Tag Archives: Kingdom of God

Rethinking the Interpretation

08 Monday May 2023

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Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay

Hello!  Welcome to another week and another post on Renaissance Woman!

This week I am continuing in my study on the Parable of the Wheat and the Tares found in Matthew Chapter 13 verses 24-30 and the explanation of said parable found in verses 36-43 of the same Chapter.  The explanation of the parable as given by Jesus is this (beginning in verse 37): “He answered and said to them: ‘He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man.  The field is the world, the good seeds are the sons of the kingdom, but the tares are the sons of the wicked one.  The enemy who sowed them is the devil, the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are the angels.  Therefore as the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of this age.  The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those who practice lawlessness, and will cast them into the furnace of fire.  There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth.  Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father.  He who has ears to hear, let him hear!’”

This explanation is interpreted by most Christian denominations as a description of some far off end of time when Jesus returns to earth.  Then the believers will be separated from the unbelievers with the believers going to heaven and the unbelievers go into everlasting torment.  I can see where this interpretation comes from, especially for those of us who grew up reading the King James Version where the passage about the harvest is translated into English as “the harvest is the end of the world” instead of translating it as “the harvest is the end of the age” as a great many more modern translations have it.  I covered “the end of the age” in last week’s post so will only reiterate Jesus’ birth, life, death, resurrection, and ascension was a definitive end of an age.  With the pouring out of the Holy Spirit, the age of the New Covenant began.  I don’t see there is any reason to push off into some vague future the explanation and promises given by Jesus regarding this parable.

There is also no need to think of the “angels” mentioned in Jesus’ explanation as celestial beings.  The Greek word is aggelos (G32) and means simply “messenger”.  Any person who comes to someone bearing a message from another is an angel.  Bike messengers could be called “bike angels” and it wouldn’t be misusing the word.  That is not to say the “angels” who appear throughout scripture are not sometimes celestial beings but I am saying we should take care and not assume what a passage of scripture is saying.  The pictures formed in our minds will take root and produce fruit.  They will affect how we see ourselves, how we see others, and how we behave toward others.  Therefore, we must take great care as we seek to interpret and understand passages.

For example; the Book of Revelation contains an angel that is not a celestial being.  This angel has guided John through all of his visions and John writes; “Now I, John saw and heard these things.  And when I heard and saw, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel who showed me these things.  Then he said to me, ‘See that you do not do that.  For I am your fellow servant, and of your brethren the prophets, and of those who keep the words of this book.  Worship God’” (Rev. 22:8-9).  “That’s all well and good,” you might be thinking, “but that’s Revelation and we’re talking about Matthew”.  And you would be correct.  However, it is important that we compare any interpretation of scripture with other passages of scripture.  If there is a conflict or a contradiction, then we must rethink our interpretation.

I find this parable and its explanation are compared to other scriptures when those interpreting it are insisting the wheat and tares are two different types of people and that “burned in the fire” means everlasting torment in hell.  What I do not find is this parable and explanation being compared to other scriptures in a positive Christ-alive-in-us now affirming way.  What if we look at this parable and its explanation in comparison with the words of Jesus in John 4:35-38?

The passage in John says, “Do you not say, ‘There are still four months and then comes the harvest’?  Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest!  And he who reaps receives wages, and gathers fruit for eternal life, that both he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together.  For in this the saying is true: ‘One sows and another reaps.’  I sent you to reap that for which you have not labored; others have labored, and you have entered into their labors.”

Matthew’s gospel records Jesus saying “The harvest truly is plentiful but the laborers are few.  Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest” (Mat. 9:37-38).  These words were spoken by Jesus to His disciples just before He sent them to the house of Israel and told them to preach “the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.”

The message I hear proclaimed as the gospel today is “repent, believe Jesus died for your sins, and you will get to go to heaven when you die.”  There is some truth to this but then there was some truth to the Lie told by the Serpent in the Garden of Eden and accepting that lie brought death to all of mankind.  I encourage everyone to look for yourself and try to find any passage anywhere that says “go to heaven when you die.”  John 3:5 does say, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.”  There is nothing here about needing to die before entering the kingdom.  I have heard some say that being born again means your place in heaven is reserved for after death but that contradicts other passages of scripture.

Matthew 5:3 says, “Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”  Luke 17:20b-21 records Jesus saying, “The Kingdom of God does not come with observation; nor will they say, ‘See here!’ or ‘See there!’ For indeed the Kingdom of God is within you.”  The Apostle Paul describes the Kingdom of God as “righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit” (Romans 14:17).  (There is the question which asks whether the Kingdom of Heaven and the Kingdom of God are the same thing: I’ve shared two articles below.  I encourage you to ask that question and seek the answer for yourself) The Bible is clear.  The message was “the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand” and with the pouring out of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, it IS ours NOW!  I encourage everyone to ask the Holy Spirit to open the eyes of your understanding and then read the New Testament paying close attention to everything it says is ours In Christ now.  Today.     

 I recently came across a book titled The Rapture Exposed by Barbara R. Rossing.  In her first chapter, Ms. Rossing writes, “To be sure, God’s presence in our world is often difficult to see.  We live in an in-between time-the time between the “already” of Jesus’ life, death and resurrection and the “not yet” of his second Coming” (Rossing, Page 12).  The New Testament is also clear that all that Jesus did for us by His life, death, and resurrection has resulted in a glorious inheritance of which the Holy Spirit is the down payment (Ephesians 1:14).  But what a down payment He is!

What are the limits to this down payment?  Are we bound by the interpretation we have been subjected to of both this Parable and Jesus’ explanation?  This interpretation tells you the wheat and tares growing in the same field is just the state of things until Jesus returns, there is no harvest until then, the reapers are the angels-meaning celestial beings-and all we can do is wait for the day when we (hopefully) will be gathered into the barn and everyone who is a tare will be burned in hell for all eternity.  What if the New Testament is telling us the truth and we can grow up into Him who is the head?  What if we truly are being transformed by the renewing of our minds and are, now, being transformed into His image from glory to glory?  

I plan to continue to look at this parable and its explanation next week.  I hope this post has encouraged to you question everything you have been taught about this parable and its explanation.  I pray for all of you and for myself that we would not be cheated of our reward by those who delight in false humility and worship of angels and who intrude into those things which they have not seen, being vainly puffed up by their fleshly minds (Colossians 2:18).  Let us all ask the Holy Spirit to open our eyes that we would explore the unsearchable riches of Christ and that we would see we have boldness and access with confidence to the Father through our faith in Jesus.  May we each one be strengthened in our inner man (or woman!) that we may be able to comprehend what is the width and length and depth and height of everything that is ours in Christ Jesus.  Let us each one know the love of Christ which passes knowledge and may we each one be filled (now!) with the fullness of God.  (See Ephesians 3:8-19).

Those who have ears to hear, let them hear!

Unless noted otherwise, all Scriptures are quoted from The Holy Bible, New King James Version, Thomas Nelson Publishers, Nashville, Tennessee, 1982

References

The Comparative Study Bible, The Zondervan Corporation, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1984

Rossing, Barbara R., The Rapture Exposed, Basic Books, Perseus Books Group, New York, New York, 2004, Page 12

Strong, James, LL,D., S.T.D., The New Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, Thomas Nelson Publishers, Nashville, Tennessee, 1990

Continued Reading

Are the Kingdom of God and the Kingdom of Heaven the same?

The Difference Between the Kingdom of God and the Kingdom of Heaven (steppesoffaith.com)

Are the Kingdom of God and Kingdom of Heaven the same? | NeverThirsty

Who was John Darby?

John Nelson Darby | Christian History | Christianity Today

Rapture Doctrine invented by John Darby in 1830 AD (bible.ca)

Times of Harvest

01 Monday May 2023

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Image by Gerald Friedrich from Pixabay

Hello and welcome-or welcome back-to Renaissance Woman where, this week, I continue to look at the Parable of the Wheat and the Tares.

This parable is found in Matthew 13:24-30.  This same chapter of Matthew records Jesus giving an explanation of the parable in verses 37-43.  I asked several questions in last week’s post and the one I am focusing on this week is what did Jesus mean when He said the harvest is at the end of the age?  There are two main interpretations of this parable in Christian circles and both say the “end of the age” as recorded in verse 39 is referencing a future date when Jesus returns and His angels reap.  I disagree.  For one thing, I don’t agree the wheat and the tares are referring to two different types of people because there is no possibility of conversion between wheat and tare: one cannot become the other.  Knowing this, it makes no sense that the call made by both Jesus and John the Baptist is “Metanoia!” which means “Think differently!” or “Change your mind!”.  I agree with the interpretation of this parable by Dora Van Assen shared by J. Preston Eby in his The Firstfruits, The Harvest, and the Vintage article which I have linked below.

Ms. Van Assen points out that the wheat and the tares did not convert one another and then says she “saw this was not a parable on soul-saving, nor was it an exhortation to scare the heathen or sinning Christians in the church into a conversion, but it was a parable dealing with the inner thought life of the believer himself.”  She goes on to say that the context of the parable shows that Jesus was uttering things which have been kept secret from the foundation of the world (Mat. 13:35) and then says she believes this parable is a picture of what happened in the Garden of Eden.  God created mankind and said they were very good but then the enemy enters the garden and sows seeds of the Lie in the minds of our ancestors.  The owner of the field does not allow the bad seed to be yanked out of the ground but rather lets both grow together in the same field, lest the good seed be damaged and the fruit of it lost.  Thus was and has been the state of the carnal mind throughout the generations. Ms. Van Assen says, “The harvest reveals what sort of seed was planted in our earth, and how they have matured in areas of our lives.  Only the mature know the difference!  And only by harvest conditions can the Lord bring the separation.” 

Mr. Eby is quoting Ms. Van Assen’s interpretation within the context of Revelation 14:15-16 and says, “When the Son of man as the crowned Reaper sends His sickle into the earth, all things will have come to full maturity.  The age has witnessed the sowing and growth and development of the Son of man, and also the sowing of the adversary, and there has been no conclusive divine dealing on earth to make manifest the judgment of God as to what has resulted.  But the harvest is the end of the age!”

What Mr. Eby is saying here makes perfect sense because who can deny there doesn’t appear to have been any sort of definitive harvest.  History records great and terrible evils done since Jesus’ birth, death, resurrection, and ascension so it follows that the “end of the age” in Matthew 13:39 is referring to some future date.  However, I have found there is enough evidence that the “end of the age” in this passage is referring to the age that ended with Jesus’ death, resurrection, ascension, and the giving of the Holy Spirit.  There are two passages in the book of Hebrews that come to mind. The first is Hebrews 1:1-2 which states, “God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds.”

The Greek word translated as “worlds” in this passage is aion (G165) and means “an age.”  This is a complicated word in the way it has been translated throughout the Bible and is one of the reasons why I suggest everyone who wants to understand what the Bible is really saying get an Interlinear Bible.  The word appears in Jesus’ interpretation of the wheat and tares parable in Matthew 13.  I am going to quote verses 38-40 from the King James Version and include the Greek words for every English occurrence of the word “world”.

“The field is the world (kosmos); the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one; the enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world (aion); and the reapers are the angels.  As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world (aion).”  Reading this in the King James, I can understand why the major interpretations of this parable say this is speaking about a future date when the world is brought to an end because it is obvious the world has not ended.  Other Bible translations have tried to do a better job: the NKJV, Amplified, New American Standard and New International versions all have “age” as a translation for aion but I haven’t seen that these more accurate translations have had much effect on how this parable has been interpreted.

The truth is something much deeper.  My second scripture from the book of Hebrews is 9:26 which states, “…but now, once at the end of the ages, He has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself.”  The Scriptures are clear.  The coming of Jesus in human flesh, His life here on earth, His death, His resurrection, His ascension, and the pouring out of His Spirit at Pentecost all heralded the end and consummation of the ages.  There is no reason to think either the parable of the wheat and the tares or the explanation given is describing a state that is continuing on until some future date.

All four gospels record Jesus mentioning the harvest as being ready, ripe, plentiful, and immediate.  Matthew 9:35-38 records Jesus saying to His disciples, “The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few.  Therefore, pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.”  John 4:35 says, “Do you not say, ‘There are still four months and then comes the harvest’? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest!” Luke 10:2 says, “The harvest truly is great, but the laborers are few; therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.”  Mark 4:29 speaks of the ripe harvest within the context of a different parable but says, “…the harvest has come.”

The Book of Acts records times of great harvest.  One the Day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit was poured out on those gathered together, “Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them” (Acts 2:41).  Acts 4:4 record the number of those who believed coming to be about five thousand.

I believe the scripture record is clear: Jesus was manifested in the consummation of the ages.  There was a great harvest recorded in the book of Acts and I don’t deny there is something greater coming.  “For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God” (Romans 8:19).  I do expect something incredible at the end of this age and I don’t quibble with it being referred to as a harvest.  What I do quibble with is the idea that there is only one harvest and it has yet to happen.

If the “harvest at the end of the age” mentioned in Matthew 13:39 is indeed some far off future date then there is no hope for the Christian life except stagnation.  If the wheat and tares representative of thoughts sown in the fields of our hearts and minds, then they both are growing together and there is nothing to be done about it until that far off future date.  I don’t see this is the message of the New Testament.  We are to be “transformed through the renewing of our minds” (Romans 12:2).  We are to grow up into the Head, that is Christ (Ephesians 4:15).  We are transformed from glory to glory (2 Corinthians 3:18).  Jesus told his disciples His Father was honored and glorified when they produced much fruit (John 15:8).  He also said the branch that abides in Him would bear much fruit and that every branch that bore fruit would be pruned that it would bear more fruit (See John 15:1-2).       

 In 1 Corinthians 10:11, Paul describes us as the people “on whom the end of the ages (aion) has come”.  Jesus was manifested at the consummation of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself but not only to put away sin: He came so that we would have life and that more abundantly (John 10:10).  One of the names of Jesus given in Isaiah 9:6 is “everlasting Father”.  That would be better translated “Father of the Ages” and, again, Hebrews 1:2 states Jesus is the one through whom God made the aions.  Ephesians 1:9-11 states the mystery of the will of God is that in the fullness of time all things are to be consummated in Christ and that we have obtained an inheritance in Him.

In Christ.  All things were created through Him and for Him, He is before all things and in Him all things consist (Colossians 1:16-17).  We believers know that we abide in Him and He in us because of the Holy Spirit (1 John 4:13).  This is the truth now.  We experience time in a linear fashion and so it is easy to look at our daily lives and think we must continue on as we are until some far off future date.  We don’t.  We are in Christ.  Our lives bear fruit now.  The harvest was not some one-time thing in the first days of the early church nor is it something reserved for some far off future.  Every age, past present and future, has its consummation in Christ.

There is still so much to be gleaned from this parable and so I plan to continue studying it next week.  Until then, may the eyes of our understanding continued to be enlightened that we see we are in Christ and it is no longer we who live but Christ who lives in us.  He is the one who supplies seed to the sower, and bread for food, and will also supply and multiply the seed we have sown and will increase the fruits of our righteousness (2 Corinthians 9:10).

Amen

References

Kindgdom Bible Studies Revelation Series (kingdombiblestudies.org)

The Comparative Study Bible, The Zondervan Corporation, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1984

Green, Jay P. Sr., The Interlinear Bible, Volume 4, Authors For Christ, Inc., Lafayette, Indiana, 1976, 1985

Strong, James, LL,D., S.T.D., The New Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, Thomas Nelson Publishers, Nashville, Tennessee, 1990

Together in the Field

17 Monday Apr 2023

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Hello and welcome-or welcome back-to Renaissance Woman where, this week, I am continuing to look at the Parable of the Wheat and the Tares.

I do apologize to anyone who has come across this post as your first on Renaissance Woman.  I do try to make each post stand on its own while at the same time building on everything that has come before.  This post does not stand on its own.  I would recommend reading last week’s post, The Seed Sown, before this one or there are going to be references that will make little sense. 

There are two main schools of interpretation when it comes to this parable.  The first says the wheat and the tares are two different kinds of people within the church.  They sit side by side in the pews and are indistinguishable one from the other until Jesus returns and His angels send the tares to the fire and gather the wheat into the barn.  The second disagrees with the first only in the location of the wheat and the tares.  The field is not the church, they say, but the world.  The wheat and tares represent believers and unbelievers which occupy the same world until Jesus returns and His angels send the tares to the fire and gather the wheat into the barn.

I can look at both interpretations and see where they are coming from.  If the wheat and tares are indistinguishable one from the other then it would make sense that Jesus is describing the church.  After all, can’t the argument be made that the difference between believers and unbelievers is obvious?  And yet, Jesus Himself interprets this parable in Matthew 13:36-43 and clearly says “the field is the world” and “the good seeds are the sons of the kingdom but the tares are the sons of the wicked one” so that ought to prove the second interpretation is the correct one.

I have come across a third interpretation put forward by a woman named Dora Van Assen which suggests the parable is a description of what happened in the Garden of Eden.  God created all things, including Adam, and saw it was all very good.  As God fellowshipped with Adam in the garden, He was planting His good thoughts and spiritual understanding in Adam’s mind.  But then, the Serpent came slithering and whispering into the garden and planted evil thoughts and understanding.  Both types of thoughts occupied the same field i.e. the mind of Adam.

This interpretation is very different from anything I have ever heard preached within the confines of Churchdom and it does not appear to be supported by Jesus’ interpretation.  But then, did Jesus truly make this interpretation or was it inserted into the manuscripts at a later date?  I found this assertion made when I looked up the parable in the Abingdon Commentary.  The copy I have was published in 1929 and states that “all scholars reject the genuineness of the explanation in vv. 36-43…”  I mentioned last week my skepticism antennae quivered at “all scholars” because I cannot think of one subject where all scholars are in agreement. 

I went searching for this assertion of “all scholars rejecting” the interpretation given in those passages and could not find a reference.  That doesn’t mean that there are not scholars rejecting said passages just that it has been difficult for me to find them over the last week.  I am thus left with a single resource stating the interpretation given for this parable in verses 36-43 is not genuine and, since our Bible warns against accepting the testimony of a single witness, I am shelving this.  I’ll keep my eyes and ears open and may circle back to it but, for now, will proceed in the acceptance of Jesus’ interpretation.

If Dora Van Assen’s interpretation relied on Matthew 13:36-43 not being genuine, I would dismiss it out of hand.  It does not.  Her interpretation is shared in an article by J. Preston Eby (linked below) and neither make mention of these passages not being genuine.  Both, in fact, treat them as being absolutely genuine.

Dora Van Assen writes, “Some may object to this interpretation of the tares, because Jesus in His explanation of the parable used the words, the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one’ (Mat. 13:38). That does sound as if they are two different kinds of people.  And indeed they are!  If we will just stop for a moment and think this through, we must admit that God is an invisible spirit, and Satan is likewise invisible spirit.  Neither of these produce flesh and blood children of their own!  The new creation is formed in a people who are ‘renewed in the spirit of their mind.’ So the term ‘children’ must be taken as a metaphor.  The Holy Spirit deals with men in their minds and thoughts, and Satan can only attack man in his mind, giving false ideas and imaginations.  These thought-pictures are often called ‘brain children.’ And these determine what manner of man a man is!”

I am (so far) inclined to accept Dora Van Assen’s interpretation.  She points out that the tares never become wheat and the wheat never become tares.  If the wheat and the tares do indeed represent two different kinds of people, there is no hope for the tares.  They are similar in appearance to wheat but cannot ever convert into wheat.  If the interpretations stating the wheat and the tares are the converted and the unconverted or believers and unbelievers, then does it not follow that evangelism is the greatest exercise in futility?  You can share the gospel with another person until you are blue in the face but, if they are indeed a tare, all your sharing is for nothing because they cannot and therefore will not ever respond. 

If though, Dora Van Assen’s interpretation is correct and the wheat and tares are symbolic of thoughts occupying the same field of a person’s heart and mind, then the good seed is there and you can share the gospel in the hope that your words are water falling on that good seed.  I find her interpretation to be far more hopeful than any other I have come across.  But then, it wouldn’t matter how much I liked and preferred it if she was the only source of such an interpretation.

She is not.  I found her same thoughts echoed in the Commentary on this parable found in Barclay’s Daily Study Bible where I read: “It may well be said that in its lessons this is one of the most practical parables Jesus ever told.  It teaches us that there is always a hostile power in the world, seeking and waiting to destroy the good seed.  Our experience is that both kinds of influence act on our lives, the influence which helps the seed of the word to flourish and to grow, and the influence which seeks to destroy the good seed before it can produce fruit at all.  The lesson is that we must be forever on our guard.”

Earlier in this post, I asked if the argument couldn’t be made that the difference between believers and unbelievers was obvious.  I want to include one more quote from the Barclay’s Daily Study Bible: “it (the parable) teaches us how hard it is to distinguish between those who are in the Kingdom and those who are not.  A man may appear to be good and may in fact be bad; and a man may appear to be bad and may yet be good.  We are much too quick to classify people and label them good or bad without knowing all the facts.”  This is something valuable to keep in mind.

I will continue looking at this parable next week but do want to add this as my closing thought: I find interpreting the parable of the wheat and the tares as thoughts resulting from spiritual influences has a direct correlation to the passage in Ephesians describing the armor of God.  We believers are to take the helmet of salvation.  A helmet’s purpose is to protect one’s head and I see a clear picture of the necessity to guard our minds from attack.  But then, that is a subject worth many more weeks’ focus and so I will sign off with this prayer:

May the peace that surpasses all understanding, the peace that belongs entirely to Jesus which He has freely given to us, guard each of our hearts and minds every moment of every day.

Amen.

Unless noted otherwise, all Scriptures are quoted from The Holy Bible, New King James Version, Thomas Nelson Publishers, Nashville, Tennessee, 1982

References

Matthew 13 – Barclay’s Daily Study Bible – Bible Commentaries – StudyLight.org

KINGDOM BIBLE STUDIES: THE FIRSTFRUITS, THE HARVEST, AND THE VINTAGE by J. Preston Eby (godfire.net)

Tares (jewishvirtuallibrary.org)

What Does Tares Mean? Bible Definition and References (biblestudytools.com)

Tares – WebBible Encyclopedia – ChristianAnswers.Net

Eiselen, Frederick Carl, The Abingdon Bible Commentary, Abingdon Press, Nashville •New York, 1929, Page 977

His Fire In My Heart

27 Monday Feb 2023

Posted by in Isaiah 45:7, Studies

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Image by Gloria Williams from Pixabay

Hello and welcome-or welcome back-to Renaissance Woman where, this week, I am continuing to look at the final sentence of Isaiah 45:7: “I, The Lord, do all these things.”

In my last post I mentioned the book Gleanings from Gussie by Patricia Nolan Savas.  The quote I shared in that post made me curious what more Mrs. Savas might have to say and so I purchased the book.  I began reading it almost as soon as it arrived and, within the first few pages, read; “It’s all God.  There is no dualism in the universe (Isaiah 45:5-7).”1 This idea of dualism is one I came across during my study of “evil”.  Under the entry for “evil”, the Dictionary of New Testament Theology states, “Plato reached a synthesis of these two basic concepts by developing a metaphysical dualism of spirit and matter, with its ethical expression in a dualism of soul and body…In Zoroastrianism the question of the origin of evil found an answer in a consistent dualism.”2 

The two concepts Plato was synthesizing was his belief that Man’s ignorance was the source of all evil and that enlightenment lead to knowledge that not only freed man from evil but caused him to do good whereas Zoroastrianism held that two opposed principles have been in conflict from the first.  In Zoroastrianism, Mankind belongs to one or the other powers based on their moral behavior and will inherit after death either eternal bliss or eternal darkness.  The Dictionary of New Testament Theology points out that, “Zoroastrian dualism found its way into Qumran and there are strong reminiscences of it in the Dead Sea Scrolls.”3

I found that last quote especially interesting because, as I’ve conducted this study, I have seen how the beliefs held by other religions have bled into Christianity over the centuries and are still being preached as the truth today in many pulpits.  One such is the idea that Satan’s dominion is Hell and that he’ll both hold and torment a vast majority of humanity in Hell for all eternity.  When I look at the different world religions, I find this belief of an underworld ruled by a god or goddess.  In the Sumerian religion the underworld was ruled by sinister powers named Ereshkigal and Nergal.  The Canaanite religion had Mot-Death or Sterility-who reigned in the underworld.  It’s difficult to separate the Greek and Roman pantheon but in these religions the underworld was ruled by Hades/Pluto and Dis/Orcus, respectively.  Egypt’s underworld was ultimately ruled by Osiris though it was Anubis and Maat who weighed the hearts of the dead.

The underworld wasn’t always a place of torment in all of these religions.  The Greek and Roman religions spoke of the underworld having different levels and thus different experiences in the after-life depending on the level to which one attained.  In Greek religion the underworld was comprised of Tartarus, the Asphodel Meadows, and Elysium.4 The Roman underworld was similar to the Greek in that it was comprised of the Fields of Mourning, Tartarus, and the Land of Joy.5  The Egyptians saw their afterlife as a continuation of their existence on earth in every respect, preserving social status, possessions, etc.6  What all of these belief systems have in common is that just where and how one ended up experiencing the afterlife depended on whether one had lived a good or bad life.  Your place in the underworld was earned by how you lived and in some belief systems, how you died.

While our current idea of Hell does contain snippets of each of these religions, it is also drawn from Hel, the underworld in the Norse religion.  Even our words are the same.  The Ultimate Encyclopedia of Mythology points this out saying, “it was Hel and her ghastly home which were adopted by the Christians as the name for their realm of eternal damnation.”7 Hel the place was ruled by Hel the goddess and was a place reserved for those not fortunate enough to have died in battle and thus earned a spot in Valhalla with Odin.  Again, one’s place in the afterlife was earned.

Dualism.  Opposing powers.  Earning one’s place in the after-life.  There are few Christian denominations who will say they believe these things and yet the belief is made clear in their words and in their actions.  I heard it said that there is nothing more to do-Jesus did it all-but you must believe.  You must prove your faith is alive by your works.  You must learn to fight the devil and kick him out of your life.  You are the one who keep God’s commands because you love Jesus.  The onus is on you and if you don’t choose/believe/have enough faith…Satan and his minions are waiting to parcel out your just deserts once you die and end up in Hell.

This is not Biblical.  Satan does not rule anything now and, even before Jesus stripped him of all power and authority, Satan never ruled the underworld.  The closest the Bible comes to expressing an idea of a power ruling the realm of the dead is Hebrews 2:14 which says, “…that through death He (Jesus) might destroy him who had the power of death, that is the devil.”  Attributing an idea of the underworld as the realm of the dead to this scripture does feel like going too far.  What is mentioned here is death, not an afterlife.  Even so, Jesus Christ is the victor and whatever is meant by the “him who had the power of death” is no longer a valid concern because Jesus Himself is victorious over death. 

That Satan did have a form of rulership on earth is clear in the Bible.  He says as much to Jesus in the wilderness when he takes Jesus to a high mountain and shows Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory and says they are within his power to give if Jesus will merely fall down and worship him (See Matthew 4:8-9, Luke 4:5-6).  Again though, with the resurrection of Jesus Christ, all authority has been given to Him and the Kingdoms of this world have become the Kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ (Matthew 28:18, Revelation 11:15).  The Bible speaks of “the ruler of this world” (John 14:30) but is equally clear the ruler of this world is judged and will be cast out (John 12:31:33, 16:11).  The Bible also refers to “the prince of the power of the air” (Ephesians 2:1-3) and “rulers of the darkness of this present age…spiritual hosts of wickedness in heavenly places” (Ephesians 6:12-13). I find it interesting to note the spiritual hosts are said to be in “heavenly places” rather than Hell.

Satan, whatever his origins and regardless of what power he used to wield on the earth and among mankind was never equal nor opposite to God.  There are two verses that are close to my study passage which make this clear.  The first is Isaiah 40:25: “To whom then will you liken Me, or to whom shall I be equal?” says the Holy One.  Isaiah 45:5 says, “I am the Lord, and there is no other; there is no God besides Me.”  I will agree the Bible speaks of Satan as a deceiver and certainly an enemy but he is utterly defeated.  The word hell as it was originally brought into the English language is hele and carries the meaning of, “To hide, keep secret; to cover, cover in; to keep silent.”8 The unseen realm as described by the Bible has only one Lord and that is Jesus Christ.  He declares it Himself to John the Beloved when He says, “Do not be afraid; I am the First and the Last.  I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore.  Amen.  And I have the keys of Hades and of Death” (Revelation 1:17b-18).

I find that, within the mainstream Christian messages I listen to, there is too much focus on the responsibility of us believers and way too much time given to the powers of Satan.  There is a great deal of talk of “the finished work of the Cross” but very little faith put into just what Jesus accomplished there.  Hebrews 9:26 says, “…but now, once at the end of the ages, He has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself.” The New English Bible has it as, “But as it is, he has appeared once and for all at the climax of history to abolish sin by the sacrifice of himself.”  The New American Standard has the word “consummation.”  I often have to sit and marvel at this.  The coming of Jesus wasn’t a blip in history where He came and died and rose and ascended but His real work will happen at the Second Coming.  His coming was a climax of history, a consummation of the ages, the introduction of the New Creation.  The stone has rolled into the Image and smashed it to smithereens.  It is now growing until it will become a mountain that fills the entire earth.  His Kingdom has come and continues to come in the hearts of humankind.

This Kingdom, the Kingdom of God is righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit.  You do not have to wait until you die to get there.  You have, in fact, already died because we each one have been crucified with Christ and the truth is it is no longer us who live but He lives in us.  But how can He do that, since He’s returned to the Father?  Through His Spirit.  Everything Jesus has and did is ours via the Holy Spirit living in us.  He is the One who opens our eyes.  He is the One who gives us the faith of the Son of God.  He is the One who strengthens us.  We love Jesus because He first loved us and that love is lavished on us and in us via the Holy Spirit.  This entire Christian life is not one where we do our best to live well enough to attain a place in the afterlife but is one lived from the finished work of Christ made our living reality right this moment by the Holy Spirit dwelling in us.

There is so much more to say on this subject and, if I don’t close now, I’ll just keep typing.  I’ll close with this: has your denomination terrorized you with all that awaits you in Hell if you don’t get your act together?  Come to the living Jesus Christ!  His perfect love casts out all fear.  You don’t have to try and clean yourself up before the Spirit will consent to live in you.  He does so and the cleaning up-for lack of a better phrase at this moment-is His job.  Patricia Nolan Savas writes, “This is My Day, and I would have you rejoice and be glad in it.  Remember-Do not let anyone or anything rob you of the joy I have given you; it is part of your crown, which says to the crumbling world systems and those in distress: “Behold!  Here is our God and He is Faithful and True!” I AM turning their hearts to Me through the purifying Fire of My Divine Love.  I shall make all things new.”9

Hallelujah!  Hallelujah!  Amen.

Unless noted otherwise, all Scriptures are quoted from The Holy Bible, New King James Version, Thomas Nelson Publishers, Nashville, Tennessee, 1982

  1. Savas, Patricia Nolan, Gleanings from Gussie, CSN Books, San Diego, California, 2009, Page 24
  2. Brown, Colin, The New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology, Volume I, Zondervan Publishing House, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1967, 1971, Pages 562-563
  3. Ibid., Page 563
  4. The Underworld in Greek Mythology – Greek Legends and Myths
  5. The Underworld – Religion in Ancient Rome (google.com)
  6. Cotterell, Arthur & Rachel Storm, The Ultimate Encyclopedia of Mythology Encyclopedia, Anness Publishing Limited, London, England, 2005, Page 304
  7. Ibid., Page 200
  8. Shipley, Joseph T., Dictionary of Early English, Littlefield, Adams, and CO., Paterson, New Jersey, 1963, Page 327
  9. Savas, Patricia Nolan, Gleanings from Gussie, CSN Books, San Diego, California, 2009, Page 77

Other References

The Comprehensive Study Bible, The Zondervan Corporation, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1984

The New Testament in Four Versions, Christianity Today, Inc., Washington D.C., 1965

Gray, John, Near Eastern Mythology, The Hamlyn Publishing Group Limited, Middlesex, England, 1969

Parrinder, Geoffrey, World Religions From Ancient History to the Present, Facts on File Publications, New York, New York, 1971, 1983

Our Increasing Inheritance

31 Monday Oct 2022

Posted by in Isaiah 45:7, Studies

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Hello and welcome-or welcome back-to Renaissance Woman!

This week I continue looking at the Hebrew word bara and, as I have conducted this study on Isaiah 45:7, I found I haven’t been able to look at bara without also looking at bereshiyt.  I’ve felt I could spend the rest of my life just looking at Bereshiyt bara, the first two words of the book of Genesis or the Torah.  The deeper I look the more I find I am in fathomless depths.  There is so much more to be seen and learned and I may never find a bottom.

Which is fine by me.  Being taught of the Holy Spirit is a never ending adventure of discovery.  As my God is infinite and I am finite, I can delight in knowing there will always be something new to discover about Him.  I will grow into Him, come to know Him more and more, and our relationship will continue to grow and evolve.  I find it interesting that the English word “create”, which is almost always used to translate bara in scripture, comes from the base kre which means “to grow”.  We Believers speak of “growing in the Lord” but I don’t think I’ve ever thought of that in terms of create/creating.  This is a truth I do not hear spoken of in Christian circles near enough: “But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you”.  That’s Romans 8:11 and I do think it’s worth some time to ponder that: the same Spirit who raised Christ from the dead lives IN us.  The Spirit we see hovering over the face of the waters in Genesis 1:1, the Spirit who is sent forth creating (Psalm 104:30) dwells inside of us. 

It doesn’t seem possible, does it?  It seems too good to be true and yet this is what scripture tells me is true so all I can do is ask that same Spirit to open my eyes to see it, believe it, and then strengthen me to live it.  The same Word who brought all things into being lives in me-and each one of you-through His Spirit.  How can we help but grow!

I do have to admit I always believed that, while there couldn’t help but be growth as long as I lived here on earth in this body, one day I’d go to heaven and then I’d know everything.  There’d be no more growth: just singing and dancing on golden streets in the presence of Jesus for all eternity.  I used to sing those very words during worship services and yet there’s a passage in Isaiah that always use to frighten me because it seems to say something different.  It’s found in Isaiah 9:7 and echoed in Luke 1:33: “Of the increase of His government and peace There will be no end.  Upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, to order it and establish it with judgment and justice, from that time forward, even forever.  The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.” 

No end?  The very idea used to terrify me.  If there was no end to the increase of His government and peace, what about me?  My early-church days had instilled in me the certainty that once I got to heaven that was it.  I would have-both literally and metaphorically-arrived.  This passage appeared to be telling me that wasn’t true.  If there was really no end to His increase, that meant I had no idea what “going to heaven” meant nor what to expect when I got there.  This passage deserves a dedicated study but, as I sought out a definition for bara, found there were some who thought it ought to be translated as “to fatten” or “to fill”, and then learned “create” contained the idea of growth, I couldn’t get this passage out of my mind.  What correlation could there be between bara-as it is translated “create”-and never ending increase?

When it comes to the dictionary definition of “create”, at first glance there doesn’t seem to be any.  The Webster’s dictionary goes on to define “create” as: “to cause to come into existence, bring into being, make, originate, to make or design (something requiring art, skill, invention, etc.), to bring about, give rise to.”  However, there is a further definition of “create” in the Webster’s dictionary that caught my attention.  It is, “to invest with a new rank, function, etc.”  This fascinates me because the Hebrew word for “increase” in Isaiah 9:7 is marbiyth (H4768) and it means “multitude, offspring”.  

I quoted Romans 8:11 before.  It is crucial that each one of us know the Holy Spirit lives within us because it is the Holy Spirit Himself who bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God (Romans 8:16).  Because the Holy Spirit lives within us, we know we are born from above (or born again).  John 3:3 says, “Jesus answered, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God’”.  What is the kingdom of God?  It is “righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit” (Romans 14:17). 

The Pharisees asked Jesus when the kingdom of God would come and He answered them: “The kingdom of God does not come with observation; nor will they say ‘See here!’ or ‘See there!’ For, indeed, the kingdom of God is within you” (Luke 17:20-21).  Some translations say “in your midst” but the Greek word used is entos (G1787) and it means “inside, within”. 

If we don’t believe what these scriptures are saying is true, if-as some denominations say-the action of the Holy Spirit stopped with the death of the last apostle; what is a Christian life?  Being a moral person?  Adhering to a list of do’s and don’t’s?  There certainly is no life.  Without the Spirit of God within us, there is no heart of flesh given us in place of the heart of stone, His law is not written in our hearts, and there is no enablement to walk in His statutes and do them (Ezekiel 36:26-27). If the kingdom of God is not righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit and we do not know we have that kingdom inside of us now through the witness of the Spirit within us, if everything is indeed reserved until after we die and go to heaven; why do we pray the Lord’s Prayer?  Why say “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth…” if we have zero expectation of His kingdom actually coming and His will actually being done on earth?  I cannot believe when we pray that we pray for a future kingdom because the rest of the prayer is for now.  We ask for our daily bread and we pray to forgive others as we too are forgiven.  If that portion of the prayer is not reserved for some far off future, I cannot think praying for His kingdom to come and His will to be done would be.

While I do believe we have the kingdom within us, I also believe what the Apostle Paul says in his letter to the Ephesians: “In Him (Jesus Christ) you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession to the praise of His glory.”  While I believe what the Bible says is true, that the kingdom of God IS righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, I also believe what we experience is merely a down payment on our inheritance, as this passage is rendered in the Common English Bible.  There is coming a time of greater things, what this passage calls the redemption of the purchased possession.  But, we do have the down payment and what a down payment it is!

Every time the Holy Spirit opens the eyes of someone’s heart to see who they are in Christ, who Christ is in them, and the peace of Christ rules in their hearts, they begin to see the kingdom.  I also think it’s fascinating that the admonition is to “let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts” (Colossians 3:15) because it is peace that is juxtaposed to evil in Isaiah 45:7:  “I make peace and create calamity (or evil)”. His government and peace increases.

We are the dwelling place of God.  His peace which is part of the fruit of His Spirit rules in our hearts even in the midst of calamitous or evil circumstances.  Moment by moment, day by day, “from glory to glory”, His life is formed in us.  His Spirit is sent forth and we are created.  I am no longer frightened but rather I delight that “Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end.”

Hallelujah!  Hallelujah!

Amen.

Unless noted otherwise, all Scriptures are quoted from The Holy Bible, New King James Version, Thomas Nelson Publishers, Nashville, Tennessee, 1982

References

Green, Jay P., The Interlinear Bible: Hebrew, Greek, English, Volume 4, Authors for Christ Inc., Lafayette, Indiana, 1976, 1984

Guralnik, David B., Webster’s New World Dictionary of the American Language, Second College Edition, Williams Collins + World Publishing Co., Inc., Cleveland • New York, 1970, 1976

Strong, James, LL.D., S.T.D., The New Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, Thomas Nelson Publishers, Nashville, Tennessee, 1990