We worship an orderly God, whose prophecies, whose seasons, whose mankind progresses according to His will. What a blessing it is to know we submit to a God who is perfect, whose mighty hand is outstretched to make Himself known and His works are a wonder.
Click to enlarge. Posted with permission.
Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found him of whom Moses in the Law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” (John 1:45-46a)
This verse is from chapter 1 of the Gospel of John. The context is that Jesus has begun calling His disciples, who would become the Apostles a year and a half later. In the previous verses, He had called Andrew and his brother Simon (who shall be called Peter). Now, Philip who was from Bethsaida, went to Cana where Nathanael was from, to tell him the news.
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Nathanael’s skepticism rested on the fact of Jesus’ origins, which were from Nazareth, a backwater. So Nathanael’s skepticism revolved around the location, not the Person. Though we often focus on the part of the verse that says “from Nazareth?!” let’s focus on the part before that. Note Nathanael said, “can anything GOOD…” This shows that Nathanael knew of the Messiah and was looking for Him. He knew His appearance would be GOOD. Nathanael believed.
Nathanael had a seeking heart because he truly studied the scriptures. As verse 45 shows, Philip and Nathanael studied the Law, Moses and the Prophets. As for Nathanael’s character, in verse 47 when Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward Him, Jesus said there was no deceit in Nathanael and that he was a true Israelite.
Nathanael was a simple man, indeed from a not much bigger backwater than Nazareth (Cana), in a backwater district, in a time of apostasy. Not many people around him believed the truth. The Samaritans believed a blended religion, the Pharisees believed a works religion, the Sadducees didn’t believe in supernatural resurrection or angels and were against the Pharisees who did, and most regular people were either unknowing, hypocrites, or apathetic. As a matter of fact, Luke 4:33-34 records Jesus at Capernaum teaching at the synagogue. A demon-possessed man in the synagogue cried out when Jesus taught, because of His authority in His proclamation of the truth of God. Jesus cast him out, His first exorcism. Can you imagine a synagogue so devoid of truth that before Jesus’ arrival, the demon inside the man felt so secure he had never cried out before? Demons should never feel comfortable in church!
It was a time of apostasy, God hadn’t spoken in 400 years. He had sent no prophet (until John the Baptist). God had done no miracles. He had been silent.
Synagogues in the small towns had limped along, (with demons in them) the Temple in Jerusalem grew bloated with wares, graft, and hypocrisy thanks to the religious hierarchy.
And yet, among all this, there was faithful Simeon, and Anna, there was Zacharias and Elizabeth, Joseph and Mary, John the Baptist, and the men who would become the Apostles. And there was Nathanael, who was looking for something GOOD (just had a hard time believing it would come from Nazareth, lol).
In this current time of apostasy (when wasn’t the world apostasizing?!) we look at our leaders and sometimes we are greatly disappointed. Just as those regular people of Nathanael’s time were looking at the hypocritical Pharisees, the corrupt Annas or Caiaphas, the arrogant and zealous Saul (later, Paul), the ordinary people must have felt let down by those who were in charge of leading them in the truth just as we are let down by many of our leaders today. There has always been a shepherd problem.
“Woe to the shepherds who are destroying and scattering the sheep of my pasture!” declares the LORD. (Jeremiah 23:1)
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| Jesus and Nathanael WEIGEL, Johann Christoph 1695, Woodcut. Source |
Yet there were simple people in small towns, laboring diligently during the week and on Sabbaths, attending synagogue to learn about the promised Messiah. Who was the first person Philip went to tell the good news that Messiah had been found, the priest in their local synagogue? No! Philip went immediately to tell his friend, Nathanael. These first century men and women persevered, they believed with a child-like faith, simple and in which there was no deceit. There were no layers of corruption to the faith that Nathanael evidenced, no arrogance. With seeking heart he and his friend Philip must have gone to hear John the Baptist, and when Jesus arrived, and said ‘Follow Me’ they did.
And we should do the same. We labor during the week, we worship on Sunday, we follow Jesus as He commanded. His word is in the Bible now, not spoken to us on a hillside at Bethsaida, but we believe. No matter what our leaders do, we trust the promises in His word just as Nathanael and Philip did in that long-ago apostate time. We follow, seek, trust. Nathanael was looking for something GOOD, and He came. We should also have seeking hearts. Are you looking for He who was written of in Moses and the Prophets? Like Nathanael during a time of low worship and little truth, we are also looking forward to something GOOD. He will come again
in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For this perishable must put on the imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality…(1 Corinthians 15:52-53)
I particularly enjoyed this piece from poet Kay Cude. I hope you enjoy it too. May it encourage you, strengthen you, or simply allow your thoughts to linger on the wonders and glories of our Savior.
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| Kay Cude art |
NASA Releases a Spectacular Earthrise Image Captured by the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter.
Reminds me of Job 26:7, “He stretches out the north over the void and hangs the earth on nothing.”
We live on a beautiful planet. We’re a generation that has been blessed to see actual photos of other planets from the space Voyager missions and the Hubble telescope. Though other planets such as Mars have a stark beauty, none have the lush, eye-pleasing beauty that Earth does.
Have you ever considered the creation verse in Genesis 2?
And out of the ground the LORD God made to spring up every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. (Genesis 2:9)
Beauty was mentioned before utility. It was beautiful, and by the way, it was also food. God could have made this and all the planets black and white. But He didn’t. God as Creator is an engineer, creating animals and humans with deft precision. He is also an artist, creating things that are not only functional, but beautiful.
After the Flood, when there were only 8 people remaining who remembered what Earth looked like before. He could have remade things as utilitarian only. But once again, the earth sprung up with beautiful sights to behold. And fast, too. Consider this verse from Genesis 8:9-11,
But the dove found no place to set her foot, and she returned to him to the ark, for the waters were still on the face of the whole earth. So he put out his hand and took her and brought her into the ark with him. He waited another seven days, and again he sent forth the dove out of the ark. 11And the dove came back to him in the evening, and behold, in her mouth was a freshly plucked olive leaf. So Noah knew that the waters had subsided from the earth.
Waters had been on the earth for 278 days. For at least 128 days, the earth and all its life had been entirely submerged. According to the verse though, between the time the dove found no place to put her foot and when she returned with a fresh leaf, was only 7 days.
The LORD made a full grown tree with a full grown leaf in that time! He is amazing. I bet the leaf was pretty, too.
God’s artistry is evident in viewing photos of galaxies, flowers, shells, landforms such as the Grand Canyon. Though the earth’s ground has been cursed and it is polluted with sin, which is the root cause of all natural disasters, cataclysms, and destruction, it is still beautiful. So just imagine the beauty of the dazzling New Jerusalem! And His abode, heaven. Paul said it is inexpressible, and John groped for words. I can’t wait to see God’s full artistry on display through glorified eyes. And we shall behold Him, the most beautiful of all, Jesus Christ.
He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. (Colossians 1:15)
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Further Reading
I hesitate to begin this essay by saying “In these times of apostasy” because the times have always been apostasizing. The moment that the truth is declared, someone falls away from it (Eve, Cain, Judas, Demas, Simon Magus…). The truth is always opposed by those who hate God.
Of late, however, it seems that some men we have always been able to count on are falling. The Bible is clear that even leaders who have been seemingly faithful over decades are not immune from the ravages of apostasy. Length of time in the faith is no guarantor of continued faithfulness. Ending well is just as important as beginning well. (2 Timothy 4:7).
In addition, the Spirit is always revealing the wolf in sheep’s clothing. John Piper has been displaying zero discernment. I wrote about Ravi Zacharias’ questionable credentials, heretical associations, and leaky theology here. Billy Graham said that anyone who is sincere and really believes something is up there will be in heaven with the saints. I think those are the three best recent examples of how sin works in the heart and how the Holy Spirit works in the Body to reveal it.
Just as the truth is always opposed, the truth is always upheld. The Lord raises up good men to speak His Gospel. In Romans 10:14 Apostle Paul asked the following questions
How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching?
The questions are not rhetorical. They are actual. The mechanism through which God has said He will use as the catalyst for conversion is His Gospel, preached by truthful men, to hearts He will release from the bondage of sin. (John 14:6, Acts 4:12). Therefore it makes sense God will always have good men preaching it, does it not? Because if He didn’t, who could hear?
Therefore in every generation God raises up men who will stand for truth and speak God’s word. In Isaiah 55:11 God told prophet Isaiah
so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.
So though it seems today like there are no trustworthy pastors and preachers and teachers, there are. There has to be, for where else will God speak His Word and souls be claimed?
So who are these good or solid preachers? Well, first, do not overlook your own pastors and teachers. I know that many of you are grieved deeply that there seems not to be a good church in your area. With apostasy rising fast it is true that a solid church is a gem these days. Remember, this has always been the case. Throughout every age, even in America, there have always been large, geographical dead spots where the Bible is being proclaimed in perverted or twisted manner, or there isn’t any truth being proclaimed from a set body of gathered believers at all. Miles and miles might separate one good church from another, neither of them reachable for many people.
But laboring quietly in some corner of a church might be a good Sunday School Teacher. You could go to his class. Quietly knitting together some women under a ministry in a church there might be a woman with a heart for theology and the Bible. Maybe your church has a good music minister who sings hymns. Though the church in its entirety may not be great food perhaps there is one hook onto which you can hang your hat- and support and pray for the others who are not as solid. Come alongside them and help with encouragement and pointing to solid doctrine. Sometimes all it takes is one, strong, praying, persevering person to turn things around in a church. You don’t know what the Holy Spirit has in mind the next week, day, year.
Meanwhile, here are some men who are currently pastoring churches and speaking the truth as unmixed by man’s contamination as it’s possible to do. These are men we hear on the radio but are actually pastors of actual churches many people actually go to. You could, as well. A friend of mine is moving out to CA to attend The Master’s College and will attend this church and will be present at the 47th anniversary of MacArthur’s installation as pastor-teacher at GCC.
Don Green, pastor of Truth Community Church. 4183 Mt Carmel Tobasco Rd, Cincinnati, OH 45255. Sermons can be heard at sermon audio here, or iTunes, Facebook page.
Alistair Begg, pastor of Parkside Church, 4520 S Arlington Road, Uniontown, OH. Radio program where sermons can be heard,Truth for Life.
Phil Johnson, pastor GraceLife Pulpit, one of the ministries at Grace Community Church, 13248 Roscoe Blvd, Sun Valley, CA 91352. Sermons here
Dan Duncan, Believers Chapel, 6420 Churchill Way, Dallas, TX 75230. Mr Duncan is BC’s current pastor, sermons here. S. Lewis Johnson was formerly pastor of Beleiver’s Chapel. Vast sermon archive here. Both men are featured on the sermon schedule at Expositor.fm
John MacArthur, pastor of Grace Community Church, 13248 Roscoe Blvd, Sun Valley, CA 91352. Since February 1969, John MacArthur has been preaching verse-by-verse at that location. I’ve listened to him since 2007 or ’08. He is my favorite pastor.
Oftentimes I’ve heard people say that John MacArthur is the Spurgeon of this generation. Well, is he? I decided to check. I am familiar with Charles Spurgeon, loving his sermons and reading them online quite often. I’ve also read his biography. Spurgeon’s output was prodigious, and his nickname “The Prince of Preachers” is well-earned. Is John MacArthur’s output even close to the beloved Spurgeon’s? Does he earn the privilege of being compared to the Prince of Preachers? I decided to do a comparison.
Now, comparing is difficult because of the time gap between the two men’s preaching eras. But as a quick draft, I put together the following information:
So that will give you an idea as to why I am blessed to have been led by the Spirit to John MacArthur’s radio program and then to the rest of his output, his associations, and his ministries.
Readers might be familiar with the fact that I write some discernment essays. One indicator of the first steps of drifting away from the truth is who a person associates with. In 1 Corinthians 15:33 Paul said,
Do not be deceived: “Bad company ruins good morals.”
In Proverbs 22:25 we read that we should not be hanging around angry people “or you may learn their ways and get yourself ensnared.“
Associating or worse, partnering with, immoral or sinful people engenders deception and ensnarement, so saith the LORD. So when we read of Ravi Zacharias praising heretic Joyce Meyer on her television show or joining with New Apostolic Reformation conferences, or Beth Moore teaching alongside Christine Caine and Roma Downey, or John Piper with Louis Giglio or Christine Caine, or Ronnie Floyd embedded in IHOP or partnering at Synergize Conference with John Bevere or Leonard Sweet…you know that even if someone has the best of intentions their good character will be corrupted. “Do not be deceived.” At the very least, such decisions betray an astonishing lack of discernment and disregard for the holy nature of the faith these teachers are supposed to be upholding. (2 Corinthians 6:14)
But the opposite is true too. In discernment, if you are not as strong on discernment as you’d like to be yet, and you have found one good bible teacher to listen to either in real life or online, draw a circle around that man and then widen the circle. Who is in that pastor’s circle? Who does that pastor praise and recommend? Who does he quote favorably? Who does he partner with in spiritual endeavors such as book collaborations or conference speaking? I learned of most of the above men after having listened to John MacArthur’s conference sessions and in that way, was introduced to more men of faith I could trust.
Magnets have a north pole and a south pole. Though the iron filings at first are mixed, the nearer they draw to the magnet, the more the magnet will pick up and attract the filings that match that pole. I say these things to remind us that in days of apostasy (which is every day) the world will constantly be trying to pry open your tolerance. But the way is narrow. It bears repeating, the way is narrow, AND there are only two roads, narrow and broad. There is no middle ground. So it is the same with true doctrine and false. Eventually, a person will be attracted to one pole or another, as this experiment demonstrates.
Other men who I recommend who either are currently pastoring a church or who have gone on to glory or are in another teaching position, are,
Mike Riccardi, RC Sproul Sr, James Montgomery Boice, Steven J. Lawson, Ligon Duncan, Paul Washer, any teacher from The Master’s Seminary.
Don’t despair. There ARE good churches. If there isn’t one in your immediate area, pray and perhaps the Spirit will lay on your heart to either plant one or move closer to one. If your church seems to be struggling, don’t despair then, either. Maybe the Spirit is preparing you to take on a role there which will swing things upward. Sometimes the Spirit allows a person to be the lone beacon of light at a church in order the strengthen them for something ahead, or to teach endurance. In that case it would be for Jesus’ glory and your good that you remained. (Romans 8:28).
I hope this list and the encouragement has helped you.
Spiritual warfare is very real. Even pagans are in a constant state of war. To be a pagan is to be at war- against God. To be a Christian is to be at war- against the flesh, the world and the devil. Life on earth is a battle.
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God did not leave us unequipped. He gave us armor.
“Take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.”—Ephesians 6:17.
TO BE A CHRISTIAN is to be a warrior. The good soldier of Jesus Christ must not expect to find ease in this world: it is a battle-field. Neither must he reckon upon the friendship of the world; for that would be enmity against God. His occupation is war. As he puts on piece by piece of the panoply provided for him, he may wisely say to himself, “This warns me of danger; this prepares me for warfare; this prophesies opposition.”
Difficulties meet us even in standing our ground; for the apostle, two or three times, bids us “Stand.” In the rush of the fight, men are apt to be carried off their legs. If they can keep their footing, they will be victorious; but if they are borne down by the rush of their adversaries, everything is lost. You are to put on the heavenly armor in order that you may stand; and you will need it to maintain the position in which your Captain has placed you. If even to stand requires all this care, judge ye what the warfare must be!
~Charles Spurgeon, The Sword of the Spirit
By the words in the Bible, we are given to understand that our life is a fight. Here is the enemy:
He is a formidable enemy. Left to our own devices, warring against Satan would be as a mosquito to an atom bomb. However God’s power so far exceeds the atom bomb that when facing Him, this seemingly formidable enemy, the devil, becomes the mosquito! Our Holy Father is the all powerful God, and He has won the victory already. He has overcome the world. (John 16:33).
What we must do is put on our armor, pray always, and stir one another up to good works. Confessing our sin and repenting of it, we gain more strength in wielding the sword of the Lord which is His word, we have ample military support to stand against the world, the devil, and the flesh.
Our Jesus has fulfilled the prophecy:
He will swallow up death forever, and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from all faces; the rebuke of His people he will take away from all the earth; for the LORD has spoken. (Isaiah 25:8 )
Contrary to popular current sentiment, from those who condescend about “religion” and “the church” and its “hypocrites,” and claim to be able to “do God” on their own, Christianity is not a religion in which one can become isolated. We are part of a body. Christ is its Head. Apart from him we can do nothing.
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| HT Michelle Lesley |
Even me who is Aspergers and believe that a small apartment, independent wealth, a cat, and the internet is all I need, must emerge into the world and be in the world- because God’s Word says so! To obey is for God’s glory and to proclaim His excellencies. It’s so they can be a witness of His Holy Spirit’s strength in reducing the sin in me and live a holy life before others. It’s so I can be accountable to the members of the Body.
If you think you’ve heard “a voice” or had “an inner prompting” urging you to forsake assembling, know that you have just been deceived.
Here are some essays to encourage you in the practice of being in the world but not of the world, (John 17:14-15) and not to forsake assembling with the saints. (Hebrews 10:25).
If you have slacked off attending, resolve this New Year to pray for the Spirit to renew your commitment to the Body.
How can believers be in the world, but not of the world?
What does it mean for Christians to be in the world but not of the world?
Warnings Against Unfaithfulness
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And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. 10And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. 12And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” 13And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,
14“Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”
15When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.” 16And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger. 17And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child. (Luke 2:8-17)
Shepherds. Shepherds? Why them?
watch … by night—or, night watches, taking their turn of watching. From about passover time in April until autumn, the flocks pastured constantly in the open fields, the shepherds lodging there all that time. (From this it seems plain that the period of the year usually assigned to our Lord’s birth is too late). Were these shepherds chosen to have the first sight of the blessed Babe without any respect of their own state of mind? That, at least, is not God’s way.
“No doubt, like Simeon (Lu 2:25), they were among the waiters for the Consolation of Israel” [OLSHAUSEN];
and, if the simplicity of their rustic minds, their quiet occupation, the stillness of the midnight hours, and the amplitude of the deep blue vault above them for the heavenly music which was to fill their ear, pointed them out as fit recipients for the first tidings of an Infant Saviour, the congenial meditations and conversations by which, we may suppose, they would beguile the tedious hours would perfect their preparation for the unexpected visit. [Source: Jamieson, R., Fausset, A. R., & Brown, D. Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible]
Let us go, &c.—lovely simplicity of devoutness and faith this! They are not taken up with the angels, the glory that invested them, and the lofty strains with which they filled the air. Nor do they say, Let us go and see if this be true—they have no misgivings. But “Let us go and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us.” Does not this confirm the view given on Lu 2:8 of the spirit of these humble men? [Source: Jamieson, R., Fausset, A. R., & Brown, D. Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible]
Humble men, guiding and caring for the sheep of Israel. This is a well-known metaphor laced throughout the bible, starting with the first shepherd, Abel. (Genesis 4:4). The first human blood shed in the Bible was shepherd’s blood, performed by an angry, jealous one who rejected God.
Who were shepherds in the Bible? Abel, Abraham, Lot, Isaac, Jacob, Rachel, Laban, Jacob’s twelve sons, Moses, David, Mesha– King of Moab (Jordan), Doeg, Amos, the shepherds who came to honor Jesus (source).
Source(s): Genesis 4:2
Later she gave birth to his brother Abel. Now Abel kept flocks, and Cain worked the soil.
Genesis 21:28
Abraham set apart seven ewe lambs from the flock,
Genesis 13:5
Now Lot, who was moving about with Abram, also had flocks and herds and tents.
Genesis 26:12
Isaac planted crops in that land and the same year reaped a hundredfold, because the LORD blessed him. 13 The man became rich, and his wealth continued to grow until he became very wealthy. 14 He had so many flocks and herds and servants that the Philistines envied him. 15 So all the wells that his father’s servants had dug in the time of his father Abraham, the Philistines stopped up, filling them with earth.
Genesis 30:32
Let me go through all your flocks today and remove from them every speckled or spotted sheep, every dark-colored lamb and every spotted or speckled goat. They will be my wages.
Genesis 29:9
While he was still talking with them, Rachel came with her father’s sheep, for she was a shepherdess.
Genesis 47:3
Pharaoh asked the brothers, “What is your occupation?” “Your servants are shepherds,” they replied to Pharaoh, “just as our fathers were.”
Exodus 2:17
Some shepherds came along and drove them away, but Moses got up and came to their rescue and watered their flock.
1 Samuel 21:7
Now one of Saul’s servants was there that day, detained before the LORD; he was Doeg the Edomite, Saul’s head shepherd.
2 Kings 3:4
Now Mesha king of Moab raised sheep, and he had to supply the king of Israel with a hundred thousand lambs and with the wool of a hundred thousand rams.
Amos 1:1
The words of Amos, one of the shepherds of Tekoa—what he saw concerning Israel two years before the earthquake, when Uzziah was king of Judah and Jeroboam son of Jehoash was king of Israel.
Luke 2:15
When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”
Luke 2:20
The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.
Jesus is the Good Shepherd, the Last Shepherd, the Best Shepherd
I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. (John 10:11)
The shepherds in the field made “haste” to go. They did not hesitate to go and worship. Let us make haste to worship the Good Shepherd on this eve of His birth, He is deserving of all praise, glory and worship.
What Child Is This?
All of this deliverance and joy will be based upon the incarnation and the birth of Christ (“Immanuel,” 7:14), 9:6, 7. Christ will be both human (“a child is born”) and divine (“a Son is given”). He will bear five names:
(1) “Wonderful” (He will do wonderful things);
(2) “Counsellor” (He will be able to advise all men in regard to all things);
(3) “The Mighty God” (He will be the mighty “El.” “El” is contrasted with man, 31:3; Hosea 11:9);
(4) “The everlasting Father” (“the Father of eternity”); and
(5) “The Prince of peace” (He will subdue all of His enemies and give peace to all of His friends).
He will do six things:
(1) He will sit upon the throne of David;
(2) He will set the kingdom of David in order;
(3) He will establish justice in this kingdom forever;
(4) He will bear the government of the world upon His shoulder;
(5) He will keep on extending His government (rule) until it covers all men (“of the increase of His government there shall be no end.”) All who refuse to come under His rule will be destroyed; and
(6) He will keep on bestowing His peace until it has been bestowed upon all men (“of the increase of His peace there shall be no end”).
Source: Gingrich, R. E. (1993). The Book of Isaiah (pp. 16–17).
As a student who was blessed with a classic education, I studied the Greek and Roman gods and goddesses. The entire genealogy of gods and goddesses in the Greek and Roman mythology are hard to keep track of. However, one thing that is not hard to discern is their character. As The British Museum puts it:
The ancient Greeks believed there were a great number of gods and goddesses. These gods had control over many different aspects of life on earth. In many ways they were very human. They could be kind or mean, angry or pleasant, cruel or loving. They fell in love with each other, argued with each other and even stole from each other.
They were always angry at something or other. For example, there was Eris, goddess of discord.
ERIS was the goddess or spirit (daimona) of strife, discord, contention and rivalry. She was often represented specifically as the daimon of the strife of war, who haunted the battlefield and delighted in human bloodshed. Because of Eris’ disagreeable nature she was the only goddess not to be invited to the wedding of Peleus and Thetis (parents of Achilles). When she turned up anyway, she was refused admittance and, in a rage, threw a golden apple amongst the goddesses inscribed “To the fairest.” Three goddesses laid claim it, and in their rivalry brought about the events which led to the Trojan War. (source)
Hm, ‘the golden apple of discord’. Sounds familiar. Anyway, one would have thought that a goddess possessing great powers and knowledge would have had a bit more self-control. I guess not.
Then there’s the story of poor Arachne. Ovid wrote-
Arachne was a shepherd’s daughter who began weaving at an early age. She became a great weaver, boasted that her skill was greater than that of Athena, and refused to acknowledge that her skill came, in part at least, from the goddess. Athena took offense and set up a contest between them. Presenting herself as an old lady, she approached the boasting girl and warned: “You can never compare to any of the gods. Plead for forgiveness and Athena might spare your soul.”
“Ha, I only speak the truth and if Athena thinks otherwise then let her come down and challenge me herself,” Arachne replied. Athena removed her disguise and appeared in shimmering glory, clad in a sparkling white chiton. The two began weaving straight away. Athena’s weaving represented four separate contests between mortals and the gods in which the gods punished mortals for setting themselves as equals of the gods. Arachne’s weaving depicted ways that the gods had misled and abused mortals, particularly Zeus, tricking and seducing many women. When Athena saw that Arachne had not only insulted the gods, but done so with a work far more beautiful than Athena’s own, she was enraged. She ripped Arachne’s work into shreds, and sprinkled her with Hecate’s potion, turning her into a spider and cursing her and her descendants to weave for all time. This showed how goddesses punished those human for wanting to be equals. (source)
It’s where we get the word for the class of spiders, arachnids. The gods were always either seducing someone or their wives the goddesses were always changing someone into something for being seduced. The Titans were the first set of gods, and like all others that followed, were subject to succumbing to human sins and passions. Though the premier gods, the Titans couldn’t even hold onto their power, and were usurped by their children, the twelve Olympians. I guess they weren’t so Titanic after all.
I used to wonder, what made them gods? Why did they seem like such humans? It is the same with Hindu gods, Native American gods, Chinese gods…decidedly not…god-like.
Of course we know that this is because these gods are made-up. Because their origin came from the mind of man, they are like man. These gods either were distant and removed from the petty squabbles of mankind, or were directly involved but not usually to humankind’s good.
Preceding all these was Yahweh. After Cain wandered away from God and the faith, departing in blood after killing his brother, he founded cities and these cities held people who also were not believers in God. So they made up their own. Lots of them. Some of these false gods were mentioned in the Bible- ancient gods like Amon, Asherah, Baal, desert gods like Dagon, Roman gods like Zeus and Hermes, Artemis, Castor and Pollux. Of course, since none of these gods were real, they were all a #fail and were constantly disappointing the people who foolishly believed in them.
Since these fake gods were like man, when man looked at these gods, they felt comfortable. Looking into a mirror of mercurial, petty gods was like looking at themselves, and all was well. I can understand a god like me, goes the thinking, I can handle a god with problems.
God has always been a God of perfection, holiness, goodness, justice. If He says it, it shall be done. (Ezekiel 12:28, Psalm 33:4, & etc.) In Him there is no shadow of turning at all. He is not changeable, mercurial, petulant, angry without reason (like changing people into spiders). Man could not conceive of a God as perfect and just as our God. Man cannot look upon His holiness and live. He is decidedly a God that mans sinful man uncomfortable.
Who is like God?
Who among the gods is like you, LORD? Who is like you– majestic in holiness, awesome in glory, working wonders? (Exodus 15:11)
For who in the skies above can compare with the LORD? Who is like the LORD among the heavenly beings? (Psalm 89:6)
Who is like the LORD our God, who is seated on high, (Psalm 113:5)
And then came the Incarnation. Our God, seeing the lost state of humanity and our need to be redeemed from sin’s bondage, sent His Son to be birthed into this terrible, dark world. He is King, who emptied Himself and became a baby, then an obedient boy, then a servant of men, then a sacrifice unto death. Who is like our God! Who is like Jesus, the firstborn of all creation!
Many babies grew to be kings. No king has ever become a baby. Yet God promised a Redeeeer from the beginning, and so it came to be. He is a God of promises kept.
The supremacy of our Jesus is unparalleled. His time on earth as God-man is an event which split history, reverberated through earth, heaven, and eternity, and broke sin’s bondage. Who is like our God!
No other petulant god, no other angry idol, no other petty deity exists. Only the perfection encapsulated in a baby born on earth, to the glory of God and to the praises of angels and shepherds.
Christ is born. And there is no other.
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