A People for His Name

Sunday school Bible reading project update

January 24, 2016

In preparation for teaching two upcoming Sunday school lessons, I have read Deuteronomy, Job-Proverbs, Isaiah, Daniel, and the NT this year (595 of the 1189 chapters of the Bible)! I praise God for granting me grace to persevere in finishing reading the parts of the Bible that most directly pertain to my topic for the first lesson: the teaching ministry of the Father.

I’m eagerly anticipating teaching those classes, but I’ll have to wait another week to teach the first one because Sunday school is cancelled today

In Bible reading, Sunday School

Bible Books with the Most Content about Teaching

January 21, 2016

In preparation for teaching Sunday school this week and next, Lord willing, I used BibleWorks 7 to compile a list of 699 verses that contain words pertaining to teaching. This graph shows the books with the highest percentage of these verses:

In descending order, the top ten books were the following:

Proverbs 12%
Psalms 8.9%
Job 6.4%
Matthew 6.4%
Mark 6.4%
Luke 5.9%
Acts 5%
Isaiah 4.9%
John 4.3%
Deuteronomy 3.7%

These books have a total of 440 chapters. To saturate my mind with as much of God’s own words on this subject as possible, I have read all of these books this year except for Deuteronomy 29-34 and Acts 16-28, which I plan to finish before my first lesson on this Sunday.

If you are a Sunday school teacher at any level, I highly commend your reading these books with a focus on trying to learn as much as you can about what they teach about teaching by God and by godly teachers.

In Sunday School

377 Done and 812 To Go

January 16, 2016

OT Chapters Read – Job (42); Psalms (150); Proverbs (31); Isaiah (66) = 289 chapters

NT Chapters Read – Matthew (28); Mark (16); Luke (24); 1 Cor. 1-7; 1 Thessalonians (5); 2 Thessalonians (3); James (5) = 88 chapters

Total chapters read in 2016 = 377

Total chapters left to read = 812

Praise the Lord!

In Bible reading

Best Start Ever for Reading the Bible!

January 10, 2016

As part of my preparation for teaching Sunday school on January 24 and 31 (Lord willing), I am trying to read as much of select parts of the Bible as I can. So far, I have read 258 chapters in 10 days, which is the best start that I have ever had for reading the Bible in a year, praise God!

In Bible reading, Sunday School

Do You Have God’s Mind about Being Poor?

January 7, 2016

It is a very sad reality that many people in the world suffer greatly because they are poor. Three Scriptural statements provide these many millions of poor people with crucial revelation that they desperately need.

In three successive chapters in Proverbs, God sets forth three truths that go contrary to the thinking and practice of many of the people in the world today. By giving attention to these words from God, they will have essential truth that they need to have God’s mind about being poor.

Proverbs 19:22

Given the opportunity to do so, some people lie to try to get out of their poverty. Some provide false information to governmental authorities in order to get assistance for which they would not otherwise qualify or the amounts that they would receive would be substantially reduced were they to tell the truth about their situation.

People cheat on their tax returns in order not to pay as much taxes as they should. By doing so, they seek to have more money than they would were they to be truthful about their finances.

Contrary to the thinking and practice of all such people, Scripture declares,

A poor man is better than a liar (Prov. 19:22).

Because God teaches that it is better to be poor than to be a liar, everyone who does deceitful things to get wealth shows that he does not have God’s mind about being poor.

By faith and trust in God, every poor person should be truthful. They should not lie to try to escape their poverty. Showing that they fear God, they should commit themselves to God to take care of them.

Proverbs 20:17

Many people obtain material goods and money through deceitful means. Because they temporarily enjoy the fruit of their lies, they think that what they have done is justified by the sweetness of what they obtain through their falsehoods.

God warns such people,

Bread of deceit is sweet to a man; but afterwards his mouth shall be filled with gravel (Prov. 20:17).

No matter how appealing it may be to acquire and enjoy things through lying that you otherwise would not be able to have, God wants us to be certain that the ultimate consequence of such actions will not be sweet. By faith in God, people who are poor must reject opportunities to get things and wealth through deceitful ways.

Proverbs 21:6

Poor people are often tempted to think that they need to lie in order to change the sad realities of their circumstances. Such people must heed what God says about such wrong attempts to acquire wealth:

The getting of treasures by a lying tongue is a vanity tossed to and fro of them that seek death (Prov. 21:6).

God teaches that people who lie to get treasures are actually pursuing death even while they think they are trying to improve their lives by their dishonest acquisitions. Poor people must take God’s viewpoint and reject such fatal seeking of wealth!

Conclusion

God cares so much about all human beings that He has provided us with these (and many other) key truths so that we will have His mind about being poor. God wants all people, including poor people, to put their faith in Him by being truthful and honest in all their ways at all times.

Do you have God’s mind about being poor?

In Discipleship, Exposition, Theology

On Excellence in Preaching

January 4, 2016

Jesus of Nazareth was the greatest preacher who has ever lived. Matthew 5-7 provides the lengthiest record of any of His sermons.

The Holy Spirit has bracketed that record with these four statements:

Mat 5:1 And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain: and when he was set, his disciples came unto him:

² And he opened his mouth, and taught them, saying,

Mat 7:28 And it came to pass, when Jesus had ended these sayings, the people were astonished at his doctrine:

²⁹ For he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.

These divinely inspired words reveal that the greatest sermon of the greatest preacher who has ever lived was foremost an instance of His authoritatively teaching His audience! Based on this evidence, we must conclude that excellence in preaching first of all concerns the nature of the teaching that a preacher provides to his hearers.

We must also be careful about making dichotomous statements about preaching versus teaching, as if the two were sharply distinct. Because Matthew 5-7 shows that excellent preaching essentially includes authoritative teaching that instructs people in doctrine, we must not make statements that downplay the importance of the teaching that a preacher provides when he preaches.

In Discipleship, Interpretation, Preaching, Theology

Bible Reading Report for 2015

December 31, 2015

I praise the Lord that He enabled me to read the whole Bible in English this year and the NT in Spanish!

Since I was saved in January 1990, I have now made it through the Bible in English (27x; at least once every year except 2014 because I read the Bible through in Spanish that year), Greek (2x; the first time over a period of a number of years and the second time in one year), and Spanish (1x in 2014).

I would like to read through the Bible in both English and Spanish in 2016. Because that may not yet be an attainable goal for my Bible reading in a year, I’m not sure which direction I will go at this time (reading through in English or Spanish).

As the Lord allows, I eagerly anticipate reading through His Word in 2016!

In Bible reading

Did Solomon Repent Before He Died?

December 28, 2015

First Kings 11 chronicles at some length the tragic final years of Solomon’s life. The chapter ends with three verses that relate his death, but the Holy Spirit did not choose to inspire any mention in the chapter about his repenting before he died.

Interpreters dispute whether the book of Ecclesiastes is an OT record of the repentance of Solomon prior to his death. In support of taking Ecclesiastes as a record of his repentance, the ending of 1 Kings 11 as well as several NT references imply that Solomon did repent before he died.

A Written Record of All That Solomon Did

The Spirit concluded First Kings 11 by providing an intriguing statement about further information concerning the ending of Solomon’s life:

1 Kings 11:41 And the rest of the acts of Solomon, and all that he did, and his wisdom, are they not written in the book of the acts of Solomon?

This verse tells us that the writer of First Kings knew of a written document that recorded all the rest of what Solomon did in his life prior to his death. That document would have been available to others who lived after Solomon had died.

If Solomon had died as an unrepentant apostate, evidence that he did so would undoubtedly have been recorded in this book. For the writer of Second Chronicles to not say anything negative about Solomon, especially about the horrific ending of his life would be unintelligible if there were such a written record of Solomon’s complete and final apostasy.

Because the writer of Second Chronicles does not relate any such information, we are justified in holding that First Kings 11:41 provides us with implicit indication that Solomon did repent before he died.

Jesus as a Greater than Solomon

In the NT, Matthew and Luke record that Jesus Himself compared Himself with Solomon:

Mat 12:42 The queen of the south shall rise up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: for she came from the uttermost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and, behold, a greater than Solomon is here.

Luk 11:31 The queen of the south shall rise up in the judgment with the men of this generation, and condemn them: for she came from the utmost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and, behold, a greater than Solomon is here.

Had Solomon died as a wicked apostate who never repented, Jesus would not have compared Himself to Solomon because Solomon would in that case have ultimately proved to be the greatest fool in the history of Israel.

Furthermore, had Jesus likened Himself to such a defective man, he would have left Himself open to a profound rebuke from his enemies (Matt. 12:38) whom He rebuked with this statement (Matt. 12:39). Had these scribes and Pharisees believed that Solomon had died as an apostate, they would immediately have reproached Jesus for comparing Himself (Matt. 12:42) to such an apostate.

Because neither Matthew nor Luke records that they turned this statement by Jesus against Him as a compelling reason to reject His wisdom, we can be confident that both they and Jesus believed that Solomon did not die as the greatest fool in their history. Jesus’ positive use of this statement in response to His enemies implicitly communicates to us that Solomon did repent before he died.

Solomon’s Porch in the Temple

Three verses in the NT speak of Solomon’s porch in the temple:

Joh 10:23 And Jesus walked in the temple in Solomon’s porch.

Act 3:11 And as the lame man which was healed held Peter and John, all the people ran together unto them in the porch that is called Solomon’s, greatly wondering.

Act 5:12 And by the hands of the apostles were many signs and wonders wrought among the people; (and they were all with one accord in Solomon’s porch.

Had Solomon died as an apostate, he would have been the worst example of apostasy in the history of God’s people. It is unthinkable that the Jews in the times of Jesus would designate any part of the temple or allow any part of the temple to be called by the name of such a heinously wicked man who failed to repent before he died.

By recording that this part of the temple was called Solomon’s porch, the Spirit has again implicitly related to us that Solomon did repent before he died.

Conclusion

Both the OT and the NT provide information that implies that Solomon did repent before he died. He is not in hell today. We will see Solomon in heaven one day.

Hebrews 11:22 and the Case against Cremation

December 21, 2015

In my last post, I treated three reasons why cremation is unbiblical. A striking statement about Joseph in Hebrews 11 provides additional conclusive evidence for the case against cremation.

Joseph’s Charge to the Israelites Prior to His Death

As he neared death, Joseph communicated his full assurance that God would fulfill His promises to His people about bringing them out of Egypt and into the land that He had promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (Gen. 50:24). Joseph then made the Israelites take an oath that they would carry his bones with them out from Egypt (Gen. 50:25).

By giving this charge to his own, Joseph displayed that he valued highly what would become of his bones after he had died. Not only did he not want his body to be cremated so that it would be reduced to ashes, but also he cared about where his remains would be buried.

Joseph wanted his bones to be buried in the Promised Land into which he was certain that God would one day lead His people. Was Joseph’s desire concerning his bones simply a manifestation of a cultural practice of his time or was it a display of something far greater?

Israel’s Obedience to Joseph’s Charge

When Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt, he obeyed Joseph’s charge by taking his bones with them (Exod. 13:19). The children of Israel later finally fully fulfilled the wishes of Joseph when they buried his bones in a parcel of ground in Shechem, which parcel “became the inheritance of the children of Joseph (Josh. 24:32).

The OT Scriptural record of Joseph’s charge and the Israelites full obedience to that charge shows that God has wanted all His people who have ever received His Word to know what Joseph ordained concerning his bones and what ultimately happened to them. Does this Scriptural record merely relate the fulfillment of self-chosen instructions given by a powerful Israelite leader who was following the cultural customs of his time or is the record intended by God to communicate something of far greater importance?

Divine Commendation of Joseph’s Charge

The writer of Hebrews explicitly commends Joseph to NT believers as one who “obtained a good report through faith” (Heb. 11:39). Considering all that Scripture reveals about Joseph that is commendable, it is highly instructive that the explicit commendation given concerning Joseph in this key NT passage concerns the very charge that we read of twice in preceding Scripture:

Heb 11:22 By faith Joseph, when he died, made mention of the departing of the children of Israel; and gave commandment concerning his bones.

God thus highlights that Joseph’s giving the charge that he did concerning his bones was the exemplary manifestation of his faith in God that God wants to call to the attention of all Christians! God’s commendation of Joseph’s believing desires that his bones be buried in the Promised Land shows that what he did was not just a record of a powerful Israelite following his own wishes in keeping with a cultural custom of his people and time.

Conclusion

Joseph wanted his bones to be buried—not cremated, and his wanting to do so was a vital expression of his faith in the promises of God. All Christians must likewise display their faith in God by seeking to have their bodies buried when they die.

The Scriptural record concerning Joseph’s charge about his bones powerfully argues against any legitimacy of cremation for God’s people. Christians must not cremate their own!

In Discipleship, Exposition, Theology

Three Reasons Why Cremation is Unbiblical

December 14, 2015

Many biblical facts show why cremation is unbiblical. This post examines three reasons why cremation is unbiblical.

No OT support for cremation instead of burial

The OT does not record a single instance of God’s people cremating one of their own instead of burying him. Although it does have one passage that relates when some Israelites burned the bodies of some of their people when they died, a close examination of that account shows that it does not support cremation at all.

First Samuel 31 records the tragic end of the lives of king Saul and his three sons. When the Philistines decapitated them and fastened their bodies to a wall (1 Sam. 31:7-10), some inhabitants of Jabesh Gilead heard what had taken place and valiantly acted to attend properly to their bodies:

1Sa 31:11 And when the inhabitants of Jabeshgilead heard of that which the Philistines had done to Saul;

¹² All the valiant men arose, and went all night, and took the body of Saul and the bodies of his sons from the wall of Bethshan, and came to Jabesh, and burnt them there.

Scripture provides no explanation for why these men burned the bodies of Saul and his sons. Regardless of why they did so, they did not cremate their bodies instead of burying them, as the next verse plainly states:

¹³ And they took their bones, and buried them under a tree at Jabesh, and fasted seven days.

This key statement reveals that the men did not burn the bodies of Saul and his sons until they became ashes and then dispose of the ashes in whatever way they thought was acceptable. Rather, they burned the bodies in a way that preserved their bones, and then they buried them.

First Samuel 31 does not provide any support for Christians cremating a loved one instead of burying him. In fact, it shows that cremating a dead Christian is not at all either a biblically acceptable form of burial or a biblically acceptable substitute for burial.

God’s condemnation of people who completely burned the bones of a person

Amos 2 relates God’s declaration of His fierce wrath upon the Moabites for what they did to the bones of the king of Edom:

Amo 2:1 Thus saith the LORD; For three transgressions of Moab, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because he burned the bones of the king of Edom into lime:

² But I will send a fire upon Moab, and it shall devour the palaces of Kerioth: and Moab shall die with tumult, with shouting, and with the sound of the trumpet:

³ And I will cut off the judge from the midst thereof, and will slay all the princes thereof with him, saith the LORD.

Because the Moabites burned the bones of the king of Edom to lime, God was going to judge them fiercely. C.F. Keil explains,

The burning of the bones of the king of Edom is not burning while he was still alive, but the burning of his corpse into lime, i. e. so completely that the bones turned into powder like lime . . . This is the only thing blamed, not his having put him to death (Keil-Delitzsch, 10:250).

This passage reveals God’s wrath on those who desecrated a man’s body after he had died by burning his bones until they became a powder. Based on this passage, Christians must not think that the Bible does not have anything to say against cremation.

No evidence of Christians ever cremating their own

The NT does not record a single instance of Christians cremating anyone after he had died. Furthermore, the account of the death of John the Baptist strengthens the case against cremation in a telling way.

Mark 6 records the horrific death of John the Baptist at the hands of wicked king Herod. Having had John beheaded, Herod had his head brought in a platter to the daughter of Herodias, who then gave it to her mother (Mark 6:27-28).

The disciples of John responded to the tragic murder of John by properly attending to his body:

Mar 6:29 And when his disciples heard of it, they came and took up his corpse, and laid it in a tomb.

A comparison of the accounts of the deaths of King Saul and John the Baptist reveals that the disciples of John did not first burn his decapitated body—they buried his body in a tomb. Any possible support that a believer could try to make for cremation from the account in First Samuel 31 is invalidated by this parallel account in Mark 6.

The disciples of John—who through progressive revelation knew even more about the ways of God than the people of Jabesh Gilead did in their earlier time—did not employ any kind of burning in dealing with the decapitated body of John the Baptist. Mark 6 compared with First Samuel 31 shows that there is no New Testament support for God’s people even in an extreme circumstance to use some form of cremation prior to or in place of burial.

Conclusion

Cremation is not a biblically acceptable form of burial nor is it a biblically acceptable substitute for burial. Christians should not cremate their own.

Rather, they should do everything that they can legitimately do to see that their loved ones and other believers receive a proper burial as the fitting ending to their lives.

Ezekiel 39: A Test Case for Certain Notions about Cremation versus Burial

In Discipleship, Exposition, Interpretation, Theology

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Proverbs 19:22

Proverbs 20:17

Proverbs 21:6

Conclusion

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A Written Record of All That Solomon Did

Jesus as a Greater than Solomon

Solomon’s Porch in the Temple

Conclusion

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Joseph’s Charge to the Israelites Prior to His Death

Israel’s Obedience to Joseph’s Charge

Divine Commendation of Joseph’s Charge

Conclusion

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No OT support for cremation instead of burial

God’s condemnation of people who completely burned the bones of a person

No evidence of Christians ever cremating their own

Conclusion

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