Souljournaler

Christianity & The Bible: Perfect Quality System - Part Two

2012-01-29T08:59:00.003-05:00

[Continued From Previous Post]

Four:

Kaizen: It frees human efforts through improving productivity using machines and computing power.

Christianity: Sanctifying oneself through acceptance of the Gospel and things the Bible teaches will free humans from the condemnation or eternal non-conformity sin brings. Through improving the state of holiness in people's lives the Kingdom of God becomes more involved in this world and it gains a better foothold in the hearts of repentant believers that have adhered to Biblical mandates, statutes or the biblical "thou shalls" and "thou shalts".

Exodus 20:3~”You shall have no other gods before me.”
Exodus 20:13~“You shall not murder.
Exodus 20:14~“You shall not commit adultery.
Exodus 20:15~“You shall not steal.
Exodus 20:16~“You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.

Five:

Kaizen: It usually delivers small improvements (but definitely produce large immediate ones also although this is the exception not the rule). A mindset or culture of continual aligned small improvements and standards eventually yields large results in the form of compound productivity improvement.

Christianity: It usually delivers small improvements (but definitely produce large immediate ones although this is the exception not the rule). A mindset or culture of continual aligned small improvements through sanctification and obedience to Godly principles eventually yields large results in the form of compound sanctification improvement or gains in holiness. Paul alludes to this slow deliberate and often painful process of improvement of individual holiness in Romans 7.

Romans 7:14-25~For we know that the Law is spiritual, but I am of flesh, sold into bondage to sin. For what I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate. But if I do the very thing I do not want to do, I agree with the Law, confessing that the Law is good. So now, no longer am I the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me. For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not. For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want. But if I am doing the very thing I do not want, I am no longer the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me. I find then the principle that evil is present in me, the one who wants to do good. For I joyfully concur with the law of God in the inner man, but I see a different law in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin which is in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, on the one hand I myself with my mind am serving the law of God, but on the other, with my flesh the law of sin.

Six:

Kaizen: This methodology includes making changes and monitoring results, then adjusting.

Christianity: This methodology includes making changes and monitoring results, then adjusting based on a known holy standard: Jesus Christ and what we know of the mind of God in the Holy Bible.

2 Corinthians 13:5~"Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you--unless, of course, you fail the test?"

Seven:

Kaizen: The idea of Kaizen is developing best practices so that workers don't have to think. As such, Kaizen is an ideal approach to improve one's personal work flow. The worker does what he needs to intuitively.

Christianity: The idea of Christianity is developing holy practices which are best for us so that believers don't have to think, they just know what to do intuitively. As such, Christianity is an ideal approach to improve one's personal life and professional life. The believer does what he needs to intuitively and becomes what he thinks and thinks what he becomes. The prverbial, "Where the minds leads, the body follows". In this case it is more akin to, "Where a Godly mind leads, a Godly body follows". Whether that body be individual or corporate.

Proverbs 22:1~ A good name is more desirable than great riches; to be esteemed is better than silver or gold.

2 Corinthians 7:1~ Therefore, since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God.

Romans 12:2~ Do not be conformed to this world [which is clearly flawed and fallen in sin], but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect

Eight:

Kaizen: You also want to build in error-proofing as much as possible. The "urgent" things or bad emergency things need to be minimized. You need to clear the "urgent" box.

Christianity: The belief of a true Christian at its very core believes that the Bible itself is the inerrant word of God therefore anything it speaks to is regarded as without error or error-proof. It stands to reason if it is written by an all-knowing omnipotent perfect God it would contain everything it needs to perfectly help mankind towards righteousness and holiness. It is literally the mind of God…therefore it is God. Therefore if the Bible is strictly adhered to, the emergency issues that effect the eternal scale of things are minimized or become non-existent.

John 1:1~In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

And this Word became flesh in Jesus Christ

John 1:14~The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

Therefore a perfect benchmark is contained in a documented source: The Holy Bible. Therefore a perfect benchmark is also contained in a real person in reality: Jesus Christ. Therefore it is a measurable standard not just a theoretical ideal. Granted, it is an unattainable standard for humans but perfection always is…unless you’re God...which is exactly who Jesus was.

Nine:

Kaizen: Focuses on eliminating waste. On the factory floor, this means wasted movement. Setting up tool stations so that everything is within arm's reach is an easy way of cutting out wasted steps, and iterated over the course of a day, or a month, for two hundred workers, this means greatly increased productivity. It also means less wear and tear for the workers themselves, and that's good for everyone.

Christianity: People's lives (Christian or not) are often an effort to find purpose, otherwise life itself often looks as if it has little or no meaning. A person can become quite nihilistic in their outlook. When we adhere to the practices and the purposes God sets before us in the instructions in the Bible we know that they are for the benefit of the believer and those that come in contact with them. The life instructions in the Bible also help to define our purposes for both the individual, the Church corporate and even those around us in the world-at-large. If God is sovereign as He is defined in the Bible (which I believe He is) and has a plan for everything...then everything in the entire Creation has a purpose and therefore fits into His grand overarching plan for Creation. If everything has a purpose…there can be no waste. There is no such thing as "superfluous" or "redundant" in God’s universe. A sovereign God is in control of all things. Therefore it has been created for a plan or design therefore it will be utilized to that end.

Romans 8:28-30~And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.

Jeremiah 29:11-13~ For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.

Ten:

Kaizen: Standardization is another Kaizen principle. With standardization, you think about what "best practices" are, and you do so in advance. Then you externalize those best practices as much as possible, and you work those practices so that they become automatic.

Christianity: Standardization is also a Christian principle. With standardization, you think about what "best practices" are, and you do so in advance. Then you implement them into your behavior. That way your good thoughts become good actions

Proverbs 23:7 “For as he a man thinks in his heart, so is he…”

Romans 12: 2 - "Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will."

Then you externalize those best practices as much as possible, and you work those practices so that they become automatic. They become the way we act…behaviors that manifest themselves on the outside for others to see…we manifest and act out what we have become internally. Therefore they are measurable outputs that can be gauged and improved upon or critiqued.

The measurable outputs in a Christian life are quantified or called the "Fruits of the (Holy) Spirit" and they are elaborated on in Galatians 5:19-26. The bad results/outputs or non-conformity to holiness are also mentioned in the same passage.

Galatians 5:19-26~ The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.

Eleven:

Kaizen: The policies and processes of the Kaizen process must be implemented through teaching, training and educating the indiviudal members of the corporation from the CEO to the new hire. As such it is a continuous and ongoing process that never ends until departure form the company or termination. This process is used so everyone is on the same page working with the same purpose, ideas and intent in unity.

Christianity: The statutes of God and principles outlined in the Christian Bible must be implemented through teaching, child-rearing and educating the indiviudal members of the Church both at the family level (basic building blocks) to the local congregation (larger corporate units). Training and the education of all involved from the Pastor and Elders to the new believers or young child just learning about what Jesus did for us to save us not only as individuals but as a corporate whole. As such it is a continuous and ongoing process that never ends until death. This process is used so everyone is on the same page working with the same purpose, ideas and intent in unity.

Twelve:

Christianity: A consciuous decision needs to be made to accept Jesus Christ and what He has done on the Cross that allows all of this to take place. This decision allows you to imrpove your life immeasurably and guarentee yourself eternal life in Heaven in the presence of Jesus who is perfect, holy and wonderful. Without this rudimentay descision all else is just suprerfluous and wasted action.

Kaizen: A consciuous decision needs to be made to accept the Kaizen process and but this decision only allows you to marginally improve a mediocre earthly and human system that will still be prone to failure. Regardless, without this rudimentay descision all else is just suprerfluous and wasted action.

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[The next and final idea seems to make these two ideas diverge in a marked way…and here is where we must draw the distinction between Kaizen and Christianity. This is where you can take or leave this entire dissertation.]
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A Major Non-Conformity

In the end Kaizen: Is a way of doing better business. Kaizen at its very heart is a system for introducing improvements to company or corporation. You can use it to pump out more work, and that's a good thing but it must be tempered with the thought that they don't become a way of life, they become a way to act at work. Kaizen does not make better people it makes better processes and systems. One needs to realize that it is not the processes or systems that make the company…it is the people. It’s like the guy that has yellow Post-It notes all over his workstation to tell him how to do everything but he has nothing internalized. The idea or way of life has not "become him". Instead he looks outward for his self worth and direction. He worships the Post-It notes and they just end up becoming totems…idols. It doesn't have to be that way.

In the end Christianity: Is a better way of life and is a divine system [therefore perfect] for introducing improvements or sanctification and holiness and keeping them. These qualities carry over not only to our workplace but also…into eternity. These exact processes and “shalls” and “shalts” that God wants us to do and learn are the very thing that give us our passage to Heaven and eternal life. It is these things that all point to Jesus Christ. The Old Testament was fulfilled in Jesus so we do not need to get all of the Law correct, we need only accept Jesus and emulate Him to the best of our flawed ability. It is and always has been about Jesus Christ. He is the benchmark…the cornerstone…the Son of God. The Bible asks us to internalize and become what it tells us to do in or out of our workplace. But the most important thing is to use these systems to make your/our lives more holy…to make our lives better in accordance with the way God wants us to be. The Christian looks inward to the Holy Spirit who is Christ within us for his self worth and direction. In this way a Christian truly internalizes Christianity. The Helper/Holy Spirit resides within us as a down payment on the justification received from the work of Jesus on the Cross. This assures that we are of acceptable quality to be taken home to be in the presence of God for eternity. Through Jesus we are found to be of acceptable quality and of an acceptable standard to be used as vessels that can hold the very thing that we were intended for. We were intended to be Temples of the Holy Spirit. Kaizen could never do this for us but there are some striking parallels here as I have noted.

My Synopsis:

First off I must say that there is much more going on here than I have typed or that meets the eye. I just don't have the time to pursue all of this to its meaningful end because I am working fulltime, teaching classes and attending Seminary. Unless of course someone wants to hire me as a consultant to pursue this for their corporation that wishes to have a Biblical Quality Control System implemented ;).

That being said, the two philosophies are very much alike. Having said this I must "cut to the chase" as a Christian. Why is it that we cannot phase in a Christian Quality Process based in Biblical principles into corporations rather than force a Japanese mindset of Kaizen on Christians in corporations? At worst we could call it something like...Christian Quality or (TCQM) Total Christian Quality Management? Can we just do away with the pretense and just utilize a Christian mindset or Christian Quality philosophy as Christian rather than trying to re-label it to make it more PC or less offensive? What harm is there in doing away with the Kaizen label completely? Why try to sell a what is sound Christian philosophy merged and blended with the Kaizen label or nameplate?

As a Christian I also see the secular gearing of the Kaizen philosophy and it gears itself to the scientific method which in some respects is a good thing and it is also a bad thing. Its good because it regiments gauges, measures and benchmarks to quantify outputs whether they be good or bad. The bad comes from the presuppositions of those observing the outputs. If they have not absorbed the Christian philosophy/tenants and are secular, agnostic or atheistic it precludes the possibility of anything outside the realm of the empirical or naturalistic. This is bad because scientific method nearly always excludes the involvement of the supernatural (i.e.: God) in its outcomes, observations or equations.

Why not adhere to a Christian Quality Control methodology outright rather than try to blend a secular quality control method. Why not just recognize a physical AND spiritual system that has been around for millennium before the business field introduced Kaizen philosophy.

Its called Christianity and it is based in Jesus Christ and is primarily revealed to us in a written work instruction: The Bible.

Christianity & The Bible: Perfect Quality System - Part One

2012-01-28T20:08:00.006-05:00

In this short two part post I will revisit and again draw parallels as I did before to the idea that the Bible is a Quality Control manual for holiness and sanctification. Not only that, it is a perfect quality manual to make people holy and righteousness as it states within its own pages.

"All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work." 2 Timothy 3:16-17

But this time through I will be comparing the Christian philosophy to the quality philosophy of Kaizen to draw a more distinct parallel between two known philosophies from two different cultures. One of the philosophies is Biblical and the other secular...both based in a premise of quality and continuous improvement. As an apologist I see things like this as an opportunity to reach those unreached especially in places like the Far East where there are hundreds of millions or even billions of people that do not know Jesus Christ. One of the main tools or methodologies of an apologist like myself is to meet people where they are at, speak in their terms and use their own examples to try and win them to the Faith. Paul did this and that is what I will attempt now. It may fail but at least I have tried.

First off, as I have already noted, what I am about to do...using a worldly philosophy to get a biblical point across (to spread the message of my faith) is in itself...biblical. It finds its pattern in Acts 17:18-33 in Paul the Apostle's sermon to the Greeks at Mars' Hill (the Areopagus or the Hill Of Ares) in Athens.

A group of Epicurean and Stoic philosophers began to dispute with him. Some of them asked, "What is this babbler trying to say?" Others remarked, "He seems to be advocating foreign gods." They said this because Paul was preaching the good news about Jesus and the resurrection. Then they took him and brought him to a meeting of the Areopagus, where they said to him, "May we know what this new teaching is that you are presenting? You are bringing some strange ideas to our ears, and we want to know what they mean." (All the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there spent their time doing nothing but talking about and listening to the latest ideas.) Paul then stood up in the meeting of the Areopagus and said: "Men of Athens! I see that in every way you are very religious. For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: to an unknown god. Now what you worship as something unknown I am going to proclaim to you. "The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands. And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else. From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us. 'For in him we live and move and have our being.' As some of your own poets have said, 'We are his offspring.' "Therefore since we are God's offspring, we should not think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone—an image made by man's design and skill. In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent. For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to all men by raising him from the dead."~ Acts 17:18-31

Paul takes the "Altar to the unknown God" and tells the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers in their terms that this "Unknown God" is in reality, "...the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands" and "'For in him we live and move and have our being" and " As some of your own poets have said, 'We are his offspring.' " Paul is directly linking the Greek philosophy to the Christian belief of the Great "I AM" of the Old Testament that is knowable and does not have a name per se but is the eternally existent "I AM". Paul had his hearers captivated until he mentions resurrection from the dead which turns them off and drives many away because of the Gnostic (and other philosophies) belief that the physical or materiality, and the human body, is perceived as evil and constrictive, a deliberate prison for its inhabitant.

Anyway....on with my premise
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I. Thought One: It Becomes You

Christianity & Kaizen: Kaizen is what amounts to a daily quality process, the purpose of which goes beyond simple productivity improvement. A Christian life does the same. Christians strive daily to sanctify and improve our lives (and others) to make them more Christ-like. As I have stated last year in my original post on the Bible being a Quality Control manual called The Bible: Quality Control and Continuous Improvement, this daily process is to ingrain a behavior of quality into the system. Quality becomes you. In the case of a Christian, holiness and righteous behavior are the manifest traits. This wears off on others in Discipleship which is to make another disciple which continues the chain that builds the Kingdom of God which is a corporate body/community.

Sanctification towards holiness is similar to the idea of Kaizen in that it is also a process that, when done correctly, humanizes the workplace, eliminates overly hard work ("muri"), and teaches people how to interact with their work using the biblical principles where Kaizen seeks to apply scientific method. In turn this allows Christians to learn how to learn to spot and eliminate wickedness and unrighteousness in peoples lives. In Kaizen it seeks to eliminate waste and superfluous action and wasted time/material, etc.

II: Thought Two: Making Us More - From Less

The next step or explanation is where I see the sanctification (make more holy) process of Biblical Christianity seems to walk in lock-step with Kaizen philosophy as a pattern of behavior but also begins to diverge as a means to an end or where it's ultimate goal or end result differ. In all, the Biblical Process seeks to take a more spiritual approach to make us more like God or Christ. We do this by humbling ourselves and making ourselves less...by becoming servants of the Most High God and serving our fellow human beings to achieve a common goal...Salvation in Christ.

Philippians 2:5-11 In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death— even death on a cross!Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

In all, the Kaizen Process seeks to take a more humanized approach and there is little or no focus on spiritual aspects to help workers to increase quality or productivity. It is similar and parallel to Christianity yes, but with two totally different end results in mind. Both begin with the intent that they are for improvement but they both use a different standard as a benchmark for final product or end result and diverge in methodology.

The Bible wants us Godly and heavenly minded, the Kaizen philosophy wants us people and earthly minded. 1 Corinthians sums this up nicely.

"For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength." 1 Corinthians 1:25

Paul later goes on to say this in 1 Corinthians 3:

"Do not deceive yourselves. If any of you think you are wise by the standards of this age, you should become “fools” so that you may become wise. "For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God’s sight. 1 Corinthians 3:18-19

Paul is essentially saying that we can compare the wisdom of humans to God's wisdom as a benchmark (as God's pattern would be perfect) but in the end we must acknowledge the superiority of God's philosophy and wisdom. Why? Because God's wisdom, which is the revelation of righteousness and His Son Jesus Christ.... grants us eternal life if we accept Him. Why is this superior? Can we take Kaizen beyond the grave? No. What we can do is use it as a point of comparison here but it is useless knowledge/philosophy on the eternal scale of things. Where it becomes useful and wise from God's standpoint is when it helps us bridge a gap to win people to the Christian philosophy and eternal life.

III. Thought Three: Underlying Premise-Unity of Mind (in Jesus Christ)

...and this is where things become strikingly clear between these two paralleled side-by-side.

The Kaizen philosophy is to nurture a company's human resources as much as it is to praise and encourage participation in kaizen activities. Successful implementation of Kaizen requires the participation of individual workers in the improvement so that it becomes a corporate mentality or culture. People at all levels of an organization participate in kaizen, from the CEO down individual stakeholders.

The Biblical way of life is to nurture a corporate body/community of believer's resources by praising God and to encourage participation in Biblical activities such as fellowship (κοινωνία /kiononia) that are basically things like corporate worship (going to church) or group prayer. It should also encourage Christians to adhere to Biblical philosophy that helps build up individual adherence (devotion) also known as sanctification. The two would conceivably run hand-in-hand. Individual adherence (devotion) helps build others up or edifies them thereby individual sanctification leads to corporate sanctification. Successful Christianity requires the participation of all individual believers in the improvement so that it becomes community mentality or body with Jesus Christ as the unifying Head, as the unifying focus and purpose (the benchmark). People at all levels of an organization participate in Church or the Body of Christ from the pastor and elders to the individual laity.

Here again we see a extremely close parallel. The Bible / Christianity spells out and clarifies the underlying principle better then the Kaizen philosophy here. The underlying premise in both is unity of mind and purpose. In Christianity it is a unified body and mind towards Christ and unified thought towards quality and continuous improvement in Kaizen...which ironically is also a Christian's goal when referring to sanctification (continuous improvement) and holiness (quality). A Christian would go as far as to say that the only way you could even have unity of mind in a philosophy like Kaizen would be to have Jesus Christ as the "cornerstone" or the unifying factor at the base of the philosophy. The cornerstone on which all the other blocks are laid so they remain perpendicular and straight on the foundation. Hence the idea that all stones on a cornerstone stay aligned to the cornerstone....which is Christ. Perfect unity, perfect alignment...perfect quality (holiness). This is why Christian's preach and teach Christ crucified. It is the cornerstone of our Faith. Without Christ's Resurrection from the dead...Christianity falls apart.

Jesus Prays for All Believers in John 17:20-23…“My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one— I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.

Paul also alludes to Church unity all over Ephesians…

“Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit. ~Ephesians 2:19-22

IV. Thought Four: Point-by-Point Contrasts

One:

Kaizen: Is a quality philosophy that can be individual, small group, or large group.

Christianity: Is a Christian holiness philosophy that can be individual, small group, or large group.

Matthew 18:20~" For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them."

Two:

Kaizen: At corporations it is usually a local improvement within a workstation or local area and involves a small group in improving their own work environment and productivity.

Christianity: In the Body of the Church it is often localized improvements within peoples individual homes or local congregations by working on individual relationships with God and then immediate family/local church members that are the impetus to do so at higher levels of the Church-at-large or the Church universal. The key is starting with improving one's relations with Jesus Christ first. Thereby synchronizing ones behaviors and mindset to a known perfect quality standard of holiness just like everyone else in the Faith should be doing.

Ephesians 4:1-6~Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. [Ephesians passage about unity of the Church corporate body]

It goes on in later verses to state...

Ephesians 4:11-16 So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming [poor quality processes or standards created by sin]. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ [The perfect standard or benchmark of holiness]. From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.

Three:

Kaizen: This localized small unit or group is often guided through the kaizen process by a line supervisor; sometimes this is the line supervisor's key role...to be a steward of workers who will eventually pass on the exact same philosophy to the next generation of adherents to the philosophy.

Christianity: This localized small unit or group is called a family and is often guided through the Christian process by Christian parent; sometimes this is the parents key role...to be a steward of children who will eventually pass on the exact same philosophy to the next generation or family. Its called discipleship. We see it in The Shema of the Old Testament.

Deuteronomy 6:1-9~These are the commands, decrees and laws the LORD your God directed me to teach you to observe in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess, so that you, your children and their children after them may fear the LORD your God as long as you live by keeping all his decrees and commands that I give you, and so that you may enjoy long life. Hear, Israel, and be careful to obey so that it may go well with you and that you may increase greatly in a land flowing with milk and honey, just as the LORD, the God of your ancestors, promised you. Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.

Many of these commands and statutes us the words "thou shalt" or "thou shall". These are quality terminologies. these are requirements to assure that an individual adheres to the stipulations put forward. Why? To assure that one improves in holiness and movement towards Godly living (sanctification). "Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads? " and "Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates?" Is this a Biblical form or work instructions for holiness and sanctification for individual households? I believe it can be seen that way.

Proverbs 22:6~Train up a child in the way he should go, even when he is old he will not depart from it.

[More Sanctification, Holiness and Quality Priniciples to follow in Part II...]

Apocalypse Prophecy IX: God's Plan For The Future

2012-01-28T12:02:00.000-05:00

Persian Warriors
Berlin Museum

Daniel Literary Structure-Chapters 7-12

When we get to the 6th chapter of Daniel we see a wise and godly exile (Daniel) now becomes the focus of concerted opposition. Since no means can be found of rescuing him from impending death, he is thrown to the lions. By his own decree the king’s hand is forced. The powerlessness of King Darius contrasts with the supremacy of the living God, who delivers Daniel from the mouth of the lions. The man who should be dead is found very much alive in the morning ready to resume his place in government, so triumphing over his enemies as if nothing even happened.

A swift and harsh vengeance befalls on Daniel’s opponents, demonstrating that the powers that oppose God’s rule cannot succeed and will be crushed by God’s justice in the end.

In Daniel 7 we encounter a vision and it is like Chapter 2. It bridges the interim between Daniel’s time and the intervention of the Most High to establish his kingdom. Although there are four beasts in the vision that are clearly against God, the most destructive in the fourth beast, whose authority comes to a sudden end with his death and judgment. We see Heaven opened, and the “Ancient of Days” gives worldwide dominion to “one like the son of man” (v. 14). Hostility having been trounced, the sovereignty and power are handed to the people of the Most High God (v. 27). Despite the interpretation, much remains mysterious, and, like Daniel, we are perplexed. But we can affirm that Jesus identified himself with the role of the one who was to come (the Son of Man), human and yet exercising divine authority as ruler and judge.

In Daniel 8 we see two dominant world powers, identified as Medo-Persia and Greece, will each come to an appointed end. A Greek ruler will attack God’s people and so defy God himself (v. 25). “He will cause deceit to prosper, and he will consider himself superior. When they feel secure, he will destroy many and take his stand against the Prince of princes. Yet he will be destroyed, but not by human power.” The fall of such deviant sinful people is certain. This is the last of the symbolic representations of the future.

In Daniel 9, momentously Daniel enters the presence of Israel’s covenant God, confessing the sin that brought about Jerusalem’s disaster and appealing to the promises of a covenant God. Deliverance of his people will vindicate God’s character. Gabriel’s response uses symbolic numbers based on “seventy” (Jeremiah 25:11; 29:10) to confirm that Jerusalem will be rebuilt but surprisingly will not escape further devastation down the road.

Daniel 9:2~ in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, understood from the Scriptures, according to the word of the LORD given to Jeremiah the prophet, that the desolation of Jerusalem would last seventy years.

Jeremiah 25:11~ This whole country will become a desolate wasteland, and these nations will serve the king of Babylon seventy years.

Jeremiah 29:10~ This is what the LORD says: “When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfill my good promise to bring you back to this place.

We see the culmination God is working towards stated in Dan 9:24-27.

“Seventy ‘sevens’ are decreed for your people and your holy city to finish transgression, to put an end to sin, to atone for wickedness, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the Most Holy Place. “Know and understand this: From the time the word goes out to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the Anointed One, the ruler, comes, there will be seven ‘sevens,’ and sixty-two ‘sevens.’ It will be rebuilt with streets and a trench, but in times of trouble. After the sixty-two ‘sevens,’ the Anointed One will be put to death and will have nothing. The people of the ruler who will come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end will come like a flood: War will continue until the end, and desolations have been decreed. He will confirm a covenant with many for one ‘seven.’ In the middle of the ‘seven’ he will put an end to sacrifice and offering. And at the temple he will set up an abomination that causes desolation, until the end that is decreed is poured out on him.”

It is clear that the ministry of Jesus began to bring in God’s kingdom

Mark 1:15 “The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!”

Jesus’ death put away sin (Hebrews 9:24-28).

Though defeat of the persecutor was certain…

If we move to Daniel 10:1-12:13 the final revelation was brought by a radiant figure of a man, who had power to strengthen Daniel and enable him to receive the long and detailed narration from the Book of Truth. History is presented as a succession of reigns. Kings jostle for power and exert their authority, and then their kingdoms are broken and fall. The course of events is veiled in couched language, but one ruler who exalts himself above all and says unmentionable things against the God of gods and receives detailed attention.

“The king will do as he pleases. He will exalt and magnify himself above every god and will say unheard-of things against the God of gods. He will be successful until the time of wrath is completed, for what has been determined must take place.” Daniel 11:36

The book of Daniel says that religious persecution is his weapon. He succeeds in dividing the people of God, desecrating the temple, and causing the death of believers. The references seem to be very appropriate to Antiochus IV (175-164 BC) but this could and probably does look beyond him to later persecutors of God’s people. All of their ends will be the same as all of the enemies of God’s people. Despite initial political and military might, all meet the same end.

Suffering for believers is always followed by an unprecedented promise of restoration and resurrection (12:2-3). Death is not the end. The meaning of the entire unfolding of history has a meaning that lies beyond time…beyond history…within the immutable purpose of God. Like Daniel, the faithful on earth are to remain faithful despite suffering and persecution.

Apocalypse Prophecy VIII: Empires Rise & Empires Fall

2012-01-27T12:02:00.002-05:00

Daniel's Literary Structure-Chapters 1-6

So now we get into the beef of the book and the actual interpreting of the text itself chapter by chapter in its context. As stated before, the book of Daniel exhibits more than one literary pattern. The simplest and most obvious is the division between the stories in Chapters 1-6 and the visions in Chapters 7-12. Two features connect the two aforementioned divisions of Daniel together. One is the similarity between chapters 2 and 7 in that both point in uniquely but synonymously to the setting up of God’s kingdom.

The other feature is the use of two original languages mentioned before. The Aramaic section (2:4b-7:28) links the two halves of the book together like a linchpin. Accordingly Chapters 1:1-2:4a and Chapters 7:29-12 are in Hebrew book-ending the Aramaic section in the center. what is even more focusing is a strong chiasmus/chiastic/“X” shape pattern in the Aramaic section formed around chapters 4 and 5 and I believe this is to draw attention to it. This is about God steering and working through even the most powerful individuals in the world to bring His plans to fruition. We see the phasing out of the worldly power and the ushering in of the power and glory of the Kingdom of God

A. Four empires and God’s coming kingdom (Chapter 2)
    B. Trial by fire and God’s deliverance (Chapter 3)
        C. A king warned, chastised, and delivered (Chapter 4)
        C. A king warned, defiant and disposed (Chapter 5)
    B. Trial in the lion’s dean and God’s deliverance (Chapter 6)
A. Four empires and God’s everlasting kingdom (Chapter 7)

I believe, based on this information alone we can lay to rest the liberal theologians wacky opinions and it also helps create a signpost to bring emphasis in the book where it is needed in which show the reward for obedience and the curse for disobedience (a la Deuteronomy 28). Man's empires and kingdoms rise and fall but God's Kingdom is coming and it will breech into this realm. It will be the Messiah that ushers it in. Daniel lived to see the end of the Babylonian empire. The sovereignty of the God he served is absolute. It is the same God we serve as Christians. God’s hand in human events ensured meaning and hope in life because God's ultimate work through His Son is life and is the Kingdom.

In the midst of all this there was a faithful remnant determined to be faithful to God, and God was faithful in providing an advocate within the Babylonian government. The advocate was a young man who was, "handsome, showing aptitude for every kind of learning, well informed, quick to understand" Daniel 1:4. Although God revealed His secrets to Nebuchadnezzar, it was Daniel, a man of God, who was the interpreter.

Focus now shifts to world history and Nebuchadnezzar is the unquestioned world ruler of his day by divine decree (Dan. 2:37-38). He is clearly the statue’s head of gold, whereas his successors will be inferior to him.

“Your Majesty looked, and there before you stood a large statue—an enormous, dazzling statue, awesome in appearance. The head of the statue was made of pure gold, its chest and arms of silver, its belly and thighs of bronze, its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of baked clay. While you were watching, a rock was cut out, but not by human hands. It struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay and smashed them. Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver and the gold were all broken to pieces and became like chaff on a threshing floor in the summer. The wind swept them away without leaving a trace. But the rock that struck the statue became a huge mountain and filled the whole earth. Daniel 2:31-35

When a rock strikes the feet of clay, the whole statue crumbles, and "the rock" that is God’s kingdom fills the earth. The human king bows before God who, because he controls history, gives meaning to each era of history and reveals it to Daniel (Dan. 2:44). In Daniel 3:1-30 - The ceremony to unite courtiers from all the nations before the king’s golden image was the occasion for accusations against three Jews who refused to worship the image: Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. The king, furious that his orders should be defied, carries out his threat to condemn them to the flames. This test becomes the opportunity to experience God’s saving power: A fourth figure accompanies them in the fire and delivers them from death and the fourth, "looks like a son of the gods.” Loyalty to God takes precedents over personal safety even if the outcome is still unknown. Because of this unquestioning obedience they gained the right to worship God unmolested. God defends those that are faithful.

In Daniel 4 Nebuchadnezzar's dream of a tree was a omen, warning him that his prosperity would be short-lived unless he acknowledged the Most High God and gave priority to righteousness for the subjugated and exploited of his kingdom (vv. 25-27).

"You will be driven away from people and will live with the wild animals; you will eat grass like the ox and be drenched with the dew of heaven. Seven times will pass by for you until you acknowledge that the Most High is sovereign over all kingdoms on earth and gives them to anyone he wishes. The command to leave the stump of the tree with its roots means that your kingdom will be restored to you when you acknowledge that Heaven rules." Daniel 4:2-26

So....

None of this changes until Neb's goes stark raving mad. So much so that he is exiled from human society and takes on bestial existence eating grass (can anyone say moooooooo). After gaining his senses and his throne back (thanks to God) he acknowledges God having done so. No man has infinite power, only God. Nebuchadnezzar's restoration shows that there is a purpose for all nations and kings as God has allowed such kingdoms and kings to exist.

On the flip side of Nebuchadnezzar's eventual obedience, we will later see the disobedient Belshazzar who summary dismisses God and gives Him no place in his life. His defiance of God contrasts sharply with Nebuchadnezzar’s eventual submission. Subsequently, death came swiftly at the hands of Persian invaders, who brought Babylon’s empire to an end in the form of Cyrus. The United States could learn a lesson from this...leaders and nations--bad deeds inevitably return to them. History repeats and it is divine retribution at work over and over again. In the Bible and outside of it also.

There is a profound message here for all of us, not just rulers, kings and presidents but also parents, teachers managers and politicians who are responsible or are in the role of providing others a means to learn and/or to live such as a paycheck. Roles like these need to be carried out with humility like Jesus. If not, the results are disastrous. In Nebuchadnezzar we see him make the claim to be godlike as human and he is reverted to an animal state. It is the very sin he commits that becomes his judgment in reverse. Humans being created lower than God were given dominion over animals. When man usurps his roll and attempts to either bring God down to his level or elevate himself to God's he is punished by becoming less than human or animalistic. Man not being satisfied with what God has made him reaches for the unreachable and is cut-off at the knees so-to-speak to grovel and graze in a field. Reaching for Heaven prematurely, man reaches only the dirt of the Earth and becomes one of the "base" things of creation! When we reject God and what God has made us we are threatened with and we threaten others with becoming subhuman monsters. Nebuchadnezzar, Nero, Henry the VII, Hitler, Stalin, Mao Zedong, Pol Pot your boss, you, etc etc etc.

Pride and the thought that we can be like God or act like we can...the thing that brought humanity down in the first place in Genesis. Have we learned nothing from our past?

The real truth is that the only way we truly rise to be with Christ as co-heirs is to humble ourselves before the "tree" of Christ (the Cross) and accept what He has done in His sacrificial death. There is no other way. Self-exaltation amounts to nothing more than self-condemnation.

Who is really The King? Self or Christ?

Apocalypse Prophecy VII: Daniel’s Purpose

2012-01-25T20:12:00.001-05:00

Daniel the person was a benchmark of personal dedication and devotion to God despite living amongst pagans. He was an encouragement and role model to the other exiles in the midst of their plight.

The Book of Daniel focuses in on the sovereignty of God over all nations and history and all these things combined serve His purposes...even Kings, Pharaohs, Emperors, Dictators, Presidents and your megalomaniacal boss or supervisor :P.

Daniel the book provides an example of the faithfulness of God to His people despite their unfaithfulness. This book shows that God will work His purpose within the community of faith in patience with promise of future blessing in spite of their stupidity an sinful nature. This should be reassurance for us today.

Daniel the book provides a framework for a time coming that is understood as “The Time of the Gentiles mentioned in Luke 21:24. Daniel the book also charts the course for the Gentiles through history. Daniel also elaborates on the discipline of Israel during these times. Daniel shows the time of the Gentile will eventually run its course with judgment from God. It then goes into explicit details about the Gentile impact on Israel while they wait for their Messiah and His coming Kingdom. He assures

Israel

will be delivered and blessed in conjunction with said Kingdom. In the end because of God's love and grace,

Israel

will be brought to repentance and will eventually be restored.

A Bit More Historical Context

There is a 4th empire mentioned in Daniel 2:40 and 7:7, in which history is to reach its climax because God intervenes, stretches beyond the Greek period, presumably into the Roman empire.

"Finally, there will be a fourth kingdom, strong as iron—for iron breaks and smashes everything—and as iron breaks things to pieces, so it will crush and break all the others." ~ Daniel 2:40

“After that, in my vision at night I looked, and there before me was a fourth beast—terrifying and frightening and very powerful. It had large iron teeth; it crushed and devoured its victims and trampled underfoot whatever was left. It was different from all the former beasts, and it had ten horns. ~ Daniel 7:7

We know from history or historically that the Roman consul in 168B.C. exercised his authority over Egypt and expelled the Syrian king. The vision of Daniel probably concerns the distant future in Daniel 8:26:

“The vision of the evenings and mornings that has been given you is true, but seal up the vision, for it concerns the distant future.” Daniel 8:26

This is possibly is a reference to a time beyond the historical empires of Greece and Rome. I personally hold to a 6th century date of writing thus taking the visions and dreams as predictive prophecy. Others more liberal interpreters hold to a 2nd century date of writing is to be preferred so that the ‘foretelling’ should be regarded as having been written after the event removing of course the predictive element. Regardless of the date, it does not great affect the interpretation.

A Theological Pit Stop & Relevant Things to Note

The earliest date noted is Dan. 1:1's, "the 3rd year of Jehoiakim" which was 605B.C. The latest date is, "the 3rd year of Cyrus" in Dan. 10:1 which was 537B.C. These anchors in time bookend Daniel to an exact chronological window in history. It is interesting to note considering all the apocalyptic language that Daniel never once directly mentions either the destruction of Jerusalem in 587B.C. or to the return of the exiles to Judah in 538B.C. Ezra 1 does but Daniel does not. What the book does reveal in a generalized lofty 30,000 ft manner is God’s wider plan concerning kings and kingdoms. It is of particular note that the Greek empire is named in Daniel 8:21 and its end envisaged in Daniel 8:25.

The shaggy goat is the king of Greece, and the large horn between its eyes is the first king. Daniel 8:21

He will cause deceit to prosper, and he will consider himself superior. When they feel secure, he will destroy many and take his stand against the Prince of princes. Yet he will be destroyed, but not by human power. Daniel 8:25

Apocalypse Prophecy VI: Daniel - Historical Background & Context

2012-01-23T19:14:00.013-05:00

Dan the Man

The Book of Daniel tells the story of a young Hebrew taken from Jerusalem in the days of the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar circa 605-562 B.C. The primary theme of his life is of faithfulness to his God and the Covenant with his God in light of hardships lived in exile. No matter what Daniel stays true to God and as such is an anchor of hope and encouragement to those around him and to us today. In this manner Daniel was very much like Joseph or a kind of typology that inevitably points to Jesus Christ. Both rose to prominence in a foreign court through unorthodox means that are clearly attributed to God's sovereignty; both were blessed with insight into the future purposes of God in history through dream and/or visions. Different somewhat from Joseph though is Daniel is told mostly in the 3rd person and the portion that does this contains a series of extraordinary visions and its presented in autobiographical fashion.

The Book of Daniel is placed after the Prophets in the Canon but ironically it was probably Daniel who was sent in the first wave of exiles to Babylon. Interestingly in the Book of Daniel, Daniel himself is never referred to as a prophet. He is given this title posthumously by Jesus in Matt. 24:15 (which is good enough for me :). The book of Daniel has a title name in Hebrew that could either mean, “God is my judge” or “God is judging." This would suggest Daniel is one of the chief characters in the book (after God Himself working through Daniel and kings) but it was customary, not always consistent though, in Hebraic literature to affix the name of the author to the book he wrote. Daniel’s contemporaries who included Ezekiel attributed righteousness and wisdom among his attributes (Ez14:14, 20; 28:3). Daniel of a royal family and was of the nobility of Judea (Dan. 1:3,6 this is why he was taken in the first wave of exiles as the first wave primarily contained royalty, leaders and/or VIPs. He was most likely good-looking and a quick study (Daniel 1:4). At the time of his captivity he would've been in his mid-teens. At the time of the lions den 80 years of age (so much for all those bogus paintings of him in the prime of his youth...people need to learn how to read). He was approximately 85 at his death.

Daniel the Book

The Book of Daniel is prophetic and is the first great book of apocalyptic literature in the Hebrew Bible. Within its characteristics is: (1) The one who received God’s truth in visions records what they saw. (2) extensive use of figurative language, i.e., symbols or signs, (3) gives revelation concerning God’s program for the future of His people, (4) apocalyptic prose was used rather than the poetic style which was rather common in most prophetic literature. The Book of Daniel is written it two different languages. It is written Aramaic (Daniel 2:46-7:28) and the remainder is in Hebrew. Hebrew was the language of God's People and Aramaic was the common or spoken language of Daniel’s day. The two primary overarching themes of Daniel are:

(1) God’s plan for the Gentiles: Therefore we see the purpose of using Aramaic, the language of the Gentiles that surround Daniel.

(2) The nation of Israel and the influence or effect of the Gentiles on Israel: Therefore we see the purpose of using Hebrew, the language of God's people.

Also, Chapters 1-6 record historical events in Daniel’s lifetime and Chapters 7-12 record the extraordinary prophetic visions given to Daniel. Although many Liberal Theologians and scholars see a lack of unity in Daniel due to language and themes, the unity of Daniel is supported by noting the combination and dependence of two major divisions in the book: The unveiling/revealing in chapter 2 parallels intricately with the revelation in chapter 7. Additionally we see the same Hebrew expressions and euphemisms in chapters 7 and later that we see previous to chapter 7. Read it closely and you will see what I mean.

Historical Context of Daniel

In Daniel we see Nineveh, the Assyrian capital fell to the forces of Babylon and Media in 612B.C. Although some Assyrians fled westward to Haran to establish the Assyrian Empire. In 611B.C. Nabopolassar, the king of Babylon attacked Haran – in 610B.C., allied with Media, they defeated the Assyrians in Haran who fled again westward beyond the Euphrates. In 609B.C. the Assyrians aligned Egypt to fight against the Babylonians. King Josiah of Judea sought to prevent the Egyptian & Assyrian alliance died at Megiddo against the Egyptians (2Kings 23:28-30; 2 Chron. 35:24). Pharaoh then allied with Assyrians in their assault against the Babylonians at Haran unsuccessfully.

Assyria was left in ruins but the Egyptians continued their conflict with Babylon. In 605BC at the Battle of Carchemish, Nebuchadnezzar soundly trounced them and while in pursuit of their retreat he expanded his empire southward into Syria and Palestine. After the death of his father, Nebuchadnezzar returned home to become king in 605B.C. Later the same year he returned and attacked Jerusalem. It is at this point that he took Daniel (young intellectuals), royal family members and nobility (where the head leads the body follows theory).Jehoiachin spurred a rebellion and it is decisively squashed Nebuchadnezzar. Jerusalem is essentially enslaved at this point and it is now that we see the likes of Ezekiel also taken to Babylon into captivity (Ezekiel 1:1-3; 2 Kings 24:8-20). It is then due to further recalcitrance on Jerusalem’s behalf that in 588B.C. Nebuchadnezzar marches on Jerusalem, sieges it and annihilates the city thereby leveling the First Temple in the process-hence the need for the prophet Jeremiah’s Lamentations. Nebuchadnezzar reigned for 43 years until 562 B.C. It is then in 539B.C. Cyrus overthrows Babylon and established the Medo-Persian Empire. In 538B.C. Cyrus issued an edict allowing the Jews to go home to Judea & Jerusalem (2Chron. 36:22-23; Ezra 1:1-4).

Some Jewish exiles opt to return to their land and began to rebuild the temple. Some actually chose to stay behind because they had grown accustomed to Babylon and were comfortable with their situation. I have to believe that this was the less devout option on the table at the time. This kept in sync with Daniel’s prayer in Daniel 9:4-19.

The temple was completed in 515B.C. (Ezra 6:15). At this point approximately 70 years have passed from the time of the first conquest of Jerusalem and Daniel’s exile (605 B.C.) until the Jews returned and rebuilt the temple foundation in 536B.C.

Therefore...Jeremiah’s prophecy in Jeremiah 25:11-12 was deadly accurate.

“This whole country will become a desolate wasteland, and these nations will serve the king of Babylon seventy years.“But when the seventy years are fulfilled, I will punish the king of Babylon and his nation, the land of the Babylonians, for their guilt,” declares the LORD, “and will make it desolate forever."

Babylonians per se never do rise from the dust of history like Israel does over and over.

The Power of A Manufactured Personality

2012-01-21T15:59:00.014-05:00

Occasionally, I have these fleeting thoughts that surface while I am thinking about other things. This especially happens when I am deeply in the Word studying. Strange...its like God is dropping a message in a bottle right in the middle of an already full basin that I am wading in. When the message surfaces, I will jot down or type the main gist of the idea and move on. As quickly as the message comes, the message goes again the same way. Many probably warrant expounding upon but I don't always have the time to see the thoughts to their meaningful end so I will begin to drop them in SoulJournaler as blurbs for people to comment on instead of wasting them on Facebook. They are usually presented to me in my mind as challenges to my conscience or existing dogma so I will present them to you in the same manner. The most recent one I leave below....

"Why are we as Christians purposely aligning ourselves with certain political personalities right or left (of dubious motives or manufactured personalities) when it specifically pits us against other Christians with probable allegiances to other political personalities? These personalities are not of the church per se yet we allow their agendas and motives to cause divisiveness amongst us. This is especially troublesome when we do so knowing we are causing division within the Church's unity and love. Then people wonder what I mean when I say that I do not believe in effecting a change to the world through political means.

When are people going to learn what Jesus did in the Gospels?"

Why are politicians or their ideas in our pulpits? Why do we allow their agendas and many of their godless philosophies to be voiced from the place God should be glorified?

Apocalypse Prophecy V: Interpretive Views

2012-01-21T08:19:00.000-05:00

There is considerable disagreement on how the books of the Daniel & Revelation should be interpreted. In this series of posts, understanding the book of Daniel is crucial to an accurate interpretation of the prophecies in the book of the Revelation and vice versa. The challenges of interpreting passages about potential future tribulations and kingdom promises abound. There are most likely a minimum of (100) one hundred prophecies (literally interpreted) in Daniel 11 alone that are fulfilled. I will purposely avoid the Liberal Theology misinterpretations so to avoid further confusing a difficult area of Scripture.

To those who take a literal approach to the interpretation of Daniel we should note that there will be a literal future seven year judgment period (Daniel 7:21-22) and a literal 1,000 year kingdom (Revelation 20) after Christ’s second coming when He will reign over both Israelites and Gentiles (Daniel 7:27). This will be an era before and distinct from the final, absolutely perfect, ultimate state. In this view, the new heaven and the new earth with its capital, the New Jerusalem will be final realized (Rev 21-22). This leads to an adherence to Pre-Millennialism.

If we continue along the lines of Daniel’s cryptic nature we will also confront challenges in Daniel are formidable such as: The interpretation of numbers, identifying the one who is “like a Son of Man” and figuring out whether or not we see Antiochus or Antichrist in Daniel 8:19-23. We also need to figure out the “seventy sevens” in Daniel 9 which is particularly troublesome.

Daniel is brimming with prophecy. Some of which have been and some of which are yet to be fulfilled supposing a literal interpretation. The tactic one takes in interpreting future prophecies in the book of the Revelation is greatly impacted by the method of interpretation of the future prophecies of Daniel. This post will recapitulate the four "modes" of interpretation regarding both the prophecies of Daniel and of Revelation.

Some of these views and their explanations are as follows. All of them revolve around the context of time and unfold in time from a human perspective but are based on a timeline established by God since before the existence of time.

Preterist View

A Preterist maintains that the events described in the Book of Daniel were fulfilled at or before the time of Jesus. This view sees the Book of Daniel (and Revelation) as somewhat historical related to Daniel and the Jews in captivity in Babylon. There is also a prophetic message detailing visions and prophecies which foretold important events related to four great empires of the world. The prophecies of Daniel addresses among other things the restoration of the Jews, the coming and death of מָשִׁ֣יחַ or Mashiah - The Messiah, and the conversion of the Gentiles. Preterist believe that their view creates the least amount of problems from an interpretive standpoint. They posit that the prophecy of Daniel has been literally fulfilled in history. They believe their view best explains the “Abomination of Desolation in the Olivet Discourse (the little apocolypse) in Matthew 24, Luke 20 and Mark 13. It is their belief that Daniel’s prophecy was given so that the restored Jews would know the times and events surrounding the coming of מָשִׁ֣יחַ / Messiah. Ironically, J. Calvin seems to have adhered to a Preterist view for the Book of Daniel…most likely historicist (see below) in his view on Revelation. A Preterist clings tenaciously to the concept of the use of symbols and allegory. As for a Preterist view of Revelation it is believed that the events told of in Revelation are concerning John's time and that it was written primarily to provide hope and comfort to the nascent 1st century church persecuted by Rome (a la: Jeremiah’s Lamentations, Ch. 3). I will note though that a Preterist view is held by many Liberal Theologians today or those that will deny that the Revelation predicts future events. This thereby helps them avoid the need to appeal to the supernatural element of forth-telling/foretelling the future

Historicist View

A Historicist sees the Book of Daniel similar to a Preterist. According to them prophecy outlines the breadth of world history as it relates to God's people all the way down to the end (of time). God is portrayed as the One who comforts and protects His people at all times. He is sovereign and omnipotent. And it agrees with how God dealt with prophecy in Daniel and Revelation. It can be state that the scope of the first prophecy in Daniel 2 clearly shows that God charted prophecy from the time of Daniel to the Second Coming. A Historicist will also note that this view more closely resembles Christ’s and claim that many if not most Protestants and reformers held to the same approach. They see Revelation as a symbolic or allegorical prophetic survey of church history from the time of Christ until to the Second Coming of Christ. Those that try to detract from this view will discount it because it feebly addresses the prophecy of Revelation and they would be correct in this assessment.

Note: I must draw the attention of my readers that are die hard Calvinist or heavily reformed and also cling to a futurist view (see below) that many notable and prominent men in the Protestant movement held to this view including: Luther, Calvin, Wesley, J. Edwards, Whitefield, Spurgeon, etc. If you do not understand this view the writings of these aforementioned people will confuse you. AS such these men believed that many of the promises made to Israel now found their application to the Church.

Idealist View

The last view is Idealist which says that Daniel and Revelation are not predictive prophecy, but purely symbolic portrait of the cosmic conflict between the forces of good and evil. They view Daniel and Revelation simply a collection of stories designed to teach spiritual truth.

Futurist View

A Futurist would interpret Daniel’s prophecies has having been partial fulfilled but a number remain unfulfilled awaiting future fulfillment. Futurists interpret the bulk of Revelation as foretelling of future end time historical events before, during and after the return of Jesus Christ and the establishment of His millennial kingdom on earth. This of course would then be followed by the creation of a New Heaven and the New Earth. Surprisingly, this view was sort of espoused by the likes of Justin Martyr (103–165AD), and Irenaeus (2 Cent AD), not just John Nelson Darby (Nov 18, 1800-April 26, 1882) and Dr. C.I. Scofield (August 19, 1843-July 24, 1921). Because of the latter two men, the Futurist view has been booming since the 19th century and is widely held among many evangelicals today-portions of this view are aligned or understood in conjunction with Dispensationalism.

Because my job and calling as a disciple of Christ is to be a pastor/teacher I will not allow myself to become tangled up in confusing arguments and speculation over other’s views on this. As I stated in previous posts, we all bring bias and presuppositions to the Scripture that are not always beneficial to understanding them correctly and we must always ask God to guide us in our interpretations. I highly recommend we all continually try to refine and further improve our understanding of God’s word…not assume we have it all figured out. If we do this we are fooling ourselves and the Devil has gained a foothold in our minds like and illegal squatter.

Album Review: Theocracy - As The World Bleeds

2012-01-20T12:26:00.011-05:00

I realize I almost never review music on this site but I needed to make and exception for Theocracy's "As The World Bleeds". I am a progressive metal guy in the vein of Dream Theater, Kansas, Queensryche, Neal Morse, Sieges Even and Symphony X. As I have begun to immerse myself deeper and deeper into the Word I have searched for more meaningful lyrics that suit my state of mind that God is building for me. Recently, I have come across a new album from a band named Theocracy from

Georgia

that I was aware of but until recently did not pursue for my MP3 collection. No longer. The lyrics and the music for me are superb and the songs "I AM" and "Altar To The Unknown God" border on genius for this type of music. I imagine many will differ in opinion from me and that is fine, it takes variety to keep the world from becoming monochrome and dull. If you are interested I would check them out. "As The World Bleeds" (2011)... (1) Altar To The Unknown God (2) 30 Pieces of Silver (3) I AM

Rating: 10 of 10

All Lyrics by:

Theocracy

Ulterium (Europe), Nightmare Records (US), (2011)

Theocracy Official Website

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I AM

Apocalypse Prophecy IV: Book of Daniel-The Engima

2012-01-19T12:47:00.001-05:00

The Book of Daniel: An Enigma

The book of Daniel is often referred as an enigma. It comes across as a lingusitic and rhetorical puzzle. The reasons it is referred to as such is multi-fold. First and foremost the book of Daniel is made up of two different types of materials:

(1) Stories about Judean exiles working in the court of pagan kings and (Chapters 1-6)
(2) Accounts of visions experienced by one of these exiles (Daniel) (Chapters 7-12).

These stories even differ in their ethos.

(1) The stories are written in 3rd person and therefore from the Diaspora Persian period
(2) The visions are written in 1st person therefore from the Judea events during Antiochene period

Because of these factors it is quite possible Daniel may not have written the book named after him.

It is also written in two different languages Hebrew and Aramaic. Strangely the language divisions do not even match the thematic divisions or stories and vision accounts. In English Bibles Daniel comes in or is accompanied with the other Old Testament prophets but in the Hebrew Bible it comes in the third section of their canon or within the “Writings” / Ketuvim / כְּתוּבִים‎ This delineation in the Hebrew leads to speculation about whether Daniel actually belongs mixed in with the Prophets or with the later apocalyptic writings.

There is also certain similarities in Daniel to the wisdom tradition with both Israel and Babylon (Lucas 18)

Dating Issues

Except for negligible ancient sources, it was generally agreed in antiquity that Daniel is the product of the 6th century BC. This date was not seriously called into question until the 18th century. The historicity of Daniel is now called into question by many scholars as of the 21st century. As much as I want to just write this off as liberal theological assumptions and presuppositions I must be careful here as there are some things that are very difficult to explain in Daniel and nothing should be summarily dismissed as out of the realm of possibilities. My firm and educated guess though is that these dating discrepancies were mitigated by literary criticisms and liberal theologians with anti-supernatural presuppositions that presupposed a naturalistic explanation. Since it is claimed by some “experts” that there are historical inaccuracies in Daniel in terms of dating and is therefore subject to question and its inerrancy, we must put it under sharp scrutiny. The incidents documented in Daniel that count against Daniel supposedly being the work of an author that wrote during the 6th century are as follows: (1) The reference in Daniel 1:1-2 notes a siege of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar in the third year of Jehoiakim. (2) Chapters 2 and 7 infer existence of a Median Empire between the Babylonian and the Persian –and- (3) Chapter 5, Belshazzar is given the title king and Nebuchadnezzar is supposedly his father (4) Daniel 5:31; 6:28, and the figure of Darius the Mede. The text then goes on to state that there is no conclusive evidence of historical inaccuracy an therefore these criticisms are “not proven” according to highly reliable evangelical sources.

Critics also suggested that the dating is subject to error because of what it calls “linguistic arguments”. This argument in my mind carries more weight. The Persian words presuppose a period after the Persian empire had been well established just as Greek words demand Greek power or influence. As for Daniel we see Aramaic and Hebrew material. History being reflective can now see that Aramaic used in Daniel is the Aramaic used from 700-200 BC. This is different from the Qumran Aramaic used between 200 BC to AD 200. On the other hand the Hebrew of Daniel is more similar to Ezra, Nehemiah and Chronicles than exilic Hebrew of Ezekiel. There are clear differences between Ezekiel and Hebrew of Daniel. The bottom-line is that the language used in Daniel lends itself to as early a date as the 6th century but the wordage does not totally preclude a later date no matter how improbable a later date might be (which is extremely unlikely past the fourth century). Regardless, the dates should not me a factor for discounting divine inspiration as noted below.

Is Divine Inspiration In Doubt Due To Date Discrepancies?

In a word: NO!

The only people that question the divine inspiration of Daniel and doubt its inspiration are those that have a presupposition or bias to do so in my opinion. If a person comes to the Scripture looking for error that is what they will find and rarely will they attribute that error or “contradiction” to their own flawed or biased hermeneutical grid. So yes, dating can raise the specter of doubt but my question back to the person who asks this is: “Whose doubt does it raise?” We Christians are a people of faith and as such we should always approach Scripture the way Christ would, not the way a cynical and skeptical culture would. We must assume inerrancy if God is truly omnipotent and sovereign (which He is!)

The truth is this: The criticality in terms of divine inspiration of prophecy does not necessarily lie within pinpointing exact dates as mentioned within the forth-telling and foretelling question. The theological implications lie within the fact that God delivers prophecy as a tool or knowledge to His faithful. They are for people to make decisions at the point of prophecy calling them to faith immediately, not necessarily predicting things “down the road” for the unfaithful as punishment. God is not giving us prognosticators so much as he is trying to warn and instigate procrastinators.

It’s not how the message is given so much as it is the way it is interpreted and applied in a pragmatic manner as both can be the produce of divine inspiration….giving (prophecy) and receiving (Holy Spirit) (Lucas 309).

Ay! I love subtleties in wordage!

The Central Theme

The general theme was sort of answered in the previous “leading” section. The central theme of Daniel is the sovereignty of the God of Israel (an ironically us too). Above all we must look at Daniel in the context of the entire Bible and its relation to the rest of Scripture. Scripture does not exist in a void and it is best when Scripture interprets Scripture. As such, the underlying passive and active agent in Daniel (and the Bible overall) is Almighty God. All the variables, aspects, perceptions and presuppositions of time and human subjectivity must be put on pause when we understand that God is in control of all things…and that is the point. Not only was Daniel a divinely inspired/authored book, so too is its interpretation and reading. God influenced the input and he most certainly influence the output or discerning of Scripture as noted in places like 1 Corinthians 2:14-15, John 14:26, and 1 John 2:27.

Just as God encouraged Jews to interact with the pagan world in Daniel, God seems to reach across time as ask us to do the same in our reading of Daniel. Just as God is seen working through the pagan rulers of Daniel’s time, so to we see the possibility of the same happening to us now. Regardless, the implications and applications may differ person to person or age to age but the immutability and unchanging nature of God remains as does His sovereignty over all...for all of time.

Lucas, Ernest. "Introduction." Daniel. Leicester, England: Apollos, 2002. Print.

Apocalypse Prophecy III: Hebrew Poetry and Scripture's Structure

2012-01-17T14:23:00.002-05:00

Studying Daniel and Revelation will require us to engage poetry. Hebrew poetry is different than English poetry. In Hebrew poetry there is a focused, figurative, and generally beautiful or powerful use of language. In English poetry there is often a pattern of sound within the lyrical rhyme – not so with Hebrew. Hebrew poetry is characterized by a balanced pattern of thought not sound so much but primarily in a literary parallelism. It is a beautiful medium. In the case of chiastic Hebrew poetry the main idea resides in the middle of the poem as opposed to the end in English, hence the word "Chi" or the letter "X" in the Greek alphabet (Χχ / Chi). The main idea in Hebrew poetry resides dead center or "X" marks the spot. That is why we often see "chi"astic structure broken down like this in biblical commentaries..."D C B A B C D" or "A B C D C B A" or something similar to this. As stated, it is a balanced pattern of thought. It is balanced around the center of thought or "A" and "D" above which is the center of the pattern. Note the chiasmus and main idea in "D" below and note the balance of ideas.

Psalm 52:1-5

A-The steadfast love of God endures all the day.
     B-Your tongue plots destruction...
          C-You love evil more than good,
               D-and lying more than speaking what is right.
          C-You love all words that devour,
     B-O' deceitful tongue.
A-But God will break you down forever...

We also see parallelism which is self-explanatory below, which also focuses on balance of thought:

Matthew 19:30

A. But many that are first
     B. shall be last;
     B1. and the last;
A1. Shall be first.

If we look really closely we can even see parallels we can draw from Scripture into the Creation outside the text and examples from the Creation that we can compare to the Scripture as all are part of God's grand design.

"For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse." Romans 1:20

We will also see that just as Jesus and the Bible itself says, God's word imparts life.

"It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life." John 6:63

Apocalypse Prophecy II: Context, Typology and Symbols

2012-01-16T12:16:00.004-05:00

When attempting to interpret prophetic Scripture it is crucial to have a literal interpretation of the text. Where possible one should learn the Greek or Hebrew as some things are lost in translation. The best version for English readers in my experience is the NASB and the ESV. Although the paraphrased Bibles like the NLT and "Message" version are easy to read, they are next to worthless for exegesis and interpretation.

Having said this it is crucial to keep in mind that the literary context of a passage means more than the words or paragraph immediately surrounding. A reader must have also have the whole book in view to recognize the entire tapestry of the writing. Daniel and Revelations are the supreme examples of this or prophecy is often taken out of context as it is in many churches. Daniel deals with some rather broad contexts in terms of history when dealing with dreams and visions. Within Daniel we see the mention of at least three perhaps four kings. Because of the broad sweeping contexts of Daniel, a person coming to the text with a myopic or pigeonholed view are already starting off on the wrong foot and heading for disaster.

In Daniel & Revelation we have the task of distinguishing between literal and figurative language usage of words phrases are understood to me literal when they carry normal societal meanings. Figurative language takes a common, ordinary meaning and moves it to another realm of understanding. Often times the difference in one interpretation over another is the degree to which someone applies literalness.

Because the Bible utilizes language we are limited to what can be conveyed in words. As such words, grammar, syntax are subject to certain rules and constraints that must be learned so people can understand things properly. We will see various figures of speech, similes, metaphors, and hyperbole. Typology is a tool to draw reader attention to one point of similarity between a person, event, or thing in the OT and a person, event or thing in the NT. It is a language of comparison with a historical context both in the past and in the end times. We also see a Symbol is a visual metaphor. The use of Scripture to determine the symbol is referred to as decoding.

As for prophecy itself I must restate that prophecy's explicit purpose is not "predict the future" or "predict the End Times" which is exactly the manner in which pastors and preachers use it. I absolutely needs to be approached understanding it is to predict blessing or judgment. Primarily it is also to call people to a holy life. Prophetic preaching often is laden in figurative language but nowhere in the Bible is prophecy used to specifically satisfy people’s natural curiosity about the future. Never. So why would Revelation be any different? That methodology would break the pattern of Scripture. Prophecy is used for God's purposes, not the other way around. If by chance it reveals other things besides what I've stated about the future it is fringe benefit but not the primary purpose.

Read the last few sentences again...and get those ideas out of your head. I imagine some of these last few sentences should get people agitated. I've tried being nice about some of these things related to prophecy and deliver this stuff in "love" but Dispensationalism that has been factionalized in the last few decades is thoroughly entrenched in the American Evangelical psyche by those trying to sensationalize Daniel and Revelation. The problem is that some of the more recent forms of this are not even biblical. Because of this its hard to get through to those that take a dogmatic tract with no room for discussion. I will say that I am what most would consider a "leaky dispensationalist" somewhere between Walvoord and Ryrie. The problem or inability to decipher Biblical prophecy is that many need to stop watching the sensationalized bad theology on television and a huge portion of evangelical "literature" predicting the end times/eschaton putting it into novelized form for money in 20-part series books with bad theology. If that is why you're watching the show or reading the books, they and you are missing the point of prophecy completely. You will be better served reading your Bible and living a sanctified life.

Apocalypse Prophecy I: Get Your Prophecy Goggles on Straight

2012-01-14T16:23:00.002-05:00

There are things that absolutely must be taken into account when trying interpret prophecy properly. If you do not do all of these things you may very well be reading something in the Scripture that just isn’t there or performing what most call eisegesis or explained simply: A highly personal interpretation of a text using your own ideas and presuppositions, not those of the author or the intended readers. It is also known as forcing or imposing meanings into something that fits their/our existing belief system or worldview. We see this today in the world of politics and in political points of view. Regardless, let us move on with or requirements for proper understanding of Scripture.

The Eternal Now

The prophets did not always indicate intervals of time between events, nor did they always write their prophecies in chronological order.

Isaiah 65:17-25~ “See, I will create new heavens and a new earth. The former things will not be remembered, nor will they come to mind. But be glad and rejoice forever in what I will create, for I will create Jerusalem to be a delight and its people a joy. I will rejoice over Jerusalem and take delight in my people; the sound of weeping and of crying will be heard in it no more. “Never again will there be in it an infant who lives but a few days, or an old man who does not live out his years; the one who dies at a hundred will be thought a mere child; the one who fails to reach a hundred will be considered accursed. They will build houses and dwell in them; they will plant vineyards and eat their fruit. No longer will they build houses and others live in them, or plant and others eat. For as the days of a tree, so will be the days of my people; my chosen ones will long enjoy the work of their hands. They will not labor in vain, nor will they bear children doomed to misfortune; for they will be a people blessed by the LORD, they and their descendants with them. Before they call I will answer; while they are still speaking I will hear. The wolf and the lamb will feed together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox, and dust will be the serpent’s food. They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain,” says the LORD.

Isaiah often blended multiple chronological (time bound) points. In the case above we see the Exodus, the incarnation of Messiah and finally the final realization of God’s plans at the culmination of time in the end days. Isaiah as a speaker for God was speaking from the mind of God and acting as His mouth to men. A timeless God, therefore God sees all events of time in the eternal present. To us I looked like past, present and future but for God…it is now.

Literally Literal

Always approach a prophecy as literal or usual ordinary sense of the words unless one of the following occurs. (1) The wordage is obviously meant to be figurative language. In the case of Daniel 7:4, the beasts are (4) four kingdoms. In Revelation 1:13 the candlesticks are 7 churches. The other situation when literal interpretation should not be used is when it violates common sense or contrary to what the author is saying. Again I cite the example of Daniel’s (4) beasts: which describes a lion with eagle wings and a leopard with 4 wings & 4 heads. Duh!

When a prophetic message cannot be taken literally you need to look for what the author is trying to convey through his eloquent and colorful figurative language. Dan. 7:16-17 is courteous enough to give us the interpretation to one of these images:

“So he told me and gave me the interpretation of these things: ‘The four great beasts are four kings that will rise from the earth. Daniel 7:16-17

Once a symbol is identified in a prophecy it is extremely rare that the prophet would change the identification of that symbol.

The Hebrew Perfect Tense

Remember that often when a prophet refers to future events, he does not use the future tense, he uses the Hebrew perfect tense…which is a completed action. Why? Because in the mind of God, which the prophet is acting as a mouth or speaker for…the event is already completed. The most well-known version of this is:

Therefore my people go into exile for lack of understanding; those of high rank will die of hunger and the common people will be parched with thirst. Isaiah 5:13

Historical Context

When you interpret Scripture, consider the historical context of that writing, remembering that God was delivering his prophecy to a particular people at a particular time. In Habakkuk, God tells Israel He is raising up the Chaldeans to judge Israel…

“For behold, I am raising up the Chaldeans, that fierce and impetuous people who march throughout the earth to seize dwelling places which are not theirs.” Habakkuk 1:6

Hindsight is 20/20

As modern readers we may have the insight gained from the passage of time that the original authors and readers did not have. Then again, as in the case of Revelation...we do not. We need to remember that the meaning of a specific prophecy could not always be understood by the prophet or by the people who heard the message. The Israelites had hundreds of prophecy pointing to Jesus and still did not recongnize Him. What makes us think we will do any better comprehending the Bible (probably) less than they did?

1 Peter 1:10-12 ~ "Concerning this salvation, the prophets, who spoke of the grace that was to come to you, searched intently and with the greatest care, trying to find out the time and circumstances to which the Spirit of Christ in them was pointing when he predicted the sufferings of the Messiah and the glories that would follow. It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves but you, when they spoke of the things that have now been told you by those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. Even angels long to look into these things. "

"Then a mighty king will arise, who will rule with great power and do as he pleases." ~Daniel 11:3

We pretty much know that in its context in Daniel, this king was Alexander the Great.

Its About Time

Lastly, we must keep in mind that when you study prophecy, watch for phrases that indicate periods of time. This often becomes tricky especially if they are ambiguously referred to. In other words be on your toes when you read things like: "In the last days", "Day of the Lord", "End of the Age", etc. If you come across them you must either determine whether or not they already happened or see if they could parallel other passages in Scripture like "The Day of the Lord".

Hard Sayings XLIV: In The Spirit and Power of Elijah

2012-01-13T12:19:00.000-05:00

Jesus makes a matter-of-fact statement in Matthew 11:

“This is the one about whom it is written: “‘I will send my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way before you.’ Truly I tell you, among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist; yet whoever is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been subjected to violence, and violent people have been raiding it. For all the Prophets and the Law prophesied until John. And if you are willing to accept it, he is the Elijah who was to come. Whoever has ears, let them hear.” Matthew 11:10-15

So…Did Jesus say John the Baptist was Elijah reincarnated?

First off we must clear something up theologically. There is no such thing as reincarnation. Many mistake Jesus Resurrection as a reincarnation. Reincarnation like a bodily resuscitation gives another mortal body. Resurrection body is immortal. So Jesus could really be saying that John the Baptist is a reincarnation of Elijah per the prophet Malachi’s statements

See, I will send the prophet Elijah to you before that great and dreadful day of the LORD comes. He will turn the hearts of the parents to their children, and the hearts of the children to their parents; or else I will come and strike the land with total destruction.” Malachi 4:5-6

So what is Christ saying here as it is obvious he is comparing John the Baptist to the Prophet Elijah? Elijah had been taken up to heaven centuries before even Malachi so for all intensive purposes he was dead to people down here.

First of all, this passage presupposes a literal translation because it is coming from Jesus but we know for a fact that Jesus often spoke in parable and metaphorically. This would be a wise tact in approaching this passage. Although Scripture an Jesus are referring to a real incident and a real people they are being referred to their roles are being referred to as symbolic or as typology. Jesus is in no way teaching that John the Baptist is in actuality Elijah, this is patently absurd. We need to read Luke 1:17 to clear this up quite a bit. When the angel Gabriel approaches Zechariah and tells him that his, “wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to call him John”. The angel also tells him that, “…and he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the parents to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous—to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.” John came in the same spirit of Elijah preaching a message of repentance. In this way John was exactly the same as Elijah as he was carrying on a centuries old practice of….what else…prophecy. Jesus had not come in the capacity John was predicting ye when he was in the wilderness. John had come in the “spirit of Elijah”

It is also evident that by this point in Jesus’ ministry some of the Disciples had already seen Elijah appear on the Mount of Transfiguration with Jesus and Moses. John the Baptist would’ve been dead by this point. At the Mount of Transfiguration Elijah had still been Elijah not manifested as John on the mount. Elijah remained Elijah and John had gone on to be John somewhere else.

John couldn’t have literally been Elijah any more than Elijah could’ve been John.

Even if reincarnation was possible, which it is not, this first assumes someone had died and as any good Christian will tell you…Elijah didn’t die!

“As they were walking along and talking together, suddenly a chariot of fire and horses of fire appeared and separated the two of them, and Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind.” 2 Kings 2:11

Hard Sayings XLIII: Is God The Creator of Evil?

2012-01-12T12:44:00.001-05:00

In Isaiah 45:7 we clearly see it state the following in the Young’s Literal Translation and the literal translation is quite disturbing:

“Forming light, and preparing darkness, Making peace, and preparing evil, I Jehovah, doing all these things.” Isaiah 45:7

It reads like this in the Hebrew:

יוצר אור ובורא חשך עשה שלום ובורא רע אני יהוה עשה כל אלה׃

"one forming-and-one forming light-darkness-one making-well being-and one creating-evil-I Yahweh-one-making-all of-these"

So there it is right in the text, God prepares or created evil.

Whoa boy…here we go! What do we do with this? It is very clearly רָ֑ע Ro or evil, there is no clarification needed here, it means what it means. Evil is evil. Or is it? We are profusely taught throughout the pattern of Scripture that God does not create evil but in His sovereignty He allows it. So here we have a clear statement that God does indeed make or create evil.

While we’re at it what’s up with:

Jeremiah 18:11~ “Now therefore say to the people of Judah and those living in Jerusalem, ‘This is what the LORD says: Look! I am preparing a disaster for you and devising a plan against you. So turn from your evil ways, each one of you, and reform your ways and your actions.”

Lamentations 3:38~ “Is it not from the mouth of the Most High that both calamities and good things come?

Amos 3:6~ “When a trumpet sounds in a city, do not the people tremble? When disaster comes to a city, has not the LORD caused it?

Then we have 1 John 1:5 which tells us just the opposite:

“This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all.”

How are these not contradictory? As a Christian can you even explain these apparent contradictions?

First and foremost when confronted with these supposed contradictions, a Christian must always stand firm in their conviction of the inerrancy of Scripture. The pattern of Scripture and previous and later statements of God’s moral perfection in Matthew 5:48 and his inability to sin in Hebrews 6:18 should set the stage for our resolute mindset. God is absolutely just and must judge evil not create and condone it. As such we must educate ourselves on many of these more prominent passages that are often taken out of context and thrown in our faces and have a ready and reasonable defense for them. As you can see from my last sentence, the root of explaining the apparent contradiction of this passage is rooted in contextualization or understanding the surrounding texts and ideas Isaiah (and Jeremiah, Amos, etc) are putting forth to the reader.

The Hebrew word here is clearly “evil” but the question remains, “Does it mean literal evil or premeditated action bend on a negative outcome” and if it is evil as state, what kind is it? This word in its context does not necessarily relegate it to a moral negative or a deliberate malevolent action. This just couldn’t be because the entire pattern of Scripture elsewhere says just the opposite. When read in context the picture broadens and tends to make more sense.

This passage is talking to and about the commissioning of Cyrus who is God’s anointed through Isaiah (v.1)

“This is what the LORD says to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I take hold of to subdue nations before him and to strip kings of their armor, to open doors before him so that gates will not be shut…” Isaiah 45:1

Isaiah 45:5-7 “I am the LORD, and there is no other; apart from me there is no God. I will strengthen you, though you have not acknowledged me, so that from the rising of the sun to the place of its setting people may know there is none besides me. I am the LORD, and there is no other. I form the light and create darkness, I bring prosperity and create evil; I, the LORD, do all these things.

As can be easily understood from the context Isaiah is speaking of the attributes of God and His sovereignty and omnipotence. As Sovereign omnipotent God He is aware of all things in His creation and can do what He wishes, and allow or forbid things as He sees fit. This includes working through Cyrus even if Cyrus is unaware of God or God using him (i.e.: Pharaoh’s hardened heart, Joseph’s bros). The quintessential example of this is God allowing the evil of crucifixion to allow for the atonement of sin through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Evil? Yes. Was it caused by God? No. Allowed by God? Yes. Why...in the end it will bring glory to God Himself. With this in mind we need to see that God isn’t necessarily the author of all things that take place in Creation. Although He is aware of them and knows they will happen, He is not the Creator of them but does allow them. This is especially the case with evil. When God creates a being (man) with freewill to love, that being also has the freewill to hate or create havoc or evil. What we do see though is this: For His ultimate glory, He allows evil to exist and persist for reasons of His own and due to justifications of logic that are too complex to explain in a short post such as this. They are justifications in logic that have to do with the redemptive plan of mankind through Jesus Christ. (Genesis 50:20)

Now that we know this we can see that v.7 is preconditioned by the previous and later verses to address God’s overall character and how it interacts with His creation and how He rules over everything and all people. So let us look at the word “רָ֑ע /Ro” again. In this context we are not talking about evil as evil but something and event of transpiring that has less than a positive outcome. It is something God allows, not something God is or something that manifests from God’s being. This “evil” sounds an awful lot like and “effect” of God allowing something, not Him being the cause of it. “I bring prosperity and create evil”. God brings prosperity. How? Through other people or other things in the creation by either allowing things to happen or not forbidding them. As a counterpoint of contrast to this statement we see that God creates, or perhaps we should say He allows evil. In this instance it is more akin to terrible “misfortune” or “tragedy”, not evil per se. In the Book of Job we see Job losing everything but we don’t necessarily see it as evil so much as we see it as misfortune and tragedy. Even in Job’s case of misfortune and tragedy did God cause it or did He allow it as a sovereign God?

All this must be seen under the umbrella of Isaiah himself and the fact that he was a prophet that was prophesying to a sin deadened culture and no one was listening. When people don’t listen to you when you’re talking or writing to them, what do you normally do? Talk louder?

So in reality God created the “potential” for evil by allowing for beings with freewill. This is no different than a sword or gun being used as a weapon. Swords and guns are inanimate objects without a will of their own. It isn’t until a human with a will acts upon these objects that they become deadly weapons to another human being. It is the create being that “actualizes” the evil. This hardly makes God guilty of the actions of men. That’s like blaming your parents who brought you into the world for getting a speeding ticket on the Interstate. The truth is that God created only good things or very good things. Go back to Genesis 1 and 2 and refresh your memory on that one. Mankind actualized latent potential of evil by committing evil acts. God allows evil but never brings it into being or encourages it.

Regardless of evil and sins source, we know unequivocally that there is only one who can and will forgive sin and that is God Himself.

Enraptured With Revelation and Prophecy

2012-01-11T20:02:00.015-05:00

Apocalypse - Greek: Ἀποκάλυψις or Apokalypsis: "Lifting The Veil"

Since many are enraptured (pardon the pun) with Daniel/Revelation and the End Times for the wrong reasons I am going to work through these books and clear the waters so-to-speak. Too much of modern culture both in and out of the church focus too intently on the forth-telling/foretelling aspects of these books and not enough on the subject: Jesus Christ. Thereby they miss some of the most important aspects of the books. To much poor or misguided information is floating around the Internet among other places. I see it constantly when I go through a web site or Christian page ranking lists that SoulJournaler is on. More often than not many of the sites around me in the list especially above me in rank are prophecy sites that are either disseminating questionable information or completely misinterpreting the books to procure money, garner popularity (or other questionable motives). Spreading truth doesn't seem to be one of their primary objects. It looks are if they are striving to predict the future and pick dates or drum up anxiety and panic to a fevered pitch. I get quite tired of this misuse of Daniel and Revelation. First and foremost these books are to reveal Jesus Christ as I have said many times before. Secondly, they are to teach readers of about God and His interaction with humanity and His creation.

Please do not expect this to be your standard run-of-the-mill prophecy series shouting and blaring "JESUS IS COMING TOMORROW...QUIT YOUR JOB". If that's what you want to read about, please go to the other sites mentioned, you won't be getting that here because its just not biblical.

Since a lot of Daniel that is related to the End of the Age and Revelation are considered apocalyptic literature and are heavily layered with prophecies, I will be naming the series Apocalypse Prophecy. Apocalypse in Greek meaning "lifting the veil" and prophecies is self explanatory. Therefore I will be lifting the veil on these prophecies which forth-tell/foretell the future in what is often cryptic apocalyptic language. Apocalyptic language which was a rhetorical form prone to extremes in terms of metaphor, hyperbole and other selective language. Imagery within this form of literature was also prone to extremes in terms of cataclysmic events and things like celestial signs. The reason this type of literature did this was because the audience or people it was often trying to get the attention of were often spiritually dead or desensitized. Just like our day and age. Dead to God and desensitized.

It is promised that God would come back to gather His harvest, it is not our job to now exactly when. It is our job to be prepared and to prepare others so that when He does come he will find us on the road of sanctifcation.

The onset of the Apocalypse Prophecy is looming on the horizon...

Hard Sayings XLII: A Spineless Sniveling Bottom-Feeder

2012-01-10T12:31:00.000-05:00

“One day the angels came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came with them. “ Job 1:6

Among other things it is assumed by many that Satan is in Hell as we speak. This is a false assumption as he is currently free to roam in this world. The Bible is clear on this fact if people take the time to read it. The following verse states that Satan was, “roaming throughout the earth, going back and forth on it."

This present world is based on a system that is at war with God. The kingdom belongs to God but only a handful of His subjects are faithful to Him, the rest are in rebellion against God with Satan as the leader of the rebellion. We are not talking about the physical earth when we say that Satan is the god of this world. The physical world is identified by a completely different word. This world is a limited time of rebellion against God. Satan may be the god of this world, but not the god of this earth. Satan isn’t a god. When the Bible says that the system of the world belongs to Satan it means that he is worshipped by the world as a god. Most of the world does not knowingly worship Satan, they are deceived.

“And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.” 2 Corinthians 4:3-4

The “god of this age/world” indicates that Satan is the major influence on the mind-set expressed by the ideals and opinions of the majority of people. In other words: The culture. This mindset influences philosophies and education. This is why we must tentatively deal with the culture in our churches not allow it into the church unchecked to take over the church in the form of blaring rock music from the stage, café latte machines or Starbucks franchise in the lobby, homosexual leaders in the pulpit and “feel good” New Age self-esteem psychology in the teaching. We are losing the battle on this front wholesale and just mentioning this I will often be accuse do being legalistic.

Similar titles are found in Scripture concerning Satan. He is the “prince of the power of the air" in Ephesians 2:2 and he’s also called the "ruler of this world" in John 12:31.

These titles though are not absolute attributes of Satan but rather signify his capabilities. To say that Satan is the "prince of the power of the air" is to give the slug way more credit than he actually has. He only has as much power over us as we allow him to have. The farther afield we go from God the more power Satan has over us.

This is why everyone born anew of God is not of the world system and everyone born of God can overcome the world which is fallen in sin.

“Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves the father loves his child as well. This is how we know that we love the children of God: by loving God and carrying out his commands. In fact, this is love for God: to keep his commands. And his commands are not burdensome, for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world? Only the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.” 1 John 5:1-5

Having said this, the Devil is currently permitted to roam free and he is wreaking havoc. Having said all this…how is it that he is still allowed to approach God here? The idea is that Satan as access to God’s throne in the Job passage.

The truth is simple. Satan has no “membership” in heaven but at God’s behest he can still enter. If the Sovereign God of heaven and earth tells you to “get here now”, you get there and no have choice but to obey. It is like inviting a former vice president of a company back into a building after being stripped of his position. An even better analogy is that of Charlton Heston as Moses in the movie the Ten Commandments being allowed back in the presence of Pharaoh as a slave in yoke and chains. He could still enter the palace of the Pharaoh but he is an eyesore and abomination to all that view him. Satan is no longer and archangel but Satan and also the rest of the angels report to Him just as the topic verse states and so does this one:

“On another day the angels came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came with them to present himself before him…” Job 2:1

As the accuser we see Joshua the High Priest being hammered by Satan here:

“Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the LORD, and Satan standing at his right side to accuse him.” Zechariah 3:1

This is because Satan is the accuser of the brethren.

“Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say: “Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Messiah. For the accuser of our brothers and sisters, who accuses them before our God day and night, has been hurled down. Revelation 12:10

The image we get of Satan here is not a glorious and powerful entity that many disillusioned in this world see him as but rather a weasel that knows where his place is but in rebellion refuses to acknowledge it and pushes against it. He also comes off as a sniveling whining malcontent that constantly points the finger at the flaws and foibles of humanity because he knows he himself is lost and attacks the waek and the strays of the herd to bring them down. He's an opportunist that waits in darkness to attack his unsuspecting prey.

Does this sound like people you know? Did you ever wonder why it sounds like people you know?

^“Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I have come here from God. I have not come on my own; God sent me. Why is my language not clear to you…it is because you are unable to hear what I say. You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies. Yet because I tell the truth, you do not believe me! Can any of you prove me guilty of sin? If I am telling the truth, why don’t you believe me? Whoever belongs to God hears what God says. The reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to God.” John 8:42-47

Instead of offering a helping hand and serving as Christ did, Satan instead adds to the sinners burden which is the polar opposite of what Jesus does. The Devil adds burden and Jesus offers a totally different load to carry altogether that relieves humanity of its sin.

Frankly, I do not see this as a hard choice but there will be some who chose to carry an unbearable load by choice...and there will be some who continue to add to that load and make it worse by accusation and ridicule. Which choice would you make? Are you the kind of person that adds to someone elses load or do you help take it away? Are you a miserible wretch that wishes only to see others in misery with you or do you strive to lift others out of the mire even if it means you staying in it to help them out of it?

The Happy Funeral Dirge: Part II

2012-01-09T12:12:00.001-05:00

[Continued from Part I]

Moses in Deuteronomy 30 promised restoration for repentance (Deut. 30:1-10-paraphrased).

When all these blessings and curses I have set before you come on you and you take them to heart wherever the LORD your God disperses you among the nations, and when you and your children return to the LORD your God and obey him with all your heart and with all your soul according to everything I command you today, then the LORD your God will restore your fortunes and have compassion on you and gather you again from all the nations where he scattered you.

..IF…and this is a huge if…

(v.10) … If you obey the LORD your God and keep his commands and decrees that are written in this Book of the Law and turn to the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul.

We leave Moses in Deuteronomy and return to Jeremiah in Lamentations….When we reach the middle of Lamentations Chapter 3 something changes also. Instead of a unrelenting bleakness…the tone changes. *BANG!* We hit the brakes on verse 21. What is that? Is that…nah… it can’t be…it is! It’s hope! We see optimism for the future. It’s like the eye of the storm. We see hope and God’s loving-kindness and mercy of all things surfaces right in the middle of Lamentations only to be swallowed back up by chapter 4. Right in the middle of all of our suffering & misery the seed of hope & restoration resides.

In our trials character is built.

In the heat of the furnace steel is tempered and hardened.

Under intense pressure diamonds are formed.

In grief there will be compassion.

In loss there is love.

So if we read the main body of Jeremiah’s reprieve of hope dead center in this giant Hebrew chiastic we see God’s grace…

Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. I say to myself, “The LORD is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.” The LORD is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him; it is good to wait quietly
for the salvation of the LORD…

…Let him bury his face in the dust— there may yet be hope. Let him offer his cheek to one who would strike him, and let him be filled with disgrace. For no one is cast off by the Lord forever. Though he brings grief, he will show compassion, so great is his unfailing love. For he does not willingly bring affliction or grief to anyone. Lamentations 3:21-33

Jeremiah mourns the fall of Jerusalem--but also offers instruction and hope to its survivors. He mourns his people’s sin---but offers Godly direction. Even after Israel has messed up, God forgives. Even after God spends his wrath He restores his people. We see that even after utter failure there is hope. There is always the possibility of another brighter tomorrow in God, in Christ. In the end…God can and will restore all things to His glory. Even a sinner such as I. But this restoration is clearly conditioned upon certain actions by us. He expects us to change. He expects repentance that comes from the heart. Repentance is remorse from past actions. A heart change to turn from sin and turn towards God.

Lamentations 3:40 is clear, “Let us examine our ways and test them, and let us return to the LORD. Let us lift up our hearts and our hands to God in heaven…"

For us today, we are to examine our ways to assure that we are in Christ, not in rebellion against Him. If we fail to do this self-check daily seeking forgiveness we will certainly end up in rebellion against Him.

So what can we take away from Lamentations and Chapter 3 in particular?

First and foremost we see that even when man slips-up: God is faithful. We should try our best to adhere to God’s commands and do the correct Biblical things. We shouldn’t follow our own whims & intellect especially when it goes against God’s word. We clearly cannot follow the “wisdom of fools” in culture who do not revere God. In the case of Jerusalem they did what was right according to the world and reaped a harvest of destruction.

Second, we see that God is worthy of our praise for his loving-kindness. Jeremiah sings the praises of God’s merciful loving-kindness in these verses 21-33. We see in (v.22) Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed. The words “great love” here is the Hebrew word: Hesed. Hesed is a covenant love that leads to mercy. This means that dead-center in the middle of the most depressing section of Scripture in a giant piece of chiastic Hebrew poetry we see love & hope and a promise of a brighter tomorrow…if we repent. It’s called tough love. Spank the child then hug them.

Jeremiah is standing in the ruins of his beloved city, in the midst of desolation, in the middle of his lament…and we see him reciting a litany of hope and love.

(1) The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.

(2) The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him

(3) It is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD.

(4) For no one is cast off by the Lord forever. Though he brings grief, he will show compassion, so great is his unfailing love. For he does not willingly bring affliction or grief to anyone.

God is a God that looks down on sinners, like us, and has mercy & compassion. God gives a forgiving compassion that we as sinners do not deserve. It’s forgiveness by God that “takes the initiative”. It’s called grace and it is based in an unconditional love. It’s God’s unconditional love that is our hope.

In 1 Corinthians 13:5 it says: “love…it keeps no record of wrongs”. That is what God did for Israel and it’s what He will do for us…only if we repent or our sins. Ironically it’s 2 Corinthians 13:5 tells us to: “Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you—unless, of course, you fail the test?” If we fail the test we are to repent and return to the LORD, just as Jeremiah tells Israel in Lamentations.

In the end we need to continually do a ruthless & honest moral inventory of ourselves. This requires us to admit things about ourselves that we’d rather not. If we truly love God and others we will do these inventories and we will find our faults and we will repent and seek forgiveness. If we do not find our faults…God will. Personally, I’d rather find them myself and repent. It seems as though this would be the less painful route.

Lastly, we see that God is worthy of our praise for his Son. We reach this clincher or summation of Lamentations 3 in verses 57-58. It is this verse that helps us ties the loose ends together and we also see the bridge to the New Testament and Jesus Christ.

“You drew near when I called on You; You said, “Do not fear!” O Lord, You have pleaded my soul’s cause; You have redeemed my life.

Even at the very bottom of a pit of despair & doubt there is hope. And it is because God first loved us and extends us grace. Even when things look bleak God is there for us to call on. As long as there is breath in our lungs there is hope.

The whole point of the misery of Lamentations is that there is hope within all suffering - if God’s involved. The whole point of obedience is to avoid that suffering. The whole point of repentance is to avoid continued suffering. That hope, that obedience and that repentance is all based in Jesus Christ.

Knowing Jesus loves us and is there for us…gives us hope for tomorrow.

Knowing Jesus loves us and is there for us…gives us hope for next year.

Knowing Jesus loves us and is there for us…gives us hope until we reach eternity

If there is repentance there will be restoration...that is the pattern all throughout Scripture.

For his anger lasts only a moment, but his favor lasts a lifetime; weeping may remain for a night, but rejoicing comes in the morning. Psalm 30:5

Every dark cloud has a silver lining.

A Happy Funeral Dirge: Part I

2012-01-07T20:11:00.001-05:00

"Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness." ~Lamentations 3:21-23

The Book of Lamentations is a somber postscript to the Book of Jeremiah. It was Jeremiah who was called by God as a child to reveal sins of the people & the coming consequences. He was the proverbial Prophet of Doom. The book of Lamentations is literally laments over God’s severe penalties for a stiff-necked people…God’s people who had turned their back on the Him. Jeremiah mourns the fate of an apostate & backslidden Jerusalem. A fate that is parallel/similar to a backslidden Christian or Christianity also as we slowly see the church, including evangelicals slowly drifting away from the center of God’s will in terms of obedience. This is a parallel that has lessons to teach disobedient believers and to teach obedient believers.

God had faithfully satisfied every aspect of the covenant He had made with Israel but like a cheating spouse…Israel had been unfaithful in nearly every aspect. Instead of being obedient & receiving blessing Israel would be accursed. They’d be punished for their disobedience. Israel would be punished according to the stipulations of covenant given to Moses.

As stated in Deuteronomy 28:

(v.15) “…if you do not obey the LORD your God and do not carefully follow all his commands and decrees I am giving you today, all these curses will come on you and overtake you…

(v. 25 & 26) “defeated before your enemies. You will come at them from one direction but flee from them in seven, and you will become a thing of horror to all the kingdoms on earth. Your carcasses will be food for all the birds and the wild animals, and there will be no one to frighten them away.”

(v.36 & 37) The LORD will drive you and the king you set over you to a nation unknown to you or your ancestors. There you will worship other gods, gods of wood and stone. You will become a thing of horror…

(v.45-47) All these curses will come on you. They will pursue you and overtake you until you are destroyed, because you did not obey the LORD your God and observe the commands and decrees he gave you.

(v.49-52) The LORD will bring a nation against you from far away…they will lay siege to all the cities throughout your land until the high fortified walls in which you trust fall down. They will besiege all the cities throughout the land

(v.53) Because of the suffering your enemy will inflict on you during the siege, you will eat the fruit of the womb, the flesh of the sons and daughters the LORD your God has given you.

Having read these depressing passages from the Law of Moses, we jump ahead in time to the reality of Lamentations again and we see the curses for disobedience played out in Jeremiah’s laments…

God’s judgment has finally taken place. The date is now August 14, 586 B.C. The Babylonians have steamrolled every city in route to Jerusalem in a trail of destruction. The Babylonians then siege Jerusalem for 2 years. As the Babylonians tighten the noose around Jerusalem’s collective neck, Lamentations Ch. 2 & 4 tell us things became so bad that…mothers cooked and ate their children. When the siege of Jerusalem has ended Nebuchadnezzar & the Babylonians have annihilated Jerusalem, they’ve desecrated and leveled Solomon’s temple and carried the Israelites into captivity.

Jeremiah, after being abused, mocked, ignored and even thrown in a well…has been vindicated…but he isn’t celebrating. Everything he had prophesied had come true. He obeyed God and survives the onslaught but…

It comes at the cost of personal persecution & shame
It comes at the cost of “friends” in his own church
It comes at the loss of his beloved city
…and it comes at the loss of his beloved temple

Everything Jeremiah has known has been leveled to dust. The city is now smoldering ruin & only a silent reminder. A reminder that sin, in spite of all its allure and attraction…carries with it sorrow, grief, misery, pain and death. Jerusalem is an image of punishment which lies in the future for all that disobey God and do not follow His Word. God warned of severe judgment for disobedience but was ignored in Jeremiah’s time. These same warnings hold true for today and I fear many are doing the same thing Jerusalem did, even many with the Church and those that believe they have God’s favor.

Had the Israelites simply obeyed, they would’ve received blessings. Instead they experienced Hell firsthand. In Lamentations, Jeremiah shows curses of Deuteronomy 28 are real and have come true. Prophecies of Moses from 900 years earlier have come to fruition.

As such Lamentations reads like a funeral dirge played at half speed…because it is a funeral dirge! Lamentations is laid out in 5 dirges in one large chiastic the center and main point of Hebrew poetry is where the main point resides. In the case of Lamentations this is the center of Chapter 3. The first 2 and last 2 chapters a real desperate and hopeless drone. We see personal pain, misery and affliction, no one is throwing a party in these chapters. Performing cannibalism? Yes. Throwing parties and celebrating? No…unless of course you are the Babylonians.

Even with Chapter 3 we see gloom just as dark…

(v.1) “I am the man who has seen affliction”
(v.2) “made me walk in darkness”
(v.3) “He has turned his hand against me again and again”
(v.4) “made my skin and my flesh grow old and has broken my bones”
(v.4) “broken bones”
(v.5) “bitterness and hardship”
(v. 15) “filled with bitter herbs”
(v.16) “broken teeth”
(v.19) “bitterness and gall”… on and on it goes.

It is literally like listening to a broken record of torment skipping over and over.

…but Moses’ prophesied something else in Deuteronomy also…

The same covenant that promised severe judgment for disobedience also promised something else. What was it….?

[Continued in Part II]

Hard Sayings XLI: Witches & Ghosts: A Hebrew Halloween?

2012-01-06T12:19:00.001-05:00

Witch of Endor

Andrey Yefimovich Martynov (1768-1826)

So Saul disguised himself, putting on other clothes, and at night he and two men went to the woman. “Consult a spirit for me,” he said, “and bring up for me the one I name.” But the woman said to him, “Surely you know what Saul has done. He has cut off the mediums and Spiritists from the land. Why have you set a trap for my life to bring about my death?” Saul swore to her by the LORD, “As surely as the LORD lives, you will not be punished for this.” Then the woman asked, “Whom shall I bring up for you?” “Bring up Samuel,” he said. 1 Samuel 28:8-11

The Bible clearly and ardently forbids and condemns witchcraft along with other forms of necromancy.

“‘I will set my face against anyone who turns to mediums and spiritists to prostitute themselves by following them, and I will cut them off from their people. Leviticus 20:6

Based on the repercussions for consulting a medium I would have to say that Saul did have God’s face set against Him in the end and was cut off from his people as was his son Jonathan…in death…this is in spite of the fact that Saul was one of God’s anointed.

“’ A man or woman who is a medium or spiritist among you must be put to death. You are to stone them; their blood will be on their own heads.’” Leviticus 20:27

Along the same lines…

“Do not allow a sorceress to live. Exodus 22:18

In Deuteronomy we see a more explicit statement and clarification. One must be blameless or undefiled.

“When you enter the land the LORD your God is giving you, do not learn to imitate the detestable ways of the nations there. Let no one be found among you who sacrifices their son or daughter in the fire, who practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft, or casts spells, or who is a medium or spiritist or who consults the dead. Anyone who does these things is detestable to the LORD; because of these same detestable practices the LORD your God will drive out those nations before you. You must be blameless before the LORD your God. Deuteronomy 18:9-13

“And when they say to you, “Inquire of the mediums and the necromancers who chirp and mutter,” should not a people inquire of their God? Should they inquire of the dead on behalf of the living?" Isaiah 8:19

So…how can God allow Saul to consult with a known witch and allow her to summon Samuel from the dead without violating His own statutes and principles?

Even though Saul drove the mediums out of the land he consults with the witch of Endor anyway. This is an obvious case of willful disobedience by both Saul and the witch. Much to the amazement of Saul and even the witch herself (1 Sam 28:12 she cried out with a loud voice) …she actually pulls it off this summoning, or so it appears. This is a successful violation of a capital offense in the Old Testament.

It has always been my assumption that this a deception caused by magic or demonic manifestations. This is not possible...as death is final as we learn from the story of Lazarus and the Rich Man and the great chasm between them. The dead don’t come back. Demonic power cannot trump God’s ordained order. On the flip side of this there is a claim that a demonic power initiated Samuel. This makes no sense either as the ‘ghost of Samuel’ delivers a legitimate message that actually comes true therefore prophetic…

And Samuel said, “Why then do you ask me, since the LORD has turned from you and become your enemy? The LORD has done to you as he spoke by me, for the LORD has torn the kingdom out of your hand and given it to your neighbor, David. Because you did not obey the voice of the LORD and did not carry out his fierce wrath against Amalek, therefore the LORD has done this thing to you this day. Moreover, the LORD will give Israel also with you into the hand of the Philistines, and tomorrow you and your sons shall be with me. The LORD will give the army of Israel also into the hand of the Philistines.”1 Samuel 28:16-19

The alternate explanations fall short because we can see that this apparition or spirit delivers a legit message that comes to fruition and surprisingly Samuel definitely appears to have returned from “beyond” never mind the violation of the great chasm noted elsewhere in the Bible. So, if neither demonic power nor human power is capable of making what happened occur and death is most certainly final and absolute…then what? To me this has to be the work of God as no one else is capable of pulling this off.

The last variation on this theme is where I reside as an exegete. I personally do not believe that this is Samuel at all because for this to be Samuel back from the dead is a direct violation of Scripture and any devout Christian realizes that the Word is God and God cannot violate or be in conflict with Himself or his word. I am thinking this is actually some form of God Himself arriving on the scene. We see that the witch herself is surprised. This tells me that she is used to not having things show up at her summoning…she’s a huckster as are most witches and those dealing with demonic activity today. Their source of deception does not come from God. We see legitimate prophecy come from this entity and man cannot return from the dead. It would behoove demons not to tell the truth in this situation and whoever this entity is, it did tell the truth. So what are we left to speculate? Demons could not have been able to foretell the future of Saul and humans do not return from the "other" side. The entity told the truth in the form of a prophetic judgment on Saul. Who else could do this or has a the authority to do this that is not demonic or human?

God.

As I have said many times before and I will keep saying, regardless of how strange an occurrence is, it transpired in God’s universe. Therefore, above it all, God is Sovereign and in charge. We may not be able to fully explain it nor in some cases do we have to. We just need to know God is in charge.

Regardless of whom/Whom this entity is, Saul’s failure lies in his inability to trust God and go to God for help rather than rely on his own devices and the devices and methods of mankind which are flawed at their core. His failure also lies in his disobedient heart. This is mostly what this passage is about. Like other arguments over things like the Nephilim, young Earth/old Earth, the sun standing still and other non-salvation issues in Scripture, we as believers all too often get hung up on side arguments that divide us. In reality we should be focusing on the things that form unity of the Body for the benefit of the Body. The unity in this passage is in obedience to God and His word.

The truth is Saul had little or no faith in his God even though he may have said so or alluded to as much. His faith and main source of disobedience resided in his belief in himself or those around Him instead of God. He violates God time after time in disobedience or partial disobedience. As we know from Saul, God considers even partial disobedience…full disobedience and failure to obey is viewed the same. Sin is sin no matter how you cut it. Failure to obey is sin. Sin is worthy of condemnation and judgment. Ironically, in the following passage disobedience is put on par with the sin of divination.

[Samuel to Saul after the Amalikites] "Why then did you not obey the voice of the LORD? Why did you pounce on the spoil and do what was evil in the sight of the LORD?” And Saul said to Samuel, “I have obeyed the voice of the LORD. I have gone on the mission on which the LORD sent me. I have brought Agag the king of Amalek, and I have devoted the Amalekites to destruction. But the people took of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the best of the things devoted to destruction, to sacrifice to the LORD your God in Gilgal.” And Samuel said, “Has the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of divination, and presumption is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, he has also rejected you from being king.” 1 Samuel 15:19-23

A Postmodernist Nightmare: The Gospel & Righteousness

2012-01-05T12:02:00.006-05:00

"For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile. For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed—a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.” Romans 1:16-17

The ultimate theme of the Gospel is the righteousness of God revealed in its clear delineated clarity.

Postmodernist philosophy is utterly incompatible with and flies in the face of the Gospel and righteousness for that very reason: clarity. In the Gospel there is a revelation or revealing of God’s ways and demands for righteousness or being correct in God's eyes. Paul’s description of righteousness here is based in faith and presented to humans due to acceptance of Christ’s work on the Cross and Resurrection by faith.

Habakkuk 2:4 “See, the enemy is puffed up; his desires are not upright— but the righteous person will live by his faithfulness.

We must look closely at the Old Testament understanding of righteousness. This is the basis of Paul’s understanding when he writes the beginning of Romans. The ideas of righteous and wickedness among the Hebrews are criminological or justice based ideas based in absolutes and that is exactly why it becomes incompatible with postmodernist thought that says we cannot truly discern truth or absolute truths in particular from an ancient text like the Bible. This is ludicrous, as Scripture, when dealing with the topic is specifically written in black and white judicial or criminological terms. Guilty or not guilty, good or bad.

Israelites or Hebrews always thought in terms of establishing justice or right and wrong in the presence of a judge (God). Righteousness in the Jewish mindset is not so much ethical delineation or moral uprightness so much as it is a litigious status before an Almighty God.

“Righteous” in Hebrew is: צַדִּיק / (t)saddiyq and means “just” or “maintains right”

“Wicked” in Hebrew is רָשָׁע / rasha and means “guilty” or “criminal” or “in the wrong”

One verse covers both of these words in the Old Testament:

"Then Pharaoh sent for Moses and Aaron, and said to them, "I have sinned this time; the LORD is the righteous one, and I and my people are the wicked ones." Exodus 9:27

God is righteous and we are not, so when Roman’s opens with the description of the Gospel it is shown that man whether Jew or Gentile are sinners and they need to become right or like God since they are fallen in their sin and incapable of performing acts of righteousness. By God actually creating a situation through His Son to allow for man to become righteous, God righteousness is thereby put on full display. God is glorified. This righteousness is accredited to the sinner through a divinely ordained process initiated and carried out by God Himself. God brings (drags) people to Him and aligns them to Him in His justice by justifying them. He “makes them right(ous)” through faith that is required throughout Scripture.

“See, the enemy is puffed up; his desires are not upright— but the righteous person will live by his faithfulness. Habakkuk 2:4

This judicial division of black and white especially in Romans sits very poorly with postmodernists who wish desperately to view the world through a fuzzy lens. A lens that they believe time and cultural adjustment continues to cloud. Not so in Romans. Not so in Paul’s writing in general. When it comes to the Gospel there are two types of people in Paul’s thinking according to 1 Corinthians and Romans. There are those who are saved that are earmarked by the Holy Spirit for salvation, saved by the word of the Cross through faith or those perishing in their sins through lack of faith

“For in hope we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope; for who hopes for what he already sees?” Romans 8:24

“…by which also you are saved, if you hold fast the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain” 1 Corinthians 15:2

Let us take this even further down the path started by the idea and word faith. If one looks closely at the Habakkuk passage and the word אמונה / faith. In the Septuagint LXX the word is πίστις /pistis. It is a common word that means fidelity. In the context of Habakkuk and Romans what fidelity is it referring to? Fidelity to the belief that God is faithful to His promises and fulfills what He promises, faith in the work of the Cross. The faith in the Old Testament in Habakkuk is him crying out under the oppression of evil and the promise that God would rectify it. It was also the idea along these same lines that people believed that God’s promised Messiah would come (who would remove the yoke of sin and evil permanently). Faith in the New Testament is that God’s Messiah has come. It is a reciprocating kind of faith. It is a fidelity or harmonization to God in the overall holistic picture. Paul appears to borrow this from Habakkuk for this exact purpose and apply it to justification in Christ…a legal term. We are no longer under the penalty of sin thanks to the fact that we are justified in Christ because of faith in Him. True life—Eternal life begins here…at justification a litigious status in Christ. It then progresses forward through a joint process with the Holy Spirit called sanctification or a process of making one’s self holy until culmination in glorification…

“Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.” Romans 5:2

“And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.” Romans 8:30

All of these are clear systematic statements. Clear systematic, sequential, linear statements. What is worse for the postmodernist is that these statements also tie the Old and New Testament together in continuity and make sense of what would’ve appeared to be a partially untied loose end from Habakkuk and aligns it with Jesus Christ. This alignment causes fidelity between the two testaments and between the believer(s) and God. We can incorporate even more concrete unambiguous factors into the equation when we see the state of man’s fallen condition. Since sin is universal it applies to all people. You are either saved and have life or you are not saved and are perishing. This too is also clearly outlined in Romans 1-3. It encompasses all people not an ill-defined human mass with unclear boundaries. We know who Paul is talking about.

These are clear unambiguous statements that anyone can understand about salvation in the ramp up phase of Romans. They make postmodernists squirm because they force an absolute on their thinking. Because this damages or destroys their worldview they prefer to change the style of interpretation. Postmodern theologians know they cannot change the word of God without an uproar so they often opt to change the hermeneutic or alter the filter through which they read the text. They do this by redefining terms and deconstructing word meanings. They can also try and read the early phases of Romans as some form of poetic metaphor or some other ridiculously inappropriate form of interpretive analyzing rather than the theological expositions they are meant to be.

Unfortunately, this is done a lot today and not just to the Bible. If people cannot force an idea into the text because it is absolutely clear like night and day, they begin to redefine the terms or change the science of interpretation to make the text say what they want it to say rather than adhere to eons of interpretative techniques and tradition. New is not always better. Often what many claim is new is just an old error or heresy recycled under a new name.

The absolute nature of the “Hebrew” righteousness is not allowable in the postmodernist’s worldview. They may claim they understand it but their belief system will not allow them to accept it as it is a stark judgment of right or wrong. In this worldview…some will have to be wrong or wicked. Most postmodernists are pluralists by their very nature being both of these things, they do not want to see anyone perish so they will become inclusive and flirt the line with universalism if not falling into universalism outright. In their view: No one is ever truly wrong. If they are wrong it is only relative to another person since there are no absolute truth claims allowed. If they cannot get past this argument because the text will not let them they will then begin to debate and argue the existence of eternal punishment or deny the existence of a place of eternal torment: Hell. Their method of interpretation is a slippery slope. If they stay on it they need to continue further and further down the line to deny Scripture or some truth thereof in Scripture to support their main argument that there can be no absolutes. Otherwise they eventually see the light and drift away from postmodernism because they eventually realize that their argument is not supportable without extraordinary contextual or wordage gymnastics. It dawns on many (and I have been witness to this) that many postmodernist reach a point where their arguments either become too tenuous to hold on to or they become so absurd that a child realizes they are ridiculous and commonsense takes over.

They come to their senses and come to grips with the fact that absolute truths have to exist. This fact is the first hurdle cleared to believing in an absolutely infinite and infinitely just God and gets them halfway to a belief in the God in the Bible. Sometimes the unbeliever does a lot of the work of evangelism for me if I can just get them to think for themselves and stop listening to every unreasoned and illogical argument fed to them by the media, the culture, their friends and even their unbelieving families.

The enemy attacks on multiple fronts and we must meet them on all.

Hard Sayings XL: Were David and Jonathan Homosexual?

2012-01-04T12:39:00.002-05:00

Jonathan Warns by Eikonik

In a word: No

I will now explain why and the explanation is rather simple.

“After David had finished talking with Saul, Jonathan became one in spirit with David, and he loved him as himself. From that day Saul kept David with him and did not let him return home to his family. And Jonathan made a covenant with David because he loved him as himself. Jonathan took off the robe he was wearing and gave it to David, along with his tunic, and even his sword, his bow and his belt.” 1 Samuel 18:1-4

David and Jonathan really loved one another, this much is clear. The question is: Does the relationship as described in Scripture warrant seeing them as homosexuals? The Bible makes it abundantly clear that the love between David and Jonathan was deep. The word love in Hebrew this and other passages in 1 Samuel is “בְּאַהֲבָת֥וֹ /ahab” which means to have affection for, sexual or otherwise. Like most do in our society, many see what they want to in words. When people with agendas latch on to narrowly defined aspects of Scripture and refuse to see the full scope and refuse to see passages in context we often see things like David and Jonathan’s love for one another labeled as homosexual. What is sad is that this is done even when these assertion fly in the face of the preponderant pattern of Scripture and is totally counter intuitive in terms of sexual immorality.

When doing hermeneutics and words studies whether they are Hebrew or Greek, context of the passage and context of Scripture at large need to be taken into consideration. This is not being done with this passage if people believe this relationship speaks of homosexuality. One needs only look at Genesis 22:2 to see the exact same word being used between two other males in the Old Testament…and they are clearly not homosexual. It is God speaking to Abraham about his son whom he loved: Isaac. We also see it in Leviticus 19:18 when we read that God said, ". . . you shall love/ahab/ בְּאַהֲבָת֥וֹ your neighbor as yourself." If this is homosexual love, this means God is telling the Israelites to love everyone homosexually. Wrong. This totally violates the premise of God’s natural order and God’s premise for sexual relationships or any relationships for that matter. We even see it in the Shema in Deuteronomy 6:4 where believers are called to, “love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.” Trust me folks…God is not calling us to love Him homosexually. An intense pure love? Yes. Homosexual love? No.

He said, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.” ~Genesis 22:2

A further elaboration assumed from the original passage is in verse 4 when we read that Jonathan stripped in David's presence 1 Samuel 18:4, “Jonathan took off the robe he was wearing and gave it to David, along with his tunic, and even his sword, his bow and his belt.” In 1 Samuel 20:41 we also see, “After the boy had gone, David got up from the south side of the stone and bowed down before Jonathan three times, with his face to the ground. Then they kissed each other and wept together—but David wept the most.” When viewed from a presupposition that assumes homosexuality is a fact in this situation, it is easy to see how these passages can be misinterpreted.

Jonathan took off his armor and outer garments here, he didn’t “strip” to his birthday suit. How anyone that understands culture/historical context here could misconstrue this passage… probably did so willfully. In the time of David, which was approx. 1000 B.C., for a person of position and power to relinquish their weapon, armor and royal robe was to essentially divest themselves of power and hand it to the person they hand these items to. It was the same as handing someone your royal scepter. In this case it is David. Jonathan knew David was truly God’s chosen, not his father-nor him. By doing this he was throwing his potential crown he would gain from his father at David’s feet acknowledging him as true king. God's King. This is not imagery of a homosexual "tryst". It is the passing of a mantle or rightful transfer of power. How Jonathan's obedience to God and acknowledgement of David as true king can be interpreted as homosexual encounter is shameful. This is especially true when the dominate pattern of the Bible that this passage resides in clearly condemns immoral sexual behavior that includes same sex intercourse.

The truth is there is no suggestion in the Bible that David and Jonathan were homosexual...ever. This is willful misinterpretation of the Hebrew or Greek and fanciful revisionism. The issue for David does not appear to be homosexuality according to Scripture, it appears to be an overabundance of heterosexuality. You see…David, like his son Solomon and people like Brigham Young, was a heterosexual polygamist based on the enduring evidences of Scripture. David indeed had a problem with sexual immorality but it had to do with quantities...not types.

Finally, the so-called passionate homosexual "kiss" was nothing of the sort. Men greeting other men ancient middle eastern culture is much the same as it is now. It was and is a common cultural greeting for men in that day to greet one another with a kiss. Furthermore, it did not occur until two and a half chapters after Jonathan gave David his clothes (1 Samuel 18 thru 1 Samuel 20). This hardly happens in a single romantic evening rendezvous regardless of what people want to read into the text.

Bogus Christs & Bogus Prophets: Part II

2012-01-03T12:37:00.001-05:00

[This is Part II of a two parts post on False Christs and False Prophets]

Do They Promote A Religion of Works?

Do they advocate abstaining from certain foods behaviors or do they advocate practicing Old Testament dietary restrictions for spiritual reasons?

“Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons, through the insincerity of liars whose consciences are seared, who forbid marriage and require abstinence from foods that God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. For everything created by God is good and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving” ~1 Timothy 4:1-4

"Beware of the dogs, beware of the evil workers, beware of the false circumcision..." Philippians 3:2

"Those who want to impress people by means of the flesh are trying to compel you to be circumcised. The only reason they do this is to avoid being persecuted for the cross of Christ..." Galatians 6:12

We are beginning to again see this in certain Christian circles where people feel that if they adhere more strictly to the Bible including the Old Testament ceremonial laws, Jewish practices and dietary restrictions that somehow they are more righteous or more holy. If not an outright pious religion of works, they possibly believe that these old rites or rituals they perform somehow make them closer to God or align them in solidarity with their spiritual predecessors in other faith in Judaism. Let me be clear...for a Christian, Judaism ceased being a valid salvational religion/relationship with God when Jesus Christ came incarnate, was crucified, buried and was resurrected. Although the Jews were saved by faith based in the Jewish belief system up until Christ, Jesus' advent ushered in the Kingdom of God and a new covenant. A Christian now only needs to repent and accept the Gospel. From a Christian perspective Judaism is now a false religion superseded by the work of Jesus Christ. As for doing things to gain stature in God's eyes...no matter how you cut it, its a religion of works therefore it is false teaching by false teachers. This applies no matter who endorses it. I don't care how influential they are...they are wrong. Go back and read your Bible if you do not believe me. Ephesians 2:8 tells us clearly that it is by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God. Anyone that tells you any different? They are not of God or Christ and therefore...counterfeit christs or counterfeit prophets or teachers.

Do They Deprecate, Belittle or Deny the Need for Marriage?

“Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons, through the insincerity of liars whose consciences are seared, who forbid marriage and require abstinence from foods that God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving” ~1 Timothy 4:1-4

We are beginning to see this everywhere. We see this in the reinstatement into leadership positions of people that have clearly disqualified themselves through willful adultery and other sexual deviations. Dissolving a marriage through divorce because of Biblical reasons is one thing. To willfully commit adultery and then try to re-establish a leadership rule? No. Even in the church with the more liberal of the brethren (therefore perhaps not even truly brethren) are now allowing practicing homosexuals into the leadership of the church. This practice is clearly a no-no and has been noted numerous times elsewhere in this blog.

Do They Promote Immorality?

“And the angels who did not stay within their own position of authority, but left their proper dwelling, he has kept in eternal chains under gloomy darkness until the judgment of the great day—just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding cities, which likewise indulged in sexual immorality and pursued unnatural desire, serve as an example by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire.” ~Jude 6-7

Do They Encourage Legalistic Self-Denial?

"Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath. These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ. Let no one disqualify you, insisting on asceticism and worship of angels, going on in detail about visions, puffed up without reason by his sensuous mind, and not holding fast to the Head, from whom the whole body, nourished and knit together through its joints and ligaments, grows with a growth that is from God. If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the world, why, as if you were still alive in the world, do you submit to regulations— “Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch” (referring to things that all perish as they are used)—according to human precepts and teachings? These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh" Colossians 2:16-33

If any of these questions can be answered in the affirmative/yes, the people that you can say yes about are not speaking from God. Anything that is not of God or Christ is of the Devil or in the spirit of antichrist.

Some of the above questions are not necessarily addressing the fake or false speaker so much as they are addressing absolute Scriptural known attributes about what? God! In relation to question #1 it is asking if a false prophecy is given. What would this mean about God? It means if God is omniscient and all knowing he would know all things therefore He would always give the correct answer through His prophet. The second thing question #1 tells us is that it could’ve been deliberate deception. God cannot lie nor deceive as it is not in His nature to do so. These are attributes of the Devil. So what do these two things tell us about the speaker that is in error?

We need to be honest and use acute discernment if we have it in our churches because many of these wolves have already crept into our local congregations either wittingly or unwittingly. Once we remove the Spirit as the discerning factor we will set ourselves up for failure. There are those gifted in the Church to discern these things without being legalistic. We must work together as a body to isolate the contagions and either cure them or eradicate them from the body. What surprises me is that so many false christs and false prophets have infiltrated the church at so many different levels...it is staggering. It is highly visible and obvious to some but apparently not enough to get them removed from the pulpits or rebuked in the congregations. I chalk this up to either Biblical illiteracy or timidity.

Although the Bible tells us we are to listen to the prophets of God, it also tells us false prophets exist. As such we must always remain vigilant to discern when they have entered the body. We are to test the spirits not accept them at face value and let them run riot over churches and defame the faith.

"Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world." 1John 4:1-3

Bogus Christs & Bogus Prophets: Part I

2012-01-02T08:32:00.004-05:00

I am regularly asked if an office or position of prophet still exist. I will answer as plainly as possible. Yes and no. Yes, in relation to the fact that they build up and are edifiers-speakers of truth to a local congregation or small portion of the body. Having studied the topic extensively from the Scripture I would say no, in relation to the idea of the Old Testament prophet that usually said such things as: “Thus sayeth the Lord!"

“Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. ~Hebrews 1:1-2

So what should be we looking for when it comes to false prophets? The Bible is clear and makes many statements concerning those that speak on behalf of God or claim to. What I can say for certain is that there will be many warning signs long before we get to the point elaborated on in Mark 13:22-23: “For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform signs and wonders, to lead astray, if possible, the elect. But be on guard; I have told you all things beforehand.” If we are careful and observant we should be able to see the “ψευδόχριστοι / psuedochristoi / false anointed ones” and the “ψευδοπροφῆται / pseudoprophetai / false before averers” long before they breech the strongholds of the church as we are given the warnings and telltale signs in Scripture.

Do They Ever Give False Prophecies?

“And if you say in your heart, ‘How may we know the word that the LORD has not spoken?’— When a prophet speaks in the name of the LORD, if the word does not come to pass or come true, that is a word that the LORD has not spoken; the prophet has spoken it presumptuously. You need not be afraid of him.” ~ Deuteronomy 18:21-22

Do They Try to Contact “Dead” Spirits or Ghosts?

“There shall not be found among you anyone who burns his son or his daughter as an offering, anyone who practices divination or tells fortunes or interprets omens, or a sorcerer or a charmer or a medium or a necromancer or one who inquires of the dead” ~Deuteronomy 18:10-11

Do They Use Means of Divination?

“There shall not be found among you anyone who burns his son or his daughter as an offering, anyone who practices divination or tells fortunes or interprets omens, or a sorcerer or a charmer or a medium or a necromancer or one who inquires of the dead” ~Deuteronomy 18:10-11

Do They Involve Mediums or Witches?

“There shall not be found among you anyone who burns his son or his daughter as an offering, anyone who practices divination or tells fortunes or interprets omens, or a sorcerer or a charmer or a medium or a necromancer or one who inquires of the dead” ~Deuteronomy 18:10-11

Do They Follow False "gods" or "idols"?

“You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself a carved image or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth…” Exodus 20:3-4

“…you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams. For the LORD your God is testing you, to know whether you love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul.” ~ Deuteronomy 13:3

Do They Deny the Deity of Jesus Christ or The Risen Christ?

“See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ. For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily” ~Colossians 2:8-9

Do They Deny the Humanity of Jesus Christ?

“Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God” ~1 John 4:1-2

Do Their Prophecies Shift the Focus off of Jesus Christ?

“Then I fell down at his feet to worship him, but he said to me, “You must not do that! I am a fellow servant with you and your brothers who hold to the testimony of Jesus. Worship God.” For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.” Revelations 19:10

This is one of those places that I must focus in on. We see it in many evangelical circles that shanghai the book of Revelation and make it into their own person foretelling of the “End Times” and use it as a forecasting tool. Although there are some of these elements in Revelation, those that will make this book into tabloid fodder for the “End of the World” are in serious jeopardy of misusing this book. By focusing on Revelation's apocalyptic nature they remove the focus off of Jesus Christ and His revealing of Himself in the end of days and fail to focus on the coming day of the Lord. Revelation is not so much for people like Harold Camping to make absurd predictions, as it is to reveal the Savior’s second coming and the salvation and restoration He brings with Him. How can we allow the false teachers and money hounds on specific television networks and false ministries beat Revelations to death as a “prediction” or doom book? Do we allow them to do so until they have crossed over from preaching Jesus to preaching a false spirit and misguiding millions or do we call them out on their misgudied teachings? I for one feel a rebuke coming on...

[Continued in Part II]

Hard Sayings XXIX: King Me!

2011-12-31T22:02:00.002-05:00

“And the LORD said to Samuel, “Obey the voice of the people in all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them. According to all the deeds that they have done, from the day I brought them up out of Egypt even to this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are also doing to you. Now then, obey their voice; only you shall solemnly warn them and show them the ways of the king who shall reign over them.” ~1 Samuel 8:7-9

A questions arises here: Is God condemning Israel's request for a king? If so why are there rules for selecting a king were given by God in Deuteronomy 17:14-20?

“When you come to the land that the LORD your God is giving you, and you possess it and dwell in it and then say, ‘I will set a king over me, like all the nations that are around me,’ you may indeed set a king over you whom the LORD your God will choose. One from among your brothers you shall set as king over you. You may not put a foreigner over you, who is not your brother. Only he must not acquire many horses for himself or cause the people to return to Egypt in order to acquire many horses, since the LORD has said to you, ‘You shall never return that way again.’ And he shall not acquire many wives for himself, lest his heart turn away, nor shall he acquire for himself excessive silver and gold. “And when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, he shall write for himself in a book a copy of this law, approved by the Levitical priests. And it shall be with him, and he shall read in it all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the LORD his God by keeping all the words of this law and these statutes, and doing them, that his heart may not be lifted up above his brothers, and that he may not turn aside from the commandment, either to the right hand or to the left, so that he may continue long in his kingdom, he and his children, in Israel. Deuteronomy 17:14-20

The truth is that Scripture affirms the fact that God had planned for Israel to have a king in Deuteronomy 17. So why does God frown upon the people of Israel? Its not because they sought a king so much as it was the condition of their hearts. Their motives where are messed up. They wanted a king because they wanted to be like “all the other nations” or as 1 Samuel 8:5 states: “Now appoint for us a king to judge us like all the nations.” They didn’t do it because it was a desire to be closer to God, it was a desire to be more like the surrounding culture(s). They didn’t want God’s king they just wanted a king to keep up with the Jones’. Geez…how condemning is this for some Christians today? They want to do the “hip” or “trendy” Christian thing(s) that others are doing so they can look “more Christian” but sadly, they may be copying or emulating poor role models or worse apostate roll-models. Many seeker-sensitive churches and formulaic evangelicals are patterned after this concept. They are designed to capitalize on what people want that attend their services, to draw the numbers but not on what God wants…thereby making God secondary or irrelevant in the equation.

Instead of turning hearts towards God people turned them to other people. After David we see the kings of Israel and subsequently Judah do the same as the people did here. They would do it also when Jesus came. They expect their kind of king not the King God had planned for them...so they killed God's King...Jesus. Once their hearts went astray it was only a matter of time until everything else would also. God knew this and He knew it in advance. This is why there is a brooding nature in this passage.

Sadly we also see Solomon the immediate heir of David violates the stipulations of the kingship within one generation when he begins to, “acquire many horses for himself” and “acquires many wives” also. The people then, just like the people now mistake people’s acts of administration for God working through those people…when there is little or any of God present in those leaders. People end up worshipping a “cult of personality”. It is not you pastor, king, president or parent that protects you…it is God. Nothing happens in God’s universe without His knowledge or allowance of it. As such, the people thought they were rejecting Samuel but God reminds Him that it is the people rejecting their God…not him

In this story we also see a complete failure to seek God for rule over them. Many today do the same, especially in secular leadership positions. The elders or the aged men (supposedly wise) came to Samuel they just request a king of Samuel. God doesn’t appear to be anywhere in their thought processes for acquiring their king. This flies directly in the face of what God commanded in Deuteronomy when He said he would chose a king, "whom the Lord your God chooses”. The people of Israel had rejected God wholesale. The same as many do today who will suffer the same consequences as Saul, Israel and Judah in the long-run.

It shouldn't be surprising that "like" gravitates towards "like", man gravitates to man. What should be surprising here is that man chose the wrong methods to make it happen. God has rules and expectations…and he expects them to be adhered to and followed. Especially when he has spelled it out for them.