Bible News Press

Faith Beyond Cliches

Mute Priest Startles Crowd by Talking During Ceremony

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The Luke Observer, Jerusalem, in the days of Herod the King of Judea

Nearly a year after completely losing his voice, an elderly priest startled attendees when he began to speak during his son’s circumcision ceremony. When eyewitnesses were asked about it, they said there could be no mistake that the previously mute man had spoken, since he had clearly and loudly made claims about his newborn son. The speech is estimated to have gone on for two full minutes.

The priest, Zacharias, is of the Abijah priestly division. He states that he was able to speak until the angel Gabriel appeared to him while he was performing his priest’s duties about a year ago. He was quick to say that the angel did not harm him nor threaten him.

The angel Gabriel is said to be the same angel who appeared to Daniel about 600 years ago. Zacharias says he was not expecting the visit and was surprised to be told that he and his elderly, and up until then childless, wife would have a son. Apparently it was his response, “How will I know this for certain?” that resulted in his loss of speech.

Many people in the hill country of Judea are expressing concern over the event. There has been a grass roots effort to make sure everyone in the area is informed. While some offer predictions about what the child will turn out to be, the parents have gone back to their routine and have not made any further claims since Zacharias’s original statement that the child would be called the prophet of the Most High.

(for more information read Luke chapter 1)

Is It a Leap of Faith – Luke Chapter 1

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Who washed the dishes?

The phrase “a leap of faith” is an attempt to explain how some people can see the same evidence and come to different conclusions. Applied to something like “who washed the dishes when I wasn’t looking?”, it sounds like this:

  • who is tall enough to reach the sink?
  • who is known to be reliable about helping out?
  • who does things a certain way, leaving tell tale signs such as how the dishes are stacked?
  • who was known to be home during that time?
  • who said he was going to wash the dishes?
  • who says he washed the dishes?
  • did anyone see who washed the dishes?

Somewhere along the line, a person decides there is enough information and whether or not he trusts the sources. Then, he makes an informed decision about who washed the dishes.

Those dishes aren’t going to wash themselves!

But what if another person sees much of the same evidence, and doesn’t really care to think much about who washed the dishes, so he just guesses something that sounds interesting. Or maybe another person says that the dishes must have washed themselves, thereby discounting any evidence to the contrary? Have they all taken an equal “leap of faith” to their own conclusions? Are all the conclusions equally well based.

What is faith, anyway?

A lot of people equate faith with superstition or blind belief, but the word faith implies having a reason to believe. People can certainly be mistaken. They can say they have faith in something without checking it out. But the word faith itself does not imply an empty headedness or superstition.

Trying to discount the evidence

To say that a leap of faith is needed to believe in the God-Creator-Savior is an attempt to discount the wide variety of sound evidence in creation, within ourselves, and in historical records. Some people come to mistaken conclusions because other people DO make up a bunch of religious nonsense and then try to act like all beliefs are equally valid. Other times it is an honest mistake because people have been mislead by twisted philosophies of life. Sometimes people just resist God like a 2 year old resists bedtime.

When will it be enough evidence?

In human relationships, there is often a desire for regular affirmation, even though there is a long history of active caring. In the moment of loneliness or stress, sometimes people forget all the previous evidence, all that the other person has done out of love. The person who has worked so hard to show all the love could rightly ask, “when will there be enough evidence that I love you?”

Fortunately, God is very patient. In spite of the general arrogance of mankind, he keeps giving us evidence as daily as the sun rises, as deep as the mystery of music. This is the opening message of Luke’s Gospel. Things have been accomplished and seen by many. They are being shared so that you can know the exact truth.

If you want to listen to me read Luke chapter 1, it in the audio.

 

 

 

What Does God Think About Women

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Man-made religion has given God a bad name.

Whether by arrogant ignorance or by power-grabbing design, both the words and story of God have too often been perverted to suit the agenda of people. I don’t just say men, because I think many women have been complicit in various ways. And although in some ways women have been more overtly oppressed by these perversions, men have also suffered because perversion of truth badly affects even those who lie on purpose.

To understand what God thinks about women, we must take the whole story into account. The whole story, even aside from some important vocabulary issues, paints a picture of women fully loved and fully human in God’s eyes. God does not see women as less human than men in any way. They are not inferior, nor are they low-ranking. A couple of supposedly contradictory verses don’t change this.

What Does God Think About Women

Let’s start at the beginning

The first thing said about woman in the Bible is that she is created in God’s image in equal standing with man before God. (Gen 1:27) She and Adam receive the instructions of God together about having dominion. They are a team.

The second basic idea presented is that she was created because God saw that Adam would be lonely without her. Too many people take this to mean that a woman’s only role is to serve a man. Looking into the meaning of the Hebrew word that is translated as “helpmeet” or “helper” can help clear this up.

The original Hebrew phrase is “ezer kenegdo,” which my Dictionary of the Old Testament: Pentateuch (T. Desmond Alexander and David W. Baker, editors) explains to mean “a helper comparable.” In other words, “a partner.” They even go so far as to say that this is God’s admission that He is not enough for Adam/man.

This “ezer” is actually the same word used to describe God about 22 times in the Old Testament as Israel’s “help.” Hardly a picture of docility. It is usually a matter of warrior-like intervention. While we may not know exactly what that was supposed to look like in the Garden of Eden (though we know from the story that an enemy was lurking), we can surmise that since there is the idea of ally, they were supposed to be that for each other.

The stress is on woman making man complete. He would be lonely and apparently more vulnerable without her. Nothing else that God had created was designed for filling that need. But by creating a different, complimentary version of human, God did not create a lesser or subservient one.

Helpmeet vesus partner

Unfortunately, cultural expectations of women may have overshadowed accurate translation of “ezer” in the King James Bible. There was at least enough expectation of a certain meaning, that it set the tone for the understanding of later translations, even when they were more accurately translated the word to “helper,” just like it is used of God. Most people don’t know it is the same exact Hebrew word, so assume other meanings.

There may have been a couple of things at play in this. First, the translation had to be approved by the political powers of the day. That was one nuance they could certainly get away with and not seem to be messing with the message of who Jesus Christ was.

Another thing to wonder about is that the meaning of words drift and morph over time. Even a simple online search for the etymology(history) of “helpmeet” shows that it meant “a helper like himself.” Someone of equal standing in the relationship. However, it is now only a word used in Biblical discussion and suffers from its association with “helpmate” which has the less clear meaning of “companion.”

What about her husband ruling over her?

There are parts of the Bible that are prescriptive and parts that are descriptive. In common terms, that means some parts are telling someone what they should be doing and other parts are only telling what did or will happen. When the two kinds of parts are right next to each other, sometimes people make assumptions.

Consider that story of the Israelites asking for a king. God responded that he would give them a king, but that the king would do certain things that would oppress them. God is not at all commending the king’s actions. In fact, the point is that God is the perfect king and a human king is going to abuse power.

The results of sin are in two categories in Genesis 3. Some are things God will do. Some are things that will be. God definitely states that He will increase a woman’s pain in childbearing, but there is an important break between that and the part about “ruling.”

With the description, “yet your desire will be for your husband,” God is setting the next statement up to also be part of the disappointing description of their future relationship. The husband ruling over the wife is not what he desires or condones. It is the result of sin in their hearts.

Mighty women of the Old Testament

There are examples of women in leadership in the Old Testament. The results of sin in general in male-female relationships do not keep all women from positions of influence. In the case of Deborah (Judges 4), God was quite willing to humiliate a man who would not listen to her God-directed wisdom.

The daughters of Zelophehad (Numbers 26 and 27) were not shy of setting legal precedent to claim an inheritance. God himself declared them to be right. Hannah (1 Samuel 1) was not afraid to approach God directly for her request. Her request affected the history of Israel.

Huldah is a little known figure who was sought out by the high priest of the time. They apparently knew right where to find her and that she would be able to answer important questions about God’s book of the Law. No one made any apologies to anyone for asking about such high matters from a woman. (2 Kings 22 or 2 Chronicles 34)

Still under the law

If God was really big on husbandly dominance, he would have gone to Joseph first about the deal with Mary and the virgin birth. ESPECIALLY under those circumstances. Instead, what God did was confirm to Joseph, “Yeah, I’ve been talking with Mary and she agreed to this.” Then and only then was Joseph given guidance for his role in the events.

When the baby showed up, it can be no mistake that God gave both a man AND a woman important opportunity to publicly recognize the Christ-child. The story says that Anna told “all who were looking for redemption.” It wasn’t just her job to tell the women because that was beneath the male prophets.

When Jesus came across women, he was always astonishing the disciples by talking to them the same as he talked to men. There are no records of him restricting women. They were definitely allowed to approach him. There are records of him telling them to speak up about their faith in him. It took the disciples a while before they understood that Jesus wasn’t setting up a new power structure for them to rule over other people.

New creations should know better

Even if there has been some confusion about how things stood under the law or the theocracy of Israel, there really should not be any confusion under the new covenant. We should be able to take advantage of victory over sin in our relationships. Even if all we knew was that Christ considers the church his bride, we should intuitively know that a wife is not meant to be silent. The church is supposed to spread the good news!

To make it more clear, there are clear examples in the New Testament of women teaching and guiding any who want to know the truth. To mention a few, there is Priscilla (Romans 16:3), Phillip’s 4 daughters (Acts 21:9), Timothy’s mother, Phoebe (Romans 16:1). If those examples weren’t enough, there is the part of Joel that Peter quotes in Acts 2:17-18. Men and women, sons and daughters will prophesy.

But there are those places that use the word ‘silent’

If you want a more in depth discussion of these misused verses, I highly recommend Jon Zens’ concise book What’s With Paul and Women. To give you a taste, Paul is addressing a specific problem in that group. The word that is translated “silent” there is translated “in quietness” other places where absolute silence makes no sense. Men are also told to have a quietness about them in some places, but somehow it never gets translated to “silent.”

What often gets lost in the debate is that it is not about who has authority over whom! It is about mutual submission, humility, encouragement. And the kind of help an ally gives. Do I need to go on?

In the church, the ekklesia of the Christ, we are all brothers, in the gender neutral sense of the word. Women are still women and men are still men, but we are still all brothers in the way God does things. A loving brothers does not want to beat anyone into submission.

In marriage, there is supposed to be a picture of mutuality. One or the other may speak up about things or take initiative in addressing a need. There is no need for dominance. 1 Corinthians 7:4-5 emphasizes this by highlighting that husband and wife have equal stake in each other’s physical body.

What about being busy at home?

We tend to make assumptions about what we hear based on our own culture. It is understandable, but we need to try to be aware. It is very likely that home in Biblical times included helping to run the family business. It probably didn’t mean daily isolation unless there was a good excuse to go buy groceries. Especially not in the city. These people had to walk a lot. They probably lived close together and interacted in ways we find hard to imagine.

There are things about our culture that distort what a woman actually can do at home. There are government business regulations and zoning laws that prevent women from using the home to be busy in creative ways. As always, the theme in Titus 2 is about being responsible and not being contentious. It is about serving one another with humility and the best of intentions.

If you think about these things in conjunction with Proverbs 31, it is worth noting a few things. The Proverbs 31 “woman” may well be a poetic compsite of many women. It is also the picture of “a woman” who does business in the general marketplace. AND, it is quite likely she had servants!

It isn’t just Eve who is mentioned for bringing sin into the world

Woman get blamed for a lot of the sin the men choose to engage in. Men are drawn to women, but a fair number of them seem to be irritated by that. In order to make themselves feel more superior and less drawn to the partnership that should be the result, some men try to claim that women are the source of sin in their own hearts. It is a failed attempt to pass the buck that Adam began in the Garden.

The point is repeatedly made that sin came into the world through “the first man, Adam.” It is not just a matter of him being responsible for what happened. In fact, Eve is fully responsible for her own part in the events, but Adam introduced sin, too. Unfortunately, it was a team effort in the worst possible way. A total perversion of what that particular team was supposed to do and represent.

But we should be able to move on from there. The first part of the story is over. The second part of the story completely renews all things. We have the cure. We can exhibit it in our lives right now.

What does God think about women?

God made women in his image to be equally functional and participatory in his church. Disregard man-made organizations. Those are attempts to make the church fit worldly models of authority. Jesus said his church would not function like those. (Matthew 20:25-28)

Woman are unavoidably priests alongside the men in his church. A church that is not constrained by man-made systems or condemned by flaws of human nature. A church that is free from the cumbersome legalism of Judaism and free to love in spirit and truth. A church that doesn’t need hierarchy, because we have Jesus.

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Do You Really Want to Go to Heaven?

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[box]My daughter read this for the podcast this time, because I don’t have a voice today. Thank you, Carlie![/box]

What does the word heaven mean to you?

Heaven is a word complicated by many things. From cultural misconceptions to religious misrepresentations, heaven is typically thought of as one dimensional and boring. As such, it can be hard for many people to honestly say they want to go there.

A group of my friends has been reading and discussing Randy Alcorn’s book Heaven. In it, he offers quite a bit of evidence, laced with Biblically based imaginations, of why heaven is going to be fabulous. In other words, we aren’t going to be giving up anything to go there. And that seems to be the crux of it for most people. They have life to live here on this old earth. They have plans.

Section Nine

We just finished going over Section Nine in the book, which has the subtitle of “What Will Our Lives Be Like”. One of our friends couldn’t make it to our last meeting, so asked if I would write a bit about our discussion. Section Nine covers covers chapters 28 to 33 on pages 270 – 324 of this 457 page book.

Some of my readers might be surprised that there is really so much to say about heaven, but the Biblical narrative refers to it often. God wants us to have hope and excitement about His promises. It is not His idea that a “spiritual life” should be somber and uneventful. The following summary is just a taste of the fun my group is having just talking about it!

Do You Really Want to Go to Heaven?

Who will we be in heaven?

God’s references to heaven seem to assume our continued individuality in heaven. This is covered in various ways throughout the whole book, Heaven, but in this section the emphasis is humorously limiting.

  • We will not be angels
  • We will not be gods
  • We will not be infinite
  • We will not be all-knowing
  • We will be perfectly human

This should not discourage us. It means we will be us on a new earth, in a world that is free from the curses of sin. Our limits are currently so entangled with how sin affects our lives that it can at first be hard to imagine how this will feel “okay,” but a little thought should convince us otherwise. And comfort us about “living our lives.” We will be able to “live our lives” like we have never been able to do it before!

No time will be wasted. (The continuation of sin-free time is discussed elsewhere.) With bodies that never fail, communication unencumbered by the curse, curiosity in it purest form will be able to thrive, explore, and invent. The subject of jumping off of cliffs came up. If we are finite and the new earth has gravity, what will it be like? We guessed that if our new bodies are anything like what Jesus’s new body was, we may have some new physical skills. All of the thrill, none of the mess? haha

It is okay to imagine some things about heaven?

Among all the possible things, for some reason many people wonder if they will shine in heaven. After all, there is the story of Moses shining post conference with God, as well as Jesus glowing a bit on that mountain. Our general conclusion was that if we do “shine” it will be part of the overall vividness of life. It may get to seem normal, but it will probably also just be a minor factor in the joy of existence there.

Along the same lines, clothing may be optional! There will not be any shame. There are robes spoken of in various places in the Bible, but that may be metaphorical and cultural, because God didn’t see the point in getting into this particular issue. It really is much more important to understand the *no more pain and sorrow* part. Still, we may very well have fun with clothes. Can you imagine the printed t-shirts? “Wave if you are from the 18th century!” or “I walked with dinosaurs before you did.”

This brought us to mentioning that it doesn’t matter if we imagine some parts of heaven wrong. Imagining various details of what paradise might be like does not change our core doctrines or relationship with God. It is rather like reading a travel book before going to a country you have never been to before. The book helps with the fun of anticipation, but seeing the real thing cannot be replaced by the book.

Who will be married to whom?

The Bible says there is no “male or female” in Christ, which obviously does not mean that we are not male or female, but that there is no special standing in Him based on that category. In this section of the book Heaven it is suggested that because our gender is so intrinsically part of us, that we will still be male or female in heaven. At this point, most of us skipped ahead to the next section (specifically pages 327 and 335) because we really love our husbands and can’t imagine life without that relationship.

There we found that age-old reference to the 7 brothers marrying the same lady and whose wife will she be in heaven, anyway? Any woman with a happy marriage tends to be discouraged and/or upset about Jesus’s answer. Talk about pulling the rug out from under us in one swift move!

So we spent a while talking about why this bothered us and how could God be that mean… well, not really how He could be mean, but how could heaven still be great if such a major good part of our lives was changed? We came up with some basic concerns, such as removing marriage relationships seems to remove family and a sense of belonging, from our current perspective, at least. Who would we live with? Who would listen to our deepest thoughts? For most of us, this is the relationship that we depend upon most in life. Our husbands are our best friends. If he is no longer our husband, it is like taking our best friend away. Or so our limited minds suggest to us.

It turns out these concerns also lead us to the quite possible answers. First of all, we know that marriage is a picture of Christ and His bride. We WILL be married in heaven, to the most perfect, loving husband imaginable (no offense, dear husbands). I have also discussed this issue with my husband and he cheerily quipped that it will be weirder for him than for me, because he has never been a bride before.

Home and family more inclusive and loving than we can imagine

As for family, we will all be brothers/sisters in Christ, so there is every reason to believe we will be one big happy family. We will have eternity to get to know lots of people. If we don’t see someone for a while, they won’t die and they wont’ age.

Home won’t have the same constraints. We won’t need it for safety or shelter. We will probably fully understand that “home is where the heart is.” Since there will be sinless communication and relationship, deciding who to spend time with, where, and when, will be like choosing which favorite cookie to bake this time. Home can be both cozy in terms of relationship and vast in terms of enjoying our surroundings. Maybe my house will be your house in a new way because we will have so much more time to visit each other?!

Please pass the wine

In all of this relating, the idea of feasting seems to be a strong Biblical theme. Say that word again. Feasting. Eat, drink, and be merry. This does not sound boring. The kingdom of God may not be a matter of eating and drinking at the core, but that doesn’t mean feasting isn’t part of it. Consider friendships. The core of friendship is not eating or drinking, but it is definitely part of it.

So, again, we talked of food in our little group. We will be able to eat whatever we like and/or we will only want to eat what is prefect for us. Any digestion will be free from the curse.

And wine is mentioned at the final feast. This suggests that there are many processes in life that we associate with the decay of sin that are not limited by or to sin. It seems reasonable to assume that any wine in heaven will taste at least as good as that which Jesus made for the wedding in Cana.

The best learning and economic environment ever

Most of us had never thought of learning or having books in heaven before. Since we will still be finite and since we will have a whole new earth to explore, there will be a lot to learn. Since God is vastly superior to us, it is not hard to imagine that such learning can keep us happily busy for an eternity. Add to that that learning usually has a creative component and we may find that our new and sinless civilization will have the joy of inventing many marvelous things, things that we will always see God’s glory in.

There will very likely be writing and books, too, although whether they be in the forms we are now used to remains to be seen. One big question is whether or not past books, works of art, compositions of music, and so on, will be carried over into the new earth. Would God possibly create new copies of them like He will create new mountains and homes for us? Will our memories be so good that we can recall past creations and copy them down?

Of course, we can’t know these things for sure, but we can be reasonably certain that any story that is of use or recalls meaningful stories or is just plain good fun will be possible. Some stories won’t be needed, some won’t survive the refining fires, but stories seem to be a part of the fabric of life.

All of this reminds us of how the Bible talks about the wealth of nations being brought before God’s throne. Wealth implies ownership. Wealth is a measure of prosperity, which incidentally is NOT dependent on someone being poor. There may well be a perfect system of producing and trading. As people learn and create things, there may be a perfect system of commerce worked out. No fraud and no jealousy. Just everyone getting along.

In God’s timing, I want to go to heaven!

The bottom line is that heaven will be a place of more vivid pleasures, not fewer. Heaven is not going to be one long, sleepy sermon. When we rest, it will be someplace comfortable, with sweet dreams about the next day. There will be no guilt, no remorse, no disappointment. But it will not be because heaven is a big void of nothingness. There will not be those things because heaven will be full of abundant life with God and his children.