DAY 22....

THE COUNTING OF THE OMER

“You shall also count for yourselves from the day after the Sabbath, from the day when you brought in the sheaf of the wave offering; there shall be seven complete Sabbaths. 16 You shall count fifty days to the day after the seventh Sabbath; then you shall present a new grain offering to the LORD.”  (Lev 23:15-16)(Deut 16:9-10)

Today (April 26, 2015) is the twenty-second day in the “counting of the omer”.  Just four weeks from today, the counting of the omer will conclude on the fiftieth day of Pentecost.  Believers worship the day of the crucifixion (Passover), remember the day of the resurrection (Firstfruits), but the day when the Spirit was given (Pentecost) seems to come and go with little notice.  Pentecost does not fall on a full moon (Passover or Sukkot), nor does Pentecost fall on a New Moon (Rosh HaShannah), which makes it easier to lose track of the exact date of the festival.  To ensure that this did not happen, God told the nation “You shall count fifty days to the day after the seventh Sabbath.”  It is difficult to get most Christians excited about the counting of the omer, and that is disappointing to me.

The counting of the omer begins on the day of the Feast of Firstfruits.  The “counting of the omer” connects the festival of Firstfruits to the festival of Pentecost.  The specific Sabbath being referenced is debated, it’s either the Sabbath on the first day of Unleavened Bread or the weekly Sabbath after Passover.  When Passover falls on a Friday, as it did in the year of the crucifixion, the Sabbath days are aligned and Pentecost falls on the first day of the week, Sunday.  When Passover falls on  a day other day than Friday, it is difficult to correlate the counting with the Sabbaths if not a weekly Sabbath.  

The counting of the omer connects the salvation of the Jewish people at time of the Exodus to the giving of the Law at Mount Sinai.  The counting reminds Jews that their redemption from slavery was not complete until the nation received the Torah, the words of God that are capable of sanctifying the Jewish people.  In a similar manner, salvation for the believer occurred at the cross, but it is the death and resurrection of the Master that allows the believer to receive the Spirit, which transforms the believer into the image of the Son.  It is the Spirit that enables each believer to “Walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh,” (Gal 5:16). 

 

The idea of counting each day in anticipation of the giving of the Torah and the Spirit reminds us that all believers are on a spiritual journey toward greater maturity, to “know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings,” (Phil 3:10).  (To “know” in Hebrew comes from the word “yada”, which means to “experience”, as in “Adam knew Eve” (Gen 4:1, ESV), and “knowing good and evil” (Gen 3:5), and as the evil men of Sodom wanted to “know” (Gen 19:5), the angels who came to Lot’s house.)  When we “Count the Omer” we perform the same act Jesus would have performed 2000 years ago.  The more we connect ourselves by act to Jesus, the more we become like Jesus.  To paraphrase Ray Vanderlann, Jesus did not come to make admirers, but to make imitators.

 

Around thirty minutes after sunset, at the beginning of each day, Jews recite the traditional blessing, “Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the Universe, Who has sanctified us with His commandments and commanded us to count the Omer.”  The counting of the omer takes place over fifty days to remind us that life is not a race to pass the other person; life is a journey to transform ourselves.

    

The days of the counting of the omer may have been the time when Ruth gleaned in the fields of Boaz.  Ruth first returned with Naomi to Bethlehem “at the beginning of the barley harvest” (Ruth 1:22), which is associated with the Festivals of Passover and Firstfruits.  Scripture then tells us that Ruth “stayed close by the maids of Boaz in order to glean until the end of the barley harvest and the wheat harvest,” (Ruth 2:23).  We come to understand from scripture that Ruth’s redemption began around Passover, but it was not complete until Boaz redeemed her around the time of Pentecost.  With each passing day after Passover, Ruth drew closer to Boaz until he redeemed her before the elders at the city gate.  In the same way, each day is an opportunity to draw closer to the Master.

Thanks for all your prayers - Scott

Understanding Romans and Galatians in Ten Minutes

 

Paul wrote the Book of Romans to prepare the saints in Rome for his expected arrival after he first passed through Jerusalem (~ 57 A.D.), (Rom 15:24-25).  Paul’s letter to the Romans outlined his position on salvation for both the Jew and the Gentile before his audience in Rome became prejudiced by the general reports about his ministry, (Acts 21:20-21).  Upon Paul’s arrival, he learned that the Jews in Rome had not received any letters concerning Paul, but they had heard about “this sect [of the Nazarenes (Acts 24:14), more commonly called “the Way,” (Acts 9:2)] and “it is spoken against everywhere,” (Acts 28:21-22). 

Paul’s Roman audience of first century Jews and Gentile proselytes largely believed that salvation came automatically to the physical descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.  John the Baptist refuted this same understanding in Judea saying, “Do not suppose that you can say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham for our father’; for I say to you that from these stones God is able to raise up children to Abraham,” (Matt 3:9).  Jesus, likewise, encountered a similar attitude, “They answered and said to Him, ‘Abraham is our father.’  Jesus said to them, If you are Abraham’s children, do the deeds of Abraham,” (John 8:39).  Salvation predicated only on a physical lineage has little need for a Messiah in matters of personal salvation.

By the first century, the descendants of Israel had concluded that the only path to salvation for the Gentile was to be circumcised following the example God gave to Abraham, “Every male among you who is eight days old shall be circumcised throughout your generations, a servant who is born in the house or who is bought with money for any foreigner…shall surely be circumcised,” (Gen 17:12-13).  Circumcision was the singular act that brought an individual into the family of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (Rom 3:1), and into salvation, “Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved,” (Acts 15:1).  However, this understanding failed to answer the broader question as to how God could be the God of the Jews and the God of the Gentiles (Rom 3:29), if only physical Jews could be saved?  

Paul offered a unique answer to the Gentile question of salvation, one he received as a direct revelation from Jesus Christ, (Gal 1:12).  Jews and Gentiles can be saved through a common single faith (Rom 3:30), a unifying faith (Gal 3:28), a “faith in Jesus Christ,” (Rom 3:24), “From faith (of the Jew) to faith (of the Gentile); as it is written, ‘But the righteous man shall live by faith,” (Rom 1:17).  In faith “the promise will be guaranteed to all the descendants [of Abraham], not only to those who are the Law [Jews and Gentile proselytes], but also to those who are of faith of Abraham [God-fearing Gentiles],” (Rom 4:16).  According to Paul, Gentile salvation came through the “promise” given to Abraham (Rom 4:13), and did not require a physical lineage to the nation of Israel through circumcision.

Paul’s understanding was radically different, even among the other apostles, (Gal 1:12).  So unique was Paul’s revelation, he would refer to it in personal terms as “my gospel” (Rom 2:16), and defend it by saying, “I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek,” (Rom 1:16).  In Romans and Galatians, Paul supported the revelation he received from Jesus Christ with a myriad of proof texts from the Hebrew scripture.  Paul often interpreted these proof texts using the accepted rabbinic exegesis techniques of his day, which were much more liberal than the framework of today’s biblical hermeneutics.  As a result, believers accept many of Paul words on faith alone, not appreciating the underlying techniques Paul employed to reinforce the revelation he had received.  By the time Paul wrote Romans (~57 A.D.), he had firmly outlined “my gospel” in the principles of:

 
(1) PERSONAL FAITHFULNESS, “From faith to faith; as it is written, ‘But the righteous man shall live by faith,” (Rom 1:17);
(2) INDIVIDUAL BELIEF, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness” (Rom 4:3),
(3) THE PROMISE TO ABRAHAM, “The promise…that he would be heir of the world was…through the righteousness of faith,” (Rom 4:13),
(4) THE INADEQUACY OF THE PHYSICAL LINEAGE, “not the children of the flesh (i.e., physical descendants of Abraham) who are children of God, but the children of the promise (i.e. spiritual descendants of Abraham) are regarded as descendants.  For this is the word of the promise,” (Rom 9:8-9), and
(5) JESUS AS THE FULFILLMENT OF THE PROMISE, “Scripture has shut up everyone under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe,” (Gal 3:33). 

Paul’s letter to the Romans was the culmination of a teaching ministry begun fifteen years earlier on Paul’s first missionary journey to the saints at Antioch,

“We preach to you the good news of the promise made to the fathers, that God has fulfilled this promise to our children in that He raised up Jesus, as it is also written in the second Psalm, ‘You are My Son; today I have begotten You,” (Acts 13:32-33)

In the Book of Galatians, written shortly after Paul returned from his first missionary journey, Paul refuted the accepted position that Gentiles could only be saved through a physical attachment to the nation of Israel by circumcision.  Paul argued that salvation is not obtained through the flesh, but through the promise, “For if the inheritance is based on the Law (i.e., being Jewish), it is no longer based on the promise; but God has granted it to Abraham by means of a promise,” (Gal 3:18).  Further, if circumcision was sufficient for salvation, then the gospel of Christ would cease to have benefit (Gal 5:2), and “faith [would be] made void and the promise…nullified,” (Rom 4:14).  However, “Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, ‘All the nations will be blessed by you,’” (Gal 3:8).  In Paul’s understanding, access to the promise came through Jesus Christ, “And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s descendants, heirs according to the promise [i.e., not the physical flesh]” (Gal 3:29), and “You brethren, like Isaac, are children of the promise,” (Gal 4:28). 

In Galatians Paul “allegorically” compared the two positions on salvation to that of the “bondwoman” and the “free woman,” (Gal 4:21-27).  The bondwoman had a son “born according to the flesh,” while “the free woman” had a son “through the promise,” (Gal 4:23).  The first son [Ishmael] represents the outcome obtained through the human effort of Abraham; this is comparable to the circumcision of the proselyte made by the hands of men.  The second son [Isaac] represents the outcome through the promise of God.  Isaac is comparable to belief/faith in the promise given to Abraham, which results in “a circumcision made without hands, in the removal of the body of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ,” (Col 2:11).  If the physical act of circumcision is sufficient, then the death of Jesus has no benefit, “Behold I Paul, say to you that if you receive circumcision, Christ will be of no benefit to you,” (Gal 5:2). 

Paul argued repeatedly in his writings against circumcision as a requirement for Gentile salvation, “In Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything, but faith working through love,” (Gal 5:6, 6:15).  By the time Paul wrote to the Corinthians around the middle of his ministry (~ 55 A.D.), he had condensed his discussion on circumcision into a single “rule” for all the churches,

“Was anyone at the time of his call already circumcised?  Let him not seek to remove the marks of circumcision.  Was anyone at the time of his call uncircumcised?  Let him not seek circumcision.  For neither circumcision counts for anything nor uncircumcision, but keeping the commandments of God.  Each one should remain in the condition in which he was called…So, brothers, in whatever condition each was called, there let him remain with God,” (1 Cor 7:18-24, ESV).

Believers can remain in the condition each was called because faith in the promise takes precedent since faith came before the commandment to circumcise, (Rom 4:10).  The promise does not depend on circumcision, but on circumcision of the heart (by the Spirit), as written “He is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that which is of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter,” (Rom 2:29).  In these words, Paul alluded to the words of Moses (Deut 30:6-8) and the promise of obedience made possible through the actions of the Spirit, (Ezek 36:26-27).  Paul preached obedience as the true sign of the circumcised heart, (Rom 2:25-6).  So who are the true children of Abraham, those who “do the deeds of Abraham,” (John 8:39).

Paul’s consistent argument against the requirement of Gentile circumcision for salvation was misinterpreted during his time (and in our day also) as a position against obedience to the commandments of Moses, (Acts 21:21).  James unequivocally stated that this understanding of Paul was incorrect, (Acts 21:24).  Paul concurred with James and demonstrated his agreement by his actions, (Acts 21:26).  Upon his arrival, Paul told his Jewish audience in Rome, “I had done nothing against our people or the customs of our fathers,” (Acts 28:17).  Paul had a high respect for the Law, referring to the Law as “Holy and righteous and good” (Rom 7:12), and the “embodiment of knowledge and truth,” (Rom 2:20).  The Law is a reflection of the Lawgiver.  To keep the Law brings honor to God, while transgression brings dishonor (Rom 2:23) and receives judgment (Rom 2:27).  The Law was given to the nation of Israel (Rom 9:4), requiring obedience from both the Jew and Gentile proselyte who had become a Jew, (Gal 5:3).  Yet, Paul’s gospel did not submit Gentiles to the full weight of the Mosaic commandments, (Gal 5:3). 

 

The standard for all is not to hear the Law, but to perform the Law, “for it is not the hearers of the Law who are just before God, but the doers of the Law will be justified,” (Rom 2:13).  When Paul wrote “you are not under law, but under grace” (Rom 6:14), he referred to the liberation from the condemnation of judgment contained in the law, but not the law itself, (Rom 8:1-2).  When Paul wrote, “We have been released from the law” (Rom 7:6), he referred to our inability to accomplish the commandments through our own flesh, but our need for the promised Spirit (Ezek 36:26-27), since the “Law is spiritual,” (Rom 7:14). 

For far too long, most believers have framed Paul’s argument for salvation in terms of “faith” verses “works”.  The more accurate understanding is salvation through the promise verses salvation through the physical lineage.  Salvation does not come to an individual based on a physical lineage descending from Abraham (remember Ishmael), but through faithfulness in the promise of the Messiah given to Abraham (remember Isaac).  Fifteen years after Galatians, Paul stood before Heord Agrippa, reciting a position established prior to his first missionary journey,

“I am standing trial for the hope of the promise made by God to our fathers; the promise to which our twelve tribes hope to attain, as they earnestly serve God night and day.  And for this hope, O king, I am being accused by Jews,” (Acts 26:6-7). 

From Austin - Scott

 

 

 

 

Exodus 30:11 - 34:35

When a person sees a movie for the second time, he/she often gains additional insight into the story.  How much more when we read the Bible.  I often learn more the second, third, and fourth time I read a passage, than during the initial reading.  This occurs because the Bible is the best source for defining scripture.  The more you know, the more you will learn, like ground prepared to receive a new planting.  The experience is also a testimony to the faithfulness of God’s word, “For everyone who asks, receives; and he who seeks, finds; and to him who knocks, it will be open,” (Luke 11:10). 

Some related passages in scripture became clearer to me after reading this week’s (3/7/2015) Torah portion (Ex 30:11-34:35).  I have read these chapters at least four times in the last five years.  Yet, it was during my reading on Saturday when I saw so many connections to other passages in the text.  Here is a brief synopsis of a few, but you will find more and might not agree with all the ones I saw.

(1)   The payment of a half a shekel was said to be “a ransom” for each individual to the LORD, (Ex 30:12). Although not specifically commanded for his purpose, by the first century this “ransom” was collected for the daily sacrifices.  Connection:  Jesus’ referred to Himself as the “ransom”, “The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many” (Matt 20:28).  Referring to Jesus’s life as “a ransom for many” and “a ransom for all” (1 Tim 2:5-6), draws on the image of the daily sacrifice that was continuously before the LORD for every member of the nation.  For those who place their faith in Jesus, He is the “ransom” continuously before the LORD in the "more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands," (Heb 9:11).

(2)   One passage I frequently refer to is Acts 3:19-21, “Therefore repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away, in order that time of refreshing may come from the presence of the LORD; and that He may send Jesus the Christ appointed to you..”  Connection: Although I believed this passage to be a reference to the Millennial Kingdom, I was not sure exactly how “refreshing” conveyed that understanding.  Then I read this, “For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, but on the seventh day He ceased from labor and was refreshed,” (Ex 31:17).  Refreshing is associated with the Sabbath, which we understand as a picture of the Millennial Kingdom.  RVL has suggested that Jesus often healed on the Sabbath to demonstrate the coming power of God in the Millennial Kingdom.

(3)   The Acts passage also holds another interesting nugget.  “Jesus the Christ” will come “from the presence of the LORD.”  Connection: In this week’s Torah reading, the LORD promised Moses, “My presence shall go with you, and I will give you rest,” (Ex 33:14).  In Acts 3:20-21, Peter has defined for us that, “the Presence of the LORD” is “Jesus Christ” who led Israel through the wilderness.  We already knew from Paul, that the “spiritual rock which followed them…was Christ,” (1 Cor 10:4).  Now I see another connection to Jesus in the wilderness.

(4)   Exodus 33:14 concludes with God saying, “I will give you rest.”  Connection: These words remind us of what Jesus said, “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest,” (Matt 11:28).  This is one of the numerous statements in the Greek text that directly connect Jesus to God the Father.

(5)   In describing the sin of the golden calf, scripture records, “The people sat down to eat and to drink and rose up to play,” (Ex 32:6).  Connection: When I read this passage, I immediately think of the Shema portion that seems written with the sin of the golden calf in mind, “You shall teach them (the words of God) diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up,” (Deut 6:7).  In the Shema, God appears to be saying, “Do not be like the generation in the wilderness that worshipped me part of the time, while the rest of the day they rose up to play.  I want you to be my people 24/7, both when you lie down and also when you rise up.”

(6)   One of Paul’s quotations in Romans comes from this week’s Torah reading, “For He says to Moses, ‘I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.’  So then it does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God Who has mercy,” (Rom 9:15-16).  Connection: Paul’s reference is the LORD’S response to Moses’ request, “I pray You show me Your glory!” (Ex 33:18).  The LORD responded by saying to Moses, “‘I Myself will make all My goodness pass before you, and will proclaim the name of the LORD before you; and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show compassion on whom I will show compassion.’ But, He said, ‘You cannot see My face for no man can see Me and live,’” (Ex 33:19-20).  In the context of the original passage, the LORD is referring to the revelation of His nature, which is completely at the LORD’S discretion.  He can choose to show mercy and have compassion, yet He is still limited by the nature of the finite creation, "No man can see Me and live."  The passage does not relate to the LORD predetermining an individual’s fate in the world to come.  Although some may like to read Paul’s words as predestining a person’s fate, that understanding is not consistent with good Bible interpretation, and only adds to the general impression of non-believers that you can make the Bible say anything.

(7)   The statement of the LORD, “You cannot see My face…and live,” (Ex 33:20), will cease to be true in the world to come where it is said of the saints, “They will see His face, and His Name will be on their foreheads,” (Rev 22:4).

These are some of my thoughts, what do you see in the weekly reading? - Scott 

 

Does the Potter Predestine the Clay? (Part 2 of 2)

Ironically, and contrary to popular interpretation, Paul argued that salvation is NOT based on predestination or election, but by “the word of the promise”.  For Paul to argue otherwise, would only complement the predominant Jewish view that salvation came automatically to all the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.  If salvation was by election alone, then God would have predestined all the descendants of Abraham to be saved, but He did not, (Rom 9:7).  If salvation was by election alone, then God would have predestined all the descendants of Isaac to be saved, but He did not, (Rom 9:9-12).  Finally, God could have predestined all the descendants of Jacob to be saved, but they are not, as Paul has written, “They are not all Israel who are descended from Israel” (Rom 9:6), and “Though the sons of Israel be like the sand of the sea, it is the remnant that will be saved,” (Rom 9:27).

Salvation is not based on predestination, but based on the promise alone.  In the Book of Romans, Paul wrote to bring Jews to his revelation that Jesus, as Messiah, is the fulfillment of the promise given to Abraham. 

“If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confess, resulting in salvation,” (Rom 10:9-10).

I do not believe that Paul ever intended for his words to establish a doctrine of salvation based on predestination.  If predestination does not apply to the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, how much less does it apply to the Gentiles, the wild olive branch, who do not descend from the Patriarchs.  Salvation for all men is based on the promise alone, as it is written,

“There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.  And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s descendants, heirs according to the promise,” (Gal 2:28-29)

Shabbat Shalom - Scott 

 

Does the Potter Predestine the Clay? (Part 1 of 2)

“Does not the potter have a right over the clay, to make from the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for common use?  What if God, although willing to demonstrate His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction?” (Rom 9:21-22)

A common analogy in rabbinic writings is to compare the relationship of God and man, to that of a potter and his clay.  After all, man was formed by God from the clay of the earth.  Paul draws on this analogy in the ninth chapter of his letter to the Romans, immediately following his discourse on the hardening of Pharaoh’s heart.  Many have interpreted the words of Paul to mean that God providentially determines the salvation of an individual at the time of his creation, but is this an interpretation consistent with the balance of scripture?

The Hebrew text contains a number of references to the potter and the clay.  One of the most notable examples comes from the eighteenth chapter of Jeremiah.

 
“Then the word of the LORD came to me saying, ‘Can I not, O house of Israel, deal with you as this potter does?’ declares the LORD.  ‘Behold like the clay in the potter’s hand, so are you in My hand, O house of Israel.  At one moment I might speak concerning a nation or concerning a kingdom to uproot, to pull down, or to destroy it; if that nation against which I have spoken turns from its evil, I will relent concerning the calamity I planned to bring on it.  Or at another moment I might speak concerning a nation or concerning a kingdom to build it up or to plant it; if it does evil in My sight by not obeying My voice, then I will thing better of the good with which I had promised to bless it’…Thus says the LORD, ‘Behold I am fashioning calamity against you and devising a plan against you.  O turn back, each of you from his evil way, and reform your ways and your deeds.’” (Jer 18:5-11)

In Jeremiah’s example, the potter has the right to build up or tear down the clay.  Yet, the potter’s response is not arbitrary, but based on the actions of the clay.  If the clay “turns from its evil” (repents), then the potter “will relent concerning the calamity” he planned to perform.  On the other hand, if the clay “does evil in My sight by not obeying My voice,” then the potter will “fashion calamity” against the clay.  In either case, the actions of the clay are not predetermined.  For this reason, the LORD commands, "O turn back, each of your from his evil way, and reform your ways and your deeds."

In the Book of Romans, Paul may have been recalling the words of Jeremiah, or Isaiah who wrote, “Shall the potter be considered as equal with the clay, that what is made would say to its maker, ‘He did not make me’; or what is formed say to him who formed it, ‘He has no understanding’?” (Isa 29:16).  Isaiah draws on the example of the potter to remind Israel that God has sovereignty over His Creation, and can judge His people according to their ways.  Even though their “deeds are done in a dark place, and they say, ‘Who sees us?’ or ‘Who knows us?’” (Isa 29:15), “All who are intent on doing evil will be cut off,” (Isa 29:20).  In Isaiah’s analogy, like that of Jeremiah, the clay is not preordained to destruction by the potter, but is judged by the potter based on the freewill actions of the clay.  Isaiah uses the “potter and the clay” analogy three additional times to teach the authority of God to judge His creation.

 
“He will come upon rulers as upon mortar, even as the potter treads clay,” (Isa 41:25)
“Woe to the one who quarrels with his Maker…Will the clay say to the potter, ‘What are you doing?’ Or the thing you are making say, ‘He has no hands?’” (Isa 45:10)
“But now, O LORD, You are our Father, We are the clay and You our potter; And all of us are the work of Your hand,” (Isa 64:8)

None of the prophetic examples teach that the clay is predestined to destruction, or that God acts arbitrarily within His creation.  This is the context in which Paul’s reference to the potter and the clay must be framed to be consistent with scripture. 

Rather than “vessels of wrath prepared (katartizo) for destruction,” (Rom 9:22), as most translations are written, the Greek word “katartizo” can also be rendered, “fully trained” or “equipped” for destruction.  In this rendering, the reader can understand that the destruction is not predetermined, but “wrath” brought on by the lifestyle of the clay, as in the words of Jesus, “A pupil is not above his teacher; but everyone, after he has been fully trained (katartizo), will be like his teacher,” (Luke 6:40).  It is the unrighteous actions of the clay, which set the clay on a road destined for destruction.

Like all analogies, the teaching point of the potter and the clay can only be carried so far.  Paul is consistent with the prophets in his rhetorical question.  The Potter (God) has power over the clay to make us into who we are and to build up or tear down.  But this power is not exercised randomly or arbitrarily.  Nor does the Potter predetermine the fate of His creation.  The response of the Potter, according to the prophets, is based on the actions of the clay, whether righteous or wicked.  After all, no rational potter predetermines to destroy his work prior to its completion, and “God is not a God of confusion, but of peace” (1 Cor 14:33). 

It is cold and wet in Austin - Scott

Who Hardened Pharaoh's Heart??

 

“For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, ‘For this very purpose I raised you up, to demonstrate My power in you, and that My Name might be proclaimed throughout the whole earth.’  So then He has mercy on whom He desires and He harden whom He desires.” (Rom 9:17-18)

 

The words of Paul have led most readers to conclude that Pharaoh’s heart was hardened providential, that is, beyond the power or control of Pharaoh.  The actual story is more extensive than Paul’s short narrative.  Seventeen times in Exodus, Pharaoh’s heart is said to be hardened, (Ex 4:21, 7:3, 7:13, 7:22, 8:15, 8:19, 8:32, 9:7, 9:12, 9:34, 9:35, 10:1, 10:20, 10:27, 11:10, 14:4, and 14:8).  Three times we are told that Pharaoh hardened his own heart, “But Pharaoh hardened his heart this time also, and he did not let the people go,” (Ex 8:32, 8:15, & 9:34).  Five times we are told, “the heart of Pharaoh was hardened” (Ex 7:13, 7:22, 8:19, 9:7, & 9:35).  Although the source of the hardening is not specifically stated, the context implies that Pharaoh caused the hardening.  The nine remaining times we are told, “The LORD hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he did not listen to them, just as the LORD had spoken to Moses,” (Ex 9:12, 4:21, 7:3, 10:1, 10:20, 11:10, 14:4, & 14:8). 

 

In the beginning Pharaoh hardened his own heart, a fact foreseen by the LORD Who told Moses, “Pharaoh’s heart is stubborn; he refuses to let the people go,” (Ex 7:14).  Through the initial miracles, especially those that could be replicated by the magicians of Pharaoh, “Pharaoh…hardened his heart” (Ex 8:15), and “Pharaoh hardened his heart this time also,” (Ex 8:32).  Additional references during the initial plagues imply that the LORD foresaw the hardening of Pharaoh heart, but did not participate in the hardening, “Pharaoh’s heart was hardened and he did not listen to them as the LORD had said,” (Ex 7:22).

 

In the last reference to Pharaoh hardening his heart, we are told, “When Pharaoh saw that the rain and the hail and the thunder had ceased, he sinned again and hardened his heart,” (Ex 9:34).  At this point, scripture identifies “sin” as the source of Pharaoh’s hardening.  This statement is consistent with the words of the Hebrew writer and the warning to all believers against being “hardened by the deceitfulness of sin,” (Heb 3:13). 

 

Beginning with the fifth plague, and exclusively from the eight plague onward, scripture identifies God as the singular source that hardened Pharaoh’s heart, “Then the LORD said to Moses, ‘Go to Pharaoh for I have hardened his heart and the heart of his servants, that I may perform these signs of Mine among them,” (Ex 10:1).  The believer might wonder why it became necessary for the LORD to harden Pharaoh’s heart since Pharaoh had been capable of hardening his own heart during the initial plagues.  The answer involves freewill, and the story indicates that the increasing revelation of God’s power in the final plagues was sufficient to turn even the unrepentant heart of Pharaoh toward repentance, in effect, subverting Pharaoh’s freewill.  To keep freewill in balance against an increasing revelation of God, it sometimes becomes necessary for God to give, “a thorn in the flesh,” (2 Cor 12:7).  In Pharaoh’s case, the LORD hardened Pharaoh’s heart.  

 

Although Paul’s statement that God hardened Pharaoh’s heart is correct (Rom 9:18), this hardening only occurred after Pharaoh first hardened his own heart through “stubbornness” (Ex 7:14), and “sin”, (Ex 9:34).  Pharaoh’s life becomes an example and a warning for every person whose heart will eventually become hardened through repeated unrepentant sin.  The hardening of an individual’s heart has not been providentially determined, as many interpret Paul’s words in Romans.  On the contrary, “Each one is carried away and enticed by his own sin,” (James 1:14).  God does not tempt an individual (James 1:13), and neither does God harden an individual’s heart apart from an individual’s own sin which precipitates the hardening.  For this reason, the writer of Hebrews repeatedly warns believers, “Do not harden your hearts as when they provoked Me” (Heb 3:8, 3:15, & 4:7).  For we know that “He who hardens his heart will fall into calamity,” (Prov 28:14). 

 

After repeated unrepentant sin, a person’s heart will be hardened to a place where, God will give “them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity,” (Rom 1:24).  The Rabbinic view is that God often supports a person in the direction that he/she wants to go, whether good or bad.  The Hebrew Talmud said it this way, "In the way that a person wants to go, he will led him.”[1]  David feared this after his sin with Bathsheba, leading him to pray, “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me,” (Psa 51:10).  Therefore, believers must “Be on guard, so that your hearts will not be weighted down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of life” (Luke 21:34), and “Guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus,” (Phil 4:7). 

 

“Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith,” (Heb 12:1-2)

 

Keep warm in Midland - Scott

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[1] The Power of Teshuvah, Rabbi Heshy Kleinman, Published 2011, page 77.

JESUS HAD EARS

This is a revision of one sent earlier in the month...

“When He comes into the world, He says, ‘Sacrifice and offering You have not desired, But a body you have prepared for me.” (Heb 10:5)

Hebrews 10:5 is an often quoted passage believers, and my pastor in Austin, like because it appears to allude to the coming of God in the flesh.  However, Dan Lancaster has pointed out that the passage is a quotation of Psalms 40:6, which reads somewhat differently, “Sacrifice and meal offering You have not desired; My ears you have opened” (NASB), or “Ears Thou hast prepared for me” (YLT), or “But you have given me an open ear” (ESV).  Somehow, the “ear” of the Psalmist became the “body” in our New Testament translation of the Book of the Hebrews. 

 

It is not clear how the “ear” became the entire “body”.  Some have suggested translational difficulties as the word for ear and body are similar in the Greek Septuagint.  Others have speculated that the translators did not appreciate the Hebrew idiom used for ear and expanded the anatomy to include the body. 

In scripture, the ear often represents hearing that leads to obedience, as Moses wrote, “Give ear to His commandments and keep all His statutes,” (Ex 15:26).  While on earth, Jesus frequently told His listeners, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear,” (Luke 11:31)(Matt 11:15).  To “hear” in scripture means to “do”, as in the prelude to the greatest commandments, “Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God, the Lord is One;” which is immediately followed by the commandment, “and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all you strength…” (Mark 12:29-31).  Stephen criticized members of the Sanhedrin using three phrases related to disobedience originating from unrepentant hearts,

“Stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears…always resisting the Holy Spirit,”  (Acts 7:51).   

Zechariah prophesized against disobedient people saying, “They refused to pay attention and turned a stubborn shoulder and stopped their ears from hearing,” (Zech 7:11).  In the book of Hebrews, the author used similar language warning against the people who “have become dull of hearing,” (Heb 5:11).  Among the many messages of Hebrews, the Book is a warning, “So that no one will fall, through following the same example of disobedience,” (Heb 4:11). 

When “ear” is substituted in Hebrews 10:5 for “body”, then the verses that follow are consistent with the context of obedience, “In whole burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin You have taken no pleasure.  Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come (In the scroll of the Book it is written of Me) to do your will, O God’” (Heb 10:6-7).  Jesus came with body that was offered up on the cross.  Jesus also came with a hearing ear to do the complete will of the Father.  What God desires from His people is obedience, a hearing ear in place of sacrifice. 

“Has the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams,” (1 Sam 15:22).

 

In the coming year, maybe all of us can strive, empowered by the Spirit, to put on better ears than in the past, ears prepared for obedience and service.  The world certainly needs better examples than those being portrayed in the movies, the news, and on television.  If the LORD was capable of given Jesus, "an open ear," will He not surely do the same for those who want to be like Jesus?

 

As always, Scott