R.P. Nettelhorst's Blog, page 101

Apocalypse

Apocalypse is another name for the last book in the New Testament, the book of Revelation.

The word “apocalypse” is taken from Greek, where it simply meant “revelation.” It is the first word in Greek in the first verse of the first chapter of the book of Revelation: “The revelation of Jesus Christ…” The word “apocalypse” is also used for any of a class of Jewish and Christian writings that appeared between about 200 BC and AD 350 describing a cataclysm in which the forces of good and evil battled, with good finally triumphing over evil. This apocalyptic literature was produced by communities that were suffering persecution or felt oppressed and marginalized. The New Testament book of Revelation is the only book of the Bible that can be identified as a part of this sort of literature, though books like it were quite common in that period.

There are no modern works that are equivalent to ancient apocalypse, and as a consequence, the book of Revelation is often confusing to modern readers. However, once the conventions of that literary form are understood—along with its very common images and metaphors employed—the book becomes quite easy to make sense of.

The closest modern analogies to apocalypse are the old Negro spirituals that were produced before the American Civil War. Rather than being religious in nature, they were actually subversive. They were filled with code language designed to be understood one way by the slave owners and in an entirely different way by the slaves who had produced them. For instance, the “river Jordan” was used as a stand-in for the Ohio River. Once a slave had made it past the Ohio River, he or she would be free. In the song “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot” the “sweet chariot” refers to the Underground Railroad that could rescue slaves and move them to freedom.

Likewise, in apocalyptic literature in general, “Babylon” was code for the city of Rome. Just as the Babylonians had oppressed Israel, killed the people of God, corrupted the world, destroyed Jerusalem, and burned the Temple, so too had the Romans. The “whore of Babylon” described in Revelation 17 is a reference to the city of Rome, as is made obvious when the reader is told “The seven heads are seven hills on which the woman sits” (Revelation 17: 9) and “The woman you saw is the great city that rules over the kings of the earth.” (Revelation 17:18). Rome was noted for being built upon seven hills, and it ruled over the known world. Likewise, when Peter writes in 1 Peter 5:13 that the church in “Babylon” sends greetings, the original readers of his letter understood that he was writing from Rome.

Antichrist

Popularly, the Antichrist is pictured as an evil man who will fill the world with wickedness before being defeated by Jesus when he returns.

Many interpreters believe that the opponent that Paul writes about in 2 Thessalonians 2:1-11, who is described as an adversary of God and a false prophet, is the Antichrist. Additionally, the “Beast” in Revelation 13:1-9, 11-19, 11:7, and 20:2 is also often identified with this end of the world figure. Other interpreters, however, believe the Beast in Revelation is actually the Roman Empire.

Some interpreters will also tie Jewish and Old Testament passages into the picture of Antichrist, identifying the “little horn” in Daniel 11:36 with him. Other passages from the Old Testament taken as reference to the Antichrist include Ezekiel 28:2.

All that is a bit of a stretch, however. In reality, the term “Antichrist” appears but four times in the New Testament, and only in John’s letters (1 John 2:18, 22; 4:3 and 2 John 7). John tells those he is writing that they have heard that the Antichrist is coming; he then explains that the Antichrist is here, and that in fact there are many Antichrists. They are a danger to the church because of their theological and moral errors. Thus, the Antichrist is simply anyone who denies or opposes Christ.

Summary of Angels

Angels are a class of spiritual beings who serve as God’s messengers.

It is important to note that the Bible gives us very limited information about angels. Therefore, we must be careful in the conclusions we draw. We have insufficient information to say much of anything about these beings and most of what people believe about angels is derived from popular stories, legends, hearsay, movies and television, rather than from what the Bible relates. Some concepts, such as that of the guardian angel, are actually derived from other religions, such as Zoroastrianism.

The Hebrew word for angel is mala’ak. In meaning it is equivalent to the Greek word, angelos from which the English word is obviously derived. However, in both Hebrew and Greek, the term simply means “messenger” and was used for both God’s messengers as well as the messengers of a king or other ruler on Earth.

Three other terms are found in the Old Testament for angel. Seraphim (singular Seraph) simply means “flame.” It only shows up twice, both times in Isaiah, and both times in one chapter: Isaiah 6:2 and 6:6.

The second term is considerably more common, and is transliterated into English as “Cherub.” It is these angels that are described as particularly unusual to look at. Ezekiel 1:4-28 contains the most detailed description we have of them. Whether this is their normal appearance, it’s hard to say. They reappear in Revelation in virtually the same form. They appear most frequently, though, as a decorative images used in the temple.

The third term that is generally thought to refer to angels is found in only a handful of places. It is usually—though not always—translated as “the sons of God”. How to understand the term is a topic of great controversy, especially in Genesis 6:1-4, where the reader is told that the sons of God had sex with the daughters of men.

What do we know about angels? Not a lot. We know that in the Bible they are predominantly male (there are a couple of references in Zechariah that appear to be feminine: see Zech. 5:5-10 and 6:4-5). In fact, if the incident in Genesis 6 refers to angels, then they are masculine to the point of being able to mate with human women. However, the paucity of feminine angels in the Bible is not sufficient evidence to conclude that angels are never feminine. After all, arguments from silence are not particularly convincing, especially when so little is said to begin with.

We know that angels are sometimes frightening. Ezekiel gives us a description of the Cherubs in Ezekiel 1:4-28. A reading of that passage gives us the following characteristics: their basic form is that of a human biped (1:5), but they have four faces (1:6) and four wings (1:6). Their feet look something like those of a calf (cloven hooves?) and are shiny, as if they are made of burnished bronze (1:7). The four wings are spread out, one on each of their four sides. Under each wing is what looks like a human hand (1:8). Their heads have four faces, one on each of the four sides (1:10). One face looked human, one resembled an ox, one a lion, and one an eagle (1:10). As a result of having a face on each side of their bodies, they didn’t have to turn to change direction; no matter which way they decided to go, they were already facing that way (1:9, 12). The sound their wings made was quite loud (1:24). When an angel appears to someone, often one of the first things he has to say is “do not be afraid.” After Ezekiel’s description, we should not be surprised.

Yet—despite the description in Ezekiel—Genesis 18 and Joshua 5:13-15, plus most New Testament references show angels mostly in human form and indistinguishable from ordinary men. But in any case, 2 Kings 6:16-17 and Numbers 22:21-35 make clear the point that angels are not usually visible to human beings at all.

They serve as God’s messengers, to bring information to his servants (Daniel 10:12-14). They fight for God’s people (Joshua 5:13-15; 2 Kings 6:16-17), and they protect and help God’s people (Psalm 92:11-12).

Adoption

Adoption is a legal process that creates a parent-child relationship between individuals who are not biologically related. The adopted child is entitled to all the rights and privileges that would belong to a natural child of the adoptive parents.

Paul writes that Christians have been adopted by God (Romans 8:15, Galatians 4:5 and Ephesians 1:5). Paul takes the legal concept of adoption from first century AD Roman law and uses it to illustrate the relationship that Christians now have with God. Under Roman law, a man who had no son could take anyone, even one of his slaves, and make him his son. The person so adopted took the name of the father and in all respects was regarded and treated as a son, no different than if he was the biological offspring. The same holds true with adoption today. When I adopted my daughters, the judge made clear to my wife and I that in the state of California, once we signed the adoption papers, the adoption could not be undone.

Our children’s status is stronger than if they were our biological offspring. The state of California will not allow us to disown them. The state of California requires that they will inherit our property. Thus, the fact that we have been made children of God as Christians clarifies the nature of our relationship with God and gives us confidence in that relationship. Christians do not have to live in fear that they can somehow destroy that relationship. The relationship is stronger than that between parents and their biological offspring.

Paul points out that, just as when a slave was adopted and made a son, so we, like that Roman slave, are no longer slaves who must say “Master.” Now we are His children, and can call him “Father” (Romans 8:15). The Christian’s status, his or her relationship to God, has been permanently transformed.

Other metaphors that the New Testament authors use to describe the standing of the Christian with God are just as radical. The church is the bride of Christ (Ephesians 5:25), the body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12:27), and Jesus tells us that Christians are not servants, but friends (John 15:15).

Other examples of adoption in the Bible are the adoption of Moses by Pharaoh’s daughter (Exodus 2:10), Esther’s adoption by Mordecai (Esther 2:7) and God’s adoption of the people of Israel (Exodus 4:22, Deuteronomy 7:6, Hosea 11:1, and Romans 9:4).

Tossed To and Fro

You’ve tried Ezekiel Bread.

“Take wheat and barley, beans and lentils, millet and spelt; put them in a storage jar and use them to make bread for yourself.” (Ezekiel 4:9).

You’ve tasted Genesis 1:29 Bread.

Then God said, “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food.

You’ve done the Daniel Diet, based on Daniel 1:8-16:

But Daniel resolved not to defile himself with the royal food and wine, and he asked the chief official for permission not to defile himself this way. Now God had caused the official to show favor and compassion to Daniel, but the official told Daniel, “I am afraid of my lord the king, who has assigned your food and drink. Why should he see you looking worse than the other young men your age? The king would then have my head because of you.”

Daniel then said to the guard whom the chief official had appointed over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah, “Please test your servants for ten days: Give us nothing but vegetables to eat and water to drink. Then compare our appearance with that of the young men who eat the royal food, and treat your servants in accordance with what you see.” So he agreed to this and tested them for ten days.

At the end of the ten days they looked healthier and better nourished than any of the young men who ate the royal food. So the guard took away their choice food and the wine they were to drink and gave them vegetables instead.

And still, you’re dissatisfied. You don’t really feel any better. And you don’t really feel any closer to God.

Well we’ve got some good news! It’s what you’ve been waiting for all along. The thing you’ve been missing! What is it that will finally make you a good and healthy person?

The John the Baptist Diet!

Yes, you too can eat like a prophet of God, a man who prepared the way for the Lord. A man who was willing to die for his faith—and did. It is a simple diet. Uncomplicated–since there are only two things you can eat when you’re on the John the Baptist Diet:

1. Honey

2. Grasshoppers

His food was locusts and wild honey. (Matthew 3:4b)

While you’re at it, you probably are feeling as if you need to make other changes in your life. Perhaps you feel as if modern fashion is unbecoming and dishonoring to God. Well, we’ve got some more great news for you!

Prophet Apparel!

Yes, you too can dress like a prophet. Choose our most popular line, The John the Baptist Collection: It’s simple. Sturdy. Obviously the kind of clothing God likes, since one of his most faithful servants wore it.

John’s clothes were made of camel’s hair, and he had a leather belt around his waist. (Matthew 3:4a)

Another favorite is The Isaiah Three Year Line, a clothing choice that God actually demanded of his prophet. Isaiah was obedient. Will you be obedient, too?:

At that time the LORD spoke through Isaiah son of Amoz. He said to him, “Take off the sackcloth from your body and the sandals from your feet.” And he did so, going around stripped and barefoot. (Isaiah 20:2)

Or, perhaps, just perhaps, you’ll decide that maybe all these weird diets, foods and clothing choices have nothing to do with what you should eat or what you should wear–or with your relationship with God. Perhaps, just perhaps, you’ll realize that Jesus really paid for all your sins and there’s nothing left that you have to do to get closer to God. You’ve got as much of the Spirit and as much of God as you can get.

His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires. (2 Peter 1:3-4)

You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified. I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by believing what you heard? Are you so foolish? After beginning by means of the Spirit, are you now trying to finish by means of the flesh? Have you experienced so much in vain—if it really was in vain? So again I ask, does God give you his Spirit and work miracles among you by the works of the law, or by your believing what you heard? So also Abraham “believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.” (Galatinas 3:1-6)

Perhaps, just perhaps, you will realize that all the passages about food and clothing have been wrenched out of context and not one of them means “go and do thou likewise.”

And perhaps, just perhaps, you’ll take to heart the words of Paul:

Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming. (Ephesians 4:14)

The Nearest Stars

Source SPACE.com: All about our solar system, outer space and exploration

Falcon 9-R

The first demonstration launch of the new version of the Falcon 9, referred to as either the Falcon 9 v.1.1 or the Falcon 9-R launched successfully from Vandenberg AFB on Sunday, September 29, 2013 at 9:00 AM PDT. A report from the BBC states:

Retractable versions will now be incorporated on to the Falcon 9 that launches the company’s next Nasa cargo mission to the space station from Florida at the beginning of 2014. And again, once the first-stage has completed its primary tasks on that flight, it will be commanded to reignite its engines and to make a controlled return to Earth. But it won’t drop into the ocean. This time, the boost stage will try to touch down on a piece of ground at Cape Canaveral not far from the launch pad. SpaceX is currently working through the technicalities with range officials at the Cape, and with the Federal Aviation Authority. An FAA licence will be needed before such a landing is permitted.

This particular launch lacked the landing struts seen in the graphic below taken from SpaceX’s website: www.spacex.com/falcon9

Image and information taken from SpaceX.

Here is a video of what SpaceX intends to do and is making progress on:

Current testing with the Grasshopper test vehicle has gone well:

Random Thoughts

Some random thoughts inspired by a question regarding stoning and the Bible from the editor of an online news site for which I do some consulting:

The Bible prescribes capital punishment for a variety of actions; stoning was one way of accomplishing capital punishment. We see capital punishment for murder, adultery, rape, Sabbath breaking, disobedience to parents, witchcraft, and idolatry. The Israelite laws are not unique among the law codes of the Ancient Near East in prescribing capital punishment for certain actions. It differs from other ANE law-codes in two things: the laws are applied equally to all members of society. There are not different laws for different classes. Second, the laws were intended to be proportional. The lex talionis, “eye for eye, tooth for tooth” was designed to limit punishments to being no worse than the offense.

Of course, from our modern vantage point, we don’t necessarily see that.

An individual who breaks the Sabbath (by gathering firewood on Saturday) shortly after the Sabbath was instituted by the Ten Commandments, is soon dispatched after a brief consultation with God. It is the only instance in the Bible of someone being executed for violating the Sabbath. For instance, Nehemiah, after the Babylonian captivity, simply berates the leaders of Jerusalem for their violations of the Sabbath, though he later does threaten “arrest.” (see Nehemiah 13:15-22)

For other crimes, for instance murder, the Bible describes several people who were guilty of the crime who nevertheless were not executed, ranging from Cain in Genesis 4 (before the Law was given), through Moses (who killed an Egyptian) to David, guilty of both murder and adultery. One might argue that their status protected them, though the law specified that the kings were no better than anyone else, and that they were subject to the same laws as anyone else (Deuteronomy 17:14-20).

Despite the condemnation of blasphemy in Leviticus 24:16, the only stories of blasphemers being condemned are criticisms by the religious establishment against Jesus and against the first Christian martyr when he was stoned. Stoning (and capital punishment in general) is not placed in a good light, for the most part, in the Bible, despite the law.

And while idolatry and worshiping gods other than Yahweh were considered capital crimes, we see idolatry and polytheism as endemic throughout Israel from the time of Joshua until the time of the Babylonian conquest (which the prophets blamed on the idolatry)—and rarely were people executed for worshipping other gods. The one exception that I can think of off the top of my head being the incident in 2 Kings 10:18-28 when Jehu gathers all the prophets, servants and priests of Baal and executes them, though using soldiers with swords rather than stoning. This, shortly after he had conducted a coup against the former king and royal family whom he had slaughtered. Oddly, however the prophet Hosea relates God’s words regarding the incident (the death of the royal family and prophets of Baal):

Then the Lord said to Hosea, “Call him Jezreel [Hosea’s son], because I will soon punish the house of Jehu for the massacre at Jezreel, and I will put an end to the kingdom of Israel.

This would suggest that God was not pleased by what Jehu had done, despite the fact that the incident, as described in 2 Kings 10:18-28 seems to have God’s blessing at the time. So perhaps this apparent paradox tells us something deeper about God’s attitudes and that there might have been a disconnect between what some the ancient Israelites thought God wanted versus what he really did want.

After all, the Bible, though it can be analyzed as just individual texts, books, and such, written by many individuals over many years and in many places, this might be a time to think about the Bible in its entirety, which is the record that has been bequeathed to us today: the biblical narrative as a whole, taken as a whole, has a point to make and that looking at the Bible as a whole gives us incites that looking at the individual pieces we might miss. Many interpreters of the Bible miss the forest for the trees as it were.

Matthew 22:35-40 gives us this incident from Jesus’ interaction with a religious leader:

One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”

Jesus replied: “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

The point that the Bible is trying to make as a whole is that it all comes down to loving God and loving people. I would argue that any interpretation of the Bible or its parts that allows you to violate either of those prime commandments is necessarily in error. Go to Jail, do not pass go, do not collect 200 dollars. Notice, too, that the commandments to love God and to love your neighbor are quotations from the Old Testament (Deuteronomy 6:5 and Leviticus 19:18, both part of the Law of Moses): Jesus is not saying something new—he is arguing that it has been there the whole time, though people seem to have a lot of trouble hearing it and putting it into practice.

Paul reiterates the concept later in letters to local churches:

For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” (Galatians 5:14)

Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law. The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not covet,” and whatever other command there may be, are summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no harm to a neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law. (Romans 13:8-10)

Throughout the Bible love, mercy, and forgiveness are priorities (Micah 6:6-8, Isaiah 1:17, Jeremiah 22:3, Hosea 6:6, Zechariah 7:9-10, Matthew 9:3, Matthew 23:23, Mark 12:33, 1 John not killing people (see , as an example ). Some criticize the orders to exterminate the Canaanites, but one of the bigger stories in the book of Joshua is of the Canaanites who were not exterminated (thanks to their subterfuge Joshua 9). Instead, they were then protected and rescued by the Israelite army and by God making the sun and moon stand still (Joshua 10:6-15). Those who attempted to exterminate them were later punished (2 Samuel 21:1-9). It should also be pointed out that the Israelites never actually exterminated the Canaanites.

In John 8:3-11 the woman caught in adultery is spared thanks to Jesus—this despite the fact that adultery, according to Mosaic law, was a capital offense.

In that incident, and throughout the New Testament, stoning is always shown as a negative (along with capital punishment in general). Jesus was threatened with stoning, Stephen was martyred by stoning, Paul was stoned.

The problem with the FFRF and those who like to criticize the Bible as being evil, is that they miss the point that the Bible is trying to make. They are like people who mispronounce words by putting the emphasis on the wrong syllable. They focus their attention on the wrong things and miss the point all together.

I’ll end with the words of the author of 1 John:

Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen. And he has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister. 1 John 4:20-21)

Failure Mode

We will sometimes believe that we have failed, and perhaps we have. But that can be okay. Look at Joseph. In the book of Genesis, Joseph was a teenager. Next to the youngest son, he was favored by his father, which led to resentment from his older brothers. Their resentment was not lessened by his attitude: he tattled on them, and he told stories about how he was going to someday be their boss because of the dreams that God had given him.

So, one day, when the opportunity presented itself for the brothers to get rid of him, they took it: they sold him as a slave to some passing traders. The traders took him down to Egypt and sold him to one of the Pharaoh’s officials named Potifer.

He was a slave, but at least it was in a nice place; and he was an indoor slave, rather than working in the fields. So he accepted his lot, did his job, and performed his duties—and managed to do them so well that he was soon promoted to being the head slave, in charge of everything in the household. Still a slave, but he was in the best slot that a slave could get to.

And then Potifer’s wife started attempting to seduce him. When he refused, she accused him of attempted rape, which got him fired from being a slave. One might not think one could be more of a failure than being sold into slavery by your own brothers. Now, he had lost even that “job” and found himself bound and tossed into jail.

So, he accepted his lot and did as he was told, and somehow he managed to gain some responsibility and notoriety in the lockup, to the point that he became the top inmate, a trustee, running everything inside the walls, under the supervision of the warden.

Notice that his life has been a downward spiral: one step forward, two steps back. He’s constantly losing ground. He had been his father’s favorite, supervising his older brothers. Then he became a slave, but he managed to be a supervising slave. Then he got himself arrested, and now he’s a supervising prisoner. Things are definitely not looking up for him.

At the age of thirty, his prospects for upward mobility are gone. He has no career, and no prospects of ever getting one. His future is grim, and, based on his track record, likely to get grimmer. This, despite the fact that it was hard for him to see how things could get much worse. But then, he thought there couldn’t be anything worse than being a slave.

Boy, had he been wrong about that.

One day, a couple of men—a butler and a baker—who had, till then, served in the Pharoah’s palace got dumped in the prison. They suffered bad dreams—not surprising given the turns for the worse that their lives had taken—and they told Joseph their dreams.

Joseph interpreted them. The butler would be restored to his position. The baker, sadly, would be hanged. Joseph asked the butler to put in a good word for him with the Pharaoh, since Joseph was in prison unjustly.

And things happened just as Joseph predicted.

But the Butler just forgot all about Joseph. For three years.

Then, one day, Pharoah had a dream. When no one was successful at interpreting it, the Butler told him that he knew a man who would be able to help. The Butler recognized this as an opportunity to ingratiate himself with the Pharaoh (“see, I was the one who solved your problem!”) So, Pharaoh called Joseph from prison.

After Joseph got cleaned up and dressed up, he was presented before Pharaoh. He interpreted the dream, warning of a coming famine and suggesting a course of action to help the nation survive it. The Pharoah was impressed and put Joseph in charge of overseeing things, making Joseph second in command in the nation, second only to Pharaoh himself.

Later, when his starving brothers showed up, he tormented them a bit, before revealing himself and offering them a place to live in Egypt with him in prosperity. Though they were fearful that Joseph would seek vengeance, he explained that while what they had done, they had done to hurt him, and that indeed, he had suffered a lot over the years—he recognized that God had been at work through the whole thing: not only had he personally risen to a place of power and comfort, more importantly, he was able to save not just his family from starvation, but an entire nation. His decade or more of suffering had led to the salvation of millions. His seeming failure had, in fact, been a rousing success story: riches to rags and back again.

When There’s No Reason For Hope

After hoping that God would do something to fix the nation of Israel, and after learning from God that his “solution” is to have the nation suffer the destruction of a Babylonian invasion and conquest, the prophet Habakkuk is feeling unhappy and stressed. He concludes his book with a statement—or perhaps a prayer—for when nothing is going right, when everything is going wrong, and there doesn’t look to be anyway out and nothing about your circumstances make sense. This is for when you wonder where God is and why he has apparently forgotten you:

Though the fig tree does not bud

and there are no grapes on the vines,

though the olive crop fails

and the fields produce no food,

though there are no sheep in the pen

and no cattle in the stalls,

yet I will rejoice in the LORD,

I will be joyful in God my Savior.

The Sovereign LORD is my strength;

he makes my feet like the feet of a deer,

he enables me to tread on the heights. (Habakkuk 3:17-19)

When all you have is your faith in God, that’s a hard place to be. But it’s okay. God is there, whether you can feel him or see him or recognize his hand at work in your life. He’s there even when you think he couldn’t possibly be. He’s there even when you’re certain that it’s hopeless.