One day last winter my wife Diane was reading the first chapter of Joshua, and she asked a question I couldn’t answer. “Why is it that the phrase ‘Be strong and of good courage’ appears so many time in this chapter?”
The question is a good one, and maybe even a better one than Diane thought. Not only do these words appear in Joshua 1, but also in Deuteronomy 31 where Moses aims “be strong and of good courage” at both Joshua and the people.
What is going on here that one of the most courageous biblical characters has those words directed at him seven times in those two chapters?
Put yourself in Joshua’s sandals. He was about to take over the leadership of a new nation that was preparing to capture its birthright. Both hardship and celebration lay ahead. Moses was dead, the same Moses who had met God face to face and who had confronted Pharaoh eyeball to eyeball. This was the Moses who had parted the Red Sea, turned the Nile into blood, visited plagues on Israel’s enemies, brought the law down from Mt. Sinai, called forth water from a rock, and led the nation of Israel in the wilderness for forty years.
Those were some shoes to fill, and it was Joshua’s job to fill them.
Is it any wonder that first Moses and then God himself had to tell him to “be strong and of good courage”? Joshua was human and would have the natural need for encouragement in times of transition.
And there is a little more to the story. In Deuteronomy 31, it is Moses encouraging Joshua. In Joshua 1 God himself encourages Joshua. But the very last verse of Joshua 1 provides us with an additional lesson, for it is neither God nor Moses providing the encouragement. It is the people themselves who encourage Joshua to be strong and and of good courage. Leaders often need the encouragement of those who follow them, else the leaders can be tempted to believe that the responsibilities of leadership are not worth the ingratitude. Followers sometimes have the responsibility to take the lead.
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Friday, September 17, 2010
A National Day of Prayer and Fasting
In times of crisis, American political leaders from time to time have called for a day of prayer, and sometimes even a day of fasting and prayer. The Pilgrims did it. The Puritans did it. In 1746 the settlements in New England did it when the French fleet threatened them. Shortly thereafter a storm destroyed the fleet.
In Revolutionary times, Civil War times, and even as recently as 2003, political leaders called for such observances. Various religious groups periodically call their congregations to days of prayer, and there is even a National Day of Prayer every May that Congress authorized in the 1950s.
God gave the nation of Israel a national day of prayer and fasting. It is commonly known today as Yom Kippur, or by its English name, the Day of Atonement. Why is this day a day of fasting? What are people praying and fasting for?
The key to the day’s nuances are found in the book of Hebrews. This New Testament book explained to the Jewish Christians of the time how their religious teachings and practices pointed forward to the Messiah. In chapter 9 the writer discusses the Day of Atonement.
No one was allowed to go behind the veil into the Most Holy Place except the High Priest, and he was allowed to do so only once per year, which was on the Day of Atonement. His function was to offer sacrifices both for himself and “for the sins of the people committed in ignorance”.
This day is a recognition that people sin. It recognizes that they often sin because they just don’t know better – they sin in ignorance. We all know people who are like this, and God has a day to recognize that people who are deceived need atonement too.
It is also a day for “the people”. If we go back to the Old Testament book of Leviticus where this day was given to Israel, we see that the Day of Atonement is about “the people”. It’s not about the king, not about the prophets, and not about the priests, but about “the people”. That word “people”, according to Thayer’s Greek Lexicon, refers to a people, a tribe, or a nation.
In Leviticus 16, we see again and again that the rituals were for the “people”, or the “children of Israel”, or the “assembly” (verses 15, 16, 17, 19, 21, 24, 33, 34). In chapter 23, we’re told that anyone who didn’t “afflict his soul” on that day was to be cut off from his people. That’s how important the day was, that a person who ignored the day would no longer be considered a part of the community.
Here is a day of national prayer and fasting for the nation’s sins committed in ignorance.
It would be a wonderful thing if all of God’s children everywhere used the Day of Atonement to pray and fast for their people, to intercede for the sins of their nations. Pray for God’s mercy on those who don’t know better. And of those who intentionally deceive others for their own gain or power, may God be their judge while not laying it to the people’s account.
More to the point, a nation at a crossroads needs a day of prayer and fasting. What better time in history to honor that day than our own?
In Revolutionary times, Civil War times, and even as recently as 2003, political leaders called for such observances. Various religious groups periodically call their congregations to days of prayer, and there is even a National Day of Prayer every May that Congress authorized in the 1950s.
God gave the nation of Israel a national day of prayer and fasting. It is commonly known today as Yom Kippur, or by its English name, the Day of Atonement. Why is this day a day of fasting? What are people praying and fasting for?
The key to the day’s nuances are found in the book of Hebrews. This New Testament book explained to the Jewish Christians of the time how their religious teachings and practices pointed forward to the Messiah. In chapter 9 the writer discusses the Day of Atonement.
Now when these things had been thus prepared, the priests always went into the first part of the tabernacle, performing the services. But into the second part the high priest went alone once a year, not without blood, which he offered for himself and for the people's sins committed in ignorance; the Holy Spirit indicating this, that the way into the Holiest of All was not yet made manifest while the first tabernacle was still standing. (Hebrews 9:6-9 NKJV)
No one was allowed to go behind the veil into the Most Holy Place except the High Priest, and he was allowed to do so only once per year, which was on the Day of Atonement. His function was to offer sacrifices both for himself and “for the sins of the people committed in ignorance”.
This day is a recognition that people sin. It recognizes that they often sin because they just don’t know better – they sin in ignorance. We all know people who are like this, and God has a day to recognize that people who are deceived need atonement too.
It is also a day for “the people”. If we go back to the Old Testament book of Leviticus where this day was given to Israel, we see that the Day of Atonement is about “the people”. It’s not about the king, not about the prophets, and not about the priests, but about “the people”. That word “people”, according to Thayer’s Greek Lexicon, refers to a people, a tribe, or a nation.
In Leviticus 16, we see again and again that the rituals were for the “people”, or the “children of Israel”, or the “assembly” (verses 15, 16, 17, 19, 21, 24, 33, 34). In chapter 23, we’re told that anyone who didn’t “afflict his soul” on that day was to be cut off from his people. That’s how important the day was, that a person who ignored the day would no longer be considered a part of the community.
Here is a day of national prayer and fasting for the nation’s sins committed in ignorance.
It would be a wonderful thing if all of God’s children everywhere used the Day of Atonement to pray and fast for their people, to intercede for the sins of their nations. Pray for God’s mercy on those who don’t know better. And of those who intentionally deceive others for their own gain or power, may God be their judge while not laying it to the people’s account.
More to the point, a nation at a crossroads needs a day of prayer and fasting. What better time in history to honor that day than our own?
Sunday, September 12, 2010
A Healthy Dose of Neglect
Many years ago some writer – it might have been Norman Vincent Peale – said, “Every child needs a good, healthy dose of neglect.” I can hear the horrors from parents of small children even as I write this! How could anyone say such a thing?
And yet this thought needs to be explored a bit. Clearly no wise parent will allow a two-year old to play unsupervised in Daddy’s tool shed or to explore his environment with a nail file in a room full of electrical outlets.
But having said that, as children mature they need to be cut loose from Mom & Dad’s all-seeing eyes, allowing them to make mistakes or better yet develop problem-solving skills with their playmates. If Mom and Dad are there to ride to the rescue every time a little difficulty arises, the child will remain a child even into adulthood. Dependency will be a habit and adulthood delayed.
Maybe that’s what Jesus meant when he told his disciples, “It is expedient for you that I go away” (John 16:7), and, “He that believes in me, the works that I do he shall do also, and greater works than these shall he do, because I go unto the Father” (John 14:12).
Maybe we can paraphrase it as: “It’s best I leave. I’ll send the Holy Spirit, but you’ll have to learn how to step out of your comfort zones.”
Jesus was going to give them a good, healthy dose of neglect, but not without the help they would need. Even though he would not leave them comfortless, he was going to turn them loose. If he had hovered around, they likely would not have stepped out as they did because they would have had apron strings of their own imagination holding them back.
It’s the same with our children. We can’t tag along to their job interviews, although I understand that’s happening these days. We’ll cripple them if we try to shelter them from every trial and difficulty in life.
There is a wonderful little parable about a butterfly emerging from its cocoon. A child watched the process with fascination, but also deep concern. The new butterfly was struggling mightily to escape, and in kindness the boy decided to carefully cut the cocoon to ease the butterfly’s burden. Shortly after, the butterfly died, unable to fly. The story goes on to explain that a butterfly needs the struggle of escape from the cocoon in order to force fluid into the wings so it can fly.
It is through the struggle that they are able to fly.
And yet this thought needs to be explored a bit. Clearly no wise parent will allow a two-year old to play unsupervised in Daddy’s tool shed or to explore his environment with a nail file in a room full of electrical outlets.
But having said that, as children mature they need to be cut loose from Mom & Dad’s all-seeing eyes, allowing them to make mistakes or better yet develop problem-solving skills with their playmates. If Mom and Dad are there to ride to the rescue every time a little difficulty arises, the child will remain a child even into adulthood. Dependency will be a habit and adulthood delayed.
Maybe that’s what Jesus meant when he told his disciples, “It is expedient for you that I go away” (John 16:7), and, “He that believes in me, the works that I do he shall do also, and greater works than these shall he do, because I go unto the Father” (John 14:12).
Maybe we can paraphrase it as: “It’s best I leave. I’ll send the Holy Spirit, but you’ll have to learn how to step out of your comfort zones.”
Jesus was going to give them a good, healthy dose of neglect, but not without the help they would need. Even though he would not leave them comfortless, he was going to turn them loose. If he had hovered around, they likely would not have stepped out as they did because they would have had apron strings of their own imagination holding them back.
It’s the same with our children. We can’t tag along to their job interviews, although I understand that’s happening these days. We’ll cripple them if we try to shelter them from every trial and difficulty in life.
There is a wonderful little parable about a butterfly emerging from its cocoon. A child watched the process with fascination, but also deep concern. The new butterfly was struggling mightily to escape, and in kindness the boy decided to carefully cut the cocoon to ease the butterfly’s burden. Shortly after, the butterfly died, unable to fly. The story goes on to explain that a butterfly needs the struggle of escape from the cocoon in order to force fluid into the wings so it can fly.
It is through the struggle that they are able to fly.
Thursday, September 9, 2010
Trumpets!
Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, "Speak to the children of Israel, saying: 'In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall have a sabbath-rest, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, a holy convocation. You shall do no customary work on it; and you shall offer an offering made by fire to the LORD.'" (Lev 23:23-25 NKJV)
After Pentecost there is a long, dry, hot summer in the Middle East. Not until the seventh month of the year, typically straddling September and October, is there another Holy Day, and that Holy Day ushers in a scene of jubilation and victory.
This day is a day of “blowing of trumpets”, but a quick search of a Hebrew lexicon reveals that this phrase is translated from the Hebrew word teruwah, which can mean “an alarm, a signal, a sound of tempest, a shout, a shout or blast of war or alarm or joy” (from The Online Bible Thayer's Greek Lexicon and Brown Driver & Briggs Hebrew Lexicon, Copyright (c)1993, Woodside Bible Fellowship, Ontario, Canada. Licensed from the Institute for Creation Research.) Note that the word shophar is not used in this verse.
So it isn’t just a Day of Trumpets. It is also a day of shouting, a day of an alarm, a sound of tempest, and a blast of war, alarm, and joy.
As we’ll see, the symbols of this day point directly to the next step in God’s great plan. Consider the following scriptures:
Joel 2:1-2: Blow the trumpet (Hebrew: shophar) in Zion, and sound an alarm (Hebrew: ruwa) in My holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble; for the day of the LORD is coming, for it is at hand: A day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness, like the morning clouds spread over the mountains. A people come, great and strong, the like of whom has never been; nor will there ever be any such after them, even for many successive generations.
Zephaniah 1:14-16: The great day of the LORD is near; it is near and hastens quickly. The noise of the day of the LORD is bitter; there the mighty men shall cry out. That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of devastation and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness, a day of trumpet (shophar) and alarm (teruwah) against the fortified cities and against the high towers.
Psalm 47:5-7: God has gone up with a shout (teruwah), the LORD with the sound of a trumpet (shophar). Sing praises to God, sing praises! Sing praises to our King, sing praises! For God is the King of all the earth; sing praises with understanding.
Psalm 98:4-9: Shout joyfully to the LORD, all the earth; break forth in song, rejoice, and sing praises. Sing to the LORD with the harp, with the harp and the sound of a psalm, with trumpets and the sound of a horn (shophar); shout joyfully (ruwa) before the LORD, the King. Let the sea roar, and all its fullness, the world and those who dwell in it; let the rivers clap their hands; let the hills be joyful together before the LORD, for He is coming to judge the earth. With righteousness He shall judge the world, and the peoples with equity.
1 Thessalonians 4:16-17: For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
Revelation 10:7: But in the days of the sounding of the seventh angel, when he is about to sound, the mystery of God would be finished, as He declared to His servants the prophets.
Matt 24:29-31: Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.
1 Cor 15:50-54: Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does corruption inherit incorruption. Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed -- in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: "Death is swallowed up in victory."
Rev 19:1: After these things I heard a loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, saying, "Alleluia! Salvation and glory and honor and power belong to the Lord our God!”
These are a sampling of the scriptures that bear some reference to the Holy Day commonly known as the Day of Trumpets. It would anti-climactic to try to add to the clear direction that scripture points us regarding the meaning of this day from an eschatological (end time) point of view.
It has been a long time since the Pentecost of Acts 2 when the Holy Spirit made a dramatic appearance in Jerusalem. Yet Jesus Christ has still not returned. But that what should be expected because it is a long, hot summer between Pentecost and the Day of Trumpets.
While the Day of Trumpets will mark a judgment upon this world’s system of government, it will be a day of salvation for the people of God. The dead in Christ will rise, who will live and reign with Christ for a thousand years (Revelation 20:4). The Kingdom of God will be on the earth, with Jesus Christ himself ruling as King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
My Love/Hate Relationship
I am in a love/hate relationship. I love the King James Version of the Bible. I love the cadence of language and the ease of memorization that such cadence provides. I love its impact on the history and culture of the English-speaking world. Scholarly works and study helps such as concordances are most often keyed to the King James Version. Of all the English translations I have used, I find myself always gravitating back to the King James Version. It is my main study Bible.
But the translation aggravates me time and again. I can get around the “thee’s” and “thou’s” and the archaic usage of certain words (“convict” instead of “convince” and “by and by” instead of “immediately”), but it is some egregious mistranslations that I find aggravating.
One such passage is Ephesians 4:11-12. In the King James it reads: “And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ.”
The passage as translated implies that one function of the offices of the church is “for the work of the ministry”. Put differently, the offices are to help the ministry do their jobs. That’s not a heretical translation by any means, but it does not conform to the intent of the Greek. Here is verse 12 as translated in the New King James Version: “… for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ.” The New International Version: “… to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up.”
The King James, by translating as it does, obscures the role of church leadership in equipping all of God’s people for the work of ministry (or more accurately, “works of service”). This is more than an academic point. It gets to the heart of the role of the church and its leadership. Ephesians 4 as translated by the King James Version could lead one to believe that it’s the job of the professional ministry to do the work of the church. Properly translated, the verse implies that the leadership’s job is to train the rest of us to do works of service. It makes us all responsible and not just the chosen few. It implies that we all have a calling, a vocation as it were (see Ephesians 4:1 for context).
This correct understanding has turned much of Christianity into a more participative venture. Even the more traditional hierarchical organizations have come to understand this. The New American Bible, the official translation of the Roman Catholic Church in America translates verse 12 as follows: “ … to equip the holy ones for the work of ministry, for the building up of the body of Christ.” This is accompanied by the footnote, “The ministerial leaders in v. 11 are to equip the whole people of God for their work of ministry.”
Christianity is not a spectator sport. We all have a role in spreading the Gospel, and we all need to be equipped to fulfill that role. It is gratifying to see so many coming to understand that. Hopefully, some day we can all be equipped in some manner for works of service.
But the translation aggravates me time and again. I can get around the “thee’s” and “thou’s” and the archaic usage of certain words (“convict” instead of “convince” and “by and by” instead of “immediately”), but it is some egregious mistranslations that I find aggravating.
One such passage is Ephesians 4:11-12. In the King James it reads: “And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ.”
The passage as translated implies that one function of the offices of the church is “for the work of the ministry”. Put differently, the offices are to help the ministry do their jobs. That’s not a heretical translation by any means, but it does not conform to the intent of the Greek. Here is verse 12 as translated in the New King James Version: “… for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ.” The New International Version: “… to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up.”
The King James, by translating as it does, obscures the role of church leadership in equipping all of God’s people for the work of ministry (or more accurately, “works of service”). This is more than an academic point. It gets to the heart of the role of the church and its leadership. Ephesians 4 as translated by the King James Version could lead one to believe that it’s the job of the professional ministry to do the work of the church. Properly translated, the verse implies that the leadership’s job is to train the rest of us to do works of service. It makes us all responsible and not just the chosen few. It implies that we all have a calling, a vocation as it were (see Ephesians 4:1 for context).
This correct understanding has turned much of Christianity into a more participative venture. Even the more traditional hierarchical organizations have come to understand this. The New American Bible, the official translation of the Roman Catholic Church in America translates verse 12 as follows: “ … to equip the holy ones for the work of ministry, for the building up of the body of Christ.” This is accompanied by the footnote, “The ministerial leaders in v. 11 are to equip the whole people of God for their work of ministry.”
Christianity is not a spectator sport. We all have a role in spreading the Gospel, and we all need to be equipped to fulfill that role. It is gratifying to see so many coming to understand that. Hopefully, some day we can all be equipped in some manner for works of service.
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
We're All Socialists Now
An elderly gentleman the other day betrayed the problem without realizing it. Here is what he told me.
“People who say they don’t like socialism won’t give up their Social Security or Medicare. Oh, they don’t like socialism until their unemployment checks are cut off or their kid’s college assistance dries up.”
Even after saying this, he couldn’t see that he had betrayed the very problem – the very trap – that the Socialists laid for us all many years ago when they began their New Deals, their Fair Deals, and their “chicken in every pot and car in every garage” approach to government largesse.
Here was how the game plan was supposed to work.
Make people so dependent on the government for everything that they become slaves to the system. Tax the wazoo out them so that they don’t have the money themselves to fund their own retirement, then give just enough back to them to keep them from starving. Then tell the people that they should be thankful to their benefactors in Washington for taking their money and giving it back later – or, perhaps more realistically, stealing the money from their grandchildren’s future because the politicos in the great white buildings have already spent the old folks’ money on their own pork projects.
If you ask me, they have done nothing less than foist upon all of us a mentality just one wrung above that of slaves. Without us, they would have you believe, you would have no income, no medical care, no food, no place to live. "We’ll make sure you have enough to get by, but in exchange you have to give us more of your money and lots more power to control you. Stay on the plantation and you can live. You are incapable of surviving any other way, so don’t even try to escape."
And in fact they have constructed such a world where that might just be true. But it’s that way not because it had to be, but because that is the way they constructed it. So my old friend was right – we are all a bit Socialistic now, not because we think it’s the best way, but because we are afraid to attempt otherwise.
“People who say they don’t like socialism won’t give up their Social Security or Medicare. Oh, they don’t like socialism until their unemployment checks are cut off or their kid’s college assistance dries up.”
Even after saying this, he couldn’t see that he had betrayed the very problem – the very trap – that the Socialists laid for us all many years ago when they began their New Deals, their Fair Deals, and their “chicken in every pot and car in every garage” approach to government largesse.
Here was how the game plan was supposed to work.
Make people so dependent on the government for everything that they become slaves to the system. Tax the wazoo out them so that they don’t have the money themselves to fund their own retirement, then give just enough back to them to keep them from starving. Then tell the people that they should be thankful to their benefactors in Washington for taking their money and giving it back later – or, perhaps more realistically, stealing the money from their grandchildren’s future because the politicos in the great white buildings have already spent the old folks’ money on their own pork projects.
If you ask me, they have done nothing less than foist upon all of us a mentality just one wrung above that of slaves. Without us, they would have you believe, you would have no income, no medical care, no food, no place to live. "We’ll make sure you have enough to get by, but in exchange you have to give us more of your money and lots more power to control you. Stay on the plantation and you can live. You are incapable of surviving any other way, so don’t even try to escape."
And in fact they have constructed such a world where that might just be true. But it’s that way not because it had to be, but because that is the way they constructed it. So my old friend was right – we are all a bit Socialistic now, not because we think it’s the best way, but because we are afraid to attempt otherwise.
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