What Was Paul’s Thorn In The Flesh?

February 3, 2012 3 Comments

And lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure. Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me. And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong. (2 Corinthians 12:7-10)

T. De Witt Talmage, one of America’s most prominent preachers in the late 1800s, put it best when he said, “Many of the theological doctors have felt Paul’s pulse to see what was the matter with him.” Boy, have they ever! The question “What was Paul’s thorn in the flesh?” is one of the most well known in all of Christianity. So I thought I’d write a blog post and offer the correct answer so I could clear up the debate once and for all. Yeah, right.

What I will do is name the two contenders for the “best answer” category. Ready? Here we go.

Possible answer #1: The thorn in the flesh was some kind of physical ailment with which Paul struggled continually.

In Galatians 4:13-15, Paul does speak of preaching the gospel in “physical infirmity” and “my trial which was in my flesh.” He also says of the Galatian Christians, “…you would have plucked out your own eyes and given them to me.” If we take that literally, Paul had a problem with his eyes and perhaps that was his thorn in the flesh. However, it’s possible that “plucked out your own eyes” was just a figure of speech (Matthew 5:29, 18:9).

Even if it was just a figure of speech, the idea that Paul’s thorn in the flesh was some kind of physical ailment (bad eyesight or something else) is further strengthened by the fact that he himself says, “Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities…” Furthermore, the thorn was in his “flesh,” which most commonly would be taken to mean “in my body.”

Possible answer #2: The thorn in the flesh was a demon (a fallen angel).

On the heels of using the term “a thorn in the flesh,” Paul further describes the thorn as “a messenger of Satan to buffet me.” The Greek word that is translated there as “messenger” is angelos, which is the common Greek word for “angel.” This answer is given even more credence by the fact that Paul knew the Old Testament well, and the word “thorn” is used multiple times in its pages to refer to enemies of Israel (Numbers 33:55; Joshua 23:13; Judges 2:3; Ezekiel 28:24). All of this explains why both Martin Luther and John Calvin held to this answer.

However, while the term “messenger (angelos) of Satan” seems to refer to an “angel of Satan” (which would be a demon), it should be noted that Paul also referred to the thorn as “this thing” and “it.” This creates a problem for this answer because scripture refers to Satan, the leader of all the fallen angels, as “he” not “it.” The point is that maybe Paul would have used a pronoun if he was indeed talking about a fallen angel.

Well, as you can see, each of these two possible answers has its merits. Because of this, the debate will continue until we all get to heaven. I don’t think that’s a bad thing, though. As many students of the Bible have figured out, the fact that Paul’s thorn in the flesh remains unidentified allows more people to relate to it. Putting it another way, if we knew for sure that the thorn was an eyesight problem, it would lose some of its appeal to people who have 20/20 vision. But since we don’t know for sure, each of us has the freedom to compare Paul’s thorn to whatever problem we are wrestling.

Filed under Problems, Satan, The Devil, Bible Study, perseverance, Demons, trials, Comfort, Spiritual Warfare Tagged with , , , , ,

A Contest No One Can Win

January 31, 2012 Leave a Comment

Imagine a contest where the stated goal is: “Jump up and touch the moon.” Contestant #1 is an eighty-year-old woman with a walker. She steps up to the line and gives it all she’s got, but her jump doesn’t even register as measurable. Contestant #2 is Russell Mckinney. He steps up to the line and has a go, but his jump peaks out at about two inches. (I could have done a little better back in the day.) Contestant #3 is a bench-warmer on his high-school team. He takes his turn at the line and gets off what is easily the most impressive jump so far, which puts him in the lead. Finally, contestant #4 is NBA all-star Lebron James. His liftoff is breathtaking to watch. The muscles in his powerful legs ripple as he soars straight up into the air. Higher and higher he goes, putting so much distance between his jump and the high-schooler’s that second place isn’t even worth mentioning. When James finally comes back down he is unquestionably declared the obvious winner.

Of course, there’s one thing that shouldn’t be forgotten: the actual goal of the contest. The contest wasn’t held to see who could jump the highest. It was held to see if anyone could jump up and touch the moon. Lebron got the closest to meeting the goal, but even he failed miserably at it.

The Bible teaches that earning your way into heaven by way of “good works” is like that contest. The goal is an impossibility right from the start. Oh, sure, some may produce more “good works” than others. But, in the end, it’s laughable to think that anyone could get even remotely close to pulling of the goal. It can’t happen, and here’s why:

-Every human being is a born sinner (Romans 3:10; Romans 3:23; Ecclesiastes 7:20).

-Our inborn sin nature comes from Adam, the father of our race (Genesis 3:1-24; 1 Timothy 2:13-14; Romans 5:12).

-Our nature of sin compels us to commit acts of sin (Isaiah 53:6; Romans 3:11-18).

-To break just one of God’s laws is to stand guilty of breaking them all; it’s an all-or-nothing type of deal (James 2:10).

You see, once you understand the set-up going in, you’ll realize that salvation, and by implication entrance into heaven, can NEVER come by way of “good works” (Titus 3:4-7; Ephesians 2:8-9). It is instead a gift that God gives to the sinner, a gift He extends in grace (unearned favor) to the one who places his or her faith in Jesus Christ as Savior (Ephesians 2:8).

I challenge you right now to take your Bible, look up and read all the references that I have listed in this post, and let the truth of them wash over you. When you do you’ll see that the whole idea of someone earning their way into heaven by way of “good works” is patently absurd. Salvation is a gift, and like any gift it must be accepted to be owned. Since this gift is all wrapped up in a person, Jesus Christ, the only way to accept it is to accept Him. Call it putting your faith in Jesus. Call it believing in Him. Call it opening the door of your heart to Him. Call it receiving Him. These terminologies are all just different ways of describing the acceptance of the gift. But whatever you do, ACCEPT THE GIFT!!! If you don’t, you might as well be trying to jump and touch the moon.

Filed under Belief, Bible Study, faith, Heaven, salvation, Sin, The Depravity of Man Tagged with , , , , , , ,

What Does the Bible Teach About Drinking Alcohol? (1)

October 11, 2011 Leave a Comment

One of the more passionately debated Biblical subjects is that of the drinking of alcoholic beverages. Does the Bible make some allowance for such drinking or does it forbid it altogether? This is a question to which I’d like to devote several posts. For this first one, I’ll deal with what the Bible says about drinking wine.

I should begin by pointing out that the Bible uses the word “wine” well over two hundred times, and it offers many different Old Testament Hebrew and New Testament Greek words for wine. The Hebrew words are: yayin, tiyrosh, raaph, chamar, mamcak, cobe, aciyc, enab, and shemer. The Greek words are oinos and gleukos. The most used Hebrew word is yayin, which is used over 130 times. The most used Greek word is oinos, which is used over 30 times.

And is the “wine” of the Bible alcoholic (fermented, as opposed to being mere grape juice)? Of course it is, and if you can’t see that you’re just not trying. Do you remember that I said that yayin is the Old Testament’s most common word for wine? Well, it was yayin that got Noah drunk (Genesis 9:21). Do you remember that I said that oinos is the New Testament’s most common? Well, Ephesians 5:18 says “And do not be drunk with wine (oinos)…” You can’t get drunk on grape juice.

What we have to understand is that wine was as common to the Jewish way of life as milkshakes are to ours. I went with milkshakes because the Jews didn’t drink wine for their typical meals like they did water or milk. They usually saved it for special occasions such as feasts and celebrations (Genesis 14:18; 27:25; 2 Samuel 13:28; John 2:1-10). But make no mistake, wine was common to them. Let me offer three evidences of that.

First, the Jews saw wine as nothing less than a symbol of God’s blessing. When Isaac pronounced his patriarchal blessing upon Jacob, part of it was that God would give Jacob “plenty of grain and wine” (Genesis 27:28). Moses told the Jews that if they would faithfully obey the law that God had given them they would receive great blessings. Some of those blessings would be “your grain and your new wine and your oil” (Deuteronomy 7:13). Psalm 104:15 clearly lists wine as a blessing on par with oil and bread. (By the way, that verse describes wine as that which “makes glad the heart of man.” Grape juice doesn’t do that.)

Second, the God-given Old Testament law commanded the Jews to tithe their wine (Deuteronomy 12:17; 14:22-23). This makes perfect sense in light of the fact that they viewed wine as a blessing along the same lines as oil and bread. Since it was made from harvested grapes, they also saw it as a part of their harvests, which certainly qualified it for tithing.

Third, under that same body of law, the Jewish priests were to use a specific amount of wine in the daily offering up of two “drink offerings” (Exodus 29:38-45). One drink offering was to be done in conjuncture with the morning sacrificing of a lamb, and another drink offering was to be done with the evening sacrificing of a lamb. For the record, the Hebrew word that is used in that passage for “wine” is that familiar word yayin, which makes it alcoholic wine, the same kind that got Noah drunk. Yes, God really did command that alcoholic wine be used as a part of certain daily, holy sacrifices to Him.

You see, the idea that the Jews of the Bible were teetotalers is just plain wrong. They knew all about drinking wine. Furthermore, the idea that the wine was non-alcoholic grape juice is just as wrong. I’m not trying to make anybody mad or suggest that each of us should go have a glass of wine. I’m just conveying what the Bible teaches and letting it say what it says, not what some of us might like it to say. Is this all that I have to share on this subject? Certainly not. This has simply been an opening post to cover some of the basics about the Bible and wine. Hang with me for the rest of this series and I promise that we will cover much more ground, topics such as: “strong drink,” drunkenness, Jesus drinking wine, Jesus making wine, prohibitions against drinking, Christian liberty, and causing a brother to stumble. Stay tuned.

Filed under Addiction, alcohol, Bible Study, Choices, Christian Liberty, Doing Good, Personal Holiness Tagged with , , , , , ,

A Word About the Website

September 29, 2011 2 Comments

Some of you are aware that our church has a website at disciplesroadchurch.com. For those of you who aren’t, now you know. And at the risk of bragging, let me say that there is some really good stuff on the site.

Just this week we’ve uploaded six new sermons to the ever-growing list. They are:

1. “Eli: A Man Who Failed As A Father”
2. “God’s Temporary Rejection of Israel”
3. “Making Room For Jesus”
4. “Praying In Jesus’Name”
5. “Praying In the Holy Spirit”
6. “The Overcomer”

Now, I realize that many of you are like me in that you find it hard to find time to listen to a sermon. I understand that. But I just want you to know that the site is there to provide you with spiritual help and Biblical truth whenever you need it.

On the subject of Biblical truth, let me especially recommend that you click on the resource “A Guide for God’s Plan of Salvation.” Trust me, there’s a little more than John 3:16 there. I spent untold hours writing that guide and it is choked full of Bible verses and doctrinal facts. I start with the statement “There Is A God” and launch off from there. Really, if you used your daily devotion time to simply cover one section per day and read the verses for that section, it would be time well spent.

Another rich resource is the one entitled “What We Believe.” Again, if you used your devotion time to just cover one section per day and read the verses, you’d be blessed. The “Prophetic Events” section alone has ten different parts to it. And when you break them down into bite-size devotions, they make for great studies.

Well, I’ll hush now because I don’t want to “oversell” the product. All kidding aside, though, it’s a good website. Other sites might be snazzier and feature more graphics and such, but they’d be hard pressed to offer any more help in teaching the Bible. We’re just meat and potatoes. But what else would you expect from me? You’ve read my blog, right?

Filed under Bible Study, church, Doctrine, God's Word, Personal, Prophecy, salvation, Scripture, The Bible Tagged with , , , , , ,

Life’s Army Barracks

August 22, 2011 Leave a Comment

The Presbyterian preacher Harry Rimmer told the story of a young man who entered the army. This young man was in the habit of studying his Bible in his bedroom each evening and then kneeling down to pray before retiring for the night. He knew, however, that the army barracks would be a real test of that nightly routine.

The barracks certainly didn’t disappoint as the young fellow found himself surrounded by scores of rough servicemen. They joked around, made crude comments, and cursed. His first instinct was to read his Bible by keeping it half covered under his blanket. But then a wave of conviction came over him and he thought, “I’m a Christian! I must take my stand for the Lord. I won’t hide my faith. I’ll just do as I did at home.” He then took his Bible, read a chapter, and knelt down to pray quietly beside his cot.

When the other men noticed what the young man was doing, a few of them sneered. But in just a few minutes the barracks became strangely quiet as others who respected the new recruit’s devotion hushed those who sneered. After a while the talk began again, but this time without the crudeness and cursing.

The next night when the young man opened his Bible eight other men dug out theirs and did the same. Within a month every soldier in the outfit respected the young Christian so much that they would defend him against anyone who dared criticize him. Even more than that, they would bring their troubles and questions to him and ask for counsel. Rimmer concluded the story by saying, “He influenced more men for Christ than half a dozen chaplains could have in a year of Sundays.”

This world can be a raw, coarse, vulgar place, and being a Christian who tries to live a holy life in its midst can be difficult. Do the people at your workplace tell dirty jokes? Do some of your fellow students use profanity? Do you feel like you would be mocked and ridiculed if you were caught on site reading your Bible or praying? Welcome to your army barracks.

What would Jesus have you do? Well, what example did He set? Did He isolate Himself in a cave atop a mountain and shun the “real” world? No. Did He only converse with His devout followers, people who thought and spoke like He did? No. Did He act one way in private but another way in public? No. To the contrary, He lived what He preached. And what was that? He told His followers to resist the urge to hide their light under a basket and let it, instead, shine before men (Matthew 5:15-16).

So, Christian, I hope you take this post as a call to arms. Stop hiding your light under a basket. Those around you need to see it burning brightly for your Savior. Who knows what domino effect you taking a stand for Christ might start? My guess is that there are others in your setting who are just as offended with certain things as you are. They just need a leader to show them how to create change. And that leader could be you!

Filed under Adversity, Bible Study, Character, Courage, Discipleship, Doing Good, faithfulness, God's Will, God's Word, Influence, obedience, Persecution, Personal Holiness, Scripture, Witnessing, Work, Youth Tagged with , , , , , , ,

Lucifer

August 17, 2011 Leave a Comment

Two of the Bible’s best passages concerning the fall of Satan and the other rebellious angels are Isaiah 14:12-14 and Ezekiel 28:1-19. But what makes these passages a bit confusing is the fact that each one also deals with an earthly ruler. Isaiah 14:12-14 pronounces God’s coming judgment upon the king of Babylon, while Ezekiel 28:1-19 pronounces it upon the king of Tyre.

You ask, “So if the passages talk about two earthly rulers, why do we bring Satan into the context?” We do it because certain parts of the passages simply cannot refer to anyone but Satan. Consider the following examples, all taken from the New King James translation.

1. “How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning!…” (Isaiah 14:12) No earthly king of Babylon ever fell from heaven.

2. “For you have said in your heart: ‘I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God…’” (Isaiah 14:13) No earthly king would think that he could ascend to heaven and take over.

3. “You were in Eden, the garden of God…” (Ezekiel 28:13) No earthly king was in the garden of Eden..

4. “You were the anointed cherub who covers…” (Ezekiel 28:14) A cherub is a type of angel.

5. “You were perfect in your ways from the day you were created, till iniquity was found in you.” (Ezekiel 28:15) Because every human being is a sinner from birth, no one is perfect from the day he is created.

In light of these examples, it’s clear that God is speaking to more than the kings of Babylon and Tyre in these passages. Yes, He’s pronouncing judgment upon them, but He’s also speaking to Satan. The implication is that Satan is the real power behind their thrones. He is so closely associated with the two kings that God can speak to him even as He is speaking to them.

Okay, with all that understood, now let me explain the name “Lucifer,” which is used in Isaiah 14:12. I need to begin by saying that the King James and the New King James are the only two English translations that use this name “Lucifer.” The Hebrew word these two translations render as “Lucifer” is helel. Bible scholars are in agreement that helel literally means “shining one,” “bright one,” or even “light-bringer.” Translators have often translated it as the so-called “morning star” or “day star,” which is actually the planet Venus appearing in the east just before sunrise.

As evidence that translators agree on this meaning for helel, consider the renderings that modern translations give to Isaiah 14:12:

1. “How you have fallen from heaven, O star of the morning, son of the dawn!…” (New American Standard Version)

2. “How you are fallen from heaven, O Day Star, son of Dawn!…” (New Revised Standard Version)

3. “Shining morning star, how you have fallen from the heavens!…” (Holman Christian Standard)

4. “How you have fallen from heaven, O light-bringer and daystar, son of the morning!…” (The Amplified Bible)

5. “How you have fallen from heaven, O morning star, son of the dawn!…” (New International Version)

Alright, now that we understand the literal meaning of helel, the question becomes, “Then why do the King James translation and the New King James translation render the word as “Lucifer”? Actually, since the New King James simply sticks with the King James rendering, the question is really, “Why did the King James translators go with the name “Lucifer”?

The answer to that is found in the fact that before the Bible was ever translated into any kind of English, it was translated into Latin. The Latin translation was called the Vulgate. And what is the Latin word for “morning star”? It is “lucifer.” You see, when the King James translators came to Isaiah 14:12, they decided to just carry the name “lucifer” over from the existing Latin translation. In other words, “Lucifer” is not an English word. It is, instead, a Latin word that was incorporated into an English translation.

It’s sad that modern translators have been criticized by some for simply doing their job. When they came to helel in Isaiah 14:12, they actually translated it rather than go with some long-standing Latin word that would need translating itself because so few people know Latin. In doing so, the translators left themselves open to the charge of attempting to rob the Bible of one of its greatest teachings on the devil. Even worse than that, since Jesus calls Himself “the Bright Morning Star” in Revelation 22:16, they’ve been accused of associating Jesus with Satan or even promoting the lordship of Satan.

On this whole subject, Merrill Unger, the highly respected Bible scholar and commentator, has pointed out that Isaiah 14:12 isn’t the only Old Testament passage where the morning star and angels are linked together. The other passage is Job 38:7, which speaks of the time when “the morning stars” sang together and all the “sons of God” shouted for joy. (Job 1:6 and 2:1 plainly show that the term “sons of God” refers to angels in the book of Job.) So, you see, it really isn’t so strange that the original Hebrew of Isaiah 14:12 would describe Satan as the “morning star.” And as for Jesus using the title for Himself, that’s His emphatic way of saying that He is the true “morning star,” one far brighter and far greater than Satan.

Filed under Angels, Bible Study, Demons, King James only, Satan, Scripture, The Bible, The Devil Tagged with , , , , , , , , ,

How Many Angels Are There?

August 16, 2011 Leave a Comment

In Hebrews 12:22, the New Testament’s original Greek uses the word murias to describe the number of angels that God created. It is from this word that we get our word “myriads.”

It isn’t hard for translators to understand the basic meaning of murias, but they do struggle somewhat with how best to put it into English. Take the translators of the classic King James for instance. In Hebrews 12:22, they go with “innumerable” to translate it, but in Revelation 5:11-12 they render it “ten thousand times ten thousand.” In Acts 19:19, they translate it as “fifty thousand,” but in Luke 12:1 they again use “innumerable.” In Acts 21:20, it’s “thousands,” while in Jude 14 it’s “ten thousands.”

The challenge of precisely translating murias has led some translators to basically jam the Greek word straight into the English by rendering it “myriads.” This could be called a transliteration rather than a translation. For example, in the New American Standard Version, Hebrews 12:22 reads “myriads of angels” and Revelation 5:11 reads “myriads of myriads.”

While I understand why murias might be translated as “innumerable,” we really shouldn’t think that God created an infinite, limitless, never-ending number of angels. The fact is, there is a certain number of them. No doubt it is an exceedingly high number, but it is a countable number, at least countable by God.

How do we know this? We know it because Revelation 12:4 says that when Satan fell from heaven “His tail drew a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth.” (N.K.J.V.) Obviously, Satan doesn’t have a literal tail, and the angels that followed him in his rebellion against God aren’t literal stars, but the point is made: A third of the angels that God created can now be classified as “fallen” with the angel Satan. And to have a third of something, that something must have a set number, right? There simply is no such thing as one-third of innumerable.

So, now that we know all this, how do we answer the question, “How many angels are there?” Well, it’s clearly impossible for us to calculate an exact number, but we can feel very safe in saying that there are tens of thousands. I wouldn’t argue with anyone who believes there are hundreds of thousands. I wouldn’t even rule out that there are millions, perhaps even billions. What I do know is that however many there are, the more the better because the majority (two-thirds) of them still do God’s bidding.

Filed under Angels, Bible Study, Demons, Satan, Spiritual Warfare, The Devil Tagged with , , , , , , , , ,

Is the Story of Jonah True?

August 10, 2011 Leave a Comment

A little girl got saved during the local church’s summer Bible School. Unfortunately, though, her parents didn’t share her new-found faith in Jesus. They refused to take her to church or even buy her a Bible. So each Sunday morning she walked herself to church, carrying the oversized family Bible under her arm.

As it so happened, her route to church took her past the home of an atheist professor who taught at a university. As he watched the precocious little girl make her way to church each Sunday, he couldn’t help but be touched by her. But in his way of thinking he felt sorry for her because she had bought into all of the nonsense of the Bible and Christianity.

Finally his interest in the girl became too much for him to keep bottled up, and so one bright Sunday morning he went out to meet her and enlighten her. He politely stopped her and said, “Little girl, you don’t really believe that book you are carrying, do you?” She answered, “Yes, I do.” “You mean you believe that story about Jonah living in the belly of a whale?” “Yes, I do.” The professor continued, “But how could Jonah do that?” “I don’t know,” said the girl, “but when I get to heaven I’ll ask him.” To that the professor said, “Oh, but what if Jonah isn’t in heaven?” The little girl thought for a second and said, “Well then you can ask him.”

In my study I have several excellent commentaries on the book of Jonah, commentaries written by conservative Bible-teachers such as James Montgomery Boice, J. Vernon McGee, and Henry Morris. Concerning Jonah being swallowed by the “whale,” these commentators make two main points. First, it would have been simple for the God who created all of creation and performs miracles as simply as you and I breathe to have had Jonah swallowed whole and kept alive. Second, even if we take the miraculous out of play, the whole story is even possible on a naturalistic level.

The Hebrew term that is used to describe the monster is gadol dag, which can generically refer to any kind of large sea creature. For one thing, the creature in question really could have been some kind of whale. For example, the sulphur-bottom whale can reach a size of over one-hundred feet and have a mouth as wide as twelve feet. This whale has multiple compartments in its stomach, any one of which could provide more than ample room for a man to live. The head of the whale can be seven feet high, seven feet wide, and fourteen feet long, and it actually serves as an air storage chamber. Also, this whale has no teeth. It feeds by swimming along with its mouth open, straining out the water, and then swallowing whatever is left.

A sperm whale is another candidate for the creature that swallowed Jonah. Its mouth can be twenty feet long, fifteen feet high, and nine feet wide. According to one well- documented account, in February of 1891 a sailor named James Bartley was lost at sea during an attempt to harpoon a sperm whale in the Falkland Islands region. A short time later the whale was killed and drawn to the side of the ship. There it was worked up and its blubber removed. The following day the stomach was hoisted on deck. When the stomach was opened, Bartley was found unconscious, but alive, inside. He was revived and not long afterward resumed his duties aboard the ship.

Then again, the one that got Jonah didn’t have to be a whale at all. A whale shark, for example, could have fit the bill. In the early 1920s the Literary Digest ran the account of an English sailor who was swallowed by a whale shark in the English Channel. Two days later, the creature was spotted again and killed. When it was cut open, the sailors found the man unconscious but alive. He was rushed to the hospital, only to be discharged a few hours later after being found to be physically fit. In 1926, Dr. Harry Rimmer, the President of the Research Science Bureau of Los Angeles, met the man. Rimmer described his physical appearance as odd. The man was devoid of hair and patches of his skin were covered in a yellowish-brown color.

You see, those who attempt to criticize or explain away the story of Jonah do so at their own peril. The God of the miraculous is certainly not on their debate team. Neither are the historical reports of “Jonahs” from more modern times.

And then, of course, there is the one piece of evidence that should settle all doubt about the matter for the Christian. “What is that piece of evidence?” you ask. It’s the fact that Jesus Himself made a point of putting His stamp of approval on the story of Jonah when He said:

For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish (the classic King James translation goes with the translation of “whale” instead of “fish”, but “fish” is more accurate), so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. (Matthew 12:40, N.K.J.V.)

Filed under Belief, Bible Study, Children, God's Word, Heaven, hell, Scripture, The Bible Tagged with , , , , , , , ,

G.P.S. and Armageddon

July 26, 2011 Leave a Comment

For our vacation this year, Tonya and I borrowed a G.P.S. from her parents to help us with the driving. For anyone out there who doesn’t know, G.P.S. stands for Global Positioning System. Basically, a G.P.S. is a small computer that attaches to your windshield or dash and gives you highly specific directions on what roads to take and when to turn. It will even list local stores and restaurants in the area. All this is made possible by the fact that the computer links up to a satellite somewhere out in space and computerized information is relayed via the connection. I don’t want to understand the device much more than that because, frankly, it gets a little too creepy for me.

“What do you mean by that last statement?” Okay, I’ll tell you. First, the fact that the data concerning virtually every interstate, highway, and site location in the United States can be stored in a satellite system that mounts in your car is too Star Trek for me. When did we get smart enough to devise such technology? Second, if a satellite up in space can tell exactly where my Dodge Caravan is at any given time and place, who knows what else the powers that be know about me and mine? That’s too Big Brother for me. Third, by living in a world that has become so dependent upon computers, we seem to have ripened ourselves for some kind of cataclysmic technological meltdown in the future. And that’s a little too book of The Revelation for me.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m really not the type to go around playing Chicken Little by saying, “The sky is falling.” I’m also not the type to grow a long beard, dress in weird clothing, and stand on a street corner holding a sign that reads, “The end of the world is near.” With that said, though, there is something about The Revelation that has aroused my curiosity for years. That something is the fact that the book seems to go out of its way to make mention of horses being used in battle in the future.

The passage I have in mind is Revelation 19:17-18, two verses which are found in the context of the book’s classic passage on the famous battle of Armageddon. They read:

Then I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the birds that fly in the midst of heaven, “Come and gather together for the supper of the great God, that you may eat the flesh of kings, the flesh of captains, the flesh of mighty men, the flesh of horses and of those who sit on them, and the flesh of all people, free and slave, both small and great.”

The bloody carnage that will be on display in the wake of the battle of Armageddon will be unfathomable. Revelation 14:20 speaks of blood flowing as high as the horses’bridle (about four feet high) covering a distance of 1,600 furlongs (the approximate distance between the site of the battle of Armageddon and Edom in the south). Then, in addition to that verse, the words of Revelation 19:18 speak of untold numbers of corpses and carcasses that will become a great feast for the vulturous birds of the air. And here’s the point I’m trying to make: A bird can’t eat the remains of a tank, jeep, helicopter, fighter jet, or transport truck, but it can eat the remains of a horse. Because of this, how can we not interpret the horses at the battle of Armageddon to be literal horses?

Of course, I realize that this interpretation hinges upon the idea that the events of The Revelation are future events, and not everyone holds with this idea. But after studying the book for several years now and preaching through it twice, I side with the now predominantly held belief that the events are still to play out in the future. This world simply hasn’t yet seen the likes of all that is described in The Revelation.

And that brings us back to the matter of the literal horses at the coming battle of Armageddon. The question is, why will this world’s future soldiers be relegated to mounting horses? Could it be that there is coming a time when our vast array of military technology, technology which is based upon computers, will cease to function? Will someone invent a weapon that will render computers inoperative? Will this world one day be forced to endure a true Y2K-type event? While I freely confess that this is all mere speculation on my part, it’s certainly something to think about.

If it does happen, I suspect (and again I’m not preaching any of this as indisputable fact) that it will not take place until after the man the Bible calls the Antichrist has instituted his worldwide identification program known as “the mark of the Beast” (Revelation 13:16-18). That will take place at the midway point of the coming seven-year tribulation period. Students of prophecy puzzled for centuries as to how the Antichrist would be able to pull off such a worldwide program, but now, with computers having the power to store oceans of data and give us a cashless society, the puzzle is solved. So I’m guessing that all our computer technology will still be up and running at the half way point of the tribulation period.

You see, this is the kind of stuff that I think about when I use a device such as a G.P.S. I know, I know, I should just sit back and enjoy the ride, right? But give me credit for at least trying to understand how all of today’s computer wizardry factors into Bible prophecy. I may not have all the answers right, but at least I’m trying to take the test.

Filed under Bible Study, Christ's Second Coming, Coming Judgment, God's Word, Prophecy, Scripture Tagged with , , , , , , , , , , , ,

A Word About Lighthouses, Fire, & Wood

July 8, 2011 Leave a Comment

One foggy night a captain saw a faint light directly in the path of his ship. He ordered his signalman to send out the message: “Alter your course ten degrees south.” The signalman did so, but back came the reply: “Alter your course ten degrees north.”

With his pride hurt, the captain ordered that a second message be sent out: “Alter your course ten degrees south! I am a captain!” But back came the return message: “Alter your course ten degrees north! I am Seaman Third Class Jones.”

At this point the captain was enraged and ordered that a third message be sent: “ALTER YOUR COURSE TEN DEGREES SOUTH! I AM IN A BATTLESHIP!” But he had to concede defeat when back came the message: “ALTER YOUR COURSE TEN DEGREES NORTH! I AM IN A LIGHTHOUSE!”

Disagreeing with God’s written word, the Bible, is about like that captain expecting that lighthouse to move for him. In the end, either in this life or in eternity, that’s not an argument that you are going to win. God’s word has stood, is standing right now, and will continue to stand. You disagreeing with it won’t change it. You getting mad at it won’t alter it. You resisting it will only hurt you.

Jeremiah 5:14 is a very interesting verse. It reads:

Therefore thus says the Lord God of hosts: “Because you speak this word, behold, I will make My words in your mouth fire, and this people wood, and it shall devour them.”

Notice that in this verse God compares His words to fire. When we think of fire, we think of its many advantageous uses. Fire can be used for illumination, cooking, warmth, purification, forging, etc. But God wasn’t telling Jeremiah that His words were going to be a blessing to the people of Judah. His point was, those words would destroy the people. The words would be the fire and the people would be the wood.

Here in America, we have reached a state as low as Judah’s. We argue with God’s word. We disagree with it. We doubt it. We scoff at it. We explain it away. We ridicule it. We ignore it. Therefore, as a nation, we stand as dried wood, ready to be consumed by the fire of God’s judgment.

Frankly, I wish that I could change this about America, but I can’t. I’m just one person. All I can do is remain true to God’s word and take my personal stand with it. Just as Jeremiah stood in stark contrast to the typical citizens of Judah, I can stand in such contrast to the typical citizens of my country. And the great news is that as I do this God’s word will become a source of blessing, not condemnation, to me. I will experience that word as a source of illumination, warmth, and purification. And isn’t that better than being dried out wood awaiting the fire?

Filed under Bible Study, Coming Judgment, God's Word, Personal Holiness, Reward, Scripture, The Bible, Trusting In God Tagged with , , ,

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