The Architect’s Plan
"Remember this, and be assured; Recall it to mind, you transgressors. Remember the former things long past, For I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is no one like Me, Declaring the end from the beginning, And from ancient times things which have not been done, Saying, ‘My purpose will be established, And I will accomplish all My good pleasure’; Calling a bird of prey from the east, The man of My purpose from a far country. Truly I have spoken; truly I will bring it to pass. I have planned it, surely I will do it." (Isaiah 46:8-11)
Several years ago, I was suspicious when a friend showed me a poster that made no sense at all. There were numerous colors and their pattern had a definite order which was repeated over the entire page. He asked if I could see the B-1 bomber in the picture.
Knowing him to be something of a practical joker, I desperately wanted to avoid being trapped by his latest ploy. After staring at it a few minutes, I gave up and went back to work. Still, every time I visited him I would spend a few minutes looking at the thing and wondering if he was in the back room having a good laugh.
It was a couple of weeks before something remarkable happened. My eyes ached from focusing on the poster when suddenly it seemed as though an outline of something was coming into focus. I blinked and it was gone!
Now I was hooked and determined to stare myself blind if necessary to see what was there. It wasn’t long until the image that had been there all along was clear to me and I couldn’t look at the poster without seeing it.
Most of you had similar experiences the first time you encountered stereograms. We had to learn how to see in a new way what was there all along. The elements of the picture before us were clear, but we couldn’t see the subject because of the way we looked at the elements.
The same thing can happen in many aspects of life, including understanding the things of God. Many times, we "can’t see the forest for the trees."
In the passage above, God uses Isaiah to remind us to consider the big picture. His plan was perfect and He confirms that He has not lost sight of it. Though we may allow elements of the picture to throw our eyes out of focus, God’s purposes remain clear. If we are to glimpse the big picture, we have to begin seeing things from His perspective.
As an exercise, stop reading now and write down your description of the big picture of scripture in 25 words or less. Then read on.
How did you do? My version is open to fine tuning, but here it is. The creation is an expression of the sovereign, eternal God who demonstrated His unsurpassed glory and power by redeeming and preserving His work through Christ.
Admittedly, that is a very broad description. But it is important to let the broad description order the details, rather than the other way around! Many of the problems we encounter in interpreting the scripture come because of the weeds and vines in our theology that interfere with our view.
It is good to occasionally take a fresh look at the big picture so that we can identify what we have allowed to distort our perspective of the larger view.
In case you haven’t noticed, this is not an easy task! It is hard for us to admit that we are wrong about anything. That is particularly true about vitally important matters like our understanding of the scripture.
At the same time, the health of our faith demands that we recognize our limitations in understanding God’s truth. No individual or congregation or denomination has the corner on truth. If we act as though we do, we deceive ourselves and we usually end up harming others and undermining the unity of the Spirit.
Pausing regularly to consider the wider view of God’s revelation to us can help to keep us from becoming locked in to something that is comfortable, but incorrect.
The people of Israel had become comfortable in their perversion of what God had instructed them. They were a culture that lived largely by oral tradition. Printed texts were not available to the common individual. Based on what I see transpiring in our own culture, I remain undecided whether we are any better off with printed texts!
In either case, God calls us to remember that no one is like Him and what He has purposed is guaranteed. The scripture is the record of His faithfulness in following through with that plan.
The Bible is not a history book. It contains historical references, but it has a different end in view. Specifically, the scripture is the record of the redemptive history of humankind..
We learn how God created perfect order and declared it good. With sadness, we witness the pollution of that plan by the will of man. Hope is glimpsed in the calling of a covenant people but the Law demonstrates the utter hopelessness of humankind to live in righteousness. Then, at just the right time, God intervenes in the only Way which will answer the dilemma.
Christ made it clear that He came to fulfill the law and the prophets and that they would not pass away until everything had been fulfilled (Matt. 5:17-18). It is important to ask, "Did Christ fail to do what He said He came to do?" because the status of the Old Covenant depends upon our answer.
If He did, "There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace, On the throne of David and over his kingdom, To establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness From then on and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will accomplish this." (Isaiah 9:7)
I believe He did and that the story of scripture is complete. When we begin to see it that way, we gain new insight into how our "faith is the victory which overcomes the world."
For at least a brief moment let us enjoy the beauty of the "forest" and let its design guide our understanding of the "trees" we encounter in our diligence to rightly divide God’s word. a
The Carpenter’s Corner
"Do not think that I will accuse you before the Father; the one who accuses you is Moses, in whom you have set your hope. For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me, for he wrote about Me. But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words?" John 5:45-47)
It should come as no surprise to us that struggling with traditions is not a new problem. Traditions are not intrinsically a bad thing. However, when they are allowed to redefine the truths upon which they are based, they become dangerous.
We all have our traditions. In time, we grow comfortable with them. Our tendency is to embrace what issues from our tradition more quickly (and with less scrutiny) than that which comes from another tradition. This opens the door to traditions becoming self-sustaining and self-affirming, and sooner or later they begin to close the door to everything else.
I have friends in many Christian camps. Most are not willing to explore what Christians of other traditions believe in order to glean the truth God has preserved there. I thank God for those who are willing. They are a rich blessing in my life.
We all have bad theology. Unless we realize that and are diligent in addressing the issue, our error will produce bad fruit in our lives. I’ve witnessed it in numerous lives, including my own.
Our convictions will be challenged sooner or later. We should not take such challenges lightly. Whatever the source, God may well be calling us to change and when God calls us to change it is always for our good and His glory.
Christ pulled no punches with the Pharisees. They had carefully cultivated the trees of tradition. They had so many hybrids of the law that they needed lawyers to work through the maze of legislation they had produced. The simple and straightforward commandments of God had been exchanged for a system that they could control and manipulate to their own end. The best of them understood it well.
They were the best and the brightest and they claimed the highest faith and allegiance to Moses the lawgiver as the reason their word should be heeded. Jesus tells them they have forgotten what the forest looks like.
Their traditions blinded them to the evidence that Moses affirmed who He was. Had they handled his word properly, they would have recognized Jesus as Messiah.
Because they did not, their treasured traditions stood as evidence against them and all their professed veneration of Moses would not avail against the judgment that his words brought to bear on them. Since they did not believe Moses, it was impossible for them to believe in their own Messiah.
Their example should be instructive to us. Any time we place our tradition above the sincere desire to know God’s truth, we deny ourselves the possibility of believing it, even when it is staring us in the face.
The sooner we recognize that we all allow that to happen from time to time, the sooner we will be on the path to greater growth.
Phariseeism is not dead! Most of us retain that tendency and a number of the perceived Christian leaders of the day demonstrate it regularly on the air. The perpetuation of error is clear evidence that human nature has not changed. God help us to be more attentive to our own witness.
The Foreman’s Forum
"Therefore as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, having been firmly rooted and now being built up in Him and established in your faith, just as you were instructed, and overflowing with gratitude. See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ...." (Colossians 2:6-8)
Paul’s instruction is clear. We are not to allow the teachings of men to deceive us. That is only possible if we attend diligently to the teaching of Christ.
Simply put, we are to know what Jesus taught and if man’s ideas contradict or undermine that teaching we are to give it no quarter. We are to be good Bereans to investigate whether or not what we hear is consistent with Christ’s teaching.
My experience is that many Christians are not willing to make the effort. When they hear something that supports what they already believe they nod in approval and pat themselves on the back for their correct understanding. When they hear something that disagrees with their present views, they dismiss it as error and pat themselves on the back for being able to recognize it as such.
The problem is that in the process they also dismiss the correction that God sends their way through others who hold contrary views. It is egotistical to think "our" scholars are better than "their" scholars. All scholars are individuals with flawed theology. Those who are truly scholars, readily recognize this fact: only their readers and hearers often do not!
Paul puts the responsibility on believers to avoid error. The Holy Spirit is our Teacher and we are to be sensitive to His direction in our lives. In the qualifications for deacons, Paul includes "holding to the mystery of the faith with a clear conscience."
Though this is an admonition for deacons, it should be the aspiration of all believers. The word for "clear" is the root of our word "cathartic." Our consciences are to be purged of that which renders them less open to God’s instruction through the Holy Spirit.
It is not enough to say that we hold our faith in a clear conscience. Paul’s persecution of Christians was done as a matter of faith with a "good" conscience. He needed more light and he got it on the way to Damascus.
Our conscience must be kept clear of our personal motives in regard to the things of God. As we walk in the light, we need to be quick to relinquish anything that smacks of self-will. When we ask for wisdom from God, He will grant it. a
The Carpenter’s Toolbox
"God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world. And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power. When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high . . . By this will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. And every priest stands daily ministering and offering time after time the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins; but He, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, SAT DOWN AT THE RIGHT HAND OF GOD, waiting from that time onward UNTIL HIS ENEMIES BE MADE A FOOTSTOOL FOR HIS FEET." (Heb. 1:1-3; 10:10-13)The text here is from two passages that are chapters apart, but which are connected by their shared subject matter. They present a panoramic view of God’s accomplishments throughout redemptive history.
The author makes several important points that help us to see the big picture here. As we note them briefly, remember this is the context for all we read in the scripture in general and Hebrews in particular.
Since creation, God has spoken to mankind in many ways by apportioning his revelation among them. The author then makes it plain that the final revelation is being spoken through Christ "in these last days."
"These" by definition means that which is present or close at hand. In Christ, God made His final appeal to mankind and He did it in the last days. These are the only last days discussed in scripture and diligence demands that we understand their significance. I encourage you to look carefully at what scripture has to say in this regard.
In the chronology of the New Testament, Hebrews is a late book. In 10:37 we read, "FOR YET IN A VERY LITTLE WHILE, HE WHO IS COMING WILL COME, AND WILL NOT DELAY." This echoes the message of Habakkuk 2:3 with the Greek words micron (h)oson (h)oson (very, very little while).
You don’t need to know Greek to understand the meaning of micron in reference to time. It is a tiny amount, but the inspired author uses hoson (which amplifies magnitude) to express the shortness of time and intensifies it even more by repeating hoson! The consummation of all things is upon them.
Their previous history occupied about 4,000 years. Throughout that time God gradually revealed His plan. First to individuals, then through individuals to Israel, and finally through Christ to the Apostles and us.
We are almost 2,000 years beyond Pentecost and many would have us believe that what scripture says was imminent has not happened. Does that affect how we see the big picture?
If we are striving to be diligent in our faith, absolutely! If Christ said all things would be fulfilled before some of those in His audience died, and that did not happen, we as Christians have some explaining to do.
C. S. Lewis was an atheist turned biblical scholar. In spite of his intellectual prowess, the supposed non-fulfillment of Christ’s words was problematic. The following quote comes from his 1960 essay titled "The World's Last Night." "‘Say what you like,’ we shall be told by the skeptic, ‘the apocalyptic beliefs of the first Christians have been proved to be false. It is clear from the New Testament that they all expected the Second Coming in their own lifetime. And, worse still, they had a reason, and one which you will find very embarrassing. Their Master had told them so. He shared, and indeed created, their delusion. He said in so many words, "this generation shall not pass away till all these things be done." And He was wrong. he clearly knew no more about the end of the world than anyone else.’
"It is certainly the most embarrassing verse in the Bible. yet how teasing, also, that within fourteen words of it should come the statement, ‘but of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father.’ The one exhibition of error and the one confession of ignorance grow side by side."
Was Lewis correct in agreeing with skeptics? Are we really to believe that Jesus and his first century disciples were in error? The truth is, biblical scholarship demands that Jesus was correct in what He taught.
If He was not, then everything He taught is suspect. Might He have also been wrong when He said "I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die."?
The problem is not with Christ’s teaching, but with Lewis’ understanding of scripture. Let us be careful not to go on repeating a mistake, regardless of how popular it is.
The Apprentice’s Journal
The presuppositions we bring to our study of the scripture has a huge impact on our understanding of it. If those preconceived notions are wrong, arriving at correct understanding will be difficult if not impossible.
We all have erroneous concepts built into our thinking and if we fail to realize that we run into problems. We can even grow comfortable in our mistaken ideas and ignore or shun those who would help point out our difficulty.
God has been faithful to me by punctuating my life with people who challenge me to look at the elements of the picture in a different way. Will I look foolish to others by investigating further? Always! Should I let that fear keep me from pursuing truth? Never! The source of my greatest fear is my own ignorance.
The suggestion that everything in scripture has been fulfilled makes most Christians uncomfortable. Thinking about it made me uncomfortable too. Daily, my study is convincing me that the fall of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. fully satisfied every "what" and "when" of the time of the end. The challenge is to see how it did.
Some of you have urged me to forget about this stuff and move on. I don’t intend to focus on this study, but I will continue to challenge you with observations. These pages are shaped by my understanding. I invite you to confront the questions that confront me. The better you understand my perspective, the better you will understand what is written here. We are all works in progress.
Jesus constantly pushed His disciples beyond their comfort level. He does the same with us. It is not my intention or desire to cause trouble within the body of Christ, but raising valid questions and making cogent observations should never be viewed as causing trouble; regardless of the discomfort that such encounters bring.
It has made me most uncomfortable to discover how loosely translators have dealt with the scripture in places. Most did not consciously do so; they were the victims of their presuppositions. Their notions about prophecy has created serious problems for us today. Let me share just one example in closing.
We sing, "When the trumpet of the Lord shall sound and time shall be no more . . . ." Where did we get the idea that time would end? I’ll save you some trouble. It comes from the King James Version of Revelation 10:5-6: "And the angel which I saw stand upon the sea and upon the earth lifted up his hand to heaven, And sware by him that liveth for ever and ever . . . that there should be time no longer."
Just pause for a moment and think how this one idea influences our thinking. This "translation" is in error and even The New King James version correctly states the angel swore "that there should be delay no longer."
Does a correct translation make a difference in how we understand this verse? You’ll have to answer for yourself, but it certainly makes a difference to me. The angel is saying the time has come for these events to take place. Where then does scripture say or teach that time will end?
My desire is to call us all to diligence before God in the handling of His word. If we hold one another mutually accountable in this way, we all will grow.
From the first issue of The Carpenter’s Apprentice it has been my sincere desire to include your questions, observations, testimonies, etc. This seems like a good time to mention it again. Nothing you write will appear here with your name on it without your permission.
You can even send things anonymously if you like. The important thing is for us to share our insights with one another. As we do, our understanding of God’s word will begin to conform to the big picture better than it does today.
I find that prospect exciting and I hope you do too! That’s what this newsletter is all about and you can play a vital part in making it as good as it can be. Your participation is openly encouraged.
One final word regarding what you find here. I will continue to share sources of information with you. You should never assume that my sharing of those sources means that I am in total agreement with, or in some cases even supportive of, those who make them available.
While I will try to caution you about things I believe to be a problem with other resources, it is up to you to be diligent as you investigate issues further. That especially applies to what appears here!