Addicted!!

 They say the first step in overcoming an addiction is to confess the addiction. So here in front of the whole world, I want to admit my addiction to the wonderful notes in the NET Bible!

This addiction has about doubled to quadrupled the time it takes me to blaze through reading a chapter of the Bible!! How terrible!!

I suspect by this time you're seeing through my tongue-in-cheek "addiction" as really being a tremendous blessing. Though I am reading slower through the Bible, I am reading DEEPER and really loving it. This is an addiction I do NOT want to be cured from. In fact, I would invite you to join me in this addiction to DEEPER Bible reading whether by way of the NET Bible notes or other reliable study Bibles.

Here is an example. This note is attached to Jesus giving the Holy Spirit to the disciples in John 20:22:

"sn He breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” The use of the Greek verb breathed on (ἐμφυσάω, emphusaō) to describe the action of Jesus here recalls Gen 2:7 in the LXX, where “the Lord God formed man out of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.” This time, however, it is Jesus who is breathing the breath-Spirit of eternal life, life from above, into his disciples (cf. 3:3–10). Furthermore there is the imagery of Ezek 37:1–14, the prophecy concerning the resurrection of the dry bones: In 37:9 the Son of Man is told to prophesy to the “wind-breath-Spirit” to come and breathe on the corpses, so that they will live again. In 37:14 the Lord promised, “I will put my Spirit within you, and you will come to life, and I will place you in your own land.” In terms of ultimate fulfillment the passage in Ezek 37 looks at the regeneration of Israel immediately prior to the establishment of the messianic kingdom. The author saw in what Jesus did for the disciples at this point a partial and symbolic fulfillment of Ezekiel’s prophecy, much as Peter made use of the prophecy of Joel 2:28–32 in his sermon on the day of Pentecost as recorded in Acts 2:17–21. What then did Jesus do for the disciples in John 20:22? It appears that in light of the symbolism of the new creation present here, as well as the regeneration symbolism from the Ezek 37 passage, that Jesus at this point breathed into the disciples the breath of eternal life. This was in the form of the Holy Spirit, who was to indwell them. It is instructive to look again at 7:38–39, which states, “Just as the scripture says, ‘Out from within him will flow rivers of living water.’ (Now he said this about the Spirit whom those who believed in him were going to receive; for the Spirit had not yet been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.”) But now in 20:22 Jesus was glorified, so the Spirit could be given. Had the disciples not believed in Jesus before? It seems clear that they had, since their belief is repeatedly affirmed, beginning with 2:11. But it also seems clear that even on the eve of the crucifixion, they did not understand the necessity of the cross (16:31–33). And even after the crucifixion, the disciples had not realized that there was going to be a resurrection (20:9). Ultimate recognition of who Jesus was appears to have come to them only after the postresurrection appearances (note the response of Thomas, who was not present at this incident, in v. 28). Finally, what is the relation of this incident in 20:22 to the account of the coming of the Holy Spirit in Acts 2? It appears best to view these as two separate events which have two somewhat different purposes. This was the giving of life itself, which flowed out from within (cf. 7:38–39). The giving of power would occur later, on the day of Pentecost—power to witness and carry out the mission the disciples had been given. (It is important to remember that in the historical unfolding of God’s program for the church, these events occurred in a chronological sequence which, after the church has been established, is not repeatable today.)"

Biblical Studies Press. (2005). The NET Bible First Edition; Bible. English. NET Bible.; The NET Bible. Biblical Studies Press.

For I Know the Plans I Have For You

Every Bible verse is to inform us but not every promise is for us.

I remember the first time I heard “’For I know the plans that I have for you’, declares the LORD, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.’” Jer 29:11 (NASB).  I  had just gotten on the Va Beach Expressway at Little Neck Rd driving to work at the Norfolk Naval Base and was listening to John MacArthur on the radio when he spoke that verse to ME!   God had a PLAN for ME! 

I was a young Christian struggling to make sense of the Bible, God, faith, … life.  As a concrete sequential kind of person (i.e. engineer), the mere fact that God had a “plan” gave me hope there was some possibility of understanding it, and my place in it, by careful study of His Word!  That the verse seemed to say the plan was personal for ME was gravy on the biscuit.

As I grew in my study of the Word I learned that God does have a plan.  In fact, there is the big plan – the sweep of His-story from before Creation, man, the fall, the rescue plan (Jesus), all the way to the New Heavens and Earth and eternity – that runs from Gen 1:1 through Rev 22:21.  I also came to understand His personal plan for me was in Romans 8:28-39 - particularly in the phrase “to become conformed to the image of His Son.”  His plan for me is to lead me to become more like Jesus.

Many people claim Jer 29:11 as “their” verse and promise.  Some even see God promising them “welfare” as in prosperity and good health.  This is a verse often used by Health, Wealth, Prosperity false-gospel hucksters, but this flies in the face of reality, doesn’t it?  How many great Christians have been poor?  How many, sick?  How about Christians are being persecuted - even to death - in our times?

Reading the verse this way puts false words into God’s mouth, makes the Bible say what it never said, and wrongly claims a promise made for others - ancient Israel in captivity. 

Misreading Jer 29:11 like this sullies God’s Word and dims the beauty of a loving God speaking hope and His plan to people in a specific time and place - Jews exiled by God in a foreign land.  That’s our unchanging God speaking and revealing His unchanging character to us!  That’s the message of Jer 29:11 for us today.  In this case, as often in the Old Testament, it’s not the promise that carries forward to us but the consistency of God’s character.

Good Bible interpretation is NOT just for preachers and Sunday School teachers - it’s our responsibility, too.

Does the Bible Condon Slavery?

(my response to someone posting on Facebook about this issue)

The Bible's apparent endorsement of slavery is one of those issues that comes up a lot in discussions with atheists and others who do not understand the background and context of the ancient near east (ANE).  Whereas I've found that atheists are very rarely interested in two way dialog or actually open to learning anything, I'm going to take your statement that this is one of those "puzzles" for you that you really would like to understand better.  So, let me suggest a book to you, "Is God a Moral Monster - Making Sense of the Old Testament God" by Paul Copan.  This book is an excellent resource for clearing up this issue and many other thorny (to us) Old Testament issues.

First of all, I'm going to assume the picture of "slavery" in your mind is the horrific inhumanity of slavery of the 18/19th century.  The slavery the Bible talks about is far different and was even in some cases considered an aspect of social welfare for the needy.  Hebrew "slaves" had God given rights, punishment was limited, etc.  Read the book.  This issue is easily put to rest for those interested in understanding the facts.

It really surprises me that many Christians have never thought of it this way but the entire Bible as a whole is an anti-slavery book.  If I were to write a newspaper front page headline for the Bible it would be something like this: "Master willingly sacrifices life to free rebellious slaves!"  That is a foundational theme from Genesis to Revelation.  Slavery to sin is far worse than 18/19th century slavery ever was.  Sin can send a soul to Hell.  Even the worst slave master didn't have the power to do that.

Also keep in mind the Bible talks about many things, but "talking about" is not the same as condoning.  Does the Bible condon Roman occupation?  Jesus was right there.  He certainly could have blown them away with His breath, but He didn't.

Again, read the book.  It's a great resource.