Scripture Memory - Memlok

Hi everyone. Peggy and I celebrated the wedding of Peggy's sister Theresa to Erik. The celebration took place yesterday at friends of Theresa's, who live in Wisconsin near the Apple River. So yes, Peggy's side of the family, along with Peggy and I and the kids were taken tubing on the Apple River, upstream from Sommerset. The tubing lasted about 35 minutes, no rapids, and the hosts provided boys to steer our group of tubers down the river. They drove us, provided the tubes, picked us up at the end, and drove us back to the farm where the party was taking place. It was a lot of fun, although Elijah and I are the worst victims of sun burn today. But despite the sunburn, it was a great way to celebrate the marriage.

Today's post is about my favorite Bible memorization program, which I can now whole heartedly recommend – Memlok. They recently updated their program so that it works with Windows 7, and the new program is better than ever. Memlok uses a picture to help you get started with the memory verse, then you can type in the verse, or play a word jumble, or fill in the blank. It uses the combination of the word picture and repetition to lock in these great verses. It works, it stretches your brain, but it is well worth it. The Family version costs $29.95. Try it, it's a great way to learn Bible verses.

The 10 Greatest Bible Verses

This morning, I thought I would put together a list that I considered as the 10 Greatest Bible Verses of all-time. Now I know that all the Bible is 'God's Word" and that it is all good stuff. Yet, I love God's Word, and so I wanted to share what is my quick list of the greatest verses in the Bible. If you have any additions, I would enjoy hearing your suggestions. Or if you just want to share a favorite Bible verses, please share it. Without further ado (and you know, I have much dew in my writing), here is my favorites list:

 

Genesis 1:1        In the beginning, God created the heavens and the Earth… If you have this one down, you've won half the battle;

Exodus    3:14        ¹⁴ God said to Moses, "I am who I am… The name of God first revealed to man. An awesome moment in history;

Exodus 34:10-34    The Ten Commandments. What else is there that is written over 4,000 years ago, that we still fight over today? What else but the 10 Commandments, which were originally given by God to Moses. These verses are still so powerful, still so teachable to our children, and still cause fear in our judges. There is nothing like the Commandments to teach us right from wrong, to help us to see we can never be good enough before God, and to also help us to see that we need a Savior to rescue us from our sins. There is nothing more powerful than God's Law, except perhaps the Good News.

Jeremiah 31:31-34    "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…For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more." This is the promise of one day a New Covenant coming. The promise of a New Covenant fulfilled in Jesus Christ;

Matthew 1:23    Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel" (which means, God with us). The fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecy in Isaiah 7:14, saying a virgin will give birth to a son and he shall be called Immanuel which means God with us.

Matthew 6:9-13    Lord teach us to pray. The Lord's Prayer is seminal in so many ways. Never before in Judeo-Christian tradition, had God been described as a 'Father'. Let alone as a loving, kind, caring Father (Abba Father is used in this prayer). This prayer also tells us to pray for our daily needs. The prayer describes that God's Kingdom is present, yet still coming. And finally, that there is an evil enemy from whom we need deliverance. The Lord's Prayer is the best way to start a conversation with God.

Matthew 7:12    Do unto others as you would have them do to you. The Golden Rule is influential as a standard of conduct for many generations, even through today.

John 3:16    The Gospel shrunk down to one verse – Jesus died as God's sacrifice for the world's sins. But this sacrifice must be received in order to obtain the gracious gift of eternal life. And those who do not accept this sacrifice will perish. So clear, concise yet powerful.

John 14:6    I've talked a lot about this verse. Jesus is the only way to heaven. Enough said. Period.

Romans 3:23-24 (and 5:1, 6:23, 8:1)    all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, ^24 and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. Yes, all of Romans could be added to this List. But the Romans verses listed here make the Gospel message of our sinfulness, and our only hope we have is to be justified through faith in Jesus and His sacrifice on the Cross in our place.

Ephesians 2:8-9    For it is by grace that you have been saved through faith… The Protestant Reformation's trumpet call – we are saved by God's Grace and not by being a nice person or doing good things.

1 John 1:9    If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive our sins and purify us from all our unrighteousness. This is a foundational verse, which teaches us that even though Jesus died for our sins, we still need to confess our sins to be forgiven. And what a great verse to show our wonderful Maker is both faithful and just.

Revelation 20:11-15    Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it… Revelation is so important because we see such a clear picture of Jesus. Right from the start in Revelation, we see Jesus saying He is the Alpha and the Omega (1:8). That His hair is white as wool, His eyes are like a flame of fire (1:14). And of course, in Revelation 20:11-15 we see He is going to return one day to judge the dead. There

 

OK, for those counting, I've already reached 13 verses. But I hope you are feeling the excitement that I have for God's Word. I hope that I Have also glorified the Lord through His Word. My prayer is that you are likewise blessed through God's Word, that you have other verses that have blessed you, and that you would also like to share with others.

The Exclusiveness of Jesus

My friend and old compadre Ed recently asked if there was a good explanation for four different hurdles that Not-yet Believers of Jesus have difficulty with (see his Comment dated May 19, 2008). The purpose of this post is for me to address the last hurdle he mentioned – Why salvation through Christ is needed; why is it that Christians believe that the only way for people to come to Godand be saved from His anger is through Jesus of Nazareth?

 

Let me start with a Parable, the Parable of the 3 blind men and the elephant. 3 blind men are each touching a different part of an elephant and are asked to describe it. The first is holding the elephant's massive leg and says the elephant is like a great tree. The 2^nd is holding its trunk and says the elephant is like a snake. While the 3^rd is touching the elephant's side, and says the elephant is like a great wall. Is religion in the world like this metaphor? The world's religions are all merely seeing different parts or aspects of God (the elephant), and so one description cannot be better than the other descriptions, right?

 

There couldn't possibly be just one way to God, says Oprah on her enormously popular television show. What about the people who live in a part of the world where they have never heard of Jesus, she asks? And so she reasons from this that people through their actions are either moving toward the Light or to something called either darkness or fear. And her conclusion is that there are many ways to what she calls Light, which she also concludes is God. Now I am not bad-mouthing Oprah – she is doing more good than any single person in the today's world. But her comment is right on point for today's post. Here is a website which has her discussing this issue on her show: http://www.jesus-is-savior.com/Wolves/oprah-fool.htm.

 

Ed has raised a great question, and he has definitely hit on one of the major roadblocks for people becoming Christ-followers – can't people come to God and be "spiritual" without knowing about Jesus. A related question is the one raised by Oprah What about the good person living in a cave, who has never heard of Jesus? Isn't he entitled to go to heaven, if he is basically a good person? Let me try and help provide a more clear understanding of why Jesus is the only way for all people, nations, races, sexes, and ages to come to a saving relationship with God. First, let's take a look at whether the Bible really says that Jesus is the only way of salvation to God. Then I will take a look at whether Jesus being the only way to God makes any sense.

 

Does the Bible really teach that Jesus is the only way to God? When I first started studying the Bible in my 30's, I wrestled quite a long period of time with the famous verse in John 14:6 (where Jesus teaches "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.") I couldn't accept the plain meaning of this verse for a long time – I, like Oprah had a tough time accepting that Jesus was the only way to be saved from being punished by God. I just like Oprah believed there were good people who had not heard of Jesus that couldn't possibly be punished with hell. And so, here is how I rationalized John 14:6. I believed that Jesus was love, and so if you have love, you had Jesus. And voila! You were accepted by God, and anyone who loved others would go to heaven. Loving others was the magic ticket to get into heaven.

 

But the funny part about my life at this time was that I didn't really have love in my life. I was pretty normal during this point in my life - I was focused mostly on myself. I wanted to become a famous lawyer, my real drive was to argue a case in front of the US Supreme Court. I wanted fame, fortune, and for everyone to realize what a smart person I was (OK, maybe this one God is still working on me - J). Do you see anything missing? I didn't care about anyone else's feelings. Instead, I actually purposively tried to make everyone else's life miserable. And as an attorney, I did a pretty good job of it. I would always make sure to send out collection letters and lawsuits out on Fridays or right before holidays, so that their weekends and holidays were ruined. I had yelling matches with people calling in, including my law firm's office manager and secretary. I still have the file of letters written to me calling me every dirty name in the book. I once called someone who was a subordinate for my client, and who was supposed to provide me with some paperwork to help in a lawsuit every day for three weeks or so. And I meticulously kept a record of the time and date I left a message. And for some reason, he did not return my calls. Until I unloaded on his boss, having fun at how much trouble he was going to get into. And don't get me started on what my physical desires were like during this time of my life. I was a petty, mean selfish person, only focused on one thing in my life: meeting my own (the Bible calls this "fleshly") desires. Yet, I still thought that I had "love" in my life, and that I was in a good relationship with God. I believed that because I read the Bible, and went to Church, I was going to heaven. I was a good person I rationalized, and just doing my job. Only now do I understand what the Prophet Jeremiah said in 17:9 - The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked;

 

I kept this attitude only for a while though. First, I abandoned my mis-reading of John 14:6 one weekend in Chicago at a retreat, when I accepted the "Light" of God's Word. I began to realize that there were A LOT of Bible verses that say that Jesus is the only way to God, the only way of salvation, and the only way to eternal life. Here are just a few of these verses:

 

Acts 4:12 - Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.

1 John 2:23 - No one who denies the Son has the Father. Whoever confesses the Son has the Father also.

Col. 1:15 – He (Jesus) is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.

Hebrews 1:3 - The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.

And of course, John 3:16 - For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

 

And so, my irrational interpretation of John 14:6 (where I believed that all people who 'loved' would be able to come to the Father, and so get to heaven) was destroyed. Acts 4:12 (above) especially helped me to see that the Bible is very clear that John 14:6 means what it says - Jesus is the only way to God The Father. And He is the only way of salvation. So yes, the Bible really does teach that Jesus is the only way to God, and the only way of salvation.

 

Does it make any sense that Jesus is the only way to God? So why does God's Word teach that salvation through Jesus Christ alone is needed. I like to repeat as a mantra that mankind's major problem is sin. Sin is an entangling distraction from living a life with character. Sin is consuming, and often hurts others as well as ourselves. And God's response to Mankind's sin problem was to send His Son, the Son of God Jesus. Through Jesus' death on the Cross, God Himself offered His Son in payment of mankind's sins. Jesus offered Himself to pay what justice required for all of our sins: our sins require the death penalty before God. And God paid this price Himself, with Jesus who had no sin, giving up His life to pay for the world's sins. And here is the important part – it is only Jesus' sacrifice that can pay for the punishment required when we commit sins. Nothing else can make up for our sins, except the Blood of Jesus.

 

So yes, Oprah because everyone has made mistakes, hurt others, and offended God, one day when we die we must face the Judge who we offended with our actions, God Himself. And we may try and squirm out of responsibility for the crimes we committed during our lives, by saying that we also did good things during our life. The reason why someone's attempted good actions don't help is because if we were before a Judge for say, bank robbery, we would be laughed at for trying to argue that we used the money to help someone else. It doesn't matter if we do try to do good while also committing a serious crime / sin. The penalty for the sin still has to be paid. And when we commit a sin against God, the penalty required is always death. Think of it this way – if you hit your cat with a stick, you may not have to pay any penalty. But if you hit your wife with a stick, you likely will spend some time in jail And if you hit the President with a stick, if you aren't shot by the Secret Service, you will spend a great deal of time in jail. The penalty goes up as the importance of the person you hurt increases. And in a similar way, if you commit any offense against God, like ignoring Him, using His precious name as a cuss-word (this is a serious crime called Blasphemy), or ignoring His Sabbath, you have committed a serious sin that requires the payment of everything you have, even your life.

 

Ed, you also mention that people are only doing what their nature drives them to do. I don't agree. For now, let me merely point out why such great classics as The Hobbit, Lord of the Rings, and even The Matrix strike such a chord with us. I believe this is what God has placed in us to yearn for something more in our lives. That we want to be heroic, to stand up and fight against evil, even to fight against impossible odds, if our death would have meaning. To be people of character, and to stop those who hurt those around us. But instead we settle for quick fixes, quick moments of happiness to make us forget about the pains of our lives.

 

And so, is there any hope for us? Yes, this is the Good News – the Righteous One paid the penalty for all the crimes of the unrighteous. Ed, if you were sitting in a jail cell for a crime you committed, and someone came and opened the cell for you and said you were free to go, would you continue to sit in the cell? Well, this is the position that you are in today. You aren't good enough to pay for the sins you have committed during your life - no one is. But there is one Who is good enough to pay for my sins AND yours. Jesus was sinless during His life, yet the authorities put Him to death on the Cross. This death on the Cross paid the full penalty for all of our sins, and so we both have received a pardon for the crimes we have committed during our lives, and bridged the separation our sin causes with God. I accepted the pardon, and you apparently have not. I walked out of the jail cell, and you apparently refuse the pardon and continue to sit in the jail cell. Why would you neglect such a Great salvation that is provided by Jesus? I apologize for the length of this post, but I thought the topic merited it. Thank you Ed for bringing it up, and God bless you.

The Holy Spirit – Part 1

Back when I first sensed God's presence as an adult, I was taught that the third Person of the Trinity was responsible for sealing believers in Christ, and in opening up, and providing understanding of God's Word. These are very important things for Christians and right from the start I grew in appreciation and love for God, the Holy Spirit. I found it amazing how through repeated reading and studying of the Bible, passages I understood one day a verse as meaning one thing, but then another day was revealed to me by the Holy Spirit to provide a better, clearer and entirely different meaning.

 

But I came to see the Holy Spirit as having an even a greater role, a more equal role in the Trinity, as I started attending Hosanna Church, and through its use of the Alpha course. Initially, I sensed God's presence as I worshipped God through song. Yet, I wanted more. And as I studied about the Holy Spirit through God's Word, I came to a better understanding of the Holy Spirit's work. I have seen the miraculous answer to prayer. I have seen gifts of the Holy Spirit given out according to God's Will. And the biggest miracle of all is how a skeptical, know-it-all like me came to a saving faith.

 

Perhaps one day I will discuss whether the Holy Spirit's gifts described in the New Testament (most prominently in 1 Corinthians chapter 12) are still active. But instead today I wanted to discuss the battle between the Holy Spirit in a believer's life and what is described as our "flesh", the "old man", or simply our sinful nature and desires. The lead verse I wanted to use is the following:

 

But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. (Galatians 5:16-17.)

 

So this verse in the 5^th Chapter of Galatians speaks about a war that is going on in every believer's life - the Holy Spirit in a believer in Christ's life is fighting against the "desires of the flesh". All people have these desires of the flesh, but the last portion of this verse is most interesting: the Holy Spirit is working against our desires of the flesh "to keep you from doing the things you want to do." I hope you are amazed at this – we are all born with different yearnings and desires, and we call this our own personal human nature. How often is this called something that is bad, or something that we should struggle against? Instead, in our culture today, we hear things like Be True to Yourself, or as Frank Sinatra put it, he did it 'My Way', and this is somehow something good. But the Apostle Paul makes clear that doing it our way is a way that is opposed to God's Holy Spirit. The best 'you' is the one that walks by and with the Holy Spirit, and to avoid doing the things of your human nature. Are you struggling with something in your life?

 

We are commanded in Galatians 5:16 to "walk by the Spirit". And in Ephesians 5:18, we are to continue to be filled with the Holy Spirit. So how does a Christian do this? We are sealed with the Holy Spirit when we repent and are baptized into our life in Christ (Acts 2:38, Ephesians 4:30). Believers have the indwelling Spirit (Romans 8:11), but doubters / rejecters of Christ do not have the Holy Spirit (Romans 8:9). We take in the Holy Spirit through His Word, through prayer, and through obedience to God's commands. And how do we know when we are not walking in the Spirit? Galatians Chapter 5 is very helpful in its description: we know we are living in our sinful nature when there are things like this in our daily walk - sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, and things like these (Galatians 5:19-21). Don't look at this list and see the worst actions, and think that you are OK for not doing the worst things. Instead, ask God to reveal if there is anything in this list that He wants you to remove from your life. If you are walking in anything on this list be warned: those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God (Galatians 5:21).

 

And of course, the famous list of the fruit of the Holy Spirit in Galatians Chapter 5 stands as a stark contrast of the life of a Christ-follower: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control (Galatians 5:22-23). When these characteristics are seen by others in your life, and Christ is receiving all of the glory for this, then you know you are walking in the Holy Spirit.

 

My take away for you is this – What are you working on to grow in your obedience as a disciple in Christ. God makes clear that the process of sanctification continues until the day that we go to be with the Lord. So is there something that you are struggling against, or are you writing it off as merely being your 'human nature'? And do you trust that God knows how best to live your life? Here is one more great verse about walking in the Spirit, and not according to our own sinful nature:

 

^12 Therefore, brothers, we have an obligation—but it is not to the sinful nature, to live according to it. ^13 For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live, ^14 because those who are led by the Spirit of God
are sons of God. (Romans 8:12-14).

 

So walk by the Holy Spirit this Day, and may God bless you as you do this.

Jesus’ Return and the Rapture

I have done a search of the Scriptures to try and pull all of the verses that describe Jesus' Second Coming, and the rapture of Christ-followers. First, here is a quick summary of these verses. I am providing this summary in hopes that it encourages those believers who read this, in that there are lots of verses that speak of Jesus' return. And there are lots of details that can only be brought out when these verses are all brought together. Here is my summary:

 

Topical Review of Rapture Verses:

Jesus will come on the clouds;    Matt. 24:29; Acts 1:11

Dead in Christ will rise first;    1 Thess. 4:16

Christ-followers alive at the Second Coming will rise up to meet Him in the air;    1 Thess. 4:17

Christ will come a second time to save those who eagerly await Him;    Hebrews 9:28

At Jesus' Coming, Christ-followers will be changed in an instant, and we will have our perishable bodies replaced with imperishable bodies; 1 Cor. 15:51-53

At Jesus' return, believers' lowly bodies will be transformed into something like His glorious body; Phil. 3:21

When He appears, we shall be like Him, because we shall see Him as He really is;    1 John 3:2

Once Jesus returns, Christ-followers will always be with Jesus;    1 Thess. 4:17

Jesus has prepared a place for Christ-followers in His Father's house;    John 14:2

When Christ appears, Christ-followers will appear with Him in glory;    Col. 3:4

At His return, we will receive an unfading Crown of glory;    1 Peter 5:4 (perhaps also described as a Crown of Righteousness in 2 Timothy 4:8)

Creation waits and groans for the appearing of the Sons of God;    Romans 8:19, :23

One will be taken from the field, the other left;    Matt. 24:40; Luke 17:34

At His coming, other believers we have brought to the Lord will be our hope, joy and crown of boasting; 1 Thess. 2:19

The Day of Jesus' Coming will not happen until the rebellion first takes place, and the revealing of the man of lawlessness;    2 Thess. 2:3

Immediately after the Tribulation, the Son of Man will come on the clouds and His angels will gather together His elect;    Matt. 24:29-31 (Does anyone know how the pre-Trib believers understand this verse?)

 

OK, I have one additional topic I would ask you to consider: the main Gospel description of Jesus' return for believers is contained in the Olivet Discourse, Matt. 24:29-:31. But these verses clearly say that Jesus returns for believers only AFTER the Tribulation is over. This is a rather clear statement that Jesus will not come until after the Tribulation is finished. As you remember, the main end-time evangelical view is Pre-Tribulation/Pre-Millennial, meaning that they understand that Jesus comes with a secret rapture of believers, before the 7 years of Tribulation. I have a difficult time reconciling this with Matthew 24:29-:31, which says:

 

Matt. 24:29-:31 - ^29"Immediately after the tribulation of those days … 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. ^31 And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

 

And so, these verses show that immediately after the Tribulation (and remember in Matt. 24:22, that only for the sake of the elect, the days of the Tribulation are shortened) Jesus and His angels return to gather the elect. So this looks to be a challenging verse for those with a Pre-Trib view. I did find one commentary with a Pre-Trib explanation, but I do not find it very persuasive:

 

…"A trumpet call will send angels to gather the saved from throughout the earth (24:31). This refers not to the rapture of the church, which will occur before the Tribulation (see exposition on 1 Thess. 4:13–18), but to the actual coming of Christ to earth about seven years later at the end of the Tribulation, at which time he will inaugurate his millennial Kingdom." Wilmington's Bible Handbook.

 

So Wilmington's Bible Commentary says that Matt. 24:31 description of Jesus' return to gather the elect from the four winds, is not a description of the rapture? And this is instead a description of the much less numerous who come to a saving faith during the Tribulation? Are they allowing their presumption that the rapture takes place before the Tribulation to cover over the plain language of Matt. 24:29-31, which says that only after the Tribulation does Jesus and His angels come for all of the elect? Is there anyone out there that would like to try and reconcile a Pre-Trib rapture view with Matt. 24:29-31? God's blessings to you, and any comments are appreciated.

Sing!

I have done a simple Concordance search of the word 'sing' and 'song' in the New Testament, and I thought I would share the results with you. I hope these verses show us all that we are to sing together, sing often, and sing praises to God our Lord.

 

What if I don't feel like singing? Well, as Jesus taught us at the Last Supper, He was about to go to an excruciating and humiliating death, and have the world's sins laid upon Him, yet He led the disciples in the singing of a hymn (Matt. 26:30). Paul and Silas were in prison, and they sang (Acts 16:25). So it seems that singing is important for our emotional health, especially when we are under stress, as Jesus and Paul were.

 

But we are also to sing praises when we feel cheerful (James 5:13). We are to also sing God's praises in an assembly/congregation (Hebrews 2:12). How important is singing praises to our Lord God? The Apostle Paul answers this 1 Corinthians chapter 14. Paul recognized the wonderful spiritual gift from the Holy Spirit of speaking in tongues. But Paul recognized that singing hymns to God was more important than speaking in tongues because the Christian is using both their spirit and their mind when they sing (1 Cor. 14:15). While if someone is speaking in tongues only their spirit is praying, but their mind remains "unfruitful" (1 Cor. 14:14). So a beautiful part of singing praises to God is that you are using both your spirit and your mind in showing love to our Creator.

 

And finally, what sort of songs should we sing? Both Ephesians 5:18-:19 and Colossians 3:16, describe what Christians should sing as follows:

 

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. (Col. 3:16; see, Eph. 5:18-:19).

 

So Paul uses just about as broad of a description for the kind of songs Christians are to sing as there is: Old Testament psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. So if you love the old classic hymns – sing them! Open up your Bible, and sing a Psalm. If there is a catchy song you heard on Christian radio or in Church, sing it! But also notice what Paul connects to singing our Lord's praises – the word of Christ dwelling in us, and having a thankful heart. So take in God's Word, be grateful for the good things in your life, and sing praise to the Triune God. You'll be glad you did (that's my Amy Grant reference for today)!

 

Finally (really, this is my last point), I cannot leave the topic of singing without looking at the 'new song' described in Revelation. In Revelation chapter 5 we have a heavenly word picture painted for us, describing the 24 elders worshipping the Lamb of God. It describes this wonderful 'new song' as saying:

 

Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals,

For you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation,

And you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on earth. (Rev. 5:9-10; see, Rev. 14:3).

 

So what should we do? Sing praise to God in good times and in bad. Sing with thankfulness in our hearts. Sing and make music in your heart. Sing together. But most of all – just sing to the Sovereign Lord of the universe!

Why I am an Amillennialist

Although it looks like I am in the minority, I wanted to share (although no one asked me to) the reasons why I believe Amillennialism is the best Biblical way for understanding the end times. The main opposing view to Amillennialism is Pre-Millennialism (Pre-Mil from now on). I respect the great number of Pre-Mil teachers and theologians (oh, and my family members also - J) who hold the Pre-Mil viewpoint. And as I grow in my knowledge of Scriptures, I hope I am open to learn more, and possibly even changing my mind on my end-times view.

But here goes. Here are three quick reasons why I believe Amillennialism is the best method for understanding the Bible's description of the end-time events:

First, How should we understand the Book of Revelation? Here's the issue –Pre-Mil's (I will use Pre-Mil as being the same as the largest group of today's Christians who believe in a Pre-Trib, Pre-Mil Rapture) view the Book of Revelation as a chronological book that is to be read as a straight sequence of future events. This means that Pre-Mil's understand the 7 Seals (Revelation 6) are one set of events followed by the 7 Trumpets (Revelation 8-14), then followed by the 7 Bowls (Revelation 16). While the Amillennialists believe the Book of Revelation describes repeating sequences of events that grow in the power of their effects (also called Recapitulation).

The repeating cycles used in Revelation make it similar to a song with a repeating refrain that grows in volume. Lowery, Robert, Revelation's Rhapsody, College Press (2006). I remember the first time I read Revelation, I thought it was odd that in Revelation 6:8 after the 4^th Seal is opened one-fourth (1/4) of the earth is killed. But in Revelation 9:15 one-third (1/3) of mankind is killed after the 6^th Trumpet is blown. My suspicion that something was going on was confirmed when I heard the explanation of Recapitulation which answered my suspicions. Here is a good summary of how the different cycles are repeating in Revelation:

A correlation between the seven trumpet judgments and the seven bowl judgments has often been observed, suggesting the possibility of parallelism between the sections:

A. The first of each affects the earth (Rev. 8:7; 16:2).

B. The second of each affects the sea (Rev. 8:8; 16:3).

C. The third of each affects the rivers (Rev. 8:10; 16:4).

D. The fourth of each affects heavenly bodies (Rev. 8:12; 16:8).

E. The fifth of each affects men (Rev. 9:1; 16:10).

F. The sixth of each affects the Euphrates (Rev. 9:13; 16:12).

G. The seventh of each is the end (Rev. 11:15; 16:17).

Revelation, Four Views : a parallel commentary, S. Gregg, Introduction.

 

The Second reason why I am an Amillennialist is because of the Second Coming. Remember that most Pre-Mil's believe that Jesus comes secretly to rapture believers, unknown to the rest of the world, then comes back 7 years later to lead the saintly armies in the Battle of Armageddon and set up His earthly millennial Kingdom (Revelation 19:11-20:6; famous Pre-Mil author T LaHaye, Bible Prophecy – A Quick Reference Guide, q. 3-4). I do not believe that the Bible describes Jesus coming to Earth three times. Instead, Hebrews 9:28 states that Christ will appear a "second time". I take this wording on its face, and believe that there will be one Second Coming of Jesus, and not a second followed by a third appearance of Christ. Amillennialists believe this because when Jesus comes back a "second time", it will not be only to rapture believers, but also to resurrect those dead in Christ, and ultimately to resurrect all people to face Him at the Great White Throne Judgment Seat (Rev. 21:1-8). This all takes place on the Biblical term referred to as the "Last Day". I understand that Pre-Mil author Tim LaHaye describes Jesus' return as being in phases – the first phase is the Secret Rapture of believers. While the second phase is the resurrection of the rest of the world which is post-Millennium and before the Great White Throne Judgment, 1,007 years later. Two phases of Christ's return 1,007 years apart? I'm sorry I don't see that, or read anything that even hints that this is possible anywhere in the Bible.

Now, I'm just getting warmed up (sorry, this I hope is my last 'Princess Bride' reference). The third reason why I am an Amillennialist is the problem with the Pre-Mil position on the Resurrection / and the Day of the Lord. This is similar to the Pre-Mil problem on Jesus' Second Coming where Pre-Mil's believe in essentially there being two separate, future return appearances of Christ, The Resurrection problem is this – Pre-Mil's believe there is one Resurrection for believers in Christ (see, 1 Thess. 4:16-:17, the Lord Himself will descend from heaven and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then also those who are alive will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord.) and a second Resurrection taking place after the Millennium and before the Great White Throne Judgment. While Amillennialists believe there is only one Resurrection that takes place for both believers and unbelievers at His Second Coming before the Great White Throne Judgment. I believe the Biblical support for only one Resurrection of the living and the dead is very strong: As one example of both the rapture of believers taking place at the same time with the Resurrection of the world is contained in 1 Corinthians Chapter 15:

Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? ¹³ But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised…

But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. ²¹ For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. ^22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive. ^23 But each one in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, afterward those who are Christ's at His coming. ^24
Then comes the end, when He delivers the kingdom to God the Father, when He puts an end to all rule and all authority and power. 1 Cor. 15:12-:13, 20-24.

My reading of these verses tells me in verse 23 that Jesus comes for those who are His at the Second Coming. And then comes the end, when Jesus delivers the Kingdom to God the Father. Again, it takes quite a stretch to read in a 1,007 year separation for these two events. This is also related to the Biblical term 'Day of the Lord'. Here are some other descriptions of what takes place on the 'Day of the Lord':

• The Day of the Lord - For the ungodly:
  
  • A Day of Decision – Joel 3:14
    
  • A Day of God's Wrath – Isa. 2:6-22; Romans 2:5
    
  • A Day of Righteous Judgment – Romans 2:5
    
  • Heavens will pass away at the Day of the Lord – 2 Peter 3:7,10
    
  • Earth will pass away, melt at the Day of the Lord – 2 Pt. 3:7, 10
    
  • It is a Day of Judgment and utter destruction/eternal damnation (perdition) for the ungodly – 2 Peter 3:7
    
  • It is a Day of sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman – 1 Thess. 5:3
    
  • It is a Day from which there is no escape – 1 Thess. 5:3
    
  • A frequent metaphor for the Day is war – Isa. 13:4
    
  • All nations will recognize Yahweh – Joel 3:17; Phil. 2:10
    
  • Day of the Lord – But for the Elect:
    
    • A day where we rejoice for not having run in vain - Phil. 2:16
      
    • It is a day where God's promises are fulfilled; 2 Peter 3:13
      
    • It is a Day when Israel will be saved – Joel 2:32; Zeph.3:14-18
      
    • It is the Day when we are gathered with our Lord – 2 Thess. 2:1-3
      
    • It is a day of our salvation; 1 Thess. 5:8-9
      
    • It is a day when we begin to live with Jesus – 1 Thess. 5:10
      
    • The end comes right after the resurrection of those in Christ. 1 Cor. 15:22-24
      
    • At least saved Israel will trample the wicked – Mal. 4:3
      

And so, on the 'Day of the Lord' there is a resurrection of both believers and unbelievers. For unbelievers, this Day is a Day of Judgment (2 Peter 3:7). While for believers, the Day of the Lord is when believers are gathered with our Lord (2 Thess. 2:1-3). And all of the other descriptions of the Day of the Lord also include pictures of Believers being separated from unbelievers (see, for example separation of wheat and tares/chaff (Matt. 3:12/Luke 3:17), at harvest time weeds and wheat gathered together (Matt. 13:30), and the separation of sheep and goats (Matt. 25:31-46), with judgment following for the unbelievers. So the Pre-Mil understanding of the Rapture of believers is the dead in Christ rise first, then those in Christ are also raptured (1 Thess. 4:16-17). But this Pre-Mil understanding means that there is a 1,007 year separation of the resurrection of believers and unbelievers. It appears to me that the Pre-Mil understanding is difficult (but not impossible) to reconcile with the verses speaking of the separation of wheat and tares taking place at the same time, and this happening at the time of judgment. Also, John 5:29 and Acts 24:15 speak of an hour coming when the resurrection will take place, with the elect to a resurrection of life, and those who had done evil to a resurrection of judgment. Again these verses speak of the resurrection taking place at the same time, with no mention of a 1,007 year separation for these events as Pre-Millers would have us believe. Therefore, I agree with the Amillennialist position that says that the Resurrection of saints and sinners, the living and the dead takes place at the same time, followed by judgment.

Well, this is my long-winded explanation of why I am an Amillennialist. My take away thought for you who are thinking about Jesus' return is this: Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another--and all the more as you see the Day approaching. Hebrews 10:24-:25.

The Two Main End-Times Views

Bryan asked a good question as a comment to my last post: Is anyone else a pre-mil (Pre-Millennialist) with him? To help you in deciding, here is my way too simplistic description to help you decide whether or not you are a Pre-Mil.

 

Read the first six verses of Revelation 20. It's a short read. Go ahead, I'll wait. J In this short section, it speaks of Jesus reigning 1,000 years on earth while Satan is bound. This earthly reign is after the Battle of Armageddon, and after Jesus arrives with His army and totally destroys the armies and leaders of the Anti-Christ (Revelation 19:11-:21). After this 1,000 year reign of Jesus and the saints, Satan is freed and deceives the nations of the saints, and gathers Gog and Magog in a second final battle, and Satan himself is defeated (Revelation 20:7-:10). Then the Great White Throne Judgment takes place of all the dead (Revelation 20:11-15). If You believe in the literal 1,000 reign between the defeat of Anti-Christ's armies and Satan's armies, You are likely a Pre-Millennialist.

 

If instead, You believe there are repeating cycles described the Book of Revelation (for example the 7 Seals (Revelation 6) is similar to the 7 Trumpets (Revelation 8-14), which is similar to the 7 Bowls (Revelation 16)), and You hold to the traditional view that believes the 1,000 year Millennium is not a literal period of time that will happen in the future, but is instead a description of the age of the Church Triumphant, then You may be an Amillennialist. Here is a little further description that I hope is helpful in understanding the difference between the two views:

 

    Jesus Christ plans on returning to set Creation back in order one day, even if there are serious divisions among Christians as to when this will take place. In studying the Book of Revelation, there are two main methods (each with different sub-groups) that theologians have used. There are intelligent and godly teachers in each camp who have different views in studying this Book. And so, my hope for you is that as you study and learn more about Jesus' Second Coming and the Book of Revelation, that you have an attitude of grace and humility for those who hold a different view than you. Phil 2:3. There are no trophies for whoever has the best understanding of Revelation at His return. The center-point of division over the interpretation of Revelation is focused on Revelation 20:1-:6, called the Millennium. The Millennium is commonly understood to be an ideal time with evil being defeated at the Battle of Armageddon, where Satan is bound, and the saints reign over the world with Jesus Christ.

    A. Pre-Millennialism.

    The first and today's most popular method used in studying Revelation is called Pre-Millennialism. Pre-Millennialists understand the Millennium to come after the three sets of Judgments of Revelation (the Scroll and Seven Seals, the Seven Trumpets, and the Seven Bowls), and the Battle of Armageddon in Rev. 19:11-:21. In putting together a timeline of end-time events, Pre-Millennialists generally agree on the following sequence:

1. A Secret Rapture of Believers from the Earth to go with Jesus;
   
2. The Great Tribulation, 7 Years in length;
   
3. Battle of Armageddon;
   
4. Return of Christ with His Saints, The Second Coming;
   
5. The 1,000 Year Millennium (Rev. 20:1-:6).
   

Such wonderful theologians/teachers holding the Pre-Millennial view include John MacArthur, C. I. Scofield, Chuck Swindoll; Hal Lindsay, Tim LaHaye, and John Hagee. Here are a few of the keys generally held in Pre-Millennial understanding:

 

1. They hold to a sequential view of the Book of Revelation. Just as in the other books of the Bible, everything in the Book is to be understood as coming in the direct order and sequence that is contained in the Book;
   
2. This means that the Revelation 20:1-:6 Millennium is a future event that is a 1,000 year earthly reign, that takes place before the Judgment Seat of Christ, and the coming of the New Jerusalem;
   
3. Pre-Millennialists understand that there is seven years of Tribulation from Daniel 9:20-:27. This tends to match-up with the Tribulation period discussed in the Olivet Discourse (Matt. 24:15-:28) and Rev. Chapters 6 through 16;
   
4. Another area of dispute among Christians studying the end-times is when the Rapture of believers to heaven will take place. In the Pre-Millennial camp there are three major sub-groups. they are confusingly called: Pre-Trib (meaning the Rapture takes place before any Tribulation); Mid-Trib (Rapture takes place three and one-half years after the start of the Tribulation); and Post-Trib (local Pastor John Piper holds the Post-Trib view).
   

Yes, this means that you can be called Pre-Millennial, Pre-Trib; or Pre-Millennial, Mid Trib; etc. Yuck!

1. To add to the confusion and exasperation caused by the use of excessively long nametags in eschatology, is that Pre-Millennialists also tend to follow the Biblical interpretational method of Dispensationalism. John Nelson Darby (of the Darby Bible fame) is the first to do a systematic articulation of Dispensationalism. This method understands that there a number of "dispensations" where God has different salvation epochs or eras for different groups. The clearest example is Israel being under the old covenant which was a dispensation of law, while New Testament believers are under the dispensation of Grace. The essence of Dispensationalism is the distinction between Israel and the Church. Newcombe, Jerry, Coming Again, But When? p. 33-34.
   
2. Pre-Millennialists hold that God has not finished with the nation of Israel, and that one day, Israel will be restored. The motivating force for Israel's restoration is thought to be the Great Tribulation, also called "Jacob's Trouble" in Jeremiah 30:7, and that Israel will be "saved out of it". There is also an understanding that one day Israel will return to the practices under the Law, including the use of Old Testament sacrifices and the rebuilding of the Jerusalem Temple. As such, the Church age is viewed as a "parenthesis" in the program of God and Israel;
   
3. Pre-Millennialism tends to be pessimistic, viewing evil in the world as growing.
   

 

1. Amillennialism.
   

The second major view in interpreting the Book of Revelation is Amillennialism, which literally means "no millennialism". It is a completely different view from Pre-Millennialism. Amillennialism is the traditional view of the Church, with both Roman Catholics and Protestant churches having held this view for over 1,400 years. Newcombe, Jerry, Coming Again, But When?, p. 33. At the Council of Ephesus in 431 AD the Church Council condemned as superstition the belief in a literal, future thousand-year reign on earth. S. Grenz, The Millennial Maze, p.44. The Amillennial view is not only held in the past by the major parts of the Christian Churches, but a similar view to Amillennialism was held by such wonderful Church Fathers as Saint Augustine, Martin Luther, and John Calvin, as well as the current view of Amillennialism by current theologians such as G. C. Berkouwer, Kim Riddlebarger, (the late) D. James Kennedy, and J. I. Packer.

Amillennialism also has a similar, yet distinctive chronology, for the return of Jesus Christ.: After Jesus Christ's First Advent and His Ascension, the Church Age began. This was also understood as the beginning of the spiritual reign of Christ in the Millennium. As one writer describes Christ's Millennial reign: "…the kingdom of evil will continue to exist alongside of the kingdom of God until the end of the world…The so-called "signs of the times" have been present in the world from the time of Christ's first coming, but they will come to a more intensified, final manifestation just before His Second Coming. The Amillennialist therefore expects the bringing of the gospel to all nations and the conversion of the fullness of Israel to be completed before Christ's return. He also looks for an intensified form of tribulation and apostasy as well as for the appearance of a personal antichrist before the Second Coming." Sproul, The Last Days According to Jesus, p. 195, quoting Anthony Hoekema, The Bible and the Future, p. 174 (Eerdmans 1979).

Here are a number of the notable positions held by Amillennialists:

1. The view understands Rev. 20:1-:6, the Millennium as being a time of spiritual reign by Christ. The Millennium is the time between the first and second advents of Christ, with the Church Militant and Triumphant (the concept coming from Saint Augustine, who was the first to make popular the understanding that the Millennium is between the first and second Advents of Christ) with the Church free to spread the Gospel. Satan is bound to prevent his deceiving of the nations (Rev. 20:3), and the Gospel is spread throughout the world. The period described as a 'Thousand Years' is a symbolic reference, not a literal time period;
   
2. The Rapture takes place at the same time as the Resurrection. And there is only one Resurrection of believers and non-believers alike which happens altogether on the Last Day;
   
3. There is a single Return Jesus Christ, visible to the entire world at His one and only Second Coming. Thus, the judgment of non-believers happens on the Last Day as well as the resurrection of believers. There is no separation of time in between Jesus returning for believers and non-believers;
   
4. Things are getting better and worse simultaneously. Both the Kingdoms of Light and Darkness are growing simultaneously. Toward the end, evil's growth will accelerate.
   
5. Replacement Theology. In the past, Amillennialists held the view that the Christian Church had replaced the nation of Israel, and that all of God's promises were now meant only for the Church. This has led to the charge that Amillennialists were anti-Semitic. Although, Replacement Theology is no longer part of mainstream Amillennialism, it is still used as a common attack against it by those in the Pre-Mil camp;
   
6. Recapitulation. Amillennialists read the Book of Revelation as a series of recapitulations - Recapitulation means repetition with intentional progression. It is a strategy of describing the same events in different ways and with ever-increasing intensity. The triad of the seven seals, seven trumpets, and seven bowls in Revelation is an example of recapitulation, showing progressive intensification. R Lowery, Revelation's Rhapsody, Glossary of Terms. Another example is the Battle of Armageddon which is arguably described separately in at least four separate parts of Revelation: Rev. 13:7, Rev. 16:16, Rev. 19:11-:21, and Rev. 20:7-:10. This leads Amillennialists to understand Revelation properly read as repeating cycles, and so should not be read sequentially, as do Pre-Millennialists.
   

 

Whew! I know I've included a lot of information here. But please remember this is only intended as a basic summary with many parts left out, including the other sub-groups of each view. I hope it encourages you to want to study more on the subject. I have also left out discussing the view of Preterism (held by Hank Hanegraff and R. C. Sproul). Perhaps I'll discuss Preterism in a separate post. If anyone has any additions or corrections, or if you feel I have treated one of the views unfairly, please let me know. Thanks, and may God bless you with a greater appreciation of Jesus' sacrifice for your sin on the Cross this Good Friday.

My Favorite Bible Verse

My favorite Bible verse of all time could be Ephesians 2:8-9, which is a foundational verse for the Protestant Reformation. Let me share it with you:

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— ^9 not by works, so that no one can boast. (Ephesians 2:8-9 – NIV; See, Romans 3:24 and Galatians 2:16).

So this verse is one that is a centerpiece for Protestants showing us that being a good person won't save you. And doing nice things does nothing to get us to heaven. Instead, it is God's grace that gives us salvation. Through our faith and trust that Jesus is our Savior, and that He paid the entire price for any punishment that is owed for the wrong things we have done in our life. I find an interesting question coming up from the second part of this verse, after the dash – namely, what is "the gift of God"? In the first portion of Ephesians 2:8, the "gift of God" could be one of three things: Is it God's grace, which is the subject of the preceding sentence? Or is our 'faith' given by God as a gift? Or it could even be our salvation that is the gift. Anyway, that's how my brain works – questions are more interesting than answers.

But let me raise one additional point from this verse – namely, that it is Christ's righteousness, not our own righteousness that provides us with our salvation. This point is made clear in 1 Corinthians 1:30-31, which says:

He is the source of your life in Christ Jesus, whom God made our wisdom, and our righteousness, and sanctification and redemption. Therefore, as it is written, "Let him who boasts, boast in the Lord." (1 Cor. 1:30-31).

And so, Jesus is our righteousness, our good deeds, our attempts at righteous living is viewed by God as 'filthy rags' (Isa. 64:6). And so, Paul rightly points out that we cannot boast in our own righteousness, but we can only boast in the Lord. (1 Cor. 1:31).

OK, I was just kidding. Allow me to make one more comment about the process of sanctification – is sanctification our responsibility? Sanctification is the process where born-again Christians (John 3:3) are turned from wretched sinners into people who grow to act more and more like Jesus. No again, I understand that sanctification is also the work of God. The verse I like to show this is Philippiansc2:12b-13, which says: "…work out your salvation with fear and trembling, ^13 for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose." This verse shows that God works in a believer's desires and their will to act the way God desires. And so, as we approach Palm Sunday and Holy Week, my take away thought as we close Lent is this - if God gives us His Son in payment for our sins, and gives us a desire to appreciate all of what Jesus did, and is even completely responsible for cleaning up our actions through sanctification, can we take any credit for our growing obedience? I think the Apostle Paul already answered this: Let him who boasts, boast in the Lord! (1 Cor. 1:31, above). Have a happy and blessed holy week.

Authority of Jesus – Part 2

Top of the day to you (that's my best Irish accent, as St. Patrick's Day is approaching.) I thought I would deal with a challenging subject for this post: Demons, Evil and Unclean Spirits. In the Gospels we see that Jesus dealt repeatedly with these forces of evil. I count Jesus having six separate encounters casting out and rebuking demons in the Gospel of Matthew alone. In the Book of Acts, the Apostles also have stories where they encounter, cast out and rebuke these forces of evil. So today's post looks at Jesus' authority over demons, evil spirits, and unclean spirits, and whether or not Jesus has provided His authority over these evil beings to His followers in 21^st century America.

What does Jesus have authority over? It is clear from Matthew 28:18 that Jesus Christ, the Son of God has authority over all things:

Matthew 28:18 - And Jesus came and said to them, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.

The Messiah having this kind of power was prophesied about in Daniel chapter 7, where Daniel wrote: "to the Son of Man was given dominion… his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away." (Daniel 7:14-15).

There are also a number of other references to the Authority of Jesus (this is a great topic study, if you have the time):

• All things handed over to Jesus (Matthew 11:27);
  
• The Father loves the Son and has given all things into his hand (John 3:35);
  
• God has put all things in subjection under his feet (1 Cor. 15:27; Eph. 1:22; Hebrews 2:8);
  
• At his name every knee should bow (Phil. 2:10);
  
• It was given to him authority to execute judgment (John 5:27).
  

Jesus healed many people from being tormented by demons and evil spirits. As examples of Jesus' freeing people are the following verses:

• He healed many people of diseases and plagues and evil spirits (Luke 7:21);
  
• When evening had come, they brought to Him many who were demon-possessed. And He cast out the spirits with a word (Matt. 8:16);
  
• Two demon possessed men at Gergesenes who were cast out by Jesus into a herd of swine (Matt. 8:28-:34/See Mark 5:2/Luke 8:29);
  
• He healed a demon possessed man causing him to be blind and mute (Matt. 12:22-30);
  
• He healed Canaanite woman's severely demon-possessed daughter (Matt. 15:22-28);
  
• He healed a man's son who suffered from epileptic seizures caused by a demon that the apostles could not remove (Matt. 17:14-:18);
  
• Other examples are also contained in Mark and Luke. And so, one of Jesus' main ministries was to free people from being tormented by demons and evil spirits.
  

Jesus gave his authority over demons to the apostles:

• And when He had called His twelve disciples to Him,
  He gave them power over unclean spirits, to cast them out (Matt. 10:1);
  
• Peter and the apostles healed all those with unclean spirits (Acts 5:16);
  
• Phillip cast out and healed those who were possessed by unclean spirits (Acts 8:7);
  
• Paul cast out evil spirit in a fortune teller (Acts 16:18);
  
• Even Paul's handkerchiefs and aprons cast out and healed people from evil spirits (Acts 19:11-:16);
  

Jesus gave authority over demons to the additional 72 followers of Jesus:

• The seventy-two returned with joy and said, "Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name." ^18 He replied, "I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. ^19 I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you. ^20 However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven." (Luke 10:17-19)
  

Our enemy is not people of different views, ideologies, or religions. Instead, our only enemy are the spiritual enemies around us (Eph 6:12 - For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.)

 

So do we in 21^st century America have this same authority that the apostles were given over demons and evil spirits? My answer is I don't know, this is one issue that is hard to be certain of. But God's Word says that Jesus has all authority in heaven and on earth (Matt. 28:10). And if it is Jesus' authority that demons fear, then we may have the same authority given by Jesus to the 72 followers of Jesus in Luke 10:17. The 72 followers of Christ described in Luke 10:17-19 were not super-Christians. They did not have special powers – they were not special exorcists. They were simply people who called Jesus their Lord and Savior, and it was Jesus' authority that did the rest. And because Jesus' authority has not changed, it seems that we also can use this power for God's glory.

How do we fight our enemy? First, we have the full armor of God described in Ephesians 6:10-18. Start also with prayer, ask God for discernment of what is from God and what is from the enemy. Next, use the name of Jesus and His authority through stern words (Luke 4:35), with rebukes (Mark 1:25), and sometimes even with prayer and fasting (Mark 9:29). Perhaps this is what James meant when he said that we should submit to God and resist the enemy (James 4:7). There is also power in God's Word, by remembering verses and even saying them aloud. If you are feeling overwhelmed with the battles that you facing, it may be a spiritual battle you are facing. Our enemies are not the people around us, but instead our enemies are the unseen evil forces around us (Ephesians 6:12). So the next time you sense evil spiritual forces attacking you or your family, try something new and get into the spiritual battle with the weapons and armor that the Lord has provided. God please be with us in the battles we are facing.

Authority from Jesus – Part 1

Hi everyone, I hope this day finds you in good health and in a good spirit. I wanted to write today on the problem of children leaving the faith of their parents, along with a possible way to help. First, the statistics: in a recent study called the PEW study (http://www.onenewsnow.com/Church/Default.aspx?id=68377) the study found that 44 percent of adults have left the denomination of their childhood for another denomination, another faith, or no faith at all. According to the 2005 study on youth entitled, "National Study of Youth and Religion," thousands of non-religious teenagers were interviewed who said they were raised to be religious but had become "non-religious." The teenagers were asked, "Why did you fall away from the faith in which you were raised?" They were given no set answers to pick from; it was simply an open-ended question. The most common answer (32%) was intellectual skepticism. http://www.christianworldviewnetwork.com/article.php/77/Sean_McDowell

 

So children leave the faith of their parents, and even leave faith altogether because of intellectual skepticism. But is there anything parents can do to help combat their children's lack of faith? I believe at least one part of the solution is that parent's are given spiritual authority over their children, with this power going unused. Let me explain with two Biblical examples:

 

First, we know of the example of Moses and the disobedient people of Israel, as set out in the Books of Exodus and Numbers. In Numbers 14, we see that the people of Israel rebelled against Moses and Aaron as they are about to enter the Promised Land of Canaan, and the reports of the spies come back of the inhabitants being giants. And the people of Israel ask that a new leader be appointed and that they return to Egypt (Numbers 14:4). But Moses, as God's appointed leader over Israel was able to intercede on behalf of Israel, and ask God's forgiveness:

 

(Moses said) Please pardon the iniquity of this people, according to the greatness of your steadfast love, just as you have forgiven this people, from Egypt until now."

 

²⁰ Then the Lord said, "I have pardoned, according to your word. (Numbers 14:19-:20.)

 

This story shows all of Israel's sins were forgiven based upon the authority of its leader (Moses) and his plea to God for forgiveness. Let's not touch the topic of what this story means for who we should vote for in the next election, but let's see if this story has any application for parents. Do parents also have this kind of authority to ask for forgiveness of their children's sins? I think the story of Job shows that they do.

 

In Job, we see that Job is an upright man who shunned evil (Job 1:1). At the beginning of the story, Job and his wife have 10 children. And apparently these children were adult children who held parties of their own (Job 1:13). Yet, Job would offer burnt sacrifices for each of his children early in the morning after any celebration of feats, to "purify them" (Job 1:5, NLT). Job did this in case any of his children sinned by cursing God in their hearts (Job 1:6). And Job did this all the time for his children (Job 1:6).

 

Now, how much more powerful would our intercessions for our children be under the new Covenant of Jesus Christ? Though Job made repeated sacrifices of animals on his children's behalf, we have a much better sacrifice, the Lamb of God Himself, Jesus' sacrifice on the Cross. And so, as Hebrews 9:14 teaches, just think how much more the blood of Christ will purify our consciences from sinful deeds, compared to the ceremonial sacrifices offer in the Old Testament. Therefore, I am saying that we can ask for forgiveness for our children by the blood of Jesus, just as Job repeatedly made sacrifices for his children.

 

Will our asking God for forgiveness of our children, grandchildren, godchildren, cause them to stop leaving their faith? No, not by this alone. But I like the chances of a child who is prayed for over the one who is not. So my take away application for those reading this, is that God has given us authority through our role as parent, godparent, grandparent, and others. Use your authority today and offer a sacrifice of praise and a prayer for forgiveness for others, as Moses and Job did before use. Thanks be to God.

Is God Above Time?

Perhaps I am the only one who has noticed this, but have you ever seen someone who claims that God has created everything, and so believes that God is above things like time itself? I have a difficult time getting my mind around this concept, and because this belief creates some strange anomalies, I thought I would bring it up on the Blog for discussion. First, I think this is an important topic, because it reveals more about Who our Creator is, and not to pick on anyone who has this understanding of God. The more we grow in our knowledge of Who God is, the better it is for us.

 

Genesis 1:1 is the starting point for this discussion: In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. While this means that God created everything in the universe, and the three heavens (see my previous blog posting on this, the 3 Heavens means the sky and every visible thing above it in our galaxy; the unseen world around us which is the domain of angels and demons; and the traditional heaven, home of God and angels). So while Genesis 1:1 speaks of God creating all material things in our universe and on earth, it does not specifically speak of God creating time.

 

But just because there is no explicit mention that God is over/above time, does this mean that God is within the same time stream as we are? There are several interesting verses on this: first, God is called the Alpha and Omega, the first and the last, the Beginning and the End (Rev. 1:8, 22:13; Isa. 41:4, 44:6, 48:12). God is also described as "immortal" and the "King of Ages" (1 Timothy 1:17). But what does it mean to describe God as the Beginning and the End, immortal, and the King of Ages? Does this mean that God is outside of time?

 

Why I ask this is that I have seen other people (and even myself) use prayer that relies on God being above time. As an example, do you think we should pray for the salvation of someone who has already died? Asking that God send an evangelist to someone on their deathbed, when perhaps they died last year? Or worse yet, perhaps someone has prayed that Adolf Hitler would have had an evangelist witness to him on his deathbed? Do these sorts of prayers, praying for God to change something that has taken place in the past, make any sense? Somehow, I think by making prayers like this we are diving into the realm of the Science Fiction hit 'Terminator' show and movies, rather than having a clear understanding of God's nature.

 

Perhaps prayers like this make sense if God is above time. But if time is merely a measurement of the beginning going towards the end, time being just the line from the first day of Creation (Genesis 1:1) to the final Judgment Day, then it is not insulting for us to say that God as in the same moment as we are. Time would then be merely a description of where we are on God's timeline for His Creation. Now, let me bring up a few verses that touch on this subject - We see in Hebrews 1:3 that Jesus is described as the "exact representation" of God the Father. And when Jesus was on earth, He moved through time growing up from a baby and growing older. Jesus didn't just 'pop' onto earth as a 30 year old man, as perhaps someone who was above time may have done. And of course, in Genesis Chapter 1 we see God creating the universe and everything in it over the course of one week's time, and not at just one moment. And one final thought, we see in 2 Peter 3:8 that for the Lord "one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day". And so, once again God is described as being within some sort of time cycle, with the Lord having days and years, just as mankind does, with His perspective being what is different.

 

I apologize if this topic is too philosophical for anyone out there reading this. But I think it is an admirable goal to grow in our knowledge of Who God is, and so I ask these questions in hopes that we learn more about God through the study of these verses. For me, I find comfort in thinking of God as being in this same moment as I am, and seeing the same tragic things and the same victories as I do. It makes God a little too weird for me to think of Him as being outside of time, although if someone can give me a good reason to think so, I trust I can change my opinion on this. I hope you will let me know what you think about this. Thanks.

Part of Noah’s Ark Discovered?

Now remain calm about the following February 5^th news story. A one yard piece of petrified wood was recently produced that is drawing some attention. It is claimed to be a part of a much larger piece that was found in a Mount Ararat cave. But please remember that we need to know more about this, before we give it any believability. Here is a portion of the story:

 

Noah's Ark nestled on Mount Ararat

Web posted at: 1/19/2008 5:50:44
Source ::: The Peninsula / BY SATISH KANADY

Dogubayazit (Turkey's Iran-Armenian Border) • For the first time in the seven decade-long history of the search for the legendary Noah's Ark, a Turkish-Hong Kong exploration team on Tuesday came out with "material evidence", to prove that the Ark was nestled on Mount Ararat, Turkey's highest mountain peak bordering Iran and Armenia.

A panel of experts, comprising Turkish authorities, veteran mountaineers, archaeologists, geologists and members of Hong Kong-based Noah's Ark Ministries International, also displayed an almost one-metre-long piece of petrified wood before the media and specially invited international experts.

The experts claimed it to be a part of a long structure they had unearthed during their February-August 2007 exploration. "It is for the first time in the history of the Ark search that an exploration team is getting a material evidence and graphic documentation. This makes it not only a the significant breakthrough in the Ark-search, but one that is supported with the most substantial evidence in recent history," the panel said.

The revelation is expected to open up a fresh chapter in the ongoing debates in the scientific community on the search for Noah's Ark.

Narrating the genesis of their exploration on Mount Ararat, the mount which has a direct reference in Holy Quran (Mount Judi) and Bible, the panel said the search team had made several foiled attempts before unearthing the evidence at an altitude of 4,500-metres of the estimated 5,165 metre volcanic mountain.

"The structure was discovered in the interiors of an unusual cave. The 11.5m wide and 2.6m high white wooden texture was revealed after removing thick layers of volcanic ash on the cave wall," panel members said at a press conference.

One of the underlying issues in the search for the Ark is the proper identification of its wood fragments. A petrographic examination carried out by the Applied Geoscience Centre of the Department of Earth Sciences, University of Hong Kong, identified the object as a petrified wooden structure, the panel said...

 

The full story can be found at:

http://www.thepeninsulaqatar.com/Display_news.asp?section=local_news&month=january2008&file=local_news2008011955044.xml

The Internet is Cool!

Happy Super Bowl weekend to everyone. Go Giants! I wanted to share a very interesting email I received from someone who claims to be writing from Poland, and identifies himself as a believer. No, he did not ask me to handle an estate in his country, or to send him money. J He found me through my blog, and a brief discussion I had in one of my posts about Daniel's prophecies. Although the writer of the email may not actually be from Poland, it appears to me that he is. And his location had nothing to do with the subject of his email: He wrote to me providing me with what he describes as a "short" (12 pages, single space) analysis of Daniel Chapter 11. The thought of someone from Poland writing to me to discuss the Bible is a wonderful thought to me. Wow!

 

But the reason that I am telling you about this, is to discuss one of the topics he raised where he tells me the identity of the "northern king" / Gog / the northern country that will one day attack Israel. The typical Church view, and the Polish writer's view is that Russia is this northern country that will one day in the future lead an attack against Israel. And for those of us who grew up and lived during the Cold War, it is easy to believe that godless Russia could be the leader of a future attack against Israel. This attacker is discussed in the God's Word as being 'Gog' in Revelation 20:8-:15 (the Leader of the Final Battle against Israel); Ezekiel 38-39 (the great Old Testament prophetic chapters describing Gog and Magog leading an attack against Israel); and Daniel 11:36-12:4 (northern king who attacks the "Glorious Land" of Israel). While it may be true that this northern king, known as Gog may indeed be the country of Russia, I wanted to raise at least the possibility that it is not.

 

First, let me briefly summarize why many thoughtful Bible scholars believe that the nation prophetically described as Gog and Magog is really modern day Russia. Remember our starting point is Ezekiel chapter 38 which describes Gog and Magog. In Ezekiel 38:2, Gog is described as the prince of Rosh, Meschech, and Tubal. Some have equated Meschech with Moscow, and Tubal being the Russian city of Tobolsk. Yet, it seems clear that the people of Israel did not know of Russia until the Vikings came to the area in the Middle Ages, and so it seems unlikely that Ezekiel would have known Russian city's names. Several ancient sources (Hesiod, Josephus, and Philo) describe Magog as being a group of people known as 'Scythians'. The famous Roman historian Herodotus apparently wrote that the Scythians lived in present day southern Russia. And so, if Ezekiel's description of Magog means the Scythains, then because they lived in what is now known as modern day Russia, this may mean Russia is Israel's future attacker.

 

But I think there is good reason to read the prophetic attackers from the north as meaning that the attackers are from those parts more directly north of Israel, or modern day Palestine, Syria, Iraq and Iran. I base this on the context of Ezekiel, Daniel, and Revelation's prophecy about northern kingdoms attacking Israel, and what would these writers think was meant by a northern kingdom attacking Israel. This means we should read the end-times prophecies in light of other descriptions of Old Testament books. There are many references of threats to Israel coming from the north. For a short list see, Isa. 5:26-29, 13:1-13, 41:25; Jer. 1:13-15 (and fifteen other references in Jeremiah), Ezekiel 26:7, Zech. 2:6, 6:6-8, etc. And prior to the sixth century exile in Babylon, this typically meant the nations of Assyria, Babylon and Persia. And so, it may be that the prophecies contained in Ezekiel 38-39, Daniel 11, and Revelation 20:8-15 that describe Gog, Magog, or northern kingdoms that will one day attack Israel are the traditional northern enemies of Israel: Assyria, Babylon and Persia. This then means that the northern attackers are the immediate northern neighbors of Israel, modern day Palestine, Syria (Assyria), Iraq (Babylon) and Iran (Persia). Given that these areas today are followers of Islam, perhaps this better explains an unbridled hatred inspired united attack against Israel, that is described as the final battle of Armageddon (Revelation 16:16, 19:17-:21, 20:7-:10, and Zech. 14:2-:4). But I pass these thoughts out humbly, knowing that that the original prophecies of Ezekiel and Daniel were made over 2,600 years ago, and given this, there is room for differing thoughts on whatever position is taken. (I borrowed liberally from the study notes in my Reformation Study Bible for my thoughts on this.)

 

So I am grateful to have received an email from this unknown writer claiming to be from Poland. It helped me to see there are more parts of Daniel dealing with the end-times. And that there is likely a connection between Daniel's prophecy and Ezekiel's prophecy. I find studying the end-times prophecies in the Bible to be exciting, and I hope it was helpful to anyone reading this now. I invite your thoughts on this discussion. Thanks, and may God bless you this day and weekend.

Endtime Views - Strengths and Weaknesses

Hi Everyone,

On these cold and long winter days (long in the sense of boring), I thought I would share with you the views of Pastor Kim Riddlebarger whom I admire. He writes today on the topic of the strenths and weaknesses of the various endtime views, and Jesus Christ's promised return. Pastor Riddlebarger supports Amillenialism, and is a Reformed preacher, along the lines of John Calvin. Here are his thoughts on the two main endtime views, Premillianism (This is the view of the 'Left Behind' book series - Jesus raptures believers up to heaven, followed by tribulation for the rest of the world, Jesus then sets up a 1,000 year Milleniall Kingdom, Satan causes a worldwide revolt, and the final Judgment), and Amillenialism (where Jesus returns once on Judgment Day, with the Judgment seat being rewards for believers, and just punishment for non-believers.) Here are Pastor Riddlebargers thoughts on the two main endtimes views, Premillenialism and Amillenialism:

Lëmi asks (October 31, 2007): "Could you explain briefly all the millennial positions pointing out their main strengths and weaknesses?"
Thanks for the question Lëmi...

Lets start with premillennialism. As for its strengths, there seem to be two. One is the fact that Revelation 19 depicts the return of Christ, while Revelation 20:1-10 depicts the reign of Christ on the earth. If these chapters describe consecutive events (a point with which I would take issue) then this would place the millennial age after Christ's return. A second apparent strength is that a number of church fathers state that this was the teaching passed on to them by the eyewitnesses to the ministry of the apostles, although this was not the only view in the early church (book citation omitted.)


There are several serious weaknesses with premillennialism. The first weakness is that premillenniarians have to explain how it is that people make it through the return of Christ and yet remain in natural bodies. Jesus taught that his return marks the end of the age (Matthew 13:39) and that after his return, people no longer marry or are given in marriage (Luke 20:34-36). At Christ's return, he judges the world, making it tough for someone to be judged and yet not eternally condemned or rewarded with eternal life (Matthew 25:31-46). This is especially problematic for premillennarians, since they claim that their view is based upon a "literal" interpretation of prophecy. Where, then, is the one-thousand year gap between the return of Christ and the judgment (which, according to premillennarians takes place at the end of the millennium) when Jesus teaches that judgment takes place at his return? Those who take the Bible "literally" find themselves having to insert a gap into the biblical text which isn't there.

The other problem with premillennialism is, if it be true, there is a great apostasy on the earth after one thousand years of Christ's rule (Revelation 20:7-10). If there cannot be people on earth in natural bodies during the thousand years (which supposedly comes after Christ returns), then who are the people who revolt against Christ at the end of the millennium? And that after Christ's own rule? It makes much more sense to see Revelation 20:1-10 as a description of the entire inter-advental age, since the scene takes place in heaven where the thrones are (vv. 1-6), before shifting to the earth in verses 7-10...

As for amillennialism, it has no weaknesses whatsoever, since it is the biblical position (I'm being facetious). In all seriousness, Amillennialism's strength is its understanding that imminent return of Christ is the consummation of all things and marks the fullness of both the kingdom of God and the age to come. Christ will return to judge the world (Matthew 13:36-43; Matthew 25:31-46; 2 Thessalonians 1:6-9), raise the dead (1 Thessalonians 4:14-17; 1 Corinthians 15:54-57) and make all things new (2 Peter 3:3-15). He does not return to set up a kingdom (as in premillennialism), but to usher in the eternal state and create a new heaven and earth--the final consummation.

The biggest weakness of amillennialism is in the details--what does John mean by the binding of Satan? Can we really say Satan is bound now? (I say "yes"). What about the first resurrection in Revelation 20? Is John referring to regeneration, or the bodily resurrection? These things require a fair amount of explanation, especially since most American evangelicals know only the premillennial view.

Pastor Riddlebarger's full thoughts can be found at http://kimriddlebarger.squarespace.com/. Anyone have any thoughts about Jesus' return?

Immanuel

One of best known Titles for Jesus is that He is the "Son of God". It is used in reference to Jesus over 45 times in the New Testament. Jesus being described as the Son of God is used in all four Gospels, it is how the Gospel of Mark starts out (Mark 1:1 – "The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God"), and it is sometimes mentioned along with Jesus being the Messiah (see as an example, Luke 4:41 – "And devils also came out of many, crying out, and saying, Thou art Christ the Son of God.") But my question for this positing is that when the Bible says that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God does this somehow make Jesus less important than God the Father? Is the Messiah on equal footing with God the Father, or is God the Father more important than the Son? And I will tip my hand right from the start – Jesus the Son of God is to receive the same glory and recognition as God the Father. Let me explain how I come to this conclusion as follows.

 

As the title of this Blog entry suggests, I tie in Jesus being the Son of God with His also having the Title Emmanuel, which means "God with us". So in the Old Testament we have the prophecy of the coming baby who will be called "Immanuel", which means God with us" (Isa. 7:14). And in the Nativity story contained in the Gospel of Matthew, we see in Matt. 1:23, that an Angel appeared to Joseph saying that the birth of Jesus means that He is the Immanuel, by quoting Isaiah's prophecy in Isaiah 7:14, repeating this important Title of the baby - that this child born of the virgin is Immanuel, God with us.

 

And so we see that Jesus' name being the Son of God is further clarified by His Title of "Immanuel". Although Jesus is fully human, He had flesh and blood, and also the nature of humans. But He was also fully God. This makes Jesus in His first Advent being God in the flesh: Jesus is both fully human and also fully God. This is what is meant by Jesus as Immanuel, God with us. A human in our midst Who is Divine. And so, we see that God Himself came to earth in the body of a newborn. And His reason for coming to earth is given away by His name - Jesus. His name means "He will save His people from their sins" (Matthew 1:21). Therefore, Jesus Immanuel is God coming as a human being to save us from our sins. It is all spelled out in His names and titles: Son of God, Immanuel (God with us), Messiah (foretold by Old Testament prophecy), and Jesus (Savior of those who believe He is the Son of God and Savior, who saves believers from God's punishment for our disobedience, rebellion, and all of our sins.) So you see, His Names say it all.

 

The Westminster Confession has a beautiful summary of the Triune God – as best I recall, it says: There is God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. One God in Three persons. They are the same in substance, and equal in power and equal in glory.

 

Why I like the Westminster's description is that it matches up with what is contained in the Bible, and recognizes the Three Persons of God are of the same nature/substance, and it also gives all Three equal glory and recognition to the persons of the Godhead. All three are needed for our salvation, and all three are active today. And so, I answer my opening question of whether God the Father is more important than Jesus the Son by saying that both are equally important, and both are entitled to our full worship, praise and the glory that we give out.

 

So my Application for those who find this a challenging subject, is to consider why did God have to come to earth? What did He have to accomplish while He was here? If you have a good understanding of the answers to these questions, you may have the assurance of salvation described in 1 John 5:13. If you would like to talk to me more about this, please let me know.

Prophecy in the Bible

Is there anything special about the Bible, or is it just a collection of books that were written by men without any inspiration from God? I saw some old friends who I really enjoy spending time with last night, and the topic of the Dead Sea Scrolls came up. So I think it is a wonderful topic to look at both the Dead Sea Scrolls and how they show that there is something amazing, and supernatural about the Bible.

 

The Old Testament of the Bible speaks of a coming Messiah. And the claim is that Jesus Christ, or more properly Jesus the Messiah is this person who was described in the Old Testament prophecies. And some of the coolest prophecies of the Bible are contained in the major Prophet Isaiah's book. Here is a few of the prophecies that Isaiah by inspiration from God, wrote about: Isa. 7:14 - THEY WILL CALL HIM IMMANUEL WHICH MEANS GOD WITH US; (So here we see that the Messiah is actually a person who is also God.); Isa. 9:6, 7 TO US A CHILD IS BORN, A SON IS GIVEN, AND HIS NAME SHALL BE CALLED WONDERFUL COUNSELOR, MIGHTY GOD, EVERLASTING FATHER, PRINCE OF PEACE. (The Messiah will come to earth in the form of a baby, whose titles include Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, and Prince of Peace. Incredible, a person who is also righteous, and both Man and God?!) But the centerpiece of Isaiah's prophecies is contained in Isaiah where the description of the Messiah as a Suffering Servant is contained. It is described in Isaiah 52:13 through chapter 53. Here is what Isaiah wrote, tradition holds sometime earlier than 701 years before Jesus was born (701 BC), about the Messiah in Isa. 53:

 

Who has believed what they heard from us? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?

²      For he grew up before him like a young plant,    and like a root out of dry ground;   he had no form or majesty that we should look at him,

          and no beauty that we should desire him.

³      He was despised and rejected by men;    a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

⁴      Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.

⁵      But he was wounded for our transgressions;    he was crushed for our iniquities;

     upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,   and with his stripes we are healed.

⁶      All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.

⁷      He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent,

          so he opened not his mouth.

⁸      By oppression and judgment he was taken away; and as for his generation, who considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living, stricken for the transgression of my people?

⁹      And they made his grave with the wicked and with a rich man in his death, although he had done no violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth.

¹⁰      Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him; he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for sin, e shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days;

     the will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.

¹¹      Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied; by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant,

          make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities.

¹²      Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong, because he poured out his soul to death

          and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and makes intercession for the transgressors.

 

And so we see the God-inspired Prophecy predict there would be a man despised and rejected, whom God would lay the sins of the world upon. The Messiah would be sacrificed not for His own sins, He was righteous, but for "our transgressions", "our iniquities". And through His sacrifice He will "make many to be accounted righteous" in God's eyes. We will no longer have to pay the price for our own sins, because Jesus paid the full charge for any sin that could ever be committed: any sin that deserves death was paid for by an innocent Man's death on the Cross.

 

A common charge for why we should not trust what is written in the Bible, is that because we do not have what was originally written that through 2,000 years of copying, people made mistakes and intentional errors to change what was originally written. The charge is that the Bible is not trustworthy because there are many copying errors. But that is the importance of what the Dead Sea Scrolls show: The Dead Sea Scrolls show that the Bible is extremely reliable, and that there are no significant changes or errors made through 2,000 years of copying.

 

Let me show you why the Dead Sea Scrolls are great proof that the Bible is given to us today without error. The Dead Sea Scrolls were found in buried jars and in the Qumran caves near the Dead Sea. Here is the REALLY AMAZING fact: the Isaiah scroll was carbon-dated to somewhere between 335 BC and 107 BC (source: Wikipedia)!!!!!! Yes, you read this right – we have copies of the original Isaiah manuscript that are over 107 years BEFORE Jesus was even born. So all of the prophecies by Isaiah, including the ones shown above, were written at least 100 years before He was born, AND WE HAVE THE COPIES of what was written. This means that we have an untainted, uncopied manuscript of the Isaiah prophecies dated before Jesus was even born.

 

The Old Testament books were provided by a group known as the Masoretes. So how does the Masoretic copied of the manuscripts compare to what is written in the uncopied Dead Sea Scrolls? You guessed it, there are some minor variations, but nothing of substance.

Dead Sea Scrolls roughly 100 AD -------------------------------------à 1950 AD discovered (no copies made – it copied manuscripts from 350 BC-107BC and these are in our hands. The Dead Sea Scrolls were not touched or copied for 2,000+ years)

Masoretic Text of the OT copied again and again for over 2,000 years

        llllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllà copied many times over 2,000 years. And it still is 95% the same as what is contained in the Dead Sea Scrolls. And no significant doctrine is affected by any of the copyists' differences. Instead, most of the differences are insignificant spelling variations.

The Masoretic Text is the same as the Dead Sea Scrolls. Example of Isaiah 53. The Dead Sea Scrolls and the Masoretic text are 95% identical. If any Old Testament text was going to be changed by Christian copyists it would be the prophecy about the Messiah contained in Isaiah 53. But instead there are only a total of 17 differences between the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Masoretic text.

1. 10 of the 17 differences is alternate spellings (similar to in America 'Judgment' is spelled without the 'e', while in Great Britain it is spelled 'judgement' with the 'e' in the middle.) These differences have no effect on any meaning,
   
2. 4 of the 17 differences are the addition of a conjunction. Again, no change in the meaning.
   
3. 3 of the 17 changes are contain in Isaiah 53:11, where it says 'They shall see", and the DSS add "light" which is not contained in the Masoretic text. Again no change in the meaning.
   

 

And that's all of the changes between the Dead Sea Scrolls that are pure, uncopied, untouched for 2,000+ years and the Masoretic text of the OT which was repeatedly copied for over 2,000 years. They are identical in meaning, with only a very few, minor changes, with most of these differences being spelling changes. And it is the same with the other portions of the OT as well. The text contained in the DSS is the same as the Masoretic text, again with only a few, immaterial differences between the two manuscripts. This is the best example showing that copyists of the Bible took their job seriously, and any errors or changes are easily discovered.

 

So what is the conclusion that we can draw about whether or not the Bible is reliable? Clearly, people who copied the books of the Bible took their job seriously. The Bible is reliable, and there are real, God-inspired Prophecies that show the supernatural character of the Bible. What do we make of the claim made in Hebrews 4:12 that the Bible is "living" and full of the Holy Spirit? This is what makes the Bible different from any other book that has ever been written. It contains God's Spirit, and changes lives. It has changed my life – and if you are open to learning about Who the Creator of the Universe is, and why He has put us here on earth, the Book will change your life too. Open up your Bible today, and find out what the Creator of the universe would like you to hear and understand better today.