Category: Miscellaneous Bible Topics

What God Has Cleansed

 

Peters vision

“And on the next day, as they were on their way, and approaching the city, Peter went up on the housetop about the sixth hour to pray.  And he became hungry and was desiring to eat; but while they were making preparations, he fell into a trance; and he beheld the sky opened up, and a certain object like a great sheet coming down, lowered by four corners to the ground, and there were in it all kinds of four-footed animals and crawling creatures of the earth and birds of the air.  And a voice came to him, ‘Arise, Peter, kill and eat!’. But Peter said, ‘By no means, Lord, for I have never eaten anything unholy and unclean’. And again a voice came to him a second time, ‘What God has cleansed, no longer consider unholy’.”  Acts 10:9-15

Here is another example of a viewpoint or interpretation I have always accepted as true without really studying it out.  I believe many other Christians are in the same boat.

I was listening to an interview with a Christian couple who are very involved in Biblical dieting.  They were remarking about this passage and said that it has nothing to do with God saying everything is ok to eat now.  They pointed out that Peter realized that the vision was telling him that he should not call any man unclean or unholy.  The couple said that it was never in the Law for a Jew to view people this way.

I have always accepted the contention that in this passage God says that all animals are now ok to eat and that God’s law that forbade certain animals was now nullified.  It was then somehow equated symbolically to the notion that Jews could also now associate with non-Jews. 

So, I decided to study all this for myself.  I found that the aforementioned couple was correct.  However, they did not complete the picture.  There was something much deeper and more profound that God was communicating to Peter.

Peter goes into a trance and sees a vision.  A great sheet comes down from heaven and all kinds of unclean and unholy (dirty and impure) animals are in the sheet.  A voice tells Peter to arise kill and eat.  Peter is appalled and says to the Lord that he never has and would never eat anything unholy and unclean.  The voice says ‘What God has cleansed, no longer consider unholy”.

Peter is greatly perplexed about the vision.  This is a devout Jew who understands that there is purpose in the law.  God did not create the law arbitrarily.  The law describes and displays God’s righteousness.  How could something God has designated unclean become clean?

Peter continued to ponder the vision and while he was reflecting on it, men showed up at the door asking for Peter to go with them to see the centurion Cornelius.  When Peter is told that God sent an angel to Cornelius, a Gentile, the light went on for him.

Verse 28 is very important.  Peter tells Cornelius and his household that it is unlawful for a Jew to associate with a foreigner or visit him.  Yet, Peter says, God showed him that he should not call ANY man unholy or unclean.

The point is this, what Peter realized is that no man should be considered unclean or unholy.   When God said to Peter, ‘What God has cleansed, no longer consider unholy’, He was telling Peter that He had made atonement for all men.  He had not changed the law about what animals were edible!

Atonement is Cleansing

This short statement from God to Peter, “What God has cleansed, no longer consider unholy”, sums up what Christ’s death on the cross means to the whole world.  His death was the atonement for all mankind.  It satisfied the debt or the penalty for original sin. 

It’s also important to mention here that the law that Peter was talking about in Acts 10:28 in terms of associating with a foreigner is not found in the Torah anywhere.  But we will discuss that later in this article.

Look at Leviticus 16:29-30.  This chapter is all about the Law of Atonement.  It is the definitive statute regarding the annual ritual for Israel to make atonement for the nation.  It symbolically reconciled the nation to God.  It also foreshadowed the perfect atonement that would be made by Christ for all of mankind (see Heb. 10:10-12).

“And this shall be a permanent statute for you: in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, you shall humble your souls, and not do any work, whether the native, or the alien who sojourns among you; for it is on this day that atonement shall be made for you to cleanse you; you shall be clean from all your sins before the Lord.”

In other words, atonement is a cleansing! 

This is what God was telling Peter.  Christ’s death had atoned for the sin of all mankind.  Peter realized that nothing had changed regarding what is good or bad to eat.  God had not cleansed those things, or made them suitable for eating!  Jesus Christ atoned or cleansed all of man.

This does not mean that all people are saved.  Christ’s death paid for the sin of the world, but individually we are justified by faith.  Faith alone is what determines whether we become righteous in God’s eyes.  Christ’s death, or atonement, is a free gift for all men.  It allows for justification for all men individually by faith (Rom. 5:11-18).

The point I’m trying to make about Acts 10 is that nothing changed from God’s perspective about what is good to eat.  He used that vision to help Peter understand what God had cleansed or atoned for.  God forced Peter’s mind into a quandary so that when the men from Cornelius showed up Peter would automatically understand.

Now, I am not saying that we are still under the law.  I am saying that what God laid out in the law as unclean to eat was still unclean or bad to eat.  In other words, there was purpose behind God declaring certain things bad to eat.  Nothing changed with that.

In Leviticus chapter 11, God details which creatures can be eaten.  At the end of the chapter it says, “This is the law regarding the animal, and the bird, and every living thing that moves in the waters, and everything that swarms on the earth, to make a distinction between the unclean and the clean, and between the edible creature and the creature which is not to be eaten.”  Lev. 11:46-47

This is why Peter was so perplexed.  He could not understand how something that was bad to eat could suddenly become ok to eat.  Then he figured it out when the representatives of Cornelius showed up.

While we have technology to protect from the hazards of certain unclean animals, there are still good reasons to avoid them.  You can find the exhaustive list in Lev. 11.  Pork, shellfish, rabbits, and fish without scales like catfish are the usual suspects on American tables, but you can do your own research on what’s healthy and not.

Going back to the law that Peter cited about association with foreigners – it was a man-made law or tradition.  It was not a law of God.  In fact, if you go back through the books of Moses, or the Torah, there are numerous passages that talk about welcoming the foreigners or aliens, and being hospitable to them.

Here are just a few:

“The stranger who resides with you shall be to you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt; I am the LORD your God.”  Lev. 19:24

‘There shall be one standard for you; it shall be for the stranger as well as the native, for I am the LORD your God.'”  Lev. 24:22

‘If an alien sojourns among you and observes the Passover to the LORD, according to the statute of the Passover and according to its ordinance, so he shall do; you shall have one statute, both for the alien and for the native of the land.'”  Num. 9:14

“You shall not oppress a hired servant who is poor and needy, whether he is one of your countrymen or one of your aliens who is in your land in your towns.”  Deut. 24:14

And don’t forget the one above that I quoted regarding the Day of Atonement, Lev. 16:29-30

There are many, many more.  God has always intended that Israel be a light to the nations.  The Jews were never supposed to treat people with disdain.  They were told not to inter-mingle in marriage or to follow other nations gods, but if a non-Jew was seeking friendship there was no law against it. This tradition of the Jews to not associate with Gentiles was something concocted by corrupt religious leaders.

Guess what? It’s the same with the Church.  We are to be in the world, but not of it.  We are to be just as hospitable to non-believers as Israel was to be to non-Jews.  But we are not to marry unbelievers.  God is the same yesterday and today!

Acts 10 is really about Christ’s atonement!

 

The Covert Mission of Jesus

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“…but we speak God’s wisdom in a mystery, the hidden wisdom, which God predestined before the ages to our glory; the wisdom which none of the rulers of this age has understood; for if they had understood it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory;”  1Corinthians 2:7-8

The Man Who Never Was

The annals of war are replete with stories of subterfuge.  In WWII there were a number of elaborate schemes designed to fool Hitler about the invasion of Europe.  The most exotic ruse of the war took place before the invasion of Italy, the success of which would have enormous impact on the coming invasion of France.

Before the Allies could invade France they had to get a foothold in southern Europe.  Germany had been shoved out of North Africa and conventional wisdom said the next step for the Allies would be to land an army in Sicily.  Germany knew this as well. 

Winston Churchill famously remarked that ‘everyone but a bloody fool would know’ that the objective was Sicily.  If the Allies could make the Germans believe that they were going to invade Greece instead of Sicily, significant forces might get diverted thereby insuring success in Sicily. 

So, a ruse was concocted.  The audacious plan became the basis for a film entitled, ‘The Man Who Never Was’, in 1956.

The idea, thought up by 25 yr. old RAF Flight Lieutenant Charles Cholmondeley and developed by British Intelligence, was to drop a dead body off the coast of Nazi occupied Spain complete with identification papers, photos of a girlfriend, love letters, a London bus ticket and most importantly, a personal letter from Lt. General Archibald Nye. 

The chosen courier was a deceased 34-year-old alleged homeless man named Glyndwr Michael who had supposedly been found in an abandoned warehouse (there is controversy about whether he was a homeless person).  For this mission, designated Operation Mincemeat, he was given the name Capt. William H.N. Martin. 

The letter from General Nye outlined several sensitive topics.  One of the topics was Allied plans in the Mediterranean, specifically the invasion of Greece.  It described plans to embark troops from Egypt and Libya under the command of General ‘Jumbo’ Wilson for the landing in Greece.  It also mentioned a simultaneous landing on Sardinia by forces under the command of General Harold Alexander currently in Tunisia.  

The letter was personally written and signed by General Nye.  Nye added the finishing touch in the letter saying ‘we stand a very good chance of making the enemy think we are landing in Sicily’.

Next, the British had to make the dead man look as if he had drowned.  The plan was to make the Germans think the body had washed up from a plane crash at sea.  To make the death look as authentic as possible, the British stored the body in dry ice in a sealed container.  As the ice evaporated the lungs filled with liquid. 

The body, dressed in Royal Marine battle dress, was found on the shore of Spain near a town called Huelva with the briefcase of papers attached.  He had been dropped in the ocean a mile from shore by the submarine HMS Seraph. 

Within days, the contents of the briefcase were in German intelligence hands. 

Of course, the Germans would want the British to think that the documents had remained secure so as not to tip the British that the Germans were now in on the Allied plans.  So, the Germans had the Spanish return the contents just as they had found them.  But British intelligence examined the documents and they could tell they had been tampered with. 

The plan was working. 

A few days later, German reinforcements were moving to Greece, Corsica, and Sardinia over the objection of Italian dictator Mussolini, who still believed the invasion would be in Sicily.  Panzer divisions were sent from France and Russia and Germany’s greatest field general Erwin Rommel was sent to Greece to command. 

The great deception worked magnificently, so much so that two days after the invasion of Sicily, Hitler refused to budge from Greece, believing the main invasion was still to come. 

How did this ruse affect D-Day? 

After the invasion of Sicily, Hitler eventually realized he had been duped.  Two days after the D-Day invasion of France, Germans confiscated documents from a landing craft on the shore of Normandy. The documents were real, and they detailed inland targets of the Allies. 

Hitler refused to believe they were real, convinced it was another ruse and that the main invasion was still to come at Pas de Calais.  When the Germans needed the Panzer divisions the most at Normandy, Hitler kept them frozen inland off the northern coast of France. 

The invasion of France may well have been saved by the lasting effects of ‘The Man Who Never Was’.

In a way, Jesus played a ‘man who never was’. 

Yahweh the Greatest Con Artist

God tricked Satan, plain and simple. 

The Jews were looking for a political and military leader which was precisely what God took advantage of.  Jesus intentionally allowed and even fostered their belief that He had come to restore the kingdom of God on earth. 

Jesus executed his mission flawlessly, gathering and training believing followers while conning Satan and the unbelieving Jews.  Turning the entire nation of Israel’s attention on Himself, He was able to keep His true mission cloaked – to be killed.

Jesus drew crowds of thousands in empty areas near tiny towns and villages.  There He preached messages of hope laced with fiery, revolutionary rhetoric.  “The kingdom of God was coming”, He said repeatedly.  He rebuked, chastised and humiliated the reigning authorities, the oppressive religious overlords who bowed to the pagan conquerors from Rome. 

And God spoke from heaven and all who were present heard it – “This is My Beloved Son!”  This was the One sent to restore the kingdom of God back on earth to where it belongs – in the hands of the Messiah King reigning from Jerusalem!  This was the One that would throw off the oppressors!

What was Satan hearing? “The kingdom of God is near”; “The gates of hell will not prevail”; “I saw Satan falling like lightening”; “Do not think that I came to bring peace on the earth; I did not come to bring peace, but a sword!”. 

John the Baptist called them out, “Who warned you of the wrath to come?”.

Satan heard what the Pharisees and scribes were hearing – declarations of war and vengeance!  

The Pharisees were the imagers, the mirrors, of Satan.  Jesus called them sons of Satan.  How they reacted is how Satan was reacting.  Their authority and power were threatened as was Satan’s power and authority as ruler of this domain earth. 

The hook was set.  Jesus had to die.

He spoke in parables for the ears that could hear.  He knew that only a very few were understanding any of what he said.  He knew the crowds would turn on him.  But he also knew that in the end He would find the few followers that would commit their lives to Him.

The mission was to die.  But it was also to lay the foundation for the Church. 

He made sure that His disciples knew He was God in the flesh.  He trained them how to become fishers of men.  He taught them the message of salvation and how to spread it; to love one another and to live for eternity. 

He did this all the while provoking Satan with impending overthrow of his reign on earth. 

And Yahweh chose the perfect time to insert His Son into the world. 

Knowing He would be rejected, He rightfully claimed the throne of David.  But it was never His intent to take it at that time.  His intent was to be killed. 

It was a brilliant plan, laid out in Eden and flawlessly managed all the way to the cross.  From the beginning of creation it was determined – Yahweh would restore man and earth back to Himself by sending His Son to die. 

And He rose from the dead to seal the victory.

Satan would not have laid a finger on Him had he understood Jesus’ real mission.

Dan Baker

copyright 2017

What’s in the Water?

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Water

1 John 5:6-8  “6. This is the one who came by water and blood, Jesus Christ: not in water only, but in the water and in the blood.  7. And it is the Spirit who bears witness, because the Spirit is the truth.  8. For there are three that bear witness, the Spirit and the water and the blood; and the three are in agreement.”

Before I get into this, I want to state that I quoted the New American Standard that has ‘in’ in the margin as the literal translation for the 2nd and 3rd segment of verse 6 (“not IN water only” as opposed to “not BY water only”).

This is a fascinating passage and the commentaries are varied in their interpretations.  So hang in there and do your best to follow me as I put forth some things to consider that I have not found to be suggested as yet.

Most commentaries say that the water is referring to Christ’s baptism.  One commentary by someone named Wetstein said it is referring to Christ’s manhood meaning that he “he had all the properties of a human being–a spirit or soul, blood, and the watery humours of the body”.  I strongly believe it goes far deeper than baptism or the human body.

What is curious about this is that John says that Jesus did not come in water ONLY.  I wonder why he said it that way.  In other words, it seems John recognizes that someone would easily accept that the Messiah Son of God might come in water only.  John is emphatic that he came in water AND blood.  I think Wetstein is getting warm.  But why water only?

Here’s what I’m thinking about…

First, let’s look at where Yahweh lives and where Yeshuah came from.  Gen. 1:6 says “Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.” 

Psalm 104:3 says that He “lays the beams of His chambers in the waters”.  In the same psalm it says in verse 13, “He waters the mountains from His chambers”.

Psalm 148:4 says, ‘Praise Him, heaven of heavens and the waters that are above the heavens”.

Amos 9:6 says “The One who builds His upper chambers in the heavens, and has founded His vaulted dome over the earth, He who calls for the waters of the sea and pours them out on the face of the earth, the Lord is His name.” 

God dwells above the firmament above the earth in waters.  That seems clear from Scripture.  I realize that Amos is not describing the waters above the firmament, I included it because it goes along with the verse that says His chambers are there.  And God is spirit (John 4:24). 

Ok, He’s spirit, what’s that got to do with it?  Well, maybe everything.  Again, I’m just exploring this, I haven’t formed any conclusions.   Let’s bring in another verse to consider.  Stay with me.

Luke 11:24 says, “When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, and not finding any, it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’”

What this verse seems to indicate is that these spirits (granted they are unclean or demons) must find habitation made up of water.  Remember when Jesus exorcised a man of the demon Legion (Luke 8:27-33)?  That demon begged to be sent into a herd of pigs rather than the abyss. 

The abyss is the lowest part of the earth where evil spirits are imprisoned and there is no water (1 Peter 3:18, Jude 6).  It wanted to be in a living creature.  All life is water based.  We are 70% water.

Now, these were unclean spirits but spirits nonetheless.   See where I’m going?

Now I want to bring in the Book of Enoch.  This book is credible reliable spiritual history.  The reason I can say that is because the Bible quotes it.  That means God affirms it.  I’m not saying it’s Scripture, but I believe at minimum it is as close as you can get.

In Enoch 22: 9-13 it says this: “9. At that time therefore I inquired respecting him, and respecting the general judgment, saying, Why is one separated from another? He answered, Three separations have been made between the spirits of the dead, and thus have the spirits of the righteous been separated. 10. Namely, by a chasm, by water, and by light above it.  11. And in the same way likewise are sinners separated when they die, and are buried in the earth; judgment not overtaking them in their lifetime.  12. Here their souls are separated. Moreover, abundant is their suffering until the time of the great judgment, the castigation, and the torment of those who eternally execrate, whose souls are punished and bound there for ever.  13. And thus has it been from the beginning of the world. Thus has there existed a separation between the souls of those who utter complaints, and of those who watch for their destruction, to slaughter them in the day of sinners.”

What Enoch is saying is there are 3 things that separate the unsaved from the saved who are dead (that was pre-cross; now the saved go straight to heaven).  There is a chasm, water and light above the water.  (As an aside, Enoch also affirms the destruction of the lost) 

Remember the story of the rich man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19-26)?  It says the rich man asked if Lazarus could dip his finger in the water and put it on the rich man’s tongue.   Abraham said there was a chasm that may not be crossed.  Both passages describe the chasm and water.  Jesus is actually affirming Enoch in his telling of this story.

Getting back to Jesus and 1 John 5:6, what I’m wondering is if John understood that God’s dwelling is in the waters as Spirit.  Please do not understand me to be saying that God MUST reside in water, it may just be that He chooses to.  We too are spirit and reside in water, just as the unclean spirits seek watery residence.  They have no rest without water.  It seems that our spirit must, as well.

Was John saying that Jesus did not come in just water – as he understood God to reside in – but he also came in blood as a man?  I think it could very well be the case.

To be continued…

Dan Baker