Yom YHWH

Wow, I've sure enjoyed exploring "The Day of the Lord" with our BC2AD participants. Here's the final definition we came up with in class:

Yom YHWH: The epoch of the Lord's exaltation, when God makes visible His rule of righteousness with His saints and restores (1) His intimacy with man, (2) man's dominion, (3) the [purity] of the heavens and the earth, and (4) Israel's ministry of blessing the nations.

We discovered that Yom YHWH will be preceded by The Age of the Spirit (Joel 2.28-29), and immediately signaled by the sign of the darkening of the sun and moon (Joel 2.31).

THE PRINCIPLES OF GOOD RELATIONSHIP

As we completed our OT survey with the book of Malachi, we discussed our responsibility to safeguard and prepare future generations with wisdom and righteousness (Mal 4.6; Luk 1.17). We realize we must train the upcoming generation by word and example. Among other things, we must teach our biological and spiritual children the principles of good relationship. We didn't have time in class to list those principles, but we can do it here on our blog! Let me start the list off, and urge you to add items to it:

The Principles of Good Relationship

1. Attach yourself to godly mentors who can disciple you in the skills of good relationship (Titus 2.4; Prov 13.20). Good relationship, like good thinking, is a skill that must be learned.

2. Recognize God as the ultimate standard of good relationship (Exo. 34.6; Prov 6.16-19; 16.7). The Trinity is relational from eternity, and as omniscient Creator, God knows perfectly what makes human relationship work.

3. Receive Christ. Only Christ can give us the necessary grace (power) to become “others oriented” (John 7.38; Philip. 2.4; 1John 3.23). A person who has learned this others-orientation will be known as a giver, not a taker.

4. Decide to pursue relationships for redemptive rather than selfish motives (Prov 14.20-21, 31; 16.2; 19.6-7).

5. Tap into God’s relational insight by prayer and study of Scripture. Only He fully understands what’s going on inside the other person (Prov 15.11; 20.27; John 2.25). If we humbly ask God’s help with a relationship, He takes us into His confidence (Prov 3.32).

6. Prioritize people over things (Prov. 23.6-8; Luke 16.9).

7. Good relationship begins with my good character (Prov, 22.11).

8. “Forgive others as the Lord forgave you” (Col. 3.13). [Thanks for prompting this one, Linda!]

9. Befriend the whole person, including their spirit (Eph. 5.19). [Thanks Rachel, for prompting this one.]

10. Live accountably under authority (Eph. 5.21). [Thanks Rachel, for prompting this one.]

11. Give and receive counsel. Good relationship is characterized by this discipline (Prov. 27.9).

12. A good relationship, like a good surgeon, causes pain when necessary (Prov. 27.6). Share a painful truth with your friend when love demands it.

13. Persist in your loyalty. Faithfulness to your friends is essential even when they err (Job 6.14; Prov. 17.17; 27.10). Friendship progresses to a point at which it is tantamount to a covenant, even if an unspoken one, and that covenant should not be broken (Psa 55.12-21).

14. Make sacrifices. The best relationships are built on a mountain of little sacrifices, made consistently over time, and will sometimes require ultimate sacrifice (John 15.13; 1John 3.16).

15. Practice the art of listening well (Psa. 22.24; Prov. 1.5; 4.20; 12.15; 15.31; 18.13; 19.20,27; 20.12). This is one of the sacrifices of good relationship.

16. Be honest, tell the truth (Prov. 6.16-19; 12.19,22; 13.5; 16.13; 24.26).

17. Practice the progression of intimacy. Servanthood precedes friendship, authentic friendship precedes brotherhood (John 15.13; 20.17).

18. Risk transparency. Relationship can’t go deep if we never confess our failings (Prov. 28.13). We value most those friends who are “real.”

19. Learn to recognize a relational dead end; some relationships should never begin (Prov. 12.26; 22.24,25).

THE MOST IMPORTANT PRAYER QUESTION

Having learned why that we should pray now for the things God has already said He would do, the important question becomes:

What things should we be praying into fulfillment now, that the Lord has previously told us He would do?

My temptation is to say, "Great, the Lord has said He would do 'thus and such,' and that will be nice when it happens." And, I don't pray for it to come to pass.

Why Pray?

Why should we pray? The question becomes pointed in those instances when God declares beforehand what He is going to do. If God announces that He is going to do something, as He did when He told Elijah He would send rain, why should Elijah then go up on Mt. Carmel and pray 7 times that God would send rain (1Kings 18)?

Here are the insights collated from our class discussions:

1. God's promises presuppose certain conditions, the first of which is often ... prayer.

2. God invites us to join in His work; prayer is the first responsibility of that partnership.

3. Joining in God's work involves removing barriers to His purposes (see Dan. 10.12-14). Warfare prayer removes those barriers.

4. Praying God’s promises expresses trust (faith), and allows the world to see God work as He answers our prayers.

5. Praying until God answers reveals His heart to us and conforms our will to His.

6. Deepening our knowledge of God’s heart draws us into intimacy with Him (John 17.3; 1 Cor 13.12).

When To Not Pray

We noted in class that God told Jeremiah to stop praying for his people:

Jeremiah 7.16 "So do not pray for this people nor offer any plea or petition for them; do not plead with me, for I will not listen to you..."

Jeremiah 11.14 "Do not pray for this people nor offer any plea or petition for them, because I will not listen when they call to me in the time of their distress..."

Jeremiah 14.11 Then the LORD said to me, "Do not pray for the well-being of this people..."

God told Jeremiah to stop interceding for Judah, because He could not justly answer Jeremiah's prayer. It had become necessary for God to keep the terms of His covenant with the Israelites and bring upon them the curses He had promised for persistent disobedience (Deut 28-30).

God's explicit command to not pray provides a very practical lesson for us: God does not say no with silence. Remember that when God said no to Paul's prayers, it was with clear revelation:

2Corinthians 12.8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. 9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”

Likewise, when God needs to say no to us, He will do so by unmistakable direction, not with silence. As with the Canaanite woman (Mat 15.23), the Lord's silence does not mean no, it means "keep praying until I answer"! (Compare Luke 18.1-8.)

Only stop praying when God tells you "stop!" and tells you as clearly as he told Jeremiah and Paul.

Moses and Satan

If Ezekiel 28.13-14 and Isaiah 14.3-20 are about Satan, why wouldn't Moses have provided these details about our Enemy much earlier in his writings? Well, as we see in the preceding posts on this topic, Ezek 28 and Isa 11 probably allude to Satan but they're not formal teachings about him; they are first and foremost warnings to earthly kings.

Moses did provide the fundamental information we need about Satan in Genesis, chapter 3. But as you know, this brief account of the deception and fall of man doesn't exhaust the Bible's teaching on the subject of Satan. Remember the principle of progressive revelation. As the need for understanding increased among God's people, God gave further revelation on the nature of our spiritual enemy and on the cosmic spiritual war we are in. The biblical teaching on Satan continues right up through the book of Revelation. Therefore, it is plausible that Ezekiel and Isaiah could have received some insights about Satan's fall that Moses did not know. Still, the important thing for us is not to nail down the fine points of demonology, but rather to get the message the prophets intended us to get: Don't rebel against God!

Lucifer in Isaiah 14?

Now, let's look at Isaiah 14.3-20. Similarly to the dirge for the king of Tyre in Ezek 28, this is a "taunt" (v. 4) against the king of Babylon. Why then does it mention Lucifer (Day Star or Morning Star) falling from heaven in v. 12? Is this taunt about an earthly king or about Satan falling from heaven? The answer is the former, the earthly "king of Babylon," for he is identified as a "man" in verses 16 and 17. In ancient literature, to be "cast down [from heaven] to earth" was poetic imagery for ultimate humiliation, and it didn't necessarily refer to a literal fall from heaven. The Sibylline Oracles 3, Jewish prophetic utterances from the 2nd century BC, speak of the fall of Rome in this manner. In our Isaiah text, the focus is upon the total humiliation of the king of Babylon, and not upon a literal fall from heaven by Satan, Lucifer or whomever.

However, I think there is an allusion to Satan's fall here, and I have a suggestion about it and the allusion to the devil in Ezek 28: Is it possible that Ezekiel and Isaiah were pointing to the Satanic (demonic) spirit(s) that were energizing and motivating the kings of Tyre and Babylon? The prophets were certainly warning the kings of antiquity not to make the fatal mistake of arrogance toward God that Satan had made. Were they also warning those kings that it was the devil whose desires they were carrying out? (Compare John 8.44.)

Here's a further question: The context of Isaiah 14 hints at a yet future fulfillment; is it possible that this "Lucifer ... man" is a reference to the coming Antichrist?

Satan in Ezekiel 28?

A BC2AD Participant writes:

I am curious to know how you interpret Ezekiel 28:12-19.

Last fall my Bible study group was doing Job by Kay Arthur and now I am doing a seeker study by John Cross with my neighbor. Both Arthur and Cross point to Ezekiel 28 and Isaiah 14 as being a description of the character of Satan and how/why he lost his place in Heaven. But I'm just not buying it. Aside from the fact the passages are direct prophecies of the king of Babylon and Tyre - why would Moses not have told us about Satan in his books?

What great questions! Let's tackle Ezek 28 first. The prophecy is for the king of Tyre, but it's not about him. Literally, God says in Ezek 28.12, "Take up a dirge on behalf of the King of Tyre..." Ezek 28.12-19 is a funeral song about the "anointed covering cherub" (v. 14) that was cast out of "the mount of God," i.e., God's dwelling place (v. 16). The intent of the dirge is that the king of Tyre would take a hint from what befell the "anointed covering cherub" and repent!

Who was this "anointed guardian cherub" who was "in Eden, the garden of God"? In the final analysis we cannot prove his identity from the sparse scriptural data. That he was Satan is probably our best guess because Satan was in Eden and Satan is cast down from God's dwelling place (Rev 12.9). But ultimately the cherub's identity is not crucial; what's most important is that the king of Tyre, and all who read this prophecy, take heed of the consequences of pride and arrogance toward God (Ezek 28.17)!

Where's The Throne of David?

This is the first time I've ever joined one of these 'blogs'!! I think this is a great idea. Perhaps easier for me to speak up here than in class (grin). I was pulled to another ward to work Thursday nite, and spent a majority of that night discussing the Bible and our BC2AD course, the Minor Prophets, and The Day of The Lord with this person. It was great, because normally we don't get to do that! We got into a discussion as to where we think the Throne of David is located. Referring back to the scripture Isaiah 18:7 At that time gifts will be brought to the Lord Almighty from a people feared far and wide, an aggressive nation of strage speech, whose land is divided by rivers - the gifts will be brought to Mount Zion, the place of the Name of the Lord Almighty.The Bible mentions Cush (Ethiopia) and 'the land beyond the rivers of Ehiopia' (Assyria). I think that Christ's True Throne is in Assyria. In I Kings 8:25 God tells us that the throne is "in my sight"; He knows where it is. I just found it exciting to try and 'solve the puzzle' as it were. I may be way off, but it's fun to try and figure it out. A nice little 'mystery' for us to ponder.
There are many Christians working out at Western State Hospital, and it is officially frowned upon to discuss religion or pray with residents; however, we staff occasionally get blessed by being able to openly talk about this amongst ourselves. And, to date, no one has complained about us reading the Bible or doing Bible studies.
And that's a blessing, in itself!!

Where will the "Great Tribulation" occur?

I interpret the Bible using a historical-grammatical method. I accept the Scriptures as historical and as written in a real historical context. I also believe that within that historical context, the Scriptures were intended to be read and understood according to the normal rules of grammar employed by their original audiences.

Therefore, when passages like Rev 13.3 say that "all the world ... followed the beast (= Antichrist)," I take it to mean that the whole Mediterranean world, i.e., the whole world as understood by a first-century audience, will fall under Antichrist's spell. It is within the geographical boundaries of this first-century, "Roman" world where the heat of the tribulation will be centered.

I welcome your comments!

Welcome

Welcome to the BC2AD weB LOG! This is your forum to share your thoughts with the BC2AD instructor and with other BC2AD participants. All comments and questions are welcome, on any topic relating to the Bible and Christian history. We do ask that you make your postings concise: that will encourage others to read them. The instructor does reserve the right to edit postings. Have fun!