Picture a high school graduate who has been accepted at a particular college. By the end of the first day, this young person is now a fully-registered student at this college. Let’s presume that this student takes his or her education seriously. Thus, the newly-registered student does not view college simply as a recurring social-gathering opportunity; nor does he attend merely to have existing ideas comfortably and reassuringly reaffirmed. Indeed, she goes there expecting to gain new, deeper knowledge which may very well challenge some of those ideas.
That’s as it should be. Entering into a higher level of education should mean going deeper into that education.
And that’s how it should be with one’s Christianity. Upon becoming saved, one should seek to go deeper into what it means to be a Christian and, more importantly, to learn what the Bible is really telling us.
Sadly, this is rarely the case, particularly in American churches. Far too many Christians see church – and use church – simply as a method for socializing. This is because many of them are not receiving actual teaching in church. And they don’t even realize they’re not receiving it. Going to church makes them feel good. They get to spend time with old friends; make new friends; have some coffee and snacks afterward … and get sermons from the pulpit which reaffirm often incorrect notions about Christianity, sermons which do nothing to prepare them for what’s ahead.
I have in several lessons in this blog stressed the importance of — and I will continue to stress the importance of — joining a teaching church and/or Bible-study group. When you get saved, you are instantly and permanently made right for entrance into Heaven. Should you “just happen” to drop dead mere seconds after accepting Jesus, your eternal spirit will be forever welcomed into the presence of God. However, since that is exceedingly unlikely to happen, you must then learn what to do next, after you’ve become saved. And that is to become a student of God. As a student, what you need now is the teaching.
Contrary to the popular belief — and practice — in the typical present-day American church, this does not mean learning to “become holy”, nor learning to become a “good person” or a “better person”. It means learning specifically about the things of God. Such things as how the seven Jewish feasts actually prophecy the life of Jesus; how to see patterns of events in the Old Testament painting a picture of Jesus’ ministry; how many things in the OT illustrate our present Age of Grace despite taking place during the Age of Law; and myriad other amazing things.
Here’s a great example. You’re probably reasonably familiar with the first two verses of Psalm 91:
He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.
I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust.
Now, in English, even in the traditional King James translation, this is beautiful. It says (if I may oversimplify) that one who rests in God will be protected by Him. This is wonderful. But, if our modern churches were actually teaching, as they are supposed to be doing, you’d see there’s so much more to these lines.
For instance, do you know that there are four separate titles for God in these two lines? The typical American Christian can just breeze over the words without considering that fact. But look at them again: Most High; Almighty; LORD; and God. Most Christians think of these as interchangeable, like calling your department head “boss” or “chief”.
However, if American churches were teaching properly — which in this case means delving into the original Hebrew, to regain that which was “lost in translation” — the Christian would learn that these are actually four different names (not titles) of God, each one reflecting a specific aspect of His person and personality.
The first, “Most High”, is El-Elyon. This means “owner and possessor of all things”. God Himself tells us that He owns “the cattle upon a thousand hills.” In truth, God owns everything, by sheer virtue of His authority and power. All the land; all living things; all the natural resources; everything.
“Almighty” is El-Shaddai, which means “provider of all things”. The word shaddai can mean mountain; it can also mean breast. This illustrates the nurturing aspect of God, in the concept of a mother whose breasts are full of milk for her newborn child.
“LORD”, with all the letters capitalized (and this includes those versions which use “small capitals” for the last three letters) is YHVH, or Yehovah. This means “He who makes and keeps the promises of His covenant”. This is God’s covenant name, the one by which He guarantees to keep His promises. (I briefly touch upon this in my Hebrew language lesson.)
Finally, “God” is Elohim, which means “the all-powerful Creator”. This is the name used when referring to God’s power to create our richly complex physical universe, and all physical objects within it. It also applies to such miracles as that of the loaves and fishes. For us today, it particularly means that God creates the necessary circumstances and situations for each of us so that we can both follow the path He sets for us, and receive His guidance, blessings and our own personal miracles.
When you put these together as they are in the two verses, what you read is “God, who possesses all things, desires to provide all the things that you need. He promises to do this, and He has the power to keep that promise.” So, while the English translation is a wonderfully lyrical expression of God, the original Hebrew is a far deeper telling of the fact that God desires to take care of us.
And, there’s more to it. As I was writing this post, the Holy Spirit advised me that this also shows God’s grace toward us. How so? Well, consider that Psalms is a book in the Old Testament. As I alluded to a few paragraphs ago, the Old Testament tells us of the Age of Law, while the New Testament tells us of the Age of Grace. Yet if we were being taught properly in our churches, we would see many examples of grace in the OT.
Let’s look again at these first two lines of Psalm 91. They state that God will shelter the believer under His care, and protect him like a fortress. But, let’s consider for a moment what those lines do not say. I will admit right now that, generally, it’s a dangerous game to attempt to base an interpretation of any writing on what that writing does not say; nonetheless, I have learned over the years that there are several specific instances in the Bible from which an effective and accurate lesson can be drawn from what the Bible does not say. As I said, Psalm 91 comes to us from the Age of Law. But is any of this reflected in those lines? Does Psalm 91 state that the believer will receive God’s protection only if he burns incense and offers up prayers of repentance? Do they instruct the believer to first perform ceremonial bathing and to dress in prescribed robes? Do they require the believer to make a ritual sacrifice of a ceremonially clean animal?
No. None of those things are mentioned. In the Old Testament, in the Age of Law, we see the Ten Commandments and the six hundred thirteen ordinances of the Torah. We see constantly the stressing of animal sacrifices, temple worship and other ceremonial and ritualistic practices. Yet, what does Psalm 91 ask — if it can be said to be asking at all — of the believer to receive God’s care? Only that the believer rest in God’s presence, and trust Him for — that is, openly expect — the very care He offers.
That’s it. Among all the religious and societal regulations the Children of Israel lived under in the Old Testament, we see this brilliant example of God’s grace. No laboring to become holy; no trying to earn one’s way into Heaven by one’s attempts to attain righteousness. Just the simple invitation to rest in God’s presence and to expect His care and provision.
Jesus Himself even further simplified this when He told a crowd, “This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.” In this particular case, I think the New Living Translation* has it best: “This is the only work God wants from you: Believe in the one He has sent.”
This actually goes back to the covenant between God and Abram. As I indicated in my inaugural post, there were actually three persons involved in the making of that covenant: God, Abram and Jesus. God defined the requirements of the Law; Jesus fulfilled all these requirements; and Abram was the “sleeping partner” or, more commonly today, the “silent partner”, who received the benefits of that fulfillment without any action on his part. An investment website defines a silent partner as “…a background role that cedes control to the general partner[s] … requir[ing] the silent partner to have full confidence in the general partners’ ability…”.
The takeaway here is that God wants us not only to rest in His desire and ability to take care of us, but also to rest from our efforts to achieve righteousness and holiness. And the way God wants us to do that is to rest in Jesus’ finished work on the cross; to accept that Jesus has fulfilled the requirements of the law for us and, in so believing, to enjoy all the wonderful benefits of His promises.
Let me give you another example, one I learned literally just a few weeks ago. If you follow a Bible reading plan, or the weekly Torah portion, eventually you’ll read Genesis chapter 25. Shortly after the beginning of that chapter, it’s stated that Abraham dies at the age of 175 years. About two-thirds in, the birth of fraternal twins Esau and Jacob (to Isaac and Rebekah) is described. Thus, it’s very easy (I could say even natural) to read this as saying that Abraham died before his grandsons were born. (Yes, I’ve been reading it this way as well.)
However, in a recent Bible-study class, it was pointed out – by someone with much better understanding than I have of how the Bible presents information – that Abraham was actually alive for about the boys’ first fifteen years of life. Back in Genesis chapter 21, it’s stated in verse 5 that Isaac was born when Abraham was one hundred years old. In chapter 25, verse 26 tells us that Isaac was sixty years old when Rebekah gave birth to the twins.
Let’s do the math: One hundred (Abraham’s age) plus sixty (Isaac’s age) is one hundred sixty. This number, subtracted from one hundred seventy five (Abraham’s death), leaves fifteen:
175 – (100 + 60) = 15
Now, let’s visualize the math: Here’s a timeline of Abraham’s life, subtended by those of Isaac, Esau and Jacob:
Larger image: 1000 x 165
The main line is Abraham’s life of one hundred seventy five years. At age one hundred, Isaac is born. When Isaac is sixty, and Abraham one hundred sixty, Esau and Jacob are born. After this, Abraham lives on for another fifteen years. (The dashed lines are the ongoing Isaac and Esau/Jacob timelines.) Thus, Esau and Jacob have Abraham not only as grandfather but also as the guiding family patriarch for their first fifteen years.
Now, here’s the rub: The typical American Christian does not get this level of detail in the typical American church. In the preceding paragraphs I have shared with you just some of what I learned over the years of attending both a teaching church and a teaching Bible-study group. In contrast, in the typical American church what one gets is a set pattern with little if any actual spiritual message.
Perhaps at this point the following question has formed in your head: “Why haven’t I heard these? I’ve been going to church for years! Why have I not heard these things before??” Sadly, the straightforward answer is that most American churches just do not teach. This was foretold to us in 2 Timothy 4:3-4, that the time would come when people would prefer nice stories that don’t challenge their beliefs (or that reaffirm them), instead of receiving teaching which gets into the meat and bone of Scripture. That time is now; these are the Last Days, and I think three things are happening. One, there is growing apostasy; people are just turning away from religion. Two, some people are leaving Christianity for other religions. And three, some people who profess to be Christians are looking for – and finding – churches which comfort them and tell them they’ll be fine, and are not doing anything to prepare these people for the dark times ahead. (I suppose I could include in that third example those who really are Christians – those who have honestly accepted Jesus – but who for whatever reason are not motivated to seek genuine teaching.)
So perhaps now you have another question: “How can I get caught up? Even if I find a good teaching church, could I possibly get caught up on all this?” My answer is, don’t worry about it. Just seek God’s help in finding a teaching church or Bible-study group. Once you’re there, just take the lessons as they come. What you need is quality of instruction, not quantity. If God has something specific for you down the line, He’ll get you there. Perhaps He’ll have you start a ministry (and blogs such as this are considered a type of ministry); or maybe He’ll move you into missionary work. Or fund-raising. Or support, such as in an office position. But all that is for later, and He’ll equip you for it as you need it. Your only concerns now are getting good lessons, and developing comprehension of those lessons. The focus is not how much you’re being taught, but how well you’re being taught.
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© 2019 Zero Faith Saint
*Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
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