I’ve heard this statement many times:  God’s in control, God’s in charge, God’s got this. and sometimes it’s done under the title of the sovereignty of God. You can look up the sovereignty of God and find many interesting things about that. What they say about that is that His ways are not our ways, and His thoughts are not our thoughts. That everything that happens happens by His will or by His permission. That includes the death of people, the catastrophes of life, and you say, well, why would God do that? And the answer they give is that His ways are not our ways and His thoughts are not our thoughts.

That’s what those phrases mean. But the problem with the phrases is that they are not biblical. You can’t study God is in control from the Bible because it doesn’t say that. You can’t study the sovereignty of God or God is in charge or God’s got this. It doesn’t say those things. And another problem with them is that they give a false sense of security. They make us feel as if there is no need for prayer because God’s got this. So, it absolves us of anything we have to do because God is in control, that whatever is happening, it’s what He wanted to happen or what He permitted to happen, including the death of people. So and so died, but Bob over here got called back to the Word because the other person died. So that’s how God worked that out.

I remember when I first moved to Oklahoma City, there was a preacher and his wife named Douglas who lived in Okarche. Two escaped convicts came in to rob them and shot the husband and wife, as well as the son and daughter. The parents died, but the two children (16 and 12) lived and had to be raised by either foster care or relatives. The preacher who conducted the service, who was from Shawnee (I heard part of the service on the radio), said that these two people’s work here on earth was done, and God had called them home. So, in other words, it was God’s will that they were shot and killed by these two escaped convicts, and for their children to be turned into orphans. Their work here was not finished. That’s what this whole matter about God being in control is about. God didn’t cause that. God didn’t help those guys escape from jail so God’s will could be carried out.

The problem with this line of thinking is that there is not really much understanding about the devil and about the spirits Lucifer took with him when he fell from heaven. When people describe the sovereignty of God, they deny the reality of a devil and devil spirits. It puts everything at God’s feet. It is true that God can bring good out of situations His children are in, but that does not mean He caused, allowed, or permitted them. The reason those things happened is that God gave Lucifer and Adam freedom of will.

So, to better understand the phrase “God is in control,” we need to start in the book of Genesis and see if we can understand more about that.

Genesis 1:1-2  In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void;

Some people know that God didn’t create the heaven and earth without form and void. Something caused it to become without form and void. God didn’t create it that way. He created it to be inhabited, and it was inhabited. That was called the first heaven and earth.

Let’s go look at the book of Revelation and see what happened.

Revelation 12:7-9  And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon (this is Lucifer) fought and his angels, And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven. And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. 

We see that the devil was cast out of heaven into the earth and we find him here in the opening pages of Genesis!

So, when we think about that phrase, God’s in control, God’s got this, God’s in charge – are people saying then that God caused Lucifer to rebel, then threw him out, and turned him into the devil? Are they saying that God knew that Adam was going to sin and that God had some greater purpose? No, that’s not what God did because that would make God a very evil god. Knowing that Lucifer would rebel, knowing that God was going to throw him out of heaven, and knowing that eventually He was going to cast His top archangel, Lucifer, into hell to burn would not be very loving or kind. Or to put Adam in a situation that God knew he would fail would not be right either. God did not do that. He gave them freedom of will, and by the freedom of their will, they disobeyed and screwed up.

This verse in Isaiah tells about Lucifer:

Isaiah 14:12  How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! 

So, if the nations were weakened, who did that? It says Lucifer did it. It doesn’t say that God was in charge. It says that Lucifer did it.

Isaiah 14:13-14 For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High. 

It was selfishness, it was greed, and it was jealousy. Lucifer desperately wanted God’s job. God didn’t make him that way. That’s what he decided to do with the freedom of his own will.

Let’s look back in Genesis again. This is all under “God’s in control.” But God didn’t make Lucifer do those things.

Genesis 1:28  And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. 

So, Adam was God’s under-ruler. They were to work together as a Father and a son work together on the Earth. God gave him dominion over the creation. He only had one rule to obey. But we’ll read in a minute that the dominion was transferred to the devil.

Genesis 2:16-17  And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.

Now, the following is what the devil (Lucifer) did before he had dominion over the creation.

Genesis 3:6-11  And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat. And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons. And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden. And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou? And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself. And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat? 

When Adam ate of the forbidden tree, his spirit died. That was how he had communicated with God. But now consider this: If Adam were to die physically from his sin, there would have been no mercy from God and no forgiveness. Everyone would know that if you step out of line, death would result. Then obedience to God would be out of fear, not love. But God is not like that. In this record in Genesis, He promised the redeemer would come because God is also just. He allowed mankind to live with the decisions Adam (mankind) had made, just like He allowed the devil to live with the decisions he had made. If God had said, “Okay, that’s it. You screwed up. Execute them.” There would not be much forgiveness in that, nor would there be much mercy in that. There was no going back to the time before the decision to eat of the fruit. For example, when Israel came to Samuel, and they wanted to have a king, God told Samuel to protest solemnly. So, Samuel said to Israel, “You’re not going to like this if I give you a king.” “And once you have one, you can’t go back. You can’t decide, ‘Oh, no, we screwed up.’” “Once you got it, you got it.” Israel said, “We want a king anyway.”

Remember, the adversary is a deceiver, he is also a liar. That’s his nature, that’s what he does – he deceives people. He has deceived people into believing that God is in control or that God causes or permits everything that happens.

Genesis 3:12-15  And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat. And the LORD God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat. And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life: And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. 

So, the adversary thought that he had really gotten one up on God. He got the dominion that God had given to Adam. But then God shows up on the scene, and the consequences start to be laid out. You (Adam & Eve) are leaving the garden, you (the devil) will be on your belly for the rest of your life, and the woman’s offspring will crush your (the devil’s) head.

The deal with God is that He owns the entire earth. He owns it all, and originally, He had given the rulership, the dominion of the earth to Adam. Adam got tricked out of it and handed it to the devil. Well, the devil and God aren’t working together to rule the earth like Adam and God were supposed to do. The adversary is evil. Once he got it, he was like, “This is all mine now.”

Luke 4 tells us very blatantly:

Luke 4:5-7  And the devil, taking him up into an high mountain, shewed unto him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. And the devil said unto him, All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it. If thou therefore wilt worship me, all shall be thine. 

Who delivered it to him? It wasn’t God. They had already had a battle, and Lucifer was cast out of heaven. It was Adam who delivered to the devil the kingdoms of the world. That’s why the kingdoms of the world are so messed up.

Ephesians talks about the church being called out before the overthrow. (Ephesians 1:4) In the footnote in The Working Translation, it states that the word for foundation or overthrow could be translated “the reordering of the world.” God had it ordered in a certain fashion. In the Garden of Eden, the lion and the wolf lay down with the lamb. They didn’t hurt each other. There wasn’t any death in the Garden of Eden. Once the reordering of the world took place, that was no longer true. (Gen. 3:22-24)

The whole creation belongs to God, but the devil only has a temporary lease on the place.

The Bible says that, in the end, the animals will all get along again, and it gives us an example.

Isaiah 11:6-7  The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them. And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together: and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. 

God does not control everything. God is like a master chess player. He may have lost Adam out of the Garden of Eden, but in the end, because of His great wisdom and His great power, He knows what the end is going to be. We’re going to be there, and the adversary who has caused all this trouble is going to be done away with.

Look in II Corinthians 4:4

2Corinthians 4:4  In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them. 

So, God says it straight out – the god of this world. Adam was like the god of this world, but he handed it over to the devil. He handed the devil the kingdoms of the earth, and the adversary sits on top of them right now. The devil has a temporary lease on this world, but God is still the owner. God is still over all and above all and God, being just, allowed the devil to live with the decision he made. In the end, he gets his consequence. We’ll read it in a little bit in the book of Revelation.

When looking at this subject, you have to remember that in the Old Testament, people had little understanding of spiritual matters because they were not born again. They were only body and soul for the most part. We are body, soul and spirit as God’s sons and daughters, and our ability to understand spiritual matters is far above that of the Old Testament believers. When you read the Old Testament, it’s rare that you see anything about the devil and his evil spirits because it is a spiritual matter.

In the Old Testament, God took everything upon Himself, so it says that He did everything. But when Jesus Christ came, part of his work was to expose the works of the devil. Once the devil had the dominion, he went about burying and hiding himself so that people wouldn’t see what he did. He pointed to God and said, “That’s who did it; God’s in control; He’s the one who killed your aunt. He’s the one who did this. It’s all God’s fault.” The devil did an excellent job of deceiving people and hiding himself. When Jesus Christ came, he exposed the works of the devil.

Let’s look at a couple of verses that talk about that:

1John 3:8  He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil. 

I remember years ago, in a teaching about how to deal with the adversary,  they said that it was like the devil and all his cohorts were in a big garbage can, and Jesus Christ, knowing that the new birth was coming up soon, exposed the works of the devil. It’s like he took the lid off the garbage can and exposed it to his disciples and apostles and said, “See that. That’s what’s going on.” They were like WOW!!! Then he slammed the lid back down.

Before Jesus came, you didn’t see where they talked about devil spirits ever, but once he came, he began to expose the works of the devil. Then people would say, “My son had a dumb spirit.” “These people have a spirit.” How did they learn that? Jesus Christ exposed it. Devil possession is not the normal state of man. God did not do that. That’s a devil spirit in there.

Colossians 2:15  And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it. 

Jesus Christ exposed it. He exposed what the works of the devil were. This is where the trouble comes from. This is what causes it. Remember, John 10:10 says, “The thief cometh not but for to steal, to kill and to destroy.” God doesn’t cause those things. He doesn’t even allow them or permit them. That’s what the thief does.

But saying “God is in control,” “God is in charge,” or “God’s got this” is wrong. Because if that’s true, that God is in charge, why bother to pray?

Hebrews 2:14  Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; 

The power of death resides with the devil. It says in another place that death itself is going to be destroyed.

1 Corinthians 15:26  The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.

It’s the adversary that does these things, but he has hidden himself. The adversary points at God and says, “Hey, look at Him, He’s the one causing all this trouble.” The devil is a liar.

Act 10:38  How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him. 

So where does disease come from? It is oppression from the devil. One way or the other, that’s where it comes from. It doesn’t come from God. The Bible says that Jesus Christ always did his Father’s will.

When Jesus Christ is out there in the boat with his disciples and the winds come up, they’re afraid and think they’re going to die. Jesus Christ looks at the storms and says, “Peace, be still.” Well, was God in control of the storm? Did God cause it? Did He have some other motive to bring something else to pass, and is Jesus Christ running at cross purposes with His Father? NO! The storm trying to destroy them didn’t come from God. If it came from anywhere, it would have come from the adversary. Jesus Christ always did his Father’s will. God said to Jesus Christ, “Tell it to be quiet.” And he did.

I remember when I was young and attending church, and the preacher would pray for the people in the hospital. And then he would say, “If it be your will for them to get well.” Because he didn’t know. Who knows God’s will? Maybe it’s God’s will for them to die. Maybe their work on earth is done. So, if we pray for them to be healed, are we praying at cross-purposes with God? They don’t know.

My Bible says that “by his stripes you were healed,” and that we can pray for each other and see each other get delivered. That’s God’s will. Disease is oppression from the devil. God also showed us that. It’s not His will for people to be sick and oppressed.

If Jesus Christ always did God’s will and God’s will was for us to be sick to call us back to His Word, then you would think that at least one place in the gospels Jesus Christ would have said, “Okay, cancer for you. You’ve been bad.” Or he’d say, “Gall bladder stones for you. You need a little pain. You need to learn to be a little more humble.” He never did that one single time. He always healed the sick and delivered the lepers. He opened the eyes of the blind. Where did all of those things come from? God didn’t cause that stuff. That is what the adversary does. So, the common sayings, God’s in control and the sovereignty of God, are all lies.

1 Timothy 4 exposes another work of the devil.

1Timothy 4:1  Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils;

Doctrines of devils are things that are put out there that are supposedly the truth of the Word, but they’re not; they’re doctrines of devils. Let’s keep reading to see what some of those doctrines of devils are.

1Timothy 4:3  Forbidding to marry, (This causes all kinds of trouble.)and commanding to abstain from meats,

This is so common that there are those who are known as vegans. They say this is the righteous way to live. They say that eating meat is wrong. God says that those ideas are doctrines of devils, whether you like it or not. I didn’t write it; I’m just reading what’s written.

Jesus always did his Father’s will. It was God’s will to heal the sick.

The other day, I told my neighbor that when the hail starts, I sit on my porch and ask God to get rid of it. And he said, “Pray all you want; God’s gonna do what God’s gonna do.” I was taken aback. He’s a very religious person, and I thought, “Why do you think like that?” It’s because of what they’ve been taught – it’s the sovereignty of God; it’s the God’s in control idea.

It’s common in our culture with insurance to say that things are “acts of God,” that God does all of these things that destroy people’s homes and kill people. Acts of God. But God says that the devil has the power of death. What God does is heal and deliver. The adversary, who is the god of this world, has a temporary lease on this place. We live in this world, but we’re not of it. We are God’s family. When we pray, God can say, “Those are my family; you don’t have a right to touch them.” In the Bible, when Joseph was in Egypt, there was a great famine. God took care of them. God took good care of Joseph, his father, Jacob, and his family in the midst of a famine. There are records like that all through the Bible. God says, “They prayed, they asked for my help. You, the devil, are not touching them.”

Here’s another record for you. It says in the gospels that Jesus Christ raised the son of the widow of Nain. Well, if God’s in control and He has some other purpose for that boy dying, what is Jesus Christ doing raising that boy from the dead? Is he fighting against his Father? Did his Father kill the boy so that Jesus Christ could raise him from the dead? Those are all just asinine questions. It was not God’s will for people to die. He didn’t set the place up like that. Jesus Christ walked through the earth and healed the sick, raised the dead, cleansed the lepers, cast out some of those devil spirits, and freed men from the bondage that the adversary, the devil, had put them in.

Thinking about the subject of God is in control, look over here in II Chronicles. This is a case where you could say that God is in control.

2Chronicles 20:1  It came to pass after this also, that the children of Moab, and the children of Ammon, and with them other beside the Ammonites, came against Jehoshaphat to battle. 

The others beside them were the children of Mt. Seir. They were outnumbered by a margin of close to 2:1. So Jehoshaphat said, “We’re praying.” He had an army of nearly 1.2 million men, but the people who came against him were twice that number. He wasn’t stupid enough to go into battle on his own.

2Chronicles 20:12  O our God, wilt thou not judge them? for we have no might against this great company that cometh against us; neither know we what to do: but our eyes are upon thee. 

When we get in trouble in life, that’s what we need to do is get together and go to God and pray and ask for help. Because the adversary is the god of this world, he stirs up all kinds of trouble against God’s children. So, this is what they did. They went to God and prayed, “We don’t know what to do here.”

2Chronicles 20:13  And all Judah stood before the LORD, with their little ones, their wives, and their children. 

They could have sent help down to Egypt and said, “Hey, come up and fight for us. We’ll pay you some money.” They could have done many things to help themselves out of that situation, but instead they went to God.

2Chronicles 20:14-18  Then upon Jahaziel the son of Zechariah, the son of Benaiah, the son of Jeiel, the son of Mattaniah, a Levite of the sons of Asaph, came the Spirit of the LORD in the midst of the congregation;  And he said, Hearken ye, all Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem, and thou king Jehoshaphat, Thus saith the LORD unto you, Be not afraid nor dismayed by reason of this great multitude; for the battle is not yours, but God’s. Tomorrow go ye down against them: behold, they come up by the cliff of Ziz; and ye shall find them at the end of the brook, before the wilderness of Jeruel. Ye shall not need to fight in this battle: set yourselves, stand ye still, and see the salvation of the LORD with you, O Judah and Jerusalem: fear not, nor be dismayed; tomorrow go out against them: for the LORD will be with you. And Jehoshaphat bowed his head with his face to the ground: and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell before the LORD, worshipping the LORD. 

Once you have the revelation in a specific situation, you could say, “God’s got this.” That was revelation specifically about that situation in that day and time. Before that, you couldn’t have said that. But once you’ve got the revelation, you could say, “Yep, God’s got this.”

We live in this world, but we are not of the world. We are no longer the children of wrath, as it says in the book of Ephesians. (Ephesians 2:1-6)

Even in the garden, when the devil deceived Adam and Eve and ate of the fruit, the adversary appeared to have won, God showed up on the scene and outlined the consequences. But He will win in the end. At the great white throne on Judgment Day, everything is going to get sorted out. He knows the end from the beginning because of His great wisdom and superior power. No matter what occurs along the path of our lives, we just walk with our hand in His. When God tells us exactly what is going to happen at that moment, then we can say, “God’s got this.” Until that revelation occurs, we are to hold His hand, look for His superior wisdom, watch, and pray.

Our adversary, the Bible says, walketh about as a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. (I Peter 5:8) Who walks about? The adversary walks about as a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour.

This world is not our home. We live here, but it is not our home. Eventually, we get a new heaven and a new earth wherein dwells righteousness.

Look here in Revelation 19. It tells what will happen in the end to this great deceiver. Let’s start in verse 19.

Revelation 19:19-21  And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against his army. And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone. And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their flesh. 

In the end, that’s what is going to happen to the ones who are such deceivers on the earth. That is their fate. God knows what is going to happen. He has prophesied about it, and it is what He will do.

Revelation 20:1-6  And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season. And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years. 

It’s like a big battle. When you make the statement, “Oh, well, God’s in control,” it completely leaves out that there was and is an adversary and a third of the host of heaven who are devil spirits that followed him. That’s where all the trouble comes from. It says in Ephesians 6:12 that we fight not against flesh and blood but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. We fight against them. How? By putting on the full armor of God. God has given His spirit. We have the manifestations of the spirit. We can walk with God, talk with Him, and He can show us what to do.

Revelation 20:10  And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever. 

Judgment Before the Great White Throne

Revelation 20:11-12  And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. 

That’s not us. We’ve already been judged and declared righteous, but this is what happens to many other people.

Revelation 20:13-14  And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. 

That’s going to be a great day! This is also part of our hope.

Revelation 21:1-3 And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. 

At this time, the great deceiver is gone, Satan is gone, and all those devil spirits are gone. They have all been cast into the lake of fire.

Revelation 21:4  And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes;

God didn’t want you to cry. He didn’t want all that grief to happen, but Adam sinned. The adversary became the god of this world, but in the end, God will straighten it all out because He is our Father, and He will take care of us, even as He does today.

Revelation 21:4-6  …and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful. And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely. 

God is the One who started the whole thing, and He knows what the end is going to be, no matter how many tricks the adversary has up his sleeve. God knows what the end will be.

Let’s look at Luke 21. This is what it says we are to do. He’s speaking to people who are alive at that time. It is a little bit different because we live after the day of Pentecost, but the admonition is still useful.

Luke 21:34-36 And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares. For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth. Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man. 

He tells us today to watch and pray, to watch and pray. You see what’s going on, and that’s what we do. We pray. We ask God for help. We can ask him to open our eyes and deliver us from all the ditzy sayings that float around in the world. We ask God, as someone else said. to break the teeth and the arms of those who are so wicked and evil that they cause all this grief. We watch and pray and don’t get caught up in the doctrines of devils that lay everything at God’s feet. God is the owner of the earth, and we live here as God’s children, His family. The rest of eternity, once the Book of Revelation is over, God is the one who will be the God of this world, and we’re going to be living with Him. In the meantime, God says to us, “Watch and pray.” If we need help, we just ask Him. He is there to help us. So, place your hand in his and walk boldly through this life knowing you are a child of the Creator.

You can hear the mothers singing songs of joy all over the city, “The kids are back in school!” With school comes new clothes and new teachers, buses and football games, meeting new friends and seeing old ones again. In all the hubbub, though, it is well to remember that school is about acquiring knowledge. So, I would like to ponder upon “knowledge” for a moment with you.

God has much to say about knowledge. He says in Proverbs 1:7: “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction.” The word “fear” in this verse means great respect, and the word “beginning” is translated as the first part or the choicest part of all knowledge, just like the filet mignon is the choicest of all the cuts of meat. A lot of knowledge is available today, even as there was when Proverbs was written. Still, a knowledge of God, who He is, what He has done, and a knowledge of the salvation He has made available to all mankind is the choicest part—cut of all knowledge.

But some would rather eat hot dogs. They will tell you, “We have the best of all.” In Jeremiah 4:22, it says: For my people is foolish, they have not known me; they are sottish children, and they have none understanding they are wise to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge.” Hosea 4:6 says: “My people are destroyed for a lack of knowledge….” They devoured the wisdom of the day and threw the choicest cut to the dogs. Were they destroyed for a lack of knowledge of technology, computers, high-tech medicine, the intricacies of space exploration, or knowing the minute details of atomic structure? NO! They were destroyed for a lack of knowledge of God and His Word. So, the choice is not one to the exclusion of the other, but it is important that each type of knowledge is given its proper emphasis.

Everything has a proper order, also. For instance, first we learn that 2+2=4. Then over a period of time, years maybe, we begin to understand more about why this is so. The learner begins to understand even and odd numbers, number lines, integers, and other fundamental concepts, which leads to a deeper understanding of why 2+2=4. Then comes the development of wisdom—how to rightly use the information you have acquired. The same progression of learning, knowledge to understanding to wisdom, is also available from God.

Since we have God’s spirit born within us, is it possible that God could open our eyes to the knowledge we need to learn, secular or biblical? Could He give us understanding as to how and why things work? Could He show us by His spirit born within us how to rightly use the knowledge we have? Could He cause you to remember what you have been taught while you are taking a test? Might that improve your test scores above those of some of your classmates? Having a knowledge of God and His Word, and having His spirit born within, can be cool to think about.

You can see this in the records in Daniel. In these records, Judah had been carried off into captivity, and the captors, the Babylonians, were picking out the smartest ones to help run their government. Daniel 1:4: “Children in whom was no blemish, but well favored, and skillful in all wisdom, and cunning in knowledge, and understanding science, and such as had ability in them to stand in the king’s palace, and whom they might teach the learning and the tongue of the Chaldeans.” They were looking for men with great knowledge of the world–the sciences, math, physics, law, etc. But four of the men had something the rest did not. These four had the choicest cut of knowledge, and they had God’s spirit upon them to give them understanding and wisdom. Verses 17,19, and 20: “As for these four children, God gave them knowledge and skill in all learning and wisdom; and Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams. And the king communed with them; and among them all was found none like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah: therefore, stood they before the king. And in all matters of wisdom and understanding, that the king enquired of them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and astrologers that were in all his realm.”

These four men had some excellent knowledge in the secular realm, and they had the choicest cut, the knowledge of God and His Word, close to their hearts. Because they believed God’s Word, He had placed His spirit upon them so that He could talk to them. This gave them a tap straight into the greatest fountain of all knowledge, understanding, and wisdom.

Knowledge can be a wonderful thing, especially when we keep everything in its proper place. For these men, their knowledge and love for God and His word were primary. In other words, they loved God with all their hearts first, and their knowledge of different fields was second. Then, as they listened to the still, small voice within, they gained the understanding and wisdom they needed to live, to serve, and to bless others in the day and time in which they lived.

Just as we don’t like to see our children miss school for fear they will fall behind their classmates in acquiring the knowledge of the day, it would be a sad thing, too, for anyone to miss an opportunity to acquire more knowledge about God and His Word, the choicest cut of all.

In the garden of Eden, Adam was a three-part being — body, soul, and spirit. God made Adam in His own image which was spirit so He could walk and talk with Adam. When Adam sinned, the part of Adam that died was his spirit. He lost his connection with God.

God needed someone to pay for Adam’s sins because as it says in the book of Romans, “the wages of sin is death.” So rather than require Adam, God’s son, to die physically, God promised He would send a redeemer to pay for Adam’s sin and all the sins that resulted from his sin. That redeemer was Jesus Christ. Once all that was required for the redemption of mankind was paid in full, God shed forth the gift of holy spirit on the day of Pentecost. So, all that confess Jesus Christ as lord and believe that he was raised from the dead could be become whole again — body, soul, and spirit. All through the Old Testament times, most of Israel were just body and soul.

Romans 10 gives us the criteria for having God’s spirit born within any who want it.

Romans 10:9-10 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. 

So, now it is available for all that desire to walk and talk with God.

But what about the people in Old Testament times? The new birth was not available to them. Jesus Christ had not yet come and paid in the cost of redemption, yet God still walked and talked with people.

First, we need to recognize that God can only speak to what He is – Spirit. If you have the spirit from God, then God can communicate to you.

God did speak at times to people by way of angels, a burning bush and even an ass. Some of the Old Testament believers had the spirit of God upon them — not born within but upon them. As we will read with King Saul, Saul lost the spirit of God because he stopped listening to God’s reproof. We on the other hand, who are born from above have the spirit born within. It is now part of us and cannot depart as it did with Saul.

We read the criteria for the new birth, for having God’s spirit being born within in Romans 10. There is an interesting verse in Proverbs.

First, remember that Proverbs was written for young people so that they could acquire some wisdom. This verse is in the first chapter of Proverbs and helps set the foundation for the entire book.

Proverbs 1:23 Turn you at my reproof: behold, I will pour out my spirit unto you, I will make known my words unto you.

To turn at the reproof of God would take someone with a humble heart. It would take someone that is not self-willed but is willing to learn, to listen and to align their life up with what God sets forth. Turning at His reproof may be another way of saying “walk with me, listen to my words, heed my instructions, keep my words first in your life.”

Then God promises to pour out His spirit unto them. So then was the spirit of God upon a person reserved for just special people? Prophets, kings, and priests? If you were not fortunate enough to be in one of those categories, were you just out of luck?

Romans 2:11 For there is no respect of persons with God. 

As we will see in a minute, God poured out His spirit upon many people including women. He is not a respecter of persons. At a certain point in each of their lives, they must have been very humble people that “turned at His reproof.” 

Then God also promised He would make His words known unto them.

So, God set forth the standard for spirit upon in the Old Testament just as He set forth the standard for receiving the gift of holy spirit after the day of Pentecost.

Let’s look as some of the people in the Old Testament that obviously had the spirit of God upon them.

Joseph and Pharoah

Genesis_41:14-16 Then Pharaoh sent and called Joseph, and they brought him hastily out of the dungeon: and he shaved himself, and changed his raiment, and came in unto Pharaoh. And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, I have dreamed a dream, and there is none that can interpret it: and I have heard say of thee, that thou canst understand a dream to interpret it. And Joseph answered Pharaoh, saying, It is not in me: God shall give Pharaoh an answer of peace.

Genesis_41:25 And Joseph said unto Pharaoh, The dream of Pharaoh is one: God hath shewed Pharaoh what he is about to do.

Genesis 41:38 And Pharaoh said unto his servants, Can we find such a one as this is, a man in whom the Spirit of God is? 

Here God spoke to Pharaoh in a dream just He does at times today.

Acts 2:17 And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams: 

Pharaoh was humble enough to listen to Joseph, speaking from the mouth of God, and carrying out what God showed Joseph.

Many of the people with the spirit of God upon them spoke for God. These people speaking from the mouth of God told the people what God wanted them to know.

2Peter 1:21 For the prophecy (the Word of God) came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. 

God gave the words for them to speak to the spirit that was upon them. And in some cases, God gave the words to women also as we will see.

Moses and the Seventy                 

Numbers 11:16-17 And the LORD said unto Moses, Gather unto me seventy men of the elders of Israel, whom thou knowest to be the elders of the people, and officers over them; and bring them unto the tabernacle of the congregation, that they may stand there with thee. And I will come down and talk with thee there: and I will take of the spirit which is upon thee, and will put it upon them; and they shall bear the burden of the people with thee, that thou bear it not thyself alone. 

Moses judged the people and spoke for God. These 70 men were to be judges also, so God put His spirit upon them to show them how to judge.

Bezaleel – the wise-hearted and the wise-hearted women

Exodus 28:3  And thou shalt speak unto all that are wise hearted, whom I have filled with the spirit of wisdom, that they may make Aaron’s garments to consecrate him, that he may minister unto me in the priest’s office.

Exodus 31:2-3 See, I have called by name Bezaleel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah: And I have filled him with the spirit of God, in wisdom, and in understanding, and in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship, 

Exodus 31:6 And I, behold, I have given with him Aholiab, the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan: and in the hearts of all that are wise hearted I have put wisdom, that they may make all that I have commanded thee; 

Exodus 35:25-26 And all the women that were wise hearted did spin with their hands, and brought that which they had spun, both of blue, and of purple, and of scarlet, and of fine linen. And all the women whose heart stirred them up in wisdom spun goats’ hair.

Exodus 35:34  And he hath put in his heart that he may teach, both he, and Aholiab, the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan. 

Exodus 36:2 And Moses called Bezaleel and Aholiab, and every wise hearted man, in whose heart the LORD had put wisdom, even every one whose heart stirred him up to come unto the work to do it: 

We saw in Exodus 28:3 that the wise-hearted were filled with the spirit of wisdom (God)  So we can conclude that these wise-hearted women, that were spinning cloth were filled with the spirit of God also. It is interesting that these people were more like tradespeople, not prophets.  To really know HOW to do their work, they needed the spirit of God/wisdom.  Both the men and the women.  People that walked with God, were willing to learn.  People that had turned at His reproof.

A side note here: it is interesting that many times the emphasis of what the spirit of God is like is that it brings wisdom. So much wisdom that it is called “a spirit of wisdom” at times. Many times in life, we know what the problem is, and that spirit of God can tell us how to handle it. In the above verses, the spirit of wisdom or God’s spirit showed them how to make the things for the tabernacle, how to teach others and as with the judges, how to judge.

Joshua

Deuteronomy 34:9 And Joshua the son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom; for Moses had laid his hands upon him: and the children of Israel hearkened unto him, and did as the LORD commanded Moses. 

It is interesting that God here calls the spirit of God a spirit of wisdom. Joshua had to know HOW to fight the armies of the nations occupying the promised land, and he had to know HOW to divide the land for an inheritance among the people so they would be blessed with their inheritance

Abigail

1Samuel 25:32-35 And David said to Abigail, Blessed be the LORD God of Israel, which sent thee this day to meet me: And blessed be thy advice, and blessed be thou, which hast kept me this day from coming to shed blood, and from avenging myself with mine own hand. For in very deed, as the LORD God of Israel liveth, which hath kept me back from hurting thee, except thou hadst hasted and come to meet me, surely there had not been left unto Nabal by the morning light any that pisseth against the wall. So David received of her hand that which she had brought him, and said unto her, Go up in peace to thine house; see, I have hearkened to thy voice, and have accepted thy person. 

David the great king and prophet of God recognized that God had sent the woman with a message for him. God could only speak directly to those that had spirit upon them. She must have been a humble woman. One that walked with God herself.

The Sons of the Prophets

These were young men, the same people addressed in the book of Proverbs, who were called by God and had it in their hearts to walk with God and work for Him. All prophets had the spirit of God upon them in the Old Testament and these were young men learning from an older wise prophet Elijah, how to walk with God for themselves. They were then called  “the sons of the prophets.”

2Kings 2:7 And fifty men of the sons of the prophets went, and stood to view afar off: and they two stood by Jordan.

Saul

1Samuel 16:14 But the Spirit of the LORD departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the LORD troubled him. 

Here we see that Saul had the spirit of God upon him, but he had stopped turning at the reproof of God, and so God took the spirit away. This cannot happen to us because since Pentecost our spirits are born within. Thank God!

David        

Psalm 51:11 Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me. 

Here David recognized that he could lose the spirit for the murder of Uriah, but he humbled himself and became a man after God’s own heart.

Solomon

1Kings 4:29 And God gave Solomon wisdom and understanding exceeding much, and largeness of heart, even as the sand that is on the sea shore. 

God made His words known unto Solomon in much wisdom by way of the spirit of God that was upon Solomon. Wisdom – to know how to handle situations, to know what to do.

Judges

2Chronicles 19:5-6 And he set judges in the land throughout all the fenced cities of Judah, city by city, And said to the judges, Take heed what ye do: for ye judge not for man, but for the LORD, who is with you in the judgment. 

These judges were the same as in the time of Moses and the seventy we read about earlier. The only way you can judge righteously is to have the spirit of God. That is why as Jehoshaphat promised these men, that God would be with them in the judgement. You must be able to discern who is telling the truth and who is lying, like Solomon and the two women with one baby. You must know how to deal with what is presented, and they would be doing the judging in the place of or for the Lord.

Cyrus King of the Medes and Persians

Isaiah 44:28 That saith of Cyrus, He is my shepherd, and shall perform all my pleasure: even saying to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be built; and to the temple, Thy foundation shall be laid. 

Isaiah 45:1 Thus saith the LORD to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have holden, to subdue nations before him; and I will loose the loins of kings, to open before him the two leaved gates; and the gates shall not be shut;

This man was not an Israelite, but he was anointed of God, had the spirit of God upon him and was credited with the rebuilding of the temple in Jerusalem after the captivity.

2Chronicles 36:22-23  Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the LORD spoken by the mouth of Jeremiah might be accomplished, the LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and put it also in writing, saying, Thus saith Cyrus king of Persia, All the kingdoms of the earth hath the LORD God of heaven given me; and he hath charged me to build him an house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Who is there among you of all his people? The LORD his God be with him, and let him go up

Once again God is not a respecter of persons, but He is a respecter of those that walk with Him and that turn at His reproof. He promised He would pour out His spirit upon such people and make His words known unto them.

In the gospels, we have people with the spirit of God upon them that were not prophets, kings, or priests, but I have included one special priest to show the grace and mercy of God.

Elizabeth and John the Baptist

Luke 1:41-42 And it came to pass, that, when Elisabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and Elisabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost: And she spake out with a loud voice, and said, Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb.

This was Mary’s cousin and the mother of John the Baptist. Filled with the holy ghost means she spoke for God by prophecy, so she had to have the spirit of God upon her AND her yet to be born son, John the Baptist, who was filled with the spirit from his mother’s womb, leapt for joy. Interesting question: John being not yet born leapt for joy: what part of John was the spirit upon?

Mary

Luke 1:46-47 And Mary said, My soul doth magnify the Lord, And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour. 

Now Mary prophecies, speaks for God so she, as a woman and the mother of the Messiah, the redeemer, had the spirit of God upon her also.

The Twelve

Matthew 10:5-8 These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them, saying, Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not:  But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand. Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give. 

These were men who when they heard Jesus Christ preach the Word, they turned back to God at the reproof they heard. The only way you can heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead and cast out devils is with the spirit of God being upon you.

The Seventy

Luke 10:17 And the seventy returned again with joy, saying, Lord, even the devils are subject unto us through thy name. 

So here the seventy had been at least casting out devils which takes the spirit of God being upon a person.

Others Casting out Devils

Mark 9:38-39 And John answered him, saying, Master, we saw one casting out devils in thy name, and he followeth not us: and we forbad him, because he followeth not us. But Jesus said, Forbid him not: for there is no man which shall do a miracle in my name, that can lightly speak evil of me

 Here were others sent by God, who had turned at His reproof, who had the spirit of God upon them, who were not sent personally by Jesus, yet they too were doing the work of God.

The High Priest

John 11:49-51 And one of them, named Caiaphas, being the high priest that same year, said unto them, Ye know nothing at all, Nor consider that it is expedient for us, that one man should die for the people, and that the whole nation perish not. And this spake he not of himself: but being high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus should die for that nation; 

The high priest this year had to have had the spirit of God upon him to prophesy. God gave him the prophesy even though God knew this high priest would be in favor of killing God’s only begotten son. That is a lot of grace and mercy.

God’s great desire has always been to be able to walk and talk with His children. Therefore, he created Adam in His own image, spirit. This is why God gave the gift of Spirit on the day of Pentecost to all that wanted to become His sons and daughters. As we have seen He made it available even in the Old Testament to have spirit upon those that would turn at His reproof, listen to Him, and walk and talk with Him. What a loving Father!

Proverbs 26:3-5 A whip for the horse, a bridle for the ass, and a rod for the fool’s back. Answer not a fool according to his folly, lest thou also be like unto him. Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he be wise in his own conceit.

These verses have a lot of wisdom in them that one could apply in our culture and political climate. But it takes some work to understand what God is saying here and to learn how to apply it.

There are other verses where God instructs us how to deal with questions or statements that are unlearned or ignorant. For instance:

1Timothy 4:7 But refuse profane and old wives’ fables, and exercise thyself rather unto godliness.

1Timothy 1:4 Neither give heed to fables and endless genealogies, which minister questions, rather than godly edifying which is in faith: so do.

2Timothy 2:23-26  But foolish and unlearned questions avoid, knowing that they do gender strifes. And the servant of the Lord must not strive; (strive here can mean to argue to win superiority over another) but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient, In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth; And that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will.

There are many similar verses and examples in the Bible that teach about how to stay out of trouble with the mouth. So, it might be wise in our walks with God to learn how to deal with fools. In this short study, we are going to basically stay with the verses in Proverbs 26. But first let’s go to the book of James.

Learning how to conduct yourself around others, believers or not, is a worthwhile adventure.

James 3:1-8  My brethren, be not many masters, knowing that we shall receive the greater condemnation. For in many things we offend all. If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man, and able also to bridle the whole body. Behold, we put bits in the horses’ mouths, that they may obey us; and we turn about their whole body. Behold also the ships, which though they be so great, and are driven of fierce winds, yet are they turned about with a very small helm, whithersoever the governor listeth. Even so the tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things. Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth! And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell. For every kind of beasts, and of birds, and of serpents, and of things in the sea, is tamed, and hath been tamed of mankind: But the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison.

The only thing that can tame the tongue is the Word of God. As the Word of God settles in your heart, it will help to control your mouth. So, to study the words “mouth” and “tongue” and other related words might help in your understanding of how to deal with the questions or situations that you find yourself in.

Now for Proverbs. I found that reading these verses from several translations to be helpful. Here are a few.

NASB: Do not answer a fool according to his folly, lest you be like him. Answer a fool as his folly deserves lest he be wise in his own eyes

Anchor:Do not answer a fool in his own foolish terms, lest you put yourself on his level. Answer a fool in his own foolish terms so he will not think himself wise.

The Amplified inserts the word “self-confident” in brackets before the word “fool.”

Lamsa: Answer not a fool according to his folly, lest you be also like him. But answer a fool according to your wisdom, lest he think in himself that he is wise.

Moffatt’s: Never answer a fool according to his folly, lest you become like him: Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he imagines he is wise.

 Knox’s: Leave the fool’s challenge unanswered, and prove thyself wise; or answer it, if thou wilt and prove him fool.

An example along the same line of thinking:

Proverbs 23:9 Speak not in the ears of a fool: for he will despise the wisdom of thy words.

If they are not asking you for help, stop trying to convince people of your viewpoint or trying to impart your wisdom to them. They probably do not want any help. By doing so, you are trying to force a person to drink that is not thirsty.

Isaiah 36:21 But they held their peace, and answered him not a word: for the king’s commandment was, saying, Answer him not.

Matthew 7:6 Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you.

I have found that if you only give a small taste of what you have and then be silent for a time, you may see if they really want to know or if they are only trying to entice you into spilling your guts and having more ammunition with which to attack and accuse you.

EW Bullinger’s notes from the Companion Bible: The point of Vs 3 (Proverbs 26:3 A whip for the horse, a bridle for the ass, and a rod for the fool’s back. (KJV) is that you cannot reason with a fool. Vs 4 gives the reason. If you answer not according to his folly, he will think he is wise like yourself. If you do answer him according to his folly, he will think you are a fool like he is: i.e., according to Vs 3 you cannot reason with him. These are finely stated facts, not commands.

Dake’s notes: Answer a fool wisely to confute his folly and expose his senselessness lest he be wise in his own eyes

The point in Vs 4-5 is that you cannot reason with a fool, because you would have to reason with him on his own level and this would make it manifest that you are a fool yourself. If you answer not according to his folly, he thinks he is as wise as you are. If you do answer according to his own folly, he thinks you are a fool as he is, so your reasoning is defeated. The only hope in such a case is the rod of Vs 3.

Here in Matthew, Jesus, never at a loss for words from his Father, deals with fools.

Matthew 16:1-4 The Pharisees also with the Sadducees came, and tempting desired him that he would shew them a sign from heaven. He answered and said unto them, When it is evening, ye say, It will be fair weather: for the sky is red. And in the morning, It will be foul weather to day: for the sky is red and lowring. O ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky; but can ye not discern the signs of the times? A wicked and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given unto it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas. And he left them, and departed.

Sometimes the questions people bring up or the statements they make, I just do not know what to say. Sometimes they throw out words to entice you into an argument. Innocently, of course. It is best then to say nothing. You could just shake your head and walk away or just turn your attention to a different person in the room. This is an example of properly answering a fool according to his folly. (Answering without words is an answer). This method shows both the fool and the people listening that you will not stoop to argue or respond on the level of the fool. This action shows that their question or statement is so foolish it is not worthy of a response.

Matthew 21:23-27 And when he was come into the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came unto him as he was teaching, and said, By what authority doest thou these things? and who gave thee this authority? And Jesus answered and said unto them, I also will ask you one thing, which if ye tell me, I in like wise will tell you by what authority I do these things. The baptism of John, whence was it? from heaven, or of men? And they reasoned with themselves, saying, If we shall say, From heaven; he will say unto us, Why did ye not then believe him? But if we shall say, Of men; we fear the people; for all hold John as a prophet. And they answered Jesus, and said, We cannot tell. And he said unto them, Neither tell I you by what authority I do these things.

Here when they asked Jesus a question to trap him and to set him up, he simply asked them a question back. This technique of answering a question with a question can get you out of a lot of sticky situations. Just don’t do that to me!

Note from NIV Bible: Verses 4-5 illustrate Ecclesiastes 3:7 A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; The apparent contradiction between these verses is best resolved by remembering two things: 1. There is nothing to be gained in answering a fool in his own manner. 2. There may be occasions when to permit a fool to go unrefuted would confirm him in his conceit.

The problem in answering a fool is that by answering, it gives the impression to the fool and to those listening that his question or statement was valid. You validate that what he said is worth a response. By not answering, you are in effect saying that what they said is so foolish it is not worthy of a response.

But if you are going to respond, you need to do so in such a way that it shows to the fool and those listening that the person was a fool.

Mark Twain said that if you answer a fool when you should remain silent, you are now arguing on the fool’s level and those listening may not be able to tell which of you is the fool!

Lamsa had some enlightening notes on these verses too: Answer not a fool according to his folly, lest you be also like him. But answer a fool according to your wisdom, lest he think in himself that he is wise. At the first, you can show the foolishness of the question by not giving it the dignity of a response. Not even worth answering. But it may require an answer if the one asking begins to become conceited because he thinks he has asked such a good question. If that is the case, give an answer that shows what a foolish question it was in the first place, by that it becomes evident that the questioner is a fool.

Hopefully, looking at these translations and notes has been helpful for you. It may take time for these truths to settle down in your heart and to learn to live this way, but it will keep you out of much trouble.

Here is a more modern quote that is similar.

Thomas Paine: To argue with a person who has renounced the use of reason is like administering medicine to the dead.

Apparently from God’s perspective, even wise people need some instruction on how to deal with fools. We as God’s wise children need to know and be aware of when to be silent and then when to answer in such a way as to refute those that hash the Word to pieces and  answer in such a way to show that they are ignorant. This type of learning can then be applied to discussions of gender, politics, and vaccinations, etc.

God does not want us to be dragged down to their level but to rise above the crowd of foolish and unlearned questioners . God wants us to give our wisdom to those who want to know. This is part of learning how to walk with God. It is part of taming the tongue and learning to listen to His still small voice. You are never alone. God is always at work within you.

When Naaman the Syrian was healed of leprosy in the record of 2 Kings chapter 5, he requested of the prophet to be given two mules’ burden of earth.  What an odd request. So why did Naaman request the two mules?  Perplexing question.  Let’s read that part of the record.

2 Kings 5:17 And Naaman said, Shall there not then, I pray thee, be given to thy servant two mules’ burden of earth? for thy servant will henceforth offer neither burnt offering nor sacrifice unto other gods, but unto the LORD.

Naaman was the captain of the hosts of Syria, and he was a leper.  (2 Kings 5) The king of Syria sent Naaman down to Israel to be healed of leprosy.  Once the leprosy was healed, he wanted to offer burnt offerings and sacrifices to no other gods but unto the Lord, Jehovah.  So how was he to do this back in Syria?

To understand his request for two mules’ burden of earth, we need to look at the religious settings of his times.

Israel was, by design, a monotheistic culture because of its religion. (Note: many cultural traditions are governed by the local religion).  Monotheistic means they were to only worship ONE God! Jehovah/Elohim which is God over all the earth!

Exodus 20:1-4 And God spake all these words, saying, I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth:

Deuteronomy 6:4 Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD:

Jehovah was one God, not three in one, and they were to have no other gods.  Israel was to be monotheistic.

But most if not all the lands around Israel were polytheistic; they had many gods. These gods were thought to be gods over certain lands or territories as is indicated by the following verse. In some cases, they would revere one god over the other gods.  In Egypt, for instance, Ra or Re was considered the top-dog god.  Then there were other and perhaps subordinate gods to him.

1 Kings 20:28 And there came a man of God, and spake unto the king of Israel, and said, Thus saith the LORD, Because the Syrians have said, The LORD is God of the hills, but he is not God of the valleys, therefore will I deliver all this great multitude into thine hand, and ye shall know that I am the LORD.

Here we see that the Syrians, where Naaman was from, believed gods were gods only over certain lands or territories.  Here they thought Jehovah was god in the mountains but not god in the valleys because Israel had defeated them in the mountains.  The Syrians assumed this was because Israel’s God was a god of the mountain area. Syria was a polytheistic nation.

The truth about gods being gods of certain lands or territories is mentioned by several researchers.

Cambridge Bible for Schools and colleges: “Two mules’ burden of earth — Naaman still has no notion of Jehovah but as a territorial deity. He thinks therefore that by carrying with him a quantity of the soil of Israel, he may provide a place for acceptable sacrifice to Him (Jehovah) in his country of Syria.”

Israel at times worshiped the gods of the nations around them.

Judges 10:6 And the children of Israel did evil again in the sight of the LORD, and served Baalim, and Ashtaroth, and the gods of Syria, and the gods of Zidon, and the gods of Moab, and the gods of the children of Ammon, and the gods of the Philistines, and forsook the LORD, and served not him.

During this time, Israel would have been a polytheistic nation.  They were worshiping the gods of the land of Moab, the gods of the land of the sons of Ammon, the gods of the land of the Philistines and the gods of the land of Syria.   These people had their own gods that were gods over their lands or territories.

Israel, at times, thought the gods of the nations around them were wonderful and brought those gods to their land and worshipped them there.  They made these gods groves and temples, so they could do sacrifice and give burnt offerings unto these gods in the land of Israel.

2 Kings 17:15-18 They rejected His statutes and His covenant which He made with their fathers and His warnings with which He warned them. And they followed vanity and became vain, and went after the nations which surrounded them, concerning which the Lord had commanded them not to do like them. They forsook all the commandments of the Lord their God and made for themselves molten images, even two calves, and made an Asherah and worshiped all the host of heaven and served Baal. Then they made their sons and their daughters pass through the fire, and practiced divination and enchantments, and sold themselves to do evil in the sight of the Lord, provoking Him.

Bringing home the gods of other nations to worship was common and is even found in the book of Acts.

Acts 17:16 Now while Paul was waiting for them at Athens, his spirit was being provoked within him as he was observing the city full of idols.

Another book that speaks about polytheistic religions is: *Royal Administrations and National Religion in Ancient Palestine by G.W. Ahlstrom. This work talks about the gods of the countries that surrounded Israel.

Here are some quotes from that work:

“… A not uncommon epithet of ancient Near Eastern kings was “the good shepherd”, a title which is often found in Assyrian building inscriptions. In addition, the king was frequently called … ASSur, Assur’s vicar,’ a phrase expressing the basic ideology of the king’s position; he ruled over the country of the god.”

“… The nation as God’s territory: … descriptive epithets for the king were aklu(m), “overseer” and the priest title Sangu, “administrator”. The king administered the god’s territory and his people.”

“… As mentioned above, the capital was the ruling center of the nation (the territory of the god). More specifically, the acropolis was this center and, as such, provided the basis for the king’s functions and policies.”

“… The above makes quite understandable the fact that religion and religious policy were part of the king’s duties. Indeed, it is evident that the king, as the administrator of his god’s territory, was not only the organizer and the builder of the country but was, in principle, the organizer of the cult as well. A few examples should be cited. A Hittite text states that the storm god made the king, the /abarna, the governor of the land of Hatti. In Egypt the “supreme god, Ré, entrusted the land to his son, the king.””

Syria, where Naaman came from, was a polytheistic culture and believed that gods were gods over only certain territories or lands as we read previously: “Because the Syrians have said, The LORD is God of the hills, but he is not God of the valleys.”

God had defeated them in the hills, so they decided to attack Israel in the valleys.  This was their understanding in their polytheistic culture/religion, that gods were not gods overall but only gods of certain territories or lands.

Therefore, Naaman requested two mules’ burden of earth.  Then he states why, “for thy servant will henceforth offer neither burnt offering nor sacrifice unto other gods, but unto the LORD.”  He needed some of the land or territory of Jehovah, so he could build an altar back in Syria and offer burnt offerings and sacrifices in the land of Syria but only to Jehovah the God that had healed him. This was his understanding of how gods worked.  No matter his cultural upbringing what a great believer.  Thus, Two Mules for Brother Naaman! What a wonderful believer he was. Someday we will get to meet him.

*Royal Administrations and National Religion in Ancient Palestine

08/13/1999
By Joseph Sobran

AS THE Civil War ended in May 1865, Jefferson Davis, president of the Confederacy, was captured by Union troops. He was put in painful shackles and held in prison for two years, in solitary confinement, on charges of treason and conspiring to kill Abraham Lincoln.

Davis was never brought to trial. The absurd charge of plotting Lincoln’s death was soon thrown out. Eventually the charge of treason was dropped, too, because Davis’ enemies knew that his defense would probably deal a powerful blow to Union propaganda. So he was denied the day in court he passionately craved.

What would Davis have said in court? Two Southern partisans of the Confederacy, James Ronald Kennedy and his brother Walter Donald Kennedy, answer the question in their recent book, Was Jefferson Davis Right? (Pelican, $16.95). It will come as a revelation to anyone, Northerner or
Southerner, who has been raised on the Union version of events.

In Davis’ time, even many Northerners agreed that a sovereign state had the right to withdraw from the Union. A large body of people in the North were willing to accept a peaceful separation from the South. Lincoln had thousands arrested without trial for expressing such views, including several Maryland legislators who, while remaining in the Union, opposed using force to keep other states from seceding.

Davis himself advised against secession on grounds of prudence, but when his home state of Mississippi pulled out of the Union, he sadly resigned from the U.S. Senate and reluctantly accepted the Confederate presidency. Like Robert E. Lee, he believed that his primary loyalty was to his state, not to the Union, and that the defense of his state couldn’t be treason.

Davis explained his position in 1881 in his two-volume memoir, The Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government (republished by William Mayes Coats in Nashville). The Declaration of Independence had proclaimed that “these united colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent states”
— that is, 13 separate sovereignties, not, as Lincoln said, a single, monolithic “new nation.” When these sovereign states ratified the Constitution, Davis argued, they did not surrender their sovereignty;
several of them, in their acts of ratification, reserved the right to secede, and the other states, by accepting these acts as valid, recognized that right.

Lincoln was forced to take the ahistorical position that “the Union is much older than the Constitution” and that no state could ever withdraw from it. As the historian Pauline Maier puts it, Lincoln’s understanding of the Declaration of Independence was based on “wishful suppositions.” He was
guided by Daniel Webster’s famous nationalist slogan, “Liberty and Union, now and forever, one and inseparable” — an illogical credo that leads to dangerous nonsense. If liberty was “inseparable” from Union, why did the framers adopt constitutional safeguards to prevent the possibility of federal tyranny?

After Lincoln’s death, a vindictive Republican Congress required the Confederate states to adopt two constitutional amendments as a condition of “readmission” to the Union — which Lincoln had insisted they had never left! This coerced ratification remains a disgrace to the Constitution.

In his memoir, Davis addressed these and other issues with iron logic. It’s a pity Lincoln did not live to face a more profound debater than Stephen Douglas.

Davis had many warm friends in the North, including President Franklin Pierce, under whom he had served as secretary of state, and Lincoln’s own secretary of state, William Seward. While in prison he received messages of sympathy from thousands, including Pope Pius IX. Even some abolitionists
protested the cruel treatment he received. Such wealthy Northerners as Horace Greeley and Cornelius Vanderbilt put up $100,000 for his bail. Even his former slaves honored him at his death in 1889.

But like so many great controversies, the debate between North and South was settled not by reason but by force. And in the history books, as usual, the victors’ rhetoric prevailed over the losers’ logic. Today few Americans, even in the South, understand the case for the Confederacy. Any talk of “sovereign” states — the vital question of 1861 — sounds archaic.

In the end, both sides lost the war. A country out of touch with its own ancestors is truly impoverished — and uneducated.

Source:  Daily Oklahoman
http://www.oklahoman.com/cgi-bin/shart?ID=359425&TP=getarticle

Joseph Sobran
The Case for the Confederacy
Universal Press Syndicate

All content copyrighted, 1999 The Oklahoma Publishing Co

There is an interesting record in the gospel of Matthew in the sixteenth chapter.  To read the verse we are interested in, I would like to start in Verse 13 to read it in its context.

Matthew 16:13-20 When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am? And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets. He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Then charged he his disciples that they should tell no man that he was Jesus the Christ.

A quick search of the scriptures for the words “key” or “keys” shows that neither word is not used again in relationship with Peter anywhere.

But there are two records in the life of Peter that are remarkably interesting considering what Jesus Christ said.

First, we must remember that a key is usually used in a lock as in a locked door.  If the door is locked, a key is required to gain access to the area behind the door. Without the proper key, you are prohibited from entering.

The first record occurs on the day of Pentecost when the gift of holy spirit was given. This was the first time being born from above, having the gift of God aka the new birth was available.

Act 2:1-4 And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.

While Jesus Christ was still here on the earth, he had instructed his Apostles on what to look for and instructed them how to receive the gift.  They followed his instructions exactly and then they spoke in tongues – the proof of the indwelling of the gift of holy spirit, the new birth, and it witnessed that they were born from above.

Now the people that were present had no idea what was going on.  This was Pentecost, a great feast of the Jews.  By the Old Testament law, they were required to attend, so they came to Jerusalem from all over the known world.  They wanted to know what was going on here in the temple.
Peter stood up and began to explain what they had just seen or witnessed.

Act 2:14-21  But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice, and said unto them, Ye men of Judaea, and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem, be this known unto you, and hearken to my words: For these are not drunken, as ye suppose, seeing it is but the third hour of the day. But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel; And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams: And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy: And I will shew wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke: The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord come: And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.

Peter proceeds to explain to them who Jesus Christ was.  He told them that they, the people of Israel, had taken Jesus Christ and had him put to death. But on the 3rd day, God had raised him from the dead.  And Peter explained that these men that had spoken in tongues were witnesses of his resurrection.

Then Peter told those attending and asking, that Jesus had received the gift of holy spirit from his Father, and that Jesus had given out that gift to the men they had heard.

Act 2:37-39 Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do? Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call.

These people needed a key to unlock the kingdom of heaven, and Peter just happened to have a couple!

The key was to know and believe that God raised Jesus from the dead and to make Jesus lord in your life as it says in Romans.

Romans 10:9, 10 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

This is what they were to do. This is the key.  Without the key, the door stays locked.  With the key, you can enter and have eternal life!

One key down and one to go.

The second time Peter used his keys to the kingdom of heaven occurs in the 10th chapter of Acts.

Up until this time, the only people that had been able, or that knew how to enter the kingdom were Jews.  Remember, on the day of Pentecost, Peter had said, “as many as the lord our God shall call?”  Well, now, God was calling the gentiles.

Act 10:1-7 There was a certain man in Caesarea called Cornelius, a centurion of the band called the Italian band, A devout man, and one that feared God with all his house, which gave much alms to the people, and prayed to God alway. He saw in a vision evidently about the ninth hour of the day an angel of God coming in to him, and saying unto him, Cornelius. And when he looked on him, he was afraid, and said, What is it, Lord? And he said unto him, Thy prayers and thine alms are come up for a memorial before God. And now send men to Joppa, and call for one Simon, whose surname is Peter: He lodgeth with one Simon a tanner, whose house is by the sea side: he shall tell thee what thou oughtest to do. And when the angel which spake unto Cornelius was departed, he called two of his household servants, and a devout soldier of them that waited on him continually;

Now the next day Peter was up on the housetop praying (They had flat roofs, or he might have fallen off!) while lunch was being prepared.  He had a vison of which he later understood meant he was not to call the gentiles unclean.  About that time, the men from Caesarea showed up and asked for Peter.

Act 10:19,20 While Peter thought on the vision, the Spirit said unto him, Behold, three men seek thee. Arise therefore, and get thee down, and go with them, doubting nothing: for I have sent them.

Somewhere in the process of traveling and speaking, Peter realized that God was no respecter of persons.  He began to teach these gentiles the information they needed in order to receive the gift of holy spirit like the people of Jerusalem had done on the day of Pentecost.

Act 10:44-46a While Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard the word. And they of the circumcision which believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because that on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost. For they heard them speak with tongues and magnify God….

Peter had just used his second key and had unlocked the door to the new birth, the kingdom of heaven, for the gentiles.  I am thankful for that as I am a gentile!

So, of the keys that Jesus gave him, one was used to unlock the kingdom of heaven for the Jews and the other key was used to unlock the kingdom of heaven for the gentiles.  Wonderful!  What a faithful man!

God did not give all His keys to Peter.  He reserved some to be used at later dates.

Revelation 1:18 I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.

Revelation 3:7 And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write; These things saith he that is holy, he that is true, he that hath the key of David, he that openeth, and no man shutteth; and shutteth, and no man openeth;

Revelation 9:1 And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall from heaven unto the earth: and to him was given the key of the bottomless pit.

It will be interesting to watch these keys being used, and we should have box seats for the event as we are seated in Christ at God’s own right hand.

Until then, “Come quickly, lord Jesus!”

When I was in my first year of college, a young man attempted to witness to me about the Bible by saying that Romans 13:1, 2 and following said that God put all government leaders in power, and we were to obey them. I will tell you what I said to him at the end of this blog.

I did not know the truth about Romans 13 and obedience to the government for many years, but I never forgot what he said.  His comments stayed on a hook in my mind until I found a good answer/response to his statements.

Romans 1-11 sets out the reason mankind needed a redeemer. “All have sinned and come short of the glory of God,” “there are none righteous, no not one.”  It also sets the criteria for salvation for both the Judean and the Gentile — believing the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It also shows that the accomplishments of Jesus Christ made available spirit life, which Adam lost, to all those that believe the Gospel concerning Jesus Christ.

It speaks about our walk in newness of life for those that have been justified by believing the accomplishments of Jesus Christ. 

It speaks about walking according to the new nature and not the old nature of sin.

It speaks about the believer no longer being under condemnation/judgment and being inseparable from God any longer.

It speaks about the realities of the accomplishments of Jesus Christ being made available to both the Judean and the Gentile by believing.

Then in Romans 12 especially Vs. 9 and following, it speaks about the believers’ walk in love toward those that have been born again or born from above.  In *A Journey through the Acts and Epistles on page 245, one of the footnotes reads: “Here in Romans 12 it is considered in its practical aspects with regard to the renewing of the mind and the relationships with others in the body of Christ.” (emphasis added)

One of the relationships we have in the body of Christ is our relationship with the higher powers God has placed in the church.

Romans 13:1-2 Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God. Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation. KJV

The Living Bible translates Romans 13:1-7 this way!

Romans 13:1-7 Obey the government, for God is the one who has put it there. There is no government anywhere that God has not placed in power. So those who refuse to obey the laws of the land are refusing to obey God, and punishment will follow. For the policeman does not frighten people who are doing right; but those doing evil will always fear him. So, if you don’t want to be afraid, keep the laws and you will get along well. The policeman is sent by God to help you. But if you are doing something wrong, of course you should be afraid, for he will have you punished. He is sent by God for that very purpose. Obey the laws, then, for two reasons: first, to keep from being punished, and second, just because you know you should. Pay your taxes too, for these same two reasons. For government workers need to be paid so that they can keep on doing God’s work, serving you.  Pay everyone whatever he ought to have: pay your taxes and import duties gladly, obey those over you, and give honor and respect to all those to whom it is due.

Although many have said and translated the “higher powers” here to be the government, the context does not support that understanding. It is obvious from reading history that God did not put at least some of the more modern leaders into power for us to obey. God did not put Hitler, Mussolini, Stalin, or Pol Pot in their positions where they set out and killed many of God’s people. Even with a small amount of logic, that should be evident.

God uses the illustration in Romans 13 of the respect, honor, and monies paid to the government to teach us we are to give that same honor and respect to the higher powers in the church, the body of Christ. So much so, we owe no man anything.

The section of scripture that does deal with obedience to the government is in 1 Peter.

Although these records in 1 Peter are not addressed to the whole church, they are addressed to all Israel that are born again and were part of the diaspora, the scattered of Israel.  They were to be a royal priesthood to serve those not born from above, the Gentiles.  It talks about their conduct as they lived and served as strangers and foreigners here on the earth. (This world is not our home!)

From *A Journey through the Acts and Epistles:

 1 Peter 2:11-15 Beloved, I exhort you as visiting foreigners and sojourners to abstain from fleshly cravings, anything that wars against the soul, keeping your good manner of life among the Gentiles, so that by it those who speak against you as evildoers may glorify God in the day of visitation as they behold your good works.  Be subject to every created human being for the Lord’s sake: whether to a king as the one in authority or to governors as those sent by him [the king] for punishment of evildoers and for praise of those who do good. So is the will of God that by doing good you may muzzle the ignorance of foolish people.

God by way of Peter speaks here also of the born-again Israelites’ relationship with wives and Gentile husbands, and men that have Gentile masters or employers. 

Even though this is not written to the body of Christ at large, there is much to be learned from what God instructs the diaspora, the displaced and born-again Israelites, on conduct while we in the church sojourn here until Christ returns.

In 1 Peter 2, it also says if you are going to sin (get in trouble with those in authority over you), it is no glory to you or your Father even if you patiently endure the consequences.  But if you get in trouble for righteousness sake, that is grace before God.

1 Peter 2:21 – 23 Moreover, for this purpose you were called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving an example to you so that you might follow his tracks, “who did not sin, nor was deceit found in his mouth.” When he was insulted, he did not retaliate with an insult.  When he suffered, he did not threaten in return, but he delivered himself to Him Who judges justly. WTJ

Having looked at all of this, it is important to remember that our lives are not our own.  Having God’s spirit within, we are to walk with Him as to right conduct in different situations.

We have the written Word here to guide us, and we have His gift of holy spirit. It takes both a knowledge of His Word and the spirit of God to walk in the love of God.

Some have talked about our “rights” lately — our rights under the Constitution or our rights according to the founding fathers of our country.

Romans 14 talks some about “rights.” — the right to eat meat offered to idols, to not celebrate one day above another, etc.  Yet, it teaches that I may cause others to sin if I exercise those rights. Our walk with God is one of love, not one of claiming all of what we perceive to be our rights.

Some have spoken recently about “civil disobedience” and then have found what they said were great believers in the Bible exercising civil disobedience.  In most if not all of these records, these people were doing what God instructed them to do in that specific situation. 

In the book of Acts, Peter was in prison and the angel of the Lord came and set them free. The angel then told them to, “Go, stand and speak in the temple all the words of this life.” This is what God told them to do even though they had been commanded by the ruling authorities to not speak in the name of Jesus anymore.  Peter’s response, when questioned about his disobedience, was, “We ought to obey God rather than men.” This is what God told Peter and the others to do.  This was not civil disobedience; it was obedience to God.

When the midwives saved the male children alive as opposed to killing them in the time of Moses, as was the King’s commandment, they were obeying what God told them to do.  This is not civil disobedience.

We do not live this life for ourselves but as sons and daughters of God and as those that serve him.  We are to honor the higher powers in the church and obey those in authority over us whether they be kings or employers.

But we also have the spirit of God born in us. We are to walk in love and obey our Father whether it is what is in the written Word or what He tells us by way of His spirit so that we may bring glory to Him. 

Oh yes, the young man that witnessed to me about Romans 13…  I asked him,

“Are you saying God put Hitler, Mussolini, and Stalin in power, and that as Christians we are to obey them?”

He said, “Yes that is what the Bible says.”

I said, “I don’t know what the truth is, but you are an idiot.”

Then I walked away. I thank God that He put me in a place where I could eventually learn truth.

*Footnote: A Journey Through the Acts and Epistles A Working Translation By Walter J. Cummins
    Available at www.ContinuingintheScriptures.com

The Parable of the Dishonest Manager

Luke 16:1-7 And he said also unto his disciples, There was a certain rich man, which had a steward; and the same was accused unto him that he had wasted his goods. And he called him, and said unto him, How is it that I hear this of thee? give an account of thy stewardship; for thou mayest be no longer steward. Then the steward said within himself, What shall I do? for my lord taketh away from me the stewardship: I cannot dig; to beg I am ashamed. I am resolved what to do, that, when I am put out of the stewardship, they may receive me into their houses. So he called every one of his lord’s debtors unto him, and said unto the first, How much owest thou unto my lord? And he said, An hundred measures of oil. And he said unto him, Take thy bill, and sit down quickly, and write fifty. Then said he to another, And how much owest thou? And he said, An hundred measures of wheat. And he said unto him, Take thy bill, and write fourscore.

In this culture, the steward had a perfect right to do this.  But was he prospering his master?  Was he taking care of his master’s business OR providing a place for himself at his master’s expense?  At the end of the year was his master ahead in his accounts OR at a loss?

We will see in a minute that the Pharisees that loved money were listening to this parable, too, and they got upset most likely because they knew Jesus was really talking about them.  They had the charge of the temple money and were making themselves rich rather than taking care of God’s business.  They did have the right to do so, but we will see in a bit what God had to say about that.

Luke 16:8 And the lord commended the unjust steward (note here that God, the author of the scriptures called the steward UNJUST), because he had done wisely: for the children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light.

The lord here is the steward’s master not the Lord Jesus Christ. In their culture, this was considered just and wise.

Luke 16:9 And I say unto you, Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness (money); that, when ye fail, they may receive you into everlasting habitations.

EW Bullinger in his Companion Bible says this should read as a question.  Jesus: “Is this what I taught you to do, make friends with the things of this world?”

Luke 16:10 He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much: and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much.

This steward here had not been faithful or just to his master in managing his master’s accounts for a profit.  He had actually cost him money to the sole benefit of the steward himself.

Luke 16:11-15 If therefore ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches? And if ye have not been faithful in that which is another man’s, who shall give you that which is your own? No servant can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon. And the Pharisees also, who were covetous, heard all these things: and they derided him. And he said unto them, Ye are they which justify yourselves before men; but God knoweth your hearts: for that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God.

God’s assessment of the situation with the unjust steward and the Pharisees was that they were not faithful nor just. That even though men thought this was great, even though it was part of and acceptable in the culture, God said what they had done was an abomination.

This is a great example of not being faithful. The steward had cost his master a loss.  It was easy to see; they just sat down and looked at the numbers.

Faithful is in part the Greek word “pistis” translated into English many times as “believe.”  So, in part faithful means to believe the instructions that are given BUT also to DO what you have been told.  If you believe and do as instructed, that is the essence of the word trustworthy, another definition of faithful.

An example would be Moses.

Numbers 12:7 My servant Moses is not so, who is faithful in all mine house.

Now in order to see how Moses was faithful and learn from that, we would have to read a lot about Moses.  For a short blog that is not practical. So, let’s go the Luke.

In this next record, you can see how the nobleman came to “trust’ two faithful men.

Luke 19:11 And as they heard these things, he added and spake a parable, because he was nigh to Jerusalem, and because they thought that the kingdom of God should immediately appear.

Note:  In looking at these parables, we are not trying to ascertain the meaning of the parable.  We are just looking at the use of the word “faithful” within them.

Luke 19:12-17 He said therefore, A certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom, and to return. And he called his ten servants, and delivered them ten pounds, and said unto them, Occupy (carry on business) till I come. But his citizens hated him, and sent a message after him, saying, We will not have this man to reign over us. And it came to pass, that when he was returned, having received the kingdom, then he commanded these servants to be called unto him, to whom he had given the money, that he might know how much every man had gained by trading. Then came the first, saying, Lord, thy pound hath gained ten pounds. And he said unto him, Well, thou good servant: because thou hast been faithful in a very little, have thou authority over ten cities.

In this parable, Jesus uses money to teach about being faithful.  Money is a very quick way of teaching what faithful is compared to using prayer or forgiveness, etc.  With money you can just count and see the answer/results with little explanation.

With this faithful man, he increased his master’s money by 1000 %.  Quite the opposite of the first parable where he cost him money.

Luke 19:18-19 And the second came, saying, Lord, thy pound hath gained five pounds. And he said likewise to him, Be thou also over five cities.

Remember what we read in the previous parable: “He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much.”

It is easy to see the faithfulness of these two men because we can count — 1000% and 500%.  It takes quite a few attributes to be a faithful person in this situation. Things like:

Integrity — they gave the money back;
Diligence — they got the job done;
Trading — they had to know their business;
Saving — they did not spend all they made;
Appearance — they had to know how to dress and present themselves in their field of business;
Knowledge — what they did not know about their business, they had to go learn;
Accounts — they had to have kept strict accounts;
Confidence — they had to have confidence in their ability;
Focus — they had to focus on the task at hand and not get distracted.

There may be other attributes, but this is enough for the point.

The master knew that as they had applied the principles necessary to gain the profit they did, that these men would also apply the same principles if given a much larger responsibility. Faithful in little, faithful in much.

It reminds one of what the Apostle Paul wrote — God counted him faithful putting him into the ministry.  Paul was out capturing Christians, throwing them into prison and having some killed.  God knew that Paul would apply the same diligence, commitment and other attributes in service to God as he had in the past when he was on the wrong side of the fence.  God counted him a faithful man.

Next, we have a small example of not faithful:

Luke 19:20-26  And another came, saying, Lord, behold, here is thy pound, which I have kept laid up in a napkin: For I feared thee, because thou art an austere man: thou takest up that thou layedst not down, and reapest that thou didst not sow. And he saith unto him, Out of thine own mouth will I judge thee, thou wicked servant. Thou knewest that I was an austere man, taking up that I laid not down, and reaping that I did not sow: Wherefore then gavest not thou my money into the bank, (table, money changers) that at my coming I might have required mine own with usury (interest)? And he said unto them that stood by, Take from him the pound, and give it to him that hath ten pounds. (And they said unto him, Lord, he hath ten pounds.) For I say unto you, That unto every one which hath shall be given; and from him that hath not, even that he hath shall be taken away from him.

This last verse is fascinating.  To those that have, more shall be given.  And from him that hath not, even that which we hath shall be taken away.  This is written here in the context of money.  It is a principle of life.  In our vernacular, we might say, “Use it or lose it.”

We could also see that as Christians begin to apply these principles, they acquire more and more.  But those that do not apply them continue to have lack.

This expression also occurs in:

Mark 4:25 For he that hath, to him shall be given: and he that hath not,

Here the principle is used of knowledge and understanding.  If you have gained some knowledge and understanding — think about it, incorporate it into your life, God will give you even more.  If the knowledge and understanding go in one ear and out the other, you will lose what you do have.

As you apply those things in the area of money, you are much more likely to apply them in other fields as well. So Remember:

Luke 16:10 He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much: and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much.

So, as a Principle of Prosperity, Faithful may include:

Giving,
Saving,
Staying out of debt,
Diligence in business and personal finances,
Trusting God,
And other things.

Everything really belongs to God anyway and as in the parables, we are stewards of that which God has entrusted to us.  As we learn to incorporate these principles of faithful stewardship into our lives, we will show ourselves to be faithful/just stewards.. Then He will be able to trust us with even more.

May God bless you, and thanks for reading.

Roger B.

The Gospel of John recounts the record of Jesus and The Woman at the Well.

John 4:5-20 Then cometh he to a city of Samaria, which is called Sychar, near to the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. Now Jacob’s well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied with his journey, sat thus on the well: and it was about the sixth hour. There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water: Jesus saith unto her, Give me to drink. (For his disciples were gone away unto the city to buy meat.) Then saith the woman of Samaria unto him, How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria? for the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans. Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water. The woman saith unto him, Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep: from whence then hast thou that living water? Art thou greater than our father Jacob, which gave us the well, and drank thereof himself, and his children, and his cattle? Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again: But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life. The woman saith unto him, Sir, give me this water, that I thirst not, neither come hither to draw. Jesus saith unto her, Go, call thy husband, and come hither. The woman answered and said, I have no husband. Jesus said unto her, Thou hast well said, I have no husband: For thou hast had five husbands; and he whom thou now hast is not thy husband: in that saidst thou truly. The woman saith unto him, Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet. Our fathers worshipped in this mountain; and ye say, that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship.

People have speculated much about what the references of husbands in this record are referring to. Some have said she was a prostitute (whore), some have said the Samaritan culture allowed dating as opposed to the Jewish culture, and some have said she had been married several times.

Interestingly, none of those subjects are dealt with, but the woman immediately brings up the subject of where is the proper place to worship your chosen God!

Sometimes the best place to look to understand the scriptures is to look AT the scriptures.

Isaiah 54:5 For thy Maker is thine husband; the LORD of hosts is his name; and thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel; The God of the whole earth shall he be called.

People generally worship their gods. That is why she so quickly turned the conversation to where to worship. She must have been very familiar with the expression that whatever god you worship is your husband. That you are married to the god you worship. So, the question then is where to worship!

If you need more on this subject here are some other places where God says He is the husband to Israel or the Jews.

Jeremiah 3:14 Turn, O backsliding children, saith the LORD; for I am married unto you: ….

Jeremiah 31:32 Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the LORD:

Hosea 2:19-20 And I will betroth thee unto me for ever; yea, I will betroth thee unto me in righteousness, and in judgment, and in lovingkindness, and in mercies. I will even betroth thee unto me in faithfulness: and thou shalt know the LORD

Whenever a person who is married has sexual relations with another, it is called adultery. In this instance, the adultery would be to worship any god other than the one you are married to.

Jeremiah 3:8 And I saw, when for all the causes whereby backsliding Israel committed adultery I had put her away, and given her a bill of divorce; yet her treacherous sister Judah feared not, but went and played the harlot also.

John 4:19-20 The woman saith unto him, Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet. Our fathers worshipped in this mountain; and ye say, that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship.

This mountain is where her fathers had gone to worship their idols, their gods, their husbands so to speak.

John 4:21-22 Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father. Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews.

Jesus said her forefathers did not even know what they were doing or what they were worshiping. For there is only one God.

John 4:23-24 But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.

Jesus is explaining to her what was to come to pass shortly on the Day of Pentecost. Believers would be worshiping by way of the new birth spirit – speaking in tongues.

John 4:25-29 The woman saith unto him, I know that Messias cometh, which is called Christ: when he is come, he will tell us all things. Jesus saith unto her, I that speak unto thee am he. And upon this came his disciples, and marvelled that he talked with the woman: yet no man said, What seekest thou? or, Why talkest thou with her? The woman then left her waterpot, and went her way into the city, and saith to the men, Come, see a man, which told me all things that ever I did: is not this the Christ?

This was not a woman of ill repute as some have suggested. Her husbands were the gods she had been worshiping.

Jesus did not need to convince the woman to believe what he had said, nor did he have to argue with her. When she heard the words of God spoken by Jesus Christ – she believed.

Many times, rather than guessing what the scriptures are saying it is best to search the scriptures for yourself and expect God to give you understanding in all things.