When and who wrote the book of Ruth are not agreed upon, but is it important?
I thought I should know so that I could understand the background of the story better. That, to me, translates to putting flesh and blood on the characters and making them real. Real people have feelings and emotions, and I suspect that Ruth would have had to put some of hers away in order to subject herself to Boaz.
She did not do this out of love for Boaz, if anything it was her love for Naomi.
Ruth put herself willingly into this position (the threshing floor, at his feet) knowing that it was for the greater good, Naomi's and her own. And there was no guarantee that Boaz would or could accept her and the package that she was a part of.
The book of Ruth is not so much about the background (life, death, marriage, and your own sad future in a foriegn land), but about the Kinsman Redeemer.
Suddenly, as I wrote the things above, I saw an image of Christ and the Father as they discussed the need and desire to redeem the people of earth; the greater good, and Christ's willingness to subject himself to possible rejection and certainly the pain of the cross.
Those that look at Ruth seeing the kinsman redeemer may only see the correlation between Christ and Boaz, the one capable to redeem, and yet as I mentioned the pattern for Christ can be seen in Ruth's willingness to lie at the feet of a relatively unknown man, hoping that he would accept her. (Naomi lacked no confidence in this regard. That is whole other area of human emotion and speculation.) Does anyone else see the Holy Spirit of God moving all through this chain of events. How could we not think that God orchestrates the minutia of our mundane little lives as we struggle or supposedly succeed on this earth, for we could do nothing without Him. Consider all the events surrounding Naomi and Ruth: land owners, farmers, sons, daugthers in law, and then to lose it all. Life could have gone desperately wrong for them. The book of Ruth is also a picture of a woman with an incredible backbone, and a willingness to make a move regardless of the potential hazards. To use the word "perhaps" does not necessarily prove faith, but she did something. What else is there to do when certain death by starvation may be your only option if you sit where you are.
Naomi did not mention the other relative; why? Good question. What we do see is that she directs Ruth specifically about Boaz. The other relative may not have been known, or it just had not come up yet. Ruth is the one who happened to choose Boaz's field, Naomi merely played that circumstance hard as she seemed to have insight into this mans life.
Based upon Boaz's own comments I never pictured him as handsome or young, and even in this there is a similarity to Christ. Scripture tells us that Christ was nothing to look at, not remarkable in any way, nor was he married. Boaz had never married and he seemed excited that Ruth would choose him.
All of life is a string of choices. Foolishly we tend to think that those decisions were primarily ours. As an example look at the story of Esther. Sure, Esther was beautiful, and that helped, but God made everything happen for one intent, His.
One day as I watched Oprah, she ranted about how she became disenchanted with God because she heard from scripture that He was a jealous God. Jealous of what, her and her success, not hardly. From what I understand we were put here on this earth for companionship with the benevolent creator. And unlike some bizarre Star Trek episode he actually was willing to show us his love in hope that we would love him back. Fairly one sided and narrow minded, Him taking all the risks, so to speak. So after Adam's failure we have been, or so we think, left here to make choices on our own. God sent his only son. The Son came willingly. He died upon a cross to redeem us, and we have his promise that he is coming back for us. He did everything that he said he would do, with one major intent, to demonstrate that his word is good and that there is an inheritance for those who choose to willingly lay at the feet of one who has declared that you are wanted and loved.
Friday, December 24, 2010
Thursday, November 18, 2010
Questions I have heard before.
- I had a friend ask me these questions in response to a comment I made about people not voting. This is not the first time I have heard questions of this nature and I am not the great theologian, but I try to think and I am willing to let God answer the question, as he does a more adequate job than I. I put this persons questions in bold type.
- If you live life at all, and try to make a stance for God, then you will have to deal with questions of this nature yourself. I could not answer them in 30 seconds or less, they deserved so much more.
- How do you say to someone, "God is in control" without attempting to define that?
The world looks at what goes on around them and sees an evil, destructive entity with no future hope, and therefore lives for the moment. If you took the time to really ask "who are you?" you would find a God that has and always will be there, consistently for us. What clouds our understanding of God is how deeply embedded our thinking is in how things feel to us.
One of the things that scripture tells us is that God is love. That is not a feeling but actions based on devotion toward another; we are the others. God sent his Son to die for us. Why? So that we, the others that had no hope without Him, could live. If Jesus willingly paid the price of his life, and that felt horrible, why then can we not see the consistency and pattern of a God that is telling the truth, and really does have a plan for our lives. That plan concludes with those who choose to accept this fact, living in his presence.
"Ok so, if we are not of this world, why would we participate in what the J W's refer to as a , worldly activity.."
Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. Romans 13:1 (NIV)
Yep, your right, you are not required to vote, but what if by some fluke that "one", that is holding back the man of lawlessness mentioned in the scripture passage below, is tied in with you and you do nothing. Lawlessness is not just happening on the mean streets around you. Guys like Harry Reid, who just won reelection in Nevada, has made it very clear that he alone establishes what a democratic process looks like. He pushed through a yes vote on a bill, without a majority vote, even though the entire process was challenged and caught on video. There is only one thing, short of God striking someone like that dead, that will stop him, and that is an informed voter. I might also add that Barney Frank, one of men that is so deeply tied in with the collapse of the housing and mortgage industry in America, was also recently reelected.
Voting was and still is our right and privilege. Voting is our voice, and though it may not be the best thing that happened, it got many of us heard, to some degree, this time. I do not have to understand everything that happens. When it comes to voting I stand back and say "really!". What part of your brain did you use to vote?, but then God is in control regardless of how it turns out, and that does not always feel good at the moment.
(2 Thessalonians 2:3-12, NIV)
"Don't let anyone deceive you in any way, for that day will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the man doomed to destruction. He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshiped, so that he sets himself up in God's temple, proclaiming himself to be God. Don't you remember that when I was with you I used to tell you these things? And now you know what is holding him back, so that he may be revealed at the proper time. For the secret power of lawlessness is already at work; but the one who now holds it back will continue to do so till he is taken out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will overthrow with the breath of his mouth and destroy by the splendor of his coming. The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with the work of Satan displayed in all kinds of counterfeit miracles, signs and wonders, and in every sort of evil that deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness."
Another thing I found interesting. - Acknowledge and take to heart this day that the LORD is God in heaven above and on the earth below. There is no other. (Deuteronomy 4:39, NIV)
Ask yourself this question, Did Moses not know that Adam had handed the earth over to Satan? What if Moses did know? We never see or hear of Moses whining, “oh dear God, do you see what the devil is doing to your people now.”
What if, even though you have a knowledge of Satan's ownership, you did just as Moses said, and went about living your life with one purpose, one will for your life, and that is that the Lord is the God in heaven and on earth below, and that there is no other. How would that change your life?
God is not the least bit threatened by Satan's possessing the earth, and if you'll notice he repeatedly asks Israel to be strong, have courage, and to possess what God had given them.
"How do you know so much about the J W's, "
I used to frequently sit by two of them, at one of my jobs. I asked them if they voted, I believe we were voting against Jerry Brown back then, and they responded with "oh no honey, the Jehovah Witnesses don't vote, we believe the devil, the god of this world, controls the government, and therefore we will not vote." All they proved to me was that they only read and hear what they want to hear and see. The Holy Spirit mentions that in the passage from 2Thessalonians 2:3-12 that I quoted above.
"oh and don't worry I know Jesus volunteered. I read Job where it looks to me like he said he would do it. "
"Jesus himself answered this question. "The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life--only to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father." (John 10:17,18 NIV)
Jesus told them, as they stood him before Pilot, that they had absolutely no power to do anything to him outside of what God had allowed. He also told them that he could have called 10,000 Angels to come to his aid and rescue him, if he had wanted, but he did not. Why not? Simple, for God so loved the world, that he sent his son, to save the world. The law (that is whole other long oration) demanded that blood had to be spilled for the forgiveness of sins. Jesus was the sacrifice, and it was his blood that was spilled, for us.
"Oh and I wanted to ask you what bible do you read? I have 3 different ones and I use them to compare to one another,,, "
I have two programs on my computer, that I use often, to do my bible studies from, “The Word” and “Esword”, they are both free. When I am not near the computer, such as lunch time at work, I read my NIV bible. People, much more knowledgeable than me feel that the NIV is one of the best translations, but even when comparing it to some that lean toward the original I find that even the NIV missed it. For example the verse you threw at me, which implies that we are in the power of Satan, when that is not what it says at all. Those bible programs have as many translations and originals as I can stand, currently about 13, that I have downloaded. I also have one of those 4 translation bibles.
We know that anyone born of God does not continue to sin; the one who was born of God keeps him safe, and the evil one cannot harm him. We know that we are children of God, and that the whole world is under the control of the evil one. (1 John 5:18-19, NIV)
This is not the best translation and here is why. Having been written in Greek, a language with no punctuation, it was translated, punctuated, and given chapters and verses. If you are going to get hung up on adding to and taking away from then it is screwed up already.
That last sentence reads more like this in the Greek, and sounds like Yoda speak. "we have known that of God we are, and the whole world in the evil doth lie;" (1 John 5:19, YLT)
Having few other options, it is better to be lying in it than to be owned by it, and ownership is what the JW's imply. Scripture implies an inescapable position, because we exist here on this ball called earth, with it's gravitational pull. But as I said before, we are not of this world, and God is the God of heaven, and of earth.
Jesus said it to Satan as plain as day “there is no god other than God and him alone shall you serve.”
You chose to only use one portion of the paragraph, now look at the verse before the one you choose.
“We know that anyone born of God does not continue to sin; the one who was born of God keeps him safe, and the evil one cannot harm him.”
Consider some of those words.
We – those born of God, in agreement with and understanding God.
The one who was born of God – Who is that? Christ.
Look at:
"For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers." (Romans 8:29, NIV)
"He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation." (Colossians 1:15, NIV)
the one who was born of God – Who is that? The answer is Christ. Scripture tells us that he was the first born from the dead, we were second. Paul said, when you were dead in your trespasses and sins, Christ came. He wrote that to a breathing church body. That either means a spiritual state or it is totally illogical. We have been risen with Christ and made alive in him. Flesh of his flesh and bone of his bone. And made to sit together with him in heavenly places. If you are standing here on earth, then again, this has to be spiritual, until the day that we join him.
Keeps him safe – Who is the him in this sentence? Anyone born of God. Still to this day, and it is only going to get worse, people are dying brutal deaths for their admission of Christ in their life. This is primarily the Muslim nations. As I read scripture and saw in the book of Revelation, a time when followers of Christ would be beheaded for professing His name, I thought that would never happen in this nation. I could see, as I read, the tie in with Islam and it's tenets, for under sharia law they are permitted and commanded to behead the infidel, that is anyone not accepting the Islamic ideals.
Our not voting, and standing by as elected officials decided to declare that this nation is no longer a nation under God, but a nation of acceptance of nonsense, therefore the Muslim's in this nation of ours have cried foul when anyone speaks against their religion of hatred in any way. If they gain control, and the fact that we have a Muslim president should demonstrate their ability to do that, then the time will come when, in this country, you will have your head lopped for not denying Christ.
Having said all that, then what does it mean to “keep him safe”? Again, it has to be primarily spiritual. Certainly God moves in the physical realm. He, for some reason, saw fit to preserve Balaam (you can find his story in the book of Numbers) by having his Ass talk to him, but truth is we are more concerned about how things feel than God is.
And the evil one – Satan. He is not everywhere. He was an angel of light and beautiful. He is now the destroyer of anything that looks like God. God is the only one that has the ability to be everywhere. So Satan cannot chase you around personally. I am sure that many of the other fallen angels, and so called demons can take care of that for him.
cannot harm him – This is perhaps one of the hardest parts to understand, because we know that people do suffer. Consider: if a representative of the Mafia carries out a crime, is not the Mafia also held responsible? So, if demons and people can carry out the devils plans and wishes, harming people, is he not responsible too. How do we say to someone, you will be kept safe and the evil one cannot harm you? Is the answer a spiritual one and not necessarily a physical one.
When God made man, look the story up in Genesis, he made man in his image. No man has seen God and lived to talk about it, so do we really have any solid ideas of what God looks like? But we do know that Jesus said “God is a spirit” therefore man had to be a spirit, initially. Wouldn't it stand to reason that God is more concerned with the spirit man first.
and have you ever watched the history channel on some of those bible history, with all the books that weren't put in, and that makes me wonder cause of the way the bible ends with "don't take any thing out or add any thing to it,"
Consider: The "bible”, that part which we call the old testament, was written in Septuagint Greek, but that made it “common” in the mind of the Jewish/Christian priesthood, because ordinary folk could read it, and it was consider sacred, so it was translated into Hebrew, and the priesthood, the same mindset that put Jesus on the cross, made violent attempts at destroying the Septuagint versions and the people that had copies of it (there weren't many). All of this was of course prior to the New Testament, which was written in Koine Greek, a language of the people, and a very precise language, about 30 years after Christ ascended into heaven. Interesting how they weren't books so much as they were letters. I wonder how that affects a demand like taking away from or adding to.
Many of the books, that you wonder about, have been analyzed and compared, both for content, writing style, Paul had a particular style, writing most of the new testament, and their referencing of known factors, such as historic names and faces. Try reading Josh McDowell's books about why we can believe that the bible is real, or Lee Stroebel's case for the bible. It is called facts and evidence. Most of the Greek literature that we base our lives on, has less evidence to back it up, and over 1000 years between the event and it's recorded history. The New Testament was written soon enough to still have eyewitnesses; John, the disciple, was one of them.
“I do study all the time and I suppose that is why I always have so many questions, I don't trust to much of any thing, especially my own brain.”
My truster is broken as well, but I do trust God, even though I honestly do not understand many of the why's of this earth.
Unfortunately trusting was Israel's problem as well.
Moses returns after being gone for 40 years and tells Israel and Egypt that God spoke to him, and that he was to be the one to lead Israel into deliverance. They had to trust, but none of us trusts, that is the sad effect of living in a broken condition on a broken earth; a pretty hopeless condition without Christ, thank God we have him.
How did Moses/God get Israel to trust him? Show them powerful signs, and God did. Many Egyptians lost their first born. I can just hear them, do not tell me what to do with your bloody wiping around my door posts. And so they died. As Egypt wept, Israel left, but did they leave convinced? NO. They choose to not trust, whining and complaining, and therefore wandered for forty years in desert until those that would not trust were killed off. They were not permitted to enter the land promised to them. Even Moses had to die without entering, because he did not trust. (The incident over the rock releasing water). Only two of the originals were allowed to cross over, Joshua and Caleb. Interesting thing about Caleb, he was not born a Jew, he became one.
If I could define at least one desire of my heart, it is to see God's people have a zeal for his word, and to be able to accurately and effectively convey who he is. No, I do not always feel like I do that very well, but I put my nose in the book constantly. I ask questions of what I read, knowing that God can handle my questions. Writing things like this helps to establish who he is in my own life.
I know that he cares about us, about me, but then there is that broken truster issue. When you take all the curve balls that life throws at you, and then add the mistakes that I committed by myself, well let's just say that it is a toxic mix to the mind. The thing that gives me any hope at all is that Jesus did what he said he would do, and by extension God did. He promises us a new life, and therefore it will be.
It becomes difficult at best to love others when you are not very good at loving yourself, but actions speak louder than words and I wrote this in hopes that perhaps you come to a better understanding of who God is.
Ozzie
- If you live life at all, and try to make a stance for God, then you will have to deal with questions of this nature yourself. I could not answer them in 30 seconds or less, they deserved so much more.
- How do you say to someone, "God is in control" without attempting to define that?
The world looks at what goes on around them and sees an evil, destructive entity with no future hope, and therefore lives for the moment. If you took the time to really ask "who are you?" you would find a God that has and always will be there, consistently for us. What clouds our understanding of God is how deeply embedded our thinking is in how things feel to us.
One of the things that scripture tells us is that God is love. That is not a feeling but actions based on devotion toward another; we are the others. God sent his Son to die for us. Why? So that we, the others that had no hope without Him, could live. If Jesus willingly paid the price of his life, and that felt horrible, why then can we not see the consistency and pattern of a God that is telling the truth, and really does have a plan for our lives. That plan concludes with those who choose to accept this fact, living in his presence.
"Ok so, if we are not of this world, why would we participate in what the J W's refer to as a , worldly activity.."
Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. Romans 13:1 (NIV)
Yep, your right, you are not required to vote, but what if by some fluke that "one", that is holding back the man of lawlessness mentioned in the scripture passage below, is tied in with you and you do nothing. Lawlessness is not just happening on the mean streets around you. Guys like Harry Reid, who just won reelection in Nevada, has made it very clear that he alone establishes what a democratic process looks like. He pushed through a yes vote on a bill, without a majority vote, even though the entire process was challenged and caught on video. There is only one thing, short of God striking someone like that dead, that will stop him, and that is an informed voter. I might also add that Barney Frank, one of men that is so deeply tied in with the collapse of the housing and mortgage industry in America, was also recently reelected.
Voting was and still is our right and privilege. Voting is our voice, and though it may not be the best thing that happened, it got many of us heard, to some degree, this time. I do not have to understand everything that happens. When it comes to voting I stand back and say "really!". What part of your brain did you use to vote?, but then God is in control regardless of how it turns out, and that does not always feel good at the moment.
(2 Thessalonians 2:3-12, NIV)
"Don't let anyone deceive you in any way, for that day will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the man doomed to destruction. He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshiped, so that he sets himself up in God's temple, proclaiming himself to be God. Don't you remember that when I was with you I used to tell you these things? And now you know what is holding him back, so that he may be revealed at the proper time. For the secret power of lawlessness is already at work; but the one who now holds it back will continue to do so till he is taken out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will overthrow with the breath of his mouth and destroy by the splendor of his coming. The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with the work of Satan displayed in all kinds of counterfeit miracles, signs and wonders, and in every sort of evil that deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness."
Another thing I found interesting. - Acknowledge and take to heart this day that the LORD is God in heaven above and on the earth below. There is no other. (Deuteronomy 4:39, NIV)
Ask yourself this question, Did Moses not know that Adam had handed the earth over to Satan? What if Moses did know? We never see or hear of Moses whining, “oh dear God, do you see what the devil is doing to your people now.”
What if, even though you have a knowledge of Satan's ownership, you did just as Moses said, and went about living your life with one purpose, one will for your life, and that is that the Lord is the God in heaven and on earth below, and that there is no other. How would that change your life?
God is not the least bit threatened by Satan's possessing the earth, and if you'll notice he repeatedly asks Israel to be strong, have courage, and to possess what God had given them.
"How do you know so much about the J W's, "
I used to frequently sit by two of them, at one of my jobs. I asked them if they voted, I believe we were voting against Jerry Brown back then, and they responded with "oh no honey, the Jehovah Witnesses don't vote, we believe the devil, the god of this world, controls the government, and therefore we will not vote." All they proved to me was that they only read and hear what they want to hear and see. The Holy Spirit mentions that in the passage from 2Thessalonians 2:3-12 that I quoted above.
"oh and don't worry I know Jesus volunteered. I read Job where it looks to me like he said he would do it. "
"Jesus himself answered this question. "The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life--only to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father." (John 10:17,18 NIV)
Jesus told them, as they stood him before Pilot, that they had absolutely no power to do anything to him outside of what God had allowed. He also told them that he could have called 10,000 Angels to come to his aid and rescue him, if he had wanted, but he did not. Why not? Simple, for God so loved the world, that he sent his son, to save the world. The law (that is whole other long oration) demanded that blood had to be spilled for the forgiveness of sins. Jesus was the sacrifice, and it was his blood that was spilled, for us.
"Oh and I wanted to ask you what bible do you read? I have 3 different ones and I use them to compare to one another,,, "
I have two programs on my computer, that I use often, to do my bible studies from, “The Word” and “Esword”, they are both free. When I am not near the computer, such as lunch time at work, I read my NIV bible. People, much more knowledgeable than me feel that the NIV is one of the best translations, but even when comparing it to some that lean toward the original I find that even the NIV missed it. For example the verse you threw at me, which implies that we are in the power of Satan, when that is not what it says at all. Those bible programs have as many translations and originals as I can stand, currently about 13, that I have downloaded. I also have one of those 4 translation bibles.
We know that anyone born of God does not continue to sin; the one who was born of God keeps him safe, and the evil one cannot harm him. We know that we are children of God, and that the whole world is under the control of the evil one. (1 John 5:18-19, NIV)
This is not the best translation and here is why. Having been written in Greek, a language with no punctuation, it was translated, punctuated, and given chapters and verses. If you are going to get hung up on adding to and taking away from then it is screwed up already.
That last sentence reads more like this in the Greek, and sounds like Yoda speak. "we have known that of God we are, and the whole world in the evil doth lie;" (1 John 5:19, YLT)
Having few other options, it is better to be lying in it than to be owned by it, and ownership is what the JW's imply. Scripture implies an inescapable position, because we exist here on this ball called earth, with it's gravitational pull. But as I said before, we are not of this world, and God is the God of heaven, and of earth.
Jesus said it to Satan as plain as day “there is no god other than God and him alone shall you serve.”
You chose to only use one portion of the paragraph, now look at the verse before the one you choose.
“We know that anyone born of God does not continue to sin; the one who was born of God keeps him safe, and the evil one cannot harm him.”
Consider some of those words.
We – those born of God, in agreement with and understanding God.
The one who was born of God – Who is that? Christ.
Look at:
"For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers." (Romans 8:29, NIV)
"He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation." (Colossians 1:15, NIV)
the one who was born of God – Who is that? The answer is Christ. Scripture tells us that he was the first born from the dead, we were second. Paul said, when you were dead in your trespasses and sins, Christ came. He wrote that to a breathing church body. That either means a spiritual state or it is totally illogical. We have been risen with Christ and made alive in him. Flesh of his flesh and bone of his bone. And made to sit together with him in heavenly places. If you are standing here on earth, then again, this has to be spiritual, until the day that we join him.
Keeps him safe – Who is the him in this sentence? Anyone born of God. Still to this day, and it is only going to get worse, people are dying brutal deaths for their admission of Christ in their life. This is primarily the Muslim nations. As I read scripture and saw in the book of Revelation, a time when followers of Christ would be beheaded for professing His name, I thought that would never happen in this nation. I could see, as I read, the tie in with Islam and it's tenets, for under sharia law they are permitted and commanded to behead the infidel, that is anyone not accepting the Islamic ideals.
Our not voting, and standing by as elected officials decided to declare that this nation is no longer a nation under God, but a nation of acceptance of nonsense, therefore the Muslim's in this nation of ours have cried foul when anyone speaks against their religion of hatred in any way. If they gain control, and the fact that we have a Muslim president should demonstrate their ability to do that, then the time will come when, in this country, you will have your head lopped for not denying Christ.
Having said all that, then what does it mean to “keep him safe”? Again, it has to be primarily spiritual. Certainly God moves in the physical realm. He, for some reason, saw fit to preserve Balaam (you can find his story in the book of Numbers) by having his Ass talk to him, but truth is we are more concerned about how things feel than God is.
And the evil one – Satan. He is not everywhere. He was an angel of light and beautiful. He is now the destroyer of anything that looks like God. God is the only one that has the ability to be everywhere. So Satan cannot chase you around personally. I am sure that many of the other fallen angels, and so called demons can take care of that for him.
cannot harm him – This is perhaps one of the hardest parts to understand, because we know that people do suffer. Consider: if a representative of the Mafia carries out a crime, is not the Mafia also held responsible? So, if demons and people can carry out the devils plans and wishes, harming people, is he not responsible too. How do we say to someone, you will be kept safe and the evil one cannot harm you? Is the answer a spiritual one and not necessarily a physical one.
When God made man, look the story up in Genesis, he made man in his image. No man has seen God and lived to talk about it, so do we really have any solid ideas of what God looks like? But we do know that Jesus said “God is a spirit” therefore man had to be a spirit, initially. Wouldn't it stand to reason that God is more concerned with the spirit man first.
and have you ever watched the history channel on some of those bible history, with all the books that weren't put in, and that makes me wonder cause of the way the bible ends with "don't take any thing out or add any thing to it,"
Consider: The "bible”, that part which we call the old testament, was written in Septuagint Greek, but that made it “common” in the mind of the Jewish/Christian priesthood, because ordinary folk could read it, and it was consider sacred, so it was translated into Hebrew, and the priesthood, the same mindset that put Jesus on the cross, made violent attempts at destroying the Septuagint versions and the people that had copies of it (there weren't many). All of this was of course prior to the New Testament, which was written in Koine Greek, a language of the people, and a very precise language, about 30 years after Christ ascended into heaven. Interesting how they weren't books so much as they were letters. I wonder how that affects a demand like taking away from or adding to.
Many of the books, that you wonder about, have been analyzed and compared, both for content, writing style, Paul had a particular style, writing most of the new testament, and their referencing of known factors, such as historic names and faces. Try reading Josh McDowell's books about why we can believe that the bible is real, or Lee Stroebel's case for the bible. It is called facts and evidence. Most of the Greek literature that we base our lives on, has less evidence to back it up, and over 1000 years between the event and it's recorded history. The New Testament was written soon enough to still have eyewitnesses; John, the disciple, was one of them.
“I do study all the time and I suppose that is why I always have so many questions, I don't trust to much of any thing, especially my own brain.”
My truster is broken as well, but I do trust God, even though I honestly do not understand many of the why's of this earth.
Unfortunately trusting was Israel's problem as well.
Moses returns after being gone for 40 years and tells Israel and Egypt that God spoke to him, and that he was to be the one to lead Israel into deliverance. They had to trust, but none of us trusts, that is the sad effect of living in a broken condition on a broken earth; a pretty hopeless condition without Christ, thank God we have him.
How did Moses/God get Israel to trust him? Show them powerful signs, and God did. Many Egyptians lost their first born. I can just hear them, do not tell me what to do with your bloody wiping around my door posts. And so they died. As Egypt wept, Israel left, but did they leave convinced? NO. They choose to not trust, whining and complaining, and therefore wandered for forty years in desert until those that would not trust were killed off. They were not permitted to enter the land promised to them. Even Moses had to die without entering, because he did not trust. (The incident over the rock releasing water). Only two of the originals were allowed to cross over, Joshua and Caleb. Interesting thing about Caleb, he was not born a Jew, he became one.
If I could define at least one desire of my heart, it is to see God's people have a zeal for his word, and to be able to accurately and effectively convey who he is. No, I do not always feel like I do that very well, but I put my nose in the book constantly. I ask questions of what I read, knowing that God can handle my questions. Writing things like this helps to establish who he is in my own life.
I know that he cares about us, about me, but then there is that broken truster issue. When you take all the curve balls that life throws at you, and then add the mistakes that I committed by myself, well let's just say that it is a toxic mix to the mind. The thing that gives me any hope at all is that Jesus did what he said he would do, and by extension God did. He promises us a new life, and therefore it will be.
It becomes difficult at best to love others when you are not very good at loving yourself, but actions speak louder than words and I wrote this in hopes that perhaps you come to a better understanding of who God is.
Ozzie
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Trying to understand God's forgiveness
Numbers 14
As I read this I am seeing something that I don't understand.
The twelve spies have come back and ten of them have discouraged the people. Quite the rebellion ensues; a mutiny, falling short of an action plan. And then there is talk of stoning the leadership. No less than murder.
Verse 11 has God responding by saying, “how long will they treat me with contempt?”
Moses intercedes on their behalf (not that they deserved it.)
Look at verse 20. In response to Moses' request God says, “I have forgiven them, as you have asked. Nevertheless – not one of these who saw my glory will enter the promised land.”
Now look at 2Samuel 12:13
David has committed adultery with Bathsheba, had her husband murdered, and now there is a child resulting from his sin. David chooses not to look at what he has done and therefore God sends Nathan the prophet. David responds to Nathan with, “I have sinned against the Lord.” Nathan's response, “the Lord has taken away your sin..., but because you have.... the son born to you will die.”
Questions:
1. Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.
1a.)In either case, Israel's or David's, where did this take place? We do not see it.
The shedding of blood has to go back all the way to Adam. There is a logical path in that, and it becomes visible when you choose to follow the path through Abel and his brother Cain. The teaching did not die that day and I believe that Israel was aware of it.
You can see God brought this back to Israel through Moses, and that Moses made it clear that the shedding of blood had to take place for the forgiveness of sins.
This of course, is our life, for Christ's blood was shed for us.
Assumptions:
A. That Moses' intervention and God's response were all immediate.
B. David must have offered a sacrifice for the sins he had committed.
Considerations:
a.) No cell phones, so for the mutiny to escalate through over a million people time has to pass. God's punishment was upon the entire congregation. Why would he punish those not guilty? That would imply that they all conspired, not just a handful. There is nothing to make us believe that anyone repented of theirs sins through sacrifice.
b.) Although David may have sacrificed what destroys that theory is that Nathan had to be sent by God. And, until confronted, David had kept this all a big secret, therefore, no admission of guilt. Confronted and caught, David makes his declaration, “I have sinned against the Lord.”
In either case, with my physical eye, I see people coming against people; God sees it differently. David made a truthful statement and yet odd, in that he had sinned against several people in order to get what he wanted, and he made no mention of that. Perhaps what was important was what the biblical writers, led by the Holy Spirit, placed upon the page for us to see, that David had sinned against God. In Numbers, while the mutiny against Moses is unfolding, God tells Moses that the people have sinned against God.
If you consider that scripture tells us that we are in Christ, then sins committed against us, are committed against Christ, and ultimately against the Father as well. Israel nor David had the relationship with the Father that we have, and yet God took any actions performed against those He considers his, to be actions against him.
We have a relationship that we do not fully comprehend, with a God that we can only understand through the Spirit. Having his life in us by accepting our adoption through Christ, puts that Spirit within. As loving as we want to perceive God to be, he is the last person that you want against you, as we go on the rampage against those who belong to him. And here is the worst part. It is difficult to tell who it is that belongs to him, because not all of us have managed to stay out of the mud puddles that life has put in our path, and some do not have the money to buy the right clothes that make us appear holy.
I have been taken back as people that I never expected to have a relationship or understanding of God, have made some rather bold, unexpected statements. They have in those moments demonstrated a boldness that I desire, as my fleeting self-righteousness gets blown out the window.
As I read this I am seeing something that I don't understand.
The twelve spies have come back and ten of them have discouraged the people. Quite the rebellion ensues; a mutiny, falling short of an action plan. And then there is talk of stoning the leadership. No less than murder.
Verse 11 has God responding by saying, “how long will they treat me with contempt?”
Moses intercedes on their behalf (not that they deserved it.)
Look at verse 20. In response to Moses' request God says, “I have forgiven them, as you have asked. Nevertheless – not one of these who saw my glory will enter the promised land.”
Now look at 2Samuel 12:13
David has committed adultery with Bathsheba, had her husband murdered, and now there is a child resulting from his sin. David chooses not to look at what he has done and therefore God sends Nathan the prophet. David responds to Nathan with, “I have sinned against the Lord.” Nathan's response, “the Lord has taken away your sin..., but because you have.... the son born to you will die.”
Questions:
1. Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.
1a.)In either case, Israel's or David's, where did this take place? We do not see it.
The shedding of blood has to go back all the way to Adam. There is a logical path in that, and it becomes visible when you choose to follow the path through Abel and his brother Cain. The teaching did not die that day and I believe that Israel was aware of it.
You can see God brought this back to Israel through Moses, and that Moses made it clear that the shedding of blood had to take place for the forgiveness of sins.
This of course, is our life, for Christ's blood was shed for us.
Assumptions:
A. That Moses' intervention and God's response were all immediate.
B. David must have offered a sacrifice for the sins he had committed.
Considerations:
a.) No cell phones, so for the mutiny to escalate through over a million people time has to pass. God's punishment was upon the entire congregation. Why would he punish those not guilty? That would imply that they all conspired, not just a handful. There is nothing to make us believe that anyone repented of theirs sins through sacrifice.
b.) Although David may have sacrificed what destroys that theory is that Nathan had to be sent by God. And, until confronted, David had kept this all a big secret, therefore, no admission of guilt. Confronted and caught, David makes his declaration, “I have sinned against the Lord.”
In either case, with my physical eye, I see people coming against people; God sees it differently. David made a truthful statement and yet odd, in that he had sinned against several people in order to get what he wanted, and he made no mention of that. Perhaps what was important was what the biblical writers, led by the Holy Spirit, placed upon the page for us to see, that David had sinned against God. In Numbers, while the mutiny against Moses is unfolding, God tells Moses that the people have sinned against God.
If you consider that scripture tells us that we are in Christ, then sins committed against us, are committed against Christ, and ultimately against the Father as well. Israel nor David had the relationship with the Father that we have, and yet God took any actions performed against those He considers his, to be actions against him.
We have a relationship that we do not fully comprehend, with a God that we can only understand through the Spirit. Having his life in us by accepting our adoption through Christ, puts that Spirit within. As loving as we want to perceive God to be, he is the last person that you want against you, as we go on the rampage against those who belong to him. And here is the worst part. It is difficult to tell who it is that belongs to him, because not all of us have managed to stay out of the mud puddles that life has put in our path, and some do not have the money to buy the right clothes that make us appear holy.
I have been taken back as people that I never expected to have a relationship or understanding of God, have made some rather bold, unexpected statements. They have in those moments demonstrated a boldness that I desire, as my fleeting self-righteousness gets blown out the window.
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
How do you know that it was God? - My answer to Joyce
"How do you know that is was God that answered your prayer?"
It may be natural
to feel challenged when someone asks "how do you know?"
I do the same
thing, challenging people all the time because people make statements
but do not demonstrate a pattern consistent with the statement, or
what they say seems so brash that you want to know why they made it.
I am not asking a
question like that because I am lacking a relationship with the Lord,
but I certainly do want to know what theirs is.
I recently asked a
young man, "how do you know God is real?" I ask myself that
question frequently. Why? Because there are times when I get too
focused on the world going on around me, and there is very little
that the world shows me that gives me hope. In fact, if I focus
on the world for very long I do find myself wondering if this life
that scripture teaches about is real, and is he coming as He
promised.
How do you
refocus, especially when the voices of doubt and despair are
coming at you from all sides?
David had the same
problem. (Read 1Samuel 30) Having been given the town of Ziklag by
the Philistines, David and his men settled there with their families.
Who were David's
men? The down and out, divorced, wanted, bankrupt, and bar fighters.
They went out to battle and returned to find the town in ruins and
every trace of their families gone.
What did the men
who were with David do, they turned on David, expressing their desire
to now kill him.
That was one of
those days, the kind in which everything seems to go against you.
In midst of tremendous pressure scripture tells us that David
encouraged himself in the Lord. I have no idea
how he did that, or what he said, but instead of crawling under a
rock he turned to God. His response to the worms that wanted him dead
was let's go take care of the ones that did this, and off they went.
My perception of
what David did and what I do, is to remind myself of what
the known factors are.
I have visual
images in my head associated with God in action throughout the bible.
No, I do not memorize scriptures, that borders on the impossible for
me. As I read things in scripture I can visualize them, and that is
what I remember. I know that Christ's coming was prophesied long
before he came, and I know that he did come. I have a strong concept
of social life during the time of his birth, and that Mary took a
tremendous amount heat for continuing to profess that Jesus, this
baby within her, was the son of God, not Joseph's or some other man.
If you don't believe that, then why, when they came back to their
home town, Bethlehem, for the census, did none of their kin folk take
them in?
So, in an effort
to refocus, I walk the path that God walked through this earth,
demonstrating to folks who struggled to believe, that He was God, and
that his word was true and believable, by doing exactly what
he said he would do.
Consider Jonah
the prophet, he had to refocus. He was sent to declare God's
vengeance and justice upon a people that Jonah hated. Jonah also
feared them and fought God's calling for him to go deliver the
message, hence forth the fish swallowed him up. After delivering the
message, much to Jonah's dismay, the people repented and God turns
his anger away, withholding the destruction that Jonah had
promised would come. Jonah thinks this makes him look bad and it
appears that God does not do what he said. But there is always more
to the story.
Jonah has probably
long since died and Nineveh has returned to it's evil ways, and yet
history records that God did exactly what he said he would do and
wiped that city off the face of the map.
When you use the phrase "be thankful for unanswered prayers". I suspect you just never know how or when the answer came.
As for myself, some
of us live in a quiet seclusion, and because of experience, do not
perceive the world as a place that encourages us to share all the
details of our testimony. And yet, I have seen God's handiwork in
ways that were contrary to what man wanted and seemed to be in direct
response to my prayers. (Prayers are oft times wrapped up in our
anguished cries for help.)
I had a friend who
opted for the wild side of life when he was younger, and found
himself before a judge, facing a maximum prison sentence. His daddy
prayed, and the oddest thing happened, he was sent home a free man.
He turned back to the Lord, grateful for what had happened and turned
his life around. He does not brag about that to very many people. The
action and reaction, answered prayer, was so immediate that it was
easy to associate the request with the answer as being from God.
So then, what do
we base our perception of whether God is involved in the answer to
our prayer upon?
We seem to base
everything upon our perceptions and responses, which is the outcome
of what our senses tell us. We choose to use our five physical
senses to evaluate whether God moved or not; how ridiculous is that.
Although God gave man those physical senses, they cannot possibly
demonstrate how God can be perceived or who he is, for God tends to
work outside of that realm as well work within it. We know from
scripture that God is a spirit. That in itself tends to reach beyond
our comprehension, but even there we tie our understanding to what we
think is the world of ghosts. Have no doubt the spirit world is very
real, therefore God is very real, for how could the inventor of
something have less of a reality.
If I have faith
in Him, is not my faith the result of what my senses have registered?
I hear someone
speak of what He has done and I take hope. In doing so I have used my
sense of hearing. I read his word, applying it to my own life, and I
have employed the sense of sight. Should God's intervention be one
that I can feel, (if only we could ask Lot about that) then once
again my senses have come into play. We have what we call instincts.
Those instincts, interacting with our senses can move us toward
someone or quickly away from those we sense danger from. We might
call that an inward voice, scripture refers to that as the voice of
the spirit speaking to the soul of man.
Scripture tells us
that during the days of Samuel the seer, that Israel came under
attack by the Philistines. This happened many times, but this time
Samuel prayed and God responded, with lightning (look up the
destructive power of lightning sometime), and with earthquakes (the
ground did not merely just shake, it opened up like a bad movie, and
swallowed many). Men were burned, seared, deafened, had their
clothing blasted off of them, and killed by the amperage. Israel
understood that this was the hand of God, and yet there are always
those that would say how do you know that God answered this prayer.
In any situation
there would have to be a correlation between the request and the
answer. I have prayed a simple prayer of "God reattach this
tendon to its proper place", and watched as the balled up tendon
moved back down the arm to where it was supposed to be. Did that
hurt, I imagine so, but the response to the prayer was immediate. I
have also cried out to God for help, and watched in a shattered state
of hope, as God worked out my prayer over the course of several
months. Sure, I prayed for my marriage to be restored and my family
returned to me, but that did not happen. What God is doing in the
background I do not know. I would not change what I have now for
anything. I do not think that anything happens by chance, but that it
is all part of God's intricate plan. A plan that has a future, even
if it is with him in paradise.
I suppose that if
there is a bottom line in this, it is that our knowing that God was
involved in the answer stems from faith. Faith is built upon trust
and relationship, and without faith it is impossible to please God,
and faith in him pushes us to believe that He was the one who moved
in our behalf.
Friday, September 10, 2010
How do you not know?
1 Corinthians 10:3,4 (NIV) They all ate the same spiritual food and drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ.
Here I am, all these years later, with history as my insight, and I am saying "how could they not know?"
Answering my own question, how could they have known? Would I have known and understood?
When Jesus walked along the road to Emmaus, beginning in the law and ending in the prophets, he verbalized to those disciples about who he was, and what would become of him. Beginning in the law and ending in the prophets. That would have covered Genesis through Malachi. Trust me, it was not a dry story. Let me give you an example: In 1 Samuel 30 David and his men have returned to their hometown of Ziklag, after a long battle. They expect their families, a good meal, and some rest. What they find is the city in ruins and their families gone. At this point the men turn on David. How David encouraged himself in the face of this rebellion I do not know, but he did, and they all go in pursuit of the raiders.
Let's for a moment put flesh and blood on these men. When they came back to Ziklag, home in sight, there is no sense saving any of the lousy rations you have been eating, because there will be a steak on the table, waiting for you when you get there, and these men are coming back hungry. Because of this, they have little food, if any and they are all exhausted; not just tired, but battle fatigued.
All head out to rescue their families, but 200 cannot go on and David allows them to rest by the brook Besor while the rest continue on in pursuit and an eventual battle that they win. On their return they gather those that waited by the stream, incapable of participating with the vigor of others. In their heads they may have only hoped to get their families back alive, and that would have been more than enough, but David, going against the popular opinion of those who did not believe they should get much of anything in terms of reward, splits the booty, equally between everyone.
Consider this abbreviated saga in light of our redemption. There are many of us that are not on the so called front lines of battle. There are some that are incapable of doing what others do (for a variety of reasons), and yet scripture tells us that as over-comers in this life there is a reward.
How are we any different? Sure you can act arrogant, boasting about your earned Doctorate, and how you flaunt your money, but the truth is you are broken and irreparable without God.
God redeemed us, just as he redeemed these men.
This is a work in progress, as I suppose all these writings are.
Here I am, all these years later, with history as my insight, and I am saying "how could they not know?"
Answering my own question, how could they have known? Would I have known and understood?
When Jesus walked along the road to Emmaus, beginning in the law and ending in the prophets, he verbalized to those disciples about who he was, and what would become of him. Beginning in the law and ending in the prophets. That would have covered Genesis through Malachi. Trust me, it was not a dry story. Let me give you an example: In 1 Samuel 30 David and his men have returned to their hometown of Ziklag, after a long battle. They expect their families, a good meal, and some rest. What they find is the city in ruins and their families gone. At this point the men turn on David. How David encouraged himself in the face of this rebellion I do not know, but he did, and they all go in pursuit of the raiders.
Let's for a moment put flesh and blood on these men. When they came back to Ziklag, home in sight, there is no sense saving any of the lousy rations you have been eating, because there will be a steak on the table, waiting for you when you get there, and these men are coming back hungry. Because of this, they have little food, if any and they are all exhausted; not just tired, but battle fatigued.
All head out to rescue their families, but 200 cannot go on and David allows them to rest by the brook Besor while the rest continue on in pursuit and an eventual battle that they win. On their return they gather those that waited by the stream, incapable of participating with the vigor of others. In their heads they may have only hoped to get their families back alive, and that would have been more than enough, but David, going against the popular opinion of those who did not believe they should get much of anything in terms of reward, splits the booty, equally between everyone.
Consider this abbreviated saga in light of our redemption. There are many of us that are not on the so called front lines of battle. There are some that are incapable of doing what others do (for a variety of reasons), and yet scripture tells us that as over-comers in this life there is a reward.
(Do not get discouraged here, for there are plenty of us that feel like we have not overcome anything. The men left by the brook had to have felt the same way. Certainly those that fought in the battle that freed their families did not feel that the "brook sitters" deserved anything, but David, who is repeatedly referred to as an analogy for Christ, did.)
Those that sat by the brook did not merely lie down, whining I don't want to do this, they were out of energy, and incapable. This scene has our redemption written all over it. We are all incapable of saving ourselves and therefore our David is Christ. We have done nothing to deserve reward and yet he has given it to us. We have lost our families and yet family will be restored in the kingdom. And most relevant of all is the fact that the men that gathered themselves to David were the losers in the worlds eyes. These were the guys that were in trouble, lost their jobs, lost their families, lost their homes and land, and you can pretty much guarantee they had lost their pride along the way.How are we any different? Sure you can act arrogant, boasting about your earned Doctorate, and how you flaunt your money, but the truth is you are broken and irreparable without God.
God redeemed us, just as he redeemed these men.
This is a work in progress, as I suppose all these writings are.
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
Ponder the word humble for a moment.
Scripture tells us that Moses was the most humble man on the earth.
Have you ever given that any consideration.
Many study and use him as an example of a great leader. How does one equate greatness with humility?
He was raised in Egyptian royalty; Taught to the highest degree; Expected to be of noble character; And, probably arrogant.
Yes, we should all by now be aware that his Jewish family put him in basket, in a river, and watched him float away in an effort to save his life and in a round about way protect him. A scene which evokes humble beginnings, but that scene apparently produced no deep seeded feelings of rejection and seemed to have been the key to who Moses became.
As I write these things I am sure others will perceive my statements as ignorant or unfounded. I on the other hand am annoyed that church people will not read their Bibles, nor, if they do, apply any logical thought to what they read. I would not be logical for someone, having been raised by Queen Victoria, to be rude and ill mannered. I believe that woman would have seen to it that you were educated, sophisticated, well spoken, introduced to heads of state, and given every advantage and opportunity associated with the royal title. The privileges associated with title would surely be backing anyone which had been raised in the castle, and given the rights to it.
How could Moses have been any different?
Moses had the potential to be full of himself, and he was.
When Moses understood that the slaves of the nation were his ancestral people, he decided to free them himself. I am not clear on how that inclination came to him, but when this process begins he is acting out of his "noble" training. I know, noble training and killing a man may not set well with our thinking, but get real, the Kennedy family has had more than it's fair share of dead people left by the wayside. What prompts them to step outside the boundaries of so called nobility? A broken human nature, Moses was no different.
"When Moses saw the Egyptian abusing the Jew." There is an oddity in that statement, for the Jews were slaves, forced to make bricks, and abused on a daily basis, an acceptable practice for Egyptian slave owners. A scene which Moses had seen many times, but suddenly this is a newly found, yet distant relative. Moses takes a quick look around, thinking that no one is looking, kills the Egyptian, then buries him in the sand. Where did that skill come from?
Moses must have felt that he could do it! What does that mean? Was it within his right?; it does not appear so for he is now running for his life. Was it his training, which you can be sure in a feudal society included hand to hand combat training. When Egypt goes in pursuit of Israel, now crossing the Red Sea, who is leading the charge? Pharaoh, a man trained in combat.
Think about this.
Don't you find it odd the value that we place upon certain people. A Jew, in this case is worth very little, and to abuse one, meaningless, but to kill an Egyptian, who may well have been a useless human being himself, is worthy of some huge penalty. We do this on a daily basis, that is give value to certain people and not others. It is called prejudice, and to be truthful I am no different, but I will tell you this, there are plenty of white people that are wasting good breathing air.
Moses flees for his life into the desert where he hooks up with the Midianites and spends the next forty years. Now what does any of that have to do with humility?
Consider: He runs away from the wrath of Egypt that raised him, and wanders (sort of) for forty years. The wandering does not necessarily mean he walked in big circles. It took him that long to get his head on straight. Wow, what a coincidence; Israel will soon wander for the same period of time. Wow, what a coincidence; Moses is taking these people on the same paths that he walked for forty years. You might think that he knew exactly what was out there, and maybe what it would do to your head.
When he leaves for the desert he is forty years old. Still a young man by our standards, but well aged by theirs. At forty you should be established, on the tail end of your career, capable, and married. Interesting that there is no mention of that.
How could I assume any of that?
A. What was their lifespan - about 120 years.
B. I can compare their lifestyle with known lifestyles, and this would be typical for the Jewish community around Jesus time period.
C. When Jesus started his road ministry, he was well established as a carpenter, and as a Rabbi.
D. It was tradition to be married, and by a certain age. True, marriage began at least a year before consummation, for the home had to be built and the young man had to have some form of income.
E. I understand that this is two differing cultures, but people are not that different.
Webster's dictionary has this as the definition for humble:
1: not proud or haughty : not arrogant or assertive
2: reflecting, expressing, or offered in a spirit of deference or submission humble apologyt;
3a : ranking low in a hierarchy or scale : insignificant, unpretentious
Prior to his life in the desert, none of these aspects could be used to describe who Moses was. He was anything but humble. We can only conjecture what his life was like between the basket in the river and the killing of the Egyptian.
What impact did it have to find that you were not an Egyptian, worthy of pushing Jewish slaves around, but a Jew yourself. Do you think for a second that he was going have someone push him around; I don't think so. I remember how the movie portrayed him as becoming one of them. Ask yourself, How difficult was it for any Jew to free themselves from the Nazi death camps once taken captive.
I suspect that he found out what his heritage truly was, and it was a shock to his system. Only God could have motivated him to do what he did beyond that. Scripture tells us that Moses choose to be like his people, total opposition to the lifestyle he had been used to.
Forty years in the wilderness and now he is eighty. A senior, with gray hair, and now considered wise.
Strange, how Moses whines at God about his inability to speak when God tells him he is go back and give Egypt the message. That makes no sense, unless forty years of talking to sheep has reduced your vocabulary.
When Moses finally takes God's case before Pharaoh, he was most certainly assertive.
We do not want to believe that he deferred to Pharaoh. It would only make sense that Moses deferred to the King's authority, for to do anything else could mean death. Try pushing your way into the White House and see where that gets you.
Taking the role of leadership over potentially a million people requires traits that would seem to work in oppostion to humility, therefore we have to make an assumption, humility then must have applied to the way Moses interacted with God.
Try to convince that many people that you are now their fearless leader. I am sure that the mighty acts of God helped that situation; especially when you tell someone that such and such is going to happen and then, with consistency, it does. I truly believe that people will move based more on fear than a deep respect for your leadership qualities. There is a saying "actions speak louder than words", well Moses certainly proved that. To the outsider there is no humility involved here, but there is, for every man answers to someone.
You cannot lead a bunch of whiners that want to turn around at every difficulty without having to step up and take a role of assertiveness. As we sat in the doctor's office waiting room with my girlfriend's 92 year old mother, she whined, "I just want to go home". She did not like being there, she did not like hearing all the noise in the room, there was plenty, and she did not remember why she was even there. She had recently had a ruptured appendix removed, a procedure which saved her life. This was Israel as well. All Israel seemed to do was say, "We want to go back, we like onions, at least we knew what our job was." Why am I here.
Here is my point. If I try to define what made Moses a humble man it was how quickly he turned to God.
The people complained, he turned to God; The people wanted him dead, he turned to God; the people spoke against his leadership, he turned to God; his brother and sister tried a mutiny, he turned to God; many among the people resorted to serving idols and other gods, he turned them over to God, and how do you feed so many people, by turning them over to God.
Many of those times he turned to God you see him on his face before God. He would talk with God like one talks with a friend that allows you to be open and honest.
Moses deferred his will to God, subjected himself to God's wisdom, applied new rules to his own life and the lives of the people - as God told him to do, and listened to God's counsel, doing what he told him to do, mostly. The few times that Moses choose to do things his own way, and we might call that letting his anger get the best of him, cost him the right to enter the land that was the hope of freedom that God had showed this leader. What leader would not want to partake of the same freedoms that his people would enjoy?
Have you ever given that any consideration.
Many study and use him as an example of a great leader. How does one equate greatness with humility?
He was raised in Egyptian royalty; Taught to the highest degree; Expected to be of noble character; And, probably arrogant.
Yes, we should all by now be aware that his Jewish family put him in basket, in a river, and watched him float away in an effort to save his life and in a round about way protect him. A scene which evokes humble beginnings, but that scene apparently produced no deep seeded feelings of rejection and seemed to have been the key to who Moses became.
As I write these things I am sure others will perceive my statements as ignorant or unfounded. I on the other hand am annoyed that church people will not read their Bibles, nor, if they do, apply any logical thought to what they read. I would not be logical for someone, having been raised by Queen Victoria, to be rude and ill mannered. I believe that woman would have seen to it that you were educated, sophisticated, well spoken, introduced to heads of state, and given every advantage and opportunity associated with the royal title. The privileges associated with title would surely be backing anyone which had been raised in the castle, and given the rights to it.
How could Moses have been any different?
Moses had the potential to be full of himself, and he was.
When Moses understood that the slaves of the nation were his ancestral people, he decided to free them himself. I am not clear on how that inclination came to him, but when this process begins he is acting out of his "noble" training. I know, noble training and killing a man may not set well with our thinking, but get real, the Kennedy family has had more than it's fair share of dead people left by the wayside. What prompts them to step outside the boundaries of so called nobility? A broken human nature, Moses was no different.
"When Moses saw the Egyptian abusing the Jew." There is an oddity in that statement, for the Jews were slaves, forced to make bricks, and abused on a daily basis, an acceptable practice for Egyptian slave owners. A scene which Moses had seen many times, but suddenly this is a newly found, yet distant relative. Moses takes a quick look around, thinking that no one is looking, kills the Egyptian, then buries him in the sand. Where did that skill come from?
Moses must have felt that he could do it! What does that mean? Was it within his right?; it does not appear so for he is now running for his life. Was it his training, which you can be sure in a feudal society included hand to hand combat training. When Egypt goes in pursuit of Israel, now crossing the Red Sea, who is leading the charge? Pharaoh, a man trained in combat.
Think about this.
Don't you find it odd the value that we place upon certain people. A Jew, in this case is worth very little, and to abuse one, meaningless, but to kill an Egyptian, who may well have been a useless human being himself, is worthy of some huge penalty. We do this on a daily basis, that is give value to certain people and not others. It is called prejudice, and to be truthful I am no different, but I will tell you this, there are plenty of white people that are wasting good breathing air.
Moses flees for his life into the desert where he hooks up with the Midianites and spends the next forty years. Now what does any of that have to do with humility?
Consider: He runs away from the wrath of Egypt that raised him, and wanders (sort of) for forty years. The wandering does not necessarily mean he walked in big circles. It took him that long to get his head on straight. Wow, what a coincidence; Israel will soon wander for the same period of time. Wow, what a coincidence; Moses is taking these people on the same paths that he walked for forty years. You might think that he knew exactly what was out there, and maybe what it would do to your head.
When he leaves for the desert he is forty years old. Still a young man by our standards, but well aged by theirs. At forty you should be established, on the tail end of your career, capable, and married. Interesting that there is no mention of that.
How could I assume any of that?
A. What was their lifespan - about 120 years.
B. I can compare their lifestyle with known lifestyles, and this would be typical for the Jewish community around Jesus time period.
C. When Jesus started his road ministry, he was well established as a carpenter, and as a Rabbi.
D. It was tradition to be married, and by a certain age. True, marriage began at least a year before consummation, for the home had to be built and the young man had to have some form of income.
E. I understand that this is two differing cultures, but people are not that different.
Webster's dictionary has this as the definition for humble:
1: not proud or haughty : not arrogant or assertive
2: reflecting, expressing, or offered in a spirit of deference or submission humble apologyt;
3a : ranking low in a hierarchy or scale : insignificant, unpretentious
Prior to his life in the desert, none of these aspects could be used to describe who Moses was. He was anything but humble. We can only conjecture what his life was like between the basket in the river and the killing of the Egyptian.
What impact did it have to find that you were not an Egyptian, worthy of pushing Jewish slaves around, but a Jew yourself. Do you think for a second that he was going have someone push him around; I don't think so. I remember how the movie portrayed him as becoming one of them. Ask yourself, How difficult was it for any Jew to free themselves from the Nazi death camps once taken captive.
I suspect that he found out what his heritage truly was, and it was a shock to his system. Only God could have motivated him to do what he did beyond that. Scripture tells us that Moses choose to be like his people, total opposition to the lifestyle he had been used to.
Forty years in the wilderness and now he is eighty. A senior, with gray hair, and now considered wise.
Strange, how Moses whines at God about his inability to speak when God tells him he is go back and give Egypt the message. That makes no sense, unless forty years of talking to sheep has reduced your vocabulary.
When Moses finally takes God's case before Pharaoh, he was most certainly assertive.
We do not want to believe that he deferred to Pharaoh. It would only make sense that Moses deferred to the King's authority, for to do anything else could mean death. Try pushing your way into the White House and see where that gets you.
Taking the role of leadership over potentially a million people requires traits that would seem to work in oppostion to humility, therefore we have to make an assumption, humility then must have applied to the way Moses interacted with God.
Try to convince that many people that you are now their fearless leader. I am sure that the mighty acts of God helped that situation; especially when you tell someone that such and such is going to happen and then, with consistency, it does. I truly believe that people will move based more on fear than a deep respect for your leadership qualities. There is a saying "actions speak louder than words", well Moses certainly proved that. To the outsider there is no humility involved here, but there is, for every man answers to someone.
You cannot lead a bunch of whiners that want to turn around at every difficulty without having to step up and take a role of assertiveness. As we sat in the doctor's office waiting room with my girlfriend's 92 year old mother, she whined, "I just want to go home". She did not like being there, she did not like hearing all the noise in the room, there was plenty, and she did not remember why she was even there. She had recently had a ruptured appendix removed, a procedure which saved her life. This was Israel as well. All Israel seemed to do was say, "We want to go back, we like onions, at least we knew what our job was." Why am I here.
Here is my point. If I try to define what made Moses a humble man it was how quickly he turned to God.
The people complained, he turned to God; The people wanted him dead, he turned to God; the people spoke against his leadership, he turned to God; his brother and sister tried a mutiny, he turned to God; many among the people resorted to serving idols and other gods, he turned them over to God, and how do you feed so many people, by turning them over to God.
Many of those times he turned to God you see him on his face before God. He would talk with God like one talks with a friend that allows you to be open and honest.
Moses deferred his will to God, subjected himself to God's wisdom, applied new rules to his own life and the lives of the people - as God told him to do, and listened to God's counsel, doing what he told him to do, mostly. The few times that Moses choose to do things his own way, and we might call that letting his anger get the best of him, cost him the right to enter the land that was the hope of freedom that God had showed this leader. What leader would not want to partake of the same freedoms that his people would enjoy?
Monday, July 12, 2010
Some thoughts on Matthew 1:21. Updated
Matthew 1:21 (WBS) And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.
Let's for the moment say that who He is is irrefutable, this Jesus.
"for he shall save his people from their sins."
Shall is future tense, but when this was spoken his acts of salvation had not yet come. And yet, the word shall also implies a future salvation even yet.
To save is to: Preserve from; rescue; deliver from the power of; prevent; to spare; to hinder from occurrence; to use opportunely, so as not to lose; to reserve from a general admission or account.
Save in Greek is sozo.
The KJV translated sozo as whole 5x's. Could we put in the word whole and have it mean the same thing? for he shall make whole his people from their sins. It does not really work grammatically and yet there is some reality in this reading. If they can use the word healed as representative of salvation, then to make whole would also apply. The real question is, made whole from what? The obvious answer, in my mind, would be life without the Father, but I know there are plenty of people who do not see their lives as needing rescue.
One of the things I see in scripture is that refusal of the atoning sacrifice is a separation from the Holy one, this concept goes back to the days of Moses and the sacrifices, which would make oneself acceptable to God, because it was a covering for the sins of the one offering the sacrifice. Christ offered himself in our behalf, knowing full well that we could not.
We are saved from: our sins; saved from separation; saved from the grasp of the enemy(so to speak); preserved for God; healed; made well; made whole. All for God's purpose.
Do we fulfill that purpose? Many do (Corey Tenboom comes to mind), but as we look through human eyes, most would say no. To ask what God's purpose is in our lives takes a little more time. The short answer, if you are asking, is to allow Him to have his way in your life.
Even though Christ paid the price for our sozo, our wholeness from sin, we still have not obtained an entrance into the kingdom as I see it. Jesus said no one comes to the Father but through him. The effortless path, that many want to walk, may have well been through his blood alone and that has been accomplished, but there is definitely an acceptance of that price and the life that is promised to you that must take place.
The Jehovah's Witness came to the door this morning and passed out some literature. "Who is Jesus". It all seemed good up to the point that Jesus was made king (and we recognize that from scripture); Their interpretation of his kingship: we are all saved and made welcome into the kingdom merely because Jesus was. What is lacking in this is our acceptance or perhaps a stronger word, trust.
Now maybe I am making more of acceptance than I should, for I may not fully understand what it is to accept. (By the way, their literature said nothing of their claims that Jesus was an archangel and not the son of God.)
Vine's NT words says this about accepting Christ, and I will only give a few examples:
[ A-1,Verb,G1209, dechomai ]
signifies to accept," by a deliberate and ready reception of what is offered (cp. No. 4), e.g., 1Thess 2:13, RV, "accepted;" 2Cor 8:17; 2Cor 11:4. See RECEIVE, TAKE.
[ A-2,Verb,G588, apodechomai ]
consisting of apo, "from," intensive, and No. 1, expresses dechomai more strongly, signifying "to receive heartily, to welcome," Luke 8:40 (RV, "welcomed," AV, "gladly received"); Acts 2:41; Acts 18:27; Acts 24:3; Acts 28:30. See RECEIVE, WELCOME.
[ A-3,Verb,G4327, prosdechomai ]
pros, "to," and No. 1, "to accept favorably, or receive to oneself," is used of things future, in the sense of expecting; with the meaning of "accepting," it is used negatively in Heb 11:35, "not accepting their deliverance;" of receiving, e.g., Luke 15:2; Rom 16:2; Phil 2:29. See ALLOW, LOOK (for), RECEIVE, TAKE, WAIT.
In none of these definitions is it a casual thing; much like a casual look at the trees on the side on the road, as you make a road trip. This is a deliberate acceptance and understanding. I know that many make claim to Jesus, merely for the fire insurance that he offers them; and there in is my problem. My humanity and religious upbringing tell me that fire insurance is unacceptable. Although I deem myself pious, my actions when I am not around you can be completely different, therefore, if I am not living my rants, then I am nothing more than a hypocrite, and quite possibly only carrying around my own form of fire insurance.
I thought that I had received Jesus into my life.
Perhaps the truth is that I am not so convinced that I have really received Christ. For to receive Him would be to embrace and hold that which was given for me.
How do I justify Christ in me, and the worldly things I play with?
How do I justify the judgments that I make against others, who hold to worldly things when the Father has so freely forgiven me, and told me not to judge?
Matthew 7:22 (WBS) Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out demons? and in thy name done many wonderful works?
This verse always troubles me, for, in many cases, you cannot tell that they are not on the right track, doing the Lord's work. The people in this passage sound like they were on the right track. Jesus went on to say, "Therefore whoever hears these sayings of mine, and does them,..." So then there is the secret, laying there in the open. Whoever hears and does, will be wise and one built upon a rock. We can hear from the pages of the book as well as our spirit, but then putting these commands into practice is another. The doing part demands that I not be selfish, and yet virtually every aspect of the world's wisdom tells me that taking care of my self is the key to success.
The other aspect of this verse that I wanted to talk about was "their sins."
At that moment there were only two kinds of people in the world Jesus and everyone else. Just take some time to read and you will find, exclusive of Jesus, three kinds of people in the world; the Jews, the nations, and the church. Although The church did not occur until after Christ was risen from the dead. The Jews had rejected him, but in spite of harsh rebuttals against them, God has never rejected them; he did though, take his life blood to the nations. Out of the nations comes the Church, those of us who have put our trust in Him. That leaves the nations, and includes any who do not put their trust in Christ as the sacrificial lamb.
In spite of their right to first refusal, Israel still had to make a choice. We see in scripture that even as Jesus walked the earth, several did believe in him. The book of Acts demonstrates that the first followers into the Church of Christ were Jews.
Sin is a Greek word hamartia. This can be any offense. The word hamartia is a noun, and literally means missing the mark. The difficulty in life is hitting the mark. Having shot competitive archery for a time, I can tell you that hitting anything other than the mark or bulls-eye is common and much easier. To strike the bulls-eye requires focus, and practice. Does that mean that it is impossible to stay within the mark, NO, it merely means it is more difficult than it sounds, for there are few that put that kind of time into this Christian life to be proficient at it. One of my Pastors would tell people, in counseling, "just stop it." Wouldn't that be great if stopping the sin in your life was just that easy. He later had a problem himself, and merely "stopping it" was a problem for him too.
Perhaps this not sinning is more of a continual effort on our part. Practice requires a continual trying, working toward a goal, in order to better yourself, and that is only accomplished through doing; Which is exactly what Jesus said.
So then, the Angel could well have said: .., and you shall call his name Jesus: for he shall make his people whole, who have continued to miss the mark, no matter how hard they tried, and because you cannot make it on your own, salvation has been, and will be given and life with Him is offered. A life with Christ if you will trust that his work, on your behalf, is yours.
Let's for the moment say that who He is is irrefutable, this Jesus.
"for he shall save his people from their sins."
Shall is future tense, but when this was spoken his acts of salvation had not yet come. And yet, the word shall also implies a future salvation even yet.
To save is to: Preserve from; rescue; deliver from the power of; prevent; to spare; to hinder from occurrence; to use opportunely, so as not to lose; to reserve from a general admission or account.
Save in Greek is sozo.
The KJV translated sozo as whole 5x's. Could we put in the word whole and have it mean the same thing? for he shall make whole his people from their sins. It does not really work grammatically and yet there is some reality in this reading. If they can use the word healed as representative of salvation, then to make whole would also apply. The real question is, made whole from what? The obvious answer, in my mind, would be life without the Father, but I know there are plenty of people who do not see their lives as needing rescue.
One of the things I see in scripture is that refusal of the atoning sacrifice is a separation from the Holy one, this concept goes back to the days of Moses and the sacrifices, which would make oneself acceptable to God, because it was a covering for the sins of the one offering the sacrifice. Christ offered himself in our behalf, knowing full well that we could not.
We are saved from: our sins; saved from separation; saved from the grasp of the enemy(so to speak); preserved for God; healed; made well; made whole. All for God's purpose.
Do we fulfill that purpose? Many do (Corey Tenboom comes to mind), but as we look through human eyes, most would say no. To ask what God's purpose is in our lives takes a little more time. The short answer, if you are asking, is to allow Him to have his way in your life.
Even though Christ paid the price for our sozo, our wholeness from sin, we still have not obtained an entrance into the kingdom as I see it. Jesus said no one comes to the Father but through him. The effortless path, that many want to walk, may have well been through his blood alone and that has been accomplished, but there is definitely an acceptance of that price and the life that is promised to you that must take place.
The Jehovah's Witness came to the door this morning and passed out some literature. "Who is Jesus". It all seemed good up to the point that Jesus was made king (and we recognize that from scripture); Their interpretation of his kingship: we are all saved and made welcome into the kingdom merely because Jesus was. What is lacking in this is our acceptance or perhaps a stronger word, trust.
Now maybe I am making more of acceptance than I should, for I may not fully understand what it is to accept. (By the way, their literature said nothing of their claims that Jesus was an archangel and not the son of God.)
Vine's NT words says this about accepting Christ, and I will only give a few examples:
[ A-1,Verb,G1209, dechomai ]
signifies to accept," by a deliberate and ready reception of what is offered (cp. No. 4), e.g., 1Thess 2:13, RV, "accepted;" 2Cor 8:17; 2Cor 11:4. See RECEIVE, TAKE.
[ A-2,Verb,G588, apodechomai ]
consisting of apo, "from," intensive, and No. 1, expresses dechomai more strongly, signifying "to receive heartily, to welcome," Luke 8:40 (RV, "welcomed," AV, "gladly received"); Acts 2:41; Acts 18:27; Acts 24:3; Acts 28:30. See RECEIVE, WELCOME.
[ A-3,Verb,G4327, prosdechomai ]
pros, "to," and No. 1, "to accept favorably, or receive to oneself," is used of things future, in the sense of expecting; with the meaning of "accepting," it is used negatively in Heb 11:35, "not accepting their deliverance;" of receiving, e.g., Luke 15:2; Rom 16:2; Phil 2:29. See ALLOW, LOOK (for), RECEIVE, TAKE, WAIT.
In none of these definitions is it a casual thing; much like a casual look at the trees on the side on the road, as you make a road trip. This is a deliberate acceptance and understanding. I know that many make claim to Jesus, merely for the fire insurance that he offers them; and there in is my problem. My humanity and religious upbringing tell me that fire insurance is unacceptable. Although I deem myself pious, my actions when I am not around you can be completely different, therefore, if I am not living my rants, then I am nothing more than a hypocrite, and quite possibly only carrying around my own form of fire insurance.
I thought that I had received Jesus into my life.
Perhaps the truth is that I am not so convinced that I have really received Christ. For to receive Him would be to embrace and hold that which was given for me.
How do I justify Christ in me, and the worldly things I play with?
How do I justify the judgments that I make against others, who hold to worldly things when the Father has so freely forgiven me, and told me not to judge?
Matthew 7:22 (WBS) Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out demons? and in thy name done many wonderful works?
This verse always troubles me, for, in many cases, you cannot tell that they are not on the right track, doing the Lord's work. The people in this passage sound like they were on the right track. Jesus went on to say, "Therefore whoever hears these sayings of mine, and does them,..." So then there is the secret, laying there in the open. Whoever hears and does, will be wise and one built upon a rock. We can hear from the pages of the book as well as our spirit, but then putting these commands into practice is another. The doing part demands that I not be selfish, and yet virtually every aspect of the world's wisdom tells me that taking care of my self is the key to success.
The other aspect of this verse that I wanted to talk about was "their sins."
At that moment there were only two kinds of people in the world Jesus and everyone else. Just take some time to read and you will find, exclusive of Jesus, three kinds of people in the world; the Jews, the nations, and the church. Although The church did not occur until after Christ was risen from the dead. The Jews had rejected him, but in spite of harsh rebuttals against them, God has never rejected them; he did though, take his life blood to the nations. Out of the nations comes the Church, those of us who have put our trust in Him. That leaves the nations, and includes any who do not put their trust in Christ as the sacrificial lamb.
In spite of their right to first refusal, Israel still had to make a choice. We see in scripture that even as Jesus walked the earth, several did believe in him. The book of Acts demonstrates that the first followers into the Church of Christ were Jews.
Sin is a Greek word hamartia. This can be any offense. The word hamartia is a noun, and literally means missing the mark. The difficulty in life is hitting the mark. Having shot competitive archery for a time, I can tell you that hitting anything other than the mark or bulls-eye is common and much easier. To strike the bulls-eye requires focus, and practice. Does that mean that it is impossible to stay within the mark, NO, it merely means it is more difficult than it sounds, for there are few that put that kind of time into this Christian life to be proficient at it. One of my Pastors would tell people, in counseling, "just stop it." Wouldn't that be great if stopping the sin in your life was just that easy. He later had a problem himself, and merely "stopping it" was a problem for him too.
Perhaps this not sinning is more of a continual effort on our part. Practice requires a continual trying, working toward a goal, in order to better yourself, and that is only accomplished through doing; Which is exactly what Jesus said.
So then, the Angel could well have said: .., and you shall call his name Jesus: for he shall make his people whole, who have continued to miss the mark, no matter how hard they tried, and because you cannot make it on your own, salvation has been, and will be given and life with Him is offered. A life with Christ if you will trust that his work, on your behalf, is yours.
Monday, June 14, 2010
Approved by God? 1 Thessalonians 2:4 (NIV)
1 Thessalonians 2:4 (NIV) On the contrary, we speak as men approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel. We are not trying to please men but God, who tests our hearts.
"On the contrary, we speak as men approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel."
The KJV version uses the term allowed instead of approved. The word in the Greek is:
dokimazo, and means to test or approve. It can imply an examination.
Vine's NT words says this of dokimazo:
To prove with a view to approval.
In 1Thess 2:4, the Apostle and his fellow-missionaries were "approved of God to be entrusted with the Gospel" (not "allowed," AV). Not permission to preach, but Divine "approval" after Divine testing is intended. See ALLOW, DISCERN, EXAMINE, LIKE, PROVE, REFUSE, TRY.
[ A-3,Verb,G1381, dokimazo ]
signifies "to test, prove, scrutinize," so as "to decide." It is translated "discern" in the AV of Luke 12:56; RV, "interpret" (marg., "prove").
Let me try to make my point. Paul, under the guise of Saul, was a self righteous, educated, zealot, to the point of having jews who chose another way, Jesus, killed. Inspite of all this we know that scripture tells us that before we were born God knew us, and choose us to be His. God saw the horrors that Saul would perform.
Now where did the testing of Paul come into play, and what did that look like?
What we do know is that God knocked Saul off his horse (a very symbolic act) and immediately changed Saul's attitude about who God was. The man Saul, thought he was doing God a favor (An evil theme that echo's throughout scripture and man's tenure here on earth.)
Saul transitions into Paul, and is retaught, spending at least 3 years getting his thinking about who God is straightened out; experiences rejection and prejudice because of his past actions; is brutalized by the same Jews that he once worked in behalf of; shipwrecked; beaten; stoned and left for dead, and imprisoned because of the gospel he now preached.
God changes Paul's attitude.
Lets take the wide view and say that God tested him. Does anything happen without God's eye on it. So, then God is testing. We should know that we are to be tested with fire to see if our works will hold up. The question is whether that testing is happening now, while we live on this earth, or in heaven.
No, I cannot get Job out of my mind as I write this. None of us want to be tested, but more than likely we are.
God places his word in you, now what have you done with it? God seems to expect that word to do something.
This is present tense, no matter what the timing, for God's word is always now. His word is intended to have a now effect upon you, and therefore change should come. But change is easy when there is no opposition, nothing to test you and find out what effect the Word of God had upon you.
How has God approved of you, or better yet, in what ways has God been testing you to see what you are made of? And, if you can answer the question, have you been holding up.
Think of yourself as a Samurai sword. The metal, under the hand of a skilled blacksmith, must heated, folded, and pounded into shape repeatedly, in an effort to obtain the strongest, sharpest sword.
"On the contrary, we speak as men approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel."
The KJV version uses the term allowed instead of approved. The word in the Greek is:
dokimazo, and means to test or approve. It can imply an examination.
Vine's NT words says this of dokimazo:
To prove with a view to approval.
In 1Thess 2:4, the Apostle and his fellow-missionaries were "approved of God to be entrusted with the Gospel" (not "allowed," AV). Not permission to preach, but Divine "approval" after Divine testing is intended. See ALLOW, DISCERN, EXAMINE, LIKE, PROVE, REFUSE, TRY.
[ A-3,Verb,G1381, dokimazo ]
signifies "to test, prove, scrutinize," so as "to decide." It is translated "discern" in the AV of Luke 12:56; RV, "interpret" (marg., "prove").
Let me try to make my point. Paul, under the guise of Saul, was a self righteous, educated, zealot, to the point of having jews who chose another way, Jesus, killed. Inspite of all this we know that scripture tells us that before we were born God knew us, and choose us to be His. God saw the horrors that Saul would perform.
Now where did the testing of Paul come into play, and what did that look like?
What we do know is that God knocked Saul off his horse (a very symbolic act) and immediately changed Saul's attitude about who God was. The man Saul, thought he was doing God a favor (An evil theme that echo's throughout scripture and man's tenure here on earth.)
Saul transitions into Paul, and is retaught, spending at least 3 years getting his thinking about who God is straightened out; experiences rejection and prejudice because of his past actions; is brutalized by the same Jews that he once worked in behalf of; shipwrecked; beaten; stoned and left for dead, and imprisoned because of the gospel he now preached.
God changes Paul's attitude.
Lets take the wide view and say that God tested him. Does anything happen without God's eye on it. So, then God is testing. We should know that we are to be tested with fire to see if our works will hold up. The question is whether that testing is happening now, while we live on this earth, or in heaven.
No, I cannot get Job out of my mind as I write this. None of us want to be tested, but more than likely we are.
God places his word in you, now what have you done with it? God seems to expect that word to do something.
Proverbs 6:23 (NIV) "For these commands are a lamp, this teaching is a light, and the corrections of discipline are the way to life,";
Hebrews 4:12 (NIV) "For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart."
This is present tense, no matter what the timing, for God's word is always now. His word is intended to have a now effect upon you, and therefore change should come. But change is easy when there is no opposition, nothing to test you and find out what effect the Word of God had upon you.
How has God approved of you, or better yet, in what ways has God been testing you to see what you are made of? And, if you can answer the question, have you been holding up.
Think of yourself as a Samurai sword. The metal, under the hand of a skilled blacksmith, must heated, folded, and pounded into shape repeatedly, in an effort to obtain the strongest, sharpest sword.
Saturday, June 5, 2010
Turning to God from idols. 1 Thessalonians 1:9
1 Thessalonians 1:9 (NIV) for they themselves report what kind of reception you gave us. They tell how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God,
"....you turned to God from idols.."
Does anyone notice something about this scene. Paul, the scripture tells us, preached in the Synagogue; Pagans would not have been allowed inside, therefore this had to have been a primarily Jewish audience.
To make the statement "you turned to God from idols" implies in-mass. What were Jews doing worshiping idols? A foolish question, for this had been a problem with the Jews for generations, and guess what, we followers of Christ do it too.
Leviticus 17:7 (NIV)
They must no longer offer any of their sacrifices to the goat idols to whom they prostitute themselves.
Leviticus 26:30 (NIV)
I will destroy your high places, cut down your incense altars and pile your dead bodies on the lifeless forms of your idols, and I will abhor you.
Deuteronomy 32:21 (NIV)
They made me jealous by what is no god and angered me with their worthless idols. I will make them envious by those who are not a people; I will make them angry by a nation that has no understanding.
Judges 17:5 (NIV)
Now this man Micah had a shrine, and he made an ephod and some idols and installed one of his sons as his priest.
This last guy is a clear demonstration that they had attempted an integration of God with gods'. So, it is not a new phenomenon. The writer of Hebrews makes what I think is a peculiar statement in Hebrews 13:9.
"Do not be carried away by all kinds of strange teachings. It is good for our hearts to be strengthened by grace, NOT by ceremonial foods, which are of no value to those who eat them."
We, today, use this passage to beat up the other denominations that disagree with us. Just listen to some of the radio programs on the "Christian" channels, and you will hear it. We are all in the same big boat, headed toward heaven, but we are shoving our paddles in the water trying to turn the boat every which way, at the same time. No wonder the world cannot handle religion, we can't either. And the reality is we keep trying to take control from God instead of letting the Holy Spirit have its way, and do the teaching. This Christian life is not that difficult and yet it has taken me 56 years to find this out. Here is the formula. I am giving it to you for free.
Love the Lord, love on people, and live a quiet life.
Now, how hard can that be!
So the strange teaching, in this case above, has something to do with the preparation of food. Food is prepared everyday, in homes and places to eat. Now mind you with the prices you pay, and the whoopla that goes into preparation of the "food", it is easier to see how this could be an idol, and for many it is. One pastor I sat under, had to tell us that he would not eat this common food served around here. He told us that he would take his wife into downtown LosAngeles to eat lunch at the Ritz whatever. I no longer go to that church and have no interest in doing so.
But there was definitely something being done or said over the food, being referred to in Hebrews, that, in the mind of the person eating it, had some benefit over just satisfying hunger, because there was something more being done to it other than cooking it. You can ascertain that because the writer has to make the statement "it is good for our hearts to be strengthened by grace, not by ceremonial foods, which are of no value to those who eat them."
Clearly the writer of Hebrews is in agreement with strengthening the heart.That would be the mind and soul of a person, but the strengthening should be done by grace.
Done by grace?
The ISBE has much to say about the word Grace.
1. The Word Charis:
In the English New Testament the word "grace" is always a translation of (charis), a word that occurs in the Greek text something over 170 times (the reading is uncertain in places). In secular Greek of all periods it is also a very common word, and in both Biblical and secular Greek it is used with far more meanings than can be represented by any one term in English Primarily
.
But the word has abundant use in secular Greek in the sense of unmerited favor, and Paul seized on this meaning of the word to express a fundamental characteristic of Christianity. The basic passage is Rom 11:5; Rom 11:6, where as a definition is given, "If it is by grace, it is no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace." That the word is used in other senses could have caused no 1st-century reader to miss the meaning, which, indeed, is unmistakable. "Grace" in this sense is an attitude on God's part that proceeds entirely from within Himself, and that is conditioned in no way by anything in the objects of His favor.
In Acts 15:40; 14:26 we see a special blessing of God (his grace) on a particular undertaking. I believe that the reference to the word in Hebrews has to do with God's work in our lives, and not something that we have conjured up through some act of idolatry.
Look at 1 Cor 8:1-11
"Now about food sacrificed to idols: We know that all possess knowledge. ..
vs 4 So then, about eating food sacrificed to idols: We know that an idol is nothing at all in the world and that there is no God but one
vs 7 But not everyone knows this. Some people are still so accustomed to idols that when they eat such food they think of it as having been sacrificed to an idol, and since their conscience is weak, it is defiled.
vs 8 But food does not bring us near to God
Again, clear evidence that these people believed in some god like quality, inherent in their idols, being able to transfer to their food. If their ceremonies to their gods involved some kind of food there had to be some perceived benefit from the eating, and thus we have the admonition of Hebrews 13:9.
3 sessions
3 sessions and their lives were changed forever.
Some people go to the psychiatrist for years and never change. These people turned almost instantly from their idols to worship God. If they were Jews alone why would that be such an incredible thing. This statement has such a western way of thinking embedded in it. In general we modern Americans do not think of idol worship in the same way. Our version does not come with so much fanfare, unless we are involved with Satanism or some other extreme. No, the worship of idols such as a car, food or money, is done quietly and with reserve.
Idol worship, that which takes the place of God, is subtle, and stealthily integrated into our lives. We are bombarded with it's hooks by the messages on the television, on a daily basis. Oh yes, we have our fair share of idols too.
If you have read the New Testament to any degree then you might be aware that Paul was well capable of preaching long into the night. One young man could certainly attest to that, because the young man fell asleep while Paul was preaching, and fell out of the window. He was probably dead from snapping his neck on impact, but Paul prayed for him, he was healed, and Paul continued preaching.
The point is that Paul may have only taught on 3 consecutive Sabbaths, but they might have marathon sessions. Paul only preached there 3 times because the zealous, religious Jews ran him out. Paul was preaching these freedoms based upon scripture (the Torah), that these listeners knew, and he was doing it in the synagogue. Everything about this situation seems impossible, and yet there is it, and this, along with every stop Paul made, began the process of changing the world toward Christ.
I used to watch a cartoon when I was a child, and it always ended with a moral to the story. If there is a moral to Paul it is that he was willing. God took that willingness and changed a world. Oh, by the way; get the idols out of your life and give God first place, as He should be.
"....you turned to God from idols.."
Does anyone notice something about this scene. Paul, the scripture tells us, preached in the Synagogue; Pagans would not have been allowed inside, therefore this had to have been a primarily Jewish audience.
To make the statement "you turned to God from idols" implies in-mass. What were Jews doing worshiping idols? A foolish question, for this had been a problem with the Jews for generations, and guess what, we followers of Christ do it too.
Leviticus 17:7 (NIV)
They must no longer offer any of their sacrifices to the goat idols to whom they prostitute themselves.
Leviticus 26:30 (NIV)
I will destroy your high places, cut down your incense altars and pile your dead bodies on the lifeless forms of your idols, and I will abhor you.
Deuteronomy 32:21 (NIV)
They made me jealous by what is no god and angered me with their worthless idols. I will make them envious by those who are not a people; I will make them angry by a nation that has no understanding.
Judges 17:5 (NIV)
Now this man Micah had a shrine, and he made an ephod and some idols and installed one of his sons as his priest.
This last guy is a clear demonstration that they had attempted an integration of God with gods'. So, it is not a new phenomenon. The writer of Hebrews makes what I think is a peculiar statement in Hebrews 13:9.
"Do not be carried away by all kinds of strange teachings. It is good for our hearts to be strengthened by grace, NOT by ceremonial foods, which are of no value to those who eat them."
We, today, use this passage to beat up the other denominations that disagree with us. Just listen to some of the radio programs on the "Christian" channels, and you will hear it. We are all in the same big boat, headed toward heaven, but we are shoving our paddles in the water trying to turn the boat every which way, at the same time. No wonder the world cannot handle religion, we can't either. And the reality is we keep trying to take control from God instead of letting the Holy Spirit have its way, and do the teaching. This Christian life is not that difficult and yet it has taken me 56 years to find this out. Here is the formula. I am giving it to you for free.
Love the Lord, love on people, and live a quiet life.
Now, how hard can that be!
So the strange teaching, in this case above, has something to do with the preparation of food. Food is prepared everyday, in homes and places to eat. Now mind you with the prices you pay, and the whoopla that goes into preparation of the "food", it is easier to see how this could be an idol, and for many it is. One pastor I sat under, had to tell us that he would not eat this common food served around here. He told us that he would take his wife into downtown LosAngeles to eat lunch at the Ritz whatever. I no longer go to that church and have no interest in doing so.
But there was definitely something being done or said over the food, being referred to in Hebrews, that, in the mind of the person eating it, had some benefit over just satisfying hunger, because there was something more being done to it other than cooking it. You can ascertain that because the writer has to make the statement "it is good for our hearts to be strengthened by grace, not by ceremonial foods, which are of no value to those who eat them."
Clearly the writer of Hebrews is in agreement with strengthening the heart.That would be the mind and soul of a person, but the strengthening should be done by grace.
Done by grace?
The ISBE has much to say about the word Grace.
1. The Word Charis:
In the English New Testament the word "grace" is always a translation of (charis), a word that occurs in the Greek text something over 170 times (the reading is uncertain in places). In secular Greek of all periods it is also a very common word, and in both Biblical and secular Greek it is used with far more meanings than can be represented by any one term in English Primarily
.
But the word has abundant use in secular Greek in the sense of unmerited favor, and Paul seized on this meaning of the word to express a fundamental characteristic of Christianity. The basic passage is Rom 11:5; Rom 11:6, where as a definition is given, "If it is by grace, it is no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace." That the word is used in other senses could have caused no 1st-century reader to miss the meaning, which, indeed, is unmistakable. "Grace" in this sense is an attitude on God's part that proceeds entirely from within Himself, and that is conditioned in no way by anything in the objects of His favor.
In Acts 15:40; 14:26 we see a special blessing of God (his grace) on a particular undertaking. I believe that the reference to the word in Hebrews has to do with God's work in our lives, and not something that we have conjured up through some act of idolatry.
Look at 1 Cor 8:1-11
"Now about food sacrificed to idols: We know that all possess knowledge. ..
vs 4 So then, about eating food sacrificed to idols: We know that an idol is nothing at all in the world and that there is no God but one
vs 7 But not everyone knows this. Some people are still so accustomed to idols that when they eat such food they think of it as having been sacrificed to an idol, and since their conscience is weak, it is defiled.
vs 8 But food does not bring us near to God
Again, clear evidence that these people believed in some god like quality, inherent in their idols, being able to transfer to their food. If their ceremonies to their gods involved some kind of food there had to be some perceived benefit from the eating, and thus we have the admonition of Hebrews 13:9.
3 sessions
3 sessions and their lives were changed forever.
Some people go to the psychiatrist for years and never change. These people turned almost instantly from their idols to worship God. If they were Jews alone why would that be such an incredible thing. This statement has such a western way of thinking embedded in it. In general we modern Americans do not think of idol worship in the same way. Our version does not come with so much fanfare, unless we are involved with Satanism or some other extreme. No, the worship of idols such as a car, food or money, is done quietly and with reserve.
Idol worship, that which takes the place of God, is subtle, and stealthily integrated into our lives. We are bombarded with it's hooks by the messages on the television, on a daily basis. Oh yes, we have our fair share of idols too.
If you have read the New Testament to any degree then you might be aware that Paul was well capable of preaching long into the night. One young man could certainly attest to that, because the young man fell asleep while Paul was preaching, and fell out of the window. He was probably dead from snapping his neck on impact, but Paul prayed for him, he was healed, and Paul continued preaching.
The point is that Paul may have only taught on 3 consecutive Sabbaths, but they might have marathon sessions. Paul only preached there 3 times because the zealous, religious Jews ran him out. Paul was preaching these freedoms based upon scripture (the Torah), that these listeners knew, and he was doing it in the synagogue. Everything about this situation seems impossible, and yet there is it, and this, along with every stop Paul made, began the process of changing the world toward Christ.
I used to watch a cartoon when I was a child, and it always ended with a moral to the story. If there is a moral to Paul it is that he was willing. God took that willingness and changed a world. Oh, by the way; get the idols out of your life and give God first place, as He should be.
Jesus who rescues us.
1 Thessalonians 1:10 (NIV) and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead--Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath.
If you have read any of my commentaries on 1 Thessalonians you may have heard this on several occasions; Paul seems to have only spoken to these people on 3 occasions. He did this in the synagogue, therefore the gentiles were effectively excluded from the direct impact of Paul's messages. This is not a put down on Paul, but it means that any effect that the gospel message had on the gentiles was only by assimilation from the Jews that experienced a new life in Christ.
"and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead -.."
If I sit under some ministry and they preach a revelation from the word that is new to me. Perhaps it has an immediate impact, but my memory is short now and it takes repetition for something to get stuck in my brain, not to mention my spirit, but that is my interpretation.
Why would you wait for something that you did not believe in? You wouldn't.
If you only had 3 sessions with a group would you preach the same message to them, or would you try to cover as much ground as possible?
"-Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath."
It becomes glaringly apparent that he preached that we were to be rescued. The word rapture does not occur in the Greek, but the concept does in the word harpazo, which means a snatching away. Rapture derives from the Latin Vulgate and is the word rapio, meaning a snatching away.
What are we being snatched away from? Some sort of coming wrath.
We here in America have no idea what wrath is, but we are going to learn. In places like the Sudan, Nigeria, Egypt, or Somalia where followers of Christ are brutally murdered because they believe in something other than Islam. It is only the fact that we maintain law and order in this nation that prevents those that follow the Islamic mandates, as our current President does, from carrying out those mandates. Oh sure, they will tell you that they are a peaceful religion, but lying for the benefit of Allah is one of those mandates. I am telling you, and you can take it prophetically or not, the day is coming when killing you for being a follower of Christ will be the right thing to do. It is quite possible that the great snatching away of Christ's followers will be the trigger for all this.
When we think of escaping the tribulation, I cannot help thinking that "the tribulation" is such a relative thing. Clearly there are those that are not escaping tribulation. Having a house, and your dreams of success, taken away from you is defined as tribulation for some. There are people in this world that, if they are lucky, make just enough money on a daily basis, to eat one bowl of some kind of soup. So what you consider tribulation means nothing to them. You think tribulation is not being to get your text messages for ten minutes.
Consider: Israel escapes from Egypt. Several million people take off with the Pharaoh and his army in hot pursuit. God has promised them an escape from the wrath of Egypt, and yet they are confronted by a body of water that creates it own tribulation. Do you realize that they had to confront this tribulation? The priests had to step into the water. That would mean that our religious leadership is going to have to step into the fire slightly ahead of the rest of us, leading the way.
If this is a type of our own salvation to come, then it may be that the tribulation to come will make it right up to our doorsteps. If that is the case, what will you do?
If you have read any of my commentaries on 1 Thessalonians you may have heard this on several occasions; Paul seems to have only spoken to these people on 3 occasions. He did this in the synagogue, therefore the gentiles were effectively excluded from the direct impact of Paul's messages. This is not a put down on Paul, but it means that any effect that the gospel message had on the gentiles was only by assimilation from the Jews that experienced a new life in Christ.
"and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead -.."
If I sit under some ministry and they preach a revelation from the word that is new to me. Perhaps it has an immediate impact, but my memory is short now and it takes repetition for something to get stuck in my brain, not to mention my spirit, but that is my interpretation.
Why would you wait for something that you did not believe in? You wouldn't.
If you only had 3 sessions with a group would you preach the same message to them, or would you try to cover as much ground as possible?
"-Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath."
It becomes glaringly apparent that he preached that we were to be rescued. The word rapture does not occur in the Greek, but the concept does in the word harpazo, which means a snatching away. Rapture derives from the Latin Vulgate and is the word rapio, meaning a snatching away.
What are we being snatched away from? Some sort of coming wrath.
We here in America have no idea what wrath is, but we are going to learn. In places like the Sudan, Nigeria, Egypt, or Somalia where followers of Christ are brutally murdered because they believe in something other than Islam. It is only the fact that we maintain law and order in this nation that prevents those that follow the Islamic mandates, as our current President does, from carrying out those mandates. Oh sure, they will tell you that they are a peaceful religion, but lying for the benefit of Allah is one of those mandates. I am telling you, and you can take it prophetically or not, the day is coming when killing you for being a follower of Christ will be the right thing to do. It is quite possible that the great snatching away of Christ's followers will be the trigger for all this.
When we think of escaping the tribulation, I cannot help thinking that "the tribulation" is such a relative thing. Clearly there are those that are not escaping tribulation. Having a house, and your dreams of success, taken away from you is defined as tribulation for some. There are people in this world that, if they are lucky, make just enough money on a daily basis, to eat one bowl of some kind of soup. So what you consider tribulation means nothing to them. You think tribulation is not being to get your text messages for ten minutes.
Consider: Israel escapes from Egypt. Several million people take off with the Pharaoh and his army in hot pursuit. God has promised them an escape from the wrath of Egypt, and yet they are confronted by a body of water that creates it own tribulation. Do you realize that they had to confront this tribulation? The priests had to step into the water. That would mean that our religious leadership is going to have to step into the fire slightly ahead of the rest of us, leading the way.
If this is a type of our own salvation to come, then it may be that the tribulation to come will make it right up to our doorsteps. If that is the case, what will you do?
Monday, May 31, 2010
Who do you imitate? 1Thessalonians 1:6
1 Thessalonians 1:6 (NIV) You became imitators of us and of the Lord; in spite of severe suffering, you welcomed the message with the joy given by the Holy Spirit.
"You became imitators of us and of the Lord;"
I wish I gave people a life they should imitate. If you were to ask me how I feel about them imitating me, I would say no way.
What do I do that's so bad?
I do not exhibit much faith.
I believe that this attitude comes out of the overbearing religious background of my mother, and having a religious world that expects us all to act Benny Hinn, even though they mock him. Right or wrong the man has a faith in Jesus Christ. If God has a problem with him then God will judge him, not you. I do choose to imitate him.
I do not pray, as I should.
This too is problematic because I living up to man's expectation. What is prayer, but conversation with God. I have these conversations, in my head, all the time. I am aware that scripture tells how and what to pray for, everything, but no, I do not do that.
I get angry, far too often.
In my defense I am so much better than what I was. I use different techniques. I walk away from situations. I choose to keep my mouth shut.
I gratify my flesh.
I no longer feel like I have anything to offer others.
I wrote this soon after one of our bible studies. The angry looks may or not have been directed at me, but in general I felt very unreceived. My perception is that we, as a church body, are so entrenched in legalism that we may never be free and living in love until Jesus comes to get us out of this place. Everyone seems to think that they are a teacher, most make no sense at all, and hastily shove their rules down your throat. I feel that I lay out the options that scripture often presents; hoping that the listener will read it for themselves, use their brain, and find the freedom that is hidden and yet lays out in the open, in scripture. (It is only hidden to those that will not look.)
I find myself withdrawing from people.
This has always been a problem for me, and it is one of my safety mechanisms. My upbringing did not teach me to debate, stand my ground, or have any confidence that what I say has merit. I know that what I say does often have merit, and should be listened to, but say with a work situation, the managers have the say and are guided by the depth of their laziness and lack of creativity.
The other half of this verse is the person who imitates the Lord. We cannot see him and yet we know He loved relentlessly. How do you do that; certainly not in the flesh.
"You became imitators of us and of the Lord; in-spite of severe suffering, you welcomed the message..."
We typically imitate our heroes or those that inspire us.
Paul steps into a synagogue, the citadel of rules, and preaches a freedom they had never heard before.
Thessalonians tells us that he preached on three consecutive Sabbaths, and in that time he has given them enough information to live a life worthy of God. This seems like a situation that only God could orchestrate.
When someone or multiples of those in disagreement come against you, you might think that imitating someone would become more difficult.
"..you welcomed the message with the joy given by the Holy Spirit."
As I read this I kept seeing it as the message - given by the Holy Spirit. I that had been the case, what a bold statement that would have been; one that takes a tremendous amount of faith. To say this requires that you step completely out of the way, and that borders on the impossible.
God has always understood that human nature and emotion was going to get involved with any message that we put forth. Perhaps God just uses what is available, like donkeys, or He is so in love with us that He honors us by using these broken vessels anyway.
1Corinthians 4:16 Paul urged them to imitate him
1 Corinthians 11:1 Paul tells them to follow his example.
Philippians 3:17 Paul urged them to follow my example.
2Thessalonians 3:9 Paul told them that he made himself a model for them to follow.
"You became imitators of us and of the Lord;"
I wish I gave people a life they should imitate. If you were to ask me how I feel about them imitating me, I would say no way.
What do I do that's so bad?
I do not exhibit much faith.
I believe that this attitude comes out of the overbearing religious background of my mother, and having a religious world that expects us all to act Benny Hinn, even though they mock him. Right or wrong the man has a faith in Jesus Christ. If God has a problem with him then God will judge him, not you. I do choose to imitate him.
I do not pray, as I should.
This too is problematic because I living up to man's expectation. What is prayer, but conversation with God. I have these conversations, in my head, all the time. I am aware that scripture tells how and what to pray for, everything, but no, I do not do that.
I get angry, far too often.
In my defense I am so much better than what I was. I use different techniques. I walk away from situations. I choose to keep my mouth shut.
I gratify my flesh.
I no longer feel like I have anything to offer others.
I wrote this soon after one of our bible studies. The angry looks may or not have been directed at me, but in general I felt very unreceived. My perception is that we, as a church body, are so entrenched in legalism that we may never be free and living in love until Jesus comes to get us out of this place. Everyone seems to think that they are a teacher, most make no sense at all, and hastily shove their rules down your throat. I feel that I lay out the options that scripture often presents; hoping that the listener will read it for themselves, use their brain, and find the freedom that is hidden and yet lays out in the open, in scripture. (It is only hidden to those that will not look.)
I find myself withdrawing from people.
This has always been a problem for me, and it is one of my safety mechanisms. My upbringing did not teach me to debate, stand my ground, or have any confidence that what I say has merit. I know that what I say does often have merit, and should be listened to, but say with a work situation, the managers have the say and are guided by the depth of their laziness and lack of creativity.
The other half of this verse is the person who imitates the Lord. We cannot see him and yet we know He loved relentlessly. How do you do that; certainly not in the flesh.
"You became imitators of us and of the Lord; in-spite of severe suffering, you welcomed the message..."
We typically imitate our heroes or those that inspire us.
Paul steps into a synagogue, the citadel of rules, and preaches a freedom they had never heard before.
Thessalonians tells us that he preached on three consecutive Sabbaths, and in that time he has given them enough information to live a life worthy of God. This seems like a situation that only God could orchestrate.
When someone or multiples of those in disagreement come against you, you might think that imitating someone would become more difficult.
"..you welcomed the message with the joy given by the Holy Spirit."
As I read this I kept seeing it as the message - given by the Holy Spirit. I that had been the case, what a bold statement that would have been; one that takes a tremendous amount of faith. To say this requires that you step completely out of the way, and that borders on the impossible.
God has always understood that human nature and emotion was going to get involved with any message that we put forth. Perhaps God just uses what is available, like donkeys, or He is so in love with us that He honors us by using these broken vessels anyway.
1Corinthians 4:16 Paul urged them to imitate him
1 Corinthians 11:1 Paul tells them to follow his example.
Philippians 3:17 Paul urged them to follow my example.
2Thessalonians 3:9 Paul told them that he made himself a model for them to follow.
Saturday, May 15, 2010
Hebrews 13 - How to lessons on life
This is a work in progress, but I wanted to get up what I have so far.
As our men's bible study has slogged through Hebrews, I feel that most have missed the point. I believe that had we done an in depth, serious study of Hebrews, we would have walked away from this book as changed men. That is not to say that men are not changing, for I have heard not only a change in me, but a few others have expressed that there is a need, in their own lives, to invest in God's word.
I understand my need to control my eating habits, (I did not say diet because we are all on a diet, it is just that most of our diets are not good.) but, having knowledge and doing something about it are two different things.
I have come to realize that serious study is not the purpose of our men's fellowship. None-the-less, I cannot give up, even though there is no way to keep up with the pace of the group and put the necessary time in on each verse.
One of the men made a statement that chapter 13 of Hebrews is the “how to do it” chapter. With that in mind, Hebrews 13 can be looked at as capsulizations of the outflow of God's life in us. Although I believe that the how to aspect is embedded in an understanding of our relationship with Christ and his death and resurrection, it is clear that there will be evidence of His life in you, and it should be demonstrated whenever possible.
When challenged, Jesus responded with what are the greatest commandments? To love the Lord your God, and to love your neighbor as yourself.
13:1 - Keep on loving each other as brothers
Seems simple enough. Why would you have to say "keep on" unless you had noticed that it had become a difficulty to love some people. We base our love upon performance; if you do not please me, or act in the proper manner. God loved us and we could meet none of those standards. So perhaps love is acting out of the greater good, regardless of the circumstance.
Our human brokenness can twist anything into something unhealthy, and no, while on this earth we will never be able to shake it off; so if you treat yourself with the honesty of an alcoholic you will fare better in this understanding. The writer of Hebrews has to frame the love word with "as brothers". Do not turn love into stalking or perversion, and do not try to control people, because that is not love (it is a whole other can of worms). If they will not let you near, then pray for their well being and soundness. Scripture gives us some excellent examples of that.
Ephesians 4:3; 1Peter 1:22; 1Peter 2:17; Romans 12:10; 1Peter 4:8 (Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers a multitude of sins.)
as brothers – I read this and saw it as loving on fellow Christians exclusively, and yet that is not what this says. We are to love on people, our neighbors, therefore nobody is excluded and we have the command if you want to call it that. Think about this. Some of the people who came to Jesus for healing, must have been particularly disgusting and yet he loved on them; unchanged by their smell or appearance. What if we could do that?
13:2 – Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it.
The first example that popped into my mind was Lot.
You might say that entertaining these two angels was easy because there must have been something significant about them, and therefore Lot just knew. A far reach, and presumptive. Daniel on the other hand could say that, for the presence of the angel put him on his face as though he was dead. Lot did not respond that way.
The angels that appeared before Lot were strikingly handsome (probably looked like Tom Selleck), but step back a moment and ask yourself what you know about Lot. He was trying to be an upright, righteous man, and he was part of the city council. He was sitting in the place that the council was supposed to sit, and people could apparently find them, as ruling bodies, there. Read the story in Genesis 19, part of what you find in the story is that the men of city said, "this man judges us" Interesting heh!.
Did you also notice that Lot sat alone. That may be nothing or God is pointing out something significant. Lot did the appropriate thing, he had the ability, but he is also thinking that he needs to protect these guys.
The only thing, in my mind, that makes them stand out as being from God would be the message that they brought.
Another person that entertained an angel was Abraham. Genesis 18 says that the Lord appeared to Abraham, and that may put a different spin on it, but let's not assume that Abraham knew this. What might give away the identity of these angels was the manner in which they appeared. That would be significant in the desert where it is difficult to suddenly walk up on someone. What if they were all glowy like the angels portrayed on a television show, that would make it easier, wouldn't it.
The thing that made them significant was their message!
13:3 Remember those in prison as if you were their fellow prisoners, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering.
Jesus said something significant about this in Matthew 25:36 (NIV) I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'
He is speaking about what appears to be the same thing that is described in Revelation 20. This is hugely significant because Jesus is placing his identity upon what we deem as broken and throw away people.
Our human brokenness can twist anything into something unhealthy, and no, while on this earth we will never be able to shake it off; so if you treat yourself with the honesty of an alcoholic you will fare better in this understanding. The writer of Hebrews has to frame the love word with "as brothers". Do not turn love into stalking or perversion, and do not try to control people, because that is not love (it is a whole other can of worms). If they will not let you near, then pray for their well being and soundness. Scripture gives us some excellent examples of that.
Ephesians 4:3; 1Peter 1:22; 1Peter 2:17; Romans 12:10; 1Peter 4:8 (Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers a multitude of sins.)
as brothers – I read this and saw it as loving on fellow Christians exclusively, and yet that is not what this says. We are to love on people, our neighbors, therefore nobody is excluded and we have the command if you want to call it that. Think about this. Some of the people who came to Jesus for healing, must have been particularly disgusting and yet he loved on them; unchanged by their smell or appearance. What if we could do that?
13:2 – Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it.
The first example that popped into my mind was Lot.
You might say that entertaining these two angels was easy because there must have been something significant about them, and therefore Lot just knew. A far reach, and presumptive. Daniel on the other hand could say that, for the presence of the angel put him on his face as though he was dead. Lot did not respond that way.
The angels that appeared before Lot were strikingly handsome (probably looked like Tom Selleck), but step back a moment and ask yourself what you know about Lot. He was trying to be an upright, righteous man, and he was part of the city council. He was sitting in the place that the council was supposed to sit, and people could apparently find them, as ruling bodies, there. Read the story in Genesis 19, part of what you find in the story is that the men of city said, "this man judges us" Interesting heh!.
Did you also notice that Lot sat alone. That may be nothing or God is pointing out something significant. Lot did the appropriate thing, he had the ability, but he is also thinking that he needs to protect these guys.
The only thing, in my mind, that makes them stand out as being from God would be the message that they brought.
Another person that entertained an angel was Abraham. Genesis 18 says that the Lord appeared to Abraham, and that may put a different spin on it, but let's not assume that Abraham knew this. What might give away the identity of these angels was the manner in which they appeared. That would be significant in the desert where it is difficult to suddenly walk up on someone. What if they were all glowy like the angels portrayed on a television show, that would make it easier, wouldn't it.
The thing that made them significant was their message!
13:3 Remember those in prison as if you were their fellow prisoners, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering.
The word remember is mimnesko (mim-nace'-ko) v. 1. to remind 2. (middle voice) to recall to mind, remember
Jesus said something significant about this in Matthew 25:36 (NIV) I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'
He is speaking about what appears to be the same thing that is described in Revelation 20. This is hugely significant because Jesus is placing his identity upon what we deem as broken and throw away people.
Unless you have spent some time in prison you will probably never be able to relate to this. From what I see on television there is a level of stress in prison that is unrelenting. Violence is constant and random, and the absolute worst behavior of humans is exhibited. Now you are being asked to remember prisoners as if you were in there too. The pain of another takes on a different meaning when it is happening to you too.
POW's in Vietnam had to uphold and pray for each other; they did so by using and creating codes that the guards did not recognize. Just knowing that others shared in your pain, and hopes made a huge impact upon the morale of those held captive, helping them to maintain their sanity and make it through years of torture.
Just recently I read that several hundred in Nigeria were slaughtered with machetes because they were Christians. No one but Christian oriented sources reported on this. These people clearly suffered, but how do I put myself in their shoes. It is beyond the scope of my understanding when I have had no direct relationship with the one who suffered in a manner such as this. Seeing this kind of reality is disgusting at it's best, but I can walk away detached from the people that mean little to me.
This passage is asking me to relate to them as if it were me.
This passage is asking me to relate to them as if it were me.
Here is my reality of what this is saying. Do not just walk away, take ownership, pray for them like your life depended upon it, and if you have the ability to do something, do it.
Jesus spoke about the things that these responders did; their response was, "when did we do that?" That tells me that even the insignificant things are significant.
Jesus spoke about the things that these responders did; their response was, "when did we do that?" That tells me that even the insignificant things are significant.
13:4 – Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral.
This is hard to hear when you are not married, but good advice for future marriages. It is also hard to talk about at all, because I feel like I am doing the judging and I fight to stay away from that arena. I was trained well to be judgmental, and I will spend my life refusing to drink from that cup. I am serious. This is like alcohol to an alcoholic, and you have to maintain your sobriety using every reasonable and Godly means.
Why should you even have to say marriage should be honored by all?
I suppose the primary reason was that this was written at a time, and to a people who by tradition did not show respect to women. Jesus did! The secondary reason is that we are born into a broken world, and it still has an impact on us.
Who are the all?
Those inside or outside the family? It would be understandable if the writer was directing his comments at the world, we (self-righteously) tend to think of them as living outside of the Father's influence, but in truth this is all of us. We give ourselves over to our selfish indulgences constantly.
The word honored means valuable. The word is timios (tim'-ee-os) in the Greek. So I could say marriage is to be considered valuable, as if you paid good money for it and now intend to take care of it. This reminds me of the neighbors. They know the Lord, and we are all thankful for that, but they fellowship at a church that worships material things far to much. Their cars are nice and the man of the house washes them both, several times a week. I wonder if he feels that way about his wife?
The marriage bed kept pure. The implications can go a couple of ways.
-
Keep what you do with your wife to yourself and in your bedroom. Allowing your mind to go places in fantasy relationships is adultery. Did it ever occur to you that your pictures and videos cannot get mysteriously put on the internet if they do not exist. -
We all fantasize, but that certainly does not make it right. To pursue those fantasies through the internet, magazine, videos, or otherwise, bringing them into bedroom is an act of breaking trust, and destructive.
“..for God will judge the adulterer and the sexually immoral.”
The word judge is krino (kree'-no) v. 1. (properly) to distinguish, i.e. decide (mentally or judicially)
It may be possible that what you do with your spouse, as long as you two are in agreement (and I do not think that means coerced agreement), in the bedroom is holy before God. I like this idea, but God will krino, distinguish if what you are doing is out of line. No, He probably will not strike you dead right there, but you, like a Pastor, will answer for the way you treated your sheep. Besides, if you are listening to Him, He is telling you when you are out line.
The KJV uses the term whore-mongers for sexually immoral. I can guarantee that everyone of us has been sexually immoral, even if only in thought; Therefore, if we are going to live under the law, then we are all going to get judged. I do not know what that judgment will look like for the Christian.
The Greek word for whore-mongers is pornos. Now doesn't that sound familiar? Originally used to mean a male prostitute for hire. Remember the position of women in this society, which I suppose makes this even more disgusting.
But this phrase whore-monger is being spoken of in terms of the marriage bedroom. What are these people bringing back into their homes, outside of the obvious diseases? It almost sounds like the married partners are performing these acts themselves.
The Greek word for adulterer is, moichos (moy-khos') n. 1. a (male) adulterer
Women on the whole do not tend to go in pursuit of sexual relationships, but men do. Dr. Dobson says it is our hormone levels that drive us. Considering what we have seen in scripture, this passage may well be referring to those who pursue sexuality outside of their marriage relationship, on any level, with anyone. My impression is that this is all extremely distasteful to God, and will be dealt with.
Here is the larger question to ask yourselves. Why would anyone have to make this point unless it was creating a great divide in man's ability to live a life in relationship with the loving God?
13:5 Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”
The quoted portion seems to have come from:
Deuteronomy 31:8 (NIV) The LORD himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged."
This is similar to the theme that Paul wrote to Timothy about. See 1Timothy 6:6-10
Do a comparison of translations and word study of the Hebrews 13:5 and you will find something interesting. The KJV used the word “conversation” in comparison to the NIV which says to “keep your lives free from”.
Okay then, I might not talk about my passion for money, but all you would have to do is look at how I live to know where my heart is. Everything about this world is in resistance to God, including money. To obsess over it, is to demonstrate one's selfish desires and lack of interest in God. You are putting you first.
How does one love their neighbor as themselves, if you are filthy rich, while your neighbor is impoverished?
Young's literal translation says, “Without covetousness the behavior, being content with the things present”
It sounds like a script for Star Wars, where Yoda is instructing young Luke. Our behavior is to be without covetousness. Whether that is money or things, but get real; you cannot have things without money. They call people who have things and did not use money, thieves.
Being content with the things present.
This does not give you the excuse to sit on your rear doing nothing. You are to take care of responsibilities as best you know how, but trusting in God that He will open the appropriate doors.
If you are fortunate enough to have prosperity then pay attention to what the Father tells you to do with it.
If you have little to nothing, then you need to come to terms with it. This is your opportunity to learn to lean heavily upon God.
Stepping aside and giving him first place in your life is all He has ever asked you to do. All that money can buy is just junk that will burn up. Why should we obsess over stuff. Are we hoping we gain some twisted security out of it.
I can tell you that going back home and living with mommy is not the ideal situation either, but if that is what life has dealt you then learn to play the cards you are dealt.
Deuteronomy 31:8 (NET) The LORD is indeed going before you – he will be with you; he will not fail you or abandon you. Do not be afraid or discouraged!”
Here is why you can be content with whatever state of being that you are in. Because God, himself, is going before you.
As I wrote I heard this in my spirit, and so I am giving it to you.
No, you may not see the path, or understand the reasons, but you are in the center of My love and I have a plan for you. I have already gone ahead and charted out the course, and I am ever willing to take you in hand, along that course, if you will let me. I know everyone has abandoned you in the past, but I never will. You are going to have to trust Me on this one, for that is what faith is all about. I desire for you to give up control, because you keeping stepping off of the path, and doing that has caused you great grief. Lean upon me, and put your trust in Me. I am asking you to not be afraid or discouraged, and I know that is difficult for you, but as you learn to lean upon me the fear will go away. I have been there continually as you have been walking, waiting for you to reach out and take my hand, and I have seen how difficult that has been for you.
You are like the child that wants to grow, make your own decisions, and have an identity. I wish I could make it easier, but then that is why I sent my Son. Please allow My Son to be your identity. He has already been where you need to go and succeeded, making this so much easier for you. When you let go of your will and desire for control you will find an a place of contentment, joy, and love like you have never known. Come and walk in relationship with me.
You are like the child that wants to grow, make your own decisions, and have an identity. I wish I could make it easier, but then that is why I sent my Son. Please allow My Son to be your identity. He has already been where you need to go and succeeded, making this so much easier for you. When you let go of your will and desire for control you will find an a place of contentment, joy, and love like you have never known. Come and walk in relationship with me.
Phase two added May 27, 2010
Hebrews 13:6 (YLT) so that we do boldly say, `The Lord [is] to me a helper, and I will not fear what man shall do to me.`
Having covered verse 5. A recap.
Verse 5 is part of a continuing thought initiated in verse 4. Oddly verse 4 starts off with honor within the marriage. That is hugely significant because that is our relationship with Jesus, a marriage. Even though in Jewish tradition the marriage begins in relationship well over a year before consummation, consummation of a deal, or in this case marriage, is the ultimate end or completion of the agreement. A Jewish girl over the age of 13 had the right to refuse the marriage. We too have the right to refuse the marriage, and we have the ability to dishonor the marriage contract.
Keeping yourselves free from the love of money, as verse 5 says ( I think we can easily tie money into selfish desires, and therefore unhealthy desires outside of the “relationship”), being content with what you have, because God has said, “I will never leave you; I will never forsake you.” Allows us to move toward a confidence, because we understand that the “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?”
David wrote those words, “what can man do to me?” twice. Have you read the story of David. He ran from King Saul for a long time, and I think that demonstrates his understanding of how easily he could have died. Sure, he was like a mountain man, skillful enough to survive and take care of himself, but he ran for his life. That leads me to believe that David had a deeper understanding of what this meant. This is not just talking about the physical harm that people can bring. Just look at the world around you and you will know that people are horrible to each other, and if they do not kill the body they can leave it useless and a burden to others. There has to be an inner strength, one that only seems to come out of relationship. That bond is what we look for when we get married.
Does the strength come when you say I do? Not hardly. It had better have been established as a strong foundation long before you said I do.
Does the strength come when you say I do? Not hardly. It had better have been established as a strong foundation long before you said I do.
Now here is an interesting thought. What of the contractual marriage? If a bond forms between them, is it based upon love; for love comes out of mutual trust and respect. Except in the case of God who loved us regardless of our lack of mutual trust and respect.
Hebrews 13:6 (NIV) So we say with confidence, "The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?"
The KJV states it this way: “So that we may boldly say, the Lord is helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me.”
The word boldly is the Greek word tharrheo, and means to exercise courage.
Say is the Greek word lego, and means to lay forth, generally as an expression of speech.
So, is our expression of courage directly related to what we say? Or, are we being told to speak as an expression of our convictions. Or, is this a command in a sense, directing us forward, as in a battle. The word may here, makes it somewhat optional. The implications being much like a doctor's prescription; apply when needed or multiple times a day.
Helper is the Greek word, boethos n.
1. a helper that gives aid or relief in time of distress
This is the description that David uses of God consistently while he is on the run. He must have needed that kind of help on numerous occasions
In verse 6 the Greek has the word for fear used twice. Almost as if they were trying to say fear not fear. It is one thing to fear a man with a weapon, but to fear fear itself is going far into the broken psyche. To fear fear is to fear nothing; for you are fearing that thing which may never happen, and you certainly cannot see.
Hebrews 13:7 (NET) Remember your leaders, who spoke God’s message to you; reflect on the outcome of their lives and imitate their faith.
Remember: mnemoneuo (mnay-mon-yoo'-o) v.
1. to exercise memory, i.e. recollect
2. (by implication) to punish
3. also to rehearse
[from a derivative of G3420]
KJV: make mention; be mindful, remember
Leaders: hegeomai (hayg-eh'-om-ai) v.
1. to lead, i.e. command (with official authority)
2. (figuratively) to deem, i.e. consider
[middle voice of a (presumed) strengthened form of G71]
KJV: account, (be) chief, count, esteem, governor, judge, have the rule over, suppose, think
Over you, or to you: humon (hoo-mone`) p/p.
-
of (from or concerning) you
Whose faith: pistis (pis'-tis) n.
1. persuasion, i.e. credence
2. (morally) conviction (of religious truth, or the truthfulness of God or a religious teacher)
3. (especially) reliance upon Christ for salvation
-
(abstractly) constancy in such profession
Follow: mimeomai (mim-eh'-om-ai) v.
-
to imitate
Considering: anatheoreo (an-ath-eh-o-reh'-o) v.
-
to look again at (i.e. attentively)
The end, or outcome: ekbasis (ek'-bas-is) n.
-
an exit
Their lives or conversation: anastrophe (an-as-trof-ay') n.
1. behavior
[from G390]
KJV: conversation
Here is my take on this. Even in men's bible study we have a hierarchy of leadership. They have yet to demand obeisance, but it is nice that someone is there to occasionally maintain decorum. The problem within the group is that there are several who invest time studying and there are those who fancy themselves learned, and feel the need to shove their ideas down the throats of others. (I suppose that is my interpretation based upon the manner in which the idea is conveyed.) Scripture is not of private interpretation.
Following the lives of those that demonstrate a solid, purposeful lifestyle, not one of greed and overbearing, but maturity and consistency in the Lord, is a great idea. I am all for it. I have even told people to follow my example, because I felt that no one around, at that time, was willing to demonstrate a life of faith. (I suspect that I was feeling a little self-righteous at the time.)
I have struggled with my own inner image and fears to a degree that I cannot imagine why anyone would consider it wise to follow after me. I have such issues with anger that on that basis alone I would not recommend me. Fortunately God may have other ideas. I feel a calling to be a pastor, but that will have to be God's work or it will not happen. Here is what, and all that I will do to promote that – Study to show yourself approved.
2 Timothy 2:15 (NIV) Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.
I desperately wanted some serious bible study and could not find it. I have no venue, and though serious, I feel like I am lacking in some of the research training aspects. Besides that I am not sure how to make that happen, nor do I think I should try to force a door that may not be there in the first place. In my quest for a bible study I found a flier that seemed to convey my hearts desire and so I went to it. The pastor said we do serious bible study here. verse by verse, and chapter by chapter. What I got was his opinion, legalism, and a serious lack of understanding about the grace and mercy of God. What made that lack of grace part harder to handle was that God had shown him so much grace, and Jesus was the one who told us that those who have been forgiven much, love much. Well, I believed I could overlook the shortcomings of the legalism, and make a difference there. I believed that God had spoken to me and told me this was where I was supposed to be, and so I made a verbal commitment to him. 4 weeks later I could not stand another minute and vacated abruptly. (Not to panic, I have a fine group of men that I meet with regularly.)
In terms of submission, are we to just allow someone to damage us. I believe that if I did not have a strong identity in the Lord, this legalistic pastor could have caused some serious damage to any progress God was making in me. There are people going to churches like this all over this nation, and because they will not READ the bible for themselves they may never be free, outside of the grace of God.
Hebrews 13:8 (NIV) Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.
In light of someone to follow, consider Jesus. He never changes, never will. He is the definition of consistency. Follow him.
Hebrews 13:9 (NIV) Do not be carried away by all kinds of strange teachings. It is good for our hearts to be strengthened by grace, not by ceremonial foods, which are of no value to those who eat them.
Hebrews 13:9 (WBS) Be not carried about with divers and strange doctrines: for it is a good thing that the heart be established with grace; not with meats, which have not profited them that have been occupied in them.
This one is used by the legalistic churches to put down those of us who exhibit some freedom in the spirit. (I suppose you figured out by now that I lean strongly that direction.)
This verse is used so frequently it is worthy of a look.
Greek is similar to Spanish in that so many things seem to be said backward, and yet if you think about it it makes sense.
G165. 9 Be G4064 not G3361 carried about G4064 with divers G4164 and G2532 strange G3581 doctrines G1322. For G1063 it is a good thing G2570 that the heart G2588 be established G950 with grace G5485; not G3756 with meats G1033, which have G5623 not G3756 profited G5623 them that have been occupied G4043 therein G1722 G3739. Jer 29:8; Matt 24:4; Rom 16:17; Eph 4:14; Eph 5:6; Col 2:16; 2Thess 2:2; 2Tim 4:3; 1John 4:1; John 6:27; Rom 14:17;
Carried about
periphero (per-ee-fer'-o) v.
1. to convey around, i.e. transport hither and thither
[from G4012 and G5342]
KJV: bear (carry) about
Root(s): G4012, G5342
Transported here and there.
What is the motivation behind the movement?
While I was a member at one church, I used to go to another, because there was something more there that I needed at the time. Add to that the fact that this gave me other places to go during the week, and this satisfied a spiritual feeding that I so desperately needed at the time. During this time I did not abandon my home church. Now I have seen several come to a church that I had attended, only to leave after a period of time. Mind you I went to that church for about 7 years, and became disgruntled, and found that I was no longer able to get fed there. (No need for your corrective comments, I have thought this through, and do not feel it's necessary to explain all the garbage involved in my leaving. So save it.)
What is the motivation behind the movement?
While I was a member at one church, I used to go to another, because there was something more there that I needed at the time. Add to that the fact that this gave me other places to go during the week, and this satisfied a spiritual feeding that I so desperately needed at the time. During this time I did not abandon my home church. Now I have seen several come to a church that I had attended, only to leave after a period of time. Mind you I went to that church for about 7 years, and became disgruntled, and found that I was no longer able to get fed there. (No need for your corrective comments, I have thought this through, and do not feel it's necessary to explain all the garbage involved in my leaving. So save it.)
What if people move merely because they are thrill seekers. In other words, they go where the big draw seems to be, primarily because they need to be entertained.
With divers
G4164 ποικίλος poikilos (poy-kee'-los) adj.
1. motley, i.e. various in character
[of uncertain derivation]
KJV: divers, manifold
Various in character? So this is the character of the meeting or the style of the pastor, we are talking about. Every place you go is different, and yet so many are the same. We have all these different flavors of church, and they find it necessary to carry the party line in attitude and message.
and strange
G3581 ξένος xenos (xen'-os) adj.
1. foreign
2. (literally) alien
3. (figuratively) novel
4. (by implication, actively) a host
5. (by implication, passively) a guest
[apparently a primary word]
KJV: host, strange(-r)
This would have to be foreign in comparison to what your original teacher would have taught. That is assuming that you grew up (symbolically) in a good church, under some good teaching. But why do we exclude the ability of the Holy Spirit to teach us. I suppose it would be beneficial if the new Christian were to dive into the Word and let it speak to them, teaching them.
Doctrines
G1322 διδαχή didache (did-akh-ay') n.
1. instruction (the act or the matter)
[from G1321]
KJV: doctrine, hath been taught
Root(s): G1321
Teachings. Ideally, correct teaching on who God is, and for the most part we have done a lousy job.
Webster's
DOCTRINE, n. [L., to teach.]
In a general sense, whatever is taught. Hence, a principle or position in any science; whatever is laid down as true by an instructor or master. The doctrines of the gospel are the principles or truths taught by Christ and his apostles. The doctrines of Plato are the principles which he taught. Hence a doctrine may be true or false; it may be a mere tenet or opinion.
“.....For it is a good thing that the heart be established with grace; not with meats, which have not profited them that have been occupied therein.”
heart – thoughts and intents
be established – made firm and steadfast.
With grace – a manner of acting. This has to be the love that God has poured out upon, and continues to do so. As Pastor Greg Laurie, of Harvest Christian Fellowship says, “it is God's Riches At Christ's Expense.”
To say that is is a good thing that the heart be established only makes sense.
“… not with meats, which have not profited them that have been occupied therein.”
The website Judaism 101 has a section called “Why do we observe the Laws of Kashrut?” Their short answer is that the Torah says so, and that may have been the case with these people, but I am not so sure.
We had Paul, in scripture, addressing ritualistic meats several times. The Jewish christian leadership simplified the instructions to new, non-Jewish believers by saying stay away from meats offered to idols. In this whacked out world of ours, how would you know what had been done to the meat prior to you buying it at the super-market?
What ever was going on here, was either ritualistic, or more obvious when they bought the meat. But it was not the buying of the meat, but importance of the ritual that the buyer placed upon it. Clearly the point is being made that all the hoopla surrounding the rituals was doing them no good, and it was occupying far to much space in their heads.
I do not think that it was intended to take up any space in our heads, but that may well be another matter altogether.
Hebrews 13:10 (NIV) We have an altar from which those who minister at the tabernacle have no right to eat.
Now you have some more clarity as to what the preceding verse was speaking of. The meats aspect had to do with temple practices. You might ask, I thought that the offering of sacrifices was a good thing? This is what the entire book of Hebrews has been talking about, our freedom from ritual; a ritual that originally was intended to point people to Jesus, but once Jesus came it obviously became a snare.
The priest's had an altar upon which the sacrifices had to be made. Jesus was offered upon an altar as well, but one not made with hands. We are invited to that altar, and as followers of Christ, have a right to eat from that altar. Those outside of the “family” have no right to that altar.
I doubt that most of us will ever be invited to the dinner table with the President, you have to be invited, and God invited everyone to come and join him. The only thing prevents anyone from sitting at dinner, or as this passage might put it “having the right to eat”, is their non-acceptance of the dinner invitation.
Hebrews 13:11 -13(NIV) The high priest carries the blood of animals into the Most Holy Place as a sin offering, but the bodies are burned outside the camp. Hebrews 13:12 (NIV) And so Jesus also suffered outside the city gate to make the people holy through his own blood. Hebrews 13:13 (NIV) Let us, then, go to him outside the camp, bearing the disgrace he bore.
There is something very significant here, but it is eluding me. What is being said has a direct tie in with previous thoughts such as, “Do not be carried away by all kinds of strange teachings.”, and the writer is tying them all together, and giving us explanations for things previously said.
Consider: The priest had to perform the sacrifices, and here we have Jesus sacrificed; the priest had to carry the blood into the Most Holy place, and we have Jesus carrying his own blood there; the body had to be burned outside the the camp, and Jesus carried his own cross outside the city, bearing the disgrace and sin of us all.
This is all so rich and deep, it is the core of who we are and why. His life and death, painted in a fractal of such magnificent beauty and complexity that it requires you to step back and take it in; the pieces of the painting slowly coming together as you grow in His grace and understanding.
Hebrews 13:14 (NIV) For here we do not have an enduring city, but we are looking for the city that is to come.
This seems straight forward, and easy enough to understand. While on this, looking forward to the promise that is in Christ, we are not in that city. There is a city that is ours, but we are not there yet. And yes, I have even had to endure the oddball teachings of several of my own family members that believe that we are there now. Wrong.
We anxiously await that day. Hang in there.
Hebrews 13:15 (NIV) Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise--the fruit of lips that confess his name.
For the variety of reasons that are common to us all, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise.
Praise: from the ISBE
The word comes from the Latin pretium, "price," or "value," and may be defined generally as an ascription of value or worth. Praise may be bestowed upon unworthy objects or from improper motives, but true praise consists in a sincere acknowledgment of a real conviction of worth.
So then we are to esteem value to the one who saved us, and do so when we do not feel like it.
Sacrifice – To devote with loss.
Originally this loss would have meant a life, and in a sense that life should have been ours, but God accepted the life of an animal. We do not have to take that route anymore, for Christ became the sacrifice for us. Now if we sacrifice something as part of our giving worth or value to the one that loved us, then what does that look like. It is not unreasonable to give up some small aspect of your precious time, now is it.
Because Jesus gave up his time, and became a sacrifice on our behalf, our efforts to give worth and value to a redeemer should only be to and through him.
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