“If it dies, it produces many seeds”

        The Lord told us, in John 12:24, “unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed.” Was that just typical Jewish hyperbole? Obviously, the grain couldn’t really die, or there would be nothing to grow. There had to be something still there, some hidden spark. I’ve even wished that some botanical scientist would plant a seed, then aim some electronic instruments at it to catch any change at the moment it started to grow. (Maybe one has, but I don’t know about it!) 

        Then I realized that it is the same with people—there is an exact parallel. When someone dies their body, like the seed, disperses in the earth. But there is a part of them that never dies—the soul or spirit. 

        The seed, when it germinates, never goes out of existence, and the person, when he or she dies, never goes out of existence either. In the parable Jesus told, something new returns one day. He, Himself, is the proof, the firstfruits, the forerunner. His “natural” body died on that cross; His resurrected body is still physical, but to an infinitely heightened degree of new abilities and joys, the so-called “physics of resurrection”. As the Apostle Paul said, “The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body.” (1 Cor.15:42-44) 

        That’s where we’re going too, someday! And, just to round out the story, the seed really does die, but no more or less than a person ever does.

How To Never Stumble

        When my wife and I visited Holland a few years ago, we learned that there are some 70,000 “stumbling stones” installed in the sidewalks of Europe. In fact, there are 350 in
the city of Maastricht alone. These stones are 4” concrete memorial cobbles each with a brass memorial plaque on top, set into the sidewalks at houses where someone was taken out and gassed or otherwise executed during the Nazi Holocaust. 

        Our daughter took us to the local library in Maastricht and showed us forty feet of wall, displaying photos and biographies— Jewish business men, a resistance worker, a 3-year old girl and her seven siblings, all gassed. These people were not soldiers but somehow they stumbled into the enemy’s clutches. 

        I walked away in quite an upset state. But take this to another level. The Apostle Peter wrote about stumbling in the spiritual life. And who knew more about stumbling than he—several slight missteps during his time with the Lord, then a huge blunder as he denied Him. 

        Peter, as no one else, knew what to do so that we would “never stumble”, and he lays it all out in 2 Peter 2:5-11:— 

Starting with FAITH,
add goodness
+ knowledge
+ self-control
+ perseverance
+ godliness
+ mutual affection
+ love.

        “If you do these things, you will never stumble, and you will receive a rich welcome into the Eternal Kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”

Word accuracy can be critical

        Words have been my hobby most of my life. The right word or the wrong word, the right punctuation or otherwise, can change a statement from serious to silly, from accurate to absolutely wild. For instance, many years ago, when snow mobiles were first becoming popular, the Port Arthur newspaper posted an article for sale, identified as a “sno-traveller”. Unfortunately, the hyphen was put after the “t”. Say that out loud! Then, a few years ago, the Toronto Star published a resumé guidance article in which “misspelled” was misspelled. Just this summer, a man passed away, and the Burlington Post obituary advised us that no memorial service was held and his remains were “creamated”. We wonder if he was “liquidated”. Is this something that happens in hot water? A hyphen, an “s” and an “a” make all the difference.

        Even printings of the Bible have not been without their problems. In 1631, the so-called “Wicked Bible”, a copy of the King James Version, had one of the commandments reading “Thou shalt commit adultery”! And a silly problem came up in 1950, when some unknowledgeable and unauthorized typesetter changed “skink” to “skunk” in an Episcopal version of Leviticus 11:30.

        But enough of the humour. Let’s get on to Scripture, where an unexpected re-direction of grammar, or just a change of one letter can make a powerful theological point. The earliest example is Genesis 1:1, where, in the beginning, “God created”. As many have pointed out, the word for God is plural, “Elohim”, but it has been given a singular verb. This is a strong intimation that the Godhead is multiple persons (in fact, Three) acting in utter unity, as One, the Trinity.

        Later on, Moses asks about God, “What is his name?” God’s reply is basically, “I AM”, a singular statement, whose grammar implies eternal existence and one who is eternally present. (Exod.3:13-15.) On the same occasion, God identifies Himself as “The LORD” or Yahweh, or Jehovah, which will be His name forever. This reference is key when Jesus identifies Himself to the Jews (who think He is under 50 years old) by the words, “Before Abraham was I AM.” (John 8:58.)

        Another occasion when Jesus made a strong point based on the tense of a verb is Mark 12:26-27. Speaking to the Sadducees (“who say there is no resurrection”) He quotes, “ ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’ He is not the God of the dead, but of the living. You are badly mistaken.” Not “I was.” The present tense is critical.

        Finally, some critical spelling. Paul confirms a prophecy about the Messiah, (Gal.3:16) based on one letter (at least in English). “The promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. Scripture does not say ‘and to seeds,’ meaning many people, but ‘and to your seed,’ meaning one person, who is Christ.”

        We have just barely touched on great depths of theology in these few paragraphs. Let’s be encouraged to read our Bibles very carefully and delight in the accuracy God has built into His written Word.

“My Eyes Have Seen the King!”

        The young priest, Isaiah, had just helped with the sacrifice of an animal on the altar. Now, as the embers burned down, he came inside the Holy Place, ready to offer incense. What a shock he was in for! There at the far end, perhaps fifty feet away, appeared a glorious throne and seated on it the magnificent personage of the LORD, Jehovah Himself! And, flowing all the way down both sides of the Holy Place, the great folds and radiance of the hems of His robe.

        The ceiling was over forty feet above him and, in that space, flew great six-winged angels, calling “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty.” Their voices shook the doorposts and thresholds behind him, and the room was filled with smoke.

        Isaiah was overwhelmed—he expected to die! Wasn’t this what happened to sinful men like him? Hadn’t Nadab and Abihu perished, even as they tried to offer incense? But wait. One of the angels takes a live coal off the altar, a remnant of the sacrifice that had just died. As that representation of the sacrifice touches his lips, the angel reassures him, “Your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.”

        This whole passage in Isaiah chapter six is a powerful bit of reporting. Some writers treat it as a vision and how can a vision hurt you? On the other hand, remember that Jacob wrestled with the Lord and came away crippled for the rest of his life. (Gen.32:30, 31.) Zechariah saw an angel, again in the Holy Place of the temple (Luke 1:8-22), as he offered incense in worship. For him, it was the loss of the power of speech.

        I think this was the real, physical thing. This was the Lord breaking through from heaven to Isaiah’s immediate world. And that ember burned his lips. He had the scars for the rest of his life. The wonderful thing is that, through the searing pain, he got mercy and assurance—“Your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.”

        Now the question arises—just who was that great King? Who was the “LORD Almighty”, who was Jehovah, who was Yahweh? This is where it gets even more interesting. Look at John 12: 41— “Isaiah said this because he saw Jesus’ glory and spoke about him.”  That LORD Almighty was Jesus!

        Now we’re into the New Testament and the picture changes a bit. Think of the Last Supper, and the Lord saying, “This is my body given for you…This cup is the new covenant in my blood.” (Luke 22:19, 20.)  Now we have, not a burning ember from repetitive sacrifices, but bread and wine that represent the once, forever sacrifice of God’s own Son, Jesus. May we realize, as we take these emblems, as they touch our own lips, that, like Isaiah, through Jesus “Our guilt is taken away and our sin atoned for.”

A ‘view’ on Election/ Predestination

     Many years ago, C.S.Lewis made the point that no one should ever attach themselves so firmly to the teachings of one man that they couldn’t see anything else. For instance, John Calvin was a great theologian and expositor of God’s Word, and the Reformation relied heavily on his “Institutes of the Christian Religion”. One of his doctrines was regarding “predestination”, to the effect that God chose people to be saved and they should be eternally thankful. On the other hand, what about those who weren’t chosen? There was no hope for them! This is why some denominations (so-called “hyper-Calvinist”) have no evangelical outreach—they think there is no point. Unfortunately, J.I.Packer takes this position, and so does Wayne Grudem, whose other 19 out of 20 doctrinal videos were exhilarating and beautiful. 

     Dare I say that this would be utterly unfair, unjust and illogical of God? It implies merit in some people and none in others. In truth, God’s grace is freely given, without merit, only on faith. 

     I’ve puzzled over this for many years, while always believing that the Good News about Jesus must be made available to everybody. Then I saw a video by David Jeremiah that crystallized my thoughts. 

     His explanation went something like this: — God “wants all men to be saved.” (1 Tim.2:4) “Whoever believes in Him shall not perish.” (John 3:16) “He chose us in Him before the creation of the world.” (Eph.1:4) “He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” (2 Peter 3:9) David Jeremiah concluded that everyone was chosen to be saved. It seems their names were even written in the Book of Life. This means that everything was ready for them to enter God’s kingdom. There was a great welcome awaiting them. But now “free agency” comes into play. A person can decide for or against the Lord. Ultimately, as Revelation 3:5 says, if they irrevocably reject Christ, God will blot their name out of His Book. (Ex.32:32 and Psa.69:28) 

     Sadly—and disastrously—some turn away! They decide their fate for themselves by disobedience. (1 Pet.2:8) God never, ever, “chose them for wrath!” (1 Thess.5:9)

The Sun did…what?

     The Sun—what do we know about it? In ancient times it was considered to be a fiery disk, just “up there” in the sky, possibly even attached to a track on a vault or dome over the earth. In Greek mythology, Icarus flew too close to the sun, melted his waxen wings and crashed into the sea. If someone could fly on wings and get to the sun, they obviously thought it was very close. 

     In many cases, Scripture adopts “accommodation” as an approach to ancient science, geography, astronomy, medicine, and the like. The Bible uses some of the attitudes of the ancients (in lieu of twenty-first century science)—to them, the sky was a dome mounted on pillars at the outer edges; the sun, moon and stars were attached to tracks on the inside of this dome. This is why the people of Babel thought they could build a tower high enough to reach that “dome”, then they could break through it directly into heaven. (Gen.11:4). 

     The sun features many times in Scripture (at least 173 times according to my concordance). Often it is an astronomical body in the sky but very frequently it has literary or symbolic connotations. 

     Genesis 1:16 tells us that God made “the greater light to govern the day”. Deuteronomy 33:14 credits the sun with “bringing forth the best”. And an event unique in the history of the world occurs when Joshua gives orders to the sun and it stands still. (Josh.10:12-14) The sun is personified again in Psalm 104:19—it “knows when to go down.” This continues in Eccl.1:5—“The sun rises and the sun sets, and hurries back to where it rises.” Isaiah (24:23) talks about wicked things done on the earth, even making “the sun ashamed”! 

     In Hezekiah’s day, the Lord gives another astronomical sign through the sun: “I will make the shadow cast by the sun go back the ten steps it has gone down on the stairway of Ahaz.” (Isa.38:8) Amos tells us that in a time of trouble and famine, the Lord “will make the sun go down at noon.” (Amos 8:9) This essentially happened at the cross, when “the sun stopped shining.” (Luke 23:45) What a relief to look forward to that future day when, “Your sun will never set again.” (Isa.60:20) 

     Figurative examples are not infrequent. In Genesis 37:9, the sun bows down to Joseph in a dream. David, in Psalm 19, pictures the sun coming out of its “tent” in the heavens, running his course like a champion, from one end of heaven to the other. Psalm 84 tells us that “the LORD God is a sun and shield”, providing both physical and spiritual light and warmth, then moderating it with some shade and shelter. On this same note, Malachi tells us that one day “the sun of righteousness” will rise. (Mal.4:2) Finally, John tells us that, after a great deal of sun-scorching and pain, those who reach the celestial city “will not need the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light.” (Rev.22:5) In fact, “the city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it.” The sun has at last served its purpose. From now on “there will be no night there.” (Rev.21:23-25)    

"Glory"

      In his video on Sunday, May 31, 2020, Lew Worrad touched on the subject of glorification, quoting 2 Corinthians 3: 7-11, where Paul says, “the ministry that brought death…came with glory, so that the Israelites could not look steadily at the face of Moses because of its glory.” 

      Then Worrad explained the picture of Moses on Mount Sinai (Ex.34:29, 30). Being in God’s presence, he caught some of God’s glory. Back down among the Israelites, that glory faded. 

      Another time when Moses caught that glory was on the Mount of Transfiguration with Jesus and Elijah. Luke tells us (9:31) that they were talking about His “departure”, i.e., His death, which He would accomplish at Jerusalem. The glory was evident to Peter, James, and John (Mark 9:2-4) in the blindingly white garments, “whiter than anyone on earth could bleach them.” There is even a hint in Mark 9:15 that some of that radiance remained, as with Moses in the wilderness—when Jesus and the three disciples came down to join the others, Mark says, the crowds “were overwhelmed with wonder, and ran to greet Him.” There was still something special that drew them to Him. 

      There may even be another place where Moses shows up. Here we go into “sanctified imagination”, but the possibility is there. Remember all the persons who showed up at the tomb after the resurrection? Matthew (28:2) tells us there was an angel, whose “appearance was like lightning.” Mark says (16:5), “they saw a young man dressed in a white robe.” John (20:12-14) mentions two angels and Jesus at the tomb. But what does Luke say (24:4-8)? “Two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them.” And these men mention in some detail Jesus’ death and resurrection. Among all those gathering around the tomb that morning, dare we suspect that these were Moses and Elijah, come to see the results of their talk on the Mount? Jesus had indeed “accomplished” His death, and “accomplished” His resurrection. The only thing left now was His ascension to glory.