Palm Sunday

Today is Palm Sunday.

It’s a day that always brings back childhood memories. Growing up in Africa, palms grew everywhere. Tall, stately palms dotted every horizon and smaller bush-type palms popped up seemingly in every yard, and on every hillside.

My parents spoke fluent Yoruba, the language of the people where we lived. So we attended a Yoruba speaking church. I never understood much of what was said in church because I was not fluent in the language. However, I understood enough to know when to clap along with the music or chime in with the Amens.

My mother taught the children in Sunday School along with the help of some of the Nigerian women. Many a Palm Sunday, I have helped my mom carry in armfuls of palm branches and played along with the other children in role play of that day. One child would be Jesus, pretending to ride in on a donkey, while the rest of us waved our palm branches. Even though I couldn’t speak the language, I understood fully what the role play was all about.  

There is another place in scripture that tells of a crowd waving palm branches. This scene can be found in the book of Revelation, chapter 7, verses 9-10 where it says, “After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands; And cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb.” (KJV)

This crowd is very different from the one in Jerusalem that my friends and I mimicked. They are true believers praising God for their salvation. They are a crowd too large to number from every nation, people, and tongue.

Some years ago I was privileged to hear Steve Saint speak. He is the son of Nate Saint, the missionary to Ecuador martyred along with several other missionaries in January 1956. Steve Saint said that this verse in Revelation was the verse that drove his father and the other brave missionaries to push ahead with their evangelistic efforts to the very tribe that ended up killing them. The tribe was unreached and had a language few understood. Steve said his father and the other missionaries kept saying if people of every nation and tongue will someday stand in front of God’s throne praising Him, then the people of that rare unknown tribal tongue needed to be reached with the gospel!

It's this same calling—to help reach the unreached people of the world—that my parents heard too, and the reason I grew up waving palms on Palm Sunday alongside of other happy, laughing children whose language, culture, nationality and even skin color differed from mine. As my parents reached these others with the gospel of salvation, they reached their own child with the gospel too.

Strange and Interesting Bible Facts

Hebrews is the “Better Than” Book. This New Testament book points the way to a better life. In it you will find references to things that are better many, many times. It tells us that Christ is: better than angels (1:4), worthy of more glory than Moses (3:3), the builder of the house (the creator) and as such has more honor than the creation (3:4), a great High Priest (4:4), better than men’s high priests (5:1-2) Men swear by things that are better than themselves, but God swears by Himself (because He is better. 6:13-16) Hebrews also tells of: a better covenant enacted on better promises (8:6), a greater more perfect tabernacle (9:11), a better possession (10:34), a kingdom which cannot be shaken (a better kingdom) (12:28), and a better city (11:10 & 13:14) What could be better than that?

Micah Trivia: Micah is written by the prophet with the same name. His name means, “Who is like Jehovah” and this is the very question he asks in Micah 7:18-19. These verses by the way, are some of the most beautiful in the Bible: “Who is a God like Thee, who pardons iniquity and passes over the rebellious acts of the remnant of His possession? He does not retain His anger forever because He delights in unchanging love. He will again have compassion on us: He will tread our iniquities under foot. Yes, Thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.” (NAS)

Revelation Trivia: There is no book that has less quotes of the Old Testament than the book of Revelation but there is no book that uses the Old Testament more than than the book of Revelation.” This is a quote by Dr. Peter Gentry, a Septuagint scholar and professor at Southern Seminary and my Sunday School teacher. Dr. Gentry explained that rather than quoting the Old Testament directly, Revelation alludes to it. For instance in Rev 1:12-14 the Old Testament is alluded to at least 4 times; golden lampstands - Ex. 25:37 & 37:23, Zech 4:2; Son of man – Ezekiel 1:26 & Dan 7:13, Robe with golden girdle – Dan10:5; hair white like wool - Dan 7:9…and that is only two verses!

Plant your Garden: It will soon be spring time–time to think about planting a garden. Here’s a prescription for planting: “Sow with a view to righteousness; Reap in accordance with kindness; Break up your fallow ground, for it is time to seek the Lord until He comes and rains righteousness on you.” Hosea 10:12

Two Edged Sword

The Marks of a Christian

“For we are the true circumcision, who worship in the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh.” Philippians 3:3 (NAS)

Growing up in Nigeria, I often encountered people with scars on their faces – marks which had been purposefully carved into their faces when they were babies. This may sound like a barbaric practice but it actually had an intelligent purpose. The marks served to identify the child’s tribe and family. I have heard different reasons for the practice and am honestly not certain which one is accurate. But one report claims that it began many years ago during the slave trade. Nigeria was one of the African nations hit hardest by the trade. In those days, ships came to the west cost of Africa with men who invaded villages, and captured the people to sell as slaves. The Africans were stripped of all possessions including anything that might identify them. When babies and children became separated from their families, they grew up with no knowledge of who they were. By placing a mark on the child which distinguished which tribe and family that child belonged to, if he or she ever found his way back to his homeland, he could be identified immediately.

 The book of Revelation tells of another mark - “the mark of the Beast”.  Like the facial marks in Nigeria, the Beast’s mark will identify a group of people – those who follow the Antichrist. Do Christians have “marks” by which we can be identified? If so, what are they? What are the marks of a Christian? John 13:35 says men will know we are Jesus’ disciples if we love one another. Love then, must be one of the marks of a Christian; but are there others?

The 3^rd chapter of Philippians gives a very good description of what a believer should look like.  Philippians 3:3 says we will “worship in the Spirit, glory in Christ, and put no confidence in the flesh.” There it is – the marks of a Christian.  But what do these words mean?

Thankfully, the apostle Paul continues to explain what he meant in the rest of Philippians 3. Paul explains in great detail what it means to worship in the Spirit, glory in Christ, and put no confidence in the flesh. He says it well in verses 7-8, “But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. More than that, I count all things to be loss in the view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ.”

What about you and me? Are we worshipping in the Spirit? Are we glorying in Jesus? And the hardest question of all – are we putting any (even the smallest amount) of confidence in the flesh?

Cheery Countenance

You Want Me to Do What?

When my youngest son was in the fifth grade, he attended a Christian school. One day he surprised me with this request, “Oh Mom! My teacher has started having the kids do morning devotions. She said we could get our parents to come and do the devotions with us. So, I signed you up for tomorrow. I told my class that you would teach us all about Revelation. We are reading it right now, so I told my class you had studied it in your Bible Study and you know everything!”

Wow! What a task…but what confidence from my child. So, the next morning I would be expected to teach a class of fifth graders “everything” about the book of Revelation – in twenty minutes. And I had less than twenty four hours to prepare. The very idea made me laugh and still makes me laugh today! How does a mother answer such a request? Well, here’s what I did.

First, I explained that the Revelation was the hardest book in the Bible to understand. I also told the class that actually no one knows for sure what everything in Revelation means – great Christian scholars throughout history have studied it and held differing opinions.

Nevertheless, I had studied it for two years through a Precepts Bible study, and I did have some understanding but it would take too long to explain it all. So instead, I was going to give them a demonstration of how a person goes about studying parts of the Bible that are hard to understand. I explained that the place to go for answers when confused about a passage in the Bible was other scriptures. I told them it was okay and even helpful to see what their friends and teachers think, but what really mattered was what God had to say. God’s thoughts are recorded in the scriptures; the Bible is His word, so the best thing to do when trying to figure out what God meant is to read more of His words.

Then I gave the children a little exercise. I told them Revelation was like the huge puzzle my family works every summer while on vacation. But when my family works puzzles, we have a box with a picture on it. We can see what the puzzle is supposed to look like. However, when trying to figure out Revelation we don’t have a picture to look at, making it a very difficult task. Still, some of the puzzle pieces can be figured out.

I told them we would solve a tiny piece of the puzzle in class so they could see how it is done. Then I had my son read Revelation 1:16, “And in His right hand he held seven stars and out of His mouth came a sharp two edged sword.” (NASB) I explained that the person described in this verse is Jesus. We talked a little about whether the sword coming out of His mouth was a real sword or a symbolic one. I explained the terms, “tangible” and “intangible”. By a show of hands, about half of the class thought the sword was tangible and the other half thought it was intangible. Then, after reminding them that the place to look to understand scripture was other scripture, I had my son read Hebrews 4:12, “The word of God is quick and powerful and sharper than a two-edged sword.”(NASB) I asked them what they now thought the sword coming out of Jesus’ mouth was. One of the kids raised her hand and said she thought it was the word of God. I agreed, saying that I too thought it was God’s word. Then I asked again if the sword described in Revelation 1:16 was a tangible or an intangible sword. They all agreed it was intangible.

Next I had my son read Revelation 2:16, “Repent therefore; or else I am coming quickly and I will make war against them with the sword of My mouth.”(NASB) and Revelation 19:15, “And from His mouth comes a two-edged sword. So that it may smite the nations…” (NASB) I asked them one more time if this sword was tangible or intangible. They were stumped!

So I explained the terms finite and infinite and the fact that our knowledge is finite - or limited, but God’s is infinite - or without limits. I concluded by saying that even though we have trouble understanding this, God doesn’t. But what we can say for certain is that the two edged sword coming out of Jesus’ mouth is the word of God. Yet, it is somehow also a powerful weapon; so powerful in fact that it can smite the nations!

I don’t know about the kids but the experience was loads of fun for me!

 

 

The Two Edged Sword

“There is no book that has less quotes of the Old Testament than the book of Revelation but there is no book that uses the Old Testament more than then the book of Revelation.” – Dr. Peter Gentry

Dr. Gentry happens to be my Sunday school teacher. He is also a professor of Old Testament Interpretation at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and a brilliant man. I am very blessed to hear him teach every Sunday morning. This blog entry is derived from a point he made one Sunday in class. After saying the statement which I have quoted above, he explained that rather then quoting the Old Testament directly, it is alluded to in Revelation….Let’s explore this a little to see what Dr. Gentry meant.

“…And having turned I saw seven golden lampstands; in the middle of the lampstands one like a son of man, clothed in a robe reaching to the feet, and girded across His breast with a golden girdle. And His head and His hair were white like white wool, like snow….” Rev 1:12-14

These two verses contain numerous allusions to the Old Testament.

Seven golden lampstands - In Exodus 25:37 and 37:23, Moses speaks of the people making seven golden lampstands for the Tabernacle and in Zechariah 4:2 the prophet Zechariah has a vision where he saw a lampstand with seven lamps on it.

A son of man - Ezekiel saw “a figure with the appearance of a man” sitting on something that resembled a throne in the expanse that was above the people’s heads.(Ezekiel 1: 26) Daniel had a vision in which “one like a son of man” came up to the Ancient of Days and presented himself to Him. (Daniel 7: 13)

Robe girded with golden girdle - Daniel also saw a “man dressed in linen whose waist was girded with pure gold.” (Daniel 10:5)

Hair that was white like wool - In Daniel 7:9, the prophet Daniel saw the Ancient of Days and “His vesture was like white snow and the hair on His head was like pure wool.”

...With this verse things get interesting. The Old Testament prophet, Daniel associates the snow white appearance and wool like hair with the Ancient of Days but the New Testament apostle, John uses those words in association with the son of man. This must have messed with the minds of the Jewish people at the time John recorded his vision. They did not understand that God was three, yet one. Remember when Jesus was on trial before the Sanhedrin? The Chief priest asked Him if He was the Christ, and tore his robe accusing Jesus of blasphemy when Jesus answered in the affirmative! Why? Because they believed there was only one God. They did not understand the trinity.

Yet, in his vision, John sees the son of man with traits that are the same as the Ancient of Days!

And that is only in two verses! Just think what we would discover is we looked at the entire book!