This morning,
03/16/23, as usual, I met with the guys from church. As a group, we
watch The Chosen and comment on what we notice and how it affects us.
No one has much to say, so I do most of the talking. A brother I
consider a friend always asks me if I am done; I tell him I am never
done, but occasionally I have to stop.
This day's episode focused
almost entirely on preparing and planning for the sermon on the
mount. When it ended, and the television was shut off, there was,
once again, dead silence. Typically, I can't handle the silence, and
we generally only have about ten minutes to say anything.
This particular
morning, a brother who, because he co-leads with our leader in a
marriage class at night, rang out with, “I am sorry, but I don't
see anywhere in scripture where we see the disciples going around
putting up placards and inviting the public to a big evangelistic
rally on the hill; nor do we see Jesus having to prepare and practice
“the sermon on the mount.”
I
agreed with him. It is not in scripture, but we have been through
discussions like this on multiple occasions, as we have gone through
several seasons of The
Chosen leading
up to this point.
The
reality is there are many things in "The Chosen" that we don't see in
scripture, but does that mean they didn't happen?
Some
things in scripture are well defined, but there are others that we
can't immediately substantiate, one way or the other. One
example of this is found in Genesis 4, where Cain murders his brother
and then bemoans that “My
iniquity is too great to bear.” Cain
then says people will kill him.
How is that
possible when we will fight to say that, at this point in the
“chronological timeline,” there are only three people on the
earth?
As you can see,
there
are no straightforward, scriptural answers as to why Cain has an
understanding that people would kill him. Perhaps
a
portion of the answer lies in the Apostle John's gospel.
“And
there
are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should
be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not
contain the books that should be written.
Amen.” (John 21:25 KJV)
So, what do we do with unverifiable information, occurrences, or
settings?
We need to ask, does it diminish the ministry of God or Jesus,
and, therefore, demand that we call all of it false teaching and
throw it out?
Not necessarily.
One of the scenes that caught the attention of a member of our group
that morning was the character Mary (of Magdalena), who, as
they were sitting in a tent, was actively teaching another female how
to read and write Hebrew. (We have nothing in scripture that
tells us that.) At one point, Mary quotes a passage to
assist the young lady's understanding, to which she responds, how
did you memorize that? The assumption that we are left to make is that she, now living in the encampment with Mary, sees that Mary
is busy doing other things, as she is, and cannot figure out where
Mary finds the time.
Mary’s
response to this young lady went something like this, “I
was going to commit suicide when Jesus found me; having failed Him
once already, I
never want to go back there again. So, rehearsing and quoting
scripture keeps my mind off those things and places that can trap
me.”
In
a previous episode, Mary was so an emotionally shaken because of a
traumatic event with a demoniac in the camp that she ran back to the
bar and the horrid life she left behind. Jesus sent Peter and Matthew
to go and retrieve her.
I
think we all agreed that rehearsing scriptures that bring us life is
an outstanding and scriptural idea, a motivation that I think Dallas,
the producer/director, intended.
The Apostle Paul speaks to the idea of keeping your mind focused on
Godly things.
“Finally,
brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is honorable,
whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is
commendable—if there is any virtue and if there is anything worthy
of praise—dwell on these things.” (Philippians
4:8
TLV)
At
this point, I said, I HATE telling you guys this, but the enemy has
been tormenting my mind for the last couple of days. As a side note,
several years ago, I heard the Holy Spirit telling me to speak
out and be honest, as we men have this nasty tendency to say, while
the screwdriver is protruding out of your rib cage, “that don’t
hurt.”
Oh yes, it does, and nothing
is served by you living a lie.
Sometimes the screwdriver protrudes from your marriage or your lack
of relationship with your children. It hurts, and my calling,
alongside teaching, is to point that out by using myself as an
example.
Yes,
I frequently get mocked and rebuffed, especially by
those who love the lie.
My
“bad week” started with looking at high school reunion pictures
online, reminding me of how shy, quiet, and naive I was in high
school. Thank God I am not that person now, but seeing people who
knew me like that was torture. That was day one; day two involved
some fool that could not wait behind a car in the busy Sam’s club
parking lot as I tried to lead my disabled wife and disabled grandson
back to the car. I thought the driver was going to run the three of
us over, and none of us could jump out of the way fast enough. You
got it; I did not talk like much of a Christian at that moment.
As I
drove the grandson back to his home, I knew the Holy Spirit was
speaking to me because He
reminded me,
like Mary, to
focus on the good things.
We should all see the purpose and benefit of rehearsing what God says
about us. So again I go to Paul.
But
the fruit of the Ruach is love,
joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness,
and self-control—against such things, there is no law.
(Galatians
5:22-23
TLV)
I
mentioned to the men that seeing Judas come
into the scene in The
Chosen is
the thing that gave me that punched-in-the-gut feeling. I found
myself looking at his smiling face on the screen and thinking, I know
what you will do.
Many
would think that Jesus knew what Judas would do; if He did, it would
have to be because the Father had told Him in at least one of His
prayer times.
Because
of the foolish misconceptions we have about Jesus, I think we believe
that God merely downloaded all that heavenly information into His
head and heart, and, therefore, Jesus knew all things. That would be
great, except that it severely diminishes the fact that He had to:
Lower
Himself and become a man.
Be the Son of God and yet be retrained.
Be punished by death to pay the price for our salvation and freedom.
“Now
since the children have flesh and blood, He
too shared in their humanity,
so that by His death He might destroy him who holds the power of
death, that is, the devil,” (Hebrews
2:14
BSB)
He became human, and He is still human today. This download idea
would have given Jesus an advantage and undermined God's legal
system, which Satan was using against Him. But, nope, He could not go
that route.
“Therefore, He
had to be made like His brethren in all things, so that He might
become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to
God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. For since He
Himself was tempted in that which He has suffered, He is able to
come to the aid of those who are tempted.”
(Hebrews 2:17-18
NASB)
If
you think Jesus was skillful with the Word and walked in constant
communion with the Father as Enoch did, then you would be
correct, but
He did it as a man, just like you and I. The
only advantage Jesus had that we cannot have, is that He did not have
the same damaged genetics that drives us to sin. Was He capable of
sin, yes,
but He was NOT driven to sin.
You
would think it was a great morning, but it wasn't over yet.
I
cannot remember how we got to this point, but something got said
about hell. I know many who think God has already thrown people into
hell, but that has NOT happened yet, and, in
general, it
will NOT happen until the great throne event at the end of the
thousand-year reign of Christ. So,
at least for now, I can exclude Judas, who hung himself from hell.
Some
are too quick to say he committed suicide and was immediately sent to
hell, no questions asked. Having done a character study on Judas, the
problem I have with a “theology” like this, which sends people
immediately to hell, is that I
can see that he did repent and acknowledged his wrongdoing.
This not-so-brief premise was not meant to discuss Judas’s fate, so
I will pull the plug on this path quickly. Still, far too many of us
have a traditional
religious standard for
repentance, almost to the point of putting Jesus back on the cross or
getting baptized all over again. It seems that this is what we demand
of people. The thief on the cross did not have much time, but he did
something comparable to Judas; we give the thief grace merely because
Jesus was involved.
So
a common problem I see is that some of us believe we have been
appointed judges and have the right to send people to hell.
The fact that all
sin was forgiven on the cross should
shut many mouths or at least change their condemning hearts. But,
unfortunately, I just stated what far too many of us are willing to
do, especially when this job of judging
is for Jesus alone.
Wow, is that in
the Bible?
“For
just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the
Son gives life to whomever He wants.
The Father does not judge anyone, but has handed over all
judgment to the Son.” (John
5:21-22 TLV)
There
are two outstanding aspects of these passages. First, here is one you
may have yet to notice. So,
not only does the Son do all the judging, but He gives life “to
whomever He wants,”
and He is NOT asking your permission to whom He can give life. One
more thing I see here, there
are NO limitations on whom the Son can give this life to.
Are you
kidding me; Jesus can
give life to anyone?
Yes, and
in Matthew 25, you see just that at the sheep and goat judgment. So,
much to your dismay, He may have freed Judas because
it
is His nature.
In my
comments to the small group, I added, what do you do with the fact
that Jesus,
at His death, went to hell,
preached to the captives, and led many free.
With that, I shut
up.
It only took a
few seconds for the co-leader to come up with an angry retort.
He looked at me and
said, Jesus, did NOT go into hell! After several seconds of
glaring, he added it was the place of the dead.
Quickly the Holy
Spirit pointed out to me that I am one who tells people that no one
is in hell yet. I mentally had to agree that there was some logic
to what he said, but I was not able to respond as yet.
I hate being wrong
and had, just the previous day, told my wife that I know what I am
talking about, so I simply responded to his angry assertion with,
okay. This is what I say when I will study this once again and
get back to you.
I pulled out my
phone, and the first thing I came to was Revelation 1:18. The
King James Version reads like this:
“I am he that
lives, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen;
and have the keys of hell
and of death.”
Well, look at that,
there is that word hell, and
how did Jesus get those keys?
But I am an advocate
of checking the origins of every simple word.
Why, you ask?
Because the King
James version was a rewrite ordered
by the state church of England. This rewrite was done in
opposition to people leaving the Catholic church and going to
Protestantism. Prior to that, those that could afford it had the same
Bible that the pilgrims used in Plymouth Rock, the Geneva Bible,
and they had the Geneva Bible for over 100 years before the King
James version.
So
hell
is actually the Greek word hadēs
and means the
abode
of departed spirits.
Since
the KJV was the standard Bible for the longest time, then hell
would have been the common assertion and expected answer.
Because we, as the church in general, DO NOT READ our Bibles, then we
would probably not know the origin of the word hell, which we just
discussed to be hades, the place of the dead.
I
think many of us believe that the lake of fire is hell, but we do not
allow for an abode of departed spirits. A common word picture comes
from Revelation 19:20.
“And
the beast
was taken, and with him the false
prophet that wrought miracles before
him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the
beast, and them that worshiped his image. These
both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone.”
(Revelation 19:20 KJV)
The final scene is
found in Revelation 20.
And the sea gave up
the dead which were in it, and death
and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they
were judged every man according to their works. And death and
hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And
whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into
the lake of fire.
(Revelation 20:13-15 KJV)
Something notable in
Revelation 20:13-15, death
and hell are cast into the lake of fire. Once again, we are
constrained to use the word hell, which is Greek the word hades,
the place of the dead. Is it any wonder that we call this place of
the dead hell? So at some point, death and the place of the dead
will cease to exist.
In The Chosen, there
is a discussion between Jesus and Matthew about the substance of “the
sermon on the mount.” Matthew humorously elaborates on this
portion by adding you would have a city full of people with only
one eye.
“Ye have heard
that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery:
But I say unto you, That whosoever looks on a woman to lust after her
hath committed adultery with her already in his heart. And if thy
right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: for
it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and
not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.”
(Matthew 5:27-29 KJV)
The point here is
not the eye but things that we cannot validate from scripture. In
this case, the conversation leaned toward potentially being sent to
hell over poor decisions. Hell,
in this case, is NOT hades but a reference to Gehenna,
the place of perpetual burning or the lake of fire.
In all honesty, I
find it rather cruel to expect people to juggle which word they
should use in front of certain people.
A
piece of information to help confuse you about hell
is the narrative about the beggar Lazarus (a
person that the audience of that day may have been well aware of)
and the rich Jew.
Luke
16:22-23 KJV “And it came to
pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into
Abraham's bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried; (23)
And in
hell he lift up his eyes,
being in torments, and seeing
Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.”
Hell,
as used here, is hades, the place of the dead. To
the Jews, the idea that a rich man would go to hell is unacceptable;
now, the beggar, maybe. But they also had the understanding that
heaven initiated with Abraham's bosom, and yet, there is our rich
man, in torment,
which we seem to associate with hell.
The
Companion Bible, by (E. W. Bullinger),
tells us, "The
Pharisees taught that there were three sets of angels for wicked men;
and others for good men."
Albert
Barnes' Notes on the Bible
says what several others say, "The
Jews held the opinion that the spirits of the righteous were conveyed
by angels to heaven at their death."
An
interesting point, but why show a preference for the rich?
Because they had money, and everyone knows that God holds "His"
people in high regard and, therefore, blesses them ( I am being facetious.) Obviously, this
rich man missed the mark.
Joseph
Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments elaborates on the so-called benefits of wealth that the Jews
believed. "into
Abraham’s bosom — So the Jews styled paradise; the place or state
where the souls of good men remain from death to the resurrection.
The expression alludes to the way of representing the felicities of
heaven by sharing a magnificent banquet with Abraham and the other
patriarchs;"
Historical
evidence informs us that a pauper like Lazarus would have been
thrown, without ceremony, into the Valley of Gehenna, where the
trash always burns. There is no reason to think that this poor man
was treated any differently. There is, however, thanks to Jesus,
evidence that tells us angels carried Lazarus into the arms of
Abraham, a treatment that was thought to be reserved for the
righteous, something Lazarus was not seen as, primarily because of
his financial condition, one that did not allow for frequent bathing
and fine clothes.
Now, what
am I to make of a statement that tells me that the dead lie in a
condition of inactivity after what Jesus told us about Lazarus and
the rich man?
A
piece of substantiating evidence comes from King David. I am using
the Amplified, in this case, as it typically has other defining terms
or words.
“Let
me not be put to shame, O Lord, or disappointed, for I am calling
upon You; let the wicked be
put to shame, let them be silent in Sheol
(the place of the dead).”
(Psalms 31:17 AMP)
First,
an awareness that this was written in Hebrew, which used Sheol
instead of Hades, which means the same thing, to define where
David wishes these people would go.
The writer of
Ecclesiastes 9:5 gives us a clue.
“For
the living know that they will die, but
the dead know nothing;..” (CJB)
To
know
is to have comprehension,
care, or recognition.
But the Hebrew word me'ûmâh,
meaning nothing, puts the entire thought into the
negative
and implies
that they do not know a speck of anything.
Another
passage that affirms the prophetic qualities of Ecclesiastes comes
from Job.
“Yes,
I know that You will bring me down to
death, to the
place appointed for all the living.”
(Job 30:23 BSB)
The
general idea, it would seem, is that this place Job is speaking of is
little more than the earth, as we are to return to dust. Notice how
Job refers to them as living. Because of conversations I have had,
someone will say, see, there are two places in hades; one for the
dead and one for those who are still alive in their spirits. Can't
you see how illogical a theory like this is? To enforce this thought
look at Luke 20:38.
“He
is not the God of the dead, but of the living, for
to Him all are alive.”
(Luke 20:38 BSB)
At least, we can agree that there is an
appointed collection place for the dead, and, since we should
understand that the spirit or soul never dies, then even in hades,
Sheol, or hell, depending on your preferred language and Bible
translation, your soul lives on forever. Now, if you are a part of
the body of Christ, then it's an entirely different matter, as upon
your graduation from this earth, you are in the presence of Jesus.
"having
courage, then, at all times, and knowing
that being at home in the body, we are away from home from the LORD—
for we walk through faith, not through sight— we have courage, and
are
well pleased, rather, to be away from the home of the body, and to be
at home with the LORD."
(2
Corinthians 5:6-8
LSV)
If
our atoms separate as they return to dust, then what's left to stand
before that great white throne?
Well, that's a great question, and the
answer lies in the idea that the spirit never dies.
No, I can't tell you which atom it attaches to; this truly applies to
the sailors in WW2, who, under radio silence, had to jump off a
sinking, burning ship into shark-infested waters; their atoms got
scattered all over the ocean as the currents carried the shark feces.
Nothing is impossible with God, and He can handle the problem.
There
is NO DOUBT in my mind that there is a place for the dead, but even
that will come to an end.
Where
else would all these people that we see in Revelation 20 come from?
“I
saw the dead, both important and unimportant people, standing in
front of the throne.
Books were opened, including the Book of Life. The
dead were judged on the basis of what they had done, as recorded in
the books.”
(Revelation 20:12 GW)
Keep
something in mind; they missed
the catching away of the church,
the rapture for those unaware. So these have NO association, so to
speak, with the church. I was taught that missing the rapture and
choosing not to accept Christ during the seven years of wrath leaves
you hopeless. But what do we see in the passages above? Books being
opened. If those books were knowingly opened and offered no help,
then this is just a cruel joke. God should simply send them to the
lake of fire – hell and be done with it. If you have any grasp of
who God is, then you know that this train of thought does not match
His character. I can see this because I understand that God knows the
end from the beginning and, therefore, knows whose names are in these
books already.
If
this is comparable to Matthew 25 and the sheep and goat judgment,
then you must be aware that all these same people are called “the
nations,” as they are all alive.
There
is no distinction between the dead of Revelation 20 and the nations
of Matthew 25.
Right now
(03/18/2023), I am still here on earth. But, unfortunately, the
church has not been caught up as yet; and my understanding of
Biblical terminology has me thinking about the
three people groups of the Bible: the
Jews; the nations; and the church.
When
the church is gone, and it may include many Jews, who is left?
The Jews
and the nations.
Since
the dead in Christ will rise in the “rapture,” who are these dead
people?
There
will be some from the Jewish side of the house, and the rest will
fall under the category of the nations.
As I type
this, I can hear the confused questions. But
what about …?
Think
of it like cars; some are considered crossovers. If a Jew accepts
Yeshua, then they are followers of Christ the Messiah and part of the
church. The same logic applies to those from the nations. If the
narrative of the ten virgins who were called by invitation to the
wedding applies, then 50% do not make it into the wedding. There are
many reasons for their exclusion, and most of those exclusions have to do
with not caring or being lax in their preparations. As I spend more
time listening to people talk about the rapture, I have come to
understand that those who have been called and responded will get
in. All have been called, but few have responded.
