Taking God At His Word

Taking God At His Word

Ken

In 1940, Theodore Geisel, under the pen name of Dr. Seuss, published an illustrated children’s book, Horton Hatches the Egg. The nonsense of an elephant by the name of Horton being tricked into sitting on an egg in a nest in a tree to give Mayzie, the mother bird, a break, where she finds herself traveling down to Palm Beach, is the fanciful humor of the story. Horton must undergo ridicule, privation, and capture by humans to fulfill his promise to sit on the egg. Horton repeatedly asserts, “I meant what I said, and I said what I meant. An elephant’s faithful, one hundred percent!” Without the ridiculousness of the storyline, you can easily see this depicting God’s integrity.

“Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God” (Luke 4:4 NKJV).

What does it mean to take God at His Word?

God means what He says.

This goes beyond a debate between a figurative versus literal interpretation of Scripture. Classic conservative Christianity is inclined to take Scripture more literally, while typical liberal theology is compelled to receive Scripture more figuratively, both firmly believing they promote obedience to God. “I could not go beyond the word of the LORD my God, to do less or more” (Numbers 22:18).

It is a question of God’s integrity.

Taking God at His Word emphasizes His integrity. Can God be trusted as seeking our highest good, while we seek His kingdom first? We tend to compare God to the people we know, but we sense the awkwardness of limiting the Almighty to such a low standard. Admitting the integrity of God keeping His Word compared to our difficulty of doing what we say, Does not the creation of man in His image guarantee the possibility of a similar integrity in humanity? “God is not a man, that He should lie, Nor a son of man, that He should repent. Has He said, and will He not do? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?” (Numbers 23:19).

Taking God at His Word is our necessity.

Taking God at His Word is required by His Law, because it is our necessity and would demonstrate our integrity. God’s Law promotes the highest good of His being and the good of our neighbor as ourself. Our prosperity and success depend upon it. Meditating upon this day and night must be an integral part of our very existence. “This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success” (Joshua 1:8).

Our repeated failure to demonstrate the integrity of taking God at His Word is the very reason for the New Covenant.

“Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah” (Jeremiah 31:31).

“I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them” (Ezekiel 36:27).

Jesus did not come to abolish the law, but to further implement the plan which had been in place from the very beginning. An All Wise God knows our capabilities as well as our shortcomings, which we would manifest throughout the Garden, the Flood, the Tower, the Patriarchs, Egypt, the Wilderness, the Conquest, the Judges, the Kings, the Prophets, the Captivity, the Second Temple, the Silent Years, the Apostles, the Early Church, the Persecuted Church, the Institutional Church, the Missionary Church, the Lukewarm Church, the Tribulational Saints, and the Final Spiritual Rebirth of the Nation of Israel at His Second Coming. The history of the Saints is a carefully orchestrated program of an All Wise God marshaling His resources in the Unseen Realm against the Adversary and his hordes, while masterfully moving throughout time and space to produce a people, who will magnify Him throughout eternity.

“6 But now He has obtained a more excellent ministry, inasmuch as He is also Mediator of a better covenant, which was established on better promises. 7 For if that first covenant had been faultless, then no place would have been sought for a second. 8 Because finding fault with them, He says: Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah— 9 not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they did not continue in My covenant, and I disregarded them, says the Lord. 10 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put My laws in their mind and write them on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. 11 None of them shall teach his neighbor, and none his brother, saying, Know the LORD, for all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them. 12 For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more. 13 In that He says, A new covenant, He has made the first obsolete. Now what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away” (Hebrews 8:6-13 NKJV).

Taking God at His Word becomes Spirit-inspired obedience, when understood correctly, in this New Testament Age.

“I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them” (Ezekiel 36:27).

“For it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure” (Philippians 2:13).

“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).

“Your words were found, and I ate them, And Your word was to me the joy and rejoicing of my heart; For I am called by Your name, O LORD God of hosts” (Jeremiah 15:16).

From the beginning, man was created with the ability to reflect and obey God, but we have been inconsistent at best. After the first sin, humanity experienced the continual death of the physical creation, both of our mortal body, as well as our physical environment, i.e., Second Law of Thermodynamics (Romans 8:22). We retain the ability and necessity of obedience, which is pointedly, taking God at His Word. God said, “Of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die” (Genesis 2:17). Physically, they were still alive, though their bodies began to experience the degenerating effects of physical death, but they were already spiritually dead. Just as physical death is separation of the soul from the body, spiritual death is separation of the soul from God. They “hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden” (Genesis 3:8), separated from the life of God and “dead in trespasses and sins” (Ephesians 2:1). Spiritual regeneration must be restoring our separation from God through Christ. “For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive” (1Corinthians 15:22).

Taking God at His Word is a restoration to obedience.

How does God affect such a change in us?

The New Covenant or New Testament inspires us to walk in obedience.

Confirmation of His covenant with us is by the sealing of the Blood of Jesus. It shouldn’t surprise us, but we should advocate before the Courts of Heaven, which is prayer, that the shed Blood of Jesus from His sacrificial, substitutionary death, is the only foundation for restoring our obedience. And, we commemorate this when we take Communion. “This cup is the new testament in My blood, which is shed for you” (Luke 22:20). The Blood of Jesus is God’s antidote for sin, and it is received by faith. “But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him” (Hebrews 11:6).

Ours is not a natural progression to obedience, but it is the response to the pervasive influence of God throughout our life and the whole of human history, not to force us to obedience, but by a gentle persuasion, by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, to cause us to walk in His statutes (Ezekiel 36:27), which means we are taking God at His Word. “I will bring the blind by a way they did not know; I will lead them in paths they have not known. I will make darkness light before them, And crooked places straight. These things I will do for them, And not forsake them” (Isaiah 42:16). Whether referring to obedience under the Old Covenant or New, only the influence of the Spirit of Almighty God can secure our obedience. No formula, creed, or tradition is capable of breathing life into any people. Trust in no man. If God comforts us with His Word, we are saved. If God comforts us not, we are lost. “Behold, I will do a new thing, Now it shall spring forth; Shall you not know it? I will even make a road in the wilderness And rivers in the desert” (43:19). Active faith alone is able to receive the promise of Scripture. If we cannot take God at His Word, how can we trust or obey Him?

Taking God at His Word is to rely upon the integrity of God to keep His law, Gospel, promises, and prophecies.

From the outset, ONLY Jesus can save us. Love alone can secure our heart, but a people without understanding knows not whom to trust or from whom to flee. Secure the promise. “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him” (James 1:5). Understanding is built a little at a time until it is a refuge to which even others desire to flee.

God’s Moral Law: is and always will be: “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one! You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength” (Deuteronomy 6:4-5). Jesus repeated the essence of this irrevocable law: “Jesus said to him, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 22:37-39). If taking God at His Word is not keeping the Moral Law, then of what value is it to take God at His Word? And remember, Jesus saves us from our not having kept that law, but the gift of His Spirit now is available “both to will and to do for His good pleasure” (Philippians 2:13). Now we will successfully take God at His Word by walking in obedience.

God’s Gospel: is the Good News of a Second Chance, which the devil never had. Remember, God never owed anyone a Second Chance, so rejoice in His mercy. “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel” (Mark 1:15). The suffering, death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ is only significant, if we believe, repent, and obey the Gospel. Peter instructed his listeners at Pentecost: “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:38). Obeying the Gospel is doing whatever Jesus said you are supposed to do, which is consistent with your faith in Him. Because the rich young ruler had such an attachment to his wealth, Jesus told him he couldn’t go to heaven without giving up his wealth. “17 Now as He was going out on the road, one came running, knelt before Him, and asked Him, Good Teacher, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life? 21 Then Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, One thing you lack: Go your way, sell whatever you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, take up the cross, and follow Me” (Mark 10:17, 21).

God’s promises: “For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us” (2Corinthians 1:20). If we take God at His Word, then we will believe His promises, “by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust” (2Peter 1:4). The sanctifying effect of God’s promises must be evident in our present hope of salvation, our conduct in this world, and in our hope of heaven. “Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1Thessalonians 5:23).

God’s prophecies: are part of His promise of imminent return. The Jews of Christ’s day acknowledged the idea of a coming Messiah, but they were not spiritually ready for Jesus, or they would have understood the prophecies that foretold His coming. This indictment of their lack of spiritual walk, as well as, their lack of Scriptural understanding of the OT prophecies should motivate us to balance both in light of His Second Coming and Rapture of the Church. Paul indicted the Thessalonians for their lack of employing themselves in the daily process of feeding themselves and their families through secular employment. “For even when we were with you, we commanded you this: If anyone will not work, neither shall he eat” (2Thessalonians 3:10). This same Paul had just instructed the same Thessalonians about the Antichrist. “5 Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things? 6 And now you know what is restraining, that he [Antichrist] may be revealed in his own time. 7 For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He [Holy Spirit] who now restrains will do so until He [Holy Spirit] is taken out of the way [at the Rapture of the Church]” (2Thessalonians 2:5-7). Taking God at His Word is believing the prophecies of Jesus’ return. “So Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many. To those who eagerly wait for Him He will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation” (Hebrews 9:28).

Father, we ask that You would make us to be a people, who take You at Your Word. May we not be those who claim to know You, but do not walk in obedience. Help us to build Your kingdom in the smallest act of faith to the largest ambition of taking the Kingdom of Heaven by force of Your Spirit. Cause us to magnify Your integrity. May we never tire of offering You praise for Your faithfulness. Lord Jesus, return quickly. In Your name, we pray. Amen and amen.

Taking God At His Word

Ken

“God is not a man, that He should lie; neither the son of man, that He should repent: hath He said, and shall He not do it? or hath He spoken, and shall He not make it good?” (Numbers 23:19 KJV). It is a shame, when we cannot appreciate the figurative language of poetry or the similitudes of Christ’s teachings. Though we should not always take our Lord’s meaning as literal, we must always take Him at His word. He means what He says! This should be the correct understanding of the Literal Interpretation of Scripture. “And out of His mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it He should smite the nations: and He shall rule them with a rod of iron: and He treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God” (Revelation 19:15). Return quickly, Lord Jesus. Amen.

Nobody Knows How Long

Ken1 Comment

Why Do We Not Study Prophecy, If It Is So Important? 

How Long? (4:34) is a song expressing what every child vocalizes to their parent about the future, but isn’t that the essence of Bible prophecy? 

Didn’t see it coming, and when the calamity of the invasion of Judah happened, no prophet was at hand giving words of understanding, comfort, and deliverance, at least, as far as this Psalmist could see. “We see not our signs: there is no more any prophet: neither is there among us any that knoweth how long. O God, how long shall the adversary reproach? shall the enemy blaspheme Thy name for ever?” (Psalm 74:9-10 KJV). Of course, we live in different times, but you can see how knowing what has happened, is happening, and is going to happen, practically benefits the people of God. It is intrinsic to human nature to ask, “How long?” Children want to know on a trip, “Are we their yet?” More than a dozen times in the Book of Psalms alone, the Psalmist raises the question, “How long?” In the wisdom of God, He has provided prophecy to answer this question; again, why are we not studying prophecy? 

But, you say, “Anybody can make a wild prediction about the Terminal Generation, when Jesus is supposed to rapture His Church and come back. What happens, when nothing happens? Doesn’t it do more harm than good for the cause of Christ? Shouldn’t we be more encouraging people how to live for Christ than giving them confusing instructions that might not take place? Wasn’t all prophecy practically fulfilled with the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD, anyway? Besides, didn’t Jesus say no one knows when He will return? Shouldn’t we just emphasize there will one day be a New Heaven and New Earth and let it happen whenever it happens, no matter how long it takes?” 

[Scan ahead. This is a longer entry, but not too long.]

First, Predictive Prophecy (prophecies that predict a specific outcome) are found in 8,352 verses of the Bible (27% of Scripture), according to J. Barton Payne’s Encyclopedia of Biblical Prophecy. 256 verses (63%) of the Book of Revelation, written by the Apostle John about 96 AD (long after the fall of Jerusalem in 70 AD), were predictions. “Howbeit when He, the Spirit of truth, is come, He will guide you into all truth: for He shall not speak of Himself; but whatsoever He shall hear, that shall He speak: and He will shew you things to come” (John 16:13). 

Second, God is indisputably the source of all true prophecy. “Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like Me, Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all My pleasure” (Isaiah 46:9-10). Prophecy proves the veracity of God and His Scripture. “For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost” (2Peter 1:21).

Third, prophecy, like all the other Scripture, testifies of Christ. “Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of Me” (John 5:39). The purpose of prophecy is to bear testimony to Jesus, which then is the “revelation of Jesus Christ” (Revelation 1:1), so then the “testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy” (19:10).

Fourth, prophecy must have a purifying effect upon the Church of Christ, or it is being studied for the wrong reasons. “Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching” (Hebrews 10:25). 

Fifth, prophecy must be proven to each disciple by the Holy Spirit from personal examination of the Word of God. “Prove all things; hold fast that which is good” (1Thessalonians 5:21). Never take anyone’s word about Scripture without proving it to your own satisfaction. “These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so” (Acts 17:11). 

Sixth, if the Devil knows Jehovah’s predictions for the future, won’t he oppose God’s plans and work to keep us ignorant of what God is trying to accomplish in human history? Yes, our adversary does not want us to know God’s prophecies, because he doesn’t want us opposing his diabolical plans. If Satan knows the physical seed of Eve would produce Christ, then he will oppose the physical lineage that produced Jesus Christ, and will work to establish his own physical seed, potentially in the Antichrist. A prophecy concerning Christ and the Antichrist: “And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel” (Genesis 3:15). The devil would not have crucified Jesus, if he understood God’s plan. “Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory” (1Corinthians 2:8). 

For example, how would the Wise Men of the Christmas Story even know of a Promised Messiah, if Daniel, the chief of “all the wise men of Babylon” had not told them (Daniel 2:48; 5:11)? And, how could Daniel know about the physical birth of a Messiah had not Micah earlier predicted it (Micah 5:2)? And, why would Micah be prophesying of the physical birth of a coming deliverer, if he did not think there was truth to Yahweh’s pronouncement of a future physical seed and lineage from Eve (Genesis 3:15; Psalm 132:11)? Why were Simeon and Anna even looking for the birth of a Hebrew male child unless they believed the Predictive Prophecy of Daniel (Luke 2:25-38)? And, if it took the understanding of Predictive Prophecy to appreciate, cooperate, and coordinate with the Messiah’s First Advent for the purpose of our salvation (“but not for Himself” Daniel 9:25-26), how can we not study prophecy to pray (Ezekiel 36:37), prepare, cooperate, and coordinate (Matthew 6:10) with Yahweh for the Second Advent of the Conquering Messiah to set up His earthly Millennial Kingdom (Daniel 7:14)?

Seventh, no one is allowed to set dates, when Christ is supposed to return, i.e., “It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in His own power” (Acts 1:7). Even if we think we know anything about the time of the return of the Lord Jesus Christ, we cannot absolutely know it, for even the Son has divinely covenanted with the Father not to know. “But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father” (Mark 13:32). 

Eighth, it is fruitless not to study prophecy because misunderstandings, contentions, false prophets, and the False Prophet will come anyway. “It is impossible but that offences will come: but woe unto him, through whom they come” (Luke 17:1). 

Ninth, without a proper understanding of prophecy, the Church will not have a clear understanding of how to set the battle in array for the End Times. Who is on the LORD’s side, and who is the enemy? “He that is not with Me is against Me; and he that gathereth not with Me scattereth abroad” (Matthew 12:30).

Tenth, without the ability to distinguish between ‘taking God at His word’ as opposed to ‘taking God literally, as opposed to figuratively,’ the Church will build prejudices and obstacles to understanding Prophetic Predictions. “God is not a man, that He should lie; neither the son of man, that He should repent: hath He said, and shall He not do it? or hath He spoken, and shall He not make it good?” (Numbers 23:19).

Eleventh, but still, without the ability to appreciate figurative or poetic language, the Church will lose the ability to make Spirit-filled applications of God’s Prophecies, which results in legalism and loveless service of God. “Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love” (Revelation 2:4). 

Twelfth, but doesn’t Jesus’ Olivet Discourse plainly indicate Christ’s prophecies were referring to the upcoming destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD by the Romans, i.e., “when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies” (Luke 21:20), thus bringing to a practical conclusion all the prophecies? True, Luke’s account of the Sermon on the Mount may lend itself to that interpretation, but Matthew’s account of the Sermon on the Mount gives us the additional understanding “when ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place” (Matthew 24:15), indicating a double fulfillment and future time, yet to come. 

Father, You are the God of all prophecy, and You know we want to know how long, so we can cooperate with the return of Your Son. May our prayer, Thy kingdom come, be accompanied by our heartfelt, Thy will be done, that there would be great gain for Your kingdom. Help us to block off all means of the enemy taking advantage of us and using us against You. We need Your Spirit’s intervention. Through You, we shall do valiantly! Lord Jesus, return quickly. Amen and amen. 

For a more developed discussion of Christ’s Olivet Discourse, the difference between the Preterist view that prophecy was fulfilled essentially by the Roman destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD and the Futurist view of a yet to be prophetic fulfillment of the Seventieth Week of Daniel, see our article, Two Olivet Discourses?

The Trouble With Genesis

Ken

The trouble with Genesis is, if you can’t take God at His word about the Beginning, then how can you trust Him about all the rest? “But from the beginning of the creation God made them male and female” (Mark 10:6 KJV). If God did not create Adam from the dust, and specially created Eve from Adam’s side (Genesis 2), then the evolutionist’s isogamy becomes an acceptable path to human reproduction. “But from the beginning it was not so“ (Matthew 19:6 KJV).

 

Taking God At His Word

Ken

To take God at His word is to accept His word on anything without further verification. If He said it, He meant it. “God is not a man, that He should lie; neither the son of man, that He should repent: hath He said, and shall He not do it? or hath He spoken, and shall He not make it good?” (Numbers 23:19 KJV). Treat God’s words with the same respect you would want God to treat your words. If you say what you do not mean, then treat God in the same fashion. If that sounds horrifying, then give God’s Word the respect it deserves! When interpreting or arriving at a conclusion on the meaning of anything in Scripture — including Bible prophecies — the interpretation that justifies God the most in making it understandable is the goal. If the plain or literal sense is most understandable, then God’s Spirit has communicated His message to you. If it only makes sense figuratively, poetically, or allegorically, then so be it. Our goal is to best justify God for whatever He said — literal or figurative. If the biblical translation of the original text makes the meaning obscure, then the modern reader is disadvantaged in arriving at a proper interpretation. If the biblical settings of the OT or NT recipients of the original texts are not understood, again, the modern reader is disadvantaged. Philip was used in the salvation of the Ethiopian eunuch (Acts 8), because he understood the context and meaning of Isaiah 53, which was being read. Whether God uses a Bible translation, a Bible scholar, Philip the Evangelist, or a humble cross reference, such as the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, it is the Holy Spirit illuminating and teaching the text. “But the anointing [Holy Spirit] which ye have received of Him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in Him” (1John 2:27 KJV). Glory to God!