Month: March 2018

A Thief in the Night

Published by mhelbert on March 30, 2018

O thief!
Come to take my own!
Stealth’ly by darkness come,
Enriched, by silence gone.

One of the lasting metaphors that has been used by those who support some sort of rapture theology is that of the “Thief in the Night.” The idea for this comes from the Christian Bible. There are a couple passages where this is found. One is in 1 Thessalonians chapter 5.

Verse 2: For you yourselves know full well that the day of the Lord will come just like a thief in the night.

The other is from the Gospel according to Matthew 24:43:

But be sure of this, that if the head of the house had known at what time of the night the thief was coming, he would have been on the alert and would not have allowed his house to be broken into.

This metaphor became so popular in the early 1970’s that in 1972 a really bad movie entitled, you guessed it, “A Thief in the Night” was produced. It attempted to show the life of a young woman who was ‘left behind’ by showing the audience all of the opportunities that she had to make a decision to follow Christ as Lord and Savior. She didn’t. So, consequently, she wasn’t ready when the call came. The movie even used Larry Norman’s song for it’s theme song.

Now, to be clear, I think the metaphor as written in the scriptures is a good one. It projects the idea that the day of the Lord will come without warning. It will come as a surprise. Both Jesus and Paul wanted those to whom they were communicating to know that there will be nothing that will show them that a storm is coming.

So, be prepared!

“Ok, I get it already! This big whatever thing is gonna happen. And, I’ve got to somehow prepare for it. But How?”

I’m glad you asked!

First, let’s look at how not to prepare. It’s not about going out and buying ADT or some other alarm system to protect your home. There’s no system available to protect against the Day of the Lord. A device that alerts a third party will not be sufficient. Bottom line: no one else can prepare for you.

Both of the passages do, however, contain instructions for preparation if we look.

In Thessalonians Paul emphasized the fact that the thief strikes in darkness. But, he considered the folks he wrote to be ‘children of light and the day.’ His encouragement to them was, in order to be prepared for that day they should live like children of light. All of the activities that took place after sundown, like sleeping and drunkenness should be avoided. They, in order to be prepared, must be sober and awake. The important takeaway from this is that those who follow Christ are destined for life and salvation, not death and destruction. (Yeah, Paul mixed metaphors and wrote in circles sometimes. But, he meant well.)

Jesus, on the other hand, followed the warning about the Day of the Lord with parables that described what it meant to be prepared. These are found in at the end of Chapter 24 and all of Chapter 25.

I’m not going to go into detail with these parables. That would require an entire volume on its own. I simply want to show a distinction between thinking and doing.

The first is basically a warning to be vigilant. Jesus used the image of a faithful servant performing the tasks that his master, who has gone away on a long trip, left for him to do. The servant has no idea when the master will return. So, he must be faithful to his duties.

The second parable is about ten virgins who were waiting for the arrival of a certain bridegroom. Part of their responsibilities was to carry some kind of lamp or torch. Five of them brought extra oil for the lamps; five did not. The bridegroom eventually showed up to the party. The five who were ‘prepared’ with extra oil went into the party. The other five had to find a Walmart where they could buy some more oil. By the time they got back, the party had started and they were locked out. Because they were NOT prepared, they were not selected. The point being, to live wisely means be prepared for God’s reign.¹

The third is about a man who went on a journey. He called his servants and gave each of them a certain amount of money. While he was away, two of the servants invested the money in some way. Through their work they were able to double their investments. The third servant chose to simply bury the money in order to keep it safe.

When the master returned he called the servants to give an account of his money. The two who had good return on their investments were praised and rewarded. The one who hid the money was scolded and punished.

This parable is NOT about money! It in no way supports any kind of so-called prosperity gospel. Where the first parable encourages folks to be prepared, this one shows one way that may be expressed.

We get a glimpse of servants behaving like, well, servants. Two of them execute their duties faithfully. One does not. That’s the point! This parable is “concerned that disciples may fail to be disciples.²” In order to be prepared for the Coming of the Son of Man, Jesus told his disciples that they must continue to be faithful in all things. Even if it takes a long, long time.

The last parable is long and chock full of stuff. It pictures something that has become known as the Final Judgment. The scene shows the Son of Man returning in power. All the nations of the world come to him. The text states that he will separate the nations in the same way a shepherd may separate sheep from goats. The criteria that he uses to separate appears to be based on how each group treated others. The “goats” did not show compassion to people who were hungry or thirsty; sick or in prison. They did not welcome strangers nor clothe those who were naked. The others, the “sheep,” did those things. Both groups were said to have actually done these, or not, to the Son of Man himself.

Those in the first group were not selected to remain and live with the Son of Man. They were summarily ‘cast out.’

The second group, however, were commended and welcomed.

Like I said, there are a lot of things packed into this one story. I’m not going to go into detail here. This parable’s place within the CONTEXT of the larger passage is what I want to get at.

The focus of this story is NOT judgment. Although, judgment cannot be wholly dismissed. Snodgrass wrote, “We cannot avoid the focus on judgment in Jesus’ teaching, but our concern must be with the function of the language to arrest, warn, and force consideration, not to give a description of the judgment.³”

This parable, while set on a stage with props that indicate a courtroom, is not a judicial story. It’s emphasis is first and foremost on compassion. Secondly, it alludes to the idea that there will be consequences for the way that disciples of Jesus treat the oppressed. The images that Jesus uses are aimed at motivating the disciples to compassion and good works to alleviate suffering. As Snodgrass aptly put it, “A person cannot be a follower of Jesus and be void of compassion, which is at the heart of his gospel.⁴”

Take a minute and let that sink in. It’s a powerful statement that deserves our time to consider it.

Ok, let’s summarize.

Yes, there will be hard times.
Yes, the Son of Man will return.
No, He will not ‘snatch’ some chosen few to fly away into some heavenly bliss.
Yes, some will be ‘selected’; other will not.
How can we know if we’re ‘selected?’

BE PREPARED!

How can we be prepared?
By BEING faithful and compassionate.

I will, hopefully, pull all of this together in the next, (last?), post in this series.

As always, please use the comments to share your questions or other thoughts on this post.

And, please share this with your friends!

¹ Snodgrass, Klyne R., Stories with Intent: A Comprehensive Guide to the Parapbles of Jesus, William B. Eerdmans, Grand Rapids, 2008, p. 518.

² Snodgrass, Klyne R., Stories with Intent: A Comprehensive Guide to the Parapbles of Jesus, William B. Eerdmans, Grand Rapids, 2008, p. 536.

³ Snodgrass, Klyne R., Stories with Intent: A Comprehensive Guide to the Parapbles of Jesus, William B. Eerdmans, Grand Rapids, 2008, p. 536.

⁴ Snodgrass, Klyne R., Stories with Intent: A Comprehensive Guide to the Parapbles of Jesus, William B. Eerdmans, Grand Rapids, 2008, p. 561.

As It Was In The Days of Noah

Published by mhelbert on March 24, 2018

Hey! Sorry it’’s been awhile since I visited here. I got sidetracked by some light reading, ”God’s Ecstasy: The Creation of a Self-Creating World” by Beatrice Bruteau. It’s a short book about what a Trinitarian philosophy of cosmology might look like. Pretty good stuff!

Anyway, back to our tale!

So far we’ve looked at a couple of passages from the Christian Bible that have been twisted out of context in order to build a dispensational house of cards. These passages, however, when read in their own historical, cultural, and literary contexts reveal meanings that are actually consistent with the whole of the canon. They show Paul as a caring pastor concerned for frightened and confused sisters and brothers at Thessalonica. I explained how folks in the first century Roman world would have received honored guests into their city. We also read how Jesus explained to his followers that he believed the magnificent Temple of the Jews in Jerusalem would ultimately be destroyed.

There are just a couple other points that I want to touch on before I call this series complete. (At least for now. Perhaps, I’ll work on it and polish it up a bit in order to publish a short e-book. That is, if there is any interest in one. Thoughts, anyone?)

In the passage from the Gospel according to Matthew that I cited in a previous post Jesus talked about the days of Noah and how two people together would suddenly become only one person. What in the world was he talking about?

Some commentators read this literally and say,” Well, the days of Noah must mean that sin and evil is everywhere. So, God has no choice but to get the righteous folks to safety so that God can destroy all of those other mean nasty people.” That’s one way to look at it. The Hebrew scriptures do tell a rather dire tale about Sons of God and daughters of men and evil and violence and all sorts of stuff not suitable for children.

But, is that the point that Jesus wanted to make here?

Other commentators pick up on the bit about eating and drinking; marrying and being given in marriage. They emphasize the fact that life was going on as usual. Folks were engaged in the everyday activities of life. They had no idea what was going to happen. They had no idea that life as they knew it was about to end. Considering the context of this passage, I think this interpretation is a good place to start.

So, it appears that Jesus is doing a couple of things. One, he’s letting the guys know that something big is going to happen. The Temple will be destroyed, there will be wars, and their whole way of life was going to be turned upside down. The second thing is, no one except God the Father knows when this will happen. (There may also be an underlying message that says, “So, since you can’t know when, don’t waste time and energy trying to figure it out.”)

Immediately after bringing Noah into the picture, Jesus added the bit about 2 people doing stuff together. One of these was “taken” while the other was “left behind.” This picture has been used by Darbyists to somehow ‘prove’ that their idea of a rapture is accurate. “Look!,” they say. “Even Jesus talked about the rapture!”

Well, no. He didn’t.

If they understood how translations of ancient texts actually worked, they may have come to different conclusions. But, alas, they seem to think that Jesus and Paul and Peter and all of the other Biblical writers spoke and wrote in English. Many of them even think they all used King James English! Hey folks! I’ll let you all in on a secret. They didn’t. They spoke in various languages from Hebrew and Aramaic to Greek and Latin. No English! Surprise!

Because of this we need to translate those ancient texts into words and sentences using rules of syntax and grammar that we understand. These translations must provide us with an accurate understanding of what the writer was trying to communicate to his/her original audience. That is a tough job. Not least because the words that the writers used do not necessarily correspond to an exact word that we use today. Nor, does a word that we do use have the same meaning that it did thousands of years ago. Fortunately, there are scholars who are able to make these linguistic leaps over time and space. Most of the translations that we have today are pretty good. They can’t, however, get all of the nuance and cultural shades of meaning 100% of the time. I believe that this passage is one where we may be able to mine a bit more meaning.

Two key words that were used are usually translated, as noted above; “taken” and “left behind.” The folks who are “taken” are presumably those who were mentioned in verse 31 as “chosen” and gathered from the four winds. The others were not.

However, as I just wrote, not all words translate one to one with our modern English. (To be accurate, however, there is definitely a choice being made. What the criteria for choosing, however, is not clear.)

The first word is paralambanō. The meaning carries the idea of “taking to oneself”; “taking into fellowship”; “to bring along with.” In a narrower sense it can mean “to select” or “choose.” In this case the verse can mean that two people were together and one was “selected to come along with.” It’s not necessarily a hard meaning of “chosen.” There are other words that would fit that meaning better. But, this is softer. It’s more like a ‘Well done! Now, come along with me’ kind of idea. It is not equivalent to ‘Snatched!’ in Thessalonians.

The second word is aphiēmi. This word has many uses in Greek. And, like any translation, context drives the meaning. In this case it carries a nuanced meaning of “to leave or to set aside.” For us this would indicate that for some reason the second person was not chosen. They were “set aside,” or “bypassed.”

The popular understanding of this whole section of Matthew is that those who believe in Jesus as Messiah and have made a conscious choice to follow him, those who have been “born again,” will be the people who are ‘chosen’ and, therefore, ‘taken’ away from the nasty stuff mentioned earlier in the chapter. They will subsequently live happily ever after in the great by and by sipping lemonade and playing harps.

This passage, however, doesn’t present that broad picture. It presents something that is much narrower in scope.

Let’s take a look at it using Mike’s Paraphrase, shall we?

Jesus told his disciples many things that would happen at the coming of the Son of Man. There would be wars and famines. Natural disasters would occur. “Keep an eye out for these things!” he said.

“This day will come just like that day in Noah’s time. People will be going about their own business. They’ll be living life as they always have. Then, like the sudden coming of the flood, so, too, will be the coming of the Son of Man.

There will be two people doing the same thing. There will be no apparent differences between them. Yet, one will be chosen and the other rejected. How will they be chosen or not? God only knows. But, You! You be prepared! Don’t be like those in Noah’s time who were caught off guard and surprised. Behold! You have been told!”

The whole idea of this passage is to warn the disciples of that day when the Son of Man would come. They were to be aware of what was going on around them and prepare themselves. Jesus did not want them to be caught off guard.

There is nothing in this passage that states any particular order of events. Nor, is there anything indicating that certain actual events were going to take place. It is Jesus telling his disciples to not become complacent. But, to always be fully awake and watchful.

Jesus, himself, states this quite clearly in the very next verse.

Therefore, be on the alert, for you do not know which day your Lord is coming.

The next several verses in Matt. 24 explain this a bit further. Then all of Matt. 25 explains how to live as awake and watchful people.

But, that’s a topic for a different post.

I have one more topic to touch on before I wrap this whole thing up.

In the next part we’ll take a quick look at thieves and how they relate to what we’ve discussed here.

As always, please share this with your friends! The more the merrier!

Please share any thoughts or comments in the Comments section.

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Not One Stone Will Be Left Upon Another

Published by mhelbert on March 7, 2018

That song by Larry Norman had a lot in it about wars and people disappearing. Back in the 70’s when we were singing it the world was still mired in war in Southeast Asia. The cold war looked more and more like it could become ‘hot’ at any moment. There were seismic shifts in Western culture. Young people rose up against the “establishment” while those in power doubled down on their resolve to maintain the status quo at any cost. Many of us listened to this song and read the stories that Jesus told and began to do the math. We were sure that the end of the world was imminent.

One of those stories that Norman used in his song was from the Gospel according to Matthew.

Matthew 24:36-41
36 But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven,
     nor the Son, but the Father alone.
37 For the coming of the Son of Man will be just like the days of Noah.
38 For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking,
     marrying and giving in marriage, until the day
   that Noah entered the ark,
39 and they did not understand until the flood came and took them all
     away; so will the coming of the Son of Man be.
40 Then there will be two men in the field; one will be taken and one will
     be left.
41 Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken and one will
     be left.
(New American Standard Bible, 1995 update, LaHabra, CA, The Lockman
Foundation.)

Wow! There’s talk about wars. We have Noah and the flood. There’s a bunch of eating and drinking and marriages. Then there’s that bit about 2 people doing something when suddenly, one of them is ‘taken’!

A lot of folks look at these verses and see a graphic description of the ‘End Times’ and the rapture. “Look,” they say. “All that partying and debauchery and nasty stuff. Just like we said! Then ‘poof!’ The righteous one gets raptured! Oh, isn’t that just glorious?”

Well, maybe…maybe not. Just like the passage in Thessalonians, the context here is key to understanding what this writer was trying to say to the people who would read this account. We can’t just ‘snatch’ this passage out of its context and create a meaning that backs up our preconceived ideas of what this text should mean.

I think that there are some questions that need asking. And, yes, we are allowed to ask questions. There can never be too many questions.

The first question that jumps out at me is ‘Why did Jesus even say these things? What sparked this discourse in the first place? I’m sure that he and his disciples weren’t just walking down the street and Jesus said, “Oh, by the way, the Son of Man is gonna show up! And, there’s gonna be a whole lot of weird stuff happening!”

No, there had to be some context to this.

This all took place during what we now call Holy Week. The day before this, Jesus had come to the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem riding on a donkey. Yep! Palm Sunday! The events recorded here apparently took place on Monday.

Jesus returned to the Temple to talk with and teach the people gathered there. Some of the Jewish leaders came up to him and challenged him. According to Matthew they asked, “By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?” In other words, “Dude! Who the hell do you think you are coming to OUR Temple and presuming to teach OUR people?”

As you’d expect, Jesus gave them a bit more than they asked for. In fact, the last half of chapter 21 and all of chapters 22 & 23 are devoted to Jesus’ response. And, it wasn’t exactly ‘uplifting’ for the leaders. Chapter 23 records what has become known as the Seven Woes. These are the verses where Jesus says, “Woe to you” Pharisees; scribes; hypocrites; blind guides; blind fools. At the end of this Jesus cried out a lament for Jerusalem itself. These chapters contain some of the most passionate speech by Jesus recorded anywhere in the Bible. He seems to have gotten very ‘worked up.’

So, of course, as they were leaving the Temple the disciples astutely changed the subject. “Hey, Jesus! Check out the magnificent stonework here! Pretty cool, huh?” When I read this I think about a group of guys walking down a street right after one of them went off on someone. They turn to their pal who’s still pretty hot and say, “Whoa! Check out that Corvette!” Totally clueless. But, trying to lighten the mood.

Jesus wasn’t quite ready to simmer down. He responded to them by saying, “You see these buildings? You like them? Well, listen up! There will not be one stone left on another. They will all be torn down!

Later that evening, after everyone had time to cool down a little, (Jesus), the disciples went to him and asked him to tell him when these things he talked about would happen.

Jesus then spent the remainder of chapter 24 and all of 25 explaining things to them. But, he didn’t come right out and give them a checklist of things that would happen. The writer of Matthew recorded a good share of this, including the passage that we’re looking at here using apocalyptic language. It is vital to understand this while reading this. If we don’t, if we read it like Darby & Assoc., we absolutely will come to a conclusion that Jesus never intended. We will wind up with a checklist that Larry Norman can use to write a song. And, we will completely miss the point.

And, that point will be the subject of the next post.

Please leave your thoughts and questions in the comments.
Let’s have a party! Share this with your friends!

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Rapture: The Return of the King

Published by mhelbert on March 1, 2018

Are you all still with me? I know that this is a lot of religious stuff. But, this particular topic has caused untold anxiety and real damage to people. So, let’s hang in there!

Up to this point we’ve seen how a small tributary called ‘dispensationalism’ flowed into the mainstream of Christian thought and practice a little over a century and a half ago. We’ve taken a quick look at what these folks think about future events based on a literal reading of the Bible. In the last post I began to unpack some of what the Apostle Paul was trying to communicate to the community of Christ followers in the ancient city of Thessalonica. We also saw ‘why’ Paul wrote those things. And, perhaps more importantly, we began to consider why he did not write other things.

The ancient culture of Rome was very different than today’s western culture. Dr. David A. deSilva wrote, “The culture of the first century world was built on the foundational social values of honor and dishonor.¹” What others thought of you as a person, a citizen, your family, your occupation, how you acted with others, and how you esteemed those who were deemed worthy of honor were a part of everyday life. There was none of the rugged individualism that we, particularly in the U.S., aspire to.

This idea of honor and its opposite, shame, was the driving force for how every relationship was developed. There were some who were patrons. Those people who had the social where-with-all to offer benevolence toward others. They had social, economic, or political capital to ‘invest’ in those folks who did not have it. These others were the ‘clients’ who depended on the patrons’ good will. And, in order to tap into that good will, the client had to honor her/his patron. That could be by supporting the patron through speech, by ‘talking them up’ to others. It could be through advocacy or any number of other ways. The point is that reciprocity was expected. And, should the client not reciprocate, they were shamed. They could become social outcasts or pariahs. Their standing in the community would collapse and they would find themselves alone. In a society that held relationships in the highest regard, this shaming was the worst possible thing that could happen.

The greatest patron and most important benefactor in this world was a guy they called Caesar. There was no one more highly regarded than him. He was the one person that everyone desired to please in order to receive his good will and blessing. He was referred to as ‘Lord.’ He brought peace and security to the entire Roman world. And, he was worshiped as a god because of it.

Everyone in Thessalonica knew this. And, they knew all of the protocols that were necessary in order to honor this great man. One practice was how they were to show their fealty toward Caesar if he should happen to come and visit them.

The word that is translated “to meet” in this verse is apantesis. It was a technical term “for a civic custom of antiquity whereby a public welcome was accorded by a city to important visitors.²” Cicero, a Roman lawyer and politician who lived during the 1st century wrote about Julius Caesar, “”Just imagine what a royal welcome he is receiving from the towns, what honors are paid to him³.” He also wrote of Augustus, “the municipalities are showing the boy remarkable favor…Wonderful apantesis and encouragement.⁴” The fact is, no one at that time would have dishonored Caesar by making Caesar come to them. They would have gone out to meet him before Caesar entered the city. With this in mind F. F. Bruce observed, “These analogies suggest the possibility that the Lord is pictured here as escorted the remainder of the journey to earth by his people – both those newly raised from the dead and those remaining alive⁵.”

One more example to show that I’m not just being a putz simply in order to be difficult. The writer of the Book of Acts described Paul’s arrival at Rome using this same term. In chapter 28 the story goes, “And the brethren, when they heard about us, came from there as far as the Market of Appius and Three Inns to meet us; and when Paul saw them, he thanked God and took courage.” The Christ followers in and around Rome came out to meet Paul and escort him into the city. Just as they would any important visitor.

I think that Paul, the pastor who cared deeply for these people, used all of these words for one reason only…to comfort them. He was not attempting to make them anxious about the ‘end times.’ He certainly wasn’t trying to manipulate them into conforming to his own beliefs through fear of some coming judgment. He was, in fact, trying to calm their fears.

Here’s my take on this.

The small community of faith at Thessalonica was afraid because some of its members had died and Jesus had not yet returned. They feared that these sisters and brothers who had passed were going to miss out on Jesus’ return.

Paul wrote and said, “No, that’s not how this works. You see when Jesus returns he will return as King. There will be a trumpet fanfare and a loud shout. Our sisters and brothers who are asleep will wake up at the sound! They will rise from their rest and, together with those of us who are living, will rise into the sky to meet our returning, victorious King! Then we will all return here as He begins his rightful reign over the Earth.”

That’s quite a different message than the one of fear and death that Darby & Pals came up with. This is a message of hope. And, not just for a select few. It is a message of hope for the entire Earth as her rightful King returns to ascend His throne.

“Ok, ok, Mike, I get it. No escape from a dying planet. Thanks for the explanation. But, what about that song? You know, about wars and two people doing stuff and one of them disappears or something. And, what about that whole thief in the night thing? You haven’t explained any of that.”

That’s very observant of you. And, I’m glad that you asked that question. We’ll begin to look at those things in the next post.

Stay tuned!

Please ask any questions in the comments.

Also, please feel free to share with your friends.

¹ deSilva, David A., Honor, Patronage, Kinship & Purity: Unlocking New Testament Culture, IVP Academic:Downers Grove, 2000, p. 23.
² Theological dictionary of the New Testament. 1964-c1976. Vols. 5-9 edited by Gerhard Friedrich. Vol. 10 compiled by Ronald Pitkin. (G. Kittel, G. W. Bromiley & G. Friedrich, Ed.) (electronic ed.) (1:380). Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans.
³ Witherington III, Ben, 1 and 2 Thessalonians: A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary, William B. Eerdmans:Grand Rapids, 2006.
⁴ Witherington III, Ben, 1 and 2 Thessalonians: A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary, William B. Eerdmans:Grand Rapids, 2006.
⁵ Bruce F. F., 1 and 2 Thessalonians, Word:Waco, 1982, p. 103. Qtd. In Witherington III, Ben, 1 and 2 Thessalonians: A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary, William B. Eerdmans:Grand Rapids, 2006.