This post was first published on ROOTSS on Thursday, 4th October 2007
2 days ago, I blogged about the accuracy of Scriptures being preserved down through the ages because of the digital characteristic of the Hebrew language, where each Hebrew letter is associated with a number.
Yesterday, I blogged about how Jesus placed His signature "Aleph-Tav" right there in the very beginning of the Torah.
These revelations were uncovered in a video by Dr Larry Ollison entitled The Hebrew Language.
Well, each Hebrew letter is also associated with a musical note, so Scriptures such as the Psalms can actually be "translated" into a musical piece!
The following is an extract from that sermon where he talks about how David was asked to sooth King Saul by playing the harp (made up of 22 strings, which corresponds to the 22 letters of the Aleph-Beth). Listen also to Psalm 23 in musical form :-)
[Afternote: A friend emailed me a link called Music From God, where you can listen to others parts of Scripture in musical form.]
In a future post, I will blog about how 2 persons started their journey feeling absolutely downcast. Something happened to them along the way, causing them to be so transformed and filled with excitement that they retraced their steps, went back from where they came and became bold witnesses for the LORD.
Sunday, October 31, 2010
Saturday, October 30, 2010
The Real Bible Code
This post was first published on ROOTSS on Wednesday, 3rd October 2007
Yesterday, I blogged about the Hebrew language being the only digital language. This allowed the scribes to copy the original texts that were written by Moses, Joshua, David, etc with great accuracy and precision, and without any error or omission because they could verify this via "row subtotals" and "column subtotals".
With this background, let us look at Genesis 1:1. The scribes had to copy the passage in its entirety, even though there was a word in there that did not seem to make any sense, and even appeared superfluous to them.
Hebrew reads from right to left. Genesis 1:1 in Hebrew is "ba'reshiyth bara elohiym eth ha'shamayim neth ha'erets".
Note that the word eth appears in this verse, but is not translated!
This word is made up of the letters "aleph" and "tav", which are the first and last letters of the Hebrew alphabet.
It was a mystery to the scribes when they copied
it down through the ages, but that mystery was uncovered by the apostle John!
Jn 1:1 says "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God." What was the Word? Aleph-Tav!
Jesus Himself declared in Rev 1:8, Rev 21:6 and Rev 22:13 that He was the Alpha and Omega. The book of Revelations was written in Greek because that was the language of commerce during the apostolic age. But Jesus spoke Hebrew, so what He was in fact telling John was that He was the Aleph and the Tav.
In other words, Jesus had put His own signature, right there in the beginning, in the first verse of the first chapter of the first book.
The above revelation was obtained from a sermon by Dr. Larry Ollison entitled "The Hebrew Language". The following is an extract from that sermon where he talks about the signature of Jesus appearing in Gen 1:1.
Which brings me to the title of today's post. Several years ago, Michael Drosnin wrote a book called The Bible Code, in which he claimed that the Bible contained hidden codes about various people and incidents in history.
Well, the true Bible Code is that the person of Jesus is hidden in the Old Testament Scriptures, and as Christians, it is in our interest to uncover and unveil Him, because the more we know about Him, the more we know our own position, since we are co-heirs with Him. It is in our interest to know more and more about Christ, because as He is, so are we in this world.
Right there in Gen 1:1, His signature is found. In Gen 3:15, God the Father prophesied that Jesus would be the seed of Eve that would crush Satan's head. In Num 21, the snake in the desert that cured the Israelites was a picture of Jesus being lifted up so that all who believed in Him may have eternal life(Jn 3:14-15). And there are many, many more nuggets of truth in the Old Testament Scriptures (Noah's Ark being a type of Christ, Jesus in the genealogy of Noah, Joseph being a type of Christ, Boaz being a shadow of Christ, etc, etc)
When we start to realise that the Old Testament contains numerous hidden treasures of our Lord Jesus, the Bible becomes like that mystery novel that we just cannot put down! Our hunger and thirst for the Word of God intensifies, as the Holy Spirit progressively unveils and uncovers Jesus, yea even in seemingly "dry" books like Leviticus, Numbers and Lamentations! Paul says that ALL Scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for equipping us -- and ALL means ALL -- including genealogies, numbers, names, etc. There are no insignificant details in the Bible.
Tomorrow, I will blog about how the LORD embedded into Scriptures music as a means of worship unto Him.
Yesterday, I blogged about the Hebrew language being the only digital language. This allowed the scribes to copy the original texts that were written by Moses, Joshua, David, etc with great accuracy and precision, and without any error or omission because they could verify this via "row subtotals" and "column subtotals".
With this background, let us look at Genesis 1:1. The scribes had to copy the passage in its entirety, even though there was a word in there that did not seem to make any sense, and even appeared superfluous to them.Hebrew reads from right to left. Genesis 1:1 in Hebrew is "ba'reshiyth bara elohiym eth ha'shamayim neth ha'erets".
Note that the word eth appears in this verse, but is not translated!
This word is made up of the letters "aleph" and "tav", which are the first and last letters of the Hebrew alphabet.
It was a mystery to the scribes when they copied
it down through the ages, but that mystery was uncovered by the apostle John!Jn 1:1 says "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God." What was the Word? Aleph-Tav!
Jesus Himself declared in Rev 1:8, Rev 21:6 and Rev 22:13 that He was the Alpha and Omega. The book of Revelations was written in Greek because that was the language of commerce during the apostolic age. But Jesus spoke Hebrew, so what He was in fact telling John was that He was the Aleph and the Tav.
In other words, Jesus had put His own signature, right there in the beginning, in the first verse of the first chapter of the first book.
The above revelation was obtained from a sermon by Dr. Larry Ollison entitled "The Hebrew Language". The following is an extract from that sermon where he talks about the signature of Jesus appearing in Gen 1:1.
Which brings me to the title of today's post. Several years ago, Michael Drosnin wrote a book called The Bible Code, in which he claimed that the Bible contained hidden codes about various people and incidents in history.
Well, the true Bible Code is that the person of Jesus is hidden in the Old Testament Scriptures, and as Christians, it is in our interest to uncover and unveil Him, because the more we know about Him, the more we know our own position, since we are co-heirs with Him. It is in our interest to know more and more about Christ, because as He is, so are we in this world.
Right there in Gen 1:1, His signature is found. In Gen 3:15, God the Father prophesied that Jesus would be the seed of Eve that would crush Satan's head. In Num 21, the snake in the desert that cured the Israelites was a picture of Jesus being lifted up so that all who believed in Him may have eternal life(Jn 3:14-15). And there are many, many more nuggets of truth in the Old Testament Scriptures (Noah's Ark being a type of Christ, Jesus in the genealogy of Noah, Joseph being a type of Christ, Boaz being a shadow of Christ, etc, etc)
When we start to realise that the Old Testament contains numerous hidden treasures of our Lord Jesus, the Bible becomes like that mystery novel that we just cannot put down! Our hunger and thirst for the Word of God intensifies, as the Holy Spirit progressively unveils and uncovers Jesus, yea even in seemingly "dry" books like Leviticus, Numbers and Lamentations! Paul says that ALL Scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for equipping us -- and ALL means ALL -- including genealogies, numbers, names, etc. There are no insignificant details in the Bible.
Tomorrow, I will blog about how the LORD embedded into Scriptures music as a means of worship unto Him.
Friday, October 29, 2010
How Accurate Are the Scriptures?
This post was first published on ROOTSS on Tuesday, 2nd October 2007
When I first started work as an auditor back in 1991, one of the areas of work that we as first-year assistants were assigned to carry out was what was then known as Section J, which was the fixed assets of the company we were auditing.
The J lead schedule (or summary page) looks similiar to what you see on the right.
The rows would show the various types of fixed assets (eg. furniture, motor vehicles) while the columns would show their movement during the year (eg. amount brought down from last year, additions and disposals during the year).
During that era, we did not use electronic workpapers yet, which means to say that the J lead schedule was an A3-sized landscape piece of paper, and every single figure had to be manually written onto it.
To ensure that the figures were accurately transcribed, we had to cast (add downwards) and cross-cast (add across) using a calculator. If we arrived at the same grand total, this would give us a reasonable assurance that the individual figures were also accurate.
Of course now with Microsoft Excel, this task is much more simplified, and the casting and cross-casting formulae can be incorporated into the spreadsheet.
Which brings me back to today's subject matter.
The original Scriptures (what we now call the Old Testament) were written in the Hebrew language. In those days, there was no photocopying machine. So if one wanted to make a copy of a particular manuscript, he had to do so page by page, letter by letter.
Each letter of the Hebrew language has a number associated with it. For example, the first letter "aleph" equals one, the second letter "beth" equals two, and so on.
Hence, each and every row and column on a particular page of a manuscript could have a subtotal, similar to the fixed asset lead schedule mentioned above.
After a scribe had painstaking copied a particular page of a manuscript, he will cast and cross-cast to check if he arrived at the sub-totals as indicated on the page he copied from. If any of the sub-totals were wrong, it would mean that he made a mistake somewhere, and would have to throw that away and start all over again (correction fluid was not available in those days).
Those of you out there in my era would be familiar with cassette tapes. Cassette tapes are "analog", hence a recording made of a song, for example, would not retain the quality and clarity of the original. Nowadays, we are in the digital age of CDs and DVDs. These are considered "digital", so copies made retain the quality and fidelity of the original.
God, in His wisdom, had created Hebrew to be a "digital" language, so that the copies that were handwritten by those scribes retained the precision and accuracy of the very first original that was written by Moses, Joshua, David, Solomon, etc.
The above revelation was obtained from a sermon by Dr. Larry Ollison entitled "The Hebrew Language". The following is an extract from that sermon where he talks specifically about the digital characteristics of Hebrew.
In closing, let me share with you another very interesting fact. When Moses was inspired by the Holy Spirit to write the Pentateuch, he included in the very first verse of the first chapter of Genesis the Hebrew characters "aleph" and "tav" (which are the first and last letters of the Hebrew alphabet). Because of the digital nature of the language (where sub-totals had to tally downwards and across to ensure precision and accuracy), the scribes could not drop these two characters from the copies that they handwrote, even though these 2 letters appeared superfluous to them.
Tomorrow, I will blog about the significance of those 2 characters, so stay tuned :-)
When I first started work as an auditor back in 1991, one of the areas of work that we as first-year assistants were assigned to carry out was what was then known as Section J, which was the fixed assets of the company we were auditing.
The J lead schedule (or summary page) looks similiar to what you see on the right.
The rows would show the various types of fixed assets (eg. furniture, motor vehicles) while the columns would show their movement during the year (eg. amount brought down from last year, additions and disposals during the year).
During that era, we did not use electronic workpapers yet, which means to say that the J lead schedule was an A3-sized landscape piece of paper, and every single figure had to be manually written onto it.
To ensure that the figures were accurately transcribed, we had to cast (add downwards) and cross-cast (add across) using a calculator. If we arrived at the same grand total, this would give us a reasonable assurance that the individual figures were also accurate.
Of course now with Microsoft Excel, this task is much more simplified, and the casting and cross-casting formulae can be incorporated into the spreadsheet.
Which brings me back to today's subject matter.
The original Scriptures (what we now call the Old Testament) were written in the Hebrew language. In those days, there was no photocopying machine. So if one wanted to make a copy of a particular manuscript, he had to do so page by page, letter by letter.
Each letter of the Hebrew language has a number associated with it. For example, the first letter "aleph" equals one, the second letter "beth" equals two, and so on.
Hence, each and every row and column on a particular page of a manuscript could have a subtotal, similar to the fixed asset lead schedule mentioned above.
After a scribe had painstaking copied a particular page of a manuscript, he will cast and cross-cast to check if he arrived at the sub-totals as indicated on the page he copied from. If any of the sub-totals were wrong, it would mean that he made a mistake somewhere, and would have to throw that away and start all over again (correction fluid was not available in those days).
Those of you out there in my era would be familiar with cassette tapes. Cassette tapes are "analog", hence a recording made of a song, for example, would not retain the quality and clarity of the original. Nowadays, we are in the digital age of CDs and DVDs. These are considered "digital", so copies made retain the quality and fidelity of the original.
God, in His wisdom, had created Hebrew to be a "digital" language, so that the copies that were handwritten by those scribes retained the precision and accuracy of the very first original that was written by Moses, Joshua, David, Solomon, etc.
The above revelation was obtained from a sermon by Dr. Larry Ollison entitled "The Hebrew Language". The following is an extract from that sermon where he talks specifically about the digital characteristics of Hebrew.
In closing, let me share with you another very interesting fact. When Moses was inspired by the Holy Spirit to write the Pentateuch, he included in the very first verse of the first chapter of Genesis the Hebrew characters "aleph" and "tav" (which are the first and last letters of the Hebrew alphabet). Because of the digital nature of the language (where sub-totals had to tally downwards and across to ensure precision and accuracy), the scribes could not drop these two characters from the copies that they handwrote, even though these 2 letters appeared superfluous to them.
Tomorrow, I will blog about the significance of those 2 characters, so stay tuned :-)
Sunday, October 24, 2010
Snakes and Ladders
This post was first published on ROOTSS on Tuesday, 12th June 2007
One of the games that many of us would have played as a child is Snakes and Ladders.
In this game, there are usually 100 squares with numerous snakes and ladders spread out all over the board.
The objective is to reach square number 100 in the shortest time possible, based on the throw of a die.
One hopes to land on the foot of a ladder, so as to climb it and advance several squares towards the destination.
At the same time, one hopes to avoid landing on the head of a snake, because this would mean sliding down its body to a spot several squares away from the ultimate destination.
Let's say we were to compare our life's journey to the game of snakes and ladders.
Whenever we exercise faith or obey the LORD, it is like arriving at the foot of a ladder in order to advance many steps in our spiritual journey.
On the other hand, whenever we blow it or foul up, it is as though we have stepped on a snake and slidded down, even as far back as to square one.
As believers however, the truth of the matter is that our game of snakes and ladders is radically different because ALL the snakes have all been removed, leaving only the ladders behind!
The result of the finished work of Jesus is that He has removed those snakes, so to speak.
In other words, whenever we exercise faith in God's Word, He credits it to us as righteousness. On the other hand, whenever we make mistakes, God does not count them against us.
We see 2 very clear examples in the Scriptures.
The first example is Abraham. We read in Gen 12 and again in Gen 20 about how he tried to pass off his wife Sarah as his sister on 2 separate occasions, because he was afraid that he would be killed by Pharaoh in the 1st instance, and by King Abimelech of the Philistines in the 2nd.
We read in Gen 16 how he decided to produce a son via Hagar, instead of trusting that God would bless him with a son via Sarah.
We read in Gen 17 about how he fell over laughing in unbelief, when God told him he would be a father at the age of 100.
In spite of all the above, the Holy Spirit saw fit to record in Rom 4 and Heb 11 only Abraham's acts of faith, which God reckoned to him as righteousness.
The snakes were removed, leaving only the ladders!
Another example is Elijah. In 1 Kings 19, we read about how Elijah feared for his life and fled from Queen Jezebel, instead of trusting God to protect him. Yet the Holy Spirit saw fit to record in Jas 5, referring to him as an example of a righteous man whose prayer availed much.
The snake was removed, leaving only the ladder!
Dearly beloved. Let us be encouraged that God does not remember our sins and lawless acts anymore (Heb 10:17). In our game of snakes and ladders, only the ladders remain. The snakes have all been removed. Amen?
One of the games that many of us would have played as a child is Snakes and Ladders.In this game, there are usually 100 squares with numerous snakes and ladders spread out all over the board.
The objective is to reach square number 100 in the shortest time possible, based on the throw of a die.
One hopes to land on the foot of a ladder, so as to climb it and advance several squares towards the destination.
At the same time, one hopes to avoid landing on the head of a snake, because this would mean sliding down its body to a spot several squares away from the ultimate destination.
Let's say we were to compare our life's journey to the game of snakes and ladders.
Whenever we exercise faith or obey the LORD, it is like arriving at the foot of a ladder in order to advance many steps in our spiritual journey.
On the other hand, whenever we blow it or foul up, it is as though we have stepped on a snake and slidded down, even as far back as to square one.
As believers however, the truth of the matter is that our game of snakes and ladders is radically different because ALL the snakes have all been removed, leaving only the ladders behind!
The result of the finished work of Jesus is that He has removed those snakes, so to speak.
In other words, whenever we exercise faith in God's Word, He credits it to us as righteousness. On the other hand, whenever we make mistakes, God does not count them against us.
We see 2 very clear examples in the Scriptures.
The first example is Abraham. We read in Gen 12 and again in Gen 20 about how he tried to pass off his wife Sarah as his sister on 2 separate occasions, because he was afraid that he would be killed by Pharaoh in the 1st instance, and by King Abimelech of the Philistines in the 2nd.
We read in Gen 16 how he decided to produce a son via Hagar, instead of trusting that God would bless him with a son via Sarah.
We read in Gen 17 about how he fell over laughing in unbelief, when God told him he would be a father at the age of 100.
In spite of all the above, the Holy Spirit saw fit to record in Rom 4 and Heb 11 only Abraham's acts of faith, which God reckoned to him as righteousness.
The snakes were removed, leaving only the ladders!
Another example is Elijah. In 1 Kings 19, we read about how Elijah feared for his life and fled from Queen Jezebel, instead of trusting God to protect him. Yet the Holy Spirit saw fit to record in Jas 5, referring to him as an example of a righteous man whose prayer availed much.
The snake was removed, leaving only the ladder!
Dearly beloved. Let us be encouraged that God does not remember our sins and lawless acts anymore (Heb 10:17). In our game of snakes and ladders, only the ladders remain. The snakes have all been removed. Amen?
Saturday, October 23, 2010
Spiritual Hypocrisy
This post was first published on ROOTSS on Tuesday, 10th April 2007
We are familiar with the term "hypocrite", which basically is used to describe a person who behaves as he is not. Jesus referred to the Pharisees of His time as hypocrites because they were always putting on a show and behaving as persons whom they were not.
Well, I have heard that term being used presently as well, to describe believers who behave like angels when they are in the church service, and then become like devils once they go to the carpark and get behind the wheel of their cars.
A cell member of mine shared with me about an ex-colleague of his who would go to mass each week for a time of confession, only to go back into the world to sin the other six days of the week.
But have you heard of the term "spiritual hypocrisy"? This is used to describe those who believe and thus behave as they are not, even though the Scriptures tell them that they are otherwise.
For example, the Scriptures tell us that by Jesus' stripes, we have already been healed (1 Pet 2:24). If, instead of confessing and believing this, we instead go around moaning and groaning about this pain and that ache, then we are behaving like spiritual hypocrites.
Another example. The Scriptures tell us that we are the righteousness of God in Christ (2 Cor 5:21). If we instead continue to picture ourselves as unworthy sinners (like in the ritual for Holy Communion -- which I have now made a conscious choice to only recite parts which are Scriptural), then we are again behaving like spiritual hypocrites.
Yet another example. The Scriptures tell us that in 2 Cor 8:9 “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich". The Scriptures also tells us that God prospered the patriachs materially (Gen 13:2, Gen 26:12-14, Gen 30:43). Christ became totally impoverished on the cross, so that as part of the divine exchange, we can be rich. Our material resources can then be used for His kingdom work. There is no need to make any apologies for embracing the "prosperity gospel".
So let's stop all this spiritual hypocrisy and start speaking and behaving like what the Scriptures say that we as followers of Christ are. Amen?
We are familiar with the term "hypocrite", which basically is used to describe a person who behaves as he is not. Jesus referred to the Pharisees of His time as hypocrites because they were always putting on a show and behaving as persons whom they were not.
Well, I have heard that term being used presently as well, to describe believers who behave like angels when they are in the church service, and then become like devils once they go to the carpark and get behind the wheel of their cars.
A cell member of mine shared with me about an ex-colleague of his who would go to mass each week for a time of confession, only to go back into the world to sin the other six days of the week.
But have you heard of the term "spiritual hypocrisy"? This is used to describe those who believe and thus behave as they are not, even though the Scriptures tell them that they are otherwise.
For example, the Scriptures tell us that by Jesus' stripes, we have already been healed (1 Pet 2:24). If, instead of confessing and believing this, we instead go around moaning and groaning about this pain and that ache, then we are behaving like spiritual hypocrites.
Another example. The Scriptures tell us that we are the righteousness of God in Christ (2 Cor 5:21). If we instead continue to picture ourselves as unworthy sinners (like in the ritual for Holy Communion -- which I have now made a conscious choice to only recite parts which are Scriptural), then we are again behaving like spiritual hypocrites.
Yet another example. The Scriptures tell us that in 2 Cor 8:9 “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich". The Scriptures also tells us that God prospered the patriachs materially (Gen 13:2, Gen 26:12-14, Gen 30:43). Christ became totally impoverished on the cross, so that as part of the divine exchange, we can be rich. Our material resources can then be used for His kingdom work. There is no need to make any apologies for embracing the "prosperity gospel".
So let's stop all this spiritual hypocrisy and start speaking and behaving like what the Scriptures say that we as followers of Christ are. Amen?
And now, let the weak say I am strong
Let the poor say I am rich
Because of what the Lord has done for us
Friday, October 22, 2010
The Answer to Filthy Rags is the Robe of Righteousness
This post was first published on ROOTSS on Monday, 9th April 2007
I have been listening to sermons by Pastor Joseph Prince on the topic of Righteousness recently, and would like to share the following insights.
Recently, we read in the newspapers about how some of the world's richest billionaires have given huge sums of money to charity.
In the eyes of the world, this would be considered a very noble deed... even a righteous deed.
For that matter, a man may perform many noble and righteous deeds in his lifetime. However, all these righteous deeds would be in vain if He is without Christ.
In fact, we read in Isa 64:6 that all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags in the eyes of God.
The word "filthy" is translated from the original Hebrew word ed (Strong's H05708), which means "an appointed time for women"...
... or more crudely "menstruation".
"Filthy rags" would therefore refer to cloth soaked with menstrual discharge. Back in Biblical times, sanitary pads were not yet invented then.
In other words, even what we consider to be the most righteous or pious acts that men have ever carried out are nothing but used sanitary pads in the eyes of God.
There was only one righteous deed carried out by a particular man that was pleasing and acceptable to God. That deed took place 2,000 years ago at Calvary, which we commemorate each Good Friday.
Thank God for Good Friday!
Speaking of menstruation, this subject is also mentioned in the New Testament.
In Matt 9:20, we read about a woman who was "diseased with an issue of blood".
This phrase is translated from the Greek word haimorrheo (Strong's G131), which actually means to menstruate.
This woman was menstruating non-stop for twelve consecutive years. She touched the hem of Jesus' robe and was healed instantly.
There are no insignificant details in the Bible.
Just as the answer to that woman's menstrual situation was found by touching the robe of Jesus, the answer to our deeds being no longer considered to be menstrual pads in the eyes of God is for us to be robed in the righteousness of Christ (Isa 61:10).
Because of the divine exchange, we are now the righteousness of God (2 Cor 5:21). Because we are in Christ, God no longer sees us (and our deeds) in and of ourselves, but God sees us being clothed with the robes of righteousness. We are a new creation; the old has pass and the new has come.
Our deeds will no longer be considered filthy rags because we are the righteousness of God in Christ. And our prayers will also avail much, because we are the righteousness of God.
I shall talk about a related topic tomorrow -- spiritual hypocrisy.
I have been listening to sermons by Pastor Joseph Prince on the topic of Righteousness recently, and would like to share the following insights.
Recently, we read in the newspapers about how some of the world's richest billionaires have given huge sums of money to charity.
In the eyes of the world, this would be considered a very noble deed... even a righteous deed.
For that matter, a man may perform many noble and righteous deeds in his lifetime. However, all these righteous deeds would be in vain if He is without Christ.
In fact, we read in Isa 64:6 that all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags in the eyes of God.
The word "filthy" is translated from the original Hebrew word ed (Strong's H05708), which means "an appointed time for women"...... or more crudely "menstruation".
"Filthy rags" would therefore refer to cloth soaked with menstrual discharge. Back in Biblical times, sanitary pads were not yet invented then.In other words, even what we consider to be the most righteous or pious acts that men have ever carried out are nothing but used sanitary pads in the eyes of God.
There was only one righteous deed carried out by a particular man that was pleasing and acceptable to God. That deed took place 2,000 years ago at Calvary, which we commemorate each Good Friday.
Thank God for Good Friday!
Speaking of menstruation, this subject is also mentioned in the New Testament.
In Matt 9:20, we read about a woman who was "diseased with an issue of blood".
This phrase is translated from the Greek word haimorrheo (Strong's G131), which actually means to menstruate.
This woman was menstruating non-stop for twelve consecutive years. She touched the hem of Jesus' robe and was healed instantly.There are no insignificant details in the Bible.
Just as the answer to that woman's menstrual situation was found by touching the robe of Jesus, the answer to our deeds being no longer considered to be menstrual pads in the eyes of God is for us to be robed in the righteousness of Christ (Isa 61:10).
Because of the divine exchange, we are now the righteousness of God (2 Cor 5:21). Because we are in Christ, God no longer sees us (and our deeds) in and of ourselves, but God sees us being clothed with the robes of righteousness. We are a new creation; the old has pass and the new has come.
Our deeds will no longer be considered filthy rags because we are the righteousness of God in Christ. And our prayers will also avail much, because we are the righteousness of God.
I shall talk about a related topic tomorrow -- spiritual hypocrisy.
Sunday, October 17, 2010
Why Do Christians Fall Sick?
This post was first published on ROOTSS on Monday, 29th January 2007
One topic that may be of great interest is that of "paradoxes" in the Bible. Growing up in this particular denomination, I was led to believe that the Bible was full of paradoxes, and to accept them as such because "God's ways are higher than our ways". I thank God that I now know for a fact that His message to us is all Yes and Amen, and not yes one moment and no the next as recorded in 2 Cor 1:16-19.
The Bible has no contradictory passages; it is our mis-interpretation of the Bible that makes us think that there are.
One such "paradox" was that of loving vs fearing the LORD, and I have addressed that in another post entitled "What does 'fear of the LORD' mean"?
Another "paradox" deals with that of Christians falling sick...
I recall a conversation that I had with a dear brother of mine regarding 1 Cor 11:27-30:
27 Therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord.
28 A man ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup.
29 For anyone who eats and drinks without recognising the body of the Lord eats and drinks judgment on himself.
30 That is why many among you are weak and sick, and a number of you have fallen asleep.
He felt that this passage suggested that Christians who are not abiding in Christ, or who do not live as Christians ought to/can become sick and even die. He also felt that this was a paradox that was not so easy and straightforward.
My response to him was that I also used to struggle with that passage (until very recently). I grew up in a very traditional Methodist environment, where the works of the Holy Spirit such as tongues, healings, and other signs and wonders were not emphasised.
I was thus made to believe that healing only happened during the apostolic age, but not for our current generation. Even if healing took place, it was supposed to be the exception rather than the norm, and not meant for everyone. Those who remain ill was to take it that it was God's will for them.
But is it God's will for us to be or remain sick? The will of God is revealed in the Word of God. Hence, we as Christians should not pray and ask whether God wants to heal us, or whether a non-Christian person should be our life partner, or whether we should tithe. Such things are a "given" because God's Word tells us, respectively, that He is our healer, that we should not be unequally yoked, and that our firstfruits belong to the Lord.
If we think that God only chooses to heal some and not others, then the Scriptures becomes a book where passages have to be read selectively. Some passages are meant for a group of believers, while other passages are meant for another group. If we believe our God is one who is supposed to unconditionally extend his agape love to us, then the above interpretation that He selectively chooses to bless some and yet withhold His blessings from others does not seem consistent with this concept of God.
Also, if Jesus is the same God yesterday, today and forever (Heb 13:8), the fact that Jesus healed 2000 years ago means He still heals today and will continue to heal till His second coming. Having searched the Scriptures, I now know that such doctrine is not only unbiblical, but it puts the blame on the wrong source. We read in John 10:10 that it is actually the devil who comes to steal, kill and destroy our health, our family, our peace, our well-being, etc. Jesus, on the other hand, has come to give us life in abundance.
Being bedridden or being stricken with a chronic disease is definitely not abundant living. So how do we reconcile "paradoxes" in the Bible? If *all* scripture is inspired by the Holy Spirit (2 Tim 3:16), then there ought not to be any paradoxes in the Bible. God is not a God of confusion. Would it not be ironic if He gives us a spirit of power, of love and of a sound mind (2 Tim 1:7), and yet contradicts Himself in His Word?
So coming back to the "paradox" in 1 Cor 11:27-30? The secret lies in the verse before this passage. Verse 26 says that "as often as you eat this bread, and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until His comes".
What is meant by proclaiming Jesus' death? Are we not as Christians supposed to focus on Jesus' resurrection instead, and the resurrection life we are supposed to be living out? Having meditated on that verse, I submit to you that we are actually proclaiming to those in the spiritual realm, ie. the devil and his fallen angels that are causing us the oppression. We are declaring to them and reminding them of Jesus' finished work on the cross.
Whenever he makes us feel condemned, we remind him that Jesus has taken our condemnation, so that in Christ there is now no condemnation (Rom 8:1). Whenever he makes us feel unrighteous, we remind him that Jesus is our righteousness. Whenever he makes us feel our sicknesses is because of some sin in our life, or the sin of our forefathers, we remind him that by the stripes of Jesus, we have been healed.
Now with the above revelation, let's read 1 Cor 11:27-30 again:
27 Therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord.
28 A man ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup.
29 For anyone who eats and drinks without recognising the body of the Lord eats and drinks judgment on himself.
30 That is why many among you are weak and sick, and a number of you have fallen asleep.
So what does verse 27 mean by "eating or drinking in an unworthy manner" (or unworthily, as KJV puts it)? In the context of verse 26, it means eating and drinking without realising that the body and blood of the Lord was the means by which the divine exchange took place. Jesus came to earth for that very purpose: to take our sins and sicknesses upon Himself and in exchange, to give us His righteousness and wholeness.
Verse 28 tells us that we ought to examine ourselves before we eat and drink of the Lord's supper, as to whether we are taking the communion as a mere ritual, or whether we are doing so to remember God's greatest act of love for us to free us from the bondage of sin and sicknesses.
Verse 29 tells us that if we do not judge the body rightly, we bring judgment upon ourselves.
The NASB version of 1 Cor 11:30 says "for this reason, many among you are weak, and sick and a number sleep". There is a singular "reason" why Christians are weak, sick or die prematurely, and that is because we do not recognise the body of the Lord as recorded in verse 29, ie. we do not comprehend or believe that His body was broken and striped to deliver us from sicknesses!
Many of us today accept Jesus as our Lord and Saviour, but how many of us accept Jesus as our Healer? When Jesus died on the cross, He died not only for the forgiveness of our sins, but also for the removal of our diseases. Salvation is via His blood, healing is via His body.
We as Christians are shortchanging ourselves if we only believe salvation is ours via the cross, but do not understand that healing is ours as well. By the blood of the Lamb, we have received forgiveness of our sins. By the stripes upon the body of our Lord, we have been healed. Why is it easier for us to believe the former by faith, and yet not the latter, also by faith? Things may not happen in the physical realm immediately, but it has already happened in the spiritual. So we have to continue to "call for things that are not as though they are" (Rom 4:17) until they manifest in the physical realm. Just like Abraham was called "father of many" years before Isaac finally came forth.
So there. Another so-called "paradox" debunked. Thanks be to God for His consistent message of redemption. Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, I'm redeemed, I'm redeemed, praise the Lord!
Brothers and sisters. The sooner we as Christians realise that we can claim this as our right as His children, the sooner we will see fewer cases of Christians who are weak, sick, or die prematurely. Amen?
One topic that may be of great interest is that of "paradoxes" in the Bible. Growing up in this particular denomination, I was led to believe that the Bible was full of paradoxes, and to accept them as such because "God's ways are higher than our ways". I thank God that I now know for a fact that His message to us is all Yes and Amen, and not yes one moment and no the next as recorded in 2 Cor 1:16-19.
The Bible has no contradictory passages; it is our mis-interpretation of the Bible that makes us think that there are.
One such "paradox" was that of loving vs fearing the LORD, and I have addressed that in another post entitled "What does 'fear of the LORD' mean"?
Another "paradox" deals with that of Christians falling sick...
I recall a conversation that I had with a dear brother of mine regarding 1 Cor 11:27-30:
27 Therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord.
28 A man ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup.
29 For anyone who eats and drinks without recognising the body of the Lord eats and drinks judgment on himself.
30 That is why many among you are weak and sick, and a number of you have fallen asleep.
He felt that this passage suggested that Christians who are not abiding in Christ, or who do not live as Christians ought to/can become sick and even die. He also felt that this was a paradox that was not so easy and straightforward.
My response to him was that I also used to struggle with that passage (until very recently). I grew up in a very traditional Methodist environment, where the works of the Holy Spirit such as tongues, healings, and other signs and wonders were not emphasised.
I was thus made to believe that healing only happened during the apostolic age, but not for our current generation. Even if healing took place, it was supposed to be the exception rather than the norm, and not meant for everyone. Those who remain ill was to take it that it was God's will for them.
But is it God's will for us to be or remain sick? The will of God is revealed in the Word of God. Hence, we as Christians should not pray and ask whether God wants to heal us, or whether a non-Christian person should be our life partner, or whether we should tithe. Such things are a "given" because God's Word tells us, respectively, that He is our healer, that we should not be unequally yoked, and that our firstfruits belong to the Lord.
If we think that God only chooses to heal some and not others, then the Scriptures becomes a book where passages have to be read selectively. Some passages are meant for a group of believers, while other passages are meant for another group. If we believe our God is one who is supposed to unconditionally extend his agape love to us, then the above interpretation that He selectively chooses to bless some and yet withhold His blessings from others does not seem consistent with this concept of God.
Also, if Jesus is the same God yesterday, today and forever (Heb 13:8), the fact that Jesus healed 2000 years ago means He still heals today and will continue to heal till His second coming. Having searched the Scriptures, I now know that such doctrine is not only unbiblical, but it puts the blame on the wrong source. We read in John 10:10 that it is actually the devil who comes to steal, kill and destroy our health, our family, our peace, our well-being, etc. Jesus, on the other hand, has come to give us life in abundance.
Being bedridden or being stricken with a chronic disease is definitely not abundant living. So how do we reconcile "paradoxes" in the Bible? If *all* scripture is inspired by the Holy Spirit (2 Tim 3:16), then there ought not to be any paradoxes in the Bible. God is not a God of confusion. Would it not be ironic if He gives us a spirit of power, of love and of a sound mind (2 Tim 1:7), and yet contradicts Himself in His Word?
So coming back to the "paradox" in 1 Cor 11:27-30? The secret lies in the verse before this passage. Verse 26 says that "as often as you eat this bread, and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until His comes".
What is meant by proclaiming Jesus' death? Are we not as Christians supposed to focus on Jesus' resurrection instead, and the resurrection life we are supposed to be living out? Having meditated on that verse, I submit to you that we are actually proclaiming to those in the spiritual realm, ie. the devil and his fallen angels that are causing us the oppression. We are declaring to them and reminding them of Jesus' finished work on the cross.
Whenever he makes us feel condemned, we remind him that Jesus has taken our condemnation, so that in Christ there is now no condemnation (Rom 8:1). Whenever he makes us feel unrighteous, we remind him that Jesus is our righteousness. Whenever he makes us feel our sicknesses is because of some sin in our life, or the sin of our forefathers, we remind him that by the stripes of Jesus, we have been healed.
Now with the above revelation, let's read 1 Cor 11:27-30 again:
27 Therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord.
28 A man ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup.
29 For anyone who eats and drinks without recognising the body of the Lord eats and drinks judgment on himself.
30 That is why many among you are weak and sick, and a number of you have fallen asleep.
So what does verse 27 mean by "eating or drinking in an unworthy manner" (or unworthily, as KJV puts it)? In the context of verse 26, it means eating and drinking without realising that the body and blood of the Lord was the means by which the divine exchange took place. Jesus came to earth for that very purpose: to take our sins and sicknesses upon Himself and in exchange, to give us His righteousness and wholeness.
Verse 28 tells us that we ought to examine ourselves before we eat and drink of the Lord's supper, as to whether we are taking the communion as a mere ritual, or whether we are doing so to remember God's greatest act of love for us to free us from the bondage of sin and sicknesses.
Verse 29 tells us that if we do not judge the body rightly, we bring judgment upon ourselves.
The NASB version of 1 Cor 11:30 says "for this reason, many among you are weak, and sick and a number sleep". There is a singular "reason" why Christians are weak, sick or die prematurely, and that is because we do not recognise the body of the Lord as recorded in verse 29, ie. we do not comprehend or believe that His body was broken and striped to deliver us from sicknesses!
Many of us today accept Jesus as our Lord and Saviour, but how many of us accept Jesus as our Healer? When Jesus died on the cross, He died not only for the forgiveness of our sins, but also for the removal of our diseases. Salvation is via His blood, healing is via His body.
We as Christians are shortchanging ourselves if we only believe salvation is ours via the cross, but do not understand that healing is ours as well. By the blood of the Lamb, we have received forgiveness of our sins. By the stripes upon the body of our Lord, we have been healed. Why is it easier for us to believe the former by faith, and yet not the latter, also by faith? Things may not happen in the physical realm immediately, but it has already happened in the spiritual. So we have to continue to "call for things that are not as though they are" (Rom 4:17) until they manifest in the physical realm. Just like Abraham was called "father of many" years before Isaac finally came forth.
So there. Another so-called "paradox" debunked. Thanks be to God for His consistent message of redemption. Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, I'm redeemed, I'm redeemed, praise the Lord!
Brothers and sisters. The sooner we as Christians realise that we can claim this as our right as His children, the sooner we will see fewer cases of Christians who are weak, sick, or die prematurely. Amen?
Saturday, October 16, 2010
What Does "Fear of the Lord" Mean?
This post was first published on ROOTSS on Friday, 19th January 2007
I have been worshipping in the same church all my life. My great-grandfather, the late Rev Wee Chin Kam was a pastor of this church. Since then, my grandparents, parents, siblings and now children have been faithfully worshipping in this church.
Having grown up in this denomination, I was led to believe the Bible to be full of paradoxes and contradictions. I struggled but finally just had to accept it without questioning God, because “His ways are higher than our ways”.
Recently however, I have begun to understand that the Bible should be a consistent message throughout of God’s redemption plan for mankind. Because God is a God of order and not confusion, He will not contradict Himself in His Word. It is often our misinterpretation of His Word that leads us to believe otherwise.
One topic close to my heart is that of the "fear of the Lord". The fear of the Lord has been interpreted as the "reverence of the Lord" by some people, and being "afraid and terrified of the Lord" by others. What may be helpful is to see how our Lord Jesus Christ Himself interprets it.
One of the passages which mentions the fear of the Lord is found in Deut 6:13, which says “Fear the LORD your God, serve him only and take your oaths in his name.” Jesus quoted this part of Scriptures when He was faced with temptation in the wilderness by the devil. In Matt 4:10, He said 'It is written ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only’.”
Is it not amazing that Jesus uses the word “worship” to interpret the word “fear”? That immediately dispels the notion of a person being scared or afraid of God, and ending up running away from God (like how the Israelites reacted when Moses just came down from Mt Sinai with his face aglow after meeting with God). Rather, it is the worshipful reverence of the Lord, and this should then draw us towards Him.
I was also meditating on Luke 12:5 where Jesus told "a crowd of many thousands" (Luke 12:1) to fear God who has the ability to punish them in hell. The crowd would have included both believers and non-believers. Believers like us do not need to fear because we are going to heaven. Rather, the fear was meant for those who were not.
Another passage (1 John 4:18) talks about the fear of punishment. John, apparently writing to believers, reminds them that because of God's love, “we will have confidence on the day of judgment.” In other words, "perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment.” Those who love God and believe in Him know that He loves them and can trust in Him to save them. Thus unbelievers have reason to be afraid of God; believers are not to be afraid because of their trust in God's love (fear on the part of believers is a sign of doubt or inadequate knowledge of God – “the one who fears is not made perfect in love.”).
Yet another frequently quoted passage is Phil 2:12, where we are being told to "work out our salvation with fear and trembling". Eugene Peterson's The Message paraphrases this as "be energetic in your life of salvation, reverent and sensitive before God". This makes it more consistent with what Paul wrote in Eph 2:8-9 where he said that "for by grace, you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast".
Let us draw near to God! As believers, there is no need to fear Him because perfect love casts out all fear! Instead, we should love, revere and worship Him!
I have been worshipping in the same church all my life. My great-grandfather, the late Rev Wee Chin Kam was a pastor of this church. Since then, my grandparents, parents, siblings and now children have been faithfully worshipping in this church.
Having grown up in this denomination, I was led to believe the Bible to be full of paradoxes and contradictions. I struggled but finally just had to accept it without questioning God, because “His ways are higher than our ways”.
Recently however, I have begun to understand that the Bible should be a consistent message throughout of God’s redemption plan for mankind. Because God is a God of order and not confusion, He will not contradict Himself in His Word. It is often our misinterpretation of His Word that leads us to believe otherwise.
One topic close to my heart is that of the "fear of the Lord". The fear of the Lord has been interpreted as the "reverence of the Lord" by some people, and being "afraid and terrified of the Lord" by others. What may be helpful is to see how our Lord Jesus Christ Himself interprets it.
One of the passages which mentions the fear of the Lord is found in Deut 6:13, which says “Fear the LORD your God, serve him only and take your oaths in his name.” Jesus quoted this part of Scriptures when He was faced with temptation in the wilderness by the devil. In Matt 4:10, He said 'It is written ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only’.”
Is it not amazing that Jesus uses the word “worship” to interpret the word “fear”? That immediately dispels the notion of a person being scared or afraid of God, and ending up running away from God (like how the Israelites reacted when Moses just came down from Mt Sinai with his face aglow after meeting with God). Rather, it is the worshipful reverence of the Lord, and this should then draw us towards Him.
I was also meditating on Luke 12:5 where Jesus told "a crowd of many thousands" (Luke 12:1) to fear God who has the ability to punish them in hell. The crowd would have included both believers and non-believers. Believers like us do not need to fear because we are going to heaven. Rather, the fear was meant for those who were not.
Another passage (1 John 4:18) talks about the fear of punishment. John, apparently writing to believers, reminds them that because of God's love, “we will have confidence on the day of judgment.” In other words, "perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment.” Those who love God and believe in Him know that He loves them and can trust in Him to save them. Thus unbelievers have reason to be afraid of God; believers are not to be afraid because of their trust in God's love (fear on the part of believers is a sign of doubt or inadequate knowledge of God – “the one who fears is not made perfect in love.”).
Yet another frequently quoted passage is Phil 2:12, where we are being told to "work out our salvation with fear and trembling". Eugene Peterson's The Message paraphrases this as "be energetic in your life of salvation, reverent and sensitive before God". This makes it more consistent with what Paul wrote in Eph 2:8-9 where he said that "for by grace, you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast".
Let us draw near to God! As believers, there is no need to fear Him because perfect love casts out all fear! Instead, we should love, revere and worship Him!
Friday, October 15, 2010
The Divine Exchange: What the Finished Work Means to Me
This post was first published on ROOTSS on Friday, 16th February 2007
I grew up thinking that the Bible was full of paradoxes and contradictions, and had to just accept these because "His ways are higher than our ways". Of late, I thank the LORD for His progressive revelation because I know for sure that the Bible is one consistent message of the gospel of grace and the finished work of the cross.
Jesus' final words on the cross was "It is finished" (John 19:30). This is translated from one single word in Greek "teleo" (Strong's G5055), which means to accomplish or to make complete.
When the first Adam ate from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, his original sin was imputed onto entire mankind. When the last Adam hung on the tree of Calvary. his righteousness was similarly imputed onto all who believes in Him.
Some people might say that it is unfair for the wrongdoing of somebody else be treated as our own wrongdoing as well. But by the same token, the "rightdoing" of Jesus has becomes our right doing as well. (Now, that is what God means by His ways being higher than our ways, which will be the subject of another blog entry :-)
By His death on the cross, a great "Divine Exchange" took place in at least three areas:
(1) Our Sin in exchange for His Righteousness (which includes Our Fear of God in exchange for Intimacy with Him)
The cross stands outside the dimension of time, and all the sins of all mankind: present, past and future were placed upon the body of Jesus. As a man walking the earth, Jesus enjoyed a very intimate relationship with His Father. But when all the sins of the world were imputed upon Him on the cross, God the Father had no choice but to turn away from God the Son. Jesus experienced separation from God at that moment, and that is why He could not refer to Him as Abba ("Father") but as Eloi "God". We see that recorded in Mark 15:34 "And at the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?"—which means, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"
So why did Jesus have to experience separation from God at the cross? So that you and I can now enjoy complete intimacy with Him, without having to be afraid of Him! The apostle Paul writes in Rom 8:15 "For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, "Abba, Father." When we are born again, the Holy Spirit Himself comes and indwells us, so we no longer need to fear God, but can address Him the same way Jesus did, ie. by referring to Him as Abba Father (or Daddy God).
In 2 Cor 5:21, we read that God made Jesus who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. When we were asked which of us were still sinners during a recent sermon, I did not raise my hand because if God sees me as righteous in Christ (and I am in Christ), who am I to declare myself still a sinner and thus frustrate what Christ has already achieved on the cross? On the other hand, if I was asked which of us were redeemed sinners, mine would be the first hand to go up. Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, I'm redeemed, I'm redeemed. Praise the Lord!
(2) Our diseases in exchange for His divine health/healing
I grew up thinking that healing was not for everyone. When someone had an illness, I figured that maybe it was God that was punishing him for some unconfessed sin, or maybe it was God that had given him the disease to "keep him humble", or maybe it was God's will that he remained sick The problem with this theology is that it makes God appear to be very temperamental and unpredictable. Again, I would explain it away as "His ways are higher than our ways".
But if it indeed God's will that we remain in illness, then we should not be asking for healing lest we "go against" God's will. If it is indeed punishment for unconfessed sin, then we would be better off dead because only then will we be completely free of unconfessed sin. If it is indeed a way to keep us humble, then let's ask God for more sicknesses so that we can be even more humble.
I experienced a paradigm shift in my theology about a year ago. Jesus said it was the evil one who came to kill, steal and destroy, but He comes to give us life in abundance (John 10:10). For Christians who attribute the source of sickness to the Lord, are they implying that Jesus and Satan switched roles in the meantime? Make no mistake: it is the devil who wants to kill, steal and destroy our family, marriage, health, finances and relationships.
We read in 1 Pet 2:24 that "He was wounded for our trangressions, and by His stripes we have been healed". When the Roman soldier whipped our Lord with the cat-of-nine-tails, he did not realise that he was helping to fulfil the scriptures imputing our sicknesses onto our Lord. With every stroke that he laid upon Jesus, and pieces of Jesus' flesh flying everywhere, we can picture cancer, heart problems, kidney ailments, high blood pressure, diabetes, etc being laid upon the body of our Lord. Our diseases have been given to Him in exchange for His divine health and healing.
(3) Our poverty in exchange for His riches
I grew up thinking that prosperity was a dirty word. I would hear sermons condemning prosperity based on passages that "the love of money was the root of all evil" and "You cannot serve God and mammon".
I thank the LORD for granting me a paradigm shift recently where prosperity is concerned. We read in the Old Testament that the patriachs were very prosperous.
Gen 13:2
Abram had become very wealthy in livestock and in silver and gold.
Gen 26:12-14
Isaac planted crops in that land and the same year reaped a hundredfold, because the LORD blessed him. The man became rich, and his wealth continued to grow until he became very wealthy. He had so many flocks and herds and servants that the Philistines envied him.
Gen 30:43
In this way, Jacob grew exceedingly prosperous and came to own large flocks, and maidservants and menservants, and camels and donkeys.
There are no insignificant details in the Bible, and the Holy Spirit saw fit to inspire Moses to record the above. If prosperity was something God frowned upon, why did He prosper these people?
I have also heard sermons that quote Matt 8:20 as justification for Christians to avoid prosperity. In this passage, Jesus said, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head." so their interpretation is that we should emulate our Lord to live a similarly simple, nomadic and impoverished lifestyle.
The Greek word for lay is klino (Strong's G2827). This word also appears in John 19:30, but is translated as bowed, viz "When he had received the drink, Jesus said, "It is finished." With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit."
If we accept the argument that we should live an impoverished life the manner Jesus did, such that there was no place to klino his head, does that mean that we should likewise follow our Lord to be crucified, because that was when he finally klino his head?
In 2 Cor 8:9, Paul tells us “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich.”
When the Roman soldiers gambled for Jesus’ garments, they did not realise that they were also fulfilling the scriptures by imputing our poverty upon our Lord. He was left totally naked, devoid of any form of possessions when hanging on the cross. He became totally impoverished on the cross in our place, so that in exchange we can have His prosperity and riches.
Many Christians are aware and may accept the 1st aspect of the Divine Exchange, but few are aware of the 2nd and 3rd. Hence, they live defeated lives, and make little or no impact to the pre-believing world around them. The world is not impressed by “spiritual” blessings. The sad fact is that to them, health and money talks.
Christians should be living the abundant life that Jesus has promised us, and that includes a life of health and wealth.
With health, we can go about doing His Kingdom work with gusto. With wealth, we have to means to bless others, and enable yet others to carry out his Kingdom work in the remotest parts of Africa.
I remember Rev Wee Boon Hup preaching a sermon a couple of years back where he said that without money, we will be unable to send missionaries into China or India, or to enable the building of schools and orphanages. Also, if we do not have health but are instead bedridden, how are we going to go about doing God's Kingdom work with gusto? On the contrary, we become a financial and emotional burden to our loved ones! Some people were offended by that sermon, but I praise God that he was bold enough to call a spade a spade, and speak the truth in love -- the truth that sets us free.
Thank you Lord for the divine exchange and the finished work of the cross!
Jesus' final words on the cross was "It is finished" (John 19:30). This is translated from one single word in Greek "teleo" (Strong's G5055), which means to accomplish or to make complete.
When the first Adam ate from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, his original sin was imputed onto entire mankind. When the last Adam hung on the tree of Calvary. his righteousness was similarly imputed onto all who believes in Him.
Some people might say that it is unfair for the wrongdoing of somebody else be treated as our own wrongdoing as well. But by the same token, the "rightdoing" of Jesus has becomes our right doing as well. (Now, that is what God means by His ways being higher than our ways, which will be the subject of another blog entry :-)
By His death on the cross, a great "Divine Exchange" took place in at least three areas:
(1) Our Sin in exchange for His Righteousness (which includes Our Fear of God in exchange for Intimacy with Him)
The cross stands outside the dimension of time, and all the sins of all mankind: present, past and future were placed upon the body of Jesus. As a man walking the earth, Jesus enjoyed a very intimate relationship with His Father. But when all the sins of the world were imputed upon Him on the cross, God the Father had no choice but to turn away from God the Son. Jesus experienced separation from God at that moment, and that is why He could not refer to Him as Abba ("Father") but as Eloi "God". We see that recorded in Mark 15:34 "And at the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?"—which means, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"
So why did Jesus have to experience separation from God at the cross? So that you and I can now enjoy complete intimacy with Him, without having to be afraid of Him! The apostle Paul writes in Rom 8:15 "For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, "Abba, Father." When we are born again, the Holy Spirit Himself comes and indwells us, so we no longer need to fear God, but can address Him the same way Jesus did, ie. by referring to Him as Abba Father (or Daddy God).
In 2 Cor 5:21, we read that God made Jesus who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. When we were asked which of us were still sinners during a recent sermon, I did not raise my hand because if God sees me as righteous in Christ (and I am in Christ), who am I to declare myself still a sinner and thus frustrate what Christ has already achieved on the cross? On the other hand, if I was asked which of us were redeemed sinners, mine would be the first hand to go up. Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, I'm redeemed, I'm redeemed. Praise the Lord!
(2) Our diseases in exchange for His divine health/healing
I grew up thinking that healing was not for everyone. When someone had an illness, I figured that maybe it was God that was punishing him for some unconfessed sin, or maybe it was God that had given him the disease to "keep him humble", or maybe it was God's will that he remained sick The problem with this theology is that it makes God appear to be very temperamental and unpredictable. Again, I would explain it away as "His ways are higher than our ways".
But if it indeed God's will that we remain in illness, then we should not be asking for healing lest we "go against" God's will. If it is indeed punishment for unconfessed sin, then we would be better off dead because only then will we be completely free of unconfessed sin. If it is indeed a way to keep us humble, then let's ask God for more sicknesses so that we can be even more humble.
I experienced a paradigm shift in my theology about a year ago. Jesus said it was the evil one who came to kill, steal and destroy, but He comes to give us life in abundance (John 10:10). For Christians who attribute the source of sickness to the Lord, are they implying that Jesus and Satan switched roles in the meantime? Make no mistake: it is the devil who wants to kill, steal and destroy our family, marriage, health, finances and relationships.
We read in 1 Pet 2:24 that "He was wounded for our trangressions, and by His stripes we have been healed". When the Roman soldier whipped our Lord with the cat-of-nine-tails, he did not realise that he was helping to fulfil the scriptures imputing our sicknesses onto our Lord. With every stroke that he laid upon Jesus, and pieces of Jesus' flesh flying everywhere, we can picture cancer, heart problems, kidney ailments, high blood pressure, diabetes, etc being laid upon the body of our Lord. Our diseases have been given to Him in exchange for His divine health and healing.
(3) Our poverty in exchange for His riches
I grew up thinking that prosperity was a dirty word. I would hear sermons condemning prosperity based on passages that "the love of money was the root of all evil" and "You cannot serve God and mammon".
I thank the LORD for granting me a paradigm shift recently where prosperity is concerned. We read in the Old Testament that the patriachs were very prosperous.
Gen 13:2
Abram had become very wealthy in livestock and in silver and gold.
Gen 26:12-14
Isaac planted crops in that land and the same year reaped a hundredfold, because the LORD blessed him. The man became rich, and his wealth continued to grow until he became very wealthy. He had so many flocks and herds and servants that the Philistines envied him.
Gen 30:43
In this way, Jacob grew exceedingly prosperous and came to own large flocks, and maidservants and menservants, and camels and donkeys.
There are no insignificant details in the Bible, and the Holy Spirit saw fit to inspire Moses to record the above. If prosperity was something God frowned upon, why did He prosper these people?
I have also heard sermons that quote Matt 8:20 as justification for Christians to avoid prosperity. In this passage, Jesus said, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head." so their interpretation is that we should emulate our Lord to live a similarly simple, nomadic and impoverished lifestyle.The Greek word for lay is klino (Strong's G2827). This word also appears in John 19:30, but is translated as bowed, viz "When he had received the drink, Jesus said, "It is finished." With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit."
If we accept the argument that we should live an impoverished life the manner Jesus did, such that there was no place to klino his head, does that mean that we should likewise follow our Lord to be crucified, because that was when he finally klino his head?
In 2 Cor 8:9, Paul tells us “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich.”
When the Roman soldiers gambled for Jesus’ garments, they did not realise that they were also fulfilling the scriptures by imputing our poverty upon our Lord. He was left totally naked, devoid of any form of possessions when hanging on the cross. He became totally impoverished on the cross in our place, so that in exchange we can have His prosperity and riches.
Many Christians are aware and may accept the 1st aspect of the Divine Exchange, but few are aware of the 2nd and 3rd. Hence, they live defeated lives, and make little or no impact to the pre-believing world around them. The world is not impressed by “spiritual” blessings. The sad fact is that to them, health and money talks.
Christians should be living the abundant life that Jesus has promised us, and that includes a life of health and wealth.
With health, we can go about doing His Kingdom work with gusto. With wealth, we have to means to bless others, and enable yet others to carry out his Kingdom work in the remotest parts of Africa.
I remember Rev Wee Boon Hup preaching a sermon a couple of years back where he said that without money, we will be unable to send missionaries into China or India, or to enable the building of schools and orphanages. Also, if we do not have health but are instead bedridden, how are we going to go about doing God's Kingdom work with gusto? On the contrary, we become a financial and emotional burden to our loved ones! Some people were offended by that sermon, but I praise God that he was bold enough to call a spade a spade, and speak the truth in love -- the truth that sets us free.
Thank you Lord for the divine exchange and the finished work of the cross!
Sunday, October 10, 2010
Was Jesus Poor or Homeless?
This post was first published on ROOTSS on Sunday, 27th January 2008
I am currently pursuing part-time studies at Rhema, and the module we are currently covering is Principles of Biblical Prosperity.
Yesterday, the lecturer asked the question whether Jesus was poor or homeless.
When growing up, I remember people saying that Jesus was poor. To support this view, they quote the passage as recorded in Luke 2:21-22 where his earthly parents brought Jesus to the temple to be circumcised when he was eight days old. Joseph and Mary offered as a sacrifice a pair of doves or two young pigeons.
Yes, Jesus was born into a poor family, but He did not remain that way. We read in Matt 2:1-12 that wise men from the east came to visit Him and "on coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented Him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh."
At the age of eight days, his earthly parents could only afford to sacrifice birds. But in less than 2 years, Magi came and presented them with gifts of gold! His parents were made rich because of Jesus!
I think what may have caused some confusion is the nativity scene we see nowadays, whereby everybody (shepherds, angels, wise men, animals, etc) appear with Joseph, Mary and the infant Jesus.
The accurate biblical account is that shepherds came to see Him as a new-born baby. But it was several months (and probably even up to two years) later, when He was a toddler that the Magi came with gifts of frankincence, gold and myrrh.
That is why we read in Matt 2:16 that Herod sought to kill all the boys in Bethlehem under the age of two.
So even though Jesus was born into a poor family, he did not remain poor.
When Jesus began His ministry, He was well-provided for. In fact, the funds was so substantial that He required a treasurer to look after them. This treasurer even helped himself to the funds without anyone noticing it!
Jesus could even afford to wear a robe that the Roman soldiers gambled for. Just think, it must have been the equivalent of today's Armani suit, if people are have to gamble for it.
So when was Jesus made poor, and why? So that we can be rich! It was part of the divine exchange! Paul tells us in 2 Cor 8:9 that “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich.”
As for Jesus being "homeless", people quote Matt 8:20 when "Jesus replied, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head."
But do you know the context of why Jesus said that? HE was replying to a scribe who had in verse 19 said that he would follow Jesus wherever He went. Jesus' mission was unique in that He was born to die, so the scribe would not be able to follow suit. Jesus finally laid His head on the cross when He cried "It is finished!"
That will be the subject of another blog entry, so stay tuned :-)
I am currently pursuing part-time studies at Rhema, and the module we are currently covering is Principles of Biblical Prosperity.
Yesterday, the lecturer asked the question whether Jesus was poor or homeless.
When growing up, I remember people saying that Jesus was poor. To support this view, they quote the passage as recorded in Luke 2:21-22 where his earthly parents brought Jesus to the temple to be circumcised when he was eight days old. Joseph and Mary offered as a sacrifice a pair of doves or two young pigeons.
Yes, Jesus was born into a poor family, but He did not remain that way. We read in Matt 2:1-12 that wise men from the east came to visit Him and "on coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented Him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh."
At the age of eight days, his earthly parents could only afford to sacrifice birds. But in less than 2 years, Magi came and presented them with gifts of gold! His parents were made rich because of Jesus!
I think what may have caused some confusion is the nativity scene we see nowadays, whereby everybody (shepherds, angels, wise men, animals, etc) appear with Joseph, Mary and the infant Jesus.The accurate biblical account is that shepherds came to see Him as a new-born baby. But it was several months (and probably even up to two years) later, when He was a toddler that the Magi came with gifts of frankincence, gold and myrrh.
That is why we read in Matt 2:16 that Herod sought to kill all the boys in Bethlehem under the age of two.
So even though Jesus was born into a poor family, he did not remain poor.
When Jesus began His ministry, He was well-provided for. In fact, the funds was so substantial that He required a treasurer to look after them. This treasurer even helped himself to the funds without anyone noticing it!
Jesus could even afford to wear a robe that the Roman soldiers gambled for. Just think, it must have been the equivalent of today's Armani suit, if people are have to gamble for it.
So when was Jesus made poor, and why? So that we can be rich! It was part of the divine exchange! Paul tells us in 2 Cor 8:9 that “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich.”
As for Jesus being "homeless", people quote Matt 8:20 when "Jesus replied, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head."
But do you know the context of why Jesus said that? HE was replying to a scribe who had in verse 19 said that he would follow Jesus wherever He went. Jesus' mission was unique in that He was born to die, so the scribe would not be able to follow suit. Jesus finally laid His head on the cross when He cried "It is finished!"
That will be the subject of another blog entry, so stay tuned :-)
Saturday, October 9, 2010
The Effect of Wrong Impressions
This post was first published on ROOTSS on Saturday, 25th August 2007
Sometime in early August, my cell group attended a talk by Creation Ministries International that was held in my church.
During that talk, the speaker told us that one of the reasons why people do not believe the Genesis account (such as creation, Noah's flood, etc) is because they have seen pictures of Noah's Ark drawn in cartoon form.
Usually, it is drawn no larger than a bathtub, with giraffes' heads sticking out from it, and appears so unstable that it can topple at any time, what more withstand a huge catastrophic flood.
Somehow, such wrong impressions can consciously or unconsciously discredit the bible and relegate its accounts to mere fairytales or fables, and cause people not to believe the truth that can set them free.
The truth of the matter is that the Ark that Noah built was very, very huge and very, very stable. It was the size of 81 five-room HDB flats (27 flats X 3 storeys high). The giraffes' head did not need to protrude from the top, and there was sufficient room for the dinosaurs, hippos, elephants, as well as hundreds and thousands of other animals.
This brings to mind another wrong impression that has been created down down through the ages, and that relates to how our Lord Jesus has been portrayed.
Many artists have painted Him as effeminate and emaciated, with long-flowing hair and slender fingers.
I really don't think for one moment that a carpenter that had to work with His bare hands had time for facials and manicures.
Is it any wonder then, that people look up to celebrities such as David Beckham and popstars such as Click Five, instead of our Lord Jesus?
The world is crying out for a hero, and that is why Spider-man and Transformers are such box-office sellouts. But that void can only be filled by the real superhero --none other than Jesus Christ, our Lord.
Which brings me to another excerpt of a DVD compilation called Humorous Bible Illustrations by Ps Joseph Prince. This one is entitled "Jesus Our Hero".
Sometime in early August, my cell group attended a talk by Creation Ministries International that was held in my church.
During that talk, the speaker told us that one of the reasons why people do not believe the Genesis account (such as creation, Noah's flood, etc) is because they have seen pictures of Noah's Ark drawn in cartoon form.Usually, it is drawn no larger than a bathtub, with giraffes' heads sticking out from it, and appears so unstable that it can topple at any time, what more withstand a huge catastrophic flood.
The truth of the matter is that the Ark that Noah built was very, very huge and very, very stable. It was the size of 81 five-room HDB flats (27 flats X 3 storeys high). The giraffes' head did not need to protrude from the top, and there was sufficient room for the dinosaurs, hippos, elephants, as well as hundreds and thousands of other animals.
This brings to mind another wrong impression that has been created down down through the ages, and that relates to how our Lord Jesus has been portrayed.
Many artists have painted Him as effeminate and emaciated, with long-flowing hair and slender fingers.I really don't think for one moment that a carpenter that had to work with His bare hands had time for facials and manicures.
Is it any wonder then, that people look up to celebrities such as David Beckham and popstars such as Click Five, instead of our Lord Jesus?
The world is crying out for a hero, and that is why Spider-man and Transformers are such box-office sellouts. But that void can only be filled by the real superhero --none other than Jesus Christ, our Lord.
Which brings me to another excerpt of a DVD compilation called Humorous Bible Illustrations by Ps Joseph Prince. This one is entitled "Jesus Our Hero".
Friday, October 8, 2010
The Ananias in Acts 5 vs the Ananias in Acts 9
Note: This post was first published on ROOTSS on Thursday, 8 February 2007
One of the stories in the book of Acts that used to put fear in my heart was the account of Ananias and Sapphira as recorded in Acts 5. Here we read of a couple who died tragically because they kept part of the proceeds from the sale of their property for themselves, but made it appear as though it was the entire amount.
I have also heard several sermons where this passage is quoted to reinforce that believers need to fear the LORD, because He will punish us like He did that couple.
Acts 5 Ananias and Sapphira
1Now a man named Ananias, together with his wife Sapphira, also sold a piece of property. 2With his wife's full knowledge he kept back part of the money for himself, but brought the rest and put it at the apostles' feet.
3Then Peter said, "Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and have kept for yourself some of the money you received for the land?
4Didn't it belong to you before it was sold? And after it was sold, wasn't the money at your disposal? What made you think of doing such a thing? You have not lied to men but to God."
5When Ananias heard this, he fell down and died. And great fear seized all who heard what had happened.
6Then the young men came forward, wrapped up his body, and carried him out and buried him.
7About three hours later his wife came in, not knowing what had happened.
8Peter asked her, "Tell me, is this the price you and Ananias got for the land?" "Yes," she said, "that is the price."
9Peter said to her, "How could you agree to test the Spirit of the Lord? Look! The feet of the men who buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out also."
10At that moment she fell down at his feet and died. Then the young men came in and, finding her dead, carried her out and buried her beside her husband.
11Great fear seized the whole church and all who heard about these events.
But if one were to read that passage carefully, there is actually no mentioned anywhere that it was God or the Holy Spirit that struck them dead. This is an assumption that many of us have probably adopted because we were led to believe that God is a God of "no nonsense" and will not hesitate to punish us!
But that is not the point... yet...
There is another Ananias that Luke tell us about in Acts 9:10. He was the "middleman" that God asked to minister to the apostle Paul just after the latter had his road to Damascus experience.
Acts 9
10In Damascus there was a disciple named Ananias. The Lord called to him in a vision, "Ananias" "Yes, Lord," he answered.
11The Lord told him, "Go to the house of Judas on Straight Street and ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for he is praying.
12In a vision he has seen a man named Ananias come and place his hands on him to restore his sight."
13"Lord," Ananias answered, "I have heard many reports about this man and all the harm he has done to your saints in Jerusalem.
14And he has come here with authority from the chief priests to arrest all who call on your name."
15But the Lord said to Ananias, "Go! This man is my chosen instrument to carry my name before the Gentiles and their kings and before the people of Israel.
16I will show him how much he must suffer for my name."
17Then Ananias went to the house and entered it. Placing his hands on Saul, he said, "Brother Saul, the Lord—Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you were coming here—has sent me so that you may see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit."
18Immediately, something like scales fell from Saul's eyes, and he could see again. He got up and was baptized,
19and after taking some food, he regained his strength.
So what is the point, you may ask? The point is that the Ananais in Acts 5 was being described as a "man" (aner, Strong's G435), whereas this Ananais in Acts 9 was referred to as a "disciple" (mathetes, Strong's G3101)!
There are no insignificant details in the Bible. Everything is there for a purpose, because "all" Scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching and equipping us (2 Tim 3:16-17).
The book of Acts was written by Luke to Theophilus. Luke was both a medical doctor as well as an historian with an eye for careful detail. The Holy Spirit saw fit to inspire him to use different terms to distinguish those who were believers from those who were not; believers were referred to as disciples, while non-believers were referred to as men.
Throughout the book of Acts, he maintains a consistent distinction between a person who was a believer, and one who is not, viz:
Acts 5:1 [Ananias and Sapphira]
Now a man named Ananias, together with his wife Sapphira, also sold a piece of property.
Acts 6:1 [The Choosing of the Seven]
In those days when the number of disciples was increasing, the Grecian Jews among them complained against the Hebraic Jews because their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food.
Acts 7:58
dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. Meanwhile, the witnesses laid their clothes at the feet of a young man named Saul. (Note: Saul/Paul was not a believer at this time yet until after his road to Damascus experience in Acts 9)
Acts 8:30
Then Philip ran up to the chariot and heard the man reading Isaiah the prophet. "Do you understand what you are reading?" Philip asked. (Note: the Ethiopian eunuch was not a believer at this time yet until Philip explained the Scriptures to him, and he accepted Christ as recorded in Acts 8:37)
Acts 9:10
In Damascus there was a disciple named Ananias. The Lord called to him in a vision, "Ananias!" "Yes, Lord," he answered.
Acts 9:33
There he found a man named Aeneas, a paralytic who had been bedridden for eight years.
Acts 9:36
In Joppa there was a disciple named Tabitha (which, when translated, is Dorcas ), who was always doing good and helping the poor.
Acts 10:1 [Cornelius Calls for Peter]
At Caesarea there was a man named Cornelius, a centurion in what was known as the Italian Regiment. (Cornelius was not a believer until Peter preached to him, after which he received the baptism of the Holy Spirit and water baptism as recorded in Acts 10:44-48)
Acts 14:8 [In Lystra and Derbe]
In Lystra there sat a man crippled in his feet, who was lame from birth and had never walked.
Acts 16:1 [Timothy Joins Paul and Silas]
He came to Derbe and then to Lystra, where a disciple named Timothy lived, whose mother was a Jewess and a believer, but whose father was a Greek.
Acts 16:9
During the night Paul had a vision of a man of Macedonia standing and begging him, "Come over to Macedonia and help us."
Acts 19:16
Then the man who had the evil spirit jumped on them and overpowered them all. He gave them such a beating that they ran out of the house naked and bleeding.
So there you have it: the story of the 2 Ananias (and others). The Ananias in Acts 5 was a non-believer who had reason to fear God. The Ananias in Acts 9 was a believer who had no reason to fear God. Today, we who are disciples of Jesus Christ need not be fearful of God.
As Paul says in Rom 8:15, we "did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, "Abba, Father."
Isn't Daddy God a good God? Thank you, Daddy God!
Afternote: In his sermon on 28 Oct 2010, Ps Prince clarifies 2 occasions when the word "man" was used to describe disciples: Acts 18:7 and Acts 25:14.
Acts 18:7
Then he left there and went to the house of a man named Titius Justus,a worshiper of God, whose house was next to the synagogue. (NASB)
The word "man" is in italics, indicating that it was not in the original Greek text.
You can verify this here
http://interlinearbible.org/acts/18-7.htm
And that is why the NIV version omits the word "man" totally, viz:
Then Paul left the synagogue and went next door to the house of Titius Justus, a worshiper of God.
Acts 25:14
Since they were spending many days there, Festus discussed Paul’s case with the king. He said: “There is a man here whom Felix left as a prisoner."
Narrative vs Quotation
Note that Paul is being described as "a man" by Festus. It is a quotation. Being an unbeliever himself, he would not have referred to Paul as "a disciple". Contrast this with other parts in the book of Acts whereby the pasages are being narrated by Luke and Luke is very careful to describe believers as disciples.
One of the stories in the book of Acts that used to put fear in my heart was the account of Ananias and Sapphira as recorded in Acts 5. Here we read of a couple who died tragically because they kept part of the proceeds from the sale of their property for themselves, but made it appear as though it was the entire amount.
I have also heard several sermons where this passage is quoted to reinforce that believers need to fear the LORD, because He will punish us like He did that couple.
Acts 5 Ananias and Sapphira
1Now a man named Ananias, together with his wife Sapphira, also sold a piece of property. 2With his wife's full knowledge he kept back part of the money for himself, but brought the rest and put it at the apostles' feet.
3Then Peter said, "Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and have kept for yourself some of the money you received for the land?
4Didn't it belong to you before it was sold? And after it was sold, wasn't the money at your disposal? What made you think of doing such a thing? You have not lied to men but to God."
5When Ananias heard this, he fell down and died. And great fear seized all who heard what had happened.
6Then the young men came forward, wrapped up his body, and carried him out and buried him.
7About three hours later his wife came in, not knowing what had happened.
8Peter asked her, "Tell me, is this the price you and Ananias got for the land?" "Yes," she said, "that is the price."
9Peter said to her, "How could you agree to test the Spirit of the Lord? Look! The feet of the men who buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out also."
10At that moment she fell down at his feet and died. Then the young men came in and, finding her dead, carried her out and buried her beside her husband.
11Great fear seized the whole church and all who heard about these events.
But if one were to read that passage carefully, there is actually no mentioned anywhere that it was God or the Holy Spirit that struck them dead. This is an assumption that many of us have probably adopted because we were led to believe that God is a God of "no nonsense" and will not hesitate to punish us!
But that is not the point... yet...
There is another Ananias that Luke tell us about in Acts 9:10. He was the "middleman" that God asked to minister to the apostle Paul just after the latter had his road to Damascus experience.
Acts 9
10In Damascus there was a disciple named Ananias. The Lord called to him in a vision, "Ananias" "Yes, Lord," he answered.
11The Lord told him, "Go to the house of Judas on Straight Street and ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for he is praying.
12In a vision he has seen a man named Ananias come and place his hands on him to restore his sight."
13"Lord," Ananias answered, "I have heard many reports about this man and all the harm he has done to your saints in Jerusalem.
14And he has come here with authority from the chief priests to arrest all who call on your name."
15But the Lord said to Ananias, "Go! This man is my chosen instrument to carry my name before the Gentiles and their kings and before the people of Israel.
16I will show him how much he must suffer for my name."
17Then Ananias went to the house and entered it. Placing his hands on Saul, he said, "Brother Saul, the Lord—Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you were coming here—has sent me so that you may see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit."
18Immediately, something like scales fell from Saul's eyes, and he could see again. He got up and was baptized,
19and after taking some food, he regained his strength.
So what is the point, you may ask? The point is that the Ananais in Acts 5 was being described as a "man" (aner, Strong's G435), whereas this Ananais in Acts 9 was referred to as a "disciple" (mathetes, Strong's G3101)! There are no insignificant details in the Bible. Everything is there for a purpose, because "all" Scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching and equipping us (2 Tim 3:16-17).
The book of Acts was written by Luke to Theophilus. Luke was both a medical doctor as well as an historian with an eye for careful detail. The Holy Spirit saw fit to inspire him to use different terms to distinguish those who were believers from those who were not; believers were referred to as disciples, while non-believers were referred to as men.
Throughout the book of Acts, he maintains a consistent distinction between a person who was a believer, and one who is not, viz:
Acts 5:1 [Ananias and Sapphira]
Now a man named Ananias, together with his wife Sapphira, also sold a piece of property.
Acts 6:1 [The Choosing of the Seven]
In those days when the number of disciples was increasing, the Grecian Jews among them complained against the Hebraic Jews because their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food.
Acts 7:58
dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. Meanwhile, the witnesses laid their clothes at the feet of a young man named Saul. (Note: Saul/Paul was not a believer at this time yet until after his road to Damascus experience in Acts 9)
Acts 8:30
Then Philip ran up to the chariot and heard the man reading Isaiah the prophet. "Do you understand what you are reading?" Philip asked. (Note: the Ethiopian eunuch was not a believer at this time yet until Philip explained the Scriptures to him, and he accepted Christ as recorded in Acts 8:37)
Acts 9:10
In Damascus there was a disciple named Ananias. The Lord called to him in a vision, "Ananias!" "Yes, Lord," he answered.
Acts 9:33
There he found a man named Aeneas, a paralytic who had been bedridden for eight years.
Acts 9:36
In Joppa there was a disciple named Tabitha (which, when translated, is Dorcas ), who was always doing good and helping the poor.
Acts 10:1 [Cornelius Calls for Peter]
At Caesarea there was a man named Cornelius, a centurion in what was known as the Italian Regiment. (Cornelius was not a believer until Peter preached to him, after which he received the baptism of the Holy Spirit and water baptism as recorded in Acts 10:44-48)
Acts 14:8 [In Lystra and Derbe]
In Lystra there sat a man crippled in his feet, who was lame from birth and had never walked.
Acts 16:1 [Timothy Joins Paul and Silas]
He came to Derbe and then to Lystra, where a disciple named Timothy lived, whose mother was a Jewess and a believer, but whose father was a Greek.
Acts 16:9
During the night Paul had a vision of a man of Macedonia standing and begging him, "Come over to Macedonia and help us."
Acts 19:16
Then the man who had the evil spirit jumped on them and overpowered them all. He gave them such a beating that they ran out of the house naked and bleeding.
So there you have it: the story of the 2 Ananias (and others). The Ananias in Acts 5 was a non-believer who had reason to fear God. The Ananias in Acts 9 was a believer who had no reason to fear God. Today, we who are disciples of Jesus Christ need not be fearful of God.
As Paul says in Rom 8:15, we "did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, "Abba, Father."
Isn't Daddy God a good God? Thank you, Daddy God!
Afternote: In his sermon on 28 Oct 2010, Ps Prince clarifies 2 occasions when the word "man" was used to describe disciples: Acts 18:7 and Acts 25:14.
Acts 18:7
Then he left there and went to the house of a man named Titius Justus,a worshiper of God, whose house was next to the synagogue. (NASB)
The word "man" is in italics, indicating that it was not in the original Greek text.
You can verify this here
http://interlinearbible.org/acts/18-7.htm
And that is why the NIV version omits the word "man" totally, viz:
Then Paul left the synagogue and went next door to the house of Titius Justus, a worshiper of God.
Acts 25:14
Since they were spending many days there, Festus discussed Paul’s case with the king. He said: “There is a man here whom Felix left as a prisoner."
Narrative vs Quotation
Note that Paul is being described as "a man" by Festus. It is a quotation. Being an unbeliever himself, he would not have referred to Paul as "a disciple". Contrast this with other parts in the book of Acts whereby the pasages are being narrated by Luke and Luke is very careful to describe believers as disciples.
Sunday, October 3, 2010
4 Types of Adultery
This post was first published on ROOTSS on Wednesday, 7th February 2007
When I was a young boy growing up in church, I remember one particular Sunday when there was no Sunday School. My sisters and I accompanied our parents to Sunday Service and Rev Sam Goh was preaching. Back then, our church was pretty small and cosy, and could sit about 300 persons. Our dear Pastor asked the congregation whether any of us could remember the Ten Commandments.I remember one member mentioning "Thou shall not steal", and another "Thou shall not murder". Well, this young gentleman, at the tender age of 10 or 11, raised his hand and said,"Thou shall not commit adultery".Even though I had responded so, I never knew the actual meaning of that word until much later in my teens. And as I look back, the progressive revelation to me is that there are actually 4 types of adultery.
1. Physical Adultery
This is the one referred to in the Ten Commandments as recorded in Ex 20:14. It is being unfaithful to one's spouse by going to bed with someone other than one's spouse. The concept of physical adultery is something that even pre-believers are able to comprehend.
2. Mental Adultery
In Jesus' sermon on the mount, He tells us in Matt 5:27-28 "You have heard that it was said, 'Do not commit adultery.' But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. This was something pretty radical, because the standards set by Jesus Himself seems to be even higher than what was given through Moses.
3. Emotional Adultery
I learned this term when my wife and I attended a marriage-enrichment course called Married for Life in 2003. When one starts to look to someone else to meet his or her emotional needs, then he or she is actually committing emotional adultery with that other person, even though the physical (or even mental act) has not taken place.
Dennis Rainey, the co-founder and president of FamilyLife, a division of Campus Crusade for Christ, describes this in his article Avoiding Emotional Adultery as "an intimacy with the opposite sex outside of marriage. Emotional adultery is unfaithfulness of the heart. When two people begin talking of intimate struggles, doubts or feelings, they may be sharing their souls in a way that God intended exclusively for the marriage relationship. Emotional adultery is friendship with the opposite sex that has progressed too far."
A churchmate shared with me back in 2003 that he will never give a lift to a lady such that only that lady and him is the car by themselves. It is wise to draw these type of boundaries because even the Bible tells us to flee from sexual sins. For other types of trials and temptations, we can stand firm against the devil. But for this type of attack, we must flee. Paul tells us in 1 Cor 6:18 "Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a man commits are outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body." When Joseph was seduced by Potiphar's wife, he did not argue or reason with her. He did the only thing that was correct for a man to do. He fled.
4. Spiritual Adultery
Having been progressively convinced about the dangers of the types of adultery as mentioned above, I understand now that there is a 4th type of adultery -- spiritual adultery.
In Romans 7, Paul tells us
1 Do you not know, brothers—for I am speaking to men who know the law—that the law has authority over a man only as long as he lives?
2 For example, by law a married woman is bound to her husband as long as he is alive, but if her husband dies, she is released from the law of marriage.
3 So then, if she marries another man while her husband is still alive, she is called an adulteress. But if her husband dies, she is released from that law and is not an adulteress, even though she marries another man.
4 So, my brothers, you also died to the law through the body of Christ, that you might belong to another, to him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit to God.
5 For when we were controlled by the sinful nature, the sinful passions aroused by the law were at work in our bodies, so that we bore fruit for death.
6 But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code.
When I first read this passage, it was like woah, cheemalogy man, that's Greek to me (which is the case I suppose, because Paul wrote his epistles in Greek, but what I meant is that I read the passage in English, but I could not understand what he was trying to convey, so I might as well have read in in Greek).
I was more familiar with the next part of the chapter, ie. verses 7 to 21, where Paul talks about the struggle he faced, "I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do" (verse 15).
So why did the Holy Spirit see fit to inspire Paul to include the "An Illustration from Marriage" in Rom 7:1-6 before the "Struggling with Sin" in Rom 7:7-21?
As humans, we are able to understand the concept of a marriage covenant between a husband and a wife, and how they are bound by this covenant as long as both persons remain alive. Paul applies this analogy to the covenants that God has with His people. Previously, you and I, as it were, were married to Mr Law. Mr Law demanded from us perfection, and we had to obey all that he commanded. The trouble was that none of us are able to meet up to all of Mr Law's demands, and the marriage thus became a very unpleasant one.
The only way out of that covenant was for someone to die. Mr Law could not die because God's laws are eternal. So God provided a means out of that old covenant -- by the death of Jesus. Jesus became the means for us to be released from the earlier marriage, via His death, and so we are now free to marry another (Rom 7:3), and that person is the resurrected Christ. We, as the Church, are the bride of Christ and we are now married to our Lord Jesus.
Jesus now provides us with the means to love others, obey God's commandments and to live a abundant life. However, once in a while, we may accidently read a book, or hear a sermon, telling us that we cannot live by grace alone, or that we have to earn our salvation, or that we have to do things in order to be right with God. This is like asking us to go back to Mr Law instead of remaining faithfully married to Jesus.It may not seem like a big deal to most of us to mix Mr Law and Jesus together, but Paul tells us in no uncertaintain terms that this is spiritual adultery!
He struggled with spiritual adultery himself and that is why he mentioned that the things he wanted to do, he could not, while the things he did not want to do, he did. The revelation comes in Rom 8:1-2 where he declares that therefore is now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus because the law of the Spirit of life has set him free from the law of sin and death, which means this follows from the passage earlier as recorded in Rom 7.
He then goes on to declare victory found purely in Christ in the rest of Rom 8, the climax of which is found in verse 37 where he says that we are more than conquerors because of Christ.
So friends, let us not be found guilty of any of the 4 types of adultery, but remain faithful and committed to our spouse here on earth, as well as to our bridegroom, the Lord Jesus. Amen?
When I was a young boy growing up in church, I remember one particular Sunday when there was no Sunday School. My sisters and I accompanied our parents to Sunday Service and Rev Sam Goh was preaching. Back then, our church was pretty small and cosy, and could sit about 300 persons. Our dear Pastor asked the congregation whether any of us could remember the Ten Commandments.I remember one member mentioning "Thou shall not steal", and another "Thou shall not murder". Well, this young gentleman, at the tender age of 10 or 11, raised his hand and said,"Thou shall not commit adultery".Even though I had responded so, I never knew the actual meaning of that word until much later in my teens. And as I look back, the progressive revelation to me is that there are actually 4 types of adultery.
1. Physical Adultery
This is the one referred to in the Ten Commandments as recorded in Ex 20:14. It is being unfaithful to one's spouse by going to bed with someone other than one's spouse. The concept of physical adultery is something that even pre-believers are able to comprehend.
2. Mental Adultery
In Jesus' sermon on the mount, He tells us in Matt 5:27-28 "You have heard that it was said, 'Do not commit adultery.' But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. This was something pretty radical, because the standards set by Jesus Himself seems to be even higher than what was given through Moses.
3. Emotional Adultery
I learned this term when my wife and I attended a marriage-enrichment course called Married for Life in 2003. When one starts to look to someone else to meet his or her emotional needs, then he or she is actually committing emotional adultery with that other person, even though the physical (or even mental act) has not taken place.
Dennis Rainey, the co-founder and president of FamilyLife, a division of Campus Crusade for Christ, describes this in his article Avoiding Emotional Adultery as "an intimacy with the opposite sex outside of marriage. Emotional adultery is unfaithfulness of the heart. When two people begin talking of intimate struggles, doubts or feelings, they may be sharing their souls in a way that God intended exclusively for the marriage relationship. Emotional adultery is friendship with the opposite sex that has progressed too far."
A churchmate shared with me back in 2003 that he will never give a lift to a lady such that only that lady and him is the car by themselves. It is wise to draw these type of boundaries because even the Bible tells us to flee from sexual sins. For other types of trials and temptations, we can stand firm against the devil. But for this type of attack, we must flee. Paul tells us in 1 Cor 6:18 "Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a man commits are outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body." When Joseph was seduced by Potiphar's wife, he did not argue or reason with her. He did the only thing that was correct for a man to do. He fled.
4. Spiritual Adultery
Having been progressively convinced about the dangers of the types of adultery as mentioned above, I understand now that there is a 4th type of adultery -- spiritual adultery.
In Romans 7, Paul tells us
1 Do you not know, brothers—for I am speaking to men who know the law—that the law has authority over a man only as long as he lives?
2 For example, by law a married woman is bound to her husband as long as he is alive, but if her husband dies, she is released from the law of marriage.
3 So then, if she marries another man while her husband is still alive, she is called an adulteress. But if her husband dies, she is released from that law and is not an adulteress, even though she marries another man.
4 So, my brothers, you also died to the law through the body of Christ, that you might belong to another, to him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit to God.
5 For when we were controlled by the sinful nature, the sinful passions aroused by the law were at work in our bodies, so that we bore fruit for death.
6 But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code.
When I first read this passage, it was like woah, cheemalogy man, that's Greek to me (which is the case I suppose, because Paul wrote his epistles in Greek, but what I meant is that I read the passage in English, but I could not understand what he was trying to convey, so I might as well have read in in Greek).
I was more familiar with the next part of the chapter, ie. verses 7 to 21, where Paul talks about the struggle he faced, "I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do" (verse 15).
So why did the Holy Spirit see fit to inspire Paul to include the "An Illustration from Marriage" in Rom 7:1-6 before the "Struggling with Sin" in Rom 7:7-21?
As humans, we are able to understand the concept of a marriage covenant between a husband and a wife, and how they are bound by this covenant as long as both persons remain alive. Paul applies this analogy to the covenants that God has with His people. Previously, you and I, as it were, were married to Mr Law. Mr Law demanded from us perfection, and we had to obey all that he commanded. The trouble was that none of us are able to meet up to all of Mr Law's demands, and the marriage thus became a very unpleasant one.
The only way out of that covenant was for someone to die. Mr Law could not die because God's laws are eternal. So God provided a means out of that old covenant -- by the death of Jesus. Jesus became the means for us to be released from the earlier marriage, via His death, and so we are now free to marry another (Rom 7:3), and that person is the resurrected Christ. We, as the Church, are the bride of Christ and we are now married to our Lord Jesus.
Jesus now provides us with the means to love others, obey God's commandments and to live a abundant life. However, once in a while, we may accidently read a book, or hear a sermon, telling us that we cannot live by grace alone, or that we have to earn our salvation, or that we have to do things in order to be right with God. This is like asking us to go back to Mr Law instead of remaining faithfully married to Jesus.It may not seem like a big deal to most of us to mix Mr Law and Jesus together, but Paul tells us in no uncertaintain terms that this is spiritual adultery!
He struggled with spiritual adultery himself and that is why he mentioned that the things he wanted to do, he could not, while the things he did not want to do, he did. The revelation comes in Rom 8:1-2 where he declares that therefore is now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus because the law of the Spirit of life has set him free from the law of sin and death, which means this follows from the passage earlier as recorded in Rom 7.
He then goes on to declare victory found purely in Christ in the rest of Rom 8, the climax of which is found in verse 37 where he says that we are more than conquerors because of Christ.
So friends, let us not be found guilty of any of the 4 types of adultery, but remain faithful and committed to our spouse here on earth, as well as to our bridegroom, the Lord Jesus. Amen?
Saturday, October 2, 2010
Why Was Noah Spared the Flood?
Note: This post was first published on ROOTSS on Tuesday, 8th May 2007
Imagine that you pick up the New Paper one day to read the following headline
FATHER OF THREE FOUND NAKED BY SONS IN DRUNKEN STUPOR.
FATHER WAKES UP AND CURSES HIS YOUNGEST SON FOR EXPOSING HIM.
What impression would you form about this father and his son?
Now read Gen 9:20-27...
One of the most familiar stories in the Bible is regarding Noah and the flood.
What may not have been expounded in detail, however, was the event leading up to the flood (as well as the above event that happened after the flood).
I remember my Sunday School teachers telling us very simplistically that Noah was spared from God's judgement because the entire world was wicked and evil, whereas only he, his three sons Shem, Ham and Japheth and their wives were good and upright.
Yet we read in Gen 9 about how Noah got drunk one day and lay naked, and his youngest son Ham ratted on him. When Noah woke up, he placed a curse on the descendants of Ham.
Sure doesn't seem like the behaviour of persons who were good and upright.
So why did God spare him and his family, yet everyone else perished in the flood?
For that, we need to read the account leading up to the flood.
In Gen 6:9, Noah was described as a "perfect man". The original Hebrew word is tamiym (Strong's 08549), which means "without blemish" or "unadulterated". This same word is used to describe the condition of animals that were acceptable to be offered unto the Lord under the Levitical customs.
Earlier in the same chapter, we also read about "unholy unions" between fallen angels and humans.
Gen 6:1-3 (Contemporary English Version)
More and more people were born, until finally they spread all over the earth. Some of their daughters were so beautiful that supernatural beings came down and married the ones they wanted.
What resulted from those unholy unions were gigantic freaks (or what some versions refer to as Nephilim).
Now why would these fallen angels want to do that?
Remember that prophesy that took place in the Garden of Eden in Gen 3:15?
Satan was now summoning his followers to corrupt the seed of Eve, hoping that it would prevent that prophesy from coming to pass!
But thankfully, God was again one step ahead of the evil one. Noah and his family were the only ones left who remained unblemished. He was asked to build the ark and take one pair of each kind of animal with him. The workings of the devil in trying to corrupt the seed of Eve came to an abrupt end when all the products of the unholy unions perished in the flood.
Noah was spared not because he was without sin, but because he was the only unblemished specimen of mankind left on earth!
The genealogy of Jesus was thus preserved. The lineage from Noah to Abraham as recorded in Gen 11:10-32 is as follows:
Noah
Shem
Arphaxad
Cainan
Shelah
Eber
Peleg
Reu
Serug
Nahor
Terah
Abraham
There is not much mentioned about the partriachs between Shem and Abraham.
However, Abraham was told specifically by God that he would become a father of many nations. The devil heard this and hence began his dirty deeds in earnest again.
I will blog about what he tried to do to Abraham and Sarah to prevent the first prophesy from happening, and how God continued to outsmart him. So stay tuned.
Imagine that you pick up the New Paper one day to read the following headline
FATHER OF THREE FOUND NAKED BY SONS IN DRUNKEN STUPOR.
FATHER WAKES UP AND CURSES HIS YOUNGEST SON FOR EXPOSING HIM.
What impression would you form about this father and his son?
Now read Gen 9:20-27...
One of the most familiar stories in the Bible is regarding Noah and the flood.
What may not have been expounded in detail, however, was the event leading up to the flood (as well as the above event that happened after the flood).
I remember my Sunday School teachers telling us very simplistically that Noah was spared from God's judgement because the entire world was wicked and evil, whereas only he, his three sons Shem, Ham and Japheth and their wives were good and upright.
Yet we read in Gen 9 about how Noah got drunk one day and lay naked, and his youngest son Ham ratted on him. When Noah woke up, he placed a curse on the descendants of Ham.
Sure doesn't seem like the behaviour of persons who were good and upright.
So why did God spare him and his family, yet everyone else perished in the flood?
In Gen 6:9, Noah was described as a "perfect man". The original Hebrew word is tamiym (Strong's 08549), which means "without blemish" or "unadulterated". This same word is used to describe the condition of animals that were acceptable to be offered unto the Lord under the Levitical customs.
Earlier in the same chapter, we also read about "unholy unions" between fallen angels and humans.
Gen 6:1-3 (Contemporary English Version)
More and more people were born, until finally they spread all over the earth. Some of their daughters were so beautiful that supernatural beings came down and married the ones they wanted.
What resulted from those unholy unions were gigantic freaks (or what some versions refer to as Nephilim).
Now why would these fallen angels want to do that?
Remember that prophesy that took place in the Garden of Eden in Gen 3:15?
Satan was now summoning his followers to corrupt the seed of Eve, hoping that it would prevent that prophesy from coming to pass!
But thankfully, God was again one step ahead of the evil one. Noah and his family were the only ones left who remained unblemished. He was asked to build the ark and take one pair of each kind of animal with him. The workings of the devil in trying to corrupt the seed of Eve came to an abrupt end when all the products of the unholy unions perished in the flood.
Noah was spared not because he was without sin, but because he was the only unblemished specimen of mankind left on earth!
The genealogy of Jesus was thus preserved. The lineage from Noah to Abraham as recorded in Gen 11:10-32 is as follows:
Noah
Shem
Arphaxad
Cainan
Shelah
Eber
Peleg
Reu
Serug
Nahor
Terah
Abraham
There is not much mentioned about the partriachs between Shem and Abraham.
However, Abraham was told specifically by God that he would become a father of many nations. The devil heard this and hence began his dirty deeds in earnest again.
I will blog about what he tried to do to Abraham and Sarah to prevent the first prophesy from happening, and how God continued to outsmart him. So stay tuned.
Friday, October 1, 2010
Paradise was a Place in Hell
Note: This post was first published on ROOTSS on Wednesday, 19th December 2007
Back in the 1980s, there was a popular song entitled "Heaven is a Place on Earth". This is of course not scriptural, because we know that heaven is where we as believers will go to after we pass on from this earth.
What if I were to tell you that Paradise was a place in hell? Would you be surprised? Read on…
In Matt 12:40, Jesus said, “For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.”
Here, Jesus was telling the scribes and the Pharisees that He would spend three days and three nights in hell. We of course know that He was referring to the time just after He would be crucified.
Yet, we also read in Luke 23:43 a verse that is often quoted at funerals. Jesus told one of the thieves, “I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise.”
If Jesus had spent three days and three nights in hell, and yet also told this thief that he would be with Him in paradise, then the logical conclusion is that paradise was a place in hell!
Before someone shouts “Heresy!”, please let me continue…
Jesus also said in Jn 14:6 that He is the Way, the Truth and the Life, and that no one got to the Father except through Him.
This is no problem for the believer today. Once a person accepts Jesus, He is guaranteed life eternal in heaven, where God the Father resides.
But how about those patriarchs of old such as Adam, Noah, Abraham or David, etc? When they were alive, Jesus was not yet made available to them, so to speak.
Aah.. when they died, their souls too went to the "holding place" called paradise, and they were there waiting in eager anticipation for Jesus to finally come and bring them up to heaven!
That place is also known as Abraham’s bosom or Abraham’s side, as described in the parable that Jesus told about the rich man and the beggar in Luke 16:19-28. Even though paradise and Sheol were both located in hell, we read in that parable that there was a great chasm that divided them, and no one could cross over from one place to the other.
Jesus died for all our sins, past, present and future. While the cross stands outside the dimension of time, we humans are bounded by time, hence the “past” sins that Jesus died for would refer to those that were committed by those patriarchs, and Jesus died for each and every one of them too.
So what exactly did Jesus do during those three days and nights in the depths of the earth?
(1) He went to get the keys of death and Hades back from the devil.
As a result of first Adam's sin, man had to die. The keys of death were effectively handed over to the devil. But the second Adam conquered death and Hades and redeemed mankind back unto the Lord. Consider the following verses:
Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death--that is, the devil. (Heb 2:14)
I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades. (Rev 1:18)
(2) He proclaimed His victory over the fallen angels who during the time of Noah, had tried to corrupt the human race by procreating with the daughters of Eve
Satan had heard God prophesy in the Garden of Eden that a seed of Eve would crush his head. So he tried to prevent that from happening by getting his fallen angels to appear in human form to procreate with humans in order to corrupt the human race.
This extent of this corruption was so widespread that only 8 persons were purely human: Noah, his three sons and their wives. You can read more about that here.
Through whom also He went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison who disobeyed long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built. In it only a few people, eight in all, were saved through water (1 Pet 3:19-20)
I can imagine Jesus saying to those fallen angels "nani nani poo poo", because God outwitted the devil by sending the flood to destroy them. We read in Jude 1:6 that "these angels who did not keep their own domain, but abandoned their proper abode are now kept in eternal bonds under darkness for the judgment of the great day."
(3) He went to "Abraham’s bosom" to release all those who were there and took them up with Him
Consider the following passage of Scripture
Matthew 27:50 - 53
50 Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost.
51 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;
52 And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose,
53 And came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many.
Verse 53 is very interesting – it says that these saints appeared to many. Can you imagine how those in Jerusalem must have felt when they saw right before their very eyes their forefathers like Abel, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob or David in flesh and blood before them.
So was there anyone the other side of the cross who went to heaven without having to spend time in this holding area?
Based on Scripture, there seems to be 3 persons: Enoch, Moses and Elijah.
Enoch and Elijah did not taste death but were raptured. We read in Gen 5:24 that "Enoch walked with God; then he was no more, because God took him away", and also in 2 Kings 2:11 that "suddenly a chariot of fire and horses of fire appeared and separated the two of them, and Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind.".
The third person to have gone to heaven was Moses. Unlike Enoch and Elijah, Moses tasted death, but Jude 1:9 records that "But even the archangel Michael, when he was disputing with the devil about the body of Moses, did not dare to bring a slanderous accusation against him, but said, "The Lord rebuke you!"
Here we see that Michael the Archangel and the devil fought over Moses' body, each probably laying claim to why he should have it. Satan's argument was that he had the power over death at that stage, but the fact that Moses appeared in glory next to Jesus at the Mount of Transfiguration shows us the outcome of this "Holy War".
So friends, paradise was a place in hell. It was a holding area for the saints who passed away before the cross. For us this side of the cross, we can go straight to heaven. Amen?
Afternote: A fellow believer who calls himself Oblivion has kindly given me a link to a Youtube video whereby Ps Prince talks about this very topic, which you can view below:
Back in the 1980s, there was a popular song entitled "Heaven is a Place on Earth". This is of course not scriptural, because we know that heaven is where we as believers will go to after we pass on from this earth.
What if I were to tell you that Paradise was a place in hell? Would you be surprised? Read on…
In Matt 12:40, Jesus said, “For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.”
Here, Jesus was telling the scribes and the Pharisees that He would spend three days and three nights in hell. We of course know that He was referring to the time just after He would be crucified.
Yet, we also read in Luke 23:43 a verse that is often quoted at funerals. Jesus told one of the thieves, “I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise.”
If Jesus had spent three days and three nights in hell, and yet also told this thief that he would be with Him in paradise, then the logical conclusion is that paradise was a place in hell!
Before someone shouts “Heresy!”, please let me continue…
Jesus also said in Jn 14:6 that He is the Way, the Truth and the Life, and that no one got to the Father except through Him.
This is no problem for the believer today. Once a person accepts Jesus, He is guaranteed life eternal in heaven, where God the Father resides.
But how about those patriarchs of old such as Adam, Noah, Abraham or David, etc? When they were alive, Jesus was not yet made available to them, so to speak.
Aah.. when they died, their souls too went to the "holding place" called paradise, and they were there waiting in eager anticipation for Jesus to finally come and bring them up to heaven!
That place is also known as Abraham’s bosom or Abraham’s side, as described in the parable that Jesus told about the rich man and the beggar in Luke 16:19-28. Even though paradise and Sheol were both located in hell, we read in that parable that there was a great chasm that divided them, and no one could cross over from one place to the other.
Jesus died for all our sins, past, present and future. While the cross stands outside the dimension of time, we humans are bounded by time, hence the “past” sins that Jesus died for would refer to those that were committed by those patriarchs, and Jesus died for each and every one of them too.
So what exactly did Jesus do during those three days and nights in the depths of the earth?
(1) He went to get the keys of death and Hades back from the devil.
As a result of first Adam's sin, man had to die. The keys of death were effectively handed over to the devil. But the second Adam conquered death and Hades and redeemed mankind back unto the Lord. Consider the following verses:
Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death--that is, the devil. (Heb 2:14)
I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades. (Rev 1:18)
(2) He proclaimed His victory over the fallen angels who during the time of Noah, had tried to corrupt the human race by procreating with the daughters of Eve
Satan had heard God prophesy in the Garden of Eden that a seed of Eve would crush his head. So he tried to prevent that from happening by getting his fallen angels to appear in human form to procreate with humans in order to corrupt the human race.
This extent of this corruption was so widespread that only 8 persons were purely human: Noah, his three sons and their wives. You can read more about that here.
Through whom also He went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison who disobeyed long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built. In it only a few people, eight in all, were saved through water (1 Pet 3:19-20)
I can imagine Jesus saying to those fallen angels "nani nani poo poo", because God outwitted the devil by sending the flood to destroy them. We read in Jude 1:6 that "these angels who did not keep their own domain, but abandoned their proper abode are now kept in eternal bonds under darkness for the judgment of the great day."
(3) He went to "Abraham’s bosom" to release all those who were there and took them up with Him
Consider the following passage of Scripture
Matthew 27:50 - 53
50 Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost.
51 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;
52 And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose,
53 And came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many.
Verse 53 is very interesting – it says that these saints appeared to many. Can you imagine how those in Jerusalem must have felt when they saw right before their very eyes their forefathers like Abel, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob or David in flesh and blood before them.
So was there anyone the other side of the cross who went to heaven without having to spend time in this holding area?
Based on Scripture, there seems to be 3 persons: Enoch, Moses and Elijah.
Enoch and Elijah did not taste death but were raptured. We read in Gen 5:24 that "Enoch walked with God; then he was no more, because God took him away", and also in 2 Kings 2:11 that "suddenly a chariot of fire and horses of fire appeared and separated the two of them, and Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind.".
The third person to have gone to heaven was Moses. Unlike Enoch and Elijah, Moses tasted death, but Jude 1:9 records that "But even the archangel Michael, when he was disputing with the devil about the body of Moses, did not dare to bring a slanderous accusation against him, but said, "The Lord rebuke you!"
Here we see that Michael the Archangel and the devil fought over Moses' body, each probably laying claim to why he should have it. Satan's argument was that he had the power over death at that stage, but the fact that Moses appeared in glory next to Jesus at the Mount of Transfiguration shows us the outcome of this "Holy War".
So friends, paradise was a place in hell. It was a holding area for the saints who passed away before the cross. For us this side of the cross, we can go straight to heaven. Amen?
Afternote: A fellow believer who calls himself Oblivion has kindly given me a link to a Youtube video whereby Ps Prince talks about this very topic, which you can view below:
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