Archives For Interpretation

Beware of Being Ensnared by the Eyes of Ungodly Women!

September 13, 2013

Many today counsel men that the right way to respond to immodestly dressed women is to keep their eyes focused on the eyes of these women when interacting with them. Although this advice has some merit in some situations, clear biblical teaching shows that it is a dangerously inadequate approach in many cases.

Proverbs 6:23-26

In poignant counsel directed to save the life of his son, Solomon warns about how evil women seek to ensnare men with the ungodly use of their eyes:

Pro 6:23 For the commandment is a lamp; and the law is light; and reproofs of instruction are the way of life:

 24 To keep thee from the evil woman, from the flattery of the tongue of a strange woman.

 25 Lust not after her beauty in thine heart; neither let her take thee with her eyelids.

 26 For by means of a whorish woman a man is brought to a piece of bread: and the adulteress will hunt for the precious life.

This inspired warning teaches us that keeping one’s gaze fixed on the eyes of an immodestly dressed woman will often be a perilous approach when faced with such an encounter because many women who purposely dress in that way seek to seduce men not just through their immodesty but also through the flirtatious and alluring use of their eyes.

Some may seek to downplay the importance of this teaching for ordinary settings because in its context it speaks of the dangers that openly wicked women such as harlots pose to young men. Similar teaching in Isaiah 3, however, shows that facing such challenges from women using their eyes seductively is a danger not only just from adulteresses but also from proud women among God’s own people!

Isaiah 3:16-24

Isaiah records at some length God’s blistering denunciation of proud women in Judah:

 Isa 3:16 Moreover the LORD saith, Because the daughters of Zion are haughty, and walk with stretched forth necks and wanton eyes, walking and mincing as they go, and making a tinkling with their feet:

 17 Therefore the Lord will smite with a scab the crown of the head of the daughters of Zion, and the LORD will discover their secret parts.

 18 In that day the Lord will take away the bravery of their tinkling ornaments about their feet, and their cauls, and their round tires like the moon,

 19 The chains, and the bracelets, and the mufflers,

 20 The bonnets, and the ornaments of the legs, and the headbands, and the tablets, and the earrings,

 21 The rings, and nose jewels,

 22 The changeable suits of apparel, and the mantles, and the wimples, and the crisping pins,

 23 The glasses, and the fine linen, and the hoods, and the vails.

 24 And it shall come to pass, that instead of sweet smell there shall be stink; and instead of a girdle a rent; and instead of well set hair baldness; and instead of a stomacher a girding of sackcloth; and burning instead of beauty.

Noteworthy aspects of this passage include the following:

(1) these are women among God’s own people who are denounced by God Himself for their pride;

(2) their pride manifests itself in their misuse of their beauty through how they comport themselves, how they dress, and how they use perfume;

(3) the passage does not say anything explicitly about their being immodest in their dress; and

(4) God specifies that these women “walk with wanton eyes.”

Holladay’s lexicon explains that the Hebrew verb used here signifies that they “toss seductive glances.” The rendering of the Hebrew in other versions makes plain their ungodly use of their eyes: “seductive eyes” (NAU); “flirt with their eyes” (NET); “glancing wantonly with their eyes” (ESV).

Isaiah 3:16 corroborates the teaching of Proverbs 6:25 about evil women who use their eyes in ungodly ways to ensnare men. Furthermore, Isaiah 3:16-24 makes clear that such ungodly use of the eyes is a problem not just with conspicuously wicked women who dress immodestly but also with women among God’s own people who proudly use their beauty in ungodly ways.

Ezekiel 23:40

Through Ezekiel, God made known His intense jealousy against Samaria and Jerusalem for their spiritual adultery (Ezek. 23:1-35). He instructed Ezekiel further “to declare unto them their abominations” (Ezek. 23:36-39).

God then related their “political adultery” through a vivid description of how they prepared themselves for their lovers from other nations:

Eze 23:40 And furthermore, that ye have sent for men to come from far, unto whom a messenger was sent; and, lo, they came: for whom thou didst wash thyself, paintedst thy eyes, and deckedst thyself with ornaments.

Although this figurative language pertains to the ungodly alliances that God’s people formed with other nations at that time, the legitimacy of its use is based on the reality of what evil women do when they prepare themselves for illicit relations with men (see also Jer. 4:30 for similar teaching). The explicit mention of painting their eyes correlates with and underscores the teaching about that practice in Proverbs 6 and Isaiah 3.

Revelation 2:20

Unlike the three preceding passages, which explicitly mention the ungodly use of eyes by evil women, Revelation 2:20 likely warns men similarly through implicit teaching that is related:

Rev 2:20 Notwithstanding I have a few things against thee, because thou sufferest that woman Jezebel, which calleth herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce my servants to commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed unto idols.

The glorified Christ here warns believers in the church at Thyatira about the seductive influence of an evil woman Jezebel who was leading His servants to commit fornication.

In a telling remark, the OT records that queen Jezebel “painted her face [Heb. put her eyes in painting] and tired her head” before her death (2 Kin. 9:30), which suggests that she wanted to accentuate her importance through these actions.[1] Unrepentant of her sinfulness, she thus appears to have been similarly minded to the evil women denounced by God for taking pride in their external appearance (Isaiah 3:16f.).

Through the name Jezebel, therefore, Revelation 2:20 warns us at least implicitly about the evil influence in the church of evil women who misuse their eyes to ensnare susceptible men to commit immorality.

Conclusion

Based on the teaching of these four passages, parents and other who advise young men should not instruct them that fixing their gaze on the eyes of immodestly dressed women would protect them from temptation and ensnarement. Men must actively seek to avoid encounters with such women (cf. Prov. 7:24-27), and when such an encounter is unavoidable, they must beware of being ensnared by the eyes of ungodly women!


[1] Cf. “She painted her eyes and adorned her head” (NAU); “she put paint on her eyes and adorned her head” (NKJ). Thomas L. Constable comments on this verse: “Hearing of Jehu’s return, she painted her eyes and arranged her hair. Evidently she anticipated her fate, and wanted to present an imposing appearance to Jehu and to die as a queen” (BKC: OT, 556).

Copyright © 2011-2024 by Rajesh Gandhi. All rights reserved.

In Discipleship, Exhortation, Interpretation
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Has God Changed His Mind about How He Wants All the Earth to Worship Him?

September 10, 2013

Did God ever make known how He wanted all the earth to worship Him? Has He changed His mind about that subject after the coming of Christ and His finished work of atonement?

God’s Demand of All the Earth

Psalm 98 provides clear revelation that helps us answer both of these questions. Through an unnamed psalmist, God made known when Psalm 98 was written how He wanted all the earth to worship Him at that time: 

Psa 98:4 Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all the earth: make a loud noise, and rejoice, and sing praise.

 5 Sing unto the LORD with the harp; with the harp, and the voice of a psalm.

 6 With trumpets and sound of cornet make a joyful noise before the LORD, the King.

God commanded that all the earth would sing unto Him with the harp (98:5) and make a joyful noise before Him with trumpets and a cornet (98:6). These commands make clear that God demanded that all the earth worship Him with singing accompanied by musical instruments.

Has God Changed His Mind? 

All the earth has never obeyed these commands, and many of the peoples of the earth have never even known specifically that God has commanded them to do this. Are these commands still the will of God for all the earth or has He changed His mind after the coming of Christ?

Based on my study of Scripture, I do not find any basis for holding that these commands no longer apply. I also find no basis for holding that the coming of Christ and His completed work of atonement somehow has done away with these commands.

The lack of specific NT mention of instrumental worship in the first-century Church does not constitute proof that Christians today should worship God by singing without the use of musical instruments. On the contrary, Matthew 28:18-20 compared with Psalm 98:4-6 teaches us that it is part of the Church’s mission to disciple all nations to worship God with singing accompanied by musical instruments!

Copyright © 2011-2024 by Rajesh Gandhi. All rights reserved.

In Interpretation, Music, Theology
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Behold the Wondrous Mercy of Our God!

September 2, 2013

King Ahab was a uniquely wicked man (1 Kin. 21:25) whose wickedness so provoked God that He pronounced fierce judgment upon him and his entire house (1 Kin. 21:21-22). Ahab responded to the message of his impending doom in a remarkably humble way that elicited a response from God that highlights His wondrous mercy!

The Unique Wickedness of Ahab

When Ahab murdered Naboth and took possession of his vineyard (1 Kin. 21:1-16), God commanded Elijah to go and confront him with his sinfulness (1 Kin. 21:17-18). The Lord instructed Elijah about what he was to say to the king:

1Ki 21:19 And thou shalt speak unto him, saying, Thus saith the LORD, Hast thou killed, and also taken possession? And thou shalt speak unto him, saying, Thus saith the LORD, In the place where dogs licked the blood of Naboth shall dogs lick thy blood, even thine.

Because Ahab wickedly had Naboth killed, God sentenced him to experience the same fate that Naboth had experienced—the dogs would lick his blood in the very place where they had licked Naboth’s blood.

Ahab responded to Elijah with a question that revealed that he viewed Elijah as his enemy: And Ahab said to Elijah, Hast thou found me, O mine enemy? (1 Kin. 21:20a). Elijah answered him by declaring further the fierce judgment that he and his entire household would experience because of his wickedness and the wickedness of his wife Jezebel:

20 And he answered, I have found thee: because thou hast sold thyself to work evil in the sight of the LORD.

21 Behold, I will bring evil upon thee, and will take away thy posterity, and will cut off from Ahab him that pisseth against the wall, and him that is shut up and left in Israel,

 22 And will make thine house like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and like the house of Baasha the son of Ahijah, for the provocation wherewith thou hast provoked me to anger, and made Israel to sin.

 23 And of Jezebel also spake the LORD, saying, The dogs shall eat Jezebel by the wall of Jezreel.

 24 Him that dieth of Ahab in the city the dogs shall eat; and him that dieth in the field shall the fowls of the air eat.

The writer of First Kings then adds two statements that declare the unique wickedness of Ahab:

 25 But there was none like unto Ahab, which did sell himself to work wickedness in the sight of the LORD, whom Jezebel his wife stirred up.

 26 And he did very abominably in following idols, according to all things as did the Amorites, whom the LORD cast out before the children of Israel.

Ahab had sold himself to do wickedness in a unique way, including his murdering Naboth and his being an exceedingly abominable idolater in the sight of the Lord.

The Remarkably Humble Response of Ahab to God’s Pronouncement of His Doom

Hearing of the fierce judgment that God had pronounced upon him for his wickedness, Ahab responded by remarkably humbling himself publicly before God:

1Ki 21:27 And it came to pass, when Ahab heard those words, that he rent his clothes, and put sackcloth upon his flesh, and fasted, and lay in sackcloth, and went softly.

This statement shows that Ahab’s response was not just a momentary response—he abased himself openly for an extended period.

The Wondrously Merciful Response of God to Ahab’s Humbling Himself 

When Ahab responded in such a remarkably humble way, God underscored to Elijah his humility and made known that He would have mercy on him:

1Ki 21:28 And the word of the LORD came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying,

 29 Seest thou how Ahab humbleth himself before me? because he humbleth himself before me, I will not bring the evil in his days: but in his son’s days will I bring the evil upon his house.

God declared that he would not bring His judgment upon Ahab in his days. Ahab’s house, however, eventually would be judged because they would end up not humbling themselves before God, as Ahab did.

Even though Ahab had been so horrifically wicked before God, God bestowed mercy upon him when he humbled himself before Him!

No matter what evil you may have done in your life, you can still receive wondrous mercy from God by truly repenting of your sins and humbling yourself openly before Him (cf. Isa. 55:6-7)! Our God is a God who delights in mercy (Micah 7:18). He has provided the account of His having mercy on Ahab so that you might behold His wondrous mercy and flee from His wrath that is coming on all sinners who do not repent toward Him and believe in His Son Jesus Christ (Acts 20:21).

Behold the wondrous mercy of our God!

Copyright © 2011-2024 by Rajesh Gandhi. All rights reserved.

In Exhortation, Exposition
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God Wants to Redeem You!

August 31, 2013

Through providing us with the Scriptural accounts of His redemption of Rahab the harlot, God has made known that He wants to redeem people by working in their lives, as He did in her life. Six key truths about His desire to redeem people are clear from the accounts about Rahab.

God Wants to Redeem You from False Religion

Rahab was a harlot who lived in Jericho, a Canaanite city. Although we do not know with certainty what her prior religious beliefs were, the Scriptural information that we are given about her imply that she moved from a belief in a false religion to belief in the Lord as the one and only true and living God:

Jos 2:9 And she said unto the men, I know that the LORD hath given you the land, and that your terror is fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land faint because of you.

10 For we have heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Red sea for you, when ye came out of Egypt; and what ye did unto the two kings of the Amorites, that were on the other side Jordan, Sihon and Og, whom ye utterly destroyed.

11 And as soon as we had heard these things, our hearts did melt, neither did there remain any more courage in any man, because of you: for the LORD your God, he is God in heaven above, and in earth beneath.

Heb 11:31 By faith the harlot Rahab perished not with them that believed not, when she had received the spies with peace.

God wants to redeem you from false religion, as He did with Rahab!

God Wants to Redeem You from Sinful Living

Prior to her encounter with the two Israelite spies, Rahab was a harlot (Josh. 2:1). After the Israelites had destroyed everyone in Jericho except for Rahab and others who were related to her in one way or another, Rahab continued to live among God’s people even to the time when the book of Joshua was written:

Jos 6:25 And Joshua saved Rahab the harlot alive, and her father’s household, and all that she had; and she dwelleth in Israel even unto this day; because she hid the messengers, which Joshua sent to spy out Jericho.

Had Rahab remained a harlot after coming to believe in the Lord, she would not have been able to live in Israel because the Law of God demanded that any woman who was a harlot was to be put to death (Deut. 22:21; cf. Gen. 38:24). Because Rahab continued to live among the Israelites for many years, we can be certain that she turned away from her harlotry at some point after she came to believe in the Lord.

God, therefore, redeemed Rahab not only from false religion but also from her horrifically sinful living! He wants to do the same for you!

God Wants to Redeem You for the Good of Others

God did more than just redeem Rahab herself; His redemption of her also spared her father, mother, brothers, sisters, and any others who may have been in “her father’s household” at least from destruction by the Israelites (Josh. 2:13; 6:17, 23, 25). Moreover, Rahab later married Salmon, a prominent Israelite man, and became the mother of Boaz, who served as a kinsman-redeemer for Naomi and Ruth (Ruth 2:1, 20; 3:1-4:22; Matt. 1:5).

Through His redemption of Rahab the harlot, God brought great good to many other people. He wants to redeem you also for the good of others!

God Wants to Redeem You for His Own Glory through His Son

Matthew’s genealogy of Jesus Christ reveals that Rahab was a foremother of Jesus the Messiah (Matt. 1:5, 16). God ultimately redeemed Rahab the harlot, therefore, to glorify Himself through His Son who would be her greatest Descendant!

Even as He did with Rahab, God continues today to redeem sinners from false religion and sinful living for His eternal glory in the Church through His Son (Eph. 3:20-21)! He wants to redeem you as well for His own glory through His Son!

God Wants to Redeem You by Faith

The writer of Hebrews includes Rahab the harlot among the exemplars of faith whose faith he highlights (Heb. 11:31). He makes clear that Rahab did not perish because of her faith.

God redeemed Rahab through bringing her to believe in Him (Josh. 2:11) based on what she had heard about Him (Josh. 2:9-11). God wants to redeem you also through faith that is based on your hearing His Word (Rom. 10:17)!

God Wants to Redeem You to Do Good Works

Rahab’s new faith in the Lord led her to hide the Israelite spies who came to her (Josh 2; Heb. 11:31). Her faith was a living faith that produced these good works (James 2:25-26).

Through bringing her to believe in Him, God redeemed Rahab from her false religion and harlotry to do good works for her good, the good of many others, and His eternal glory through His Son. Through bringing you to faith in Him, God also wants to redeem you from your false religion and sinful living to do good works for your good, the good of others, and His eternal glory through His Son!

Copyright © 2011-2024 by Rajesh Gandhi. All rights reserved.

In Exposition, Preaching, Theology
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Nine Reasons Why Solomon Did Not Perish Eternally

August 19, 2013

Later in his life, Solomon sinned grievously against God. Does Solomon’s sinfulness late in his life and the lack of mention of his repentance mean that he died as an apostate and perished eternally?

Based on my study of Scripture, I believe that there are at least nine solid reasons to hold that he did not perish eternally.

Solomon Did Not Completely Turn Away from God

Scripture records the horrific sinfulness of Solomon later in his life in several passages. First Kings 11 is the primary passage.

Solomon disobeyed God’s commands not to marry women from certain nations who would surely cause him to turn after their gods (1 Kin. 11:1-3; 10, 11). Just as God warned, his foreign wives turned his heart away after other gods (1 Kin. 11:3, 4). As a result, he did much evil in God’s sight, building high places “for all his strange wives, which burnt incense and sacrificed unto their gods” (1 Kin. 11:5-8).

Solomon’s horrific sinfulness so angered the Lord that He decreed that He would certainly tear the kingdom from him and give it to his servant (1 Kin. 11:9-11). The Lord stirred up adversaries against Solomon who plagued him for the rest of his life (1 Kin. 11:14-25), and Jereboam rebelled against him (1 Kin. 11:26-40).

Three verses inform us about the rest of his acts, his death, and his burial in Jerusalem, the city of David his father (1 Kin. 11:41-43a-b). His son Rehoboam then reigned in his place (1 Kin. 11:43c).

Two other passages corroborate the dark record of Solomon’s later life (2 Kin. 23:13; Neh. 13:25, 26).

In spite of the darkness that these passages about Solomon record, First Kings 11 makes clear, however, that Solomon did not completely turn away from God:

1 Kings 11:4 For it came to pass, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned away his heart after other gods: and his heart was not perfect with the LORD his God, as was the heart of David his father.

1 Kings 11:6 And Solomon did evil in the sight of the LORD, and went not fully after the LORD, as did David his father.

The statement that Solomon’s “heart was not perfect with the LORD his God” (1 Kin. 11:4) implies that it was still imperfectly “with the LORD his God.” The statement that he “went not fully after the LORD” (1 Kin. 11:6) also implies that he yet had a continuing relationship with Him.

Solomon did not perish eternally because he never did completely turn away from God. Many other Scriptural considerations confirm this interpretation.

God’s Promises to David about Solomon

Long before Solomon had been born, God made some special promises to David about a special son named Solomon (1 Chron. 22:9) that he would have:

2Sa 7:12 And when thy days be fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, I will set up thy seed after thee, which shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will establish his kingdom.

 13 He shall build an house for my name, and I will stablish the throne of his kingdom for ever.

 14 I will be his father, and he shall be my son. If he commit iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men, and with the stripes of the children of men:

 15 But my mercy shall not depart away from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away before thee.

God promised that He would have a Father-son relationship with Solomon, David’s son, who would build for Him a house for His name (2 Sam. 7:13; cf. 1 Chron. 28:6). His special relationship with that seed would include His chastening him if he would commit iniquity (2 Sam. 7:14).

Furthermore, God promised David that although He would chasten that son when he would commit iniquity, He would not take away from His lovingkindness, as He did with Saul (2 Sam. 7:15; 1 Chron. 17:13). These promises make it impossible for Solomon to have perished eternally.

God’s Loving Solomon at His Birth

Beyond God’s special promises about Solomon, God had a special regard for Solomon when he was born:

2Sa 12:24 And David comforted Bathsheba his wife, and went in unto her, and lay with her: and she bare a son, and he called his name Solomon: and the LORD loved him.

 25 And he sent by the hand of Nathan the prophet; and he called his name Jedidiah, because of the LORD.

Solomon is the only person of whom the Scripture explicitly specifies that the Lord loved him when he was born. Moreover, God’s sending a prophet to give him a special name Jedidiah, which means “beloved of the Lord,” highly emphasizes God’s special love for Solomon.

God’s special promises to David about Solomon and His special love for Solomon as a baby make it certain that we will see Solomon in heaven one day.                                                                                                        

Solomon Loved God

The inspired writer of First Kings says that Solomon loved God:

1 Ki 3:3 And Solomon loved the LORD, walking in the statutes of David his father: only he sacrificed and burnt incense in high places.

In his natural state, no man loves God (Rom. 5:10; Rom. 8:7); Solomon’s loving God shows that he was a believer. Although his love for God was incomplete, it was genuine because God first loved him (2 Sam. 12:24-25; cf. 1 John 4:19).

As a believer who loved God, Solomon did not perish eternally when he died.

God’s Chastening Solomon

Solomon was David’s son who built the Temple (1 Kin. 5-6) and later committed iniquity. As He had promised to do, God chastened Solomon “with the rod of men and with the stripe of the children of men” (2 Sam. 7:14) through Hadad and Razon (1 Kin. 11:14-25).

God’s chastening Solomon in His mercy to him (cf. 2 Sam. 7:15) shows that Solomon was a true believer whose Heavenly Father chastened him because He loved him (Prov. 3:11-12; written by Solomon). Solomon was a true son of the Heavenly Father who chastens every child of His (Heb. 12:4-11, which quotes Prov. 3:11-12).

Furthermore, First Corinthians 11 teaches plainly that those whom God chastens, He chastens so that they will not be condemned with the world:

1Co 11:30 For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep.

 31 For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged.

 32 But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world.

Even those whom God chastens with death because they do not repent (“many sleep” [1 Cor. 11:30]) will not be condemned with the world (1 Cor. 11:32).

Scripture does not give any clear indication that Solomon repented of his sinfulness before he died. Even if he did not repent before he died, we would be right in inferring that God chastened him with death for his being an unrepentant believer so that he would not be condemned with the world (1 Cor. 11:30-32).

Because of God’s faithfulness to chasten those whom He loves, Solomon, and all other true believers will be together in heaven one day!

The Record of Solomon’s Life in Second Chronicles

Amazingly, the lengthy record of Solomon’s life in Second Chronicles (2 Chron. 1-9) does not explicitly mention anything about Solomon’s great sinfulness. Because 2 Chronicles records at length the sinfulness of other kings of Israel and Judah (for example, 2 Chron. 33:1-9), the lack of mention of Solomon’s sinfulness suggests that God regarded Solomon in a special way so that He inspired the writing of this book of Scripture that does not say explicitly that he sinned against God.

Furthermore, Ecclesiastes also does not explicitly say that Solomon sinned against God. In fact, except for 1 Kings 11 and a few other verses in later Scripture, the vast majority of narrative Scripture passages (excludes Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Solomon) present Solomon in a profoundly positive and spiritual light that does not support holding that he perished eternally when he died.

A Striking Passage That Includes an Emphatic Statement about God’s Love for Solomon

Nehemiah reiterated God’s special love for Solomon as part of his challenge to people who were sinning through mixed marriages:

Neh 13:26 Did not Solomon king of Israel sin by these things? yet among many nations was there no king like him, who was beloved of his God, and God made him king over all Israel: nevertheless even him did outlandish women cause to sin.

Strikingly, this restatement of God’s love for Solomon that emphasizes the uniqueness of God’s love for him (“among many nations was there no king like him, who was beloved of his God”) occurs in a statement that has as its main point how his association with evil women made even him to sin. This passage thus explicitly reminds us of God’s special love for Solomon, which again points to his not perishing eternally when he died.

Solomon Was Not an Apostate Writer of Multiple Books of Scripture

Solomon wrote Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon, most of Proverbs, and he probably also wrote Psalms 72 and 127. Peter specifies that those whom God inspired to write Scripture were special men:

2Pe 1:20 Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation.

 21 For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.

According to these statements, Solomon was a holy man of God whom the Holy Spirit moved to write the Scripture that he wrote. It is untenable to hold that Solomon was such a man of God when he wrote the Scriptures that he wrote but then he apostatized to perish eternally.

No Mention of Solomon in the NT as an Example of One Who Apostatized

The NT briefly refers to Solomon in seven verses (Matt. 1:6, 7; 6:29; 12:42; Luke 11:31; 12:27; Acts 7:47). Had Solomon apostatized from the faith to perish eternally, he would surely have been mentioned in one or more warning passages in the NT because he would have been a profound example of one who did so.

The lack of mention of his apostatizing in the NT makes it certain that he did not do so. We should not read into the OT record of his life what the Bible never says directly, that is, he apostatized, died unrepentant of his sins, and perished eternally.

Conclusion

Based on the reasons given above, I believe that Solomon did not perish eternally when he died. We will see Solomon in heaven one day because of God’s faithfulness to those whom He loves, even when they as believers sin profoundly against Him.

In His love, God chastened Solomon intensely because of what he did. Let us fear to sin as Solomon did through his ungodly associations with ungodly people.

See also Did Solomon Repent Before He Died?

Copyright © 2011-2024 by Rajesh Gandhi. All rights reserved.

In Exposition, Interpretation, Theology
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Will We As Christians Give a Future Account for Certain Sins?

August 13, 2013

In Miletus, the apostle Paul earnestly ministered to a group of church elders whom he summoned from Ephesus (Acts 20:17-38). In his address to them, Paul made a statement that raises a crucial question—will we as Christians give a future account for certain sins?

Paul’s Unceasing Evangelistic Ministry in Asia Minor

Paul reminded these elders that they knew the life of serving the Lord that he led among them during his entire time with them (Acts 20:18-19). He emphasized that he had not refrained from ministering to them and to others concerning repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ (Acts 20:20-21).

He informed them of how he was constrained in spirit to go to Jerusalem regardless of the bonds and afflictions that the Spirit had testified to him would await him everywhere (Acts 20:22-23). Testifying that he was unmoved by any of these things, he explained that he lived his life selflessly so that he might finish joyfully his course and the ministry that the Lord Jesus had given him to testify the gospel (Acts 20:24).

Paul’s Certainty about the Future

Paul then declared that he knew that these all among whom he had been preaching the kingdom of God would never see his face again (Acts 20:25). Apparently, the Lord in some unexplained manner had informed Paul of this fact.

Paul’s Confidence concerning His Freedom from Bloodguiltiness

Because Paul knew that he would never have another opportunity to minister to them personally, he wanted to be certain that he had finished giving them all the truth that they needed to hear from him. He, therefore, testified to them that day that he was “pure from the blood of all men” because he had not shunned declaring to them “all the counsel of God” (Acts 20:26-27).

Paul thus asserted his own confidence that he was free from bloodguiltiness concerning all people. He, however, did much more than that because saying these things he implicitly challenged these elders about their own need to be free from the blood of all men by giving them all the truth that they themselves should.

The Profound Implications That Paul’s Statements concerning Bloodguiltiness Seem to Have

What Paul said to these elders about why he was confident that he was pure from the blood of all men appears to have some profound implications. Paul apparently believed that he would not have been free from such bloodguiltiness had he failed to declare all the counsel of God to them.

Did Paul, then, believe that had he failed in that respect, such failure would have been something that he would have had to give an account for to the Lord one day after his life on earth had ended? If so, Paul would be teaching that he believed that Christians would give a future account for certain sins.

Does Paul’s Teaching in Romans 14 Confirm His Statements in Acts 20?

Paul’s teaching in Romans 14 may help us to assess the validity of our understanding that his statements in Acts 20 have such implications. In Romans 14, he cites the future accountability of every believer to the Lord as his Judge to warn believers against judging their brethren wrongly or treating them with contempt (Rom. 14:10-13). Although Acts 20 pertains to a sin of omission of necessary testimony but Romans 14 pertains to sins of commission of treating brethren unjustly, future accountability for the one would necessarily seem to imply future accountability for the other.

Whether or not Paul’s statements in Acts 20 actually do imply such future accountability for certain sins, clearly, he believed that future accountability to the Lord must vitally shape our present behavior. In view of the potential implications of his statements in Acts 20, we should be sure that we have confessed, forsaken, and made any necessary reparations for all our known sins while we still have the opportunity to do so.

Copyright © 2011-2024 by Rajesh Gandhi. All rights reserved.

In Exposition, Theology
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A Fascinating Account of God’s Working in Human Lives That Should Lead Us to Trust Him in All Our Ways

August 11, 2013

First Samuel 9 presents the account of Saul’s searching for his father’s donkeys that were lost. In a fascinating way, this account reveals God’s working in human lives to bring about His purposes.

Kish Sends His Son and A Servant to Look for His Donkeys

Kish was a prominent man in Benjamin (1 Sam. 9:1) whose son Saul was both the most handsome person in Israel and the tallest (1 Sam. 9:2). When Kish’s donkeys were lost, he sent Saul and one of his servants to seek them (1 Sam. 9:3).

Unable to find them after a lengthy search, Saul spoke to his servant to return to his father so that his father would not become concerned about Saul and his servant instead of the lost donkeys (1 Sam. 9:4-5). Because they were in the land of Zuph and the servant knew that there was a man of God there, he convinced Saul instead to go to the prophet to seek counsel from him about the way that they should go (1 Sam. 9:6-10).

Saul and the Servant Meet Samuel

As they were going to the city to seek out the prophet, they encountered some young women who directed them about where they should go to meet him (1 Sam. 9:11-13). As they were following their directions, Samuel, the prophet, met them because he was going to the same place that the women had directed them to go meet him (1 Sam. 9:14).

Remarkable Information about God’s Working

The next verses in First Samuel 9 record what God had informed Samuel about on the day prior to this meeting with Saul:

1Sa 9:15 Now the LORD had told Samuel in his ear a day before Saul came, saying,

 16 To morrow about this time I will send thee a man out of the land of Benjamin, and thou shalt anoint him to be captain over my people Israel, that he may save my people out of the hand of the Philistines: for I have looked upon my people, because their cry is come unto me [bold added].

These verses show that God had told Samuel that He would send him tomorrow around the very time of their meeting a man out of Benjamin to anoint as the captain over His people who would deliver them.

When we read, however, the earlier verses in the chapter, we do not find any indication that God spoke to either Saul or the servant to go to the prophet. Nor do we find any indication of His directing them to do so through any means of which they were aware.

Without the information in First Samuel 9:16, we would not have known even to think that it was God who sent Saul to Samuel through the events that took place. In a fascinating way, this passage thus teaches us about God’s working in human lives to direct them to His ends without their having any direct communication from Him about what He wants them to do.

It also illustrates how God uses circumstances and people in our lives to bring us together with other people for His purposes and does so in inscrutable ways that we should not regard as luck, chance, or coincidence.

This account should encourage us to trust God to work in our lives in ways that are “exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think” (Eph. 3:20), just as He did for Kish, Saul, and his servant, who all had no idea of what God was going to do through Kish’s sending them to look for his lost donkeys!

Copyright © 2011-2024 by Rajesh Gandhi. All rights reserved.

In Discipleship, Exposition, Theology
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More Insights about the Golden Calf Incident

August 7, 2013

Scripture provides explicit information about the Golden Calf incident in 59 verses in six passages (Exod. 32:1-35; Deut. 9:8-21; Neh. 9:18; Ps. 106:19-23; Acts 7:39-41; 1 Cor. 10:7). Various considerations make clear the profound importance of this information for New Testament believers.

(To profit fully from this article, please be sure that you have read my previous article Toward Fully Understanding the Golden Calf Incident before reading this one.)

Great Men of God Teach Us about This Incident

At least five great men of God (Moses, Nehemiah, Luke, Stephen, and Paul) were directed by God to consider this a vital event in the history of God’s people.[1] Just this fact by itself shows that we should study it thoroughly to learn all that we can from it.

In the two longest passages (Exod. 32; Deut. 9), Moses provides 49 of the 59 explicit verses about the incident. Moses thus highlights this event in the Pentateuch in a noteworthy way.

The unknown writer of Psalm 106 gives us five verses about the incident. Luke records for us three verses about the Golden Calf incident from Stephen’s message that rebuked the high priest and many others about their sinfulness (Acts 7).

Nehemiah and Paul provide us with one verse each. As we will see later, the Golden Calf incident plays a far more important role in First Corinthians (and the NT as a whole) than the fact that there is only one explicit verse recorded about it in the book.

From Moses to Nehemiah to Paul and Luke

Around 1000 years after Moses had written about it twice (c. 1405 B.C), Nehemiah prayed and wrote about the incident (c. 425 B.C.).[2] Psalm 106 was probably written at an unknown time (c. 1410 – 430 B.C.) after Moses wrote his two accounts and before Nehemiah wrote about the incident.

Somewhere around 486 years or so probably elapsed from the reference in Nehemiah 9 to the writing of both the statements in the NT about the incident (1 Cor. [c. A.D. 54-56]; Acts [c. A.D. 61]). Approximately 1470 years thus separate the writing of the first account (Exod. 32) from the last account (Acts 7).

This chronological data shows that God directed writers of Scripture to inform His people explicitly about the Golden Calf incident on at least three key occasions in their history:

(1) Before their entering Canaan after the 40 years of wandering in the wilderness (Ex. 32; Deut. 9); (2) at the renewing of the covenant after the walls of Jerusalem had been  rebuilt (Neh. 9); and (3) during the strengthening of the NT Church through their receiving the writings of Paul (1 Cor. 10) and Luke (Acts 7).

We will see later that Paul’s use of the Golden Calf incident actually climaxes divine revelation about the incident in a profound way.

The First Explicit Record of Idolatrous Worship among God’s People

Although a few previous references point to the presence of idols in the households of some of God’s people (cf. Gen. 31:19, 32), the Golden Calf incident is the first explicit record in Scripture of idolatrous worship among God’s people. It is also the first record of their eating meat that was sacrificed to idols (Exod. 32:6; cf. Acts 7:41).

Having just been redeemed from Egypt by an incredible display of God’s miraculous works (Ps. 106:21-22), their doing so in a feast that was supposed to be “a feast to the Lord” (Exod. 32:5) immensely magnifies the sinfulness of what they did on this occasion. In an exceedingly appalling way, the Israelites intensely provoked God in the Golden Calf incident (Exod. 32:10; Deut. 9:18; Ps. 106:23).

A careful examination of First Corinthians 10 will reveal the profound significance that all these points about the Golden Calf incident have for NT believers.

(See the rest of the articles in this series under point 11 here.)


[1] We do not know who wrote Psalm 106. If neither Moses nor Nehemiah was its author, we may have six great men of God who teach us about the importance of this incident.

[2] Approximate dates for the OT books are from charts in The New Open Bible: Study Edition; for the NT books, they are from New Testament Introduction (BJU Seminary).

Copyright © 2011-2024 by Rajesh Gandhi. All rights reserved.

In Exposition, Theology
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The Vital Role of Friends in Caring for the Seriously Ill

August 3, 2013

Handling serious illness is one of life’s greatest challenges. The book of Job provides some insights about the vital role that friends have in caring for the seriously ill.

Job’s Friends Team Together to Minister to Him

After God allowed Satan to smite Job with “sore boils from the sole of his foot” to his head (Job 2:4-7), his three friends heard of all the hardships that he had experienced (Job 2:11a). As true friends, Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar came from their homes and chose a time when they would go to Job “to mourn with him and to comfort him” (Job 2:11b).

At a time when his family seems not to have cared for him as they ought to (Job 19:13-17; cf. 42:11), these friends came to render vital ministry to him. Even though they faced the tremendous challenge of ministering to a friend who had lost many possessions, all ten of his children, his health, and at least to some extent, the proper care of family, they did not let the fact that they were not family members stop them from going to minister to him in his extreme need.

Wisely, they decided to go minister to him as a team instead of each one seeking to minister individually to him. By going as a team, each of their strengths would have the best chance to offset whatever weaknesses they individually may have possessed so that they might best minister to Job in his time of immense affliction.

Undoubtedly, many seriously ill people today would receive vitally needed ministry if more friends would fill in the gaps where family members are not caring for their relatives, as they should. Moreover, teaming up to minister to them, they would likely provide more comfort to them than they would individually.

Ministering Comfort without Saying Anything

Seeing Job from a distance, Job’s friends were deeply moved by his plight because they were barely able to recognize him (Job 2:12). Weeping aloud, they tore their robes and threw dust on their heads.

Through these nonverbal actions of empathizing with his suffering, Job’s friends no doubt ministered some comfort to him. He could see that they were truly grieved by what had happened to their friend.

Coming to him, they sat on the ground with him for seven days and nights without any of them saying anything to him because they saw that he was suffering great grief (Job 2:13). Just by being there with him for a long time, they rendered a vital ministry even without speaking at all with him.

Friends should not shy away from visiting one another in times of serious illness for fear that they might not know what to say to their suffering friends. In ways that often nothing else can, having friends around us for lengthy visits when we are hurting relieves the crushing burden of loneliness often experienced in times of deep affliction.

Exercising Great Caution in Placing Blame on Suffering People

Despite their genuine love and care for Job, Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar ended up greatly undercutting their efforts to minister to Job because they failed to exercise great caution in blaming him for bringing his sufferings on himself (Job 4-5; 8, 11; etc.). Tragically, they became “miserable comforters” to him (Job 16:2) because they spoke wrongly of God to him (Job 42:7-8).

As friends, we can and should minister to one another vitally in times of serious illness. We must be, however, very careful in assigning blame to others for their suffering (cf. John 9:1-2).

We should also be very diligent to speak correctly about God to our suffering friends (Job 42:7-8). The book of Job provides us with a great training manual for doing so (esp. Job 38-41).

We Need to Care Properly for Our Friends Who are Seriously Ill

Many in the Church today are suffering greatly with serious physical troubles. Let us diligently heed the truths in the book of Job about the vital role of friends in caring for the seriously ill.

Copyright © 2011-2024 by Rajesh Gandhi. All rights reserved.

In Discipleship, Exposition, Health
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Revelation 3:10 and the Rapture Debate

July 27, 2013

Although interpreters today extensively debate whether Revelation 3:10 is a promise of the Rapture, I believe that a straightforward reading of the text in its context provides a clear answer:

Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth.

Jesus’ Messages to the Seven Churches

 The glorified Jesus commanded the apostle John to write letters to seven churches in Asia Minor: Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea (Rev. 2-3). He directed John to write to “the angel of the church” in each city, which refers not to angelic beings but to the pastor of the each church (Rev. 2:1, 8, 12, 18; 3:1, 7, 14).

Although it was addressed to a specific church, each letter was also for all the other churches in John’s day because it included the following statement: “He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches” (Rev. 2:7, 11, 17, 29; 3:6, 13, 22). Furthermore, each letter is also for all churches of all time because saith is a present tense verb that communicates what the Spirit continues to this day to say to every church.

The Message to the Church in Philadelphia

The sixth letter begins by pointing the pastor of the church in Philadelphia to the unique authority of the glorified Jesus (Rev. 3:7). It then communicates Jesus’ knowledge of their deeds (Rev. 3:8a) and His directives to them to behold two realities, one concerning the present (Rev. 3:8b) and one concerning the future (Rev. 3:9).

A key promise (Rev. 3:10), a key declaration (Rev. 3:11a), and a key directive (Rev. 3:11b) comprise the teaching that pertains most directly to Rapture debate. The letter ends with a glorious promise to those who overcome (Rev. 3:12) and a command to everyone who has an ear to hear the Spirit’s message to all the churches (Rev. 3:13).

The Teaching of Revelation 3:10

Revelation 3:10 informs the pastor about what Jesus will do for him because he has persevered in keeping Jesus’ word:

Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth.

Jesus promised to keep him “from the hour of temptation,” a reference to a specific time that He explained would “come upon all the world.” The promise is one of exemption from that time when the entire world would experience that temptation.

Jesus also explained that this time would be a period when the entire world of people “that dwell upon the earth” would be tried. Here Jesus declared that all those who would suffer during that period would do so in a specific physical location (“upon the earth”).

The natural reading of all these statements points to a promise that exempts the pastor from that time of temptation because he would no longer be physically located among “all the world” of people “that dwell upon the earth” at that time!

Jesus was thus not saying that He would protect the pastor on the earth during that time while the rest of the world that also dwells on the earth would go through the hour of temptation. Instead, Jesus promised to keep him from that time that would try everyone in the world who then dwells upon the earth!

The Flow Thought from Revelation 3:10 to Revelation 3:11-13

Right after the statements in Revelation 3:10, Jesus said, “Behold, I come quickly” (Rev. 3:11a). The flow of thought communicates that the pastor was to look for His coming quickly to keep him from the time of temptation that the entire world of people that dwell on the earth will experience in that hour of temptation.

As he awaits Jesus’ return, the pastor would have to hold fast to what he had so that no man would take his crown (Rev. 3:11b). In the flow of thought, Jesus’ statements emphasize the importance of the pastor’s holding fast to his confidently looking for Jesus to come quickly to keep him from the time of temptation that will come on the entire world of people that dwell on the earth at that time.

Jesus’ subsequent promise to the pastor that he who overcomes would be a pillar in the temple of His God and never go out from it again (Rev. 3:12) fits perfectly in the above explanation of the flow of thought from Revelation 3:10 to Revelation 3:11. At the very time that all those who are on the earth go through the time of temptation, the ones who overcome will be with Jesus in the temple of His God!

They will be there because Jesus will have raptured them out of the earth to be with Him forever! Revelation 3:10 is clear teaching to all the churches of all time about the coming Rapture of the Church!

“Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown” (Rev. 3:11).

Copyright © 2011-2024 by Rajesh Gandhi. All rights reserved.

In Discipleship, Exposition, Interpretation, Theology
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