12/28/12

Arrogance, wisdom and eternal choices



I find this magazine cover offensive!!!  God is not an idea, that man can simply just cast aside; nor is HE judged by human beings, who have the capability (but not the right) to say anything they can wildly imagine.  Has history and reason suddenly been changed???  Jesus lived and died and lives again!!!  The witnesses to this are indisputable!!! And how can we live in such a complex world without realizing that behind it all there is a designer??  The truth is that those who can even ask such a question as "Time" does, really want to put themselves in the the place of God; as if they were EQUAL WITH GOD!!!  The sheer arrogance of these people is astronomical!!!  Once I calmed down a bit, I recalled this passage from 1st Corinthians and remembered that the intellectual snobbery of "Time" is nothing new; it has been around as long as mankind has had the capacity to be prideful...

1 Corinthians, Chapter 1
18 For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are dying, but to us who are saved it is the power of God.  19 For it is written, 
“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise,
I will bring the discernment of the discerning to nothing.”

20  Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the lawyer of this world? Hasn’t God made foolish the wisdom of this world?  21 For seeing that in the wisdom of God, the world through its wisdom didn’t know God, it was God’s good pleasure through the foolishness of the preaching to save those who believe.  22 For Jews ask for signs, Greeks seek after wisdom, 23 but we preach Christ crucified; a stumbling block to Jews, and foolishness to Greeks,  24 but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God.  25 Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.  26 For you see your calling, brothers, that not many are wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, and not many noble;  27 but God chose the foolish things of the world that he might put to shame those who are wise. God chose the weak things of the world, that he might put to shame the things that are strong;  28 and God chose the lowly things of the world, and the things that are despised, and the things that are not, that he might bring to nothing the things that are:  29 that no flesh should boast before God.

Fact:we are all headed for one very long dirt nap!!!  People can "reason" all they wish, but our own very personal encounter with death is inevitable!!!  The living Jesus is proof positive that there is a God and there is hope for life after life!!!  Jesus was not an idea, but a real live, walking, talking human being who suffered and died for even the very worst of us!!!  We have a choice; to either obey his GOSPEL or not and for your personal eternal well-being, I pray that you OBEY!!!  "Time" has proclaimed its own fate and that is sad; but, the real question is.. WHAT WILL YOU DO WITH JESUS????

Bible Reading, Dec. 28


Dec. 28
Zechariah 5-8

Zec 5:1 Then again I lifted up my eyes, and saw, and behold, a flying scroll.
Zec 5:2 He said to me, "What do you see?" I answered, "I see a flying scroll; its length is twenty cubits, and its breadth ten cubits."
Zec 5:3 Then he said to me, "This is the curse that goes out over the surface of the whole land; for everyone who steals shall be cut off according to it on the one side; and everyone who swears falsely shall be cut off according to it on the other side.
Zec 5:4 I will cause it to go out," says Yahweh of Armies, "and it will enter into the house of the thief, and into the house of him who swears falsely by my name; and it will remain in the midst of his house, and will destroy it with its timber and its stones."
Zec 5:5 Then the angel who talked with me came forward, and said to me, "Lift up now your eyes, and see what is this that is appearing."
Zec 5:6 I said, "What is it?" He said, "This is the ephah basket that is appearing." He said moreover, "This is their appearance in all the land
Zec 5:7 (and behold, a talent of lead was lifted up); and this is a woman sitting in the midst of the ephah basket."
Zec 5:8 He said, "This is Wickedness;" and he threw her down into the midst of the ephah basket; and he threw the weight of lead on its mouth.
Zec 5:9 Then lifted I up my eyes, and saw, and behold, there were two women, and the wind was in their wings. Now they had wings like the wings of a stork, and they lifted up the ephah basket between earth and the sky.
Zec 5:10 Then said I to the angel who talked with me, "Where are these carrying the ephah basket?"
Zec 5:11 He said to me, "To build her a house in the land of Shinar. When it is prepared, she will be set there in her own place."
 

Zec 6:1 Again I lifted up my eyes, and saw, and behold, four chariots came out from between two mountains; and the mountains were mountains of brass.
Zec 6:2 In the first chariot were red horses; in the second chariot black horses;
Zec 6:3 in the third chariot white horses; and in the fourth chariot dappled horses, all of them powerful.
Zec 6:4 Then I asked the angel who talked with me, "What are these, my lord?"
Zec 6:5 The angel answered me, "These are the four winds of the sky, which go forth from standing before the Lord of all the earth.
Zec 6:6 The one with the black horses goes out toward the north country; and the white went out after them; and the dappled went forth toward the south country."
Zec 6:7 The strong went out, and sought to go that they might walk back and forth through the earth: and he said, "Go around and through the earth!" So they walked back and forth through the earth.
Zec 6:8 Then he called to me, and spoke to me, saying, "Behold, those who go toward the north country have quieted my spirit in the north country."
Zec 6:9 The word of Yahweh came to me, saying,
Zec 6:10 "Take of them of the captivity, even of Heldai, of Tobijah, and of Jedaiah; and come the same day, and go into the house of Josiah the son of Zephaniah, where they have come from Babylon.
Zec 6:11 Yes, take silver and gold, and make crowns, and set them on the head of Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest;
Zec 6:12 and speak to him, saying, 'Thus says Yahweh of Armies, "Behold, the man whose name is the Branch: and he shall grow up out of his place; and he shall build the temple of Yahweh;
Zec 6:13 even he shall build the temple of Yahweh; and he shall bear the glory, and shall sit and rule on his throne; and he shall be a priest on his throne; and the counsel of peace shall be between them both.
Zec 6:14 The crowns shall be to Helem, and to Tobijah, and to Jedaiah, and to Hen the son of Zephaniah, for a memorial in the temple of Yahweh.
Zec 6:15 Those who are far off shall come and build in the temple of Yahweh; and you shall know that Yahweh of Armies has sent me to you. This will happen, if you will diligently obey the voice of Yahweh your God." ' "
 

Zec 7:1 It happened in the fourth year of king Darius that the word of Yahweh came to Zechariah in the fourth day of the ninth month, the month of Chislev.
Zec 7:2 The people of Bethel sent Sharezer and Regem Melech, and their men, to entreat Yahweh's favor,
Zec 7:3 and to speak to the priests of the house of Yahweh of Armies, and to the prophets, saying, "Should I weep in the fifth month, separating myself, as I have done these so many years?"
Zec 7:4 Then the word of Yahweh of Armies came to me, saying,
Zec 7:5 "Speak to all the people of the land, and to the priests, saying, 'When you fasted and mourned in the fifth and in the seventh month for these seventy years, did you at all fast to me, really to me?
Zec 7:6 When you eat, and when you drink, don't you eat for yourselves, and drink for yourselves?
Zec 7:7 Aren't these the words which Yahweh proclaimed by the former prophets, when Jerusalem was inhabited and in prosperity, and its cities around her, and the South and the lowland were inhabited?' "
Zec 7:8 The word of Yahweh came to Zechariah, saying,
Zec 7:9 "Thus has Yahweh of Armies spoken, saying, 'Execute true judgment, and show kindness and compassion every man to his brother.
Zec 7:10 Don't oppress the widow, nor the fatherless, the foreigner, nor the poor; and let none of you devise evil against his brother in your heart.'
Zec 7:11 But they refused to listen, and turned their backs, and stopped their ears, that they might not hear.
Zec 7:12 Yes, they made their hearts as hard as flint, lest they might hear the law, and the words which Yahweh of Armies had sent by his Spirit by the former prophets. Therefore great wrath came from Yahweh of Armies.
Zec 7:13 It has come to pass that, as he called, and they refused to listen, so they will call, and I will not listen," said Yahweh of Armies;
Zec 7:14 "but I will scatter them with a whirlwind among all the nations which they have not known. Thus the land was desolate after them, so that no man passed through nor returned: for they made the pleasant land desolate."
 

Zec 8:1 The word of Yahweh of Armies came to me.
Zec 8:2 Thus says Yahweh of Armies: "I am jealous for Zion with great jealousy, and I am jealous for her with great wrath."
Zec 8:3 Thus says Yahweh: "I have returned to Zion, and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem. Jerusalem shall be called 'The City of Truth;' and the mountain of Yahweh of Armies, 'The Holy Mountain.' "
Zec 8:4 Thus says Yahweh of Armies: "Old men and old women will again dwell in the streets of Jerusalem, every man with his staff in his hand for very age.
Zec 8:5 The streets of the city will be full of boys and girls playing in its streets."
Zec 8:6 Thus says Yahweh of Armies: "If it is marvelous in the eyes of the remnant of this people in those days, should it also be marvelous in my eyes?" says Yahweh of Armies.
Zec 8:7 Thus says Yahweh of Armies: "Behold, I will save my people from the east country, and from the west country;
Zec 8:8 and I will bring them, and they will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem; and they will be my people, and I will be their God, in truth and in righteousness."
Zec 8:9 Thus says Yahweh of Armies: "Let your hands be strong, you who hear in these days these words from the mouth of the prophets who were in the day that the foundation of the house of Yahweh of Armies was laid, even the temple, that it might be built.
Zec 8:10 For before those days there was no wages for man, nor any wages for an animal; neither was there any peace to him who went out or came in, because of the adversary. For I set all men everyone against his neighbor.
Zec 8:11 But now I will not be to the remnant of this people as in the former days," says Yahweh of Armies.
Zec 8:12 "For the seed of peace and the vine will yield its fruit, and the ground will give its increase, and the heavens will give their dew; and I will cause the remnant of this people to inherit all these things.
Zec 8:13 It shall come to pass that, as you were a curse among the nations, house of Judah and house of Israel, so will I save you, and you shall be a blessing. Don't be afraid. Let your hands be strong."
Zec 8:14 For thus says Yahweh of Armies: "As I thought to do evil to you, when your fathers provoked me to wrath," says Yahweh of Armies, "and I didn't repent;
Zec 8:15 so again have I thought in these days to do good to Jerusalem and to the house of Judah. Don't be afraid.
Zec 8:16 These are the things that you shall do: speak every man the truth with his neighbor. Execute the judgment of truth and peace in your gates,
Zec 8:17 and let none of you devise evil in your hearts against his neighbor, and love no false oath: for all these are things that I hate," says Yahweh.
Zec 8:18 The word of Yahweh of Armies came to me.
Zec 8:19 Thus says Yahweh of Armies: "The fasts of the fourth fifth, seventh, and tenth months shall be for the house of Judah joy and gladness, and cheerful feasts. Therefore love truth and peace."
Zec 8:20 Thus says Yahweh of Armies: "Many peoples, and the inhabitants of many cities will yet come;
Zec 8:21 and the inhabitants of one shall go to another, saying, 'Let us go speedily to entreat the favor of Yahweh, and to seek Yahweh of Armies. I will go also.'
Zec 8:22 Yes, many peoples and strong nations will come to seek Yahweh of Armies in Jerusalem, and to entreat the favor of Yahweh."
Zec 8:23 Thus says Yahweh of Armies: "In those days, ten men will take hold, out of all the languages of the nations, they will take hold of the skirt of him who is a Jew, saying, 'We will go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.' "



Dec. 28
Revelation 17, 18

Rev 17:1 One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and spoke with me, saying, "Come here. I will show you the judgment of the great prostitute who sits on many waters,
Rev 17:2 with whom the kings of the earth committed sexual immorality, and those who dwell in the earth were made drunken with the wine of her sexual immorality."
Rev 17:3 He carried me away in the Spirit into a wilderness. I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet-colored animal, full of blasphemous names, having seven heads and ten horns.
Rev 17:4 The woman was dressed in purple and scarlet, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the impurities of the sexual immorality of the earth.
Rev 17:5 And on her forehead a name was written, "MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF THE PROSTITUTES AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH."
Rev 17:6 I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus. When I saw her, I wondered with great amazement.
Rev 17:7 The angel said to me, "Why do you wonder? I will tell you the mystery of the woman, and of the beast that carries her, which has the seven heads and the ten horns.
Rev 17:8 The beast that you saw was, and is not; and is about to come up out of the abyss and to go into destruction. Those who dwell on the earth and whose names have not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world will marvel when they see that the beast was, and is not, and shall be present.
Rev 17:9 Here is the mind that has wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sits.
Rev 17:10 They are seven kings. Five have fallen, the one is, the other has not yet come. When he comes, he must continue a little while.
Rev 17:11 The beast that was, and is not, is himself also an eighth, and is of the seven; and he goes to destruction.
Rev 17:12 The ten horns that you saw are ten kings who have received no kingdom as yet, but they receive authority as kings, with the beast, for one hour.
Rev 17:13 These have one mind, and they give their power and authority to the beast.
Rev 17:14 These will war against the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them, for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings. They also will overcome who are with him, called and chosen and faithful."
Rev 17:15 He said to me, "The waters which you saw, where the prostitute sits, are peoples, multitudes, nations, and languages.
Rev 17:16 The ten horns which you saw, and the beast, these will hate the prostitute, and will make her desolate, and will make her naked, and will eat her flesh, and will burn her utterly with fire.
Rev 17:17 For God has put in their hearts to do what he has in mind, and to be of one mind, and to give their kingdom to the beast, until the words of God should be accomplished.
Rev 17:18 The woman whom you saw is the great city, which reigns over the kings of the earth."


Rev 18:1 After these things, I saw another angel coming down out of the sky, having great authority. The earth was illuminated with his glory.
Rev 18:2 He cried with a mighty voice, saying, "Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great, and she has become a habitation of demons, a prison of every unclean spirit, and a prison of every unclean and hateful bird!
Rev 18:3 For all the nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her sexual immorality, the kings of the earth committed sexual immorality with her, and the merchants of the earth grew rich from the abundance of her luxury."
Rev 18:4 I heard another voice from heaven, saying, "Come out of her, my people, that you have no participation in her sins, and that you don't receive of her plagues,
Rev 18:5 for her sins have reached to the sky, and God has remembered her iniquities.
Rev 18:6 Return to her just as she returned, and repay her double as she did, and according to her works. In the cup which she mixed, mix to her double.
Rev 18:7 However much she glorified herself, and grew wanton, so much give her of torment and mourning. For she says in her heart, 'I sit a queen, and am no widow, and will in no way see mourning.'
Rev 18:8 Therefore in one day her plagues will come: death, mourning, and famine; and she will be utterly burned with fire; for the Lord God who has judged her is strong.
Rev 18:9 The kings of the earth, who committed sexual immorality and lived wantonly with her, will weep and wail over her, when they look at the smoke of her burning,
Rev 18:10 standing far away for the fear of her torment, saying, 'Woe, woe, the great city, Babylon, the strong city! For your judgment has come in one hour.'
Rev 18:11 The merchants of the earth weep and mourn over her, for no one buys their merchandise any more;
Rev 18:12 merchandise of gold, silver, precious stones, pearls, fine linen, purple, silk, scarlet, all expensive wood, every vessel of ivory, every vessel made of most precious wood, and of brass, and iron, and marble;
Rev 18:13 and cinnamon, incense, perfume, frankincense, wine, olive oil, fine flour, wheat, sheep, horses, chariots, and people's bodies and souls.
Rev 18:14 The fruits which your soul lusted after have been lost to you, and all things that were dainty and sumptuous have perished from you, and you will find them no more at all.
Rev 18:15 The merchants of these things, who were made rich by her, will stand far away for the fear of her torment, weeping and mourning;
Rev 18:16 saying, 'Woe, woe, the great city, she who was dressed in fine linen, purple, and scarlet, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls!
Rev 18:17 For in an hour such great riches are made desolate.' Every shipmaster, and everyone who sails anywhere, and mariners, and as many as gain their living by sea, stood far away,
Rev 18:18 and cried out as they looked at the smoke of her burning, saying, 'What is like the great city?'
Rev 18:19 They cast dust on their heads, and cried, weeping and mourning, saying, 'Woe, woe, the great city, in which all who had their ships in the sea were made rich by reason of her great wealth!' For in one hour is she made desolate.
Rev 18:20 "Rejoice over her, O heaven, you saints, apostles, and prophets; for God has judged your judgment on her."
Rev 18:21 A mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone and cast it into the sea, saying, "Thus with violence will Babylon, the great city, be thrown down, and will be found no more at all.
Rev 18:22 The voice of harpists, minstrels, flute players, and trumpeters will be heard no more at all in you. No craftsman, of whatever craft, will be found any more at all in you. The sound of a mill will be heard no more at all in you.
Rev 18:23 The light of a lamp will shine no more at all in you. The voice of the bridegroom and of the bride will be heard no more at all in you; for your merchants were the princes of the earth; for with your sorcery all the nations were deceived.
Rev 18:24 In her was found the blood of prophets and of saints, and of all who have been slain on the earth."

Ecclesiastes, The Preacher's Search For Meaning, Mark Copeland

                       "THE BOOK OF ECCLESIASTES"

             The Preacher's Search For Meaning - I (1:4-18)

INTRODUCTION

1. Why am I here?  What am I to be doing?
   a. These are questions that nearly everyone asks at some point in
      their life
   b. They are questions the author of Ecclesiastes sought to address

2. In our introductory lesson we saw...
   a. The author identified - 1:1
      1) The Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem
      2) I.e., Solomon
   b. The theme stated - 1:2
      1) All is vanity
      2) I.e., life from an earthly perspective ("under the sun") is 
         futile, meaningless - 1:14
   c. The question raised - 1:3
      1) What profit is there for a man from all his labor under the
         sun?
      2) I.e., what benefit can one derive from all his efforts in this
         life?

3. In the first two chapters, Solomon demonstrates how he came to this
   conclusion
   a. From his observations regarding the cyclical nature of life and
      its apparent meaningless
   b. From his own experiences as he sought to find meaning through
      various avenues

[As we continue to listen to the "Preacher", then, we find him 
describing...]

I. THE FUTILITY OBSERVED IN THE CYCLES OF LIFE

   A. NOTHING SEEMS TO CHANGE - 1:4-7
      1. The earth appears to abide forever, even as generations of men
         come and go
      2. The sun is constant with its rising and setting
      3. The winds continue their whirling cycle
      4. The water cycle also, as rivers run into the seas, and then
         through evaporation and rain return to the rivers again
      -- Looking at nature, it seems nothing ever changes, it just goes
         in circles and remains the same!

   B. NOTHING SEEMS TO SATISFY - 1:8
      1. Despite all our labors, man is never truly satisfied
      2. What satisfaction one may think they have is only apparent and
         fleeting
      3. Given time, they soon desire something else

   C. NOTHING IS NEW UNDER THE SUN - 1:9-11
      1. What will be done is that which has been done
      2. If thought to be new, it is only because we have forgotten 
         what occurred before
         a. What about our modern technological advances?
         b. What about the technology that created the pyramids, 
            Stonehedge, etc.?
      -- Given time, future civilizations will forget what we are doing
         today, and only "rediscover" what has been learned again and
         again!

[Faced with what appeared to be such meaningless cycles in life, the
"Preacher" sought to determine man's true purpose.  He first shares 
with us his own experience with...]

II. THE FUTILITY OF HUMAN WISDOM

   A. THE PREACHER PREFACES HIS SEARCH - 1:12-15
      1. He was king over Israel in Jerusalem
         a. I.e., Solomon
         b. Who had been given wisdom from God - 1Ki 3:9-12; 4:29-34
      2. He determined to use such wisdom to seek and search all that
         has been done "under heaven"
         a. A task that he understood God had given to all men
         b. A task for which he knew he had been especially equipped
      3. He summarizes what he found, having seen all the works done
         "under the sun"
         a. He concludes they are vanity and grasping for wind
         b. For there is little one can do to make significant changes

   B. THE PREACHER APPLIED HIS GOD-GIVEN WISDOM - 1:16-17a
      1. He acknowledged the greatness and wisdom he had attained
         a. In answer to prayer, Solomon had attained great wisdom
            1) Again, cf. 1Ki 3:9-12
            2) Compare this also to Jm 1:5
         b. This is "God-given wisdom", to be contrasted with "human 
            wisdom"
      2. He therefore sought to apply it to wisdom, madness, and folly
         a. The "wisdom" here I believe is "human wisdom" (e.g., 
            philosophy)
         b. For this is wisdom that he set his heart to know (learn)

   C. THE PREACHER CONCLUDES HUMAN WISDOM IS FUTILE - 1:17b-18
      1. He perceived that such wisdom was like grasping for wind, it
         did not provide the answer to his problem
      2. He also saw that such wisdom and knowledge provides much grief
         and sorrow
         a. As we might say today, it provides "information overload"
         b. One becomes burdened as they learn of many things in life
            1) Things they have no control over
            2) Yet things they often worry over

CONCLUSION

1. In beginning his search for meaning, the wise Preacher naturally
   began with wisdom...
   a. Thus he set his heart to "know wisdom"
   b. But he found such wisdom to be "grasping for the wind"

2. I do not believe we are to take his words as an indictment against
   all wisdom...
   a. For there is a "God-given wisdom" for which one should seek 
      - cf. Pr 2:1-9; Jm 1:5
   b. This kind of wisdom can bless one's life - cf. Pr 3:13-18

3. But it is an indictment against "human wisdom"...
   a. A wisdom that seeks to understand life, but leaves God out of the
      picture
   b. A wisdom that can only leave one "grasping for the wind"

In our next study, we shall continue with the Preacher's "search for 
meaning" and notice his observations regarding pleasure, madness, and 
folly.

In the meantime, remember what Paul wrote in contrasting human wisdom
with God's wisdom:

   But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom 
   from God; and righteousness and sanctification and redemption;
   that, as it is written, "He who glories, let him glory in the
   LORD." (1Co 1:31)

Have you accepted and obeyed the true wisdom from God, Jesus Christ,
who gives meaning and purpose for life?