by R. Herbert | Oct 30, 2016 | Overcoming, The Life of Jesus
The first three Gospels tell us that after he was baptized, Jesus fasted for forty days and nights in the Judean wilderness and that at that time Satan appeared to him and tried to tempt him (Matthew 4:1-11, Mark 1:12-13, Luke 4:1-13). The three temptations aimed at Christ (to turn stones to bread, to throw himself from the pinnacle of the temple, and to worship Satan) have been interpreted in various ways.
But there is one way in which Jesus’ wilderness temptations can be viewed which is directly grounded in the biblical record – as a reflection of the temptations of ancient Israel in the wilderness. Just as the people of Israel went into the wilderness after their figurative baptism in the Red Sea (1 Corinthians 10:2) and were there forty years, Christ spent forty days in the wilderness (the Bible frequently uses the equivalency principle of a day for a year) and communed with God just as Moses (a type of Christ – Deuteronomy 18:15) did during Israel’s own time of wilderness wandering.
Notice the further important parallels between the two wilderness accounts. First, we see the Israelites gave into temptation regarding their physical desires in not trusting God for bread and their rebellious complaining in the incident where God supplied manna for them to eat because of their lack of faith (Exodus 16:2-3 and Deuteronomy 8:2–4).
We also see the Israelites giving in to the temptation to argue or try to work out God’s plan for them in their own way, when they did not see evidence of God’s presence despite what He had done for them. We see this sin of tempting God repeatedly (Ex. 17:1–7, notice particularly verses 2 and 7 and Deuteronomy 6:16).
Finally, we see the Israelites falling to the temptation to worship something other than God in their bowing down to the golden calf and other idols and pagan gods (Exodus 32:1-4, Deuteronomy 6:13–15).
We know that these three failures of ancient Israel directly paralleled the temptations endured by Christ in the wilderness because Jesus quoted specific references to exactly the same stories from the Book of Deuteronomy in response to each of the three temptations he underwent. Jesus resisted the temptation to turn stones to bread by quoting Deuteronomy 8:3: “… man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord” – which comes from the section of Deuteronomy talking about the Israelites’ sin regarding food. He resisted the temptation to tempt God by throwing himself from the temple pinnacle by quoting from Deuteronomy 6:16, in which Moses rebukes the Israelites for putting God to the test. Finally, he resisted the temptation to worship Satan by quoting from Deuteronomy 6:13-15 – the section faulting the Israelites for worshipping other gods.
In all his temptations in the wilderness, the responses of Jesus – in his words and actions – were directly opposite those of ancient Israel in their failure to handle temptation. In fact, we see in these verses from Deuteronomy the very core of what Jesus’ testing was all about – that the temptation to push God and his way aside and to choose our own desires over his lies at the heart of all temptation. We see this in the temptation to not trust God with our physical needs, the temptation to tempt God regarding the fulfillment of our emotional desires, and the temptation to elevate something other than God in fulfilling our psychological desires.
Falling to these three types of temptation was a mistake that ancient Israel made repeatedly. But Jesus did not make this mistake and overcame Satan’s deliberate and carefully calculated attempts to destroy him. Jesus overcame temptation in the Judean wilderness not only by knowing and quoting precisely relevant scriptures, but also by understanding the nature of temptation and by acting on that knowledge through the power of the Spirit of God. We see this underlying truth in the words of Jesus himself: “By myself I can do nothing; I judge only as I hear, and my judgment is just, for I seek not to please myself but him who sent me” (John 5:30). Unlike the ancient Israelites in the wilderness, Jesus’ response to temptation was based on his desire to please God more than himself.
If, with God’s help, we are to successfully overcome temptation in our own lives, we too must know God’s word, must want to please God more than ourselves, and must understand what lies behind the choices every temptation offers.
by R. Herbert | Oct 23, 2016 | Obedience, Relationships
Have you ever heard the explanation that the meaning of the word “sin” in the Bible is to
“miss the mark”?
To some extent the words translated “sin” in the original Hebrew of the Old Testament can convey this meaning. In the Book of Judges we read of skilled Hebrew fighters and that “Among all these soldiers there were seven hundred select troops who were left-handed, each of whom could sling a stone at a hair and not miss” (Judges 20:16). The word “miss” in this scripture is the same Hebrew word chata often translated “sin.”
But this Hebrew word is by no means limited to the idea of missing the mark. The same word is often translated in many other ways. For example, we find the various forms of this word are translated as: “bear the blame,” “bear the loss,” “bewildered,” “cleanse,” “forfeit,” “indicted,” “miss,” “offended,” “purged,” “purified,” “reach,” and in other ways.
So it is certainly an over-simplification to say that the word sin means to “miss the mark” like an arrow that does not quite hit the bull’s eye of the target. There is another problem with this view. To understand sin as simply “missing the mark” makes it seem almost like not getting a perfect score on a test – to miss the “perfect” mark and only get 85% or perhaps to “only just miss” and to score a 98 or 99% out of 100. Such a view makes sin seem to be a matter of degree – only a problem to the extent we “miss the mark.” It encourages us to think that our failures are perhaps not as bad as those of others. You may well have heard people say “Well, I may do this [smoke, swear, tell “white lies” or whatever], but it is not like I do that [steal, cheat, murder or whatever].” Thinking that sin means essentially to “miss the mark” is to make sin relative and perhaps even reasonable if it is only “slightly less than perfect.”
So is there a better way to understand the concept of sin? If we gather all the instances in which sin is mentioned in the Old Testament (and in which the Hebrew word is clearly talking about sin and not something else), the underlying or common thread between them is perhaps closer to alienation. Sin is that which offends or breaks our relationship with God or with others.
The New Testament shows us clearly that anything that breaks the law of God is sin (1 John 3:4) – regardless of “degree” – and it is interesting to notice that the first time sin (chata) is specifically mentioned in the Bible we find a parallel definition: “If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it” (Genesis 4:7). Here we see sin is simply not doing what is right.
The earliest example of sin – even if the word is not used there – is of course the Garden of Eden story where Adam and Eve are shown to have cut themselves off from God through their sinful behavior (Genesis 3:6-8). This aspect of separation is nowhere made clearer than in the Book of Isaiah: “But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear” (Isaiah 59:2).
So it can be a mistake to think of sin as merely missing the mark. Our unrepented sins cut us off from God no matter how small they may be, and sin always affects our relationships with others in some way. To see sin as simply to “miss the mark” may be to miss the point – “missing the mark” misses the fact that sin separates and ultimately breaks relationships. Sin is never relative, abstract or impersonal – it is always absolute, concrete and personal. That is why we should not think of sin as simply missing something. It is breaking something that we need to take to God to forgive and fix.
by R. Herbert | Oct 16, 2016 | Giving
Sometimes very small gifts can have very great effects. News media occasionally carry stories about rich people making extensive philanthropic gifts to charity – some of which are in the amounts of millions or even billions of dollars. But what would you think if you heard of a pitifully small amount of cash given to a good cause that ended up outweighing even the greatest donations of the very rich?
I’m thinking, of course, about the story of the widow’s “mite.” It’s a story every Christian who has read the New Testament knows, but it’s a story that contains more than we often realize. Both the Gospels of Mark and Luke (Mark 12:41-44, Luke 21:1-4) tell the story of when Jesus saw a poor widow contributing two small “lepta” – the smallest coins in ancient Judea – to the Temple treasury. Jesus told his disciples: “… Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others…” (Mark 12:43).
We know the poor woman’s gift was more than everyone else had given because she gave more proportionately, giving all she had. But her tiny gift was also perhaps literally more than all the others had given that day. How could this be?
Think about the rain. A single rain drop cannot accomplish much, but if it is the first drop of a downpour it can be the initiator of a flooding rain. The widow’s tiny coins may have been insignificant of themselves, but they have inspired generations of individuals to give for over two thousand years. In fact, the total amount given as a result of that “drop” may well be many times more than all the money cast into the Temple treasury through all of the Temple’s history.
Going back to our analogy, rains begin when microscopic water particles condense. When one or two tiny droplets fall, they join with others and become larger and they also bump and jostle other droplets into falling, too. Our small efforts may do likewise. Sometimes even a single drop of rain waters a tiny seedling and makes a difference. Even if our giving does not result in a rainstorm of similar actions, it may still have an effect.
It is often said that we should give, but give wisely. Usually people think that means if we are giving lots of money, we should be careful how we give it. But even if we do not have much to give, it is important to give with careful thought. If our contributions are of necessity small, we can often enlarge their effect by how or where we give.
We do this by thinking how can we give in ways that will inspire and encourage others to give – or inspire and encourage those doing the work that we are trying to support. Like the widow’s tiny coins, the total value of even the smallest gift may be far greater than the gift itself.
by Staff | Oct 9, 2016 | God, Relationships, Updates
We are very happy to announce that our latest free e-book is now available for download.
How We See Things looks at the way we see physical things, ourselves, others and God – and shows that how we see things affects every aspect of our Christian lives.
You do not need to have an e-book reader to enjoy our books – the PDF version can be read on any computer – though you also have the option to download Kindle and Nook or ePub formats if you wish.
Like all our e-books, you do not need to register or give an email address to download How We See Things – just click on the download link and it’s yours!
You can download this free new e-book here.
by Staff | Oct 6, 2016 | Updates
Watch this space!
Our latest free e-book is scheduled for publication at the beginning of next week.
How We See Things: A Christian Perspective gives an unusual and perhaps unique look at the way we see physical things, ourselves, others and God – and shows that how we see things affects every aspect of our Christian lives.
Like all our e-books you will be able to choose the format of your choice: PDF to read on any computer, as well as Kindle and Nook (ePub) formats for use on all major e-book readers. Check back in a few days and download a copy while they are fresh from the digital press!
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