Randy Green's Blog, page 451
February 18, 2013
Keep Your Eye on the Ball – Part 2
Answer me, O Lord, answer me, that this people may know that You, O Lord, are God, and that You have turned their heart back again [1 Kings 18:37].
Old King Ahab, a wuss who hid behind Jezebel’s skirt, added Baal worship to the sins of Jeroboam, prompting the Lord to dispatch His miracle-working prophets to take on the prophets of Baal and Asherah. That’s where we left off yesterday. Sounds like a suitable place to continue today.
So the Lord afflicted Israel with a 3½ year drought to get the Israelites’ attention. At the conclusion He had Elijah challenge all 450 prophets of Baal and all 400 prophets of Asherah to a duel. This made the odds 850 to 1, fine odds indeed. But not to worry because Elijah was on the Lord’s side, and He’s omnipotent.
The 850 yokels, er, I mean prophets spent all morning dancing a jig and chanting their drivel to Baal, calling upon him to send fire from heaven and burn up their sacrifice to him. Not surprisingly nothing ever came of it. Elijah had a splendid time poking fun of them in the process.
Then Elijah set up an altar of seven stones, dug a big ditch around it, saturated his offering with water until the ditch overflowed, and proceeded to pray to the Lord to send fire from heaven and burn up the drenched sacrifice he was presenting to the Lord. Straightway fire came down from heaven and devoured not only the animal, but also the water and the stones!
Here’s the point, dear people. We cited a portion of Elijah’s prayer at the start of this study. He called on the Lord to perform a mighty miracle, and the Lord did. What we want to center our attention on is the stated reason why Elijah wanted the Lord to perform this miracle. The reason was this: that this people may know that You, O Lord, are God, and that You have turned their heart back again.
The purpose of miracles is not to impress us and keep us coming back for more. Nor is it to tickle our fancy and leave us feeling happy. And it is certainly not to draw attention to the miracle worker. The purpose is to point people to the one true God, that they may turn from their sins and give their hearts to Him.
In today’s religious climate there are churches and denominations which emphasize miracles as a necessary part of the Church. The more time people spend around suchlike folks, the more they ogle the supposed miracles and the self-styled miracle workers. The attention does not go to the Lord Jesus but to man.
Let’s wise up and be mature men and women of God. Let’s seek the God of miracles, not the miracles of God. Give us the Person of Jesus Christ and it suffices. He is the Bread of Life, our all in all.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Exodus: Volume 2 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/Randy-Green/e/B...
Old King Ahab, a wuss who hid behind Jezebel’s skirt, added Baal worship to the sins of Jeroboam, prompting the Lord to dispatch His miracle-working prophets to take on the prophets of Baal and Asherah. That’s where we left off yesterday. Sounds like a suitable place to continue today.
So the Lord afflicted Israel with a 3½ year drought to get the Israelites’ attention. At the conclusion He had Elijah challenge all 450 prophets of Baal and all 400 prophets of Asherah to a duel. This made the odds 850 to 1, fine odds indeed. But not to worry because Elijah was on the Lord’s side, and He’s omnipotent.
The 850 yokels, er, I mean prophets spent all morning dancing a jig and chanting their drivel to Baal, calling upon him to send fire from heaven and burn up their sacrifice to him. Not surprisingly nothing ever came of it. Elijah had a splendid time poking fun of them in the process.
Then Elijah set up an altar of seven stones, dug a big ditch around it, saturated his offering with water until the ditch overflowed, and proceeded to pray to the Lord to send fire from heaven and burn up the drenched sacrifice he was presenting to the Lord. Straightway fire came down from heaven and devoured not only the animal, but also the water and the stones!
Here’s the point, dear people. We cited a portion of Elijah’s prayer at the start of this study. He called on the Lord to perform a mighty miracle, and the Lord did. What we want to center our attention on is the stated reason why Elijah wanted the Lord to perform this miracle. The reason was this: that this people may know that You, O Lord, are God, and that You have turned their heart back again.
The purpose of miracles is not to impress us and keep us coming back for more. Nor is it to tickle our fancy and leave us feeling happy. And it is certainly not to draw attention to the miracle worker. The purpose is to point people to the one true God, that they may turn from their sins and give their hearts to Him.
In today’s religious climate there are churches and denominations which emphasize miracles as a necessary part of the Church. The more time people spend around suchlike folks, the more they ogle the supposed miracles and the self-styled miracle workers. The attention does not go to the Lord Jesus but to man.
Let’s wise up and be mature men and women of God. Let’s seek the God of miracles, not the miracles of God. Give us the Person of Jesus Christ and it suffices. He is the Bread of Life, our all in all.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Exodus: Volume 2 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/Randy-Green/e/B...
February 17, 2013
Keep Your Eye on the Ball – Part 1
Answer me, O Lord, answer me, that this people may know that You, O Lord, are God, and that You have turned their heart back again [1 Kings 18:37].
From the time my kids were born until they finished high school, I explained to them the importance of choosing our friends wisely. Since what we eat is what we are, so too who we hang with is who we are…or who we become. If we make friends with folks who have their head on straight and are succeeding in life, then we’ll likely keep our head on straight and be successful too.
Old King Cole, er, I mean old King Ahab of northern Israel needed to learn that lesson. Alas, but he didn’t, and the result was that all the Israelites paid the price right along with him. Let me tell you some of the story behind this.
When King Solomon died, the Lord gave ten tribes (i.e., the northern half of the Promised Land) to Jeroboam ben Nebat. The southern half of the Promised Land remained under David’s kingly progeny. The Davidic throne ruled the south (aka Judah), while Jeroboam ruled the north (aka Israel). The worship of the Lord was at the temple in Jerusalem, where the Davidic kings ruled.
For centuries until northern Israel went into exile in Assyria, the sins of Jeroboam plagued Israel. His primary sin was that he established two golden calves to serve as Israel’s gods, placing one in the north and the other in the south near Judah. Jeroboam didn’t want his subjects going to Jerusalem to worship, you see. He established idolatry pure and simple, and there is no surer way to get on the Lord’s bad side than to be an idolater.
What Jeroboam did is known in Scripture as the sin of Jeroboam. But that isn’t what our story is about, dear friends. Alas, but old King Ahab wasn’t content to worship Jeroboam’s golden calves. He went off to Phoenicia and married that no account Jezebel, princess of the Phoenician king. In Phoenicia they just loved to worship Baal, and Jezebel brought Baal worship with her to Israel.
This left Israel with two major false religions, and the Lord was none too thrilled by it all. This ushered in the second period of miracles in the Old Testament. Baal worship in Israel led to the Lord’s miracle-working prophets coming to town. The main two were Elijah and Elisha.
Oh, no. We’re out of time again. It’s time to pull into the rest area, savor some delectable spiritual cuisine, and spend some time in wholesome conversation with the Lord. We’ll continue the journey to Mount Carmel tomorrow. See you then.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Exodus: Volume 2 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/Randy-Green/e/B...
From the time my kids were born until they finished high school, I explained to them the importance of choosing our friends wisely. Since what we eat is what we are, so too who we hang with is who we are…or who we become. If we make friends with folks who have their head on straight and are succeeding in life, then we’ll likely keep our head on straight and be successful too.
Old King Cole, er, I mean old King Ahab of northern Israel needed to learn that lesson. Alas, but he didn’t, and the result was that all the Israelites paid the price right along with him. Let me tell you some of the story behind this.
When King Solomon died, the Lord gave ten tribes (i.e., the northern half of the Promised Land) to Jeroboam ben Nebat. The southern half of the Promised Land remained under David’s kingly progeny. The Davidic throne ruled the south (aka Judah), while Jeroboam ruled the north (aka Israel). The worship of the Lord was at the temple in Jerusalem, where the Davidic kings ruled.
For centuries until northern Israel went into exile in Assyria, the sins of Jeroboam plagued Israel. His primary sin was that he established two golden calves to serve as Israel’s gods, placing one in the north and the other in the south near Judah. Jeroboam didn’t want his subjects going to Jerusalem to worship, you see. He established idolatry pure and simple, and there is no surer way to get on the Lord’s bad side than to be an idolater.
What Jeroboam did is known in Scripture as the sin of Jeroboam. But that isn’t what our story is about, dear friends. Alas, but old King Ahab wasn’t content to worship Jeroboam’s golden calves. He went off to Phoenicia and married that no account Jezebel, princess of the Phoenician king. In Phoenicia they just loved to worship Baal, and Jezebel brought Baal worship with her to Israel.
This left Israel with two major false religions, and the Lord was none too thrilled by it all. This ushered in the second period of miracles in the Old Testament. Baal worship in Israel led to the Lord’s miracle-working prophets coming to town. The main two were Elijah and Elisha.
Oh, no. We’re out of time again. It’s time to pull into the rest area, savor some delectable spiritual cuisine, and spend some time in wholesome conversation with the Lord. We’ll continue the journey to Mount Carmel tomorrow. See you then.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Exodus: Volume 2 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/Randy-Green/e/B...
February 16, 2013
Lord Houdini? – Part 2
Then the woman said to Elijah, “Now I know that you are a man of God and that the word of the Lord in your mouth is truth.” [1 Kings 17:24]
We concluded our last study by noting how a heathen Phoenician widow knew Elijah and His God. Now let’s continue with the point to the story.
While Elijah was staying with this widow, her son died. She cried to Elijah and Elijah cried to the Lord, to King YHWH of Israel. To make a long story short, the Lord answered Elijah’s prayer affirmatively and raised the deceased boy out of death. Elijah then returned the boy to his mother alive and well.
Dear friends, we recognize this as a miracle. Some folks refuse to accept miracles, so they deny this account ever happened. Others do accept miracles as real and praise the Lord for this one and for others. All this is well and good, but the Lord isn’t Harry Houdini.
The Lord doesn’t perform tricks of the trade. The Lord performs genuine prima facie miracles. He suspends the “laws of nature”, His normal method of working, in order to do something contrary to the norm. This is something we Christians can easily misunderstand or forget. And when we do so, we wind up seeking miracles to tickle our fancy. We search for Lord Houdini instead of Lord Jesus.
In the story of today’s Bible verse the Phoenician mother unwittingly blurted out this Biblical teaching about miracles. She cried to the Lord’s prophet and received her dead son back alive again, a miracle. Her response was to state that the miracle proved Elijah was a prophet of the one true God, and that Elijah’s words were the Word of God.
That, my dear friends, is the purpose in the Lord performing miracles. Miracles serve as a witness that the Lord is the one true God. They are not given to evoke oohs and aahs from us and leave us gasping at Lord Houdini and His magic tricks. They are given to evoke genuflection from us, so that we surrender our hearts to Him in worship and service.
Let’s get together with the Lord now and hold a serious conversation with Him. Let’s surrender our lives to Him and begin the journey of a new life in Christ. And may the name of the Lord be praised in the doing of this.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Deuteronomy: Volume 5 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/Randy-Green/e/B...
We concluded our last study by noting how a heathen Phoenician widow knew Elijah and His God. Now let’s continue with the point to the story.
While Elijah was staying with this widow, her son died. She cried to Elijah and Elijah cried to the Lord, to King YHWH of Israel. To make a long story short, the Lord answered Elijah’s prayer affirmatively and raised the deceased boy out of death. Elijah then returned the boy to his mother alive and well.
Dear friends, we recognize this as a miracle. Some folks refuse to accept miracles, so they deny this account ever happened. Others do accept miracles as real and praise the Lord for this one and for others. All this is well and good, but the Lord isn’t Harry Houdini.
The Lord doesn’t perform tricks of the trade. The Lord performs genuine prima facie miracles. He suspends the “laws of nature”, His normal method of working, in order to do something contrary to the norm. This is something we Christians can easily misunderstand or forget. And when we do so, we wind up seeking miracles to tickle our fancy. We search for Lord Houdini instead of Lord Jesus.
In the story of today’s Bible verse the Phoenician mother unwittingly blurted out this Biblical teaching about miracles. She cried to the Lord’s prophet and received her dead son back alive again, a miracle. Her response was to state that the miracle proved Elijah was a prophet of the one true God, and that Elijah’s words were the Word of God.
That, my dear friends, is the purpose in the Lord performing miracles. Miracles serve as a witness that the Lord is the one true God. They are not given to evoke oohs and aahs from us and leave us gasping at Lord Houdini and His magic tricks. They are given to evoke genuflection from us, so that we surrender our hearts to Him in worship and service.
Let’s get together with the Lord now and hold a serious conversation with Him. Let’s surrender our lives to Him and begin the journey of a new life in Christ. And may the name of the Lord be praised in the doing of this.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Deuteronomy: Volume 5 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/Randy-Green/e/B...
February 15, 2013
Lord Houdini? – Part 1
Then the woman said to Elijah, “Now I know that you are a man of God and that the word of the Lord in your mouth is truth.” [1 Kings 17:24]
Most of us have heard of Harry Houdini, the all-time greatest magician of the world. He performed some amazing feats, feats which captured the attention of people having even the severest cases of attention deficit disorder. His name will never be forgotten.
It might pique your curiosity to know that Houdini began his magic career with card tricks. He dubbed himself the king of cards. After a time Houdini moved on to being an escape artist. He would get himself out of handcuffs, locked rooms, even jail, while onlookers watched dumbfounded.
When copycats began imitating his tricks, Houdini upped the ante. He created routines where he was locked in a large metal milk container filled with water, while being handcuffed with his hands behind his back. It made his show even more derring-do, the fact that his life was in the balance. No doubt about it. Houdini is still the master of magic today. We cannot help but marvel at his genius with magic.
In our text today we have a widowed mother doing some serious marveling herself. It would seem she had an only son who became deathly ill, ill to the point of actually dying. This woman lived in the region of Sidon along the Mediterranean coast bordering northern Israel. She was not an Israelite. She did not know King YHWH of Israel. She was a Phoenician heathen, though she obviously respected the Israelites and their God.
How do we know that? Well, she knew Elijah the Tishbite, that’s how. She even prepared a room for Elijah in her home, so that he would have a place to stay when he was in the vicinity. But how did a heathen woman outside Israel come to know Elijah anyway?
It’s like this. As retaliation to King Ahab and Jezebel for practicing Baal worship in northern Israel, the Lord sent His prophet Elijah to announce an indefinite drought on the land. Jezebel was herself a Sidonian king’s daughter, and the Sidonians worshiped the idol Baal. So after King Ahab married the evil wench Jezebel, she brought Baal worship into Israel with her and promoted it to the Israelites.
During the famine the Lord hid Elijah on the east bank at the brook Cherith for a while, employing ravens to bring him his food. The brook served as his source of water. When the brook dried up the Lord directed Elijah to go to Zarephath in Sidon and stay with the widow for the remainder of the famine. That is how a heathen widow in Sidon came to know the godly prophet Elijah.
Oh, dear. We are out of time again. So we will spend some time alone with the Lord now and continue this story in our next study. Praise God from Whom all blessings flow!
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Deuteronomy: Volume 5 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/Randy-Green/e/B...
Most of us have heard of Harry Houdini, the all-time greatest magician of the world. He performed some amazing feats, feats which captured the attention of people having even the severest cases of attention deficit disorder. His name will never be forgotten.
It might pique your curiosity to know that Houdini began his magic career with card tricks. He dubbed himself the king of cards. After a time Houdini moved on to being an escape artist. He would get himself out of handcuffs, locked rooms, even jail, while onlookers watched dumbfounded.
When copycats began imitating his tricks, Houdini upped the ante. He created routines where he was locked in a large metal milk container filled with water, while being handcuffed with his hands behind his back. It made his show even more derring-do, the fact that his life was in the balance. No doubt about it. Houdini is still the master of magic today. We cannot help but marvel at his genius with magic.
In our text today we have a widowed mother doing some serious marveling herself. It would seem she had an only son who became deathly ill, ill to the point of actually dying. This woman lived in the region of Sidon along the Mediterranean coast bordering northern Israel. She was not an Israelite. She did not know King YHWH of Israel. She was a Phoenician heathen, though she obviously respected the Israelites and their God.
How do we know that? Well, she knew Elijah the Tishbite, that’s how. She even prepared a room for Elijah in her home, so that he would have a place to stay when he was in the vicinity. But how did a heathen woman outside Israel come to know Elijah anyway?
It’s like this. As retaliation to King Ahab and Jezebel for practicing Baal worship in northern Israel, the Lord sent His prophet Elijah to announce an indefinite drought on the land. Jezebel was herself a Sidonian king’s daughter, and the Sidonians worshiped the idol Baal. So after King Ahab married the evil wench Jezebel, she brought Baal worship into Israel with her and promoted it to the Israelites.
During the famine the Lord hid Elijah on the east bank at the brook Cherith for a while, employing ravens to bring him his food. The brook served as his source of water. When the brook dried up the Lord directed Elijah to go to Zarephath in Sidon and stay with the widow for the remainder of the famine. That is how a heathen widow in Sidon came to know the godly prophet Elijah.
Oh, dear. We are out of time again. So we will spend some time alone with the Lord now and continue this story in our next study. Praise God from Whom all blessings flow!
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Deuteronomy: Volume 5 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/Randy-Green/e/B...
February 14, 2013
When Pork is Beef – Part 2
Now it happened in the fifth year of King Rehoboam, that Shishak the king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem. He took away the treasures of the house of the Lord and the treasures of the king’s house, and he took everything, even taking all the shields of gold which Solomon had made. So King Rehoboam made shields of bronze in their place [1 Kings 14:25-27].
We concluded our last study by noting that there is an important detail in the verses just quoted, but that this detail is usually, if not always, overlooked. Let’s continue on in that vein now.
In the Bible and especially in the Old Testament, the Lord employed visible physical realities to teach us invisible spiritual truths. This is one of those times. Rehoboam was Solomon’s son. He became king after Solomon.
Well, King Rehoboam sinned against the Lord by practicing idolatry. This was why the Lord permitted Shishak king of Egypt to invade Jerusalem and deprive King Rehoboam of his wealth. Shishak was the Lord’s tool to judge and punish Rehoboam, you see.
We must needs digress for a moment. In the Law of Moses there were two altars in the tabernacle worship structure. One was made of gold and the other of bronze. The gold altar was used to offer incense to the Lord. It was inside the tent of meeting, outside the veil where the Lord dwelt. That location symbolized heaven. It typified man’s interaction with the Lord. Gold was a type of heaven, the antitype.
The bronze altar, contrariwise, was located outside the entrance to the tent of meeting. It was used to present blood offerings to the Lord. Those blood offerings represented the offerer. All men are sinners and the wages of sin is death. The Lord provided the Israelites a temporary reprieve from dying for their sins by allowing them to substituting animals to die on the bronze altar in their stead.
Bronze represented God’s judgment against sin, you see. It was outside the tent of meeting, outside the location where the Lord dwelt in the midst of His people Israel. Sin had to be judged before anyone could enter the presence of the Lord.
So gold represented heaven, holiness, the Lord’s presence, while bronze represented God’s judgment against sin. Let’s keep this context in mind, as we depart our digression and return to 1 Kings.
In 1 Kings 14 Solomon had GOLD shields. The symbolism of gold denoted a good thing, that the Kingdom of Israel was right with the Lord. But when Solomon and then Rehoboam practiced idolatry, Israel was no longer right with the Lord. Consequently the Lord had the gold shields taken to Egypt. When Rehoboam replaced them, he made the replacements of bronze, symbolizing God’s judgment on Israel because of her sin of idolatry. Two types of shields, one beef the other pork. Or was that one bronze the other gold?
When we come to recognize suchlike details in Scripture, it makes the Bible come alive. We learn so much more and the Bible becomes exciting. In all five volumes of my Heavenly Citizens series, I go into lengthy detail to bring out these nuances. Allow me to encourage you, yea, even exhort you, to get your copies. May the name of the Lord Jesus be exalted!
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Exodus: Volume 2 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/Randy-Green/e/B...
We concluded our last study by noting that there is an important detail in the verses just quoted, but that this detail is usually, if not always, overlooked. Let’s continue on in that vein now.
In the Bible and especially in the Old Testament, the Lord employed visible physical realities to teach us invisible spiritual truths. This is one of those times. Rehoboam was Solomon’s son. He became king after Solomon.
Well, King Rehoboam sinned against the Lord by practicing idolatry. This was why the Lord permitted Shishak king of Egypt to invade Jerusalem and deprive King Rehoboam of his wealth. Shishak was the Lord’s tool to judge and punish Rehoboam, you see.
We must needs digress for a moment. In the Law of Moses there were two altars in the tabernacle worship structure. One was made of gold and the other of bronze. The gold altar was used to offer incense to the Lord. It was inside the tent of meeting, outside the veil where the Lord dwelt. That location symbolized heaven. It typified man’s interaction with the Lord. Gold was a type of heaven, the antitype.
The bronze altar, contrariwise, was located outside the entrance to the tent of meeting. It was used to present blood offerings to the Lord. Those blood offerings represented the offerer. All men are sinners and the wages of sin is death. The Lord provided the Israelites a temporary reprieve from dying for their sins by allowing them to substituting animals to die on the bronze altar in their stead.
Bronze represented God’s judgment against sin, you see. It was outside the tent of meeting, outside the location where the Lord dwelt in the midst of His people Israel. Sin had to be judged before anyone could enter the presence of the Lord.
So gold represented heaven, holiness, the Lord’s presence, while bronze represented God’s judgment against sin. Let’s keep this context in mind, as we depart our digression and return to 1 Kings.
In 1 Kings 14 Solomon had GOLD shields. The symbolism of gold denoted a good thing, that the Kingdom of Israel was right with the Lord. But when Solomon and then Rehoboam practiced idolatry, Israel was no longer right with the Lord. Consequently the Lord had the gold shields taken to Egypt. When Rehoboam replaced them, he made the replacements of bronze, symbolizing God’s judgment on Israel because of her sin of idolatry. Two types of shields, one beef the other pork. Or was that one bronze the other gold?
When we come to recognize suchlike details in Scripture, it makes the Bible come alive. We learn so much more and the Bible becomes exciting. In all five volumes of my Heavenly Citizens series, I go into lengthy detail to bring out these nuances. Allow me to encourage you, yea, even exhort you, to get your copies. May the name of the Lord Jesus be exalted!
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Exodus: Volume 2 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/Randy-Green/e/B...
February 12, 2013
When Pork is Beef – Part 1
Now it happened in the fifth year of King Rehoboam, that Shishak the king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem. He took away the treasures of the house of the Lord and the treasures of the king’s house, and he took everything, even taking all the shields of gold which Solomon had made. So King Rehoboam made shields of bronze in their place [1 Kings 14:25-27].
I recently took my son to a local restaurant. On the menu was a concoction of roast beef with mashed potatoes and vegetables. I’m a meat and potatoes kind of guy, so I ordered it.
When we were served I looked at the meat and thought to myself, “This doesn’t even resemble beef. It looks exactly like pork roast.” So I took a bite to see what it tasted like. As I was chewing my son looked at the meat incredulously and blurted out, “That’s not beef. It’s pork!”
When I finished chewing and swallowing, I verbally confirmed his observation. So I summoned the waitress and told her that I ordered the roast beef.
She looked at me puzzled and stated, “That is the roast beef, sir.”
I retorted, “No, ma’am. It is not. It looks like pork roast and it tastes like pork roast, so it’s pork.”
She didn’t know what to say, so she stumbled over her tongue when she claimed, “Maybe it’s pork roast beef…”
Hilarious isn’t it? Anyway, she sent for the manager. When I was finally able to present my case to him, he told me, “We don’t have any pork in this restaurant. The meat comes in boxes labeled ‘beef veal’. Maybe that’s why it tastes like pork to you.”
Here’s the thing, dear friends. Every item has its specific qualities. Beef tastes like beef and pork tastes like pork. We mustn’t confuse what something is by giving it the name of something else and trying to identify it with the qualities of something else. Otherwise words mean nothing, in which case we can say anything we want and claim our words mean the exact opposite of what we said.
In the verses quoted at the start of this study, we have a detail which is overlooked much of the time, perhaps even all of the time. The reason why it is overlooked is because of the symbolism. We have to be Biblically literate in order to recognize the symbolism in the detail. Otherwise we read the words and just keep right on going like the Eveready Bunny. The teaching simply goes right over our heads.
Yikes! We’re out of time again! We’ll continue this topic in our next study. In the interim why not spend some time alone with the Lord Jesus. He is always a pleasure to be with, and He truly desires to spend time alone with us.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Exodus: Volume 2 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/Randy-Green/e/B...
I recently took my son to a local restaurant. On the menu was a concoction of roast beef with mashed potatoes and vegetables. I’m a meat and potatoes kind of guy, so I ordered it.
When we were served I looked at the meat and thought to myself, “This doesn’t even resemble beef. It looks exactly like pork roast.” So I took a bite to see what it tasted like. As I was chewing my son looked at the meat incredulously and blurted out, “That’s not beef. It’s pork!”
When I finished chewing and swallowing, I verbally confirmed his observation. So I summoned the waitress and told her that I ordered the roast beef.
She looked at me puzzled and stated, “That is the roast beef, sir.”
I retorted, “No, ma’am. It is not. It looks like pork roast and it tastes like pork roast, so it’s pork.”
She didn’t know what to say, so she stumbled over her tongue when she claimed, “Maybe it’s pork roast beef…”
Hilarious isn’t it? Anyway, she sent for the manager. When I was finally able to present my case to him, he told me, “We don’t have any pork in this restaurant. The meat comes in boxes labeled ‘beef veal’. Maybe that’s why it tastes like pork to you.”
Here’s the thing, dear friends. Every item has its specific qualities. Beef tastes like beef and pork tastes like pork. We mustn’t confuse what something is by giving it the name of something else and trying to identify it with the qualities of something else. Otherwise words mean nothing, in which case we can say anything we want and claim our words mean the exact opposite of what we said.
In the verses quoted at the start of this study, we have a detail which is overlooked much of the time, perhaps even all of the time. The reason why it is overlooked is because of the symbolism. We have to be Biblically literate in order to recognize the symbolism in the detail. Otherwise we read the words and just keep right on going like the Eveready Bunny. The teaching simply goes right over our heads.
Yikes! We’re out of time again! We’ll continue this topic in our next study. In the interim why not spend some time alone with the Lord Jesus. He is always a pleasure to be with, and He truly desires to spend time alone with us.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Exodus: Volume 2 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/Randy-Green/e/B...
February 11, 2013
Strange Bedfellows – Part 2
A command came to me by the word of the Lord, “You shall eat no bread, nor drink water there; do not return by going the way which you came.” [1 Kings 13:17]
In Israel Jeroboam became king. He feared that his subjects in the north would go to Jerusalem in the south to worship the Lord, and soon they would favor King Rehoboam of Judah. Then they would kill Jeroboam and reunite the kingdom under Rehoboam.
To thwart such a possibility, Jeroboam of Israel had two golden calves constructed. He placed one in Dan to the far north and the other at Bethel in the south of Israel. He commanded his subjects to worship the calves in those locations. The calves were Israel’s gods!
Needless to say, but the Lord wasn’t exactly thrilled at this. He sent a prophet from Judah to prophesy Jeroboam’s demise. The Bible verse at the start of this lesson was part of the Lord’s instructions to His prophet from Judah. Now let’s note the two parts of the Bible verse.
1. do not eat or drink while in Bethel of Israel
2. don’t return to Judah by the same route you took to Bethel
Are you nonplussed by those instructions? Why would the Lord tell the prophet not to eat or drink while there? And why specify that he take a different route back to Judah? “Hmm. I don’t get it?” some of you are saying to yourself.
Allow me to explain. In the Bible the Lord often employs visible physical realities to teach us invisible spiritual truths. The two points listed are the visible physical realities, and now we need to mine the ore and recover the invisible spiritual truths contained therein.
The first point forbade the prophet of Judah from sitting down and sharing a meal with the folks of idolatrous Israel. This is in keeping with the doctrine of separation which begins in Genesis 1 and continues to the end of Revelation 22. God’s kids are not to fraternize with the devil’s kids. Israel worshiped two golden calves. Judah worshiped the Lord. Don’t fraternize while in Israel, O prophet!
The second point has to do with how I began this study today. I am a creature of habit, but in spiritual life habit and routine can easily spell deadness. If we keep doing the same things we’ve always done, we will keep being what we’ve always been. That is the death knell of true spiritual vitality, dear friends.
Our life is often expressed as the road we travel or the way we take. The Lord told the prophet to go to Bethel one way but to return a different way. In doing so the Lord taught that we cannot serve Him by doing the same old same old day after day. We cannot learn something from Him and then run around doing the same thing all the time and call that “serving the Lord”.
If we would truly serve Jesus, we need to go to Him daily and receive our marching orders from Him. If we habitually spend time alone with Him, we will grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. He will be leading us and we will be following His will. Otherwise, not so much.
So which will it be? Will we return by the same route we went? Or will we take an alternate route and remain dependent on the Lord for guidance?
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Genesis: Volume 1 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/Randy-Green/e/B...
In Israel Jeroboam became king. He feared that his subjects in the north would go to Jerusalem in the south to worship the Lord, and soon they would favor King Rehoboam of Judah. Then they would kill Jeroboam and reunite the kingdom under Rehoboam.
To thwart such a possibility, Jeroboam of Israel had two golden calves constructed. He placed one in Dan to the far north and the other at Bethel in the south of Israel. He commanded his subjects to worship the calves in those locations. The calves were Israel’s gods!
Needless to say, but the Lord wasn’t exactly thrilled at this. He sent a prophet from Judah to prophesy Jeroboam’s demise. The Bible verse at the start of this lesson was part of the Lord’s instructions to His prophet from Judah. Now let’s note the two parts of the Bible verse.
1. do not eat or drink while in Bethel of Israel
2. don’t return to Judah by the same route you took to Bethel
Are you nonplussed by those instructions? Why would the Lord tell the prophet not to eat or drink while there? And why specify that he take a different route back to Judah? “Hmm. I don’t get it?” some of you are saying to yourself.
Allow me to explain. In the Bible the Lord often employs visible physical realities to teach us invisible spiritual truths. The two points listed are the visible physical realities, and now we need to mine the ore and recover the invisible spiritual truths contained therein.
The first point forbade the prophet of Judah from sitting down and sharing a meal with the folks of idolatrous Israel. This is in keeping with the doctrine of separation which begins in Genesis 1 and continues to the end of Revelation 22. God’s kids are not to fraternize with the devil’s kids. Israel worshiped two golden calves. Judah worshiped the Lord. Don’t fraternize while in Israel, O prophet!
The second point has to do with how I began this study today. I am a creature of habit, but in spiritual life habit and routine can easily spell deadness. If we keep doing the same things we’ve always done, we will keep being what we’ve always been. That is the death knell of true spiritual vitality, dear friends.
Our life is often expressed as the road we travel or the way we take. The Lord told the prophet to go to Bethel one way but to return a different way. In doing so the Lord taught that we cannot serve Him by doing the same old same old day after day. We cannot learn something from Him and then run around doing the same thing all the time and call that “serving the Lord”.
If we would truly serve Jesus, we need to go to Him daily and receive our marching orders from Him. If we habitually spend time alone with Him, we will grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. He will be leading us and we will be following His will. Otherwise, not so much.
So which will it be? Will we return by the same route we went? Or will we take an alternate route and remain dependent on the Lord for guidance?
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Genesis: Volume 1 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/Randy-Green/e/B...
February 10, 2013
Strange Bedfellows – Part 1
A command came to me by the word of the Lord, “You shall eat no bread, nor drink water there; do not return by going the way which you came.” [1 Kings 13:17]
I am a creature of habit. I take the same route to work each day, shop for food at the same market, and visit the same department store for clothing and bedding and window dressing. I generally am in bed at the same time and up again at the same time each day. Yep, I am a creature of habit.
Now there is nothing immoral in being a creature of habit. In many ways it can be a good thing, a very good thing. Structure is needed in life, if we are to be all that the Lord wants us to be. Discipline is structure, and all of us need to discipline ourselves so the Lord doesn’t have to do it for us.
Still, we need to have some moderation in our habits, or else they become bad habits. We need to have some flexibility when our routine is interrupted. And when it comes to living for the Lord, routine and habit can be a dangerous thing, a very dangerous thing. Too much routine in spiritual life is no more than ritualism, religiosity, tradition. It is known as “playing church”.
We need structure because without it we don’t accomplish much. Without structure we hang out, enjoy ourselves, put off our responsibilities, and generally fail the Lord. If we don’t set aside a daily time to be with Jesus, we won’t often be with Jesus, you see. On the other hand, if we want church service to follow the same format each week, we can’t help ourselves: we wind up in a rut putting on a religious show and relegating Jesus to the outside looking in.
In the Bible verse we quoted at the start of this study, the Lord taught this truth to His people back in the day. Let me present the context to you. The twelve tribes of Israel ceased being governed by “judges” at the time of the prophet Samuel. The Israelites insisted on having a “king”, so the Lord gave them Saul, a man after the people’s own heart. Saul was what the people were looking for, but not what God wanted in a king.
After the people got a taste of what they wanted and learned what not to look for in a king, the Lord then gave them King David, a man after the Lord’s own heart. Under King David Israel became a united kingdom, rather than a collection of twelve tribes.
When David’s son Solomon became king, he began well but finished abysmally. Solomon became too big for his breeches and fell into idolatry. Consequently, upon Solomon’s death the Lord divided the kingdom between southern Judah and northern Israel.
Now that we’ve reached the divided kingdom, we can take a break and chew the cud on what we’ve learned today. But don’t forget to return same time same station tomorrow. We still have to find out what the two points of the Lord’s instructions are all about! See you then.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Genesis: Volume 1 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/Randy-Green/e/B...
I am a creature of habit. I take the same route to work each day, shop for food at the same market, and visit the same department store for clothing and bedding and window dressing. I generally am in bed at the same time and up again at the same time each day. Yep, I am a creature of habit.
Now there is nothing immoral in being a creature of habit. In many ways it can be a good thing, a very good thing. Structure is needed in life, if we are to be all that the Lord wants us to be. Discipline is structure, and all of us need to discipline ourselves so the Lord doesn’t have to do it for us.
Still, we need to have some moderation in our habits, or else they become bad habits. We need to have some flexibility when our routine is interrupted. And when it comes to living for the Lord, routine and habit can be a dangerous thing, a very dangerous thing. Too much routine in spiritual life is no more than ritualism, religiosity, tradition. It is known as “playing church”.
We need structure because without it we don’t accomplish much. Without structure we hang out, enjoy ourselves, put off our responsibilities, and generally fail the Lord. If we don’t set aside a daily time to be with Jesus, we won’t often be with Jesus, you see. On the other hand, if we want church service to follow the same format each week, we can’t help ourselves: we wind up in a rut putting on a religious show and relegating Jesus to the outside looking in.
In the Bible verse we quoted at the start of this study, the Lord taught this truth to His people back in the day. Let me present the context to you. The twelve tribes of Israel ceased being governed by “judges” at the time of the prophet Samuel. The Israelites insisted on having a “king”, so the Lord gave them Saul, a man after the people’s own heart. Saul was what the people were looking for, but not what God wanted in a king.
After the people got a taste of what they wanted and learned what not to look for in a king, the Lord then gave them King David, a man after the Lord’s own heart. Under King David Israel became a united kingdom, rather than a collection of twelve tribes.
When David’s son Solomon became king, he began well but finished abysmally. Solomon became too big for his breeches and fell into idolatry. Consequently, upon Solomon’s death the Lord divided the kingdom between southern Judah and northern Israel.
Now that we’ve reached the divided kingdom, we can take a break and chew the cud on what we’ve learned today. But don’t forget to return same time same station tomorrow. We still have to find out what the two points of the Lord’s instructions are all about! See you then.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Genesis: Volume 1 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/Randy-Green/e/B...
February 9, 2013
Parlor Tricks – Part 2
One of them, a lawyer, asked him a question, testing him, “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?” And he said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments depend the whole law and the prophets.” [Matthew 22:35-40]
Under the Law the Jews tried in vain to live the perfect life in their own power. Trouble was, all men are sinners so they sinned. They disobeyed the Law. This brought them condemnation and separation from God. Thus the Law found it necessary to provide them with animals to serve as substitutionary sacrifices in man’s stead, but only until the once-for-all perfect sin offering of Jesus Christ was offered up to God.
Professors of dispensationalism have to get rid of some of the Law by hook or by crook because they don’t obey all of it. I mean, when was the last time any of them went to the Temple in Jerusalem and presented their offerings? Uh, that would be never! So they indulge in a little legerdemain by dividing the Law of Moses into constituent parts, such as the “ceremonial law”, the “legal code”, and the “moral law”. Then they beg the question by asserting that Christians are only under the “moral law”.
Sounds convincing, does it not? Uh, not so fast. After reading the Bible more than 100 times straight through over the past 33½ years, I’ve yet to find one instance in Scripture where the Law is divided into parts. On the contrary Scripture recognizes the Law as one indivisible unit. Either we keep the whole Law all the time perfectly without fail, or else we are lawbreakers (aka sinners).
The only “division” of the Law in Scripture is not even a contrast between the clean and the unclean, or between the holy and the sinful. We quoted Matthew at the start of this study. In those verses we see the only “division” of the Law put forth by God in Scripture. Part of the Law was directed toward God, while the other part was directed toward man.
The Law of Moses ruled the Israelites while they lived in Israel. They were a nationality with their own country and legal code. The Law of Moses was the legal code for the nation of Israel in the Old Testament and in the Gospels until Jesus died and rose again.
Now God’s hand reaches out to mankind with the Covenant of Grace. Those who take hold of God’s hand are born again into His Body, the Church. We don’t keep the Law in order to show we are perfect and can live in heaven in our own right. We already live because Jesus fulfilled the Law for us and we received Him as our Savior.
Since we have His life in us, we obey the Word of God by choice, not in order to earn our way into heaven. And when we slip and fall into sin, we confess our sins and receive God’s forgiveness. Then we continue to work out His new life which He put in us.
So which shall it be for you? Will you attempt to earn your own way into heaven by obeying the Law (or “parts” of it)? Or do you prefer to accept what Jesus already accomplished on your behalf? I am not impressed with the parlor tricks of dividing the Law into “parts”. I choose the Covenant of Grace.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Genesis: Volume 1 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/Randy-Green/e/B...
Under the Law the Jews tried in vain to live the perfect life in their own power. Trouble was, all men are sinners so they sinned. They disobeyed the Law. This brought them condemnation and separation from God. Thus the Law found it necessary to provide them with animals to serve as substitutionary sacrifices in man’s stead, but only until the once-for-all perfect sin offering of Jesus Christ was offered up to God.
Professors of dispensationalism have to get rid of some of the Law by hook or by crook because they don’t obey all of it. I mean, when was the last time any of them went to the Temple in Jerusalem and presented their offerings? Uh, that would be never! So they indulge in a little legerdemain by dividing the Law of Moses into constituent parts, such as the “ceremonial law”, the “legal code”, and the “moral law”. Then they beg the question by asserting that Christians are only under the “moral law”.
Sounds convincing, does it not? Uh, not so fast. After reading the Bible more than 100 times straight through over the past 33½ years, I’ve yet to find one instance in Scripture where the Law is divided into parts. On the contrary Scripture recognizes the Law as one indivisible unit. Either we keep the whole Law all the time perfectly without fail, or else we are lawbreakers (aka sinners).
The only “division” of the Law in Scripture is not even a contrast between the clean and the unclean, or between the holy and the sinful. We quoted Matthew at the start of this study. In those verses we see the only “division” of the Law put forth by God in Scripture. Part of the Law was directed toward God, while the other part was directed toward man.
The Law of Moses ruled the Israelites while they lived in Israel. They were a nationality with their own country and legal code. The Law of Moses was the legal code for the nation of Israel in the Old Testament and in the Gospels until Jesus died and rose again.
Now God’s hand reaches out to mankind with the Covenant of Grace. Those who take hold of God’s hand are born again into His Body, the Church. We don’t keep the Law in order to show we are perfect and can live in heaven in our own right. We already live because Jesus fulfilled the Law for us and we received Him as our Savior.
Since we have His life in us, we obey the Word of God by choice, not in order to earn our way into heaven. And when we slip and fall into sin, we confess our sins and receive God’s forgiveness. Then we continue to work out His new life which He put in us.
So which shall it be for you? Will you attempt to earn your own way into heaven by obeying the Law (or “parts” of it)? Or do you prefer to accept what Jesus already accomplished on your behalf? I am not impressed with the parlor tricks of dividing the Law into “parts”. I choose the Covenant of Grace.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Genesis: Volume 1 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/Randy-Green/e/B...
February 8, 2013
Parlor Tricks – Part 1
One of them, a lawyer, asked him a question, testing him, “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?” And he said to him, “ ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments depend the whole law and the prophets.” [Matthew 22:35-40]
There is a significant division within Christianity. It often wears the label Dispensationalism vs. Covenantalism. I personally don’t choose to employ the label in my own writing because it smacks of a systematic theology doctrine. I myself am not a proponent of systematic theology. I am a practitioner of Biblical theology.
It isn’t my aim today to descant upon those two systems of theological interpretation. My goal is to define the division within Christianity in practical terms, rather than as the doctrines of Dispensationalism and Covenantalism. So let’s take a stab at it, shall we?
The Old Testament (aka the Old Covenant) actually consists of more than one covenant. For our purposes today the only covenant in the Old Testament we will concern ourselves with is the Covenant of Law (aka the Law of Moses or Torah). In contrast to this is the New Testament (aka the New Covenant). This covenant can be labeled the Covenant of Grace. So the contrast is between Law and Grace.
In a nutshell proponents of Covenantalism view Israel’s time as the Lord’s chosen people on earth as a past tense thing. The Law promised blessings for obedience and curses for disobedience to the Word of God. Israel sinned by disobeying God’s Law, so the Lord cast her off and chose the Gentiles instead of Israel (i.e., the Jews). Now Israel has all the curses for disobedience, while the Gentiles (who make up the Church) have all the blessings for obeying God’s Law. In fine, Israel is no longer God’s chosen people, nor will the Jews ever again be so.
Huh? That does not compute, dear friends! Since when has the Church obeyed God’s Law? Answer: NEVER! The Jews have nothing on us Gentiles when it comes to sinning. We are highly skilled at disobeying God’s Word. So that part is wretched theology.
And then there is the meat of the matter. The Church is NOT under the Law: we are under GRACE! The Law served as a pedagogue, a school marm, until the fullness of the times had come. That is the substance of the Book of Galatians. When the fullness of the times did finally arrive—viz., when the Messiah, Jesus, took upon humanity and died as a sin offering for all mankind—then the Law had fulfilled its function.
So what was the function of the Law? Its function was to reveal invisible spiritual truths by making use of visible physical realities. In many different ways the Law pointed out to the Israelites, and through them to the Gentiles also, that every last human being (Jesus Christ excepted) is born with a sin nature. Consequently all of us sin! The wages of sin is death, so all of us have to die.
The Messiah took our place and died as payment for the penalty of man’s sins. Now that He has done so, the Law no longer has its purpose. Messiah Jesus fulfilled the Law for us, went to the cross to pay the penalty for our sins, and rose out of death, demonstrating Father God’s acceptance of His payment on our behalf.
Anyone who will acknowledge Jesus’ Person and Ministry and accept His payment is born again. With this new life we don’t obey the Law in order to live—for that was indeed the function of the Law, viz., to set forth rules and regulations to be obeyed perfectly all the time with no exception. Otherwise it proved man was not perfect and could not live with God in eternity. No, but now that we have this new life, we live it rather than try to earn it.
Oh, dear. We are out of time today. Let’s pause and reflect on what we’ve studied thus far. Sit at the feet of Jesus and allow the Spirit to lead you into all truth. May His name be exalted in all our lives!
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Genesis: Volume 1 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/Randy-Green/e/B...
There is a significant division within Christianity. It often wears the label Dispensationalism vs. Covenantalism. I personally don’t choose to employ the label in my own writing because it smacks of a systematic theology doctrine. I myself am not a proponent of systematic theology. I am a practitioner of Biblical theology.
It isn’t my aim today to descant upon those two systems of theological interpretation. My goal is to define the division within Christianity in practical terms, rather than as the doctrines of Dispensationalism and Covenantalism. So let’s take a stab at it, shall we?
The Old Testament (aka the Old Covenant) actually consists of more than one covenant. For our purposes today the only covenant in the Old Testament we will concern ourselves with is the Covenant of Law (aka the Law of Moses or Torah). In contrast to this is the New Testament (aka the New Covenant). This covenant can be labeled the Covenant of Grace. So the contrast is between Law and Grace.
In a nutshell proponents of Covenantalism view Israel’s time as the Lord’s chosen people on earth as a past tense thing. The Law promised blessings for obedience and curses for disobedience to the Word of God. Israel sinned by disobeying God’s Law, so the Lord cast her off and chose the Gentiles instead of Israel (i.e., the Jews). Now Israel has all the curses for disobedience, while the Gentiles (who make up the Church) have all the blessings for obeying God’s Law. In fine, Israel is no longer God’s chosen people, nor will the Jews ever again be so.
Huh? That does not compute, dear friends! Since when has the Church obeyed God’s Law? Answer: NEVER! The Jews have nothing on us Gentiles when it comes to sinning. We are highly skilled at disobeying God’s Word. So that part is wretched theology.
And then there is the meat of the matter. The Church is NOT under the Law: we are under GRACE! The Law served as a pedagogue, a school marm, until the fullness of the times had come. That is the substance of the Book of Galatians. When the fullness of the times did finally arrive—viz., when the Messiah, Jesus, took upon humanity and died as a sin offering for all mankind—then the Law had fulfilled its function.
So what was the function of the Law? Its function was to reveal invisible spiritual truths by making use of visible physical realities. In many different ways the Law pointed out to the Israelites, and through them to the Gentiles also, that every last human being (Jesus Christ excepted) is born with a sin nature. Consequently all of us sin! The wages of sin is death, so all of us have to die.
The Messiah took our place and died as payment for the penalty of man’s sins. Now that He has done so, the Law no longer has its purpose. Messiah Jesus fulfilled the Law for us, went to the cross to pay the penalty for our sins, and rose out of death, demonstrating Father God’s acceptance of His payment on our behalf.
Anyone who will acknowledge Jesus’ Person and Ministry and accept His payment is born again. With this new life we don’t obey the Law in order to live—for that was indeed the function of the Law, viz., to set forth rules and regulations to be obeyed perfectly all the time with no exception. Otherwise it proved man was not perfect and could not live with God in eternity. No, but now that we have this new life, we live it rather than try to earn it.
Oh, dear. We are out of time today. Let’s pause and reflect on what we’ve studied thus far. Sit at the feet of Jesus and allow the Spirit to lead you into all truth. May His name be exalted in all our lives!
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Genesis: Volume 1 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/Randy-Green/e/B...
