BeachCast.TV: Bible Exploration, Apologetics and Church History with Dr. Chase A. Thompson:

A continuing discussion of the letter of Philemon and the question it raises: Does The Bible approve of slavery? Today we survey some of the Godly voices in church history like Charles Spurgeon, Richard Baxter, James Foster, George Fox, John Newton and William Wilberforce, all of whom vehemently opposed and denounced slavery.

Hello friends, and happy weekend to you. Yes, if you're like me - the weekend doesn't mean as much as it used to, because all the days bleed together. Sundays are still special, however, because our church gathers together online, we worship and pray together live - online - and we listen to the Word together live. It's not the same, but it's not bad either. I find myself looking forward to it, and to the small group meetings with leaders and other people that also happen on Sunday. When you are starved for contact with other people, I guess you take it how you can get it! Tonight's Bible readings include: Numbers 2, Ecclesiastes 12, Psalms 36 and Philemon 1. Philemon is our focus passage tonight, and it brings up an important, but very controversial topic. Does the Bible condone slavery?

The answer is a bit, shall we say, complicated. I had an interesting conversation by text this week with friend and pod listener Lamar who was commenting that some of the slavery spoken of in the Leviticus passages did indeed sound a like lot chattal slavery, as practiced by the U.S. and England, and other countries in the 1800s and prior. Lamar's speculation was that perhaps God allowed such things - as He allowed husbands to write their wives a certificate of divorce in Old Testament times - because of the hardness of the Israelites' hearts. I believe that is a good and sound explanation of what was going on.

I will say that much of the American/England system of slavery was built on kidnapping, and was race-based - white people oppressing and kidnapping and enslaving black people. This was not at all what servitude in New Testament times was like, and it wasn't even what the kind of slavery/bond-servanthood spoken of in the Old Testament was like either. In 2017 I wrote a book called "The Bible and Racism," that addresses how the Bible handles issues of race. Only a fool uses the Bible to justify racism, and yes, I'm aware that there were many foolish preachers that attempted to do just that in prior centuries. Today's question will be answered, in part, by chapter 6 of The Bible and Racism. If you'd want to buy that book, it is available on Amazon, and when you buy a copy, I get enough money to buy a small box of Raisin Bran, which is important at my age. ;) Well, let's read Philemon and then come back and discuss whether or not the Bible condones slavery:

Does the Bible Condone Slavery From: The Bible and Racism, by Chase A. Thompson

"And the same law commands "not to muzzle the ox which treadeth out the corn: for the labourer must be reckoned worthy of his food." And it prohibits an ox and ass to be yoked in the plow together pointing perhaps to the want of agreement in the case of the animals; and at the same time teaching not to wrong any one belonging to another race, and bring him under the yoke, when there is no other cause to allege than difference of race, which is no cause at all, being neither wickedness nor the effect of wickedness." Clement of Alexandria, Christian theologian who lived from 150 AD - 215 AD

The AnteNicene Fathers (Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Company, 1885), 368.

"God, who produces and gives breath to men, willed that all should be equal, that is, equally matched. He has imposed the same condition of living on all. He has opened wisdom to all. He has promised immortality to all. No one is cut off from His heavenly benefits.… In His sight, no one is a slave; no one is a master. For if all have the same Father, by an equal right we are all children. No one is poor in the sight of God but he who is without justice. No one is rich, but he who is full of virtues.… For this reason, neither the Romans nor the Greeks could possess justice. For they had men differing from one another by many degrees: the poor and the rich, the humble and the powerful, private persons and the highest authorities of kings. However, where all persons are not equally matched, there is no justice. And, by its nature, inequality excludes justice.… However, someone will say, "Are there not among you some who are poor and others who are rich? Are not some servants and others masters? Is there not some difference between individuals?" There is none. Nor is there any other cause why we mutually bestow upon each other the name of brothers, except that we believe ourselves to be equal. We measure all human things by the spirit, not by the body. Although the condition of our bodies is different, yet we have no servants. For we both regard and speak of them as brothers in spirit and as fellow-servants in religion.… Therefore, in lowliness of mind, we are on an equality: the free with the slaves and the rich with the poor. Nevertheless, in the sight of God we are distinguished only by virtue.… The person who has conducted himself not only as an equal, but even as an inferior, he will plainly obtain a much higher rank of dignity in the judgment of God. Lactantius, circa 305 AD,

quoted in: A Dictionary of Early Christian Beliefs: A Reference Guide to More than 700 Topics Discussed by the Early Church Fathers (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, 1998), 236.

The above passages, and dozens of others like them, demonstrate the views that the early church had about slavery and race. While there were indeed bond-servants in the early church, both slaves and rich, laborers and merchants, foreigners and natives, were all accorded the title, "brother." Although the church in latter years would too often give in to opulence and worldliness, the church in the first few centuries carefully sought to heed Paul and James' biblical warnings against showing favoritism and partiality towards anyone. To read Lactantius' words, written around 300 AD, is to read refreshing words of equality and unity, the likes of which the modern world has yet to fully grasp, even 1700 years later.

In October of 2014, Boston Globe columnist and spirituality writer Margery Eagan related the following experience from her Catholic church, and left dangling a provocative question: Since the Bible condones slavery (and the modern church does not), should not the modern church "discount and dismiss" what Paul said about homosexuality?

I do want to address, and perhaps challenge, the first part of Margery's question, since most people assume it to be true. Does the Bible, the New Testament in particular, actually condone slavery? The answer to that question is, as one would imagine, quite complex. The Bible has been tragically used and abused for centuries in the name of propping up one false ideology or the other. This dynamic happens when humans seek to read INTO the Bible their own beliefs and search out phrases, words and stories to justify themselves, rather than reading OUT of the Bible truths for life.

I teach survey-level New Testament and Old Testament courses at a local liberal arts college. At the beginning of each of those classes, I take a Bible and physically demonstrate two different approaches to Scripture. Holding it over my head, I explain that we can view the Word of God as authoritative - that we must follow it and submit to it - we can't read into the Bible our worldview, biases and feelings, but we must read out of it the foundation for our worldview, biases and feelings. The view that the Bible is above us represents a high view of Scripture - that it is God's Word (not the word of man) and that we must seek to understand what is written and follow it. When we understand the grammar, vocabulary and context of a passage, in other words, we will know the meaning of that passage.

The second major way we can approach Scripture, I demonstrate by putting the Bible on the floor, and explain to the students that in this approach, the Bible is beneath us, and rather than read out of Scripture authoritative direction, we read into Scripture our own views, picking and choosing which Scriptures to follow and which to reject, and interpreting what the Bible has to say in light of our own views and opinions. With this approach, some Bible passages are ignored, or completely reinterpreted by us to mean something entirely different than what the grammar, vocabulary and context of the verse says.

There are technical terms for both of these different approaches to Scripture, with eisegesis denoting the approach that seeks to read meanings into the Bible text, and exegesis indicating the approach that seeks to bring out of the text its intentions and meaning. Dr. James White offers an excellent definition of eisegesis below, and shows how it differs from an exegetical approach:

Eisegesis is the reading into a text, in this case, an ancient text of the Bible, of a meaning that is not supported by the grammar, syntax, lexical meanings, and over-all context, of the original. It is the opposite of exegesis, where you read out of the text its original meaning by careful attention to the same things, grammar, syntax, the lexical meanings of the words used by the author (as they were used in his day and in his area), and the over-all context of the document. As common as it is, it should be something the Christian minister finds abhorrent, for when you stop and think about it, eisegesis muffles the voice of God. If the text of Scripture is in fact God breathed (2 Tim. 3:16) and if God speaks in the entirety of the Bible (Matt. 22:31) then eisegesis would involve silencing that divine voice and replacing it with the thoughts, intents, and most often, traditions, of the one doing the interpretation. In fact, in my experience, eisegetical mishandling of the inspired text is the single most common source of heresy, division, disunity, and a lack of clarity in the proclamation of the gospel.

(Dr. James White - Pulpit Crimes, 2006)

Almost all Christians have engaged in eisegesis at some point, but it is a very dangerous practice. Unfortunately, my use of the word "dangerous" here is quite literal. Eisegetical methods of interpretation have led to much bloodshed and acrimony between people who call themselves Christians. There have been wars and killings and thousands of denominational splits, all because we humans have a tendency to look to Scripture for divine approval of our thoughts, actions and opinions, rather than seeking to base our thoughts, actions and opinions on a right understanding of Scripture.

Supporters of race based slavery have engaged in significant and aberrant eisegesis in reading into Scripture Divine commendation for their abominable practices. While it is true that the Bible does not completely ban the practice of bond-servitude, a careful examination of Scripture will demonstrate that the bond-servitude of the Bible and the race-based slavery of Europe and the Americas are vastly different.

I'd like to share a very interesting, and extremely important piece of history as a way to close out this chapter, and bridge into the discussion of the next chapter. The passage below is one of the earliest descriptions of Jesus and His followers by somebody not in the Bible. It was written by the Roman governor of Bithynia, a man named Pliny the younger, and was addressed to the Roman emperor Trajan. The date of writing was approximately 112 AD, and Pliny is writing to inform the emperor of a new movement of people who worship Christ as a God, and bind themselves to pledges to not steal, commit adultery, lie, or be untrustworthy. Pliny was very concerned about these strange people, because they appeared to him to be members of a secret society, which he had forbidden in his district. Therefore, he captured two young girls and interrogated them to find out the truth about these Jesus-followers. Note below how the two young girls are ministers (deaconesses) in the church AND they are slaves/bond-servants. This is steady proof, from an outside source, that the early church viewed slaves as worthy and qualified for some of the most crucial positions that the church had to offer!

They declared that all the wrong they had committed, wittingly or unwittingly, was this, that they had been accustomed on a fixed day to meet before dawn and sing antiphonally a hymn to Christ as a god, and bind themselves by a solemn pledge (sacramento) not to commit any enormity, but to abstain from theft, brigandage, and adultery, to keep their word, and not to refuse to restore what had been entrusted to their charge if demanded.

After these ceremonies they used to disperse and assemble again to share a common meal of innocent food, and even this they had given up after I had issued the edict by which, according to your instructions, I prohibited secret societies.

I therefore considered it the more necessary, in order to ascertain what truth there was in this account, to examine two slave-girls, who were called deaconesses (ministrae), and even to use torture. I found nothing except a perverted and unbounded superstition. I therefore have adjourned the investigation and hastened to consult you, for I thought the matter was worth consulting you about, especially on account of the numbers who are involved. For many of every age and rank, and of both sexes, are already and will be summoned to stand their trial. For this superstition has infected not only the towns, but also the villages and country; yet it apparently can be checked and corrected.

(Source: F. H. Blackburne Daniell, "Trajanus (1), M. Ulpius (Nerva)," ed. William Smith and Henry Wace, A Dictionary of Christian Biography, Literature, Sects and Doctrines (London: John Murray, 1877–1887), 1040.)

Most assume that the Bible condones slavery, and use that assumption to undermine its credibility. While it is true that the Bible does frequently address the topic of slavery, and it is true that the Bible does not ban all forms of servitude - but is it accurate to say that the Bible condones slavery? I don't believe so, and evidence #1 is the book of Philemon - a letter Paul wrote to a person who owned a slave/bond-servant to urge him to let the man go. (Part 1 of a two part discussion)

Happy Friday, Faithful Friends. Today's Big Bible Word is Alliteration. Oh wait, it is actually peace-making. Everybody knows that Jesus said that the peacemakers are blessed (for they will be called children of God), but many may not know what it actually means or looks like to be a peacemaker. Today we read Numbers chapter 1, Psalms 35, Ecclesiastes 11 and Titus 3, which is one of the best and most practical chapters on peacemaking in the entire Bible - even if it doesn't use the actual word peace-maker. Follow the commands in the chapter, and you will be a bringer of peace to almost any situation.

I love how Spurgeon closed a sermon on the Beatitudes many years ago, commending the life of peacemaking to his congregation:

Are any suffering? Let us weep with them. Do we know one who has less love than others? then let us have more, so as to make up the deficiency. Do we perceive faults in a brother? let us admonish him in love and affection. I pray you be peacemakers, everyone. Let the Church go on as it has done for the last eleven years, in holy concord and blessed unity. Let us remember that we cannot keep the unity of the Spirit unless we all believe the truth of God. Let us search our Bibles, therefore, and conform our views and sentiments to the teaching of God's Word. I have already told you that unity in error is unity in ruin. We want unity in the truth of God through the Spirit of God. This let us seek after; let us live near to Christ, for this is the best way of promoting unity. Divisions in Churches never begin with those full of love to the Saviour. Cold hearts, unholy lives, inconsistent actions, neglected [prayer] closets; these are the seeds which sow schisms in the body; but he who lives near to Jesus, wears his likeness and copies his example, will be, wherever he goes, a sacred bond, a holy link to bind the Church more closely than ever together. May God give us this, and henceforth let us endeavour to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

C. H. Spurgeon, "True Unity Promoted," in The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit Sermons, vol. 11 (London: Passmore & Alabaster, 1865), 11.

Spurgeon is absolutely right - disunity and peace-breaking almost never begin with those who are full of love for Jesus. If you love the body of Christ - the people of God - you will be unwilling to do anything that could harm them. Christians should do everything possible to maintain unity in the church! That said, we need to see that this passage in Titus concerns our conduct and treatment of people in the church AND outside of the church. Sometimes I have seen Christians that are overeager to fight, quarrel, argue and otherwise stir up trouble online, and with non-believers. I believe Titus 3 - and many other Bible chapters - steer us away from such behavior. Is your social media a sounding board for complaints or disagreements? Do you regularly ignite arguments with your strong opinions? Are you prone to getting into quarrels with people who just don't get it, and need to be set straight? Well, I think Titus 3 might have something to say to us - let's read it!

Remember that Titus is part of the pastoral epistles - letters written by Paul to Timothy and Titus to help them know how to pastor/shepherd and teach Christians in these young churches. It is very clear that the Holy Spirit, speaking through Paul, is urging peace and unity to be critically important facets of any church. Remember these passages back in Timothy:

23 But reject foolish and ignorant disputes, because you know that they breed quarrels. 24 The Lord's servant must not quarrel, but must be gentle to everyone, able to teach, and patient, 25 instructing his opponents with gentleness.

2 Timothy 2:23-25

The Lord's servant - you and I! is not allowed to quarrel with people. Instead, we must be gentle and patient. Consider all of the peace-making passages we've just read in Titus - it is very clear that Paul is ending this letter with a hope that the church would abound in peace and avoid fighting and controversy and division:

Titus 3:2-3 "to slander no one, to avoid fighting, and to be kind, always showing gentleness to all people 3 For we too were once foolish, disobedient, deceived, enslaved by various passions and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, detesting one another."

Titus 3:9, "But avoid foolish debates, genealogies, quarrels, and disputes about the law, because they are unprofitable and worthless."

Titus 3:10-11 " 10 Reject a divisive person after a first and second warning. 11 For you know that such a person has gone astray and is sinning; he is self-condemned."

The advice is crystal clear: No fighting. No slander. Avoid debates, quarrels, and disputes. Reject divisive people. Be kind. Show gentleness to everybody. As a reminder, this applies to our behavior in church and out of church - with Christians and with everybody. Christians are the last people that should be looking to argue or quarrel online (or anywhere!) - about politics, theology, religions, etc. We are to be a peace-seeking and -peace-loving people. The world has enough debates, quarrels and disputes, says Paul, let's not add to it, but, rather let us be gentle and, rather than fuss, fight, debate and quarrel, rather "Let our people learn to devote themselves to good works for pressing needs, so that they will not be unfruitful." (Titus 3:14)

Forbearance is a great word that is not used very frequently anymore, except in debt relief. It is almost an archaic word. Are you familiar with it? It means to refrain from exercising a legal right - especially to refrain from enforcing a debt owed. So, in a Christian sense, when we practice forbearance with each other, we are being graceful, overlooking offenses and the need for somebody to pay us back if they have slighted us somehow. Pastor John Piper tells in this little snippet, which we will close with, how the practice of forbearance is helpful for the practice of peace-making and unity building:

He pleads with the church to walk worthy of our calling. Specifically, the way he wants to emphasize is that we be "diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace" (v. 3). We walk unworthily of our calling in Christ if we disregard the unity of the body and don't expend any effort to safeguard what Christ died to obtain. "Be diligent," Paul says, "Be eager, be earnest" to keep the unity given by the Spirit of God and obtained with the blood of Christ (2:16).

This is Paul's prison burden for the church at Ephesus. If we have any empathy for a suffering saint, it should make us say, Yes, that is utterly crucial. How, brother Paul? How shall we do this?

His answer is found in verse 2. The character traits that will preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace are humility, gentleness, patience, forbearance, and love. So he says that a life worthy of our calling and leading to unity of Spirit is "with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing forbearance to one another in love." If you are humble, you will be gentle, and if you are patient, you will be forbearing or enduring. And if you are gentle and forbearing in love, you will be a peacemaker and a unity preserver. So be diligent and eager to be a humble and patient person by the power of Christ.

John Piper, Sermons from John Piper (1990–1999) (Minneapolis, MN: Desiring God, 2007).

Jesus says that peacemakers are blessed, and will be called children of God. That sounds like a great thing to be called, but what are peacemakers? How does one live their life as a maker of peace? Titus 3 has some great wisdom for Christians on how to avoid disputes and quarrels and walk in God-pleasing peace.

Happy Thursday to you, friends! Today was a beautiful and warm day in central California, and I think that has many people - including my kids - antsy for a return to regular life. I am rooting for that to be sooner, rather than later, but fully expect it to be later rather than sooner. Alas. On a walk today with my wife, she asked me how much longer I thought the quarantine and shut down would last. I obviously have no idea, but the answer I gave her kind of came out of nowhere, and went something like this, "Until the people of God begin to walk in the fear of the Lord again." I didn't really intend for that kind of Bible-juke to come out, but there you go. I do believe there is some truth to the statement, especially after reading Leviticus 26 yesterday. I don't know about you, but that passage rattled me.

Today's Bible readings are from Leviticus 27, Psalms 34, Ecclesiastes 10 and Titus 2. A few episodes ago, we talked about the fear of the Lord. Perhaps the main thing we saw in that episode is that the Bible discusses the fear of the Lord frequently, and points to walking in the fear of the Lord as absolutely crucial to prospering, protection, and persevering in the faith. It will be a theme we return to fairly regularly, much like the resurrection, the Gospel, spiritual gifts, repentance, and others. Today we are going to get some practical advice from the Psalms that gives us directions on HOW to fear the Lord - what it looks like when we fear the Lord. Let's go read Psalms 34 and then come back and discuss it.

First, we see the beautiful promise of God to be free from fear:

I sought the Lord, and he answered me and rescued me from all my fears. 5 Those who look to him are radiant with joy; their faces will never be ashamed. 6 This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him and saved him from all his troubles. 7 The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him, and rescues them.

Psalm 34:4-7

And then we see the how-to of God-fearing:

Come, children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the Lord. 12 Who is someone who desires life, loving a long life to enjoy what is good? 13 Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from deceitful speech. 14 Turn away from evil and do what is good; seek peace and pursue it.

15 The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are open to their cry for help. 16 The face of the Lord is set against those who do what is evil, to remove all memory of them from the earth. 17 The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears, and rescues them from all their troubles. 18 The Lord is near the brokenhearted; he saves those crushed in spirit.

Psalms 34:11-18

How do you walk in the fear of the Lord? It's pretty simple:

1. Keep your tongue from evil. The word for 'evil' in Hebrew is 'רַע raʻ, rah' it means the opposite of good - hurtful, malicious, wicked - against the ways of God. This is a fairly blanket term and would include pretty much anything that God's Word forbids - swearing, complaining, attacking, grumbling, tearing down, course and crude joking, hate speech, etc.

   2. Keep your lips from deceitful speech. This doesn't merely include lying, but also deceit, guile and deception. In other words, to walk in the fear of God, you should be straightforward and honest in your words.

   3. Turn away from evil. This is another way of saying repent - turn away from evil deeds and actions and walk in God's ways.

   4. Seek AND pursue peace. This double command seems to indicate an impassioned pursuit of peace, not just a half-hearted attempt at it. A person of God will not only desire to be peaceful, but will seek and PURSUE IT.

What are the promises of walking in this way? Myriad. Long life and blessing. The protection of God. The Angel of the Lord camping around you. Rescue from adversaries and the refuge of the Lord. This is the way, walk in it!

Let's close with a brief word from brother Spurgeon:

He who can manage his tongue can manage his whole body; for the tongue is the rudder of the ship, and if that be properly held, the vessel will be rightly steered. If thou wouldst escape the quicksands and the rocks, look well to thy tongue; keep it from evil, that it speak neither blasphemy against God nor slander against thy fellow-men; and keep thy lips from guile, that is, from deceit, from double meanings, from saying one thing and meaning another, or making other people think that you mean another,—an art all too well understood in these days. God make us plain-speaking men, who say what we mean, and mean what we say! When, by the grace of God, we are taught to do this, we have learned a good lesson.

C. H. Spurgeon, "The Great Change," in The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit Sermons, vol. 42 (London: Passmore & Alabaster, 1896), 347.

The fear of the Lord is an important theme in the Bible, leading to great blessings from God, protection, shelter, long life and other great rewards. Practically speaking, how does one fear the Lord - What does a life spent fearing the Lord look like? Does it mean that you are constantly cowering in terror, or does it mean a different sort of behavior?

Happy Wednesday, friends. I have refused for many years to call Wednesday 'hump-day' as a matter of principle, and I still refuse, so don't hold your breath hoping for me to wish you a happy hump-day at some point. It won't happen, unless I have been kidnapped and forced to do the podcast against my will, at which point, I will signal my need for rescue by uttering that greeting. Hopefully, we won't have to cross that bridge at any point in the future, but this podcast has many enemies, so you never know.

Today's Bible readings include Leviticus 26, Ecclesiastes 9, Psalms 33 and Titus 1. As we have mentioned before, Ecclesiastes is not the happiest of Bible books. I'm not sure that I'd go to this book if my soul was downcast, and I was desperate for an encouraging pick-me up. That said, there is indeed wisdom to be found here, and the whole thrust of the book is found in its finale, so let's hold off on being too harsh until we get there. One of the profound observations that Solomon is going to share with us today is that life simply isn't fair, and he is going to share that truth with us in a bunch of different and soul-crushing ways. You might be saying - I don't think I'm up for much of a soul-crushing episode of the podcast right now - what with a virus stalking the lands like an invisible and scary stalky thing, and you'd be right, and that is why this is NOT going to be a soul-crushing episode, but a soul-LIFTING episode. So - just hang on. Let's read Ecclesiastes and come back and discuss.

Wow. That was a bummer. Hang on for a few more minutes, because good news is coming. First, let's discuss the bad news we've just read. Solomon has just told us in several different ways that life is not fair at all. Consider:

vs 2. Solomon says that DEATH awaits all - the virtuous and the sinner, the fool and the wise. UNFAIR! "2 Everything is the same for everyone: There is one fate for the righteous and the wicked, for the good and the bad, for the clean and the unclean, for the one who sacrifices and the one who does not sacrifice. As it is for the good, so also it is for the sinner; as it is for the one who takes an oath, so also for the one who fears an oath."

vs. 11 - the best don't always win, though it would be fair for them to do so. "Again I saw under the sun that the race is not to the swift, or the battle to the strong, or bread to the wise, or riches to the discerning, or favor to the skillful; rather, time and chance happen to all of them."

vs 15. Poor heroes who are wise are completely forgotten because they are poor, "15 Now a poor wise man was found in the city, and he delivered the city by his wisdom. Yet no one remembered that poor man."

That's just in chapter 9. If you've been paying attention, Solomon has already told us numerous unfair things as well. How about Ecclesiastes 8:14, "There is a futility that is done on the earth: there are righteous people who get what the actions of the wicked deserve, and there are wicked people who get what the actions of the righteous deserve. I say that this too is futile." Ouch! This is the height of unfairness!

How about 7:15, "In my futile life I have seen everything: someone righteous perishes in spite of his righteousness, and someone wicked lives long in spite of his evil."

Or 6:2, "God gives a person riches, wealth, and honor so that he lacks nothing of all he desires for himself, but God does not allow him to enjoy them. Instead, a stranger will enjoy them. This is futile and a sickening tragedy."

And finally, 3:19-22 "For the fate of the children of Adam and the fate of animals is the same. As one dies, so dies the other; they all have the same breath. People have no advantage over animals since everything is futile. 20 All are going to the same place; all come from dust, and all return to dust. 21 Who knows if the spirits of the children of Adam go upward and the spirits of animals go downward to the earth? 22 I have seen that there is nothing better than for a person to enjoy his activities because that is his reward. For who can enable him to see what will happen after he dies?"

Are you depressed yet? Wow - that's some heavy stuff. People often think Christians are pollyannas or sunshine-pumpers - people given to irrational and excessive optimism. I'm honestly not sure you can read the Bible - Old or New Testament - and come away thinking the Bible is anything but genuine, authentic, truthful and gritty. The Word of God does not whitewash things. I'll admit - many preachers do. Many televangelists do. Some moms and dads do. Some Sunday School teachers also....but the Bible doesn't. Solomon shows us today that life is NOT fair. Those who try hardest don't always win. Some wonderful people die young and some horrible people live a long and materially blessed life. Sometimes the wicked prosper and the righteous suffer. Who can understand such things?

But the real thing is what Solomon keeps coming back to: death. In his understanding - death comes for all, and the rich/wise/virtuous/humble are no better off than the wicked/foolish/haughty or animals, from what he can tell. And there's the important pivot for us. As far as Solomon knew, death was the same for all. There are some hints that he knew the righteous would be ultimately rewarded and the wicked ultimately punished, but it is like he is peering through the fog and can't really see clearly at all. Despite all his wisdom and learning, he is utterly perplexed. I wonder how much of that is due to the 1 Kings 11:4 dynamic? ("When Solomon was old, his wives turned his heart away to follow other gods. He was not wholeheartedly devoted to the LORD his God, as his father David had been.") Probably quite a bit, actually - but the other thing that made things about the afterlife foggy was the fact that God had not revealed it Old Testament believers as fully as Jesus does in the flesh. And when Jesus comes on the scene, we learn just precisely how UNFAIR things are - especially eternal things.

One of the greatest little summations of that unfairness is found in Luke 22:37

For I tell you, what is written must be fulfilled in me: And he was counted among the lawless. Yes, what is written about me is coming to its fulfillment."

Luke 22:37

This, my friends, is the absolute pinnacle of unfairness. Jesus, the perfect God-man, was counted as a rebel, as a sinner, as a criminal that deserved the worst punishment of all, crucifixion. He knew no sin, but suffered the penalty for all of our sins. There has never been something so unfair happen before or since, and there never will be again!

Romans 4:25, "He was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification."

1 Corinthians 15:3, "3 For I passed on to you as most important what I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,"

2nd Corinthians 5:21, " He made the one who did not know sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God."

Colossians 2:14 "He erased the certificate of debt, with its obligations, that was against us and opposed to us, and has taken it away by nailing it to the cross."

John 6:40, ""For this is the will of my Father: that everyone who sees the Son and believes in him will have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day."

If only Solomon could look upon this most unfair of all things. I am quite sure it would completely erase his lamenting, and cause him to joyfully exult in the divine unfairness of it all - the sacrifice of the perfect Jesus for His most imperfect sheep. Solomon was absolutely right that life was and is unfair, but he just misunderstood the direction that the River Unfair flowed. It does not flow against us, brothers and sisters, but for us in every way - thanks be to Jesus the Messiah!

Meditate on this beautiful and glorious bit of unfairness and rejoice that you see more clearly than the wisest man of ancient days (because of Jesus.):

He was despised and rejected by men, a man of suffering who knew what sickness was. He was like someone people turned away from; he was despised, and we didn't value him. 4 Yet he himself bore our sicknesses, and he carried our pains; but we in turn regarded him stricken, struck down by God, and afflicted. 5 But he was pierced because of our rebellion, crushed because of our iniquities; punishment for our peace was on him, and we are healed by his wounds. 6 We all went astray like sheep; we all have turned to our own way; and the Lord has punished him for the iniquity of us all.

Isaiah 53:3-6

Ecclesiastes is not the most encouraging book in the Bible - it can actually be almost discouraging. Solomon gives a very realistic portrayal of the unfairness in life in a completely unflinching way. As New Testament believers, looking back on this book, do we conclude from our perspective, in Christ, that life is unfair? Absolutely - and that is phenomenally good news, and very encouraging!

Hello everybody, and happy Tuesday to you! I am at day 32 or 33 of my partial Nazarite vow - no beer and no wine is going okay, and I have the haircut part is down pat - I have an unruly mop on my head that will begin to look cavemanesque in about 3 days. Unfortunately, I'm not doing so well on the rest of the fruit of the vine part, as I eat a bowl of Raisin Bran with banana slices nearly every day, and raisins are verboten for a Nazarite. I suppose I'll just remain an Alabama/California hybrid with shaggy hair.

Anyway...today's Bible readings include Leviticus 25, Ecclesiastes 8, Psalms 32 and 2nd Timothy 4. A shout out to my wonderful sun John Caedmon who told me earlier today that he agreed with my decision to stop ending the podcast readings with Ecclesiastes, because, and I quote, "Ecclesiastes is kind of depressing." Yes, my son - yes it is. The good news is that it gets better at the end, and that is sort of the point of the book, and sometimes it is the point of our lives as well. For those who are in Christ - no matter how bad things are now - it gets better at the end. I know that is not an original or insightful sentiment, but what it lacks in freshness it makes up for in hope and bedrock truth.

Our focus passage today is in Psalms 32, though I admit that there were several things in 2nd Timothy 4 that drew my attention - maybe we will catch them on the second read through. Our Big Bible question of the day is all about forgiveness. How is forgiveness joyful? Let's read Psalms 32, and then return and discuss the joy of forgiveness:

How joyful is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered! 2 How joyful is a person whom the Lord does not charge with iniquity and in whose spirit is no deceit!

3 When I kept silent, my bones became brittle from my groaning all day long. 4 For day and night your hand was heavy on me; my strength was drained as in the summer's heat.Selah 5 Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not conceal my iniquity. I said, "I will confess my transgressions to the Lord," and you forgave the guilt of my sin.Selah

Psalms 32:1-5

There is a very simple but profound couplet of truths in the first part of Psalms 31. First: There is GREAT joy from the Lord for that person who realizes their sin, knows the danger and damage of that sin, knows the holiness of the Lord, and yet finds that God has - in mercy - forgiven their sin. Twice the Psalmist here acknowledges the utter joy of forgiveness. That is truth #1, and it is an important truth for us in pandemic times. The call of the Father is echoing all across the world right now - repent and follow Jesus! For those that hear the call and do repent and follow Jesus, HOW JOYFUL for them that their sins will be forgiven and not held against them! How joyful that they are NOT disqualified from eternal Heaven - made only for the perfect - because their sin no longer counts against them! There is amazing joy in forgiveness.

But don' t miss the second great truth here: There is GROANING and HEAVINESS and WEAKNESS and ILL HEALTH for those who HIDE their sins. Brothers and sisters - if you are hiding your sin right now - whatever it might be - pornography, alcoholism, abuse, outbursts of anger, gossip, slander, criticism, complaining and grumbling, cheating, lying, stealing - whatever....HOW HEAVY that is on your soul! It makes your bones brittle, and your heart weary, and your whole body and soul are impacted. What is the answer - CONFESS TO GOD - and FIND JOY FROM HIS FORGIVENESS!

There is a major choice facing all those who are concealing sin: Keep hiding it and nurturing it until it eats away every drop of strength and joy you have, or kill it by confessing it to God and walk in the joy that comes from forgiveness. Easy choice, right?! I say this as a man who struggled with pornography for over a decade in my youth. Sin may be delightful for a moment, but concealed sin weakens you and eats at you and kills you slowly. Confessed sin brings forgiveness and joy and depth of relationship with God the Father!

Mary Magdalene is one of the most interesting people in the Bible. She was a devoted follower of Jesus, and her love for Him is so pronounced and so obvious in the Bible that it has produced lots of speculation - even speculation that she loved Him in a romantic way. I believe the truth is much more profound and deep than a simple crush, however.

Though the Bible does not explicitly say it, there has been a tradition in the church for almost 2000 years that Mary Magdalene was a saved and redeemed prostitute. That tradition is so old that there might well be some truth to it, but we just can't know. We do know, however, that Mary was delivered of SEVEN demons by Jesus - which must have meant that she spent a significant portion of her life tortured by those same demons, and her reputation undoubtedly suffered from that trauma as well. We also know that Mary was the first person that Jesus revealed Himself to after the resurrection - the first person that He talked to, post-resurrection. This is an incredible honor, and it could be said without too much exaggeration that Mary Magdalene was the first member of the church of Jesus - the first witness to His resurrection, and the first evangelist - bringing the good news to the disciples. What does she have to do with forgiveness, I hear you asking? Excellent question - let's turn to New York pastor Tim Keller to give us the remarkable answer:

When you read the commentaries, an awful lot of the commentaries say, "The reason Mary was there and she wouldn't go home and she stayed there was because she was hysterical. She was so emotional she couldn't see the angels through her tears. She was so hysterical she couldn't see Jesus was who he was. She was hysterical." That's not true. The more I've been looking at this, it's not true at all. Absolutely not.

By the way, in today's New York Times there's an interesting article in the entertainment section, of all places, by the New York Times religion writer, in which I guess somebody asked him, "How do the angels depicted on TV sitcoms and TV shows compare with biblical angels?" Gustav Niebuhr says, "Not a lot." He says, "When most people see angels they fall down. They're overwhelmed."

By the way, in Luke 24 and in Mark 16 when the other women see these angels dressed bright (and Mary saw they were bright), it says they were dressed in white. How do we know this? The only source of any of this information is from Mary. Mary remembers it. But when the other women saw these very same angels, we're told they fell to the ground. They were in alarm. The angels always had to say, "Don't be afraid. Don't be afraid."

Mary looks at them. They ask a question and Mary says, "I'm looking for Jesus." This is not hysteria. Hysterical people freak when they see things like this. This is not hysteria. Then she talks to Jesus. Why doesn't she recognize Jesus? Because she's hysterical? No. We will see as we go on through the resurrection accounts that nobody recognizes Jesus at first. His resurrection self means that he has been changed, though he's still himself, and people have to look, like if you look at somebody you haven't seen in 25 years. "Oh, it is you."

She didn't recognize him, but here's what's interesting. She's not hysterical. She deduces, "If this is the gardener, if this is the supervisor of the grounds, then nobody could have done a body snatching without his help or at least his okay. He will know it." That's deduction. She's not enraged, and she's not hysterical. She says, "Sir." Very steely. She doesn't say, "Where is he?" She says, "Sir, if I personally have to go find the swollen, stinking, decayed body of my Lord, if I have to go find him and pick him up myself, I'm going to do that. Where is he? Do you know where he is?"

This is not a hysterical woman. This is a woman who is iron. This is a woman who is relentless. This is a woman who is a laser beam. She's a drill. She's going to get through anything. "Angels, schmangels. Where's my Lord? Gardeners, I don't care." How did this happen? I'll tell you. Jesus says it's simple arithmetic. Jesus Christ says in Luke 7, "The one who is forgiven much, loves much."

I want to press you on this. It's simple arithmetic. She loved him more than anybody else. That's why she's still there. Everybody else is gone. It's the reason she came. It's the reason she hasn't left. It's simple arithmetic. She knew she was a sinner. She knew she was broken. She knew how big her debt was. She knew it, and Jesus had said, "You can be a child of God." This is the reason Marys are chosen. This is the reason Marys are used. It's people who know they're sinners, it's people who know the depth of their sin, who love like this.

Let me apply this to you. For some of you, there's no joy or tears. There's no incredible confidence like Mary has, and there's no weeping either. Your religion is sort of a matter of duty. You've always been religious. You were raised in a church. You come to church now. This is not hysteria. Don't you dare look at this like that. This is love. This is relentlessness. This is doggedness. This is commitment born of grace. I'll tell you the reason you don't have the joy of Mary, and I'll tell you the reason you're not used by God like Mary. I'll tell you why you're not changing people's lives like Mary. I'll tell you why you don't have this greatness of heart like Mary. This might sound very strange to modern New Yorkers. You don't know you're a sinner. You are superficial in your understanding of your brokenness.

Very often the Marys of the world who were addicted to sex and inner demons, they know. Do you know what a slave you are? Do you know what a slave you are to achievement, to position, to status, maybe in some cases to moral superiority? Do you realize you have hijacked your life just as much as Mary did? You're avoiding Jesus as Savior and Lord, even if you're using him as an example.

Until you see yourself as sinful as Mary saw herself, you're not going to be used. Isn't it amazing? It's the Marys of the world God uses, and nobody else. "Well," you say, "but I'm not a prostitute. I've never been. I've not been a mental patient." I'm trying to say it's the Marys of the world or the people who know they're no different than the Marys of the world, and only those people, who will ever be used. By the way, there's one other little tangential footnote. This second point is the divine priority of grace, and there's one other thing we'd better get through our heads by looking at Mary here. Jesus chose her first. What does this mean? It means Christians ought to every day try to get their snobbery out, throw it on the ground, and stamp on it, try to kill it. The Bible says because of this dynamic, the people who know the least about God, in ages past and today and in ages to come, will always be the people who are running things. This is a terrible thing for New Yorkers to hear. If you look down your nose at brothers and sisters who are beneath you in achievement, beneath you in education, beneath you in social status, beneath you in economic status, you're just not reading the Bible. Get your snobbery out. Throw it on the ground every day and trample it and think of Mary.

Timothy J. Keller, The Timothy Keller Sermon Archive (New York City: Redeemer Presbyterian Church, 2013).