Manna for this week is Leviticus 16 through 20:27; Ezekiel 20:2-20 and 22:1-19; Amos 9:7-15; and Luke 14 through 17.
If you are following the schedule in our Manna booklet for reading the Bible in a year (3 chapters a day, five on Saturday), this week is Proverbs 17 through Ecclesiastes 9.
From ‘Whole Bible Christianity’ chapter 4 section on It Is Clear
At the time of the Reformation, the average person did not read the Scriptures (sound like today?). But back then it was because they were in languages no one used and translations into common languages were forbidden so the church could hold onto its power. The synod of Toulouse in 1229 for instance specifically forbade people to have the Bible in their own language. It wasn’t until 1962-64 at Vatican II that Catholics were encouraged to read their Bibles (after people were already doing it). Reading and interpreting for many even today is the special province of the clergy, and they insist that priests (pastors, rabbis) are the only people qualified to determine meaning and application. They allege the Bible is too difficult for the average person to understand. Of course, they used to think the earth was flat, too.
But God made sure the Word was well within the ability of anyone to understand it. Some of the people during the Reformation called this ‘perspicuity.’ They were saying we don’t have to be scholars to grasp most of the Word. We need to be reminded of this today because there are those who want to complicate the Word and keep it out of our hands.
It seems clear to me that the main issue that causes Scripture to be unclear is a refusal to do what is read (Jeremiah 7:28; Hosea 6:6). We have a nature, inherited from Adam, which tends to walk away from God. Many times, it wants to sprint. We hide from Him because of His perfection, holiness and power. Just like Adam and Eve in the Garden.
Obedience to the smallest word helps to clear up the meaning of more of the Word – more abiding means more understanding (Deuteronomy 4:6). Sometimes we don’t understand, and sometimes we just don’t know, but the bottom line is abiding. Obedience requires humility. Humility allows the light of the Spirit unhindered access to the darkest corners of our hearts. Disobedience comes from pride, and pride causes confusion. Pride hardens the heart and actively resists the Spirit.
Scripture itself tells us that many of the things that are written are for our understanding. Luke 1:4 says “so that you may know the exact truth about the things you have been taught.” Paul says something similar.
I am writing these things to you, hoping to come to you before long; but in case I am delayed, I write so that you will know how one ought to conduct himself in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and support of the truth. (1 Timothy 3:14-15 NASB95)
The truth of the Word is plainly evident to everyone. But prepared hearts (looking for truth) who “study to show (themselves) approved” will get more out of it as reading and doing progress. A hard hearted person understands, it’s just that they profess ignorance or confusion because they don’t want to follow under any circumstances (Acts 7:51-53; Ephesians 4:17-19).
I have applied all these things to myself and Apollos for your benefit, brothers, that you may learn by us not to go beyond what is written, that none of you may be puffed up in favor of one against another. (1 Corinthians 4:6, ESV)
A good article on women in the Body by Dr. Walter C. Kaiser Jr. on his website. He translates the word for ‘helpmeet’ for instance as ‘strength’ rather than ‘helper.’ Although he points out that helper is not a pejorative since God is also called a helper on occasion. Four pages, and has quite a different viewpoint than you might expect. We like what he has to say, and we think most believing women will like it too.
Correcting Caricatures: The Biblical Teaching on Women
Dr. Kaiser is a professor of Hebrew and was president of a seminary.
Now that we’ve got more than 30 likes, Facebook shows us something they call ‘insights’ meaning we can see how many people view a post and other statistics.
It’s interesting to note that a post starting with the phrase “Sin is turning from His Word” gets 11 views while a shorter post starting with “I wonder if seven days without leaven has a side benefit for the body?” gets 59 views. Or how a post starting with the Bible verse “But Joshua said to the people, “You are not able to serve the LORD, for he is a holy God.” gets 16 views while a post that starts with the Bible verse “Rejoice not over me, O my enemy; when I fall, I shall rise; when I sit in darkness, the LORD will be a light to me” gets 109 views.
Do you suppose that posts which confront people with a holy God, a need for repentance, and the requirement to abide in the whole of His Word including the Law are less popular than posts that tell us about freebies from Him? That perhaps we don’t want to be reminded of our sin but can’t wait to tell people about blessings? That we like the comfortable truths, but the uncomfortable truths we wish would go away? Do we think that somehow we can gain the fun stuff without going through the cross?
If true, then I tell you without confronting and taking care of our sin there will be no blessings. What is exciting to contemplate now will vanish like a mirage in the waterless desert of our pride. He will not be a light in the darkness to those who sit in hell. There will be no benefits to a week without leaven if sin reigns in our mortal bodies. We serve a holy God, and blessings pressed down and overflowing come from Him as we adjust ourselves to all of His Word and His ways. Some blessings from Him touch everyone, like sunshine for a day at the beach. Many blessings are denied however because He uses the same measure to give them as we use when giving ourselves to Him. If we can’t see the love in discomfort from Him then we don’t know love at all. We cheapen His grace when we accept only the warm fuzzies and deny needed correction.
Dietrich Bonheoffer, a Lutheran pastor who resisted the Nazis till he was hanged by them, said it this way:
“Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline. Communion without confession. Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ.”
God’s blessings and promises are indeed quite exciting. But we don’t get more than a pebble on a mountaintop unless we embrace uncomfortable truth now and work through it with humility and reliance on His mercy.
‘Whole Bible Christianity’ chapter 2 summary.
Sin is turning from His Word. Disobedience. Not abiding. It separates us from Him because it is opposite of His holiness and love. Every time we choose self-will over His will we cheat on God, whether we have a statue in the living room or pick the fruit of our own knowledge tree. We may make the cheating more palatable by mixing it with some of His truth, but lukewarm action is rejected by God. His grace is meant to lead us to repentance, not give space for us to cheapen it with more disobedience. His unconditional love does not allow sin.
At this point in history the whole truth is we ought to fear and submit to Him who has shown His absolute power, and who can destroy body and soul in hell. Believers worship Him by obedience to all of His commands, in spirit and in truth, humbly thankful for the riches of His grace and mercy in providing for our salvation. We can split hairs all we want about His nature and position or names and titles, but the plain meaning of the Word is clear, if we choose to read it and heed it.
“The Word of God well understood and religiously obeyed is the shortest route to spiritual perfection. And we must not select a few favorite passages to the exclusion of others. Nothing less than a whole Bible can make a whole Christian.” A.W. Tozer
Naaman was a mighty man and the head of Syria’s armies during the time of Elisha, successor to Elijah. He was also a leper. A five year-old slave girl taken from Israel was in his household and told him that Elisha could cure him. Naaman goes to Elisha, and Elisha tells him to dip himself in the Jordan seven times. At first, Naaman thought this was stupid and was enraged, because he had better rivers where he came from. He expected a dog and pony show from Elisha, maybe waving his hands around and calling on the name of his God. His servants encouraged him to listen to the man of God.
Then his servants came near and spoke to him and said, “My father, had the prophet told you to do some great thing, would you not have done it? How much more then, when he says to you, ‘Wash, and be clean’?” (2 Kings 5:13, NASB95)
Naaman humbled himself, did what the man of God said, and was healed.
I have been criticized because of my simple message – read the Word, and do it as if it was life. When I lead a Bible study, I usually use the Manna reading schedule and we read the 10 or 12 chapters first. We let God talk, and then if there’s any time left, we get to talk. This is not the extent of Bible reading for us all. It is just a touch point. We should be reading large chunks of the Book of Life every day, for it is our life. For something so simple though, we don’t do it. God’s Word has the answers to what might be bothering you. Much more than my words. Reading and heeding is simple, but many go away from me enraged and thinking they have better ways of doing things than that.
If I waved my hands around and told them to read the lousy ‘The Purpose Driven Life’ in the name of God, they would probably plunge right in. If I recommended any other book, it would probably be received the same way. ‘The Shack’ is a terrible book, but it has sold over 18 million copies. Telling people we just have to read His Word and do it angers people because they think they have all sorts of “better” books or videos or movies or whatever. But they aren’t reading the One Book that gives life. Hmm.
The word of the LORD came to me: “Son of man, you dwell in the midst of a rebellious house, who have eyes to see, but see not, who have ears to hear, but hear not, for they are a rebellious house. (Ezekiel 12:1–2, ESV)
We are a rebellious house. God has taken great pains to provide us with a Book that conveys all of His Will for us at the moment, and we look down on it like Naaman looked down on the Jordan river. We want a dog and pony show to tickle our ears and amaze our eyes, like the latest blockbuster movie. We spend hours and hours every day doing what we want, watching what we want, and reading what we want. And we can’t spare a few moments for the living oracles of God?
Reading does not mean a couple verses posted on Facebook every once in a while either. Where is the heart of the new covenant in that? Read His whole Book, cover to cover. Then read it again. And again. Do what you read as best you are able. Devote yourself to finding and doing His Will, seek His Kingdom, and the other things you seek will be added. I could talk and wave my arms around until I’m blue in the face, and it wouldn’t come as close to helping as would one Word from Him. Stop rebelling against Him. Read His Word and do what you read. It’s simple.
I’m sorry I don’t have a flashy presentation that feeds the ego instead of the soul. I might be able to make a lot of money that way. But it’s better for all if we just use our eyes and ears, read what He tells us, and do it.
‘Whole Bible Christianity’ chapter 4 ‘It Reveals’
During the Reformation, in addition to ‘faith alone,’ another of the mostly forgotten truths that were brought up is in Latin called ‘sola scriptura.’ This means ‘Scripture alone,’ and reinforces the point that Scripture, by itself, is the first and final authority in a believer’s life (Matthew 4:4). Scripture overrides and transcends a priest’s word, or a pastor’s commentary, a rabbinic ruling and even a pope’s bull. One reason this truth (among others) had to be recovered, and now repeated, was that many teachings of men (then and now) obscure the plain meaning of God’s Word for everyday people. Another reason is that church (or Jewish) traditions drift into overriding the Bible after a while.
There are good writings from many good teachers that help us understand more about the Bible. Talmud (the ‘oral law’) for instance, has a great deal of good commentary. The apocrypha has some interesting insights. But they are not the Word, and do not carry the same authority. No extra-biblical writing measures up to the Bible. Even the good ones just repeat what is already in the Word. As Solomon says, there is no new thing under the sun.
Many times the extra writings just lead away from the Bible. Papal bulls, the efforts of so-called ‘prophets’ (Edgar Cayce, Ellen White, Charles Russell etc.) and almost all other extra-biblical writings just obscure the plain meaning of His ancient message. People keep trying to trump God’s Word with other writings. The Nicolaitans use their education to scare us and stifle dissent. They fool some of the people some of the time, but they can’t fool all of us. Whole Bible Christians understand that there are many sources for learning, but only one with Authority.
‘Whole Bible Christianity’ chapter 1 ‘Relative Truth’
The first evidence of enabling a part Bible church is that most Christians are falling away from belief in, and practice of, God’s Word as absolute truth. And I’m using the term “falling away” (Matthew 24:10) on purpose, because in part humans want to avoid truth. Studies done by Christian research group’s show only 11% of generic Christians, or 25% of those who are ‘born again,’ think the Bible is absolute truth. Don’t believe studies? Ask around. It’s clear that most people using His name almost believe Him.
Let me restate the study results a little differently. A little more than one out of 10 Christians, or only 1 out of four of those who claim to be born again, believes the Word is absolute truth. Of every 100 people in a church, about eleven believe God’s Word completely. In a church of 2,000 maybe 220 think the Word is completely true. A church of 300 has around 33 who really believe God, and 267 who do not. If everyone in that group says they are born again, only 75 believe God while 225 do not (all assuming a linear distribution). Is it any wonder we have drifted so far?
Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. (John 17:17, ESV)
We prefer relative truth, meaning truth that is relative to our own way of thinking. Sort of like ‘the majority rules.’ We want to vote on truth, and veto God’s definition if it’s not comfortable. We’re filled with pride; submitting comes hard, and God’s Law is an objective standard without wiggle room. And we like to wiggle. Ever since Adam and Eve wiggled into fig leaf garments and wiggled into the bushes at the approach of God, we’ve tried to wiggle away from His holiness. Chips off the old Adam and Eve blocks. We want what He has (blessings and eternal life) but not what He is (thrice holy, perfect and just, sovereign and righteous King of Kings). When He approaches, now in the form of the Bible, our instinct is still to hide. Or try to get Him to just go away and leave us alone. The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, does it?