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FALSE PROPHETS AND TEACHERS-Part 2

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Introduction

 

In our last edition, we primarily looked at false prophets and teachers focusing upon two false prophets in the Old Testament who were Balaam of Peor and Hananiah.  This is the second part of the teaching about false prophets and teachers.

 

What Jesus said about False Prophets and Teachers

 

There was a prediction by Moses that there would come a prophet after Moses who would be “like Moses”. (Deut. 18:15-19 )  That great prophet was Jesus.  Also Jesus was the great teacher.  We have Jesus in the Temple learning from the scholars and asking them questions when he was twelve (Lk. 2:41-49).  As an adult Jesus confounded the Pharisees with his teaching and the people commenting that Jesus taught “with authority.”(See Matt. 7:29).  Jesus confounded those who sought to trap him and answered the hardest questions.  His teaching on the Sermon on the Mount is considered to be one of the best examples of teaching the world has ever seen.  Jesus was the Great Teacher.  In other words, Jesus is the True Prophet and Teacher.

 

Jesus warned us about false prophets in Matthew 7:15-16 which says:

 

Watch out for false prophets.  They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly

they are ferocious wolves.  By their fruit you shall recognize them.

Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles?

 

Jesus also warned his followers to beware of the leaven of the Pharisees. ( Acts 16:11).  In essence, this meant that the teaching of the Pharisees had an element in it which was of the world and was not holy.  Often, teaching which is a mixture of truth and lies is meant to deceive and to mislead.  This false teaching resulted in Jesus labeling the Pharisees as “hypocrites”(Matt 23:13,15), “blind guides” (Matt. 23:16, 24) and “blind fools” (Matt. 23:17).

 

When asked about the destruction of the Temple and the end of the age, Jesus warned his disciples about false messiahs and false prophets.  In Matt. 24:11, Jesus said that “At that time…many false prophets will appear and deceive many people.”  Similarly, Jesus at Matt. 24:23-25 Jesus said the following:

 

At that time if anyone says to you, “Look, here is the Messiah! Or “There

he is!” do not believe it.  For false messiahs and false prophets

will appear and perform great signs and wonders and deceive,

if possible, even the elect.  See, I have told you ahead of time.

 

Indeed, false messiahs and false prophets did appear as warned.    Various individuals encouraged the Jews to revolt against the Romans, many of whom claimed to be the Messiah.  Some of them were:

 

·        Dositheus the Samaritan who claimed he was the Messiah

·        Theudas who appeared during the time Cuspius Fadus was procurator (44-46 A.D.).  He claimed to be able to part the Jordan River.  He failed to do so.

·        An Egyptian Imposter around 55 A.D. who had about 30,000 followers

·        Simon Bar Giora.  He wore a white tunic and a purple cape and called himself “King of the Jews”.  He fought against the Romans and ultimately was defeated and taken to Rome and executed.

·        Simon Bar Kokhba-rebelled against the Jews and set up an independent Jewish State.  Eventually Bar Kokhba and his followers were killed at the Battle of Beitar near Jerusalem (circa 135 A.D.).

 

In short, Jesus warned his followers that they could expect to encounter a spirit of deception.  This deception can take many different forms including false shepherds, false apostles, false prophets and “antichrist” spirits.  Keep in mind that the term “antichrist” can mean not only against Christ but an alternative to Christ such as false Messiahs.

 

The antichrist spirit

 

Anything which is set up as an alternative to Jesus Christ can fall within the term of an “antichrist” spirit.  False messiahs fall within this term because they are alternatives to Jesus Christ.  Again, the antichrist spirit is associated with false prophets and false teachers.  1 John 4:1-6 says the following:

 

Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2 By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, 3 and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already. 4 Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. 5 They are from the world; therefore they speak from the world, and the world listens to them. 6 We are from God. Whoever knows God listens to us; whoever is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of error.

 

Therefore one of the tests is whether the spirit confesses that Jesus has come in the flesh.  See also 1 John 2:18-23 which says:

 

18 Children, it is the last hour, and as you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come. Therefore we know that it is the last hour. 19 They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us. 20 But you have been anointed by the Holy One, and you all have knowledge.[a] 21 I write to you, not because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and because no lie is of the truth. 22 Who is the liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, he who denies the Father and the Son. 23 No one who denies the Son has the Father. Whoever confesses the Son has the Father also.

 

As the young Christian Church expanded, it did run into false prophets, false teachers, false apostles and  antichrists.  Some, as John said in the passage above, left the church and began to preach heresy claiming that Jesus had not really died, that Jesus had not been fully human and that it was all right to sin because sin only caused God to move in additional forgiveness and mercy.  Further, the young church ran into other false teachings including that Jesus had never come in the flesh and various beliefs such as Gnosticism.  A number of heresies denied that Jesus was fully man or fully God or that Jesus had really come in the flesh.  The intent of these heresies and false teachings and beliefs were to water down the gospel of Jesus Christ and the concept of salvation through God’s grace through faith and the sinless sacrifice of Jesus Christ as the Lamb of God and Savior of the world.  In particular, John focused upon those who would deny that Jesus was the Christ (or promised Messiah) referring to such people as “antichrist.”  Further, John taught that the denial of Jesus as the Messianic Son of God was in effect a denial of the Father as well. (1 Jn. 2:22-23).  Similarly, John links the false prophet with the spirit of the antichrist stating that we as believers must “test the spirits” for many “false prophets have gone out into the world.”  John states that every spirit which does not acknowledge that Jesus “came in the flesh” is not from God and that this is “the spirit of the antichrist” (1 Jn. 4:1-4).

 

The young church would run into false teachers and false prophets.  Some of the false prophets which the believers encountered in the New Testament were people like Simon the Sorcerer (Acts 8:9-11), a false prophet known as Barjesus (Son of Jesus) in Cyprus (Acts 13:6-10) and a young slave girl who prophesied with a spirit of divination in Greece (Acts 16:16).

 

 

Paul and False Prophets and Teachers

 

The Apostle Paul was emphatic in warning the young Church about false prophets and teachers.

In Acts 20, Paul prayed with the elders of Ephesus and said at verses 29-31:

 

I know that when I leave, savage wolves will come in among you, and

will not spare the flock.  Even from your own number men will

arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them.

So be on your guard!  Remember that for three years,

I never stopped warning each of you night and day with tears.

 

Note that Paul used words similar to Jesus about savage wolves.  One of the characteristics Paul mentions was that these false leaders would sow disunity and draw people away through distorting the truth.  Much of the distortion of truth relates to false teachings that would occur about the nature and saving work of Jesus.

 

In Paul’s letter to the Church at Corinth he talked about “super Apostles” who came into the church.  These individuals often pushed the concept that in order to be saved one must first follow the Jewish law.  They promoted circumcision of the flesh instead of circumcision of the heart through faith.    Paul said the following about these individuals at 2 Cor. 11:13-15:

 

13 For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. 14 And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. 15 So it is no surprise if his servants, also, disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. Their end will correspond to their deeds.

 

The young church was in a war against deception, counterfeits, false prophets and false teachers all who through the will of Satan sought to keep the church from carrying out its mission.  Unbelief and worldliness attacked the church from without but false doctrine and teaching attacked it from within.  All of this time, God through the work of the Holy Spirit and the faithfulness of the apostles and believers protected the truth of God and the message that God had sent His only son to save the world and further that the Son of God was both fully man and fully God.

 

Paul warned the people at the church at Rome regarding those who would come in and cause strife and division at Romans 16:17-19 and described them as follows:

 

17 I appeal to you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. 18 For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites,[a] and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive. 19 For your obedience is known to all, so that I rejoice over you, but I want you to be wise as to what is good and innocent as to what is evil.

 

Paul warned his churches about those who would come in and preach a different gospel than the one which he delivered.  The language which Paul uses, at least to me, echoes the language Moses used at Deuteronomy 13:1-5 when he warned people not to believe in false gods even if there were signs and wonders.  Paul says at Gal. 1:6-9:

 

6 I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— 7 not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. 8 But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. 9 As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed.

 

Paul was concerned about those who came into the church and taught false doctrines about Christ.  He described these false teachings and false teachers in more detail in his letter to Timothy.  He tells Timothy that in these “later times” deceiving spirits would come into the church and teach things based upon salvation by acts such as not marrying and abstaining from certain foods.  This is described at 1 Tim. 4:1-3, 5; 1 Tim. 6:3-5:

 

Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons, 2 through the insincerity of liars whose consciences are seared, 3 who forbid marriage and require abstinence from foods that God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth.

 

3 If anyone teaches a different doctrine and does not agree with the sound  words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the teaching that accords with godliness, 4 he is puffed up with conceit and understands nothing. He has an unhealthy craving for controversy and for quarrels about words, which produce envy, dissension, slander, evil suspicions, 5 and constant friction among people who are depraved in mind and deprived of the truth, imagining that godliness is a means of gain.

 

In essence, false teachers would come into the church.  They deceive by distorting the gospel.  They often teach a gospel of works instead of a gospel by grace.  They are likely to teach false views regarding who Jesus is and what Jesus did for us all.  Part of their motivation for coming into the church is to draw members into obeying the false teachers and making money off of the members of the church.

 

Another early Christian author, Jude, described these false prophets and teachers at Jude 1 4:

 

4 For certain individuals whose condemnation was written about long ago have secretly slipped in among you. They are ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord.

 

Jude, therefore, describes the same false prophets and teachers as being identified through their immoral actions and having doctrines which deny Jesus Christ.

 

 

Characteristics of False Prophets and Teachers

 

Our study of scriptures identify numerous characteristics of false teachers and false prophets.  Some of those characteristics are the following:

 

·        False shepherds, prophets and teachers masquerade as real shepherds, prophets and teachers.

·        They proclaim “freedom” but are slaves to the flesh

·        They are licentious and sexually immoral. 

·        They cause dissensions and draw people away from true shepherds.  They cause conflict.

·        They are greedy and seek to make money off the flock.

·        They corrupt good teaching through bad teaching.

·        They attack the faith through weakening the key aspects of our Faith regarding who Christ is and what the work of salvation is.

·        They often encourage people to earn salvation through ascetic or other practices.

·        They require other things for salvation such as being circumcised, eating the right foods or taking other actions.

·        They promote controversies and deceive with clever words.  They use smooth talk and flattery.

·        They describe themselves as apostles of Christ.

·        They often come up with new “revelations” from God.

·        They depart from the Bible and the written word of God.

·        They deny that Jesus was the promised Messiah.

·        They deny that Jesus came in the flesh.

·        They deny that Jesus was truly God.

 

A few historical comments

 

I conclude this section with a few historical comments regarding false teaching, false apostles and false prophecy.  As most of you can imagine, the attempt to deceive the church is not new.  In fact I believe that it began in the Garden of Eden and continued to manifest itself with the prophets, during the time of Christ and through the church age.

 

Without going into any detail, the early church was barraged by a succession of heresies including Gnosticism, Arianism, Nestorianism and many, many more.  The attempt of the historical church to deal with these heresies led to the development of a canon where the church sought to determine the books which should be included in the New Testament such as the Muratorian Canon in 180 A.D.  As various ideas tried to creep into the church about the nature of Christ, various councils and creeds were developed to define the nature of Christ and beliefs which were central to the Christian Faith.  Among these creeds were creeds such as The Apostles Creed and The Nicene Creed.  These creeds developed after much effort, prayer and debate and therefore, in my opinion, should not be taken lightly.  I would encourage you to respect these efforts.  I personally recall sitting down one evening in a church meeting and hearing people discussing their beliefs in Christ and found that I heard at least eight different heresies which in the first four centuries of our Christian history had been determined to be identifiable and theological error.  It seems to me that we do not need to “reinvent the wheel” but should take advantage of our early church history without having to continuously refight the same Christological battles.  It is for this reason I both subscribe to the Apostle’s Creed and the Nicene Creed.

 

We live in a time in which false belief is often found in churches because people are not taught the Word of God or the Bible.  In addition, people are relatively ignorant of the church’s efforts to identify theological truth.   Further, our intellectual institutions and even seminaries have weakened the strength of the Bible and its authority over our lives.  This is not a new development.  Satan has long sought to dilute the word of God and bring it into disrepute through false prophets and false teachers. 

 

Unfortunately in the age of televangelism we have seen a plethora of false teachers and false prophets.  We have been amazed at the amount of money which they have extracted from the poor flock.  Moreover, we have been horrified by a succession of Christian leaders who have exhibited sexual immorality to the world and brought the way of Christ into disrepute.  A number of these have shown token repentance and have been “restored” only to continue to the next episode of their immorality.  Even worse, the victims of their immorality are often not believed and are stigmatized.  Truly among, this corrupt crew of teachers and profits “godliness” has become a gateway to great gain for them personally. 

 

Further there are a number of books and articles which attack the divinity of Christ, the ability of Christ to save, the actual existence of Christ and the authority of Scriptures as being from God.  All of these things can fall under the heading of being “false teaching.”  The purpose of this false teaching is to deceive believers and defeat the church and the plan of God to bring salvation to mankind.  Again, Satan comes to kill, steal and destroy and he constantly re-utilizes the concept of “Has God really said?”  Other related concepts are that “You can’t believe the Bible!”  Satan does not want you to believe the Word of God or to have faith.  If Jesus says, “I am the way to God and there is no other way” then Satan’s response is “There are many paths to God.  You can get to God without Jesus, just be a good person.”  In short, Satan presents an “antigospel” or an “alternative gospel.”

 

Both I and my readers have a number of views regarding the Book of Revelation and the End Times.  These are areas where fellow Christians have disagreed since the very early years of the church and disagree about even today.  However, it is clear that the early church believed in the existence of false teachers, false apostles, false prophets and an antichrist spirit.  That deception which began in the Garden, existed at the time of Christ and continued afterwards is expected by many believers to become even more pronounced as time goes on.

 

Jesus and Paul and others warned us that the church would be attacked by ravenous wolves and it has and may be again.  Jesus even warned us that there will be those who use His name and do miracles who He will not acknowledge at the end of time.  We are left with the sobering verses from Matthew 7: 21-23

 

21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ 23 And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’

 

 

 

Final Comment on False Prophets

 

We live in a time in which history is either being forgotten or rewritten.  As I look at the history of the church, I find that much has been written regarding the evils of the historical church but little has been written about the good that it caused.  Likewise, our beliefs today about religion and the decrease in those who believe in the historical tenets of Christianity warp our view regarding the history of Christianity.

 

One can scarcely talk about the beliefs that false prophets would arise without touching upon Islam and Mohammed.  Today to suggest that Mohammed was a false prophet is almost a heresy in a society that accepts all varieties of faith without outrage other than evangelical Christianity which seems to be red-circled for abuse among the elite and the “educated.”  If one looks at older commentaries such as The Pulpit Commentary and many other commentaries, it is clear that authors in prior years saw Mohammed as a “false prophet” and falling clearly under the terms of “false prophet” as used in Scripture. 

 

Some of the reasons from a historical reason for this conclusion might include:

 

·        Practical eradication of Christianity in countries where Political Islam is in control.

·        Historical methods of wiping out Christianity such as forbidding evangelism, increased taxation of Christians and practical discrimination against Christians in Muslim Countries.

·        Historic wars between Islam and Christianity including having to stop Islamic expansion military including various key military battles which stopped the expansion of Islam militarily into the West.

·        The wiping out of areas which were Christian strongholds in North Africa and elsewhere.

·        The conversion of the largest and most glorious church in the East, St. Sophia’s, into a stable for horses and later into a mosque.

·        The eradication of Christianity in the area where the seven churches of Revelation are mentioned and conversion of those areas into Islamic territories.  The seven churches are now eradicated and that area now totally belongs to Islam and has for fourteen hundred years.

·        At every key Christian location in the Holy Land including the places where Christ was born, buried and resurrected, mosques are built and there is a continuous cry regarding Mohammed being the Prophet of God across from Christian Holy Places.  Islamic prayer and the Islamic proclamation of Mohammed as Prophet is open, obvious and aggressive.

·        On the Dome of the Rock over Jerusalem there are clear antichristian proclamations including the following Arabic inscriptions:

 

“The Messiah, Jesus son of Mary, was only a messenger of God and His Word which He conveyed unto Mary, and a spirit from Him.  So believe in God and His messengers, and say not “Three”-Cease!

 

“Muhammad is the Messenger of God”

 

“Praise be to God, who hath not taken unto Himself a son and who hath no partner in the Sovereignty….”

 

 

It is relatively clear to me from a historical standpoint, that Non-Christian religions (including Islam) can fall under the categories of alternative Christs, false prophets and false teaching.  Although our study has generally focused upon deception aimed at the local church, it is also clear that Satan can use deception at the macro-level including national deceit.  After the Millennium, Rev. 20:8 states that Satan will go out and “deceive the nations”.  Although people have different views on what and when the Millennium is, I believe that the framework is already in place for national level deceit.  Historically, I believe that such things as the notion that slavery of blacks is justifiable is a national level type of deceit.  Moreover, concepts such as a Master Race and Persecution of the Jews was a national level deceit which was promulgated and enhanced by people such as Hitler, Goebbels and Himmler.  Today national level deceit might be illustrated by concepts such as abortion is not only permissible but a good thing might be an example of deceit at a national level.  Further the concept that any type of sexuality is permitted and those who object to it are bigots might be an example of deceit practiced at a national level.  The drawing of the national and world community together in closer proximity through information media and the internet facilitates the ability for deceit and falsehood to expand exponentially.

 

In these end times, false prophets, teachers and alternatives to Christ and the means of salvation will continue to grow.  We have seen these types of deceptions in the historical context and can expect to see them in the future.  We will not only see them in terms of the local church, in terms of false alternatives to Christianity through an assortment of pagan and modern religions, but we can also expect to see them increase politically in history.  We see examples in the past through national movements which demand sovereignty over belief in God.  These might include such historical instances of antichristian political leaders such as Antiochus Epiphanes, Nero, Frederick II, Hitler, Stalin, Mao and others.  These political authorities proclaim themselves as supreme and seek to usurp the place of God who is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.  Alongside these despotic leaders is always the alternative of fleshly religious practices and a worldly and secular materialism all of which offer themselves as alternatives to Christ.

 

To stand against them we have the presence of God, the Holy Spirit, the written word of God and the Church which is the Bride of Christ.  Do not be dismayed by our enemies.  We are the Army of God and against Christ the enemies of God will never prevail even though heaven and earth may pass away.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 

FALSE PROPHETS AND TEACHERS-PART 1

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Introduction

 

In our last edition of Locusts and Honey we discussed true and false shepherds.  Generally where you  have false shepherds, you will also find false prophets and teachers.  The characteristics of the false shepherds are very similar to the characteristics of  false prophets and false shepherds.  In this edition we will review some instances of false prophets and teachers in the Bible along with the characteristics and fruits of  false prophets and teachers.

 

The Origin of False Prophecy and False Teaching

 

The origin of false prophecy and false teaching can be found at least as far back as the Creation Story; but it may have even existed prior to that time by the seduction of angelic authorities by Satan.  However, we can find false prophecy and false teaching in the Garden of Eden.  As we know from the New Testament, the purpose of Satan is to “kill, steal and destroy”.  One of the ways that this is carried out is by deception, and deception is what we find in the Garden of Eden.  For instance, the Serpent lied to Eve and said, “You will certainly not die….”  The Serpent deceived Eve (Gen. 3:4).  In Gen. 3:1, the Serpent is described as “crafty.”  Deception, lying and craftiness are the hallmarks of false teaching and false prophecy.  Satan uses false prophecy and false teaching as a way to entrap and harm mankind.

 

False prophecy and false teaching often results in false religion and heresy.  It is not always easy to detect.  Part of the reason why it is difficult to detect is that there is often an element of truth in it.  Sometimes it is an unhealthy mixture of truth and falsity.  I had a friend one time who said that “heresy was truth taken to an extreme.”  False prophecy and false teaching can sometimes manifest itself as truth taken to an extreme and at other times it can be a confusing mixture of truth and error.  One of the reasons why deception works is that there is often an element of truth in it.  An example of how deception works could be taken by a simple admonition such as “Obey your Shepherd.”  If one makes this the mantra of your spiritual life where this is the highest command, you may end up obeying false political leaders like Hitler or false spiritual leaders like Manson or Jim Jones.  In short, truth is balanced.  Do not rely entirely only on one Scripture but seek the whole counsel of God.  Satan uses deception to confuse and harm mankind.  The origin of deception through false prophecy and false teaching is not new.

 

Moses and False Prophecy

 

Deuteronomy 13: 1-5 warns against false prophets.  It says:

 

If a prophet, or one who foretells by dreams, appears among you and announces a sign or wonder,

and if the sign or wonder spoken of takes place, and the prophet says,

“Let us follow other gods (gods you have not known) and let us worship them,”

you must not listen to the words of that prophet or dreamer.

The Lord, your God, is testing you to find out whether you love him

with all your heart and with all your soul.  It is the Lord your God you

must follow, and him you must revere.  Keep his commands and obey him;

serve him and hold fast to him.  That prophet and dreamer must be put to death

for inciting rebellion against the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt

and redeemed you from the land of slavery,  That prophet or dreamer tried to

turn you from the way the Lord your God commanded you to follow.  You must

purge the evil from among you.

 

In short, Satan can  use a false prophet who appears to tell the truth or presents a sign or a wonder as a means of subverting God’s people.  The goal of the false prophet (or false teacher) is to turn you away from God, and to cause you to move in rebellion to God.  The purpose is also to divert you away from God to false gods and false religions.

 

 

Two Examples of False Prophets in the Old Testament.

 

Although there are many examples of false prophecies and false prophets in the Old Testament, we shall look at only two of many.  They are Balaam who was outside of the tribe of Israel and Hananiah a prophet of Gibeon, who was a prophet during the time of Jeremiah and who was part of the nation of Israel.

 

Balaam

 

Balaam was a Midianite prophet during the time of Moses.  As Israel travelled to the Promised Land, the Moabite Nation which was an ally of the Midianites asked that the well-known Midianite prophet, Balaam, come and pronounce curses over the Israelites.    The story of how Balaam sought to curse Israel and other attempts to seduce Israel into following false gods is found primarily in Numbers 22-25.

 

The leader of the Moabites was Balak. The tribes of Moab and Midian allied themselves and sent for a well-known prophet to come and curse Israel.  The prophet was Balaam and he was at first reluctant to come.  Balak promised to reward Balaam for his efforts and after a couple of refusals Balaam agreed to come but told the Moabites that he could only say what God told him to say.  Most of us are familiar with the story of how the Angel of the Lord sought to block Balaam from cursing the Israelites.  On three occasions the donkey on which Balaam was riding to curse the Israelites avoided the Angel of the Lord and was beaten for his trouble.  Finally, God gave the donkey a voice and the donkey asked Balaam while he was being beaten by him.  God finally opened the eyes of Balaam to see the angel of the Lord.

 

On three occasions, Balaam tried to curse Israel but instead could only bless them to the consternation of Balak. Balaam finally was sent back home by Balak failing ever to curse Israel but instead only blessing them.

 

The story is interesting in a number of different ways.  Balaam is not your normal prophet.  He is called both a prophet and a diviner.  Apparently Balaam did not just prophesy God’s word but he also had the ability to curse which falls more into the category of witchcraft.  Balak says to Balaam, “For I know that whoever you bless is blessed, and whoever you curse is cursed.”  (Nu. 22:6).

 

Interestingly, Balaam had some type of real communication with God.  Some examples are:

 

  • God spoke to Balaam and Balaam responded to God  (Nu. 22:8;12).
  • Balaam initially refused to curse the Israelites and sent the messengers of Balak back (Nu. 22:13).
  • Balaam says:  “Even if Balak gave me all the silver and gold in his palace, I could not do anything great or small to go beyond the command of the Lord my God.”  (Nu. 22:18)
  • God gives Balaam a prophetic word for Balak (Nu. 23:16).

 

Ultimately Balaam is never able to curse the Israelites and only blesses them.  He is sent home by Balak. The Israelites not only defeat and kill most of the Moabites but the Midianites as well including Balaam. (Nu. 31:8).

 

Balaam is an interesting example of how there can be a mixture of what is true and what is false.  Balaam hears from God, but his desire to please the rulers and his desire for money cause him to ally himself with the enemies of God.  Ultimately despite hearing from God, he causes God to be angry with him and he later perishes with the Moabites and Midianites who were enemies of the people of God.

 

Another interesting aspect of the Balaam story is that the efforts to curse Israel are closely tied to money.  When the Midianites agree to have Balaam pronounce a curse on Israel, they are given a “divination fee.”  (Nu. 22:7).  Balak in Nu. 22:17 promises to reward Balaam “handsomely” if he will curse the Israelites.  In bitterness, Balak tells Balaam that God has kept Balaam from being rewarded “handsomely” at Nu. 24:11.

 

Closely associated with the attempt to use a prophet to curse Israel, the Moabites use another method to turn Israel from following God.  The events are recounted in Numbers 24 where Moabite and Midianite women begin to draw away the Israelites from following God by involving them in sexual practices associated with the false god Baal.  The use of sex was associated with false religion and with the intent of Satan to deceive Israel and draw them away from worshiping God.  We will see later on that adultery and sex are methods that Satan uses which are often closely associated directly or indirectly with false prophecy and false teaching.

 

Balaam and 1 Peter 2.

 

Most of what we need to know about false prophecy and false teaching is summarized in 1 Peter 2 where the Apostle Peter teaches us about false prophets and false teachers.  Although it is long, I am reproducing a portion of 1 Peter 2 below.

 

1 But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them—bringing swift destruction on themselves.

2 Many will follow their depraved conduct and will bring the way of truth into disrepute.

3 In their greed these teachers will exploit you with fabricated stories. Their condemnation has long been hanging over them, and their destruction has not been sleeping….

12 But these people blaspheme in matters they do not understand. They are like unreasoning animals, creatures of instinct, born only to be caught and destroyed, and like animals they too will perish.

13 They will be paid back with harm for the harm they have done. Their idea of pleasure is to carouse in broad daylight. They are blots and blemishes, reveling in their pleasures while they feast with you.

14 With eyes full of adultery, they never stop sinning; they seduce the unstable; they are experts in greed—an accursed brood!

15 They have left the straight way and wandered off to follow the way of Balaam son of Bezer, who loved the wages of wickedness.

16 But he was rebuked for his wrongdoing by a donkey—an animal without speech—who spoke with a human voice and restrained the prophet’s madness.

17 These people are springs without water and mists driven by a storm. Blackest darkness is reserved for them.

18 For they mouth empty, boastful words and, by appealing to the lustful desires of the flesh, they entice people who are just escaping from those who live in error.

19 They promise them freedom, while they themselves are slaves of depravity—for “people are slaves to whatever has mastered them.”

 

 

Peter lumps together false prophets and false teachers in this chapter.  Some of their characteristics of false prophets and teachers include:

 

  • Heresies
  • Denying the Lord
  • Depraved conduct
  • Causing the Faith to be held in disrespect due to these actions
  • Greed
  • Fabricating false stories
  • Following the flesh
  • Despising spiritual authorities
  • Abuse and disrespect of angels of God
  • Adultery
  • Empty and boastful words
  • Promising freedom (while they are personally enslaved to the flesh)
  • Overcome by the world
  • Carousing
  • Appeal to the lustful desires of the flesh

 

Hananiah and Jeremiah

 

Balaam had been a prophet from outside of Israel.  Hananiah was a false prophet who was a prophet inside of Israel and who lived in the time of Jeremiah.   The name “Hananiah” means “Jerhovah is gracious.”   Hananiah is bold and forceful, but he is wrong and does not hear from God.

 

Jeremiah had been told by God to wear a wooden yoke on his neck to illustrate that God had given the nations, including Israel, to serve King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon.  (Jer. 27:1-6).  The false prophet Hananiah confronts Jeremiah in the Temple before the priests and states that the God of Israel has said that he (God) would break the yoke of Babylon and would within two years bring back the exiles which Nebuchadnezzar had taken to Babylon.  Jeremiah responds by saying that this was wonderful however people had better wait to see whether Hananiah’s words were true.  (Jer. 28:5-9).  Hananiah then rips

off Jeremiah’s yoke and smashes it proclaiming that in the same way God would smash the yoke of the King of Babylon.  (Jer. 28:10-11).

 

Afterwards, God spoke to Jeremiah and said that although Hananiah had smashed a yoke of wood, God would replace the wooden yoke with an iron yoke and that Nebuchadnezzar would rule the nations with an iron yoke.  Further Jeremiah had a word for the false prophet Hananiah which is repeated in Jer. 28:35-37:

 

Listen, Hananiah!  The Lord has not sent you, yet you have persuaded

this nation to trust in lies.  Therefore this is what the Lord says, “I am

about to remove you from the face of this earth.  This very year you

are going to die, because you have preached rebellion against the Lord.”

In the seventh month of the same year, Hananiah the prophet died.

 

Hananiah was a forceful individual.  He obviously had a strong charismatic personality.  He prophesied openly against what Jeremiah said; however Hananiah was a false prophet and was wrong.  Jeremiah was giving the words of God to Israel in the hope that the people of Israel would repent of their wicked ways.  Hananiah was telling them good things and comforting words rather than the words of God.  In reality Hananiah was preaching “rebellion against the Lord.”  Rebellion against God and His word is how Satan caused angels to fall in heaven and rebellion against the word of God is what Satan sowed in the Garden of Eden by causing Eve (and Adam) to eat of the fruit despite God’s express instructions not to taste of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil.  False prophets and false teachers lead mankind astray from God and are used to kill, steal and destroy.

 

Satan is happy to use nice and encouraging words if those words will prevent people from repenting and turning from being disobedient to God.  Today, some false prophets and teachers may use encouraging and uplifting words to dissuade people from feeling like they need to repent.  The Israelites no doubt thought that Jeremiah’s call for repentance was too negative and even defeatist.  On the other hand, Hananiah gave them good words.  He gave them hope; however it was a false hope and a hope which did not demand that they change from their evil ways.

 

In our next edition of Locust and Honey, we will be looking at what Jesus said about false prophets and teachers along with some examples of false teachers and prophets found in the New Testament period and later in history.

Lamb of God-The Passover Lamb

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LAMB OF GOD-THE PASSOVER LAMB

Locusts and Honey

1 Cor. 2:13

Vol. 9, Pt. 4

 

 

 

Introduction

 

 

In our prior edition of Locusts and Honey we dealt with the pivotal account of the willingness of Abraham to sacrifice his son, Isaac.  This account is “pivotal” because it represents a picture of the central point in the history of mankind which was the sacrifice of God’s only son, Jesus Christ for our sins.  The central point in history is the incarnation, life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  The life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ is what it is all about.  It stands at the center stage of history which begins at the creation and the Garden of Eden and ends at the restoration of the new heavens and earth after the return of Jesus Christ.

 

If the account of Abraham and Isaac demonstrates God’s future plan to send his only begotten son (John 3:16), the account of the Passover lamb illustrates how the blood of the Lamb covers our sins and protects us from sin, judgment and death.  The events which happened at Passover are commemorated by the very important Feasts of Passover and Unleavened Bread among the Jews and are used to educate each upcoming generation as to how God protects, redeems and delivers his people.

 

 

A Synopsis of What Happened on Passover

 

In the process of extracting the Jewish people from Egypt, God sent the final and Tenth Plague to strike down the firstborn of Egypt.  God protected the first born of the Israelites by the blood of the Passover lamb.   The account of the Passover lamb and the institution of the Feasts of Passover and Unleavened Bread can be found in Genesis, Chapter 12.   Here are some of the characteristics of the Passover lamb:

 

·        It could be a sheep or goat;

·        It was to be without blemish;

·        It was to be male;

·        It was to be one sacrifice for one household;

·        It was to live with the family from the 10th of the month to the 14th day of the month;

·        It was to be killed at twilight;

·        It was to be roasted, not boiled.  That included the head, inner parts and legs.;

·        It was to be eaten with unleavened bread.  There was to be no leaven or yeast;

·        It was to be eaten with bitter herbs;

·        Any part that remained after being eaten was to be burnt before morning;

·        The Hebrews were to eat the Lamb dressed and ready to go;

·        The blood was to be placed on the doorposts and lintel of each house;

·        Blood was to be applied with a hyssop branch;

·        None of the bones of the Lamb was to be broken.

 

At midnight, the Lord struck down the first born of each person and the first born of each animal, but “passed over” all those dwellings where the blood had been spread.  The first born from the Pharaoh to the prisoner in the dungeon died as well as the first born of each animal.  The Pharaoh after the Tenth Plague (and many other warnings) finally let the Hebrews leave Egypt.  The Hebrew people had eaten of the lamb and goats sacrificed and were dressed and ready to depart.

 

 

So what does the Passover Lamb have to do with Jesus?

 

The Passover Lamb is a picture to show what the Messiah would do in the future.  The shed blood of the Passover Lamb protected the Israelites from judgment and death and enabled them to escape their enslavement and captivity.  Similarly, the blood of Jesus does the same for us.  If we are covered with the blood of Jesus then we are protected from the judgment of God and the chains of our enslavement to sin are broken and we find freedom.

 

Many people have written about the comparison of Jesus to the Passover Lamb.  Some of the comparisons including the following:

 

·        Blood Shed for Us-The blood of the Lamb was spread upon the lintel and the two doorposts of each house.  The blood covered those people of God who had the faith to apply it.  The blood of Jesus covers our sins and provides us protection against judgment and death.  Some see the way that the Lamb’s blood was sprinkled (Door post, lintel, door post) to be in the form of a cross.  (See Romans 5:8-10; Exodus 12: 7; 12:21-23).

·        The lamb or goat was to be male and first-born.  Although many sheep or goats are female, there was a specific requirement that the Passover lamb be male and be first-born.  The first-born male of the Israelites and their sacrificial animals were considered to belong to God.  Jesus was the first-born son of God.  He was God’s unique (“only begotten”) son.

·        The lamb had to be one year old.  The lamb had to be a young lamb and in the first part of its life.  Some feel that this reflects that Jesus was young (about 33 years old) when he was sacrificed for our sins.

·        No Blemishes.  The Lamb was to be without blemishes or defects.  It was suitable for sacrifice.  Jesus was suitable for sacrifice in that he was without blemish—he was sinless.  (Ex. 12:5; 1 Pet. 1:18-19).

·        The Lamb had to live with the family.  Each lamb was to live with the family for four days.  In short, the Hebrews were not sacrificing a lamb which they did not know.  Instead the lamb lived with them and became part of the family before it was sacrificed.  Likewise, Jesus lived  with his people prior to his sacrifice for them.

·        The sacrifice was of the whole lamb.  Most sacrifices involve just part of the lamb or goat.  However, in this instance, the entire lamb or goat was roasted.  It had to go through the fire and be burnt.  Jesus went through the fire for us.  His sacrifice was total and not just in part.

·        What was left was to be burnt.  Sacrifices which were holy were never thrown out if there were anything left over.  Instead, what remained, if anything, was to be burnt.  Jesus was a holy sacrifice.  His sacrifice was complete.  There are no leftovers.

·        No bones were to be broken.  At the cross the Roman soldiers broke the bones of the legs of the two crucified with Jesus but did not break Jesus’ legs seeing that he was already dead.  The Passover Lamb was to have no broken bones.    (See John 19:36).

 

 

Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread

 

To make sure that God’s people never forgot what God had done for them, God instituted the annual celebration of Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread.  Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread are considered to be a “feast to the Lord.” (Ex. 12:14).  The Jews call the Passover Feast by the name “Pesach” meaning “to pass over.”  It is fairly clear from Scripture that Passover and the meal associated with it should be celebrated on the fourteenth day of the month Nisan. (See Lev. 23:5-7; Ex. 12:6; Nu. 9:1-5 and Nu. 28:16).  Jews have the Seder or Passover meal on the fifteenth of the month because animal sacrifices no longer occur in Jerusalem due to the destruction of the Temple.

 

Before we proceed further, there are a couple of things regarding Jewish dates which I should make clear.  The first is that Scripture calls the Passover month Abib; however the name of the month “Abib” was changed to a different name of “Nisan” after the Jews returned from the Babylonian Captivity.  It is the same month with just different names.  Second, the Jewish day works differently than our days.  The day for Jews begins at sundown instead of after mid-night for us.  For instance your Jewish friends consider the Sabbath or Saturday holy; however they begin celebrating the Sabbath at sundown Friday evening and the Sabbath ends at sundown on Saturday evening.  Third, the Jewish calendar is not like our Gregorian Calendar.  Our calendar is based upon the sun while the Jewish calendar is based upon the lunar calendar.  For instance the Feast of the Unleavened Bread which we will discuss in the future, begins upon the fifteenth of Nisan.  That date varies each year somewhat like Easter does for Christians.  For instance, Nisan 15 in 2023 will be on Thu., April 6; in 2024 it will be on Tues., April 23; in  2025 it will be on  Sun., April 13 and in 2026 it will be on Thu. April 2.

 

Immediately after the Feast of Passover (the day after), God instituted the Feast of Unleavened Bread.  That Feast begins on the fifteenth of Nissan.  During this Feast, the Jews are to eat unleavened bread.  No leaven or yeast is to be eaten or found in the house from the 14 of the month until the evening of the twenty first day.  The rules for celebrating The Feast of the Unleavened Bread are found in Exodus 12 and 13.  Part of the reasons for the Feast were to educate the first born sons of the importance of Passover and to cause them to remember what God had done in redeeming the Hebrews from the bondage of slavery in Egypt.

 

During the feast there was to be no leaven in the household or in the areas where the Israelites lived.  People ate unleavened bread.  There were several reasons.  One reason was that the Israelites had to be ready to go.  There was no time for the bread to be prepared to rise.  Exodus 12:24 says, “So the people took their dough before it was leavened, their kneading bowls being bound up in their cloaks on their shoulders.”  (See Ex. 12:29).  From a spiritual side, the Jews see yeast as exemplifying sin.  The spiritual meaning of getting rid of the leaven (“chametz”) is to get rid of sin.  Observant Jews clean their houses thoroughly and also clean their ovens and cooking utensils thoroughly to make sure that there is no leaven present.  Spiritually, the Jews see leaven as representing sin.  One needs to be scrupulous in removing both the leaven from the home and to also be scrupulous in removing sin from your life.

 

The Feast of Unleavened Bread along with Passover represented a wonderful opportunity to thank God for removing Israel from the bitter bond of slavery in Egypt and to remember God’s efforts to extract Egypt from slavery through the Tenth Plague and the Angel of Death.  Faithful Jews were saved from the judgment upon the firstborn through the blood of an innocent lamb or goat.  Remembrance of this great salvation was assisted through the combined Feasts of Passover and Unleavened Bread.  It also provided a way for the Jews to teach their children about God.  In fact children as a part of this celebration are to ask questions such as “Why is this night different from all other nights?”  In my opinion, the emphasis on removing leaven/sin is interesting.  After all, the Jews were saved by the grace of God and by placing blood upon their homes.  Therefore why is there a great emphasis upon removing leaven/sin for the days of these feasts?  I believe the answer is that we are saved for a purpose.  We are not saved because we are holy.  Instead we are saved by grace so that we can become holy.  Holiness for both the Jew and the Christian is not an accident.  Instead it is an intentional act.  God saved us to become a holy people.  He took the Israelites out of Egypt in order to make them a holy people not to be a bunch of people acting like Egyptians and taking their gods and their evil ways into the Promised Land.  Similarly, when we come to know God we become part of the church, the ekklesia, meaning the “called out ones.”  We are called out from the world.  Part of our purpose is to become holy, to become lights in the darkness and the shining city sitting on the hill in a dark world.  The Israelites were called to holiness, and we are too!

 

The Israelites ate unleavened bread or matzah during the feasts.  The unleavened bread is bread that does not have sin in it.  It is a humble meal, not blown up with pride.  It is food for those who are ready to depart and go where God leads.  It is the “hard tack” for those who are pilgrims and seek the Kingdom of God as opposed to the Kingdom of this World.  As part of the Feast, Jews ate bitter herbs to remind them of the hardship of Egypt.  The Jews when they were in the desert from time to time looked back to the “good old days” of Egypt when they had plenty of food and water.  Yet like all of us their memories were selective.  They remembered the good but not the evil.  They forgot the slave driver’s lash, the toil, the killing of the babies, and the indignity of being an enslaved people.  As part of the two feasts, they were reminded by the bitter herbs of the bitterness of their slavery.

 

 

Jesus as Passover Lamb

 

God set in motion a witness to the coming Messiah by using the Passover Lamb to deliver the Israelites from death by the shed blood of the lamb.  When John the Baptist first saw Jesus he recognized him as the “Lamb of God” and said “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.”  (John 1:29).  The Apostle Peter wrote in 1 Peter 1:19 “that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers not with perishable things such as silver and gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.”

 

Unless we somehow miss the point, we are reminded that Christ died at the Passover Season.  There are no coincidences in God’s plan for us.  In short, as the lambs were being killed for Passover, Christ suffered and died for us covering the real sins of mankind with his shed blood.  Both in Mark and Matthew it makes clear that Jesus and his disciples were preparing for Passover.  Jesus’ disciples came to him and asked where he wanted to eat the Passover.  Both Mark and Matthew report that the question was addressed to Jesus on the first day of Unleavened Bread, “when the Passover lamb was being sacrificed.”  (See Mark 14:12; Matt. 26:17).  Much has been written regarding exactly when Jesus was sacrificed.  Like many, I believe that the last supper was a Passover meal on Thursday evening (the beginning of the Jewish Friday).  Jesus was condemned, crucified and died on that Friday before sunset (when it became the Sabbath during the Passover Season).  In John 18:28, it says that Pilate went outside to meet the Jewish leaders so that they might not be defiled and might eat the Passover.  I believe that this was the Sabbath meal (beginning on Friday evening and the Sabbath during the Passover period).  (John 18:28).

 

The important thing, however, is not exactly when various people took meals during the Passover Season but the fact that Jesus was the Passover Lamb.

 

 

The Lord’s Supper

 

Most (but not all) theologians believe that Jesus celebrated the Passover Meal on the Thursday evening (beginning of Friday [Thursday after dark] when he was crucified).  At that meal, he took the bread which was most likely unleavened and proclaimed it as his body and the wine he proclaimed as his blood.  Earlier Jesus had said that if you were going to follow him you needed to eat his body and drink his blood (Jn. 6:56; Matt. 26:26; 1 Cor. 11:23-26).  At the last supper, he told the disciples that the bread was his flesh and the wine was his blood.  He also washed the feet of his disciples.  It is of interest to me that the “bread” was “sinless” in that it was made without leaven.  Jesus was the sinless Son of God.  He was the Bread of Life (Jn. 6:35).  He was the “perfect (unblemished) lamb.”  Previously Jesus had also instructed his disciples that he was the “vine” and the fruit from that vine was his life.  Like the grapes he was to be squeezed by tribulation and his blood would provide life and joy to the world.  After the Last Supper Jesus went to the Garden of Gethsemane.  “Gethsemane” means the place of the olive press or where there was crushing.  It is also of interest to me that Jesus washed the feet of his disciples at the Last Supper.  The washing of the feet is a sign of humbleness.  The unleavened bread (Matzah) is a sign of humbleness.  It does not have the leaven of pride in it.  Jesus was humble.  Paul pointed out in Philippians 2:6-8 we are to be humble like Christ who “did not think equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.  And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death even death on a cross.”

 

 

Summary

 

Jesus is the Passover Lamb.  His blood was shed for our sins.  God pictured the coming Messiah to Moses and the Israelites and instituted the Feasts of Passover and the Unleavened Bread to testify both to the Jews and to us that God brings us deliverance from slavery, sin and death through the shedding of innocent blood.  That blood in ancient times was exemplified through the shedding of the blood of innocent lambs and goats.  In these “last days” God has revealed to us that the true Passover Lamb is not a simple lamb or goat but is the true Lamb of God who is the only begotten Son of God.  His blood which is flawless is sufficient to redeem us from sin and to liberate a holy people who are to be priests to God and who are to live holy lives free from evil and sin.

 

Next week, we will be looking at the Great Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur) and what it means.

Finding the Specific Will of God in the Old Testament

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LOCUSTS AND HONEY

Vol. 7, Part 3

How Do We Find the Specific Will of God for Our Life?

Introduction.

In this edition of Locusts and Honey, we will be reviewing the methods in the Old Testament for determining God’s specific will for our lives.  We will begin by looking at how people in ancient cultures during the time of the Hebrews tried to determine God’s will for their lives.  In contrast to pagan methods of determining God’s will, people in the Old Testament, utilized other means to determine God’s specific will for their lives.    In short we shall focus in this edition on how people in the Old Testament sought the will of God in their lives.  In a future and subsequent we will look at means that people in the time of Christ and in the early church sought God’s will.  We will also touch upon in a future edition some of the methods which believers utilize today.

Pagan Cultures.

Men and women have an intrinsic desire to know what God’s specific will is for their lives.  They have used various means over the years to get an insight into what God wants them to do and how to take advantage of divine forces in order to better themselves and to live successfully.  Some of the methods utilized in ancient cultures include the following:

               Consulting the Stars

People have believed since ancient times that the stars affect their destinies including constellations at the time of a person’s birth.  We see this in cultures as diverse as Zoroastrian, Chinese, and Indian cultures.  We see it in effect today with the use of astrology and horoscopes.  The belief is that the stars control your destiny and that you can know the future through the knowledge of the stars.  The occurrence of extraordinary celestial events were interpreted to have various special meanings for the future including meteors, eclipses and the like.

               Consulting the Dead

Consulting the dead and the use of witchcraft is not a new development but is ancient.  Witchcraft is known in the Bible and we know the example of Saul going to the Witch of Endor to call up the spirit of Samuel so that Saul could get advice.  The use of witchcraft and mediums as a way to determine the future and knowing what to do goes back to ancient times.  The use of mediums, witches and the like were found in numerous cultures and was prohibited by the Bible.  Some verses of interest would be

Deut. 18:10-12; Is. 8:18; Levit. 19:31 and Levit. 20:27.

               Consulting Soothsayers and the Like

At various times people would consult soothsayers, oracles, and prophets.  There were false prophets like the prophets of Baal ( 1 Kings 18:38-40) and others and there were true prophets like Daniel, Isaiah, Ezekiel, Nehemiah and others found in the Bible.  Examples of soothsayers and prophets found in the ancient world would be the Oracle of Delphi and the Vestal Virgins found in Rome.  True prophets heard directly from God and passed upon God’s word to people.

               Consulting Entrails

Ancient people would make animal sacrifices and then cut the animals open and make prophecies based upon the entrails of the animal sacrificed.

The above methods were some of many methods utilized by ancient societies to ascertain the will of the gods and to assist individuals in ascertaining what the specific will of the gods were for life.  In addition, ancient people utilized a wide variety of charms, books and superstitious paraphernalia to help them to ascertain the will of the gods and the course of future events. 

Both the Old Testament and the New Testament prohibit the use of divination, witchcraft, consulting mediums and spiritualists, the casting of spells, consulting of the dead and the use of astrology.  Some Old Testament verses on this are : 1 Chron. 10:13; 1 Sam. 15:23; 1 Sam 22:23; 2 Chron. 33:6; Lev. 19:31; Lev. 20:6; Micah 5:10-12; Is. 8:19-22; Is. 19:1-4; Is. 47:8-14 and others.  Some New Testament verses dealing with these practices include: Rev. 18:23; Rev. 21:8; Gal. 5:19-21; Acts 8:9-13; and Acts 19:17-20.

How did the Hebrews determine the specific will of God?

 

               Direct Encounters with God

Various people in the Old Testament had direct encounters with God and as a result received direction for their lives.  These encounters came in a variety of ways.  Sometimes God “appeared” to them.  Sometimes, they heard God or had visions or dreams of God.  Sometimes they had an encounter with the “Angel of God.”  Although who and what the Angel of God is worthy of a full study, many Christian theologians believe that the Angel of God was the pre-incarnate Christ which in effect means that they believe that this is a manifestation of Christ in the Old Testament before his birth to Mary.  Hopefully, in the future we can take a closer look at this question.  The fact of the matter is that God directly had encounters with men and women in the Old Testament directly through a variety of means and methods.  Below are some examples.

Adam—We know from Genesis 3:8-10 that Adam and Eve heard the sound of God walking in the Garden of Eden.  We also know from various verses in Genesis that God spoke to Adam and Eve.

Cain—God spoke to Cain on several occasions.  See Gen. 4:6, 9, 13 and 15.

Noah—God spoke to Noah.  See Gen. 7:1; 8:15; 9:1,8,12.

Abraham—Abraham had a number of experiences with God where God spoke to him and gave him direction.  God used a number of different methods to communicate with Abraham in Genesis 1:12-23.    In Genesis 12:1, God speaks to Abraham and tells him to leave his native land.  In Genesis 12:7, God appears to Abraham and promises to give him the land where he is residing.  In Genesis 13:14, God speaks to Abraham and makes him certain promises.  In Genesis 15:1, God appears to Abraham in a vision.   In Genesis 18, Abraham and Sarah encounter the Lord and two angels and Abraham negotiated with God to preserve Sodom if ten righteous men could be found in the city.  God appeared to Abraham and spoke to him after the birth of Isaac in Genesis 21.  He spoke to him in Genesis 22:1 and the Angel of the Lord spoke to Abraham and preserved the life of Isaac from being sacrificed in Genesis 22:  11, 12 and 15.  In short, God encountered Abraham by numerous methods including speaking to him, appearing in a vision, appearing in a dream, meeting him with two angels, and through the Angel of the Lord.  In the course of these encounters, Abraham becomes the Father of a Nation, the Father of Isaac and gave an object lesson of faith foreshadowing the future sacrifice of the Lamb of God.

Jacob—Intriguingly, Jacob’s encounters with God begin after he has fled from his home and Jacob is on his way to the home of his relative Laban.  When he comes to Bethel, he has a dream and sees in the dream a ladder with angels ascending and descending.  At the top of this ladder is God who makes certain covenant promises to Jacob.  (Gen. 28:10-16).  His next encounter is many years later when he has left Laban and is returning to Esau.  Genesis 32:1 says that he met an angel.  In Genesis 32:24-30, there is an account where Jacob wrestles with a “man” all night and refuses to let go until he is blessed.  Jacob names the place where this encounter happened “ Peniel” meaning “For I have seen God face to face and my life is preserved.”    Later Jacob returns to Bethel (meaning House of God) and there he is spoken to by God who blesses and changes his name from Jacob to Israel.  (Genesis, Chapter 35).  The encounters of Jacob are fascinating.  They begin with dreams and end with a very close encounter with God.

Moses—Moses encountered God at various times and in various fashions and as a result found God’s will for his life.  Some of the ways involved encountering God at the burning bush, meeting God on Mt. Horeb, meeting the presence of God between the Cherubim in the Tent of Meeting and in various other fashions.  We will look at a few of these.  The important thing to remember is that God is not limited by the way that He communicates with us.  In addition, God uses different methods to meet each of us.

               The Burning Bush

 

In Exodus 3:1-21 we find Moses encountering the “Angel of the Lord” at the burning bush.  In this instance, Scripture equates the Angel of the Lord with God Himself and God reveals his name to Moses as being “I AM.”  God also reveals himself as being “the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob”.

During the Plagues

From Exodus 3 through Exodus 14, there is a constant dialogue between God and Moses regarding each plague brought upon the Egyptians.   In each instance, God speaks to Moses and gives him precise instructions regarding the plague and Moses responds.

               From Mt. Sinai

In Exodus 19 we find God being present above and on Mt. Sinai.  In this chapter, God manifests His presence not only to Moses but to the people of Israel.  In Exodus 19:9, we find God saying to Moses:  “And the Lord said to Moses, “Behold I come to you in the thick cloud that the people may hear when I speak with you, and believe you forever.”” The experience was a frightening one for the Israelites with the presence of a thick cloud, thundering, lightening and the sound of a loud trumpet.  In Exodus 19:18 it says:  “Now Mount Sinai was completely in smoke because the Lord descended upon it in fire,.  Its smoke ascended like the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mountain quaked greatly.”  God calls Moses up to the top of the mountain, and it is there that he receives the Ten Commandments.  The people of Israel decided that they did not feel comfortable with God speaking directly and so in Exodus 20:18-19 they say to Moses:  “You speak with us and we will hear; but let not God speak with us, lest we die.”

After Moses destroyed the first set of the Ten Commandments, God renewed the covenant with Israel and Moses, Aaron and 70 elders of Israel.  They all ascended to a certain place on Mt. Sinai and , according to Exodus 24:10 saw the God of Israel and ate what we believe was a covenant meal there (Exodus 24:24).  Although many scholars have discussed this account I believe it is a renewing of the Mosaic Covenant where Israel agreed to be the people of God and God, in turn, was to be the God of Israel. After this experience Moses went back up to the top of Mt. Sinai where he remained for 40 days and received instructions for building the Ark of the Covenant, and the Tabernacle and for establishing the Levitical Priesthood (See Genesis, Chapters 25-32).

               From the Tent of Meeting

After the construction of the Tabernacle, Moses generally received direction from God by going into the Tent of Meeting.  The presence of the Lord appeared in the Pillar of Cloud and descended to the door of the Tabernacle and God spoke directly with Moses.  When this occurred, the people of Israel stood at their tents while God talked to Moses and Moses recounted to the people what God said.  See Exodus 33:1-11.  Notwithstanding this, God still spoke directly to Moses from time to time and He also continued to speak directly to Moses in front of the people of God from the Tabernacle.

Moses Wants to Meet God Face to Face

One of the most interesting of the encounters of Moses with God is the request by Moses in Exodus 33:18  to see God in all of His glory.  God’s response in Exodus 33:20 is “You cannot see My face for no man shall see Me, and live.”  This is at first surprising because Moses and the 70 elders at Exodus had seen the God of Israel on Mount Sinai at Exodus 24:10.  However, God is a Spirit and even though Moses and other fathers of the faith had encountered God in various ways, here Moses asks to experience God in his fullness.  God’s response is that Moses request was not possible perhaps because man may experience God but we simply do not have the capacity to experience God in his absolute fullness and infinity.  God’s response to Moses is found at Exodus 33:21-23:  “And the Lord said, “Here is a place by Me and you shall stand on the rock.  So it shall be, while My glory passes by, that I will put you in the cleft of the rock, and I will cover you with My hand while I pass by, Then I will take away My hand, and you shall see My back, but My face shall not be seen.”

As a Christian, I see some meaning in these words.  My best ability to see the glory of God is to be placed safely in the rock of ages cleft for me.  There I can come into an experience seeing God.  Although I may not fully comprehend the face of God the Father I can see a representation of the Father’s love for Me in the Risen Christ who is my protection.  Christ is the rock which was struck (“cleft”) for me..  Again, this is just my interpretation.

               Concluding Words on Moses

We have spent a great amount of time reviewing the encounters of God and Moses.  Understanding these various encounters is important because they are diverse.  In some instances, God speaks to the heart of Moses.  He used the Angel of the Lord; there is a burning bush, there is a Cloud of Glory on Mt. Sinai; there is a Meal on Mt. Sinai; there are encounters at the Tent of Meeting and there is an experience where Moses is placed in the cleft of a rock for protection as the presence of the Lord goes by.  God is not limited in reaching his people.  We try to build hedges and dictate exactly how and what God does.  However, His love and desire to reach is not limited by the rules of man.  He is in charge and He reaches out to people and does so in His times and by His methods.  Therefore, do not be discouraged, God loves you and He may use any number of ways to contact you and reach your heart.  At the same time, he has provided us with a number of safety nets to help protect us including the written Word of to keep us safe and to guide us.

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Gideon

Gideon encountered God in the form of the Angel of the Lord in Judges Chapter 6.  Gideon’s reaction was one of fear.  Judges 6:32-33 says, Now Gideon perceived that He was the Angel of the Lord.  So Gideon said “Alas, O Lord God!  For I have seen the Angel of the Lord face to face.” “Then the Lord said to him, “Peace be with you; do not fear, you shall not die.”  God leads Gideon to go against the Midianites who had enslaved the Israelites.  Gideon is cautious and so he asks God to perform some miracles to assure Gideon that he is doing what God wants.  Those miracles are described in Judges 6:36-40 and we call this situation “laying out the fleece”.   First Gideon puts a fleece of wool on the threshing floor and asks that in the morning that it be full of dew and the ground around it dry.  When the morning occurs, he wrings a bowlful of water out of the fleece.  Just to be sure, he reverses the request the next night.  When morning comes, the fleece is dry but there is dew on the ground.  Through this method Gideon received confirmation regarding the direction of God.

It is probably a very good thing that Gideon got that confirmation because he is told to reduce the size of the Israelite army and goes up against the Midianites with only 300 men and wins a great victory. 

               God Gave Guidance through the Pillar of Cloud and Pillar of Fire

 

God used a Pillar of Cloud and Pillar of fire to lead the Israelites in the wilderness.  The Israelites had tangible evidence of God’s direction of where and when to move.  Exodus 13:21 says, “And the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead the way and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so as to go by day and night”.  God used this pillar to protect the Israelites from the Egyptians and to lead them.  Many of us use a GPS or a map to guide us.  The Israelites had a Pillar of Smoke and Fire to lead them and apparently this phenomenon continued until they came into the Promised Land.  By following the Pillar and the Ark of the Covenant, the individual Israelite would not get lost.  Today, as we follow the Holy Spirit and the Presence of Christ, we can be assured that we will not get lost or lose our way but instead will go where we are supposed to go, do what we are supposed to do and move when we are supposed to move.  Like the Army of God, we move at the command of our General and do not move without God’s leadership and instructions. 

               God gave Guidance through the Urim and Thummim

 

It is very interesting but the Jews believed that there were three ways to know the will of God.  One way was by the Urim and Thummim which we will discuss below.  The other two methods were by Dreams which came from God and the third method was by the prophetic word.  In 1 Sam. 28:6, God ceased speaking and giving guidance to Saul.  That verse says, “When Saul inquired of the Lord, the Lord did not answer him, either by dreams or by Urim or by prophets.”

The terms Urim and Thummim were some sort of instruments or objects used to discern the will of God.  They were placed in the Ephod of the High Priest.  The Ephod was a vest or sleeveless jacket containing twelve stones on the front of the Ephod, each which had the name of one of the twelve tribes.  We know very little about the Urim and Thummim.  Some believe that it was a parchment with the name of God on it.  Others believe it was like lots.  Generally, but not always, questions were addressed to the High Priest which required a yes or no answer.  We know from Exodus 28:8 that the Urim and Thummim were placed in the Ephod above Aaron’s heart.  (See Ex. 28:8; Levit. 8:8; Deut. 33:8). 

The term Urim and Thummim means “lights and perfections.”  Joshua evidently made use of this method.  Numbers 27:21 says, “Set him (Joshua) before Eleazar the priest (the High Priest and son of Aaron) and before all the congregation and inaugurate him in their sight…Eleazar the priest who shall inquire before the Lord for him by the judgment of the Urim.”  It is believed that the Urim and Thummim were used in dividing up the Promised Land among the tribes and used to answer important questions such as when to go out to war.  David apparently used the Urim and Thummim.  See 1 Sam. 23:9-11; 1 Sam. 30:7-8)

There is not much mention of the Urim and Thummim after the time of Nehemiah when the Temple was restored.  (See Ezra 2:63 and Neh. 7:65).

Although this method was helpful at various times between the time of Moses and the time of the Restoration of the Temple after the Babylonian Captivity, the method fell out of use.  Some believe that the Thunnim and Urim were lost and others believed that the method ceased working and that God began to work more directly with people instead of just through a somewhat mechanical means.

               God gave Guidance through Dreams

 

Introduction

We know that the world of dreams was a method which God used in the history of Israel.  Not only did God communicate with his people in dreams but he also used dreams as a method of communicating with non-believers for the benefit of his people.  God sent dreams to Abraham, but he also sent them to non-Jews such as Abimelech (Gen. 20:1-7), Pharaoh and to Nebuchadnezzar.  He gave the ability to interpret dreams to people such as Joseph who interpreted Pharaoh’s dreams and to Daniel who interpreted the dreams of Nebuchadnezzar.  God’s will was often expressed through dreams both in the Old Testament and even in the New Testament.

Jacob—We have previously discussed that Jacob when he fled from Esau and his home came to a place where he went to sleep and had a dream of a ladder in which angels were ascending and descending on to  God  and God made certain promises to Jacob.  That place was named Bethel meaning “House of God.”  God communicated his promises to Jacob through a dream.  See Gen. 28:10-17.

Joseph—One of Jacob’s children, Joseph, had dreams and the ability to interpret dreams.  Joseph dreamed that his family would bow down to him.  This caused a great amount of consternation to his family.  Later his brothers sold him into slavery and in time Joseph became second to the Pharaoh in Egypt and his family did actually bow down to him as he had dreamed years earlier.  In addition Joseph interpreted dreams to the servants of Pharaoh (the baker was not restored to power and died and the cupbearer was restored and survived).   Joseph interpreted and explained dreams which Pharaoh had thereby achieving a position which allowed Joseph both to save Egypt and the Hebrews from famine.  See Gen 37:1-11 and Genesis 40-41.

Solomon—After Solomon became king, God appeared to Solomon in a dream and asked Solomon what he would ask for.  Solomon asked for wisdom to govern his people, which was a request which pleased God.  (1 Kings 3:5).

Daniel—Daniel was both known for interpreting dreams and having dreams and visions.  He rose to power by interpreting Nebuchadnezzar’s dream of an image with a head of gold.   The King had made a nearly impossible demand that his “magicians” tell him what the dream was first and then interpret it for him.  Daniel after prayer did both rising to a high position in the Babylonian Empire allowing him both to serve his king and protect his people.  God gave numerous dreams and visions to Daniel.  For Nebuchadnezzar’s dream and Daniel’s interpretation, see Daniel, Chapter 2.  For Daniel’s vision of the end times, see Daniel Chapters 10-12.

Final Comments on Dreams.

In seeking God’s guidance and knowledge of His will, God utilized dreams as  one of the methods by which he conveyed His will to people.  God utilized dreams in the Old Testament; however, he also utilized them in the New Testament.  Peter preaching on the Day of Pentecost at Acts 2:17 said, “And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams.”  Peter was quoting Joel 2:28.  Therefore, dreams from God are found in both the Old and New Testaments.  More will be written about this later.

               God Gave Guidance Through the Prophets

Introduction

In our passage above, Acts 2:17 quoting Joel 2:28, it is promised that our sons and daughters will prophesy.  Carefully note that although our examples given of prophecy are men such as Samuel, Isaiah and Ezekiel, the promise is given to women as well.  In the Old Testament, it is believed that Mariam the sister of Moses moved in prophecy (Ex. 15:20).   Other Old Testament women who were considered to be prophetesses were Deborah (Judges 4:4); Huldah, wife of Shallum (2 Chron. 34:22) and the wife of Isaiah (Is. 8:3).  We also find in the New Testament that when Jesus was a baby in the Temple one of the people speaking words and prophesying over him was Anna the prophetess (Lk 2:36).

Moses—We generally think of Moses as a law-giver as opposed to a prophet; however the Bible said that Moses was the greatest prophet of the Old Testament.  Deuteronomy 34:10-12 says:  “But since then there has not arisen in Israel a prophet like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face, in all the signs and wonders which the Lord sent him to do in the land of Egypt, before Pharaoh, before all his servants, and in all his land, and by all that mighty power and all the great terror which Moses performed in the sight of all Israel.”

Samuel—God spoke in a dream to Samuel.  Samuel went on to become one of the great judges of Israel.  He is also the prophet who anointed Saul as King and later David as King.  God gave guidance to Israel, including who should be king, through Samuel the Prophet.  We know that along with Samuel were other prophets.

Elijah—Elijah (along with his student Elisha) led Israel in the prophetic ministry and God spoke to His people many times through these prophets.  Elijah was taken into heaven by a whirlwind and appears to Jesus along with Moses on the Mount of Transfiguration.  Most Christian scholars believe that this appearance on the Mountain illustrates the unity of the law (Moses) and the prophets (Elijah) in the ministry and work of Jesus for our salvation.

School of the Prophets—Apparently there were schools of prophets and prophetic communities.  For further study see 1 Samuel 19:18-21; 2 Kings 2 and 2 Kings 4:38-99.  There are numerous instances where groups of prophets and the “sons of the prophets” are mentioned in the Bible.

Isaiah—Isaiah was one of the greatest of the prophets.  His calling is described in Isaiah 6 where he sees the “Lord sitting upon a throne high and lifted up with the train of his robe surrounded by angels.”          Isaiah in Isaiah 53 writes one of the clearest descriptions of Jesus Christ and his coming work of salvation.  Isaiah gave directions to various kings about the will of God.

Jeremiah—Jeremiah warned Israel about the need to repent and the coming judgment on Israel by Babylon.

Ezekiel—Ezekiel was a great prophet during the Babylonian captivity who had visions of the “end-times” and a presence of God surrounded by fire and indescribable angelic creatures.

Summary of Prophets

God used prophets to speak to people, kings and nations regarding his will and the need for repentance.  These prophets also spoke to things and events which would come in the future.  However, there were good prophets and bad prophets.  For instance, those who worshipped Baal had prophets and it was Elijah who came up against 500 prophets of Baal and asked the Israelites who they were going to serve-either God or Baal.  Therefore prophecy existed in both true and false forms. 

Moreover, Moses had said that one of the ways that you can know that a prophet is true is that the words of the prophet come true.  Deuteronomy 18:20-22 says, “But the prophet who presumes to speak a word in my name that I have not commanded him to speak, or who speaks in the name of other gods, that same prophet shall die.’ And if you say in your heart, ‘How may we know the word that the Lord has not spoken?’— when a prophet speaks in the name of the Lord, if the word does not come to pass or come true, that is a word that the Lord has not spoken; the prophet has spoken it presumptuously. You need not be afraid of him.”    Unfortunately this may help in retrospect but is not of great help in knowing whether the prophecy is true on the front end.

One of the great difficulties in knowing who the true prophet is and who the false prophet is.  A great example of this was an event which occurred in Jeremiah 28.  Jeremiah had previously been predicting the victory of Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon.  The prophet Hananiah contradicted Jeremiah and said that within two years King Nebuchadnezzar would restore those things which he had taken to Judah.  Jeremiah in Jeremiah 28:6 responded, “Amen! May the Lord do that.  May the Lord make the message you say come true”.  Jeremiah had been wearing a yoke to illustrate the slavery of Babylon and Hananiah broke the yoke from Jeremiah’s neck and said that in the same way the yoke of King Nebuchadnezzar would be broken in two years.  (Jer. 28:10-11).  Jeremiah left the temple but the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah and said that Hananiah had broken a wooden yoke but that it would be replaced with an iron yoke.  Further God said that Hananiah would die within a year because he had taught the people to turn against the Lord.  Hananiah died within the year as God had promised.  (Jer. 28:15-17).

The difficulty with prophecy is that sometimes it takes time to test the prophet and the prophecy.  Prophets that are correct time after time prove their reliability.  However, sometimes we do know the prophet or the track record of the prophet.  The New Testament suggested that prophecy is to be judged by others with the gift.  ( 1 Cor. 14:29 )  At any rate, prophecy is a means by which God speaks to us; however, one must be prepared to test prophecy and to look for the fruits of the prophets.  We will study more about prophecy in the church in a future edition of Locusts and Honey. 

In our last political election there were many “prophets” who predicted political events which did not take place.  We would do well not to rely upon these “prophets.”  Instead of retiring their “prophetic mantles,” they are already back in business with new prophecies and hawking their latest books without breaking stride.

Many of the prophets of the Old Testament would not have survived long in the modern church.  Sometimes the prophets took graphic actions to illustrate the point.  We have already mentioned that Jeremiah was wearing a wooden yoke.  Ezekiel drew an image of Jerusalem on a clay tablet and lay on his side.  He did this for 390 days and this rolled over and laid on the other side to make his point.  (Ezekiel 4).  On another occasion he shaved off his beard with a sword and divided his hair into thirds with one third being set on fire, and another third being stabbed with a sword and the final third being thrown into the wind, to illustrate the fate of Jerusalem’s inhabitants.  (Ezekiel 5).  Isaiah went around naked or nearly naked for three years to illustrate the captivity of the Jewish people.  (Isaiah 20:2-4).  These actions would not have endeared a prophet to the local church today; however God used His prophets in drastic ways to get his message across and to try to bring His people into repentance.

In our next edition, we will look at some of the methods for ascertaining the will of God in New Testament times.

 

 

The Judgment

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JUDGMENT

This post involves the second secret of the Christian faith; however before I get to it, I need to provide some background.

BACKGROUND

We live in a time of lawlessness.  Some see the lawlessness in police forces which overstepped their power and who have oppressed people.  Others see the lawlessness in criminal activities which are permitted and not punished.

Due to the removal of the Ten Commandments from our schools, courts and society  we have been left with a comfusing set of statutes and an abandonment of clear and absolute moral direction.  Instead of having clearly defined right and wrong, we have substituted situational ethics and a moral code which constantly shifts.  There is no absolute right or wrong.  This has also been reflected in our society in which there are no absolute genders.  Both our moral codes and our genders are viewed as being on a sliding scale. 

Right and wrong have become 50 shades of gray so to speak.  It is almost impossible to define wrong because the boundaries of what is right are constantly expanding.  Abortion and divorce were once considered to be wrong but now they are right.  Sexual identity seems to be expanding quickly with parents and children able to adjust gender.  Multiple marriage or group sexual arrangements  all were once considered wrong but again moral creep  goes on.  The same is true with sex with minors, the teaching of sexual alternatives in school,  the reeducation of children as to what is acceptable at the grade school level and the growth of acceptable euthanasia.  The limits of what is moral constantly are more and more circumscribed and the acceptability of what is permitted from a moral perspective is ever growing.

The responsibility for choices in the moral arena are being erased.  People commit crime because they are in poverty.  They are excused for their actions because of their upbringing and because of problems which they have encountered in their life.  In short, they are no longer responsible.  It is not their fault.  And if for some reason, they experience guilt, a counselor or psychologist is made available to them to deal with guilt.  And if that does not work, there is drug therapy.  Where there are no laws and no standard, guilt is reduced.  Therefore the removal of the standard is met with approval and supported by so-called enlightened intelligentsia.

SECRET DOCTRINE

The secret doctrine of the Christian Faith is the eternal judgment.  You probably have not heard many sermons at church about it.  Churches today want people to feel welcome.  They want to provide judgment- free zones where all of us feel welcome.  

Further Christianity takes the position that ALL of us are sinners.  As a general rule,  man seems to be born with a propensity to sin.  Sin comes easily to us as a people.  Our parents engaged in sin and we do as well-all of us.  Sin is simply not doing what God tells us to do.  It is missing the mark of God’s plan for us.  It is not only doing “bad” things like murder but it includes putting things above God, lusting for what is not ours, envying the success of others and many other thoughts and actions contravening God’s commands to us.  Keeping the  10 Commandments is simply too much for us.  In addition there were a variety of other laws and commands which   Hebrews sought to keep but often failed to keep.  To make things worse, sin was just not just disobeying God’s rules and transgressing his direct commands but it also involved not doing the things we know that we should do but do not do.  We know that we should feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, provide clothing to those who need clothing, but we fail to do so.  Sometimes we deliberately don’t do so; but other times we are too lazy or even fail to see the needs because we are too busy taking care of the affairs of our life.  We build our own houses before we build the House of God. 

Both Christianity and Judaism have a doctrine which is a key doctrine of belief.  That doctrine is the doctrine of an eternal, final judgment.     In essence, that doctrine states that at some future date, God directly or indirectly will settle accounts.  There will come a time when our actions will be revealed and judged.  For good actions there will be some type of good reward and for bad actions there will be a penalty.  In short, the accounts will be trued up.  We will be held responsible for what we do and for what we did not do.

We do not like to be judged.  We do not want to be held responsible for our actions.  If we are Joseph Stalin, we do not want to be judged even if we have callously killed millions.  We want an excuse.  We want ot escape condemnation.  We have a number of ways by which we seek to avoid responsibility.  We excuse ourselves.  We say we were having a “bad day.”  We compare ourselves to those worse than us.  As one of my children said after he had done something particularly bad:  “Well, at least I am not Adolph Hitler.”  In other words I may be bad but I am not as bad as the next guy or gal.  “I was tired; I was lazy; I forgot.  We have all used these excuses.

Dispite all of our excuses, the doctrine of the Judgment stands like a rock.  It says that a day is coming when an answer will need to be given for our attitudes and our actions as well as our failure to do what was right.  In Hebrews 6:2, the eternal judgment is described as one of “the elementary teachings about Christ.”

The fact there is an eternal judgment  is a good thing.  It causes us to have a justifiable fear of doing wrong and encourages us to fear  God.  For instance, electricity does wonderful things for me and my family.  It blesses us but I have a healthy respect for it and don’t stick a kitchen knife in one of our electrical sockets.  A healthy fear protects me from my foolishness.  And so by fearing God, our actions are better and we become better people.  The fear of God is the beginning of wisdom.  (Prov. 9:10 ).  The genesis of much of the crime and evil today is that there is no belief that there will be a judgment upon the actions taken.  Society has exorcized the concept that there is an absolute law which should not be violated.  Even where someone believes in an absolute right and wrong, society has given a number of “outs” to avoid being punished for transgressions of that law.  Some of our excuses might be  being born with desires you can not control, the inability to control your actions due  to your genetic make-up or mistakes made in your up-bringing.  Arguments are made that you really had no free will not to do the action.  Therefore you are excused and exempt from judgment and punishment because you had no free will.  If you have no free will you are not to be punished.  In short you are free from the charges because of a “temporary insanity” or you did your actions without knowledge of the law or you did the actions without thinking and without malice and afore thought.

So society is willing to excuse your actions if you are clever enough to come up with an excuse and you are awarded a “get out of jail free” card and not held accountable.

Another approach is to legitimize our sin.  Here is an example of how extreme anger might be legitimized.  Assume that there is a group of really angry people who form an organization legitimizing their anger known as Really Angry People or “Rap”.  Here are some things which they might do.

  • Set up anger groups
  • Teach that anger is often righteous.  God was angry.  Jesus was angry and formed a whip and chased people out of the temple.
  • Develop anger flags such as a red fist on a white circle and a black background known as the anger flag.
  • Point out that some people are born with intense anger issues.  This issue is inate and can not be changed.  People trying to change it are misled; they are haters and they are bigots.
  • Legislation is passed that no person can be discharged because of intense anger issues.  In fact they should not be encouraged to change but should be affirmed in their anger.
  • The Supreme Court  agrees that RAP people can not be discharged for their intense anger.
  • The benefits of anger are taught in colleges and College RAP groups are set up.
  • Psychiatrists testify that some people are born with intense anger, they can not change from being angry and they should be affirmed in their anger.  In fact trying to change this innate problem will have profound adverse pychological affects on angry people.
  • People not subscribing to RAP are haters.  They are forbidden to post on social media, they are discharged from professorships in Colleges.  They are labelled as haters and bigots.
  • RAP gives vast sums to politicians supporting the RAP positions.
  • RAP leaders are lionized by Hollywood as being leaders and full of power and wisdom.
  • RAP now not only has an equal place in society but an exalted place.  Their supporters control votes and those who do not adhere to the RAP principles are now considered to be second class citizens and idiots.
  • RAP is taught to children in schools.
  • Churches are encouraged to embrace RAP and to have RAP ministers.  After all, Jesus loves everybody.
  • Corporations generously support RAP to show that they are enlightened and caring.  In addition, they don’t want angry people to boycott their stores or to burn or loot them.

So in this instance anger has been legitimized.  In short, enough support for the behavior has been garnered to make anger acceptable.  Man basically says, “We don’t care what the Word of God says about anger; we say anger is not a sin.”  We declare anger acceptable.

As was written on a Facebook post:  “First we overlook evil.  Then we permit evil.  Then we legalize evil.  Then we promote evil.  Then we celebrate evil.  Thenwe persecute those who still call it evil.”

An eternal judgment where God’s word is in charge is a frightening prospect to those who have said “our word is in charge not God’s.”

The idea of an eternal judgment where absolute truth will rule is more than just a fly in the ointment, it is an elephant in the ointment and we do not want to deal with it because it makes us feel uncomfortable.  Therefore the eternal judgment, though being an essential doctrine or teaching of Christianity, becomes the invisible elephant in the room.  It is not preached about or emphasized because we don’t want people  to be uncomfortable.  We want people to feel loved and welcome.   We do want to tell our guests in church they have a terrible malignant cancer of sin which will have to be dealt  with.  Most of us suspect that we have this cancer of sin; but we don’t like to think about it or face it until we recognize that it is fatal and its effects have  become obvious to those around us.

The good news is that even though we have the fatal disease of sin, we have a way of dealing with it.  However that way, is a drastic course of action which involves us committing our life to acknowledge and follow Christ.  We call this the way of the cross.  It is drastic and painful to give our wills over to Jesus Christ and to begin to say “not my will be done, but thine by done on earth as in heaven.”  It is causing our flesh to go to the cross.  It is painful and we do not want to do so  unless we conclude it is absolutely necessary.  And, indeed, it is necessary that we might have life.

Now let’s learn more about the eternal judgment as seen by the Jews in the Old Testament.

Perhaps the clearest view of the  Last Judgment is seen in Daniel 7:9-14.  That description follows:

“As I looked, thrones were set in place, and the Ancient of Days took his seat,

His clothing was as white as snow; the hair of his head was white like wool.

His throne was flaming with fire,

and its wheels were all ablaze.

A river of fire was flowing, coming out from before him.

Thousands upon thousands attended him; ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him.

The court was seated and the books were opened…

In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man,

coming with the clouds of heaven.  He approached the Ancient of Days and

was led into His presence.  He was given authority, glory, and sovereign power;

All nations and peoples of every language worshiped him.

His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his

kingdom is one that will never be destroyed.”

This description was of the final judgment where the books would be opened and people would be judged for their deeds.  That judgment was by God, who is described as the Ancient of Days.  This description would resound in Jewish history and echoes into the future in writings of John in the Book of Revelation.  Obviously, early Chrisitians had no difficulty identifying the one who was “like a son of man “ and given authority, glory , and sovereign power and who was worshipped by all nations and peoples with a never-ending dominion”.  That one like the son of man is Jesus Christ.

The Book of Daniel ends with another description of the last judgment at Daniel 12:2 which states, “Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake; some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt.” 

At the end of Malachi we run into the concept again of the “great and dreadful day of the Lord.” (Malachi 4:5).  That day is described in Malachi 4:1-2 as follows:

“Surely the day is coming; it will burn like a furnace.  All the arrogant and every evildoer will be stubble and the day that is coming will set them on fire, says the Lord Almighty.  Not a root or a branch will be left to them.  But for you who reverence my name, the sun of righteousness will rise wlth healing in its rays.”

In the New Testament we find that Jesus describes this Last Judgment in detail at Matthew 25:31-46 which is set forth below:

“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne.  All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.  He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on

his left. “  Jesus will bless those who have fed the hungry, given the thirsty drink and invited the stranger  in.  He blessed those who clothed the naked and cared for the sick and visited  those in prison.  When people asked when they blessed Jesus by doing these things, Jesus responded :  “Truly I tell you whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.”  (Matt. 25:43).  Those who cared for the followers of Jesus were to be blessed.  Those who failed to care for them failed  to care for Jesus himself.  Their desiny is described at Matt. 25:46; “Then they will go away to eternal punishment but the righteous to eternal life.”

The warning of Jesus is sobering.  How we treat those who follow Jesus is how we treat Jesus.  Moreover, we need to be careful not to be too restrictive as to who we define as the followers of Jesus.  It is better to err on making the group too large rather than too small.

However, the principle is clear.  Jesus saw himself as the “son of man” as that term is used in the Daniel prophecies.  He further was certain that judgment was to be entrusted into his hands.  In both Matthew 10:15 and Matthew 11:24 uses the phrase:  “But I tell you that it will be more bearable for Sodom on the day of jedgment than for you.”  Jesus saw himself as the son of man who was entrusted with judging the nations. 

Jesus denounced the towns which rejected him.  Matthew 11:20-24 states:

“Then Jesus began to denounce the towns in which most of his miracles had been perforemed, because they did not repent.  Woe to you, Chorasin! Woe to you, Bethsaida  For if the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented in sackcloth and ashes.  But I tell you, it will be more bearable for Tyre and Sidon on the day of judgment than for you.  And you, Capernaum, will you be lifted to the heavens?  No, you will go down to Hades.  For if the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Sodom, it would have remained to this day.  But I tell you that it will be more bearable for Sodom on the day of judgment than for you.”

These are not happy words for us today.  We have all of the teachings of the Old Testament and the teachings of the New Testament.  We are on the other side of the physical resurrection of Jesus Christ.  We are surrounded by the word of God.  God had witnessed his faithfulness not only through his written word, his Living Word through Jesus and through the miracles of nature and the witness of the sun, moon and stars.  Instead of rushing to repent, we have shook our fist at God and said that our word overides his word.  Our prospects are not good.

Another insight on how Jesus saw the end of the age and the final judgment is found in Matthew 13:40-43 which states:

“As the weeds are pulled up and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the age.  The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will weed out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil.  They will throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.  Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father.  Whoever has ears, let them hear.”

Again,  Jesus refers to himself with the Daniel term “son of man.”  There is an absolute certainty in Jesus that the Final Judgment will occur and the good will be rewarded and the evil will be punished.

The imagery of the final judgment as found in Daniel appears again in the Book of Revelation 20:11-15 where it is continued and elaborated on.  That description is worth carefully noting and is described as follows:

“Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it.  The earth and the heavens fled from his presence, and there was no place for them.  And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened.  Another book was opened, which is the book of life.  The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books.  The sea gave up the dead that were in it and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them and each person was judged according to what they had done.  Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire.  The lake of fire is the second death.  Anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire.”

To summarize,  there is a judgment and everyone will be judged.  We are responsible for our actions, we are responsible for our response to the word of God; we are responsible as to how we treat God’s people in particular and  others in general.  We are accountable.

There is also mention of the “The Lamb’s Book of Life.”  This is a book or list of those people who have followed God and been obedient to His word.  As Christians we believe it is the list of those who have accepted the blood offering of Jesus Christ to redeem us from the Prince of this World (Satan/Evil) and bring us into the family of God.  It is those who have been called and have chosen to accept the invitation of Jesus Christ to forsake all and follow him.  Although all of our works, both good and bad will be exposed and revealed by God, we look to the blood of the Son of God to cleanse us from our evil works and shortcomings,  which are many.  We recognize that all of us sin.  Some sin more; some sin less.  We are the ones who meekly accept God’s invitation to be a part of His kingdom and His family.  We realize, accept, enjoy and glorify the grace of God which has been extended to us .

Those who reject God and His word, they too have a destiny.  They get just what they have desired, an existence without the fellowship of God and God’s people.  This may be viewed as hell, fire, or the local Jerusalem garbage dump and an area where idolatrous Jews sacrificed their children to false gods (Gahenna).  Whatever it is, they are left with what they have chosen for themselves instead of what God has chosen and wanted for them.  It is ironic that the destiny of those not following God is the same place as the area where innocent children were killed and aborted.

As I said in the beginning, a discussion of the Final Judgment and the results of rejecting God is not a comfortable conversation.  Yet sometimes uncomfortable conversations must be had.  By knowing the consequences, we can avoid the consequences.  The good news is that God is a God of mercy, kindness, and forgiveness.  The fear of God is the beginning of wisdom.  By fearing the results of rejecting  God and his word, we can choose to accept the word of God and walk in His mercy.  The choice is up to you.  However, you can be assured that a judgment will come in the future and it will come regardless of whether people believe it will come or not.

Prophecy on the Street Corner

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Prophecy on the Street Corner

Let’s face it, prophecy is not particularly welcome in today’s church.  First, not all churches are in unity in recognizing what prophecy is.  Some confuse it with preaching.  In a prior post I attempted to define prophecy  as “discerning and proclaiming spiritual truths that edify the church which emanate from the heart of God through his Holy Spirit.”  Prophecy in some denominations, including in some Assembly of God, Pentecostal and Charismatic congregations, might actually take place in connection with a worship service. 

The use of prophecy seems to be substantiated by 1 Corinthians 14:29-33 which states:  “Two or three prophets should speak, and the others should weigh carefully what is said.  And if a revelation comes to someone who is sitting down, the first speaker should stop.  For you can all prophesy in turn so that everyone may be instructed and encouraged.  The spirits of prophets are subject to the control of prophets.  For God is not a God of disorder but of peace.”

Objections to prophecy, as used in 1 Corinthians, comes on several fronts.  Some claim that the early church “gifts” are dead.  At least, according to these critics, some of them are and then some are not.  For instance they believe that some spiritual gifts like speaking in tongues, interpretation of tongues and discernment of spirits might have ceased in the first century.  Other gifts like the word of wisdom, teaching, evangelism, administration and hospitality are welcome to stick around today.  Other gifts are a little quirkly like miracles and healings but they might be allowed to stay around today if they stay in their place.  Prophecy is done away with and is transmuted mysteriously into preaching.  Personally I find this treatment of the gifts by some modern denominations to be ludicrous and not at all supported by Scripture.  I believe in simplicity.  All of the gifts are here today or all of the gifts are gone.  I see no Scriptural base for selective treatment.

The spiritual gifts, by the way, are not gifts to the individual they are gifts to the Church.  All of the gifts reside in Christ.  They emanate from Christ and they are to be employed in the service of the church and mankind to bless, encourage and build up.  They are the gifts of Christ which through the ministry of the Holy Spirit still operate as the ears, eyes, hands and feet of Christ today.  Perhaps it will help to understand the prophetic word of Jesus and his place in prophecy.  Below I only briefly touch upon it.

Jesus is the Great Law Giver and Jesus is the Great Prophet.  On the Mount of Transfiguration we see him with both Moses (the law) and with Elijah (the great prophet).  See Matthew 17:2-3.  Yet even Moses prophesied that there would come a great prophet after him and despite what some competing faiths may believe, the Great Prophet was Jesus Christ.  In Deuteronomy 18:17-19 Moses wrote:  “The Lord said to me:  “What they say is good.  I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers; I will put my words in his mouth, and he will tell them everything I command him.””  In fact Jesus himself at John 17:8 said in his prayer for his disciples “For I gave them the words you gave me and they accepted them.”  Jesus stated in his prayer that he had conveyed to his disciples the words that God had placed into his heart and mouth.

Unfortunately there are good reasons for some to distrust the gifts.  Sometimes, the people having the gifts use them to enrich themselves or line their own pockets.  On other occasions, people with these gifts are found to have open and egregious sin in their lives.  They are caught with vices which are an embarrassment to the church.  On other occasions, the gifts may lead to personal pride, a lust for power over other people and other abuses.  Where there is correct prophecy there is the real danger of false prophecy.  The Scriptural cure for the danger of wrong prophecy is having prophecy judged by other prophets.  Prophecy which contravenes Scripture is automatically thrown out because the written word of God in the Old and New Testaments always trump the gifts.  In addition, all gifts, including prophecy is inspected by their fruits.  Are the fruits good or are they rotten. 

Due to risks and dangers of prophecy (as well as other gifts), prophecy has largely disappeared from the church.  In fact you will rarely find it in church services of even churches which advertise themselves as “spirit-filled.”   However, sometimes you are more likely to find it in small group settings if the group is open to the spiritual gifts.

Prophecy is not trusted especially by leaders who would like to have a monopoly on hearing from God especially as to what he wants done at the local church level.  It can be viewed as dangerous.  It is also viewed as susceptible to misuse.  So to use some common expressions.  It is the “baby thrown out with the bath”.  It is the “dog in the manger”.

All of that being said, prophecy is still here.  It is like the bastard child that shows upon an embarassed parent’s door step.  The prophet speaks despite all of the risks and disadvantages.  The true prophet appears boldly both in the Old Testament and the New Testament.  They are the Jeremiahs and the Isaiahs.  They are the ones who pen Isaiah 53 which is probably the best description of Jesus Christ either in the New Testament or the Old Testament.  The prophets and prophetesses come from where they will.  They can be well known such as Jeremiah from a priestly family or unknown like the shepherd from Tekoa.  Prophets are embarrassing.  Sometimes in the Old Testament, they were instructed to be naked, lay on their side for years or marry a person without morals.  There is no telling what a prophet might do. 

In the New Testament, they may have eaten locusts like John, prophesied famine like Agabus or bind their hands so show that someone may be going to prison.  They may be light the daughters of Philip (Acts 21:9).  They don’t fit the rule.  They color outside the box.  They don’t fit the mold so they are not trusted.

Most prophets do not come to a particularly good end.  Jesus said that the prophets had been killed from A-Z (Abel to Zechariah).  For further study on this see:  Matt. 23:21; Luke 11:48, 51; Luke 13:34.

Prophets have vision.  And often their vision is not particularly appreciated.  People in authority do not like them whether in politics or in the church.  They are more likely to find their homes in caves than in palaces.

The prophets even sneak into the Book of Revelation at Revelation 11:1-14.  These two prophets may be dealt with me in a subsequent blog but not here.

If the church does not welcome those with the gift of prophecy, then they are relegated to the street corner.  As Simon and Garfunkel sang in their song “Sounds of Silence”:  “The words of the prophets are written on the subway wall and tenement halls and whispered in the sound of silence.”

God’s Spirit makes a way.  God made a path for the ancient Israelites through the Egyptian sea.  He can make a way for the sounds of today’s prophets.  God has something to say to this generation.  God is still speaking.  He is still alive and he still speaks to his church through his Holy Spirit.  He still speaks to the hearts of men, women and children and calls upon them to come to him and to obey him.  He also has words to say to His church if we have the ears to listen.

In Luke 19:40, Jesus said to the Pharisees:  “I tell you, he replied, if they (the disciples) keep quiet, the stones will cry out.”  God’s word will not be silenced.  Nor will it replaced by three point sermons or evangelistic messages which in turn might be better delivered outside of the church rather than just another round of preaching to the choir.

Since the soil for the message of the prophet’s message is inhospitable inside the church it can and will be moved to outside the church.

The prophet may find his voice in writing, or in Twitter or in, God help us, Facebook.

The important thing, however, is not the prophet.  It is the message.  And the prophet is not through speaking yet.  Nor will attempts to bridle the words of God be contained or imprisoned within the box — even a church-shaped box.  The Holy Spirit is not contained and will speak where and how the Spirit wills.

I encourage you to be open to hear the sounds and words of God coming through his prophets today.  And don’t be too surprised where you hear those words.