theology – Page 191

Word of the Week: Perspicuity of Scripture

Posted on September 29, 2019 by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

Knowing and understanding our historical theological words helps the next generation continue the thread of common understanding of our great faith. Hence the Word of the Week.

I’ve been asked for the list of all the essays I’ve written of the Word of the Week. The list is below the picture at bottom. You can also search category “Word of the Week”.

This week’s Word is Perspicuity of Scripture. Do we need “Bible codes”? Is scripture unclear enough so that only a few, more intelligent or higher-up, can understand it? It is too much to expect that the layman study it?

No. No. And no.

The perspicuity of scripture means that the Bible can be understood by anyone. The Holy Spirit illuminates it to us. For the most part, scripture is clear, if one studies it properly (and is saved, “And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing” 2 Corinthians 4:3, also 2 Corinthians 3:14).

Yes, Peter said that Paul wrote some things that are hard to understand, (2 Peter 3:16), but scripture itself can be understood clearly, without codes, mystics, or pretzel logic.

The Lord gave the word to Nicodemus, The Teacher of Israel and to the brilliant Paul, and He also gave it to fishermen and shepherds.

THE PERSPICUITY OF SCRIPTURE
Larry D. Pettegrew
Professor of Theology

The basic doctrine means that the Bible can be understood by people through the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit and that people need to search the Scripture and judge for themselves what it means. Scripture itself attests its own perspicuity, but not to the point that it cannot be misunderstood or is in every point equally simple and clear. The doctrine does not rule out the need for interpretation, explanation, and exposition of the Bible by qualified leaders.

The doctrine does mean that Scripture is clear enough for the simplest person, deep enough for highly qualified readers, clear in its essential matters, obscure in some places to people because of their sinfulness, understandable through ordinary means, understandable by an unsaved person on an external level, understandable in its significance by a saved person through the illumination of the Holy Spirit, and available to every believer whose faith must rest on the Scriptures.

How to hear God’s voice 100% of the time

Posted on September 28, 2019 by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

With all this darkness in the world and around us, where is the light? In Jesus! He is ALWAYS there, present and a very real help to us! His burden is easy and His yoke is light. But we must stay close to Him, and not drift away.

For this reason we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away from it. (Hebrews 2:1)

How do we not drift? Chris Rosebrough answered this way:

HOW TO HEAR GOD’S VOICE 100% OF THE TIME

Are you struggling to figure out if those whispers that your pastor has told you to listen for are really God’s voice or a case of gastrointestinal hallucinations caused by a bad batch of pepperoni pizza?

Are you tired of going through the whole rigamarole of filtering those voices in your head through a six point ‘discernment grid’ to try to ascertain if that’s the Holy Spirit speaking to you or proof that you need to make an appointment with a shrink?
Have you read and reread Blackaby and still haven’t got the foggiest notion as to how to tell where God is working in the world so that you can join Him?

If you’ve answered yes to one or all of these questions then I’ve got great news for you! I have discovered a simple and sure fire way for you to hear God’s voice. The best part is that its 100% guaranteed and totally Biblical.

Here it is.

1. Acquire a Bible. If you do not have a Bible then you can read it for free on the internet at BibleGateway.org. I recommend the English Standard Version for both readability and translational accuracy.

2. Open the Bible.

3. Begin reading it. Read it with your mind engaged. Pay close attention to grammar and context. Take notes. Set a goal to read 3 to 10 chapters per day.

That’s it. If you do those three things then you will be hearing God’s voice every single time that you open the Bible. No guess work, no need for six point ‘discernment filters’ and no nagging uncertainty about whether your hearing God’s voice or something else.
How can I be so sure and certain that this works?

I’m glad you asked. One day, while I was reading my Bible I read 2 Timothy 3:16–17. Here’s what it says: “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.”

Let’s break this down.

1. This passage says ALL scripture is God breathed. That means that God, The Holy-Spirit, personally inspired every one of the Biblical authors. In other words, you can know with certainty that every word of scripture contains God’s thoughts and when you’re reading the Bible you’re hearing God’s voice.

2. This passage says that the man of God would be COMPLETE through the reading, learning, knowing and applying of scripture. Notice that this verse doesn’t say that the man of God would be incomplete through his reading of scripture and that he’d need to augment the scriptures through whispers, subjective feelings, internal voices, direct revelation, dreams or visions. No!

It literally says that the man of God would be COMPLETE. The Greek word that is used here is ἄρτιος and it means “complete and/or fully qualified”. There is nothing else needed for the man of God. The scriptures are totally sufficient.

3. If point two wasn’t clear enough, 2 Timothy 3:17 drives the point home by stating that through the written word of God the man of God is equipped for EVERY good work.

There are no good works that God would have you do that would require you to rely on anything other than His word to make you complete and fully equipped for the task. The Bible is sufficient to make you complete and fully equipped for every good work. You don’t need whispers.You don’t need dreams. You don’t need visions. You don’t need trances. You don’t need a glory cloud. You don’t need to figure out how to ‘experience God’. You don’t need contemplative mysticism. All you need is the written word of God. The Bible is sufficient to make you complete and fully equipped for every good work and because every word of scripture is God breathed, you can know with confidence that you’re hearing the voice of God.You may be asking yourself if it could truly be that simple.Yes, it really is that simple!”

It is not only simple, it is necessary. Because the stronger we are, the more we can help those who speak of suicide, the more we can be a help to those who are stumbling, the brighter we can be to those who have no hope, or who just need encouragement. Jesus is THE HOPE.

The ladies of our church are working through a Bible Reading Plan called #KeepTheFeast. You read a few chapters from the Old Testament and a few from the New Testament each day. It’s demanding but worth it. What could be better than feasting on the bread of life? Plus, I need it. I am a terrible sinner, prone to wander.

Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost. (Romans 15:13)

The Holy Spirit is clear in His inspiration, so the Bible is not rocket science. We don’t need to hear Him on a prayer rug while magically reciting the Prayer of Jabez. We don’t need to empty our minds so we can listen to whispers. Whispers can lead to desperation and drifting away! We don’t need those things because, you know what? Once we are in Jesus, inside the Lighthouse, The Spirit illuminates the lighthouse and shows us the way with His light!

lighthouse east quoddy canada

prophecy, theology

“Climate change”? Really?

Posted on September 27, 2019 by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

In the last little while, the news stories regarding weather have increased regarding “climate change”.

Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr, the French critic, famously said, “the more things change, the more they stay the same.” The climate has been changing since the Fall of man.

I wrote a blog essay a while ago showing my interpretation of the Revelation 6:12 verse, “And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood;” It is called “Of volcanoes, dry fog, and sun as sackcloth“.

In that blog essay, I posted some examples of what sackcloth looks like. When volcanoes erupt, the ash circles the atmosphere and the sun’s rays are dimmed, and what rays do emit through the haze look hairy instead of like beams. Volcanic ash has the same effect on the sun as described in the Revelation verse.

The Byzantine historian Procopius recorded in 536, in his report on the wars with the Vandals, “during this year a most dread portent took place. For the sun gave forth its light without brightness…and it seemed exceedingly like the sun in eclipse, for the beams it shed were not clear.”

That event is thought to have been caused by an earth-covering atmospheric dust veil, probably resulting from a large volcanic eruption.

The weather changes and attendant devastation on plant and human life when a volcanic eruption takes place is called “Volcanic Winter”. The science magazine Wired has a great article about volcanic winter that occurred in our recent past, one that happened in the 1700s (that Ben Franklin wrote about) and one that occurred in the 1800s. In the article, it states,

“The cloud of ash that was fine and light enough to stay in the atmosphere circled the globe. Average temperatures dropped as much as 5 degrees Fahrenheit over the next year … and beyond. Many Europeans and North Americans called 1816 the “year without a summer.”

In Gray, Maine it was indeed called the year without a summer. The bad weather of winter 1815 continued with heavy frosts in August and snowfalls every month of the year in 1816. It became known as “The Year without a Summer” or “Eighteen Hundred and Froze to Death”. Scientists now believe the cause was the eruption of a volcano, Mt. Tambora, in Indonesia. On its first day of eruption, it spewed 2 cubic miles of magma into the atmosphere. The next day it spewed 36 cubic miles of rock and ash into the air. This eruption was the largest in nearly 2000 years and spewed massive quantities of ash into the atmosphere which impacted the climate in the summer of 1816. Over the next year the largest famine in the 19th century devastated the northeast, maritime Canada, and northern Europe. The famine was deadly.

This report from the July 10th Eastern Argus news of Portland ME is typical: “The weather is yet remarkable! On Monday night last a smart frost was experienced in a number of towns in this vicinity—it was confined principally to low ground.” Imagine…a hard frost on July 10!

The Egypt Road was said to have been named so by people in East Raymond ME who used the road to come to Gray to get seed corn in the spring of 1817. One low-lying section of town between Colley Hill and the Mayall Road was fortunate enough to have its corn crop survive in 1816. This was thought to have been due to the fact that the hill where the corn grew was high, and prevailing winds scoured the frost before it could settle. Seed corn was given to some Raymond citizens. They named the road they took “Egypt Road” since they were remembering the long trek to Egypt to ask deliverance via corn from Joseph to the starving masses. (Genesis 41:49; 56)

We know that in the Tribulation, geologic changes occur which eventually re-form the face of the earth. Quakes are so severe that entire islands disappear. One thing people rarely connect are the drastic changes that occur with climate in a volcanic winter. Atmospheric changes which lead to temperature changes which lead to reduced or failing crops which leads to wars to obtain the remaining food which leads to famine which leads to death which leads to pestilence…you read Revelation 6:1-8 and you see this progression.

We are so fragile, really. All our human made systems will come to naught. The poor, beleaguered earth and its animals is surely groaning. Climate change occurs when we have volcanic eruptions, or are just regularly occurring as part of the normal cycle of life on earth. The more the weather changes, the more it stays the same, if I can paraphrase Monsieur Karr’s saying. It’s all in the hands of God.

dark cloud

prophecy, theology

God is in control and He has been since before ancient days

Posted on September 26, 2019October 12, 2019 by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

This essay first appeared on The End Time in April 2010

The Hebrews use the term “Ancient of Days” for God so as not to accidentally say His name and blaspheme. Ancient of Days is a poetic sounding name, and a lovely one. It is also comforting. It rings with authority and by its own name has a timeline that precedes us mere humans and will outlast this earth and the Church Age. It is and was and forever will be, since ancient times. He and His throne IS the Ancient of Days!

Micah says:

But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah,
though you are small among the clans of Judah,
out of you will come for me
one who will be ruler over Israel,
whose origins are from of old,
from ancient times.” [Micah 5:2]

Daniel is a difficult book to interpret prophetically, but, then again, maybe not so difficult when you remember “scripture interprets scripture.” In 2 Peter 1:20 Peter wrote: But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation, He was not saying that we would not understand it. Nor is he saying that we should not try to interpret it. He was saying that the interpretations are given to us, that they are contained in the Bible.

Let’s take a look at the following from Daniel 7:15-27–

As for me, Daniel, my spirit was distressed within me, and the visions in my mind kept alarming me. I approached one of those who were standing by and began asking him the exact meaning of all this. So he told me and made known to me the interpretation of these things: These great beasts, which are four in number, are four kings who will arise from the earth. But the saints of the Highest One will receive the kingdom and possess the kingdom forever, for all ages to come.

Then I desired to know the exact meaning of the fourth beast, which was different from all the others, exceedingly dreadful, with its teeth of iron and its claws of bronze, and which devoured, crushed and trampled down the remainder with its feet, and the meaning of the ten horns that were on its head and the other horn which came up, and before which three of them fell, namely, that horn which had eyes and a mouth uttering great boasts and which was larger in appearance than its associates.

I kept looking, and that horn was waging war with the saints and overpowering them until the Ancient of Days came and judgment was passed in favor of the saints of the Highest One, and the time arrived when the saints took possession of the kingdom.

Thus he said: The fourth beast will be a fourth kingdom on the earth, which will be different from all the other kingdoms and will devour the whole earth and tread it down and crush it. As for the ten horns, out of this kingdom ten kings will arise; and another will arise after them, and he will be different from the previous ones and will subdue three kings. He will speak out against the Most High and wear down the saints of the Highest One, and he will intend to make alterations in times and in law; and they will be given into his hand for a time, times, and half a time.

But the court will sit for judgment, and his dominion will be taken away, annihilated and destroyed forever. Then the sovereignty, the dominion and the greatness of all the kingdoms under the whole heaven will be given to the people of the saints of the Highest One; His kingdom will be an everlasting kingdom, and all the dominions will serve and obey Him.

When Daniel was troubled in spirit, and the visions that passed through his mind disturbed him, he approached one of those standing there and asked him the true meaning of all that he’d been told.

“So he told me and gave me the interpretation of these things:” The student of Bible interpretation is given a gift here, because the interpretation of the verses was placed within the same chapter and only a few verses away, not far apart like in Revelation and Isaiah, for example.

—-end Daniel verses

What a blessing, that the prophet Daniel could approach the one giving the prophecy and ask for its interpretation! We can do the same, ask the Spirit to interpret the verses to us, illuminating them to our mind.

Then a few verses later we see another blessing as Daniel asks for the meaning of the fourth beast and of the horns. The vision is one of torment and anguish and war and usurpation and all sorts of chaos, but in the midst of the interpretation we receive blessing because suddenly there is order. Not order on earth, but we read of order in the heavens:

“until the Ancient of Days came and judgment was passed in favor of the saints of the Highest One, and the time arrived when the saints took possession of the kingdom.” [Daniel 7:22]

Ahh, blessed order! The Ancient of Days came! And judgment was passed. In this word judgment from the Aramaic it is not judgment as in wrath and discipline, but the word ‘din‘ as in courts. And the time arrived. You see that nothing is being done in knee-jerk response to the chaos. Nothing is reflexive, judgment is appointed to occur in due course. Indeed, in verse 26 our eyes turn from the chaos on earth yet again and seeing the court come to order. Every few lines in this passage in Daniel, we flip from earth to heaven and the chaos on earth back to heaven. This is a gift to us, the reader, for before we get too upset at the chaos that must come, we are given a picture of the orderliness.

But the court will sit for judgment, and his dominion will be taken away, annihilated and destroyed forever.

And finally in verse 27b, His kingdom will be an everlasting kingdom, and all the dominions will serve and obey Him.

From the beginning of the terrible sights that are revealed to us through Daniel’s vision, we are given knowledge of the interpretation, assurance and reminder, judgment which bespeaks of a legal solidity, a seated court who carries out the judgment in a weighty and time-appointed process, and the final blessing that it shall be so forever.

What the Bible is saying to us in this passage is that:

Scripture interprets scripture (all truth is contained in its covers, no need to guess, and it’s available to everyone)
Interpretations will be given if you ask (and you should ask)
The Ancient of Days is ancient and is in control from before Genesis 1:1 and will be forever
He does things in an orderly way through legal and weighty means in His timing and rendered through heavenly judgments and court-like atmospheres (Or actual courts in heaven),
No matter what the chaos is on earth you can always look up to find the peace and orderliness of His control from on high. Look to His word for peace and in prayer for refreshment and calm.

throne verse

What a wonderful God we serve! What a wonderful Word He has given us!

theology

Who were shepherds in the Bible?

Posted on September 25, 2019June 22, 2023 by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

Jesus is the Great Shepherd and the metaphor of shepherding His flock, with we as sheep (who have all gone astray) is used regularly. Who were actual shepherds in the Bible? A common trivia question is “Who was the first shepherd in the Bible? Answer: Abel.”

Shepherds: Abel, Abraham, Lot, Isaac, Jacob, Rachel, Laban, Jacob’s twelve sons including Joseph (Genesis 37:2), Moses, David, Mesha– King of Moab (Jordan), Doeg, Amos, the shepherds who came to honor Jesus.
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.

———————-

Joseph is noted as a keeper of flocks in Genesis 37:2. In reading Luke 2:16 after the angels and the glory light disappeared, the shepherds who had been keeping their flocks by night “hastened” to go see the Babe. The Greek word is hurry, desire earnestly, and hasten. Unlike the many thousands in Israel who had become lazy or even apostate, these shepherds hurried immediately to see and adore the baby Jesus.

So many shepherds in the Bible. I’m struck in Luke 2:16 of the shepherds “hurrying” to see and adore the Babe. When the angels reported Jesus’ birth the shepherds immediately went to Him. Do we hurry immediately to His word when we in turn receive a good report of the Lord’s work in the world today? When a soul is claimed for Him, when obvious sanctification happens? Let us turn immediately to the Word to gaze into the face of Jesus as the Shepherds did. Give Him praise, glory, and adoration frequently.

100_2186two sheep

theology

An example of a seared conscience

Posted on September 24, 2019 by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

The Bible mentions a seared conscience. The ones who bring false doctrine to the believers,

through the insincerity of liars whose consciences are seared, (1 Timothy 4:2)

According to Strong’s Greek lexicon, the word seared is cauterized, which destroys the “spiritual nerve-endings.”

Witness the scene in the desert among Joseph’s brothers. The brothers have been nursing a hatred of Joseph for many years. Jacob obviously loved Joseph the most, and such favoritism was a wedge between the brothers. It incited resentment. (Genesis 37:3-4).

Then Joseph told the brothers about his dream whose obvious interpretation was of prophesied superiority over them, which inflamed the resentment to hatred. (Genesis 37:8).

Then Joseph again told his brothers of another dream which confirmed the coming rulership over them, (Genesis 37:9), and the brothers hated Joseph even more and were jealous. (Genesis 37:11).

When the brothers were keeping flocks at Dothan, Jacob sent Joseph to them to bring back a report on how the flocks were doing. The brothers saw Joseph coming from a distance. Now, this isn’t in the Bible but human nature being what it is, I am sure that the brothers had been discussing Joseph’s dreams, the situation of favoritism with the father, and their hatred and jealousy. Such discussions, re-hashings, and tidbits are juicy and the flesh wants them more and more, and I’m sure that the more the brothers talked about it the angrier they became. They were pretty whipped up by then, I’m guessing.

And this next part IS in the Bible, Genesis 37:18, the brothers plotted to kill him. Reuben and Judah could not go quite that far when the moment came, so instead they decided to throw Joseph into a well.

Then they sat down to eat.

The Bible does not record whether Joseph cried out to the brothers while he was in the well. But human beings being like we are, I’m pretty sure Joseph would not have remained silent? “Guys, this joke’s gone far enough…Hey guys, can you get me up?…Reuben? Judah? Anyone? Anyone? Help! Don’t leave me!”

Amid this act, and whether Joseph stayed quiet or whether he cried out, the brothers ate. I don’t know about you but when I’m agitated, conscience stricken,, upset, I cannot eat. Yet their consciences were so seared they went about their usual business while their own brother was busy perhaps dying in the well.

We are sinners from the womb and there is no doubt about that!

The Lord graciously gave them a spirit of repentance later in life and the brothers were reconciled. This is not always the case with false teachers that the opening scripture speaks of. In fact, some false teachers are already marked for condemnation. (Jude 1:4).

How does a conscience become seared? Ignore it. Keep suppressing the truth in unrighteousness and see the inevitable hardening process that Romans 1:28-32 engenders. If you feel guilty about something, seek the Lord in repentance. Don’t let your spiritual nerve endings become insensate. A conscience is one of the mechanisms God graciously has given us to stay in right relationship with Him. Don’t sear it.

prophecy, theology

When is the only time people like the dark?

Posted on September 23, 2019 by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

My favorite verses. They have been since I was converted in 2004 and remain so to this day. I like the language of the KJV.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not. (John 1:1-5).

We like the light. When we enter a dark room, what’s the first thing we do? Reach for the light. If a town or city-wide blackout occurs, it’s an emergency. Standing watch in a ship sailing through the inky night, we breathe a sigh of relief when sunrise peeks over the horizon. Bright kitchens sell houses. There is even an interior design job called lighting planner, to help illuminate the home in functional and beautiful ways.

“Ahhh, the light! It’s so much better!” Let’s get a little light on the subject!” we say.

I think everyone would agree with these statements. Everyone loves light; sunlight, tanning bed light, lamp light, candlelight.

Except the lost. They like the darkness.

I switched from speaking literally to speaking metaphorically. Lost folks do not know they are in the dark.

And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. (John 3:19).

But they sort of do know they are in the dark. Does anyone sit at an internet cafe with their tablet or laptop to watch porn? Do they beat their wives in the restaurant? Do they brazenly steal office supplies in front of everyone? No. Those sins are done in the dark. They love their sins.

While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light.” When Jesus had said these things, he departed and hid himself from them. (John 12:36).

Reach for the Light! Seek the Bright glory of Jesus! Those who prefer the dark will be given outer darkness forever, for the future of those who prefer the dark is to be cast into outer darkness forever!

Then the king said to the attendants, ‘Bind him hand and foot and cast him into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ (Matthew 22:13).

lightdark

theology, word of the week

Word of the Week: Exegesis

Posted on September 22, 2019 by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

The thread of Christianity from generation to generation rests on a mutual understanding of our important words. Hence the Word of the Week.

Past Words of the Week have included Justification, Transcendence, Immanence, Propitiation, Sanctification, Glorification, Orthodoxy, Heresy, Omniscience, Aseity, and Immutability. I then went to a series examining each of the 9 characteristics of the Fruit of the Spirit: Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, and on December 29, 2018, wrapped up the Fruit series with Self-Control. Now it’s back to individual words of the week. Last week I chose Angel.

This week the word is EXEGESIS

Exegesis – the study of a particular text of Scripture in order to properly interpret it; the process of understanding a text and making plain its meaning (see 2 Timothy 2:15)

Exegesis is when a person interprets a text based solely on what it says. That is, he extracts out of the text what is there as opposed to reading into it what is not there (Compare with Eisegesis). There are rules to proper exegesis: read the immediate context, related themes, word definitions, etc., that all play a part in properly understanding what something says and does not say.

Ex- means out of. As in excuse, Latin for ‘out of’ and cause, literally, free from a charge.

Expel, ex- meaning out and pellere, to drive.

Excentric (eccentric) out of, and center.

Exegesis: exēgéomai, (Greek) I explain, interpret and ex, out

The author of the exegesis definition immediately above puts to practice the rules for interpretation he’d outlined in the Exegesis essay. He shows how to interpret Matthew 24:40, the famous statement by Jesus about two people in the field and one taken and one left. Most people who do not apply the rules for exegesis interpret that by looking at the surface and thinking it means the rapture. But does it? See for yourself.

At Ligonier, Anthony Carter’s essay outlines the Consequences of Poor Exegesis

John MacArthur asks and answers in this sermon, How Should We Interpret the Bible?

Tim Challies’ essay on two examples of exegetical fallacies (misinterpretations)

exegesis 5

prophecy, theology

The Earth without Water

Posted on September 21, 2019 by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

They cry climate change, but the climate has always regularly changed. If they worry about climate change now, they should really be worried about how MUCH the climate of earth will change when the Tribulation occurs.

In reading Revelation it’s like reading a horror story of the world’s climate. Grass burned, rivers drying, sun scorching men with heat that is so unbearable, volcanic winters, you name it. Just read Revelation 6-18 to view the upcoming changes to the climate.

Christians know that it will be due to God’s transformation of the earth in preparing it for the renewal back to how the earth was before the curse. But the climate change enthusiasts and worriers will surely be declaring “We told you so” all the while repeatedly denying that it is God in charge and making these changes. (Revelation 16:9, 11, 21…)

I found this illustration of earth without water from Physics and Astronomy Zone.

Revelation 11:6 says the Two Witnesses have the power to shut the sky, that no rain may fall during the days of their prophesying, and they have power over the waters to turn them into blood and to strike the earth with every kind of plague, as often as they desire.

No rain for three years? Wow. Crops fail and food becomes scarce, especially for the poor.

Climate change now? Please. They don’t know the climate that is about to change horrifically on God’s initiation and timing, but they will. As many as we share the Gospel with and who convert, so as to be raptured prior to these changes, there will be many millions left behind that will endure these terrible changes to the climate. It makes me sad, but it must be so. God will be glorified in the many who do come to faith during the prophesied time of Tribulation, in which the earth will groan so loudly that many will fall down and beg,

And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand? (Revelation 6:16-17).

potpourri, theology

Prata Potpourri: My friend is reading a bad book, Does God do miracles anymore? Depression, a painful weaning, more

Posted on September 20, 2019September 20, 2019 by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

I love the ladies who change out their home decor to match the season. Lots of women at this moment are swapping out their beach themed front door wreath for a fall leaves or pumpkin decoration, laying tablecloths with harvest colors, and mulling over whether to put together a cornucopia as they stow away their jar of shells and dried starfish. I really love when ladies decorate.

It’s not my thing, though. I am of the mind where when I move in to a place, I look at the empty room. I decide in practical fashion its highest and best use considering the plug locations, windows, light, and size of my furniture. I set it up, and it stays like that forever.

This is the extent of my decor: I set up a table fan in the summer and I take it down when fall comes and put the tissues in its place. See, there are two seasons at my house; hot, and cold & flu season. To be honest though, I cry when I read the Bible, pray, and watch sad movies. I go through a lot of tissues.

I’m excited the fall season is here in Georgia, my adopted home state. It’s been cooler during the day and delightful at night. The AC is off. We are predicted to have a few more days of temps in the upper 90s but those will fade away soon enough. The heat is sputtering out now. The worst is over.

I’m even more excited at my adopted home country and its imminent appearing to my tired-of-this-world eyes. But until then, the Lord’s will be done, and may the seasons change smoothly.

Here are a few items I found interesting this week.

Mike Riccardi at The Master’s Seminary asks Can I Adapt the Gospel Message to Make Evangelism Easier?

My friend Savannah Rae writes wonderfully about a painful weaning

Shona Murray, wife of biblical counselor David Murray says she never understood depression and burnout until it happened to her.

God still performs miracles. Josh Buice explains that adherents to Reformed Doctrines believe this and why it’s often a spurious charge that we don’t.

I don’t have a smartphone. I only bought a flip phone recently for safety because I drive an old car that sometimes breaks down. Like the only person sober at the table watching friends slowly get drunk, I see smartphones as a sad trickster. Here US photographer Eric Pickersgill has created “Removed,” a series of photos of people holding phantom phones that have been removed from their hands to show us how disconnected we really are nowadays. Also of interest, Tony Reinke’s book 12 Ways Your Phone Is Changing You.

I always wonder how to broach the subject to a friend who is reading a bad book. Here Rick Thomas addresses this in a clear and helpful way. How to Respond to Bad Books and Those Who Love Them

Al Mohler explains that Jesus did descend into hell, and explains from scripture, and tells why the statement is included in The Apostle’s Creed. 3-min video. He Descended into Hell.

“Keep the positivity coming my way. I need as much as I can get.”

This lady is someone of whom I am unaware, but a Facebook friend posted this 9-minute video of a woman on Youtube whose channel was about makeup and fashion. She is a British lady who in recent days discovered that she has a terminal brain tumor and only a short time to live. Her video is titled My Final Farewell”. She does not appear to be saved, and it’s a video of her final goodbye to her subscribers.

I can’t hide it anymore. If any of you see me out and about, I won’t be my glamorous self. At the end of the day, the glamour, the makeup, all of that…doesn’t matter anymore.”

Heartbreaking to discover that your life’s passion was only striving after wind. At the end of the day what DOES matter? This woman appears not to know. We know. THE GOSPEL. Salvation from God’s wrath and eternal life in glory with the Glorious One, Jesus Christ. As you go about the day, remember what really matters.

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