The Rugged Individualistic American Way

As Christians, we must not think that the Old Testament narratives are irrelevant past history and simply interesting stories for us to read. These events in Jewish history serve as warnings to us not to disobey God (1 Corinthians 10:1–13) as well as encouragements to build our faith (Hebrews 11) and hope (Romans 15:4). The story of Balaam is mentioned by three different New Testament writers: Peter (2 Peter 2:15–16, Jude 11 and John in Revelation 2:14. As a short note, Balaam was a magician, sage and prophet for hire. He was in it for the money. Balaam may have received his name later in life when his powers with the spirit world became known.

Balaam's name came from a Hebrew root meaning "destroyer" or "devourer." It is unlikely his parents named him destroyer intentionally. In either case Balaam's name suggests that he was a veteran conjurer of curses. He is brought into the bible narrative when he is solicited by Barak, king of Moab to curse the future of Israel. This of course ended poorly for Moab because Balaam actually blesses Israel instead.

There is a lesson to be learned in this narrative and it centers on ‘the Way of Balaam’ or the mindset that made Balaam be and do as he did. The arguments of whether or not he was a believer of Yahweh are a moot and distracting point. One needs to focus on the latent narrative in Numbers of Balaam’s mindset and thinking that put him where he was in the Bible narrative. A mindset that has actually become identical to the American Way. The American way refers to a nationalist ethos that adheres to the principle of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness and brags of American exceptionalism. If we are honest we would admit this isn’t very Biblical. In William Herberg’s writing...Protestant, Catholic, Jew: An Essay in American Religious Sociology (1955), he makes a striking statement that could easily describe Balaam and modern Christians like Balaam:

The American Way of life is individualistic, dynamic, and pragmatic. It affirms the supreme value and dignity of the individual; it stresses incessant activity on his part, for he is never to rest but is always to be striving to "get ahead"; it defines an ethic of self-reliance, merit, and character, and judges by achievement: "deeds, not creeds" are what count.

The Bible does not stress individuality. The supreme value is not in the individual but in Christ and His true Church. Supreme value is communal. Action for action’s sake is just pointless movement. God told us to teach others everything He taught us (Matthew 28:19-20). It wasn’t focused on self it is focused on others. Not resting so one can get themselves ahead isn’t the primary focus, it is to push the Kingdom of God forward. Our modus operandi as Christians is not self-reliance but rather reliance on God. Worst of all the Christian is to focus on ‘creeds’ or truths and teaching that helps them maintain a biblical and moral ethical standard. The Way of Balaam and the American Way teach a cult of works. 

This in turn has produced an Americanized religious cult of works. This unbiblical Way of Balaam/American Way has been exacerbated by the rank immorality, greed and sin of unbridled capitalism. Is capitalism inherently bad? No. But…anything not walled in and controlled turns into a demonic free-for-all (Proverbs 5:15-23). Just so we’re clear, socialism is even worse because it places absolute power in fewer hands. The American Democracy is optimal in  fallen world but the idea of the Way of Balaam/American Way is demonic. One cannot get where they need to go running out the back of a train going in the other direction. At some point you run out of cars and end up sitting on the tracks.

If we jump to the New Testament in 2 Peter 2 we will see that Peter focuses on the danger of false teachers secretly entering the church and leading people astray. Peter promises that God will judge the deceivers doing this (v. 3). He warns believers to exercise spiritual discernment or they’ll be taken captive by false doctrine. The false teachers in Peter’s time are like Balaam in that they knew the right way but turned from it. Like Balaam they were covetous, and they led people into immorality due to their greed and sin (v.14). This Way of Balaam has entered the church today. Instead of sound doctrine to drive it right back out the front door, it has been embraced.

Things like the Social Gospel were on clear display even in the Southern Baptist Convention and otherwise sound Biblical teachers. The impetus was the 2020 COVID lockdown and the arguments of whether the church should gather or if it was a risk to believers. It divided the churches almost directly down the middle. At least it exposed the Way of Balaam that had infiltrated the church. This embracing of Balaam-esque theology has brought low the effectual message of the Gospel by making the church the culture. This in turn has further degraded the moral/ethical condition of an American society already in steep decline (even by secular standards). Sadly, no one recognizes that this is the root cause. In the end it was about money. One needs to realize faith had nothing to do with these derailments.

The Way of Balaam is motivated to make money and use opportunities ethically or unethically, not to serve God and His people, but to satisfy craving for wealth. In other words, Balaam was a hireling who sold himself to the highest bidder. Many religious leaders do this also by whoring themselves to the culture to be ‘popular’, teaching sermons that ‘tickle’ people’s ears. In some cases preaching and teaching the things the highest tithers want to hear in ‘their’ church. Balaam and these modern day equivalents use “religion” only to make money and to cover up sinful cravings of prestige and wealth. Balaam and modern day ‘prophets’ use “religion” to entice people to sin.

The Way of Balaam encourages leaders to go to God to get their duty altered, not to learn what God’s duty is for them. Balaam and false teachers always have a hidden agenda that isn’t hidden from God at all. Thankfully, if God isn’t allowed to rule in a person’s life, He overrules and accomplishes His purposes just the same. In truth regular Christians do this when the deliberately or unwittingly use Scripture or the Pentecostal, “God said to me…so you should listen to me” to manipulate people into believing their motives are strictly Godly or benign. When we walk in the way of Balaam we deliberately rebel against the will of God and try to change it to suit our own needs. How often have we see people twist Scripture to justify their sinful behavior? They use God to profit themselves, not Him. Let’s face it “Religion” is big business today and it’s easy for preachers, musicians, executives, writers, and others in Christian service to get Christianity to service them. They use precepts and ideas for money, reputation and popularity instead of perpetuating the kingdom and spiritual character, thereby defaming the entirety of Christianity in the process.

It is a sad reality that some believers care little about Bible doctrine and theology and easily fall prey to heretical influences for lack of knowledge (Hosea 4:6). Once captured by false teaching and doctrines the new converts of these cults bring them into spiritual bondage. The false teachers and teaching of Balaam’s, Peter’s and our day prey upon ignorance of Scripture and this is the point of attack that the Christian needs to engage the enemies. Sound teaching prevents theological detours into error. The greatest evil is corruption of the highest good: Scripture. False teachers use the cloak of Scripture to cover their purposeful misinterpretation of it. Some even do so unwittingly because even they are ignorant of their own ignorance. That type of ignorance comes from arrogance. The very thing that brought down the devil (Ezekiel 28).

The ‘Doctrine of Balaam’ that creates the ‘Way of Balaam’ is actually easier to state. When in Midian do as the Midianites do. A more familiar phrase would be, “When in Rome, do as the Romans do.” Today I believe it is stated, “What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas” or “While in American do as the Americans do”. Nowhere in any of these statements is the mention of God. The lie embedded in the Doctrine of Balaam is the lie that it’s permissible for saved people to live like unsaved people, that God’s grace gives us the right to disobey God’s law. That is an abuse of grace. We cannot do this. Any teaching that makes it easier to sin is false. Christians need to be wary of anyone teaching this. Any Christian that encourages sinful behaviors of the culture is a Christian in error. They are a cancer and need to be excised. Israel inevitably killed Balaam but the false doctrine or the Way of Balaam he supplied outlived him. The liar can be destroyed but the lie is not so vulnerable. That is why the Christian needs to guard so vigilantly against it. It is a metastasizing cancer of the mind. We are told in 2 Corinthians 10 how to deal with this outright. We are to destroy the idea taking it captive and punishing the person or entity providing it…even if it is us. If we don’t, God can and will.

2 Corinthians 10:3-6 For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ, being ready to punish every disobedience, when your obedience is complete.

Solomon also issued a warning.

Proverbs 4:23 Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.

If we don’t stay vigilant, life will no longer spring from the heart...death will.

Familiarity Breeds Contempt

Psalm 137:1-9 By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept when we remembered Zion. There on the poplars we hung our harps, for there our captors asked us for songs, our tormentors demanded songs of joy; they said, “Sing us one of the songs of Zion!” How can we sing the songs of the LORD while in a foreign land? If I forget you, Jerusalem, may my right hand forget its skill. May my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth if I do not remember you, if I do not consider Jerusalem my highest joy. Remember, LORD, what the Edomites did on the day Jerusalem fell. “Tear it down,” they cried, “tear it down to its foundations!” Daughter Babylon, doomed to destruction, happy is the one who repays you according to what you have done to us. Happy is the one who seizes your infants and dashes them against the rocks.

Memory is mentioned five times in these nine verses of Psalm 137. The words remember and forget both allude to memories either being kept or trying to get rid of them. Memory can open old wounds making them feel new again. The pain resurfaces (v. 1–4) in the recollection in the Jewish exile. Sitting was the official position for mourning, and the Jewish exiles felt and acted like mourners at a funeral. This is mentioned early in the passage. Jews in exile in Babylon often gather along the rivers Tigris and the Euphrates. The Jews gathered by them because they needed water for their religious rituals (Acts 16:13). They refused to play their songs for the pagan Babylonians as they were sacred to the Jews. Similarly today, the irony of gospel choirs singing Amazing Grace for pagan masses that neither know or worship God nor the importance of the words of that song is not lost on me. Regardless, the exiled Jews had lost everything but God and their lives, and being normal people, they were deeply pained in their hearts. The lament of love lost. To lose something so costly that it feels as if it wounded you. It in fact did if you feel it that deeply.

Memories can bring pain, real physical pain and the pain does not go away when we try to bury them. This type of denial usually makes things worse. The fact that the exiles could talk about those painful memories in this episodic psalm indicates that they were facing them honestly and learning how to process the pain in a mature way. It takes time for broken hearts to heal. The healing that processing painful memories creates leads to the formation of character. Sometimes we have to lose things to really appreciate them. In this stalwart formation of character we see a fertile ground for a person or people’s faith to be cultivated.

The Jews had lost privileges of being citizens of Jerusalem, God’s holy city. They had lost the splendor of Solomon’s Temple. How often have we lost in similar manner? We lost things like our marriages, our homes, a loved one, a prized possession, our faith and even our dignity. We lost just like the Jews being patronized by the Babylonians to play their, “Songs of Zion.” Yet as we know, the Jews would and will be restored. They did not lose their God, he was and is always there/here. They wept at the recollection of privileges which they had lost by reason of their non-appreciation of them. They were removed from their country and their home because of their sins. Do we think we are any better than the exiled Jews? Think again. The Jews certainly were thinking about it…remembering their loss even in the midst of their pain. Yet, this did not stay their permanent condition. They healed and they recovered. They moved on and again thrived. We need to learn from that. We need to also realize that behind this it is God restoring them. Because the Jews did not appreciate what they had and because they didn’t appreciate God Himself, He sent them away. Do we have exiles like this in our lives too due to disobedience?

It is also interesting to note that the Babylonian lands were strange to the Jews who had been exiled there. This is similar to the Christian who isn’t really at home in the world either (Philippians 3:20). Similarly, God will often have us well outside our comfort zones. We are strangers in strange lands in strange situations doing things unfamiliar to us. I suggest this is to keep us sharp and dependant on him for spiritual sustenance, learning and faith.  On earth the Christian feels himself to be an exile—distant from his Father’s home—distant from near and beloved connections and friends who have made it home before him. True, he has many comforts but still this is not his rest; not his true spiritual birthplace; not the true condition for which his faculties and affections were originally designed. No, they were made for something much more lofty and holy. There are times in which his hope is full of immortality, and he has bright glimpses of the better place in his hours of faith and devotion. Then his faith wavers and he feels he is a stranger and a pilgrim adrift far from home without a friend in the world. He spurns his worldly yoke and kicks against the chain that holds him down.

Since coming into the faith I have changed jobs twelve times. Before that I had only had three jobs in 20 years. Do the math, in 15 years I have changed jobs 12 times. I believe this was intentional exile from employers for the glory of God. I adapted well and quickly. With each job change I have adapted faster. Dare I say I think I’m getting used to it... the chaos. Do I believe I deserved this much shuffling in my life? Does it matter if I did? What God wills, God wills. I obey. I’m sure much of it is probably exile for sin, yes. How much, who cares? The truth is, any sin is too much. I do what I can but I know God did it all anyway. I need only accept that, obey and perform the tasks set before me until I am called home like my predecessors.

In the end, God doesn’t accidently punish people or send trials their way for a laugh. They serve deliberate purposes as lessons, punishment or warnings. The designs of God are sometimes worked through wicked men as in the case of the Babylonians and Jews. Bad situations do not justify sinning more or offer excuse to such men to continue in their errant behaviors down their errant paths. You will be forgiven your sins if you repent but sin still has consequences. Forgiveness from God does not exempt you from the consequences of your deeds. The Babylonian captivity exemplified this with clarity to the Jews in Psalm 137 and should do so for us vicariously. The Jews were not carried into Babylon without God’s permission. God knew and allowed it.

In truth the pain in suffering and exile accomplishes its intended goals for the Jews and us today. It makes us focus on what matters. The Babylonians did the work of God unwittingly. They had no thought of working out the purposes of God in so doing, but simply of fulfilling their own proud and lawless designs. The captivity and exile were invariably annulled by God. And did he allow Babylon to go unpunished? No, of course not, they suffered the same fate as the Jews albeit much more severe and permanent. To this day Babylon (Iraq) is still essentially desolate. It would never rise to its former glory. When God’s hour of retribution strikes, strange fingers appeared in the royal banquet hall and the letters of doom with appalling distinctness were etched upon the wall, even as the enemy was at the city gates… “…in that night was Belshazzar king of the Chaldeans slain,” and Babylon was a kingdom no longer and Israel once again became one. God will take away but if you repent…you will be restored. If you take things for granted there is a good possibility it can and will be taken away. Appreciate things when you have them. That includes people in your life. That won't always be the case. Its all blessing and gifts from the Lord. Never take them for granted because the minute you do, they might be gone. Familiarity breeds contempt...even for God. If He is not approached properly with reverence it ends poorly for everyone that tried.

Regardless of how Mr. Fox chooses to conduct himself around King Lion, there is one constant truth. King Lion is very powerful, dangerous and could easily take Mr. Fox’s life. ~ “The Fox and the Lion, Aesop’s Fables”

Warrior Saints

If one reads Leviticus, one sees a primary theme running through all of it: Holiness. The spiritual leaders of Israel were priests. The Christian as their successors are exactly the same. If every Christian is to be a holy priest in a holy priesthood, then they are the spiritual successor to the Levitical priests.

He shall not defile himself, being a chief man among his people’’ ~Leviticus 21:4.

They were in charge of the sanctuary of God; they taught the people the Word of God; they offered the sacrifices on God’s altar and when called upon, they determined the will of God for the people. They were set apart for a purpose that was unique among all other people. Their obeyance to the standard was militant in its precision and requirements. In effect the Levite priests were servant warrior priests. If these people see themselves as leaders lording over others, they have already fallen victim to mentality that will essentially make them useless to God. God will have difficulty working through these types of people. They’re to be servants, warriors and neighbors.

Warrior priests. They fought the spiritual battles through God. So too the Christians today. Said another way, Warrior Saints. Just as the military holds their warriors to a higher code of ethics, so too should Christians hold other Christians in obeyance and order. This idea is all over the Old and New Testament. What is an embarrassment for one Christian is an embarrassment for all. How one Marine behaves reflects the entire Marine Corps. Whenever we minimize the holiness of God, we’re in danger of minimizing human sinfulness, and the combination of these two errors results in the minimizing and demeaning of other Christians. What is worse and more damaging is that it defames the cross of Jesus Christ. We all know well the non-believers rallying cry against the Christians, “Hypocrite!”

Holiness isn’t necessarily just a thing (noun). It is also action (verb). God’s holiness that he imparts to us isn’t a static thing, like a block of ice or stone. Holiness is active and alive, a “sea of glass mingled with fire’’ (Revelation 15:2). Holiness speaks of action, movement and doing things at the human level. Holy and active like Jesus was in the Gospels. Jesus was especially active in the Gospel of Mark doing things for the kingdom. It is not an accident that the Greek word εὐθέως/eutheós, translated “immediately,” which appears 41 times. Jesus immediately did this or Jesus immediately did that. Holiness in action IS Christ. Though the word does not always mean “just then,” it serves to propel the kingdom forward with speed and and accuracy like an arrow in flight from a warriors bow.

Holiness also made God a servant as Philippians 2 clearly showed us in God serving as atonement for sin in his death. Just as a soldier is a servant in a much bigger cause. In God’s economy up is down and the servant is deemed mightier and more holy. In fact, to be the master in this world one must learn to serve. For men the trailhead for the path to holiness is found in humility. Warriors on a trail. Warriors marching on a path carved through this world. A journey that has rules and guidelines on a path laid out ahead of time by commander. We need to stay on the trail and go to where the trail empties out to. These are the places of spiritual engagement.

Philippians 2:8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

Yet even now as I type this, I see an absence of church discipline and high standards. Current Christian conduct indicates that we don’t take holiness too seriously. In our promotions, we try to “sell’’ the church to the world by conveying the unbiblical idea that Christianity is “fun’’. Current Americanized Christianity tries to show that every pagan ought to join our ranks and start living in our paradise. Sorry folks, a majority of the time we’re in a war zone or on a battlefield not a playground. The world is always trying to get Christians to acquiesce to their point of view. Succumb to their flawed thinking and sin. To not only encourage their sin but instead applaud it. No. Just no. Holiness is at odds with what the world is and purveys.

Eight times in Scripture, God said, “Be holy, for I am holy.’’ God’s commandments are God’s enablement. If He said for you to do it be assured He will equip you to complete that mission. Because He commanded a task, He assures us that it’s possible. Possible to do what? Live a holy life. To spread the Gospel. To be different from the world but still thrive. We don’t need to be the world to accomplish our mission. We need to be diligent and follow orders. I know based simply on observation and the fruits of their actions that a huge swath of Christianity is failing like the Jews did in the Old Testament.

Whatever else the church may be known for today—popularity, celebrity, smooth talking, business, buildings, budgets, crowds, busy schedules—it certainly isn’t known for its holiness. How many of these Christians do you know that you could honestly say, “He/She is a man/woman of God’’? The church is failing and it isn’t God’s fault. Then whose is it? I posit that it is the so-called teachers, leaders and wolves among the sheep. The Devil enters your life and churches every day. It’s your job as the warrior saint to root out the sinister element and expel it. It can come as ideas, feelings or even in human form.

Holiness and the ability to discern it begins at the altar of God in your life. It begins with the ability to admit our sin and repent from it. It begins in Scripture so we are trained enough to recognize when something isn’t holy. When it stands as a direct affront to God. If we think we're going to become holy because of my sincere resolutions, spiritual habits, or theological knowledge, we’re heading towards a cliff of certain failure. Apart from Christ, we aren’t capable. The Cross reveals to us God’s hate of sin while simultaneously showing us the path to holiness. The trailhead for the warrior saint is marker by the cross. Impossible to miss. It’s not the obedience to the letter of the commands given to us that gains us holiness either, it is the discipline to realize that the battle is won at the Resurrection. Everything else is just the enemy’s tactical diversion to throw us off his trail while we are in pursuit.

A lack of holiness is not just adversely affecting regular people, it is affecting Christians. The nation’s steady decline is not just the product of sins like pornography and drug use. It is the Christians not being salt and light in a dying world. The lack of holiness in Christianity is now contributing to the quickening slide of America into irrelevance. God promised His people that He would ‘vomit them out’ if they persist in their rebellion and that is exactly what is now taking place. Idolatry and worship of every single thing that is not God is rampant in and out of the American Church. Secondly, sexual immorality might now be more rampant inside the church than outside of it. These are the two sins that God especially singled out as polluting the land.

“Do not defile yourselves in any of these ways, because this is how the nations that I am going to drive out before you became defiled. Even the land was defiled; so I punished it for its sin, and the land vomited out its inhabitants’’ (Leviticus 18:24–25).

What we are currently seeing transpire in America is basically God vomiting us out through the very land we are in. America’s decline is God puking us out like a vile taste in His mouth. The land is merely a symbol of God’s sovereignty over us. Christians should be doing all we can to uphold holiness. The individual Christian and even the church doesn’t have the authority to impose God’s laws on the citizens of America. The problem though is the church who was to be separate and a beacon on a hill is now practicing the things of the world. They are accepting it, conforming to it, becoming it. When the church becomes like the world, it will no longer have any influence to change the world as it IS the world. 

In this way holiness is not a private affair, it is a public/communal one. We either stand unified in obedience or we fall individually in disobedience. We are now in danger of not only losing battles but losing the overall war in America (and the world at large). Why are we not doing enough to help others? Why aren’t we reading the Scriptures for the correct answers instead of relying on subjective opinions of social influencers and self-proclaimed experts? We are we doing what makes us feel good instead of doing what is morally, ethically and biblically correct. We're in a war. A war needs warriors to carry out their duty otherwise people needlessly suffer and die. Pray for peace but know there will always be spiritual warfare.

The Battle is Won on a Field of Faith

The story of Gideon in Judges 6 helps answer a couple of common questions new Christian believer’s have about God's character. These are also questions that arise when a veteran Christian’s faith is being put to the test under struggle, loss and failures. Gideon was a judge of Israel given by God. The writer of Judges presents Gideon as sort of a second Moses in his calling. Both men were reluctant to lead God's people. Gideon's name means "Hewer." It is ironic that God used him to cut down the altar of Baal and then the Midianites the very people that were currently attacking the Israelites viciously and repeatedly.

In calling Gideon to deliver the Israelites, God commanded Gideon to destroy the Baal worship and renew worship of Yahweh. He called on Gideon to acknowledge Him as his God. Instead, Gideon dragged his feet and doubted God in a lack of faith. It is through God’s use of him that Gideon becomes a man of faith just as Moses did. The Angel of the Lord addressed Gideon as the man he would become by God's enablement, not the man he was at the time. In the same way God had called Moses who would confront Pharoah and lead the Israelites out of Egypt. One of the great truths of Scripture is that when God looks at us, He does not see us for what we are, but for what we can become. Gideon isn’t necessarily doubting that God, more likely he is doubting his own ability. Most Christians do the same at one time or another. If God calls us out, answer. Its not like you could hide from him anyway. 

The mightiness of Gideon to which the Angel referred (Judges 6:14) was what God's promised presence and commission guaranteed (Judges 6:14, 16). Gideon did not disbelieve the Angel as much as he failed to understand how he could be God's weapon of deliverance. There were plenty of reasons he could doubt but God allayed those fears over time building Gideons faith over time and reinforcement. In Gideon’s story we see God ally Gideons fears over time. We should also see how the answers to the following questions about Gideon’s predicament will ally our fears when we encounter similar questions about situations in or lives.

Does God Care About Me?

Judges 6:12-13 And the angel of the Lord appeared to him and said to him, “The Lord is with you, O mighty man of valor. And Gideon said to him, “Please, my lord, if the Lord is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all his wonderful deeds that our fathers recounted to us, saying, ‘Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt?’ But now the Lord has forsaken us and given us into the hand of Midian.”

Let’s be honest, Gideon is basically saying that God had forsaken them and left them to their fate in response to the angel’s message. God had in fact provided just the opposite. God had given Gideon and Israel proof of his concern for them by the very angel that was giving this message to Gideon. In the darkness of despair God sends light.

What Gideon and Israel face is a chastening not their doom. Chastening is not the evidence of hatred for his people but rather evidence of His hatred for sin and the His love for his people. God would not sit back and watch His people destroy themselves so he used this chastening by Midianite invasions to straighten them out. The chastening made God’s people more receptive to His word since they had few other places to turn. God in turn comes to their rescue. Gideon’s response to the Lord is a complete lack of faith. Sadly, this form of lack of faith itself stems from sin in a person’s life. It is apparent God would have to spend considerable time with Gideon turning his doubt into courage and indomitable spirit. Yet, that is exactly what happens. By the time of Hebrews 11, Gideon is listed among the heroes of the Faith. This should give Christians strong encouragement even in their weakest hour.

The answer to the first question is a resounding and clear, yes.

Does God Know What He’s Doing?

Gideon then questions God’s wisdom in choosing him to be the nation’s deliverer. To outward appearances to another human this question would’ve been valid but not coming from God. The Lord gave Gideon all the assurance he should’ve needed, but he wouldn’t believe God’s Word. Again he is being like Moses (Exodus 3:7–12). If God tells us to do something He assuredly will provide the path and means to see it completed. In God’s very nature, He cannot lie and He never fails. Faith understands this and obeys.

Faith means obeying God in spite of what we see, how we feel. This second one seems to be the biggest stumbling block for believers as they are often too tied up into how they feel rather than what Scripture teaches us about the nature and reliability of God. Regardless, Gideon’s faithless responses seemed to allude to the fact that God could do little or nothing. Gideon asks for a sign to assure him that it was really the Lord who was speaking to him and surprisingly the Lord was gracious enough to accommodate Gideon’s unbelief. Christians shouldn’t expect this as God has since revealed Himself through His Son Jesus Christ.

We must understand that whenever God calls us to a task that we think is beyond us it very well may be. We need to remind ourselves that we must look to God and not to ourselves in these situations. If the task is beyond us, He will also enable it. If we are not capable at the time of our commissioning for the task God will act in our lives as He did in Gideons to make it feasible. Even if it means completely changing us and remaking us in the process. Trust me, I speak from experience on this one. I am not the man I was when I came into the faith. Nor will you be in the end.

The answer to the second question is a resounding and clear, yes.

Does God Keep His Promises?

The Midianites and their allies made their annual invasion with more than 135,000 men (8:10; 7:12). The equivalent of about five (5) modern divisions. They moved into and camped in the Valley of Jezreel. It was time for Gideon to fulfill his destiny and the Spirit of God gave him the wisdom and power that he needed. The same will be said of us as we seek to do God’s will. Gideon blows his trumpet first in his hometown of Abiezer and men rally around him. God’s reformation of Gideon and many of His people has taken hold. Those called then put out further calls to arms throughout the tribes of Manassah, Asher, Zebulun, and Naphtali. At Gideon’s call, 32,000 men responded. There were 32,000 of God’s men against an army of 135,000 pagan men. The Jews were outnumbered and would be outmaneuvered, except for one thing: God was on their side and promised them victory. What chance did Gideon and his men have? It was going to be a rout…against the Midianites. It is understandable that there might be doubt of lack of faith in this situation. The odds were staggering. It is here we see the true nature of the believers battle. It is not a battle against an earthly for but one in the spiritual realm. Gideon questions to God reveal that this battle is a more a battle of faith then a battle of men.

Did God really want him to lead the Jewish army? Does God really want me to be a teacher of the Gospel? What did Gideon know about warfare? What did I know about Scriptures and the nature of God? After all, Gideon was only an ordinary farmer, and there were others in the tribes who could do a much better job. After all Andy was just an ordinary Quality Engineer that focused on systematic processes, rules and regulations not systematic theology and God’s laws and God’s commandments.  The story of the fleece then begins and the miracle of the wet fleece occurs. The fact that God agrees to Gideon’s weakness only proves that God is extremely gracious and understands how lacking in faith sinful men really are (Ps. 103:14). The fact that we would hold out for proof when he has already given us not only his word but also the life of his absurd.

The answer to the third and final question is also resounding and clear, yes.

Gideon’s and our story are stories about victory of faith over doubt. The real enemy is unbelief in a very serious and real war. The world and men contribute to that unbelief but they are not the real enemy. That is why our faith and belief of Christ’s work on the cross becomes so important and comes into such sharp focus. The real battle is a war over sin and death. Everything else becomes a moot point. The real and absolute victory therefore is won or lost on faith. If we hold out against the enemy and accept the victory at the cross, we realize that this victory is the one that has overcome the world. If we do not persevere to the end, we end up as casualties on that field.

1 John 5:4 For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has 

The Fifth Horseman

Please visit my new add-on site Fifth Horseman over at Medium.com.This site will read my posts to you if you don't have the time to read them. I'm just trying to extend my reach out through other methods. You are still free to read it here in its original form though. 

The Fifth Horseman

https://medium.com/@andyman131354

A Trained Professional VIII: Let’s Make A Deal

This is another in a continuing series on occupations and what the Scripture says about those trades and vocations that I started back in 2021. When I say trades I mean employment, work or a person's productive role in society as a whole. They may be things done or performed in exchange for payment of some form or monetary compensation...or not.

The buyer or purchaser….every middle-sized to large company has at least one nowadays. They purchase everything from pencils to million dollar components for jet fighters. In the realm of business today a buyer is an integral and well-paid person. They must have an innate feeling about the selling value of certain goods, and know where and how to buy to the best advantage of tradesman and customer alike. They need to understand that timing of arrival of goods is critical to a company’s ability to manufacture and sell goods. An old proverb once said, “Buyers needs a hundred eyes; sellers none.” In other words a purchaser / buyer needs to be wary and realize there is a responsibility to examine goods on offer. It’s up to the buyer to establish the nature and value of a purchase before completing the transaction. The buyer needs to assure they get the best deal possible but not be taken by the seller either.

Proverbs 20:14: “Bad, bad,” says the buyer, but when he goes away, then he boasts

Solomon notes an aspect of the real world here without actually endorsing it. What's depicted here is a common strategy used in business negotiations since ancient times. It is to downplay the value of something one wishes to buy. The opposite is also the case, as a seller may over-promise or exaggerate a product or service. In one sense, Solomon's comment is a reminder of this aspect of business. When a potential customer criticizes some product or service, it's naïve to assume those words are free from all bias or motive. It's called haggling and its to achieve the lowest price possible. The other side is also shown in Solomon’s follow up comment. The buyer will brag later about what a great deal they got. Its up to the seller to "talk up" something so a buyer spends more on it than they need to while simultaneously the buyers trying to "talk down" the value.

An examination of the verses in which “buying” and “selling” are mentioned reveals the range of commodities dealt with in both material and spiritual. A glance at commerce in the Bible shows that among the many products of Israel, both saleable and export¬able, were oil, wine, wheat, barley, oak timber, honey, fruits and spices, balsam, sand, wool and leather (Gen¬esis 43:11; II Samuel 1:24; II Chron-icles 2:10; Ezekiel 23; 26:2; 27:6, 17, etc.). Other countries, like Ophir and Tarshish, traded in silver and gold. Yam came from Egypt. There is a list of some 118 articles coming from foreign coun¬tries into Israel are mentioned in Scripture. By the time of Solomon there had been a tremendous in¬crease of imports and exports, buying and selling and a buyer had become a recognized pro¬fession as it is today.

There are at least two or three references to buying and selling used spiritually in the Bible. First of all, to buy means to obtain something from God by waiting upon Him in His appointed way — “Buy and eat” (Isaiah 55:1), which implies, “You have no money, come therefore and buy on My terms — though salvation is infinitely valuable, I will charge you nothing for it. When Solomon exhorts us to “Buy truth, and do not sell it, Get wisdom, instruction, and understanding.” (Proverbs 23:23), he seems to say, “Spare no cost for truth’s sake, neither depart from it for any gain; be a merchant in buying it; but never be tempted to surrender it.

Of course one of the most interesting transactions of the Bible is the price paid for each and every one of our salvations through Christ’s work on the Cross. Christ paid for our salvation through his death and Resurrection from the tomb on the third day. Prior to that death and resurrection he had told His disciples that, if they asked, Jesus would send a helper.

John 14:15-17 If you love Me, you will keep My commandments. And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Advocate to be with you forever—the Spirit of truth. The world cannot receive Him, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him. But you do know Him, for He abides with you and will be in you.

The word advocate here in Greek is παράκλητος/parakletos. The Parakletos is referring to the Holy Spirit who Christ would send after his later departure in his Ascension to the Father in Heaven. The thing that should be noted in terms of buying is the fact Jesus did so at the cost of His life but also that when he left he was also leaving behind something in a business-like transaction. In Greek a parakletos was a person who pleads another's cause before a judge, a pleader, counsel for defense, legal assistant; an advocate. In Hellenized philosophy it is universally, one who pleads another's cause with one...an intercessor. The evidence that Christ would still be working on and through them would be this Intercessor. In effect, the Holy Spirit was to take the place of Christ with the apostles to lead them (and us) to a deeper knowledge of truth and to give the divine strength needed to enable them to undergo trials and persecutions on behalf of the divine kingdom.

In Ephesians 1, Paul further explains that not only is the Spirit a Intercessor before the Father and helper in the world, he also acts to fulfill a financial transaction related to the original purchase of our salvation through Christ on the cross.

Ephesians 1:13-14 In him [Christ] you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.

Our inheritance or salvation is guaranteed. The word guaranteed here in Greek is ἀρραβoν/arrabon. What was an arrabon in Greek? It was a binding legal or financial pledge. Financially understood it would be referred to today as a down-payment on a purchased item or something already reserved as being bought and paid for. The Holy Spirit is/was sent to us is a down payment on our salvation. This purchased item is of infinte value to the reciever. The seal on the deal mentioned is σφραγίζω/sphragizo and is the modern-day equivilent of signing on the dotted line of a binding contract. It is called assurance. So in reality, we already know what's behind Door #3. It has already been promised to us in writing...in the Bible.

Working for A Living

What...if not work and our chosen vocation (job)...is the gravitational center for the proclamation of Christ and Him crucified (the Gospel)? We are no longer an agrarian society teaching and living Christian life on the farm. I in-fact travel and have been many places for my employment and have been employed by many. Hence the reason I believe God keeps me healthy and constantly moving job to job. Every employer and every single trip for those employers another opportunity. 80% of our waking hours are in employment. I am a teacher without a pulpit. I am the pulpit.

We are in fact as Chrsitians...all bi-vocational. We need to work and we are also commanded to spread the Gospel. In both of these vocations we are in-fact emulating God's work of creation in Genesis and the spread of His word all throughout Scripture,

Most of us will be pastors or teachers in our workplaces, not the church (brick and mortar). Our main effect on the world as salt and light is in the streets or corridors of industry not dying behind cloistered walls in dead church buildings being obsoleted by false doctrines. By all means find a sound theological church and attend but don't hide your theology in it.

Genesis 2:15 say: The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it.

Colossians 3:23-24 says: "Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people.

Because He Is...I Am

Hebrews opens with lofty and majestic language. It is hard to encapsulate God’s existence and being into such a finite medium as words. At these points imagination and words fail. The writer of Hebrews did the best he could with what he had but it was like trapping God with paper.

Hebrews 1:1-3 In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe. The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven. 

The writer is making an absolute truth statement here and speaking in a matter-of-fact style. No Hebrew writer would for one moment entertain the idea of proving that ‘God is’. It would have been assumed and admitted as a fact on which all his thinking rests or what is called a presupposition. That's what we see in the Bible in general. The writers of all Scripture assume God is.

It is not possible for man to argue on any scientific subject unless he accepts certain facts which cannot be proved, and which it is mutually agreed shall be accepted without proof. Pythagoras or Euclid assumed the acceptance of certain axioms (a priori knowledge) and postulates before they could work out a single mathematical problem. It is knowledge inherent in the Universe and is required before mathematics can even be performed.

Similarly, there is one thing that must be admitted before any theological system can be constructed. It is an absolutely improbable thing...that every proof that can be offered must rest on assumptions, not on knowledge, since man has no power to know in the sphere to which this primary truth is related. A primary truth being is defined as a conception/proposition which is dependent for its truth on no other principle in the same order of thought. An axiomatic truth may be considered self-evident, intuitive insight but it is not or cannot be demonstrated. It’s taken for granted because…it is immutably true. It is the very being of God, truth is. A man can deny the being of God. Then we cannot talk theology with him; nor can we give him any idea of his moral duty. Scripture makes no attempt to prove that there is a God. It helps us to apprehend what He is, but not that He is.

In the beginning of the Bible, God is assumed to be. He is self-existent. It starts with the sublime assertion, “In the beginning God.” It proposes to deal only with men who accept that altogether incomprehensible fact as their starting-point being drawn from the essence of God and His creative power. No human intellect can pry behind that assertion. The absolute being, God, no created being can ever fully understand. The only thing we can do is to begin our thinking with this as our accepted first fact, our foundational truth-God is. One Being three persona, one uncreated, independent Being, sole source and absolute Originator of all things that exist.

Yet there is more in this passage.

God first and foremost. The first verse of the Bible asserts something that God has done. “God created the heavens and the earth.” But there is something that goes before the Divine action. God Himself must exist—the uncaused, eternal Being. “In the beginning God.” This is the place for Him, the only place, the place in which all reverent souls should forever keep Him. The foundational cornerstone of the great temple of thought and revealed truth is a pronouncement which forces us see one infinite Being, having life in Himself. 

He is self-existent and independent of all. When there was no heaven and no earth, in the silent, mysterious eternity, there was God. In the infinite deep of the quantum unknowable a first utterance of Divine Word pierces and resonances evermore in the created order that it spawned. The first divine work in the universe forever echoing down in all subsequent work performed in that universe by man. Word.

The greatest demand of faith for the Christian is to believe this happened as no one was there to see it yet…it is axiomatic and self-evident. It had to have happened for us to be here or for you to be reading this. Yet people deny it. The existence of God needs to be the beginning of human thinking or everything else thought in a man’s mind is based on a false presupposition or false beginning. The first stone in the edifice of thought is therefore flawed.

Even in light of this fundamental truth, God provides more proof for His existence for the feeble unbelieving mind. God has set the proofs of His existence so abundantly in the created order that He did not need to rewrite them in His book (but did). He has even put them in the very ability of our minds to think in an inductive manner and to be able to deduce things. We can never see anything without at once thinking there must have been a cause for it in this universe. 

The universe didn’t need to be ordered such as it is...but it is. There is order, another axiomatic assumption in reality. When one asks why, the answer is quickly arrived at…Someone created it. Our minds refuse to stop at anything short of that. We see a book; we assume a writer, a painting a printer. We see a machine; we know there was an inventor and maker.

We are surrounded with objects which we did not make, air, trees, flowers, streams, mountains, clouds, creatures; all trace their origin to God. Without some of them we could not survive. Systems designed to work interdependently. Within Creation the reality that we are dependent on these other created things, so in effect, we are dependent on nature, food and atmosphere. The length of our lives, the measure of our health, the formation of our diseases, are all things out of our own control. The universal nature of our dependence all tracing back to the Originator and Sustainer.

Here in Hebrews 1 and in Genesis 1 is an assertion of God’s eternality. What we find in the opening of Hebrews is also a statement of the absolute unity of God. The chapter asserts the exclusive relation of this one God to everything man can see or know. God made it; God ordained it; God arranged it. God allows it or doesn’t allow it (grace). This includes all natural forces and laws which act in creation. Every created thing has a power to act on every other created thing. 

Changes are going on in nature continually, changes sometimes  very silent and very gradual. Moses and the writer of Hebrews show us One living God at the beginning of all changes, designing all change, and presiding over all change. He deals with chaos, without form, and void, dwelling upon emptiness and confusion. He called forth light, and set order into motion.

The abrupt beginning of Hebrews startles us to attention. It reminds us of the stark but life-giving beginning of the book of Genesis. Scripture never proves the being of God. It assumes it. It deals with men only who assume it. It assumes: God is. God only is. Man can know Him, in part but cannot know Him perfectly. God gave the ability to understand him enough to be adequate for morality and salvation. Upon these facts all else is built. 

Here in the beginning of Hebrews we see the manifestation of God in humanity through God’s Son. Christ…was God taking on human form, so that He would not just be word or thought in man’s head. Instead he would be flesh. It was the whole plan from the beginning. God, the One God of Judaism and Christianity…because He is, I can be. Because He is the Great ‘I Am’ everything is. Because he was a man, died and rose again, I am forever.