Tag: faith

1 TIMOTHY 2:1-7 A CALL TO PRAYER FOR ALL PEOPLE

On By nrfaughtLeave a comment

Here is the David Guzik commentary on 1 Timothy 2. I encourage you to read this:

https://www.blueletterbible.org/comm/guzik_david/study-guide/1-timothy/1-timothy-2.cfm

A Call to Prayer 2:1-7

1 Timothy 2:1 First of all, then, I urge that requests, prayers, intercession, and thanksgiving be made in behalf of all people, 2 for kings and all who are in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity. 3 This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, 4 who wants all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. 5 For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus, 6 who gave Himself as a ransom for all, the testimony given at the proper time. 7 For this I was appointed as a preacher and an apostle (I am telling the truth, I am not lying), as a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth.”

Our prayers tend to focus on ourselves, our friends, our fellow church members, and our families. But we must remember to pray for “all people” around the world, especially for rulers all over the world that have the power to create war or peace. Peace is good since the gospel can spread better and can fulfill God’s plan for “all people to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth”. I don’t know how God works to answer our prayers for all people and for rulers, but providentially He does work. My prayers each day should include the people in the Ukraine/Russian war zones, the oppressed people in Communist North Korea, the people in Communist China, the people in Lebanon, Gaza strip, and Israel caught up in the Middle East Crisis facing the terrorists group that create constant war among them, the people in Venezuela due to Venezuela due to the high risk of wrongful detentions, terrorism, kidnapping, crime, civil unrest, poor health infrastructure, the people facing militant Islamist violence in Africa, the people in Iran most of whom would probably like to do away with their Shia Muslim leadership that is determined to destroy Israel as they await the return of the Imam Mahdi to establish worldwide Islamic rule, the people in India as Hinduism is so predominate that it is hard to search for the truth of Jesus, the people in Muslim controlled countries who are persecuted if they become Christians, the people in the U.S as our country is spiralling into moral and doctrinal decline, the people in Africa who don’t have clean water for good health, the people in refugee camps caught up in the middle of war torn regions, etc.

We should pray for rulers all over the world, even for evil dictators, atheistic regimes, or radical Islamist leaders.  Guzik said this: “The early church leader Tertullian explained: “We pray for all the emperors, that God may grant them long life, a secure government, a prosperous family, vigorous troops, a faithful senate, an obedient people; that the whole world may be in peace; and that God may grant, both to Caesar and to every man, the accomplishment of their just desires.” (Clarke)

We should pray for the people all over the world, even in peaceful regions, that they may come to be saved by Jesus who “gave Himself as a ransom (antilutron: Ransom, Redemption Price: used only here in the New Testament. (AI) “ In the Greco-Roman world, the concept of a ransom was well understood. It was a price paid to free a slave or a prisoner of war. The idea of a ransom also appears in the Old Testament, where it is associated with the redemption of individuals or property. In the New Testament, this concept is applied to the spiritual realm, where Christ’s death is seen as the ultimate ransom that liberates believers from the bondage of sin and death.” The Greek word for “redemption” in the New Testament is “apolutrosis” (ἀπολύτρωσις).  “Aplutrosis” essentially means “deliverance” or “being set free by the payment of a ransom,” which aligns with the Christian concept of redemption through Jesus Christ’s sacrifice. It is used in Romans 3:24, Ephesians 1:7; Colossians 2:14 of our redemption through the blood of Jesus (which was the “antilutron” redemption price paid to God Himself to satisfy His wrath against our sins and to free us from the captivity of sin and death. Ephesians 1:7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, 8 which he lavished upon us.” I have a little prayer pad, but my prayer requests are for friends, family, and church members. I am not praying for all people as Paul told Timothy to do. I plan to include all people in future prayers, including those I just mentioned above. Again, I don’t know how the providence of God can answer those prayers, but I believe He will. One way such prayers work is to get us aware of the spiritual and physical needs of people all over the world. That might get us to be directly involved in mission trips or humanitarian trips around the world. Or it might get us to use our vast monetary resources to help people all over the world, often through agencies like Healing Hands International. Or agencies like Eastern European Missions who print the Bible in the major world languages so people can learn about Jesus dying for their sins. Don’t forget to pray for missionaries who are preaching the gospel all over the world, even in Muslim countries.

There is one mediator between God and man, i.e. Jesus Christ. The term “mesités” refers to a mediator, one who intervenes between two parties to restore peace, make a covenant, or ratify an agreement. In the New Testament, it is primarily used to describe Jesus Christ as the mediator between God and humanity, highlighting His role in reconciling sinful humans to a holy God through His sacrificial death and resurrection. The Greek word for “reconciliation” in the New Testament is “katallage” (καταλλαγή). Meaning:“Katallage” literally means “exchange” or “adjustment of a difference,” and in the context of the Bible, it refers to the act of restoring a broken relationship, particularly between God and humanity through Jesus Christ. It is used in 2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. 18 All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; 19 that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. 20 Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. 21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”

I decided to split 1 Timothy 2 into 2 articles. I just want this first part, the call to prayer for all people and rulers all over the world, to be something that we all need to do more of. I plan to try to answer that call better in the future.

How about you?

A review of martyrs facing death and how Jesus faced His death. How will I face death?

On By nrfaughtLeave a comment

Have you thought much about actually facing the moment you know you are dying or about to die? How do you think you will feel? Afraid? Peaceful? Confident? Relieved? Excited?

As I get older (soon to be 75), I think a lot about facing death. I watched my dad face death when the docs told him he had 2 years to live (72 at the time) and there was no cure for his lung disease. I think he found a much deeper faith and peace during that 2 years. I watched my mom die at 90? I think she was relieved. She told me, “I am tired of living (b/c of the pain)”? She was ready to go. I watched my wife’s dad die of Alzheimer’s. As many of you know, a terrible way to die. A self made man, WWII vet, always the one who was strong and took care of others. But left to have others take care of him and be totally dependent on others with no quality of life.

Of course, I don’t know how I will die. Many have died for their faith over the 2,000 years of Christian history. Jesus spoke of those killed by the Jews for their faith in the Old Testament. Matthew 23:29 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets and decorate the monuments of the righteous, 30 saying, ‘If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’ 31 Thus you witness against yourselves that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets. 32 Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers. 33 You serpents, you brood of vipers, how are you to escape being sentenced to hell? 34 Therefore I send you prophets and wise men and scribes, some of whom you will kill and crucify, and some you will flog in your synagogues and persecute from town to town, 35 so that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah the son of Barachiah, whom you murdered between the sanctuary and the altar. 36 Truly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation.” God avenged the death of those martyrs in 70 AD when He sent the Romans to destory the temple and Jerusalem, killing one million wicked Jews. Abel, Zechariah (2 Chronicles 24:20-21 a Zechariah son of Jehoida was stoned for condemning the sins of the king but he wasn’t the son of Barachiah so who is the Zechariah Jesus spoke of?), Uriah (killed by King Jehoiakim in Jeremiah 26:20-23), Isaiah (if tradition is true and he was sawn into, Hebrews 11:37), and many others that we don’t know about. Elijah spoke of martyrs: 1 Kings 19:9 There he came to a cave and lodged in it. And behold, the word of the Lord came to him, and he said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” 10 He said, “I have been very jealous for the Lord, the God of hosts. For the people of Israel have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword, and I, even I only, am left, and they seek my life, to take it away.” Wicked Jezebel killed the prophets: 1 Kings 18:4 and when Jezebel cut off (karath: To cut, cut off, cut down, make a covenant: probably means killed in this verse b/c Obadiah hid 100 prophets from her) the prophets of the Lord, Obadiah took a hundred prophets and hid them by fifties in a cave and fed them with bread and water.)

John the Baptist was beheaded for condemning Herod’s marriage. Stephen was the first New Testament martyr for faith in Jesus that we know about (Acts 7), followed by James the apostle (Acts 12), Antipas (Rev 2:12,13). Tradition says that Paul was beheaded by Nero and Peter was crucified upside down, considering himself to be unworthy of dying in exact same manner that Jesus died. Tradition says that all the apostles died a martyr’s death (https://www.usfra.org/groups/ChaplainsCorner/blogs/how-the-apostles-died). John the apostle died a martyr’s death contrary to many saying that he lived to the age of 100 and died a peaceful death. Jesus predicted his martyrdom (Mark 10:39 And Jesus said to them (i.e. the apostle brothers James and John), “The cup that I drink you will drink, and with the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be baptized,” That cup can only be death since Jesus prayed in the Garden “Father, let this cup pass from me” (Matthew 26:39). The early church father Papias (60-130 AD said that John the apostle did die a martyrs death by a group of Jews. He doesn’t give the date of John’s death, but he says that John died a martyr just as Jesus predicted for the 2 brothers. I think the time of his death could only be before 70 AD when the Jews had the ability to kill Christians. Tradition says they killed James the Lord’s brother just before 70 AD. The Jews would not have been able to martry Cristians around 100 AD. Be that as it may, he died a martyr’s death of else Jesus’s prediction was false. John’s brother James the apostle died a martyr in Acts 12. BTW this tells us that all of John’s gospel and letters (1,2,3 John and Revelation) were written before he died before 70 AD.

Then there were the famous martyrs of early Christian history. Polycarp of Smyrna in 203 AD: According to the Martyrdom of Polycarp, he died a martyr, bound and burned at the stake, then stabbed when the fire failed to consume his body. Justin Martyr in 165 AD. Perpetua and Felicity (her slave servant who was pregant): Perpetua, age 22; had an infant son (still nursing, but gave the child to Christians to keep), killed at military games in honor of the emperor. The 40 martyrs of Sebaste: in 320 AD: this story is so interesting that I am quoting it from Wikipedia:”According to Basil, forty soldiers who had openly confessed themselves Christians were condemned by the prefect to be exposed naked upon a frozen pond near Sebaste on a bitterly cold night, that they might freeze to death. Among the confessors, one yielded and, leaving his companions, sought the warm baths near the lake which had been prepared for any who might prove inconstant. Upon immersion into the cauldron, the one who yielded went into shock and immediately died. One of the guards, Aglaius, was set to keep watch over the martyrs and beheld at this moment a supernatural brilliancy overshadowing them. He at once proclaimed himself a Christian, threw off his garments, and joined the remaining thirty-nine.[3] Thus the number of forty remained complete. At daybreak, the stiffened bodies of the confessors, which still showed signs of life, were burned and the ashes cast into a river. Christians, however, collected the precious remains, and the relics were distributed throughout many cities. Veneration of the Forty Martyrs became widespread.[1]  “Forty Martyrs of Sebaste”. Oxford Reference. Retrieved 10 March 2024. Agnes of Rome: A virgin, her high-ranking suitors, slighted by her resolute devotion to religious purity, sought to persecute her for her beliefs. Her father urged her to deny God, but she refused, and she was dragged naked through the streets to a brothel, then tried and sentenced to death. She was eventually beheaded,” in 304 AD. (Wikipedia)

The Middle Ages: Jan Huss: 1415, he was burned at the stake for heresy against the teachings of the Catholic Church. Joan of Arc: She was put on trial by Bishop Pierre Cauchon on accusations of heresy, which included blaspheming by wearing men’s clothes, acting upon visions that were demonic, and refusing to submit her words and deeds to the judgment of the church. She was declared guilty and burned at the stake on 30 May 1431, aged about nineteen. Girolamo Savonarola: In 1498 he was condemned, hanged and his body burned. William Tyndale:

The Reformation Period. Willaim Tyndate: Tyndale “was strangled to death[e] while tied at the stake, and then his dead body was burned”.[43] His final words, spoken “at the stake with a fervent zeal, and a loud voice”, were reported later as “Lord! Open the King of England’s eyes.”[44][45]

While the aforementioned martyrs are some of the most famous martyrs, the statistics for modern Christian martyrdom is unbelievable. Here is a great site: http://theestherproject.com/statistics/

Sharing some of those stats from that site: More than 70 million Christians have been martyred in the course of history (some question that statistic, saying that much of the killing was ethnic related than Christian martyrdom). More than half were martyred in the 20th century under communist and fascist government (Gordon-Conwell Resources).In the 21st century, roughly 100,000  to 160,000 Christians were killed each year (Gordon-Conwell Resources and World Christian Database, respectively). Roughly 1,093,000 Christians were martyred, worldwide, between 2000 and 2010 (World Christian Database). 800,000 Christians were targeted for their faith and martyred in the Democratic Republic of Congo between 1998 and 2007, in the time surrounding their civil war (World Christian Database). Roughly 50,000 Christians were martyred during the North-South Sudan violence that officially ended in 2003 (World Christian Database). An estimated 700,000 Christians were killed in North Korean prison camps between 1948 and 1987 (Crimson Crucible).

The organization Voice of the Martyrs has since 1967 been telling the story of persecuted Christians all over the world, inspiring efforts to relieve their suffering in many ways. The organization was founded by Richard Wurmbrand, a Romanian pastor who experienced severe persecution under the communist regime in his country, which likely influenced the choice of the name. Indeed, many of the VOM stories are martyrs, killed for their faith. After all, 322 Christians are killed for their faith worldwide each month.

This article began as my own feelings about facing my death. Reading my own research about Christian martyrs, past and present, makes me a little ashamed. All those martyrs courageously died for their faith, looking forward to eternal life with God. I don’t think any of them ever had any doubts about how they would face death. Hebrews 12:Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. “For the joy set before Him”. I never thought of it like this, but Jesus was a martyr. Early Christians considered Jesus to be the first and greatest martyr because of his crucifixion. Someone might disagree with that b/c Jesus said that his was giving up his life voluntarily (John 10:18 No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.”), but he was still killed for his faith in the Father, so I think that is martyrdom.

How did Jesus face death? Matthew 26:36-46 New American Standard Bible

The Garden of Gethsemane

36 Then Jesus *came with them to a place called Gethsemane, and *told His disciples, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.” 37 And He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee with Him, and began to be grieved and distressed. 38 Then He *said to them, “My soul is deeply grieved, to the point of death; remain here and keep watch with Me.”

39 And He went a little beyond them, and fell on His face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as You will.” 40 And He *came to the disciples and *found them sleeping, and He *said to Peter, “So, you men could not keep watch with Me for one hour? 41 Keep watching and praying, so that you do not come into temptation; the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

42 He went away again a second time and prayed, saying, “My Father, if this cup cannot pass away unless I drink from it, Your will be done.” 43 Again He came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were heavy. 44 And He left them again, and went away and prayed a third time, saying the same thing once more. 45 Then He *came to the disciples and *said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? Behold, the hour is at hand and the Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of sinners. 46 Get up, let’s go; behold, the one who is betraying Me is near!”

“Deeply grieved and distressed to the point of death”. (AI) “Jesus was suffering in his soul and body, overwhelmed and sorrowful as he was betrayed and abandoned. He experienced grief, rejection, humiliation, and ridicule. He opened himself to hatred and hostility, persecution, and threats on his life”. From Christina Williams: “He confesses a deeply troubled state of mind. Jesus describes this as being so distressed that He almost feels the emotion would kill Him. Jesus’ language describing His distress resembles some of what David wrote in the Psalms. For instance, David wrote in Psalm 143:3–4, “For the enemy has pursued my soul; he has crushed my life to the ground; he has made me sit in darkness like those long dead. Therefore my spirit faints within me; my heart within me is appalled.” Jesus even felt forsaken by the Father. “My God, my God, what hast thou forsaken me?” He knew he was volunteering to die for the sins of the world. He knew he was doing it for His Father. He was “taking one for the team”. He was obeying the Father. Hebrews 5:7 ” In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to him who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverence. 8 Although he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered. 9 And being made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him.” The Hebrew writer adds “with loud cries and tears” to the gospel accounts of that last night in the Garden of Gethsemane. How loud were his cries in the Garden? The disciples still didn’t wake up. Can you just imagine that scene? Your friend and master is “a little ways” off from you. He has told you to “keep watch” for him. He is crying “loudly” in agony, and yet you fall asleep. Jesus returns and rebukes them, and goes off again. 3 times he this is repeated, and you fall asleep each time. Truly, “the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak”.

Jesus found no “joy” while he suffered and while he was being crucified. But “for the joy set before him”, knowing that after his death he would be raised from the dead and ascend back to the Father to be restored to the glory he had with the Father before the world began. John 17:4 I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do. 5 And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed.” He no doubt kept thinking about that as he was suffering on the cross.

I hope that I would have the courage to die as a martyr for my faith if it came to that. In America, I don’t think we really think that is possible. In North Korea, for example, that is a real possibility. Maybe I will die by an accident of some kind, but most likely I will some day die of some disease. Again, I can’t predict who I will handle that. Hopefully, my thoughts about this world will leave me. I won’t be worried about things b/c they won’t matter any more. I won’t be worried about “what if” b/c the “what if” is finally here. Time to face the music. Hopefully my thoughts will focus on the “joy set before me”, the joy of eternal life. The joy of seeing my parents again. Will we know each other? I don’t know, but I think so. The joy of being reunited with other loved ones and people I helped lead to Jesus over the years. Hopefully with the courage to face death that will be an example to my kids and grandkids and others to encourage them to give their lives to Jesus to prepare for their death some day.

This article was for me, but I hope it was encouraging for you.


GETTING OLDER and SEASONS OF LIFE (ALSO DISCUSSION OF ABORTION)

On By nrfaughtLeave a comment

I guess I am writing this article for my own sake as I am about to turn 75 on 12/10/2024. I told my Bible students at MA that I was about to enter the 4th quarter of life (75-100 age). (AI) “The average life expectancy for men in the United States in 2024 is 76.1 years. This is five years less than the average life expectancy for women, which is 81.1 years.” One of my students reminded me that my life expectancy is only 76.1 years. In other words, if this were a football game, I would be in the 2 minute period of the 4th quarter (not just starting the 4th quarter as I had told them. If I make it another year past 2025, I will be in “overtime” and that doesn’t last long (a few plays and your done one way or the other). So in my “morning musings” I decided to do an article, maybe to cheer me up.

Isaiah 46: 3“Listen to me, O house of Jacob,
    all the remnant of the house of Israel,

who have been borne by me from before your birth,
    carried from the womb;
4 even to your old age I am he,
    and to gray hairs I will carry you.
I have made, and I will bear;
    I will carry and will save.”

“Before your birth”? I.e., in the womb. God guided the entire gestation process for 9 months. He put the DNA that is unique to each person in that fetus and it began to program out the development of every part of the baby till birth.

Psalm 139:13 For you formed my inward parts;
    you knitted me together in my mother’s womb.
14 I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.[a]
Wonderful are your works;
    my soul knows it very well.
15 My frame was not hidden from you,
when I was being made in secret,
    intricately woven in the depths of the earth.
16 Your eyes saw my unformed substance;
in your book were written, every one of them,
    the days that were formed for me,
    when as yet there was none of them.

Abortion. I read this on AI:

“Some people argue that abortion is the killing of a life because they believe a fetus is a person with a right to life. This line of reasoning is based on the following ideas:

  • A fetus is a person
  • People have a right to life
  • Therefore, a fetus has a right to life
  • It is wrong to kill a being with a right to life
  • Therefore, it is wrong to kill a fetus 

Some people believe that a fetus is a person from the moment of conception. They argue that a fetus is an innocent human being with its own DNA, and that abortion is the murder of an innocent life.” So then I asked AI (my new Siri), “is there life in the womb?” I was surprised to get this answer. “Yes, according to the scientific consensus, life in the womb exists from the moment of conception when a sperm fertilizes an egg, forming a single cell called a zygote, which marks the beginning of a new human life; this developing organism is considered a fetus throughout pregnancy and is considered to be “alive” within the womb.” “Scientific evidence that indicates life within the womb includes: the presence of a unique DNA distinct from the mother’s at conception, continuous cell division and development into a complex organism with organs like a beating heart, brain activity, movement, response to stimuli like sound and light, and the ability to learn and recognize sounds and patterns while still in the womb, all starting from the moment of fertilization when a sperm meets an egg to form a zygote; essentially, a fetus exhibits all the biological criteria considered indicative of life.”

“The most definitive sign of a living fetus, usually detectable via ultrasound around 6-7 weeks of pregnancy.” Surely the pro-abortion advocates would agree that if there is a heartbeat, then there is life (or would they?). So, for the same of argument, we can at least say life begins at 6-7 weeks (about 1 1/2 months). The fetus has a heart by that time for sure. So that heart has been devloping from conception, programmed by the baby’s DNA. At what point during that first 6-7 weeks are you going to say that you do not think there was life in the fetus? At 5 weeks? At 4 weeks? At 3, or 2 weeks? In which week before 6-7 weeks would you say, “there is no life in this fetus so we can abort the feetus without killing a living fetus baby?” I can’t iimagine being the abortion doctor and having to decide in an abortion I am doing in week 4 of a pregnant woman, “am I just removing some non-living tissues or am I killing a living fetus baby?” How can a pregnant woman make that decision to allow the doctor to do the abortion without being sure if the fetus if living or not?”

As I said, I was surprised at the AI answer (which I think was taken verbatim from some pro-life articles), but how would God answer that question, “is there life in the womb”, and if so, “when does that life begin”. Back to Psalm 139:13 For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. 16 Your eyes saw my unformed substance” When did God begin “knitting together the inward parts of the yet unformed (not fully formed baby yet) substance”? As science has shown, and no rational pro-abortionists could refute this, all the DNA is present when the sperm and egg. unite to form a zygote at conception. So I think Psalm 139 is God saying that life begins at conception. God even says that he knew certain individuals while they were in the womb. Jeremiah 1:4-5: “Then the word of the Lord came to me saying ‘Before you were born I knew you; I ordained you a prophet to the nations'” Paul said, Galatians 1:15 But when he who had set me apart before I was born.”

But perhaps the strongest case from the Bible that God says that life is in the womb is from Exodus 21:22 “When men strive together and hit a pregnant woman, so that her children come out, but there is no harm, the one who hit her shall surely be fined, as the woman’s husband shall impose on him, and he shall pay as the judges determine. 23 But if there is harm, then you shall pay life for life, 24 eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, 25 burn for burn, wound for wound, stripe for stripe.” In. other words, if striking the pregnant woman causes her child to to born dead (stillborn or miscarriage), then the one who struck the woman (even if unintentional) will die, life for life (stoned to death?). The pro-abortionists might say, “well that might be a pregnancy in the third trimester (6th – 9th week of pregnancy”. But does God say, “if the fetus is 6 weeks or more, then life for life” in these verses? The verses just specify, “a pregnant woman”. So if the woman is pregant at all, then the punishment applied. So, in my opinion, the verses teach that God considers all of the 9 months of pregnancy to be life in the womb. I found this in article, saying that pro-abortionists see these verses as proving just the opposite. “Exodus 21, for example, suggests that a pregnant woman’s life is more valuable than the fetus’s. This text describes a scenario in which men who are fighting strike a pregnant woman and cause her to miscarry. A monetary fine is imposed if the woman suffers no other harm beyond the miscarriage. However, if the woman suffers additional harm, the perpetrator’s punishment is to suffer reciprocal harm, up to life for life.” (From theconversation.com). They try to say that these verses show that life in the womb is considered by God to be of less importance that the mother’s life. I don’t see that at all!!!!!!!

Bottom line, since even most pro-abortionists believe that life begins at some point in the womb (maybe in the third trimester since often that was when even they believed that abortions should be banned), then how can someone say when in the gestation that life actually began (what month). If that be the case, how could someone abort a fetus or perform an abortion knowing that uncertainty exists?

Isaiah 46 jumps from “before your birth, carried from your womb (birth), to “old ages and gray hairs”. BTW Proverbs 16:31“Gray hair is a crown of splendor; it is attained in the way of righteousness”. This verse suggests that gray hair is a sign of a life well lived and a commitment to righteousness. Proverbs 20:29“The glory of young men is their strength, gray hair the splendor of the old”. This verse suggests that gray hair is a sign of wisdom and honor.” Do you remember that 1980 Clairol commercial with the song “I’m gonna wash that gray right outa my hair”? Watch it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hc6f0M7h9b4I understand, but why be ashamed of the gray hair of old age? Why try to make yourself look young when you aren’t? Aren’t you satisfied with that last old age stage of life that God gives you without trying to hold on to younger stages? I must admit, I did use some of that but only once!!!!!!!!! I tell my wife all that and she still spend $75 once a month to color her hair from gray to brown. No one listens to me!

So what about that stage between birth and old age, Isaiah? Start with childhood. The pain and yet the joy of childbirth: “When a woman is giving birth, she has sorrow because her hour has come, but when she has delivered the baby, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a human being has been born into the world” (John 16:21).”Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD, the fruit of the womb a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children of one’s youth. Blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them! He shall not be put to shame when he speaks with his enemies in the gate.”(Psalm 127:3-5). Apparently children under the “age of accountability” are pure and free of sin: But Jesus called them to him, saying, “Let the children come to me, and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God” (Luke 18:16). Of course that refutes the idea that babies are born inheriting Adam’s sin, called “original sin”, from the fall. Catholicism has always taught that babies need to be born quickly to get rid of that inherited sin or else they will go to Catholic purgatory for babies which is called limbo. I found this to be very interesting from AI: In Catholic theology, limbo is the place where souls who die in original sin but are not condemned to hell reside. It is a border area between heaven and hell where souls are not punished but are also not able to experience eternal happiness with God in heaven.  The concept of limbo developed in Europe during the Middle Ages. Medieval theologians believed that limbo was divided into two parts:

  • Limbo of the Fathers: The place where Old Testament saints were thought to reside until Christ’s “descent into hell”
  • Limbo of the Infants: The place where unbaptized children and the mentally impaired reside 

The Catholic Church’s official catechism, published in 1992, did not mention limbo. The International Theological Commission (ITC) issued a document in 2007 that reduced the teaching of limbo from “common doctrine” to “a possible theological hypothesis”. The ITC concluded that there is less certainty about the salvation of infants who die without baptism than for those who are baptized.” In other words, Catholicism may be backing off the idea that unbaptized babies who die go to limbo. It’s funny how Catholics can something is the word of God through the pope and then later say it isn’t exactly so! Romans 5: 12 Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned”. A person only dies spiritually when he chooses to sin, not when he is born with original sin. BTW Jesus said “he that believes and is baptized shall be saved ” (Mark 16:16). Christian baptism is only for those who can believe. What good does it do to baptize a child who can’t believe? The book of Acts gives several cases of baptized believers, but not infant baptism. It might be countered that the jailor and “all his household” were baptized (Acts 16:33 And he took them the same hour of the night and washed their wounds; and he was baptized at once, he and all his family. 34 Then he brought them up into his house and set food before them. And he rejoiced along with his entire household that he had believed in God.”). But that would have to assume that he had underage children, and it still wouldn’t change the fact that only believers could be baptized.


At what age is a child considered responsible for choosing sin? That depends on the individual child, of course. Many think the age of 12 or so? This was interesting: “In Judaism, a Bar Mitzvah is typically celebrated at age 13 for boys because it marks the age when they are considered mature enough to fully take on the responsibilities of Jewish adulthood, including observing religious laws and being held accountable for their actions, which is often associated with the onset of puberty; the female equivalent, a Bat Mitzvah, is often celebrated at age 12, also signifying the coming of age based on maturity levels.” I’ve always said that teenage girls mature sooner than boys! I have surely experienced that dealing with immature boys in my Bible classes who sit in desks right next to mature young girls of the same age! Very frustrating! God will bless little children. They have a “guardian angel”. Matthew 18:10 Christ says, “See that you despise not one of these little ones: for I say to you, that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father who is in heaven”. I assume they still have those! But what about when a young child dies? That doesn’t mean that the child’s angel isn’t looking after the child. It may just be that God is allowing that child to die (regardless of why), but that God will take care of that child for eternity in a much better place in heaven. I always think of “The Shack” movie. That little girl went through a hellish nightmare when she was abducted and killed, but Mac was able to later see her playing in the fields with Jesus. God took care of her. Too many parents have become atheists when a child of theirs dies. I know it takes a lot of faith to see your deceased child in heaven, but be assured that it is so. People have always had a tendency to look down on youth b/c young people do a lot of bad, stupid things. Proverbs 20:11 “Even a child makes himself known by his acts, by whether his conduct is pure and upright.” Christians youth should be different, and an example to others. Ecclesiastes 11:9 Rejoice, O young man, in your youth, and let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth. Walk in the ways of your heart and the sight of your eyes. But know that for all these things God will bring you into judgment. 10 Remove vexation from your heart, and put away pain[c] from your body, for youth and the dawn of life are vanity.” Those verses imply that young people are going to do bad things that can bring the judgment of God on them. They “sow their wild oats”. “Youth and the dawn of life” are called “vanity” (the Hebrew word for vapor, breath: they appear to mean something but in the long run they are a vapor off a steam kettle that lasts for a short while and then disappear). Then the admonition in Ecclesiastes 12:1 Remember also your Creator in the days of your youth, before the evil days come and the years draw near of which you will say, “I have no pleasure in them”

What about the “young man or young woman” stage in between birth and old age? Proverbs 20:29 “The glory of young men is their strength, but the splendor of old men is their gray hair.” The “young men” refer to young people in the prime of their physical strength, essentially signifying the glory of youth as being their physical vitality and energy. I think Timothy was in that “young man” stage when Paul told him in 1 Timothy 4:12 Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity.” Paul then told Timothy in 2 Timothy 2:22 “So flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart.” Passions do run wild in young men when the testosterone is peaking. 1 John 2:14  “I write to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning. I write to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the evil one.” It is always good to see young adult Christian men step up to lead, serve, and be mentors to young people. Titus 2:6-8  “Likewise, urge the younger men to be self-controlled. Show yourself in all respects to be a model of good works, and in your teaching show integrity, dignity, and sound speech that cannot be condemned, so that an opponent may be put to shame, having nothing evil to say about us.” So many young adults lack self control. They act “wild”. They seem to think it is cool to act wild. The young adult Christian man’s goal should be to act like Jesus did in his young adult stage: Luke 2:52 And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man.” Psalm 71:5  For you, O Lord, are my hope, my trust, O Lord, from my youth.”Proverbs 1:8-9  Hear, my son, your father’s instruction, and forsake not your mother’s teaching, for they are a graceful garland for your head and pendants for your neck.” 1 Peter 5:5-7 “Likewise, you who are younger, be subject to the elders. Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” Daniel 1:17 As for these four youths, God gave them learning and skill in all literature and wisdom, and Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams.” Those 3 Hebrew “children” were young male adults who defied the king’s command to worship the image even as they were thrown into the fire. They had such faith and courage. Daniel 3:16 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. 17 If this be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king. 18 But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.” We need Christian young men to step up in this world of sin. A lot of young adults live for drinking, sex, materialism, pleasure, and wild times. Let’s not forget about young adult females. Titus 2:4-8 “And so train the young women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled.” Too many young adult Christian ladies are influenced by fashion, drinking, bar-hopping, one night stands, materialism, pleasure, vanity of how you look, jewelry, etc. Many are more interested in their careers than they are in being godly wives, mothers, homemakers, and examples to others. Many would rather work in their careers than stay home and raise their children in those early formative years, so they turn their very young children over to the grandparents (who often gladly take care of those children) or some day care services. I know there may be extenuating circumstances that require a young mother to work outside the home, but hopefully she can at least stay home with those very young children for those formative years. (Just my opinion). Remember Proverbs 31:30 Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain,
but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised. 31 Give her of the fruit of her hands, and let her works praise her in the gates.” I laugh when I read proverbs 31 description of the woman who fears the Lord, the ideal godly woman. He describes what that woman should be like, but adds 31:10 An excellent wife who can find? She is far more precious than jewels.” It is like, “this is what she would look like but you won’t find one like this!” Solomon could be a little misogynistic. Ecclesiastes 7:28 “One man among a thousand have I found, but a woman among all those have I not found.” Maybe his experiences with his thousand wives and concubines leading him to idolatry made him pessimistic about women! I do feel sorry for young Christian adults, men and women, trying to find a godly mate today. The field of prospects seems to be very limited. But God will lead you to that right mate, along with listening to good advice from older Christians.

Ok, we finally get to the last stage of Isaiah 46: “old age and gray hairs”. Job 12:12: “So with old age is wisdom, and with length of days understanding”. Older people are not always wiser but often Job is right. In the church, elders were to be older men, proven Christian men (1 Timothy 3) who had “managed their own households”. Yet Paul tells Timothy in 1 Timothy 5:19 Do not admit a charge against an elder except on the evidence of two or three witnesses. 20 As for those who persist in sin, rebuke them in the presence of all, so that the rest may stand in fear.” Some of the elders in the church that I have known in my 50 years of ministry were not wise, and really needed to be rebuked. Psalm 71:9: “Do not cast me off in the time of old age; forsake me not when my strength is spent”. I know what that means. I used to be able to work 12-14 hours a day painting. I would be sore, but recover quickly in the morning. Not so now at 75. I can still work hard and long but not nearly as hard and long as earlier in life. 2 Corinthians 4: 16 So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. 17 For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, 18 as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.” Old age and getting “older” should be time that, even as you watch your outer self wasting away, you begin to look forward to your new eternal body in heaven. So we groan with our aches and pains, but look forward. 2 Corinthians 5:1 For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. 2 For in this tent we groan, longing to put on our heavenly dwelling”. Psalm 90:10 “The years of our life are seventy, or even by reason of strength eighty; yet their span is but toil and trouble; they are soon gone, and we fly away.” That sounds like I’ve got 5 years left at the most! Psalm 37:25 “I have been young, and now am old, yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken or his children begging for bread.” Passages like this one bother me a little. Surely David had seen a righteous man and his children being poor and begging.for bread, maybe during one of the famiines God sent on Israel b/c of their sins. I think this is just a general rule but there might be exceptions. Titus 2:2,3 “Older men are to be sober-minded, dignified, self-controlled, sound in faith, in love, and in steadfastness. Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers or slaves to much wine. They are to teach what is good.” Titus has such good practical advice for young men and women and older men and women. Old age doesn’t mean that we can’g still bear fruit. Psalm 92:14 They will still yield fruit in advanced age; They will be full of sap and very green”

Ecclesiastes 12:1-7 “Remember also your Creator in the days of your youth, before the evil days come and the years draw near of which you will say, “I have no pleasure in them”; before the sun and the light and the moon and the stars are darkened and the clouds return after the rain, in the day when the keepers of the house tremble, and the strong men are bent, and the grinders cease because they are few, and those who look through the windows are dimmed, and the doors on the street are shut—when the sound of the grinding is low, and one rises up at the sound of a bird, and all the daughters of song are brought low— they are afraid also of what is high, and terrors are in the way; the almond tree blossoms, the grasshopper drags itself along, and desire fails, because man is going to his eternal home, and the mourners go about the streets— “. Is that accurate or what? Eyesight dims, hearing gets bad, bent over walking, teeth decay, legs get weak, hands tremble, you lose the desire to even go out of the house, depression clouds set in, can’t sleep. I have all the symptoms! He says all this is “b/c man is going to his eternal home”. In other words, he is dying. Death is right around the corner. They will be having you funeral in a short while. Psalm 71:17-18 “O God, from my youth you have taught me, and I still proclaim your wondrous deeds. So even to old age and gray hairs, O God, do not forsake me, until I proclaim your might to another generation, your power to all those to come.” As we get older we feel the need to ground our grandchildren in the faith, maybe even our children although hopefully we did that when they were little. Timothy’s mother and grandmother passed down their faith to Timothy. 2 Timothy 1:5 I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, dwells in you as well.” Old age may be a time when you reminise about the “good old days”, but Ecclesiastes 7:10  Say not, “Why were the former days better than these?” For it is not from wisdom that you ask this.” Anna was 84 and in the temple: Luke 2:36-38 ” And there was a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was advanced in years, having lived with her husband seven years from when she was a virgin, and then as a widow until she was eighty-four. She did not depart from the temple, worshiping with fasting and prayer night and day. And coming up at that very hour she began to give thanks to God and to speak of him to all who were waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem.” Old age might be a time of prayer and thanks, like Anna did.

Old age is a time of looking back at our life, our accomplishments and our failures. Jacob struggled spiritually all his years: he wrestled with God (thus his name change to Israel) at Penuel and during his whole life. He was about 110 when he moved his family to Egypt to be with Joseph. He was 130 when he told Pharoah: Genesus 47:9 So Jacob said to Pharaoh, “The years of my living abroad are 130; few and unpleasant have been the years of my life, nor have they attained the years that my fathers lived during the days of their living abroad.” How sad that Jacob looked back at this life and summed up his 130 years as “unpleasant”. They were unpleasant b/c for most of his years he lied to his father, cheated his brother, trusted in his own cunning instead of God, was fearful and cowardly. I hope I don’t end up like that. At least he told Joseph as he was blessing Joseph’s 2 sons: Genesis 48:15 ““The God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked, The God who has been my shepherd all my life to this day, 16 The angel who has redeemed me from all evil. That indicates that he finally realized that it was God’s wisdom and power, not his own cunning and strength, that had given him many blessings in life. Some find that awareness of God’s working in their lives as they are on their deathbed.

Psalm 39:5 “Behold, you have made my days a few handbreadths, and my lifetime is as nothing before you. Surely all mankind stands as a mere breath! Selah” A handbreath is the width of a hand, maybe 6 inches. I look back and it just seems like yesterday that I was young. It seems like a few handbreaths, not 75 years.

Ecclesiastes 6:3 ” If a man fathers a hundred children and lives many years, so that the days of his years are many, but his soul is not satisfied with life’s good things, and he also has no burial, I say that a stillborn child is better off than he.” Solomon’s phlosophy of life in Ecclesiastes is “eat, drink, and be merry”, enjoy the life God has given you. Put your trust in God and live every day for Him. In that way you will be satisfied with this life when you died, like Abraham. Genesis 25:8 Abraham breathed his last and died at a good old age, an old man and satisfied with life; and he was gathered to his people. I hope I can one day when I die look back and be satisfied with the life God has given me and ready for the next life in eternity.

This has been long, but 75 years of relection takes a lot of writing.

Isaiah 40: WHAT A GREAT CHAPTER!

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The Messianic prophecies in this last part of the book of Isiah are discussed separately in the blog article “isaiah Messianic Prophet, but here are some other neat passages in this section.

COMFORT FOR GOD’S PEOPLE

40:1Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. 2 Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and cry to her that her warfare is ended, that her iniquity is pardoned, that she has received from the Lord’s hand double for all her sins. A lot of this chapter has Messianic overtones, especially since it starts with the prediction o the coming of John the Baptist (40:3).

THE WORD OF GOD STANDS FOREVER

40:6 “A voice says, “Cry!” And I said,] “What shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and all its beauty is like the flower of the field. 7 The grass withers, the flower fade when the breath of the Lord blows on it; surely the people are grass. 8 The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever.” This great verse is quoted in 1 Peter 1:22 Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart, 23 since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God; 24 for“All flesh is like grass and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls, 25 but the word of the Lord remains forever. And this word is the good news that was preached to you.” The primary meaning is probably that God’s predictions will always come true, but it is amazing that the word of God has stood all these centuries when many have tried to destroy it. From AI: 1) “Antiochus (in the 2nd century BC) also destroyed copies of the Torah and sentenced to death anyone who was found to possess a copy of the Torah or observed its teachings. Antiochus ordered the total suppression of Temple sacrifices, Sabbath observance, and the practice of circumcision.” 2)According to the Book of Jeremiah, King Jehoiakim (one of the last kings of Judah) attempted to destroy the written word of God (which included Jeremiah’s predictions of the fall of Jerusalem to happen in 586 BC) by cutting up and burning a scroll containing Jeremiah’s prophecies. From AI: 3) “In 303 AD, the Roman Emperor Diocletian ordered that the Christian Scriptures be confiscated and burned. When Christians were found, they would give them copies of deuterocanonical books or other Christian literature, and the pagans, unsuspecting, burned them.”

THE GREATNESS OF GOD

40:9-26. Vs 9 Go tell the world “Behold your God who is coming”. A series of questions beginning with “who” showing how great God is:

1) 40:12 Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand and marked off the heavens with a span, enclosed the dust of the earth in a measure and weighed the mountains in scales and the hills in a balance? Imagine a God so big that he can scoop up all the waters from the rivers, lakes, and seas in his hands. You can only scoop us maybe a cup of water in your hands. A span is about 9 inches in the Bible, the length of an outstretched hand. Can you imagine trying to measure the distance from Huntsville to Mobile using a ruler (which is 12 inches)? But God’s hands are so big that he can use His span to measure all the heavens in the universe, maybe just a few of his spans. Can you imagine weighing the Rocky Mountains on a bathroom scale? Or on a small balance in the lab that weighs grams of chemicals? But God is so big that His bathroom scales can weigh all the mountains and hills on earth. There is a neat song: Our God is so big, so strong and so mighty, there’s nothing our God cannot do.”

2) 40:13 Who has measured (takan: To measure, weigh, regulate, estimate, balance)the Spirit of the Lord, or what man shows him his counsel? How big would you estimate that the Spirit of the Lord is? Psalm 139:7Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence? 8 If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there! 9 If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, 10 even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me. 11 If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light about me be night,” 12 even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is bright as the day, for darkness is as light with you.” God is spirit (John 4:24) and His spirit fills the universe. The Spirit of God tells us the mind, thoughts, and plans of God. 1 Corinthians 2:10 these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. 11 For who knows a person’s thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.”

3) Whom did he consult, and who made him understand? Who taught him the path of justice, and taught him knowledge, and showed him the way of understanding? We are always trying to learn wisdom at the feet of great men like Socrates and Plato, but God doesn’t have to consult anyone about wisdom. He is the scource of all wisdom for salvation and all things.

40:15 Behold, the nations are like a drop from a bucket, and are accounted as the dust on the scales; behold, he takes up the coastlands like fine dust. 16 Lebanon would not suffice for fuel, nor are its beasts enough for a burnt offering. 17 All the nations are as nothing before him, they are accounted by him as less than nothing and emptiness.” The United Nations recognizes 241 countries and territories when dependent territories are included with a total of 8 billion people. According to estimations, a gallon bucket can hold roughly 1 million drops of water. All the nations in the world are like one drop of water in God’s bucket.

Then to show the greatness of God, Isaiah has two “to whom will you liken or compare God to”?

  1. 40:18 To whom then will you liken God, or what likeness compare with him? 19 An idol! A craftsman casts it, and a goldsmith overlays it with gold and casts for it silver chains. 20 He who is too impoverished for an offering chooses wood that will not rot; he seeks out a skillful craftsman
    to set up an idol that will not move.” To an idol that a goldsmith forms, that a poor man has made to stand in his house so he can worship it for a long time since he can’t afford to go offer sacrifices on a regular basis?? God is big that: 40:22 It is he who sits above the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers; who stretches out the heavens like a curtain, and spreads them like a tent to dwell in; 23 who brings princes to nothing, and makes the rulers of the earth as emptiness. 24 Scarcely are they planted, scarcely sown, scarcely has their stem taken root in the earth, when he blows on them, and they wither, and the tempest carries them off like stubble.” You might could sit on top of a small plastic globe of the earth but God is so big than he can sit on top of the earth sphere. I might stretch out the 6 feet of curtains in my bathtub before I take a shower. God stretches out the endless heavens like I stretch out those curtains. I might set up a little tent to dwell in and spend the night in outside. God sets up His tent with all the heavens of the universe so he can dwell in it. You can blow dust off a countertop to move it. God can blow on the nations and move them wherever He wants. Daniel 12:21 “He removes kings and sets up kings”. This verse also says that God changes times and seasons, gives wisdom to the wise, and reveals deep and secret things.”
  2. 40:25 To whom then will you compare me, that I should be like him? says the Holy One. 26 Lift up your eyes on high and see: who created these? He who brings out their host by number, calling them all by name; by the greatness of his might and because he is strong in power, not one is missing.” Psalm 19:The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. 2 Day to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge. 3 There is no speech, nor are there words, whose voice is not heard.” From AI: The observable universe has ~ 2 trillion galaxies. Each galaxy has ~ 100 billion stars. Each star has about 1.6 planets. Multiplying these gives 3.2 x 10^23 planets in the observable universe.” From AI: “A few hundred stars have proper names, while the International Astronomical Union (IAU) recognizes proper names for 152 planets. There are 88 officially recognized constellations, as defined by the International Astronomical Union (IAU) (like Orion, Pleiades, and Arcturas mentioned in Job 9:8-9: did God name those when he book of Job was written or were they already named that by people?).” But has named each of the 200 billion, trillion stars or planets. How long would it take us to do that? God is a spirit who fills the universe, so that would not be difficult for Him since His spirit is right there everywhere in the universe. There is a “fixed order” of stars and planets in the universe, all on pre-set patterns of movement. 1 Chronicles 16:30 – “He has fixed the earth firm, immovable.” Psalm 93:1 – “Thou hast fixed the earth immovable and firm.” Psalm 96:10 – “He has fixed the earth firm, immovable.”Psalm 104:5 -“Thou didst fix the earth on its foundation so that it never can be shaken.” This fixed order of movement is so precise and dependable that we can safely send men into space and return them from orbit around the moon.

THE NEVER TIRING GOD, THE GOD OF UNLIMITED STRENGTH AND POWER

40:27 Why do you say, O Jacob, and assert, O Israel,
“My way is hidden from the Lord,
And the justice due me escapes the notice of my God”?
28 Do you not know? Have you not heard?
The Everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth
Does not become weary or tired.
His understanding is inscrutable.
29 He gives strength to the weary,
And to him who lacks might He increases power.
30 Though youths grow weary and tired,
And vigorous young men stumble badly,
31 Yet those who wait for the Lord
Will gain new strength;
They will mount up with wings like eagles,
They will run and not get tired,
They will walk and not become weary.”

The remnant often end up asking why God does not avenge their suffering. The souls under the altar in Revelation 6 asked, “How long, God, before You avenge our blood”? Is God asleep? Does He not see what is going on, how we are being persecuted? God even told the souls under the altar that He was going to wait until some more saints were martyred. That sounds like He doesn’t care. Or maybe He is powerless to stop it. Not so. He is the Creator of the universe so He has all power. He knows all that is going on. He is not tired or asleep. He has a plan and we must trust Him. He will give us the strength during those tough times to keep on keeping on. He will give us wings to fly above our trials and problems. He doesn’t always remove the problems, but He will give us the strength to handle them, to overcome them. As Paul said, “I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.” God is all powerful, and the amazing thing is that He gives us enough of His power to handle everything we face or do. Isaiah 41:10 fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you,
I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” It’s like when you are sinking in the water and can’t swim, or sinking in quicksand, and someone reaches down to give you their strong hand and pull up to safety, giving you strength that you can’t possibly have on your own.” From AI” In the Bible, God asks Moses if His power is limited in Numbers 11:23. This occurs when Moses expresses doubt about God’s ability to provide meat for the Israelites for a whole month, and God responds by saying, “Is the Lord’s hand shortened?” The LORD said to Moses, “Is the LORD’S power limited? Now you shall see whether My word will come true for you or not.”

PRAISE GOD FOR HIS CREATION

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Job 12:7 “But ask the animals, and they will teach you, or the birds in the sky, and they will tell you; 8 or speak to the earth, and it will teach you, or let the fish in the sea inform you. 9 Which of all these does not know that the hand of the LORD has done this? 10 In his hand is the life of every creature and the breath of all mankind.

Job 37:14 “Listen to this, Job; stop and consider God’s wonders. 15 Do you know how God controls the clouds and makes his lightning flash? 16 Do you know how the clouds hang poised, those wonders of him who has perfect knowledge?

Job 38:4 Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation? Tell me, if you understand.

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

Colossians 1:16 For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. 

Genesis 1:2 In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. 

Genesis 1:26 Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” 

Genesis 2:7 then the LORD God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.

John 1:1-3 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. 

Revelation 4:11 “Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created.” 

Revelation 5:13 And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, saying, “To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!”

Hebrews 3:4 (For every house is built by someone, but the builder of all things is God.)

Hebrews 11:3 By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible.

Psalm 8:1 “Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory in the heavens.” 8:3-4 When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them?

Psalm 19:1-4 The heavens proclaim the glory of God. The skies display his craftsmanship.Day after day they continue to speak; night after night they make him known.They speak without a sound or word; their voice is never heard.Yet their message has gone throughout the earth, and their words to all the world.

Psalm 33:6 By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, and by the breath of his mouth all their host.
7 He gathers the waters of the sea as a heap; he puts the deeps in storehouses. 8 Let all the earth fear the Lord; let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him! 9 For he spoke, and it came to be; he commanded, and it stood firm.

Psalm 65:9-11 You care for the land and water it; you enrich it abundantly. The streams of God are filled with water to provide the people with grain, for so you have ordained it. You drench its furrows and level its ridges; you soften it with showers and bless its crops. You crown the year with your bounty, and your carts overflow with abundance. 

Psalm 95:4 In his hand are the depths of the earth, and the mountain peaks belong to him. 5 The sea is his, for he made it, and his hands formed the dry land.

Psalm 104:19 He made the moon to mark the seasons, and the sun knows when to go down. 24 How many are your works, LORD! In wisdom you made them all; the earth is full of your creatures. 25 There is the sea, vast and spacious, teeming with creatures beyond number— living things both large and small. 24 O Lord, how manifold are thy works! In wisdom has thou made them all; the earth is full of thy creatures. 31 May the glory of the Lord endure forever; may the Lord rejoice in his works.

Psalm 121:1-2 A Song of Ascents. I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth

Psalm 124:8 “Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth.”

Psalm 136:5-9 to him who by his understanding made the heavens, His love endures forever. who spread out the earth upon the waters, His love endures forever. who made the great lights— His love endures forever. the sun to govern the day, His love endures forever. the moon and stars to govern the night; His love endures forever. 

Psalm 139:13-14 For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb.I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well.

Psalm 147:8-9 He covers the sky with clouds; he supplies the earth with rain and makes grass grow on the hills. He provides food for the cattle and for the young ravens when they call. 

Psalm 148:1-7 Praise the LORD! Praise the LORD from the heavens! Praise him from the skies! Praise him, all his angels! Praise him, all the armies of heaven! Praise him, sun and moon! Praise him, all you twinkling stars! Praise him, skies above! Praise him, vapours high above the clouds! Let every created thing give praise to the LORD, for he issued his command, and they came into being. He set them in place forever and ever. His decree will never be revoked. Praise the LORD from the earth, you creatures of the ocean depths,

Isaiah 40:26 Lift your eyes and look to the heavens: Who created all these? He who brings out the starry host one by one and calls forth each of them by name. Because of his great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing. 28 The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He does not faint or grow weary, his understanding is unsearchable.

Isaiah 45:12 “It is I who made the earth and created mankind on it. My own hands stretched out the heavens; I marshaled their starry hosts.”

Isaiah 55:12 For you shall go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and the hills before you shall break forth into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.

Jeremiah 10:12 But God made the earth by his power; he founded the world by his wisdom and stretched out the heavens by his understanding. 

Jeremiah 32:17 ‘Ah, Lord GOD! It is you who have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and by your outstretched arm! Nothing is too hard for you.’ 

Ecclesiastes 3:11 “He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end.”

Nehemiah 9:6 You are the Lord, you alone. You have made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them; and you preserve all of them; and the host of heaven worships you.

Amos 9:6 Who builds his upper chambers in the heavens and founds his vault upon the earth; who calls for the waters of the sea and pours them out upon the surface of the earth— the Lord is his name.

From Pureflix.com by Billy Hallowell “These Bible verses about nature remind us of some powerful realities. Here are just some of the take-aways:

1 We should pause to marvel at the wonders God created.

2 God created everything we see before us.

3 The Lord created everything we see in nature out of darkness and nothingness.

4 God holds the power to create stunning beauty.

5 Everything we see in creation points back to the Creator.”

Hallowell goes on to suggest doing prayer walks through nature, devotions outdoors, or just pondering the wonders of it all.

My. thoughts. God takes pleasure and rejoices in his works of creation. An artist looks at his/her finished painting and takes pleasure just looking at it and it makes him happy. I love cutting my yard, edging, and weed eating. When I get through, I enjoy just looking at the finished project. God does that with his works. It is interesting that the objects of his creation are given human characteristics (anthropomorphism). The stars, animals, mountains, etc. rejoice, sing, and clap when they see their Creator. If we could just hear them speak, they are praising God non stop. Use your imagination as you observe nature and listen to them speaking. You can see God’s love in how he takes care of his creation (watering it, etc.) just as we take care of a garden that we grow. We can learn a lot about God from his creation.

God’s creation is amazingly designed. “Intelligent design”: the theory that life, or the universe, cannot have arisen by chance and was designed and created by some intelligent entity. I am amazed when I go to an aquarium like the one in Chattanooga, Tn. The diversity of colors and designs of the fish amazes me. The same with the diversity of all animals, birds, and plants. The same with the design of the human body with all the systems in the body that must work together for human life to exist and function. The design of the periodic table with each successive element adding exactly one proton to the nucleus. The laws of physics and math that exist. The universal constants that govern the universe. The designed movement of the heavenly bodies that allow us to send astronauts into space.

I always have 2 thoughts when I look at intelligent desirn. 1) Such diversity and design could not have evolved by chance. I look at a car with all the engineered parts that have to all work together for a car to run properly. That car can’t be a product of random chance from nothing. It had a designer and material to form the parts out of. If the material that the parts of the car were formed were eternal, they would have rusted making them useless (the 2nd Law of Thermodynamics). They didn’t just pop into existence from nothing (the 1st Law of Thermodynamics). The same goes with the intelligently designed parts of the universe and all life. Matter could not be eternal or it would be in a state of disarray and decay to the point of being useless, not designed (2nd Law). Matter can’t pop itself into existence from nothing (1st. Law). But we find matter and life is so well designed. As Paul said in Romans 1:20, there is no excuse for anyone not seeing that there is a creator God whose power made and designed everything. There is no excuse for not believing in a Creator God. Psalm 19:1 calls the atheist a “fool”. Psalm 104 might be my favorite of the creation texts above. Go back and read the entire psalm.

Psalm 104:1 Bless the Lord, O my soul!
    O Lord my God, you are very great!
You are clothed with splendor and majesty,
2     covering yourself with light as with a garment,
    stretching out the heavens like a tent.
3 He lays the beams of his chambers on the waters;
he makes the clouds his chariot;
    he rides on the wings of the wind;
4 he makes his messengers winds,
    his ministers a flaming fire.

5 He set the earth on its foundations,
    so that it should never be moved.
6 You covered it with the deep as with a garment;
    the waters stood above the mountains.
7 At your rebuke they fled;
    at the sound of your thunder they took to flight.
8 The mountains rose, the valleys sank down
    to the place that you appointed for them.
9 You set a boundary that they may not pass,
    so that they might not again cover the earth.

10 You make springs gush forth in the valleys;
    they flow between the hills;
11 they give drink to every beast of the field;
    the wild donkeys quench their thirst.
12 Beside them the birds of the heavens dwell;
    they sing among the branches.
13 From your lofty abode you water the mountains;
    the earth is satisfied with the fruit of your work.

14 You cause the grass to grow for the livestock
    and plants for man to cultivate,
that he may bring forth food from the earth
15     and wine to gladden the heart of man,
oil to make his face shine
    and bread to strengthen man’s heart.

16 The trees of the Lord are watered abundantly,
    the cedars of Lebanon that he planted.
17 In them the birds build their nests;
    the stork has her home in the fir trees.
18 The high mountains are for the wild goats;
    the rocks are a refuge for the rock badgers.

19 He made the moon to mark the seasons;[a]
    the sun knows its time for setting.
20 You make darkness, and it is night,
    when all the beasts of the forest creep about.
21 The young lions roar for their prey,
    seeking their food from God.
22 When the sun rises, they steal away
    and lie down in their dens.
23 Man goes out to his work
    and to his labor until the evening.

Meditating on God’s creation and His care for His creation led the psalmist to this conclusion: 33 I will sing to the Lord as long as I live; I will sing praise to my God while I have being.
34 May my meditation be pleasing to him,
    for I rejoice in the Lord.
35 Let sinners be consumed from the earth,
    and let the wicked be no more!
Bless the Lord, O my soul!
Praise the Lord!”

Let the atheist gloat in his denial of the existence of God, but I will praise the Lord for his creation.

2) But then I have a second thought. You see, I believe in a six 24 hour week of creation. I firmly believe that the Bible states that as a fact. The Hebrew word for day is “yom” always means a 24 hour day in the Old Testament when it is used with a number or numerical adjective (2nd day) or used with “morning and evening”. Genesis 1 uses “yom” in both ways. In Exodus 20:9 Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. 11 For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. That was the basis for Israel working 6 days and resting on the 7th. That is the basis for the “week” as a measure of time. All other measures like year, month, season, day, etc. have a natural law of the universe that dictates those time period. I believe that the Bible teaches that the earth is young, around 6,000 years old. The genealogies of Genesis 5 and 11 yield about 2,000 years from the creation to Abraham. The years in those genealogies are very specific. Adam was 130 when he fathered Seth. Seth was 105 when he fathered Enosh. Etc. Those are not imaginary numbers. They are the same kind of numbers that you would use in doing your family genealogy. Then Matthew 1 gives 42 generations or about 2,000 years from Abraham to Jesus. The word genea there is always used of a period of about 40 years or the people living in a 40 year period in the same way we speak of the x or z generation today. It has been about 2,000 years since Jesus to today so that adds up to about 6,000 years. There is no way around the fact that the Bible claims that the creation week was about 6,000 years ago.

Some say the whole creation story is just a myth or allegory, but an honest look at the facts I just gave refutes that. You can’t just allegorize all that. You have to just say the Bible is wrong in its claims if the earth is 6 billion years old. You can’t just allegorize the creation of man from dust. That happened on the 6th 24 hour day. It either happened literally that way or the Bible is wrong. If macro evolution (micro evolution is variations in each species and that does occur; macro evolution involves the changing of a species into a totally different species, like reptiles to birds or fish to men, and that has never been shown to occur) is true (either atheistic or theistic evolution), then man evolved over millions of years instead of being formed full grown from dust in just a moment of time as the Bible claimed. Jesus said in Matthew 19:“Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female, 5 and said, ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? He is quoting Genesis 1 and 2. Apparently he believed the creation story was literal, not figurative or some allegory. Paul said that Adam was the first man. If macro evolution is true, then death existed for millions of years before the fall in the Garden. But the Bible claims that death was the result of the sin of Adam and only began after Adam sinned. There are plenty of evidences for a young earth (google that).

The measure used to say that the earth is 6 billiion years old is radiometric dating using the half-life of radioactive elements, but that method involves several assumptions that can’t be proven. Mainly, that the original rock sample had 100% mother element and 0% daughter element (the element that the radioactive element decays into each half life). The earth looks old (apparent age) even though it is not that old. God made everything full grown, with diamonds, rubies, and coal in the ground ready for man to use and enjoy immediately after he was created. Some say that would make God deceptive to make it look old when it really isn’t. Adam seconds after he was created would have looked old, but he wasn’t. That’s not deceptive. It’s just the way God chose to do it. He could have chosen to do it over millions of years (theistic evolution) but the Bible claims that he did not do it that way. Either believe the creation account to literal or reject the Bible, which can lead to rejecting all the Bible if we reject Genesis. The theory of evolution (macro evolution) is just that, a theory that cannot be proven. The fossil record does not confirm it either, with no fossil record of one species evolving into a completely different species. In Genesis 1, God created eveything to reproduces “after its own kind” and that is the way it has always happened. Mutations and natural selection, the supposed mechanisms of macro evolution, do not account for the creation and diversity of life and do not support the theory of evolutioin. Many atheists even acknowledge Darwin’s theory to be false.

But my second leads to other questions even if I believe God created everything. How did God create all the diversity of plants in a 24 hour day, of land animals in another 24 hour day, of all the planets and stars in the many galaxies of the univers in another 24 hour day, of fish and fowl in another 24 hour day, of mammals and man in another 24 hour day? The problem is that I picture God as if he were a man sitting down to think up the design for all the fish, for example, and then programming the natural instinctive habits of the fish. Then he has to disperse the fish over the entire planet. All that within a 24 hour day. Sounds impossible, doesn’t it? But God is not like a man with limited powers doing all that. In Numbers 11, God told Moses that He was going to give meat to the complaining Israelites. 21 But Moses said, “The people among whom I am number six hundred thousand on foot, and you have said, ‘I will give them meat, that they may eat a whole month!’ 22 Shall flocks and herds be slaughtered for them, and be enough for them? Or shall all the fish of the sea be gathered together for them, and be enough for them?” 23 And the Lord said to Moses, “Is the Lord’s hand shortened? Now you shall see whether my word will come true for you or not.” Jeremiah 32:17: “Ah, Lord GOD! It is you who have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and by your outstretched arm! Nothing is too hard for you” God is an all powerful, all knowing, all present spirit (John 4:24 God is spirit) that fills the universe. That God spirit can be creating from nothing animals and fish all over the planet simultaneously, all within a 24 hour day.

Now, I must admit that even that thought seems unbelievable to me even if it helps explain how God could do it. But the other option is atheism, that there is no god, that it all came about by random chance evolution from nothing. The belief that God created it all in six 24 hour days is still the best option. Thankfully, we have other evidences that the Bible is the inspired word of God, such as fulfilled prophecies of nations and kings (like the statue in Daniel 2 that predicted the next 4 empires and Daniel 8 that predicts the breaking up of Alexander the Great’s Grecian empire into 4 lesser kigndoms after his death), fulfilled Messianic prophecies (like Isaiah 53), the miracles of Jesus (which the enemies could not deny had happened, they just attibuted it to the work of the devil), and the resurrection of Jesus from the dead (the ultimate proof, Acts 17:31 because He has set a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all people [x]by raising Him from the dead.”). These proofs help reinforce my belief that God indeed created all this diversity in six 24 hour days.

Then I just pause and think,”Wow”! Look at what God did. That evokes praise just as the psalmist in Psalm 104:34 May my meditation be pleasing to him,
    for I rejoice in the Lord.
35 Let sinners be consumed from the earth,
    and let the wicked be no more!
Bless the Lord, O my soul!
Praise the Lord!”

Hallelujah, which means “Hallel” (praise) “yah” (shortened form of YHWH or Yahweh). So I hope this article helps increase your faith in God and remove those moments of doubt that most of us have from time to time. The song in our songbooks, Hallelujah Praise Jehovah is based on Psalm 148 invoking all of God’s creation to praise him (whiich would include man, the height of God’s creation).

Hallelujah, praise Jehovah, from the heavens praise His name;
praise Jehovah in the highest, all His angels, praise proclaim.
All His hosts, together praise Him, sun and moon and stars on high;
praise Him, O you heav’ns of heavens, and you floods above the sky.

Let them praises give Jehovah, they were made at His command;
them forever He established, His decree shall ever stand.
From the earth O praise Jehovah, all you seas, you monsters all,
fire and hail and snow and vapors, stormy winds that hear His call. [Refrain]

Let them praises give Jehovah, they were made at His command;
them forever He established, His decree shall ever stand.
From the earth O praise Jehovah, all you seas, you monsters all,
fire and hail and snow and vapors, stormy winds that hear His call. [Refrain]

The refrain or chorus at the end of each verse.

Let them praises give Jehovah, for His name alone is high,
and His glory is exalted, and His glory is exalted,
and His glory is exalted far above the earth and sky. 

Listen to this song acapella. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T0EZctgkSFY

Here is the story of the man who wrote the music to this song, William Kirkpatrick (1838 to 1921). He published about 100 major musical works. Here is an interesting quote from Hymns4Him at https://hymns4him.mjbhost.com/hymns/hallelujah-praise-jehovah-2/

“William J. Kirkpatrick died on September 20, 1921. He told his wife that night that he had a tune running through his head and he wanted to write it down before he lost it. His wife retired to bed and awoke in the middle of the night to find that he was not there. She went to his study to find him, and when she did, he was slumped over on his desk, dead, without having recorded that song. He was interred in West Laurel Hill Cemetery near Philadelphia. ”

Another quoted story:

“Kirkpatrick participated in many of the Camp Meetings the Methodist churches held. He often led the music portion of the meeting and enlisted the help of soloists and other musicians to perform for the attenders. During one of these meetings, he became saddened by his observation of the soloist, who would perform the required songs and then leave without staying to hear the preacher. William feared that this young man did not really know Christ and so he began to pray that God would somehow get a hold of the soloist’s heart. One evening while he was praying, a song began to form in his mind. He quickly jotted down the lyrics to go with the music and asked the soloist to sing the song that night. The lyrics of the song convicted the young man’s heart and he ended up staying and listening to the message. When the preacher gave the altar call at the end of the night, the soloist got up and went to the front of the tent and placed his trust in Jesus. The lyrics that so touched this young man, and many people since, are based on Luke’s account of Jesus’ parable of the Prodigal Son in Luke 15. “I’ve wandered far away from God, Now I’m coming home; The paths of sin too long I’ve trod, Lord, I’m coming home. Coming home, coming home, Never more to roam; Open now Thine arms of love, Lord, I’m coming home.” Among the many other hymns for which Kirkpatrick contributed music, these are some of the most notable.” Here are the words to that song, Lord I’m Coming Home.

  1. I’ve wandered far away from God,
    Now I’m coming home;
    The paths of sin too long I’ve trod,
    Lord, I’m coming home.
    • Refrain:
      Coming home, coming home,
      Nevermore to roam;
      Open wide Thine arms of love,
      Lord, I’m coming home.
  2. I’ve wasted many precious years,
    Now I’m coming home;
    I now repent with bitter tears,
    Lord, I’m coming home.
  3. I’m tired of sin and straying, Lord,
    Now I’m coming home;
    I’ll trust Thy love, believe Thy word,
    Lord, I’m coming home.
  4. My soul is sick, my heart is sore,
    Now I’m coming home;
    My strength renew, my hope restore,
    Lord, I’m coming home.
  5. My only hope, my only plea,
    Now I’m coming home;
    That Jesus died, and died for me,
    Lord, I’m coming home.
  6. I need His cleansing blood I know,
    Now I’m coming home;
    Oh, wash me whiter than the snow,
    Lord, I’m coming home.

Lisen to the song. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7_M_x4qX3JU

I think of a friend and brother when I hear the words of that song. “I’ve wasted many precious years, but now I’m coming home”. I have spent 30 years at Madison Academy in Huntsville, Alabama as principal or teacher, preaching part time the first 10 years at Monrovia Church of Christ in Madison. There was only one year in that 30 years that I preached full time at Monrovia. During that year, I’ m sitting in the church office doing preacher stuff and I got a phone call out of the blue. The man said he was John Howerton, that he had been to our church service a couple of times (I never noticed him), that he had wasted most of his life by not following Jesus (he was in his 60’s at that time), and that he was ready to be baptized and devote his last years to Jesus. I baptized him. He went on to be a faithful Christian till death a few years ago. He went on a mission trip with our church to Baja, Mexico and helped the poor people in a village a lot. He was a brilliant man who wasted many years but came to the Lord. I miss him. He and another close friend and mentor, Hugh Minor, and I spent several meals together (John always bought). He was a political activist and would have loved to still be alive when Trump just recently got elected.

Kirkpatrick wrote some of our most familiar songs. Look up the words to these songs.

“’Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L3V58-VcHJs

“A Wonderful Savior is Jesus My Lord” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aC-jTDHYRus. Fanny Cosby and Kirkpatrick wrote this song in 1890.

“Jesus Saves! (We Have Heard the Joyful Sound)” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cxnFr-NLeLU

“Lead Me to Calvary” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rE6qReRGmaY

Thanks for reading. I hope you will listen to all these songs just cited. It is very edifying.

LONELINESS

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Some of the verses of “Only the lonely” by Roy Orbison:

Only the lonely
Know the way I feel tonight
Only the lonely
Know this feeling ain’t right. But only the lonely
Know why
I cry
Only the lonelyOnly the lonely
Only the lonelyOnly the lonely
Know the heartaches I’ve been through
Only the lonely
Know I cry and cry for you.

Listen to the song on youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aMShwAnph8k

Of course, that song was about him losing his sweetheart, his baby, but it epitomizes how the lonely feel. Maybe he is right. Only the lonely can understand how being lonely feels. David knew how it felt.

Psalm 25:16 Turn to me and be gracious to me, for I am lonely and afflicted. 17 The troubles of my heart are enlarged; bring me out of my distresses. 18 Consider my affliction and my trouble, and forgive all my sins. The Hebrew word for lonely is yachid: Only, solitary, unique, beloved. It is often translated “only”, or “only one” or “only son” but twice it is translated “lonely” (here and Ps 68:6).

Psalm 68:6 God makes a home for the lonely;

I guess I should be writing my own words on loneliness, but sometimes it is good just to quote from someone who already has great words on a topic,and such is the case here.

Gotquestions.org has a good article on loneliness.

“Being alone and being lonely are two different things. One can be alone without being lonely, and one can be lonely in a crowded room. Loneliness is, therefore, a state of mind, an emotion brought on by feelings of separation from other human beings. The sense of isolation is very deeply felt by those who are lonely. The Hebrew word translated “desolate” or “lonely” in the Old Testament means “one alone, only; one who is solitary, forsaken, wretched.” There is no deeper sadness that ever comes over the mind than the idea that we are alone in the world, that we do not have a friend, that no one cares for us, that no one is concerned about anything that might happen to us, that no one would care if we were to die or shed a tear over our grave.

No one felt loneliness more keenly than David. In a series of earnest, heartfelt appeals to God, David cried out in his loneliness and despair. His own son had risen up against him, the men of Israel went after him, and he was forced to flee from the city, and leave his house and family. Lonely and afflicted (Psalm 25:16), his only recourse was to turn to God and plead for mercy and God’s intervention (Psalm 25:21) because his only hope was in God. It is interesting to note that the word “lonely” is never used in the New Testament to describe people. In the New Testament, the word “lonely” only occurs twice and both times refers to desolate places (Mark 1:45; Luke 5:16), where Jesus moved off into the wilderness to be alone.

Whatever the cause of loneliness, for the Christian the cure is always the same—the comforting fellowship of Christ. That loving relationship with our Master has reassured and encouraged countless thousands who languished in prisons and even went to their deaths for His sake. He is the friend who “sticks closer than a brother” (Proverbs 18:24), who lays down His life for His friends (John 15:13-15), and who has promised never to leave us or forsake us but to be with us until the end of the age (Matthew 28:20). We can take comfort in the words of the old hymn that says it best: “Friends may fail me, foes assail me, He is with me to the end. Hallelujah, what a Savior!””

Some great thoughts. “Being alone and being lonely are two different things. One can be alone without being lonely, and one can be lonely in a crowded room.” I like being alone, and don’t always feel lonely when I am alone, though sometimes I am alone and lonely. I can be in a crowd and feel isolated and lonely if I am not fitting in. ” Loneliness is, therefore, a state of mind, an emotion brought on by feelings of separation from other human beings.” Sometimes I want to be alone, to not be part of the group. Our family made trips to Puerto Rico and Costa Rica in the last two summers. I am a pain to travel with b/c i am always worrying about something that might go wrong, about plane delays, about some of our family missing a flight, about not making it to the ferry on time to get to the island we were staying in, about someone getting hurt on the trip, about the best place to stay, about catching the flight home on time. I worry for the whole group, not just for myself. I actually thought to myself, “maybe it would be better if I just stayed home and let them go. Less stressful for me and for them also b/c they handle every situation easily. But then I thought, “as soon as I stay home and they fly out, I will feel a deep sense of isolation and loneliness.” So I go and try to deal with the stress. It really helps when they completely take over the planning of the trip and handle any situations that come up.

I think back to my college days. I was raised in Birmingham, Alabama and spend my first year of college at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa. I was miserable the whole time. I had friends, but not close friends. I kept myself busy with studying (engineering courses), but I headed home to B’ham as soon as that last class ended on Friday. I delayed going back to T-town as long as I could, usually going back on Sunday evening or even Monday morning at times. My girlfriend and wife to be was back in B’ham and I missed her. I didn’t have a cell phone or face time. The only communication I got from her was a letter she usually sent on Monday and I would get it on Wednesday. I would write her a letter on Monday and she would get it on Wednesday. We found those mushy letters recently and just laughed at them. I think I can say that I truly felt lonely. Finally, after one year in Tuscaloosa, I decided, “Why am I doing this?” I came home and spent the next 2 1/2 finishing my engineering degree at UAB back when UAB was one building only in the south side of B’ham. But I was happy being back at home. I saw my girlfriend more, but it wasn’t just that. I just enjoyed being in my home, my own room, not having a bunch of guys around in the dorm or apartment we stayed in. I was lonely in Tuscaloosa even though I wasn’t alone, but I wasn’t lonely in B’ham even though I was alone.

So what advice might I give to someone who is lonely. First of all, if you aren’t happy where you are, change if you can. Why be unhappy and lonely if you can help it? David had no choice. Saul was pursuing him in the wilderness for 10 years. He could not go home to his parents. He had to leave them in the care of the king of Moab (1 Samuel 22:4-14). I was able to go home to live with my parents in B’ham. It wasn’t like I did a lot of things with them while I finished my degree at UAB. It was just being at home with them. I lived pretty much independent even while I was in my parents’ house. But I wasn’t lonely.

If you are lonely and would like to change your circumstances, but you can’t, then what can you do. There might be many reasons that you can’t change them. Maybe work or school related. Maybe financial. Of course here is where we cite Bible verses about God will always be with you and never forsake you. Maybe your family or friends forsake and leave you, but He never will.

  • 1 Peter 5:7“Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you”. 
  • Psalm 27:9-10“Do not leave me nor forsake me, O God of my salvation. When my father and my mother forsake me, then the Lord will take care of me”. 
  • Psalm 73:23-25“Nevertheless I am continually with You; You have taken hold of my right hand. You will guide me with Your plan”. 
  • Isaiah 41:10“Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand”

Maybe a closer and deeper relationship with God is the key to dealing with loneliness. From AI on the internet: “While there isn’t a direct translation of “lonely” in the New Testament, the Greek word most closely associated with the concept of loneliness is “eremos,” which means “desert place” or “solitude,” often used to describe Jesus going to secluded areas to be alone.” It is no coincidence that Jesus went to these solitary places to pray when under duress. Luke 5:15 But the news about Him was spreading even farther, and large crowds were gathering to hear Him and to be healed of their sicknesses. 16 But Jesus Himself would often slip away to the wilderness (erémos: Desert, wilderness, solitary place, desolate)and pray. Mark 1:45 But he went out and began to proclaim it freely and to spread the news around, to such an extent that Jesus could no longer publicly enter a city, but stayed out in unpopulated areas (eremos); and they were coming to Him from everywhere.” Jesus just had to escape the people coming to him. It wasn’t that He didn’t love them or have compassion for them and their sicknesses. I mean he healed everyone who came to him and culled no one. But he needed his time alone with God in prayer, and that necessitated getting rid of all the distractions, pressures, and stressers. We need that kind of time alone with God. Get rid of all the clutter. Turn the phone off. Close the ipad. As Jesus said, get in a closet and pray. Like the movie, have a “Prayer room” dedicated to silence and prayer. Seek the wisdom and guidance of God. Maybe you are lonely where you are, but maybe God has you there for a reason and it would be bad to leave before He can accomplish HIs plans for you. Maybe you just need to tough it out until you think God is changing plans for you. Maybe being happy is not the main thing. If so, you need a prayer room to get the strength to keep doing God’s plan even if you are lonely. Jesus found those desert places, prayed alone with God, and then found the strength to go back to healing all those people he temporarily avoided.

If you are lonely but can’t change your circumstances, or even if you could change them but feel you need to stick it out so God can use you where you are to do HIs plans, then here is another suggestion. “A friend sticks closer than a brother” is a quote from the Bible, Proverbs 18:24. Often a good friend can help you deal with loneliness. Even more so than a family member perhaps. Maybe you don’t share a lot of things with your companions or coworkers or teammates. Maybe they like to do things that you don’t approve of, like drinking parties. Maybe you don’t approve of how they talk or gossip or curse. But a good friend is one you can talk to, share you feelings of loneliness with. Maybe just you and your friend can sit and talk or go somewhere or relax and watch TV or a movie. You might not even talk. You might just be there quietly for one another. God is the one we should really rely one for comfort in our loneliness, but that comfort of God is a spiritual thing of faith that you can’t see or touch. But often God uses close friends to give us His comfort. Pauls spoke of this in 2 Corinthians 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our affliction so that we will be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God”. Good friends empathize and comfort each other with the comfort that God gives each one. I do have a few close friends that I get comfort from, and I am thankful for that.

One other suggestion. Go out serving others in some way. Go find a widow to visit and talk with. Go feed the poor at a local food bank. Go play with some young kids and take them somewhere and buy them candy. Go visit someone else’s grandparents if your grandparents are not near by. Go to a Bible study in a small group. Get an online Bible course to guide you in a deeper Bible study of a Bible book or topic. Get a friend or friends to join you in a small group. That will give you something to look forward to.

BTW this blog article is dedicated to someone I love and respect who asked me to write an article on loneliness. She might have just been joking b/c I have been flooding emails with numerous Biblical articles on Daniel, the 2nd coming, Romans 9-11, etc. Pretty heavy reading. But I decided to write that article on loneliness for her.

ROMANS 11:25-27 (And all of Romans 9-11)

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Romans 11:25 Lest you be wise in your own sight, I do not want you to be unaware of this mystery, brothers:[k] a partial hardening has come upon Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. 26 And in this way all Israel will be saved, as it is written, “The Deliverer will come from Zion,
    he will banish ungodliness from Jacob”;27 “and this will be my covenant with them
    when I take away their sins.”

Romans 11:27 is considered to quote from the Old Testament prophet Isaiah, specifically from passages like Isaiah 59:20-21 and Isaiah 27:9, although the exact wording aligns most closely with the Septuagint translation of these verses, which is the Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible used by early Christians;. 

2 main questions from Romans 11:25-27: 1) Who is the “all Israel” that will be saved, and when will “all Israel be saved”? 2) What and when is the “fulness of the Gentiles”?

First of all, I must acknowledge that my interpretation of this passage comes from a full preterist view. That is important b/c that view eliminates futuristic interpretations of the passage. Many scholars believe that the passage is still to be fulfilled in our future, that it refers to the 2nd coming and a salvation of the Jewish people in the future. The full preterism view is that the 2nd coming was in 70 AD, so that would eliminate futuristic views completely. You can read my articles on the 2nd coming to. get a study of the full preterist view if you chose, but in this article I won’t defend the full preterism view.

Having said that, how do I answer those 2 main questions? Let’s look at the context of Romans 9-11. Those 3 chapters describe the process of saving the remnant of Israel (those who would believe that Jesus is the Messiah and be saved in the church) and the grafting in of the Gentile believers into the new covenant church along with the Jewish believers.

Key thoughts in these 3 chapters. 9:4 They are Israelites, and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises. That would be fleshly Israel, that nation of Israel in the OT. 9:6 But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel, 7 and not all are children of Abraham because they are his offspring, but “Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.” 8 This means that it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as offspring. “All who are descended from Israel” would be fleshly Israel, the nation. But “belong to Israel” would be the remnant of Israel who would believe in Jesus as the Messiah and be saved in the church. Those would be “the children of God, the children of promise”. “It is not the children of the flesh (the nation) who are the children of God”. In other words, not all who are of the fleshly Israel are in the remnant, only those Jews who believe in Jesus. “It is not as though the word of God has failed”. God made promises in the OT to save Israel in the Messianic Age. For example, Isaiah 27:9 “Therefore by this the guilt of Jacob will be atoned for, and this will be the full fruit of the removal of his sin” (quoted in Romans 11:27). The OT prophets spoke of “restore the fortunes of Israel” (Jeremiah 30:3,7,18; 32:44; 33:7,11; Amos 9:13-15). The cities will be rebult, Israel will return to their land and will dwell securely in the land. Israel will be saved (Jeremiah 33:16  “In those days Judah will be saved, and Jerusalem will dwell securely. And this is the name by which it will be called: ‘The Lord is our righteousness.’” God would make a new covenant with Israel (Jeremiah 31:31 “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah) in which he would “forgive their iniquity and remember their sins no more” (Jeremiah 31:34 For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”) Jeremiah 31:36 “If this fixed order departs from before me, declares the Lord, then shall the offspring of Israel cease from being a nation before me forever.” The future of Israel would be as certain as the fixed order of the sun, moon, and stars in their orbits.

Now, on the surface, this looks as if these passages predict that the entire Jewish nation would be restored to the power of the nation under King David, that the nation of Israel would get and keep all the Promised Land forever in the Messianic Age, that the entire nation of Israel would be saved. But Paul says that “not all Israel belong to Israel” (Romans 9:6). He also says that these OT promises for Israel’s restoration and salvation have been fulfilled at the tiime he wrote Romans (“it is not as though the word of God has failed” Romans 9:6). This shows that those OT promises were made to the nation, but only the remnant (those Jews who accepted Jesus as the Messiah) would be the recipients of those promises. So, were those promises fulfilled phycially or is this figurative language? The remnant Jewish church did not receive the Promised Land that Joshua conquered. They did not rebuild cities. They did not restore the power of the kingdom under David. But they were saved spiritually and were the recipients of the OT promises. Therefore, those promises must be figurative language. Jesus said in John 18:36 “My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting, that I might not be delivered over to the Jews. But my kingdom is not from the world.” Jesus said in Matthew 21: 43 “Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people producing its fruits.” Israel was God’s kingdom on earth in the OT (Exodus 19:6 and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation). God took that kingdom away from the fleshly nation of Israel and gave it to the church kingdom nation (of Jewish and Gentile believers). 1 Peter 2:9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession. Revelatiiion 1:5 “To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood 6 and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.” The OT promises made to Israel were: 1) Spiritual, not physical, in nature; 2) Fulfilled only by the remnant of Jewish believers and not the entire nation.

Let’s move on to Romans 9:22 What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, 23 in order to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory— 24 even us whom he has called, not from the Jews only but also from the Gentiles? 25 As indeed he says in Hosea, “Those who were not my people I will call ‘my people,’ and her who was not beloved I will call ‘beloved.’” 26 “And in the very place where it was said to them, ‘You are not my people,’ there they will be called ‘sons of the living God.’” 27 And Isaiah cries out concerning Israel: “Though the number of the sons of Israel[c] be as the sand of the sea, only a remnant of them will be saved, 28 for the Lord will carry out his sentence upon the earth fully and without delay.” 29 And as Isaiah predicted, “If the Lord of hosts had not left us offspring, we would have been like Sodom and become like Gomorrah.”

Notice that most of the Jewish nation were “vessels of wrath prepared for destruction”, i.e. the Jews who rejected Jesus as the Messiah would be destroyed, a prediction of the judgment on the Jews in 70 AD when the Romans destroyed the city of Jerusalem and the temple and one million Jews were killed (according to Josephus). But God called the remnant who believed in Jesus as the Messiah to be saved, along with Gentiles who believed in Jesus as the Messiah. In 9:27 Paul quotes Isaiah 10:22. I like Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible “The remnant shall return”,…. This is said in allusion to Shearjashub, the name of Isaiah’s son, Isaiah 7:3 which signifies “the remnant shall return”, and was imposed on him, to give assurance of it; meaning, either that they should return from the Babylonish captivity, as they did, or to God by repentance; or rather the sense is, they shall turn to the Lord, be converted to Christ, to the faith and obedience of him, as some of them were when he came, a few, not all, only a remnant, as it is explained in the next clause”. In other words, Isaiah 10:22 could be a Messianic prediction of the remnant of believing Jews, which is the way Paul used it in Romans 9:27. For sure, Paul is saying that only a remnant of the nation of Israel would be saved in the Messianic Age. Remember that b/c in 11:27 he will say “all Israel will be saved”. Same language as chapter 9. The “Israel” of 11:27 would be the same remnant, spiritual church Israel as in ch 9. The “will be saved” would only refer to the remnant being saved and not the entire nation. Too many scholars intepret 11:27 based on their views of a future 2nd coming in which the nation of Israel will be retored to the Promised Land instead of examinng the context of chapter 9.

Paul concludes chapter 9, saying 9:What shall we say, then? That Gentiles who did not pursue righteousness have attained it, that is, a righteousness that is by faith; 31 but that Israel who pursued a law that would lead to righteousness did not succeed in reaching that law. 32 Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as if it were based on works. They have stumbled over the stumbling stone, 33 as it is written, “Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense; and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.” This is discussing the unbelieving Jews and why they missed out on the spiritual promises of salvation by the Messiah. These would be the “vessels of wrath prepared for destruction”. Why did they miss out? B/c they pursued the Law to earn salvation by keeping the Law and became self righteous, not feeling that they needed the grace and forgiveness that Jesus came to bring the remnant. They were invited to receive that, but their self righteousness kept them from receiving it. “Many are called but few chosen” (Mt 22:14). BTW Calvinism says that only the arbitrarily predetermined elect are called, but Jesus says that not all those called will be chosen for salvation. Also, Paul in Romans 9:30-33 says that the Jews who did not accept Jesus as the Messiah did so off their own freewill choice, that they did so b/c they pursued the Law as a means of righteousness (which cannot save) instead of a means of leading them to the saving righteousness of Jesus (which can save). Does that sound like Calvinism where the elect really don’t have a choice. Paul says that the Jews had a choice, but made the wrong choice in how they pursued the Law. Read the article I wrote on Ephesians 1:15 for a more thorough discussion of predestination and Calvinism.

I know all this figurative fulfillment of OT prophecies for Israel is heresy to those who expect Jesus to set up a physical kingdom at his 2nd coming and that he will restore the nation of Israel to their land forever, but please consider the context of Romans 9. The OT promises to restore the fortunes of Israel and to restore them their land had been fulfilled when Paul wrote Romans. They were fulfilled only in and for the remnant Jews who accepted Jesus as the Messiah. Those OT promises were not fulfilled physically for the nation. Therefore, those OT promises must have been fulfilled spiritually and only for the remnant. I’m sure that could be put in some syllogistic reasoning. Syllogistic reasoning is a type of deductive argument that uses two premises to reach a specific conclusion. Here are some examples of syllogistic reasoning: All mammals are animals, camels are mammals, therefore camels are animals. Maybe, 1) All the OT promises for Israel in the Messianic Age were fulfilled for only the remnant by the time Paul wrote Romans. 2) Those promises were not fulfilled pysically for the nation when Paul wrote Romans. 3) Those promises could only be fulfilled spiritually for the renmnant, not the whole nation. I know figurative language can be confusing or even misleading. The Jews expected the OT promises to be fulfilled literally, for the power of the nation of Israel to be restored and a resoration to the Promised Land to be held forever. I can see why why would think that. That is also the reason they rejected Jesus, i.e. b/c he came to establish a spiritual kingdom, not physical. They expected the Messiah to defeat Israel’s enemies, the Romans, but he said he came to destroy spiritual, not physical, powers of the darkness. Even the apostles expected a physical kingdom, even after the resurrection. Acts 1:6 Then they gathered around him and asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?”
In other words, “Lord you didn’t restore the kingdom to Israel (physcially) while you were alive, but now we get it, now you are going to restore it to Israel?” Had they forgotten Mt 21:43 “Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit.” The kingdom would not only not be restored to the nation, but it would be taken away from the nation. Remember, Jesus used figurative language a lot. He said that the fulfillment of Malachi 4:5 “See, I will send the prophet Elijah to you before that great and dreadful day of the Lord comes” was in John the Baptist, not the literal man Elijah coming. Mt 11:13 For all the Prophets and the Law prophesied until John. 14 And if you are willing to accept it, he is the Elijah who was to come. Mt 17:11 Jesus replied, “To be sure, Elijah comes and will restore all things. 12 But I tell you, Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him, but have done to him everything they wished. In the same way the Son of Man is going to suffer at their hands.” 13 Then the disciples understood that he was talking to them about John the Baptist”.

I wish those who expect a literal fulfillment of OT promises to Israel would be consistent. In the same “restore the fortunes of Israel” passages of Jeremiah 33:7,11, it predicts 33:17 “For thus says the Lord: David shall never lack a man to sit on the throne of the house of Israel, 18 and the Levitical priests shall never lack a man in my presence to offer burnt offerings, to burn grain offerings, and to make sacrifices forever.” Would they not have to say that, since they expect the restoration of Israel to be still in our future, then 33:17 would be fulfilled in our future at the same time? If so, do they expect that when Jesus returns that Christians will go back to having a Levitical priesthood that burns animal sacrifices? That would be a total contradiction of the whole book of Hebrews. No, the literalists would probaly say, “Oh, well that part was fulfilled spiritually”. Do you see how inconsistent their interpretation is? Literal in 33:7, 11 but figurative in 33:17,18. Now, the unbelieving Jews today still expect both the restoration of Israel and the restoration of the Levitical priesthood to be fulfilled when the real Messiah comes in our future (they don’t believe Jesus was the Messiah). At least they are consistent, even if they are totally wrong! Why can’t the literalists see that they are making the same mistake that the unbelieving Jews made when they expected a literal fulfillment of the OT promises to Israel?????? They then might start preaching that the kingdom of God, of heaven, of Jesus is the church and that there is not physical kingdom to be set up at his 2nd coming.

They might even then examine the predictions of Jesus that his 2nd coming would be in the lifetime of those he was speaking to. Mt 11:23 `And whenever they may persecute you in this city, flee to the other, for verily I say to you, ye may not have completed the cities of Israel till the Son of Man may come. Mt 16:27 `For, the Son of Man is about to come in the glory of his Father, with his messengers, and then he will reward each, according to his work. 28 Verily I say to you, there are certain of those standing here who shall not taste of death till they may see the Son of Man coming in his reign. Notice “the Son of Man is about to come” That is the Greek word mello, and it always means “about to be, about to happen”. Thankfully Young’s Literal Translation (YLT) translates it correctly in Mt 16:28. Most translations just say “is going to come”. Jesus is a false prophet if his 2nd coming was not imminent, about to happen, or if some listening to him would not be alive when he returned in his reign or kingdom (same Greek word, basileia: Kingdom. Mt 24:29 “And immediately after the tribulation of those days, the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from the heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken; 30 and then shall appear the sign of the Son of Man in the heaven; and then shall all the tribes of the earth smite the breast, and they shall see the Son of Man coming upon the clouds of the heaven, with power and much glory.” This coming of the Son of Man had to occur within the generation of those Jesus was talking to. Mt 24:34 Verily I say to you, this generation may not pass away till all these may come to pass. That word for generation is genea which always is used in the NT of a 40 year period or the people living in a 40 year period, like we speak of the x or z generation. Mt 1 has 42 generations of the genealogy of Jesus which covers about 2,000 years. In the chapter before Mt 24, Jesus had just predicted judgment on the Jews for killing the prophets and the apostles. He told them Mt 23:36 “verily I say to you, all these things shall come upon this generation.” The word generation clearly refers to that generation of Jews that were currently alive when he spoke. They are the ones who will be judged in about 40 years in 70 AD. Jesus told Caiaphas in Mt 26:64 Jesus saith to him, `Thou hast said; nevertheless I say to you, hereafter ye shall see the Son of Man sitting on the right hand of the power, and coming upon the clouds, of the heaven.’ We don’t know when Caiaphas died, but I believe Jesus is not a false prophet. Caiaphas must have lived to at least see the beginning of the 2nd coming in judgement on the Jews. These are the only 4 passages where Jesus predicts his 2nd coming. They all say that his 2nd coming would be within the lifetime of those he was speaking to, that it was “about to” happen. I challenge you to find any othe passage in the gospels where he predicts a “coming” that would not be within their lifetime. It is not to be found. Would that not be strange if a 2nd coming that is still in our future was never even predicted by Jesus in the gospels? Well, I guess I got into full preterism after all, but I still hope you will read my article “The 2nd coming” for a more thorough disscussion.

Back to Romans! Romans 10:3 “For, being ignorant of the righteousness of God, and seeking to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness. 4 For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.” This verse again shows that they had the freewill to not submit to God’s righteousness. Why would Paul blame them for not submitting if they did not have the freewill to either accept or submit (as Calvinism teaches)? It also shows again, as 9:32, that their problem was that they pursued the Law as a means of righteousness. The Law was given to show them that they could not obtain righteousness by Law keeping b/c no one could keep the Law perfectly, and the Law did not provide for eternal forgiveness of sisn by animal sacrifices. If someone understood that, they would gladly accept Jesus and receive the righteousness which is by faith in Jesus, the reckoned or imputed righteousness that Paul spoke of in Romans 4:2 “for if Abraham by works was declared righteous, he hath to boast — but not before god; 3 for what doth the writing say? `And Abraham did believe God, and it was reckoned to him — to righteousness;’ 4 and to him who is working, the reward is not reckoned of grace, but of debt; 5 and to him who is not working, and is believing upon Him who is declaring righteous the impious, his faith is reckoned — to righteousness: 6 even as David also doth speak of the happiness of the man to whom God doth reckon righteousness apart from works.”  Then in Philippians 3:9 “not having my righteousness, which [is] of law, but that which [is] through faith of Christ — the righteousness that is of God by the faith.” That reckoned righteousness which comes by faith is Romans 10:9 because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 for with the heart doth [one] believe to righteousness, and with the mouth is confession made to salvation.” It comes by faith and not keeping the Law (or any law).

Paul then brings up a possible objection: Romans 10:18 But I ask, have they not heard? Indeed they have, for “Their voice has gone out to all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world.” Maybe all fleshly Jews did not have the opportunity to hear the gospel and believe? Paul says that the gospel had been preached to the ends of the (Roman) world. Colossians 1:”23 if also ye remain in the faith, being founded and settled, and not moved away from the hope of the good news, which ye heard, which was preached in all the creation that [is] under the heaven, of which I became — I Paul — a ministrant.” Paul says that the gospel had been preached to the whole Roman world (empire) by the time he wrote Colossians in about 62 AD. Then Paul gives another possible objection, Romans 10:19 “But I ask, did Israel not understand?” Well, they probably didn’t understand the need for the gospel, but it wasn’t b/c they were not capable of understanding. It certainly wasn’t b/c only the predestined elect could understand by “I” (irresistible grace in Calvinism) when God would send His Spirit basically allowing and forcing the elect to be able to believe (Calvinism). Paul says that they simply refused to believe. Romans 10:21 But of Israel he says, “All day long I have held out my hands to a disobedient and contrary people.” They could have chosen to believe but refused to. It is amazing to me how Calvinists use Romans 9-11 as a proof text of their teaching when the context refutes Calvinism over and over.

All this might sound like God has rejected the whole nation of Israel. Paul anticipated that thought. Romans 11:”I ask, then, has God rejected his people? By no means!” He had rejected those Jews who refused to accept Jesus as Messiah and prepared them as vessels of wrath for destruction in 70 AD. But Romans 11:5 “So too at the present time there is a remnant, chosen by grace. 6 But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works; otherwise grace would no longer be grace.” God had not rejected the remnant of Jews who would believe in Jesus as the Messiah. Back to the remant idea. Yes, “chosen” but chosen by grace through faith; not the chosen of Calvinism (the elect chosen with irresistible grace without their freewill choice to believe or not). Romans 11:7 What then? Israel failed to obtain what it was seeking. The elect obtained it, but the rest were hardened, 8 as it is written, “God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes that would not see and ears that would not hear, down to this very day.” If you didn’t read the context of chapters 9 and 10, you might say this is pure Calvinism in these verses. The “elect” obtained salvation and grace but God gave a stupor of unbelief that made them not believe in Jesus???? The context of chapters 9 and 10 show that the Jews had the freewill choice to accept Jesus as the Messiah or not. It shows why they failed to accept Jesus as the Messiah, i.e. they pursued the Law as a means of righteousness, which implies they were to blame and would be held accountable for their unbelief. In Calvinism, you have to blame God if someone is lost b/c He has arbitrarily predestined some to be lost regardless of their freewill choices. Again, Calvinism is wrong. Paul explains how God gave them a “spirit of stupor” that they could not see or hear. How did God do that? By somehow making their hearts unable to believe? No. Romans 11:9 And David says, “Let their table become a snare and a trap, a stumbling block and a retribution for them; 10 let their eyes be darkened so that they cannot see,and bend their backs forever.” The design of salvation was the death of Jesus on a cross like a common criminal. That was an intentional design to weed out those who would not accept God’s plan b/c of their pride. The cross would be a stumbling block to the Jews b/c they were looking for physical blessings and kingdom. 1 Corinthians 1:21 for, seeing in the wisdom of God the world through the wisdom knew not God, it did please God through the foolishness of the preaching to save those believing. 22 Since also Jews ask a sign, and Greeks seek wisdom, 23 also we — we preach Christ crucified, to Jews, indeed, a stumbling-block, and to Greeks foolishness, 24 and to those called — both Jews and Greeks — Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God,25 because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.” In spite of Isaiah 53 predicting the death of the Messiah, they did not expect the Messiah to die.

Paul anticipates another thought. Romans 11:11 “So I ask, did they stumble in order that they might fall? By no means!” By this he means was the stumbling of the unbelieving Jews a permanent thing that left them with no hope? By not means, he says. “Rather, through their trespass salvation has come to the Gentiles, so as to make Israel jealous. 12 Now if their trespass means riches for the world, and if their failure means riches for the Gentiles, how much more will their full inclusion mean!” So, if those unbelieving Jews eventually see the Gentiles saved and are filled with jealousy, and if they change and accept Jesus as the Messiah, they can be saved. That would be their “full inclusion” (YLT). That would mean that, when you add them to the ones who initially accepted Jesus as the Messiah, you then have the “full” remnant that will be saved before 70 AD. BTW this pretty well answers the question in 11:27 “who is the all Israel who will be saved”. It is when the entire remnant is gathered by 70 AD by the preaching of the gospel in the whole Roman empire. Jesus spoke of this “gathering of the elect from the four winds” in Mt 24:31 And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. We have to assume that there were many such Jews who initially rejected the gospel but later accepted it and were added to the church. Paul warns the Gentile believers not to be arrogant toward any unbelieving Jews who later believe. He says that if God did not spare the unbelieving natural branches (the unbelieving Jews) b/c of their unbelief, then He will not spare Gentile believers fall away. Those unbelieving natural branches (unbelieving Jews) were cut off the tree, but they will be grafted back into the tree (just as the Gentile believers were grafted into the tree) if they repent and later believe in Jesus. BTW doesn’t this help up with the 11:27 “the fulness of the Gentiles”? The language of 11:12, “the full inclusion”, meant when all the remnant was saved and gathered. So does that mean that the “fulness of the Gentiles” would be similar, i.e. when all the Gentile believers were gathered by 70 AD? Maybe so.

That brings us to the actual topic we started with. Romans 11:25 Lest you be wise in your own sight, I do not want you to be unaware of this mystery, brothers:[d] a partial hardening has come upon Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. 26 And in this way all Israel will be saved, as it is written, “The Deliverer will come from Zion, he will banish ungodliness from Jacob”; 27 “and this will be my covenant with them when I take away their sins.” Again, 2 main questions from Romans 11:25-27: 1) Who is the “all Israel” that will be saved, and when will “all Israel be saved”? 2) What and when is the “fulness of the Gentiles”?

  1. Hopefully we have already seen that the “all Israel will be saved” refers to the gathering of all the remnant of the Jews who believed in Jesus as the Messiah. This gathering of the remnant would take place when “The Deliverer will come from Zion, he will banish ungodliness from Jacob”; 27 “and this will be my covenant with them when I take away their sins.” This is a quote from Isiah 59:20 “And a Redeemer will come to Zion,  to those in Jacob who turn from transgression,” declares the Lord.21 “And as for me, this is my covenant with them,” says the Lord: “My Spirit that is upon you, and my words that I have put in your mouth, shall not depart out of your mouth, or out of the mouth of your offspring, or out of the mouth of your children’s offspring,” says the Lord, “from this time forth and forevermore.” There is a lot of debate on this quote b/c Isaiah says “to Zion” and Romans 11:27 says “from Zion”. You have to think that this is in reference to the 2nd coming, coming to Zion (Jerusalem) to establish the new covenant of Isaiah 59:21 where he will saved the remnant and take away their sins. You can research the “to” or “from” Zion if you want to dig deeper, but it is safe to say that 11:27 is referring to the 2nd coming of Jesus. In Mt 24, the elect remnant would be gathered (24:31) within that generation (24:34) and the 2nd coming (24:30) would be within that generation. So the timing and event match.
  2. The fulness of the Gentiles. 11:27 “the fulness of the Gentiles”? The language of 11:12, “the full inclusion”, meant when all the remnant was saved and gathered. So does that mean that the “fulness of the Gentiles” would be similar, i.e. when all the Gentile believers were gathered by 70 AD? Maybe so. There was a process of natural branches being broken off, Gentile believers being grafted in, and then unbelieving Jews who later believed being grafted back in this Messianic church kingdom tree. All this would be fulfilled by 70 AD and the 2nd coming. That doesn’t mean that the process would stop after that. There would continue to be Jews and Gentiles converted, but Paul is peaking specifically of the process developing by 70 AD when the plan of redemption was finally realized. Here is a good statement AI from the internet. “The fullness is the state of being fully included in the covenant. A transitional period between Christ’s great commission and the destruction of Jerusalem (and the sacrificial system).” So by 70AD the gentiles are now fully included in the covenant.ApHere is a great image of that from pinterest.

Paul closes with this doxology: Romans 11:33 Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!” God’s plan from all eternity was to save Jews and Gentiles who would accept His Son as the Messiah who died for their sins, and unite them in one body, the church. That was the mystery of Ephesians 3. Revelation 10:7 but that in the days of the trumpet call to be sounded by the seventh angel, the mystery of God would be fulfilled, just as he announced to his servants the prophets. What a great statement. Who would have ever thought that this would be God’s plan of salvation. Amazing!

I hope this is beneficial to you. Long but it needs a careful examination.

Thanks for reading.

WHEN WERE THE 4 GOSPELS WRITTEN?

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Were the 4 gospel really written by Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John? Were they written early, or as some say, in the late first century (if so, not written by Matthew, Mark, Luke and John b/c they died before 70 AD. Here is the liberal view on all that.

According to Bart Ehrman, the four gospels were written in the following order:

  • Mark: Written around 70 CE
  • Matthew and Luke: Written around 80–85 CE
  • John: Written around 90–95 CE 

Bart Ehrman has said that the Gospels were written and circulated anonymously, and that Christian leaders later attributed them to Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John: 

I believe all 4 gospels were written before 70 AD. First, let’s look at the 3 synoptics: Matthew, Mark, and Luke. There is one main proof for me. All 3 predict in detail the destruction of the temple and city of Jerusalem to happen in the future after writing the gospels. A whole chapter in each gospel predicts that: Mt 24, Mk 13, and Lk 21. There are many other such predictions in the gospels, like the parable of the wheat and tears in Mt 13, but we will

focus on those 3 chapters. For example, Mt 24 predicts several events to be fulfilled within that generation (24:34 Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place.). Mk 13 and Lk 21 do the same thing. The word genea in the NT always refers to a 40 year period or the people living in a 40 year period. For example, Mt 1 lists 42 generations from Abraham to Jesus, which is about 2,000 years. Mt 23:36 Truly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation. The word genea there obviously is referring to the generation of Jews that Jesus is speaking to.

Now, if Matthew was written after AD 70, don’t you think that he (or whoever wrote the gospel) would have said that prediction of 70 AD was already fulfilled, proving Jesus to be a true prophet? Matthew often quotes prophecies, like the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem (Mt 2), showing the fulfillment of that prophecy. Surely he would have done that with the Mt 24 prediction if it had already been fulfilled when he wrote the gospel. That means that the predictions in Mt 24 had not been fulfilled at the time of writing of the gospel. That means that the gospel was written before 70 AD.

For example, suppose we found an old, old book about the persecution of Jews in history, but we don’t know when it was written. Suppose that it tells about AD 70, about the killing of Jews in the Crusades, the killing of Jews during the Black Plagues (some blamed the Jews for the plague), etc. But suppose that it did not discuss the Holocaust. To me, that means that the book was written before the Holocaust happened. That means the book was written before 1945 AD. Do you see the point?

The gospel of John is a different case, but I believe that it was written before 70 AD (in spite of tradition saying that he wrote Revelation in 96 AD. Why do I believe that? The main reason is that I believe that he died before 70 AD. The church father Papias (60-130 AD) said that John died a martyr’s death as the hands of the Jews (he did not give a date). He supported that saying the John died a martyr just like Jesus had predicted that the brothers James and John would die. Jesus predicted that James and John would be martyred in the Bible, in Mark 10:35–45. In this passage, Jesus tells the brothers that they will “drink the cup I drink and be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with”. We know James the apostle was martyred by Herod in Acts 12. The only time John could have been killed by the Jews would have to be before 70 AD. A million Jews died in the siege of Jerusalem and 200,000 were carried away captive (according to Josephus who was present during the siege). Most say John lived to the year 100 AD and died a natural death, but that would contradict what Jesus predicted. Also, if he died as a martyr around 100 AD, surely there would be church father testimony to that fact, but there is none. The Jews did not have the ability to kill Christians around 100 AD. There is just the speculation that he wrote Revelation in 96 AD based on the statement of one church father (Irenaeus, 130-202 AD). That statement is not even clear as to what he is saying. But the internal evidence of the book of Revelation says that it was written during the reign of Emperor Nero (54-68 AD). Rev 17:9 This calls for a mind with wisdom: the seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman is seated; 10 they are also seven kings, five of whom have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come, and when he does come he must remain only a little while. Refer to my Revelation articles for a more thorough discussion but the seven kings here are the first 7 emperors of Rome starting with Julius Caesar. I know many historians say that the first emperor was Augustus, but Josephus at least twice says that Augustus was the 2nd king, not the 1st, and Josephus lived at that time and would know who was considered to be the first king of Rome, i.e. Julius. Also Seutonius, (a Roman biographer, 69-122 AD) wrote The Lives of the Twelve Caesars, beginning with Julius, not Augustus. So, at the time of writing Revelation, 5 kings were dead, “fallen” (Julius through Claudius), the 6th, “one is”, is reigning when the book is written, i.e. Nero (54-68 AD). So the book had to be written before Nero died in 68 AD. That certainly fits the Papias statement that John died a martyr’s death at the hands of the Jews. If John died before 70 AD, then obviously he wrote his gospel of John, and his letters (1,2,3 John and Revelation) before he died in 70 AD. There is some internal evidence also that John wrote his gospel before 70 AD. John 5:1 After this there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 2 Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, in Aramaic[a] called Bethesda,[b] which has five roofed colonnades. He says there “was” a feast that Jesus went to (past tense) but then he says there “is” a pool in Jerusalem (present tense). The pool was Bethesday was still there when he wrote the gospel. After 70 AD, there would no longer be a pool there since the Romans destroyed everything. Like wise with Rev 11: 1Then I was given a measuring rod like a staff, and I was told, “Rise and measure the temple of God and the altar and those who worship there. The temple was still standing and Jews worshipping there when he wrote Revelation. It was destroyed in 70 AD, so the letter had to be written before 70 AD.

I hope this establishes that the 4 gospels were written before 70 AD. That means they were written by Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, since the early church would have rejected a forgery gospel while the 4 men were still living. The church fathers of the 2nd century all accepted the 4 gospels as being written by the 4 men. That’s why they were put in the NT canon later. In his work Against Heresies, Irenaeus of Lyons argued that there should be four Gospels because of the four zones of the world, the four winds…Irenaeus declared that the four he espoused were the four pillars of the Church: ‘it is not possible that there can be either more or fewer than four‘ he stated, presenting as logic the analogy of the four corners of the earth and the four winds (1.11. 8). The early church fathers quoted or cited the 4 gospels thousands of times as Scripture. Would they have done that if the 4 gospels were written by anonymous authors? If they accepted the 4 gospels as authentic and rejected many other gospels (like the gospel of Mary Magdelene, etc), then would they not have also rejected the 4 gospels unless they were very confident that they were genu

Why is it so important to establish the early date of writing of the 4 gospels? If they were written before 70 AD, then those who read the gospels would have been able to refute their authenticity, authorship, the stories and miracles they recorded. If they claimed a resurrection of Jesus within 40 years of his resurrection in 30 AD, then people living before 70 AD would have had the opportunity to refute that resurrection. If I claiimed that a certain man was raised from the Maple Hill Cemetry 10 years ago, then people could research that and either refute it or verify it. If I said a that man was raised 50 years ago, there would be very few living that could verify that or refute it. If the miracles of Jesus were mere legend, as well as his resurrection, as many claim them to be, then 20 or 30 years would not be enough time for a legend to be established. If the gospels were written anonimously by whoever in the late first century, how would they get their facts about Jesus ministry and miracles. Luke 1:1 Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the things that have been accomplished among us, 2 just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word have delivered them to us, 3 it seemed good to me also, having followed all things closely for some time past, to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, 4 that you may have certainty concerning the things you have been taught. Luke could interview witnesses if he wrote his gospel before 70 AD while many witnesses were still alive. If he wrote it the late 1st century, many would be dead.

I’m sure some of the Christian apologists could make more arguments for the early date of writing of the gospels, but this article has my reasons. BTW the same logic used here could be used to say that the entire NT was written before 70 AD. Paul was beheaded by Nero around 66 AD, so all of his letters had to be written before he died and thus before 70 AD. Many of Paul’s letters also predict the coming of Jesus in 70 AD also (like 2 Thess 2), so they had to be written before that event.Hebrews was not written by Paul, but it has internal evidence that it was written before the temple was destroyed in 70 AD. Heb 9:8 By this the Holy Spirit indicates that the way into the holy places “is” (present tense) not yet opened as long as the first section “is” (present tense) still standing 9 (which is symbolic for the present age). That present tense “is” shows that the temple was still standing when the letter was written. Heb 10: 37 For, “Yet a little while,
and the coming one will come and will not delay”. The only “coming of Jesus” here can be is the coming in judgment on Jerusalem in 70 AD, the “2nd coming”. No other coming would fit this verse if the book was written after 70 AD. This prediction came true in 70 AD, proving that the author, whoever it might be, is inspired by the Holy Spirit. James 5:8 You also, be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand. Thus James predicts the coming of Jesus to be “at hand” (i.e. soon, shortly) and this can only refer to the coming of Jesus in 70 AD. That proves that the book is written before 70 AD. Peter was an apostle and was killed by Nero, so he died about 66 AD and obviously 1,2 Peter were written before he died, before 70 AD. Jude was a brother of Jesus. Jude mentioned the coming of the Lord and the judgment of the great day, which I believe is 70 AD, so Jude was written before 70 AD.

In summary, from the internet (AI), “The primary evidence suggesting the Gospels were written before 70 AD is that they describe Jerusalem and its Temple as still standing, despite the fact that both were destroyed by the Romans in that year; this indicates the authors were writing before the destruction event, as they would have mentioned it if they were writing afterwards.”

Thanks for reading. You can trust your 4 gospels!!!!!!

JOSHUA

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HISTORICAL:

God had promised Abraham the land of Canaan (Gen 12:1-3) and repeated that promise to Isaac and Jacob. God told Abraham that his descendants would be in slavery in a foreign land for 400 years (Gen 15:13-16) before they would come out and occupy the land. Moses led them out of slavery, but was not allowed to go  into Canaan. He appointed Joshua to lead them into Canaan. In about 7 years, Israel defeated all the major forces of the cities of Canaan, starting with Jericho in the central part, then the conquest of southern Canaan, and finally the conquest of northern Canaan. The land was divided between the 12 tribes. The Levites received 48 Levitical cities (ch 21) spread throughout the land so they could teach the Law to all 12 tribes, but they did not get a “tribe portion” of the land. Instead, the 2 sons of Joseph, Ephraim and Manasseh, received a “tribe portion” of the land since Jacob had ultimately given Joseph the firstborn portion (Gen 48:21,22) which means that he would receive twice as much land as his brothers. There were 6 cities of refuge (ch 20). The 12 tribes then went to their respective parts of the land, and were commanded to finish utterly destroying the Canaanites. They did not utterly destroy them, but they did possess the land such that Joshua 21:43-45 says, “So the Lord gave Israel all the land which He had sworn to give to their fathers, and they possessed it and lived in it. Not one of the good promises which the Lord had made to the house of Israel failed; all came to pass.”

BIOGRAPHICAL:

Joshua has often been pictured as a type of Christ. Why is that? In 2 main ways. First, his name. Moses changed his name from Hoshea (“salvation” in Hebrew) to Joshua. “Jesus” is the Septuagint (LXX) spelling of Joshua, and Mary was told, “You shall call your son Jesus, for he shall save His people from their sins” (Mat 1:21). Secondly, Joshua led the Israelites to victory over all their enemies and enabled them to enter their “rest” (Jos 22:4) in Canaan. Their rest was a time of no more war with the Canaanites, and a time of prosperity as they took over all the wealth of the Canaanites. Read Deut 8:7-10 for a full description of the “rest” that they were allowed to enjoy in Canaan. Moses delivered them from Egypt (a type of our deliverance from the slavery of sin), but it was Joshua who led them to victory over all enemies and occupying the land, entering the “rest”. Many Israelites did not enter that rest due to unbelief and died in the 40 years in the wilderness (Heb 3), but the next generation under Joshua did enter the “rest”. Joshua was a 2nd type of Jesus in that Jesus overcame all enemies and led the 1st Christians to enter the Messianic “rest” after 40 years of testing and tribulation (not all made it as seen in the Hebrews warnings). Read Isaiah 65:17-25 for a great description of the “rest” that would be given Christians when the Messiah would come. That was fulfilled in a spiritual way in the spiritual blessings in the church of Jesus Christ, body of the save. Hebrews 4 pictures that Messianic rest as still future at the time of writing, so it must be referring to the final victory at 70 AD. It is unfortunate that many are still waiting for a physical fulfillment of that prophecy. Heb 10:35 says that they would get their reward, that rest, in a “very little while”. Joshua, of the tribe of Ephraim, died at 110 years old (24:29)

Here is a great topical outline of Joshua. I tried to put quotation marks where I quoted directly.

From enterthebible.org

Outline of Joshua

Kathryn M. Schifferdecker

Revised by Monica Melanchthon (07/23)

1. Introduction (Joshua 1:1-18)

A. The Lord Commissions Joshua (Joshua 1:1-9)

God commands Joshua to be strong and courageous. There are giants in the land and each city has an army to defend it. But God promises to be with him and give him success.

From Pastor Dave Martine:

B. Joshua Prepares the People (Joshua 1:10-18)

The tribes of Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh had requested land east of the Jordan and were not planning on crossing the Jordan.   Joshua commanded the three tribes to first help their fellow Israelites in conquering the land west of the Jordan before they could settle east of the Jordan..

2. The Israelite Spies and Rahab (Joshua 2:1-24)

The 2 Israelite spies enter Jericho and meet Rahab, a prositute. She tells them how terrified the people are of Israel and their god, YHWH. They all had heard how YHWH defeated all the gods of Egypt in the 10 plagues and the drowning of Pharoah’s army in the Red Sea. She is ready to put her trust in the one true God of Israel, YHWH. BTW that tells us that every Canaanite had the same opportunity to turn from their false gods and turn to YHWH, but only Rahab did. God was just in wiping out the Canaanites due to their idolatry even though it seems like genocide to. us. The spies promises to spare her family.

From Truth Snitch

By Diane Norton:

3. Israel Crosses the Jordan River (Joshua 3:1-5:1)

  The Israelites cross the Jordan River, into the land of promise, following the priests who carry the ark of the covenant. As at the Red Sea, God stops the flowing of the Jordan waters for the Israelites so that they cross on dry ground. Joshua and the Israelites set up twelve stones as a memorial at Gilgal, where they camp after crossing the Jordan. The leaders of Canaan hear of the drying of the waters of the Jordan and fear the Israelites. This crossing of the Joran confirmed to Israel that Joshua had taken over leading Israel just as the parting of the Red Sea confirmed Moses as leader.

from inspiredscripture.com

Published by Dwayne Hancock

4. Circumcision and Passover (Joshua 5:2-12)

 Those men born during the 40 years in the wilderness had not been circumcised, so Israel paused to circumcise them even though that would leave them vulnerable to attack from the Canaanites (as Simeon and Levi attacked and killed the Shechemites after they had been circumcised. The place where they were circumcised is named, Gibeath Haaraloth translated as the “hill of foreskins.” They celebrate the Passover and start eating the produce of the land. The supply of manna that sustained them in the wilderness for 40 years ceases.

5. The Commander of the Army of the Lord (Joshua 5:13-15)

A man  wielding a sword, the commander of the Lord’s army , appears to Joshua who falls on his face to the ground and requests instruction.The soldier tells tells Joshua to remove the sandals from his feet, for the ground upon which he is standing is holy. This soldier is probably the angel of the Lord, an appearance of God Himself in human form. He gives Joshua the battle plan for taking Jericho.

6. The Conquest and Destruction  of Jericho (Joshua 6:1-27)

The Israelite people march around the city of Jericho, once each day for days, with seven priests carrying the ark and blowing on trumpets of ram’s horns continually. In front of the ark are the armed men, while the rear guard follow the ark. On the seventh day, they march around the city seven times. Joshua tells them that they are to destroy the city and should not covet or take anything (silver, gold, iron, bronze, or garments). During the seventh march around the city, the people hear the long blast of the ram’s horn and shout as instructed. The walls of the city miraculously fall, giving access to the  Israelites who destroy Jericho and everyone and everything in it (both men and women, young and old, oxen, sheep, and donkeys), except for Rahab and her family. Anyone who attempts to rebuild the city now stands cursed. Joshua’s fame spreads.

7. The Sin of Achan (Joshua 7:1-26)

The spies sent to scout out Ai return and inform Joshua that it is a small city and that only a few soldiers need to be sent to take it. 3,000 Israelite men go to fight Ai and are defeated, losing 36 of their men.. Joshua is terribly disturbed b/c the Canannites would now think that Israel could be defeated. God tells Joshua that the defeat is due to “sin in the camp”: one of the Israelites has taken booty (a beautiful mantle from Shinar and 200 shekels of silver and a bar of gold weighing 50 shekels), from Jericho God reveals the culprit (by casting lots) to be Achan, of the tribe of Judah. He and his entire household (women, children, slaves, and livestock) are stoned, burned, and killed as punishment. A heap of stones is raised on the site, which to this day is named “the valley of Achor,” meaning “calamity.” This might sound like “group punishment” (punishing the whole group for the sin of one person) and I suppose that it is. God sometimes has to make an example for everyone to see what happens if he disobeys God. This reminds us of 1 Corinthians 5, where Paul rebukes the church for tolerating the sin of one member, and tells them to withdraw from him.

8. The Destruction of the City of Ai (Joshua 8:1-29)

Joshua and an army (30,000 in number) march against Ai and destroy it as they did Jericho. God tells them how to ambush and capturing the city of Ai. They kill all its inhabitants (12,000 in total). YHWH allows them to take livestock and other booty from the city as spoils of war. Ai is burnt and the king of Ai is hung; at sundown his body is taken down and thrown down at the city gates. Stones are raised into a heap on his body. 

9. Covenant Renewal (Joshua 8:30-35)

The Israelites fulfill Moses’ instructions God had given Moses in Deuteronomy 27 to hold a covenant renewal ceremony at Mount Ebal and Mount Gerizim. 6 of the tribes read the curses of disobedience from Mt. Ebal and the other 6 tribes read the blessings of obedience from Mt Gerizim. Joshua builds an altar of unhewn stones at Shechem, and the priests offer sacrifices. Joshua cuts out a copy of the law of Moses in stone and reads it to the Israelites.

10. Treaty with the Gibeonites (Joshua 9:1-27)

The Gibeonites of central Canaan persuade the Israelites to make a peace treaty with them, so that they and their cities will not be destroyed. The Israelites were commanded to destroy all the nations in Canaan but they could make a treaty with nations outside of Canaan. They present themselves as having come from afar, showing their dry bread and dusty footwear as evidence. When the Israelites discover the trick, they honor the treaty, but consign the Gibeonites to be “hewers of wood and drawers of water” for the tabernacle.

11. Continued War with the Peoples of the Land (Joshua 10:1-11:23)

A. The Sun Stands Still as Israel Fights the Amorites (Joshua 10:1-15)

5 Canaanite kings attack the Gibeonites b/c they made a treaty with Israel instead of fighting Israel. Joshua honors his word given to the Gibeonites and marches all night to defend them. The Israelites defeat the five Amorite kings (of Jerusalem, Hebron, Jarmuth, Lachish, and Eglon) who have attacked Gibeon. At Joshua’s request, the sun stands still for a day so that the Israelites can have more time to completely kill the attacking armies. 10:14 14 There has been no day like it before or since, when the Lord heeded the voice of a man, for the Lord fought for Israel.

B. Five Amorite Kings Killed (Joshua 10:16-27)

“The five Amorite kings flee and hide in a cave. Joshua finds them and has large stones rolled over the mouth of the cave, imprisoning them there until their armies are destroyed. The five kings are then brought to Joshua, and they are killed as a symbol of what will happen to all of Israel’s enemies. Their bodies are hung until sundown and then thrown into the same cave where they had hidden themselves and stones are set over the mouth of the cave.”    

C. Victories for Israel (Joshua 10:28-11:15)

Joshua and the Israelites capture and destroy  many cities in the South – Makkedah, Libnah, Lachish, Gezer, Eglon, Hebron, and Debir. Canaanite kings in the North mobilize a large army (“as numerous as the grains of sand on the seashore”) to attack the Israelites but they are defeated and the territory in the North is captured, the cities plundered, and the people wiped out..

From historyinthebible.com

D. Summary of Joshua’s Victories (Joshua 11:16-23)

This is a summary of all the land that Joshua and the Israelites conquer in Canaan. However, the Anakim (giants) survived and are confined to the Phlistine cities of Gaza, Gath, and Ashdod. David will fight the Philistine giant Goliath later, and even kill 5 of Goliath’s brothers. The summary ends, “And the land had rest from war” (11:23). The period of the conquest of Canaan by Joshua was about 7 1/2 years.

E. The Kings Conquered by Moses (Joshua 12:1-6)

“These verses list the lands and kings conquered by Moses and the Israelites east of the Jordan River. This land was given as property to the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh.”

F. The Kings Conquered by Joshua (Joshua 12:7-24)

“These verses list the lands and the 31 kings conquered by Joshua and the Israelites west of the Jordan River.”

12. Dividing the Land for an Inheritance (Joshua 13:1-21:45)

The land captured by Israel, both east and west of the Jordan River, is divided and distributed by lots among twelve tribes. The Levite tribe does not get land, and Joseph gets two parcels of land for his two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, who become basically 2 of the 12 tribes.

A. Introduction: The Land Still Unconquered and the Command to Divide the Land (Joshua 13:1-7)

The Lord lists for Joshua the parts of Canaan still unconquered by the Israelites The Lord commands Joshua to divide the land of Canaan for an inheritance to nine tribes plus one half-tribe of Israel that settle west of the Jordan.

B. The Land East of the Jordan Given by Moses to Israelite Tribes (Joshua 13:8-33)

“The text lists the lands and cities east of the Jordan River given by Moses to the other two tribes and a half-tribe of Israel: Reuben (15-23), Gad (24-28), and the half-tribe of Manasseh (29-33).”

C. The Land West of the Jordan Given by Eleazar and Joshua to Israelite Tribes (Joshua 14:1-19:51)

The land of Canaan, west of the Jordan, is divided by lot and given to nine Israelite tribes plus a half-tribe of Manasseh. Joshua and Caleb, the only two people still living of the generation that came out of Egypt, are given their own individual allotments of land. Caleb is allotted Hebron (14:6-15) and Joshua is given Timnath-serah in the highlands of Ephraim (19:49-51).

D. The Cities of Refuge (Joshua 20:1-9)

The Levites do not get a parcel of land. The Lord commands Israel to set aside 6 “cities of refuge,” where a person who has killed someone unintentionally can take refuge from those who would seek revenge (the “blood avengers). The cities are located throughout the land.

E. Cities for the Levites (Joshua 21:1-42)

“The priestly tribe of Levi, is given no land because “the LORD God of Israel is their inheritance” (13:33). The tribe of Levi is allotted 48 towns scattered throughout the territory of the other tribes. These towns include the six cities of refuge.

F. Promises Fulfilled (Joshua 21:43-45)

“Not one of all the good promises that the LORD had made to the house of Israel had failed; all came to pass” (21:45). Many today say that Israel never got the land that God promised Abraham, but these verses say that they did.

From Valley Bible Fellowship

13. An Altar Built and a War Prevented (Joshua 22:1-34)

“The eastern tribes–Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh–return to their territory after having helped the other tribes conquer Canaan. They build a memorial altar on the western bank of the Jordan River. The other tribes interpret the building of the altar as rebellion against the Lord and threaten war, but the eastern tribes explain that the altar is meant to serve as a witness in generations to come that they, too, worship the same God as the rest of Israel.”

14. Joshua’s Exhortation (Joshua 23:1-16)

“Joshua has grown old and is about to die. He calls all Israel to him and exhorts them to obey the commands of the book of the law of Moses, so that they might not be enticed by the nations around them to forsake the covenant.”

15. Covenant Ceremony (Joshua 24:1-28)

“Joshua calls all Israel to him at Shechem, where he asks them to serve the Lord–the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob–rather than other gods. They reaffirm their allegiance to the Lord, and Joshua makes a covenant with them there, erecting a stone as a memorial of the covenant.”

By Gwen White

16. Death of Joshua and Death of Eleazar (Joshua 24:29-33)

Joshua dies at 110 years of age and is buried in his land The bones of Joseph, which the Israelites brought out of Egypt, are buried at Shechem. The priest Eleazar, son of Aaron, dies and is buried at Gibeah.

From Lizbeth Ball

https://www.google.com/recaptcha/api2/anchor?ar=1&k=6LdpffkdAAAAAHzv6vzGbOdnev0Cqdgw3lLSbs31&co=aHR0cHM6Ly9lbnRlcnRoZWJpYmxlLm9yZzo0NDM.&hl=en&v=-ZG7BC9TxCVEbzIO2m429usb&size=invisible&cb=8wfnzdgr531c

DEBORAH JUDGES 4-5

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After Joshua died and his generation (the ones who conquered Canaan) died, there “arose another generation after them who did not know the Lord, nor yet the work which He had done for Israel” (2:10). They did not utterly destroy all the Canaanites and their altars (2:1-3) in their respective 12 land divisions even though they could have b/c the Canaanite fighting forces had been destroyed in the 7 years under Joshua. B/c of their disobedience, God left the Canaanite nations as a thorn in the side of Israel, and their gods as a snare to tempt them to idolatry (2:3; 3:1-6). They also intermarried with them, which was forbidden by the Lord (3:6; Deut 7:3,4).

This led to a cycle repeated several times in Judges as described in 2:11-23:

1. Sin: Israel fell into sin and idolatry;

2. Servitude: God let their enemies oppress them;

3. Sorrow: Israel cried out to God for help;

4. Salvation: God would raise up a judge to defeat their enemies, usually followed by a period of peace.

Here is a summary of the different Canaanite oppressions, the judges whom God raised up, and years of rest each judge provided Israel before the cycle repeated itself. The total period of the Judges probably around 300 years with some of the judges overlapping.

Not much on the first 3 judges. The 1st judge Othniel (Caleb’s younger brother) “killed the Mesopotamian king Cushan-rishathaim. The 2nd judge Ehud killed the Moabite king Eglon after 18 years of Moabite oppression. He went to Eglon, pretending to have a secret message from God. Eglon cleared the room. Ehud was left handed, so picture him putting his right hand up to his mouth as if giving a secret message in the ear of Eglon, while he pulled out an 18″ double edged sword that he had hidden on his right thigh under his clothes. Eglon’s servants had not done a good job searching Ehud for weapons. Eglon was very fat. Ehud stuck the 18” sword so deep into Eglon’s belly that the sword was no longer visible in the fat. Ehud sneaked out. Ehud’s servants delayed entering the room, thinking the king was “relieving himself in the closet of his cool chamber”. The delay allowed Ehud time to escape. He mounted an army and defeated the Moabites. The 3rd judge Shamgar is known for killing 600 Philistines with an oxgoad (a long stick with a pointed end used to prod oxen along). Kinda like Samson killed 1,000 Philistines with the jawbone of a donkey.

I want to focus on the story of the 4th judge, Deborah in Judges 4-5.

The Canaanite king Jabin and his commander Sisera had oppressed Israel for 20 long years. Israel was no match for the military strength of Jabin who had 900 chariots of iron (the Israelites probably had no chariots and very few crude weapons as the Philistines would have destroyed all those). Deborah was both a prophetess and a judge (judging Israel under a palm tree). Apparently there were no men willing to stand up to Jabin. Deborah had to challenge Balak to gather an army of 10,000 men and she would draw out Sisera to the river Kishon. 8 Barak said to her, “If you will go with me, I will go, but if you will not go with me, I will not go.” 9 And she said, “I will surely go with you. Nevertheless, the road on which you are going will not lead to your glory, for the Lord will sell Sisera into the hand of a woman.” Deborah went with Barak to the river to meet Sisera’s army and chariots. We learn from Deborah’s victory song in ch 5 that apparently the Lord heavy rains and all the 900 chariots got bogged down and could not move. Sisera’s army and chariots were defeated, “not a man was left”, and Sisera fled on foot. He fled to what he thought was the safety of the tent of Jael, the wife of Heber (there was peace between Jabin and Heber). Sisera must have been exhausted. Jael gave him some milk and told him to sleep. She was to guard the entrance in case Israelite soldiers came. While he was in deep sleep, she took a tent peg and drove it through his temple down into the ground. He must have died immediately without a struggle. We don’t know why Jael did this or what her husband Heber would say when he found out about what Jael had done b/c that would surely break the peace between their nations. When Barak arrived, Jael showed him the body of Sisera in the tent. Just as Deborah had predicted, the glory of victory went to a woman, Jael, and not Barak. Israel went on to destroy Jabin, king of Canaan.

Thus Deborah goes down in history as the only woman judge. Why did God choose a woman judge? B/c there were apparently no men with the courage to stand up to Jabin. Apparently there were not even any men like Gideon who. was very reluctant to fight the Midianites but after several signs given him by God he found the courage to defeat them with 300 men against 135,000 Midianites. Barak did answer the challenge, but only if Deborah would go with him to fight. Not very courageous (but at least he did go fight). The glory of victory would go to Jael, not Barak.

That might bring up a lot of questions. I think the Bible is pretty clear about what God expects. He created Eve to be a “helper” to Adam. Part of the curse put on Eve b/c of her sin was that “her husband would rule over her” (Gen 3:16). That makes sense since the electrician’s apprentice helper is in submission to the electrician. 1 Peter 3:1 Likewise, wives, be subject to your own husbands, so that even if some do not obey the word, they may be won without a word by the conduct of their wives, 2 when they see your respectful and pure conduct. 3 Do not let your adorning be external—the braiding of hair and the putting on of gold jewelry, or the clothing you wear— 4 but let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God’s sight is very precious. 5 For this is how the holy women who hoped in God used to adorn themselves, by submitting to their own husbands, 6 as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord. And you are her children, if you do good and do not fear anything that is frightening.

That doesn’t meant that women are inferior to men in any way, mentally or spiritually. Peter does go on to say 7 Likewise, husbands, live with your wives in an understanding way, showing honor to the woman as the weaker vessel, since they are heirs with you[a] of the grace of life, so that your prayers may not be hindered. In what way is the woman the “weaker vessel”? This is from gotquestions.org. “What does it mean that the wife is a “weaker vessel”? The passage does not specifically say. There are many speculations. The most common proposal is that 1 Peter 3:7 is referring to physical weakness since the vast majority of husbands are significantly physically stronger than their wives. Some interpreters see other ways that women are, generally speaking, weaker than men, such as being less in control of their emotions. Others point to the idea that women are more easily deceived (based on 1 Timothy 2:14). The primary problem with these theories is that this passage, and the Bible as a whole, nowhere specifically identifies ways that women are weaker than men. First Timothy 2:14 simply says that Eve was deceived. It does not say that women are more easily deceived than men.”

So it probably does refer to the fact that most men (not all) are stronger then women. Maybe also that, since God made women to be able to nurse and raise children, they might be less in control of their emotions than men. Men think with their head, women think with their hearts. That’s no necessarily a bad thing b/c they need more emotion than men to unselfishly raise children from birth and to put up with their husbands! If true, that might make women more susceptible (not gullible) to false teachers as 2 Timothy 3 says, 6 For among them are those who creep into households and capture weak women, burdened with sins and led astray by various passions, 7 always learning and never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth. Remember, as Paul points out in 1 Tim 2:14, Eve was deceived by Satan’s lies but the man was not deceived. It is controversial that the new pick for defense secretary says that women should not serve in combat roles. They were not allowed to do that until 2016 when restrictions were lifted, allowing women to serve in all combat roles. We’ll see how that one turns out! You can just hear the claim that Republicans are misogynists if the new secretary of defense gets his way!

We are embroiled in so many accusations in politics that it is hard to know the truth. From MSNBC: “Trump ran a campaign that included denying women their free will (i.e. the right to control their own bodies and have abortions legally). He vowed to be women’s protector “whether the women like it or not,” and he repeatedly praised the chaos that has ensued after the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn women’s federal right to abortion as “beautiful.” His victory has some in the MAGA movement eager to subjugate women, and their remarks all but affirm some people’s fears that a Trump win would unleash misogyny akin to that in “The Handmaid’s Tale.” Look up “The Handmaid’s Tale” if that statement make you curious about what that is. It is about a futuristic men led New England state where men totally suppress women’s rights and the women try to gain independence.

I am not defending Trump’s statements, but it is interesting that today a man is accused of misogyny (misogyny is the hatred of, contempt for, or prejudice against women or girls. It can also refer to social systems or environments where women face hostility and hatred because they’re women in a world created by and for men — a historical patriarchy) if he believes that abortion is killing life in the womb and that women’s rights to control their own bodies does not include killing babies in their wombs. That is not misogyny. That is standing up for what God says. A key passage is in Exod 21:22 “When men strive together and hit a pregnant woman, so that her children come out, but there is no harm, the one who hit her shall surely be fined, as the woman’s husband shall impose on him, and he shall pay as the judges determine. 23 But if there is harm, then you shall pay life for life, 24 eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, 25 burn for burn, wound for wound, stripe for stripe. Apparently God considers life in the womb to be a living being during the entire pregnancy.

The other issue that brings the accusation of misogyny is what Paul said about wives being in submission to their husbands (Ephesians 5:25-33). Also in 1 Corinthians 11 Paul said 2 Now I commend you because you remember me in everything and maintain the traditions even as I delivered them to you. 3 But I want you to understand that the head of every man is Christ, the head of a wife is her husband, and the head of Christ is God. That is a mandate of God from the very beginning in Genesis. To teach that is not misogyny. Of course, the husband is to love and cherish his wife and take care of her needs, so he should not be a cruel dictator. But the fact remains that the Bible teaches that the husband is the head of the wife. Many today think Paul was not inspired and that we don’t have to follow his teaching. They say he is just homophobic and misogynistic and giving his opinions. But Paul was an apostle inspired by the Holy Spirit. His teachings are from the Holy Spirit.

That brings up the role of women in the church. One of my students asked if a woman could be the President, or a Princpal, or a CEO of a business, etc. I told him that I personally thought that was ok. Paul said in 1 Timothy 2: 11 Let a woman learn quietly with all submissiveness. 12 I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; rather, she is to remain quiet. 13 For Adam was formed first, then Eve; 14 and Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor. I think that restriction on women only applies to the church positions. For example, the qualifications for elders in 1 Timothy 3 is “husband of one wife”, so women could not be elders. Why not? Elders might have to refute false teaching and rebuke heretics., which would involve taking authority over the men. Some churches have women elders in spite of Paul’s teaching.

What about women praying out loud among a group of men? I have never thought that was wrong. Why not? 1 Corinthians 11 goes on to say that a woman could use her miraculous gift of prophecy or probably praying in tongues if she would wear a veil to show that she was not “usurping authority” over the men and trying to take over. So women could pray out loud in the presence of men (praying silently would not be in context here b/c that could not possibly be taken as usurping authority). Then in 1 Cointhians 14 Paul says 26 What then, brothers? When you come together, each one has a hymn, a lesson, a revelation, a tongue, or an interpretation. Let all things be done for building up. That could be gifted men or women using their gift in assemblies or meetings of Christians. So women could us that gift of prophecy to give a revelation in such a meeting as long as they word a veil to show subjection. I assume that women can give a teaching or lead in prayer in a mixed group of men and women today. Why not? I don’t think they would even need to wear a veil since that was a cultural way of showing subjection back then. Today, I think it would just be obvious if the woman was just humbly using her gift or knowledge or if she was trying to take over. The church I was raised in was so inconsistent on this issue. They would allow women to share a teaching in a classroom before going into the auditorium for the main service, but then they would not allow a woman to share a teaching in the main service. Why would going into the auditorium make it any different than in the classroom? It should either be wrong in both or right in both. I think the Bible teaches that it is ok in both! My church squelched the gifts of our women by keeping them from using their gifts in the assembly. But doesn’t Paul say in 1 Corinthians 14:33 “As in all the churches of the saints, 34 the women should keep silent (sigaó: To be silent, to keep silence, to hold one’s peace) in the churches. For they are not permitted to speak (laleó: To speak, to talk, to utter) but should be in submission, as the Law also says. 35 If there is anything they desire to learn, let them ask their husbands at home. For it is shameful for a woman to speak in church.” My church used that verse to say that women could not share a teaching or speak in the assembly, total silence. Of course, they allowed women to sing out loud but that was it (inconsistent again if they demand total silence). But requiring total silence of women in the assembly would be a contradiction of 1 Cor 11 where Paul said the women could speak in prayer or prophecy in any meeting of men and women. So how do we explain this verse in 1 Cor 14:34-35? Paul must have specifically been rebuking women who are usurping authority over the men in the assembly, butting in when the men are speaking, just blatantly taking over (maybe they think the men are not doing a good job leading the church). Paul tells those specific women to not speak at all but ask their husbands any questions when they get home. Paul is not making some general rule for all women to be totally silent in assemblies which would contradict 1 Cor 11. So I don’t think it is wrong for a woman in the assembly to share a teaching, to lead a song, to lead the group in prayer, etc. I do believe in the men taking the lead but often that does not happen. I guess women do have to step up at times.

But often the question is raised, “Is it wrong to have women preachers?” I say yes and here is why. Usually the preacher is considered the senior pastor of the church and will have the authority to rebuke false teachers or the immoral and rebellious in the church. A woman preacher might thus have to rebuke male members of the church and that would violate Paul saying women could not usurp authority over the men. Of course, a more relevant question might be, “why do we have paid preacher positions in the church today at all?” There was no such position in the early church. Churches were led by elders and deacons. The elders did the shepherding and they had gifted teachers. But no paid preachers. I think the addition of the paid preacher position is similar to the request to have king so they could be like the other nations (1 Samuel 8). The church leaves the house church model and starts to build buildings and hire preachers, youth ministers, and secretaries. It becomes a business instead of a simple house church where you would never hire a preacher for a house church. The “evangelists” mentioned in Ephesians 4:11 traveled to different churches to ground churches or rebuke heresy. They had miraculous gifts enabling them to do that. The church they went to might give them food and a place to stay, but they were not permanent paid preachers like today. Two other gifts in Eph 4:11 were pastors and teachers, both miraculously gifted positions. You might think that he is talking about preachers of churches who are called pastors today, but he is not. The word for pastor is poimén: Shepherd. It refers to elders, not preachers. In Acts 20 Paul is talking to the elders of Ephesus. 20:17 Now from Miletus he sent to Ephesus and called the elders (presbuteros: elder, older, presbyter) of the church to come to him. He said 20:28 Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers (episkopos: Overseer, Bishop), to care for (poimainó: To shepherd, to tend, to feed, to guide) the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood. All 3 words, shepherd (poimen, the same word in Eph 4:11 for pastors), overseers (episkopos, the word some churches use to have bishops), and elders (presbuteros, the same word some churches use to have presbyters) refer to one position in the church, that of elders. Local church assemblies had these elders and deacons, and that was it. It was the Catholic church that started making different positions of bishops and presbyters, but they were one and the same in the NT.

Many churches have different views on the role of women in their churches and in their assemblies. Each church must study and define these roles for their church. They just need to remember that we might end up agreeing to disagree. Each Christian must decide if he is comfortable with the role of women as defined by his church.

I know this article has gone off into several issues with a lot of my opinion. I don’t make my opinions on these issues to be heaven/hell issues that might diivide churches. I hope you enjoyed the study of Deborah, the only woman judge.