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.