Having left Kansas City last Sunday, the 24th, I travelled to Cambridge, England to study abroad at Homerton College, Cambridge University, for the entire academic year. I made journal/blog entries as I travelled, but, because I won't have internet in my room until Monday, I haven't been able to post the entries and won't have a chance to post them until then. And so, this post is a sort of make-shift post until I get internet access in my room.
There are six direct Messianic prophecies in the Pentateuch:
I will discuss two of these, the Edenic and the Noahic, at length soon, but first I will provide the text of each of the six prophecies.
14 The Lord God said to the serpent,
"Because you have done this,
cursed are you above all livestock
and above all beasts of the field;
on your belly you shall go,
and dust you shall eat
all the days of your life.
15 I will put enmity between you and the woman,
and between your offspring and her offspring;
he shall bruise your head,
and you shall bruise his heel." (ESV)
25 he [Noah] said,
"Cursed be Canaan;
a servant of servants shall he be to his brothers."
26 He also said,
"Blessed be the Lord, the God of Shem;
and let Canaan be his servant.
27 May God enlarge Japheth,
and let him [i.e., God] dwell in the tents of Shem,
and let Canaan be his servant."
1 Now the Lord said to Abram, "Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. 2 And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed." 7 Then the Lord appeared to Abram and said, "To your offspring I will give this land." So he built there an altar to the Lord, who had appeared to him.(12:1–3, 7)
17 The Lord said, "Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do, 18 seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him? 19 For I have chosen him, that he may command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing righteousness and justice, so that the Lord may bring to Abraham what he has promised him." (18:17–19)
15 And the angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time from heaven 16 and said, "By myself I have sworn, declares the Lord, because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, 17 I will surely bless you, and I will surely multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore. And your offspring shall possess the gate of his enemies, 18 and in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice." (22:15–18)
8 "Judah, your brothers shall praise you; your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies; your father’s sons shall bow down before you. 9 Judah is a lion’s cub; from the prey, my son, you have gone up. He stooped down; he crouched as a lion and as a lioness; who dares rouse him? 10 The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until tribute comes to him; and to him shall be the obedience of the peoples. 11 Binding his foal to the vine and his donkey’s colt to the choice vine, he has washed his garments in wine and his vesture in the blood of grapes. 12 His eyes are darker than wine, and his teeth whiter than milk."
15 And he took up his discourse and said, "The oracle of Balaam the son of Beor, the oracle of the man whose eye is opened, 16 the oracle of him who hears the words of God, and knows the knowledge of the Most High, who sees the vision of the Almighty, falling down with his eyes uncovered: 17 I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not near: a star shall come out of Jacob, and a scepter shall rise out of Israel; it shall crush the forehead of Moab and break down all the sons of Sheth. 18 Edom shall be dispossessed; Seir also, his enemies, shall be dispossessed. Israel is doing valiantly. 19 And one from Jacob shall exercise dominion and destroy the survivors of cities!"
15 “The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers—it is to him you shall listen…18 I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers. And I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him.
I evangelized at Westport again on Friday night, from 8:30 to about 1:00 p.m. It was for me the most amazing night of Evangelism all summer. For, I paired with a man named Chris, a current student at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, who was the most effective evangelist I've ever witnessed. He leading, we conversed with more people than I had ever talked to on any single night. Actually, we probably talked to more people than I had all summer. Chris used "ticket to heaven" tracts. He began conversations thus: "Could you help me out? I'm doing a project/survey and I'd like to ask you a question: What do you think happens to you when you die?"
Again this week I had no tracts to bring. Although I ordered tracts last week from Good News Tracts, they had not yet arrived; and so, Jim was again nice enough to give me a few of the tracts that he had bought for himself. Surprisingly, I ended up with some good tracts to use for the night. Also, I saw several tracts published by and learned about the tract company Living Waters. (Most of the tracts that Living Waters publishes are gimmicky. One involves a "magic" trick, for example.)
We talked to so many people that I remember almost none of their names. In the future I shall take a small notebook with me and write down the name of and information about whoever I talk to.
Two of the more notable conversations were the ones with the two Muslims. In both cases, something happened that speaks much to the nature of Islam: they nearly began crying in response to the gospel. Now, first, let us remember that, as Luther said, all religions may be divided into two kinds: religions of law and religions of gospel. Religions of law decree moral laws and promise rewards for those who obey the laws. Religions of gospel (there is only one) also decree moral laws and promise rewards for those who obey the laws, but also, knowing that the human condition (viz., depravity) makes the necessary obedience impossible for humans, provide a way for humans to "get" the perfect righteousness necessary to exist in the presence of a just, righteous, holy, perfect God. Christianity—the only religion to provide such a "way"—is therefore the only religion of gospel.
Because of the human condition, and resulting inability of humans to perfectly keep the law, religions of law never work. For, the perfect law can only cause despair for imperfect man. It humbles him and brings him to their knees. The law is a mirror by which we see and are constantly reminded of God's perfect righteousness and moral perfection, and how we fall infinitely short of attaining that perfection.
Not only was I able to evangelize Friday, but today, also, while getting a haircut, another evangelism opportunity fell right into my lap. For, conversing with the young woman cutting my hair, I told her that I was to sing a solo at my church Sunday. Eventually, I asked her whether she attended a church. No, she said. Her mother used to make her go to church. However, the church she had attended had been an extremely charismatic church, one in which there was wild/extreme speaking in tongues, running around, dancing, and other charismatic idiosyncracies. Plus, they were abrasive and disrespectful in the way they presented their beliefs. These were major turn-offs for her, and, as soon as she was able, she stopped attending church. And so, I presented the gospel to her.
Two hilariously witty articles: the Stormtrooper Effect and Redshirt characters.
Think you know the Bible well? Take one of these Bible Content Tests. I took the 2000 test and scored a 75%. Almost all of the questions I missed concerned the OT. (No surprise: few Christians know much about the OT.)
If you take a test, post your score as a comment to this post. That would be interesting and fun, wouldn't it?
I enjoy watching Star Trek. Not the original series (which is too cheesy for me), but The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine. However, being a Christian and striving to have a biblical worldview, it is (sometimes painfully) obvious that the worldview presented on Star Trek is most definitely not a biblical one. Rather, The Star Trek worldview is founded on secular, humanistic, man-exalting philosophies, including materialism, empiricism, and relativism. Star Trek is, in fact, a paragon of such ideals. Two questions:
"Q" (MARSHAL)
(lifts book)
Shall I quote from Hamlet?
PICARD
No. I know Hamlet. And what
he said with irony I prefer to
say with conviction.
(quoting)
"What a piece of work is man!
How noble in reason! How infinite
in faculty. In form, in moving,
how express and admirable. In
action, how like an angel. In
apprehension, how like a god... "
"Q" (MARSHAL)
(upset; interrupting)
You don't really see your species
like that?!
PICARD
I see us one day becoming that,
"Q". Is that what concerns you?
"Q" comes angrily to his feet, SLAMMING the volume down
and DISAPPEARING in a FLASH. A startled and puzzled
Picard watches him go, then turns to ponder the meaning
of "Q"'s anger.
Ironically, the philosophy of Star Trek, in exalting man, actually degrades him. For example, in the episode "The Measure of a Man," Captain Picard formally defends Lt. Cmdr. Data, an android, against charges that Data, being a machine, is the property of Starfleet and therefore may be subjected to being disassembled and experimented on by Starfleet. One of Picard's arguments is that, like Data, humans, too, are machines:
PICARD
(making his opening
statement)
Commander Riker has dramatically
demonstrated to this court that
Lieutenant Commander Data is a
machine. Do we deny that? No.
But how is this relevant? We too
are machines, just machines of
a different type. Commander Riker
has continually reminded us that
Data was built by a human. We
do not deny that fact. But again
how is it relevant? Does
construction imply ownership?
Children are created from the
building blocks of their parents'
DNA. Are they property? We have
a chance in this hearing to
severely limit the boundaries
of freedom. And I think we
better be pretty damn careful
before we take so arrogant a step.What a sad and pathetic view of man modern secular science has propogated to the world! Regarding humans as basically bags of chemicals, it makes man merely another species in the animal kingdom. What a travesty!
What a joy, and how edifying, it is to study the book of Romans! For, as John Calvin said, "It can never be sufficiently appreciated that when anyone gains a knowledge of this Epistle, he has an entrance opened to him to all the most hidden treasures of Scripture." Studying Romans, which is the most theologically systematic of Paul's surviving letters, has provided me with a framework by which to understand all of Scripture and through which to live my life. It has shaped my worldview and given me a better understanding of God and of reality.
The Koran, for instance, is a miscellany of disjointed pieces, out of which it is impossible to extract any order, progress, or arrangement. The 114 Suras or chapters of which it is composed are arranged chiefly according to length--the longer in general preceding the shorter. It is not otherwise with the Zoroastrian and Buddhist Scriptures. These are equally destitute of beginning, middle or end. They are, for the most part, collections of heterogeneous materials, loosely placed together. How different everyone must acknowledge it to be with the Bible! From Genesis to Revelation we feel that this book is in a real sense a unity. It is not a collection of fragments, but has, as we say, an organic character. It has one connected story to tell from beginning to end; we see something growing before our eyes: there is plan, purpose, progress; the end folds back on the beginning, and, when the whole is finished, we feel that here again, as in primal creation, God has finished all his works, and behold, they are very good. (26)Over the next few days, I intend to examine and reflect on some of the individual messianic prophecies. Today, however, I will only discuss prophecy in general terms.
And let them make me a sanctuary, that I may dwell in their midst. Exactly as I show you concerning the pattern of the tabernacle, and of all its furniture, so you shall make it. . . . And see that you make them after the pattern for them, which is being shown you on the mountain.The tabernacle is a "pattern." What is a pattern? Something that represents an original--a copy of the real. "Thus," Kaiser explains, "God suggests that the copy will be replaced as soon as the actual shows up in space and time" (34).
In our discussion two weeks ago, Rev. Syms and I discussed personal spiritual disciplines--both Rev. Syms' spiritual disciplines and spiritual disciplines in general.
We also discussed how it is possible for a somewhat impressionable young theologian, such as me, to put one or two certain theologians on a pedestal and then elevate them so high that he might sometimes accept some or all of what they say simply on their authority, rather than judging them by the Bible. This is something to which I may be prone if I'm not careful. If I were to fall into this danger, it would be John Piper and J. I. Packer whom I would elevate. For, I have been listening extensively and almost exclusively to John Piper's sermons on Romans, and also reading J. I. Packer's books (or books he endorses; most recently, Evangelism & the Sovereignty of God). I recently read a comment to a hilarious blog post that said jokingly,
I’ve often wondered how J.I. Packer has the time to read all the books that he endorces or writes the foreword to. And how much does he get paid for each one? Even if it is $10 each, he is a millionaire!This is funny, because I own at least six books that are either authored or endorsed by Packer. And, I do get excited and want to buy a book when I see his name on it. I need to take care to ensure that, within those theologians whom I have judged faithful to Scripture and edifying, I read a greater number and a greater variety of theologians. As Rev. Syms reminded me, "J. I. Packer puts his pants on one leg at a time, just like you and me."
I’m thankful. How would we know which books are Reformed/Biblical without him?
I also showed Rev. Syms some of the tracts that I had been handing out when evangelizing. And, when he expressed concern about the message or theology of some of them, I was embarrassed; I realized that I had never bothered to read through any of the tracts that I had been using in evangelism. He pointed out--and after I read through them I agreed--that two of the tracts in particular were questionable. The first was the "Four Spiritual Laws" tract by Bill Bright. Bright is a free-will-ist to the core, and this prompted the concern. And, most of my tracts were "Four Spiritual Laws" tracts (I get all my tracts from my fellow evangelists). The second questionable tract was the million-dollar bill tract. I have never liked these tracts (and have seldom used them). One side of this tract is designed like an imaginary $1 million bill. The other side has a bare-bones gospel message written around the border. It says:
"The million dollar question: Will you go to Heaven? Here's a quick test. Have you ever told a lie, stolen anything, or used God's name in vain? Jesus said, "Whoever looks upon a woman to lust after her has committed adultery already with her in his heart." Have you looked with lust? Will you be guilty on Judgment Day? If you have done those things God sees you as a lying, thieving, blasphemous, adulterer at heart. The Bible warns that if you are guilty you will end up in Hell. That's not God's will. He sent His Son to suffer and die on the cross for you. Jesus took your punishment upon Himself -- 'For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.' Then He rose from the dead and defeated death. Please, repent (turn from sin) today and trust in Jesus, and God will grant you everlasting life. Then read your Bible daily and obey it."What really makes me uneasy is how I've seen other people use these tracts. At least one of my fellow evangelists in particular uses them in a way that is ineffective and even seems to result in deception and trickery. He'll leave the "bills" lying around in various (public) places, such as in the coin slots of newspaper vending machines, on the large tree pots that line the streets, and even in the middle of a street crosswalk, so that, appearing to be real money, it will be picked up by someone. When I've watched people pick such-placed "bills" up, it has always looked like trickery to me. This, I believe, only hurts the spread of the gospel. From now on, I will be more careful about the tracts I use, and I myself will acquire tracts.
Huh: it appears that the secret service has confiscated a large number of these misguided tracts. Wow.
An amazing Friday evening it was. I evangelized with several others (especially the beautiful Amy Shoemyer, my girlfriend), and God was glorified. Amy and I engaged in two lengthy discussions. Each discussion was with a middle-aged, black homeless man, and each discussion involved us buying a slice of pizza for the homeless man. Our first lengthy conversation was with a man named Jeremy. Claiming to be homeless, Jeremy asked for money. Of course, I don't give out money, and so I proposed that I buy him a slice of pizza from Joe's Pizza. He accepted, and so, having gone there and bought the pizza, Amy and I sat with him while he ate and presented the gospel. In the end, Jeremy said he wasn't ready to give up living for himself and throw himself before Jesus, although he had listened and was impressively amiable. I prayed with Jeremy before we parted ways.
The second lengthy conversation was with a man named Lou. Actually, I'd met and talked to Lou previously, several months before. Like Jeremy, Lou also agreed to let me buy him pizza. Having done this and brought it to him, I presented the gospel to him while he ate. He had heard the gospel many times before in similar situations. In the end, Lou said that, although he had already accepted Jesus, he had not been living the way he ought. He said that he had been experiencing much hardship recently. Before Lou and we departed, I prayed with him, for him.
As I'm typing this post, I'm very tired. And so, I'm going to bed now, but I may elaborate on this bare-bones post tomorrow or Monday. Good night.
