This word in the Greek means . . .

We are blessed to have the Word of God in our own language. We are also blessed to have many tools to aid us in our study of the Word of God, such as lexicons and concordances. And computers! I don’t even own a concordance or a lexicon anymore. I have BibleWorks for Windows, which comes with multiple translations and tools. It is so much faster than using a book – I just did a search for “and” in the entire Bible and got the results in 3 seconds: 51,714 occurrences! This is what I wanted a computer for!!

But I have noticed a dangerous tendency in the use of these otherwise wonderful tools: Laziness. That’s harsh and maybe I should say sloppiness. Or carelessness.

You see, Greek and Hebrew words do not have one and only one meaning each. They often have multiple meanings, shades of meaning, as well as being used in a variety of related ways. People often look up a word in order to get a better idea of the meaning of a passage. They notice that it has several meanings, arbitrarily (so it seems) pick one and then make a pronouncement, “The Greek word in this verse means…” And an inspection reveals that is does not!

This concerns me. I have seen such people give out erroneous information, all the while claiming, “This Greek word means.”

Well then, should only “professionals” or “scholars” use these tools? Absolutely not. Too often the “scholars” are not men of faith, so all their learning does them very little good. So, what is the answer?

Diligence.

If you are going to look up a word and determine it’s meaning in a particular verse, then by all means avail yourself of the many tools at your disposal.

If it has several meanings, shades of meaning, or usages, try to locate the verse under consideration – Where does your lexicon place it?

If it has several meanings or usages, then look them all up. Nothing beats seeing how a word is actually used. I mean, look up every occurrence. This is time consuming work.

Be careful. Often people using these tools come up with a “new interpretation” of a passage. If you are the first one to understand a verse a certain way, there may be a good reason for that!

And remember, if you don’t know the original language (Greek/Hebrew), just knowing a word will not give you a sudden depth of understanding hitherto unknown by the Church!

I’ve not even mentioned the Septuagint. It is very helpful, when studying a Hebrew word, to see how they translated it into Greek. And when studying a Greek word of the NT, to see how it was used in the OT. So, and therefore, as well as in conclusion: Use the tools we are blessed with. Be diligent. Be careful. Be thorough. And respect the ancient wisdom of those who were much closer to the Apostles than we are – the Fathers.

I thought these were the two best

I just finished Hymns of the Eastern Church, translated by John Mason Neale. I have mentioned J.M. Neale before (translator of Latin and Greek hymns/carols). In this little book he gives us some of what he considers the best of the hymns of the Eastern Orthodox Church. I was impressed by two images encountered in these hymns:


Now the Virgin-womb...Containeth Him, the Uncontainable : What a powerful image!

(God) The uncreated Light     Is this not an awesome picture?

The following two poems/hymns were my favorites.

Adam’s Complaint
"The Lord my Maker, forming me of clay,
By His own Breath, the breath of life convey’d
O’er all the bright new world He gave me sway,
A little lower than the Angels made.
But Satan, using for his guile
The crafty serpent’s cruel wile,
Deceiv’d me by the Tree;
And severed me from God and grace,
And wrought me death, and all my race,
As long as time shall be.
O Lover of the sons of men!
Forgive, and call me back again!

"In that same hour I lost the glorious stole
Of innocence, that God's own Hands had made;
And now, the tempter poisoning all my soul,
sit, in fig leaves and in skins arrayed:
I sit condemned, distressed, forsaken;
Must till the ground whence I was taken
By labor's daily sweat.
But Thou, That shalt hereafter come,
The Offspring of a Virgin’s womb,
Have pity on me yet!
O turn on me those gracious eyes,
And call me back to Paradise!

"O glorious Paradise! O lovely clime!
O God-built mansion! Joy of every Saint!
Happy remembrance to all coming time!
Whisper, with all thy leaves, in cadence faint,
One prayer to Him Who made them all,
One prayer for Adam in his fall!—
That He, Who formed thy gates of yore,
Would bid those gates unfold once more
That I had closed by sin:
And let me taste that holy Tree
That giveth immortality
To them that dwell therein:
Or have I fallen so far from grace
That mercy hath for me no place?"

Adam sat right against the Eastern gate,
By many a storm of sad remembrance tossed
O me! so ruined by the serpent's hate!
O me! so glorious once, and now so lost!
So mad that bitter lot to choose!
Beguil'd of all I had to lose!
Must I then, gladness of my eyes,—
Must I then leave thee, Paradise,
And as an exile go?
And must I never cease to grieve
How once my God, at cool of eve,
Came down to walk below?
O Merciful! on Thee I call:
O Pitiful! forgive my fall!"

<>< <>< <><

Art thou weary, art thou languid, 

Art thou sore distrest ? 

'Come to Me' — saith One — and coming, 

'Be at rest!' 

Hath He marks to lead me to Him, 

If He be my Guide ? 

In His Feet and Hands are Wound-prints, 

And His Side.

Is there Diadem, as Monarch, 

That His Brow adorns ? 

Yea, a Crown, in very surety, 

'But of Thorns ! ' 

If I find Him, if I follow, 

What His reward here ? 

Many a sorrow, many a labor, 

Many a tear.

If I still hold closely to Him , 

What hath He at last ? 

Sorrow vanquish'd, labor ended, 

Jordan past ! 

If I ask Him to receive me. 

Will He say me nay ? 

Not till earth, and not till heaven 

Pass away !

Finding, following, keeping, struggling, 

Is He sure to bless ? 

Angels, Martyrs, Prophets, Virgins, 

Answer, ‘Yes ! ' 

Isn’t this fun?

Last night at work I had a sense of impending evil. A funny feeling that someone was interested in robbery. Most nights are fine, but every once in a while I have a strong feeling of robbery. Anyway, it was a pretty strong sense, so I was very careful to leave my drawer with as little money as possible. Nothing happened. In fact, after a couple of hours that “sense” completely went away.

This has happened before. A couple of years ago, a police officer, who is a Christian, came by and asked if everything was OK. I said yes. Then he told me that he had a feeling that he needed to pay special attention to the store that night. How did I respond? Roll my eyes and dismiss it and him? Nope. I thanked him and Him. Nothing happened then either.

What’s this all about? Am I just weird? OK, that’s a different post altogether!! I have no definitive answer, but I do have a thought on this. I think that at such times there are indeed evil intentions fomenting, and the Lord graciously makes me (and occasionally, even officers of the law) aware of them. My response of preparedness seems enough to quench that smoldering flame.

I also have this senses from time to time concerning checking IDs. I always try to be careful and especially so on Saturday nights or holidays. But every once in a while, I have a strong sense of danger – SLED likes to trick and trap clerks – and become especially diligent. One night I had that feeling and a customer, whose ID I checked, told me SLED was indeed out that night. Another night, same feeling and diligence, and one of our other stores called me and told me SLED was out. (Y’know, it has been a long time since I was green carded by SLED - green card means you passed the test; red card means you’re fired.)

All that being said, I think every clerk probably has that moment of fear when you sell tobacco or beer to someone that you didn’t ID and you watch them walk out the door – Do they go around the building to a hidden car? Do they nod to some unseen person? Does that next customer look especially authoritative (and gleeful)?

Isn’t this fun?

Reminiscing

Last night (Christmas Eve), Mary and I went to Longhorn Steakhouse for our “Christmas Feast” and we fell to reminiscing about past Christmases.

When we first met and married, Mary’s folks lived in Jackson, TN and we used to go home all the time. All of her family was still home then, except for her older brother, Ronnie, who was off at college (Jackson, MS). And he would come home for Christmas. After we had been married a few years, her parents began moving again. They lived in Arkadelphia, AR, Jackson, MS, Natchitoches, LA, and Hamilton, AL. Meanwhile, Ronnie, Mark and Debbie also married and we all began having children. But every year at Christmas, we all trekked to where they were living for our family get-together. And none of these places was close to where we lived!

Hamilton was where they retired to and built their dream house. It wasn’t quite the “bunk house” her Dad had talked about building for his growing family, it was much nicer, but it was a place intended to be large enough to accommodate most of us and our kids. And let me tell you, Hamilton was in the middle of nowhere! A very small town in a sparsely populated corner of Alabama. And a very hard drive! Yet, that was where we all gathered for Christmas. There were so many of us by then that we had to rent a couple of hotel rooms.

One year, when they were living in Arkadelphia, we were living in Pensacola, FL. We woke up Christmas morning. It was extremely cold and there was a dusting of snow on the ground – in Pensacola! Yet we loaded the car and headed off into a blizzard because it was time for the family Christmas gathering. We left early in the morning and didn’t arrive until late that night. The roads were covered with ice and the town was practically locked in. Yet the entire family made it.

One year, I want to say it was when they were in Jackson, MS, it was so cold that their pipes froze (the Pearl River froze as well). They had no water and yet the family was a-comin’! I remember jumping in the truck with her Dad and going up to “the place” (he was Food Service Director for Belhaven College and that is how he referred to the cafeteria) to get and bring back water to the house!

Eventually, we began to gather at each other’s houses, but the Christmas gathering tradition continued. Slowly this tradition died out. We thoroughly enjoyed the gathering, the food, the fun, the chaos. For some reason that was not something we were able to pass on to our own children.

We also talked about one of our activities at our gathering. In the beginning, it was just  Mark, her younger brother, and me. He and I would go out to the back yard and play “punt return.” We would line up at each end of the yard, opposite each other, and one of us would punt the ball to the other one. The receiver would try to return it for a touchdown, while the punter tried to tackle him. Or we would play basketball at the goal in the backyard. I remember one afternoon running full tilt in an attempt to catch a pass from Mark when I was suddenly laid out in the yard. I had run into that pole!!

When Ronnie came home we would play “goal line stand.” One on offense and two on defense. Four plays to make it into the end zone. Tackle. In those days, Mark was all elbows and knees too. When Dave joined the family we would play two-on-two tackle football. Slowly, as time crept up on us, we began to grudgingly play touch football. But that was only because it was taking too long for us to get up from each play. Ha!

The year of the blizzard in central Arkansas is also the year of the famous “Ice Bowl.” I’m telling you, there was so much snow and ice that the town was shut down. One night we were out at midnight sliding down the frozen streets! Well, we wanted to play some football, so we layered up, put on our big coats and our gloves and Ronnie, Mark, Dave and I headed off for the field. Yes, we had to walk a ways to get to the field. Mary and I laughed as we recalled her Mother’s parting words as we were going out the door, “If you get hurt, don’t come back here crying!!” We all laughed thinking, We won’t – get hurt or come back crying. And we didn’t. And we had a blast!

What wonderful memories. We gathered for Christmas, Thanksgiving, and we even took vacations together. I will admit, some of the gatherings turned into small disasters, but overall they were good times. A good tradition. I’m sad that it came to an end and sadder that we were not able to continue it in our family. But I am grateful for the times that we do get together and enjoy each other and our own growing families.

Ah, another post with no point. Just assorted and random Christmas memories on this Christmas morn.

Where did they go?

I’ve been thinking about people who used to be but who are no more.

Like the Mayans. This came up when I made a post about the supposed “Mayan apocalypse” of 2012. One person said they had been "exterminated" (ouch!) and another commented, “It seams to the most of us that they just got up and walked away.”

Which one is it? Are they no more or did they just move?

And there are other ancient people who used to be but are no more: Incas, Aztecs, Persians, Babylonians, Ammonites, Philistines, Moabites, Sumerians, Akkadians, Hyksos, Celts of Britain and Indian tribes of North America. And many, many more.

Where did they go?

Some of these people are truly no more. 

Many Indian tribes along the Atlantic coast completely disappeared shortly after European contact. George Catlin spent a lot of time among the Plains Indians and seems especially fond of the Mandans. Their population is reported as 3,600 in the early 18th century. In 1836, there were over 1,600 full-blood Mandans, but this number was estimated to have dropped to 125 by 1838 because of a small pox epidemic. The last full-blood Mandan died in 1971. They are no more. The Edisto Indians have a similar story. They were and they are no more. Oh, there are a few who claim to be related to these tribes, but they are mixed and mingled with other tribes. They are no more.

And it is the same with many others. Incas, Aztecs, Ammonites, Philistines, Moabites, Sumerians, Akkadians, Hyksos. Gone. I realize that there is also a matter of civilization, but these people seem gone. But this does lead to the next possibility

Some of these people were once great civilizations, but were diminished and basically absorbed by another people.

Take the Celts. They were conquered by the Romans and became part of the Empire. Then the Romans left. Long story short, then came the Angles and Saxons. They took over the joint and the Celts were no more. Or rather, they were totally subjugated, and those who did not flee to Wales or Brittany were wiped out. Not every single individual perhaps, but as a people. Those who were not exterminated were absorbed into the Anglo-Saxon civilization, culture, and language.

Or Persia. The civilization collapsed and is gone. But many of the people in Iran are called Persians. There also seem to be people called Persians in Tajikistan, Afghanistan and Uzbekistan. They have been absorbed.

Some of these ancient people were once great civilizations. When their civilization ended they continued, but were absorbed by other civilizations. This rise and fall is explained by Acts 17:26, And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place. They are no more as a civilization, a world power, but as a people they can still be found.

Well, back to the Mayans. Clearly their civilization collapsed. And relatively quickly. Did they simply move? That answers nothing because logically the next question is, Where to? And if no one knows, isn’t that essentially the same thing as saying exterminated? But what about the nearly 7 million people in Central America who consider themselves Mayan? It seems that whatever constituted Mayan back then still exists today.

I have no real point to this post, or argument to advance. I’ve just been thinking about people who used to be but who are no more. Some of these were ethnic groups that were truly “exterminated" or blotted out from under heaven. There are unique people groups who used to be, used to walk on the earth, and who are no more. And as I think about it, I find that kind of sad. Others were not so much a single ethnic group, but a collective term that embraced many distinct populations, societies, and ethnic groups, who together formed Mayan or Persian or Inca etc. And this I find interesting. They rose to power and prominence for a season. Then, for some earthly reason, this dissolved and they are no more. The parts are there, but as a whole, they are no more. I believe that reveals the hand of God.

As I said, I’m not trying to prove anything, just writing down what I’ve been thinking about.

Happened again

It happened again this morning. The pastor told us to turn to 1 John 4:7-11. As soon as he started reading, Mary and I both looked at each other and I began to sing (inside!):

Beloved, let us love one another: 
for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, 
and knoweth God.
He that loveth not (clap clap clap) knoweth not God; for God is love.
Beloved, let us love one another
1 John 4: 7 & 8

When I mentioned this after church, I discovered I wasn’t the only one! It’s neat to be able to sing the Scripture.

A little later he read 4: 19, We love him, because he first loved us. And guess what? Ha! Yep:

O how I love Jesus,
O how I love Jesus,
O how I love Jesus,
Because He first loved me!

On the way home I mentioned this to Mary. We talked about how we learned two other choruses that went with this. And we worked it out and sang them all – much to the delight of Isabelle and Jack. “Sing it again.” That’s right, I was asked for an encore!! The three together are:

O how I love Jesus (3x)
Because He first loved me!

To me, he is so wonderful (and I love him) (3x)
Because he first loved me

Wonderful, wonderful, 
Jesus is to me,
Counsellor, mighty God,
Prince of peace is He.
Saving me, keeping me
from all sin and shame,
Wonderful is my Redeemer.
Praise His Name.

Hope this set you to singing. What? You don’t know these songs? Come hang out with me and I can learn you to sing them. And Mary will make sure we hit all the right notes!

Unto you is born a Savior

For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord

What glorious good news – a Savior! I heard this verse read in church last Sunday and I have been meditating on it since then.  How does He save us? By His:

INCARNATION
By the incarnation the door to heaven is opened.
Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same…For verily he took not on him the nature of angels; but he took on him the seed of Abraham.

LIFE
By His life he revealed the Father, He taught us the ways of God; He lived a life of faith and obedience.
For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.

CROSS
His death on the cross He purchased salvation for us.

RESURRECTION
This man took on death and overcame it. For us!
Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil;  And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.

ASCENSION
Jesus Himself is our hope and our Hope has entered heaven.
Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that within the veil; Whither the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus

EXALTATION
The Son become a man, who lived among us, died for us, rose again, and ascended into heaven. This Jesus now sits at the right hand of the Father, where He makes intercession for us, pleading His blood for us, that where He is we might be also; waiting to return in glory.

RETURN
When He returns Jesus will bring the promised salvation with Him!

Blessed be the Lord God of Israel; 
for he hath visited and redeemed his people

And hath raised up an horn of salvation for us 
in the house of his servant David