Useless Labels

Calvinist. Arminian. Premillennialist. Amillennialist. Pre-tribulationalist. Preterist. Dispensationalist. Complementarian. Credobaptist. Fundamentalist. Zionist. Anti-Zionist. Reformed. Cessationist. Charismatic. Liberal. Progressive. Creationist. Evangelical. Pelagian. Covenantalist.

I subscribe to none of these and I'm finding more and more that broad theological labels are useless. They are used to put others (or ourselves) into boxes, to summarize sometimes complicated points of view, but the main issue is that with a lot of these, is that the meaning of them is subjective. Some of them are straight-forward, sure, like 'pre-millennialist'...the belief that mankind is currently living in a period of time BEFORE the millennial reign of Jesus. Or how about 'cessationist'...the belief that the spiritual gifts (prophecy, healing, speaking in tongues, etc) ended with the Apostles. Fairly straight-forward. But many of these have ceased to be useful terms. 'Dispensationalist' for example - you see many different definitions of this. Some people mean that label as saying that God has dealt with mankind differently at different times/dispensations. Other argue that no, the actual hallmark of dispensationalism is the idea that God has two plans of salvation, one for the Jew and one for the Gentile. To the first definition, plenty of theological systems argue that God dealt with people at different ways at different times... 'Zionist' is another one -- it seemingly means something different to everyone who uses it. Same with 'evangelical'. Politically liberal folks use the label to mean 'anyone that is politically conservative that goes to Church'.

There are other gods.

Just finished "Supernatural" by Michael Heiser. I had read "Unseen Realm" a couple of years ago, but wanted a quick refresher and Supernatural seemed perfect for that. The same thought occurred to me this time around, as last time around:

How hollow is first commandment of "Thou Shalt have no other Gods before me" if there are not actually any other gods?

God is 'Yahweh Elohim', literally, "God of Gods"...but the Bible uses 'elohim' all over the place, not referring to God. I don't agree with Heiser on everything, but there is a lot I agree with him on - I particularly like his presentation of the two-part Yahweh idea and also the way he unpacks the 'Deuteronomy 32 worldview', which in my opinion, is critical for an accurate understanding of what all of Scripture is saying. Quick read, good short summary of Unseen Realm, highly recommend.

US Being Forced Towards Totalitarianism

The current lay of the land is that one side is trying to eliminate, by any non-violent (so far) means necessary, their political opponent from the Presidential ballot. The Supreme Court has pretty much squashed their overt attempt to eliminate him from the ballot, but they have other projects on-going, including specious legal proceedings with the hopes of imprisoning Trump before the election rolls around in November. The other side of the aisle really doesn't inspire much confidence either; whether it was an insurrection or not, at least some portion of the Republican party is OK with illegally entering the capitol building and causing mayhem. Former President Trump leaves a lot to be desired when it comes to ethics and conduct as well. His constant personal attacks on anyone who shows any kind of disloyalty to him, including members of his own party, is disturbing, petty and not becoming of the office he seeks.

These aren't the concerning things though...the concerning thing is how vile and frothy the rhetoric between the parties has gotten. Everything is now a 'threat to democracy' and 'must be stopped'. One side accuses the other side of acting like a dictator and imagining, out-loud, any number of absolutely absurd scenarios that will play out should the 'other guy' get elected. What we are experiencing now, as a country, is equivalent to a fish-tailing car that is out of control. Attempts to regain control are only causing the car to veer even farther in one direction and then the other...ultimately, this will end when one party does something unthinkable...but the problem with that is that once it happens, there's no going back. Pandora doesn't get put back in the box; once chaos is unleashed, it can't be reversed.

I don't know which party will do it. I can see scenarios for both sides. All I know is that one of them will because no one is willing to slow the car down. It careens forward, out of control, with no cooler heads to prevail. We The People is crumbling from the inside - and once the fuse is lit, it is only a matter of time before the bomb explodes. Things change slowly until they change quickly. Out of a sense of self-righteousness and with a call to 'save the Republic', one of the parties is going to over-step the boundary...and the country will fall into chaos as a result.

This is what I see - I hope I'm wrong.

Saved by Grace...Which is Not of Yourselves

I've been thinking about Ephesians 2:8-9 a lot lately. I think we're reading it wrong - and the equation presented there has consequently been misunderstood.

"But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our wrongdoings, made us alive together with Christ, and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come He might show the boundless riches of His grace in kindness towards us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith; and this is not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them." - Ephesians 2:4-10 NASB

I think Paul is commenting on two separate things here - grace and faith, not equating the two, and the order of the language he uses is what ultimately confuses. In checking several versions of Ephesians 2:8, some of them use a comma as in "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith" and some use none, as in the NASB translation above. I think that comma is critical. If I were to re-write it, I think this is what Paul is saying:

For you are saved by grace and this is not of yourselves so that no one can boast; and faith is involved, but God does not save people on the basis of their works, it is His choice alone.

Beloved on account of the Patriarchs

Twitter/X is simultaneously wonderful and terrible and if you've spent any time on that app, you know what I'm talking about. What has been bewildering to me over the several days, however, is how many Western Christians I see who are either openly antisemitic or who are espousing supercessionist theology...that either God has given up on the Jewish people or that somehow the Church has replaced Israel...and that because of that, what happens to Israel is just simply the fruit of their disobedience or "just another conflict".

Here is the verse that's been on my mind this morning:

"As far as the gospel is concerned, they [non-believing Jews] are enemies for your sake; but in relation to God's choice they are beloved/dearly loved because of the solemn promises made to the patriarchs [Abraham, Isaac and Jacob]. Indeed, God's gracious gifts and his choice are irrevocable. Just as you Gentiles at one time were disobedient to God, but at the present time have been shown mercy as a result of their disobedience, so these Jews, too, at the present time, have become disobedient as a result of the mercy extended to yo, so that in the end they, too, may themselves be shown mercy." Romans 11:28-31

It is easy to miss the significance of what is happening in Israel right now...and I'm not talking about eschatology or anything like that. I don't believe these are end-times events. What I am talking about is that what is happening now is quickly becoming a type of litmus test. It is revealing what is in the hearts of men. Do we acknowledge that Israel REMAINS BELOVED of God, and that we, the Gentile church, has been grafted in to the promises and calling made to the Patriarchs of Israel, or are we ignorant of this mystery and arrogant about our position with God? Do not forget the sobering words of the covenant made with Abraham:

"I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse." (Genesis 12:3)

Jerusalem and Israel are at the center of God's work in the world. What happens there matters. Let us continue to pray for the people who are suffering - who have lost family members and friends, and who are living in fear.

A War of Worldviews

I saw an interesting tweet this morning - having to do with the new outbreak of war happening in the Middle East between Israel and Palestine:

In the midst of any new conflict, it is difficult to discern what is happening - and with something like this, a conflict that has been boiling on the front burner for 75 years and on the back burner for millennia, it can be messy to try and figure out what's happening. However, what Harrison's tweet gets at is what really lies behind the news of the day. For Christians especially, this is important to consider. Israel is STILL God's people - Jesus himself was a Jew and it would not be a stretch to say that this attack by Hamas is an attack on Jesus' kinsman. The real battle, in the background behind everything else, is the battle between God and Satan. Our response, in light of these events, ought to be prayer...it is a reminder of what is to come, perhaps in the not-so-distant future. Here are two things on my mind over the past few days - one is a prayer from the Amidah, the central prayer book of the Jewish people. The other is a recent address by Dalton Thomas of Frontier Alliance International (FAI). It's a provoking talk. I'm not sure I agree with everything he says, but it underscores the significance of these days and times.

Prayer 14

Return in mercy to Jerusalem your city, and dwell in it as you have promised

Rebuild it soon in our day as an eternal structure

and quickly set up in it the throne of David

Blessed are you, O Lord, who rebuilds Jerusalem

Dalton Thomas Message: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q0m7iW0WtkA

The Sacrificial System and Why it Matters

A couple of years ago, I listened to a series of four teachings by Dan Lancaster (from the organization First Fruits of Zion, FFOZ) entitled, "What About the Sacrifices?" It is a deep dive into the sacrificial system from Leviticus, looking at all of the various elements of it, and attempting to help us 21st century folks understand it better. I would bet that most of us, myself included, have heard very little about the sacrificial system from our pulpits, and that our understanding of it is shallow at best. About a year ago, I came across a book entitled "Jesus and the Forces of Death" and again, it dealt heavily with the sacrificial system, with an emphasis on the ancient Israelite understandings of clean/unclean and pure/impure. Very recently I have found myself in conversations about this topic again and so as I am prone to do, I want to write out what I've learned so that I am clear in my own mind about the details of the system as well as the importance I feel there is in understanding the sacrificial system as a modern Gentile.

First - there are a few different types of sacrifices:

• The 'Old Offerings' - 'Old' here is meant to denote those offerings which were happening before the construction of the tabernacle/temple. These offerings were typically made at individual altars (for example Exodus 20:22-24) prior to the building of the tabernacle/temple:
  
  
• Burnt Offering (Korban Olah) - this is a voluntary (typically) sacrifice brought on the part of the worshipper who wishes to show complete devotion to God; it could also be an appeal for forgiveness or favor; it is the equivalent of presenting a gift to God. No part of the animal was reserved for consumption as in other sacrifices.
  
  
• Grain Offering - this is sometimes referred to as the 'cereal' offering or even the 'meat' offering, even though meat doesn't mean the same thing as we mean it today, it just referred to the 'meat' of the grain, which was the best part. This is a remembrance offering, or a memorial offering if you will. It is to remember the covenant made at Mount Sinai between God and Israel. Some of it was to be dedicated to God, but some of it is to be consumed by the worshipper, and some part of it was to be for the priests. It is a ceremonial meal offering of sorts, a literal communion with God. Read about all of the stipulations in Leviticus 2.