Postscript to Incoming: Some may interpret this vision of God to be an overbearing, “my-way-or-the-highway” bully. He has this impossible vision of everyone being perfect and holy and when people do not measure up, He thunders punishment and damnation. Nothing can be further from the truth.
Now it is true that God is holy, and, as mentioned before, that everyone who comes before Him must also be holy. Leviticus 11:44 declares, “Be holy for I am holy.” And if He required us to meet that standard in our own ability, we would fail. Here we appeal to the Names of God for help.
YAHWEH-M'KADDESH is a name that we find in Leviticus 20:8. It means, "The Lord Who Sanctifies, Makes Holy." The Holy God also makes us holy. And further, He also gives us His righteousness. YAHWEH-TSIDKENU , or "The Lord Our Righteousness” is found in Jeremiah 33:16. The perfectly holy God makes us holy and gives us His righteousness. We can meet the standard of Leviticus 11:44.
This is illustrated in the parable Jesus told about a king who gave a wedding feast for his son. The invited guests failed to appear, so he brought in guests from the highways and byways to celebrate. And, when he inspected the assemblage he noticed a guest who did not have proper wedding garments. He was obviously out of place because everyone else had the proper attire.
When questioned as to why he was not properly dressed, “he had no answer.” That is because the host provided the proper clothes for every guest when he or she arrived. This guy had refused to accept the offered clothing. This was both and affront and an insult to the host and to his son. (Matthew 22:3)
Then the king said to the servants, “Bind him hand and foot, and throw him into the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
This was not arbitrary or capricious. The host had provided the proper dress and he had insisted on wearing his own clothes. They were unworthy and dishonoring to the host and his son.
The guest had no right or ability to stay. In the same way, God has provided what man needs to be in fellowship with Him, and to spend eternity with Him in heaven. If someone refuses to accept that covering, the righteousness of Jesus, he will have no place in heaven. Just as Nadab and Abihu refused to accept the proper fire and insisted on using their own, wearing our own clothes will be an affront and an act of disobedience to God.
The Name, Jesus, means Savior. He will save His people from their sins. (Matthew 1:21) The proper clothing is provided, just as the proper fire was available to Nadab and Abihu. They made the wrong choice.
We are faced with the identical choice. Obey and live. Why would anyone want to choose the alternative? Choose life.
Monday, February 18, 2019
Incoming!
“Incoming!” is the shout that goes up when a position is about to be hit by rocket or artillery fire. Everyone then dives to the ground, hopefully under some type of protection, but regardless, getting as low to the ground as possible. This does not protect them in the unlucky event of a direct or near direct hit, but if the explosion is a ways away, flying shrapnel will fly over the prone body instead of scoring a hit.
This idea occurred to me as I read Leviticus 9. Let’s take a look at it. At first glance, this chapter seems to major on tedium. The topic is Moses’ following the ordination protocol for ordaining Aaron as the high priest. First Moses called Aaron and his sons to meet with him. The elders of Israel came along. Exodus 24 and Numbers 11 tells us that there were 70 elders.
So this party evidently gathered at the Tent of Meeting to observe the ceremony. Chapter 8 began the process and now chapter 9 continues and consummates it. As I read these passages, they seemed tedious and, well, frankly boring. Take some of this animal, slaughter it and bring the blood.... The details of how the slaughter was to be accomplished are detailed, including what part of the entrails to burn and what to discard. Actually, it took eight days as chapter 9 begins with, “...on the eighth day....”
Chapter 9 continues the strain. And it was beginning to strain my attention. Then it dawned on me, that what I could read in just a few minutes took days. The slaughter details could not be accomplished in a few minutes. Hours would have been consumed in doing it. And for what purpose?
Chapter 10 will explain that. But for now, just trudge through it with me. Moses completed his portion of the ceremony and then, the newly ordained and sanctified (set apart) Aaron did his. And why do we have to endure all of these mundane details?
Because the process of encountering and interacting with God is neither mundane or trivial. Throughout the process of positing the law in Exodus and now in Leviticus, we were introduced to the extreme attention to detail that God applied to every interaction with Himself. God is holy and the minutia of our existence concerns Him. Careful attention to how we approach God is demanded and reflected here.
We must learn to discern every occasion to stray from His guidance as critical and avoid it. If He said “Do it,” we should be careful to do it. If He said, “Don’t do it,” we, likewise, must exercise diligence to avoid that. He is not pleased with the Cliff Notes version of devotion and obedience.
So the extreme attention to detail is warranted when approaching this infinitely holy God. Moses did as he was commanded. (Chapter 8) Aaron, likewise, followed the pattern laid down by his brother, Moses. The ordination of Aaron and his sons, Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar was completed in chapter 8 and then Aaron begins his duties of representing the people. The same careful execution of detail was repeated.
When that was completed, Moses and Aaron entered the Tent of Meeting, presumably to have a meeting with the Lord. As they left the tent, the visible presence of the Lord was manifested. Our version said, “The glory of the Lord appeared to all the people.” Now recall the scene. Aaron had sacrificed the sin offering, a goat, for the people. (Verse 15) This was followed by the grain offering which was a thanksgiving offering subsequent to the sin offering.
Finally came the peace offering of an ox and a ram. The order is sin being addressed first, followed by thanksgiving for the atonement, then peace with God is illustrated. After that Moses and Aaron had had a personal meeting with the Lord. As they came out of the tent, the glory of the Lord appeared and fire flashed out and consumed the remainder of the offering on the altar.
That would be spectacular, wouldn’t it? Evidently it was. Everyone saw it, shouted, and fell on their faces! There is no “messing around with God.” No one even got to call out, “Incoming!” But they fell, either in abject terror, hoping that no shrapnel would hit them (anachronism) or in worship. After eight days of watching the preparation, I imagine that they were impressed with how holy and meticulous they had to remain in the sight of their God.
The impact of this is bolstered in chapter 10 as the two oldest sons of Aaron violated the provisions of Moses’ and God’s instructions. It was the seemingly simple and innocuous act of taking unauthorized fire into the worship process. It was neither minor nor insignificant. The same fire that consumed the burnt offering now snuffed out their lives. We are not told the timing of this incident, but presumably it was fairly shortly. We will not follow the story any farther, but Moses and Aaron had to live with the repercussions of Nadab and Abihu’s disobedience or disregard for God’s instructions.
We can conclude, that careful observation to His guidance and instructions is pretty important. It is not a trivial matter to rebel, even passively against God. As Hebrews 10:31 reminds us:
It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
Before we leave, we must put this into perspective. Why was and is God so “picky?” It is because He is perfectly holy. If anything flawed, regardless of how slight the flaw, is presented to Him, it will be consumed by His holiness. And God loves us. He wants us to be able to spend eternity with Him. And if any bit of unholiness appears in us, we will perish. The sacrifice of Jesus was completely and perfectly executed. It will remove any flaws, or sins from those who trust in Him. We are completely safe and accepted in Jesus.
The picture in the Old Testament was an illustration of this coming perfection. It is now presented to us. It is incumbent on us to reflect that to a lost and dying world around us. Love compels us to share the message that perfection, though unattainable, is available. Trust in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved.
That should and does cause us to see it, shout, and fall on our faces. Hallelujah! And just for a little frosting on the cake, He is coming again. Incoming!
This idea occurred to me as I read Leviticus 9. Let’s take a look at it. At first glance, this chapter seems to major on tedium. The topic is Moses’ following the ordination protocol for ordaining Aaron as the high priest. First Moses called Aaron and his sons to meet with him. The elders of Israel came along. Exodus 24 and Numbers 11 tells us that there were 70 elders.
So this party evidently gathered at the Tent of Meeting to observe the ceremony. Chapter 8 began the process and now chapter 9 continues and consummates it. As I read these passages, they seemed tedious and, well, frankly boring. Take some of this animal, slaughter it and bring the blood.... The details of how the slaughter was to be accomplished are detailed, including what part of the entrails to burn and what to discard. Actually, it took eight days as chapter 9 begins with, “...on the eighth day....”
Chapter 9 continues the strain. And it was beginning to strain my attention. Then it dawned on me, that what I could read in just a few minutes took days. The slaughter details could not be accomplished in a few minutes. Hours would have been consumed in doing it. And for what purpose?
Chapter 10 will explain that. But for now, just trudge through it with me. Moses completed his portion of the ceremony and then, the newly ordained and sanctified (set apart) Aaron did his. And why do we have to endure all of these mundane details?
Because the process of encountering and interacting with God is neither mundane or trivial. Throughout the process of positing the law in Exodus and now in Leviticus, we were introduced to the extreme attention to detail that God applied to every interaction with Himself. God is holy and the minutia of our existence concerns Him. Careful attention to how we approach God is demanded and reflected here.
We must learn to discern every occasion to stray from His guidance as critical and avoid it. If He said “Do it,” we should be careful to do it. If He said, “Don’t do it,” we, likewise, must exercise diligence to avoid that. He is not pleased with the Cliff Notes version of devotion and obedience.
So the extreme attention to detail is warranted when approaching this infinitely holy God. Moses did as he was commanded. (Chapter 8) Aaron, likewise, followed the pattern laid down by his brother, Moses. The ordination of Aaron and his sons, Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar was completed in chapter 8 and then Aaron begins his duties of representing the people. The same careful execution of detail was repeated.
When that was completed, Moses and Aaron entered the Tent of Meeting, presumably to have a meeting with the Lord. As they left the tent, the visible presence of the Lord was manifested. Our version said, “The glory of the Lord appeared to all the people.” Now recall the scene. Aaron had sacrificed the sin offering, a goat, for the people. (Verse 15) This was followed by the grain offering which was a thanksgiving offering subsequent to the sin offering.
Finally came the peace offering of an ox and a ram. The order is sin being addressed first, followed by thanksgiving for the atonement, then peace with God is illustrated. After that Moses and Aaron had had a personal meeting with the Lord. As they came out of the tent, the glory of the Lord appeared and fire flashed out and consumed the remainder of the offering on the altar.
That would be spectacular, wouldn’t it? Evidently it was. Everyone saw it, shouted, and fell on their faces! There is no “messing around with God.” No one even got to call out, “Incoming!” But they fell, either in abject terror, hoping that no shrapnel would hit them (anachronism) or in worship. After eight days of watching the preparation, I imagine that they were impressed with how holy and meticulous they had to remain in the sight of their God.
The impact of this is bolstered in chapter 10 as the two oldest sons of Aaron violated the provisions of Moses’ and God’s instructions. It was the seemingly simple and innocuous act of taking unauthorized fire into the worship process. It was neither minor nor insignificant. The same fire that consumed the burnt offering now snuffed out their lives. We are not told the timing of this incident, but presumably it was fairly shortly. We will not follow the story any farther, but Moses and Aaron had to live with the repercussions of Nadab and Abihu’s disobedience or disregard for God’s instructions.
We can conclude, that careful observation to His guidance and instructions is pretty important. It is not a trivial matter to rebel, even passively against God. As Hebrews 10:31 reminds us:
It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
Before we leave, we must put this into perspective. Why was and is God so “picky?” It is because He is perfectly holy. If anything flawed, regardless of how slight the flaw, is presented to Him, it will be consumed by His holiness. And God loves us. He wants us to be able to spend eternity with Him. And if any bit of unholiness appears in us, we will perish. The sacrifice of Jesus was completely and perfectly executed. It will remove any flaws, or sins from those who trust in Him. We are completely safe and accepted in Jesus.
The picture in the Old Testament was an illustration of this coming perfection. It is now presented to us. It is incumbent on us to reflect that to a lost and dying world around us. Love compels us to share the message that perfection, though unattainable, is available. Trust in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved.
That should and does cause us to see it, shout, and fall on our faces. Hallelujah! And just for a little frosting on the cake, He is coming again. Incoming!
Saturday, February 9, 2019
A Mythical Adam
If Adam and Eve are mythical and we cannot believe Genesis 1, then does that affect anything else? Some have suggested that since salvation is the focus of Scripture, we are relatively free to believe that the Genesis story is somewhat less than true. As long as we believe in Jesus and have accepted Him, the rest of our beliefs are optional. (Not to be judgmental, but just frankly summarizing the position.)
If we believe in Jesus, does that drive what else we believe? We should look to Jesus Himself. What did He believe? And if He believed something, does that guide what I believe? I would suggest that it must. If I am disagreeing with the One I claim to believe, do I really belileve and trust Him? Look at what He believed.
Let’s begin with Genesis 1.
So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
This was what Moses wrote as an introduction to mankind. That is our foundation for thought on this. So just for reference, the male and female is Adam and Eve.
Without comment, turn to what Jesus said. Matthew 19:4
And he answered and said unto them, Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female,
Notice what He is quoting. That is the statement that Moses made back in Genesis. So Jesus believed Genesis and, by extension, He believed that Adam and Eve were real people. They were not mythical. How can a mythical being have babies, as they did in Genesis, and ultimately have a Seed, the Messiah, Jesus. If Adam and Eve are mythical, then Who else is mythical?
Jesus is quoted by Mark in 10:6 saying the same thing.
But from the beginning of creation, God made them male and female.
But what do other writers in the New Testament believe? Start with Luke 3:38. Luke is listing Jesus’ genealogy.
...the son of Enosh, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God.
He listed Adam as a real father with real children. Nothing mythical about that.
Paul had a lot to say in general, and specifically, he mentioned Adam as a real man three times. And he pinioned several theological points on the historicity of Adam. Take them in order. Romans 5:14
Nevertheless death reigned from Adam until Moses, even over those who had not sinned in the likeness of the offense of Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come.
Adam was a type of Him Who was to come. That would be Jesus. A mythical Adam would result in a mythical Jesus. And an editorial comment is that a mythical Jesus cannot save a real me.
Paul continued his appeal to Adam in 1 Corinthians 15:22.
For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive.
I’m not liking the ramifications of this. A mythical Adam means a mythical “maker aliver.” (Just made that up.) A mythical guy can influence real people, and give us guidance. But they cannot have a physical effect on us. Paul appeals to this again in 1 Corinthians 15:45.
So also it is written, “The first man, Adam, became a living soul.” The last Adam became a life-giving spirit.
More of the same. Paul also mentions Adam and Eve in 1 Timothy 2:13 and 14.
For it was Adam who was first created, and then Eve. And it was not Adam who was deceived, but the woman being deceived, fell into transgression.
More belief that Adam was real.
Look at one last witness. Jude 1:14
It was also about these men that Enoch, in the seventh generation from Adam, prophesied, saying, “Behold, the Lord came with many thousands of His holy ones,
Jude, incidentally, waa the brother of Jesus. So a mythical Adam would be a mythical Jesus and he had a real brother, or else a mythical character is writing books. (Although it is a short one.) Well, the string is stretched pretty tight here. Let’s just cut it.
Adam was real. Jesus was real. Our salvation is real. And we are really done.
If we believe in Jesus, does that drive what else we believe? We should look to Jesus Himself. What did He believe? And if He believed something, does that guide what I believe? I would suggest that it must. If I am disagreeing with the One I claim to believe, do I really belileve and trust Him? Look at what He believed.
Let’s begin with Genesis 1.
So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
This was what Moses wrote as an introduction to mankind. That is our foundation for thought on this. So just for reference, the male and female is Adam and Eve.
Without comment, turn to what Jesus said. Matthew 19:4
And he answered and said unto them, Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female,
Notice what He is quoting. That is the statement that Moses made back in Genesis. So Jesus believed Genesis and, by extension, He believed that Adam and Eve were real people. They were not mythical. How can a mythical being have babies, as they did in Genesis, and ultimately have a Seed, the Messiah, Jesus. If Adam and Eve are mythical, then Who else is mythical?
Jesus is quoted by Mark in 10:6 saying the same thing.
But from the beginning of creation, God made them male and female.
But what do other writers in the New Testament believe? Start with Luke 3:38. Luke is listing Jesus’ genealogy.
...the son of Enosh, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God.
He listed Adam as a real father with real children. Nothing mythical about that.
Paul had a lot to say in general, and specifically, he mentioned Adam as a real man three times. And he pinioned several theological points on the historicity of Adam. Take them in order. Romans 5:14
Nevertheless death reigned from Adam until Moses, even over those who had not sinned in the likeness of the offense of Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come.
Adam was a type of Him Who was to come. That would be Jesus. A mythical Adam would result in a mythical Jesus. And an editorial comment is that a mythical Jesus cannot save a real me.
Paul continued his appeal to Adam in 1 Corinthians 15:22.
For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive.
I’m not liking the ramifications of this. A mythical Adam means a mythical “maker aliver.” (Just made that up.) A mythical guy can influence real people, and give us guidance. But they cannot have a physical effect on us. Paul appeals to this again in 1 Corinthians 15:45.
So also it is written, “The first man, Adam, became a living soul.” The last Adam became a life-giving spirit.
More of the same. Paul also mentions Adam and Eve in 1 Timothy 2:13 and 14.
For it was Adam who was first created, and then Eve. And it was not Adam who was deceived, but the woman being deceived, fell into transgression.
More belief that Adam was real.
Look at one last witness. Jude 1:14
It was also about these men that Enoch, in the seventh generation from Adam, prophesied, saying, “Behold, the Lord came with many thousands of His holy ones,
Jude, incidentally, waa the brother of Jesus. So a mythical Adam would be a mythical Jesus and he had a real brother, or else a mythical character is writing books. (Although it is a short one.) Well, the string is stretched pretty tight here. Let’s just cut it.
Adam was real. Jesus was real. Our salvation is real. And we are really done.
Monday, February 4, 2019
Jehovah's Witnesses?
Dr. Ron Rhodes was on the radio talking about witnessing to Jehovah’s witnesses. He played several clips of JW teachers explaining some of their teachings. One clip discussed Jesus and said that Jesus died at the end of his ministry and was buried. (Not capitalized in accordance with what the recording claimed.) Then, Jehovah God, disintegrated Jesus’ body. Three days later, God recreated another Jesus to appear to Jesus’ believers in order to convince them that Jesus had raised from the dead. This “new” Jesus went on to return to the role of Gabriel in heaven.
I had never heard that Jesus was recreated in a new body to fool the believers. If that is what they really teach, it would seem that they are identifying Jehovah God as a liar. Jesus did not rise from the dead, but Jehovah God pretended or faked the fact that Jesus did.
Paul addressed just that concept in 1 Corinthians 15 beginning in verse 12. Read through v. 19. To apply it to this false idea, focus on v. 14, 15.
...and if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is vain, your faith also is vain. 15 Moreover we are even found to be false witnesses of God, because we testified against God that He raised Christ, whom He did not raise, if in fact the dead (and Jesus) are not raised.
Some in Corinth were claiming that there was no resurrection from the dead. Paul specifically answered that here. First, he pointed out that faith is worthless if it is in a dead Jesus. Then he continued, as if he had heard the teaching that Dr. Rhodes was exposing and contradicting. Paul did a steamroller job on it.
Paul said that if Jesus had not been raised from the dead, then, he, Paul, was a false witness of God because he testified that God had raised Christ from the dead. Just in case it is not clear, Paul was defending the bodily resurrection of Jesus from the dead. This was not some kind of reincarnation nor a recreation. It was the dead body of Jesus being brought back to life. (The entire chapter is referenced in the link below.)
It would seem that a Jehovah Witness is not a very good witness if he calls Jehovah a liar. In fact, it would seem that the witness would be a false witness for Jehovah. That is not a place that I would care to occupy. And we have not even considered the fact that Jesus was truly God and not a secondary being. Jehovah God commands that we worship no one but Himself. (Exodus 20. 1st commandment.)
So in Hebrews 1, when Jehovah God commands the angels to worship Jesus (Hebrews 1:6) He is contradicting Himself.
“And let all the angels of God worship Him.”
Then later in v. 9 Jehovah God calls Jesus, God.
“Your throne, O God, is forever and ever.”
He is mistaken or telling a lie. The hole is getting deeper and deeper. Either we have a schizophrenic God who makes mistakes and tells angels to worship someone or some thing different than Himself, or worse, tells lies. Particularly a lie that Jesus is Jehovah God, if indeed Jesus is not God.
Going farther, to deny that Jesus is Jehovah God both disobeys Jehovah by not worshiping Jesus, and then, calls Jehovah a liar for saying that Jesus is Jehovah God. I choose to believe what Jehovah God says and discount what His “witnesses” proclaim. The liar is not Jehovah. You decide who is lying and who you want to believe.
I had never heard that Jesus was recreated in a new body to fool the believers. If that is what they really teach, it would seem that they are identifying Jehovah God as a liar. Jesus did not rise from the dead, but Jehovah God pretended or faked the fact that Jesus did.
Paul addressed just that concept in 1 Corinthians 15 beginning in verse 12. Read through v. 19. To apply it to this false idea, focus on v. 14, 15.
...and if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is vain, your faith also is vain. 15 Moreover we are even found to be false witnesses of God, because we testified against God that He raised Christ, whom He did not raise, if in fact the dead (and Jesus) are not raised.
Some in Corinth were claiming that there was no resurrection from the dead. Paul specifically answered that here. First, he pointed out that faith is worthless if it is in a dead Jesus. Then he continued, as if he had heard the teaching that Dr. Rhodes was exposing and contradicting. Paul did a steamroller job on it.
Paul said that if Jesus had not been raised from the dead, then, he, Paul, was a false witness of God because he testified that God had raised Christ from the dead. Just in case it is not clear, Paul was defending the bodily resurrection of Jesus from the dead. This was not some kind of reincarnation nor a recreation. It was the dead body of Jesus being brought back to life. (The entire chapter is referenced in the link below.)
It would seem that a Jehovah Witness is not a very good witness if he calls Jehovah a liar. In fact, it would seem that the witness would be a false witness for Jehovah. That is not a place that I would care to occupy. And we have not even considered the fact that Jesus was truly God and not a secondary being. Jehovah God commands that we worship no one but Himself. (Exodus 20. 1st commandment.)
So in Hebrews 1, when Jehovah God commands the angels to worship Jesus (Hebrews 1:6) He is contradicting Himself.
“And let all the angels of God worship Him.”
Then later in v. 9 Jehovah God calls Jesus, God.
“Your throne, O God, is forever and ever.”
He is mistaken or telling a lie. The hole is getting deeper and deeper. Either we have a schizophrenic God who makes mistakes and tells angels to worship someone or some thing different than Himself, or worse, tells lies. Particularly a lie that Jesus is Jehovah God, if indeed Jesus is not God.
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