Sometimes, a kiss just means more

When we see the word "kiss," we often think of a romantic kiss between lovers, a platonic kiss between friends, or the kisses between a parent and a child.  The Bible, however, lists six different types of kisses. 

The first type of kiss we see in the Bible is the kiss of blessing. In the Old Testament, the father kisses the firstborn son, or the son kisses the father, to receive the blessing before the father dies. Genesis 48:10 tells how Jacob (disguised as Esau) kissed Isaac to receive his father's blessing before he died.  In 2 Samuel 19:39, King David kissed Barzillai and blessed him because Barzillai had provided David with supplies when he stayed at Mahanaim after David had escaped from his son Absalom, who had taken over David's throne.

The second type of kiss we see in the Bible is the kiss of anointing. In 1 Samuel 10:1, the prophet Samuel poured oil over Saul to anoint him as the first king of Israel and kissed him. 

The third type of kiss we see in the Bible is the kiss of greeting. This kind of kiss is found in ten locations in the Bible. In Genesis 29:13, after Rebecca told Laban that his nephew Jacob was at the well,  Laban ran to meet him and greeted him with a kiss. In the New Testament, in one of the most beloved parables, which is found in Luke 15, the father of the Prodigal Son ran to meet his son upon his return and kissed him. In Romans 16:16, Paul instructs the believers to greet each other with a holy kiss. In 1 Peter 5:14, Peter also instructs the believers to greet each other with a holy kiss. 

The fourth type of kiss is the kiss of betrayal. In 2 Samuel 20, Joab grabs Amasa by the beard to kiss him, but while doing so, Joab plunged his sword through Amasa's stomach and killed him. This was in revenge for Absalom appointing Amasa as commander of the army instead of Joab, who was loyal to David. The most well-known kiss of betrayal is when Judas kisses Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane. You can read about this in Matthew 26:48 and in Mark 14:45. That kiss was the signal for the Pharisees to seize Jesus, and you know the rest of the story.

The fifth and final type of kiss is the kiss of farewell. The kiss of farewell can be found in six different locations in the Bible. In 1 Samuel 20:41, David and Jonathan kissed each other farewell before David ran away from Saul. In Ruth 1:14, Orpah kissed her mother-in-law Naomi goodbye before returning to her people.   In Acts 20:37, the believers in Ephesus fell on Paul's neck and kissed him goodbye because Paul told them in verse 20 that they would never see him again. 

Neither the kiss of greeting, the kiss of anointing, nor the kiss of farewell is practiced in today's church, at least not that I've seen. We live in a different world today, where we are worried about propriety and/or lawsuits.  The COVID pandemic also put the kibosh on non-romantic or friendly kisses. When we all get to heaven (what a day that will be!), we will be able to greet each other with kisses for all eternity without fear. Won't that be nice? 

In case you didn't know, I have an author page on Amazon.com, where you can purchase books of my blog posts, and you can purchase a book of my Advent/Lenten monologues. The link to my author page is in the right-hand column. Thanks in advance for your consideration!

And thanks as always for reading! See you next time!

Diane

The big snip

In my previous blog post, I discussed the difference between the physical heart and the spiritual heart. In this blog post, I will discuss the difference between physical circumcision and spiritual circumcision. 

Physical circumcision is first mentioned in the Bible in Genesis 17:10-14.  God told Abraham that to keep the covenant between Him and Abraham's descendants, every male child was to have his foreskin removed. The circumcision was to occur on the eighth day after the male child's birth. God also told Abraham that every male child is to be circumcised, whether he was a family member or he was bought with money; otherwise, the uncircumcised male would be cut off from his people. This is important because in Exodus 4:24-26, we read that Moses was returning to Egypt when the Lord met Moses on the road. The Lord was going to kill Moses, since Moses didn't have his son circumcised. Moses' wife circumcised Moses' son and threw the foreskin at Moses' feet. Even Jesus was circumcised, because He was a Jewish baby boy (Luke 2:21).

God is the Creator, and He had a good reason for selecting the eighth day for physical circumcision.  The level of Vitamin K in the blood is highest on the eighth day, and Vitamin K controls the clotting factor that helps stop bleeding. Today, baby boys are circumcised a few hours after they are born. Jewish boy babies are circumcised on the eighth day after birth during a religious ceremony called a bris. 

Spiritual circumcision refers to the foreskin of the spiritual heart, which I touched on briefly in my last blog post. The first time the foreskin of the heart is mentioned in the Bible is in Deuteronomy 10:16, where Moses tells Israel to circumcise the foreskins of their hearts so that they would not be stiff-necked (a/k/a rebellious) any longer. Moses also tells Israel in Deuteronomy 30:6 that if they fall away from faith in God but return to the Lord, He will circumcise their hearts and the hearts of their descendants to love the Lord with all of their hearts and souls so that they may live. In Jeremiah 4:4, Jeremiah tells Israel to circumcise themselves to the Lord and take away the foreskins of their hearts, lest the Lord's fury come forth like fire.

In the New Testament, Jews are referred to as "those of the circumcision," to differentiate them from the Gentiles, who weren't circumcised. In Romans 15:8, Paul refers to Jesus as the servant to the circumcision (the Jews) for the truth of God to confirm the promises made to the fathers (i.e., the Jewish fathers). 

So, how is the spiritual circumcision of our hearts accomplished? Paul states in Romans 2:29 that circumcision is of the heart in the Spirit. He then states in Colossians 2:11 that the spiritual circumcision is made without hands by Christ Himself. When we repent of our sins and put our faith in Christ, He will circumcise the foreskin of our spiritual heart so that we have a spiritual heart of flesh rather than a heart of stone.  

Dear reader, what is the condition of your spiritual heart? Have you experienced the circumcision of the spiritual heart but have turned away from God like the Israelites did? If so, the promise God gave to the Israelites in Deuteronomy 30:6 applies to you also. Repent of your sins and turn back to God so He can circumcise your spiritual heart and you can love the Lord with all your heart and soul, and truly live. 

Thanks, as always, for reading! See you next time!

Diane

Saints alive!

There are churches, both Catholic and Protestant, with church names that start with "St.", the abbreviation for Saint. "St.", like "Mr." and Mrs.", are honorifics, which is a word that means "a title or word implying or expressing high status, politeness, or respect." You will notice, however, that most evangelical churches are not named for a saint. 

The Catholic church has a process for how a person becomes a saint, a/k/a canonization.  Here's an abbreviated Dummies.com explanation of canonization:  1.  The person must be dead for at least 5 years; 2. When a person is accepted for consideration, they are called a Servant of God; 3. After it's determined that the Servant of God lived a life of virtue, they are called Venerable; 4. After one miracle is confirmed, the Venerable is presented to the Pope to see if he/she is considered Blessed. This process is called Beautification; and 5. After a second miracle is confirmed, the Blessed is again presented to the Pope for review to be considered a saint.

Whew! That's a long process.  But the Biblical requirements for a saint are much different.  In 1 Corinthians 1:2, Paul addresses the church at Corinth:  “To the church of God which is at Corinth, to those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all who in every place call on the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours.” (emphasis mine - DMS)  In order to be called a saint, you just have to believe in God and Jesus Christ. You don't have to be dead, you don't have to have miracles attributed to you, and you don't have to have the Pope review your case.  

In the Old Testament, there are many references to believers being saints. There are 20 references to saints in the book of Psalms alone and 12 references to saints in the other Old Testament books. These saints are the Hebrew believers in God. In the New Testament, there are 70 references to saints.  These saints, of course, are believers in Jesus. Here is the link to my search on BlueLetterBible.org for "saints:" Link  Once the new tab opens, click on the link to access the search. "Saints" is a collective term for all those who believe in God and Jesus. There are halos on the heads of paintings and statues of Catholic saints, but there are no references to halos in Scripture.

In our review of Scripture, we see that there is no complicated process to become a saint of God. As referenced above, all we have to do is to call on the name of Jesus and believe in Him to become saints. It doesn't matter if you're rich or poor, or what your ethnicity is, as long as you believe in Jesus, you are a saint. 

One of my favorite childhood hymns is "I Sing a Song of the Saints of God." The first and second verses talk about saints of God who lived in the past and their courageous actions. In the third verse, the lyricist speaks about the saints that live in the present day and where a person can find the saints - everywhere!  The last phrase of the first verse states, "They were all of them saints of God and I mean, God helping, to be one too."  In fact, that should be every believer's goal.  There's an old saying - "You're a saint or you ain't."

Thanks as always for reading! See you next time!

Diane

Wrestling in the Garden

Wrestling is one of the few sports mentioned in the Bible.  In Genesis 32:24, Jacob wrestled with a Man all night after he sent his wives and the rest of his entourage over the brook.  The heading for this section of the chapter is "Wrestling With God" in the NKJV.  In Ephesians 6:12, Paul states that we wrestle against principalities, powers, the rulers of the darkness of the age, and against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.  This is spiritual wrestling and not physical wrestling. 

Those of you who are modern wrestling fans know that every wrestling card has the main event, which usually takes place at the end of the event. In the main event, the reigning champion is challenged for the title. The matches that lead up to the main event are called the undercard. 

The main event in Christianity, of course, is the crucifixion and the resurrection of Jesus Christ.  The last match on the undercard, however, was a wrestling match in the Garden of Gethsemane.

Let me introduce you to the wrestlers. The first wrestler was Jesus the Son of Man, fully human. His human side showed compassion, yet He also showed anger when he cleared the temple of the money changers. 

The second wrestler was God the Father, Creator of the universe. He knew the future before the beginning of time.  He made man in His image and breathed life into him. 

The Son of Man came to the Garden of Gethsemane to wrestle in prayer with God the Father.   His disciples came with Him to the Garden, but He made most of them wait elsewhere, except for Peter, James, and John (Matthew 26:36).  His human emotions came to the surface as He told the three that He was sorrowful unto death and told them to keep watch with Him.  Like most of us humans, we want the comfort of other humans when we are sad.  

The Son of Man wrestled in prayer with God the Father three times (or three rounds, in boxing terms.  Sorry about the mixed sports metaphors.).  During the first time He prayed, His human emotion came out in the first part of the prayer. "O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me." The cup referenced here was Jesus' death on the cross as the ultimate sacrifice for sin.  The Son of Man, like most humans, didn't want to suffer pain and die. But in the second part of the prayer, the Son of God, who knew His Father's will, showed up and said, "nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will." 

The Son of Man then checked up on the disciples and found them sleeping.  Maybe they ate too much at the Passover seder.  He chastised Peter for falling asleep. He then spoke one of the most famous verses in Scripture - "Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation.  The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak." That has an application for us as well. 

In the second round of prayer, the Son of Man began to be resigned to His fate.  He said, "O My Father, if this cup cannot pass from me unless I drink it, Your will be done." Luke records in his Gospel that after this round of prayer, an angel came to strengthen the Son of Man.  He went back to check on His disciples and they had fallen asleep again.  

There was a third round of prayer in which the Son of Man prayed the same as He did in the second round.  Luke records in his Gospel that Jesus prayed in such agony that His sweat was like great drops of blood falling to the ground.  He came back to check on His disciples and they were still sleeping.  This time, the Son of God woke the disciples up and told them to rise and pray, lest they fall into temptation.  

We Christians wrestle with God in prayer as well.  We don't sweat like great drops of blood or have an angel strengthen us, however, like Jesus did. We must remember, though, that when we wrestle with God in prayer that it is not our will but God's will that must be done.  

Thanks as always for reading!  I hope it won't be as long until I write again.

Diane

Overcomer

The book of Revelation is a book of the Bible that a lot of people say they don't understand, or maybe they just don't want to understand.  "It doesn't apply to us today, " they say. "It's about the future. I don't care about that."  Yet over twenty-five percent of the Bible is prophecies about the future. If God didn't want us to know what was going to happen in the future, He wouldn't have told us.  And Revelation is the only book of the Bible that promises blessings to those who read it and follow it. Revelation 1:3 reads: "Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written in it; for the time is near." God's time is not the same as human time, so "near" means something different to God than it does to us.  

Per Merriam-Webster, one of the definitions of "revelation" is "something that is revealed by God to humans." We Christians mostly refer to the book of Revelation as just Revelation, but the actual title of the book is "The Revelation of Jesus Christ."  The other books of the Bible were transcribed by men and inspired by God. Per Revelation 1:1, God gave Jesus the revelation in the book of Revelation to give to men. This last book in the Bible is not only directed to the Asian churches for correction and reproof (and for us as well), it also reveals what will happen in the last times, at the Second Coming, and what will happen after.  It also reveals what rewards we will receive for being faithful believers, or overcomers, as Jesus calls us.  There's a lot to dig out of the book of Revelation, but for this blog post, I'm going to concentrate on the first three chapters.  

In Revelation 1, John greets the seven churches of Asia. Like Paul's epistles, this book was forwarded from church to church to be read to each congregation, as per Jesus' instructions in Revelation 1:11. Revelation 1:7 reminds me of Zechariah 12:10-14, where all of Israel looks on the One who they pierced (Jesus) and they will mourn.  

In Revelation 1:9, John gives us some background as to where he is and why he is there.  In verse 10, John mentions that he was in the Spirit on the Lord's Day, which means that he was in prayer on a Sunday.  He heard a voice behind him, which turns out to be Jesus since He refers to Himself as the Alpha and the Omega. 

John knew that voice.  He heard it for three years while Jesus walked on the earth.  John quickly turned around so that he could see Jesus, but He looked very different than He did when He was walking on Earth. In fact, His appearance was so different that it shocked John and he fainted. But Jesus laid His hand on John and comforted him.  Jesus explains about the seven stars in His right hand, which are the angels of the churches, and the seven lampstands, which are the churches. 

Jesus also instructs John to write down what he sees and hears and send it to the seven churches. He starts the letters right away in Revelation 2. The letters continue until the end of chapter 3. Jesus addresses each church in the first person. He could have told John, "Write that Jesus says to tell you," which would put the letters in the third person.  Jesus also addresses Himself by a different title for the letter for each church.  He has John address each letter to the angel of that particular church. The "angel" of the churches, per various commentators, are the pastors of the churches. 

Each letter to the churches has three parts.  In the first part of each letter, Jesus tells that particular church about the good things they have done or believed, to encourage them. Then in the second part of each letter,  Jesus tells them about what they have done wrong and what will happen if they don't correct that wrong.  In the third and final part of each letter, Jesus gives a promise for believers who stay faithful.  This is usually preceded by the phrase, "He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches." Sometimes this phrase is at the end of the letter.  Either way, it is the hint that the reproof/correction is finished. 

The table below summarizes and explains the first two parts of each letter.  Then I'll summarize what overcomers will receive in Heaven after the Rapture. You will only see entries for five churches in the table below because not all of the churches had done things they needed reproof for.  When you read the "What was done wrong" column, think about how that entry would translate to you and/or the modern church. 

What was done wrong:	How to correct what was done wrong:	What happens if the wrong isn’t corrected:
Nevertheless I (Jesus) have this against you, that you have left your first love.	Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works.	Else I (Jesus) will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place—unless you repent.
But I (Jesus) have a few things against you, because you have there those who hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols, and to commit sexual immorality. Thus you also have those who hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which thing I hate.	Repent.	Or else I (Jesus) will come to you quickly and will fight against them with the sword of My mouth.
Nevertheless I (Jesus) have a few things against you, because you allow that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, to teach and seduce My servants to commit sexual immorality and eat things sacrificed to idols.  And I gave her time to repent of her sexual immorality, and she did not repent.	Repent (implied, not in the text).	Indeed I (Jesus) will cast her into a sickbed, and those who commit adultery with her into great tribulation, unless they repent of their deeds. I will kill her children with death, and all the churches shall know that I am He who searches the minds and hearts. And I will give to each one of you according to your works.
Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die, for I (Jesus) have not found your works perfect before God.	Remember therefore how you have received and heard; hold fast and repent.	Therefore if you will not watch, I (Jesus) will come upon you as a thief, and you will not know what hour I will come upon you.
I (Jesus) know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth.	I (Jesus) counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich; and white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see.  As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent.	Jesus doesn’t detail what would happen if the wrong isn’t corrected.

Now for the good news!  For those who keep the faith and are overcomers, here are the promised rewards:  

He who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments, and I will not blot out his name from the Book of Life; but I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels.

Because you have kept My command to persevere, I also will keep you from the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth.

 I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he shall go out no more. I will write on him the name of My God and the name of the city of My God, the New Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God. And I will write on him My new name.

I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.

I will give to eat from the tree of life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God.

Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life.

He who overcomes shall not be hurt by the second death.

I will give some of the hidden manna to eat. And I will give him a white stone, and on the stone a new name written which no one knows except him who receives it.

To him I will give power over the nations—I will give him the morning star.

He who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments, and I will not blot out his name from the Book of Life; but I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels.

I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he shall go out no more. I will write on him the name of My God and the name of the city of My God, the New Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God. And I will write on him My new name.

I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.

The "I" in each verse above refers to Jesus. Aren't these promises wonderful? They give us something to look forward to and they encourage us when we feel sad.  I wonder what Jesus' new name is, don't you?   How thrilling it will be when all these promises come true and we will be with Jesus eternally!  

Thanks for your patience and continued reading of my blog. I hope to write more soon.  See you next time!

Diane

It's a family affair

I'm not sure if it's my age, but I'm getting interested in genealogy.  I think I'm going to put an Ancestry DNA test on my Christmas list.  I'm especially interested in the finger length DNA trait - I have short fingers (the fingers on mittens are way too long) and my pinky fingers are extremely short - they only come halfway up the second joint on my ring finger.  I wonder if that's a birth defect of some sort, especially since I had problems with small motor skills as a child. 

The Hebrews in the Old Testament were also extremely interested in genealogy.  In modern days, we have first names and surnames. For example, I'm Diane (my first name) Schultz (my surname). But in Old Testament times, a man was referred to as "the son of ____," and sometimes, a second "the son of _____" was added.  Occasionally, the tribe of which the man belonged was added - for example, Bezalel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah.  

2 Chronicles 1-9 lists all of the generations of Jewish men up until Saul. A listing of all the people who returned to Israel from Babylon is found in Ezra 2.  Evidently, the genealogies were kept up during the exile in Babylon, because in Ezra 2:62, it states that some of the men who thought they were priests were not found in the genealogies and therefore, they were defiled.  Ezra outlines his own genealogy in Ezra 7, and it shows that he is a descendant of Aaron, the chief priest.  Therefore, he was extremely qualified to teach the law.  

Ezra 8 lists all the names of the families that returned to Israel with him.  Interestingly, there is a Daniel listed.  But is it the Daniel from the book of Daniel? The "son of _____" designation is not used for Daniel in the book of Daniel. Since Daniel was in Babylon by this point, who his father was is not important, and he may have been dead by that time. In Daniel 1:4, Daniel and his companions are listed as "young men." If Daniel was 18 years old at the time of the captivity and Israel was in exile for 70 years, that means he would have been 88 years old at the time of the first trip back to Israel.  The Daniel listed in the book of Ezra is listed as one of the sons of Ithamar, who was one of Aaron's sons. These Daniels may be one and the same, but I couldn't find any corroborating evidence in my brief research.  I will add this to the list of questions I will ask the Lord once I get to heaven.

You may wonder why the Hebrews were so interested in genealogy.  As noted above, the genealogies showed which people were real Hebrews and which people were not. The main reason, however, that the Hebrews were interested in genealogy is that the Messiah would come through one of the Hebrews' family lines.  This was predicted in Genesis 3:15 after the serpent (Satan) tempted Eve to eat the apple from the Tree of Life:  "And I will put enmity, Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, And you shall bruise His heel.” The Seed, of course, is Jesus.  Jesus was to come through the line of Adam and Eve and later, through the line of David.  Jesus is referred to as the Son of David in the Bible.  Jesus confounded the Pharisees in Matthew 22 by asking them who they thought whose son the Christ was. They replied that that Christ was the son of David, but Jesus said in verse 45, "“If David then calls Him ‘Lord,’ how is He his Son?”  The genealogy of Jesus through Joseph, His earthly father, can be found in Matthew 1, and the genealogy of Jesus through His mother Mary can be found in Luke 3.  Mary's genealogy listing goes all the way back to Adam, while Joseph's genealogy listing only goes back to Abraham.  Both Joseph and Mary were from David's family line, although they were from different branches of David's family tree.  

Throughout the Gospels, the "son of _____" wording is still used when men are introduced into the story. But starting in the book of Acts, the "son of _____" designation is no longer used.  Why? you may ask.  I think there are two reasons.  First, Jesus the Messiah had already come (and returned to Heaven), and the Hebrew genealogies didn't matter anymore as far as the Messiah was concerned.  Second, the members of the Christian church were not only Jews but people from all over the known world, thanks to Peter's sermon at Pentecost and Paul's missionary journeys. The "son of _______" designation was no longer necessary.  As church members, we are members of the family of God and the only father that is important (besides our biological fathers) is our heavenly Father.  So dear reader, you are my brother or sister in Christ and God is our heavenly Father! 

I have traced my family line on Ancestry.com and other genealogy websites back two generations.  I would like to know a little bit more about my great grandparents.  I would also like to know what countr(ies) my ancestors emigrated from.  The results of the DNA testing will be very interesting.

Thanks as always for reading! See you next time!

Diane

Ruth, the humble

This blog post is about Ruth, one of the many ladies in Scripture.  Before I start discussing her, however, I'd like you to actually read the book of Ruth, if you haven't lately.  Don't worry, it's only 4 chapters long. It's an engrossing story, so you should be able to get through it quickly.  If you don't have your Bible handy, you can right-click on the word here and select "open in new tab."  Click on the arrow at the right to move to the next chapter.  Or you can switch tabs back and forth between this blog post and the book of Ruth if you prefer.

Ruth is an important person in the Bible.  She is one of only two women to have a book of the Bible named after her (the other woman is Esther).  She is also only one of the two women listed in Jesus' genealogy in Matthew 1.  Ruth is listed in the genealogy because she is the great-grandmother of King David, and you can read about that in Ruth 4:17. 

Not only is Ruth an important person in Jesus's family line, but she also has character traits that we would do well to emulate.  I'll discuss them here.

Ruth was loyal.  You will recall that Ruth's husband died, as well as both of her sons.  Naomi told her daughters-in-law Ruth and Orpah to go home to their mother's houses.  But Ruth would not go home to her mother's house.  She wanted to stay with Naomi. In Ruth 1:16-17, Ruth says some of the most beautiful words of loyalty in all of Scripture.  She tells Naomi that Naomi's God will be her God and wherever Naomi would go, she would go too.  

Ruth was resourceful.  She knew that she and Naomi would need food if they were to survive since they did not have a man to support them.  So Ruth asked Naomi if she could go to the field and glean heads of grain to provide for them.  

Ruth was obedient.  Ruth followed directions and didn't ask questions.  When Boaz told Ruth not to glean in another field, to stay close to his young women, and to get water to drink when she was thirsty, she listened and obeyed.  When Naomi told Ruth how to make it known to Boaz that she was interested in him, Ruth followed Naomi's instructions exactly, although to our modern way of thinking, uncovering a guy's feet and laying next to them is a really strange way to let a guy know you're interested in him. 

Ruth was respectful. When Boaz spoke to her, she bowed down to the ground and spoke to him respectfully.  Ruth also spoke respectfully to Naomi. Ruth didn't have a bad attitude nor was she ungrateful.  

Ruth should be an inspiration to us. If we take Ruth's character traits and apply them to our own lives, it will help us in our relationships with others.  

Thanks as always for reading! See you next time!

Diane

  

The Holy Spirit - the third member of the Trinity

As I write this, tomorrow is Pentecost, the day on which the Holy Spirit descended on the apostles and disciples like flames of fire, and the church was born.  So I thought it was an appropriate time to take a look at who the Holy Spirit is and His (yes, "His" is the right pronoun; despite modern thinking, no part of the Trinity is feminine) attributes.

The Holy Spirit is sometimes an overlooked member of the Holy Trinity.  It seems like more emphasis is placed on God and Jesus in our churches than on the Holy Spirit.  It's like pastors are afraid that they would seem too Pentecostal and/or charismatic if they speak about the Holy Spirit. But the Holy Spirit is an equal member of the Trinity and just as important as God and Jesus; He just has different duties.

The word "spirit" does not mean "ghost" in the context of the Scriptures. The Oxford Companion to the Bible's definition of the name of the Holy Spirit is:

There is no distinct term for spirit in the languages of the Bible; the concept was expressed by a metaphorical use of words that mean, literally, wind and breath (Hebr. ruah; Grk., pneuma); the English word "spirit" is simply an Anglicized form of the Latin word for breath (spiritus).

So then, the colloquialism of the Holy Spirit as the Holy Ghost is very inaccurate. A ghost is a spirit that a person can see and the Holy Spirit is unseen. God and Jesus are not physically on earth, but the Holy Spirit is on earth to assist believers and convict non-believers of their sins so they can repent and put their trust in Jesus as their Savior. 

The Holy Spirit has a few different names in the Scriptures.  He is mentioned as the Holy Spirit in only four places in the Scriptures, however: Psalm 51:11; Luke 11:13; Ephesians 1:13 and Ephesians 4:30.  In most other places in Scripture, the Holy Spirit is just referred to as the Spirit, the "Holy" part being implied.  When you see just the word "Spirit," it is usually followed by an attribute of the Spirit, such as "the Spirit of truth," "the Spirit of life," etc.  You will also see "the Spirit of God." When you see just the word "Spirit," you will know that it means the Holy Spirit. 

Let's look at some of the duties of the Holy Spirit.  He is the Author of Scripture since the Word of God is God-breathed.  He is the Comforter (some translations state this as Helper), who comforts those in Christ. He is the Advocate, who defends us. He convicts unbelievers of their sins so that they can repent of their sins and trust in Christ as their Savior.

The Holy Spirit is a guide to help believers understand the Scriptures.  Unbelievers are unable to understand the Scriptures since the Holy Spirit does not live in them.  The Holy Spirit lives in believers to direct them and guide them, and to be the link between God and man.  The Holy Spirit intercedes for us with the Father. He prays for us when we are so distraught we can't pray ourselves.  The Holy Spirit is a teacher, sent to the disciples to remind them of what Jesus taught them while He was on Earth.

One of the most interesting attributes of the Holy Spirit is that He is the Restrainer.  In 2 Thessalonians 2:6-8, Paul tells the Thessalonians about how the Holy Spirit restrains all evil in the world until He is taken out of the way when the Rapture occurs. Once the Holy Spirit's restraint is removed from the world, a greater level of evil than what we see now will occur, and the Antichrist will arise. The aspect of the Holy Spirit that allows Him to indwell new believers and guide them will still be around during the Tribulation period, but the restraining aspect will not be there.

I hope you have enjoyed my brief overview of the Holy Spirit.  There are some links below to websites that I used to help write the blog posts.  Thanks for reading!  See you next time!

Diane

Bibliography:

The Oxford Companion to the Bible, edited by Bruce M. Metzger and Michael D. Coogan, Oxford University Press, 1993.

Got Questions:  What are the names and titles of the Holy Spirit?
https://www.gotquestions.org/names-Holy-Spirit.html

Compelling Truth:  What names and titles does the Bible use for the Holy Spirit?
https://www.compellingtruth.org/names-Holy-Spirit.html

Here is a free e-book (in PDF format) that goes into a great deal of detail about the Holy Spirit:
The Names of the Holy Spirit, by Elmer Towns
http://www.ntslibrary.com/PDF%20Books/The_Names_Of_The_HolySpirit[ETowns].pdf

Palm Sunday - The entry triumphal

Today is Palm Sunday, which commemorates Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem at the beginning of Holy Week.  This event is recorded in all four of the Gospels and considering that each Gospel was written by different individuals, the details of the event in all of the Gospels are remarkably the same.  There are minor additions to the story in the Gospel of Matthew and the Gospel of Luke.

Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem was not only to announce to the Jewish people that the Messiah had come, but it also fulfilled Old Testament prophecy.  In Daniel 9, Gabriel the archangel gave Daniel the prophecy that foretold when the Messiah would arrive.  Gabriel didn't give exact dates, however; he said that 70 weeks had been decreed for the Jewish people and for Jerusalem.  Bible scholars have determined that each "week" equals 70 years.  After sixty-nine "weeks," the Messiah would be "cut off," or put to death. Chuck Missler did the math (Thanks, Chuck! Math was my worst subject in school) and determined the following:

This includes a mathematical prophecy. As we have noted in previous articles, the Jewish (and Babylonian) calendars used a 360-day year; 69 weeks of 360-day years totals 173,880 days. In effect, Gabriel told Daniel that the interval between the commandment to rebuild Jerusalem until the presentation of the Messiah as King would be 173,880 days.

Chuck then gives us even more important information:

The commandment to restore and build Jerusalem was given by Artaxerxes Longimanus on March 14, 445 B.C. . . .This [the Triumphal Entry - DMS] is the only occasion that Jesus presented Himself as King. It occurred on April 6, 32 A.D. When we examine the period between March 14, 445 B.C. and April 6, 32 A.D., and correct for leap years, we discover that it is 173,880 days exactly, to the very day!

That's really incredible, but as we all know, God does all things in His own way.  He does give us clues in His Word, and we just have to dig them out.

Another Old Testament prophecy that Jesus fulfilled was in Zechariah 9:9 when He rode into Jerusalem on a colt.  "Colt" in those days referred to a young donkey and not a young horse like we think of in modern times.

Titus Kennedy, in an Adventures blog post on the website Drive Thru History titled "The Triumphal Entry," compared Jesus' entry into Jerusalem to the triumphal entry of ancient Israeli kings and the triumphal entry of Roman emperors.

According to the list of Triumphs on the Fasti Triumphales, which concludes with a triumph in 19 BC, by the time of Augustus the triumph had become part of the Imperial cult, and only the Emperor could receive this honor and recognition as king and divine (Dio Cassius; Suetonius; Pliny). In a comparable fashion, Jesus began the Triumphal Entry outside the boundaries of Jerusalem in Bethphage on the Mount of Olives, rode on a donkey like the kings of ancient Israel, descended down the road into the Kidron Valley, entered the city through the Susa Gate, then went to the Temple where He cleansed it of merchants and moneychangers. The similarities to the Roman Imperial Triumph and the ancient Israelite kinship procession are obvious. Therefore, the Triumphal Entry of Jesus had significance and implications for both the cultures of Israel and Rome, as Jesus carried out traditions associated with both an ancient king, conquering victor, and the Divine all in one procession. 

So Jesus' triumphal entry proclaimed that not only was He the Jewish Messiah and King, He was also the spiritual King of the Gentiles as well.  The Jewish people recognized on Palm Sunday that Jesus was the Messiah.  Yet five days later, those same people chanted for Jesus to be crucified and that His blood would be on them and on their children.  Because the people rejected Jesus as their Messiah, the prophecy in Daniel 9:26 (". . .and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.") would be fulfilled in AD 70 when the Romans (the people of the prince that shall come) destroyed Jerusalem.  

Dear reader, has Jesus made his triumphal entry into your heart?  Is Jesus your Lord and Savior? He died for you on the Cross - all you have to do is repent of your sins and ask Jesus to rule in your heart and life. 

That's all for now. Thanks as always for reading!

Diane

Bibliography:
Chuck Missler, "Daniel's 70 Weeks:  The Precision of  Prophecy,"
https://www.khouse.org/articles/2004/552/
Titus Kennedy, "The Triumphal Entry - Drive Thru History,"
https://drivethruhistoryadventures.com/the-triumphal-entry/

By the book(s)

Reading is one of my favorite hobbies, and so is writing.  God is an author and as you will see below, He is also a librarian. 

God’s main book, of course, is the Bible.  Divinely inspired and transcribed by men on two separate continents over thousands of years, the Bible gives us instructions in 66 books on how to live according to God’s will: it contains the history of creation and God’s chosen people Israel, Jesus’ life and ministry and the history of the early Church; and it tells us about what will happen in the end times and the final end of all mankind.  Jesus Himself is the Word, and the Word became flesh and walked among mankind.

In the Bible itself, four different kinds of books are mentioned.  The first book is the book of the Law.  This is the two tablets with the Ten Commandments.  You will see the book of the Law referred to in the Old Testament as the Testimony, and you can find the Testimony referred to in many verses in the book of Exodus, especially in the verses that reference the ark.  The Testimony (the tablets of the Ten Commandments) was placed in the ark. The book of the Law is also referred to in Deuteronomy 28:58, Deuteronomy 30:10, Deuteronomy 31:26 and Joshua 1:8. 

The second book is the Book of the Covenant. It contained all of the civil and health laws God gave to Moses in the desert for the people to live by.  The first reference to the Book of the Covenant can be found in Exodus 24:7.  In 2 Kings 23 and 2 Chronicles 34:30, King Josiah read the Book of the Covenant to all the people so that they would live for the Lord once again.  

Every person who has ever lived has a book in God’s library.  Each book contains everything a person ever did, whether good or bad.  The first mention of this book is in Psalms 56:8, where David says, “My tears are in your book.”  In Psalm 139:16, David says that all of his days were written in God's book even before he (David) was born.  Those people who were not resurrected at the first resurrection will be raised at the second resurrection, and at the Great White Throne judgment, everyone's books are opened and they are judged according to what is written in their book. 

The other book mentioned in the Bible is the Book of Life, which is sometimes referred to as the Lamb’s Book of Life (see Revelation 21:27).  The Book of Life contains the names of those who have repented of their sins and trusted in Jesus for their salvation.  The first mention of this book (although indirectly) in the Bible is in Exodus 32:32. Moses goes up on the mountain to ask God to forgive Israel for their sin of worshiping the golden calf but if God wouldn't forgive Israel, then God should blot Moses out of His book.  God replies that anyone who has sinned against Him will be blotted out of His book. Paul refers to the Book of Life in Philippians 4:3. You can find many references to the Book of Life in the book of Revelations.  

If your name is written in the Book of Life, you will live with Jesus for all eternity.  Dear reader, is your name written in the Book of Life? If your name is not written in the Book of Life at the time of the Great White Throne judgment, you will be thrown into the lake of fire to suffer for all eternity (see Revelation 20:15).   If you don't want to spend eternity in the lake of fire, please repent of your sins and put your trust in Jesus for salvation.  Read the Bible, God's main book, and learn about Jesus and about how God wants you to live. 

Thanks for reading! Don't forget to check out this blog's podcast - you can find a podcast player embedded in the upper right-hand corner, and there is a share button, so feel free to share away. 

Diane

"It is Well With My Soul" - the origin story and an analysis

“It is Well With My Soul” is one of the best-loved hymns of the Christian faith. “It is Well With My Soul” is in many hymnals, and many Christian artists have covered it. But do you know the story behind the hymn? 

The lyrics of “It is Well With My Soul” were written in 1873 by Horatio Spafford, a lawyer/ businessman from Chicago.  Mr. Spafford experienced great tragedies in the two years preceding the writing of the hymn.  His 2-year-old son died in the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, which also ruined him financially because of the many buildings he owned that burned down in the fire.  In the economic downturn of 1873, his business interests also took a downturn. The family was ready to take a cruise to Europe, but Spafford sent his wife and daughters ahead so he could take care of zoning problems that arose after the Great Chicago Fire.  He planned on meeting them in Europe after he had taken care of the zoning problems.

During the voyage to Europe, the ship on which Mrs. Spafford and her four daughters were sailing sank after colliding with another sea vessel.  Mrs. Spafford was the only family member who survived the crash, and she sent a telegraph to Mr. Spafford that read, “Saved alone.”  Mr. Spafford traveled to meet his wife and as the ship on which he was traveling passed the spot where his daughters drowned, he was inspired to write the words to “It is Well With My Soul.” The hymn tune was written by well-known composer Philip Bliss, who named the tune Ville du Havre, the name of the boat that sank. 

The lyrics of “It is Well With My Soul” are posted below. I will add the refrain after each verse and not post it separately. I’ll post my comments about each verse after the verse. 

When peace like a river attendeth my way,

When sorrows like sea billows roll,

Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say,

It is well, it is well with my soul

It is well (it is well) with my soul (with my soul),

It is well, it is well with my soul.

No matter what circumstances we find ourselves in, if we trust in and know Jesus as our Savior, it will always be well with our souls.  He is sovereign over all; nothing happens without His consent.  Sometimes it is hard to remember that it is well with our souls during trials we may be encountering.  We may not understand why things happen the way they do when they occur. 

Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,

Let this blest assurance control,

That Christ has regarded my helpless estate,

And hath shed His own blood for my soul.

It is well (it is well) with my soul (with my soul),

It is well, it is well with my soul.

No matter what trials and tribulations we may be going through, we are assured that Jesus loves us. He loves us so much that He died for us on the Cross so that our sins are forgiven.  We are to keep our eyes on and our confidence in Christ no matter what is happening around us or to us. 

My sin, oh the bliss of this glorious thought,

My sin, not in part, but the whole

Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more,

Praise the Lord, Praise the Lord, oh my soul!

It is well (it is well) with my soul (with my soul),

It is well, it is well with my soul.

When Jesus died on the Cross, He became the perfect sacrifice for the sins of mankind.  When we trust in and believe in Jesus, our sins are forgiven and are nailed to the Cross with Christ. Christ’s death on the Cross was a selfless act deserving of all of our glory and praise.

And Lord, haste the day when my faith shall be sight,

The clouds be rolled back as a scroll,

The trump shall resound, and the Lord shall descend,

Even so, it is well with my soul.

It is well (it is well) with my soul (with my soul),

It is well, it is well with my soul.

The hymn writer was looking forward to the Rapture in this verse.  We believe in Jesus although we have never seen Him in the flesh.  We will, however, see Him in person for the first time at the Rapture.  The description in lines 2 and 3 match the description of the Rapture in 1 Thessalonians 4:16. (1 Colossians?)  When we are finally at home with the Lord, it will be well with our soul for all eternity!  That will be one incredible day and I can’t wait for that, can you? 

There are two verses in the original hymn that are not sung in churches today.  They were probably removed so that the hymn wouldn’t take so long to sing, especially since there is a refrain at the end of each verse.

For me, be it Christ, be it Christ hence to live,

If Jordan above me shall roll,

No pang shall be mine, for in death as in life,

Thou wilt whisper Thy peace to my soul.

It is well (it is well) with my soul (with my soul),

It is well, it is well with my soul.

But Lord, 'tis for Thee, for Thy coming we wait,

The sky, not the grave, is our goal,

Oh, trump of the angel!  Oh, voice of the Lord,

Blessed hope, blessed rest of my soul.

It is well (it is well) with my soul (with my soul),

It is well, it is well with my soul.

The second verse ties into the last verse of the hymn, I think, and in my opinion, should probably be sung too.  The “blessed hope” referred to is the Rapture, and lines 2 and 3 also match the description of the Rapture in 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17.

If you would like to see the handwritten manuscript of "It is Well With My Soul," you can go to the link here:  https://www.loc.gov/item/mamcol.016/

I hope that “It is Well With My Soul” is one of your favorite hymns as well.  Thanks for reading!

Diane

Bibliography:  "It is Well With My Soul," Wikipedia - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/It_Is_Well_with_My_Soul

P.S.:  In case you haven't noticed, there is a podcast player at the top of the right-hand column.  This blog is now a podcast!  You can play the podcast episodes in the player, or search for Reflections Ruminations on the iTunes Podcast app or on the Google Music app on your smartphone.  Be sure to subscribe and turn on the notifications so that you'll know when I post new episodes, which is usually on Sunday evenings.  There is also a share button on the podcast player in the right-hand column, so feel free to share!  

Reflections on the three wise men

Today is January 6, which is also known as the church holiday of Epiphany.  Epiphany, which occurs on the church calendar 12 days after Christmas, marks the visit of the three wise men to worship Jesus and present gifts to Him.  The Gospel of Matthew is the only gospel that contains the wise men’s story. It can be found in Matthew 2:1-12. 

Matthew states that the wise men were from the East.  He is not specific about the country that the wise men came from.  It was not important which country they were from, only the area of the world that they were from, to show that they were not Jewish. 

 How did the Gentile wise men know about the Star and that it would lead them to the King of the Jews?  Some of the Jews did not return to Israel from Persia after the Babylonian exile. The Jews may have told the wise men of the Persians about the coming of the Messiah.  They may have pointed out Numbers 24:7, which states: “There shall a Star come out of Jacob, and a Scepter shall rise out of Israel,” along with other Old Testament Scriptures about the Messiah.  This information would have been passed down by the Persian wise men over the centuries until the Star of Bethlehem finally appeared, fulfilling the Messianic prophecies.

The Persian Jews must not have told the wise men where the King of the Jews was to be born, however, so the wise men went to Herod, the Roman leader in Jerusalem. The wise men must have thought that since Herod was the ruler of the Jews, he would know where the King of the Jews was to be born. Herod didn’t know the answer to their question, so he asked the priests and the scribes if they knew where the King of the Jews was to be born.  They told him in Micah 5:2, it stated that the King of the Jews was to be born in Bethlehem.  Herod told the wise men and they left to find Jesus.

Most people set up their Nativity scenes with the three wise men near the manger.  This is wrong, however, because Jesus was not a baby when the wise men visited Him.  Matthew refers to Jesus as a young Child – if He had been an infant when the wise men paid their visit, Matthew would have referred to Jesus as the Baby Jesus.  Herod also refers to Jesus as a young Child, according to the time he determined from the wise men. Matthew also states that Mary and Jesus were living in a house, which meant they had left the stable.  Interestingly, Joseph is not mentioned in the story of the wise men – perhaps he was out of the house when the wise men came to call.

Even if the wise men had seen the Star of Bethlehem on the night of Jesus’ birth, it would have taken them a while to travel by camel and/or by foot to Bethlehem, perhaps up to 2 years, depending on what part of the east they lived in.  There were no interstate freeways and modern forms of transportation to get the wise men to Bethlehem sooner. Since they were important wise men, they may have had a large entourage to attend to their needs.  This would make the travel time even longer since there were more people traveling in the group.  The song “We Three Kings” states that the wise men were from the Orient.  It would probably take more than 2 years to get to Bethlehem from the Orient since the designation “the Orient” usually refers to China and Japan.  

After the wise men went home by another way and Herod realized he had been tricked, he ordered the deaths of all boy children under the age of 2 according to the time that the wise men had told him they had first seen the Star. This is another indication that Jesus was around 2 years old when the wise men visited. 

Legend has it that there were three wise men because of the three gifts that were presented to Jesus.  However, Matthew does not state for certain that there were only three wise men, and indeed, there could have been more than three wise men in the entourage, but only three of them presented the gifts. 

The wise men have been given names over the years and even been promoted to kings, but Matthew does not call them by name nor does he call them kings.  Matthew does not say that the three wise men introduced themselves by name to Mary either. 

More important than the background of the givers were the gifts themselves and the meanings of the gifts.  Gold was very valuable and it was given to a king as a tribute.  Jesus is not only the King of the Jews, He is the King of Kings.  Myrrh was a bitter perfume used for medicine and anointing oil. Myrrh was offered to Jesus on the Cross, and Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus wrapped Jesus’s body in a mixture of myrrh and aloe after He was taken down from the Cross.  Frankincense was a symbol of holiness and righteousness and was used as incense in the Temple.  It represents Jesus’ sacrifice on the Cross, as frankincense was burned with the sacrifices on the showbread altar in the Temple.  

I am going to try and write more this year.  I apologize for not posting very often.  Thanks as always for reading and see you next time!

Diane