Shepherd's Voice Magazine 2019

Shepherd’sVoice

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Winter 2019

Revelation 6 The White Horse Rider —

He Rides

Managing Editor:

Jim Patterson

Contributing Writers:

Darren Connery Dave Havir

Webmaster:

Jeremiah Patton

Proofreaders:

Alice Trout Andrew Trout

Layout & Design:

Marcia Nicol

All contents of Shepherd’s Voice Magazine unless otherwise stated are property of the Chicagoland Church of God. Copyright ©2019 The writers of the articles and photographers of photos in the Shepherd’s Voice Magazine may own copyrights to their work.

Shepherd’sVoice

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Revelation 6: The White Horse Rider -He Rides

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All scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the King James Version (public domain) or from the New King James Version®, Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Shepherd’s Voice Magazine is a production of the Chicagoland Church of God in a cooperative effort with other individuals and church organizations in the Sabbath-keeping community in the United States and Canada. This magazine is distributed and made possible by tithes and offerings of the readership and of those who support this work.

Shepherd’s Voice Magazine publishes entries from regular and guest writers from a diverse range of people within the Church of God community, and covering a variety of subjects. While we invite or select our content, it may not necessarily reflect the position of the magazine or of the members of the Chicagoland organization.

From the Fiery Serpents To John 3:16 13

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Ask Norm!

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Norman Edwards’ Ministries Update

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Greetings!

Shepherds Voice Magazine is going through some transformations now and in the near future.

Norm Edwards joined the work of SVM as editor and writer in 2011 with the merger of Servants’ News and has been a significant partner in this work, has decided to focus his energies in a different direction. After leaving Port Austin Bible Campus (PABC) in 2018, Norm and Marleen moved to Tennessee to be closer to family. Norm has perceived the need to start a new outreach ministry with a different focus. For details of Norm’s new direction, go to the Norman Edwards’ Ministries Update page in this issue. I and others involved with SVM and the members of our local congregation would like to thank Norm and Marleen for their contribution and support.

Although Norm is no longer with SVM, this edition will feature the last “Ask Norm!” section which has been a popular regular feature of the publication. The articles of Norm Edwards will remain on the SVM website as well as selections from past releases of “Ask Norm!”

Many independent ministries focus their outreach solely with digital media. SVM since its inception has focused itself primarily on print, particularly after the merger of Servants’ News with SVM. As demographics slowly change, the trick is to find a complementary balance between digital and print while considering the audience for a multidimensional approach.

With that, SVM will move to a primarily digital focus, sponsoring new internet programs for an outreach that will minister in a broader capacity. The website will undergo some significant changes to improve content and internet visibility. Be sure to visit www.shepherdsvoicemagazine. org in the coming months.

In this issue we include one of our more challenging articles to date – The White Horse Rider – He Rides. The article examines the first seal of the Book of Revelation from another perspective not normally considered, and perhaps many have difficulty accepting. The Church has properly identified the white horse and its rider as one who portrays the proliferation of a false Christian message, however the full implications of God’s judgement that may be behind the release of the first seal may need a fuller appreciation. In a world full of deception and pressures, the people of God must not be doubting what they know to be true. The book of Revelation was written to God’s servants so that they may have an advanced look at what would take place in the future in light of God’s judgment.

This writer believes that the message of Revelation will become increasingly important in the coming years.

Finally, within these pages is information of a Calgary Alberta Feast Site for 2019. I will be attending the Feast there this year and as always look forward to being with like-minded brethren.

In Christ’s Service Jim Patterson

The White Horse Rider —

Jim Patterson, Editor

He Rides The disciples of Christ asked a lot of questions of Him

as they were looking for answers, and specifically about His coming reign and the end of the age. Even after His resurrection, they wanted to know if He was about to restore the Kingdom to Israel (Acts 1:6). This writer cannot help but empathize with them on this. If He was walking the earth today on a casual visit in human form, many perhaps would ask him a lot of specific questions along the same lines.

But the disciples always got answers that would help them broaden their understanding, to help them in their faith, and expand their horizons so that they could also teach with a greater capacity. This process extends to believers today.

We have for example, “Increase our faith!” which they certainly would presume would be the fairest of questions: And the apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith.”

So the Lord said, “If you have faith as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be pulled up by the roots and be planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you” (Luke 17:5-6).

That is not even the full extent of His answer which continues in verses 7 to 10 where He then teaches them how to keep accomplishments they achieve by faith in proper perspective.

His answers make us actually work for understanding.

What will broaden our thinking takes work, and when our thinking is being expanded and broadened, there is appreciation. Some understanding of His teachings even takes personal travail. This writer will tell you it is worth every investment–it is a work of faith.

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There were a few specific questions the disciples asked of Him in Matthew 24, again asked in the manner that suggested the expectation of distinct answers. The answer again was to broaden their thinking, and also their future perception. The occurrence is also recorded in Luke 21 and Mark 13.

Before we begin with the questions and the answers in the exchange between Christ and His disciples in Matthew chapter 24, we need to back up to what prompted the questions in the first place, so we will back up to Chapter 23, and Christ’s lament over Jerusalem.

“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing! See! Your house is left to you desolate; for I say to you, you shall see Me no more till you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’”(Matthew 23:37-39) This lamentation is not for show and demonstration. This is something very real coming from Christ’s heart. The dual “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem” is a sincere expression of His grief for the repeated rejection of His appeals to a rebellious nation He loved, and to be under His care and to proclaim His name to the nations. “Jerusalem” refers to the entire nation of Israel as it was the epicentre of worship.

Her house, the house of Israel, has left her desolate, and He will not restore her until He returns in Glory.

Then Jesus went out and departed from the temple, and His disciples came up to show Him the buildings of the temple. And Jesus said to them, “Do you not see all these things? Assuredly, I say to you, not one stone shall be left here upon another, that shall not be thrown down” (Matthew 24:1-2).

It would seem through His extraordinary words Christ, knowing their inquisitive minds, is prompting them to ask questions. And indeed, they come: Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?” (Matthew 24:3) There are three questions in here, and that’s important.

It would be helpful to possibly interpret their questions briefly before looking at the answers.

We can paraphrase Christ’s words in Matthew 23 verse 39 in part as “You will not see me again until you’re ready to accept me, and then you will proclaim ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’” The disciples wanted to know when He would be accepted. They have also anticipated His rule, but witnessed His rejection–so when would He be accepted?

The balance of the Chapter 24, and perhaps beyond, was more than what they anticipated for an answer.

He could have perhaps gone just straight to what is recorded in verse 29, paraphrasing again: “There will be all these events including the stars or the heavens will be shaken, there will be earthquakes, and then I will show up.” He certainly did not go there. Instead, He took them well back in time first, and it is important for our own sakes if we are going to be good disciples to understand why, and as discussed earlier, this may take a fair bit of effort.

He neither went straight to the prophesied tribulation period or the abomination of desolation–the things that many today have focused their attention on in terms of what indications there may be of these events emerging geopolitically. He instead gave them an answer to consider that would be more helpful. His answer was something that is broader in scope and in time. A believer’s identity in Christ is also in perspective and very much in play in His response. It was given to them privately, but it has been preserved for His disciples today.

What He did express is the events and developments that, though they may not appear to be directly related initially, will lead up to and frame the culmination of events that will begin to noticeably occur. Therefore, all these things that lead up to the end of the age are also of vital importance. There may be sudden signs ahead, but the gradual progression of the less noticeable will be no less significant.

We want to gain a greater perspective as God is willing, because God’s perspective in the fulfilment of His will on earth and Heaven is a lot broader in scope than what we normally try to consider. This is understandable; however, we want to capture as much as God is willing to reveal when He is ready to reveal it. When we consider God’s perspective, the time and the manner of prophetic fulfilment may be much different than perhaps we might envisage, as often our perspective revolves around our own place in current history and our own church experiences and teaching in the process. To be helpful to others we need to often escape our own paradigms and biases.

Many speculative books, articles and videos have been published to convey a vision of the end times. Prophecy magazines and internet videos have been produced on the subject of prophecy as prophecy speculations are a marketing tool for certain organizations. Extraordinary claims and counter claims centered around prophecy are very consumable teachings in many Christian circles.

This ministry for the most part avoids entering the prophetic arena of endless speculations. We want to take in what we can realistically consider in light of God’s plan and character, with the caveat our thoughts may change as God corrects and reveals. By God’s wisdom it is not our time to know it fully right now. Determining future happenings in the detail that is often demanded by modern speculations and erroneous assumptions is not our calling.

We live in the present, and we need to take advantage of the present time we are in, but an outlook is needed, which is the purpose of this article.

Continuing with Matthew 24 and verse 4: And Jesus answered and said to them: “Take heed that no one deceives you” (Matthew 24:4a).

I do not know anyone who wants to be deceived, and the caution to take heed suggests that no matter how much one may be in the know, deception is an on-going concern. No matter how far down the unfolding prophetic path we find ourselves, the deception can find a foothold at any time.

Deception is the biggest concern throughout the discourse that follows in Chapter 24, and it should not leave our thinking. This will be revisited later in this article.

“For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many. And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet” (Matthew 5-6).

We want to take into consideration what is being said here.

Many will be deceived and many will be making a false presentation to the way of salvation in His name. It is whatever works, and whatever is perceived to be working that will be used to build congregations and followings, motivated monetarily, politically, for any sort of gain, both wilfully and innocently. As with wars and threats of wars, Christ makes no suggestion that He intends to intervene with deception or war in the general sense, but will permit things to play out for purposes we may not fully yet grasp. Also of note is that He states “But the end is not yet.” The answer to their questions has begun, but His words thus far are not yet pertaining to the end itself.

So far, the answer that is given to His disciples pertains to what will set the stage or frame what will be the end, yet not set apart from it.

The question that concerns this writer is how deceptive is the deception, what purpose does it serve, and what does it ultimately have to do with the end? This is the subject of this article, which takes us to the first seal–the rider on the white horse.

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The First Seal The First Horseman

secondly, that the book is intended as a blessing, not a source of consternation or confusion.

If we interpret and internalize (keep) the words of the book correctly, we will be blessed by its insights into the nature of how God intends to execute His will on earth and Heaven.

Most students of the Bible have recognized the parallels of what Jesus Christ is speaking of up to verse 8 of Matthew 24 with the first four seals in the Book of Revelation in Chapter 6, commonly known as the four horsemen of the Apocalypse. This We all want to feel protected. We want paper looks at the first horseman in the to feel empowered or enabled to have parallel perspective of Matthew 24. a grasp of God’s power over the future and over human history. Yet, we also Before we examine any portion of need to understand in interpreting this the book of Revelation, we look first book that it is also our willingness to to the Revelator Himself, who will accept God’s judgements in it for, as again provide us answers to the future we will find as this article progresses, that are further intended to broaden the execution of His will may not our vision. The book is not about initially be to our liking. The blessing an exercise in identifying the players comes through submission and and the churches as so many have set acceptance. out to do. To appreciate the book, it is going to take work to grasp its I watched as the Lamb opened the message, and some of that message first of the seven seals. Then I heard may upend previously held thought, one of the four living creatures say and challenge even some of our in a voice like thunder, “Come!” I values of fairness and judgement that looked, and there before me was a we may have projected on Him in the white horse! Its rider held a bow, past. This could be difficult for us, and he was given a crown, and he but it will be a blessing. A broadened rode out as a conqueror bent on vision means letting go of certain conquest (Revelation 6:1-2). narrow perspectives we may have on how God is working with individuals and utilizing nations, even though we may already think we are open in our thinking and experience.

themselves. The happenings in the Throne room in Chapters 4 and 5 are being reported by John in such detail for a reason, and John needed to experience it for us.

After these things I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven. And the first voice which I heard was like a trumpet speaking with me, saying, “Come up here, and I will show you things which must take place after this.”

Immediately I was in the Spirit; and behold, a throne set in heaven, and One sat on the throne. And He who sat there was like a jasper and a sardius stone in appearance; and there was a rainbow around the throne, in appearance like an emerald. Around the throne were twenty-four thrones, and on the thrones I saw twenty-four elders sitting, clothed in white robes; and they had crowns of gold on their heads. And from the throne proceeded lightnings, thunderings, and voices. Seven lamps of fire were burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God.

The experience of the book of Revelation is set up in its first three verses, which are themselves set apart before John begins his message to the Churches. The Gospel accounts reveal Christ as a man in humiliation, but the book of Revelation reveals Him in His glory.

The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show His servants—things which must shortly take place. And He sent and signified it by His angel to His servant John, who bore witness to the word of God, and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, to all things that he saw. 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. (Revelation 1:1-3) There are two things that should capture our attention here. The book is to communicate to His servants that which must shortly take place, and

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Then He came and took the scroll out of the right hand of Him who sat on the throne.

It is tempting to jump straight into interpreting what John is witnessing here with the first horseman and its characteristics.

However, as we will see, we first need to look at the preceding events in the Throne room to obtain a proper appreciation of the seals, and the book as a whole. The One who opens the seals has as much to do with the contents of the seals

Before the throne there was a sea of glass, like crystal. And in the midst of the throne, and around the throne, were four living creatures full of eyes in front and in back. The first living creature was like a lion, the second living creature like a calf, the third living creature had a face like a man, and the fourth living creature was like a flying

eagle. The four living creatures, each having six wings, were full of eyes around and within. And they do not rest day or night, saying:“Holy, holy, holy,Lord God Almighty, Who was and is and is to come!” (Revelation 4:1-8) John describes the creatures that were to be involved in the release of the first four seals, and likely given here in the order they are opened. Lions are strong, and oxen are like worker servants. Men have intelligence, and eagles are swift and have sharp eyes.

And each animal that is listed is like the head of its species. The four forms here suggest whatever is noblest, strongest, wisest, and swiftest in nature. So there’s some symbolism there for us to respect.

Whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to Him who sits on the throne, who lives forever and ever, the twenty-four elders fall down before Him who sits on the throne and worship Him who lives forever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying:“You are worthy, O Lord, To receive glory and honor and power; For You created all things, And by Your will they exist and were created” (Revelation 4:9-11).

Here we have emphasized again, and acknowledged repeatedly by the royal elders, that God has the authority to deal with His creation as He wishes.

They remind us it is by His will they exist. He will do what He has to do in order to see His creation become acceptable to Him and to receive glory from it. It is the unnegotiable and unwavering will of God that creation will be acceptable to Him, not the other way around, that it will give Him full glory, and it is through His Son only that that this reconciliation of creation to Him will happen (Ephesians 1:10).

Throughout this chapter and into Chapter 5, we see that God is perfectly holy and just, gracious and righteous, pure and omnipotent, eternal and sovereign. This we must take into consideration early as it will help us accept the coming revelation of all that He through His Son is going to do. Some of these things may be difficult to realize, but John’s witness tells us He is not to be judged by us.

And I saw in the right hand of Him

who sat on the throne a scroll written inside and on the back, sealed with seven seals. Then I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, “Who is worthy to open the scroll and to loose its seals?” And no one in heaven or on the earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll, or to look at it. So I wept much, because no one was found worthy to open and read the scroll, or to look at it. (Revelation 5:1-4)

room being released after the Lamb took the scroll. The process of finding one worthy to take the scroll we may consider to have taken a toll on all present, who are fervently vested into God’s will and identifying with God’s passion. We see this in what plays out when He takes the scroll from Him. The bowls of incense being the prayers of the saints is significant to us. The taking of the scroll is the start of the execution of His will, and it is our part to play in it that we should take notice.

Our prayers to the Father that express “Your will be done” is not insignificant to Him. Believers are putting their trust in God for Him to execute His will on earth and in heaven. And here we see these prayers matter, and are significant.

John’s response here is worthy of note.

“So I wept much, because no one was found worthy to open the scroll or to look at it” (Revelation 5:4). There is a lot of emotion coming out of John here because he recognized already what is in the scroll. For his future is in it, the future of mankind and the future of God’s will being executed.

In John’s heart, it is as though all is Often prayers may seem like quiet lost forever–no one is found worthy voices in a universe so vast and a world so loud, and not consequential anywhere, ever. to what is going on.

Consider But one of the elders said to me, however that incense is like an “Do not weep. Behold, the Lion amplifier in Biblical reckoning, of the tribe of Judah, the Root of and was often offered with prayers David, has prevailed to open the (Numbers 16:6-7, Psalm 141:2, Luke 1:10). Amplifiers in audio systems scroll and to loose its seven seals” take very small and weak signals and And I looked, and behold, in the increase them exponentially for all midst of the throne and of the four to hear. The incense is the portrayal living creatures, and in the midst of of the amplified power in the prayers the elders, stood a Lamb as though it that you are making, and amongst all had been slain, having seven horns your brethren, the saints, that His will and seven eyes, which are the seven be done. We are being reminded of the Spirits of God sent out into all the place of our prayers here right at the earth. Then He came and took the throne. They play a role. scroll out of the right hand of Him And they sang a new song, saying: who sat on the throne (Revelation 5:5-7).

“You are worthy to take the scroll, The Lamb slain, yet stood. He And to open its seals; remains victorious in death, and the For You were slain, seven Spirits are His eyes to know all And have redeemed us to God by that there is on the earth. All things Your blood can be known and all things can be Out of every tribe and tongue and seen by God. The lamb is innocent, people and nation, but virtuous, wise and knowing. He And have made us kings and priests is multifaceted in all things to execute to our God; And we shall reign on the earth” all mercy and justice.

(Revelation 5:9-10).

“Then he came and took the scroll out of the right hand of Him who sat They sang this on behalf of all of the on the throne. When he had taken saints, from every nation, not some the scroll, the four living creatures specific select few. and the 24 elders fell down before the lamb, each having a harp and And if that was not enough: golden bowls full of incense, which Then I looked, and I heard the voice are the prayers of the saints” of many angels around the throne, (Revelation 5:7-8). the living creatures, and the elders; One can sense the tension in the throne and the number of them was ten Shepherd’s Voice Magazine • Winter 2019 7

thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice: “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain To receive power and riches and wisdom,And strength and honor and glory and blessing!”

And every creature which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, I heard saying: “Blessing and honor and glory and power Be to Him who sits on the throne, And to the Lamb, forever and ever!” (Revelation 5:11-14) The loud voices are now making the message of the Throne room explicit to us all so we can get a sense here why no one was found worthy to take the scroll and open its seals. Who can execute the kind of judgment that is to come? Who is able to execute the kind of judgment that has allowed the world to continue in its own deception?

Who can permit war and pain and starvation to happen to achieve his ultimate will of dealing with a fallen world under the sway of the devil? Who can shoulder the eternal weight of responsibility of all this? No one was found worthy to take the scroll, and no creature below the earth to the highest elevated creature in heaven would question His authority to execute what is to come, starting with the first seal.

As stated earlier, we did not want to examine the seals without first looking to Who has the authority to open them. Knowing the authority of the Revelator Himself actually helps us to understand what is being revealed. We may now have a better framework to interpret what follows.

Christ told His believers not to be deceived, as the deception that He has in His view is powerful and persuasive. The deception we are to be most concerned with is Christians placing their security and hopes into something else that is not Jesus Christ, yet believing they are. At this juncture we will put ourselves to the test by looking at the present experience we are in.

I watched as the Lamb opened the first of the seven seals. Then I heard 8

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one of the four living creatures say in a voice like thunder, “Come!” I looked, and there before me was a white horse! Its rider held a bow, and he was given a crown, and he rode out as a conqueror bent on conquest (Revelation 6:1-2, NIV) It was an authoritative voice that is coming from one of the four living creatures in the throne room hailing the first horseman1.

Observations: The horseman was being called forth from an authority at the throne.

• The horse was white, and we do not know the color of rider.

• Horses in Biblical times were instruments of warfare, such as tanks are today. They are intimidating. They are even used for crowd control today.

Even when a crowd gets confused, the horse does not.

• The rider is also presumably given the crown by someone in the throne room, which was a victor’s type of crown.

• The rider of the horse has gone out to conquer. He is “bent on conquering” (conquering and to conquer (KJV)). He is ambitious to win, at all cost.

What does the white horse suggest?

It suggests purity and righteousness, but under the control of perhaps a not so righteous rider, but otherwise enabled. So in one sense it does sound like something that is very good, but the rider remains suspect other than he is given means to wage war and be victorious.

•

When we look at war, those who go to war do not feel they are doing so for the wrong reasons. They are compelled they are doing it for the right reasons. For the most part, all go to war for their own idea of what righteousness is. “We’re on the right” or, “We’ve been wronged; therefore, we’re going to make it right.” All nations do this to this day. So it suggests here that a white horse is fighting for the side of righteousness – the horseman is empowered to go out on a white horse on the pretence of righteousness to conquer with his holy campaign. We are also not to limit the rider’s scope of conquest 1 The King James has the creature saying “Come and and see” as though John is being hailed, but this is not how the texts read.

either. His scope includes all means and methods, not limited to regions or people, weak or strong, small or great, innocent or guilty.

The parallel here is with Matthew 24:4-6 with Christ’s description of a false message of Him that would deceive many, except now we have more information and perhaps new challenges.

As we follow the parallel of Matthew 24 of a false and deceptive message of the Saviour that many will believe, the obvious challenge for us may be that the rider of the white horse is given authority from the throne room to conduct his campaign. He goes to conquer minds and hearts to rule over them.

“Why would God allow or enable and empower a false Christian message to go out there?” one may ask. Such a decision would seem to be against every moral and ethical bone in our being.

We must return to the throne room for context. The answer to these possible objections begins with acceptance that we are not in a position to question God’s judgement. We are not worthy to take the scroll, but as servants we can learn to appreciate what is happening and praise God for His wisdom.

Revisiting Christ’s words: “For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many. And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet” (Matthew 5-6).

Given what the first seal has opened up to us, Christ is essentially saying “Take heed that no one deceives you because the deception is righteousness.” The deception is righteousness, with good deeds and good works in His name, in the belief their works are accepted before the throne leading to salvation.

We should also not assume that this is a single church organization, as the determination to conquer would precipitate into a multifaceted, multifront and evolving agenda to perpetuate and achieve goals– “…

he rode out as a conqueror bent on conquest.”

The question inevitably will arise in regards to when the first seal might be released. There are some that suggest that false Christs and a false message of Christ will emerge suddenly before the end.

This is only a dramatic interpretation.

Realistically, and from what we might glean so far, and as we look at history, the activity of the first horseman has continued for centuries already.

The unsatiated desire to conquer hearts and minds of people with a false Christian message under the pretence of righteousness takes a lot of time through many successive generations. If one wanted to conquer land or material that would be relatively easy, and often does not take much time at all when the resources are available to conduct wealth and asset driven campaigns.

The conquering of minds and hearts to create a long-term victory that needs to be maintained takes time for it to culminate to achieve results.

The ultimate goal is to maintain the deception throughout the centuries to expand conquered territory in terms of minds and hearts.

Christ does answer that for us to a degree: “...these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.”

Luke gives us the same presentation in Chapter 21 of his gospel account.

Luke is a very astute historian, and often provides certain accuracies that are helpful.

“So they asked him, saying, ‘Teacher, but when will these things be and what sign will there be when these things are about to take place?’

And He said: “Take heed that you not be deceived. For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am He,’ and, ‘The time has drawn near.’ Therefore do not go after them. But when you hear of wars and commotions, do not be terrified; for these things must come to pass first, but the end will not come immediately” (Luke 21:7-9).

Here we are also being told not to get

caught up in the anxiety that the time is near. Christ already recognized that speculations would be one way of winning converts as we mentioned previously. The lesson for us here is not to entertain such messages (See Luke 17:22-23).

In terms of timing Luke helps us with what follows in verse 10, he indicates a break in time here, break in time and in space.

Then He said to them, “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom” (Luke 21:10).

“Then He said to them,…” By these words in Luke’s account, there is an indication of a break in time.

Therefore the wars and rumours of wars mentioned prior form part of the period during the first horseman’s activity, which do not occur at the end.

It suggests that the achievements of the first horseman are done through peaceful means and through not so peaceful means, but on the pretext of a righteous campaign in the name of Christ.

The Difficult Part A false message of the Gospel that God has enabled to go forth into the world may seem troublesome, and contradictory, and would appear to go against His will, yet it is clearly His will. It is by design. How can we reconcile this?

Our God is love (1 John 4:7). As He is love, all of His activity is a loving activity. When He judges and executes judgement He does so in love. When He rules, He rules in love. When He plants or uproots, He does so in love. All of His activity is to love. Love also has embedded wisdom (Philippians 1:9), and perhaps through His wisdom we can start to appreciate Him in what is to unfold, and start to find reconciliation in His love, wisdom and mercy.

As for the believer abiding in Christ, what is His only advice for us? His advice is to take heed that we are not deceived. We are not to be swayed by the victorious and impressive works of the first horseman, which can be very deceptive and attractive. Though he appears to have accomplished much, we are not to be swayed from

our calling and our testimony, even though by outward appearances we are not that impressive!

Consider also that Jesus Christ does not ask His disciples to go to battle with the white horseman. We are just not to be swayed by him. Also of note, Christ did not express that the horseman is intrinsically evil or has evil intent, nor those who in general are conquered by him and, in a sense, become him.

As history has played out since the time of Christ, and as our contemporary experience also teaches us, we can perhaps see God’s mercy and wisdom come into view.

The activities of the first horseman has proliferated Christian-Judeo thought throughout much of the world.

Though often the means may not be to our liking, including the troublesome teachings that have come about by it, much of the outcome has benefited society for the interim. Whether the ends justify the means is not in our capacity to judge.

Judeo-Christian beliefs have up to now given many in the western hemisphere a unique sense of liberty and justice, which continues to attract so many people from around the world to the United States.

“We hold these Truths to be selfevident …” is inspired in contrast to the once assumed idea that the rights of individuals are dispensed by the government or at the behest of the divine right of kings.

“All men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” These words would not have transpired if the signatories of the constitution did not fear a Higher Power.

Regardless of increasing contrary sentiments, the Unites States is a nation whose values are decidedly Judeo-Christian.

God’s Church, the Sabbath keeping community of believers who have held to the truth of God have been the beneficiaries of much of the activity of non-Sabbatarians throughout the Shepherd’s Voice Magazine • Winter 2019 9

centuries. The Bible in virtually any translation or language, and much if not all of the original manuscripts copied and preserved through the ages were not accomplished by Sabbatarians. Indeed some have lost their lives in the process. There is the example of free distribution of Bibles by the Gideons and other organizations. This writer, among others, has benefited from commentaries and Biblical research outside of the Sabbath keeping community, including concordances and other references.

Even beyond the proliferation of God’s word, non-Sabbatarian organizational activities have precipitated hospitals, orphanages, and ministries devoted to helping the less fortunate. Biblical principles have had a prevalent effect on laws that have benefitted all of society, including this writer and you the reader, personally. Even the fear of God, found in an individual, group or society, has had a positive stabilizing influence.

In this environment, Sabbatarians have prospered and have had the freedom of worship to assemble and to disseminate the truth of God in the western world and beyond.

Therefore when I hear brethren talking about the ignorant teachings of those in other mainstream churches (Heaven and Hell, Christmas, Sunday ... and so on), I try to remind them that Jesus Christ has taken on the responsibility of their ignorance (i.e. the ignorance of the world). He died and was resurrected, and has taken on the responsibility. All judgement was given to Him (John 5:22, Revelation 5). It is not wise for the Christian to try and take part in the kind of judgement that rests exclusively in the hands of the Christ.

Acceptable Works Though society, including the Church, have benefited by the works of mainstream and very old professing Christian institutions, these works should not be construed with the works of God Himself.

This does require elaboration. “…If I do not do the works of My Father, do not believe Me; but if 10

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I do, though you do not believe Me, believe the works, that you may know and believe that the Father is in Me, and I in Him” (John 10:3738).

Christ makes it clear here that it is the Father’s works, not His own, that authenticate who He is, and that He was sent from the Father. He even suggests they should not believe Him if He was doing the works of another.

“Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority; but the Father who dwells in Me does the works. Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me, or else believe Me for the sake of the works themselves” (John 14:1011).

Christ Himself acknowledges that it is the Father who dwells in Him that does the works. The only authentic works acceptable to God are His own, and disciples, who are not greater than their Master cannot do their own works and make them acceptable to God. With that, the exciting thing is we can do our Father’s works too, providing only that we abide in Christ, and He in us. This is made explicit in Christ’s words: “I am the vine, you are the branches.

He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned.

If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.

By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples” (John 15:5-8).

The great intrinsic value here, as Christ explains repeatedly, is that God is glorified. God cannot be glorified by works done outside of Himself. Only perfection can beget perfection. Only holiness can precipitate holiness. This is a reality that is universal–that God can only accept His own works. God will not share His glory, but we can partake of His glory, we can participate in His works.

Perhaps a further understanding of the works of God come from this exchange between Christ and His disciples: “Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set His seal on Him.” Then they said to Him, “What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?” Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent” (John 6:27-29).

We know we cannot earn our salvation, but what is implied here is that it takes work to believe, and it takes work to get others to believe, and it takes work to keep them believing.

Therefore, when Christ refers to the greater works (John 14:12), this is the greater work–belief. Christ came that we may believe in Him and Jesus the Christ whom He sent.

The food that perishes, in Christ’s mind, is essentially all the elements of life that people may look to so that they can be filled, that is, where they can find sustained significance and security. Many in Christendom look to the Bible to find assurance God will support them in these areas of life.

Many conduct worship practices and other activities out of insecurity, or out of obligation to their churches and church cultures.

These things may appear to be beneficial and helpful to oneself and others, but they are temporal. Yet, in all this they want God to bless the things they find security in, as they do not find security in God Himself.

Those who believe in Him are not to thirst and never hunger (John 6:35), God satisfies their true needs of significance (being loved by the Father) and security.

Those who sense their true security and significance are aware they abide in Him, and have no need to look elsewhere for these needs.

Admittedly this truth does not come to full awareness overnight in the believer, but he must labor to know it–this is the labor Christ would have us do, and teach others to do by encouragement, by teaching and by actions. The believer labors through

trials in a process ordained by God to strengthen their trust in Him, and become fully aware they are complete in Him (Colossians 2:9-10). See the article The Joy of Overcoming from the Summer 2010 issue of SVM for more on overcoming trials.

The work of the first horseman does not teach this.

Rather, it creates dependencies, and these dependencies cause individuals to look to worldly elements to fulfil needs, and by doing so it successfully conquers–this essentially captures what a false image of Christ does. If conquered by the first horseman, the individual will believe that he or she expresses a dependency on God, but behind it all is an insecurity. This can perhaps can be understood in a broader context.

The activities of the rider of the white horse has had its greatest victories over societies and nations that do in fact proclaim the Christian God as their security. The national anthem of Canada calls on God to preserve the country. United States has the patriotic song “God Bless America”.

“God Save the Queen (King)” is the national anthem of the United Kingdom.

Yet, these are anthems that are calling on God to bless and preserve their institutions in which they find security. If we are honest with ourselves, we are also guilty of this. God alone provides security without an intermediary other than His Son alone.

Those who identify themselves as Christian in the United States, Canada and other english speaking countries just as an example here interpret the wealth and democratic systems around them as a blessing by God, and often filter the behaviour of their own nations as God ordained.

With that there are expressions of gratitude and worship by Christians that feel blessed in the countries they live. Yet, few stop to realize at whose expense the wealth comes about, and that many of the systems and activities that brought this wealth are not as honourable as we have been taught to believe.

Babylon - Briefly The Babylonian system controls the politics of the world. It is described as that great city that reigns. Cities

represent financial and economic power and is a system that at least reaches all developed nations. The expressions in the book of Revelation describing Babylon as a whore that rides a beast may cause many in the United States and Canada for example to point to other lands, other religions and philosophies to distance ourselves from it, yet Babylon is much closer to us than we may comfortably think.

What is striking to this author is how dependent on the Babylon system the world becomes that it would lament its final end (Revelation 18). The Babylonian system offers wealth and security for those fortunate enough to be benefiting from it, and that includes this writer and many of the readers of this article. The apostle Paul utilized his rights as a Roman citizen, something that no doubt he held with value and never gave up, but his identity remained in Christ.

My citizenship is Canadian, and it is of value to me for certain rights and freedoms and I do utilize them to do this work and live life. God has made provision for societies to develop and emerge in this way for His purpose and we are perfectly entitled to make use of its tenets.

The vast majority of the professing Christian faith, even God’s Church to some degree, does not recognize Babylon for what it is, and has incorporated the prosperity it gives as a blessing that is pleasing to God, even a heritage that is promised.

They even call on God to bless this system, and bring peace to it. In reality this is a counterfeit system of security. God’s people particularly in the western world must interpret national wealth and the security it provides very carefully. God’s people have no home here, whatever benefit that these things provide in the dispersion of the Gospel message does not authenticate national acceptance before the Throne. God will not place His name on America or the British Commonwealth or any other former or current wealthy system even though many mistakenly believe that He does.

Many recognize the Roman Empire as the Beast Power to again be resurrected, but the wealth and prosperity along with the societal constructs of the Greco–Roman world was also ordained by God to be instrumental in advancing the

Gospel message in ways that are not appreciated by most today2.

Many citizens in those empires also enjoyed securities and privileges and also felt blessed by their own deities.

Yet, God utilizes nations for His purpose, and continues to do so in like manner until He puts an end to the Babylonian system, and returns the kingdom of Israel and ushers in the eschatological Kingdom of God. What is being presented here may be challenging to some who have been taught that America is God’s country, and has been blessed to do His work.

God utilizes modern nations to fulfil His will as He sees fit, but He does not work with them in any partnering relationship.

Many reading this article may be familiar with British or Anglo-Israelism, or believe in America’s manifest destiny in some form, and are perhaps filtering this article through these teachings. This is not a subject to be discussed here.

For an exposure of these teachings, the reader is referred to the SVM website www.shepherdsvoicemagazine.org for a recently posted paper by this author.

The true nature of the dependency the world places on the Babylonian system of wealth and security manifests itself when it is threatened.

This system will one day be threatened to such an extent and scale that the rise of nations into a collective Beast power will emerge as prophesied through the books of Daniel and Revelation. God’s servants who have heeded the warnings of Christ, and know their identity in Him will not be deceived and will not get behind the rallying cry of the nation they abide in or hold allegiance.

Babylon is Babylon, and we would be wise to assume it is here, not “over there” and God’s true servants must recognize it as such, even if it goes against our own sense of appreciation for the favourable living circumstances we too have accepted, and our national pride.

Though we may have physically benefited, God warns us from heaven not to place our security and hope in it lest we be deceived and receive God’s judgement (Revelation 18:4).

2 The reader is referred to The Environment of Early Christianity, S. Angus, M.A. PhD. New York Charles Scribner’s and Sons, 1920, for detailed research in this area of historical research.

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At this juncture, we also must never lose sight of God’s mercy and compassion for people living in this fallen world. God does come to the aid of people who do not have His calling. God hears their prayers and extends mercy upon who He shows mercy. He sees acts of kindness and does not forget them. We are looking at the greater concern of the shape of the Church and God’s will to reconcile creation to Himself.

Many are concerned in all facets of Christianity, including the Church of God, in the decline of ChristianJudeo values in the world. It is indeed a concern to see our society degrade, especially when certain institutions such as the family and education are directly attacked.

God’s laws are universally true, and His commandments, if not followed, will lead to consequences. Indeed this publication has presented the material such as the Children of God series to bolster Godly approaches to development of children through to adulthood. Yet, we must not get caught up in world events and trends as so many of us have. The Gospel of the Kingdom is good news, and the Kingdom can rise in our hearts now.

We must have a greater reverence of His sovereignty over history and the nations, that He will have mercy on who He has mercy, will abase who He will abase, and He need not provide any explanation. The believer must recognize much of the modern world is conquered by a false image of Christ and has put their trust in it. The United States is no different than any other gentile nation in history that will serve a purpose, and that purpose will also come to an end.

It is the Gospel message of the Kingdom of God and the restoration of Israel to the promised land that is of utmost importance. There is no message or a calling of God’s Church to proclaim to the United States to turn itself back to God and or else face judgement as a nation, which has been a misguided rallying cry to many corporate Church members. The gospel is not a message regarding the welfare and preservation of any modern nation no matter what high claim on Him they make.

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Rejection and Judgement When God sent His son, He in effect sent His whole life, the greatest act of love, so that His creation can be reconciled in full to Him. His Son was rejected in large part, and thus rejected He who sent Him (Luke 10:16).

When we experience rejection, it does make for hurt and disappointment, but we are very capable of moving forward with relative indifference if necessary, to seek other relationships and other opportunities. This is not the case with God–He will not adjust to us.

The rejection of God is a rejection of the life giver and this is a very serious and deadly affair. It is a personal matter to Him when His love is rejected, and He has reserved in Himself to take what measures He deems necessary to ensure that His Son is revered and He is known.

There is no indifference with the Almighty. Love and worship Him on His terms alone or perish.

The rejection of His Son may be captured in the following words of John: All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it (John 1:3-5).

The King James Version suggests the darkness did not comprehend it, but other translations capture it more accurately in that the darkness could not overcome it, or extinguish it. This continues to this day. With the rejection, God in His wisdom and judgement has made provision for a Christ-like figure the darkness will absorb, control and accept so that it will continue on its path, reserved for judgement. Yet, as we have already presented, embedded in this false Christian message there is mercy and purpose.

This may sound difficult to grasp, but we can make a sober mental check to consider the alternative measure God could have taken, which is complete annihilation of mankind, something He would be have been well within His right to do. At the other extreme

we may wonder why God did not resolve sin in the world quickly and remove Satan from it?

The desire for a false Christ exposes how humanity more easily embraces false teaching than it does Biblical truth, which essentially defines what the white horseman is. God’s larger purpose in allowing sin to continue will mean a more sincere and acute awareness of the exceeding sinfulness of sin (Romans 7:13). Evidence in scripture suggests the Millennial reign will still have elements of the mind altering effects of sin. So deceitful is sin that it can disguise itself as though it is God doing the works of God. Concluding Thoughts This author does not presume to have captured all the elements of the white horse and rider that rides it, or the full extent of its overall purpose. The concern is that God’s people must not have an identity crisis as time moves forward and the circumstances change.

The Book of Revelation was given to us for prophecy, but also for theology.

And the theology is given to us in a very dramatic way to impress on us His authority, His methods and His intent. If we study it and meditate on it and we keep the words in our heart, though we may not quite understand them, the words will be with us. We can still keep the narrative and the expressions here in our hearts and to bring them to remembrance at a later date. As history unfolds and the end time prophecies start to unfold, the book of Revelation is a resource to His servants to interpret events, and their own place in them.

We are not to live in fear or in doubt as to our identity and purpose, but with confidence that God has the sovereign authority over creation and that He is going to do the right thing.

The reality is the world is in fact on a collision course with God, and He is making the arrangements (Zechariah 14). God desires to make no peace or reconciliation with the darkness; and deception, death and destruction are the consequences. In the meantime, the white horse rider–he rides–and will serve the purpose he was given, as will the riders that come after him.

From the Fiery Serpents To John 3:16 The Complaints that Led to the Famed Scripture

Darren Connery I bang the drum with great regularity regarding bringing context to the scriptures. I sincerely believe that without the context around which the scriptures are comprised, we lose focus.

Without context, we inevitably end up searching passages and trains of thought in the writings which may have little or nothing to do with the problem we went to the Bible for in the first place.

Unfortunately, while English is a very descriptive language, often the original intent of a scriptural passage, due to the process of translation from Hebrew or Greek, is altered into a perceived different meaning only slightly, but sometimes dramatically.

I avoid the use of the term “mistranslation” because, as we look at the texts objectively, we have to accept that certain translation issues arise, not as a bug, but rather as a feature. That is to say, in absence of malice or will toward deception - both of which do occur when speaking of written translation of languages, especially from ancient texts-certain contextual fragments do get “lost in translation” as it were.

Let’s see if we can’t capitalize on a failure in understanding that has transcended generations of Bible readers and scholars due to what was lost in translation.

Failure is an Option Sometimes We should try to understand that so much of the triumph God has in store for us, in no insignificant manner, is exposed through human failure.

From time to time, one individual or group of individuals come to an understanding in Christ largely due to a human failure. These failures often come about in the way of • Failure to discern, failure to speak, failure to act.

• Failure in terms of faith.

• Failure to accept truth based on that faith.

• Failure to be alive, or be healed such as in the case of Lazarus.

At the extreme end, by way of the failure of the Jews to accept Christ as the Messiah, the Gospel was extended to the Gentile peoples: I ask, then, have they stumbled in order to fall? Absolutely not! On the contrary, by their stumbling, salvation has come to the Gentiles to make Israel jealous. Now if their stumbling brings riches for the world, and their failure riches for the Gentiles, how much more will their full number bring! (Romans 11:11-12 HCSB).

This scripture also speaks of the time when they will come to acceptance and understanding, and the book of Romans goes into great depth in terms of how Paul imparts the same ultimate message to two distinct peoples in the church at Rome (Jewish & Gentile believers).

John 3:16 is likely the most quoted and the least understood passage to appear in your Bible. Due to the most common mode of translation we have isolated this verse to the detriment of our understanding. This whimsical saying of Christ comes about in part, believe it or not, by failure.

Jesus and Nicodemus There was a man from the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews.

This man came to Him at night and said, “Rabbi, we know that You have come from God as a teacher, for no one could perform these signs You do unless God were with him” (John 3:12).

Jesus did not thank him in regards to his recognition of Him as coming from God. Nor did He tell him to follow Him. Instead, He answered him in a way to consider the Spiritual will of God, for up till know Nicodemus recognized only the physical signs.

Christ, it would appear, wanted to expand his thinking beyond where it was currently, which is of real value.

Jesus replied, “I assure you: Unless someone is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” “But how can anyone be born when he is old?”

Nicodemus asked Him. “Can he enter his mother’s womb a second time and be born?” (John 3:3-4 HCSB).

There must be a transformation at a very deep level before one can see either the Kingdom in its ultimate glorious manifestation as God’s dwelling place on Earth, or will be receptive to the Spirit which makes that Kingdom both audible and visible to the believer.

This verse has been mischaracterized as Nicodemus being ignorant of what Jesus was saying.

Some have suggested that he was being willfully obstinate, however this is an assumption from a biased viewpoint to villainize his sect. He was in fact an intelligent man.

In actuality, a brief study of the traditions of Jewish conversation and writing, we will find that this is a recording of a conversation between two Jewish men – in Jewish style. It was a means of trying to get a clarified point of view from Jesus.

Jesus answered, “I assure you: Unless someone is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. Whatever is born of the flesh is flesh, and whatever is born of the Spirit is spirit (John 3:56 HCSB).

As it pertains to this passage, hopefully we can agree that Nicodemus knew there was more to what Jesus was saying and was attempting to have Him articulate it in relevant terms.

Do not be amazed that I told you that you must be born again. The wind blows where it pleases, and you hear its sound, but you don’t know where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”

“How can these things be?” asked Nicodemus. “Are you a teacher of Israel and don’t know these things?”

Jesus replied (John 3:7-10 HCSB). continued on page 23 Shepherd’s Voice Magazine • Winter 2019 13

Ask Norm!

Dear Reader: Norm will no longer be contributing to SVM in Ask Norm!

See editorial page in this issue. To contact Norm, see page 22 on Norm’s future plans.

January 16, 2019 We really look forward to receiving your magazine that we love so much.

I have always wondered why there are still giants after the flood. I have heard explanations, but they seem improbable to me. I hope that you can answer my question.

—Ronald Rich Dear Ronald Rich: Firstly, we will mention some of the places where giants were found after the flood: • When the 12 Israelites went to spy out the land of Canaan, they discovered “sons of Anak,” very powerful “giants” in the southern desert near Hebron (Numbers 13:21-33; Deuteronomy 1:28).

• The sons of Anak continued to be a problem to the Israelites for much of their history (Deuteronomy 2:10, 19-21; 9:2; Joshua 11:21; 14:12-15; 21:11; Judges 1:20).

• Other giants (Hebrew rephaim) are mentioned: Og had a bed that was 13 feet long and 6 feet wide (Deuteronomy 3:10-13; Joshua 12:4-5; 13:12); the Ephraimites had to drive out giants from among the Perizzites (Joshua 17:15).

• David and his various giants: commander of slaying Goliath 14

armies slew David became the army by of Gath (1

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Samuel 17), but later was rescued Abishai the son of Zeruiah from another giant, Ishbi-Benob (2 Samuel 21:15). Elhanan the son of Jair killed Lahmi the brother of Goliath the Gittite (1 Chronicles 20:5). Sibbechai the Hushathite killed Saph and Jonathan the son of Shimea killed a giant with six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot (2 Samuel 21:1822).

Secondly, we acknowledge the existence of hundreds of reports of evidence of ancient giants: skeletons, weapons, furniture—along with ancient written accounts and drawings—and modern photographs of same. Some of these things have certainly proven to be fakes. The prevailing primarily scholarly opinion of today relegates ancient able giants to myth. (The very few people today who are eight feet or taller suffer from “giantism” and generally have motor coordination difficulties.) Some discoveries are ignored because they were found by non-archeologists, so there is no scholarly “chain of evidence”.

Nevertheless, this writer has seen enough evidence to be personally convinced of the reality of ancient giants. Much more work would be necessary to write an article or book that would convince others.

So how could there be giants descended from Noah, Shem, Ham, Japheth and their wives—the eight people who survived the flood? (1 Peter 3:20). I believe the simple answer is found in reproduction biology. Women are born with

400,000 to 1,000,000 immature ova (egg cells)—see any human biology textbook. Women do not make any more ova when they are living.

During their reproductive years, one of these normally matures every month—ovulation—and if fertilized, develops into a human being. This makes no sense if evolution were true: It does not give any chance for a woman to pass on acquired beneficial characteristics to her offspring, but demands that a woman pass on inheritance already given to her.

Being born with a million different potential human beings makes all kinds of sense when we realize Eve was a special creation of God, created with the diversity of genes that make up the vast diversity we see in the human race today. Eve is described as “the mother of all living” (Genesis 3:20). Her ova could contain genes that Eve did not possess in her main cellular DNA, but different humans God designed, waiting to be born.

I have not researched this part, but I think this diversity was somehow passed on to future generations of women. People lived hundreds of years before the flood, so this initial pre-load of ova cells only needed to be passed on for a few generations to reach Noah’s family.

Somewhere in that mega-gene pool were genes to make giant humans— some with six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot. I believe this is where the sons of Anak and the other giants came from. Some people will suggest ancient deliberately altered genes to make the giants, but I know of no way to prove or disprove

that. Just as livestock breeders know how to breed to retain desirable characteristics, it is likely the giant peoples were careful to interbreed with other giants to solidify the genes in the family. This made them superior warriors, but also made them a target for their enemies and they were eventually all killed.

We can have confidence that God will someday restore all of his creation as he intended it to be. “and that He may send Jesus Christ, who was preached to you before, whom heaven must receive until the times of restoration of all things, which God has spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began.” (Acts 3:20–21 NKJV).

February 24, 2018 Dear Norman Edwards, Yahweh be praised! HalleluYah! Please! What about cremation? Is it proper for believers? Circumcision? Birth control?

Thank you for your reply.

Sincerely, N. Koehl Dear N. Koehl Thanks for all these good questions in a short letter! Let us deal with them one at a time.

CREMATION The Bible no where specifically commands us to bury the bodies of everyone who dies—nor does it command us not to burn bodies.

Nevertheless, the overwhelming example of scripture is to bury the bodies of the dead. There are quite a few examples.

The entire chapter of Genesis 23 is devoted to the purchase of the Cave of Machpelah by Abraham to bury Sarah. Later, Isaac and Ishmael bury Abraham there (Genesis 25:9).

Rebekah, Leah, and Jacob were also buried there. Genesis 49:3033; 50:13-14. Even though Joseph was embalmed in the way of the Egyptians, he wanted his bones taken and buried in the promised

land (Genesis 50:24-26)—and they were (Exodus 13:19; Joshua 24:32; Hebrews 11:22). The burial place of numerous other Old Testament leaders is also clearly stated.

By contrast, God said of Jehoiakim, an evil king, “He shall be buried with the burial of a donkey, dragged and cast out beyond the gates of Jerusalem” (Jeremiah 22:18-19).

The evil queen Jezebel was eaten by dogs and not buried (1 Kings 21:23; 2 Kings 9:10, 35-36).

When large numbers are killed in national calamities, The Bible teaches the necessity of burying the dead— even though it may take months—to “cleanse the land” (Jer 7:32; 19:11) (Ezekiel 39:12-14). These masses of people were not necessarily good or very evil, but caught up in a nation that had ignored God for centuries.

In the New Testament, burial is not denied to those that do wrong.

Jesus said “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and preach the kingdom of God” (Luke 9:60).

Ananias and Sapphira were both struck dead for lying to the Holy Spirit, but were buried at Peter’s command (Acts 5:1-10).

The teaching of the Rabbi’s during Jesus day was that a person would not have a share in the “world to come” if his body were completely destroyed—such as a complete burning would produce. There are a dozen negative references to Gehenna (properly translated in the New American Bible and Young’s Literal Translation). Gehenna was the place where bodies of criminals were thrown to be burned, rather than buried. This was clearly something that everyone wanted to avoid.

Matthew 18:6-9, gives three sins and things that would be better than committing the sin: Offending a little one: cast in sea with a millstone around neck Enter into life maimed to avoid sin: cast into age-ending (Greek aonian) fire Enter into life with one eye to avoid sin: cast into Gehenna fire Even with these warnings, there is no clear teaching that a cremated person cannot receive eternal life. If

that were the case, that would allow men to judge people’s eternal destiny rather than Christ (John 5:22-30).

Revelation 20 makes it clear beyond doubt that all people from all states can be raised from the dead: Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books. The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works (Revelation 20:11-13).

CIRCUMCISION Questions about circumcision and Christianity have been with us a very long time: And certain men came down from Judea and taught the brethren, “Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved” (Acts 15:1).

Is there a link between salvation and circumcision “according to the custom of Moses”? What is circumcision “according to the custom of Moses”? The Old Testament records very little instruction that God gave through Moses about circumcision. Moses taught that a servant and his sons should be circumcised if they want to eat the Passover (Exodus 12:43-49) and he taught that God really wants circumcised hearts yielded to Himself (Deuteronomy 10:16, 30:6). There is nothing linking circumcision in the flesh to salvation, righteousness or accepting the Messiah to come.

Jesus explained His authorization to heal on the Sabbath to the Jewish leaders by reminding them that they circumcised on the Sabbath (John 7:22-23). It was their resolution to the possibly conflicting commands of working Sabbath rest and circumcision of male babies on the eighth day. The leaders allowed circumcision and they should have Shepherd’s Voice Magazine • Winter 2019 15

allowed healing, also. They were claiming the oral tradition from Moses (“oral law”) as their authority and indeed Jesus said, “The scribes and the Pharisees have seated themselves in the chair of Moses” (Matthew 23:2, NASB). Even so, Jesus had to remind them the source of the circumcision teaching: “Moses therefore gave you circumcision (not that it is from Moses, but from the fathers)…” (John 7:22).

So what is the circumcision covenant about? Who are the fathers Jesus is talking about? Do we want to follow all of the tradition that the scribes and Pharisees attached to circumcision claiming the authority of Moses? Or do we want to understand what God gave to Abraham and let that govern our decisions? There are 15 verses about God’s circumcision covenant with Abraham, but they are the best way to understand what it is about.

And God said to Abraham: “As for you, you shall keep My covenant, you and your descendants after you throughout their generations This is My covenant which you shall keep, between Me and you and your descendants after you: Every male child among you shall be circumcised; and you shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between Me and you.

He who is eight days old among you shall be circumcised, every male child in your generations, he who is born in your house or bought with money from any foreigner who is not your descendant. He who is born in your house and he who is bought with your money must be circumcised, and My covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant. And the uncircumcised male child, who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, that person shall be cut off from his people; he has broken My covenant” (Genesis 17:9-14).

This covenant was between Abraham, all his physical descendants and any slaves they might buy with money.

Those who were circumcised were considered a part of promises that were to follow, and those who were not circumcised were to be cut off from their people—they would not receive the promises of the covenant.

There is nothing here about salvation or eternal life.

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Then God said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name. And I will bless her and also give you a son by her; then I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; kings of peoples shall be from her.” Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed, and said in his heart, “Shall a child be born to a man who is one hundred years old? And shall Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?”

And Abraham said to God, “Oh, that Ishmael might live before You!” (Genesis 17:15-18).

Abraham and Sarah were promises a son who would have nations and kings descend from him. Even Abraham had doubts about God’s ability to deliver on this covenant—though he quickly developed faith that in it (Hebrews 11:11). Does God make or keep any promises based upon a once-in-alife-time surgical procedure? Yes, He does, even though many people back then—or people today—have trouble believing it. He honored his promise both for Abraham’s son Ishmael and for Isaac.

Then God said: “No, Sarah your wife shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac; I will establish My covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his descendants after him.

And as for Ishmael, I have heard you. Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly. He shall beget twelve princes, and I will make him a great nation. But My covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah shall bear to you at this set time next year.”

Then He finished talking with him, and God went up from Abraham. So Abraham took Ishmael his son, all who were born in his house and all who were bought with his money, every male among the men of Abraham’s house, and circumcised the flesh of their foreskins that very same day, as God had said to him (Genesis 17:19-23).

God Heard Abraham’s request and also made a great nation out of Ishmael. Today, Arabs, the Koran, most Jews, many Christians and some secular historians recognize Ishmael as the ancestor of the Arabs of today (including the peoples that

they conquered and converted to their religion). The Israelites of today certainly recognize Isaac as their ancestor.

Abraham hesitated little. The same day he went to face his son and all the men of his house. There were probably a lot of men—In Genesis 14:14, Abraham had 318 male servants who were able to go to war with him. There were probably as many more men who were too old or too young to fight. Yet he told them all they were going to be circumcised that day! “Circum-what?” they may have responded—grumbling even more when they heard the explanation. But Abraham obeyed God and he and his large household received the physical blessing of many descendants.

The Wikipedia article on Prevalence of Circumcision cites a lot medical organization’s data on circumcision by country (https://en.wikipedia.org/ wiki/Prevalence_of_circumcision).

Circumcision is still very common in middle eastern nations and many African nations. Abraham’s household could have been a very diverse ethnic group of people.

His chief servant was Eliezer of Damascus (Genesis 15:2), from rather distant Syria. These servants did not go out with Hagar and Ishmael, but Ishmael got a wife from Egypt and started over to become a great nation (Genesis 21:12-21). After deceiving Esau to get his birthright, Jacob left alone to work for his uncle Laban and obtain a family (Genesis 28:17). Esau was given an inheritance in Seir (Joshua 24:4) and Abraham’s children by Keturah were given gifts and sent away “to the country of the East”. Many of the hundreds of men in Abraham’s household may well be the father’s of the many populous African nations that practice circumcision today.

Finally, we might note that circumcision is still common in the USA, but largely no longer practiced in Europe from whence many of our people have descended. Is it a coincidence that the populations of those nations are declining, while those of the USA are still increasing?

We must not forget, that those who were brought to the USA as servants, if they keep the covenant as Abraham’s servants did, can also participate in its blessing.

These are the promises of God to Abraham, our father in faith (Heb 11:11-13, Gal 3:7). If Abraham was considered faithful because he believed God would do these things in advance, can we not be faithful to believe that God did these things after seeing them happen?

Returning to the New Testament meeting in Acts 15, it was clearly about whether circumcision was necessary for salvation (Acts 15:1).

God has seen to it that we have the written results of that meeting: They wrote this letter by them: The apostles, the elders, and the brethren, To the brethren who are of the Gentiles in Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia: Greetings. Since we have heard that some who went out from us have troubled you with words, unsettling your souls, saying, “You must be circumcised and keep the law” -- to whom we gave no such commandment—it seemed good to us, being assembled with one accord, to send chosen men to you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, men who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. We have therefore sent Judas and Silas, who will also report the same things by word of mouth. For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things: that you abstain from things offered to idols, from blood, from things strangled, and from sexual immorality. If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well. Farewell (Acts 15:23-29).

Even though the Holy Spirit was given to Cornelius and his household, it was clear to the apostles that all nations were eligible for salvation (Acts 10), the next three verses of the Bible mention a sect of the Christian Church that arose, insisting that Circumcision was necessary: Now the apostles and brethren who were in Judea heard that the

Gentiles had also received the word of God. And when Peter came up to Jerusalem, those of the circumcision contended with him, saying, “You went in to uncircumcised men and ate with them!” (Acts 11:1-3).

ringing in my ears: “One should not bring unwanted children in to the world!” “Children are expensive and people on modest incomes can only afford a small number!” “The planet is already over-populated!”

And so it is today. There are some Christians who still believe that circumcision is necessary for salvation and others who do not. Paul found that those “of the circumcision” were sometimes helpful and sometimes troublesome:

Sons are a heritage from the LORD, children a reward from him (Psalm 127:3).

Aristarchus my fellow prisoner greets you, with Mark the cousin of Barnabas (about whom you received instructions: if he comes to you, welcome him), and Jesus who is called Justus. These are my only fellow workers for the kingdom of God who are of the circumcision; they have proved to be a comfort to me (Colossians 4:10-11).

For there are many insubordinate, both idle talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision, whose mouths must be stopped, who subvert whole households, teaching things which they ought not, for the sake of dishonest gain (Titus 1:1011).

It is important to note that being “of the circumcision” was not the only problem here, but idle talk, deception and teaching for dishonest gain were the problems that “must be stopped”.

In summary, we must recognize that the greater promise of salvation in Jesus Christ is available to all, whether circumcised or not. The lesser promise of physically large and great nations— as well as kingship—were part of the circumcision covenant with Abraham.

One can participate in one, the other, both or neither. It is up to each of us.

BIRTH CONTROL After seeing the promise to Abraham of fathering great nations, it seems that birth control is a means of “suppressing the blessings”. But I can already hear the counter-arguments

Your wife will be like a fruitful vine within your house; your children will be like olive shoots around your table. Behold, thus shall the man be blessed who fears the LORD (Psalm 128:3-4).

Joseph saw Ephraim’s children to the third generation. The children of Machir, the son of Manasseh, were also brought up on Joseph’s knees. And Joseph said to his brethren, “I am dying; but God will surely visit you, and bring you out of this land to the land of which He swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob” (Genesis 50:23-24).

And because the midwives feared God, he gave them families of their own (Exodus 1:21, NIV).

Now the LORD blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning; for he had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, one thousand yoke of oxen, and one thousand female donkeys.

He also had seven sons and three daughters…. After this Job lived one hundred and forty years, and saw his children and grandchildren for four generations (Job 42:12-13, 16).

“David My servant shall be king over them, and they shall all have one shepherd; they shall also walk in My judgments and observe My statutes, and do them. Then they shall dwell in the land that I have given to Jacob My servant, where your fathers dwelt; and they shall dwell there, they, their children, and their children’s children,

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forever; and My servant David shall be their prince forever. Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them, and it shall be an everlasting covenant with them; I will establish them and multiply them, and I will set My sanctuary in their midst forevermore. My tabernacle also shall be with them; indeed I will be their God, and they shall be My people (Ezekiel 37:24-27).

The planet is not over-populated The Bible considers children and the many generations that follow to be a blessing. The original purpose of God was for mankind to “be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it” (Genesis 1:28). The notion that the earth is overpopulated is clearly false.

Today, 7.6 billion people inhabit the earth, but there is also about 12.8 billion acres of agricultural land— nearly 1.7 acres for every man, woman and child. The reason we have so much hunger today is not the lack of resources, but the failure of our political systems do not divide the land fairly among the people (Numbers 22:52-56; Joshua 13:1-23:4) and then to restore that land every 49 years to families that lost it (Leviticus 25).

Studies and statistics vary, but today, the wealthiest 2% to 10% of people own or completely control 80% to 90% of the land. Fortunately, God promises to fairly re-divide the land in the future (Ezekiel 25-48).

Of the few people this writer has met who were once members of Satanist organizations, all of them said it was a goal of their organization to greatly reduce the world’s population—either through war, disease, legal systems or “birth control”. Generally, these goals are not stated for the public to hear, as there would be a great reaction against them. Hence, many “good” people innocently end up supporting various organization’s efforts to reduce the population of the earth to make it a “better place” for mankind and wildlife. But ultimately, the issue is one of God producing children for himself, with Satan opposing, and ultimately losing the battle (Romans 8:20-21; Philippians 2:14-16; 1 John 3:1-2, 10-11).

Family planning never condemned There is nothing in the Bible that forbids a husband and wife from planning their sexual practices to either increase or decrease the 18

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chances of becoming pregnant.

There are many books written on the subject, and this writer knows many Christian couples who have used them with a large degree of success.

Indeed, the apostle Paul specifically mentions couples can refrain from sex by “mutual consent” (1 Corinthians 7:5, NIV). Uriah the Hittite did not accept the opportunity to sleep with his wife when his comrades will still fighting a war in the field (2 Samuel 11:11). In addition, some Bible verses appear to support sexual practices that do not lead to pregnancy (Proverbs 5:15-19; Song of Solomon 2:6 NET; 7:6-10). The Bible is not critical of what people do in a marriage bed, as long as it is with their spouse. Young’s literal translation captures the Greek well: Honorable is the marriage in all, and the bed undefiled, and whoremongers and adulterers God shall judge (Hebrews 13:4, YLT).

The Bible emphasizes the need for agreement between spouses when it comes to avoiding conception.

In the Old Testament, if a man bought a slave and took her for a wife, he is not allowed to deprive her of “food, clothing, and sexual intimacy” (Exodus 21:10, NLT).

God also commanded brothers who live together to raise up children to the other if one of them dies without children (Deuteronomy 25:5-6). That concept was important enough to God that He killed Onan for spilling his sperm on the ground in order to avoid raising up children to his brother (Genesis 38:7-10).

Nearly all Abortion is wrong While we can see the Bible accepts couples deciding when they will or will not try to become pregnant, the Bible never condones the killing of unborn babies. One who accidentally hits a woman and causes a premature birth must pay a fine for doing that.

If the baby dies because of the injury, he must give his life for the life of the baby (Exodus 21:22-23). Babies in the womb are fully people—just as you were you at that age. David said to God: “For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb” (Psalm 139:13).

Jacob and Esau, twins, struggled with each other in utero as they were destined to be conflicting nations

(Genesis 25:22-23). Yes, it appears that unborn children can sin. On the other hand, they can be filled with the Holy Spirit. John the Baptist leaped in Elizabeth’ uterus when Mary, carrying the fetus Jesus, walked in the door! (Luke 1:41).

What about the cases of rape or incest? Should a woman be required to carry and give birth to the child of an attacker or a pervert? Can anybody make that decision other than the woman herself? It is easier to understand this question if we put forth a similar situation that could happen to anybody. Suppose you are backpacking far away from any roads or any emergency services and you find out that storm, fire or other disaster is coming your way and you must flee the area as quickly as possible to survive. As you flee, you find a baby abandoned there. She will certainly die if you do not take her out with you. Do you slow yourself down and risk your own safety in order to save a helpless life? You do!

(Exodus 23:4-5; 1 Corinthians 9:910; John 15:13).

Finally, what about the very rare cases where a pregnancy has been medically diagnosed as likely to kill the mother? Ectopic pregnancies and a few other conditions can create these situations. The principle of Leviticus 19:16 applies: “… Do not stand idly by when your neighbor’s life is threatened. I am the LORD” (NLT) Similarly: “If a thief is caught in the act of breaking into a house and is struck and killed in the process, the person who killed the thief is not guilty of murder” (Exodus 22:2, NLT). God authorizes the taking of a human life when it is likely to prevent the taking of another innocent human life. If a woman has faith for divine deliverance from a diagnosed “fatal pregnancy”, let her exercise that faith in peace. On the other hand, if a person who wants an abortion for other reasons goes searching for someone to declare a normal pregnancy “potentially fatal”, know for certain: God will judge us for everything we do, including every secret thing, whether good or bad (Ecclesiastes 12:14, NLT).

2019 Feast of Tabernacles Calgary, Alberta, Canada October 14-21, 2019 The Canadian congregations of Calgary & Winnipeg, with Shepherd’s Voice Magazine, are excited to announce a new Feast site for 2019 Festival services will be held daily at the Clarion Hotel & Conference Center located at 2120 16 Ave NE.,Calgary.

Rooms are available at a special rate, and reservations can be made by calling 403.291.4666. Featured also at this location are family suites. When booking, please mention that you are meeting with the Independent Church of God Winnipeg.

On a mid-Feast flex day, with no scheduled services, a great idea would be to enjoy a trip to Banff National Park. Banff is a traditional Western Canadian tourist destination, with many restaurants and the ever famous Banff Springs Hotel. Those wishing to visit hot spring pools and local hiking trails can take advantage of the numerous options Banff offers. For an October preview of Banff, visit https://www.banffjaspercollection.com/ canadian-rockies/stories/banff-and-jasper-in-october/ or visit the Banff tourist website: https://banff.ca/ Banff is roughly an hour and a half drive from the Feast location. Those wishing to visit hot spring pools and local hiking trails can take advantage of the numerous options Banff offers.

For further details, information can be found at www.cogcalgary.com. Feel free to email contact@cogcalgary.com or info@shepherdsvoicemagazine.org.

View from Sky Bistro at 7,510 feet.

Downtown Banff Shepherd’s Voice Magazine • Winter 2019 19

End Time Preparation Tommy Willis Is this the End Time that the Bible talks about? Many Christians feel it is. Even many secular students of history are warning us about a foreboding sense of doom they feel.

We should be aware of what’s going on around us. In this article I would like to focus on two aspects—that of the end of the Age and our own personal end time.

If we will realize more how short life is, it can help us focus on what is most important. There is a reason the Bible tells us this. Below are three scriptures that make the point:

and dying a slow death in hospitals or rest homes, yet we often reason to ourselves that it will not happen to us. He seemed to agree as we talked about it, and realized we live in denial of death and suffering.

One of the reasons I’m writing about this subject matter of not only the end of the Age, but our own personal end time, is because over the years I have seen where some brethren became angry or bitter at God as they saw brethren with old age and

Show me, Lord, my life’s end and the number of my days let me know how fleeting my life is (Ps 39:4 NIV).

Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes (James 4:14 NIV).

My dad and I used to talk about the saying: “Old age is not for sissies.”

And we would have a good laugh about it each time we talked about it. Laughing about it, I found helped him cope. And we needed all the laughs we could get.

For, “All people are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall ...” (1 Peter 1:24 NIV).

Too often we live in denial at the brevity of life. Even if we should live to be 100, there just is not that many days in a human life span.

My dad died five months ago; and this lesson was driven home in my mind even more, as I was caretaker for him. I’m 68 years old, and have had my own health problems for decades.

I lived with him at home; and he was in a wheelchair the last few years of his life. And he used to tell me many times that he never thought he would wind up like this. One day in a warm hearted conversation I asked him why he thought that, because many, if not most of us, wind up suffering

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the end of our lives, or even that we would be taken to the place of safety, or some other end time belief system, that it only added to the problem of living in denial of what may await us in rest homes and hospitals; and therefore made it even more difficult because of the denial when it did happen. Think about that. So would it not be wise to focus on how to deal with the struggles of life and our own personal “end time” in the meantime? I’m not against studying prophecy. I still study it.

And I do believe the end of the Age Jesus talked about is drawing near.

So I’m talking about balance in our studies. Years ago I realized that my studies into prophecy were out of balance; and it did little to aid me in my personal relationship with Jesus Christ. So I spend more time in prayer now, realizing Jesus Christ gives us peace to deal with all our trials, including old age and health problems like I struggle with now.

sickness sitting in rest homes with Alzheimer’s or other afflictions. And I feel it is dangerous to blame God this way. Most of the brethren I have known who have died, thought the end was near, and they have had to deal with these struggles of old age and sickness, not the end time they thought was coming in their lifetime.

This was the big trial they had to deal with.

And I heard one man say he feels that because of the way we have looked at end times prophecy, in feeling the end was coming before

He and I would watch all the chaos on the news each night and he would say, “This world is falling apart”, and he would ask “What’s going on with this world? Sometimes I tried to explain that things could get worse, and it was possible that the end time was near. And a few times he said: “Well, it’s a good thing it almost over for us, being two old men, but I feel sorry for the young people.”

It reminded me of what an elderly man of God told me one time 40 years ago when he said: “Some oldtimers will be put to sleep before the Tribulation.” And when that man of

God told me that many years ago it made me think of the Scripture that says: “Good people pass away; the godly often die before their time. But no one seems to care or wonder why.

No one seems to understand that God is protecting them from the evil to come. For those who follow godly paths will rest in peace when they die” (Isaiah 57:1-2 NLT).

I’m not trying to suggest we should seek death—no, God has a task for us to complete; and life is a blessing; but these scriptures did come to mind, because I do believe we are closing in on the end of the Age. And you do not even need a lot of insight to see this nation is headed for chaos.

My dad and I would watch end times programs on TV; and he would ask me questions about it. And he felt the “end times” was when your heart stopped beating. And he knew his time was not long. He wanted to go in his sleep. He got his wish. He died at home in his sleep, just like my Mother did. Oh how I want to see them again in the resurrection. I did not realize how good my parents were until after their passing. I was blessed. It reminds me of the old saying, “You don’t know what you got till it’s gone”. This is one of the reasons God tells us to give thanks in all circumstances. It seems you do not learn the lessons of life till it’s almost over. Here I am less than two years away from my threescore and ten, and it’s taken that long for me to see how much God blessed me with two good parents all my life.

I told my dad about a year before he died that we took it for granted with my Mother cooking all those meals for over 60 years. My mother always had delicious meals for us. When I used to change her diapers during the last few months of her life, I used to joke with her and tell her, “Mom, I’m paying you back for all the diapers you changed for me”. And she used to laugh every time. Never having served this way myself before, this also got me to thinking of all the work women do in taking care of their children. And I look at things differently now. And their job is one that should be given much honor and respect. The ones who were blind like me—they will know in the resurrection when God honors these women.

When I first started to take care of

my dad I looked at it as a burden for a few years, and then God brought me to repentance and a change of heart. My dad noticed it and one day he said: “Your attitude has changed”, and I said to him, “God showed me it is a blessing to take care of you.” So God brought me from the attitude of burden to blessing. I thank God. Part of what I’m sharing here is I needed God’s strength to get the job done as caretaker, which was the most difficult task I ever was involved with caring for my dad’s needs in old age, as his dementia got worse and was bedridden in diapers. At the time I knew this roll of caretaker was taking a toll on my physical health. But God knew it would aid me spiritually, and this was part of the process He used.

The physical is secondary to being healed spiritually. Again, this spiritual principle is laid out in 2 Corinthians 12:7-10, where Paul kept asking to be relieved of his torment in the flesh, but God left the pain in order for him to grow spiritually; this principle can apply to many brethren’s trials. I thank God he gave me the strength to help my dad till the end.

God moved to have me realize I was not as close to Him as I thought.

And God used these trials to get my attention.

I used to wander off until you disciplined me; but now I closely follow your word….My suffering was good for me, for it taught me to pay attention to your decrees” (Psalms 119:67, 71 NLT).

Being caretaker this way was the most difficult matter I have ever been involved with, and God used the suffering to pull me closer to Him. What this suffering did was drive me to prayer. I had never prayed like I prayed when my dad was bedridden.

I had never experienced anything like this before. I needed God’s strength to serve my dad; and I prayed for weeks with almost non-stop praying, not even leaving the house for weeks because my dad needed me there. I did not realize it at the time; but God was using this to pull me closer to Him. This time of constant prayer that I experienced with the situation with my dad reminded me of an account by Luke in Chapter 18:

Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up… However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?” (Luke 18:1,8) Jesus give us admonishment about the importance of continuing in prayer with the end time.

Since God used the suffering to have me draw closer to Him, what’s that worth? The suffering cannot be compared to the blessing of having a closer walk with the Prince of Peace who gives me peace in the midst of my agony and trials.

My dad’s death made me think of the scripture: “It is better to spend more time at funerals than at festivals. For you are going to die and you should think about it while there is still time.” (Ecclesiastes 7:2 TLB). What does your future hold; will someone have to care for you in your old age?

Life is short, and it’s something that is surprisingly easy to forget. Seeing the brevity of life can help us focus on what is most important.

I do believe that the end of the Age is drawing near. And whether it’s the end time Jesus talked about or our own personal “end time”—the best thing we can do is examine where we are at with our personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Ask Him to take you by the hand and lead us through the Scriptures so that you will get to know Him. We get to know Him through prayer.

Get out of the rat race. Learn to live a simple life. Pray and stay with God. Do not let all the chaos, consumerism, and distractions of the world distract you from your contact with God. The days ahead will be difficult; but if we learn to trust and rely on God and stay with Him in our prayers and meditations then we will have nothing to fear. He will sustain us. Jesus told us to watch our spiritual state and pray always.

Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” So we say with confidence, “The LORD is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can mere mortals do to me?”

(Hebrews 13:5-6 NIV).

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Norman Edwards’ Ministries Update In our SVM Winter 2018 Issue, we reported how Jeff and Judy Kramer moved to Michigan in October of 2017 to take over the homeless ministry there—based on the reading of our appeal for a replacement in our Fall 2016 issue. The Kramers certainly have a heart to serve people struggling with problems, poverty and addictions of all types. They are very hard-working and were quite successful at fund raising. They received many donations and made several improvements to the PABC property which would significantly help with their future mission.

“worn out” they and their possessions had become during the harrowing homeless ministry years. Thanks to prayers, fasting and our Loving Father, some health concerns are now under control. Thanks to a couple of generous friends, the Edwards were financially able to afford the move and no longer have any personal debt. The 20-year-old obsolete computer hardware and software that Norman used for his ministry has now been replaced with modern, more compatible equipment. The Edwards have greatly enjoyed spending time with their three sons, three daughters-in-law and eight grandchildren in the Nashville area.

PABC Property Sold - Homeless Ministry Continues

Because the Edwards have spent most of their lives in ministry work that did not pay into the Social Security system, their combined monthly social security revenues are not sufficient to sustain them on a long-term basis.

Therefore, they will each be seeking half-time work in the near future. Norman will discontinue writing for Shepherd’s Voice Magazine to use his remaining available time to concentrate on the ministries outlined in the Winter 2018 PABC Update.

One church in Michigan’s Thumb agreed to make their first year’s payments to purchase the PABC property. Another church offered funds to build a new facility—designed specifically for the new program. In April of 2018, Jeff Kramer decided not to purchase the PABC property and work toward building or buying a new facility. The Edwards family was already committed to move to Nashville, Tennessee, so they listed the PABC property with a broker for $160,000. Within a few weeks, a local foundry telephoned PABC looking for a place to house workers from Puerto Rico, who had been out of jobs since Hurricane Maria in September, 2017. They quickly made a full price offer, thoroughly examined the property and closed the deal on July 9, 2018.

The Kramers made at least six diligent efforts to find a place to begin their new Christian homeless shelter and recovery ministry. In each case, zoning boards, sellers or neighbors were effective in blocking the project. Most people want homeless shelters built--“somewhere else”. For several years, the Sanilac County Community Foundation has been seeking to develop a homeless shelter in their county seat of Sandusky, Michigan. Sanilac County borders Huron County and in the past was the second biggest source of PABC homeless guests. The Sandusky police chief, Brett Lester, spearheaded the Sanilac Rescue Mission, which opened in October 2018 with a maximum capacity of 20 people. Jeff and Judy Kramer are now managing that shelter. For more information or if you would like to help, contact: Sanilac County Community Foundation, 47 Austin Street, P.O. Box 307, Sandusky, MI 48471 (Write “RESCUE MISSION” on the memo line of any checks.) Melissa Anderson: 810-648-3634, info@sanilacfoundation.org h t t p s : / / s a n i l a c c o u n t y c o m m u n i t y f o u n d a t i o n . o rg / sanilacrescuemission/ h t t p s : / / w w w. t h e t i m e s h e r a l d . c o m / s t o r y / n e w s / local/2018/10/05/sanilac-rescue-mission-open-mondaysandusky/1532510002/

After arriving in Tennessee, the Edwards realized how

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This is the latest news on those ministries: 1) Nashville Christian Media has been chosen as the name of the book/music/video ministry. A few people have expressed interest on a volunteer basis, but no Christian community dedicated to such a ministry is planned for the near future. Norman and another interested believer attended the National Religious Broadcasters (NRB) convention in Nashville February 2018, and learned a lot about what is necessary to reach the world with Christian Media. The industry leaders confirmed this writer’s assertion that Christian media is too much like secular Media, with a very few high-paid, highly stressed people in the spotlight, who then have trouble with their relationships and substance abuse, not able to live the Christian lives that they hope to bring to others. Secondly, digital media has changed the world: Traditional magazines and broadcast television are shrinking every year—especially among young people. Movie houses and cable TV channels are fighting to survive. Most entertainment and information today are received “on demand” through a phone or a laptop.

To receive a few e-mails per year updating you about Nashville Christian Media, please e-mail ncm@NashvilleChristianMedia.com Our initial media efforts include: a. Books: Norman Edwards will publish “Children of God”, a compilation and expansion of the 10-part series published in SVM. Tip from NRB: in the past, self-publishing was frowned upon by major publishers.

Today, major publishers are much more likely to sign a book deal with someone who has sold several thousand copies via self-publishing. b. Music: Centuries ago, the patron system was responsible for producing a lot of great music. Kings, other governors and wealthy individuals paid salaries

to composers and musicians to produce works like Handel’s Messiah, Bach’s Jesus-Joy of Man’s Desiring and Beethoven’s Ode to Joy. The music was then available free of charge. Now, we have a “star or starve” system, designed to make money for a few businessmen and artists. The patron system is being revived with Internet sites such as Patreon, where people can pay artists a certain amount for each work they develop. The works are then free to be shared.

This writer believes his son, Joshua, has been gifted

by God to produce songs to inspire and encourage believers everywhere. The music is available free to everyone on the websites, and those who are able might decide to support further on the Patreon site: https://joshedwardsmusic.com https://www.patreon.com/joshedwards c. Video: Some great contacts were made at NRB, but there is nothing specific to report, yet.

2) The Biblical doctrinal study project is named BibleUnity. org. Several people have expressed great interest in it. It has been expanded somewhat beyond its original plan as any Christian unity should be based about doing things we know that the Scriptures teach. Discussing what the Scriptures mean and how we should apply is important, but Paul taught “…Knowledge puffs up, but love edifies.”

Here are the new anticipated fruits for BibleUnity.org:

a. A directory of Christian missions where Believers can go to dedicate a portion of their lives full-time. b. A directory of local Christian projects where Believers can serve part-time. c. Teaching on how to start a Christian mission or congregation on one's own when appropriate. d. An online three-dimensional matrix of doctrines, Bible verses, and schools of thought—viewable from any perspective. This would allow anyone to look up a particular doctrine and find out how various groups apply the Scriptures to it. Alternatively, one could look up a Scripture, and find how various schools of thought use that Scripture to teach certain doctrines.

If you want to receive a few emails per year about this ministry, please send an email to info@BibleUnity.org.

3) Norman Edwards has set aside his plan for a new, interactive local congregation in central Tennessee as he regularly attends Sabbath services at Mercy Collective, 2313 Deerwood Rd, Nashville, TN 37214; 774-327-4910; https://mercycollective.org/. They have an interactive Bible study, presently going through the haftarah readings.

Norm will be doing some “substitute teaching” in the next few weeks.

continued from page 13 Jesus is now asking him how, with all the background of their upbringing, they (Nicodemus in representation of the Sanhedrin) could miss the spiritual gift of prophecies fulfilled in Him. We can perhaps appreciate Christ’s intent from the beginning with Nicodemus–to take him beyond the current experience- to recognize the spiritual presence of Christ.

“I assure you: We speak what We know and We testify to what We have seen, but you do not accept Our testimony.

If I have told you about things that happen on earth and you don’t believe, how will you believe if I tell you about things of heaven? No one has ascended into heaven except the One who descended from heaven—the Son of Man” (John 3:11-13).

Being as no man has ascended or been in Heaven except for Jesus Christ, Nicodemus had no frame of reference from which to make claims about the things of Heaven with any authority. However, here now is where the imagery begins and the actual underpinning of the whole passage begins to take shape.

“Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in Him will have eternal life (John 3:14-15).

As He is lifted up, we can experience the Heavenly perspective.

The reference to the snake lifted up in the wilderness is

found in Numbers 21, where the Israelites-weary from the journey-spoke against God and Moses. This is the infamous “Why did you bring us here to die?!” scene.

So God sent venomous snakes amongst them, and those who were bitten died. Of course, they appeal to Moses to ask that God remove the snakes. This would be the same appeal we would make. Today we even call on God to remove the adversarial elements in our lives.

God did not grant this request. He did not remove the snakes. Instead, He gave a detailed set of instructions to Moses: Then the Lord said to Moses, “Make a snake image and mount it on a pole. When anyone who is bitten looks at it, he will recover.” So, Moses made a bronze snake and mounted it on a pole. Whenever someone was bitten, and he looked at the bronze snake, he recovered (Numbers 21:8-9).

Again, hopefully we can agree that there is something to the imagery of snakes being in and amongst Israel, biting them, causing death, yes of their loved ones and causing overall societal distraught.

God does not remove the “snakes”. They had to make their way to look at the elevated bronze snake. They had to look at it and be mindful of where the healing came continued on back page Shepherd’s Voice Magazine • Winter 2019 23

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from. It is conceivable some just made it with their last gasp and ability to look up with the help of others.

This now takes us to our scripture of interest. Most translation read in the following manner: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16 KJV).

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Christ does not even condemn the snakes necessarily, or at least in this context; He explains how He is the cure for the snakes’ effect on us–but we have to go to Him. So with a bare minimum of simplified examination, we can see a much different meaning behind John 3:16 when we distance ourselves from the conventionally used frame of reference which is largely due to a loss in translation.

The word translated as “so” or “so much” occurs over 200 times in the NT. Almost without exception it is an adverb of manner, not degree1. For example, see Matthew 1:18 describing the birth of Christ as taking place “as so”.

The conventional thinking being that God just loved the world so much, that He sent His Son to die for it. However, the deepened explanation being that, as with the Israelites of Moses’ time, Christ’s sacrifice would provide healing (both physical and spiritual) to those who truly believe in the power of His Death and triumph over it.

The Greek word is houtos and only has application as a modified adjective (meaning “so much”) in Galatians 3:3 and Revelation 16:18.

What this means in terms of the importance of scriptural context is that the Old Testament accounts are dismissed at our peril. Christ and His disciples, and later Paul and so forth used them exclusively because that’s what they had.

The rendering we find in translations like the Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB) read more like “For so, God loved the world….” “For so” meaning as stated above with reference to the story in Numbers 21.

“For God loved the world in this way: He gave His One and Only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world that He might condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through Him” (John 3:16 -17 HCSB).

Christ is explaining that similar to the account and experience recorded in Numbers 21, the malevolence or snakes which surround us in our lives will not be removed. Rather we are given a Savior who was sacrificed or lifted up– to look to, to believe, to emulate (right down to our own self-sacrifice) when navigating the evil that befalls us and affects us, and how to interpret it in light of God’s will.

1 Blue Letter Bible

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The Old Testament accounts mentioned and referenced by Christ (others, but Christ in particular) contain the blueprint to the context by which Christ and the apostles taught from and serve to clarify and strengthen our understanding of New Testament concepts. Quite a provision that has been made for us. We must take the time to look toward Christ’s intent for us, and even how He gets that message across.

If we look at the Old Testament as less of a compilation of stories about Israel’s triumphs and failures, and more in terms of it being the story, His story, of how He dealt with Israel, keeping His promises at all times, and how this translates to the direction and means by which the New Testament came into being. In doing so we will have a much better handle on our journey, or at least be heading in the right direction – contextually speaking of course.