My kids and I have discovered In2TV, and have been enjoying watching old shows. The other day, an episode we were watching opened with a man in a lab coat furiously working, surrounded by cages of white mice. You already know what he was, don't you? Because you've seen the image so many times, you know already that he is some sort of scientist (from the lab coat), probably experimenting on the mice, and his "furiousness" suggested a hint of madness.
My kids, however, were full of questions. Who is that man? Why are those mice in cages? What is he doing? Is he nice? Is he being bad?
So, what does this have to do with hermeneutics? Just as my kids missed the thousand words inherent in the picture of the scientist, you will miss much of the message of the New Testament if you are not already familiar with the Old Testament. There are over 2,700 quotations or allusions to the Old Testament in the New Testament, which works out to an average of 100 per book. It has been noted by some that the book of Revelation is the most Old Testament book in the New Testament.
So let me encourage you to study the Old Testament. Yes, we live in the New Covenant, but you don't want to miss the pictures.

I decided to go ahead and place a Thanksgiving greeting on my site now, so that you can see it whenever you visit this week. I really liked this card and hope that you will see it before Thanksgiving so it can help you remember the first Thanksgiving.

You can view the card here.

(I adjusted the date to keep this at the top)

Yesterday, Wal-Mart announced they, "will not make corporate contributions to support or oppose highly controversial issues unless they directly relate to our ability to serve our customers."

You can read more here.

We are making a difference. Now that's something for which to be thankful!

First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time. For this I was appointed a preacher and an apostle (I am telling the truth, I am not lying), a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth.

1 Timothy 2:1-7

Elections not go quite the way you had hoped? Pray.
Notice that Paul didn't prescribe a form of prayer to Timothy. What is important is not the way we pray, but that we pray. "Praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication" (Ephesians 6:18).
Are you concerned of the influx of liberal social ideals? Pray. Humbly beseech our Father to prevent them. Earnestly ask him to end embryonic stem cell research, to end homosexual marriage, and to end abortion. Pray against state-sanctioned atheism. Pray against the immorality and unethical behavior seen throughout the business world, media, and government.
Many of those elected, though belonging to a liberal party, have many conservative positions. Pray that they would stand strong on their conservative positions and not merely tow the party line. Pray for the Gospel to take root in our elected officials' hearts. What would happen if many of our elected officials humbled themselves before their Judge, repented of their sin, and turned to their Lord and Savior?
Pray for leaders throughout our nation and other nations. Intercede for others, especially our persecuted brothers and sisters.
Be thankful! God is still God of all the earth, and He reigns! Be thankful that America was established as a Christian nation and it can be such again. Be thankful for the majority of Americans, who still profess themselves to be Christians. Be thankful for our faithful brothers and sisters who are following the dominion mandate (Genesis 1:28) and are bringing the teachings of God into every aspect of our culture, and who are preaching the Gospel to every creature (Matthew 28:19).

And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.

Genesis 3:8

I was looking at this verse on StudyLight.org. The word translated "sound" is qowl in Hebrew. It is translated voice 383 times in the KJV and 284 times in the NASB. It is only translated sound 39 times (not quite 8%) in the KJV and only this once (twice as sounds) in the NASB. The word translated "cool" is ruwach, which is translated Spirit or spirit 232 times in the KJV, Spirit 76 times and spirit 127 times in the NASB. This is the only time it is translated cool. "Day" is yowm, which is translated as day thousands of times in both.

So, what's my point? Consider this: They heard the Voice of the Lord God... in the Spirit of the Day. The Voice, the Spirit, the Day. Do you recognize the imagery? Here's a hint:

On the morning of the third day [Yowm/Day] there were thunders and lightnings and a thick cloud on the mountain and a very loud trumpet blast, so that all the people in the camp trembled. Then Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God, and they took their stand at the foot of the mountain. Now Mount Sinai was wrapped in smoke because the Lord had descended on it in fire. The smoke of it went up like the smoke of a kiln, and the whole mountain trembled greatly. And as the sound [Qowl/Voice] of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses spoke, and God answered him in thunder [Qowl/Voice]. The Lord came down on Mount Sinai, to the top of the mountain. And the Lord called Moses to the top of the mountain, and Moses went up.

Exodus 19:16-20

The Voice, the Spirit, the Day. Psalm 29 describes this Voice:

The voice [Qowl/Voice] of the Lord is over the waters;
the God of glory thunders,
the Lord, over many waters.
The voice [Qowl/Voice] of the Lord is powerful;
the voice [Qowl/Voice] of the Lord is full of majesty.

The voice [Qowl/Voice] of the Lord breaks the cedars;
the Lord breaks the cedars of Lebanon.
He makes Lebanon to skip like a calf,
and Sirion like a young wild ox.

The voice [Qowl/Voice] of the Lord flashes forth flames of fire.
The voice [Qowl/Voice] of the Lord shakes the wilderness;
the Lord shakes the wilderness of Kadesh.

The voice [Qowl/Voice] of the Lord makes the deer give birth
and strips the forests bare,
and in his temple all cry, “Glory!”

Psalm 29:3-9

Consider also Ezekiel 30:3:

For the day is near,
the day of the Lord is near;
it will be a day of clouds,
a time of doom for the nations.

Are you starting to see that "In the Garden" will never be "hymn of the week" at this site? What Adam and Eve heard was the terrible Voice of the Lord coming in His Glory-Cloud as He did on Mount Sinai and to fill the Tabernacle and the Temple. And also, in Revelation:

I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet

Revelation 1:10

Now, don't miss this!
What did John see in the Glory-Cloud?

Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me, and on turning I saw seven golden lampstands, and in the midst of the lampstands one like a son of man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash around his chest. The hairs of his head were white like wool, as white as snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire, his feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace, and his voice was like the roar of many waters. In his right hand he held seven stars, from his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in full strength.

Revelation 1:12-16

Compare Daniel 7:9-10:

As I looked,

thrones were placed,
and the Ancient of days took his seat;
his clothing was white as snow,
and the hair of his head like pure wool;
his throne was fiery flames;
its wheels were burning fire.
A stream of fire issued
and came out from before him;
a thousand thousands served him,
and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him;
the court sat in judgment,
and the books were opened.

And Daniel 7:13-14:

I saw in the night visions,

and behold, with the clouds of heaven
there came one like a son of man,
and he came to the Ancient of Days
and was presented before him.
And to him was given dominion
and glory and a kingdom,
that all peoples, nations, and languages
should serve him;
his dominion is an everlasting dominion,
which shall not pass away,
and his kingdom one
that shall not be destroyed.

And Daniel 10:5-11:

I lifted up my eyes and looked, and behold, a man clothed in linen, with a belt of fine gold from Uphaz around his waist. His body was like beryl, his face like the appearance of lightning, his eyes like flaming torches, his arms and legs like the gleam of burnished bronze, and the sound [Qowl/Voice] of his words like the sound [Qowl/Voice] of a multitude. And I, Daniel, alone saw the vision, for the men who were with me did not see the vision, but a great trembling fell upon them, and they fled to hide themselves. So I was left alone and saw this great vision, and no strength was left in me. My radiant appearance was fearfully changed, and I retained no strength. Then I heard the sound [Qowl/Voice] of his words, and as I heard the sound [Qowl/Voice] of his words, I fell on my face in deep sleep with my face to the ground.

And behold, a hand touched me and set me trembling on my hands and knees. And he said to me, “O Daniel, man greatly loved, understand the words that I speak to you, and stand upright, for now I have been sent to you.” And when he had spoken this word to me, I stood up trembling.

Yes, Jesus is the very incarnation of the Glory of God!

Is the Bible inerrant or infallible? They mean the same thing, right?

Well, they seem to. According to the American Heritage Dictionary, inerrant means "1. Incapable of erring; infallible. 2. Containing no errors." Infallible means "1. Incapable of erring. 2. Incapable of failing; certain." They're synonyms, right?

Apparently, not, or I wouldn't be blogging about this, would I? The question isn't their "dictionary" definition, but their historical definition.

This stems out of the doctrine of inspiration. We agree the Bible is God's inspired Word. God is perfect, therefore His Word must also be perfect. The question is how much of the Bible is God's inspired Word, and that is where these two terms come into play.

Inerrancy is the belief that everything the Bible says is true. If history or science contradicts the Bible, then the fault lies with history or science. (I would also include the fault could lie with the reader's interpretation of that passage of the Bible. As an example, I have on good authority that in Greek, and combines but does not necessarily insinuate order. If I say, "I went to the store and the library and church," you may assume that I went first to the store, then to the library, and the finally to church. You cannot make that assumption in Greek. So, where Matthew and Luke might appear to disagree in the order of Jesus' temptations in the wilderness, this can be disproven by an accurate understanding of and in the Greek. When Luke uses and, he is merely saying all these things happened, not in which order they happened.)

Infallibility, on the other hand, is the belief that the Bible is true for faith and practice. If the Bible asks you to believe something or asks you to do something, then it is true. If it offers some scientific allusion or historical detail, it may be in error. The problem with this position is the opportunity for picking and choosing. If you do not like a particular passage, then you just need to build a sufficient case that it is historically or scientifically inaccurate, and it can be dismissed as untrue.

The Bible is inerrant. It is all God's Word and perfect. It can be trusted, and, indeed, it must be trusted.

The Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy

From Compass Direct: Lambini tribal villagers in Karnataka state prohibited Pastor Revanna Naik and his congregation from worshiping on Sunday, October 29, instead forcing them to bow down and worship Hindu deities. Three of the 11 Christian families at the church in the remote village in Chitradurga district refused to bow before the idols or partake of the prasad offering that would indicate allegiance to the Hindu deities. The local council chief ordered the village to ostracize those families. This stigma of being ostracized will crush the very spirit of the Lambani, who are very clan-oriented people. On November 6, Hindu extremists forced Christians in a remote village in southern Karnataka to bow down before Hindu deities. The Christians were marched to the village temple, forced to bow down before the Hindu gods and had the vermilion mark applied to their foreheads. A police inspector only watched this violation of the Christians' rights.

Pray the families who are shunned by the villagers will draw close to Jesus and know His loving presence as never before.

Pray the police officer and Hindu extremists will repent and come to know Jesus' forgiveness.

Used by Permission The Voice of Martyrs

Brian: Wow. And we worry someone might turn down our tract, because that would hurt our feelings.

I was also wondering, do you think Joel Osteen has ever read Voice of the Martyrs? How exactly does this figure into "Your Best Life Now"?

Wal-Mart is really going out of their way. Now they have donated $60,000 to Out and Equal, a homosexual organization pushing their agenda. Here's the story:

http://sanfrancisco.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/stories/2006/06/26/story7.html

Notice in the article:

From a $60,000 sponsorship of a San Francisco lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered employee advocacy nonprofit to store redesigns and tailored merchandising, Wal-Mart seems to be trying to recreate itself in Target's image.

Wal-Mart is a $60,000 plenary sponsor of September's Out & Equal summit in Chicago. The company signed on to support the workplace advocacy group just two years after Ken Pearson, a Wal-Mart executive, attended his first summit and reported his findings to Bentonville.

You can view the ad Wal-Mart developed for the homosexual conference here.

Not yet convinced? Here's the 51-frame Power Point that Pride, Wal-Mart's in-house homosexual group, presented to reveal their success in Wal-Mart's support of the homosexual agenda.

What should you do? I'll leave that up to you to decide. As a suggestion, the American Family Association has prepared this Pass Along Sheet that you can print out and give to your friends, neighbors, and church. You might also consider signing this petition to let Wal-Mart know you won't be visiting Sam's Club or Wal-Mart on the Friday or Saturday after Thanksgiving.

Looks like a great movie. Definitely worth marking your calendars.

http://www.thenativitystory.com/

Waiting room witnessing can be a challenge. Sometimes waiting rooms can be rather cramped, so you inevitably draw others into the conversation. Also you don't know when the doctor will call back either you or the person to whom you are witnessing. These are all great reasons to pray for boldness, pump the adrenaline, and go for it.

Last night, I was sitting in the waiting room and I was nervous. There were two men and a little boy with me. When the man with the little boy got up to leave, though, I moved over to sit with the remaining man. He was not reading anything and he was very polite and very open to conversation. I handed him a million bucks and as he started looking at it, I asked him what he thought happened to people when they died. He very nicely said that the Bible teaches we all go to hell. That was interesting. As we talked I realized he associated hell and the grave as roughly the same thing. He let me walk him through the Ten Commandments. He admitted to a few things. He said he had not lusted because he was married. I asked him about before that, and then he admitted to lusting. So he very willingly admitted to being a sinner. He admitted he was going to hell. I asked him if he knew what God had done for him. He said that God had sent Jesus who died on the cross to pay the penalty for his sins. I asked him if he had ever repented of his sins and trusted in Jesus. He said no. I asked why not. He smiled and said he just hadn't. (At this point another gentleman entered and sat on the other side of me. Another man and an elderly lady followed him and sat in the other two seats). I pointed to the highway outside the window and asked if he didn't realize that a car could hit and he could die that very afternoon. He said he knew he could die at any time. Then he leaned forward and, shall we say, "the scales fell from my eyes." "The Bible says only 144,000 will be saved." Ahhh.... A Jehovah's Witness.
Then he started explaining "Paradise Earth", the thief on the cross, Lazarus and the rich man, etc. to me. The doctor came and called him back. The man offered the million bucks back to me and asked if I wanted it back now. I answered, "No, I want you to have now more than before." He smiled and thanked me.

I felt deflated. I also felt even more nervous about turning and starting a conversation with my spectators. They heard all that 144,000 talk. They might not have been sure which one was the JW. I sat for a moment in silence, praying. I sensed God asking me if one bad conversation meant that the others in the room did not deserve to hear what God had done for them. I was rebuked and pulled out another million bucks. I handed it to the man sitting beside me. "Hey, that's pretty neat," he said. I told him, "Flip it over, there's a million dollar question on the back." He did flip it over and started reading it right there. "Wow, he said. That makes you think." "That's what its supposed to do," I said.
The other man in the room (the one with the lady) asked me, "What you got there? Some fake money?"
I stood up and walked over to him. "Yeah, its fake money. Here I've got some more." I handed one to him and one to the lady. I told the elderly lady, "You look like a million bucks, you should have a million bucks, right?" She smiled and started telling me about her collar bone.
The doctor came and called me back. As I left the room, I looked back. Everyone in the waiting room was holding a gospel tract and reading it.
After my visit, I saw everyone had cleared the waiting room except for the JW who was waiting for his ride, a coworker of mine, and a new gentleman. I took care of my copay and the JW's ride came. As he walked past me, he smiled. "You look up those verses," he told me. "I will I said," and pointed to the million bucks still prominent in his hand, "and you look up those."

So today I'll be studying up on how best to witness to a JW so I'm ready next time.

Have you heard about the changes in New York City's birth certificates? In September, NYC released a new plan to allow transgenders to actually change the gender on their birth certificates without having to undergo surgery. They only need to show proof of taking steps to alter their gender.

This reminds me of a verse. Shocking, huh? Actually, the shocking part is which verse it reminds me of. It's a big can-of-worms verse. Can you guess? Here goes:

A woman shall not wear a man's garment, nor shall a man put on a woman's cloak, for whoever does these things is an abomination to the Lord your God.

Deuteronomy 22:5

Now, some people read this verse and get an immediate mental image (see photo at right), and that's as far as they allow the verse to take them. Yes, this verse does definitely teach that the differences between male and female should be reflected in our clothes*. We're also told in 1 Corinthians 11:14, that nature teaches us "that if a man wears long hair it is a disgrace for him." But is it possible that God could be aiming at something closer to the heart than the intrinsic morality of fashion trends?

I must admit that I cannot read this verse without hearing how I believe Jesus would have addressed this verse at the Sermon on the Mount: "You have heard that it was said, 'A woman shall not wear a man's garment, nor shall a man put on a woman's cloak, for whoever does these things is an abomination to the Lord your God.' But I say to you that every man who is effeminate, or makes his wife the head of his house, submitting to her leadership rather than leading her, or every woman who takes up arms of war, or works while her husband stays home, or who acts like Harriet Oleson, or teaches a man or exercises authority over a man has worn the other gender's garment and thus offended his or her Creator." (Okay, so Jesus might not have made a direct reference to Little House on the Prairie, but you catch my drift.)

It's easy to spot the sins of the transgenders. But aren't there some "transgender" tendencies among many Christians, as well? How about you?

* I would like to take a very brief moment to point out that "man's garment" is not defined. If you wanted to go totally "Biblical" and insist that Jewish culture was intrinsically holy, then a man's garment is one or two full length tunics and a cloak, which is easily distinguishable from the woman's garment of one or two full length tunics and a cloak. Obviously that would be a very difficult law to fulfill outside of the Middle East. I personally believe that you fulfill this by men shopping in the men's department and women shopping in the women's department. I have faced the accusation that I'm letting culture dictate my values. I'm not letting culture dictate my values. I'm applying my values to the culture. Those who would level that accusation should carefully consider if they are not letting culture dictate their values--a pre-1920s culture--and assuming that makes them holy.

Was that snarky?

UPDATE: I stand corrected. Yes, I was snarky on that last bit, so I've struck it out. I'm sorry if I offended anyone.
There's some good out of this: it let my wife point out to me that I have a "hang up" on other people's "hang ups." So, now I can deal with that log properly. You know, it doesn't feel good to find out you have a log, but it sure does feel good to get those logs out.

I breezed through Ephesians 1:1-10.

This past week has been a real struggle with 1:11-14.

Suddenly the memorization reminds me of high school and college. Had it not been for the doctrinal section of my Bible Doctrines tests, I would have flunked that course. But I always had perfect scores on the doctrines themselves, and very good paraphrases on all the verses. But the Opportunity Place required verbatim KJV. It didn't even help when I tried to make my paraphrases at least sound archaic, which I was pretty good at doing.

It's not a chore. I look forward to it everyday. And I really enjoying meditating on the verse all day long.

The problem's in my noggin. I seem to need a prompt at every phrase, then I can quote the phrase with minimal effort. My wife, living up to her blog name, suggested I create symbols for each phrase and memorize the symbols.

I see that God is not only teaching me Scripture through this, but even more to depend on Him.

As we were driving away from church this morning, my son yelled from the back of the minivan, "Look at that guy! He's driving so slow. He's too old to be driving. He should stay home."

Groan.

He wouldn't say it if he hadn't heard it. And he probably heard it from me. "Son, we shouldn't jump to judge others. If I've been an example of that to you, I'm sorry. We need to respect others. I will be more careful with what I think and say about others from now on."

Could this really be the judgment on the whole of mankind for all of history? Does the Bible teach that in the end all mankind will be judged for acts of charity toward disciples? If so, our evangelism is misdirected, isn't it? I don't think so. Paul didn't think so.

So what is this?

Right off the bat, here's something that didn't stand out to me before. So many people quote this passage incompletely. How many charities around the world quote "as you did it to one of the least of these." But what does it say? "as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers..." Who are Jesus' brothers? Well, what did Jesus say? "'Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?' And stretching out his hand toward his disciples, he said, 'Here are my mother and my brothers! For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.'"

So this is not a judgment on how global charities handle the poor. He is speaking of his brothers, the disciples.

So, how could Adam be judged for how he treated one of Jesus' disciples? How could Moses or even Amalek be judged for how he treated one of Jesus' disciples? Only during a time of persecution of Christians does this make sense.

This really makes sense in light of Matthew 10:40-42, "Whoever receives you receives me, and whoever receives me receives him who sent me. The one who receives a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet's reward, and the one who receives a righteous person because he is a righteous person will receive a righteous person's reward. And whoever gives one of these little ones even a cup of cold water because he is a disciple, truly, I say to you, he will by no means lose his reward."

This fits with the Parable of the Wedding Feast, especially the judgment of those who "seized his servants, treated them shamefully, and killed them." (Matthew 22:1-14)

I do hope to get some comments on these posts. I'm still investigating this method of interpretation, but it does seem very simple, straightforward, and uncontrived to me. Do you agree? Do you see problems? Is there something you think I've overlooked, either pro or con?

Come now, let us reason together...

If this whole Olivet Discourse is one prophecy toward one event (70 AD), then how does this fit in?

It says, "When the Son of Man comes in his glory." But we already read in 24:30, "Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory." This was followed in 24:34 with, "Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place."

Also, in Matthew 16:27, 28, Jesus said, "For the Son of Man is going to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay each person according to what he has done. Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.”

These both describe the coming of the Son of Man, in glory, with angels, as a King, to judge, universally ("all the tribes of the earth", "each person"). And in 16:28 during some of the disciples' lifetime.

So it is very easy and natural to see these passages talk somehow about the same event.

Matthew 25:32, however, says, "Before him will be gathered all the nations." Were all the nations involved in the fall of Jerusalem?

Let's look at universal language in the Bible.

Matthew 24:22, in speaking of the tribulation said, "And if those days had not been cut short, no human being would be saved." Yet this tribulation was period before the destruction of Jerusalem and only involved the area of Judea.

Could "all the nations" (25:32) be the same as "all the tribes of the earth" (24:30). They do seem to be parallel.

In Genesis 17, God promises Abraham that he has "made you the father of a multitude of nations." Romans 4:17, 18: "As it is written, 'I have made you the father of many nations'—in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist. In hope he believed against hope, that he should become the father of many nations, as he had been told, 'So shall your offspring be.'"

The word nations here is ethnos from which we get our word ethnic. We also get the word ethnarch, which is "the ruler of a province or people" (American Heritage Dictionary). The word ethnos is the same word Josephus used to reference the "nation of the Samaritans," "the nation of the Galileans," etc. Each of these places at times were ruled by ethnarchs. So it is well within the common usage of the time to understand the nations as the "nations" of Palestine.

Notice this is the same word used in Matthew 28:19, "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations." If the apostles had understood this "correctly" as evangelizing the entire globe, then why were they so surprised in Acts 11:18, "When they heard these things they fell silent. And they glorified God, saying, 'Then to the Gentiles also God has granted repentance that leads to life.'" If Peter had understood this globally, why did he not see his call to the uncircumcised as a fulfillment of the commission of Matthew 28?

This lets Matthew 10:23 make more sense, "When they persecute you in one town, flee to the next, for truly, I say to you, you will not have gone through all the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes."

I finished Matthew 25 this morning.

I wanted to go back, though and share some of the observations from 24.

In verse 2, Jesus prophesies the destruction of the Temple. The disciples in verse 3 ask him, "Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the close of the age?"

That’s interesting, because the KJV had said, “end of the world.”

I looked back at Matthew 13, and noticed that verses 38-40 say, “The field is the world, and the good seed is the children of the kingdom. The weeds are the sons of the evil one, and the enemy who sowed them is the devil. The harvest is the close of the age, and the reapers are angels. Just as the weeds are gathered and burned with fire, so will it be at the close of the age.” Also in verse 49, “So it will be at the close of the age.”

Interesting that Paul uses it in 1 Corinthians 10, “Now these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction, on whom the end of the ages has come.”

The Jews believed that the Messiah would bring about a new age. At this time, the disciples were living in the Jewish age.

Hebrews 9:26 says, “But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.” If he meant the end of the world, we have a real problem. Because Christ died almost 2,000 years ago, and the world still has not ended. But the Jewish age has definitely ended.

Looking back at Malachi, which I just read September 30.
3:1, 2 - Behold, I send my messenger and he will prepare the way before me. And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple; and the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, behold, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts. But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears? For he is like a refiner's fire and like fullers' soap.
4:5 - Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes.
Rev. 6:17 - The great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?
Malachi’s prophecy is clearly of a coming Judge, heralded by Elijah [John the Baptist].

Isaiah 40:3 - A voice cries: “In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God.”
Isaiah’s prophecy is of a coming Savior, heralded by a voice [John the Baptist].

The Savior and the Judge are both heralded by John the Baptist.

Malachi 3:3, 16-18; 4:2, 3, 5, 6 all offer hope. A remnant will be saved. But the warning still stands, “lest I come and strike the land with a decree of utter destruction.” (Reminiscent of Jericho, “And the city and all that is within it shall be devoted to the Lord for destruction.” Joshua 6:17, also Deuteronomy 13:12-18)

This is all spoken of Israel.

Now, Zechariah prophesied of his son, “And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways, to give knowledge of salvation to his people in the forgiveness of their sins...” And John says of him, “He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him.” The “Savior’s herald” aspect.

But John the Baptist himself preached, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?... Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees... His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and gather his wheat into the barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.” The “Judge’s herald” aspect.

Notice he warned of the wrath to come. Even as he’s saying it, it’s on its way. “Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees.” “His winnowing fork is in his hand.”

Okay, now back to Matthew 24. The disciples asked him, “When will these things be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the close of the age?" Are these three different questions? Not in Mark 13, “Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign when all these things are about to be accomplished?” Not in Luke 21, “Teacher, when will these things be, and what will be the sign when these things are about to take place?” They’re asking about one great event.

The disciples asked a specific question and Jesus is giving a specific answer to the disciples.

In Matthew 24, there is nothing in the text to suggest a leap from the destruction of the temple to the distant future. The only time transition is in verse 29 where it says, “Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.” And there, the word is immediately. Not “after many days” or “it shall come to pass after these things.”

Now, verse 14 says, “And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.”
Colossians 1:5, 6 say, “Of this you have heard before in the word of the truth, the gospel, which has come to you, as indeed in the whole world it is bearing fruit and growing—as it also does among you, since the day you heard it and understood the grace of God in truth.”
And in verse 23, “if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister.”

Matthew 24:15 says, “So when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by the prophet Daniel...” As the disciples had asked Jesus a specific question and he is giving them a specific answer, would they not have understood you as referring to themselves?

It does seem that the most natural reading of Matthew 24-25 would be that it is all one undivided answer to the disciples’ question.

The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian officially will be released May 16, 2008.

So mark your calendars. Well, you probably don't have any calendars that far ahead... Well, you could write it on a Post-it Note... No, that will get lost.

Er, nevermind. I'm sure Disney will be hyping it at least by March 2008. You probably won't be able to miss it.

My Bible reading today was Matthew 24.

Well, before I make my comments, let me preface them with this: For my first 20 years, I was raised in independent, fundamental Baptist churches. In other words, all "prophetic" passages were interpreted premillenial, pretribulational and dispensational. I've seen the Thief in the Night series of movies waaayyy too many times. (Were sideburns and bellbottoms really in the Koine Greek?) In my last year of high school, first year of college at the Opportunity Place, the visitation pastor of the church to which I was a member, introduced me to Banner of Truth, thus introducing me to reformed theology.

Something, however, that I frankly refused to study was eschatology. My wife and my dad read every book of the Left Behind series as soon as they were released. I refused. I knew it was just more preemietribbiedispsensational and I could already quote that backwards in my sleep. I wasn't sure what I believed about prophecy, but I was fairly certain that was not it, and I just didn't want to further bemuddle my thinking.

So (now that I have fully offended and established a wall of separation between my tens of tens of readers and myself) I read Matthew 24 today. Yesterday, a small packet arrived in the mail from the International Preterist Association. I glanced through their material and found some of it interesting. I decided I would look into Matthew 24 and see if what they said held any water.

All I'm going to say now is that I would encourage you to read The Parousia by James Stuart Russell (1878). Read it with your Bible open beside it. Look up each reference. Read each one in context - the chapter before and the chapter after. Just read it and see what you think.

I still have questions. I'm still reading. But, I've got to tell you, this makes sense. I've never encountered an approach to prophecy that was so unforced, so natural. It is definitely worth investigating.

Oh, and the comments may now come in flaming fire.

My hymn Psalm of the week is 67:



"All that is necessary for evil to succeed is that good men do nothing."
- Edmund Burke

This morning our children overheard us commenting on election. Ethan (5) asked what we were talking about, so Alicia asked him, "Did God chose you or did you chose God?"
Without hesitation, Ethan answered, "I chose God."
I responded, "See, I believe that God chose me."
Ethan asked, "Huh?" (Anna Kate [3] stood in the background shouting, "Jesus chose you! Jesus chose you!")
Alicia said, "I'm with Ethan, Huh?"
Anna Kate came over to the table where I was cleaning up after breakfast. "God chose you and then you chose God."
I said, "I'm with Anna."

I'm taking a cue from my wife's blog and posting a hymn. I believe it goes with my earlier post today.
The text is by J. Wilbur Chapman.

UPDATED November 6, 2006

Pastor Ted of New Life Church has stepped down from the pulpit and resigned as president of the National Association of Evangelicals. New Life Church has provided a press release on the issue. At the time of this posting, there was no news on the NAE website.
This came as the result of a homosexual escort alleging that Pastor Ted has been paying him regularly for over three years for sex and drugs. While Pastor Ted has not admitted to all of the allegations, he has admitted to some guilt. I certainly don't know of what he is guilty, nor would I want to speculate. Haggard has confessed, "The fact is I am guilty of sexual immorality. And I take responsibility for the entire problem. I am a deceiver and a liar. There's a part of my life that is so repulsive and dark that I have been warring against it for all of my adult life."
Now, my friends and I have had a lot of fun this week watching Kerry "botch" jokes and the military respond. But there's nothing to laugh about here.
How does something like this happen? How do ministers of the Gospel of Jesus Christ fall into sexual immorality? How do leaders in the battle against the humanist ("man's way") agenda make such "indescretions"?
Have you heard the Desiring God 2004 National Conference? My good friend Ben gave me a CD of these messages (freely available to download as mp3s from the Desiring God website). The topic was "Sex and the Supremacy of Christ." I've burned copies for some of the men in my shepherding group who only had dial-up.
Piper addressed this very issue in his message that Friday night. Ministers that are addicted to pornography, pedophilia, adultery, etc. are revealing that they do not truly know Christ.

Not only do all the misuses of our sexuality serve to conceal or distort the true knowledge of God in Christ, but it also works powerfully the other way around: the true knowledge of God in Christ serves to prevent the misuses of our sexuality. So, on the one hand, sexuality is designed by God as a way to know Christ more fully. And, on the other hand, knowing Christ more fully is designed as a way of guarding and guiding our sexuality.

He then gives the following passages as proof: Romans 1:28; 1:23-24; 1 Thessalonians 4:3-5; 1 Peter 1:14-15; Ephesians 4:22; Colossians 3:10; 2 Peter 1:3-4; John 8:31-32.
Do you truly know Christ? Is that knowledge changing you? Are you growing in the fruit of the Spirit and shedding the fruit of the flesh?
In Luke 13, Jesus was asked about a couple of local disasters where many had died. They wanted to know why these had died. Perhaps Jesus response is fitting as well when we wonder why a public figure falls into immorality:

No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.

Alan Shore: "I'm getting tired of this freedom of religion thing... a Constitutional Amendment as overplayed as it is misapplied... enough with this freedom of religion crap."

The First Amendment states:

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances."

The First Amendment places a restriction on the government, not on the people.

So, what is the origin of "separation of church and state"?

Well, let's look at the Constitution of the United States of America. Find it? No? Well, then let's try the Bill of Rights. Did you find it yet? No?

That's because it is not in either of those historic documents. Its in another historic document, a personal, private correspondence, actually. The Baptist Association of Danbury, Connecticut, was concerned that a national denomination would be established in America as it had been established in England and Scotland, and other countries.

Here is Jefferson's letter to the Danbury Baptists, as sent:

To messers. Nehemiah Dodge, Ephraim Robbins, & Stephen S. Nelson, a committee of the Danbury Baptist association in the state of Connecticut.

Gentlemen

The affectionate sentiments of esteem and approbation which you are so good as to express towards me, on behalf of the Danbury Baptist association, give me the highest satisfaction. my duties dictate a faithful and zealous pursuit of the interests of my constituents, & in proportion as they are persuaded of my fidelity to those duties, the discharge of them becomes more and more pleasing.

Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between Man & his God, that he owes account to none other for his faith or his worship, that the legitimate powers of government reach actions only, & not opinions, I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should "make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof," thus building a wall of separation between Church & State. Adhering to this expression of the supreme will of the nation in behalf of the rights of conscience, I shall see with sincere satisfaction the progress of those sentiments which tend to restore to man all his natural rights, convinced he has no natural right in opposition to his social duties.

I reciprocate your kind prayers for the protection & blessing of the common father and creator of man, and tender you for yourselves & your religious association, assurances of my high respect & esteem.

Th Jefferson
Jan. 1. 1802.

Taken together, Jefferson's wall restricts the government from interfering with religion, but not the other way around. This is freedom of religion -- religion free from the interference of the government.
Perhaps I'm putting words in Jefferson's mouth? Here's what Jefferson wrote to Benjamin Rush on September 23, 1800:

[T]he clause of the Constitution which, while it secured the freedom of the press, covered also the freedom of religion, had given to the clergy a very favorite hope of obtaining an establishment of a particular form of Christianity through the United States; and as every sect believes its own form the true one, every one perhaps hoped for his own, but especially the Episcopalians and Congregationalists. The returning good sense of our country threatens abortion to their hopes and they believe that any portion of power confided to me will be exerted in opposition to their schemes. And they believe rightly.

As to the source of those rights, he wrote:

And can the liberties of a nation be thought secure if we have lost the only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are the gift of God? That they are not to be violated but with His wrath?

Let's also not forget that that throughout his vice presidency and presidency, Jefferson attended church at the Capitol. The first service he attended at the Capitol was on January 3, 1802. Now, scroll back up and look at the date on that letter to the Danbury Baptists. Jefferson attended church at the Capitol just two days after he wrote that "wall of separation of church & state" metaphor. Church services continued at the Capitol through the Civil War and Reconstruction.

I believe it is that "wall of separation" metaphor that is as "overplayed as it is misapplied."

The Voice of the Martyrs

On October 16, 2006, Pastor Irianto Kongkoli was shot and killed by two masked gunmen. He was 42 years old.

The attack happened at 8:15 a.m. local time. That morning, Pastor Kongkoli was shopping for tile with his wife, Mrs. Rita Arianti Kopa, and five-year-old daughter, Galatea. The trio took the family van to a local hardware shop. Pastor Kongkoli was browsing the store’s yard when two masked men shot him in the head at a range of two meters. According to witnesses, one of the men was on a motorbike.

Following the attack, the masked men fled. Pastor Kongkoli’s wife heard the shots from inside the van and rushed to help her husband. Rita, who is a member of the East Palu police force, immediately took her husband to a hospital for aid. He died that same day.

Local police are following a lead on the two men suspected in Pastor Kongkoli’s murder. The suspects are also wanted for the murder of Pastor Susianti Tinulele, a pastor shot in the back of her head during a Sunday service, and the murder of an unidentified employee at a gold shop.

Pastor Kongkoli actively worked to promote peace between Christians and Muslims. His body is to be buried in Palu, the capital of Central Sulawesi, instead of Tentena, the Christian district, to prevent retaliation against his death.

Pastor Kongkoli is survived by his wife, Rita, and three children. Rita is not seeking retaliation against her husband’s murders, but plans to let local authorities handle the case.

“It is God’s will,” she said. “He gives life and then He also takes life.”

Used by Permission The Voice of Martyrs www.persecution.com