Tough questions, many coming from blog readers

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Who are “the Righteous” in Psalms and Proverbs?

Today I’ll address a common question:

The Bible says no one is righteous, so to whom are the Psalms and Proverbs referring when they talk about “the righteous”?

That’s a great question. We read that all have sinned and no one is righteous in both the Old and New Testament: “…no one living is righteous before you” (Psalm 143:2); “…None is righteous, no, not one” (Romans 3:10).

So what do we make of verses like these?

The righteous are like trees near water

Psalm 1 says the righteous take in God’s words like trees planted near streams take in water, causing them to flourish

for the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish. ~Psalms 1:6

teach a righteous man, and he will increase in learning. ~Proverbs 9:9

The lips of the righteous know what is acceptable, but the mouth of the wicked, what is perverse. ~Proverbs 10:32

Though the question arises most often about Psalms and Proverbs, verses about the righteous occur elsewhere:

Again, if a righteous person turns from his righteousness and commits injustice … ~Ezekiel 3:20

If he rescued righteous Lot … ~2 Peter 2:7

And they [Zechariah and Elizabeth] were both righteous before God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and statutes of the Lord. Luke 1:6

The answer has to do with the different ways the word righteous is used.

“The Righteous”

The standard for righteousness is God’s righteousness, and no person is righteous on his or her own. We can’t be righteous on our own because “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23).

However, Scripture calls some people the righteous: these are those whose faith in and love for God causes them to order their lives according to God’s laws (Psalm 1:2; 1 John 3:7); God bestows righteousness on them because he counts faith as righteousness (Genesis 15:6; Philippians 3:9).

In the New Testament, God makes righteous those who put their faith in Jesus. In both Testaments, the righteous aren’t sinless, but when they sin, they seek God’s forgiveness, and God cleanses them of unrighteousness (Psalm 51:9-10; 1 John 1:9).

Beeson Divinity School professor of Old Testament and Hebrew, Allen P. Ross puts it this way:

The basic meaning of “righteous” has to do with conforming to the standard; in religious passages that standard is divine revelation. The righteous are people who have entered into covenant with God by faith and seek to live according to his word. The covenant that they have makes them the people of God—God knows them, and because God knows them, they shall never perish. They may do unrighteous things at times, but they know to find forgiveness because they want to do what is right. [1]

In contrast, the wicked are those who live as they see fit. The word translated wicked in Psalm 1 above can refer either to those who simply don’t love God, or to those who reject God’s laws,[2] or to those committed to violence and oppression.

Righteous Living versus Righteous Standing

When reading Scripture, it’s important to differentiate between righteous living—ordering one’s life by God’s commands, including the command to love God—and righteous standing—the righteousness God gives people who live by faith (justification).

Righteous living without faith (simply keeping a certain moral code) never leads to righteous standing, whereas righteous standing based on faith always leads to righteous living.

Just keeping a moral code cannot lead to righteous standing because no person is sinless and God gives righteous standing to only those with faith in him (Romans 3:20). Additionally, those without faith in God always break the greatest command:

And he [Jesus] said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment.” ~Matthew 22:37-38

On the other hand, righteous standing always leads to righteous living because those with faith in God love and trust him enough to obey him (albeit imperfectly) and because God works in them to change them (Psalm 94:12; Philippians 2:13; Hebrews 12:11; 1 John 3:10). It may take time to overcome weaknesses and old habits, but the Holy Spirit will produce growth.

For you bless the righteous, O Lord; you cover him with favor as with a shield. ~Psalms 5:12 (ESV)

 

  1. [1]Allen P. Ross, A Commentary on the Psalms: Volume I (1-41) (Grand Rapids: Kregel, 2011), 193-194.↩
  2. [2]Ross, 185-186.↩
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Learning from Betrayal

A young woman recently asked about betrayal:

Learning from betrayalAfter praying and fasting, I clearly felt God’s blessing on a dating relationship. But when we were about to get engaged a year later, he confessed the marriage would be a cover for his active gay lifestyle. How does one get past God letting us think he’s leading us toward something with special blessing, when He’s actually intending something completely different, knowing it’ll cause us pain? I feel God betrayed me. [1]

 

I am so sorry for the pain this man’s betrayal caused. To discover someone we trusted and thought we knew has deceived us is quite a shock, and it’s natural to begin to doubt others’ honesty and intentions when struck like this.

I’m thankful you’re searching for answers. It will take time before you know fully what good God intends to work through this; indeed, you may not know all in this lifetime. In the meantime, immerse yourself in Scriptures. There you’ll see how others handled betrayal, including Jesus, Joseph, David, the patriarchs, and the apostles. You’ll also grow in understanding God and the big picture of what he is doing in this world.

Although there are numerous examples in the Bible of godly people who prayed and yet had life turn out differently than expected, I find Jeremiah the most helpful because of his candor as he worked through his feelings. During a time I dealt with a betrayal, I read Jeremiah repeatedly, finding comfort in knowing my experience was not unique, assurance that betrayal by people does not equal betrayal by God, and hope in God’s power to work great good through suffering.

Here are some of the things God worked in Jeremiah’s life through suffering and betrayal. You may discover God works some of these in your life as well.

God teaches us to discern his voice better

Jeremiah learning from betrayal

“The Prophet Jeremiah” from the Sistine Chapel, by Michelangelo (public domain)

When God first called Jeremiah to be a prophet and gave Jeremiah a message of pending destruction if Judah did not repent, Jeremiah was confused and asked God why he had been deceiving the people by telling them through other prophets that all was going to be well with Judah (Jer. 4:10). God explained the prophets Jeremiah had been listening to had spoken falsely in his name: he had not given them the words of peace and assurance they proclaimed and which merely fit what the people wanted to hear (Jer. 5:12, 31). What Jeremiah had been told were God’s words were not, and God helped him grow in discerning what was from God and what wasn’t.

Even those without the incredible prophetic giftedness of Jeremiah can grow in discerning God’s guidance better. When I was a young Christian, some of the teaching I heard about how to discern God’s will and voice turned out to be wrong, and part of the way I discovered that was through having situations turn out differently than I expected. Since God does not lie, I knew my understanding was mistaken so I sought guidance in Scripture and from God, and I grew, just as Jeremiah did and just as you will.

God teaches us wisdom

One of the ways we become wise and grow in the knowledge of good and evil is by living through the effects of both good and evil. Sometimes when we pray for wisdom, God grants that request by allowing us to go through eye-opening experiences.

As God continued his first message to Jeremiah, Jeremiah cried out in anguish because he did not think his fellow Israelites deserved punishment. God assured him if he could find one honest person in Jerusalem, he would forgive the city (Jer. 5:1). Though Jeremiah searched, he found no one.

Even so, it was years before he understood what God meant by cordial words hiding what is hidden in the heart (Jer. 9:8). Jeremiah did not understand the depths of the depravity around him until his prophetic words tested people’s hearts and he saw their ways with his own eyes (Jer. 6:27, 11:19).

God teaches us discernment about people

Despite God’s warning to Jeremiah not to trust the people around him (Jer. 9:4-6), Jeremiah found it hard not to. When he discovered a plot against his life, his anger burst out not only against his betrayers (Jer. 11:18-20), but against God (Jer. 12:1-4). God exhorted Jeremiah to continue his work, to remember his warnings about whom not to trust, and to trust him for justice (Jer. 12:5-7). Over the 40 years that Jeremiah prophesied, he grew in discerning the wicked (Jehoiakim), the weak (Zedekiah), and the godly (Josiah and Ebed-Melech). He also learned that God was with him even when people betrayed him.

I was betrayed once by a church leader. I had seen warning signs, but wrote them off, naively thinking someone lacking spiritual maturity wouldn’t be in leadership, and that because God loves truth no one would believe the falsehoods going around anyway (I initially thought them correctable mistakes and only later learned they were intentional lies). I learned discernment the hard way. But I also learned God was with me and was teaching me important lessons. God promises to work all things for your good, and you will learn and grow through this too.

God exposes wolves in sheep’s clothing

Early in Jeremiah’s ministry, people didn’t know which prophets to believe, a situation that greatly displeased God. After Jeremiah had prophesied about three decades, the prophet Hananiah came out strongly against him, making it plain that both could not be true prophets (Jer. 28). When Jeremiah pronounced God’s judgment of death on Hananiah for making people trust a lie and Hananiah did die, God exposed the false and true prophets. Godly people knew whom to trust, while the ungodly chalked Jeremiah’s words up to coincidence.

As painful as your situation is, the deception came out before a marriage would make it even more painful. God granted wisdom and exposed a sham. Hopefully this exposure will prevent the man from hurting others.

God strengthens us

When God called Jeremiah to be a prophet, Jeremiah protested that he was a child who didn’t know how to speak. God promised to make him into a bronze wall (Jer. 1:6, 18) that could withstand the attacks of the priests, kings, and people who would fight against him. Apparently, Jeremiah thought this meant he wouldn’t feel the pain of the attacks. When the persecution increased, Jeremiah cried out over his pain and asked if God had deceived him (15:18).

But God had not promised Jeremiah a pain-free ministry. Part of the reason God punishes those who act evilly is that they inflict unjust pain on others. In this instance, God rebuked Jeremiah, called him to repent of his worthless words, and reminded him of his promise to make him a bronze wall that could not be prevailed against (Jer. 15:19-20). Jeremiah had received evidence enough of God’s faithfulness and promises to deserve the rebuke, and he repented.

God did indeed make him into a bronze wall, but not by making him insensitive to pain; rather, he taught him to trust in God’s faithfulness and to endure despite hardship.

God comforts so we can comfort others

Jeremiah suffered insults, mocking, death threats, imprisonments, and beatings. Sorrow at times overwhelmed him (Jer. 5:18). But God cared deeply about Jeremiah’s pain, and he cares about your pain too.

Jeremiah grew spiritually as he saw God’s faithfulness amidst human unfaithfulness, and he came to trust God fully. When his prophecies about the fall of Jerusalem came to pass, he responded not with smugness, but with compassion. He knew by then that the pain of exile was the only way the wayward Hebrews could have hope and a future (Jer. 29:11). He tenderly ministered to the distressed people around him through Lamentations, passing the comfort God gave him on to others (2Co. 1:4).

Through the pain and sorrow, here’s what Jeremiah had learned:

Though he brings grief, he will show compassion, so great is his unfailing love. For he does not willingly bring affliction or grief to the children of men. Lamentations 3:32-33

Draw close to the God of all comfort. I’m praying for you.

  1. [1]The question is edited for brevity and anonymity.↩
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Did Joshua Cause Leap Years?

Here’s a question I hear often: Did Joshua cause leap years by praying for the sun to stop?

Christians naturally want to pass along any information that might influence agnostic friends to trust the Bible. That’s great when the details are solid, but sometimes inaccurate claims bounce around, and when we latch onto one of those, skeptics mock.

One such claim traversing the Internet is that Joshua’s prayer for the sun to stand still during a battle (Joshua 10:12) combined with Isaiah’s prayer for a shadow to retreat ten steps (2 Kings 20:11) resulted in a lost day that has to be made up for with leap years.

Sometimes this claim is combined with the debunked urban legend that NASA found Joshua’s lost day: See NASA discovers a “lost day” in time? and NASA and the Missing Day in Time.

So did Joshua cause leap years?

Joshua commanding the sun to stand still did not cause leap years
“Joshua Commanding the Sun to Stand Still on Gibeon” by John Martin, 1816 (public domain)

No.

We don’t periodically add a day to February because of an astronomical anomaly three millennia ago—that would be like saying a train was late once in 1842 and Amtrak has to adjust all its train schedules every few years to compensate.

Why we have leap years

We have leap years so our seasons will start on about the same calendar date each calendar year. If we never observed leap years, we’d eventually celebrate the Fourth of July in the middle of winter and Christmas in summer.

The technical explanation

Our seasons begin when the earth is at specific points in its orbit around the sun. The earth takes 365 days 5 hours 48 minutes 46 seconds to orbit the sun—a period of time called a tropical year.

A calendar year tracks only full days, so after four calendar years, that nearly six-hour lag behind the tropical year accumulates to almost twenty-four hours. We add a day to the calendar year to synchronize it with the tropical year.

Leap years synchronize calendar years to tropical years. Here's how. Click To Tweet

This allows us to keep the solstices (when the sun is farthest from the equator, causing the shortest and longest days of the year) always near December 21 and June 21, and the equinoxes (when the sun crosses the equator, causing day and night to be nearly the same length) always near March 20 and September 22. Summer and winter start on the solstices; spring and fall start on the equinoxes.

Baranof Island, Alaska, on Did Joshua cause leap years
In parts of Alaska, the summer solstice brings 24 hours sunlight and the winter solstice 0! Knowing the date to expect them is vital.

Even if you don’t live in the parts of Alaska where the sun doesn’t rise on December 21 and doesn’t set on June 21, you probably find planning easier knowing which months are hottest and which are coldest. (Unless you live near the equator where day lengths don’t vary much—Hawaii’s longest day is 13.5 hours and its shortest 11 hours.)

Leap days and leap years

The extra calendar day is added to the end of February and is called a leap day. A year in which we add a leap day is called a leap year. We have leap years about every four years. But because a leap day overcompensates by 11 minutes and 14 seconds, we skip adding a leap day three times over every four centuries.

For those who like such things, here’s how to figure out which years are leap years. Years evenly divisible by four are leap years except for years also evenly divisible by 100 but not by 400. Thus 2020 and 2000 are leap years, but not 1900 (2020 is evenly divisible by 4, but not 100; 2000 is evenly divisible by 4, 100, and 400; 1900 is evenly divisible by 4 and 100, but not 400).

Test everything. Hold on to the good.

1 Thessalonians 5:21
UPDATED 2/10/2020
Did Joshua cause leap years when he prayed for the sun to stop? Leap years & tropical years explained. Click To Tweet

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Telescoped Genealogies: Was Rahab the Mother of Boaz?

In a discussion about the Bible’s book of Ruth, this question came up: Was Rahab the mother of Boaz? Rahab, you may remember, was the Canaanite prostitute who hid the Israelite spies.

In the book of Ruth, the young Moabitess Ruth cares for her Israelite mother-in-law Naomi. Both are destitute widows. Ruth accompanies Naomi to Bethlehem, even though she’ll have little prospect of finding a husband to rescue her from poverty. There, she gleans grain in the field of a rich man named Boaz, who provides food and protection. Later he plays the part of kinsman redeemer by marrying Ruth and giving her a son who can inherit for her dead husband.

The question about Boaz’s relationship to Rahab comes up because it could help explain his extraordinary care for Ruth during a time Israel and Moab were on unfriendly terms, even though a closer relative refused to be a kinsman redeemer.

Was Rahab the mother of Boaz, shown in this painting of Boaz and Ruth

“Ruth in Boaz’s Field” by Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld, 1828

Matthew 1:5’s genealogy in the New International Version says, “Salmon the father of Boaz, whose mother was Rahab.” The more literal New American Standard Bible reads, “Salmon was the father of Boaz by Rahab.” That should settle it, right?

Not quite.

Rahab Being the Mother of Boaz Presents a Problem

The problem is Matthew lists five generations from Salmon to David, but between Rahab’s meeting the spies (traditionally 1406 BC) and David’s birth (1040 BC) stretch 366 years, making the average age of the dads up where what little hair remains turns white and giving extra meaning to Boaz’s claim not to be young: [1]

Year BC

 Person

Estimated Age

 Event

1406

 Rahab

20

 Meets Israelite spies

~1376

 Rahab

50

 Bears Boaz

~1264

 Boaz

112

 Fathers Obed

~1152

 Obed

112

 Fathers Jesse

1040

 Jesse

112

 Fathers David

Although it’s possible Boaz, Obed, and Jesse were bearing sons as centenarians, there’s another possibility: Matthew may have skipped some names—just as he skipped three in verse 8 and one in verse 11. [2]

Translation Issues and Ancient Customs

According to scholars, there are both translation and custom issues involved. The Greek word translated “was the father of” could also mean “was the grandfather of” or “was the ancestor of.” Additionally, unlike today, ancient Jewish writers often telescoped genealogies—that is, shortened them to the most important names.

New Testament scholar D. A. Carson explains:

Therefore approximately four hundred years (Gen 15:13; Exod 12:40) are covered by the four generations from Perez to Amminadab. Doubtless several names have been omitted: the Greek verb translated “was the father of” … does not require immediate relationship but often means something like “was the ancestor of” or “became the progenitor of.”

Similarly, the line between Amminadab and David is short: more names may have been omitted. Whether such names properly fit before Boaz, so that Rahab was not the immediate mother of Boaz (just as Eve was not immediately “the mother of all the living,” Gen 3:20), or after Boaz, or both, one cannot be sure. [3]

So was Rahab the mother of Boaz? She was his mother or grandmother or ancestress, and one of the people God used to mold Boaz’s extraordinary tenderness for the foreign widow Ruth.

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If you want to know more about the Old Testament, check out this book by me, Pam Farrel and Karla Dornacher (affiliate link):

  1. [1]Some scholars argue for a later date of 1250 BC for Joshua’s invasion. If Rahab gave birth ten years after, then the three men fathered their sons at an average age of 67 if Matthew has not telescoped between Rahab and David—more doable, though still short.↩
  2. [2]Verse 8 skips Ahaziah (2 Chr. 22:1), Joash (2 Chr. 22:11), and Amaziah (2 Chr. 24:27) between Jehoram and Uzziah (Azariah). Verse 11 skips Jehoiakim (2 Chr. 36:5) between Josiah and Jechoniah (Jehoiachin). Matthew 1:1 is even more telescoped: “Jesus Christ the son of David, the son of Abraham.”↩
  3. [3]D. A. Carson, “Matthew,” Matthew, Mark, Luke, The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, ed. Frank E. Gaebelein (Grand Rapids: Regency, 1984), 8:65. ↩
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Sins of the Fathers?

Does God punish innocent children to the third and fourth generations for the sins of the fathers?

Last week, someone asked several questions about children being punished for their parents’ wrongdoings, including whether events in Jewish history were examples of this and whether he should be concerned that he’ll suffer for his parents’ and grandparents’ sins.

What did God mean when he told the Israelites he would punish the children for the sins of the fathers to the third and fourth generation?

The second of the Ten Commandments says this:

You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand [generations] of those who love me and keep my commandments. Exodus 20:3-6

Painting of Israelites worshipping golden calf

“The Adoration of the Golden Calf” by Nicolas Poussin

If the head of a household worshipped false gods, typically his descendents would join in that idolatry. The successive generations would be punished for committing the sins they learned from parents. (Exodus 34:6-7; Numbers 14:18; and Jeremiah 32:18 are similar.) Douglas K. Stuart wrote:

In other words, God will not say, “I won’t punish this generation for what they are doing to break my covenant because, after all, they merely learned it from their parents who did it too.’ Instead, God will indeed punish generation after generation (‘to the third and fourth generation’) if they keep doing the same sorts of sins that prior generations did. If the children continue to do the sins their parents did, they will receive the same punishments as their parents.”

Stuart goes on to point out that “‘Third and fourth’ is idiomatic in Hb. for ‘whatever number’ or ‘plenty of.’” [1]

That this verse does not mean innocent children will be punished is supported by Deuteronomy 24:16: “Fathers shall not be put to death for their children, nor children put to death for their fathers; each is to die for his own sin.”

Is the Babylonian captivity an example of the sins of the fathers being visited upon children?

The children who were exiled or born in exile endured the consequences of their parents’ sins: they could not live in the Promised Land during the exile. Moses warned of this consequence for persistently rejecting God, but also promised when a generation confessed their sins and their fathers’ sins, God would restore them to the land (Leviticus 26:39-42).

During Babylon’s siege against Judah, people quoted a proverb showing their belief that they were being punished for their ancestors’ sins, not their own. Ezekiel 18 addressed their error at length:

The word of the LORD came to me: “What do you people mean by quoting this proverb about the land of Israel: ‘The fathers eat sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge’? As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign LORD, you will no longer quote this proverb in Israel. For every living soul belongs to me, the father as well as the son—both alike belong to me. The soul who sins is the one who will die. Ezekiel 18:1-4

God said if a man is righteous, he will live (18:5-9). If he has a wicked son, the son will die (18:10-13). If the wicked man has a righteous son, the son will live (18:14-18). The Israelites complained that the righteous son should share his father’s guilt, but God said no, only the wicked man will die for his wickedness (18:19-20). Additionally, if a wicked man repents, he will live, but if a righteous man becomes wicked, he will die (18:21-29).

Through Jeremiah God said that after the exile, people would finally stop quoting that proverb and realize people die for their own sin (Jeremiah 31:29-30).

Despite the people’s wish to believe that they themselves didn’t deserve punishment, in actuality, the generations had increased in wickedness as they learned their parents’ sins and added to them until God finally said, “Enough.” The exiled generation ignored the prophets’ warnings against child sacrifice to Molech, the highly sexualized worship of Canaanite gods, gross mistreatment of the poor, and blatant injustice.

Note that the exile happened in three stages: 605 BC, 597 BC, and 586 BC (when Jerusalem was destroyed). The exiles returned in 536 BC, just 50 years after the last deportation. Many first generation children saw the restoration.

Is the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70 an example of children being punished for their parents having crucified Jesus 40 years earlier?

No, the Jews that died in the Great Jewish Revolt against Rome were not being punished for Jesus’ crucifixion, but for their own rejection of Jesus as Messiah.

Moses had warned the Israelites that God would one day raise up a prophet like him and they must listen to him, or they would be called to account (Deuteronomy 18:15, 18, 19). The apostles reminded the Jews of this and warned them they would be cut off if they rejected Jesus as Messiah (Acts 3:22-23).

In AD 66, Jews in the provinces of Galilee and Judah revolted against Rome. They were led by the Zealots, a Jewish sect which taught the Messiah would come when the Jews were righteous enough to deserve the Messiah; the righteousness they demanded included rejecting all other human governance. They refused to pay taxes and assassinated Roman officials.

An initial victory led many Jews to join the Zealots in their revolt. Those who revolted rejected Jesus as Messiah and sought from among their own a Messiah who would establish an earthly kingdom free from Roman rule. As Rome crushed the revolt, the Zealots assassinated Jews who didn’t give them their full support, preventing them from surrendering. Rome destroyed Jerusalem and the temple in AD 70 and finished putting down the revolt in AD 75. The Jews entered exile again.

Are we destined to endure divine retribution of some sort of pain, suffering, and physical death here on earth because of some of the sins committed by our fathers or grandfathers?

No, absolutely not. We sometimes suffer the consequences of our parents’ sins: a gambler may lose his house and plunge his family into poverty. We sometimes learn and repeat the sins our parents teach us, bringing more consequences and even discipline. But we won’t endure divine retribution for our ancestors’ wickedness.

Besides, “in Christ” all of this is irrelevant anyway because when we’re “born again,” we’re born into God’s family.

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. ~2 Corinthians 5:17

 

  1. [1]Douglas K. Stuart, New American Commentary – Volume 2: Exodus, (Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman, 2006), WORDsearch CROSS e-book, 454.↩
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Questions about the Women at the Resurrection

Questions: Why did Mary Magdalene ask where Jesus’ body was when earlier an angel told her Jesus had arisen? Why do the gospel accounts differ as to which women went to the tomb and which saw Jesus alive?

Several questions arose in my church’s women’s Bible study about differences between the gospel accounts regarding the women at the resurrection who saw the empty tomb and witnessed Jesus alive.

Why did Mary Magdalene ask the man she thought was a gardener where Jesus’ body was (John 20:15) when earlier an angel had told her Jesus had arisen (Mark 16:6)?

When we read that the angel told Mary and the other women that Jesus had arisen, we know what the angel meant: Jesus had risen from the dead and was alive. But Mary didn’t know that.

Questions about Magdalene and women at the resurrection

“The Mourning Mary Magdalene” by Colijn de Coter (1493-1506)

When Jesus told the apostles he was going to die and rise again, they didn’t understand what he meant (John 16:17, 20:9). When the angel told Mary and her friends that Jesus had risen, she likewise didn’t know what he meant, perhaps thinking he spoke of Jesus’ soul. She remained intent on finding Jesus’ body so she could properly anoint it with spices.

Why do the gospel accounts differ about which women went to the tomb?

Matthew tells us of Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James the younger—one of the apostles—going to the tomb (Matthew 28:1); Mark mentions the two Marys and Salome (Mark 16:1); Luke describes the two Marys, Joanna, and other women (Luke 24:10); and John speaks only of Mary Magdalene (John 20:1).

We’ve all experienced recounting something that happened to us only to see our listener’s eyes drift towards an exit, and none of us likes that. So when we relate events, we choose important details and often mention just people our listeners know.

For instance, Clay and I told my father-in-law that while traveling with Craig Hazen (whom he knows), we met the pastor of his church. We didn’t mention we were also traveling with J. P. Moreland because my father-in-law doesn’t know him.

That’s the way we all tell the stories of our lives. We can’t give every detail: life’s too short. When writing, we trim down to what we think will make our point without overwhelming our readers with non-essentials that wouldn’t interest them. And that’s what the gospel writers did. They picked what they considered the most important details and mentioned the people their readers knew. All mentioned Mary Magdalene, who was a wealthy, well-known leader of the women who had ministered to Jesus and who had the honor of being the first to see the risen Lord.

In John’s case, he tells us he wrote of the miraculous signs Jesus did in the presence of his disciples (John 20:30), so one of the reasons he may have told of only Mary Magdalene’s experience, and not those of the other women, is he was sharing what he directly experienced: Mary came directly to him and Peter when she returned from the empty tomb, he and Peter then ran to the tomb and when John came out, he saw Mary standing outside weeping.

Why do the gospel accounts differ as to which women saw Jesus alive?

Matthew tells us of Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James the younger seeing Jesus (Matthew 28:9), while Mark and John tell us Mary Magdalene was the first to see Jesus alive (Mark 16:9, John 20:15-18).

Mary Magdalene was the first to see Jesus alive, and the other Mary joined them later. The gospel writers chose to emphasize different encounters. All describe Jesus appearing to the eleven remaining disciples, and some describe additional encounters.

Other New Testament books tell us Jesus appeared to more than 500 people, including Jesus’ brother James, Joseph called Barsabbas, Matthias, and Paul (Acts 1:21-23, 1 Corinthians 15:4-8). Most of the people are unnamed, and only a few of the encounters are described.

Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written. ~John 21:25

 

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Work Out Your Salvation?

Paul said, “Work out your salvation with fear and  trembling,” a statement which causes some Christians to fear and tremble. So let’s take a look at it.

Father tutors son

Aerospace engineer Matt teaches son Michael calculus

Doing works does not save us, but true salvation shows itself in works (Eph. 2:8-9). Paul is writing to believers about the outworking of their salvation in their everyday lives, an outworking that will cause them to shine like stars before those who do not yet believe. This labor should be with fear and trembling; that is, reverence and awe that recognizes subservience to Almighty God, that trembles before his power to destroy in hell, and that dares not turn grace into a license for sin.“Do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil,” Peter tells us, but rather, “fear God” (1Pe. 2:16-17).

Dallas Willard likens God to nuclear power: nuclear power isn’t mean, but should be respected because it’s dangerous. C. S. Lewis explains this respect to children in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe when Mr. Beaver describes Aslan, the great Lion who is King of Beasts and Son of the Emperor-Beyond-the-Sea: “‘Safe?… Who said anything about safe? ‘Course he isn’t safe. But he’s good. He’s the King, I tell you.’” [1] To fear God is to respect his power and authority, and to therefore obey him. Yet we also have confidence before him because we know “His mercy extends to those who fear him” (Luke 1:50) and he “accepts men from every nation who fear him and do what is right” (Acts 10:35).

Paul says the reason we should work out our salvation is that God works in us “to will and to act according to his good purpose.” Rather than forcing us to obey, God works to give us both the desire and the ability to do what is right. God wants neither robots nor puppets. He wants creatures who freely choose to love and do right.

So how does our working out mesh with God’s working in?

Imagine the son of a mathematician deciding to learn calculus. He cannot learn it on his own: he doesn’t have the skills or knowledge within himself to do it. He turns to his father for help. The father explains the concepts, gives him problems to work, checks the boy’s progress, and arranges lessons to address weaknesses. Finally, the thing is done and the boy has learned calculus. He passes a college level equivalency exam. As a reward, he has college credit, his father’s commendation for doing well, and greater opportunities opened to him.

Can the boy say, “I did it all myself”? Of course not: without his father, he could do nothing. Should the boy say, “It was all my father—I did nothing”? That wouldn’t be true, for a lazy child would have learned nothing and would have received neither reward nor commendation.

So it is with us. Jesus said apart from him we can do nothing, but in him we will bear fruit (Jn. 15:5). We haven’t the skills or knowledge within ourselves to do it on our own. But if we remain in Jesus, our heavenly Father will teach us truth, give us problems to work, check our progress, and address our weaknesses. When fruit begins to grow, we cannot say, “I did it all myself,” for apart from him we can do nothing (1 Cor. 4:7). Yet we do have a part: “Continue to work out your salvation,” Paul says. We must attend to the lessons, work through the problems obediently, and take correction. One day, God will test the quality of our work and reward us accordingly.

Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose. ~Philippians 2:12-13

Adapted from Philippians: Steps to Joy and Peace (forthcoming)

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  1. [1]C. S. Lewis, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (New York: Collier, 1970), 76.↩
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Why God Says No: A 3 Dog Tale

Sometimes God tells us No to test whether our hearts are faithful and obedient.

Dog jumping through hoop

My sister's dog Kaze obediently jumping through hoops

Imagine a master dog trainer who supplies dogs to the ATF, DEA and police is training a newly hired apprentice.

The trainer points to three calmly sitting dogs and says, “We just received these dogs that received their initial training elsewhere. We’re going to test them to see if they’re suitable for us and, if so, what level of training they should receive next. The unimaginative breeders named them Black Dog, Yellow Dog, and Spotted Dog.”

The trainer calls over Black Dog and tests how he obeys basic commands such as sit, stay, and heel, as well as trickier commands such as back up and growl. Then he tells the apprentice to test Yellow Dog and Spotted Dog. All dogs do well.

The trainer says, “Now test their obedience with food.”

The apprentice tells the dogs to sit. They obey. He opens a bag of kibbles and three dog noses twitch and turn his way as the grainy smell fills the air. He plunges a scoop noisily into the bag and the dogs’ ears perk. He pulls out the scoop full of brown bits and pours them with a clatter into three bowls as three pairs of eyes watch. Yellow Dog licks his chops and taps one forepaw on the floor. Finally the apprentice places the bowls before the dogs and commands, “Take it!” All the dogs leap forward and devour the kibbles in minutes.

The trainer says, “That’s not what I meant. That test means nothing because the dogs are doing what dogs do naturally. I can’t tell whether they’re eating because they’re obeying you or their own cravings.”

The trainer refills the bowls with kibble, commands, “Leave it!” and places the bowls before the dogs. Yellow Dog eats his kibbles, but the others sit quietly.

The master trainer says, “That shows me Yellow Dog may not work for us, but it doesn’t show me how obedient the other two are because their bellies are full. Don’t feed the dogs for 24 hours, and then we’ll test them again.”

After 24 hours, the apprentice brings the dogs to the master trainer. Yellow Dog growls and snaps at him, Spotted Dog whines, and Black Dog is quiet.

The trainer says, “Now test them like I showed you yesterday.”

The apprentice commands, “Leave it,” and places bowls of kibble in front of the dogs. Both Yellow Dog and Spotted Dog eat their kibble. Black Dog sits quietly, and Yellow Dog eats Black Dog’s kibble too.

The trainer says, “Now we know Black Dog is obedient from the heart: she’ll obey even when hungry. Give Yellow Dog away, for she won’t meet our needs. Put Spotted Dog in intermediate training. I’ll take Black Dog for now and reward her with a steak, for her desire to obey her master is greater than her desire to obey her hunger. I have great plans for her.”

And so it is with us. God tests us to expose what’s in our hearts. He gives more training to those who need it. And to those who don’t, He entrusts with greater tasks and rewards with eternal riches.

“In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.” ~1 Peter 1:6-7

“Remember how the LORD your God led you all the way in the desert these forty years, to humble you and to test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands.” ~Deuteronomy 8:2

Related: Why God Says No: To Teach Eternal Purpose

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Why God Says No: To Teach Eternal Purpose

Caged Eagle: why God says no

Injured eagle rescued & now protected within cage in Sitka, Alaska

Why does God sometimes say No to things we seem to really need for peace and happiness?

Many years ago a small business I worked for shut down unexpectedly, leaving me unemployed in the middle of a recession a few months before I was to be married. I had a tough time finding a new job. Finally the owner of a small family photography studio offered me a receptionist position that would meet my former salary if I worked 48 hours per week. I took it.

On my first day, I discovered that what Tom, the owner, had called “some phone work” was really telephone solicitation, and that it was to be my main duty.

I hated it. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t make my quota and my stomach tied in knots every morning as I faced another day of failure. Additionally, Tom listened to everything his staff said via intercoms so he could correct every mistake and critique every lost sale.

Though I was grateful for a job that allowed our wedding to go on, I felt I needed a less stressful job and prayed regularly for such. But time stretched on and I remained there.

***

The Israelites faced something similar. During the trek through barren desert to the Promised Land, God fed them manna. It sustained them, but they grew tired of it day after day, morning, noon and night. They craved lamb and fish and garlic and leeks. Why wouldn’t God give them a varied diet?

Later Moses told them one of the reasons God met their needs, but not their cravings, had been “to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD” (Deuteronomy 8:3). In other words, sometimes God says No to teach us important lessons.

He wanted to teach them that just as their bodies craved physical food, so their spirits craved the spiritual food of God’s words, even though they didn’t feel hunger pangs in the same way. Cucumbers and melons could support physical life, but not spiritual life. They needed to seek spiritual life in His words.

The fact is, our deep spiritual longings can be filled only with eternal things.

Some people never grasp this. They chase pleasures, possessions and positions. They may feel a fleeting satisfaction whenever they grab one, but it soon fades and the chase resumes.

But God wants us to live by His words and seek fulfillment in the Creator rather than creation, in the eternal rather than the temporal.

***

I persevered at the job I hated. In God’s Word I found that He wanted me to respond by trying my best, being thankful that He could work this job for my good, and looking for ways to share the gospel.

After nearly a year, two co-workers turned their lives over to Christ. We met regularly before work for Bible study. Then we all found new jobs.

I discovered that having a job I liked wasn’t a need, but a desire, and life isn’t just about enjoying myself. It’s about doing things that have eternal purpose, things that God rewards eternally. That was deeply satisfying, more satisfying, in fact, than even the agreeable jobs I’ve had since.

Are you in a difficult situation where you lack some of the things you really desire? Go ahead and ask God to change it, but until He does, seek satisfaction in Him.

He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your fathers had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD. ~Deuteronomy 8:3

Related:  Why God Says No: A 3 Dog Tale

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Abraham, Isaac & Child Sacrifice

In Genesis 22, God asks Abraham to offer his son Isaac as a sacrifice. This story distresses some Christians who wonder how it could possibly be fair or right for God to ask this. 

The story begins in Genesis 22:2.

Then God said, “Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about.”

Now the Law had not yet been given, so God was not asking Abraham to disobey a commandment. Still, this request must have torn Abraham’s heart. What purpose could it serve?

Let’s start with some background.

Background

Abraham and Isaac Were Prophets

At times, God called prophets to perform actions that foreshadowed and explained future events. Abraham and Isaac acted out God the Father’s offering of His beloved Son, Jesus, to save the world.

God Carefully and Lovingly Prepared Abraham for This Task

By the time of this event, Abraham had seen God’s miraculous intervention in

  • the blazing torch and fire pot when He made His covenant with Abraham (Genesis 15:17);
  • the rescue of nephew Lot with only 318 men from the armies of four kings (Genesis 14); and
  • the saving of Lot from the destruction of Sodom (Genesis 19).

Most importantly, God had shown Himself faithful to His promise even when all looked impossible through the miraculous birth of Isaac to his wife Sarah, who was barren, past menopause, and 91 years old.

Abraham had talked with angels and God himself. God gave Abraham more evidence of His nature than He gives most people to prepare him for the position for which God chose him: the father of the nation that was to represent God on earth. But to whom much is given, much is required, and God required Abraham to demonstrate unwavering faith.

God Made Promises about Isaac

The Lord had promised Abraham Isaac would be his heir in Genesis 17:19:

Then God said, “Yes, but your wife Sarah will bear you a son, and you will call him Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him.” 

God tested Abraham’s faith in this promise by asking him to do something that appeared to make the promise’s fulfillment impossible.

Abraham Believed God’s Promises

Because he believed God’s promise about Isaac, “Abraham reasoned that God could raise the dead” (Hebrews 11:19). And so as Abraham took leave of his servants, he placed the wood for the offering on Isaac, took torch and knife in hand, and in faith told his servants, “We will come back to you” (v. 22:5). Turning, father and son climbed Mount Moriah together.

Abraham constructed an altar, piled the wood atop, and bound and laid Isaac on it. As his fingers wrapped around his knife, he heard the angel of the Lord call out: “’Do not lay a hand on the boy,’ he said. ‘Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son’” (Genesis 22:12).

Abraham had passed the test. He saw a ram trapped in a thicket and sacrificed it instead.

What did this test achieve?

One, the test proved the strength of Abraham’s faith.

Most of his life was materially and spiritually blessed; his faithful passing of the test demonstrated unbought love. Now his descendants could know they too could trust God, though they had less visible evidence than he. They would need this through the Egyptian captivity and at other difficult times. Abraham’s faith was realized and proven.

Two, it proved Abraham loved God.

Abraham loved God more than anything on earth, including his son, and thereby set the example for his descendants. Jesus said anyone who loves son or daughter more than Him and refuses to take his cross and follow Him is not worthy of Him (Matthew 10:37-39). All of us have times in our lives where we must choose whom and what we love most, times we must face the loss of something dear to us and decide whether we will trust in God’s goodness through it. Abraham shows us we can trust God to keep His promises.

Three, Isaac’s willingness to trust his father foreshadowed Jesus’ later willingness to die for the sins of the world.

Isaac was at least an adolescent (Jewish tradition has him an adult) and Abraham was over 110, making Isaac the stronger and faster of the two, yet Isaac allowed his father to bind him and lay him on the altar. This differed significantly from the Canaanite practice of sacrificing young, defenseless children to the fire of Molech.

Four, this prevented the Canaanites from boasting.

They couldn’t claim they were more devoted to their gods than Abraham was to his God because they were willing to sacrifice more.

Five, God stopped Abraham from sacrificing Isaac, showing He did not want children sacrificed.

Later through Moses God forbade child sacrifice (Leviticus 20:2).

Six, the test foreshadowed the Father’s sending of his willing Son to be sacrificed for the sins of the world.

When Jesus talked about the Father sending His Son to save the world (John 3:16) by paying for our sins like a sacrificial lamb (John 1:29), the Jews had a reference to relate to so they could understand Him better and have more evidence Jesus’ teaching came from God.

Seven, Abraham’s sacrifice of the ram foreshadowed Jesus’s sacrifice.

The ram was a substitutionary sacrifice. It foreshadows Jesus’ dying instead of those who deserve death, but receive life by trusting in Him. Abraham named the place, “The Lord Will Provide.” Indeed the Lord has provided a suitable substitute for us that we might live, like Isaac.

Eight, God greatly rewarded Abraham and Isaac.

This demonstrated His faithfulness to reward us when we trust in His goodness and love when we go through difficult times and experience loss.

He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? ~Romans 8:32

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