The number 10, in the Bible,

 is used 242 times. The designation "10th" is used 79 times. Ten is also viewed as a complete and perfect numeral, as is 3, 7 and 12. It is made up of 4, which represents the physical creation, and 6, which symbolizes man. As such, the meaning of 10 is one of testimony, law, responsibility and the

completeness of order.

We find, In Genesis 1, the phrase "God said" 10 times, which is a testimony of His creative power. God gave the Ten Commandments to man. Ten therefore represents man's responsibility to keep the commandments. A tithe is a 10th of our earnings and is a testimony of our faith in the Lord.
The Passover lamb was selected on day 10 of the 1st month (Exodus 12:3), as was Jesus, the Lamb that takes away the sins of the world (John 12:28 - 29; 1Corinthians 5:7). Day 10 of the 7th month is also the Holy Day known as the Day of Atonement. This unique day of fasting pictures the removal of Satan, the author of sin, before the millennial reign of Jesus

begins (Revelation 20:1 - 2).


The last great world-ruling kingdom of man under

Satan is symbolized prophetically by the 10 toes

of Daniel 2 and the 10 horns of

Revelation 13 and 17.

Appearances of the Number TenTen generations of man lived on the earth before the flood waters came and swept away all those who were disobedient. Noah, the tenth generation, was 600 years when he and seven other family members entered the ark.

The patriarchs who preceded Noah are Adam, Seth, Enos, Cainan, Mahalaleel, Jared, Enoch, Methuselah and Lamech (who was Noah's father). Incredibly, the average age of these 10 patriarchs is 857 years! If we leave out the unusual circumstance of God transporting Enoch at the age of 365, we end up with an average lifespan of 912 years!


666 in Rev 13.18 is best related

to the notice of Solomon receiving

666 talents of gold (1 Kgs 10.14 // 2 Chr 9.13),

which is, in turn, an important notice of this

king's wayward and unjust practices:

his inordinate wealth, exploitation of his

own people

and eschewing of God's law.



 The wild beast with seven heads introduced

at Revelation 13:1 represents

the worldwide political system.

•  It has authority, power, and a throne, which point to its being a political entity.​--Revelation 13:2.
•  It rules over “every tribe and people and tongue and nation,” so it is greater than a single national government.​--Revelation 13:7.
•  It combines features of the four beasts described in the prophecy at Daniel 7:​2-8, including the appearance of a leopard, the feet of a bear, a lion’s mouth, and ten horns. The beasts in Daniel’s prophecy are identified as specific kings, or political kingdoms, that rule in succession over empires. (Daniel 7:​17, 23) Thus, the wild beast of Revelation chapter 13 represents a composite political organization.
•  It ascends “out of the sea,” that is, from the turbulent masses of mankind that are the source of human governments.​--Revelation 13:1; Isaiah 17:12, 13.
•  The Bible says that the number, or name, of the beast​—666​—is “a man’s number.” (Revelation 13:17, 18) That expression indicates that the beast of Revelation chapter 13 is a human entity, not a spirit or demon entity.

 Even though nations may agree on few things, they unite in their determination to maintain their authority rather than submit to the rule of God’s Kingdom. (Psalm 2:2) They will also join forces to battle God’s armies commanded by Jesus Christ at Armageddon, but this war will result in the nations being destroyed.​--Revelation 16:14, 16; 19:19, 20.
​
“Ten horns and seven heads” Certain numbers are used symbolically in the Bible. For example, ten and seven represent completeness. The key to understanding the specific meaning of the “ten horns and seven heads” of the beast of Revelation chapter 13 is an “image of the wild beast” identified later in Revelation​—a bright-red beast that has seven heads and ten horns. (Revelation 13:​1, 14, 15; 17:3) The Bible says that the seven heads of this red beast mean “seven kings,” or governments.​--Revelation 17:​9, 10.

 Likewise, the seven heads of the beast of Revelation 13:1 represent seven governments: the primary political powers that have dominated through history and have taken the lead in oppressing God’s people​—Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, Rome, and Anglo-America. If we conclude that the ten horns represent all sovereign states, small and large, then the diadem, or crown, on each horn shows that each nation rules concurrently with the primary political power of the time.

Join us in this 3 part mini-series

and discover

the amazing parallels of the

ancient Aliyah from Babylon and

present day


Israel!


Did Israel come to be as a nation because of

man's determination or


God's hand?


And how do we see the parallels of

scripture played out in our modern history?




Join Dr. Erez Soref, Dr. Golan Broshi and Hadas Orth

as we explore our

ancient past

revealing our prophetic future!



Pray and support this powerful series

reaching Israel and

help us create more resources like this!


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Only 10 years ago,

most Israelis would never

hear the name of Yeshua, much

less hear the


Gospel


Our

​Messiah, Yeshua,


was the best kept secret

of the Jewish people



Was is

the key word here, because today,

the secret is being

shouted from the rooftops…

• In the last 7 years, our Gospel films and testimonies in Hebrew alone have over 50 million views. Globally we have seen over 235 million views.
• We’re seeing an awakening like never before as daily we receive testimonies from seekers who’ve binge-watched the Gospel and reached out to know more.
• "Jesus" is the most searched religious keyword on Google in Israel! More Israelis are searching for Jesus than all the Rabbis put together!

But this is only the tip of the iceberg!


SO TODAY,


RISE UP

WITH US TO SEE


GOD’S SPIRIT


POURED OUT LIKE NEVER BEFORE

ACROSS ISRAEL IN


2023


May He use our partnership to

usher in a

spiritual awakening

that resounds through the


Nations for His glory!

The Bible says that the devil seeks to devour believers 


1 Peter 5:8)

and Satan and his demons “scheme” against Christians (Ephesians 6:11). As Satan attempted with Jesus (Luke 4:2), demonic forces tempt us to sin and oppose our efforts to obey God. Should a Christian allow the demons to succeed in these attacks, oppression results. Demonic oppression is when a demon is temporarily victorious over a Christian, successfully tempting a Christian to sin and hindering his ability to serve God with a strong testimony. If a Christian continues to allow demonic oppression in his/her life, the oppression can increase to the point that the demon has a very strong influence over the Christian’s thoughts, behavior, and spirituality. Christians who allow continuing sin open themselves up for greater and greater oppression. Confession and repentance of sin are necessary to restore fellowship with God, who can then break the power of demonic influence. The apostle John gives us great encouragement in this area: “We know that anyone born of God does not continue to sin; the one who was born of God keeps him safe, and the evil one cannot harm him” (1 John 5:18).

For the Christian, the power for victory over and freedom from demonic oppression is always available. John declares, “The One who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world” (1 John 4:4). The power of the indwelling Holy Spirit (Romans 8:9) is always available to overcome demonic oppression. No demon, not even Satan himself, can prevent a Christian from surrendering to the Holy Spirit and thereby overcoming any and all demonic oppression. Peter encourages believers to resist the devil, “standing firm in your faith” (1 Peter 5:9). Being firm or steadfast in the faith means relying on the power of the Holy Spirit to successfully resist demonic influence. Faith is built up through the spiritual disciplines of feeding on the Word of God, persistent prayer, and godly fellowship. Strengthening our faith by these means enables us to put up the shield of faith with which we can “extinguish the flaming arrows of the evil one” (Ephesians 6:16).

Second, conviction of sin is not a sense of trepidation or a foreboding of divine punishment. These feelings, too, are commonly experienced in the hearts and minds of sinners. But, again, true conviction of sin is something different.

Third, conviction of sin is not merely knowledge of right and wrong; it is not an assent to Scripture’s teaching about sin. Many people read the Bible and are fully aware that the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23). They may know that “no immoral, impure or greedy person . . . has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God” (Ephesians 5:5). They may even agree that “the wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God” (Psalm 9:17). Yet, for all their knowledge, they continue to live in sin. They understand the consequences, but they’re far from being convicted of their sins.

The truth is, if we experience nothing more than a pang of conscience, anxiety at the thought of judgment, or an academic awareness of hell, then we have never truly known the conviction of sin. So, what is real conviction, the kind the Bible speaks of?

The word convict is a translation of the Greek word elencho, which means “to convince someone of the truth; to reprove; to accuse, refute, or cross-examine a witness.” The Holy Spirit acts as a prosecuting attorney who exposes evil, reproves evildoers, and convinces people that they need a Savior.

To be convicted is to feel the sheer loathsomeness of sin. This happens when we’ve seen God’s beauty, His purity and holiness, and when we recognize that sin cannot dwell with Him (Psalm 5:4). When Isaiah stood in the presence of God, he was immediately overwhelmed by his own sinfulness: “Woe to me! . . . I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips . . . and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty” (Isaiah 6:5).

To be convicted is to experience an utter dreadfulness of sin. Our attitude toward sin becomes that of Joseph who fled temptation, crying out, “How could I do this great evil and sin against God?” (Genesis 39:9).

We are convicted when we become mindful of how much our sin dishonors God. When David was convicted by the Holy Spirit, he cried out, “Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight” (Psalm 51:4). David saw his sin primarily as an affront to a holy God.

We are convicted when we become intensely aware of the wrath it exposes to our souls (Romans 1:18; Romans 2:5). When the Philippian jailer fell at the apostles’ feet and cried, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” he was under conviction (Acts 16:30). He was certain that, without a Savior, he would die.

When the Holy Spirit convicts people of their sin, He represents the righteous judgment of God (Hebrews 4:12). There is no appeal of this verdict. The Holy Spirit not only convicts people of sin, but He also brings them to repentance (Acts 17:30; Luke 13:5). The Holy Spirit brings to light our relationship to God. The convicting power of the Holy Spirit opens our eyes to our sin and opens our hearts to receive His grace (Ephesians 2:8).

We praise the Lord for the conviction of sin. Without it, there could be no salvation. No one is saved apart from the Spirit’s convicting and regenerating work in the heart. The Bible teaches that all people are by nature rebels against God and hostile to Jesus Christ. They are “dead in trespasses and sins” (Ephesians 2:1). Jesus said, “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him” (John 6:44). Part of that “draw” to Jesus is the conviction of sin.


In Matthew 5—7 Matthew records Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. In that historic message, Jesus challenges His listeners to change their minds about how they can be part of His kingdom, saying at one point that not everyone who says, “Lord, Lord,” will be saved (Matthew 7:21). To that point many believed that just by being related to Abraham and Moses and by obeying the Law of Moses they were assured of their place in God’s kingdom. Jesus counters that notion directly.

In Matthew 7:21, Jesus says, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.” Leading up to this statement, He had explained that His hearers’ righteousness must exceed even the righteousness of those who were most faithfully obeying the outward expressions of the Law of Moses (Matthew 5:20). He added that righteousness does not come from external obedience to laws and that, by their internal thought violations of those laws, they all were guilty (Matthew 5:21–47). In short, Jesus presented them with a standard they hadn’t considered before: they must be perfect like their heavenly Father is perfect (Matthew 5:48). Of course, living up to that standard is impossible. That is why Jesus proclaimed that people need to repent—to change their minds—about how they could be part of God’s kingdom. They thought they simply needed to be of a certain bloodline and obey a set of laws. Jesus smashed those ideas, pointing them to the actual standard: perfection.

Jesus further explains that the only way to achieve this perfection (since no one can do it on his own) is to have it provided. Ultimately, Jesus would go to the cross to pay for the imperfection of all of us (1 Corinthians 15:1–3) so that by believing in Him we can have life in His name (John 20:31). Jesus was clear—and the apostles after Him—that to be declared righteous by God is to receive grace through faith; righteousness does not come by works or human effort (John 3:16; 6:47; Ephesians 2:8–9).

The recipe is so simple, but we still want to do things our own way. People still want to justify themselves by their own efforts. If we could do that, we would have reason to boast, and we all, it seems, want to have reason to boast in ourselves. In Matthew 7:15–20 Jesus warns His audience about false prophets who will teach deceitfully about righteousness and bear the fruits of that falsehood. Jesus explains that these false prophets can be recognized by their fruits, even if their words are deceptive. Their words may come across as words of righteousness, but they aren’t faithful to the recipe that God provided. In fact, Jesus says, many of them will even call Him “Lord,” but their teachings and their deeds do not align with the will of God. Not everyone who says to Him, “Lord, Lord,” will enter His kingdom (Matthew 7:21). That honor is reserved for those who actually do His will. What is the will of God? That people change their minds (i.e., repent) about how they become righteous before God and come to Him with faith. Without faith it is impossible to please God (Hebrews 11:6).

Simply saying the right things doesn’t grant us God’s righteousness. Not everyone who says to Him, “Lord, Lord,” will enter His kingdom (Matthew 7:21). In Genesis 15:6 we discover that belief in the Lord is credited as righteousness. This is a magnificent and liberating truth. We can’t be perfect on our own, but He is perfect and has sacrificed and paid the penalty so that we can have forgiveness of sin and His righteousness. When we receive these by faith in Him, we are at that moment transferred to His kingdom (Colossians 1:13), and we look forward to the arrival of that kingdom on earth (Colossians 3:1–4).

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’” (Matthew 7:21–23).

In Jesus’ words on Judgment Day, we see several important truths: it’s not a verbal claim that one follows Jesus that saves (Matthew 7:21). Nominal Christianity cannot save. Also, it’s not a demonstration of spiritual insight or power that saves (verse 22). A person can seem like a Christian in the eyes of other people, yet still be an “evildoer” in God’s sight and sent away from His presence (verse 23). Only those who do the Father’s will and who are known of God will enter heaven.

So, what is the Father’s will? Some men came to Jesus once with a question about what God required of them: “They asked him, ‘What must we do to do the works God requires?’ Jesus answered, ‘The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent’” (John 6:28–29). God wants us to have faith in His Son: “This is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ” (1 John 3:23). Those who are born again by faith in Christ will produce good works to the glory of God (Ephesians 2:10).

When Jesus said, “I never knew you,” to the feigned disciples, He meant that He never recognized them as His true disciples or His friends. He never had anything in common with them nor approved of them. They were no relations of His (Mark 3:34–35). Christ did not dwell in their hearts (Ephesians 3:17), nor did they have His mind (1 Corinthians 2:16). In all these ways and more, Jesus never knew them. Note that Jesus is not breaking off the relationship here—there was never a relationship to break off. Despite their high-sounding words and showy displays of religious fervor, they had no intimacy with Christ.

So it turns out that what matters isn’t so much that we know God on some level, but that God knows us. As Paul explained, “Whoever loves God is known by God” (1 Corinthians 8:3; also see Galatians 4:9). The Lord “tends His flock like a shepherd” (Isaiah 40:11), and He knows who are His sheep (John 10:14).

Those somber words “I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity” in Matthew 7:23 (KJV) show that Jesus is indeed omniscient. He did not “know” them in the sense He would if they were His followers, but He knew their hearts—they were full of iniquity! Isaiah’s condemnation of hypocrisy fits this group well: “These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me” (Isaiah 29:13). The evildoers whom Jesus does not know are fake Christians, false teachers, and nominal adherents of religion.

Those who are bid depart from the presence of the Lord will not partake of the blessings of the kingdom: “Outside are the dogs, those who practice magic arts, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters and everyone who loves and practices falsehood” (Revelation 22:15). They will be cast “into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matthew 8:12). Those fake Christians whom Jesus says He never knew will not produce the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22–23); rather, they will produce the opposite, the works of the flesh (Galatians 5:19–21).

Jesus warns that one day He will tell a group of religious practitioners, “I never knew you.” God takes no delight in sending people to hell (2 Peter 3:9). But those who are told to depart have rejected God’s eternal purpose and plan for their lives (Luke 7:30). They have spurned the light of the gospel (2 Corinthians 4:4), choosing the darkness instead, because their deeds were evil (John 3:19). At the judgment, they try to justify themselves as worthy of heaven on the basis of their works (prophecies, exorcisms, miracles, etc.), but no one will be justified by his own works (Galatians 2:16). While claiming to do all these good works in Christ’s name, they failed to do the only work of God that counts: “to have faith in the one he sent” (John 6:29, CEV). And so Jesus, the Righteous Judge, condemns them to eternal separation from Him.

Evil behavior includes sin committed against other people (murder, theft, adultery) and evil committed against God (unbelief, idolatry, blasphemy). From the disobedience in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 2:9) to the wickedness of Babylon the Great (Revelation 18:2), the Bible speaks of the fact of evil, and man is held responsible for the evil he commits: “The one who sins is the one who will die” (Ezekiel 18:20).

Essentially, evil is a lack of goodness. Moral evil is not a physical thing; it is a lack or privation of a good thing. As Christian philosopher J. P. Moreland has noted, “Evil is a lack of goodness. It is goodness spoiled. You can have good without evil, but you cannot have evil without good.” Or as Christian apologist Greg Koukl has said, “Human freedom was used in such a way as to diminish goodness in the world, and that diminution, that lack of goodness, that is what we call evil.”

God is love (1 John 4:8); the absence of love in a person is un-God-like and therefore evil. And an absence of love manifests itself in unloving behavior. The same can be said concerning God’s mercy, justice, patience, etc. The lack of these godly qualities in anyone constitutes evil. That evil then manifests itself in behavior that is unmerciful, unjust, impatient, etc., bringing more harm into the good world that God has made. As it turns out, we lack a lot: “As it is written: ‘There is no one righteous, not even one’” (Romans 3:10).

Moral evil is wrong done to others, and it can exist even when unaccompanied by external action. Murder is an evil action, but it has its start with the moral evil of hatred in the heart (Matthew 5:21–22). Committing adultery is evil, but so is the moral evil of lust in the heart (Matthew 5:27–28). Jesus said, “What comes out of a person is what defiles them. For it is from within, out of a person’s heart, that evil thoughts come—sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. All these evils come from inside and defile a person” (Mark 7:20–23).

Those who fall into evil behavior usually start slowly. Paul shows the tragic progression into more and more evil in Romans 1. It starts with refusing to glorify God or give thanks to Him (Romans 1:21), and it ends with God giving them over to a “depraved mind” and allowing them to be “filled with every kind of wickedness” (verses 28–29).

Those who practice evil are in Satan’s trap and are slaves to sin: “Opponents [of the Lord’s servant] must be gently instructed, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth, and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will” (2 Timothy 2:25–26; see also John 8:34). Only by the grace of God can we be set free.

Physical evil is the trouble that befalls people in the world, and it may or may not be linked to moral evil or divine judgment. Ecclesiastes 11:2 counsels us to diversify our investments, for this reason: “thou knowest not what evil shall be upon the earth” (KJV). The word evil in this case means “disaster,” “misfortune,” or “calamity,” and that’s how other translations word it. Sometimes, physical evil is simply the result of an accident or causes unknown, with no known moral cause; examples would include injuries, car wrecks, hurricanes, and earthquakes. Other times, physical evil is God’s retribution for the sins of an individual or group. Sodom and the surrounding cities were destroyed for their sins (Genesis 19), and God “made them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly” (2 Peter 2:6). Many times, God warned Israel of the calamities that awaited them if they rebelled: “[The LORD] also is wise, and will bring evil, and will not call back his words: but will arise against the house of the evildoers, and against the help of them that work iniquity” (Isaiah 31:2, KJV). In all cases, God works through the situation to bring about His good purpose (Romans 8:28).

God is not the author of moral evil; rather, it is His holiness that defines it. Created in God’s image, we bear the responsibility to make moral choices that please God and conform to His will. He wills our sanctification (1 Thessalonians 4:3) and does not wish us to sin (James 1:13). In repentance and faith in Christ, we have forgiveness of sin and a reversal of the moral evil within us (Acts 3:19). As God’s children, we walk according to this command: “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good” (Romans 12:21).


Many of the psalms are what are called “psalms of lament.” These songs include themes related to sadness, discouragement, and even complaints to God. Why were these sad psalms included in the Bible? Isn’t God’s Word supposed to encourage us?

First, as a book of songs, Psalms includes the full range of human emotions. Many of the psalms are songs of joy and thanksgiving. Others are indeed sad, expressing the inevitable sorrow faced in human life. Psalm 6:6–7 expresses a deeply felt grief: “I am worn out from my groaning. / All night long I flood my bed with weeping / and drench my couch with tears. / My eyes grow weak with sorrow; / they fail because of all my foes.” David sometimes felt as though God had abandoned him: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? / Why are you so far from saving me, / so far from my cries of anguish? / My God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer, / by night, but I find no rest” (Psalm 22:1–2). This particular psalm was prophetic, pointing us to the emotions that Christ felt on the cross (cf. Mark 15:34).

Second, songs of lament were sometimes used in repentance. Psalm 51:1–2 is set in the context of David’s repentance following his adultery with Bathsheba. David says, “Have mercy on me, O God, / according to your unfailing love; / according to your great compassion / blot out my transgressions. / Wash away all my iniquity / and cleanse me from my sin.” At the same time, David expresses his honest feeling that his bones have been “crushed” (verse 8) and he cannot shake his guilt on his own (verse 3).

Third, many psalms of lament follow a specific outline ending with an expression of trust in the Lord. The traditional pattern is 1) opening address, 2) complaint, 3) request, and 4) expression of trust. All of these elements can be seen in Psalm 2. The psalmist addresses God, offers his complaint, asks for the Lord’s help, and then leaves himself at the mercy of God for a response. These psalms, though sad in parts, should encourage us that “weeping may stay for the night, / but rejoicing comes in the morning” (Psalm 30:5).

Some who have studied the book of Psalms have observed that the kinds of complaints found in the psalms of lament fall into three categories: 1) concerns with the psalmist’s life or actions, 2) concerns with an enemy, or 3) concerns with God’s actions or inactions.

For example, in Psalm 22 the psalmist is concerned with God’s apparent inaction. In Psalm 51, however, David’s concern is his own sin. At other times, the lament focuses on Israel’s enemies, wondering why God had allowed an opponent victory (Psalm 35).

While some psalms may be sad, not all are. In addition, the psalms of lament show the human condition expressed in poetic form. In reading the Psalms, we readily identify with the reality of human emotions and look to the Lord for help during times of need (Psalm 46:1).

Who and what the Nephilim were is up for debate. Before the flood, there were Nephilim that were the offspring of “the sons of God” and “the daughters of men” (see Genesis 6:1–4). The meaning of this passage is disputed. Regardless of their specific “DNA,” it seems that the Nephilim were extraordinary. All of them would have been killed in the flood, in which only Noah and his immediate family were spared. Nevertheless, the text indicates that the Nephilim also existed after the flood—they were “on the earth in those days—and also afterward”—that is, after the flood (Genesis 6:4).

If the Nephilim were gigantic warrior people before the flood, it is possible that giant warriors after the flood were also called Nephilim. A modern parallel might be the “modern superhero.” Everyone knows that Superman, Spider-man, and Wonder Woman do not exist in real life, but the mythology of the superhero is firmly planted in our collective psyche. When, on occasion, a policeman, fireman, or a member of the armed forces performs some extraordinarily heroic and dangerous rescue, the news media might refer to that person a “real-life superhero.” They do not mean that this person is actually endowed with superhuman powers, but that his behavior goes so far beyond the ordinary that he is living up to the commonly accepted mythology. This is a possibility in the Old Testament as well: any time an exceptional warrior was found, he was called a “Nephilim” without necessarily implying that he was the offspring of the “sons of God” in Genesis 6. This could explain how giants—fearfully large and ferocious warriors—are called Nephilim after the flood.

In Numbers, Moses sends twelve spies into the land of Canaan—the Promised Land. All the spies agreed that the land was good with plenty to offer, but ten of the spies also were fearful that Israel could not take the land because of the people living in it: “The land we explored devours those living in it. All the people we saw there are of great size. We saw the Nephilim there (the descendants of Anak come from the Nephilim). We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them” (Numbers 13:32–33). Here the Nephilim are described as the descendants of Anak and are associated with men of great size—giants. The best explanation seems to be that the word Nephilim had become a semi-technical term for “giant warrior.” It may have held some overtones of mystery as well, similar to the modern term monster, which can refer to size, as in monster truck. It can also have dark overtones, referring to an evil character. And finally, a monster might be some kind of abnormal or terrifying creature. With our limited knowledge of the word Nephilim, the best we can say is that it appears the Nephilim were gigantic, mysterious warriors of uncertain heritage. To the people who observed them, they seemed to be unnaturally formidable, large, and fierce.

Of all the giants, Goliath is the most infamous, although the Bible never uses the term Nephilim to describe him. Goliath challenged the armies of Israel, and only David was brave enough (because he trusted fully in God) to challenge him in battle. Goliath is described this way: “His height was six cubits and a span. He had a bronze helmet on his head and wore a coat of scale armor of bronze weighing five thousand shekels; on his legs he wore bronze greaves, and a bronze javelin was slung on his back. His spear shaft was like a weaver’s rod, and its iron point weighed six hundred shekels” (1 Samuel 17:5–7). The footnotes in the NIV explain the ancient measurements: Goliath’s height was about 9 feet 9 inches. His bronze coat of armor weighed about 125 pounds, and his spearhead weighed about 15 pounds. Of course, Goliath fell at the hand of David. God is stronger than giants.

Second Samuel 21 records the demise of several giant Philistine warriors, all said to be descended from Rapha in Gath. (Since one of the men is Goliath’s brother, we can assume that Goliath is descended from Rapha as well): “Once again there was a battle between the Philistines and Israel. David went down with his men to fight against the Philistines, and he became exhausted. And Ishbi-Benob, one of the descendants of Rapha, whose bronze spearhead weighed three hundred shekels [7.5 lbs] and who was armed with a new sword, said he would kill David. But Abishai son of Zeruiah came to David’s rescue; he struck the Philistine down and killed him. Then David’s men swore to him, saying, ‘Never again will you go out with us to battle, so that the lamp of Israel will not be extinguished’” (verses 15–17).

In the course of time, in other battles with the Philistines, three more descendants of Rapha were slain: Saph; the brother of Goliath, “who had a spear with a shaft like a weaver’s rod”; and “a huge man with six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot—twenty-four in all” (verses 18–22). All of these warriors were related to Goliath, but none are called Nephilim.

There are a couple of other giants mentioned in Scripture. Og, king of Bashan, was a huge man with a huge bed (Deuteronomy 3:11). One of David’s mighty men, Benaiah, “struck down Moab’s two mightiest warriors. He also went down into a pit on a snowy day and killed a lion. And he struck down an Egyptian who was five cubits tall. Although the Egyptian had a spear like a weaver’s rod in his hand, Benaiah went against him with a club. He snatched the spear from the Egyptian’s hand and killed him with his own spear” ( 1 Chronicles 11:22–23). Although we don’t know how thick a weaver’s rod was, it would have to be sufficiently strong and thick enough to support the stress of weaving, and, from the way it is used in conjunction with giant warriors, we can infer that it must have been quite large.

GuinnessWorldRecords.com reports Robert Wadlow, born in 1918, to be the tallest man in modern history. He grew to a height of just over 8 feet 11 inches (“The Tallest Man Ever,” accessed 5/26/20). However, he and many other modern “giants” suffered from health problems that would not make them good “warriors.” More modest giants who are able to play professional sports are a bit smaller but still gigantic compared to the average person. There have been a good many NBA players who have been 7 feet 6 inches tall. There is no shortage of NFL players who stand 6 feet 5 inches or taller and weigh in at over 350 pounds. Professional wrestling has also had a few giants, including Andre the Giant who was 7 feet 4 inches tall and weighed over 500 pounds. It is quite possible that, at an earlier time, there was greater variation within the human gene pool, which could have produced even larger giants than we have among us today.

Goliath was very likely not the offspring of humans and angels, and he is never called a Nephilim; however, he was a fierce, gigantic warrior and might have been described, in the parlance of the Philistines or Israelites, as a “modern-day Nephilim.”


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The story of David and Goliath (1 Samuel 17) is a factual account from biblical history that demonstrates how the Lord intercedes for His people. David was a shepherd, the youngest of the eight sons of Jesse of Bethlehem. King Saul and his men were battling the Philistines, one of which was a 9-foot giant named Goliath. The men of Saul’s army were afraid of Goliath, and there was no one to stand up to him. But David, filled with faith and a passion for God’s name which was being blasphemed by Goliath, slew Goliath with a stone and a sling. Then he cut off Goliath’s head with the giant’s own sword. When the Philistines saw that their champion was dead, they fled before the Israelites, who had a great victory over them.


An important point in this story is that Goliath was taunting the sovereign Lord of the universe. He was challenging God’s people to stand up to him and demonstrate that their God was more powerful than he was. Until David came into the Israelite camp, there was no one who was willing to step out in faith and face the giant. However, David’s faith was so strong that he was willing to believe that the Lord would go with him and enable him to defeat Goliath (1 Samuel 17:36-37). David’s faith was born out of his experience of God’s grace and mercy in his life up to that point. The Lord had delivered him out of dangerous situations in the past, proving His power and trustworthiness, and David relied on Him to deliver him from the Philistine.

From the story of David and Goliath, we can learn that the God we serve is capable of defeating any of the giants in our lives—fear, depression, financial issues, doubts of faith—if we know Him and His nature well enough to step out in faith. When we do not know what the future holds, we have to trust Him. But we can’t trust someone we don’t know, so knowing God through His Word will build our faith in Him.

As Christians who have trusted Christ as the only way to heaven (John 14:6), our battle with the giants in our lives will result in victory if we cling by faith to God and His power. The illustration of David and Goliath is only one of many examples of the supernatural power of our Lord. He cares deeply for His children and wants only our best. Sometimes that involves trials and battles, but these are ultimately for our good and His glory. James tells us to consider it pure joy when we encounter trials because they test our faith and develop patience and perseverance (James 1:2-4). When we are tested by these trials, we can, in the power of the Lord, stand up against any giant, trusting our Savior to win the victory.



Some presume that David took five smooth stones instead of just one because he had some doubt. However, there is no indication in the story of David and Goliath that by picking up five smooth stones instead of one that David was doubting God. Rather, David was simply being prepared. What if the Philistines attacked him after he killed Goliath? How would he have defended himself? David was simply being prepared when he took the four additional stones. Also, he couldn’t have known that one stone would be enough to kill the giant. God had not promised that David would kill Goliath with the first stone.

David had experience in defending the sheep he guarded with his sling and stones. It would seem that the animals David had faced were far braver than the men with Goliath, because they all turned and ran away (1 Samuel 17:51). David told Goliath that he (Goliath) came with spear and sword, but his weapon was God the Father (1 Samuel 17:37). He trusted God with all his heart, believing that God would tell him exactly what to do and how. And so He did.

Others speculate that David chose five smooth stones because Goliath had four brothers, and David was readying himself to dispatch all five giants. This theory is based on 2 Samuel 21:15–22. That passage lists four very large Philistines who were related to Goliath in some way: Ishbi-benob, Saph, Goliath, and an unnamed giant with six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot. “These four were born to the giant in Gath, and they fell by the hand of David and by the hand of his servants” (2 Samuel 21:22). The account of 1 Samuel 17 does not suggest that David knew about Goliath’s brothers or that he believed he would have to fight the whole family. What we know for sure is that David and his men faced four other giants, somehow related to Goliath, in later battles.

David’s faith was in the Lord, and he knew from experience God’s faithfulness. David’s faith was born out of his experience of God’s grace and mercy in his life up to that point. The Lord had delivered him out of dangerous situations in the past, proving His power and trustworthiness, and David relied on Him to deliver him from the Philistine. Whether it took one stone or five, David recognized that the power was not in his sling but in the Lord of hosts. As David wrote later in Psalm 21:13, “Be exalted, O LORD, in your strength; we will sing and praise your might.”


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In Matthew 23 Jesus pronounces “woes” on the scribes and Pharisees, the religious elite of the day. The word woe is an exclamation of grief, denunciation, or distress. This was not the first time Jesus had some harsh words for the religious leaders of His day. Why did Jesus rebuke them so harshly here? Looking at each woe gives some insight.

Before pronouncing the woes, Jesus told His listeners to respect the scribes and Pharisees due to their position of authority but not to emulate them, “for they do not practice what they preach. They tie up heavy, cumbersome loads and put them on other people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them. Everything they do is done for people to see” (Matthew 23:3–5). The scribes and Pharisees were supposed to know God and help others know Him and follow His ways. Instead, the religious leaders added to God’s Law, making it a cumbersome and onerous burden. And they did not follow God with a pure heart. Their religion was not true worship of God; rather, it was rooted in a prideful heart. Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount emphasizes the true intent of the Law over the letter of the Law. The scribes and Pharisees emphasized the letter, completely missing its spirit.

The first woe is, “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the door of the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to” (Matthew 23:13). Jesus cares for people. He desires for them to know Him and to enter into His kingdom (John 3:16–17; 10:10, 17; 2 Peter 3:9). After rebuking the scribes and Pharisees, Jesus lamented over rebellious Jerusalem (Matthew 23:37–39). Clearly, His heart is for people to find life in Him. It stands to reason, then, that He would have harsh words for those who prevented people from finding salvation. The teachers of the Law and Pharisees were not truly seeking after God, though they acted as if they were. Their religion was empty, and it was preventing others from following the Messiah.

In the second woe, Jesus condemns the scribes and Pharisees for making strenuous efforts to win converts and then leading those converts to be “twice as much” children of hell as the scribes and Pharisees were (Matthew 13:15). In other words, they were more intent on spreading their religion than on maintaining the truth.

The third woe Jesus pronounces against the scribes and Pharisees calls the religious leaders “blind guides” and “blind fools” (Matthew 23:16–17). Specifically, Jesus points out, they nit-picked about which oaths were binding and which were not, ignoring the sacred nature of all oaths and significance of the temple and God’s holiness (verses 15–22).

The fourth woe calls out the scribes and Pharisees for their practice of diligently paying the tithe while neglecting to actually care for people. While they were counting their mint leaves to make sure they gave one tenth to the temple, they “neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness” (Matthew 23:23). Once again, they focused on the letter of the Law and obeyed it with pride, but they missed the weightier things of God. Their religion was external; their hearts were not transformed.

Jesus elaborates on their hypocrisy in the fifth woe. He tells the religious leaders they appear clean on the outside, but they have neglected the inside. They perform religious acts but do not have God-honoring hearts. It does no good, Jesus says, to clean up the outside when the inside is “full of greed and self-indulgence” (Matthew 23:25). The Pharisees and scribes are blind and do not recognize that, when the inside is changed, the outside, too, will be transformed.

In the sixth woe, Jesus claims the scribes and Pharisees are “like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean” (Matthew 23:27). The deadness inside of tombs is likened to the “hypocrisy and wickedness” inside the religious leaders (verse 28). Once again, they appear to obey God, but their hearts are far from Him (see Matthew 15:7–9 and Isaiah 29:13).

Jesus concludes His seven-fold rebuke by telling the religious leaders that they are just like their fathers, who persecuted the prophets of old. In building monuments to the prophets, they testify against themselves, openly admitting that it was their ancestors who killed the prophets (Matthew 23:29–31). Although they arrogantly claim that they would not have done so, they are the ones who will soon plot the murder of the Son of God Himself (Matthew 26:4).

Jesus’ words are harsh because there was so much at stake. Those who followed the Pharisees and scribes were being kept from following God. So much of the teaching in Jesus’ day was in direct contradiction of God’s Word (see Matthew 15:6). The religious leaders made a mockery out of following God. They did not truly understand God’s ways, and they led others away from God. Jesus’ desire was that people would come to know God and be reconciled with Him. In Matthew 11:28–30 Jesus said, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Unlike the burdens the scribes and Pharisees laid on the people in a human effort to gain reconciliation with God, Jesus gives true rest. The religious leaders spread lies covered in a veneer of godliness (John 8:44); Jesus spoke harshly against them because He came to bring life (John 10:10).

Also, the word woe carries with it a tinge of sorrow. There is an element of imprecation, to be sure, but with it an element of compassionate sadness. The seven woes that Jesus pronounces on the religious leaders are solemn declarations of future misery. The stubbornness of the sinners to whom He speaks is bringing a judgment to be feared. The scribes and Pharisees are calling down God’s wrath upon themselves, and they are to be pitied.

Immediately after Jesus’ rebuke of the scribes and Pharisees, we see Jesus’ compassion. He asks, “How will you escape being condemned to hell?” (Matthew 23:33). Jesus then expresses His desire to gather the people of Israel to Himself for safety, if only they were willing (verse 37). God longs for His people to come to Him and find forgiveness. Jesus was not harsh to be mean. He was not having a temper tantrum. Rather, love guided His actions. Jesus spoke firmly against the deception of Satan out of a desire for people to know truth and find life in Him.


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“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when you have succeeded, you make them twice as much a child of hell as you are” (Matthew 23:15). This is one of the “seven woes” pronounced by the Lord against the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law. To understand why Jesus would refer to a convert of the Pharisees as a “child of hell” (literally, “son of Gehenna”), we have to look at the context of Jesus’ words. Jesus is instructing His followers about the religious hypocrites who are themselves “children of hell.”

Jesus begins His condemnation of the religious leaders of the day in Matthew 22 with a parable. The story of the wedding feast (Matthew 22:1–15) condemns the leaders’ self-righteousness and their refusal to accept God’s provision for their salvation. Because their hearts were still hard, they responded by trying to entrap Jesus with questions about taxes (verses 16–22), the resurrection (verses 23–33), and the Law (verses 34–40). Jesus avoided their traps and indicted them for knowing neither the Scriptures nor the power of God (verse 29). Then He turned the tables on them, asking them a question they couldn’t answer about the Messiah (verses 41–46). Once He had silenced them, He used the occasion to teach His disciples the truth about the teachers of the Law in chapter 23.

To be a child of hell is to be deserving of hell, that is, to be awfully wicked. In Matthew 23, Jesus explains that the Pharisees and Sadducees displayed their wickedness in many ways. They did not practice what they preached (verse 3). They burdened the people with religious rituals and ceremonies of their own invention and made no effort to help them to bear them (verse 4). All their religious rituals were done in a public manner in order to receive the praise and glory from others (verses 5–7). For all these sins and more, Jesus pronounces “woes” upon them for their guilt and the punishment that would surely await them.

The Pharisees and their converts were children of hell primarily because they rejected God’s provision for their salvation, attempting to justify themselves through their own righteous deeds. In so doing, they “shut the door of the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces” (Matthew 23:13). Jesus said that, when they made a Gentile convert, they made him double the child of hell that they were—the former pagan became twice the hypocrite that they were, twice as confirmed in wickedness. By opposing Jesus, the leaders tried to convince people that He was an impostor. Many were ready to embrace Him as the Messiah and were about to enter into the kingdom of heaven, but the hypocrites prevented it. Jesus says they had “taken away the key of knowledge” (Luke 11:52), meaning they had taken away the right interpretation of the ancient prophecies respecting the Messiah. In that way they prevented the people from receiving Jesus as their promised Redeemer.

Just as the Pharisees and Sadducees became children of hell by rejecting Jesus as their only Savior, so do millions today. All who remain in their sins are deserving of hell because God demands justice, and wickedness must be paid for (Romans 6:23). If we reject Christ’s payment for our sins, we must pay for them ourselves, thus rendering ourselves children of hell.


In Matthew 23, Jesus pronounces seven “woes” on the religious leaders of His day. A “woe” is an exclamation of grief, similar to what is expressed by the word alas. In pronouncing woes, Jesus was prophesying judgment on the religious elite who were guilty of hypocrisy and sundry other sins.

The King James Version and some other translations list eight woes in Matthew 23, but older manuscripts leave out verse 14, in which the scribes and Pharisees are condemned for taking advantage of widows and making lengthy prayers for show. Elsewhere, Jesus speaks against those very sins (Mark 12:40 and Luke 20:47); most likely, however, Matthew did not include them among the other woes of chapter 23.

The seven woes are addressed to the teachers of the law and Pharisees; in one of the woes, He calls them “blind guides” (Matthew 23:16). At the end of His denunciations, He calls them “snakes” and “brood of vipers” (verse 33). Prior to Jesus’ condemnation of the religious hypocrites, they had been following Him to test Him and try to trick Him with questions about divorce (Matthew 19:3), about His authority (Matthew 21:23), about paying taxes to Caesar (Matthew 22:17), about the resurrection (verse 23), and about the greatest commandment of the law (verse 36). Jesus prefaced His seven woes by explaining to the disciples that they should obey the teachings of the Jewish leaders—as they taught the law of God—but not to emulate their behavior because they did not practice what they preached (Matthew 23:3).

The first of Jesus’ seven woes condemned the scribes and Pharisees for keeping people out of the kingdom of heaven: “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the door of the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to” (Matthew 23:13). Jesus is the only Savior and the only way to heaven. In their rejection of Jesus Christ, the Pharisees were effectively refusing to enter the kingdom of heaven. They also hindered the common people from believing in Him, thereby blocking the way to heaven for others. Repentance and faith in Christ is the door of admission into this kingdom, and nothing could be more disagreeable to the Pharisees, who saw no need for repentance in their own lives and attempted to justify themselves by strict adherence to the law.

In the second of the seven woes, Jesus condemned the leaders for teaching their converts the same hypocrisy that they themselves practiced. They led their converts into a religion of works, but not into true righteousness, making them “twice as much a child of hell” (Matthew 13:15).

The third woe Jesus pronounced referred to the religious elite as “blind guides” and “blind fools” (Matthew 23:16–17). The hypocrites fancied themselves guides of the blind (see Romans 2:19), but they themselves were blind and therefore unfit to guide others. Their spiritual blindness caused them to be ignorant of many things, including the identity of the Messiah and the way of salvation. They were blind to the true meaning of Scripture and to their own sin. They purported to guide the people into the truth, but they were incapable of doing so because they had no personal knowledge of the truth. Instead of teaching spiritual truth, they preferred to quibble over irrelevant matters and find loopholes in the rules (Matthew 23:16–22).

The fourth of the seven woes called out the scribes and Pharisees for their hypocrisy in the practice of tithing. They made a big deal of small things like tithing spices, while they ignored crucial matters. They diligently counted their mint leaves to give every tenth one to the temple, but they “neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness” (Matthew 23:23). Turning to hyperbole, Jesus said, “You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel” (verse 24). In other words, they were careful to avoid offense in minor things of little importance (straining gnats), while tolerating or committing great sins (swallowing camels).

In the fifth, sixth, and seventh woes, Jesus further illustrated the different aspects of hypocrisy that characterized the religious leaders. In the fifth woe, Jesus likened them to dishes that were scrupulously cleaned on the outside but left dirty inside. Their religious observances made them appear clean and virtuous, but inwardly their hearts were full of “greed and self-indulgence” (Matthew 23:25).

In the sixth woe, Jesus compared them to “whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean” (Matthew 23:27). The rotting corpse inside a tomb was like the hypocrisy and lawlessness in the hearts of the scribes and Pharisees. They appeared righteous on the outside, but they were just beautified tombs; inwardly, they were spiritually dead.

The hypocrisy Jesus addressed in the seventh woe was directed to those who erected monuments and decorated the tombs of the prophets of old. Jesus points out that those prophets had been slain by the Pharisees’ own ancestors. They imagined themselves much better than their fathers, saying, “If we had lived in the days of our ancestors, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets” (Matthew 23:30). But in that very statement they acknowledged their lineage: Jesus says they were truly their fathers’ sons; they had inherited their ancestors’ wickedness and were following in their steps. Jesus knew their evil hearts, which would soon plot to murder Him (Matthew 26:4) just as their ancestors had murdered the righteous men of old.

The seven woes of Matthew 23 were dire warnings to the religious leaders of Jesus’ day. But they also serve to warn us against religious hypocrisy today. We are called to true godliness, sincere love, and enduring faith. Pretension, affectation, and hypocrisy will only lead to woe.


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The Quest Study Bible

The condemnation you are like whitewashed tombs was part of Jesus’ indictment of the scribes and Pharisees in Matthew 23. It is one of seven woes Jesus pronounced on the religious leaders as He confronted them about their hypocrisy.

Whitewashed tombs means exactly what it sounds like: tombs or mausoleums that have been covered with white paint, so they “look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean” (Matthew 23:27). This speaks to the spiritual condition of the scribes and Pharisees. Outwardly, they were holy and clean, but inside they were spiritually dead.

The comparison to whitewashed tombs would have been quite offensive because the Mosaic Law states, “Whoever touches the dead body of any person shall be unclean seven days” (Numbers 19:11, ESV). For a group of people who prided themselves on ceremonial cleanliness and following the law, the accusation that they were full of dead bodies would be insufferable. That was precisely Jesus’ point, though. They may have been ceremonially clean, but, inside, they were the highest level of unclean—full of the death and decay they tried so hard to avoid.

Such a harsh statement from Jesus reveals His anger at the hypocrisy in the religious leaders, who only cared about appearances. They took care of what people could see—and took pride in it—but they neglected what God could see. They “painted the outside,” leaving the inside full of greed and self-indulgence (Matthew 23:25). In their eyes, if they followed the law to the letter, they were holy, and the condition of their hearts wouldn’t matter. Jesus needed to confront the superficiality of these dangerous leaders who did not practice what they preached. The whitewashed tombs were leading themselves and others to death and separation from God (Matthew 23:15).

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus explained that the law was less about what to do and not do and more about changing the heart. One analogy is that the law is like a mirror, revealing the flaws in man and how much they need God, like a mirror showing the food stuck between one’s teeth. The law can reveal uncleanness, but it cannot be used to make a person righteous; only God can do that. The Pharisees were taking the mirror off the wall and trying to use it to pick their teeth. It simply does not work.

Whitewashed tombs work as a good contrast to Jesus Himself, the Son of Man, who came to bring life (John 10:10). He offered rest and grace instead of the impossible burden and condemnation of the Pharisees (Matthew 11:28–30). The superficial cleanness of whitewashed tombs cannot compare to the deep-cleaning blood of Christ (1 John 1:7). “In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace” (Ephesians 1:7).


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Jesus had a lot to say about sanctification in John 17. In verse 16 the Lord says, “They are not of the world, even as I am not of it,” and this is before His request: “Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth” (verse 17). In Christian theology, sanctification is a state of separation unto God; all believers enter into this state when they are born of God: “You are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption” (1 Corinthians 1:30, ESV). The sanctification mentioned in this verse is a once-for-ever separation of believers unto God. It is a work God performs, an integral part of our salvation and our connection with Christ (Hebrews 10:10). Theologians sometimes refer to this state of holiness before God as “positional” sanctification; it is related to justification.

While we are positionally holy (“set free from every sin” by the blood of Christ, Acts 13:39), we know that we still sin (1 John 1:10). That’s why the Bible also refers to sanctification as a practical experience of our separation unto God. “Progressive” or “experiential” sanctification, as it is sometimes called, is the effect of obedience to the Word of God in one’s life. It is the same as growing in the Lord (2 Peter 3:18) or spiritual maturity. God started the work of making us like Christ, and He is continuing it (Philippians 1:6). This type of sanctification is to be pursued by the believer earnestly (1 Peter 1:15; Hebrews 12:14) and is effected by the application of the Word (John 17:17). Progressive sanctification has in view the setting apart of believers for the purpose for which they are sent into the world: “As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified” (John 17:18–19). That Jesus set Himself apart for God’s purpose is both the basis and the condition of our being set apart (see John 10:36). We are sanctified and sent because Jesus was. Our Lord’s sanctification is the pattern of and power for our own. The sending and the sanctifying are inseparable. On this account we are called “saints” (hagioi in the Greek), or “sanctified ones.” Prior to salvation, our behavior bore witness to our standing in the world in separation from God, but now our behavior should bear witness to our standing before God in separation from the world. Little by little, every day, “those who are being sanctified” (Hebrews 10:14, ESV) are becoming more like Christ.

There is a third sense in which the word sanctification is used in Scripture—a “complete” or “ultimate” sanctification. This is the same as glorification. Paul prays in 1 Thessalonians 5:23, “May the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ” (ESV). Paul speaks of Christ as “the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:27) and links the glorious appearing of Christ to our personal glorification: “When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory” (Colossians 3:4). This glorified state will be our ultimate separation from sin, a total sanctification in every regard. “We know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is” (1 John 3:2).

To summarize, “sanctification” is a translation of the Greek word hagiasmos, meaning “holiness” or “a separation.” In the past, God granted us justification, a once-for-all, positional holiness in Christ. In the present, God guides us to maturity, a practical, progressive holiness. In the future, God will give us glorification, a permanent, ultimate holiness. These three phases of sanctification separate the believer from the penalty of sin (justification), the power of sin (maturity), and the presence of sin (glorification).


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There are three accounts in the Gospels in which Jesus states that a kingdom divided against itself is laid waste or a house divided cannot stand (Luke 11:17; Mark 3:25; Matthew 12:25). All three instances of this statement are spoken in response to the Pharisees’ accusation that Jesus was casting out demons by the power of Satan—a blasphemy that Jesus said would not be forgiven them.

Jesus’ argument to the Pharisees was logical: a kingdom that is at cross-purposes with itself will fall. Any household riven by infighting will tear itself apart. Jesus was obviously casting demons out of people. If Jesus was in league with Satan, or if Satan was somehow working through Jesus, it is unlikely that exorcisms would be a priority, because why would Satan cast himself out? Satan has more practical wisdom than to allow his demonic underlings to group themselves into warring factions.

By saying that a house divided cannot stand, Jesus is illustrating the fact that success relies on congruency. This is something we see in daily life all the time. Whether it is a machine, a sports team, a government party, or one’s own mind, things have to work together if anything is to be accomplished. The Bible says that a double-minded man is unstable in all his ways (James 1:8), and Paul appeals to the churches that there be no divisions among the believers (1 Corinthians 1:10). In fact, churches should be unified in their purpose and judgment, avoiding people who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to sound doctrine (Romans 16:17). Christians are not to quarrel but to be unified around a common understanding of truth. “How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity!” (Psalm 133:1).

God commands unity among believers because, once conflict enters the midst of any assembly or entity, productivity and usefulness inevitably grind to a halt and the whole organization is weakened and becomes vulnerable to attack. As Jesus said, “Any kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and a house divided against itself will fall.”

A fruit of the Spirit is peace (Galatians 5:22). Christians are, as followers of the Prince of Peace, peaceful people (Matthew 5:9). We are called to live in harmony with one another (Romans 12:16) and, as far as it depends on us, to be at peace with everyone (Hebrews 12:14). Jesus Christ is building His church (Matthew 16:18). His “house” will stand; “his kingdom will not be destroyed, / his dominion will never end” (Daniel 6:26).

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The term blasphemy may be generally defined as “defiant irreverence.” The term can be applied to such sins as cursing God or willfully degrading things relating to God. Blasphemy is also attributing some evil to God or denying Him some good that we should attribute to Him. This particular case of blasphemy, however, is called “the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit” in Matthew 12:31. The Pharisees, having witnessed irrefutable proof that Jesus was working miracles in the power of the Holy Spirit, claimed instead that the Lord was possessed by a demon (Matthew 12:24). Notice in Mark 3:30 Jesus is very specific about what the Pharisees did to commit blasphemy against the Holy Spirit: “He said this because they were saying, ‘He has an impure spirit.’”

To blaspheme is to speak with contempt about God or to be defiantly irreverent. Blasphemy is verbal or written reproach of God’s name, character, work, or attributes.

Blasphemy was a serious crime in the law God gave to Moses. The Israelites were to worship and obey God. In Leviticus 24:10–16, a man blasphemed the name of God. To the Hebrews, a name wasn’t just a convenient label. It was a symbolic representation of a person’s character. The man in Leviticus who blasphemed God’s name was stoned to death.

Isaiah 36 tells the story of Sennacherib, king of Assyria, and his attempt to demoralize Jerusalem before he attacked. After pointing out Assyria’s many victories, he says, "Who of all the gods of these countries have been able to save their lands from me? How then can the LORD deliver Jerusalem from my hand?" (Isaiah 36:20). Sennacherib committed blasphemy by assuming Israel’s God was equal to the false gods of the surrounding nations. The king of Judah, Hezekiah, points out this blasphemy in his prayer to God, in which he asks that God deliver them for the purpose of defending His own honor (Isaiah 37:4, 17). And that’s exactly what God did. Isaiah 37:36-37 explains, "Then the angel of the LORD went out and put to death a hundred and eighty-five thousand in the Assyrian camp. When the people got up the next morning—there were all the dead bodies! So Sennacherib king of Assyria broke camp and withdrew. He returned to Nineveh and stayed there." Later, Sennacherib was murdered in the temple of his god Nisroch (Isaiah 37:38).

Followers of God are also responsible to make sure their behavior doesn’t incite others to blaspheme God. In Romans 2:17-24, Paul scolds those who claim to be saved through the law and yet still live in sin. Using Isaiah 52:5, Paul tells them, “God’s name is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you” (verse 24). In 1 Timothy 1:20 Paul explains that he had abandoned two false teachers to Satan so they would “be taught not to blaspheme”; thus, promulgating false doctrine and leading God’s people astray is also a form of blasphemy.

Jesus spoke of a special type of blasphemy--blasphemy against the Holy Spirit—committed by the religious leaders of His day. The situation was that the Pharisees were eyewitnesses to Jesus’ miracles, but they attributed the work of the Holy Spirit to the presence of a demon (Mark 3:22-30). Their portrayal of the holy as demonic was a deliberate, insulting rejection of God and was unforgivable.

The most significant accusation of blasphemy was one that happened to be completely false. It was for the crime of blasphemy that the priests and Pharisees condemned Jesus (Matthew 26:65). They understood that Jesus was claiming to be God. That would, indeed, be a reproach on God’s character—if it wasn’t true. If Jesus were just a man claiming to be God, He would have been a blasphemer. However, as the Second Person of the Trinity, Jesus could truthfully claim deity (Philippians 2:6).

Fortunately, Jesus forgives even the sin of blasphemy. Paul was a blasphemer (1 Timothy 1:13) and tried to make others blaspheme (Acts 26:11). Jesus’ own brothers thought He was insane (Mark 3:21). All repented, and all were forgiven.

Blasphemy, by definition, is both deliberate and direct. That being the case, a believer in Jesus Christ will not/cannot commit blasphemy. Even so, we should be careful to reflect God’s holiness and never misrepresent the glory, authority, and character of God.


Because Jeremiah was constantly proclaiming God’s judgment (“terror on every side,” Jeremiah 20:10), the people denounced Jeremiah. Even his friends were waiting for him to fall, hoping he was simply being deceived so they could reject him as a false prophet (Jeremiah 20:10). Rather than receive Jeremiah’s words as a message from God, they wanted to do violence to Jeremiah. The prophet takes the matter to God, to plead his cause before the Lord, and he waits for vindication from heaven: “Let me see your vengeance against them, for I have committed my cause to you” (Jeremiah 20:12, NLT).
Jeremiah 17:9 says, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” (KJV). The immediate context of the verse speaks of Judah’s sinfulness in spite of all the blessings of God. Jeremiah 17:1 says, “Judah’s sin is engraved with an iron tool, inscribed with a flint point, on the tablets of their hearts and on the horns of their altars.” Saying that their sin is inscribed on the tablets of their hearts is similar to saying that they are “desperately wicked” in verse 9.

The phrase desperately wicked is from the KJV. Some of the modern translations use other wording such as “beyond cure” (NIV) and “desperately sick” (NASB and ESV). The Hebrew word translated “desperately wicked” has the idea of a terminal, incurable illness.

While the immediate context speaks of the nation of Judah, that nation illustrates the human condition that is true everywhere and for everyone. This is a concept that theologians have called “total depravity.”

Romans 1—3 speaks of the total depravity of mankind. The following verses serve to illustrate the point:

Romans 1:29–32: “They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; they have no understanding, no fidelity, no love, no mercy. Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.”

Romans 3:9–18: “What shall we conclude then? Do we have any advantage? Not at all! For we have already made the charge that Jews and Gentiles alike are all under the power of sin. As it is written: ‘There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands; there is no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.’ ‘Their throats are open graves; their tongues practice deceit.’ ‘The poison of vipers is on their lips.’ ‘Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.’ ‘Their feet are swift to shed blood; ruin and misery mark their ways, and the way of peace they do not know.’ ‘There is no fear of God before their eyes.’”

Not every person will commit all the sins listed above. Total depravity does not mean that every person is as bad as he possibly can be, but that every person is completely consumed by sin and there is no hope of his turning it around and “getting better’ on his own. We are “desperately wicked.” Romans 8:8 says, “Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.” In the flesh in context refers to the natural person who has not been regenerated by the Spirit of God. The “illness” is terminal and incurable—so much so that Paul describes the unregenerate as “dead in sins” (Ephesians 2:1; Colossians 2:13).

The only hope for the sinful human heart is to be supernaturally changed. Jeremiah 31:33 gives the solution. Where sin was once inscribed on the hearts of His people, God provides a new inscription: “For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people.”

Jesus came to inaugurate a New Covenant so that sins could be forgiven and sinners could be born again (John 3:5). As “desperately wicked” people, we cannot reform our hearts by our own effort. The only solution is for God to make our hearts new, washed clean from sin and fundamentally reoriented toward pleasing Him.



​King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon was given an unusual opportunity to learn about what happens to those who walk in pride in Daniel 4. It was a hard lesson to learn, but an important one.

The king had a dream that troubled him, and only the prophet Daniel was able to provide the interpretation (Daniel 4:6–7). Nebuchadnezzar explained the dream: he had seen a great and glorious tree (Daniel 4:10–12). As he watched the tree, he saw someone come down from heaven and give an order that the tree be chopped down, but the stump was to remain (Daniel 4:14–15). Remarkably, the one who had come from heaven began to speak of the tree as if it were a person. From those words, the king understood that the person the tree signified would share with the animals the grass of the earth (Daniel 4:15) and his mind would be changed from that of a man to that of a beast for seven periods of time (Daniel 4:16). This sentence was pronounced so that all would know what happens to those who walk in pride (Daniel 4:37), that God is the Ruler of all, and that He bestows authority on whomever He wishes (Daniel 4:17).

As Daniel explains the meaning of the dream, he is alarmed, realizing it is about Nebuchadnezzar (Daniel 4:19). The king certainly walked in pride (Daniel 4:37), and God planned to humble him. The tree that was cut down in the dream was Nebuchadnezzar (Daniel 4:20–22), who would lose his glory and become like a beast for “seven times” so he would learn that God is the one who gives authority (Daniel 4:23–25). Once Nebuchadnezzar humbled himself before God, his kingdom would be returned to him (Daniel 4:26–27).

As the narrative of Daniel 4 continues, Nebuchadnezzar describes that all these things happened just as the dream predicted. A year later, Nebuchadnezzar was filled with pride as he commended himself for the greatness of the kingdom he had built (Daniel 4:29–30). While he was still speaking, Nebuchadnezzar lost his mind and became like a beast (Daniel 4:30–33). After the prophesied time, Nebuchadnezzar’s reason returned to him, and he humbled himself before God, exclaiming that God is sovereign and does according to His own will (Daniel 4:34–35). Nebuchadnezzar’s kingdom was restored, and, this time, rather than view it with personal pride, he praised, exalted, and honored God:

“His dominion is an eternal dominion;
his kingdom endures from generation to generation.
All the peoples of the earth
are regarded as nothing.
He does as he pleases
with the powers of heaven
and the peoples of the earth.
No one can hold back his hand
or say to him: ‘What have you done?’” (Daniel 4:34–35).


Nebuchadnezzar had learned what happens to those who walk in pride.

God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble (see Psalm 138:6; Proverbs 3:34; Matthew 23:12; James 4:6; 1 Peter 5:5). Jesus modeled the importance of humility—the willingness to treat others as worthy of more honor than oneself (Philippians 2:1–11). The quality of being humble before God (Micah 6:8) and treating others accordingly is demonstrated clearly in many ways in the Bible. Some of the lessons on humility show what happens to those who walk in pride (Daniel 4:37).



Besides being part of a city’s protection against invaders, city gates were places of central activity in biblical times. It was at the city gates that important business transactions were made, court was convened, and public announcements were heralded. Accordingly, it is natural that the Bible frequently speaks of “sitting in the gate” or of the activities that took place at the gate. In Proverbs 1, wisdom is personified: “At the head of the noisy streets she cries out, in the gateways of the city she makes her speech” (verse 21). To spread her words to the maximum number of people, Wisdom took to the gates.

The first mention of a city gate is found in Genesis 19:1. It was at the gate of Sodom that Abraham’s nephew, Lot, greeted the angelic visitors to his city. Lot was there with other leading men of the city, either discussing the day’s issues or engaging in important civic business.

In the Law of Moses, parents of a rebellious son were told to bring him to the city gate, where the elders would examine the evidence and pass judgment (Deuteronomy 21:18-21). This affirms that the city gate was central to community action.

Another important example is found in the book of Ruth. In Ruth 4:1-11, Boaz officially claimed the position of kinsman-redeemer by meeting with the city elders at the gate of Bethlehem. There, the legal matters related to his marriage to Ruth were settled.

As Israel combatted the Philistines, the priest Eli waited at the city gate for news regarding the ark and to hear how his sons fared in the battle (1 Samuel 4:18).

When King David ruled Israel, he stood before his troops to give instructions from the city gate (2 Samuel 18:1-5). After his son Absalom died, David mourned but eventually returned to the city gate along with his people (2 Samuel 19:1-8). The king’s appearance at the gate signaled that the mourning was over, and the king was once again attending to the business of governing.

The city gate was important in other ancient cultures, as well. Esther 2:5-8 records that some of the king’s servants plotted at the king’s gate to murder him. Mordecai, a leading Jew in Persia, heard the plot and reported it to Esther, who gave the news to the king (Esther 2:19-23). The Persian court officials were identified as being “at the king’s gate” (3:3).

To control the gates of one’s enemies was to conquer their city. Part of Abraham’s blessing from the Lord was the promise that “your offspring shall possess the gate of his enemies” (Genesis 22:17).

When Jesus promised to build His Church, He said, “The gates of Hades will not overcome it” (Matthew 16:18). An understanding of the biblical implications of “gates” helps us interpret Jesus’ words. Since a gate was a place where rulers met and counsel was given, Jesus was saying that all the evil plans of Satan himself would never defeat the Church.


FOR FURTHER STUDY


When God revealed His plan to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah due to the wickedness of those cities, Abraham asked God to spare the people. In fact, Abraham engaged in a lengthy conversation to mediate for the cities.

First, Abraham wanted God to spare the righteous people who lived in Sodom and Gomorrah. He asked, “Will you indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked? Suppose there are fifty righteous within the city. Will you then sweep away the place and not spare it for the fifty righteous who are in it? Far be it from you to do such a thing, to put the righteous to death with the wicked, so that the righteous fare as the wicked! Far be that from you! Shall not the Judge of all the earth do what is just?” (Genesis 18:23-25).

Second, Abraham’s nephew Lot lived in Sodom. God did spare Lot and his two daughters, perhaps as a direct result of Abraham’s request. Genesis 19:29 states, “So it was that, when God destroyed the cities of the valley, God remembered Abraham and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow when he overthrew the cities in which Lot had lived.” Abraham certainly wanted to see his own extended family protected from God’s judgment.

Third, Abraham had compassion for the people of Sodom and Gomorrah. While he understood God’s judgment of sin, Abraham asked God to spare the city even if there could be found as few as ten righteous people (Genesis 18:32). God agreed to spare the city for the sake of ten righteous people. Apparently, fewer than ten righteous were found, since God did destroy the cities, sparing only Lot and his two daughters. (God also planned to rescue Lot’s wife, but she died when she disobeyed God and turned back to look at the city as it was being destroyed.)

Abraham’s compassion for the people of Sodom and Gomorrah reveals the heart of a man who cared greatly for others, including those who did not follow God. In fact, the angelic visitors who visited Lot were threatened by men of Sodom who desired to have sex with them. Though Sodom’s citizens were wicked, Abraham did not wish to see their destruction.

Like Abraham, we are called to have great compassion for others, including those whose lives do not follow God’s ways. Also, we must ultimately accept God’s judgments, even when His decisions are not our desired choices.

Abraham’s request for these cities to be spared was denied. God sometimes says “no” to our requests, too, even when we pray with good intentions. The Lord may have other plans that we do not understand, yet which are part of His perfect will.

Finally, consider how God did answer Abraham’s request by rescuing Lot and his daughters. Although Abraham’s mediatory work did not result in the sparing of the cities, it did bring about the salvation of Abraham’s nephew. Abraham’s prayers on behalf of others were important, just as our prayers are today.


The first incident involving Lot’s daughters appears in Genesis 19:1–11. Two men who were really angels appeared in Sodom where Lot lived with his family. The wicked men of the city surrounded Lot’s house seeking to have homosexual relations with the angels. Lot begged the men of the city not to do this evil thing, and he offered up his two virgin daughters to them instead.


The second incident (Genesis 19:30–38) occurs after Lot and his daughters had fled Sodom just before its destruction. Lot’s wife was destroyed for her disobedience during the journey, and Lot and his two daughters fled to live in a cave in a mountain. Afraid they would never have husbands or children in their hideout, Lot’s daughters plotted to make their father drunk so they could sleep with him and thereby assure that they would have children.

To our modern sensibilities, it’s hard to understand why God would allow these two terrible incidents to occur. We are told in 1 Corinthians 10:11 that the record of the Old Testament is meant as an “example” to us. In other words, God gives us the whole truth about biblical characters, their sin, their failures, their victories and good deeds, and we are to learn from their example, what to do and what not to do. In fact, this is one of the ways God teaches us what we need to know in order to make good choices as believers. We can learn the easy way by knowing and obeying God’s Word, we can learn the hard way by suffering the consequences of our mistakes, or we can learn by watching others and “taking heed” from their experiences.

Scripture does not reveal Lot’s reasoning for offering up his daughters. Whatever his thought process was, it was wrong and indefensible. Based on what is revealed about Lot’s life, one might wonder if he was righteous. However, there is no doubt that God had declared him to be positionally righteous, even during his time in Sodom. “And if God rescued righteous Lot, oppressed by the sensual conduct of unprincipled men (for by what he saw and heard that righteous man, while living among them, felt his righteous soul tormented day after day with their lawless deeds)” (2 Peter 2:7–8). At some point Lot had believed in the coming Messiah, and that faith resulted in a righteous standing before God. It is likely that Lot’s uncle, Abraham, had passed this truth down to him.

What we have in the story of Lot is an illustration of a man who once lived close to his godly relatives and had backslidden and was living according to his sin nature. Lot had moved to Sodom, even though he knew what it was, and he “sat in the gate” (Genesis 19:1). That sounds quite simple, but, in fact, sitting in the gate meant that Lot had so entered into the society of Sodom that he was a judge there (Genesis 19:9). In spite of his position, the men of Sodom had no respect for him because they knew he was a hypocrite.

We may sit in judgment of the culture of that day, but protecting one’s guests required great sacrifice. Was Lot right to offer his own daughters in place of the men the Sodomites wanted? No. We can see in the story that the Lord’s messengers protected Lot and his daughters in spite of Lot’s lack of character and worldly viewpoint. Lot meant to appease the men of Sodom so that the hospitality of his house would not be damaged, but he makes the wrong choice in offering his own daughters, and God’s messengers overruled him.

Genesis 19:31–32 tells us that Lot’s daughters believed there would be no man for them and no children. This may be because they saw the destruction of Sodom and believed they were the only people left on earth. They were trying to preserve the family line. Why did Lot have sex with his own daughters? He got drunk. Yes, his daughters conspired to get him drunk, but Lot willingly drank and, when he was drunk, he lost what little control and common sense he had (Genesis 19:30–38), and this is the final step in Lot’s backsliding. The lesson we can learn from this is, when a person has too much to drink, he does not make good choices and loses control of his morals and operates out of the sinful, carnal nature. As a result of the incest, two children were born, and those two children are the fathers of two nations that have been at odds with and the source of much suffering to Israel down through history.

Why did God allow Lot to offer his daughters, and why did He allow them to commit incest? Sometimes God gives us His reasons for doing something but not very often. The more we get to know God, the more we understand Him and His reasons for doing things. But, again, this doesn’t always happen. We must be very careful when we ask why God does something and be sure we are not calling into question God Himself, His judgment, His character, and His very nature.

The psalmist tells us, “As for God, His way is perfect” (Psalm 18:30). If God’s ways are “perfect,” then we can trust that whatever He does—and the reason for whatever He allows—is also perfect. This may not seem possible to us, but our minds are not God’s mind. It is true that we can’t expect to understand His mind perfectly, as He reminds us, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, says the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts” (Isaiah 55:8–9). Nevertheless, our responsibility to God is to obey Him, to trust Him, and to submit to His will, whether we understand it or not.

Lot did the things he did because he chose to live in his old sin nature and do what was easy, and he made choices to flirt with evil instead of living to honor God. As a result, there was suffering for Lot, his wife and daughters, and, by association, the nation of Israel for years to come. The lesson for us is that we need to make choices that do not conform to the world and to submit to the Word of God, which will guide us into living lives that are pleasing to God.


FOR FURTHER STUDY



FOR FURTHER STUDY
Genesis: Baker Commentary on the Old Testament Pentateuch by John Goldingay

The words sodomy and sodomize come from this biblical account. Sodomy is, literally, “the sin of Sodom.” The strict understanding of sodomy, based solely on the events of Genesis 19, would have to be “forcible anal sex, with one male homosexually raping another male anally.”

As with many details in ancient history, the exact origin of Moloch/Molech/Molek worship is unclear. The term Moloch is believed to have originated with the Phoenician mlk, which referred to a type of sacrifice made to confirm or acquit a vow. Melekh is the Hebrew word for “king.” It was common for the Israelites to combine the name of pagan gods with the vowels in the Hebrew word for shame: bosheth. This is how the goddess of fertility and war, Astarte, became Ashtoreth. The combination of mlk, melekh, and bosheth results in “Moloch,” which could be interpreted as “the personified ruler of shameful sacrifice.” It has also been spelled Milcom, Milkim, and Malik. Ashtoreth was his consort, and ritual prostitution was considered an important form of worship.

The Phoenicians were a loosely gathered group of people who inhabited Canaan (modern-day Lebanon, Syria, and Israel) between 1550 BC and 300 BC. In addition to sexual rituals, Moloch worship included child sacrifice, or “passing children through the fire.” It is believed that idols of Moloch were giant metal statues of a man with a bull’s head. Each image had a hole in the abdomen and possibly outstretched forearms that made a kind of ramp to the hole. A fire was lit in or around the statue. Babies were placed in the statue’s arms or in the hole. When a couple sacrificed their firstborn, they believed that Moloch would ensure financial prosperity for the family and future children.

Moloch/Molech worship wasn’t limited to Canaan. Monoliths in North Africa bear the engraving “mlk”—often written “mlk’mr” and “mlk’dm,” which may mean “sacrifice of lamb” and “sacrifice of man.” In North Africa, Moloch was renamed “Kronos.” Kronos migrated to Carthage in Greece, and his mythology grew to include his becoming a Titan and the father of Zeus. Moloch is affiliated with and sometimes equated to Ba’al, although the word ba’al was also used to designate any god or ruler.

In Genesis 12 Abraham followed God’s call to move to Canaan. Although human sacrifice was not common in Abraham’s native Ur, it was well-established in his new land. God later asked Abraham to offer Isaac as a sacrifice (Genesis 22:2). But then God distinguished Himself from gods like Moloch. Unlike the native Canaanite gods, Abraham’s God abhorred human sacrifice. God commanded Isaac to be spared, and He provided a ram to take Isaac’s place (Genesis 22:13). God used this event as an illustration of how He would later provide His own Son to take our place.

Over five hundred years after Abraham, Joshua led the Israelites out of the desert to inherit the Promised Land. God knew that the Israelites were immature in their faith and easily distracted from worshiping the one true God (Exodus 32). Before the Israelites had even entered Canaan, God warned them not to participate in Moloch worship (Leviticus 18:21) and repeatedly told them to destroy those cultures that worshiped Moloch. The Israelites didn’t heed God’s warnings. Instead, they incorporated Moloch worship into their own traditions. Even Solomon, the wisest king, was swayed by this cult and built places of worship for Moloch and other gods (1 Kings 11:1–8). Moloch worship occurred in the “high places” (1 Kings 12:31) as well as a narrow ravine outside Jerusalem called the Valley of Hinnom (2 Kings 23:10).

Despite occasional efforts by godly kings, worship of Moloch wasn’t abolished until the Israelites’ captivity in Babylon. (Although the Babylonian religion was pantheistic and characterized by astrology and divination, it did not include human sacrifice.) Somehow, the dispersion of the Israelites into a large pagan civilization succeeded in finally purging them of their false gods. When the Jews returned to their land, they rededicated themselves to God, and the Valley of Hinnom was turned into a place for burning garbage and the bodies of executed criminals. Jesus used the imagery of this place—an eternally burning fire, consuming countless human victims—to describe hell, where those who reject God will burn for eternity (Matthew 10:28).


If you have not already, please read our article on pedophilia. While the Bible does not contain a detailed ranking of the wickedness of various sins, child molestation is surely near the top of the list. There is perhaps no more cruel, perverted, and loathsome sin than child molestation. Jesus consistently expressed compassion for children and anger toward anyone who would harm them (Matthew 19:14; Luke 17:1-2). While no sin is unforgivable, the evil of child molestation can only come from a warped and debauched heart and mind.

But the question at hand is what is the cause of the recent plague of child molestation incidents. Sadly and disturbingly, it does seem that child molestation is becoming more common. Given scandals involving Roman Catholic priests, Protestant leaders, man-boy love societies, and incidents involving parents, teachers, pastors, coaches, etc., the word “plague” is an apt description. While there is no way to give a conclusive answer or find a universal cause of this child molestation plague, there are definitely biblical principles which apply.

First, modern society is increasingly accepting of behaviors that the Bible declares to be sinful, immoral, and unnatural. While there is an enormous difference between child molestation and sexual acts involving consenting adults, the fact that society accepts behavior such as homosexuality allows people to consider far worse perversions of what God intended sex to be. And that leads to another question: why is society increasingly tolerant of aberrant behavior?

Child molestation and other perversions are becoming increasingly accepted because society has, for the most part, rejected the Christian worldview. The conventional wisdom is that humanity is not created in the image of God. Rather, humanity is the result of billions of years of the random processes of evolution. God is not the objective standard of morality. Rather, God is supposedly the invention of weak-minded people who are unable to accept the fact that everything in this world is meaningless.

There is also the possibility of demon possession as an explanation in some cases. Perhaps a sin so evil and twisted could only come from the minds of the most evil creatures, Satan and his horde of demons. Satan knows the damage that—apart from the miraculous healing of God—molestation does to a child. If Satan can destroy someone’s life during childhood, there is simply less work for him and his demons to do later. Satan desires to “devour” (1 Peter 5:8) and “steal, kill, and destroy” (John 10:10). What better way than by attacking the most vulnerable and impressionable of people?

The rejection of the Christian worldview and the acceptance of a secular, naturalistic worldview leaves us with no absolute standard by which to declare child molestation to be evil. For generations, we have told people they are nothing but animals, so we should not be surprised if they begin to act like animals. If there is no absolute moral standard, then the “boundaries” people push are imaginary ones. Ultimately, child molestation is a result of people denying God and living their lives however they want.

The Bible speaks of godless individuals who “suppress the truth,” saying, “Although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. . . . Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. They exchanged the truth about God for a lie. . . . Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. . . . They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil . . . they have no understanding, no fidelity, no love, no mercy. Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them” (Romans 1:18-32).


There is no direct mention of pedophilia in the Bible. But, there are numerous biblical principles that definitely apply to this sin. One such principle is the Bible’s view of the sin of fornication. The word translated “fornication” has the same idea in both the Hebrew and the Greek. The Greek word is porneia, from which we get the English words porno and pornography. The word in Scripture refers to any illicit sexual activity, and this would have to include the abhorrent acts of a pedophile—including the gathering and trading of obscene or indecent pictures of young children. People who use this type of pornography usually graduate from looking to actually doing, bringing great harm to children. Fornication is among the “lusts of the flesh” (Galatians 5:16–21) and among the evil things that come from the heart of a man apart from God (Mark 7:21–23).

Pedophiles share the characteristic of being “without natural affection” (Romans 1:31; 2 Timothy 3:2). The phrase “without natural affection” is translated from one Greek word, which means “inhuman, unloving, and unsociable.” One without natural affection acts in ways that are against the social norm. This would certainly describe a pedophile.

In addition, there is a principle found in Jesus’ words about children. Jesus used a child to teach His disciples that childlike faith is necessary for entrance into the kingdom of heaven. At the same time, He said that the Father has concern for all of His “little ones” (Matthew 18:1–14). In that passage, Jesus says, “But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea” (Matthew 18:6, KJV). The word offend in the Greek means “to cause one to stumble, to put a stumbling block or impediment in the way, upon which another may trip and fall, to entice to sin, or to cause a person to begin to distrust and desert one whom he ought to trust and obey.”

These definitions of the word offend can easily be applied to the actions of a pedophile. Of course, the principle of not harming a child can be applied to a wide range of child-abusive actions, and Matthew 18:10 makes the case against anyone who would bring any type of harm to a child.


There are some supporters of the homosexual movement who are interested in finding biblical justification for homosexuality. One tactic used to try to justify homosexuality is to claim that the Bible doesn't actually condemn homosexuality and that passages often interpreted as critical of homosexuality are in truth denouncing pedophilia. The claim is not supported by a careful reading of the Bible.

One passage usually cited in the argument that the Bible's references to homosexuality actually refer to pedophilia is Leviticus 18:22: "Do not have sexual relations with a man as one does with a woman; that is detestable." The specific claim, made by some apologists for homosexual behavior, is that the word translated "man" should be translated "boy." The "detestable" act, then, is having sexual relations with a boy, not with an adult male.

The Hebrew word in question is zakar. Strong's defines this word as "male, man, the gender of a species that is not female, with no focus on the age or stage in life." In other words, the focus of the word is the gender (male), irrespective of age. Zakar refers to any male, young or old. To choose the definition of "boy" instead of "man" or "male" reveals an interpretive bias. There's nothing in the context that would demand limiting the word to refer to a youth. The clear meaning of Leviticus 18:22 is that God forbids sexual relations with those of one's own gender—the age of the participants has no bearing on the command—and that's the way the verse has always been understood.

Another passage cited in regards to this issue is Leviticus 20:13: "If a man has sexual relations with a man as one does with a woman, both of them have done what is detestable. They are to be put to death; their blood will be on their own heads." Again, some claim that the word translated "man" in the phrase with a man is more correctly translated "boy," making the "detestable" thing pedophilia.

In Leviticus 20:13, there are two different Hebrew words translated "man." The first is ish, the most common Hebrew word for "man"; and the second is zakar, which emphasizes the specific idea of gender (male, as opposed to female). We could put it this way: "If a man (ish) has sex with another male (zakar). . . ." As in the case of Leviticus 18:22, there is nothing in the context that would narrow the meaning of zakar to "underage male."

Reading the whole of Leviticus 20:13, we do have good reason for insisting that zakar is rightly translated "man," as in "an adult male." Here is the verse in the CSB translation: "If a man sleeps with a man as with a woman, they have both committed a detestable act. They must be put to death; their death is their own fault" (emphasis added). Note that the detestable act is committed by "both" men. Both are equally guilty, and the punishment for both is the same. This is clearly not a case of an adult preying upon a child; these are two consenting adults (both of whom are males) who are having sex with each other.

A careful reading of the entire Bible shows unity on the issue of homosexuality (along with other sexual sins, like adultery). It is wrong. See 1 Corinthians 6:9–10 and Romans 1:22–26; in neither passage can the practice of homosexuality be referring to pedophilia. To keep everything in perspective, we are no longer under the Mosaic Law. Sin is still sin, but Christ has died for sinners, and for the one who confesses his sin and turns to Christ, redemption is promised. "Some of you were once like that. But you were cleansed; you were made holy; you were made right with God by calling on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God" (1 Corinthians 6:11, NLT).


In speaking to His disciples about a coming time of great destruction, Jesus mentioned what happened to Lot’s wife and the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. “Remember Lot’s wife!” He said. “Whoever tries to keep their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life will preserve it” (Luke 17:32–33).

The story of Lot and his wife is found in Genesis 19. God had determined to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah for their wickedness (Genesis 18:16–33), and two angels warned Abraham’s nephew Lot to evacuate the city so he and his family would not be destroyed. In Genesis 19 we read, The two [angels in the form of] men said to Lot, ‘Do you have anyone else here—sons-in-law, sons or daughters, or anyone else in the city who belongs to you? Get them out of here, because we are going to destroy this place. The outcry to the LORD against its people is so great that he has sent us to destroy it’” (verses 12–13).

At dawn the next day, the angels hurried Lot and his family out of Sodom so they would not be destroyed with the city. When Lot hesitated, “the men grasped his hand and the hands of his wife and of his two daughters and led them safely out of the city, for the LORD was merciful to them. As soon as they had brought them out, one of them said, ‘Flee for your lives! Don’t look back, and don’t stop anywhere in the plain! Flee to the mountains or you will be swept away!’” (Genesis 19:16–17).

As the family fled, “the Lord rained down burning sulfur on Sodom and Gomorrah—from the Lord out of the heavens” (Genesis 19:24). But, then, in disobedience to the angel’s command, “Lot’s wife looked back, and she became a pillar of salt” (verse 26).

Lot’s wife lost her life because she “looked back.” This was more than just a glance over the shoulder; it was a look of longing that indicated reluctance to leave or a desire to return. Whatever the case, the point is she was called to desert everything to save her life, but she could not let go, and she paid for it with her life. In Judaism, Lot’s wife became a symbol for a rebellious unbeliever.

Jesus cites this story in Luke 17, as He describes a future event: “It was the same in the days of Lot. People were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building. But the day Lot left Sodom, fire and sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all. It will be just like this on the day the Son of Man is revealed. On that day no one who is on the housetop, with possessions inside, should go down to get them. Likewise, no one in the field should go back for anything. Remember Lot’s wife! Whoever tries to keep their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life will preserve it” (verses 28–33). It seems that, by the time of Moses, the human genetic code had become polluted enough that close intermarriage was no longer safe. So, God commanded against sexual relations with siblings, half-siblings, parents, and aunts/uncles (Genesis 2:24 seems to indicate that marriage and sexual relations between parents and children were never allowed by God). It was not until many centuries later that humanity discovered the genetic reason that incest is unsafe and unwise. Genetics was not an issue in the early centuries of humanity, and the marriages that occurred between Adam and Eve’s children, Abraham and Sarah, and Amram and Jochebed were not selfish pursuits of sexual gratification or abuses of authority; accordingly, those relationships should not be viewed as incestuous. The key is that sexual relations between close relatives were viewed differently pre-Law and post-Law. It did not become “incest” until God commanded against it.
 
When “the Son of Man is revealed,” it will be time for people to flee. There will be no time to take anything along. If you see the sign when you are on the roof (a rooftop deck with exterior stairs was a common feature of houses at the time), you should not even take time to go into the house to gather up your possessions. You need to get out and “don’t look back.” Lot’s wife is the example of what will happen if you do. If you try to save your life (that is, your things that your life is made up of), you will lose everything. Leave it all to save your life.

The scenario is similar to a person who wakes up in the middle of the night to find the house in flames. That person might be tempted to run around and gather up valuable items, but the delay might prevent escape—all the things will be lost, as well as the person’s life. It is better to leave it all behind and get out with your life. The principle is clear, but the exact referent is more difficult to discern.

The revelation of the Son of Man is the event in view in Luke 17. Mark 13:14–16 records much the same message without the mention of Lot’s wife. There, the sign is “the abomination that causes desolation” (see also Matthew 24:15–18). Finally, Jesus mentions a similar situation in Luke 21:20–21: “When you see Jerusalem being surrounded by armies, you will know that its desolation is near. Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, let those in the city get out, and let those in the country not enter the city.”

The above passages are open to several different approaches to interpretation, centered on when this will take place. If we are correct that all of these passages describe roughly the same event(s), it would seem that “the day the Son of Man is revealed,” “the abomination that causes desolation,” and “Jerusalem surrounded by armies” all refer to the signal that it is time to flee.

Outside of Luke 17, the warnings to flee are found in the context of the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem (see Luke 21:5–7 and Mark 13:1–4). In Matthew 24:1–3, Jesus also deals with the destruction of the temple, except there the disciples also ask specifically about “the sign of your coming and the end of the age.” So, at least some of the prophecy was fulfilled in the first century with the destruction of the temple, but that does not preclude a future, fuller fulfillment at the second coming. The wording in Luke 17, in which Jesus speaks of the revelation of the Son of Man, certainly seems to suggest the second coming (see Colossians 3:4).

Jewish believers in the first century faced persecution from Rome, often at Jewish instigation. As long as Christians were considered a sect of Judaism, they enjoyed religious freedom as Jews. However, as they were denounced by Jewish leaders and no longer considered part of Judaism, the full force of Roman expectations applied to them, including the requirement to affirm the creed “Caesar is Lord” and offer sacrifices to Caesar. If Christians failed to do this, they could be punished, imprisoned, or even killed. As a result, believing Jews faced continual pressure to “go back to the temple.” The book of Hebrews encourages believing Jews to remain true to Christ and not return to the Old Covenant system of the temple, priests, and sacrifices. Hebrews explains that the Old Covenant has passed.

There may have been some believing Jews in Judea who still had some attachment to the temple. In Luke 17, Jesus warns that there will come a time when they see a symbol of impending judgment, and they will need to get out of the area as quickly as possible. Just as God rained down wrath on Sodom and Gomorrah, He will judge Jerusalem. The coming wrath is no time for divided loyalties. While many believed that God would never allow the temple to be destroyed, Jewish Christians knew that the usefulness of the temple had passed and its days were numbered. They could stay on in Jerusalem and witness of the resurrected Christ, but when they saw that judgment was about to fall, they knew to get out. Eusebius in his Church History records that they did escape. By abandoning everything and getting out of the city, the Christians not only saved their lives but also gave testimony to the fact that the Old Covenant had been replaced by the New.

A similar sentiment is expressed by Jesus in other contexts, although Lot’s wife is not mentioned. Jesus said, “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God” (Luke 9:62). In context, Jesus is talking about people who want to follow Him but are hindered by their concern for other things. It is not just that they look back, but they have divided loyalties, like Lot’s wife.

Jesus also used the statement “whoever wants to save his life shall lose it” in a number of different contexts (Matthew 10:39; 16:25; Mark 8:35, Luke 9:24; 17:33). Regardless of the specifics of the context, following Jesus requires turning our backs on the “life” that this world offers. Attempting to “save your life” is the same as “looking back.” Attachment to our “old life” will cause us to lose our lives, and Lot’s wife is the illustration and example that we would do well to remember.


These incidents, however, do not prove that one sin is the “greatest sin” of all. Proverbs 6:16–19 is a catalog of the seven sins God hates and are detestable to Him: “Haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that are quick to rush into evil, a false witness who pours out lies and a man who stirs up dissension among brothers.” But none of the seven are identified as a greater sin than any of the others, and none are identified as the greatest sin.

Although the Bible doesn’t name any one sin as the greatest sin, it does refer to the unpardonable sin, which is the sin of unbelief. There is no pardon for a person who dies in unbelief. The Bible is clear that, in His love for mankind, God provided the means of eternal salvation—Jesus Christ and His death on the cross—for “whoever believes in Him” (John 3:16). The only condition under which forgiveness would not be granted concerns those who reject the only means of salvation. Jesus said, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6), making it clear that He and He alone is the path to God and salvation. To reject the only means of salvation is unpardonable and, in that sense, is the greatest sin of all.

In John 16:8, Jesus promised to send the Holy Spirit: “When [the Spirit] comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment” (ESV). In this verse, we see a three-fold ministry the Spirit will perform in relation to the unsaved world. He will “convict” the world; that is, He will reprove it or show it to be wrong. This reproof will target three areas in which the world needs admonishing: sin, righteousness, and judgment.

Jesus went on to explain: “Concerning sin, because they do not believe in me; concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer; concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged” (John 16:9–11, ESV).

The world is a sinful place, and one of the Holy Spirit’s tasks is to convict the world of its sin. No amount of preaching, pleading, or pointing of fingers will bring about the conviction of sin, unless the Holy Spirit is at work in the sinner’s heart. It is the Spirit’s job to convict. And what is the most basic sin of which the world is guilty? Jesus specifies it as unbelief. The convicting power of the Holy Spirit is at work in the world “because they believe not in [Christ].” Once a person responds to the Spirit’s conviction and turns to faith in Christ, the other sins he practiced will be taken care of. It is the sin of unbelief—a refusal to trust in Jesus—that is primary.

The world must also be convicted of righteousness, and this, too, is something the Holy Spirit does. There is a righteous standard we are all held to, despite the world’s stubborn denial of absolute truth. And who is the standard-bearer of righteousness? Jesus points to Himself as that standard: “Because I go to the Father.” There is only one Person who came down from heaven, lived a life of sinless perfection, and who ascended back to heaven—the Son of Man, who lives to be our Intercessor (John 3:13; 1 Timothy 2:5). The righteousness that the world tries to deny is found demonstrated in Christ. Everything He ever said and did was the consummate expression of God the Father (John 8:28; Colossians 2:9). He is righteousness personified, and none can measure up to Him (Romans 3:23).

The world is facing judgment, and the Holy Spirit also convicts them of this truth. There is a day of reckoning scheduled—a day in which the holy God will mete out justice and rid His creation of sin. In fact, this judgment has already begun. With whom did it begin? Jesus identifies Satan as the one on whom judgment fell: “Because the ruler of this world is cast out.” Jesus had earlier indicated that His death on the cross was when “the prince of this world will be driven out” (John 12:31). It was on the cross that Jesus redeemed sinners for God and utterly vanquished Satan. “That by his death he might break the power of him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil” (Hebrews 2:14). Three days later Jesus rose from the dead, showing to all the world that Satan’s rule has been overthrown. All who reject Christ and remain in their sin will be condemned along with Satan, and this is the warning that the Holy Spirit sounds in the hearts of the unsaved.

The influence of the Holy Spirit in an unsaved person’s life will lead that person to the realization that he is guilty, that God is just, and that all sinners are deserving of judgment. Once a sinner has been awakened to his soul’s great need, the Spirit will point him to Christ, the one and only Savior and Refuge from judgment (John 16:14). In all of this, the Spirit uses His “sword,” the Word of God (Ephesians 6:17), and the result is a regenerated heart. “Faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ” (Romans 10:17).



An unclean spirit is simply a New Testament synonym, a more descriptive Jewish term, for a demon. The terms unclean spirit and demon seem to be interchangeable in Scripture. There is no clear difference in their definitions. Some translations refer to them as “impure spirits.”

Throughout the New Testament, the term unclean spirits (akathartos in the Greek language) is mentioned over twenty times. Throughout those passages we read that unclean spirits can possess people and cause them sickness and harm (Matthew 10:1; 12:43; Mark 1:26; Luke 4:36; 6:18; Acts 5:16; 8:7), that they are searching for someone to possess if they are not currently possessing someone (Matthew 12:43), that some are more unclean or evil than others (Luke 11:26), that unclean spirits can interact with one another (Mark 5:1–20; Matthew 12:45), and that unclean spirits are under God’s authority and must submit to Him (Mark 1:27; 3:11; 5:8, 13).

An unclean spirit or demon is “unclean” in that it is wicked. Evil spirits are not only wicked themselves, but they delight in wickedness and promote wickedness in humans. They are spiritually polluted and impure, and they seek to contaminate all of God’s creation with their filth. Their foul, putrid nature is in direct contrast to the purity and incorruption of the Holy Spirit’s nature. When a person is defiled by an unclean spirit, he takes pleasure in corrupt thoughts and actions; when a person is filled with the Holy Spirit, his thoughts and actions are heavenly.

Some people hold the idea that unclean spirits or demons are deceased humans who may or may not have been evil while alive. However, we know the unclean spirits mentioned in the Bible are not referring to the dead, for several reasons. One, humans are never called “spirits” when the word spirit is used as a stand-alone term, without a possessive. In Scripture, men are said to have a spirit/soul (saying “his spirit” in Proverbs 25:28 and 1 Corinthians 5:5), but men are not called “spirits.” Another reason is that, once a person dies, he immediately goes either to eternal life with the Lord or to eternal darkness in hell (Hebrews 9:27; 2 Corinthians 5:6–8; Matthew 25:46). Human spirits, therefore, do not and cannot wander on earth in their spirit bodies. Any unclean spirit that wanders around, taking up residence in places or people or interacting with people in any way, is a fallen angel—a demon (Matthew 12:44). All unclean spirits mentioned in Scripture are demons, and all demons are definitely unclean, unholy, impure, evil spirits doomed to an eternity in hell (Matthew 25:41).


FOR FURTHER STUDY


In the fanciful tale of Dr. Faustus, a man makes a deal with the devil: in exchange for his body and soul, the man is to receive supernatural power and pleasures for 24 years. The devil agrees to the trade, and Dr. Faustus enjoys the pleasures of sin for a season, but his doom is sealed. At the end of 24 years, Faustus attempts to thwart the devil’s plans, but he meets a frightful demise, nonetheless. This legend works well as a morality tale and as a metaphor for the wages of sin, but the details of its plot are not biblical.

The Bible has no instance of a person “selling his soul” to Satan, and it never implies that making a bargain with the devil is possible. Here is some of what Scripture does reveal about Satan:

1) Satan has power enough to oppose even the angels (Jude 9; Daniel 10:12-13).

2) Satan seeks to deceive by masquerading as an angel of light (2 Corinthians 11:14-15).

3) God has provided the means of defending ourselves against Satan’s attacks (Ephesians 6:11-12).

4) Satan’s power is limited by God’s will (Job 1:10-12; 1 Corinthians 10:13).

5) As “the god of this world,” Satan has dominion over those who live without Christ in the world (2 Corinthians 4:4).

Surely, there are those who suffer under direct satanic control, such as the young medium of Philippi (Acts 16:16-19). And there are those who have devoted themselves to the devil’s work, such as the sorcerers Simon (Acts 8:9-11) and Elymas (Acts 13:8). However, in each of these three examples, the power of God prevails over Satan’s slavery. In fact, Simon is offered a chance to repent (Acts 8:22). Obviously, there had been no irrevocable “selling” of Simon’s soul.

Without Christ, we are all under condemnation of death (Romans 3:23). Before we are saved, we are all in bondage to the devil, as 1 John 5:19 says, “The whole world lies in the power of the evil one.” Praise the Lord, we have a new Master, One who can break the chains of any sin and set us free (1 Corinthians 6:9-11; Mark 5:1-15).


An unrepentant person knows that he or she has sinned and refuses to ask God for forgiveness or turn away from the sin. The unrepentant show no remorse for their wrongdoing and don’t feel the need to change. Unrepentance is the sin of willfully remaining sinful.

Repentance is a change of mind that results in a change of action. Repentance leads to life (Acts 11:18), and it is a necessary part of salvation. God commands everyone to repent and have faith in Christ (Acts 2:38; 17:30; 20:21). Unrepentance is therefore a serious sin with dire consequences. The unrepentant live in a state of disobedience to God, unheeding of His gracious call. The unrepentant remain unsaved until they turn from their sin and embrace Christ’s sacrifice on the cross.

King Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived, wrote, “Whoever remains stiff-necked after many rebukes will suddenly be destroyed—without remedy” (Proverbs 29:1). To be stiff-necked is to have a stubborn, obstinate spirit that makes one unresponsive to God’s guidance or correction. The stiff-necked are, by definition, unrepentant.

The apostle Paul warned of the consequences of unrepentance: “Because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God’s wrath, when his righteous judgment will be revealed. God ‘will repay each person according to what they have done.’ To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, he will give eternal life. But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger. There will be trouble and distress for every human being who does evil” (Romans 2:5–9; cf. Psalm 62:12). There is a judgment coming. The results of righteousness will be beautiful, but the consequences of unrepentance will be harsh.

The book of Revelation shows how inured to sin the sinner can be. During the tribulation, after three different judgments of God, the wicked will remain unrepentant, despite their great suffering (Revelation 9:20–21; 16:8–11). The tragedy is that, even as some people are experiencing the horrendous consequences of their sin, they will continue in their state of unrepentance.

Is there such a thing as an unrepentant Christian? Biblically, to become a Christian, one must repent and believe; a believer in Christ is one who has repented of sin. What, then, of professed believers who live in unrepentant sin? Most likely, they are not saved; they are mere professors, with no work of the Holy Spirit in their hearts. The apostle John states it bluntly: “If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth” (1 John 1:6). The other possibility is that people claiming to be saved yet living in unrepentant sin are saved but acting in disobedience—in which case their unrepentance is a temporary hardness of heart, and God will discipline them (Hebrews 12:4–13). There is a sin unto death for the believer (1 John 5:16; cf. 1 Corinthians 11:29–31), but, barring that extreme circumstance, God will eventually restore His disobedient child to fellowship (see 1 Corinthians 5:1–5).

The unrepentant sinner needs to hear the good news of God’s salvation. God’s goodness leads people to repentance (Romans 2:4), and He is a God of forbearance and longsuffering. Christians should confess their own sins, pray for the unrepentant, and evangelize the unsaved: “Opponents [of the truth] must be gently instructed, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth, and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will” (2 Timothy 2:25–26).


FOR FURTHER STUDY



The Bible talks of “the ungodly” as those who are separated from God. Ungodliness is the condition of being polluted with sin. To be ungodly is to act in a way that is contrary to the nature of God, to actively oppose God in disobedience, or to have an irreverent disregard for God. The Bible often speaks of “the flesh” in reference to things that emanate from our sinful natures. The acts of the flesh and the desires of the world fall under the category of ungodliness.

Second Peter 3:7 says that the ungodly will face judgment. Revelation 20:14–15 says, “Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. Anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire.” Ultimately, those who reject God—the ungodly—will be separated from Him forever.

Jude refers to false teachers as ungodly. His description contains these characteristics of ungodliness: they pervert the grace of God into a license for immorality, and they deny Jesus Christ as the only Sovereign and Lord (Jude 1:4). Later, Jude mentions the “ungodly acts” of the wicked and “defiant words” that the ungodly speak against God (verse 15). The ungodly are also characterized as “grumblers and faultfinders” who selfishly follow “their own evil desires,” boast and flatter (verse 16). The ungodly scoff at the truth of God and attempt to divide churches (verses 18–19).

Amazingly, Jesus sacrificed Himself for the ungodly. Romans 5:6 and 8 says, “You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. . . . God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” God justifies the ungodly (Romans 4:5), clothing them with the righteousness of Christ and enabling them to “live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way” (Colossians 1:10).

Our sanctification is progressive. That is, even though we are saved and justified in Christ, we sometimes still act in ungodly ways. We are still in the process of being transformed into His image (Romans 8:29–30; 2 Corinthians 3:18; Philippians 1:6). We are declared righteous before God but are still being made holy in practical terms. In short, we still sin. Scripture says we should confess our sin and trust God’s forgiveness (1 John 1:8–9). Nothing can separate us from God’s love for us in Christ (Romans 8:31–39). We are no longer numbered among the ungodly, even though we still fight our fleshly urges and sometimes act in ungodly ways.

Generally speaking, the ungodly are those who do not know God through Jesus Christ. They have rejected God’s Son and remain in their sins. Those who are in Christ have their sins forgiven and are becoming more godly. Believers naturally seek to remove all ungodliness from their lives (1 John 3:9).



The Bible uses words such as iniquity, transgression, and trespass to indicate levels of disobedience to God. They are all categorized as “sin.” Micah 2:1 says, “Woe to those who plan iniquity, to those who plot evil on their beds! At morning’s light they carry it out because it is in their power to do it.”

The Hebrew word used most often for “iniquity” means “guilt worthy of punishment.” Iniquity is sin at its worst. Iniquity is premeditated, continuing, and escalating. When we flirt with sin, we fall for the lie that we can control it. But like a cute baby monkey can grow to be a wild, out-of-control primate, sin that seems small and harmless at first can take control before we know it. When we give ourselves over to a sinful lifestyle, we are committing iniquity. Sin has become our god rather than the Lord (Romans 6:14).

When we realize we have sinned, we have a choice. We can see it for the evil it is and repent. When we do, we find the forgiveness and cleansing of God (Jeremiah 33:8; 1 John 1:9). Or we can harden our hearts and go deeper into that sin until it defines us. Partial lists of iniquities are given in Galatians 5:19–21 and in 1 Corinthians 6:9–10. These are sins that become so consuming that a person can be identified by that lifestyle. The psalmists distinguish between sin and iniquity when they ask God to forgive both (Psalm 32:5; 38:18; 51:2; 85:2).

If we continue to choose sin, our hearts harden toward God. One sin leads to another, and iniquity begins to define our lives, as it did when David sinned with Bathsheba (2 Samuel 11:3–4). His initial sin of lust resulted in a hardening of his heart, and his sin deepened. He committed adultery, then had Bathsheba’s husband killed (verses 14–15). Iniquity had taken over David’s life. It was only when confronted by the prophet Nathan that he repented with great sorrow. His heartfelt cry for forgiveness is detailed in Psalm 51. Verse 2 says, “Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin.” David is a picture of someone who clearly understood the progression of iniquity and who experienced the mercy and forgiveness of God (Psalm 103:1–5).

The second half of Romans 1 outlines the progression of sin (verses 10–32). The end result for those with such hardened hearts is that God turns them over to a “reprobate mind” (verse 28, KJV), and they no longer have the desire or ability to repent. Reprobate means “thoroughly depraved, given over to evil until the conscience is seared.” The Scripture is clear that God forgives even iniquity (Micah 7:18), but if we persist in it, we will reap the wages of sin, which is eternal separation from God (Romans 6:23).


The scribes and Pharisees constantly tried to catch Jesus violating the law. On one such occasion, they asked Him, “Why do your disciples disobey our age-old tradition? For they ignore our tradition of ceremonial hand washing before they eat” (Matthew 15:2, NLT). In response to their question, Jesus told the listening crowd, “Not what goes into the mouth defiles a man; but what comes out of the mouth, this defiles a man” (Matthew 15:11, NKJV).

According to the Sanhedrin, the Jewish high council, the long-held oral teachings of the elders, passed down throughout the generations, held nearly the same authority as Jewish law. But Jesus found these manufactured interpretations of the law to be unreasonably heavy burdens placed on people’s shoulders (Matthew 23:2–4; cf. Matthew 11:28, 30).

The Pharisees and scribes believed that ceremonial defilement happened when unclean hands passed contaminated external matter into the body through the mouth. By neglecting the ceremonial rules before eating, Christ’s disciples broke the tradition of the Pharisees. But the actual law only required priests to perform ceremonial handwashing before service. The Jewish elders had saddled the people with a purifying ritual meant exclusively for priests (Exodus 30:17–21; cf. Mark 7:3–4).

Jesus turned the scales on the scribes and Pharisees, asking, “And why do you break the command of God for the sake of your tradition?” (Matthew 15:3). These religious leaders were guilty of far more severe offenses than failing to wash their hands. The disciples had neglected a tradition of the elders, but the Pharisees had disobeyed a direct commandment of God. They had created loopholes in the law—ignoring the will of God—to benefit themselves at the expense of the elderly and needy (Matthew 15:3–6). Jesus exposed these leaders for who they really were: “You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you, for he wrote, ‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship is a farce, for they teach man-made ideas as commands from God’” (Matthew 15:7–9, NLT).

The Pharisees presented an outward purity that falsely represented their inner selves. They were religious pretenders. Their hands may have been clean, but their hearts were soiled. For this reason, Jesus said, “What comes out of the mouth defiles a man.” Whatever is in our hearts comes out of our mouths through our words and reveals our inner condition, whether clean or defiled. Jesus clarifies, “Anything you eat passes through the stomach and then goes into the sewer. But the words you speak come from the heart—that’s what defiles you. For from the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, all sexual immorality, theft, lying, and slander. These are what defile you. Eating with unwashed hands will never defile you” (Matthew 15:17–20, NLT).

Pharisaical, works-based religion is still alive and kicking in the church today. But God has not called us to a lifeless existence of merely following rules. God wants our hearts and not our lip service (Isaiah 29:13). He is interested in inner purity, not outward ceremony. Authentic worship flows from the heart. In His description of true kingdom worshipers, Jesus said, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God” (Matthew 5:8). Purity of heart involves single-minded devotion to our relationship with God. An undefiled heart has no hypocrisy, duplicity, or hidden agenda. The pure in heart desire to obey God’s Word and please Him in all things. They do more than wash their hands and behave pristinely; they possess the innermost purity of soul.

To be genuinely pure and undefiled in heart, we must first be saved “not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy . . . through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior” (Titus 3:5–6). The apostle Paul explains, “If you declare with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved” (Romans 10:9–10). It’s not what goes in but what comes out of the mouth that defiles or saves us, insofar as what comes out of the mouth reveals the true condition of the heart.


FOR FURTHER STUDY


From the beginning, God’s covenant with Israel was based on exclusive worship of Him alone (Exodus 20:3; Deuteronomy 5:7). The Israelites were not even to mention the names of false gods (Exodus 23:13) because to do so would acknowledge their existence and give credence to their power and influence over the people. Israel was forbidden to intermarry with other cultures who embraced false gods, because God knew this would lead to compromise. The book of Hosea uses the imagery of adultery to describe Israel’s continual chasing after other gods, like an unfaithful wife chases after other men. The history of Israel is a sad chronicle of idol worship, punishment, restoration and forgiveness, followed by a return to idolatry. The books of 1 & 2 Samuel, 1 & 2 Kings, and 1 & 2 Chronicles reveal this destructive pattern. The Old Testament prophets endlessly prophesied dire consequences for Israel if they continued in their idolatry. Mostly, they were ignored until it was too late and God’s wrath against idol-worship was poured out on the nation. But ours is a merciful God, and He never failed to forgive and restore them when they repented and sought His forgiveness.

In reality, idols are impotent blocks of stone or wood, and their power exists only in the minds of the worshipers. The idol of the god Dagon was twice knocked to the floor by God to show the Philistines just who was God and who wasn’t (1 Samuel 5:1-5). The “contest” between God and His prophet Elijah and the 450 prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel is a dramatic example of the power of the true God and the impotence of false gods (1 Kings 18:19-40). The testimony of Scripture is that God alone is worthy of worship. Idol worship robs God of the glory that is rightfully His, and that is something He will not tolerate (Isaiah 42:8).

Even today there are religions that bow before statues and icons, a practice forbidden by God’s Word. The significance God places upon it is reflected in the fact that the first of the Ten Commandments refers to idolatry: “You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me” (Exodus 20:3-5).

Idolatry extends beyond the worship of idols and images and false gods. Our modern idols are many and varied. Even for those who do not bow physically before a statue, idolatry is a matter of the heart—pride, self-centeredness, greed, gluttony, a love for possessions and ultimately rebellion against God. Is it any wonder that God hates it?

The Bible is clear that lying is a sin and is displeasing to God. The first sin in this world involved a lie told to Eve. The Ten Commandments given to Moses includes: “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor” (Exodus 20:16).

In the early church, Ananias and Sapphira lied regarding a donation in order to make themselves look more generous than they really were. Peter’s rebuke is stern: “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit?” (Acts 5:3). God’s judgment was sterner: the couple died as a result of their sin of lying (Acts 5:1–11).

Colossians 3:9 says, “Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices.” Lying is listed in 1 Timothy 1:9-11 as something practiced by the lawless. Furthermore, liars will be among those judged in the end (Revelation 21:8). In contrast, God never lies (Titus 1:2). He is the source of truth. “It is impossible for God to lie” (Numbers 23:19).

Jesus called Himself the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6), and He expects those who follow Him to be people of truth. The truth is to be expressed in love (Ephesians 4:15), offering hope to those seeking redemption from the lies of the world.

For an explanation of the instances in the Bible in which lying appears to be acceptable, please see our "Is it ever right to lie?" article.


FOR FURTHER STUDY

To be lawless is to be contrary to the law or to act without regard to the law. Laws are necessary in a sinful world (1 Timothy 1:9), and those who choose to act lawlessly further sin in the world. The word for “lawlessness” in the Bible is often translated “iniquity.” According to the Bible, the root of all lawlessness is rebellion.

First John 3:4 defines sin as lawlessness: “Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness.” To commit sin is to be lawless; that is, the sinner breaks God’s law. In this way, lawlessness is a rejection of God. Satan, who models the ultimate rejection of God, will one day empower the Antichrist, called “the lawless one,” whose rise to power “will be in accordance with how Satan works” (2 Thessalonians 2:9).

Lawlessness is contrasted with righteousness in verses such as Romans 6:19, 2 Corinthians 6:14, and Hebrews 1:9. The righteous, who have the nature of Jesus Christ, hate the deeds of lawlessness. Lot, a godly man living in Sodom, “was tormented in his righteous soul by the lawless deeds he saw and heard” (2 Peter 2:8). The psalmist said, “I abhor the assembly of evildoers and refuse to sit with the wicked” (Psalm 26:5). Christians are to be law-abiding (1 Peter 4:15).

When a society ignores the law, lawlessness is the result, and chaos ensues. The time of the judges after Joshua’s death was marked by upheaval, oppression, and general disorder. The biblical historian puts his finger on the reason for the tumult: “In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as they saw fit” (Judges 21:25). The riot in Ephesus is a good example of lawlessness in action (Acts 19). The rioters were confused and unsure even of why they were rioting (verse 32); in their lawlessness, they were ignoring proper legal channels (verse 39) and, of course, breaking the law (verse 40).

God has a purpose for establishing human government: “to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right” (1 Peter 2:14). Rulers are God’s appointees to maintain order and promote righteousness in a civil society. “Consequently, whoever rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves” (Romans 13:2). In other words, lawlessness is condemned in Scripture.

The Bible connects man’s lawlessness and rebellion against God with his need for God’s forgiveness. In Romans 4:7, Paul (quoting Psalm 32:1) says, “Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered” (ESV). God’s righteousness is imputed to us at salvation, and God forgives us of our lawlessness: “Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more” (Hebrews 10:17, quoting Jeremiah 31:34). Christ died on the cross “to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works” (Titus 2:14, ESV). Our lawless deeds resulted in Christ’s death, but God’s grace overcomes our lawless hearts.

In the judgment many will stand before Christ claiming a connection with Him that exists only in their own minds. They will rehearse their good deeds done in His name, only to hear Jesus declare them to be “workers of lawlessness” whom Christ never knew (Matthew 7:23, ESV). At that time, those who practice lawlessness will be cast “into the blazing furnace,” while those who are covered by the righteousness of Christ “will shine like the sun” (Matthew 13:41–43). Christ will have the ultimate victory and will eliminate lawlessness forever.

The mark of the beast has been a popular topic among Christians and non-Christians for centuries, gaining momentum in recent times. As our world becomes increasingly chaotic, talk of the apocalypse abounds. As our world becomes more technologically advanced, some worry that they might accept the mark of the beast unknowingly.

The Mark of the Beast in the Bible

The apostle John recorded a vision in Revelation that gives us some details about the mark of the beast. John sees two beasts in his vision. The second beast exercises authority and performs miracles on behalf of the first beast. The second beast “also forced all people, great and small, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hands or on their foreheads, so that they could not buy or sell unless they had the mark, which is the name of the beast or the number of his name” (Revelation 13:16–17). From this description, we know that the mark of the beast, whatever it is, will be forced on all people, not just certain populations. We also know that the mark is tied to commerce and will be required for any type of financial transaction. People will be forced to take this mark on the right hand or in the forehead, and somehow the mark will incorporate the name of the beast or the number representing his name—a number that verse 18 identifies as 666.

The Mark of the Beast — Public Opinion

A simple internet search for “mark of the beast” will open an endless jumble of speculation and conjecture. Some believe the mark of the beast will be akin to the chip found in today’s “smart” credit cards. The thought is that a similar chip will be implanted in the skin (where it cannot be lost) and give the bearer access to his or her financial data. Others believe that the mark will be a tattoo or a type of bar code. Another theory is that the mark of the beast will involve artificial intelligence or a genetic modification to “boost” humanity to the next level of evolution. Some worry that many have already taken the mark of the beast unknowingly and point to the COVID-19 vaccinations as the vehicle to administer it. Such claims agitate people’s fears unnecessarily. The mark of the beast does not exist yet. And when, in the future, the mark is forced on the world, it will be impossible to receive it unwittingly.

Timing of the Mark of the Beast

Before the mark of the beast can be foisted on people, the beast himself (the Antichrist) will need to be in power, aided by the second beast (the false prophet). Looking at Revelation 13, we find these events taking place before the mark of the beast is decreed:
• the Antichrist rises to power (verse 1)
• the Antichrist is healed of a deadly wound (verse 3)
• people openly worship the dragon (Satan) and the Antichrist (verse 4)
• the false prophet performs miracles on behalf of the beast, including calling fire from heaven (verse 13)
• the false prophet constructs an image of the beast and causes it to speak (verses 14–15)
• the image of the beast orders the death of anyone who will not worship it (verse 15)
• the false prophet orders everyone to receive the mark of the beast (verses 16–17)

We believe that these events will take place after the rapture of the church (see 2 Thessalonians 2:1–12). Since the Antichrist isn’t yet on the world stage, at least openly, there is no mark to be taken yet.

Unknowingly Taking the Mark of the Beast

The fact that we don’t know what form the mark will take can cause apprehension in some. However, according to the Bible, unknowing acceptance of the mark is impossible. Taking the mark will be a deliberate act of worshiping the image of the beast (Revelation 13:15–16). The signs of who the beast is will be unmistakable, and no one will accidentally worship him. People will have a choice. That choice will carry severe consequences one way or the other (see Revelation 13:17 and 14:9–10), but the choice will be clear.

Conclusion

Regardless of what the mark of the beast is finally revealed to be, God has a proven track record of allowing individual choice (see Genesis 2:16–17). We all have a choice to make in this age concerning Jesus Christ. How much better it is to accept Christ today and avoid the perilous time of the coming Antichrist.



The mark of the beast is a mark that will be placed on a person’s forehead or right hand in the end times as a sign of allegiance to the Antichrist (Revelation 13:15–18). Further, no one will be allowed to engage in commerce without the mark (Revelation 13:17). It appears that some form of worship of the Antichrist is associated with receiving the mark (Revelation 14:9; 16:2), and those who refuse to worship the image of the beast will be killed (Revelation 13:15).

The question then arises as to whether a person who has received the mark of the beast can be forgiven. The answer to this question seems to be “no.” Revelation 14:10–11, describing the fate of someone who takes the mark of the beast, declares, “He also will drink the wine of God’s wrath, poured full strength into the cup of his anger, and he will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever, and they have no rest, day or night, these worshipers of the beast and its image, and whoever receives the mark of its name.”

The eternal destiny of those who take the mark of the beast is the lake of fire. Why is taking the mark of the beast a damnable sin against God? Why would God condemn a person to hell for taking the mark of the beast? It would appear that taking the mark of the beast will be a blasphemous act of willful defiance against God. Receiving the mark of the beast is essentially worshiping Satan. Those who take the mark have made the choice to serve Satan rather than obey God and receive Christ as Savior. When people make that decision during the tribulation, God will grant their request to be eternally separated from Him.


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The apostle Paul warned that the last days would bring a marked increase in false teaching. “The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons” (1 Timothy 4:1). The last days are described as “perilous times” because of the increasingly evil character of man and people who actively “oppose the truth” (2 Timothy 3:1–9; see also 2 Thessalonians 2:3).

Other possible signs of the end times would include a rebuilding of a Jewish temple in Jerusalem, increased hostility toward Israel, and advances toward a one-world government. The most prominent sign of the end times, however, is the nation of Israel itself. In 1948, Israel was recognized as a sovereign state, essentially for the first time since AD 70. God promised Abraham that his posterity would have Canaan as “an everlasting possession” (Genesis 17:8), and Ezekiel prophesied a physical and spiritual resuscitation of Israel (Ezekiel 37). Having Israel as a nation in its own land is important in light of end-times prophecy because of Israel’s prominence in eschatology (Daniel 10:14; 11:41; Revelation 11:8).

With these signs in mind, we can be wise and discerning in regard to the expectation of the end times. We should not, however, interpret any of these singular events as a clear indication of the soon arrival of the end times. God has given us enough information that we can be prepared, and that is what we are called to be as our hearts cry out, “Come, Lord Jesus” (Revelation 22:20).


FOR FURTHER STUDY


In his apocalyptic vision in the book of Revelation, the apostle John sees the “beast,” whom we identify as the Antichrist, rising out of the sea having seven heads and ten horns (Revelation 13:1). Comparing this vision to Daniel’s similar one (Daniel 7:16–24), we can conclude that some sort of world governance system will be inaugurated by the beast, the most powerful “horn,” who will “wage war against God’s holy people and . . . conquer them” (Revelation 13:7). The ten-nation confederacy is also seen in the statue of Daniel 2:41–42, where the final world government consists of ten entities represented by the statue’s ten toes. Whoever the ten nations are and however they come to unite, Scripture is clear that the beast will subdue three of them (Daniel 7:8), and the rest will do his bidding.

John describes the ruler of this vast empire as having power and great authority, given to him by Satan himself (Revelation 13:2). This ruler receives worship from “all the world” (Revelation 13:3–4) and will have authority over “every tribe, people, language and nation” (Revelation 13:7). This person will truly be the leader of a one-world government that is recognized as sovereign over all other governments. We see nations today willing to give up some of their sovereignty to combat climate change; it’s easy to imagine that the disasters and plagues described in Revelation 6—11 would create such a monumental crisis that the nations of the world will embrace anything and anyone who promises a solution.

Once entrenched in power, the beast (the Antichrist) and the power behind him (Satan) will move to establish absolute control. In demanding worship, Satan edges toward his goal of being like God (see Isaiah 14:12–14). To truly control people, commerce must be controlled. Revelation 13 describes how this will happen. Everyone, “great and small, rich and poor, free and slave,” will be forced to receive some type of mark “on their right hands or on their foreheads” in order to buy and sell (Revelation 13:16). No doubt the majority of people in the world will receive the mark simply to survive. This new system of commerce will be universal, it will be compulsory, and it will be associated with the worship of the beast (Revelation 13:15). There is a great deal of speculation as to what form this mark will take and how it will be affixed, but the technologies available right now could accomplish it easily.

Those who are left behind after the rapture of the church will be faced with an excruciating choice—accept the mark of the beast or face starvation and horrific persecution by the Antichrist and his followers. But those who come to Christ during that time, those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life (Revelation 13:8), will choose to endure, even through martyrdom.


Greed is a strong and selfish desire to have more of something, most often money or power. There are many warnings in the Bible about giving in to greed and longing for riches. Jesus warned, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions” (Luke 12:15). “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal… You cannot serve both God and money” (Matthew 6:19, 24b). Did Jesus pursue the acquisition of money? No. On the contrary, He became poor for our sake (2 Corinthians 8:9) and had “no place to lay his head” (Matthew 8:20). Neither did Jesus pursue power. Rather, He instructed, "Whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many" (Mark 10:43–45).

Greed and a desire for riches are traps that bring ruin and destruction. “The love of money is a root of all kinds of evil,” and Christians are warned, “Do not put your trust in wealth” (see 1 Timothy 6:9-10, 17-18). Covetousness, or having an excessive or greedy desire for more, is idolatry. Ephesians 5:5 says, “For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure or greedy person – such a man is an idolater – has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.” The principle to remember is contained in Hebrews 13:5: “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.’”

It is the love of money, and not money itself, that is the problem. The love of money is a sin because it gets in the way of worshiping God. Jesus said it was very hard for rich people to enter the Kingdom of God. When the rich young ruler asked Jesus what he should do to inherit eternal life, Jesus told him to sell all his possessions and give the money to the poor. “When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth” (see Matthew 19:16-22). By instructing him to give up his money, Jesus pointed out the young man’s main problem: greed or a love of money. The man could not follow Christ because he was following money. His love of this world interfered with his love for God.

Greed refuses to be satisfied. More often than not, the more we get, the more we want. Material possessions will not protect us—in this life or eternally. Jesus’ parable of the rich fool in Luke 12:13–21 illustrates this point well. Again, money or wealth is not a problem. The problem is our attitude toward it. When we place our confidence in wealth or are consumed by an insatiable desire for more, we are failing to give God the glory and worship He deserves. We are to serve God, not waste our time trying to become rich (Proverbs 23:4). Our heart’s desire should be to store up riches in heaven and not worry about what we will eat or drink or wear. “But seek first [God’s] kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well” (see Matthew 6:25-34).


In 1 Corinthians 13:8–13, the apostle Paul compares the Christian virtue of love to other highly prized spiritual gifts and finds them all lacking. Love is uniquely superior (verse 8). As Christians, we share in giving and receiving the grace of God’s love (see 1 John 4:8, 16). This earthly experience of God’s divine love gives us a taste of His perfect grace and glory. Through the love of Christ poured into our hearts (see Ephesians 3:17; Romans 5:5), we participate to a limited degree in the full perfection we will know and enjoy when we stand in God’s presence in eternity: “For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known” (1 Corinthians 13:12, ESV).

Paul explains that spiritual gifts like prophecy, tongues, and knowledge are temporary and partial. Eventually, they “will become useless. But love will last forever! Now our knowledge is partial and incomplete, and even the gift of prophecy reveals only part of the whole picture! But when the time of perfection comes, these partial things will become useless” (1 Corinthians 13:8–10, NLT). In our current state of existence, the gifts of the Holy Spirit are valuable to us and to the church, but their worth will run out when we are face to face with the Lord in heaven. These gifts only give us an obscured, unfinished picture of our spiritual reality, and they will ultimately pass away.

Paul uses two illustrations to explain this truth. First, he employs the example of a child maturing into adulthood: “When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me” (1 Corinthians 13:11). Right now, we are like children playing with plastic toys that will wear out and become unusable. One day we will trade them in for the enduring, grown-up, perfection of eternity. Second, Paul contrasts looking at someone in a dull, dimly lit mirror with meeting that person face to face. In the Greco-Roman world, mirrors were fashioned out of polished metal discs that reflected a blurred, imperfect image, nothing like seeing someone up close, in vivid, eye-to-eye clarity.

Thus, now we see in a mirror dimly is Paul’s figure of speech for “now we have imperfect knowledge and understanding.” The New Living Translation renders the imagery like so: “Now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely” (1 Corinthians 13:12, NLT). Flawless understanding and unrestricted knowledge of matters pertaining to God and His kingdom will only be achieved when we meet Jesus Christ in person.

The apostle John affirms that our knowledge of Jesus is partial now but will become clear when we see Him face to face: “Dear friends, we are already God’s children, but he has not yet shown us what we will be like when Christ appears. But we do know that we will be like him, for we will see him as he really is” (1 John 3:2, NLT).

Within the Scriptures, we have the complete revelation of God, but our understanding of it remains limited (see 1 Corinthians 8:1–3). As we grow in the faith, we undergo a process of spiritual maturation as individual believers (2 Peter 3:18) and together as the body of Christ (Ephesians 4:11–16). Paul calls this progressive development toward Christian maturity “the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:14, ESV). It is our heavenward journey of intimate fellowship with Jesus Christ.

Along the way, we must stay laser-focused on Jesus, who is the trailblazing forerunner of our quest (Hebrews 12:1–2). He demonstrates the way through His perfect obedience to the Father (John 4:34; 5:30; Luke 22:42). As the Author and Perfecter of our faith, He not only inspires us, but Christ also empowers us to grow toward our heavenly stature. He starts the good work in us and “will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus” (Philippians 1:6).

In the meantime, until the Lord returns or we reach heaven, we have limited understanding and knowledge—we see in a mirror dimly. But one day our onward and upward growth in ever-increasing degrees of Christian maturity will culminate in heavenly perfection as “we bear the image of the heavenly man” (1 Corinthians 15:49).


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Conscience can be defined as “an inner feeling that acts as a guide to the rightness or wrongness of one’s behavior.” For those with a biblical worldview, the conscience is the part of the human soul that is most like God (Genesis 3:22). Those who disbelieve God have a difficult time explaining the existence of the human conscience. Evolution cannot account for this facet of the human spirit, which cannot be explained by a “survival of the fittest” mentality.

The conscience of man was awakened when Adam and Eve disobeyed God’s command and ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Genesis 3:6). Before that, they had known only good. The word knowing in Genesis 3:5 is the same word used elsewhere to describe sexual intimacy (Genesis 4:17; 1 Samuel 1:19). When we choose to “know” evil by intimate experience, our consciences are violated and emotional discomfort takes over. Whether we acknowledge God or not, we were created to have fellowship with our Creator. When we do wrong, we sense that we are at odds with our created purpose, and that feeling is deeply disturbing.

It was God whom Adam and Eve had offended; yet God Himself provided the solution to their violated consciences. He slaughtered an innocent animal to cover their nakedness (Genesis 3:21). This was a foreshadowing of God’s intended plan to cover the sin of all mankind.

Humans have tried a variety of things to clear their consciences, from charity work to self-mutilation. History is replete with examples of mankind’s efforts to appease his conscience, but nothing works. So he often turns to other means of drowning out that inner voice that declares him guilty. Addictions, immorality, violence, and greed are often deeply rooted in the fertile soil of a guilty conscience.

However, since all sin is ultimately a sin against God, only God can redeem a violated conscience. Just as He did in the Garden of Eden, God provides us a covering through the sacrifice of something perfect and blameless (Exodus 12:5; Leviticus 9:3; 1 Peter 1:18–19). God sent His own Son, Jesus, into the world for the purpose of being the final, perfect sacrifice for the sins of the whole world (John 3:16; 1 John 2:2). When Jesus went to the cross, He took upon Himself every sin we would ever commit. Every violated conscience, every sinful thought, and every evil act was placed upon Him (1 Peter 2:24). All the righteous wrath that God has for our sin was poured out on His own Son (Isaiah 53:6; John 3:36). Just as an innocent animal was sacrificed to cover Adam’s sin, so the perfect Son was sacrificed to cover ours. God Himself chooses to make us right with Him and pronounce us forgiven.

We can have our consciences cleansed when we bring our sin, our failures, and our miserable attempts to appease God to the foot of the cross. The atonement of Christ forgives our sin and cleanses our conscience (Hebrews 10:22). We acknowledge our inability to cleanse our own hearts and ask Him to do it for us. We trust that Jesus’ death and resurrection are sufficient to pay the price we owe God. When we accept Jesus’ payment for our personal sin, God promises to cast our sins away from us “as far as the east is from the west” (Psalm 103:12; cf. Hebrews 8:12).

In Christ, we are freed from the stranglehold of sin. We are set free to pursue righteousness and purity and become the men and women God created us to be (Romans 6:18). As followers of Christ, we will still commit occasional sin. But, even then, God provides a way for us to have our consciences cleared. First John 1:9 says that, “if we confess our sin, he is faithful and just to forgive our sin and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” Often, with that confession comes the knowledge that we must make things right with the ones we have offended. We can take that step with the people we have hurt, knowing that God has already forgiven us.

Our consciences can remain clear as we continually confess our sin to God and trust that the blood of Jesus is sufficient to make us right with Him. We continue to “seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness” (Matthew 6:33). We trust that, in spite of our imperfections, God delights in us and in His transforming work in our lives (Philippians 2:13; Romans 8:29). Jesus said, “So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed” (John 8:36). We live with a clear conscience by refusing to wallow in the failures that God has forgiven. We stand confident in His promise that, “if God is for us, who can be against us?” (Romans 8:31).


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To be sanctified is to be “set apart.” Synonyms for sanctified are holy, consecrated, and hallowed. The Bible speaks of things being “sanctified,” such as Mt. Sinai (Exodus 19:23) and gifts to the temple (Matthew 23:17); days, such as the Sabbath (Exodus 20:8); names, such as God’s (Matthew 6:9); and people, such as the Israelites (Leviticus 20:7–8) and Christians (Ephesians 5:26).

For a thing to be sanctified means it is set apart for a special use. Sinai was set apart from all other mountains for the giving of the Law. The temple in Jerusalem was set apart from all other locations for the worship of the one true God: “I have chosen and consecrated this temple so that my Name may be there forever. My eyes and my heart will always be there” (2 Chronicles 7:16).

Things that are sanctified are reserved for God’s purposes and should not be used for mundane tasks. The night Babylon fell, King Belshazzar “gave orders to bring in the gold and silver goblets . . . from the temple in Jerusalem, so that the king and his nobles, his wives and his concubines might drink from them” (Daniel 5:2). It was one of Belshazzar’s final acts, for he was killed that night by the invading Persians. God’s name is “hallowed” (Luke 11:2) and any flippant or disrespectful use of His name is profane.

Jesus spoke of Himself as being sanctified in John 17:19; in other words, He is holy and “set apart” from sin. His followers are to be similarly set apart from sin and for God’s use (see 1 Peter 1:16).

People who are sanctified are born again and therefore part of God’s family (Hebrews 2:11). They are reserved for God’s use. They know “the sanctifying work of the Spirit” in their lives (1 Peter 1:2). They abstain from sexual immorality (1 Thessalonians 4:3). They understand they have been “called to be his holy people” (1 Corinthians 1:2).

To be sanctified means that God has been at work in our lives. Under the Old Testament Law, the blood of a sacrifice was required to set things apart unto God: “In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood” (Hebrews 9:22). Blood was sprinkled on tabernacle furniture, on priestly clothing, and on people. Nothing was considered sanctified until it had come in contact with the blood. This was a picture of the spiritual application of Christ’s blood for our salvation—we are “sprinkled with his blood” (1 Peter 1:2). Just as the temple of old was sanctified for God’s use, our bodies, temples of the Holy Spirit, are set apart for God’s holy purposes (1 Corinthians 6:19).

To be sanctified means that God’s Word has had an effect on us. It is “through the word” that God cleanses us and makes us holy (Ephesians 5:26; John 17:17).

God invites us sinners to come to Him “just as we are” and receive His mercy and forgiveness. When we are saved, the Holy Spirit begins His amazing work of transforming us into the image and likeness of Christ. To be sanctified means that God loves us too much to let us stay the same.

The apostle’s prayer is for all believers, everywhere: “May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Thessalonians 5:23).


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The word grace denotes God’s unmerited love and favor toward human beings. It can be broadly understood as kindness or blessings from God that we don’t deserve. The word sanctify as it pertains to the life of a Christian means “to set a person apart for holiness” or “to make holy.”

What, then, is sanctifying grace?

In Roman Catholic doctrine, sanctifying grace refers to a specific supernatural infusion of God’s grace that makes a person holy and pleasing to God. Deifying grace and perfecting grace are other terms for sanctifying grace, which is believed to be imparted through the Catholic sacrament of baptism. The Roman Church teaches that at baptism, the time when sanctifying grace is received, a person becomes part of the body of Christ and able to receive additional graces for living a holy life.

According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, sanctifying grace is also called the “grace of justification” because it is the grace that makes a soul acceptable or justified before God. This grace transforms a sinner into a holy child of God. The Catholic Church says sanctifying grace is a permanent substance that adheres to the soul unless one rejects God by committing a mortal sin. However, because of God’s great mercy, sanctifying grace can be restored through repentance and the sacrament of penance.

Wesleyan and Methodist churches also teach a concept of sanctifying grace. John Wesley understood God’s grace to be threefold; he taught prevenient grace, justifying grace, and sanctifying grace as separate aspects of God’s grace. To summarize, prevenient grace is God’s grace that comes to sinners before they know God, helping them to recognize their need of Him. Justifying grace provides believers with forgiveness from sin. And sanctifying grace imparts the purifying process that enables Christians to become more Christlike. This process is called sanctification. Methodists sometimes associate sanctifying grace with God’s unconditional love that empowers the loved one to do what God desires. Justifying grace changes our relationship to God; sanctifying grace changes us on the inside.

In Protestant Christian theology, Christians enter sanctification, or a state of holiness, at the moment they are born of the Spirit of God: “This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus” (Romans 3:22–24).

The Bible says that, from the start of the Christian life, believers are set apart for God’s holy purpose. God performs this work of sanctification once for all time: “And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all” (Hebrews 10:10). This aspect of sanctification, called “positional” sanctification, is the same as justification. Positional sanctification is God’s work, His gift. We don’t do anything to earn or deserve it, nor can we do anything to lose it: “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God” (Ephesians 2:8).

A second aspect of sanctification expressed in Scripture is sometimes called “progressive” or “experiential” sanctification. Although believers are made holy in Christ at salvation, they still sin. Progressive sanctification occurs as they grow in knowledge, discipline, and obedience to God’s Word. Hebrews 10:14 describes both positional and progressive sanctification: “For by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.”

Finally, the third aspect of sanctification expressed in Scripture is “complete” sanctification when believers obtain ultimate and total separation from sin through glorification: “To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:27).

While the doctrine of sanctification in Protestant theology holds significantly different implications from Catholic teaching, there are points of agreement: God’s children do indeed receive His divine grace, His undeserved favor that results in salvation, and their lives are set apart for holiness.


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Jesus said, “Let the dead bury the dead,” in response to a disciple who wanted to spend time at home before committing himself to the Lord. Jesus said, “‘Follow me.’ But the man replied, ‘Lord, first let me go and bury my father.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God’” (Luke 9:59–60). This man may have wanted to fulfill the oldest son’s duty to bury the father, to be near the father in order to obtain an inheritance, or to remain near the body of his father for up to one year to rebury the bones, a practice of some Jews at the time. In any event, Jesus’ answer makes clear that this request would have involved putting tradition or the disciple’s own desires ahead of serving Jesus.

But who are “the dead” whom Jesus referred to as being the ones to bury their own dead? The word dead is used in this passage in two different senses. It is apparently a paradox and is used very effectively. The Jews used the word dead often to express indifference toward a thing or to express that something has no influence over us. To be dead to the law (Romans 7:4), to be dead to sin (Romans 6:11), means that the law and sin have no influence or control over us. We are free from them and act as though they are not.

So people of the world are dead to Christ. They do not see His beauty, nor do they hear His voice or desire to follow Him. Only His “sheep” will do those things (John 10:27). The people of the world are those whom the Savior describes here as the (spiritually) dead who should bury the (physically) dead. Let people, He says, who are not interested in My work, and who are “dead in sin” (Ephesians 2:1), take care of the dead. Your duty is now to follow Me.

While Scripture, and Jesus, are clear that we are to honor our parents (Ephesians 6:2), we have to understand that Jesus is to come first, and this would have been especially so in this instance, that is, with a direct command from the Lord. Peter, Andrew, James, John, and Matthew recognized the Lord and followed Him at once (Matthew 4:18–22; 9:9). The thing to which the man who wanted to bury his father was called was of more importance than any earthly consideration, and, for that time, Christ chose to require of the man a very extraordinary sacrifice to show his sincere attachment to Him.

As regards the people of the world, nothing is more important than responding to the gospel. This requires that the gospel be preached (Romans 10:14), so once we make the decision to follow Jesus and preach His good news, we must deny dead, worldly pursuits and comforts, and do the Lord’s work. Jesus wants followers, not professors, and those who are spiritually alive will be instruments in the Lord’s hands to call others to new life in Christ.

In Paul’s great defense of salvation and growth by faith rather than by works, Paul asserts that “the law is not of faith” (Galatians 3:12, ESV).

Paul rebukes the Galatians for acting as if their growth (or sanctification) would come from works or obeying the law. He challenges them with a rhetorical question: “Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by believing what you heard?” (Galatians 3:2). They knew the answer. They had been born again and received the Spirit of God by grace through faith.

The next step in Paul’s defense of faith-over-law is a series of logical follow-up rhetorical questions. If they had begun their new walk by the Spirit of God (whom they had received by faith), then why are they expecting their growth and maturing would be accomplished by the works of the flesh (Galatians 3:3)? Had everything they had been through to that point been in vain (Galatians 3:4)? Does the One who provides the Spirit of God accomplish His work among them by works of law or by faith in the gospel (Galatians 3:5)? The point is that it is contradictory to acknowledge the role of faith at the beginning only to turn back to works and obedience to law. The law is not of (or from) faith (Galatians 3:12).

In case the Galatians had forgotten, Paul reminds them that Abraham, who lived long before the law was given, was justified by God by faith. Abraham believed in God, and it was counted to him as righteousness (Galatians 3:6; referencing Genesis 15:6). Those who share Abraham’s faith are his “children” (Galatians 3:7). The Galatians were counting themselves as Abraham’s children, perceiving their need to uphold their ancient heritage. Paul reminds them that the legacy of Abraham was not obedience to law or works of the flesh; it was faith in God.

Paul adds that salvation by faith is nothing new. God had announced it long beforehand to Abraham (Galatians 3:8). Just as God had promised, people from all the families of the earth would be saved by faith and would ultimately be blessed with Abraham (Galatians 3:9). On the other hand, all who try to obey the law are under a curse, because they have to obey all of the commandments perfectly (Galatians 3:10; James 2:10). In fact, the Law of Moses was never intended to provide righteousness—which has always and only come by faith (Galatians 3:11).

Paul points out that the law is not of (or from) faith (Galatians 3:12). The law was about works to demonstrate the need for faith. Paul explains that “the Scriptures declare that we are all prisoners of sin, so we receive God’s promise of freedom only by believing in Jesus Christ” (Galatians 3:22, NLT). Before people believed, they were in the custody of the law, as a child is under a guardian (Galatians 3:23). Law, then, helps make clear the depth and severity of our falling short of God’s glory. The Law of Moses, in particular, serves as a tutor to show us the need for salvation by faith in Jesus (Galatians 3:23). The law is not of faith, but the law helps us to see the need for faith. By the works of the law no one can be righteous in God’s sight. We must rely on His righteousness, which He freely gives to all who believe in Jesus Christ.

One way we recognize that the law is not of faith is in the fact that the Law of Moses was a conditional covenant requiring obedience from the people of Israel to receive God’s blessing on the nation (Deuteronomy 28—29). All of the other covenants God made with humanity are unconditional. The gospel pre-announcement that Paul cites in Galatians 3:8 was part of God’s unconditional covenant with Abraham (Genesis 12:2–3). The good news of righteousness has always been by faith and never by conditions of obedience. The law is not of faith.


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In Ephesians 1 we learn about our incredible spiritual riches in Christ (Ephesians 1:3) and how God works to provide these riches for us—including our redemption: “In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us” (Ephesians 1:7–8).

In Ephesians 1 Paul encourages believers at Ephesus by explaining their new identity in Christ. God gave us that new identity, and we learn in the following chapter that we receive God’s grace by faith in Christ (Ephesians 2:8–9). This new identity in Christ is characterized by our having every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ (Ephesians 1:3).

Notably, all three Persons of the Trinity played a role in giving us these blessings. God the Father chose us to be in Christ to be holy and blameless before Him (Ephesians 1:4). He also predetermined or predestined that we would be adopted as sons through the work of Christ (Ephesians 1:5). God the Son also worked so that we could have a new identity. In Him we have redemption and forgiveness through His shed blood (Ephesians 1:7). God the Holy Spirit seals believers as God’s guarantee or pledge that we do indeed have eternal life (Ephesians 1:13–14).

This new identity in Christ is made possible by the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and it is accomplished by the work of Christ on the cross. In Him we have redemption, which Paul identifies as the forgiveness of our sins according to God’s rich grace given to us. The term redemption is translated from the Greek apolutrosin, which means “the act of fully setting free.” Paul explains the need for that redemption in the following chapter.

In Ephesians 2, we learn that we need redemption because we were dead in our trespasses and sins (Ephesians 2:1). We were physically alive, but we were in bondage to sin and walked enslaved to the world, the devil, and our own flesh (Ephesians 2:2–3). Ultimately, we were deserving of God’s wrath. We owed a debt we could never repay on our own. We were enemies of God (Romans 5:10), as Paul explains elsewhere. But in Christ we have redemption (Ephesians 1:7). He died on the cross to set us free. By God’s grace through our believing in Jesus Christ (Ephesians 2:8–9) we are set free from the bondage of sin (Romans 8:2) and from the wrath and judgment of God (Romans 5:9; 1 Thessalonians 5:9).

Paul writes to make sure that believers understand that in Christ we have redemption—in Him we are fully set free. Furthermore, God has accomplished this for His own glory (Ephesians 1:6, 12, 14). We know that, if God has staked His own glory on our having redemption in Him, that God has made certain that we are fully set free. Jesus explained that the one who believes in Him has eternal life (John 6:47). Peter identifies at least eleven ways we can be certain that the redemption we have in Christ has been accomplished (1 Peter 1:3–5). Paul affirms to the Colossians that in Him we have redemption, which is the forgiveness of our sins (Colossians 1:14). And if there is any doubt in our minds as to the security of our redemption in Christ, Paul reminds us that we are sealed for the day of redemption (Ephesians 4:30).

Though we are still surrounded by the consequences of sin—even in our own bodies—one day we will experience every aspect of being free from sin. In Him we have redemption. In Him we have been fully set free.


As Jesus readied His twelve disciples to go out and minister, first He gave detailed guidelines for their early mission (Matthew 10:5–15), and then He prepared them for opposition and persecution: “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves” (Matthew 10:16, ESV).

Jesus knew that His messengers would encounter fierce resistance, so He immediately dismissed any idealistic notion of what it meant to be His servant. He told them that persecution and betrayal would come from unexpected places and all kinds of people, even family and friends (Matthew 10:21–22, 34–36). Jesus also knew that many would respond to the disciples’ message, so they had to go. To be as “sheep amidst the wolves” is the Lord’s fitting imagery portraying how we obey His call and take the message of salvation to receptive souls scattered amid a crowd of hostile challengers.

Reflecting the character of meek and gentle sheep, our message is one of love and compassion. Luke 10:3 uses the language of “lambs among wolves,” emphasizing the dedicated vulnerability that ought to exemplify Christ’s servants, messengers, missionaries, and evangelists. We are to go out clothed with grace, mercy, kindness, and humility—“innocent as doves”—but also with wisdom, truth, and integrity—“wise as serpents.” We keep our attitude and actions pure and harmless and our eyes wide open, “alert and of sober mind” because our “enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8).

The future peaceful reality of sheep and wolves living together in harmony (Isaiah 11:6; 65:25) is not yet our reality. The apostle Paul testified to church leaders, “I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock” (Acts 20:29). To His disciple Timothy, Paul wrote, “Everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution” (2 Timothy 3:12).

Jesus desires that we be fully prepared to be hated and treated poorly just as He was (Matthew 10:25). Yet we can find comfort and encouragement in our struggles, knowing such ill-treatment is a sign of our close fellowship with Jesus (Acts 5:41; 2 Corinthians 11:16–33; 12:1–10; Philippians 3:10–11).

Sheep are defenseless animals. Unless they stay near their shepherd, these animals have no hope of surviving against a pack of wolves. Jesus, who is “the great Shepherd of the sheep” (Hebrews 13:20), assured His disciples repeatedly that He would care for His sheep, leading, guiding, protecting, and laying down His life for them (John 10:1–16, 26–30).

Even though we will face persecution in our mission to follow and obey Christ, He encourages us not to fear: “Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows” (Matthew 10:28–31).

Matthew 10:16 was not the disciples’ first exhortation to expect persecution as servants of God’s kingdom. In His Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said, “Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you” (Matthew 5:10–12). Honor in God’s kingdom is a blessing reserved for those who actively seek to advance His righteousness and serve the King.

Initially, the “wolves” in Jesus’ analogy included the Pharisees and Jewish religious teachers who violently persecuted the early church. But the caution to be like sheep amidst the wolves is relevant to believers in every age who must live as Christ’s ambassadors in a dark and unreceptive world. Without our Shepherd, we are defenseless and in danger. But with Jesus, we are promised protection and peace (John 14:27; 16:33; Psalm 3:5–6; Matthew 6:25–34; 11:28; Romans 8:28, 35–39).

Jesus alerts us to “watch out for false prophets” in Matthew 7:15. He compares these false prophets to wolves in sheep’s clothing. Jesus also tells us how to identify these false prophets: we will recognize them by their fruit (Matthew 7:20).

Throughout the Bible, people are warned about false prophets (Ezekiel 13, Matthew 24:23–27, 2 Peter 3:3). False prophets claim to speak for God, but they speak falsehood. To gain a hearing, they come to people “in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves” (Matthew 7:15). No matter how innocent and harmless these teachers appear on the outside, they have the nature of wolves—they are intent on destroying faith, causing spiritual carnage in the church, and enriching themselves. They “secretly introduce destructive heresies,” “bring the way of truth into disrepute,” and “exploit you with fabricated stories” (2 Peter 2:1–3).

The false teachers don “sheep’s clothing” so they can mingle with the sheep without arousing suspicion. They usually are not up front about what they believe; rather, they mix in some truth with their falsehood and carefully choose their words to sound orthodox. In reality, they “follow their own ungodly desires” (Jude 1:17–18), and “they never stop sinning; they seduce the unstable; they are experts in greed” (2 Peter 3:14).

By contrast, a true prophet teaches God’s Word fully (Deuteronomy 18:20). Wolves in sheep’s clothing twist God’s Word to deceive or influence the audience for their own purposes. Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light (2 Corinthians 11:14), and his ministers masquerade as servants of righteousness (2 Corinthians 11:15).

The best way to guard against wolves in sheep’s clothing is to heed the warnings of Scripture and know the truth. A believer who “correctly handles the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15) and carefully studies the Bible will be able to identify false prophets. Christians must judge all teaching against what Scripture says. Believers will also be able to identify false prophets by their fruit—their words, actions, and lifestyles. Jesus said, “A tree is recognized by its fruit” (Matthew 12:33; cf. Matthew 7:20). Peter described false teachers as having “depraved conduct” and who “carouse” as “slaves of depravity” (2 Peter 2:2, 13, 19). If a teacher in the church does not live according to God’s Word, he is one of those wolves in sheep’s clothing.

Here are three specific questions to identify false prophets, or wolves in sheep’s clothing:

1) What does the teacher say about Jesus? In John 10:30, Jesus says, “I and the Father are one.” The Jews understood Jesus’ statement as a claim to be God and wanted to stone him (John 10:33). Anyone who denies Jesus as Lord (1 John 4:1–3) is a false prophet.

2) Does the teacher preach the biblical gospel? Anyone who teaches an incomplete or unbiblical gospel is to be eternally condemned (Galatians 1:9). Any gospel apart from what the Bible tells us (1 Corinthians 15:1–4) is not the true good news.

3) Does this teacher exhibit godly character qualities? Jesus said to beware of teachers whose moral behavior does not match what the Bible says. He says we will know wolves in sheep’s clothing by their fruits (Matthew 7:15–20)

It doesn’t matter how large a church a preacher has, how many books he has sold, or how many people applaud him. If he “teaches a different doctrine and does not agree with the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the teaching that accords with godliness,” then he is a wolf in sheep’s clothing (1 Timothy 6:3).



In Ephesians 1:3–14, the apostle Paul opens his letter with an extended benediction. The entire twelve-verse passage constitutes one continuous sentence in the original Greek language. Paul gushes forth with declarations of God’s blessings without stopping for a breath. He begins, “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ” (verse 3).

Every spiritual blessing refers to all the conceivable gifts of redemption that Christians receive by being united with Jesus Christ. Paul draws an intentional reference to the Trinity in Ephesians 1:3–14 and again in verse 17. God the Father is the originator and source of every spiritual blessing. The realm or scope of these gifts is “in Christ.” Only through our identification and union with God’s Son are we eligible to receive His untold blessings. And the nature of the gifts is spiritual. The Holy Spirit is the executor who applies the work of Christ to our hearts and lives.

Paul goes on to outline “every spiritual blessing.” First, we have God’s gift of being chosen and predestined “for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ” (Ephesians 1:4–5). Just as Yahweh chose Israel to be His treasured possession, He chooses believers to receive the great honor and privilege of becoming His beloved spiritual children through the redemptive sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Our heavenly Father loves us so very much that “he calls us his children, and that is what we are!” (1 John 3:1, NLT).

Next, Paul features the gift of God’s “glorious grace” that He has “poured out on us who belong to his dear Son. He is so rich in kindness and grace that he purchased our freedom with the blood of his Son and forgave our sins. He has showered his kindness on us, along with all wisdom and understanding” (Ephesians 1:6–8, NLT). Our heavenly Father is rich in grace, kindness, forgiveness, freedom, wisdom, and understanding, and He makes us rich in the same, in Jesus Christ, His Son. For this reason, Paul could say, “And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:19).

Certainly not the least of God’s blessings in Christ is that “we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins” (Ephesians 1:7). The Greek word translated “redemption” here refers to the act of making full payment to free an enslaved person. When we believe in Jesus and receive Him as Lord and Savior, our sins are forgiven, paid for by His death on the cross (Matthew 26:27–28; Colossians 1:14). Christ’s death satisfies God’s demands, releasing us from sin and its associated death sentence (Romans 8:1–2) and making us “holy and blameless in his sight” (verse 4).

Another spiritual blessing in Christ is that God makes “known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment—to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ” (Ephesians 1:9–10). Paul is speaking here about the divine mystery of the New Testament church, which was formerly kept a secret but is now revealed in Jesus Christ (Colossians 1:26–27). God’s plan is for both Jews and Gentiles to share equally in the gospel of salvation and form one new people united in Jesus Christ (Ephesians 1:12–13; 3:3, 5–6, 9).

Every spiritual blessing also includes the truth that we have obtained a heavenly inheritance (Ephesians 1:11–14). For now, we are “sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory” (verses 13–14). We are marked with God’s seal—the Holy Spirit—who provides us with spiritual security and proof of ownership. In eternity, we will take full possession of that inheritance.

Every spiritual blessing encompasses all the gifts of the Holy Spirit given by God the Father to those who have experienced His salvation in Jesus Christ. Peter affirms that God’s “divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness” (2 Peter 1:3). Believers in Jesus have no shortage of reasons to praise God for abundantly blessing us with every spiritual blessing in Christ.

Paul, in his prayers “for saints who are in Ephesus, and are faithful in Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 1:1, ESV), asks that God “may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better” (verse 17).

Prior to his prayer for the spirit of wisdom and revelation, Paul reminds the Ephesian believers of the blessings God has bestowed upon them (Ephesians 1:3), their adoption as children through Christ (verse 4), the wisdom and insight they have been given (verse 8), and “the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ” (verse 9). He also reminds them that they have been “marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance” (verses 13–14). Now he desires for them to be given the spirit of wisdom and revelation.

Since Christians receive the promised Holy Spirit at the moment of salvation (John 14:17), the spirit of wisdom and revelation that Paul prays for cannot refer to the initial gift of the Holy Spirit. Paul’s reference could easily be to an attitude or frame of mind (although the NIV and ESV capitalize Spirit, other translations such as the NASB and BSB translate it as “a spirit,” and the NLT simply has “spiritual wisdom and insight”). If not the Holy Spirit, then what does Paul ask for in his request for “the spirit of wisdom and revelation”? The key is in the phrase that follows, “in the knowledge of him” (ESV), or “so that you may know him better” (NIV).

Paul had commended the Ephesians for their faith in the Lord Jesus and their love toward all the saints (Ephesians 1:15), but now he is asking God to give them a deeper and greater understanding of the mysteries of His character and will, to know Him more thoroughly and intimately. Now that they have the Holy Spirit in their hearts, Paul desires Him to grant them more understanding and greater insight. The “wisdom” is a better understanding of the doctrines of God, and the “revelation” is a clearer picture of the divine character and will. In the NLT, the prayer is that believers would have “spiritual wisdom and insight so that you might grow in your knowledge of God.” The AMP translation has Paul asking that God “may grant you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation [that gives you a deep and personal and intimate insight] into the true knowledge of Him.”

God is infinite, and He can never be fully known by finite creatures. We all need wisdom from above. No matter how far we may advance in our understanding of God, there is an unfathomed depth of knowledge that remains to be explored. Scripture is full of admonitions to grow in our knowledge of Christ (2 Peter 3:18; 1 Peter 2:2; Ephesians 4:15).

Paul outlines some of the mysteries he wants the Ephesians to understand through this spirit of wisdom and revelation. He desires them to grasp “the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance” (Ephesians 1:18). This is the hope of eternal life, which Paul refers to as the “upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:14, ESV). We inherit the riches of eternal life through Him who saved us and called us to holiness in Christ before time began (2 Timothy 1:9). Paul also prays the Spirit will reveal God’s “incomparably great power for us who believe” (Ephesians 1:19)—power so great it raised Jesus from the dead. It’s a power that we can only comprehend as we possess the spirit of wisdom and revelation.

The spirit of wisdom and revelation is not some mysterious blessing given to a special few, and it is not the ability to speak as a prophet. Rather, it is the work of the Holy Spirit to help the people of God understand the things of God more fully and completely.

There are several different schools of thought on what Jesus was referring to in saying it was easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to gain eternal life (Matthew 19:24; Mark 10:25; Luke 18:25). The Persians expressed the concept of the impossible by saying it would be easier to put an elephant through the eye of a needle. The camel was a Jewish adaptation (the largest animal in Israel was a camel).

Some theorize that the needle Jesus was speaking of was the Needle Gate, supposedly a low and narrow after-hours entrance found in the wall surrounding Jerusalem. It was purposely small for security reasons, and a camel could only go through it by stripping off any saddles or packs and crawling through on its knees. The problem with this theory is there is no evidence such a gate ever existed. Beyond that, what sane camel driver would go through such contortions when larger gates were easily accessible?

Others claim that the word translated “camel” (Greek: kamelos) should actually be “cable” (Greek: kamilos). Then the verse would read that it is easier for a cable (or rope) to go through the eye of a needle. To believe this, however, brings up more problems than it solves, namely casting doubt on the inerrancy and inspiration of Scripture.

The most likely explanation is that Jesus was using hyperbole, a figure of speech that exaggerates for emphasis. Jesus used this technique at other times, referring to a “plank” in one’s eye (Matthew 7:3-5) and swallowing a camel (Matthew 23:24).

Jesus’ message is clear—it is impossible for anyone to be saved on his own merits. Since wealth was seen as proof of God’s approval, it was commonly taught by the rabbis that rich people were blessed by God and were, therefore, the most likely candidates for heaven. Jesus destroyed that notion, and along with it, the idea that anyone can earn eternal life. The disciples had the appropriate response to this startling statement. They were utterly amazed and asked, “Who then can be saved?” in the next verse. If the wealthy among them, which included the super-spiritual Pharisees and scribes, were unworthy of heaven, what hope was there for a poor man?

Jesus’ answer is the basis of the gospel: "With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God" (Matthew 19:26). Men are saved through God’s gifts of grace, mercy, and faith (Ephesians 2:8-9). Nothing we do earns salvation for us. It is the poor in spirit who inherit the kingdom of God (Matthew 5:3), those who recognize their spiritual poverty and their utter inability to do anything to justify themselves to a holy God. The rich man so often is blind to his spiritual poverty because he is proud of his accomplishments and has contented himself with his wealth. He is as likely to humble himself before God as a camel is to crawl through the eye of a needle.


This proverb is spoken by Jesus in Matthew 23:24. On His last trip to Jerusalem, Jesus spoke at length about life under the oppressive reign of the Pharisees. The religious leaders tested Him continually “and plotted how to entangle him in his words” (Matthew 22:15). In Matthew 23, Jesus pronounced seven woes against the scribes and Pharisees, accusing them of hypocrisy, laying heavy burdens on the people, exalting themselves, and preventing people from entering God’s kingdom. He was especially harsh in His assessment of their strict adherence to the laws of tithing while they “neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness” (Matthew 23:23). He concludes by saying, “You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel” (verse 24).

The KJV translates the first part of the proverb as “strain at a gnat.” That wording gives the impression of choking while trying to swallow the gnat while easily gulping down the camel. But the better translation is “strain out a gnat.” The Greek word refers to straining water through a cloth or sieve to remove impurities. The GNT translates it this way: “You strain a fly out of your drink, but swallow a camel!”

The Jews had a law that forbade eating any flying insects that did not have jointed legs for hopping (Leviticus 11:20–23), and in this they were strictly observant. Because water could have insects and insect larvae in it, pious Jews were careful to strain the water through a cloth before drinking it. They did not want to accidentally ingest an unclean insect and thus violate the law. Jesus mentions this practice in His proverb and then contrasts it with a hyperbolic picture of gulping down a camel. In this way, Jesus accused them of taking great pains (straining out gnats) to avoid offence in minor things of little importance, while tolerating or committing great sins (swallowing camels) such as deceit, oppression, and lust.

Christ’s fifth woe relates to the same type of hypocrisy (Matthew 23:25–26). All Jewish sects agreed on the need to wash their dishes in order to maintain their ceremonial cleanness, but Jesus pointed out that it is senseless to clean the outside of a cup and leave the inside filthy. But this is exactly what the actions of the Jewish leaders achieved. They focused on outward behavior but neglected the most important commands—loving God and one another. They strained at a gnat, mistakenly believing that external conformity to the law was enough, while not seeing that the evil in their hearts was a camel-sized problem. The Pharisees were scrupulous in counting out their mint leaves and tithing their “dill and cumin” (verse 23), but their hearts were full of envy, pride, greed, and malice. They strained at the gnat of ceremony, but they ignored the camel of sin in their hearts.


FOR FURTHER STUDY

In essence, “hypocrisy” refers to the act of claiming to believe something but acting in a different manner. The word is derived from the Greek term for “actor”—literally, “one who wears a mask”—in other words, someone who pretends to be what he is not.

The Bible calls hypocrisy a sin. There are two forms hypocrisy can take: that of professing belief in something and then acting in a manner contrary to that belief, and that of looking down on others when we ourselves are flawed.

The prophet Isaiah condemned the hypocrisy of his day: “The Lord says, ‘These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is made up only of rules taught by men’” (Isaiah 29:13). Centuries later, Jesus quoted this verse, aiming the same condemnation at the religious leaders of His day (Matthew 15:8-9). John the Baptist refused to give hypocrites a pass, telling them to produce “fruits worthy of repentance” (Luke 3:8). Jesus took an equally staunch stand against sanctimony—He called hypocrites “wolves in sheep’s clothing” (Matthew 7:15), “whitewashed tombs” (Matthew 23:27), “snakes,” and “brood of vipers” (Matthew 23:33).

We cannot say we love God if we do not love our brothers (1 John 2:9). Love must be “without hypocrisy” (Romans 12:9, NKJV). A hypocrite may look righteous on the outside, but it is a façade. True righteousness comes from the inner transformation of the Holy Spirit not an external conformity to a set of rules (Matthew 23:5; 2 Corinthians 3:8).

Jesus addressed the other form of hypocrisy in the Sermon on the Mount: “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye” (Matthew 7:3-5). Jesus is not teaching against discernment or helping others overcome sin; instead, He is telling us not be so prideful and convinced of our own goodness that we criticize others from a position of self-righteousness. We should do some introspection first and correct our own shortcomings before we go after the “specks” in others (cf. Romans 2:1).

During Jesus’ earthly ministry, He had many run-ins with the religious leaders of the day, the Pharisees. These men were well versed in the Scriptures and zealous about following every letter of the Law (Acts 26:5). However, in adhering to the letter of the Law, they actively sought loopholes that allowed them to violate the spirit of the Law. Also, they displayed a lack of compassion toward their fellow man and were often overly demonstrative of their so-called spirituality in order to garner praise (Matthew 23:5–7; Luke 18:11). Jesus denounced their behavior in no uncertain terms, pointing out that “justice, mercy, and faithfulness” are more important than pursuing a perfection based on faulty standards (Matthew 23:23). Jesus made it clear that the problem was not with the Law but the way in which the Pharisees implemented it (Matthew 23:2-3). Today, the word pharisee has become synonymous with hypocrite.

It must be noted that hypocrisy is not the same as taking a stand against sin. For example, it is not hypocrisy to teach that drunkenness is a sin, unless the one teaching against drunkenness gets drunk every weekend--that would be hypocrisy.

As children of God, we are called to strive for holiness (1 Peter 1:16). We are to “hate what is evil” and “cling to what is good” (Romans 12:9). We should never imply an acceptance of sin, especially in our own lives. All we do should be consistent with what we believe and who we are in Christ. Play-acting is meant for the stage, not for real life.

Usually, when people speak of the “great deception,” they refer to 2 Thessalonians 2:11, which predicts that God will, in an end-times judgment, send “a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie.” This great deception is associated with the satanic work of the Antichrist and his “displays of power through signs and wonders that serve the lie” (verse 9).

The same passage in 2 Thessalonians also speaks of a great apostasy that will take place before the man of lawlessness is revealed. Similar apostasies are predicted elsewhere: “The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons” (1 Timothy 4:1). Of course, people are complicit in the deception, for they reject the truth and prefer lies: “For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths” (2 Timothy 4:3–4).

Jesus spoke about a time to come when the deception will be especially great when false messiahs and false prophets will appear. Even the people of God could be deceived if it were not for God’s providential protection: “For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect” (Matthew 24:24, see also Mark 13:5–6, Luke 21:8).

All of these deceptions are instigated by the devil. However, 2 Thessalonians 2:11 also speaks of the deception as God’s punishment on people who refuse to believe the truth. The context seems to be similar to that of the gospel passages above and speaks of one to come who will be especially deceptive: “The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders, and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. Therefore God sends them a strong delusion, so that they may believe what is false, in order that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness” (2 Thessalonians 2:9–12, ESV).

In this passage, after people have refused the truth for so long, God causes them to believe what is false—a “strong delusion.” This is not an instance where God actively deceives people; rather, God is simply giving those who reject the truth what they really want.

We see a similar pattern in Romans 1:18–25 where people reject God’s truth for so long that He simply abandons them to their own sinfulness. They have, as it were, crossed the point of no return:

“The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.

“For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like a mortal human being and birds and animals and reptiles.

“Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen.”

Much the same thing happened to Pharaoh after he refused to let the Israelites leave Egypt, and God hardened his heart. It was not as though Pharaoh would have been an obedient follower of the Lord if God had not hardened his heart. Pharaoh set his heart against the Lord, and God simply confirmed for all time Pharaoh’s decision (see Exodus 8:15, 32; 9:34; 10:1).

The deception spoken of in the Gospels has to do with false prophets and/or messiahs who appear and seem to be authenticated by miracles. Taking the futurist position, we see the great deception spoken of in 2 Thessalonians 2 as a future event associated with the coming of the Antichrist after the rapture of the church. “Those who are perishing” will willingly embrace the imitation and follow the beast of the end times; they will perish “because they refused to love the truth and so be saved” (verse 10).

We don’t know exactly what the great deception will be, only that it will be a strong delusion capable of swaying the world’s allegiance toward the Antichrist. The Bible says that, in the time of the Antichrist and false prophet, there will be many signs to bolster their lies. The false prophet “performed great signs, even causing fire to come down from heaven to the earth in full view of the people. Because of the signs it was given power to perform on behalf of the first beast, it deceived the inhabitants of the earth” (Revelation 13:13–14). It is hard to imagine, but the deception during the tribulation will be worse than all of Satan’s other deceptions. The Antichrist will have a deadly wound healed, his “image” will breathe and speak and give orders, etc. (Revelation 13:12, 15).

In the broader sense, anyone who rejects the truth of God is being deceived, and at some point, God may simply abandon him to the deception that he has willingly embraced. There are plenty of false teachers today who claim to teach God’s Word. Some claim to be Christians, and some claim to bring a word from God from outside of the Bible. It is vitally important that every Christian compare every teaching with what the Bible says and spend the time necessary to evaluate what is being taught. This is the mission of Got Questions, and in keeping with that mission, we would encourage every reader to compare what we say with Scripture as well.

A common tactic of Satan is to imitate or counterfeit the things of God in order to make himself appear to be like God. What is commonly referred to as the “unholy trinity,” described vividly in Revelation 12 and 13, is no exception. The Holy Trinity consists of God the Father, the Son Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit. Their counterparts in the unholy trinity are Satan, the Antichrist, and the False Prophet. While the Holy Trinity is characterized by infinite truth, love, and goodness, the unholy trinity portrays the diametrically opposite traits of deception, hatred, and unadulterated evil.

Revelation 12 and 13 contain prophetic passages that describe some of the main events and the figures involved during the second half of the seven-year Tribulation period. Although many Bible passages allude to Satan in various forms, such as a serpent or an angel of light, he is described in Revelation 12:3 as a “great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads.” The color red indicates his vicious and homicidal personality. The seven heads symbolize seven evil kingdoms that Satan has empowered and used throughout history to attempt to prevent God’s ultimate plan from coming to fruition. Five of the kingdoms have already come and gone—Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Medo-Persia, and Greece.

All these kingdoms severely oppressed and persecuted the Hebrews, killing many of them. Satan’s intent was to prevent the birth of Christ (Revelation 12:4). The sixth kingdom, Rome, was still in existence during the writing of this prophecy. Under Roman rule, King Herod murdered Hebrew babies around the time of Christ’s birth and Pontius Pilate ultimately authorized the crucifixion of Jesus. The seventh kingdom, which is more fierce and cruel than the others, will be the final world kingdom that the Antichrist forms during the end times. These kingdoms were also prophesied in Daniel, chapters 2 and 7. The seven crowns represent universal rule, and ten horns represent complete world power or authority.

Revelation 12 indicates many important facts about Satan. Satan and one-third of the angels were cast out of heaven during a rebellion before the world began (Revelation 12:4). The Archangel Michael and the other angels will make war with Satan and his demons, and Satan will be excluded from heaven forever (Revelation 12:7-9). In his attempt to prevent God’s fulfillment of His earthly kingdom, Satan will attempt to annihilate the Jews, but God will supernaturally protect a remnant of the Jews in a location outside of Israel for the last 42 months of the Tribulation (Revelation 12:6, 13–17; Matthew 24:15–21).

The second member of the unholy trinity is the Beast or Antichrist described in Revelation 13 and Daniel 7. The beast comes out of the sea, which typically in the Bible refers to the Gentile nations. He also has seven heads and ten horns, indicating his connection to and indwelling by Satan. The ten horns indicate ten seats of world government that will provide power to the Antichrist, three of which will be totally yielded to or taken over by the Antichrist (Daniel 7:8). The number ten also indicates completion or totality, in other words, a one-world government. The one-world government will be blasphemous, denying the true God. The final kingdom will possess traits in common with the former “beast kingdoms” of Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and particularly Rome (Revelation 13:2; Daniel 7:7, 23). Revelation 13:3 seems to indicate that the Antichrist will be mortally wounded about halfway through the Tribulation, but Satan will miraculously heal his wound (Revelation 13:3; 17:8–14). After this wondrous event, the world will be totally enthralled by the Antichrist. They will worship Satan and the Antichrist himself (Revelation 13:4–5). The Antichrist becomes emboldened, and, dispensing with all pretenses of being a peaceful ruler, he openly blasphemes God, breaks his peace treaty with the Jews, attacks believers and the Jews, and desecrates the rebuilt Jewish temple, setting himself up as the one to be worshiped (Revelation 13:4–7; Matthew 24:15.) This particular event has been called the Abomination of Desolation.

The final personage of the unholy trinity is the False Prophet, described in Revelation 13:11–18. This second beast comes out of the earth, not the sea, possibly indicating that he will be an apostate Jew coming from Israel. Although he presents himself as a meek, mild, and benevolent person, the horns indicate that he will have power. Jesus expressly warned believers to watch out for false prophets that may look innocent but actually can be very destructive (Matthew 7:15). The False Prophet speaks like a dragon, meaning that he will speak persuasively and deceptively to turn humans away from God and promote the worship of the Antichrist and Satan (Revelation 13:11–12). The False Prophet is capable of producing great signs and wonders, including bringing down fire from heaven (Revelation 13:13). He sets up an image of the Antichrist for worship, gives life to the image, demands the worship of the image from all people, and executes those who refuse to worship the image (Revelation 13:14–15). Revelation 20:4 indicates that the method of execution will be beheading.

The False Prophet will also compel each person to receive a permanent mark of some kind, just as slaves did in John’s day, to show total devotion to the Antichrist and renunciation of God. Only those who receive the mark will be permitted to engage in commerce. Acceptance of the mark means eternal death (Revelation 14:10). The Bible makes clear that humans will fully understand that, by accepting the mark, they are not only accepting an economic system but also a worship system that rejects Jesus Christ. Revelation 13:18 reveals the number of the Beast—666. No one knows precisely what this means. Some believe that the Antichrist’s first, middle, and last names will have six letters each. Some believe that the designation refers to a computer chip, since some computer programs start with 666.

Satan is the anti-God, the Beast is the anti-Christ, and the False Prophet is the anti-Spirit. This unholy trinity will persecute believers and deceive many others, resulting in their eternal death. But God’s kingdom will prevail. Daniel 7:21–22 states, “I was watching; and the same horn was making war against the saints, and prevailing against them, until the Ancient of Days came, and a judgment was made in favor of the saints of the Most High, and the time came for the saints to possess the kingdom.”

The Bible really does not say anything specific about where the Antichrist will come from. Many Bible scholars speculate that he will come from a confederacy of ten nations and/or a reborn Roman empire (Daniel 7:24-25; Revelation 17:7). Others see him as having to be a Jew in order to claim to be the Messiah. It is all just speculation since the Bible does not specifically say where the Antichrist will come from or what ethnicity he will be. One day, the Antichrist will be revealed. Second Thessalonians 2:3-4 tells us how we will recognize the Antichrist: “don’t let anyone deceive you in any way, for that day will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the man doomed to destruction. He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshiped, so that he sets himself up in God’s temple, proclaiming himself to be God.”

 Revelation 13:5-8 declares, “The beast was given a mouth to utter proud words and blasphemies and to exercise his authority for forty-two months. He opened his mouth to blaspheme God, and to slander his name and his dwelling place and those who live in heaven. He was given power to make war against the saints and to conquer them. And he was given authority over every tribe, people, language and nation. All inhabitants of the earth will worship the beast—all whose names have not been written in the book of life belonging to the Lamb that was slain from the creation of the world.”

The phrase spirit of the antichrist is found in 1 John 4:2–3: “This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world.”

It’s vital to understand the context of John’s statements. A predominant worldview when he wrote this letter suggested that diverse spirits were at work in the world. Many false teachings, mystery religions, spiritual experiences, and variations of Christianity were emerging at the time. The spiritual atmosphere was not unlike the one present in our world today. People entertained countless views regarding truth.

John presented a definitive solution for wading through this variety of beliefs and teachings. He instructed his readers to pay attention and test the spirits: “Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world” (1 John 4:1).

But how do we test the spirits? How can we discern which teachers are imparting truth? How do we recognize the spirit of the antichrist?

These “spirits” John spoke of were not merely disembodied, supernatural beings. John taught that a prophet or teacher was the actual mouthpiece for a spirit. Spiritual doctrines are promulgated through human spokespersons. Teachers of truth are filled with the Spirit of God and thus are agents who speak for God. Teachers of falsehood are spreading the “doctrines of demons” (1 Timothy 4:1, NASB).

So, the first test relates to theology or doctrine: “Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God” (1 John 4:2). We can ask, does the content of the person’s teaching acknowledge that Jesus Christ—fully God and fully human—has come in the flesh? If the answer is yes, then we know the Spirit of God inspires that person. If not, his entire teaching ought to be rejected. This particular test was especially apropos in John’s day, as the heresy of Gnosticism was becoming prevalent; Gnosticism taught that Jesus only appeared to have a human body but was not actually a flesh-and-blood person.

Next, John says, “But every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist” (1 John 4:3). Anyone who does not acknowledge Jesus Christ as the Bible presents Him is inspired by the spirit of the antichrist.

The word antichrist means “against Christ.” People who say that Jesus is not from God are controlled by the spirit of the antichrist. Satan opposes Christ, and he desires to deceive people into a false view of who Jesus is. The spirit of the antichrist teaches against Christ. To twist the truth about Jesus Christ is to pervert the gospel. Satan works to spread lies about Christ and keep people in the dark: “Many deceivers, who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh, have gone out into the world. Any such person is the deceiver and the antichrist” (2 John 1:7).

The spirit of the antichrist is the birds that eat the seeds along the path in Jesus’ parable (Mark 4:4, 15). It is “the god of this age” who blinds the minds of unbelievers, keeping them from seeing “the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ” (2 Corinthians 4:4). It is “the father of lies” (John 8:44). The spirit of the antichrist is “the great dragon . . . who leads the whole world astray” (Revelation 12:9).

The Bible teaches that the world will eventually produce a world ruler, called “the beast” in Revelation, who will wield great power and demand worship of himself. He will have “a mouth to utter proud words and blasphemies” (Revelation 13:5) and is empowered by Satan (Revelation 13:2). He is called “the man of lawlessness . . . the man doomed to destruction” in 2 Thessalonians 2:3. This final Antichrist will be the culmination of the evil workings of Satan throughout the centuries. The Antichrist of the end times will embody all the deception and perversion of truth that the spirit of the antichrist has always promoted. Today, “the secret power of lawlessness is already at work” (2 Thessalonians 2:7). The same spirit that will empower the Antichrist of the last days is currently operating in the world to bring confusion and deception to the issue of Jesus Christ’s person and work. “This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world” (1 John 4:3).

Even given the pervasive influence of the spirit of the antichrist, there is no need to fear. As John reminds us, the Spirit of truth indwells all believers and provides protection from the spirit of the antichrist: “You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world” (1 John 4:4).

We have some practical ways to distinguish the false spirit of the antichrist from the true Spirit of God: “[False prophets] are from the world and therefore speak from the viewpoint of the world, and the world listens to them. We are from God, and whoever knows God listens to us; but whoever is not from God does not listen to us. This is how we recognize the Spirit of truth and the spirit of falsehood” (1 John 4:5–6). Those who are influenced by the spirit of the antichrist are of the world. They have the same values as the world; therefore, the world listens to them. Those who acknowledge Christ have His Spirit of truth, and they embrace the apostles’ message. The gospel the apostles preached is never popular in the world, but it is that very gospel that holds the power to save, through God’s Spirit of truth (Romans 1:16).

The believer’s job is to test the spirits carefully (1 John 4:1). We must be “wise as serpents and innocent as doves” (Matthew 10:16, ESV). We should not automatically embrace the message of any preacher or teacher simply because of his or her reputation or credentials; rather, we must listen cautiously to their Christology. What they say about Jesus is of utmost importance.

The apostle John describes this person and gives us clues to identifying him when he shows up. First, he comes out of the earth. This could mean he comes up from the pit of hell with all the demonic powers of hell at his command. It could also mean he comes from lowly circumstances, secret and unknown until he bursts on the world stage at the right hand of the Antichrist. He is depicted as having horns like a lamb, while speaking like a dragon. The horns on lambs are merely small bumps on their heads until the lamb grows into a ram. Rather than having the Antichrist’s multiplicity of heads and horns, showing his power and might and fierceness, the false prophet comes like a lamb, winsomely, with persuasive words that elicit sympathy and good will from others. He may be an extraordinary preacher or orator whose demonically empowered words will deceive the multitudes. But he speaks like a dragon, which means his message is the message of a dragon. Revelation 12:9 identifies the dragon as the devil and Satan.

Verse 12 gives us the false prophet’s mission on earth, which is to force humanity to worship the Antichrist. He has all the authority of the Antichrist because, like him, the false prophet is empowered by Satan. It is not clear whether people are forced to worship the Antichrist or whether they are so enamored of these powerful beings that they fall for the deception and worship him willingly. The fact that the second beast uses miraculous signs and wonders, including fire from heaven, to establish the credibility of both of them would seem to indicate that people will fall before them in adoration of their power and message. Verse 14 goes on to say the deception will be so great that the people will set up an idol to the Antichrist, "the image of the beast," and worship it. This is reminiscent of the huge golden image of Nebuchadnezzar (Daniel 3) before which all were to bow down and pay homage. Revelation 14:9-11, however, describes the ghastly fate that awaits those who worship the image of the Antichrist.

Those who survive the terrors of the tribulation to this point will be faced with two hard choices. Those who refuse to worship the image of the beast will be subject to death (Revelation 13:15), but those who do worship him will incur the wrath of God. The image will be extraordinary in that it will be able to “speak.” Whatever the image is (a statue? a hologram? an android? a human-animal hybrid? a clone?), it will have some kind of ability to breathe forth the message of the Antichrist and the false prophet. Along with being the spokesman for them, the image will condemn to death those who refuse to worship the unholy pair. In our technological world, it is not hard to imagine such a scenario.

Whoever the false prophet turns out to be, the final world deception and the final apostasy will be great, and the whole world will be caught up in it. The deceivers and false teachers we see today are the forerunners of the Antichrist and the false prophet, and we must not be deceived by them. These false teachers abound, and they are moving us toward a final satanic kingdom. We must faithfully proclaim the saving gospel of Jesus Christ and rescue the souls of men and women from the coming disaster.

Magic and miracles might mean the same thing to some people, but there is actually a vast difference between the two terms. It is proper to say that Jesus worked miracles, but it would be wrong to attribute His works to magic. Basically, magic and miracles differ in their source: magic has either a human or demonic source, but miracles are a supernatural work of God.

There are two different kinds of “magic,” and it is good to distinguish between the two. Entertainers who use sleight-of-hand and illusions in their performance are often called “magicians,” but they are actually illusionists, which is what most of them prefer to be called. An illusionist’s audience does not consider what they see to be “real” magic; they understand it is a trick, and they delight in the fact they cannot figure out how the trick is done. The other kind of magic is what some might call “real” magic; it draws on occult, demonic power. The Bible speaks of “lying wonders” in 2 Thessalonians 2:9. The Antichrist’s coming “will be in accordance with how Satan works. He will use all sorts of displays of power through signs and wonders that serve the lie.” This type of magic, sometimes spelled magick to distinguish it from sleight-of-hand, is associated with divination, conjuring, and sorcery and is condemned in Scripture (see Deuteronomy 18:10–12). Of course, the Antichrist will claim that his power comes from God, but that is a lie, too (see Revelation 13:2).

A major difference between magic and miracles is that magic draws upon power that is not directly from God, and miracles are the result of God’s power intervening in the world. Magic is an attempt to circumvent God in the acquisition of knowledge or power. The city of Ephesus was a battleground between magic and miracles. The pagan population of Ephesus was steeped in idolatry and involved in magic, but then Paul brought the gospel to that city, and with the gospel came true power through the apostle: “God did extraordinary miracles through Paul” (Acts 19:11). Seeing what Paul did, some exorcists (the seven sons of Sceva) attempted to duplicate his miracles, but they failed miserably and publicly (verses 13–16). When a large number of Ephesians were saved through the preaching of Paul and Silas, the new believers destroyed their books of witchcraft: “A number of those who had practiced magic arts brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all. And they counted the value of them and found it came to fifty thousand pieces of silver” (Acts 19:19, ESV). So, in Ephesus, there was a clear contrast between the miracles of God and the magic of the devil, which is sorcery.

Another difference between magic and miracles is that magic does not glorify God, but miracles do (see Mark 2:12). A good example of a magician’s self-promotion is found in Samaria. “A man named Simon had practiced sorcery in the city and amazed all the people of Samaria. He boasted that he was someone great, and all the people, both high and low, gave him their attention and exclaimed, ‘This man is rightly called the Great Power of God.’ They followed him because he had amazed them for a long time with his sorcery” (Acts 8:9–11). Note that Simon was boastful about his “power” and went by a blasphemous title. Simon had the ability to amaze the crowds with his magic, but it was not the power of God. Simon’s performances were all about himself and enriching his own life. Later, Simon the magician sees a true miracle performed by Peter and John, and he offers to buy from them the “secret” to their trick (verses 18–19). Peter immediately rebukes Simon; in Simon’s sinful heart, he had equated the power of the Holy Spirit with his own sorcery (verses 20–23).

Another difference between magic and miracles is that magic involves manipulation and opposition to the truth but miracles reveal the truth. The magician attempts to manipulate people for personal gain. The worker of miracles simply showcases the power and glory of God. The city of Paphos on the island of Cyprus was another battleground between the miraculous and the magical. As Paul and Barnabas (and Mark) were preaching in that city, they were opposed by “a Jewish sorcerer and false prophet named Bar-Jesus, who was an attendant of the proconsul, Sergius Paulus” (Acts 13:6–7). This sorcerer, also called Elymas, had wormed his way into the political establishment of Cyprus. When the proconsul began to listen to the missionaries’ message, Elymas “tried to turn the proconsul from the faith” (verse 8). Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, confronted Elymas head-on: “You are a child of the devil and an enemy of everything that is right! You are full of all kinds of deceit and trickery. Will you never stop perverting the right ways of the Lord?” (verse 10). Paul then performed a miracle—striking Elymas blind—showing that the miracle-working power of God is greater than the magic of the devil (verse 11). The result was that the proconsul believed the gospel and was saved (verse 12).

Another good comparison of miracles and magic is found in the book of Exodus. The workers of magic in Egypt are called “sorcerers” and “magicians” (Exodus 7:11, 22); however, Moses and Aaron are never identified by those terms. The works that God did through Moses were true miracles, whereas the tricks of Pharaoh’s magicians were meant to deceive and harden the king’s heart. Early in the story, there is a showdown in Pharaoh’s court: “Aaron threw his staff down in front of Pharaoh and his officials, and it became a snake. Pharaoh then summoned wise men and sorcerers, and the Egyptian magicians also did the same things by their secret arts: Each one threw down his staff and it became a snake. But Aaron’s staff swallowed up their staffs” (Exodus 7:10–12). The fact that the Egyptian snakes were eaten by Aaron’s snake shows that the power of God is greater than whatever power the pagan magicians were tapping in to. Later, these same Egyptian sorcerers duplicated the changing of water into blood (Exodus 7:22) and the mass production of frogs (Exodus 8:7). However, the sorcerers were powerless to mimic the other plagues. When it came to the gnats, the magicians’ abilities fell short. As they reported to Pharaoh, “This is the finger of God” (Exodus 8:19).

Miracles and magic sometimes look the same, but their goals are different. Magic and illusion distract the eye from reality, while miracles draw the eye to reality. Miracles reveal; magic hides. Miracles are an expression of creative power; magic uses what already exists. Miracles are a gift; magic is a studied skill. Miracles do not glorify men; magic seeks to be noticed and bring glory to the magician.

Jesus was not a magician. He was the Son of God, known for His many miracles (John 7:31). Jesus told His enemies, “Do not believe me unless I do the works of my Father. But if I do them, even though you do not believe me, believe the works, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me, and I in the Father” (John 10:37–38). Jesus’ miracles (or “signs,” as John called them) are proof of who He is.


Our God is a God of wonders (Psalm 136:3-4). As the Creator and Sustainer of all that is, God has the power to suspend natural laws in order to fulfill His purposes. Miracles were a part of the ministries of Moses, Elijah and Elisha, and of course Jesus and the apostles, and their miracles primarily served the purpose of confirming their message as being from God (Hebrews 2:3-4). Today, many people still seek to experience the miraculous, and some will go to great lengths to have that experience. There may be many reasons for such a desire, and Scripture gives us at least five:

1. Some people seek after signs and wonders because they want confirmation of the truth of God. There is nothing inherently wrong with this desire. In fact, God willingly gave signs to Moses (Exodus 4:1-9) and Gideon (Judges 6:11-22) to confirm His word. Miracles can aid a person’s coming to faith, as in John 2:23, “Many people saw the miraculous signs he was doing and believed in his name.”

However, there comes a time when enough miracles have been performed—the truth has been proved—and it is time to exercise faith. When Moses hesitated to obey after a series of miracles at the burning bush, “the LORD’s anger burned” (Exodus 4:14).

Also, it is nobler in God’s sight to believe without needing a miracle. Jesus visited the Samaritans, and “because of his words many more became believers” (John 4:41, emphasis added). Just a few verses later, Jesus rebukes the Galileans: “Unless you people see miraculous signs and wonders . . . you will never believe” (John 4:48). Unlike the Samaritans, the people of Galilee required signs and wonders.

2. Some people seek after signs and wonders because they do not believe the signs and wonders which have already been performed. The Pharisees of Matthew 12 were just such a lot. Jesus had been performing miracles for quite some time when a group of scribes and Pharisees came to Him with an insolent demand to see another sign. In response, Jesus condemned them as “wicked and adulterous” (Matthew 12:38-39).

They were “wicked” in that they refused to believe the signs and wonders Christ had already performed. “In spite of his wonders, they did not believe” (Psalm 78:32). Their hearts were hardened towards the truth, even after numerous public miracles. Nothing would make them believe; their hearts were as pharaoh’s, hardened after witnessing so many of Moses’ miracles in Egypt (Exodus 9:34-35).

They were “adulterous” in the spiritual sense, having left the true worship of God to follow a man-made set of rules and traditions. Not satisfied with the miracles Jesus was doing, they demanded something even greater. As commentator Matthew Barnes puts it, “They looked for signs of their own devising.” So entrenched was their rejection of Christ that, when later presented with the “sign of the prophet Jonah” (Christ’s resurrection, Matthew 12:39-40), they still would not believe.

3. Some people seek after signs and wonders because they seek an occasion to excuse their unbelief. There were people in Jesus’ day who “tested” Him by seeking a sign (Matthew 16:1; Luke 11:16). Since they specified that the sign be “from heaven,” they most likely wanted something spectacular, similar to Elijah’s calling down fire from the sky (1 Kings 18:38) or Isaiah’s causing the sun to reverse course (Isaiah 38:8). Probably, their “test” was designed to be something “too big” for Jesus to accomplish—they simply hoped He would attempt it and fail in the attempt.

4. Some people seek after signs and wonders because they are curious thrill-seekers. Like the crowds in John 6:2 and King Herod in Luke 23:8, they want to see something sensational, but they have no real desire to know the truth of Christ.

5. Some people seek after signs and wonders because they hope to get something for themselves. After Jesus fed the multitudes, a large crowd followed Him to the other side of Galilee. Jesus saw their true motivation, however, and rebuked it: “I tell you the truth, you are looking for me, not because you saw miraculous signs but because you ate the loaves and had your fill” (John 6:26). The crowd’s desire was not to know Christ or even to see more miracles; it was simply to fill their stomachs again.

Better than seeking after a new miracle is taking God at His Word. Simple faith is more pleasing to the Lord than a reliance on a dazzling sensory experience. “Jesus told him, ‘Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed’” (John 20:29).

The name Faithful and True expresses the total trustworthiness, reliability, and constancy of Jesus Christ. The title reveals His character and makes known His words and works.

In Revelation 19:11, John sees a vision of Jesus as the exalted King of kings leaving heaven to return to earth: “I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and wages war.” This picture of Christ’s second coming at the end of the age shows Jesus no longer as the peaceful, humble servant riding on a lowly donkey (John 12:12–15). Now He is the victorious King, charging forth like a conquering war general, leading His troops into battle (Revelation 19:14).

In this vivid portrayal, John identifies Jesus by four different titles, beginning with Faithful and True. It is the first and only time this name of Jesus appears in Scripture. The second title is unknown to us (Revelation 19:12); the third is the Word of God (verse 13); the fourth is King of kings and Lord of lords (verse 16).

The word for “Faithful” in the original language means “characterized by steadfast affection or allegiance,” and the word translated “True” means “truthful or characterized by expressing the truth.” The nature of Jesus Christ—His whole being—exudes faithfulness and truth. Earlier, in Revelation 3:14, Jesus called Himself the “faithful and true witness” in His letter to the church in Laodicea. Faithful and True is who Jesus Christ is.

In His first coming to earth, Jesus proved Himself to be faithful to the mission and will of God His Father: “I have brought you glory on earth by finishing the work you gave me to do” (John 17:4; see also John 5:30; Hebrews 3:6; Luke 4:43). Never once did the Lord give in to the temptation to sin (Hebrews 4:15–16), from the time Satan tempted Him in the wilderness (Matthew 4:1–11; Mark 1:12–13; Luke 4:1–13) until His death on the cross (Matthew 16:21–23; 26:36–44; Mark 8:31–33; 14:32–42; Luke 22:40–46).

From the day Isaiah foretold His coming, Christ’s faithfulness was known (Isaiah 11:5; 42:3). As a young man (Luke 2:49) and throughout His ministry, Jesus was a faithful and obedient servant to His Father God (John 4:34; 6:38; 8:29; 12:27; 14:31). Jesus is consistently the same “yesterday and today and forever” (Hebrews 13:8). Others will wear out, change, or perish, but Jesus Christ remains the same for all eternity (Hebrews 1:11–12).

Jesus, who said, “I am the way and the truth and the life,” is the very embodiment of truth (John 14:6). He came from His Father “full of grace and truth” (John 1:14). And His promise of eternal life is true: “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life” (John 5:24, ESV; see also John 6:47).

Because of the fidelity inherent in His character, Jesus is faithful toward His followers in every circumstance. “If we are faithless, he remains faithful, for he cannot disown himself,” declares 2 Timothy 2:13 (see also Matthew 28:20; 2 Thessalonians 3:3; Hebrews 10:23).

Faithful and True is a fitting title for Jesus Christ our King, and He calls His followers to emulate His faithfulness and truth (Revelation 14:12; Hebrews 10:23). The entire book of Revelation conveys a message to the church of Jesus Christ to be faithful and true, just as He is Faithful and True.

In Revelation 19:11, when John sees the gates of heaven open, the One who has been Faithful and True from ages past appears at the end of time to wage His final battle. Jesus Christ comes with justice to judge and wage war, and He will triumph over the enemies of God! The outcome is sure because He is Faithful and True. He will do what He has promised to do. He shall defeat the devil once and for all. He will destroy the power of death, wiping away every sorrow, tear, and pain from the hearts of His devoted followers (Isaiah 25:8; 1 Corinthians 15:54; Hebrews 2:14; Revelation 20:14).

Revelation 19:10 makes a bold statement regarding the relationship between prophecy and Jesus Christ: “The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy” (NKJV). The book of Revelation is a book of prophecy given by Jesus Christ to His servant John (Revelation 1:1). The term revelation refers to a revealing or the making known of something that was previously unknown. Revelation is like pulling back a veil to show what’s behind it or unwrapping a present to see what’s inside.

What is prophecy, then? Simply put, prophecy is communication from God to mankind. Some prophecy can be speaking of future events, and other prophecy might not be. Prophets were utilized as a mouthpiece for God—they listened to God and then conveyed God’s message to the masses. Some examples of prophets are Elijah, Isaiah, Moses, and Jonah.

In the context of Revelation 19:10, John has seen the fall of the evil world system called Babylon the Great (Revelation 18). A great multitude in heaven is celebrating and singing praise to God because of that judgment (Revelation 19:1–3) and because it is now time for the wedding supper of the Lamb (verses 6–8). An angel says to John, “Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb!” (Revelation 19:9). At this proclamation, John falls to worship at the feet of the angel who is communicating this prophecy, but the angel insists John rise to his feet, for he is but “a fellow servant” (Revelation 19:10; cf. Colossians 2:18).

In response to John’s wrongful worship, the angel says, “See that you do not do that! . . . Worship God! For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy” (Revelation 19:10, NKJV). It is critical to understand that this statement is a response to John’s intention to worship the angel. Because of the construction of the clause in the original language (Greek), there are three common understandings of the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy:

1. Jesus is the substance of all prophecy, or, put another way, Jesus is the common theme among all prophecy.
2. All true prophecy bears witness about Jesus. Therefore, all prophecy should cause us to worship Him alone.
3. The message or testimony given by Jesus is the essence of true prophecy. Jesus is the Word, and no prophecy comes to us except through Him, ultimately pointing to God as the source of all true prophecy.

The NIV translates the angel’s statement as “It is the Spirit of prophecy who bears testimony to Jesus.” The NLT’s wording is “The essence of prophecy is to give a clear witness for Jesus.” The wording of both these translations prefers one of the first two interpretations, above. The third interpretation, however, seems to fit best within the context of Revelation 19:10. John is not to worship the angel but God alone. Since John was worshiping the angel in response to the prophecy given, the angel ensures that John understands Jesus is the source of the communication and He alone is worthy of the worship (cf. Luke 4:8; Acts 14:11–15).

Following the angel’s command to John, we ought to worship God alone. We are to worship not the purveyor of the message but the Source of the message. While God has made many beautiful things, such as angels, He is alone worthy of our praise (cf. John 17:3; 1 Timothy 1:17; 6:15; 1 Samuel 7:4).

Ezekiel’s vision of the valley of dry bones (Ezekiel 37:1–14) came to him after God had directed him to prophesy the rebirth of Israel in chapter 36. God announced, through the prophet, that Israel will be restored to her land in blessing under the leadership of “David, My servant [who] shall be king over them” (Ezekiel 37:24), clearly a reference to the future under Jesus Christ the Messiah, descendant of David (Isaiah 7:14; 9:6–7; Luke 1:31–33). However, this promise seemed impossible in light of Israel’s present condition. She was “dead” as a nation, deprived of her land, her king, and her temple. She had been divided and dispersed for so long that unification and restoration seemed impossible. So God gave Ezekiel the vision of the dry bones as sign.

God transported Ezekiel—probably not literally, but in a vision—to a valley full of dry bones and directed him to speak to the bones. Ezekiel was to tell the bones that God would make breath enter the bones and they would come to life, just as in the creation of man when He breathed life into Adam (Genesis 2:7). Ezekiel obeyed, the bones came together, flesh developed, skin covered the flesh, breath entered the bodies, and they stood up in a vast army. This vision symbolized the whole house of Israel that was then in captivity. Like unburied skeletons, the people were in a state of living death, pining away with no end to their judgment in sight. They thought their hope was gone and they were cut off forever. The surviving Israelites felt their national hopes had been dashed and the nation had died in the flames of Babylon’s attack with no hope of resurrection.

The reviving of the dry bones signified God’s plan for Israel’s future national restoration. The vision also, and most importantly, showed that Israel’s new life depended on God’s power and not the circumstances of the people. Putting “breath” by God’s Spirit into the bones showed that God would not only restore them physically but also spiritually. The Israelites residing in the Holy Land today are not the fulfillment of this prophecy. It will be fulfilled when God re-gathers believing Israelites to the land (Jeremiah 31:33; 33:14–16) and Christ returns to establish His Millennial Kingdom (Matthew 24:30–31).

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Ezekiel 34:23 records God’s promise that He will set one shepherd over Israel—His servant David—who will feed them and himself as their shepherd: “I will place over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he will tend them; he will tend them and be their shepherd.” The context immediately preceding this passage describes the people’s need for a good shepherd and gives insight into when God will fulfill the promise of bringing one shepherd over Israel.

The first section of Ezekiel 34 is an indictment against the shepherds—the rulers—of Israel in Ezekiel’s day. They were feeding themselves and serving their own interests rather than looking out for the people (Ezekiel 34:2–3). These selfish shepherds had not met the needs of the people, leaving them weak, diseased, broken, scattered, and lost. And perhaps even worse, rather than helping the people, these shepherds dominated them (Ezekiel 34:4). Instead of being cared for, the people were scattered and became food for the beasts of the field (Ezekiel 34:5)—that is, they fell prey to their enemies. They wandered about with no one caring for them (Ezekiel 34:6), because those who were responsible for their care were focused only on themselves.

Because of their terrible failures, these evil shepherds were judged. One day, God would fulfill the promise of bringing one shepherd over Israel (Ezekiel 34:23). God would rescue His flock (Ezekiel 34:10). God would care for His flock Himself, tending to them as the other shepherds should have done (Ezekiel 34:12). He would bring them to their own land (Ezekiel 34:13) and feed them in the rich pastures of the land of Israel (Ezekiel 34:14). God would feed them, lead them, seek the lost, bring back the scattered, and strengthen the sick; but those who were fat and strong (the shepherds who had fed only themselves) He would feed judgment (Ezekiel 34:15–16).

When God fulfills the promise of bringing one shepherd over Israel (Ezekiel 34:23), He will judge between those who had oppressed and those who had been oppressed (Ezekiel 34:17–21). God will deliver the flock from any who would cause it harm (Ezekiel 34:22). The one shepherd over Israel is identified as David, who will be a prince among the people (Ezekiel 34:24). This is a possible reference to the Christ, the Son of David. God will covenant with His people for peace and will protect them so they would be secure and blessed (Ezekiel 34:25–27). Unlike in previous days when they were led by wicked shepherds, the people would acknowledge God and the fact that He had delivered them (Ezekiel 34:27–28). They would know that it was God who had established them and made them safe (Ezekiel 34:29), and they would know that they were His people and that He is their God (Ezekiel 34:30–31).

While this passage does not identify exactly when God will fulfill the promise of bringing one shepherd over Israel (Ezekiel 34:23), it speaks of a time when God will judge and intercede to rescue the people. These events coincide with the Day of the Lord and the millennial kingdom, the time when the Messiah will come to earth again (having come the first time to pay for sin) to judge, deliver, and rule (see Isaiah 12:2; Joel 3:14; Malachi 4:1; 2 Peter 3:10; Revelation 6:17).

In 1 Samuel 21, David is on the run from Saul. David comes to the town of Nob, where the tabernacle was, and meets with Ahimelech the priest. David asks for food, but Ahimelech has nothing but the showbread, which was consecrated for use in the tabernacle. Despite the law that reserved the showbread exclusively for the sons of Aaron (Leviticus 24:9), “the priest gave him the consecrated bread, since there was no bread there except the bread of the Presence that had been removed from before the Lord and replaced by hot bread on the day it was taken away” (1 Samuel 21:6).

The issue of David eating the showbread comes up in Jesus’ response to the Pharisees when they accuse Him of breaking the Sabbath. His disciples had been picking some kernels of grain and eating them as they walked through a field (Matthew 12:1–8; Mark 2:23–28; Luke 6:1–5). The Pharisees objected: “Look!” they said to Jesus. “Your disciples are doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath” (Matthew 12:2).

In response, Jesus cites 1 Samuel 21: “Haven’t you read what David did when he and his companions were hungry? He entered the house of God, and he and his companions ate the consecrated bread—which was not lawful for them to do, but only for the priests” (Matthew 12:3–4). Jesus seems to use what David did regarding the showbread as a justification for what His disciples were doing. If that is the case, then David must have been in the right. There are several views on if or why it was allowable for David to eat the showbread.

Some have postulated that, since this was the old bread for the priests to eat, not fresh bread currently in use, the priests could give it to someone else. However, there is nothing in the law regarding the showbread that indicates that the priests were allowed to give it away—they were supposed to eat it (Leviticus 24:8–9).

Later in the narrative of 1 Samuel, Saul accuses the priest of “inquiring of God” for David (1 Samuel 22:13). This fact leads some to suggest that the priest asked for and received special permission from the Lord to give the bread to David. However, the text is not clear that the priest did actually inquire of the Lord for David, much less that the inquiry was about bread and that the Lord responded affirmatively. This view goes beyond anything even remotely suggested in the text.

Third, some suggest that, in the case of an emergency, the ceremonial rules could be set aside for the “greater good.” David seems to appeal to the priest on this basis, and, ultimately, this may have been why the priest gave him the bread. The priest did make sure that David and his men had “kept themselves from women” (1 Samuel 21:4–5), as sexual relations would have made them ceremonially unclean for the day (see Leviticus 15:18).

Finally, it is possible that both David and the priests simply have an inadequate understanding of the law. They both seem to assume that, if David’s men are in a state of ritual purity, then eating the showbread would be proper. (Of course, it is also possible that this was simply a quick justification that would not have held up under scrutiny.)

If Jesus had never commented on this incident, there would be little question about David’s actions. In fleeing for his life, he lied to a priest, tricked him perhaps, and ate bread that was not meant for him. While David was a man after God’s own heart (1 Samuel 13:14), he had many failures and shortcomings, and he is not an example to follow in every instance.

The words of Jesus seem to make clear that David was violating the law by eating the showbread. Jesus says it was unlawful: “He went into the house of God, and he and his companions broke the law by eating the sacred loaves of bread” (Matthew 12:4, NLT). Taken at face value, these words show that David was a lawbreaker.

On the other hand, it is possible that Jesus was using irony when He said David did what was “not lawful.” Jesus could have been using what today we call “air quotes.” In the next verse, Jesus also says that the priests “desecrate” the Sabbath in the performance of their Sabbath-day duties (Matthew 12:5). It is obvious that, when Jesus uses the word desecrate, He is speaking tongue-in-cheek. Could He be doing the same thing with the description not lawful in verse 4?

As Jesus pointed out, priests work on the Sabbath, so, clearly, there are some exceptions to the Sabbath-day rule (Matthew 12:5). Could this also imply that there are some “common sense” exceptions to other laws—such as the one regarding the special bread that David ate? In Matthew 12:7 Jesus quotes from the Old Testament: “I desire mercy not sacrifice” (Hosea 6:6). This suggests that alleviating human suffering is more important than following the letter of the law. Yes, David broke the letter of the law, but those in need received mercy.

In a parallel passage, Jesus states, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath” (Mark 2:27). In other words, the Sabbath was designed to serve and benefit man, not the other way around. Caring for human needs takes precedence over keeping the letter of the law. Jesus uses this principle of caring for others as a rationale for healing on the Sabbath (Matthew 12:9–14). This line of reasoning corresponds with the third view, above: in cases of emergency or to extend mercy, the ceremonial rules can be bent. There’s no need to stand on ceremony when someone is in distress.

In the same context, Jesus also points out that He is Lord of the Sabbath (Matthew 12:8; Luke 6:5). That is, He is the One who makes the rules—a definite claim to deity. As Lord of the Sabbath, He can determine what is allowable on the Sabbath. Certainly, God could have granted David special permission to eat the showbread, just as Jesus could grant special permission for the disciples to pick and eat grain on the Sabbath.

Jesus’ main point seems to be that the Pharisees are being hypocritical nitpickers. What David did was not lawful, yet they saw David as a great hero. What Jesus’ disciples did was lawful since they were not truly harvesting grain but simply plucking some grains to munch on as they walked along. The Pharisees did not condemn David for actually breaking the law, but they were willing to condemn Jesus for doing something that was actually allowable.

If the Pharisees justified David in eating the showbread because of the “greater good,” then they should have no problem with what Jesus did. If the Pharisees justified David on the premise that God could have given him special permission, then they should have no problem with Jesus, the Lord of the Sabbath, who had the authority to make exceptions. If they had no problem with David, a flawed man doing something unlawful, then they should have no problem with David’s greater Son doing something they did not like, but which was legal. Ultimately, Jesus’ commentary is not on what David did but on the Pharisees’ opinion of David versus their treatment of Jesus, the Son of David.

It seems clear that, when David ate the showbread, he broke the law, as he did many other times in other ways. God overlooked David’s sins in view of the final sacrifice that would be offered on the cross (Romans 3:25–26).

There are many places in the Old Testament where the biblical characters do things that are neither condemned nor commended. In such instances, we must be careful about using their actions as patterns to follow.

The bread of the Presence (also called the showbread or shewbread in some translations) was special bread always present on a table in the tabernacle (and later in the temple). Leviticus 24:5–7 describes this bread:

“You shall take fine flour and bake twelve loaves from it; two tenths of an ephah shall be in each loaf. And you shall set them in two piles, six in a pile, on the table of pure gold before the Lord. And you shall put pure frankincense on each pile, that it may go with the bread as a memorial portion as a food offering to the Lord.”

This bread of the Presence was 1) made of fine flour, 2) baked in 12 loaves, 3) arranged in two piles of six loaves each on a table of pure gold, 4) covered with frankincense, and 5) served as a memorial food offering to the Lord. The bread could only be eaten by Aaron and his sons in a holy place and was set out every Sabbath day (Leviticus 24:8–9).

The bread of the Presence is first mentioned in Exodus 25:30. God instructed for it to be placed on the golden table in the tabernacle. The bread is also listed in the contributions for the tabernacle in Exodus 35:13 and noted as part of the completed tabernacle in Exodus 39:36. In Numbers 4 the Kohathites, who were sons of Levi, were given responsibility for the care of the table of showbread.

First Chronicles 9:32 says, “Also some of their kinsmen of the Kohathites had charge of the showbread, to prepare it every Sabbath.” This bread was likely prepared on each Friday and placed in the tabernacle on each Sabbath in two piles of six. It would be replenished each week, allowing the priests to eat fresh bread in the holy place.

At one point in David’s life, when he was on the run from Saul, he asked the priest Ahimelech for food. The priest gave David the bread of the Presence, since it was the only bread available (1 Samuel 21:1–6). David was not a priest, so it was technically unlawful for him to eat the showbread. Jesus later refers to this event, using it as proof that the Law was designed for man’s benefit, and that Christ is Lord of the Sabbath (Matthew 12:1–8; Mark 2:25–27; Luke 6:3–5).

The Old Testament showbread placed on the table in the tabernacle provides a wonderful picture of Jesus, the Bread of Life. Jesus is holy before God, He provides true sustenance, and He is always present. “Jesus declared, ‘I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry’” (John 6:35).

One other New Testament reference, Hebrews 9:1–2, mentions the table of showbread as one of the items in the first section of the tabernacle. Also included in that place was the lampstand. Verse 15 notes, “Therefore [Jesus] is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance.” The context explains that the important aspects of the Jewish law were no longer necessary since Christ has become high priest once and for all.

What was done outside the camp of Israel mattered to God just as much as what happened inside the camp, and that becomes a point of significance in helping us understand a subtle yet important nuance of Jesus’ own ministry.

As part of God’s conditional covenant with Israel (often called the Mosaic Covenant or Mosaic Law), God placed emphasis on activities being done outside the camp. For example, the burning of the sacrificed sin offering was to take place outside the camp (Exodus 29:14). Moses also set up a temporary tabernacle (or tent of meeting) outside the camp so that, when the Israelites sought the Lord, they would do so outside the camp (Exodus 33:7). Even the ashes of the burnt offerings were to be taken to a clean place outside the camp (Leviticus 6:11).

It would seem simple enough that these activities would be done outside the camp for practical reasons. But there were other reasons evident as well. When Nadab and Abihu were killed by God for violating His sacrificial laws, their relatives were told to take their ashes outside the camp (Leviticus 10:4–5). If someone had leprosy, he was to dwell outside the camp (Leviticus 13:45–46). If a person was to be stoned to death, it was to happen outside the camp (Numbers 15:35). More than just for practical reasons those things that were unfit for normal dwelling inside the camp were taken outside the camp—it was the home of that which was unclean.

While at first glance there doesn’t seem to be anything vitally important about how the outside of the camp was used in Israel’s law and culture, the writer of Hebrews brings to our attention an important nuance in the ministry of Jesus Christ. First, the writer reminds readers that the bodies of animals sacrificed under the Law of Moses were taken outside the camp and burned (Hebrews 13:11). The writer then explains that Jesus, in order to sanctify the people through His own blood, suffered outside of the city gate (Hebrews 13:12). Matthew recounts that, after Jesus’ injustice of a trial, He was taken outside the city to a place called Golgotha (“place of the skull”) and crucified there (Matthew 27:33).

In Hebrews we understand that Jesus was taken outside the city to bear reproach—to be treated as an unclean criminal unqualified to remain in the city. We are then to go to Him outside the camp, bearing His reproach (Hebrews 13:13) and knowing that we do not have a lasting city here; rather, we are seeking that which is to come (Hebrews 13:14). Jesus died the death of a criminal, outside the city, so that we might all be qualified through His blood to have righteousness and eternal life and to be part of His coming kingdom. As Isaiah explains, the Messiah would be despised and forsaken and not esteemed by men (Isaiah 53:3). In a remarkable irony, this Savior would carry humanity’s griefs and sorrows, and yet humanity would look at Him as if He were the one “punished by God” (Isaiah 53:4). All our iniquity would fall on Him (Isaiah 53:6), and by His sacrifice we would be healed (Isaiah 53:5).

Paul puts it this way: Jesus was fully God and worthy of glory, but He allowed Himself to be stripped of His glory, became a man, and was humbled to the point of death as a criminal on a cross (Philippians 2:6–8). John adds that Jesus did this so that by believing in Him we could have life in His name (John 20:31). That Jesus died outside the city or outside the camp just adds to the humiliation He was willing to undergo in His love for us. How can we not respond to such a One with trust, love, and thanksgiving? No greater love exists than the kind He showed for us (John 15:13).

Both spiritual and practical considerations were involved in these commands, as is often the case in the Mosaic Law. Even when the practical reasons are not fully clear, it is possible to find a spiritual purpose. God desires purity in His people, and there is to be no “mixture” between good and evil. “Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? What harmony is there between Christ and Belial? Or what does a believer have in common with an unbeliever?” (2 Corinthians 6:14–15).

“Do not cast your pearls before swine” is a portion of the Sermon on the Mount, and, to understand its meaning, we have to understand its context and placement within the sermon. Christ had just finished instructing the crowd on judgment and reproof: “Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you” (Matthew 7:1–2), and “You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye” (Matthew 7:5). Then in verse 6, Christ tempers these admonitions and shows us the difference between “judgment” and “discernment.” We are not to be hypocritical judges, yet we must be able to discern the swine, lest we cast our pearls before them.

Before Jesus says, “Do not cast your pearls before swine,” He says, “Do not give dogs what is sacred.” An analogy mentioning dogs is also used in Proverbs: “As a dog returns to its vomit, so a fool repeats his folly” (Proverbs 26:11). A dual reference to swine and dogs is also found in 2 Peter 2:22, “Of [false teachers] the proverbs are true: ‘A dog returns to its vomit,’ and, ‘A sow that is washed goes back to her wallowing in the mud.’” In His sermon, Jesus uses dogs and pigs as representative of those who would ridicule, reject, and blaspheme the gospel once it is presented to them. We are not to expose the gospel of Jesus Christ to those who have no other purpose than to trample it and return to their own evil ways. Repeatedly sharing the gospel with someone who continually scoffs and ridicules Christ is like casting pearls before swine. We can identify such people through discernment, which is given in some measure to all Christians (1 Corinthians 2:15–16).

The command not to cast your pearls before swine does not mean we refrain from preaching the gospel. Jesus Himself ate with and taught sinners and tax collectors (Matthew 9:10). In essence, the instruction in Matthew 7:6 is the same that Jesus gave to His apostles when He said, “If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, shake the dust off your feet when you leave that home or town” (Matthew 10:14). We are to share the gospel, but, when it becomes apparent that the gospel is not welcome, we are to move on. We are responsible to share the good news; we are not responsible for people’s response to the good news. Pigs don’t appreciate pearls, and some people don’t appreciate what Christ has done for them. Our job is not to force conversions or cram the gospel down people’s throats; there’s no sense in preaching the value of pearls to swine. Jesus’ instruction to His apostles on how to handle rejection was to simply go elsewhere. There are other people who need to hear the gospel, and they are ready to hear it.


The word toxic means “poisonous.” Toxic relationships are those that poison our peace and our ability to enjoy another person. A toxic relationship will leave one exhausted, frustrated, and, in some cases, depressed. Toxic relationships can affect business partnerships, sports teams, and, of course, families. Some disharmony in a relationship is normal; however, some people inject poison into every relationship, making healthy give-and-take impossible. Those are toxic people, and the Bible has some advice for us in dealing with them.

There will be some people whose company we don’t prefer, but that doesn’t make them toxic. We may be polar opposites in ideology with someone but can maintain a comfortable relationship. Democrats can enjoy the company of Republicans, a New York Yankees fan can have a friendly relationship with a Boston Red Sox fan, and Christians can engage in healthy interactions with non-Christians. But when a person is toxic, he or she is unable to maintain a healthy relationship with anyone. Only those willing to suffer the selfish demands of the toxic person can endure such a relationship for long.

Several factors determine whether or not a relationship or a person is toxic:

1. The relationship is completely one-sided in favor of the toxic person. Toxic people are incredibly narcissistic and can think only of themselves and what they want at the moment. This is a direct violation of Philippians 2:3–4, which says, “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.” Toxic people may pretend they are doing something for someone else, but there is always an ulterior motive that will benefit them.

2. There is continual drama in toxic relationships. Ironically, toxic people are often the ones who proclaim for all to hear how much they “hate drama.” Yet they instigate it everywhere they go. They seem to thrive on it. They cannot go from point A to point B in a simple, straightforward manner. They are a constant tangle of excuses, lies, fabrications, and crazy situations that weary everyone else in their world. They enjoy complicating otherwise simple situations because it keeps attention focused on them.

3. They are always right. Always. Toxic people look with disdain on anyone who dares correct or disagree with them. They mask their extreme pride with fake humility, but there is rarely any true repentance because they don’t believe they are wrong. It is everyone else’s fault. Proverbs 16:18 says, “Pride goes before a fall and a haughty spirit before destruction.” Haughtiness dominates toxic people, even when they try to hide it behind self-pity or groveling. If you are in a toxic relationship, the “destruction” the toxic person has earned due to pride often lands on you, too.

4. Others dread confrontations or interactions with a toxic person. They may appear delightfully charming to outsiders, but those in relationship with a toxic person know the real story. Every interaction, no matter how innocent it may begin, ends with the twist of a dagger. Everyone else is left with the fallout while the toxic person skates away seemingly unfazed. If you become anxious at the thought of another interaction with someone in your life, through no fault of your own, you may be in a toxic relationship.

5. Toxic people relish victimhood. Everything happens to toxic people, and the world should take notice. They shouldn’t be held responsible, they think, because it wasn’t their fault—even though it was. Self-pity practically drips from them, even though they may mask it with a facade of strength. They love to appear as martyrs and will even construct situations that portray them in that light. Those in relationship with a toxic person usually end up looking like the bad guy. Outsiders often silently judge the friends or family members who are “intolerant” of this poor victim, which creates division and misunderstanding in peripheral relationships.

6. Toxic people lie. If their mouths are moving, toxic people are probably lying. They lie more easily than they tell the truth and are so convincing that even those who know better question their own perceptions. Toxic people justify their lies by telling themselves that they had no choice. When caught red-handed in a lie, they may feign remorse, but all the while they may be concealing a dozen more lies no one has discovered yet. Scripture has harsh words for liars. God has a zero-tolerance policy for liars, and He is not fooled by any of their excuses (Revelation 21:8). Proverbs 6:16–19 lists seven things the Lord hates, and lying is on the list twice.

King Saul is an example of a toxic person. He began well, but power, pride, and jealousy crippled his soul. His furious jealousy of young David manifested itself in a confusing array of moods. One moment Saul was calm and enjoying David’s music; the next he was trying to kill him (1 Samuel 19:9–10). Saul would appear to show remorse, but soon he was hunting David again (1 Samuel 24:16–17; 26:2, 21). Later, Saul violated a serious command from the Lord so that people would think well of him (1 Samuel 15). That sin cost Saul his kingdom.

We have been called to peace (Colossians 3:15), but a toxic relationship destroys peace. Some people are so abusive that they will not allow us to seek or broker peace in any area. When the relationship is continually filled with unwanted drama, when you find yourself dreading the next blowup, when you cannot believe anything this person says, or when someone is destroying your reputation and sanity, then it is time to create distance in the relationship.

Psalm 1 gives specific instructions about keeping away from wicked fools. We are blessed when we do not seek out friendships with them or listen to their counsel. Toxic people fit into that category. They are not content to destroy their own lives; they must take others with them. It helps to remember that you cannot change a toxic person, especially from within a toxic relationship. You cannot help toxic people unless they want to be helped.

People-pleasers are the most frequent victims of toxic relationships because they want the toxic person to like them. But there are times when closing the door on a relationship is the wisest thing you can do (Proverbs 22:24–25). If you are married to a toxic person who has turned your relationship into a toxic marriage, then a separation may be in order, along with some focused marital counselling. If you are not married, then it’s time to say goodbye.

In every situation involving a toxic relationship, take the matter to God in prayer. Cry out to “receive mercy and find grace” to help in the time of need (Hebrews 4:16). “Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you” (1 Peter 5:7). Petition the Lord unceasingly to change the heart of the person bringing the toxicity. There is hope and healing in Him.


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Galatians 6:7-8
Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.

Proverbs 10:9
Whoever walks in integrity walks securely, but he who makes his ways crooked will be found out.

Proverbs 12:22
Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord, but those who act faithfully are his delight.

Psalm 52:2
Your tongue plots destruction, like a sharp razor, you worker of deceit.

Romans 12:2
Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

James 1:22
But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.

John 8:44
You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father's desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and has nothing to do with the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.

Proverbs 11:3
The integrity of the upright guides them, but the crookedness of the treacherous destroys them.

Luke 6:31
And as you wish that others would do to you, do so to them.

Colossians 3:9
Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices.

Ephesians 4:31-32
Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.

Mark 7:20-22
And he said, “What comes out of a person is what defiles him. For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness."

1 John 4:1
Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world.

Genesis 3:4

But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die."

James 1:26
If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person's religion is worthless.

James 4:1
What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you?

2 Corinthians 11:3
But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ.

Proverbs 24:28
Be not a witness against your neighbor without cause, and do not deceive with your lips.

2 Thessalonians 2:9-12
The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders, and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. Therefore God sends them a strong delusion, so that they may believe what is false, in order that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

Jeremiah 17:9
The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?

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​The battle described here marks the victory of the word of Christ over the powers that oppose God. The battle is normally identified by the name Armageddon, which was mentioned in 16:16. Although many think of Armageddon as a battle involving the usual military technology, the only weapon actually mentioned in Revelation is the sword that comes from the mouth of Christ. Most recognize that this sword symbolizes the power of Christ’s word (see IsaiahIsaiah, son of Amoz, who prophesied in Jerusalem, is included among the prophets of the eighth century B.C.E. (along with Amos, Hosea, and Micah)--preachers who boldly proclaimed God's word of judgment against the economic, social, and religious disorders of their time. More 11:4/Revelation 2:16 – The Word as Sword). Christ is also said to wield an iron rod, which here is a tool of governing traditionally ascribed to the MessiahThe Messiah was the one who, it was believed, would come to free the people of Israel from bondage and exile. In Jewish thought the Messiah is the anticipated one who will come, as prophesied by Isaiah. In Christian thought Jesus of Nazareth is identified... More in PsalmA psalm is a song of praise. In the Old Testament 150 psalms comprise the psalter, although some of the psalms are laments and thanksgivings. In the New Testament early Christians gathered to sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs. More 2:9. The battle plays an important role in Revelation because it points to the end of the powers that oppress the world and seek to lure people into unbelief. The allies of Christ are not shown slaying the nations with their own weapons. Rather, the battle is a divine act wherein Christ defeats evil through his word alone.

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When Jesus first appeared to John in a vision at Patmos, a sharp two-edged sword proceeded from Jesus' mouth (Revelation 1:16). Once again, according to this verse, John sees a sharp sword proceed from Jesus mouth. The returning King of kings and Lord of lords uses this sword to "strike down the nations." Since the sword of the Lord represents His Word (Hebrews 4:12; Ephesians 6:17), it is reasonable to expect Jesus to mow down His foes with just a spoken word. He brought the world into existence by His speech (Hebrews 11:3), and He can assuredly destroy His enemies with just a word from His lips.

Revelation 19:15 also informs us that Jesus will rule the nations with a rod of iron. Psalm 2:9 prophesies this action by saying, "You shall break them with a rod of iron and dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel." The thoroughness of Jesus' judgment on His enemies is symbolized by the description of His trampling them underfoot as He dispenses the fury of God's wrath. Jesus' first appearance on earth was marked with humility and sacrifice (Philippians 2:8), unlike His second coming in glory and power (Isaiah 63:2–3).
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As Paul was listing some of the trials he faced in the ministry, he wrote, “As servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: in great endurance; in troubles, hardships and distresses; . . . in truthful speech and in the power of God; with weapons of righteousness in the right hand and in the left” (2 Corinthians 6:4, 7). In the spiritual battle, it’s nice to have weapons of righteousness.

All people are born into a world war of good against evil. The good side’s battle plan, God’s Word, reveals that, while this war is fought in many arenas, our fight is ultimately “not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms” (Ephesians 6:12). Normal, physical weapons are of no avail in such a battle. We need weapons of righteousness.

Christians, by God’s grace, have the privilege of fighting on the winning side (Revelation 20:7–14). As we know, “it is not by sword or spear that the Lord saves; for the battle is the Lord’s” (1 Samuel 17:47). We are trained and equipped by God to complete our assigned missions in that battle (Psalm 144:1; Ephesians 6:10). Paul refers to the instruments God equips us with as “weapons of righteousness.”

In what way are the weapons linked to “righteousness”? God told the Israelites that their power to defeat the evil nations in Canaan was not due to their own righteousness (Deuteronomy 9:4–6), and in a similar way we Christians are issued our spiritual weapons due entirely to Christ’s righteousness, not our own (Philippians 3:9). “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21). To enter a battle without God’s righteousness assures defeat (see Numbers 14:42).

There is no “neutral” side in the spiritual war. All people must choose to join one side or the other, for “no one can serve two masters” (Luke 16:13). Jesus told His disciples, “Whoever is not against you is for you” (Luke 9:50), but He also declared, “Whoever is not with Me is against Me, and whoever does not gather with Me scatters” (Luke 11:23). Those statements leave no middle ground—you’re either on one side or the other. So Paul commands, “Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? What harmony is there between Christ and Belial? Or what does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God” (2 Corinthians 6:14–16).

Second Corinthians 6:3–10 provides the context of Paul’s reference to weapons of righteousness. Here Paul describes the tough life of a devoted warrior for Christ. The hardships he faces are of every kind—spiritual, emotional, and physical—and they are continuous. That’s why he must always carry his “weapons of righteousness” in both hands—right and left are equally occupied.

God has equipped us for the battles we face. “For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:3–5).

Any gift from God that has power to destroy evil can be described as a “weapon of righteousness.” Here are a few things that can be called a weapon of righteousness:

The Bible. All God’s words are true and righteous (Psalm 119:160, 172) and useful for “training in righteousness” (2 Timothy 3:16). That makes the Bible an effective weapon for Christians. “For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12). Jesus used God’s Word to defeat Satan’s temptations (Matthew 4:1–11). The word of the Lord is pictured as a sword coming out of His mouth, having power to strike down the nations (Revelation 19:15, 21). God’s Word is one of the “weapons of righteousness” against the forces of hell.

Faith. The Old Testament tells of heroes “who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies” (Hebrews 11:33–34). This should not surprise us, since Jesus revealed that even a small amount of faith has enough power to move mountains (Matthew 17:20). “Everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith” (1 John 5:4).

Prayer. “The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective” (James 5:16). Scripture is full of examples of the power of prayer. Summarizing the time of the judges, Nehemiah 9:27 says, “When they were oppressed they cried out to you. From heaven you heard them, and in your great compassion you gave them deliverers, who rescued them from the hand of their enemies.” By prayer the drought was begun and ended during Elijah’s day (James 5:17–18). By prayer the enemies of Elisha were struck blind (2 Kings 6:18). By prayer Samson achieved victory over the Philistines (Judges 16:28–30).

Goodness. Goodness is another weapon of righteousness. We are instructed to “overcome evil with good” (Romans 12:21). Sometimes it seems that evil is more powerful, or at least more prevalent, but it is only temporary. One believer, taking a stand on the side of goodness, can turn back much evil. It is important that we “add to our faith goodness,” which empowers us to defeat the evil of the world and the evil within our own sin nature (2 Peter 1:4–5).

Love. All our other weapons of righteousness are worthless without this one, the greatest commandment (Mark 12:30–31); it is even greater than faith (1 Corinthians 13:1–3). It is a fruit of the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:22). “For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline” (2 Timothy 1:7). Love empowers Christians by uniting us, giving us understanding, encouragement, and joy (Colossians 2:2–3; Philemon 1:4–7). We are to trust in God’s love, and it will protect us from evil (Psalm 17:7; 52:8; 61:7) just as surely as it cleansed us from sin and defeated Satan’s plans against us (Psalm 103:10–12; John 3:16; Revelation 12:10).

In addition to the weapons of righteousness, Christians are supplied with the “full armor of God” to empower us mere humans to stand against Satan himself and all the forces of hell (Ephesians 6:10–17). Our protective gear includes the breastplate of righteousness, the helmet of salvation, and the shield of faith, plus one offensive weapon, our sword, the Word of God (verse 17). We, the church, are to be on the offense, God’s army against whom the gates of hell cannot prevail (Matthew 16:18).

War is marked by death. Our Savior conquered death, then gave to us that same power over death and all other threats. Therefore, we “we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:37–39).

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In his vision of judgment upon the wicked, the apostle John tells us that Jesus is returning on a white horse: “Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war” (Revelation 19:11; see Psalm 45). Most Bible scholars are of the opinion that this passage is not referring to the Rapture, but rather to Jesus’ coming to earth with His saints at the end of the Tribulation.

The horse’s white color represents purity or victory (cf. Revelation 7:14-15), for this rider is holy and goes forth to be the triumphant conqueror. During ancient times, victorious Roman generals entered their conquered cities in chariots drawn by white horses. The entire setting of this verse implies victory over Christ’s enemies. As such, the word white indicates triumph, a successful war.

What a vivid contrast we see in Jesus’ return with all His angels (Matthew 25:31), as compared to His entry to Jerusalem upon a donkey (Matthew 21:7-9)! He is no longer riding a humble donkey. Jesus will return on a fiery white charger, bringing judgment, just as He had promised (Matthew 25:31-33).

Also by way of contrast, when He was on earth, Jesus was abandoned by His followers (Mark 14:50). Revelation 19 reveals the armies of heaven following Him in conquest. He is not returning to speak “gracious words” (Luke 4:22) but the words of righteous judgment (Isaiah 11:4). Jesus comes to rule with a rod of iron (Psalm 2:9). He is the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords (Revelation 17:14; Revelation 19:16).

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The answer to this question is found by first understanding the reason why John wrote his gospel. We find his purpose clearly stated in John 20:30-31. “Many other signs therefore Jesus also performed in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these have been written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name.” Once we understand that John’s purpose was to introduce the readers of his gospel to Jesus Christ, establishing Who Jesus is (God in the flesh) and what He did, all with the sole aim of leading them to embrace the saving work of Christ in faith, we will be better able to understand why John introduces Jesus as “The Word” in John 1:1.

By starting out his gospel stating, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God,” John is introducing Jesus with a word or a term that both his Jewish and Gentile readers would have been familiar with. The Greek word translated “Word” in this passage is Logos, and it was common in both Greek philosophy and Jewish thought of that day. For example, in the Old Testament the “word” of God is often personified as an instrument for the execution of God’s will (Psalm 33:6; 107:20; 119:89; 147:15-18). So, for his Jewish readers, by introducing Jesus as the “Word,” John is in a sense pointing them back to the Old Testament where the Logos or “Word” of God is associated with the personification of God’s revelation. And in Greek philosophy, the term Logos was used to describe the intermediate agency by which God created material things and communicated with them. In the Greek worldview, the Logos was thought of as a bridge between the transcendent God and the material universe. Therefore, for his Greek readers the use of the term Logos would have likely brought forth the idea of a mediating principle between God and the world.

So, essentially, what John is doing by introducing Jesus as the Logos is drawing upon a familiar word and concept that both Jews and Gentiles of his day would have been familiar with and using that as the starting point from which he introduces them to Jesus Christ. But John goes beyond the familiar concept of Logos that his Jewish and Gentile readers would have had and presents Jesus Christ not as a mere mediating principle like the Greeks perceived, but as a personal being, fully divine, yet fully human. Also, Christ was not simply a personification of God’s revelation as the Jews thought, but was indeed God’s perfect revelation of Himself in the flesh, so much so that John would record Jesus’ own words to Philip: "Jesus said unto him, 'Have I been so long with you, and yet you have not come to know Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; how do you say, "Show us the Father"?'" (John 14:9). By using the term Logos or “Word” in John 1:1, John is amplifying and applying a concept with which his audience was familiar and using that to introduce his readers to the true Logos of God in Jesus Christ, the Living Word of God, fully God and yet fully man, who came to reveal God to man and redeem all who believe in Him from their sin.


​The gospels contain an account of the time the disciples and Jesus spent in the Garden of Gethsemane, just before Jesus was arrested. In the garden Jesus prayed to his Father three times, saying, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will”—the KJV says, “Let this cup pass from me” (Matthew 26:39). A little later, Jesus prays, “My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done” (Matthew 26:42). These prayers reveal Jesus’ mindset just before the crucifixion and His total submission to the will of God.

The “cup” to which Jesus refers is the suffering He was about to endure. It’s as if Jesus were being handed a cup full of bitterness with the expectation that He drink all of it. Jesus had used the same metaphor in Matthew 20:22 when prophesying of the future suffering of James and John. When Jesus petitions the Father, “Let this cup pass from me,” He expresses the natural human desire to avoid pain and suffering.

Jesus is fully God, but He is also fully human. His human nature, though perfect, still struggled with the need to accept the torture and shame that awaited Him; His flesh recoiled from the cross. In the same context, Jesus says to His disciples, “The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak” (Mathew 26:41). In praying, “Let this cup pass from me,” Jesus was battling the flesh and its desire for self-preservation and comfort. The struggle was intense: Jesus was “overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death” (Matthew 26:38), and Luke the physician observed that Jesus was sweating blood—a sign of extreme anguish (Luke 22:44). If anything shows that Jesus was indeed fully man, this prayer is it.

Jesus knew of what was to come (see Mark 8:31). The agony He faced was going to be more than physical; it would be spiritual and emotional, as well. Jesus knew that God’s will was to crush Him, to allow Him to be “pierced for our transgressions” and wounded for our healing (Isaiah 53:5–10). Jesus loves mankind, but His humanity dreaded the pain and sorrow He faced, and it drove Him to ask His Father, “Let this cup pass from me.”

Jesus’ prayer to “let this cup pass from me” contains two important qualifications. First, He prays, “If it is possible.” If there was any other way to redeem mankind, Jesus asks to take that other way. The events following His prayer show that there was no other way; Jesus Christ is the only possible sacrifice to redeem the world (John 1:29; Acts 4:12; Hebrews 10:14; Revelation 5:9). Second, Jesus prays, “Yet not as I will, but as you will.” Jesus was committed to the will of God, body, mind, and soul. The prayer of the righteous is always dependent on the will of God (see Matthew 6:10).

In Gethsemane, Jesus conquered the flesh and kept it in subjection to the spirit. He did this through earnest prayer and intense, willful submission to God’s plan. It is good to know that, when we face trials, Jesus knows what it’s like to want God’s will and yet not to want it; to act out of love yet dread the hurt that often results; to desire righteousness and obedience, even when the flesh is screaming out against it. This conflict is not sinful; it is human. Our Savior was “fully human in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God” (Hebrews 2:17). He had come “to seek and to save the lost” (Luke 19:10), and He accomplished His mission, even though it meant drinking the cup of suffering to the bitter end.

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Jeremiah was a prophet of God, proclaiming that judgment was coming upon Jerusalem. However, Jeremiah was opposed by the king and the priests who did not want to hear his message. In their opinion, Jeremiah’s message of surrendering to Babylon amounted to treason. False prophets, who claimed to speak for God, also contradicted Jeremiah’s message. Jeremiah proclaimed bloodshed, destruction, and judgment when Babylon conquered Jerusalem. The false prophets, on the other hand, said that the future of Jerusalem looked bright—Jerusalem could look forward to peace, not war.

The phrase peace, peace, when there is no peace is found in Jeremiah 6:14 as well as Jeremiah 8:11. It is also found in Ezekiel 13:10 and 16. In all four places, it has the same meaning in the same historical context.

Jeremiah was like a doctor delivering bad news to his patient. His diagnosis was that, unless drastic measures were taken, the patient would die. However, the false prophets gave a “second opinion.” “Don’t listen to Jeremiah,” they said; “you are going to be just fine.” Instead of radical surgery and a drastic change of lifestyle, the priests and false prophets said a light bandage was all that was needed. The following passage is found in Jeremiah 6:13–14 and repeated exactly in Jeremiah 8:10b–11:

“From the least to the greatest,
all are greedy for gain;
prophets and priests alike,
all practice deceit.
They dress the wound of my people
as though it were not serious.
‘Peace, peace,’ they say,
when there is no peace.”

When the priests and false prophets said, “Peace, peace,” they were denying that judgment was on the way. They were giving the people false assurances. The explicit assumption is that Jerusalem and Judah had not committed grievous sins and that God was not displeased with them. In fact, according to the false prophets, God was quite happy with His people and wanted to bless them. They promised “peace, peace!” Unfortunately, their promised peace would not come. The book of Jeremiah bears this out, and, in the end, Jerusalem was destroyed by Babylon, just as God had said.

The prophet Ezekiel says something similar: “Because [the false prophets] lead my people astray, saying, ‘Peace,’ when there is no peace, and because, when a flimsy wall is built, they cover it with whitewash, therefore tell those who cover it with whitewash that it is going to fall. Rain will come in torrents, and I will send hailstones hurtling down, and violent winds will burst forth” (Ezekiel 13:10–11). In the same passage, God says, “So I will pour out my wrath against the wall and against those who covered it with whitewash. I will say to you, ‘The wall is gone and so are those who whitewashed it, those prophets of Israel who prophesied to Jerusalem and saw visions of peace for her when there was no peace, declares the Sovereign Lord”’ (verses 15–17).

There are still false prophets and religious leaders today who issue false promises of peace when there is no peace. The message of peace and prosperity “sells.” Some preachers and teachers today say that the Christian life is all about peace and prosperity, but God does not promise that. There are others who ignore or downplay the seriousness of sin and teach that God is not concerned with their behavior. Others deny that eternal judgment awaits the unrepentant sinner, even though God has promised just the opposite. These are modern examples of false prophets promising peace when there is no peace.

Paul tells Timothy to “preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction. For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths” (2 Timothy 4:2–4). People like to hear good news, and they do not want to hear that hardship may be God’s will for them in this life or that judgment is certain after death. Christians have the job of delivering bad news because the bad news must be embraced before the good news can be effective.

God bore witness against the people to whom Isaiah was sent to minister, calling them “rebellious people, deceitful children, children unwilling to listen to the Lord’s instruction” (Isaiah 30:9). Such people have closed their ears to the Word of the Lord, and desire to hear only “peace” even when there is no peace. They say to God’s prophets, “Give us no more visions of what is right! Tell us pleasant things, prophesy illusions. . . . Stop confronting us with the Holy One of Israel!” (verses 10–11).

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If the concept of authentic worship could be condensed into one word, it would be obedience. In Jeremiah 7, the prophet delivers a message to the wayward nation of Judah, who, like Israel, had turned from genuine, wholehearted devotion to God to empty rituals and reckless idolatry. Jeremiah warns the people to change their ways (verse 3) and reminds them of the Lord’s command: “Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and you shall be my people. And walk in all the way that I command you, that it may be well with you” (verse 23, ESV).

God had issued the command to obey His voice while Israel camped in the wilderness: “If you will listen carefully to the voice of the Lord your God and do what is right in his sight, obeying his commands and keeping all his decrees, then I will not make you suffer any of the diseases I sent on the Egyptians; for I am the Lord who heals you” (Exodus 15:26, NLT). When the people prepared to enter the Promised Land, Moses repeated, “Listen closely, Israel, and be careful to obey. Then all will go well with you, and you will have many children in the land flowing with milk and honey, just as the Lord, the God of your ancestors, promised you” (Deuteronomy 6:3, NLT; see also Deuteronomy 4:40).

The ultimate blessing of obeying God’s voice is His promise to “walk among you” and “be your God, and you shall be my people” (Leviticus 26:12, ESV). Yet, by Jeremiah’s day, false worship had spread beyond control. The people of Judah ignored the voice of the Lord. Instead of trusting in God, they had put their faith in outward religious observances. They believed Solomon’s temple in Jerusalem offered them an indestructible fortress of protection (Jeremiah 7:4). Therefore, the Lord instructed Jeremiah to stand in the temple and deliver a sermon that would reveal the hypocrisy and hollowness of their worship (Jeremiah 7:1—8:3). They needed to remember that protection for God’s people comes from one thing alone—God’s presence (Deuteronomy 31:6; Psalm 46:1; 91:1–16). And, under the Old Covenant, His sheltering presence is only promised to those who obey Him (Leviticus 25:18).

We demonstrate authentic worship when we hear and obey the Lord’s voice. Today, to obey God’s voice is to believe in Jesus Christ. God says, “This is my Son, whom I have chosen; listen to him” (Luke 9:35). “The work of God is this,” Jesus said, “to believe in the one he has sent” (John 6:29). Believers today are under the New Covenant, ratified by Christ, and they have the promise of God’s presence with them always (Hebrews 13:5).

In obeying Christ, we build our spiritual houses on a solid foundation. Jesus put it like this: “Anyone who listens to my teaching and follows it is wise, like a person who builds a house on solid rock. Though the rain comes in torrents and the floodwaters rise and the winds beat against that house, it won’t collapse because it is built on bedrock. But anyone who hears my teaching and doesn’t obey it is foolish, like a person who builds a house on sand. When the rains and floods come and the winds beat against that house, it will collapse with a mighty crash” (Matthew 7:24–27, NLT).

God says, “Obey my voice, and I will be your God” because He desires passionate, heart-and-soul submission to His will and not mere rule-following and ritual sacrifice (1 Samuel 15:22; Deuteronomy 26:16). Jesus said, “If you love me, obey my commandments” (John 14:15, NLT). The apostle John wrote, “This is love for God: to keep his commands. And his commands are not burdensome” (1 John 5:3). Loving God and obeying His commands are inseparable and synonymous activities (1 John 3:10; 2 John 1:6). Our obedience expresses the reality of our faith in God (Hebrews 11:8; Matthew 7:21; James 2:14–26).

We need God’s presence and the fulfillment of His purpose (Proverbs 16:1; 19:21). God told Israel, “Obey my voice, and I will be your God” because “blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord” (Psalm 33:12a). He wanted to bless His people with His proximity and protection: “Now if you will obey me and keep my covenant, you will be my own special treasure from among all the peoples on earth; for all the earth belongs to me” (Exodus 19:5, NLT). The Lord knows the right path for us and always has our best interests in mind (Proverbs 3:5–6; Proverbs 5:21; Romans 8:28). His faithful ones are the apple of His eye (Psalm 17:8; Zechariah 2:8). He wants to reward us with fellowship with Him for all eternity (Matthew 7:21; 1 John 2:17).

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John 3:16 presents Bible readers with what is likely the purest, most straightforward summary of the good news of God’s saving love that Jesus Christ brings to the world: “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” Jesus, speaking with the Jewish Pharisee Nicodemus, continued, “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him” (John 3:17).

Jesus did not come to condemn the world but to save the world was an important truth and a new revelation that Jewish believers would need to wrap their heads around. The Jews had no problem accepting the idea of God’s special love for Israel, but the notion that “God so loved the world” was groundbreaking theological material to the Jewish mindset. With this statement, Jesus revealed the all-embracing scope of God’s love under the New Covenant.

God’s agape love does not discriminate between Jew and Gentile, enslaved person or free, male or female (Galatians 3:28; Colossians 3:11). The Father sent His Son to destroy prejudices and break down barriers of division to bring God’s great love and salvation to every man, woman, and child in the entire world (Matthew 28:19). And His plan of salvation has been a global strategy all along (See Revelation 5:9; 7:9; 14:6).

Jesus did not come to condemn the world because the world was already condemned. The Greek word (krinō) translated as “condemn” in John 3:17 means “to declare guilty; to pronounce guilt and a punitive sentence on someone in a legal sense; to judge.” The Bible says that all people are born in sin inherited from Adam (Romans 5:12; Psalm 51:5). We come into this world already pronounced guilty and condemned to die (Romans 5:17–19; 6:23).

In Romans 3:21–31, the apostle Paul teaches that Jesus Christ took the punishment for our sin upon Himself when He sacrificed His life on the cross. He died so that we could be “made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are” (verse 22, NLT). Anyone who puts his or her faith in Jesus Christ is restored to fellowship with God (verse 26). Those who belong to Christ Jesus are no longer condemned because “the power of the life-giving Spirit” frees them “from the power of sin that leads to death” (Romans 8:1–2, NLT).

Faith in Jesus Christ is the only way to escape a guilty sentence: “Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son” (John 3:18). Rejecting Jesus results in condemnation and death (John 3:36). Ultimately, salvation for everyone in the world, from the beginning of history until the end of time, is rooted in faith in Jesus Christ (see Romans 4:1–24; Hebrews 11:6, 13, 26; John 1:12). There is no other way to be saved (John 3:14–15; 11:25; 14:6; Acts 4:12).

God sent His one-and-only Son to die, not just for the people of Israel, but as a loving Savior for everyone. He is “the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29). Jesus did not come to condemn the world but to save those who believe in Him. Our Savior’s mission was not to sentence people to death: “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23). Christ laid down His life to take away the curse of sin that separates sinners from God (Romans 8:33–34). Jesus came to bring His Father’s gift of salvation so that all who believe in Him might enjoy fellowship in His presence for all eternity.


FOR FURTHER STUDY
John: Zondervan Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament by Edward W. Klink III

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In Jeremiah 31 the prophet refers to a proverb that people used in his day. It went like this:
“The fathers have eaten sour grapes,
and the children’s teeth are set on edge” (Jeremiah 31:29, ESV).

The proverb (which also appears in Ezekiel 18:2) has to do with responsibility. The people who were experiencing hardship pointed to others as the cause; they said, “God is judging us because of the sins of our fathers.”

The context is God’s announcement that He will make a new covenant with Israel and Judah (Jeremiah 31:31), in contrast to the Old Covenant (Jeremiah 31:32). One of the characteristics of the Old Covenant (or the Mosaic Covenant) was its conditional nature. If Israel obeyed God, He would allow the nation to live in the land in peace. If, on the other hand, Israel disobeyed God and broke the covenant, God would judge them and remove the nation from the land. The blessings and cursings were corporate: the whole nation rose or fell together. So, to many Israelites, it seemed like the proverb was true: God would punish “the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation” (Exodus 20:5). In their use of the proverb, however, they were ignoring personal responsibility.

Jeremiah had been sent to proclaim the inevitability of God’s judgment and the people’s exile from the land. The people blamed King Manasseh’s sin—he was the “father” who had eaten the sour grapes—and they excused themselves—it was their teeth set on edge. But God also announces, through Jeremiah, that days were coming when He would bring His people back to the land of Israel, and He would watch over them “to build and to plant” rather than to destroy (Jeremiah 31:28, ESV). The restoration would include individual blessings for individual people who were of Israel (Jeremiah 31:25). God would bring people and beasts back into the land (Jeremiah 31:27).

God explains that in those days of restoration it will no longer be said that the fathers have eaten sour grapes and the children’s teeth are set on edge (Jeremiah 31:29). The judgment would be removed, and the people would see that each individual is held accountable for his own iniquity. Blame-shifting would cease. The one who eats the sour grapes will have to deal with the consequences himself (Jeremiah 31:30).

In the Mosaic Covenant, the actions of the fathers did, to an extent, impact the sons’ ability to enjoy the land. What one generation did could indeed impact the next. The fathers would eat sour grapes, and the children’s teeth were set on edge. Because of previous generations of failure, the nation of Israel endured exile in Babylon. But it was not right for the children of Israel to cast off all responsibility. They spouted the proverb as if they bore no guilt at all. But it was their sin that also contributed to the judgment.

God explains that the New Covenant with Israel and Judah will bring a different perspective (Jeremiah 31:31–32). Each person will be accountable for himself, and God will provide him with righteousness. God promises,
“I will put my law in their minds
and write it on their hearts.
I will be their God,
and they will be my people” (Jeremiah 31:33).


In addition, each person under the New Covenant will know God, and all will be forgiven of their sin (Jeremiah 31:34). Under the Mosaic Covenant, Israel was accountable as a nation for their sin. Under the New Covenant, God will hold each individual accountable and provide for each person’s righteousness. No longer would Israel have occasion to say that the fathers have eaten sour grapes and the children’s teeth are set on edge.

The New Covenant that God promises to make for Israel and Judah is unconditional, being based purely on the work of God. He will accomplish individual responsibility and individual righteousness by forgiving the people’s sins. Jesus ratified this covenant when He died on the cross. With His shed blood, He paid for the sins of all who would receive the blessings of the New Covenant (Israel and Judah)—and He paid for the sins of all the rest of humanity, in fulfillment of God’s promise to Abraham (Genesis 12:3b).

God is faithful and trustworthy. Even though the fathers may have eaten sour grapes, no longer will the children’s teeth be set on edge. Each person is accountable before God, and each person can be righteous in God’s sight by putting his or her belief in Jesus.
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The coupling of grace and truth is found in numerous places in the Bible, including Colossians 1:6 and 2 John 1:3 in the New Testament, and 2 Samuel 15:20 and Psalm 86:15 in the Old Testament. Then there is John 1:14, 17, which says, “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. . . . For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.”

There is a strong possibility that John is referencing the Hebrew terms hesed (“mercy” or “lovingkindness”) and emet (“truth” or “faithfulness”), found together in Exodus 34:6: “Then the Lord passed by in front of him and proclaimed, ‘The Lord, the Lord God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth.’” Note that the attributes of God in the Old Testament are applied to Christ in the New. At the beginning of his gospel, John is making a subtle statement regarding the divinity of Jesus. The rest of John’s gospel will expound on that truth.

It is important for grace and truth to work in tandem. An emphasis on grace alone can dissipate into a shallow and sentimental foundation where justice or truth is discarded. However, a focus only on truth can devolve into a cold, hardened dogma. Jesus’ character demonstrates the perfect balance of both grace and truth. He is “full” of both.

Grace and truth meld together in the gospel message to form a key distinction of Christianity over other religions. In all other religions, grace and truth are never balanced. Instead, the deity being worshiped either dispenses justice at the expense of grace or dispenses grace at the expense of justice and truth. Christianity is unique in that God delivers grace through His justice and truth.

The truth is, everyone has fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23) and deserves God’s justice. However, God’s justice is satisfied, and His truth upheld, through the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. That act delivers God’s grace to those who will accept it by faith.

In this way, Christianity stands alone as an ontological faith—one that is fully dependent on a person—Jesus Christ—who perfectly balances and embodies both grace and truth in His very being.

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One of God’s promises concerning the eternal state is that the nations of the world will have healing. The question comes up, though, as to why exactly healing is needed. Isn’t the New Jerusalem a place of perfection already?

The promise of the healing of the nations is found in Revelation 22, after the creation of the new heaven and new earth (Revelation 21:1). John writes, “Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him. They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever” (Revelation 22:1–5).

The healing of the nations is linked to the tree of life, as God reestablishes Eden. It is the leaves of this tree that are said to be “for the healing of the nations” (Revelation 22:2). It is possible that the tree of life in the New Jerusalem is literal and that its leaves and various fruits will somehow enrich our existence in the eternal state. All the nations represented there will be “healed” of their divisions and strife in their equal access to the tree of life.

It is also possible that the tree of life in the New Jerusalem is symbolic and that its “healing” signifies the eternal life that all will enjoy there. The different fruits it bears could represent the unlimited variety of our existence in heaven. The clear flowing river that waters the tree could picture the spiritual life of God’s redeemed—the “living water” Jesus promised in John 4:13–14.

The healing the tree of life’s leaves provide is not the healing of the wounds of battle—warfare will have ended. The healing is not needed for combating sickness—there will be no more sickness, death, or pain (Revelation 21:4). No, the “healing” is a reference to the perpetual blessing of the new heaven and earth; never again will the world be plagued by physical disorders or spiritual malaise or corruption. There will be no more warfare, no strife, no conflicting factions. God will heal all that ails His creation, and there will be no more curse (Revelation 22:3).

In the eternal state, everything will be blessed, and the tree of life represents that blessedness. There will be perfect sinlessness, perfect government, perfect service to God, perfect communion, and perfect glory. It is impossible for us to imagine being totally separated from sin and living in a glorified state before God. But the Lord assures us that “these words are trustworthy and true” (Revelation 22:6).

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The twelve gates in Revelation 21 belong to the New Jerusalem, which comes down from heaven to the new earth (verse 10), shining with the glory of God (verse 11). John describes the city: “It had a great, high wall with twelve gates, and with twelve angels at the gates. On the gates were written the names of the twelve tribes of Israel” (verse 12). The gates are miraculous in their construction: “The twelve gates were twelve pearls, each gate made of a single pearl” (verse 21). And the gates of the New Jerusalem will never be shut (verse 25).

In order to understand the significance of the twelve gates being inscribed with the names of the twelve tribes, we must look to the beginning of the Old Testament, when God promised a new land and a great nation to Abraham, whose descendants would spread blessing upon all other nations (Genesis 12:1–3). To Abraham’s grandson, Jacob, whom God later named “Israel” (Genesis 32:28), twelve sons were born to establish the twelve tribes of Israel (Genesis 49). Those twelve tribes escaped slavery in Egypt, inherited the Promised Land (Exodus 6:14; 24:4), received the Law (Exodus 20), and were chosen by God to be His covenant people (Exodus 19:5–6).

During the reign of David, out of all the territories of the tribes of Israel, God chose the city of Jerusalem in Judah as the place where God’s name would rest (2 Chronicles 12:13). Revelation speaks of the New Jerusalem that has been prepared for the reign of the Lamb (Revelation 21:1–3). This New Jerusalem sits on twelve foundations, representing the twelve apostles who would reign over the twelve tribes of Israel (verse 14; cf. Matthew 19:28 and Luke 22:30). The gates of the city are symmetrically arranged: “There were three gates on the east, three on the north, three on the south and three on the west” (Revelation 21:13). Each gate of the New Jerusalem bears the inscription of one of the tribes of Israel, and each gate is guarded by an angel (Revelation 21:12). These angels are there to let in “only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life” (verse 27).

Many scholars see a link between the New Jerusalem, with its three gates per side, and the city of the millennial kingdom, seen by the prophet Ezekiel: “These will be the exits of the city: Beginning on the north side . . . the gates of the city will be named after the tribes of Israel. The three gates on the north side will be the gate of Reuben, the gate of Judah and the gate of Levi. On the east side . . . will be three gates: the gate of Joseph, the gate of Benjamin and the gate of Dan. On the south side . . . will be three gates: the gate of Simeon, the gate of Issachar and the gate of Zebulun. On the west side . . . will be three gates: the gate of Gad, the gate of Asher and the gate of Naphtali” (Ezekiel 48:30–34). See also Numbers 2, where God specified that three tribes would encamp on each side of the tent of meeting in the wilderness.

So what are we to make of all this? Let’s break down the description of the gates in Revelation 21 for a more careful look:

The gates of the New Jerusalem are inscribed with the names of the twelve tribes of Israel. Israel was chosen by God to be a light to all nations (Isaiah 49:5–7; Romans 9:23–25), and God will never revoke Israel’s status as His chosen people (see Romans 11:29). The New Jerusalem thus contains a tribute to the patriarchs of Israel. It also contains a tribute to the apostles (Revelation 21:14), so both Old Testament and New Testament are represented in the city—the New Jerusalem is filled with the elect of God from all eras.

Romans 9 makes a distinction between physical descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and their spiritual descendants—i.e., those who exercise the same faith in God as the patriarchs did. Just as not all Gentiles come to the light of the world, some Jews choose to live in darkness: “Not all who are descended from Israel are Israel. Nor because they are his descendants are they all Abraham’s children. . . . It is not the children by physical descent who are God’s children, but it is the children of the promise who are regarded as Abraham’s offspring” (Romans 9:6–8; see also Romans 2:28–29 and John 8:39–47). Those who have faith in Christ are accounted the spiritual seed of Abraham (Galatians 3:29). It will be “true” Israel—those who have trusted in Jesus Christ—that will enter the gates of the Kingdom of Heaven. It is through the twelve gates of the New Jerusalem that the true tribal people—believers of Jewish descent as well as Gentiles who have been “grafted in” with God’s people (Romans 11:17–25)—will enter the joy of the Lord (see Matthew 25:21).

Angels are at the gates of the New Jerusalem. As an angel was sent by God to guard Eden after mankind’s fall (Genesis 3:24), so God has angels guarding the new paradise. Nothing evil or impure will ever enter the New Jerusalem (Revelation 21:27); the city is reserved for the redeemed of God.

Each gate of the New Jerusalem is made of a single pearl. The richness and supernatural nature of the city is profound. As commentator Charles Ellicott points out, “The pearl was esteemed of the greatest value among the ancients; it is an appropriate emblem of the highest truth. . . . It is the only precious stone which the art and skill of man cannot improve” (Commentary for English Readers, entry for Revelation 21:21). The imagery calls to mind Jesus’ parable of the pearl of great price (Matthew 13:45–46). This is the city that is worth more than anything this present world has to offer. Its builder and maker is God (Hebrews 11:10).

The gates of the New Jerusalem never close. There are eternal safety and peace in the New Jerusalem; there are no enemies to shut the gates against. Access to the heavenly kingdom on the new earth is free and unhindered, and “the glory and honor of the nations will be brought into it” (Revelation 21:26). The gates face every direction of the compass, and their perpetual openness invites everyone to partake of the goodness of God’s grace (see Revelation 22:17).

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In the wilderness of Judea, John the Baptist began his ministry of preparing Israel to receive her Messiah, Jesus Christ. Enormous crowds went to hear John (Matthew 3:5) as he traveled through the region “preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins” (Luke 3:3). Many people received John’s message, confessed their sins, and were baptized (Matthew 3:6; Mark 1:5). These baptisms stirred up such a commotion that the Pharisees and Sadducees went out to investigate. Aware of their insincerity of heart, John said, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? Produce fruit in keeping with repentance” (Matthew 3:7–8).

John spoke severely, challenging these religious leaders’ spiritual pride and hypocrisy head-on. They needed to know that God’s judgment for sin was coming. Baptism is an outward symbol of true heart change. John’s baptism was a “baptism of repentance.” Repentance is the act of changing one’s mind that results in a change of actions. Sincere repentance involves turning away from sin both in thought and action. When the crowds came to John for baptism, they were showing their repentance and identifying with a new life. The Pharisees and Sadducees were detached observers at John’s baptism. They claimed to have repented of their sins—sins they eagerly pointed out in others—yet they lived as sinners, all the while denying their own guilt.

The religious leaders of John’s day had refused to submit themselves to God. They thought they were good enough by way of association with Abraham through their Jewish heritage (see Matthew 3:9; John 8:39). But their religious rituals and spiritual “pedigree” were not enough to please God. The only way for sinners to enter a relationship with God is through genuine repentance and faith. These religious leaders should have been setting an example and taking the lead. Instead, they lived in self-righteous, hypocritical denial of their spiritual condition.

John the Baptist warned, “The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire” (Matthew 3:10). The tree represents Israel. If Israel did not repent, it would be cut down and destroyed (see Luke 13:6–10). Only those who genuinely repented and began to produce good fruit would be prepared for the coming of Jesus Christ.

Luke’s gospel gives further insight into what it means to produce fruit in keeping with repentance. John told the people, “Prove by the way you live that you have repented of your sins and turned to God. Don’t just say to each other, ‘We’re safe, for we are descendants of Abraham.’ That means nothing, for I tell you, God can create children of Abraham from these very stones’” (Luke 3:8, NLT). John’s baptism of repentance was meant to be the start of a brand new, continuous life of producing fruit in keeping with righteousness. Our family tree won’t earn us a place in heaven or give us an automatic claim to God’s promises. John told the Sadducees and Pharisees who took pride in their lineage to take a more humble view: just as God had made Adam from the dust of the ground, God could raise up children of Abraham from the stones of the wilderness.

At John’s preaching, the people began to ask, “What should we do?” (Luke 3:10). In other words, “What is the fruit in keeping with repentance?” “John answered, ‘Anyone who has two shirts should share with the one who has none, and anyone who has food should do the same’” (Luke 3:11). He told the tax collectors in the crowd, “Don’t collect any more than you are required to” (verse 13). He told the soldiers, “Don’t extort money and don’t accuse people falsely—be content with your pay” (verse 14). Such actions were the “fruit” of repentance in that they showed the genuineness of the change of heart.

When the apostle Paul began his preaching ministry, he, too, spoke of good deeds as proof of genuine repentance: “I preached first to those in Damascus, then in Jerusalem and throughout all Judea, and also to the Gentiles, that all must repent of their sins and turn to God—and prove they have changed by the good things they do” (Acts 26:20, NLT).

The believer’s spiritual life and growth are often compared to a fruit-bearing tree in Scripture. Just as fruit production is proof of life and health in a tree, so are good actions the evidence of spiritual life in Jesus Christ and the presence of God’s Spirit dwelling within a person. Jesus said, “A good tree produces good fruit, and a bad tree produces bad fruit. A good tree can’t produce bad fruit, and a bad tree can’t produce good fruit. So every tree that does not produce good fruit is chopped down and thrown into the fire. Yes, just as you can identify a tree by its fruit, so you can identify people by their actions” (Matthew 7:17–20, NLT).

Fruit in keeping with repentance represents the good deeds and changed behaviors that naturally flow from a truly repentant and transformed heart. In James 2:14–26, James teaches extensively on the subject, explaining that “faith by itself isn’t enough. Unless it produces good deeds, it is dead and useless” (verse 17, NLT). James concludes, “Just as the body is dead without breath, so also faith is dead without good works (verse 26, NLT).

Paul prays for the Philippians to be “filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ” (Philippians 1:11). He gives examples of good spiritual fruit: “The Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control” (Galatians 5:22–23, NLT; see also Ephesians 5:9; Colossians 1:10; James 3:17).

The believer’s ability to produce fruit in keeping with repentance depends wholly on our intimate fellowship with Jesus Christ, who said, “Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me. Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing” (John 15:4–5, NLT). The root will naturally produce fruit. Fruit in keeping with repentance is the evidence (as well as a result) of a changed mind, transformed life, and ongoing communion with Jesus.

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The exact phrase spiritual bondage does not appear in the Bible, but Scripture does speak of unbelievers’ being in bondage to sin (Acts 8:23; Romans 6:6, 16, 19; 7:14; 2 Peter 2:19). Jesus said, “Very truly I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin” (John 8:34) and that He came to set us free (verse 32). Evil has a way of taking hold in a person’s life, and bad habits are hard to break. For an unsaved person, sin forms a chain that only the Savior can break.

So, there is some biblical truth in the idea of spiritual bondage. It is possible to “give the devil a foothold” (Ephesians 4:27) by harboring sins like anger in our hearts. However, we should not think of spiritual bondage as Christians being bound by demons. Ministries that focus wholly on breaking demonic bondage often misapply biblical texts to support their teachings. For example, there is a difference between a person who lives according to the flesh (an unbeliever) and one who lives according to the Spirit (a believer), according to Romans 8:5–13. The one is in bondage; the other is not. A believer can be guilty of disobeying God, but he cannot practice disobedience (1 John 3:4–10). That is, a believer is not in bondage to sin. A believer may have a compulsion to steal, and he may even carry out a theft, but he will repent. What a believer cannot do is self-identify as a thief, enjoy being a thief, and feel no remorse. Romans 8 does not support the idea of spiritual bondage for a believer; it simply delineates the difference between a believer and an unbeliever.

There is no doubt that demons oppress and tempt believers, and there are some states of mind that are fertile ground for temptation (Matthew 6:13; 1 Corinthians 7:5; Galatians 6:1). But there is no evidence to suggest that we are in any way bound by demons or rendered helpless in spiritual warfare. A word search for oppression in the Bible reveals that man’s oppression of his fellow man is a far more common problem. Here is the real danger: that we become obsessed with spiritual bondage and with our own inner workings to the point that sin becomes our focus rather than Christ.

The word religion comes from a Latin word meaning “to bind fast.” The idea behind the term religion is that the devotee is bound under an obligation of some sort. Religion can easily turn into a type of spiritual bondage when we allow our fears of hell, judgment, or demonic activity to control us or when we adopt a religious mindset that says, “If I don’t perform such and such a ritual, there will be bad consequences.” This is not biblical truth. “Perfect love drives out fear” (1 John 4:18). We are not saved by rituals we perform; in fact, Jesus said that ritualistic religion does nothing but “load people down with burdens they can hardly carry” (Luke 11:46). Those who believe in Christ are given rest and spiritually protected (Matthew 11:28; Romans 8:37–39; Jude 1:24).

We know that sin is harmful, and some sins are quite habit-forming. But there is nothing in the Bible to suggest that when we sin we are bound by demons or cinched up in spiritual straps.

The fear of God is the beginning of wisdom (Job 28:28; Psalm 111:10; Proverbs 1:7), and trusting God is the way to safety (Proverbs 3:5–6). This may seem counterintuitive. How can we trust the One we fear? What it means is that God—not demons, not other men—has omnipotent power in the universe. He is the King. If we set ourselves against Him, we are putting ourselves in the only real danger that exists. But if we trust Him, we are safe. God’s children are free: “You didn’t receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption, by whom we cry, ‘Abba! Father!’” (Romans 8:15, World English Bible).


Everyone is a slave in the spiritual sense. We are either slaves to sin, which is our natural state, or we are slaves to Christ. The writers of the New Testament willingly declared their status as slaves of Christ. Paul opens his letter to the Romans by referring to himself as a “slave of Jesus Christ” (Romans 1:1) and his letter to Titus by calling himself a “slave of God” (Titus 1:1). James opens his epistle the same way, “James, a slave of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ” (James 1:1). Most translations say “servant” or “bond-servant” in these passages, but the Greek word doulas means, literally, “slave.”

In John 8:34 Jesus tells the unbelieving Pharisees, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin.” He uses the analogy of a slave and his master to make the point that a slave obeys his master because he belongs to him. Slaves have no will of their own. They are literally in bondage to their masters. When sin is our master, we are unable to resist it. But, by the power of Christ to overcome the power of sin, “You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness” (Romans 6:18). Once we come to Christ in repentance and receive forgiveness for sin, we are empowered by the Holy Spirit who comes to live within us. It is by His power that we are able to resist sinning and become slaves of righteousness.

Jesus’ disciples belong to Him and want to do the things that please Him. This means that the children of God obey Him and live in freedom from habitual sin. We can do this because Jesus has set us free from the slavery of sin (John 8:36), and thus we are no longer under its penalty of death and separation from God.

Romans 6:1–23 goes even further in this idea of a slave and his master. As Christians we aren’t to continue in habitual sin because we died to sin. Romans 6:4 says that since we have been buried and resurrected with Christ we are now able to walk in that newness of life, unlike the unbeliever who is still a slave to sin. Romans 6:6 goes on to say that, since we know that our old self was crucified with Him so that our body of sin might be done away with, we should no longer be slaves to sin. And Romans 6:11 says that we are to consider ourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.

We are commanded by God to not let sin reign in our bodies, obeying its lusts, but instead we are to present ourselves to Him as instruments of righteousness (Romans 6:12–14). In Romans 6:16-18 we’re told that we are slaves to the one we obey, either of obedience to sin or of obedience to righteousness. We are to be enslaved to God from whom we receive our gifts of sanctification and eternal life. We do this because the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 6:23).

The apostle Paul, the author of Romans, goes on to say that he knows how difficult it can be to not live in sin because he struggled with that even after he became a follower of Christ. This is important for all Christians to know. While we’re now set free from the penalty of sin, we still live in the presence of sin while we’re alive on this earth. And the only way we can be free from the power of sin is by the power of the Holy Spirit who is given to believers at the moment we come in faith to Christ (Ephesians 1:13–14), and this seals us in Christ as a pledge of our inheritance as God’s children.

The presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives means that, as we grow in our faith and come to love God ever more each day, we’ll have the strength to resist sin more and more. Through the working of the Holy Spirit we are empowered to resist sin, not give in to its temptation, and live according to God’s Word. Habitual sins will become more abhorrent to us, and we’ll find ourselves not wanting to do anything that might hinder our fellowship with God.

Romans 7:17—8:2 is a wonderful encouragement to believers because we’re told that, even when we do sin, there is no longer any condemnation because we are in Christ Jesus. And 1 John 1:9 reassures us that, when we do sin as Christians, if we confess our daily sins to the Lord, He is faithful and righteous and will cleanse us from them in order that we might continue to live in a right relationship with Him. Throughout the book of Ephesians, the apostle Paul encourages and exhorts us to walk as children of light , loving one another as Christ loved us, and to learn what is pleasing to the Lord and to practice it (Ephesians 2:1–10; 3:16–19; 4:1–6; 5:1–10). In Ephesians 6:10–18 Paul shows us how to be strong in the Lord by putting on the full armor of God each day in order to be able to stand against the schemes of the Devil.

When we commit ourselves as followers of Christ to grow and mature in our faith by reading and studying God’s Word each day and spending time in prayer with Him, we will find ourselves more and more able to stand in the power of the Holy Spirit and resist sin. The daily victories over sin that we have in Christ will encourage and strengthen us and demonstrate in a powerful way that we are no longer slaves to sin, but are instead slaves to God.

​Jesus used the concepts of salt and light a number of different times to refer to the role of His followers in the world. One example is found in Matthew 5:13: “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men.” Salt had two purposes in the Middle East of the first century. Because of the lack of refrigeration, salt was used to preserve food, especially meat, which would quickly spoil in the desert environment. Believers in Christ are preservatives to the world, preserving it from the evil inherent in the society of ungodly men whose unredeemed natures are corrupted by sin (Psalm 14:3; Romans 8:8).


Second, salt was used then, as now, as a flavor enhancer. In the same way that salt enhances the flavor of the food it seasons, the followers of Christ stand out as those who “enhance” the flavor of life in this world. Christians, living under the guidance of the Holy Spirit and in obedience to Christ, will inevitably influence the world for good, as salt has a positive influence on the flavor of the food it seasons. Where there is strife, we are to be peacemakers; where there is sorrow, we are to be the ministers of Christ, binding up wounds, and where there is hatred, we are to exemplify the love of God in Christ, returning good for evil (Luke 6:35).

In the analogy of light to the world, the good works of Christ’s followers are to shine for all to see. The following verses in Matthew 5 highlight this truth: “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 5:14-16, NASB). The idea here is similar—the presence of light in darkness is something that is unmistakable. The presence of Christians in the world must be like a light in the darkness, not only in the sense that the truth of God’s Word brings light to the darkened hearts of sinful man (John 1:1-10), but also in the sense that our good deeds must be evident for all to see. And indeed, our deeds will be evident if they are performed in accordance with the other principles that Jesus mentions in this passage, such as the Beatitudes in Matthew 5:3-11. Notice especially that the concern is not that Christians would stand out for their own sake, but that those who looked on might “glorify your Father who is in heaven” (v. 16, KJV).

In view of these verses, what sorts of things can hinder or prevent the Christian from fulfilling his or her role as salt and light in the world? The passage clearly states that the difference between the Christian and the world must be preserved; therefore, any choice on our part that blurs the distinction between us and the rest of the world is a step in the wrong direction. This can happen either through a choice to accept the ways of the world for the sake of comfort or convenience or to contravene the law of obedience to Christ.

Mark 9:50 suggests that saltiness can be lost specifically through a lack of peace with one another; this follows from the command to “have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with each other.” And in Luke 14:34-35, we find a reference to the metaphor of salt once again, this time in the context of obedient discipleship to Jesus Christ. The loss of saltiness occurs in the failure of the Christian to daily take up the cross and follow Christ wholeheartedly.

It seems, then, that the role of the Christian as salt and light in the world may be hindered or prevented through any choice to compromise or settle for that which is more convenient or comfortable, rather than that which is truly best and pleasing to the Lord. Moreover, the status of salt and light is something that follows naturally from the Christian’s humble obedience to the commandments of Christ. It is when we depart from the Spirit-led lifestyle of genuine discipleship that the distinctions between ourselves and the rest of the world become blurred and our testimony is hindered. Only by remaining focused on Christ and being obedient to Him can we expect to remain salt and light in the world.


In Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5—7), Jesus explains that the people needed to change their minds about how they could enter the kingdom of the heavens (also called the kingdom of God). The disciples’ righteousness needed to exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees (Matthew 5:20).

The prophets had explained that God’s eternal heavenly kingdom would one day come to earth and from then on God would dwell on earth with humanity. The kingdom’s change of address is first promised to David in 2 Samuel 7. That promise will begin to be fulfilled in Revelation 19—20 when Jesus returns to earth in glory and installs His kingdom in Jerusalem. While Jesus’ audience were expecting the Messiah’s kingdom to come, they thought that they could be part of that kingdom simply by being related to Abraham or by following Moses’ Law. Jesus explains in several ways throughout His Sermon on the Mount that the disciples’ righteousness needed to exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees.

Matthew 5:1 says that crowds of people had assembled to hear Jesus. When many had come, He went to an elevated place (a hill or a mount) and began to teach His disciples in a way that all could hear. Jesus first discussed some of the blessings of the kingdom (Matthew 5:2–12). After that, He explained some of the responsibilities of that kingdom. He explained that He did not come to abolish the Law and the Prophets (a reference to the Hebrew Scriptures) but that He came to fulfill them (Matthew 5:17–18). Not even a small stroke from God’s Word would pass away until He had fulfilled everything that He came to accomplish.

Jesus was not introducing a new way to get into the kingdom; rather, He was helping people understand what the Hebrew Scriptures were talking about. In part because of the false teaching of the scribes and the Pharisees, the people thought they could earn their way into the kingdom by their efforts or by their heritage. This was the kind of righteousness that the scribes and Pharisees were prescribing. Jesus made it clear that kind of righteousness was not righteous enough. He told the disciples and all who were listening that their righteousness needed to exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees. No one can earn the righteousness needed to enter the kingdom. All must look to the Messiah to provide it for them. Instead of seeking an external righteousness or the approval of men, they needed to seek the authentic, internal righteousness that was acknowledged by God.

At the conclusion of His message, Jesus provided an illustration to contrast the false righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees and the true righteousness that comes from God. Those who heard and heeded the words of Jesus are like a wise man who built his house on the rock. When the storms came, the house stood fast (Matthew 7:24–25). On the other hand, those who rejected the words of Jesus are like one who built his house on the sand. It crumbled when the storm came (Matthew 7:26–27).

Jesus helped the people understand that they did not get to determine how one becomes righteous in God’s sight. The scribes and Pharisees were leading the people astray, suggesting that one could achieve righteousness on his own. The Hebrew Scriptures had revealed from the start that righteousness comes by faith in the Lord (Genesis 15:6; Habakkuk 2:4). Jesus was not abolishing the Scriptures; He was fulfilling them. He was reminding the people of how they could be righteous.

Soon, Jesus would pay the price for the sin of all people. All who believe in Him have His righteousness and become citizens of His kingdom that will one day be revealed (see Colossians 1:13 and 3:1–4). While we wait for His kingdom to come to earth, He has given us much to do. We can be thankful that we have the righteousness needed by the grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ.


FOR FURTHER STUDY
Matthew: Zondervan Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament by Grant Osborne


​We can judge with righteous judgment—we can judge rightly—by submitting to God in faith and seeking to understand His Word. This is one possible application of Jesus’ words in John 7:24: “Do not judge by the outward appearance, but judge with righteous judgment” (NASB). While this statement is pithy and quotable, it is not simply an isolated proverb. It is a line of dialogue from a historical narrative. Jesus said these words to a specific group of people at a specific time, so the context of John 7:24 deserves be explored before a modern application is made.

In John 7, Jesus goes to Jerusalem for the Feast of Tabernacles. In John 7:14, Jesus begins to teach in the temple. A curious crowd gathers, mixed in their appraisal of Jesus and His seemingly audacious claims. Jesus explains that those who are “willing to do [God’s] will” are going to understand the source and authority of Jesus’ teaching, because His teaching is from God (John 7:16–18). It becomes clear that the reason the crowd does not understand Him is that they do not know God (John 8:42–43). They have the Mosaic Law yet are themselves lawbreakers (John 7:19). This is demonstrated by their desire to kill Jesus. If they truly understood the Scriptures that Moses penned, they would believe in Jesus, because those same Scriptures point to Christ (John 5:46).

The crowd does not respond favorably to Jesus’ statement that their accuser was Moses (John 5:45). Apparently, some still believed Jesus was a lawbreaker based on His healing on the Sabbath in John 5:1–15. Jesus, once again, corrects their misunderstanding of the Sabbath. He explains the relative priority of the Sabbath, using an example from their own tradition (John 7:22–23). As Lord of the Sabbath, Jesus has the right to correct their legalistic misunderstanding and reset the priority on human beings rather than on rule-keeping (Matthew 12:3–8). The Mosaic Law was not meant to be used as a legalistic and slavish instrument for self-righteousness, but to promote God’s righteousness in every area of life and draw His people closer to Him.

Following up on His scathing assessment of their hypocrisy regarding the Sabbath law, Jesus commands the crowds to “judge with righteous judgment” not by outward appearance (John 7:24, NKJV). They were not judging based on God’s righteousness but on their own worldly assessment. Their judgments were based on the way things appear on the outside, and that judgment is incorrect. To judge rightly, Jesus’ audience needed to know God and place their faith in Him (John 7:17). If they did, they would know who Jesus is, and their evaluation of the situation would be completely different. Their rejection of Jesus, as mentioned later in chapter 8, demonstrates that they do not really know God. D. A. Carson writes regarding Jesus’ exhortation in John 7:24, “This appeal has many formal Old Testament parallels. . . . Jesus’ appeal is more personal, eschatological and redemptive. They have misconstrued his character by a fundamentally flawed set of deductions from Old Testament law, an approach that turns out to be superficial, far too committed to ‘mere appearances’. If their approach to God’s will were one of faith . . . they would soon discern that Jesus is not a Sabbath-breaker, but the one who fulfills both Sabbath and circumcision” (The Gospel According to John, William B. Eerdman’s Publishing Co., 1991, p. 316).

How do we apply the exhortation to “judge with righteous judgment” in modern times? At the very least, Jesus’ words should humble us, as we recognize that we are capable of distorting and misapplying God’s commands due to our own pride and self-righteousness. We are supposed to be discerning, but our judgments should be based on God’s revealed truth and our relationship to Him. When we judge a situation, do we allow our own pride to dictate our understanding, or do we in humility present our judgments to God and seek His direction? Faith in God is required to truly know Him and understand His ways (Hebrews 11:6).

Jesus’ command to judge with righteous judgment also invites us to reflect on our own legalism and treatment of others. Do we ever dismiss others based on our own standards? When we quote God in order to evaluate someone else’s life or behavior, do we ever miss the true intention of what God has told us? We should evaluate our man-made traditions and values. If we had been present, would we have been part of the crowd that condemned Jesus for failing to follow their own self-invented rules?

When we fail to demonstrate love and mercy, but instead condemn others for failing to follow standards we have invented, we are missing the entire point of God’s instructions (Matthew 9:13). Carson ends his assessment of John 7:24 with a timely application: “In an age when Matthew 7:1 (‘Do not judge, or you too will be judged’) has displaced John 3:16 as the only verse in the Bible the man in the street is likely to know, it is perhaps worth adding that Matthew 7:1 forbids judgmentalism, not moral discernment. By contrast, John 7:24 demands moral and theological discernment in the context of obedient faith (7:17), while excoriating self-righteous legalism and offering no sanction for censorious heresy-hunting” (ibid., p. 317).



Jesus uses the phrase “living water” in two instances in the Bible. The first instance is found in John chapter 4. Jesus was tired and sat at a well while His disciples went into town to buy food. A Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus asked her for a drink. The Samaritan woman was quite shocked because Jesus was a Jew, and Jews simply hated the Samaritans. Of course, she had no idea who Jesus was and asked Him how He could ask her for water since He was a Jew.

Jesus ignored the question and went right to the point, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water” (John 4:10). Notice that He does not say that He is the living water, but that He would give living water to her, and when she received it, she would never thirst again. Of course, that does not tell us what the living water is! For that, we must go to another passage of Scripture. In this case, Jesus is in the temple surrounded by a throng of worshipers. He suddenly cried out, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scriptures said, ‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.’ But this He spoke of the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were to receive; for the Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified” (John 7:37–39, emphasis added).

Here Jesus refers to the Holy Spirit as the living water. External influence of the Spirit had always been given in the conversion and sanctification of the Old Testament saints and prophets, but the gift of the Spirit who would indwell believers had not yet been received (Acts 10:44–45). So, though many people say that Jesus is the living water, Jesus Himself intended the phrase to mean the Holy Spirit who dwells in believers and seals them for salvation (Ephesians 1:13–14). It is the ministry of the Spirit, flowing out of a heart redeemed by God, that blesses believers and, through them, brings life and light to the world.


When Jesus cleared the temple of the moneychangers and animal-sellers, He showed great emotion and anger (Matthew 21:12-13; Mark 11:15-18; John 2:13-22). Jesus’ emotion was described as “zeal” for God’s house (John 2:17). His anger was pure and completely justified because at its root was concern for God’s holiness and worship. Because these were at stake, Jesus took quick and decisive action. Another time Jesus showed anger was in the synagogue of Capernaum. When the Pharisees refused to answer Jesus’ questions, “He looked around at them in anger, deeply distressed at their stubborn hearts” (Mark 3:5).

Many times, we think of anger as a selfish, destructive emotion that we should eradicate from our lives altogether. However, the fact that Jesus did sometimes become angry indicates that anger itself, as an emotion, is amoral. This is borne out elsewhere in the New Testament. Ephesians 4:26 instructs us “in your anger do not sin” and not to let the sun go down on our anger. The command is not to “avoid anger” (or suppress it or ignore it) but to deal with it properly, in a timely manner. We note the following facts about Jesus’ displays of anger:

1) His anger had the proper motivation. In other words, He was angry for the right reasons. Jesus’ anger did not arise from petty arguments or personal slights against Him. There was no selfishness involved.

2) His anger had the proper focus. He was not angry at God or at the “weaknesses” of others. His anger targeted sinful behavior and true injustice.

3) His anger had the proper supplement. Mark 3:5 says that His anger was attended by grief over the Pharisees’ lack of faith. Jesus’ anger stemmed from love for the Pharisees and concern for their spiritual condition. It had nothing to do with hatred or ill will.

4) His anger had the proper control. Jesus was never out of control, even in His wrath. The temple leaders did not like His cleansing of the temple (Luke 19:47), but He had done nothing sinful. He controlled His emotions; His emotions did not control Him.

5) His anger had the proper duration. He did not allow His anger to turn into bitterness; He did not hold grudges. He dealt with each situation properly, and He handled anger in good time.

6) His anger had the proper result. Jesus’ anger had the inevitable consequence of godly action. Jesus’ anger, as with all His emotions, was held in check by the Word of God; thus, Jesus’ response was always to accomplish God’s will.

When we get angry, too often we have improper control or an improper focus. We fail in one or more of the above points. This is the wrath of man, of which we are told “Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, for man’s anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires” (James 1:19-20). Jesus did not exhibit man’s anger, but the righteous indignation of God.




​About a week before His arrest and crucifixion, Jesus went into the temple and cleared it out of “all who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves” (Matthew 21:12). Jesus then spoke to the startled crowds: “It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves” (verse 22, KJV). The same incident is recorded in Mark 11 and Luke 19. John 2 records similar actions of Jesus at the beginning of His ministry.

In speaking of a “house of prayer” and a “den of thieves” (the NIV has “den of robbers”), Jesus cited two passages from the Tanakh. In Isaiah 56:7 God says, “These [faithful foreigners] I will bring to my holy mountain and give them joy in my house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and sacrifices will be accepted on my altar; for my house will be called a house of prayer for all nations.” Twice in this verse, God’s temple is called “a house of prayer.” God’s design was for His house in Jerusalem to be a gathering place for worshipers from all nations, a place where prayers would rise like incense from the hearts of the faithful to the presence of the living God.

The phrase den of thieves comes from Jeremiah 7:11, where God says, “Has this house, which bears my Name, become a den of robbers to you? But I have been watching! declares the LORD.” The prophet Jeremiah was rebuking the temple leaders for their abuses. Even as they continued going through the motions of their religion, they were oppressing the needy and violently taking what was not theirs. God saw through their pretense, however, and promised to deal with the thieves in His sanctified house.

Jesus takes these two verses from the Old Testament and applies them to His day. One verse was full of purity and promise: God’s temple would be an inviting house of prayer. The other verse was full of conviction and warning: people had perverted God’s right purposes for their own gain. In the courts of the temple, people were being taken financial advantage of, being cheated through exorbitant exchange rates and being compelled to buy “temple-approved” animals for sacrifice, on the pretext that their own animals were unworthy. Jesus denounced such greedy goings-on and physically put a stop to the corruption. In His righteous indignation, He quoted Isaiah and Jeremiah to show that He had biblical warrant for His actions. What should have been a sanctuary for the righteous had become a refuge for the wicked, and the Son of God was not going to put up with it. God’s design for the temple was that it be a house of prayer, a place to meet with God and worship Him. But when Jesus stepped into its courts, He found not prayer but avarice, extortion, and oppression.

It’s always good to remember the Lord’s purpose for what He makes. Whether it’s the temple, the church, marriage, the family, or life itself, we should follow God’s design and seek to honor Him. Any twisting or perverting of God’s design for selfish purposes will draw the Lord’s righteous anger.


Jesus cleansed the temple of the money-changers and sellers of merchandise because of His disgust at what they had made of God’s house of prayer and His zeal to purify it from the abuse of ungodly men. Judea was under the rule of the Romans, and the money in current use was Roman coin. However, the Jewish law required that every man should pay a tribute to the service of the sanctuary of “half a shekel” (Exodus 30:11–16), a Jewish coin. It became, therefore, a matter of convenience to have a place where the Roman coin could be exchanged for the Jewish half shekel. The money-changers provided this convenience but would demand a small sum for the exchange. Because so many thousands of people came up to the great feasts, changing money was a very profitable business and one that resulted in fraud and oppression of the poor.

Also, according to the Law, two doves or pigeons were required to be offered in sacrifice (Leviticus 14:22; Luke 2:24). Yet it was difficult to bring them from the distant parts of Judea, so a lucrative business selling the birds sprang up, with the sellers gouging the faithful by charging exorbitant prices. There were other merchants selling cattle and sheep for the temple sacrifices as well. Because of these sellers who preyed on the poor and because of His passion for the purity of His Father’s house, Jesus was filled with righteous indignation. As He overturned the tables of the money-changers, He condemned them for having turned God’s house of prayer into “a den of thieves” (Matthew 21:13). As He did so, His disciples remembered Psalm 69:9, “Zeal for your house consumes me, and the insults of those who insult you fall on me.”

Jesus’ first cleansing of the temple is described in John 2:11–12 as having occurred just after Jesus’ first miracle, the turning of water into wine at the wedding in Cana. John makes it clear that it was “after this” that He went to Capernaum, where He “stayed for a few days.” Then in the next verse (verse 13), John tells us that the “Passover of the Jews was at hand” (NKJV). These verses trace Jesus’ movements over a short period of time from Cana in Galilee to Capernaum and eventually to Jerusalem for the Passover. This is the first of the two times Jesus cleansed the temple. The Synoptic Gospels do not record the temple cleansing mentioned in John 2, instead only recording the temple cleansing that occurred during Passion Week.

The second cleansing of the temple occurred just after Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem the last week of His life. This second cleansing is recorded in Matthew, Mark, and Luke but not in John. There are differences in the two events, aside from their being nearly three years apart. In the first cleansing, temple officials confronted Jesus immediately (John 2:18), whereas in the second cleansing, the chief priests and scribes confronted Him the following day (Matthew 21:17–23). In the first event, Jesus made a whip of cords with which to drive out the sellers, but there is no mention of a whip in the second cleansing. So there are two recorded occasions when Jesus cleansed the temple—the first time at the beginning of His public ministry, and the second time just after His triumphal entry into Jerusalem shortly before He was crucified.

The Bible records two instances of Jesus cleansing the temple of money changers and those selling sacrificial animals. Jesus’ first encounter with money changers was at the beginning of His three-year ministry (John 2:14–16). He made a whip of cords and drove them out. The second time He confronted the money changers was the week before His trial and crucifixion. Seeing that the money changers had come back, He again drove them out, saying, ““It is written, ‘My house will be called a house of prayer,’ but you are making it ‘a den of robbers’”” (Matthew 21:13).

Because Jewish law required a temple tax of a half-shekel (Exodus 30:11–16), Jews and visitors from other nations came to pay their taxes when they offered their sacrifices. But foreign coins with the likeness of pagan emperors would not be accepted in God’s temple. So money changers exchanged those foreign coins for Jewish money, but they did so at an exorbitant profit. Rather than provide this service as a business in another part of town, they exploited the religious zeal of the visitors to Jerusalem and did their business on temple grounds. Because they determined their own exchange rate, money changers easily took advantage of the poor and the foreigners pouring into Jerusalem for Passover.

These same money changers were associated with others who engaged in shady business practices in the temple courts. Some sold sacrificial animals, overcharging people who did not bring their own. Others were in charge of examining the animals to be sacrificed, and it was a simple matter to declare an animal “unapproved” and force the worshiper to buy another animal—at an inflated price—from the temple vendors. Such goings-on, exploiting the poor and the foreigner, angered the Lord Jesus and was strictly forbidden in the Mosaic Law (Exodus 22:21; Leviticus 19:34).

The money changers in the temple courts were similar to tax collectors in that they extorted money from their own people. They were more than ordinary businessmen. They were seeking to profit financially from the worship of God. Wherever passion and zeal are found, there will also be those who seek to profit from that zeal. Paul wrote to Timothy about such people, false teachers who found a way to make a fortune off the gospel (1 Timothy 6:5). Modern versions of the money changers flood the airways, promising to exchange your hard-earned dollars for blessings, healing, and God’s favor. For a suggested donation, they will supposedly pray for you or promise virtually anything you want. For another twenty bucks, they will sell you a book about how to wrangle prosperity, health, or spiritual insights from God. And, like the simony of the first-century money changers, the practices of modern religious price gougers only aid those worshipers who have enough cash to purchase their wares.

Paul often clarified the difference between his ministry and that of false teachers by pointing out their greed. In 2 Corinthians 2:17 he wrote, “Unlike so many, we do not peddle the word of God for profit. On the contrary, in Christ we speak before God with sincerity, as those sent from God.” Peter also warned that one way to spot a modern-day money changer is to notice his or her fascination with financial gain (2 Peter 2:3). Jesus hated the money changers’ exploitation of the devout two thousand years ago, and He still hates it. We may not have shady characters collecting temple taxes outside our places of worship, but we have them invading our homes through radio and television. We are wise to remember how Jesus reacted to such selfish swindlers. With no apologies, He drove them out of His Father’s house. When we identify a modern money changer, we should do the same.

The declaration “zeal for your house consumes me” is originally found in the Psalms:

“For I endure scorn for your sake,
and shame covers my face.
I am a foreigner to my own family,
a stranger to my own mother’s children;
for zeal for your house consumes me,
and the insults of those who insult you fall on me.
When I weep and fast,
I must endure scorn;
when I put on sackcloth,
people make sport of me.
Those who sit at the gate mock me,
and I am the song of the drunkards” (Psalm 69:7–12).

This is a psalm of David. We do not know what event or series of events caused him to write Psalm 69, and we do not know if it was before or after he became king, but it seems that his dedication to God caused other people to scorn, ostracize, mock, insult, and reject him. As with many psalms of David, this one can be applied to the Son of David as well.

The description of being consumed by zeal for God’s house is applied to Jesus in John 2. Jesus had just proved Himself to be very zealous for the house (or temple) of the Lord. He had “cleansed” the temple of the wicked men who were extorting and cheating worshipers: “When it was almost time for the Jewish Passover, Jesus went up to Jerusalem. In the temple courts he found people selling cattle, sheep and doves, and others sitting at tables exchanging money. So he made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple courts, both sheep and cattle; he scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. To those who sold doves he said, ‘Get these out of here! Stop turning my Father’s house into a market!’” (John 2:13–16). Upon seeing Jesus’ actions in the temple, “His disciples remembered that it is written: ‘Zeal for your house will consume me’” (verse 17).

It is quite possible that others had felt “uncomfortable” about what was going on in the temple. However, Jesus was the only one on record who actually did something about it. In this case, “consuming zeal” may have a bit of a double meaning. Not only was Jesus’ zeal consuming in that it caused Him to take radical action, but it set Him on a collision course with the Jewish leadership that eventually ended in their delivering Him to Pilate for crucifixion.

The New Testament writers see many parallels between Jesus and David. Jesus’ zealous actions were rejected by His countrymen. David was also rejected, scorned, and mocked because of His zeal for God. This is simply one more line of evidence that Jesus really is the rightful heir of David—David’s Greater Son. Likewise, those who follow in the steps of Jesus may now face the same kind of rejection if they prove to be zealous for the things of God.




The apostle Paul, in his first letter to his young disciple, Timothy, had this to say: “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs” (1 Timothy 6:10). Now this verse is often misquoted as saying, “Money is the root of all evil.” Notice how “money” is substituted for “love of money” and “the root of all evil” is substituted for “a root of all kinds of evil.” These changes, while subtle, have an enormous impact on the meaning of the verse.

The misquoted version (“money is the root of all evil”) makes money and wealth the source (or root) of all evil in the world. This is clearly false. The Bible makes it quite clear that sin is the root of all evil in the world (Matthew 15:19; Romans 5:12; James 1:15). However, when we reflect upon the correct citation of this verse, we see that it is the love of money, not money itself, that is a source of all different kinds of trouble and evil. Wealth is morally neutral; there is nothing wrong with money, in and of itself, or the possession of money. However, when money begins to control us, that’s when trouble starts.

With that said, let’s consider the question before us: Why is the love of money a root of all kinds of evil? To help us answer this, we must look at the passage in its greater context. Near the end of the letter (1 Timothy 6:2–10), Paul is exhorting Timothy regarding the need to “teach and urge these things” to his congregation, “these things” referring back to earlier material in the epistle. Paul then warns Timothy about false teachers who will seek to warp and pervert the content of sound doctrine for their own greedy gain (verses 3–5). Now notice what the apostle says at the end of verse 5: “Imagining that godliness is a means of gain.” These false teachers do what they do for the fame and notoriety they achieve, along with the financial rewards it brings.

Paul wants to steer Timothy away from that trap. In doing so, he tells him the real source of “great gain;” namely, godliness with true contentment (verse 6). Contentment, in a biblical sense, is the recognition that we come into the world with nothing and that everything we have is a gift from God’s hands (verses 7–8). Yet those who desire to be rich (i.e., those who have the “love of money”) are the ones who are led into temptation and fall into a snare (verse 9). Paul concludes the passage by telling Timothy that the love of money leads to all sorts of sin and evil.

Simple reflection on this principle will confirm that it is true. Greed causes people to do all sorts of things they wouldn’t normally do. Watch any number of TV courtroom dramas, and the crime under consideration is usually motivated by jealousy or greed, or both. The love of money is what motivates people to lie, steal, cheat, gamble, embezzle, and even murder. People who have a love for money lack the godliness and contentment that is true gain in God’s eyes.

But the Bible makes an even stronger statement about the love of money. What we have discussed thus far simply describes the horizontal level of the love of money. In other words, we have only mentioned how the love of money can lead one to commit greater sins against his fellow man. But the Bible makes quite clear that all sin is ultimately against God’s holy character (Psalm 51:5). We need to consider the vertical dimension to the love of money.

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said, “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money” (Matthew 6:24). This verse comes at the end of a passage in which Jesus tells us to “lay up treasures in heaven” (v. 19). Here, Jesus likens a “love of money” to idolatry. He refers to money as a “master” we serve at the expense of serving God. We are commanded by God to have “no other gods” before the only true and living God (Exodus 20:3; the first commandment). Anything that takes first place in our lives other than our Creator God is an idol and makes us guilty of breaking the first commandment.

Jesus had much to say about wealth. His most memorable conversation about money is His encounter with the rich young ruler (Matthew 19:16–30). The young man asks Jesus what he must do to obtain eternal life, and Jesus tells him to follow the commandments. When the man tells Jesus that he has done all that, Jesus tests his ability to obey the first commandment and tells him to sell all his possessions and give it to the poor and to follow Him. The young man couldn’t do this; his wealth had become an idol—it was his master!

After this encounter, Jesus turns to His disciples and says, “Truly, I say to you, only with difficulty will a rich person enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God” (Matthew 19:23–24). This is a hard saying, especially for 21st-century people living in North America. Jesus is saying that wealth is one of the biggest obstacles to coming to faith in Christ. The reason is obvious: wealth becomes a slave master in our lives and drives us to do all sorts of things that drive us further and further away from God. The good news is that what is impossible for man, entering into the Kingdom of God, is possible with God (Matthew 19:26).


Greed is a strong and selfish desire to have more of something, most often money or power. There are many warnings in the Bible about giving in to greed and longing for riches. Jesus warned, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions” (Luke 12:15). “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal… You cannot serve both God and money” (Matthew 6:19, 24b). Did Jesus pursue the acquisition of money? No. On the contrary, He became poor for our sake (2 Corinthians 8:9) and had “no place to lay his head” (Matthew 8:20). Neither did Jesus pursue power. Rather, He instructed, "Whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many" (Mark 10:43–45).

Greed and a desire for riches are traps that bring ruin and destruction. “The love of money is a root of all kinds of evil,” and Christians are warned, “Do not put your trust in wealth” (see 1 Timothy 6:9-10, 17-18). Covetousness, or having an excessive or greedy desire for more, is idolatry. Ephesians 5:5 says, “For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure or greedy person – such a man is an idolater – has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.” The principle to remember is contained in Hebrews 13:5: “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.’”

It is the love of money, and not money itself, that is the problem. The love of money is a sin because it gets in the way of worshiping God. Jesus said it was very hard for rich people to enter the Kingdom of God. When the rich young ruler asked Jesus what he should do to inherit eternal life, Jesus told him to sell all his possessions and give the money to the poor. “When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth” (see Matthew 19:16-22). By instructing him to give up his money, Jesus pointed out the young man’s main problem: greed or a love of money. The man could not follow Christ because he was following money. His love of this world interfered with his love for God.

Greed refuses to be satisfied. More often than not, the more we get, the more we want. Material possessions will not protect us—in this life or eternally. Jesus’ parable of the rich fool in Luke 12:13–21 illustrates this point well. Again, money or wealth is not a problem. The problem is our attitude toward it. When we place our confidence in wealth or are consumed by an insatiable desire for more, we are failing to give God the glory and worship He deserves. We are to serve God, not waste our time trying to become rich (Proverbs 23:4). Our heart’s desire should be to store up riches in heaven and not worry about what we will eat or drink or wear. “But seek first [God’s] kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well” (see Matthew 6:25-34).


Being rich and famous is not sinful. However, making that a primary pursuit in life is sinful. “People who long to be rich fall into temptation and are trapped by many foolish and harmful desires that plunge them into ruin and destruction” (1 Timothy 6:9, NLT). “Do not toil to acquire wealth” (Proverbs 23:4, ESV).

The world would have us believe that the only way to become rich and famous is to set goals and pursue them doggedly. The Bible paints a different picture. Consider three biblical figures whose examples speak to this issue:

1. First and foremost is Jesus. When tempted by Satan, He intentionally rejected the opportunities to become rich and famous (Matthew 4:1–11). Jesus devoted Himself to the tasks God gave Him (John 5:19). We are compelled to take the attitude of Jesus, “who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing. . . . He humbled himself” (Philippians 2:5–8). What was the result of Jesus’ humbling Himself? “Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name” (verse 9).

2. Joseph was sold into slavery by his brothers. As a slave, he had no ambitions to be rich and famous. He only did the work that was put before him. In Potiphar’s house, Joseph’s faithfulness resulted in his being put in charge of everything. Later, in jail, he helped his fellow prisoners, earning a trust that ultimately led to his being put in charge of all of Egypt, second only to Pharaoh. In short, Joseph focused on what God wanted him doing, and as a result he became one of the most powerful and famous men in the world (see Genesis 37—41).

3. He was not wealthy, but the apostle Paul was perhaps the most famous Christian ever to live. How did his fame become worldwide and timeless? He simply did what God put him on earth to do: make disciples. He certainly had a claim to worldly fame, describing some of his accomplishments in Philippians 3:4–6. Yet what did he think about these pursuits that would have warranted fame? “Whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ” (verse 7). Paul’s ambition was never to become famous or gather the accolades of men. His burning ambition was to do God’s work and glorify Christ. That was his higher calling.

In Matthew 6:10–20, Jesus teaches us not store up treasures on earth, but in heaven. Then He says, “You cannot serve both God and money” (verse 24). And “Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things [the basic necessities of life] will be given to you as well” (verse 33). That is, stop trying to be rich and famous, and instead simply seek after God, living out His purposes for your life. If God wants earthly riches to come your way, they will.

For those whose ambition is to be rich, the Bible has many cautions. Jesus said that it is difficult for the rich to enter the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 19:24). Material wealth has a way of taking our eyes off of what’s important and eternal. Jesus’ parable of the rich fool in Luke 12:16–21 teaches that it is foolish to store up earthly things and take no thought of heavenly things.

As for pursuing fame, the Bible is equally cautioning: “Those who exalt themselves will be humbled” (Matthew 23:12). Paul says that “a person with a changed heart seeks praise from God, not from people” (Romans 2:29, NLT). James asks, “Don’t you know that friendship with the world means enmity against God? Therefore, anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God” (James 4:4).

Those who are rich and famous often struggle to obey basic biblical commands such as “Be content with what you have” (Hebrews 13:5) and “Do not be proud, but enjoy the company of the lowly. Do not be conceited” (Romans 12:16, BSB) and “Now listen, you rich people, weep and wail because of the misery that is coming on you” (James 5:1).

To be clear, it’s not wrong to have wealth. It’s the love of money that is a root of all kinds of evil (1 Timothy 6:10). But those with wealth should understand where the wealth comes from (God), the purpose for having it (to further God’s work), and it’s transitory nature (see Proverbs 23:5).

Ecclesiastes 2:24 notes, “A person can do nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in their own toil.” But the same passage clarifies the Source of our blessings: “This too, I see, is from the hand of God, for without him, who can eat or find enjoyment?” (verses 24–25).

We should not make fame and fortune a primary pursuit in life. Rather, we should make glorifying God our primary goal. We love Jesus and obey Him (John 14:15). We follow Jesus, which means we deny ourselves, take up our cross, and follow wherever He leads (Mark 8:34). Jesus blesses the meek (Matthew 5:5); being rich and famous is not usually His plan for His children in this world.


How does one’s financial status affect one’s spiritual status? Or is there any effect at all? Which is better, to be poor or rich? This topic has long been debated within the church. Israel was promised freedom from poverty if the people followed God’s laws (Deuteronomy 15:4). Yet Jesus taught that the poor are blessed (Luke 6:20).

The apostle Paul addressed the issue of wealth in 1 Timothy 6:8–10: “If we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.” Having money is not wrong, but loving money is. The abundance of money or the lack of money is less important than our spiritual condition.

In Jewish culture, poverty and even disability were often seen as the result of someone’s personal sin. In John 9:1–3, the disciples of Jesus asked, “‘Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?’ ‘Neither this man nor his parents sinned,’ said Jesus, ‘but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him.’” While human nature often attributes poverty or other weaknesses to something wrong a person has done, God can and does use such circumstances to work His perfect plan.

The account of the rich young ruler in Mark 10:17–22 shows how riches can be a spiritual stumbling block. Jesus told the young man to sell his possessions, give the money to the poor, and then follow Jesus. The man walked away sad because he was a man of much wealth. In this case, the man’s wealth was a negative since it kept him from following Christ. He loved his money more than he loved Jesus.

While many of the psalms and proverbs speak matter-of-factly regarding the benefits of wealth and struggles of poverty, the Bible is clear that both poverty and wealth can be the will of God and a blessing from God. Jesus lived in relative poverty; Solomon was blessed with significant wealth. King David had a humble beginning and a wealthy ending. The apostles followed Christ to persecution and martyrdom; they were not regarded as wealthy, but they used all they had to share Christ with others (Luke 18:28). “Rich and poor have this in common: The LORD is the Maker of them all” (Proverbs 22:2).

The human perspective sees wealth as a blessing and poverty as a curse. God’s plan is much greater and uses both wealth and poverty to accomplish His will. We are to avoid the temptation to see wealth as God’s only blessing and instead be content in any and every circumstance, knowing that God’s blessings are not defined by our possessions in this world but are found in their fullness in a kingdom not of this world.


ANSWER

Proverbs 14:31 states, “Whoever oppresses the poor shows contempt for their Maker, / but whoever is kind to the needy honors God.” This verse teaches an important biblical principle: our treatment of others reflects (and affects) our relationship with God.

The word translated as “oppresses” can also be translated “slanders.” It includes the idea of putting down or belittling others. Those who belittle or demean the poor show contempt for or insult God. The same principle is also found in Proverbs 17:5, which says, “Whoever mocks the poor shows contempt for their Maker.” The question remains of why? How does slandering the poor insult God?

The key is found in the word Maker. All people, regardless of their social condition or financial standing, are created by God in His own image (Genesis 1:27). This truth is repeated in Proverbs 22:2, “Rich and poor have this in common: / The LORD is the Maker of them all.” To pour contempt on God’s creation is to slander God.

In Matthew 25:31–45 Jesus speaks of a coming judgment after the tribulation. In verses 41–46 the Lord links one’s treatment of others with a relationship to Himself:

“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’
“They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’
“He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’”

Jesus clearly notes that the way we treat those in need is how we treat Him.

James 2:1 adds, “Believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ must not show favoritism.” Using the example of how those in the church might respond to a rich man and a poor man (verses 2–4), James reminds his readers that our treatment of the poor is an application of loving our neighbors as ourselves (verse 8). If we do not show concern for the poor, we are not obeying God’s commands.

This, then, shows another way that oppressing the poor shows contempt for God—it is direct disobedience to His commands to love your neighbor as yourself and not to show favoritism. First John 3:17 uses a rhetorical question to make the same point: “If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person?”

God cares deeply for the poor and expects His followers to also care. More than that, we are to act on that care: “Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth” (James 3:18). The way we treat the poor reflects our love for God. When we mistreat the poor, we treat God with contempt.


FOR FURTHER STUDY
Your Finances God’s Way: A Biblical Guide to Ma


​Although the Bible does not address bankruptcy per se, we do have some principles that might apply and therefore help us make some judgments.

Biblical principle #1. We have the responsibility to keep our promises and pay what we owe. Ecclesiastes 5:4-5 says, “When you make a vow to God, do not delay to pay it; For He has no pleasure in fools. Pay what you have vowed — Better not to vow than to vow and not pay."

Biblical principle #2. Living on credit and not paying back what we owe is characteristic of the wicked. Psalm 37:21 says, “The wicked borrows and does not repay, but the righteous shows mercy and gives.” Christians have no business behaving in the same manner as “the wicked.”

Is it proper for a Christian in debt to get a “quick fix” to his problem by seeking bankruptcy? Based on these verses, the answer is “No.” A Christian is obligated to pay what he has agreed to pay, under the original terms of the agreement. It may mean a change of lifestyle and a radical revision of the budget, but the good stewardship of money is a part of godly living.

There are certain types of bankruptcy which are designed to postpone repayment, rather than evade it. In such cases, the debt is not erased, and the one filing for bankruptcy communicates his intention of repaying the debt. Court protection is extended until one has the ability to repay. This type of bankruptcy would not violate the biblical principles discussed above and would be, for the individual Christian, a matter of conscience.


What are Christians supposed to do when we’re hit by a national or personal financial crisis? How we handle a financial storm depends mostly on our attitude about whom the money belongs to in the first place. Do we view our money as ours? Or do we view it as coming from and belonging to God? If we see our income as being from the Lord, it makes it much easier to navigate the turbulent waters of economic downturns and tough financial situations. Whether we lose or make money, it is all His and under His control, and that is a truly freeing concept.

The Lord created all of us with certain talents and gifts which we are to use to not only make a living, but to also help us live our lives in such a way as to bring glory and honor to Him (Romans 12:1-2; 1 Corinthians 6:20). So while we grow up, follow our individual career paths into adulthood, and begin our lives as contributing members of society, making money and accumulating possessions along the way, we are also to serve and worship the Lord with every fiber of our being. We cannot do that if we consider it all ours and not His.

We will always find ourselves serving what we treasure the most, whether it is wealth, power, fame, or the Lord. The Bible shows us that Jesus well knew the lure of money and possessions because during His earthly ministry He actually spoke more on the subject of finances than on heaven and hell combined. Luke 12:15-34 is an excellent passage on the attitude we should have toward our money and possessions and is well worth taking some time to prayerfully read and study.

Our sovereign God placed us on the earth at just this time in history, and these tough economic times come as no surprise to Him. Since He knows every single detail of our lives, down to the exact number of hairs we lost to our hairbrush this morning (Matthew 10:30; Luke 12:7), we can absolutely trust Him to help us through a time of financial crisis. Let us make sure we are living prudently to begin with, staying within our means and not accumulating too much debt, and every day prayerfully entrusting it all to the Lord. Then we can encourage each other with Paul’s words in Philippians 4:19, as he gives glory to God, trusting Him in every situation, “And my God shall supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.”



The Bible has a lot to say about managing finances. Concerning borrowing, the Bible generally advises against it. See Proverbs 6:1-5; 20:16; 22:7, 26-27 (“The rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender.... Do not be a man who strikes hands in pledge or puts up security for debts; if you lack the means to pay, your very bed will be snatched from under you”). Over and over again, the Bible warns against the accumulation of wealth and encourages us to seek spiritual riches instead. Proverbs 28:20: “A faithful man will be richly blessed, but one eager to get rich will not go unpunished.” See also Proverbs 10:15; 11:4; 18:11; 23:5.

Proverbs 6:6-11 offers wisdom concerning laziness and the financial ruin that inevitably results. We are told to consider the industrious ant who works to store up food for itself. The passage also warns against sleeping when we should be working at something profitable. A “sluggard” is a lazy, slothful person who would rather rest than work. His end is assured—poverty and want. At the other end of the spectrum is the one who is obsessed with gaining money. Such a one, according to Ecclesiastes 5:10, never has enough wealth to satisfy him and must be constantly grasping more and more. First Timothy 6:6-11 also warns against the trap of desiring wealth.

Rather than desiring to heap riches upon ourselves, the biblical model is one of giving, not getting. “Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver” (2 Corinthians 9:6-7). We are also encouraged to be good stewards of what God has given us. In Luke 16:1-13, Jesus told the parable of the dishonest steward as a way of warning us against poor stewardship. The moral of the story is “So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches?” (v. 11). We are also responsible to provide for our own household, as 1 Timothy 5:8 reminds us: “If anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for his immediate family, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.”

In summary, what does the Bible say about managing money? The answer can be summarized with a single word—wisdom. We are to be wise with our money. We are to save money, but not hoard it. We are to spend money, but with discretion and control. We are to give back to the Lord, joyfully and sacrificially. We are to use our money to help others, but with discernment and the guidance of God’s Spirit. It is not wrong to be rich, but it is wrong to love money. It is not wrong to be poor, but it is wrong to waste money on trivial things. The Bible’s consistent message on managing money is to be wise. If you need financial help, you can inquire more through Christian Financial Concepts – http://www.crown.org.

Paul’s charge to us in Romans 13:8 to owe nothing but love is a powerful reminder of God’s distaste for all forms of debt that are not being paid in a timely manner (see also Psalm 37:21). At the same time, the Bible does not explicitly command against all forms of debt. The Bible warns against debt, and extols the virtue of not going into debt, but does not forbid debt. The Bible has harsh words of condemnation for lenders who abuse those who are bound to them in debt, but it does not condemn the debtor.

Some people question the charging of any interest on loans, but several times in the Bible we see that a fair interest rate is expected to be received on borrowed money (Proverbs 28:8; Matthew 25:27). In ancient Israel the Law did prohibit charging interest on one category of loans—those made to the poor (Leviticus 25:35-38). This law had many social, financial, and spiritual implications, but two are especially worth mentioning. First, the law genuinely helped the poor by not making their situation worse. It was bad enough to have fallen into poverty, and it could be humiliating to have to seek assistance. But if, in addition to repaying the loan, a poor person had to make crushing interest payments, the obligation would be more hurtful than helpful.

Second, the law taught an important spiritual lesson. For a lender to forego interest on a loan to a poor person would be an act of mercy. He would be losing the use of that money while it was loaned out. Yet that would be a tangible way of expressing gratitude to God for His mercy in not charging His people “interest” for the grace He has extended to them. Just as God had mercifully brought the Israelites out of Egypt when they were nothing but penniless slaves and had given them a land of their own (Leviticus 25:38), so He expected them to express similar kindness to their own poor citizens.

Christians are in a parallel situation. The life, death, and resurrection of Jesus has paid our sin debt to God. Now, as we have opportunity, we can help others in need, particularly fellow believers, with loans that do not escalate their troubles. Jesus even gave a parable along these lines about two creditors and their attitude toward forgiveness (Matthew 18:23-35).

The Bible neither expressly forbids nor condones the borrowing of money. The wisdom of the Bible teaches us that it is usually not a good idea to go into debt. Debt essentially makes us a slave to the one who provides the loan. At the same time, in some situations going into debt is a “necessary evil.” As long as money is being handled wisely and the debt payments are manageable, a Christian can take on the burden of financial debt if it is absolutely necessary.



During the lifetime of Jesus, the holy temple in Jerusalem was the center of Jewish religious life. The temple was the place where animal sacrifices were carried out and worship according to the Law of Moses was followed faithfully. Hebrews 9:1-9 tells us that in the temple a veil separated the Holy of Holies—the earthly dwelling place of God’s presence—from the rest of the temple where men dwelt. This signified that man was separated from God by sin (Isaiah 59:1-2). Only the high priest was permitted to pass beyond this veil once each year (Exodus 30:10; Hebrews 9:7) to enter into God’s presence for all of Israel and make atonement for their sins (Leviticus 16).


Solomon’s temple was 30 cubits high (1 Kings 6:2), but Herod had increased the height to 40 cubits, according to the writings of Josephus, a first-century Jewish historian. There is uncertainty as to the exact measurement of a cubit, but it is safe to assume that this veil was somewhere near 60 feet high. An early Jewish tradition says that the veil was about four inches thick, but the Bible does not confirm that measurement. The book of Exodus teaches that this thick veil was fashioned from blue, purple, and scarlet material and fine twisted linen.

The size and thickness of the veil make the events occurring at the moment of Jesus’ death on the cross so much more momentous. “And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit. At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom” (Matthew 27:50-51a).

So, what do we make of this? What significance does this torn veil have for us today? Above all, the tearing of the veil at the moment of Jesus’ death dramatically symbolized that His sacrifice, the shedding of His own blood, was a sufficient atonement for sins. It signified that now the way into the Holy of Holies was open for all people, for all time, both Jew and Gentile.

When Jesus died, the veil was torn, and God moved out of that place never again to dwell in a temple made with human hands (Acts 17:24). God was through with that temple and its religious system, and the temple and Jerusalem were left “desolate” (destroyed by the Romans) in A.D. 70, just as Jesus prophesied in Luke 13:35. As long as the temple stood, it signified the continuation of the Old Covenant. Hebrews 9:8-9 refers to the age that was passing away as the new covenant was being established (Hebrews 8:13).

In a sense, the veil was symbolic of Christ Himself as the only way to the Father (John 14:6). This is indicated by the fact that the high priest had to enter the Holy of Holies through the veil. Now Christ is our superior High Priest, and as believers in His finished work, we partake of His better priesthood. We can now enter the Holy of Holies through Him. Hebrews 10:19-20 says, “We have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body.” Here we see the image of Jesus’ flesh being torn for us just as He was tearing the veil for us.

The profound significance of the tearing of the veil is explained in glorious detail in Hebrews. The things of the temple were shadows of things to come, and they all ultimately point us to Jesus Christ. He was the veil to the Holy of Holies, and through His death the faithful now have free access to God.

The veil in the temple was a constant reminder that sin renders humanity unfit for the presence of God. The fact that the sin offering was offered annually and countless other sacrifices repeated daily showed graphically that sin could not truly be atoned for or erased by mere animal sacrifices. Jesus Christ, through His death, has removed the barriers between God and man, and now we may approach Him with confidence and boldness (Hebrews 4:14-16).


It would be foolish to ignore the passages in Scripture that talk about God’s anger. Yes, God does get angry; there are many examples in the Bible of this. He “displays his wrath every day” (Psalm 7:11).

However, we must not equate God’s anger with our own human experiences of that emotion. We must look again to the Bible. Ephesians 4:26–27 tells us it is possible to experience anger but not sin. As God cannot sin, we know that His anger is righteous, unlike the common experience of anger in ourselves. As James 1:20 says, “Human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires.”

The context of the verses of God getting angry reveals why He gets angry. God gets angry when there is a violation of His character. God is righteous, just, and holy, and none of these attributes can be compromised (Exodus 20:4–6; Isaiah 42:8). God was angry with the nation of Israel and with Israel’s kings every time they turned away from obeying Him (e.g., 1 Kings 11:9–10; 2 Kings 17:18). The wicked practices of the nations in Canaan, such as child sacrifice and sexual perversion, aroused God’s anger to the point He commanded Israel to completely destroy them—every man, woman, child, and animal—to remove wickedness from the land (Deuteronomy 7:1–6). Just as a parent becomes angry at anything that would hurt his children, so God’s anger is directed at that which would harm His people and their relationship with Him. “‘As surely as I live,’ declares the Sovereign LORD, ‘I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their ways and live’” (Ezekiel 33:11).

In the New Testament, Jesus got angry with the religious teachers and leaders of that day for using religion for their own gain and keeping people in bondage (John 2:13–16; Mark 3:4–5). Romans 1:18 tells us God’s anger, or wrath, comes against “the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness.” So God gets angry at the wickedness in people, and He opposes that wickedness in an effort to turn them from evil, that they may find true life and freedom in Him. Even in His anger, God’s motivation is love for people; to restore the relationship that sin destroyed.

While God must bring justice and retribution for sin, those who have accepted Jesus as Lord and Savior are no longer under God’s wrath for sin. Why? Because Jesus experienced the full measure of the wrath of God on the cross so that we wouldn’t have to. This is what is meant by Jesus’ death being a “propitiation,” or satisfaction. “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death. For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by flesh, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit” (Romans 8:1–4).



We can know for sure that our anger or indignation is righteous when it is directed toward what angers God Himself. Righteous anger and indignation are justly expressed when we are confronted with sin. Good examples would be anger toward child abuse, pornography, racism, homosexual activity, abortion, and the like.

The apostle Paul gives clear warning to those who anger God: “Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God” (Galatians 5:19–21). Jesus expressed righteous anger over the sins of the people (Mark 3:1–5; Matthew 21:12–13; Luke 19:41–44). But His anger was directed at sinful behaviors and unmistakable injustice.

However, we are also taught to be careful in our anger, that we do not sin. “Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil” (Ephesians 4:26–27). We should check our attitude as well as our motive before becoming angry with others. Paul gives us some sound advice on the appropriate approach: “Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: ‘It is mine to avenge; I will repay,’ says the Lord. On the contrary: ‘If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.’ Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good” (Romans 12:19–21).

James also gives us good instruction when it comes to righteous indignation: “Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God” (James 1:19–20). The apostle Peter echoes this advice especially for those times when we face those antagonistic toward God and the things of God: “But even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled, but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect, having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame. For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God’s will, than for doing evil” (1 Peter 3:14–17).

Believers can also channel their anger into constructive action by becoming involved with Christian organizations that combat the influence of evil in society. The key is that, if our outrage results in bringing others into a loving and restorative relationship with God, it’s righteous indignation.


The Lord’s Prayer is a prayer the Lord Jesus taught His disciples in Matthew 6:9-13 and Luke 11:2-4. Matthew 6:9-13 says, “This, then, is how you should pray: 'Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.'“ Many people misunderstand the Lord’s Prayer to be a prayer we are supposed to recite word for word. Some people treat the Lord’s Prayer as a magic formula, as if the words themselves have some specific power or influence with God.

The Bible teaches the opposite. God is far more interested in our hearts when we pray than He is in our words. “But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do. For they think that they will be heard for their many words” (Matthew 6:6-7). In prayer, we are to pour out our hearts to God (Philippians 4:6-7), not simply recite memorized words to God.

The Lord’s Prayer should be understood as an example, a pattern, of how to pray. It gives us the “ingredients” that should go into prayer. Here is how it breaks down. “Our Father in heaven” is teaching us whom to address our prayers to—the Father. “Hallowed be your name” is telling us to worship God, and to praise Him for who He is. The phrase “your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven” is a reminder to us that we are to pray for God’s plan in our lives and the world, not our own plan. We are to pray for God’s will to be done, not for our desires. We are encouraged to ask God for the things we need in “give us today our daily bread.” “Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors” reminds us to confess our sins to God and to turn from them, and also to forgive others as God has forgiven us. The conclusion of the Lord’s Prayer, “And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one” is a plea for help in achieving victory over sin and a request for protection from the attacks of the devil.

So, again, the Lord’s Prayer is not a prayer we are to mindlessly recite back to God. It is only an example of how we should be praying. Is there anything wrong with memorizing the Lord’s Prayer? Of course not! Is there anything wrong with praying the Lord’s Prayer back to God? Not if your heart is in it and you truly mean the words you say. Remember, in prayer, God is far more interested in our communicating with Him and speaking from our hearts than He is in the specific words we use. Philippians 4:6-7 declares, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”


The biblical account of Sodom and Gomorrah is recorded in Genesis. Genesis 18 records the Lord and two angels coming to speak with Abraham. The Lord informed Abraham that “the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is so great and their sin so grievous” (Genesis 18:20). Verses 22–33 record Abraham pleading with the Lord to have mercy on Sodom and Gomorrah because of the righteous people who might be there. Abraham’s nephew, Lot, and his family lived in Sodom.


Genesis 19 records the two angels, disguised as human men, visiting Sodom and Gomorrah. Lot met the angels in the city square and urged them to stay at his house. The angels agreed. The Bible then reveals the sin lurking in the Sodomites’ hearts: “Before they had gone to bed, all the men from every part of the city of Sodom—both young and old—surrounded the house. They called to Lot, ‘Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us so that we can have sex with them’” (Genesis 19:4–5). The angels proceeded to blind the men surrounding the house and urge Lot and his family to flee the city. The wrath of God was about to fall. Lot and his family fled the city, and then “the Lord rained down burning sulfur on Sodom and Gomorrah—from the Lord out of the heavens. Thus he overthrew those cities and the entire plain, including all those living in the cities” (Genesis 19:24).

What was the sin of Sodom and Gomorrah? According to Genesis 19, the sin involved homosexuality. The very name of that ancient city has given us the term sodomy, in the sense of “copulation between two men, whether consensual or forced.” Clearly, homosexuality was part of why God destroyed the two cities. The men of Sodom and Gomorrah wanted to perform homosexual acts on what they thought were two men.

This is not to say that homosexuality was the only reason why God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah. Ezekiel 16:49–50 gives some more insight: “Now this was the sin of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed and unconcerned; they did not help the poor and needy. They were haughty and did detestable things before me.” So, the sins of Sodom included pride, apathy, complacency, idleness, and unconcern for the underprivileged.

Ezekiel 16:50 adds that a sin of Sodom was that they did “detestable things.” The Hebrew word translated “detestable” refers to something that is morally disgusting. It is the same word used in Leviticus 18:22, where homosexuality is an “abomination.” Jude 1:7 also weighs in: “Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding towns gave themselves up to sexual immorality and perversion.” So, again, while homosexuality was not the only sin of Sodom and Gomorrah, it does appear to be the primary reason for the destruction of those cities.

Those who attempt to explain away the biblical condemnations of homosexuality claim that the sin of Sodom and Gomorrah was inhospitality. That’s one of the sins—the men of Sodom and Gomorrah were certainly being inhospitable. There is probably nothing more inhospitable than homosexual gang rape. But to say God destroyed two cities and all their inhabitants simply for being inhospitable ignores some obvious details of the story.

Sodom and Gomorrah were guilty of many other sins, but homosexuality was the principal reason God poured fiery sulfur on the cities, completely destroying them and all of their inhabitants. To this day, the area where Sodom and Gomorrah were located remains a desolate wasteland. Sodom and Gomorrah serve as a powerful example of how God feels about sin in general and homosexuality specifically.



When God revealed His plan to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah due to the wickedness of those cities, Abraham asked God to spare the people. In fact, Abraham engaged in a lengthy conversation to mediate for the cities.

First, Abraham wanted God to spare the righteous people who lived in Sodom and Gomorrah. He asked, “Will you indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked? Suppose there are fifty righteous within the city. Will you then sweep away the place and not spare it for the fifty righteous who are in it? Far be it from you to do such a thing, to put the righteous to death with the wicked, so that the righteous fare as the wicked! Far be that from you! Shall not the Judge of all the earth do what is just?” (Genesis 18:23-25).

Second, Abraham’s nephew Lot lived in Sodom. God did spare Lot and his two daughters, perhaps as a direct result of Abraham’s request. Genesis 19:29 states, “So it was that, when God destroyed the cities of the valley, God remembered Abraham and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow when he overthrew the cities in which Lot had lived.” Abraham certainly wanted to see his own extended family protected from God’s judgment.

Third, Abraham had compassion for the people of Sodom and Gomorrah. While he understood God’s judgment of sin, Abraham asked God to spare the city even if there could be found as few as ten righteous people (Genesis 18:32). God agreed to spare the city for the sake of ten righteous people. Apparently, fewer than ten righteous were found, since God did destroy the cities, sparing only Lot and his two daughters. (God also planned to rescue Lot’s wife, but she died when she disobeyed God and turned back to look at the city as it was being destroyed.)

Abraham’s compassion for the people of Sodom and Gomorrah reveals the heart of a man who cared greatly for others, including those who did not follow God. In fact, the angelic visitors who visited Lot were threatened by men of Sodom who desired to have sex with them. Though Sodom’s citizens were wicked, Abraham did not wish to see their destruction.

Like Abraham, we are called to have great compassion for others, including those whose lives do not follow God’s ways. Also, we must ultimately accept God’s judgments, even when His decisions are not our desired choices.

Abraham’s request for these cities to be spared was denied. God sometimes says “no” to our requests, too, even when we pray with good intentions. The Lord may have other plans that we do not understand, yet which are part of His perfect will.

Finally, consider how God did answer Abraham’s request by rescuing Lot and his daughters. Although Abraham’s mediatory work did not result in the sparing of the cities, it did bring about the salvation of Abraham’s nephew. Abraham’s prayers on behalf of others were important, just as our prayers are today.


Genesis 19 tells the story of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. Lot, Abraham’s nephew, lived in Sodom with his family. His daughters were engaged to local men. Lot was sitting at the gate of Sodom, the area where financial and judicial transactions took place, when two angels came into town. Lot invited them to stay with his family. After a rather exciting evening, the angels made sure Lot, his wife, and his two daughters left before God destroyed the city (Genesis 19:13). As they fled, the angels warned them, “Escape for your life! Do not look behind you, and do not stay anywhere in the valley; escape to the mountains, or you will be swept away” (Genesis 19:17).

Lot ran, his daughters close behind. “But his wife, from behind him, looked back, and she became a pillar of salt” (Genesis 19:26). She lagged behind. She turned and watched the flaming sulfur fall from the sky, consuming everything she valued. Then it consumed her. The Hebrew for “looked back” means more than to glance over one’s shoulder. It means “to regard, to consider, to pay attention to.” The Scriptures don’t say whether her death was a punishment for valuing her old life so much that she hesitated in obeying, or if it was a simple consequence of her reluctance to leave her life quickly. Either she identified too much with the city—and joined it—or she neglected to fully obey God’s warning, and she died.

We’re fortunate to receive similar warnings. Ephesians 4:22-24 tells us to take off the old self that is ruled by sin and be renewed, putting on the new self that is in the likeness of God. Similarly, 1 John 5:16 says that willful, deliberate sin can lead to death. Lot’s wife wasn’t able to accept that. What she chose to value in her heart led her to sin, which led to her death.

The Bible isn’t clear whether Lot’s wife was covered in the salt that rained down with the brimstone or if her remains were dusted with a coating of salt later. But it is interesting that she is described as a “pillar.” The Hebrew for “pillar” refers to a garrison or a deputy, that is, something set to watch over something else. The image of Lot’s wife standing watch over the Dead Sea area—where to this day no life can exist—is a poignant reminder to us not to look back or turn back from the profession of faith we have made, but to follow Christ without hesitation and abide in His love (Luke 17:32).

The account of Jesus cursing the barren fig tree is found in two different gospel accounts. First, it is seen in Matthew 21:18-22, and then also in Mark 11:12-14. While there are slight differences between the two accounts, they are easily reconciled by studying the passages. Like all Scripture, the key to understanding this passage comes from understanding the context in which it happened. In order to properly understand this passage, we must first look at the chronological and geographical setting. For example, when did this occur, what was the setting, and where did it happen? Also, in order to fully understand this passage, we need to have an understanding of the importance of the fig tree as it relates to the nation of Israel and understand how the fig tree is often used in the Scriptures to symbolically represent Israel. Finally, we must have a basic understanding of the fig tree itself, its growing seasons, etc.

First, in looking at the general chronological setting of the passage, we see that it happened during the week before His crucifixion. Jesus had entered Jerusalem a day earlier amid the praise and worship of the Jewish people who were looking to Him as the King/Messiah who was going to deliver them from Roman occupation (Matthew 21:1-11; Mark 11:1-11). Now, the next day, Jesus is again on His way to Jerusalem from where He was staying in Bethany. On His way, both Matthew and Mark record that He was hungry and saw a fig tree in the distance that had leaves on it (Mark 11:13). Upon coming to the tree expecting to find something to eat, Jesus instead discovered that the fig tree had no fruit on it and cursed the tree saying, “May no fruit ever come from you again!” (Matthew 21:19; Mark 11:14). Matthew records the cursing and the withering of the fig tree all in one account and includes it after the account of Jesus cleansing the Temple of the moneychangers. Mark explains that it actually took place over two days, with Jesus cursing the fig tree the first day on the way to cleanse the Temple, and the disciples seeing the tree withered on the second day when they were again going to Jerusalem from Bethany (Mark 11:12-14 and Mark 11:19-20). Of course, upon seeing the tree “withered from the roots up,” the disciples were amazed, as that would have normally taken several weeks.

Having reviewed the general chronological setting of the story, we can begin to answer some of many questions that are often asked of it. First of all is the question, Why did Jesus curse the fig tree if it was not the right season for figs? The answer to this question can be determined by studying the characteristics of fig trees. The fruit of the fig tree generally appears before the leaves, and, because the fruit is green it blends in with the leaves right up until it is almost ripe. Therefore, when Jesus and His disciples saw from a distance that the tree had leaves, they would have expected it to also have fruit on it even though it was earlier in the season than what would be normal for a fig tree to be bearing fruit. Also, each tree would often produce two to three crops of figs each season. There would be an early crop in the spring followed by one or two later crops. In some parts of Israel, depending on climate and conditions, it was also possible that a tree might produce fruit ten out of twelve months. This also explains why Jesus and His disciples would be looking for fruit on the fig tree even if it was not in the main growing season. The fact that the tree already had leaves on it even though it was at a higher elevation around Jerusalem, and therefore would have been outside the normal season for figs, would have seemed to be a good indication that there would also be fruit on it.

As to the significance of this passage and what it means, the answer to that is again found in the chronological setting and in understanding how a fig tree is often used symbolically to represent Israel in the Scriptures. First of all, chronologically, Jesus had just arrived at Jerusalem amid great fanfare and great expectations, but then proceeds to cleanse the Temple and curse the barren fig tree. Both had significance as to the spiritual condition of Israel. With His cleansing of the Temple and His criticism of the worship that was going on there (Matthew 21:13; Mark 11:17), Jesus was effectively denouncing Israel’s worship of God. With the cursing of the fig tree, He was symbolically denouncing Israel as a nation and, in a sense, even denouncing unfruitful “Christians” (that is, people who profess to be Christian but have no evidence of a relationship with Christ).

The presence of a fruitful fig tree was considered to be a symbol of blessing and prosperity for the nation of Israel. Likewise, the absence or death of a fig tree would symbolize judgment and rejection. Symbolically, the fig tree represented the spiritual deadness of Israel, who while very religious outwardly with all the sacrifices and ceremonies, were spiritually barren because of their sins. By cleansing the Temple and cursing the fig tree, causing it to wither and die, Jesus was pronouncing His coming judgment of Israel and demonstrating His power to carry it out. It also teaches the principle that religious profession and observance are not enough to guarantee salvation, unless there is the fruit of genuine salvation evidenced in the life of the person. James would later echo this truth when he wrote that “faith without works is dead” (James 2:26). The lesson of the fig tree is that we should bear spiritual fruit (Galatians 5:22-23), not just give an appearance of religiosity. God judges fruitlessness, and expects that those who have a relationship with Him will “bear much fruit” (John 15:5-8).


The Dead Sea is a large body of salt water on the southern end of the Jordan River. Cited sixteen times in the Bible, the Dead Sea is mentioned primarily to describe the borders of the Promised Land.

The Dead Sea is known by a few different names in the Bible, including the Salt Sea (Genesis 14:3; Numbers 34:3, 12; Deuteronomy 3:17; Joshua 3:16; 12:3), the Sea of the Arabah (Deuteronomy 3:17; 4:49; Joshua 3:16; 2 Kings 14:25), and the Eastern Sea (Ezekiel 47:18; Zechariah 14:8). It was called the Salt Sea for its unusually high salinity. The name Sea of the Arabah was given for its location in the Arabah Valley. In Hebrew, arabah means “a wasteland” or “barren district.” And the name Eastern Sea originated from the Dead Sea’s position on the eastern boundary of the land of Israel.

Only in Genesis 14:3 is the Dead Sea referred to as a location. In all other instances, it is used to designate a border for the land of Israel. Thus, the Dead Sea was likely considered more of a territorial boundary line than a destination for the people of the Bible. Nevertheless, several noteworthy biblical settlements were positioned on the shores of the Dead Sea, including Masada, En Gedi, and Qumran.

The Dead Sea is located 16 miles directly east of Jerusalem. A long and narrow oblong, the sea, in Bible times, measured a little over 50 miles from north to south and about 11 miles wide at its broadest point. The Dead Sea lies within the great trough of the Jordan Valley, also known as the Rift Valley, which forms part of the longest and deepest crack in the earth’s crust. At approximately 1,300 feet (400 meters) below sea level, the Dead Sea sits at the lowest point of the earth’s surface.

Fed mainly by the Jordan River and a few smaller streams and rivers, the Dead Sea receives an average of six or seven million tons of daily inflow with no outlet for the water except through evaporation. The extreme heat and dry conditions of the region produce an exceptionally high rate of evaporation. Even with no outflow of water, the Dead Sea’s surface rises no more than 10 to 15 feet a day.

The waters that feed the Dead Sea contain an unusually high salt content (approximately 26 percent), making it the world’s most saline body of water, with almost five times the level of salt concentration of the ocean (on average 3.5 percent). With such high salinity, no marine life can live in the Dead Sea.

Even with its inability to sustain life, the Dead Sea provided a valuable commodity for trading in ancient times—salt. The sea was also known for producing bitumen, a natural petroleum product similar to asphalt, prized for its waterproofing properties. Historians have suggested that Cleopatra’s ambition to rule the Dead Sea region was motivated by her desire to control the bitumen trade.

Biblical archaeologists believe the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah in Genesis 18—19 took place in the vicinity of the Dead Sea. Some believe that Sodom and Gomorrah lie underneath the Dead Sea. Exactly how God destroyed these cities is still debated. Some theorize God used a volcanic eruption or a spontaneous explosion of subsurface pockets of bituminous soil. Curiously, at the southeast corner of the Dead Sea is a salt rock plug known today as Mount Sodom. On its slopes, which are formed by a combination of gypsum, salt, limestone, and chalk, can be seen strange formations of salt, like pillars. These pillars are often pointed out to tourists by the nickname “Lot’s wife” (see Genesis 19:26).

When David fled from King Saul, he found a place of refuge on the western shore of the Dead Sea in the town of En Gedi. In contrast to the lifeless nature of the Dead Sea, En Gedi is an oasis full of fresh flowing springs, fine dates, aromatic and medicinal plants, and semitropical vegetation.

The prophet Ezekiel foresaw a time when the Dead Sea’s toxic waters would be transformed into a fresh River of Life flowing from the throne of God: “This water flows toward the eastern region and goes down into the Arabah, where it enters the Dead Sea. When it empties into the sea, the salty water there becomes fresh. Swarms of living creatures will live wherever the river flows. There will be large numbers of fish, because this water flows there and makes the salt water fresh; so where the river flows everything will live. Fishermen will stand along the shore; from En Gedi to En Eglaim there will be places for spreading nets. The fish will be of many kinds—like the fish of the Mediterranean Sea. . . . Fruit trees of all kinds will grow on both banks of the river. Their leaves will not wither, nor will their fruit fail. Every month they will bear fruit, because the water from the sanctuary flows to them. Their fruit will serve for food and their leaves for healing” (Ezekiel 47:8–12).

In recent times the Dead Sea has been shrinking because its waters are evaporating faster than the inflow from the Jordan and other streams can replenish. In the last 40 years or so, the sea has lost about 30 percent of its area and has divided into two basins. The shallow southern basin is used primarily for the mining of Dead Sea minerals.
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In John 7:38, Jesus makes a seemingly odd metaphorical statement: “Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.” Yet, as it turns out, the statement isn’t so odd, because Jesus actually had much to say about the idea of water and new life.

In John 4:10 Jesus tells the Samaritan woman that He could give her “living water.” This was in contrast to the physical water that the Samaritan woman came to the well to retrieve. That physical water would run out, and she would need to continually return to get more. But Jesus offered the woman water that would never run out—water that would become within the believer “a spring of water welling up to eternal life” (John 4:14). Jesus later would return to this theme when He stood up in public and said, “If anyone is thirsty let him come to Me and drink” (John 7:37). In this way, He was again offering Himself as the water of life and telling all they could come to Him and receive that never-ending life.

After making the offer of life-giving water, Jesus adds that rivers of living water would flow from the heart of the believer (John 7:38). Jesus alludes to Isaiah 55:1 and Isaiah 58:11—passages that similarly present the Messianic hope in terms of life-giving water (cf. Exodus 17:1–6; Psalm 78:15–16; 105:40–41; Proverbs 18:4; Isaiah 12:3; Ezekiel 47:1–11; and Zechariah 14:8). Jesus was not simply using metaphor to liken His own life-giving ministry to that of water. He was actually claiming to be the fulfillment of Scripture’s water allusions and prophecies. Because He was the Life-giver, those who believed in Him would have eternal life within them and would no longer need to seek for life from external sources. Later, it is revealed that God would put His Spirit within each believer (Romans 8:9), and each believer would have eternal life (John 6:47) and the evidence of life (in the Holy Spirit) within. It is in that sense that “rivers of living water” would flow from the hearts of believers.

Later, Paul would describe that in love Christ sanctifies His church, washing her with the water of His word (Ephesians 5:25–26). The writer of Hebrews continues the theme, noting that our hearts are sprinkled and “our bodies washed with pure water” (Hebrews 10:22). Peter adds that believers are cleansed as if by water (1 Peter 3:20–21). Finally, in a beautiful portrayal of Jesus’ ministry, John says that the Lamb would be the Shepherd, leading His people to the water of life (Revelation 7:17). This is reminiscent of David’s song of Psalm 23 in which the Shepherd leads David beside quiet waters (Psalm 23:2) and restores his soul. Just as each of these writers recognized, we need to understand that Jesus is the One who freely gives eternal life.


​Revelation 21:1 says, “Then I saw ‘a new heaven and a new earth,’ for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea.” There is no reason not to take this literally, that God’s new earth will not contain vast areas of salt water spanning the globe. Of course, bodies of fresh water, such as the river in Revelation 22:1, could still exist in abundance in the new earth.

Prophetic passages about Jesus’ first coming were fulfilled literally. Non-prophetic passages in the Bible are also largely literal. If a certain passage is not meant to be interpreted literally, there will be obvious contextual clues: e.g., an inanimate object will be used to describe a living thing (Jesus is the bread), life will be attributed to an inanimate object (the trees clap their hands), or an expression will be out of character with the thing described (Herod is a fox). Revelation 21:1 has no such clues; therefore, there is no good reason to interpret as figurative the revelation that the new earth will be absent a sea.

Since Revelation 21 reads like a factual description of the new heaven and new earth, and since Scripture provides no other explanation, verse 1 most likely means simply what it says: in the new earth there will no longer be any sea.

While this may be disturbing to some who love the sea, we cannot create an alternative meaning just to suit our preferences or biases. We may also find Jesus’ words in Matthew 22:30 about there being no marriage in heaven to be a little disconcerting; however, we cannot twist any verse’s meaning just to make ourselves feel more comfortable. We have to accept by faith that whatever God, in His perfect wisdom, has planned is the best possible reality.

Having taken the side of literalism, we acknowledge that there are other interpretations of the statement there was no longer any sea. Some believe that the “sea” in Revelation 21:1 refers only to the Mediterranean Sea. When John peers into the future, he sees that the Mediterranean is gone. Elsewhere in Scripture, the Mediterranean Sea is simply referred to as “the sea” (e.g., Joshua 17:10).

Others believe that the statement there was no longer any sea is a figurative reference to there being no more divisions among humanity. In our current world, the oceans provide natural barriers between nations and people groups. According to this interpretation, John’s vision predicts that, in the new earth, humanity will be not be separated by any means.

Another view is that the statement there was no longer any sea refers to the absence of anything that is perilous, unpredictable, or tumultuous. The sea in John’s time was often viewed as place of danger and changeableness. Jesus spoke of “the roaring and tossing of the sea” as part of the tribulation of the end times (Luke 21:25). Psalm 46 speaks of the need to trust God, although the sea’s “waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging” (verse 3). According to this interpretation, God’s promise is that the new earth will not be a place of turmoil or fear.

Earlier in Revelation, the “sea” was the source of the satanically empowered beast (Revelation 13:1). This has led some to interpret the statement there was no longer any sea in Revelation 21:1 to mean that the source of evil in the world is gone. No longer will there be opportunity for rebellion in God’s creation.

John’s statement that there will be no more sea in the new earth is the first of seven things that are “no more.” The other six promises are that the new order of things will have no more death, mourning, weeping, pain (Revelation 21:4), curse (Revelation 22:3), and night (Revelation 21:25; 22:5).

Revelation 21:1 and the statement there was no longer any sea is part of a description of the re-creation of the whole universe, after the tribulation, after the millennium, after the final rebellion. Things will obviously be very different on the new earth from what they are now. The current earth is mostly covered by water, but the new earth will have a different geography and therefore a different climate.

In the end, the key is that God will make everything beautiful in His time. Whatever He has planned for us, it will be for the best. Eye has not seen nor ear heard the wonderful things that God has prepared for those who love Him (1 Corinthians 2:9).


FOR FURTHER STUDY
Heaven and the Afterlife: The Truth About Tomorrow and What It Means for Today by Erwin Lutzer


After relating various visions, the book of Revelation offers a final call to action, including a statement about those who are outside of the gates in Revelation 22:15: “Outside are the dogs, those who practice magic arts, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.”

The angel who was speaking to John told him not to seal up the book because the time was near (Revelation 22:10). It seems the angel also adds the exhortation that those who do wrong and those who do right will continue in their paths (Revelation 22:11). John then records the words of Jesus, who asserts that He will come suddenly and judge all according to their deeds (Revelation 22:12). Some will be able to enter the gates of the city (the New Jerusalem), and some will be judged and remain outside of the gates (Revelation 22:15).

Jesus affirms His identity as the Alpha and Omega, the first and the last (Revelation 22:13, referencing Isaiah 48:12). He adds that there is a blessing for those who wash their robes, for they will have access to the tree of life and be able to enter by the gates of the city (Revelation 22:14). But there will be others who are outside of the gates. He calls them the dogs, sorcerers, immoral persons, murderers, idolaters, and those who love and practice lying (Revelation 22:15). All these will be kept outside of the gates of the city.

The ones who wash their robes are the ones who take the water of life without cost (Revelation 22:17). They are the ones who believe in Jesus (John 4:14; Revelation 7:17; and 21:6). As for those who do not believe in Him, their names are not written in the book of life, and they will be judged according to their deeds (Revelation 20:12, 15). They will not be allowed to enter the city—the New Jerusalem that descends from heaven (Revelation 21:2, 8). Only those whose names are written in the book of life—who have believed in Jesus—will enter the city. Those who have not been cleansed by belief in Jesus and who continue in their sins will not enter (Revelation 21:27).

The writer of Hebrews reminds us that Jesus died outside the gates of the city of Jerusalem to pay for sins (Hebrews 13:12). He died as a substitute, and all who believe in Him are able to look forward to a lasting city that will come in the future (Hebrews 13:14). Because of what Jesus accomplished by His own righteousness, all who believe in Him are made righteous (Romans 4:20–25) and are able to be in the city where Jesus will rule in His kingdom on earth. Those who are outside the gates are those who have refused to acknowledge Jesus and who remain unrighteous. They will be judged based on their deeds, which, of course, are not good enough merit eternal life. All have sinned and have fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). All are in need of Christ’s righteousness, which can only be received by grace through faith (Ephesians 2:8–9). Those who refuse to receive His grace by faith will be outside the gates and will not dwell in the city where Jesus is.

Readers of the book of Revelation are encouraged to “come” and take the water of life without cost. The invitation is extended. All who believe may come into the gates and not remain tragically outside.


The Bible contains vivid descriptions of times past and those yet to come. The book of Revelation contains a great amount of imagery that grabs attention and allows us to use our imaginations to visualize future events and persons. Part of those future proceedings will involve the “beast,” described beginning in Revelation 13.

The Beast

The apostle John, describing a vision, writes, “The dragon stood on the shore of the sea. And I saw a beast coming out of the sea. It had ten horns and seven heads, with ten crowns on its horns, and on each head a blasphemous name. The beast I saw resembled a leopard, but had feet like those of a bear and a mouth like that of a lion. The dragon gave the beast his power and his throne and great authority” (Revelation 13:1–2).

John’s vision of the beast from the sea is similar to what Daniel saw: “In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was a fourth beast—terrifying and frightening and very powerful. It had large iron teeth; it crushed and devoured its victims and trampled underfoot whatever was left. It was different from all the former beasts, and it had ten horns” (Daniel 7:7). Both Daniel and John include the detail that the terrible beast has ten horns.

The dragon, or Satan, as identified in Revelation 12:9, gives power to the beast so that he might act as an evil proxy and carry out Satan’s bidding. The beast will have a seemingly fatal head wound that will be healed, and he will have tremendous influence over the inhabitants of the earth (Revelation 13:3). The beast will utter proud and blasphemous words while holding authority for forty-two months (Revelation 13:5; cf. Daniel 7:8). It is this timing that solidifies his identity as the Antichrist.

The Timing

We again compare John’s revelation with that of Daniel: “He will confirm a covenant with many for one ‘seven.’ In the middle of the ‘seven’ he will put an end to sacrifice and offering. And at the temple he will set up an abomination that causes desolation, until the end that is decreed is poured out on him” (Daniel 9:27). The “seven” represents a seven-year period (the tribulation) beginning with the signing of a peace treaty with Israel, and ending with the second coming of Christ, foretold in Zechariah 14:1–9. For the first three and a half years of this period (the forty-two months mentioned in Revelation), Israel will experience peace and even have their temple rebuilt. But then, in the middle of that period, the Antichrist will go into the temple and proclaim himself to be God. This is referred to as the “abomination that causes desolation” in Daniel 9:27 and Matthew 24:15. For the remaining three and a half years, or forty-two months, the Antichrist will attempt to annihilate the Jews. He is the beast with ten horns.

The Ten Horns

Knowing that the beast is the Antichrist who holds political power during the second half of the great tribulation helps us make sense of the ten horns. Daniel says, “The ten horns are ten kings who will come from this kingdom” (Daniel 7:24). Revelation corroborates this: “The ten horns you saw are ten kings who have not yet received a kingdom, but who for one hour will receive authority as kings along with the beast. They will wage war against the Lamb” (Revelation 17:12–13a).

Our view is that the Antichrist will rise from a “revived” Roman Empire in the last days. That empire will be divided into ten parts, governed by ten kings, who will rule under the Antichrist. These ten kings, symbolized as horns, voluntarily cede authority to the one-world leader, the Antichrist. These kings will wage war against Jesus (“the Lamb”) and His people. Despite their power and authority, these ten kings will be defeated at the return of Jesus Christ: “Then I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies gathered together to wage war against the rider on the horse and his army. But the beast was captured, and with it the false prophet. . . . The two of them were thrown alive into the fiery lake of burning sulfur” (Revelation 19:19–20).

Conclusion

The coming Antichrist will certainly be a fearful dictator, and his federation of ten kings will seem unstoppable. But we know the end of the beast and all his followers: “They will wage war against the Lamb, but the Lamb will triumph over them because he is the Lord of lords and the King of kings” (Revelation 17:14). Jesus Christ Himself will quickly and decisively defeat this coalition of evil, headed by the ten-horned beast.

The meaning of the term antichrist is simply “against Christ.” As the apostle John records in First and Second John, an antichrist denies the Father and the Son (1 John 2:22), does not acknowledge Jesus (1 John 4:3), and denies that Jesus came in the flesh (2 John 1:7). There have been many “antichrists,” as 1 John 2:18 states. But there is also coming the Antichrist.

Most Bible prophecy/eschatology experts believe the Antichrist will be the ultimate embodiment of what it means to be against Christ. In the end times/last hour, a man will arise to oppose Christ and His followers more than anyone else in history. Likely claiming to be the true Messiah, the Antichrist will seek world domination and will attempt to destroy all followers of Jesus Christ and the nation of Israel.

Other biblical references to the Antichrist include the following:

The imposing, boastful king of Daniel 7 who oppresses the Jews and tries to “change the set times and the laws” (verse 25).

The leader who establishes a 7-year covenant with Israel and then breaks it in Daniel 9.

The king who sets up the abomination of desolation in Mark 13:14 (cf. Daniel 9:27).

The man of lawlessness in 2 Thessalonians 2:1–12.

The rider on a white horse (representing his claim to be a man of peace) in Revelation 6:2.

The first beast—the one from the sea—in Revelation 13. This beast receives power from the dragon (Satan) and speaks “proud words and blasphemies” (verse 5) and wages war against the saints (verse 7).

Thankfully, the Antichrist/beast, along with his false prophet, will be thrown into the lake of fire, where they will spend all eternity in torment (Revelation 19:20; 20:10).

What is the Antichrist? In summary, the Antichrist is the end-times false messiah who seeks, and likely achieves, world domination so that he can destroy Israel and all followers of Jesus Christ.


At the close of Revelation 13, which discusses the beast (the Antichrist) and his false prophet, we read, “This calls for wisdom: let the one who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man, and his number is 666” (Revelation 13:18). Somehow, the number 666 is a clue to the identity of the beast. Revelation 13 also mentions the “mark of the beast” (verses 16–17), and popular thought often links 666 with the mark; however, the mark of the beast and 666 appear to be two different things. The mark of the beast is something people must receive in order to buy and sell. The number 666 is somehow associated with the beast/Antichrist as “his” number.

The meaning of 666 is a mystery, and it appears that the apostle John, writing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, intended it to be that way. Calculating it, John says, requires “wisdom.” Some, using gematria (assigning a number value to each letter of a name or word and then combining the number values to arrive at a total number), have identified the Antichrist as various people in world history. Some of the popular targets have been “Caesar Nero,” “Ronald Wilson Reagan,” “Mikhail Gorbachev,” and various popes in Roman Catholic history. The lengths some will go to in order to get a person’s name to add up to 666 are amazing. Virtually any name can add up to 666 if enough mathematical gymnastics are employed.

Six hundred, sixty-six will somehow identify the beast, but precisely how 666 is connected to the beast is not the main point of Revelation 13:18. The Bible often uses the number 7 to refer to God and His perfection. Traditionally, 6 is thought to be the number of man, created on the sixth day and always “falling short” of God. The beast/Antichrist will strive to be like God. He will likely even claim to be God. But, just as the number 6 falls short of the number 7, so will the beast/Antichrist, with his “trinity” of 6’s, ultimately fail in his effort to defeat God.

Addendum: Interestingly, in some ancient Greek manuscripts of the Book of Revelation, the number is given as 616 instead of 666. The manuscript evidence is strongly in favor of 666, but the alternate reading of 616 should give us pause before we start pounding away on the calculators.


In Matthew 7:13–14, Jesus said, "Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it." This passage causes some to question the goodness of God. After all, if He really wants to save everyone, why didn’t He make it easier to be saved? Why doesn’t He simply let everyone into heaven?

When we read the word narrow, we tend to associate it with prejudicial selection. It sounds as though God has rated us all on some scale of acceptability and only allows a select few to enter His presence. However, a few verses earlier, Jesus had told the same audience, "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened" (Matthew 7:7–8). Jesus made it clear: the path to eternal life is open to everyone who asks.

However, the gate to heaven is “narrow” in the sense of having a particular requirement for entrance—faith in Jesus Christ. Salvation is found only in the Person of Jesus Christ; He is the only way (John 14:6). The “wide” gate is non-exclusive; it allows for human effort and all other of the world’s religions.

Jesus says that the narrow gate leads to a “hard” road, one that will take us through hardships and difficult decisions. Following Jesus requires crucifying our flesh (Galatians 2:20; 5:24; Romans 6:2), living by faith (Romans 1:17; 2 Corinthians 5:7; Hebrews 10:38), enduring trials with Christlike patience (James 1:2–3, 12; 1 Peter 1:6), and living a lifestyle separate from the world (James 1:27; Romans 12:1–2). When faced with the choice between a narrow, bumpy road and a wide, paved highway, most of us choose the easier road. Human nature gravitates toward comfort and pleasure. When faced with the reality of denying themselves to follow Jesus, most people turn away (John 6:66). Jesus never sugar-coated the truth, and the truth is that not many people are willing to pay the price to follow Him.

God offers salvation to everyone who accepts it (John 1:12; 3:16-18; Romans 10:9; 1 John 2:2). But it is on His terms. We must come the way He has provided. We cannot create our own paths or come to a holy God based on our own efforts. Compared to His righteousness, we are all filthy (Isaiah 64:6; Romans 3:10). God cannot simply excuse or overlook our sin. He is merciful, but He is also just. Justice requires that sin be paid for. At great cost to Himself, He paid that price (Isaiah 53:5; 1 John 3:1, 16; Psalm 51:7). Without the blood of Jesus covering our sin, we stand guilty before the God we rejected (Romans 1:20).

The way to God was completely closed, and sin was the roadblock (Romans 5:12). No one deserves a second chance. We all deserve to stay on the "wide road that leads to destruction." But God loved us enough to provide the path to eternal life anyway (Romans 5:6–8). However, He also knows that in our self-centered, sin-saturated world there are not many who will desire Him enough to come to Him on His terms (John 6:44, 65; Romans 3:11; Jeremiah 29:13). Satan has paved the highway to hell with fleshly temptations, worldly attractions, and moral compromises. Most people allow their passions and desires to dictate the course of their lives. They choose temporary, earthly pleasure over the self-sacrifice required in following Jesus (Mark 8:34; Luke 9:23; Matthew 10:37). The narrow gate is ignored. Most people would rather create their own religions and design their own gods. So it was with sorrow, not discrimination, that Jesus declared that the road to eternal life is "narrow, and only a few find it."

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Jesus said, “Let the dead bury the dead,” in response to a disciple who wanted to spend time at home before committing himself to the Lord. Jesus said, “‘Follow me.’ But the man replied, ‘Lord, first let me go and bury my father.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God’” (Luke 9:59–60). This man may have wanted to fulfill the oldest son’s duty to bury the father, to be near the father in order to obtain an inheritance, or to remain near the body of his father for up to one year to rebury the bones, a practice of some Jews at the time. In any event, Jesus’ answer makes clear that this request would have involved putting tradition or the disciple’s own desires ahead of serving Jesus.


But who are “the dead” whom Jesus referred to as being the ones to bury their own dead? The word dead is used in this passage in two different senses. It is apparently a paradox and is used very effectively. The Jews used the word dead often to express indifference toward a thing or to express that something has no influence over us. To be dead to the law (Romans 7:4), to be dead to sin (Romans 6:11), means that the law and sin have no influence or control over us. We are free from them and act as though they are not.

So people of the world are dead to Christ. They do not see His beauty, nor do they hear His voice or desire to follow Him. Only His “sheep” will do those things (John 10:27). The people of the world are those whom the Savior describes here as the (spiritually) dead who should bury the (physically) dead. Let people, He says, who are not interested in My work, and who are “dead in sin” (Ephesians 2:1), take care of the dead. Your duty is now to follow Me.

While Scripture, and Jesus, are clear that we are to honor our parents (Ephesians 6:2), we have to understand that Jesus is to come first, and this would have been especially so in this instance, that is, with a direct command from the Lord. Peter, Andrew, James, John, and Matthew recognized the Lord and followed Him at once (Matthew 4:18–22; 9:9). The thing to which the man who wanted to bury his father was called was of more importance than any earthly consideration, and, for that time, Christ chose to require of the man a very extraordinary sacrifice to show his sincere attachment to Him.

As regards the people of the world, nothing is more important than responding to the gospel. This requires that the gospel be preached (Romans 10:14), so once we make the decision to follow Jesus and preach His good news, we must deny dead, worldly pursuits and comforts, and do the Lord’s work. Jesus wants followers, not professors, and those who are spiritually alive will be instruments in the Lord’s hands to call others to new life in Christ.


In motorcycle operation classes, instructors teach students to avoid obstacles in the road by focusing on the direction they want to go and not on the barrier. Wherever one’s eyes are trained, his body and vehicle will follow. The natural tendency is to look at the obstacle. But if a driver points his face toward the hindrance, he is more likely to hit it. To avoid obstructions, he must set his face to the open path. The Bible references this practice in a figurative sense. Luke 9:51 says, “When the days drew near for him to be taken up, [Jesus] set his face to go to Jerusalem” (ESV).

The words for “set his face” in the original language mean “to resolve or fixate one’s face.” This figure of speech refers to positioning or orienting one’s face firmly in a specified direction. With unyielding determination to complete the final, excruciating leg of His mission, Jesus set His face on the open, unobstructed path—“the joy that was set before” in heaven at God’s right hand—and He “endured the cross” (Hebrews 12:2, ESV). Luke’s resolute picture of Jesus Christ locked on target, finishing His mission, echoes Isaiah’s description of Israel’s suffering Messiah: “Because the Sovereign Lord helps me, I will not be disgraced. Therefore have I set my face like flint, and I know I will not be put to shame” (Isaiah 50:7).

Flint is a very hard stone referenced throughout the Bible to symbolize strength, determination, and hardness. In Isaiah 5:28, flint is used in a simile to describe the toughness of horses’ hoofs. The word flint is also used figuratively to express the hardness of an impossible task (Deuteronomy 8:15; Psalm 114:80) and the inflexibility of uncompromising determination (Ezekiel 3:8–9).

Luke 9:51 marks a pivotal point in Luke’s Gospel. From here forward, the road to Calvary comes into sharp focus (see Luke 13:22; 17:11; 18:31; 19:11, 28). Some have dubbed this long segment “Luke’s travel narrative” (Luke 9:51—19:27). Jesus Christ would endure His most challenging days of humiliation, disgrace, and betrayal on His journey to the cross to die for our sins. His road to heaven would pass through barriers of Gethsemane, Golgotha, the grave, and the guarded tomb. The Lord would face arrest, torture, and agonizing death. Isaiah predicts His suffering: “I offered my back to those who beat me, my cheeks to those who pulled out my beard; I did not hide my face from mocking and spitting” (Isaiah 50:6; cf. Matthew 26:67; 27:26; Mark 15:19; Luke 22:63). Rather than turn away or back out, Jesus set His face toward Jerusalem. No enemy or obstacle would deter Him from accomplishing His purpose. He had set His face like flint.

Jesus set His face to go to Jerusalem to fulfill God’s purpose for His life. Obedience to His Father’s will was central to Christ’s life and mission (Matthew 26:39; John 4:34; 6:38; 14:31; Hebrews 10:9). He came to suffer and die, offering His life as a sacrifice for sin so that all who believe in Him might be saved and granted eternal life (Isaiah 53:3–10; Matthew 1:21; Luke 19:10; John 3:16–17; 1 Timothy 1:15; 2 Timothy 1:10). If Jesus had not set His face to go to Jerusalem in selfless obedience to God’s plan of salvation, He would never have accomplished the redemption of humanity (Romans 5:18–19; John 17:2–4).

Christians are called to continue Christ’s mission on earth today (Matthew 28:19–20; John 14:12; 20:21). The apostle Paul teaches us to avoid stumbling blocks on our route by keeping our eyes on the “eternal prize” (1 Corinthians 9:24–27, NLT). Paul oriented his face toward the finish line in heaven: “Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:12–14).

As Christ set His face to go to Jerusalem, believers must overcome the obstacles of sin by fixing their gaze on Jesus, who is seated beside God in heaven: “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne” (Hebrews 12:1–2, NLT).



Death is separation. A physical death is the separation of the soul from the body. Spiritual death, which is of greater significance, is the separation of the soul from God. In Genesis 2:17, God tells Adam that in the day he eats of the forbidden fruit he will “surely die.” Adam does fall, but his physical death does not occur immediately; God must have had another type of death in mind—spiritual death. This separation from God is exactly what we see in Genesis 3:8. When Adam and Eve heard the voice of the Lord, they “hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God.” The fellowship had been broken. They were spiritually dead.

A man without Christ is spiritually dead. Paul describes it as “being alienated from the life of God” in Ephesians 4:18. (To be separated from life is the same as being dead.) The natural man, like Adam hiding in the garden, is isolated from God. When we are born again, the spiritual death is reversed. Before salvation, we are dead (spiritually), but Jesus gives us life. “And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins,” (Ephesians 2:1 NKJV). “When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins” (Colossians 2:13).

To illustrate, think of Jesus’ raising of Lazarus in John 11. The physically dead Lazarus could do nothing for himself. He was unresponsive to all stimuli, oblivious to all life around him, beyond all help or hope—except for the help of Christ who is “the Resurrection and the Life” (John 11:25). At Christ’s call, Lazarus was filled with life, and he responded accordingly. In the same way, we were spiritually dead, unable to save ourselves, powerless to perceive the life of God—until Jesus called us to Himself. He “quickened” us; “not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy” (Titus 3:5).

The book of Revelation speaks of a “second death,” which is a final (and eternal) separation from God. Only those who have never experienced new life in Christ will partake of the second death (Revelation 2:11; 20:6, 14; 21:8).



To be spiritually dead is to be separated from God. When Adam sinned in Genesis 3:6, he ushered in death for all humanity. God’s command to Adam and Eve was that they could not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. It came with the warning that disobedience would result in death: “And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, ‘You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.’” The phrase “you shall surely die” could be literally translated “dying you shall die.” This signifies a continuous state of death that began with spiritual death, continues throughout life as a gradual degradation of the body, and culminates in physical death. The immediate spiritual death resulted in Adam’s separation from God. His act of hiding from God (Genesis 3:8) demonstrates this separation, as does his attempt to shift blame for the sin to the woman (Genesis 3:12).

Unfortunately, this spiritual – and eventual physical – death was not confined to Adam and Eve. As the representative of the human race, Adam carried all of humanity into his sin. Paul makes this clear in Romans 5:12, telling us that sin and death entered the world and spread to all men through Adam’s sin. Additionally, Romans 6:23 says that the wages of sin is death; sinners must die, because sin separates us from God. Any separation from the Source of Life is, naturally, death for us.

But it is not just inherited sin that causes spiritual death; our own sinfulness contributes. Ephesians 2 teaches that, before salvation, we are “dead” in trespasses and sins (verse 1). This must speak of spiritual death, because we were still “alive” physically before salvation. While we were in that spiritually “dead” condition, God saved us (verse 5; see also Romans 5:8). Colossians 2:13 reiterates this truth: “And you, who were dead in your trespasses . . . God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses.”

Since we are dead in sin, we are completely unable to trust God or His Word. Jesus repeatedly claims that we are powerless without Him (John 15:5) and that we cannot come to Him without God’s enabling (John 6:44). Paul teaches in Romans 8 that our natural minds cannot submit to God, nor please Him (verses 7-8). In our fallen state, we are incapable of even understanding the things of God (1 Corinthians 2:14).

The act of God whereby He makes us alive from spiritual death is called regeneration. Regeneration is accomplished only by the Holy Spirit, through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. When we are regenerated, we are made alive together with Christ (Ephesians 2:5) and renewed by the Holy Spirit (Titus 3:5). It is like being born a second time, as Jesus taught Nicodemus in John 3:3, 7. Having been made alive by God, we will never truly die – we have eternal life. Jesus said often that to believe in Him is to have eternal life (John 3:16, 36; 17:3).

Sin leads to death. The only way to escape that death is to come to Jesus through faith, drawn by the Holy Spirit. Faith in Christ leads to spiritual life, and ultimately to eternal life.


Matthew 5—7 records one of Jesus’ many discourses—this one known as the Sermon on the Mount. Matthew 6 falls in the middle of this discourse as Jesus is addressing His disciples on the nature of the kingdom of heaven. In the middle of this chapter, Jesus provides a model for prayer in which He addresses “our Father which art in heaven” (Matthew 6:9, KJV).

Does this model provide a strict rule for whom to address in believers’ prayers? Comparing Jesus’ model prayer with other Scripture passages, this doesn't seem to be the case. Paul addresses Jesus (the Son) in prayer (2 Corinthians 12:8–9; 2 Thessalonians 2:16–17). Stephen addresses Jesus in his martyr’s prayer (Acts 7:59). John addresses Jesus in his conclusion of the book of Revelation (Revelation 22:20). Many other passages also point to the fact that prayer to the Son is appropriate. Even Jesus teaches it is proper to address Him in prayer (John 14:13–14). Jesus and the Holy Spirit mediate between the believer and the Father, so it stands to reason that prayer to Jesus and the Spirit are also acceptable (1 John 2:1–2; Romans 8:26).

Jesus teaches the aptness of addressing “our Father which art in heaven.” In those first two words, our Father, we have what some consider to be the essence of Christianity: that God would graciously forgive our sin, adopt us into His family, and restore His own image in us, thus allowing us to truly be His children (see John 1:12). “It is of the essence of Christian prayer that God should be addressed as a Father to whose love we appeal, not as a God whose anger we appease” (A. Carr, The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges: Matthew, Cambridge University Press, 1893).

Before His model prayer in Matthew 6, Jesus alludes to the Pharisees (a sect of Jewish religious leaders) who pray openly among others for the sake of their recognition and reputation (Matthew 6:1, 5). The Pharisees were guilty of being hypocrites (Matthew 6:5). The etymology of the term hypocrite points to an actor or role-player. In the case of the Pharisees, they were guilty of teaching with their words something different from their actions. They were placing the burden of the law and tradition on others while not following it themselves—part of this involved their prayer life. They prayed for the recognition of men, when they should have been praying to the Father for His recognition and interaction (Matthew 6:6).

The focus of this section of Scripture is the righteous humility of the person praying. After condemning the Pharisees for their pride and selfishness, Jesus provides a model for prayer beginning in Matthew 6:9. The Christian should not be concerned with man’s recognition regarding his prayers but focus on God’s recognition. This is the reason the model Jesus gives begins with God the Father as the one to be addressed. Jesus is not, however, giving a hard-and-fast rule that the Father is the only one to be addressed. Other passages teach that Jesus and the Holy Spirit are equally God (John 8:58; Matthew 3:16–17; Ephesians 1:3–14) and show examples of believers praying to God the Son.

The location of God in Jesus’ model prayer, namely “in heaven,” is undoubtedly an interesting study. The phrase our Father suggests that God is near to us; the next words, which art in heaven, suggest that He is far away. Both concepts are true simultaneously. Psalm 139:7–12 says that God is not only in heaven but everywhere. David claims there was no place he could go where God wasn’t because God is everywhere. The theological term for this quality of God is omnipresence.

Not only does Jesus provide us with a model for proper prayer, but He also provides the mediation (1 John 2:1–2) so that we, as people who have been forgiven, can “approach God’s throne of grace with confidence” (Hebrews 4:16). Let us not neglect this incredible gift and daily approach God in prayer, petition, and thanksgiving.

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Galatians 5:25 is part of a broader set of instructions that address Christian living. The verse states, “Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.” Some translations express this as “follow the Spirit’s leading” (NLT).

The concept of “keeping in step” brings to mind a formal dance, where the man often initiates, and the woman follows. Both dancers excel when they move in synchrony, meaning that the woman keeps in step with the man. Considering that the church is Christ’s bride, this analogy seems fitting to illustrate what it means to keep in step with the Spirit.

The Spirit initiates the “dance” by convicting sinners of their need for salvation through the gospel witness (John 16:8–11, 13; Acts 2:37). He also regenerates our spirit in an act that Jesus calls being “born again” (John 3:5–6; Titus 3:5; 1 Peter 1:13). We respond to the Spirit’s conviction by having faith in the Person and sacrificial work of Christ (John 3:16; Romans 3:22–24; Galatians 2:16). The “dance” is set in motion as we begin to live by the Spirit.

Although Paul’s instruction may sound abstract, it has practical implications for our daily lives. How do we keep in step with the Spirit?

1. Follow the Spirit’s desires. In Galatians 5:17, Paul explains that “the sinful nature wants to do evil, which is just the opposite of what the Spirit wants. And the Spirit gives us desires that are the opposite of what the sinful nature desires. These two forces are constantly fighting each other, so you are not free to carry out your good intentions” (NLT).

As Christians, we experience a battle between competing desires. Paul himself acknowledges the struggle he had in his personal life in Romans 7:19–25.

One way to keep in step with the Spirit is to yield to the godly desires that manifest in us. Philippians 2:13 asserts that “God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him” (NLT). This is a comforting truth, because it means we’re not left to rely solely on our own strength. When we feel the desire to do something godly, we should obey it. We should also be sensitive to the conviction of the Spirit when we sin.

2. Dwell in the Scriptures. To return to the dance analogy, imagine if the woman doesn’t know the dance steps. She would be unable to keep in step. Similarly, how can we keep in step with the Spirit when we are unfamiliar with God’s principles? It would be impossible. Only through Scripture can we understand the godly “steps” to take.

The Spirit does not introduce any new teachings but rather reminds us of what is already contained in the Bible (John 14:26; 1 Corinthians 2:10–12). Scripture also renews our minds, transforming the way we think (Romans 12:2; Ephesians 4:23–24). Furthermore, immersing ourselves in Scripture reduces the influence of sin over us. We need to engage with the Word of God on a daily basis.

3. Examine the fruit. Paul contrasts the outcomes of yielding to our sinful nature with the fruit that results from obeying the Spirit:

The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law (Galatians 5:19–23).


The fruit of the Spirit are godly characteristics that are produced in our lives as we follow the Spirit and yield to His desires. Simply put, the Spirit influences us to want to obey God’s principles in specific situations, and the more we choose to obey, the more these godly traits manifest in our lives.

4. Prioritize love. In Galatians 5:13, Paul emphasizes that, although we are free from the requirements of the law, this freedom should not be used to satisfy our sinful nature. Instead, we are called to “serve one another humbly in love.” There is a connection between keeping in step with the Spirit and serving others in love.

Biblical love entails the decision to treat others in a way that pleases God. We search the Scriptures to learn how He wants us to relate to both fellow Christians and unbelievers, and then we obey. Love also influences how we view people, including those who are difficult. Love is the greatest gift of all, and we are to prioritize it (1 Corinthians 13:13; 14:1).

5. Depend on God. We must never make the mistake of thinking that we can follow the Spirit’s lead on our own. It requires a conscious choice on our part to surrender to Him, but the power does not come from us. We need to acknowledge our daily need for God and maintain fellowship with Him.

A mindset of dependence on God begins with the cross, which reveals our inability to reconcile with God by our own obedience to the law. The cross also demonstrates God’s justice and mercy as He took upon Himself the penalty for our sin in the Person of Jesus. Our hope lies in this truth, and everything we do as Christians must stem from relying on God’s grace.


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First Peter 5:8 states, “Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour” (ESV). This verse appears in the final chapter of the book and is followed by Peter’s appeal to his readers to resist the devil and stand firm. As we focus on obeying God, we must also understand why the devil is our adversary and how to handle his attacks.

One reason that Satan, whose very name means “adversary” or “one who opposes,” is described as our adversary is that he is God’s enemy. While the Bible does not provide a comprehensive account of the events that transpired between God and the devil in eternity past, Isaiah 14:12–14 and Ezekiel 28:12–18 give some clues. These passages suggest that the angel we now call the devil rebelled against God, and other angels joined the rebellion, leading to their exile from God’s presence. Having no power against the All-Powerful, the devil turns his attention to humanity, God’s cherished creation.

This raises uncomfortable questions. We may wonder why God permitted the rebellion or why He created Satan in the first place. Since there are no explicit biblical answers to these questions, we find ourselves like toddlers attempting to understand quantum physics. What we do know is that God created everything with a purpose, including the angel that became the devil (Revelation 4:11).

It is important to remember that God originally made Satan as a holy angel before the latter rebelled. Furthermore, just because God possesses foreknowledge of an event does not mean that He causes that event to happen. At most, we can only inquire why He created anything at all. Similar to reading a suspense novel, understanding the ways of God may only come at the end when God restores all things (Revelation 21:1–6).

Until the grand denouement, we live with unanswered questions in the middle of the ultimate suspense story. There is more to be said about our adversary. The term devil originates from the Greek word diabolos, which means “slanderer” or “accuser.” This notion is conveyed in Revelation 12:10, which portrays the devil seeking to accuse us as guilty before the Ultimate Judge, like he did to Job (Job 1:6–12; 2:1–6) and Joshua the high priest (Zechariah 3:1).

The devil is also known as the “father of lies” (John 8:44) and is responsible for leading the world astray (Revelation 12:9). He deceived Eve into rebelling against God (Genesis 3:1–7), and he continues to feed the world lies. The devil even attempted to deceive Jesus (Matthew 4:1–11).

The widespread persecution of Christians, both in the past and present, can also be attributed to our adversary, the devil. First Peter 5:9 mentions suffering, and the entire letter was written to encourage persecuted believers. The devil uses persecution as a means to discourage Christians. The assault is emphasized in Revelation 2:7, where the church of Smyrna is warned that “the devil is about to throw some of you into prison to test you.” Also, Revelation 12:17 predicts that the dragon will wage war against “those who keep God’s commands and hold fast their testimony about Jesus.”

The devil is our adversary because he opposes all that God is and does. Humans are created in God’s image (Genesis 1:27), humans represent the pinnacle of God’s creation, and humans are the object of God’s love (John 3:16). Further, Satan opposes even more vehemently all those who are bound to Christ. Our battle is not against politicians, new atheists, or anyone else who combats Christianity; it is fundamentally a spiritual conflict (Ephesians 6:11–12). Like vigilant soldiers, we must remain alert and armed with spiritual weapons.

Our armor against our adversary the devil comprises God’s truth, His gift of righteousness, salvation, the peace of the gospel, the unshakable Word of God, and our faith in Christ (Ephesians 6:14–17).

As we take a good look at the Parable of the Ten Virgins (Matthew 25:1–13), we must acknowledge up front that there has been much debate as to the meaning of these words of our Savior. At least one aspect of this parable can be known with absolute certainty. The bridegroom is Jesus Christ, and this parable describes His return. In the Old Testament (Isaiah 54:4–6; 62:4-5; Hosea 2:19), God pictures Himself as the “husband” of Israel, and in the New Testament (John 3:27–30; Matthew 9:15; Mark 2:19–20), Christ is pictured as the bridegroom of the Church. The Church is described in Scripture as the bride of Christ (Ephesians 5:25–32).


The historical setting can also be known with a fair amount of certainty. In describing a first-century Jewish wedding, D.A. Carson in the Expositor’s Bible Commentary describes the setting this way: “Normally the bridegroom with some close friends left his home to go to the bride’s home, where there were various ceremonies, followed by a procession through the streets – after nightfall – to his home. The ten virgins may be bridesmaids who have been assisting the bride; and they expect to meet the groom as he comes from the bride’s house…Everyone in the procession was expected to carry his or her own torch. Those without a torch would be assumed to be party crashers or even brigands. The festivities, which might last several days, would formally get under way at the groom’s house.” The torch was either a lamp with a small oil tank and wick or a stick with a rag soaked in oil on the end of it which would require occasional re-soaking to maintain the flame.

Of interpretive significance is which return of Christ is this? Is it His return for the rapture of the Church, or is it His return to set up the Millennial Kingdom at the end of the Tribulation? Dispensational scholars divide over this issue, and no attempt will be made to answer that question here. Regardless of which return it is, the lessons to be learned are relevant to both.

The overall and easily seen thrust of the parable is that Christ will return at an unknown hour and that His people must be ready. Being ready means preparing for whatever contingency arises in our lives and keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus at all times while we eagerly await His coming. As seen in the fact that all the virgins were sleeping when the call came indicates that it doesn’t matter what we are doing when Christ returns. We may be working, eating, sleeping, or pursuing leisure activities. Whatever it is, we must be doing it in such a way that we don’t have to “make things right” (get more oil) when He comes. This would apply to either the coming of Christ for His Church or for the Tribulation saints as they await His second coming.

Being ready for Christ’s return ultimately involves one major thing which manifests itself in several areas of our lives. If we would be ready for Christ’s return, we must be born again through saving faith in Jesus Christ…His death, burial and literal resurrection from the dead (John 3:16; 14:6; Romans 10:9 and 10; 1 Corinthians 15:1-4; Ephesians 2:1-10). Saving faith in Jesus Christ will manifest itself in every aspect of our lives. The fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22) will begin to show. A desire for greater holiness and less sin will be apparent. And a consistent looking for His coming will mark our lives. One of the best passages articulating what saving grace and faith look like in a believer’s life is Titus 2:11-14, “For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. It teaches us to say ‘No’ to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope — the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good."

The five virgins who have the extra oil represent the truly born again who are looking with eagerness to the coming of Christ. They have saving faith and have determined that, whatever occurs, be it lengthy time or adverse circumstances, when Jesus returns, they will be looking with eagerness. The five virgins without the oil represent false believers who enjoy the benefits of the Christian community without true love for Christ. They are more concerned about the party than about longing to see the bridegroom. Their hope is that their association with true believers (“give us some of your oil” of verse 8) will bring them into the kingdom at the end. This, of course, is never the case. One person’s faith in Jesus cannot save another. The “Lord, lord” and “I do not know you” of verses 11 and 12 fit very well with Jesus’ condemnation of the false believers of Matthew 7:21-23, “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.’”

May we not be found “going away to make the purchase” (v. 10) when Christ returns. Take the time now to fill your lamp with oil and take extra along. Keep waiting and watching with joy and anticipation.


Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from what is dishonorable, he will be a vessel for honorable use, set apart as holy, useful to the master of the house, ready for every good work.

1 Thessalonians 5:23
Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

John 17:17
Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.

Galatians 2:20
I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

2 Thessalonians 2:13
But we ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers beloved by the Lord, because God chose you as the firstfruits to be saved, through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth.

2 Corinthians 5:17
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.

1 Thessalonians 4:3
For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality;

1 Corinthians 6:11
And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

Romans 6:6
We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin.

Hebrews 10:14
For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.

Hebrews 13:12
So Jesus also suffered outside the gate in order to sanctify the people through his own blood.

Philippians 1:6
And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.

1 Corinthians 1:2
To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints together with all those who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours:

2 Peter 1:2-4
May grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire.

1 Peter 1:2
According to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in the sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with his blood: May grace and peace be multiplied to you.

1 Thessalonians 4:3-5
For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality; that each one of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honor, not in the passion of lust like the Gentiles who do not know God;

1 John 1:9
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

John 17:19
And for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth.

Philippians 2:13
For it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.

Acts 26:18
To open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.


The Parable of the Vineyard appears in three of the gospels (Matthew 21:33-46; Mark 12:1-12; Luke 20:9-19), with Matthew’s account being the most complete. However, there are additions in the others; hence, it is wise to study all three accounts so as to achieve the greatest understanding. To get the context of what is happening, we need to look at Matthew 21:18. Early in the morning, Jesus goes to the temple courts to teach (21:23). While He is teaching, the chief priest and elders confront Him, wanting to know by what authority He is teaching. Not allowing them to control the conversation, Jesus answers the question by first asking a question (21:24-26). They do not like His question nor His response to their answer; essentially, He has told them that they can’t save face from their obvious attempt to cajole Him and, therefore, He is not obligated to answer their question (21:27). What Jesus told them is that John the Baptist and He received their authority from the same source. This exchange causes the leaders to become angry and puts them in opposition to Jesus. Jesus then further frustrates the priests by telling two parables: the first one is the Parable of the Two Sons, and the second is the Parable of the Vineyard, sometimes called the Parable of the Wicked Tenants.

The first parable Jesus teaches tells the priests that they have claimed to accept the message from God but they have failed to live up to it by being obedient. Outwardly, they are pious and appear to be people of God, but God knows the heart, and there they have failed miserably. The next parable (the Parable of the Vineyard) is like pouring salt on a wound. Just in case they didn’t fully understand (which they did), Jesus gives a much clearer picture of what He means. Obviously, this further infuriates the priests, but it also gives the others who were present an opportunity to hear Jesus fully explain the implications of the disobedience of the Jewish people throughout the ages.

Background: There are 6 main characters in this parable: 1) the landowner—God, 2) the vineyard—Israel, 3) the tenants/farmers—the Jewish religious leadership, 4) the landowner’s servants—the prophets who remained obedient and preached God’s word to the people of Israel, 5) the son—Jesus, and 6) the other tenants—the Gentiles. The imagery used is similar to Isaiah’s parable of the vineyard (it would be prudent to study this also) found in Isaiah chapter 5. The watchtower and the wall mentioned in verse 33 are means of protecting the vineyard and the ripened grapes. The winepress is obviously for stamping out the juice of the grapes to make the wine. The farmer was apparently away at the time of harvest and had rented the vineyard to the tenants. This was customary of the times, and he could expect as much as half of the grapes as payment by the tenants for use of his land.

Explanation: Verses 34-36 tell us the landowner sent his servants to collect his portion of the harvest and how they were cruelly rejected by the tenants; some were beaten, stoned, and even killed. Then he sent even more the second time and they received the same treatment. The servants sent represent the prophets that God had sent to His people/Israel and then were rejected and killed by the very people who were claiming to be of God and obedient to Him. Jeremiah was beaten (Jeremiah 26:7-11; 38:1-28), John the Baptist was killed (Matthew 14:1-12), and others were stoned (2 Chronicles 24:21). In this parable Jesus is not only reminding the religious establishment what they were like, but He was putting in their minds a question: how could they claim obedience as God’s people and still reject His messengers? We don’t know how many servants the owner sent, but that is not what is important; the theme is God’s repeated appeal through His prophets to an unrepentant people. In the next verses (37-39), the situation becomes even more critical. The landowner sends his own son, believing that they will surely respect him. But the tenants see an opportunity here; they believe that if they kill the son they will then receive his inheritance. The law at the time provided that if there were no heirs then the property would pass to those in possession (possession is nine tenths of the law). This amounts to conspiracy to commit murder by the Jewish leadership, and it is prophetic in the sense that Jesus is now telling them what they are going to do to Him (see Psalm 118:22; Isaiah 28:16). After Jesus’ death, Peter would make the same charges against the religious establishment (Acts 4:8-12). The tenants probably thought that the fight for the property was over, but it wasn’t; the owner would now appear on the scene.

Jesus now (vs.40-41) asks the question, what will the owner do to the evil tenants? What He is doing is forcing the religious leaders/priests to declare their own miserable fate: condemnation for their blatant disobedience. This is similar to the question that Nathan put to David (2 Samuel 12:1-7). Up to this point, Jesus has been dealing with the immediate situation of Israel and its past disobedience; now Jesus leaves open the question of what Israel’s leadership is going to do with the Messiah, the Son of God, whom He refers to as the “chief cornerstone” (vs 42). Cornerstones and capstones are used symbolically in Scripture and picture Christ as the main piece of the foundation of the church and the head of the church, respectively. Jesus is the beginning of and is foundational to the church, and He now stands over the church in His rightful position of honor, guiding the church to fulfill its divine destiny. This verse makes clear prophetically how Jesus will be rejected by the religious establishment and ultimately be crucified (see Psalm 118:22-23).

The key to understanding this parable and what it says about the religious leaders is found in verse 43, where Jesus makes their lack of obedience personal. Jesus tells the leaders that because of their disobedience they will be left out of the kingdom of heaven (individually and as a people); that they have let their opportunity for the time being slip away to be given to the Gentiles (see verse 41, “other tenants”). This will be more than they can tolerate, as we will see in verses 45 and 46. He is saying that there will be a new people of God made up of all peoples who will temporarily replace the Jews so that Jesus can establish His church. This will change the way God deals with man, from the old dispensation of the law to a new dispensation of God’s grace. It will usher in a period of time where man will no longer understand forgiveness of sins as man’s work through what he does or doesn’t do or by the sacrifices of animals on the altar, but by the work of Christ on the cross. It will be a time where each individual can have a personal and saving relationship with the One and only God of the universe. The exciting part of the verse is the phrase “who will produce fruit”; this gives authority to the church to share the gospel of Christ to the lost of the world. Up to this time, the Jews felt that they had automatic membership in God’s kingdom because of their relationship to Abraham; this is why they put so much emphasis on genealogies. But the new people of God would truly have what God wanted for Israel all along: a personal and holy relationship that would be honored through the spreading of God’s word to all peoples (see Exodus 19:5-6).

Jesus continues the stone metaphor in verse 44 to show how a stone can be used to build something beautiful, such as His church, or it can be used to crush and destroy, depending on the situation. This could be likened to God’s word: to some it is salvation, peace and comfort. To others it is foolish and disconcerting because of its ability to convict man of his sins (2 Timothy 3:16).

Verses 45 and 46 give us three insights into the psyche of the chief priest of the religious establishment. 1) They are jealous and envious of Jesus’ popularity with the common people. This encroaches on their authority and power to govern. 2) They have come to the realization that Jesus is talking about them. This hurts their pride and embarrasses them in front of the people. 3) They understood the analogy of the son and that Jesus was referring to Himself. This would be blasphemous to them, and they would now seek to kill Jesus. From here the leaders would meet in secrecy to plot how they would get rid of Jesus. Why all the secrecy? The people thought of Jesus as a prophet from God; arresting Him could cause an uprising. An uprising would jeopardize the leaders’ relationship with the Roman authorities, something that the Jews did not want at any cost.

Application: We apply this parable to our lives by asking two questions; first, have you come to know Christ as your Lord and Savior, or have you rejected Him like the Jewish leadership did? The process is simple, as long as you are sincere in seeking a relationship with Christ. You need to recognize your sins, and then accept Christ as the only One who can save you from the penalty of your sins. Second, if you are a believer, what have you done with Jesus? Are you like the bad tenants, rejecting His Word and living a life of disobedience? If you are, you need to study God’s Word and pray for guidance, seeking His will for your life and living out that will as best as you can, moment by moment, day by day.


The Parable of the Wheat and the Weeds, or Tares, is filled with spiritual significance and truth. But, in spite of the clear explanation of the parable that Jesus gave (Matthew 13:36-43), this parable is very often misinterpreted. Many commentaries and sermons have attempted to use this story as an illustration of the condition of the church, noting that there are both true believers (the wheat) and false professors (the weeds) in both the church at large and individual local churches. While this may be true, Jesus distinctly explains that the field is not the church; it is the world (v. 38).

Even if He hadn’t specifically told us the world is the setting of the story, it would still be obvious. The landowner tells the servants not to pull up the weeds in the field, but to leave them until the end of the age. If the field were the church, this command would directly contradict Jesus’ teaching in Matthew 18, which tells us how to deal with unrepentant sinners in the church: they are to be put out of the fellowship and treated as unbelievers. Jesus never instructed us to let impenitent sinners remain in our midst until the end of the age. So, Jesus is teaching here about “the kingdom of heaven” (v. 24) in the world.

In the agricultural society of Christ’s time, many farmers depended on the quality of their crops. An enemy sowing weeds would have sabotaged a business. The tares in the parable were likely darnel because that weed, until mature, appears as wheat. Without modern weed killers, what would a wise farmer do in such a dilemma? Instead of tearing out the wheat with the tares, the landowner in this parable wisely waited until the harvest. After harvesting the whole field, the tares could be separated and burned. The wheat would be saved in the barn.

In the explanation of parable, Christ declares that He Himself is the sower. He spreads His redeemed seed, true believers, in the field of the world. Through His grace, these Christians bear the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-24). Their presence on earth is the reason the “kingdom of heaven” is like the field of the world. When Jesus said, “The kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matthew 3:2; 4:17), He meant the spiritual realm which exists on earth side by side with the realm of the evil one (1 John 5:19). When the kingdom of heaven comes to its fruition, heaven will be a reality and there will be no “weeds” among the “wheat.” But for now, both good and bad seeds mature in the world.

The enemy in the parable is Satan. In opposition to Jesus Christ, the devil tries to destroy Christ’s work by placing false believers and teachers in the world who lead many astray. One has only to look at the latest televangelist scandal to know the world is filled with professing “Christians” whose ungodly actions bring reproach on the name of Christ. But we are not to pursue such people in an effort to destroy them. For one thing, we don’t know if immature and innocent believers might be injured by our efforts. Further, one has only to look at the Spanish Inquisition, the Crusades, and the reign of “Bloody Mary” in England to see the results of men taking upon themselves the responsibility of separating true believers from false, a task reserved for God alone. Instead of requiring these false believers to be rooted out of the world, and possibly hurting immature believers in the process, Christ allows them to remain until His return. At that time, angels will separate the true from false believers.

In addition, we are not to take it upon ourselves to uproot unbelievers because the difference between true and false believers isn’t always obvious. Tares, especially in the early stages of growth, resemble wheat. Likewise, a false believer may resemble a true believer. In Matthew 7:22, Jesus warned that many profess faith but do not know Him. Thus, each person should examine his own relationship with Christ (2 Corinthians 13:5). First John is an excellent test of salvation.

Jesus Christ will one day establish true righteousness. After He raptures the true church out of this world, God will pour out His righteous wrath on the world. During that tribulation, He will draw others to saving faith in Jesus Christ. At the end of the tribulation, all unbelievers will be judged for their sin and unbelief; then, they will be removed from God’s presence. True followers of Christ will reign with Him. What a glorious hope for the “wheat”!

The Parable of the Rich Fool can be found in Luke 12:13–21. The key to understanding this parable is in verse 15 (and later summarized in verse 21). Luke 12:15 says, “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” Jesus says this to the man who asked Him to arbitrate between him and his brother. In ancient times, the firstborn was guaranteed a double portion of the family inheritance. More than likely, the brother who was addressing Jesus was not the firstborn and was asking for an equal share of the inheritance. Jesus refuses to arbitrate their dispute and gets to the heart of the matter: Covetousness! Jesus warns this person, and all within earshot, that our lives are not to be about gathering wealth. Life is so much more than the “abundance of possessions.”

Jesus proceeds to tell the man the Parable of the Rich Fool. This person was materially blessed by God; his land “produced plentifully” (verse 16). As God continued to bless the man, instead of using his increase to further the will of God, all he was interested in was managing his increase and accumulating his growing wealth. So the man builds larger barns in place of the existing ones and starts planning an early retirement. Unbeknownst to him, this was his last night on planet earth. Jesus then closes the story by saying, “So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.”

So the point of the Parable of the Rich Fool is twofold. First, we are not to devote our lives to the gathering and accumulation of wealth. There is an interesting point made in the parable. God says to the man in the story, “And the things you have prepared, whose will they be?” This echoes the thought expressed in Ecclesiastes 2:18 (“I hated all my toil in which I toil under the sun, seeing that I must leave it to the man who will come after me”). You see it all the time in people who are singularly devoted to the accumulation of wealth. What happens to all that wealth when they die? It gets left behind to others who didn’t earn it and won’t appreciate it. Furthermore, if money is your master, that means God is not (Matthew 6:24).

The second point of the Parable of the Rich Fool is the fact that we are not blessed by God to hoard our wealth to ourselves. We are blessed to be a blessing in the lives of others, and we are blessed to build the kingdom of God. The Bible says if our riches increase, we are not to set our hearts upon them (Psalm 62:10). The Bible also says there is one who gives freely and grows all the richer (Proverbs 11:24). Finally, the Bible says we are to honor God with the first fruits of our increase (Proverbs 3:9–10). The point is clear; if we honor God with what He has given us, He will bless with more so that we can honor Him with more. There is a passage in 2 Corinthians that summarizes this aptly (2 Corinthians 9:6–15). In that passage Paul says, “And God is able to provide you with every blessing in abundance, so that having all contentment in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work.” We are blessed by God, so we can in turn “abound in every good work” and be a blessing in the lives of others. So, if God has blessed you with material wealth “set not your heart on it” and “be rich toward God.” That is the message of the Parable of the Rich Fool.


The Parable of the Sower (also known as the Parable of the Four Soils) is found in Matthew 13:3-9; Mark 4:2-9; and Luke 8:4-8. After presenting this parable to the multitude, Jesus interprets it for His disciples in Matthew 13:18-23; Mark 4:13-20; and Luke 8:11-15.


The Parable of the Sower concerns a sower who scatters seed, which falls on four different types of ground. The hard ground “by the way side” prevents the seed from sprouting at all, and the seed becomes nothing more than bird food. The stony ground provides enough soil for the seeds to germinate and begin to grow, but because there is “no deepness of earth,” the plants do not take root and are soon withered in the sun. The thorny ground allows the seed to grow, but the competing thorns choke the life out of the beneficial plants. The good ground receives the seed and produces much fruit.

Jesus’ explanation of the Parable of the Sower highlights four different responses to the gospel. The seed is “the word of the kingdom.” The hard ground represents someone who is hardened by sin; he hears but does not understand the Word, and Satan plucks the message away, keeping the heart dull and preventing the Word from making an impression. The stony ground pictures a man who professes delight with the Word; however, his heart is not changed, and when trouble arises, his so-called faith quickly disappears. The thorny ground depicts one who seems to receive the Word, but whose heart is full of riches, pleasures, and lusts; the things of this world take his time and attention away from the Word, and he ends up having no time for it. The good ground portrays the one who hears, understands, and receives the Word—and then allows the Word to accomplish its result in his life. The man represented by the “good ground” is the only one of the four who is truly saved, because salvation’s proof is fruit (Matthew 3:7-8; 7:15-20).

To summarize the point of the Parable of the Sower: “A man’s reception of God’s Word is determined by the condition of his heart.” A secondary lesson would be “Salvation is more than a superficial, albeit joyful, hearing of the gospel. Someone who is truly saved will go on to prove it.” May our faith and our lives exemplify the "good soil" in the Parable of the Sower.


The Parable of the Good Samaritan is precipitated by and in answer to a question posed to Jesus by a lawyer. In this case the lawyer would have been an expert in the Mosaic Law and not a court lawyer of today. The lawyer’s question was, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?" (Luke 10:25). This question provided Jesus with an opportunity to define what His disciples’ relationship should be to their neighbors. The text says that the scribe (lawyer) had put the question to Jesus as a test, but the text does not indicate that there was hostility in the question. He could have simply been seeking information. The wording of the question does, however, give us some insight into where the scribe’s heart was spiritually. He was making the assumption that man must do something to obtain eternal life. Although this could have been an opportunity for Jesus to discuss salvation issues, He chose a different course and focuses on our relationships and what it means to love.

Jesus answers the question using what is called the Socratic method; i.e., answering a question with a question: “He said to him, ‘What is written in the law? What is your reading of it?’" (Luke 10:26). By referring to the Law, Jesus is directing the man to an authority they both would accept as truth, the Old Testament. In essence, He is asking the scribe, what does Scripture say about this and how does he interpret it? Jesus thus avoids an argument and puts Himself in the position of evaluating the scribe’s answer instead of the scribe evaluating His answer. This directs the discussion towards Jesus’ intended lesson. The scribe answers Jesus’ question by quoting Deuteronomy 6:5 and Leviticus 19:18. This is virtually the same answer that Jesus had given to the same question in Matthew 22 and Mark 12.

In verse 28, Jesus affirms that the lawyer’s answer is correct. Jesus’ reply tells the scribe that he has given an orthodox (scripturally proper) answer, but then goes on in verse 28 to tell him that this kind of love requires more than an emotional feeling; it would also include orthodox practice; he would need to “practice what he preached.” The scribe was an educated man and realized that he could not possibly keep that law, nor would he have necessarily wanted to. There would always be people in his life that he could not love. Thus, he tries to limit the law’s command by limiting its parameters and asked the question “who is my neighbor?” The word “neighbor” in the Greek means “someone who is near,” and in the Hebrew it means “someone that you have an association with.” This interprets the word in a limited sense, referring to a fellow Jew and would have excluded Samaritans, Romans, and other foreigners. Jesus then gives the parable of the Good Samaritan to correct the false understanding that the scribe had of who his neighbor is, and what his duty is to his neighbor.

The Parable of the Good Samaritan tells the story of a man traveling from Jerusalem to Jericho, and while on the way he is robbed of everything he had, including his clothing, and is beaten to within an inch of his life. That road was treacherously winding and was a favorite hideout of robbers and thieves. The next character Jesus introduces into His story is a priest. He spends no time describing the priest and only tells of how he showed no love or compassion for the man by failing to help him and passing on the other side of the road so as not to get involved. If there was anyone who would have known God’s law of love, it would have been the priest. By nature of his position, he was to be a person of compassion, desiring to help others. Unfortunately, “love” was not a word for him that required action on the behalf of someone else. The next person to pass by in the Parable of the Good Samaritan is a Levite, and he does exactly what the priest did: he passes by without showing any compassion. Again, he would have known the law, but he also failed to show the injured man compassion.

The next person to come by is the Samaritan, the one least likely to have shown compassion for the man. Samaritans were considered a low class of people by the Jews since they had intermarried with non-Jews and did not keep all the law. Therefore, Jews would have nothing to do with them. We do not know if the injured man was a Jew or Gentile, but it made no difference to the Samaritan; he did not consider the man’s race or religion. The “Good Samaritan” saw only a person in dire need of assistance, and assist him he did, above and beyond the minimum required. He dresses the man’s wounds with wine (to disinfect) and oil (to sooth the pain). He puts the man on his animal and takes him to an inn for a time of healing and pays the innkeeper with his own money. He then goes beyond common decency and tells the innkeeper to take good care of the man, and he would pay for any extra expenses on his return trip. The Samaritan saw his neighbor as anyone who was in need.

Because the good man was a Samaritan, Jesus is drawing a strong contrast between those who knew the law and those who actually followed the law in their lifestyle and conduct. Jesus now asks the lawyer if he can apply the lesson to his own life with the question “So which of these three do you think was neighbor to him who fell among the thieves?" (Luke 10:36). Once again, the lawyer’s answer is telling of his personal hardness of heart. He cannot bring himself to say the word “Samaritan”; he refers to the “good man” as “he who showed mercy.” His hate for the Samaritans (his neighbors) was so strong that he couldn’t even refer to them in a proper way. Jesus then tells the lawyer to “go and do likewise,” meaning that he should start living what the law tells him to do.

By ending the encounter in this manner, Jesus is telling us to follow the Samaritan’s example in our own conduct; i.e., we are to show compassion and love for those we encounter in our everyday activities. We are to love others (vs. 27) regardless of their race or religion; the criterion is need. If they need and we have the supply, then we are to give generously and freely, without expectation of return. This is an impossible obligation for the lawyer, and for us. We cannot always keep the law because of our human condition; our heart and desires are mostly of self and selfishness. When left to our own, we do the wrong thing, failing to meet the law. We can hope that the lawyer saw this and came to the realization that there was nothing he could do to justify himself, that he needed a personal savior to atone for his lack of ability to save himself from his sins. Thus, the lessons of the Parable of the Good Samaritan are three-fold: (1) we are to set aside our prejudice and show love and compassion for others. (2) Our neighbor is anyone we encounter; we are all creatures of the creator and we are to love all of mankind as Jesus has taught. (3) Keeping the law in its entirety with the intent to save ourselves is an impossible task; we need a savior, and this is Jesus.

There is another possible way to interpret the Parable of the Good Samaritan, and that is as a metaphor. In this interpretation the injured man is all men in their fallen condition of sin. The robbers are Satan attacking man with the intent of destroying their relationship with God. The lawyer is mankind without the true understanding of God and His Word. The priest is religion in an apostate condition. The Levite is legalism that instills prejudice into the hearts of believers. The Samaritan is Jesus who provides the way to spiritual health. Although this interpretation teaches good lessons, and the parallels between Jesus and the Samaritan are striking, this understanding draws attention to Jesus that does not appear to be intended in the text. Therefore, we must conclude that the teaching of the Parable of the Good Samaritan is simply a lesson on what it means to love one’s neighbor.

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Jesus had just finished explaining to the disciples the meaning of the Parable of the Wheat and the Tares, and these two short parables are a continuance of His discussion of the “kingdom of heaven.” He expressed truths about the kingdom in three pairs of parables in Matthew 13: the seed and the sower (vv. 3-23) and the weeds in the field (vv. 24-30); the mustard seed (vv. 31-32) and the leaven (v. 33); and the hidden treasure (v. 44) and the pearl of great price (vv. 45-46).

The similarities of these two short parables make it clear they teach the same lesson—the kingdom of heaven is of inestimable value. Both parables involve a man who sold all he had to possess the kingdom. The treasure and the pearl represent Jesus Christ and the salvation He offers. And while we cannot pay for salvation by selling all our worldly goods, once we have found the prize, we are willing to give up everything to possess it. But what is attained in exchange is so much more valuable that it is comparable to trading an ounce of trash for a ton of diamonds (Philippians 3:7-9).

In both parables, the treasures are hidden, indicating that spiritual truth is missed by many and cannot be found by intelligence or power or worldly wisdom. Matthew 13:11-17 and 1 Corinthians 2:7-8, 14 make it clear that the mysteries of the kingdom are hidden from some who are unable to hear, see, and comprehend these truths. The disobedient reap the natural consequences of their unbelief—spiritual blindness. Those whose eyes are opened by the Spirit do discern spiritual truth, and they, like the men in the parable, understand its great value.

Notice that the merchant stopped seeking pearls when he found the pearl of great price. Eternal life, the incorruptible inheritance, and the love of God through Christ constitute the pearl which, once found, makes further searching unnecessary. Christ fulfills our greatest needs, satisfies our longings, makes us whole and clean before God, calms and quiets our hearts, and gives us hope for the future. The “great price,” of course, is that which was paid by Christ for our redemption. He emptied Himself of His glory, came to earth in the form of a lowly man and shed His precious blood on the cross to pay the penalty for our sins.

In 2 Corinthians 4:17, the apostle Paul presents a beautiful and emphatic contrast between present afflictions and future glory: “For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison” (ESV). Before analyzing the meaning of “eternal weight of glory,” it is essential to understand the broader context of the epistle.

In 2 Corinthians, Paul addresses the challenges faced by the Corinthians and defends his apostolic ministry against accusations and opposition. In 2 Corinthians 4, Paul emphasizes the grace and mercy of God, which sustained Paul and his fellow-laborers during times of toil, weariness, scorn, danger, and constant exposure to death (see 2 Corinthians 4:7–10; cf. 2 Corinthians 11:23–27). Their suffering was not in vain: “So death is at work in us, but life in you” (2 Corinthians 4:12).

Despite these hardships, which continued for the duration of his life, Paul characterizes his trials and tribulations as “light” and “momentary.” The word light denotes something that is easy to bear or of little weight (cf. Matthew 11:30 and 2 Corinthians 1:17). Paul’s use of this term conveys the relative insignificance of present afflictions when juxtaposed with the eternal weight of glory.

Furthermore, the term momentary emphasizes the brevity and fleeting nature of present afflictions (cf. James 4:14). Paul contrasts the temporary nature of suffering with the eternal nature of the glory that awaits believers (see Romans 8:29–30). Even if we were to suffer for the rest of our lives, our afflictions are still momentary because this life will come to an end (2 Corinthians 4:16). And when it does, we will be glorified with Christ (Romans 8:17).

Next, Paul juxtaposes the light and momentary affliction with an “eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison.” The word weight signifies the substantiality, significance, and overwhelming nature of the future glory that believers will experience (cf. 1 Corinthians 2:9, 13:12; 1 John 3:2). Hence, it conveys a sense of immeasurable value and magnitude.

This “eternal weight of glory” stands in stark contrast to the fleeting and transitory nature of present afflictions. The word eternal signifies the everlasting and unending nature of the glory that believers will inherit. It also highlights the incomparable duration and permanence of our future glory.

In Romans 8:18, Paul expresses a similar idea, declaring that the “sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us” (ESV). This passage reinforces the idea that present afflictions, though seemingly significant, pale in comparison to the future glory that believers will partake in.

In