Bible Study With Jairus

Bible Study With Jairus - Revelation 2 Part2

Bible Study with Jairus- Revelation 2 (part 2)

 

God’s Provision in Difficult Times

 

Today we will look at the first three letters to the churches in Revelation 2. As we’ve discussed, these seven letters are structured like a sandwich, starting with praise, followed by criticism, and finishing with encouragement. But we often overlook the opening sentence of each letter, which reveals something about the nature of Jesus Christ.

 

The first sentence of each chapter of the Bible is often the key to understanding the entire chapter and paragraph, as it reveals the Holy Spirit's summary of each chapter and section of the Bible. Therefore, we should pay special attention to the first sentence of each chapter and paragraph. This will help us understand the Bible better.

 

In the letters to the churches in Revelation, Jesus begins each letter with a revelation of a specific aspect of his character. This characteristic of Jesus is specifically related to the church’s unique trial or sin struggle.

 

For instance, the letter to the church in Ephesus first mentions that Jesus “holds the seven stars in his right hand and walks among the seven golden lampstands” (ESV, Revelation 2:1)[1]. Just like the Old Testament High Priest trimmed the wicks and added oil to make the golden lampstand shine brighter, Jesus trims the wicks of our hearts (removes our idols) and pours oil (the Holy Spirit) into our lives. First John 2:15 says, "if anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him,” so we need Jesus’ help to remove these false loves. The seven stars in Jesus’ hands are the tools he uses to purify our hearts and make our lamps shine brighter.

 

The letter to the church in Smyrna mentions that Jesus is "the first and the last, who died and lived again" (Revelation 2:8). The letter goes on to discuss the characteristics of Jesus' resurrection and the ways His resurrection provides for the persecuted church. The letter to the church in Pergamum mentions "a sharp two-edged sword" (Revelation 2:12), which reminds us that "the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12). This shows that the church in Pergamum had failed to keep the Lord’s word, leading to spiritual struggles. This church needed to learn to rightly handle the word of truth (2 Timothy 2:15) and resist heresy and wrong teachings so their witness to Christ could truly begin to shine. Jesus reminded each church of an aspect of his character that could help them in their unique circumstances.

 

Our Specific Weakness Forces Us to Depend on a Specific Aspect of God’s Character

 

 

Not only do churches have different weaknesses, but every person has them also. We all wish we were perfect, but we each have different flaws and weaknesses. Did you know that each specific flaw and weakness in your life provides a unique opportunity to depend on Christ in a specific way? For example, a person who is good-tempered by nature doesn’t need to learn and experience Christ’s patience. But a person who has a short temper has a unique opportunity to learn His patience. When we frequently focus on and pay attention to Christ’s patience, we will gradually be transformed into his image. We will experience spiritual transformation and become patient people. Friends around us who know that we are quick-tempered by nature will be astonished when they see the transformation Jesus has provided. "Only God could have done this! He is real,” they will say. In this way, we will become effective witnesses for Christ—even more than naturally good-tempered people.

 

Many times, our past failures and struggles become an excellent opportunity to be a witness for Christ. For example, a former drug addict sinned who has trusted in Jesus Christ and overcome his drug addiction can be a very good witness to other drug addicts. A woman who transitioned to the opposite gender and later regretted it has a unique story to tell. She can bear witness to the pain of changing her gender after believing the lies of the enemy in a way that other people cannot. She can testify to the beauty of the gender that God created in a way that most could never do.

 

This brings us to a crucial question: Are our eyes focused on our own failures, or are we focused on God's provision in this area? Are we paying attention to the specific characteristics of God’s grace that we would have otherwise missed? I am not denying that our failures, weaknesses, and shortcomings cause pain to ourselves and God. I am saying that our primary attention should be on God’s specific characteristics that fill the specific gaps of our weaknesses. In this way, our lives will become a mirror that reflects the glory of the Lord, and gradually transforms us into His image (2 Corinthians 3:18).

 

Similarly, when many people read the letters to the seven churches, they focus on the shortcomings of each church, rather than on God’s provision to help the churches overcome their struggles. We must focus on the characteristics of God’s provision and reflect on the ways God’s character can help us in our own shortcomings. Only then can we gradually achieve God’s calling and His expectations for our lives. Remember, the first sentence of Jesus Christ's letter to the seven churches reveals an aspect of his character that can help the church with its unique struggles.

 

He Who Holds the Seven Stars In His Right Hand And Walks Among The Seven Golden Lampstands

 

One of the duties of the high priest in the Old Testament was to trim the wicks of the golden lampstand. When the wick itself starts to burn rather than burning the oil in the lamp, that wick must be trimmed so that it doesn’t start to smoke. Normally, when oil from the lamp penetrates the wick, the wick itself doesn’t burn—just like the flame in the burning bush did not burn the bush. When our hearts are full of God’s love and his oil, we flourish. But when our hearts love something else, our spirit will be not full of oil, and our fire will be dimmed or nearly extinguished. We will give off a burning smell. Therefore, just like the high priests in the Old Testament walked among the lampstands and trimmed the wicks in the sanctuary, the Lord Jesus will also trim the wicks of the church. As our heavenly High Priest, the Lord Jesus walks among our lampstands to trim away idolatrous love.

 

No one wants to be trimmed. The place where God prunes us is often the place that our flesh cherishes the most. But if God doesn't prune us, those earthly things we cherish will eventually steal our oil and diminish our fire. God’s pruning and discipline allow us to learn the lesson of obedience. The Holy Spirit is given to those who obey him (Acts 5:32), so God’s pruning allows us to be filled even more with the oil of the Holy Spirit.

 

Now let’s dig into the meaning of the seven stars in the right hand of the Lord Jesus. Although we know they represent the angels of the seven churches (Revelation 1:20), who are the angels? Are they literal angels, or overcoming saints? Are they seven aspects of Jesus’ nature that can help the seven churches know how to act here on earth?

 

We know that in the Old Testament book of Proverbs, "wisdom" is personified as a woman. Proverbs 4:8 says, "Prize her highly, and she will exalt you; she will honor you if you embrace her." Who is "her"? Yet Isaiah 11:2 prophesies of Christ with similar language: "And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord." In this passage, “wisdom" refers to the Spirit of God or to an aspect of the manifestation of the Holy Spirit. The church is the body of Christ, and the seven churches are the seven manifestations of Jesus Christ, the head. Wouldn’t it make sense to say that the seven churches should manifest the seven divine characteristics of Jesus Christ or the seven aspects of the Holy Spirit?

 

For a moment, let’s set aside the idea that the seven stars are seven literal angels or seven overcoming saints. Wouldn’t it be strange to think of Jesus holding seven angels or seven believers in his hand? Wouldn’t it make more sense to see that Jesus holds seven manifestations of the Spirit or seven aspects of his personality: the High Priest, the Resurrection, the Word of God, the Judge, the Living Lord, the Holy One, and the True One, Amen? These characteristics of Christ correspond to the unique needs of each of the seven churches and are designed to help them be set free from their various weakness.

 

Holding the seven stars in His right hand, Jesus begins walking among the golden lampstands. He first illuminates a shortcoming of the church in Ephesus: they have forsaken their first love. The seven stars are not intended only for the church in Ephesus, but for all seven churches. Whenever the Bible mentions a principle, it is intended to be applied later as well. The seven stars are also mentioned in the letter to Sardis, so it’s clear that the seven stars are not only aimed at the church in Ephesus. Nor is the picture of Jesus walking among the golden lampstands aimed only at the church in Ephesus. At the same time, the picture of Jesus holding the seven stars in His right hand and walking among the golden lampstands is an excellent way to show how the problems of the church in Ephesus can be solved. The believers in Ephesus need to forsake the things that keep their hearts away from God, accept the pruning and discipline of the High Priest Jesus Christ, and return to their first love. They must be filled with the oil of the Holy Spirit so their golden lampstand shines brighter and is not removed from its place. If they harden their hearts and refuse to repent, God would remove their lampstand and they would lose their testimony.

 

The First, The Last; The One Who Died And Lived Again

 

When going through trials, believers and churches often ask, "God, where are You? Why do You allow these things to happen to me?" Jesus said, "In the world, you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33). Suffering and trials are inevitable, and they bring victory and maturity in a way that a comfortable life does not. A Chinese brother was imprisoned for several years for smuggling and distributing Bibles. Later, he was about to leave for China and immigrate to the United States. A Christian brother was seeing him off. He said, "If you can continue to love the Lord when you arrive in the United States, you will be victorious." The persecution brought about by suffering in China makes people more committed in their faith, while the comfortable life in the United States tempts them to become lax in their spiritual practice.

 

A dispensationalist view of this passage equates the church in Smyrna with the persecuted church in the early Roman Empire. This is true to a degree, but it’s also true that the persecuted church never goes away. The church will always be persecuted. Persecution and suffering are tools in the hands of God to help the church mature. Over the past few years, persecution of churches in Canada, the United States, and Europe has challenged the faith of many Christians. But it has also strengthened the faith of Christians in many European and American countries. Christians in Europe and the United States have been startled by the rampant oppression brought about by leftists and homosexuals, and they have tried to change this situation through political elections. But they encountered many setbacks. I still believe that the church in Europe and the United States will eventually awaken its power and bring about political reversals. But I also believe that persecution will continue to exist for a long time because God knows that persecution benefits the church. Just like cold weather helps plants grow deeper roots, persecution will help the church take root.

 

People's natural reaction to persecution is to be discouraged and disappointed. But we must learn not to focus on our political setbacks and failures, or on our enemies, or on our disgrace. Instead, we must focus on God’s provision and the aspects of his character that can meet our specific needs. Jesus is "the first and the last, who died and lives again." The church in Europe and America is currently experiencing a time of weakness and death. But one day, they will experience resurrection, and they will be able to testify even more powerfully that Jesus Christ is "the first, the last, who died and lived again." The churches in Europe and America will one day put their enemies to shame with the church’s powerful testimony of resurrection.

 

I experienced a time of emotional death and resurrection during my ten years of infertility. My heartbreak and tears were like an emotional death. I walked through the valley of the shadow of death. But I also experienced God’s resurrection power. We must believe that our suffering is short-lived. "We will have tribulation for ten days,” but we will eventually receive the "crown of life.” These rewards are not just something we will receive when we die. They can be experienced today.

 

Sharp Two-Edged Sword

 

The sharp sword mentioned in this passage refers to the word of the Lord, which is as sharp and decisive as a double-edged sword. When the church ignores the word of God, demonic teachings will prevail. When we deny that the Bible is the word of God or tamper with His word, we gradually allow the church to become Satan’s throne (2:13). What is Satan's throne? It’s a dominion of lies. God’s word is the truth, and when we ignore the truth, lies thrive.

 

When a church faces difficulty, it is facing the evil work of a specific evil spirit. For example, the church in Ephesus faced the spirit of indifference. Meanwhile, the church in Smyrna faced the spirit of death, and the church in Pergamum faced a spirit of error.

 

When the spirit of error operates in a church body, truth is distorted. When the truth no longer guides believers, the church will be plunged into darkness. Any believers who continue to hold onto the truth, will be persecuted by false and evil spirits working through false and religious believers. For example, Antipas of the church in Pergamum, who was called a faithful witness by the Lord, was persecuted and killed. The spirit of error always persecutes those who hold to the truth. For example, Jesus and Paul were persecuted by Judaism, and Martin Luther was persecuted by Catholicism.

 

A church can fail to keep God’s word in several ways. Some fail by allowing people to sin and commit sexual immorality, not taking God’s word seriously. This church loses God’s blessings because it holds to the teachings of the Nicolaitans and of Balaam. Other times, religious teachers hold a monopoly on the interpretation of God’s word, even prohibiting people from studying it for themselves. For example, Catholics historically would not allow lay people to read the Bible. Only the clergy could read the Latin Bible, and then the pope would teach doctrine to the people. God wants all believers to be able to read His word.

 

Fallen churches that have failed to learn and keep God’s word must repent. They must study and hold on to His word. If they do not repent, the Lord will come to them with the sword of His mouth. The sword in His mouth represents his words of provision and judgment. The church in Pergamum failed because it did not hold on to His word. But Jesus’ sharp double-edged sword, which represents the living Word of God, could bring health and wholeness to the church.

 

Recently, the Methodist Church, a large denomination in the United States, went through a major split. The reason for the split was that a liberal faction rejected the authority of the Bible and began to support homosexuality. The conservative faction advocated for biblical authority and opposed homosexuality. Even though this church’s inception was influenced by John Wesley, a large portion of the denomination has abandoned not only the traditions of John Wesley but also the Bible as a whole.

 

 

Conclusion

 

In the letters that Lord Jesus Christ wrote to the churches in Ephesus, Smyrna, and Pergamos, He provided specifically for their individual needs. To the failing and indifferent church in Ephesus, the Lord Jesus revealed that He is the High Priest who holds seven stars in His hand. Just like the Old Testament high priest trimmed the wicks with the scissors in his hand, the Lord Jesus will also prune us and restore us to our first love. To a church that had been threatened with physical death (Smyrna), Jesus Christ revealed that He is the resurrection. To a failing church that was abandoning the word of God (Pergamum), Jesus revealed that He is the living Word of God, like a sharp double-edged sword. When we focus on these characteristics of Jesus Christ, we will be transformed into His likeness. The key to victory is to look to and reflect on Christ, and not just look at our weaknesses.

 

[1] All Scripture quotations are taken from the English Standard Version unless otherwise noted.

Bible Study With Jairus - Revelation 2 Part1

Bible Study with Jairus - Revelation 2

 

Transcending Time: The Concept of Time in Revelation

 

The book of Revelation is written in the past tense, which seems to indicate that the events it describes have already happened. But a lot of the prophecies in the book are still future; we are still waiting for their fulfillment. How can we understand the difference between time and eternity in the book of Revelation?

 

As we saw in our study of Revelation 1, a lack of understanding of Biblical symbolism can prevent us from understanding the book of Revelation. Similarly, a misunderstanding of the concept of time will limit our understanding of this magnificent book. However, through the Spirit, we can transcend time and space. This will greatly help us understand the book of Revelation.

 

The denomination where I was saved was strongly influenced by "dispensationalism," a concept taught by Darby and Scofield. These teachers believe that the seven churches mentioned in Revelation 2-3 represent seven different ages. The church in Ephesus represents the original, apostolic church; the church of Smyrna represents the persecuted church in the Roman Empire; the church in Pergamum represents the church’s downfall after the establishment of Christianity as the state religion; and the church in Sardis represents the church after the Reformation; the church in Philadelphia represents the great revivals and the rise of the Missionary Era; and the church in Laodicea represents the lukewarm end-time church. Based on this theory, God eventually had no choice but to judge the believers of this age. Only a few believers were victorious.

 

Teachings like this are circulating in many churches. Some of these teachings are correct, but often, these teachings are too limited by the concept of time. These seven churches may represent seven churches in different periods, but they could also depict seven different postures of the church in the same time period. Furthermore, these letters to the seven churches transcend time. They are the word of God through the Spirit to the church throughout history. Therefore, we must transcend the concept of time and understand the word of God through the Spirit.

 

How Linear Time Limits Our Thinking

 

Does the Bible record everything in chronological order? Sometimes yes, sometimes no. For example, the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke may have been written in somewhat chronological order, but the story of John is not in chronological order. The stories of John's Gospel are structured to illustrate certain truths. John presents these truths one by one by combining different stories together. So what does the order of the letters to the seven churches convey?

 

On the one hand, these letters are structured in a certain type of chronological order, because some things have not happened yet, but will happen in the future. Yet the book of Revelation was written in the past tense; in the eyes of the author, it had already happened. How do we understand these time differences?

 

We know that Jesus was crucified on the cross 2,000 years ago, yet the book of Revelation says that He appeared "as though had been slain,” presumably recently (Revelation 5:6).[1] Later, the Bible says Christ was “slain before the foundation of the world" (13:8). Similarly, 1 Peter 1:2 says that Jesus Christ was "chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father,” and verse 20 says, "Christ was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you." The Lamb existed long ago and will continue to exist in eternity. But he entered time and appeared to us at a specific time and place. Therefore, from this perspective, time is relative to us. If we imagine time as a circle, then outside time (the circle) is eternity, and inside the circle (time) is the realm where we live as material human beings. Generally speaking, we can’t break out of time, just like we can't go beyond the speed of light. But we know that if our speed approaches the speed of light, we will exceed the limitations of time. Einstein's theory of relativity explains this point of view. Similarly, we can break through the limitations of time in the spirit.

 

We often think that time is linear and sequential. This linear thinking creates a lot of constraints and hinders our understanding of many things. A linear thinker would say, “How can the Lamb be recently killed in Revelation 5 and killed before the foundation of the world in Revelation 13?” If we are limited by linear thinking, we will not be able to understand this paradox. Instead, it is helpful to think of time as a circle. Outside the circle is eternity, and inside the circle is time. The Lord Jesus said that He is the Alpha and the Omega, which are the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet. If we put all the letters of the Greek alphabet in a circle, this can represent time. When time is imagined as a circle, it will help us understand these dilemmas. If time is a circle, the starting point is very near the ending point.

 

On a school track, runners compete against each other on a circular track. As they run laps around the track, their positions change, and their perspectives on the starting line and finish line also change. For instance, when the runners start their race, the coach’s eagle looks huge; but when the runners are halfway around the track, the bird looks very small. Both are correct. It’s just that the runner’s vantage point has changed. In the same way, when the apostle John saw the slain Lamb in Revelation 5, he felt that He had just been slain, but when he ran forward to Revelation 13, he said that the lamb had been slain before the foundation of the world. This is because John was looking at the lamb from a different distance, perspective, and angle.

 

The Spirit Can Break the Limitations of Time

 

We must understand that the limits of time can be superseded. If the runners leave the track after the competition is over, they will be completely outside of the realm of the competition. Time is like a track, a boundary established by God inside which we can seek salvation and learn to know him here on earth.  

 

Here is another example. When NASA recently crashed a spacecraft into an asteroid during a test, it changed the orbit of the asteroid. Time is like the orbit of this asteroid. When hit by an external force, the orbit can change.

 

Time is also like Highway I-495 which runs around Washington, D.C. As long as we continue traveling on this highway, we circle D.C. But if we take any of the exits, we leave the circle. In the same way, we can exit time. How? We can leave the realm of time in the Spirit.

 

The Spirit can raise us up to a new realm of experience and give us a perspective that transcends time. When we are free from the limits of time, we can observe the events taking place within time. We will observe them from an outside perspective, like the spectators observe the people running in the track. From a high vantage point, we have a completely different perspective.

 

The content recorded in the Book of Revelation takes place within time, but the Book of Revelation helps us see from a perspective beyond time. If we try to understand it from within time, we will encounter limitations that lead to misunderstandings. For example, is the church within time or beyond time? On the one hand, Revelation tells the church of the church’s birth, growth, and development to spiritual maturity within time. On the other hand, the church is beyond time. The Bible says that "he chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world" (Ephesians 1:4). So, did the Lord speak to the seven churches within time? Or beyond time? If it is within time, were these letters addressed to the seven churches in Asia in the time of the apostle John, or to the church today? Should we treat this timeline as linear or circular? A linear timeline is constantly moving forward and never repeats itself. Circular time is repetitive. Events can be constantly replicated. At the same time, if an event is beyond time, it is not constrained by the limits of time.

 

I believe that Dispensationalism is too limited in its concept of time. It is too linear. Even though in many ways, the historical development of the church seems to match up pretty well with the messages to the seven churches, in other ways it does not. The first two letters to the churches indeed seem to correspond to the original church which was persecuted by the Roman Empire and the compromising church that joined itself to the Roman Empire and the secular world. But after that, it’s more difficult to see the correlation. Dispensationalism correlates the church in Sardis to the church of Reformation, and the church in Philadelphia to the dispensationalist revivals. (Countless dispensational churches consider themselves to be the church in Philadelphia.) Does this mean that everyone who believes they are the church in Philadelphia will later experience the death and fall of their church, as happened to the church in Laodicea? I believe this view is a little too limited by linear thinking.

 

To a certain extent, church history is no doubt a linear development. But it is also a circle, a realm that can be viewed from inside or from outside. The attitudes of the seven churches in the book of Revelation continue to repeat themselves in churches at different times and in different places. God’s people continue to make mistakes, correct their mistakes, and learn, thereby becoming mature. We are God’s pottery; God is the craftsman; time is the furnace. The process of being refined in the furnace requires time. After we have been refined and have matured, time will no longer be necessary. We will enter eternity. During the refining process, our dross is discarded and our gold is retained. Dross represents things that dwell within time, and gold represents eternal things, or beyond time. Therefore, in the process of understanding the book of Revelation, we must see which concepts are temporary “dross” that dwells within time, and which ones are eternal “gold” that dwells beyond time. Time is the furnace that will refine us.

 

While reading the letters to the seven churches in the book of Revelation, it’s important to distinguish between the commands that are restricted to a certain time period and the concepts that are outside of time. There is a staggering contrast between these two. As I have said many times, Jesus’ letters to the churches are presented in a sandwich structure. The first part contains words of praise, the middle section contains words of reproach, and the last part contains words of encouragement. This structure is both outside of and within time. The entire Bible is structured like this. Before Adam's sin in Genesis 3, mankind was perfectly good; although they dwelt within time, people had no sin. The period of time before Genesis 3 also included eternity past, as mentioned in John 1. The middle portion of the sandwich contains Genesis 3 to Revelation 20. After this, Satan is thrown into the lake of fire, time comes to an end, and people will enter into eternity. The last section is the end of the book of Revelation, in which the eternal state resembles the pre-fall Garden of Eden. In a sense, the end of time returns to the beginning of time. The refining fire of time has ended, and time is done away with. Not only does time disappear, but “death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire" (Revelation 20:14). Time, death, and Hades are tools in the hands of God to help us enter eternity.

 

Time is Like Photography: Long and Close Shots

 

In my prophetic dreams, I have often been taken to heaven, where I have viewed heavenly scenes outside of time. But simultaneously, I continued to live in the material realm of time. How could I experience these spiritual realities while limited by my material body? These experiences taught me that I need to learn to switch perspectives with ease. On the one hand, I will live forever, and I am already beginning my eternal life right now. (Many people think that eternal life starts after death, which is incorrect. Eternal life starts the moment we are saved!) On the other hand, I am temporarily living my eternal life within the constraints of time. So I must be able to switch quickly back and forth between the two different perspectives. I often tell my wife about my dreams of heaven. She says, “You don't even sound like you are living in this world. When presenting your experiences and the things you have learned, you should take into account the different feelings and perspectives of the people around you.”

 

The Book of Revelation does a great job of speaking about spiritual, timeless realities while also speaking of earthly, time-bound events. These two narratives intersect and switch seamlessly back and forth. One moment, he is discussing things in the spirit, in heaven, beyond time. The next, he is speaking of temporal things on earth. We must be able to switch freely between these two perspectives, just like a camera lens switches freely between close and long shots. Therefore, when reading the book of Revelation, we must understand which events are earthly and which ones are heavenly; which ones are within time, and which ones are eternal. We must learn to see the church in the book of Revelation the same way a geologist sees a gold mine. A geologist does not classify a gold mine by the amount of soil that surrounds the ore, but by the amount of gold. The process in the Book of Revelation is the process of refining the gold to eliminate the useless rock and sand.

 

When we realize that God's will for the church lies outside of time and within eternity, we can understand our ultimate purpose and direction so that we don't get lost in our current experiences of suffering. And when we look at the temporal needs and weaknesses of the church, we will see the ways we need to be purified so we can cooperate with God's discipline, which removes our dross and makes us spiritually mature. When we read Revelation, we must constantly switch back and forth between these two different perspectives.

 

Glorious Eschatology

 

Dispensationalist eschatology and other similar belief systems seem to produce negative results. Many people are restricted by this type of linear thinking. They compare the seven churches in Revelation to the seven ages of the church. The last age is Laodicea, the lukewarm church. God will eventually come to judge the world, take to heaven all the overcomers in the church, and discipline other people. This explanation is partially correct, but it has an overly negative focus. According to Revelation, the last days are extremely glorious. The book of Revelation does contain negative events, such as various judgments, the acts of the evil spirits, and our rebellion; but it is also full of positive visions, encouragement, spiritual harvests, and victory. The appearance of the bride of Christ and spiritual overcomers in chapter 12 is the turning point in the book of Revelation. Later, with the help of God and the angels, the bride of Christ fights against Satan and his army and wins the victory. This not only brings in the glorious millennial kingdom, but also ushers in the end of the age, the new heaven and new earth, and eternity.

 

We must re-examine our eschatology because many people are deeply influenced by negative eschatology. As soon as there is a sign of trouble, such as disasters, wars, and darkness in the church, they immediately become discouraged, waiting for God to judge them and take them away. They give up trying. This is actually a trick of Satan.

 

The Lord Jesus taught his followers to pray, “May God's will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” If God had wanted us to fail in the last days, the Lord Jesus would not have needed to pray this prayer. God's will will eventually be done on earth as it is in heaven. As Habakkuk 2:14 says, "For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD as the waters cover the sea.” (see also Isaiah 11:9). Isaiah 60:1-3 also says, "Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you. For behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; but the Lord will arise upon you, and his glory will be seen upon you. And nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising."

 

When the Israelites came out of Egypt, God used a pillar of fire to divide the Israelites and the Egyptians. The Israelites were in the pillar of fire and the Egyptians were in darkness. Whether we are in darkness or in the light of the pillar of fire depends entirely on whose side we are on. If we stand with God and God's elect, we will be illuminated by the pillar of fire. But if we stand with the enemy, we will be in darkness. Unfortunately, many of God's elect have been deceived by the enemy in the last days. They stand in darkness. If your eschatology is negative, dark, and escapist, you may have been deceived by the enemy. You need to pray that God will enlighten you so that you can stand with the right team. In the last days, we should rise and shine. We should not only “shine like a star,” as Daniel said, but also “shines brighter and brighter until full day”! (Proverbs 4:18)

 

 

[1] All Scripture quotations are taken from the English Standard Version unless otherwise noted.

 

Bible Study With Jairus - Deuteronomy 7

Bible Study with Jairus- Deuteronomy 7

 

Do You Have Idols in Your Heart?

 

 

In Deuteronomy 7, God gave the Israelites a command to kill all the Canaanites (7:2), but he also commanded the Israelites not to destroy them quickly, lest the wild beasts grow too numerous for them (7:22). I believe God’s first command shows the importance of our attitude, and the second command shows the importance of our method.

 

The theme of Deuteronomy is to teach the second generation of Israel not to worship idols. God says that idolatry and disobedience to God are closely related, even synonymous. For example, when Saul did not obey God's command to destroy the Amalekites, Samuel rebuked him saying, "Rebellion is equal to sorcery; stubbornness is equal to worshiping false gods and house gods" (ESV, 1 Samuel 15:23).[1] Rebellion is disobedience, and sorcery is idolatry. That’s why I say that disobeying God is idolatry.

 

To expose our idolatry, God often gives us a command that seems unreasonable in order to test our obedience. When we obey this difficult command, it shows that God is most important to us and there are no idols in our hearts. But when we refuse to obey Him, it shows that something else is more important to us than God.

 

It’s not difficult to understand why God told the Israelites to kill all the Canaanites. The Canaanites represent the strongholds of evil and idolatry in our hearts. We must remove such strongholds from our lives, throwing aside the sins that entangle us (Hebrews 12:1-3). Obeying God’s commands to conquer these besetting sins is often painful and difficult. If we can't overcome these entangling weaknesses, they continue to trap us and drag us into sin. God deals with our attitude as we remove the strongholds of sin from our hearts.

 

If our hearts are willing to obey God, He will help us overcome evil spirits and idols. This is a matter of method. Our attitude is important, but so is our method. Because of God's wise methods, we can eventually overcome evil spirits and idols.

 

Obedience To God Is the Criterion For Judging Whether We Have Idols In Our Hearts

 

As I have said many times, the structure of Deuteronomy is a sandwich. At the beginning, Moses praised the Israelites for learning the lesson of faith in the wilderness. At the end, he blessed the Israelites again. The middle section reiterates the contents of the law and teaches the Israelites not to worship idols. The Israelites learned the lesson of faith in the wilderness, but not the lesson about not worshipping idols. Therefore, God's next step is to test the Israelites and teach them not to worship idols. In addition to commanding the Israelites not to worship idols, God also tests them to see if they will obey His commands.

 

Let’s look at a few other times God tested people to see if they would obey him. In 1 Samuel 13, King Saul was waiting for Samuel to come and offer a sacrifice to God, but Samuel did not come on time. Saul waited a week, and his troops were beginning to desert him. So Saul decided to offer the burnt offering on his own. As soon as he had finished offering the burnt offering, Samuel came. Samuel rebuked Saul for not waiting for him. Saul then replied, “You did not come on time, the people were scattering from me. The Philistines had also mustered at Michmash to come against me at Gilgal.” (1 Samuel 13:8-12). Samuel said, "You have done foolishly. You have not kept the command of the Lord your God, with which he commanded you. For then the Lord would have established your kingdom over Israel forever. But now your kingdom shall not continue. The Lord has sought out a man after his own heart, and the Lord has commanded him to be prince over his people, because you have not kept what the Lord commanded you." (1 Samuel 13:13-14).

 

Why was God so offended when Saul did not wait for Samuel to offer the sacrifice? Saul was a king, not a priest. Only the priest Samuel could lawfully offer sacrifices to God. Saul overstepped his authority by offering sacrifices.

 

Why did Saul decide not to wait for Samuel to come and offer the sacrifice? Because he was afraid of his people and of the enemy. His eyes were not fixed on God alone, like David's were. Instead, he reacted to his people’s preferences. Saul feared the opinions of his own troops and he feared his enemies, but he didn’t fear God.

 

God deliberately allowed Samuel to arrive late to see whether Saul would obey Him. If Saul decided to obey and wait on God in faith, it would mean that he magnified God above all other priorities. If Saul did not wait, it would show that he feared people more than God. Why did he fear people? Because he was afraid that they would desert him and stop supporting him as king. Being in power was his idol. Later, in order to keep his position of power, Saul tried to kill David on many occasions. This is proof that his position was his idol.

 

God also tested the Syrian general Naaman to see if he would obey a difficult, seemingly nonsensical command. Naaman had traveled all the way to Israel to ask Elisha to cure his leprosy. But when he arrived, Elisha didn’t even come out to speak to him personally. He just sent a messenger to tell him that if he bathed in the Jordan seven times, he would be healed. This angered Naaman. “I thought that he would surely come out to me and stand and call upon the name of the LORD his God, and wave his hand over the place and cure the leper,” Naaman said (2 Kings 5:11). Elisha’s behavior was completely different from what Naaman had imagined. Naaman said angrily, “Aren’t the rivers in Damascus better than Israel's? Why should I wash in the dirty Jordan river?” Naaman was angry, but his servant persuaded him to obey God. The servant convinced him that washing in the Jordan was an easy assignment; he might as well try it. So Naaman obeyed God, went to the Jordan river, and washed himself seven times. Because of his obedience, God healed him of his leprosy (2 Kings 5:11-14).

 

God's commands may sometimes seem unreasonable. As Pastor Bill Johnson used to say, “God often offends our minds to reveal our hearts.” His commands may seem unconventional and offensive. But our obedience to these commands reveals whether we are willing to obey God. And our obedience to God reveals whether or not we have idols in our hearts.

 

God’s command to exterminate the Canaanites seemed cruel and difficult to understand. But it would reveal whether the second-generation Israelites were willing to obey God or whether they were still loyal to their idols. The Canaanites represent evil spirits and idolatry and the strongholds they build in man. Therefore, God asked the Israelites to get rid of them.

 

God often uses the same method today to see if we will obey Him. His difficult commands reveal whether or not we have idols in our hearts. God wants to break down these strongholds. If we don’t obey him, these strongholds will entangle us.

 

 

Canaanites Represent the Strongholds of Evil and Idolatry.

 

The Canaanite towns were full of evil spirits and idolatries. God knew that their idolatry would rob the Israelites of their ability to worship God. If the Israelites were to unite with the Canaanites and marry their children, they would join their idolatry and be captured by the stronghold of evil. This is why God commanded the Israelites to destroy the Canaanites, not to marry their children, to break down their altars, to dash in pieces their pillars, to chop down their Asherah poles, and to burn their carved images with fire (7:3-5). The Israelites were to destroy every single idol of the Canaanites.

 

But the Israelites were reluctant to do so, just like we are often reluctant to give up the sins that entangle us. Why? Because we enjoy the pleasure of sin.

 

Let’s return to the story of Saul. Saul failed God’s first test when he did not wait for Samuel to offer the sacrifice. Then God tested him again. In 1 Samuel 15, Samuel told Saul that God wanted him to kill the Amalekites because they had resisted the Israelites with all their might when they came out of Egypt. Samuel specifically instructed Saul not to show mercy to the Amalekites, but to kill all men, women, children, and livestock.

 

Saul followed God’s instruction to fight the Amalekites, but he did not follow the command to destroy them completely. He spared Agag, the king of the Amalekites, and the best of the sheep and oxen. They destroyed everything in the city that was despised and worthless, but he saved the good things. Because of Saul’s disobedience, God sent Samuel to rebuke Saul. God said he regretted making Saul king. And he spoke the famous words equating idolatry and disobedience: "For rebellion is as the sin of divination, and presumption is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, he has also rejected you from being king." (1 Samuel 15:23).

 

Many times, our experiences mirror Saul’s. God commands us to completely destroy the sin that entangles us. We’re happy to destroy the sins that we don’t care about, but we hold onto the ones we enjoy. For instance, a brother said he was struggling to overcome the temptation to watch pornographic videos. Clearly, this is an entangling sin that should be destroyed completely.  So why is it so hard to destroy? Because we enjoy it so much. The main reason we cannot overcome a certain sin or weakness is that we still love it. If we truly hated it, we would be able to quickly overcome it.

 

Deuteronomy 7:25-26 says, "The carved images of their gods you shall burn with fire. You shall not covet the silver or the gold that is on them or take it for yourselves, lest you be ensnared by it, for it is an abomination to the Lord your God. And you shall not bring an abominable thing into your house and become devoted to destruction like it. You shall utterly detest and abhor it, for it is devoted to destruction.” God knows we must hate sin in order to overcome it.

 

Lessons of Faith and Obedience in Our Spiritual Experience

 

As Christians grow spiritually, God teaches them lessons of faith and obedience. Like the Israelites, we must first learn the lesson of faith, and then move on to the lesson of obedience.

 

Learning the lesson of faith helps us get to know God, his goodness, and his sovereignty. God's goodness never changes, no matter how our circumstances may change. We will encounter storms in our lives, but the sun always shines above the clouds. In the same way, God’s goodness and sovereignty always shine above the difficulties of our lives. God made known his nature to Moses, and he will make known his nature to us (Psalm 103:7). When God appeared to Moses long ago, He revealed his goodness: "The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness" (Exodus 34:6).

 

Moses knew God personally, spoke to the Lord face to face, and mastered the lesson of faith. But it took a lifetime to learn the lesson of obedience. Near the end of his life, Moses disobeyed God’s clear instructions when bringing water out of the rock at Meribah. God disciplined Moses and would not let him enter the land of Canaan (Numbers 20:12).

 

 

Like Moses, Christians today often learn the lesson of faith more quickly, and the lesson of obedience more slowly. The lesson of obedience is often harder than the lesson of faith. Personally, I experienced a difficult wilderness experience in which I learned the lesson of faith. Through ten years of infertility, I experienced God’s faithfulness and learned to trust him through suffering.

 

After God had taught me this lesson of faith, he began to teach me the lesson of obedience.  The Lord Jesus appeared to me one day and challenged me to obey Him completely. After being taken to heaven, I heard the Lord say, “Surrender to me completely.” I cried, “The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” (Matthew 26:41) Through the mouth of a prophet, the Holy Spirit told me that I was too strong-willed and that I needed to learn to obey God. Many people and things in my environment made it difficult for me to obey. I was struggling so hard. I felt like I could not surrender. But the more disobedient I was, the more severely the Holy Spirit disciplined me. I was really suffering. It was hard for me to fight God’s will. When I finally surrendered to God, I realized that obedience is a blessing.

 

 

Unfortunately, there are many spiritual leaders who have attained great success and then fallen into great sin. If we observe carefully, we will realize that the root cause of their sin is that they failed to deal with some weakness in their spiritual life. After they become successful, they start slacking off spiritually. This weakness becomes a snare and traps them in sinful patterns. Whether it is David committing adultery with Bathsheba, or apologist Ravi Zacharias committing sexual assault, we can see that their weaknesses were not fully dealt with. They failed to totally destroy the evil strongholds of sin in their lives, just like the Israelites failed to totally destroy the Canaanites. After these men became famous and successful, their weaknesses came back to haunt them. The weaknesses became idols in their hearts. Eventually, they were trapped, snared, and overwhelmed by a lifestyle of sin.

 

When I first believed in the Lord, I asked God, “Why didn't You allow me to grow up in a Christian home? Why did you allow me to fall into so many sinful failures?” I felt very confused. But gradually, I came to understand that God sovereignly allowed these experiences for a reason. Because I had experienced failure, I had also experienced the process of breaking down idols and learning to obey God. The sins and weaknesses I experienced before salvation showed me the horrific nature of sin and exposed my weaknesses. I saw very clearly the evil strongholds in our family. Because of these early realizations, I believe I am less likely to fall into sin down the road when I’m in the process of fulfilling God’s call. I would rather have made mistakes and learned from them than fall into unsuspected sin later on in life. It’s better to have my sins exposed early, rather than exposing them later when they would do more damage to the people I am serving. I am truly amazed at God’s wisdom.

 

The earlier our sins can be exposed, the better. We don’t need to wait until later for our weaknesses to be exposed.

 

God’s Methods for Overcoming Evil Spirits

 

After our hearts and attitudes are dealt with, we need to wait for God's leading about the method for overcoming the specific sin we are struggling with. God will lead in different ways for different people, using different methods for different circumstances.

 

For instance, God gradually removed the Canaanite nations, commanding the Israelites not to destroy them too quickly, in order to prevent the wild beasts from growing too numerous for them (7:22). People generally interpret the beasts here as evil spirits. The Lord Jesus once told a parable about an unclean spirit coming out of a person. It could not find a place to go, so it returned to the person from whom it came. When it saw that the house was swept and put in order, it brought seven other spirits more evil than itself to dwell there. And the state of this person was worse than the first (Luke 11:24-26). The Canaanites represent the strongholds of evil spirits on earth. After destroying the strongholds and casting out the evil spirits, we must invite the baptism of the Holy Spirit into our lives so we can continue to experience transformation. If we do not grow spiritually, our freedom won’t last long. The power of sin may return, and we may still fail.

 

Conclusion

 

We must rely on the power and leading of the Holy Spirit to defeat the strongholds of idols and evil spirits in our lives. In this way, our weaknesses won’t be as likely to become snares in the future. Bless those brothers and sisters who are called by God to deal with their weaknesses and impurities so they can become God’s strong warriors.

 

 

 

 

 

[1] All Scripture quotations are taken from the English Standard Version unless otherwise noted.

 

Bible Study with Jairus - Deuteronomy 6

Bible Study with Jairus - Deuteronomy 6

 

Why do Christian Nations Fall?

 

Deuteronomy 6 raises some troubling questions. Why did the second generation of Israel fall after they arrived in the land of Canaan? By the same token, why do Christian countries such as the United Kingdom and the United States—which have been greatly used by God in the past—face widespread degeneration of their faith? Why do second-generation and third-generation Christians often abandon their faith?

 

Deuteronomy 6 gives us insight into this question. I believe that Christians begin to stray away from God, degenerate in their faith, and worship idols when they treat God’s grace and God’s word as commonplace. Instead, we must keep God's word in our hearts, continue to learn His word, and experience the truth of His word. We must teach God’s word to our children through our lives and actions. If we just lecture our children with surface-level rules but never internalize God’s word or experience His words personally, they will sense our hypocrisy. This will cause the next generation to inevitably stumble.

 

The Consequences of Apathy

 

In Deuteronomy 4, Moses previewed the future apostasy of the second generation of Israelites. He said, "When you father children and children's children, and have grown old in the land, if you act corruptly by making a carved image in the form of anything, and by doing what is evil in the sight of the Lord your God, so as to provoke him to anger." (ESV, Deuteronomy 4:25)[1]. The second generation of Israel would turn away from God and worship idols because they had “grown old in the land.” In other words, God's blessings had made them apathetic, arrogant, and proud. They needed God to change their environment to remind them to repent. Jeremiah 48:11-12 mentions the same concept: "Moab has been at ease from his youth and has settled on his dregs; he has not been emptied from vessel to vessel, nor has he gone into exile; so, his taste remains in him, and his scent is not changed. ‘Therefore, behold, the days are coming,’ declares the Lord, ‘when I shall send to him pourers who will pour him, and empty his vessels and break his jars in pieces.’” Because the wine was not constantly poured back and forth from jar to jar during the wine-making process, the lees had settled. In the same way, Moab had settled in ease and apathy. The lack of trials in their environment meant shortcomings and fallen nature were never challenged.

 

Is there hope? Can the second generation overcome the natural apathy of “growing old” in their Christianity?

 

Standing on the Shoulders of the First Generation

 

As we’ve discussed in previous lessons, the first generation of Israelites learned from the previous generation’s failure of faith. Rather than doubting God like the first generation did, they entered the promised land with faith.

 

However, they did not so easily learn from the first generation’s failures in the area of idolatry. They inherited the baggage of their ancestors’ idolatry. As second-generation Christians today, we should actively inherit the abundant heritage that our predecessors left to us. We need to “stand on the shoulders of giants,” as the saying goes. We should build on what they left behind. Their ceiling should be our floor. We need to not only inherit their positive abundance, but also avoid their mistakes.

 

Not all second- and third-generation Christians walk away from God. Historically, many second or third-generation Christians have been greatly used by God. For example, when I read the biography of Andrew Murray, I was deeply inspired. Andrew's uncle and father were both pastors. As a child, Andrew was sent to Holland with his brother to study theology, Hebrew, and Greek. After receiving a good education and training, he went to South Africa to become a pastor. There, he was greatly used by God. He knew the Bible very well and was spiritually mature.

 

When I compared my own biblical heritage to Andrew Murray’s, I realized that I had very little Biblical foundation. I was a first-generation and had received no Christian inheritance from my family. I was born into a family of idolaters. Before I was saved at age 27, I experienced the entanglement of sin and the flesh. Rather than receiving a deep Christian education, I was educated in the ways of the world. I felt gypped. I was deeply envious of Andrew Murray's experience. I thought, “If I could have been born into a Christian family and received a spiritual education as good as Andrew Murray’s, I might be more useful in God's hands.”

 

But that wasn’t the life path God chose for me. I later realized that God’s wisdom allowed me to experience these trials and tribulations so that I could better empathize with Christians who fall into sin. I realized that it was not too late to study the abundant heritage passed down to me through Christian books and resources from those who had gone before.

 

God wants us to pass on our spiritual heritage to the next generation, so that they can have a better starting point. We must share our experiences of faith and even our failures so they can learn from our example. We must learn how to teach the next generation well.

 

Lead the Next Generation by Example

 

I once saw a movie about a second-generation American Christian who rebelled against the hypocrisy she saw in her parents. Though the parents claimed to be generous when in church, they showed their true colors when at home. They refused to give a penny toward God’s work. Frustrated, the daughter donated the entire education fund left by her parents to the pastor. When her parents found out, they became very angry and tried to find a way to get the money back from the pastor. The pastor was also a money-grubber. He refused to return the money. He told the parents, "The money donated to the church is given to God and cannot be taken back." The daughter did not see a positive Christian testimony from her parents.

 

Later, the daughter met some unbelieving friends who were involved with a homeless outreach. She began volunteering with her new friends. The message of the movie is that unbelievers, including homosexuals, demonstrate more true love than Christians. When I watched this movie, I sighed. Unfortunately, this portrayal of American Christian society and family is not far from the truth.

 

In light of the sad condition of American Christianity, we must pay close attention to Deuteronomy 6. God commanded the Israelites to focus on his word and always keep it in their hearts. Only in this way could they pass his word on to their children. The formula portrayed in this chapter is: First study God’s word for yourself, and then pass it on to your children.

 

Deuteronomy 6:1-2 records the words that Moses taught the second generation of Israelites. "Now this is the commandment—the statutes and the rules—that the Lord your God commanded me to teach you, that you may do them in the land to which you are going over, to possess it.” Then Moses addresses the teaching of the next generation: “That you may fear the Lord your God, you and your son and your son's son, by keeping all his statutes and his commandments, which I command you, all the days of your life, and that your days may be long." This command encompasses both the second generation of Israelites and their children. Throughout the chapter, Moses first tells the second generation of Israelites how to obey and study the word of God, then instructs them about how their children and grandchildren should act.

 

Deuteronomy 6:5-6 says, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart." In these verses, Moses is addressing the second generation of Israelites. But in verse 7, he says, "You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise."

 

In verses 8-9, Moses continued to speak to the second generation of Israelites: "You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.” Forgetting God’s word is the first step toward our spiritual downfall. In verses 10-11, Moses reminded the people that their houses, fields, and produce in the land of Canaan were results of the grace of God, not their own effort. Moses reminded the second generation of Israelites in verse 12, "Then take care lest you forget the Lord, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery." In verses 6:16-19, Moses continued to remind the second generation of Israelites that they should not put God to the test, like the first generation of Israel did in Massah. Moses reminded them that if they obeyed God's law, He would drive out all their enemies before them. In verses 20-21, Moses continued to talk to them about how to teach their children. He said, "When your son asks you in time to come, ‘What is the meaning of the testimonies and the statutes and the rules that the Lord our God has commanded you?’ then you shall say to your son, ‘We were Pharaoh's slaves in Egypt. And the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand.’"

 

This structure continues throughout the chapter. Moses first taught the second generation of Israelites, who were about to enter the land of Canaan, to obey the law of God. Next, he reminded them to teach their descendants. In my previous readings of this chapter, I had never noticed this generational structure. Now, with the help of the Holy Spirit, I noticed the way this passage is arranged and the truth it points to. Just like the second generation of Israelites, we need to study, understand and obey God’s word so we can teach our children to know and obey God’s word.

 

Abraham and Jacob: Two Generations Experience God in Different Ways

 

Moses knew that the second generation of Israelites would not study the law or obey it. He knew they would not teach their children well. Instead, they would fall into idolatry and turn away from God. Does this mean there is no hope?

 

I believe that there is hope for the second generation, even when they wander away from God—just like there was hope for Abraham’s son, Jacob.

 

Like Abraham, many first-generation Christians hear the call of God, leave the land of idolatry, and enter the Promised Land. However, second-generation Christians often have the reverse experience. Like Jacob, they start out in the Promised Land but later leave and return to the land of idolatry. Only there do they come face to face with God’s presence. It is normal for second-generation Christians to fall away, and God will arrange their circumstances so that they have an opportunity to turn back to Him. Each individual’s faith journey is unique. But each generation is cared for by God’s loving sovereignty. All things work together for good to those who love Him.

 

Like Abraham, I am a first-generation Christian who was saved from a land of idolatry. Abraham lived in an idol-worshiping city east of the river, but God called him to leave his homeland and follow Him to a place he did not know. Abraham followed God’s guidance by faith and finally entered the land of Canaan that God had prepared for him and his descendants. Like him, many first-generation Christians are entangled in sin, idolatry, and worldliness. But God’s presence attractively woos them out of sin and into the Promised Land of hope.

 

However, later generations of Christians often have the same experience as Jacob did. Although he lived in Isaac’s house and received his blessing, he himself did not know God. The God of Abraham and Isaac was not the God of Jacob. Jacob tricked his brother and stole his birthright. He then fled from his hometown and went to live with his idol-worshiping uncle. Years before, Abraham’s servant had brought Jacob’s mother, Rebekah, from Abraham's idol-worshiping hometown. After Jacob went to live with his uncle Laban, Jacob’s wife Rachel stole Laban’s household gods. Clearly, idols were still being actively worshiped in Laban’s household.

 

Jacob left to the land of promise and returned to the land of idols. He left God’s blessing in the land of Canaan and entered a land of oppression where he would be mistreated and deceived by his uncle for many years. But it was only through these unfortunate experiences that Jacob met God. In the vision of a ladder on the way to his uncle's house and in his experience of wrestling with God on his way back to the land of Canaan, Jacob came face to face with God Himself.

 

Each of us has a different experience with God. Like Abraham, some people start out in the land of suffering and idolatry, then meet God and enter the land of Canaan. However, others are born in the land of Canaan. Without a personal relationship with God, they walk away from his blessings and return to the land of idols. But God never leaves them alone. He is always with them, waiting for them to return to Him so they can truly know and experience Him.

 

Like Abraham, first-generation Chinese Christians suffer because of their sins and the oppression of idols and evil spirits. Then they encounter God and are set free.

 

Like Jacob, some people are born into Christian homes in Christian countries. They do not know God personally through experience. They fall into sin and walk away from God, but his mercy is still watching over them. Like Jacob, they will meet God in a dream and will wrestle with Him at the ford of Jabbok. He will bring them back to Himself.

 

Conclusion

 

A recent report by the Pew Research Center stated that at the current rate of decline, the percentage of Christians in the United States will drop below 50% of the population by 2070. This statistic has a far-reaching impact on American politics and society. The article argues that only a great revival can change this downward trend. When Steve Bannon shared the article, he asked a question: “Will the Great Revival change this trend?” When I reposted the link, I stated that I believe it is possible. I firmly believe that a great revival in the United States is coming; God has revealed this to me many times through prophetic dreams. I believe this downward trend will definitely reverse.

 

We must remember this truth: It was when Jacob was alone and miserable in the wilderness that he met God. In the United States, there are countless second- and third-generation Christians, and those whose families have been believers for many generations. Even if they turn away from God, His mercy toward them will never come to an end. They will eventually come face to face with their loving Savior.

 

[1] All Scripture quotations are taken from the English Standard Version unless otherwise noted.

 

Leviticus 11 The Spiritual Significance of The Law of Clean and Unclean Food

Bible Study with Jairus - Leviticus 11

 

The Spiritual Significance of The Law of Clean and Unclean Food

 

Leviticus 11 talks about God’s instructions for clean and unclean foods. God told the Israelites they were allowed to eat clean animals that had a divided hoof and that chewed the cud. Pigs have divided hooves but don’t chew the cud, so they are unclean. Camels chew the cud but don’t have divided hooves, so they’re also unclean.

 

We’ve been taught that a divided hoof represents a Christian's ability to discern between good and evil, and that chewing the cud represents Christians chewing on and pondering the Lord's Word. This is certainly a good spiritual explanation. But when the Lord told this to the Israelites, was He really thinking about how Christians would live and read the Bible thousands of years later? Perhaps we can make this current-day application, but I believe the instructions were primarily addressed to the Israelites at the time.

 

Christians also disagree as to why the Lord gave the Israelites these dietary laws. Some think that it was for hygiene and health considerations, while others focus on spiritual interpretations, such as the one given above. We certainly do not deny that God’s words in the Bible can have spiritual interpretations, but it’s also important to consider these words in context.

 

What was the context of God’s instructions about clean and unclean food? For one thing, these instructions come on the heels of an important statement about holiness. When Aaron’s sons Nadab and Abihu were judged by God, he told Aaron that he must be sanctified among those who came near to Him, and He must be glorified before all the people (Leviticus 10:3). In other words, God wanted those who were near Him to break free from the mundane and to live in holiness. In this context, God’s instructions about clean and unclean foods were given for the purpose of creating and maintaining holiness. Chapter 12 then deals with cleanliness after childbirth; chapters 13-14 discuss the cleanliness of a leper; and chapter 15 deals with cleanliness related to bodily discharges. God is dealing with the cleanliness of His chosen people step by step. The laws regarding clean and unclean foods were very important to helping the Israelites maintain holiness before God. God gave instructions about clean and unclean foods in hopes that the Israelites, who were near God, could be sanctified before Him.

 

Why Are There Clean and Unclean Animals?

 

Some say that unclean animals are scavengers who help clean up the environment, so they are not suitable for eating. For example, many fish without scales eat decaying animals at the bottom of the ocean to help clean up the ecosystem. This is beneficial to the ecological cycle. While this observation is generally true, it doesn’t apply in all cases. For example, camels and rabbits are unclean, but they eat grass. Perhaps we need to look deeper to understand the reasons God forbade the eating of certain animals.

 

After the fall of Adam, everything was defiled and affected by sin, even the animals. In the eyes of God, these unclean animals may have been defiled by their rebellion. But animals are not the source of uncleanness. Rather, after humanity rebelled against God, the whole earth was polluted; the animals were only one part of this pollution. The book of Hebrews says that even the heavens and the heavenly tabernacle needed to be cleansed by the blood of Jesus (Hebrews 9:23). Satan’s rebellion polluted even the heavens and the heavenly sanctuary. Such pollution is reflected on earth, defiling the animals along with humankind.

 

Some angels have fallen, while others have not. We know that at least two-thirds of the angels were kept from rebelling alongside Satan. We also know that Satan can tempt people to sin. Our question is, can Satan tempt animals to sin? Some speculate that originally, animals could speak and could converse with Adam. This speculation says that after Satan's rebellion, God may have removed animals’ ability to speak so they would not learn from man’s rebellion and curse God alongside Adam. If this speculation is correct, is it possible that some animals became unclean after Satan's rebellion? In Genesis 1, God saw everything that He made and said, "Very good" (1:31). So, does this mean that there is a possibility that God created all animals to be clean animals? And that some animals were tempted to become unclean after Satan's rebellion? We have no way of knowing because the Bible does not record it. But it's a reasonable guess.

 

Clean Animals Become Sacrifices to Redeem Unclean Animals

 

 

The first time God mentioned clean and unclean animals in the Bible was in Genesis 7. The Lord instructed Noah to take seven pairs of clean animals and one pair of unclean animals (a pair being a male and a female) onto the ark. After the flood receded, Noah took all kinds of clean animals and birds and offered them as burnt offerings on the altar he built. When God smelled the pleasing aroma of the sacrifice, He said in His heart, “I will never again curse the ground because of man. Neither will I ever again strike down every living creature as I have done, and the four seasons shall not cease.” These verses are very interesting. We see that because of man’s sin, the earth was cursed and all living creatures began to suffer alongside humankind. But then we see an interesting phenomenon. As Noah sacrificed the clean animals, God was satisfied and the curse was removed.

 

God allowed seven pairs of clean animals to be on the ark because he knew they would be needed as a sacrifice for redemption. Through his compassion and grace, he also allowed a pair of unclean animals to live on the ark. The clean animals were sacrificed to save the unclean animals.

 

It’s important to understand that it was not the burnt offering that pleased God, but the faith and obedience of Noah. Years later, when the Israelites rebelled against God and worshipped idols, the Lord clearly said, “I am not pleased with the sacrifices of the Israelites.” David also said in Psalm 51 that burnt offerings do not please God, but a broken spirit and a contrite heart do. The Lord Jesus explained that it’s not what goes into a person’s stomach that defiles a person, but the envy and strife that come out of one’s heart. Therefore, true cleansing comes when our hearts are right with God. When our hearts are cleansed, it leads to the sanctification of our souls and the hope of the eventual redemption of our bodies. A clean heart and spirit become a sacrifice so that our soul and body can in turn be saved.

 

So why did God give rules about clean and unclean animals? In addition to health considerations, I believe that God wanted to point to the meaning of sacrifice. Just as clean animals would become a clean sacrifice for unclean animals, God’s Perfect Lamb was offered on behalf of unclean people (Gentiles). Jesus was an unblemished sacrifice that took away sins forever. He was descended from Israel. He was born to redeem all unclean humans and animals. After the Lord Jesus was crucified and resurrected, He not only purified the heavens, but also mankind and all of the universe. That’s why God told Peter in a vision that all animals had been made clean. “What God has made clean, do not regard as common,” God said. Why? Because God's work of cleansing through Christ had already been accomplished on the cross.

 

 

The Relationship Between Sacrifice and Redemption

 

God wanted the Israelites to eat holy food in order for them to become holy. God separated them from the common Gentiles and made them clean so they could become an unblemished sacrifice, the channel through which Christ was born. Just as God allowed clean and unclean animals to live side by side on the ark, He allowed the Gentiles a chance to live alongside the Israelites. The Bible says that God makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust (Mark 5:45). God's special elective grace to Israel made them the first ones to be cleansed, but God's common grace allowed the Gentiles to survive as well. Eventually, the Gentiles would be completely cleansed because of Israel’s descendant, Christ.

 

But the Israelites did not understand this relationship. They exalted God's elective grace too much, while ignoring His common grace to the rest of mankind. They became so exclusive that when Paul mentioned that God had turned his grace to the Gentiles (Acts 22:22), the Jews were so angry that they wanted to kill Paul.

 

This principle is reflected not only in the relationship between Jews and Gentiles, but also in the church. Some Christians are like the Old Testament first fruits. They mature quickly, overcome evil, join the Bride of Christ, and turn into outstanding Christians. Yes, we should celebrate these “clean Christians.” But we must also realize that there are many Christians who mature later. These are also an important part of God’s kingdom.

 

Contrary to many Christians’ beliefs, heaven is not the end of a Christian’s growth toward spiritual maturity. I believe it is another beginning. Our life on earth is part of the process by which we pursue spiritual maturity, and we should cherish this process. But this does not mean that after arriving in heaven, those who are spiritually immature have no chance to continue to grow. This is a common error in thinking. On the contrary, many people's testimonies of heaven mention that in heaven, everyone is still reading the Bible. They still have the opportunity to learn and grow.

 

Of course, God cares about our quick maturity. But He also provides opportunities for those who mature late. Just like the clean animals on Noah's Ark and the Israelites in the Old Testament, the first believers who were cleansed in the New Testament will become a sacrifice for the latecomers, allowing all things to be redeemed. Paul mentions in the book of Romans, "For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now.” (ESV, Romans 8:19-22). What is the pain of childbirth? The Israelites in the Old Testament experienced these labor pains. After thousands of years of training, they finally gave birth to Jesus Christ, who became the redeeming sacrifice of mankind. In the New Testament, the church also went through the pain of childbirth, giving birth to many other sons of God through Jesus Christ.

 

A Lesson from the Hoopoe

 

The hoopoe bird can teach us an important principle. It is the national bird of Israel. This bird is very beautiful, but it is very sloppy and dirty. In Chinese, the hoopoe bird is called "Smelly Aunt.” Despite its beauty, this bird does not pay attention to hygiene and thus is very smelly.

 

Perhaps the unclean birds and animals in the Bible represent man’s rebellion and fallen condition, and that’s why the Israelites are prohibited from eating them. On the one hand, they are beautiful, but on the other hand, they are dirty.

 

Perhaps this is also a picture of the human condition. We are created in the image of God, so we are beautiful. But humans have also defiled themselves through their rebellion, becoming unclean like the Hoopoe. Perhaps every unclean animal represents an aspect of man's uncleanness. Therefore, we need to cleanse ourselves. When we are willing to cleanse ourselves through trusting in Christ, we become a part of spiritual Israel, able to give birth to Christ who can redeem us.

 

Ignoring our physical diet leads to health problems like obesity. But ignoring our spiritual diet has even more serious consequences. If Christians do not pay attention to their spiritual cleansing, separating themselves from common, fleshly, and sinful pleasure and entertainment, they will be like the hoopoe bird. But when we pay attention to the cleanliness of our spiritual diet, we gradually become a clean sacrifice that can be used by God to help unclean people around us. Not only that, but we can also become the sons of God, revealing His glory and setting all things free. Perhaps the hoopoe is not in bondage by choice; like all of creation, it is in bondage because it was subjected to futility by the fall of mankind (Romans 8:20). I hope that in heaven or in the resurrection, the hoopoe will be absolutely beautiful and will no longer be sloppy and dirty.

 

I believe that the hoopoe is a picture of the spiritual life of many Christians. On the one hand, they are beautiful because they are saved by Christ. But on the other hand, they’re not focusing on holiness. They are as sloppy and dirty as the hoopoe.

 

May We All Cleanse Ourselves and Be a Blessing to Others So That God is Pleased

 

When we Christians cleanse ourselves from sin and focus on sanctification, it pleases God as he smells the aroma of our sacrifice. At the same time, our sacrifice can be used by God to be a blessing to others. By choosing the right spiritual food and breaking free from unclean things, we can become a clean sacrifice that pleases both God and man. If we are willing to cleanse ourselves and be put on the altar, God will send fire from heaven to bless our sacrifice greatly. And we will be a blessing to many.

Bible Study with Jairus - Leviticus 4

Bible Study with Jairus - Leviticus 4

Leviticus 4 mentions different sacrifices that were used in several different situations. When the priest and the whole congregation sinned, they were to offer a bull, put its blood on the horns of the altar of fragrant incense, and sprinkle the blood seven times on the veil of the Holy of Holies. But when a leader sinned, he was to offer a male goat. And when a common person sinned, he was commanded to offer a female goat or a female lamb. In this case, the blood would be sprinkled on the brazen altar in the outer courtyard, not on the veil of the Holy of Holies.

Why do these differences exist? The differences in the sizes of the sacrifices and the location where the blood was sprinkled represented different degrees of redemption that were needed for different degrees of sins. This picture also reminds us that when we remove the hindrance of sin from our lives, our fellowship with the Lord will be more intimate. As God cleanses us from sin and helps us through our struggles, he reveals a way to deepen our fellowship with Him.

 

The size of the sacrifice and the location of the sprinkling of blood

Verse 4:2 says, “Speak to the people of Israel, saying, If anyone sins unintentionally in any of the Lord's commandments about things not to be done, and does any one of them..."  When an Israelite sinned unintentionally, he was commanded to offer a bull (verse 4:3). Verse 27 says, "If anyone of the common people sins unintentionally in doing any one of the things that by the Lord's commandments ought not to be done, and realizes his guilt..." Here, the individual was commanded to offer a female goat. Why this difference in offerings?

For an answer, we need to look at the third verse. Verse 3 says, "if it is the anointed priest who sins, thus bringing guilt on the people, then he shall offer for the sin that he has committed..." Following the progression of these verses, we can see that a priest’s sin would bring guilt on all the people of Israel. The same thing would happen when an individual Israelite sinned. Even though only one person sinned, whether a common Israelite or a priest, it would bring guilt on Israel as a whole. These sins were serious, and required larger sacrifices, such as a bull without blemish as a sin offering (verse 4:3).

Later, we learn that if a leader sinned unintentionally, he needed to offer a male goat without blemish (4:23); if a common person sinned unintentionally, he needed to offer a female goat without blemish (4:28). We can speculate that a male goat was worth more than a female goat, and a bull was worth more than a male goat. Therefore, these offerings of different values showed that different degrees of redemption were needed for different degrees of sins.

When a common person sinned unintentionally, the damage and harm he brought to the community were relatively limited. However, because a leader had greater power and influence, the negative impact of his sins was much greater than that of a common person. Hence, a leader’s sin required a larger sacrifice. In the same way, a priest was a representative of God. His sin would have an even greater negative impact. If a common person or priest sinned intentionally, it would bring guilt on the entire congregation. This was a more serious situation. Thus, offering a large sacrifice, such as a bull, was needed.

Let’s read the description of the place where the bull was offered and where the blood was sprinkled: "He shall bring the bull to the entrance of the tent of meeting before the Lord and lay his hand on the head of the bull and kill the bull before the Lord. And the anointed priest shall take some of the blood of the bull and bring it into the tent of meeting, and the priest shall dip his finger in the blood and sprinkle part of the blood seven times before the Lord in front of the veil of the sanctuary.” (4:4-6).

The "veil of the sanctuary" was the thick veil that separated the Holy of Holies from the sanctuary. The altar of fragrant incense was located near this veil. In addition to sprinkling the bull's blood on the veil, the blood would be put on the horns of the altar of fragrant incense, and poured out at the entrance of the tent of meeting and at the base of the altar of burnt offering.

When a leader or a common person sinned, the blood would be sprinkled "on the horns of the altar of burnt offering, and all the rest will be poured out at the base of the altar." In this case, the blood was not sprinkled on the veil, nor on the horns of the altar of fragrant incense. In other words, the blood was sprinkled near the outer courtyard.

The difference in the location of the sprinkling of blood showed that varying degrees of sin needed varying degrees of redemption.

 

Different sins require different degrees of redemption

Joshua 7 records the story of Achan's sin, which led to the Israelites’ failure to conquer the city of Ai. Achan’s sin brought guilt on the entire nation and caused them to lose the battle against Ai. Only one man sinned, yet his failure brought judgment and destruction to his entire family.

In Joshua 7:25 “Joshua said to Achan, ‘Why did you bring trouble on us? The Lord brings trouble on you today.’ And all Israel stoned him with stones. They burned them with fire and stoned them with stones.”[1] Clearly, one person’s sin can bring guilt to the entire congregation.

The Bible seems to indicate that there are differing levels of sin. The book of First John says that we should not pray for those who commit sins that lead to death (1 John 5:16-17). Achan, Uzzah, Ananias and Sapphira, and Judas were instantly killed for their sins. Ananias and Sapphira lied to the Holy Spirit. Judas betrayed Christ. These may be examples of sins that lead to death.

The book of Hebrews mentions that the blood of Jesus not only cleansed the sanctuary on earth, but also purified the heavenly sanctuary (Hebrews 9-10). This indicates that some serious sins, such as Satan’s rebellion, defiled the heavenly sanctuary. These sins against the heavenly Holy of Holies were judged severely.

Leviticus 4 is not discussing serious, intentional sins, but unintentional sins that are redeemable. Nonetheless, the extent of the redeeming sacrifice would vary according to the extent of the damage caused by the sin. Some people sin against the outer courtyard, some against the sanctuary, and some against the Holy of Holies.

Many people committed sins against the outer courtyard. All they needed to do was offer a goat, and the blood only needed to be sprinkled on the altar in the outer courtyard. Perhaps the sins of tax collectors and prostitutes would qualify as sins against the outer courtyard. Yes, they sinned, but their sin was unintentional. They did not know God yet. So Jesus treated them as His friends.

In Matthew 21:31, Jesus told the chief priests and elders of Israel, "The tax collectors and the prostitutes go into the kingdom of God before you." Jesus was saying that the tax collectors and prostitutes were more eager to believe in John the Baptist than the chief priests and elders were.

If a person sinned the sanctuary, he would sprinkle blood on the veil that separated it from the Holy of Holies. The sins committed by the chief priests and elders could be thought of as sins against the sanctuary. These religious leaders did know God, and the priests even served in the sanctuary. Yet they refused to believe in Jesus Christ, whom God sent to save them. Priests serve in the sanctuary. Jesus was greater than the temple (Matthew 12:6); yet the religious leaders did not believe in him. By refusing to believe in the Lord Jesus, they were rebelling against Him. In effect, they were sinning against the sanctuary.

On the other hand, a person who sins the Holy of Holies could be killed. Uzzah is a great example of this occurrence.

 

The sacrifices mentioned in this chapter remind us of our sinful nature. The bulls, male goats, and female goats offered by the common people were sacrifices that represented different levels of sinful behavior. There is a difference between the sinful nature and sinful behavior. The sins of the priests and the community can remind us of the sinful nature, while the sins of individuals can remind us of sinful behavior.

On the one hand, Christ took away our sinful nature and sinful behavior once and for all. This reality is fulfilled in the Spirit. But we also must constantly experience Christ’s redemption as we confess our sins to him. In the first two examples, the blood was sprinkled on the veil in front of the Holy of Holies, while in the third, the blood was sprinkled on the bronze altar in the outer courtyard. These sacrifices remind us of our sinful nature and sinful behavior, respectively.

In addition to ordaining different types of sacrifices for different types of sin, God also allowed different sacrificial animals for different financial abilities. He offered the people a “sliding financial scale.” God allowed his people to bring female lambs, which were worth less than female goats. Since each person had a different level of poverty or wealth, God took into account their finances when he ordained sacrificial offerings. This shows that God is gentle and compassionate.

 

Levels of Fellowship with the Lord

Why did God ordain different sacrifices for the sins against the outer courtyard, the sanctuary, and the Holy of Holies? With regards to the sin against the outer courtyard, we cited the example of the prostitutes and tax collectors.

Sinning against the sanctuary is explicitly mentioned in Numbers 18:1. Here it says that if someone enters the sanctuary in the wrong way, or served wrongfully in the sanctuary, Aaron would take responsibility.

God also mentions sins against the Holy of Holies. For example, Aaron’s two sons, Nadab and Abihu, offered strange fire to God (Leviticus 10:1-2). This was likely a sin against the Holy of Holies. As sons of Aaron, these men were candidates for the position of High Priest. But since they were not yet ordained as High Priest, they were not allowed to enter the Holy of Holies. When they offered strange fire, they sinned against the Holy of Holies and were consumed by the fire of God.

Uzzah also sinned against the Holy of Holies. Only the Kohathites were allowed to carry the Ark of the Covenant, and Uzzah was a descendant of Merari. Numbers 4 clearly states that the Merarites were only permitted to carry the items in the tabernacle as well as in the outer courtyard. Uzzah was killed for touching the Ark of the Covenant. Most likely, he sinned against the sanctuary or even the Holy of Holies.

The Old Testament is only a picture of the New Testament reality. This picture shows that the closer the relationship, the more relational harm we cause by our hurt and betrayal. A person who is far from the Lord doesn’t bring him as much harm. Unbelievers on the streets may speak disrespectfully against God. While I don’t condone this behavior, I believe that these words do not hurt God as much as if a loyal believer said the same words. Since these people have little connection with Him, he disregards their words.

But the closer you are to God, the more harm your sin brings to him. The words of your closest friends hurt more than the words of a stranger. When a couple first meets each other, they are strangers. Their words are not as hurtful. But when they have been married for a long time, their words of betrayal or distrust can do great harm to the relationship between a husband and a wife.

The same is true between us and God. When we do not belong to God, He demands less of us. He accepts anyone willing to come to Him for salvation. After we know him as Savior, when we sin unintentionally, we bring more hurt to God’s heart. But when we who know God intentionally sin against Him, He will treat us more severely. The differences in the size of the offerings and the places where the blood was sprinkled remind us of this truth.

 

The closer we are to the Lord, the higher are His demands of us. When we first believed in the Lord, he only corrected our external behavior. But as our fellowship with the Lord deepened, the Holy Spirit began to enlighten us about more subtle sins that took place in our hearts. He begins to show us sins we are less aware of, that dwell in our sinful nature.

Difficulties and the Answers They Reveal

 

God doesn’t make us aware of a problem without also giving us a solution. Often, that solution is hidden. But if we look for it, we will find it. Our different degrees of sins are our problem, and the different sizes of sacrifices are the solution. God provides a unique provision that matches each unique problem.

In the Local Church Movement, I learned a prayer method called Tabernacle Prayer. This type of prayer is also taught by David Yonggi Cho. In this method of prayer, the elements of our prayer match the items in the tabernacle, in the order a priest would encounter them when entering the tabernacle.

In this method of prayer, we would first go to the altar to confess our sins and remember Christ’s sin offering. Then we would go to the laver to experience the washing of the Holy Spirit and the washing of the water in the word. We reach the table of the bread of the Presence, where we eat, drink and enjoy the Lord. We receive power and illumination from the golden lampstand of the Holy Spirit, and then enter into intercession at the altar of incense. In the Holy of Holies, we experience the Lord Himself as our light, resurrection, food, and life.

 

Let me explain these specific steps in detail. When we come to the bronze altar in the outer courtyard, we need to offer sacrifices and sprinkle blood to remove our sins. In the Old Testament, the Israelites offered sheep and cattle, but in the New Testament, we are cleansed by Christ’s blood. During prayer, we imagine that we are sprinkling Christ’s blood on ourselves to cleanse us from all sin. We confess our sins to God, repent, and then ask Him to forgive us.

Once we are cleansed by the blood of the Lord, we approach the laver. In the Old Testament, priests washed themselves at the laver so they could serve God in holiness. After we are cleansed from our sins, we must remove the filth and contamination of the world so we can come near to God. We can imagine that we are washing ourselves in the water of the Holy Spirit, who cleanses us from defilement.

After we have gone through these two steps, we can imagine ourselves coming to the table of the bread of the Presence. Here, we eat God’s holy bread. His word is our food. At this time, we can pray through a verse of Scripture, meditate on it, digest it, and speak it aloud to ourselves.

As we do, the Lord’s words will give light. When the unfolding of God’s words gives light, it imparts understanding to the simple (Psalm 119:130). We have now arrived in front of the golden lampstand. The light of the lampstand reminds us of the light of God’s word. Both will illuminate the secrets of our hearts. Here, we check the intentions and motives of our hearts. What is our motivation for our thoughts, words, and deeds? We must examine ourselves in the light of the Lord.

The next step is entering into intimate fellowship with God through the altar of incense. The altar of incense represents intercession. Revelation 5:8 says that incense represents the prayers of the saints. Here, we enter into Abraham’s intercession for Lot. As we reach this point of intimacy with God, we let go of ourselves and begin praying for others.

As we continue to have fellowship with God, we pass through the veil into the Holy of Holies, where we meet God and hear Him speak above the mercy seat above the Ark of the Covenant (Numbers 7:89). To pass through the veil, we must experience the cleansing of Jesus’ blood. Not only do we need to be cleansed of our sinful behavior, but we must also be cleansed of our sinful nature. Jesus has cleansed us from these sins so we can enter into a deeper fellowship with God.

Inside the Ark, there is manna (which reminds us that the Lord is our food, the bread of heaven), Aaron’s rod that budded (reminding us of the resurrection), and a tablet with the Ten Commandments written on it (reminding us of the light of God’s word). This is the provision of God for our needs.

This prayer method allows me to personally experience God’s provision. Pastor David Yonggi Cho was asked, “How could you pray for hours when there is often nothing to pray for?” He replied that when he prays the tabernacle prayer, moving from the outer courtyard to the sanctuary and then the Holy of Holies, a few hours will quickly pass by without him noticing.

Let's return to the content of this chapter. In it, God revealed how to offer different sacrifices for different sins. Each different sin had a different sacrifice. Each problem had a unique solution.

In the same way, God will help us solve the unique and different problems that arise in our fellowship with Him. He will provide resolution to the various obstacles that hinder our fellowship with Him. Remember, whenever you face a problem or temptation, God will provide a unique solution that is perfect for your needs. When you face temptation, God will always provide a way of escape, so that you can overcome it (1 Corinthians 10:13).

Leviticus 4 mentions different levels of fellowship we can experience with the Lord. It shows us how to overcome each difficulty we face, so we can enter into deeper fellowship with him.

 

[1] All Scripture quotations are taken from the English Standard Version unless otherwise noted.

 

Bible Study with Jairus – 1 Corinthians 14

Bible Study with Jairus – 1 Corinthians 14

 

God’s Principles Regarding Tongues and Prophecy

And how to apply those principles to specific situations

 

When discussing 1 Corinthians 14, several intriguing questions often come to the forefront. The first is, “Is it possible that speaking in tongues is not of the Holy Spirit?” Some people who oppose speaking in tongues say that some tongues are from the enemy. They believe that if you speak in tongues, you are cursing God. How can we make sense of these objections?

 

In extreme cases, these concerns may be valid. But generally speaking, tongues are a faith-booster. They help increase our faith. Speaking in tongues is also a way for the Holy Spirit to speak through us, so we don’t need to fear. Rather, we should follow Paul’s teaching: “Each one has a hymn, a lesson, a revelation, a tongue, or an interpretation. Let all things be done for building up.” (ESV, 1 Corinthians 14:26).[1]

 

The second question that comes up in the study of this chapter is, “Why did Paul say that women should not speak in church?” (1 Corinthians 14:34). My answer is that we need to distinguish between universal principles of God and specific leading for specific situations. I think verses 1-26 are Paul's explanation of the general principles of prophecy and tongues, while verse 27 starts a section with specific instructions for the Corinthians’ situation. This section deals with specific details about tongues, prophecies, and women speaking in the church of Corinth. Matters of principle do not change with time and circumstances, but matters of leading do.

 

Let’s look at these issues a little more closely.

 

 

Where do Tongues Originate?

A woman was baptized by the Holy Spirit and began speaking in tongues because of my ministry. But she still felt confused about the issue of tongues. She said, “A pastor who spoke in tongues encouraged me to change how I spoke in tongues, meaning to pray in different tongue. But in my experience, I am only saying a few simple repeated words. Is this normal?” From my own limited experience, I feel this is normal. The tongues we first speak when praying in tongues may be very simple and repeated words, or simple words of praise to God. As Paul said, one of the functions of tongues is to praise or thank God. When Paul mentioned tongues in verse 17, he said, "For you may be giving thanks well enough, but the other person is not being built up."

 

One of the functions of praying in tongues is to give thanks. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 says, "Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you." The Bible says we should give thanks in all circumstances and that believers should be "giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ" (Ephesians 5:20). But in our actual experience as Christians, it is difficult to pray without ceasing and give thanks in all circumstances. We don’t give thanks to God the Father very often. This is why the Holy Spirit comes to help us, and one of the ways he does this is through tongues. Many times, we do not know how to pray, so the Holy Spirit intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words (Romans 8:26). This intercession is sometimes through tongues. When we pray in tongues, our spirit prays but our mind is unfruitful (1 Corinthians 14:14). When we pray in tongues, we give the Holy Spirit freedom to help us pray. We surrender our bodies, and our tongues, to the Holy Spirit in faith, and the Holy Spirit gives us the appropriate words in prayer through our tongues.

 

The woman also mentioned that some pastors reminded her that speaking in tongues may originate from evil spirits. They threatened her not to pray in tongues.

“Of course, it is possible that tongues originate from evil spirits,” I replied. “Sometimes we drive our cars into a ditch. But this does not mean that we cannot drive. I've seen some people who are just learning to drive who are scared to drive on the highway. But when they practiced more, they got the courage to do so. Why? Because their faith and their ability grew. The same goes for tongues. After our faith increases, we will receive an increased ability and more faith to pray in different prayer languages in tongues.”

 

Tongues is a faith booster

 

 

Receiving the baptism of the Holy Spirit is a leap of faith. Many evangelical Christians who are against the baptism of the Holy Spirit worry that if they are baptized by the Holy Spirit, they will unintentionally accept evil spirits instead. This teaching originates in fear. Luke 11 clearly says that God gives the Holy Spirit to those who ask. “If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” (Luke 11:13) It clearly says that the Father gives the Holy Spirit when we ask. If we ask the Father to baptize us with the Holy Spirit in the name of Christ, we will surely receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit.

 

All true Christians believe we are saved by faith. We have not seen the Lord, but we believe in Him. This is a leap of faith. Every one of us must go through such a leap of faith in order to be saved. Receiving the baptism of the Holy Spirit is no different. It is the second leap of faith. After we have received the baptism of the Holy Spirit, we need a third leap of faith: believing that when we open our mouths, the Holy Spirit will give us utterance (Acts 2:4). We are responsible for opening our mouths, and the Holy Spirit is responsible for giving us words to say. Because the tongues we speak are often words that our minds cannot understand, it’s easy to doubt this promise. When other people inject doubts into our minds—“What if the tongues I speak are from evil spirits?”—our faith will inevitably be shaken. That is why praying in tongues is a leap of faith.

 

Principles of Tongues and Prophecy

 

 

In 1 Corinthians 14:1-26, Paul explains universal principles about prophecy. These general principles do not change with time, place, or circumstances. For example, God is love. This is a basic principle. It will not change with time, place, or circumstances. But even though God is love, and He loves every one of His children, He leads us differently. This is the difference between God's principles and His leading. Let’s look first at the principles that Paul gives in verses 1-26.

 

 

What is the first principle of prophecy? It is that love and spiritual gifts, especially prophecies, are related. In the first verse, Paul continued the conversation on love that he started in 1 Corinthians 13. We need to pursue love, and we also need to earnestly desire spiritual gifts, especially prophecy. Many have spoken against the pursuit of spiritual gifts and prophecy, saying we should only focus on love. These people want only the fruit of the spirit (including love) and not the gifts of the Holy Spirit. The gifts of the Holy Spirit are controversial. But that's not what Paul is telling us here. Paul explicitly mentions that we should pursue love, and earnestly desire the spiritual gifts, especially that you may prophesy.

 

What is the second principle of prophecy? It is that the purpose of prophecy is to build others up, comfort, and encourage them (1 Corinthians 14:3). We certainly need to pursue love in our lives. But how do we help others feel the love of God? This is where prophecy is indispensable. When we prophesy and disclose the secrets of others’ hearts, they will fall on their faces and say that God is really among us (1 Corinthians 14:24-25). Why? Because prophecy (including tongues that are interpreted) becomes a tool or a bridge that connects people to God's love.

 

The essence of the first principle of tongues is to talk to God and love Him. 1 Corinthians 14:2 says, "For one who speaks in a tongue speaks not to men but to God; for no one understands him, but he utters mysteries in the Spirit." If the main purpose of tongues is to talk to God, then Paul's words "I speak in tongues more than all of you” (1 Corinthians 14:18), and “If we are beside ourselves, it is for God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you" (2 Corinthians 5:13) are very logical. Paul encourages everyone to pray and talk to God more, and praise God by speaking and singing with our minds or through the language of tongues or spirit (1 Corinthians 14:15). This is the first function of tongues. It is wrong to forbid or even discourage speaking in tongues, just because you cannot understand them. The first principle of tongues is to talk to God. This falls under the greatest command: "love the Lord your God with all your heart" (Matthew 22:37; Luke 10:27).

 

The second principle of tongues is to be considerate of others, especially those who don’t understand them. If others don’t understand tongues, you still need to give thanks and praise. But those who don’t understand the languages will not be built up and may even stumble. In such cases, those who speak in tongues should be restricted. When it’s absolutely necessary for them to speak in tongues, they should interpret what they say as much as possible (1 Corinthians 14:6-13; 14:16-19). This principle falls under the second command: "Love your neighbor as yourself" (Luke 10:27).

 

Matthew 22:37-40 records, "Jesus said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.” Here, Jesus clearly said that the two greatest commandments are to love God and to love others. When we pray in tongues and praise God, it shows we love God. “If anyone loves God, he is known by God" (1 Corinthians 8:3). When we avoid speaking in tongues on certain occasions out of consideration for others, it means we love and care for our neighbors. So these two principles about tongues are actually consistent with the very essence of Jesus’ teaching about the Law and the Prophets.

 

The principles of love and prophecy also fall into the categories of loving God and others. People who pursue love and utter mysteries to God in tongues are those who love Him; people who prophesy are those who love others. Speaking in tongues and praying means you love God; you worship and give thanks to Him. Interpreting tongues means you love others and have taken their needs into consideration so they can understand what you’re saying. Therefore, regardless of whether you’re pursuing prophecy or speaking in tongues, the fundamental principle is to love God and others. That’s why Paul strongly encourages us to interpret what we say while speaking in tongues. The purpose is to be considerate of others and show love to them. But that doesn't stop us from falling madly in love with God in private.

 

The third principle of tongues is to build ourselves up (14:4). We need to focus on growing spiritually, increasing our faith, and "building ourselves up in our most holy faith" (Jude 1:20).

 

In 1 Corinthians 14:26 Paul said, "What then, brothers? When you come together, each one has a hymn, a lesson, a revelation, a tongue, or an interpretation. Let all things be done for building up.” I believe verse 26 is the conclusion of Paul's train of thought. He had stated some general principles about speaking in tongues, prophesying, and pursuing love towards God and others. Now, he summarizes his message: “Let all things be done for building up.” When we gather together as a church, we may use any method that builds others up.

 

Paul's Specific Leading on Tongues, Prophecy, and Women Speaking

 

From verse 27 onwards, Paul turns his mind to God’s specific guidance to the Corinthian church. Although this specific leading does not violate the basic principles mentioned in the first part, it will vary according to circumstances, time, and situation. Why do I say that from verse 27 onwards, Paul starts talking about God’s leading in a particular situation in the Corinthian church? Let's look at this verse. Verse 27 says, "If any speak in a tongue, let there be only two or at most three, and each in turn, and let someone interpret."

 

I asked everyone in the meeting, “Does this sentence show Paul's general principle about tongues, or is it a special leading for the Corinthian church?” I think it's a special leading. Think about it: how many believers were in the Corinthian church at that time? How long were their weekly gatherings? Let's assume there were 100 believers who gathered for three hours every week. In such a situation, it would be appropriate for only two or three people to speak in tongues. And it was best to interpret the languages being spoken.

 

Now suppose we are visiting the church of David Yonggi Cho in South Korea. There are hundreds of thousands of people holding meetings together for three days. Should there be only two or three people who speak in tongues in the church? In these circumstances, there would be plenty of time for more speakers to have a turn.

 

In other words, different circumstances call for different responses. We must interpret these verses in light of the general principles mentioned above, and we must focus on being considerate of others and loving our neighbors. The point of the passage is not the exact number of speakers that we must have in a given service, but that we should conduct orderly meetings that show consideration to others. We cannot always take God's words in their most basic and literal sense.

 

Throughout the ages, there has been a lot of controversy about how Christians interpret God’s words. One of the reasons is that it is difficult to distinguish which words reveal God’s principles and which give certain people some specific leading in a specific environment. We must not violate God’s principles, nor should we treat God’s specific leading as universal truth. For example, when Moses allowed the Israelites to divorce their wives, they mistakenly thought this was a universal principle of God. But Jesus clearly told them that this command was only given because they were hard-hearted at that time. But God did not intend it to be that way from the beginning. The principle established by God was, “What He has joined together, let not man separate.” (Matthew 19:3-8). The teaching on divorce was God’s specific leading, intended for a specific period of time. It was a concession made because of his patience with human weakness.

 

Is there a specific context to Paul's words in verses 27-40? I think there is. One Corinthian believer must have been wrongly exercising the gift of tongues and the gift of prophecy. Paul attempted to correct his behavior in this passage. Verse 28 says to keep silent if there is no one to interpret. Verse 29 says that when two or three prophesy, the others must weigh what is said. Verse 30 says that if a revelation is made to another, the others must give him a chance to speak, and the first person must keep silent. Verses 31-33 say that everyone can prophesy—but don't be confused, because the spirits of the prophets were subject to the prophets and God was not a God of confusion. Clearly, these words were meant to clear up confusion in regards to specific situations in the Corinthian church.

 

Similarly, the instructions about women not speaking in church meetings must have related to a particular situation in the Corinthian church and were not a general principle of God. In other places, Paul praised many of his female coworkers. For example, he praised Phoebe, a deaconess (Romans 16:1). The instruction about women was not necessarily a universal principle of God, but a special leading intended for the chaotic situation in the Corinthian church. When Paul talked about women being silent and not speaking in meetings, he even specifically mentioned: "Or was it from you that the word of God came? Or are you the only ones it has reached?" (1 Corinthians 14:36). It is not difficult to guess that there may have been some women in the Corinthian church who were too proud and even thought that the word of God had reached them only. So Paul's criticism may have been directed against this problem.

 

The second half of verse 34 says, "They should be in submission, as the Law also says." But this is not enough to prove that the law does not permit women to speak. The law does require women to obey men, but there is no law expressly stating that women should not speak. Even though the law originally stipulated that a woman could not inherit her father's land, Zelophehad's daughters appealed to Moses and God, and God added a provision just for them. If there was no man in the family, God said women could inherit the land (Numbers 27). Clearly, God's law does not discriminate against women.

 

Conclusion

 

In verse 39, Paul reminds believers to be eager to prophesy and not to forbid speaking in tongues. Verse 40 says that everything should be done decently and in order. This concludes this chapter. I’ll reiterate the difference between the sections in this chapter. Verses 1-26 talk about Paul's general principles on how to love God and others when exercising spiritual gifts such as speaking in tongues and prophesying. Verses 27-38 give specific leading based on the chaotic situation in the Corinthian church. In verses 39-40, Paul returns to giving general principles about prophesying and speaking in tongues. We must understand which sections contain God’s universal principles (which cannot be changed) and which contain His specific leading for certain circumstances. We must understand the way God’s Holy Spirit leads us in different circumstances. And we should seek to interpret God’s word in the most accurate way possible.

 

 

 

[1] All Scripture quotations are taken from the English Standard Version unless otherwise noted.

Bible Study With Jairus - Acts 18

Bible Study with Jairus - Acts 18

 

As we mentioned last time, Paul met Aquila and his wife Priscilla. They were Jews coming from Rome to Italy. Paul had already left Athens and they all came to meet in Corinth. I’ve said before that their meeting was a turning point in Paul's spiritual life. Why do I say that?We usually think that Paul is an apostle, so he is always better than others and there is no need for him to learn from others. This isn’t the case. All of us have a learning process. Even when the Lord Jesus was on earth, He needed to learn to grow in the grace of God and man.  Similarly, Paul also went through a learning process. In our study on Acts 17 last time, we mentioned that Paul may have made a mistake of being rash in Athens. He may have been influenced by the environment possibly having a negative rather than positive effect on evangelism. But in Acts 18, it shows the process by which the Holy Spirit further led and perfected Paul through the circumstances.

 

Let's take a closer look.

 

The Holy Spirit patiently leads us into God's will for our lives.

 

The Lord Jesus said that, “Everything is in the hands of the Father. No two sparrows will fall to the ground without His consent.” (Matthew 10:29). Aquila and his wife Priscilla had just left Rome to Corinth because Claudius had ordered all the Jews to leave Rome. Paul also came to Corinth from Athens. Is it accidental that they met there? No. Everything is arranged by the sovereignty of God. The purpose was to let Paul be further perfected and receive help from others in his ministry.

 

There is some deeper insight here that the Holy Spirit allowed me to see while reading the Bible.  It takes time for a person to completely follow the Lord and walk on the predestined path that He has laid out for us.  However, often at the beginning we might not have a clear idea about what God’s will is or how to obey it; so we spend our time and energy following another path and are unable to unleash the gift that God has given us.  For example, If you are called to minister in music but you spend all of your time learning to paint because you didn’t follow your heart, it results in failure and has very little effect for the kingdom.  When you finally understand that music is your gift and you throw yourself into it, you will find that God has opened all the doors.  Another example would be if God called you to be a cartoonist but instead you studied finance because your parents wanted you to be able to support yourself.  When you realize that there is no joy in finance and you return to the industry you love, things will flow and you will be successful in the end.  There are many examples like this.

 

 

So was Paul like this?  In modern times we tend to over exalt Paul’s writings as though he could never be wrong.  Actually this isn’t the case.  Paul is human and has shortcomings. He was on a continuous journey learning to know God in a deeper way.  Even in his old age he admitted that he hadn’t completely taken hold of it, but forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, he presses on toward the goal (NIV Philippians 3:13-14).  This shows that Paul was continuously learning.

Let’s take a look at how Paul gradually learns to obey God's will and walk on the predestined path that God has planned for him.

 

When Paul recalls his experience of being called by God in Acts 22, he said that the Lord said to him, “Go, I will send you far away to the Gentiles." If you recall the contents of Acts 17, it   said in the beginning that Paul had passed through a couple of towns, and he went on to Thessalonica to preach the gospel in the Jewish synagogue. After being rejected, he went to the Jewish synagogue in Berea to evangelize. In the end, the Jews in Thessalonica had stirred up trouble and he was forced to go to Athens. He preached the gospel to the Gentiles in Athens, but was not very effective. But it doesn't matter. What matters is that Paul had made a great turn here. At that time, Paul didn’t exactly do what God told him to.. God's will for him is just what Jesus said to him, “I will send you far away to the Gentiles” (NIV, Acts 22:21). God chose him to be an apostle of the Gentiles, but he couldn’t bear the thought of not preaching the gospel to the Jews. If you look at his description in Romans chapters 9-11, he said that he would rather be cursed so the people of Israel could be saved. You can understand Paul's burden for the Jews. But unfortunately, this was not God's call for his life.

 

The Bible has explicitly stated that God called Peter to be the apostle to the Jews and chose Paul to be the apostle to the Gentiles (Romans 11:13, Galatians 2:8). This is very odd. If you were God, would you choose Paul or Peter to be the apostle to the Jews? If I was God, I might choose Paul because Paul is familiar with the Jewish scriptures and was taught by Gamaliel. He is even a Pharisee from the tribe of Benjamin. He was also circumcised on the eighth day. No one was more qualified and suitable than him. In contrast, Peter was a fisherman who had didn’t have a high level of education. There are scholars who say that Paul’s level of proficiency in Greek was far higher than Peter's. But God didn’t choose Paul to be the apostle to the Jews. Instead, he chose Peter to be the apostle to the Jews. For the Gentiles, I also think that Peter was more likely to be accepted because he was from Galilee where there were mostly gentiles, and Paul was a strict Pharisee. He was also enthusiastic to persecute the church. So naturally, Paul was more qualified to be the apostle to the Jews than Peter. But God didn’t arrange it like that.

 

There are people who believe that the reason why God arranged it that way is for us not to use what we are naturally good at. He wants us to do things that we are naturally not good at to force us to trust the Lord. We shouldn’t do things based on our ability, but by faith and the power of the Holy Spirit.

 

We all have fleshly and natural choices. Often it’s not that we don't know God's will and path for us. Rather, our flesh, human nature, and habits often hinder us so we have a difficult time quickly following God's call  . God understands us, so the Holy Spirit often patiently waits and leads us. But the Holy Spirit often tells us through the environment that "the road is blocked" encouraging us to   "turn back." The same is true of Paul’s experience here. We mentioned in the previous message that maybe because of Paul’s attempt to persuade people to accept the gospel through debate, it wasn’t very effective. But actually, our understanding at that time was not comprehensive enough. In this reading, we can see more light. It was not because Paul’s debate had gone wrong, but because Paul wasn’t living completely in God’s will so God blocked him in all aspects, making his evangelism ineffective.

 

Therefore, Acts 18 is a turning point. It is recorded in 18:5 - 6 that:

 

⁵ When Silas and Timothy came from Macedonia, Paul devoted himself exclusively to preaching, testifying to the Jews that Jesus was the Messiah. ⁶ But when they opposed Paul and became abusive, he shook out his clothes in protest and said to them, “Your blood be on your own heads! I am innocent of it. From now on I will go to the Gentiles.”(NIV)

 

It was possibly here that Paul may have recalled what the Lord Jesus said to him, “I will send you far away to the Gentiles to preach the gospel.” He had just realized that God’s call to him was to become the apostle to the Gentiles. Even though he was reluctant to leave his fellow Jews  who had rejected the gospel, he had no choice but to go to the Gentiles. In this way, he was forced by the environment to go to the Gentiles to preach the gospel. It looks like he was forced by the environment, but actually it was all the wonderful leading of the Holy Spirit.

 

Therefore, in Acts 18, it was definitely not accidental for Paul to encounter Aquila and Priscilla from Rome. Rather, it was arranged by God’s sovereignty. Think about it. When Aquila and Paul were weaving tents together, don’t you think they talked to each other? In the content of their chats, is it possible that Aquila talked about his life experience with the Gentiles in Rome and his experience of dealing with the Gentiles? there’s a good possibility some of that was talked about. Paul's experience of evangelizing the Athenians in the previous chapter was not very successful. Maybe one of the reasons is that he didn’t understand the Gentiles and was not familiar with how to preach the gospel to them.

 

Became like a Gentile to win the Gentiles

 

When some Western missionaries first came to China to preach the gospel, they adopted an aloof attitude, as if to say, we are preaching the gospel, you guys are barbarian idol worshippers, so you have to give up your faith and accept ours. Some of these missionaries often have deep relationships with Western colonizers and officials. They will therefore use Western diplomatic and military power to force the Chinese to open their ports and accept the gospel, which caused a lot of resistance from the local Chinese. Consequently,   preaching the gospel to them was not very effective. But when Hudson Taylor came to China to preach the gospel, he adapted to the Chinese culture. He dressed in Chinese robe and grew a pigtail like the Chinese. He   also lived with the Chinese. His living and eating habits were the same as those of the Chinese, sohis gospel work in China was very effective. He preached the gospel to many places in China.

  Paul’s experience of evangelism in Athens seems to be somewhat similar to the attitude of Western missionaries when they first arrived in China. Perhaps he was feeling superioras he wastrying to persuade these people to turn away from idols to Jesus Christ through debates. Unfortunately it didn’t work out well. Is it possible that after his failed attempts to evangelize that Aquila taught him how to witness to the Gentiles and inspired him?  I believe that Paul was able to get inspiration and learned something from his experience in Athens. He said in 1 Corinthians 9:20-22:

 

²⁰ To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law. ²¹ To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God’s law but am under Christ’s law), so as to win those not having the law. ²² To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some. (NIV)

 

From Paul's words, we can see that Paul had learned how to become a Gentile in order to win the Gentiles. He learned that he shouldn’t be aloof when he preached the gospel, and he shouldn’t persuade others to believe in the gospel through debate. Rather, he should humble himself and put himself on the level of the Gentiles, live and eat with them, and preach the gospel of Jesus Christ in a language acceptable to them.

 

God's later confirmation

 

I   had a special experience recently.   I met a prophet who said that God wants me to be a U.S. citizen because this will help me in my service in the future. However, because I am a Chinese citizen and I also have a U.S. green card, it is more convenient to visit China plus I feel that the chance that God will call me to serve in China in the future is huge, therefore, I have been living in the US for a long time and not been naturalized as a US citizen. f  After hearing the prophets words I spent time in prayer but didn’t receive any confirmation from God.  I reluctantly submitted my application for US citizenship anyway.   Not long afterwards, I had a prophetic dream. I found that the Chinese characters on my Chinese passport were altered, and a lot of English letters were written, and I saw a seal falling down from above with the words "U.S. Citizen" above. I felt that this was Lord’s confirmation that the submitted application was directed by Him. The prophecy of this prophet may be correct. But when I prayed for God's leading, God never gave me any confirmation.

 

This was my own experience, but actually, I’m also explaining Paul's experience here. When Paul didn’t completely live in God’s will, he seemed to be running up against a stone wall everywhere he went. His evangelism in the synagogues in Thessalonica, Berea, and Athens was not smooth. Of course, the Lord told Paul before that God's purpose was to send him far to the Gentiles to be a witness for Him. So this was imprinted in Paul's spirit. Therefore, at the beginning of chapter 18, Paul met Aquila and his wife Priscilla who came back from Rome. This might further remind him of the command he heard from the Lord. When Paul swears to turn to the Gentiles from then on, he went next door to the house of Titius Justus. Crispus, the synagogue ruler, and his entire household believed in the Lord; and many of the Corinthians who heard Paul believed and were baptized (NIV, Acts 18-8:9). Afterwards, the Lord spoke to Paul in a vision: “Do not be afraid, keep on speaking, do not be silent. For I am with you, and no one is going to attack and harm you, because I have many people in this city.” (NIV, Acts 18:9-10). I called this God’s later confirmation. When Paul finally walked on the right path that Jesus told him, Jesus appeared to him, confirming that he was walking in the will of God. We often have such confirmation in our spiritual experience. The Lord will give us a prophetic word in the beginning. The Holy Spirit will then secretly lead us, give us limitations and leading through the environment. And finally when we walk on the predestined path that God has laid out for us, God will often prove to us again that we are indeed walking on His predestined path.

 

Acts 18:11 records that Paul lived there for a year and six months, teaching God's words among them. This sentence is definitely not accidentally recorded here. Rather, the Holy Spirit further confirms that Paul came here to preach the gospel and live according to God’s will.

 

Of course, we are not saying that Paul could’nt preach the gospel to the Jews. In the latter parts of Acts 18, it’s even recorded that when Paul arrived at Ephesus, he went into the synagogue and reasoned with the Jews. But I guess perhaps the emphasis of Paul's ministry had turned towards the Gentiles. In particular, chapter 18:19 records that after Paul had reasoned with the Jews in the synagogue in Ephesus, when they asked him to spend more time with them, he declined. This is a clear contrast to what is recorded in 18:11 where Paul stayed there for a year and a half.

 

Prior to this, Acts 18 also recorded that the Jews had attacked Paul, but the local official did not interfere. After this, Acts 18:18 (NIV) recorded that, “Paul stayed on in Corinth for some time. Then he left the brothers and sailed for Syria, accompanied by Priscilla and Aquila”. But because of a vow he had taken, he had his hair cut off at Cenchrea before going to Ephesus. But he did not stay in Ephesus for a long time. He left to go to other places.

 

The matching of the different parts of the body to Christ's body

 

In 18:24, it started to introduce a Jew named Apollos. The Bible specifically mentioned that he was an eloquent man, with a thorough knowledge of the Scriptures. The Bible didn’t use these words to describe Paul. So looking at this description, Apollos had a gift that Paul may not have. In addition to Apollos' eloquence (that Paul may not have), it is specifically recorded that Apollos had vigorously refuted the Jews in public debate, proving from the Scriptures that Jesus was the Christ (NIV, Acts 18:28). These records are in contrast with the limited effects of Paul's evangelism before the Jews. These have indirectly proved that God's call to Paul was mainly for the Gentiles because God raised up people like Apollos to preach the gospel to the Jews, and it seems that their work was more effective than Paul’s.

 

Of course, the Bible has also recorded the limitations of Apollos, that is, he only knew the baptism of John. But Priscilla and Aquila, who were perfected by Paul, had helped explain the way of God to Apollos more adequately (NIV, Acts 18:26). This again shows that the principle of God's work is through the matching of the body; allowing different members of the body of Christ to match and complement each other.

 

Paul came to Ephesus again in Acts 19. There he found some disciples of Apollos' ministry who only knew John’s baptism; they didn’t know about the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Paul prayed for them to be filled with the Holy Spirit. This   also paved the way in the beginning of verses 20-21, where he declined the invitation of Ephesians when they asked him to stay there for a while. Instead, he said that, "I will come back if it is God's will."  (NIV, Acts 18:21). It is something that the Holy Spirit mentioned specifically here so that Paul later can come back to help those who are under the ministry of Apollo’s.

 

Why did God arrange for Paul to come back later? What is the meaning and implication of Paul's making up for the lack of Apollos' ministry in Acts 19? Why is it that   Apollos’ ministry only knows John’s baptism and not the baptism of Jesus and of the Holy Spirit? This has   profound spiritual significance. We hope to continue sharing our understanding in the next reading.

 

 

 

 

Bible Study with Jairus- Acts 17

Bible Study with Jairus- Acts 17

In the beginning of Acts 17 it tells us that Paul and Silas came to the synagogue in Thessalonica to preach the gospel. Some people were persuaded, but it also led to the opposition of many Jews. The Jews wanted to bring Paul and Silas out to the crowd but could not find them. Because of this, the Jews dragged Jason out who had received Paul and Silas. Because of this, the believers sent Paul and Silas away to Berea, and upon their arrival, they started to preach the gospel in the synagogue. The people there were more open-minded than the Thessalonians. When the Jews in Thessalonica heard about it, they came over to stir up trouble again. The believers then sent Paul to the coast and escorted him to Athens, while Silas and Timothy remained in Berea.

When Paul arrived in Athens, he asked the people who escorted him to let Silas and Timothy come over. Then the Bible records:

17:16 (NIV) While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, he was greatly distressed to see that the city was full of idols.

17:17 (NIV) So he reasoned in the synagogue with both Jews and God-fearing Greeks, as well as in the marketplace day by day with those who happened to be there.

17:18 (NIV) A group of Epicurean and Stoic philosophers began to debate with him. Some of them asked, “What is this babbler trying to say?” Others remarked, “He seems to be advocating foreign gods.” They said this because Paul was preaching the good news about Jesus and the resurrection.

The Christian woman who was leading our Bible Study asked, “Why is it that the Jews of Thessalonica were so opposed to Paul's evangelism and when Paul arrived in Berea, why did the Jews from Thessalonica travel to Berea to oppose Paul? Why is it wherever Paul and Silas went, they went to the synagogue first to preach the gospel? And why is it when Paul arrived in Athens, he still let Silas and Timothy to come over? It seems that Timothy had always been with Paul, but why is it he didn’t mention Timothy when he was in Thessalonica and Berea? After the Jews brought Jason to the crowd, why was it recorded in Acts 17:7-8 (NIV) that: "Jason has welcomed them into his house. They are all defying Caesar’s decrees, saying that there is another king, one called Jesus. When they heard this, the crowd and the city officials were thrown into turmoil." Why were they thrown into turmoil?

There are a lot of questions here but we can only answer one at a time so let’s start with why the Jews were thrown into turmoil when they heard Jesus was king.

I shared that there was a historical background to this which I learned while I was studying Christian theology. During the time when the Israelites were against Roman rule, there were several different Jewish factions. The Herodians and Sadducees mentioned in the Bible were Roman advocates; but the Pharisees and the Zealots advocated for independence and were opposed to Roman rule. In particular, the Zealots advocated the use of violent and revolutionary means to overthrow Roman rule, and they launched violent uprisings against Roman rule but were brutally suppressed by the Romans. After the brutal crackdown, the Zealots were almost completely exterminated. The Pharisees were basically politically cautious. They didn’t fiercely advocate revolution, and thus survived. But the faction that advocated cooperation with the Romans occupied a large part of Israel's upper class.

Why were the Jewish crowds and the city officials thrown into turmoil when they heard that Jesus was another king? One of the reasons may be that many Jews advocated cooperation with the Romans. It can be said that they were "Jewish traitors”. So, if Jesus (another king) came and if He was able to lead the Israelites in a successful revolt, would they have to liquidate the history of these traitors? And Jesus is really the king of Israel. Not only were these Jews afraid that He would become king, but even his disciples were hoping that He would really be king in order to lead them to revolutionary success and to drive the Romans out and restore Israel's glory. Looking at these two examples, the identity of the Lord Jesus as a Jewish king does bring hope but it also poses a threat to some groups of people.

Although Jesus had already been crucified when Paul preached the gospel, talking about Him as another king of the Jews could have caused another Jewish revolution.  The revolts might have been successful and the Roman advocates would be called traitors.  If the revolution wasn’t successful the Israelites would be brutally suppressed by the Romans again.

 

Therefore, there were valid reasons why the Jews fiercely opposed evangelism. It could even be said that it was a very legitimate reason to protect the Israelites from harm. Those who hold this view believe that the people who were opposing Paul's evangelism were actually protecting ordinary Israelites from the Romans, because the history of the fierce suppression of the Zealots was still fresh in their memory.

It may be for these reasons, plus several others, that these Jews from Thessalonica had gone to Berea to oppose Paul's evangelism. In both places, Paul was forced to leave. Please note that the first time Paul was forced to leave Thessalonica and flee to Berea, he was with Silas. The second time Paul was forced to leave Berea and was escorted to Athens while Silas and Timothy remained in Berea. When he arrived in Athens, the one who escorted Paul had taken orders from him and went back to call Silas and Timothy to come over Athens, and left. Here, I guess the person who escorted Paul is just one person, or even if it’s a few people, they were all gone. After Paul was left alone, he encountered a lot of difficulties. Herein lays the problem.

When American pastors and teachers travel to other countries to preach, they spend many exhausting hours on the plane and then often proceed directly to the place they are to preach.   Many times they are already exhausted when they reach their destination. They need to be strengthened by the Lord before they can finish their sermon. Even though we have airplanes and better traveling conditions, a long flight is still exhausting.  If that’s the case, imagine that if you were Paul, and you traveled long distances to evangelize and you were continuously being chased. Now you are alone in Athens, and Athens is full of idols. How would you react?

Let’s look at Paul’s reaction.

Acts 17:16-18 (NIV) says that:

¹⁶ While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, he was greatly distressed to see that the city was full of idols. ¹⁷ So he reasoned in the synagogue with both Jews and God-fearing Greeks, as well as in the marketplace day by day with those who happened to be there. ¹⁸ A group of Epicurean and Stoic philosophers began to debate with him. Some of them asked, “What is this babbler trying to say?” Others remarked, “He seems to be advocating foreign gods.” They said this because Paul was preaching the good news about Jesus and the resurrection.

How should we look at this passage?

The church that I was saved in was more in favor of Paul's work. In my spiritual education, Paul was rarely criticized. But when the Lord led me to look at the teachings of some of the Bible teachers outside the traditions of my evangelical church, I heard some criticisms towards Paul.

I heard a message from Rick Joyner that there are statistics showing that 80% of the Exegetical and Hermeneutical Work of Bible after Martin Luther’s Reformation have been about Paul. Rick saw Paul once in a vision. Paul told him that everyone has highly exalted him. They should not take his work to analyze the four Gospels. Instead, they should use the words of the four Gospels to measure his works.

Rick Joyner also said that Paul’s life has undergone three stages of growth and change. The initial stage seems to be what he said in the first chapter of the Epistle to the Galatians (NIV), “My immediate response was not to consult any human being.” There seems to be some pride in saying these words; but in the second stage, he claims that “For I am the least of the apostles” (NIV, 1 Corinthians 15:9) and “I am less than the least of all the Lord's people” (NIV, Ephesians 3:8); Later he said, “I am the worst sinner of them all.” (NIV, 1 Timothy 1:15). These verses show that Paul had also undergone a process of constant humility.

There is some controversy that arises when reading Paul's work. The controversy revolves around the issue of Paul’s teachings being infallible. Paul is a human being and all human beings are bound to make mistakes. But if Paul was used to write the Bible under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, could there be any errors? If you believe that Paul can't be wrong, that doesn't really make sense because humans are bound to make mistakes. If you believe that Paul can be wrong, then how do you decide which subjects he was right or wrong about? This is an issue in particular with the controversy about Paul's prohibition of women preaching. Was Paul wrong to base it on the customs of that time, or were his words the revelation of the Holy Spirit? How we should view Paul’s teachings? Whether Paul is right or wrong in this matter has become a big debate in Christian exegesis. But for now, we won’t discuss the issue of whether women should or shouldn’t preach.

We certainly believe that Paul's words are the revelation of the Holy Spirit, but we also believe that Paul went through a learning process because he experienced failure. Although the Biblical education I received did not say that Paul's experience in Athens was a failure, I have heard other Bible teachers mention that Paul's attempt to win people's hearts in accepting Christ through debating at Athens was a failure. They specifically compared what is written in Galatians 3:5 with Paul's experience in Athens. Paul says in Galatians 3:5 (NIV), "So again I ask, does God give you his Spirit and work miracles among you by the works of the law, or by your believing what you heard?" Here, Paul specifically mentioned that the Galatians started with the Spirit so that they should not fall into the flesh. He preached the gospel by relying on the Holy Spirit. He had also performed miracles to bring the Galatians to salvation.

Let's take a look again at Chapter 17 verses 16-18 (NIV):

¹⁶ While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, he was greatly distressed to see that the city was full of idols. ¹⁷ So he reasoned in the synagogue with both Jews and God-fearing Greeks, as well as in the marketplace day by day with those who happened to be there. ¹⁸ A group of Epicurean and Stoic philosophers began to debate with him. Some of them asked, “What is this babbler trying to say?” Others remarked, “He seems to be advocating foreign gods.” They said this because Paul was preaching the good news about Jesus and the resurrection.

I agree more with the argument that Paul’s debating may not have had good results here. Allow me to explain my thoughts. 

As I mentioned earlier, Paul was chased twice by the Jews. He was accompanied by Silas the first time, and the second time; he was accompanied by an escort. When he arrived in Athens, the person who escorted him went back to assist Silas and Timothy so they could come quickly to Athens. In this interval, Paul was alone. Even if Paul possessed remarkable abilities/powers, he would still feel lonely when he was alone. The Bible tells us “How could one man chase a thousand, or two put ten thousand to flight?” (NIV, Deuteronomy 32:30). The principle that God established was to partner us with the body of Christ. At this time, when Paul was left alone, he might have faced an attack and incitement of the enemy.

My personal view is that after Paul experienced the continuous attacks and rejection of the Jews plus the fact that he was left alone in Athens and saw that the city was full of idols, he became greatly distressed. Then I think he started to reason and ask himself, was he still in the spirit? The Bible does not explain this so we do not know for sure. But the view I mentioned before, that is, the result of Paul's hopes of spreading the gospel to the Athenians through debating did not go very well. So Paul's experience in Athens is regarded as one of his failures.

Let me discuss the inspiration that I received during this meeting. It can be said through the word "react" or more appropriately, "to be influenced by the environment". In our spiritual experience as Christians, we should be seated in heavenly places in Christ, but sometimes our flesh or minds are provoked and make us react in our minds and in the flesh. Afterwards, we often regret the experience.

I recently listened to a very early message from an American pastor named Jack Deere about the discipline of the Holy Spirit. He mentioned a very interesting experience that he had. He said that he is a pastor in a not so well-off place in the United States. As a pastor, he is often misunderstood and attacked by others. One day, a female Christian, in a church where he served as a pastor, said to him, "You are just serving as a pastor here for the money." He was very angry and he answered her back. Things like this seemed to happen all the time. He asked the Lord, “What is going on?” The Lord said that this is the discipline of the Holy Spirit. He said, “When will it end?” The Lord replied, "When you can treat those who criticize you with a gentle and kind spirit." Jack Deere is a pastor who moved from the evangelical church to the charismatic movement. He is well-known in the Christian world in the United States. He is also one of the few American pastors I know of that teaches the discipline of the Holy Spirit. Supposedly, he’s also a person who pursues deeper spirituality, but he shared this experience to let us see that a person who pursues spirituality is often influenced by the environment especially when they are not mature enough.

When Jack Deere’s spiritual discipline was more mature, he would respond more gently and lovingly to those who criticize him.

When a Christian is practicing to be more spiritual, we need to learn not to react to the environment or be influenced by the environment. Instead, we should react to the heavenly reality and our communication with the Lord, and out of our position of sitting together with Christ in heavenly places.  Reacting to the environment or what you see will end up pulling you down to the level of the environment itself.

Can Paul’s experience here be pulled down by the surrounding environment? We know that Paul is a man with heavenly experience and vision, but there are times that people become weak, especially when he is constantly attacked by Jews, and his co-workers Silas and Timothy are not beside him to assist him. He might have been very knowledgeable since he received training from Gamaliel, and he was good at debating. After he was enraged in the spirit, his soul also became agitated: "You guys know how to debate, I also know to debate. Your philosophy is great. My philosophy is also very impressive."

As you can see here, not only did he debate with the Jews and God-fearing people, but he has also debated with the people he met in the marketplace every day, and some Epicurean and Stoic philosophers who have argued with him. We are not sure whether Paul is like this, but those who hold the view that Paul has done nothing wrong is untenable because Paul is a human being, and every human being has a process of learning and continuous maturing. In his later years, Paul did not think that he was fully mature yet, saying that “I press on toward the goal to win the prize.” (NIV, Philippians 3:14). If Paul's later years are not fully mature, then Paul's experience should be a process of continuous maturity. The only difficulty is how we see Paul’s continuous maturity process with the help of the Holy Spirit, but at the same time not be affected in accepting the fact that the Holy Spirit has spread the Word of God through Paul's mouth.

Judging from my limited personal evangelistic experience, many times we encounter some atheist Chinese, who often debate with the people who are preaching the gospel. I personally feel that these debates are often not very effective. The best way is to influence them through prayers and testimonies of love. Of course, among many Christians who advocate Power Evangelism, there are many who use the power of the Holy Spirit to let the atheists be convinced. The debate is usually not very effective. Debates often let us fall to the battlefield of the mind, and debates are things that often happen after we have fallen into a reprobate mind. I slowly learned a lesson, that is, when a person is not ready to accept Christ, or the Holy Spirit hasn’t yet reached a point where he has begun to work on the person to open up his/her mind, we don’t need to have too much debate with him/her. Instead, we can silently pray for the person with an attitude of give and take in the service of love. It has a better effect as time passes.

In addition to this it’s important to be spiritually paired with other believers no matter how knowledgeable or spiritual you may be.  Paul knows this very well. But does the absence of Silas and Timothy affect Paul's judgment? Although Paul is an apostle, the Bible clearly says that Silas is a prophet. If Silas is there, will Silas pray to God to get any prophetic revelation on how to do the work of evangelism in the city of Athens? Or if Timothy is there, will he be more eloquent to deliver and preach the gospel? Although Timothy is younger than Paul, we have seen how young people can do many things better in the church. When people who don’t know much about God come to church, the effect when the pastor preaches a profound sermon is often not as good as the testimony of a few Christians who have faith in the Lord from the very start. The latter is more appealing to those who have just come into contact with the gospel.

This is also my personal point of view. I think that Paul may be more suitable to teach those who want to seek and experience the truth on a deeper level, but Timothy may be more suitable to test the waters first in Athens. Their human hearts are not prepared yet for the idol worshipping people so we should let Timothy pave the way through his words. Or let Silas pray to God to see what strategic or spiritual guidance God has, and then find ways to preach the gospel here. But it seems that it wasn’t mentioned here that Paul has received any revelation or God's guidance. Instead, the Bible mentions that he had reacted because he was angry in the spirit. Is this reaction completely from God?  We don't know.

But I think that those who hold the view that since Paul was an apostle, everything he did was right and he didn’t need to seek God's guidance, and he won’t ever make mistakes is untenable. Although Paul was an apostle, he has the ability to make mistakes and will need a process of learning from them. I personally think that Paul should not be in a rush and do things hastily. He should take a rest and wait until Silas and Timothy come to discuss the matter together and then take action. In other words, Paul is too rash here. This may be one of Paul's weaknesses.

Of course, our analysis is not necessarily right, but it can provide us with another idea, that is, to understand the process of Paul's growth in God. Paul was a person, not a God. Did he have any shortcomings? It’s safe to say that it’s very natural for everyone to have weakness. Did Paul have any weaknesses? If what we propose here exposes the weakness of human nature, what is Paul’s weakness? What effect does Paul's weakness have on his ministry?

We don't know the specific weaknesses that Paul had, but it’s impossible for a person not to have any weakness. Even if people don’t have obvious weaknesses, they need to be paired with other believers who have different giftings.  Therefore, the pairing of Silas and Timothy to Paul is very important.

Of course, we are not totally negating the effect of Paul's evangelism in Athens. Although he wasn’t good at convincing the Athenians through debating, he had attracted some people who were seeking the truth.

Acts 17:19-21 (NIV) says: "Then they took him and brought him to a meeting of the Areopagus, where they said to him, “May we know what this new teaching is that you are presenting?  You are bringing some strange ideas to our ears, and we would like to know what they mean.” (All the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there spent their time doing nothing but talking about and listening to the latest ideas.)”

You can see that the explanation in verse 21 is that the Athenians and the foreigners who live there are very busy, and they have no time to take care of other things. So these people took Paul and brought him to Areopagus to talk about these new lessons/ideas which stood out to us. Going back to what we mentioned earlier, Paul may not have the silver tongue of Timothy, or the effect of preaching the gospel to the newcomers or those who are occupied by the world’s affairs, but Paul didn’t fail to attract those who really seek the truth. Paul’s personality may be more suitable to people who are diligent seekers of truth.

Paul spoke a very famous passage in Acts 17:24-27 (NIV) which says that: "The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by human hands. ²⁵ And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything. Rather, he himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else. ²⁶ From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands. ²⁷ God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us.”

We have no intention of belittling Paul, and the experience here is also the highlight of Paul's experience in Athens. But I personally don't think that idolizing Paul or assuming that he doesn’t have a process of continuous maturity, is correct. Paul is a human being. When he is continuously attacked and left alone, he will be weak and will be incited by the environment to react. And such a reaction usually pulls us down to the level of the environment or the enemy, letting us lose the commanding heights of victory in Christ. An example is Pastor Jack Deere that I mentioned earlier. When others criticize you, don't rush to react. Instead, rest in the Lord and ask His wisdom and follow his leading to deal these criticisms. Similarly, I think that Paul should not be rash here. He should seek the Lord on how to evangelize Athens which was occupied by idols. He should also wait for Silas and Timothy to come and discuss first before making any decisions. It’s not that Paul has no wisdom, but Paul was constantly attacked and alone. He needs to get a good rest and to be taken care of.

We have a new couple coming to our Bible study. I hoped to give them a prophetic word before the end of our meeting. I prayed to God and asked Him, “Are there any prophetic words to give and bless them?” I heard the Holy Spirit say two names, Aquila and Priscilla. I prophesied by faith that:

I feel that God believes that you are Aquila and Priscilla. They have the same line of work as Paul, but they have also taken care of him. Although Paul is an apostle, the apostles also need to be cared to and helped by people. I feel that God called you to be Aquila and Priscilla to train the Paul of tomorrow, because in this era, God will raise and widely use many Paul-like apostles. God called you to be Aquila and Priscilla to cherish those who are serving as apostles. Whether this person is still your child, or a little brother or sister in your church, God will use you to fulfill them in order to make them become servants like Paul. As we saw in this chapter, Paul also has weaknesses and there are times that he needs help and to be paired with other believers. Paul’s encounter with Aquila and Priscilla was a turning point in Paul’s spirituality, because the couple, Aquila and Priscilla, is very compassionate. They were tentmakers just as Paul was and they had received Paul. We believe that Aquila and Priscilla have tended Paul to a large extent, so after Paul met Aquila and Priscilla, it could be said that spiritually, he became more mature. How God used Aquila and Priscilla to take care of and complete Paul’s ministry, God will also use you two to come along side and complete the Pauls of tomorrow.

I prophesied that according to the principle that “everyone can prophesy” (1 Corinthian 14:31), it’s not because I am a prophet. I was saved in an Evangelical church, but I learned the gift of prophecy after I first came into contact with the American modern prophetic movement in 2015. Of course, I studied five courses at a prophetic school, and their teachings helped me to go and activate this prophetic gift.

I prophesied with inspiration and faith. I don't know if these words are correct for the couple because they didn't give me feedback. However, after other friends who were in the meeting with me verified Acts 18, they began to discover Paul's experience of encountering Aquila and Priscilla. It seems that perhaps, I am speaking by the Holy Spirit. Because when I prophesied, I was not sure when Paul met Aquila and Priscilla, nor was I very familiar with the content of Acts 18.

I hope that when we have the opportunity to read Acts 18, we can learn more about how Aquila and Priscilla have tended and helped Paul with the help of the Holy Spirit. Thank you for reading, listening or watching.  

Bible Study With Jairus - Revelation 1

Bible Study with Jairus-Revelation 1

 

The Perspective of the Apostle John: Christ as Judge

 

Though I’ve read the book of Revelation before, I’ve always found it difficult to understand. I’ve often felt that the last days discussed in Revelation were still far away from the times we live in. But as I reflected on the pandemic, war and other current events, my most recent study of the Book of Revelation has been more enlightening than ever.  As I studied the book of Revelation at a recent Bible study, I began to feel that the things described in it are not far away from us.

 

Although I admit that there are still many things in the book of Revelation that I do not fully understand, I feel that the Holy Spirit has given me a better understanding this time. Though I dare not claim that we are experiencing the end of the age depicted in the book of Revelation, I can nonetheless say that the Day of the Lord is very near.

 

Since 2015, the Lord has revealed to me in visions and prophetic dreams that there will be many great revivals. Many of my dreams featured a great revival of China. But I had absolutely no idea where these revivals would start. Then one day, in a dream, I saw an angel stretching out a huge stick that reached all the way from heaven to the ocean. As the angel began to stir, the waves churned and the ground became unstable. Because of this dream, I realized that a great revival is coming, and it will be accompanied by shaking. God will shake all kingdoms that can be shaken, so that the kingdom that cannot be shaken may be sought and obtained (Hebrews 12:27).

 

This shaking represents judgment, which is one of the themes of the book of Revelation. After the pandemic, I received inspiration in the spirit that the great revival has already begun. Why do I believe this? Because the great revival begins with cleansing and judgment. This judgment begins in the house of God, and it allows the church to mature. When wheat is about to be harvested, exposure to the sun will help it ripen more quickly. In the same way, exposure to judgment prepares the church for the harvest. God will harvest His sheaves.

 

This harvest also includes the judgment and harvesting of the weeds. The wheat of God will be gathered into the barn, and the weeds will be thrown into the fire by the angels. All of this takes place because God the Judge has given all judgment to the Son (John 5:22).

 

Although the great revival we are facing may not be the last great revival of the last days, I believe it is nonetheless a preparation for the great revival of the last days. For this reason, I believe that reading the book of Revelation at this moment in history can bring insight and inspiration to our lives today.

 

The Lord Is Our Judge

 

We often say that the Lord is both a lamb and a lion. The first time He came to earth, He came as the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. He brought grace and delayed his judgment. Jesus clearly said, "I did not come to judge the world but to save the world. The one who rejects me and does not receive my words has a judge; the word that I have spoken will judge him on the last day." (John 12:47-48).[1] God’s word clearly tells us that the Lord will judge those who reject Him on the last day. Revelation, the last book of the Bible, discusses the judgment of the last days. The Lord, as revealed in Revelation, will be the Judge.

 

 

The Holy Spirit introduced the drama of the book of Revelation in a very creative way. The Bible is breathed out by God (2 Timothy 3:16). The Holy Spirit inspired people to write the Bible, so the Holy Spirit is its true author. As a writer and playwright, I have often said that the Holy Spirit introduced the drama and He is the best playwright. If we think of the book of Revelation as a movie, and the first chapter of Revelation as the prologue, what would be the best way to introduce the Judge? I personally think that there would be no better way than to surprise the Apostle John with the appearance of the Judge.

 

John was Jesus' favorite disciple. He often laid in the arms of the Lord and was very familiar with Jesus Christ the Lamb. But just like the disciples whom the Lord Jesus appeared to after His resurrection, John did not recognize the risen Christ at first. Seeing the risen Christ shocked John since he was only familiar with Christ the Lamb. John's visual description of the risen Christ, the Judge, was brand new to John. As the best playwright, the Holy Spirit began the book of Revelation with a vivid and new image of Christ as the Judge, an image that shocked the apostle John.

 

Revelation Of Jesus Christ

 

Let's imagine the book of Revelation as a movie. Let’s follow the playwright, the Holy Spirit, into this earth-shattering show. Even though the Holy Spirit is the playwright, the idea for this drama came through the collaboration of the three members of the Trinity. Jesus Christ said that He would receive truth from the Father and declare it to the Holy Spirit (John 16:15). In the same way, Revelation 1:1 mentions that the revelation of Jesus Christ came from the Father and was "given by God” to Jesus Christ. God told Him that He should show His servants the things that would soon take place. He communicated the message by His angel to His servant John through symbols (Revelation 1:1).

 

The characters in this movie script are the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit; the angels, evil spirits, and devils; saints and sinners; Christ and the Bride, who are united with the Lord; the Antichrist and the great prostitute, who is composed of evil spirits and sinners; dragons and beasts; a woman and a male child. These all comprise the pictorial symbols mentioned in verse 1. We must learn how to understand this symbolic language. I believe I have gained new inspiration about some figurative images, including the sickle and Babylon, which we will describe in detail later. As a preview, let me quickly summarize these concepts. The sickle is a gift from God, and it is up to us to sharpen it. Babylon is a united system of evil spirits and sinners, including but far greater than the fallen system of Catholicism. Babylon includes the fallen religious, political, economic, and other systems in this world. This network of systems devours human minds, hearts, and souls.

 

The language of symbols is the language of pictures. These pictorial symbols often hinder us from understanding the Bible. That’s why it’s so important to understand these figurative images. If you understand the symbols and visual language, you will better understand the entire book of Revelation. An example of figurative language is the saying, “He was shot by Cupid's arrow.” Of course, we don't mean that a person was actually shot. Instead, we understand that this is a figurative way to say that someone is in love. Although the meaning of this figurative language is clear to us today, it might not be clear to a reader thousands of years from now. No longer familiar with the idiom, people may become confused by the references to “Cupid” and his arrow. Similarly, there are many symbols and much visual language ​​in the Bible which were understandable to the readers at the time when the Bible was being written. However, the meaning has been lost in our current culture, making it difficult for us to understand this visual language.

 

In addition, many biblical images were based on spiritual inspiration rather than on historical or cultural idioms that were common at the time. For human beings living in the material realm, it can be difficult to put spiritual realities into words. There may be no physical reality that we can compare the spiritual reality to. It is difficult for our natural minds to grasp. In these cases, figurative language and images can help us express heavenly things that are beyond words.

 

For example, in order to explain how the Holy of Holies in heaven was built, God asked Moses and David to build a tabernacle and a temple that matched the heavenly pattern. The temple itself and the accompanying utensils were pictorial images that represented a heavenly reality. When the high priest entered the Holy of Holies once a year to sprinkle the blood, it was an image of the blood of Jesus which restored fellowship between God and man. When Moses approached the mercy seat, saw God’s glory, and heard Him speak (Numbers 7:89), it represented our ability to draw near the Holy of Holies with boldness through the blood of Jesus (Hebrews 4:16). This pictorial representation shows that in Jesus Christ, we can meet with God face to face.

 

Since 2015, God has given me dreams that help me express spiritual realities through pictorial images. In my dreams, I have been taken to heaven, paradise, and other places in the underworld. I saw various images and scenes of the lives of the people there. When I would tell my wife about these things, she would ask, “What is the use of these things?” I said, “These visions of the spiritual world have greatly expanded my spiritual imagination, helping me break through many traditional Bible teachings that limit my thinking. These images help me better understand how God speaks through pictorial languages in the Bible.” I believe that the dreams that God gave me were not useless. They helped me better understand the visual language in the Bible. I believe that the more we understand the figurative images in Revelation, the more we will understand the book as a whole. In this study, we will focus on clarifying these images and the message that the symbols are describing.

 

Preparation to Hear God’s Voice

In Revelation, John heard Jesus speaking to him personally. If we want to learn how to hear Jesus’ voice, we should prepare ourselves like John did. Although some of John’s circumstances were brought about by the sovereignty of God and were beyond his control, we can still learn from John’s example. We can learn about the importance of preparing our hearts before God.

 

Cultivating a Quiet Heart

 

The first way we can prepare our hearts is by cultivating a quiet, undistracted heart. God speaks to us often. But if we are too busy, we may not be able to quiet down enough to hear God speak. For instance, if we are on a crowded bus, and someone steals our wallet, we might not even notice it. But if we are sitting quietly on a balcony, drinking coffee, we could feel the breeze blowing across our faces. That’s why it’s so important to find a quiet environment where we can better hear God's words. Psalm 46:10 says, "Be still, and know that I am God." But we are often unable to quiet down because we live in a distracted world.

It’s easy to imagine that the Apostle John was also very busy. Perhaps he was very busy with his ministry to the seven churches that he later wrote to in the book of Revelation. If he had not been exiled and put in prison, he might have been too busy with ministry to be able to see this vision. God knew how to quiet John’s heart and mind to receive his word.

 

John was exiled to the island of Patmos. In chapter 1 verse 9 he said, "I, John, your brother and partner in the tribulation and the kingdom and the patient endurance that are in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos on account of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus." The island created a quiet environment for John. He was probably exiled because of his faith in Jesus. Now that he had fewer external distractions, he was able to quiet his heart before God and hear his words. On the Lord’s day, he became receptive to the Spirit and heard God’s voice.

 

Letting Go of Rigid Thinking.

Another way we can hear the voice of God is by letting go of our own rigid thinking. Our past experiences with God tend to generate rigid expectations about future interactions with Him. The Pharisees, who claimed to love God and obey His laws, were completely blind to the coming of God in the flesh. They were so wrapped up in their rigid thinking, which focused on outward obedience, that they didn’t recognize Jesus Christ, the incarnation of God. In the same way, our minds, prejudices, and traditions can solidify our thinking so much that we cannot understand God’s leading in a new era. In order to become trailblazers who lead the work of God in a new era, we must let go of rigid thinking and receive the fresh guidance and presence of Jesus.

 

The New Image of The Judge

 

The Lord Jesus has appeared to me several times in visions, but each appearance was unique. No two visions were identical.

 

Once, I was taken to China in the spirit. The Lord Jesus appeared to me, robed with light, and laid His hands on my head. After falling to the ground, I got up. But He was gone.

 

On the last day of 2017, He first appeared to me as an old Chinese lady. Then He took me to heaven in the spirit and changed His form. There, He told me about my calling. Through a glass window, he showed me people going up to heaven. They looked as if they were riding an escalator to heaven. This vision gave me a burden for China's great revival.

 

Another time, I was taken to Japan in the spirit, and the Lord Jesus appeared to me. He healed my hands, which had been wounded from fishing, with a healing balm drawn from the nail marks on his feet. Yet another time, I was taken to heaven in the spirit and saw Jesus’ face and strong muscles up close.  Every appearance has been unique.

 

Testimonies of people with prophetic experiences abound. I have heard others say that every time the Lord appears, He looks different, depending on the amount of light He emits. Sometimes, he appears as a lion, an eagle, or some other manifestation.

 

The appearance of the risen Lord can be in many different forms. Perhaps this is why the disciples did not always recognize him when he appeared after his resurrection. When He appeared to the twelve disciples, to the men on their way to Emmaus, to Mary as she wept by the tomb, or to Peter as he fished by the sea, they did not recognize Him right away. In other words, the Lord Jesus Christ often appears in a specific form that communicates an important figurative message.

 

For example, one day the Lord Jesus appeared to me as an old Chinese lady and led me down the mountain near my hometown. He led me to the entrance of the village. There, I saw some women and children weeping. Then I heard voices saying, “This represents the people in China who are being oppressed by the unfair distribution of wealth.” Suddenly, I saw that a strange currency was about to be unloaded from the bed of a big truck. It seemed to be a huge amount of money, near $200 million. The money was not in US dollars, or CNY. It was in a strange currency. Then I heard voices that said, “The wealth will be redistributed to those who are godly and righteous, so that they can evangelize and transform Chinese society.”

 

Not long after that, the old lady started to take me to heaven in the spirit. I fought and struggled against her with all my strength, because I was worried that I was being deceived by an evil spirit. But her power overcame me. Then she gave me an enormous push from behind and lifted me to heaven, where she transformed into Jesus Christ. He showed me images of people, similar to the images of saints used in the past, and He asked me if I wished to be like them. I cried, “I am willing in my heart, but my flesh is weak. I still have some fleshly weaknesses that I cannot overcome.”

 

During this experience, I was shocked to see a cherub flying toward us. What shocked me even more was that the Chinese saints in glory sang a four-verse hymn together to praise God and to bless and encourage me. Sadly, I cannot remember the lyrics of this hymn. But this experience has greatly encouraged me.

 

 

Many of these spiritual experiences involved figurative images:

• God often uses my rural hometown in China to represent China.
• Coming down from the mountain on the north side of my hometown represents the presence of God who is with me in heaven (represented by the high place on the mountain) and in China (represented by my village). I believe that one day he will lead me back to China.
• Walking to the entrance of the village represents my future return to China.
• The crying women and children represent the oppression of the Chinese church and Chinese people. They are oppressed by evil spirits and evil people.
• The truck represents the gospel and its ministry.
• The huge amount of strange currency on the truck represents the supply of God's rich gospel, as well as His supply of physical wealth.
• Only when I arrived at the entrance of the village did I see this truck, which represents the timing of these supplies, which may only become available when I arrive in China to preach the gospel one day.
• The cherub I saw in heaven signifies a heavenly atmosphere.
• Being taken behind the glass by Jesus Christ shows us that we can see people going to heaven behind the glass, but they can't see us. This means that everything is in the hands of God; He knows everything.
• Jesus Christ showed me pictures of people going to heaven one by one. These are also symbols. They represent the great revival that will bring people’s saved souls to heaven.

 

These figurative images greatly shocked my spirit and also gave me a great burden for the future revival of China and the world. Even the Chinese saints who sang hymns in heaven represented the fact that the great revival in China will be a collaboration between God, the saints in glory, and the saints on earth. This deeply inspires me.

 

This is just one example of a spiritual experience full of visual language that conveyed God's message to me. These images helped me to break through my mental limitations and accept God’s call—a calling that I never dared imagine.

 

Similarly, the image of the Lord Jesus Christ described in Revelation 1 is not a fixed image, but a symbolic image that describes what God will do during the judgment of the last days. The pictures themselves are God's words to the apostle John and the church in the end times. Let's examine the image of the Lord described by the apostle John.

 

The golden lampstand represents the church (1:20). Walking in the midst of the golden lampstand represents Jesus walking amongst the churches and checking on them. The robe that reaches down to his feet does not mean that the Lord wears a robe every day in heaven. Rather, this symbolic image represents holiness, just like the robe that Joshua put on to cover his filthiness (Zechariah 3:4), or the bright, clean linen that the bride of Christ wore, which represents the righteous deeds of the saints (Revelation 19:8).  Once, during a vision, I was standing in line to see Jesus.  While standing in line, I was asked to first put on a robe. This symbol shows us that filthy people cannot see the Lord, but that Jesus bestows on us a robe of righteousness that covers our uncleanness. In figurative visual language, the robe Jesus was wearing in Revelation 1 reminds us of the righteousness of Jesus that covers His body, the church. Although the church is weak and filthy, we are the body of Christ. As such, we are covered by Christ’s righteousness. His holiness and His blood cover our sins and weaknesses. Later verses will mention the specific weaknesses of each church, but for now, we are reminded through this symbolic image that it is God cleansing us. We must not forget that we are more than conquerors in Christ.

 

When I was reading the book of Revelation, I was amazed. The Holy Spirit is truly the best playwright and director! He describes the risen Christ to us like a good director of photography. He starts with a long shot of Jesus wearing a robe, then moves to a medium shot of Jesus with a golden sash, and finally moves to a close shot of Jesus’ eyes and hair. The camera focuses on these characteristics one by one, presenting the image of the risen Lord in minute detail.

 

First, God offers us a wide-angle view of Jesus’ entire body, including a robe reaching down to his feet. Next, the camera zooms in to focus on the Lord's chest, with a golden sash around it. Symbolically, his chest represents love. While he was on earth, John had reclined on Jesus’ chest and in his arms. At that time, Jesus probably did not have a golden sash around His chest, so this vision must have left a deep impression on John. The golden sash on the chest of the risen Christ stood in stark contrast to John’s memory of Jesus’ chest in the past. Jesus had always been God in the flesh, but He was mainly revealed as the Son of Man. Even here, the apostle John calls him the Son of Man (1:13). But this appearance more clearly demonstrated Jesus’ divinity as well. In the Bible, gold represents God’s divine nature. For example, the streets of the New Jerusalem are made of gold. So the focus on the gold sash reminds us of Jesus’ deity.

 

Next, the director’s camera focuses on Jesus’s hair. This close shot describes His white hair as
“white wool, like snow.” These images are symbolic. When Jesus appears to me personally, I often see His hair glowing like His entire body. Sometimes, I don't see His white hair. Some people have seen visions of Jesus with golden curly hair. Each person that sees Jesus, in heaven or in a vision, will not necessarily see the same image John described here. As I said, Jesus is God. He can appear in many forms. John’s description of His appearance is mainly a figurative way to convey the specific message He wants to tell the church.

 

What does his white hair represent? Some say that His white hair represents his eternal nature. I'm not against this explanation. But I feel that the white hair is another way to express his holiness and flawlessness. As the Holy Spirit, our director, reveals more of the risen Christ and the Judge, we are constantly seeing more of His divinity and holiness. In other words, the gentle Lamb the apostle John was familiar with, who was merciful to sinners and tolerant to those who were against Him, has become the Lord who will judge sinners and those who oppose Him. The setting of the Book of Revelation is the last days. Judgment Day is coming soon. Based on the logic of the “director,” we would expect the next shot to reveal more of His judgment. As expected, the next shot focuses on His eyes, which are like a flame of fire. This image speaks of His judgment.

 

The next scene also points to judgment. The apostle John describes the Lord's feet as like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace, which is a common symbol of judgment. The furnace speaks of trial and testing. Bronze represents judgment as well. After Korah’s rebellion, God asked Moses to hammer the bronze censers of the rebellious Israelites into bronze sheets to cover the altar, as a lesson for future Israelites.

 

In addition to pictures, movies also use the language of sound, which can make movies more realistic. Through John’s description, we hear the Holy Spirit’s depiction of the voice of Christ. It sounded like the roar of many waters. What does the sound of many waters represent? Judgment. We often refer to the still small voice of the Holy Spirit, which is like a gentle maternal reminder. However, a strong rebuke from your mother is more like the sound of many waters. It stuns you and motivates you to obey out of fear of punishment.

 

One time, when I was taken to heaven in the spirit, I experienced the “sound of many waters” for myself. In the vision, I was waiting in line to see the Lord. I was so excited that my heart wanted to jump out of my chest. While waiting, someone gave me a robe to put on and told me to wait there. As I was entering the room where the Lord was, I found that I could not stand up. I fell backward to the ground. Then I heard the voice of the Lord, like the voice of many waters, saying, "Get up.” I immediately gained strength, stood up, and entered the room to meet Him. The voice of the Lord was so rich and powerful that it could not be described in words. The enemy can’t mimic His voice. Hearing the voice of the Lord is truly shocking and terrifying!

 

The seven stars in Jesus’ right hand also speak of judgment, because the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches (1:20). Jesus not only walks among the churches (represented by the golden lampstands), but He also judges His churches and angels first. The sharp two-edged sword that comes out of His mouth represents His judgment. Hebrews 4:12 says, "For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” His face is like the sun shining in full strength, which shows that harvest time has come. The sun has facilitated the drying of the wheat.

 

With each new scene of this powerful drama, emotions continue to build. The apostle John is already completely overwhelmed. The gentle lamb he knew on earth had become the lion of the tribe of Judah. John saw that Jesus was the King. The Father had given Him all authority to execute judgment!

 

In the next shot, John fell at Jesus’ feet as if he were dead. John, the apostle who used to lie in the arms of Jesus like a baby, now fell at His feet as though dead. If even the apostle John could not bear the appearance of the glorified and holy Lord, how could we sinners bear it? No wonder the Bible says that the coming of the Lord will great and dreadful (Malachi 4:5)! We will never be able to stand before Him if we do not repent and are not covered by His holy robe!

 

The Seven Stars and The Seven Lampstands (The Church) are also Symbolic

 

The seven stars are also symbols of judgment. Why do I say this? Let’s imagine the Lord Jesus walking among the golden lampstands, holding the seven stars in His hand. He expressly states that the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and that the golden lampstands are the seven churches (1:20). Although John briefly mentions that he is addressing his letters to the seven churches (1:11), he also expressly states that the letters are written to the angels of the seven churches (chapter 2-3). In other words, the angels of the seven churches are the overcomers of the seven churches. The Lord is speaking to the overcomers in every church.

 

Daniel said, "And those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the sky above; and those who turn many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever." (Daniel 12:3). We are all stars, and we must shine like stars. The Book of Proverbs says, "But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn, which shines brighter and brighter until full day." (Proverbs 4:18). As stars, we must keep shining brighter and brighter until the full dawn appears. Revelation 1 mentions that the face of the Lord Jesus was like the sun shining in full strength. As believers, we are destined to be conformed to the image of Christ, who is like the midday sun. This is not something that one person can do on his own. But when each of us shines like a star, we can collectively become like the midday sun.

 

A brother made a wise observation. He said, “Elijah, the greatest prophet in Israel's history, appeared during the reign of Ahab, the worst king of Israel. A king is like the moon. If the moon is bright, the stars are less visible. But if the moon is not visible, the stars will shine brightly. In the same way, a good king doesn’t need a prophet to remind him to follow God. But during the reign of a bad king, the prophet's star will be very bright.”

 

This is a great insight. We as the church are the royal priesthood of God. Collectively, we are both kings and priests. When we fall into sin, we no longer give light to the world. The lamp is put under the bushel; the salt loses its taste, and the function of the Old Testament king is destroyed. Therefore, the prophets of this age (the overcomers, also called the angels of the church) must shine more brightly. They must shine like stars and illuminate the dark church and the world.

 

The seven stars in the right hand of the Lord Jesus are symbolic. After the Lord Jesus was resurrected, He sat down at the right hand of God the Father. Therefore, the right hand of God represents the exaltation of God. Being held in His hand is also symbolic language. It signifies that He is holding the seven stars tightly. He will never let go of the prophets and overcomers of this age (the angels of the churches). God will not give up on his church! God’s judgment begins with His church and the angels (overcomers) of His church. The letters in Revelation 2 and 3 were clearly addressed to the angels of the seven churches. This is something I had never noticed before. I had thought the letters were written to the church, but the Holy Spirit shows me that the recipients of the letters were the angels of the seven churches (2:1, 8, 12, 18; 3: 1, 7, 14).

 

The Lord is calling His overcomers from the seven churches to overcome every weakness and attack of the enemy. If they cannot overcome them, the Lord will remove their golden lampstands from their places. In other words, if the light of the church is weak, and the overcomers can no longer conquer their weaknesses and sins, they will no longer shine like stars. Their golden lampstands will be completely dark.

 

We will continue to share more symbols and figurative images ​​in Revelation 2 and 3. I hope that this introduction to symbolic images in the book of Revelation will help you understand the entire book of Revelation so you can see where God is moving today.

 

[1] All Scripture quotations are taken from the English Standard Version unless otherwise noted.