Flat Earth or Flat Science?

By Orlando Ferguson – The History Blog, actually Library of Congress 2011594831, G3201.A67 1893 .F4, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=15853213

You may have experienced are seen the accusation: Young-earth belief is the same as flat-earth belief. If you believe one, you must also believe the other because both are silly. They are both equally science-deniers and misusing Scripture.

The allegation is an attempt to link the science-deniers of flat-earth community with young-earth creationists. Instead of addressing the evidence or claims of the creationist argument, it is nothing more than another ad hominem attempt to paint creationist as unthinking, anti-science, or just stupid.

I know very few individuals that believe in the flat-earth. Of those few individuals, while they do actively deny science, they generally are intelligent and thoughtful. And here is the first distinction between young-earth creationism and flat-earth adherents. Young-earth does not deny science. Contrary to the false accusation. Young-earth is very scientific. Perhaps more than evolutionary or old-earth creation worldviews.

Young-earth acknowledges the importance of worldview and its affect on the process of science. Old-earth and evolution (OE/E) however, almost always does not. OE/E is unaware of the impact of a worldview that demands deep-age on the way their initial observations, or the formation of their hypothesis, or the impact on the design of any experiment to test their already biased hypothesis. They deny there is any impact of worldview on their observations and analysis of the data and most certainly does not affect their conclusions. Their inability to perceive the affect of their worldview adds another layer of obfuscation of the truth.

Biblical and Theological Consequences

There are negative biblical, theological, cultural, social, and personal consequences to holding an old-earth or evolutionary worldview. There are none to confessing the world is spherical Actually, there is a benefit to understanding and confessing that God created a spherical world in a three-dimensional universe.

The god of flat-earth worldism is smaller than the God of an expansive three-dimensional universe. This is both simply but more than the cause/effect analogy. The more expansive effect requires the greater cause. From a first approximation approach, this alone is sufficient benefit of spherical over flat.

As with any man-made idea, the god of flat-earth worldism can easily become the person holding the flat-earth view when their reason for holding that view is a sense of greater spirituality or spiritual knowledge than the poor, deceived nonflat. It has become Gnostic taking on a self-worship component. This can also be said of young-earth and old-earth worldviews. Therefore, we must all be on guard to prevent it from characterizing our thinking.

Although it can be a temptation of all three views, the young-earth is more outward-emphasizing. Confessing that scriptural revelation is superior to natural revelation and hence to scientific truth claims is a hallmark of young-earth. That worldview component can provide a protection against self-importance and self-elevation.

Flat-earth makes no claim on why God created the world flat. Young-earth claims God had extreme purpose in the act of, method of, timing of creation. God, in revealing Himself and what He intends for His creation, did so by creating the world in six literal days. That purpose is woven into the creation narrative, and is lost in an OE/E view.

The moral, cultural, and social impact of flat-earth vs young-earth are vastly different. Families composed of a father and mother with the purpose of raising godly children is established in a young-earth worldview. OE/E corrupts the authoritative value of male and female, family, marriage. The origin and meaning of sin and redemption is also preserved and emphasized by young-earth but removed when the real historical events in which these are revealed are denied by OE/E. Flat-earth view provides no benefit regarding these essential truths.

Young-earth creationism provides theological, and therefore moral, benefits that are not associated with flat-earthism.

The Spherical Earth is Understandable Apart from Worldview

Anyone with basic observational skills and basic math skills can demonstrate the earth is spherical and calculate the radius or circumference of the earth.

The earliest known calculation of the circumference of the earth was by Eratosthenes of Cyrene (276 – 194 BC). Since he was motivated to make the calculation, it must have been known or strongly suspected by the intellectuals of his day that the earth was spherical. It is rational to assume this understanding could have been present much earlier than Eratosthenes.

Understanding how Eratosthenes measured the circumference clearly shows that he already knew the earth was spherical. Something previous in his experience and education established that the world was spherical. Eratosthenes used simple mathematical tools and common everyday experience of the shadows to calculate the circumference.

By cmglee, David Monniaux, jimht at shaw dot ca – Egypt sat.pngEarth orthographic projection Earthmap1000x500.jpg, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=52681377

Eratosthenes recognized the Sun had to be distant. Meaning very far away. Further than just an arch or projection above a flat earth. That Sun then would provide light unaffected by “closeness”, and the light would be unchanged source directionality at two distant places on the surface of the Earth. Therefore, the difference in the angle of the light at two distant location on the Earth on the same day was both confirmation the earth surface was curved, and could be used to calculate the radius of curvature.

This knowledge that Eratosthenes acquired (the circumference of the Earth) was readily available to any person standing on the surface of the Earth in his day and in ours.

The age of the earth is fully dependent on worldview. OE/E looks for and finds scientific data that supports an already accepted deep-time requirement. Young-earth looks for and finds scientific data that supports young-earth. However, that doesn’t make them equivalent. The young-earth scientist finds their data in repeatable, experimental evidence (C-14 in diamonds, coal, fossils; soft-tissue in fossils; helium diffusion rates from zirconium crystals). But, that evidence is not viewed as proof of a young-earth. It simply confirms what scripture teaches.

The Spring Feasts 3

First Fruits

A type of barley. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hordeum_vulgare_MHNT.BOT.2015.2.39.jpg#/media/File:Hordeum_vulgare_MHNT.BOT.2015.2.39.jpg

On the third day after Passover, the feast of “First Fruits” is celebrated.  Rashit Katzir – Beginning of the Harvest – is a time when the fruits of the first harvest are offered before God. The priest would take a sheaf of barley and wave it before the Lord. It was an offering of thanksgiving for the harvest yet to come based on the first fruit at the beginning of the harvest.

Paul, again writing to the Corinthian Christians, encouraging them regarding their faith, taught them that Christ is that first promise and promise fulfilled. His resurrection is the first fruit promise of the coming harvest which is our resurrection from the dead. His resurrection is the proof and foundation of our faith and our hope. A fulfilled redemptive payment of our own personal resurrection from the dead – both spiritually and physically.

But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since by a man came death, by a man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive.

1 Corinthians 15:20-23, LSB

Christ rose from the grave on Sunday (the first day of the week, 16th day of Nissan) the Feast of the Beginning of the Harvest (First Fruits).

Don’t miss this incredible set of circumstances. God ordained these feasts with their timing and content and purpose, and then fulfilled each one as part of His redemptive plan that is running throughout the history of the world. The feasts were established at the time of the delivery from Egyptian bondage. Yet, God determined that the Son would inhabit human flesh, live, and die for our sins before the foundations of the world were laid.^[2] As part of the revelation of God’s plan, the redemptive work of Jesus corresponded with these Spring Feasts.

And if you address as Father the One who impartially judges according to each one’s work, conduct yourselves in fear during the time of your sojourn, knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things like silver or gold from your futile conduct inherited from your forefathers, but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ. He was foreknown before the foundation of the world, but appeared in these last times for the sake of you

1 Peter 1:17-21

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Next: Feast of Pentecost (Counting)

The Spring Feasts 2

Feast of Unleavened Bread

Unleavened bread. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Shmura_Matzo.jpg#/media/File:Shmura_Matzo.jpg

The Feast of Unleavened Bread is linked to the Passover in timing, observance, and meaning. It begins the day after Passover and continues for seven days.

The Jewish people were instructed to bake bread for their escape from bondage. They would need food for the journey ahead. They had to prepare in haste, with no time for the bread to “rise”. Their escape from the perils of slavery needed to be done quickly. They could not tarry and take their time. When the opportunity for escape came, it had to be taken immediately. With urgency. Just as our salvation. When confronted with our sin and the provision of the savior, we must not tarry, but flee into the promised land of His sacrificial gift of life.

In homes that practice Judaism, this feast is celebrated through an elaborate practice of removing leaven from the home.  Leaven  is seen as symbolizing sin or uncleanness. All traces of leaven are carefully searched out, sometimes using a candle or flashlight, and burned outside the home.

Paul, writing to the church in Corinth encouraged those Christians to live holy lives, worthy of the Savior and God who has delivered them from the bondage of sin. Because God had redeemed them from their state of slavery, they were to live as ones no longer under the commands of sin, but under the Lordship of Jesus. He states,

“Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed.”

1 Corinthians 5:7

Note how Paul links the removal of sin, using the imagery of removing the old leaven as during the Feast of Unleavened Bread to both Passover and Our Passover Lamb, Jesus, Christ.

We read in the Gospels that while He was a young child, Jesus celebrated the Feasts every year in Jerusalem with his parents. During a particularly important point for a young Jewish boy that occurs at the age of 12, they all went to Jerusalem and celebrated Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread. It was during this time that Jesus stayed behind unbeknown to his parents. He was in the Temple talking with the Jewish teachers when his parents returned looking for Him.

And His parents would go to Jerusalem every year at the Feast of the Passover. And when He became twelve years old, they went up there according to the custom of the Feast; and as they were returning, after finishing the days of the Feast, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem. But His parents did not know. But supposing Him to be in the caravan, they went a day’s journey, and they began searching for Him among their relatives and acquaintances. When they did not find Him, they returned to Jerusalem searching for Him. And it happened that after three days they found Him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, both listening to them and asking them questions. And all who heard Him were astounded at His understanding and His answers. When they saw Him, they were astonished, and His mother said to Him, “Child, why have You treated us this way? Behold, Your father and I have been anxiously searching for You.” And He said to them, “Why is it that you were searching for Me? Did you not know that I had to be in My Father’s house?” But they did not understand the statement which He had spoken to them.

Luke 2:41-50, LSB

Twenty-one years later, Jesus would again go to Jerusalem, during the Feast of Passover, be crucified, and lay in the tomb on the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread. In this way, showing He was the fulfillment of removing sin from the lives of the redeemed.

Just as Christ was crucified on the Feast of Passover, fulfilling the prophet image of the sacrifice made to deliver us from God’s judgement, his body lay in the grave on the Feast of unleavened bread. We are not only forgiven of the sins we have committed in the past. By the work of Christ, we are made able to stop sinning. He calls us to be without sin. To live lives of obedience.

For God did not call us to impurity, but in sanctification.

1 Thessalonians 4:7, LSB

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Next: First Fruits

The Spring Feasts 1

Passover

The first feast is Pesach [Pay-sahch] (Passover). God chose to make this the first feast of their year. It inaugurated the Jewish holy year. This began their yearly cycle of worship. It was the start. The beginning.

Passover, attributed to Jacopo Palma il Giovane

The meaning is linked to the events of the Exodus, when the nation of Israel was held in slavery in Egypt, and God sent His deliverer to release them from their bondage. Following a series of signs, or judgements, on the Egyptians, there came the final judgement. This final plague, or judgement, was the death of the first-born. Only the households in which the doorposts were marked with the blood of the Passover Lamb were the first-born spared. They were delivered from judgement.

The meaning of Pesach is “to pass through, to exempt, to spare”. This feast celebrates the deliverance from the culminating plague of judgement brought against the nation and leader of Egypt

In his Gospel, John records that Christ was crucified on the Passover.

Now it was the day of Preparation for the Passover; it was about the sixth hour. And he said to the Jews, “Behold, your King!”

John 19:14, LSB

And, not just on the same day. He was crucified at the time the Passover lambs were being slain in the temple. We may simply note that and pass on by, not realizing any significance that these two events occurred simultaneously.

Or, because we know God isn’t subject to circumstances, we understand and confess this was on purpose. God ordained that His lamb would be slain on the Feast of Passover, purchasing our deliverance from the judgement of death for our sin. You may also recall the events of Abraham and Isaac going up to the mountain when God was testing Abraham and instructed Abraham to sacrifice his only son to God. When Isaac asked his father, “Behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?”, Abraham replied, “God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.” (Genesis 22:1-14) This was a clear prophetic foreshadowing of God providing the Lamb for the final offering to pay for all sin.

The purpose of the feast has greater meaning than simply marking the historical event of deliverance from captivity for the Jewish nation. It was and is a revelation of God’s redemptive work in history. It was prophetic. A foreshadowing of the coming Lamb of God who would be killed and His blood shed to deliver us from the death we deserved for our sin.

And Jesus purposefully was crucified on that day. Not just any Sabbath preparation day. The only one during the year which also fell on the preparation day for the Great Sabbath of Passover.

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Next: Feast of Unleavened Bread

W6D? The Pattern in Fulfillment

Many Christians view the instructions regarding worship in the Old Testament as, at most, mildly interesting. Sure, if you’re one of those theologian types, you might study the liturgical system God instructed the Jewish people to use. But, for the rest of “us”, it’s only the New Testament worship that really matters. After all, we worship on Sunday because that is the day Jesus arose from the grave. Not much else really matters. Except, or course, the style of music.

Yes, I am using sarcasm here to make a point.

Frontpiece to the book of Genesis from the Maklinburg Bible By Phillip Medhurst (Photos by Harry Kossuth) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b3/Vignette_by_Loutherbourg_for_the_Macklin_Bible_133_of_134._Bowyer_Bible_New_Testament._Headpiece_to_Revelations.gif

If we remember that the God of creation is the God of salvation, that John tells us the same Jesus who died on the cross and arose from the grave on the first day of the week is the same person of the Godhead that is also the Creator of all things, it may allow us to look at the Old Testament a little differently. That same Jesus who fed the five-thousand using just two fish and five loaves of bread is the same person of the Godhead, in pre-incarnate form, Who wrote out the Ten Commandments into solid rock. That same Jesus who healed the man born blind is the same person who gave Moses the detailed instruction for the temple and for worship to be used there.

If I may use a little more sarcasm to help make the point, do you think it might just matter a little? Since God took the time to both give the information about how He wanted to be worshipped, and then has, by His sovereign power and providence, preserved that information for us to have today, perhaps it might be more than just historically interesting.

OK. So, God doesn’t do things because He is arbitrary, or capricious, or simply likes to see how many rules we can follow before we give up. God does things with extreme purpose. He, in all of His ability, power, knowledge, is revealing Himself for His glory and our benefit. Since this is true, let’s ask, and attempt to answer, a few questions regarding the Old Testament worship.

What did God establish as part of the yearly worship of the Jewish people? Why did He do this? Is there a meaning in what He is doing?

I hope you can already see that there is meaning and purpose. So, what is it?

The Appearance Feasts

Let’s start with the “Appearance Feasts” described in the book of Leviticus. And, just to give you a hint, we should note there are seven of them. Yes. There it is again. Not because it is God’s favorite number, or the “number of God”. It is seven because God chose to use that number to bring Himself glory. For it to bring Him glory, the reason and purpose of the value of seven, the number of feasts, must be understandable. Do you get that? To bring God glory, we need to be able to understand why He chose seven. If we can’t know why, if it isn’t clear, then it doesn’t bring Him glory nor bring us any benefit.

These feasts are established and described in Leviticus 24. And, they begin with the following command:

And Yahweh spoke again to Moses, saying,2 “Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘The appointed times of Yahweh which you shall proclaim as holy convocations⁠—My appointed times are these:

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And Yahweh spoke again to Moses, saying, “Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘The appointed times of Yahweh which you shall proclaim as holy convocations⁠—My appointed times are these: ‘For six days work may be done, but on the seventh day there is a sabbath of complete rest, a holy convocation. You shall not do any work; it is a sabbath to Yahweh in all your places of habitation. ‘These are the appointed times of Yahweh, holy convocations which you shall proclaim at the times appointed for them.

Leviticus 23:1-4

Here is the six days of work followed by the seventh day of rest again used to emphasize two critical truths: First, that every day, every week, every repeated cycle of day and night, day followed by day, week followed by week, we are to be worshipping our God Who is the God of Creation. His identity as Creator is critical to the proper worship of God. Second, there is a “set apart” day for intense and specific worship on the seventh day of every week. God anchors what is to come next with the designation of the week and weekly cycle of Sabbath worship. A cycle of six followed by a seventh.

God establishes and describes seven feasts that all Jewish men are to participate in. These occurred every year, throughout the year. They are, in order:

We are more familiar with some of these feasts because they correspond on the calendar with Christian holidays. Have you noticed that Easter seems to move every year? There is no fixed day, like Christmas which is always December 25^th. Easter is linked to Passover in both the calendar and in what it represents. Unfortunately, for many Christian’s, that is the limit of their knowledge of these feasts.

Since God gave these to the Jewish people, and we understand that in this giving, God is revealing Himself, there is benefit for us to understand each of these a little deeper. This will also help us understand what the relationship is, if any, in the number of feasts (seven, remember?).

Jesus fulfilled (completed) the first four feasts, Passover, Unleavened Bread, First Fruits, and Shavuot, during His first advent. These Feasts all pointed to Him and His coming.

We should expect Him to complete (fulfill) the remaining Feasts. And, we can expect this to be associated with His second coming.

read more: The Spring Feasts – Passover

We Three Pharisees of Social Media Near

Christians struggle with many things. We are still sinners. Redeemed. Changed. And sinning less and less. At least, we should be. Our identity is not in the sin, or what we once were. Our identity is, or should be, in Christ. However, we still struggle with putting sin behind us.

That’s the preamble to what follows. To raise an issue that some Christians haven’t acknowledge yet as a personal sin. A plea to stop judging one another wrongly and harshly. Don’t read words into what was just said. We need to judge. And do so with humility, love, gentleness when appropriate and harshness when needed. Like Nicholas of Myra applying mercy to the three innocents, or the appropriate correction to Arius. For us, though, this ongoing spate of self-righteous and self-serving one-upmanship isn’t that. Sanctimonious corrections are a real source of harm among Christians.

Journey of the Magi, C.1894 , James Jacques Joseph Tissot

Magi from the East

Every Christmas, several traditions arise that someone will attempt to build their righteousness in attacking: Christmas decorations, Christmas trees, giving gifts to one another on December 25th. And the wise men visiting the young Messiah. Does it say in the account in Matthew there were three?

A Christian gets into the wonder of the first advent and begins celebrating different aspects from the visitation of Gabriel to the wonder of Simeon. And they happen to mention, or even sing about, the three wise men. And with predestined certainty someone will chime in, “you don’t know how many there really were. The Scripture doesn’t say there were three!” and proudly step away.

There may not have been three wise men, but there seems to always be at least one Pharisee.

Does it matter? No. And Yes.

When we turn these into tests of faith and begin using them to stratify ourselves into caste, we make the number of Magi no importance to ourselves for the sake of making our perceived knowledge of importance. We claim there is no meaning without considering that there may be meaning.

We have either forgotten or we have failed to acknowledge that God:

• Is perfect in His intent.
• Perfect in communicating what He chooses to communicate.
• Precise in meaning beyond our ability to comprehend the end of His precision.
• God takes joy and glory in revealing Himself to His creation.

Too often we assume God has not said something when in fact, He has. We default to a lower level of information than is present. We often believe a claim of no information is the same as there actually not being information present. What if we simply stopped looking too soon? Or, more importantly, what if we are missing the trees for the forest?

Why include this in the advent story?

Perhaps the most useful question we should always ask is what is the value of including this. Why did the Holy Spirit prompt Matthew to add this into his Gospel? It wasn’t so that we could have an interesting story to tell for the next two-thousand years. It certainly wasn’t so that we could have something to trivially snub one another with two-thousand years later.

The answer will take more time to develop than you may want to invest right now. Therefore, let’s simply note:

• There is a link between the Gospel story and the prophecies of Daniel in Babylon. The wise men “saw” the star in the east. This could be understood to mean they perceived the timing by understanding Daniel’s prophetic writing. This star they saw in the east had no astronomical correlation to Jerusalem.
• The Magi were non-Jews where were seeking the Messiah that the Jewish leaders had completely missed.
• The king of the Jews was unaware that the King of the Jews had arrived. They were, therefore, the first of any Earthly authority to worship the Messiah. They did so with specific purpose.
• God spoke to these non-Jews in a dream. They were clearly part of God’s purpose in the first advent.
• The gifts are themselves prophetic and confessional in a manner that is astounding. And, interestingly, there are three. Yep. Three

1. Gold. Wealth often associated with kings. A gift that confessed this baby was a king.
2. Frankincense. Used in fragrant incense used for worship. A gift that confessed this baby was worthy of worship.
3. Myrrh. The name of this fragrant material implies bitterness and was used as a component in burial.

The Husband’s First Duty: Remember

Duties of a Husband, Part 3

Remember

I know. You were expecting another word or phrase. Something else. Remember seems out of place. This seems wrong. Your heart is resisting. Remember doesn’t belong at the head of this list. Your feelings strongly object. This isn’t the great beginning you were expecting. It feels like stumbling out of the starting gate.

We expected “Love your wife”, or some form of that, as the first and foremost duty of a husband. Shouldn’t love come above all? You know, 1 Corinthians 13, Ephesians 5, and Colossians 3:19. And, how can we ignore all the sloppy cultural reference to some esoteric concept of the emotional feeling we call love.

It’s not that you are wrong to expect loving his wife would be a husband’s first duty. However, loving his wife is the application of this duty.

A husband must remember.

Remember that he is always preaching to his wife, to his children, to the body of Christ, and to the unsaved world Christ’s love for the church.

Every act and inaction, every word and way those words are spoken, every manner in which you publicly and privately act toward your wife is a sermon. You are proclaiming and showing what Christ’s love of His church is by the way you are loving your wife.

So, it is love. But, it is real Biblical love delivered as an unending sermon in your day-to-day living. Neither simply nor just emotion we wrongly associate with “love”. The incredible fullness of the act in all its complete purpose. Love that is specific and personal to the object, your wife. And simultaneously purposeful in its fulfilment of revealing how Christ accepted humiliation, rejection, and unjust punishment for the purpose of redeeming His bride and bringing glory to the Father.

Remember is not:

Let’s begin with a short look at some very wrong thinking of husbands and wives. These are what this duty is not. It is not “Happy wife, happy life”. Giving in to every whim and desire of your spouse because you think that is going to bring peace to your relationship is preaching a false gospel. It is also not going to make her truly happy, by the way. Remember that you are a sinner. And, so is she. Just like you, she may have a wrong view of what she needs to be happy. Her desire for happiness are not always going to be aligned with the will of the Father. While a clean and orderly home may be signs of a happy family, they will not cause it. Having a great job and great house to live in may be a sign of a healthy marriage. But, it will not cause it. Just like all of us, simply because your wife thinks she needs something to be happy does not always also mean that is what she actually needs to be happy.

If you are a Christian, then you have been redeemed from your sin, and now have the ability to not sin. So, stop sinning. And, carefully, lovingly, humbly help watch and protect your wife from sinning. When she does, and if you are able, you intervene and accept the consequences for her mistakes. When you are able, you redeem her from sinful circumstances. Only Christ can and has taken the punishment for her sin. He has paid the price and redeemed her fully. Just as He has you. And that example is the sermon you must preach in your actions.

This ties in to another duty, though. So, more on this later.

Remembering is not living separate lives while sharing the same house and bed. You cannot have your own set of friends, your own bank account, your own social life and your wife have hers. This is not how Christ loves the Church and gave Himself for her. This doesn’t mean you refuse any social engagements that your wife isn’t included in. It does mean you refuse social engagements your wife is excluded from. You can go on a hunting trip with your male friends, or go to a movie with other men. You cannot, however, deny your wife time with you because you are doing these things more often than you should. Like before, we’ll explore this in another duty of the husband.

Remember is:

To Remember, you must first know. Know what the love of Christ for His Church is. What it looks like. If you don’t know, you’ll need to get to work studying God’s Word. But, chances are, you know some, or have a little idea. So, let’s begin there.

The duties that will be explained all flow from this need to Remember. But, we can begin by using a few examples to help understand what we mean by Remember.

First, keep in mind that any example we create using our experiences will have limited usefulness. As long as we keep the example within those limits, it can be helpful.

So, keep that in mind and consider this. Let’s assume your wife is going about her daily routine. She is a kind, gentle, and caring person who has built many friendships. In one of those friendships, your wife said something to her friend that caused deep harm. It may have been unintentional, but the harm occurred. Now two families are at odds. Where there was once friendship and fellowship, there is not division and animosity. What should you do? The answer is Remember. Look for ways to heal her and help her heal the harm. Be present with her in her distress. This is not the time to go fishing. If you had planned a hunting trip with your best buds, that just got cancelled and you don’t mind. If you do mind, then you failed to remember. Hunting trips can be rescheduled. Your wife’s soul cannot. And, the sermon you are preaching cannot. The God you serve will be revealed by the sermon you choose to preach. So, Remember.

This is the foundational duty. All others on this list are built on the foundation of the husband being – intentionally, carefully, clearly living out – the love of Christ for His church in the husband’s love for his wife.

Remember

choices

Elijah came near to all the people and said, “How long will you hesitate between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow Him; but if Baal, follow him.” But the people did not answer him a word.

1 Kings 18:21 NASB

One of the defining characteristics of our current culture is confusion. Our culture is confused about male and female, with an overwhelming push to accept gender dysphoria. I’ve been asked to give my preferred pronouns in interactions with my doctor and with my bank. Frankly, my doctor should know my sex by now. There is confusion regarding wearing or not wearing masks, getting or not getting the COVID vaccine, locking down or not locking down our society. Confusion concerning the push for and against Marxism in our culture and in our churches. We are confused about whether police should be funded or defunded.

Our culture has never seen this level of confusion regarding Truth and what is true. If there ever was a time the people of God needed to speak with clarity, it is today. If we as Christians ever needed to be bold and precise regarding what is true, we are there.

I going to borrow from and acknowledge gratitude to a presentation by a pastor at a recent conference*. I wouldn’t want anyone to think I had plagiarized any portion of this devotional.

Contrary to our confused culture, God always speaks clearly. His words are always understandable. He has never mumbled. If we look into the Old Testament record of God speaking, we see His words and meaning are always crystal clear. The writer never has to add, “we weren’t really sure what God said at this point.” God spoke clearly, plainly, without confusion.

An important doctrine we don’t often hear about is the perspicuity of Scripture. Simply, this means that Scripture is clear in its meaning and is understandable. Both the understanding and the meaning of Scripture may require a bit of work and careful study. However, Scripture, as the breathed-out word of God is always clear and understandable.

Photo by Egor Kamelev on Pexels.com

 Let’s correct a misunderstanding of God speaking to us. Have you ever heard anyone state something like this: “God is so far above us, so much more intelligent, that His speaking to us is like me trying to speak to an ant. He is saying all the things we need to hear, we just can’t understand because we are too simple.” The view of God expressed by this idea or thought is, frankly, heretical. It is a man-sized view of God. Here’s some news. You’re not God. He is. God can speak to an ant in a way the ant can perfectly understand what God intends for the ant to know what God is saying. God is able to speak ant. You aren’t. You are not God. He is. So, when God speaks to us, He is fully perfectly able to speak precisely in way that we are able to completely understand the message. Unless, of course, we choose to not listen.

You and I have been equipped to speak the truth. And in doing so, we are equipping our students. If there ever was a time when teachers need to teach what is true, right, good, it is today. And, to teach what is true, we must convictional-ly know what is true.

So the first thing is to know when we are at the moment of decision. Over the past several years, we have been in those moments of decision without recognizing the deeper decisions being made. We thought the decision was “should we meet in person or virtually?” and “do we need to wear a mask or not?” and “should we get a vaccine, or not?” and “should we require everyone else to do as I choose, or not?”.

Listen. None of these were or are the real questions. Nor were and are they the ultimate decision. They can feel like it. They can even masquerade as the most important decisions. They are important questions. Each representing a moment of decision. However, we must remember they spring from and are inextricably linked to a deeper, foundational decision. That decision, that moment of choice is this:

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If the LORD is God, follow Him; but if Baal, follow him.

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This confusion of our culture is the outcome of their worldview. It is an unacknowledged clash of worldviews.

The pastor I referenced at the beginning* helped me to understand that our current culture’s worldview is no longer postmodern, or even post-postmodern. It is a neo-paganism. That paganism is in full conflict against all of the other worldviews. That is part of the cause of the confusion.

This new paganism is monist, or pantheist. It places god as fundamentally inside our world. An integral part of the creation. This pagan culture sees itself as the creation or outcome of the god that is both part of the culture and a creator of that culture. This is the dominant world-view in our culture.

Just like all religions, this new paganism makes a truth claim. And that truth claim is to define what is true. Unlike modernism, or secularlism, or even post-modernism, these new pagans will not tolerate any other truth claims. They are now the sole source of what is true.  In their world, you must acknowledge and agree with their truth or you will be punished until you convert or eliminated so that you do not bother them anymore. Paganism will not tolerate the Truth of Christianity. They will not coexist.

What should we do? What we cannot do is say to this culture, “you’re right! You need a voice just like everyone else. I apologize that Christianity has been stifling your voice because we have not acknowledged our own position of privilege”.

Our students as well as our colleagues need us to acknowledge we are a people of privilege. This privilege is not of our own doing, it is the work and gift of God. It is a privilege to receive the Truth from God. For Him to so freely give His Truth to a people so unworthy of it. So, there is no pride in this privilege. Instead, we have the indwelling Spirit of God that is an incredible gift. And it is freely available to any who repent and confess as we have done. Having the truth available that we can know, and have communion with the God who can be known and is known is an incredible privilege. Because it is not one we earned or deserve, we confess this gift with humility. But, we must confess it, nonetheless.

This is not a privilege that gives us position in the world. In reality, the world, the neo-paganist religion will increasingly see us as a threat. That’s only because the truth of God is a threat to the lies of the world.

You and I have been equipped with the Truth. Let’s fulfil our purpose by making the decision to follow God and boldly speak His truth regarding life, our purpose, His reality, personal sin, the need for personal repentance, the Gospel.

Let me conclude by recalling the words of John while he was writing from the Island of Patmos:

To the angel of the church in Laodicea write: The Amen, the faithful and true Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God, says this: “I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot; I wish that you were cold or hot. So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of My mouth. Because you say, ‘I am rich, and have become wealthy, and have need of nothing,’ and you do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked, I advise you to buy from Me gold refined by fire so that you may become rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself, and that the shame of your nakedness will not be revealed; and eye salve to anoint your eyes so that you may see. Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline; therefore be zealous and repent. Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me.
He who overcomes, I will grant to him to sit down with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.’
He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.'”

Revelation 3:14-22 NASB

*(Dr. Jared longshore, June 14, 2021, Founders Conference “Be It Resolved”, “The New Religion and the Need for Resolution“) Associate Pastor, Grace Baptist Church, Cape Coral, FL

The List

Duties of a Husband, Part 2

• 

  Forty years is small compared to a lifetime.

What are the duties of a husband? For the sake of keeping this to something manageable, let’s limit this to the top five. If you were to make a list of the top five duties of a husband, what would be on that list? And, what would be the order from most important?

Certainly, Christians will have a different list from the rest of the world. Well, they should. That is one piece of what’s broken. Many Christian’s list looks just like someone who has no influence of God’s revelation in their lives. In spite of the clear and available Biblical statements on marriage and being a husband, these Christians are unaffected by that truth. Functionally, they are unbiblical. These Christians are unable to articulate the difference between a husband fulfilling a Biblical mandate and design, and one who is married because that was the thing to do. Get married. Because…whatever.

Some who have a wrong view of husbands are brand new Christians. In my experience, however, you can have a wrong view of being a husband and still have spent most of your life associated with church. Just because you went to Sunday School and perhaps even taught Sunday School as an adult doesn’t correlate to understanding the Bible. Although Vacation Bible School was a standard for your summers with its cookies and crafts, and you attended church with your parents, enjoyed the emotional high of yearly revival services, dropped out during college, and then came back to church after getting married, you would be part of the average crowd of Christians who do not have a good theology. Missing from all of your experience was consistent intentional learning in Biblical understanding and application. There were stories, but no real education.

Simply because you were raised a Christian does not mean that you will automatically know what a husband, a Biblical husband should do. However, let’s move on.

What, then, would be on your list? I’ve asked this question of my students while taking short breaks between topics in teaching chemistry. The common, and wrong answers are what we should expect from a culture that is confused regarding the roles and duties of members in a family. They reveal both the corruption of what we should have been as well as the consequences of letting the culture impact the definitions of family more than submitting to Biblical revelation of family. These common answers are:

• “Take out the garbage.”
• “Love their wives and family.”
• “Mow the lawn.”
• “Cook outside on the grill.”

Some of these things are done by unmarried men. Some are done by women. Some are what men as husbands do. But, they miss the connection of what husbands are. While some are or may be the consequences of being a husband, they didn’t make the list of Biblical duties of a husband.

If there are things that men who are not husbands, men who are husbands, and anyone can do, then these are not duties specific to that of being a husband. For something to be the duty of a husband, it needs to be somehow clearly linked to being a husband. What we are, as husbands, leads to a proper understanding of what we should be doing. The duties of a husband starts firmly on a foundation of a Biblical definition of a husband, and then produce the “to do list” of a husband.

A proper list does just that. The definition of a husband is the foundation of the duties. Therefore, when you read the list below, understand this is not simply a “to do” list. It’s not the things you have to accomplish to “check off” your list of things to do in order to be a good husband. These are both what you are and what you do. A husband must (in order of importance):

1. Remember
2. Be jealous
3. Interpose
4. Be a husbandman
5. Lead

I’ll unpack each of these in the next parts. Look for those soon.

Storytelling and Being a Husband

Duties of a Husband, Part 1

I remember learning for the first time the formula for a great story. My formal education was finished. Including graduate school. I had written two stories by then, one a thesis for my Master’s degree, and the second a dissertation for my Doctorate. I had heard and told stories. Read many books and watched half as many movies. And yet, it never occurred to me there existed this well-known pattern for great story telling. We all have our ignorance and blindness. Mine, like many you may have, was simply out of not paying attention.

“The Bard” by Thomas Jones (1774), National Museum of Wales
http://www.museumwales.ac.uk/en/2261/, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=9490808

Love of books was normal and natural to me. In fact, it was difficult for me to understand why everyone didn’t love stories. I read voraciously throughout junior high and high schools. Some stories were easy to read, like Sherlock Holmes. Others required dedication that often challenged my affection, like House of Seven Gables. But, I read on. Mostly fiction. But I was also fortunate to read through the entire Bible during a semester of high school. One of my English teachers agreed to let me do that as part of a class that let you pic the books you read.

It was also about the end of high school that I discovered the truth that no author wrote just for the sake of entertaining. The shock was welcome. Every author had an agenda. They were all trying to change my mind about something. All wanting to transmit some truth or idea. My world expanded and caution became an important component of my reading. Instead of an affection for anything written, the affection shifted to those things that were good, helpful, beneficial.

In college I entered the world of Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings. The incredible art and profession of storytelling was revealed in my introduction to the world of middle earth. And the formula of great storytelling. But, it wasn’t until many years later that this formula became part of my understanding.

Yet when I realized this formula not only existed but was apparently known by everyone but me, the realization was both and “aha” and an “oh”.

This “secret” formula has many implementations. But, they all share the formula. That formula is this. Start the story by describing how things should be. The right. The good. The healthy. Show the beauty of something as it was designed and normal and purposed. Following this by telling of how it all became corrupted or broken. Something or someone corrupted the goodness or took what was right and broke it. Finish the story by bringing in the hero that rights the wrong,  fixes the corruption, heals the brokenness. The hero can be an individual or any other series of events that sets everything back to the original good. The evil is vanquished or at least banished. What was broken is restored. Maybe made better.

Beauty – corruption – redemption. It is the story of the Gospel. And the Gospel story beginning in Genesis is the source of this great formula picked up and used by authors through the ages.

For this book, this story, we will need to start with the corruption.

Never in modern history has the identity and function of being a Biblical husband been more confused. In Western culture and particularly the United States, the idea of family, its purpose and function, and its composition have been intentionally corrupted to the point of having no relation to what was originally intended and created. Of course, since the creation of the family as recorded in Genesis 1 and 2, and the fall in Genesis 3, broken relationships and families have been the rule with an exceptional good family sprinkled in once in a while. Of the multiple evidences we could pull together, consider simply the percent of married citizens in the United States. In 1978, the US Census found 59 percent of 18 to 34 year-olds were married. Thirty years later it had dropped to only 29 percent.[1] As a nation founded on and in a Judeo-Christian worldview, this is astounding. In less than 300 years, we went from an expectation of marriage as the normal to a disinterested apathy regarding being a husband or wife.

At the risk of giving away the climax to this story, it will help to get to the point now. Instead of building this story to a high point through plot twists and tools, we need to see it now. Up front. This information is too important to delay. We need to understand the foundation and the pinnacle before we get started. Sure. I could build up, tease, hint, foreshadow, and then drop the point as denouement. But, that’s not how this actually works.  The reason is both foundation and ending. You will find it helpful to begin with and constantly remind yourself of this endgame. So, what is it?

The answer is the same as the answer to the other fundamental question. Why did God create male and female? He didn’t have to. He wasn’t constrained or controlled by anything but His purpose and will. Why did God create the family and make it an important part of His creation story? With the creation of Adam and Eve God also created, and established, the first family. This creation revealed God’s design. Abraham and Sarah shared many years and trials before their first child came along. That child became the answer to and continuation of a promise. Boaz’s redemption of Ruth isn’t just a good love story for to be used in western marriage ceremonies. And Mary and Joseph are more than simply the family in which Jesus grew to adulthood. Jesus had an earthly father for a reason. Not simply because it was convenient or would make it easier to grow up without having to answer awkward questions about where His father was.

Everything God does is for His glory. The family created, established, and properly functioning is designed to give God glory. Husband and wife in their God-designed roles, living out those roles intentionally, boldly, and gladly will bring God the glory He intended. You may be thinking, “OK. We’re done. Got it. Let’s move on to the next point.” I understand how easy that would be. And it is precisely the reason you must settle down to the hard work of what is ahead. This isn’t about how to have a good family life.

This is about knowingly and intentionally living out God’s design. It is about applying the duties of a husband to your life.

Obviously, this is for men. Men who are married and those who intend to be. Oh. By the way. This should be 99.99 percent of all Christian males. And married women and all unmarried individuals also need to understand the truths of the duties of a husband. These duties have greater cultural and societal implications. You should look for these in your church. There is a reason God specifies the qualifications of an Elder to include being married and having a marriage that is characterized by peace and flourishing of the family. These things require a husband who is devoted to properly living out his role in an intentional and Biblical manner. Real, genuine, transparent husbanding. Fatherhood is just as important, but it only occurs after. Or should.

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[1] 1978 and 2018 Current Population Survey, Annual Social and Economic Supplements, United States Census, census.gov (from web).