Tag: Yahweh

Chimers, Haters, and Nay-Sayers

Dr. J.D. WilkinsLeave a comment

Is COVID-19  a life or death crisis?  A little perspective here might be nice for all of us.  In your neck of the woods, you may not know anyone who is infected or in an urgent care condition from this virus.  This does not mean that others around the block, in another state, or around the world are not facing serious life and death battles with their health.  So, we all have a choice to make when we are not the ones facing these issues.  Do we pretend that all the news reports are fake news?  Do we denigrate the leaders we don’t like because we think their communication is just constant fear-mongering babble?  Do we offer an opinion on issues when we can’t possibly see the larger picture, or all the details that are prompting all these local, state, and national reactions to this war with … aren’t you tired of hearing it yet… COVID-19?

So, here’s the thing.

I read an article yesterday about a Hollywood celebrity who Tweeted about her support for  how our President is handling the crisis in our country.  Immediately she was ridiculed by the other celebrities and followers on her account since not many folks in that community support anything President Trump does.  But I loved her response:

“You can tell a lot about people who belittle you for your views and beliefs, when u aren’t even TALKING TO THEM!” the “Look Who’s Talking” actress wrote. “My bestie and I call these people CHIMERS ..they ALWAYS chime in when u are speaking to someone else.”

Chimers

So, yes, I got the word “Chimers” from Kirsti Alley’s tweet, because it resonated with me.  A lot of people do a lot of “chiming in” today.  Most of it unsolicited, most of it negative, most of it hurtful, most of it we are all better off without.  I have to admit that in my past, I have probably chimed in way too much, with very little impact other than making some people royally ticked off.  Today I just blog.  I am happy to have a voice when asked, but I try really hard to not rock on other people’s opinions or posts or ideas, if I can help it.  Where’s the gain in that anyway?

Haters

You’ve heard the phrase, “Haters are just gonna hate, and judgers are gonna judge!”  And largely today this is true.  I live in Denton county, in Texas where the local authorities have just issued a “shelter in place” restriction.  But they did it in such a way that caused me huge concern about our society as a whole.  I’m reminded of Greg Gutfeld, who has written a great article you may want to check out titled “The Prison of Two Ideas.”

Yesterday, my impression of what  the Judge in Denton county and Mayor of the city of Denton said was (my paraphrase-not a direct quote):

“You will follow this new ordinance and stay in your homes, and not leave for anything except essential services or you are just selfishly putting everyone you engage at risk of infection and death.”

So look.  I hate this virus.  I hate that people in Denton County are suffering, and may die, just like others around our nation and the world, I hate it.  But don’t make me the culprit of all the death in the world, or even someone in the city of Denton, because I went outside and spoke with my neighbor yesterday.  Please don’t call me selfish, because I would like some normalcy in my life.  That’s just absurd.

This kind of hate-mongering, name-calling, illogical over-reaction to COVID-19 is the very reason why people are wondering how they’re going to pay their bills, or keep their mortgage up, or buy new clothes for the kids in the fall when they do go back to school.  Come on people, a little perspective ok?

Nay-Sayers

Right about now, someone reading this might say, “Dude, you sound a lot like a Chimer and a Hater about now.”  Sorry if you think that, it wasn’t my intention.  So, let me try one more time to help you with what I’m trying to say.

There were those who believed in God a long time ago who thought they knew more about spiritual matters than anyone else on earth.  God in fact had chosen them among all other nations of the earth to be His People.  Yet, when God showed up in the flesh, to bring salvation not just to them, but to all people, they became such intense nay-sayers that they plotted to have a Roman Governor of Judea hang Him on a cross.  “You cannot possibly be our Messiah!”  “You claim equality with Yahweh?  Blasphemy!”  “You break the very laws God gave us to live by, what Messiah would teach people to do that?!”

For thousands of years now, people have been suggesting Jesus was a good man, a good teacher, but certainly not God, and definitely not the Savior of the world.

Well, guess what. That is a personal choice that every individual is given the privilege of deciding for themselves.  Chimers, haters, and nay-sayers are always going to look at me and say, “how can you possibly believe that rubbish?”  Yet, I want to live my life in such a way that when crisis comes to town, something like say, COVID-19… that those folks will see my faith as Rock solid, not filled with fear or uncertainty.  I want my speech to be filled with loving words of hope.  I want everyone who knows me to know I believe with absolute certainty that God is in Control, Jesus is who He claims to be, and nothing since the beginning of time has taken Him by surprise.

Let’s not be a chimer, hater, or nay-sayer.

Instead, let’s act like true Christ-followers and give these folks something to think about, something to hope in, something to believe in that will see them through dark days of doubt and confusion.

Jesus is the Rock.  Jesus is in Control.  He holds it all, including you, right in His hands.

 

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Descriptions of God define Him as LORD.

Dr. J.D. WilkinsLeave a comment

We’ve been looking at the topic “Who is God?” and we started by examining how God reveals Himself by ACTING through miracles, providence, creation and decrees. [4 separate posts see them by clicking here.]  Today I want to launch into the next major topic: How God DESCRIBES Himself through names, images, and attributes in the Bible.

Here’s the thing.  God does indeed want us to know what He is like.  The word “God” itself is a more generic term, and is often used to describe false gods as well as the One True God.  However, the NAME YAHWEH (the LORD) can only be used of the ONE True God.  There are also compound NAMES found in the Bible like:  God Almighty (El Shaddai), Lord of Hosts (Jehovah Tsabaoth – emphasizing God is Lord of all the angelic army of heaven), the Lord Who Provides (Jehovah Jireh), and so forth.  The name Jesus, is a really significant name for God, which Paul says is so worthy of praise, that every knee shall bow at the name of Jesus. (Philipians 2:10)

Now IMAGES are verbal pictures of God which compare Him to people or things in human experience.  The Bible shows God to be King, Father, Shepherd, Light, Rock, and Shield.  In fact the image of King is synonymous with LORD in thousands of verses in the Bible.  Father is maybe the most significant image of God in the Bible, and the prominent image of God in the New Testament.  Jesus taught His disciples (and us) to call God “Father” when we pray [Matthew 6:9].  Paul teaches that God adopts us into His own family when we accept Jesus as our Savior, and we then can cry out, “Abba! Father!” (Daddy!) [Romans 8:15; Galatians 4:6].  Jesus did this too… in Mark 14:36.

Sometimes people ask me if it would be ok to call God our Mother.  Well, let’s be candid, since God has no body (He is invisible), God is neither male or female.  So really it is a question of imagery… should we speak of God using mainly male or female images?  Well, guess what… there are feminine descriptions of God in Scripture!

The Bible says God gave birth to Israel, so in that sense God is Israel’s mother [Deuteronomy 32:17; Isaiah 42:14-15].  In fact Paul uses similar descriptions of himself suggesting he anguishes in childbirth until we accept Christ as Savior [Galatians 4:19].  Figuratively, this makes Paul the mother of the church… but it doesn’t really raise doubts for us about Paul’s sexual orientation as male.

In Scripture God is mostly described in male terminology, and this is not an accident or coincidence.  During ancient times the pagan religions described in the Bible often worshiped female deities, mainly through sexual acts.  The Biblical authors therefore stridently avoided suggesting that YAHWEH was female.  Scripture also emphasizes male leadership in the family and in the New Testament church.  Most of these writers then would have wanted to avoid confusing their readers as to God’s authority, therefore He is presented in male terminology.  Think about how this is reflected in the image of Jesus as the Bridegroom who redeems His church as a glorious bride.  [Revelation 19:7]

These NAMES and IMAGES are meant to introduce us to God as HE wants us to know and see Him.  Once we know these names, and see these images, we enhance our understanding of Him by studying His ATTRIBUTES.

So… next time we’ll examine God’s Attributes of LOVE.

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Identical

Dr. J.D. WilkinsLeave a comment

How does one distinguish between the two distinct people and personalities that result from identical twins?  In college I found it hard to know which was which.  They laughed the same, walked, talked, ate, and looked the same.  If one showed up without the other, few knew them well enough to know who was standing before them.  The degree of likeness, one to the other, could not be described any better, or more appropriately than, identical.

When Jesus arrived in Judea, traveling from one tiny village to the next, proclaiming “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel…” [Mark 1:15] the crowds that followed were “…amazed at His teaching; for He was teaching them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.” [Mark 1:22]

Maybe the explanation is as simple as this.  The scribes, rabbis, and other teachers, while knowing the law of God, continually used other men’s interpretations and ideas when they taught what God was saying through the Law and the Prophets.  Since Jesus was, and is God, along with the Holy Spirit and the Father, He was able to speak from original intent, since He was there when the words of the Law and the Prophets were inspired then written.  As such, Jesus would quote the original text without the aid of scrolls kept in the synagogues or the Temple.  The words He spoke were identical to those written in ancient days.

So when Jesus would begin, “You have heard that the ancients were told…  But I say to you…” [Matthew 5:21-22], He was speaking about how the teaching of men erred from the original intended meaning behind each passage He quoted.  This alone gave Him the authority to also say, “I and the Father are one.” [John 10:30]

Having spoken these words, it’s easy to see why the Jewish leaders took offense, since there isn’t another way to interpret this statement except Jesus claiming He and the Father are IDENTICAL.  Now don’t go so fast here… linger a minute.

Jesus isn’t saying He is “another- like” the Father.  Jesus isn’t saying God and the Son are identical twins.  The one-ness Jesus is claiming is further captured in His statement to Philip, “Have I been so long with you, and yet you have not come to know Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; how do you say, ‘Show us the Father’?” [John 14:9]

One of the spiritual games we like to play seems to be finding an explanation of the Trinity:  God is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – three in ONE.  This idea is captured in an ancient image, that most of us have no construct from which to assimilate it’s truth.  We recognize the second part, but mostly skip completely over the first part.  It goes like this…

Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD is one! And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. [Deuteronomy 6:4-5]

Even the most simple explanation is mind boggling, because LORD (Yahweh – the proper name used for God) and God (Elohenu – the divine being) are the same. Since both God the Father and God the Holy Spirit are invisible to human eyes, it makes it virtually impossible to wrap our minds around the idea of One-ness. So…

Let’s not make this harder than God intended it.  In fact, while it may be fun to come up with human images that help us deal with the Trinity of ONE, our focus should be on the most complete revelation of who God is, and what He wanted us to know about Him.  And in this case, all we have to do is look to Jesus and see the ONE.  He is identical in every way, yet was visible for awhile on the earth, and will one day soon (I hope) reappear on this planet to demonstrate His One-ness.  What did this man Jesus say to John the Apostle that He wanted us to know?

“I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.” [Revelation 1:8]

He who testifies to these things says, “Yes, I am coming quickly.”
Amen.
Come, Lord Jesus. [Revelation 22:20]

Identical