Mystery Babylon in the Old Testament

Looks like this is turning into at least a three-parter. I’ll post the next instalment this coming Sunday, LW. Meantime, we should have a look at three significant Old Testament passages that almost surely informed the writings of Peter and John about what we might call “mystery Babylon”, the spiritual descendant of the Chaldean-controlled city that was both the enemy of Israel and the enemy of her God.

The writers of the New Testament were comfortable with the idea of Babylon as a spirit, temperament or idea, one that promotes the glory of man rather than the glory of God.

Not Just an Excuse to Babylon

The writers of scripture use the Hebrew/ Aramaic word translated “Babylon” or “Babel” nearly 300 times between Genesis and Revelation. That’s an awful lot of references to look up. If you had asked me before I looked which book of the Bible mentions that great city the most, I would have bet on one of the OT historical books. In fact, almost half the Strong’s entries are in Jeremiah, of all places (141). 2 Kings is a distant second with 28. Revelation, which dedicates parts of three chapters to her, has only six.

At some point, the attentive Bible student says to himself, “Hmm, Babylon is actually a major theme of scripture. Maybe I should look into that.” All right then. I hope you’ll find it’s not just an excuse for me to … babble on.

Anonymous Asks (411)

“I recently came to faith in Christ and am living with an unbeliever. What should I do?”

An excellent question. A couple that attends our church’s Sunday morning service recently answered it: they got married. The man, definitely saved and growing in Christ. The partner of many years, possible. She comes out to the meeting. She looks, listens and lingers, but no definitive evidence of regeneration. Maybe she will follow her new husband’s lead. Maybe she will decide to turn back to Sodom and end up the spiritual analog to Lot’s wife. Nobody knows.

Come now, smart guys (of whom I used to be one): Why is there no easy, black and white, definitive answer for couples with one partner on each side of the line between heaven and hell?

My Invisible Friend

Sometimes you really have to read something to believe it.

This would be one of those cases. It’s what appears to be an honest expression of frustration at the writer’s inability to shake the belief of Christians he encounters. Blogger Gary asks, “How Do You Convince Someone That His Invisible Friend Does Not Exist?” Sounds like he’s tried and failed, and is thoroughly stumped.

I guess the first thing that crosses my mind is Why would anyone want to convince others Jesus does not exist?

Somebody Else’s Mail (10)

I mentioned last week that we would take a little time out from expositing Psalm 5 in context to look at Paul’s use of verse 9 in a famous passage in Romans 3 that begins by posing this question: “What then? Are we Jews any better off? No, not at all. For we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin.”

The selection from Psalm 5 is part of a list of Old Testament quotes from various sources that Paul assembles to prove his point, and this is where his critics begin to object to his usage of Psalm 5:9 and other verses. So let’s take a look at their objections today and see if we can’t come to a better understanding of what Paul was trying to accomplish in Romans 3.

Too Hot to Handle: Worth Leaving Over

In which our regular writers toss around subjects a little more volatile than usual.

In principle, I’m not keen on leaving churches. It happens too often and too easily. But sometimes, there just isn’t any choice.

When Gretta Vosper became the pastor of a West Hill United Church in Toronto, Canada in 1997, she was not yet out of the closet about her atheism, a little bonus she didn’t disclose from the pulpit until 2001. Amazingly, quite a few congregants hung on until 2008 when Vosper did away with the Lord’s Prayer, at which point 2/3 of the flock made for the exits.

Tom: I’m not sure precisely where the line is, but I’d have difficulty faulting anyone who leaves a church with an atheist pastor, IC. From your experience, what are the ingredients that go into making for a “time to go” decision?

Acting Christian

“If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them.”

Most of the time I enjoy writing these posts.

Sometimes, not so much.

Like today.

Today, I feel the truth of what I heard a preacher say once: “When you point your finger at somebody else, there’s always three pointing back at you.” Or, as the scriptures would put it, “Not many of you should become teachers ... for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness.”

Beneficiaries and Trustees

Peter wrote his first epistle to saved Jews scattered throughout the Roman provinces of ancient Turkey. That should hardly be a contentious statement, since he declares it plainly in his introduction: “To those who are elect exiles of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia.”

Elect = saved. Exiles = Jews. (Evidence forthcoming.) Of the Dispersion = Jews. Pontus, Galatia, etc. = Asia and Asia Minor, most of which is now Turkish.

Back to Bite Us

As with any humanistic philosophy, Feminism and the Bible are starkly at odds. A woman can be both Feminist and Christian, but she will not be much good in either role.

As it permeated Western society, one of the ways Feminism has been most effective in creeping into our churches has been its claims to reasonableness, fairness and equality, all of which at least purport to be somewhat-Christian values. Claims are one thing, but the motive behind making them is very much another. In going back to do a little research on the history of the movement, I find myself fascinated by the “tells” the early Feminist writers gave us about their own true character and beliefs. The motivating force behind the philosophy was evident to any discerning person from its very beginning, regardless of its professed aspirations.

Feminism’s earliest promoters wore their shameless opposition to God right on their sleeves.

Anonymous Asks (410)

“What does God say about avoiding sin just because we are scared of the consequences? Is resisting temptation meaningless if fear is the only reason we are godly?”

Jesus taught that love is the best motive for obedience, though he wasn’t the first to do so. Even the Law of Moses has the correct motive built right into it. When asked about the most important commandment in the Law, Jesus quoted two commands to love: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength” and (in second place) “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

Then he said, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” Love and avoiding sin go together better than chocolate and peanut butter.

Giving to Greatest Effect

The subject of giving to the Lord has come up a few times in the last year from different angles. One idea that I touched on briefly in a previous post is that some Christians believe we ought to do all our giving through the filter of local church leadership, who would distribute funds received as they see fit.

You’d have to know a little bit about my background to understand how foreign such an idea seems to me.

Somebody Else’s Mail (9)

The superscription to Psalm 5 reads “To the choirmaster: for the flutes. A Psalm of David.” I had to take a quick peek at the Hebrew for “flutes” in my Strong’s, as I don’t imagine what the Levite musicians played 3,000 years ago bore much resemblance to a modern wind instrument, especially one usually made out of nickel-silver alloys.

As it turns out, the word only appears in certain English Bibles. Some consistently omit the superscriptions for reasons discussed in this article. Even in the cases where it does appear, we have nothing else in the Old Testament with which to compare it. The usage is unique. Strong’s says it may refer to a musical instrument or simply be the name of a particular melody, which is a discreet way of saying the translators are guessing. Most modern translations go with “flutes”, though a few say “wind instruments” and the NIV goes with “pipes”.

It would be nice if we perfectly understood the etymology and popular usage of every ancient Hebrew word. This one we don’t. We can only imagine how this psalm sounded in full vocal chorus with accompaniment.

Too Hot to Handle: He Ain’t Baptist, He’s My Brother

In which our regular writers toss around subjects a little more volatile than usual.

Tom: Quick quiz, IC: How many different local churches have you been part of? I’m not counting churches you’ve visited, but just those you would have considered “my church” for a period of time; churches in which it would have been notable to others if you weren’t there.

Immanuel Can: Um … rather more than most people, I suspect. I’ve been regarded, for some time, as a regular attendee of … I make it 14. I might be missing one or two. My youth and early adult years were marked by a lot of moving around, so it wasn’t a product of unhappiness in most cases. How about you?

Atheism’s Answers

So … what if atheists took themselves seriously?

So seriously, as a matter of fact, that they actually tried to live out the rational implications of their own rejection of all possibility of God or gods? What then?

As I said in yesterday’s post, getting answers to this question turned out to be more difficult than it might initially appear.

Persuading atheists to speak about what follows from the rejection of God was very hard. Not only did they generally refuse to press forward logically, but they often reacted with bitter, visceral hatred at any prompting to do so, making further conversation difficult.