Considering the Bible

Names of God – A GOD MERCIFUL AND GRACIOUS – 23

2023-11-17

My hope is that this series will offer my readers a chance to consider the names, characteristics and descriptions of our God in the Word.

The remaining Names of God in this series might be considered descriptors, or characteristics of the Lord. We have reviewed the three primary Names of God, along with nineteen compound Names of God in our previous posts. At this point in our study, we will begin with “A God Merciful and Gracious”, the twenty-third Name of God on my list. As we venture through these descriptors of our God, I hope we will recognize all the many characteristics of our God that we tend to take for granted.

The Word is truly rich with descriptions of the Living God, and this effort of searching in the Word was quite illuminating. He truly is the ultimate subject of the Word, and His revelation of self-descriptions, or the accolades offered Him by His priests, prophets, kings apostles and faithful truly is a blessing.

May the Name of the Lord be praised, and by thinking on His name, may you have a blessed day.

23

A GOD MERCIFUL AND GRACIOUS

Psalm 86:15 But you, O Lord, are a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.

What a good way to start out with on our third phase in the Names of God series. Merciful and Gracious. As I new believer in the church, I was told that grace is getting what you don’t deserve, and mercy is not getting what I deserve.

Does that make sense?

Yet, this merciful term has a bit more to it that just not getting what we deserve, as if that didn’t provide enough to be blessed by. This word “merciful” also includes the concept of compassion and somewhat surprised me when I think of merciful. Remember, merciful, in my mind, speaks of the refrain of some action or judgement upon a person that deserves it. To add the idea of compassion brings to mind the motivation behind the my concept of mercy.

When I consider the mercy of God, I commonly think only of the actions of the Lord (or better said, the refraining of rightful actions) and not His motivation in refraining from a judgement. Yet our God is a compassionate God, a God whose heart is that of a Father, seeking the best for His children, teaching, guiding, warning and loving His children.

The second term only strengthens this thought, for the psalmist reminds us of the graciousness of our God, a descriptor that blows up for us in the New Covenant. But for God to be understood as gracious is definitely not only a New Testament descriptor, for there are multitudinous passages referring to our God as gracious in the Old Covenant.

Moses, the law giver, did not understand God to be a harsh, dictatorial God, but when Moses met God, after he destroyed the first two tablets of the law, God began His self revelation to Moses, with the very same description we are considering today

Exodus 34:6 The LORD passed before him and proclaimed, “The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness,

Moses, out of anger in seeing the Israelites sinning, through down the tablets of the law, a picture of us all “breaking the law”. And God reveals Himself as a God merciful and gracious.

Our God is a most surprising God and His name is to be praised

I would love to hear of your favorite name, characteristic or description of the Living God. Please leave me a comment, and I will include it in the list!

Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you know someone this blog may bless (or challenge), send them a link, so they may join us in our discussion.

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Conditional Security – Hebrews 2:1-3

2023-11-16

Hebrews 2:1-3

Hebrews 2:1 Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it.
Hebrews 2:2 For since the message declared by angels proved to be reliable, and every transgression or disobedience received a just retribution,
Hebrews 2:3 how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? It was declared at first by the Lord, and it was attested to us by those who heard,

We have been working through multiple passage under this series and it is somewhat surprising that this passage has been neglected till now. It is such a powerful passage warning us of our tendency to drift away from the message of the grace of God, and the great salvation He has provided!

When I embraced the OSAS (Once Saved Always Saved) teaching, I looked at this verse as a passage that was delivered to the lost, and the danger of their rejecting the great salvation the Lord provided for the world. This was the result of reading the third verse only, with a set of OSAS goggles on, interpreting the verse the way I was told to interpret it.

Lets consider the immediate context, and the specific message of the third verse.

Context

The author is speaking to Christians, including himself! Notice how he refers to “we” a couple of times in the first verse. Yes I have heard that the we could be referring to Hebrews, and not Christians since the author may have been Jewish, but honestly, this seems to be such a stretch to avoid the obvious. Consider the author’s fear of drifting away in the first verse. The direction of movement is away from the gospel, which implies there may have been a time when the audience (and the author) were closer to the message.

The entire book of Hebrews is speaking to believers who are on the edge of abandoning their faith, and for the author to change the audience in this small passage makes no sense for me. There will be a number of these passages in Hebrews, where the author addresses the audiences dangerous position. His audience contains Christians, those who believed in the Jewish Messiah, leaving behind a dead religion, a religion whose purpose was to bring them to faith, not to be a competition to the truth!

Specific Message

Again, as an OSAS adherent, I read the third verse thusly.

Hebrews 3:3 how shall we escape if we ~~neglect~~ reject such a great salvation?

How often have you heard a preacher or teacher read this verse, and then go on as if he is teaching it to an audience of lost souls, that they are rejecting the gospel? As if the church is full of lost souls, and that if any believers are in attendance, they are allowed to listen, but it doesn’t really apply to them.

The term the apostle uses is neglect, and refers to an attitude of negligence, carelessness of disregarding the truth we have been given. A few chapters later, the apostle uses this same Greek word in a bit different way, for he speaks of God showing no concern.

Hebrews 8:9 not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt. For they did not continue in my covenant, and so I showed no concern for them, declares the Lord.

The same Greek word (ἀμελέω ameléō, G 272), but the one “neglecting” is God, and the ones being neglected are the very ones who considered the truth they had been provided as unimportant. Note that the author reminds the Hebrew believers that the Hebrews of history did not continue in the covenant they had been provided! Might it be that the Hebrews of old neglected the covenant, made light of the covenant? Surely this is the authors intended message!

Don’t make light of the gospel. We are in a life and death battle, a battle that will have consequences.

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Life of David – 2.03

2023-11-15

The Lord Rejects Saul

As many who have followed me for a bit, I have fallen into the Psalms, and I can’t get up! (As if I would want to.) The Psalms are a majestic collection of poetry, of heart felt human experiences that constantly challenge me in my own frail attempt to follow the true King. As many of the Psalms are written by David, my study on the Psalms has spurred me on to looking at the life of David, is the main contributor to this book, and to follow the victories and tragedies of the shepherd King of Israel.

Many times in the narrative, we will see the Lord Jesus, imperfectly, yet a reflection of His spirit in a man with weaknesses.

Today’s post we will review Saul’s Justification.

1 Samuel

14 And Samuel said, “What then is this bleating of the sheep in my ears and the lowing of the oxen that I hear?”
15 Saul said, “They have brought them from the Amalekites, for the people spared the best of the sheep and of the oxen to sacrifice to the LORD your God, and the rest we have devoted to destruction.”
16 Then Samuel said to Saul, “Stop! I will tell you what the LORD said to me this night.” And he said to him, “Speak.”

Notice Adam in this verse anywhere? Blameshifting on steroids! THEY brought the sheep.. THE PEOPLE spared the best…. Regarding that which was in obedience to the command, Saul joined in on that activity – WE have devoted the rest to destruction.

Stop! Samuel had had it.

He knew Saul was going to loose the kingdom, and this was the trigger that set off the announcement. Samuel had just spent the night hearing from the LORD, and it wasn’t good news. The man that was to be the replacement for God in the nation of Israel has lost his position, is being kicked “out of the garden”. There are some minor similarities of Saul with Adam, but then again, there are some similarities of Saul with me!

Saul was brought short by Samuel, in the midst of his blameshifting and justification of his actions. So religious, wanting to sacrifice the best of someone else’s sheep and oxen! Quite a sacrifice! No matter, for this is the beginning of the end for Saul, and he falls hard!

Our next post will review the judgement that was to fall on this man named Saul.

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Jesus in the Old Testament – Adam 16

2023-11-14

Jesus in the Old Testament is a series of posts that will offer my readers a chance to consider pictures or shadows of Jesus in the Old Testament. As mentioned in the introduction to this series, some may be obvious, some may be not so obvious, and some may simply be a facet of the Lord those reading may not have considered previously.

I hope as we venture through this series, we will see the Lord in many wonderful pictures throughout the Old Testament.

SEEING JESUS IN

ADAM

HIS DOMINION

Genesis 1
26 Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”

Matthew 28:
18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.

In Adam’s creation, God granted him dominion over all created beings, even over “all the earth”. Did Adam do anything to deserve this tremendous act of benevolence? Dang, the only thing he did was to “become”, if you know what I mean. He was completely passive in his own creation, and all of creation previous to his own. He came into this creation with nothing but the love of God shining down on him, and the beauty of creation encircling him.

Within this condition, God provided Adam the kingdom of the earth, for that is what dominion is speaking of, that is Adam was granted the right to rule over the entire creation. This appointment of ruling was granted out of absolutely nothing Adam did. Please understand my point for it may seem I am laboring to make it.

I assume by now you understand though Adam and Jesus were both granted dominion, Jesus far excels the example of Adam, for He did not have a perfect creation to rule over as Adam, but took a broken world, and suffered to redeem it, and out of a sinless life and vicarious death for our sake, was granted all dominion (authority) in heaven and earth.

A picture they say is worth a thousand words, but the picture of the “dominion of Adam” over earth barely scratches the extent of Jesus’ kingdom. And to return to the thought of deserving the kingdom, as we said with Adam, he did nothing to deserve the dominion over God’s creation. Jesus did everything to deserve the dominion He has been granted. And why? Because He is worthy!

Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you know someone this blog may bless (or challenge), send them a link, so they may join us in our discussion.

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Names of God – EL QANNA (JEALOUS GOD) – 22

2023-11-13

My hope is that this series will offer my readers a chance to consider the names, characteristics and descriptions of our God in the Word.

Our next set of names (#4 through #22) are considered His compound names, which typically uses His primary name and attaches a specific descriptor to it. These are the names that originally got me chasing this topic, and now it has developed into a much bigger study than the original intent, but I digress, for I have already mentioned this!

The Word is truly rich with descriptions of the Living God, and this effort of searching in the Word was quite illuminating. He truly is the ultimate subject of the Word, and His revelation of self-descriptions, or the accolades offered Him by His priests, prophets, kings apostles and faithful truly was a blessing.

May the Name of the Lord be praised, and by thinking on His name, may you have a blessed day.

22

EL QANNA (JEALOUS GOD)

Exodus 20:5 You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me,

Whenever the concept of jealousy comes up in relation to the LORD, I fear we bring to mind the image of a drunken, insecure man wearing a “wife beater” shirt, ready to blow up at the hint of any disappointment or challenge in a relationship. Granted, this is how much of our experiential jealousy works itself out in our world (minus the shirt thing!) but as I found out in a previous study series (A Jealous God), for our God to be jealous is everything we should ever want.

He is jealous for our sake, not out of an insecurity of his worth, for He is certainly worthy, He is jealous for our sake, not out an emotional dependency He has, for prior to our creation, He was in full harmony within the Godhead. No, this jealousy, if I understand the Word properly, is a burden the Lord has taken upon Himself for our sakes, and not some knee jerk emotional reaction to the actions of others.

In our verse above, the context is the giving of the Ten Commandments, and the name He provides us is in relation the His people worshipping idols. Throughout the history of the Old Testament, for a father to allow idols usually plays out in the son worshipping the idol.

An example may help.

The patience of the Lord in the Old Testament regarding His people’s continual attraction to idols seems outrageous, for even King Manasseh – the king who typifies the idol worshipping king of Israel in my mind, was granted forgiveness, and restoration.

2 Chronicles 33:10-13
The LORD spoke to Manasseh and to his people, but they paid no attention. Therefore the LORD brought upon them the commanders of the army of the king of Assyria, who captured Manasseh with hooks and bound him with chains of bronze and brought him to Babylon. And when he was in distress, he entreated the favor of the LORD his God and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers. He prayed to him, and God was moved by his entreaty and heard his plea and brought him again to Jerusalem into his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the LORD was God.

This amazing repentance of Manasseh and personal restoration from idolatry by God for the king did not stop the degradation of the nation into captivity, for the children of the nation were on a course of self destruction, with each generation hardening against our Jealous God. Eventually, the beneficial aspect of God’s jealousy (that is, the actions of the Lord, intended for the for the people’s sake) became extremely harsh, for the nation who was granted this love continually spurned it.

Even in the Babylonian captivity, our jealous God continued to show His commitment to His people, using the captivity, not as a final judgement on the nation, but as a learning period for His people as a nation. He exercised the discipline the sons required in order for the restoration of the nation, knowing that the very nation would include those who would condemn the Messiah.

Yet out of this horrific exercise of hardened sinners, the jealousy of God was fully manifested, in that even in the rebellion of men, the grace of God provided for our benefit the gift of eternal life, the privilege of the Spirit of God, and the comfort of the Father’s love for the church.

He is good, and out of His jealousy for us, He has provided all good things!

I would love to hear of your favorite name, characteristic or description of the Living God. Please leave me a comment, and I will include it in the list!

Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you know someone this blog may bless (or challenge), send them a link, so they may join us in our discussion.

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Philippian Bits – 2:28

2023-11-12

For this series in Philippians, I am going to limit each post to one verse, and hopefully produce a short, succinct read for my friends who follow.

2:28 I am the more eager to send him, therefore, that you may rejoice at seeing him again, and that I may be less anxious.

Paul has spent the last few verses speaking of Epaphroditus, of his character, his sickness, his impact on the apostle and the expected response of the Philippian church.

But note that Paul is now stating a somewhat obvious fact, coupled with two anticipated responses. An obvious fact Carl? Yes, when Epaphroditus turns up in Philippi with this letter for the church, (for most scholars would say he was the courier), isn’t it obvious that Paul sent him back?

Or might Paul be emphasizing something other than the obvious. Maybe he is emphasizing his attitude in sending Epaphroditus, his eagerness to provide this servant back to the church, his desire to provide for his church at his own expense.

Remember that Epaphroditus was sent to Paul to provide time and money, and though the church’s missionary delivered the funds, his time of service was severely limited dues to his sickness. Yet Paul does not grasp at this lost opportunity for someone to provide a service for him. Instead, he is eager to send him back to the church, for the church’s sake, and as Paul mentioned earlier, for Epaphroditus sake.

So Paul is eager to send him back for thier sake. And he is thankful for the recovery God provided to his friend, so that he my be relieved of his own anxiousness.

Whoa Paul, I thought Christians were not to be anxious. Just a chapter later you will write

Philippians 4:6 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.

Well, there is a simple explanation for this seeming hypocrisy, for the anxiousness Paul mentions in our verse today is a Greek word that speaks of being free from pain or grief, to be less sorrowful. Paul is speaking of the emotional environment he lives in due to the situation his brother and the Philippians are in.

An alternate reading of the passage fleshes this thought out somewhat better.

Philippians 2:28 NASB95 – Therefore I have sent him all the more eagerly so that when you see him again you may rejoice and I may be less concerned [about you.]

This “anxiousness” is other related!

In Phil 4:6, when Paul provides a commandment to the believers to not be anxious, he is referring to our common understanding of the cares and concerns of everyday life, of the “worrying” we enter into, that steals our joy.

This “anxiousness” is self related!

So Paul expresses his motivation in his eagerness to provide for the Philippians, his seeking “less sorrow” over the situation and that the Philippians would rejoice at seeing him.

Of course this last phrase may bring confirmation or regret within the congregation, depending on how Epaphroditus is welcomed home, but for some reason I want to think that the Philippians rejoiced at seeing their brother come home. If there were an element within the church that may still harbor feeling of disappointment in the success of Epaphroditus mission, this reminder to rejoice would hopefully quell that sentiment.

In our own lives, if there is opportunity for us to dwell on the failure of others, let us remember the definition of love, that Paul not only exhibits here, and encourages in his church, but explicitly describes for our own lives in another letter he wrote.

1 Corinthians 13:4-7

Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Help us O Lord to love one another the way you loved us!

Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you know someone this blog may bless (or challenge), send them a link, so they may join us in our discussion

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Names of God – JEHOVAH-RAAH (THE LORD MY SHEPHERD) – 21

2023-11-10

My hope is that this series will offer my readers a chance to consider the names, characteristics and descriptions of our God in the Word.

Our next set of names (#4 through #22) are considered His compound names, which typically uses His primary name and attaches a specific descriptor to it. These are the names that originally got me chasing this topic, and now it has developed into a much bigger study than the original intent, but I digress, for I have already mentioned this!

The Word is truly rich with descriptions of the Living God, and this effort of searching in the Word was quite illuminating. He truly is the ultimate subject of the Word, and His revelation of self-descriptions, or the accolades offered Him by His priests, prophets, kings apostles and faithful truly was a blessing.

May the Name of the Lord be praised, and by thinking on His name, may you have a blessed day.

21

JEHOVAH-RAAH (THE LORD MY SHEPHERD)

Psalm 23:1 A Psalm of David. The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.

Out of all the Bible, this has to be one of the most recognizable names of our God. The LORD my Shepherd. We know it was revealed to us through David the shepherd king, yet He has always been a shepherd to His people. The idea of a shepherd began with the tending of sheep, of providing for these beasts of the fields. The first martyr was a shepherd, providing a glimpse in the Great Shepherd’s fate.

Genesis 4:2 And again, she bore his brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, and Cain a worker of the ground.

The term is sometimes translated as pasturing a flock, that is to take the flock to a place of sustenance, refreshment or safety. Many other men were famous shepherds. Abraham, Isaac and Israel, along with Moses, Amos and the shepherds near Bethlehem.

To be a shepherd meant to be alone, in the fields, amongst the wild beasts, in the cold of night, or under a blistering sun at high noon. To be a shepherd meant to forsake your will for the sake of some “dumb” animals, animals that were in constant danger, unknowing of any threat and requiring constant care. To be a shepherd meant to have animals as your closest friends, to identify with them, to plan for their survival, to seek their good, to search for the lost one, and to teach the wandering one difficult lessons.

Yes – The LORD is my shepherd, for He has acted like a true Shepherd, in that he has been all alone on the cross, fighting the wild beasts that want my soul, forsaking His will for the Father’s will, in order to seek and save a poor dolt like me. He is a constantly caring God, who seeks to be a friend, has identified with us, seeks our good, and teaches us difficult lessons.

I am thankful for the LORD my Shepherd.

I would love to hear of your favorite name, characteristic or description of the Living God. Please leave me a comment, and I will include it in the list!

Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you know someone this blog may bless (or challenge), send them a link, so they may join us in our discussion.

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Conditional Security – 1 Timothy 1:18-20

2023-11-09

1 Timothy 1:18-20

18 This charge I entrust to you, Timothy, my child, in accordance with the prophecies previously made about you, that by them you may wage the good warfare,

19 holding faith and a good conscience. By rejecting this, some have made shipwreck of their faith,

20 among whom are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan that they may learn not to blaspheme.

Rejection. Paul is warning Timothy of the results of ignoring a good conscience. No – that is not right! It is not a matter specifically of ignoring to maintain a good conscience, which by the way is dangerous, but Paul speaks of some, who we will meet soon, as rejecting faith and a good conscience.

Two actions are being described in this verse.

Holding

G2192 – ἔχω échō To have, to hold, to own or possess.

This is a typical term to define ownership or to keep within close proximity, to cling to or to be closely joined to. The thought communicated is typical of Paul’s writings, and that is to maintain a close relationship with the Lord, and the two vehicles to maintain this relationship is faith and a good conscience. Paul is highlighting Timothy’s continued efforts for his ministry.

Rejecting

G683 – ἀπωθέομαι apōthéomai. To push off, cast away or to thrust away from. This seems to be a deliberate action on the part of the subject. This isn’t a matter of human frailty, in that we all fall down occasionally. Paul is using a word here that speaks of a decision to reject faith and a good conscience. To be able to reject something implies the possession of the thing being rejected – how can you reject something you do not have!. May we safely assume that the two men mentioned in this passage were believers at one time?

Two men are given as examples, who have rejected faith and a good conscience.

Hymenaeus

Hymenaeus shows up in one other passage in the New Testament. Paul is speaking of him as swerving from the truth, and upsetting the faith of some. Pray tell, Paul – what is Hymanaeus teaching that is so bad that you are calling him out for it?

2 Timothy 2:16-18

But avoid irreverent babble, for it will lead people into more and more ungodliness, and their talk will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus, who have swerved from the truth, saying that the resurrection has already happened. They are upsetting the faith of some.

Only that the general resurrection has occurred in the past! Consider if you were a believer during this time, and heard that you missed the resurrection. Talk about gutting the gospel! The fellow was causing tremendous damage in the church, and is to be considered an enemy of the gospel in my opinion. And in Paul’s opinion too, if I’m reading him right.

Alexander

There are a number of Alexanders in the New Testament, or at least there could be. We just don’t know. I tend to lean to the thinking Paul is referring to Alexander the coppersmith in our passage to Timothy, since Timothy is in Ephesus and the riot in Ephesus was lead by Alexander

Acts 19:33 Some of the crowd prompted Alexander, whom the Jews had put forward. And Alexander, motioning with his hand, wanted to make a defense to the crowd.

Another reference to Alexander , that Timothy would recognize and may be the one Paul is referring to in our passage in 1 Timothy, is Alexander the Coppersmith. Personally I would find it difficult to think this is a different man Paul refers to but I will leave that up to my reader

2 Timothy 4:14 Alexander the coppersmith did me great harm; the Lord will repay him according to his deeds.

Both Hymenaeus and Alexander have rejected a good conscience and faith. The results do not appear to be characteristic of good Christian living, so I ask you my friend.

What is the result of their rejecting a good conscience and faith?

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Life of David – 2.02

2023-11-08

The Lord Rejects Saul

As many who have followed me for a bit, I have fallen into the Psalms, and I can’t get up! (As if I would want to.) The Psalms are a majestic collection of poetry, of heart felt human experiences that constantly challenge me in my own frail attempt to follow the true King. As many of the Psalms are written by David, my study on the Psalms has spurred me on to looking at the life of David, is the main contributor to this book, and to follow the victories and tragedies of the shepherd King of Israel.

Many times in the narrative, we will see the Lord Jesus, imperfectly, yet a reflection of His spirit in a man with weaknesses.

Let’s consider Saul’s Monument

1 Samuel 15

12 And Samuel rose early to meet Saul in the morning. And it was told Samuel, “Saul came to Carmel, and behold, he set up a monument for himself and turned and passed on and went down to Gilgal.”
13 And Samuel came to Saul, and Saul said to him, “Blessed be you to the LORD. I have performed the commandment of the LORD.”

Saul was in great spirits! He had set up a monument for himself, and had performed the commandment of the LORD. What? Wait! What did that say? He set up a monument? For himself? Saul was riding high here, and this was a precursor to a great fall. Notice that King Saul blessed Samuel, as if he was some great spiritual giant, that could bless poor ol’ Samuel.

Hebrews 7:7 It is beyond dispute that the inferior is blessed by the superior.

Notice also the story told to Samuel about Saul’s actions. “Turned and passed on and went down to Gilgal” That seems unnecessarily wordy, unless of course the narrator is speaking of Saul’s victory parade, and how he made the most of it. Who knows, but it does seem a bit odd.

Nevertheless, this short passage describes a man who is in rebellion, about to loose his kingdom, boasting of how great he is, full of self confidence and strutting about.

I suspect he was feeling like we sometimes do when we are oblivious to the truth of the situation. There is tremendous wisdom in a continual attitude of humility, willing to hear others as opposed to our own voices.

James 4:10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.

We don’t have to wait to be humble. As a matter of fact, if we wait, it might not be our choice and the humbling may be far worse! Notice that it is a choice, or James wouldn’t have told us to “humble ourselves”. It is just not our nature to bend, and we have to understand that if we are going to have any victory.

Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you know someone this blog may bless (or challenge), send them a link, so they may join us in our discussion.

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Jesus in the Old Testament – Adam 15

2023-11-07

Jesus in the Old Testament is a series of posts that will offer my readers a chance to consider pictures or shadows of Jesus in the Old Testament. As mentioned in the introduction to this series, some may be obvious, some may be not so obvious, and some may simply be a facet of the Lord those reading may not have considered previously.

I hope as we venture through this series, we will see the Lord in many wonderful pictures throughout the Old Testament.

SEEING JESUS IN

ADAM

IN HIS IMAGE

Genesis 1:27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.

Luke 3:38 the son of Enos, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God.

Both Jesus and Adam were in His image.

Of course Adam’s creation was all encompassing. Everything about Adam at his creation was in the image of God.

At the visit with Mary by the Spirit, Jesus earthly body was also created, and with that creation, the image of God had taken a physical form. Adam kept the image untarnished for a matter of hours, maybe a day. Jesus is the image of God, in all His glory, and has retained that image spotlessly from the very beginning.

Definitely Adam was a refection of the Lord, though the duration was fleeting. But He is the eternal image of God, and knowing that makes all the difference!

Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you know someone this blog may bless (or challenge), send them a link, so they may join us in our discussion.

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Names of God – JEHOVAH TSIDKENU (THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS) – 20

2023-11-06

My hope is that this series will offer my readers a chance to consider the names, characteristics and descriptions of our God in the Word.

Our next set of names (#4 through #22) are considered His compound names, which typically uses His primary name and attaches a specific descriptor to it. These are the names that originally got me chasing this topic, and now it has developed into a much bigger study than the original intent, but I digress, for I have already mentioned this!

The Word is truly rich with descriptions of the Living God, and this effort of searching in the Word was quite illuminating. He truly is the ultimate subject of the Word, and His revelation of self-descriptions, or the accolades offered Him by His priests, prophets, kings apostles and faithful truly was a blessing.

May the Name of the Lord be praised, and by thinking on His name, may you have a blessed day.

20

JEHOVAH TSIDKENU (THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS)

Jeremiah 23:6 In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is the name by which he will be called: ‘The LORD is our righteousness.’

How New Testamental can a prophet get?

Notice that Jeremiah is not defining the LORD as righteous, though God is. No no no. The name we are looking at today is The Lord our Righteousness. God Himself is our righteousness, and none other. So what is Jeremiah telling us in this name.

When I think of righteousness, I sometimes fall into the thinking of sinlessness. Is that a correct understanding? Possibly. Could there be more to righteousness than just sinlessness? I am not sure but would like to offer my understanding, that hopefully will honor the LORD, in that He is our Righteousness.

In the English language, to be righteous is to act in accord with divine or moral law. It has implications of being virtuous, true, good and decent. All of these characteristics are gained by “keeping the rules”. And that is the rub! What rules? You see, the rules define righteousness acts. If the rules stated I need to skip instead of walk, walking would be considered sinful. (And girls would naturally be more righteous than boys – lol)

Therefore, if there are two sets of “rules” existing in a culture or society, there will be two sets of righteousness, both in conflict with one another. Does that make sense?

Let’s consider this concept another way. Some examples of two righteous ways of life are exhibited in the times of the Messiah. One righteousness was performed via the law of God, or at least the law of God as interpreted by centuries of men analyzing, arguing and reinterpreting someone’s interpretation. The folks that had mastered this righteousness were called the Pharisees.

The other righteousness was exhibited perfectly by a lone preacher that was connected with His Father, with eyes that read the Word with light, understood the heart of God, saw that up was down, light was dark and right was wrong. He persistently understood the Old Testament in ways that shocked the experts, and from that understanding lived a life of sacrifice, not of religion, of denial, not of reputation, of service, not of self.

And these two righteousness clashed. One took the path of violence and envy, the other the path of peace of love.

The LORD our Righteousness speaks of our rejecting one righteousness, and a daily clinging to another righteousness, that is the LORD (a person, not a set of rules) as our righteousness. He is the One who is “the rule”, and by His very character defines what righteousness is, and then came to earth to exhibit that righteousness in front of our eyes.

What does this righteousness look like?

Watch a humble preacher teaching life altering words in simple stories, washing his friends feet, teaching the worst of sinners of the love of God, and then bleeding for His enemies.

His name is Jesus and He is the Lord our Righteousness.

I would love to hear of your favorite name, characteristic or description of the Living God. Please leave me a comment, and I will include it in the list!

Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you know someone this blog may bless (or challenge), send them a link, so they may join us in our discussion.

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Philippian Bits – 2:27

2023-11-05

For this series in Philippians, I am going to limit each post to one verse, and hopefully produce a short, succinct read for my friends who follow.

2:27 Indeed he was ill, near to death. But God had mercy on him, and not only on him but on me also, lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow.

Paul has been speaking of Epaphroditus, a man who travelled from the Philippian church, a messenger sent by the much loved church Paul founded on his second missionary trip. Paul spoke of Epaphroditus longing for them in an earlier verse, and his concern for them, even though he was staring death in the eye. This is an amazing reflection of the Lord in that, even in suffering and weakness, this brother was concerned about others, and not only others, but the burden his sickness was adding to the Philippian’s lives.

Where do we find believers like this, that sacrifice an opportunity to gain pity, in order to show love?

Yet Paul speaks not only of Epaphroditus sickness and it’s impact on the Philippians, but also his own experience with Epaphroditus. I do not know of any evidence of Epaphroditus meeting Paul prior to his travels to Rome for the church. No mention of him in Acts, and he is only referred to in this epistle, yet Epaphroditus in this one mission trip has a major impact on the great apostle Paul.

Paul speaks of avoiding “sorrow upon sorrow” by the mercy of God, in raising Epaphroditus from the sick bed. Death appeared to be imminent, and Epaphroditus did not have a general hospital to visit for care. Possibly his only friend was a man who was an enemy of the state, who was in jail for preaching another King other than Caesar, waiting on his death sentence.

Both these men were looking death in the eye, and what was their response? Both expressed a compassion for others, entering into the trial of those suffering.

The term “sorrow” is well known amongst us – We have all had sorrow at some point in our lives, and to try to describe it at this time seems fruitless. One thing I do find very instructive is the physical effect sorrow can have on the body. Consider.

Luke 22:45 And when he rose from prayer, he came to the disciples and found them sleeping for sorrow,

What specifically caused the disciples to fall asleep on the night of the Messiah’s betrayal? Luke tells us it was due to sorrow. Sorrow caused the exhaustion of the disciples, resulting in their passing out when the Messiah needed them most.

Grief. Sorrow. It is not merely an emotion we suffer though at times. Sorrow affects our physical lives. Sorrow not only impacts the physical body, it also crushes the spirit!

Proverbs 15:13 – A glad heart makes a cheerful face, but by sorrow of heart the spirit is crushed.

In the midst of this “sorrow upon sorrow” God had mercy on Paul by extending mercy to Epaphroditus. His mercy is abundant and one act of mercy from the hand of God ripples through to many.

Let us be merciful towards both our brother and our enemy! It is the Lord’s way, and both Paul and Epaphroditus lived in it.

Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you know someone this blog may bless (or challenge), send them a link, so they may join us in our discussion

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Psalms for Psome – Ps 55.01

2023-11-04

My wife and I are reading through the Psalms in our evening reading and occasionally a nugget of the Psalms jumps out of the page. Don’t you love it when, after years of reading the “Old Book” passages become alive, reinforcing old teachings or simply warming your heart.

This is the book of Psalms, and it is rich.

I pray I can communicate a portion of the blessing we receive from this wonderful book.

Psalm 55.01

1 – To the choirmaster: with stringed instruments. A Maskil of David.

Give ear to my prayer, O God, and hide not yourself from my plea for mercy!
2 – Attend to me, and answer me; I am restless in my complaint and I moan,
3 – because of the noise of the enemy, because of the oppression of the wicked. For they drop trouble upon me, and in anger they bear a grudge against me.

The history of this psalm is unknown, but we can deduce a few items from the psalm to give us David’s situation. First off, it appears David is speaking primarily of a good friend who has turned on him, a betrayer, even called out as a covenant breaker!

Secondly, this is no idle threat, for David describes his condition including the “terrors of death”, and of horror overwhelming him.

David was in deep trouble, with his life on the line, not knowing how close he was to being destroyed. A constant stress, a continual pain and agony of mind and soul. A period of time when the Lord did not answer his prayers, for his repetition of seeking God to give ear, to not hide, and to attend to David, smacks of disappointment in previous efforts of prayer to God. The stress builds, and the heart is failing, and the LORD seems to be quiet.

Note that the basis of his prayer is depending on the mercy of God, that he realizes he has no other claim at this time. He is an experienced man of God, realizing his failings in front of God and depending on God’s mercy for his rescue. As the Lord had promised his kingdom to be forever, it was not promised to David that he would live a long and extended life and as such, David understood that his life could be cut short without any blemish on the Lord’s promises to him. Yet he calls on the mercy of God for deliverance in this time of terror.

What was the source of this terror you may ask? David gives us the reason in verse 3.

Noise of the enemy/Oppression of the wicked

As we have mentioned in earlier posts, the Old Testament prophets, when writing in poetry, would use a method of “rhyming” thoughts as opposed to our method of rhyming the last words in a couplet of phrases. In two verses, the author would say the same thing with a slight expansion or clarification of the previous phrase. I think this is happening here.

The oppression of the wicked is equivalent to the noise of the enemy. Threats, verbal attacks, intimidation causing a sense of imminent danger produced the stress residing in David’s heart. Words are powerful, and our words, whether intention or not, may cause tremendous stress in other’s lives. David’s enemies were certainly taking advantage of this type of warfare. Our enemy also does this!

An interesting connection, that will undoubtedly increase the readers understanding of David’s stress level is the two following phrases he uses in describing the type of stress he is undergoing. This is conjecture, but I find the connection interesting, and plausible.

When David speaks of the enemy “dropping trouble on him” this has a similar sound as when he was escaping from the City of David, from his own son Absalom’s treachery.

1 Samuel 15:14 And David said unto all his servants that were with him at Jerusalem, Arise, and let us flee; for else none of us shall escape from Absalom: make speed to depart, lest he overtake us quickly, and bring down evil upon us, and smite the city with the edge of the sword.

David continues with the description of the enemies motives, calling it a grudge. Both Absalom and his chief counsellor Ahithophel may be described in this manner.

We know the background to Absalom’s grudge, and his ability to hold a grudge for extended periods. When Amnon rapes his sister, he holds a grudge for two years before acting on it! But then his grudge comes to fruition (as unforgiven grudges always do) in his planning and executing the premeditated murder of his brother. Absalom’s next grudge is exercised when he spends 4 years after returning to Jerusalem, grooming the populace for his rebellion against the king. Grooming the populace to accept him in order to take the kingdom from his father. Right in the City of David, right under the nose of his father!

As for Ahithophel, David’s actions in having Uriah murdered in battle may be coming back to bite him. Consider Ahithophel’s relation to Bathsheba.

2 Samuel 23:34 – Eliphelet the son of Ahasbai of Maacah, Eliam the son of Ahithophel the Gilonite,

2 Samuel 11:3 – And David sent and inquired about the woman. And one said, “Is not this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?”

Catch it? Bathsheba, it appears, was the granddaughter of Ahithophel. Consider the ramifications of that.

This psalm may be speaking of David’s condition in the potential loss of his kingdom, and if the kingdom was lost, surely his life was forfeit! At the hands of his son and/or his friend.

Treachery, mirroring the very treachery of an apostle who turned on the Messiah. David was spared from experiencing the results of the enemies threats, but for the Messiah, the threats were realized, for He was crucified, He was put to death by His enemies.

He experienced so much more than we can imagine, and His cause was to rescue us from those who hate us. We are to walk in the same manner as He did, loving His enemies and proving it through His sacrificial life and death.

But let it be known that our deliverance may not be as David’s deliverance, but nevertheless, we can and should trust Him in the times when the noise of the enemy is loudest.

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Names of God – JEHOVAH SHAMMAH (THE LORD IS THERE) – 19

2023-11-03

My hope is that this series will offer my readers a chance to consider the names, characteristics and descriptions of our God in the Word.

Our next set of names (#4 through #22) are considered His compound names, which typically uses His primary name and attaches a specific descriptor to it. These are the names that originally got me chasing this topic, and now it has developed into a much bigger study than the original intent, but I digress, for I have already mentioned this!

The Word is truly rich with descriptions of the Living God, and this effort of searching in the Word was quite illuminating. He truly is the ultimate subject of the Word, and His revelation of self-descriptions, or the accolades offered Him by His priests, prophets, kings apostles and faithful truly was a blessing.

May the Name of the Lord be praised, and by thinking on His name, may you have a blessed day.

19

JEHOVAH SHAMMAH (THE LORD IS THERE)

Ezekiel 48:35 The circumference of the city shall be 18,000 cubits. And the name of the city from that time on shall be, The LORD Is There.”

Let us remember the circumstances Ezekiel is writing under. The nation has been decimated by the Babylonians, Jerusalem sacked and the temple, the magnificent temple of Solomon has been cut down, destroyed. The people of God have been either killed in battle, underwent starvation and subsequent death, or carried off to a strange land to the north, amongst those who speak with a different tongue and worship a different god.

According to my research, Ezekiel receives this revelation of God’s name 25 after the deportation of the Jews into the strange land of Babylon. Two and a half decades of living in shock and confusion, for being away from the temple meant there was no ability to provide sacrifices to God, no priests performing the required rituals for the people.

And recently the people had been alerted that any hope of returning quickly to Jerusalem to be near the temple, well – that wasn’t going to happen! The Babylonians destroyed the Temple, and even the prophets were speaking of a long captivity, of 70 years away from the land!

Many of the Jews understandably may have lost heart, seeing that they would never survive the captivity, and then finding out that the temple was destroyed, accepted their destiny was to grow old in this strange land. With all the established physical connections with God broken, and experiencing the disciplinary hand of God, the Jewish people’s faith must have been crushed. A people without a home, a land, and seemingly without a God.

So when Ezekiel starts to describe a future city, the people’s ears must have perked up. Ezekiel has already spent considerable time in earlier chapters describing a temple to be constructed after the captivity, but in our passage today, Ezekiel is describing a city, not a temple. And the name we are considering this fine day is “The LORD is There”.
This is curious, for the careful reader will recognize that the name is not associated with a temple, as most would expect, but with a City, where day to day life happens.

My understanding is that Ezekiel is not only trying to encourage the remnant, but to expand their understanding of relating to God. No longer is a faithful one to meet with God in the temple on holy days, but that the faithful one would be living life, minute by minute, in the presence of God. Such a tremendous promise. The promise of permanence of God’s presence is provided to the faithful here, for the verse speaks of a city having this name “from that time on.” The city where the LORD is!

This series is not on eschatology, on when this blessing will occur, but is seeking to provide a vehicle for those reading to consider who our God is, through his names and descriptions. Personally, the understanding I have tried to explain above fits with our current church age, in that He is the ever-present One, the LORD who is There in the City of God. He is building this city, stone by stone, and He is There.

Hebrews 11:10 For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God.
Hebrews 11:16 …. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city.

What city do you dwell in?

I would love to hear of your favorite name, characteristic or description of the Living God. Please leave me a comment, and I will include it in the list!

Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you know someone this blog may bless (or challenge), send them a link, so they may join us in our discussion.

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Book Look – Judas Iscariot: Revisited and Restored – 3.0 – Do Quickly

2023-11-02

I found a book called “Judas Iscariot: Revisited and Restored” by Ivan Roger, and though I have read it once before, this time the authors points seem to be sinking in a bit more.

The general theme of the book is that much of the popular understanding of Judas, and his relationship within Christianity, is colored by theological presuppositions and general bias against Judas.

In our previous discussion, we considered the Greek word translated as “woe” within the gospel of Matthew, along with a grammar lesson on pronouns, and who they belonged to.

In this post we will consider John 13:27, where the Lord commands Judas to quickly do what he needs to do. Let’s take a moment to read the verse.

John 13:27 ESV – Then after he had taken the morsel, Satan entered into him. Jesus said to him, “What you are going to do, do quickly.”

Our author makes the point of Jesus statement as being a command to Judas, to go do it quickly. The word “do” is a Greek word that means “to ordain, to appoint or to deal”. It does not have any implication of rejection, as if Jesus was “kicking him out of the upper room”, as it sometimes is communicated to me by well meaning friends. No, per the language, it appears Jesus is actually commissioning Judas to perform his task. A task of “delivering the sacrificial lamb” to the priest. The author’s detailing of this deliverance is worth the purchase of the book and I shall not expand on it here.

Note also two additional items to consider.

Warning?

Jesus gave Peter advance notice of his impending failure and denial. When other disciples were in the midst of failing a particular task, the Lord corrected them. In this instance, Jesus commissioned or encouraged(?) Judas to perform his assignment. No discouragement, no warning, no statement from Jesus that would restrict Judas from his endeavor. Judas was told to do it quickly!

Woe?

As soon as Judas left the room, Jesus spoke the following.

John 13:31 When he had gone out, Jesus said, “Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in him.

Jesus understood Judas’ mission. If I was in the room, knowing the same, I would expect “Woe is me” from the Master. But after Judas left the room, setting in motion the deliverance of the lamb to the high priest, Jesus spoke of glorification, both of Himself and of God. Glorification, in this context is speaking of the crucifixion, and the wheels had begun to turn. Judas set the stage for the priests to begin the process.

And God is glorified!

So help me in understanding from this passage where Judas is standing in relation to Jesus. Is he the enemy? Is he Satan? What think ye? Leave me a comment below.

I look forward to your return for our next posting on this book at Considering the Bible, and if you have found my ruminations to be a blessing (or a challenge), invite your friends to join us.

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Life of David – 2.01

2023-11-01

The Lord Rejects Saul

As many who have followed me for a bit, I have fallen into the Psalms, and I can’t get up! (As if I would want to.) The Psalms are a majestic collection of poetry, of heart felt human experiences that constantly challenge me in my own frail attempt to follow the true King. As many of the Psalms are written by David, my study on the Psalms has spurred me on to looking at the life of David, is the main contributor to this book, and to follow the victories and tragedies of the shepherd King of Israel.

Many times in the narrative, we will see the Lord Jesus, imperfectly, yet a reflection of His spirit in a man with weaknesses.

Let’s consider God’s Regret.

1 Samuel 15
10 The word of the LORD came to Samuel:
11 “I regret that I have made Saul king, for he has turned back from following me and has not performed my commandments.” And Samuel was angry, and he cried to the LORD all night.

This is the beginning of the end for King Saul, yet he seemingly doesn’t get it. Before we get to Saul’s great downfall, his rejection of God from being king of Israel, we have to consider what is going on in the mind of the Lord.

The passage speaks of the Lord regretting having made Saul the king of Israel. How can the ever present, all know God come to a point in realizing a mistake, for the term regret often brings with it the sense of a bad decision, a wrong act that has come back to bite you. I regret having made some decisions in the past, and although I believe God is making even those decisions tools to shape me into what He wants, there is no denying that I still have some regret.

I have made some decisions within my family that has ripped my heart out, but was necessary at the time. The particulars are not important here, other than the decision was the right one, given the information I had. But it still ripped my heart out!

The problem is that God is perfect, all knowing, and all wise! How could He make a decision that He would regret? God’s command to Saul, through the prophet Samuel was complete and utter destruction of Amalek, and all the livestock of Amalek.

1 Samuel 15:3 Now go and strike Amalek and devote to destruction all that they have. Do not spare them, but kill both man and woman, child and infant, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.’”

As we find out a bit later in the text, Saul spared a few animals (for a good reason though).

Consider God, in providing Saul to the nation of Israel as her first human king, and then seeing this failure come to fruition. God knew it was coming (depending on how you see foreknowledge), but the experience of seeing Saul fail ripped God’s heart out.

The term regret in this verse, and in verses 15:29 and 15:35 is the Hebrew word נָחַם nâcham, and it has many nuances. Some understand this term to denote pity, or compassion, even to suffer grief. Granted some of the meanings of the term include the idea of being sorry, and even repenting, but within this verse I am of the opinion that God is expressing His emotional reaction to the failure Saul committed. His heart was ripped out even though He knew it was coming.

We all fail, but as the leader of the nation, in relation to this specific command, Saul failed. And God regretted, or expressed His sorrow over the situation, and the future judgement that would have to fall on Saul.

What specifically broke God’s heart, brought this regret into the emotional life of God?

Saul Turned Back

The term “turned back” may be thought of as to apostatize, or to turn away, or even to turn against. Saul’s turning back seemed to be a decision he made at some time in his past, and was the root of the regret that God was experiencing. When this apostacy came to full bloom may be conjected for years, but Saul had begun stepping into rebellion when he got ahead of himself and performed a sacrifice without the prophet being present.

1 Samuel 13:13 ESV – And Samuel said to Saul, “You have done foolishly. You have not kept the command of the LORD your God, with which he commanded you. For then the LORD would have established your kingdom over Israel forever.

Saul’s intentions may have been good, but as a friend once told me, “The road to hell is paved with good intentions”. Saul’s battles with the Philistines definitely started off on the wrong foot!

This rebellion, that of sparing some animals of the Amalekites, may have a been a show of mercy, or dedication to the sacrificial system, or even an exhibition of religious devotion, but God called for obedience.

Saul has not Performed

Saul did not perform. He didn’t rise to the occasion. He came up short.

Where the previous phrase may be describing the premature sacrificial offerings before the battles with the Philistines, it appears this phrase may be describing the very act of sparing the King of Amalek, along with the “finest” of his animals. Saul was provided pretty clear instructions, but for some reason, went above and beyond the call of duty and spared the King of Amalek. The very man he was told to destroy, his arch enemy! What is going on in your head Saul? I get the justification of keeping the animals alive in order to sacrifice. Hear me out now – I am not justifying Saul’s actions in rebelling against God’s command, just speaking as one who also tries to do good without God!

But allowing the enemy to survive? I don’t understand.

Until I realize I can justify anything if I want it bad enough. That is where the will needs to be impacted by the love of God. Christianity is not a religion of emotion, or a system of logic, but a relationship with the Living God that impacts our will, to the point we are to say “not my will”.

Not my will, but Thine

Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you know someone this blog may bless (or challenge), send them a link, so they may join us in our discussion.

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Book Look – Judas Iscariot: Revisited and Restored – 2.0 – Woe

2023-10-31

I found a book called “Judas Iscariot: Revisited and Restored” by Ivan Roger, and though I have read it once before, this time the authors points seem to be sinking in a bit more.

The general theme of the book is that much of the popular understanding of Judas, and his relationship within Christianity, is colored by theological presuppositions and general bias against Judas.

In our previous discussion, we considered the Greek word translated as “betray” within the gospel of Matthew, and offered the possibility that it could be translated as deliver, as opposed to betray.

In this post we will consider Matthew 26:24, where the Lord speaks of “woe” on the one who will deliver Him to the high priest. Let’s take a moment to read the verse.

Mat 26:24 ESV – The Son of Man goes as it is written of him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been better for that man if he had not been born.”

The author of the book provides two questions to consider. Does the term woe carry with it a sense of responsibility? And secondly, what is the message “…would have been better for that man if he had not been born.”?

Woe

As Jesus comes to the end of His ministry, He begins to pronounce His woes on those who will enter into judgement. The Pharisees, the Scribes, Judas, pregnant women and young mothers. What? Pregnant women and young mothers? Entering into judgement? Am I assuming something I shouldn’t?

Mat 24:19 ESV – And alas for women who are pregnant and for those who are nursing infants in those days!

The word “woe” (or “alas” as translated in this verse) is a translation of οὐαί ouaí and is a primary exclamation of grief. I have always introduced the idea of judgement with this word, but that is an additional concept Carl brings into the verse, especially when I hear it about those dang Pharisees! (Don’t forget your pharisaical tendencies Carl!)

The term strictly carries with it the idea of grief, and not necessarily that of responsibility. The Lord expresses His grief, even when it comes to those opposing Him. Jesus, in pronouncing woe on those who would be instrumental in His crucifixion, was expressing grief over their future. And He was pronouncing grief over the future of Judas, but is He pronouncing an eternal judgement of hellfire and condemnation on Judas? I have to admit that I find it difficult to see this interpretation as a clear teaching from this verse. His heart is breaking over the suffering His disciple was going to experience in the future. Like those pregnant women and young mothers. But Carl, the next phrase is where we get the judgement and condemnation poured out on Judas! So let us consider the phrase “better for that man if he had not been born”.

Better for that man if he had not been born.”

The author associates “that man” with Judas, which I also have as I read through this passage. He refers to Judas as a representative man, a man that stands in the place of all humanity in being a traitor to the Messiah, and that each of us deserves judgement. I get this, yet it didn’t seem to make a difference for me in my understanding of Jesus statement.

A few years ago, I was looking at this verse and stumbled over an alternate translation that associates “that man” with Jesus. Hold up now before you think I have flipped my lid. Consider a literal translation, such as Youngs Literal Translation.

Matthew 26:24 YLT – the Son of Man doth indeed go, as it hath been written concerning him, but wo to that man through whom the Son of Man is delivered up! good it were for him if that man had not been born.’

Did you catch the difference in who “that man” is?

…good it were for him (Judas) if that man (Jesus) had not been born. That is a completely different message!

Consider all that is going on in this portion of the verse.

First off, it speaks of life, and not simply existence. There is a difference. It is not that “that man” was never conceived, but that he had not been born. A still born baby existed, but never lived outside of the womb. I am not sure if this fine point makes a difference, or if this is simply a Hebrew prophets way of describing no existence better than having existed, even for a short duration. Yet even with that, to assign the hell fires of eternal condemnation to Judas based on this turn of phrase, seems like we just can’t wait to get Judas into hell. We sure like to hate him!

Secondly, the turn of phrase, that of “better to not have been born”, may not be referring to Judas if I am understanding the literal translations. No matter, based on both my preconceived ideas of “woe” and identifying who should have not been born, this verse is not so clear as I thought regarding Judas’ destiny of eternal torment.

What think ye? Leave me a comment below

In my next posting, we will consider the command Jesus gave to Judas at the last supper. Somewhat of a challenge to our (my) thinking, to say the least.

I look forward to your return for our next posting on this book at Considering the Bible, and if you have found my ruminations to be a blessing (or a challenge), invite your friends to join us.

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Names of God – JEHOVAH SHALOM (THE LORD IS PEACE) – 18

2023-10-30

My hope is that this series will offer my readers a chance to consider the names, characteristics and descriptions of our God in the Word.

Our next set of names (#4 through #22) are considered His compound names, which typically uses His primary name and attaches a specific descriptor to it. These are the names that originally got me chasing this topic, and now it has developed into a much bigger study than the original intent, but I digress, for I have already mentioned this!

The Word is truly rich with descriptions of the Living God, and this effort of searching in the Word was quite illuminating. He truly is the ultimate subject of the Word, and His revelation of self-descriptions, or the accolades offered Him by His priests, prophets, kings apostles and faithful truly was a blessing.

May the Name of the Lord be praised, and by thinking on His name, may you have a blessed day.

18

JEHOVAH SHALOM (THE LORD IS PEACE)

Judges 6:24 Then Gideon built an altar there to the LORD and called it, The LORD Is Peace. To this day it still stands at Ophrah, which belongs to the Abiezrites.

Peace.

I often think of peace as merely the absence of war, and to a point that is accurate, depending on the war we are considering. International war is the predominant topic when the topic of peace is tossed about in discussions.

Why can’t we have peace? As Gideon has described our God in this verse, the LORD is peace!

So how do we make sense of this? Even the Lord in one of His final discourses warned us of wars in the future.

Matthew 24:6 And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for this must take place, but the end is not yet.

So it seems evident that He didn’t come to immediately put an end to physical wars between nations. And yet He is peace. This is the nature of our God, and by providence, our last study in the Names of God was the LORD of Hosts, or the Lord of the armies! This is a conflict surely!

As mentioned in the introductory, we need to remember the context of the conversation. What war is being referred to, and does the peace spoken of merely refer to the absence of war?

I believe that God is One who works in the nations through changing the people within the nation. Of course He can change the “heart of the king” when His plans demand it, or in response to His peoples prayers, but at this point in my pilgrimage, I understand His ways are primarily with individual hearts and minds.

If this is true, we can see the LORD of peace fully displayed in the Lord Jesus. And per His teaching, His intent was not to rule over the kingdom of this world. No – this world, or world system must be destroyed

John 18:36 Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting, that I might not be delivered over to the Jews. But my kingdom is not from the world.”

So when we read of peace in the Word, we should be careful to understand the Word is not primarily speaking of international peace amongst nations. When we read of peace in the Word, we should hear a fuller picture, a mental image including completeness or wholeness, safety, soundness, welfare, health, prosperity, tranquility, contentment.

Much more than simply the absence of war! As a matter of fact, one of the many blessings of being a believer is the fact that we can have this peace in the midst of outer turmoil, of international wars, of upheaval in our own nation.

Peace in the midst of war. Only the LORD of peace can provide this!

I would love to hear of your favorite name, characteristic or description of the Living God. Please leave me a comment, and I will include it in the list!

Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you know someone this blog may bless (or challenge), send them a link, so they may join us in our discussion.

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Philippian Bits – 2:26

2023-10-29

For this series in Philippians, I am going to limit each post to one verse, and hopefully produce a short, succinct read for my friends who follow.

2:26 for he has been longing for you all and has been distressed because you heard that he was ill.

In our last post we found Paul’s thoughts of Epaphroditus, in that he is his brother, his fellow worker, his fellow soldier and the Philippian’s messenger. He praised this believer in front of the Philippians, couldn’t say enough about him. During our last post we spent some time conjecturing how Paul may have perceived the Philippian’s thoughts, how they may be disappointed in Epaphroditus. (See Philippian Bits – 2:25.02)

In this short verse, we find out the thoughts of Epaphroditus himself. This man who has travelled from Philippi with a gift for Paul, and has succumbed to a sickness, become a burden, and is possibly delayed from returning to his home church.

His thoughts? He just wants to be with them. He simply wants to go home. He is longing for his friends in Philippi, hoping for the day when he has enough strength to say goodbye to the Apostle Paul and head home. He has that positive emotional longing that pulls at every thought, distracting him because it interrupts his thinking of other things. His thoughts are mixed though, for he has a negative emotional experience, in that he is distressed over his friends. They know of his illness, and that causes additional grief for Epaphroditus.

What a tension to live under! Stricken in a bed far from your friends, without the convenience of cell phones or instant messages, this believer wants to go home to see his people, because he loves them, AND because he is full of heaviness that they know of his trial.

You know, love is like that. We want to protect those we love from any unnecessary distress, even if it is due to our experience. It is not all about me me me, how much I suffer, or how much I have to go through for someone else. Love is other’s based.

Story time

I have a good friend whose supervisor was unexpectantly fired. During my chat with him, it turned out that his concern wasn’t with the boss and his loss, of his lack of work, the shock of his firing (and it was a shock!), but how it impacted my friends life. He was very angry with the fact that no-one told him of the firing. As I sat and listened to this fellow, I did not consider this reaction similar to how Epaphroditus handled a trial. My friend only considered his own world, his own impact, his own needs!

Wouldn’t it be more appropriate to think of the supervisors family, of his struggles and disappointments, his emotional and financial health?

Let’s remember the Lord’s mercies in our own lives and be a bit more like Epaphroditus, who counted his friends in Philippi more significant than himself, who thought not only of his own interests, but also of the interests of others.

You know, I think there is a verse somewhere in the Bible that encourages us to do so. Be blessed my friends and may the Lord be a blessing to you as you consider others in your day today.

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Psalms for Psome – Ps 54.03

2023-10-28

My wife and I are reading through the Psalms in our evening reading and occasionally a nugget of the Psalms jumps out of the page. Don’t you love it when, after years of reading the “Old Book” passages become alive, reinforcing old teachings or simply warming your heart.

This is the book of Psalms, and it is rich.

I pray I can communicate a portion of the blessing we receive from this wonderful book. Our last portion of Psalm 54 is David’s response to the rescue of God from the betrayal of the Ziphites.

Psalm 54

6 With a freewill offering I will sacrifice to you; I will give thanks to your name, O LORD, for it is good.
7 For he has delivered me from every trouble, and my eye has looked in triumph on my enemies.

A short review may be in order.

God has provided the nation of Israel a king, one who is in effect a replacement for God. This replacement has now become a rogue king, in rebellion against God disobeying direct commands from the prophet, and has been formally rejected by God as being the king. Ever the faithful one, Saul does not step down, but forges ahead, seeking to maintain his position in front of the people. A true politician, instead of finding his authority in God, seeking approval from the people.

Enter David, a youth obviously destined for the throne, being chased down by the rogue king, under persecution by his own father in law! Yes, Saul was David’s father in law when he married Saul’s daughter Michal! Death was David’s future if he was caught by Saul, for Saul’s intentions were made clear when he threw the javelin at him in his home, in front of Jonathon.

1 Samuel 20:33 But Saul hurled his spear at him (David) to strike him. So Jonathan knew that his father was determined to put David to death.

Beyond the hatred of a father in law, consider David’s clansmen, the Ziphites. Seemingly, David hid in the hills of the Ziphites land, due at least in part to a level of trust he had in his fellow clansmen of Judah. A man on the run doesn’t hide amongst his enemies – at least not yet! Out of this trust in his fellow Judahites, betrayal reared its ugly head, and his very clansmen give him up to a politician!

In summary, put yourself in David’s shoes (sandals?) Your father in law wants to kill you, The nation is under the rogue king, recognizing you as his greatest threat, and as the ultimate authority in the nation, has resources everywhere within the land of Israel. The citizens of Israel are seemingly following the current authority, at least passively. Brothers in your tribe actively inform this king, who is hunting you down, of your whereabouts, even going so far as telling king Saul they will give him up. Finally, your continual condition of being on the run, in hiding, away from your family, on the edge of death, must be taking a toll on you. Darkness and despair is an option for David at this point, and certainly a very real temptation for David to fall into at this time in his life.

As David writes this psalm, I want to think he is writing it as the pressure is on. Writing the psalm prior to the deliverance of God from the clutches of that king. If my assumption is correct, when David speaks next, his desire to offer a freewill offering is quite shocking.

Now a freewill offering is a offering of thanksgiving, an offering that is not required. It is simply an offering to God because of a thankful spirit, understanding the goodness of God and his provision and protection. Note also that his first reason for this freewill offering is the goodness of God’s name. Yes, David also speaks of the deliverance to be provided in the next verse, but the first thing on David’s mind is the name of God, the character of the God he worships. At this particular time of betrayal by the Ziphites – remember they tried twice to give up David to Saul, – God gave David respit from his enemy by pulling Saul away from the chase in order to fight against the Philistines.

So close to being caught by the enemy! I like the sentiment Spurgeon provides when he speaks of David’s life. “David lived a life of dangers and hair-breadth ‘scapes, yet was he always safe.”

Not so for the greater King, the Lord Jesus, for though He was persecuted by the politicians of His day, and was betrayed by His friend, as David was, He was overtaken by death. Yet the deliverance of God that was to be provided, was not protection from death, but the provision of life through death.

He was delivered from this enemy through the resurrection. God has truly delivered Jesus out of all trouble, and in this deliverance, secured provision and protection for those who follow after Him.

He is good, and He is good all the time!

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Names of God – JEHOVAH SABAOTH (THE LORD OF HOSTS) – 17

2023-10-27

My hope is that this series will offer my readers a chance to consider the names, characteristics and descriptions of our God in the Word.

Our next set of names (#4 through #22) are considered His compound names, which typically uses His primary name and attaches a specific descriptor to it. These are the names that originally got me chasing this topic, and now it has developed into a much bigger study than the original intent, but I digress, for I have already mentioned this!

The Word is truly rich with descriptions of the Living God, and this effort of searching in the Word was quite illuminating. He truly is the ultimate subject of the Word, and His revelation of self-descriptions, or the accolades offered Him by His priests, prophets, kings apostles and faithful truly was a blessing.

May the Name of the Lord be praised, and by thinking on His name, may you have a blessed day.

17

JEHOVAH SABAOTH (THE LORD OF HOSTS)

1 Samuel 1:3 Now this man used to go up year by year from his city to worship and to sacrifice to the LORD of hosts at Shiloh, where the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were priests of the LORD.

The LORD of Hosts. Jehovah Sabaoth.

At first glance, I associated this name with the sabbath, but this is not correct. This name has nothing to do with rest, for the term sabaoth refers to armies!

No, this description, this name of God defines Him as One who commands the armies of heaven and earth. The verse above includes the first occurrence of this name of God in the Word. But not the last. The prophets refer to God as the LORD of Hosts over 200 times in the Old Testament.

Prior to Samuel’s arrival on the scene for the Israeli people, the nation was likely experiencing a sense of inadequacy, where all the neighboring nations had armies that were stronger than the little fledgling nation of Israel. In writing this as a history for the nation, Samuel may have recorded this name in order to bolster the faith of those in the nation.

Of course the Lord has always been a warrior God, and for the men of Israel, this translated into dominance over other men, peoples and nations. This requirement of dominance over others was for two purposes.

The primary purpose I suppose many would guess at, but let us first consider the secondary purpose of the nation of Israel to exist, which required physical battles. The nation, per God’s intent, was to be a blessing to the nations. Remember Gods promise to Abraham?

This intent was not fully realized in the nation itself, for the nation fell into idolatry and sin. Sadly, the goal of blessing the nations by the nation of Israel was not fully realized.

So let us consider the primary purpose of the establishment of the nation. To establish the nation of Israel would provide a focused environment for prophecy to be displayed. And the focus of this prophecy? The Messiah of all of creation of course!

Yes – the purpose of the nation was to produce the Messiah, the Savior for all. And for that nation to be used of God in protecting the physical lineage of the Messiah.

But once the Messiah arrived, the motivation of the LORD of hosts became clear, in that our warrior God’s actions were not to accomplish physical dominance, but to shed grace and mercy fueled by His never ending love to all who would look to Him.

When we speak of the Lord of Hosts today, we should not imagine a god who revels in bloodshed, death and destruction. This was never His overarching intent, and as we see in the Messiah, not of His character. His armies have fought to preserve the lineage of the Messiah, so that the Messiah could come and display the greater power, the power of love for His enemies.

The LORD of hosts is the warrior God who is fighting for our souls, as opposed to against our physical “enemies”.

He is our LORD of Hosts, and we are blessed to be led by Him in a triumph of victory through sacrifice, humility, peace and love. Praise His name

I would love to hear of your favorite name, characteristic or description of the Living God. Please leave me a comment, and I will include it in the list!

Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you know someone this blog may bless (or challenge), send them a link, so they may join us in our discussion.

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Book Look – Judas Iscariot: Revisited and Restored – 1.0 – Betray

2023-10-26

I found a book called “Judas Iscariot: Revisited and Restored” by Ivan Roger, and thought I have read it once before, this time the authors points seem to be sinking in a bit more.

The general theme of the book is that much of the popular understanding of Judas, and his relationship within Christianity, is colored by theological presuppositions and general bias against Judas.

In our introductory post on this book, I mentioned some presuppositions that color our understanding of Judas. With this post, I would like to consider the description of Judas as the betrayer.

In each of the listings of the apostles, Judas is always the last named, and is usually described as the one who betrayed Jesus.

Betrayal. Such a loaded term! But is this a required translation of the Greek? The word translated as betrayal, in the gospel of Matthew is from the Greek word παραδίδωμι paradídōmi (Strong’s G3860).

A number of the verses that have G3860 in them follows, with the translation of the term underlined for the readers convenience

Mat 26:15 and said, “What will you give me if I deliver him over to you?” And they paid him thirty pieces of silver.
Mat 26:16 And from that moment he sought an opportunity to betray him.
Mat 26:21 And as they were eating, he said, “Truly, I say to you, one of you will betray me.”
Mat 26:23 He answered, “He who has dipped his hand in the dish with me will betray me.
Mat 26:24 The Son of Man goes as it is written of him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been better for that man if he had not been born.”
Mat 26:25 Judas, who would betray him, answered, “Is it I, Rabbi?” He said to him, “You have said so.”
Mat 26:45 Then he came to the disciples and said to them, “Sleep and take your rest later on. See, the hour is at hand, and the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners.
Mat 26:46 Rise, let us be going; see, my betrayer is at hand.”
Mat 26:48 Now the betrayer had given them a sign, saying, “The one I will kiss is the man; seize him.”
Mat 27:2 And they bound him and led him away and delivered him over to Pilate the governor.
Mat 27:3 Then when Judas, his betrayer, saw that Jesus was condemned, he changed his mind and brought back the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and the elders,
Mat 27:4 ESV – saying, “I have sinned by betraying innocent blood.” They said, “What is that to us? See to it yourself.”
Mat 27:18 ESV – For he knew that it was out of envy that they had delivered him up.
Mat 27:26 ESV – Then he released for them Barabbas, and having scourged Jesus, delivered him to be crucified.

Notice that throughout the previous verses the Greek word paradídōmi has been translated as betray or deliver. Are these the same concepts in the original intent of the author?

Let’s take for example Matthew 27:26 and replace deliver with betray.

Matthew 27:26 Then he released for them Barabbas, and having scourged Jesus, betrayed him to be crucified.

Does that make sense? Might the translators be taking a liberty that is not necessarily justified? The same might be said of Matthew 27:2.

Mat 27:2 And they bound him and led him away and betrayed him over to Pilate the governor.

Yet, if the term paradídōmi is consistently translated as “delivered”, the verses above continue to make sense, and open up an allowable scenario for Judas to perform a task that is not so emotionally charged as with the word betray, and in my opinion reinforces the Kingship of Jesus. For you see, this understanding may elevate His complete control over a situation that was at all appearance completely out of His control. Even at the time of seeming defeat, God was orchestrating a deliverance of mankind that no one saw coming, and had a depth of old covenant teaching in it I had never realized.

For Judas to be a “deliverer” has old covenant implications that I found quite astounding, and is expanded in the book. For those who have an open mind, I would suggest picking up a copy. I am confident you may read it more than once.

In my next installment, we will consider another of the presuppositions the author brings to the table, (the woe of Matthew 26:24). I hope you get a chance to visit and let me know your thoughts.

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Life of David – 1.08

2023-10-25

Saul Chosen, Anointed and Proclaimed to Be King

As many who have followed me for a bit, I have fallen into the Psalms, and I can’t get up! (As if I would want to.) The Psalms are a majestic collection of poetry, of heart felt human experiences that constantly challenge me in my own frail attempt to follow the true King. As many of the Psalms are written by David, my study on the Psalms has spurred me on to looking at the life of David, is the main contributor to this book, and to follow the victories and tragedies of the shepherd King of Israel.

Many times in the narrative, we will see the Lord Jesus, imperfectly, yet a reflection of His spirit in a man with weaknesses.

1 Samuel 10:20-24

20 Then Samuel brought all the tribes of Israel near, and the tribe of Benjamin was taken by lot.
21 He brought the tribe of Benjamin near by its clans, and the clan of the Matrites was taken by lot; and Saul the son of Kish was taken by lot. But when they sought him, he could not be found.
22 So they inquired again of the LORD, “Is there a man still to come?” and the LORD said, “Behold, he has hidden himself among the baggage.”
23 Then they ran and took him from there. And when he stood among the people, he was taller than any of the people from his shoulders upward.
24 And Samuel said to all the people, “Do you see him whom the LORD has chosen? There is none like him among all the people.” And all the people shouted, “Long live the king!”

In our last post, verses immediately prior to our text for the day, Samuel dressed down the nation of Israel for rejecting God as their king. Describing Israel’s attitude towards God in this rejection, Samuel described Israel’s attitude as disdain, or that the nation considered God loathsome. Samuel did not hold anything back during this time of national crisis!

After this dressing down of the nation, Samuel brought all the tribes together. Remember the nation has never had a king provided for them before, so the nation may not be sure why they were called together. Could judgement be falling on them due to their rejection of God? Could a punishment be forthcoming, ready to fall on a nation in rebellion against God?

No – Their king was to be revealed. Another instance of the grace of God in meeting the people of God where they were! Yet the Lord in His wisdom saw this coming in Deuteronomy 17.

Deuteronomy 17:14-15

“When you come to the land that the LORD your God is giving you, and you possess it and dwell in it and then say, ‘I will set a king over me, like all the nations that are around me, you may indeed set a king over you whom the LORD your God will choose. One from among your brothers you shall set as king over you. You may not put a foreigner over you, who is not your brother.

Judgement was not falling on the nation yet, though some of the future earthly kings caused much destruction to the nation, eventually bringing them into bondage and captivity. But that is for a later discussion. At this time, Samuel brought the people together to reveal to them their king.

After the process of determining the tribe and family the future king would come from, his name is announced to the nation. But the man was no where to be found! Not only absent, but hidden so effectively that the nation can not find their king. Can you imagine the internal conflict of those who sought prayer before God for direction in finding the king they chose instead of God. Consider the grace of God in providing a king to a rebellious people, and then having to direct the nation to this replacement king, a man who is hiding in the supplies. A man who is running from his calling.

But all of that doesn’t matter, for Saul looked good. He was not like any of those around him, handsome and tall! Saul was tall, and that may have been a redeeming characteristic of the new king, once the nation eventually found their leader. After all, many of the nations had tall kings, and many of the peoples surrounding Israel had tall leaders. I’m thinking of Goliath at this time, for he surely was tall and a leader. But how much does that count when we are speaking of leading a nation for God?

But the nation has finally received a king like all the nations!

Yet to have to search for their king must have hurt the national pride, the national image. Saul was not a man who was self assured, confident, even boisterous in his capabilities, willing and able to lead a nation as a king, full of courage! Golly, this fella didn’t have the courage to face his own people.

Consider the roller coaster ride of emotions for the nation during this time. The nation went from a fear of discipline, to anticipation of who the king would be, to disappointment of no king showing up, to embarrassment of having to ask the King they rejected to find the king who would be God’s replacement, and then finally attaining some type of acceptance based on the standards of the world.

What an day! And what a future to anticipate, not only in the near term, with a king like Saul, but for the national destiny! To put the future of the nation in the hands of a fallen man just seems so tenuous, so temporary!

Yes, I would like to remind my gentle reader that we are so like the nation of Israel, for we also seek to find approval of our wordly neighbors, to want to be like them, to live the lives they are living. We also need to recognize when we are reading the Word, it is most helpful to see ourselves in the villains place, and not the hero’s place. To identify with the hero may simply become a way of deceiving ourselves.

Humility demands we understand our weakness, our propensity of acting like the nation of Israel, of our leaning towards destruction and death. The nation of Israel is a history we should be familiar with in order to learn from.

Romans 15:4 For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.

Our God is a merciful and gracious God, who though warning us of our rejection, will also bend down to reach us, to pick us up, and provide direction to us in finding our true King, Jesus the Christ, who is no longer hidden, no longer a mystery, but graciously revealed to His saints.

Colossians 1:26 the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to his saints.

Our King is not like the nations kings, and for that we should be eternally grateful!

Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you know someone this blog may bless (or challenge), send them a link, so they may join us in our discussion.

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Book Look – Judas Iscariot: Revisited and Restored – Intro

2023-10-24

I found a book called “Judas Iscariot: Revisited and Restored” by Ivan Roger, and though I have read it once before, this time the authors points seem to be sinking in a bit more.

The general theme of the book is that much of the popular understanding of Judas, and his relationship within Christianity, is colored by theological presuppositions and general bias against him.

It is a difficult book to take seriously at first, for my opinion of Judas has been established via cultural and religious teaching from the very first time I heard of this wicked evil betrayer. As the author notes, within the western world, no-one names his child Judas due to the association of evil the name carries with it. He is the ultimate betrayer, a toxic man of shear evil.

Somewhere in Dante’s Inferno, the writer describes Judas’ place in the lowest bowels of hell, being feasted on by Satan himself for all eternity! Surely there is no place for Judas amongst the redeemed! Such is my opinion, and to be honest, I do not know why I purchased this book. But I did, and I am thankful for the challenge it has put in front of me

As I venture through this book, I will occasionally bring to the reader some interesting points to consider. For those who have an open mind to consider alternate Christian views on this most hated of the apostles, I would suggest picking up a copy. I am confident you may read it more than once.

In my next installment, we will consider one of the presuppositions the author brings to the table, and helped me begin to consider an alternate view of and for Judas.

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Context

Specific Message

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Holding

Rejecting

Hymenaeus

Alexander

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Noise of the enemy/Oppression of the wicked

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