For those of us who love God and seek to obey at all points (but knowing we fail, so we repent and try again), the persistent and entrenched disobedience of some self-proclaimed Christian women is a puzzle to us.
But then again, we read our Bibles and see 1 John 2:4 which says, The one who says, “I have come to know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him;
And we say, those who constantly disobey, (especially by preaching in church, which is a gross abomination to Jesus), who are unteachable, who reject correction, who preach a different gospel, who deny the sufficiency of the Bible by their direct revelatory stories and puffed up visions, who abandon their career of motherhood & children at home to pursue a career, whose fruit is only thorns and is bad…must not be saved.
And then we receive pushback on every point above. So it’s still a puzzle when the Bible is so clear on certain points which are easy to understand and interpret. In the collage above are some of the more prominent women who stand behind a pulpit in a church they claim is Jesus’, and preach.
Because if they had the Holy Spirit in them, He would not allow them to continue on a consistent path of rebellion. He would correct them either by opening their eyes to the proper verses, or by some drastic measure to awaken them to their transgressions. Do you think the Holy Spirit is in a woman who, for decades, disobeys? Can a Christian have a seared conscience over their persistent and public sin? Dishonoring Jesus along the way and creating stumbling blocks for the weaker sisters?
No. He killed Ananias and Sapphira to demonstrate how serious He is about sin in the church. He sent 7 letters to the churches in Revelation to show how serious He is about His church.
Above we have- Beth Moore at St Timothy’s, Aimee Byrd at Covenant Church, Rev Nancy Frausto at Seminary of the Southwest, Sadie Robertson Huff at Auburn Community Church (only age 22!), Christine Caine at Life Church, Priscilla Shirer at Concord Church.
“women should keep silent in the churches”. 1 Corinthians 14:33-34.
Ladies, be discerning. Above all, be humble. It takes humility to say ‘I followed this or that woman for a while and invested in her, with my heart, money, time, or energy, but my investment in her was misguided. Let me learn to discern better, let me be pure in my approach to obeying Jesus, let me abandon that which makes me stumble on my walk and turn to “…whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, think about these things.” (Philippians 4:8).
If you see a woman standing at a pulpit on a Sunday morning at church service and open her Bible and preach to the congregation, she is in rebellion. Though satan is subtle, and hides his schemes secretively many times, this one is an easy spot. If the woman preaches consistently (not just a one-time mistake), she is in rebellion and you can learn nothing from her.
If you’ve followed such a one for a while, just talk to Jesus about it. Repent and ask Him to give you better discernment. He will!
There is an easy way to tell if a teacher you like, follow, admire, or ‘learn from’ is false. I’m going to reveal this heretofore (not so) hidden way to detect false teachers. I could go on like the liberal theologians who say ‘this is a new method for interpreting’ or ‘I have a freshly discovered method…’ but I won’t. It’s been there all along. Here it is. Are you ready for this shocking message?
The one who says, “I have come to know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him;” (1 John 2:4).
People who say “Jesus, Jesus” but sin against him constantly by living a life contrary to His commands, or teach falsely, do not have the truth in them. In other words, they are not saved.
They are revealed to be hypocritical. As John wrote in the verse above, a person cannot have an authentic relationship with Jesus and obstinately and consistently oppose His commandments with their actions.
The inward transformation of a person results in outward transformation (compare Matt 15:11). The work of Christ in a person necessitates them acting on His behalf, out of love (1 John 3:17). Source Faithlife Study Bible
Jesus made it very easy for us. Yet so many people say “but, but, but” and make layers upon layers of excuses.
“But she talks about Jesus all the time!” Of course they do. They talk about knowing Jesus right up to the moment they face Jesus and claim to His face that they know him. But they don’t. And he says so.(Matthew 7:22-23).
“But she does so many nice things!” I know. So did the Pharisees. Outwardly they did all the right things, seemingly. But Jesus said, “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which on the outside appear beautiful, but inside they are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness.” (Matthew 23:27). Inside they were dead. They did not have the truth in them.
dead inside
“But she only to men preaches a little“. Sorry, but “whoever keeps the whole Law, yet stumbles in one point, has become guilty of all.” (James 2:10). Even a small sin, or a single transgression against God’s law, means they are guilty and due his or her just penalty.
“But lifestyle doesn’t count, and her doctrine is fine!” Sorry, but Titus 2:3-5 is only one of several standards for Christian women to adhere to a certain lifestyle. “Older women likewise are to be reverent in their behavior, not malicious gossips nor enslaved to much wine, teaching what is good, so that they may encourage the young women to love their husbands, to love their children, 5to be sensible, pure, workers at home, kind, being subject to their own husbands, so that the word of God will not be dishonored.” It is dishonoring to God to live otherwise. Men too. Lifestyle counts. So does character. Are they divisive? Slanderous? Combative? Unteachable? Then they are false.
“But you don’t know their heart!” Yes we do. In true Christians, “The Holy Spirit implanted in us a heart that can understand and love spiritual truth” says Tom Pennington in his sermon Recognizing False teachers. A false teacher is not saved and thus does not have the Holy Spirit indwelling his heart. You can detect what is in their heart because the Bible tells us these people are greedy, liars, deceivers, hypocrites, and more.
Jesus said, “By their fruit you shall know them”. Not ‘maybe, but you WILL know them. We cannot see their heart but what comes out of their mouth is what defiles them, and then we can see the evidence. Making a determination based on evidence (their fruit) is not ‘seeing their heart’. It’s making an intelligent and accurate assessment of their output.
Figs. Their fruit is rotten. EPrata photo
For example, didn’t the Pharisees make a show of praying, fasting, and worshiping? But we can see the evidence of their self-serving attitude in their lengthened tassels, announcements of fasting, pretentious prayers at the street corners, choosing the chief seats. Look beyond their show. See the fruit.
Barnes Notes says of the 1 John 2:4 verse, “Is a liar – Makes a false profession; professes to have that which he really has not. Such a profession is a falsehood, because there can be no true religion where one does not obey the law of God.“
Gill’s Exposition says, and the truth is not in him; there is no true knowledge of God and Christ in him; nor is the truth of the Gospel in his heart, however it may be in his head; nor is the truth of grace in him, for each of these lead persons to obedience.
Did you catch that reference to the heart? The truth of the gospel is not in his heart. “What is in the heart will emerge, and corrupt theology will result in a corrupt life. False teaching and perverted living are inseparable, and eventually will become manifest.” (Grace to You, “What are the Marks of a False Teacher?“)
We over-complicate things. Just go back to the Bible. A false teacher will claim to know Jesus but constantly, unrepentantly, and long term, be disobedient to His commandments.
Boats are often mentioned in the Bible. Aside from the Ark that carried Noah and his family, a once in a history boat, there is a lot of shipping going on, much traveling on boats, shipwrecks, and references to boats. There is also the symbolism of boats. Let’s dig in.
The port city of Tyre was known for his boats, shipping, and valuable products. Ezekiel 27:3, and say to Tyre, who sits at the entrance to the sea, [ports, harbors] merchant of the peoples to many coastlands, ‘This is what the Lord GOD says: “Tyre, you have said, ‘I am perfect in beauty.‘
1 Kings 9:26-27 also mentions not only ships, but a navy. Solomon used these ships to bring in much gold and silver. King Solomon also built a fleet of ships in Ezion-geber, which is near Eloth on the shore of the Red Sea, in the land of Edom. And Hiram sent his servants with the fleet, sailors who knew the sea, along with the servants of Solomon.
Numbers 24:24 also mentions ships, “And ships shall come from the coast of Chittim, and shall afflict Asshur, and shall afflict Eber, and he also shall perish for ever.“
Grain boats of Egypt. Nile River. The boats used for carrying freight are built with a narrow keel, the stern and prow, as in ancient time, rising high above the water. They are usually managed by three or four men and carry what is known as the lateen sail. This is a large triangular sail. In Joseph’s day Egypt was the great granary of the world. Source: Earthly Footsteps of the Man of Galilee, p. 47
In the New Testament also there are mentions of shipping and passenger travel. Famously, Paul was shipwrecked. Acts 27:14-44 describes in some detail a difficult passage, and Paul’s ship eventually wrecked.
What kind of boats were these? Seagoing merchant ships, Galilean fishing boats, slave triremes, pirate ships, ferries (2 Samuel 19:18) …all types.
In 1986 in the Sea of Galilee a boat was discovered. The drought had caused waters on this freshwater large lake to recede and a 27′ long, flat bottomed boat was revealed. They call it the “Jesus boat” not because it has any connection to Jesus but the style of boat dates it to about Jesus’ time. It was about 7 feet wide and could hold 10 passengers if used as a ferry boat. If used as a fishing boat it could hold about five crew members and a catch of 600 pounds up to a ton of fish. It had 4 rowing stations and a mast for a sail.
remnants of ancient boat called Jesus boat.
We usually think of these kind of boats but the ancients were masters of shipbuilding. Aside from camel or donkey, ships were the only other mode of travel. They excelled at finding way to construct large vessels to get goods or people where they needed to go.
In the writings of Pliny the Elder (AD 23–79), I discovered the table (below) about ships of antiquity. This documents the rapid advances the ancients made in ship-building technology in just a few centuries. The time period in the table is from about the seventh century BC to the end of the third century BC.
Jonah’s ship was large enough so he could ‘go down to the lowest part of the ship’ and fall asleep. (Jonah 1:5).
Below is a modern reconstruction of a Roman War Ship docked near Ephesus from Holy Land Photos. It is called a penteconter. You see the box-like structure along the side, that is where the oars would poke out. The holes above are for light and ventilation for the oarsmen. These ships typically lacked a full deck. “They were versatile, long-range ships used for sea trade, piracy and warfare, capable of transporting freight or troops. A penteconter was rowed by fifty oarsmen, arranged in a row of twenty-five on each side of the ship” says Wikipedia. These ships evolved into the more famous triremes.
There is a ‘ram’ at the bow just under the surface of the water.
There were skiffs, highly maneuverable smaller boats used to transport goods, rowboats, smaller sailboats… In fact the Romans were so good at shipbuilding they became experts at building piers to dock the many ships. Some of their piers are stronger than ours built today. How?
How Roman concrete became strong: (AI overview) “Roman concrete was made from volcanic ash, lime, volcanic rock, and seawater. When seawater interacted with the concrete, it dissolved components of the volcanic ash. This allowed new minerals to grow, including aluminous tobermorite and phillipsite. These minerals reinforced the cementing matrix, making the concrete stronger. This process continues over thousands of years.”
Paul used some maritime references to the faith. Though the Hebrew people were pastoral and agricultural, showing no inclination to become seafaring, they did know what these terms meant. In 1 Timothy 1:19, Paul wrote that some have rejected the faith ‘keeping faith and a good conscience, which some have rejected and suffered shipwreck in regard to their faith‘.
Jude warns in Jude 1:12 that false teachers are like hidden reefs which would cause the ship to be torn apart from stem to stern and sink.
Newfoundland: the skiff rounds the point widely, avoiding the visible rocks and the further hidden reef under the surface. Art high tide the rocks would be covered. EPrata photo
Hebrews 2:1 reminds us that we must pay close attention lest we “drift away”. Isaiah 57:20 refers to the wicked being like the sea itself, But the wicked are like the tossing sea, For it cannot be quiet, And its waters toss up refuse and mud.
Larry Pierce said in his article at Answers in Genesis, Just because we cannot duplicate something that was done thousands of years ago, it does not mean the ancients could not do it either!
The biblical world was full of coming and going. The ancients were experts in many things, some of which we can’t even discern how they did it! Pyramids, anyone? The ancient world is fascinating, including maritime advances.
I love learning about the major people in the Bible. I have a biography of Moses I plan to read. I read one on Paul. It’s fun to look all the verses that mention the top three apostles, Peter, John, James and learn of their backgrounds and personalities. It’s good to remind myself that these are real people, not characters in a book.
I’ve also developed a series of “Little Known Bible Characters”. The series is linked below. The ones who are mentioned a few times and which the Bible gives some details of their lives. I became curious about people such as Trophimus, Eutychus, Iddo, Esther’s Harbonah the Eunuch. There is enough in the record to be able to glean something of their lives and their service to God in providential ways.
But comes now a short essay I read from a favorite author of mine, JR Miller. He was an American who lived from 1840-1912. He was “was a popular Christian author, Editorial Superintendent of the Presbyterian Board of Publication, and pastor of several churches in Pennsylvania and Illinois” says Wikipedia.
JR Miller
We have the major people in the Bible, we have the minor people in the Bible, and we have the (seemingly) insignificant people in the Bible. JR Miller has something to say about this last group, that I thought was wonderfully comforting. Here is Pastor Miller-
Mordecai gave Hathach a copy of the decree issued in Susa that called for the death of all Jews, and he asked Hathach to show it to Esther. He also asked Hathach to explain it to her and to urge her to go to the king to beg for mercy and plead for her people. So Hathach returned to Esther with Mordecai’s message.
Then Esther told Hathach to go back and relay this message to Mordecai …” Esther 4:8-10
We are apt to overlook the minor actors in Scripture stories — in our absorbed interest in the prominent ones. Yet ofttimes these lesser people are just as important in their own place, and their service is just as essential to the final success of the whole — as the greater ones.
–The little girl in the story of Naaman the leper, is scarcely seen among the splendors of the Syrian court; but without her part, we would never have had the story at all.
–The young lad with the basket, is hardly thought of when we read the account of the miracle; but they were his loaves with which the Master fed all those hungry thousands that day on the green grass.
The smallest links in a chain — are ofttimes quite as important as the greatest links.
Hathach was one of these obscure characters. But his part was by no means unimportant. Without his being a trustworthy messenger, Mordecai’s communication with Esther would have been impossible — and the whole nation would have perished!
If we cannot do brave things like Esther, nor give wise counsels like Mordecai — we may at least be useful, as Hathach was, in faithful service. And perhaps our lowly part may someday prove to have been as essential — as the great deeds which all men praise. We may at least help some others in doing the great things that they are set to do in this world. –END JR Miller
You may feel like the smallest ant in a great civilization. You may be thinking, ‘What am I to contribute? How will the Lord use me? My spheres are so small, my resources so few…’ But God. He uses those who love Him in many ways. Naaman’s servant girl had the fewest resources of all, but she had the greatest knowledge, of the One True God. The boy with the basket had barely anything, and he isn’t even named. But his generosity and kindness speaks through the millennia.
Friend, keep living a life in obedience to God and your life itself is the service. Speak of Him where you can. Raise those children, as Eliza Spurgeon did, who was Charles’ mother and whose son became the Prince of Preachers. Even if your son or daughter is also ‘invisible’ to the world at large, no one is invisible to God. He sees all. He has placed you where you are on purpose, according to His will.
On February 28 to March 1st, 2025, there will be a global live streaming event called Gather25. It is the new version of the ten-year-old IF:Gathering, founded by Jennie Allen. In the past, the gathering has been a local annual conference to which attendees pay to attend in person and listen to messages by speakers. The usual conference arrangement.
This year, the conference will be mostly virtual. It will be beamed live globally, according to the scant information at Gather25.com ‘s website, “For 25 hours, Gather25 is inviting believers across the world to pray, repent, worship, and discover how the love of Jesus is transforming the world through everyday people.”
from Gather25.com website
It is led by Jennie Allen, in America, of course, and “Teachers, Worship Leaders, Storytellers, and Prayer Guides” from around the world, such as Malaysia, Nigeria, Australia, Mexico and other locations. Some of the names leading and teaching and praying are familiar to us here in the US, such as Christine Caine, Sadie Robertson Huff, Rick Warren, Priscilla Shirer, Louie Giglio, Kari Jobe, David Platt, Jenn Johnson, Ann Voskamp, and Francis Chan. Others from abroad may not be familiar to us, such as Dr. Peter Tan-chi, Taya, Sinach, Patrick Fung, and so on.
From the website: “Through live-streaming technology, the Global Church will connect together for prayer, worship, repentance and commissioning. Each continent will host a portion of the 25 hours. There will be stories told of what God is doing on each continent. There will be powerful times of worship. And there will be a worldwide “sending out” of the workers to the harvest“.
Back in 2014 when the first gathering was held, there were no public announcements or advertisements, it was mostly word-of-mouth that people learned of its existence. Blogs and social media were the primary venues for alerting interested people. Further, the speaker list those first few years was a secret, you could not know who was speaking, thus a discerning person could not vet the person who may or may not be delivering truth. Despite the secrecy, tickets for that first in-person conference sold out in 42 minutes. Since then, IF:Gathering has proved immensely popular and has only grown.
From Gather25.com website
But even before the first actual conference in 2014, seven years prior, Jennie was going about her day, or night, she’s unclear on which, she “heard a voice from the sky”. Allegedly this ‘voice’ told her to “gather and equip your generation.” She was astounded by this and was flummoxed as to how to go about it because she was a stay-at-home-mom without resources, but from the beginning of when she heard the voice, according to her, she’d wait to see how ‘God’ would equip her.
If that anecdote Allen told at her first event in 2014 wasn’t enough to turn off a Christian woman, Allen’s premise for the ‘ministry’ is this: “IF God is real, then what?“
How can a ministry purporting to teach about God to women begin with supposing He may not be real?
From Gather25.com website. Notice it says ‘from every denomination, for anybody who follows Jesus…including a ‘denomination’ that is heretical? Mormons? Catholics? Orthodox? Dangerous! We should not be blindly affirming people outside of the faith as in the faith. Mt 7:21-23 applies!
Gather25’s stated “mission is to mobilize our world’s 2.5 billion Jesus followers to share the Gospel with the 5.5 billion people who do not know Him“. This is a good thing, right? Energizing people with prayer, focusing on repentance, commissioning them as Matthew 28 tells us to? Well, hold on. All that glitters is not gold. Just as with Allen obeying a voice from the sky and basing her organization on doubting God’s existence, most of the American teachers and leaders listed as part of Gather25 are false teachers. It has always been so even with the in-person IF:Gathering. It is a percolating vat of false-false-false teachers, doctrine, and music. And likely all or most the rest of them from other continents are false too.
And like in any horror movie, while you’re not looking, the evil monster grew tentacles and comes at you from different directions. IF:Gatheringgrew numerous ministry arms of ministry such as IF:Local, IF:Equip, IF Table, IF:TV, IF:Lead, and IF:Pray. Allen said the central hub of “making disciples” is a major part of all of these.
I have concerns about a woman-led, no male oversight, para-church ministry making disciples. That is the church’s job, to preach unto repentance, be baptized into a local body with male leaders, who observe your growth, decide when you are ready for ministry, then repeat, multiplying men (and women) for local ministry. Granted, some are set apart to leave the local church for missions or evangelizing, but not without having been home-grown, as they say. The Bible does not show any design or structure for making disciples that’s distinct from the local church.
The IRS tax forms for IF:Gathering state their mission- “To gather a new generation of women, equip them with the tools to know God more deeply and live out their purposes and unleash a movement to promote healing and reconciliation around the world.”
What IS global ‘healing’ and ‘reconciliation around the world’?
According to IF:Gathering’s first mission statement, we read this from their IRS tax return: We hope to prepare women around the world to know God more deeply and to live out their purposes by sharing comments and feelings about daily passages posted online.
Feelings.
Jennie heard the ‘voice’ one day 7 years prior to her first IRS tax return for her by-then incorporated company. She is listed a President/CEO from the years 2013-2020, working 40 hours per week. From 2021 to the present, she is listed as Founder, still affirming to the IRS she works 40 hours per week. Jennie has 4 children. When she first heard the voice and began her journey toward incorporation in 2013 and the first gathering in 2014, her children were under the age of 5. She was raising four young children AND working 40 hours/week as President and CEO of a growing company?
This should not be. The biblical standards for women are that their primary orientation should be toward the home, in the home, and focused on raising her children, not siphoning women from their own churches to promote ‘reconciliation around the world’.
I have written warnings about Allen and her IF:Gathering numerous times. Her premise is false, her organization competes with and siphons women away from the local church, it presents false doctrine by false teachers, and affirms a working mother lifestyle to which the Bible disagrees. The only thing Jennie Allen ‘gathers’ is false doctrine and making false disciples.
Recently Amy Spreeman and Michelle Lesley focused on the new Gathering25 in an episode on their podcast A Word Fitly Spoken, which I commend to you. Their research and warnings about this new version of IF are biblically based and well done, as always.
Shakespeare famously said “all that glitters is not gold”. We must be discerning. Just because an organization says the right words such as commissioning, repentance, prayer, Jesus, et cetera, does not mean they know the Jesus to whom the pray, teach about, or commission into ministry. And by the way, it is up to the local church to commission. How can a speaker in Africa commission some woman in Idaho for biblical ministry?! How does a leader in Australia know if some lady in Britain is ready to serve Jesus?
I remember 11 years ago Beth Moore led a “commissioning” at the Unwrap the Bible conference. I looked askance at that ‘commissioning’, too.
Please be discerning as to who you allow into your home, mind, and heart. I’d suggest to avoid this Gathering25, and focus on gathering at your own local church and serve there, and in your home, as Jesus designed it to be.
I saw this on Twitter/X. I loved Amy Spreeman’s reply to it.
The history of this holiday is murky. It is supposedly honoring to a long-ago martyr called Saint Valentine of Rome who was a priest martyred in 269. The Anglican Communion, Lutheran Church, and the Catholic Church officially celebrate the holiday.
But Valentine’s day was not a huge deal until Chaucer referenced it in a poem about “Valentine’s Day” in the Medieval times of the 1300s. Exchanging cards expressing love on the day wasn’t popular until the middle of the 1800s, when manufacturing production increased due to the Industrial Revolution, postal rates became affordable, and stamps were invented. The ‘modern age’ of Valentines cards began. No one is quite sure of the drift toward the holiday being centered around romance and love. But here we are, drowning in the color red, Hallmark cards, romantic expectations, and some notion of love.
This is today’s point. Love. I’d said ‘some notion of love.’ The Bible shows us what God expects of love. God IS love. He has set forth in His word instructions for who to love, and how to love. He ordained marriage as a pairing with love for Him as the foundation, and love for each other on earth so long as you both shall live once united in matrimony. Love among and between the brethren is described in 1 Corinthians 13:4-7.
The photo of the cards I opened with is significant. It is obvious the world does not know what love is. The word ‘love’ is by now so watered down it’s equated with casual colleagues from work, even love from a pets’ point of view!
The Bible speaks much of the concept of love. Yes, it’s an emotion. But it is also a concept into which we dive, choosing it at all points in life and not simply feeling it temporally.
The unsaved do not know love. They do not know how to love. Yes, they love, but not according to God’s standards. (1 Corinthians 13:4-7). The unsaved can show care and concern. But they do not love in holiness or righteousness.
Furthermore, the stumbling, unsaved kind of love is perplexing. I remember being an adult and wondering what love was. I had not grown up in a loving family. I was briefly married, but he became an adulterer and left the marriage for the other woman. At that point in my life I truly wondered what love was. Where it was. How to obtain it. Love was so absent, so warped, so confusing, I didn’t know if I even wanted it anymore.
The 1984 Foreigner song “I wanna know what love is” was popular on the radio. I listened to it every time it came on, mouthing the same words what the singer was asking-
I’ve gotta take a little time A little time to think things over. I better read between the lines In case I need it when I’m older. This mountain, I must climb Feels like a world upon my shoulders. Through the clouds, I see love shine. Keeps me warm as life grows colder. In my life, there’s been heartache and pain, I don’t know if I can face it again. Can’t stop now, I’ve traveled so far To change this lonely life. I wanna know what love is. I want you to show me.
But WHO? Who can show me? That was the question. I didn’t know…until God in His timing showed me. We can only know what love truly is when we understand Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection. When we understand the Gospel. That is knowledge we can never gain on our own, but God has to show us.
I learned about love 20 years later when Jesus came into my life and awakened my soul. Twenty years is a long time on earth but not a long time in eternity. I am glad He came at all, choosing to save me from my ignorant life of pagan love and showing me what love is. It’s not a Valentine card. It’s the Gospel.
Adrian Simancas was kayaking with his dad off the coast of Bahía El Águila near the San Isidro Lighthouse in the Strait of Magellan. This is at the very tip of Chile where there are a series of islands, through which ships pass so as not to round Cape Horn all the way at the bottom of Chile. Antarctica is not far below that.
So his dad was behind Adrian, with a camera on, recording. And on a nice , cold day, the pair were kayaking around. When suddenly a humpback whale came up and swallowed Adrian and his inflatable kayak. They disappeared from view.
A few seconds later Adrian is spit out, as he reappears at the surface yards away from the spot where he’d disappeared into the whale’s gullet, and moving sideways fast. A moment later came the yellow kayak.
What was going through is mind as he lost the view of the shore and the sky and was engulfed in darkness?
“I thought I was dead,” Adrián told The Associated Press. “I thought it had eaten me, that it had swallowed me.”
It takes a bit for the mind to comprehend sudden, incredible circumstances you’re experiencing. But his assessment of the situation was correct. To be swallowed by a whale usually means you’re dead. Prophet Jonah had said,
I called for help from the depth of Sheol; You heard my voice. For You threw me into the deep, Into the heart of the seas, And the current flowed around me. All Your breakers and waves passed over me. So I said, ‘I have been cast out of Your sight. Nevertheless I will look again toward Your holy temple.’ Water encompassed me to the point of death. The deep flowed around me, Seaweed was wrapped around my head. (Jonah 2:2b-5).
Adrian said he was in terror. “I thought I had died. And no, there was nothing I could do.”
Jonah, rebellious as he was, knew what to do. He prayed.
But You have brought up my life from the pit, Lord my God. While I was fainting away, I remembered the Lord, (Jonah 2:7).
What did it feel like? In this CNN news interview, Adrian said he felt a strong movement, stronger than a wave on his neck, then felt a “slimy texture on my face.” He said he could see colors like blue and white approaching him, then it went dark.
Adrian’s next thought as he was spit onto the surface, was that the whale would do something to his father. He next became concerned about getting to shore quickly to avoid hypothermia. His father paddled over and comforted his son.
Adrian in the end decided that the whale was curious, or perhaps wanted to communicate something.
There isn’t much more to the story than that. The video is only 59 seconds long. The only lessons here are: enjoy a quirky and unusual story. Secondly, you are clicking along in life and the next second everything changes. Something dramatic could happen to anyone at any time. Third, and most important, there is ALWAYS something you can do, and that is to ‘remember the Lord, and pray to Him.’ When circumstances change dramatically, as they did for Jonah, for Job, for Mary…knowing the Lord is the best comfort, refuge, and answer as to “why?!”
But God…
Jonah concluded his prayer:
But I will sacrifice to You With a voice of thanksgiving. That which I have vowed I will pay. Salvation is from the Lord.
I thought this caption in the video was hilarious:
I’m going through the John MacArthur Daily Bible. A week or so ago I was in Exodus 18. I’ve been thinking about a sweet scene in that chapter. There are a lot of important scenes in Exodus, and some hard scenes, but this one was sweet and left an impression on me.
Exodus 18:13 – “¶ And it came to pass on the morrow, that Moses sat to judge the people: and the people stood by Moses from the morning unto the evening.” art from Bible.art
It’s when Moses’ father-in-law Jethro comes to Moses after the Exodus at the Red Sea and escape from Pharaoh.
When Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, came with his sons and his wife to Moses in the wilderness where he was camped, at the mountain of God. 6And he sent word to Moses: “I, your father-in-law Jethro, am coming to you with your wife and her two sons with her.” 7Then Moses went out to meet his father-in-law, and he bowed down and kissed him; and they asked each other about their welfare, and went into the tent.
8Moses told his father-in-law everything that the LORD had done to Pharaoh and to the Egyptians for Israel’s sake, all the hardship that had confronted them on the journey, and how the LORD had rescued them. 9And Jethro rejoiced over all the goodness which the LORD had done for Israel, in rescuing them from the hand of the Egyptians. 10So Jethro said, “Blessed be the LORD who rescued you from the hand of the Egyptians and from the hand of Pharaoh, and who rescued the people from under the hand of the Egyptians.
11Now I know that the LORD is greater than all the gods; indeed, it was proven when they acted insolently against the people.” 12Then Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, took a burnt offering and sacrifices for God, and Aaron came with all the elders of Israel to eat a meal with Moses’ father-in-law before God.
The impressive scene goes on afterward when Jethro observes Moses judging Israel and the heavy burden it was, and gives Moses counsel to appoint men and delegate the responsibility in various ways. It was wise and good advice.
Exodus 18:24 – “So Moses hearkened to the voice of his father in law, and did all that he had said.” Illustration from Bible.Art
So I got to wondering how often we mimic the Jethro scene in our lives in this century. How often do we have dinner and break bread together, and discuss the wonder that is God? Or exult over what He has done for His people in general and us personally? Do we give or accept wise advise from elders?
Jethro seemed to be available when Moses needed him and retreated when not needed to allow Moses to live his life. Jethro was an observant and loving father-in-law!
The scene was a good reminder for me to be prepared to glorify the Lord with my words, recounting His deeds and ways in conversation. Being available for loved ones, keenly observing otherwise and ready to step in. Think about the Moses-Jethro relationship and see how we can model ourselves after these Bible people who came before us.
I was saved in my early 40s, so that means I spent a lot of years groping, searching, trying to find that perfect recipe that will allow my restless soul to rest. Of course, only Jesus fulfills that.
I enjoyed books and television shows that showed an alternate world. A world that seemed near enough to touch, if I just knew where to reach out my hand. Ones like The Librarians, Warehouse 13, Harry Potter, the Narnia closet and so on. As a child, reading The Secret Garden was a wonder. It was fascinating to me to think that an alternate world existed so close we could touch it, IF we could see it. IF we could find it.
Where was it?!
2 Kings 6:17 has a glimpse for us- Then Elisha prayed and said, “Lord, please, open his eyes so that he may see.” And the Lord opened the servant’s eyes, and he saw; and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.
As I approached the momentous moment of salvation, my ‘search’ for the alternate world became more visual as I crafted and made booklets and journals in my bookbinding phase. I had a palpable sense that there was another world nearby. I desperately sought it. That restlessness of spirit is a real thing. Bunyan wrote about it. he searched for a few years before the Lord graciously saved him. Spurgeon too. It’s frustrating to have that deep feeling of pointlessness (“vanity” says Ecclesiastes) and not be able to salve it. Only the Lord can do that, and only in His timing and will.
Here is one of the pages that I made when I was searching.
Of course, we can seek and seek but we will never find that world (heaven) until and unless the Lord God above reveals it to us. We are blind and cannot see. We grope for what we cannot attain. The Lord Jesus is the One who can open our eyes.
Several Bible verses speak of opening our spiritual eyes.
Ephesians 1:17-18, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him. 18 I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints,
Isaiah 35:5, Then the eyes of those who are blind will be opened, And the ears of those who are deaf will be unstopped.
The gratitude I feel 19 years later that the Lord deigned to wash me, stand me on my feet out of the muck, and give me eyes to see HIM, never diminishes. I remember that hopeless feeling of searching for something that I could not see.
Now having ‘eyes’ to see His wonders through the word, being able to glorify Him in my life and deed through obedience, to know He created this world and the universe and all that is in it, well, there is nothing better.
I watch Youtube for a few topics, among them, thrifting videos. I like to learn about antiques and vintage items and their production, origin, or history. I watch some content creators who are Christians but most are not Christians, they are just living their lives and making money by making these videos as their job.
As we go along in their walk with Christ, we become more and more saturated with a biblical worldview. Our former secular worldview is increasingly shaved away. No longer blind, we now see. Many times what we see is sad, because we are increasingly recognizing the ‘lostness’ of the people around us. They are searching, groping.
We grope for the wall like people who are blind, We grope like those who have no eyes. We stumble at midday as in the twilight; Among those who are healthy we are like the dead. (Isaiah 59:10).
Jesus talked of people blindly stumbling as they went along, even falling into a pit. It’s a vivid metaphor for the lost, who vainly search for what they know now and even if they find it, reject it.
He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation, that they would seek God, if perhaps they might feel around for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; (Acts 17:26-27)
So this one thrifting video lady I watch on Youtube had a video recently where she was at home, not thrifting, and just spoke from her heart. She said she had been doing thrifting-reselling videos for 13 years. For the past year or so, she said, she’s been spiraling. She feels like she is losing her identity as a person and as a content creator.
“It’s causing me some emotional turmoil at times. I’m struggling with my identity because I feel like pieces of my identity are being taken from me piece by piece and when those pieces are taken away I’m no longer an original. I’m not who I thought I was. I’m having an identity crisis. If I’m no longer me who am I this has been my question for the past months who am I what am I doing?”
She said what she does for work is becoming monotonous. She needs something new, she said to the camera.
She s groping for meaning in her life, if I may state my opinion about her self-revealing video. What to do when the “thrill of the find” wears off? The rush you get from finding the exact treasure at Goodwill that you didn’t know you needed, wears off. It’s fleeting. The rush of adrenaline from selling that item for more money than you paid for it, also wears off. It’s fleeting.
It is the same no matter what you do in this life. Whatever you try, it will not be fulfilling. I know. I’ve been there. During my groping years I sought fulfillment in a different job, fame, travel, books, justice, education (wisdom), people, you name it. I still groped, stumbled, and remained unfulfilled. Who am I? What was I doing in this life? What is my identity, just a blob of flesh that in the end, dies and decomposes? Yes, I actively wondered about these things.
The Book of Ecclesiastes is all about that seeking and not finding. The “Preacher”, usually attributed to King Solomon, reveals that depression will inevitably result when seeking happiness in worldly things. The world cannot satisfy. It only leads to emptiness and despair.
So the Youtube lady shared in her video that to resolve her identity crisis and to stop ‘struggling’, she bought a house that she will turn into an AirBnB. THAT will give her new resolve to enjoy her life she intimated. She needed another layer to her life “to hold onto.” As far as I know she is also married with a child or children.
So, her solution was simply more of the same, to thrift for items, but this time to decorate a different house, an AirBnB house instead of her own house or to resell. It won’t work.
I was saddened by this admission and more saddened by her attempted resolution. It got me thinking about Apostle Paul. He was strong, resolute, and diligent in his walk. He was also emotional. He wept for his churches. He mourned over the lost. He cried over the Corinthians’ unruliness. He was angry with the Galatians incipient defection.
Paul cried a lot-
Acts 20:19, serving the Lord with all humility and with tears and trials which came upon me through the plots of the Jews;
Acts 20:31, Therefore, be on the alert, remembering that night and day for a period of three years I did not cease to admonish each one with tears.
2 Corinthians 2:4, For out of much affliction and anguish of heart I wrote to you with many tears; not so that you would be made sorrowful, but that you might know the love which I have especially for you.
Philippians 3:18, For many walk, of whom I often told you, and now tell you even as I weep, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ,
He cried because he was concerned for others’ spiritual well-being. He cried because he had a passionate commitment to God’s work. He cried over the lost of the world in deep spiritual grief. He cried because he loved Jesus so much and wanted everyone to know Him as well.
May we all have such concern, compassion, and such care for the people around us and the people in the world. They are lost, groping, and wondering why they do not feel a deep sense of restful satisfaction. We know. The restful, peaceful soul knows Christ.
