earnestly and intensely fixes itself upon the Christ of God. We trust in Jesus; we believe all that inspired history saith of him; not making a myth of him, or his life, but taking it as a matter of fact that God dwelt in very deed among men in human flesh, and that an atonement was really and truly offered by the incarnate God upon the cross of Calvary. Yet the Lord Jesus Christ to us is not alone a Saviour of the past. We believe that he has “ascended up on high, leading captivity captive,” and that he “ever liveth to make intercession for us.” I saw in the cathedral at Turin a very remarkable sight, namely, the pretended graveclothes of the Lord Jesus Christ, which are devoutly worshipped by crowds of Romanists. I could not help observing as I gazed upon these relics, that the ensigns of the death of Christ were all of him that the Romish church possessed. They may well show the true cross, for they crucify him afresh; they may well pray in his sepulchre, for he is not there, or in their church: and they may well claim his graveclothes, for they know only a dead Christ. But, beloved brethren, our Christ is not dead, neither has he fallen asleep, he still walks among the golden candlesticks, and holds the stars in his right hand. AMEN.
C. H. Spurgeon, The Sword and Trowel: 1872 (London: Passmore & Alabaster, 1872), 150.
Today’s Question: What does John 3:16 REALLY MEAN? Are we wrong about the most famous verse in the Bible?.
John 3:16 16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.- for most of my life it has been the most famous verse in the Bible. It’s only rival today is ‘Judge not that ye not be judged’. More on that soon.
Spurgeon: OF all the stars in the sky the pole-star is the most useful to the mariner. This text is a pole-star, for it has guided more souls to salvation than any other Scripture. It is among promises what the Great Bear is among constellations.
C. H. Spurgeon, The Cheque Book of the Bank of Faith
John 3:16 Guy: Rollen Fredrick Stewart (born February 23, 1944), also known as Rock'n Rollen and Rainbow Man, is a man who was a fixture in American sports culture best known for wearing a rainbow-colored afro-style wig and, later, holding up signs reading "John 3:16" at stadium sporting events around the United States and overseas in the 1970s and 1980s.[1] He is serving three life sentences in a California prison after being convicted of multiple kidnapping charges after a 1992 incident. Stewart was arrested in 1992 after a standoff in a California hotel during which he entered a vacant room with two men whom he tried to recruit for a job, who later fled the scene after he attempted to kidnap a surprised maid who then locked herself in the bathroom. Reportedly, Stewart believed that the Rapture was due to arrive in six days.[8] During the standoff, he threatened to shoot at airplanes taking off from nearby Los Angeles International Airport, and covered the hotel room windows with "John 3:16" placards. Stewart was married four times, most notably to Margaret Hockridge. The two met at a church in Virginia in 1984. They began traveling across the country together in 1985. While on the road, they married in St. Louis in 1986. During the 1986 World Series, Hockridge said that Stewart tried to choke her for standing in the wrong spot with a John 3:16 sign.
Mental Illness.
So - what does John 3:16 mean?? Most people would say that it has to do with the AMOUNT of Love God has for us. That He loves us SOOOOOOO much, that He sent His son. Now - that is a TRUE Statement. The Love of God was indeed SOOO deep for people, that He sent His son, but, shocker of shockers...That is NOT what John 3:16 is talking about. Now, I realize I sound like one of those Fedora wearing, neck-bearded internet guys that go around correcting everybody - WELL, ACSHUALLY… But, two things: One, I don’t own a fedora and 2- I actually do shave my neck.
Let’s go to the expert:
Bill MOUNCE, AKA Captain Biblical Greek, : The problem, if you are unaware, is that when the KJV says “For God so loved the world,” everyone I have ever asked what “so” meant responded “so much.” If you check BDAG, you will see that this is a rare and not possible meaning of οὕτως in this context. But you'd better be careful if you change people’s favorite Bible verse.
Here are BDAG’s first three definitions of HOUTOS οὕτως.
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“referring to what precedes, in this manner, thus, so.”
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“pert. to what follows in discourse material, in this way, as follows” (which is where BDAG places John 3:16)
BDAG - Bauer’s Lexicon. Bauer's Lexicon is among the most highly respected dictionaries of Biblical Greek. Bauer–Arndt–Gingrich–Danker
HOUTOS οὕτως in John 3:16 clearly has the meaning conveyed by the NLT (“For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son”), the CSB (“For God loved the world in this way: He gave his one and only Son”), and the NET (“For this is the way God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son,”).
I am playing with this as an option: “For God loved the world so he gave.” What do you think?
Holman/CSB: 16 For God loved the world in this way: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.
Did the King James Version Get it wrong? I don’t think so - the fact is that the particle ‘So’ in the English language is very flexible, and it is proper English, when explaining how somebody expressed their love, to say, “They so loved so and so, that they did this.” However, that language is imprecise, and open to misinterpretation in a way that the Greek original text of John 3:16 is not. That text, quite clearly, is speaking of the MANNER in which God loves His people, not the MAGNITUDE of how MUCH He loves His people.
This is a Scripture about the specific WAY God loves us - not the MEASURE of His love. We don’t lose anything here, though, because we have dozens, if not hundreds, of Scriptures on the vastness of God’s Love:
1 John 3:1 See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.
Ephesians 2:4-5 4 But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.
Romans 8:37-39 37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Ephesians 3:17-19 I pray that you, being rooted and firmly established in love, 18 may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the length and width, height and depth of God’s love, 19 and to know the Messiah’s love that surpasses knowledge, so you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
Psalm 103:8 The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
So - Spurgeon explains it this way:
See clearly that you have to trust your soul with Christ by faith. Perceive that it is vast love which sets before you such a way of salvation in which the only thing required of you is that you be nothing, and trust Christ to be everything, and even that faith He gives you as a gift of his Spirit, so that the plan of salvation is all of love. If you want to repent, do not so much consider your sin as the love of Jesus in suffering for your sin. If you desire to believe, do not so much study the doctrine as study the person of Jesus Christ on the cross. If you desire to love, think over perpetually, until it breaks your heart, the great love of Jesus Christ in laying down His life for His worthless foes. The love of God is the birthplace of holy love. It is not there in your hearts where you are attempting an absurdly impossible feat, namely, to create love in the carnal mind that cannot be reconciled to God, but love must be born in the heart of Jesus and then it shall come down to you.
Charles Spurgeon, Spurgeon Commentary: 1 John, ed. Elliot Ritzema, Spurgeon Commentary Series (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2014).
John 3:16 then, is a Gospel verse...much like: Romans 5:8 8 But God proves His own love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us!It is not a verse focused on the amount of God’s love for us, but how He has expressed that love...and how He has expressed that love is the Gospel - the good news of the Bible, which is this:
God showed His love for people by sending His son to live the perfect life we couldn’t live, to die the death we deserved for our sins, so that all who LOOK to Him in wholehearted faith, believing in His death and resurrection, will be saved. Not saved by our righteous acts, but saved by HIS SACRIFICE.
Shownotes below are unrefined, unedited and unattributed. I'll eventually fix that.
Today we’re talking about the Bible itself - the longest verses, books, chapters, etc. Chapters and verses are NOT found in the original autographs, or writings of the Books of the Bible. These books were written like letters and books, and did not have chapter divisions or verses, or even punctuation like modern books.
Prior to the 800s, the Bible was divided up in various ways, but it wasn’t until the 800s that some kind of chapter divisions that were similar to modern chapters came into view. Chapter divisions, with titles, the 9th century Tours manuscript the so-called Bible of Rorigo.
Archbishop Stephen Langton and Cardinal Hugo de Sancto Caro developed different schemas for systematic division of the Bible in the early 13th century. It is the system of Archbishop Langton on which the modern chapter divisions are based
The first person to divide New Testament chapters into verses was Italian Dominican biblical scholar Santi Pagnini (1470–1541), but his system was never widely adopted. His verse divisions in the New Testament were far longer than those known today. Robert Estienne created an alternate numbering in his 1551 edition of the Greek New Testament which was also used in his 1553 publication of the Bible in French. Estienne's system of division was widely adopted, and it is this system which is found in almost all modern Bibles. Estienne produced a 1555 Vulgate that is the first Bible to include the verse numbers integrated into the text. Before this work, they were printed in the margin
What is the shortest verse in the New Testament? Did Most would say, Jesus Wept, but in the ORIGINAL Language of the Bible, that’s not the shortest verse. It is, in many English translations.
, “Jesus wept” (John 11:35) is the shortest verse in English. In English it is 9 letters long. But in Greek it is 16 letters long (Ἐδάκρυσεν ὁ Ἰησοῦς).
There is a shorter verse in the original Greek: That is 1 Thessalonians 5:16, “rejoice always,” which is only 14 letters in Greek (Πάντοτε χαίρετε).
But even that passage isn’t the shortest verse in the original...the absolute shorters is Luke 20:30 “and the second,” which in Greek has only 12 letters (καὶ ὁ δεύτερος). This ridiculously short verse is found in the section where Jesus is being verbally challenged by the Sadducees (Luke 20:29-32): “Now there were seven brothers; and the first took a wife and died childless; 30and the second 31and the third married her; and in the same way all seven died, leaving no children. 32 Finally the woman died also.”
The shortest verse in the Greek New Testament is Luke 20:30 ("και ο δευτερος", "And the second") with twelve letters, according to the Westcott and Hort text. In the Textus Receptus, the shortest verse is 1 Thessalonians 5:16("παντοτε χαιρετε", "Rejoice always") with fourteen letters,
So “Jesus wept” comes in third. “And the second” comes in first.
Esther 8:9 is the longest verse 78 Words. in the Masoretic Text. The discovery of several manuscripts at Qumran (in the Dead Sea Scrolls) has reopened what is considered the most original text of 1 Samuel 11; if one believes that those manuscripts better preserve the text, several verses in 1 Samuel 11 surpass Esther 8:9 in length.
"It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man."
-Psalm 118:8
The King James Version has an even number of verses (31,102), with the two middle verses being Psalm 103:1–2
My soul, praise Yahweh, and all that is within me, praise His holy name.
2 My soul, praise the Lord, and do not forget all His benefits.
Here are the five shortest books of the Bible, beginning with the very shortest. These measurements are by words in the original languages. Each of these books is only one chapter long, and would take you a few minutes to read, tops:
- Third John (219 words)
- Second John (245 words)
- Philemon (335 words)
- Obadiah (440 words)
- Jude (461 words)
Bible Statistics:
Chapters: 1,189
Commands: 6,468
Fulfilled prophecy: 3,268 verses
Letters: 3,566,480
Words: 783,137
Longest book: Psalms (150 chapters)
Longest chapter: Psalm 119 (176 verses)
Longest name: Mahershalalhashbaz (Isaiah 8:1)
Middle books: Micah and Nahum
Middle chapter: Psalm 117
Number of books in the Bible: 66
Number of different authors: 40
Number of languages the Bible has been translated into: over 1,200
Number of promises given in the Bible: 1,260
Number of questions: 3,294
Number of times the word "God" appears: 3,358
Number of times the word "Lord" appears: 7,736
Shortest chapter (by number of words): Psalm 117
Longest chapter: Psalm 119.
Verses: 31,101
So, we’ve had a little Bible Trivia today, but, make no mistake: THE BIBLE IS NOT TRIVIAL.
Hebrews 4: 12 For the word of God is living and effective and sharper than any double-edged sword, penetrating as far as the separation of soul and spirit, joints and marrow. It is able to judge the ideas and thoughts of the heart. 13 No creature is hidden from Him, but all things are naked and exposed to the eyes of Him to whom we must give an account.
Revelation 19: 11 Then I saw heaven opened, and there was a white horse. Its rider is called Faithful and True, and He judges and makes war in righteousness.12 His eyes were like a fiery flame, and many crowns were on His head. He had a name written that no one knows except Himself. 13 He wore a robe stained with blood, and His name is the Word of God.
The church has been talking about gossip for a very, very long time! Clement of Rome, who likely knew Peter and John (and died in 99AD) Wrote this about gossip: Since, then, we are a holy portion, we should do everything that makes for holiness. We should flee from slandering, vile and impure embraces, drunkenness, rioting, filthy lusts, detestable adultery and disgusting arrogance. “For God,” says Scripture, “resists the arrogant but gives grace to the humble.” We should attach ourselves to those to whom God’s grace has been given. We should clothe ourselves with concord, being humble, self-controlled, far removed from all gossiping and slandering, and justified by our deeds, not by words.
Spurgeon: GOSSIPS of both genders, give up the shameful trade of tale-bearing; don’t be the devil’s bellows any longer to blow up the fire of strife. Leave off setting people by the ears. If you do not cut a bit off your tongues, at least season them with the salt of grace. Praise God more and blame neighbours less. Any goose can cackle, any fly can find out a sore place, any empty barrel can give forth sound, any brier can tear a man’s flesh. No flies will go down your throat if you keep your mouth shut, and no evil-speaking will come up. Think much, but say little: be quick at work and slow at talk; and above all, ask the great Lord to set a watch over your lips.
C. H. Spurgeon, Flashes of Thought (London: Passmore & Alabaster, 1874), 184.
What, exactly, is gossip? I find that several times over the past year, I have wondered about that, and even been asked about it more than once.
Gossip is mentioned less than 10 times in the Bible, 8 times in the NIV and 4 times in the ESV. In the NIV, 6 of those 8 times are in the OT, and all six are in Proverbs. In the ESV, 3 of those 4 times are in the NT, and the one OT reference is in Ezekiel. What does that tell us? I think it tells us that our best Bible scholars don't really have a great grip on what gossip is either!
That should give us pause - particularly when we decide to point the finger at somebody and identify their actions as gossip. I’ve seen and received more than one accusation of gossip that did not seem to line up with what Scripture identifies as gossip.
It's just not terribly clear what, precisely, gossip designates. But we are going to try our level best to help clear that up today.
While it is true that the Bible never precisely defines what is meant by gossip, what is far more clear, is how we should act towards other people, and what is allowed and what isn't allowed in our conversations with each other and about each other, according to the Bible. Here’s a shocking truth that should be the fact of the podcast: When it comes to the Bible, God’s Word, pummelling people with your words is JUST AS BAD as pummelling them with your fists. Let me reiterate, because most people who engage in the activities of criticism, gossip, slander, cut-downs, etc probably aren’t physical bullies. It’s easy for them to say dank words about people, but they probably wouldn’t take a swing at those people if they bumped into them at Walmart. When it comes to the Bible, there’s no difference between the wounds we inflict with our fists and knives and swords, than with the wounds we inflict with our words. Witness these two warnings:
James 3:8 8 but no man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.
Proverbs 12:18 ESV / 13 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful There is one whose rash words are like sword thrusts, but the tongue of the wise brings healing.
Paul gives a general rule in Romans 14:19, "Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification." Here's a good place to start - we are to make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual upbuilding or edification. Our words and actions must be delivered with a heart of blessing, peace and building up. Encouragement, not criticism - upbuilding, not tearing down. Conversations that are not intended to edify - or build somebody up - or work towards their ultimate good, therefore are not allowed for Christians.
Ephesians 4:29 says it pretty clearly: No foul language is to come from your mouth, but only what is good for building up someone in need, so that it gives grace to those who hear. 30 And don’t grieve God’s Holy Spirit.
Gossip does not build people up. In the NIV, we are told in Proverbs 11:13 and 16:28 that a gossip separates close friends, and in 26:20 that gossip causes a quarrel to continue. In Proverbs 18:8 and 20:19, we learn that gossips betray confidences and that the words they share are choice morsels - so interesting that people want to hear them - words of gossip are delicious to our ears, so to speak.
In Romans 1, Paul gives a long description of, well, people. He doesn't go into much detail about who he is referring to, and it appears that he is just generally describing people (or wicked people.) One of their characteristics of wickedness, along with sexual perversity, envy, strife, murder and malice, is that they are gossips.
The Greek word there for gossip is psithyristēs, psith-oo-ris-tace' which means literally means “whisperers.” Beyond that, Paul here gives no real description of what gossip is. Similarly, Paul doesn't describe gossip in detail in 2nd Corinthians 12:20, where the same Greek word is used in this way: "For I am afraid that when I come I may not find you as I want you to be, and you may not find me as you want me to be. I fear that there may be discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, slander, gossip, arrogance and disorder."
In both of those passages, the KJV translates the word psith-oo-ris-tace' as ‘whisperings,’ which I think is a very good translation that gets at the heart of the word meaning. One other time in the Bible where that word is used is in Ecclesiastes 10, in the Greek Septuagint version of the Old Testament, where a snake charmer is described as using psith-oo-ris-tace'/whisperings as a way to charm a snake.
The final appearance of the English word ‘gossip’ in the NT (according to the ESV) is in 1 Timothy 5:13, where the word used is "phlyaros," flü'-ä-ros A Greek word that means, "a person uttering foolish things, babbling. Of things foolish, trifling, vain." The passage reads, "Besides that, they learn to be idlers, going about from house to house, and not only idlers, but also gossips and busybodies, saying what they should not." This seems to be a little different than the above uses. That Greek word for gossip, translated as tattlers in the KJV, word actually comes from a verb, which means, ‘to bubble.’ and can also mean, to babble.
A few other passages:
Proverbs 11:13
A gossip goes around revealing a secret, but a trustworthy person keeps a confidence.
Proverbs 16:28
A contrary man spreads conflict, and a gossip separates close friends.
Proverbs 17:9
Whoever conceals an offense promotes love, but whoever gossips about it separates friends
Proverbs 20:19
The one who reveals secrets is a constant gossip; avoid someone with a big mouth.
Proverbs 26:20
Without wood, fire goes out; without a gossip, conflict dies down.
Putting the biblical testimony above together, I believe we can reasonably conclude that gossip entails: #1 Privately/secretly/ Telling secrets or unauthorized juicy details about somebody else in a non-edifying manner - with a non-edifying goal. #2 Discussing other people excessively (in a nosy/babbling sort of way) bubbling over with information and guessings and speculation that gets into the realm of foolish babble and speculation. Gossip betrays trusts, it ruins friendship, throws gasoline on conflicts, and separates close people. It is the opposite of wisdom, integrity and being trustworthy.
I note here that Proverbs, the book of wisdom, has the absolute most to say about the topic of gossip in the Bible. For instance, in the HCSB, the word gossip makes 13 appearances, and OVER HALF OF THOSE MENTIONS - 7 - are warnings in the book of Proverbs. I believe this means that gossip is the very OPPOSITE of wise behavior. People who spend their time gossiping and reading about gossip are wasting their time on incredibly foolish activities and becoming foolish, shallow and vapid themselves. Run away from such things. AND DON’T READ ABOUT THEM online either. As I write this, a daily gossip rag has released a picture of a popular celebrity from the 90s, criticizing his appearance as disheveled. The poor guy has just spent months in the hospital with a terrible GI issue, and now has to deal with his picture being made fun of by a prominent national gossip newspaper/website. It’s sad, really, and we should avoid such things. Gossiping about celebrities AND politicians is still gossip, and it makes us increasingly foolish, instead of increasingly wise. (I read this in a front page article on Reddit)
What is the takeaway? Be very, very careful when communicating about somebody that is not present to somebody else. Don't share their secrets. Don't share juicy details about their lives. DON'T speculate about their motives, what they are thinking, and why they did such and such thing - especially when that speculation is negative. The fact of the matter is that you and I don’t actually know somebody’s motive at all, and such things are notoriously difficult to guess from the outside. Sometimes I don’t even know what motivates my OWN ACTIONS, so I should run away from predicting what is motivating the actions of others. Don’t try to combine all of the juicy details you know about their lives into some sort of cohesive narrative. Those sorts of gossipy ‘investigations’ are almost always wrong in their conclusions. Not only are they wrong, for a Christian, they are off limits entirely.
Apparently, some conversation about other people can take place without their being present. (Otherwise, Paul would be guilty of gossip in Galatians 2:11-15 and 2nd Timothy 4:10) As well, not everything that happens that is negative is prohibited from being a point of discussion - see 1 Corinthians 1:11 "My brothers and sisters, some from Chloe’s household have informed me that there are quarrels among you."
What is the dividing line? I think the answer goes back to Romans 14:19, "Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification." - If the purpose of a discreet conversation is genuinely and truly the building up, or the well-being of somebody being discussed, then I don’t believe that qualifies as gossip.
Two church elders discussing a church member who might be struggling with alcohol addiction, and their motivation is to lovingly help the person? Probably not gossip. Two pastors discussing a third pastor of a church larger than theirs, and speculating that he has underhanded and worldly character as evidenced by his big house and nice car? That’s pretty close to gossip - right on it, actually. I believe the determining factor is a HEART ISSUE. We should be very, very careful with every discussion we have about a third/fourth party who isn’t around to defend themselves. If that discussion is 100 percent motivated by love and a desire for the greater good, encouragement and building up of the person being discussed, then that conversation is probably not gossip. (Be led by the gentle nudges of the Holy Spirit, however - better safe than sorry.) What about ‘neutral conversations’ about third parties? Ones that are just motivated by sharing information? I think those can be risky, especially if they involve confidential or private information. Best to avoid such conversations. Mixed motivations are difficult here, and most of us have them. I’m naturally going to be careful to avoid accidentally punchin or kicking somebody. We should have the same approach with our words. Quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to become angry.
By the way, The distinguishing mark of gossip is not whether or not the information is true. RAY ORTLUND: “Gossip is not necessarily false information. Slander is false. Gossip might include true information, and maybe that’s why gossip doesn’t always feel sinful. What makes it sin is, first and foremost, that God says it’s sin. But gossip spreads what can include accurate information to diminish another person. That is not how people behave when they are living in the power of the grace of God.”
You know who is guilty of gossip? You and I. We need the Word and the Spirit to help tame our tongues. I know I do.
How does one avoid gossip? I believe that this is an issue that is less about what the precise definition of gossip is and more about the state of the heart and the predominance of love in it towards those who are being discussed; as well as a deep and sincere desire for the object of discussion to be edified and blessed. I believe a group of church leaders can, in a godly way, discuss rumors of a certain member of the fellowship engaging in drunkenness or adultery. I believe, at the same time, it is possible for those same church leaders to discuss those issues in a way that qualifies as gossip. What distinguishes the two? The best I can tell you is that it is the attitude of the heart and its love, as well as a genuine desire for edification that is the distinguishing factor. Ultimately, it should be repeated that judicious care needs to be taken in any conversation about a party that is not privy to the conversation.
I hate it when people gossip about me - especially when they genuinely have no ideas about what really happened, or what’s really going on in my head. That said, Let me be clear about something: I am guilty of gossip. You are too. I’m afraid it is a common (though deadly) sin. What does the Bible say to us) given the fact that we are guilty of the same sin that we are frustrated about when a fellow believer commits it against us? I am glad you asked!
Romans 2:1-5 " You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you judge another, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things. 2 Now we know that God’s judgment against those who do such things is based on truth. 3 So when you, a mere human being, pass judgment on them and yet do the same things, do you think you will escape God’s judgment? 4 Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, forbearance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance? 5 But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God’s wrath, when his righteous judgment will be revealed. "
Ouch!!! What a challenging passage of Scripture. When we judge other people for things that we are guilty of, we are inviting God's judgment on us in a significant way. When we do this, we are showing contempt for the kindness, mercy and patience of God which is designed to lead us (and the people that we are angry at) to repentance. It shows that we are still much more aware of the splinter in our neighbor's eye than we are of the plank in our own eye.
According to Jesus (Matthew 7:5) it makes us a hypocrite, and hypocrisy will lead people away from the truth (Galatians 2:13) and shows that, though our words might say the right things, our hearts are far from God. (Matthew 15:8). To be clear, this sort of judgment - criticizing others for sins that we are guilty of - invites the judgment of God on our lives. (Matthew 7:1-2 "“Do not judge, or you too will be judged. 2 For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. ") That is more than scary - it is terrifying! A lifestyle of continually judging others for sin that the judger is guilty of will likely lead to health problems, frustrations, discord and other issues. It will affect us, and it will certainly have a negative impact on the church we are part of.
O Lord, who shall sojourn in your tent?Who shall dwell on your holy hill?
He who does not take up a reproach against his friend. Psalm 15:1, 3
There are six things that the Lord hates,
seven that are an abomination to him: . . .
one who sows discord among brothers. Proverbs 6:16, 19
Thou shalt not go up and down as a talebearer among thy people. Leviticus 19:16, AV
Do not speak evil against one another, brothers. James 4:11
Argue your case with your neighbor himself,and do not reveal another’s secret. Proverbs 25:9
CLOSE: Ray ORTLUND: Gossip leaves a wide trail of devastation wherever and however it goes – word of mouth, email, blogging, YouTube, social media. It erodes trust and destroys morale. It creates a social environment of suspicion where everyone must wonder what is being said behind their backs and whether appearances of friendship are sincere. It ruins hard-won reputations with cowardly but effective weapons of misrepresentation. It manipulates people into taking sides when no such action is necessary or beneficial. It unleashes the dark powers of psychological transference, doing violence to the gossiper, to the one receiving the gossip and to the person being spoken against. It makes the Body of Christ look like the Body of Antichrist – destroyers rather than healers. It exhausts the energies we would otherwise devote to positive witness. It robs our Lord of the Church he deserves. It exposes the hostility in our hearts and discredits the gospel in the eyes of the world. Then we wonder why we don’t see more conversions, why “the ground is so hard.”
https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/ray-ortlund/gossip/
Note: The Shownotes and Transcript below are a bit of a trainwork editing wise. I'll polish them up soon!
C.S. Lewis from His essay The Seeing Eye, found in Christian Reflections: 1963, 6 years before the Moon Landing. (Discussing Space travel) a more practical issue will arise when, if ever, we discover rational creatures on other planets. I think myself, this is a very remote contingency. The balance of probability is against life on any other planet of the solar system. We shall hardly find it nearer than the stars. And even if we reach the Moon we shall be no nearer to stellar travel than the first man who paddled across a river was to crossing the Pacific.This thought is welcome to me because, to be frank, I have no pleasure in looking forward to a meeting between humanity and any alien rational species. I observe how the white man has hitherto treated the black, and how, even among civilized men, the stronger have treated the weaker. If we encounter in the depth of space a race, however innocent and amiable, which is technologically weaker than ourselves, I do not doubt that the same revolting story will be repeated. We shall enslave, deceive, exploit or exterminate; at the very least we shall corrupt it with our vices and infect it with our diseases.
We are not fit yet to visit other worlds. We have filled our own with massacre, torture, syphilis, famine, dust bowls and with all that is hideous to ear or eye. Must we go on to infect new realms? It was in part these reflections that first moved me to make my own small contributions to science fiction. In those days writers in that genre almost automatically represented the inhabitants of other worlds as monsters and the terrestrial invaders as good. Since then the opposite set-up has become fairly common. If I could believe that I had in any degree contributed to this change, I should be a proud man.1
The same problem, by the way, is beginning to threaten us as regards the dolphins. I don’t think it has yet been proved that they are rational. But if they are, we have no more right to enslave them than to enslave our fellow-men. And some of us will continue to say this, but we shall be mocked.
C. S. Lewis, Christian Reflections, ed. Walter Hooper, EPub Edition. (HarperOne, 2014), 173–174.
This science (astronomy) ought to be the special delight of ministers of the gospel, for surely it brings us into closer connection with God than almost any other science does. It has been said that an undevout astronomer is mad. I should say that an undevout man of any sort is mad,—with the worst form of madness; but, certainly, he who has become acquainted with the stars in the heavens, and who yet has not found out the great Father of lights, the Lord who made them all, must be stricken with a dire madness. Kepler, the great mathematical astronomer, who has so well explained many of the laws which govern the universe, closes one of his books, his Harmonics, with this reverent and devout expression of his feelings:—“I give thee thanks, Lord and Creator, that thou hast given me joy through thy creation; for I have been ravished with the work of thy hands. I have revealed unto mankind the glory of thy works, as far as my limited spirit could conceive their infinitude. Should I have brought forward anything that is unworthy of thee, or should I have sought my own fame, be graciously pleased to forgive me.” And you know how the mighty Newton, a very prince among the sons of men, was continually driven to his knees as he looked upwards to the skies, and discovered fresh wonders in the starry heavens. Therefore, the science which tends to bring men to bow in humility before the Lord should always be a favourite study with us whose business it is to inculcate reverence for God in all who come under our influence.
C. H. Spurgeon, Lectures to My Students: The Art of Illustration; Addresses Delivered to the Students of the Pastors’ College, Metropolitan Tabernacle, vol. 3 (London: Passmore & Alabaster, 1905), 145.
Today’s Question: At the very beginning of this podcast, I promised you that we would sometimes delve into wild and wacky areas of the Bible, and today is the day we begin that journey! Most of the time, we will play it straight, but the fact is that there are many interesting/mysterious and downright strange parts of the Bible, and I don’t think we should ignore them, nor explain them away with a handwave. Let’s embrace the weird! And, by the way, if this topic is interesting to you at all, then please check out my book Monsters in the Bible. It’s my bestselling book of this year, which is funny, and from time to time, it ranks in Amazon’s top ten for Occult Satanism...which is strange, to say the least, for a southern Baptist pastor. (I did NOT choose that category!)
Vanderbilt astronomer David Weintraub reports that 55 percent of atheists believe in alien life, but only 32 percent of Christians. Weintraub wrote, "Most evangelical and fundamentalist Christian leaders argue quite forcefully that the Bible makes clear that extraterrestrial life does not exist. From this perspective, the only living, God-worshipping beings in the entire universe are humans, created by God, who live on Earth." DOES THE BIBLE REALLY, REALLY MAKE THAT CLEAR??!
Calvary Chapel Church in Roswell, New Mexico (80 miles away from the Mac Brazel ranch, Roswell 1947 incident), would half-way agree. for instance, “Biblically IF there are aliens, there is no way we would have contact with them or God would have told us about it in the Bible and He did not. The Bible never speaks of Aliens from another planet. Further, there is no way they would crash and die here on planet earth. Death entered our world through Adam and effected everything on this planet. If there are Aliens, they would not be exposed to this curse.” LOTS OF SUPPOSITIONS HERE THAT AREN’T BACKED UP BY SCRIPTURE. “She smiled at me, therefore she likes me.” maybe, maybe not. It’s a supposition, but is it supported by fact?? Let’s take that first sentence and see how it logically holds up. “If there are aliens, there is no way we would have contact with them or God would have told us about it in the Bible, and He did not.” How about this: “IF Man were to travel to the moon, God would have told us about it in the Bible, and He did not.” “If the United States of America would be the dominant superpower of the world in the 21st century, God would have told us about it in the Bible, and He did not.” “If atoms were the building blocks of all matter, God would have told us about it in the Bible, and He did not.” Such statements suppose that God is OBLIGATED to tell us about everything in the Bible. He is under no such obligation, so we can’t assume things that we are left in the dark about. All the love in the world to Calvary Chapel, Roswell, though. I’m a fan.
So, I’m also a fan of podcasts...a podcast connoisseur. I am subscribed to over one 100 podcasts of all shapes and sizes. Many of them are Christian podcasts, but many are not. In case you’re curious, here’s my current top ten podcasts. I’d love to hear yours too - tweet them to me at @bibleqpodcast. In no particular order:
- Ask Pastor John - John Piper, excellent biblical counsel.
- The Omnibus with Ken Jennings and John Roderick. Hilarious and informative.
- Ryen Russillo podcast - ESPN sports. My favorite sports commentator.
- SYSK with Josh and Chuck, have been a listener for over ten years.
- Astonishing Legends with Scott Philbrook and Forrest Burgess.
- Rainer on Leadership - Thom Rainer
- The Bible Project with Tim Mackie and Jon Collins
- Fantasy Focus Football - Matthew Berry (Avengers Endgame)
- True Crime Garage (warning: swearing)
- Payne Lindsey Podcasts - Monster, + Up and Vanished.
Anyway...I was listening to one of the above, the Astonishing Legends podcast a few weeks ago. They were talking about a fairly fascinating object called the Betz Sphere that a family in Florida found in the woods in the 70s. The Betz Sphere demonstrated all sorts of unusual properties, and drew the interest of some news organizations and government people, including the former head of Project Blue book, Dr. J. Allen Hynek.
Project Blue Book:(wikipedia): Project Blue Book was one of a series of systematic studies of unidentified flying objects (UFOs) conducted by the United States Air Force. It started in 1952, the third study of its kind, following projects Sign (1947) and Grudge (1949). A termination order was given for the study in December 1969, and all activity under its auspices officially ceased in January 1970. Project Blue Book had two goals:
- To determine if UFOs were a threat to national security, and
- To scientifically analyze UFO-related data.
J.Allen Hynek was the science advisor to Grudge, Sign and Blue Book. Wikipedia: Josef Allen Hynek (May 1, 1910 – April 27, 1986) was an American astronomer, professor, and ufologist.[1]
In later years he conducted his own independent UFO research, developing the "Close Encounter" classification system. He was among the first people to conduct scientific analysis of reports and especially of trace evidence purportedly left by UFOs.[
Anyway, during his time researching the Betz sphere, Dr. J. Allen Hynek became good friends with the Betz family, getting to know them pretty well over the course of several visits. According to the Betz family, Dr. Hynek told them that the U.S. government was aware of several alien encounters/visitations, including Roswell, and had covered up most of them, so that the general public wouldn’t freak out. Why would the public freak out? Well, apparently Dr. Hynek believe that, at least in part, that major religions, including Christianity, would have a large negative reaction to the existence of aliens, because that would seemingly contradict the teachings of the church, and the teachings of the Bible. Hynek believed that society might fall apart, if people knew that aliens actually existed.
Now, let me pause for a moment. As much as I’m interested in this sort of thing, today’s episode is NOT fundamentally about whether aliens exist and have made contact with us or not. I do actually know the answer to that question, but I can’t give it to you now, its classified. ;) In truth, actually, I have no idea. BUT, because I can’t help myself, I will say this one thing about the possibility of aliens.
A Washington Post article at the end of April really got my attention:
Recently, unidentified aircraft have entered military-designated airspace as often as multiple times per month, Joseph Gradisher, spokesman for office of the deputy chief of naval operations for information warfare, told The Washington Post on Wednesday.
He said, “We want to get to the bottom of this. We need to determine who’s doing it, where it’s coming from and what their intent is. We need to try to find ways to prevent it from happening again.”
Luis Elizondo, a former senior intelligence officer, told The Post that the new Navy guidelines formalized the reporting process, facilitating data-driven analysis while removing the stigma from talking about UFOs, calling it “the single greatest decision the Navy has made in decades.”
Elizondo, who ran the AATIP, (This is the multi-million dollar Pentagon program that investigates UFOs and was on the government budget books until 2012, when it was delisted on those budget books) said the newly drafted guidelines were a culmination of many things, most notably that the Navy had enough credible evidence — including eyewitness accounts and corroborating radar information — to “know this is occurring.”
“If I came to you and said, ‘There are these things that can fly over our country with impunity, defying the laws of physics, and within moments could deploy a nuclear device at will,’ that would be a matter of national security,” Elizondo said.
With the number of U.S. military personnel in the Air Force and Navy who described the same observations, the noise level could not be ignored.
“This type of activity is very alarming,” Elizondo said, “and people are recognizing there are things in our aerospace that lie beyond our understanding.”
Before you get excited that this new initiative might finally clue in the public, I need to tell you that the WaPost ran an article the next week that basically said that the Navy was NOT going to be released to the public. Mr. Gradisher said, ““Furthermore, any report generated as a result of these investigations will, by necessity, include classified information on military operations. He added, “Therefore, no release of information to the general public is expected.”””
So yeah, expect to be in the dark a few more years, at least. But today’s question is not whether or not the U.S. Government will finally disclose Alien interactions, but whether or not the Bible rules out the existence of aliens at all! Is Dr. Hynek correct - if the Government suddenly announced alien contact of some kind - would that somehow invalidate the Bible?
And the answer is…. I don’t think so. Not at all.
But, I could be wrong, and many theologians disagree with me. Let’s look at the anti-alien case:
GotQuestions https://www.gotquestions.org/aliens-Christian.html, “We do not believe that aliens exist. The Bible gives us no reason to believe that there is life elsewhere in the universe; in fact, the Bible gives us several key reasons why there cannot be.
Those who contemplate the existence of aliens and the impact their existence would have on the Christian faith commonly discuss the identity and work of Jesus. God sent His only begotten Son, God incarnate, to save mankind and redeem creation. Does that redemption include life on other planets? Or would God have manifested Himself on those other planets, as well (in the manner of Aslan in Narnia)? Does “only begotten” mean “only physical representation”? Or is it more limited, referring only to the human species? WE DON’T KNOW!!
Another topic of discussion concerning the existence of aliens and Christianity is what it means to be made in the “image of God.” Since God has no physical body, we take this to mean a reflection of God’s non-physical aspects—rationality, morality, and sociability. Would aliens, if they exist, embody the same characteristics? WHY NOT?
Considering what we know about space and life and the world as the Bible portrays it, we already have an explanation for so-called alien activity on Earth. Reports of “close encounters” describe the ethereal, transient, deceptive, and malevolent. Accounts also record that encounters with supposed aliens can be stopped by a real, authentic call to Jesus. Everything points to the activity of demons, not extraterrestrials. In fact, it is plausible that the “powerful delusion” spoken of in 2 Thessalonians 2:11 will involve an alien-abduction theory to explain away the rapture. I actually don’t think most UFO reports - reported by seasoned Navy and Air-Force pilots, for instance, really has much in common with demonic episodes we see in Scripture.
The “discovery” of alien life would have no effect on genuine Christianity. COMPLETELY AGREE The Bible stands as written, no matter what secular theories are advanced or discoveries are claimed. The Bible says the earth and mankind are unique in God’s creation. God created the earth even before He created the sun, moon, or stars (Genesis 1).
Genesis 1: 1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
2 Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness covered the surface of the watery depths, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters. 3 Then God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. 4 God saw that the light was good, and God separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light “day,” and He called the darkness “night.” Evening came and then morning: the first day.
(It actually seems to say that God created the Heavens first...then the earth.) Matt Slick/CARM: The Bible does not mention extraterrestrial or alien life. However, it does mention angels and demonic forces which are, in a sense, not of this world. This is not the kind of alien, extraterrestrial life that most people are talking about when the subject comes up. Nevertheless, the Bible makes no mention whatsoever of aliens from other planets who might be visiting us.Now, Slick goes on from here to argue against alien life being likely, because he believes that the Bible declares all creation on all worlds fallen by what Adam did. That is certainly one way of reading the text, but I don’t think that is the necessary way of reading the text. Paul could be speaking of all of creation on the earth. For instance, in Colossians 1:23, Paul writes: This gospel has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and I, Paul, have become a servant of it.What does this mean- that the Gospel has been proclaimed on Pluto? I don’t think so. I believe Paul meant that the Gospel had been proclaimed in all of KNOWN creation. Michael Houdmann: Above all, let me say, I do not believe aliens exist. Let's also differentiate between sentient aliens and non-sentient aliens. While I would not necessarily have a theological problem with the concept of non-sentient beings (fish, birds, dogs, etc.) existing on other planets, I do have a huge theological problem with the concept of other sentient beings existing elsewhere. It just does not mesh with the teachings of the Bible. The Bible presents humanity as uniquely created in the image of God (Genesis 1:26). Angels are not created in the image of God. Animals are not created in the image of God. According to the Bible, we are unique, specifically created to have a personal relationship and connection with God the Creator.
Intelligent/sentient life in other parts of the universe destroys, or at least weakens, this uniqueness. And it raises all kinds of questions. When did God create the aliens? Do the sentient aliens have an eternal soul? Did they fall into sin? Did God reveal Himself to them? Does their understanding of God match what the Bible says? Did God provide them with an alien Bible? Did God provide for and offer them redemption and salvation? If so, how? Did Jesus die for them too?Genesis 1:26 26 Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness. They will rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, the livestock, all the earth, and the creatures that crawl on the earth.” Notice how it doesn’t say Let us make man - and man alone in all of the universe - in our Image. Houdmann goes on to say: All joking aside, if God intended for humankind to meet alien life, He would have outlined these encounters in the Bible, along with an answer to what He has done for them regarding sin.I just don’t agree with that speculation. I like Houdmann and Got questions a ton, and find them very faithful to the Bible, but this is speculation that I find unbacked by biblical truth. HOW do we know that God would do this? How can we prove such a thing? I just don’t think we can. I feel like such speculations are very similar to Lactantius’ (an early church father in the 200s) scoffing at the possibility that the earth was round. He could NOT cite a Scripture to prove the earth was flat - as he thought - but he assumed that Scripture taught such a thing, WHEN IT DOES NOT. Similarly, Augustine poo-pood the existence of Antipodes on the other side of the world, thinking that Scripture backed that belief up, but it doesn’t, and Augustine was wrong. GIVE ME CLEAR SCRIPTURE THAT SHOWS LIFE ON EARTH IS UNIQUE and I will believe it against all charges...but such a Scripture does NOT exist. TBR Baptist Facebook Group:
Jim I thought this was a serious group Well - He’s new. Also, I genuinely think this is a serious topic!
Wes Apparently, some were aliens at one point
Ephesians 2:19 So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God Similarly Doug Hibbard 1 Peter suggests that you are the aliens
Jim Spiritual Wickedness in heavenly places, Rulers and authorities. Demons dressed up like them.
Jacob I think the possibility of aliens falls apart when discussing the fall. As best as we can tell the whole universe is subject to the natural effects of the curse. If that is true, then another rational species, which did not fall, is out there subjected to the consequences of it. Do these aliens have their own Salvation history? Did they, somehow, simultaneously fall alongside Adam, and have their own Jesus? If, in keeping with Scripture, the crucifixion of Christ is a one time event, then another race would be subject to a punishment that they do not deserve with no possible hope for salvation.
Pro Brandon Ambrosino on BBC.Com http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20161215-if-we-made-contact-with-aliens-how-would-religions-react : But how could a believer reconcile this with their faith that humans are the crowning achievement of God’s creation?. How could humans believe they were the apple of their creator’s eye if their planet was just one of billions?
The discovery of intelligent aliens could have a similar Copernican effect on human’s self-understanding. Would the discovery make believers feel insignificant, and as a consequence, cause people to question their faith?
According to the Talmud, God spends his night flying throughout 18,000 worlds
I would argue that this concern is misguided. The claim that God is involved with and moved by humans has never required an Earth-centric theology. The Psalms, sacred to both Jews and Christians, claim that God has given names to all the stars.
Billy Graham as a notable exception, as he was vocal about his beliefs that "there are intelligent beings like us far away in space who worship God."
J. Warner Wallace:
What impact does this question (and even more importantly, the answer to this question) have on the claims of Christianity and the truth of the Christian worldview?
Jeff Zweerink, astrophysicist and Christian:
Many people seem to think that discovering life on another planet would mean that naturalism is correct and Christianity is wrong. One thing I found fascinating is that for centuries Christians have thought about the implications of intelligent life in the universe. As I investigated the truth claims of Christianity, I realized that the existence of life of any sort beyond the confines of Earth is a great theological question—without a definitive answer. At this time, I am convinced that any hypothetical discovery of life in the universe will still point to God’s creative work and ultimately help us understand God’s revelation better.
I’m with Jeff here. Some people do indeed seem to think that finding life on other planets would prove the Bible - or Christianity wrong somehow. To that, I saw - How and Why would such a thing disprove God or the Bible? If God made life on planet Earth - and He did - then why couldn’t He make it elsewhere? To those Christians who seem to think that God would only make life on earth - I say, again, why would He do that? Why would He create billions of planets - most outside of our ability to see or observe...and leave them devoid of any inhabitants? In absence of Scripture, or absolute proof of alien life, conjecture proves nothing, but that cuts both ways. Merely speculating that God would not create life on other planets does not prove that it is so. The question we are grappling with today is this one: Does the Bible rule out alien life, and the answer - the CLEAR answer...is NO! It does not. William Lane Craig, 2008 episode of Reasonable Faith: Dr. Craig: Yeah. Well, I think that it’s possible. [that there is alien life] One would argue that if there is life on other planets it would have had to be created by God because on a naturalistic basis I think we’d say that the evidence against there being intelligent extraterrestrial life anywhere in the observable universe is extremely great. The probabilities on naturalism that there is extraterrestrial intelligent life is virtually nil. So actually being a theist would be the best grounds for thinking that it could be possible because as a theist you think God created life here on this planet so then you could say, well, maybe God created life as well on some other planet somewhere in the universe. It is really the theist who is, I think, a lot more open to the possibility of extraterrestrial life than the non-theist….Kevin Harris: This brings up the issue of UFOs and aliens invading earth and all the things that are in pop culture to this day – flying saucer phenomena and things like that. Well, the Vatican astronomer has just said it could be. You can make up your own mind about that. It seems, Dr. Craig, that the Bible is largely silent about this issue.
Dr. Craig: I think it is silent, Kevin. The Scriptures are given to human beings as God’s revelation to people on this planet. Therefore, there is no reason to think that there could not be persons that God has created in some unknown galaxy that we have no idea about, and he has provided a revelation of himself to them as well. I think it would be presumptuous to say that we know that he hasn’t done that.
Kevin Harris: He says that the possibility of extraterrestrial life does not contradict our faith. In other words, if a flying saucer landed on the White House lawn today, nobody could stand up and say Christianity is false.
Dr. Craig: That is right. That seems to me to be correct. I am puzzled by folks who seem to think that if intelligent life were discovered somewhere else or that if it were to come here that somehow this would be a disproof of Christianity. That seems to me to be a complete non sequitur. It doesn’t follow because Christianity simply doesn’t speak to the question of whether or not God has created life elsewhere in the universe.
If somebody tells you that there could be no aliens from a Bible/Christian perspective, ask them to show you clear backing for such a thing from Scripture. If you believe that, then please, please, please send me your Scriptural reasons for such a belief. Just Be sure you aren’t making VAST leaps in logic. For example, the Bible clearly says Jesus died for our sins, if there are aliens, then how would God redeem them? That’s a great question, and I don’t know the answer, but it certainly doesn’t prove that there are no aliens. Perhaps our hypothetical aliens did not fall, like Adam and Eve did. Perhaps they are indeed redeemed by Christ’s sacrifice in a way that we don’t understand. Who Knows?! But I do know that I can find no Scripture that clearly denies the possibility of alien life, or that clearly affirms the existence of alien life. I can also find no Scripture, the implications of which would logically rule out either outcome.
Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord from the heavens; praise him in the heights above. Praise him, all his angels; praise him, all his heavenly hosts. Praise him, sun and moon; praise him, all you shining stars. Praise him, you highest heavens and you waters above the skies. Let them praise the name of the Lord, for at his command they were created. (Ps. 148:1–5)
Are there aliens? I’ve no idea. I think the wisest and best and most biblical answer is either “Maybe” or “I don’t know.” To assert otherwise is borderline irresponsible. BUT - if there ARE aliens, does this pose a threat to Scripture? Absolutely not. You can’t contradict what isn’t there. In 1928, Alexander Fleming discovered Penicillin, the first true antibiotic. Did this MASSIVELY IMPORTANT DISCOVERY contradict the Bible? Of course not - because the Bible never discussed nor addressed such a thing. Similarly, the discovery of alien life - if it happens at all - will not at all shake any Scriptural truth in the Bible - NOT A ONE. Will it shake our lives? Maybe so. But, you can’t find aliens in the Scripture. Not clearly. Likewise, you can’t find the United States in Scripture either, and that ‘omission’ seems to rightly bother no one. It is not incumbent upon God to reveal to man all important future events in His Word. Ultimately, I stand with Spurgeon, and actually stood with Spurgeon before I knew his position on this question. It took a lot of research to find this quote, but here you go:
What God has done in the eternity which we call the past (but which to him is as the present), we do not fully know. We have no reason to believe that we know much of what God has done. There may be as many other worlds and sorts of beings existent as there are sands upon the sea shore, for aught we know; and the Lord may have been occupied in ages past with ten thousand glorious plans, and economies, as yet unrevealed to man. We cannot tell what he doeth, or what he hath done. We are creatures of a day, and know nothing; we are like insects that are born on a leaf, and die amid our fellows at the setting of the sun, but he lives on for ever. We talk of the “eternal hills,” but they are babes that were born yesterday, as far as he is concerned. “Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting thou art God.” We say, “Roll on, thou ancient ocean!” but the ocean is not ancient; it is a drop that fell yesterday from the tip of the Creator’s finger.
C. H. Spurgeon, “The Eternal Truth of God,” in The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit Sermons, vol. 21 (London: Passmore & Alabaster, 1875), 651.
Spurgeon: To us, to-day, the coming of Christ to seek and to save the lost is an accomplished fact, a matter of history, most sure and certain. And what a fact it is! You have often thought of it, but have you ever worked your mind into the very heart of it,—that God has actually visited this world in human form,—that he before whom angels bow has actually been here, in fashion like ourselves, feeding the hungry crowds of Palestine, healing their sick, and raising their dead? I know not what may be the peculiar boast of other planets, but this poor star cannot be excelled, for on this world the Creator has stood. This earth has been trodden by the feet of God, and yet it was not crushed beneath the mighty burden, because he deigned to link his Deity with our humanity. The incarnation is a wonder of wonders, but it does not belong to the realm of imagination, or even of expectation, for it has actually been beheld by mortal eyes.
C. H. Spurgeon, “Christ the Seeker and Saviour of the Lost,” in The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit Sermons, vol. 58 (London: Passmore & Alabaster, 1912), 314.SKIP. INCLUDE IN BOOK. There are also triple stars, or systems, and quadruple systems, and there are, in some cases, hundreds or thousands all spinning round one another, and around their central luminaries. Wonderful combinations of glory and beauty may be seen in the stellar sky; and some of these stars are red, some blue, some yellow, all the colours of the rainbow are represented in them. It would be very wonderful to live in one of them, and to look across the sky, and see all the glories of the heavens that God has made. On the whole, however, for the present, I am quite content to abide upon this little planet, especially as I am not able to change it for another home, until God so wills it.
C. H. Spurgeon, Lectures to My Students: The Art of Illustration; Addresses Delivered to the Students of the Pastors’ College, Metropolitan Tabernacle, vol. 3 (London: Passmore & Alabaster, 1905), 177.
CLOSE WITH EXTENDED READING OF LEWIS’ ANSWER TO THIS QUESTION: From Christian Reflections: an essay Called, “The Seeing Eye”
Some people are troubled, and others are delighted, at the idea of finding not one, but perhaps innumerable rational species scattered about the universe. In both cases the emotion arises from a belief that such discoveries would be fatal to Christian theology. For it will be said that theology connects the Incarnation of God with the Fall and Redemption of man. And this would seem to attribute to our species and to our little planet a central position in cosmic history which is not credible if rationally inhabited planets are to be had by the million.
Older readers will, with me, notice the vast change in astronomical speculation which this view involves. When we were boys all astronomers, so far as I know, impressed upon us the antecedent improbabilities of life in any part of the universe whatever. It was not thought unlikely that this earth was the solitary exception to a universal reign of the inorganic. Now Professor Hoyle, and many with him, say that in so vast a universe life must have occurred in times and places without number. The interesting thing is that I have heard both these estimates used as arguments against Christianity.
Now it seems to me that we must find out more than we can at present know—which is nothing—about hypothetical rational species before we can say what theological corollaries or difficulties their discovery would raise.
We might, for example, find a race which was, like us, rational but, unlike us, innocent—no wars nor any other wickedness among them; all peace and good fellowship. I don’t think any Christian would be puzzled to find that they knew no story of an Incarnation or Redemption, and might even find our story hard to understand or accept if we told it to them. There would have been no Redemption in such a world because it would not have needed redeeming. ‘They that are whole need not the physician.’ The sheep that has never strayed need not be sought for. We should have much to learn from such people and nothing to teach them. If we were wise, we should fall at their feet. But probably we should be unable to ‘take it’. We’d find some reason for exterminating them.
Again, we might find a race which, like ours, contained both good and bad. And we might find that for them, as for us, something had been done: that at some point in their history some great interference for the better, believed by some of them to be supernatural, had been recorded, and that its effects, though often impeded and perverted, were still alive among them. It need not, as far as I can see, have conformed to the pattern of Incarnation, Passion, Death and Resurrection. God may have other ways—how should I be able to imagine them?—of redeeming a lost world. And Redemption in that alien mode might not be easily recognizable by our missionaries, let alone by our atheists.
We might meet a species which, like us, needed Redemption but had not been given it. But would this fundamentally be more of a difficulty than any Christian’s first meeting with a new tribe of savages? It would be our duty to preach the Gospel to them. For if they are rational, capable both of sin and repentance, they are our brethren, whatever they look like. Would this spreading of the Gospel from earth, through man, imply a pre-eminence for earth and man? Not in any real sense. If a thing is to begin at all, it must begin at some particular time and place; and any time and place raises the question: ‘Why just then and just there?’ One can conceive an extraterrestrial development of Christianity so brilliant that earth’s place in the story might sink to that of a prologue.
Finally, we might find a race which was strictly diabolical—no tiniest spark felt in them from which any goodness could ever be coaxed into the feeblest glow; all of them incurably perverted through and through. What then? We Christians had always been told that there were creatures like that in existence. True, we thought they were all incorporeal spirits. A minor readjustment thus becomes necessary.
But all this is in the realm of fantastic speculation. We are trying to cross a bridge, not only before we come to it, but even before we know there is a river that needs bridging.
C. S. Lewis, Christian Reflections, ed. Walter Hooper, EPub Edition. (HarperOne, 2014), 174–176.
Religion and Rocketry - 1958 RELIGION AND ROCKETRY
In my time I have heard two quite different arguments against my religion put forward in the name of science. When I was a youngster, people used to say that the universe was not only not friendly to life but positively hostile to it. Life had appeared on this planet by a millionth chance, as if at one point there had been a breakdown of the elaborate defences generally enforced against it. We should be rash to assume that such a leak had occurred more than once. Probably life was a purely terrestrial abnormality. We were alone in an infinite desert. Which just showed the absurdity of the Christian idea that there was a Creator who was interested in living creatures.
But then came Professor F. B. Hoyle, the Cambridge cosmologist, and in a fortnight or so everyone I met seemed to have decided that the universe was probably quite well provided with inhabitable globes and with livestock to inhabit them. Which just showed (equally well) the absurdity of Christianity with its parochial idea that Man could be important to God.
This is a warning of what we may expect if we ever do discover animal life (vegetable does not matter) on another planet. Each new discovery, even every new theory, is held at first to have the most wide-reaching theological and philosophical consequences. It is seized by unbelievers as the basis for a new attack on Christianity; it is often, and more embarrassingly, seized by injudicious believers as the basis for a new defence.
But usually, when the popular hubbub has subsided and the novelty has been chewed over by real theologians, real scientists, and real philosophers, both sides find themselves pretty much where they were before. So it was with Copernican astronomy, with Darwinism, with Biblical Criticism, with the new psychology. So, I cannot help expecting, it will be with the discovery of ‘life on other planets’—if that discovery is ever made.
The supposed threat is clearly directed against the doctrine of the Incarnation, the belief that God born of God ‘for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven and was . . . made man’. Why for us men more than for others? If we find ourselves to be but one among a million races, scattered through a million spheres, how can we, without absurd arrogance, believe ourselves to have been uniquely favoured? I admit that the question could become formidable. In fact, it will become formidable when, if ever, we know the answer to five other questions.
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Are there animals anywhere except on earth? We do not know. We do not know whether we ever shall know.
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Supposing there were, have any of these animals what we call ‘rational souls’? By this I include not merely the faculty to abstract and calculate, but the apprehension of values, the power to mean by ‘good ’something more than ‘good for me’ or even ‘good for my species’. If instead of asking, ‘Have they rational souls?’ you prefer to ask, ‘Are they spiritual animals?’ I think we shall both mean pretty much the same. If the answer to either question should be No, then of course it would not be at all strange that our species should be treated differently from theirs.
There would be no sense in offering to a creature, however clever or amiable, a gift which that creature was by its nature incapable either of desiring or of receiving. We teach our sons to read but not our dogs. The dogs prefer bones. And of course, since we do not yet know whether there are extra-terrestrial animals at all, we are a long way from knowing that they are rational (or ‘spiritual’).
Even if we met them we might not find it so easy to decide. It seems to me possible to suppose creatures so clever that they could talk, though they were, from the theological point of view, really only animals, capable of pursuing or enjoying only natural ends. One meets humans—the machine-minded and materialistic urban type—who look as if they were just that. As Christians we must believe the appearance to be false; somewhere under that glib surface there lurks, however atrophied, a human soul. But in other worlds there might be things that really are what these seem to be. Conversely, there might be creatures genuinely spiritual, whose powers of manufacture and abstract thought were so humble that we should mistake them for mere animals. God shield them from us!
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If there are species, and rational species, other than man, are any or all of them, like us, fallen? This is the point non-Christians always seem to forget. They seem to think that the Incarnation implies some particular merit or excellence in humanity. But of course it implies just the reverse: a particular demerit and depravity. No creature that deserved Redemption would need to be redeemed. They that are whole need not the physician.Christ died for men precisely because men are not worth dying for; to make them worth it. Notice what waves of utterly unwarranted hypothesis these critics of Christianity want us to swim through. We are now supposing the fall of hypothetically rational creatures whose mere existence is hypothetical!
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If all of them (and surely all is a long shot) or any of them have fallen have they been denied Redemption by the Incarnation and Passion of Christ? For of course it is no very new idea that the eternal Son may, for all we know, have been incarnate in other worlds than earth and so saved other races than ours. As Alice Meynell wrote in ‘Christ in the Universe’:
I wouldn’t go as far as ‘doubtless’ myself. Perhaps of all races we only fell. Perhaps Man is the only lost sheep; the one, therefore, whom the Shepherd came to seek. Or perhaps—but this brings us to the next wave of assumption. It is the biggest yet and will knock us head over heels, but I am fond of a tumble in the surf.
- If we knew (which we don’t) the answers to 1, 2, and 3—and, further, if we knew that Redemption by an Incarnation and Passion had been denied to creatures in need of it—is it certain that this is the only mode of Redemption that is possible? Here of course we ask for what is not merely unknown but, unless God should reveal it, wholly unknowable. It may be that the further we were permitted to see into His councils, the more clearly we should understand that thus and not otherwise—by the birth at Bethlehem, the cross on Calvary and the empty tomb—a fallen race could be rescued. There may be a necessity for this, insurmountable, rooted in the very nature of God and the very nature of sin. But we don’t know. At any rate, I don’t know. Spiritual as well as physical conditions might differ widely in different worlds. There might be different sorts and different degrees of fallenness. We must surely believe that the divine charity is as fertile in resource as it is measureless in condescension. To different diseases, or even to different patients sick with the same disease, the great Physician may have applied different remedies; remedies which we should probably not recognise as such even if we ever heard of them.
It might turn out that the redemption of other species differed from ours by working through ours. There is a hint of something like this in St Paul (Romans 8:19–23) when he says that the whole creation is longing and waiting to be delivered from some kind of slavery, and that the deliverance will occur only when we, we Christians, fully enter upon our sonship to God and exercise our ‘glorious liberty’.
On the conscious level I believe that he was thinking only of our own Earth: of animal, and probably vegetable, life on Earth being ‘renewed’ or glorified at the glorification of man in Christ. But it is perhaps possible—it is not necessary—to give his words a cosmic meaning. It may be that Redemption, starting with us, is to work from us and through us.
This would no doubt give man a pivotal position. But such a position need not imply any superiority in us or any favouritism in God. The general, deciding where to begin his attack, does not select the prettiest landscape or the most fertile field or the most attractive village. Christ was not born in a stable because a stable is, in itself, the most convenient or distinguished place for a maternity.
Only if we had some such function would a contact between us and such unknown races be other than a calamity. If indeed we were unfallen, it would be another matter.
It sets one dreaming—to interchange thoughts with beings whose thinking had an organic background wholly different from ours (other senses, other appetites), to be unenviously humbled by intellects possibly superior to our own yet able for that very reason to descend to our level, to descend lovingly ourselves if we met innocent and childlike creatures who could never be as strong or as clever as we, to exchange with the inhabitants of other worlds that especially keen and rich affection which exists between unlikes; it is a glorious dream. But make no mistake. It is a dream. We are fallen.
We know what our race does to strangers. Man destroys or enslaves every species he can. Civilised man murders, enslaves, cheats, and corrupts savage man. Even inanimate nature he turns into dust bowls and slag-heaps. There are individuals who don’t. But they are not the sort who are likely to be our pioneers in space. Our ambassador to new worlds will be the needy and greedy adventurer or the ruthless technical expert. They will do as their kind has always done. What that will be if they meet things weaker than themselves, the black man and the red man can tell. If they meet things stronger, they will be, very properly, destroyed.
It is interesting to wonder how things would go if they met an unfallen race. At first, to be sure, they’d have a grand time jeering at, duping, and exploiting its innocence; but I doubt if our half-animal cunning would long be a match for godlike wisdom, selfless valour, and perfect unanimity.
I therefore fear the practical, not the theoretical, problems which will arise if ever we meet rational creatures which are not human. Against them we shall, if we can, commit all the crimes we have already committed against creatures certainly human but differing from us in features and pigmentation; and the starry heavens will become an object to which good men can look up only with feelings of intolerable guilt, agonized pity, and burning shame.
Of course after the first debauch of exploitation we shall make some belated attempt to do better. We shall perhaps send missionaries. But can even missionaries be trusted? ‘Gun and gospel’ have been horribly combined in the past. The missionary’s holy desire to save souls has not always been kept quite distinct from the arrogant desire, the busybody’s itch, to (as he calls it) ‘civilise’ the (as he calls them) ‘natives’. Would all our missionaries recognise an unfallen race if they met it? Could they? Would they continue to press upon creatures that did not need to be saved that plan of Salvation which God has appointed for Man? Would they denounce as sins mere differences of behaviour which the spiritual and biological history of these strange creatures fully justified and which God Himself had blessed? Would they try to teach those from whom they had better learn? I do not know.
What I do know is that here and now, as our only possible practical preparation for such a meeting, you and I should resolve to stand firm against all exploitation and all theological imperialism. It will not be fun. We shall be called traitors to our own species. We shall be hated of almost all men; even of some religious men. And we must not give back one single inch. We shall probably fail, but let us go down fighting for the right side. Our loyalty is due not to our species but to God. Those who are, or can become, His sons, are our real brothers even if they have shells or tusks. It is spiritual, not biological, kinship that counts.
But let us thank God that we are still very far from travel to other worlds.
I have wondered before now whether the vast astronomical distances may not be God’s quarantine precautions. They prevent the spiritual infection of a fallen species from spreading. And of course we are also very far from the supposed theological problem which contact with other rational species might raise. Such species may not exist. There is not at present a shred of empirical evidence that they do. There is nothing but what thelogicians would call arguments from ‘a priori probability’—arguments that begin ‘It is only natural to suppose’, or ‘All analogy suggests’, or ‘Is it not the height of arrogance to rule out—?’ They make very good reading. But who except a born gambler ever risks five dollars on such grounds in ordinary life?
And, as we have seen, the mere existence of these creatures would not raise a problem. After that, we still need to know that they are fallen; then, that they have not been, or will not be, redeemed in the mode we know; and then, that no other mode is possible. I think a Christian is sitting pretty if his faith never encounters more formidable difficulties than these conjectural phantoms.
If I remember rightly, St Augustine raised a question about the theological position of satyrs, monopods, and other semi-human creatures. He decided it could wait till we knew there were any. So can this.
‘But supposing,’ you say. ‘Supposing all these embarrassing suppositions turned out to be true?’ I can only record a conviction that they won’t; a conviction which has for me become in the course of years irresistible.Christians and their opponents again and again expect that some new discovery will either turn matters of faith into matters of knowledge or else reduce them to patent absurdities. But it has never happened.
What we believe always remains intellectually possible; it never becomes intellectually compulsive. I have an idea that when this ceases to be so, the world will be ending. We have been warned that all but conclusive evidence against Christianity, evidence that would deceive (if it were possible) the very elect, will appear with Antichrist.
And after that there will be wholly conclusive evidence on the other side.
But not, I fancy, till then on either side.
SPURGEON: I suppose you are all aware that among the old systems of astronomy was one which placed the earth in the centre, and made the sun, and the moon, and the stars revolve around it. “Its three fundamental principles were the immobility of the earth, its central position, and the daily revolution of all the heavenly bodies around it in circular orbits.”
Now, in a similar fashion, there is a way of making a system of theology of which man is the centre, by which it is implied that Christ and his atoning sacrifice are only made for man’s sake, and that the Holy Spirit is merely a great Worker on man’s behalf, and that even the great and glorious Father is to be viewed simply as existing for the sake of making man happy. Well, that may be the system of theology adopted by some; but, brethren, we must not fall into that error, for, just as the earth is not the centre of the universe, so man is not the grandest of all beings. God has been pleased highly to exalt man; but we must remember how the psalmist speaks of him: “When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained; what is man, that thou art mindful of him; and the son of man, that thou visitest him?” In another place, David says, “Lord, what is man, that thou takest knowledge of him! or the son of man, that thou makest account of him! Man is like to vanity: his days are as a shadow that passeth away.” Man cannot be the centre of the theological universe, he is altogether too insignificant a being to occupy such a position, and the scheme of redemption must exist for some other end than that of merely making man happy, or even of making him holy. The salvation of man must surely be first of all for the glory of God; and you have discovered the right form of Christian doctrine when you have found the system that has God in the centre, ruling and controlling according to the good pleasure of his will. Do not dwarf man so as to make it appear that God has no care for him; for if you do that, you slander God. Give to man the position that God has assigned to him; by doing so, you will have a system of theology in which all the truths of revelation and experience will move in glorious order and harmony around the great central orb, the Divine Sovereign Ruler of the universe, God over all, blessed for ever.
C. H. Spurgeon, Lectures to My Students: The Art of Illustration; Addresses Delivered to the Students of the Pastors’ College, Metropolitan Tabernacle, vol. 3 (London: Passmore & Alabaster, 1905), 149.
Episode 4: What is the Unforgivable sin??
It's a terrifying reality: Jesus warned His disciples and the Pharisees that there was a sin that could be committed that was unpardonable - unforgivable for all eternity. People have speculated and worried about this teaching of Jesus for hundreds of years. What precisely is the unpardonable sin? How can we know whether or not we've done it? Let's dive in!
The Didache First century - RIGHT after the NT: Now concerning the apostles and prophets, deal with them as follows in accordance with the rule of the gospel. (4) Let every apostle who comes to you be welcomed as if he were the Lord. (5) But he is not to stay for more than one day, unless there is need, in which case he may stay another. But if he stays three days, he is a false prophet. (6) And when the apostle leaves, he is to take nothing except bread until he finds his next night’s lodging. But if he asks for money, he is a false prophet.
(7) Also, do not test or evaluate any prophet who speaks in the spirit, for every sin will be forgiven, but this sin will not be forgiven.35
Michael William Holmes, The Apostolic Fathers: Greek Texts and English Translations, Updated ed. (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 1999), 263–265.
ANDREAS Andreas of Caesarea (Greek: Ἀνδρέας Καισαρείας; 563 – 637) : It is the sin of heresy, or of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, which leads to death. If one man sins against another, pray for him. But if he sins against God, who is there who can pray on his behalf?
And if even after all this, our opponents are still unwilling to learn and still unable to understand, they should at least stop speaking evil. They should not divide the Trinity lest they be divided from life.82 They should not classify the Holy Spirit with the creatures, lest, like the Pharisees of old who ascribed the works of the Spirit to Beelzebul,83 they too, on account of equal audacity, incur along with them the punishment which is unpardonable both now and in the future.
Athanasius Works on the Spirit: Athanasius’s Letters to Serapion on the Holy Spirit,
Grave-robbing, or the opening of graves, is divided into two kinds too, like theft, according to the present Canon, to wit, into pardonable and into unpardonable grave-robbing. For if the fellow opening the grave does not denude the dead person’s body, thus refraining from dishonoring (for that is what is meant by the expression “sparing devoutness”) the dead, but only takes the stones found in the grave, in order to use them in the building of any other work that is preferable and more beneficial to the community, though this too is by no means anything to be praised, yet custom has made it pardonable.2
St. Nicodemus of the Holy Mountain - 1700s, Greek Orthodox church.
Swearing is a dreadful and harmful thing; it is a destructive drug, a bane and a danger, a hidden wound, a sore unseen, an obscure ulcer spreading its poison in the soul; it is an arrow of Satan, a flaming javelin, a two-edged sword, a sharp-honed scimitar, an unpardonable sin, an indefensible transgression, a deep gulf, a precipitous crag, a strong trap, a taut-stretched net, a fetter that cannot be broken, a noose from which no one escapes.
19. Are these enough, and do you believe that swearing is a dreadful thing and the most harmful of all sins? Believe me, I beg you, believe me! But if someone does not believe me, I now offer proof. This sin has what no other sin possesses. If we do not violate the other commandments, we escape punishment; on the other hand, in the matter of oaths, we are punished just the same both when we guard against transgressing and when we transgress.
St. John Chrysostom, 300s AD St. John Chrysostom: Baptismal Instructions,
Hilary of Poitiers actually points us in a more biblical direction, in discussing the unpardonable sin: Every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven to men, but blasphemy of the Spirit will not be forgiven.67 With a very grave qualification, he condemns the view of the Pharisees and the perversion of those who also think like them. He promises pardon of all sins but refuses pardon for blasphemy of the Spirit. While other words and deeds are treated with a generous pardon, there is no mercy if it is denied that God is in Christ.
68 And in whatever way one sins without pardon, he is gracious to us and reminds us again that sins of every kind can be completely forgiven, though blasphemy against the Holy Spirit cannot be forgiven. For who is so completely beyond pardon as one who denies that Christ is of God, or repudiates that the substance of the Spirit of the Father resides in him
Hilary of Poitiers, Commentary on Matthew, ed.
Spurgeon - Nobody knows what that sin is. I believe that even God’s Word does not tell us, and it is very proper that it does not. As I have often said, it is like the notice we sometimes see put up, “Man-traps and spring gun set here.” We do not know whereabouts the traps and guns are, but we have no business over the hedge at all. So, “there is a sin unto death;” we are not told what that sin is, but we have no business to go over the hedge into any transgression at all. That “sin unto death” may be different in different people; but, whoever commits it, from that very moment, loses all spiritual desires. He has no wish to be saved, no care to repent, no longing after Christ; so dreadful is the spiritual death that comes over the man who has committed it that he never craves eternal life.
C. H. Spurgeon, Pictures from Pilgrim’s Progress: A Commentary on Portions of John Bunyan's Immortal Allegory (Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software, 2009), 73–74.
Billy Graham:
The sin of the religious leaders, blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, was a refusal to accept the witness of the Holy Spirit to who Jesus was and what He had come to do, and then submit their lives to Him… Once again, the unpardonable sin is not some particularly grievous sin committed by a Christian before or after accepting Christ, nor is it thinking or saying something terrible about the Holy Spirit. Rather, it is deliberately resisting the Holy Spirit’s witness and invitation to turn to Jesus until death ends all opportunity.
Billy Graham is echoing the Augustinian (300s AD) view: Now the man who, not believing that sins are remitted in the Church, despises this great gift of God’s mercy, and persists to the last day of his life in his obstinacy of heart, is guilty of the unpardonable sin against the Holy Ghost, in whom Christ forgives sins.
Augustine of Hippo, “The Enchiridion,” in St. Augustin: On the Holy Trinity, Doctrinal Treatises, Moral Treatises, ed.
Augustine was reflecting the Origen view (early 300s): The Spirit dwells in those who live by faith. But those who once having been counted worthy to share in the Holy Spirit and then having finally and decisively turned their backs from grace are by this act said to have blasphemed against the Holy Spirit (ORIGEN Who, then, is not amazed at the exceeding majesty of the Holy Spirit when he hears that he who speaks a word against the Son of man may hope for forgiveness, but that he who is guilty of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit has no forgiveness—either in the present world or in that which is to come. Origen
What then is it? The unforgivable sin of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is an act of resistance which belittles the Holy Spirit so grievously that he withdraws forever with his convicting power so that we are never able to repent and be forgiven. - John Piper. Lee ann penick MODERN: There is only one “unpardonable sin” that can separate us from God for eternity. It is the ongoing, willful refusal to accept Christ as Lord and Savior and the forgiveness He offers.
Jacob Arminius defined it as "the rejection and refusing of Jesus Christ through determined malice and hatred against Christ".
Nancy Hardesty “Ultimately the refusal to allow women to fully use their gifts in the church and in the world is a form of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit.” Pope John Paul II writes "'blasphemy' does not properly consist in offending against the Holy Spirit in words; it consists rather in the refusal to accept the salvation which God offers to man through the Holy Spirit, working through the power of the Cross", and "If Jesus says that blasphemy against the Holy Spirit cannot be forgiven either in this life or in the next, it is because this "non-forgiveness" is linked, as to its cause, to "non-repentance," in other words to the radical refusal to be converted. This means the refusal to come to the sources of Redemption, which nevertheless remain "always" open in the economy of salvation in which the mission of the Holy Spirit is accomplished.
SO - What is The unforgivable sin?? - is it, as Origen, Augustine, Billy Graham, Pope John Paul 2 Lee Ann Penick suggest - the rejection of the Holy Spirit/not becoming a follower of Jesus?? Is it, as John Chrysostom claimed, swearing oaths? Is it the robbing of graves in a thieving manner? Is it not letting women use their spiritual gifts in the church? Is it Heresy? Is it, as Athanasius and many other church fathers declared, being wrong on the Trinity and calling the Holy Spirit a created being, rather than God Himself? Is it testing prophetic utterances of prophets?? (NO! - 1 Thessalonians 5:19-21 Don’t stifle the Spirit. 20 Don’t despise prophecies, 21 but test all things. Hold on to what is good.)
Confused? You should be!! People talk about this issue all of the time, but it doesn’t appear that all of them get their views from the Bible, so let’s begin there in seeking our answer.
Matthew 12:24 24 When the Pharisees heard this, they said, “The man drives out demons only by Beelzebul, the ruler of the demons.”
25 Knowing their thoughts, He told them: “Every kingdom divided against itself is headed for destruction, and no city or house divided against itself will stand. 26 If Satan drives out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then will his kingdom stand? 27 And if I drive out demons by Beelzebul, who is it your sons drive them out by? For this reason they will be your judges. 28 If I drive out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come to you. 29 How can someone enter a strong man’s house and steal his possessions unless he first ties up the strong man? Then he can rob his house. 30 Anyone who is not with Me is against Me, and anyone who does not gather with Me scatters.31 Because of this, I tell you, people will be forgiven every sin and blasphemy, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven.32 Whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him. But whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the one to come.
Mark 3: 22 The scribes who had come down from Jerusalem said, “He has Beelzebul in Him!” and, “He drives out demons by the ruler of the demons!”
23 So He summoned them and spoke to them in parables: “How can Satan drive out Satan? 24 If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. 25 If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand. 26 And if Satan rebels against himself and is divided, he cannot stand but is finished!
27 “On the other hand, no one can enter a strong man’s house and rob his possessions unless he first ties up the strong man. Then he will rob his house. 28 I assure you: People will be forgiven for all sins and whatever blasphemies they may blaspheme. 29 But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin”— 30 because they were saying, “He has an unclean spirit.”
Luke 12: 8 “And I say to you, anyone who acknowledges Me before men, the Son of Man will also acknowledge him before the angels of God, 9 but whoever denies Me before men will be denied before the angels of God.10 Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven,but the one who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven.
So, I see two major ways we need to answer this question. Contextually and grammatically. What does the CONTEXT of the usage of ‘unpardonable sin’ tell us, and what does the grammar/word meanings tell us?
We find a massively important clue in Mark 3:30, where Mark tells us precisely WHY Jesus warned the Pharisees and Scribes about this sin. “Because they were saying, He has an unclean spirit.” The exact same situation is described in Matthew 12:31 “31 Because of this, I tell you, people will be forgiven every sin and blasphemy, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven” The scribes and pharisees are accusing Jesus of doing miraculous things - specifically driving out demons - by the power of Beelzebul rather than by the power of God.
Therefore, we know at least this: Ascribing something like an exorcism that is factually done by the power of God and His Holy Spirit to Demonic influence is AT BEST dangerously close to Blaspheming the Holy Spirit, and could, in fact, be blaspheming the Holy Spirit. (Jesus does not make it crystal clear that the scribes and pharisees were actually committing this sin, or merely getting close to committing it. It would seem like the latter is the best option.)
Practically speaking, what does this mean?? It means we need to be extremely careful about stating confident opinions on spiritual matters that we don’t have 100 percent clarity from Scripture on. Let me give a couple of examples:
- Pushed over at Brownsville.
- Charles Carrin praying for us at GVAG.
- Flamboyant preachers on tv wadding up their coats and throwing them on people, who pass out. Blowing on people, who pass out. Etc. Most of this is probably fraudulent, some of it horribly so. BUT - we should be incredibly careful about pronouncing opinions on what God’s spirit would do, and wouldn’t do. For instance, there was a revival going on in the 90s that became very well known and reached a lot of people. I heard about some of the things going on at that revival that were disturbing, and sounded - quite frankly - ridiculous. So, I assumed that the movement wasn’t of God, but was just flaky people doing flaky things - at best. HOWEVER...a few years later, I met the leader of the movement, and spent some time with him. He struck me as a genuine follower of God - a man who loved Jesus, and who was humble. I still don’t know what to think about that revival. God does, and I leave it to Him. It’s outside of my realm of influence. According to Jesus - there is grave danger in ascribing the works of the Holy Spirit to Satan. You better be 100 percent sure you’re right before doing such thing...and you’d better ask the question - HOW Do i Know FOR SURE that my opinion is right on this matter? If you can’t answer that question with extreme clarity, then be careful saying what the Holy Spirit will or will not do, and be careful saying whether or not something is of Satan, or not. Contextually, that is at least a large part of what blaspheming the Holy Spirit is about.
What is blasphemy, exactly? More on that in a moment….
Side question - is Beelzebul = Satan?? It’s a great question, and I have a fairly lame answer…’maybe.’ Beelzebub (“Lord of the flies”) and Beelzebul (“Lord of the skies/heavenly realms”) both refer to the same entity.
In the Testament of Solomon, 1st century, non-Scripture, pseudoepigraphic text. Beelzebul (not Beelzebub) appears as prince of the demons and says (6.2) that he was formerly a leading heavenly angel who was (6.7) associated with the star Hesperus (which is the normal Greek name for the planet Venus (Αφροδíτη) as evening star). Seemingly, Beelzebul here is synonymous with Lucifer. the text describes how Solomon was enabled to build his temple by commanding demons by means of a magical ring that was entrusted to him by the archangel Michael.
The Bible reference comes from 2 Kings 1: 1 After the death of Ahab, Moab rebelled against Israel. 2 Ahaziah had fallen through the latticed window of his upper room in Samaria and was injured. So he sent messengers instructing them: “Go inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron, if I will recover from this injury.” 3 But the angel of the Lord said to Elijah the Tishbite, “Go and meet the messengers of the king of Samaria and ask them, ‘Is it because there is no God in Israel that you are going to inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron?’ 4 Therefore, this is what the Lord says: ‘You will not get up from your sickbed—you will certainly die.’” Then Elijah left.The name also appears in Luke 11, where we can see the clearest connection between Beelzebul and Satan: Luke 11:14 Now He was driving out a demon that was mute. When the demon came out, the man who had been mute, spoke, and the crowds were amazed. 15 But some of them said, “He drives out demons by Beelzebul,the ruler of the demons!” 16 And others, as a test, were demanding of Him a sign from heaven. 17 Knowing their thoughts, He told them: “Every kingdom divided against itself is headed for destruction, and a house divided against itself falls.18 If Satan also is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? For you say I drive out demons by Beelzebul. 19 And if I drive out demons by Beelzebul, who is it your sons drive them out by? For this reason they will be your judges. 20 If I drive out demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has come to you.
So, Jesus mentions Satan and Beelzebul in the same context, but not in a way that indicates that they are the same entities.
My best guess is that Beelzebul is a separate entity from Satan, but I confess that I do not know, and my guess is based on the fact that the Bible never clearly identifies the two as the same entity.
What exactly is Blasphemy?
Luke 12:10 points us in the right direction - anyone who ‘speaks a word against the son of man will be forgiven.’ but the one who blasphemes the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven. Matthew 12:32 makes it even more clear: 32 Whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him. But whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the one to come.
Similarly: Isaiah 37:23 Isaiah 37:23
Who is it you have mocked and blasphemed? Who have you raised your voice against and lifted your eyes in pride? Against the Holy One of Israel!
The Word itself, Greek Blasphemos, is a combo of two words. Blaptō, which means, ‘to HURT’ and Pheemay, which means fame, report, or something like ‘reputation.’ So, etymologically, the word has a root meaning of injuring somebody’s fame, or good name. The word can mean ‘defame’ or ‘revile’ and isn’t always used of a deity. Paul speaks of being ‘defamed’ or blasphemed by people for being an apostle. Paul commands the church in Titus 3:2 not to slander/Speak evil of (or BLASPHEME) any person, which is a command that Christians would do well to take far more seriously than we do. 2 Peter 2:10 and Jude vs 8 both warn against blaspheming angels, demons, and other spiritual beings.
So- blasphemy is speaking evil of someone. Hurting them with your words, harming their reputation. Thus, blaspheming the Holy Spirit is speaking evil of Him, reviling Him, defaming Him, seeking to harm His reputation. The Pharisees and Scribes were doing that - or coming dangerously close - when they said that it was Satan/Beelzebul empowering Jesus, when it was factually the Spirit of God Himself.
R.C. Sproul: Their statements were directed against Jesus. So, He said to them: “You can blaspheme Me and be forgiven, but when you question the work of the Spirit, you are coming perilously close to the unforgivable sin. You are right at the line. You are looking down into the abyss of hell. One more step and there will be no hope for you.” He was warning them to be very careful not to insult or mock the Spirit.
Is it really unforgivable, and WHAT IF I HAVE COMMITTED IT?!
AUGUSTINE: It is not that this was a blasphemy which under no circumstances could be forgiven, for even this shall be forgiven if right repentance follows it
Thomas C. Oden and Christopher A. Hall, eds., Mark, Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2005), 48.
I’m worried that I have committed the unforgivable sin??
Graham: Many Christians have heard that there is an unpardonable sin and live in dread that something grave they have done before or after conversion might be that sin. Their fears are unfounded. While there is an unforgivable sin, it is not one that a true believer in Jesus Christ can commit.
Sproul: Humanly speaking, everyone who is a Christian is capable of committing the unforgivable sin. However, I believe that the Lord of glory who has saved us and sealed us in the Holy Spirit will never let us commit that sin. I do not believe that any Christians in the history of the church have blasphemed the Spirit.
As for those who are not sure they are saved and are worried they may have committed the unpardonable sin, I would say that worrying about it is one of the clearest evidences that they have not committed this sin, for those who commit it are so hardened in their hearts they do not care that they commit it. Thanks be to God that the sin that is unpardonable is not a sin He allows His people to commit.
I don’t share Graham and Sproul’s assurances, though I respect them both deeply. The Bible NEVER says a believer is unable to commit the unpardonable sin. Jesus NEVER indicates that, and I see no other passage that promises such...just a sober warning.
I think Piper strikes a better balance when talking about it:
Piper: The fact that there is an unforgivable sin — that there comes a point in a life of sin after which the Holy Spirit will no longer grant repentance — that fact should drive us from sin with fear and trembling. None of us knows when our toying with sin will pass over into irrevocable hardness of heart. Very few people feel how serious sin is. Very few people are on the same wavelength with Jesus when he said in Mark 9:43, “If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life maimed than with two hands to go to hell, to the unquenchable fire.”
Instead, many professing Christians today have such a sentimental view of God’s justice that they never feel terror and horror at the thought of being utterly forsaken by God because of their persistence in sin. They have the naïve notion that God’s patience has no end and that they can always return from any length and depth of sin, forgetting that there is a point of resistance which belittles the Holy Spirit so grievously that he withdraws forever with his convicting power, leaving them never able to repent and be forgiven.
They are like the buzzard who spots a carcass on a piece of ice floating in the river. He lands and begins to eat. He knows it is dangerous because the falls are just ahead. But he looks at his wings and says to himself, “I can fly to safety in an instant.” And he goes on eating. Just before the ice goes over the falls he spreads his wings to fly but his claws are frozen in the ice and there is no escape — neither in this age nor the age to come. The Spirit of holiness has forsaken the arrogant sinner forever.
Another of the devil’s fiery darts is this, “You have committed the unpardonable sin.” Ah! this arrow has rankled in many a heart, and it is very difficult to deal with such cases. The only way in which I argue with a person thus assailed is to say, “I am quite certain that, if you desire salvation, you have not committed the unpardonable sin, and I am absolutely sure that, if you will now come and trust Christ, you have not committed that sin, for every soul that trusts Christ is forgiven, according to God’s Word, and therefore you cannot have committed that sin.”
C. H. Spurgeon, Pictures from Pilgrim’s Progress:
My close - God the Holy Spirit is all powerful. Tremble:
I don’t want to blunt the warnings of Jesus with false assurance. It is likely that - if you are worried you’ve committed the unpardonable sin, that you haven’t because only the Spirit’s work in your life would make you fear the Lord. But the way that Jesus addressed this is with the highest level of seriousness...so must we. This passage RIGHTLY inspires fear in us, and that’s ok, it should. It is obviously recorded in the Scripture for that purpose.
Proverbs 1:7
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and discipline.
Proverbs 2:5
you will understand the fear of the Lord and discover the knowledge of God.
Proverbs 10:27
The fear of the Lord prolongs life, but the years of the wicked are cut short.
Rev 14:6 6 Then I saw another angel flying high overhead,(I) having the eternal gospel to announce to the inhabitants of the earth—to every nation, tribe, language, and people.(J) 7 He spoke with a loud voice: “Fear God and give Him glory, because the hour of His judgment has come. Worship the Maker of heaven and earth, the sea and springs of water.”
The word for fear there has the same meaning as our word fear. It means FEAR.
Luke 12: In the same breath that Jesus speaks about the unpardonable sin, He says this:
4 “And I say to you, My friends, don’t fear those who kill the body, and after that can do nothing more. 5 But I will show you the One to fear: Fear Him who has authority to throw people into hell after death. Yes, I say to you, this is the One to fear! 6 Aren’t five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten in God’s sight. 7 Indeed, the hairs of your head are all counted. Don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows!
Treat the Holy Spirit with great - remarkable sobriety - fear and wisdom. Fear the Lord, as Jesus said, and don’t be afraid to trust Him - He who knows all of the sparrows and numbers our hairs, counts us as of great worth and Loves the World enough to send His son to rescue it.
Here’s the good news: GREEAR: False gods mutilate us; the true God mutilated himself for us.
The prophets of Ba’al begin by dancing around their altar. They end by slashing at themselves until their blood runs (1 Kings 18:28). False gods always push us toward destruction: “Work harder. Do better. Obtain more. You still aren’t getting my attention. Slash yourself!” So we slash at our bodies by going through crash diets to attain that perfect figure. We slash at our families by overworking to make extra money. We slash at our souls by compromising our integrity to get someone’s affection.
False gods push us to mutilate ourselves, because we desperately want to win their approval. But only one God was ever mutilated for us—Jesus Christ. This story ends with a magnificent fire coming from heaven, but as Jesus himself points out to his first disciples, the fire was not intended for sinful humanity (Luke 9:51–56). It was ultimately intended for him: of all the characters in this story, Jesus is not Elijah, calling down fire; he is the sacrifice who receives the fire of judgment.
At the cross, Jesus took into his body the fire of God’s justice so that we could take into our lives the fire of God’s love. Other gods demand dancing, slashing, mutilation. But Jesus Christ is the only God who was slashed and mutilated for us. As Tim Keller has said, “Every other god will make your blood run; only the true God bleeds for you.”
Interested in this topic? You might enjoy my book: Monsters in the Bible
Our focus on this show is on the Bible, and how interesting it is. Sometimes the show will be straight up Bible Q and A - down to earth topics with answers solidly grounded in the biblical text. Sometimes the show topics will be a little more - out there, shall we say. Like today. Today’s topic is Unicorns, and it is dedicated to my daughter, Phoebe - who is a huge unicorn fan. You might be wondering what Unicorns have to do with the Bible, but if you are a King James only kind of person, you probably already know that the word ‘Unicorns’ appears in the KJV version of the Bible 9 times in the 1611 KJV and 9 times in the updated 1769 Standard version.
At some point in the show, we will probably do a podcast solely focused on the 1611 KJV and King James Version only people. It’s an interesting topic for me in particular, because most people in the KJV Only camp would reject the more Catholic associated apocryphal books of the Bible, and yet the 1611 KJV contains 14 apocryphal books, in addition to the OT and the NT. But I digress. One day soon, I think we will cover both the 1611 KJV AND the Apocrypha, but today is not that day.
Today is the day, however, that we cover unicorns. You might not know that unicorns are actually in the Bible - but they are. Sort of. In the Bible. Let’s take a look:
Psalm 22: 19 But be not thou farre from mee, O Lord; O my strength, hast thee to helpe me. 20Deliuer my soule from the sword: my darling from the power of the dogge. 21Saue me from the lyons mouth: for thou hast heard me from the hornes of the vnicornes. 1611
So - let me say this. As I mentioned in the trailer for the show, I believe that the Bible is faithful and true - inerrant in its original language and absolutely trustworthy. Therefore, I believe that the Bible is speaking of a real animal here and is not putting forward some sort of myth, or what have you. Does that mean unicorns are/were real creatures? Not necessarily. Believing in the trustworthiness of the Bible, we have two options here for our KJV Unicorns.
#1 - Unicorns actually existed, but they are probably extinct now.
#2 - The KJV translators of the Bible did not properly or exactly translate the Hebrew word for ‘unicorn.‘
We will take a long look at both options, but first, let’s take a look at the Hebrew word itself.
Re’em, Reh·ām' Reh-Aim from the Verb rä·am' (Rah-Am), which means to ‘Raise up.’ All 9 times Reh-Aim appears in the Old Testament, the 1611 and 1769 translators of the KJV used the word ‘unicorn.’
Here are all of the appearances of the word in the Bible. Let’s pay attention to any physical descriptions to determine if the word Reh-Aim actually refers to the equine/horselike creature of fantasy and legend, or perhaps some other creature:
Numbers 23:22 God brought them out of Egypt; he hath as it were the strength of an unicorn.
Isaiah 34: And the Unicornes shall come downe with them, and the bullockes with the bulles, and their land shall be soaked with blood, and their dust made fat with fatnesse.8 For it is the day of the Lords vengeance, and the yeere of recompences for the controuersie of Zion. KJV 1611
Deuteronomy 33:17 His glory is like the firstling of his bullock, and his horns are like the horns of unicorns: with them he shall push the people together to the ends of the earth: and they are the ten thousands of Ephraim, and they are the thousands of Manasseh.
Job 39:9 Will the unicorn be willing to serve thee, or abide by thy crib?
Job 39:10 Canst thou bind the unicorn with his band in the furrow? or will he harrow the valleys after thee?
Psalms 22:21 Already read.
Psalms 29:6 He maketh them also to skip like a calf; Lebanon and Sirion like a young unicorn.
Psalms 92:10 But my horn shalt thou exalt like the horn of an unicorn: I shall be anointed with fresh oil.
Isaiah 34:7 And the unicorns shall come down with them, and the bullocks with the bulls; and their land shall be soaked with blood, and their dust made fat with fatness.
So some interesting passages, to be sure. The KJV Bible seems to indicate that God has the strength of a unicorn, That his horns are like the horns of the unicorns, and that God is coming with unicorns and bulls on the day of judgment.
So, wow - what in the world is going on here? Here’s what we learn from these passages, remembering that the actual Hebrew word in question is reh-Aim . Reh-Aims are powerful, they are difficult to control or tame, they have at least one horn (more on that later) and they are quite wild and untamable, Unfortunately, that description fits many wild animals, and doesn’t really tell us exactly what creature the authors of the OT were referring to, though we can safely remove three toed sloths, dung beetles, and platypodes from consideration.
The Bible’s mention of unicorns was not lost on the leaders of the early church, who also puzzled over these passages.
Origen, an early church father living in the 200s, wrote this : “other prohibitions such as that to eat of the unicorn (τραγέλαφος), a creature which has no existence” Source: Frederic William Farrar, History of Interpretation (London: Macmillan and Co., 1886), 192.
Jerome, however, seems to have believed in the reality of these beasts, writing, “There are beasts of this sort in the desert of the East, but they are never seen by human beings or captured by them.” (circa 400 A.D.)
Source: John Cassian, John Cassian: The Conferences, ed. Walter J. Burghardt, John Dillon, and Dennis D. McManus, trans. Boniface Ramsey, vol. 57, Ancient Christian Writers (New York; Mahwah, NJ: Newman Press, 1997), 578.
Theoderot also writing in the 400s, seems to take the Unicorn as symbolic, in a way, used by the biblical writers as a sort of euphemism: “They say the unicorn is equipped with one horn, and the Law gave instructions for adoring one God; so it was right for him to liken the one Temple, dedicated to the one God, to a unicorn.”
Theodoret of Cyrus, Commentary on the Psalms: Psalms 73–150, ed. Thomas P. Halton, trans. Robert C. Hill, vol. 102, The Fathers of the Church (Washington, DC: The Catholic University of America Press, 2001), 39.
So - lots of information so far, but no answers. Back to our original question: Does the Bible proclaim the existence of unicorns?
Here are our two options:
Yes, the Bible teaches that Unicorns, the fantastical beasts of legend, exist, or once existed, or no - the word Reh-aim means something different.
On the yes side, Dr. Elizabeth Mitchell, writing for Answers in Genesis, says this:
Modern readers have trouble with the Bible’s unicorns because we forget that a single-horned feature is not uncommon on God’s menu for animal design. (Consider the rhinoceros and narwhal.) The Bible describes unicorns skipping like calves (Psalm 29:6), traveling like bullocks, and bleeding when they die (Isaiah 34:7). The presence of a very strong horn on this powerful, independent-minded creature is intended to make readers think of strength.
The absence of a unicorn in the modern world should not cause us to doubt its past existence. (Think of the dodo bird. It does not exist today, but we do not doubt that it existed in the past.) Eighteenth century reports from southern Africa described rock drawings and eyewitness accounts of fierce, single-horned, equine-like animals. One such report describes “a single horn, directly in front, about as long as one’s arm, and at the base about as thick. . . . [It] had a sharp point; it was not attached to the bone of the forehead, but fixed only in the skin.” SOURCE
Dr. Mitchell goes on to mention a few other possibilities for the Reh-Aim, but does clearly seem to favor an equine, mono-horned solution - much like what we would call a unicorn. She does mention some evidences scattered about for such a creature as well, including drawings and eyewitness accounts from Africa of possible unicorn sightings.
This brings to mind that cryptid from the Congo in Africa that many talk about - the Mokele Mpembe. “ "one who stops the flow of rivers” A German explorer, Captain Ludwig Von Stein, wrote this as a description of the Mokele Mpembe: The animal is said to be of a brownish-gray color with a smooth skin, its size is approximately that of an elephant; at least that of a hippopotamus. It is said to have a long and very flexible neck and only one tooth but a very long one; some say it is a horn. A few spoke about a long, muscular tail like that of an alligator. Canoes coming near it are said to be doomed; the animal is said to attack the vessels at once and to kill the crews but without eating the bodies. The creature is said to live in the caves that have been washed out by the river in the clay of its shores at sharp bends. It is said to climb the shores even at daytime in search of food; its diet is said to be entirely vegetable. This feature disagrees with a possible explanation as a myth. The preferred plant was shown to me, it is a kind of liana with large white blossoms, with a milky sap and applelike fruits. At the Ssombo River I was shown a path said to have been made by this animal in order to get at its food. The path was fresh and there were plants of the described type nearby. But since there were too many tracks of elephants, hippos, and other large mammals it was impossible to make out a particular spoor with any amount of certainty
Is such a thing possible? I’ve no idea. It makes for a great campfire tale, but the lack of fossilized remains does seem to be a bit of a strike against the creature.
Likewise, the lack of fossilized remains seems to be a strike against the existence of an equine-style unicorn. In fact, I think, barring evidence to the contrary, it’s likely that such a creature has never existed. Perhaps a horse or other horse-like animal with one horn has been seen - such mutations occasionally happen, but I’d like to see more evidence for a mythical unicorn before I sign on enthusiastically.
So that brings us to option #2 for Unicorns in the Bible. And that option is that the translators of the KJV, like the translators of the Latin Vulgate upon which much of the KJV is based on, mistranslated the word ‘Reh-Aim’.
Michael Heiser, Logos scholar in Residence - the difficulties of Bible Translation.
SOURCE: http://www.biblestudymagazine.com/bible-study-magazine-blog/2017/2/28/treason-translation
A famous Italian proverb declares “traduttore, traditore,” which means, “Translator, traitor.” Those who assume this is true are unaware how difficult it is to produce a translation. Every translator at some point invariably discards the meaning of the original text.
A committee of scholars assembled to produce a translation typically adopts an overarching philosophy of translation. In simplest terms, there are two. The first is called “formal equivalence,” which seeks to account for virtually every word in the original text by producing its English counterpart in translation. This is “word-for-word” or “literal” translation. The second is called “dynamic equivalence.” This approach seeks to capture the thought of the original verse in context, and then re-create that thought using whatever English words are most precise. This is “thought-for-thought” translation. But adopting an approach does not mean that all the translators will apply it equally. There is also a matter of interpretation. When the biblical text allows more than one translation due to ambiguity in the context, grammar, or word usage, a translator needs to make his or her own decision—which can lead to controversy.
First Corinthians 7:1 is illustrative of the potential hazard.
ESV: “It is good for a man not to have sexual relations with a woman.”
NASB: “It is good for a man not to touch a woman.”
NIV: “It is good for a man not to marry.”
TNIV: “It is good for a man not to have sexual relations with a woman.”
NLT: “It is good to live a celibate life.”
The most “word-for-word” of these translations is that of the NASB, which captures the literal reading of the Greek words in the verse, particularly the verb “touch” (ἅπτοµαι, haptomai). Other translations move away from the ambiguous “touch” to “have sexual relations with” (ESV, TNIV).
The most controversial renderings are the NIV (“It is good for a man not to marry”) and the NLT (“It is good to live a celibate life”). How is it that the translators could go from a Greek word that means “touch” to these options?
The answer is that the translators factored in what was presumed to be the wider context of the chapter and, ultimately, the writer. In 1 Cor 7:7–8, Paul describes himself as single. His advice to the Corinthians in several places is that it would be wiser for those who are not married to remain unmarried (1 Cor 7:7–8, 26–27) because of an undefined “present distress” (7:26). This context is presumed in 7:1 by the NIV and NLT.
These translations are certainly plausible, but still problematic. While Paul notes a “present distress” in 7:27, can we be certain that Paul was thinking of that distress in 7:1? Might Paul have been thinking about sexual morality instead? The verses that immediately follow 7:1 speak frankly of sexual temptation (7:2–4). If morality was on Paul’s mind, then the ESV and TNIV are more on target. The point would then be an admonition to avoid sexual contact outside of marriage, not to avoid marriage itself.
Translation isn’t just a matter of matching words of one language to words of another. Rather than consider Bible translators as traitors, we need to be sympathetic to their burden. Reading multiple translations can reveal the complexities of the process.
SOURCE:Of the above): http://www.biblestudymagazine.com/bible-study-magazine-blog/2017/2/28/treason-translation
This doesn’t mean that we can’t understand the Bible, of course - but what we are dealing with in this question of the unicorn, and what we are dealing with when we read some of the more thorny issues in Paul’s letters is largely the same thing - the difficulty in translation. It’s not an insurmountable difficulty, but it does require some careful study and thought.
Back to Unicorns. I believe the best way to handle the unicorn/Reh-Aim issue is to realize that the writers of the KJV likely used a word, ‘Unicorn’ which is a less than ideal translation. I have yet to see evidence that convinces me that these KJV translators themselves believed in the mythical unicorn. So, going with the thought that ‘Unicorn’ isn’t the best translation or meaning of Reh-Aim, what is? I suggest three Three possibilities, and then conclude with what I think is the best option:
- Siberien Unicorn Elasmotherium sibiricum four metres long, 2.5 metres high, weighs 3.5 metric tonnes and has a preposterously large horn in the middle of its face? For you American listeners, we’re talking 14 feet long, almost 9 feet tall, and beefier than your’e uncle Bubba carrying a four by four tire.
The Elasmotherium Sibircum is A really massive unicorn, that’s what….Despite its huge size it was lithe and seemed adapted to running across its homelands of central Asia: Kazakhstan, western and central Russia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan, and possible areas of Mongolia and China. This animal GREATLY matches the biblical description of the Reh-Aim. It was large, powerful, had an incredible horn, but was also agile and fast. According to Cosmos Magazine, “Until now, E. sibiricum had been thought to have gone extinct about 200,000 years ago as part of the natural extinction rate that preceded the arrival of humanity,” The radiocarbon dating yielded some surprising results, suggesting that the unicorn was still kicking until 39,000 years ago.
So, science up until late last year, was off on the extinction of the Elasmotherium by about 160,000 years. What if they are still off by a few more thousand years - what if Elasmotherium lived until Old Testament times? Not very likely, but a distant possibility. I rank this as the 3rd most likely explanation of Reh-aim.
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Our second most plausible explanation is that the Reh-aim is actually what we would call a rhinoceros. There’s a few solid reasons to go in this direction. For one, The Latin Vulgate says "rinocerotis" in Deut 33:17 and "rinoceros" in Job 39:9. The noble rhino would, like the Siberian ‘unicorn’ Professor Allen H. Godbey wrote an extended article on the biblical ‘unicorn in 1939. In that article, he notes that Pliny’s Natural History records that in roughly 62 B.C., a rhinoceros was exhibited during the games of Pompey the Great. That rhinoceros had white skin, was roughly the size of an elephant, and that it had a single horn on its nose. Though we would hesitate to think of a rhino as graceful, they can be quite powerful, and fast, and undoubtedly have a large and powerful horn. Would that writers of the Old Testament be familiar with the rhino? It is possible, though nowhere near certain.
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Finally, I would suggest that the most likely explanation for the Reh-aim would be either the extinct aurochs, or an animal very similar. I realize, of course, that an aurochs does not merely have one horn, but two, and that is okay. It does not appear that the original Hebrew word Reh-aim, demands a one-horned animal. Indeed, one way of translating Numbers 23:22, the way that the NASB, ESV and CSB translations choose, is to say “"God brings them out of Egypt, He is for them like the horns of the wild ox.” The Hebrew for “horns” tow’apaha (also translated strength or glory) is indeed plural. That means that the mighty aurochs ticks all of the boxes off for the old testament description of a Reh-aim. It is large, and powerful. Difficult to tame, and quick, and has very imposing horns. In addition, unlike our options above, the aurochs appears to have inhabited Israel during the time of the Old Testament. Sadly, it would appear that the last aurochs died out in a forest in Poland in 1627. Happily, I think, there are several genetic projects underway right now to reintroduce the aurochs, though I can indeed imagine a sort of mammalian Jurassic Park scenario here that doesn’t necessarily end well. Julius Caesar himself was quite familiar with the aurochs (whom he called an ‘urs,’ and described him thusly in the first century:
“Those animals which are called uri. These are a little below the elephant in size, and of the appearance, colour, and shape of a bull. Their strength and speed are extraordinary; they spare neither man nor wild beast which they have espied. These the Germans take with much pains in pits and kill them. The young men harden themselves with this exercise, and practice themselves in this sort of hunting, and those who have slain the greatest number of them, having produced the horns in public, to serve as evidence, receive great praise. But not even when taken very young can they be rendered familiar to men and tamed. The size, shape, and appearance of their horns differ much from the horns of our oxen. These they anxiously seek after, and bind at the tips with silver, and use as cups at their most sumptuous entertainments.” Source: Gallic War Commentaries, Chapter 6.28
One more reason to support the candidacy of the mighty aurochs as the Biblical ‘unicorn’ comes from the 1906 Jewish Encyclopedia:
The allusions to the "re'em" as a wild, untamable animal of great strength and agility, with mighty horns (Job xxxix. 9-12; Ps. xxii. 21, xxix. 6; Num. xxiii. 22, xxiv. 8; Deut. xxxiii. 17; comp. Ps. xcii. 11), best fit the aurochs (Bos primigenius). This view is supported by the Assyrian "rimu," which is often used as a metaphor of strength, and is depicted as a powerful, fierce, wild, or mountain bull with large horns.
Finally, Dr. Allen H. Godbey, who probably studied this question more than anybody in history, concludes: “The decisive factor came with the deciphering of the cuneiform inscriptions... reaching back four thousand years earlier than any Hebrew text that we have, [the texts] give the word rimu repeatedly... It is a gigantic wild ox. The cuneiform ideogram confines him to the mountains.” Source: The Unicorn in the Old Testament, 1939
Ultimately, though I am team aurochs, I think that recognizing the ambiguity of the term and preserving it, is the best approach here, because even though the aurochs checks all of our boxes, the evidence for it is circumstantial, at best. Therefore, we should probably do what most modern Bible translators do with the passage, which is similar to how they handle another passage of mystery, Genesis 6:4. In the KJV, Genesis 6:4 reads, “There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown.” What the translators did there is render the Hebrew word Nephilim as ‘Giants,’ a very interesting translation, to be sure, but quite a problematic one.
Let’s look at a more modern translation. Genesis 6:4 “The Nephilim were on the earth both in those days and afterward, when the sons of God came to the daughters of mankind, who bore children to them. They were the powerful men of old, the famous men.”
Yes, it’s a bit of a cop-out, but in the absence of compelling evidence that the best translation of Nephilim is ‘giants,’ I think it might be a good cop-out, especially given that we have almost no idea whatsoever a Nephilim actually is. More on this in a future episode of this podcast.
Given all of the above, Numbers 23:22 would have been better rendered by the translators of the King James Version as, “God brought them out of Egypt; he hath, as it were, the strength of a great horned beast.” In doing that, though we have slightly elongated the text, we have faithfully translated it in a better and much less problematic way. A rendering that preserves clarity while translating re’em Reh-Aim accurately and understandably in a way that avoids guessing about what exact animal the original authors of the Old Testament were referring to. That doesn’t solve the mystery, of course, but it is our best and safest option. Of course, we could also simply say, “He hath, as it were, the strength of a re’em.
Unfortunately, it means that we’ll have to file this mystery in our ‘cold case’ file. The identity of Reh-aim will remain a secret to us, and is likely to remain so until the Second Coming. Alas.
Well, that’s all for this episode. I’m grateful that you took the time to listen - thank you for that! If you are particularly interested in this topic, I’d like to point you to my (in progress) book, Monsters in the Bible. I am editing the book, and adding lots of material to it, and should have a second edition out very soon. Please also check out our website, Biblemysterypod.com. You can leave us a voice mail there, and ask your own question. Finally, and probably most important, I’d love for you to subscribe to the show and share it with your friends. Nothing is more helpful to an indie podcaster like myself than word of mouth. Thanks again, and see you soon.
The notes for this episode aren't exactly show notes. For more reasons to believe, please check out my book Easter: Fact or Fiction, 20 Reasons to Believe that Jesus Rose from the Dead (click here) OR: Check this post out on my writing blog: Top Ten Reasons to Believe Jesus Rose from the Dead.
Recap: 1 Corinthians 15: 12 Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say, “There is no resurrection of the dead”? 13 But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised; 14 and if Christ has not been raised, then our proclamation is without foundation, and so is your faith.
But, as Paul goes on to tell us in 1 Corinthians 15, the Resurrection of Jesus DID, in FACT, Happen!
1 Corinthians 15:20-22 20 But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. 21 For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead also comes through a man. 22 For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive.
Let’s look at another passage on RAMIFICATIONS OF THE RESURRECTION. RAMIFICATIONS - ONE OF MY FAVORITE WORDS. It means - a consequence of an action or event
Romans 6:3 Are you unaware that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? 4 Therefore we were buried with Him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too may walk in a new way of life.5 For if we have been joined with Him in the likeness of His death, we will certainly also be in the likeness of His resurrection. 6 For we know that our old self was crucified with Him in order that sin’s dominion over the body may be abolished, so that we may no longer be enslaved to sin, 7 since a person who has died is freed from sin’s claims. 8 Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with Him, 9 because we know that Christ, having been raised from the dead, will not die again. Death no longer rules over Him.
Reasons to Believe:
Apologetics is one of my favorite fields of Theology. When I first heard the term, I assumed Apologetics had something to do with apologizing for our faith - like, being all nice about it. “I’m sorry to have to tell you this, but apart from Jesus, you will die and go to hell….I’m sorry if that sounds harsh, and I’m sorry if that offends you.”
I also thought that Silicon Valley, when I was a teenager, was a valley with a lot of sand in it. I sort of new that silicon could be refined out of sand, so I assumed Silicon Valley was the place where they got the sand to make the computer chips and all of the computer companies just built up around that sandy valley.
I was pretty good at assuming when I was younger. However, apologetics does not have anything to do with apologizing, and everybody with half a brain knows that Silicon is not merely sand, but a tetravalent metalloid used in the production of silicon, and that Silicon Valley is more of a euphemism than an actual place valley filled with sand.
SO - what is Apologetics? We get that word from 1 Peter 3:15
Always be ready to give a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you. 16 However, do this with gentleness and respect, keeping your conscience clear, so that when you are accused, those who denounce your Christian life will be put to shame.
The Greek there for the word ‘defense’ is: Apologian, and it means to defend OR to Answer. Literally it means to Answer from Words, or answer with Words. What Peter is saying is that we Christians MUST - it is a command - Be Ready to DEFEND/ANSWER our Beliefs with Words. (Eat that, Francis of Assisi...who never actually said “Preach the Gospel, if Necessary, use words.”)
Apologetics is the field of Christian Endeavor that is focused on following the Biblical Command in 1 Peter 3:15 - HOW DO WE GIVE AN ANSWER FOR BELIEVING THE GOSPEL - and the CENTRAL CLAIM OF THE GOSPEL, THE RESURRECTION.
Think of it this way - Apologetics is like the crowbar that opens the door, and The Gospel is like the Grenade that you toss in. The Gospel is the thing with the POWER OF GOD IN IT. (Romans 1:16 “16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is God’s power for salvation to everyone who believes”) I thought of that illustration this week, and was immediately kind of excited, almost proud of it, but then I realized, it is kind of violent and boyish. Let me try again:
Apologetics is like the wind that blows away the fog, so you can see an incredible view. The view is the powerful, breathtaking thing, but the wind helps to open eyes to the view.
Apologetics - Answering/Defending our faith - is like the flavoring and sweetness in the medicine. The flavoring/sweetness doesn’t actually heal you, but it does make people more willing/eager to open their mouths and take in the medicine. A spoonful of apologetics makes the Gospel go down? Not quite - It is the Spirit that makes the heart receptive to the Gospel - but Apologetics has been ordained by God to help open eyes.
PROVING something that happened historically is quite difficult, depending on what you mean by ‘proof.’ We don’t have video of the Battle of Camden, for instance, and maybe not many of you have heard of it. It was the bloodiest battle of the Revolutionary War. Unfortunately, if you were rooting for America during the Revolution - WE LOST BADLY in this battle. It took place in 1780 just north of Camden, South Carolina. 2000 Brits against 4000 Americans commanded by Horatio Gates. According to American Officer Otho Holland Williams, referring to the British charge, "the impetuosity with which they advanced, firing and huzzaing, threw the whole body of militia into such a panic that they generally threw down their loaded arms and fled in the utmost consternation. The unworthy example of the Virginians was almost instantly followed by the North Carolinians.” Takeaway - one way to win a battle old school is to do a lot of huzzaing!
Furthermore, in a letter to Thomas Jefferson, then governor of Virginia, "picture it as bad as you possibly can and it will not be as bad as it really is.”
HOW DO WE KNOW, KNOW, KNOW this happened? Well - we don’t have video, or pictures, or surviving witnesses. But virtually no historian alive doubts the major facets of the above narrative about the battle. How do we know it happened?
- Reliable Eyewitness testimony in writing.
- We see the historical impact of the battle.
So, how can we KNOW, KNOW, KNOW that something so important - and incredible - like Jesus’ claimed resurrection FACTUALLY and HISTORICALLY Happened? Well, I think there is several ways to know, and please note that I am not merely saying the way we know is because the Bible says so.
Don’t get me wrong, I believe the Bible, but I am thinking of our skeptical friends. That might not be enough for them - so we want to use apologetics to open the door, so we can get the Good News and the truth of the Bible in.
- Last Week - Appearance of Jesus Argument. By most testimonies, including Isaiah 53:2, Jesus’ physical appearance was quite unimpressive. Not tall and imposing, possible monobrow/hooked nose, not handsome or striking. And yet, scientifically and verifiably, Jesus is the most famous person to ever live. HOW COULD THIS BE? I argue that the resurrection of Jesus is the most plausible argument to explain the undoubtable fame of Jesus.
Two More Reasons to Believe This Week:
- Female Witnesses: Luke 24: 9 Returning from the tomb, they reported all these things to the Eleven and to all the rest. 10 Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them were telling the apostles these things. 11 But these words seemed like nonsense to them, and they did not believe the women. 12 Peter, however, got up and ran to the tomb. When he stooped to look in, he saw only the linen cloths. So he went home, amazed at what had happened. Why is this a big deal? Misnah, one of the Rabbis found within testifies that, due to their menstrual issues, “women are not competent witnesses to be relied on…they are not halakhically admissible as reliable witnesses….JOSEPHUS: “But let not a single witness be credited; but three, or two at the least, and those such whose testimony is confirmed by their good lives. But let not the testimony of women be admitted, on account of the levity and boldness of their sex, nor let servants be admitted to give testimony on account of the ignobility of their soul; since it is probable that they may not speak truth”
– Jewish/Roman historian Josephus, pointing out the belief that women of his day should not testify in court
“In dealing with a crowd of women at least, or with any promiscuous mob, a philosopher cannot influence them by reason or exhort them to reverence, piety and faith; nay, there is need of religious fear also, and this cannot be aroused without myths and marvels”[2]
– Strabo, a first century philosopher sharing a quite common view of women at the time: that they were immune to reason and comparable to a “promiscuous mob.”Women, in the first century, were NOT viewed as reliable witnesses, and yet, they are the FIRST witnesses to the MOST CENTRAL and CRUCIAL claim of Christianity. Far from undermining the Central Claim of Christianity - That Jesus Rose from the Dead - I believe this ENHANCES it. In a sexist environment like the first century, why have women as your witnesses unless it actually happened that way?? IF the disciples fabricated the story, why do it this way? If the story was legendary, WHY HAVE THE WOMEN AS THE FIRST WITNESSES?!!? 2. The Stigma of Crucifixion. Can you think of a single person ever crucified other than Jesus? Perhaps Peter was, but we tend to think Crucifixion was rare in the first century. BUT IT WAS NOT! It was extremely common. Probably hundreds of thousands of people were crucified, and it was a horrible, ignominious way to die. Seneca the younger, a Roman statesman who lived during the time of Jesus, described crucifixion this way:
“I see before me crosses not all alike, but differently made by different peoples: some hang a man head downwards, some force a stick upwards through his groin, some stretch out his arms on a forked gibbet. I see cords, scourges, and instruments of torture for each limb and each joint”
There would likely be a large and very upsetting amount of blood spilling from Jesus. The crown of thorns, with one inch or more protrusions, would make deep holes in an area that is absolutely filled with blood vessels. His back would be bleeding profusely from the lashing with the cat of nine tails. The nail wounds on Jesus’ wrists and feet would also be bleeding, as first century nails would not be quite as sharp and clean-edged as the nails we have now. And, as noted by Seneca above, it is conceivable that Jesus was stuck through with sticks. All of this blood would be highly upsetting to behold and also incredibly obvious and visible, because the majority of the time the Romans crucified their victims without any clothing whatsoever. Think of the embarrassment and agony of that situation: bleeding profusely, wracked with muscle cramps and pain beyond the ability of the toughest person to endure, having to push up on strained and shredded muscles to just simply get a single breath…and doing it all NAKED. How utterly astounding that the king of the universe would stoop so low. THE DISCIPLES SAW ALL OF THIS!!! WOULD THEY WORSHIP SOMEBODY WHO BARELY SURVIVED IT?
Consider also Willie Francis. Whom, you might ask? One of the first things you will note about Willie Francis is that millions of people don’t worship him, and yet he shares a few things in common with Jesus. Willie was convicted of murder in Louisiana in 1945 for an act that he allegedly committed when he was 15. Despite the fact that he was underage; despite the fact that he was not tried by a jury of his peers (his jury was all white); despite the fact that most of the physical evidence against Willie disappeared; and despite the fact that the gun used to kill the victim actually belonged to a deputy sheriff that had threatened to kill the victim in the past – despite all of those things, Willie Francis was convicted and electrocuted in May of 1946. Only, he didn’t die. Francis was one of the few people that have ever survived a round with the electric chair, and he did so due to a drunk guard setting things up improperly. Sadly, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that it wasn’t cruel and unusual to re-execute a teenager, and Francis was re-executed in May of 1947.
I have studied the historical records of 1946 to see if there arose a religion around Willie Francis...but found NOTHING. WHY WOULD I? Well - he survived execution, right? That’s What Jesus did?! The idea of worshipping Willie Francis is absurd, despite the fact that he was unjustly and brutally killed. We can cry for his death, but nobody has the instinct to worship an executed man, even one who survived?
IT WOULD HAVE BEEN JUST AS RIDICULOUS TO HAVE WORSHIPPED JESUS IN THE FIRST CENTURY IF ALL HE DID WAS MERELY SURVIVE, BARELY, THE CROSS. It is incredibly strange to worship the survivor of an execution and torture. UNLESS THAT PERSON ROSE FROM THE DEAD AND PROMISED ETERNAL LIFE TO ALL WHO BELIEVED IN HIM. ONCE AGAIN, THE RESURRECTION BEST FITS THE FACTS OF HISTORY!
1 Corinthians? Now brothers, I want to clarify for you the gospel I proclaimed to you; you received it and have taken your stand on it. 2 You are also saved by it, if you hold to the message I proclaimed to you—unless you believed for no purpose. 3 For I passed on to you as most important what I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, 5 and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the Twelve. 6 Then He appeared to over 500 brothers at one time;
Everybody loves a good mystery, right?
Show notes for episode # zero - The trailer:
What the Bible Mystery Podcast is all about: This show initially began its life in May of 2019 as the Bible Questions Podcast, and seemed to be doing quite well. Good downloads, listened to all across the country, and several countries outside the U.S. However, I have always had an interest in mysterious happenings and supernatural events, literally researching such things since I was a young kid watching the old Leonard Nimoy show In Search Of.
I’m an author, and I’ve written six books so far. Last October, I wrote a flyer for the church I pastor, Valley Baptist Church in Salinas, Alabama. We were having a Fall outreach, and I thought it would be interesting to highlight some of the more interesting creatures and mysteries of the Bible, and give it to kids who came to our Trunk or Treat. The main purpose of that flyer was to share the good news of Jesus with families in our area. The week before Halloween, I added some material to the flyer, turned it into a book - Monsters and the Bible - and published it on Amazon. Since then, that dumb book has become my best-selling book. I say dumb, because it is short, not well written/formatted, and it is barely worth the 99 cents I sell it for. I barely promoted it, but in a recent one week (or so) stretch, that book outsold all of my other books put together by a 2.5 to 1 ratio. I told my wife that my worst book was outselling all of my other books I slaved over by a wide margin, and she simply said, ‘Well, then, make it your best book!” Which is actually surprisingly good advice...so I’m reworking that book. That silly book has gotten me invites to be on national radio shows, and opened some pretty funny doors. For a while, it ranked in the top 3 on Amazon in the category ‘Occult Satanism.’ WHICH I DID NOT PLACE THE BOOK IN. Imagine me, a Southern Baptist pastor (from Alabama, pastoring in Cali) explaining to my congregation why I had a high ranking book in the ‘Occult Satanism’ section. Very odd. I actually thought it was a good thing, because a third of that book is a strong gospel presentation and a defense of the resurrection of Jesus.
In the process of rewriting the Monsters in the Bible book, I thought long and hard about launching another podcast about Mysteries of the Bible (The Shroud of Turin, Ark of the Covenant, etc.) But I realized, as a full time pastor, husband, father of 5 kids, and a some-time author, I probably don’t have the bandwidth to keep a ton of plates spinning, so I decided to merge the BQP into a podcast that also included Bible Mysteries. This is that show. Some weeks, the episodes will be straight up Bible topics, and some weeks, the episodes will be more ‘out there,’ and some weeks the episodes will be on more grounded Bible topics. Let me state my intentions clearly: I’d love to reach people who are interested in mysteries, the paranormal and the supernatural, and teach them about Jesus, crucified for our sins and raised from the dead. That’s my major goal of this show. A secondary goal, that is also important, is to demonstrate and proclaim that the Bible is an INTERESTING book - fascinating, really, and worthy of much study and discussion.
10 Things you need to know about this podcast.
- Me personally. In my 40s, married to Janet for a little over 23 years. 5 kids, oldest 18, youngest 7. Born in raised in Sweet Home Alabama now living just outside of Silicon Valley in Salinas, California.
- Qualifications. 2 master’s degrees, Beeson, NOBTS and Liberty Seminary 25 years of pastoral ministry multiple roles, multiple positions. I’ve got 8,389 books in LAH-GAHS. Don’t you judge me!
- My podcasting history. Began podcasting in January or February of 2005. Maybe the first podcast in ‘Bama. Tech Talk with Chase and Sam. A few other shows, The Night Life, Faith Today, Gospel Friends, Uncanny Gospel friends, some church podcasts. I love podcasting and podcast consuming, and am subscribed to literally 100 podcasts. Malcolm Gladwell would say that makes me an outlier. Started for me with TWIT, Buzz Out Loud and SYSK.
- Answers to these questions will be based on a high view of the Bible (I affirm the Chicago Statement on inerrancy, for instance)
- I do NOT have all of the answers, but sometimes I sound confident. Be noble Bereans, and compare what I say with Scripture first.
- Church history is important, so are experiences, testimonies, confessions and creeds. Those all have some varying levels of validity. Feelings might have a small amount of validity as well. However, I seek to answer questions first and foremost from the Bible, with a larger focus on the New Testament than the Old Testament. Both Testaments are the Word of God,
- This is not a podcast aimed at the finer points of theology: infralapsarianism vs Supralapsarianism or Progressive Dispensationalism vs Supersessionism, 1689 Federalism, or Landmarkism, Eutychianism, or anything like that. Also, I’m not a wack-a-doodle conspiracy theorist, at least, I hope I'm not. I like a good mystery, and I believe the Bible is a SUPERNATURAL book. Many pastors and Bible teachers today have an anti-supernatural bias, I think. Far too often, they try to rationalize the Bible, especially the more supernatural parts. I think that is silly considering the foundation of Christianity is the RESURRECTION of Jesus - which is an incredibly supernatural claim. It boils down to this for me - if Jesus FACTUALLY rose from the dead - and He did! - then I believe the other claims of the Bible, claims about angels, demons, spiritual warfare, creation ex nihilo, and others. Jesus Himself talked about angels, demons, ghosts, the end times, and lots of interesting things. Charles Spurgeon and John Wesley told ghost stories. These things are interesting, and I’m a sucker for interesting things. That doesn’t mean I believe in ghosts, and likely Jesus and Charles Spurgeon didn’t either. (I honestly think John Wesley may have, in fact, believed in ghosts, but I digress) Bottom line: I respect the Word of God. It is a supernatural book and contains lots of mysteries. This show seeks to explore those mysteries while maintaining a very high - inerrant - view of Scripture.
8. We will focus on foundational Bible questions, but also interesting, strange and eclectic Bible questions. How can we know the Bible is reliable? What does John 3:16 actually mean? What is gossip, and why is it so bad? Is Jesus the only way to Heaven? Are people saved by grace or works or both? Baptized for the dead. What does the Bible say about ghosts or aliens? Why did Jesus talk about ghosts, but never say they weren’t real? Did angels actually mate with humans in Genesis 6? What about the Shroud of Turin - is it a middle ages forgery, or a genuine artifact of Jesus??
9. I will probably at least try to be funny. Spurgeon’s friends and even casual acquaintances remarked on his hearty laughter.
William Williams, pastor friend of Spurgeon, wrote this about him: What a bubbling fountain of humour Mr. Spurgeon had! I laughed more, I verily believe, when in his company than during all the rest of my life besides. He had the most fascinating gift of laughter … and he had also the greatest ability for making all who heard him laugh with him. When someone blamed him for saying humourous things in his sermons, he said, "He would not blame me if he only knew how many of them I keep back."
10. My biggest influences and heroes of the faith: Charles Spurgeon, John Piper, C.S. Lewis, George Mueller, Hudson Taylor, John Newton, Tim Keller, Wayne Grudem, David Platt, and probably quite a few others.
Welcome to episode ZERO of the Bible Mystery Podcast - this is the trailer. In this episode, pastor, author and professor Chase A. Thompson discusses the motivations for the Bible Mystery Podcast and future topics for the show, including:
- How can we know that Jesus FACTUALLY rose from the dead?
- What are demons - are they fallen angels?
- What happens when we die?
- Did Angels actually mate with humans in Genesis 6?
- What sort of sea creature swallowed Jonah (or was that story a myth)?
- How can people know the Bible is reliable, or is Dan Brown correct that the Bible was changed many times by early Christians?
- Is the Shroud of Turin the real, miraculous burial cloth of Jesus, or was it a medieval forgery?
And many, many more - Please subscribe today!