Whose Land Was it Then?

In the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates. Genesis 15:18

Here is a covenant for the ownership of land, made by God. It is an everlasting contract. Yet the land reaches from the Nile to the Euphrates, from the Arabian Desert to the Mediterranean Sea. The tiny UN-mandated country of Israel is only a small part of God's promised land.

So who owns the original land? Answer: Israel does, and always will.

But at the time of the grant to Abram there was no nation Israel to inhabit it. Four hundred thirty years of slavery in Egypt was yet to be endured. Then forty years of desert wandering over a distance that today is a cab ride. Did they walk slowly, or did something else keep them from possessing their Promised Land?

I heard a Zionist-approved broadcaster attempt to justify Israel's right to kill Palestinians by saying the land belongs to them. I suggest that Israel try to occupy all of Abram's portion on the same basis. They are trying to deny Palestinians the right to exist.

The broadcaster even made fun of the name Palestine, saying it had no validity. But it is the Roman name, and the Roman empire, in whatever form, has the right to control this area. In Luke 21:24, Jesus says so. Daniel chapter 2 maps out the territory. Luke gives us the time.

Having a title to the land does not automatically confer the right to occupy it. For example, in Jeremiah 29:4 Israel is removed from their land by the will of God. Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, unto all that are carried away captives, whom I have caused to be carried away from Jerusalem to Babylon.

Who owned the Promised Land then? Israel, but they had no right to live there.

Same as today. Israel's day is coming, but until Jesus returns we are all living in the Times of the Gentiles.

Visiting the White Knight

A dear friend and I had a very restful routine. Together with her Dachshund, Skipper, we would walk among the roses in the cool of the evening. Skipper would explore a large bed of Hostas, disappearing among them, snuffling and searching, until he emerged on the other side. He never found anything, but felt he needed to look.

Our clockwise walk would take us to lone roses, individually planted. Nothing formal there. I remember a deep red rose, Mr. Lincoln, and others whose names escape me now. But the one which stands out in my memory was the pure white blossom of the White Knight, with its rolled outer petals giving it a spikey appearance.

My mother was in real estate and once visited a little lady who was about to move. Her biggest regret was giving up her tiny back yard retreat. In the midst of a busy city she had created a fenced in refuge, with green fencing and a porch swing. When seated there the city seemed to disappear, and she could be alone with her thoughts.

Both of these quiet places are gone. Someone backed over Skipper. His exploring days are over, and the properties long ago sold. I yearn for a place where there is no more death,and no endings, where the beautiful white roses will never fade.

Job Assignment

Wanted: a liar to give a false message to a king in order to destroy him. Employer-God.

"And the LORD said, 'Who will entice Ahab into attacking Ramoth Gilead and going to his death there?'..." 1 Kings 22:20, NIV

God is inquiring about a liar he needs to do a hit job for Him!

"Finally a spirit came forward, stood before the LORD and said, 'I will entice him.'
" 'By what means?' the LORD asked.
" 'I will go and be a deceiving spirit in the mouths of all his prophets,' he said,
" 'You will succeed in enticing him,' said the LORD. 'Go and do it.'..." 1 Kings 22:21-22, NIV

But we thought the Lord and His prophets always told the truth! To us He does, but to His enemies not so.

A really huge part of the work of a Bible teacher is to undo the myths surrounding the nature of God and the Bible. Preachers are paid to tell lies. Bible teachers tell the truth, but are not paid.

Anyone tempted by poverty? They must be in the truth telling business for heavenly reward. As it is often said, "Don't quit your day job."

Those who are never surprised by sermons or teaching--I mean unpleasantly surprised--should change preachers, teachers, or churches. Would you attend a college class where you did not hear any new ideas? But people line up to hear insipid sermons that stay to one safe pattern.

Never depart from what people already believe! Your job is on the line.

The story from 1 Kings chapter 22 is really good for us to read. Some day churches may get beyond the parables and the sermon on the mount, but I doubt it.

Meet Your New Father

A dear friend of mine was telling me about some people she knows who are having trouble getting "close to God". She wonders why. "Why do people have to work so hard at it? You either believe or you don't believe."

As far as being saved, that is true. But may I say that feeling close to God is a very different matter. This may sound strange coming from a fundamentalist, but these troubled people are having difficulties with their psychology, not with God. Sometimes we forget what complicated emotions are behind our perceived relationship with Him.

A wonderful Christian psychologist, Dr. Clyde Narrimore, once worked for the Los Angeles school district. This means a lot of people. He ran an experiment on school children. He had them write an essay on how they felt about their fathers. Later he asked them how they felt about God.

When the results were tallied he found a correlation between the two--in the high nineties. How children feel about God depends on their feelings about their fathers.

All conversions are miraculous interventions by the Holy Spirit, but our early experiences still cling to us. I will even say that we are not free of early events and relationships that we had while children. If your father was authoritarian you will see God that way. If your father was cruel and unforgiving, the same results.

I tried this idea on myself. My father was a very good man, and loving, but in a distant way. He was busy with more important things. So I grew up with a feeling of non-importance, or insignificance. Each time I have used Narrimores results, they have worked out.

A critic wrote about the play, "The Odd Couple", that it was not about crazy sex, but about crazy people. Our problems in feeling close to our Heavenly Father may well arise from how we got along with our earthly one.

Since Once Saved, Always Saved, Why Can't We Just Sin and Sin?

What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?
Romans 6:1-2, NIV

A simple answer to the question about sinning after we are saved, is, yes, we can and do sin, once we are secure in Christ. There apparently were those who believed in deliberatly sinning to increase grace. Perhaps that is who Paul refers to.

It can be very useful to examine the objections to a doctrine such as the Security of the Believer. Perhaps the biggest objection is that those who learn you are saved forever will feel they now are free to sin because there is no loss of salvation. And some do.

But loss of salvation is not the only thing to be considered. Imagine a child who said, "Now that I'm born and can't be unborn, I can be as bad as I want." Mother and Father will have something to say about that. And a good child will want to please his parents out of love for them.

I really believe there is in us the fear that if we do bad we will be lost. This despite our knowledge that the Bible teaches otherwise. Since we are not saved by "being good", does it make any sense that we can lose our salvation by "being bad"? We are trapped by the false idea, promulgated by those who would try to control us by Fear and Guilt.

So what if we go ahead and sin abundantly? Are there serious consequences? Certainly. Disrupted fellowship with God, loss of heavenly reward, and in extreme cases an early death.

Thankfully the Holy Spirit helps us by turning our thoughts and desires away from sin. Though we are free from loss of salvation, we wish to please the God who gave us this security.

So Much I want to Leave Behind, So Much I Want to Go To

For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. Romans 8:18

Personally, the only "glory" I can associate with myself is that I love Morning Glories. I have never had glory directed my way, or done anything to merit it. I have spent years in the Discard Bin.

But Paul says "we", and I must honor this and believe it.

As for the sufferings of this present time, I find they are of two types. Terrible things that happen to us, and wonderful things that don't. My life has been full of the latter.

I greatly admire the fortitude of those who have endured great sorrows and hardships, especially those who survive them with courage and faith. My sorrows have mostly been of missing out. Even tragedy has seldom noticed me. Ever noticed that the greatest people so often suffer the most? I feel that is why I have been left out of the battle.

Thank you Lord, for having Paul say "we", instead of only the great ones.

While the Morning Stars Sang and the Angels Shouted

While the morning stars sang together and all the angels shouted for joy? Job 38:7

When I was a little boy I read that in older times, it was so quiet you could hear the angels sing. I remember standing in the garden and listening for them.

My sister, who knew music, but had a small voice, somehow managed to be invited to sing in the chorus of Cincinnati's May Festival. It is quite a big event each year. Ladies in formal gowns, jewelry glittering everywhere. I was just a kid, but I saw her in the huge group of singers and was impressed.

Imagine a heavenly chorus, in majesty and joy. I think of this when I read the passage in Job. No weak voices there. Job tells of a time long, long ago. But our chorus will be in the glorious future, hopefully not far away.