Contradictions

 

We sometimes find what appears to be discrepancies in the Bible. Sceptics then immediately proclaim that this proves that the Bible is not accurate - that what is written there cannot be trusted.

One such example is the written account of the demon-possessed men, found in Matthew 8:28 – 34 “28 When He came to the other side into the country of the Gadarenes, two men who were demon-possessed met Him as they were coming out of the tombs.”  When we read about this same incident in Mark 5:1-20 and Luke 8:26-39, “26 Then they sailed to the country of the Gerasenes, which is opposite Galilee. 27And when He came out onto the land, He was met by a man from the city who was possessed with demons”, we see that they refer to only one man who was demon-possessed. Another difference we note here is that Matthew writes that this happened in the country of the Gadarenes, whereas Mark and Luke both noted that it happened in the country of the Gerasenes.

Which of these accounts are right? Well, they all are! Upon closer investigation we learn that the capital city of this region was Gerasa, which explains the description that the men were from the country of the Gerasenes; and this incident happened in the vicinity of a city called Gedara, only a few kilometres away from the Sea of Galilee. There were two men involved in this story, however, only one man remained after he was delivered and earnestly asked Jesus if he could stay with Him. This man later proclaimed Jesus throughout the whole region, while the other just disappeared from the scene. It is therefore no wonder that Mark and Luke focused on him.

We see another example of seemingly different accounts of the same incident, found in the Gospels when Jesus called His disciples. In Mark 1:16-20 we read that Jesus saw Simon and his brother Andrew fishing in the Sea of Galilee, and upon calling them, they dropped everything and followed Him. The same happened thereafter with James and John. In his Gospel account, John does not even mention this incident. He says Simon and Andrew met Jesus many miles to the south, along the Jordan river: John 1:35-42  “35Again the next day John (the Baptist) was standing with two of his disciples, 36and he looked at Jesus as He walked, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God!” 37The two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus. Again, both accounts are accurate. In real life, people do not normally drop everything and follow a total stranger. Simon and Andrew had first met Jesus along the Jordan River and were among His disciples who witnessed the miracle of the water turning into wine in Cana. They believed in Him and returned to their fishing where they witnessed about Jesus to their business partners James and John. Jesus then asked them to accompany Him around Galilee (Mark 1:16-20) which they did. Back in Capernaum they returned to fishing, and witnessed another miracle when Jesus instructed Simon to throw his nets into the water yet again, and they caught an incredible number of fish! Then Jesus called them to follow Him full-time, which by now they did without hesitation.

Points to ponder: Do I read the Bible with a humble spirit and an open heart, wanting to meet God there, to learn about Jesus there, to let Holy Spirit minister to me there? Or do I approach His Word with a critical spirit, not searching deeper if I do not understand?

Ancient Words

Road to rebellion

Gen 4:6-7

And the LORD said to Cain, “Why are you so angry? And why do you look annoyed? You will be accepted if you do what is right. But if you refuse to do what is right, then watch out! Sin is crouching at the door, eager to control you. But you must subdue it and be its master.”

God’s rejection of Cain’s offering made him terribly angry, and his disappointment showed so clearly in his face that God even commented on it. God’s next sentence (“You will be accepted if you do what is right”) shows that Cain knew the right way to bring his offering, but that he had chosen to do it his own way. We know this because our loving Heavenly Father did not respond by saying: “Let Me show you the correct way to offer”. Some teach that the offering was not acceptable because it did not involve an animal, but this was not a sin offering which would have required the blood of an animal – it is stated in verse 4 that Abel brought of the firstlings of his flock, implying that this was a fall first-fruit offering, where both the animals from herds and also crops from the harvests were to be offered.

We can now clearly follow the progression of rebellion as events unfolded from here:

Firstly, just as Eve, his mother had believed a lie planted by Satan, Cain had to have heeded the lie that his own method of sacrifice would be just as good as God’s way.

Secondly, when God Himself rebuked Cain, he refused to hear the truth and instead of repenting, responded with anger. His own parents had done the same by playing the blame game instead of admitting their error and asking forgiveness.

Thirdly, Cain then went to his brother in the field and confronted him, the anger in his heart making way for hatred to develop. No doubt Abel had tried to persuade him to take responsibility for his wrong attitude, but the rebellion in his heart made him blind to his own faults.

Fourthly, Cain rose up and killed his own brother. If this was not bad enough, he tried to cover it up when God confronted him about it. His defiant answer, “Am I my brother’s keeper?” showed his absolute disrespect for his Creator, and his self-righteousness would lead to bitterness later as he left God’s presence.

Points to ponder:  God’s warning to Cain, that sin was crouched at his door because of his wrong choices, is still true for us today. We have to watch for the sin door-openers in our lives and firmly keep those doors shut! (This means we must repent sin, and deal with wounds quickly, as they occur). They are usually the following four doors: Anger and bitterness; Fear; Sexual wounds; Occultic participation. Evaluate your own life in the light of the road on which Cain travelled: are you believing a lie; do you repent when confronted by truth; are you letting wrong heart attitudes dictate your behaviour; do you defend your wrong choices instead of dealing with sin/wounds in your life? Turn your rebel heart back to God, and so avoid the consequences Cain faced when he refused to do so!

Rebel Heart 

Thunder and lightning

 

Job 37:6-7

He directs the snow to fall on the earth and tells the rain to pour down. Then everyone stops working so they can watch his power.

The weather is a quite common topic of conversation. Even when meeting strangers, discussing the current weather patterns is a convenient way of starting the getting-to-know-you process.

But rarely do we acknowledge our God in these conversations, He Who is the Creator and Designer of it all as we soon realize when God Himself asks Job in Job 38:25 Who created a channel for the torrents of rain? Who laid out the path for the lightning?

 On reading our verse quoted from Job 37, I came to realize that God intended that adverse weather conditions such as snow in winter and torrential rain, should also keep us indoors and disrupt our outdoor activities in order that we can cease our tasks and meditate on His power and might.

In the midst of a powerful storm, when thunder claps ring in our ears and lightning lights up the dark clouds and sky in an awesome display of indescribable power, we can be reminded of a few instances in the Bible where God is associated with thunder and lightning:  The day God wished to reveal Himself to the Israelites at Mount Sinai in Ex 20:18 When the people saw the thunder and lightning and heard the trumpet and saw the mountain in smoke, they trembled with fear. They stayed at a distance. We know that Daniel, Ezekiel, and John reported that the throne of God emits flashes of lightning and peals of thunder (Rev 4:5 From the throne came flashes of lightning, rumblings and peals of thunder). The voice of God sounds like thunder, as we read when God spoke to Jesus in John 12:29 When the crowd heard the voice, some thought it was thunder, while others declared an angel had spoken to him.

Hail reminds us that God uses hail in judgment (Job 38:22-23 Have you entered the storehouses of the snow or seen the storehouses of the hail, which I reserve for times of trouble, for days of war and battle?) Which indeed He used in the past (Joshus 10:11 As they fled before Israel on the road down from Beth Horon to Azekah, the LORD hurled large hailstones down on them, and more of them died from the hail than were killed by the swords of the Israelites.) and will again in the future (Rev 16:21 From the sky huge hailstones, each weighing about a hundred pounds, fell on people.)

God’s voice often comes through the whirlwind, as Asaph records in Ps 77 and as Job’s companions found out when they were caught in the storm on the refuge heap with Job! (Job 38:1 Then the LORD answered Job from the whirlwind)

Points to ponder:  When next you are kept inside because of a brewing storm or mighty wind or hail or heavy rain, do not grab your devices and search for a film or YouTube video to keep you busy – search instead for Bible verses describing how God is manifested through the weather, and meditate on His power and majesty!

Rain

The fringe of His garment

 

Matthew 14:36

They begged him to let the sick touch at least the fringe of his robe, and all who touched him were healed.

These healing miracles happened in Gennesaret, just after Jesus and His disciples had crossed the Sea of Galilee, where Peter had attempted to walk on the water, and Jesus had calmed the storm. It reminds us of the woman who had been healed from twelve years of blood-flowing after she also touched the fringe of His garment (Matthew 9:20-22).

The Greek word for fringe used here, is kraspedon, which is a translation of the Hebrew words kanaf and tzitzit. In Numbers 15:38 God instructed the Israelites to attach fringes or tassels (called tzitzit) to the corners of their garments (this corner is called the kanaf), and because Jesus was born as an Israelite, He followed the commandments of the law of Moses and wore tassels on His garment.

The people were therefore touching the corner and tassels or fringes on the garment of Messiah to be healed, touching the very symbol God gave the Israelites to remember to do His commandments and be holy unto Him, as explained in Numbers 15:40.

The fact that they believed that healing was to be found by touching the fringe of His robe, is because they knew the Scripture from Malachi 4:2 “But to you who fear My name The Sun  of Righteousness shall arise With healing in His wings;” where the word ‘wings’ is the Hebrew word kanaf – the fringe of Messiah’s garment! They knew that this verse referred to the coming Messiah, and they believed that this was who Jesus was – they literally touched the fringe of the Sun of Righteousness and received their healing in His wings/fringes!

Our God decided to live here on earth among us, brushing shoulders with us human beings, allowing people to touch His clothes to be healed. He is not a far-away God, unapproachable and untouchable. Indeed, He became our High Priest Who understands everything we are going through here on earth, as He experienced the same (Heb 4:15).

Points to ponder:

Think about Jesus’ closeness to you, how He knows every intimate detail of your life, how He loves you despite knowing all about you! And move closer to Him. The woman with the issue of blood had to fight through the throng of people surrounding her to get closer to Jesus. Do not let family/friends/colleagues deter you, rather let your desperation become faith with singularity of purpose – only God can heal and save - move so close that you can touch His garment!

The Hem of Your Garment

Am I truly born again

 

1 John 3:9-10

Those who have been born into God’s family do not make a practice of sinning, because God’s life is in them. So they can’t keep on sinning, because they are children of God. So now we can tell who are children of God and who are children of the devil. Anyone who does not live righteously and does not love other believers does not belong to God.

There is a dangerous trend these days for Christians to mingle the ways of the world with what was known in Jesus’ times as The Way. Straying from our biblical roots, in other words. When Jesus started His ministry on earth, He did not fit into the mould of any existing religious party of the day – not of the Pharisees, who attached endless human-made laws onto the Word of God that were passed on to subsequent generations; nor of the Sadducees who headed the other way by denying whole segments of Scripture, e.g. the existence of spirits, angels, the soul, the afterlife, and the resurrection.

On the one hand, contemporary Christianity has become guilty of the error of the Pharisees in the sense that it has added countless humanly devised traditions to our way of worship, smothering the active working of the Holy Spirit in our worship services. On the other hand, it has fallen prey to the tradition of the Sadducees, where copious amounts of New Testament practices have simply been removed. The first century church was a living breathing organism, where every member functioned with the divine life that dwelt in them through Holy Spirit, representing Jesus Christ Himself. Their practices were solidly grounded in the teachings found in the New Testament, where we find that the church held Spirit-led meetings where member participation was encouraged; and was led by non-hierarchical leadership – Jesus was the fully functioning head of His church.

Where did we as modern church go wrong? In my opinion, one of the root causes of our derailment from The Way is the lack of transformation among God’s people. Transformation implies much more than mere change; it is a complete or major change according to the dictionary. It cannot be window dressing only, it involves a radical change of heart, mind, and life choices. The moment the newborn Christian becomes aware of sin in his/her lifestyle, he/she will start procedures to break with that sin. Period. No procrastination, no compromise. Our verse quoted above states that they cannot wilfully keep on sinning, because they are now children of God – truly born again. If they keep choosing to repeat a sin once becoming aware of it, not sincerely repenting for their relapse every time they give in to it but actually telling God that He does not have dominion over that area of their lives - we can ask the question - are they born again? (Our definition of sin is found in the Word of God, not based on man-made traditions or people’s opinions.) Holy Spirit is faithful to point sin out to us by convicting us of it, reminding us that sin harms us, not condemning us and handing out punishment.

Points to ponder:  Examine your lifestyle choices – are you wilfully choosing to sin? Do you have the attitude of “Oh well, I was born this way….”  or “My grandfather did this, so did my father, we cannot help it, it is in our family”, or any self-justification whatever? Be transformed (Rom 12:2) in your mind. Let the gentle Holy Spirit show you what needs to change in you, and then act upon it!

The change in me

Slaves

 

Romans 6:6

“We know that our old sinful selves were crucified with Christ so that sin might lose its power in our lives. We are no longer slaves to sin.”

Have you thought about slaves recently? If so, you probably had an image from some or other movie come into your mind, because slaves are not normally part of our modern lives anymore!

 A slave is someone who has a master, to whom he must be obedient at all times.  He has no choice in the matter – when his master says: Jump! He jumps…. He does not have the privilege of denying the command.

Which brings us to our verse quoted above. Before we knew Jesus, we were slaves to sin. We sinned because sin was our master, it commanded us to follow the sinful urges jumping up from inside our sinful natures.

But no more! That very same old sinful nature was crucified with Christ and our water baptism is the sign that the power that that old nature wielded over us, is now deader than a doornail! (Col 2:12 For you were buried with Christ when you were baptized. And with him you were raised to new life) Sin immediately lost its hold over our lives.

Does that mean that we no longer sin after becoming a Christian? Of course not! It means that we now get to choose whether we will sin or not. Yes, you heard right. When you sin now, it is because you choose to do it. Not because a sin slave master cracked his whip over you, and you had to obey.

Remember this image, my friend, when you next feel so powerless because there is some or other sin in your life which you feel is overwhelming you. See your old sinful self on the cross with Jesus, breathing out his last. Then see the new you rising up, facing that sin slave master squarely in the eyes, and saying a resounding, NO!

And simply walk away from the temptation. In 1 Corinthians 10:13 we have such good news about temptations. God promises in that verse firstly that “The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. (so, you are not being singled out for extra punishment), secondly, And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. (He made sure you would be able to counter this temptation, He promises to give you the strength to do so, then with His help it is not beyond your abilities or strength). And also, When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure.” (As you walk away, start looking for that way out. The telephone may start ringing, for instance, giving you an excuse to disengage with the temptation. God is such a practical, hands-on God!) And the more you stand up against that old sin slave master, the better you are going to get at it. Hallelujah! Praise God! Jesus set us free indeed!

Points to ponder: I also have a role to play in countering temptation to sin. Am I actively avoiding situations that will trigger me to go back to old sinful patterns again?

No Longer Slaves

God's name is a strong tower

 

Ps 53:5

“There they are, in terror and dread, where there was [and had been] no terror and dread!...”

The sheer volume of fake news and misinformation that is sent out on a daily – and I can actually say, hourly - basis, is staggering.  Some are so blatant that even the untrained eye and ear can pick it up, like a fairly recent post pertaining to be a new offensive in the ongoing war between Ukraine and Russia, but actually showing a video of the port explosion in Beirut years ago.

But some of them are so subtle that all watching it are deceived into thinking that the truth is being portrayed. Or it may be messages that have been doing the rounds for years and years already, originally true, but currently completely inaccurate. Unfortunately, many of these have some kind of Christian appeal to them. Well-meaning godly people then forward them immediately, without first ascertaining the truth of their content, and thereby unintentionally sow fear and uncertainty into the hearts of all who receive them. The following acronym describes this situation very well: False Evidence Appearing Real!

Spreading baseless, unfounded fear is a weapon used by the enemy, and our verse from Psalms above shows that he has been using it very effectively since ancient times.

But we have a recourse, found in Ps 54:1 “Save me, O God, by Your name…..”  Read this verse together with Proverbs 18:12 “The name of the Lord is a strong tower, the righteous run into it, and are safe.” Have you ever thought about how that works? If you meditate on God’s names, you build towers in the spirit realm into which you can run and be safe! Take Yahweh Tsur as an example, it means the Lord is my Rock. God is that steadfast rock, a spacious, immovable and dry place to jump on when the tsunamis of life arrive on your doorstep. 

Points to ponder:

Meditate on the many names of God, all portraying His character, and build hiding places for yourself in the spirit where you can be safe from the onslaught of the enemy. Run into those towers when you need them!

Here are a few names of God that you might consider:

 El Shaddai (Lord God Almighty); Jehovah Nissi (The Lord my Banner); Jehovah Raah (The Lord my Shepherd); Jehovah Rapha (The Lord that Heals); Jehovah Tsidkenu (The Lord our Righteousness); Jehovah Jireh (The Lord will Provide); Jehovah Shalom (The Lord is Peace); Jehovah Sabaoth (The Lord of Hosts).

Names of God

Diamond painting

 

Is 46:10

“I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come. I say, ‘My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please.’

I sometimes enjoy relaxing with an art activity which is called diamond painting. Basically, it is a coloured picture covered with glue, and you are given different coloured plastic ‘diamonds’ (which are resin balls that are flat on the one side and raised on the other) to stick on to the glue so that the whole picture comes alive, and you have created a vivid, shimmering work of art.

The important thing to know here is that the whole picture is given to you before you even start, because without it you do not know where to place the plastic discs, and every little disc has a demarcated space where it will fit.

This is exactly how end-time Biblical prophecies work:  God is in control of history and has already revealed for us glimpses of the whole picture of what is going to happen in the future through His prophets in the Bible, and history is now just placing the events that lead up to the end in their pre-ordained places.

People can talk and talk about the Great Reset, but actually it is just the Great Pre-set!   God has declared the end since the beginning, as our quoted verse from Isaiah states - He does not change His mind, and whatever He says will happen, will certainly come to pass in the finest detail. In the words of Jan Markell, “The world is not falling apart, it is falling in place!”

When fear and uncertainty about what is happening in the world today take hold in your mind, remember that God is in control of the complete picture – nothing that is happening now is a surprise to Him. And the beautiful thing about it is that in the end, the picture will be a vivid, shimmering work of art – we will live forever in a shimmering golden city with our Abba Father and our Bridegroom Jesus and our Friend Holy Spirit - Hallelujah!

Take heart, therefore my friend, our heavenly Father has promised in Heb 13:5 For God has said, “I will never fail you. I will never abandon you.” Never means not even once, throughout all eternity. This includes help in all the times of trouble we may be facing now or might be facing in the future.

Points to ponder:

Meditate about Who God is, the God Who made this promise of everlasting help in times of trouble to you. When you become aware of His greatness, His majesty, His All-powerfulness, His love for you – then settle the following issues in your own heart once for all: does He mean what He said? Is He faithful to keep to His word? Do you think that He is able to help you, or do you think that your problem is too big for Him to solve? Can you trust Him with your future, no matter what it might look like to you at present?

God is in this story

The veil is removed

 

Rev 19:7

Let us be glad and rejoice, and let us give honour to him. For the time has come for the wedding feast of the Lamb, and his bride has prepared herself.

One of the highlights of a wedding ceremony is the custom where the veiled bride walks up the isle towards her bridegroom, and when she reaches him, the veil is removed, and he can at last see her face to face.

This is what the word apocalypse means – the removing of a veil, derived from apo, which means to remove, and kalupsis, which means veil. And of course, this means the removing of the covering that hid the revelation of future end-time events from mankind up until that precise point in time that God gave John the vision that revealed it to us.

But there is a wedding ceremony waiting for us in the future when all events of the apocalypse are drawing to an end, where the highlight for the bride and the Groom will be that face-to-face moment the bride has been preparing herself for throughout her lifetime – when Jesus will present her to her Abba Father, spotless and without wrinkles!

We read in 2 Cor 3:14 that the Israelites also have a veil over their minds and hearts: But their minds were made dull, for to this day the same veil remains when the old covenant is read. It has not been removed, because only in Christ is it taken away. This veil is only removed when a person repents and accepts Jesus as Lord, as written in verse 16: but whenever a person turns [in repentance and faith] to the Lord, the veil is taken away.

Could this have been the reason for John the Baptist’s baptism of repentance? Acts 19:4 Paul said, “John’s baptism was a baptism of repentance. He told the people to believe in the one coming after him, that is, in Jesus.”  Could this baptism have been the removal of their veils in order that they could see that Jesus is the Messiah?

Just as Leah hid behind her wedding veil, concealing her identity from Jacob to trick him into marrying her instead of Rachel, so we are all hiding behind our veils, Jews and Gentiles alike. There are things in our lives that we wish to conceal from our Bridegroom! It is time to start preparing for our coming unveiling at the wedding feast of the Lamb – let us get rid of those things hindering our walk of intimacy with our Bridegroom here on earth and start growing in glory and holiness day by day!

Points to ponder:

Wounds, sinful behaviour and unforgiveness (leading to bitterness) are blockages preventing us from experiencing intimacy in our walk with Jesus our Heavenly Bridegroom. All can be dealt with and removed or healed in sessions with our compassionate Healing Rooms councillors. Do not wait another day – make an appointment now!

Open the eyes of my heart, Lord

The sound of silence

                                                          Luke 19:39-40

Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples!” “I tell you,” he replied, “if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.”

These words were spoken as Jesus entered Jerusalem on the 10^th of Nisan, the same date that the Jews all brought their Passover lambs home for a four-day inspection to make sure that they were perfect in every way before they were brought to the temple as an offering. Jesus rode on a donkey colt, an event prophesied by Zecheriah about 500 years before Jesus was even born, saying “Behold, your King comes to you; He is just and having salvation, patient, meek, lowly and riding on a donkey, upon a colt, the foal of a donkey.”  By this act, Jesus was signalling to all who knew the writings of the Old Testament prophets (and this included all the Pharisees in the crowd), that He was indeed their long-awaited Messiah!

But because they misinterpreted Isiah 53, they could not understand that their Messiah would come twice – once as a suffering servant, and later as reigning King. The Jesus they observed and heard about up to then, was just, proclaimed salvation, patient, meek, and lowly – but this did not fit into their perception (handed down by generations of learned men before them) of what their King should be like and should act like.

This made it impossible for them to admit that Jesus was indeed their Messiah. Trying to silence the disciples from openly proclaiming Him as such, they instructed Jesus to rebuke them, which He answered by saying that the very stones along the road would cry out and proclaim the truth, if His followers were to be silenced.

I find it very interesting that there are so many archaeological findings in Jerusalem and surrounds lately - are they also the stones crying out? Testifying to the authenticity of history as reported in the Bible!

Jesus was then crucified in Jerusalem four days later on the 14^th of Nisan, exactly the same date that all the Passover lambs were slaughtered in the temple as Passover offerings. He was not ashamed to die for you and me, openly acknowledging His love for us, and this even before we chose Him as Lord and Saviour, while we were still living in our sin. He publicly declared His love for us – liars, cheaters, murderers, adulterers, idolaters, fornicators, self-centred to the core, breakers of every law imaginable.

Why then do we find it difficult to acknowledge Him in public - the King of kings, the most powerful Being that exists, the Supreme Ruler over every created thing, glorious, majestic, beautiful, just, faithful, and true? Where are the voices crying out at every injustice we hear about in our neighbourhoods, in our towns and cities? Why are we silent when sinful living is taught at our schools and our children exposed to abhorrent sexual practices? Where are our protests when good is being called evil, and evil, good?

Points to ponder: Are you one of the silent majorities? Ask Holy Spirit to show you how to take a stand against the rising tide of evil all around!

Stand up, stand up for Jesus