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.
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