Shalom Aleichem...
Reflections is a weekly Christian Teaching Ministry. Each week we will talk about the Bible and lessons we can put to use in our daily life. We will try to, on a weekly basis, provide to you stories, thoughts, and just easy ways to live your life on a straight path.
THIS WEEK'S TEACHING....January 15, 2018
We continue this week with our look at the false teachers, cults, and religions that fill the lives of Christians each day, not just now but have since the early days of Christianity. This week I have chosen a Scripture, 2 Peter 3:1–10 to look at in discussing this dilemma.
This is now the second letter that I am writing to you, beloved. In both of them I am stirring up your sincere mind by way of reminder, 2 that you should remember the predictions of the holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savior through your apostles, 3 knowing this first of all, that scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing, following their own sinful desires. 4 They will say, "Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation." 5 For they deliberately overlook this fact, that the heavens existed long ago, and the earth was formed out of water and through water by the word of God, 6 and that by means of these the world that then existed was deluged with water and perished. 7 But by the same word the heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly.
8 But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. 9 The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. 10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.
In the second chapter of this letter Peter has given us a graphic description of the sexual licentiousness, the love of money, and the rejection of authority by which the false teachers were denying the Master who bought them, Jesus Christ. He warns the churches vividly that if they are enticed out of the way of righteousness and abandon their obedience to Christ, it will be worse for them in the final judgment than if they had never known the way. It is a very sobering word for people who sit under gospel preaching but refuse to give themselves wholly to the Savior.
In chapter 3 Peter returns in part to the theme of chapter 1, namely, that God has given his people precious and very great promises, so that if we hold them in front of us and trust them, we will have power to resist temptation and remain in the way of righteousness. You can see in verses 13–14 the connection between the hope which the promises inspire and the power for godliness which this hope gives. "According to his promise we wait for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. Therefore, beloved, since you wait for these, be zealous to be found by him without spot or blemish and at peace." Confident expectation of a new world of righteousness empowers us to live for peace and purity in this world.
The Denial of the Second Coming
But if the promise of Christ's second coming and the new world of joy and righteousness is going to fill us with hope and power for godliness, we have to really believe it's going to happen. And the churches to which Peter was writing were being infiltrated by false teachers (2:1) who did not believe it was going to happen. Probably these teachers were like Hymenaeus and Philetus (2 Timothy 2:17, 18), who taught that the resurrection of believers was already past. That is, there won't be a bodily resurrection, only a spiritual one, here again twisting the letters of Paul which said, "You were buried with him through baptism in which you were also raised with him through faith" (Colossians 2:12). And since we have already been raised like Christ, then Christ did not really experience a bodily resurrection, but only a spiritual one; and, therefore, this notion of a powerful, glorious bodily return is a cleverly devised myth. And with the rejection of Christ's glorious bodily coming, the false teachers swept away the reality of judgment for things done in the body. And in this way they provided a theological basis for their indifference to sexual morality. The body is canceled out of all moral considerations, except as one can demonstrate his spiritual freedom by defying physical, sexual restrictions.
In chapter 1, verse 16, Peter had already taken the offensive against the denial of the second coming. He said, "We did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty." That is, Christ certified to us that he was indeed going to return in bodily glory, by revealing to us the glory of his transformed body in a preview on the mount of transfiguration. Therefore, we have the prophetic word of the second coming made more sure, and we should keep it before us like a lamp shining in a dark place until the day of his coming dawns and the day star of glory rises in your hearts.
Now in chapter 3, verses 1–9, Peter confronts the denial of the second coming head on. He says in verses 1 and 2 that he wants the believers to have a sincere and lively memory (cf. 1:13) of what the prophets predicted and what Jesus commanded. He probably has in mind prophetic words like Malachi 4:1, 2: "Behold the day comes burning like an oven when all the arrogant and evildoers will be stubble . . . But for you who fear my name the sun of righteousness shall rise with healing in its wings. You shall go forth leaping like calves from the stall." And when he speaks of the commandment of the Lord and Savior (in v. 2), he probably has in view words like Matthew 24:42: "Watch, therefore, for you do not know what day your Lord is coming."
Then in verses 3 and 4 he introduces the false teachers again. They themselves are part of prophetic fulfillment, and their presence shows that the last days had arrived (Hebrews 1:1, 2). In verse 4 Peter lets them make their case: "Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things have continued as they were from the beginning of creation." This is an amazingly modern argument for rejecting the supernatural, bodily second coming. It simply says, the laws of nature are constant and unchanging. The sun has come up and gone down, the seasons have followed each other, the tides have risen and fallen for thousands of years in perfect order. Therefore, we must expect this constancy for the future, and any thought that the sky might be rolled up like a scroll and the earth purged with global, fiery judgment by the returning Christ is unimaginable and unwarranted. This is exactly the position of much modern science, and there are hundreds of pastors and theologians in the churches and seminaries today who reject a physical second coming and future judgment for the same reason
God Creates and Upholds by His Word
Peter responds to this skepticism in three ways. First, in verses 5–7: "They deliberately ignore this fact, that by the word of God heavens existed long ago, and an earth formed out of water and by means of water, through which the world that then existed was deluged with water and perished. But by the same word the heavens and earth that now exist have been stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men." The first thing the false teachers ignore is that the world was made by God and that its order hangs on his word. If they were willing to think about this, they would realize that the course of natural events is no more locked into one pattern than God is. If God is free to speak a new word, then nature is free to change. We need to guard ourselves against the pseudo-scientific notion that nature is a law unto itself. It is not. The laws of nature are the tireless whisperings of the Almighty. And if he should choose to raise his voice, the cataclysm will come.
And the other thing the false teachers ignore is that things have not continued as they were from the beginning of creation. Peter argues here like he did in 2:5–9. God brought judgment on the world in the flood of Noah's day with a great upheaval in the natural flow of events. God has shown, therefore, that he can and will alter the course of history in judgment. In the past he did it with water. In the future it will be with fire at the coming of Jesus Christ. If the false teachers were not so blinded by their own desire (v. 4), they could see that it is utter folly to deny the future cataclysm of Christ's coming just because the course of the world has been so constant for so long.
A Day Is as a Thousand Year's
The second response to the false teachers comes in verse 8: "But do not ignore this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years and a thousand years as one day." Here Peter is answering the criticism that Christ has delayed so long that we cannot really believe he is coming back. Peter's answer is that from God's experience of time it has not been very long. I doubt that it is a biblical notion that God is outside time. But since he is immortal and does not age and does not forget and sees all history at a glance and is never bored, clearly he does not experience time like we do. But even so, since we are in God's image, there is in us something like God's experience of time. The older we get the faster it seems to go. How many of us say, "It just seems like yesterday I was in school." "It just seems like yesterday we got married." "It just seems like yesterday the kids were young."
And not only age, but joy makes us experience time like God. If you are bored at a program, it seems to drag on forever. But if you go on a vacation for a couple weeks and have a terrific time, you come to the end and say, "It seems like we just got here." Every moment was rich and full of unself-conscious life (like a thousand moments packed into one), and you were so taken up in the joy and beauty and love of those weeks that you never paused to be self-conscious about the passing of time. And at the end of those weeks, it was like yesterday that you arrived. When Jesus comes back and stands on this earth to make it his own, he will say, "It just seems like yesterday that I was here." O people, do not be deceived. It is no argument against Christ's second coming that 1,950 years have passed since his departure. From God's experience of time it is as though Christ arrived at his right hand the day before yesterday.
The Lord's Merciful Forbearance
And finally, Peter responds to the problem of Christ's delay in verse 9 with these words: "The Lord is not slow about his promise, as some count slowness, but is forbearing toward you, not wishing that any should perish but that all should reach repentance." The apostle Paul speaks in Romans 11:25 of "the full number of the Gentiles" who must come into the kingdom before the end arrives. Therefore, we should count the delay of Christ's coming as an act of mercy and patience until all the sheep are gathered into the fold and not one is lost (John 10:16, 26–30). The tragic irony is that the false teachers take God's patience, which is giving them an opportunity to repent, and turn it against God as an evidence that Christ is not coming. It will be an unanswerable indictment on the judgment day, when God asks the false teachers of Peter's day and ours, "Why did you take my gift of time for repenting and use it as an argument for unbelief?"
The Lord is good to us today to address our 21st century doubts in this way. We cannot lose heart or grow weary. Christ is coming!! The delay is meant to lead to repentance, not to unbelief. In God's mind it has been only a couple of days. If this world order rests on the word of God, he can and he will bring judgment upon the unrepentant as surely in the future as he did in Noah's day. But for those who repent it will mean glory, honor, and immortality. So repent and be glad:) I love you all.
DID YOU EVER WONDER???
"Who cares?" Over the years I've used this phase in different ways. I've used it when someone has said something I didn't like to shrug off their hurtful remark. I've used it when I wondered if anyone cared.
I'm here to tell you I've learned that someone does care! God cares! He cares when someone says things that hurt us. He cares when we're going through hard times. He cares about every tiny detail of our lives.
As I've wondered, "Who cares?" I've come across many Bible verses that have answered my question. In Matthew 10:30 it reads, "And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered." In Matthew 6:26 it says, "Look at the birds. They don't plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren't you far more valuable to him than they are?" In Jeremiah 31:3 it read, "I have loved you with an everlasting love." Finally, Matthew 28:20 says, "And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."
Who cares? By these verses, we know that God cares. He knows the number of hairs on our heads. He cares about the birds and tells us He will care for us as well. God loves us with an everlasting love that will last to the very end of the age.
When we question, "Who Cares?" Let's remember, "God Cares!"
BOOKS OF THE BIBLE...A TEACHING
We near the end of the Gospel of Matthew as we move into the final days of Christ on Earth:
The Triumphal Entry
21 Now when they drew near to Jerusalem and came to Bethphage, to the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, 2 saying to them, “Go into the village in front of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her. Untie them and bring them to me. 3 If anyone says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord needs them,’ and he will send them at once.” 4 This took place to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet, saying,
5 “Say to the daughter of Zion,
‘Behold, your king is coming to you,
humble, and mounted on a donkey,
on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden.’ ”
6 The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them. 7 They brought the donkey and the colt and put on them their cloaks, and he sat on them. 8 Most of the crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. 9 And the crowds that went before him and that followed him were shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!” 10 And when he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred up, saying, “Who is this?” 11 And the crowds said, “This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth of Galilee.”
Jesus Cleanses the Temple
12 And Jesus entered the temple and drove out all who sold and bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons. 13 He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you make it a den of robbers.”
14 And the blind and the lame came to him in the temple, and he healed them. 15 But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children crying out in the temple, “Hosanna to the Son of David!” they were indignant, 16 and they said to him, “Do you hear what these are saying?” And Jesus said to them, “Yes; have you never read,
“ ‘Out of the mouth of infants and nursing babies
you have prepared praise’?”
17 And leaving them, he went out of the city to Bethany and lodged there.
Jesus Curses the Fig Tree
18 In the morning, as he was returning to the city, he became hungry. 19 And seeing a fig tree by the wayside, he went to it and found nothing on it but only leaves. And he said to it, “May no fruit ever come from you again!” And the fig tree withered at once.
20 When the disciples saw it, they marveled, saying, “How did the fig tree wither at once?” 21 And Jesus answered them, “Truly, I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what has been done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ it will happen. 22 And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith.”
The Authority of Jesus Challenged
23 And when he entered the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came up to him as he was teaching, and said, “By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?” 24 Jesus answered them, “I also will ask you one question, and if you tell me the answer, then I also will tell you by what authority I do these things. 25 The baptism of John, from where did it come? From heaven or from man?” And they discussed it among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say to us, ‘Why then did you not believe him?’ 26 But if we say, ‘From man,’ we are afraid of the crowd, for they all hold that John was a prophet.” 27 So they answered Jesus, “We do not know.” And he said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.
The Parable of the Two Sons
28 “What do you think? A man had two sons. And he went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work in the vineyard today.’ 29 And he answered, ‘I will not,’ but afterward he changed his mind and went. 30 And he went to the other son and said the same. And he answered, ‘I go, sir,’ but did not go. 31 Which of the two did the will of his father?” They said, “The first.” Jesus said to them, “Truly, I say to you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes go into the kingdom of God before you. 32 For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him. And even when you saw it, you did not afterward change your minds and believe him.
The Parable of the Tenants
33 “Hear another parable. There was a master of a house who planted a vineyard and put a fence around it and dug a winepress in it and built a tower and leased it to tenants, and went into another country. 34 When the season for fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the tenants to get his fruit. 35 And the tenants took his servants and beat one, killed another, and stoned another. 36 Again he sent other servants, more than the first. And they did the same to them. 37 Finally he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ 38 But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and have his inheritance.’ 39 And they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. 40 When therefore the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?” 41 They said to him, “He will put those wretches to a miserable death and let out the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the fruits in their seasons.”
42 Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures:
“ ‘The stone that the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone;
this was the Lord’s doing,
and it is marvelous in our eyes’?
43 Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people producing its fruits. 44 And the one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; and when it falls on anyone, it will crush him.”
45 When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they perceived that he was speaking about them. 46 And although they were seeking to arrest him, they feared the crowds, because they held him to be a prophet.
Jesus arrives in Jerusalem
(21:1–22)
Matthew does not tell us of any other visit by Jesus to Jerusalem. This is the climax of his story so far—that the Messiah comes to his city and his temple, with the humility and authority of God himself.
THE TRIUMPHAL ENTRY
From the brow of the Mount of Olives, with Jerusalem spread before him, Jesus sends ahead to borrow a donkey and her colt. He will ride into the city as Zechariah had prophesied, ‘gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey’ (Zechariah 9:9). He is not coming to his people as a victorious general, but as a peacemaking king (21:1–11).
The temple
Herod’s temple was built largely between 19 and 9 BC, although work was continuing throughout the lifetime of Jesus. Herod the Great was not himself a Jew. He was an Idumean, a descendant of Edom. The temple was the finest of many great building projects with which Herod hoped to impress and please both Romans and Jews.
The temple was built on the same site as Solomon’s temple, Mount Moriah. This was the place where Abraham had almost sacrificed Isaac. Between AD 66 and 70 the Jewish resistance to Rome flared up and came to a climax in the Jewish wars. Jerusalem was besieged and conquered by the Roman army, and the temple destroyed by fire in AD 70. The triumphal Arch of Titus in Rome shows sacred objects such as the golden candlestick and the table of showbread being carried into Rome in a victory procession.
The large crowd welcomes Jesus, paving the road with cloaks and branches as a sign of royal welcome. On their lips is a cry of praise and longing: ‘Hosanna!’ The festival shout means ‘Save us!’ (from Psalm 118:25).
Jesus’ arrival rocks the city. The pilgrims explain that this is their northern hero, ‘the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee’.
JESUS CLEARS THE TEMPLE
As Matthew tells the story, Jesus makes straight for the temple. There he drives out the traders and money changers, whose tables and stalls clutter the court of the Gentiles (21:12–17). This is a purge! Over the years, the sale of animals and birds for sacrifice, and the exchange of street money for temple coins, has taken over the visitors’ courtyard. Priests and traders have made the place a hub of commerce, with no hope of quiet prayer.
As Jesus arrives there is no mistaking the fulfilment of Malachi’s prophecy: ‘The Lord will suddenly come to his temple’—and vigorously reform it (Malachi 3:1–3).
Jesus proclaims his authority by quoting scripture: ‘My house will be called a house of prayer.’ This comes from Isaiah’s prophecy that foreigners will be welcomed to the temple (Isaiah 56:6–7). ‘Den of robbers’ comes from Jeremiah’s charge that the worshippers themselves are thieves and hypocrites (Jeremiah 7:9–11).
Jesus performs another of the Messiah’s tasks by healing the blind and lame. Such people are no longer excluded from the temple, but tended and healed. Even the children add to the atmosphere of excitement by chanting their ‘Hosannas’. This angers the priests, who now join the ranks of Jesus’ enemies.
JESUS CURSES THE FIG TREE
On his way into Jerusalem the following day, Jesus looks for fruit on a fig tree (21:18–22). Finding none, he curses it and it withers. A tree which is all leaves and no fruit is a picture of futility—like Israel without faith and the temple without prayer. A terrible judgment is about to fall.
The disciples are amazed that the tree withers so quickly. Jesus assures them that the same power is available to them, through prayer and faith.
A war of words
(21:23–23:39)
Having cleared the temple courts of traders, Jesus teaches there. He is intriguing, controversial—and very popular. Soon the Jewish leaders come to challenge and cross-question him.
ON WHOSE AUTHORITY?
The chief priests and elders (the senior religious figures) ask Jesus who is giving him authority to preach and heal (21:23–27). Jesus hasn’t trained in their schools or learned from their teachers. He isn’t one of them. If he claims to come from God, they will charge him with blasphemy—or insanity.
Jesus (as he likes to do) answers their question with his own. Where did John’s authority to baptize come from? If they say, ‘From God,’ then why did they not respond to John’s message? If they say, ‘From people,’ they will fall out with the crowd, who believe John was a prophet.
THREE ATTACKING PARABLES
Jesus tells three parables which expose the corruption of Israel’s religious leaders (21:28–22:14).
The first parable: the two sons
Jesus describes two sons who work in their father’s vineyard. The first refuses to go to work, but then changes his mind and goes. The second says he is going to work, but doesn’t (21:28–32).
By this story, Jesus portrays the sinful ‘outsiders’ (the first son) who are so surprisingly coming to faith. Such people repented when they heard John’s preaching, and have welcomed the coming of Jesus. Meanwhile, the religious ‘insiders’ (the second son) are claiming to be right with God, but their faith is a sham.
Jesus says that the sinners who are living a new life are entering the kingdom of God ahead of the religious experts. They are, in effect, taking their place.
The second parable: the wicked tenants
Jesus tells another story. This time the religious leaders are like tenants in a vineyard (21:33–46). The vineyard is Israel—so lovingly planted and protected by God (Isaiah 5:1–5). The tenants have the care of the vineyard while the owner is away.
Jesus says that when the owner of the vineyard sends his servants to receive the fruit, the tenants ill-treat them. The servants are the prophets. And when the owner sends his son, they kill him.
Jesus asks his hearers to complete the story. They say the owner will come and throw out the wicked tenants. He will give the vineyard to new tenants, who will respect him and give him his share of the crop.
Jesus adds a saying from the Psalms: ‘The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone’ (Psalm 118:22). In Hebrew, the words for ‘stone’ and ‘son’ are similar. The owner’s son, so dreadfully discarded, will turn out to be the keystone of the new Israel that God is building.
Knowles, A. (2001). The Bible guide (1st Augsburg books ed., p. 430). Minneapolis, MN: Augsburg.
Knowles, A. (2001). The Bible guide (1st Augsburg books ed., pp. 429–430). Minneapolis, MN: Augsburg.
Knowles, A. (2001). The Bible guide (1st Augsburg books ed., p. 429). Minneapolis, MN: Augsburg.
Knowles, A. (2001). The Bible guide (1st Augsburg books ed., pp. 428–429). Minneapolis, MN: Augsburg.
The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (Mt 21:33–46). Wheaton: Standard Bible Society.
The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (Mt 21:28–32). Wheaton: Standard Bible Society.
The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (Mt 21:18–27). Wheaton: Standard Bible Society.
The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (Mt 21:1–18). Wheaton: Standard Bible Society.
HAVE A SAFE AND BLESSED WEEK:)
Ho'omaikaʻi ka Pua iā kākou