Thinking the Thoughts

Thinking the Thoughts

by | Jun 24, 2018 | God

“How great are your works, LORD, how profound your thoughts!” (Psalm 92:5).
 
Although we may be more used to offering praise to God for his deeds rather than his thoughts, Psalm 92:5 shows that both are, indeed, worthy of our praise.   But what exactly are the thoughts of God? While that may sound like an abstruse philosophical question, another psalm gives us a concrete example of what God thinks about:

“Many, O LORD my God, are Your wonderful works which You have done; and Your thoughts toward us cannot be recounted to You in order; if I would declare and speak of them, they are more than can be numbered” (Psalm 40:5 NKJV, emphasis added).

In this psalm, David also speaks about the works and thoughts of God; but in this verse he stresses an important aspect of those thoughts by telling us that they are “toward us” (ESV, NKJV, etc.), in other words, about us and regarding us – for our benefit and good.  And David also tells us that God’s thoughts about us are so extensive they cannot be numbered. 

Another verse that ties directly to this concept is one we know well – Jeremiah 29:11. Although this verse is frequently translated “For I know the plans I have for you ….” (Jeremiah 29:11 NIV, etc.), it uses the same Hebrew word, machashebeth, that is translated “thoughts” in the scriptures we have quoted from the Psalms – and it is translated that way in versions such as the NKJV: “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.” Machshebeth is also translated “thought” by the NIV and by many other versions in verses such as “…On that day thoughts will come into your mind” (Ezekiel 38:10, etc.).

The Scriptures tell us quite a lot about the thoughts of God, and much of what they say stresses the fact that he has innumerable thoughts “toward” or about us and for our good.  Now, if we believe we are to strive to learn and live the character of God in this life (Matthew 5:48), to become more like him in every way we can (Ephesians 5:1), to think like him (Philippians 2:5, etc.), we might well look with particular interest at what these verses say. If, as David tells us, God’s thoughts toward us cannot be counted, we might want to ask how many of our thoughts are toward others, for their benefit.  
 
This is not a small question.  You may have heard the expression “out of sight, out of mind,” and as we go about our normal every-day lives it is true that we naturally spend most of our time thinking about our own work, needs, problems, goals, etc.  The fact is, we have to train our minds to consistently think about others and their needs.  Most of us certainly do not have “innumerable” thoughts about others; but if we desire to become more like God, that should be our goal.  The more we love others, the more we think about them. That is why God’s thoughts for us cannot be numbered, and why we should be thinking more and more about others.

Although this idea is not as directly expressed in the New Testament, it lies behind several statements we read there. For example, the apostle Paul tells us: “Brothers and sisters, stop thinking like children. In regard to evil be infants, but in your thinking be adults” (1 Corinthians 14:20).  In the context in which this verse occurs (speaking in tongues), it is clear that Paul is discussing thinking about how we should strive to profit others rather than just elevate ourselves through our gifts (vss. 19-21).

Paul talks more about thought and thinking than any other New Testament writer, but it is sometimes easy to miss his point.  When he tells us: “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things” (Philippians 4:8), he is not just talking about praiseworthy things, but about praiseworthy goals and behaviors.

The apostle Peter writes something similar in his second epistle: “Dear friends, this is now my second letter to you. I have written both of them as reminders to stimulate you to wholesome thinking” (2 Peter 3:1).  These exhortations go beyond just thinking thoughts about positive uplifting things – they are urging us to use our minds to think thoughts like God does. The examples we saw in the Old Testament show we should be  thinking frequently and consistently about others –  about how we can encourage, uphold, help, and serve them.
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We know that Christians should be “walking the walk” as well as “talking the talk.” We should also remind ourselves that we should be “thinking the thoughts” –  not just positive, uplifting thoughts, but concrete, real, and continual thoughts about others and how we can help them.

Does God Create Evil?

Does God Create Evil?

by | Jun 17, 2018 | Difficult Scriptures, God

 “I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things” (Isaiah 45:7 KJV).

In the King James version of the Bible quoted above, this verse from the Book of Isaiah is one that has puzzled countless people over the centuries since that translation was made.  If God is good, we might naturally ask, how can he create evil?  But three lines of evidence show that the KJV translation is not accurate in this instance and must be revised in order to properly understand what Isaiah wrote.  We will look at the three factors individually.

First, the Hebrew word ra translated “evil” in the KJV of Isaiah 45:7 can mean moral evil, and it is often rightly translated that way in the Old Testament; but the word also has the meanings of physical adversity, calamity, disaster, injury, ruin, or even misery.  So while evil is a possible translation in Isaiah 45:7, it is only one of many and we must look at the immediate context of the scripture and the context of the whole Bible to see which meaning would be most appropriate in this verse.

Second, the immediate context of Isaiah 45:7 indicates that Isaiah did not have moral evil in mind when he composed this verse. Chapter 45 has a clear context in which God says he rewards obedience (for example, vss. 8, 17) and punishes disobedience, rebellion and sin (for example, vss. 9, 16). This immediate context makes it far more likely that Isaiah 45:7 is using the Hebrew word ra in the sense of calamity or disaster that comes upon the wicked as a result of their own actions. We can see this in the exact wording of the verse –  notice how “light and darkness” (two direct opposites) are compared with “peace and evil.” But evil is not the opposite of peace – this second pair of words should clearly be “peace and calamity.”

Finally, everything we are told throughout the Bible about the goodness and righteousness of God indicates that God does not himself create that which is wrong or morally evil.  The prophet Habakkuk tells us of God: “Your eyes are too pure to look on evil” (Habakkuk 1:13); the Psalms tell us: “The LORD is upright…there is no wickedness in him” (Psalm 92:15); Isaiah himself tells us that “Those who walk righteously … shut their eyes against contemplating evil” (Isaiah 33:15).  These and a great many other biblical verses show that God clearly does not and cannot contemplate evil.

The fact that the Hebrew word translated “evil” has many other meanings, the fact that the immediate context of Isaiah 45:7 is one of the calamity of punishment for sin rather than the creation of moral evil, and the fact that the Bible is consistent in showing that God does not even look at evil all indicate that it is not moral evil that God creates, but the punishment that comes as a result of sin. 

That is why English translations made since the King James was translated in 1611 have almost all chosen to translate the Hebrew ra not as “evil” but with a word reflecting some kind of punishment. The New International Version, for example, translates the word “disaster,” as does the Holman Bible. The English Standard Version translates it “calamity,” as does the New King  James Version, which brings the English of the King James Version up to date.  God does not ever directly create evil, though he creates beings that may of their own free will turn to evil and bring punishment upon themselves. 

The Other Side of Honesty

The Other Side of Honesty

by | Jun 10, 2018 | Character

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We might not often think of it this way, but honesty has two sides – an “outside” and an “inside.” Honesty isn’t just about what we tell others, it is also about what we tell ourselves. In other words, full honesty is not only speaking the truth to others, but also speaking the truth to oneself.

Psychologists know that these are separate activities. We can deceive others while not deceiving ourselves in some situations, but we can also deceive ourselves (while not always deceiving others) at other times. The Bible contains many verses based on this truth.  We tend to notice and remember those scriptures which speak about telling the truth on the “outside” –  as when the apostle Paul wrote: “… each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to your neighbor …” (Ephesians 4:25), but we may not always notice the distinction when scriptures talk about telling the truth on the “inside.”

Consider an example from the Old Testament.  In Psalm 15 David asks the question, “Who can dwell with God?” and begins his answer by saying: “He who walks blamelessly and does what is right and speaks truth in his heart” (Psalm 15:2, emphasis added here and throughout).  Although the New International Version translates the final part of this verse as “who speaks the truth from their heart,” the preposition used in the Hebrew Bible means “in,” and this translation is followed by almost all other modern versions (ESV, NKJV, HCSB, NASB, NET, ISV, etc.).  The International Standard Version translates this verse with particular clarity: “The one who lives with integrity, who does righteous deeds, and who speaks truth to himself.”

This need to speak truth on the inside is the underlying meaning behind many other scriptures in the Old Testament, such as Psalm 51:6: “Behold, You desire truth in the innermost being …” and Proverbs 23:7: “For as he thinks in his heart, so is he…” (NKJV). But how do we speak honestly to ourselves, or perhaps more precisely, how do we not speak dishonestly on the inside?  Here are four points we should keep in mind:

1) Know yourself.  We may know it intellectually, but we must continually remind ourselves that the Bible clearly teaches that the mind and its underlying human nature is not intrinsically good (Jeremiah 17:9, etc.).   Our first reactions are so often wrong ones, and then our minds may take over to justify them.  Speaking truth within ourselves begins with understanding ourselves (Lamentations 3:40, Psalm 19:12).

2) Don’t avoid inner conversations you need to have. We have all heard the words “I don’t want to talk about it” or “I don’t want to think about it,” but speaking truth to ourselves often means not allowing ourselves to avoid the inner working-through we need to do regarding problems we do not want to face. As Christians we know that God often directs our “conscience” through his Spirit (John 16:13), but we cannot speak truth to ourselves or follow the Spirit’s guidance if we are avoiding truthful “conversations” that should occur.

3) Don’t allow divisions between what you say outwardly and inwardly.  Whenever we find we are thinking something different from what we are saying out loud, we need to stop and assess the situation carefully. Most of us are deceiving ourselves in small ways every day, and we can only overcome this pattern through constant vigilance.  Divisions between what we say and think – outside and inside honesty –  create psychological dissonance and put us in the position of being what the Bible calls a “double minded” person (James 1:8; 4:8).

4) Police your personal narrative. We have to separate ourselves from the narrative we construct about why we do what we do if we are to speak to ourselves truthfully and be able to grow and overcome our own nature. This involves not only being conscious of what we’re doing, but also asking ourselves why we’re doing it. Most of us have internalized a number of rationalizations about various aspects of our behavior, but anytime we find ourselves feeling that we are too old, too busy, too sick, too poor, too tired, or anything else that stops us doing what we know we should do, we need to “pull over” our own attitude and examine our own excuses. Likewise, whenever we do what is not right because we feel we owe it to ourselves, others are doing it, it’s only a small sin, we are just weak, or whatever, we need to police ourselves also.  Perhaps the greatest part of spiritual growth involves assessing, and if necessary rejecting, our own rationalizations.

Ultimately, learning to speak the truth to ourselves is a never-ceasing process that underlies spiritual growth itself.  Being honest with ourselves is a daily, hourly, and even minute-by-minute endeavor, but don’t let that fact ever discourage you –  it just means that being honest with ourselves reaps constant, ongoing benefits and rewards.

Safe House: The Story of Rahab

Safe House: The Story of Rahab

by | Jun 3, 2018 | Women of Strength

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“Then Joshua son of Nun secretly sent two spies …‘Go, look over the land,’ he said, ‘especially Jericho.’ So they went and entered the house of a prostitute named Rahab and stayed there  (Joshua 2:1).

In this ancient spy story, whatever else the two spies did in Canaan is not disclosed (if this were a modern intelligence report, the information might have been redacted!), but the Bible tells us the spies came to the house of the prostitute Rahab.  Perhaps God led them there because He was willing to save this woman of faith, but it is also possible that her house which was “on” or “in” the great wall of the city (some ancient “casemate” walls contained rooms in which people lived) was actually an inn. This tradition is mentioned by the 1st century historian Josephus, as it was not uncommon for inns to function as brothels in the ancient world. In any event, the spies came to the house of Rahab and were hidden there from the king of Jericho who was searching for them.  This was, as one-time CIA director Allen Dulles remarked, the first known “safe house” for spies in history – and it proved, of course, to be the only “safe” house when Israel destroyed the city!

The story of the Canaanite woman Rahab and her house is an interesting account at a number of levels – not least that of understanding the right kind of faith that we should all have. Rahab is included in Hebrews 11, the Bible’s “Faith Hall of Fame” chapter, for this specific quality: “By faith the harlot Rahab did not perish with those who did not believe, when she had received the spies with peace” (Hebrews 11:31, NKJV).

But we might question here exactly how Rahab exercised faith.  Certainly she believed that God was with the Israelites, but the Biblical account makes it clear that most of the inhabitants of Jericho felt exactly the same way.  Notice what Rahab told the spies:

“I know that the Lord has given you this land and that a great fear of you has fallen on us, so that all who live in this country are melting in fear because of you. We have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea for you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to Sihon and Og, the two kings of the Amorites east of the Jordan, whom you completely destroyed … for the Lord your God is God in heaven above and on the earth below” (Joshua 2:9-11 and see also Joshua 5:1).

Clearly, the inhabitants of Jericho had human faith in the fact that God was with the Israelites. So what made Rahab different?  From the perspective of Jericho she was just a traitor who sided with the enemy, but from the perspective of the Bible it was precisely her actions to save the Israelite spies that made her faith real.  The other inhabitants of Jericho had the same information she had, but they reacted differently to the same knowledge. Once the Israelite army reached Jericho we see the people of Jericho’s reaction: “Now the gates of Jericho were securely barred because of the Israelites. No one went out and no one came in” (Joshua 6:1).

Rahab not only protected and helped the spies when they were with her, but also exactly followed the command she was given to distinguish her house by a piece of red cloth (Joshua 2:18-19), perhaps symbolic of atoning sacrifice and certainly reminiscent of the Passover placing of blood on the houses to be spared (Exodus 12:13).  Her actions may have been simple ones, but they contrast starkly with those of the other inhabitants of Jericho: while they hardened their attitudes and shut themselves in, Rahab reached out and was obedient to what she was told to do. 

It is not that Rahab was physically saved by “works,” but by working faith – belief that was active – as Hebrews says: “Rahab did not perish with those who did not believe.”  Joshua 5:1 and Joshua 2:9-11 show that the other inhabitants did believe, but not with full, active belief – which is what Hebrews must mean. Unlike her believing but fearful neighbors (James 2:19: “…the devils also believe, and tremble”), Rahab believed with an active belief that was complete in its expression of obedience, and her story stands as a lasting example of faith that works as opposed to empty belief without action.

What became of Rahab? She evidently married Salmon – one of the two spies she had saved – and through him became one of the ancestors of  Joseph, adoptive father of Jesus (Matthew 1:5).  Her active faith not only enabled her to physically save the spies, her family and herself, but also to include her in the genealogy of the One who would enable the salvation of us all.

* This post was first published on our sister site, LivingWithFaith.org on 2/4/2014.