"What's your favorite Bible verse and why?"
A few years ago, I would have answered that question with any of the standard popular verses. John 3:16 or Philippians 4:13 ("I can do all things through Him who strengthens me") for example. But for 21 years now, I feel as if I have been in a sort of long seminary class where doctrine finally makes sense. It is not dull and drab and is not stuff that the average christian can't understand. It is not stuff that has to be left up to our church leaders because, after all, they have the Masters and Doctorate degrees. And it is not stuff that, at points, is too ethereal for the human mind to even begin to grasp. When a doctrinal subject can't be believably explained, the usual fallback is, "Well, we'll just have to wait until we get to Heaven and then all will be clear." The doctrine on the trinity is an example. We supposedly can't understand "The Godhead". What then do we make of Paul's statements in Romans 1:19,20 (". . . that which is known about God is evident within them . . . His invisible attributes . . . and divine nature . . . understood through what has been made . . . ")?
I learned about what I call The Structural Doctrines. Most of mainstream Christianity has been strong on and has emphasized the experiential aspects of the christian life. Maybe we could call these The Spiritual Doctrines. These two sides of life are like the sides of a coin. They go together and are inseperable. Or should be. Because the tendency of the fallen human mind is to keep them seperate and to overemphasize one or the other depending on which denominational correctness we allow ourselves to be subject to.
One thing that I began learning in July of 1987 was how to keep The Fourth Commandment. Do not make the mistake that many have made. God's laws have NOT been done away at The Cross of Christ. That idea is one of the "destructive heresies" that Peter warned would soon infiltrate into the church ( 2 Peter 2:1 ). Jesus made it clear: "Do not think I came to abolish the Law . . . I did not come to abolish, but to fulfill." Why then do some of our preachers tell us He came to abolish The Law? See also the rest of Mathew 5:17-20 .
There are two main bodies of l.aw -- Temporary Law which applied from Mt. Sinai until The Cross, and Foundational Law which is for all time and was first given in the Garden of Eden. This Foundational Law most certainly includes The Ten Commandments for people have been murdering, lying, stealing, etc. ever since Adam. All those acts were called sin were they not? And all that sin was punishable was it not? As Romans 5:13 points out: ". . . sin is not imputed when there is no Law." And 1 John 3:4 (KJV): ". . . sin is the transgression of the Law."
It is only the Temporary Law which Paul refers to as having been our teacher or schoolmaster up until The Cross. Most of it can be said to have been suspended for this, so-called, Church Age. But, even so, it cannot be "done away". We notice that Jesus will revive much of that Temporary Law (also known as Law of Moses) in the upcoming Kingdom Age. See the last nine chapters of Ezekiel.
Some might argue, "OK, fine, but the Sabbath Commmandment was added at Mt. Sinai and is therefore temporary." Yes, it was added at that time; but notice, it was put in with and therefore elevated to the level of the Ten Commandments which are Foundational Law. If God had not wanted that Commandment to be at this level, He could just as easily have put it with the other Laws such as priestly garments, sacrifices, the Tabernacle layout, etc.
The conclusion that all of this leads to is an explanation of why a nation such as ours that is full of well-intentioned and godly people can seem to slip-slide into ever deepening danger from enemies, internal moral decay, weakening economy, floods, failing crops, scary weather events, and psychological angst. When we see bad stuff all around us, we understandably react with a certain fear over what is going on. We wonder, "Has God given us up?"
What is happening to America (and Europe) now is a fulfillment of Deuteronomy chapter 28. This is the famous "Blessings and Cursings" chapter. These are to be the results of either obedience or disobedience to God by His people Israel (us by the way, but that subject is for another article). Obedience to what? Well, for starters, how about, oh, I don't know . . . maybe . . . obedience to His Laws? Duh? Um . . . do ya think? First with oh, maybe, how about The Ten Commandments? Here we can apply what James said about them ( James 2:10 ) that if we are guilty of even one of them, we are guilty of them all. Christians like to believe that we are obeying God, but could it be that since we are not keeping that Fourth Commandment properly, we are bringing His correction on ourselves? Read Deuteronomy 28 carefully but substitute "United States of America" at every spot where "Israel" or "My People" or "you" is listed. You will be amazed.
Briefly, I will just summarize here that we don't have to keep the Saturday Sabbath for now. Sunday is indeed the principal day of worship for now. The suspension of Saturday is to last from 70 a.d. when the temple fell until the beginning of The Tribulation Period which should be soon. Christians will have to be ready for this radical life shift. The way that we keep the Fourth Commandment during this so-called Church Age is through The Holy Days. Each of the eight days is a pre-memorial to a key event in God's plan of salvation for the world. That's why it is ridiculous to think that they are done away or were only Jewish national party times. They are actually MORE important for Christians to observe, understand, and learn from. Because what we learn from them is nothing short of the great big picture of what God is doing! If we don't learn from them, we can only have limited, incomplete, speculative and fuzzy ideas on what is really going on.
Our christian leaders' answers to national decline typically involve calling mass prayer events. Whether a "National Day of Prayer" or some kind of big Concert for Jesus or a Walk For Jesus or whatever, a certain naiivete or silliness is usually evident. When did christians fall into the New Age deception that Mass Mind Effort impresses God? It is the lone one who does right before God whose prayer "availeth much". God's heart may then be moved into action. This lone one is thus more effective than 50,000 un-right ones who are locked into some sort of Vulcan mind-meld! And the verse that has become the standard of these super gatherings is 2 Chron. 7:14 ( ". . . and [if] My people . . . humble themselves and pray, and . . . then I will hear from Heaven, will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.").
Finally, we come to my favorite verse. It is Ecclesiastes 12:13 ( "The conclusion, when all has been heard, is: fear God and keep His commandments, because this is the whole of man." [translation by Dr. Haddon Robinson] ). There are two parts to Solomon's conclusion here. The second, keeping the Commandments, is what I had been learning from 21 years ago. The first, fearing God, is what I have been learning about recently. If we don't want to keep His Commandments, how can it be said that we fear Him? And if we don't fear Him, why should He do anything to help us? Why shouldn't He just walk away and leave us to be devoured by enemies (both earthly and spiritual ones)? But God actually showers blessings on those who fear Him. Notice Psalm 34:7 -- "The angel of The Lord encamps around those who fear Him, and rescues them." He also gives wisdom ( Proverbs 9:10 ) and knowledge ( Proverbs 1:7 ) if we fear Him.
Now this word "fear" is a major problem for modern man. We don't like it. We can''t accept it's Biblical use. It is part of the Bible we'd like to cut out and our preachers dutifully comply with our wishes by not daring to include the word or concept in any sermons. Offending the congregation might thin out the offering plate. But "fear", when properly understood, should be preached in or as part of EVERY sermon. The most famous and effective sermon of all time was Jonathan Edwards' "Sinners In The Hands Of An Angry God". It was full of references on fearing God and is credited with starting The Great Awakening. A pastor who waters down the word "fear" by saying that, well, it really just means to hold God in "awe" is setting a pathetic example of wimpy leadership. Actually, there are 17 Hebrew words in the Old Testament and 1 Aramaic one that are usually translated as "fear". They have various meanings and only 2 properly mean "awe". The New Testament typically uses "phobos" for all these.
The verse 2 Chron. 7:14 is really dependent on Eccl. 12:13 for it's foundation. For, what does it mean to "humble ourselves" before God? To simply tell a congregation to "humble ourselves" without any explanation that this means to "fear Him and obey Him" reveals a shepherd (pastor) who doesn't know how to lead a flock. And the phrase "My people who are called by My Name specifically refers to Israelites (us by the way, and our shepherds don't know how to lead their flocks on that point either).
So, what is "our Deuteronomy 28 Moment"? There are really two. The first is spelled out in verses 1 through 14 and is the kind of moment we'd all like to have. We want to be the head (on Earth) and not the tail. Sadly, though, we are beginning to enter that other moment. The one where we become the tail and not the head. Where commodity prices rise out of control, where confusion and rebuke comes on all we do, where diseases threaten us, where enemies press in on us to fly planes into our buildings and plan the nuclear destruction of our cities, and where bad ineffective leaders pull us down. Will we flee seven directions from our enemies next?
We can persuade God to turn all this around for us at any time. We must learn what it means to apply Ecclessiastes 12:13 NOW. Let it begin with we, the church.
--Ray Curtis, May 14, 2008
( all verses are from the New American Standard Bible unless otherwise noted. )
Addendum - January 30, 2009