tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9246051100235216332024-03-01T14:13:25.249-08:00Blog of Dark Day MinistriesDark Day Ministrieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14599268281520893034noreply@blogger.comBlogger37125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-924605110023521633.post-11526225654144478042017-01-16T01:30:00.001-08:002017-01-16T01:30:29.822-08:00Moses’ Understanding of the Creation Days<!--[if !mso]>
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<u><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Moses’
Understanding of the Creation Days</span></u></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The
three main interpretations of the Genesis creation week</span></b></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">These are: </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-fareast-font-family: Georgia;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">1.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">The 24-hour day
view – the days of Genesis 1 are literal calendar days as we would understand
them, clarified by ‘evening and morning’;</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-fareast-font-family: Georgia;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">2.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">The Day-Age view – the
Hebrew word for ‘day’ has several meanings and was the only word Moses had
available to refer to an era of time and so long ages were intended; and </span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-fareast-font-family: Georgia;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">3.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">The Framework view
– the creation week is a figurative illustration.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">In reality, however, we can
categorise these differing views into two sections, the Literalist
interpretations (1 & 2) or figurative (3) and, similarly, these might also
be categorised as Concordist or non-Concordist.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Concordism is the belief that Genesis was intended by Moses, and thus by
God, to be a chronological, scientific account of creation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Therefore, non-Concordism is, again, the
belief that the creation week is a literary illustration, i.e. figurative.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">The immediate problems
typically recognised with the Literalist interpretations are that the Day-Age
view (2) has not yet provided a reasonable explanation for why Moses clarified
the days with their respective mornings and evenings.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Clearly, 24-hour days were intended.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But, looking to the literal six day interpretation
(1), we see that this view cannot be reconciled with <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">any</i> field of science.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Young-Earth Creationists have, therefore, made many attempts to prove
that the methods and conclusions of modern science are erroneous and that the
earth and the universe are actually less than 10,000 years old.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some examples of such arguments are pictures
of fossilised trees between several layers of sedimentary rock or a World War
II squadron found beneath many ice ring layers in Greenland.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, all of these arguments have failed
under scientific scrutiny.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><br />
So, the Day-Age view (2) seems to contradict the plain understanding of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">biblical revelation</i> and the 24-hour view
(1) seems to contradict the plain understanding of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">natural revelation</i>.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">These are <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">not</i> the primary reasons why I hold to the Framework interpretation
(3) and, please, before you cut me off immediately as a heretic and refuse to
hear my reasons, the Scripture warns us:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Proverbs 18:13<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He who gives an answer before he hears, It is
folly and shame to him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(NASB)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">One can believe in the inerrancy of Scripture and also that
Moses intended his creation account to be thematic and figurative. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So, I humbly invite you to examine my
reasoning and correct me if you believe I am wrong.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Firstly, we have to set aside two popular presuppositions
which cause Christians to hastily adopt a Literalist interpretation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These involve: i) tradition and ii) the
scientific method.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin-left: 54.0pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo3; text-indent: -36.0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-fareast-font-family: Georgia;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">i)<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">Does church history provide us with the correct
interpretation?</span></b></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">Many Christian scholars have
asserted that a Literalist interpretation was the unanimous view of the church
throughout our history.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, as the
renowned Theologian, Louis Berkhof, noted: </span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">‘Some
of the early Church Fathers did not regard [the creation days] as real
indicators of the time in which the work of creation was completed, but rather
as literary forms in which the writer of Genesis cast the narrative of
creation, in order to picture the work of creation – which was really completed
in a moment of time – in an orderly fashion for human intelligence.’<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=924605110023521633#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[1]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">For 1<sup>st</sup> century
Judaism, there were several main interpretations of Genesis 1-3, all of which found
symbolism in the creation account, even when addressing it as history.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The ‘general consensus’ of Rabbis was
identical to the view described by Berkhof, as Jewish historian, Norbert
Samuelson explains: ‘the creation of this earth and sky was a single divine
event and not a series of distinct occurrences spread out over six or seven
days.’<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=924605110023521633#_ftn2" name="_ftnref2" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn2;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[2]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Because different interpretations, as well as
Greek philosophy, all influenced early Christian thought, we cannot and should
not use tradition as our authority.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Simply because a majority of Christians held to one view in the first
four centuries of Christianity, that doesn’t necessarily make it true.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">Augustine is often cited as an early Christian
scholar to defend any of the three main interpretations listed above.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Augustine studied the creation account in
greater depth than most Christians up to that point in time and, as a result, he
changed his mind on which interpretation he followed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It should be noted, however, that he arrived
at a figurative interpretation, not by following a particular school of thought
but through <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">exegesis of the text</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is for <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">this</i>
reason that I hold him up as an example - Scripture is our authority and our
exegesis must not be dictated by tradition, even though church history is very
helpful in understanding the origin of doctrines and whether they are likely to
have been taught by the apostles.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We
will, therefore, soon look to the Scripture to determine Moses’ intent, as he
was led on by the Spirit of God to write Genesis.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 54.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo3; text-indent: -36.0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-fareast-font-family: Georgia;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">ii)<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">Does the scientific method provide us with the
correct interpretation?</span></b></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">God has given us two modes of revelation to learn
about Him – natural revelation and biblical revelation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As article 2 of the Belgic Confession (1561)
of the Protestant Reformation puts it:</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 1.0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">‘</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">We know God by two
means: First, by the creation, preservation, and government of the universe,
since that universe is before our eyes like a beautiful book in which all
creatures, great and small, are as letters to make us ponder the invisible
things of God: God’s eternal power and divinity, as the apostle Paul says in
Romans 1:20.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All these things are enough
to convict humans and to leave them without excuse.<br />
Second, God makes himself known to us more clearly by his holy and divine Word,
as much as we need in this life, for God’s glory and for our salvation.’</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><br />
The Bible clearly tells us that natural revelation is how we learn about the
natural world and our natural condition and the Word of God is what teaches us
about the Creator and our spiritual condition. The two must not be
confused and neither one must be considered less true than the other.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This can be best illustrated by the ministry
of Jesus.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Messiah did not come to
give us the cure for cancer or to tell us that the earth was not the centre of
the universe, but to reconcile the world to God – our good and just
Creator.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Thus, the Framework
interpretation allows both Scripture and nature to reveal what God intended
them to.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">As we have seen, interpreting
Genesis 1 figuratively is not a desperate modern phenomenon which seeks to
appease modern science, as it dates back to the ancient world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yet Literalists, nevertheless, make the
illogical suggestion that to interpret Genesis 1 figuratively will inevitably
lead down a slippery slope to interpret the entire Bible as figurative.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>John MacArthur presents the perfect example
of this: </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">‘</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Where
does metaphor ultimately end and history begin? After the flood? After the
tower of Babel? And why there? Why not regard all the biblical miracles as
literary devices? Why could not the resurrection itself be dismissed as a mere
allegory?’<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=924605110023521633#_ftn3" name="_ftnref3" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn3;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[3]</span></span></span></span></a></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Rather
than refute the logic of these questions, I find this example from history
answers them for us:</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"> Was Moses making
scientific statements in the Genesis creation account?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How did Moses and everyone in the ancient
Near-East, without exception, understand the cosmos?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The great 1<sup>st</sup> century Jewish
historian, Flavius Josephus, presents the ancient Jewish understanding of the
universe which Genesis described:</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 1.0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">‘[O]n the second day, he placed
the heaven over the whole world, and separated it from the other parts, and he
determined it should stand by itself. He also placed a crystalline [firmament]
round it, and put it together in a manner agreeable to the earth, and fitted it
for giving moisture and rain, and for affording the advantage of dews. On the
third day he appointed the dry land to appear, with the sea itself round about
it</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">’.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=924605110023521633#_ftn4" name="_ftnref4" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn4;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[4]</span></span></span></span></a></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">This understanding of the universe later became
known as the Ptolemaic model of the universe and was held to by everyone in ancient
Mediterranean and Near-Eastern civilisations.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>In fact, it continued to be the dominant model of the universe in the Greco-Roman
world, through the Middle Ages, until the time of the Reformation and the
Renaissance, as this quote and illustration by Martin Luther prove:</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 1.0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">'Indeed,
it is more likely that the bodies of the stars, like that of the sun, are
round, and that they are fastened to the firmament like globes of fire, to shed
light at night, each according to its endowment and its creation.'<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=924605110023521633#_ftn5" name="_ftnref5" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn5;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[5]</span></span></span></span></a></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, at this important time in history,
scientific study of natural revelation changed this interpretation
forever.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Copernicus had developed a
different model of the solar system in which the sun was at the centre and the
earth revolved around it but this did not catch on until Galileo later proved
that this is the case.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But, Protestant
and Papist alike rejected his evidence because of those verses in Scripture
which state that the earth cannot be moved.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Calvin said that those who agreed with Galileo were either mad or
demon-possessed. Luther referred to Galileo as a 'certain new astrologer
who wanted to prove that the earth moves and not the sky, the sun, and the
moon' and had this to say of those Christians who accepted this discovery: </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">'We
Christians must be different from the philosophers [i.e. scientists] in the way
we think about the causes of these things. And if some are beyond our
comprehension (like those before us concerning the waters above the heavens),
we must believe them and admit our lack of knowledge rather than either
wickedly deny them or presumptuously interpret them in conformity with our
understanding.'<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=924605110023521633#_ftn6" name="_ftnref6" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn6;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[6]</span></span></span></span></a></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">History is repeating itself, as John MacArthur
displays.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To hold to the Literalist or
Concordist views, one must believe that Moses was unknowingly prophesying about
scientific facts to be discovered later in order to validate the Bible; and
when the scientific evidence does not agree with the Literalist interpretation,
we must reject those students of natural revelation as ‘mad’ and ‘demon-possessed’
and brand those Christians who re-examine their interpretation of Scripture as
‘wicked’ and ‘presumptuous’.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">In reality, however, I believe that most
Evangelical Christians agree that Galileo was right and that the Ptolemaic model
of the Solar System was wrong.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Christians today believe that those Bible verses referring to the earth
being immoveable were either figurative or were simply the genuine beliefs of
ancient Jews which God accommodated because of the kernel of theological truth
behind those words.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Therefore, those
Christians who insist on a literal interpretation of Genesis 1, to be
consistent, must believe that the cosmos is most accurately reflected by the
Ptolemaic model and agree with Luther and Calvin.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">Putting
Genesis in its historical context</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><br />
Moses wrote Genesis 1-11 as a polemic against the Pagan accounts of the flood
etc. which the Israelites would have been familiar with, having lived in Egypt
for centuries.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Moses was an expert in ancient
cosmology and myths, as he had been raised and educated in the Egyptian
Pharaoh’s house (Acts 7:22).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He took the
familiar myths and historiography and turned the stories on their head by
teaching true theology through a new and distinct Israelite version.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Whilst many of the Israelites had wanted to
return to Egypt, Moses was loud and clear in writing systematically against the
illustrations they used to teach their false religion.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These chapters are ‘designed to refute these
delusions’ as the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">ESV Study Bible </i>puts
it and would not originally have been perceived as a scientific breakthrough.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">Therefore Genesis 1-11 is addressing: who created
the world and why; our relationship with the one good Creator and why it is
disconnected; the beginning of murder and man’s tyrannical behaviour over other
men; and how God hates this perversion of His intention for mankind and so
began to establish His plan to redeem a people for Himself by revealing the
Gospel to Abraham.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Genesis 1 is not
addressing <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">how</i> the universe was
created and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">when</i>, but <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">who</i> created this world and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">why</i>.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">Let us stop unnecessarily pushing a Concordist
interpretation of Genesis 1 in our evangelism and just let the Bible defend
itself based on what it actually is.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>When the critics say that Genesis 1 is false because they do not
perceive it to be a scientifically accurate account of creation, let us simply
point out that Moses was obviously not writing a scientific account and that no
one in the ancient world had the scientific knowledge that we do now anyway; to
expect them to have done is preposterous and completely misses the point.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We should be highlighting this most obvious
flaw in the thinking of Bible critics, not adopting the same mindset and
embarrassingly bending over backwards to make the Bible a science
textbook.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">The Bible claims to deepen our understanding of
the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">significance</i> of the created
world, not to provide encyclopaedic data of its matter and mechanisms.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">The Bible identifies our broken relationship with
a good God, whom we all truly know must exist, and our hateful nature towards
Him and towards our fellow human beings.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The Bible heralds a Saviour, who came to take upon Himself the retribution
for all our injustices and, by His love, change our hearts so that we would
love God and each other.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is this
Gospel of Jesus which should be the focus of our evangelism, as well as the
facts of His life, death and resurrection, in fulfilment of prophecy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Let us preach these things and not untenable
theories about Scripture or science.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">Exegesis of
Genesis 1</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">The creation week of Genesis 1:1 – 2:3 has been
recognised as highly stylised by both ancient and modern commentators.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is a series of interconnected literary
features which make Moses’ illustrative intention impossible to ignore.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There are various literary features used throughout
the Scripture as this was a common feature of the ancient Hebrew writing style,
but the sheer quantity and dominance of these in the creation account set it
apart from the rest of Genesis.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As the
Presbyterian scholar, Lee Irons, puts it: </span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 1.0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">‘</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Moses
himself appears to have consciously shaped his account using the creation days
as a literary device to provide his account with an intricate structure that
has theological significance. There are a number of contextual clues in the
inspired text that encourage us to view the creation days as a literary
framework.’<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=924605110023521633#_ftn7" name="_ftnref7" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn7;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[7]</span></span></span></span></a></span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">We see these clues emerge by illustrating the
picture Moses painted as we read through the chapter:</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 1.0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>‘In the beginning God created the heavens
and the earth. The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the
surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the
waters.’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(NASB)</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Here,
Moses presents a Cosmology markedly different from any other which has ever
existed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For the Israelites, ‘the
heavens and the earth’ would have referred to the physical universe.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Therefore, the concept that the entire
universe came into being, rather than being eternal or made from some
primordial matter by the gods, is unique to Judeo-Christianity and increasingly
confirmed by Astrophysical study.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Concerning
the earth, Moses sets the scene by describing it as ‘formless and void’ which
the Israelites would have understood as meaning uninhabitable.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is clearly seen by Isaiah’s reflection
on these words:</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 1.0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Isaiah 45:18<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For thus says the LORD, who created the
heavens (He is the God who formed the earth and made it, He established it and
did not create it a waste place, but formed it to be inhabited), "I am the
LORD, and there is none else.” ’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(NASB)</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">It is
important to have this precedent in mind as we are introduced to the various
creation statements made by God.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<table align="left" border="1" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="MsoNormalTable" style="margin-left: 6.75pt; margin-right: 6.75pt; mso-cellspacing: 0cm; mso-padding-alt: 6.0pt 6.0pt 6.0pt 6.0pt; mso-table-anchor-horizontal: page; mso-table-anchor-vertical: paragraph; mso-table-layout-alt: fixed; mso-table-left: 266.1pt; mso-table-lspace: 9.0pt; mso-table-overlap: never; mso-table-rspace: 9.0pt; mso-table-top: 220.95pt; mso-yfti-tbllook: 1184; width: 432px;">
<tbody>
<tr style="height: 51.4pt; mso-yfti-firstrow: yes; mso-yfti-irow: 0;">
<td colspan="2" style="background: #EFEFEF; height: 51.4pt; padding: 6.0pt 6.0pt 6.0pt 6.0pt; width: 152.15pt;" width="203">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-element-anchor-horizontal: page; mso-element-anchor-vertical: paragraph; mso-element-frame-hspace: 9.0pt; mso-element-left: 266.15pt; mso-element-top: 220.95pt; mso-element-wrap: around; mso-element: frame; mso-height-rule: exactly; text-align: center;">
<b><i><u><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">First triad</span></u></i></b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-element-anchor-horizontal: page; mso-element-anchor-vertical: paragraph; mso-element-frame-hspace: 9.0pt; mso-element-left: 266.15pt; mso-element-top: 220.95pt; mso-element-wrap: around; mso-element: frame; mso-height-rule: exactly; text-align: center;">
<b><i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">‘<span style="color: red;">separation</span>’</span></i></b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-element-anchor-horizontal: page; mso-element-anchor-vertical: paragraph; mso-element-frame-hspace: 9.0pt; mso-element-left: 266.15pt; mso-element-top: 220.95pt; mso-element-wrap: around; mso-element: frame; mso-height-rule: exactly; text-align: center;">
<b><i><span style="color: red; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">habitation</span></i></b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-element-anchor-horizontal: page; mso-element-anchor-vertical: paragraph; mso-element-frame-hspace: 9.0pt; mso-element-left: 266.15pt; mso-element-top: 220.95pt; mso-element-wrap: around; mso-element: frame; mso-height-rule: exactly; text-align: center;">
<b><i><span style="color: red; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">kingdom</span></i></b><span style="color: red; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"></span></div>
</td>
<td colspan="2" style="background: #EFEFEF; height: 51.4pt; padding: 6.0pt 6.0pt 6.0pt 6.0pt; width: 171.95pt;" width="229">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-element-anchor-horizontal: page; mso-element-anchor-vertical: paragraph; mso-element-frame-hspace: 9.0pt; mso-element-left: 266.15pt; mso-element-top: 220.95pt; mso-element-wrap: around; mso-element: frame; mso-height-rule: exactly; text-align: center;">
<b><i><u><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Second triad</span></u></i></b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-element-anchor-horizontal: page; mso-element-anchor-vertical: paragraph; mso-element-frame-hspace: 9.0pt; mso-element-left: 266.15pt; mso-element-top: 220.95pt; mso-element-wrap: around; mso-element: frame; mso-height-rule: exactly; text-align: center;">
<b><i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">‘<span style="color: #e36c0a; mso-themecolor: accent6; mso-themeshade: 191;">filling</span>’</span></i></b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-element-anchor-horizontal: page; mso-element-anchor-vertical: paragraph; mso-element-frame-hspace: 9.0pt; mso-element-left: 266.15pt; mso-element-top: 220.95pt; mso-element-wrap: around; mso-element: frame; mso-height-rule: exactly; text-align: center;">
<b><i><span style="color: #e36c0a; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-themecolor: accent6; mso-themeshade: 191;">inhabitant</span></i></b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-element-anchor-horizontal: page; mso-element-anchor-vertical: paragraph; mso-element-frame-hspace: 9.0pt; mso-element-left: 266.15pt; mso-element-top: 220.95pt; mso-element-wrap: around; mso-element: frame; mso-height-rule: exactly; text-align: center;">
<b><i><span style="color: #e36c0a; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-themecolor: accent6; mso-themeshade: 191;">king</span></i></b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 33.85pt; mso-yfti-irow: 1;">
<td style="height: 33.85pt; padding: 6.0pt 6.0pt 6.0pt 6.0pt; width: 35.6pt;" valign="top" width="47">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-element-anchor-horizontal: page; mso-element-anchor-vertical: paragraph; mso-element-frame-hspace: 9.0pt; mso-element-left: 266.15pt; mso-element-top: 220.95pt; mso-element-wrap: around; mso-element: frame; mso-height-rule: exactly;">
<b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Day 1</span></b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"></span></div>
</td>
<td style="height: 33.85pt; padding: 6.0pt 6.0pt 6.0pt 6.0pt; width: 116.55pt;" valign="top" width="155">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-element-anchor-horizontal: page; mso-element-anchor-vertical: paragraph; mso-element-frame-hspace: 9.0pt; mso-element-left: 266.15pt; mso-element-top: 220.95pt; mso-element-wrap: around; mso-element: frame; mso-height-rule: exactly;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Let there be light (1:3).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><br />
<span style="color: #cc9900;">Day</span> & <span style="color: #595959; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 166;">Night</span></span></div>
</td>
<td style="height: 33.85pt; padding: 6.0pt 6.0pt 6.0pt 6.0pt; width: 136.65pt;" valign="top" width="182">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-element-anchor-horizontal: page; mso-element-anchor-vertical: paragraph; mso-element-frame-hspace: 9.0pt; mso-element-left: 266.15pt; mso-element-top: 220.95pt; mso-element-wrap: around; mso-element: frame; mso-height-rule: exactly;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Let there be lights (1:14).</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-element-anchor-horizontal: page; mso-element-anchor-vertical: paragraph; mso-element-frame-hspace: 9.0pt; mso-element-left: 266.15pt; mso-element-top: 220.95pt; mso-element-wrap: around; mso-element: frame; mso-height-rule: exactly;">
<span style="color: #cc9900; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Sun</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"> & <span style="color: #595959; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 166;">Moon</span></span></div>
</td>
<td style="height: 33.85pt; padding: 6.0pt 6.0pt 6.0pt 6.0pt; width: 35.3pt;" valign="top" width="47">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-element-anchor-horizontal: page; mso-element-anchor-vertical: paragraph; mso-element-frame-hspace: 9.0pt; mso-element-left: 266.15pt; mso-element-top: 220.95pt; mso-element-wrap: around; mso-element: frame; mso-height-rule: exactly;">
<b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Day 4</span></b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 34.55pt; mso-yfti-irow: 2;">
<td style="height: 34.55pt; padding: 6.0pt 6.0pt 6.0pt 6.0pt; width: 35.6pt;" valign="top" width="47">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-element-anchor-horizontal: page; mso-element-anchor-vertical: paragraph; mso-element-frame-hspace: 9.0pt; mso-element-left: 266.15pt; mso-element-top: 220.95pt; mso-element-wrap: around; mso-element: frame; mso-height-rule: exactly;">
<b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Day 2</span></b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"></span></div>
</td>
<td style="height: 34.55pt; padding: 6.0pt 6.0pt 6.0pt 6.0pt; width: 116.55pt;" valign="top" width="155">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-element-anchor-horizontal: page; mso-element-anchor-vertical: paragraph; mso-element-frame-hspace: 9.0pt; mso-element-left: 266.15pt; mso-element-top: 220.95pt; mso-element-wrap: around; mso-element: frame; mso-height-rule: exactly;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Let there be an expanse to
separate water from water (1:6).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><br />
<span style="color: #0070c0;">Sky</span> & <span style="color: #002060;">Sea</span></span></div>
</td>
<td style="height: 34.55pt; padding: 6.0pt 6.0pt 6.0pt 6.0pt; width: 136.65pt;" valign="top" width="182">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-element-anchor-horizontal: page; mso-element-anchor-vertical: paragraph; mso-element-frame-hspace: 9.0pt; mso-element-left: 266.15pt; mso-element-top: 220.95pt; mso-element-wrap: around; mso-element: frame; mso-height-rule: exactly;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Let the water teem with
creatures and let birds fly above the earth (1:20).<br />
<span style="color: #002060;">Fish</span> & <span style="color: #0070c0;">Birds</span>
</span></div>
</td>
<td style="height: 34.55pt; padding: 6.0pt 6.0pt 6.0pt 6.0pt; width: 35.3pt;" valign="top" width="47">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-element-anchor-horizontal: page; mso-element-anchor-vertical: paragraph; mso-element-frame-hspace: 9.0pt; mso-element-left: 266.15pt; mso-element-top: 220.95pt; mso-element-wrap: around; mso-element: frame; mso-height-rule: exactly;">
<b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Day 5</span></b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 100.75pt; mso-yfti-irow: 3; mso-yfti-lastrow: yes;">
<td style="height: 100.75pt; padding: 6.0pt 6.0pt 6.0pt 6.0pt; width: 35.6pt;" valign="top" width="47">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-element-anchor-horizontal: page; mso-element-anchor-vertical: paragraph; mso-element-frame-hspace: 9.0pt; mso-element-left: 266.15pt; mso-element-top: 220.95pt; mso-element-wrap: around; mso-element: frame; mso-height-rule: exactly;">
<b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Day 3</span></b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"></span></div>
</td>
<td style="height: 100.75pt; padding: 6.0pt 6.0pt 6.0pt 6.0pt; width: 116.55pt;" valign="top" width="155">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-element-anchor-horizontal: page; mso-element-anchor-vertical: paragraph; mso-element-frame-hspace: 9.0pt; mso-element-left: 266.15pt; mso-element-top: 220.95pt; mso-element-wrap: around; mso-element: frame; mso-height-rule: exactly;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Let dry land appear (1:9).<br />
Let the land produce vegetation (1:11).<br />
<span style="color: #663300;">Dry Land</span><span style="color: #00cc00;"> </span>&
<span style="color: #00cc00;">Vegetation</span></span></div>
</td>
<td style="height: 100.75pt; padding: 6.0pt 6.0pt 6.0pt 6.0pt; width: 136.65pt;" valign="top" width="182">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-element-anchor-horizontal: page; mso-element-anchor-vertical: paragraph; mso-element-frame-hspace: 9.0pt; mso-element-left: 266.15pt; mso-element-top: 220.95pt; mso-element-wrap: around; mso-element: frame; mso-height-rule: exactly;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Let the land produce living
creatures (1:24).<br />
Let us make man (1:26).<br />
I give you every seed bearing plant...and every tree that has fruit with seed
in it...for food (1:29).<br />
<span style="color: #663300;">Land Animals</span> & <span style="color: #00cc00;">Mankind</span></span></div>
</td>
<td style="height: 100.75pt; padding: 6.0pt 6.0pt 6.0pt 6.0pt; width: 35.3pt;" valign="top" width="47">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-element-anchor-horizontal: page; mso-element-anchor-vertical: paragraph; mso-element-frame-hspace: 9.0pt; mso-element-left: 266.15pt; mso-element-top: 220.95pt; mso-element-wrap: around; mso-element: frame; mso-height-rule: exactly;">
<b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Day 6</span></b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 1.0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>‘Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. God saw
that the light was good; and <span style="color: red;">God separated</span> the <span style="color: #cc9900;">light</span> from the <span style="color: #595959; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 166;">darkness</span>. God called the light <span style="color: #cc9900;">day</span>, and the darkness He called <span style="color: #404040; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 191;">night</span>. And
there was evening and there was morning, one day.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 1.0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 1.0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Then God said, “Let there be an expanse in
the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.” <span style="color: red;">God made </span><span style="color: #0070c0;">the expanse</span><span style="color: red;">, and separated</span> <span style="color: #002060;">the waters
which were below</span> the expanse from the waters which were above the
expanse; and it was so. God called the expanse <span style="color: #0070c0;">heaven</span>.
And there was evening and there was morning, a second day.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 1.0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"> Then
God said, “<span style="color: red;">Let the waters below the heavens be gathered
into one place, and let the</span> <span style="color: #663300;">dry land</span> <span style="color: red;">appear</span>”; and it was so. God called the dry land <span style="color: #663300;">earth</span>, and the gathering of the waters He called
seas; and God saw that it was good. Then God said, “<span style="color: #00cc00;">Let
the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed, <i>and</i> fruit trees on
the earth bearing fruit after their kind with seed in them</span>”; and it was
so. The earth brought forth <span style="color: #00cc00;">vegetation</span>,
plants yielding seed after their kind, and trees bearing fruit with seed in
them, after their kind; and God saw that it was good. There was evening and
there was morning, a third day.’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(NASB)</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 1.0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Immediately,
we see that days 1-3 and 4-6 mirror or correspond to one another, a historically
attested fact.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The earth is initially
uninhabitable, so God creates various habitations first and the subsequent
creations to rule or govern in those domains.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 1.0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Paul
also recognised this parallelism when he used the first day as an illustration
to reflect the conversion of a Christian:</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 1.0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">2Corinthians 4:6<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For God, who said, “Let light shine out of
darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the
glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Peter and the prophets use the
same imagery, describing the illumination of the Messiah as being like that of
the sun:</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 1.0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Isaiah 60:1<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Arise, shine, for your light has come, and
the glory of the LORD has risen upon you. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 1.0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Malachi 4:2<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>…the sun of righteousness shall rise with
healing in its wings…<br />
2Peter 1:19<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So we have the prophetic
word made more sure, to which you do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining
in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star arises in your
hearts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Thus, Paul’s understanding was
that the sun, supposedly created on the fourth day, corresponded with the first
day and therefore the connection between the two has apostolic authority.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">The second and fifth day present
a reverse order of the kingdom/king creation arrangement.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>‘Thus, we have a typical Hebrew chiasm, or
inverted parallelism…which strengthens the symmetry of the two triads’, Irons
notes.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=924605110023521633#_ftn8" name="_ftnref8" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn8;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">[8]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This shows us that Moses’ intention was to
make days 4-6 a mirror reflection of days 1-3 – our second artistic
arrangement.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Finally, the third and sixth days
also correspond to one another as they both contain two fiat creation
statements (‘Then God said…’), as opposed to one.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 1.0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"> ‘Then
God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the <span style="color: #cc9900;">day</span> from the <span style="color: #4a442a; mso-themecolor: background2; mso-themeshade: 64;">night</span>, and let them be for
signs and for seasons and for days and years; and let them be for lights in the
expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth”; and it was so. God made the
two great lights, the <span style="color: #cc9900;">greater light</span> <span style="color: #ff6600;">to govern</span> the <span style="color: #cc9900;">day</span>,
and the <span style="color: #4a442a; mso-themecolor: background2; mso-themeshade: 64;">lesser light</span> <span style="color: #ff6600;">to govern</span> the <span style="color: #4a442a; mso-themecolor: background2; mso-themeshade: 64;">night</span>;
<i>He made</i> the stars also. God placed them in the expanse of the heavens to
give light on the earth, and to govern the day and the night, and to separate
the light from the darkness; and God saw that it was good. There was evening
and there was morning, a fourth day.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 1.0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 1.0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"> Then
God said, “Let the waters teem with swarms of living creatures, and let birds
fly above the earth in the open expanse of the heavens.” God created the <span style="color: #002060;">great sea monsters</span> and every living creature that
moves, with which the waters swarmed after their kind, and <span style="color: #0070c0;">every winged bird</span> after its kind; and God saw that
it was good. God blessed them, saying, “<span style="color: #ff6600;">Be fruitful
and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the
earth</span>.” There was evening and there was morning, a fifth day.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 1.0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 1.0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"> Then
God said, “Let the <span style="color: #663300;">earth </span>bring forth living
creatures after their kind: <span style="color: #663300;">cattle and creeping
things and beasts of the earth</span> after their kind”; and it was so. God
made the beasts of the earth after their kind, and the cattle after their kind,
and everything that creeps on the ground after its kind; and God saw that it
was good.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 1.0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 1.0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"> Then
God said, “Let Us make <span style="color: #00cc00;">man</span> in Our image,
according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over
the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every
creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” God created man in His own image, in
the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. God blessed
them; and God said to them, “<span style="color: #ff6600;">Be fruitful and
multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea
and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the
earth</span>.” Then God said, “<span style="color: #00cc00;">Behold, I have given
you every plant yielding seed that is on the surface of all the earth, and
every tree which has fruit yielding seed; it shall be food for you</span>; and to
every beast of the earth and to every bird of the sky and to every thing that
moves on the earth which has life, <i>I have given</i> every green plant for
food”; and it was so. God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very
good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(NASB)</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 1.0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="line1" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">The sixth day concludes and so it is that mankind dominates
the earth and life on it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span class="indent">Despite each realm having its governing creatures, with God as
King over all, mankind has a special dominion over the animals and vegetation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In this sense, we are described as God’s
crowning creation on the earth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Psalm 8
illustrates this understanding for us:</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 1.0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;">
<span class="ln-group"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Psalm
8:5-6<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yet you have made [man] a little
lower than the heavenly beings</span></span><span class="footnote"><sup><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span></sup></span><span class="indent"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">and
crowned him with glory and honor.</span></span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> <span class="ln-group">You have
given him dominion over the works of your hands;</span> <span class="indent">you
have put all things under his feet…</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 1.0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">But the
purpose for this dominance is that we should be representatives of God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Hebrew ‘in the image of God’ means to
represent and to accurately reflect His goodness, like a king regent or viceroy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Our dominance over this earth is not intended
as a means for the earth to be abused for selfish gain but to tend to it and
enjoy it responsibly for the glory of God; we lead all that has life in
glorifying our marvellous Creator and also reflect His goodness back to the
world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Bible of course explicitly
teaches the importance of individual property rights but our guardianship over
any part of creation bears an obligation to the Creator.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To quote Spiderman, ‘With great power comes
great responsibility!’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Bible later
goes on to express our responsibility to love God and our fellow-man.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We are given individual dominion over the
earth, not over the lives and property of other people, i.e. other stewards of
God.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">It
should also be noted that the sixth day is unique, as each day prior to it is
missing the definite article, ‘the’, e.g. one day, a second day etc.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Bruce Waltke notes:</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 1.0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">‘The
narrator also subtly suggests a dischronologization by speaking of each of the
first five days as “a day,” not “the day”. The narrator’s concern is not
scientific or historical but theological…<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Other aspects of the Genesis creation account likewise suggest that it
is not concerned with presenting a strict historical account. The symmetrical
nature of the account and the similarities of patterns with ancient Near
Eastern material, including the use of the widely attested seven-day typology
of the ancient world, may suggest that the narrator is using a stereotypical
formula to speak of divine activity and rest.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Youngblood adds, “I would point out that the omission of the definite
article (“the”) from all but the sixth day allows for the possibility of random
or literary order.” ’<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=924605110023521633#_ftn9" name="_ftnref9" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn9;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">[9]</span></span></span></span></a></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 1.0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">So,
not only does Genesis’ historical context and the symmetry of the days strongly
suggest an illustrative pattern, but the lack of a definite article means that
Moses couldn’t have made it any clearer to his ancient audience that the
creation week was not literal.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 1.0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">‘Thus
the heavens and the earth were completed, and all their hosts. By the seventh
day God completed His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day
from all His work which He had done. Then God blessed the seventh day and
sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created
and made.’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(NASB)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Of
course God does not need to rest:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 1.0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Isaiah 40:28<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>…The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator
of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary…</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">So it
seems anthropomorphic language is used here to envisage God sat upon His
throne, resting with satisfaction as He surveys the kingdom He has created for
Himself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Psalm 104, traditionally called
‘the Creation Psalm’, takes up this same imagery of an enthroned king:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="line1" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 1.0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;">
<span class="ln-group"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Psalm 104:1-2<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>…</span></span><span class="indent"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">O </span></span><span class="divine-name"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Lord</span></span><span class="indent"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"> my God, you are very great!</span></span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"> <span class="br-ln-group">You are clothed
with splendor and majesty,</span> <span class="indent">covering yourself with
light as with a garment,</span> <span class="indent">stretching out the heavens
like a tent.</span></span></div>
<div class="line1" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 1.0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="line1" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<span class="indent"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">And God Himself says the same when
speaking to Isaiah:</span></span></div>
<div class="line1" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="line1" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 1.0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Thus
says the L</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 7.5pt;">ORD</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">, “Heaven is My throne and the earth is
My footstool. Where then is a house you could build for Me? And where is a
place that I may rest?”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(NASB)<span class="indent"></span></span></div>
<div class="line1" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 1.0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="line1" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<span class="indent"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">John Walton, expert in ancient
Near-Eastern texts, explains that the Israelites would have understood God’s
rest after seven days as His sitting enthroned as a king in the temple He has
created and set in order:</span></span></div>
<div class="line1" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="line1" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 1.0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">‘The
cosmos is portrayed in the ancient world and in the Bible as a temple, and
temples are designed to be micro-models of the cosmos. Temples are built in the
ancient world for the gods to rest in, which does not refer to relaxing, but to
enjoying and maintaining security and order. With the mention of God’s rest on
day seven, we can see that Genesis 1 is also thinking about the cosmos as a
temple. God is creating his dwelling place, putting people into it as his
images (representatives), and taking up his place at the helm to maintain the
order he has established.<br />
In the ancient world temple dedications were often seven days in duration.
During those seven days, the functions of the temple would be proclaimed, the
furniture and functionaries would be installed, the priests would take up their
role and at the end, the deity would enter and take up his rest.<span class="indent">’</span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=924605110023521633#_ftn10" name="_ftnref10" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn10;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">[10]</span></span></span></span></a><br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<span class="indent"></span></span></div>
<div class="line1" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<span class="indent"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">And so the cosmos and particularly the
earth are described as a dwelling place which God enters and shares with us. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>God’s ideal role for mankind can therefore be
expressed as both a priest and king (see 1Peter 2:9 and Revelation 5:10).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So, the question naturally arises – What
about the fact that the majority of people are in rebellion to God, the King
and Creator?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What does Genesis teach regarding
this matter?</span></span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">As we have seen, familiar cultural themes
were used by Moses to convey God’s role in the universe <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">and</i> the responsibility the Israelites had.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>God’s Sabbath day of rest, which the
Israelites had since been given as the weekly sign of the old covenant made at
Sinai, was also adapted from surrounding ancient Near-Eastern cultures.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">For example, the
Babylonians, were able to establish that, according to the patterns of the
moon, a seven day week is the most obvious division of time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Subsequently, they devised certain rest days,
one of which was on the full moon (or 14<sup>th</sup> day) of the month, which
they called 'sabbatu'.</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Naturally, therefore, ceasing from work on
the various Sabbaths given in the Mosaic Law was a way for the Israelites to
remember that God was in control; the order of the world does not depend on
man’s efforts, we are merely representatives.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>They were specifically called to remember that God alone is the Creator
and Sustainer (Exodus 20:11) and that He alone led them out of Egypt to
establish their nation (Deuteronomy 5:15).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>For a culture surrounded by hostile Polytheistic nations, it was
important that Israel constantly remembered these things to keep themselves
separate from the world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Moses’
use of the anthropomorphic illustration of God creating the universe in the
form of the average Israelite’s workweek (resting at night etc.) gave them that
constant, daily reminder that YHWH is the Creator of all things and their
national Head.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They could truly remember
God when they awoke or retired (Deuteronomy 11:18-19).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then, at the end of every week, they were
reminded that, even though their work would begin anew the following day, God’s
rest from creation continued and would be eternal.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Notice, there is no ‘evening and morning’ at
the end of the seventh day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This showed
God’s people that they were continually to recognise that they were not home
yet, they had not reached their ultimate place of fulfilment, ever pointing
them to God enthroned in His rest.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Most
importantly, however, Paul says that this Sabbath rest was symbolic of the
coming Messiah who would be that ladder to heaven to finally reconcile man to
God (Colossians 2:16-17). <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Praise God, Jesus
did come and now we no longer need symbolic temples and rituals etc., as He is
that door through which we boldly enter the throne room of God and through
which God dwells in us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hebrews 4 shows
us that we still continue to strive to enter this eternal rest of God by faith
in Christ (see also Matthew 11:28).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">It is
amazing that God not only condescended by presenting the creation in such a way
that it mimicked the Israelites’ workweek but that He condescended down to our
level as a man to make a way for us to enter into the heavenly places with Him.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">What does
Genesis 1 teach?</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-fareast-font-family: Georgia;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">-<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">There is only one
true God;</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-fareast-font-family: Georgia;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">-<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">The universe had a
definite beginning;</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-fareast-font-family: Georgia;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">-<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">God is separate
from and master over His creation;</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-fareast-font-family: Georgia;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">-<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">Human beings are,
purposefully, the most dominant creature on earth; and</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-fareast-font-family: Georgia;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">-<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">Every human being
bears the responsibility to be a steward of God over creation.</span></div>
<div style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.5pt; border: none; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 0cm 0cm 1.0pt 0cm;">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext 1.5pt; mso-padding-alt: 0cm 0cm 1.0pt 0cm; padding: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">In
the context of the rest of Scripture, this is of foundational importance.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jesus said that the foundation of the Law was
for us all to love God and our neighbour.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>In Genesis 1-11, we see mankind fail at one and then the other and the
problems consequently multiply.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We all
continually fail at both.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But, thank the
Lord, He didn’t just condescend in the way He revealed Himself to the ancient
children of Abraham, He came into the world as a man to reconcile the world to
Himself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Let us therefore redeem this
evangelical purpose of Genesis for the glory of God.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext 1.5pt; mso-padding-alt: 0cm 0cm 1.0pt 0cm; padding: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<br />
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Galileo
(1615) Letter to Madame Christina of Lorraine, Grand Duchess of Tuscany:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></i><br />
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">The reason produced for
condemning the opinion that the earth moves and the sun stands still is that in
many places in the Bible one may read that the sun moves and the earth stands
still. Since the Bible cannot err, it follows as a necessary consequence that
anyone takes an erroneous and heretical position who maintains that the sun is
inherently motionless and the earth movable. With regard to this argument, I
think in the first place that it is very pious to say and prudent to affirm
that the holy Bible can never speak untruth—whenever its true meaning is
understood. But I believe nobody will deny that it is often very abstruse, and
may say things which are quite different from what its bare words signify.
Hence in expounding the Bible if one were always to confine oneself to the
unadorned grammatical meaning, one might fall into error. Not only
contradictions and propositions far from true might thus be made to appear in
the Bible, but even grave heresies and follies. Thus it would be necessary to
assign to God feet, hands, and eyes, as well as corporeal and human affections,
such as anger, repentance, hatred, and sometimes even the forgetting of things
past and ignorance of those to come. These propositions uttered by the Holy
Ghost were set down in that manner by the sacred scribes in order to accommodate
them to the capacities of the common people, who are rude and unlearned. For
the sake of those who deserve to be separated from the herd, it is necessary
that wise expositors should produce the true senses of such passages, together
with the special reasons for which they were set down in these words. This
doctrine is so widespread and so definite with all theologians that it would be
superfluous to adduce evidence for it.</span><br />
<br />
<br />
<div align="center" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Written
by Richard Storey</span></div>
<div align="center" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Unless
otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">ESV</i></span></div>
<div style="mso-element: footnote-list;">
<br clear="all" />
<hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" />
<div id="ftn1" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=924605110023521633#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face","serif";"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[1]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face","serif";"> Berkhof, L. (1941) <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Systematic Theology</i>, Grand Rapids MI:
Eerdmans, p.153</span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn2" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=924605110023521633#_ftnref2" name="_ftn2" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn2;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face","serif";"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[2]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face","serif";"> Samuelson, N.M. (1994) <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Judaism and the Doctrine of Creation</i>,
Cambridge University Press, p.115</span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn3" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<h2 style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=924605110023521633#_ftnref3" name="_ftn3" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn3;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">[3]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">MacArthur, J., <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Genesis 1: Fact or Framework?</i> –
http://www.gty.org/Resources/Articles/2422 (26/05/14)</span></h2>
</div>
<div id="ftn4" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=924605110023521633#_ftnref4" name="_ftn4" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn4;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face","serif";"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[4]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face","serif";"> Josephus, F. (2001 ed.) <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Antiquities of the Jews</i>, tr. William
Whiston, The Project Gutenberg Etext, Book I, Chapter 1, 1</span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn5" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=924605110023521633#_ftnref5" name="_ftn5" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn5;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face","serif";"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[5]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face","serif";"> </span><span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">Luther,
M. (1958 ed.) <i>Luther’s Works. Vol 1. Lectures on Genesis</i>, ed. Jaroslav
Pelikan, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, p.42</span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn6" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=924605110023521633#_ftnref6" name="_ftn6" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn6;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face","serif";"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[6]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face","serif";"> Ibid., p.30</span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn7" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=924605110023521633#_ftnref7" name="_ftn7" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn7;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face","serif";"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[7]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face","serif";"> Irons, L. (2012) 'The
Framework Interpretation of the Days of Creation'<i>, Christian Research
Journal</i>, volume 35, number 01</span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn8" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=924605110023521633#_ftnref8" name="_ftn8" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn8;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face","serif";"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[8]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face","serif";"> Irons, L. et al. (2001) <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Genesis Debate: Three Views of the Days
of Creation</i>, Crux Press,<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> </i>pp.227-228</span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn9" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=924605110023521633#_ftnref9" name="_ftn9" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn9;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face","serif";"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[9]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face","serif";"> Waltke, B. (2001) <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Genesis: A Commentary</i>,<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> </i>Grand Rapids MI: Zondervan, pp.76-77</span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn10" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=924605110023521633#_ftnref10" name="_ftn10" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn10;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face","serif";"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[10]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face","serif";"> Walton, J.H., <i>Genesis 1
as Temple Text in the Context of <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ancient
Cosmology</i> - http://www.blackhawkchurch.org/archive/sermon_resources/walton.pdf
(05/06/14)</span></div>
</div>
</div>
Dark Day Ministrieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14599268281520893034noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-924605110023521633.post-75605071922486393672014-11-24T05:24:00.001-08:002014-11-24T05:24:28.389-08:00What do Libertarians believe?<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="270" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/XvCT5_o23Ok" width="480"></iframe>Dark Day Ministrieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14599268281520893034noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-924605110023521633.post-26746707657360545412014-11-14T03:08:00.003-08:002014-11-14T03:08:41.219-08:00Church Government a la Scripture Alone<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Biblical
Church Government<br />
</span></b><span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">by
Richard Storey</span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">It is sad that
the majority of sincere Christian congregations today do not hold to the same
form of church government as was clearly held to by the original New Testament
congregations of the 1<sup>st</sup> century.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><br /> By church government, I mean the prescribed way in which God would have us appoint authority in the congregation to maintain order (1Corinthians 14:40).</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<u><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">The
foundation of Christ and the apostles</span></u><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Before we begin,
we must lay the foundation of this subject by affirming the foundation of all
authority in every church.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The church is
built upon the foundation of the Lord Jesus Christ and the apostles whom He
sent to establish individual congregations:</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 1.0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="color: teal; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">Ephesians 2:20-21</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And are built upon the foundation of the
apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner <i><span style="color: grey;">stone;</span></i> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord…</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">It is important for us to remember that Christ is both the absolute
foundation of our church and is indeed the head over all the congregations:</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: teal; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">Colossians 1:18</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And he is the head of the body, the church:
who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all <i><span style="color: grey;">things</span></i> he might have the preeminence.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">Therefore, Christ, as the supreme authority, first established this
foundational layer of the apostles to the construction of His church.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The apostles primarily served to fulfil two
main aims of God:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">1.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To establish the geographically
separate congregations (i.e. one per city):</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.0cm;">
<span style="color: teal; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">Titus 1:5</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>…thou shouldest set in order the things that
are wanting, and ordain elders in every city, as I had appointed thee…</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">and</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;"><br />
2. To provide the body of Christ with the commands and directions, not only for
how Christians should behave in this ungodly world, but also for how the
congregations should be governed and administrated:</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: teal; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">2Thessalonians 2:15</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Therefore, brethren, stand fast, and hold the
traditions which ye have been taught, whether by word, or our epistle.<br />
<span style="color: teal;">2Peter 3:2</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>That ye may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy
prophets, and of the commandment of us the apostles of the Lord and Saviour…</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">So, the
foundation of the apostles was laid, with the congregations established.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And we, today, can receive the same direction in how we must live and gather for worship as Christians because, with the laying of that apostolic foundation, came the completion of God’s Word and the full revelation of His commands through the apostles’ epistles.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<u><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">Church officers</span></u></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">The way in which God directs us to order our congregations is with
church officers who take the responsibility to execute the various procedures
involved in Christian worship and fellowship.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">Firstly, there are the elders.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Greek word for elder is ‘presbuteros’ and </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">this system was in use in the Old Testament, in the synagogues, with the elders representing the children of Israel in various instances; the same Greek word is used for this office in the Septuagint translation of the Old Testament.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The elders </span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">can go by various other names, as Thayer’s Lexicon tells us: ‘</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">[t]he NT uses the term bishop, elders, and presbyters interchangeably’ in the King James Version of the Bible.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">Peter confirms for us that
the office of ‘bishop’, that is, of a pastor or overseer is synonymous with the
term ‘elder’.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Peter describes Christ as
being the church’s ultimate Shepherd and Overseer and later, in that same
epistle, he calls for the elders to shepherd Christ’s sheep in the role of a
pastor:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 1.0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="color: teal; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">1Peter 2:25</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">For
you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Shepherd</b> and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Overseer</b> of
your souls.</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-left: 1.0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="color: teal; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">5:1-2</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">So
I exhort the <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">elders</b> among you…<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">shepherd</b> the flock of God that is among
you, exercising <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">oversight</b>,<span class="footnote"><sup> </sup></span>not under compulsion, but willingly…</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-left: 1.0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-left: 18.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">And in Acts, the elders who are
gathered are called pastors:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-left: 18.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.0cm;">
<span style="color: teal; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">Acts 20:17 & 28</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Now
from Miletus he sent to Ephesus and called <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the
elders of the church</b> to come to him.</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Pay careful attention to yourselves
and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">overseers</b>, to care for the church of
God, which he obtained with his own blood.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">So we see that the elders
and the pastors or overseers are considered to be the same office by God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is why Paul describes the ideal
qualities of a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">pastor</i> just after
calling Titus to appoint suitable <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">elders</i>
in Crete:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-left: 1.0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="color: teal; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">Titus 1:5 & 7</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;"> <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">This
is why I left you in Crete, so that you might…appoint <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">elders</b> in every town as I directed you—<span class="reftext"><br />
For </span>an <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">overseer</b>, as God’s
steward, must be above reproach…</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-left: 1.0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">It is important to note that the </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">congregations of the New Testament had more than one elder as the word
is typically used in the plural, speaking of the ‘elders’ of particular
congregations:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-left: 1.0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">e.g.</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;"><br />
<span style="color: teal;">Philippians 1:1</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Paul and Timothy,
servants of Christ Jesus, To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are at
Philippi, with the <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">overseers</b> and
deacons</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">…<br />
<span style="color: teal;">1Timothy 5:17</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Let the <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">elders</b> who rule well be considered
worthy of double honour, especially those who labour in preaching and teaching.</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;"><br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">The writings of
the early church in the 1<sup>st</sup> century show that they initially held to
a plurality of elders, without distinguishing the role of a single pastor.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><br />
However, very quickly, this doctrine was corrupted and one particular elder was
singled out to be the sole bishop of a congregation and was to be obeyed in
this dictatorial position.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then the
pastors of the five major cities of the Roman empire adopted the title of
‘pope’ to further denote some imagined superior status, eventually adopting
control over other congregations and their elders.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then, because the pastor of Rome claimed that
his pastorate was nothing less than a continuation of Peter’s apostolic
authority, he won out and adopted for himself the blasphemous title of ‘universal
bishop of bishops’.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><br />
This is summed up by Protestant historian, Kelly, who notes: ‘In the late 2nd
or early 3rd cent. the tradition identified Peter as the first bishop of Rome.
This was a natural development once the monarchical episcopate, i.e., government
of the local church by a single bishop as distinct from a group of
presbyter-bishops, finally emerged in Rome in the mid-2nd cent.’<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=924605110023521633#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[1]</span></span></span></span></a></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">The responsibilities of
an elder are to lovingly shepherd Christ’s sheep to live godly lives and to
teach them from the Scriptures:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 1.0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="color: teal; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">Ephesians 4:11</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>…pastors and teachers… (NASB)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 1.0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="color: teal; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">2Timothy 2:24</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">And
the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach,
patiently enduring evil…</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-left: 1.0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="color: teal; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">Hebrews 13:7 & 17</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Remember
your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God…for they are keeping watch
over your souls…</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-left: 1.0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">Secondly, we have the deacons.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The Greek word from which we derive ‘deacon’ means to get dirty from
running about performing errands or just simply a ‘servant’, according to the
Lexicons of Strong and Thayer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The responsibilities of a deacon are to handle all the practical and
administrative matters of the congregation, particularly financial distributions
and preparing the Lord’s Table for the Lord’s Supper.
We see the office of deacon created by the apostles in Acts when they conclude
that such a position is necessary so that they, as apostles, can continue their
spiritual work and, thus, freeing the elders to do so too.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-left: 1.0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="color: teal; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">Acts 6:1-4</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Now
at this time while the disciples were increasing <i>in number,</i> a complaint
arose on the part of the Hellenistic <i>Jews</i> against the <i>native</i>
Hebrews, because their widows were being overlooked in the daily serving <i>of
food.</i> So the twelve summoned the congregation of the disciples and said,
“It is not desirable for us to neglect the word of God in order to serve
tables. Therefore, brethren, select from among you seven men of good
reputation, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we may put in charge of this
task. But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(NASB)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-left: 1.0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">Many contend that Phoebe, who delivered Paul’s epistle to the Romans,
was a deaconess, as she is given this title in Romans 16:1, thus declaring that
women can undertake the office of deacon.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Whether the word ‘deacon’ is used here in the general sense of serving,
as it sometimes is in the New Testament, or whether this is referring to the
actual office of deacon is debated.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">But,
there is some historical evidence to justify the latter view: In a letter of
Pliny, governor of Bithynia, to the Emperor Trajan, written early in the second
century, he describes how he tortured ‘two female servants who were called
“deaconesses”.’<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=924605110023521633#_ftn2" name="_ftnref2" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn2;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[2]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Also, in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The
Apostolic Constitutions</i> (4<sup>th</sup> century), there is a ceremonial
prayer for the officiating of a deaconess.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=924605110023521633#_ftn3" name="_ftnref3" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn3;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[3]</span></span></span></span></a> <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Furthermore, there are early church writings
which speak of deaconesses being appointed by churches to help other women
prepare for baptism etc.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And, although
Paul speaks of being ‘the husband of one wife’ with regards to deacons in
1Timothy 3:12, he might also have declared another category of female
deaconesses:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.0cm;">
<span style="color: teal; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">1Timothy 3:11</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Women
— in like manner grave, not false accusers, vigilant, faithful in all things.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(Young’s Literal Translation)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It can very well be argued that
women are included as potential candidates for the office of deacon.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Dr. Gill describes this argument more succinctly:
‘Some instead of "wives" read "women", and understand them
of deaconesses, such as were in the primitive churches; whose business it was
to visit the poor and sick sisters of the church, and take care of things
belonging to them’.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Therefore, we
have sufficient evidence to conclude that congregations which allow women to
take the responsibilities of a deacon should not be rashly dismissed as disorderly,
liberal or disobedient.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Nevertheless, it
is explicitly taught in Scripture that women are not to be elders and are not
to teach in Christian assemblies for worship and fellowship:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.0cm;">
<span style="color: teal; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">1Timothy 2:12</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">I
do not permit a woman to teach</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">…</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<u><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Church
discipline</span></u></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">The duty of
church discipline is not necessarily the duty of the church officers but,
truly, it is every Christian’s duty to lovingly encourage one another and to
discourage from sin.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Lord Jesus sets
out the procedure for church discipline:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 1.0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="color: teal; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">Matthew 18:15-17</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span class="woc"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">“If your brother sins against you, go and
tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have
gained your brother.</span></span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"> <span class="woc">But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you,
that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses.</span>
<span class="woc">If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if
he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a
tax collector...”</span></span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 12.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">And, as we have already shown, the final
authority for Christian behaviour, by which we must judge ourselves and each
other, is the New Testament; therefore, the command of love given us by the
Lord Jesus must be at the centre of even our church discipline:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 12.0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 1.0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="color: teal; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">2Thessalonians 3:14-15</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">If
anyone does not obey what we say in this letter, take note of that person, and
have nothing to do with him, that he may be ashamed. Do not regard him as an
enemy, but warn him as a brother.<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<u><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Appointing
church officers</span></u></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Elders and
deacons appear to be recommended democratically by the congregation:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 1.0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 12.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="color: teal; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">Acts 6:3, 5-6</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Therefore, brothers, pick out from among
you seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we will
appoint to this duty. These they set before the apostles, and they prayed and
laid their hands on them.</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-top: 12.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">Their aptitude for the role is then judged by the
elders, according to the guidance given us by God’s Spirit in 1Timothy 3 and
Titus 1.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For example, we are told to
give deacons a probationary or test-period before appointing them:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 1.0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 12.0pt;">
<span style="color: teal; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">1Timothy 3:10</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">And
let them also be tested first; then let them serve as deacons if they prove
themselves blameless.</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<u><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Fellowship
between congregations</span></u><u><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;"></span></u></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Although we have
seen that congregations are independent, being directed by Christ through his
Word and not by some para-church organisation or authority, is there any
fellowship or communication that can or should occur between congregations?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Firstly, it is
important to understand what unites congregations to begin with.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In most evangelical congregations, there is
no liturgy as we do not see a specific order of service set down in the New
Testament or any employed in the historical records we have of the early
church.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What one can expect from a
worship service tends to differ from congregation to congregation, so this is
not what binds Protestant congregations.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><br />
The congregations are collectively the body of Christ and what unites them is
the same thing which unites each individual member of Christ’s body – being a
new creation in the Lord Jesus, sharing the same Father in heaven and desiring
to obey Him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Naturally, when one is born
again and a congregation is filled with those made alive in Christ, their
understanding of the essential doctrines of the Christian faith automatically
fall into place.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>It is these essentials which, in the midst of
many false teachers, false doctrines, heresies and persecution, unite the
people of God who alone worship Him in Spirit and truth. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Such
congregations can have fellowship with one another but it is important to note
the meaning of fellowship.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Thayer’s
Lexicon defines the Greek word ‘koinonia’ as ‘</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">association, community,
communion, joint participation, intercourse’ and a part of this of course being
‘a gift jointly contributed, a collection, a contribution’.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We see the brethren doing just this in the
New Testament:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.0cm;">
<span style="color: teal; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">Romans 15:26</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">For
Macedonia and Achaia have been pleased to make a contribution for the poor
among the saints in Jerusalem.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(NASB)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">But fellowship is more than just assisting one another financially,
there is also seeming continuous communication between the churches in which
they share spiritual material also and commend members of their own
congregations to be accepted as members in another congregation:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.0cm;">
<span style="color: teal; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">Colossians 4:16</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><span class="gmw_">And when this letter has been<span class="gm_ gm_9e58f706-49d4-6033-55b8-c6e4d251b360 gm-spell gm_tiny"> </span>read among you, have it also read in the church of the Laodiceans; and see that you also read the letter from Laodicea.</span></span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;"><br />
<span style="color: teal;">2Corinthians 3:1</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>…letters of recommendation…<br />
<span style="color: teal;">Acts 18:27</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">And when he wished to
cross to Achaia, the brothers encouraged him and wrote to the disciples to
welcome him…</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">Furthermore, when some false brethren began stirring up false doctrine
in Antioch and then in Jerusalem, declaring that the Gentiles had to be
circumcised, Scripture tells us that they hold a conference in Jerusalem and
the church at Antioch send Paul and Barnabus who were acting as supernumerary
elders:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 1.0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 12.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="color: teal; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">Acts 15:1-2</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">But some men came down from Judea and
were teaching the brothers, “Unless you are circumcised according to the custom
of Moses, you cannot be saved.” And after Paul and Barnabas had no small
dissension and debate with them, Paul and Barnabas and some of the others were
appointed to go up to Jerusalem to the apostles and the elders about this
question.</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-top: 12.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">And after the conclusion of this council, they
return to Antioch with more brethren from the congregation at Jerusalem and to
communicate their response to this heresy.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-top: 12.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="reg" style="margin-left: 1.0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: teal;">Acts 15:22-23</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then it seemed good to the apostles
and the elders, with the whole church, to choose men from among them and send
them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas. They sent Judas called Barsabbas, and
Silas, leading men among the brothers, with the following letter: “The
brothers, both the apostles and the elders, to the brothers who are of the
Gentiles in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia, greetings.</span></div>
<div class="reg" style="margin-left: 1.0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Puritan
commentator, Matthew Henry, notes what we can learn from this council: ‘Here is
a direction to the pastors of the churches, when difficulties arise, to come
together in solemn meetings for mutual advice and encouragement, that they may
know one another's mind, and strengthen one another's hands, and may act in
concert.’</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Even though we
live in a time when church history allows us to see that most heresies are just
the recycling of old ones, there are still issues which affect our
congregations which we should discuss:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 1.0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 12.0pt;">
<span style="color: teal; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">Proverbs 11:14</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Where
there is no guidance the people fall, But in abundance of counselors there is
victory.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(NASB)</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">Furthermore, with the technological capabilities of our day, there has
never been such a blessed time in terms of communication.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, it should be noted that any
conference conducted does not bear the same authority of the council at
Jerusalem as the conclusion of that council was directly inspired by the Holy
Spirit and given through the authority of the apostles.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Whilst no such authoritative council can
occur today, congregations can still come together to seek wisdom and advice.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">So congregations can and should be in constant fellowship with each
other, communicating their needs and supplying one another’s needs,
recommending new members and edifying spiritual material and also warning
against false brethren, teachers and doctrine.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>And, as the need arises, conferences can be held in which elders discuss
certain issues to prayerfully arrive at a Biblical resolution.</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<u><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><br /></span></span></u></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<u><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Other
proposed forms of government</span></u></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">The form of
church government presented so far is known as Congregationalist and, being
based solely on the prescribed New Testament order, stands in opposition to the
Episcopalian form which was devised over time, currently used by Methodists,
Lutherans and Anglicans and also by apostate Romanism, Eastern Orthodoxy and
the Copts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The other manmade form of
church government is the Presbyterian system, created during the Reformation
and used by various Reformed churches.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>These both present a system of authority above the local congregation to
replace the overarching authority the apostles once exercised, rather than
simply allowing the finality of their epistles to govern us, as the Spirit of
God intended.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The reason for this is
purely a supposed practical convenience; this can be seen by the typical
argument brought against the independent congregation which answers only to
Christ and His Word.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They say that under
a single pastor-led system, there is no authority which can readily remove the
pastor if he were to become a heretic or
continue in some sin.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This obviously then can make life very
difficult for congregation members and can result in much conflict and stress
as the situation is resolved, all the time without receiving any guidance from
a pastor.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Whilst this is so, the single
pastor-led congregation is also unbiblical and historically not the practice of
the early church, as we have seen, but rather a plurality of elders is the New
Testament pattern; so, if one elder becomes ungodly in doctrine or walk, the
congregation under the leadership of the other elders can shun the ungodly
elder from membership.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">The argument for
single pastor congregations is usually defended by the ambiguous interpretation
of two verses.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Firstly,</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.0cm;">
<span style="color: teal; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">Ephesians 4:11</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">And
He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and
some as pastors and teachers</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">…<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(NASB)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">Here, it is said that pastors and teachers are two separate offices,
dividing the elders into the two categories of those who preach and those who
just focus on house-visits etc. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However,
as <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Vincent’s Word Studies</i> notes, ‘</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">The omission of the article from teachers
seems to indicate that pastors and teachers are included under one class. The
two belong together. No man is fit to be a pastor who cannot also teach, and
the teacher needs the knowledge which pastoral experience gives.’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The clear meaning of the Greek is confirmed
by the learned Meyer, among other notable commentators, and can be shown to be
the historical interpretation of this verse by the writings of Augustine and
Jerome.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Secondly,</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 1.0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 12.0pt;">
<span style="color: teal; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">1Timothy 5:17</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Let
the elders who rule well be considered worthy of double honour, especially
those who labour in preaching and teaching.</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">The assertion here
would be that not all elders are required to preach from God’s Word and that
this duty should be given to just one of the elders.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Again, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Vincent’s
Word Studies</i> confirms that this verse is not dividing the office of elder
into two categories: ‘No special emphasis attaches to the word [labour] - hard
toiling in comparison with those who do not toil. The meaning is, those who
faithfully discharge the arduous duty of teaching.’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>From the context of this verse, this can only
be referring to those who not only exercise their other responsibilities well,
‘who rule well’, but also put a lot of effort into their preaching too; this is
not distinguishing elders who preach from those who do not.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">As we have already seen, a pastor/teacher is the
same thing as an elder, according to Scripture; moreover, the Holy Spirit
declares that every single elder must not only be <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">able</i> to teach, even though not all are quite so zealous in the studies,
but they will have exercised the command to teach:</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 1.0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 12.0pt;">
<span style="color: teal; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">1Timothy 3:2</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Therefore
an overseer must be…able to teach</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">…<br />
<span style="color: teal;">Hebrews 13:7</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Remember your
leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God…</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">One other argument employed is practically self-refuting; it is
suggested that a single elder is indicated by the fact that the generic term ‘a
bishop’ (an elder) is used in 1Timothy 3:1-2 and Titus 1:7 (KJV).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, the context is clear that Paul is
describing the elder as an office, rather than an individual.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Professor Daniel Wallace, in his excellent
article, quotes </span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">J. W.
Roberts, a Greek grammarian, to conclude the matter: ‘A case in point where
wrong use has been made of the generic article is in reference to 'bishop' in
1Timothy 3:2. This has often been used to prove the existence of the monarchal
bishop at the time of the writing of the Pastorals. A majority of the
commentators, however, agree that the usage is generic.’<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=924605110023521633#_ftn4" name="_ftnref4" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn4;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[4]</span></span></span></span></a></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">Therefore, the argument for a single pastor-led congregation is
redundant when seeking Scriptural justification and the historical evidence
indicates that it was a later development and not the apostolic order for the
church.<br />
<br />
</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">When a plurality of elders
are employed, there is nothing impractical about the Congregationalist, New
Testament pattern of church government at all and, actually, it is the other
forms of government who, rather than allowing the Spirit of Christ to rule
independent congregations, proudly believe that they must take matters into
their own hands, otherwise chaos will ensue.</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<u><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><br /></span></span></u></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<u><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Conclusion</span></u></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">According to the direction of the New Testament, the local church must
be independent of any governing authority other than God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That includes being utterly separate from the
state.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, congregations may meet
together to discuss doctrinal points and to advise one another. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The church is governed by a team of elders and
served practically by deacons; their ultimate guide in this service is the
living Word of God and the Spirit of God who applies it to our hearts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>New officers are suggested by the
congregation as a whole, with their suitability and potential appointment
determined by any existing elders. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<u><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><br /></span></span></u></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<u><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><br /></span></span></u></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">All Scripture
verses taken from <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">ESV</i> unless
otherwise stated</span></div>
<div style="mso-element: footnote-list;">
<br clear="all" />
<hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" />
<div id="ftn1" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=924605110023521633#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face","serif";"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[1]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face","serif";"> Kelly, J.N.D.(1986), <i>The
Oxford Dictionary of Popes</i>, Oxford: Oxford University Press</span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn2" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=924605110023521633#_ftnref2" name="_ftn2" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn2;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face","serif";"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[2]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face","serif";"> Letter 10</span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn3" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=924605110023521633#_ftnref3" name="_ftn3" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn3;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face","serif";"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[3]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face","serif";"> Book 8, chap 19</span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn4" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<h2>
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=924605110023521633#_ftnref4" name="_ftn4" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn4;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Baskerville Old Face","serif"; font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face","serif"; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast;">[4]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Baskerville Old Face","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> Wallace, D.
(2004) <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Who Should Run the Church? A Case
for the Plurality of Elders</i> - </span><a href="http://bible.org/article/who-should-run-church-case-plurality-elders"><span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">http://bible.org/article/who-should-run-church-case-plurality-elders</span></a><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Baskerville Old Face","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> (31/05/2013)</span></h2>
</div>
</div>
Dark Day Ministrieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14599268281520893034noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-924605110023521633.post-60641707139166936372014-10-20T05:43:00.001-07:002014-11-15T10:59:59.383-08:00The Bible is Anti-statist<span style="font-size: large;"><u>Introduction</u></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: large; line-height: 115%;">In
this article, we shall see that the Bible is an explicitly anti-state collection
of books throughout and that the few supposed exceptions to that rule are not
exceptions at all. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><u><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%;">Genesis</span></u></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large; font-weight: normal;">As Norman Horn of
LibertarianChristians.com has pointed out, Josephus does describe the origin of
tyranny in the rise of Nimrod and the Tower of Babel. Whilst this is entirely correct, the text of
Genesis would have had an even more explicitly Anti-statist message to its
original readers. </span></h3>
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<span style="font-size: large; font-weight: normal;">The vast majority of scholars recognise that chapters 1-11 of Genesis are intended as a polemic against Babylonian and other ancient Near-Eastern myths. <span class="gm_ gm_b2993e85-9523-b125-8ad3-4de1568b8102 gm-spell">The </span><i><span class="gm_ gm_b2993e85-9523-b125-8ad3-4de1568b8102 gm-spell">Epic of Gilgamesh</span></i><span class="gm_ gm_b2993e85-9523-b125-8ad3-4de1568b8102 gm-spell"> presents an account in which the barbarian, Enkidu, discovers the wonders of city-life (equal to Statism in that age) after being seduced and lured to the city of Uruk by a prostitute.</span> But Genesis responds with a ‘decidedly anti-urban bias’ against the city-state propaganda of the Babylonian text.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=924605110023521633#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%;">[1]</span></span></span></a><span class="gmw_"> <span class="gm_ gm_fe52aba8-33e0-e59b-8b38-cf8cfc126f13 gm-spell">Whilst Nimrod the tyrant wishes to utilise mankind as a resource to his own ends, God wishes that each person be His representative and steward over the earth and its habitats (Genesis 1:26-28), not over each other.</span> The biblical perspective therefore promotes the free, ‘uncivilised’ (i.e. unconquered), stateless society and the</span><span style="color: red;"> </span>individual sovereignty
of the so-called Barbarians. </span></h3>
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<span style="font-size: large; font-weight: normal;">Indeed, we can see that, far from
the historical evidence conveying people rushing to the city-states by the
rivers in the plains, where food production was more predictable and occupations
more varied, people have actually ‘been fleeing the oppressions of state-making
projects’ to be free from enslavement, conscription, war, taxation and disease.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=924605110023521633#_ftn2" name="_ftnref2" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%;">[2]</span></span></span></a><span class="gmw_"> <span class="gm_ gm_ff19c04f-cad6-bd32-d3ab-9e16bd53bd68 gm-spell">Yet, the historical context of Genesis as a valuable, ancient, political voice against the rise of the city-state (and later Imperialism) is apparently never explained to the average churchgoer; many of whom, particularly in the US, believe that God and nation go hand-in-hand.</span> </span></span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: large; line-height: 115%;">Certainly,
the rest of Scripture presents us with illustrations of government as various
monstrous beasts which are destructive and ungodly (most notably in the books
of<span style="color: red;"> </span><span class="gmw_">Daniel and the Revelation). <span class="gm_ gm_426d831c-06f7-3094-4b0c-8b7f4cbc8685 gm-spell">After all, the agent of evil himself, Satan, expresses to Jesus that all governments belong to him (Luke 4:5-6) and their very existence and purpose directly contradict the golden rule taught by Jesus Christ.</span> But </span><b>what of the nation of Israel</b> which God established? Was that evil? And why does Paul speak favourably of the
state in <b>Romans 13</b>?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: large; line-height: 115%;">Did
God vindicate Statism by creating the nation of Israel? It is important to recognise that the
government of ancient Israel was wholly synonymous with the covenant which God
made with Moses and the Israelites. In the
ancient Near-East, nations were typically created using the same covenantal
method, including the tablets and laws that we read of coming from Mount Sinai
in Exodus 20.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=924605110023521633#_ftn3" name="_ftnref3" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%;">[3]</span></span></span></a> Therefore, you cannot have ancient Israel
without the Law or vice versa. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: large; line-height: 115%;"><span class="gmw_">So, was the Old Covenant a perfect system, designed to last forever? Or was it put forward for us to learn that such a thing was impossible because of our nature? Of course, many Jews today would insist on the former answer, but as Christians we recognise that the latter is true. The Law of Moses embodies that purely judicial system of government which was originally established in ancient Israel (see Judges). However, the New Testament writers are explicit that this was not a perfect system and was only intended to last until the Messiah came to establish His spiritual covenant and kingdom (Hebrews 7-8). Furthermore, the Mosaic Covenant did not have the purpose of showing us how lovely we could all be but of showing us how frequently or seriously we all fail ethically (Romans 3 & Galatians 3). <span class="gm_ gm_e0f08738-a5b8-a5a4-457b-a402fb5bf753 gm-spell">It should be of no surprise then that the national framework which was set in place to administer this legal system was wholly for the same purpose – showing us that government cannot and should not be in the hands of fallible men.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: large; line-height: 115%;">Yes,
God established a system of government, but it was apparently preconceived that
the Israelites would demand <i>more</i>
government to their own detriment (Deuteronomy 17:14-20). As Thomas Jefferson put it, ‘The natural
progress of things is for liberty to yield [sic.], and government to gain
ground.’<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=924605110023521633#_ftn4" name="_ftnref4" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%;">[4]</span></span></span></a><span class="gmw_"> <span class="gm_ gm_b8cf9c42-ee72-10ba-4b09-6fbeb9c2b7bb gm-spell">It is for this reason that Samuel called the Israelites’ act of asking for a king ‘wicked’ and a sin (1Samuel 12:17 & 19) and warned of the calamities of taxation etc. which would come upon the people as a result (1Samuel 8:10-18).</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: large; line-height: 115%;">God
never intended the Old Covenant nation of Israel to be perfect or to perfect
anyone, but to show us our <i>imperfection</i>,
especially in demanding increasingly oppressive state control over our
neighbours. We shall never find angels
to govern us impeccably, nor can people be trusted to vigilantly ensure their
government remains limited in power. We
are obliged to learn this important lesson from the example of ancient Israel.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><u><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%;">Romans
13</span></u></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: large; line-height: 115%;"><span class="gmw_"><span class="gmw_"><span class="gm_ gm_d3907f87-b5aa-12ec-6131-fb5d66c34794 gm-spell">As for Paul’s comment regarding governments being ordained in Romans 13, I admit that I was (like most Christians) convinced that these verses were ipso facto supporting the immoral practice of government, contrary to my conscience and my rationale.</span> However, upon studying the matter personally, I am utterly convinced of how </span><span class="gm_ gm_80964fb1-53fe-8b4f-3fcb-81910ff0eadf gm-spell">short-sightedly</span> erroneous that position is. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: large; line-height: 115%;"><span class="gmw_"><span class="gm_ gm_085a3d1a-e694-7254-0f22-d3a17e5672c3 gm-spell">Whilst these verses are often read as ‘Paul’s Theology of the State’, many scholars have argued that because verses 1-7 stand in such contrast to the many godly rebellions against the state in the Old Testament, the immediate context and normal Pauline language suggest that the passage was a later edition.</span><span class="gmw_"> <span class="gm_ gm_ea488021-7398-f160-a281-72deb629b7fe gm-spell">For example, Paul says to obey and never resist government for the sake of conscience, but what about when Israel did the exact opposite for the sake of conscience, such as the coup against Queen Athaliah (2Kings 11) or the threat to revolt against King Saul because of the unjust law he implemented (1Samuel 14:24-45).</span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: large; line-height: 115%;">Assuming,
however, this passage is a genuine part of the text, there were good reasons
Paul would suddenly write about government in the middle of a discourse about
Christian love and everyday behaviour.
Throughout Romans, Paul deals with divisions in the church, specifically
between rich/poor and Gentile/Jew. In
its historical context, </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: large; line-height: 115%;">‘</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: large; line-height: 115%;"><span class="gmw_">Paul’s argument responds to an incipient anti-Judaism, which was already established among Roman aristocrats and was beginning to emerge among Gentile believers as well. <span class="gm_ gm_fa0bf162-0689-2435-aa5f-fadeac55a0e0 gm-spell">Given the horrors of an anti-Jewish pogrom in Alexandria in Egypt (38–41 ce), and even more recent market tax riots that had turned deadly in Puteoli, a city south of Rome, Paul was concerned to prevent in Rome the sort of civic disturbance in which the city’s minority Jewish population would be especially vulnerable.</span> This danger may explain the notorious exhortation to “be subject to the governing authorities”.’</span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=924605110023521633#_ftn5" name="_ftnref5" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%;">[5]</span></span></span></a> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: large; line-height: 115%;"><span class="gmw_"><span class="gm_ gm_a2f702f5-5a42-e783-8233-a0ae1c62f9dc gm-spell">Furthermore, there was the expulsion of Jews from Rome under Claudius in 49 A.D.; thus, there were significant political events motivating Paul to command peaceful, law-abiding behaviour from the ‘Jewish sect’ of Christianity alongside the command for Romans and Jews to love each other as brothers.</span> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: large; line-height: 115%;"><span class="gmw_"><span class="gm_ gm_28ab9d1f-49f5-cc93-e875-7bb2d08ff4f9 gm-spell">Jesus had continuously warned in apocalyptic language that Jerusalem would soon be destroyed, something Paul knew was imminent (1Thessalonians 2:16) and which did occur in 70 A.D. Naturally, he wanted to protect his fellow-Christians by discouraging any unsavoury behaviour which would incur state punishment and consequently give Christians a bad name during that tense period.</span><span class="gmw_"> <span class="gm_ gm_89d209dd-3f68-2cfa-9af5-cab4a48387b4 gm-spell">This passage is therefore not commanding absolute obedience to all governments and the rules they impose, but would have been addressing specific political issues which were affecting the congregation at Rome, particularly as they expectantly awaited the First Jewish-Roman War.</span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: large; line-height: 115%;">The only
argument against the Libertarian interpretation of this passage is presented
indirectly by Schreiner. Discussing the
‘sword’ wielded by the Roman authorities, he comments:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: large; line-height: 115%;">‘The
reference…is to the broader judicial function of the state, particularly its
right to deprive of life those who had committed crimes worthy of death. Paul
would not have flinched in endorsing the right of ruling authorities to
practice capital punishment since Gen. 9:6 supports it by appealing to the fact
that human beings are made in God’s image.’<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=924605110023521633#_ftn6" name="_ftnref6" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%;">[6]</span></span></span></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: large; line-height: 115%;"><span class="gmw_"><span class="gm_ gm_1706b83e-a195-449f-73f8-0011639e005c gm-spell">Certainly, it is most likely that Paul is referencing Genesis 9:6, as most scholars have recognised and the covenant God made with Noah to establish a system of Capital Punishment and the general principle of </span></span><i><span class="gmw_"><span class="gmw_"><span class="gm_ gm_1706b83e-a195-449f-73f8-0011639e005c gm-spell">lex </span></span><span class="gm_ gm_c6059036-9288-7e69-5ba5-acce08b79be5 gm-spell"><span class="gm_ gm_1706b83e-a195-449f-73f8-0011639e005c gm-spell">talionis</span></span></span></i><span class="gmw_"><span class="gmw_"><span class="gm_ gm_1706b83e-a195-449f-73f8-0011639e005c gm-spell">-style retributive justice for crimes against person (and property).</span> In context, this was done to avoid the savagery before the flood. But do Genesis 9:6 or Romans 13:4 insist that such things must be carried out by the state? </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: large; line-height: 115%;"><span class="gmw_"><span class="gm_ gm_6ad9f464-4ca9-69be-6237-79bb40ef3e17 gm-spell">Luther certainly could not see any way in which a judicial system could function without the state and so assumed that ‘</span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: large; line-height: 115%;"><span class="gmw_"><span class="gm_ gm_6ad9f464-4ca9-69be-6237-79bb40ef3e17 gm-spell">[b]y these words temporal government was established, and the sword placed in its hand by God.’ Sadly, the vast majority of Westerners continue to share this superstition.</span> However, according to the Talmud, among other sources, the ancient Jewish understanding of the covenant with Noah was that </span><i>courts</i> should
be established, not the state.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=924605110023521633#_ftn7" name="_ftnref7" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%;">[7]</span></span></span></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: large; line-height: 115%;">Paul was
simply re-affirming the Jewish belief frequently stated throughout the Old
Testament - if a government comes to power or is conquered or ceases
altogether, all these things are in the providence of God. Paul explicitly says that those governments </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: large; line-height: 115%;">‘which
exist’ only do so because God predetermined it.
Did God not also predetermine those times in human history when societies
were stateless? Paul does not say that
states <i>must</i> exist for judicial
punishment to take place, rather those which exist <i>should</i> perform that function.
Indeed, the era in which the story of Noah is set is prior to and outside
of the ancient Near-Eastern city-states. Therefore, the sort of system administering
Capital Punishment was understood by the author of Genesis to be a stateless
one, perhaps not unlike the Anglo-Saxon Common Law system which ‘developed over
the centuries by the competing judges applying time-honored principles rather
than the shifting decrees of the State…by applying rational-and very often
libertarian-principles to the cases before them.’<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=924605110023521633#_ftn8" name="_ftnref8" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%;">[8]</span></span></span></a> </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">An argument I previously made
against Libertarianism was that my ideological belief (Capital Punishment for
the crime of murder) would not be properly administrable in a stateless society. However, upon reflection and study, I found
that some of the greatest Libertarian thinkers were and are <i>advocates</i> of Capital Punishment, arguing
that it would inevitably become normative in a stateless society. One notable example is the great scholar,
Murray Rothbard who, in his article, <i>The
Libertarian Position on Capital Punishment</i>, wrote:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: large; line-height: 115%;">‘It is relatively easy
to allot monetary penalties in the case of theft. But what about such a crime
as murder? Here, in my view, the murderer loses precisely the right of which he
has deprived another human being: the right to have one's life preserved from
the violence of another person. The murderer therefore deserves to be killed in
return. Or, to put it more precisely, the victim — in this case his surrogate,
in the form of his heir or the executor of his estate should have the right to
kill the murderer in return.’<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=924605110023521633#_ftn9" name="_ftnref9" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%;">[9]</span></span></span></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: large; line-height: 115%;">Many
typical questions are subsequently raised when one suggests the unspoken idea
of people actually having basic rules in a society without a state. But these have been thoroughly answered in
numerous works, a more recent book would be <i>Chaos
Theory </i>by the Christian Economist, Robert P. Murphy.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><u><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%;">Conclusion</span></u></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: large; line-height: 115%;"><span class="gmw_"><span class="gm_ gm_61d09f89-0a06-44e5-60dd-39364f3ce8df gm-spell">Isaiah 9:7 Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore.</span> The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: large; line-height: 115%;">Frederic
Bastiat, an Economist and Statesman of France during its revolutionary period,
noted: ‘antiquity presents everywhere - in Egypt, Persia, Greece, Rome - the
spectacle of a few men moulding mankind according to their whims, thanks to the
prestige of force and of fraud.’<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=924605110023521633#_ftn10" name="_ftnref10" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%;">[10]</span></span></span></a> Napoleon himself may also have regretfully
agreed with this assertion at the end of his life; in this controversial quote,
he compared his military conquests to Jesus winning the hearts of empires and nations:
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: large; line-height: 115%;"><span class="gmw_">‘I know men<span class="gm_ gm_1263e7f6-0840-08f7-6f8c-9b9bf8ffa980 gm-spell">; and</span> I tell you that Jesus Christ is no mere man. Between Him and every person in the world there is no possible term of comparison. Alexander, Caesar, Charlemagne, and I have founded empires. But on what did we rest the creations of our genius? Upon force. Jesus Christ founded His empire upon love; and at this hour millions of men would die for him.’</span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=924605110023521633#_ftn11" name="_ftnref11" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%;">[11]</span></span></span></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: large; line-height: 115%;"><span class="gmw_">The Kingdom Jesus founded exists in our hearts. It is a clear conscience before God and men whereby we recall the example of the love of Jesus and remember His command for us to love each other, our neighbours and our enemies. <span class="gm_ gm_bf4f24ba-d3e2-8d84-a87e-2caa496ca689 gm-spell">Jesus did not come to force people to do His will - to love and respect each other - but to live it out and become the greatest example to men and women so that we would willingly do the same, from the heart.</span><span class="gmw_"> <span class="gm_ gm_f9d9d3d0-8c59-daee-a286-e435520beec6 gm-spell">Generally, the principle of this kingdom is to do to others as we would have them do to us and to never use force to coerce others to do our will; <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XvCT5_o23Ok" target="_blank">Libertarians commonly call this the ‘Non-Aggression Principle’</a>.</span> It is this universally recognised ‘golden rule’, naturally at work in our conscience, which Jesus came to hold up as the objective moral law for all people. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: large; line-height: 115%;">We
do not need that chief manifestation of coercion and evil, the state, to
control us and our families. We only
need our freedom, especially freedom of conscience, and the example of the love
of Jesus to live out our lives, as stewards of God to the earth, in peace. I invite you to imagine such a beautiful world
and to pray and act with me that God’s kingdom would come and that the dominion
of the evil of a past age would be extinguished forever.<span style="color: red;"> </span></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br clear="all" /></span>
<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=924605110023521633#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%;">[1]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"> <i>HarperCollins Study Bible</i> (1993) HarperCollins Publishers, p.18</span></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn2">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=924605110023521633#_ftnref2" name="_ftn2" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%;">[2]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"> Scott, J. (2009) <i>The Art of
Not Being Governed: An Anarchist History of Upland Southeast Asia</i>, Yale University Press, Preface</span></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn3">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=924605110023521633#_ftnref3" name="_ftn3" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%;">[3]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; letter-spacing: -0.65pt; line-height: 115%;">Lopez, R. (2004) ‘Israelite Covenants in the Light of Ancient Near
Eastern Covenants (Part 2 of 2)’, <i>CTS
Journal</i>,<i> </i>Spring 2004</span></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn4">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=924605110023521633#_ftnref4" name="_ftn4" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%;">[4]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"> <i>Thomas Jefferson to Edward Carrington, Paris, May 27, 1788</i> - <a href="http://founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/01-13-02-0120">http://founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/01-13-02-0120</a></span></span>
</div>
</div>
<div id="ftn5">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=924605110023521633#_ftnref5" name="_ftn5" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%;">[5]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"> </span><i>The New Oxford Annotated Bible</i> (Fourth Edition, 2010) Oxford
University Press, p.1975</span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn6">
<h1 style="margin-top: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=924605110023521633#_ftnref6" name="_ftn6" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%;">[6]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%;"> Schreiner, T.
(1998) <span class="a-size-large"><i>Romans: Baker
Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament</i>, Baker Academic,</span></span></span></h1>
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: large;"> p.692</span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn7">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=924605110023521633#_ftnref7" name="_ftn7" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%;">[7]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"> See <i>Talmud Sanhedrin</i>, 56a</span></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn8">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=924605110023521633#_ftnref8" name="_ftn8" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%;">[8]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"> Rothbard, M. (1978) <i>For a New Liberty: The Libertarian Manifesto</i>,
Ludwig von Mises Institute, p.283</span></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn9">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=924605110023521633#_ftnref9" name="_ftn9" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%;">[9]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"> Rothbard, M. (1978) <i>The Libertarian Position on Capital
Punishment</i> - <a href="http://mises.org/daily/4468">http://mises.org/daily/4468</a>
(20/10/2014)</span></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn10">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=924605110023521633#_ftnref10" name="_ftn10" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%;">[10]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%;">Bastiat, F.
(2008 ed.) <i>The Law</i><span class="gmw_">, <span class="gm_ gm_bc39201e-3f95-39c5-2110-c3663bba8867 gm-spell">Misbach</span> Enterprises, Kindle Edition, p.36</span></span></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn11">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=924605110023521633#_ftnref11" name="_ftn11" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%;">[11]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"> See <i><span class="gmw_">Conversations <span class="gm_ gm_b1589609-2da3-b259-d442-f9ae6bfee528 gm-spell">avec</span> General Bertrand à St. Helena</span></i></span></span></div>
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Dark Day Ministrieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14599268281520893034noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-924605110023521633.post-91130026488600829102014-08-04T08:33:00.000-07:002014-08-08T03:33:27.246-07:00Does the Bible teach Pacifism?<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"></span></b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">The answer
is seemingly clear from Scripture – God advocates capital punishment in Genesis
9:6 and Romans 13:4 and therefore, at least for civil authority, there cannot
be an absolute Pacifism.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But many would
disagree for the individual Christian.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So, let us thoroughly refute
this notion from Scripture.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">We must decide whether it is even acceptable in God’s eyes for an individual
to take up arms. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Is it ungodly to serve
in the military, for instance, or to be called to arms by national
authority?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"></span>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">This is not a novel contention; the early church had some debate on the
matter, with some writings by Tertullian and Origen being against military service.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span class="gmw_">However<span class="gm_ gm_a1543e0e-8ba7-8d9b-0602-44de01a079fe gm-spell gm_tiny"> </span>this view was based on the fact that the Roman army conducted many Pagan ceremonies which were unfitting for Christians, not that personal or civil defence are ungodly.</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin-left: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">The Christian Pacifist’s
contention, however, lies in one verse of the New Testament:</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 1.0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">Matthew
5:39<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span class="woc"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">But I
say to you, Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the
right cheek, turn to him the other also.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 1.0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">Now, this does not mean we are not to resist any
sort of evil.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We are of course called to
resist the devil (James 4:7), false doctrine (Romans 16:17) etc.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But, when we look at the context, we see that
this is regarding sins committed against one <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">personally</i>.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 1.0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">Matthew 5:38-39<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></span><span class="woc"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">You
have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’</span></span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> <span class="woc">But I
say to you, Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the
right cheek, turn to him the other also. (NASB)</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">The primary meaning of this verse is in reference to a Jewish custom;
such a slap was symbolic of an insult.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This direction from the Lord Jesus calls us not to answer an insult with
insult and get caught up in fleshly argument.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>More deeply, however, Christ is calling us to not to feel vengeful at
all.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These thoughts are echoed by the Holy
Spirit in Romans 12:17-21.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<u><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">Self-defence</span></u><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;"><br />
So, seeing as Matthew 5:39 is clearly regarding personal insults, what warrant
is there from Scripture to believe that we should not defend ourselves from
physical attack?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Lord does not
condemn the disciples carrying swords and in fact requests that they should
carry them at night, when it would have been commonplace to travel armed for
self-defence:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 1.0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">Luke 22:36 & 38<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">He said
to them…<span class="woc">“And let the one who has no sword sell his cloak and
buy one…</span>”<br />
And they said, “Look, Lord, here are two swords.” And he said to them, <span class="woc">“It is enough.”</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 1.0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span class="woc"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Furthermore,
the Scriptures are clear that defending your home and family with weapons is
perfectly acceptable:</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 1.0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;">
<span style="color: teal; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;"><span style="color: black;">Exodus 22:2</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">If a
thief is found breaking in and is struck so that he dies, there shall be no
bloodguilt for him… (ESV)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 1.0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<u><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Defending
others</span></u><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
On that note, what does the Bible say about defending </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">another person</span></i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There is
nothing in the context here to assume that we should not defend someone else
who is being attacked, assaulted or caused harm of any kind.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In fact, from the context of some the verses
we have read, we are called to show love towards others.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Our very conscience declares that the loving
thing to do would be to defend an old lady if we saw her being mugged in the
street?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Indeed, we <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">must</i> overcome evil with good.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>And it is good to defend those who are vulnerable from sins which might
be committed against them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It cannot be
justified from the New Testament, and certainly not from Christ’s words in
Matthew, that we should ignore that old lady being mugged.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We do not believe in Karma, like the Hindus,
so we must not assume that it is God’s will for that old lady to suffer <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">unaided</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>God allows death, suffering and poverty to exist too but commands us to
resist them with love, care and charity, like the Good Samaritan.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">Look at Christ - He is our High Priest after the
order of Melchizedek.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But who was
Melchizedek?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In Genesis 14, we see that
certain kings began warring through the land, taking Abraham’s nephew, Lot, and
others as slaves. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When Abraham heard of
this, what did he do?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 1.0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">Genesis 14:14-16</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And when Abram heard that his
brother was taken captive, he armed his trained <i><span style="color: grey;">servants,</span></i>
born in his own house, three hundred and eighteen, and pursued <i><span style="color: grey;">them</span></i> unto Dan. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 1.0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">And he divided himself against them, he and his
servants, by night, and smote them, and pursued them unto Hobah, which <i><span style="color: grey;">is</span></i> on the left hand of Damascus. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 1.0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">And he brought back all the goods, and also
brought again his brother Lot, and his goods, and the women also, and the
people. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">And what was
the Lord’s reaction to this?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 1.0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">Genesis 14:18-20</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And Melchizedek king of Salem
brought forth bread and wine: and he <i><span style="color: grey;">was</span></i>
the priest of the most high God. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 1.0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">And he blessed him, and said, Blessed <i><span style="color: grey;">be</span></i> Abram of the most high God, possessor of
heaven and earth: </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 1.0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">And
blessed be the most high God, which hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand.
And he gave him tithes of all. (KJV)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 1.0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">So, as Christ is a priest of the order of
Melchizedek, who blessed Abraham and received a tithe after he had slaughtered
these kings and returned the captives, should we assume that it is un-Christian
to take up arms in defence of loved ones, indeed of anyone we are called to
love?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By no means.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We should bear a good witness in defending
our fellow-citizens from any acts of violence which (God forbid) we might
encounter.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">But doesn’t the Bible teach that if we live by
the sword, we shall die by the sword?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Not at all, the context of the verse is important to understand.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 1.0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">Matthew 26:52-56<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Then
Jesus said to him, <span class="woc">“Put your sword back into its place. For <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">all who take the sword will perish by the
sword</b>.</span> <span class="woc">Do you think that I cannot appeal to my
Father, and he will at once send me more than twelve legions of angels?</span> <span class="woc">But how then should the Scriptures be fulfilled, that it must be so?”</span>
At that hour Jesus said to the crowds, <span class="woc">“Have you come out as
against a robber, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">with swords</b> and
clubs to capture me? …But <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">all this has
taken place that the Scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled</b>.”</span>
Then all the disciples left him and fled.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 1.0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 1.0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">Zechariah 13:7<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Awake,
O sword, against my shepherd, against the man who stands next to me,” declares
the LORD of hosts. “Strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered; I
will turn my hand against the little ones.” (KJV)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 1.0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span class="woc"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Here,
we not only see that Jesus actually affirms that He could destroy the Pharisees
with a supernatural army of His own if He wanted to, but also that the
disciples should not bring swords out at this particular point in time because
they were resisting His will.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jesus
declares that He is fulfilling Scripture by voluntarily laying down His
life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The fact is that the Jews were
expecting a conquering Messiah who would overthrow the Roman Empire; the spiritual
kingdom of Christ was beyond their carnal understanding.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By resisting the arrest, the disciples were
actually trying to prevent Christ from finishing His work at the cross and so
were stuck in that same carnal mindset.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It must be noted - Jesus points to the swords brought by those who were
coming to arrest Him and calls His disciples to put away their own swords.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is the immediate context surrounding
those who are taking the sword and consequently perishing by the sword.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Furthermore, this event is a fulfilment of prophecy,
both of Zechariah and of Christ’s own words:</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 1.0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;">
<span style="color: teal; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;"><span style="color: black;">John 18:9</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">This
was to fulfill the word that he had spoken: “Of those whom you gave me I have
lost not one.” (ESV)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 1.0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The
disciples were scattered to spare their lives temporarily for God’s specific
purposes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As for the Jews, they brought
the sword of the state against the Lord Jesus, calling out to Pilate for Jesus’
blood to be on their hands (Matthew 27:25) and in 70 A.D. the sword of Rome was
brought against Jerusalem as the city fell under siege.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As Jesus explicitly states, this verse refers
to the fulfilment of Scripture and is not a universal command for Pacifism.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<u><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">Christians in the armed forces</span></u></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">We also see in the New Testament that it is
acceptable for Christians to continue serving in the army.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Indeed, the first Gentile convert we see in
the Scriptures was a soldier and we are nowhere told that he was to cease from
his duty to his nation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Roman soldiers
even came to inquire about repentance to John the Baptist and what did he say?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 1.0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">Luke
3:14<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Soldiers also asked him, “And
we, what shall we do?” And he said to them, “Do not extort money from anyone by
threats or by false accusation, and be content with your wages.” (NASB)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 1.0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">The Greek word for extort, ‘diaseio’, literally
means to intimidate or bully with the sword as often happens when certain men
are allowed to abuse whatever authority they have to police and protect.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But, returning to the soldiers’ occupation,
John the Baptist calls them to uphold their duties to police and soldier as
ministers for good and, rather than <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">leave</i>
their occupation, he tells them to be content with their wages. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;"><br />
So, here we see both the refutation of ‘conscientious objection’ from military
service and, also, we have a good example of those in a position of civil authority
being commanded to minister for the good of those they are responsible for.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">Some Christian Pacifists would quote John 18:36
to prove that Christians should not fight in the military:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 1.0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">John
18:36<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Jesus answered, "My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, then My servants would be fighting so that I would not be handed over to the Jews; but as it is, My kingdom is not of this realm."<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(NASB)</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">We see here that Jesus was not addressing whether
Christians are permitted to be employed in the military of nation states.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jesus was telling Pilate that His kingdom is
a spiritual one, existing in the hearts of believers; His victory of course
would be won at the cross.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For the same
reasons He told Peter to put away his sword, when being arrested, He now tells
Pilate that His kingdom surpasses the physical realm.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">As citizens of Christ’s kingdom we are in a
spiritual battle for the furtherance of the Gospel and the salvation of souls;
the earthly kingdoms, however, have other objectives, all within the providence
of God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We must retain the simple
doctrine that the kingdom of God and the kingdoms of this world are separate
things.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So long as we do not confuse the
two, as sadly the Roman Catholics did during the Crusades, we cannot conclude
from this verse that Christians are excluded from serving in national or
private armed forces.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<u><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">Just War</span></u></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">If it is loving to defend our neighbours from
attack, can there be a just war?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Numerous early church writers and the Reformers seemed to think so ‘upon
</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">just
and necessary occasions’<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=924605110023521633#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[1]</span></span></span></span></a></span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">, but what was their biblical justification for
believing so?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span class="gmw_">Certainly, the Law taught Israel to love their neighbours and yet also gave commands for conduct<span class="gm_ gm_461f1353-9419-0e43-1f87-6877ca31d748 gm-spell gm_tiny"> </span>during war.</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But we are not under the Law; what
does the New Testament teach us on this point?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">ESV Study Bible</i> notes
explain this systematically:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 1.0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">‘</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Over
time, the just war ethic has developed a common set of criteria that can be
used to decide if going to war in a specific situation is right. These include
the following: <br />
(1) <i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">just cause</span></i> (is the reason for going
to war a morally right cause, such as defense of a nation? cf. Rev. 19:11); <br />
(2) <i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">competent authority</span></i> (has the war
been declared not simply by a renegade band within a nation but by a
recognized, competent authority within the nation? cf. Rom. 13:1); <br />
(3) <i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">comparative justice</span></i> (it should be
clear that the actions of the enemy are morally wrong, and the motives and
actions of one’s own nation in going to war are, in comparison, morally right;
cf. Rom. 13:3); <br />
(4) <i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">right intention</span></i> (is the purpose of
going to war to protect justice and righteousness rather than simply to rob and
pillage and destroy another nation? cf. Prov. 21:2);<br />
(5) <i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">last resort</span></i> (have all other
reasonable means of resolving the conflict been exhausted? cf. Matt. 5:9; Rom.
12:18); <br />
(6) <i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">probability of success</span></i> (is there a
reasonable expectation that the war can be won? cf. Luke 14:31); <br />
(7) <i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">proportionality of projected results</span></i>
(will the good results that come from a victory in a war be significantly
greater than the harm and loss that will inevitably come with pursuing the war?
cf. Rom. 12:21 with 13:4); and <br />
(8) <i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">right spirit</span></i> (is the war undertaken
with great reluctance and sorrow at the harm that will come rather than simply
with a “delight in war,” as in Ps. 68:30?).’</span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;"></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Therefore,
we can conclude that the Bible certainly does not teach a strict Pacifism at
all.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We can and should defend ourselves,
our families and neighbours and we are permitted to serve in the military.</span></div>
<div style="mso-element: footnote-list;">
<br clear="all" />
<hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" />
<div id="ftn1" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=924605110023521633#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[1]</span></span></span></span></a> <span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">London
Baptist Confession (1689), chapter XXIV</span></div>
</div>
</div>
Dark Day Ministrieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14599268281520893034noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-924605110023521633.post-46011376933306322962014-06-16T11:31:00.001-07:002014-06-16T11:31:57.015-07:00<p style=" margin: 12px auto 6px auto; font-family: Helvetica,Arial,Sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 14px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; -x-system-font: none; display: block;"> <a title="View Are the Ten Commandments the Moral Law of God? on Scribd" href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/229937312/Are-the-Ten-Commandments-the-Moral-Law-of-God" style="text-decoration: underline;" >Are the Ten Commandments the Moral Law of God?</a></p><iframe class="scribd_iframe_embed" src="//www.scribd.com/embeds/229937312/content?start_page=1&view_mode=scroll&show_recommendations=true" data-auto-height="false" data-aspect-ratio="undefined" scrolling="no" id="doc_42440" width="100%" height="600" frameborder="0"></iframe>Dark Day Ministrieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14599268281520893034noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-924605110023521633.post-60939294135742916412014-06-07T09:39:00.002-07:002014-11-15T11:01:57.701-08:00The Biblical Model for Civil Government - Libertarianism<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span class="gm_ gm_42040cb5-568b-93be-dad3-e0c1f317af7a gm-spell">Here’s what the vast majority of Evangelical Christians think, summarised by Wayne Grudem in his book,</span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span class="gm_ gm_42040cb5-568b-93be-dad3-e0c1f317af7a gm-spell"> Politics According to the Bible</span></i><span class="gm_ gm_42040cb5-568b-93be-dad3-e0c1f317af7a gm-spell">: </span></span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span class="gm_ gm_42040cb5-568b-93be-dad3-e0c1f317af7a gm-spell">‘</span></span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span class="gm_ gm_42040cb5-568b-93be-dad3-e0c1f317af7a gm-spell">until Christ returns to reign, some form of democracy seems to be the best form of government</span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span class="gm_ gm_42040cb5-568b-93be-dad3-e0c1f317af7a gm-spell">’</span></span></span><span class="gm_ gm_42040cb5-568b-93be-dad3-e0c1f317af7a gm-spell"> (p.96).</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span class="gmw_"><span class="gmw_">Two problems: 1. The Bible NOWHERE teaches that<span class="gm_ gm_0381419e-f2b1-f9f4-6d5c-af4632e674f9 gm-spell">;</span><span class="gmw_"><span class="gm_ gm_0381419e-f2b1-f9f4-6d5c-af4632e674f9 gm-spell"> and</span> 2. Grudem spends entire pages moaning about the problems with Democracy without even realising it.</span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span class="gmw_"><span class="gmw_">You see<span class="gm_ gm_eaf372de-da22-1ba4-7801-657d14d7a9f8 gm-spell">, </span><span class="gmw_">if 51% of people tell the other 49% what to do then you end up with lots of sad Wayne <span class="gm_ gm_fcb0196c-a14f-f7cf-ec61-f8edded3f459 gm-spell">Grudems</span> who are oppressed by the mob rule stealing their rights to religious freedom.</span></span></span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>So you end up with groups lobbying to force their will on each other and
neither of them are completely free (even though their governments tell them
they are).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Worse still, the richest
lobbies can take advantage of this big, all-powerful government system by
paying for their own politicians.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They can use government to stifle competing businesses by over-regulating the entrepreneurs and they can even use taxpayer-funded armies to take resources from other nations by force.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is called </span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">‘</span>Crony-Capitalism</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">’</span> or </span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">‘</span>Corporatism</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">’</span> – the market
would be free if it weren’t for government interference.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">‘I’ve got it!’ exclaim some other Christians, ‘Why don’t we
all become Socialists?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span class="gmw_">Maybe if<span class="gm_ gm_6f67cc51-191c-45e5-c57f-2983209caec1 gm-spell gm_tiny"> </span>government took control of the businesses instead, we wouldn’t have this problem!’</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span class="gmw_"><span class="gmw_"><span class="gmw_">Again, two problems: 1. The Bible NOWHERE teaches Socialism</span><span class="gmw_"><span class="gm_ gm_dfc3c1bc-5717-c55d-552d-cbc54a962d9c gm-spell">;</span></span><span class="gmw_"><span class="gmw_"><span class="gm_ gm_dfc3c1bc-5717-c55d-552d-cbc54a962d9c gm-spell"> and</span></span><span class="gmw_"> 2. Despite what moody, narcissistic university professors might teach you, Socialism has never, ever worked (Star Trek doesn't count).</span></span></span></span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Free Markets</i> are the only system for
prosperity - fact.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">‘But the Bible does teach Socialism!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The early church had “all things in common”!’
exclaim the Christian Socialists.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><span class="gmw_">Historical evidence shows that <a href="http://thegospelcoalition.org/article/does-the-book-of-acts-command-socialism/" target="_blank"><span class="gmw_"><span class="gmw_">the early church </span><span class="gmw_"><span class="gm_ gm_cc9861af-5baa-7a6b-815b-c1eabf0f4dcc gm-spell">were</span></span><span class="gmw_"> not Socialists at all</span></span></a> and the Bible is clear that people still owned houses etc. decades after Pentecost.</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They hadn’t surrendered
property rights at all but were in fact just charitable with what they <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">owned</i>, because ‘God loves a cheerful
giver’.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And, in any case, what does the
charitable nature of fellow-Christians with their property have to do with
government seizing control of everyone’s stuff and the fruit of their labours
by force?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Charity is the place of
individuals, like the Good Samaritan, which invokes a sense of gratitude in the
recipient. Government forcing you to hand over your money to someone else only
invokes a sense of entitlement.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">And yet other Christians then say, ‘Well, to hell with
government altogether.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Big governments
are represented as destructive monsters in Scripture and they are enemies of
Christ and His church.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I want everyone
to be free and to have personal responsibility and to stop having government
poke their nose into everything.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m
going to be an Anarchist!’ </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Slow down there, Tolstoy!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I want people to be free too.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I don’t want one sinful king or dictator with absolute power, nor do I want 51% of people with absolute power, but firstly we need to deal with Romans 13!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Romans 13:1 & 4<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Let every person be subject to the governing
authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist
have been instituted by God…for he is God’s servant for your good. But if you
do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the
servant of God, an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Most people interpret this as teaching God ordained government, just like marriage. Read it again. The authorities 'which exist' are there in providence of God - that's all the OT teaches and it's all Paul taught.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If they did not exist, would that no also be predetermined by God? Certainly, they bear the sword or rather <i>should</i><span class="gmw_"><span class="gmw_"> administer justice, but is<span class="gm_ gm_8a6ffb6e-c8df-41e3-f53e-195c37c89322 gm-spell gm_tiny"> </span>government needed to do this?</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The sword reference has been recognised by the majority of scholars to be from Genesis:</span><br />
<br />
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<span class="ln-group"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Genesis
9:6<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Whoever sheds the blood of man,</span></span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> <span class="indent">by man shall his blood be shed,</span> <span class="br-ln-group">for
God made man in his own image.</span></span></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">After
the flood, t<span class="gmw_"><span class="gmw_"><span class="gmw_">he world had been <span class="gm_ gm_4c83f214-162a-5489-58d8-33f7ba2d0d2a gm-spell">overrun</span> by cruel tyrants who completely opposed the purpose for which God made us – to be His stewards and representatives on the earth, loving God and each other.</span></span></span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We each personally bear this responsibility
before God with the life and the property and the neighbours He has given us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But men want to dominate everything, including
other men, taking from them the freedom to serve God according to their
conscience, instead forcing them to serve their own desires.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ultimately, they seek to put themselves in
the place of God, ruling over and often being worshipped by men.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>God wanted to stop this and so after the
flood had destroyed those tyrants, God made a covenant in which He commanded
all mankind to enact Capital Punishment as retribution for murder. This
command would have been understood by its ancient audience to be referring to
crimes against property also, as Leviticus 24:17ff. reveals.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Therefore, if any government exists, it is for the sole purpose of
protecting life, property and liberty.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span class="gmw_"><span class="gmw_">The biblical limit of government's function is intended to counteract the actions of those who would infringe those rights. <span class="gm_ gm_a64e108f-c82d-8b0c-735f-fd3e4fd6ccfd gm-spell">So, government should not take it upon itself to seize some property from one group of citizens and give it to another or to take some liberty and give it to others, to create monopolies by providing services to the public, becoming the people’s doctor, banker etc. and becoming so large and powerful that it can be abused by the same tyrants God intended to thwart in the first place!</span> </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">A
biblical government would be a very small government which only acts judicially
against crimes to the person or property of those it serves.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span class="gmw_"> <span class="gm_ gm_fff01527-ec46-c4c4-ab11-6b917aa9b42f gm-spell">But, we must understand that government does not necessarily </span></span><i><span class="gm_ gm_fff01527-ec46-c4c4-ab11-6b917aa9b42f gm-spell">need</span></i><span class="gm_ gm_fff01527-ec46-c4c4-ab11-6b917aa9b42f gm-spell"> to exist for judicial punishment to be administered or even for Capital Punishment to be normative (as many Anarcho-Capitalists have pointed out - e.g. </span><a href="http://archive.lewrockwell.com/block/block34.html" target="_blank"><span class="gm_ gm_fff01527-ec46-c4c4-ab11-6b917aa9b42f gm-spell">Block</span></a><span class="gm_ gm_fff01527-ec46-c4c4-ab11-6b917aa9b42f gm-spell"> & </span><a href="http://mises.org/daily/4468" target="_blank"><span class="gm_ gm_fff01527-ec46-c4c4-ab11-6b917aa9b42f gm-spell">Rothbard</span></a><span class="gmw_"><span class="gm_ gm_fff01527-ec46-c4c4-ab11-6b917aa9b42f gm-spell">).</span> Nevertheless, where government does exist, it must rightly be reduced to its least despotic purpose or, preferably, removed altogether.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><br />Today, this view is called <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Libertarian Christianity</b> and it is
frequently misunderstood and dismissed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Recently, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fc_spKfxNL0" target="_blank">Al Mohler rashly declared</a>, ‘The ideological base of
Libertarianism is idolatry.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s Ayn
Rand, it’s Randian individualism.’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span class="gmw_"><span class="gmw_"><span class="gm_ gm_abbb0523-ac42-7085-8bdc-f1685ffdcdb2 gm-spell">Mohler and others need to do their homework because this view actually grew out of the Protestant Reformation, the separation of church and state and real life struggles in which Christians sought to reform to a biblical system of government and/or self-determination.</span> The agnostic economist and historian, Murray Rothbard, had to confirm that the original Libertarian experiments in the U.S., during the 1600's, were </span></span><a href="http://www.mises.org/daily/2014" target="_blank">conducted by Christians</a>. (For a helpful summary Libertarianism, see <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XvCT5_o23Ok" target="_blank">this video</a>)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span class="gmw_"><span class="gmw_">We’re not called to pray that<span class="gm_ gm_95c9f00b-d5ee-0719-c423-07b27ac31bd5 gm-spell gm_tiny"> </span>government would force everyone to behave more like Christians when they don’t want to.</span></span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>We’re called to pray for peace and freedom and, if we want it for
ourselves, we should expect others to have it also, so long as they aren’t
harming another’s person or property.<br /><span class="gmw_"> The church’s place in this world is to live godly lives, reflecting the love of Christ and preaching the Gospel to our fellow-sinners, our neighbours, with the desire that they might be saved.</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Whether
they are walking in obedience to Christ or not is no concern for a lobbied government,
but for a loving pastor and brother in Christ.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">See also my article <a href="http://darkdayministries.blogspot.co.uk/2014/10/the-bible-is-anti-statist.html" target="_blank"><i>The Bible is Anti-statist </i></a></span></div>
Dark Day Ministrieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14599268281520893034noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-924605110023521633.post-17992318954644820802014-03-23T17:31:00.002-07:002014-03-23T17:35:26.922-07:00Hyper-Calvinism - Properly defined and thoroughly refuted<p style=" margin: 12px auto 6px auto; font-family: Helvetica,Arial,Sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 14px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; -x-system-font: none; display: block;"> <a title="View Hyper Calvinism - Properly defined and thoroughly refuted on Scribd" href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/214052737/Hyper-Calvinism-Properly-defined-and-thoroughly-refuted" style="text-decoration: underline;" >Hyper Calvinism - Properly defined and thoroughly refuted</a> by <a title="View Richard Storey's profile on Scribd" href="http://www.scribd.com/Richard Storey" style="text-decoration: underline;" >Richard Storey</a></p><iframe class="scribd_iframe_embed" src="//www.scribd.com/embeds/214052737/content?start_page=1&view_mode=scroll&access_key=key-8n28yazwz27ha7bxr7u&show_recommendations=true" data-auto-height="false" data-aspect-ratio="0.706896551724138" scrolling="no" id="doc_48448" width="100%" height="600" frameborder="0"></iframe>Dark Day Ministrieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14599268281520893034noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-924605110023521633.post-32284012197936869062014-03-04T06:41:00.001-08:002014-03-04T06:41:31.748-08:00Why I don't support William Lane Craig or Michael Brown by Keith Thompson<br /><br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="270" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/8UFUDEFuMU0" width="480"></iframe>Dark Day Ministrieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14599268281520893034noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-924605110023521633.post-61813222355589985942014-01-31T12:50:00.000-08:002014-01-31T12:52:00.892-08:00Does Hebrews 6 teach you can lose salvation?<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Hebrews
6:4-6<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For it is impossible, in the case
of those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, and
have shared in the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the goodness of the word of God
and the powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away, to restore them
again to repentance, since they are crucifying once again the Son of God to
their own harm and holding him up to contempt.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Does this mean
that someone can be saved and receive the Holy Spirit but nevertheless be
damned?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Does this verse teach that I can
lose my salvation?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not if you read it in
context…</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><span class="gmw_">This is simply describing those who, to all outward appearance, are considered Christians<span class="gm_ gm_9a0cd8e6-cd0d-11c2-ec11-427b951c21db gm-spell gm_tiny"> </span>but who later show that they were truly not.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><br />
The key is the use of the word 'tasted'; the same word is used for our Saviour
tasting the mingled wine upon the cross but, of course, this doesn't mean He
properly drank it. He said that He wouldn't drink wine again until He was
reunited with His people (Luke 22:18 etc.).<br />
Therefore, I consider that those who have only tasted of the spiritual things
of the Holy Spirit are like Ananias and Sapphira who claimed they were
Christians and were putting all the proceeds of the sale of their house </span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">to share </span> with all the other congregation members; really,
they were keeping some back, lacking any certainty yet trying to look good.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>They didn’t truly believe in the God who could see their hearts or in
the work He was doing. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As Peter said, they
lied to God the Spirit and were only superficially part of the church - the body
of Christ (Acts 5).<br />
Simply tasting is different to those who are 'made to DRINK of one Spirit'
(1Corinthians 12:13).<br />
<br />
This is why the apostle says to those Hebrew Christians: 'Though we speak in
this way, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">yet in your case</i>, beloved,
we feel sure of better things—<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">things that
belong to salvation</i>.' <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>He believes
the people he is addressing are actually saved. The things he listed before are
pertaining to those who fall away and therefore states that those things do not
'belong to salvation'.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The apostle explicitly
says that if you fall away like that, you don’t show any signs that you are
saved. As is confirmed by the other apostles:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">1John 2:19<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They went out from us, but they were not really of us; for if they had been of us, they would have remained with us<span class="gm_ gm_56935a64-8cef-8610-7869-cdf1859bd008 gm-spell gm_tiny">;</span> but they went out, so that it would be shown that they all are not of us. (NASB)<br />
<br /><span class="gmw_"> This is a tricky verse, if I can put it that way, because we are so inclined to read the Bible verse by verse, like each verse is an island of truth<span class="gm_ gm_d4c6c1fe-0184-721e-0bbe-2807448160f8 gm-spell gm_tiny"> </span><span class="gmw_"><span class="gmw_">but that is not the case and leads a great many into error. We refer to the Bible as the Word of God; it is a whole</span><span class="gmw_"><span class="gm_ gm_c1835bc7-9008-25a6-5835-fd7d16df5c8e gm-spell gm_tiny"> </span></span><span class="gmw_"><span class="gmw_"><span class="gmw_">and it is one, and God's purpose is single and definite. We should try </span></span><span class="gmw_"><span class="gm_ gm_3eccfdd6-c761-d9e9-5c9b-dc0f8026f72b gm-spell">linking</span></span><span class="gmw_"> the chapters we read with the chapter before and after, to understand the immediate context and authorial intent, i.e. what the Spirit was driving on.</span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">So let us recognise that when the Spirit truly starts driving us
on, in and through Christ, He will never stop.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Philippians
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began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.<br />
1Thessalonians 5:23-24<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now may the God
of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul
and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls
you is faithful; he will surely do it. (ESV)</span></div>
Dark Day Ministrieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14599268281520893034noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-924605110023521633.post-65506800467703500432014-01-21T15:48:00.001-08:002014-01-23T12:06:29.476-08:00Was the Sun Created on the 4th day?<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Genesis 1:1-5<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span class="gmw_">In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters. Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. God saw that the light was good<span class="gm_ gm_088fc795-65c1-a9ba-9dfc-a9ca6dd9ba59 gm-spell gm_tiny">;</span><span class="gmw_"><span class="gmw_"> and God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light day, and the darkness He called night. And there was evening</span><span class="gmw_"><span class="gm_ gm_4db0703d-ea8a-3e9b-99ed-8360607c0f9c gm-spell gm_tiny"> </span></span><span class="gmw_">and there was morning, one day. </span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Most Young Earth Creationists affirm that God created the sun, moon
and stars all on the fourth day of creation and that the gargantuan cosmic
damage this would have caused to the earth and the solar system was
deliberately nullified by God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Before
that time, there was supposedly no sunlight and, when we are told that light
shone upon earth’s surface before day four, this was actually from some other source
which God created temporarily. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>John
MacArthur presents this view:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">‘Various suggestions have been made about what this light
might have been. Could it have been a mass of glowing matter that was
later shaped into the sun? Or (as seems more likely) could it have been a
disembodied light, an ethereal temporary brilliance decreed by God to
illuminate His creation until permanent lights were set in place? The
nature of this light is not described.’<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=924605110023521633#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[1]</span></span></span></span></a></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Isn’t it?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What does the
totality of Scripture teach regarding this light and the creation of the sun?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Genesis 1:14-16<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And
God said, “<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Let there be lights</b> in
the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night. And let them be
for signs and for seasons, and for days and years, and let them be lights in
the expanse of the heavens to give light upon the earth.” And it was so. And <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">God made the two great lights</b> - the
greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night - and the
stars. And God set them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the
earth…</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The Jamieson-Fausset-Brown commentary notes this of the
Hebrew wording in this passage: </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">‘Both these lights may be said to be "made" on the
fourth day—<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">not created</b>, indeed, for
it is a different word that is here used, but constituted, appointed to the
important and necessary office of serving as luminaries to the world, and
regulating by their motions and their influence the progress and divisions of
time.’</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">This is most clearly seen when God rests from creation in
Genesis 2:3; He is said to rest from both creating <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">and</i> making.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Strong’s Lexicon
says of these two words that the creating of something has the meaning of
creating it </span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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typically involves using pre-existing materials to fashion something.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It very much appears that the sun was already
in existence at day four but was being made entirely visible along with the
moon and stars so that they could ‘be for signs and seasons’.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These all became the time-keepers and compass
for the various biological systems God was to create afterwards. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Do we have any verses of Scripture to verify this?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Does the New Testament teach that the sun pre-existed the fourth day?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Genesis 1:3-4<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And God
said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. And God saw that the light was
good. And God separated the light from the darkness.<br />
2Corinthians 4:6<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For God, who said, “Let
light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the
knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.<br />
2Peter 1:19<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So we have the prophetic
word made more sure, to which you do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining
in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star arises in your
hearts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Jesus is the day which dawns, the rising sun.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The prophets use this language too to speak
of the personal, spiritual illumination the Messiah would bring into the hearts
of His people:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Malachi 4:2 <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But for
you who fear my name, the sun of righteousness shall rise with healing in its
wings…<br />
Isaiah 60:1<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Arise, shine, for your light
has come, and the glory of the LORD has risen upon you.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">etc.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Scholars are seemingly in unanimous agreement that Paul
quotes Genesis 1:3 (the first day) in reference to Christ who shines in our hearts as the Sun
of righteousness, which Peter also confirms.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Therefore, there is a strong scriptural connection between God’s command
to shine light out of darkness on <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">the
first day</i> of creation and the appearance of the sun in the sky.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Indeed, our entire perspective is brought to the surface of
the earth from the very first verse of Scripture when ‘the Spirit of God was
moving over the surface of the waters’.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It is from this viewpoint, on an earth wrapped in darkness (Job 38:9),
that we see the light of the sun appear in the sky for the first time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is why the sun appears to have been
created before the fourth day of creation, as even some notable Young Earth
Creationists agree – again, the Jamieson-Fausset-Brown commentary notes of
Genesis 1:3:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">‘Whether the sun was created at the same time with, or long
before, the earth, the dense accumulation of fogs and vapors which enveloped
the chaos had covered the globe with a settled gloom. But by the command of
God, light was rendered visible; the thick murky clouds were dispersed, broken,
or rarefied, and light diffused over the expanse of waters.’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Therefore, they must logically interpret the fourth day of
creation as when the sun and moon become ‘for the first time unveiled in all
their glory in the cloudless sky’ with the ‘atmosphere being completely
purified’.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">To conclude, the contextual and linguistic evidence of
Scripture does not support the view that the sun, moon and stars were created
on the fourth day.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="line1">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Job 38: 4, 9 &
12<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Where were you when I laid the
earth’s foundation…when I made the clouds its garment and wrapped it in thick
darkness…? <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Have you ever given orders to
the morning, or shown the dawn its place…?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><br />
(NASB & ESV)</span></div>
<div class="line1">
<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div style="mso-element: footnote-list;">
<br clear="all" />
<hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" />
<div id="ftn1" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=924605110023521633#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[1]</span></span></span></span></a>
MacArthur, J. (2005) <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Battle for the
Beginning</i>, Thomas Nelson, p.80</div>
</div>
</div>
Dark Day Ministrieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14599268281520893034noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-924605110023521633.post-25397245184311788382013-12-31T03:00:00.001-08:002014-01-01T23:22:23.319-08:00Did Luke get his genealogy wrong?<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The genealogy from Noah to Abraham is thought by many to be complete in Genesis and not at all 'telescoped' like <i>every other</i> genealogy in the Bible. Telescoped basically means that certain people were missed out and only key names were used. Adam can be said to be the father of us all, for instance, or Abraham the father of the Hebrews, leaving out a great many names in between; in both the Old Testament and New, we see the ancient understanding of a genealogy employed consistently.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">However, some Young Earth Creationists do not like the fact that Luke includes an extra name in the Noah to Abraham genealogy which we do not find in Genesis 11. This opens up the possibility that the genealogies in the first few chapters of Genesis are incomplete and thus casts doubt on Archbishop Ussher's specific date for the age of earth. They are so quixotic in the defence of their views, they even go so far as to say that the version of Luke which we can prove to be the very best attested and apparently original must be wrong or, worse still, that Luke simply got it wrong! Those who genuinely desire to arrive at God's truth do not close their minds to all reason and hide their beliefs from scrutiny but are rather open and objective. If we believe we already understand all things, how can we learn?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Luke was not wrong but was certainly inspired by the Spirit of God who knows all things.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Cainan is said to be the son of Arphaxad and father of Shelah, yet this is excluded from Genesis:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Genesis 11:12 <span style="background-color: #fdfeff; color: #001320; line-height: 21px; text-align: justify;">Arpachshad lived thirty-five years, and became the father of Shelah; </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: #fdfeff; color: #001320; line-height: 21px; text-align: justify;">Luke 3:35-36 </span><span style="background-color: #fdfeff; color: #001320; line-height: 21px; text-align: justify;">the son of Shelah,<b> </b></span><span style="background-color: #fdfeff; color: #001320; line-height: 21px; text-align: justify;"><b>the son of Cainan</b>, the son of Arphaxad (NASB)</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">However, the Septuagint and Samaritan texts of Genesis 11 include Cainan. The Book of Jubilees and the Sefer ha-Yashar both describe Cainan as a historical figure. In fact, as <a href="http://books.google.com.tr/books?id=4z6oGoyORX0C&pg=RA6-PA331-IA4&dq=gaspheni&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=gaspheni&f=false" target="_blank">Smith notes</a>, 'there are more traditions preserved of him than of his son Salah.'</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">It has even been suggested by scholarly examination of the timing of the writing of the Masoretic Text that Cainan was deliberately not included by the Jews for sociopolitical reasons - <a href="http://jsp.sagepub.com/content/18/3/207.abstract" target="_blank">see article</a>.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">So is there any evidence against Luke's inspiration? The NET Bible notes recognise that whilst two key manuscripts do not include Cainan, the witnesses for his inclusion are substantial. They conclude that '<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 20px;">the omission may be a motivated reading'. And certainly it was not just the Jews who were motivated for removing Cainan from Genesis 11, nor early Christians, such as Irenaeus or Eusebius, trying to avoid the claim of contradictions or errors in the Bible. Even today, there are some who misrepresent Young Earth Creationists, who are motivated by a desire to allow no scholarly foot in the door of their interpretation.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 20px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 20px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Genealogies which are recorded in one book of the Bible but which deliberately exclude names found in the same genealogy from another book of the Bible are not treated with contempt. They are not criticised away by those with obvious motivation. It is my sincere prayer that the body of Christ would cease wrestling with the above texts also and allow the Bible to shape their interpretation rather than re-shaping the Bible to fit their presuppositions.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 20px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 20px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">May the God of all truth help us!</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: #fdfeff; color: #001320; line-height: 20px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Titus 3:9 But avoid foolish controversies and genealogies and strife and disputes about the Law, for they are unprofitable and worthless. (NASB)</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
Dark Day Ministrieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14599268281520893034noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-924605110023521633.post-53796833170147510622013-12-06T16:16:00.000-08:002014-10-13T14:42:24.064-07:00Will the real False Prophet please stand up<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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The False Prophet = the Antichrist</div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: teal; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">1John 2:18</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span>Children,
it is the last hour, and as you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">many antichrists have come</b><span class="gmw_">. Therefore we know that it is the last hour.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: teal; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">1John 4:1-3</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span>Beloved,
do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from
God, for <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">many false prophets have gone
out into the world</b>. By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that
confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, and every spirit
that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the
antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already.</div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: teal; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">2John 7</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span>For
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">many deceivers have gone out into the
world</b>, those who do not confess the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh. <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Such a one is the deceiver and the
antichrist</b>.</div>
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<br /></div>
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These terms show conclusively that John, author of the
Revelation of Jesus Christ, understood the terms false prophet and antichrist
to be synonymous.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He clearly used them
interchangeably.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is ironic that we
are so used to calling the one specifically prophesied Antichrist by that very
title, that we ignore the fact that John is the only NT writer to even call him
‘Antichrist’ and yet he and Paul used other names for this figure.</div>
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<br /></div>
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As we can see from the first quote given, 1John 2:18, all
Christians were expecting a particular Antichrist to come.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span class="gmw_">Pauls refers to this figure as the ‘lawless one’ – the man of lawlessness and the son of destruction who should come: i) empowered by Satan; <span class="gm_ gm_4ea8d6ab-7b27-5bf3-ad55-166aa57f08ec gm-spell">ii</span><span class="gmw_">) with false signs and false wonders to deceive the wicked; and <span class="gm_ gm_096b3fe8-e914-ab86-12d1-5ed7216f4156 gm-spell">iii</span>) blasphemously exalting himself, within the temple of God, to the title of God on earth (2Thessalonians 2:3-12).</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin-left: 54.0pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -36.0pt;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">i)<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span>In Revelation 13, we see the first beast, i.e.
the Pagan Roman Empire.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The dragon,
later revealed to be Satan, is the one who gives this empire its authority
(Revelation 13:2 & 4).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now the
second beast of this chapter is also empowered by Satan, as it exercises the
same power as the first beast (Revelation 13:11-12).</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 54.0pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -36.0pt;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span class="gmw_"><span class="gm_ gm_b7c07b8f-ecb3-1a89-3e5d-dc7521ebeb94 gm-spell">ii</span>)</span><span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span>The identity of this second beast is also
revealed as ‘the false prophet’ who performed false wonders, creating an image
of the first beast, seeming to give life to it and causing people to receive the mark of the beast (Revelation
19:20).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is precisely what the
second beast of Revelation 13 does.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin-left: 54.0pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -36.0pt;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span class="gmw_"><span class="gm_ gm_60773a46-6673-8114-66c6-afd62e956836 gm-spell">iii</span>)</span><span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span>The blasphemous names on the whore who rides the
first beast (Revelation 17) are synonymous with the blasphemies that the False
Prophet causes the revived first beast to speak (Revelation 13:5-6 & 15).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Rather than a whore riding the ten-horned
first beast, Daniel prophesies of the Antichrist as a ‘little horn’ which rises
up amongst the ten other horns and has dominion over them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He also speaks blasphemously (Daniel 7:8
& 20) and like the False Prophet makes war with the saints and overcomes
them (Daniel 7:21 and Revelation 13:7).</div>
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<br /></div>
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For now, the point is proven that the False Prophet is the
Antichrist.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But who is or was the Antichrist?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
(All Scripture quotes from ESV unless specified otherwise) </div>
Dark Day Ministrieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14599268281520893034noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-924605110023521633.post-86113388626254561382013-11-19T14:15:00.000-08:002013-11-19T14:15:05.437-08:00Were Solomon and Saul saved?<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span style="color: teal; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">2Samuel
7:14-15</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">He shall build a house
for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Here, Nathan the prophet speaks the words
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">But, aside from this, we learn something
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<span style="color: teal; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">Revelation
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<span style="color: teal; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">Hebrews
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Lord disciplines the one he loves,</span></span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> <span class="ln-indent">and chastises every son
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Solomon repented, being the very apparent
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">We Christians mustn’t be fooled by the
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things.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Spirit of God could cause
even Balaam to prophesy the truth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span class="gmw_">But this is very different to being <span class="gm_ gm_d1886786-3ece-8801-8c83-0378d92d9fb2 gm-spell">indwelt</span> by the Spirit of God, as Peter says the prophets of old were (1Peter 1:11).</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Instead, these two men are a great
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<br /></div>
Dark Day Ministrieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14599268281520893034noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-924605110023521633.post-10802624197674005902013-11-10T10:47:00.002-08:002013-11-10T10:47:16.109-08:00Head-coverings are ‘because of the angels’? What does that mean?<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span style="color: teal; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">1Corinthians 11:10</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is why a woman should have<span class="gm_ gm_7a379dbe-f7f7-49d1-c439-490d86eb7fbd gm-spell gm_tiny"> </span>authority over her own head: because of the angels. (ISV)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">One
interpretation of this verse is both ridiculous and ridiculously popular amongst
Christians; it is said that this verse teaches that unless women cover their
heads in prayer, fallen angels will come and rape them…<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This comes from the sadly distorted view that
fallen angels bred with human women and produced giant offspring.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>See here for a thorough refutation of that
interpretation:</span></div>
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xxi7c4ClZfo"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Were there giants on the earth?</span></a><div class="MsoNormal">
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Another
classical and more sensible interpretation is presented by the outstanding
commentator, Bengel: ‘</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">[L]et the woman <i>cover herself</i> because of
the angels, <i>i.e.</i> because the angels are also covered. As the angels are
to God, so the woman is to the man. The face of God is manifested: whereas the
angels are covered, Isaiah 6.’<br />
This is a standard interpretation and, whilst I do not disagree with it, I
believe the meaning is even deeper.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">Professor Beet in Exell’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Biblical
Illustrator</i>: ‘Already (4:9) we have seen the angels contemplating the
apostles’ hardships. They attend upon men (Heb 1:14), are placed side by side
of the Church militant (Heb 12:22), and desire to look into the teaching of the
prophets (1Pe 1:12). Now, if they take interest in men, they must take special
interest in those assemblies in which men unitedly draw near to God, and which
have so great influence upon the spiritual life of men. We must therefore
conceive them present at the public worship of the church.’</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;"><span class="gmw_">Therefore, the angels, who were not given wives to marry (Matthew 22:30), desire to observe the marriages of God’s people and how this is symbolic of Christ and His church (Ephesians 5:25 & Revelation 21:9) and all that God is performing<span class="gm_ gm_a4429797-7c66-3a37-24ec-fc09387458fe gm-spell gm_tiny"> </span>and the depth of it reflected in His creation, especially the new creatures of Christ’s kingdom.</span></span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"></span></div>
Dark Day Ministrieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14599268281520893034noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-924605110023521633.post-52417237891610358392013-11-02T00:44:00.000-07:002013-11-02T13:50:40.833-07:00Communion wine or communion grape juice?<br />
Matthew 26:29 I tell you I will not drink again of this fruit of
the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s
kingdom.<br />
<br />
There are a number who assert that grape juice was instituted by the Lord Jesus for the Lord's supper. After all, the Lord uses the word 'wine' elsewhere so why not here? <br />
<br />
The Pulpit Commentary says of this verse: 'The offspring of the vine is a poetical way of describing wine (cf. <a href="http://biblehub.com/deuteronomy/22-9.htm">Deuteronomy 22:9</a>; <a href="http://biblehub.com/isaiah/32-12.htm">Isaiah 32:12</a><span class="gmw_">, etc.). It is absurd to find in this term an argument for unalcoholic grape juice.' Also, Bengel confirms that these Greek words were used in the Septuagint OT to refer to wine. Indeed, I cannot find a commentator who entertains the notion that grape juice was consumed at the Lord's table and, knowing what it is that Jews would have drunk at such a meal, it very difficult to conclude otherwise.</span><br />
<br />
<span class="gmw_">The burden of proof is on the Christian who wishes to show that these words mean grape juice.</span>Dark Day Ministrieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14599268281520893034noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-924605110023521633.post-58823629900129548632013-10-28T13:17:00.002-07:002014-10-20T06:36:40.116-07:00Freemasons, Illuminati & Templars - the Jesuit scam<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: small;">The origin of the conspiracy theory that the Illuminati survived 1785 lies ultimately with a French Jesuit priest, Augustin Barruel. Life had become increasingly difficult for Papists and their priests in France, but when the French Revolution occurred, Barruel fled France and found safety in England. His aggression and research had for some time been regarding the rise of secular thought in Europe. As his role as a Jesuit required, he wrote against Napoleon and the Revolution and sought to turn the British against the French, cleverly causing Rome’s enemies to fight each other.<br />
From London, Barruel wrote <b><i>Memoirs Illustrating the History of Jacobinism
</i></b>in
1797. He postulated that the Illuminati
had continued, despite evidence to the contrary, and were working through
Freemasonry in a conspiracy to establish governments which were antimonarchical
and anticlerical. It was soon translated
into English, German, Italian, Spanish, Russian etc. and became a transnational
sensation. Even political figures began
to take the claims seriously and public discussion became so unavoidable that
Freemasons from across Europe began writing openly in their defence against the
theory.<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=924605110023521633#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; line-height: 115%;">[1]</span></span></span></a></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: small;"><span class="gmw_">The reality is that there was not any organised force behind the enlightenment or the genuine desire in men’s hearts to be free from oppression, whether it <span class="gm_ gm_a319e707-7398-9949-9715-8141abf0b302 gm-spell">be</span> religious or otherwise, in the establishment of secular societies.</span> This
was the general consensus for many throughout Europe, as it is today. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: small;">As
men became more educated during the Enlightenment and the Renaissance, many broke free from Rome during the Protestant Reformation, as
did whole nation states. Likewise, the
desire within the common, <i>unbelieving</i> European was increasingly to be
free from nominal Christianity altogether and to replace it with something
closer to Rationalism. This was not
brought about by any secret society; the secret societies which formed with
these agendas were purely symptomatic of the fact that many hated Roman Catholicism’s oppressive stance of the time and wanted liberty. People wanted religious freedom as well as social freedom.<br />The greatest evidence for this was the founding of the United States of America.</span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: small;">So, Barruel took advantage of the rise of secular thought by declaring that it was none other than the work of the
Illuminati which (although it had actually been shutdown by the Bavarian government) somehow survived and
was wreaking havoc. Because Rome feared
any movement which sought a separation of church and state, Barruel took
advantage of the fact that the French Revolution was an expression of a desire
to explore different methods of government and portrayed this as the distant
smoke of a spreading fire which could destroy European monarchies and the very
fabric of society. This
successfully helped in stirring up the British against the French. </span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: small;">Indeed,
this deliberately hatched conspiracy theory has continued to dupe a vast number
of Evangelical Christians today. </span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: small;">Sadly, at exactly the same time, a Roman Catholic monk and secret agent, Alexander Horn, who wrote much about his hate of the French Revolution and the demise of his hope for a Holy Roman Empire. He thus provided the material for Scots Professor John Robiso</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: small;"><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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</xml><![endif]--></span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: small;">n to write <i><b>Proofs
of a Conspiracy against All the Religions and Governments of Europe, carried on
in the Secret Meetings of the Free Masons, Illuminati, and Reading Societies</b>.</i><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><b><span style="line-height: 115%;"> </span></b></span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: small;">This</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: small;"> was just
as successful and influential in its own right. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: small;">An American pastor sent a copy of this book to President George
Washington to learn his thoughts on the matter, to which he responded: </span></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: small;">‘</span><span style="font-size: small;">It was not my intention to doubt that,
the Doctrines of the Illuminati, and principles of Jacobinism had not spread in
the United States. On the contrary, no one is more truly satisfied of this fact
than I am. The idea that I meant to convey, was, that I did not believe that
the <i>Lodges</i> of Free Masons in <i>this</i> Country had, as <i>Societies,</i>
endeavoured to propagate the diabolical tenets of the first, or pernicious
principles of the latter (if they are susceptible of separation). That
Individuals of them may have done it, or that the <i>founder,</i> or <i>instrument</i>
employed to found, the Democratic Societies in the United States, may have had
these objects; and actually had a separation of the <i>People</i> from their <i>Government</i>
in view, is too evident to be questioned.’<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=924605110023521633#_ftn2" name="_ftnref2" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; line-height: 115%;">[2]</span></span></span></a> </span> <span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div>
</blockquote>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;">George Washington could see that the
Secularist principles, particularly the separation of church and state, held to
previously by the Bavarian Illuminati, were not unique to them or to the
Freemasons but were principles held to by many individuals and organisations
and even expressed by the principles of liberty in the United States
Constitution. But, even though he was a
Freemason himself, he was very nearly convinced by this conspiracy theory too. As we have seen, this was the natural desire
of the masses in Europe also; it was not some secret plot being orchestrated.</span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: small;">
Nevertheless, this theory has continued to be popularised in more recent times
by Nesta Webster, William Guy Carr and, today, by any number of Christians
warning us of a coming New World Order at the hands of the Illuminati.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: small;">Moreover, Jesuit Barruel was also responsible for
popularising the oddball theory of famous French Pharmacist and medical aide to
Napoleon, Cadet de Gassicourt, that Freemasonry was actually a resurgence
of the Knights Templar. As well as fancifully
connecting various unrelated secret societies, he devised the idea that a
Templar remnant hid for centuries, waiting to avenge the execution of their
grand master on the Papacy which had abolished them and that they had ignited
the French Revolution to do so. The fact
is that despite being a very influential man, not even his closest
fellow-revolutionaries agreed with Cadet de Gassicourt.<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=924605110023521633#_ftn3" name="_ftnref3" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; line-height: 115%;">[3]</span></span></span></a></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><span class="gmw_">Just think how popular these ideas are today. The moral of this story is that propaganda, like gossip, spreads fast and it should stop at us.</span></span> </span></span></span></span></span></div>
<div style="mso-element: footnote-list;">
<br />
<hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" />
<div id="ftn1" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=924605110023521633#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; line-height: 115%;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; line-height: 115%;">[1]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; line-height: 115%;"> Campbell, P., Kaiser, T., Linton, M. (2007) <i>Conspiracy in the French Revolution</i>, Manchester
University Press, p.152</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
</span><span style="font-size: x-small;">
</span></div>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
</span><br />
<div id="ftn2">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=924605110023521633#_ftnref2" name="_ftn2" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; line-height: 115%;">[2]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"> Washington, G. (24/10/1798) <i>To Reverend G. W. Snyder</i></span></span></div>
</div>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
</span><br />
<div id="ftn3" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=924605110023521633#_ftnref3" name="_ftn3" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; line-height: 115%;">[3]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"> </span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Campbell, P., Kaiser, T., Linton, M. (2007) <i>Conspiracy in the French Revolution</i>, Manchester
University Press, p.152 </span></span></div>
</div>
</div>
Dark Day Ministrieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14599268281520893034noreply@blogger.com215tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-924605110023521633.post-42831609675769676792013-10-04T14:39:00.000-07:002013-10-15T12:51:24.468-07:00The Biblical Beard!<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="color: teal; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;"><span class="gmw_"> <span style="color: red;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">(Please note - I am a total beard <span class="gm_ gm_d4c3e3d6-be52-486a-cb69-5ccd7fdce3cc gm-spell">enthusiast</span></span></span></span></span><span style="color: red;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><b>)</b></span></span></span><br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;"><br /></span></b>
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">Bible
Beards:</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="color: teal; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">1Corinthians 11:14 <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Does
not nature itself teach you that if a man wears long hair it is a disgrace…?</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">What then of the
beard? Nature quite clearly teaches us that God put a beard on man’s face to
distinguish him from a woman. Numerous commentators state that the force of
Paul’s argument in this verse is to suggest that having long hair was effeminate
and that <i>this </i>was the disgrace Paul was describing in the context.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Similarly, is it not also effeminate to shave
off the unique feature of a man’s face in order to maintain the appearance of a
lady or a child?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">Indeed, there are
even Christians who believe that women <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">must</i>
wear skirts in order to distinguish themselves from men!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Accordingly, the Christian husband wakes up
every morning and proceeds to ritualistically shave off the very feature our
wise God has created for that purpose.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>They would rather impose a man-made item of clothing on women for any
needed distinction.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">‘How do we
distinguish between a man and a woman?’ The answer is right under your nose.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And what, I ask, is wrong with the natural
feature God has created for this purpose?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">Throughout God’s
Word, we see that men have beards. It is taken as obvious that they would have
beards, with the shaving of them being the custom of heathen tribes for the
mourning of their dead (Leviticus 19:27). In fact, in the Scriptures, we see
that shaving off one’s beard is shameful:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="color: teal; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">2Samuel 10:4-5 <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">So
Hanun took David’s servants and shaved off half the beard of each and cut off
their garments in the middle, at their hips, and sent them away. When it was
told David, he sent to meet them, for the men were greatly ashamed. And the
king said, “Remain at Jericho until your beards have grown and then return.”</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">Dr Gill interestingly
points out that, were shaven men to have been acceptable in God’s Israel, they
could have easily just shaved off the other half of their beard.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But no!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This was so shameful and ridiculous that they could not return without a
beard.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">So why do men shave
today? How have things changed since David’s time? How did beard shaving come
about?</span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">The history of beard removal:</span></b></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">Ancient <span class="gm_ gm_07122000-e0c4-151d-aa6b-de4b31d71082 gm-spell">postdiluvian</span> history – Cave paintings have been found depicting men plucking their beards off with sea shells; similarly flint appears to have been used for shaving various body parts as well as for cutting the flesh for diabolical pagan rituals.</span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">Later, the
Egyptians, particularly the priesthood, shaved their faces and heads. For the Egyptians,
the less hair on one’s body, the higher their status. The Mesopotamians and the
Sumerians too would shave off their beards with obsidian blades.<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=924605110023521633#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[1]</span></span></span></span></a></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 7.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;"> <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">Note
that Moses was raised in the house of Pharaoh and the children of Israel had
interactions with the Mesopotamians, particularly Balaam. And yet the Lord
calls for Moses and the children of Israel to not do as the heathen nations do
in shaving their beards and cutting themselves</span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">(Leviticus
19:27-28).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">Between 3000 and
1500 B.C. – Cultures from India to Scandinavia developed various permanent
razors from copper and other materials for use in rituals for the dead.</span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;"><span class="gmw_">500 B.C. – As homosexuality prevails in Greece and elsewhere, the hairlessness of men becomes increasingly popular. By the late 300’s B.C., Alexander the Great expanded his empire from the Mediterranean to the Himalayas and notoriously popularised shaving. He vainly would not go into battle without shaving.</span><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=924605110023521633#_ftn2" name="_ftnref2" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn2;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[2]</span></span></span></span></a></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 7.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">Just
as notorious became the Greek baths where men would seek out younger men,
perfumed and hairless.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">The term ‘barbarian’
is thought to refer to supposedly uncivilised or un-barbered nations, the Greek
word ‘barba’ meaning ‘beard’.</span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;"><span class="gmw_">300 B.C. – <span class="gm_ gm_29200897-4f58-9d20-43ed-ea9398002a5e gm-spell">Publicus</span> Ticinius Maenas, a Greek barber, comes to Rome and the fashion spreads into Europe. It becomes so popular that once men reached the age of 21 they were legally required to be shaved using an iron </span><span class="gm_ gm_1ba4d217-7e8d-ceea-29bd-3d39f9e9622f gm-spell">novacila</span>. Only the military and philosophers were exempt. With homosexuality just as popular and acceptable in Rome as in Greece, the rich had live-in servants to shave their bodies whilst the plebeians had to go to the barber to make themselves appear more effeminate and attractive to other men.</span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">This practice
continued and was increasingly popularised at least until 100 B.C. by Julius Caesar
and by the openly sexually deviant Emperors such as Nero.<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=924605110023521633#_ftn3" name="_ftnref3" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn3;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[3]</span></span></span></span></a></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">The Dark Ages – As
the Roman Empire falls and is divided, the Papacy arises as the revived head of
Rome.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The ecclesiastical system of
Antichrist Rome adopted countless Pagan customs; one of these being the shaving
of their priesthood.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Another example is
the shaven head or ‘tonsure’ which was and is the custom of various heathen
religions. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By 1000 A.D., it was so
engrained in the minds of Europeans that a shaved man was automatically a
popish priest, it is thought that the Normans won the battle of Hastings in
1066 A.D. because their spies came clean-shaven and were mistaken by the Saxons
for priests.</span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">However, during the
Reformation, beginning in the 1500’s A.D., for a priest to declare that he had
been liberated by the light of the doctrines of grace and saw the Papacy as the</span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">Antichrist, he grew
his beard; this was a rejection of the darkness of the abominable traditions
and errors of Rome.</span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">The ‘Renaissance’ –
The renaissance also began in the 1500’s A.D.; this movement saw artists,
architects and philosophers reviving ideas from ancient Greece and Pagan Rome.
Michelangelo, a notorious homosexual, amongst the works he was commissioned to
create by the Papacy, carved his statue which is supposed to represent king
David.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Michelangelo, hearkening to the
debauched artistry of ancient Greece and Rome, with their heavy emphasis on
nude males, carved the statue of a completely naked, shaven man standing in an
obscenely effeminate pose, facing towards Rome. This is most ungodly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yet, this monstrosity declared to the western
world what was considered masculine for centuries to come, even having been
described as ‘the perfect man’.</span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">Shaving
increasingly became more popular among those of a higher status in Europe, as
in</span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">Egypt and Rome
before it; shaving was considered the height of fashion in the 1600’s and</span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">1700’s A.D., with
popular books written on the subject. Peter ‘the Great’ of Russia even made
beards illegal in order to be more like Western Europe.<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=924605110023521633#_ftn4" name="_ftnref4" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn4;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[4]</span></span></span></span></a></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">‘Modern’ Times – Since
the safety razor was introduced in the 1800’s, men have scarcely looked
back.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Today, if you are deluded enough
to watch much T.V., a deliberately deep voice will attempt to sell you the idea
that if you are clean shaven, attractive women will want to come and stroke
your face. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span class="gmw_">This is a stupid notion<span class="gm_ gm_ab8b27f7-2dbb-c0df-930e-709841d16a4b gm-spell gm_tiny"> </span>and those that fall for it, sadly, deserve to.</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Nothing has impeded the advance of this originally pagan practice from
invading Protestantism and ruining many a fine beard. Very few voices, it
seems, have stood against it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Charles
Spurgeon declared in the 1800’s:</span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">‘[G]row your
beards! A habit most natural, scriptural, manly, and beneficial.’<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=924605110023521633#_ftn5" name="_ftnref5" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn5;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[5]</span></span></span></span></a></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 7.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;"></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">Conclusion:</span></b></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">Brethren, consider
Christ who truly was the perfect man, indeed a bearded man (Isaiah</span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">50:6); consider the
thoughts of the early church of the 2<sup>nd</sup> century:</span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">‘How womanly it is
for one who is a man to comb himself and shave himself with a razor, for the
sake of fine effect, and to arrange his hair at the mirror, shave his cheeks,
pluck hairs out of them, and smooth them! …For God wished women to be smooth
and to rejoice in their locks alone growing spontaneously, as a horse in his
mane. But He has adorned man, like the lions, with a beard, and endowed him as
an attribute of manhood, with a hairy chest, a sign of strength and rule… This,
then, is the mark of the man, the beard. By this, he is seen to be a man. It is
older than Eve…It is therefore unholy to desecrate the symbol of manhood, hairiness.’<span style="font-size: xx-small;">6</span><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=924605110023521633#_ftn6" name="_ftnref6" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn6;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span></span></span></span></a></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">To conclude, I am <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">NOT </i>saying that a man who shaves cannot
be a Christian and I certainly do not want to glory in the flesh of my
brethren.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But I do believe that someone who
shaves their beard simply for vanity and to appear ‘normal’ in the eyes of the
world is only satisfying their fleshly desires.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Embrace what God put on your face; it turns overgrown schoolboys into
men!</span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">In all seriousness,
I pray we would examine all of our habitual daily activities in light of God’s
Word.</span></div>
<div style="mso-element: footnote-list;">
<br clear="all" />
<hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" />
<div id="ftn1" style="mso-element: footnote;">
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<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=924605110023521633#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title=""></a><span style="color: black; font-size: 6.5pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">1 </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Baskerville Old Face","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Baskerville Old Face";">Encyclopaedia
Britannica</span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn2" style="mso-element: footnote;">
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<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=924605110023521633#_ftnref2" name="_ftn2" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn2;" title=""></a><span style="color: black; font-size: 6.5pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">2</span> <span style="color: black; font-size: 6.5pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Baskerville Old Face","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Baskerville Old Face";">Allen, A. (1875) <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Smith’s A
Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities</i>, John Murray, London, s.v. </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Baskerville Old Face","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">‘Barba’</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Baskerville Old Face","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Baskerville Old Face";"></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn3" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=924605110023521633#_ftnref3" name="_ftn3" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn3;" title=""></a><span style="color: black; font-size: 6.5pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">3</span>
<span style="color: black; font-size: 6.5pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Baskerville Old Face","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Baskerville Old Face";">Ibid.</span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn4" style="mso-element: footnote;">
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<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=924605110023521633#_ftnref4" name="_ftn4" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn4;" title=""></a><span style="color: black; font-size: 6.5pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">4</span> <span style="color: black; font-size: 6.5pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Baskerville Old Face","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Baskerville Old Face";">Encyclopaedia Britannica</span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn5" style="mso-element: footnote;">
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<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=924605110023521633#_ftnref5" name="_ftn5" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn5;" title=""></a><sup><span style="color: black; font-family: "Baskerville Old Face","serif"; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"></span></sup><span style="color: black; font-size: 6.5pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Baskerville Old Face","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Baskerville Old Face";">5 Spurgeon, C. H. (1981 ed.) Lectures to My Students, First Series,
Lecture 8, Baker Book House, p.134</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;">
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Dark Day Ministrieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14599268281520893034noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-924605110023521633.post-80281136109579406102013-09-12T05:55:00.000-07:002013-09-12T05:56:27.504-07:00The Last Will and Testament of Jesus Christ<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: teal; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">Hebrews 9:15-17<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span class="text"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Therefore [Jesus] is the
mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the
promised eternal inheritance, since a death has occurred that redeems them from
the transgressions committed under the first covenant.<sup value="[<a href="#fen-ESVUK-30104h" title="See footnote h">h</a>]">
</sup>For where a will is involved, the death of the one who made it must
be established.</span> </span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span class="text">For a
will takes effect only at death, since it is not in force as long as the one
who made it is alive. (ESV)</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="text"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">There
are many who disagree on the interpretation of the Greek word ‘diatheke’ here, which
can mean either covenant or testament.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The reason some do not like the idea of a clear New Testament or ‘will’,
as the context clearly denotes, is because they are striving to maintain the
idea that the old covenant made with Moses and ethnic Israel was simply <i>renewed</i>
by Jesus and not automatically revoked with the enacting of a New and ‘better
Testament’ (Hebrews 7:22).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
motivation for this bizarre interpretation is essentially to preserve the
tradition, within many ‘denominations’, of the Sabbath doctrine and the
understanding that the ten commandments still apply to Christians and have
applied to all human beings (Gentiles included) since they were first handed
down to Adam.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="text"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">The
fact that the Old Testament is crystal clear that these commandments only
applied to Israel and were first given to Moses, and that this was always the Jewish
understanding, is not enough to convince them (Deut. 5:3, Nehemiah 9:13-14, Psalm
147:19-20 & Ezekiel 20:11-12).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Therefore, we must look at what the New Testament explicitly says the
New Testament is in order to leave them with nowhere to run by denying this
simple truth but the shadows of wilful ignorance.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">The main
resource for this study is the exhaustive scholarly effort of Dr. Norton: Norton,
F. (1908) <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">A Lexicographical and Historical
Study of </i></span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">διαθήκη</span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"> from the Earliest Times to the End of the
Classical Period</span></i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">, University of Chicago Press</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Norton examines
the very earliest uses of this Greek word to identify the fullest meaning of
Hebrews 9.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Interestingly, he notes that
the ancient Greek law relating to wills was derived from the contract for the
adoption of children.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But he also notes
other meanings:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">‘The disposition
or arrangement which a man makes with reference to his property in view of
death. The word is here used in the singular number to denote the instrument as
a whole—a Greek will or testament in the legal or technical sense.’ (p.33)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is essentially a will or testament.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">The other main
meaning is: ‘An agreement, or settlement, arrived at by means of a disposition
or arrangement of points in dispute, a mutual settlement.’ (p.35)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">It is
interesting to note that God created an eternal Covenant which would accomplish
all of these; we are adopted as His children and thus receive a glorious
inheritance with Christ (Eph 1:5 & 11), who died as the testator of this
will and this contract acts as a ‘settlement’ over any ‘dispute’ we had with God,
having once been His enemies (Romans 5:1 etc.).</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><br />
Nevertheless, as the Liddell-Scott-Jones Lexicon confirms, the most frequent
and ancient usage of this word is in reference to the ‘</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">disposition
of property by will’</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For example, this word is used in Homer’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Iliad</i> when Agamemnon makes a will
regarding his possessions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When
examining a real ancient Greek will, Norton shows that the inclusion of this
legal understanding simply cannot be excluded by those who take this word as
purely meaning a covenant:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"> </span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">‘The senses of “testament”
and “compact” were so closely allied that the same word could be used for both,
and the orator could have either or both in mind as suited his argument. In
fact, we have no one word that exactly expresses the idea conveyed by διαθήκη
to the Greeks.’ (p. 39, footnote to Isaeus)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"> </span>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">This word all at
once referred to wills, certificates of adoption, dispute agreements and, yes,
contracts in general, as Norton also recognises:</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>‘A disposition or settlement of relations
between two parties, wherein one party lays down the conditions, and the other
accepts them and binds himself by an oath or solemn promise to keep them; a
settlement, arrangement, compact, covenant.’ (p.41)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"> </span>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">But, regardless, a will was the most commonly understood usage of the word and, when the context speaks of Christ’s death initiating this testament, it can mean nothing else in Hebrews 9.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Furthermore,
even if this were just a covenant, the breaking of this in ancient Greek law
meant that the covenant was revoked, not in need of renewal!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Jews broke God’s covenant and thus it was
revoked.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Likewise, if we take this to
mean a testament, this also makes the older testament null and void.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Again, Norton confirms this: ‘[T]he testator…could
revoke it by the substitution of another document’. (p.70)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><br />
So whether this verse refers to a covenant or testament, the Bible is clear:
the covenant which was broken previously had ended and an entirely New Covenant
had to be established.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="regular">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: teal; font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><span class="gmw_">Hebrews 8:6 <span class="gm_ gm_d8ab6ca2-7209-4832-5534-0f43ce263ac8 gm-spell">ff</span>.</span></span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"> </span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">But as it is, Christ has obtained a
ministry that is as much more excellent than the old as the covenant he
mediates is better, since it is enacted on better promises. For if that first
covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion to look for a
second.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="regular">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">For
he finds fault with them when he says:</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="line-group">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span class="line"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">“Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord,</span></span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><br />
<span class="ln-indent">when I will establish a new covenant with the house of
Israel</span><br />
<span class="ln-indent">and with the house of Judah,</span><br />
<span class="line">not like the covenant that I made with their fathers</span><br />
<span class="ln-indent">on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out
of the land of Egypt.</span><br />
<span class="line">For they did not continue in my covenant,</span><br />
<span class="ln-indent">and so I showed no concern for them, declares the Lord.</span><br />
<span class="line">For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of
Israel</span><br />
<span class="ln-indent">after those days, declares the Lord:</span><br />
<span class="line">I will put my laws into their minds,</span><br />
<span class="ln-indent">and write them on their hearts,</span><br />
<span class="line">and I will be their God,</span><br />
<span class="ln-indent">and they shall be my people.</span><br />
<span class="line">And they shall not teach, each one his neighbor</span><br />
<span class="ln-indent">and each one his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’</span><br />
<span class="line">for they shall all know me,</span><br />
<span class="ln-indent">from the least of them to the greatest.</span><br />
<span class="line">For I will be merciful toward their iniquities,</span><br />
<span class="ln-indent">and I will remember their sins no more.”</span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="same-paragraph">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">In
speaking of a new covenant, he makes the first one obsolete. And what is
becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span>Dark Day Ministrieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14599268281520893034noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-924605110023521633.post-21591018796239793372013-08-15T06:15:00.002-07:002013-08-15T06:15:31.598-07:00Where are the angels who sinned? In hell or on earth?<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">The London Baptist Confession
of 1644 notes the sin of the angels under article IV: ‘Satan…with his Angels
having sinned before, and not</span><a href="" name="23a" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> kept their first estate, but left
their own habitation…’</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Nothing more is
said regarding the sin of the angels because Scripture says nothing more.</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">God only indicates to us that the sin of the
angels was to have departed from their original dwelling place.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="color: teal; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">2Peter 2:4</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"> For if <span style="color: #00b050;">God</span> spared not <span style="color: red;">the angels
that sinned</span>, but <span style="color: #00b050;">cast <i>them</i> down to
hell, and delivered <i>them</i> into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto
judgment</span>…<br />
<span style="color: teal;">Jude 1:6</span>
And <span style="color: red;">the angels which kept not their first
estate, but left their own habitation</span>, <span style="color: #00b050;">he
hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the
great day</span>.<b><o:p></o:p></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">Most
recognise that 2Peter and Jude appear to be parallels of one another and give
greater depth of the meaning intended by the Holy Spirit, in much the same way
the four Gospels do. Here, they are
comparing the sinfulness and condemnation of the evil angels to that of false
teachers and false brethren – ‘…to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness
for ever.’ (Jude 1:13)<br />
The phrase used by Peter, ‘cast them
down to hell’, is a single word, a verb – ‘tartarosas’. Tartarus was the lowest place of Hades in
Greek mythology. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><br /></span>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">On 2Peter 2:4, with the angels being cast down into Tartarus, Matthew
Poole writes: <br />
‘</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">What place that is we find not expressed in
Scripture, and therefore we are not to be over curious in our inquiries after
it’. <br />
I do not agree! We must seek to know the
will of God and we should be diligent in our studies. If a matter is hard for us to understand, we
must pray that the Lord would open our eyes.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt 18pt; text-indent: -18pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt 18pt; text-indent: -18pt;">
<u><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">What or where is Tartarus in the New Testament?<o:p></o:p></span></u></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt 18pt; text-indent: -18pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt 18pt; text-indent: -18pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "TITUS Cyberbit Basic"; mso-fareast-font-family: "TITUS Cyberbit Basic";">According to Strong’s Lexicon,
this word is derived ‘[f]</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">rom</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "TITUS Cyberbit Basic"; mso-fareast-font-family: "TITUS Cyberbit Basic";">…Tartaros̄</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-fareast-font-family: "TITUS Cyberbit Basic";"> (the deepest <i>abyss</i>
of Hades); <b>to <i>incarcerate</i> in
eternal torment</b>…’</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">Therefore,
to tartarus someone, as this verb designs, is to cast them down in a spiritual
sense; the ex-Pagan Gentiles would have readily understood the spiritual
significance of this verb because the primary inhabitants of Tartarus,
according to Greek mythology were the Titans - ancient deities who had been
overthrown and cast down by Zeus and the Olympian gods. Words and concepts were often used by the
early Christians to convey ideas to their Pagan or ex-Pagan audience (eg. the
Logos, Hades etc.). But, as Peter and
Jude tell us, this is not referring to that final judgment when the devil and
his angels are plunged into the lake of fire; these chains of darkness are
simply where they are reserved <i>for</i>
that punishment – ‘not as equivalent to Gehenna, but as the place of detention
until the judgment’, as Vincent’s Word Studies puts it. And so this action refers to when the
‘sinning angels were cast out of heaven.’ (People’s New Testament commentary)<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">This understanding is further confirmed by the
ancient Hebrew understanding of this verse in Peter's letter:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">Aramaic Bible in Plain English - And if God did
not spare the Angels who sinned, but cast them down in chains of darkness into
the lowest depths and handed them over to be kept for the judgment...<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">Any confusion as to why Satan can roam around as
a lion (1Peter 5:8) is therefore cleared up once we recognise that the evil
angels are not in hell (Gehenna - the lake of fire). So Jamieson-Fausset-Brown comments thus on
Peter’s use of this Pagan Greek word: ‘ "Tartarus": nowhere else in
New Testament or the Septuagint…though [the evil angels] final doom is hell,
yet for a time they are permitted to roam beyond it in "the darkness of
this world." Slaves of Tartarus…may also come upon earth.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">So,
how are the fallen angels incarcerated?
Simply put, God tartarus’ed, if you will, the evil angels in that He
cast them down and they now inhabit darkness, particularly spiritual darkness
and are in this jail, having received their prison sentence, now awaiting that
punishment. They left their original
status and are now reserved in chains of darkness; they are kept in that outer
darkness, no longer in the light of God’s presence. Satan and his angels will not be cast into
the lake of fire and properly tormented before the Day of Judgment (Matthew 8:29
& Matthew 25:41).<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">We
see a symbolic vision in which the evil angels are cast down in the Revelation:<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: teal; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">Revelation 12:9</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"> And the
great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which
deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were
cast out with him.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">The
casting down of Satan is also confirmed by the Lord Jesus:<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: teal; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">Luke 10:18</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"> And he
said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">And
we see very clearly from the Scriptures that these evil angels do subsequently
inhabit darkness. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><br /></span>
<u><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">The
evil angels inhabit darkness<o:p></o:p></span></u><br />
<u><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><br /></span></u>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">In
Psalm 78, the Holy Spirit describes the various plagues which God sent upon
Egypt before the exodus of the Israelites.
The description of the plague of darkness is fascinating and very
informative:<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: teal; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">Psalm 78:49</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"> He cast
upon them the fierceness of his anger, wrath, and indignation, and trouble, by
sending evil angels <i><span style="color: grey;">among them.<o:p></o:p></span></i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><i><span style="color: grey;"><br /></span></i></span>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">The Greek word used here for ‘evil’ in the
Septuagint is used many times in the New Testament to refer to evil spirits
(Luke 7:21, Acts 19:15 etc.) and so this cannot simply be referring to good
angels who were sent to bring destruction.<br />
Also, it is interesting, though by no means authoritative, to note how the Jews
recalled the events of this darkness in which evil angels came to trouble the
Egyptians. We can see an account given
in the apocryphal book of Wisdom:<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">Wisdom
17:2-4 <span class="versetext">When
lawless people tried to oppress your holy nation, in actual fact they were the
prisoners who were being <b>held in a dark
place, bound in chains</b> through a long night. They were confined to their
own homes as they vainly tried to flee from a plan that had been prepared for
all eternity.<br />
They thought that they could hide their sins by pulling a blanket of
forgetfulness over themselves. But instead they were scattered in every
direction, terrified by fear, and spooked by nightmarish visions. <br />
They hid themselves in the deepest corners of their houses, but couldn't escape
from their fears. Even there they heard all around them sounds that terrified
them. Mournful ghosts with gloomy faces appeared to them.</span><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><span class="versetext"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">Not
only do the evil angels appear to have tormented the Egyptians by pretending to
be ghosts but we also see that the darkness they experienced in this plague
appears to be much the same as the darkness in which the Lord keeps the evil
angels bound in chains, according to 2Peter and Jude. Perhaps this is why Moses describes this
darkness as a thick darkness which could be felt (Exodus 10:21-22).<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">But,
more than this, we see why the children of God and of the devil are distinguished
as being of the light or of darkness respectively:<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: teal; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">1Thessalonians 5:5</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"> Ye are
all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the
night, nor of darkness.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">Satan
inhabits the darkness and the sinfulness which spiritual darkness seeks to
conceal:<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: teal; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">John 8:44</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"> Ye are of
<i><span style="color: grey;">your</span></i> father the devil, and the lusts of
your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and <b>abode not in the truth</b>, because there
is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a
liar, and the father of it.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">But,
Jesus Christ is the Truth itself; He is that God which is light, scattering the
darkness and revealing all hidden things:<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: teal; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">John 8:12</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"> Then
spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth
me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">Jesus’
words in chapter 8 of John are significant; when we are told that Satan abode
not in the truth, we have some idea then of how it is that the evil angels
sinned to begin with. To return to
2Peter and Jude, we see that the angels sin was that they ‘<span style="color: red;">kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation</span>’. These angels didn't abide in the truth, the
light – <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><br /></span>
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: teal; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">Ephesians 5:13</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"> …all things
that are reproved are made manifest by the light: for whatsoever doth make
manifest is light.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><br /></span>
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">They departed from the presence of the Father
of lights and abode in darkness.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><br /></span>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<u><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">Contentions</span></u><u><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><o:p></o:p></span></u></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<u><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><br /></span></u></div>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">There
are many who would and have contended that these angels must have been cast out
into a bottomless pit, perhaps the one used symbolically in the Revelation
(9:11). But we can easily dismiss this
notion with the following verses in which Christ encounters some men possessed
with demons:<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: teal; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">Matthew 8:29</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"> And,
behold, they cried out, saying, What have we to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son
of God? art thou come hither to <b>torment</b>
us before the time?<br />
<span style="color: teal;">Luke 8:28</span>
…I beseech thee, <b>torment</b> me
not.<span style="color: teal;"><br />
Luke 8:31</span> And they besought him
that he would not command them to go out into the deep [the abyss].<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">From
these verses we can gather that: the demons know they will be tormented at a
certain time in the future, i.e. in the lake of fire; the demons also know that
the Son of God will do this; they further equate this future torment with being
cast into the abyss. Therefore, as the demons
understand their own punishment in the lake of fire and being cast into the
abyss, we have no warrant to invent some other bottomless pit which either some
or all of the evil angels now inhabit.
We might see symbolic beasts and locusts emerging from symbolic pits in
the Revelation, but this is not explicit, like when Christ tells us of the fire
prepared for the devil and his angels. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><br />
The Greek word for ‘abyss’ is used in the Greek Septuagint version of the Old
Testament to translate the Hebrew meaning of the deep places of the earth,
particularly under the oceans (e.g. Genesis 7:11). If the demons’ intent was to avoid going to <i>this</i> abyss, why dive into the sea once
they had been cast out into the herd of pigs (Matthew 8:32)?<br />
The abyss which the demons wish to avoid can be nothing other than their
destined place of torment, the lake of fire, for this is where they shall be
tormented:<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><br /></span>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt 18pt; text-indent: -18pt;">
<span style="color: teal; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">Revelation
20:10, 13-15</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"> And the
devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where
the beast and the false prophet <i><span style="color: grey;">are,</span></i> and
shall be <b>tormented</b> day and night for
ever and ever. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt 18pt; text-indent: -18pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">…death and [hades]
delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man
according to their works. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt 18pt; text-indent: -18pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">And death and
[hades] were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt 18pt; text-indent: -18pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">And whosoever was
not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt 18pt; text-indent: -18pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt 18pt; text-indent: -18pt;">
<u><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">Conclusion<o:p></o:p></span></u></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt 18pt; text-indent: -18pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">Again, we
must conclude that both evil angels and wicked men will be cast into the lake
of fire <i>after</i> the resurrection and
the final judgment; and that the angels which sinned await their punishment
whilst having been imprisoned in chains of darkness, roaming this earth.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Dark Day Ministrieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14599268281520893034noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-924605110023521633.post-31047679442003180982013-08-11T12:54:00.003-07:002013-08-11T12:54:56.489-07:00Necromancy - Saul and the Witch of Endor<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">Necromancy -</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">Saul and the Witch of Endor</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">(from B.H. Carroll's commentary of the Bible</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">all thoughts are welcome) </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">There are several theories of interpretation concerning the transaction
in 1Samuel 28:11-19, but I will discuss only three of them. Saul himself goes
to the witch of Endor and asks her to call up Samuel, making an inquiry of the
dead through a medium, wanting information that God had refused to give him.
These are the theories:</span></div>
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1. Some hold that there was no appearance of Samuel himself nor an
impersonation of him by an evil spirit; that there was nothing supernatural,
but only a trick of imposture by the witch, like many modern tricks by mediums
and spirit rappers, and that the historian merely records what appeared to be
on the surface. That is the first theory. That is the theory of the radical
critics, who oppose everything supernatural, and you know without my telling
you what my opinion is of that theory. There are indeed many tricks of
imposture by pretended fortunetellers, and some of them are marvelous, but such
impostures do not account for all the facts.</span></div>
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2. Others hold that there was a real appearance of Samuel, but -the witch
didn't bring him up; she was as much if not more startled than Saul when he
came; that God himself interfered, permitting Samuel to appear to the
discomfiture of the witch, who cried out when she saw him, and to pronounce
final judgment on Saul. They quote in favor of this theory Ezekiel 14:3 & 7-8
: "Son of man, these men have taken their idols into their heart, and put
the stumbling block of their iniquity before their face: should I be inquired
of at all by them? . . . For every one of the house of Israel, or of the
strangers that sojourn in Israel, that separateth himself from me, and taketh
his idols into his heart, and putteth the stumbling block of his iniquity
before his face, and cometh to the prophet to inquire for himself of me; I,
Jehovah, will answer him by myself; and I will set my face against that man,
and will make him an astonishment, for a sign and a proverb, and I will cut him
off from the midst of my people." They interpret this passage to mean that
when a man violated God's law, as Saul and this witch did, that God took it
upon himself to answer, and answered through Samuel.</span></div>
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That theory is the Jewish view throughout the ages. According to the Septuagint
rendering of 1Chronicles 10:13, "Saul asked counsel of her that had a
familiar spirit, and Samuel made answer to him." It further appears to be
the Jewish view by the apocryphal book Sirach 46:20, which says, "After
his death Samuel prophesied and showed the king his end, and lifted up his
voice from the earth in prophecy." The Jewish view further appears in
Josephus who thinks that Samuel was really there, but that God sent him; not
that the witch had brought him up or could do it. This view was adopted by many
early Christian writers; for example, Justin Martyr, Origen, and Augustine, all
great men, and this view is held more and more by modern commentators, among
them, for instance, Edersheim, in his History of Israel, and Kirkpatrick in the
"Cambridge Bible," and Blaikie in the "Expositor's Bible,"
and Taylor in his History of David and His Times. All those books I have
recommended; they all take that second view.</span></div>
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3. Now here is the third theory of interpretation. First, there is such a thing
as necromancy, in which, through mediums possessed of evil spirits which
spirits do impersonate the dead and do communicate with the living. This theory
holds that the case of Saul and the witch of Endor is in point – that an evil
spirit (for this woman is said to have had a familiar spirit; she was possessed
with an evil spirit and the business of these evil spirits in their demoniacal
possession is to impersonate dead people;) caused the semblance of Samuel to
appear and speak through his mouth. This theory claims that the scripture in Job
3:17, to wit: "When the good man dies he goes where the wicked cease from
troubling and the weary are at rest," would be violated if this had really
been Samuel, who said, "Wherefore hast thou disquieted me?" And
whoever this man was that appeared did say that.</span></div>
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If God had sent him he could not very well have used that language. God had a
right to do as he pleased, but Saul had no right to try to call back a dead man
to get information from him. This theory also claims that the prophecy
pronounced by that semblance of Samuel was not true, but it would have been
true if Samuel had said it. That prophecy says, "Tomorrow thou and thy
sons shall be with me," but Saul didn't die until three days later; on the
third day the battle of Gilboa was fought, and that Samuel, neither dead nor
alive, would have told a falsehood. Very many early Christian writers adopt
this theory, among them Tertullian and Jerome, the author of the Vulgate or
Latin version of the Bible, and nearly all of the reformers, Luther, Calvin,
and all those mighty minds that wrought out the reformation. They took the
position that the evil spirit simulated Samuel. Those who hold to this theory
further say that unless this is an exception, nowhere else in the Word of God
is any man who died mentioned as coming back with a message to the living
except the Lord; that he is the first to bring life and immortality to light
through the gospel after he had abolished death. They do not believe that the
circumstances in this case warrant an exception to the rule that applies to the
whole Bible, and particularly they quote the parable of the rich man and
Lazarus. The rich man asks that Lazarus might go back to the other world with a
message to his brethren, and it was refused on the ground that they have Moses
and the prophets, and if a man won't hear Moses and the prophets neither would
he hear though one rose from the dead. That makes a strong case.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;"><br />
Certainly the first theory is not true, and the other two theories are
advocated with such plausibility and force that I will leave you to take
whatever side you please. My own opinion is that Samuel was not there, but on a
matter of this kind let us not be dogmatic. Let us do our own thinking and we
will be in good company no matter which of these last theories we adopt.</span></div>
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Dark Day Ministrieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14599268281520893034noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-924605110023521633.post-86620049423007688362013-07-26T17:36:00.001-07:002013-08-02T11:14:20.858-07:00Behemoth and Leviathan - dinosaurs or hippo & croc?<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Introduction</span></b><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Bible translations
of the Reformation period translated the almost untameable creature of Job
39:9-10 as a ‘unicorn’, a purely mythological creature.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We now know this Hebrew word to have been
either the extinct aurochs, which was the grandfather of most cattle, or
another wild bull.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This creature was
hunted to extinction but once roamed in large numbers across the
Mediterranean.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The reason for this
laughable mistranslation by the Reformers was because of a previous
mistranslation; the Greek Septuagint version of the Old Testament used the word
‘monokeros’ which means single-horned.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This prompted Jerome to interpret this as a rhinoceros, when producing
the Latin Vulgate.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But, whilst it is
easy to shake our heads at the silliness of these prior interpretations, there
are two other creatures from these final chapters of Job which are subjected to
equally fanciful interpretations – the behemoth and the leviathan.</span></span></div>
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">
</span></b></div>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Puritan
commentator, Matthew Poole, notes that ‘</span>very learned men take the
leviathan to be the crocodile, and the behemoth to be a creature called the
hippopotamus, which may seem fitly to be joined with the crocodile, both being
very well known to Job and his friends, as being frequent in the adjacent
parts, both amphibious, living and preying both in the water and upon the land,
and both being creatures of great bulk and strength.’<br />
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">
Notable Presbyterian historian and commentator, Barnes, confirms that this fits
perfectly with the historical evidence: ‘</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">These
two animals, as being Egyptian wonders, are everywhere mentioned together by
ancient writers’.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><span class="gmw_">I agree with this interpretation but many other Evangelicals take this either to mean fictitious creatures or dinosaurs.</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span class="gmw_">Several points of confusion are typically raised against the interpretation proposed by this article but I believe they are easily resolved.</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Behemoth</span></u></b><br />
<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Firstly, many
say that the tail of the behemoth of Job 40 is said to be like a cedar tree,
but that a hippo’s tail is clearly not <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">that</i>
big.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But the word in verse 17 for ‘moves’
his tail like a cedar tree is not recognised as the correct translation by the
majority of Biblical scholars.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">NET Bible</i> translation notes, though they
do not agree that this refers to a hippo, nevertheless recognise the meaning of
this word: ‘The verb </span><span style="font-family: "Galaxie Unicode Hebrew","serif";">חָפַץ</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><span class="gmw_"> (khafats) occurs only here. It may have the meaning “to make stiff; to make taut” (Arabic). The LXX and the Syriac versions support this with “erects.”’</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Seeing as the context, from verse 16, is primarily talking about this
animal’s loins, we automatically get a clue as to where this is going.<br />
The <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">ESV Study Bible</i><span class="gmw_"> notes conclude, ‘“Tail” is a common euphemism for phallus.</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is
to be so interpreted in this verse, considering the description of the anatomy
of the animal.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Potency is often
associated with procreative power.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In
the medieval period, Behemoth was conceived as a symbol of sensuality’.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Likewise, ‘sinews’ of the following sentence
was translated as ‘testicles’ in ancient versions such as the Latin and the
Jewish Targum.<br />
Therefore this does not refer to a massive tail swaying around, the size of an
enormous tree, but simply refers to the prowess and potency of the ever-notoriously
dangerous hippo.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">The NET notes
further rebut that this could be a hippo with the second argument: ‘the
location of such an animal [the hippo] is Egypt and not Palestine.’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Immediately, this argument fails, as Job was </span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">certainly familiar
with the ostrich, spoken of in chapter 39, verse 13, and this bird is also
native to Africa, but no one questions how Job would have been familiar it.<br />
In fact, the hippo’</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">s
location in Egypt is actually evidence <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">for</i>
the behemoth being a hippo.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Strong’s
Lexicon tells us that the word here is ‘</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">really a singular of Egyptian derivation: a <i>water</i>
<i>ox</i>, that is, the <i>hippopotamus</i> or Nile horse’.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Interestingly, in Italian, the hippo is
called the ‘sea ox’ and we derive our English word, ‘hippopotamus’, from the
Greek words for ‘river horse’.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><br />
Furthermore, Job could easily have been familiar with animals from Egypt.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In Job 40:15, God says, ‘Behold now behemoth,
which I made <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">with thee</b><span class="gmw_">; he eateth grass as an ox (KJV).’</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Poole says of the
Hebrew here that it could just as readily mean <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">near</i> to you, ‘</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">i.e. in a place not far
from thee, to wit, in the river Nile, where the hippopotamus, as well as the
crocodile, doth principally abide.’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>According
to Dr. Gill’s commentary, the great French Protestant scholar of Oriental
languages, Bochart, ‘</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">interprets
it of the river horse, [taking] the meaning of this phrase to be that it was a
creature in Job's neighbourhood, an inhabitant of the river Nile in Egypt, to
which Arabia joined…which is testified by many writers.’<br />
Job was ‘</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">the greatest of all the men of the east’, according to verse 3 of
chapter 1; he surely would have had knowledge of the world from the River Nile
to the Mesopotamian plain.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Leviathan</span></u></b><br />
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Well then, what
is the leviathan?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Reformation Study Bible</i> notes not only make a terrible mistake
by suggesting that behemoth and leviathan are the same creature, but they also
rely on Pagan distortions of this animal to deduce its real identity: ‘Canaanite
literature describes the goddess Anat overcoming a…seven-headed “Leviathan.”’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span class="gmw_">They thus conclude that both the behemoth and the leviathan are purely symbolic.</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yet
God says that He ‘made’ them and calls Job to ‘see’ them performing certain
actions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I do not think there is any
need to shroud the leviathan with a sense of mystery simply because the
Canaanites wrote about a fictitious one with seven heads. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hinduism depicts beings with several heads, as
do other mythologies, but this does not mean Christians should refuse to
recognise the existence of the real animals they distort in their minds.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span class="gmw_">After all, the context of the previous two chapters shows God discussing lions, oxen, donkeys, ostriches, eagles etc., all of which would have been animals Job was relatively familiar with.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">Strong’s Lexicon, again, defines the word ‘leviathan’ as ‘a <i>serpent</i>
(especially the <i>crocodile</i> or some other large sea monster); figuratively
the constellation of the <i>dragon</i><span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">’.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Barnes scrutinises the description given in
Job 41 to confirm the true identity: ‘</span></span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">the description suits no animal but the crocodile or
alligator; and it is not necessary to seek elsewhere. The crocodile is a
natural inhabitant of the Nile, and other Asiatic and African rivers. It is a
creature of enormous voracity and strength, as well as fleetness in swimming.
He will attack the largest animals, and even men, with the most daring impetuosity.
In proportion to his size he has the largest mouth of all monsters. The upper
jaw is armed with forty sharp strong teeth, and the under jaw with
thirty-eight. He is clothed with such a coat of mail as cannot be pierced, and
can in every direction resist a musket-ball.’<br />
Furthermore, Keil and Delitzschs’ commentary lays out the substantial argument
for this word being a crocodile from the testimony of the near-Eastern languages.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Dr. Gill
concludes with the testimony of the 1<sup>st</sup> century Jewish natural
historian, Pliny: ‘</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">Could the crocodile be established as the “leviathan”, and the behemoth as the river horse, the transition from the one to the other would appear very easy; since, as Pliny says, there is a sort of a kindred between them, being of the same river, the river Nile, and so may be thought to be better known to Job’.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Nevertheless,
some still devise fantastical ideas in their minds in order to justify the
notion of these two animals being dinosaurs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The Brown-Driver-Briggs Lexicon exemplifies this with its definition of
the word Leviathan: ‘</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">Some think this to be a crocodile but from the
description…this is patently absurd. It appears to be a large fire breathing
animal of some sort. Just as the bombardier beetle has an explosion producing
mechanism, so the great sea dragon may have an explosive producing mechanism to
enable it to be a real fire breathing dragon.’<br />
Your eyes didn’t deceive you; you just read an actual attempt by scholars to
insist that the description of a crocodile, here, was ‘absurd’ and then go on
to present the alternate theory of a ‘real fire-breathing dragon’.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This reads more like an example for the
definition for ‘irony’.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">The reason many Christians feel they must resort to this unnecessarily
complicated, far-fetched interpretation is because the leviathan and behemoth
are described as performing very plausible actions and yet the leviathan is
then said to have sparks and flames shooting from its mouth and smoke ascending
from its nostrils (Job 41:18-21).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Automatically, imagery of dragons breathing fire, imagery taken from
Pagan mythology, is conjured to the mind, but is this really what is being
described?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">God begins this description of the leviathan thus: ‘</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">His snorting releases flashes of light;
his eyes are like the rays of the dawn (ISV).’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Again, Dr. Gill, who was himself a brilliant linguistic scholar and
historian, observes that ‘</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">The eyes of the crocodile were, with the
Egyptians, an hieroglyphic of the morning: wherefore this seems better to agree
with the crocodile’.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It must be noted that,
so far, the evidence connecting the crocodile to the River Nile and, thus, to
the hippo and to the text of Job 40-41, is overwhelming.</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;"><br /><span class="gmw_"> The breathing of fire and the smoke from the nostrils is clearly figurative and this should not come as a surprise.</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Figurative
language is clearly used numerous times in these chapters; just look at how
many times the words ‘as’ and ‘like’ are used in chapter 41 alone.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The figurative is used for the hippo also in
chapter 40, verse 18, where its ‘</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">bones are tubes of bronze’.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is a definite statement and is only
shown to be symbolic by the fact that its limbs are ‘<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">like</i> bars of iron’.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So too,
the figurative language in the context of chapter 41 determines that the
crocodile here does not actually breathe fire, but merely ‘his snorting
releases flashes of light’.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The great
German theologian, Professor Lange, among others, notes Bochart’s
interpretation: ‘[W]hen the crocodile turned toward the sun with open jaws is
excited to sneezing, the water and slime gushing from his mouth glisten
brilliantly in the sunbeams.’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Gill
further quotes Pliny’s early Jewish understanding of this ‘flash of light’: ‘it
throws out showers and floods of water, as Pliny relates; which, by means of
the rays of the sun, as in a rainbow, appear bright and glittering’.<br />
Therefore, it seems clear that these verses refer to the crocodile creating a
great, bright spectacle by casting up a large quantity of water droplets
against the dawn’s light and so it appears to shoot out a great cloud of light
from its nose.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">Conclusion</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">I must conclude that the behemoth is a hippo and the leviathan, a crocodile.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The context of Scripture and the plentiful
historical data leave me with no other reasonable option.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In these chapters of Job, it is clear that
God discusses animals which are easier to tame and those that tremendously
difficult to tame.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The point is not to
describe a couple of dinosaurs but to show that whilst mankind can tame various
animals, only an almighty and sovereign God can tame rebellious mankind.</span><br />
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span class="line"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Job 40:12-14<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><br />
Look on everyone who is proud and bring him low</span></span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><br />
<span class="ln-indent">and tread down the wicked where they stand.</span><br />
<span class="block-indent"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span class="line">Hide them all in the dust together;</span><br />
<span class="ln-indent">bind their faces in the world below.</span><span class="footnote"><sup><br />
</sup></span><span class="line">Then will I also acknowledge to you</span><br />
<span class="ln-indent">that your own right hand can save you.</span></span></div>
Dark Day Ministrieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14599268281520893034noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-924605110023521633.post-83852919638036684162013-07-12T05:55:00.002-07:002013-07-12T11:20:56.812-07:00Sabbatismos - the Sabbath under the Gospel<p style=" margin: 12px auto 6px auto; font-family: Helvetica,Arial,Sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 14px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; -x-system-font: none; display: block;"> <a title="View Sabbatismos - the Sabbath under the Gospel on Scribd" href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/110229267/Sabbatismos-the-Sabbath-under-the-Gospel" style="text-decoration: underline;" >Sabbatismos - the Sabbath under the Gospel</a> by <a title="View Richard Storey's profile on Scribd" href="http://www.scribd.com/Richard%20Storey" style="text-decoration: underline;" >Richard Storey</a></p><iframe class="scribd_iframe_embed" src="http://www.scribd.com/embeds/110229267/content?start_page=1&view_mode=scroll&access_key=key-4fxw250csecfceb4pk2&show_recommendations=true" data-auto-height="false" data-aspect-ratio="0.706896551724138" scrolling="no" id="doc_42714" width="100%" height="600" frameborder="0"></iframe>Dark Day Ministrieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14599268281520893034noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-924605110023521633.post-34683963062860835902013-05-22T15:36:00.002-07:002013-05-23T15:40:54.561-07:00Where's the carcase and who are the eagles?<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span style="color: teal; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">Matthew 24:28</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For
wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Many
people have no idea what this verse means at all.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Modern commentaries openly express that they are
so baffled that they would just be guessing at an interpretation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Whilst I don’t wish to be dogmatic, I do think
that the context presents us with the simplest and most beautiful interpretation
which was </span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">the understanding of Reformers such as Calvin, Cranmer and Trapp, as
well as many early church writers such as Chrysostom.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The debate here centres around what the
symbolism of the ‘carcase’ and the ‘eagles’ represent.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Whilst
the definition of ‘ptoma’ (carcase) is not really contested, with the Lexicons
and translations in agreement that it refers to a dead body, the word for eagle
or vulture is sometimes contested.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Often, the motivation for interpreting this verse one way or another is
purely to suit a preferred prophetical view.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>However, though vultures were considered somewhat synonymous with eagles
by Aristotle, we must not alter the word to suit our interpretation but must
alter our interpretation to suit God’s Word.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The Liddell Scott-Jones Lexicon shows the consistent ancient definition
of the word ‘aetos’: ‘</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">eagle…eagle as a standard, of the Persians… of
the Romans…the constellation Aquila’, ‘aquila’ being the Latin word for eagle
and the name of a Gentile convert from Paul’s preaching on Mars Hill in Acts 17.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Strong’s Lexicon agrees that ‘eagle’ is the
correct translation.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">Now, many Protestant commentators have identified
the dead body as Jerusalem in its spiritually dead state, which the Lord Jesus
had prophesied would be destroyed just previously:</span></div>
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<span style="color: teal; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">Matthew 24:15-16</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:) </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the
mountains…</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">And, as we have seen, the Roman military standard
was an eagle.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So, as the same standard
of the eagle was set up as an abomination in the temple of Jerusalem in 70 A.D.
by the Roman prince Titus, the typically conclusion is that the eagles of verse
28 must be referring to this same event.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><br />
But, must we interpret verse 28 as referring to this?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The use of the word ‘eagle’ might cause us to
reflect upon this prophecy earlier in the chapter, but does the immediate
context allow us to do so?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">As verse 29 marks the beginning of a new
paragraph, let us examine the context preceding verse 28:</span></div>
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<span style="color: teal; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">Matthew 24:23-28</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here <i><span style="color: grey;">is</span></i> Christ, or there; believe <i><span style="color: grey;">it</span></i> not. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">For there shall arise false Christs, and false
prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if <i><span style="color: grey;">it were</span></i> possible, they shall deceive the very
elect. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">Behold, I have told you before. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he
is in the desert; go not forth: behold, <i><span style="color: grey;">he is</span></i>
in the secret chambers; believe <i><span style="color: grey;">it</span></i> not. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">For wheresoever the carcase is, there will the
eagles be gathered together. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">The context is discussing false teachers who
declare Christ to have come before that great and terrible day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But, the Lord Jesus reminds us of the simple
truth that every eye shall see Him when He returns in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">great </i>glory, like lightning, to judge every soul that ever lived.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Therefore, the context indicates that we are
no longer discussing the destruction of Jerusalem but Christ’s return.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And His second coming will not be in some
secret place or to arrive in a humble stable again.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yet, Jesus declares that if you want to seek communion with Him today, it is at the Lord’s Supper that we remember Him, indeed where we can find the symbols of His broken body – that bread of life and poured out life which represent the sustenance of eternal life we have in Jesus.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Many react negatively to this
understanding as the English word ‘carcase’ has come to take on many negative
connotations rather than simply meaning ‘dead body’, as the Greek word does.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There should be no such reaction; doesn’t Paul command us to discern the Lord’s body as we sit at the Lord’s Table (1Corinthians 11:29)?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">Christ reminds us that the elect will not be
deceived into following the false notions of some false prophet but, being His
sheep, they hear His voice and follow Him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>They do not seek a physical kingdom, here and now, but rather understand
that the kingdom of God is within us (Luke 17:21).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Likewise, they do not follow strangers but rather flee from them and gather together in the name of Jesus and He Himself is there in the midst of that congregation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>We assemble to brake bread and to remember the death and resurrection to new life we have in Jesus.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We are then
told, in this chapter, that at the actual return of Christ we will literally be
gathered to Him:</span></div>
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<span style="color: teal; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">Matthew 24:31</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And he shall send his angels with a great
sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four
winds, from one end of heaven to the other.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">But for now we gather to eat His body and drink
His blood that we might live.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The eagle
is described as doing the same thing in Job:</span></div>
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<span style="color: teal; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">Job 39:27, 28 & 30</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Doth the eagle mount up at thy command, and
make her nest on high? </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">She dwelleth and abideth on the rock…</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">Her young ones also suck up blood: and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">where the slain <i><span style="color: grey;">are,</span></i>
there <i><span style="color: grey;">is</span></i> she</b>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">The eagles gather where the dead body is.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">But how can Christians be represented by
eagles?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Where is the scriptural
precedent for this?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Well, Christians <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">are</i> likened to eagles in Scripture:</span></div>
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<span style="color: teal; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">Isaiah 40:31</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>…they that wait upon the LORD shall renew <i><span style="color: grey;">their</span></i> strength; they shall mount up with wings as
eagles…</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">But even stronger representation is used in the
New Testament:</span></div>
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<span style="color: teal; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">Revelation 12:14</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And to the woman were given two wings of a
great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she
is nourished…</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">Here, the Spirit of God has John use the same
symbolism used of the Israelites being led out of Egypt and persecution to be
sustained in the wilderness by the manna from heaven:</span></div>
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<span style="color: teal; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">Exodus 19:4</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians,
and <i><span style="color: grey;">how</span></i> I bare you on eagles' wings, and
brought you unto myself.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">We are given eagle’s wings that we might be
whisked away from the dog’s vomit of this world’s empty pleasures and be truly
nourished in our soul with Christ.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We
are spiritual pilgrims in the barren land of this wicked world blinded by
Satan.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But our food is not physical food, not manna which the Israelites ate but whose bodies died nonetheless; our food is Christ – He is the true bread sent down from heaven and when we drink the blood of His New Covenant, we shall never die.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Though our bodies die, we know that we have
eternal life and have passed from spiritual death to life by the same power of
God which conquered the grave by raising our King to glory.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">In conclusion, I believe the meaning of this
verse can be summarised thus:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No false
teaching can lure away God’s elect.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Wherever Christ is fed upon in Spirit and truth, His sheep will gather
there and no one can snatch them from God’s hand.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Pulpit Commentary: ‘The carcase is Christ, or the body of Christ; the eagles are the saints, or true Christians; these, whatever happens, will, with keen spiritual sight, always be able to discern Christ and his body, and to flock thereto. He calls himself <span class="greek">πτ</span></span><span class="greek"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Georgia;">ῶ</span></span><span class="greek"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">μα</span></span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">, because he saves us by his death, and feeds us by his
body, in his Church, Word, and sacraments (see Wordsworth, <span class="accented">in loc.</span>). Such is the interpretation of many of the
Fathers, and it has many analogies in other places of Scripture.’</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Geneva
Commentary: ‘The only remedy against the furious rage of the world is that of
being gathered and joined to Christ.’</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Calvin: ‘</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">The meaning is, that by whatever methods Satan endeavors to scatter the children of God in various directions, still in Christ himself is the sacred bond of union, by which they must be kept united. For whence comes the dispersion, but that many depart from Christ, in whom alone our strength lies? ...Let the adherents of Rome now go, and exclaim that all are schismatics who do not allow themselves to be separated from Christ, that they may transfer their allegiance to a robber.’</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">Trapp: ‘That is, saith M. Lambert, martyr, wheresoever is declared by the course of the Scriptures, the benefits granted to us by Christ’s death, thither will men seek and flee, to know how they may enjoy the same. The sacrificed body of Christ (saith another) hath a most fragrant smell, inviting the saints (like birds of prey) to fly from far with marvellous swiftness to this dead but all quickening carcase…<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Christ’s last supper is called by the ancients, <i>Festum aquilarum, non graculorum, </i>a feast for eagles, not for daws.’</span></div>
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<span style="color: teal; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">Isaiah 60:8</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Who <i><span style="color: grey;">are</span></i> these <i><span style="color: grey;">that</span></i>
fly as a cloud, and as the doves to their windows?</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"></span></div>
Dark Day Ministrieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14599268281520893034noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-924605110023521633.post-89337408807731696722013-05-04T06:30:00.000-07:002014-08-09T03:58:38.043-07:00Is Lucifer Satan?<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span style="color: teal; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">Isaiah 14:12</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer,
son of the morning! <i><span style="color: grey;">how</span></i> art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><span class="gmw_">There are many, particularly those who hold to the view that the Authorised King James Version of the Bible is the preserved Word of God or the only acceptable translation for use in English-speaking congregations today, who believe that because more modern translations do not use the word Lucifer in Isaiah 14:12, they have not only removed Satan from this passage<span class="gm_ gm_7c9eab0c-1592-871e-3533-a597396abdaf gm-spell gm_tiny"> </span>but, by translating this word as ‘morning star’ or ‘day star’, they have put Christ in the place of Satan, as these terms are synonymous with Christ in 2Peter and the Revelation.</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They assert that this is
either knowingly or unknowingly a part of some satanic conspiracy.<br />
Let us examine these claims.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">The word ‘Lucifer’ actually comes from the Latin Vulgate and is not to
be found in the Hebrew. The Hebrew literally means ‘shining one’ or
‘morning star’ and was translated in the Vulgate as a derivative of 'lux',
meaning the light bearer. Strong’s Lexicon confirms the meaning for us:</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">‘…(in the sense of <i>brightness</i>); the <i>morning</i> <i>star…</i>’<br /> And Thayer’s Lexicon agrees, as well as the Ancient Hebrew Lexicon which recognises the use of the word in Hebrew antiquity: ‘</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">ac:<b> Shine </b>co:<b>
Star’.</b></span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">So, firstly, the more modern
translations have done nothing but to translate the Hebrew.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Which Protestant would dare suggest that the
Latin Vulgate was 'more inspired' than the original Hebrew?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Therefore, by not reusing the word ‘Lucifer’,
these translations are actually getting closer to the original meaning.</span><br />
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">The word ‘Lucifer’ isn’t a name for Satan
either as this verse does not even implicate the devil at all.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The vast majority of commentators and
certainly the best of them recognise that the king of Babylon is being spoken
of in Isaiah 14. Anything else is just speculation. The context
itself declares this:</span><br />
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: teal; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Isaiah 14:4</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"> That thou shalt take up this proverb against the king of Babylon, and say…</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">The very best commentators are in complete agreement, their view being
summed up by Barnes here:</span><br />
</div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">‘</span><span style="background: #FFFEFD; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span class="gmw_">There can be no doubt that the object in the eye of the prophet was the bright morning star<span class="gm_ gm_2e2abe08-5ffb-01e9-b650-31fa86628d5b gm-spell">; and</span> his design was to compare this magnificent oriental monarch with that. The comparison of a monarch with the sun, or the other heavenly bodies, is common in the Scriptures.</span></span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">’</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">So then why is Lucifer such a commonplace term for Satan?<br />
</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">It
was Tertullian, whose tongue was Latin, who began to speculate that Lucifer was
actually Satan, but he seems to have been alone in this interpretation as other
writers, even later Latin writers like Augustine, interpreted Lucifer as the
king of Babylon.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Reformers too did
not share this view but rather saw it as ridiculous</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For example, the most famous of the Reformers, John Calvin, also translated the word ‘Helel’ as ‘Lucifer’, as seen in the Geneva Bible.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However,
both he and the Geneva Bible commentary reject the idea that Lucifer could
possibly be referring to Satan.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Calvin
sums up the Reformed position, and indeed the historical position of the
church, here: </span><br />
</div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">‘The
exposition of this passage, which some have given, as if it referred to Satan,
has arisen from ignorance; for the context plainly shows that these statements
must be understood in reference to the king of the Babylonians. But when
passages of Scripture are taken up at random, and no attention is paid to the
context, we need not wonder that mistakes of this kind frequently arise. Yet it
was an instance of very gross ignorance, to imagine that <i>Lucifer </i>was the
king of devils, and that the Prophet gave him this name. But as these
inventions have no probability whatever, let us pass by them as useless
fables.’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span><br />
It was only the later writings of the Puritan poet, John Milton, in his <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Paradise Lost</i>, which depicted Satan as
Lucifer, which cemented the idea in the minds of the masses. Therefore,
this interpretation has no Scriptural warrant, no historical pedigree and being
based on one man’s imagination (a piece of fiction) no one should be dogmatic
about it.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">But
this was not just the understanding of the church, but the Jews also understood
it of the king of Babylon; </span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">Dr. Gill quotes the Jewish
Targum in his commentary to confirm the interpretation: ‘[H]ow art thou fallen from on high, who was shining among the sons of
men, as the star Venus among the stars.’</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">The Jews fully understood the meaning of this word ‘Helel’.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They could clearly see that this was referring
to ‘the morning star’ or Venus and a particular god of the Babylonian
people.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The NET Bible notes are
exemplary in helping us understand the historic and cultural context of
‘Helel’:</span><br />
</div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">‘The Hebrew text has </span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">הֵילֵל</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">בֶּן־שָׁחַר</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"> (</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span class="gm_ gm_31adb9dc-09de-15da-ceec-40de2132f3f7 gm-spell">helel</span><span class="gmw_"> ben-<span class="gm_ gm_c82635ef-5918-58ff-696e-d615e0a2fa3c gm-spell">shakhar</span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">, “Helel son of Shachar”), which is probably a name for the morning star (Venus) or the crescent moon…<br /><span class="gmw_"> What is the background for the imagery in <span class="gm_ gm_ccb4aa4b-2af0-8611-2921-1f0f19a82c68 gm-spell">vv</span><span class="gmw_">. 12-15? This whole section (vv. 4b-21) is directed to the king of Babylon, who is clearly depicted as a human ruler. Other kings of the earth address him in <span class="gm_ gm_6235cf1a-e137-3c55-97a9-805b8d76c3b9 gm-spell">vv</span><span class="gmw_">. 9ff., he is called “the man” in v. 16, and, according to <span class="gm_ gm_aba1549c-18e9-a19b-8dc7-5853ad15e350 gm-spell">vv</span><span class="gmw_">. 19-20, he possesses a physical body. Nevertheless the language of <span class="gm_ gm_da1cd5c6-e850-8cd1-562d-74229341165a gm-spell">vv</span><span class="gmw_">. 12-15 has led some to see a dual referent in the taunt song. These verses, which appear to be spoken by other pagan kings to a pagan king (cf. vv. 9-11), contain several titles and motifs that resemble those of Canaanite mythology, including references to <span class="gm_ gm_14807713-6414-c6b5-3865-5f2fd5822ae7 gm-spell">Helel</span><span class="gmw_"> son of Shachar, the stars of El, the mountain of assembly, the recesses of Zaphon, and the divine title Most High. Apparently these verses allude to a mythological story about a minor god (<span class="gm_ gm_0753a013-6beb-a62d-b5b8-fb6fed307ae5 gm-spell">Helel</span> son of Shachar) who tried to take over Zaphon, the mountain of the gods. His attempted coup failed and he was hurled down to the underworld. The king of Babylon is taunted for having similar unrealized delusions of grandeur. Some Christians have seen an allusion to the fall of Satan here, but this seems contextually unwarranted (see J. Martin, “Isaiah,” </span></span></span></span></span></span><i>BKCOT</i>,
1061).’</span><br />
</div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">Venus, even today is still referred to as ‘the morning star’, as it
shines at its zenith to herald the dawn.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">Well, even if Satan isn’t being
spoken of in this verse, could it be possible that there is a satanic conspiracy in the
modern versions of the Bible to liken the king of Babylon to Christ by using
terms like ‘day star’ or ‘morning star’, which are specifically used to speak
of Christ?</span><br />
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: teal; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">2Peter 1:19</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>…the day
star…<br />
<span style="color: teal;">Revelation 22:16</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I Jesus…am the root and the offspring of
David, <i><span style="color: grey;">and</span></i> the bright and morning star.</span><br />
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">I don’t think that anyone
reading the clear words concerning the king of Babylon in Isaiah 14 could
mistake this figure for Christ any more than they might mistake the lamb which
speaks like a dragon for the true Lamb of God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>His sheep hear His voice and follow Him.</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But, nevertheless, the King
James translators, who never claimed for their work the perfection and even
inspiration attributed to it by many in the second-half of the 20<sup>th</sup>
century, listed the term ‘day star’ as a valid translation for the word
‘Helel’: ‘</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">O Lucifer: or, O day star’ (see marginal notes).</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>Were the King James translators party to this satanic conspiracy
too?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>As we have seen, ‘morning star’ etc. is a legitimate translation of the
Hebrew here.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
Personally, I prefer the NET’s translation, ‘shining one’, and would add a
marginal note to indicate the reference to Venus and, briefly, the historic
context.</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;"></span></div>
Dark Day Ministrieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14599268281520893034noreply@blogger.com3