Category Archives: The Bible

The Cosmos in Chaos: Revelation 6, Blood Moons, and Eclipses

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The sixth chapter of Revelation is when things get exciting. It’s got everything: earthquakes, the moon turning red, stars falling out of heaven. And as a result, many Christians assume that a particularly large earthquake or a lunar eclipse (sometimes called a “blood moon”) means the antichrist is on the rise and all hell is about to break loose.

But is this how we’re supposed to read the apocalyptic signs and wonders?

“I looked when He opened the sixth seal, and behold, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became like blood. And the stars of heaven fell to the earth, as a fig tree drops its late figs when it is shaken by a mighty wind. Then the sky receded as a scroll when it is rolled up, and every mountain and island was moved out of its place.” (Revelation 6:12-14)

It sounds like a scene right out of a Hollywood disaster movie about global warming. But every part of this vision had been witnessed multiple times before—in the Old Testament.

All these signs appear throughout the Prophets to signify judgment on a city or nation—typically idolatrous Israel and sometimes enemy nations that persecute God’s faithful:

Behold, the day of the LORD comes, cruel, with both wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate; and He will destroy [Babylon’s] sinners from it. For the stars of heaven and their constellations will not give their light; and sun will be darkened in its going forth, and the moon will not cause its light to shine. (Isaiah 13:9, 10)

Woe to Ariel [that is, Jerusalem], to Ariel, the city where David dwelt!… I will encamp against you all around, I will lay siege against you with a mound, and I will raise siegeworks against you… you will be punished by the LORD of hosts with thunder and earthquake and great noise, with storm and tempest and devouring fire. (Isaiah 29:1, 3, 6)

Thus says the LORD: “Behold, I will throw out at this time the inhabitants of the land… Behold, the noise of the report has come, and a great commotion (Hebrew ra’as and Greek seismos, meaning earthquake) out of the north country, to make the cities of Judah desolate, a den of jackals.” (Jeremiah 10:18, 22)

For in My jealousy and in the fire of My wrath I have spoken: “Surely in that day there shall be a great earthquake in the land of Israel… and all men who are on the face of the earth shall shake ay My presence. And mountains shall be thrown down…” (Ezekiel 38:19, 20, 21)

A nation has come up against My land, strong, and without number… Alas for the day! For the day of the LORD is at hand; it shall come as destruction from the Almighty… The earth quakes before them, the heavens tremble; the sun and moon grow dark, and the stars diminish their brightness… And I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth—blood and fire and pillars of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the coming of the great and awesome day of the LORD. (Joel 1:6, 15, 2:10, 30, 31)

“The end has come upon My people Israel; I will not pass by them anymore… Shall the land tremble for this?… And it shall come to pass in that day,” says the Lord GOD, “That I will make the sun go down at noon, and I will darken the earth in broad daylight… I will bring sackcloth on every waist…” (Amos 8:2, 8, 9, 10)

What’s notable about all these prophetic utterances is that they occurred thousands of years ago—and were fulfilled thousands of years ago.

Isaiah prophesied around 700 BC concerning the destruction of Judah—which occurred in 586 BC—and the destruction of Babylon—which occurred in 539 BC. Jeremiah’s ministry coincided with the destruction of Jerusalem and the exile of the Jews, which took place during and shortly after 586 BC. And Joel and Amos preached during the eighth century BC, shortly before the destruction of Israel in 722 BC.

These prophets weren’t warning of a singular “day of the LORD” that would occur in our future—they were warning of various “days of the LORD” that happened thousands of years ago.[1] And with this in mind, it’s clear that these signs aren’t meant to be taken literally. There are no reported earthquakes during these catastrophic events, and the sun and moon are still shining. This is God’s poetic way of saying, “The destruction of your nation will be so cataclysmic, it’ll be as if the sun stops shining and the sky crashes into earth.”  

It’s no surprise that Jesus adopted this same prophetic and poetic language during His ministry:

“Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.” (Matthew 24:29)

The immediate context of this prophecy concerned the destruction of the second temple in Jerusalem (Matthew 24:2, 3). And just as Israel and Judah had collapsed a generation or so after the prophets had declared, just as Babylon and Assyria weren’t turned upside down as the world shifted beneath them, so too did Israel come under God’s judgment in 70 AD.

John’s Revelation was given a few years before the destruction of the second temple. God was giving the inhabitants of Jerusalem one last chance to repent before the city was sacked and the nation destroyed. And the effects of that destruction upon the world were greater than if mountains had literally been thrown into the sea.

So where does this leave us? Are these astronomical signs and wonders simply events of our distant past and otherwise meaningless to us today? Of course not! Regardless of whether your eschatological views believe in a coming tribulation, there will always be empires that rise up against God’s people—and thus days of the Lord will always be necessary. And when they inevitably come, we can take comfort in Joel’s words:

“And it shall come to pass that whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved.” (Joel 2:32)

[1] Some of us think that “the day of the LORD” is a coming day related to antichrists, raptures, and the end of the world. Biblically, a “day of the LORD” is a day of judgment on sinners and deliverance for saints. Rightly understood, the destruction of Israel’s first and second temples and the conquering of corrupt nations like Egypt, Babylon, Assyria, Greece, and Israel were all “days of the LORD.”

How to Worship Allah and Still Go to Heaven: The Importance of Knowing WHO God Is

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You can worship Allah and go to heaven. You can also worship Yahweh and go to hell.

Hold on hold on. Hear me out.

Let’s imagine you’re on a mission trip in Tunisia. At a marketplace one day, you strike up a conversation with a local and hand him a Bible in his native language—Arabic. He heads home and flips the book open to the first page:

فِي الْبَدْءِ خَلَقَ اللهُ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالارْضَ

“In the beginning, Allah created the heavens and the earth.”

Wait wait wait. Who created the universe?!

So maybe instead you advise the potential convert to start in the New Testament. He gets home and begins reading John’s gospel:

فِي الْبَدْءِ كَانَ الْكَلِمَةُ وَالْكَلِمَةُ كَانَ عِنْدَ اللَّهِ وَكَانَ الْكَلِمَةُ اللَّهَ

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with Allah and the Word was Allah.”

There is something seriously messed up going on here. Why does the Arabic translation of the Christian Bible teach that Jesus had anything to do with the Muslim god?

 Simple answer: it doesn’t.

Most of us associate the word Allah with the false religion of Islam. So we assume that Allah is the name of their false god. But that’s not what Allah means. Allah is simply a title meaning “god.” It’s no different than telling a Spanish speaker that the universe was created by Dios. Heck, even the Hebrew word El—used repeatedly throughout scripture to refer to the one true God—sometimes refers to false gods. That’s because El isn’t His name—it’s a generic title that means “god.” Depending on the context, El can refer to the one true God of scripture or false idols of wood and stone.

We face this same problem in English today. The overwhelming majority of Americans believe in god. The question is, which one? If you worship the Christian God, you’re in good hands. If you think Taylor Swift is god, you’re in trouble. You need more than the correct title—you need to believe that God is who He is.

The Israelites got into trouble with this around 3,500 years ago. They stood at the foot of Mount Sinai weeks after Yahweh (the name ascribed to the biblical God in Exodus 3) had delivered them from bondage in Egypt. Then they proceeded to throw a bunch of gold into a furnace and mold a false dios out of it. As the golden idol came out of the fire, the people declared, “This is your Elohim, O Israel, that brought you out of the land of Egypt” (Exodus 32:4). Aaron then proclaimed the idol was Yahweh, and the people began offering sacrifices to it.

Think about that. They had the correct people (Israelites) in the correct place (Mount Sinai) worshipping a correctly-named deity (Yahweh) to whom they attributed the correct works (deliverance from Egypt) in the correct way (burnt offerings and peace offerings)—and yet they obviously were participating in pagan worship. On the surface, so much of their worship seemed correct. But the object of their worship was undeniably the wrong god.

This still happens today. For instance, did you know that Muslims believe that Jesus is the promised Messiah? However, they don’t believe He was crucified and subsequently raised from the dead. So they aren’t worshipping the one true God.

Modern Jews claim to worship a deity named Yahweh, who delivered the Israelites out of Egypt. But they also believe Jesus was a false sorcerer who currently resides in hell—not God Incarnate. So they aren’t worshipping the one true God.

Mormons believe that Jesus died and rose from the dead for the sins of mankind. But they don’t believe that Jesus is God—at least, not the one true God. Rather, God the Father and God the Son of separate gods among many gods, according to Mormon theology. Once again, they have the wrong god.

In all of these cases (and every other religion not mentioned above), these false worshippers have remade God according to their desired image. In effect, they threw a bunch of golden jewelry into an oven, slapped a handful of seemingly accurate labels upon the calf that came out, and called it God, Allah, Dios, El.

So then, who is the one true God?

In short, the God revealed in the Old and New Testaments—the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—the Truine God: Father, Son, Holy Spirit. And the essential, biblical description of the one true God, used throughout all of Christian history and accepted by every Christian worldwide, is summarized in the Nicene Creed.

If you’ve never read the Nicene Creed before, I encourage you to check it out. Despite appearing somewhat traditional and (dare I say) religious, you’ll find that every line is deeply rooted in scripture. A Christian would struggle to find anything with which they would disagree.[1]

So, will an Arabic Christian who worships Allah go to heaven? If they believe in the one true Allah—the Triune Allah revealed in the Christian Scriptures and confessed by the universal and timeless Church.

[1] Oh, and don’t be scared off by the word catholic. As we’ve discussed extensively, words can often mean something other than you’ve been programmed to think it means. Catholic simply means “universal.” In this context, it means the one Church is representative of all Christians throughout space and time—not that you need to like the pope.

Revelation 4 and the True Priesthood of God

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Revelation 4 kicks off with John seeing and hearing a bunch of crazy stuff:

  • Four creatures full of eyes, six wings, and the faces of a lion, calf, man, and eagle (Rev. 4:7, 8)
  • A throne surrounded by a rainbow with the appearance of an emerald (v. 3)
  • Lightnings, thunderings, and voices everywhere (v. 5)
  • God sitting on the emerald throne, appearing like a jasper and sardius stone (v. 3)
  • Twenty-four elders on twenty-four thrones, clothed in white robes with golden crowns on their heads (v. 4)

And all day and night they worship God together, crying out “Holy holy holy!” (v. 8)

This was quite a sight for John to see. And not surprisingly, every part of this vision had been witnessed before—in the Old Testament.

It’s lifted almost verbatim from Ezekiel 1. The Book of Ezekiel is about a man (Ezekiel) born to be a priest and serve in the temple. However, due to the sins of his unfaithful countrymen, Ezekiel is exiled from the land and all his dreams of ministering before the Lord was dashed… until God appears to him in Babylon and reestablishes his calling. While the physical temple will be destroyed and the unfaithful scattered, Ezekiel will nonetheless serve God and His people as a priest.

The rainbow throne, the crystal, the many-eyed, multi-winged creatures… all of them appear in the opening chapter of Ezekiel—the book of the exiled priest without a physical temple.

But that’s not the only priestly imagery in the book. The emerald, jasper, and sardius stones all appear in Exodus’s instructions concerning the priests’ attire—as well as the robes and the golden crowns (Exodus 28, 39).

Even the lightnings and thunderings come from Exodus 19—at the base of Mount Sinai, where God calls all of His people to be a kingdom of priests before the Lord.

And right in the middle of all this priestly language are the twenty-four elders—the twelve tribes of Israel and the twelve disciples—representing the entirety of God’s people before and after the resurrection, united as one to serve before the Lord as that kingdom of priests God called for at Mount Sinai.

Later in Revelation, the temple will again be destroyed. Those who should be God’s people will instead rebel against the Lord and be scattered once again. Hopes for God’s faithful will seem dashed.

But don’t lose hope. God doesn’t dwell in a temple made with hands (Acts 7:48). And even in exile, God still dwells among His people. Even without a physical temple, God’s people stills minister as kingly priests in the true temple—the Church.

Revelation’s Description of Jesus is More Important than You Think

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The epic descriptions of Jesus in the opening chapters of Revelation are more important than you think.

As John opens this book, he describes Jesus in several vivid ways:

  • He is One like the Son of Man (v. 13)
  • He is coming with clouds (7)
  • He is clothed with a garment down to His feet and wrapped about with a golden belt (13)
  • The hair on His head is white like wool (14)
  • His eyes are like a flame of fire (14)
  • His feet are like fine brass (15)
  • His voice is like the sound of many waters (15)
  • A sharp sword is coming out of His mouth (16)
  • His face is like the sun shining in its strength (16)

Yes, Jesus is certainly epic in all His glory. But there’s more to this than just seeing the King of Kings in an awesome way. Every single one of these descriptors is lifted directly from the Hebrew Scriptures.

In Daniel 7, God appears with “the hair of His head like pure wool (v. 9), “coming with the clouds of heaven” (v. 13) as “One like the Son of Man” (v. 13). Later in the chapter, a wicked king arises and “persecutes the saints of the Most High” (v. 25), but God soon overthrows this false ruler and gives an everlasting kingdom to His people (v. 27).

In Ezekiel 9, the people of Jerusalem have forsaken God and turned to rampant idolatry. In response, the glory of God comes upon a man “clothed with a garment down to his feet” with a belt at his side (v. 3). This man then goes “through the midst of Jerusalem, putting a mark on the foreheads of the men” who mourn and repent over the downfall of God’s holy city (v. 4). Soon after, the city is overrun and the temple is destroyed (vv. 5, 7), but those with the faithful mark are protected (v. 6).

In Daniel 10, a heavenly man appears to the prophet with “eyes like torches of fire,” his feet “like burnished bronze,” and “the sound of his words like the voice of a multitude” (v. 6). He informs Daniel that the Kingdom of Heaven were triumphing over the kingdoms of the empires of earth (v. 13) and commanded Daniel to be strong in the days to come (v. 19).

In Isaiah 49, the Suffering Servant of the Lord—Jesus—has His mouth made like a sharp sword (v. 2). He issues forth from His mother’s womb (v. 1) to gather God’s chosen together (v. 5) and then extend God’s salvation to every nation on earth (v. 6), thus “restoring the earth” to its intended glory (v. 8).

In Judges 5, Israel is enslaved to the kings of the surrounding Canaanite nations. The men are too afraid to fight back until, through the inspiration of a life-giving mother in Israel (v. 7), courage is restored and the people are delivered. Peace and rest are returned to God’s people as they cry out, “Let all Your enemies perish, O LORD, let those who love Him be like the sun when it comes out in full strength” (v. 31).

This vision of Jesus Christ isn’t just a cool sight that John saw—it was encoded with powerful imagery for all those who have ears to hear! Before we hear any fantastical prophecies or are given any righteous commandments, the mere sight of God tells us what we can expect:

  • Persecution is coming, but the wicked will be overthrown and God’s people will reign
  • The temple in Jerusalem has forsaken God and will soon be destroyed, but God has marked the faithful for protection
  • A spiritual war is raging, but the battle is already won
  • The gospel is for more than just Israel—the entire earth is being restored to God’s chosen
  • Persevere, don’t lose hope, and trust that God will strengthen His people and give them rest

All these things happened—a generation after Jesus and a few years after this vision was given. The temple was destroyed in 70 AD, but those faithful to Jesus Christ were protected; and soon the most powerful empire on earth bent the knee to Jesus Christ.

But like most things, we see echoes of these events reverberate through history. So we can take hope in this glorious vision of Jesus, just as the early church did. When persecution comes, we patiently endure, knowing we reign alongside our King. When false messiahs arise, we stand on the truth, knowing we carry the mark of Jesus Christ upon our heads. When the gospel is hindered by savage nations, we know that God reigns over all the earth. So we trust in God to strengthen His people and restore us to peace once again.

Did Constantine Ruin Christianity?

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Is Christianity as we know it today an invention of Emperor Constantine and a perversion of the true faith handed down from Jesus to His disciples?

In recent decades, many allegations have been leveled at the infamous emperor, including:

  • He handpicked which books would be included in the Bible
  • He invented the doctrine of Jesus’ divinity
  • He forced the Church to abandon their calendar
  • He enacted antisemitic laws that forced Jews away from Christianity

Which of these accusations, if any, are true, and how did it shape the Christianity we practice today?

Who Was Constantine?

Constantine was a Roman emperor in the early fourth century. On October 27, 312 AD, he supposedly received a vision from the Christian God, who promised him victory in the Battle of the Milvian Bridge. Sure enough, his forces won the battle the following day.

Constantine eventually converted to Christianity and legalized Christianity (and all other religions). And in 325 AD, he assembled the Council of Nicaea, which (among other things) declared Arianism a Christological heresy and announced that Christians would calculate the dates of Passover independently from the Jewish community.

Did Constantine Create the Bible?

No, Constantine did not have any impact on what books were included in the Bible.

The twenty-seven books of the Old Testament were written prior to 400 BC and their canonicity was agreed upon hundreds of years before Constantine was born. Furthermore, the twenty-seven books of the New Testament were written and in circulation before the destruction of the temple in 70 AD—over two centuries before Constantine’s reign and the Council of Nicaea.

A document called the Muratorian Fragment dates to around 175 AD (150 years before Constantine and Nicaea) and, while portions of the document are missing and difficult to translate, provides a list of New Testament books that were generally accepted and read in churches. This list largely coincides with the New Testament books we have today, and importantly doesn’t make any mention of the false gospels that are sometimes claimed to have been banned by Constantine.

So, what did Constantine and the Council of Nicaea have to say about the canon of scripture? Nothing. This was not one of the topics of discussion at the Council, and there is no historical evidence that Constantine was involved in deciding which books should be included.

Why, then, were some books (such as the Gospels of Thomas and Bartholomew) rejected? Because they were written long after the life of Jesus and the other New Testament writings, because they were falsely attributed to apostles who had long since died, and because they made fantastical claims at odds with the other New Testament writings[1] and contained obvious political messaging[2] that ran contrary to the rest of scripture.

Did Constantine Invent Jesus’ Divinity?

One reason Constantine called for the Council of Nicaea was to clarify Christian doctrine related to the divinity of Jesus. While this seems like an obviously biblical belief nowadays, in the fourth century a man named Arius was promoting the idea that Jesus was just a human, not God in the flesh.

Did Constantine suppress Arius’ heart-felt belief and promote Jesus to the Godhead? No. In fact, Constantine actually leaned towards Arianism. The idea that a mere human could achieve god-like status (rather than the biblical doctrine that Jesus was and is eternally God) was much more attractive to Constantine’s Roman upbringing, so Constantine entered the Council of Nicaea supportive of Arius’ heresy.

Over the course of the three-month council, hundreds of bishops (led by a man named Athanasius) bravely opposed Arius—and Constantine—to espouse the Bible’s teaching that Jesus was and had always been God. And rather than oppose the bishops and demand that they agree with him, Constantine submitted to their leadership and expertise, and the Council of Nicaea affirmed the doctrine of Jesus’ divinity.

Later in life, Constantine continued to flirt with Arianism, even being baptized by an Arian bishop at the end of his life. After he passed, Constantine’s successors persecuted Athanasius over the issue of Jesus’ divinity, exiling him an astounding five times. However, the bishops remained firm, submitting to the Scriptures rather than the emperors, and today the doctrine of the Trinity and Jesus’ divinity is firmly established—without any influence from Constantine.

Did Constantine Force Christians to Abandon the Biblical Calendar?

After the destruction of the temple in 70 AD, the Jewish community changed how they determined the dates of Passover. For over 800 years, there were many competing methods for structuring the calendar, none of which were the system in place during the time of Jesus.

During this time, the Christian community struggled to find consistent dates to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus (which they called Pascha, the Greek translation of the Hebrew Pesach, meaning Passover). Many churches relied on their Jewish neighbors for these dates, but this wasn’t ideal. For one, many Christians distrusted the synagogues, which had persecuted the Church for almost a hundred years, had forced the Christians out of their communities by declaring them heretics, and had taught that Jesus was a false sorcerer who had been sent to hell for His sins. Additionally, Passover in one synagogue might be as much as a month off from the synagogue in the next town, leading to churches from town to town celebrating at different times.

For hundreds of years prior to Constantine’s reign, Christians debated the proper time to observe Passover. So when the Council of Nicaea was finally called to address the Arian heresy, the subject of the timing of Passover was also discussed.

While a dating method was not determined, the bishops agreed that all Christians should celebrate on the same day and that this day should be calculated independent from the Jewish community.

Later that century (and long after Constantine’s death), the Church finally agreed on a way to determine the date of Passover. Passover would always be celebrated after the first full moon that fell after the spring equinox—the same method that was in place during Jesus’ life, according to Jewish-Roman historian Josephus, Jewish scholar Philo, the translators of the Septuagint, and several other ancient Jewish teachers.[3]

Constantine did not force the Church to change the calendar, nor did he dictate when Passover would be celebrated, though the Christians of the day agreed that the calendar needed to be corrected and eventually made that correction.[4]

Did Constantine Enact Anti-Jewish Laws?

Constantine did indeed enact what could be considered an anti-Jewish law. On October 18, 315, Constantine made it illegal for Jews to “attack with stones or any other kind of violence” fellow ethnic Jews who had converted to Christianity. According to the law, there had been recent instances of Jews committing violence against converts to Christianity, so Constantine outlawed this practice and made it punishable by “immediately being given over to the flames and burned” (Codex Theodosianus 16.8.1[5]).

Constantine did enact several other laws related to the Jews as well. In addition to making Judaism a legal practice with the Edict of Milan in 313 AD, he also exempted Jewish leaders from compulsory military service (16.8.2) and public service (16.8.4); preserved the rights of Jews to serve on municipal councils (16.8.3); and prohibited recent Christian converts from “disturbing Jews or inflicting any injury on them” (16.8.5).

Based on the historical record, Constantine did not actually enact any laws that could be interpreted as oppressive towards the Jewish people, other than preventing them from oppressing Christian converts—and even then, he also outlawed Christian converts from oppressing Jews as well. Additionally, he passed several laws that protected the Jewish clergy and preserved the roles of the Jewish people in civil society. If anything, it could be said that Constantine enacted laws that actually protected the Jewish people in the increasingly Christianized empire.

Was Constantine a Good Person?

The purpose of this article was not to comment on Constantine’s morality or to conclude whether he was a genuine Christian. The goal was simply to clarify the role that Constantine played in the development of Christianity.

And from the historical record, Constantine did not directly influence Christianity as we know it today, nor did he subvert what Christianity was prior to his conversion. He simply got out of the way. He prevented the enemies of the Faith from persecuting God’s people and allowed Christians the freedom to practice their religion in peace.

When Constantine held doctrinal views contrary to the Church, he submitted to their theology rather than demand they cave to his. And despite tensions that had flared between Christians and Jews for hundreds of years, he prohibited violence from either side, allowing both to serve in the empire so long as they did so in peace.

The Faith that Christians practice today—what is sometimes called Nicene Christianity—is the same faith Jesus passed on to His disciples. It is Biblical Christianity, and no historian can reasonably claim that Constantine had a hand in creating it.

[1] As an example, the so-called Gospel of Bartholomew (tells a story where Jesus pulled up the earth like a carpet and led the devil out on a leash in the presence of the disciples, who immediately died out of fright and had to be resurrected one at a time.

[2] The Gospel of Thomas, for instance, makes disparaging claims about women, suggesting that they aren’t fully human.

[3] As you can see, the correction of the calendar was based almost exclusively on Jewish writings. Whether ancient Jewish scholars (translators of the Septuagint), Jewish scholars of Jesus’ day (Philo), or a Jew-turned-Roman historian (Josephus), all testify that of the proper calendar dating method. Additionally, the Talmud (a compilation of oral Jewish tradition formalized shortly after the Council of Nicaea) affirms there were many varying methods for determining Passover, none of which matched the system in place during Jesus’ ministry or in place today.

[4] While on the subject of Passover, Constantine also didn’t invent Christmas or Valentine’s Day. He did, however, make Sunday a civil day of rest in 321 AD, allowing Christians to continue the practice of Sunday worship (established in the Book of Acts) without interfering with their work.

[5] Source: https://droitromain.univ-grenoble-alpes.fr/Constitutiones/CTh16.html.

Saul Didn’t Understand Hebrew Poetry and It Destroyed His Life

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After David defeated Goliath and drove the philistines away from the Valley of Elah, he and King Saul returned home. They were met by an array of celebratory women, who joyfully sang,

“Saul has slain his thousands,
And David his ten thousands.” (1 Samuel 18:7)

Saul was ticked. “They have credited David with tens of thousands, but me only with thousands,” he lamented. And from that day forward, Saul’s jealousy burned against David, eventually culminating in the king going mad and committing suicide.

But was Saul even right? Were these singing women really praising David more than Saul?

Outside of the David/Saul debacle, there are only four verses in the scriptures that compare “thousands” (Hebrew “eleph”) to “ten thousands” (Hebrew “rebaba”)—and all are poetry:

  • In Deuteronomy 32, Moses sings about how “one could chase a thousand, and two put ten thousand to flight” only through the help of the Lord.
  • In Deuteronomy 33, Moses blesses Joseph, prophetically declaring that his two sons will drive their enemies “to the ends of the earth”—the older Manasseh defeating “thousands” and the younger Ephraim overcoming “tens of thousands.”
  • The author of Psalm 91 sings that even if “a thousand fall at your side, and ten thousand at your right hand,” pestilence and destruction “shall not come near you.”
  • Micah 6 warns that God will not be pleased with sacrifices of “thousands of rams” and “ten thousand rivers of oil” if His people refuse justice, mercy, and humility.

In all of these verses, it becomes evident that the escalation from “thousands” to “tens of thousands” is poetic way of elevating the point God is making. Furthermore, that escalation often results from additional people joining the cause, even someone younger.

When Manasseh—the older brother—fights against God’s enemies, he overcomes thousands; but when Ephraim—his younger brother—takes up arms at the right side of his eldest brother, their efforts increase tenfold. And how good it is when these brothers dwell together in unity (Psalm 133)!

 When the women sang that Saul had slain thousands and David ten thousands, they weren’t saying, “David is ten times better than Saul”; on the contrary, they were declaring that, because David had joined the king’s cause and because Saul had welcomed this younger man into the family, their joint efforts had increased tenfold. Saul (who himself was a descendant of Benjamin, the younger brother of Joseph), they rejoiced, had defeated their enemies by inviting the next generation to join the work of God!

But Saul couldn’t see this. His pride and his fear blinded him to what was so plain. And for the rest of Saul’s short reign, the tens of thousands of philistines that had been driven to the ends of the earth were allowed to once again invade the land while Saul aimed his spite at David—his spiritual Ephraim.

Reflections on Revelation: Who is 666?

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“Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man: His number is 666.” (Revelation 13:18)

Revelation says that 666 is the number of a man. So who is that man? Is it Trump or Biden? Pope Frances or King Charles? Bill Gates or Elon Musk?

I have a different theory. The number 666 is not talking about a forthcoming man. Instead, 666 is a reference to King Solomon.

How can that be? To understand this theory, we need to look back at the history of the kings who reigned over Israel.

Pharaoh, King of Egypt

At the beginning of the book of Exodus, the Israelites have found themselves residing in Egypt after relocating there under the governorship of Joseph. Soon after, there arose a new king over Egypt who did not know Joseph. He was concerned that the Israelites might soon become a threat, so he decided he would “deal wisely [חָכַם – chakam] with them” (Exodus 1:10):

“Therefore they set taskmasters [שָׂרֵי מִסִּים – saray mesiym, lit. “rulers of slaves”] over them to afflict them with their burdens [סְבָלָה – subala]. And they built for Pharaoh supply cities [עָרֵי מִסְכְּנוֹת – aray miskunot], Pithom and Raamses.” (Exodus 1:11)

God, of course, did not take kindly to the enslavement of His people, so He brought plagues upon Egypt, resulting in the deliverance of the Israelites and the destruction of the Egyptians.

As the Israelites wandered through the desert towards the Promised Land, God commanded the Israelites that they were to be a nation unlike any of the other nations. They were to be a special treasure above all others, a kingdom of priests and a holy nation (Exodus 19:5-6).

Of course, God knew what lay ahead. One day, God foretold, they would come to Him and say, “Give us a king to judge us like all the other nations” (Deuteronomy 17:14, 1 Samuel 8:5). To ensure that the Israelites would have a good king, God gave three commandments specifically to these future kings. Upon their ascension to the throne, they were to write down these three commandments and read them every single day. And what were those three commandments?

  1. He shall not multiply horses for himself, nor cause the people to return to Egypt to multiply horses;
  2. Neither shall he multiply wives for himself, lest his heart turn away;
  3. Nor shall he greatly multiply silver and gold for himself. (Deuteronomy 17:16-20)

Even though the very first thing God said to mankind was that they were to “multiply” (Genesis 1:28), God demanded that the kings abstain from multiplying in these three areas: Egyptian horses, wives, and silver and gold.

Solomon, King of Israel

Fast forward four hundred and eighty years. Solomon the son of David has been crowned King of Israel, commissioned by his father to build God a temple. God has granted Solomon a wise [חָכָם – chakam] heart, to be used to “administer justice” (1 Kings 3:28). Thus Solomon begins the work of building God a house.

And how does it build this house?

“So the LORD gave Solomon wisdom, as He had promised him… Then King Solomon raised up a labor force [מַס – mas, singular of mesiym] out of all Israel; and the labor force [מַס – mas] was thirty thousand men.” (1 Kings 5:12, 13)

Solomon built the temple using the labor of 30,000 slaves—something the pagan king of Tyre called very “wise” [חָכָם – chakam] (1 Kings 5:7). Just as the Egyptians, in an attempt to be wise, enslaved the Israelites to build their temples, so too did King Solomon, in all his supposed wisdom, enslave the surrounding nations to build his temple (1 Kings 5:13, 9:15).

Following in Egypt’s footsteps, Solomon also ordered that storage cities [עָרֵי הַֽמִּסְכְּנוֹת – aray hamiskunot] be built (1 Kings 9:19); he appointed Israelite rulers [שָׂרֵי – saray] over the slaves (1 Kings 9:23); he even appointed Jeroboam (who would soon lead a rebellion against Solomon’s son) to oversee the burden [סֵבֶל – sabel, root of “subala”] of the labor force (1 Kings 11:28).

Rather than lead the people to be a holy nation, set apart from the rest of the nations, Solomon seemed set on emulating the other nations. He apparently took Exodus 1:11—a description of the persecution and enslavement of his people—and used it as a template to establish his own kingdom.

It should then come as no surprise what we read in the following chapters. Solomon begins making alliances with all of the pagan nations that surrounded Israel, intermarrying with idolatrous wives—wives who would soon turn his heart from the LORD. He winds up with an astonishing seven hundred wives and three hundred concubines, mostly from Egypt, Moab, Ammon, Edom, and Sidon; and sure enough, he was soon worshipping Ashtoreth and building temples for Chemosh and Molech (1 Kings 11).

He also began purchasing thousands of Egyptian horses to build up his army, trusting in chariots and horses for protection rather than in the name of the LORD (Psalm 20:7). To build his wealth and strengthen his alliances with the pagan nations, he exported some of these Egyptian horses to the kings of Syria and surrounding nations—the same nations that would soon attempt to conquer Israel (1 Kings 10:28, 29).

Between profiteering from the sale of Egyptian war horses to enemy nations and exploiting slave labor to build his kingdom, Solomon became one of the wealthiest men who ever lived, generating over a billion dollars in silver and gold every year. Far from multiplying justice and righteousness, Solomon was multiplying the precise things he was commanded to abstain from: foreign women, Egyptian war horses, and silver and gold.

And just how much did he make every year?

“The weight of gold that came to Solomon yearly was six hundred and sixty-six talents of gold.” (1 Kings 10:14)

That’s right. After building his kingdom—and God’s!—on the backs of slaves, after forsaking the three commandments that God had given him, after abandoning the call to use his wisdom to spread justice and righteousness to the surrounding nations, Solomon instead turned from God’s Word and exploited the gifts he had been given to make himself rich and famous.

And the number assigned to that betrayal was 666.

The Number of the Beast

I don’t think that Solomon was the Antichrist, or that he’s coming back to usher in the last days. Rather, my current reading is that the warnings we were given concerning the number of the beast were meant to prepare us against the spirit that turned Solomon away from the LORD.

Israel was called to be a holy nation, a kingdom of priests, a special treasure set apart from the rest of the world (Exodus 19:5, 6). But instead, Israel decided to fall in line with the sins of every other nation, leading to sexual immorality, greed, human rights abuses, and idolatry.

We too, the Church, are called to be a holy nation, a royal priesthood, His own special people, who will proclaim the praises of Him who called us out of the darkness of this wicked world and into the marvelous light of His kingdom (1 Peter 2:9). Will we walk in that light, or will we follow in the footsteps of Solomon—and Pharaoh before him? Will we give into lust and celebrate sexual perversion in order to fit in with this corrupt generation? Will we betray God’s Word if it will make us a few extra bucks? Will we exploit and dehumanize those made in God’s image to score cheap political points? Will we bow our knee to the gods of this generation? Or will we hold fast to the one true God, regardless of the cost?

Here is wisdom. Choose this day whom you will serve.

P.S.

Isn’t 666 a reference to [Nero/the pope/Nickelback/etc.]?

Sure, I see no reason why that can’t also be true. God, in His infinite wisdom, is able to give prophesies that could have multiple accurate meanings. It’s certainly possible that Revelation 13 could be warning Christians of the dangers of following in the footsteps of Solomon while also warning that various world leaders have already followed in Solomon’s footsteps and are an immediate threat.

It’s also possible that 666 has nothing to do with Solomon. It just seemed like too big a coincidence not to be intentional.

How Hebrew Poetry Accents Scripture: A Reflection on Lamentations during Tisha B’av

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Tomorrow night is the start of Tisha B’av—the observance of when the first and second temple were destroyed (586 BC by Babylon and 70 AD by Rome). Traditionally on Tisha B’av, the book of Lamentations is read, which consists of a five-chapter dirge over the destruction of Jerusalem. If you haven’t read it recently, I encourage you to check it out this weekend.

The first chapter of Lamentations consists of 22 triplets that follow a qinah meter. As the Hebrew alphabet has 22 verses, each triplet begins with the subsequent letter of the alphabet, making the first chapter an acrostic poem. The second chapter follows these patterns as well.

Well, almost.

If you look closely, there are a few cracks beneath the surface of these poetic flourishes. The acrostic is not quite right. The letter pe (17th letter) comes before the ayin (16th letter). Additionally, the qinah meter, while almost universal, is missing from a few verses. The poetry looks great to the untrained eye, but it’s slowly falling apart underneath.

The third chapter continues the (almost) pattern of acrostic and qinah meter, even leveling it up a bit. Not only does each triplet begin with the next Hebrew letter—each line of each triplet begins with the next Hebrew letter as well. It’s no surprise that, as the poetry seems to improve, the subject changes from merely lamenting the destruction of Jerusalem to calls for repentance and a renewed hope that God will deliver them from their troubles. But while they seem to be getting things in order, the flaws in the poetry remain.

The improved poetry is short-lived. In chapter 4, rather than acrostic triplets, there is a noticeable downgrade to couplets. The mismatched acrostic and missing qinah meters remain present. Just like Jerusalem, the poetry is falling apart fast.

We finally arrive at chapter 5. As you would expect, this chapter has 22 verses. But there isn’t even an attempt to form an acrostic. There are no couplets or triplets. There’s no qinah meter. All attempts at poetic flare are abandoned, just as Jerusalem had been abandoned. As Jeremiah laments, “The young men [have ceased] from their song” (Lamentations 5:14).

As we look back on the destruction of the City of God this weekend, let’s reflect on the state of our own “city upon a hill.” Are we living out God’s commission towards peace and justice? Or have we moved our souls far from peace and forgotten God’s goodness (Lamentations 3:17)?

It’s not too late to turn things around.

“Let us search out and examine our ways,

And turn back to the LORD.

Let us lift our hearts and hands

To God in heaven.” (Lamentations 3:40, 41)

Redemption in Ruth: Lot and Judah

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In the opening verses of Ruth, we are introduced to a tragic family. When a famine strikes the land, a Judahite named Elimelech takes his wife and two sons and moves to the pagan nation of Moab, where his sons are quickly married off to Moabite women. Over the next few years, Elimelech and his two sons die, leaving the three women all alone.

We’re only five verses into the chapter and we’ve got a dead parent and two dead sons living in the wrong place. The question is, have we read this story before?

Lot and the Moabites

By Genesis 13, God had exceedingly abundantly blessed Abram. In fact, Abram and his people had prospered so much that the land could hardly support Abram’s—and his nephew Lot’s— herds. As a result, Lot made the choice to leave his uncle and strike off on his own. His destination? The beautiful city of Sodom.

That’s right. Rather than give up a few of his earthly possessions and stick with one of the only godly men on the planet, Lot decided to relocate his family to a city so wicked that God would soon be forced to wipe it off the map in a few short years.

Those few short years pass and soon enough, Lot and his family are evacuated as fire rains down from heaven upon Sodom. During the evacuation, Lot’s wife, along with his two sons-in-law, foolishly choose to disobey God’s instructions and end up getting themselves killed. Widowed Lot takes his two widowed daughters and escapes to the mountains, essentially giving up on human civilization and the continuation of their family.

Lot’s daughters begin to worry about the legacy of their father. Without husbands, they would be unable to produce children and thus Lot’s family would end with them—a shameful thing in the ancient world. So the girls come up with a plan:

“Come, let us make our father drink wine, and we will lie with him, that we may preserve the lineage of our father.” (Genesis 19:32)

Their plan is to get their dad black-out drunk, rape him, and birth incestual children—all to protect Lot’s family legacy. The firstborn of these two children was named Moab, and he became the father of the Moabite people.

Notice the elements of this Moabite origin story:

  1. A disobedient family in the wrong place at the wrong time
  2. A dead parent and two dead sons
  3. A concern about the continued lineage of the patriarch
  4. Sexual sin as a means to fix the problem

All of this might sound familiar. But before returning to Ruth, can you think of any other stories that follow this pattern?

Judah and Tamar

After reading about the early life and betrayal of Joseph, the narrative pauses to tell us a story about Judah. After selling his brother into slavery, we are told that “Judah departed from his brothers” and from the land God had given his family to dwell with the Canaanites (Genesis 38:1). Judah marries a local woman and has three sons—Er, Onan, and Shelah.

Er marries a woman named Tamar, but before they have any children Er’s wicked lifestyle catches up with him and he dies childless. As was the custom of the day, another male from the deceased’s family—usually a brother—would marry the widow and produce children to preserve the lineage of the deceased. Judah follows this custom and has his second son Onan marry Tamar. However, Onan follows in his brother’s wickedness and soon dies, again without any children. Finally, we are told that Judah’s wife died as well.

According to the law, Judah should have then arranged a marriage between his son Shelah and Tamar. However, fearing that Shelah will stray into wickedness and die as well, Judah refuses.

So just as Lot’s daughters before her, Tamar takes matters into her own hands. She takes off her mourning clothes and puts on—well, she puts on a lot less. She dresses herself like a prostitute and stands on the corner outside Judah’s place, hoping to lure him into bed.

And as you would expect of a sinful and lonely man, the plan works perfectly. Soon enough, Tamar is pregnant with twin babies—all to protect Judah’s family legacy. The firstborn of these two children was named Perez, and he became the primary line of the Judahite people.

Take note of the parallels between this story and that of the Moabites:

  1. A disobedient family in the wrong place at the wrong time
  2. A dead parent and two dead sons
  3. A concern about the continued lineage of the patriarch
  4. Sexual sin as a means to fix the problem

Now with all this context in mind, let’s return to the story of Ruth.

Ruth and Boaz

The narrative begins with the first two elements we saw in the stories of Lot and Judah: (1) a disobedient family who moved to the wrong place; and (2) a dead parent and two dead sons. Following the pattern, we should expect a woman to tempt a man into sexual sin in order to continue the patriarch’s lineage. But instead, something happens that changes the trajectory of the whole story.

Ruth chooses to return to Judah.

But Ruth said:

“Entreat me not to leave you,

Or to turn back from following after you;

For wherever you go, I will go;

And wherever you lodge, I will lodge;

Your people shall be my people,

And your God, my God.” (Ruth 1:16)

Rather than remain in a pagan country, marry a pagan man, and serve pagan gods, Ruth goes back to the place where Yahweh was visiting His people (Ruth 1:6). She embraces a new people, a new land, and a new God.

Once in the land of Judah, Ruth ends up working the fields of Boaz, a close relative of her father-in-law Elimelech. From Passover to Pentecost, she returns daily to Boaz’s land, hoping to win his affection—along with a marriage proposal. However, after fifty days he still hasn’t made his move.

So Ruth takes matters into her own hands.

She takes a steamy bath and shaves her legs. She puts on makeup and perfume. She throws on her hottest dress. And in the middle of the night, she heads over to Boaz’s place.

Based on the pattern of Lot and Judah, this is where we’d expect Ruth to entice Boaz into some sort of sexual sin to close the deal. But instead, Ruth finds Boaz (passed out drunk, no less)—and sits quietly at the foot of his bed. After a few hours he wakes up and sees a shadowy figure by his bed. She immediately tells him, “Take me under your wing, for you are my family redeemer” (Ruth 3:9).

She calls him to action, but she wants things done by the books.

The next morning, Boaz heads into town and completes all the paperwork. Soon after he and Ruth are married.

Family Redemption

Hundreds of years earlier, two families committed terrible sins that created problems for generations. The Moabites were born out of rape and incest; the Judahites were born from prostitution. And in the story of Ruth, everything was in place for those same sins to be repeated.

But instead, a Moabite woman decided to turn from her family’s sins and follow the true God. A Judahite man decided to turn from his family’s sins and obey God’s commandments. In the union of Ruth and Boaz, both Jew and Gentile redeemed their ancestor’s shame.

It’s no wonder God chose these two redeemers to be the patriarch and matriarch of a new family—the family of King David, which would culminate 32 generations later in Jesus the Messiah.

The Perfect Woman

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In Mark 12, shortly after teaching on marriage and the importance of loving God with your whole life, Jesus observes a poor widow giving an offering to the treasury. He comments, “This poor widow has put in more than all those who have given to the treasury; for they all put in out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty put in all that she had, *her whole livelihood*” (vv. 43, 44).

That phrase “her whole livelihood” is lifted from two passages in the Hebrew Scriptures—both authored by Solomon, the wealthiest Israelite.

“The heart of her husband trusts in her… for she employs *all her living* for her husband’s good” (Proverbs 31:11, 12).

“Many waters cannot quench love, nor can the floods drown it. If a man would give for love *all the substance* of his house, it would be utterly despised” (Song of Solomon 8:7).

Solomon had all the money in the world; but his heart was in the wrong place, so ultimately he had nothing. The poor widow had nothing; but her heart was in the right place, so ultimately she had everything. She was effectively Solomon’s (and Jesus’) perfect woman: someone who, out of overwhelming love, gives everything she has to the bridegroom.

“The LORD our God, the LORD is one.
And you shall love the LORD your God
With all your heart,
With all your soul,
With all your mind,
And with all your strength.” (Mark 12:29, 30)