Wednesday, March 14, 2007

Holy Spirit Puns

As one of our favorite Bible Teachers (Dr. Chuck Missler) is so fond of pointing out (and I love this observation) the Holy Spirit often deals in puns. Being fond of puns myself it's interesting and thrilling to find them in personal Bible study.

I found one today while reading the book of Exodus and decided it was time to keep on the lookout for them. Though many we might miss if we do not know the meaning of a Hebrew name, etc.

Exo 2:10 And the child grew, and she brought him unto Pharaoh's daughter, and he became her son. And she called his name Moses: and she said, Because I drew him out of the water.

That is the meaning of the name "Moses", but it also refers to him being the one to draw the Hebrews out of Egypt.

Monday, March 12, 2007

Final thoughts on the book of Job

Following up on my post Prosperity Theology In The Bible, here are final thoughts on the book of Job (the last chapter, ch. 42, being full of insights):
It agreed upon by most Bible scholars that the story contained within the book of Job occurred (writer unknown) before Moses and the Law, mainly because within the last verses of the last chapter (ch. 42) contains the clue. V. 15 says that though Job had 7 sons, he gave his 3 daughters "inheritance among their brothers". In the OT this is only done if there are no sons. Also, I find it interesting that the 3 daughters' names are the only ones given, those are usually omitted in Bible.

The writing was post Moses (Torah) but obviously not pre-Abraham as we see that 2 of Job's friends
are descendants of Abraham. See Job 2:11 (Eliphaz is a Temanite which is a descentant of Esau [cf Gen. 36:11], and Bildad is a Shuhite, descendant of Abraham by his 3rd wife Keturah [cf Gen. 25:2]....also, Job's 4th friend who doesn't come into the picture until ch. 37 is a Buzite, a descendant of Nahor, Abraham's brother [cf. Gen. 22:21].
Another interesting fact is the pre-law burnt offering (given by Noah, Abraham and Isaac). God Himself tells Job's friends to offer 7 bulls and 7 rams (42:8). This whole issue of pre-law burnt offerings is very interesting and deserves its own study.

Job 42:10 is one of my favorite verses in the Bible, we see that Job's fortunes were not returned to him two-fold after he repented (in 42:1-6), but rather (v.10) "the Lord restored the fortunes of Job when he prayed for his friends". Showing us the importance of prayer, but also of intercessory prayer and what Jesus said in Matt. 5:44 "But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous."

On a lighter note, I heard Chuck Swindoll's study on Job on the radio a while back, and recall his humorous observation was that God is full of grace...because He gave Job two-fold of everything he owned (42:12-15).....except children - restored to him were exactly what he had before: 7 sons and 3 daughters). That one made me LOL!

May the Lord God of Abraham, Isaac & Jacob bless you!
Lu

Saturday, March 10, 2007

Daily Walk

Daily Bible study is the food which nourishes our soul. Whatever the time of day is best, do it! Best for most is early morning, because once the day gets going, it's tough to take some time out to relax and read and pray without all the distractions of life. However, depending on the season of life in which you find yourself, that may not be possible. Whatever the time of day, just DO IT! You WILL be blessed.

I may have mentioned this before, but my deepening relationship to the Lord occurred quite out of a selfish need to boast. I decided one day in September of 2005 that if I were to be considered a "good Christian" I would have to read through the Bible at least once, so that I could honestly answer "yes" to the question should anyone ask...........as if anyone cares!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So I did. But out of a selfish and entirely unrighteous reason for reading God's word, beautiful things happened. Amazing how God can turn a weed into a beautiful rose, isn't it?!?

So I started by following study Bible's plan to read it through in a year, the first day was 10/1/05 (reading was John 1:1-18, Mark 1:1, Luke 1:1-4, 3:23-38, Matt 1:1-17) That may seem like a lot but it's only the equivalent of a couple of chapters, and coincidentally (it was not my plan), it started with the very start of the Gospels. Needless to say I was interested and looking forward to it, when it came around to the Old Testament, however, it was another thing. I was like a child being made to eat spinach, but I figured I had to endure it at least once. But I was SOOOOOOOO wrong. It wasn't until starting to learn the Jewish roots of our Christianity, by reading the OT, that the entire word of God came alive!

The journey that year took me on is indescribable and has not only deepened my own relationship with the Lord, but (praise God....it was His doing, not mine) but I believe had some impact on my husband's walk with the Lord as well.......there's no end to the awesomeness [is that a word?].....of God which will be opened to you if you let the Spirit lead your Bible study. You will be amazed at everything from tiny trivia, such as that Abigail's husband's name "Nabal" means "fool" [I Sam 25 (the name quite suits him)], to incredible journeys of research. For example, study and find every Old Testament occurrence of "angel of the Lord" which is a reference to a pre-incarnate appearance of Jesus Christ. Every time it is mentioned, you will find in the same verse or passage the same being also referred to as the Lord.

As one of our favorite Bible teachers, Dr. Chuck Missler says, the study of the Bible is a challenge and a thrill! I pray you will find that to be true as well!

Moral of the story, we should not read the Bible or do any other good deed in order to impress our friends, pastor or Sunday school class, but rather to have a daily and intimate walk with the Lord of Abraham, Isaac & Jacob. OUR Lord! Remember 2 Peter 3:10 "But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up. "

The knowledge and intimacy with the Lord which we gain from daily walk with Him should result in both a quiet spirit within us to know that He IS in control of a situation, AND when necessary, not to fear (2 Chronicles 20:15 [Do not fear or be dismayed because of this great multitude, for the battle is not yours but God's.] when the circumstances seem too tough (Numbers 13 & 14 a great example). As Jesus said in John 15:5 "I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing."

Don't fret, the enemy wants you to wonder WHERE is God......that's the best he can do to a child of God! Satan knows he won't get your soul (you will not be tormented for eternity because you have been cleansed by the blood of Jesus Christ, if you are a believer), the best Satan can hope for is to torment you on the earth by making you doubt God! Luke 16:23 "In Hades he lifted up his eyes, being in torment, and saw Abraham far away and Lazarus in his bosom."........"Rev 14:11 "And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever; they have no rest day and night, those who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name.""

This is exactly what his aim was when he tormented Job. Job 1:11 (Satan speaking to God) "but put forth Your hand now and touch all that he has; he will surely curse You to Your face" and again 2:5 "however, put forth Your hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh; he will curse You to Your face."........and in 2:9 Job's wife acts (unbeknownst to her) as Satan's helper by saying "do you still hold fast your integrity? Curse God and die!"

I pray for your relation with the Lord to grow. Remain in His word daily and it will!

Tuesday, March 6, 2007

Can Women Teach in The Church?

Yes, women can teach.......other women - NOT on a pulpit to a mixed congregation:

1 Timothy 2:12 But I do not allow a woman to teach or exercise authority over a man, but to remain quiet.

Now before anyone gets bent out of shape over that, I've had this discussion before so I know the main comeback and bottom line of those women who disagree with me is always that Paul was straightening out the Corinthian women............meaning we can choose to ignore this part of God's word because we're not them.

Using that logic, then I guess we can ignore about a third of the 10 commandments, because one can say that when God said "Thou shalt have no other gods, Thou shalt not make for yourself an idol, Remember the sabbath", He was only doing that because the Jews were in pagan territory, and those commandments were obviously meant to keep them from worshipping other gods.

A woman's ministry is to her family first, and to other women, as taught throughout the Bible in many places and in Titus 2:3-5:

Tit 2:3 The aged women likewise, that they be in behaviour as becometh holiness, not false accusers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things;
Tit 2:4 That they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children,
Tit 2:5 To be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed.

God's not ambiguous about who's head over whom. It's not easy for a woman to accept that sometimes. I know, I've been there.

1Co 11:3 But I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God.

It's just as hard for a woman to be submissive to her husband as it is for a man to be submissive to God (and vice versa). I've seen that when one of the marriage partners does their part (i.e. either the man submits to God first, or the woman to her husband first), the other parter seems to follow suit and the marriage is GREATLY BLESSED.

For a woman not to hold to this concept and preach to men (especially on a pulpit), is not disobedience to her husband, but ultimately to God, because it's God's word, not husband's word she's breaking.

Prosperity Theology In The Bible

Reading the book of Job is enlightening, we see how Job's friends are the first to espouse the Prosperity Theology which our Christian society today does.

I think it's the first Biblical glimpse (the book was written before Moses wrote the 5 books of the Torah), and shows something our Christian society now suffers from: belief in Prosperity Theology. The errant human belief (NOT Biblical truth) that if you're living right, according to God, you will be happy, healthy and rich! And if someone isn't, they must be sinning and "if only they went to church, they would be OK"! As if walking into a building, even several times a week, constitutes either a relationship with God or righteous living. I think the likes of the Bakers and Haggards of this world are solid proof that isn't so!

The interesting thing is that Job's 4 friends knew their "Bible", everything they say about God is true and theologically sound - such as "He consumes the tents of the corrupt" (15:34), "the hope of the Godless will perish" (8:13), etc. Where Eliphaz, Bildad, Zophar & Elihu go wrong is
they assume that because Job is suffering the way he is, he MUST have sinned against God.

[Prosperity theology goes one step further, it says "come to THIS church and you'll be wealthy", and the masses drink the Kool-Aid!!!!!!!!! But if they knew God's word, they would know this is untrue, a cursory study of the Apostle Paul's life is enough to prove that!]

What we know that they don't (not even Job) is back in Job 1:6-12 & 2:1-7 Satan was allowed by God to test Job. God was so sure that Job would not curse Him, that he let Satan inflict suffering on Job.

Job says in 31:24-28 (KJV):

Job 31:24 If I have made gold my hope, or have said to the fine gold, Thou art my confidence;

Job 31:25 If I rejoiced because my wealth was great, and because mine hand had gotten much;

Job 31:26 If I beheld the sun when it shined, or the moon walking in brightness;

Job 31:27 And my heart hath been secretly enticed, or my mouth hath kissed my hand:

Job 31:28 This also were an iniquity to be punished by the judge: for I should have denied the God that is above.

We see here that to trust in riches and have confidence in one's wealth and all one has secured (v. 24-25) - rather than in God who is the one who gives us all we have - results in judgment because such actions and thoughs equal:
  1. Pagan worship (v. 26-27 refer to pagan worship - adoration of the sun and moon)
  2. Denying God's power and blessings (v. 28)
But thou shalt remember the Lord thy God:
for it is
he that giveth thee power to get wealth
(Deu 8:18)

I think that says it all!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!