The Westboro “Baptist” Church Lie – Calvinism’s True Face: Pt. 2

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One of the things we should note about the Westboro articles, is the use of “pet” verses to “prove” their point without bothering to consult the entirety of Scripture. This is not a new tactic, and I have observed to many times. The supporters of false doctrines do this because of one of two reasons:

A. They are truly ignorant of what the rest of Scripture does declare, and consequently do not include verses that set aside the doctrine they are attempting to support.

B. They actually do know that verses contradicting their doctrine exist, and they refuse to include them and explain them as they know the explanation cannot stand the light of scrutiny.

Hence, we observe their use of the verse from Acts 13:48, where the Gentiles believed the gospel when the apostle Paul preached it at Antioch in Pisidia:

Furthermore, the only people who can believe are the ones whom God has ordained to eternal life. “And when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad, and glorified the word of the Lord: and as many as were ordained to eternal life believed.” Acts 13:48. ((The John 3:16 Arminian Lie Laid Bare))

However, that verse sits in a passage that states the following:

And when the Jews were gone out of the synagogue, the Gentiles besought that these words might be preached to them the next sabbath. Now when the congregation was broken up, many of the Jews and religious proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas: who, speaking to them, persuaded them to continue in the grace of God. And the next sabbath day came almost the whole city together to hear the word of God. But when the Jews saw the multitudes, they were filled with envy, and spake against those things which were spoken by Paul, contradicting and blaspheming. Then Paul and Barnabas waxed bold, and said, It was necessary that the word of God should first have been spoken to you: but seeing ye put it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles. For so hath the Lord commanded us, saying, I have set thee to be a light of the Gentiles, that thou shouldest be for salvation unto the ends of the earth. And when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad, and glorified the word of the Lord: and as many as were ordained to eternal life believed. (Acts 13:42-48)

If we note, just prior to the statement about Gentiles being ordained to eternal life, another statement is made by Paul and Barnabas, to wit:

Then Paul and Barnabas waxed bold, and said, It was necessary that the word of God should first have been spoken to you: but seeing ye put it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles. (Acts 13:46)

Now, it must be asked (because surely the Atheist will ask it): Isn’t it contradictory to say that the Jews judged themselves unworthy of eternal life, but God ordained the Gentiles to eternal life, particularly when II Peter 3:9 states that the LORD would have all men come to repentance? Moreover, that I Timothy 2:4 seems to agree with II Peter 3:9, but disagrees with Acts 13:48, and appears to be entirely contradictory in that regard — why then should we believe the Bible?

They have a point, and it must be answered. However, answering it cannot be with the trite phrase “It’s a mystery.” and let it go at that. Nor can it be answered by inserting words into the passages of I Timothy 2:4 and II Peter 3:9 and ignoring Acts 13:46 as if it will go away of its own accord. No, the instant you state the long rigamarole that the general epistles of Peter were to believers, and the epistle to Timothy was to a preacher, and thus the context is believers only . . . it is revealed that the true answer is being obscured and the Atheist will cease to listen. Why? Because that answer ignores the fact that a letter to anyone can contain several contexts, some or all of which would be familiar to the reader.

For instance, if I have a friend who is a believer (and I have several) and he happens to own a piece of property in which I desire legal permission to access, and my letter addresses that issue, then irrespective of the fact that my friend is a believer, the context of the letter is the property and my desire for legal access to it. For someone to come along 200 hundred years later and examine the letter, and then declare that the request for legal access was predicated upon the fact that my friend was a believer and thus that is the frame of the letter, is to read into the letter a context that is not there. Irrespective of the fact that my friend happens to be a believer, I desire legal access to a piece of property that he happens to own — and that is all. I could write the very same letter to a different friend who happened to be agnostic, asking the very same favor of legal access to property he happens to own. Hence, the context is defined by the subject(s) addressed in the letter, not by the beliefs of the person to whom I send it.

What I have described above (determining the context of an epistle by looking at the addressee) is one of the most misused methods of “interpretation” of Scripture by those who routinely distort Scripture to support their own perverse doctrines that cannot be reconciled to the rest of Scripture. Now, to be certain, the addressee of a letter does have bearing on the contents of the letter. However, the contents of the letter have a context all their own, irrespective of the addressee, and are only affected by the level of knowledge and understanding of the addressee. Thus, we must look to the various subjects addressed in the Epistles, the knowledge and understanding of the recipients of the Epistles, and how the writers of those several letters approached the various subjects broached to determine the true context of any passage we wish to study and use for doctrinal support. In short, we have to be careful and rightly divide the word of God, ever understanding that no passage in and of itself creates or establishes a doctrine. Rather, in Scripture all doctrines that are proper and correct are supported multiple times throughout Scripture, in both the Old and New Testaments.

Now, there is also one additional point to consider when comparing Scripture with Scripture to determine whether a doctrine is actually correct. That is: the context of the passages compared must be the same. This would seem to be a common sense rule, but it is frequently ignored and/or misused. If the context of one passage is spiritual, and another passage physical, even if they say the very same thing, one cannot be used to support the other. If we violate this rule, we will, sooner rather than later, come up with a doctrine that is in no way Scriptural, and runs contrary to the whole tone and thrust of the Scripture itself. This is not to say that we will not find that there exists a certain continuity between the physical and the spiritual, it is only to make expressly clear the principle contained in what the Lord Jesus Christ told Nicodemus:

That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. (John 3:6)

Hence, that which applies to the spiritual, does not apply to the physical, and vice-versa. We must understand that the physical, which came out of the spiritual, is only a limited type and shadow of the real world, which is the spiritual.

All that being stated, let us go back now and begin to address the passage of Acts 13:48 in which it is recorded:

And when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad, and glorified the word of the Lord: and as many as were ordained to eternal life believed. (Acts 13:48)

Now, on its face, this seems to support the contention of the folks at Westboro Baptist Church and is commonly used by Calvinists also in supporting their argument of predestination. However, we are expressly told that no scripture is of any private interpretation in II Peter 1:20, and that is a hard and fast rule. After all, as an aside (but still germane to the discussion) I could quote Daniel 12:2 which states:

And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. (Daniel 12:2)

and turn around and claim that the Scripture supports the doctrine of “soul sleep” which is a Seventh Day Adventist doctrine. Of course, they do use this very passage to support their contention, all the while ignoring numerous other passages in Scripture that flatly contradict the idea of “soul sleep.”

What am I saying here? Simply this: If we are going to lean upon “pet” passages and private interpretations of Scripture to support doctrine, then we have to allow that everyone else who does so must be correct as well in their doctrines — even if it flatly contradicts ours. Why? To be succinct: what’s good for the goose — is good for the gander. Otherwise, we are nothing more than elitist hypocrites.

Now then, let us go back and begin to examine the passage of Acts 13:48, but we will do so by including Romans 9:11-13, which seems to contain the same idea.

To be continued . . .

The Westboro “Baptist” Church Lie – Calvinism’s True Face: Pt. 1

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As a fundamentalist, I encounter quite a lot of rolled eyes, sideways looks and the general attitude of disdain from folks. A lot of this is due to the misconceptions about fundamentalism that are promoted by the opponents of fundamentalism in their attempt to discredit holding fast the Scripture. The reason they do this is to justify their departure from the word of God. However, some of the attitudes people hold toward fundamentalism are due to those who, for whatever reason, decide to attach that label to themselves, and then engage in the most hateful and ungodly attitudes and actions one might imagine — all the while claiming they are “serving God.”

One of those individuals is Fred Phelps, along with him is the church he pastors, Westboro Baptist Church. ((About Westboro Baptist Church)) This gentleman and his congregation are well-known for their pickets and websites that preach that God hates this and that other thing (I would list them all, but it is wearying). Their message is supposed to be summed up in their 92-page publication “God Loves Everyone — The Greatest Lie Ever Told.” ((God Loves Everyone — The Greatest Lie Ever Told)) They also back this up with a much shorter document titled “The John 3:16 Arminian Lie Laid Bare.” ((The John 3:16 Arminian Lie Laid Bare))

In both these documents, they lay out the “Biblical” basis and logic for their belief that God hates everyone. The logic for this belief is not as evident in the longer document, even though it is predominately scripture and should be there. Strangely enough, the logic and basis for their belief is more plainly and clearly brought forth in the shorter of the two documents “The John 3:16 Arminian Lie Laid Bare.” What we find in the longer document is simply a listing of verses with a very brief synopsis of what the verses are supposed to say. Due to the fact that demonstrating the misconstruction of 701 verses would be a very long document indeed, and since the logic of it all is contained in the shorter document, the focus here will be on “The John 3:16 Arminian Lie Laid Bare.” ((I want to make clear here that both Calvinist doctrine and belief (whether it is know as Calvinism, “Sovereign Grace,” or “Primitive Baptist,” Wisconsin Synod Lutheran, Presbyterian, etc.) and Arminian doctrine and belief, are both egregiously wrong, and lies of the Devil to cause people to stumble at the Word and not come to salvation because of believing the wrong thing.))

In the article, they state the following:

“John 3:16 says “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” That says God loves everyone, right? Wrong. Every so-called Christian in the world will cite John 3:16 as proof that God loves everyone. They don’t have a clue what the verse means, and, under the guidance of the lying false prophets who make up the “Christian” landscape, twist it to mean what they want it to mean.”

“It seems that if you’re going to base an entire lying theology on one part of a verse, you would at least know what the verse means. But so-called Christians today are far too simple-minded and lazy to look into the matter. So we’ll do it for you: the word translated “world” in John 3:16 is the Greek word “kosmos.” The word never means “every individual of mankind who ever lived.” In fact, the word has at least seven different meanings in the scripture, depending on the context in which it’s used. It can mean Gentiles (as opposed to Jews); it can mean the world of believers; it can mean the world of unbelievers; it can mean the physical creation; etc. If you would actually read what the verse says, and read the context around the verse, you would find that the answer is right before your lying eyes – you just don’t want to see it, because it conflicts with how your evil, dark hearts think God ought to be! The context is “the world of believers” (whether they are Jews or Gentiles). Those are the people God loves. Those are the people for whom Jesus died. Jesus didn’t come to condemn those people – He came to save them. But everyone else is already condemned, because they don’t believe.

You’ll say “but doesn’t ‘whosoever believes’ mean that everybody has the chance to believe?” Nope. Turn a few pages to John 10 (you may be surprised to find that there is actually more to the Bible than John 3:16, but believe me, there is). You will find in John 10:11 that Jesus says “I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.” Later on in verse 26, Jesus says to some unbelievers: “But ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep, as I said unto you.” Uh oh – you John 3:16 heretics have a few problems on your hands. Jesus says He came to die for the sheep, and then proceeds to say that only His sheep can believe. In other words, only the people for whom Jesus died will believe. Note that the reason that unbelievers don’t believe is BECAUSE they are not His sheep. This passage explains who the world is in John 3:16, and it’s clearly not everyone. Furthermore, the only people who can believe are the ones whom God has ordained to eternal life. “And when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad, and glorified the word of the Lord: and as many as were ordained to eternal life believed.” Acts 13:48. So, if you have been ordained to eternal life, that means that you will believe, you are one of God’s sheep, God loves you, and He sent His Son to die for you so you wouldn’t be condemned. If you have not been ordained to eternal life, that means you are not one of His sheep, you NEVER will believe and are already condemned.”

Now, despite the fact that the quotes are long, it is essential for the understanding of what Calvinism is, and why the logical conclusion of it is exactly what Fred Phelps and his congregation do.

To begin with, their argument is that John 3:16 is mistranslated, or misconstrued by those holding Arminian doctrine ((it is ever the method of the devil to set up two opposing camps, both of which are wrong, and accuse anyone who doesn’t agree with one, of being part and parcel of the other — nevermind that the truth doesn’t reside in either place. In this way, the devil can fool people into taking sides instead of actually studying the Scripture for themselves. The truth of salvation lies between the extremes of Calvinism and Arminism, and has always been maligned by both sides.)) to say that God loves all the people of the world, when he doesn’t. However, Phelps argument doesn’t stand on firm ground here because John 3:16 is not the only passage that states that the LORD God desires the salvation of all. It is notable that they chose to focus on this verse and the supposed meanings of the word “world” and then “explain” their interpretation with a couple of convenient passages that are open to interpretation. This flies in the face of many passages throughout the Scripture that declare plainly that the LORD God wants everyone to be reconciled to Him through the shed blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. We can begin anywhere, but we will begin in I Timothy:

I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time. (I Timothy 2:1-6)

If we consider the underlined passages in the above Scripture and take particular note of what they plainly state, we see that, despite Calvinist claims, there is no restrictive context here that would limit the application. What those who hold Calvinist doctrine do here is exactly what I have found of many who hold Arminian doctrine — they insert a restrictive context to make it apply to only those who are chosen to be saved — the “elect.” However, like I have previously stated, this is only one of many passages of Scripture that declare that Christ died for all men everywhere, at any time in earth’s history.

Assemble yourselves and come; draw near together, ye that are escaped of the nations: they have no knowledge that set up the wood of their graven image, and pray unto a god that cannot save. Tell ye, and bring them near; yea, let them take counsel together: who hath declared this from ancient time? who hath told it from that time? have not I the LORD? and there is no God else beside me; a just God and a Saviour; there is none beside me. Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else. (Isaiah 45:20-22)

Now, it should be plain what the scope and meaning of the LORD’s statement “Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth:” is. There should be no doubt that the LORD God is calling to, not only Israel, but to all men everywhere — just like the preaching of the apostle Paul stated:

God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands; Neither is worshipped with men’s hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things; And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation; That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us: For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring. Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man’s device. And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent: . . . (Acts 17:24-30)

Strange. God hath commanded all men everywhere to repent, but He doesn’t want to save all men everywhere, and hates all but the elect? Excuse me, but that would border on insanity wouldn’t it?

This is, unfortunately for those holding Calvinist (aka. Sovereign Grace, Primitive Baptist, Wisconsin Synod Lutheran, Presbyterian, etc.) doctrine, a clear implication of their doctrine. The sad part of this, is their failure to examine all the Scripture and really consider all the LORD God has stated on a subject that is precious to His heart and soul. Like many, they obviously never hear the open invitation of the Scripture. Thus, if you’ve never heard the open invitation, hear it now:

Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread? and your labour for that which satisfieth not? hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness. Incline your ear, and come unto me: hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David. Behold, I have given him for a witness to the people, a leader and commander to the people. Behold, thou shalt call a nation that thou knowest not, and nations that knew not thee shall run unto thee because of the LORD thy God, and for the Holy One of Israel; for he hath glorified thee.
Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near: Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. (Isaiah 55:1-7)

And again:

And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely. (Revelation 22:17)

Here it is necessary to understand that “everyone” and “whosoever” are plural, and that “every one that thirsteth,” “let him that is athirst come,” and “whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.” make the decision for salvation utterly dependent on the individual. Therefore I ask: To whom does this apply? The invitation is open-ended and without qualification — it applies to everyone that is living today, applied to everyone who has ever lived, and will apply to all to come — until the end of the world. The above passages speak plainly to the fact that salvation has always been the same, and that salvation is open and available to all men everywhere, without regard to color of skin, place of birth, financial or social status. The only barrier to salvation for any individual is a barrier they themselves erect.

There is yet something else in the passages quoted immediately above that ought to be touched on before going on. It bears heavily upon what the Lord Jesus Christ told Nicodemus, and provides the explanation of what the Lord said when he stated:

Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. (John 3:5)

And again, what did the Lord tell the woman at the well in Sychar?

Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water. (John 4:10)

The water spoken of is strictly spiritual, ((This ought to lay bare the lie of ‘water baptism for salvation’ that is promoted by some.)) and whether someone can get it, depends upon whether that person will avail themselves of it. As the old saying goes:

You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink.

In like manner, it’s there, but the LORD God is not going to make anyone drink — that is strictly up to the individual.

Now we’ve only scratched the surface. . .

To be continued . . .

Biblical Inconsistencies? – The Creation of Light

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Ever feel like you are dealing with a child who just refuses to learn? Well, that is the feeling I have in answering some of the supposed inconsistencies and contradictions in the Scripture that are raised by the Atheists and Freethinkers. Some of the supposed inconsistencies they “point out” are so childish and immature that it reminds me strongly of dealing with a petulant three or four year old who just doesn’t want to understand the simplest of things. Now, to be certain, there are things in Scripture that certainly appear to be contradictions that the LORD God has put there so that we would be drawn to look deeper and seek the LORD for answers. In reality, there are no contradictions and no inconsistencies at all in Scripture, only a lack of understanding on our part as to how to look at the passages in question.

I take a strictly literal interpretation of Scripture, as I am a fundamentalist by choice and conviction, and that to some, creates the most difficult of situations in Scripture. However, that is not really the case once it is realized that there is a literal physical, and a literal spiritual — and the two are vastly different worlds. Moreover, it also helps immensely to understand that the LORD God is not bound by time and history in explaining something. He is under no requirement to conform to the American point of view and experience, or the point of view of German, Jewish or Russian societies, or any other society on earth for that matter.

Primarily the LORD uses the Jewish experience in the Old Testament, but that is solely due to the fidelity of one man — Abraham, who was and is the friend of God. Because of Abraham’s faithfulness, the LORD God gave certain promises to him that included a child of promise (Isaac) and a nation out of that child of promise (Israel), and then the Messiah out of that nation. Since the Scripture is centered around, and focuses on the work of the Lord Jesus Christ and the redemption of man, it is only natural that the predominance of Scripture is of a Jewish perspective, but not all.

With those things in mind, it makes understanding the Scripture not so difficult. However, if we approach the Scripture with such a petty and childish attitude as to point out the following as an inconsistency, then what can we expect to understand of the word of God?

GE 1:3-5 On the first day, God created light, then separated light and darkness.

GE 1:14-19 The sun (which separates night and day) wasn’t created until the fourth day. ((Infidels.org|Biblical Inconsistencies))

Beyond doubt, the first question that sprang to mind was:

Have the Freethinkers ever heard of the explanation of how light is produced?

And it was followed by:

Do you Freethinkers and Atheists know anything at all about light, mass, and energy? Anything?

Sorry, but this is just petty and childish to say that only the sun and stars can produce enough light to light up the earth, and that only the sun could differentiate night and day.

After having worked with lasers for several years (calibration, sensing, and cutting applications) I am very familiar with the fact that light can be produced from any source material. All you need is mass, and sufficient energy, applied correctly to cause the electrons in the outer shell of the atoms to jump to the next higher shell. When those electrons lose that energy and drop back to their normal energy level, they give off photons of light at a particular frequency, thus yielding whatever color of light that corresponds to that frequency. ((http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Light))

Hence, the Scripture is express that mass was present:

In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness. And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day. (Genesis 1:1-5)

Since it is clear that the LORD God has the energy to produce all that mass, then how hard would it then be for Him to apply energy to the water that is present, and then regulate it so that there are periods of light and darkness?

Not hard at all.

Here now we have the reason that most of the Atheists and Freethinkers cannot understand the Scripture and oppose it:

They are hidebound in their thinking. So hidebound that they throw out very simple, elementary, scientific principles in their opposition and attempts to denigrate and throw out the word of God.

By the Scripture, the result of this is predictable. The LORD God has already given the conditions by which He will grant understanding of His word. We can begin at any number of places in Scripture, but the clearest and plainest place to begin is in Luke, chapter 24:

And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me. Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures, And said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day: And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. (Luke 24:44-47)

As the Lord Jesus Christ makes plain, it is He that grants understanding of the Scriptures. Because the apostles were hard of heart, and expected the Lord Jesus Christ to establish the Kingdom right then and there, all that was to happen, which was foretold in the Scripture, was hidden from them. The LORD then had to open their understanding so they could look back into the Scriptures and see where it was foretold. This ought to be instructive to anyone, let alone those who believe and trust the LORD for salvation:

The LORD God is under no obligation to reveal His word to anyone, let alone someone who has a cavalier attitude toward His word.

This brings us directly to the conditions the LORD God has set in which it can easily be determined whether or not the LORD will reveal His word to any specific individual. These conditions are given in order of importance and progression so that it may be understood why the Scripture seems so difficult for some, and yet easy for others.

The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? I the LORD search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings. (Jeremiah 17:9-10)

Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you. (Matthew 7:6)

Stay yourselves, and wonder; cry ye out, and cry: they are drunken, but not with wine; they stagger, but not with strong drink. For the LORD hath poured out upon you the spirit of deep sleep, and hath closed your eyes: the prophets and your rulers, the seers hath he covered. And the vision of all is become unto you as the words of a book that is sealed, which men deliver to one that is learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I cannot; for it is sealed: And the book is delivered to him that is not learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I am not learned. (Isaiah 29:9-12)

Whom shall he teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to understand doctrine? them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts. For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little: For with stammering lips and another tongue will he speak to this people. To whom he said, This is the rest wherewith ye may cause the weary to rest; and this is the refreshing: yet they would not hear. But the word of the LORD was unto them precept upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little; that they might go, and fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken. (Isaiah 28:9-13)

With the merciful thou wilt shew thyself merciful; with an upright man thou wilt shew thyself upright; With the pure thou wilt shew thyself pure; and with the froward thou wilt shew thyself froward. (Psalm 18:25-26)

But unto the wicked God saith, What hast thou to do to declare my statutes, or that thou shouldest take my covenant in thy mouth? Seeing thou hatest instruction, and castest my words behind thee. When thou sawest a thief, then thou consentedst with him, and hast been partaker with adulterers. Thou givest thy mouth to evil, and thy tongue frameth deceit. Thou sittest and speakest against thy brother; thou slanderest thine own mother’s son. These things hast thou done, and I kept silence; thou thoughtest that I was altogether such an one as thyself: but I will reprove thee, and set them in order before thine eyes. (Psalm 50:16-21)

Thus saith the LORD, The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool: where is the house that ye build unto me? and where is the place of my rest? For all those things hath mine hand made, and all those things have been, saith the LORD: but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word. (Isaiah 66:1-2)

For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith. For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness; Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them. For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse: Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. (Romans 1:16-21)

So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. (Romans 10:17)

But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. (Hebrews 11:6)

Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life. Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live. (John 5:24-25)

Then came the Jews round about him, and said unto him, How long dost thou make us to doubt? If thou be the Christ, tell us plainly. Jesus answered them, I told you, and ye believed not: the works that I do in my Father’s name, they bear witness of me. But ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep, as I said unto you. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. (John 10:24-28)

Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God, Of the doctrine of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment. And this will we do, if God permit. (Hebrews 6:1-3)

Whether you know the Lord Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour or not, it behooves every last person on the face of the earth to listen, and attend unto the word of God. The emphasis the LORD God has laid upon His word cannot be over-stated. For those who claim that they exalt the name of God, yet refuse to hear and be obedient to His word, this is the LORD’s reply to them:

I will praise thee with my whole heart: before the gods will I sing praise unto thee. I will worship toward thy holy temple, and praise thy name for thy lovingkindness and for thy truth: for thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name. (Psalm 138:1-2)

If we at all expect to understand the Scripture, we must be attentive and considerate of what the LORD God is telling us. If we are childish and petty, we cannot expect to ever understand the first thing about the Scripture. The LORD plainly stated the conditions in which He will reveal His word to someone. We must meet His conditions, and not the other way around.

If you know the LORD, you can NEVER have the attitude that you know all you need to know, as the LORD can and will cut-off your understanding of his word. If you have the attitude that the verses above are ‘just too many verses to look at, read and consider,’ then your attitude is not right, and don’t expect your understanding of Scripture to increase.

We must ever be mindful that the LORD God is under no obligation, other than what He places upon Himself, to reveal His word to anyone. We would do very well to hold the attitude of Job after the LORD God rebuked him:

Moreover the LORD answered Job, and said, Shall he that contendeth with the Almighty instruct him? he that reproveth God, let him answer it. Then Job answered the LORD, and said, Behold, I am vile; what shall I answer thee? I will lay mine hand upon my mouth. Once have I spoken; but I will not answer: yea, twice; but I will proceed no further. (Job 40:1-5)

We need to learn to shut our mouths and listen — and that goes for all of us (myself included), not just the Atheists and Freethinkers.

Now, is it any wonder the Atheists and Freethinkers do not understand the Scripture?

Is it any wonder that the majority of “Christians” do not understand the Scripture?

I didn’t think so.

That Men Might Have Joy?

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The title of this article, as you will find out, comes from an express statement in the Book of Mormon. The only difference between my article title and the text statement is the use of a question mark as punctuation. My reason for this is that I really do wish to raise a question as to the truthfulness of that statement in the Book of Mormon.

Now, this is not to simply come down on Mormonism, rather it is to cause to question the veracity of statements made in the Book of Mormon, the logic behind them, and whether they are consistent with the Holy Bible. While it is true that Latter Day Saints, or Mormons claim to believe the Bible as well as the Book of Mormon, it is quite plain in discussions with Mormons that they believe the Bible has errors. As such, they question the accuracy of the Bible, and choose to follow the Book of Mormon whenever there is a conflict between the two. In keeping with this mindset, since they question the Bible, it is only fair that their text be questioned as well. Thus, this statement “Adam fell that men might be; and men are, that they might have joy.” is to be examined in light of what it states logically, about the nature of God, and how it compares to Scripture.

There are some religions that seem to specialize in hiding what they truly believe behind a facade. Unfortunately, even though they claim to believe and follow the Bible, Mormons have some very different views on what the Bible states. Views that are radically different from understandings that have existed for millennia. This is not to say that all the different interpretations that have existed for thousands of years are correct. Rather, it is to state that certain views on various doctrines have been drawn from passages of Scripture, been argued for, and supported by various other passages, or by those who commented on Scripture. In Mormonism, there is a radical departure from this thinking. This is due to the existence of other texts the Mormons hold as being just as valid and inspired as the Bible. What this does in reality is create a conflict of authorities. Given that we (man) are not very good at following more than one authority at a time, it is a dangerous thing to have more than one text that is considered authoritative. We will invariably choose one text over the others when there exists a conflict between the different texts.

The following passage is excerpted from the Book of Mormon, which is purported to be equivalent to the Bible by the Mormons. However, upon reading the following passage, there are some serious questions that ought to be asked about the reasoning contained therein.

2 Nephi, Chapter 2
22 And now, behold, if Adam had not transgressed he would not have fallen, but he would have remained in the garden of Eden. And all things which were created must have remained in the same state in which they were after they were created; and they must have remained forever, and had no end.
23 And they would have had no children; wherefore they would have remained in a state of innocence, having no joy, for they knew no misery; doing no good, for they knew no sin.
24 But behold, all things have been done in the wisdom of him who knoweth all things.
25 Adam fell that men might be; and men are, that they might have joy.

Now, I have underlined some of the passages that require examination. While it is true that if Adam had not transgressed, he would not have fallen, and would have remained in the Garden of Eden. However, the following sentence makes no sense at all when applied to the physical world. When the statement is made ”And all things which were created must have remained in the same state in which they were after they were created,” inherent in that statement is a presumption that cannot be proven true at all. In fact, knowing that the physical world is the way it is, even if it is not corrupted by sin, it is impossible for everything to remain in the same physical state in which it was created. This is where the infinite wisdom and understanding of the LORD God is not appreciated at all. The LORD is indeed able to create everything in such a state that it appears to have been here all along, and yet, it is indeed brand new. The reason for this is that the LORD God created all the physical processes in their working, functioning state as fully matured processes. Even though the LORD does not directly tell us that, He does tell us that He created all the animals as adult animals, and when He created Adam, He created him as a fully mature man, a man in the prime of his life.

Now, it is true that if Adam had not transgressed, everything would have remained in the state of righteousness, which is first and foremost a spiritual state, and then is manifested physically. Nonetheless, since the spiritual was first, and at that time was the preeminent state, it governed everything that existed in the world that then was. Since Adam had dominion, so long as Adam remained righteous, the entire physical universe would remain righteous. This does not preclude the bearing of offspring by anything capable of bearing offspring. This we ought to know and understand as the LORD God gave an express commandment:

So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. (Genesis 1:27-28)

Now, it would be nonsense for God to give such a commandment if He never intended for man to multiply upon the earth in the state in which he created man, which was a state of righteousness and innocence. Which, of course brings us to a direct contradiction that exists between the Book of Mormon and the word of God, the Bible; the very next verse of 2 Nephi, chapter 2 states “And they would have had no children” which directly contradicts Genesis and the express statement of the LORD God. Moreover, by implication it is to state that the LORD God gave a commandment that can only be considered utter nonsense and pointless. However, we find out very quickly which text makes no sense the statement that follows the phrase “they would have had no children:” “they would have remained in a state of innocence, having no joy, for they knew no misery; doing no good, for they knew no sin.”

Now this begs the question: Does this mean what it appears to state? If we examine other passages in the Book of Mormon, we find that it indeed does. Earlier in 2 Nephi, chapter 2, there is a long dissertation about how all things are in opposition, and nothing can exist without opposition. The following statement is excerpted out of verse 11 of the chapter:

“11 For it must needs be, that there is an opposition in all things. If not so, my first-born in the wilderness, righteousness could not be brought to pass, neither wickedness, neither holiness nor misery, neither good nor bad. Wherefore, all things must needs be a compound in one; . . .”

If we take this statement at face value, which we must, seeing that we have no basis to take it otherwise, we must conclude that Joseph Smith determined that God could not have existed as righteous except that wickedness existed either prior to, or at the same time as God who is righteous, for all of eternity past. The statement is plain, and without any limiting qualification: “righteousness could not be brought to pass.” Now, he goes on to say that “neither wickedness, neither holiness nor misery, neither good nor bad. Wherefore, all things must needs be a compound in one; . . .” In essence, what is stated here is that God cannot exist without wickedness, and God cannot be holy, except that unholiness exists, etc. If we are at all curious, this leads to the question:

Where has this doctrine been expounded before?

For those who are familiar with the religions of the world, particularly the Eastern religions, the above statement from verse 11 of 2 Nephi, chapter 2 rings very familiar. Consider the following quotes:

“Second, since the one principle produces the other, all phenomena have within them the seeds of their opposite state, that is, sickness has the seeds of health, health contains the seeds of sickness, wealth contains the seeds of poverty, etc. Third, even though an opposite may not be seen to be present, since one principle produces the other, no phenomenon is completely devoid of its opposite state. One is never really healthy since health contains the principle of its opposite, sickness. This is called “presence in absence.” “ ((http://history.cultural-china.com/en/167History8778.html))

“Traditionally, yin is dark, passive, feminine, cold and negative; yang is light, active, male, warm and positive. Another simpler way of looking at yin and yang is that there are two sides to everything – happy and sad, tired and energetic, cold and hot. Yin and yang are the opposites that make the whole. They cannot exist without each other and nothing is ever completely one or the other. There are varying degrees of each within everything and everybody.” ((http://www.holisticonline.com/Acupuncture/acp_yin_yang.htm))

“1. Yin and yang do not exclude each other.
Everything has its opposite: although this is never absolute – only relative. No one thing is completely yin or completely yang. Each contains the seed of its opposite. For example, winter can turn into summer; “what goes up, must come down”.

2. Yin and yang are interdependent.
One cannot exist without the other. For example, day cannot exist without night. Light cannot exist without darkness. Life cannot exist without death.” ((http://www.answers.com/topic/yin-yang?cat=health))

What the above philosophical statements do is deny that righteousness could ever exist without evil. In short, it is a flat denial that God is wholly righteous, and was, is, and ever will be intrinsically righteous without any wickedness or iniquity at all. It is as much to drag God down to our level and say that God Himself is no better that we are. Of course, this is the contention of Eastern religions and of the so-called “New Age” religion which holds that man can become a god, attaining perfection through harmonizing the opposition of all things.

The strange thing is that this very same idea is found in Mormonism. If the above quotes from the book of Mormon were isolated, we could reasonably conclude that Joseph Smith lacked understanding of the nature and righteousness of God and was simply flawed in his thinking. However, the continuance of such ideas in writings like The Doctrines and Covenants prove that the philosophy of New Age mysticism permeates Mormonism.

D&C 132:19 And again, verily I say unto you, if a man marry a wife by my word, which is my law, and by the new and everlasting covenant, and it is sealed unto them by the Holy Spirit of promise, by him who is anointed, unto whom I have appointed this power and the keys of this priesthood; and it shall be said unto them–Ye shall come forth in the first resurrection; and if it be after the first resurrection, in the next resurrection; and shall inherit thrones, kingdoms, principalities, and powers, dominions, all heights and depths–then shall it be written in the Lamb’s Book of Life, that he shall commit no murder whereby to shed innocent blood, and if ye abide in my covenant, and commit no murder whereby to shed innocent blood, it shall be done unto them in all things whatsoever my servant hath put upon them, in time, and through all eternity; and shall be of full force when they are out of the world; and they shall pass by the angels, and the gods, which are set there, to their exaltation and glory in all things, as hath been sealed upon their heads, which glory shall be a fulness and a continuation of the seeds forever and ever.

D&C 132:20 Then shall they be gods, because they have no end; therefore shall they be from everlasting to everlasting, because they continue; then shall they be above all, because all things are subject unto them. Then shall they be gods, because they have all power, and the angels are subject unto them.

Only in the strange view of New Age and Eastern mysticism would it be possible to justify untold suffering and the condemnation of man by claiming that evil must be done for good to come. After all, if it weren’t for all the suffering and wickedness, some, who are the enlightened could never attain the status of gods — at the expense of the rest of mankind. Only under such a philosophy is it possible to claim that some must be evil so that others can be good.

So it is with Mormonism. To those who actually believe Mormon doctrine, it is a good thing that sin, and death by sin entered into the world at the Fall. After all, it is claimed, we would have never had the “gospel” otherwise.

The only way I can describe such logic is by the word “sick.” It is sick to think it is a good thing that the vast majority of people will go to hell because they refuse the gospel, while a few receive and obey the gospel and are blessed by its benefits. It would have been far better for man to have never fallen in the first place — then we would not have needed the gospel. Plainly, the Book of Mormon, and Mormon doctrine do not reflect in any way the true nature and heart of the LORD God, which is clearly expressed in the following passages from the word of God. Consider them carefully, and see the character and nature of the LORD God that is expressed in them:

Have I any pleasure at all that the wicked should die? saith the Lord GOD: and not that he should return from his ways, and live? (Ezekiel 18:23)

Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one according to his ways, saith the Lord GOD. Repent, and turn yourselves from all your transgressions; so iniquity shall not be your ruin. Cast away from you all your transgressions, whereby ye have transgressed; and make you a new heart and a new spirit: for why will ye die, O house of Israel? For I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth, saith the Lord GOD: wherefore turn yourselves, and live ye. (Ezekiel 18:30-32)

Say unto them, As I live, saith the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of Israel? (Ezekiel 33:11)

For our transgressions are multiplied before thee, and our sins testify against us: for our transgressions are with us; and as for our iniquities, we know them; In transgressing and lying against the LORD, and departing away from our God, speaking oppression and revolt, conceiving and uttering from the heart words of falsehood. And judgment is turned away backward, and justice standeth afar off: for truth is fallen in the street, and equity cannot enter. Yea, truth faileth; and he that departeth from evil maketh himself a prey: and the LORD saw it, and it displeased him that there was no judgment.
And he saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no intercessor: therefore his arm brought salvation unto him; and his righteousness, it sustained him. For he put on righteousness as a breastplate, and an helmet of salvation upon his head; and he put on the garments of vengeance for clothing, and was clad with zeal as a cloke. (Isaiah 59:12-17)

The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. (II Peter 3:9)

By the passages above, the LORD God I know and have a personal relationship with, is not the god of Mormonism. My LORD and God did not want man to fall, though He knew man would. That is why the LORD God prepared the means of salvation in eternity past, long before the world ever was. The LORD God is, as the Song of Solomon states: “altogether lovely.” Moreover, the LORD God is wholly righteous, and exists without iniquity and sin.

No, the Book of Mormon is dead wrong in its assertion about how men might have joy. It would have been a far better thing if Adam hadn’t fallen at all. However, only the LORD God is intrinsically righteous, and the fall of man was a inevitable thing in that Adam would have sooner or later, chosen not to go back to the LORD and ask and reaffirm the single commandment. It just happened sooner, rather than later — and it wasn’t a happy moment.

Our sin kills us, and there is no joy in that.

To Salt A Nation

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As a child of the LORD, it is interesting to look at this country through the lens of Scripture and understand things the way the LORD sees them. Now, I know that some do not believe that is possible, that is, to understand and see things the way the LORD does, but any child of the LORD can, and the LORD tells us that we can:

But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man. For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ. (I Corinthians 2:9-16)

This does not mean that the born-again believer can see things that are beyond everyone else. Actually, such discernment is available to every one, if only they would submit to the gospel and be born-again in Christ. Moreover, the things that are often discerned are rather plain, and quite obvious, if one cares to look. This is not “seeing angels and demons” and other such nonsense. Rather, it is being able to perceive and understand the working of the LORD in the life of an individual, understanding the judgement of the LORD on a nation, and perceiving what the will of God is in a specific instance. The perception and understanding of the aforementioned is sufficient to cover virtually all situations that one would encounter, and thus serve well in the life of the believer.

So what does it mean when we look at America through the lens of Scripture and see it the way the LORD sees it?

For one, we are not as nice as we think we are. We have also seriously departed from what we once were, and our pride is a sickening stench, which isn’t diminishing, but rather increasing. And for all that, we are under judgement.

Hard to take? I’m certain it is. After all, it is our tendency to think far better of ourselves than we really are. None of us like to have a harsh light shined on us, and have every flaw and error revealed. By extension, none of us like to have that done to the nation we call home. However, for the child of God, we cannot afford to look at this world and this nation as our “home.” To do so is to deny a basic truth that we should know and understand.

When someone is born again in Christ, there are monumental things which occur. For one, we ceased being a child of Adam, and became a child of Christ. In the sight of the LORD God, there are only two classes of people in this world: those in Adam, and those in Christ.

For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. (I Corinthians 15:22)

When we were transformed and moved from being in Adam, to being in Christ, there were other things that occurred as well. One of those changes was the translation from being a citizen of this world to citizenship in the Kingdom of God:

. . . Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light: Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son: In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins: . . . (Colossians 1:12-14)

For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father. Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God; And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone; In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord: In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit. (Ephesians 2:18-22)

Along with our citizenship in the Kingdom of God came a new purpose in life — that of ambassador:

Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God. (II Corinthians 5:17-20)

Now, it is manifest that ambassadors are not invested in the country they are an ambassador to, but in the country they are an ambassador for. This distinction is critical for understanding the role and purpose of the child of God in this world. We are told by our Lord that we are to be salt and light, and we are not to lose our savour, or taste:

Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men. Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven. (Matthew 5:13-16)

Which, practically speaking, means that we cannot be invested in this world and still be an effective ambassador for the Kingdom of God. This also means that the child of God should be able to look at the country he or she is ambassador to, and see it for what it is.

Thus we should understand that it is undeniable that nations rise and fall, and that every nation suffers this. However, the reality is that it doesn’t have to be that way. Nonetheless it is, simply because man refuses to yield to the truth of who he is, and why he needs the salvation the Lord Jesus Christ offers. It should be no surprise that the United States is no different.

Since there is such commonality of existence between all the nations, we can go back into history and see the evidence of events that precede the judgement and fall of a nation. If we desire to truly understand that judgement, and the why of it, then we must turn to the Old Testament and see how the LORD dealt with the nations of old, and what things they did which brought about their destruction. One such nation the LORD dealt with was Teman. One reason to look at Teman is the brevity and clarity of Scripture concerning its judgement and destruction. Another reason is the parallelism in the terms of reference between Teman and modern day America.

Two prophets were given messages for Teman: Jeremiah and Obadiah. The messages given to both prophets are identical, and thus either prophet’s writings can be used. Plainly, the prophecies show the heart and mind of the LORD, and what caused the LORD to judge Teman.

The vision of Obadiah. Thus saith the Lord GOD concerning Edom; We have heard a rumour from the LORD, and an ambassador is sent among the heathen, Arise ye, and let us rise up against her in battle. Behold, I have made thee small among the heathen: thou art greatly despised. The pride of thine heart hath deceived thee, thou that dwellest in the clefts of the rock, whose habitation is high; that saith in his heart, Who shall bring me down to the ground? Though thou exalt thyself as the eagle, and though thou set thy nest among the stars, thence will I bring thee down, saith the LORD. If thieves came to thee, if robbers by night, (how art thou cut off!) would they not have stolen till they had enough? if the grapegatherers came to thee, would they not leave some grapes? How are the things of Esau searched out! how are his hidden things sought up! All the men of thy confederacy have brought thee even to the border: the men that were at peace with thee have deceived thee, and prevailed against thee; they that eat thy bread have laid a wound under thee: there is none understanding in him. Shall I not in that day, saith the LORD, even destroy the wise men out of Edom, and understanding out of the mount of Esau? And thy mighty men, O Teman, shall be dismayed, to the end that every one of the mount of Esau may be cut off by slaughter. (Obadiah 1-9)

The parallels are more plain today, than they were years ago when the LORD first drew my attention to the passage. If we ask why America is being judged, we can find it easily in the above passage:

The pride of thine heart hath deceived thee, thou that dwellest in the clefts of the rock, whose habitation is high; that saith in his heart, Who shall bring me down to the ground? (Obadiah 4)

Sadly, the United States is nothing, if not proud. Americans, as a people, have not learned that one can be powerful, and yet humble. After all, there is none more powerful than the LORD God, yet He is very humble. It is that character quality called “meekness,” and we would do well to learn it. However, no nation can learn of that quality unless the people of that nation are taught it.

Should we guess who is supposed to teach them?

The statement of the LORD stands:

Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men. (Matthew 5:13)

Keeping the Feasts?

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One of the things I learned early on as a technician was the axiom that anyone can mess anything up, and usually in very short order. But it takes a knowledgeable, skilled individual considerable time to make it right again.

It is no different with doctrinal errors. Anyone can come up with a doctrine that is in error. However, explaining why the doctrine they came up with and promote is erroneous, takes time and considerable effort. This is the essence of apologetics, and what makes apologetics such a difficult endeavor. However, there is a wonderful thing about apologetics, in that it provides an excellent springboard for teaching and instructing in the Scripture, particularly concerning the doctrine in question and the why of it.

So it is with yet another error promoted by WorldNetDaily and El Shaddai Ministries. According to Mark Biltz of El Shaddai Ministries, we should observe the feasts that were given to Israel as part of the covenant called the Old Testament:

“The spring and fall feasts, Biltz says, were not intended only for the children of Israel. They are, the Bible says, “the feasts of the Lord” – and they have special meaning with respect to the life, death, resurrection and return of Jesus.

There’s still time to learn these important lessons before the fall feasts are past.” ((Christians: Find out why Yom Kippur is your holiday, too))

The problems with the whole thesis promoted by Mark Biltz are contained in a statement on page two of his notes that go along with the DVD:

The Jews were the first Pentecostals! They had been Pentecost for 1500 years before Pentecost. They called it the feast of Weeks! They still keep it today! ((Feast of Weeks notes))

What the above statement demonstrates is the strong tendency to view Scripture through the lens of Pentecostal doctrine, and make doctrinal determinations accordingly. This is not the correct way to view Scripture — at all. While I am a fundamental Baptist, the doctrine of Baptists do not rule when it comes to determining what Scripture states. In fact, that would be, and is, a sure road to error.

Am I then denying Baptist doctrine? Not at all. What I am doing is proving out what the Scripture states in accordance with Scripture:

Prove all things; hold fast that which is good. (I Thessalonians 5:21)

The problem that exists, and is part and parcel to this man’s error, is that he accepted Pentecostal doctrine without examining it and testing it by Scripture. To be sure, he is not alone, and has considerable company. However, that does not make it right. Rather, what it does do is make for a whole lot of folks with bad doctrine and a flawed way of looking at Scripture. What I found by proving all things is that Baptist doctrine is correct, and is dead on when it comes to the essential portions pertaining to the LORD God, salvation, the church, and the life to come. Certainly, there are a number of folks who call themselves Baptist, who hold variant doctrines, but each and every one must be properly tried by the Scripture — and proven out.

Certainly, this warrants a much more in-depth discussion, but it would digress from the intention and purpose of this article. Suffice to state that my doctrine is plainly published here for all to examine and test by the Scripture. I am a fundamental, unaffiliated Baptist by conviction, and not any other reason. Doctrine is supposed to submit to Scripture, and not the other way around.

Thus, when Mark Biltz makes the statement:

The Jews were the first Pentecostals! They had been Pentecost for 1500 years before Pentecost.” ((ibid))

This reveals an egregious bias toward Pentecostal doctrine and tradition and indicates plainly that he views Scripture through the template of that Pentecostal experience. There is also further evidence that Mark Biltz viewed the Scripture in the wrong way as he also purports to show:

The video series pinpoints the specific day on the Hebrew calendar for the return of Jesus. The only unknown, according to Biltz, is which year that return will occur – though he makes the case it is very near. ((Christians: Find out why Yom Kippur is your holiday, too))

Now, I have to ask how this can be as the Lord Jesus Christ Himself plainly stated, not once but twice that no one knows the day, the time, the season, or the year, and that He Himself did not know:

Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When her branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is near: So ye in like manner, when ye shall see these things come to pass, know that it is nigh, even at the doors. Verily I say unto you, that this generation shall not pass, till all these things be done. Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away. But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father. Take ye heed, watch and pray: for ye know not when the time is. (Mark 13:28-33)

When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel? And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power. (Acts 1:6-7)

In executing the office of the Son, the Word refuses to know at what time the Father will command His return to take the Kingdom. This directly contradicts the claim of Mark Biltz and the marketeers at WorldNetDaily. This affirms that we ought not pay heed to anything else presented. In fact, the deception of this work is evident on page 9 of the Notes when Acts, chapter 1, verses 3 and 4 are referenced, and in the following paragraph, verses 9 is referenced, but verses 6 and 7 which I quoted above are skipped over and ignored because they specifically contradict the claim that only the year of Christ’s return is not known. The terms “times” and “seasons” mentioned in verse 7 refer to years and months, and do not refer to days and hours. In short, the Lord Jesus Christ is telling us that it is none of our business, and we can’t know it anyway, when He is to return. We are supposed to be busy about the work he has given us to do.

However, since the supposition of Mark Biltz is that Christians of this time ought to partake of the feasts, and many are snared by that idea, it is profitable to examine that issue to the extent of proving or disproving the assertion.

It is undisputed that all the feasts and laws were given to Israel to observe so long as they were in covenant with the LORD. What is disputed is whether those observances apply to any of us today. I noted in the 57 pages of notes provided as a teaser for the DVD, that certain passages of Scripture were never brought up. I do not find this unusual in that most everyone who promotes bad doctrine omits the passages of Scripture that expressly contradict their position (some do try to twist the Scripture to fit their doctrine). There were two specific passages omitted from the 57 pages of notes that expressly and directly apply to the old covenant the LORD had with Israel.

The first passage is from Matthew, chapter 23:

Wherefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: and some of them ye shall kill and crucify; and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city: That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar. Verily I say unto you, All these things shall come upon this generation. O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not! Behold, your house is left unto you desolate. For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord. (Matthew 23:34-39)

This is a chilling condemnation of Israel by the very one who was in covenant with them. We should note His words:

Wherefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: and some of them ye shall kill and crucify; and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city: That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar.

Plainly, they are declared to be by the mouth of the LORD, enemies of the one with whom they had a covenant. Moreover, that the shed blood of all the prophets would be laid upon them as a people. But it is the ending statement that contain the declaration ending the Old Testament covenant:

Behold, your house is left unto you desolate. For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.

Every time before this during the ministry of the Lord Jesus, we find Him referring to the temple as “my house” or “my Father’s house.” Now, immediately after condemning the leadership of Israel, and immediately before the last Passover he was to hold with His chosen disciples, He breaks the covenant by stating:

Behold, your house is left unto you desolate.

It is now their house, and they can do with it what they will. This hearkens us back to the prophet Zechariah and the words given him by the Holy Ghost:

And I took my staff, even Beauty, and cut it asunder, that I might break my covenant which I had made with all the people. And it was broken in that day: and so the poor of the flock that waited upon me knew that it was the word of the LORD. And I said unto them, If ye think good, give me my price; and if not, forbear. So they weighed for my price thirty pieces of silver. And the LORD said unto me, Cast it unto the potter: a goodly price that I was prised at of them. And I took the thirty pieces of silver, and cast them to the potter in the house of the LORD. (Zechariah 11:10-13)

So it is that the Old Testament covenant is ended. But what about the feasts, ceremonies, offerings and such like? What became of them?

In Hebrews we are given to understand much concerning the ‘whys and wherefores’ of salvation and the necessity of it being accomplished in the manner it was. In so doing, the matter of the Old Testament covenant is addressed as well. Beginning in chapter 9, the explanation of the Old Testament rituals and ordinances begins:

Then verily the first covenant had also ordinances of divine service, and a worldly sanctuary. For there was a tabernacle made; the first, wherein was the candlestick, and the table, and the shewbread; which is called the sanctuary. And after the second veil, the tabernacle which is called the Holiest of all; Which had the golden censer, and the ark of the covenant overlaid round about with gold, wherein was the golden pot that had manna, and Aaron’s rod that budded, and the tables of the covenant; And over it the cherubims of glory shadowing the mercyseat; of which we cannot now speak particularly. (Hebrews 9:1-5)

This sets the context for all that follows, in which we are expressly told that these ordinances were nothing more than figures, shadows of things to come.

Now when these things were thus ordained, the priests went always into the first tabernacle, accomplishing the service of God. But into the second went the high priest alone once every year, not without blood, which he offered for himself, and for the errors of the people: The Holy Ghost this signifying, that the way into the holiest of all was not yet made manifest, while as the first tabernacle was yet standing: Which was a figure for the time then present, in which were offered both gifts and sacrifices, that could not make him that did the service perfect, as pertaining to the conscience; Which stood only in meats and drinks, and divers washings, and carnal ordinances, imposed on them until the time of reformation. (Hebrews 9:6–10)

We are also instructed that these ordinances, sacrifices and rituals did not please the LORD, and that Christ has come and done away with those ordinances, sacrifices and ceremonies and established a different ministry and witness:

For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect. For then would they not have ceased to be offered? because that the worshippers once purged should have had no more conscience of sins. But in those sacrifices there is a remembrance again made of sins every year. For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins. Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me: In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hast had no pleasure.
Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me,) to do thy will, O God. Above when he said, Sacrifice and offering and burnt offerings and offering for sin thou wouldest not, neither hadst pleasure therein; which are offered by the law; Then said he, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second. By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. (Hebrews 10:1-10)

It is very plain at this point that all that was done in the old covenant with Israel was to show a picture of the work of Christ to come. That is was not effectual for salvation, but was only done to maintain a picture and object lesson concerning the Redeemer that would, in the fulness of time, be born of a virgin and fulfill the work set for Him.

Thus, when the Lord Jesus Christ’s work was accomplished, we find a signal event occurs:

Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost. And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent; . . . (Matthew 27:50-51)

If we then examine this account in light of that which is explained in Hebrews, chapters 9 and 10, we should understand that all of the types, shadows, pictures and illustrations of the Old Testament covenant are taken away and replaced with a new covenant that pictures the finished work of Christ. Where before, the work was not yet accomplished on this earth, it was necessary to explain the work to be done; now that it is accomplished, we must show the end of that work and all it signifies. Hence, we have but two simple ordinances, water baptism by immersion, and the Lord’s Supper. The first signifies the death, burial and resurrection of Christ, and can only be done by someone who is born again in Christ. The second commemorates Christ’s death, and can only be partaken of by those who are members of a local, New Testament church. The sweeping away of all other ordinances then pictures the translation that takes place in moving the individual from under the power and sway of the law, to being placed under grace and the believer establishing the law.

So what would it mean if one kept any one of, or all the feasts?

Since it was quite plain that all the ordinances of the Old Testament were to show the Messiah to come, picking them back up again and performing them would illustrate the same. Hence, it would be a not so subtle denial that the Messiah has come in the flesh, and His work is accomplished.

There is a term for this:

Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God: And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world. (I John 4:2-3)

It does give rise to question the discernment and understanding of those who claim that we should keep any of the Old Testament ordinances, even just to experience them once.

See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, Redeeming the time, because the days are evil. (Ephesians 5:15-16)

Distorting the Word

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Every word of God is pure: he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him. Add thou not unto his words, lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar. (Proverbs 30:5-6)

. . .There is no fear of God before their eyes. (Romans 3:18)

Of the more common things assumed by people concerning the Scriptures, there are a couple that really don’t sit well with me. It’s not that I get angry or anything, it’s just distressing to consider that people do not understand certain, very important items with regard to Scripture.

First, not all Bibles are the same. For as long as the word of God has been around, men have been perverting it. This is done mainly to justify themselves and their strange, ungodly doctrines and arcane religion. Most folks, even in solid fundamental churches, do not know that the King James Bible comes from the line of Scripture that never saw Roman Catholic influence, and is of the same source text as the Bibles used by the independent, autonomous churches that were persecuted by the Roman Catholic Church, the Muslims, and various other pagan religions ever since the first church at Jerusalem. Fundamentally, the underlying text is different, and in the case of the King James Bible, the method of translation is different as well. These things cannot help but bear strongly on the doctrine contained in the Bible one chooses to read.

Second, that the Scripture belongs to the LORD God and Him alone. It is His word. It is really puzzling to me that people will scream bloody murder over plagiarism and the unauthorized alteration of someone else’s work, but don’t seem to grasp the enormity of altering the word of God, and the condemnation that brings upon them. No, it is as if they believe there is no consequence to their action. It is interesting that the translators of the King James Bible held a very strong belief that they were not free to change anything in the Scripture. Unlike a lot of folks, they believed the Scripture to be sacred and not be touched without consequence. In short, they believed the truth of the following statement:

We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts: Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. (II Peter 1:19-21)

It is the understanding that the Holy Ghost caused the men who penned the Scriptures to put the words on parchment, vellum, and whatever else they used as a medium for their writing, that caused the translators to hold the Scriptures as sacred. Moreover, that the words written were not really the words of the prophets who penned them, but are the words of Almighty God, given to the prophets to write. Thus, the words are not to be tampered with, as one king in Judah found out:

And it came to pass in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah, that this word came unto Jeremiah from the LORD, saying, Take thee a roll of a book, and write therein all the words that I have spoken unto thee against Israel, and against Judah, and against all the nations, from the day I spake unto thee, from the days of Josiah, even unto this day. It may be that the house of Judah will hear all the evil which I purpose to do unto them; that they may return every man from his evil way; that I may forgive their iniquity and their sin. Then Jeremiah called Baruch the son of Neriah: and Baruch wrote from the mouth of Jeremiah all the words of the LORD, which he had spoken unto him, upon a roll of a book. (Jeremiah 36:1-4)

When Jeremiah was done speaking everything the LORD had given him, Baruch took the roll and read it in the temple, in the hearing of all the people. In the events that followed, the roll was taken and read before the king. The king’s response was the same disrespect for the word of God that we see so much of today:

So the king sent Jehudi to fetch the roll: and he took it out of Elishama the scribe’s chamber. And Jehudi read it in the ears of the king, and in the ears of all the princes which stood beside the king. Now the king sat in the winterhouse in the ninth month: and there was a fire on the hearth burning before him. And it came to pass, that when Jehudi had read three or four leaves, he cut it with the penknife, and cast it into the fire that was on the hearth, until all the roll was consumed in the fire that was on the hearth. Yet they were not afraid, nor rent their garments, neither the king, nor any of his servants that heard all these words. (Jeremiah 36:21-24)

Though Jehoiakim, king of Judah thought that burning the roll would be the end of the matter, he found out that the LORD God does not take kindly to someone utterly disregarding, and then destroying His word. Not only would the words be written again, but judgement was pronounced upon Jehoiakim for his insolence.

Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah, after that the king had burned the roll, and the words which Baruch wrote at the mouth of Jeremiah, saying, Take thee again another roll, and write in it all the former words that were in the first roll, which Jehoiakim the king of Judah hath burned. And thou shalt say to Jehoiakim king of Judah, Thus saith the LORD; Thou hast burned this roll, saying, Why hast thou written therein, saying, The king of Babylon shall certainly come and destroy this land, and shall cause to cease from thence man and beast? Therefore thus saith the LORD of Jehoiakim king of Judah; He shall have none to sit upon the throne of David: and his dead body shall be cast out in the day to the heat, and in the night to the frost. (Jeremiah 36:27-30)

Now, all the above is necessary to understand what a blessing it is that we, as English speakers have in possessing the word of God in the form of the King James Bible. English history is intertwined with the Bible and fundamental Christianity. This desire for the word of God is most visible during the time of Wycliff and Tyndale, but has existed since 63 AD when the gospel reached the British Isles. However, the pinnacle of the desire for the pure word of God culminated with King James the VI & I of Scotland and England, and the translation of the King James version of the Bible.

I call attention to all this because there is a third assumption made by the vast majority of individuals concerning the word of God. It seems that we implicitly assume that every language has a right Bible like we do. Nothing could be further from the truth. Sadly, most of the languages in the world do not have a Bible with the proper underlying Greek and Hebrew text, and are not properly translated either.

The reason for this lies in the way the Scripture has been handled in those languages from the time they first received the word of God. One of those languages is German. There is no right German Bible. Either the underlying text is wrong, or the translation suffers from the doctrinal/cultural bias of the translator. One of the reasons for this is found is a German religious poem tracing back to about 830 AD. The poem is supposed to be about Jesus, the Redeemer. But this Jesus is nowhere near the Lord Jesus Christ of the Scripture:

Der Heliand

Of the other religious poems, Der Heliand (Heiland – the Redeemer) is still mentioned. A showpiece of the Germanic Stave rhyme poetry of about 6000 long lines. The epic poem was written during the Carolingian times (around 830 A.D.) in the language of old Saxony. It is assumed that Kaiser Ludwig the Pious, the son of Karls des Großen, ordered a Saxon poet to poetically germanise the Gospel. The Redeemer is a gospel harmony, or a portrayal of the life of Jesus, which the poet put together from all four of the gospels.

In this epic Christ becomes, fully corresponding to the German feeling, a German king, his disciples, followers. The setting of the plot is not the Jewish Palestine, rather the German Saxony. The German traits of loyalty, honor, courage, masculinity, and heroism are brought forth strongly. Because the Germans were unfamiliar with loving your enemies, self sacrifice, humility, loving your neighbor, and the idea of peace, Christ is portrayed, not as a poor, humble man, but rather as a courageous, powerful king of the people, a man of the sword, who dies in the battle for his people and for God’s Kingdom. The shepherds in the field, don’t tend sheep, rather brave horses, Joseph is a loyal vassal, the holy three kings are noblemen, who come to swear loyalty to their feudal lord, the marriage in Cana is a German celebration, and in the Sermon on the Mount he promulgates his teaching to his followers. A few lines in modern translation should convey to us the spirit of this wonderful cultural document:

“Then was the quick sword-warrior Peter infuriated. His wrath boiled wildly, he could not speak, for it troubled him so deeply, that they wanted to seize the Lord. Wrathfully he stepped forward, the bold warrior, to stand up for his leader. Quickly he pulled the sword from his side and hit the nearest enemy with full force, so that Malchus was reddened with the sword’s cut, on the right side, his ear cut off, his cheek split. Blood shot out, seething from the wound. As the cheek of the nearest enemy was split, the people moved back out of fear of the sword’s bite.“ ((Deutsche Kulturgeschichte, 3rd Edition, 2002, Hans-Wilhelm Kelling, McGraw-Hill, ISBN 0-07-287027-3, pp 55-56. (Translated by SuAnne Droddy) ))

Ever wonder why the gospel and fundamental Christianity never seemed to get anywhere in Germany? Perhaps it also has much to do with Luther as well, since Luther often translated the words “reprove,” “rebuke,” and “teach” as “beat and thrash” in the Bible he translated, which is fully consistent the German cultural understanding of Christ expressed in Der Heliand. Now, to be certain, Luther had the correct underlying text for his translation work. But Luther’s doctrine was also skewed, and he yielded far to much to German culture, as it is expressed in the poem above. In Luther’s mind the wonderful passage in Titus, chapter 2 concerning grace, becomes something to be avoided. When we read it in English, we equate teaching with instruction, since the word “teach” does mean exactly that — to instruct.

For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; . . .(Titus 2:11-12)

But in the Luther Bible it becomes:

For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, beating and thrashing us . . .(Titus 2:11-12)

Now, the underlying word in Greek could be translated as “beating and thrashing.” But that would be terribly inconsistent with what “grace” is, and how grace works. No, the problem is that Luther was very much influenced by the culture he lived in, and translated the Scripture accordingly. This is apparent from the fact that the particular meaning Luther chose for “teach” is not the primary meaning of the word. Instead, Luther chose a meaning that was in minority usage, and out of step with how the rest of Scripture portrays the working of grace. Teaching and instruction do not require chastening unless the person being taught won’t learn any other way. Moreover, there is specific underlying Greek word for “chastisement.” The underlying Greek word for “teaching” is given below to demonstrate the error Luther perpetuated in his translation of the Bible. Luther could have used any number of German words that mean specifically “teaching,” such as “lehren” or “unterrichten,” et al. However, Luther chose to use the word “züchtigen” which has the specific meaning “to beat or thrash,” thus not even broaching the idea of teaching, let alone any other method of teaching. Since the rest of Scripture does a very good job of defining the methods the LORD uses for teaching, Luther could have used any German word for teaching, and let the context derive the meaning. In the following definition, please note that the meaning which includes striking someone, is very much the minority usage of the word:

3811 paideuo {pahee-dyoo’-o} from 3816; TDNT – 5:596,753; v
AV – chasten 6, chastise 2, learn 2, teach 2, instruct 1;
13 GK – 4084 { πpαaι?δdεeύ?ω? }
1) to train children
1a) to be instructed or taught or learn
1b) to cause one to learn
2) to chastise
2a) to chastise or castigate with words, to correct
2a1) of those who are moulding the character of others by reproof and admonition
2b) of God
2b1) to chasten by the affliction of evils and calamities
2c) to chastise with blows, to scourge
2c1) of a father punishing his son
2c2) of a judge ordering one to be scourged ((Strong, James. The Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, Ontario: Woodside Bible Fellowship.))

What this demonstrates is the error of allowing culture to influence the translation of the Scripture into the vernacular of the people of a particular language. The translation is supposed to be a formal equivalence translation that is independent of the culture of the people. This is necessary as the Scripture is supposed to reform the culture. If the Scripture condemns a particular cultural ideal, then so be it. We all are, meaning everyone in this world, supposed to conform to the word of God, not the other way around. To do what Luther did (and so many others have done), is to pervert and distort the message the LORD God has in his word. To do that is certain to incur the displeasure of the LORD. Moreover, the people who are influenced by such distortion of the Scripture, will never truly understand what the LORD is doing and why He is doing it. Finally, there are some specific thoughts that we ought to keep firmly in mind concerning the situation we see with translations of the Scripture into different languages:

1. Since every word of God is pure, changing the words in the slightest is certain to make them impure, and distort the meaning, thus changing the message.

2. There is a reason the LORD gifts some men to be teachers of His word. Things that are not so clear in Scripture must be taught. Nowhere in the Scripture does it declare the Scripture to be a “do it yourself,” self-teaching book. That is not the method the LORD chose to use. Instead, He expressly chose to use individuals to minister unto other individuals and teach them the things pertaining to the LORD, and what the LORD requires of man. This necessarily includes things that are obscured by the culture the man of God is sent to. Lest we forget, it is a glory to God that an individual voluntarily follows the LORD and willingly teaches His word unto others.

3. Tampering with the word of God does great harm and hinders the acceptance of the Scripture by the people to whom the Scripture is sent. Germany never has had a right Bible, and neither have the Spanish speaking people. The primary reason for this is the hearts of the people. The LORD God responds directly to the hearts of individuals, and when the predominance of individuals in a culture will not receive the things of God, the LORD responds accordingly. For whatever reason, the people of the British Isles have loved the word of God, and the things of God. This love reached its zenith between 1500 and 1700 AD, but has been evident from time to time since 63 AD. Clearly it has much to do with how the Scripture was handled by those entrusted with it. The LORD God responded to this by giving the English speaking people a pure and right Bible. Sadly, we do not see the same desire for the true word of God in history of either the German or Spanish speaking peoples. What is worse is the fact that we do not see that desire in hardly any other culture in this world — much to their detriment.

Last of all, we must remember whose word it is that we have the privilege of looking into. The Scripture belongs to the LORD God, and he will give understanding of it to whosoever He will. Our attitude toward the word of the LORD dictates how much understanding of that word we will receive.

Thus saith the LORD, The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool: where is the house that ye build unto me? and where is the place of my rest? For all those things hath mine hand made, and all those things have been, saith the LORD: but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word. (Isaiah 66:1-2)

A Proper Interpretation

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While looking at a listing of articles on a site this morning I was drawn to the headline “Unconverted Christians” and proceeded to click through and read the piece. Most of the article I could agree with, but there was a glaring error in interpretation of a passage that formed the core of the article. Sadly, this error is not unusual among Christians and particularly those who have extra-church, or para-church ministries. Worse yet, this particular error is even found among some otherwise solid local, New Testament churches. What is the error? I quote Dave Daubenmire:

As we sat around the flickering campfire I used a flashlight to locate a verse in my Bible that had troubled me for some time.

Luke 22:31-32 “And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat: But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren.”

Whoa…..Peter, who had been one of the Lord’s closest disciples, was NOT CONVERTED. For three years he had been part of Jesus’ team, one of his confidants, a follower of the Lord, yet somehow Jesus knew that this loud mouthed blow-hard was more bark than bite. ((Unconverted Christians))

Unfortunately, this is not an uncommon interpretation of the passage and not an uncommon view of the apostle Peter. Granted, Simon Peter said and did some things that were, well — ignorant and prideful are words that come to mind. However, I learned long ago that when looking at the faults of others, the operative phrase to keep firmly in mind is: “There but for the grace of God go I.” We need to be very careful how we characterize someone else and their mistakes, frailties and flaws. Otherwise, we are likely to find ourselves doing the very same things we saw as grave character flaws in them. Kind of like using the phrase “yet somehow Jesus knew” when a proper understanding of the Lord Jesus Christ gives us to know with certainty that He is Almighty God in the flesh and thus knows everything.

Yet, the thrust of this article is not the mis-characterization of Peter, but of the misinterpretation of the word “converted” and how to properly understand the Scripture so that doesn’t happen. And yes, I am quite aware that I also can misinterpret Scripture unless I allow the LORD to lead and guide, and follow the rules He laid down in His word. With that, let us plunge in.

There is a fundamental error here that consists simply of taking our understanding of the common meaning for “converted” and applying it without checking the rest of Scripture. It is a deadly and dangerous error to commit when determining the meaning of Scripture as it will, sooner rather than later, yield very bad doctrine.

The evidence of the error in interpretation is found in the gospels and is supported by the rest of Scripture. Prior to this incident, there is considerable proof that Peter knew the Lord Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour and was already “converted” in the sense Dave Daubenmire and many others mean it. We can begin looking at the proof in Matthew, chapter 16:

When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am? And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets. He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. (Matthew 16:13-17)

And again in John, chapter six:

From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him. Then said Jesus unto the twelve, Will ye also go away? Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life. And we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God. (John 6:66-69)

Both of these incidents are prior to the foretelling of Peter’s denial at the last Passover the Lord held with his disciples, and the subsequent denial of Christ by Peter. Moreover, as additional evidence we have Peter’s behavior when the Lord chose him to be an apostle:

And it came to pass, that, as the people pressed upon him to hear the word of God, he stood by the lake of Gennesaret, And saw two ships standing by the lake: but the fishermen were gone out of them, and were washing their nets. And he entered into one of the ships, which was Simon’s, and prayed him that he would thrust out a little from the land. And he sat down, and taught the people out of the ship. Now when he had left speaking, he said unto Simon, Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught. And Simon answering said unto him, Master, we have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing: nevertheless at thy word I will let down the net. And when they had this done, they inclosed a great multitude of fishes: and their net brake. And they beckoned unto their partners, which were in the other ship, that they should come and help them. And they came, and filled both the ships, so that they began to sink. When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord. For he was astonished, and all that were with him, at the draught of the fishes which they had taken: And so was also James, and John, the sons of Zebedee, which were partners with Simon. And Jesus said unto Simon, Fear not; from henceforth thou shalt catch men. And when they had brought their ships to land, they forsook all, and followed him. (Luke 5:1-11)

Simon Peter’s reaction to recognizing who was standing in his ship is consistent with the reaction we see from other men of God throughout the Old Testament, men such as Job (Job 40:1-5; 42:1-6), Isaiah (Isaiah 6:5), and Ezekiel (Ezekiel 1:28; 3:22-23). Moreover. Peter’s recognition of Jesus as the Christ, the Son of God is fully consistent with Nathanael’s recognition of who Jesus is in John, chapter one:

The day following Jesus would go forth into Galilee, and findeth Philip, and saith unto him, Follow me. Now Philip was of Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. Philip findeth Nathanael, and saith unto him, We have found him, of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets, did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph. And Nathanael said unto him, Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth? Philip saith unto him, Come and see. Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him, and saith of him, Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile! Nathanael saith unto him, Whence knowest thou me? Jesus answered and said unto him, Before that Philip called thee, when thou wast under the fig tree, I saw thee. Nathanael answered and saith unto him, Rabbi, thou art the Son of God; thou art the King of Israel. (John 1:43-49)

Peter’s recognition is inconsistent with the reaction of those who do not know the Lord Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour. This is evidenced by the following incidents:

Jesus heard that they had cast him out; and when he had found him, he said unto him, Dost thou believe on the Son of God? He answered and said, Who is he, Lord, that I might believe on him? And Jesus said unto him, Thou hast both seen him, and it is he that talketh with thee. And he said, Lord, I believe. And he worshipped him. (John 9:35-38)

The woman answered and said, I have no husband. Jesus said unto her, Thou hast well said, I have no husband: For thou hast had five husbands; and he whom thou now hast is not thy husband: in that saidst thou truly. The woman saith unto him, Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet. Our fathers worshipped in this mountain; and ye say, that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship. Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father. Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews. But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. The woman saith unto him, I know that Messias cometh, which is called Christ: when he is come, he will tell us all things. Jesus saith unto her, I that speak unto thee am he. (John 4:17-26)

And it was at Jerusalem the feast of the dedication, and it was winter. And Jesus walked in the temple in Solomon’s porch. Then came the Jews round about him, and said unto him, How long dost thou make us to doubt? If thou be the Christ, tell us plainly. Jesus answered them, I told you, and ye believed not: the works that I do in my Father’s name, they bear witness of me. But ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep, as I said unto you. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand. I and my Father are one. (John 10:22-30)

These are only three of many incidents recorded in the gospels where individuals stood face to face with the Lord Jesus Christ, and even saw Him perform miracles that are impossible in the physical realm, and yet could not recognize who He is.

Peter knew the Lord because he had already been born again of the Holy Ghost and was in Christ. He knew because the Holy Ghost that indwelt him confirmed to him that Jesus of Nazareth was indeed the Christ, the Messiah, the Son of God. It is an error to say otherwise. We must understand that the Holy Ghost has always indwelt believers from the time of the Fall and whoever was first saved, until now. This indwelling will continue until the last saved person on earth passes away and the earth is no more. It is also necessary to understand the distinction between the indwelling of the Holy Ghost and the empowerment of the Holy Ghost which occurred at Pentecost. (Ref. John 7:39, it has much to do with the authority to preach the gospel — Prov. 11:30; 18:4)

Thus the problem here is one of applying our “common” understanding to words in Scripture without confirming that those words actually mean what we think they mean as confirmed by the rest of Scripture.

To say that Peter was not born-again when he erred in denying the Lord Jesus, is to say that the child of God cannot make mistakes, even egregious ones, after they are saved. However, we know from the Old Testament that is simply not true. Many of the Old Testament children of God (born-again in Christ) made some very bad errors. The difference here is the repentance they demonstrated after they where confronted with their sin. Peter’s problem was his brashness in not recognizing how frail we really are when it comes to withstanding the assault of the Devil. Peter did not believe this thing about himself, and the Lord proved him wrong. This is really no different than when the LORD confronted Sarah about her laughing within herself about having a child in her old age (Genesis 18:9-15)

Now, it is manifestly true that many claim Christ today who are not born-again and they do not know the LORD and are not known of the LORD. That is to their detriment. The truest indicator of whether someone knows the LORD is what is given in John, chapter 10:

Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. But he that entereth in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the porter openeth; and the sheep hear his voice: and he calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out. And when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him: for they know his voice. And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him: for they know not the voice of strangers. (John 10:1-5)

Hence, we can ask the question of someone who misinterprets Scripture as well: Can you hear the voice of the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the Word, in the Scripture?

Can you hear the voice of the Word, who became Jesus the Christ, in the Old Testament? After all, He speaks as plain as day throughout the Old Testament. Sadly, without “words of Christ in red” many have no clue when the Lord Jesus Christ is speaking. Hence, they are not His.

Whether or not we desire to challenge individuals who claim Christ, and claim to be born again, yet show no evidence of it, we are not free to take a passage and a word and misinterpret it and thus misapply it to prove our point. What that does is invalidate the point we wish to make, and calls into question our own walk with the LORD.

Is there a proper interpretation of the passage? Yes, and it is utterly simple:

What the Lord simply meant was, when Peter got turned around back to the right way (after being sifted and failing), strengthen the brethren. After all, the first and plainest meaning of “converted” is “being turned” or “having been turned.” Did it sting and burn Peter that he had failed when he denied his Lord and Saviour? Yes, it did, and it was very humbling. It is a lesson we can all take heed to.

A Departure: Pt. III

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NOTE: This is a continuation of a series that began with the post A Common Approach, and looks at the departure of the Jews from the truth of the Scripture and the Gospel. This series will also examine how the LORD God has dealt with His people, the Jews, particularly in the 20th Century.

As is shown in the Old Testament, the Jews plainly knew the very same gospel that we know. Throughout the Old Testament there are references to the Redeemer to come and that individuals were saved simply by believing in the Messiah to come. In fact, it was made very plain by the Lord Jesus Christ Himself when Nicodemus came to the Lord Jesus to ask about Him:

There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews: The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him. Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb, and be born? Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit. Nicodemus answered and said unto him, How can these things be? Jesus answered and said unto him, Art thou a master of Israel, and knowest not these things? (John 3:1-10)

Here we find that the Lord Jesus Christ expected Nicodemus to understand the new birth, the differences between the physical and the spiritual, and that one only enters into the kingdom of God through the new birth. The question the Lord Jesus asks of Nicodemus: “Art thou a master of Israel, and knowest not these things?” refers to the incredulous response of Nicodemus to the Lord’s statement: “Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” and the Lord’s subsequent explanation: “Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.” Though He knew Nicodemus did not know these things, there is a plainly expressed expectation from the Lord Jesus Christ that Nicodemus ought to have some working understanding of the new birth.

Indeed, the throughout the rest of the New Testament there are references to salvation in the time of the Old Testament. In every case, the message of salvation referenced in the Old Testament is referred to as “the gospel.” This is significant as the term “gospel” is used by the Lord Jesus Christ to refer to the salvation that is in Him by grace through faith. He plainly expressed to every one who would hear, that upon repentance, one would be saved if they believed in Him. Thus, there exists a continuation of the message and means of salvation between the Old and New Testaments. In the following passages of Scripture, the fact that the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ was preached in the Old Testament is clearly expressed:

What shall we say then that Abraham our father, as pertaining to the flesh, hath found? For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to glory; but not before God. For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness. (Romans 4:1-3)

And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed. (Galatians 3:8)

For some, when they had heard, did provoke: howbeit not all that came out of Egypt by Moses. But with whom was he grieved forty years? was it not with them that had sinned, whose carcases fell in the wilderness? And to whom sware he that they should not enter into his rest, but to them that believed not? So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief.
Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it. For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it. (Hebrews 3:16-4:2)

For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things! But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Esaias saith, Lord, who hath believed our report? (Romans 10:12-16)

And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters. (Revelation 14:6-7)

Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever. Be not carried about with divers and strange doctrines. For it is a good thing that the heart be established with grace; not with meats, which have not profited them that have been occupied therein. (Hebrews 13:8-9)

Therefore it should be well understood that the evidence from the Old Testament itself, the references to gospel in the Old Testament that are found in the New, and the plain reference in Revelation to the everlasting gospel, that salvation has always been, and always will be the same, and that Christ to come was preached unto the everyone, and particularly the Jews, during the time of the Old Testament. This also makes clear the egregiousness of the departure of the Jews from a proper understanding and belief in the LORD God, and in the Messiah, or Saviour. In Galatians, chapter one, the seriousness of this departure is plainly expressed:

I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel: Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ. But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed. (Galatians 1:6-9)

Which is to say that anyone who departs from the gospel as it is expressed in Scripture, is accursed. Since the gospel has never changed, and the message delivered to the Jews by Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, and others was consistent with the gospel the LORD preached unto Adam and Eve after the Fall, for the Jews to depart from that specific message meant that whosoever of them departed, were accursed of the LORD for doing so. This would also be the same for anyone else in the world who knowingly departed, or departs from the gospel, whensoever in history they live.

However, since the Jews were chosen because of Abraham, and agreed to carry the gospel unto the world, they occupy a particular place insofar as the LORD is concerned. After all, they agreed with the LORD that they would carry forth, and maintain His gospel and a specific witness of the righteousness of God to this world under penalty of sanction and retribution if they failed in the covenant. Thus, the magnitude of their departure from the truth can really only be understood in light of the following two passages of Scripture, both of which the Jews openly declared:

And Moses took half of the blood, and put it in basons; and half of the blood he sprinkled on the altar. And he took the book of the covenant, and read in the audience of the people: and they said, All that the LORD hath said will we do, and be obedient. And Moses took the blood, and sprinkled it on the people, and said, Behold the blood of the covenant, which the LORD hath made with you concerning all these words. (Exodus 24:6-8)

But the chief priests and elders persuaded the multitude that they should ask Barabbas, and destroy Jesus. The governor answered and said unto them, Whether of the twain will ye that I release unto you? They said, Barabbas. Pilate saith unto them, What shall I do then with Jesus which is called Christ? They all say unto him, Let him be crucified. And the governor said, Why, what evil hath he done? But they cried out the more, saying, Let him be crucified. When Pilate saw that he could prevail nothing, but that rather a tumult was made, he took water, and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, I am innocent of the blood of this just person: see ye to it. Then answered all the people, and said, His blood be on us, and on our children. (Matthew 27:20-25)

To be continued . . .

Under the Sun

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Revised January 2nd, 2023

For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not any thing, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten. (Ecclesiastics 9:5)

The above is one of those terribly misused verses by some for the support of certain doctrines. Most notably, the Jehovah’s Witnesses use it to justify their doctrine of annihilation of the soul. There are a number of ways to argue against this doctrine, and considerable Scriptural evidence exists to refute it. However, with this regard to the usage of this verse to support any doctrine that states the dead cease to exist, or are not conscious of anything at all, all that is required is a careful examination of Ecclesiastics and the immediate context of the verse.

Before beginning, we must understand that everything in Scripture has a context. Primarily, there are two contexts that man is familiar with which are expressed in Scripture: Physical and Spiritual. Along with these two contexts come perspective, or point of view. What may look one way to one person, may appear totally different to another, even though they are observing the very same object, but from different perspectives. Even so it is in Scripture. There is the point of view, or perspective of man, and the point of view of God. The Scripture is faithful to relate both points of view to us, with the LORD God’s perspective being preeminent.

For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. (Isaiah 55:8-9)

Since the vast majority of the Scriptures are from the perspective of the LORD God, most folks take it that all the Scriptures are from the perspective of the LORD and then apply that accordingly, just as they try to make the Scriptures entirely physical or entirely spiritual and then interpret them. However, this is not the case with the Scriptures. While it is absolutely true that all Scripture is by the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, not all Scripture is focused exclusively on things from the LORD’s perspective, just as not all Scripture is spiritual in its context, or all physical. Were the Scriptures to be all from the perspective of the LORD, we would have little connectivity, or relationship with the things expressed in Scripture as we do not think like the LORD God at all.

This is the difference with Ecclesiastes. Ecclesiastes begins, and is permeated with a single phrase that establishes its context: under the sun. This phrase occurs 27 times in the book of Ecclesiastes, and is found in all but three chapters. Moreover, this particular phrase appears only in Ecclesiastics, and nowhere else in Scripture. In the three chapters in which it does not appear, chapter seven is plainly focused on the actions of men and mentions that wisdom is profitable to them that see the sun, chapter eleven mentions that we know not what evil is upon the earth, and that light is sweet and it is a pleasant thing to behold the sun, and chapter twelve focuses upon the finality of death and reminds the youth to remember their Creator while they are young.

By the above, it is plain to see that the focus of Ecclesiastes is man’s perspective. Even though we find considerable mention of God in Ecclesiastes, we never find the terms “LORD,” or “LORD God” once. This indicates the addressing of God in an almost “generic” sense. There seems to be no personal relationship with the LORD, or personal knowledge of Him. Instead, we see the LORD addressed as God in the sense of knowing about God, but not knowing Him in the personal way that His children know Him. This really should not surprise us as Romans, chapter one does plainly tell us that everyone knows that God exists, whether they wish to acknowledge it or not as the LORD put that knowledge in man:

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness; Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them. For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse: Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. (Romans 1:18-21)

We find additional evidence for the way man commonly addresses God in a generic sense in I Kings, chapter 18 when Elijah challenged the priests of Baal before the children of Israel:

And Elijah came unto all the people, and said, How long halt ye between two opinions? if the LORD be God, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him. And the people answered him not a word. Then said Elijah unto the people, I, even I only, remain a prophet of the LORD; but Baal’s prophets are four hundred and fifty men. Let them therefore give us two bullocks; and let them choose one bullock for themselves, and cut it in pieces, and lay it on wood, and put no fire under: and I will dress the other bullock, and lay it on wood, and put no fire under: And call ye on the name of your gods, and I will call on the name of the LORD: and the God that answereth by fire, let him be God. And all the people answered and said, It is well spoken. (I Kings 18:21-24)

In the above passage, it is clear that the children of Israel could not decide who was actually God, whether it was the LORD God, or Baal. The wording of Elijah’s challenge is significant: “How long halt ye between two opinions? if the LORD be God, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him.” Moreover, the last part of Elijah’s test reinforces the significance of Elijah’s initial challenge, and the people’s acceptance of that challenge: “and the God that answereth by fire, let him be God. And all the people answered and said, It is well spoken.” It is clear that the children of Israel were used to referring to Baal as God, and treating Baal with the same worship and respect as the LORD God. Further evidence of the children of Israel referring to Baal as God was also provided when the LORD God consumed, not just the sacrifice, but everything pertaining to it:

And it came to pass at the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that Elijah the prophet came near, and said, LORD God of Abraham, Isaac, and of Israel, let it be known this day that thou art God in Israel, and that I am thy servant, and that I have done all these things at thy word. Hear me, O LORD, hear me, that this people may know that thou art the LORD God, and that thou hast turned their heart back again. Then the fire of the LORD fell, and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench. And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces: and they said, The LORD, he is the God; the LORD, he is the God. (I Kings 18:36-39)

When the fire fell, it demonstrated that Baal had no power as a god, but the LORD God indeed had power to consume everything, including the water. When the people responded, their statement proved how they referred to anyone or anything they considered to be God. The distinction they made here was to specify that the LORD God was the One True God:

. . .and they said, The LORD, he is the God; the LORD, he is the God. (I Kings 18:39b)

Therefore, if we take what the Scripture shows us in Romans, along with the event at Mount Carmel, it is plain that man has a generic reference to God, in which there is no specific identity attached to God, only that “God” exists and is capable of creating, destroying, judging, etc. This reference to “God” is not necessarily the same as the LORD, or LORD God of the Scriptures in which the LORD has a specific and express character and nature. Instead, now as then, when individuals refer to “God” the character and nature of the “God” to which they refer deviates widely from the character and nature of the LORD God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. This being the case, when people refer to God, we cannot assume that they particularly mean the LORD God.

So then, based on the evidence presented in Scripture, the focus of Ecclesiastics is clearly man’s perspective on life. Moreover, it was written by the wisest man that ever lived and from the perspective of what he could determine about life and its purpose using all the wisdom and understanding he possessed, without the benefit of the LORD’s perspective. This being the case, if we now examine Ecclesiastics 9:5 in context, we should be able to readily discern what Solomon is referring to:

For to him that is joined to all the living there is hope: for a living dog is better than a dead lion. For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not any thing, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten. Also their love, and their hatred, and their envy, is now perished; neither have they any more a portion for ever in any thing that is done under the sun. (Ecclesiastics 9:4-6)

Notice the verse in question sits squarely in the context of the living versus the dead based upon man’s point of view. Please note the sentence following the verse in question is a continuation of that verse as it uses the word “Also” to directly tie the rest of verse six to verse five. In verse six, the context of verse five is made expressly plain:

neither have they any more a portion for ever in any thing that is done under the sun.

Therefore, the interpretation of verse five is simply this:

When someone dies, as far as the physical world and this earth are concerned, and as far as their relationship with this world is concerned, they do not know anything, they cannot communicate with us, they labor no more, they gain no more reward, and the memory of them will be forgotten over time.

This is man’s perspective of life and the world without the aid of the Scriptures, faith, or any other portion of the wisdom and understanding of God. It is the predominate view of man in this world. However, it is dead wrong, and to base an understanding of life after death on the misinterpretation of this verse is to seriously risk consigning yourself to everlasting torment.

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