Chapter
8:
Romans
10:1-3
Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be
saved. 2 For I bear them record
that they have a zeal for God, but
not according to knowledge. 3 For
they being ignorant of God's
righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.
CHAPTER
8:
Modernization of
Religion
Just
like my generation, young people today are born into a world and localized
culture already in place. Early in
life we accept that culture without question.
We accept it just like the home our parents have brought us into.
This is natural, and nothing by itself is wrong with accepting that home
and culture. As we brought out in
Chapter 2, levels of hope and what we think
about change as we gradually get older. Without
the knowledge of God’s Ways, firmly
implanted in our minds, people wonder off track.
For example, take the dating and betrothal
practices of the world around us. In
the last two decades it has been my observation that young people in God’s
Church simply absorb, without question, these practices.
These customs are already in place and are easy and convenient to use.
You will look just like everyone else and fit in if you practice the
world’s methods. But do these
custom’s reflect God’s Way of thinking and
opinions?
Generally
speaking, if something is really important or critical, the custom, or teaching,
is recorded several times in the Bible for emphasis.
The reason for this is so that people cannot ignore
or miss the teaching, and have no excuse. A
search of several commentaries will show that another translation of Romans 10:3
would be “for they ignoring.”
Now this puts an entirely different twist to how God views the
way people practice his laws. If, this particular translation is correct, it is just possible that
the Churches of God and all young people are willfully ignoring
what God says and teaches by example in the Bible.
I will make the statement here, that what most young people in the
Churches of God and older members do, is willingly suppress through the addition
of beliefs, customs, peer pressure and traditions, the
truth concerning certain aspects of dating
and betrothal that God has caused to be recorded
in the Bible.
Syncretism
This
process of adding customs or integrating other religious practices into another
religion is called syncretism. Using
Merriam Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary
as the book of common usage, we find that syncretism is “the combination of different forms of belief or practice.”
The word syncretism is used almost exclusively in the context of
religious studies. If we look at the verb form of the word, syncretize, we find
some interesting ideas. The verb
means “to
attempt to unite and harmonize especially without critical examination or
logical unity.”
Christmas
is a classical example of syncretism. Using
the holiday of Christmas as an excuse, men have added pagan beliefs and
practices to the worship of God the Father, and
of course Jesus Christ. People have
actually added pagan beliefs and customs to Christianity without trying to completely
ascertain whether God approves or not. Doing
this of course implies presumption
on the part of the syncretizer.
Presumption
is quite a word, and has strong implications for those professing to follow
Christ. Presumption is
“an attitude or belief dictated by probability.”
Generally speaking, facts have little to do with presumption, just probability and likelihood.
Synonyms for presumption are consecutively: “assumption, arrogance, boldness,
impertinence, and imprudence.” Presume
is the verb form, and means “to undertake without leave or clear
justification; to expect or assume especially with confidence; to suppose to be
true without proof, to take for granted.”
As we examine the concepts of presumption
and syncretism, a picture will emerge of how people have been presumptuous in the church
concerning dating and betrothal.
They have conveniently adapted the ways of the world, to the religion of
God. The values of the western
world promoting self and freedom have been mistakenly adopted and presumed to be
correct when young people approach dating and betrothal.
The basis for their justification of this is that of modernization,
the need to revise outdated thinking
to be applicable to modern cultures. People
in God’s Church carelessly think the probability
of modern dating methods and authority within families,
as practiced by the world is correct. This
is nothing new, these same people often carelessly absorb the teachings of
ministers without checking the validity of the teaching and implications with
the biblical narrative, despite being warned about testing the spirits and that wolves and tares will
coexist with the true saints within the true church.
Down
through the centuries people have expanded their religious ideas into areas of
thinking far removed from orthodox Bible teaching.
Dating and betrothal
are two of many such areas. Over
time truth is forgotten and error from human reasoning becomes the norm in
religious thinking. Following is a
tragic example of how religion has been modernized.
I offer the following quote from a modern
book, A Layman’s Guide to Protestant
Theology, by William Horden. This
example is taken from a chapter in the book named “The
Remaking of Orthodoxy.”
The method of liberalism includes the attempt to modernize
Christian theology. The world,
liberals argue, has changed radically since the early creeds of Christendom were
formulated; this makes the creeds sound archaic and unreal to modern man.
We have to rethink
Christianity in thought forms, which
the modern world can comprehend.
Fosdick [a liberal Christian theologian] argued that we must express
the essence of Christianity, its "abiding
experiences,"
but that we must not identify these with the "changing
categories" in which they have been expressed in the past.
For example, says Fosdick, an abiding
experience
of Christianity has been its conviction that God will triumph over evil.
This has been traditionally pictured in the category of Christ’s second
coming on the clouds to destroy evil and to set up the good.
We can no longer retain this outworn
category, but we can still believe the truth,
which this ancient thought form was trying to express. We
can continue to work in the faith that, through His devoted followers, God is
now building His Kingdom and that there will be a renewing of life, individual
and social, to bring it into conformity with the will of God.
The essence of the faith is thus retained, argues Fosdick, while the thought
form in which it was once clothed
has been abandoned. (p. 74)
In
just a few words, Fosdick says that Christ will not come because that is an
outworn idea—that is just how ancient people thought.
Today, he claims, we know that the Kingdom is already here, and it will
gradually grow as God adds to it. Here
we see an example of unrestrained zeal for knowledge.
Hordern
continues, "Man’s mind is capable of thinking God’s thoughts after Him.
Man’s intuitions
and reason
are the best clues that we have to the nature of God."
What blasphemy! God’s nature is not different from human nature?
The Bible plainly teaches that man has to have God’s Ways revealed to him thorugh the power of the Holy Spirit.
Isaiah
55:7-9
Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let
him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for
he will abundantly pardon. 8 For my
thoughts
are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. 9
For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.
Romans
8:5-8
For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that
are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit.
6 For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is
life and peace. 7 Because the carnal mind is enmity
against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.
8 So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.
Are
we be so blind as to think that this "openmindedness" is not evident
in the U.S., Canada, Britain, Australia, and other western nations?
It all starts with such things as allowing Christmas to be a part of the worship of God. This
syncretistic inclusion begins to dilute the purity of God-given religion, and
before long, other barriers begin to fall.
Soon all absolutes are relative, and perversions
are commonplace. This
“openmindedness” has spread to the approach used in dating
and betrothal. The method of promoting this perversion
in dating
involves focusing on the importance of your opinions.
If your ideas are promoting fragmentation
in your family,
you are right on track to becoming The
Forlorn Hope.
It
is no wonder that when the clergy (supposedly the guardians of religious purity)
thinks so liberally, that the laity acts the way it does?
The example of the clergy shrugging off the paganism in Christmas,
claiming that it is harmless, is a classic example.
Does it really make any difference whether we celebrate Christmas?
Yes, it does make a difference and the same reality exists in our
approach to dating
and betrothal. If we close our minds to the clear, biblical examples and
teaching concerning authority and respect, a polluted idea emerges.
Young people believe they should have total control over who they can
drag into a family. They will attempt to
place a definition of adolescence into the scriptures.
How about it? When you approach dating,
would you like to pursue a thinking pattern that is carnally minded and result
in death? It is pretty easy to do.
Just absorb the current customs and ideas concerning dating
and betrothal
and you will get there.
Deuteronomy
12:29-31 When
the LORD thy God shall cut off the nations from before thee, whither thou goest
to possess them, and thou succeedest them, and dwellest in their land; 30 Take
heed to thyself that thou be not ensnared
by following them, after that they be destroyed from before thee; and that thou
enquire not after their gods, saying, How
did these nations serve their gods?
Even so will I do likewise. 31
Thou shalt not do so unto the LORD thy God: for every abomination to the LORD,
which he hateth, have they done unto their gods; for even their sons and their
daughters they have burnt in the fire to their gods.
God
is a jealous god. He does not want
his called out people (called out from spiritual Babylon) to get caught in a
process of judgement and the punishment resulting from broken laws.
God is the Supreme Lawgiver. An
excellent series of articles to review right here would be a series on
lawlessness (http://www.mycog.com). Young
folks, it does not matter how you approach dating
and your parents’ role in this process, unless there is a God.
But if there is a God, it does make a difference, a lot of difference.
In the Bible a snare is a figurative expression of destruction through deception. The snare itself
does not destroy, but it leads to destruction.
The snare of course is falling
for the idea that you are an experienced adult before you are in fact, an
experienced adult. A deceiver will
constantly try to focus you on the idea that you are mature, that your ideas are
important, and that you can and should make adult decisions.
He/she will promote the idea that you should be allowed to make your own
mistakes, even when it affects your family.
Is this really a biblical concept?
Here
is an argument presented to me, to this effect.
Yes, the young man involved quoted scripture. This falls into the category of truth and how to approach it,
so lets examine the argument based upon the three levels of truth shown in the
previous chapter. First lets review
the scripture in question.
Deuteronomy
24:16 The
fathers shall not be put to death for
the children, neither shall the children be put to death for the fathers: every
man shall be put to death for his own
sin.
The
argument was, “These scriptures talk about a young adolescent women living in
her father’s house. (Name
removed) is not a child anymore. She’s
a senior in college who’s going to be turning 22 in April.
She’s an adult. And with
scriptures like Deut 24:16 where it talks about each of us being responsible for
our own sins, shouldn’t (Name removed) be allowed to make this decision?”
COMMENT:
Here is a great argument! It
sounds really good, but is it biblical? It
covers a worldly interpretation of about all that can be involved in a dating
relationship that has been vetoed by a mean, nasty, inconsiderate parent.
The young lady in question is definitely an adult because the young man
says so. She should be allowed to
make decisions regardless of consequence to her, her family,
or for that matter Christ’s Church.
There just had to be spiritually inspired ministerial input to come up
with an idea like this, namely that a young woman should be allowed to make a
decision that will result in a sin leading to
death. The scriptures referred to in the beginning of the argument
involve scriptures in Numbers, Chapter 30, which has its own chapter within this
study.
The
Truth:
Deuteronomy 24:16 does talk about the importance of every person being
responsible for his or her own sins. The
verse may be taken at face value, if a person commits a sin, they will bear the
punishment for that sin and the punishment will not be placed upon another’s
head. The sin being discussed is one which leads to death.
The
Whole Truth: The
argument is presumptuous. The
author of this argument makes no attempt to justify from scripture an age where
adolescence ends and definite adulthood begins. This is because there is no scriptural proof for any age
limits. Deuteronomy 24:16 refers to
a general category of siblings. The
children could be any age. We know
from other scriptures there is an age of accountability that varies with
maturity, but only an analogy is made in this particular scripture.
God refers to baptized church members as children in the Bible but most
of the saints would be middle age people, but they are still called children.
Small children are not made to suffer the consequences of doing things
they do not understand is sin.
The
question at the end of the argument seeks to apply a scripture talking about the
biblical statutes of God involving capital punishment, to a dating
arrangement, which has been vetoed. Note,
the dodge.
The author of the argument poses the question, “shouldn’t the young
lady be allowed to make this decision?” He
seeks to dodge accountability. The
doubt he poses is correct, he should not be leading her off track, and teaching
her to partake of The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.
It is fortunate for the young lady, her family,
and Christ’s Church, that she does not have the final say, from God’s
perspective. To approach dating
and betrothal on the premise that one should
practice sinning and be able to learn from the mistakes, the punishment for sin,
is about as perverted an approach as
anyone could imagine to practice. This
thinking exemplifies The Error of Baalim.
Nothing
But the Truth:
The author of the argument presented in Example
#11 is correct, everyone has the freedom of choice to practice a life
of sin. It is, quite simply, a
matter of choice and nothing more. The
young man promoting the young lady to partake of the knowledge of good and evil
and develop advanced skills in practicing The
Error of Baalim may do so, and of course, both of them may then die
in their sins.
When
we check into a motel, we all know that one of the services available is a
wakeup call. This is so we can
leave the room in time to reach our destination.
Earlier this study alluded to the question, “Where are we going?” The
author of the argument posted in Example
#11 fails to recognize the spiritual intent of the statutes of God
and needs a wakeup call. Let’s
study another statute of God that applies to this argument. There are many
statutes in God’s word. The
following involves young men, and when they deceptively
take advantage of a virgin in Israel. Keep
in mind the church today is Spiritual
Israel. Like most deceivers,
the author of the argument does not tell, The
Rest of the Story, either that or he does not know it.
Deuteronomy
22:25-29
"But if a man finds a betrothed young woman
in the countryside, and the man forces her and lies with her, then only the man
who lay with her shall die. 26But
you shall do nothing to the young woman; there is in the young woman no sin
deserving of death, for just as when a man rises against his neighbor and kills
him, even so is this matter. 27For
he found her in the countryside, and the betrothed
young woman cried out, but there was no one to save her.
28"If a man finds a young woman who is a virgin, who is not betrothed,
and he seizes her and lies with her, and they are found out, 29then the man who
lay with her shall give to the young woman's father fifty shekels of silver, and
she shall be his wife because he has humbled her; he shall not be permitted to
divorce her all his days.
People
thinking like the author of Example #11 need to understand that children, marriageable age
children, within a family of God’s Church
have a special relationship with Christ and God the Father.
Mario Hernandez has spoken several times on the children of church
families and how, if they are brought up in the ways
of the Lord, that they are holy, they
are sanctified.
1
Corinthians 7:14
For the unbelieving husband is sanctified
through his wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified
through her believing husband; for otherwise your children are unclean, but now
they are holy.
Yes,
young ladies considered holy are quite special in God’s eyes and some things
just “ought not be done in Israel (Spiritual Israel).”
All young men need to understand that these young ladies are in a very
early stage of betrothal, not to you, but to Jesus Christ.
All young men need to recognize that God holds them responsible for a
special kind of leadership within his church families.
IF, you lead a virgin of
Spiritual Israel astray, into another way of thinking, into a reprobate mindset,
away from the Truth
of God, you are forcing her and lying with her without proper authority.
IF, you guide her away from
Christ and his ways, by actually teaching her
to rely on self and partake of the Tree
of the Knowledge of Good and Evil; IF
you gradually coerce her into practicing The Error of Baalim, she will die in her sins and not qualify
for the Kingdom of God at the time of the First Resurrection.
Read Deuteronomy 22:25, you will probably suffer judgement in The Lake of Fire.
Pleading
ignorance if you are a baptized church member may just not cut it on judgement
day. The young lady may die in her
sins, but like Eve she has been deceived, she would not listen to the one (her
family) who could save her and will have a chance to qualify for the
Kingdom of God at a later date. God
does understand that his precious young women are highly susceptible to being
deceived. Oh yes, lest you point out and try to determine what 50
shekels of silver are worth to save your neck, outright rape is outright rape in
God’s eyes and their are few statutes about that too.
If
your are in the True Church of God, when you start trying to pry a young woman
away from the authority of her family, you
really ought to be careful. If you
are a young woman trying to pressure a young man into committing to marriage
without full conviction on his part and support from his family,
you had better be careful. There
really are Godly standards regulating the proper way
to approach dating and betrothal.
Here
is a classic example of The Error of
Baalim. When I was growing up,
sometimes a couple would deliberately get pregnant so they had to get married.
Yes, this is a fact, but it did not happen too often.
This was because 30 to 40 years ago, if a father told a dating
couple no, it was no. Young men
were not nearly so presumptuous and
arrogant in those days. So, how did
they reason around it? Did you ever
hear of Shotgun Weddings? Yes, this
is another one of those quaint customs that survived the centuries and was alive
and well right here in our own country. This
idea of course is a relic, like other customs examined in this study, one of
those outworn ideas that modern,
spirit led church scholars have had to rid society of.
This custom goes back to the ideas expressed in the Book of Deuteronomy.
Deuteronomy
22:28-29
"If a man finds a young woman who is a virgin, who is not betrothed,
and he seizes her and lies with her, and they are found out, 29then the man who
lay with her shall give to the young woman's father fifty shekels of silver, and
she shall be his wife because he has humbled her; he shall not be permitted to divorce her all his days.
The
couples who came up with this scheme to get around parental authority never
thought they might have to get divorced because they would not be able to get
along. It never occurred to them
that they had developed a way
of thinking, a perverted idea that
automatically condemned them, and of course their offspring to become part of The
Forlorn Hope.
So,
young ladies in the Churches of God, let’s see just how much you are worth to
your prospective mate. Let’s just
put a value on what he might actually think of you in worldly terms.
If you wish to approach dating and betrothal
on worldly terms, you should know how that worldly approach would value you as a
person. You are worth fifty shekels
of silver, not a dime more. Remember,
the law pertains to a pervert who
would either lead you into The Error of
Baalim, or just invite you on a date and
force his way (date
rape) upon you so he would have to marry you.
That way he could get around the circumstances of your
family not sanctifying your dating
and ultimate marriage.
In
the modern nation of Israel, the shekel is still used as currency.
It has been changed from silver to paper money and the exchange rate is
about 80 cents. That is correct,
you are only worth $40.00 (40 American, inflated dollars) to your prospective
husband who wishes to reason around God’s model of family
government. If you want to stick to the silver standard, the shekel was
about 14 ounces. At 7 cents and
ounce you would be worth 98 cents/ shekel times 50 shekels. This would make you worth the grand total of $49.00.
To put it another way, a couple bags of groceries could easily
be worth more than you are if you pursue a way
of thinking that will value you accordingly.
Proverbs
31: 10-12, 29-30 (NKJV)
Who can find a virtuous wife? For
her worth is far above rubies. 11)
The heart of her husband safely trusts her, so he will have no lack of gain.
12) She does him good and not evil all the days of her life……29)
“Many daughters have done well, but you excel them all.” 30) Charm is
deceitful and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the Lord, she shall be
praised.
By
contrast, let’s use the biblical example of a father who thought a great deal
of his daughters. Let’s study the
example of a father who prized his daughters highly and made sure the young man
wishing to mate with them showed by his actions that he really valued them too.
Yes, just simple lip service was not enough.
This father demanded action, real proof.
He made the prospective groom, show him what he thought of his daughters. I know you are way ahead of me, but yes, the example is the
one of Good Old Laban. Laban is
probably one of the most misunderstood figures in the Bible. Most Church of God ministers and laity really look down upon
him and the things he supposedly did to poor, hapless Jacob.
But, did you ever have them show you specifically in God’s word where
God condemns him as a special case study like Cain?
God came to be displeased with Laban as shown in Genesis 31:11, but he
never criticizes him as a case study . Laban
is just a carnal, unconverted person with a lot of good and bad points.
He definitely liked his daughters. It
seems, the worst thing really against God’s laws he did was promote “sister
hopping”. This is a
abominable sin in God’s opinion with special laws against it (more on this
later).
Anyway,
we find Laban demanding seven years of
labor, or service, for one of his daughters.
Now isn’t that horrible? In
a later chapter we will deal more with specifics on Laban.
Actually, I find his price to be a real bargain.
It is all a matter of perspective. Jacob had to serve a total of fourteen years for Rachel.
At first, this may seem terrible, but you do have to remember she was the
mother of Joseph, the one who got the birthright.
Last summer I hired a young man. I
paid all of the social security and room and board, in addition to the monthly
salary. Without figuring the fringe
benefits, he cost at least $1,750.00 per month out of the checking account.
A calculator will reveal that this young man would be worth $21,000.00
per year from an employer’s checking account.
In seven years he would cost the employer $147,000.00 for his services.
Yes, this is the real world. Laban
had to feed and clothe Jacob too, so I did not make an allowance for this.
In addition to this, he actually set Jacob up in business for himself.
This is an overlooked point in most studies.
In today’s economic language, what Rachel cost Jacob would have been
$294,000.00. So, when some
spineless young man starts whining to you about being abused by your father and
treated unfairly by your family, it would be
well to remember that you could be worth
at least $147,000.00 to your father and your family.
By the same analogy, what you are probably worth in the eyes of the whiner
is at best only $49.00. By the time
Jacob got done paying what Rachel was worth, he had really showed what he
thought of her.
Young
ladies, sometimes what is not said in the Bible speaks as loudly as that which
is recorded. Do you realize that
there is not one word implied in the entire Bible that would indicate that Jacob
never thought that Rachel was worth every penny he paid for her, every drop of
sweat he ever shed to acquire her? The
next time your favorite whiner is
giving you a line, ask him what you are really worth to him. Has he ever put in just one day of service free, to your
father or family?
Or, is he just a taker? The
Bible has some mighty high standards to live up to. Remember, all of you young ladies, if you are involved in the
plot to get pregnant so you can marry someone, your parents still do not have to
sanctify your marriage or accept
$49.00 for you. This law only
pertains to a man who catches you and rapes you when no one can save you.
If you enter the plot you will not fool God and probably will not fool
your parents.
In
this country there are civil codes which legally determine when a young person
no longer has to cater to their parents’ authority.
Then they can get right out there and be their own boss.
They can have their own life and make their own decisions about
everything (see the Hadley Moore article).
In other words there is a legally defined age by civil codes showing when
you can make up your own mind about everything, at least everything you can
afford to do. Today, young people
in the Churches of God approach God’s model of family
government kind of like the statute of limitations has expired.
Yet, I would challenge you to find the case for this thinking in the
Bible. Tribes and families
in the Bible were headed by patriarchs and they were closed systems.
Yes, I know, just like the outworn
idea that Jesus Christ is going to come back to this earth, the ancient
thought forms concerning families are outworn
categories too, according to modern scholars.
We
just have to modernize church
thinking on this to fit the times and culture.
We have to keep the essence of what God would have us do concerning dating
and betrothal today.
That way we can still have an abiding
experience. The only problem
with this thinking is that nowhere in the Bible is there any statute of
limitations concerning an age where you are considered an adult.
The only doctrinal areas where such a form of thinking (statutes of
limiitations) is remotely expressed would involve how God’s word approaches
debts and how to retire them, and slaves (those sold into service). Slavery under God’s system is not what we commonly think of
it as today. This was a very tough
world people lived in during Old Testament times.
There was no International Welfare Agencies or local Welfare Programs.
Basically, most Israelites sold into service were released the seventh
year and all debts were cancelled during the Jubilee Year.
This is a very interesting study and I recommend The New Unger’s Bible Dictionary for a reference.
A study of slaves and debt will clarify this point, but it is too large
of a topic for this chapter. God
has provided laws and principles embedded within His laws for any situation
which may arise. The Bible is
indeed a complete book.
Trying
to wait until you are out on your own or your parents’ death in an attempt of
override their decision to not sanctify
your dating or marrying someone is a “fools errand.” As
this study will show, if you cannot prove an idea in the Bible, then it does not
match God’s thought patterns. One
way to approach an understanding of this principle is to find, from the Bible,
how long a time is involved in the biblical statute of limitations concerning
living with someone in an adulterous affair, until the affair is no longer
considered adultery from God’s perspective.
All young people need to understand that what they are doing with such
reasoning, is practicing The Error of
Baalim. If you are in an
adulterous affair, the only way you can escape judgement is to leave (repent)
that adulterous affair. The concept
of statutes of limitations is simply a product of human reasoning.
If someone has you following The
Error of Baalim, you simply need to get away from that person and quit
thinking this way.
Three
Wrong Paths
Most
of us understand that when we walk down (follow) a path it will take us
somewhere. Often we get on paths
that are not marked well. We could
end up confused and lost for awhile. Such
is the case with the Churches of God and how they have willfully absorbed the dating
practices of modern, western society. The
Bible does not give a picture of young people dating
as we think of it. In fact, the
most notable couples of the Bible never got to see each other much before the
actual marriage. Rebekah certainly
did not get to date Isaac before accepting a betrothal to him. Rachel
did not get to see much of Jacob after her father betrothed
her to him. Otherwise, he would
have known he had the wrong woman on his wedding night. Most dating today involves a
lot of intimacy and necking. Jacob
would have had to been blind or really drunk to not know he had a different
woman than Rachel if he had been allowed to park under the moon on his double
humpback camel with her, or spend a lot of time on the beach getting to know
her.
There
just is not a case in the Bible for the need for a couple to experiment with
each other to see if they are compatible. Whether
the theory of experimentation to determine compatibility is true or not, this
philosophy is a product of human reasoning.
It is hard to perceive that both Rebekah and Rachel did not have
successful marriages. They most
certainly did not have that “abiding
experience” in life called divorce. Admittedly,
Rachel had to put up with a husband who practiced sister-hopping
(more on this later), but her children received the blessings.
The
Bible speaks of a pattern of thinking, which will lead a man or woman down “three
wrong paths.” The specific
scriptures I am thinking about are in the Book of Jude.
Remember that Jude was a brother to James.
Jude
1:4 (RSV) For admission has been secretly gained by some who long ago were
designated for this condemnation, ungodly persons who pervert
the grace of our God into licentiousness
(lawlessness) and deny our only
Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.
Jude
1:8 (RSV) Yet
in like manner these men in their dreamings
defile the flesh, reject authority,
and revile the glorious ones.
Jude
1:10 (RSV) But
these men revile whatever they do not understand, and by those things that they
know by instinct as irrational animals do, they are destroyed.
11 Woe to them! For they walk in the way of Cain, and
abandon themselves for the sake of gain to Balaam's
error, and perish in Korah's
rebellion.
The
Book of Jude is unique and Verse 4 talks about a category of leaders who teach lawlessness
(http://www.mycog.com). In Verse 8
he describes these leaders as being just dreamers, following their own
unjustified ideas and rejecting authority.
Rejecting authority is the easiest way to spot someone who is leading you
astray. If you are dating
a young man or woman who is constantly undermining or questioning the authority
of God’s government within your family, you
had better be careful. You need to
get rid of this person fast, otherwise your lot in life is sealed.
Jude
goes from sighting three examples of sinful groups or communities (Israel,
Angels, and Sodom and Gomorrah) in Verses 5-7, to referencing three individuals
who are differentiated from the three groups.
These three outstanding individuals are distinguished by the fact that
they are chiefly remembered not just because they themselves apostatized, (they
did) but because they led others to follow them into apostasy (changing the
date of Pentecost).
There
are two words in the Greek language used for evil: Poneros
and kakos. Poneros is the stronger word of the two.
The kakos man is apparently quite content to perish in his own degenerate
lifestyle, but the poneros man is not content unless he is corrupting others as
well, and leading them into the same destruction as himself.
Satan is not called the kakos one but the poneros one.
The church age in which we live is described by Paul in Galatians 1:4 as
the Poneros Age. This world’s
systems are not content with perishing in their own degenerate ideas, but
concentrate on leading as many people as possible to destruction.
Choose
any profession or activity: sports? Acting? Modeling? Dating?
Necking? Betrothal. Built in every one of them is the enamor of the world,
worldly pleasure, and spiritual blindness.
Jude is quite creative but not chronological in the order he introduces
these three apostates. Chronologically
Cain came before Korah, Korah came before Baalim.
By putting them in the order he did, Jude accomplishes a creative
illustration of the sequence, or steps a leader takes during the process of
apostasy. With Cain, a wrong path
is chosen and taken, because of the root of pride and jealousy; with Baalim, the
apostate rushes down the wrong path motivated and blinded by greed; and in proud
and rebellious Korah, the apostate comes to the end of the wrong path and falls
headlong into eternal destruction.
This
process of apostacy can also be seen in the three strong nouns and three equally
strong verbs Jude uses here in describing the process of apostasy: “way”
(in reference to Cain); “error”
(in reference to Baalim); and “rebellion”
(in reference to Korah) versus the verbs “taken”,
“rushed”, and “destroyed”, used respectively.
A tremendous case study of each of these three leaders of apostacy will
reveal that the men involved were given an opportunity to know God’s truth and
how to apply it. These cases of
apostasy cannot be excused due to confusion about the will of God.
These three special men knowingly went against God’s revealed will,
being deceived by Pride, Jealousy (the
Jezebel of sins because it causes friends to turn on each other, like she did on
her husband Ahab), and Greed.
The
three examples of Cain, Baalim, and Korah are examples of negative male
leadership, but the same principles can be applied to women. When it comes to dating and betrothal,
women can walk in the way of Cain, practice Balaam's
error, and perish in Korah's
rebellion.
Just because you are a woman, you are not exempt from developing
reprobate thinking patterns. If you will not honor parental authority within God’s family
government, you may be in danger of practicing the errors of our three budding
stars of apostacy.
Numbers
22:28 (NASV)
And the LORD opened the mouth of the donkey, and she said to Balaam,
""What have I done to you, that you have struck me these three
times?'' 29) Then Balaam said to
the donkey, ""Because you have made a mockery of me!
If there had been a sword in my hand, I would have killed you by now.'”
30) The donkey said to Balaam, ""Am I not your donkey on which
you have ridden all your life to this day?
Have I ever been accustomed to do so to you?'' And he said, ""No.''
Let’s
use our imaginations on this scripture and substitute a few words.
Numbers
22:28 (Revised Parental Version)
And the LORD opened the mouth of the (parents),
and they said to (their child),
""What have (We) done to
you, that you have struck (Us) these
three times?' 29 Then (their child) said to the (parents),
""Because you have made a mockery of me (by not letting me date and marry whom I want)!
If there had been a sword in my hand, I would have killed you (and the
rest of my selfish family) by now.''
30 The (parents) said to (their child), ""(Are
We) not your (parents) on which
you have ridden (been fed, clothed, taken on trips, and trained in all manner of
fun things) all your life to this day? Have
(We) ever been accustomed to do so (make
a mockery) to you?'' And (their
child) said, ""No.''
Young
people, you do not want to follow the Way of Cain, The Error of Baalim, or The
Rebellion of Korah in your relationship with your family
or whomever you may eventually marry. You
certainly do not want to develop reprobate thinking patterns, which may keep you
from entering the Kingdom of God. The
customs of men setting up romantic situations to propose marriage to a young
lady without involving her family or anyone
else is just and illusion. In the
field of magic, an illusion is something that looks real but is not.
All young people in the
Church of God need to wake up, to realize that the customs they see practiced
are relatively new when compared with a time line of the Earth’s history.
When
you look at the Bible and see examples of dating
and betrothal that resemble what the world
pictures as arranged marriages, do not be hasty to rebel against the biblical
model. When you think of women in
Arab countries being required to were something on their heads and wear a veil,
do not quickly dismiss it as simply outworn
ideas or changing categories.
You do have to be very careful with God’s word.
When Rebekah dismounted her camel, she put a veil over her face.
Crazy as that may seem, you do have to remember that you are talking
about a special bride being presented to Isaac and he is a type of Christ.
Rebekah was the wife of Isaac’s Youth.
Romans
9:3 (RSV) For I
could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of
my brethren, my kinsmen by race. 4
They are Israelites, and to them belong the sonship, the glory, the covenants,
the giving of the law, the worship, and
the promises; 5 to them belong the patriarchs, and of their race
(yes, there really is no gentile blood in Christ, Mr. Armstrong was right),
according to the flesh, is the Christ.
God who is over all be blessed for ever. Amen.
Rebeka
is a special person, her children got it all, everything. Paul did teach that women should keep their heads covered.
I know we do not see these things in modern, western civilization, but
are these concepts just outworn ideas? Are they
just ancient thought forms that have
no place in our world today. I
would agree that they are indeed ancient
thought forms but to quickly dismiss them as outworn ideas is presumptuous.
Our source should be the Bible.
Long
before anyone ever dreamed of calling Christianity, by the name Christianity,
there existed a name for God’s Way of life.
It was simply called, The Way.
That way of life has existed for a long
time and God has not changed his mind about anything involving his creation.
As we proceed with this study, it is important to remember that we are
trying to learn from the Bible just what are God’s ideas concerning dating
and betrothal.
Where are we Going?
Ephesians
5:6 (NKJV) Let
no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of
God comes upon the sons (and daughters) of disobedience.
Yes, obedience
is one of those things talked about a lot in the Bible.
Colossians
2:8 (NKJV)
Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to
the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ.
When
someone seeks to modernize the Bible
so it fits in with today’s societies you had better be careful.
You may not be getting the whole
truth according to Christ.
Step
up to the counter and place your order please:
“One
small bowl of cold soup please. I’ll
take tomato if you have it. Otherwise,
any old flavor will do.”
2/18/02