1/8/18

Why did God destroy the world? by Roy Davison

http://www.oldpaths.com/Archive/Davison/Roy/Allen/1940/028-sinbeforetheflood.html
Why did God destroy the world?
Or did you forget that God destroyed the world? “For this they willfully forget: that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of water and in the water, by which the world that then existed perished, being flooded with water” (2 Peter 3:5, 6).
Some willfully forget the flood to avoid thinking about the impending judgment: “But the heavens and the earth which are now preserved by the same word, are reserved for fire until the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men” (2 Peter 3:7).
Why did God wipe out mankind?
“Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And the LORD was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart. So the LORD said, ‘I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth, both man and beast, creeping thing and birds of the air, for I am sorry that I have made them’” (Genesis 6:5-7).
“The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. So God looked upon the earth, and indeed it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth. And God said to Noah, ‘The end of all flesh has come before Me, for the earth is filled with violence through them; and behold, I will destroy them with the earth’” (Genesis 6:11-13).
What do we learn from the sinners who perished in the flood?
What was the condition of society? How did people become so wicked? Were there exceptions? Was there a solution for their sins? Is our world any better? Is there a solution for our sins?

What was the condition of society?

Technologically, society was quite advanced. The longevity of man allowed him to acquire skills and pass them on for several generations. Cain built a city (Genesis 4:17); Jubal played the harp and flute (Genesis 4:21); Tubal-Cain was an instructor of craftsmen in bronze and iron (Genesis 4:22). Noah built a boat with three decks that held a large cargo (Genesis 6:14-16) and that stayed afloat for five months (Genesis 7:11, 24; 8:4).
The lifespan of the antediluvians was about 900 years, thus physiologically they were far superior to modern man. That these years were equivalent to ours is indicated by the statement: “In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, on that day all the fountains of the great deep were broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened” (Genesis 7:11). The ark rested on the mountains of Ararat “in the seventh month, the seventeenth day of the month” (Genesis 8:4). This period of exactly five months is also designated as “one hundred and fifty days” (Genesis 7:24) making five months of thirty days.
In the antediluvian period there were people whose physical makeup was superior to ours. “There were giants on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men and they bore children to them. Those were the mighty men who were of old, men of renown” (Genesis 6:4).
The physician, Philippe Charles Schmerling (of Austrian descent but born in Holland), who found the first human skull in 1829 at Engis, Belgium of the type that would later be called Neanderthal, believed that he had found bones of antediluvians (Recherches sur les ossemens fossiles découverts dans les cavernes de la province de Liége, 1833-1834).
This is possible since the skeletons of Neanderthal man indicate that these people were much stronger and more muscular than modern man.
Some artists like to depict Neanderthals as dumb-looking cave men, but here is a scientific reconstruction from the skull of a Neanderthal girl made by Elisabeth Daynes.
Thus, at the time of the flood, man had built up a society that was quite advanced technically, and people were far superior physically to modern man. So what was the problem? Why did God decide to destroy them? Sin was the problem.
The wickedness of man was great. Every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually and the earth was filled with violence “through them” (Genesis 6:11).

How did people become so wicked?

We know very little about antediluvian society, but certain contributing factors are mentioned.

Man’s longevity contributed to wickedness.

Solomon said: “Because the sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil” (Ecclesiastes 8:11).
At the time of the flood, God reduced man’s lifespan from 900 to 120 years. “And the LORD said, ‘My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, for he is indeed flesh; yet his days shall be one hundred and twenty years’” (Genesis 6:3).
When Pharaoh asked Jacob “How old are you?” he replied: “The days of the years of my pilgrimage are one hundred and thirty years; few and evil have been the days of the years of my life, and they have not attained to the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their pilgrimage” (Genesis 47:8, 9).
When the Psalms were written, man’s lifespan had been reduced to 70 years: “The days of our lives are seventy years; and if by reason of strength, they are eighty years” (Psalm 90:10).
The longevity of the antediluvians made it easier for them to forget that God would punish them for their sins.

Man did not leave vengeance to God.

When Cain killed Abel, God did not execute Cain. A curse was placed on him: the ground would not yield its fruit to him and he would be a fugitive (Genesis 4:11-14). But God commanded that Cain not be killed and warned: “whoever kills Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold” (Genesis 4:15).
This was misapplied by Lamech, a fifth generation descendent of Cain, who was proud of being a man of violence: “I have killed a man for wounding me, even a young man for hurting me. If Cain shall be avenged sevenfold, then Lamech seventy-sevenfold" (Genesis 4:23, 24).
God’s warning to prevent violence was misapplied by Lamech to justify violence.
Vengeance is God’s prerogative, not man’s: “‘Vengeance is Mine, and recompense; their foot shall slip in due time; for the day of their calamity is at hand, and the things to come hasten upon them.' For the LORD will judge His people and have compassion on His servants” (Deuteronomy 32:35, 36). This passage is quoted in the NT in Romans 12:17, 19, 21 and in Hebrews 10:30. This truth is the basis of the command of Jesus in Matthew 5:38, 39 that if someone hits you on one cheek you must turn the other also. We must overcome evil with good.

The sons of God made bad marriage choices.

“Now it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born to them, that the sons of God saw the daughters of men, that they were beautiful; and they took wives for themselves of all whom they chose” (Genesis 6:1, 2).
Men chose wives, not on the basis of spiritual qualities, but on the basis of physical beauty.
God gave Adam one wife (Genesis 2:23-25). Cain’s violent descendent, Lamech, had two wives (Genesis 4:19). Social research in our time indicates that polygamy results in more domestic violence and an increase in the number of unmarried men, who then are more prone to violence.

Were there exceptions?

In the days of Enosh, the grandson of Adam and Eve via Seth, “men began to call on the name of the LORD” (Genesis 4:26). There were people who served God and asked Him for help. The number of people serving God decreased, however, until at the time of Noah, he and his family were the only ones who still served God.
Although there undoubtedly were others, the only two men in the prediluvian period in addition to Abel who are mentioned as being righteous, were Enoch and Noah.
Enoch, in the seventh generation after Adam, “walked with God; and he was not, for God took him” (Genesis 5:24). “By faith Enoch was taken away so that he did not see death, ‘and was not found, because God had taken him’; for before he was taken he had this testimony, that he pleased God” (Hebrews 11:5).
Like Abel, Enoch was a prophet: “Now Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about these men also, saying, ‘Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of His saints, to execute judgment on all, to convict all who are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have committed in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him" (Jude 14, 15).
Adam and Enoch were contemporaries, since Adam did not die until Enoch was 308 years old. Those living on earth still had first-hand testimony about their creation by God.
Enoch lived in about the same period as Cain’s descendent, Lamech, who was so proud of being violent. Enoch warned sinners that God would execute judgment on them.
Noah was also righteous. He was born 126 years after the death of Adam, but his father, grandfather and three other ancestors, who were still living when Noah was 100 years old, were contemporaries of Adam.
When Noah was born, his father called him ‘Noah’ which means ‘repose, rest or consolation’, saying, “This one will comfort us concerning our work and the toil of our hands, because of the ground which the LORD has cursed” (Genesis 5:29).
Thus, at the time of the flood, man’s creation by God, man’s sin, and sin’s consequences were common knowledge. The wickedness of man did not result from ignorance. People knew God existed but they spoke against him. Enoch warned that God would punish them for “all their ungodly deeds” and for “all the harsh things which ungodly sinners” had spoken against Him (Jude 14, 15).
Noah was righteous in a world filled with wickedness and violence: “Noah was a just man, perfect in his generations. Noah walked with God” (Genesis 6:9). In Ezekiel 14:14, 20 Noah is named, along with Daniel and Job, as a righteous man. He was a man of faith: “By faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his household, by which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith” (Hebrews 11:7).

Was there a solution for their sins?

Noah condemned the world by demonstrating to them that it was possible to be different. He was saved because of his faith and godly fear. “Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD” (Genesis 6:8).
For a hundred years, while the ark was being built, the world had an opportunity to repent. Noah was “a preacher of righteousness” (2 Peter 2:5). Through the Spirit, Christ had preached (no doubt through Noah) to those “who formerly were disobedient, when once the Divine longsuffering waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared” (1 Peter 3:20).
God was patient. He gave them a hundred years to repent. If they had repented, they would have been saved.
Consider the example of Nineveh in the days of Jonah. God decided to destroy the city of Nineveh because of their wickedness. But they repented at the preaching of Jonah and the city was saved: “Then God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God relented from the disaster that He had said He would bring upon them, and He did not do it” (Jonah 3:10).
But those to whom Noah preached ‘were disobedient’. They refused to repent.

Is our world any better?

Do you think God has not yet destroyed our world because it is less wicked than the world at the time of Noah? Not necessarily. “Then the LORD said in His heart, ‘I will never again curse the ground for man's sake, although the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth; nor will I again destroy every living thing as I have done. While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, winter and summer, and day and night shall not cease’” (Genesis 8:21).
Thus, “although the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth” God has promised to never again destroy the world by a flood “while the earth remains”. Did you notice that “while the earth remains”?

Is there a solution for our sins?

The flood demonstrates for all time that God hates sin and will bring sinners into judgment. But it also proves for all time that God can and will save those who repent of their sins and lead faithful, god-fearing lives. God “did not spare the ancient world, but saved Noah, one of eight people, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood on the world of the ungodly” (2 Peter 2:5).
Peter writes that “scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts, and saying, ‘Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation’” (2 Peter 3:3, 4). He goes on to explain that these people willfully forget the flood and that God allows the world to carry on only because He “is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9).
As in the days of Noah, God is giving this sinful world an opportunity to repent before it is too late. “But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up. Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness” (2 Peter 3:10, 11).
“The Father has sent the Son as Savior of the world” (1 John 4:14). Before He returned to the Father, after dying for our sins and rising from the dead, He told His followers: “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptized will be saved” (Mark 16:15, 16).
Just as Noah “prepared an ark for the saving of his household” (Hebrews 11:7), Christ has established His church in which people now can be saved from God’s judgment on a sinful world. As Peter proclaimed on the day of Pentecost: “Be saved from this perverse generation” (Acts 2:40). “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins” (Acts 2:38).
Peter explains that just like Noah and his family were saved from the wicked world by water, we are now saved by baptism. Just as there was an ark “in which a few, that is, eight souls, were saved through water. There is also an antitype which now saves us -- baptism (not the removal of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God), through the resurrection of Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 3:20, 21).
God destroyed the world because of sin, and He will do so again.
When Christ comes, will we be inside the ark or outside the ark? When He comes “in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. These shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power, when He comes, in that Day, to be glorified in His saints and to be admired among all those who believe, because our testimony among you was believed” (2 Thessalonians 1:8-10).
Yes, there is a solution for our sins if we repent and are baptized into the body of Christ, His church, God’s ark of salvation for our time. Amen.
Roy Davison
The Scripture quotations in this article are from
The New King James Version. ©1979,1980,1982, Thomas Nelson Inc., Publishers.
Permission for reference use has been granted.

Published in The Old Paths Archive
(http://www.oldpaths.com)

Jesus “Could Do No Mighty Work There”? by Eric Lyons, M.Min.

http://apologeticspress.org/AllegedDiscrepancies.aspx?article=5347&b=Matthew

Jesus “Could Do No Mighty Work There”?

by Eric Lyons, M.Min.

According to Mark 6:5, while Jesus was in His hometown of Nazareth, “He could do no mighty work there, except that He laid His hands on a few sick people and healed them” (emp. added). Based upon this statement, some have concluded that Jesus must have lacked the power to work all manner of miracles in His hometown.1 Allegedly, Jesus was not God and the Bible’s depiction of Him is contradictory.
Are skeptics correct? Does Mark’s statement pose a problem for Christians who believe the Bible is the inspired, inerrant Word of God and that Jesus is divine?

A MATTER OF INABILITY OR CIRCUMSTANCE?

Have you ever made the statement, “I couldn’t do it”? Perhaps you repeatedly attempted to open up a tightly sealed jar, but “just couldn’t do it.” Maybe you tried to run a marathon, but stopped from exhaustion midway through the race. Later, you reflected on the race and told someone, “I simply couldn’t do it.” Statements made in such contexts clearly indicate that a person is physically unable to accomplish the tasks at hand.
It is also possible, however, to make the statement “I couldn’t do it” yet mean something very different. Suppose a football coach is beating a team 50-0 at halftime and certain fans are begging him to “hang a hundred on them.” But the coach responds: “I couldn’t do that.” Though it is likely within his power to score 80 or 100 points, the situation demands that he not attempt to follow through with his normal game plan. The coach chooses to adjust his strategy and win in a more gracious manner.
Consider also the wealthy grandfather who travels to visit his grandson on the boy’s 12th birthday. Though he had planned to give his grandson $50, after seeing how disrespectful, ungrateful, and spoiled rotten the boy has become, he chooses not to give him anything. When he departs, the grandfather says to his daughter, “I simply could not give such insolent offspring anything.” Obviously, this statement does not mean that the grandfather was literally unable to give his grandson something, but that the circumstances made it so that he could not allow himself to do anything other than show up for the boy’s birthday party.
The simple fact is, when something “cannot be done” it may very well have to do with the circumstances at hand and not one’s inability to actually perform the action. In truth, not only are skeptics unable to prove that Jesus actually lacked power and ability in Nazareth, the immediate context and the parallel passages in Matthew and Luke indicate that the restraint Jesus willingly displayed was a result of the particular situation in his hometown.
Consider the many amazing miracles of Jesus that Mark reports in chapters five and six of his gospel account. In Mark 5, Jesus heals a demon-possessed man as well as a woman with a continual bleeding issue. He then raises a 12-year-old girl from the dead. In Mark 6:7-56, Jesus gives the 12 apostles power over unclean spirits, so that they “cast out many demons, and anointed with oil many who were sick, and healed them” (6:7,13). Later, Jesus miraculously feeds 5,000 men (plus the women and children; Matthew 14:21), with only five loaves of bread and two fish. He then walks on water. Mark 6 concludes with these words: “Wherever He [Jesus] entered into villages, cities, or the country, they laid the sick in the marketplaces, and begged Him that they might just touch the hem of His garment. And as many as touched Him were made well.”
Mark’s account of Jesus’ limited miracles in Nazareth is immersed in an overall context of Him working all manner of miracles, including raising someone from the dead. What’s more, Jesus was actually “able” to heal a “few sick people” in Nazareth (6:5). Given all of these facts, one should, at the very least, seriously question the critics’ conclusion that Jesus was simply not powerful enough to work more miracles in His hometown. The overall context of the passage implicitly testifies to a different conclusion: that is, Jesus chose not to work more miracles in Nazareth because of the circumstances.
Even though Jesus spoke astonishing words of wisdom (Mark 6:2) like “no man ever” (John 7:46; Matthew 7:28-29), and though He performed “mighty works” (Mark 6:2), including healing some of Nazareth’s sick (6:5), overall, the town disbelieved that He was the prophesied Messiah (Luke 4:16ff.). The inhabitants not only rejected Him (despite the wonders that He had already worked), but they were so enraged by His teachings that they “thrust Him out of the city” and “led Him to the brow of the hill on which their city was built, that they might throw Him down over the cliff” (Luke 4:29). At such hard-hearted unbelief, Jesus “marveled” (Mark 6:6).
 Jesus knew that more miracles was not the answer. He had provided sufficient evidence for those of His hometown to come to the rational conclusion that He was not merely the son of Joseph and Mary; rather, He was One on Whom Isaiah prophesied “the Spirit of the Lord” would rest (Luke 4:18). Yet, they kicked Him out of the city anyway. He was the miracle-working, prophesied Messiah, yet it appears that no amount of evidence would change Nazareth’s unbelief.
In short, the circumstances of unbelief in Nazareth made it so that “He could do no mighty work there” (Mark 6:5). Perhaps no more than a few people even bothered to come to Jesus for healing. Or perhaps others came to Jesus, but they approached Him in a disingenuous, mocking manner. Whatever the case may have been, Jesus chose to work no more miracles in Nazareth than He did (before being thrown out of the city). Thus, the problem in Nazareth  was not one of powerlessness on the part of Christ, but the inhabitants’ strong unbelief (and all that went along with it).

ENDNOTES

1 See “Jesus is a False Messiah” (2016), www.evilbible.com/do-not-ignore-the-old-testament/jesus-is-a-false-messiah. See also Steve Wells (2016), “How Much Power Did Jesus Have?” www.skepticsannotatedbible.com/contra/power.html.
Suggested Resources

George Washington Said “Live as Christians” by Dave Miller, Ph.D.

http://apologeticspress.org/APContent.aspx?category=7&article=3773

George Washington Said “Live as Christians”

by Dave Miller, Ph.D.


The American military continues to be endangered by two key threats: theImage influx of those who do not share the Christian worldview (i.e., Muslims), and the clamor of the “politically correct” crowd to allow open homosexuality, instigating further deterioration of moral standards. Indeed, society at large is undergoing the same dilution. In stark contrast, the Founders of America were insistent on the critical role played by Christianity in the founding of the Republic. For example, issuing General Orders from Headquarters, New York, July 9, 1776, General George Washington emphasized to the Continental Army the critical importance of living as Christians during the period of seeking national independence:
The Hon. Continental Congress having been pleased to allow a Chaplain to each Regiment, with the pay of Thirty-three Dollars and one third per month—The Colonels or commanding officers of each regiment are directed to procure Chaplains accordingly; persons of good Characters and exemplary lives—To see that all inferior officers and soldiers pay them a suitable respect and attend carefully upon religious exercises. The blessing and protection of Heaven are at all times necessary but especially so in times of public distress and danger—The General hopes and trusts, that every officer and man, will endeavour so to live, and act, as becomes a Christian Soldierdefending the dearest Rights and Liberties of his country (George Washington..., emp. added).
The one facet of paramount importance to the success of the nation and the military (i.e., commitment to God and Christianity) is the very feature of American civilization being systematically jettisoned. God help us to rise up and stop this travesty. The words directed to Israel of old are apropos:
Image
They have acted corruptly toward him; to their shame they are no longer his children, but a warped and crooked generation. Is this the way you repay the LORD, O foolish and unwise people? Is he not your Father, your Creator, who made you and formed you? ...You deserted the Rock, who fathered you; you forgot the God who gave you birth.... They are a nation without sense, there is no discernment in them. If only they were wise and would understand this and discern what their end will be! (Deuteronomy 32:5-6,18,28-29, NIV).

REFERENCE

George Washington Papers at the Library of Congress, 1741-1799: Series 3: Letterbooks. Varick Transcripts: Continental Army Papers. 1775-1783, Subseries G, Letterbook 1, Image 308 of 419, [On-line], URL: http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/mgw:@field(DOCID+@lit(gw050226)).

Change has Limits by Eric Lyons, M.Min.

http://apologeticspress.org/APContent.aspx?category=9&article=2648


Change has Limits

by Eric Lyons, M.Min.


According to the General Theory of Evolution, over multiplied millions of years fish evolved into amphibians, which evolved into reptiles, which evolved into mammals, which evolved into humans. Supposedly, changes took place that knew no boundaries. Invertebrates evolved spines. Fish evolved legs. Reptiles evolved hair. Apes evolved morality. Given enough time, anything is possible. Evolution allegedly has no limits.
Everything we see in nature, however, testifies to the fact that changes do have limits. There are limits as to how much the Galapagos Islands’ finches (which Darwin studied in the 1830s) can change (see Butt, 2006). After more than 100 years of experiments, thousands of lab-induced mutations, and multiplied millions of specimens, scientists have learned that the common fruit fly (Drosophila melanogaster) never changes into anything other than a fruit fly (see Butt, 2008). Though thousands of years of selective breeding have given us a great variety within the dog kind (from the four-inch tall, long-haired Chihuahua to the 42-inch tall, short-haired Great Dane), dogs have always remained dogs.
Recently, the prominent evolutionary science journal, New Scientist, addressed the limits of change in various animals and humans. In an article titled, “Where Dogs Have Led, Humans Follow,” the question was asked, “What do greyhounds, horses and women sprinters have in common?” The answer: “They may all have hit peak performance” (2008, 200[2685]:16). According to Mark Denny of Stanford University in California, “[A]nalysed records from athletics events and greyhound and horse races since the 1920s...revealed limits on the speeds that animals and humans can run” (“Where Dogs...,” p. 16, emp. added).
Winning greyhounds and horses got faster until the 1970s, when they began to plateau. Denny thinks this is because these animals reached a peak speed for their species, perhaps because selective breeding had created an optimum body type.
Women sprinters began to plateau in the 1970s, with rarer and smaller improvements since then.... Using these records, Denny has created a model which predicts that men will eventually achieve a peak time of 9.48 seconds for the 100-metre sprint, 0.21 seconds better than Usain Bolt’s current world record (p. 16).
Although New Scientist openly embraces the General Theory of Evolution, the journal has admitted that limits of change exist. Regardless of how much geneticists selectively breed animals, or how many hormones are introduced into the bodies of animals or humans, change in the biological world has boundaries. Whether one is talking about speed, size, or strength, there are limits as to how much a human or a particular kind of animal can change. Centuries of scientific observation have testified repeatedly to the boundaries of change. Dogs will get only so fast, grow so tall, or become so strong. They have nevercrossed their inherent (i.e., God-given) genetic barrier to become a cat, bat, or rat. As the Bible has testified for 3,500 years, God created all of the various kinds of animals to reproduce “according to their kind” (Genesis 1:21,24-25).

REFERENCES

Butt, Kyle (2006), “What do the Finches Prove?,” [On-line], URL:http://www.apologeticspress.org/articles/3051.
Butt, Kyle (2008), “Mutant Fruit Flies Bug Evolution,” [On-line], URL:http://www.apologeticspress.org/articles/3723.
“Where Dogs Have Led, Humans Follow” (2008), New Scientist, 200[2685]:16, December 6-12.

Did Jesus Dodge His Enemies' Challenge Regarding His Deity? by Dave Miller, Ph.D.

http://apologeticspress.org/APContent.aspx?category=10&article=838


Did Jesus Dodge His Enemies' Challenge Regarding His Deity?

by Dave Miller, Ph.D.


During the Feast of Dedication in Jerusalem, the Jews surrounded Jesus and challenged Him to come right out and state whether He is the Messiah/Christ (John 10). Of course, both His previous verbal affirmations as well as His demonstrations of miraculous power had already established the factuality of the point. “The works that I do in My Father’s name, they bear witness of Me” (John 10:25; cf. 5:36; “work” is a synonym for the key word of the book, “sign”). Jesus insisted that His miraculous acts verified and authenticated His messianic identity. Their failure to accept the solid evidence of that fact was due to their deliberate unbelief—their unmitigated refusal to accept the truth due to ulterior motives and alternate interests.
So Jesus pressed the point again very forthrightly by stating emphatically, “I and My Father are one.” Observe that Jesus was never evasive. He never showed fear or hesitation in the face of threats or danger. Instead, He gave them yet another explicit declaration of His divine identity, thereby rekindling their desire to execute Him for blasphemy (as per Leviticus 24:14-16; cf. 1 Kings 21:10). But Jesus short-circuited their intention to stone Him by posing a penetrating question: “Many good works I have shown you from My Father. For which of those works do you stone Me?” Since the Son and the Father are one, and the miraculous actions that Jesus performed were every bit as much from the Father as the Son who performed them, which sign evoked this violent intention to execute Him? Of course, Jesus knew that they did not desire to execute Him for His miraculous signs. But by calling attention to His ability to perform miracles, He was again “gigging” them with their failure to accept the evidence of His divine identity. Dismissing the obvious conclusion that would be drawn by any unbiased, honest person, they insisted that He was deserving of execution for the very fact that He claimed to be God: “For a good work we do not stone You, but for blasphemy, and because You, being a Man, make Yourself God” (John 10:33, emp. added).
Such occasions illustrate vividly that Jesus unhesitatingly claimed to be God in the flesh. If not, here was the perfect time for Him to correct the Jews’ misconception by declaring to them that they had misunderstood Him. He could have explained that He was not, in any way, claiming to be God. On the contrary, consistent with His entire time on Earth, He proceeded to prove the point to them.
As was so often the case with His handling of His contemporaries, He drew their attention back to the Bible, back to the Word of God (which He, Himself, authored, cf. John 12:48; Miller, 2007; Miller, 2009). The Word of God is the only authority for deciding what to believe and how to act (Colossians 3:17). Jesus reminded them of Psalm 82:6—
Jesus answered them, “Is it not written in your law, ‘I said, “You are gods”’? If He called them gods, to whom the word of God came (and the Scripture cannot be broken), do you say of Him whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world, ‘You are blaspheming,’ because I said, ‘I am the Son of God’?” (John 10:34-37).
Why did Jesus allude to Psalm 82? Some suggest that His point was that since God could refer to mere humans as “gods,” Jesus’ accusers had no grounds to condemn Him for applying such language to Himself. But this line of reasoning would make it appear as if Jesus was being evasive to avoid being stoned, and that He likened His claim to godhood with other mere humans. A more convincing, alternative interpretation is apparent.
The context of Psalm 82 is a scathing indictment of the unjust judges who had been assigned the responsibility of executing God’s justice among the people (cf. Deuteronomy 1:16; 19:17-18; 2 Chronicles 19:6). Such a magistrate was “God’s minister” (diakonos—Romans 13:4) who acted in the place of God, wielding His authority, and who was responsible for mediating God’s help and justice (cf. Exodus 7:1). God had “given them a position that was analogous to His in that He had made them administrators of justice, His justice” (Leupold, 1969, p. 595). In this sense, they were “gods” (elohim)—acting as God to men (Barclay, 1956, 2:89). Hebrew parallelism clarifies this sense: “I said, ‘You are gods, and all of you are children of the Most High’” (Psalm 82:6, emp. added). They did not share divinity with God—but merely delegated jurisdiction. They still were mere humans—although invested with divine authority, and permitted to act in God’s behalf.
This point is apparent throughout the Pentateuch, where the term translated “judges” or “ruler” is sometimes elohim (e.g., Exodus 21:6; 22:9,28). Moses is one example. Moses was not a “god.” Yet God told Moses that when he went to Egypt to orchestrate the release of the Israelites, he would be “God” to his brother Aaron and to Pharaoh (Exodus 4:16; 7:1). He meant that Moses would supply both his brother and Pharaoh with the words that came from God. Though admittedly a rather rare use of elohim, nevertheless “it shows that the word translated ‘god’ in that place might be applied to man” (Barnes, 1949, p. 294, italics in orig.). Clarke summarized this point: “Ye are my representatives, and are clothed with my power and authority to dispense judgment and justice, therefore all of them are said to be children of the Most High” (n.d., 3:479, italics in orig.). But because they had shirked their awesome responsibility to represent God’s will fairly and accurately, and because they had betrayed the sacred trust bestowed upon them by God Himself, He decreed that they would die (vs. 7). Obviously, they were not “gods,” since God could and would execute them!
A somewhat analogous mode of expression is seen in Nathan’s denunciation of David: “You have killed Uriah the Hittite” (2 Samuel 12:9)—though it was an enemy archer who had done so (2 Samuel 11:24; 12:9). No one would accuse the archer of being David, or David of being the archer. Paul said Jesus preached to the Gentiles (Ephesians 2:17)—though Jesus did so through human agency (Acts 10). Peter said Jesus preached to spirits in prison (1 Peter 3:19), when, in fact, He did so through Noah (Genesis 6; 2 Peter 2:5). Noah was not Jesus and Jesus was not Noah. If Paul and Noah could be described as functioning in the capacity of Jesus, judges in Israel could be described as functioning as God.

JESUS’ POINT

Jesus marshaled this Old Testament psalm (referring to it as “law” to accentuate its legal authority) to thwart His opponents’ attack, while simultaneously reaffirming His deity (which is the central feature of the book of John—20:30-31). He made shrewd use of syllogistic argumentation by reasoning a minori ad majus (see Lenski, 1943, pp. 765-770; cf. Fishbane, 1985, p. 420). “Jesus is here arguing like a rabbi from a lesser position to a greater position, a ‘how much more’ argument very popular among the rabbis” (Pack, 1975, 1:178). In fact, “it is an argument which to a Jewish Rabbi would have been entirely convincing. It was just the kind of argument, an argument founded on a word of scripture, which the Rabbis loved to use and found most unanswerable” (Barclay, 1956, 2:90).
Using argumentum ad hominem (Robertson, 1916, p. 89), Jesus identified the unjust judges of Israel as persons “to whom the word of God came” (John 10:35). That is, they had been “appointed judges by Divine commission” (Butler, 1961, p. 127)—by “the command of God; his commission to them to do justice” (Barnes, 1949, p. 294, italics in orig.; cf. Jeremiah 1:2; Ezekiel 1:3; Luke 3:2). McGarvey summarized the ensuing argument of Jesus: “If it was not blasphemy to call those gods who so remotely represented the Deity, how much less did Christ blaspheme in taking unto himself a title to which he had a better right than they, even in the subordinate sense of being a mere messenger” (n.d., p. 487). Charles Erdman observed:
By his defense Jesus does not renounce his claim to deity; but he argues that if the judges, who represented Jehovah in their appointed office, could be called “gods,” in the Hebrew scriptures, it could not be blasphemy for him, who was the final and complete revelation of God, to call himself “the Son of God” (1922, pp. 95-96, emp. added).
Morris agrees: “If in any sense the Psalm may apply this term to men, then much more may it be applied to Him whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world” (1971, pp. 527-528, emp. added). Indeed, “if the divine name had been applied by God to mere men, there could be neither blasphemy nor folly in its application to the incarnate Son of God himself” (Alexander, 1873, p. 351, emp. added).
This verse brings into stark contrast the deity—the Godhood—of Christ (and His Father Who “sanctified and sent” Him—vs. 36) with the absence of deity for all others. Jesus verified this very conclusion by directing the attention of His accusers to the “works” that He performed (vss. 37-38). These “works” (i.e., miraculous signs) proved the divine identity of Jesus to the exclusion of all other alleged deities. Archer concluded: “By no means, then, does our Lord imply here that we are sons of God just as He is—except for a lower level of holiness and virtue. No misunderstanding could be more wrongheaded than that” (1982, p. 374).
So Jesus was not attempting to dodge His critics or deny their charge. The entire context has Jesus asserting His deity, and He immediately reaffirms it by referring to Himself as the One “whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world” (vs. 36). Jesus spotlighted yet another manifestation of the Jews’ hypocrisy, bias, and ulterior agenda—their failure to recognize and accept the Messiah. Even if they were sincere, they were wrong in their thinking; but in truth they were doubly wrong in that they were not even sincere—a fact that Jesus repeatedly spotlighted (cf. Matthew 12:7; 15:3-6).

CONCLUSION

The central doctrine of the New Testament is the deity of Christ. Indeed, with very little exaggeration, one could say that the doctrine appears on nearly every page. This foundational, life-saving doctrine is denied by the majority of the world’s population (e.g., one billion Hindus, one billion skeptics, one billion Muslims, etc.). Since sufficient evidence exists to know that the Bible is of divine origin (e.g., Butt, 2007; “The Inspiration…,” 2001; et al.), one can also know with certainty that Jesus Christ
being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father (Philippians 2:6-11, emp. added).
 Having completed His task to atone for humanity, He has returned to heaven and is seated at the Father’s “right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come” (Ephesians 1:20-21; cf. Hebrews 8:1). No other avenue exists by which human beings can be acceptable to deity (Acts 4:12). Indeed, Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life, and no one comes to the Father except through Him (John 14:6). May all people humbly bow before Him.

REFERENCES

Alexander, Joseph A. (1873), The Psalms Translated and Explained (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1975 reprint).
Archer, Gleason L. (1982), An Encyclopedia of Bible Difficulties (Grand Rapids: Zondervan).
Barclay, William (1956), The Gospel of John (Philadelphia, PA: The Westminster Press), second edition.
Barnes, Albert (1949), Notes on the New Testament: Luke and John (Grand Rapids: Baker).
Butler, Paul (1961), The Gospel of John (Joplin, MO: College Press).
Butt, Kyle (2007), Behold! The Word of God (Montgomery, AL: Apologetics Press).
Clarke, Adam (no date), Clarke’s Commentary: Genesis-Deuteronomy (New York: Abingdon-Cokesbury).
Erdman, Charles (1922), The Gospel of John (Philadelphia, PA: Westminster).
Fishbane, Michael (1985), Biblical Interpretation in Ancient Israel (Oxford: Clarendon Press).
“The Inspiration of the Bible” (2001), Apologetics Press Introductory Christian Evidences Correspondence Course Lesson 8, http://www.apologeticspress.org/pdfs/courses_pdf/hsc0108.pdf.
Lenski, R.C.H. (1943), The Interpretation of St. John’s Gospel (Minneapolis: Augsburg).
Leupold, H.C. (1969), Exposition of the Psalms (Grand Rapids: Baker).
McGarvey, J.W. (no date), The Fourfold Gospel (Cincinnati, OH: Standard).
Miller, Dave (2007), “Jesus’ Hermeneutical Principles,” Apologetics Press, http://apologeticspress.org/APContent.aspx?category=11&article=2307&topic=75.
Miller, Dave (2009), “Christianity is Rational,” Apologetics Press, http://www.apologeticspress.org/APContent.aspx?category=11&article=684.
Morris, Leon (1971), The Gospel According to John (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans).
Pack, Frank (1975), The Gospel According to John (Austin, TX: Sweet).
Robertson, A.T. (1916), The Divinity of Christ (New York: Fleming H. Revell).

God's Fierce Anger by Dave Miller, Ph.D.

http://apologeticspress.org/APContent.aspx?category=12&article=1186

God's Fierce Anger

by Dave Miller, Ph.D.


A great disservice has been committed against the present generation of Americans. An inaccurate picture of the character and nature of God has been created. But only God’s Word can provide us with a balanced, healthy comprehension of God’s personal attributes. Only the Bible can bestow upon us the appropriate interplay between the love and mercy of God, as well as the wrath and anger of God. Many people today have failed to assess properly the reality of God’s wrath. They have substituted emotion and human feelings for truth and the clear statements of God.
A general attitude of permissiveness, laxity, and undiscriminating tolerance has blanketed American society. Christians comfortably relax in the presence of impenitent sin and open defiance of the laws of God—using the refrain that, after all, “nobody’s perfect.” Christians demonstrate a willingness to toy with unscriptural innovation—after all, “God wants us to be happy and to express ourselves.” Church members entertain fellowship with denominationalism and false religion—after all, “it’s sincerity that counts,” not whether you conform to the objective, absolute will of God. Churches lose their sense of alarm and urgency in providing wayward church members and the unevangelized with the divine antidote to sin and their lost condition.
Out of this context, voices have arisen that focus almost exclusively upon the love of God. Emphasis is repeatedly placed upon God’s compassion, mercy, and grace—to the neglect of other attributes of God. While one never can emphasize God’s love enough, one can be guilty of misrepresenting the true nature of that love. One can so present the love of God that the equally biblical doctrine of God’s wrath makes no sense, and eventually fades into irrelevance.

THE LOVE OF GOD

Many Bible passages detail the amazing love of God. Consider the following from the New Testament:
“Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things” (Matthew 6:30,32).
“If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!” (Matthew 7:11).
“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved” (John 3:16).
“For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:6-8).
“He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?” I John 3:16 says: “By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren” (Romans 8:32).
“In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins” (1 John 4:9-10).
“[T]he kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared” (Titus 3:4).
Even in the Old Testament, God’s amazing love is expressed repeatedly:
“And the Lord passed before him and proclaimed, ‘The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin’ ” (Exodus 34:6-7).
“As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us” (Psalm 103:12).
“ ‘Come now, and let us reason together,’ says the Lord, ‘Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall be as wool’ ” (Isaiah 1:18).
“I had great bitterness; but You have lovingly delivered my soul from the pit of corruption, for You have cast all my sins behind Your back” (Isaiah 38:17).
“I have blotted out, like a thick cloud, your transgressions, and like a cloud, your sins. Return to Me; for I have redeemed you” (Isaiah 44:22).
“He will again have compassion on us, and will subdue our iniquities. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea” (Micah 7:19).
Of course, the Bible contains many more similar allusions. These few serve to summarize the basic nature of the incredible love of God. God loves every single human being. He wants every single person to obey Him so that He can usher every person into eternity in His presence. “God…is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9). God “desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Timothy 2:4).

THE WRATH OF GOD

But, having noted the reality of the wonderful love of God for all people, the reader is urged to integrate and harmonize this attribute of God with what the Scriptures teach about God’s wrath. Numerous passages in both the Old and New Testaments depict God as a God Who executes His wrath against people. Notice the following from the Old Testament:
“For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me” (Exodus 20:5).
“[B]y no means clearing the guilty” (Exodus 34:7).
“[Lest the anger of the Lord your God be aroused against you and destroy you from the face of the earth” (Deuteronomy 6:15).
“For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality nor takes a bribe” (Deuteronomy 10:17).
“Then the anger of the Lord was aroused against this land, to bring on it every curse that is written in this book. And the Lord uprooted them from their land in anger, in wrath, and in great indignation, and cast them into another land, as it is this day” (Deuteronomy 29:27-28).
“Then My anger shall be aroused against them in that day, and I will forsake them, and I will hide My face from them, and they shall be devoured. And many evils and troubles shall befall them, so that they will say in that day, ‘Have not these evils come upon us because our God is not among us?’ ” (Deuteronomy 31:17).
Moving to the New Testament, notice the following verses:
“And I say to you, My friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do. But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear Him who, after He has killed, has power to cast into hell; yes, I say to you, fear Him!” (Luke 12:4-5).
“[S]ince it is a righteous thing with God to repay with tribulation those who trouble you, and to give you who are troubled rest with us when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. These shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power” (2 Thessalonians 1:7-9).
God struck dead two Christians, a husband and wife, in the church at Jerusalem (Acts 5:1-11). The writer of Hebrews provided this sober warning:
For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries. Anyone who rejected Moses’ law died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose, will he be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of God under foot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace? For we know Him who said, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord. And again, “The Lord will judge His people.” It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God (Hebrews 10:26-31).
He then added: “For our God is a consuming fire” (Hebrews 12:29). Given today’s religious climate, many people do not believe that such verses exist in the Bible. Or they ignore them or insist that they do not apply today. What a tragic mistake! The Bible is replete with such references to the wrath and justice of God, and it is imperative that we accept them and respond accordingly.
Consider the example of the great Judean king, Hezekiah. He endeavored to bring the nation back into harmony with God’s written revelation. Why? “...that His fierce wrath may turn away from us.” That expression is used three times in the context (2 Chronicles 29:10; 30:8; 32:26). King Josiah found himself in a similar circumstance. When he realized the extent to which the nation had departed from God’s will, he tore his robes and declared: “[G]reat is the wrath of the Lord that is poured out upon us, because our fathers have not kept the word of the Lord, to do after all that is written in this book” (2 Chronicles 34:21).
People in our day go merrily on their way, out of harmony with God’s written Word, consoling themselves with a false view of God’s love. They are like Jeremiah’s contemporaries, who tried to heal the hurt of the people “slightly.” “Slightly” meant they did not consider their neglect of God’s will to be all that serious. They said, “Peace, Peace” when there was no peace as long as they were out of harmony with the Scriptures (Jeremiah 6:14).
The time has come to approach the situation the way the prophets of God did. Read the Old Testament books written by the prophets—like Amos, Joel, and Habakkuk. As they did, we need to warn people today about the reality of God’s wrath and its inevitable occurrence. One day, all people will know what God’s wrath is. Listen again to the words of Paul in 2 Thessalonians 1:7-9: “[T]he Lord Jesus will be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who know not God, and who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ; who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord.”
It is absolutely imperative that we live our lives everyday with a correct understanding of both the love of God and the wrath of God. The same God Who speaks of the availability of an eternal home of bliss called heaven is the same God Who will provide an eternal place of conscious pain called hell. Consider closely Paul’s summary given to Christians in Rome, warning them of the danger of losing their salvation: “Therefore, consider the goodness and severity of God: on those who fell, severity; but toward you, goodness, if you continue in His goodness. Otherwise you also will be cut off ” (Romans 11:22).
Did you know that God cannot save everybody? “But I thought God can do anything?” Not true! The Bible certainly represents God as omnipotent—all-powerful (Romans 1:20; Ephesians 1:19). But we misunderstand the power of God if we think He somehow is going to gloss over people’s rejection of His words and save everyone. God simply cannot do that and still be God! God is powerless to save people who do not want to be saved. He cannot save people who refuse to take advantage of the antidote to sin that He has provided. He is incapable of saving those who reject the one and only means by which they can be forgiven of sin.
God made provision for human sin by sending His Son to die in place of us. Only the sacrifice of Christ had the atoning power to pay for our sin. But the very nature of the Universe is such that God gave us free moral agency. He cannot interfere with our own wills and coerce us to be saved. We must make the choice. We are responsible for all of our choices. If we wish to take advantage of the free gift of salvation available in Christ, we must freely choose to believe, to repent of our sins, to confess Jesus to be divine, and to be immersed in water for the forgiveness of our sins. Passage after passage in the New Testament indicates that this is the divine plan of salvation for human beings. Hear the Gospel message of salvation and choose to believe (Romans 10:17). Change your mind about your past sinful conduct (Acts 17:30). Confess with your mouth that Jesus is the Son of God (Romans 10:9-10). Then allow someone to baptize you, that is, immerse you in water with the understanding that in that action, the blood of Jesus will wash away your sins by the grace of God (Acts 2:38; Acts 22:16; Titus 3:5; 1 Peter 3:21).
If you deliberately reject these simple instructions on how to become a Christian, then you will have no one else to blame in eternity when you experience the wrath and punishment of God. When one becomes a Christian, then a new life commences. Now that person will pour over the Scriptures in order to learn how to live the Christian life. He or she will find out how God wants to be worshipped. “You mean, I can’t just worship God spontaneously out of my own inclinations?” Jesus said, “God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth” (John 4:24).
A person also will determine which church Christ endorses, and refrain from associating with churches spawned by mere men. “You mean one church is not as good as another?” That’s correct. Jesus did not build a multiplicity of churches. He built only one (Ephesians 4:4; 1 Corinthians 12:20). He declared: “I will build My church” (Matthew 16:18).
A fitting summary regarding the nature of God and how all people must make preparation now for eternity is found in 2 Corinthians 5:10-11: “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad. Knowing, therefore, the terror of the Lord, we persuade men.”