Randy Green's Blog, page 496
January 13, 2012
God’s Hall of Faith
All these died in faith, without receiving the promises, but having seen them and having welcomed them from a distance, and having confessed that they were strangers and exiles on the earth…But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God; for He has prepared a city for them [Hebrews 11:13, 16].
There are two perspectives on sin we need to be aware of, as it pertains to the thrice holy God. First, He cannot tolerate it, any of it, not even the most miniscule trace of it! Secondly, He paid the penalty for sin by giving His one and only Son as a propitiation for all the sins of mankind. Those who have true Biblical faith are already declared by God to be justified, to be not guilty. They don’t have to wait until eternity to be judged. Those without true Biblical faith are guilty as sin and will be so judged at the Great White Throne Judgment in eternity (cf., Revelation 20).
Are we to conclude from this that nobody identified in the Bible but Jesus ever had true Biblical faith? What I mean is that in Scripture everybody sinned and it is recorded therein to note this condition of all mankind. If we are already adjudged not guilty, why are sins recorded for those who supposedly did have true Biblical faith?
Hebrews 11 was recorded to shed light on this very issue, dear people. When we page through the Old Testament and read the accounts therein of all the “celebrities” itemized in Hebrews 11, we find a stark contrast between the accounts in the Old Testament and Hebrews 11. No, there are no contradictions between the two accounts. The contrast is between putting the finger on sin in their lives as recorded in the Old Testament, and leaving their sins unrecorded in the Hebrews 11.
The reason for this contrast has to do with another contrast between the Old Testament and Hebrews 11. The Old Testament accounts are a record of the lives of these “celebrities” as they took place while they walked the earth with a sin nature. The accounts in Hebrews 11 are a record of their remembrance in eternity without a sin nature.
Because each “celebrity” did have true Biblical faith while walking the earth, they were justified, declared not guilty, by the Lord even during their sojourn on earth. Nonetheless, they did commit sins and had to be forgiven by the Lord. But it is all water under the bridge, once we are promoted to eternity. God no longer remembers our sins in eternity. He casts them behind His back, never to turn around to look at them again. He buries them in the deepest depths of the sea, and He doesn’t go fishing either!
Heaven will be home for all eternity to everyone who has true Biblical faith. In heaven the Lord has His own Hall of Fame; but since it is based on faith, the better title for it is God’s Hall of Faith. Everyone in heaven has his/her own bust prominently displayed on a pedestal. Not one former sin of any person in heaven is ever mentioned in heaven. Practically speaking, no saint has any sins, and history books of their lives don’t record them as having sinned either.
Praise God for His Hall of Faith! Praise Him for recording Hebrews 11 for our consolation and edification! May His name be glorified both now and forevermore!
Thank you, Jesus. Let’s do that now, shall we?
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/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
There are two perspectives on sin we need to be aware of, as it pertains to the thrice holy God. First, He cannot tolerate it, any of it, not even the most miniscule trace of it! Secondly, He paid the penalty for sin by giving His one and only Son as a propitiation for all the sins of mankind. Those who have true Biblical faith are already declared by God to be justified, to be not guilty. They don’t have to wait until eternity to be judged. Those without true Biblical faith are guilty as sin and will be so judged at the Great White Throne Judgment in eternity (cf., Revelation 20).
Are we to conclude from this that nobody identified in the Bible but Jesus ever had true Biblical faith? What I mean is that in Scripture everybody sinned and it is recorded therein to note this condition of all mankind. If we are already adjudged not guilty, why are sins recorded for those who supposedly did have true Biblical faith?
Hebrews 11 was recorded to shed light on this very issue, dear people. When we page through the Old Testament and read the accounts therein of all the “celebrities” itemized in Hebrews 11, we find a stark contrast between the accounts in the Old Testament and Hebrews 11. No, there are no contradictions between the two accounts. The contrast is between putting the finger on sin in their lives as recorded in the Old Testament, and leaving their sins unrecorded in the Hebrews 11.
The reason for this contrast has to do with another contrast between the Old Testament and Hebrews 11. The Old Testament accounts are a record of the lives of these “celebrities” as they took place while they walked the earth with a sin nature. The accounts in Hebrews 11 are a record of their remembrance in eternity without a sin nature.
Because each “celebrity” did have true Biblical faith while walking the earth, they were justified, declared not guilty, by the Lord even during their sojourn on earth. Nonetheless, they did commit sins and had to be forgiven by the Lord. But it is all water under the bridge, once we are promoted to eternity. God no longer remembers our sins in eternity. He casts them behind His back, never to turn around to look at them again. He buries them in the deepest depths of the sea, and He doesn’t go fishing either!
Heaven will be home for all eternity to everyone who has true Biblical faith. In heaven the Lord has His own Hall of Fame; but since it is based on faith, the better title for it is God’s Hall of Faith. Everyone in heaven has his/her own bust prominently displayed on a pedestal. Not one former sin of any person in heaven is ever mentioned in heaven. Practically speaking, no saint has any sins, and history books of their lives don’t record them as having sinned either.
Praise God for His Hall of Faith! Praise Him for recording Hebrews 11 for our consolation and edification! May His name be glorified both now and forevermore!
Thank you, Jesus. Let’s do that now, shall we?
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/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
January 12, 2012
Apples and Oranges – Part 2
For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; And the government will rest on His shoulders; And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace [Isaiah 9:6].
Consider the first part of Isaiah 9:6 as an example of Biblical Hebrew parallelism:
For a child will be born to us,
A son will be given to us.
The two lines are synonymous, brothers and sisters. What we have to realize, however, is that this doesn’t mean they have precisely the same meaning in all aspects. No! The two lines run parallel to each other by presenting much of the same meaning…but not all of the same meaning. Just recall the distinction we made when we began this post. To be “born” is not necessarily the same as to be “given”.
The latter part of Isaiah 9:6 identifies who the “child” and “son” would be. Those words point out that He was to be the Messiah, somehow a man and somehow God. Don’t believe me? Read the latter part of the verse again. Do they not specifically state that this person was “Mighty God”? And did the verse not begin by telling us “a child will be born to us”?
When was God born? Uh, that would be NEVER! Humans are born. Am I not right? So a human would be born to us, and this human would be “Mighty God”. Now where have we heard this before? Hmm. That’s a toughie. Let’s see. Was it in Aesop’s fables? No, that wasn’t it. Perhaps it is in the U.S. Constitution. Not so much. Ah, yes, I remember now. It is in the New Testament. Come to think of it, it is the most fundamental doctrine of the Christian faith!
The words “a child” and “a son” run parallel with each other, you see. The words “will be born” and “will be given” also run parallel with each other. But that is the extent of their being synonymous, dear friends. The Messiah later was born and named Jesus. The word Christ is the Greek form of the Hebrew word Messiah. The phrase Jesus Christ is not a name. Jesus is His human name, while Christ is His title. He is Jesus the Messiah.
Jesus was born a true human male, yes. A Jewish virgin Mary was His mother. But Jesus had no human father. The Holy Spirit miraculously impregnated Mary with the eternal Son of God. This is inexplicable to our finite minds, but the Bible teaches it straightforwardly enough. Either we believe it, which is the meaning of having Biblical faith, or else we don’t and remain in our sins.
In this context consider how much more is stated by Isaiah 9:6 than is at first blush ostensible. “A child is born”—that occurs every day, so we wouldn’t put much stock in the phrase if it stood alone. But it doesn’t! It runs parallel with “a son is given”. In light of the further revelation we have from the New Testament, consider Who this child is.
The “son” of Isaiah 9:6 is the eternal Son of God, which makes Him God. He exists from all eternity with God the Father. Our heavenly Father GAVE him to us. The “child” of Isaiah 9:6 is the human Son of Mary through a miracle by the Holy Spirit. This Person is both God and man simultaneously, fully, and thenceforth eternally.
The Old Testament presented many mysteries which could not be understood back in the day. The revelations in the New Testament explain them to us. Isn’t God good? Yes, He is…all the time. Let’s go visit with Him now and tell Him so.
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/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
Consider the first part of Isaiah 9:6 as an example of Biblical Hebrew parallelism:
For a child will be born to us,
A son will be given to us.
The two lines are synonymous, brothers and sisters. What we have to realize, however, is that this doesn’t mean they have precisely the same meaning in all aspects. No! The two lines run parallel to each other by presenting much of the same meaning…but not all of the same meaning. Just recall the distinction we made when we began this post. To be “born” is not necessarily the same as to be “given”.
The latter part of Isaiah 9:6 identifies who the “child” and “son” would be. Those words point out that He was to be the Messiah, somehow a man and somehow God. Don’t believe me? Read the latter part of the verse again. Do they not specifically state that this person was “Mighty God”? And did the verse not begin by telling us “a child will be born to us”?
When was God born? Uh, that would be NEVER! Humans are born. Am I not right? So a human would be born to us, and this human would be “Mighty God”. Now where have we heard this before? Hmm. That’s a toughie. Let’s see. Was it in Aesop’s fables? No, that wasn’t it. Perhaps it is in the U.S. Constitution. Not so much. Ah, yes, I remember now. It is in the New Testament. Come to think of it, it is the most fundamental doctrine of the Christian faith!
The words “a child” and “a son” run parallel with each other, you see. The words “will be born” and “will be given” also run parallel with each other. But that is the extent of their being synonymous, dear friends. The Messiah later was born and named Jesus. The word Christ is the Greek form of the Hebrew word Messiah. The phrase Jesus Christ is not a name. Jesus is His human name, while Christ is His title. He is Jesus the Messiah.
Jesus was born a true human male, yes. A Jewish virgin Mary was His mother. But Jesus had no human father. The Holy Spirit miraculously impregnated Mary with the eternal Son of God. This is inexplicable to our finite minds, but the Bible teaches it straightforwardly enough. Either we believe it, which is the meaning of having Biblical faith, or else we don’t and remain in our sins.
In this context consider how much more is stated by Isaiah 9:6 than is at first blush ostensible. “A child is born”—that occurs every day, so we wouldn’t put much stock in the phrase if it stood alone. But it doesn’t! It runs parallel with “a son is given”. In light of the further revelation we have from the New Testament, consider Who this child is.
The “son” of Isaiah 9:6 is the eternal Son of God, which makes Him God. He exists from all eternity with God the Father. Our heavenly Father GAVE him to us. The “child” of Isaiah 9:6 is the human Son of Mary through a miracle by the Holy Spirit. This Person is both God and man simultaneously, fully, and thenceforth eternally.
The Old Testament presented many mysteries which could not be understood back in the day. The revelations in the New Testament explain them to us. Isn’t God good? Yes, He is…all the time. Let’s go visit with Him now and tell Him so.
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/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
January 11, 2012
Apples and Oranges – Part 1
For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; And the government will rest on His shoulders; And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace [Isaiah 9:6].
It was one of the most memorable days of my life, the day my son was born to my wife and me. Yes, on that day “a child was born to us”. It was not so memorable a day to me, the day presents were given to us for our child. Yes, on that day presents “were given to us”. It’s not that the gifts were unappreciated. Not in the least! It’s just that, well, on the one hand we had a son and on the other we had presents. I believe the distinction should be clear enough to everyone, don’t you thing?
In the context of this distinction, read Isaiah 9:6 once more. On the one hand a child will be born to us. On the other hand a son will be given to us. I fear the words are often understood to mean the same thing. But we know by the distinction we presented in the first paragraph that this is not necessarily so. Truth be told, in Isaiah 9:6 it is definitely not so!
We’ve descanted on the idiosyncrasies of Biblical Hebrew poetry in a prior post. We’ve also done this much more extensively in Volumes 1-5 of our Heavenly Citizens series. I encourage you to go to the Amazon website listed at the end of this post and purchase your copies. Dig into the solid meat and stuff your spiritual appetite until you are surfeited! You will mature spiritually much fuller and much quicker, if you study entire books of the Bible in context chapter-by-chapter and verse-by-verse.
But I digress. Let’s backtrack to Biblical Hebrew poetry’s idiosyncrasies. Today we write poetry by making the words at the end of lines rhyme, and by making the lines to have the same number of beats or measurements. For example,
Roses are red, violets are blue;
Sugar is sweet, and so are you.
That’s poetry to the average Occidental today. Not so with Hebrew poetry however! Hebrew poetry didn’t rhyme the words at the end of lines: it rhymed ideas between one line and another. This is another way of saying two lines run parallel to each other in some way. Sometimes the ideas are the same or synonymous, giving it the name synonymous parallelism. Other times the ideas are opposite or antonymous, affixing it with the name antonymous parallelism.
The day has been long and the sun is now setting. Let’s pause for supper at the Lord’s table and take our rest. We will continue on the morrow, if you please.
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/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
It was one of the most memorable days of my life, the day my son was born to my wife and me. Yes, on that day “a child was born to us”. It was not so memorable a day to me, the day presents were given to us for our child. Yes, on that day presents “were given to us”. It’s not that the gifts were unappreciated. Not in the least! It’s just that, well, on the one hand we had a son and on the other we had presents. I believe the distinction should be clear enough to everyone, don’t you thing?
In the context of this distinction, read Isaiah 9:6 once more. On the one hand a child will be born to us. On the other hand a son will be given to us. I fear the words are often understood to mean the same thing. But we know by the distinction we presented in the first paragraph that this is not necessarily so. Truth be told, in Isaiah 9:6 it is definitely not so!
We’ve descanted on the idiosyncrasies of Biblical Hebrew poetry in a prior post. We’ve also done this much more extensively in Volumes 1-5 of our Heavenly Citizens series. I encourage you to go to the Amazon website listed at the end of this post and purchase your copies. Dig into the solid meat and stuff your spiritual appetite until you are surfeited! You will mature spiritually much fuller and much quicker, if you study entire books of the Bible in context chapter-by-chapter and verse-by-verse.
But I digress. Let’s backtrack to Biblical Hebrew poetry’s idiosyncrasies. Today we write poetry by making the words at the end of lines rhyme, and by making the lines to have the same number of beats or measurements. For example,
Roses are red, violets are blue;
Sugar is sweet, and so are you.
That’s poetry to the average Occidental today. Not so with Hebrew poetry however! Hebrew poetry didn’t rhyme the words at the end of lines: it rhymed ideas between one line and another. This is another way of saying two lines run parallel to each other in some way. Sometimes the ideas are the same or synonymous, giving it the name synonymous parallelism. Other times the ideas are opposite or antonymous, affixing it with the name antonymous parallelism.
The day has been long and the sun is now setting. Let’s pause for supper at the Lord’s table and take our rest. We will continue on the morrow, if you please.
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/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
January 10, 2012
Interstate Billboards – Part 2
When they came to the place called “The Skull”, there they crucified Him and the (two) criminals, one on the right and the other on the left [Luke 23:33].
Here’s the thing. Just as in the Old Testament God wanted to call sinful man back to Himself, so too does He in the New Testament. Just as in the Old Testament God employed the Law to do this, so too in the New Testament does He employ grace to do this. The word grace refers to God’s free gift of salvation to sinful man, which was earned by His Son Jesus on the cross. Just as in the Old Testament God created the earthly nation of Israel to be His witness to sinful mankind, so too in the New Testament did He create a spiritual nation, the Church, to be His witness to sinful mankind.
And this is where the story or the three crosses on Calvary comes in. Just as the Promised Land was smack dab at the crossroads of the two world empires back in the day, so too was Jerusalem smack dab at the crossroads of the Roman Empire back in the day. Calvary was located on a main street outside the gates of Jerusalem, where everyone passing through the city would witness the crucifixion.
Israel in the Promised Land was a gigantic neon billboard along the interstate, advertising God’s righteousness and man’s sinfulness. Jesus on the cross was a gigantic neon billboard along the interstate too, advertising God’s righteous judgment on man’s sins and His offer of grace for whoever will receive it, His forgiveness through the substitutionary death of His one and only Son.
Let’s take a gander at this billboard. In the center was a cross with Jesus dying on it. Jesus being God, He has no sin. He is holy. His death wasn’t for His own sins. He willingly laid down His life in order to pay the penalty for mankind’s sins. That was the purpose of God taking on flesh in the first place, viz., so that He could die on sinful man’s behalf. Therein lies real love, dear friends.
Two criminals were crucified with Jesus, one on Jesus’ right side and the other on His left. People passing along the road stopped and mocked Jesus. The Jewish authorities stoked the fire by mocking too. The Roman soldiers thought it was funny and joined in. What with all this mocking going on, even one of the crucified criminals took part in making fun of Jesus. Yes, Jesus was the laughing stock of the day.
The second criminal also spoke up, but not at all like the first criminal. He rebuked the first criminal for mocking Jesus. He confessed that Jesus had done no wrong and didn’t deserve to be on the cross. He admitted his own sins and chided the first criminal for being a sinner himself. How could he mock the holy Jesus, all the while he was so sinful and deserved to be on the cross?
That is the billboard the Lord set up along the world’s interstate, dear people. During the times of the Gentiles it replaces the billboard of Israel in the Promised Land. Israel as a nation is temporarily set aside as the Lord’s witness to the world. During the Church Age His spiritual nation, the Church, fulfills this function.
The billboard of the Law fulfilled its purpose and is no longer in effect. The billboard of God’s grace through His Son Jesus the Messiah is now in effect. That is the picture story painted on Calvary. At the center of it all, the axis of God’s grace is Jesus Christ. His cross was situated at center stage on Calvary.
Two criminals were crucified alongside Jesus, one on His right and the other on His left. Every human being aside from Jesus is born a sinner. Each one of us is a criminal, a rebel against God’s righteous rule. Each and every human being has, does, or will fit into the mold of one or the other of those two criminals. Either we mock Jesus and die in our sins, or else we confess that Jesus is sinless, is holy, and ask Him to receive us into His Kingdom.
All that’s left for us to do now is to decide which criminal we choose to be. The billboard paints the picture, my dear friends. What response will you make to it?
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/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
Here’s the thing. Just as in the Old Testament God wanted to call sinful man back to Himself, so too does He in the New Testament. Just as in the Old Testament God employed the Law to do this, so too in the New Testament does He employ grace to do this. The word grace refers to God’s free gift of salvation to sinful man, which was earned by His Son Jesus on the cross. Just as in the Old Testament God created the earthly nation of Israel to be His witness to sinful mankind, so too in the New Testament did He create a spiritual nation, the Church, to be His witness to sinful mankind.
And this is where the story or the three crosses on Calvary comes in. Just as the Promised Land was smack dab at the crossroads of the two world empires back in the day, so too was Jerusalem smack dab at the crossroads of the Roman Empire back in the day. Calvary was located on a main street outside the gates of Jerusalem, where everyone passing through the city would witness the crucifixion.
Israel in the Promised Land was a gigantic neon billboard along the interstate, advertising God’s righteousness and man’s sinfulness. Jesus on the cross was a gigantic neon billboard along the interstate too, advertising God’s righteous judgment on man’s sins and His offer of grace for whoever will receive it, His forgiveness through the substitutionary death of His one and only Son.
Let’s take a gander at this billboard. In the center was a cross with Jesus dying on it. Jesus being God, He has no sin. He is holy. His death wasn’t for His own sins. He willingly laid down His life in order to pay the penalty for mankind’s sins. That was the purpose of God taking on flesh in the first place, viz., so that He could die on sinful man’s behalf. Therein lies real love, dear friends.
Two criminals were crucified with Jesus, one on Jesus’ right side and the other on His left. People passing along the road stopped and mocked Jesus. The Jewish authorities stoked the fire by mocking too. The Roman soldiers thought it was funny and joined in. What with all this mocking going on, even one of the crucified criminals took part in making fun of Jesus. Yes, Jesus was the laughing stock of the day.
The second criminal also spoke up, but not at all like the first criminal. He rebuked the first criminal for mocking Jesus. He confessed that Jesus had done no wrong and didn’t deserve to be on the cross. He admitted his own sins and chided the first criminal for being a sinner himself. How could he mock the holy Jesus, all the while he was so sinful and deserved to be on the cross?
That is the billboard the Lord set up along the world’s interstate, dear people. During the times of the Gentiles it replaces the billboard of Israel in the Promised Land. Israel as a nation is temporarily set aside as the Lord’s witness to the world. During the Church Age His spiritual nation, the Church, fulfills this function.
The billboard of the Law fulfilled its purpose and is no longer in effect. The billboard of God’s grace through His Son Jesus the Messiah is now in effect. That is the picture story painted on Calvary. At the center of it all, the axis of God’s grace is Jesus Christ. His cross was situated at center stage on Calvary.
Two criminals were crucified alongside Jesus, one on His right and the other on His left. Every human being aside from Jesus is born a sinner. Each one of us is a criminal, a rebel against God’s righteous rule. Each and every human being has, does, or will fit into the mold of one or the other of those two criminals. Either we mock Jesus and die in our sins, or else we confess that Jesus is sinless, is holy, and ask Him to receive us into His Kingdom.
All that’s left for us to do now is to decide which criminal we choose to be. The billboard paints the picture, my dear friends. What response will you make to it?
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/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
January 9, 2012
Interstate Billboards – Part 1
When they came to the place called “The Skull”, there they crucified Him and the (two) criminals, one on the right and the other on the left [Luke 23:33].
Israel in Old Testament times was a nation ruled by the Law of Moses. The Lord (aka YHWH) was her King, and He gave Israel her Law through His prophet Moses. King YHWH also gave Israel the Promised Land as her terrestrial abode.
In other words the Lord created a new nation. He began with one man, Abraham, and grew him and his progeny into a multitude. Then the Lord delivered them from Egyptian slavery, took them to Mt. Sinai where He gave them the Law to govern their lives, and brought them into the Promised Land and gave it to them as their inheritance.
There was a purpose for the Lord doing all this. He created the heavens and the earth and planted man in His beautiful garden to tend it for Him. He looked over His creation and saw that everything was very good. That sly critter named SIN didn’t exist in man. Everything God made was very good.
Alas, but it didn’t stay that way. Satan was at odds with God, thinking to elevate himself to the throne of God. He wound up being “elevated” downward—far, far, downward—when the Lord booted his sorry rump out of heaven. Satan’s behavior made him a sinner. When the Lord created the heavens and the earth, Satan brought his sin along and shared it with Eve. She in turn shared it with Adam. Thenceforth mankind universally has been comprised of sinners.
That was where the Law of Moses and the nation of Israel came in. The world was filled with sinners, peoples and nations who shook their fist at God and refused to submit to His rule. The two major civilizations back in the day were Egypt and Mesopotamia. If you take a gander at a map of those times, you will see Mesopotamia on the east and Egypt on the west, and…the Promised Land smack dab in the middle.
Yes, the Lord created a new nation to represent Him to the world, to show sinful men that they were sinners, separated from Him and needing to return to Him. He gave Israel the Law and His tabernacle worship structure to accomplish this feat, and He planted Israel smack dab in the middle of the civilized world of the day so everyone would see this.
Israel, you see, served as a gigantic neon billboard along the interstate between Egypt and Mesopotamia. All commerce passed between those two civilizations, so everyone learned the truth about God from Israel—even during times when Israel wasn’t much to look at righteousness-wise. Israel was God’s witness to the world, sometimes for good and other times for ill.
Well, the Law was in effect only until the fullness of the time had come (Galatians 4:4). That time came when the eternal Son of God became a man named Jesus. Jesus is the God-man, fully God and fully man simultaneously. He came to earth to fulfill the Law for mankind. He then went to the cross and died to pay the penalty for all mankind’s sins. He rose out of death on the third day and ascended into heaven.
From heaven Jesus sent the Holy Spirit on Pentecost to create a new nation, a spiritual nation, known as the Church. Whoever will call upon Jesus in order to accept His payment for the penalty of their sins receives forgiveness of sins and is born again into the family of God, the Church of Jesus Christ. Originally this offer was given to Israel, to the Jewish people. Since then it has also gone out to the Gentiles, i.e., all non-Jewish people.
Let’s pull off the interstate into this shady arbor along the road. It’s time to take a breather and spend time alone with the Lord Jesus a while. We will continue this study in our next post. 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/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
Israel in Old Testament times was a nation ruled by the Law of Moses. The Lord (aka YHWH) was her King, and He gave Israel her Law through His prophet Moses. King YHWH also gave Israel the Promised Land as her terrestrial abode.
In other words the Lord created a new nation. He began with one man, Abraham, and grew him and his progeny into a multitude. Then the Lord delivered them from Egyptian slavery, took them to Mt. Sinai where He gave them the Law to govern their lives, and brought them into the Promised Land and gave it to them as their inheritance.
There was a purpose for the Lord doing all this. He created the heavens and the earth and planted man in His beautiful garden to tend it for Him. He looked over His creation and saw that everything was very good. That sly critter named SIN didn’t exist in man. Everything God made was very good.
Alas, but it didn’t stay that way. Satan was at odds with God, thinking to elevate himself to the throne of God. He wound up being “elevated” downward—far, far, downward—when the Lord booted his sorry rump out of heaven. Satan’s behavior made him a sinner. When the Lord created the heavens and the earth, Satan brought his sin along and shared it with Eve. She in turn shared it with Adam. Thenceforth mankind universally has been comprised of sinners.
That was where the Law of Moses and the nation of Israel came in. The world was filled with sinners, peoples and nations who shook their fist at God and refused to submit to His rule. The two major civilizations back in the day were Egypt and Mesopotamia. If you take a gander at a map of those times, you will see Mesopotamia on the east and Egypt on the west, and…the Promised Land smack dab in the middle.
Yes, the Lord created a new nation to represent Him to the world, to show sinful men that they were sinners, separated from Him and needing to return to Him. He gave Israel the Law and His tabernacle worship structure to accomplish this feat, and He planted Israel smack dab in the middle of the civilized world of the day so everyone would see this.
Israel, you see, served as a gigantic neon billboard along the interstate between Egypt and Mesopotamia. All commerce passed between those two civilizations, so everyone learned the truth about God from Israel—even during times when Israel wasn’t much to look at righteousness-wise. Israel was God’s witness to the world, sometimes for good and other times for ill.
Well, the Law was in effect only until the fullness of the time had come (Galatians 4:4). That time came when the eternal Son of God became a man named Jesus. Jesus is the God-man, fully God and fully man simultaneously. He came to earth to fulfill the Law for mankind. He then went to the cross and died to pay the penalty for all mankind’s sins. He rose out of death on the third day and ascended into heaven.
From heaven Jesus sent the Holy Spirit on Pentecost to create a new nation, a spiritual nation, known as the Church. Whoever will call upon Jesus in order to accept His payment for the penalty of their sins receives forgiveness of sins and is born again into the family of God, the Church of Jesus Christ. Originally this offer was given to Israel, to the Jewish people. Since then it has also gone out to the Gentiles, i.e., all non-Jewish people.
Let’s pull off the interstate into this shady arbor along the road. It’s time to take a breather and spend time alone with the Lord Jesus a while. We will continue this study in our next post. 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/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
January 8, 2012
Who dat? - Part 3
There was evening and there was morning, one day…there was evening and there was morning, a second day…There was evening and there was morning, a third day…There was evening and there was morning, a fourth day…There was evening and there was morning, a fifth day…there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day [Genesis 1:5, 8, 13, 19, 23, 31].
As one last evidence in our remonstrance against DAT, let’s practice what true science preaches and test the feasibility of DAT that way. True science teaches that we are to form a hypothesis, and then take it to the lab to test it in a controlled environment. This means we are to test the hypothesis in an environment where we can account for all the variables. Once the hypothesis has passed the test in the controlled environment, then and only then do we put it into practice in the real world to see how it fares out there.
I hope you caught my reference to “true science”. This is important. History, of which geology perforce belongs, cannot be tested in the lab. How can we take the past into a lab? Uh, that would be a “we can’t”. History and geology are not true science. They are fields of speculation, of surmises, especially when dealing with pre-history where we cannot even read the words of men who were contemporaries during those times. We can state nothing in our studies of those times but surmises.
Here’s how it works in reality, dear friends. Some musty-smelling old geology gent makes a visit to the Grand Canyon. He looks at how deep it is, watches how fast the river waters are moving through it, checks the density of the rock, and pulls out his abacus to do some calculating. “Ah ha!” he blurts out. “I’ve figured out how long it would take for this here river, running at its present rate across the rock we now have showing, to cut through the rock to form the Grand Canyon.
Listen to 2 Peter 3:3-4:
Know this first of all, that in the last days mockers will come with their mocking following after their own lusts, and saying, “Where is the promise of His coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all continues just as it was from the beginning of creation.”
That is the definition of uniformitarianism, my friends. Uniformitarianism teaches that all things have occurred, still occur, and will continue to occur, at the same rate they now occur. Hence our musty-smelling geologist gent did his figuring on the basis of the rate which the river now flows and figured the rock was the same as it is now. This is because the central premise of uniformitarianism is that all continues just as it was from the beginning of creation.
Oh, there is so much more we could share on this subject, but we mustn’t unduly lengthen this post. Read my book Genesis: Volume 1 for a more in-depth investigation. Before we close I said we would practice what true science preaches and test DAT by the Word of God. Yea, 2 Peter 3:3-4 exposes uniformitarianism. But we still haven’t applied DAT to any actual Scripture. So let’s do so now, and then we’ll close on that note and spend time alone with the Lord Jesus a while.
Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath of the Lord your God; in it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter, your male or your female servant or your cattle or your sojourner who stays with you. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day and made it holy [Exodus 20:8-11].
Now let’s apply DAT’s teaching about the word “day” to this text.
Remember the sabbath multi-millions of years, to keep it holy. Six multi-millions of years you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh multi-millions of years is a sabbath of the Lord your God; in it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter, your male or your female servant or your cattle or your sojourner who stays with you. For in six multi-millions of years the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh multi-millions of years; therefore the Lord blessed the sabbath multi-millions of years and made it holy.
If you think that makes sense, methinks you must’ve been sniffing something illegal! Tada.
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/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
As one last evidence in our remonstrance against DAT, let’s practice what true science preaches and test the feasibility of DAT that way. True science teaches that we are to form a hypothesis, and then take it to the lab to test it in a controlled environment. This means we are to test the hypothesis in an environment where we can account for all the variables. Once the hypothesis has passed the test in the controlled environment, then and only then do we put it into practice in the real world to see how it fares out there.
I hope you caught my reference to “true science”. This is important. History, of which geology perforce belongs, cannot be tested in the lab. How can we take the past into a lab? Uh, that would be a “we can’t”. History and geology are not true science. They are fields of speculation, of surmises, especially when dealing with pre-history where we cannot even read the words of men who were contemporaries during those times. We can state nothing in our studies of those times but surmises.
Here’s how it works in reality, dear friends. Some musty-smelling old geology gent makes a visit to the Grand Canyon. He looks at how deep it is, watches how fast the river waters are moving through it, checks the density of the rock, and pulls out his abacus to do some calculating. “Ah ha!” he blurts out. “I’ve figured out how long it would take for this here river, running at its present rate across the rock we now have showing, to cut through the rock to form the Grand Canyon.
Listen to 2 Peter 3:3-4:
Know this first of all, that in the last days mockers will come with their mocking following after their own lusts, and saying, “Where is the promise of His coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all continues just as it was from the beginning of creation.”
That is the definition of uniformitarianism, my friends. Uniformitarianism teaches that all things have occurred, still occur, and will continue to occur, at the same rate they now occur. Hence our musty-smelling geologist gent did his figuring on the basis of the rate which the river now flows and figured the rock was the same as it is now. This is because the central premise of uniformitarianism is that all continues just as it was from the beginning of creation.
Oh, there is so much more we could share on this subject, but we mustn’t unduly lengthen this post. Read my book Genesis: Volume 1 for a more in-depth investigation. Before we close I said we would practice what true science preaches and test DAT by the Word of God. Yea, 2 Peter 3:3-4 exposes uniformitarianism. But we still haven’t applied DAT to any actual Scripture. So let’s do so now, and then we’ll close on that note and spend time alone with the Lord Jesus a while.
Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath of the Lord your God; in it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter, your male or your female servant or your cattle or your sojourner who stays with you. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day and made it holy [Exodus 20:8-11].
Now let’s apply DAT’s teaching about the word “day” to this text.
Remember the sabbath multi-millions of years, to keep it holy. Six multi-millions of years you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh multi-millions of years is a sabbath of the Lord your God; in it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter, your male or your female servant or your cattle or your sojourner who stays with you. For in six multi-millions of years the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh multi-millions of years; therefore the Lord blessed the sabbath multi-millions of years and made it holy.
If you think that makes sense, methinks you must’ve been sniffing something illegal! Tada.
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/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
January 7, 2012
Who dat? - Part 2
There was evening and there was morning, one day…there was evening and there was morning, a second day…There was evening and there was morning, a third day…There was evening and there was morning, a fourth day…There was evening and there was morning, a fifth day…there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day [Genesis 1:5, 8, 13, 19, 23, 31].
Yes, it is perfectly true that the sun and moon were not created until Day 4. If the only way there could be a literal 24-hour period of time was for there to be a sun and moon first, then our Bible-believing geologists’ presumptions would have a logical foundation. But light was created at the very start of creation (Gen.1:3). The opposite of light, viz., darkness, existed already (Gen.1:2). Hence part of the earth had light and part had darkness. Is that not “day” and “night”?
When God speaks, He only tells truth. He said there was an evening and then a morning, the first day. Whatever way He determined to use in measuring a literal 24-hour period of time, we don’t know because He didn’t explain it to us. But that He had a literal 24-hour period of time He did tell us. He employed the sun and moon to measure time for man’s benefit.
But they weren’t needed by Him to measure time. He already knows how long a literal 24-hour period of time lasts, even without the sun and moon. We mustn’t limit God to our finite understanding, dear people, or we make His Word to mean what we think. In that case we are conformed to the world, when we are supposed to be transformed by the renewing of our minds (Romans 12:2).
As for the Hebrew word for day, when it is used in the Bible in a generalized way, then it doesn’t per se mean a literal 24-hour day. But it does mean a relatively brief period of time on the measuring stick of history. Often the prophets used words of time to express periods of time. Still, when they did so, a “year” expressed a considerably longer period of time than a “week” expressed. And a “week” expressed a noticeably longer period of time than a “day” expressed. In that context we must have been born last night to believe we can stretch a generalized usage of the word day to mean multi-millions of years! No! even if we were born at night, it wasn’t last night!
We’ve not finished with vetting their surmises just yet, so don’t go away! The prior paragraph referred to a GENERALIZED usage of the word day. An example of this would be the phrase “the day of the Lord”. No one in their right mind reads that, giving it some thought, and concludes it HAS to be a literal 24-hour period. No! But it has to be a relatively short period on the measuring stick of history. What’s more, it refers to a GENERAL period of time, not necessarily a literal 24-hour period of time.
Now read the quote from Genesis 1 with which we began this post. Do you see a GENERALIZED usage for each “day”? I certainly hope not. Each “day” was a specific period of time: one day, a second day, a third day, etc. Every single time—NO exceptions!—but every other time in the Bible when the word “day” is used with a number, it refers to a literal 24-hour period of time.
Don’t take my word for it. Do a search of the word “day” and cull the times it occurs with a number. Every time without exception a specific usage of the word “day” occurs, it unmistakably refers to a literal 24-hour period of time. Would someone please hand the Kleenex box to our Bible-believing “Who’s DAT?” supporters. They need to wipe their eyes.
Let’s stop here for today and allow them time to have a good cry. They’ll need it before we zap them again with some more Bible. Praise the Lord Jesus! That sounds like a plan. Let’s go do it.
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/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
Yes, it is perfectly true that the sun and moon were not created until Day 4. If the only way there could be a literal 24-hour period of time was for there to be a sun and moon first, then our Bible-believing geologists’ presumptions would have a logical foundation. But light was created at the very start of creation (Gen.1:3). The opposite of light, viz., darkness, existed already (Gen.1:2). Hence part of the earth had light and part had darkness. Is that not “day” and “night”?
When God speaks, He only tells truth. He said there was an evening and then a morning, the first day. Whatever way He determined to use in measuring a literal 24-hour period of time, we don’t know because He didn’t explain it to us. But that He had a literal 24-hour period of time He did tell us. He employed the sun and moon to measure time for man’s benefit.
But they weren’t needed by Him to measure time. He already knows how long a literal 24-hour period of time lasts, even without the sun and moon. We mustn’t limit God to our finite understanding, dear people, or we make His Word to mean what we think. In that case we are conformed to the world, when we are supposed to be transformed by the renewing of our minds (Romans 12:2).
As for the Hebrew word for day, when it is used in the Bible in a generalized way, then it doesn’t per se mean a literal 24-hour day. But it does mean a relatively brief period of time on the measuring stick of history. Often the prophets used words of time to express periods of time. Still, when they did so, a “year” expressed a considerably longer period of time than a “week” expressed. And a “week” expressed a noticeably longer period of time than a “day” expressed. In that context we must have been born last night to believe we can stretch a generalized usage of the word day to mean multi-millions of years! No! even if we were born at night, it wasn’t last night!
We’ve not finished with vetting their surmises just yet, so don’t go away! The prior paragraph referred to a GENERALIZED usage of the word day. An example of this would be the phrase “the day of the Lord”. No one in their right mind reads that, giving it some thought, and concludes it HAS to be a literal 24-hour period. No! But it has to be a relatively short period on the measuring stick of history. What’s more, it refers to a GENERAL period of time, not necessarily a literal 24-hour period of time.
Now read the quote from Genesis 1 with which we began this post. Do you see a GENERALIZED usage for each “day”? I certainly hope not. Each “day” was a specific period of time: one day, a second day, a third day, etc. Every single time—NO exceptions!—but every other time in the Bible when the word “day” is used with a number, it refers to a literal 24-hour period of time.
Don’t take my word for it. Do a search of the word “day” and cull the times it occurs with a number. Every time without exception a specific usage of the word “day” occurs, it unmistakably refers to a literal 24-hour period of time. Would someone please hand the Kleenex box to our Bible-believing “Who’s DAT?” supporters. They need to wipe their eyes.
Let’s stop here for today and allow them time to have a good cry. They’ll need it before we zap them again with some more Bible. Praise the Lord Jesus! That sounds like a plan. Let’s go do it.
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/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
January 6, 2012
Who dat? - Part 1
There was evening and there was morning, one day…there was evening and there was morning, a second day…There was evening and there was morning, a third day…There was evening and there was morning, a fourth day…There was evening and there was morning, a fifth day…there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day [Genesis 1:5, 8, 13, 19, 23, 31].
We’ve spent the past three posts studying the Gap Theory. We won’t repeat any of our findings here. The reader may reread the prior three posts if he/she so desires. I mention the Gap Theory because of the topic of our current post. Whereas the Gap Theory attempted to fit the Bible into the theories of contemporary geology—viz., by finding multi-millions of years between verse 1 and verse 2 of Genesis 1—there is another clever method to account for multi-millions of years in Genesis 1.
It is the subject of today’s study, dear friends. It is known as the Day-Age Theory, or DAT for short (aka “Who dat?”). This theory of contemporary Bible-believing geologists is a close cousin to the Gap Theory. The two have even been rumored to kiss on occasion.
Anyway let’s not digress. The Day-Age Theory means just what its name states. Each “day” in the creation account of Genesis 1 was not a literal 24-hour period of time. No! Each “day” was and age, a period of millions of years. On each “day”, each period of millions of years, God created only the embryonic form of what was created that “day”.
Then God went off somewhere over yonder someplace to do who knows what, while He allowed Mother Nature to take over. So evolution and uniformitarianism did their thing, and things evolved at a snail’s pace. Hence the need to read into each “day” a period of millions of years.
The proponents of DAT claim Biblical support for their hypothesis by noting that the Hebrew word for “day” in the Bible does not always mean a literal 24-hour period of time. “Just look at the phrase ‘the day of the Lord’,” asseverates our learned scientist. “That doesn’t refer to a literal 24-hour period of time. Besides, the sun and moon weren’t created until Day 4. So how could there have been literal 24-hour periods of time before Day 4?” Feeling his oats he nominates himself for a Pulitzer, before taking his bows followed by taking his seat.
Wow! I am floored, good friends. The wit and wisdom oozing from those audacious remarks are quite intimidating. Methinks we had best tuck our tails between our legs and make a mad dash for the hills. No sense in staying here and taking up the gauntlet. No logic in playing David against the big, bad wolf, er, I mean against Goliath. Contemporary science with the aid of our Bible-believing geologists are much too formidable to quarrel with, aren’t they?
Stuff and nonsense! They can chant “Who DAT?” back and forth at each other and give high 5s all around if they are so inclined. I prefer to let God do the talking. He does that in His Word, by the way. So let’s stop looking directly into the face of science falsely so-called, and turn our eyes to the Bible. Come along with me as we do so. You won’t want to miss what God has to say.
Oh, but wait a sec. We are out of time and will have to wait for our next post to continue this conversation. See you then. Don’t forget to pay a visit to Jesus in the interim.
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/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
We’ve spent the past three posts studying the Gap Theory. We won’t repeat any of our findings here. The reader may reread the prior three posts if he/she so desires. I mention the Gap Theory because of the topic of our current post. Whereas the Gap Theory attempted to fit the Bible into the theories of contemporary geology—viz., by finding multi-millions of years between verse 1 and verse 2 of Genesis 1—there is another clever method to account for multi-millions of years in Genesis 1.
It is the subject of today’s study, dear friends. It is known as the Day-Age Theory, or DAT for short (aka “Who dat?”). This theory of contemporary Bible-believing geologists is a close cousin to the Gap Theory. The two have even been rumored to kiss on occasion.
Anyway let’s not digress. The Day-Age Theory means just what its name states. Each “day” in the creation account of Genesis 1 was not a literal 24-hour period of time. No! Each “day” was and age, a period of millions of years. On each “day”, each period of millions of years, God created only the embryonic form of what was created that “day”.
Then God went off somewhere over yonder someplace to do who knows what, while He allowed Mother Nature to take over. So evolution and uniformitarianism did their thing, and things evolved at a snail’s pace. Hence the need to read into each “day” a period of millions of years.
The proponents of DAT claim Biblical support for their hypothesis by noting that the Hebrew word for “day” in the Bible does not always mean a literal 24-hour period of time. “Just look at the phrase ‘the day of the Lord’,” asseverates our learned scientist. “That doesn’t refer to a literal 24-hour period of time. Besides, the sun and moon weren’t created until Day 4. So how could there have been literal 24-hour periods of time before Day 4?” Feeling his oats he nominates himself for a Pulitzer, before taking his bows followed by taking his seat.
Wow! I am floored, good friends. The wit and wisdom oozing from those audacious remarks are quite intimidating. Methinks we had best tuck our tails between our legs and make a mad dash for the hills. No sense in staying here and taking up the gauntlet. No logic in playing David against the big, bad wolf, er, I mean against Goliath. Contemporary science with the aid of our Bible-believing geologists are much too formidable to quarrel with, aren’t they?
Stuff and nonsense! They can chant “Who DAT?” back and forth at each other and give high 5s all around if they are so inclined. I prefer to let God do the talking. He does that in His Word, by the way. So let’s stop looking directly into the face of science falsely so-called, and turn our eyes to the Bible. Come along with me as we do so. You won’t want to miss what God has to say.
Oh, but wait a sec. We are out of time and will have to wait for our next post to continue this conversation. See you then. Don’t forget to pay a visit to Jesus in the interim.
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/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
January 5, 2012
Look! I found a gap in the Bible! – Part 3
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters [Genesis 1:1-2].
Now let’s get to the point of Genesis 1:1-2 and the quandary faced by our Christian geologists. In order to save face with the unbelieving geologists, their Christian counterparts need to figure out how the creation account of Genesis 1 can contain millions upon millions of years. That’s a toughie. Just read Genesis 1 and you’ll realize there ain’t no such critter there (pardon my French)!
Nonetheless they need to discover a new find so as to fit in with modern geology. So they sniff and snort all over, under every word and between the lines, leaving no stone unturned. These are determined fellows, let me tell you! They aren’t about to give up until they find such a critter. They want to fine it so badly, you see, that they can’t help but see it even where it’s not.
Suddenly out of the dark comes a blinding light! “Hark! I see the lost multi-million years! I did it! Now I must write a book about my grandiose discovery. I’ll get rich and all my atheistic counterparts will have to bow down to me. Ain’t I a dandy one?”
So our Mr. Dandy writes his book. In it he points to Genesis 1:1 and declares, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” Then he pauses for effect before continuing, “God doesn’t make any junk, my good man, but according to verse 2 He did.” Then he recites verse 2. “The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters.” He continues spouting his genius, “Something’s amiss here. But don’t be nonplussed because I’ve discovered the answer!”
He then goes into a gnarled and meandering extrapolation to explain his answer. He sees Genesis 1:1 as stating that, way back millions upon millions of years in the past, God created everything. Then something happened to throw the world into chaos, leaving it “formless and void”, with “darkness…over the surface of the deep” (v.2).
Well, alas for the poor earth, but the good Lord left it in a mess for millions upon millions of years, before He finally decided to fix it. Who knows why He would dilly dally for all those multi-million years? Perhaps He was busy with some other world doing who knows what. In any case God finally decided to fix up this old world, like you or me buying a dilapidated dump as a fixer-upper.
“And that is where Genesis 1:2 comes in,” he asserts with aplomb. “The earth fell into chaos and multi-millions of years later the Spirit of God hovered over the chaotic mass to fix it.” Then he adds while taking his bows, “I am a great one!”
This is known in today’s parlance as the Gap Theory. The surmise deduces that a gap of millions upon millions of years occurred between v.1 and v.2 of Genesis 1. Who woulda thunk it! Not me…and not you…nor anyone else who wasn’t determined to find such a critter. The text doesn’t read that way. We have to take that preconceived notion with us into the text, if we will find it there.
That approach, dear friends, wears the appellation eisegesis. It means that we read into the Bible what we want to find there. The proper approach carries the title exegesis. It means that we read what is in the Bible and pull it out of the text. Eisegesis adjusts the Bible to fit man’s thinking. Exegesis adjusts man’s thinking to fit the Bible. This is what the Apostle Paul taught in Romans 12:2, which was quoted earlier in this post.
We need to know about the Gap Theory because it is out there today and we will stumble upon it sooner or later in our studies. If we aren’t aware of its origins and pitfalls, when we stumble upon it we will wind up stumbling over it!
Let’s visit with the Lord Jesus now and allow His Word to transform us by the renewing of our minds. We will be the better for it.
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/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
Now let’s get to the point of Genesis 1:1-2 and the quandary faced by our Christian geologists. In order to save face with the unbelieving geologists, their Christian counterparts need to figure out how the creation account of Genesis 1 can contain millions upon millions of years. That’s a toughie. Just read Genesis 1 and you’ll realize there ain’t no such critter there (pardon my French)!
Nonetheless they need to discover a new find so as to fit in with modern geology. So they sniff and snort all over, under every word and between the lines, leaving no stone unturned. These are determined fellows, let me tell you! They aren’t about to give up until they find such a critter. They want to fine it so badly, you see, that they can’t help but see it even where it’s not.
Suddenly out of the dark comes a blinding light! “Hark! I see the lost multi-million years! I did it! Now I must write a book about my grandiose discovery. I’ll get rich and all my atheistic counterparts will have to bow down to me. Ain’t I a dandy one?”
So our Mr. Dandy writes his book. In it he points to Genesis 1:1 and declares, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” Then he pauses for effect before continuing, “God doesn’t make any junk, my good man, but according to verse 2 He did.” Then he recites verse 2. “The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters.” He continues spouting his genius, “Something’s amiss here. But don’t be nonplussed because I’ve discovered the answer!”
He then goes into a gnarled and meandering extrapolation to explain his answer. He sees Genesis 1:1 as stating that, way back millions upon millions of years in the past, God created everything. Then something happened to throw the world into chaos, leaving it “formless and void”, with “darkness…over the surface of the deep” (v.2).
Well, alas for the poor earth, but the good Lord left it in a mess for millions upon millions of years, before He finally decided to fix it. Who knows why He would dilly dally for all those multi-million years? Perhaps He was busy with some other world doing who knows what. In any case God finally decided to fix up this old world, like you or me buying a dilapidated dump as a fixer-upper.
“And that is where Genesis 1:2 comes in,” he asserts with aplomb. “The earth fell into chaos and multi-millions of years later the Spirit of God hovered over the chaotic mass to fix it.” Then he adds while taking his bows, “I am a great one!”
This is known in today’s parlance as the Gap Theory. The surmise deduces that a gap of millions upon millions of years occurred between v.1 and v.2 of Genesis 1. Who woulda thunk it! Not me…and not you…nor anyone else who wasn’t determined to find such a critter. The text doesn’t read that way. We have to take that preconceived notion with us into the text, if we will find it there.
That approach, dear friends, wears the appellation eisegesis. It means that we read into the Bible what we want to find there. The proper approach carries the title exegesis. It means that we read what is in the Bible and pull it out of the text. Eisegesis adjusts the Bible to fit man’s thinking. Exegesis adjusts man’s thinking to fit the Bible. This is what the Apostle Paul taught in Romans 12:2, which was quoted earlier in this post.
We need to know about the Gap Theory because it is out there today and we will stumble upon it sooner or later in our studies. If we aren’t aware of its origins and pitfalls, when we stumble upon it we will wind up stumbling over it!
Let’s visit with the Lord Jesus now and allow His Word to transform us by the renewing of our minds. We will be the better for it.
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/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
January 4, 2012
Look! I found a gap in the Bible! – Part 2
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters [Genesis 1:1-2].
Many of our contemporary scientists of geology function on the basis that God doesn’t exist. Ergo, they must needs discover how their god, Mother Nature, created the earth and all the universe. But then again, there are some geologists who do believe in God, even the God of the Bible. They are sincere and, as far as we can know, truly born again.
These Christian scientists are experts in a field which operates under the assumption that God doesn’t exist. Hence they are outnumbered, isolated, and ridiculed if they mention the Bible. In order to function in such an environment, they find it necessary to acclimate to their environment. So they attempt to adjust the Bible to fit with contemporary geology.
Dear friends, Rule #2 for Bible study exposes this approach as erroneous: the Bible is our sole and final authority in all matters of faith and practice. We aren’t to adjust the Bible to fit man’s understanding. Quite the opposite! We are to adjust man’s understanding to fit the Bible. Listen to the Apostle Paul express it:
And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect [Romans 12:2].
See! If we adjust the Bible to fit modern science’s beliefs, we make modern science to be god. This is what Paul meant by being conformed to this world. When we elevate the Word of God to its rightful place as per Rule #2 for Bible study, then we adjust man’s beliefs and ideas to fit the Word of God. Paul calls this being transformed by the renewing of your mind.
On that note let’s cease with our study today and betake ourselves to the Word of God. Only by means of His Word can we have our minds renewed so that we are transformed into the image of Jesus. And believe me, that is a good thing. We will continue this study in our next post.
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/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
Many of our contemporary scientists of geology function on the basis that God doesn’t exist. Ergo, they must needs discover how their god, Mother Nature, created the earth and all the universe. But then again, there are some geologists who do believe in God, even the God of the Bible. They are sincere and, as far as we can know, truly born again.
These Christian scientists are experts in a field which operates under the assumption that God doesn’t exist. Hence they are outnumbered, isolated, and ridiculed if they mention the Bible. In order to function in such an environment, they find it necessary to acclimate to their environment. So they attempt to adjust the Bible to fit with contemporary geology.
Dear friends, Rule #2 for Bible study exposes this approach as erroneous: the Bible is our sole and final authority in all matters of faith and practice. We aren’t to adjust the Bible to fit man’s understanding. Quite the opposite! We are to adjust man’s understanding to fit the Bible. Listen to the Apostle Paul express it:
And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect [Romans 12:2].
See! If we adjust the Bible to fit modern science’s beliefs, we make modern science to be god. This is what Paul meant by being conformed to this world. When we elevate the Word of God to its rightful place as per Rule #2 for Bible study, then we adjust man’s beliefs and ideas to fit the Word of God. Paul calls this being transformed by the renewing of your mind.
On that note let’s cease with our study today and betake ourselves to the Word of God. Only by means of His Word can we have our minds renewed so that we are transformed into the image of Jesus. And believe me, that is a good thing. We will continue this study in our next post.
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/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
