Ancient Paths

(Jer 6:16 ESV)  Thus says the LORD: “Stand by the roads, and look, and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is; and walk in it, and find rest for your souls. But they said, ‘We will not walk in it.’

In this passage, the ancient ways are the well-trodden paths – those travelled by many beforehand.  God, in His mercy, had given the nation of Israel good laws to live by.  Laws that to this day are the foundation of modern jurisprudence.  Judah had watched as the northern kingdom of Israel had been invaded by Assyria and taken captive, yet her heart was still stubborn.

Before we judge Judah too harshly, let us ask ourselves how God sees modern Christianity. Saints since the day of Pentecost have handed down the faith of our fathers. Men and women of faith have died as martyrs rather than renounce the true gospel message of salvation by grace through faith in Jesus Christ alone.

In the last generation we have decided that instead of soaring cathedrals that easily surpassed any architectural structure in town we would build multipurpose buildings that resemble every other building in the shopping mall.  Instead of hymns sang with gusto by the congregation accompanied by a thundering pipe organ we have choruses with three chords, forgettable lyrics and a soft rock beat to everything.

No longer does the pastor stand behind the sacred desk and proclaim “Thus saith the Lord!” – instead we have a life coach who sips a latte while sitting on a stool and tells us stories.  We gave up bible study because it was too boring and instead have “life groups” who “do life together”(whatever that means). 

Not everything new is bad but neither is everything old. I don’t know about you but I miss church – the pews, the hymns, the pulpit and the choir. It was comforting and reminded me of the history of the Christian faith and those who trod the ancient paths before me.

Idolatry–what is it?

Webster defines idolatry in two ways:

  1:      the worship of a physical object as a god
  2:      immoderate attachment or devotion to something

God defines it in Exodus 20:3 as “Do not have other gods besides me.” CSB

It seems pretty simple, right? Do not worship anyone besides the one true God of the Bible. So how do we worship God? By singing to Him, praying to Him, listening to pastors preach about Him and reading His own words in the Bible. It follows then, that we are not to sing about, pray to, listen to sermons about or read sacred writings of false gods.

In Deuteronomy 12:29-32 it says

29 “When the LORD your God annihilates the nations before you, which you are entering to take possession of, and you drive them out and live in their land, 30 be careful not to be ensnared by their ways after they have been destroyed before you. Do not inquire about their gods, asking, ‘How did these nations worship their gods? I’ll also do the same.’ 31 You must not do the same to the LORD your God, because they practice every detestable act, which the LORD hates, for their gods. They even burn their sons and daughters in the fire to their gods. 32 Be careful to do everything I command you; do not add anything to it or take anything away from it. CSB

Did you catch the part about being ensnared?  It can happen so easily.  Especially if the only sermons or bible studies you’ve heard about idolatry pass it off as something only Old Testament people did with carved statutes.  Or maybe it was hedonism or materialism that was the explanation.

What if though modern day Christians were actually worshipping other gods? What if the modern church was actually condoning practicing the worship styles and practices of other religions? Sounds crazy. Would your church offer a class on praying to a Hindu god? The teacher might be wearing gym clothes and everyone brought a mat.  There are different poses and stretches designed to awaken the kundalini spirit at the base of your spine and enable your inner man to communicate with the Hindu gods.

Or perhaps the god that you and your children love to read about, talk about and see movies of is named Lucifer?  He comes dressed as a school boy and learns to conjure and cast spells.How enchanting! Forget about all those admonitions in that dusty old Bible about not practicing witchcraft and sorcery! (sarcasm here)

Folks if we can’t get the first commandment down pat it’s no wonder 2-10 are hard! As I read through the bible every year, I notice the one thing that upsets God the most – idolatry.  He warned Israel about it through Moses and sent prophet after prophet to tell people to repent but they didn’t listen.

Are we any different today?

Back at the writing desk

The last several years have been hectic and hard.  I’m hoping with the advent of a new year to begin blogging again. In this blog,  I hope to share insights from bible studies that I do and offer some brief comments.

Stay tuned!

Crystal

The woman at the well

John 8:1-11 ESV (1) but Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. (2) Early in the morning he came again to the temple. All the people came to him, and he sat down and taught them. (3) The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery, and placing her in the midst (4) they said to him, "Teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery. (5) Now in the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say?" (6) This they said to test him, that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. (7) And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, "Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her." (8) And once more he bent down and wrote on the ground. (9) But when they heard it, they went away one by one, beginning with the older ones, and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. (10) Jesus stood up and said to her, "Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?" (11) She said, "No one, Lord." And Jesus said, "Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more."

While studying this the other day, I came across something I’d never heard before.  Read this from Matthew Henry:

c. Perhaps he refers to the trial of the suspected wife by the jealous husband with the waters of jealousy. The man was to bring her to the priest (Num. 5:15), as the scribes and Pharisees brought this woman to Christ. Now it was a received opinion among the Jews, and confirmed by experience, that if the husband who brought his wife to that trial had himself been at any time guilty of adultery, Aquae non explorant ejus uxorem—The bitter water had no effect upon the wife. “Come then,’ ’ saith Christ, “according to your own tradition will I judge you; if you are without sin, stand to the charge, and let the adulteress be executed; but if not, though she be guilty, while you that present her are equally so, according to your own rule she shall be free.’ ’ ~Matthew Henry

The Pharisees had brought the woman but not the man caught in adultery thus showing their hypocrisy and violation of the Law which requires both parties to be put to death.

Leviticus 20:10 (ESV) “If a man commits adultery with the wife of his neighbor, both the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death.

Deuteronomy 22:22 (ESV) “If a man is found lying with the wife of another man, both of them shall die, the man who lay with the woman, and the woman. So you shall purge the evil from Israel.

From this insight of Matthew Henry, we better understand why they left so quickly – if they had been guilty of adultery themselves they were in no position to judge this woman.

I love learning nuggets like this from the Scriptures!

Another Gem in John

I have been studying lately in the gospel of John and have just discovered another (to me anyway) gem concerning the deity of Christ.  I’ve never heard any sermons or teachings on this so maybe I’m not alone in having missed this.

John 8:12 (ESV) Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."

There are two reasons that Jesus’ statement was radical:

1.  One of the names of God is “Light” so in claiming this title for Himself, Jesus was claiming to be God.

1 John 1:5 (ESV) This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.

Psalm 27:1 (ESV) The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?

Isaiah 60:19 (ESV) The sun shall be no more your light by day, nor for brightness shall the moon give you light; but the Lord will be your everlasting light, and your God will be your glory.

2.  “Light” was a term for the Messiah.  In claiming this title for Himself, Jesus was emphatically saying that He was the Messiah.

Isaiah 42:5–7 (ESV) Thus says God, the Lord, who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread out the earth and what comes from it, who gives breath to the people on it and spirit to those who walk in it: “I am the Lord; I have called you in righteousness; I will take you by the hand and keep you; I will give you as a covenant for the people, a light for the nations, to open the eyes that are blind, to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon, from the prison those who sit in darkness.

Isaiah 49:6 (ESV) he says: “It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to bring back the preserved of Israel; I will make you as a light for the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.”

Isaiah 60:1–3 (ESV) Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you. For behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; but the Lord will arise upon you, and his glory will be seen upon you. And nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising.

It pays to dig a little deeper!

Jesus walks on the water

Read this from John:

John 6:16-21 ESV
(16)  When evening came, his disciples went down to the sea,
(17)  got into a boat, and started across the sea to Capernaum. It was now dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them.
(18)  The sea became rough because a strong wind was blowing.
(19)  When they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and coming near the boat, and they were frightened.
(20)  But he said to them, "It is I; do not be afraid."
(21)  Then they were glad to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat was at the land to which they were going.

Now this section of Psalms 107:

Psalms 107:23-30 ESV
(23)  Some went down to the sea in ships, doing business on the great waters;
(24)  they saw the deeds of the LORD, his wondrous works in the deep.
(25)  For he commanded and raised the stormy wind, which lifted up the waves of the sea.
(26)  They mounted up to heaven; they went down to the depths; their courage melted away in their evil plight;
(27)  they reeled and staggered like drunken men and were at their wits' end.
(28)  Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress.
(29)  He made the storm be still, and the waves of the sea were hushed.
(30)  Then they were glad that the waters were quiet, and he brought them to their desired haven.

Have you ever noticed this before?  It’s almost an exact prophecy of Jesus’ miracle of walking on the water.  Now notice in Psalms – they cried to the LORD – when in all caps it is God’s personal name – sometimes rendered Yahweh or Jehovah. To me, this passage is a clear teaching on the deity of Jesus.  Only God can calm the seas and Jesus did just that, therefore Jesus is God!

How long is a day?

 

Genesis 1:5 ESV
(5)  God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.

The bible makes the claim that God created the world in six days.  Some have tried to squeeze evolution into that narrative by claiming that the Hebrew word יום can mean a period of time.  However, good hermeneutics demands that we properly interpret Hebrew as the word is used elsewhere.

Regarding the word day (yôm) several interpretations have been suggested. (1) The days of Creation refer to extended geological ages prior to man’s presence on earth. (2) The days are 24-hour periods in which God revealed His creative acts. (3) They are literal 24-hour days of divine activity. In favor of the third view is the fact that the term yôm with an ordinal (first, second, etc.) adjective means 24-hour days wherever this construction occurs in the Old Testament. Also the normal understanding of the fourth commandment (Exodus 20:11) would suggest this interpretation. BKC

What does Exodus 20:11 say?

Exodus 20:11 ESV
(11)  For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

Have you ever wondered why a week is seven days and not ten or five?  The answer is found in creation – God created the world in six days and rested on the seventh.  That is why our week is seven days.

And now you know how long a day is.