The Son of man came with the clouds of heaven

Last week we looked at Daniel 2, where Nebuchadnezzar dreams a dream in which he sees a large image of a man, which is destroyed by a stone falling upon it. The interpretation of this being, as Irenaeus pointed out, “Christ is the stone which is cut out without hands, who shall destroy temporal kingdoms, and introduce an eternal one…”

Today we will look at Daniel 7

1  In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon Daniel had a dream and visions of his head upon his bed: then he wrote the dream, and told the sum of the matters.
2  Daniel spake and said, I saw in my vision by night, and, behold, the four winds of the heaven strove upon the great sea.
3  And four great beasts came up from the sea, diverse one from another.
4  The first was like a lion, and had eagle's wings: I beheld till the wings thereof were plucked, and it was lifted up from the earth, and made stand upon the feet as a man, and a man's heart was given to it.
5  And behold another beast, a second, like to a bear, and it raised up itself on one side, and it had three ribs in the mouth of it between the teeth of it: and they said thus unto it, Arise, devour much flesh.
6  After this I beheld, and lo another, like a leopard, which had upon the back of it four wings of a fowl; the beast had also four heads; and dominion was given to it.
7  After this I saw in the night visions, and behold a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly; and it had great iron teeth: it devoured and brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with the feet of it: and it was diverse from all the beasts that were before it; and it had ten horns.
8  I considered the horns, and, behold, there came up among them another little horn, before whom there were three of the first horns plucked up by the roots: and, behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of man, and a mouth speaking great things.
9  I beheld till the thrones were cast down, and the Ancient of days did sit, whose garment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like the pure wool: his throne was like the fiery flame, and his wheels as burning fire.
10  A fiery stream issued and came forth from before him: thousand thousands ministered unto him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him: the judgment was set, and the books were opened.
11  I beheld then because of the voice of the great words which the horn spake: I beheld even till the beast was slain, and his body destroyed, and given to the burning flame.
12  As concerning the rest of the beasts, they had their dominion taken away: yet their lives were prolonged for a season and time.
13  I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him.
14  And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.

15 I Daniel was grieved in my spirit in the midst of my body, and the visions of my head troubled me. He might as well have said, I’m all shook up! He then went to an angel and asked for the interpretation. The angel said, these great beasts, which are four, are four kings, which shall arise out of the earth. (v 16-17)

This is nearly a repeat of chapter 2. But in chapter 2 Nebuchadnezzar saw these kingdoms as an image of a man made of precious metals, while here Daniel sees the same kingdoms as beasts. It’s all perspective: Daniel 2 is the times of the gentiles as man sees it; Daniel 7 is the times of the gentiles as God sees it. In chapter 2 Christ is seen as a stone cut without hands; here in chapter 7 he is seen as the Son of man.

13  I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him.
14  And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.

There is no mistaking this, this is the second coming. As Hippolytus† explained:

“For when the iron legs that now hold the sovereignty have given place to the feet and the toes, in accordance with the representation of the terrible beast, as has also been signified in the former times, then from heaven will come the stone that smites the image, and breaks it; and it will subvert all the kingdoms, and give the kingdom to the saints of the Most High. This is the stone which becomes a great mountain, and fills the earth, and of which it is written: ‘I saw in the night-visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days. And there was given Him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom; and all peoples, nations, and languages shall serve Him: His power is an everlasting power, which shall not pass away, and His kingdom shall not be destroyed.’ …then finally earthly things (shall) end, and heavenly things begin; that the indissoluble and everlasting kingdom of the saints may be brought to view, and the heavenly King manifested to all, no longer in figure, like one seen in vision, or revealed in a pillar of cloud upon the top of a mountain, but amid the powers and armies of angels, as God incarnate and man, Son of God and Son of man— coming from heaven as the world's Judge.”

Let’s look more closely at this scene:

9  I beheld till the thrones were cast down, and the Ancient of days did sit, whose garment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like the pure wool: his throne was like the fiery flame, and his wheels as burning fire.
10  A fiery stream issued and came forth from before him: thousand thousands ministered unto him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him: the judgment was set, and the books were opened.
The Ancient of days is the Father. There is fire, and angels, and ten thousand times ten thousand before Him. This is the judgment.

13  I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him.
14  And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.
The Son of man is Christ. This was the title he used most often for himself. He comes with the clouds and is given dominion, and glory, and a kingdom over all people. An everlasting dominion. Amen!

This description, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, is the foundation of the New Testament teaching of the second coming. Jesus took it and used it to describe his return:

Matthew 24:30 And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. 
31 And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

Amen! Here are the details of this coming:

The Son of man – it is Personal; Jesus himself
They shall see him – it is Visible
Clouds of heaven – just as Daniel saw and described
With power and great glory – this is no secret event
Angels with a great sound of trumpet – enough noise to wake the dead
Gather together his elect – the Resurrection

In 1 Thessalonians 4 Paul describes the second coming using the same imagery as Jesus
15 For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord…
16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: 
17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

In Revelation 1:7 John also uses the same imagery as Jesus
Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen.

And in 2 Thessalonians 1:7-8 Paul seems to be referencing Daniel 7:9-10
7 when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, 
8 In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ:

Daniel 7 is a prophecy of the times of the gentiles, that period in history when gentile kingdoms have Jerusalem under their thumbs. As Jesus said, Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled. (Luke 21.24) We’ve seen this fulfilled in the empires of Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome. Jesus assured us the times of the gentiles will come to an end, and Daniel told us when – the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven...And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him.

Christians are a very political people. That’s right, only not as you first think when you hear that. Our politics are not the politics of the world: Republican, Democrat, Libertarian, Socialist, Communist, or whatever other political parties there might be. No, we’re not trying to take over the world – we’re waiting for our King to do that! Yes, our message, our hope, our expectation, is that Jesus is coming again and “shall destroy temporal kingdoms, and introduce an eternal one.” His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.

Amen! He will bring the kingdom; raise the dead; sit in judgement; reward the righteous; punish the wicked; release the earth from the curse; in short, he will make all things right. So shall it be in the end of this world. The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.

Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.

Jesus is coming. Am I ready to meet him?

‡ Irenaeus, (140—202); bishop of Lugdunum (Lyon) and leading Christian theologian of the 2nd century. Adversus Haereses (Against Heresies), Book 5, ch 26

† Hippolytus of Rome (170–235 AD) was one of the most important third-century theologians. His is the earliest commentary on Daniel.

Christ, the stone cut without hands

My introduction to this series is here. The Babylonian captivity was a very trying time for the Jews. Even though it was the judgment of God upon them for their sins, yet God did not abandon them, He raised up Daniel and through him spoke of their hope of Messiah.

Daniel 2 is the story of a dream Nebuchadnezzar had and its interpretation by Daniel.

1-12 Nebuchadnezzar dreamed a dream and called the magicians, and the astrologers, and the sorcerers, and the Chaldeans, all the wise men of Babylon, to tell him the dream and its interpretation. These folks complained this thing was too hard, no one could tell another what he had dreamed. Since they couldn’t tell him what he dreamed he sentenced them to death: For this cause the king was angry and very furious, and commanded to destroy all the wise men of Babylon.
13-24 And the decree went forth that the wise men should be slain; and they sought Daniel and his fellows to be slain. Daniel requested an opportunity to make the thing known. He and his friends prayed and God revealed the dream to Daniel.
25-30 Daniel was brought before the king and gave glory to God, saying, he that revealeth secrets maketh known to thee what shall come to pass.

31-45 The Dream and Its Interpretation

31-36 The dream
31  Thou, O king, sawest, and behold a great image. This great image, whose brightness was excellent, stood before thee; and the form thereof was terrible.
32  This image's head was of fine gold, his breast and his arms of silver, his belly and his thighs of brass,
33  His legs of iron, his feet part of iron and part of clay.
34  Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon his feet that were of iron and clay, and brake them to pieces.
35  Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshingfloors; and the wind carried them away, that no place was found for them: and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth.
36  This is the dream…

What an interesting dream: a great image made of gold, silver, brass, iron, and feet of iron and clay; a stone breaks the image and becomes a great mountain. What??

36-45 The interpretation
36  …and we will tell the interpretation thereof before the king.
37  Thou, O king, art a king of kings: for the God of heaven hath given thee a kingdom, power, and strength, and glory.
38  And wheresoever the children of men dwell, the beasts of the field and the fowls of the heaven hath he given into thine hand, and hath made thee ruler over them all. Thou art this head of gold.
39  And after thee shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee, and another third kingdom of brass, which shall bear rule over all the earth.
40  And the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron: forasmuch as iron breaketh in pieces and subdueth all things: and as iron that breaketh all these, shall it break in pieces and bruise.
41  And whereas thou sawest the feet and toes, part of potters' clay, and part of iron, the kingdom shall be divided; but there shall be in it of the strength of the iron, forasmuch as thou sawest the iron mixed with miry clay.
42  And as the toes of the feet were part of iron, and part of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong, and partly broken.
43  And whereas thou sawest iron mixed with miry clay, they shall mingle themselves with the seed of men: but they shall not cleave one to another, even as iron is not mixed with clay.
44  And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever.
45  Forasmuch as thou sawest that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it brake in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold; the great God hath made known to the king what shall come to pass hereafter: and the dream is certain, and the interpretation thereof sure.

This image represents four great kingdoms: Babylon, Persia, Greece, Rome. Just a couple of passing observations about the kingdoms represented by this image

(1) The quality of the metal goes down – gold, silver, brass, iron, iron mixed with clay. This seems to suggest decline or deterioration. Or, as Daniel says, each one is “inferior” to the previous one.

(2) Jesus called the period of these kings the times of the gentiles (Luke 21:24). This is a period in which Jerusalem is trodden down of the Gentiles, when Israel is under bondage to Gentiles and not free.

So, this is the history of the nations as it relates to Israel. Where is Christ in all this?

44  And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever.
45  Forasmuch as thou sawest that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it brake in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold; the great God hath made known to the king what shall come to pass hereafter: and the dream is certain, and the interpretation thereof sure.

Ah, he is the stone cut out of the mountain without hands. The different parts of the image represent both a kingdom and its principle king, so this stone speaks of the kingdom of God and of Christ its king. Daniel says, And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever. Oh, this was the hope of Israel, that the God of heaven would set up a kingdom, his kingdom. We read of this in the prophets: a time marked by righteousness, peace, and joy; Israel would be the head and not the tail; a day when “we should be saved from our enemies, and from the hand of all that hate us; that he would grant unto us, that we being delivered out of the hand of our enemies might serve him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before him, all the days of our life.” All this will come to pass when Christ comes. He is the stone cut without hands.

This was Israel’s hope and expectation. You can imagine the excitement when the angel  announced at the birth of Jesus: “unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord”; and at John’s declaration, “Repent for the kingdom of God is at hand”; and then at Jesus “saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.” You can also easily imagine their confusion when his ministry looks nothing like this scene in Daniel 2!!

The kingdom of God
Matthew 4:17 From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.  23 And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people.

Jesus began his ministry saying the kingdom of God is at hand. Then, in Matthew 12:28 he declared, “But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.” The kingdom had arrived, as demonstrated by him healing all manner of sickness and disease and by casting out unclean spirits, yet it does not look like Daniel 2.

The mystery of the kingdom
Mark 4:11  Unto you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God: but unto them that are without, all these things are done in parables:

Mystery in the Bible refers to something that was not revealed before but is now being explained. There is a mystery about the kingdom -  the kingdom has come, but it has come spiritually. The first manifestation of the kingdom is spiritual; it is concerned with deliverance from sin, it is about the gathering of a new people from every nation; and the biggest shock is it is resistible. It is not a political or military force, concerned with taking over countries or enforcing by might its ethics. It is not until Jesus returns in glory that there will be great voices in heaven crying out, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.

The question then is, Does this dream refer to the first or second advent of Christ? And the answer is, Yes. Daniel didn’t see clearly, he simply saw the manifestation of Christ and the coming of the kingdom of God. Yet the emphasis seems to be on the second coming. As the earliest comments on this by the Fathers demonstrates:

Irenaeus‡, “the great God showed future things by Daniel, and confirmed them by His Son; Christ is the stone which is cut out without hands, who shall destroy temporal kingdoms, and introduce an eternal one, which is the resurrection of the just; as he declares, ‘The God of heaven shall raise up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed.’ ”

Hippolytus†, “The stone that smites the image and breaks it in pieces, and that filled the whole earth, is Christ, who comes from heaven and brings judgment on the world.”

“For when the iron legs that now hold the sovereignty have given place to the feet and the toes, in accordance with the representation of the terrible beast ... then from heaven will come the stone that smites the image, and breaks it; and it will subvert all the kingdoms, and give the kingdom to the saints of the Most High. This is the stone which becomes a great mountain, and fills the earth.”

Yes, Christ has come. He is Jesus of Nazareth, who was born of the virgin, taught and healed for three and a half years, was crucified, dead and buried, and who rose from the dead. He brought the kingdom of God, and through Him we have tasted the powers of the world to come (Hebrews 6:5; Romans 14:17; Luke 1:68-79). And he is coming again in power and glory to establish his kingdom. This begins with the millennium, the thousand year reign of Christ on the earth, and continues in the new heaven and earth (Rev 20-22). "This is the stone which becomes a great mountain, and fills the earth.”

Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.

‡ Irenaeus, (140—202); bishop of Lugdunum (Lyon) and leading Christian theologian of the 2nd century. Adversus Haereses (Against Heresies), Book 5, ch 26

† Hippolytus of Rome (170–235 AD) was one of the most important third-century theologians. His is the earliest commentary on Daniel.

Advent 2018

This year for Advent (December 2-24) I decided to look at Christ in Daniel. For a while I was thinking about The Second Advent in Matthew 24-25, which I may do later, but I settled on Christ in Daniel.

Today, in addition to announcing my planned series Christ in Daniel, I want to take a brief look at Daniel, his book, and give my planned schedule of posts.

Daniel

Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, first attacked Jerusalem in 607-605. When he took the city he took captives back to Babylon. Daniel, just a youth, was one of those captives. His name means God is my judge (dan= judge; i=my; el=God). He was a righteous young man who stood firm in righteousness (ch 1) and was blessed by God. He and his friends were granted great favor with the Babylonians and rose in stature and to positions of authority. Daniel especially rose to a position of great authority in Babylon.

Daniel was clearly anointed by the Spirit – with favor, wisdom, knowledge; he interpreted dreams and had dreams/visions himself, in which he saw the period of gentile domination over Israel; he also saw the Messiah, who would bring the promised and hoped for kingdom of God!

Book of Daniel

Daniel 1:1-2:4a is written in Hebrew. At 2:4b the language changes to Aramaic, and this is retained till the close of the seventh chapter. At 8:1 it returns to Hebrew and continues to the end of the book. How cool is this? The parts that apply to the gentiles is in the language of the gentiles. Was this an accident? I think not. Of course, all my quotations of Daniel will be in English!

As we will see, Daniel, through interpretation of the dreams of others and his own visions, speaks of the times of the gentiles and of Messiah who will bring the kingdom of God to the nations. Despite Daniel’s prophetic dreams and visions the Jews do not consider him to be a prophet. They list his book among the “Ketuvim, the Writings, and not the Neviim, Prophets.”† Our Bibles place him among the prophets, putting him between the Major Prophets (Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel) and the Scroll of the Twelve (Hosea et al). In the Old Testament of the Greek Orthodox, the Septuagint, The Scroll of the Twelve is listed first, then follows the Major Prophets. Daniel still follows Ezekiel and is the next to last book of the Old Testament.

Christ in Daniel

Here is my planned schedule. The main posts are in bold and are planned for Tuesdays. I felt like Chapters 7 & 9 called for two posts, the second one planned for Thursday of that week.

December 04 – Daniel 2 Christ: the stone cut without hands
December 11 – Daniel 7 Christ: the Son of man coming with clouds
December 13 – Daniel 7 Postscript on Daniel 7
December 20 – Daniel 9 The Seventy Weeks
December 22 – Daniel 9 The prayer of Daniel

My prayer is that you will be blessed and your faith strengthened as we look at Christ in Daniel!

† https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/1735365/jewish/Why-Isnt-the-Book-of-Daniel-Part-of-the-Prophets.htm

You may want to read the whole book!

Armed Guards At Church?

On October 27, 2018, eleven people were killed, and seven were injured when a gunman attacked Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh, PA. This was evil. May God have mercy on those grieving.

I only give cursory attention to the news, but I did hear that President Trump called for armed guards at all houses of worship. When I googled that this morning I learned that there are synagogues that have been doing this for years; and that there are rabbis that go to synagogue armed.

After the shooting at a church in Sutherland Springs, TX, where 26 were killed and 20 wounded, I saw a poll asking whether church members should go to church armed. The poll results were a resounding Yes, with many commenting, “Heck yeah! I’m not going to be a sitting duck for anybody!” (That would be the sentiment, not necessarily the actual words.)

Should there be armed guards at all houses of worship? I am not speaking for Jews, or Muslims, or any other faith that regularly meets for worship, but I am speaking as a Christian for Christian assemblies. In other words, what I say should not be taken as a reflection on armed guards at synagogues or mosques. I am only seeking to offer an opinion on the question, Should churches have armed guards at their services? Should church members come to church armed?

No.

That was easy. Why not?

Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you (Matthew 5:43-44)

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?   As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. (Romans 8:35-37, emphasis mine)

Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord. Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head. Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good. (Romans 12:19-21, empahsis mine)

For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. (Ephesians 6:12)

If the church I am attending announced they were hiring armed guards to protect us at every service or began encouraging members to come armed, I would leave. This is not about the right to own and near arms. I fully support this. But our faith is in God, not the sword. God is our refuge and our strength. I believe it would be incompatible with the gospel.

I’m sure that if you cross-examined me on this you would find inconsistencies in my answers. I can think of some myself before you ever ask me the first question! I’m simply offering my opinion on whether churches should hire armed security guards. In my opinion the answer is No.

Born white, raised a minority

Yes, you read that right. Let me explain.

The other day, when I was taking Isabelle to school, I asked her if they had any Chinese students. Where did that come from?? A couple of weeks ago we had talked about the Chinese Immersion program at her school. Naturally, that raises the question, "Are there any Chinese kids at your school?" Plus, I tend to ask completely off the wall the questions. Anyway, she said yes but she didn't know how many. I suggested she count them when she went to the cafeteria for lunch. She said she wasn't going to do that, so I looked it up. (By the way the answer is sixteen.)

When I learned the racial breakdown of her school, out of curiosity I looked at the other schools in Rock Hill my grandchildren attend. I thought, "This is interesting, let me see if I can find the racial breakdown of the schools I attended. I did! That's how I came to my title - Born white, raised a minority.

I was raised in Hawai'i. At least from 3rd grade through my junior year in high school. We moved to Hawai'i in either late 1963 or early 1964. When we first arrived we took a room at the Circle Hotel in Waikiki. Shaped like a Chinese lantern, the hotel was finished in 1963. It's still there.

Shortly after this we found a place to live, still in the Waikiki area, and I went to school. The first school I attended was Lili’uokalani Elementary School, named after the last monarch in Hawai'i,  Queen Lydia Lili’uokalani.

A couple of things about the racial breakdowns I am about to present. First, Lili'uokalani school was closed in 2012. Second, all the data for Hawai'i schools is recent. I don't even know if they kept records back when I went to school; if they did I have no idea how to get it; and I don't imagine there has been that much of a change.

This the breakdown for Lili'uokalani Elementary. Spoiler alert - this will be the largest percentage of whites you will see.

After 3rd grade we moved to the Windward side of the island. Kahalu'u. This is what we would call the country. I remember that house, we lived on Kamehameha Highway, literally across the street from the beach. Not a nice beach, but the ocean. I attended 4th grade at Kahalu'u Elementary. 5.5% of the students are white. The only thing that has changed is the Latino population  - there wasn't one back then.

After 4th grade we moved to Kaneohe. We lived here the rest of my stay in Hawai'i. I can still remember the house and the address. The house burned down several years ago. I went to Kapunahala Elementary for 5th and 6th grade. White people make up 3.47% of the school population.

7th and 8th grade I attended Samuel W. King Intermediate School. This says 9%. 60 of the 668 students. To be honest, I don't remember that many!

After 8th grade, my Dad wanted me to go to school in Kailua where there were more white people. I had become a "local boy". I remember complaining to my brother Sean, "There's so many haoles there!" He said, "Jeff, you are a haole." [haole is the Hawaiian word for white folks]. I attended 9th grade at an intermediate school in Kailua whose name I can't remember. Then 10th and 11th grades were spent at Kailua High School. There were indeed haoles everywhere! As I looked at attendance figures, the total number of students has declined a good bit, and so has the white population. There may have a been a larger percentage in my day, but still a minority.

Here is a photo of the 2008 class reunion of the 1973 graduating class. I graduated in 1973 (from a school on the mainland), but these are some of the people I went to school with. I'm sure there were plenty people who didn't go to the reunion. The diversity is amazing!

As I said at the beginning, I was born white but grew up as a minority. Not oppressed as other minorities in other areas, but minority nonetheless. It does give you a slightly different perspective on life and people when you've been among the few. At first, I took plenty lickin's for being a haole (translated: I caught a lot of grief), but eventually I became a local boy.

Let me close by putting everything in perspective : I was living in Hawai'i !!

What is it you would like for me to do for you?

The Gospel reading for this past Sunday was Mark 10:46-52

46 And they came to Jericho: and as he went out of Jericho with his disciples and a great number of people, blind Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, sat by the highway side begging.
47 And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out, and say, Jesus, thou son of David, have mercy on me.
48 And many charged him that he should hold his peace: but he cried the more a great deal, Thou son of David, have mercy on me.
49 And Jesus stood still, and commanded him to be called. And they call the blind man, saying unto him, Be of good comfort, rise; he calleth thee.
50 And he, casting away his garment, rose, and came to Jesus.
51 And Jesus answered and said unto him, What wilt thou that I should do unto thee? The blind man said unto him, Lord, that I might receive my sight.
52 And Jesus said unto him, Go thy way; thy faith hath made thee whole. And immediately he received his sight, and followed Jesus in the way.

There is a lot in this story about the power of God and the faith that receives it. I thought about that as the pastor preached on this very section.

I only want to consider one verse in this post, and that's verse 51. The KJV has it, What wilt thou that I should do when to thee? While that captures the Greek well enough, I confess people today might stumble over it. The ESV has it, What do you want me to do for you? And I admit, while it's not bad, it just sounds harsh, almost irritated, to my ears, What do you want? And that's clearly not what Jesus was saying.

It's all in this word translated wilt thou. The word can refer to purpose or to desire. When it comes to translating the Bible, I prefer a concordant or word for word literal translation (as far as makes sense in English), but here is a time when perhaps a dynamic equivalence would make it clear. I would translate it like this, What is it you would like for me to do for you?

By saying, Have mercy on me, the man was indicating he wanted something, he had a request for Jesus. And when Jesus spoke to him he was acknowledging that and asking the man, “What can I do for you? How can I help you?”

At first glance that may seem kind of silly. The man was blind, obviously he would want his sight, yet Jesus asked him, What is it you would like for me to do for you? This teaches us an important spiritual principle: It is important, it is necessary, that we speak out what we want God to do. It's not enough to simply say, “Help me, Lord,” “Have mercy on me Lord,” “Give me grace...” We need to be specific. Not just, “Bless my family,” but, “Save them, deliver them, heal them, sanctify them...” We need to make specific requests.

We not only need to make specific requests, but be persistent – he began to cry out, and say, Jesus, thou son of David, have mercy on me. Began to cry out, meaning he was repeating this over and over. At first he received no response. He cried out and got nothing back. Then many charged him that he should hold his peace. Everyone around him sought to deter him, “Stop that. It won’t work.” How discouraging. How did he respond? He cried the more a great deal. He would not give up until he had Jesus’ attention. Persistence.

We can’t forget faith. Jesus said to him, Go thy way; thy faith hath made thee whole. He cried out in faith. Faith to recognize Jesus as thou son of David. Faith to cry for mercy, faith to persist, faith to make a specific request. When I pray I need to make a specific request, I need to believe God for it, and I need to pray until I receive from Him. Amen.

And if it's important for me to articulate my request, this is also a principle when ministering to others - I need to get them to tell me what they want before I pray for them.

When I was Pastor in Pensacola, FL, Don Robson was pastor of the church in Elberta, AL, 30-40 minutes away. He told me of a Sunday when he had offered to pray and anoint with oil anyone who wanted to be healed. A few people responded and he was praying for them. It was his custom to ask them, “What are you believing God for?” He asked a woman who had come forward and she said, “I have a condition and the doctor said it would take three surgeries to correct it. I would like for you to believe God with me that it would just take one surgery.” Now Don told me he would have prayed for no surgeries, but he joined her in prayer and faith that one surgery would be sufficient. (It was!) But you see, it was important to ask her, “What are you asking God for, what do you want from the Lord?” Because it was different than what Don was thinking, and you can’t agree in prayer when you are asking for different things.

We had five churches all within 45 minutes of each other on the Gulf Coast, we used to have men's rallies, women's rallies, youth rallies. The youth rallies were a day of games, food, music, and a message. I remember one particular rally, the evangelist was pleading with the young people to come to Christ. His closing illustration was a story about somebody who had gone to church, heard the gospel, not responded, and died in a car crash on the way home. He gave the invitation and several young people responded. I was one of the counselors for the day and I met an elementary-aged boy and took him off into a room to pray. I asked him right off, “Why did you come forward?” He said, “I don't want to die in a car crash on my way home.” Oh man! I don't remember how the rest of that time went but I do know that I had to start at the beginning and clear up his misunderstanding. And I wouldn't have known that if I hadn't asked him, “What are you asking God for?”

When someone asks me to pray for them, I need to ask them, “What is it you would like for Him to do for you?” and go from there.

What a blessed and faith inspiring question:

What is it you would like for me to do for you?

12:54 pm last Thursday

With a Wild Cherry Pepsi and a book, I made myself comfortable on my chair in the back yard, planning to enjoy some time outside. My phone rang. It was Dave. When you get a call in the middle of the day from someone you know is at work, you have a bad feeling as you answer.

“Hello?”

“Hey Dad. I was wondering if you could help me, I have a small emergency.”

Aimee had traveled down to Johnson City, TN the day before and was scheduled to drive back home today. She had in fact left. When she turned off the road into a convenience store for a snack, she noticed her car was smoking. Actually on fire! I mean, flames!

My first question was, “Is she OK?” He assured me she was not hurt physically but was  shook up, then explained what he was calling about. He was wondering if I could go up to Johnson City and get her. I told him I could and would but that I was five hours away. We decided to ask Debbie (Mary’s sister living in Johnson City) if she could pick her up and take her back to her house and then I would arrange to fly her home the next day. Debbie graciously agreed to our plan. And that was a LOT of grace - Dave thought Aimee was maybe twenty minutes into her trip, turns out she was an hour and twenty minutes in!

Then I called Aimee. She was rattled. I don’t blame her. In fact, I never once told her to calm down. I asked her if she was hurt in any way and assured her we would take care of her and make sure she got back to Debbie’s house and back home, but never once did I suggest she stop being upset. How could I? I’ve never been there.

I’ve had flat tires, blowouts, dead batteries, run out of gas, had a transmission die driving on the interstate, and more, but never, no never…. Wait, let me think about it … nope, never had a car catch on fire! Before this, I never even knew anybody who had their car catch on fire! She was shook up? Uh, yeah!

She told me she called 911. I can only imagine the conversation:

“This is 911. What’s your emergency?”

“My car’s on fire! Can you please send someone before it blows up!!”

“Where are you?”

“I’m at a gas station. Please hurry!!!”

Afterwards I was struck by the contrasts in all this. Where I am it’s a peaceful, calm, lazy, albeit hot, Thursday afternoon. Where she is her car is on fire and there are firefighters putting it out.

Praise the Lord she was not hurt, Debbie was able to bring her back to her house, and we were able to secure a ticket for a flight home the next day. Oh yeah, that weekend they were able to get a new car and it seems she is right on schedule with her plan to move down to Tennessee.

All this reminded me of another day and another fire. On March 30, 2013 I was asleep in the afternoon. I had worked the night before and had to work that night. I was peacefully and soundly sleeping when Tiernan burst into the room, “Grandaddy, wake up! Aunt Erica’s on the phone and her apartment burned down!”

Erica was living and working in South Korea. Somehow a fire started in her apartment while she was away and she lost everything. She was in Korea, we were in Carolina, and there was nothing we could do. Praise the Lord she was safe! That night I wrote a poem about it:

I was awakened today
Bad news from far away
“Wake up” I heard him say
“Erica’s house burned down today.”

And in a scene straight from a dream
There was Erica’s tear stained face
“My place burned up, I’ve lost it all”
That was the reason for the call

The blessing of Skype –
I can hear right away
The curse of being far away -
There’s nothing I can do today

How do you remember everything you’ve lost?
How do you figure up how much it costs?
This is hard, but how can I really know how rough?
I sit surrounded by all of my stuff

God had mercy on my child
And now may He give her grace
And wipe those tears from her face
And fill her heart with His love


I'm trying to figure out how to wrap this up and all I can think of is the preacher we heard one Sunday. He was the special speaker that day. He preached for a while then announced, "Well, I guess I'm done." Well, me too!