Free Cell Damnation

Have you ever felt condemned by Free Cell? You play a few games and slowly the game tries to take over. It won't be long before you find a game difficult to win and you finally give up and move on to another game. It all seems innocent enough until you click on the stats page and see you have won 9 out of 10 games or 90%.  In most schools that is, like a B-. Even in the more generous schools where "A" goes all the way down to 90% it is an A-. The lowest "A" possible. And you will now never ever get to 100%. Win 100 more games and you are at 99%. Pretty good but not 100%. If you are like me, you will find the "undo" button. so you can get a do-over. The program on my laptop lets you undo one move at a time all the way back to the beginning to start over. And as far as I can tell you can "do-over" something like forever and the computer will never know. So you can "win" even after you know you failed. However, if you didn't know about the "undo" key and lost even one game, your stats will be forever tainted with failure. And if you are honest with yourself, the "do-overs" began with that little window telling you there are "no more legal moves" so in essence you cheated. You know. God knows.

And that is how it is in real life. If you have violated any one of God's commandments anywhere at any time you can never get 100%. You always come up short. James 2:10 tells us, "For whosoever shall keep the whole Law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all". Guilty. Condemned. And hopeless to ever fix it. No matter what I do it will never be enough. Following my decision to accept the truth about God's love through His Son, Yeshua, I was given the real story of who I was, imperfect, a blemish in God's creation. I was not just depraved but totally depraved. There was no good thing in me. Romans 3:10 - 18 told me the truth of what God really thought of me. http://www.blueletterbible.org/Bible.cfm?b=Rom&c=3&t=NKJV#s=1049010

My new found freedom painted a still bleak picture of my relationship with God. I will always come up short. God knew of my attempted "do overs" and they were exposed as failures. 

Enter grace. Here I was told that, in spite of my life of absolute failure, God would be gracious if I asked Jesus to be my Savior. Just pray this prayer. Buuuut I already had understood what Jesus did. I had asked for forgiveness. I believed He was God's Son and that He died for me. But I didn't pray that "salvation" prayer. Had I missed the formula? Some magic word combination to remove the stain of who I had been and who, in some ways, I still was? I felt bad for stuff before I started to follow Christ; now theology helped me see just how totally awful I was. Not so helpful. Theology also told me God is love and that He loved me and wanted me to be with Him. But I was also reminded not to forget just how awful I really am. The more dark and ugly you see your life, the more God's grace is magnified. Now I am confused. Am I supposed to feel like deeply loved pond scum? Sin corrupts every cell of my being and, because of me, all of creation groans and convulses due to my disobedience. How comforting.

Now, this stuff may be true. But maybe we get things a bit distorted. God does love me, as I am a part of His created cosmos. "For God so loved the cosmos, that He gave His only Son" (John 3:16). My relationship with Him is not just this surreal love thing. God chooses to love me. It gives Him delight. My salvation brings Him pleasure. He made me for purpose on purpose. To be a part of His eternal purpose. I am made in His image because He wanted to make me. I have value before Him. His Grace cannot be magnified for it is all encompassing, pervading every breath of life. My sin, my failures need not be magnified to see His grace. God delights in me. I am His joy. As damaged as I was, and still am, God enjoys my presence. He gets pleasure from adopting me as His child. Therefore, I am a child of the light. So I find joy in walking in the light. I delight in Him and find pleasure in knowing I am His. I find true joy in obedience, for that just brings me closer to His presence. I am His.

Our drive to label and categorize everything in life will bring us to categorize our sin and failure. We can develop theological files of our darkness and depravity. We will misplace the Jack and there will be no more legal moves. Game over. In the process we may miss the reality of His pleasure in us. His delight in delivering us. His passion spent to make us His. Our sin lists can blind us to the real joy of obedience. Not to earn anything or to secure anything but to draw closer. That is what God's commandments are for. To draw us near, not to condemn us.

Do not let Free Cell damnation rule your life. Fear of the misplaced card. Lying about the "do-overs", categorizing your sin and failures in nice theological boxes. You would be better off to look to His grace, His delight in saving you, His pleasure in adopting you. His loving directions He gave to you so that you might know how to best live and know the joy of obedience. The Joy of His presence. Maybe its time to shuffle the deck of condemnation and find that God dealt us grace before we ever knew Him.
 

Jesus, the God of Wrath and Anger

The writer to the Hebrews tells us, "It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God" (Heb. 10:31). So are you afraid? Do you tremble before the holy and just God? Just who is this God we are to fear? Let us take a look at what the Scriptures have to say. 

"For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad" (2 Cor 5:10). Revelation 6:16, "and [they] said to the mountains and rocks, 'Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb!". David warns, "Kiss the Son lest He be angry and you perish in the way. When His wrath is kindled but a little" (Psalm 2:12). Matthew 13:41 - 42, "The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those who practice lawlessness, and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth." Actually, there are seven New Testament Jesus quotes about wailing and teeth gnashing. According to John 5:27, authority to execute judgement has been given to Yeshua, Jesus, because He is the Son of Man. It seems the God of wrath, anger, and Judgment is the Lord Jesus.

Let us compare Him with the God of the Old Testament. Psalm 136:12 says we are delivered, "With a strong hand, and with an outstretch arm, For His mercy endures forever". In fact Jeremiah proclaims the Old Testament God's mercies are new every morning (Lam. 3:23), great is His faithfulness. In case you missed it, Psalm 136 tells us twenty-six times that God's lovingkindness is everlasting. "God of our salvation" pops up 114 times in the Old Testament compared to 42 in the New. The God of the Old Testament shows mercy and compassion. He offers deliverance and salvation. He is a God of grace who extended that grace to Noah. He forgave David even after the sins of adultery and murder. He is slow to anger and full of compassion. We should be grateful for the tender and loving God of the Old Testament and fear the New Testament Jesus who would cast someone into outer darkness for wearing the wrong wedding cloths and might even cast out those who did great things in His name.  Very scary God, this Jesus, Son of Man.

What is my point? I get tired of the supposed contrast of the Old Testament God of wrath and judgment and the tender Jesus of the New. As Americans and those of Western/Greek thought, we divide and subdivide everything. We compartmentalize and make proclamations that fit our preconceived world view. It seems many determine that the Old Testament is barely valid and out of date. I see signs and advertisements declaring that this group gathering is a "New Testament" church. As if the Old Testament has nothing to do with faith and life today. Do they ever consider how gutted their New Testament Scriptures would be if they removed every Old Testament reference? Is it possible we really only have one revelation from God? One book that is about the One true God? You know, the One Jesus who said He was One with the Father. Pastors, teachers, theologians along with so many believers make it known that we believe that God is three in one. But the emphasis is on the "three" not the "One". Father, Son and Spirit each with His own purpose and responsibility. Check out any Bible College or seminary where you study Theology (God the Father), Christology (God the Son), and Pneumatology (God the Spirit), but not God the "One". They don't need to. After all, they have God all figured out and compartmentalized. Yet, if we are honest, the distinctions we see in Scripture are more like a chalk drawing in the rain. No clear edges and lots of blurry lines in the "one" picture. God is a God of compassion, mercy, love, deliverance and salvation. He is also the God of anger, justice, judgment, and wrath. You can find verses about all "three" involved in all aspects of these realities. Maybe you need to make your God box without all those compartments. Just One big compartment. On second thought, never mind. Even if He is only "One" He will never fit into any box you make anyway. Though, I have to admit, like most people, I occasionally try to make Him fit into my own personal "God box". How about you?

Longing for the Time I Didn't Want to Know or Join Me and Wilson on the Island

Ignorance. It is truly bliss you know. Curiosity killed the cat, or so they say. It also kills friendships and can leave you very much alone. It seems every day I am reminded or I find something new that I wish I remained ignorant of. Knowing or never questioning what is accepted is a balm to the searching heart. However, such simple life constructs leave my soul wanting more. But the more I find only drives me deeper into the island where I struggle as a cast away. I relate to Robinson Caruso and Tom Hanks except my companion is neither Friday or Wilson; it is a restless spirit and the Word of God. Marooned on Patmos, I want to flee the revelation from God rather than be swept into the heavenlies. Why must I be haunted by the "whys" that shadow my very being; aching for answers yet fearing their discovery. What was once clearly defined black and white has become blurred and indistinct like sidewalk chalk drawings after the rain.

Today is Saturday. I am to be at rest. It is God's Sabbath. After years of research and study of His Word there is no doubt that I am to be still this day. You may be free to pursue what you like, but I must either rest or be in the service of God's people. His Spirit imposes this thought upon my heart as I look to the lawn mower and sprouting weeds. "Remember the Sabbath to keep it holy", set apart, for God. You shall do no work. He says my body needs rest. One day in seven. But I do not rest easily. Ever. My hammock may rot before it ever wears out from use. God still says, "Be still, and know that I am God". The closest I come to "still" is reading or writing even as I am now. What a simple command. Just stop. Cease. Don't do anything. Yet, if perpetual motion could be put in a jar I could fill a pantry with just today alone. Sabbath is just the beginning. There are abundant other realities that used to be comfortingly benign. But now, new possible meanings chew at my spirit like insatiable termites feeding on the framework of what I used to simply accept as true.

 Paul writes, "O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God, how unsearchable are His judgements and  His ways past finding out" (Rom 11:33). I feel I am drowning in His depths and lost among His judgements. Paul tells me to "study to show myself approved unto God"; however, study just reveals how little of me there is to approve of. Evangelical Christianity tells my to jettison large portions of Holy text so I may rest in my ignorance. To question is folly. It only leads to isolation and ridicule. So much easier to go with the flow. To reject Torah. To say Moses doesn't matter. To remove the unpleasant calls to obedience. To somehow benefit from the Jewish Messiah while avoiding being "grafted in". To find a way to be one who was "far off" and now "drawn near", as Ephesians 2 says, yet without being obligated to the covenant of promise that is now to be mine. To pick and choose what part of the covenant and which promises I want to accept and which I want to take my "Gentile exemption" on. It all seems so confusing at times.

The wealth of the Word of God draws me to come and know that He is God. That He is an integrated Being portrayed as Father, Son, and Spirit. As I study, they become less distinct and more inseparable. Grace flows from the Father, judgement dispensed by the Son, while the Spirit gives life and comfort that escapes my understanding. Still I am told of the "Angry God" of the Old Covenant of Moses and the Law being replaced by the grace and peace of the New Testament Son. Obedience is now "Spirit lead" so there is no need for written instruction. All those requirements just pointed to Jesus anyway. They are just shadows to be spiritualized and placed in a box with other discarded garments called festivals and celebrations. Old cloths that have no place with my new spiritually discerned grace apparel. Thanks to the Spirit I can accept or reject any command given in Scripture. If I don't like it I can just declare it is of the old legalistic, oppressive law that I have been delivered from, by the blood of Jesus. "I can reject this commandment, the Spirit told me so." But, which spirit is directing me to forsake God's Word? I guess I could go with what seems most comfortable with life as I feel right now.......... then that restless Spirit comes knocking again saying "Be holy for I am holy". Separated from the world of easy belief and no need for discipline.

He says keep on. Be like Paul and "press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus" (Phil 3:14). To accept that when Paul wrote, "All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness" (2 Tim 3:16). That he really meant it. Recognizing that the only Scripture Timothy could know is the Old Testament, Genesis through Malachi. So if I want to be "fully equipped for every good work" that God might call me to do, the study must continue. The road that sometimes, perhaps often, leads away from the traditional evangelical view is one I must travel. Finding life and joy in the depths of Torah, the Writings and the Prophets. For these words give more than a foundation to the Apostolic writings of the more recent revelation found in Matthew through the Revelation of Jesus Christ. They hold life itself. The writer to the Hebrews says it is living and sharper than any two edged sword. (Yes, that would be the Old Testament as the New was not yet accepted as Scripture).

The journey is likely to be a lonely one. I would invite you to join me but it might mean leaving your comfortable evangelical tradition behind. It might cause you to rethink what you have always thought was true. I might leave you feeling like the only people who really understand are Robinson Caruso and a friend of a volleyball named Wilson. But if you want to come, there is still room on Patmos for another soul searching for God's truth and, at times, running from His revelation.
     

Shall We Toss Out 2 Timothy 2:15 or Act Like a Monkey?

Ever see a monkey open up a banana? They, more often than not, start on the end of the finger (A bunch is a hand and a single banana is a finger in case you like trivia) that is not by the stem. They open the banana from the bottom. Their approach is not what most of us use. Try it, it is an effective way to gain access to the sweet fruit inside. It is also a conversation starter as most of those around you will think you are a bit odd. However, just because it is different does not necessarily make it better or right or wrong. It is 180 degrees out of the norm and sort of stands out if you are peeling it in the midst of a group at a hotel breakfast bar. (Recent personal experience attests to that reality when a little boy asked his mom why I was opening the banana wrong.) For the peeling of fruit this difference is not earth shaking, nor will it have ramifications on your life in general. As far as I know the Federal Government does not yet have guidelines on proper fruit peeling, though NY City may; they regulate salt, margarine, and soft drink size so banana peeling may well be on the books. But what of the Scriptures? Is it okay to view them from a different perspective?

My purpose for this blog and in my teaching is not just to spoon out information but, hopefully, to encourage people to think. My intent is not to cause trouble with your Pastor or Bible study teacher, but to cause you to consider something new and then to be like a Berean and study to see if these things are so (Acts 17:11). My concern is that we, as followers of Messiah, have thrown out 2 Timothy 2:15. Paul told Timothy that he was to "Study to show himself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, correctly discerning the word of truth." To be like the more noble Bereans and to search the Scriptures daily to see if these things are so. The word "study" is spoudazo. It carries the meanings of to make haste and to exert effort, to be diligent, to work at something recognizing it can't wait; it holds a priority and cannot be delayed. The study of Scripture takes time. It also should be a priority and it should be you who does the work. Too often our approach to Bible study is to show up on Sunday and hear a message. We just want the speaker to tell us what the Scripture means and some fluffy application to encourage us for a day or two. Some of us go beyond that to a weekly study where we read a book and fill in the blanks so we know what the author thinks the passage means. Not a bad thing, but it is not 2 Timothy 2:15. 

The danger is one I see in the understanding of our nation's Constitution. It is a popular opinion that the document is a living document, meaning that the intent of the original authors has no bearing on what we want it to say now. In so doing we find the "right" to abortion but lose the "right" to own a gun or we can keep the gun but the government will just make ammunition illegal. The original framer's and founder's intention carries no weight. We should not be surprised when religious speech will be outlawed as hate speech and children removed from homes that do not support the government's agenda, obviously for the children's protection. God calls His Word "Living and active and sharper than any two edged sword" (Heb. 4:12). So if it is living it must be like the Constitution, always changing to fit our culture and society.  This way God's Word can sanction gay marriage, abortion, living together outside a marriage covenant and anything else we desire to change. The intent and culture of the original writers is irrelevant. All that matters is what the Scriptures mean to me or to the author leaving the blanks to fill in on the study guide.  This leaves us in a very dangerous place Biblically and culturally.

The primary excuse for disregarding the imperative command in 2 Timothy 2:15 is we do not have time. We have time for football, baseball, NASCAR, concerts and our favorite TV shows, but not half an hour to really study to show ourselves approved. I seriously doubt that God will ask you about a batting average or QB rating as we enter into glory. The question is priorities. Sometimes we are just too lazy to think when we hear the preacher on the radio or even in the pulpit on a Sunday. I remember being at a conference and being told that you could never effectively teach the Word without mastering "power point". Now power point is a helpful tool, but Peter, James, and the Apostle Paul seemed to be fairly effective without it. More disturbing was being told if I hadn't been baptized by the Holy Spirit and spoken in tongues I would never be used by God. We need to not be afraid to look on our own as to what the Word says. There are abundant tools and opportunities available to dig deeper. There are dangers, so we need to be diligent to make sure what we find agrees with the rest of Scripture. Don't let fear of the danger keep you from the Word. We are told to study.

You may find that you are a bit like that monkey who peels his fruit 180 degrees out of the norm. I was bothered by the idea of God forsaking the Son until I read the rest of Psalm 22 and discovered Yeshua's cry is more likely one of victory rather than separation. I found that the idea of Christ being our Passover Lamb has nothing to do with redemption, at least in the context of Scripture. I found Christ's offering in the cross doesn't look like a sin offering. I found the possibility of Mrs Job calling for blessing instead of a curse. I found that the Apostle Paul never persecuted Christians and that he was a Torah observant Rabbi all his life. I discovered that the New Covenant promised by Jeremiah places Torah on my heart and in my mind rather than removing Torah as a guide for my life. I see that Paul calls Torah Holy and good and that Jesus said it would remain until heaven and earth passed way. I found that things I had accepted without question or study held other possible understandings and applications. I discovered it really didn't take much effort to peel the banana backwards. All you have to do is connect the dots of Scripture. When someone tells you that Jesus is your Passover Lamb, go look at Exodus and see what that means. It means deliverance from death. There is no mention of repentance, atonement, or forgiveness, just deliverance for death. Which, by the way is a great thing. There are just layers of things we have added that are not in the Scriptures.

So, what is it going to be? Just absorb whatever teaching comes our way or actually look to see what it means in the context of God's Word. It will take time. It will take time to even think about what we hear in the context of Scripture. It will take time to read the history and writings of the Old Testament so often referenced in the New. But it is rewarding, and, by the way, it is a command not a suggestion. Don't throw out 2 Timothy 2:15. It was given to us for a reason. Who knows the search and study might be more fun than you thought. Perhaps you will run into a hmmmmmm moment. Maybe you will see God's Word with a fresh perspective and find you are peeling the banana backwards and the discovery is pretty cool.
   

Our Needy God

Does God need anything? Theologically we have been taught that God is self-existent, self-sufficient,  and self-sustaining. He is omnipresent, omnipotent, omniscient, and immutable. He is perfect and entirely complete. God doesn't need anything. If that is true, then God doesn't need you. God doesn't need me. Oh yes, He loves us and cares for us and made us. We are designed by Him and are given life by Him. So we need Him. Every moment of our existence is dependent upon Him. I need Him for every breath. I need air and water and food and shelter and there is much research that says I need others. Babies raised with little or no human contact do not flourish; in fact many die. Isolated people do not mature well. We need some kind of companionship. If not we will invent a friend. Perhaps a volleyball named Wilson. We are very needy creatures. But we are often told God does not need anything. Two questions. One, does this jive with Scripture? Two, what are the consequences if we really believe this to be true? 

Before we can proceed we need to define a key term. What does "need" mean? As stated above there are many things that I need. Oxygen, Water, and food, to name a few. God does not need these to exist. In that sense our theology is correct. But need is a broader term. I do not need my wife, Debbie, to exist. Should the Lord take her from me I can still choose to breath, eat, and live. However, after almost 38 years of marriage and 5 years of friendship before that, my life would have a huge hole in it if she were gone. I need her. I need her companionship, her understanding, her love, her council, her affection, her wisdom, and the list goes on and on. When she was in Thailand and when she was at our daughter's for a couple of weeks, I would wake up longing to see her face in the morning. When I came home at night the house was empty, with no one to share my day with or to tell me interesting retail stories from Hobby Lobby. I missed her and, yes, I needed her. I need my children and friends and so many other things on a personal level. My life might go on but it would be incomplete without my wife, my bride and my friends.

God calls Israel His wife. In Jeremiah 3:20 God says Israel is like an unfaithful wife. Israel commits adultery with other gods (See Jer. 3:8, 29:23 and Hosea 3:1 for examples). To commit adultery you have to be husband and wife. The victims of adultery are usually deeply wounded. For the one they are committed to, the one they needed, has been unfaithful. In reference to the assemblies of the New Testament we are told that we are the Bride of Christ. Messiah is the Bridegroom and we are His Bride. It is a picture John is inspired to use in Revelation. Rev. 21:1 says, "Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls ... talked with me, saying, 'Come, and I will show you the bride, the Lamb's wife". In Rev. 22:17 The Spirit and the bride say, "come". Come to the Bridegroom, come all who thirst, come to Messiah. I have performed a few weddings in my time and I have never heard any bridegroom ever say, "You know, I don't really need my bride; just going through the ceremony so I can say I did." Finally, in John 15:15 Yeshua, Jesus, tells the disciples they are no longer servants, they are His friends. You and I are friends of Messiah. We are the friends of God. If the Scriptures are accurate, then God needs me. He needs me so much He came to me, He called me, He died for me, He shed His blood to cover my sin so I could have fellowship with Him, He went to the cross, died and rose again so I can live with Him forever. I mean, it sounds like He really needs me.

But what if I decide that He really doesn't need me? What if I let these thoughts be overshadowed by my theology of God's self-sufficiency? If God doesn't need me, then I don't need to worry about time with Him. I mean, if He doesn't need to talk with me every day why bother Him? If He doesn't really need me why worry about the details of how I live? If He doesn't need me I can't wound Him. Well, maybe I can grieve the Holy Spirit (Eph. 4:30) but I am sure that's not the same as grieving a friend or my spouse, its not like God really needs my companionship. After all, He is God, and we know God doesn't need anything. If God does not need me we have a one sided relationship. I need Him for everything but He needs nothing from me. I have never seen a marriage, a wedding couple, or even friends, where that kind of relationship ever works very well. My God needs me. He needs to hear that I love Him, that He means everything to me. He needs to know I miss Him when I get too busy and that I am sorry for neglecting Him. He needs my time and my attention if this relationship with Him is to grow and to have the depth and intimacy we BOTH desire and need. If this is true with my wife and my friends, how is it any less true with the God who calls me His Bride, the wife of the Lamb, and His friend?

When you wake up tomorrow, before you attack the day, remember this, God needs you. He needs to hear your voice. To know you love Him and want to talk to Him throughout the day. When Debbie went to Thailand she left an envelope with a collection of notes so I could read one each morning. I still treasure those notes. God has given us a whole collection of letters and notes and songs and stories for us to read and be encouraged by His Words. He misses you when you are too busy to read His love letters. He misses you when you are too busy to pay attention to Him. He is wounded and grieved when you act like He doesn't need you. 

He is a needy God. So are you meeting His needs or grieving His heart? 

Should Christians Use the "F---" Word?

Words. They are a most useful means of communication. Even unspoken gestures and body language are translated by our brains as words or at least concepts that can be translated into words. What I have noticed, over the passing of time, is how effective the enemy of our soul has been at robbing the meaning of words. Of making the words of the divine profane. Profanity more than surrounds us; it permeates our culture and has infected the Body of Christ. We have acquiesced or outright accepted the Deceiver's ploy without a fight. It has touched your life and you are speaking far more profanity than you are aware. It is more than the proliferation of cursing and foul language. Most of us avoid the "F" word and give some passing cringe at the Lord's name being slandered or used in vain, but we are calloused or simply naive if we think that covers the subject. The profane saturates social media and flows freely from the keyboards and pens of those who claim to be followers of Messiah. As Matthew 12:36 reminds us, "But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment." If this is so, then we need to take a closer look at our words.

To begin with, it would be well to get some words defined. Profanity or the use of profane words are words most followers of Christ would want to avoid. You know, those coarse words or "dirty" words mom told us not to say. Most English dictionaries simply say profanity is not showing reverence or saying things that are offensive. The Hebrew word translated profane is chalal. It means to defile or pollute, but at its core it means to treat what is sacred as common. As we see in Lev. 22:32 “You shall not profane My holy name, but I will be hallowed among the children of Israel. I am the LORD who sanctifies you," Don't treat my name, which is holy or set apart, as common. The LORD who sanctifies you and makes you holy is not to be treated as common. Number three of the Ten Commandments warns to not take the Lord God's name in vain. Don't treat it as common so that it is robbed of its holy meaning. It is not an empty word; it refers to the sacred and omnipotent Creator and ruler of the universe. The phrase, "Oh my god!" has lost all real substance. The sacred has become common. It is profane. The Greek, bebalos, has a similar meaning. to be unhallowed or common. 2 Timothy 2:16 calls us to, "shun profane and idle babblings, for they will increase to more ungodliness." Shun common, empty, idle babblings, for who really wants to give God an account of those things?

The point is simply this: Don't turn what God has declared or referred to as sacred or set apart for His purpose as common or as an empty word. Let's take a few examples. "Oh my God!" is not usually a cry of worship. The phrase has become common. It is profane. "Damn it!" rarely brings the image of the lake of fire or the final judgement of a Holy God. "What the hell!" Same issue. No vision here of a final separation from the God of love and mercy while suffering torment. (By the way I don't think God is fooled by "gosh", "darn", or "heck" as replacements. The world knows what they replace and doesn't draw them to revere a Holy God).  I don't want to leave out "Heavens to Betsy". I am not sure what that means, but I am pretty sure my Grandmother talked of heaven that way. And how about the dreaded "F" word. How can that offend God?  How about Hebrews 13:4 ,"Marriage is honorable among all, and the bed undefiled; but fornicators and adulterers God will judge." God designed sex. When He "fearfully and wonderfully" made us, He put those nerve endings where He did on purpose. Sex is a holy thing. Something set apart for Marriage. Not for fornication or adultery. The "F" word is slang for the intimate union designed by God for a man and woman to share in marriage. The prolific use of the "F" word and other slang expressions for the act of love has made the act empty, has taken God's sacred meaning and made it common. Not sure what God thinks with American's obsession with male bovine feces but there must be other ways to express ourselves.

As followers of Messiah, the Son of God, and those who claim that Yahweh is the one true God, our language is riddled with profanity. Making the sacred common. One last word to consider is "awesome". Deut. 7:21 “You shall not be terrified of them; for the LORD your God, the great and awesome God, is among you." Thirty to forty times, depending on your translation, God, or what He does, is referred to as awesome. It means to be filled with awe at who He is and what he does. It is a remarkable word of worship and reverence. It is not about pizza or a car. It is not about the winning goal or how your girlfriend looks. We have made the word empty of its intended reverence. We have, in truth, made it a profane term. Robbed of its association with God, it is a popular use of profanity. Having made what was connected to One Holy just something common.

A final thought or two. Have you ever exclaimed, "Oh my Allah!" or "Mohammed Prophet!". How about "Oh Buddha" or hit your thumb with a hammer and yelled "My Vishnu, that hurts!". Why don't we treat the Muslim, Buddhist, and Hindu deities with the same disrespect as the Jewish and Christian God? Could it be that the Devil doesn't care? He is the master deceiver so he deceives us into thinking God doesn't care. It's just slang. You know a colloquialism, I don't really mean anything by it. And that is the point. The words God gave to warn us and to draw us to Him have lost their punch, be it hell or damnation, there is no real meaning.Thus, there is no fear, there is no warning, there is no reason to repent or draw near to God. Our own profane use of words about sex, eternity, and honoring the Awesome God who loved us, died for us and delivered us from sin and death has left us with empty words. Just how vain do we take the name of the Lord our God? Maybe Commandment Three just doesn't matter any more. Or maybe it matters way more that you think. Just what will you say when you see the Lord and go through your "idle word" report?


 

Tired of the Snow and Cold? Just Curse God and Die!

As I write this post it has "warmed up" to 17 degrees, but it will soon return to those single digits and then back below zero. I do remember the winter of 1980 in Wichita, KS, when the chill factor was minus fifty something. There were also 3 winters at Cornerstone University when the Grand Rapids campus, having no trees, allowed a chill factor that was brutal. So with all the discomfort that life and nature dish out, if you are a believer, why not just curse God and die? Wasn't that Mrs. Job's advice in Job 2:9? Hey, when life gets difficult spout off at God with some awful diatribe and maybe He will just kill you. It is possible that is what Job's wife meant, but perhaps not. Even though many a message has been preached espousing the godless action of Mrs. Job, maybe she isn't quite the bad person she has been made out to be. True she has lost as much as Job, save the physical distress, so it could be she berated Job in anger and bitterness. But, maybe she speaks out of love and concern.

The Hebrew word translated curse is barak. The word also appears in Job 1:11 and 2:5 where Satan is challenging God about His care for Job and says if Job would lose his tangible blessings, he [Job] would "curse you [God] to your face". God gives Satan permission to afflict Job but Job's integrity stands firm. As Job sits in the ashes in agony covered with painful oozing sores, Mrs. Job looks upon his pain and says, "Do you still hold fast to your integrity? Curse God and die" (Job 2:9). Job responds, "you speak as one of the foolish women speaks. Shall we indeed accept good from God, and shall we not accept adversity?" (Job 2:10). Seems pretty obvious why the court of public opinion finds Mrs. J guilty. But wait, perhaps we have misunderstood some of the words here. The word barak is indeed translated curse here in Job; but 304 other times it is translated "bless". Along with salute, praise, kneel (as in submit to a higher authority), congratulate and yes, one time, blaspheme. Now, we can't just go by numbers to determine the intent of the original author. However, with the vast number of "bless" translations, it would be prudent to see if other possibilities exist. Maybe even ones that not only fit, but may be be more accurate. We might even find a Biblical solution to vindicate Mrs. Job.

A few thoughts. 

The word barak is used most often in God blessing his children or His creation. As in Aaron's blessing in Numbers 6:24, "The LORD bless (barak) you and keep you." But there are times we bless God, "Bless God in the congregations, the Lord, from the fountain of Israel" (Psalm 68:26). Or "Bless the Lord, O my soul" (Psalm 103:1). Of the dozens of times God's people "barak" the Lord or God, Job 2:8 would be the only one where it is not bless. It would be the only time one of God's children would agree with Satan and encourage someone to "curse" God. Not impossible, but perhaps improbable.

There is also the consideration of Hebrew poetry. Unlike other poetry, Hebrew parallels ideas rather than rhyming words. We see that often in the Psalms where there is the reduplication of ideas. Psalm 45:1 "...I recite my composition concerning the king. My tongue in the pen of a ready writer." The same idea expressed with different words. Proverbs is full of contrasting ideas and plays on words. "The wise woman builds her house, but, the foolish pulls it down with her hands" (Proverbs 14:1). God also uses similar words to make a point, as in Isaac's name being similar to the Hebrew word for laughter because Sarah laughed. Is God doing that in Job? Satan predicts that Job will curse God to His face, Job does not; instead Mrs. Job actually encourages him to bless God. Is she cursing, as Satan desires, or is God poking Satan with her request for Job to submit, to kneel, to praise, to bless God and die. End the suffering and seek God's end of life. A poetic play on words to show her heart felt desire to see her beloved's pain come to a close. She asks if he will continue to hold onto his integrity or innocence rather than asking for the pain and suffering to end. Should he suffer and seem guilty or bless God and die with a measure of honor remaining? Job, by the way, borrows his wife's thought and will not admit to his accusers any guilt, "Far be it from me that I should say you are right; till I die I will not put away my integrity (or claim of innocence) from me" (Job 27:5). For Job a life of pain is better than a death with a possible appearance of guilt. Doesn't mean that is how Mrs. Job saw things. However, seeing a blessed end to her husbands great suffering may be her highest priority at this point. 

We also need to look at Job's response. She calls, pleads, asks, for him to look for the release of death. Job responds in verse 10 "You speak as a foolish one speaks. Shall we accept good from God but not adversity?" Job does not say she is foolish. Rather he seems to suggest that her words are out of character. How about this speculation? "You are speaking like someone foolish would speak. That is not like you. You have stood with me during the times of good and the family God graciously gave us. You accepted God's dealings with us then, but now you want to refuse His hand upon us? It all came from Him and He can be trusted in the good times and the times of adversity." There is nothing else heard from Mrs. J as Job (and his wife) endure the accusations of his "friends". You know, those who have God all figured out, good stuff equals righteousness, bad stuff equals sin. However, God does not fit in anyone's box. If we fast forward to chapter 42 God rebukes Job's counselors, calls for them to offer sacrifices and has Job pray for them. Job is vindicated. We find God restores Job's earthly possessions, and then some. Mrs. Job is there to love him and birth seven sons and three daughters, daughters whose names are recorded in God's Word for eternity. It was said that there were none in the land so beautiful. I wonder if they took after their mother? 

Now it could be that Job's wife was bitter and vindictive. It could be that this is a very odd use of the word barak. It could be she agreed with Satan and told her beloved husband, in the midst of his loss and pain, to curse God and die. After all it was her loss as well. She could be the only human in all of Scripture to use the word as a curse rather than a blessing toward God. However, she stays. She is still with him at the end. She still gives birth to his ten children and enjoys their restored fortunes. She also enjoys the renewed "blessings" from God. Job's friends are rebuked by God; she never is. Maybe God has a better view of Job's wife than most commentators and preachers. Maybe we need to rethink our view of this remarkable woman who stood by her suffering husband amidst the horrific assault on his integrity by so-called friends. Just some things to ponder. As for me, well, I think maybe this wounded woman has gotten a lot of bad press. What do you think?