Author: elizabethprata

Christian writer and Georgia teacher's aide who loves Jesus, a quiet life, art, beauty, and children.
Posted in theology

No wonder they were grasshoppers in their sight: The Very Large

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By Elizabeth Prata

Numbers 13:33 says, There also we saw the Nephilim (the sons of Anak are part of the Nephilim); and we became like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight.

The Nephilim were a race of antediluvian giants. GotQuestions says,

The Anakim/Anakites were a formidable race of giant, warlike people (Deuteronomy 2:10, 21; 9:2) who occupied the lands of southern Israel near Hebron before the arrival of the Israelites (Joshua 15:13). The Anakim’s ancestry has been traced back to Anak, the son of Arba (Joshua 15:13; 21:11), who at that time was regarded as the “greatest man among the Anakim” (Joshua 14:15).

The name “Anakim” most likely means “long-necked,” i.e., “tall.” The Hebrews thought them to be descendants of the Nephilim, a powerful race who dominated the pre-Flood world (Genesis 6:4; Numbers 13:33). When the twelve Israelite spies returned from exploring the Promised Land, they gave a frightening report of “people great and tall” whom they identified as the sons of Anak (Deuteronomy 9:2). The Israelites, seized with fear and believing themselves to be mere “grasshoppers . . . in their sight” (Numbers 13:33), rebelled against God (Deuteronomy 1:26-28) and refused to enter the land God had promised them.

Other vestiges of large peoples are seen in the Old Testament. Taking the a Hebrew measurement of a cubit being about 17.5 inches and converting it,

Goliath: (1 Samuel 17) was 9’9″.
The Egyptian was 5 cubits, or 7’2″. (1 Chronicles 11:23- He had also struck down an Egyptian, an impressive man, five cubits tall. Now in the Egyptian’s hand was a spear like a weaver’s beam, but he went down to him with a club and snatched the spear from the Egyptian’s hand and killed him with his own spear.)
Og King of Bashan (Deuteronomy 3:11- “For only Og king of Bashan remained of the remnant of the Rephaim. Behold, his bedstead was an iron bedstead; it is in Rabbah of the sons of Ammon. Its length was nine cubits, and its width four cubits by ordinary cubit”). King Og’s bed was 13″, so we can assume the King was around 11 or 12 feet tall.

To put it into visual perspective, let’s take a look at what the world calls “The Tallest Man Who Ever Lived”: Robert Wadlow. (American, 1918-1940). Wadlow’s height was 8 ft 11.1 in. And Goliath and King Og of Bashan were taller than this!

Source: Guinness Book of World Records

No wonder the spies were scared and seemed like grasshoppers in the giants’ sight! The giants seemed invincible.

But if God is with you, all things are possible. The seemingly impregnable walls of Jericho fell down flat. The huge Assyrian army 185,000 strong were all killed overnight by the angel of the Lord. The King of Aram’s army was not alone but was surrounded by God’s military forces, invisible to all but Elisha and his servant. The mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.

It is a shame that the world consults the Guinness book instead of THE Book for verification of the tallest people who ever lived. There is no more sure word than God’s word.

Speaking of very large things, did you know the reproduction of the Ark in Kentucky at the Ark Encounter is the largest free standing timber structure in the world? If you consult Google with that question, the Ark in Kentucky won’t come up. But it is the biggest: The Ark Encounter, the world’s largest timber-frame structure, is seven stories tall and 1.5 football fields in length – 510’ long, 85’ wide, and 54’ high (based upon the Egyptian cubit of 20.4”).

The New Jerusalem recorded in Revelation is a huge city. It is said in the Bible to be ‘12,000 stadia’, which equals 1,400 miles in length, width, and height (Revelation 21:15-16). Scripture says that the dimensions are given in “human measurement” (Revelation 21:17). A city that big if plopped in the middle of the United States, would cover from Canada to Mexico and from the Appalachian Mountains to the California border. So, most of America. Most of Australia, too, if you overlaid the dimensions on that continent.

Source

Trust the Bible. Even something we read seems outlandish and hard to believe, the dimensions given for the people, animals, structures in the Bible are true and good.

Today we looked at the very large. Tomorrow: let’s look at the very small. 🙂

Posted in theology

“Why do you like the session about false teachers best?”

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By Elizabeth Prata

Screen shot of the Justin Peters’ title card for his talk at G3 2023 National Conference

I have returned home to digest the edifying material I absorbed at the recent G3 National Conference in Atlanta. This is a 3-day conference featuring stupendous music (solid hymns accompanied by orchestral instruments), and wonderful preaching all around a theme. This year the theme was The Sovereignty of God.

Many different sermons were offered on the topic. There are endless ways to plumb the topic. You could do so for a thousand years and not even come close to scratching the surface.

A common question heard around the convention hall was “Which one was your favorite?” Every man who was selected to preach or woman who was selected to lead a breakout session has the skill to exegete their portion of scripture, and do so expertly. It isn’t a question of personality. It’s a question is which presentation spoke to your mind, which session that the Holy Spirit convicted you with or that He encouraged you with. It’s a spiritual question.

Emotions do play a part, yes. When one is convicted or encouraged on the basis of the preached word, it not only illuminates your mind but it expands your heart. The word does something to you. It is living and active after all.

The material presented to me at the G3 conference which most affected both my my mind and my heart, is Justin Peters’ talk on how false teachers attack the sovereignty of God.

False teachers attack God’s sovereignty through His omniscience, through His use of suffering and sickness, through His solitariness, through His work in salvation, and through him in general. Justin culled clips from some of the most popular of the heretical speakers of the day who demonstrated these points.

It’s one thing for a speaker to say the quotes, it is quite another for us to watch these people say them. AND have their audiences by the masses…applaud.

Their heresies were jaw-droppingly blasphemous. They were unutterably sickening. They were unrelentingly scandalous.

When Justin presented a clip featuring one of these false teachers saying one of their heresies and blasphemies, the G3 audience at Justin’s session would groan or exclaim involuntarily. We could not help it. Truly, it is amazing how deeply the false teachers hate God.

So, why would I bask in this session? Why would I say it was my favorite? Why would I even want to come close to a presentation featuring this cesspool of abyss-worthy hate?

Have you ever gone to a real jewelry store? Or seen someone on TV or a movie go to a jewelry store? Maybe you’re looking for fine jewelry for your mother, or you’re a man looking or an engagement ring for your girlfriend. You peer down into the glass case and see a jewel you like. You ask the clerk to please take it out of the case so you can get a better look. What does he do?

He takes it out for you. You anticipate looking at the sparkle and brilliance. But that is not all he takes out. He places a square of black velvet on the counter too, and lays the jewel on it. Why?

The black backdrop of the velvet enhances the brilliance of the diamond. It can be seen more clearly. Its sparkle is brighter. The jewel remains sharp and well-defined against the dark background.

And so it is. When a heretic’s words issue forth into the air, they become the black backdrop to the Lord’s brilliance in holiness and purity. The contrast makes me see the Lord as exalted even higher. My love for Him increases, and my hatred of my own sin grows. Seeing black sin for what it is against the purity of our Holy God is a contrast I always want to keep present in my mind.

Now, I don’t recommend a steady diet of purposefully seeking to contrast heresy vs. Truth. Swimming in heretical waters is a risk and not one that we take lightly. The Lord has done a superlative job of keeping Justin Peters sane and spiritually safe as he researches these items to bring to his audience’s attention. For me, it’s not a risk I want to take very often. But once in a while when the opportunity presents itself, like it did at G3, reminding myself with knowledge of the hatred these false teachers have for God, and refreshing my own soul with reminders of God’s brilliance as THE jewel of the universe, is good for me.

It also propels me into a desire to always be a precise steward of the truth. Falsity begins somewhere. These heretics didn’t start out at the bottom of the abyss. Sin is incremental, and it grows. I don’t ever want even a germ of falsity in my writing or speaking the glories of Jesus. I know there will be at times, because I’m not glorified and I have a mind that needs renewing every day. But the goal is to minimize it and to cast it out when its presence is brought to my attention. Heresy is a death sentence. But it begins with a small waver from the center line of orthodoxy.

So that is why I liked the conference session about false teachers best.

EPrata photo
Posted in theology

G3 Conference Day 3: Final day, Final Thoughts

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By Elizabeth Prata

I waited two years for this conference. That’s 730 days. It was over in a heartbeat, just 2 and a half days. That’s just 0.34% of the time of the last 2 years.

But it was everything! It was 100% edifying. 100% eternal. 100% joyous.

We started the day with an altered schedule. Last night just as the movie The Essential Church was to begin its showing, a bomb threat was called in. The building was evacuated. Many of the speakers were staying at the next door hotel, and as police pushed people further and further back, and when it became obvious they were not going to be able to return to the building, they gathered in that hotel lobby – and began singing praises to the Lord.

Religious conference proceeds Saturday after bomb threat

The morning’s first speaker by video would have been John MacArthur, but since the building had been closed all night, the GICC crew needed extra time to clean it, which hadn’t been possible the night before. The day would start an hour late. So the video sermon sent in by John MacArthur was canceled and the second slated speaker was now going to be first in order. It was Ken Ham and sermon titled God’s Sovereignty in Creation.

Ham spoke passionately about the attacks on God starting in Genesis 3. The man is 71, and I was thinking after, I pray the Lord gives me as much passion and articulation within my niche as He has given Ken Ham all these past 40 years of beating the drum for Genesis 1-11. Answers in Genesis, Ham’s organization, offers an INCREDIBLE mount of material for all ages on all types of platforms. Homeschool, Sunday school curricula, videos, books, kids’ books, you name it.

“God made the animals according to their kinds, but He made man in HIS image. Man is not an animal.” ~Ken Ham

After a short break we listened to Mike Riccardi speak on the Sovereignty of God in Particular Redemption, expositing the answer to the question “In whose place did Jesus stand in absorbing God’s wrath?” He is an articulate man whose theological precision is only equaled by his clarity. I’ll put a link to these men’s biographies and where you can listen to them in the future.

Steven Lawson was closing the conference but I couldn’t stay to listen- our hotel checkout time was noon.

Our checkout experience was smooth and soon we were on the road to home. After a group photo of course, of most of the ones from our church who came to hear these wondrous things.

G3 (Gospel, Grace, Glory) 2023 national conference speakers

Now all that is left is to pray that the Holy Spirit would apply these truths to me in His inimitable way.

These people are precious to me: some of the young people from our church who traveled to the conference. Is there anything sweeter than seeing young people dig into their Bible with all eager attention?

Points I’m pondering:

–I loved the seminary-level teaching at G3 from seasoned and credible men of the faith.
–Many of the doctrines they taught that were related to Election were the SAME we have recently been taught in my own church. So: the blessing is there is seminary-level teaching at my home church as well! I love my pastors.
–I loved seeing the excitement of the younger people we traveled with and the new friends I met there. God ALWAYS leaves a remnant and a next generation for His name.
–I loved meeting my social media friends. It was a great reunion!
–I’m getting old. Leaving home was a struggle. Absorbing all the firehose of teaching for 8-9 hours was also a struggle. I ain’t a spring chicken. Where does the time go???
— The best part was when the bomb threat occurred, the men lingering in the hotel lobby and deciding to praise the Lord in song. They do not just preach God’s sovereignty, when tested, they showed that they LIVE it.

If you ever have an opportunity to attend this conference, please deeply consider it. Conferences aren’t real life. But getting away once in a blue moon to refresh and reset by and with the word of God given by top theologians and singing with 8000 other people is a foretaste of heaven. It propels a person forward even as we step back into the mundane day by day tasks.

Blessings to you and thank you for reading!

Posted in theology

G3 Conference 2023: Day 2

Posted on by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

We slept well and had a hot breakfast offered by the SpringHill Suites at Marriott. The breakfast was free and it was unusually lavish. Usually “free breakfast means they throw a cellophane wrapped muffin at you and say see ya bye”. Not the SpringHill Suites. They had hot eggs, sausage, granola, cheerios, biscuits, muffins, bagels, iced water, juices, and more stuff I can’t even remember. It was nice to relax in the breakfast area over a hot meal and speak with the fellow conference-goers around me.

Our venue is across a small road with a path to it. The bookstore is almost straight ahead, so that’s where we headed.

That feeling when you’re almost the first people in the bookstore at opening and you have it all to yourself.

I bought God’s Battle Plan for the Mind: The Puritan Practice of Biblical Meditation by David Saxton and : Robert Murray m’Cheyne and the Pursuit of Holiness. Yay!

So I bought 2 more books. But that’s it. No more. Done. Fini. The end. Fade out. Really. I mean it.

Our first session on Day 2 was Canadian pastor James Coates. James was jailed in a maximum security prison in Edmonton during the covid era so called pandemic. He brought a message about the Sovereignty of God in Election from Romans 9. His message was clear, indicating he is clear thinker, and his demeanor was humble and reverent. I enjoyed his sermon.

The auditorium is huge. There are more than 8,200 attendees, and from front to back feels like a mile. But the acoustics are good and there are jumbo-trons stationed all over, so there is no really bad view.

“God cannot pursue less than His own glory.” ~James Coates

We went straight to the next session, James White of Alpha & Omega Ministries with a message I was really interested in: God’s Sovereignty over Time.” Dr. White focused on Isaian 41 and God (speaking through Isaiah) calling the idols to account in His legal courts. God’s sovereignty is then demonstrated by His precision in prophecy. I want to go back and re-listen to this one.

All the sessions and breakouts were livestreamed, captured on video. When they are finalized with editing I will happily re-watch. I know I will pick up more concepts the second time and the Spirit will further renew my mind and enlarge my heart for Jesus.

Dr. James White

“God desires to reveal Himself and be known by His people so they can know what He is doing and they can love Him properly.” ~James White

I attended a luncheon with some G3 people which was very ice to be away from the hubbub, and then meandered through the Exhibit Hall where all the vendors were. I LOVED meeting everyone! Martha Peace, Susan Heck, Doreen Virtue, Steadfast Women, Allen Nelson and his wife and daughter, ReggieP2 at GBTS booth, Phil Johnson, Justin Peters, Gigi’s Sewing Room…tweeps from Twitter and Facebook.

My friend and I also ran into our other friends from church who are separately attending. I love seeing the joy in their young faces as they breathlessly recount insights gained and how much they love Jesus as they come to know Him more. Really Spirit shining faces. It does an older woman like me so good when I see the Lord raises up the next generation for His name.

On to the session with Justin Peters. I love this man and I think highly of him. His talk was on “False Teachers and the Sovereignty of God.” He demonstrated how false teachers oppose God in a myriad of ways; by attacking His sovereignty in our sickness & suffering, solitariness, omniscience, in Creation, and in general.

He showed clips of the ways these false teachers oppose God and their comments were breathtakingly, jaw-droppingly blasphemous statements from their own mouths. Several of these false teachers were teaching that God needs us and needs our permission to do anything.

Justin Peters

“God does not have a man-shaped home in his heart.” ~Justin Peters

“False Teachers hate God. They only love the god they have created as an idol.” ~Justin Peters.

The final session we attended, though there were two more afterwards, was the highly popular Q&A with all speakers. Lined up on the stage, absent Paul Washer, were L-R, Scott Aniol (cut off), James White, Owen Strachan, Voddie Baucham, Josh Buice, James Coates, Mike Riccardi, Steve Lawson, Phil Johnson, and Moderator Virgil Walker.

A favorite question is always about what books they are reading or what books have impacted them. Virgil asked the men what book on the soveeignty of God has impacted them most. A frequent answer from all the men was Jonathan Edwards’ The End for Which God Created the World. Also popular was AW Pink’s book The Sovereignty of God.

Paul Washer came walking in at that point. Steve Lawson asked “Why are you late? Paul washer answered “There is one answer to that: I am a missionary”. When the audience finished clapping, Washer continued, I was sharing the Gospel with a beautiful young lady. There is nothing more important than that.”

Amen, Mr. Washer. Amen.

Though there were two more speakers to come, Washer and Voddie Baucham, my friend and I headed back to the hotel to decomopress and discuss our day.

The Movie The Essential Church was going to be shown at 7:30pm, but just as the moderator was about to come on stage, a bomb threat was called in. Thousands were evacuated from the Georgia International Conference Center, and rather than despair, many of them went next door to the nearby hotel lobby and they began singing the hymn Great is Thy Faithfulness.

Amen.

https://www.wsbtv.com/news/local/south-fulton-county/religious-conference-evacuated-college-park-convention-center-by-police/7MIQEPWUPJDMBKD6G2UZJ7OG5Y/

I’ll recount the final day later when I get home tomorrow afternoon.

Posted in theology

G3 Conference 2023: Day 1

Posted on by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

My friend and I went early to the conference this morning. We are in a hotel across the street, it only takes 5 minutes to walk over there.

Once inside the cavernous building, it takes a minute to actually get to where we’re going. We passed the Answers in Genesis booth along the way.

The Answers in Genesis folks at #G32023 are having a wonderful time, their joy is evident! That ministry sure has been a blessing to me.

The bookstore was fairly empty as we arrived at about 8 am. The first speaker wasn’t scheduled until 9, so we felt in no hurry while browsing around. Books are 40% off!

Later in the day, the bookstore was quite crowded.

We are a religion full of readers. This is the checkout line at #G32023 bookstore. I promised myself I would not buy any books! I lasted 2 minutes. I bought 2 books! The guy said “You should have bought John Owen’s Temptation: Resisted and Repulsed first!” I fell over laughing!

Below, Virgil Walker, Executive Director of Operations for the G3 Conference, and one half of the duo of Just Thinking podcast, welcoming the 8200 attendees and opening the conference.

The song worship is glorious. The leader is Matt Sikes, who is Discipleship and Worship Pastor at Pray’s Mill Church. The songs selected are strong hymns and the musical accompaniment includes an orchestra composed of cello, or oboe, piano, and violin. It’s wonderful.

Immediately after the singing was Owen Strachan, preaching on The Sovereignty of God and Perseverance of the Saints. I really enjoyed this one.

Walking, walking, walking is the order of the day. Lots of it.

Time for lunch. Despite G3 having provided food trucks and food vendors, the lines were incredible. My friend and I anticipated this, and had brought our own food. We sat in the large hallway people-watching and munching on our snack-y lunch.

Next up in the demanding and packed schedule were breakout sessions. The rooms hosting the various sessions to choose from are small, and only accommodate about 200 people. I fervently wanted to attend Carl Hargrove’s talk on “How Does God Govern the World by His Providence?” So I got there early. Not early enough. Not only was every seat taken, people were sitting on the floor, standing in the doorways, and spilling into the hall. I stood hesitantly at the doorway desperately looking for a seat, but none were to be had. None, that is, until a kind younger gentleman offered his. I demurred at first, but he insisted, and he sat on the floor in front of his wife.

We went right into another breakout session. This one was highly anticipated, not just by me, but most of the conference, it seemed! It was Erin Coates’ “Godly Women remain Faithful in Suffering”. Every bit of floor space was taken by a sitting disciple, all seats taken, tons of people at the doors and in the hall trying to listen. And if they did hear, they received a blessing, because Erin’s talk was stupendous.

Once again, we swept into the hall when Erin concluded and set off at a fast pace to the main auditorium for Phil Johnson’s sermon, “Love that will not let me go.” I love Phil’s preaching. I really, really do. He is my favorite preacher, along with John MacArthur (who will be speaking Saturday morning by video). Phil spoke on 1 John 4:19; We love because He first loved us.

The Hall was filled. I had a very hard time finding 2 seats together. What a blessing to be among like-minded people who are all there to hear about the excellencies of God!

A small slice of the cavernous auditorium filled with worshipers there to hear Phil Johnson
Phil bringing the love at #G32023

By now it was a bit after 5:00 and we were tired and hungry, having missed breakfast. The free breakfast offered at the hotel was eaten by hungry Christians and was wiped out completely by the time we got there. The hotel later apologized and said they will be better prepared Friday morning. And our lunch was cheese stick, almonds, and carrots.

There was one more speaking session to be had, by Steve Lawson, and the premiere of the move Cessationist. I really wanted to see the movie. But we were both tired, hungry, and bleary from the day. I’d gotten up at 4:15 am, and she had gotten up at 5:00. Long day. We packed it in, headed for the hotel, ate our supper and decompressed.

Tomorrow is another G3 day!

Posted in theology

I’m at G3 Conference for the next 3 days

Posted on by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

My friend and I are at the G3 Conference in Atlanta today, tomorrow, and Saturday. This is a once-every-two-years conference put on by Josh Buice and Prays Mill Church outside of Atlanta. The conference features some of the world’s best expositors, preaching sermons in a set theme. The Theme this year is “The Sovereignty of God.”

I am especially looking forward to Ken Ham of Answers in Genesis speaking on “The Sovereignty of God Over Time”, Justin Peters’ talk on False Teachers and the Sovereignty of God, and a breakout session for the ladies with Erin Coates on “Godly Women Remain Faithful in Suffering.” I am also looking forward to meeting people IRL that I know from online, singing with 8000 other people, and taking some photos of the area! I’ll keep you posted as we go along, here, Instagram, on Twitter, and on The End Time Blog Facebook page.

Posted in discernment, Uncategorized

How do we see ourselves, ladies?

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By Elizabeth Prata

I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you; therefore I despise myself, and repent in dust and ashes. ~Job

To possess dignity is to be worthy of respect. Worthy of high esteem. Absorb this: you are worthy of respect. ~Beth Moore

“Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.” ~Isaiah

Be kind to yourself. Be compassionate to yourself. Be loving to yourself. Be patient with yourself. Have the courage to be yourself. ~Christine Caine

But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.” ~ Simon Peter

Who you are is more important than what you are called to do. ~Priscilla Shirer

Man was created to glorify God. (Isaiah 43:7). Our inherited sin nature makes it impossible to do that without His redemptive work in our heart. It’s important to see ourselves as we are (were). Ladies, yes, it’s good to have “self-esteem” to the extent that we know who we are: We’re sinners, saved by grace alone.

Women’s Ministries these days over-emphasize that we are women of valor, courage, of worth, esteem, and bravery. We’re princesses, running around sunlit meadows in wedding dresses dripping pearls.

Or we are as Isaiah, Job, and Peter saw themselves when they saw God: as worms in the dust, sinning with the pigs and needing to rely totally on the Father for any scrap of righteousness we might possess.

Praise the Lord He came, died for sin, was buried and resurrected. He glorified the Father and His reward will be…us. The Father will give Him a Bride, redeemed and washed. It is all about the Trinity and His work. It is not about us, our worth, our esteem, dignity, or “who we are.”

O Lord, depart from me, I am a sinful woman. Yet He lifted me from the muck and mire and gave me His righteousness, robes, Spirit, and future. From that moment, when I search inside myself to see my worth, esteem, or dignity, what I see is His.

Posted in Uncategorized

Is the Storm Gathering?

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By Elizabeth Prata

You know the story of Esther and her Uncle Mordecai. She was a Jewess in Persia who was chosen via contest by King Ahasuerus to be his wife. Except that Ahasuerus didn’t know she was Jewish and when evil Second-in-Command Haman whispered to Ahasuerus to make a decree killing all the Jews, she was then in a real bind. It all had started when Uncle Mordecai, who had by then been promoted to an inside the court job in the King’s administrative palace, refused to bow to Haman. Though apparently Mordecai had lived a fairly secular life, and perhaps for a while had traded wealth, influence, and power for Yahweh, when pressed, his faith rose up and he came through. It was his defining moment. Who will he bow to? Not Ahasuerus. God only. Mordecai chose. Haman reacted.

“All the royal officials at the king’s gate knelt down and paid honor to Haman, for the king had commanded this concerning him. But Mordecai would not kneel down or pay him honor. Then the royal officials at the king’s gate asked Mordecai, “Why do you disobey the king’s command?” Day after day they spoke to him but he refused to comply. Therefore they told Haman about it to see whether Mordecai’s behavior would be tolerated, for he had told them he was a Jew.” (Esther 3:2-4)

Soon after, Esther was faced with her defining moment. She could lay low, hiding her religion, but Mordecai told her,

“Do not think that because you are in the king’s house you alone of all the Jews will escape. For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father’s family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?” (Esther 4:13-14)

So then, her other option was to tell the truth, approach the king, and plead for her people, even at peril for her own life. It was a defining moment for Esther.

In the 1960s and 1970s Firestone had a jingle in which the last line included the now-familiar phrase “Where the rubber meets the road.” The phrase has come to mean not just good tires, lol, but a defining moment of truth, the most important point. It is like an Olympic Athlete who has trained for years, but everything only really counts at the moment of the race. Will he put all his training into a glorious and successful effort? Or will he stumble?

Is America approaching an Esther moment for her Christians living inside her borders? Is there a gathering storm? Will that moment reveal which kind of soil resides in our hearts? I think so. It may not happen today or tomorrow, but soon each Christian in America will have to choose his or her path in the public sphere. We have great privilege here in the US where we can gather on any Sunday, or any day, freely to worship our sovereign. We can claim Him as sovereign and proclaim Him as sovereign, without another competing sovereign quelling our exultation. We can share the Gospel in the public sphere and set up monuments, signs, statues, crosses or whatever we want in certain places, with or without permits in certain circumstances. We can pray in public and we can speak of Him to friend and stranger.

Don’t take these privileges for granted. Freedom to worship is being chipped away at and redefined every day. Be prepared for a chilling effect or even a forced cessation of them. We saw the attempts and even the successful thwarting of the church’s ability to gather in the so-called pandemic era of 2020-2021.

Individually, we have many defining moments day by day or week by week. There are little decisions we make that are either honoring to Jesus or are conscience violations due to compromise. These little decisions accumulate.

Eventually, though, we individually may be faced with a bid, more public decision to honor Jesus but suffer for it. Pastor James Coates did in Canada, and so did Pastor Tim Stephens, as well as the Elders of Grace Community Church in California when they defied the tyrannical government to remain open and worshiping during the so-called pandemic. Coates and Stephens counted the cost, and it was heavy. They were forcibly removed from their families and jailed. The GCC men were threatened with jail and hefty fines, though the court system eventually resolved that situation to the church’s good.

Less publicly, people lose their jobs every day these days for their stance for Christ. They are denied promotions. They are marginalized socially, even have crimes done against them, all for being a Christian.

Your time to make such a decision that has a heavy cost attached to it may come soon. Are you ready?

No matter what though, our King’s throne is secure and His Kingdom is permanent. His church will thrive no matter the man-made pressure brought to bear against it. His people will be brought home to freely worship Him forever.

For at that time I will change the speech of the peoples to a pure speech, that all of them may call upon the name of the LORD and serve him with one accord. (Zephaniah 3:9).

storm
EPrata photo
Posted in encouragement, Uncategorized

Was Achsah’s request too bold?

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By Elizabeth Prata

You do not have, because you do not ask. (James 4:2b)

So if you who are evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him! (Luke 11:13)

The second scripture above from Luke is a story Jesus delivered just after teaching the disciples ‘The Lord’s Prayer’, in the section on how to pray.

We know of the more familiar examples of Bible people asking things boldly. David, Jeremiah Habakkuk, Job, Hannah…they all asked for things of the Lord and did so honestly, with raw intensity. There is no doubt that they were sincere believers who felt awe and reverence for God. They feared Him. Yet when it came time to pour out their heart in naked emotion or bold prayer requests, they did.

Here is a less well known example of someone in the Bible asking for something of her (earthly) father, boldly. Achsah. Here she is in scripture, Judges 1:12-15,

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And Caleb said, “He who attacks Kiriath-sepher and captures it, I will give him Achsah my daughter for a wife.” 13And Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother, captured it. And he gave him Achsah his daughter for a wife. 14When she came to him, she urged him to ask her father for a field. And she dismounted from her donkey, and Caleb said to her, “What do you want?” 15She said to him, “Give me a blessing. Since you have set me in the land of the Negeb, give me also springs of water.” And Caleb gave her the upper springs and the lower springs.

Was Achsah too bold? Was she greedy? Was she rebellious in her asking when she should have remained meek and submissive? The Jamieson Fausset Commentary explains it this way

that is, when about to remove from her father’s to her husband’s house. She suddenly alighted from her travelling equipage—a mark of respect to her father, and a sign of making some request. She had urged Othniel to broach the matter, but he not wishing to do what appeared like evincing a grasping disposition, she resolved herself to speak out. Taking advantage of the parting scene when a parent’s heart was likely to be tender, she begged (as her marriage portion consisted of a field which, having a southern exposure, was comparatively an arid and barren waste) he would add the adjoining one, which abounded in excellent springs. The request being reasonable, it was granted; and the story conveys this important lesson in religion, that if earthly parents are ready to bestow on their children that which is good, much more will our heavenly Father give every necessary blessing to them who ask Him.

The last sentence of the commentary explanation harks back tot he verse from Luke above. And here is another short explanation of this small incident from Judges about Achsah, it is Matthew Henry from his Complete Commentary. The tenth commandment was “Do Not Covet.”

From this story we learn,

1. That it is no breach of the tenth commandment moderately to desire those comforts and conveniences of this life which we see attainable in a fair and regular way.

2. That husbands and wives should mutually advise, and jointly agree, about that which is for the common good of their family; and much more should they concur in asking of their heavenly Father the best blessings, those of the upper springs.

3. That parents must never think that lost which is bestowed upon their children for their real advantage, but must be free in giving them portions as well as maintenance, especially when they are dutiful. Caleb had sons (1 Chr. 4:15), and yet gave thus liberally to his daughter.

Ye have not because ye ask not! Now, just because we ask, doesn’t mean we will get what we ask. God is not a magic genie, bestowing upon us all that we desire. There are conditions to asking boldly of our Father in prayer. First, the rest of the James verse explains that sometimes we do not receive because we ask wrongly. If we are asking in order to indulge our passions, it will not be granted. If we regard iniquity in our heart, prayer will not be heard. (Psalm 66:18). There are other conditions, too, which if in place mean the prayer will not be heard, no matter how bold it is. (source with scriptures here,please look at the list).
Conclusion:

Prayer: Nothing is too great and nothing is too small to commit into the hands of the Lord!
— A. W. Pink

Our Father who is holy, will give good gifts. Be bold in prayer, be diligent in asking, be sure of the result.

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Further resources:

Sermon “Pray Boldly“, here John MacArthur explains the weird scene from Luke 11
jmac sermon “don’t be afraid to ask’

Charles Spurgeon’s sermon Have not because ye ask not? exposits the scene with Achsah.

Thomas Watson quotes on prayer, here at Grace Gems

Valley of Vision, The Prayer of Love