The former warden of Angola State Prison in Louisiana took over the nearly anarchic and out of control prison and turned it into a model facility of rehabilitation. He shared the Gospel with the inmates when appropriate and instituted Biblical values for the facility. Imagine the surprise of hardened felons who entered the compound and were met with a Scriptural environment. More amazing is the literal turning around of lives sent to this penitentiary. The warden is indeed an unexpected and unusual preacher.
A example of this is found in Jeremiah 40. Jeremiah hears from the Lord through a different mouthpiece. Verse 1 is the background.
The word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord after Nebuzaradan captain of the bodyguard had released him from Ramah, when he had taken him bound in chains among all the exiles of Jerusalem and Judah who were being exiled to Babylon.
Babylon has destroyed Jerusalem and the captives are being readied for the trip into exile.
2 Now the captain of the bodyguard had taken Jeremiah and said to him, “The Lord your God promised this calamity against this place; 3 and the Lord has brought it on and done just as He promised. Because you people sinned against the Lord and did not listen to His voice, therefore this thing has happened to you.
Imagine Jeremiah’s consternation when this Babylonian commander began to “preach” to him. Jeremiah had been saying the same thing to his people, but now he hears the identical message from a Gentile. “This is what your God ‘promised.’” And he has the causal factors identified. “You people sinned...and did not listen to His voice.”
The “voice” was one of initial warning–“Thou shalt not....” And it also included a corrective, “Turn and repent.” They refused and did neither. And now Nebuzaradan has to execute the judgment. It was almost as if he were saying, “If you guys had behaved, I could be home with my wife and kids.” (Well maybe not, but close.)
Imagine the irony that Jeremiah experiences hearing this come from his captor and putative enemy. Sometimes the Lord uses unusual “prophets” to deliver his message. This was probably one of the most unusual and unexpected. (Except for Balaam’s donkey. Numbers 22)
If you want to read the rest of the chapter, you will find that Nebuzaradan tried to orchestrate a safe and peaceful transition for the ones left behind. He even assigned Jeremiah to stay and minister to them. The sad and frustrating thing is that the remnant even rebelled against this benevolence. It seems almost like their “default” setting is “rebel.”
An old folk song asks, “When will we ever learn?” Maybe when we listen to our “preachers.”
Thursday, August 31, 2017
Tuesday, August 29, 2017
More on More Thoughts on More on the Eclipse
Imagine we are back three or four billion years and are watching a couple of orbiting bodies. The earth and the moon were very close together–according to one theory. Since the records were lost in a warehouse fire years ago, we can only conjecture as to what happened. We’ll imagine a couple of options. Here are these two orbs, close together and some rogue asteroid smashes into them, either from behind or T-bones them.
The collision melts the moon (or smashes it into the side of the earth, depending) and then the earth and moon rebound and swing out into their present orbits. The moon has to be melted, because its rotational speed is too slow for centrifugal forces to shape it into a ball. Otherwise it would just be an ugly, jagged hunk of space junk.
A second scenario is that the earth and moon were joined, kind of like a “pregnant” planet and our ever useful asteroid smashes into the bulge and dislodges it into the surrounding space, and melting it. Either scenario will lead to the final result–they say. (Incidentally, if these menacing asteroids played such a prominent role in the development of the solar system where are they now? Nearly every planet invokes an asteroid impact to explain some aspect of its formation.) But I digress.
While melting the moon, the impact must keep the earth relatively cool so that all of the water and atmosphere is not boiled off into space. We will need those things later for the next scenario. Now the moon bolts out to its “normal” place, rotating once per orbit as it circles the earth. (Technically called tidal lock.) This was the first “geosynchronous” orbit, which was adapted by the military, the communications industry, and the GPS guys. They built satellites to circle the earth once every 24 hours so that they stay in place over one spot, while keeping one side to the earth.
This is very handy for my GPS to ping the satellite and tell me exactly where I am. It will even show if I coast forward a couple of feet in the driveway. The communications industry uses the stationary antenna to receive and re-send signals of TV, radio, and other streaming media from one place to another. The military can send a signal to the satellite and the satellite “forwards” to one or more others which beam it down to spots all over the earth.
This neat system depends upon a stationary “target” in the sky, just as the moon shows the same side. The exciting thing about this ground and space system is that it spontaneously, randomly developed with available elements and molecules. They just conglomerated together and leapt into action, just waiting for someone to discover them. Now that is really neat.
Uh, maybe not, you say. Maybe there was some intelligence behind it? And where, pray tell, would that come from? Was it from a randomly accumulated group of carbon based molecules that spontaneously joined together and began to live when a bolt of lightning struck the particular glob of “primordial soup” that they inhabited?
Then they mutated into higher and higher life forms until the brain cells began to “think.” What initiated that process? Was it another bolt of lightning? Or something more subtle? Then this thinking organism began to speculate about what is “out there.” Why? If it is self generated, why would there be any curiosity, or indeed impetus to look elsewhere for alternatives?
It would seem that an indigenous organism would be focused on becoming the “perfect” specimen and not wonder about anything else. And as for imagining other species based on alternative elements, such as sulfur or silicon, that would be inconceivable. Sorry Star Trek and the silicon slug that laid diamond eggs. (That crossover always mystified me.) Or a metal based life. Bye Arnold Swartz-inator.
Chemically speaking, we are pretty sure that chemicals react the same throughout the universe. Astronomers aim a spectrometer at a star billions of light years away and can tell us what is in it because the atoms radiate energy the same as they do on earth and our sun. So if the atoms are the same, the chemistry is the same. No silicon or metal-based life. But I digress.
It is ironic that our imaginations frequently and habitually invoke the supernatural or at least extra-natural for our villains and adversaries. But when it comes to explaining the most amazing, intricate, and incredible phenomenon of all, life, we are arbitrarily limited to “natural” explanations only.
Jeremiah would be amused at our musings about origins and destinies. He counseled us from God that “he who boasts should boast in this, that he understands and knows Me.” (God) The verse goes on to describe this “Me” and once we understand that, everything else kind of pales into the mundane. (Jeremiah 9:24)
The Apostle Paul said it well, “That I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection.” (Phillipians 3:10) All of this is about redemption for a lost race. The eclipse draws our attention to the mysteries and masteries and majesties of the One Who made us.
Jeremiah 10:12 He made the earth by His power, established the world by His wisdom,
and spread out the heavens by His understanding.
He created the earth. (Power) He established the “world” or life as we know it. (Wisdom) And
He spread out the heavens, and we wonder at His “understanding.” We do not understand. But I want to.
I want to know Christ. Join me.
The collision melts the moon (or smashes it into the side of the earth, depending) and then the earth and moon rebound and swing out into their present orbits. The moon has to be melted, because its rotational speed is too slow for centrifugal forces to shape it into a ball. Otherwise it would just be an ugly, jagged hunk of space junk.
A second scenario is that the earth and moon were joined, kind of like a “pregnant” planet and our ever useful asteroid smashes into the bulge and dislodges it into the surrounding space, and melting it. Either scenario will lead to the final result–they say. (Incidentally, if these menacing asteroids played such a prominent role in the development of the solar system where are they now? Nearly every planet invokes an asteroid impact to explain some aspect of its formation.) But I digress.
While melting the moon, the impact must keep the earth relatively cool so that all of the water and atmosphere is not boiled off into space. We will need those things later for the next scenario. Now the moon bolts out to its “normal” place, rotating once per orbit as it circles the earth. (Technically called tidal lock.) This was the first “geosynchronous” orbit, which was adapted by the military, the communications industry, and the GPS guys. They built satellites to circle the earth once every 24 hours so that they stay in place over one spot, while keeping one side to the earth.
This is very handy for my GPS to ping the satellite and tell me exactly where I am. It will even show if I coast forward a couple of feet in the driveway. The communications industry uses the stationary antenna to receive and re-send signals of TV, radio, and other streaming media from one place to another. The military can send a signal to the satellite and the satellite “forwards” to one or more others which beam it down to spots all over the earth.
This neat system depends upon a stationary “target” in the sky, just as the moon shows the same side. The exciting thing about this ground and space system is that it spontaneously, randomly developed with available elements and molecules. They just conglomerated together and leapt into action, just waiting for someone to discover them. Now that is really neat.
Uh, maybe not, you say. Maybe there was some intelligence behind it? And where, pray tell, would that come from? Was it from a randomly accumulated group of carbon based molecules that spontaneously joined together and began to live when a bolt of lightning struck the particular glob of “primordial soup” that they inhabited?
Then they mutated into higher and higher life forms until the brain cells began to “think.” What initiated that process? Was it another bolt of lightning? Or something more subtle? Then this thinking organism began to speculate about what is “out there.” Why? If it is self generated, why would there be any curiosity, or indeed impetus to look elsewhere for alternatives?
It would seem that an indigenous organism would be focused on becoming the “perfect” specimen and not wonder about anything else. And as for imagining other species based on alternative elements, such as sulfur or silicon, that would be inconceivable. Sorry Star Trek and the silicon slug that laid diamond eggs. (That crossover always mystified me.) Or a metal based life. Bye Arnold Swartz-inator.
Chemically speaking, we are pretty sure that chemicals react the same throughout the universe. Astronomers aim a spectrometer at a star billions of light years away and can tell us what is in it because the atoms radiate energy the same as they do on earth and our sun. So if the atoms are the same, the chemistry is the same. No silicon or metal-based life. But I digress.
It is ironic that our imaginations frequently and habitually invoke the supernatural or at least extra-natural for our villains and adversaries. But when it comes to explaining the most amazing, intricate, and incredible phenomenon of all, life, we are arbitrarily limited to “natural” explanations only.
Jeremiah would be amused at our musings about origins and destinies. He counseled us from God that “he who boasts should boast in this, that he understands and knows Me.” (God) The verse goes on to describe this “Me” and once we understand that, everything else kind of pales into the mundane. (Jeremiah 9:24)
The Apostle Paul said it well, “That I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection.” (Phillipians 3:10) All of this is about redemption for a lost race. The eclipse draws our attention to the mysteries and masteries and majesties of the One Who made us.
Jeremiah 10:12 He made the earth by His power, established the world by His wisdom,
and spread out the heavens by His understanding.
He created the earth. (Power) He established the “world” or life as we know it. (Wisdom) And
He spread out the heavens, and we wonder at His “understanding.” We do not understand. But I want to.
I want to know Christ. Join me.
More Thoughts on More On the Eclipse
Did you ever notice that when you begin to think on the wonder and majesty of God that you just can’t quit? This is the third (or fourth) meditation on the eclipse (08/21/17) and last night I had more things running around in my head. Here is a digest.
The solar system is intricate beyond our understanding. The more we learn about it, the more we find out that we do not know. For instance, did you know that Neptune and Pluto have overlapping orbits? Ho boy! I can foresee a cataclysmic collision coming, can’t you? Well, don’t hold your breath. Astronomers have calculated their orbits, and though they intersect geometrically, the planets will never co-occupy the same space. They will never be at the intersection simultaneously. No Big Bang redux miniaturized.
Isn’t that something? Aggregate is the word that we use for the accumulation of gravel, sand, and cement. It means that these components are randomly mixed and cemented together. If we leave aggregate untended, over time it will begin to dis-aggregate. (Is that a word?) It will break down into its individual components, to the chagrin of drivers who encounter the resulting potholes.
We dare not call the solar system, galaxy, and universe a result of aggregation. It does not dis-aggregate. (There it is again. Maybe disintegrate is a good synonym.) As the astronomers have proven, as far out as they want to calculate the orbits, they will not deteriorate enough to collide. Hummmm.
And speaking of interesting, Uranus rotates nearly perpendicular to the direction it orbits the sun. Its equator is tilted 97.77 degrees from the ecliptic. (For reference, the earth is 27 degrees.) Uranus would have extreme changes of seasons. The poles would be oriented so that the sun can hit them for half of a “year” at a time. And the rest of the planet would have strange seasons. The closest point of the planet to the sun moves from pole to pole, covering the entire globe.
First, the “year” for Uranus is 84 earth years. The summer/winter season would last for 21 years with continual light or dark for the duration. The spring/fall seasons, again 21 years, is when the equator faces the sun. The rotational speed of 17 to 18 hours comes into play. From 21 years of dark or light, now it has light and dark exchanging about every 18 hours for 21 years. Some fun. (For reference, the north pole of earth has months of darkness when oriented away from the sun, and months of no darkness, light, when on the other side of the orbit. But the “closest” point only moves between the tropics on either side of the equator.)
Oh yes, another thing. One of Uranus’ moons orbits backwards around Uranus. Nearly all moons and planets orbit the sun or their planet in counter clockwise directions. But Uranus has one going the other direction. Just thought you would like to know.
And two of Uranus’ moons have exactly the same orbital diameter and coincident orbits. I cannot locate the explanation that I read years ago, but they essentially “dance” around the planet in the same orbit without colliding. Huh. (I think that they are Belinda and Bianca, but not confirmed.)
These thoughts simply seem to reverberate what Jeremiah said: Jeremiah 10:12
He made the earth by His power, established the world by His wisdom, and spread out the heavens by His understanding.
Think of that. Some heavens, huh?
The solar system is intricate beyond our understanding. The more we learn about it, the more we find out that we do not know. For instance, did you know that Neptune and Pluto have overlapping orbits? Ho boy! I can foresee a cataclysmic collision coming, can’t you? Well, don’t hold your breath. Astronomers have calculated their orbits, and though they intersect geometrically, the planets will never co-occupy the same space. They will never be at the intersection simultaneously. No Big Bang redux miniaturized.
Isn’t that something? Aggregate is the word that we use for the accumulation of gravel, sand, and cement. It means that these components are randomly mixed and cemented together. If we leave aggregate untended, over time it will begin to dis-aggregate. (Is that a word?) It will break down into its individual components, to the chagrin of drivers who encounter the resulting potholes.
We dare not call the solar system, galaxy, and universe a result of aggregation. It does not dis-aggregate. (There it is again. Maybe disintegrate is a good synonym.) As the astronomers have proven, as far out as they want to calculate the orbits, they will not deteriorate enough to collide. Hummmm.
And speaking of interesting, Uranus rotates nearly perpendicular to the direction it orbits the sun. Its equator is tilted 97.77 degrees from the ecliptic. (For reference, the earth is 27 degrees.) Uranus would have extreme changes of seasons. The poles would be oriented so that the sun can hit them for half of a “year” at a time. And the rest of the planet would have strange seasons. The closest point of the planet to the sun moves from pole to pole, covering the entire globe.
First, the “year” for Uranus is 84 earth years. The summer/winter season would last for 21 years with continual light or dark for the duration. The spring/fall seasons, again 21 years, is when the equator faces the sun. The rotational speed of 17 to 18 hours comes into play. From 21 years of dark or light, now it has light and dark exchanging about every 18 hours for 21 years. Some fun. (For reference, the north pole of earth has months of darkness when oriented away from the sun, and months of no darkness, light, when on the other side of the orbit. But the “closest” point only moves between the tropics on either side of the equator.)
Oh yes, another thing. One of Uranus’ moons orbits backwards around Uranus. Nearly all moons and planets orbit the sun or their planet in counter clockwise directions. But Uranus has one going the other direction. Just thought you would like to know.
And two of Uranus’ moons have exactly the same orbital diameter and coincident orbits. I cannot locate the explanation that I read years ago, but they essentially “dance” around the planet in the same orbit without colliding. Huh. (I think that they are Belinda and Bianca, but not confirmed.)
These thoughts simply seem to reverberate what Jeremiah said: Jeremiah 10:12
He made the earth by His power, established the world by His wisdom, and spread out the heavens by His understanding.
Think of that. Some heavens, huh?
Monday, August 28, 2017
Resting and Wresting
A series of conflagrations faces our society, and though each is distinctly different from the other, they are linked by a common, erroneous solution. Each problem has been addressed by a ‘biblical” explanation, and they all are in error. Some are deliberately wrong, while others are incidentally wrong. The difficulty, as you can see, is “wrong.”
The Scripture often talks of resting in the Lord. In light of societal commentary, we will consider a different kind of “wrest” and it ain’t good. Jeremiah also faced the challenge of false prophets. We explored the specifics of false teachers and predictors in Jeremiah’s day. (False Prophets) The common thread in his times and ours is that the spurious spokesmen are “running” and they have not been sent, and they are “speaking” without a Word from God. (Jeremiah 23:16 and 21) These dastardly disciples distort and destroy the written Word. In Jeremiah’s day, the false prophets’ declarations led to the defeat, destruction, and deportation of Israel. And ultimately the result was death to them and their followers.
Peter mentioned them in 2 Peter 3:16
As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other Scriptures, unto their own destruction.
Notice that he includes the “reward” for such activities. He is very explicit in his evaluation of their abilities. They are “unlearned and unstable.” He was specifically referencing Paul’s writing, which he pronounced “Scripture.” He said that they “wrest” or twist, mutilate, and even reverse the meaning of them. This, we found out in Jeremiah, is a serious offense. Or more literally, this involves rebellion against and rejection of the Lord’s authority.
The first societal difficulty involves the definition and identity of matrimony and its participants. This is not as pervasive as is presented by its apologists and they appear to be expanding its implications in order to accumulate additional numbers of “victims” to generate more sympathy for their “cause.”
I actually heard a clip of a guy supporting this position by an appeal to Romans 1. I won’t put you through the intellectual convolutions, contortions, and outright falsehoods, but suffice it to say that he claimed God condones, approves, and almost encourages homosexuality. If I had been present in that presentation, I would have moved to the back of the room or left entirely. You never know how wide the radius of a lightning bolt will be.
The second problem facing society which has involved a wresting of Scripture, and again maliciously and deliberately, is the question of racial divisions. One specific group, which sounds like “cluck, cluck, cluck,” has even appropriated Scripture to buttress their position. A former member told of hearing a leader expound (not exposit) John 4:9.
Then saith the woman of Samaria unto him, “How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria? for the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans.”
Period. He closed the book there and proceeded to teach that even the Bible and Jesus supported the separation of races. “...Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.” This is doubly ironic because the Cluckers originally were organized to defame, devastate, and destroy black people, Jews, and Catholics. Here a guy appeals to not only the Jews, but the Messiah of the Jews to prove his point. I guess “dumb” would not be an inappropriate prefix to their identification.
The former member recounted how he was asked to be the national chaplain for the group despite having absolutely no knowledge of the Bible. He began by reading John and when he reached chapter 4 he immediately resigned and left the group. He read the whole passage and saw what it really said. He has since became a pastor and a staunch adversary of the clan. “God’s Word is quick and powerful.” (Hebrews 4:12)
The final question concerns, to be polite and avoid any politically and emotionally charged connotations, the presence of unauthorized foreign nationals. (UAFN) The treatment of UAFN that has been prescribed, supposedly, in the Bible is to do no harm nor oppress them. (Exodus 22:21 and 23:9) This, they explain, means that we should not deny benefits, discipline, or deport “strangers,” as the Bible calls them. Treat them as if the were legal residents and even citizens. This is expanded in Leviticus 19:34.
The stranger who resides with you shall be to you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt; I am the Lord your God.
Again, a slight distortion has occurred. There were three differences between UAFN and the “stranger” mentioned. First, the stranger was there legally. Granted, national borders were not so carefully defined and regulated, but there were certain prescriptions for entering countries. And the stranger had not violated them, nor any laws of the land in which they resided.
Second the stranger was integrating into the society. They respected the laws of the Jews, including dietary and the Sabbath. And third, many of them were actively working to join, by becoming a proselyte, or a Gentile convert to Judiasm. None of these conditions apply to the majority of the UAFNs about which so much controversy swirls.
We learn something more about these false prophets. They are either liars or lunatics or both to argue against God. They either twist or make up God’s Word. And Peter says that these people “wrest (the Scriptures) to their own destruction.” This is a serious “cost of doing business,” for false prophets.
How much better to rest in what the Scripture really says than to wrest it mean what it in actuality, prohibits. Intellectual and spiritual health and integrity depend upon this.
The Scripture often talks of resting in the Lord. In light of societal commentary, we will consider a different kind of “wrest” and it ain’t good. Jeremiah also faced the challenge of false prophets. We explored the specifics of false teachers and predictors in Jeremiah’s day. (False Prophets) The common thread in his times and ours is that the spurious spokesmen are “running” and they have not been sent, and they are “speaking” without a Word from God. (Jeremiah 23:16 and 21) These dastardly disciples distort and destroy the written Word. In Jeremiah’s day, the false prophets’ declarations led to the defeat, destruction, and deportation of Israel. And ultimately the result was death to them and their followers.
Peter mentioned them in 2 Peter 3:16
As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other Scriptures, unto their own destruction.
Notice that he includes the “reward” for such activities. He is very explicit in his evaluation of their abilities. They are “unlearned and unstable.” He was specifically referencing Paul’s writing, which he pronounced “Scripture.” He said that they “wrest” or twist, mutilate, and even reverse the meaning of them. This, we found out in Jeremiah, is a serious offense. Or more literally, this involves rebellion against and rejection of the Lord’s authority.
The first societal difficulty involves the definition and identity of matrimony and its participants. This is not as pervasive as is presented by its apologists and they appear to be expanding its implications in order to accumulate additional numbers of “victims” to generate more sympathy for their “cause.”
I actually heard a clip of a guy supporting this position by an appeal to Romans 1. I won’t put you through the intellectual convolutions, contortions, and outright falsehoods, but suffice it to say that he claimed God condones, approves, and almost encourages homosexuality. If I had been present in that presentation, I would have moved to the back of the room or left entirely. You never know how wide the radius of a lightning bolt will be.
The second problem facing society which has involved a wresting of Scripture, and again maliciously and deliberately, is the question of racial divisions. One specific group, which sounds like “cluck, cluck, cluck,” has even appropriated Scripture to buttress their position. A former member told of hearing a leader expound (not exposit) John 4:9.
Then saith the woman of Samaria unto him, “How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria? for the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans.”
Period. He closed the book there and proceeded to teach that even the Bible and Jesus supported the separation of races. “...Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.” This is doubly ironic because the Cluckers originally were organized to defame, devastate, and destroy black people, Jews, and Catholics. Here a guy appeals to not only the Jews, but the Messiah of the Jews to prove his point. I guess “dumb” would not be an inappropriate prefix to their identification.
The former member recounted how he was asked to be the national chaplain for the group despite having absolutely no knowledge of the Bible. He began by reading John and when he reached chapter 4 he immediately resigned and left the group. He read the whole passage and saw what it really said. He has since became a pastor and a staunch adversary of the clan. “God’s Word is quick and powerful.” (Hebrews 4:12)
The final question concerns, to be polite and avoid any politically and emotionally charged connotations, the presence of unauthorized foreign nationals. (UAFN) The treatment of UAFN that has been prescribed, supposedly, in the Bible is to do no harm nor oppress them. (Exodus 22:21 and 23:9) This, they explain, means that we should not deny benefits, discipline, or deport “strangers,” as the Bible calls them. Treat them as if the were legal residents and even citizens. This is expanded in Leviticus 19:34.
The stranger who resides with you shall be to you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt; I am the Lord your God.
Again, a slight distortion has occurred. There were three differences between UAFN and the “stranger” mentioned. First, the stranger was there legally. Granted, national borders were not so carefully defined and regulated, but there were certain prescriptions for entering countries. And the stranger had not violated them, nor any laws of the land in which they resided.
Second the stranger was integrating into the society. They respected the laws of the Jews, including dietary and the Sabbath. And third, many of them were actively working to join, by becoming a proselyte, or a Gentile convert to Judiasm. None of these conditions apply to the majority of the UAFNs about which so much controversy swirls.
We learn something more about these false prophets. They are either liars or lunatics or both to argue against God. They either twist or make up God’s Word. And Peter says that these people “wrest (the Scriptures) to their own destruction.” This is a serious “cost of doing business,” for false prophets.
How much better to rest in what the Scripture really says than to wrest it mean what it in actuality, prohibits. Intellectual and spiritual health and integrity depend upon this.
More on the Eclipse
A childhood ditty that I recall singing went like this: There’s a log on the bottom of the lake. There’s a frog on the log on the bottom of the lake. There’s a wart on the frog on the log on the bottom of the lake. There’s a hair on the wart on the frog on the log on the bottom of the lake. There’s a flea on the hair on the wart on the frog on the bottom of the lake.
I suppose that it could go on for a while, but you get the gist. After the eclipse I was reflecting on the wonder of what had just happened. The galaxy is moving through space. The sun is orbiting the galaxy as the galaxy moves through space. The earth is orbiting the sun as the sun orbits the galaxy as the galaxy moves through space. The moon is orbiting the earth as the earth is orbiting the sun as the sun is orbiting the galaxy as the galaxy moves through space. Whew.
The universe is expanding. The Milky Way galaxy is moving through the cosmos at about 1,343,000 miles per hour. The sun is moving through the cosmos in an “orbit” of the Milky Way galaxy at the speed of 486,000 miles per hour. That is what I said, 486,000 mph. And the earth is orbiting the sun at a relatively sedate speed of 66,700 mph. Just for fun, add in that the earth is spinning about 1,000 miles per hour at the equator.
And the moon is “trotting” around the earth at 2288 miles per hour, while spinning one time every 27.25 days (But it takes 29.5 between phases because of the extra distance it has to move to “keep up” with the earth as it orbits the sun).* The frog story is pretty simple compared to this, isn’t it?
And we were told that the ancient Babylonians were able to calculate the moon’s orbit and predict eclipses. (I guess they were not just busy building big statues and fiery furnaces for Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.) Leaving out the component of the sun’s motion, this is still a daunting mathematical puzzle. And this little dance around the maypole or sun has been so stable and repetitive that their numbers are accurate today. Some have used their notations and it corresponds with the 2017 eclipse.
We wonder at the dexterity involved in tracking and predicting eclipses and other astral bodies. And some actually believe that all of this interrelated complexity in the universe is a result of some random agglomeration of particles blown out into space at the Big Bang. What you been smoking?
And we are just one minute speck in the entire universe that is likewise intricate and precise. It is not just mind boggling. As an 8 or 10 year old I became aware of infinity. It is an unending number. It just goes on forever. I could not then, nor now, comprehend such a concept. And infinity is required to consider the universe. I’m lost.
But that is not all. The complexity reverses from universe (universes?) down to matter and elements and components of matter and components of components of matter, and log on the bottom of the lake.
Hold on, life goes from gigantic sea creatures of estimated 200 tons to microscopic, single celled organisms. And the complexity of even the single celled organisms is, dare I use it, mind boggling. A single cell is as intricate as the universe.
One of my recent memory verses comes to mind. Jeremiah 9:23, 24
This is what the Lord says: “The wise man must not boast in his wisdom; the strong man must not boast in his strength; the wealthy man must not boast in his wealth.
24 “But the one who boasts should boast in this, that he understands and knows Me—that I am Yahweh, showing faithful love, justice, and righteousness on the earth, for I delight in these things.” This is the Lord’s declaration.
In all of the creation, this is His driving force: faithful love, justice, and righteousness. He is unfathomable. Yet He chose to supernaturally reveal Himself to us.
“God created the heavens and the earth.” (Genesis 1:1) And do you know what He wants to be known as? Besides “holy” that is? He wants to be “Father.” Some have suggested that “awesome” should be reserved for describing the Lord. My response is that it is too limiting and insignificant to be used to describe Him. We have to have more words for infinite. In fact, infinity would not begin to describe Him. He made infinity. The number, that is.
I think I will stick with Thomas’ name for Him. “My Lord and my God.” (John 20:28) That is about as much as I can fathom.
Glory. I can’t wait until the next eclipse. “Hey Nebuchadnezzar! When and where did you say the next one is?”
(These numbers are approximate. Different values can be found. It is somewhat reasonable to anticipate this because there is no “traffic cop” out there to measure the speed of things flying around.)
I suppose that it could go on for a while, but you get the gist. After the eclipse I was reflecting on the wonder of what had just happened. The galaxy is moving through space. The sun is orbiting the galaxy as the galaxy moves through space. The earth is orbiting the sun as the sun orbits the galaxy as the galaxy moves through space. The moon is orbiting the earth as the earth is orbiting the sun as the sun is orbiting the galaxy as the galaxy moves through space. Whew.
The universe is expanding. The Milky Way galaxy is moving through the cosmos at about 1,343,000 miles per hour. The sun is moving through the cosmos in an “orbit” of the Milky Way galaxy at the speed of 486,000 miles per hour. That is what I said, 486,000 mph. And the earth is orbiting the sun at a relatively sedate speed of 66,700 mph. Just for fun, add in that the earth is spinning about 1,000 miles per hour at the equator.
And the moon is “trotting” around the earth at 2288 miles per hour, while spinning one time every 27.25 days (But it takes 29.5 between phases because of the extra distance it has to move to “keep up” with the earth as it orbits the sun).* The frog story is pretty simple compared to this, isn’t it?
And we were told that the ancient Babylonians were able to calculate the moon’s orbit and predict eclipses. (I guess they were not just busy building big statues and fiery furnaces for Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.) Leaving out the component of the sun’s motion, this is still a daunting mathematical puzzle. And this little dance around the maypole or sun has been so stable and repetitive that their numbers are accurate today. Some have used their notations and it corresponds with the 2017 eclipse.
We wonder at the dexterity involved in tracking and predicting eclipses and other astral bodies. And some actually believe that all of this interrelated complexity in the universe is a result of some random agglomeration of particles blown out into space at the Big Bang. What you been smoking?
And we are just one minute speck in the entire universe that is likewise intricate and precise. It is not just mind boggling. As an 8 or 10 year old I became aware of infinity. It is an unending number. It just goes on forever. I could not then, nor now, comprehend such a concept. And infinity is required to consider the universe. I’m lost.
But that is not all. The complexity reverses from universe (universes?) down to matter and elements and components of matter and components of components of matter, and log on the bottom of the lake.
Hold on, life goes from gigantic sea creatures of estimated 200 tons to microscopic, single celled organisms. And the complexity of even the single celled organisms is, dare I use it, mind boggling. A single cell is as intricate as the universe.
One of my recent memory verses comes to mind. Jeremiah 9:23, 24
This is what the Lord says: “The wise man must not boast in his wisdom; the strong man must not boast in his strength; the wealthy man must not boast in his wealth.
24 “But the one who boasts should boast in this, that he understands and knows Me—that I am Yahweh, showing faithful love, justice, and righteousness on the earth, for I delight in these things.” This is the Lord’s declaration.
In all of the creation, this is His driving force: faithful love, justice, and righteousness. He is unfathomable. Yet He chose to supernaturally reveal Himself to us.
“God created the heavens and the earth.” (Genesis 1:1) And do you know what He wants to be known as? Besides “holy” that is? He wants to be “Father.” Some have suggested that “awesome” should be reserved for describing the Lord. My response is that it is too limiting and insignificant to be used to describe Him. We have to have more words for infinite. In fact, infinity would not begin to describe Him. He made infinity. The number, that is.
I think I will stick with Thomas’ name for Him. “My Lord and my God.” (John 20:28) That is about as much as I can fathom.
Glory. I can’t wait until the next eclipse. “Hey Nebuchadnezzar! When and where did you say the next one is?”
(These numbers are approximate. Different values can be found. It is somewhat reasonable to anticipate this because there is no “traffic cop” out there to measure the speed of things flying around.)
Sunday, August 27, 2017
False Prophets
This verse scares me to death. Jeremiah 23:16, 21
Thus says the Lord of hosts, “Do not listen to the words of the prophets who are prophesying to you. They are leading you into futility; They speak a vision of their own imagination, Not from the mouth of the Lord.” 21 “I did not send these prophets, But they ran. I did not speak to them, But they prophesied.”
These specific words are not too scary. Or are they? (Paraphrase) “They speak, but I did not speak. They run but I did not send.” Reading on a little farther should make every “teacher” and “prophet” think twice and make sure that he or she is not “making it up.” The background is that twice, in Jeremiah 25:12 and 29:10, Jeremiah repeats Isaiah’s prophesy that Israel would be overthrown by Babylon and adds that the captivity will last for 70 years. This is in light of some guys* saying the opposite. (Jeremiah 27:9-10) (*Pretend prophets.)
9 “But as for you, do not listen to your prophets, your diviners, your dreamers, your soothsayers or your sorcerers who speak to you, saying, ‘You will not serve the king of Babylon.’ 10 For they prophesy a lie to you in order to remove you far from your land; and I will drive you out and you will perish.” (God speaking through Jeremiah.)
The lie continued in Jeremiah 29:14-17.
“So do not listen to the words of the prophets who speak to you, saying, ‘You will not serve the king of Babylon,’ for they prophesy a lie to you; 15 for I have not sent them,” declares the Lord, “but they prophesy falsely in My name, in order that I may drive you out and that you may perish, you and the prophets who prophesy to you.”
The fearsome part starts to show at the end of this passage. “...you may perish, you and the prophets who prophesy to you.” God is not giving the false prophets a pass. They are sealing their own punishment as well as those who listen to them. This is no trivial consideration. Speaking “for God” when God did not speak is a serious matter. Then the Lord extends the dire pronunciation to specific false prophets. This is chilling. (Deuteronomy 18:20 prescribes it.)
Jeremiah repeats his warning: (29:16, 17)
16 Then I spoke to the priests and to all this people, saying, “Thus says the Lord: Do not listen to the words of your prophets who prophesy to you...for they are prophesying a lie to you. 17 Do not listen to them.”
Chapter 28 recounts the episode of Hanniah who contradicted Jeremiah. We will summarize the results. (Jeremiah 28:16, 17)
16 Therefore thus says the Lord, (to Hanniah) “Behold, I am about to remove you from the face of the earth. This year you are going to die, because you have counseled rebellion against the Lord.” 17 So Hananiah the prophet died in the same year in the seventh month.
But that was not all. The devastation continued in 29:8-10.
8 “Do not let your prophets who are in your midst and your diviners deceive you, and do not listen to the dreams which they dream. 9 For they prophesy falsely to you in My name; I have not sent them,” declares the Lord.
Notice the continuing emphasis on “not sending” and “did not speak to them.” Then in verses 21-23 the Lord specifically identifies two other false prophets. (What a way to get your name in the Bible.)
Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, concerning Ahab the son of Kolaiah and concerning Zedekiah the son of Maaseiah, who are prophesying to you falsely in My name, “Behold, I will deliver them into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and he will slay them before your eyes. 22 Because of them a curse will be used by all the exiles from Judah who are in Babylon, saying, ‘May the Lord make you like Zedekiah and like Ahab, whom the king of Babylon roasted in the fire,’ 23 because they have acted foolishly in Israel, and have committed adultery with their neighbors’ wives and have spoken words in My name falsely, which I did not command them; and I am He who knows and am a witness,” declares the Lord.”
We learn something more about these particular false prophets. They are either liars or lunatics or both to argue against God. They either twist or make up God’s Word. (We will discuss this in a subsequent consideration.) And now we find that they were adulterers. (Aside: This characteristic has marked cult leaders from Mohammed, to Joseph Smith, to Jim Jones, to the loonie who led his followers onto the space ship a few years ago. They were loose with the ladies from their virgin followers, to other men’s wives, and often were also pedophiles. They targeted teen girls and even younger.)
Ahab and Zedekiah (no relation to their more famous namesakes) became a curse, a by-word, for their recklessness. And even Nebuchadnezzar seems to have been disgusted with their activities and utilized his “fiery furnace” for them. We do not know when this was in relation to Daniel’s buddies, but there was no “fourth man in the fire” for these bogus messengers.
As I said in the beginning. As a teacher, I try to be very circumspect about what I say, backing it up with Scripture as much as possible. When I am surmising, I try to be very diligent to point out that issue. As we examined earlier it is a good idea to keep quiet rather than make spurious statements. (If You Can't Predict the Future, Don't Claim to Be God.)
But, that was not all. Further in chapter 29 The Lord continued the excoriation of false prophets:
31 “Send to all the exiles, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord concerning Shemaiah the Nehelamite, “Because Shemaiah has prophesied to you, although I did not send him, and he has made you trust in a lie,” 32 therefore thus says the Lord, “Behold, I am about to punish Shemaiah the Nehelamite and his descendants; he will not have anyone living among this people, and he will not see the good that I am about to do to My people,” declares the Lord, “because he has preached rebellion against the Lord.”’”
All teachers should be sure that if they “run,” they have been sent. If they “speak,” limit it to what the Lord has said. The consequences are devastating. Like I said, this is scary.
Thus says the Lord of hosts, “Do not listen to the words of the prophets who are prophesying to you. They are leading you into futility; They speak a vision of their own imagination, Not from the mouth of the Lord.” 21 “I did not send these prophets, But they ran. I did not speak to them, But they prophesied.”
These specific words are not too scary. Or are they? (Paraphrase) “They speak, but I did not speak. They run but I did not send.” Reading on a little farther should make every “teacher” and “prophet” think twice and make sure that he or she is not “making it up.” The background is that twice, in Jeremiah 25:12 and 29:10, Jeremiah repeats Isaiah’s prophesy that Israel would be overthrown by Babylon and adds that the captivity will last for 70 years. This is in light of some guys* saying the opposite. (Jeremiah 27:9-10) (*Pretend prophets.)
9 “But as for you, do not listen to your prophets, your diviners, your dreamers, your soothsayers or your sorcerers who speak to you, saying, ‘You will not serve the king of Babylon.’ 10 For they prophesy a lie to you in order to remove you far from your land; and I will drive you out and you will perish.” (God speaking through Jeremiah.)
The lie continued in Jeremiah 29:14-17.
“So do not listen to the words of the prophets who speak to you, saying, ‘You will not serve the king of Babylon,’ for they prophesy a lie to you; 15 for I have not sent them,” declares the Lord, “but they prophesy falsely in My name, in order that I may drive you out and that you may perish, you and the prophets who prophesy to you.”
The fearsome part starts to show at the end of this passage. “...you may perish, you and the prophets who prophesy to you.” God is not giving the false prophets a pass. They are sealing their own punishment as well as those who listen to them. This is no trivial consideration. Speaking “for God” when God did not speak is a serious matter. Then the Lord extends the dire pronunciation to specific false prophets. This is chilling. (Deuteronomy 18:20 prescribes it.)
Jeremiah repeats his warning: (29:16, 17)
16 Then I spoke to the priests and to all this people, saying, “Thus says the Lord: Do not listen to the words of your prophets who prophesy to you...for they are prophesying a lie to you. 17 Do not listen to them.”
Chapter 28 recounts the episode of Hanniah who contradicted Jeremiah. We will summarize the results. (Jeremiah 28:16, 17)
16 Therefore thus says the Lord, (to Hanniah) “Behold, I am about to remove you from the face of the earth. This year you are going to die, because you have counseled rebellion against the Lord.” 17 So Hananiah the prophet died in the same year in the seventh month.
But that was not all. The devastation continued in 29:8-10.
8 “Do not let your prophets who are in your midst and your diviners deceive you, and do not listen to the dreams which they dream. 9 For they prophesy falsely to you in My name; I have not sent them,” declares the Lord.
Notice the continuing emphasis on “not sending” and “did not speak to them.” Then in verses 21-23 the Lord specifically identifies two other false prophets. (What a way to get your name in the Bible.)
Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, concerning Ahab the son of Kolaiah and concerning Zedekiah the son of Maaseiah, who are prophesying to you falsely in My name, “Behold, I will deliver them into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and he will slay them before your eyes. 22 Because of them a curse will be used by all the exiles from Judah who are in Babylon, saying, ‘May the Lord make you like Zedekiah and like Ahab, whom the king of Babylon roasted in the fire,’ 23 because they have acted foolishly in Israel, and have committed adultery with their neighbors’ wives and have spoken words in My name falsely, which I did not command them; and I am He who knows and am a witness,” declares the Lord.”
We learn something more about these particular false prophets. They are either liars or lunatics or both to argue against God. They either twist or make up God’s Word. (We will discuss this in a subsequent consideration.) And now we find that they were adulterers. (Aside: This characteristic has marked cult leaders from Mohammed, to Joseph Smith, to Jim Jones, to the loonie who led his followers onto the space ship a few years ago. They were loose with the ladies from their virgin followers, to other men’s wives, and often were also pedophiles. They targeted teen girls and even younger.)
Ahab and Zedekiah (no relation to their more famous namesakes) became a curse, a by-word, for their recklessness. And even Nebuchadnezzar seems to have been disgusted with their activities and utilized his “fiery furnace” for them. We do not know when this was in relation to Daniel’s buddies, but there was no “fourth man in the fire” for these bogus messengers.
As I said in the beginning. As a teacher, I try to be very circumspect about what I say, backing it up with Scripture as much as possible. When I am surmising, I try to be very diligent to point out that issue. As we examined earlier it is a good idea to keep quiet rather than make spurious statements. (If You Can't Predict the Future, Don't Claim to Be God.)
But, that was not all. Further in chapter 29 The Lord continued the excoriation of false prophets:
31 “Send to all the exiles, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord concerning Shemaiah the Nehelamite, “Because Shemaiah has prophesied to you, although I did not send him, and he has made you trust in a lie,” 32 therefore thus says the Lord, “Behold, I am about to punish Shemaiah the Nehelamite and his descendants; he will not have anyone living among this people, and he will not see the good that I am about to do to My people,” declares the Lord, “because he has preached rebellion against the Lord.”’”
All teachers should be sure that if they “run,” they have been sent. If they “speak,” limit it to what the Lord has said. The consequences are devastating. Like I said, this is scary.
Thursday, August 24, 2017
Is Jesus Alive?
Confession: This is not a new question and answer, nor is it original with me. But with the current milieu of conflicting claims about religion and “facts” it seems like a good time to reiterate the real truth. The doubt of Jesus’ existence occasionally arises, but is easily quashed by a simple appeal to secular historians. If the “Jesus story” is discounted, then all of history until about 1700 or even later is in doubt. If any recorded history is suspect, then all recorded history is suspect. The validity of any account must be assessed by the veracity of the witnesses and not the content of the subject matter.
Doubt of Jesus’ historical presence is not a serious objection. The real “weakness” of the Jesus story is actually the resurrection. He can be a good man, an exalted teacher, and inspiring leader who just met an untimely end–on a cross. But if He did rise from the dead, then it becomes a different story altogether. Even Paul, the Apostle and Apologist for Christianity, conceded that in 1 Corinthians 15:17-18 If Christ is not risen...
18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. 19 If we have hoped in Christ in this life only, we are of all men most to be pitied.
With that pivot point then, it is imperative that we explore this fully. And many critics have done just that. There are fundamentally two approaches. One is that Jesus merely swooned on the cross and revived in the tomb, unimaginable as that is. The other is that He did not arise and “someone” stole the body. This one has some cachet particularly since there were “eyewitnesses” who claimed just that. Look at Matthew 28:11.
“His disciples came by night and stole Him away while we were asleep.”
Verse 15 confirms it. “...and this story was widely spread among the Jews, and is to this day.”
Where did these witnesses come from? Back to chapter 27 concerning the tomb:
65 Pilate said to them, “You have a guard; go, make it as secure as you know how.”
At least four and perhaps as many as 16 “soldiers” were guarding the tomb. (We will ignore the question of whose soldiers they were for now.) And “some of them” (28:11) went to the chief priests and reported what had happened. Consequently we have a witness to tell us what happened. To be honest and consistent, we will have to address that testimony.
Notice immediately their description: “while we were sleeping.” That, in court, is called, “testifying against interest.” They essentially confessed to wrongdoing with their statement. A good lawyer would have stopped them at “stole Him away.” But they had no lawyer and the statement stands. How reliable and probative is it?
First, it tells us that there was no body in the tomb. It, He, was gone. And to the careful observer, that is all that it tells us. They admitted that they were asleep. So how could they accuse anyone of taking it? Either they were awake and merely watched, violating their charge, or they were cooperating with the removal and were rebelling against their orders. They were either acquiescent or accomplices. Their treatment by “the authorities” seems to deflect either of those options. Are there any other accounts?
There are, and that helps a lot. Matthew 28:2-4 fills in a lot of gaps.
And behold, a severe earthquake had occurred, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled away the stone and sat upon it. 3 And his appearance was like lightning, and his clothing as white as snow. 4 The guards shook for fear of him and became like dead men.
They were not just asleep, they were catatonic. Sleeping sounds better, doesn’t it? Our exploration of the testimony gives us a crucial bit of evidence. The body was gone. And looking back at the following activities in Chapter 28 verses 12-15 we find the conspiracy between the soldiers, the chief priests, and the elders who agreed to propound the falsehood of body snatchers.
And how does that help us determine the truth? The soldiers escaped the death sentence which was summarily imposed on sleeping guards. But it does confirm the empty tomb. And, as a passing reference, it pretty well decimated the concept of a semi-invalid convalescent pushing back the stone and if not overpowering the guards, slipping away unnoticed. The “swoon” explanation just swooned.
Our military or paramilitary witnesses performed a valuable service for us. They confirmed the empty tomb. And they also discounted a spurious claim that they “Jews” removed it to prevent the disciples from gaining possession of it. (This is not a prevalent theory, but I have heard it, ludicrous as it is.) If the Jews had the body, it would have been trotted out sometime at an inopportune time for the disciples and destroyed the story of the resurrection. (Anytime in Acts would be good, for instance.)
If a witness points out a spurious agent, does that exonerate the agent? Probably not, but it certainly damages the credibility of the witness. So anything they said must pass the double truth filter before it can be deemed probative.
There are many good arguments against a conspiracy of disciples, but the most telling is the performance of miracles by these same scaredy cats that included raising people from the dead. If they could raise the dead, Dorcas, it certainly is not incredible that their Leader had been resurrected. (Acts 9)
“Resurrection from the dead,” is used at least eight times in the New Testament both before and after Jesus did just that. The evidence supports this event more completely than any event in ancient history. Discounting that, as mentioned before, invalidates history for everything else. Disregarding it invalidates any hope for the future.
Past, present, and future all hinge upon the Resurrection of Jesus. He is alive.
Doubt of Jesus’ historical presence is not a serious objection. The real “weakness” of the Jesus story is actually the resurrection. He can be a good man, an exalted teacher, and inspiring leader who just met an untimely end–on a cross. But if He did rise from the dead, then it becomes a different story altogether. Even Paul, the Apostle and Apologist for Christianity, conceded that in 1 Corinthians 15:17-18 If Christ is not risen...
18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. 19 If we have hoped in Christ in this life only, we are of all men most to be pitied.
With that pivot point then, it is imperative that we explore this fully. And many critics have done just that. There are fundamentally two approaches. One is that Jesus merely swooned on the cross and revived in the tomb, unimaginable as that is. The other is that He did not arise and “someone” stole the body. This one has some cachet particularly since there were “eyewitnesses” who claimed just that. Look at Matthew 28:11.
“His disciples came by night and stole Him away while we were asleep.”
Verse 15 confirms it. “...and this story was widely spread among the Jews, and is to this day.”
Where did these witnesses come from? Back to chapter 27 concerning the tomb:
65 Pilate said to them, “You have a guard; go, make it as secure as you know how.”
At least four and perhaps as many as 16 “soldiers” were guarding the tomb. (We will ignore the question of whose soldiers they were for now.) And “some of them” (28:11) went to the chief priests and reported what had happened. Consequently we have a witness to tell us what happened. To be honest and consistent, we will have to address that testimony.
Notice immediately their description: “while we were sleeping.” That, in court, is called, “testifying against interest.” They essentially confessed to wrongdoing with their statement. A good lawyer would have stopped them at “stole Him away.” But they had no lawyer and the statement stands. How reliable and probative is it?
First, it tells us that there was no body in the tomb. It, He, was gone. And to the careful observer, that is all that it tells us. They admitted that they were asleep. So how could they accuse anyone of taking it? Either they were awake and merely watched, violating their charge, or they were cooperating with the removal and were rebelling against their orders. They were either acquiescent or accomplices. Their treatment by “the authorities” seems to deflect either of those options. Are there any other accounts?
There are, and that helps a lot. Matthew 28:2-4 fills in a lot of gaps.
And behold, a severe earthquake had occurred, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled away the stone and sat upon it. 3 And his appearance was like lightning, and his clothing as white as snow. 4 The guards shook for fear of him and became like dead men.
They were not just asleep, they were catatonic. Sleeping sounds better, doesn’t it? Our exploration of the testimony gives us a crucial bit of evidence. The body was gone. And looking back at the following activities in Chapter 28 verses 12-15 we find the conspiracy between the soldiers, the chief priests, and the elders who agreed to propound the falsehood of body snatchers.
And how does that help us determine the truth? The soldiers escaped the death sentence which was summarily imposed on sleeping guards. But it does confirm the empty tomb. And, as a passing reference, it pretty well decimated the concept of a semi-invalid convalescent pushing back the stone and if not overpowering the guards, slipping away unnoticed. The “swoon” explanation just swooned.
Our military or paramilitary witnesses performed a valuable service for us. They confirmed the empty tomb. And they also discounted a spurious claim that they “Jews” removed it to prevent the disciples from gaining possession of it. (This is not a prevalent theory, but I have heard it, ludicrous as it is.) If the Jews had the body, it would have been trotted out sometime at an inopportune time for the disciples and destroyed the story of the resurrection. (Anytime in Acts would be good, for instance.)
If a witness points out a spurious agent, does that exonerate the agent? Probably not, but it certainly damages the credibility of the witness. So anything they said must pass the double truth filter before it can be deemed probative.
There are many good arguments against a conspiracy of disciples, but the most telling is the performance of miracles by these same scaredy cats that included raising people from the dead. If they could raise the dead, Dorcas, it certainly is not incredible that their Leader had been resurrected. (Acts 9)
“Resurrection from the dead,” is used at least eight times in the New Testament both before and after Jesus did just that. The evidence supports this event more completely than any event in ancient history. Discounting that, as mentioned before, invalidates history for everything else. Disregarding it invalidates any hope for the future.
Past, present, and future all hinge upon the Resurrection of Jesus. He is alive.
Wednesday, August 23, 2017
Questions About the Eclipse
Hall of Fame shortstop for the Cubs, Ernie Banks used to exclaim, “What a great day for baseball. Let’s play two!” He did it almost every day that they played. I felt the same about the eclipse on August 21, 2017.
Let’s do it again! Did you get to see the eclipse? It was great. As soon as the totality ended, I was tempted to jump in my car and race down the road to catch it again. Then I remembered that the shadow was “crawling” across the country in excess of 2000 miles per hour. I would have never caught it. Shucks. But the next one is only seven years away. (Make of that what you will.)
Watching the eclipse raised two questions, in addition to the ruminations published earlier, and I think I had a mini-epiphany. (Or something like that.) First the questions. For those who were fortunate enough to be in the path of totality, we noticed that it got cooler and a little darker, but full darkness did not hit until the total sliver of crescent disappeared. (At least at my house.)
With just such a small sliver delivering our “light,” it still adequately supplied us. But when the whole disk reappeared, it was not 100 or even 10 times brighter. I thought that was interesting, if not strange.
Second question. The corona, which we could not see until the totality is much hotter than the surface of the sun itself. The surface is about 5800 Kelvin (same as centigrade, only a difference of +273). But the corona (which the spell checker on my phone capitalized every time I used it) the corona is one to three MILLION Kelvins. (Don’t bother with adding the 273.)
So with the “cooler” sun fully blocked, the 150 to 450 times hotter corona did not sustain the temperature here. I thought that was a very intriguing thought. Scientists attempt to study the corona to find out how it can be so much hotter and where does that energy go? Perhaps it is emitted as non-thermal radiation like UV light or other radiation. Just wondering.
Sit down if you are not already. I was, when this happened. A Glory! Hallelujah! moment is coming. After the totality was complete, I sat back down on my deck chair, which conveniently reclined at a perfect angle to lean back and watch the goings on. I looked up, and all I saw was darkness. Oh, no! A cloud. A quick peak confirmed my brilliant deduction. But I just leaned back with my glasses on. (Did the commentators say that enough? I did view the totality without glasses. It was totally black with them. That is how I saw the corona. But I digress.)
As I gazed upward, just contemplating what I had seen, the clouds began to swirl and thin and, “Lo and behold,” the sun gradually appeared in its full glory! Sandy Patty was singing in my head, “The sky shall unfold preparing His entrance....” He is coming in the clouds. I thought I was foreseeing the Son. (Listen to the song.* Link.)
The reason I told you to sit down, was because if you were standing, you would hit the ceiling when she hit that final note. I just about got raptured by myself. Glory. Hands down, now. But that was not all.
As I continued to watch, after a minute or so the clouds again converged and slowly, inexorably covered the sun. It was gone for a quite a while. Another verse occurred to me. Acts 1:9, 10
After He said this, He was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid Him from their sight.
I saw history in reverse. First He left, and as those clouds that obscured the sun for me, they blocked the disciples’ view of Jesus. But the angel gave them good news that galvanized them from quavering cowards into unstoppable dynamos of faith.
10 “This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen Him go into heaven.”
And instead of Sandy Patty serenading us, we will have a trumpet. (If it plays that song, I will not be surprised. But heavenly music “may” surpass what we can make down here.)
If you are not ready to hear that trumpet, why not? Get ready now. I am ready. Join me. It will happen and sooner than we think. Glory. Maranatha.
*Sandi Patty - We Shall Behold Him
The sky shall unfold Preparing His entrance
The stars shall applaud Him With thunders of praise
The sweet light in His eyes, shall enhance those awaiting
And we shall behold Him, then face to face
O we shall behold Him, we shall behold Him
Face to face in all of His glory
O we shall behold Him, yes we shall behold Him
Face to face, our Savior and Lord
The angel will sound, the shout of His coming
And the sleeping shall rise, from their slumbering place
And those remaining, shall be changed in a moment
And we shall behold him, then face to face
We shall behold Him, o yes we shall behold Him
Face to face in all of His glory
We shall behold Him, face to face Our Savior and Lord
We shall behold Him, our Savior and Lord Savior and Lord!
Songwriters: DOTTIE RAMBO
© Universal Music Publishing Group, CAPITOL CHRISTIAN MUSIC GROUP
Let’s do it again! Did you get to see the eclipse? It was great. As soon as the totality ended, I was tempted to jump in my car and race down the road to catch it again. Then I remembered that the shadow was “crawling” across the country in excess of 2000 miles per hour. I would have never caught it. Shucks. But the next one is only seven years away. (Make of that what you will.)
Watching the eclipse raised two questions, in addition to the ruminations published earlier, and I think I had a mini-epiphany. (Or something like that.) First the questions. For those who were fortunate enough to be in the path of totality, we noticed that it got cooler and a little darker, but full darkness did not hit until the total sliver of crescent disappeared. (At least at my house.)
With just such a small sliver delivering our “light,” it still adequately supplied us. But when the whole disk reappeared, it was not 100 or even 10 times brighter. I thought that was interesting, if not strange.
Second question. The corona, which we could not see until the totality is much hotter than the surface of the sun itself. The surface is about 5800 Kelvin (same as centigrade, only a difference of +273). But the corona (which the spell checker on my phone capitalized every time I used it) the corona is one to three MILLION Kelvins. (Don’t bother with adding the 273.)
So with the “cooler” sun fully blocked, the 150 to 450 times hotter corona did not sustain the temperature here. I thought that was a very intriguing thought. Scientists attempt to study the corona to find out how it can be so much hotter and where does that energy go? Perhaps it is emitted as non-thermal radiation like UV light or other radiation. Just wondering.
Sit down if you are not already. I was, when this happened. A Glory! Hallelujah! moment is coming. After the totality was complete, I sat back down on my deck chair, which conveniently reclined at a perfect angle to lean back and watch the goings on. I looked up, and all I saw was darkness. Oh, no! A cloud. A quick peak confirmed my brilliant deduction. But I just leaned back with my glasses on. (Did the commentators say that enough? I did view the totality without glasses. It was totally black with them. That is how I saw the corona. But I digress.)
As I gazed upward, just contemplating what I had seen, the clouds began to swirl and thin and, “Lo and behold,” the sun gradually appeared in its full glory! Sandy Patty was singing in my head, “The sky shall unfold preparing His entrance....” He is coming in the clouds. I thought I was foreseeing the Son. (Listen to the song.* Link.)
The reason I told you to sit down, was because if you were standing, you would hit the ceiling when she hit that final note. I just about got raptured by myself. Glory. Hands down, now. But that was not all.
As I continued to watch, after a minute or so the clouds again converged and slowly, inexorably covered the sun. It was gone for a quite a while. Another verse occurred to me. Acts 1:9, 10
After He said this, He was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid Him from their sight.
I saw history in reverse. First He left, and as those clouds that obscured the sun for me, they blocked the disciples’ view of Jesus. But the angel gave them good news that galvanized them from quavering cowards into unstoppable dynamos of faith.
10 “This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen Him go into heaven.”
And instead of Sandy Patty serenading us, we will have a trumpet. (If it plays that song, I will not be surprised. But heavenly music “may” surpass what we can make down here.)
If you are not ready to hear that trumpet, why not? Get ready now. I am ready. Join me. It will happen and sooner than we think. Glory. Maranatha.
*Sandi Patty - We Shall Behold Him
The sky shall unfold Preparing His entrance
The stars shall applaud Him With thunders of praise
The sweet light in His eyes, shall enhance those awaiting
And we shall behold Him, then face to face
O we shall behold Him, we shall behold Him
Face to face in all of His glory
O we shall behold Him, yes we shall behold Him
Face to face, our Savior and Lord
The angel will sound, the shout of His coming
And the sleeping shall rise, from their slumbering place
And those remaining, shall be changed in a moment
And we shall behold him, then face to face
We shall behold Him, o yes we shall behold Him
Face to face in all of His glory
We shall behold Him, face to face Our Savior and Lord
We shall behold Him, our Savior and Lord Savior and Lord!
Songwriters: DOTTIE RAMBO
© Universal Music Publishing Group, CAPITOL CHRISTIAN MUSIC GROUP
Friday, August 18, 2017
Jonah and the Eclipse
I just heard a sermon on Jonah and the coming solar eclipse. (August 21, 2017) I will include a link to the hour long video at the end.* It is long, and the guy is not dynamic, but his message is scintillating. Regardless of how we view the "prophetic" aspects of the eclipse, we can look back at Jonah.
One thing that has always been a mystery to me was the response of the King of Nineveh, who I just learned was Ashur-Dan III. Just "out of the blue" an itinerant preacher shows up and pronounces judgment on this city. And the whole bunch of them fall on their knees and repent. Either Jonah was some preacher or there may be a few pieces of information that we do not possess.
A total or near total eclipse occurred in Nineveh on June 15, 763 BC, during the reign of Ashur-Dan III. Some scholars believe that this may have shortly preceded Jonah's visit. There may have been an earthquake sometime around that as well, and one of their enemies to the north was beginning to make threats. We cannot categorically link all three of these conjoining forces, but conjecture will allow us to surmise that something "out of the ordinary" was happening there.
When Jonah preached "Forty days and Nineveh will be destroyed," he struck a nerve. (Jonah 3:4) We can probably accurately proclaim that God had paved the way for this preacher. The people were ready to hear the message that they probably even expected.
Is our country in a similar situation? Not to say that Jonah is coming, but we do have prophets in the Scripture who warn us about continuing to flaunt our rebellion and flout God's laws. Maybe we could be so bold as to say we flaunt our flout. But I digress.
When asked about a sign as He discussed coming judgment, Jesus specifically mentioned the sign of Jonah. (Matthew 12:39) He went on to explain the three day correlation, so we cannot ignore that in our interpretation. But we are not precluded from seeing other signs. If you recall, the Crucifixion was accompanied by a "darkening of the sun" for three hours. Definitely not an eclipse, I would conclude. But the sun was gone.
And there was an earthquake. Again, this correlates somewhat with what we know about history. So, if a prophet told us that the Lord was coming soon, how should we respond? Jesus said that the men of Nineveh, Sodom, and Gomorrah would rise up in judgment of the generation that rejected His testimony. And we have more knowledge than either Nineveh or Jerusalem.
It is time to wake up. The Lord is coming. Maranatha! I'm ready, are you?
* http://www.annegrahamlotz.org/2017/08/07/gods-judgment-coming-america/
or
* https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ZvIibUAY2o
One thing that has always been a mystery to me was the response of the King of Nineveh, who I just learned was Ashur-Dan III. Just "out of the blue" an itinerant preacher shows up and pronounces judgment on this city. And the whole bunch of them fall on their knees and repent. Either Jonah was some preacher or there may be a few pieces of information that we do not possess.
A total or near total eclipse occurred in Nineveh on June 15, 763 BC, during the reign of Ashur-Dan III. Some scholars believe that this may have shortly preceded Jonah's visit. There may have been an earthquake sometime around that as well, and one of their enemies to the north was beginning to make threats. We cannot categorically link all three of these conjoining forces, but conjecture will allow us to surmise that something "out of the ordinary" was happening there.
When Jonah preached "Forty days and Nineveh will be destroyed," he struck a nerve. (Jonah 3:4) We can probably accurately proclaim that God had paved the way for this preacher. The people were ready to hear the message that they probably even expected.
Is our country in a similar situation? Not to say that Jonah is coming, but we do have prophets in the Scripture who warn us about continuing to flaunt our rebellion and flout God's laws. Maybe we could be so bold as to say we flaunt our flout. But I digress.
When asked about a sign as He discussed coming judgment, Jesus specifically mentioned the sign of Jonah. (Matthew 12:39) He went on to explain the three day correlation, so we cannot ignore that in our interpretation. But we are not precluded from seeing other signs. If you recall, the Crucifixion was accompanied by a "darkening of the sun" for three hours. Definitely not an eclipse, I would conclude. But the sun was gone.
And there was an earthquake. Again, this correlates somewhat with what we know about history. So, if a prophet told us that the Lord was coming soon, how should we respond? Jesus said that the men of Nineveh, Sodom, and Gomorrah would rise up in judgment of the generation that rejected His testimony. And we have more knowledge than either Nineveh or Jerusalem.
It is time to wake up. The Lord is coming. Maranatha! I'm ready, are you?
* http://www.annegrahamlotz.org/2017/08/07/gods-judgment-coming-america/
or
* https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ZvIibUAY2o
God's Heart
Here we go again. Read the words of Jeremiah 5:30-31:
"An appalling and horrible thing has happened in the land: 31 The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests rule on their own authority; and My people love it so! But what will you do at the end of it?"
First the Lord evaluates what is happening. It is "appalling and horrible." So with that perspective, what is so bad? Prophets are speaking falsely. False prophets are horrible and appalling. But the second appalling and horrible thing is that "My people love it!" That is the real tragedy.
Second Timothy 4:3 says people will have "itching ears." They want to hear pleasant things and the false prophets accommodate them. False prophesies can be tailored to massage peoples' wants and desires. The people love it.
"But...what will you do at the end?" (Ellipsis added.) If we are depending on false facts, then what will happen when reality strikes? There will be nothing to support or hold up our interests. A contemporary example would be people who invested in some Ponzi scheme. At the end, when it comes crashing down, there is no recourse. And it is even worse than financial disaster when our beliefs and doctrines are exposed as failures.
Is it any wonder that God said that He hates lying tongues? (Proverbs 6:16, 17) As I was reading that, I also was looking at David's life. A "minor" incident is recorded in 2 Samuel 9. David wants to honor his promise to Jonathan and seeks any of his family that David can help.
Why would this be important to David? Acts 13:22 records God's own evaluation of David. "He is a man after My own heart." It is clear that David's shenanigans in Gath were not part of that characterization when he lied and deceived King Achish. (1 Samuel 21) It also does not include the incident with Uriah's wife and his ultimate murder.
But God's heart is for truth. We saw that in Proverbs. And David repented. He reformed and began to value truth. And he demonstrated that in his treatment of Saul's survivors. It was especially manifested in Mephibosheth, Jonathan's son. In a society that was based on health and strength, this crippled son of his friend was accorded a prominent position. David, here as much as anyplace else in his life, trained his heart to follow the Lord.
Again, the details of Scripture are inserted for a reason. God is using every possible means to point us to the life that pleases Him, and more importantly, shows Him to others.
This may be a little of a stretch, but a lesson we can learn from this is, "If your beliefs, and consequently, behavior, are not shaped by the Scripture and theology, your theology will be shaped by your behavior. The people in Jeremiah's day were shaping their desired prophesy on falsehoods. Specifically they were told that Babylon would leave them alone. Therefore, it was "lovely," but deadly wrong. David's behavior was driven by a desire to honor God's word. His behavior was indeed, lovely and loving.
Our goal should be to be named, "A man after God's own heart." (Or woman.)
"An appalling and horrible thing has happened in the land: 31 The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests rule on their own authority; and My people love it so! But what will you do at the end of it?"
First the Lord evaluates what is happening. It is "appalling and horrible." So with that perspective, what is so bad? Prophets are speaking falsely. False prophets are horrible and appalling. But the second appalling and horrible thing is that "My people love it!" That is the real tragedy.
Second Timothy 4:3 says people will have "itching ears." They want to hear pleasant things and the false prophets accommodate them. False prophesies can be tailored to massage peoples' wants and desires. The people love it.
"But...what will you do at the end?" (Ellipsis added.) If we are depending on false facts, then what will happen when reality strikes? There will be nothing to support or hold up our interests. A contemporary example would be people who invested in some Ponzi scheme. At the end, when it comes crashing down, there is no recourse. And it is even worse than financial disaster when our beliefs and doctrines are exposed as failures.
Is it any wonder that God said that He hates lying tongues? (Proverbs 6:16, 17) As I was reading that, I also was looking at David's life. A "minor" incident is recorded in 2 Samuel 9. David wants to honor his promise to Jonathan and seeks any of his family that David can help.
Why would this be important to David? Acts 13:22 records God's own evaluation of David. "He is a man after My own heart." It is clear that David's shenanigans in Gath were not part of that characterization when he lied and deceived King Achish. (1 Samuel 21) It also does not include the incident with Uriah's wife and his ultimate murder.
But God's heart is for truth. We saw that in Proverbs. And David repented. He reformed and began to value truth. And he demonstrated that in his treatment of Saul's survivors. It was especially manifested in Mephibosheth, Jonathan's son. In a society that was based on health and strength, this crippled son of his friend was accorded a prominent position. David, here as much as anyplace else in his life, trained his heart to follow the Lord.
Again, the details of Scripture are inserted for a reason. God is using every possible means to point us to the life that pleases Him, and more importantly, shows Him to others.
This may be a little of a stretch, but a lesson we can learn from this is, "If your beliefs, and consequently, behavior, are not shaped by the Scripture and theology, your theology will be shaped by your behavior. The people in Jeremiah's day were shaping their desired prophesy on falsehoods. Specifically they were told that Babylon would leave them alone. Therefore, it was "lovely," but deadly wrong. David's behavior was driven by a desire to honor God's word. His behavior was indeed, lovely and loving.
Our goal should be to be named, "A man after God's own heart." (Or woman.)
Thursday, August 17, 2017
Boring Chronicles
There are a lot of jokes about reading 1 Chronicles, and Second Chronicles also. So when I heard someone solving a mystery from 1 Chronicles 6, my ears literally popped up. The question was about Samuel. In 1 Samuel 1,the genealogy of Samuel is listed through Elkanah, as "an Ephraimite."
We all know that to be a priest required a direct descent from Levi. Only Levites were allowed to enter the Holy Place and offer sacrifices to the Lord. So when we hear that Samuel's father was from Epharim, it raises a question. Was Samuel a legitimate priest, or was he a "special case?"
Special cases get messy very quickly as we find more and more instances where we "need" a special case to explain something. Instead of doing the appropriate research, we merely apply the "SC" label and skip the question. Soon, there is no real standard, just exceptions defined by their special circumstances.
(Disclaimer: I did not find this. I was shown it by one much brighter than I.) Let's look at the details. First the 1 Samuel verse:
Now there was a certain man from Ramathaim-zophim from the hill country of Ephraim, and his name was Elkanah the son of Jeroham, the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son of Zuph, an Ephraimite.
Sometimes we just skip the sections where a list of names occurs. This clearly says, "Elkanah...an Ephraimite." But don't skip the intervening names. Jeroham and Eliab in particular are critical.
Now lets check out 1 Chronicles 6:26, 27. Context: This is listing the sons of Levi down through the line of Kohath. Interestingly, one of the line is Korah, the one who challenged Moses and was killed in Numbers 16. (But that is a story for later.) But his son or grandson must have escaped, because here we find the line of descent continuing. Just to avoid confusion, you might note that there are three Elkanahs in the line.
26 As for Elkanah, the sons of Elkanah were Zophai his son and Nahath his son, 27 Eliab his son, Jeroham his son, Elkanah his son.
Notice verse 27: Eliab and his son Jeroham precede Elkanah (III to keep track). So this Elkanah is the same on as in 1 Samuel 1. And just to confirm our analysis, I direct your attention to verse 28, listing Samuel's sons.
28 The sons of Samuel were Joel the firstborn, and Abijah the second.
And just to confirm our conjecture turn to 1 Samuel 8.
And it came about when Samuel was old that he appointed his sons judges over Israel. 2 Now the name of his firstborn was Joel, and the name of his second, Abijah;
Samuel was indeed of Levite ancestry and we did not even need to submit him to a DNA test to confirm it. The boring old book of Chronicles did it for us. God did not just list all of these families to inflate His word count. They are there because, as Paul said in 2 Timothy 3:16: (Another 3:16 verse)
"All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:"
We can be confident that there are no "wasted pages" in the Scripture. Let's be very cautious in discounting any of it, regardless of how "boring" it is. It is only boring when we do not know how valuable it is.
Now back to Korah in Numbers 16. This guy led a rebellion against Moses, even to the extent of challenging Moses' appointment by God to lead the group. Out of this overt revolt came the sons of Korah and the line down to Samuel. So out of this rebellious heart, a family emerged that ultimately led to the greatest judge in Israel's history. In Numbers 16 we would not have expected anything from this branch of Levi's offspring. As Paul Harvey used to say, "Now you know the rest of the story."
A raw diamond is very unattractive in the natural state. But an amazing, beautiful, and spectacular gem lies underneath the ordinary, boring exterior. In just the same way, all of Scripture will shine light on the issues we face in this world. "Doctrine, reproof, correction, and instruction..." are certainly valuable components of our tool kit for facing the trials of today.
As Alexander Scourby, in his inimitable voice intones: "Listen to the Bible. It's great for the soul!" (And reading.)
We all know that to be a priest required a direct descent from Levi. Only Levites were allowed to enter the Holy Place and offer sacrifices to the Lord. So when we hear that Samuel's father was from Epharim, it raises a question. Was Samuel a legitimate priest, or was he a "special case?"
Special cases get messy very quickly as we find more and more instances where we "need" a special case to explain something. Instead of doing the appropriate research, we merely apply the "SC" label and skip the question. Soon, there is no real standard, just exceptions defined by their special circumstances.
(Disclaimer: I did not find this. I was shown it by one much brighter than I.) Let's look at the details. First the 1 Samuel verse:
Now there was a certain man from Ramathaim-zophim from the hill country of Ephraim, and his name was Elkanah the son of Jeroham, the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son of Zuph, an Ephraimite.
Sometimes we just skip the sections where a list of names occurs. This clearly says, "Elkanah...an Ephraimite." But don't skip the intervening names. Jeroham and Eliab in particular are critical.
Now lets check out 1 Chronicles 6:26, 27. Context: This is listing the sons of Levi down through the line of Kohath. Interestingly, one of the line is Korah, the one who challenged Moses and was killed in Numbers 16. (But that is a story for later.) But his son or grandson must have escaped, because here we find the line of descent continuing. Just to avoid confusion, you might note that there are three Elkanahs in the line.
26 As for Elkanah, the sons of Elkanah were Zophai his son and Nahath his son, 27 Eliab his son, Jeroham his son, Elkanah his son.
Notice verse 27: Eliab and his son Jeroham precede Elkanah (III to keep track). So this Elkanah is the same on as in 1 Samuel 1. And just to confirm our analysis, I direct your attention to verse 28, listing Samuel's sons.
28 The sons of Samuel were Joel the firstborn, and Abijah the second.
And just to confirm our conjecture turn to 1 Samuel 8.
And it came about when Samuel was old that he appointed his sons judges over Israel. 2 Now the name of his firstborn was Joel, and the name of his second, Abijah;
Samuel was indeed of Levite ancestry and we did not even need to submit him to a DNA test to confirm it. The boring old book of Chronicles did it for us. God did not just list all of these families to inflate His word count. They are there because, as Paul said in 2 Timothy 3:16: (Another 3:16 verse)
"All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:"
We can be confident that there are no "wasted pages" in the Scripture. Let's be very cautious in discounting any of it, regardless of how "boring" it is. It is only boring when we do not know how valuable it is.
Now back to Korah in Numbers 16. This guy led a rebellion against Moses, even to the extent of challenging Moses' appointment by God to lead the group. Out of this overt revolt came the sons of Korah and the line down to Samuel. So out of this rebellious heart, a family emerged that ultimately led to the greatest judge in Israel's history. In Numbers 16 we would not have expected anything from this branch of Levi's offspring. As Paul Harvey used to say, "Now you know the rest of the story."
A raw diamond is very unattractive in the natural state. But an amazing, beautiful, and spectacular gem lies underneath the ordinary, boring exterior. In just the same way, all of Scripture will shine light on the issues we face in this world. "Doctrine, reproof, correction, and instruction..." are certainly valuable components of our tool kit for facing the trials of today.
As Alexander Scourby, in his inimitable voice intones: "Listen to the Bible. It's great for the soul!" (And reading.)
Tuesday, August 15, 2017
Gold Shields
There is a heart rending story behind Isaiah 60:17. Listen...
Instead of bronze I will bring you gold, and silver in place of iron. Instead of wood I will bring you bronze, and iron in place of stones. I will make peace your governor and well-being your ruler.
Well, that sounds good, doesn't it? Gold will replace bronze, silver will replace iron bronze and iron will replace wood and stones. The final promise is encouraging. We will go back and trace Isaiah's prophesy from chapter 48 up to here, but for now let's just focus on this little slice.
Placing bronze in place of gold is certainly an upgrade as they say. When you are looking at any consumer item and identify one you like, the salesman invariably will mention that for just a little more money, you can upgrade to.... I just was considering a new computer, an i5 and of course, the salesman showed me a faster model, a few more bells and whistles, and an upgraded processor. Obviously these improvements cost just a "little bit more" but then "you will be prepared for the next round of upgrades."
The story today is poignant because of what went before. Let's turn the clock back a little to 2 Samuel 8.
7 David took the shields of gold which were carried by the servants of Hadadezer and brought them to Jerusalem.
This was replicated by Solomon later on in 2 Chronicles 9.
15 King Solomon made two hundred large shields of hammered gold; six hundred shekels of hammered gold went into each shield. 16 He also made three hundred small shields of hammered gold, with three hundred shekels of gold in each shield. The king put them in the Palace of the Forest of Lebanon.
Both David and Solomon festooned the kingdom with gold and the shields were special. It was probably an honor to march out on parade with between 15 and 20 pounds of gold on your arm. I would doubt that the shields were used in battle. Gold is pretty soft, yet heavy for its strength. (Like the guy trying out for the Globe Trotters. "I am short, but I am very slow." He didn't get the job.) But for showing off, these shields were magnificent.
Then, after Solomon died and his son Rehoboam took over, the fortunes of the country literally went south. (2Chronicles 12:9)
9 Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem, and took the treasures of the house of the Lord and the treasures of the king's palace. He took everything; he even took the golden shields which Solomon had made.
Here is an early example of replacement theology. Verse 10 outlines the response.
10 Then King Rehoboam made shields of bronze in their place and committed them to the care of the commanders of the guard who guarded the door of the king's house. 11 As often as the king entered the house of the Lord, the guards came and carried them and then brought them back into the guards' room.
The glory of gold was replaced by a substitute. The gold shields and the honor associated with them from both David and Solomon were replaced with bronze. In any accounting, this is lesser value in everyone's eyes.
What take-away do we have? The most obvious is the exchange. Are we exchanging gold for bronze? It does not have to be a forcible removal as old Shishak did. We might allow gold to slip away by ignorance, indifference, apathy or even a deliberate trade. Either way, we have forfeited value. The promise for us is as meaningful for us as it was Isaiah's first readers or hearers. The Lord has not abandoned us.
So the promise in Isaiah was especially poignant for those still in Jerusalem. A popular song in the "waning days" (they hoped) of the Depression of the 1930's was "Happy Days Are Here Again." It was an optimistic and yearning look back at the roaring 20's and anticipating a return to prosperity. We don't know what, if any song they sang when Isaiah preached this, but it had to be something uplifting as they contemplated the rest of his message.
They were going away, into Babylon, but they would return. Any little bit of encouragement was welcome. They just didn't know how long they would have to wait. This specific event does not seem to have occurred yet. But that certainly does not mean that it will not happen. It just gives us more to look forward to with our Jewish friends.
The trade is gold for bronze; silver for iron, bronze for iron and iron for stones. And best of all, peace and well-being. Sounds like a good trade to me.
Instead of bronze I will bring you gold, and silver in place of iron. Instead of wood I will bring you bronze, and iron in place of stones. I will make peace your governor and well-being your ruler.
Well, that sounds good, doesn't it? Gold will replace bronze, silver will replace iron bronze and iron will replace wood and stones. The final promise is encouraging. We will go back and trace Isaiah's prophesy from chapter 48 up to here, but for now let's just focus on this little slice.
Placing bronze in place of gold is certainly an upgrade as they say. When you are looking at any consumer item and identify one you like, the salesman invariably will mention that for just a little more money, you can upgrade to.... I just was considering a new computer, an i5 and of course, the salesman showed me a faster model, a few more bells and whistles, and an upgraded processor. Obviously these improvements cost just a "little bit more" but then "you will be prepared for the next round of upgrades."
The story today is poignant because of what went before. Let's turn the clock back a little to 2 Samuel 8.
7 David took the shields of gold which were carried by the servants of Hadadezer and brought them to Jerusalem.
This was replicated by Solomon later on in 2 Chronicles 9.
15 King Solomon made two hundred large shields of hammered gold; six hundred shekels of hammered gold went into each shield. 16 He also made three hundred small shields of hammered gold, with three hundred shekels of gold in each shield. The king put them in the Palace of the Forest of Lebanon.
Both David and Solomon festooned the kingdom with gold and the shields were special. It was probably an honor to march out on parade with between 15 and 20 pounds of gold on your arm. I would doubt that the shields were used in battle. Gold is pretty soft, yet heavy for its strength. (Like the guy trying out for the Globe Trotters. "I am short, but I am very slow." He didn't get the job.) But for showing off, these shields were magnificent.
Then, after Solomon died and his son Rehoboam took over, the fortunes of the country literally went south. (2Chronicles 12:9)
9 Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem, and took the treasures of the house of the Lord and the treasures of the king's palace. He took everything; he even took the golden shields which Solomon had made.
Here is an early example of replacement theology. Verse 10 outlines the response.
10 Then King Rehoboam made shields of bronze in their place and committed them to the care of the commanders of the guard who guarded the door of the king's house. 11 As often as the king entered the house of the Lord, the guards came and carried them and then brought them back into the guards' room.
The glory of gold was replaced by a substitute. The gold shields and the honor associated with them from both David and Solomon were replaced with bronze. In any accounting, this is lesser value in everyone's eyes.
What take-away do we have? The most obvious is the exchange. Are we exchanging gold for bronze? It does not have to be a forcible removal as old Shishak did. We might allow gold to slip away by ignorance, indifference, apathy or even a deliberate trade. Either way, we have forfeited value. The promise for us is as meaningful for us as it was Isaiah's first readers or hearers. The Lord has not abandoned us.
So the promise in Isaiah was especially poignant for those still in Jerusalem. A popular song in the "waning days" (they hoped) of the Depression of the 1930's was "Happy Days Are Here Again." It was an optimistic and yearning look back at the roaring 20's and anticipating a return to prosperity. We don't know what, if any song they sang when Isaiah preached this, but it had to be something uplifting as they contemplated the rest of his message.
They were going away, into Babylon, but they would return. Any little bit of encouragement was welcome. They just didn't know how long they would have to wait. This specific event does not seem to have occurred yet. But that certainly does not mean that it will not happen. It just gives us more to look forward to with our Jewish friends.
The trade is gold for bronze; silver for iron, bronze for iron and iron for stones. And best of all, peace and well-being. Sounds like a good trade to me.
Friday, August 11, 2017
No Millennium?
Well if we dispatched the "abandon Israel" boogeyman in the last consideration, (Israel Rejected?) why not go after the amillennialist thought in this one. Check Isaiah 65. (Isaiah has an astounding amount of theology for us to help keep on the straight and narrow.)
Isa 65:17-25
"For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; and the former things will not be remembered or come to mind. 18 "But be glad and rejoice forever in what I create; for behold, I create Jerusalem for rejoicing and her people for gladness. 19 "I will also rejoice in Jerusalem and be glad in My people; and there will no longer be heard in her the voice of weeping and the sound of crying.
20 "No longer will there be in it an infant who lives but a few days, or an old man who does not live out his days; For the youth will die at the age of one hundred and the one who does not reach the age of one hundred will be thought accursed. 21 "They will build houses and inhabit them; they will also plant vineyards and eat their fruit. 22 "They will not build and another inhabit, they will not plant and another eat; for as the lifetime of a tree, so will be the days of My people, And My chosen ones will wear out the work of their hands. 23 "They will not labor in vain, or bear children for calamity; for they are the offspring of those blessed by the Lord, and their descendants with them.
24 It will also come to pass that before they call, I will answer; and while they are still speaking, I will hear. 25 The wolf and the lamb will graze together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox; and dust will be the serpent's food. They will do no evil or harm in all My holy mountain," says the Lord.
When we approach the mountains, it seems like a gigantic mountain looms up in front of us. (Mountains) As we get nearer, we realize that there are several mountains, some behind the others, and we can distinguish the individual peaks. Prophesy in the Old Testament, especially, is like that. The prophets "saw" something out in the future, but did not have a perspective on it to tell how the individual items were configured.
And example occurs in the passage we consider today. Verses 17-19 is clearly the new heaven and new earth, specifically the New Jerusalem in Revelation 21:4. But the following verses do not fit into the eternal state. "Infant who lives a few days," for instance cannot refer to that time as there will be no births or deaths in the New Jerusalem. But here it says the women will have children. This will be in the Millennium. In fact, all of the following verses refer to the 1000 year reign of Christ. (Revelation 20:4)
There are some interesting juxtapositions in this passage. They will live long lives, as opposed to what happened to them in Isaiah's day. They built houses and had a series of armies move in and uproot them. Even as far back as Gideon, they were planting and others ate the produce. That is why ol' Gid was threshing grain in a wine press. It was down in the valley and the Midianites were less likely to spot him and appropriate his grain.
There is a clear demarcation between the Millennium and the eternal state, as projected in Revelation. Chapter 18 is the end of the Tribulation, followed by a tableau of the Marriage Supper of the Lamb and the Second, or Glorious Return of Christ culminating in the Battle of Armageddon. (Chapter 19) Chapter 20, the focus of our passage today, is the Millennium, Satan's final defeat, and the final judgment for all unbelievers who followed him. Chapters 21 and 22 detail the other phase of today's prophesy, the New Heaven and New Earth. Glory. What a picture.
As desirable as the Millennium is, what is to come outshines it. Our perspective from the New Testament vantage point allows us to distinguish the "peaks" that Isaiah saw as a single object. There has to be a millennium in order for these prophesies to correlate to each other. "No death" in the New Heaven but death in this passage. "Youth will die at the age of a hundred," and lifetime of a tree comparison. Other depictions of conflict also do not correlate with life in the New H and E as we see it.
The clear demarcation of different circumstances correlates with the Revelation narrative. And if we add to this the Kingship of David and the focus of worship in Jerusalem, along with its temple, there has to be different "ages." And recall that there is no temple in heaven. (Revelation 21:22)
It seems that there has to be a millennium, both from the OT standpoint and since it meshes nicely with the Revelation account, the New Testament. To think otherwise requires a little theological contortion. I often quote Ocham's Razor, which is summarized in the KISS principle. Keep It Short and Simple. Occham said the simplest answer is often the best. Elegantly, it states that in explaining a thing, no more assumptions should be made than are necessary.
The simplest explanation for the events surrounding Jesus' return seem to be a Rapture, followed by the Tribulation leading into the Millennium and the final judgment. Heaven is all that remains. That will be Glory.
Isa 65:17-25
"For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; and the former things will not be remembered or come to mind. 18 "But be glad and rejoice forever in what I create; for behold, I create Jerusalem for rejoicing and her people for gladness. 19 "I will also rejoice in Jerusalem and be glad in My people; and there will no longer be heard in her the voice of weeping and the sound of crying.
20 "No longer will there be in it an infant who lives but a few days, or an old man who does not live out his days; For the youth will die at the age of one hundred and the one who does not reach the age of one hundred will be thought accursed. 21 "They will build houses and inhabit them; they will also plant vineyards and eat their fruit. 22 "They will not build and another inhabit, they will not plant and another eat; for as the lifetime of a tree, so will be the days of My people, And My chosen ones will wear out the work of their hands. 23 "They will not labor in vain, or bear children for calamity; for they are the offspring of those blessed by the Lord, and their descendants with them.
24 It will also come to pass that before they call, I will answer; and while they are still speaking, I will hear. 25 The wolf and the lamb will graze together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox; and dust will be the serpent's food. They will do no evil or harm in all My holy mountain," says the Lord.
When we approach the mountains, it seems like a gigantic mountain looms up in front of us. (Mountains) As we get nearer, we realize that there are several mountains, some behind the others, and we can distinguish the individual peaks. Prophesy in the Old Testament, especially, is like that. The prophets "saw" something out in the future, but did not have a perspective on it to tell how the individual items were configured.
And example occurs in the passage we consider today. Verses 17-19 is clearly the new heaven and new earth, specifically the New Jerusalem in Revelation 21:4. But the following verses do not fit into the eternal state. "Infant who lives a few days," for instance cannot refer to that time as there will be no births or deaths in the New Jerusalem. But here it says the women will have children. This will be in the Millennium. In fact, all of the following verses refer to the 1000 year reign of Christ. (Revelation 20:4)
There are some interesting juxtapositions in this passage. They will live long lives, as opposed to what happened to them in Isaiah's day. They built houses and had a series of armies move in and uproot them. Even as far back as Gideon, they were planting and others ate the produce. That is why ol' Gid was threshing grain in a wine press. It was down in the valley and the Midianites were less likely to spot him and appropriate his grain.
There is a clear demarcation between the Millennium and the eternal state, as projected in Revelation. Chapter 18 is the end of the Tribulation, followed by a tableau of the Marriage Supper of the Lamb and the Second, or Glorious Return of Christ culminating in the Battle of Armageddon. (Chapter 19) Chapter 20, the focus of our passage today, is the Millennium, Satan's final defeat, and the final judgment for all unbelievers who followed him. Chapters 21 and 22 detail the other phase of today's prophesy, the New Heaven and New Earth. Glory. What a picture.
As desirable as the Millennium is, what is to come outshines it. Our perspective from the New Testament vantage point allows us to distinguish the "peaks" that Isaiah saw as a single object. There has to be a millennium in order for these prophesies to correlate to each other. "No death" in the New Heaven but death in this passage. "Youth will die at the age of a hundred," and lifetime of a tree comparison. Other depictions of conflict also do not correlate with life in the New H and E as we see it.
The clear demarcation of different circumstances correlates with the Revelation narrative. And if we add to this the Kingship of David and the focus of worship in Jerusalem, along with its temple, there has to be different "ages." And recall that there is no temple in heaven. (Revelation 21:22)
It seems that there has to be a millennium, both from the OT standpoint and since it meshes nicely with the Revelation account, the New Testament. To think otherwise requires a little theological contortion. I often quote Ocham's Razor, which is summarized in the KISS principle. Keep It Short and Simple. Occham said the simplest answer is often the best. Elegantly, it states that in explaining a thing, no more assumptions should be made than are necessary.
The simplest explanation for the events surrounding Jesus' return seem to be a Rapture, followed by the Tribulation leading into the Millennium and the final judgment. Heaven is all that remains. That will be Glory.
Israel Rejected
If I believed that Israel could or would be rejected by God, I would be breathing into a brown paper bag after reading this passage in Isaiah 66.
"For just as the new heavens and the new earth Which I make will endure before Me," declares the Lord, "So your offspring and your name will endure. 23 "And it shall be from new moon to new moon And from sabbath to sabbath, All mankind will come to bow down before Me," says the Lord.
The only question is the antecedent to "your offspring and your name." Look back at verse 10:
"Be joyful with Jerusalem and rejoice for her, all you who love her; Be exceedingly glad with her, all you who mourn over her,"
Scroll down to v. 12:
For thus says the Lord, "Behold, I extend peace to her like a river, And the glory of the nations like an overflowing stream;
Verses 20-21 finalize the definition:
Then they shall bring all your brethren from all the nations as a grain offering to the Lord, on horses, in chariots, in litters, on mules and on camels, to My holy mountain Jerusalem," says the Lord, "just as the sons of Israel bring their grain offering in a clean vessel to the house of the Lord. 21 I will also take some of them for priests and for Levites," says the Lord.
Clearly, we are talking about Israel and the descendants of Jacob, Isaac, and Abraham. I honestly have a hard time seeing the New Testament Church included in this. The "exchange" seems, rather, to go in the other direction. The "children" may participate in Church blessings, but the Church is not included here. There may be some overlap in the blessings, but, like the wedding comparison of John the Baptist, the best friend of the groom shares the joy and ceremony, but not the Bride. (John 3:29)
Doesn't that declaration just take your breath away? The future of the children of Israel is linked with the new heaven and new earth. Is there any doubt that God will make a new heaven and new earth? Check Revelation 21. Denying that not only rips the last two chapters from the Bible, but it eliminates any hope of heaven for any and all of creation.
If Israel can be rejected by God, and not "endure," then the new heavens and new earth, likewise, will be extinguished. That only leaves the scenario projected by evolutionists of the earth and solar system being consumed by a dying sun as it morphs into a red giant, then collapses into a supernova and the resulting black hole. This is several billion years in the future, according to their "calculations" but there is no certainty of an alternative.
Now my breath is taken away. Just as pulling the end off a balloon results in a catastrophic structural failure, so excising the final two chapters of Revelation leaves us all in a world of hurt. (Literally.)
The good news is that God cannot lie. So Revelation is secure. And so is the future of Israel. Relax, breathe, the Lord said that earlier, when He said that if Israel were to be rejected, the seasons and diurnal cycle would cease. Genesis 8 said that about the possibility of a flood overtaking the world again.
Jeremiah 33 says it twice about David and his family. Verses 19-22 repeats it, then reiterates the "sand of the sea and stars of the sky" promise the Lord made to Abraham.
19 The word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, saying, 20 "Thus says the Lord, ‘If you can break My covenant for the day and My covenant for the night, so that day and night will not be at their appointed time, 21 then My covenant may also be broken with David My servant so that he will not have a son to reign on his throne, and with the Levitical priests, My ministers. 22 As the host of heaven cannot be counted and the sand of the sea cannot be measured, so I will multiply the descendants of David My servant and the Levites who minister to Me.'"
Read this carefully. Who is doing the breaking? In order for God to deny Israel "you" have to break the cycle of day and night. Not even Israel, by her rejection of the Lord changes the day and night. Some are suggesting that man can upset the balance of nature and "heat" the earth, but no one is suggesting that we can tinker with day and night. God is defending his choice of Israel day and night. Interesting picture, isn't it?
Want more verification? Look on down at verses 25 and 26 of Jeremiah 33:
25 Thus says the Lord, "If My covenant for day and night stand not, and the fixed patterns of heaven and earth I have not established, 26 then I would reject the descendants of Jacob and David My servant, not taking from his descendants rulers over the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. But I will restore their fortunes and will have mercy on them."
I am not sure where anyone can "find" the doctrine of replacing Israel with the Church in the Bible. This may be a little insensitive, but one might speculate that the source may be a bit of intellectual arrogance or perhaps Biblical sophistication self inflation. "I can read something here that the hoi polloi do not." Not to be uncharitable but the clear intent of Scripture clearly refutes any such replacement speculation.
Will God abandon Israel? Here we can appeal to Paul's favorite negation. "Me genoito!?" King James says, "God forbid." Others "May it never be." "Absolutely, positively no! Never! Impossible." (Jim's interlinear made up)
As a final note, if there is an error in this analysis, I would rather be wrong in saying that God cannot violate His Word and character and be corrected later for over estimating Him, than the opposite. A popular epithet is,"When hell freezes over." But I have never heard anyone aver that something cannot happen until day and night stop.
An epilog is found in Psalm 118:1-4
Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; His faithful love endures forever. 2 Let Israel say, "His faithful love endures forever." 3 Let the house of Aaron say, "His faithful love endures forever." 4 Let those who fear the Lord say, "His faithful love endures forever." (Ed. The "house of Aaron" is the Levites mentioned above.)
I can confidently believe that Israel will never be abandoned. Glory. And by implication, if God will not abandon Israel, will He ever abandon one who has trusted in Him? Me genoito!
"For just as the new heavens and the new earth Which I make will endure before Me," declares the Lord, "So your offspring and your name will endure. 23 "And it shall be from new moon to new moon And from sabbath to sabbath, All mankind will come to bow down before Me," says the Lord.
The only question is the antecedent to "your offspring and your name." Look back at verse 10:
"Be joyful with Jerusalem and rejoice for her, all you who love her; Be exceedingly glad with her, all you who mourn over her,"
Scroll down to v. 12:
For thus says the Lord, "Behold, I extend peace to her like a river, And the glory of the nations like an overflowing stream;
Verses 20-21 finalize the definition:
Then they shall bring all your brethren from all the nations as a grain offering to the Lord, on horses, in chariots, in litters, on mules and on camels, to My holy mountain Jerusalem," says the Lord, "just as the sons of Israel bring their grain offering in a clean vessel to the house of the Lord. 21 I will also take some of them for priests and for Levites," says the Lord.
Clearly, we are talking about Israel and the descendants of Jacob, Isaac, and Abraham. I honestly have a hard time seeing the New Testament Church included in this. The "exchange" seems, rather, to go in the other direction. The "children" may participate in Church blessings, but the Church is not included here. There may be some overlap in the blessings, but, like the wedding comparison of John the Baptist, the best friend of the groom shares the joy and ceremony, but not the Bride. (John 3:29)
Doesn't that declaration just take your breath away? The future of the children of Israel is linked with the new heaven and new earth. Is there any doubt that God will make a new heaven and new earth? Check Revelation 21. Denying that not only rips the last two chapters from the Bible, but it eliminates any hope of heaven for any and all of creation.
If Israel can be rejected by God, and not "endure," then the new heavens and new earth, likewise, will be extinguished. That only leaves the scenario projected by evolutionists of the earth and solar system being consumed by a dying sun as it morphs into a red giant, then collapses into a supernova and the resulting black hole. This is several billion years in the future, according to their "calculations" but there is no certainty of an alternative.
Now my breath is taken away. Just as pulling the end off a balloon results in a catastrophic structural failure, so excising the final two chapters of Revelation leaves us all in a world of hurt. (Literally.)
The good news is that God cannot lie. So Revelation is secure. And so is the future of Israel. Relax, breathe, the Lord said that earlier, when He said that if Israel were to be rejected, the seasons and diurnal cycle would cease. Genesis 8 said that about the possibility of a flood overtaking the world again.
Jeremiah 33 says it twice about David and his family. Verses 19-22 repeats it, then reiterates the "sand of the sea and stars of the sky" promise the Lord made to Abraham.
19 The word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, saying, 20 "Thus says the Lord, ‘If you can break My covenant for the day and My covenant for the night, so that day and night will not be at their appointed time, 21 then My covenant may also be broken with David My servant so that he will not have a son to reign on his throne, and with the Levitical priests, My ministers. 22 As the host of heaven cannot be counted and the sand of the sea cannot be measured, so I will multiply the descendants of David My servant and the Levites who minister to Me.'"
Read this carefully. Who is doing the breaking? In order for God to deny Israel "you" have to break the cycle of day and night. Not even Israel, by her rejection of the Lord changes the day and night. Some are suggesting that man can upset the balance of nature and "heat" the earth, but no one is suggesting that we can tinker with day and night. God is defending his choice of Israel day and night. Interesting picture, isn't it?
Want more verification? Look on down at verses 25 and 26 of Jeremiah 33:
25 Thus says the Lord, "If My covenant for day and night stand not, and the fixed patterns of heaven and earth I have not established, 26 then I would reject the descendants of Jacob and David My servant, not taking from his descendants rulers over the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. But I will restore their fortunes and will have mercy on them."
I am not sure where anyone can "find" the doctrine of replacing Israel with the Church in the Bible. This may be a little insensitive, but one might speculate that the source may be a bit of intellectual arrogance or perhaps Biblical sophistication self inflation. "I can read something here that the hoi polloi do not." Not to be uncharitable but the clear intent of Scripture clearly refutes any such replacement speculation.
Will God abandon Israel? Here we can appeal to Paul's favorite negation. "Me genoito!?" King James says, "God forbid." Others "May it never be." "Absolutely, positively no! Never! Impossible." (Jim's interlinear made up)
As a final note, if there is an error in this analysis, I would rather be wrong in saying that God cannot violate His Word and character and be corrected later for over estimating Him, than the opposite. A popular epithet is,"When hell freezes over." But I have never heard anyone aver that something cannot happen until day and night stop.
An epilog is found in Psalm 118:1-4
Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; His faithful love endures forever. 2 Let Israel say, "His faithful love endures forever." 3 Let the house of Aaron say, "His faithful love endures forever." 4 Let those who fear the Lord say, "His faithful love endures forever." (Ed. The "house of Aaron" is the Levites mentioned above.)
I can confidently believe that Israel will never be abandoned. Glory. And by implication, if God will not abandon Israel, will He ever abandon one who has trusted in Him? Me genoito!
Thursday, August 10, 2017
The Eclipse
As a kid I avidly read just about anything that I could find. Science has always been intriguing and eclipses were some of the most fascinating astronomical events that ever happened. I can recall watching at least one solar eclipse with my Dad's arc welder goggles. No one else seemed to be interested, so I had them all to myself. (P G or C want to dispute this? My memory is a little Swiss cheezy.)
Therefore reading about the solar system, and eclipses in particular was a treasured opportunity. Our part of the country will be treated to a once in a century (or more) spectacle in a couple of weeks. (August 21, 2017) A total solar eclipse will occur in a band across the country that happens to include my domicile. Whoopee! I hope it is not cloudy.
I have watched one or two eclipses with the "pin-hole" viewer in a box (check the internet for details) a couple of times when welding goggles were not available. Somehow I have known not to use sunglasses, etc. due to incipient eye damage. (Maybe it was reading about guys on LSD staring at the sun until they went partially blind. I recently read that LSD is making a comeback. Dummies, stay away! Didn't the 60's teach us anything? Oh yes, they were not there, and the "old fuddy duddies" are just trying to keep us from having fun. But I digress.)
Another opportunity, the first for a total eclipse for me, and the last, is on the way. That got me to thinking...and reading. Did you know that the entire solar system is essentially on a flat plane? (Pluto, if it is really a planet, is 17 degrees off the plane. The largest diversion of any other planet is Mercury.) See the table reproduced below.*
It is interesting that the planets line up as if placed on a platter. This result is from a purported random process of planetary genesis (if we can use that word), which occurred either simultaneously with the formation of the sun or after it. (Easy choice there. Coach, why did your team play poorly in first half? "Well Angie, we just didn't execute." Do you expect to do better in the second half? "Yes we do, if we are able to execute." Thank you coach for your erudite and insightful comments–to inane questions.)
So whenever the planets formed, and whether they formed at the same time, they all stayed in one plane. Does that strike you as a little peculiar? Or at least interesting? But, the rings of Saturn, Neptune, and Uranus are not parallel to the plane, but at enough of an angle that we can see them from earth. If they were in the solar plane, they would be side ways to us, and probably invisible.
And, most of the moons are also in the plane. A few are out of it, but let's stick to our moon. Just a side note, the earth's spin orientation is essentially perpendicular to the plane. (Twenty-three degrees off.) If we were oriented differently, and the poles pointed at the sun once a year, both would be alternatively melted and frozen. Weather would be radically different in that scenario.
If the moon were out of the plane it would have some severe effects on the planet. But the one thing that is striking is that if the moon were outside the plane, there would not be any eclipses. It has to be in the plane to get between the sun and the earth. It also must be in the plane in order for the earth to get between the sun and the moon, causing a lunar eclipse.
So that is a nice "coincidence," isn't it? Are there any others? Well how about the relative size of the two heavenly orbs? The sun appears to be exactly the same diameter as the moon, but we know them to have radically different dimensions. If not, the moon could not block the sun completely. There would be no "total" eclipses, as the larger sun would shine around the edges of the eclipsing moon. A larger moon could completely block the view of the sun and we would miss some of the spectacular effects that are only visible during a total eclipse. (You have probably read of them or will. So I will not address that.)
Is there any significance to this perfect correlation of sizes? Actually there is. Given the size of both bodies, the distance is very precisely defined by geometry. If the moon were closer to the earth, it would appear larger. But, given its size, its gravitational effects on the earth would be much more pronounced. These changes would disrupt a lot of earth's activities, including even the rotation and the orbital path of the planet. It is at the exactly perfect location to interact with earth as it does, without being disruptive or destructive. Nice.
If the sun were larger or smaller, or we were closer or farther away, we would have the perspective of a larger or smaller solar disk. Guess what. If either of those scenarios were the case, life on this planet would not exist.
If the sun were closer or larger, the additional heat received from the sun would heat the crust and even evaporate the oceans and all water. (Explanation: The sun gives X amount of energy into space in a spherical shape. The earth "blocks" a fraction of that sphere and intercepts the energy, mostly in the form of infrared, visible, and ultraviolet radiation.) If we were closer or the sun larger, the fraction of the sphere that we intersect would be greater, meaning that we would receive more radiation, or heat.
Conversely, if the sun were farther away or smaller, our little "block" of space would be smaller, and the amount of heat that impinges on the planet would be less, effectively lowering the temperature. It is not even necessary that the mean temperature of the earth drop below the freezing point of water to threaten life. Life can exist at the extremes of the liquid water scale, to some extent, but for life as we know it, the current condition is ideal, and in fact, critical.
So the confluence of planetary plane, orbital distance of the moon, and orbital radius of the earth around the sun are coincidentally optimal for life on the earth. Regardless of how you view creation, an incredible number of "coincidences" are accumulating with regard to the viability of any life, let alone human life on this ball of matter. To continue to deny the almost overwhelming weight of evidence of design begins to impinge on the realm of insanity.
Consider this. Did the Lord give us eclipses to remind us of His creative genius? As you view the coming eclipse, let the burden of proof weigh on your consciousness of the spectacular wonder of this event.
"The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows His handiwork." (Psalm 19:1) "Handiwork" implies a skillful, deliberate, customary action. He did not fret and worry about how to make it all come out. It was like His hobby.
Enjoy the eclipse.
*The Earth's orbit is the reference plane, known as the ecliptic: 0 degrees inclination. The major planets have inclinations of: Mercury: 7.00 degrees Venus: 3.39 deg Mars: 1.85 deg Jupiter: 1.30 deg Saturn: 2.49 deg Uranus: 0.77 deg Neptune: 1.77 deg Pluto: 17.14 deg.
The Moon's orbital inclination with respect to the ecliptic varies, but it is, on average 5.1 degrees.
Mountains
When our family took our first vacation to the Rocky Mountains all of us kids (that is what we called ourselves, "us kids") peered anxiously into the distance hoping to be the first to catch a glimpse of the fabled mountains. We scanned the horizon until one of us exclaimed, "I see them!"
Eventually all four joined the chorus and we watched with wonder as those little mounds in the distance grew steadily higher and higher. One us finally asked Dad if those were "the mountains."
"No," he replied, "those are the foothills. Those are the mountains." And he pointed about three quarters of the way up the windshield and we gasped in amazement as there, in the clouds, we could make out mountain peaks. We were stunned that they were so tall. It almost seemed unbelievable, except we were witnessing it with our own eyes.
There are a couple of take-aways from this little story. First, we often focus on the "foothills" and miss the real beauty. And second, the mountains, which appear to be in a single plane, are actually three dimensional with some closer and others farther away.. Just as the foothills stood in front of the mountains, some of the peaks were far behind the first ones we saw. This differentiation becomes noticeable as we get closer to the panorama.
These two lessons apply to prophesy, and especially to the passages in Isaiah that we have been considering. First, we notice the "foothills," the lower range of hills that is obvious and often contains immediate information that we desire to have. Isaiah was foretelling the fall of Jerusalem and the deportation to Babylon. Then he predicted the fall of Babylon and the ascendancy of the Persians and Cyrus. Next came the account of their subsequent release from Persia and the return to their own land. Accompanying this were details of life in this "land" and ultimately a "new heaven and new earth."
Just as "us kids" saw the foothills first, the residents of Jerusalem and Judah focused on the fall of their city to Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonian hordes. They had witnessed the fall of Samaria and Israel, so the possibility of God's people being defeated was not incredible to them. It could happen, and it did.
We have already speculated about Daniel's hypothetical trace of coming history during his sojourn in Babylon and under Darius and Cyrus. The contemporaries of Isaiah were probably uninterested in such details, and instead concentrated their efforts on thwarting Babylon. But for Daniel, that was history and he was looking ahead. I have no doubt that Ezra, Nehemiah, and the ones who returned with them were looking at the "return to the land" prophesies with wonder and delight.
We are now far past those and can look back and see how they unfolded precisely as Isaiah recorded his visions. But with one reservation. Not all of the things that were prophesied about "the land" have been fulfilled. Just a couple of things that can be cited as "incomplete" is the one about the lion lying down with a lamb and children playing with scorpions and serpents. Another was the Lord forecasting that "his children" would come home "on eagles' wings." There will be peace all over the world and the entire population will worship at Jerusalem.
This hasn't happened yet. Should we then "spiritualize" them and shoehorn the pictures into history as fulfilled prophesy? Consider the "eagles' wings" episode. I am willing to bet that none of the returning exiles would romanticize their trek from Persia to the promised land as being on eagles' wings. A few may have had Camels are Us carriages. More may have scored a donkey. But most, undoubtedly, used the shoe leather express to get back. Do you suppose that the promise of indestructible sandals from the trip out of Egypt applied to this exodus?
Do we merely rack it up as metaphorical language, or look for a more literal fulfillment? After the nation of Israel was re-established in 1948 people of Jewish heritage returned in masses from all over the globe. Some literally flew on airplanes from their current place of existence to their dream land. (It was not too "dreamy" in the early years, but recently, it is "blossoming like a rose." Another prophesy.)
Likewise, further mountain peaks appear now that we are a couple of thousand years closer to the "range." The "peace on earth" and King Jesus along with world wide worship of Him is closer, but not yet here. The prophesies which looked two dimensional in Isaiah now are shown to be spread down through the corridors of time and some are still in the future.
So to question a coming literal 1000 years, in light of past prophesy and fulfillment does not only seem farfetched, but doubting it seems to be the weaker position of logic and evidence. The Lord has literally fulfilled the promises He made 2500 and 3000 years ago. Why and how can any reasonable observer doubt that the "rest" will not likewise be fulfilled to the minutest detail? It is a greater stretch of credulity to discount these "facts" than to accept them at face value.
We have ascended some pretty high mountains. But, like part way through our family trip, there are more, and higher peaks to scale. I'm going on. Come with me.
Eventually all four joined the chorus and we watched with wonder as those little mounds in the distance grew steadily higher and higher. One us finally asked Dad if those were "the mountains."
"No," he replied, "those are the foothills. Those are the mountains." And he pointed about three quarters of the way up the windshield and we gasped in amazement as there, in the clouds, we could make out mountain peaks. We were stunned that they were so tall. It almost seemed unbelievable, except we were witnessing it with our own eyes.
There are a couple of take-aways from this little story. First, we often focus on the "foothills" and miss the real beauty. And second, the mountains, which appear to be in a single plane, are actually three dimensional with some closer and others farther away.. Just as the foothills stood in front of the mountains, some of the peaks were far behind the first ones we saw. This differentiation becomes noticeable as we get closer to the panorama.
These two lessons apply to prophesy, and especially to the passages in Isaiah that we have been considering. First, we notice the "foothills," the lower range of hills that is obvious and often contains immediate information that we desire to have. Isaiah was foretelling the fall of Jerusalem and the deportation to Babylon. Then he predicted the fall of Babylon and the ascendancy of the Persians and Cyrus. Next came the account of their subsequent release from Persia and the return to their own land. Accompanying this were details of life in this "land" and ultimately a "new heaven and new earth."
Just as "us kids" saw the foothills first, the residents of Jerusalem and Judah focused on the fall of their city to Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonian hordes. They had witnessed the fall of Samaria and Israel, so the possibility of God's people being defeated was not incredible to them. It could happen, and it did.
We have already speculated about Daniel's hypothetical trace of coming history during his sojourn in Babylon and under Darius and Cyrus. The contemporaries of Isaiah were probably uninterested in such details, and instead concentrated their efforts on thwarting Babylon. But for Daniel, that was history and he was looking ahead. I have no doubt that Ezra, Nehemiah, and the ones who returned with them were looking at the "return to the land" prophesies with wonder and delight.
We are now far past those and can look back and see how they unfolded precisely as Isaiah recorded his visions. But with one reservation. Not all of the things that were prophesied about "the land" have been fulfilled. Just a couple of things that can be cited as "incomplete" is the one about the lion lying down with a lamb and children playing with scorpions and serpents. Another was the Lord forecasting that "his children" would come home "on eagles' wings." There will be peace all over the world and the entire population will worship at Jerusalem.
This hasn't happened yet. Should we then "spiritualize" them and shoehorn the pictures into history as fulfilled prophesy? Consider the "eagles' wings" episode. I am willing to bet that none of the returning exiles would romanticize their trek from Persia to the promised land as being on eagles' wings. A few may have had Camels are Us carriages. More may have scored a donkey. But most, undoubtedly, used the shoe leather express to get back. Do you suppose that the promise of indestructible sandals from the trip out of Egypt applied to this exodus?
Do we merely rack it up as metaphorical language, or look for a more literal fulfillment? After the nation of Israel was re-established in 1948 people of Jewish heritage returned in masses from all over the globe. Some literally flew on airplanes from their current place of existence to their dream land. (It was not too "dreamy" in the early years, but recently, it is "blossoming like a rose." Another prophesy.)
Likewise, further mountain peaks appear now that we are a couple of thousand years closer to the "range." The "peace on earth" and King Jesus along with world wide worship of Him is closer, but not yet here. The prophesies which looked two dimensional in Isaiah now are shown to be spread down through the corridors of time and some are still in the future.
So to question a coming literal 1000 years, in light of past prophesy and fulfillment does not only seem farfetched, but doubting it seems to be the weaker position of logic and evidence. The Lord has literally fulfilled the promises He made 2500 and 3000 years ago. Why and how can any reasonable observer doubt that the "rest" will not likewise be fulfilled to the minutest detail? It is a greater stretch of credulity to discount these "facts" than to accept them at face value.
We have ascended some pretty high mountains. But, like part way through our family trip, there are more, and higher peaks to scale. I'm going on. Come with me.
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