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

Happy February! Today we are reading Genesis 33 - Jacob finally meets Esau face to face. Will there be blood? We are also reading Esther 9-10, though chapter 10 is one of the shorter chapters in the Bible. Romans 4 discusses the beautiful truth of justification by faith (and not works!), and normally that would almost certainly be our focus passage, but Mark 4 contains what I believe is the most important parable Jesus taught - the Parable of the Sower.

Shoutouts: Dr. Og Keep: It was odd that Episode 28 was so controversial. The only part of it that left me confused was the part about Jesus bringing us concrete. Keith Heltsey: At the Life-truth.com Podcasting network.

Joy in the Word: Consider whether you find yourself in this story:

"She took her children to the park to break the monotony of summer days, and instead she broke her own heart. She watched her children run to the playground as another car drove into the parking lot. The car ground to a quick stop, and a young, vibrant woman with a beaming smile leaped out of the driver's seat and virtually skipped to a secluded table near an adjoining lake. The imagination of the mother watching began to race. Who could this young woman be meeting in such a secluded spot with so much enthusiasm. Was this a long awaited and carefully planned rendez-vous with an over-busy husband? A lunch date with a best friend, or a tryst between secret lovers? The mother determined to stay on the lookout for whoever got out of the next car. No one else came immediately, and the mother soon grew busy watching her children, breaking up fights, cleaning up skinned knees and such. When she finally did glance up again at the secluded woman, what the woman saw made her heart skip a beat. The woman was reading a Bible and praying. The person she had leapt from the car to meet with such enthusiasm was her Lord. The mother recognized with pain that penetrated her spirit that she no longer had that same enthusiasm. Once the excitement of her own relationship with God had overwhelmed her. Once the joy of her salvation had burned warm and bright, but now the fervor was gone. Faith had become a dreary duty; God had become a detached, frowning bystander. Something had happened over the years of her walk with the Lord. She didn't know exactly what it was, but she did know that she would not now skip to meet Him. She had lost something wonderful and she wept there in the park for her loss.

Bryan Chapell: Holiness by Grace: Delighting in the Joy That Is Our Strength

I think most Christians under-appreciate, undervalue, and underestimate the power of the Word of God, myself included. One of the reasons why I'm doing a daily Word-focused podcast, and post about it most days on social media, is because I think that there is great power in God's Word. It's not like dynamite in that you can just casually toss it around, people hear it, and BOOM - they are transformed into mature followers of Jesus over night the Word of God is much more organic than that. One of the main ways that Jesus taught about the power and impact of the Word is by comparing it to a seed. A seed is small and not terribly dynamic at first impression, but it can grow into a tremendous organic living thing. When Jesus taught the disciples about the power and impact of the Word in His Parable of the Sower, they didn't get it at first, which prompted Him to say, " 13 Then he said to them: "Don't you understand this parable? How then will you understand all of the parables? " That one line says to me that the Parable of the Sower has within it a key to unlock all of the other parables. Let's read it!

I heard the testimony of a preacher I admired at one time, and he said that he came to Jesus while smoking pot and listening to a person saved for a mere 2 weeks preach to him. He said he read in the King James Version for a little while after that, and notes that he didn't hardly understand any of it, but he underlined a bunch of passages because he knew they were the words of eternal life. He followed Jesus by faith, even though his mind was hazy from the pot and his understanding was low; nevertheless, he was radically saved.

The writer Donald Whitney tells the story of a man in KC that had just got saved and was hungry to know God in a deeper way. Shortly after salvation, he was severely injured in an explosion, whereby his face was disfigured, and he lost both hands. He was so discouraged that he couldn't read the Bible anymore. Then he heard of a woman in England who read braille with her lips. He tried it, but his lips were too dead. On an off chance, his tongue happened to brush the braille, and he found he could read with his tongue. As of the writing of the book, the man had read the entire Bible through 4 times! That's passion. That's understanding the power of the Word.

Since this podcast is an ongoing concern, and since we will encounter the Parable of the Sower SIX times over the next year, and since this parable in particular is incredibly deep and meaningful - we won't be able to plunge its depths today. However, we can gain at least a few powerful nuggets of truth that will be worth our time:

"Consider carefully what you hear," he continued. "With the measure you use, it will be measured to you—and even more 25 Whoever has will be given more; whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him."

Mark 4:24-25

Listening to and absorbing the Word is critical here. The deeper it goes – the more you listen, meditate, absorb – the greater the work of the Kingdom in your life. The shallower it goes, the less. With the measure you use to receive the Word, that will be the measure of the power, transformation, encouragement and fruitfulness of the Word in your life! Think of it this way. When you come to the Word, you can bring a small cup, and hear only a bit, or you can bring a giant barrel and get TONS of it. There is a direct correlation to the amount of fruitfulness in your life and your getting – hearing of the Word of God. So then - the person that might look at a Verse of the Day app four times a week will be receiving an intake of the Word, but only a tiny, tiny amount - almost certainly not enough to live on. The person who changes her schedule and priorities to make time for the Word of God - for real depth in the Word - that person will receive from that an abundance!

One caution: Be sure you are listening to the Word of God. A preacher's opinion, a pastor's sermon mostly devoid of Scripture, a best-selling book that tells you to wash your face and mentions God a little bit but is mostly devoid of God's Word, a Sprinkle of Jesus and Jesus Calling - these are NOT the Word of God. Just because somebody talks about God does not mean that they are bringing the Word of God. The message of pastors and preachers must be soaked in God's Word, based on God's Word, completely agree with God's Word and be filled with God's Word to be of any use and power to you - otherwise you are just getting opinion. Jesus Calling, the bestselling 'devotional' book, is not God's Word, but rather the words of a modern writer who somehow claims to be speaking for God.

A Sprinkle of Jesus is not the words of Jesus, but a counterfeit meant to give you a shiver and a comforting feeling, but contains 0% The Word of God! It would be like having a deficiency of Vitamin C and taking an orange candy to correct that deficiency, but the candy is completely devoid of any vitamins whatsoever, even though it is the right color and shape. Beware imitations.

Imagine writing to your favorite sports star or celebrity and asking for an autograph. In most cases that celebrity never reads your request, and what you get back in return is a glossy picture with a facsimile autograph on it done by machine, or by an assistant. There is no value in it, because the person you are interested in hasn't interacted with you in the least - their assistant has (or their assistant's assistant!). Can we receive good things from modern preachers, pastors and writers? I believe so, and I am myself a modern preacher, pastor and writer! The danger comes when I (or anybody else) try to pass off my words as the Word of God, or my opinion as God's opinion. I don't speak for God, and my words of teaching (and my books, and this podcast...) are only valuable when they adhere to God's Word and are founded on God's Word and point you to God's Word. My opinion is worth about what it costs you, which is nothing. It is worth much less than that - and becomes a danger to your soul - when I try to frame my opinion as the actual Words of God. It is a dangerous and brazen thing for a writer or teacher to take their words and speak/write them as if they are the Words of God.

"Because I am your constant Companion, there should be a lightness to your step that is observable to others."

Sarah Young, Jesus Calling

You will have suffering in this world. Be courageous! I have conquered the world."

Jesus, John 16:33

Notice the difference between these two quotes! Jesus never calls His followers to something quite so superficial as a 'lightness in their step,' because the Bible is much more realistic and grounded than that.

Consider these two quotes below from 'Sprinkle of Jesus' Does this sound like the Jesus of the Bible?

Imagine texting the one you love, or a special friend. Imagine that their assistant, or secretary, or even a virtual assistant that is a thousand miles away from them answers you, and tells you something sweet and lovely that they (the secretary/assistant) made up themselves. That's nice and everything, but you haven't actually heard from the person you love, but from a substitute. There are no substitutes for God's Word, so let us be about the business of reading, studying and following it!

Welcome to episode #31 of the Bible Reading Podcast. Today's passages are Esther 8, in which Esther and Mordecai save the Jews from Haman's edict; Mark 3 and the calling together of Jesus' 12 disciples and Romans 3, in which we learn that absolutely nobody is able to achieve God's standards in and of themselves. Our focus passage for the day shifts back to Genesis and our old friend Jacob "The Goatman" BenIsaac, which I believe would be a pretty good wrestling name for Jacob. Genesis 32 sees God literally get a hold of Jacob, and Jacob getting a hold of God, and things get better for our 'hero' from there.

Wrestling was my jam when I was a kid, and I was privileged to grow up in the era of Hulkamania. You'd better believe I said my prayers and took my vitamins. Other than Hogan, my two favorites growing up were Ricky 'The Dragon' Steamboat and Billy Jack Haynes. I myself was a wrestler of some renown, basically a professional really, having won the 5th and 6th grade wrestling titles at my school for my weight class. My specialty move was the full nelson, which I know is illegal in real wrestling, but it was the only move I knew, which explains why I had to retire early, and never became a collegiate wrestling legend. Think of the greatest wrestling matches in history: Hulk Hogan vs. Andre the Giant, Randy 'Macho Man' Savage vs. Ricky The Dragon Steamboat. The Rock vs. Mankind, Stone Cold Steve Austin vs. Triple H and even the best real wrestling match of my lifetime, which saw Rulon Gardner defeat Alexander Karelin, a giant of a man who hadn't lost a wrestling match in 13 years. Go look that match up when the pod is over! But none of those matches even compare with the wrestling match we are going to read about today, because, at one point in history, a man wrestled with a Heavenly being and prevailed. Let's read about it!

So - here's the big question. Did Jacob actually defeat God in a wrestling match? Our answer, unfortunately, is a little complicated, because this one big question raises three other questions. #1 - Does the verb used in Genesis 32:28 "Prevailed in the CSB) indicate that Jacob WON the match? #2 Was Jacob actually wrestling God - as in YHVH the God of the Israelites and the Most High God? #3 - Did this being allow Jacob to win in order to bless him? So - let's tackle the three questions in order:

#1 - Does the text here indicate that Jacob 'won' the match in the same way that, say, Rulon Gardner won against Karelin, or the Patriots beat the Rams in last year's Super Bowl? To answer that question, we need to consider the Hebrew word "yakol " This is a verb that occurs nearly 200 times in the Bible. Of those times, approximately 15 percent of the time, it is translated as 'prevail,' or something very similar to prevail. (As a refresher, 'prevail' means, " prove more powerful than opposing forces; be victorious ") 15 percent is not a very high number, so this is not the normal meaning of the word. About 90 times - 40 percent of the occurrences, or so - the word is translated as "could" or "able," both of which are far more neutral verbs that don't necessarily indicate victory, but do indicate perseverance. Unfortunately, that is about as far as we can go. Most of the time when this Hebrew word appears, it doesn't seem to indicate outright victory, but there are many times that it does. Unfortunately, context and grammar does not help us to definitely, beyond a doubt, establish whether or not Jacob actually wrestled God and won. The text could merely be saying that Jacob wrestled and did not give up, or he wrestled and persevered. Even if it is the less victorious meaning of the verb, it should still be acknowledged that this is something of a tremendous accomplishment - one that caused Jacob to be tremendously blessed, and changed the entire naming of the people of God. You might say that the name change to Israel proves that Jacob 'won' the match, but I don't think so - Israel means to strive with God or contend with God - a meaning that doesn't indicate victory.

#2 - Was Jacob actually wrestling with God? This is an interesting question that has an extremely long and not satisfyingly clear answer, and it will begin a discussion for us that won't end today. The heading of my Bible on this section of Genesis 32 says "Jacob Wrestles with God," so that settles it, correct? Well - not yet, actually. The headings in our Bibles were not inerrantly inspired by the Holy Spirit, because they were not part of the original text of the Bible. Clearly, Jacob believes that he has wrestled with God - because He names the place "Penuel" which is the Hebrew word for "face" and the Hebrew word for 'god,' put together. And indeed, Jacob is correct - the Hebrew of this passage and the Hebrew of a passage like Hosea 12 (which refers back to this passage) both tell us that Jacob has wrestled with an Elohim:

In the womb he grasped his brother's heel, and as an adult he wrestled with God.

Hosea 12:3

Case closed, right?! The text says it right there - Jacob wrestled WITH GOD. Except...that word Elohim in the Hebrew is a very, very interesting word with a broader sense of meaning than we might realize. This fact will become very important as we read through the Bible, so we may as well begin to grapple with it now. (pun intended.) Consider Strong's definition of Elohim:

אֱלֹהִים ʼĕlôhîym, el-o-heem'; plural of H433; gods in the ordinary sense; but specifically used (in the plural thus, especially with the article) of the supreme God; occasionally applied by way of deference to magistrates; and sometimes as a superlative:—angels, × exceeding, God (gods) (-dess, -ly), × (very) great, judges, × mighty.

Strong's Concordance

So - that word can mean gods (with a little 'g') It can mean the one supreme God and it can also be used for angels, magistrates (government leaders) and judges. Which is interesting. You might be thinking - wait a minute! There's only one God, right?! And yes - there is only one Supreme Almighty God, and that God is Yahweh, which is the name that God gives to Moses for Himself. But, perhaps a bit confusingly, there are many Elohims. Consider Psalm 82:

God stands in the divine assembly; he pronounces judgment among the gods: 2 "How long will you judge unjustly and show partiality to the wicked?Selah 3 Provide justice for the needy and the fatherless; uphold the rights of the oppressed and the destitute. 4 Rescue the poor and needy; save them from the power of the wicked." 5 They do not know or understand; they wander in darkness. All the foundations of the earth are shaken. 6 I said, "You are gods; you are all sons of the Most High. 7 However, you will die like humans and fall like any other ruler."

Psalm 82:1-7

If that is not enough for you, consider these passages:

Lord, there is no one like you among the gods, and there are no works like yours.

Psalm 86:8

For the Lord is great and is highly praised; he is feared above all gods.

Psalm 96:4

So - what gives here? Several different Bible passages that seem to affirm that there may be more than one God? And I guess, not to be a politician or anything, but the key thing is what your definition of 'God' is. The Bible is quite clear that there are indeed many Elohims, but there is ONLY ONE GOD ABOVE GODS (Or, God Almighty) He is ONE in the sense that He is ABOVE ALL. Consider how these passages in Exodus Deuteronomy puts it:

Lord, who is like you among the gods? Who is like you, glorious in holiness, revered with praises, performing wonders?

Exodus 15:11-12

For the Lord your God is the God of gods and Lord of lords, the great, mighty, and awe-inspiring God, showing no partiality and taking no bribe.

Deuteronomy 10:17

And that is the key. There are many heavenly beings (living in the 'heavens,' but not necessarily in Heaven,) but only ONE God who is the Creator and Master and Lord. He is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. And that is why I am unsure that Jacob wrestled THE GOD. Maybe I haven't convinced you, but I believe I might be able to if I tag in my partner Hosea again:

The Lord also has a dispute with Judah. He is about to punish Jacob according to his conduct; he will repay him based on his actions. 3 In the womb he grasped his brother's heel, and as an adult he wrestled with God. 4 Jacob struggled with the angel and prevailed; he wept and sought his favor. He found him at Bethel, and there he spoke with him.

Hosea 12:1-4

Did you catch it?! At first the text notes that Jacob wrestled with God, and then the text notes that He wrestled/struggled with the angel and prevailed. WHAT GIVES? And the answer, I believe, is that God sometimes manifests or appears as The Angel of YHVH, or the Angel of the Lord. Who is the Angel of the Lord? That is a question for another upcoming podcast, but very briefly, the Angel of the Lord first appears in Scripture in Genesis 16, when He rescues Hagar, mother of Ishmael, and sends her back to Abraham's family. The next appearance of the Angel of the Lord is in Genesis 22, when the Angel of the Lord prevents Abraham from sacrificing Isaac. Consider this passage and see how closely tied together the identity of the Angel of the Lord and Yahweh God are:

1But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, "Abraham, Abraham!"He replied, "Here I am."12 Then he said, "Do not lay a hand on the boy or do anything to him. For now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your only son from me." 13 Abraham looked up and saw a ram caught in the thicket by its horns. So Abraham went and took the ram and offered it as a burnt offering in place of his son. 14 And Abraham named that place The Lord Will Provide, so today it is said: "It will be provided on the Lord's mountain." 15 Then the angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time from heaven 16 and said, "By myself I have sworn," this is the Lord's declaration: "Because you have done this thing and have not withheld your only son, 17 I will indeed bless you and make your offspring as numerous as the stars of the sky and the sand on the seashore. Your offspring will possess the city gates of their enemies. 18 And all the nations of the earth will be blessed by your offspring because you have obeyed my command."

Genesis 22:11-18

So - did Jacob wrestle with God? I believe the answer is a somewhat weak and qualified 'yes.' In a sense, he did indeed wrestle with God, but it is important to recognize the mystery in a passage like this.

#3 Final question: Did The Angel of the Lord/God allow Jacob to "win." As discussed above, it is unclear whether or not Jacob actually 'won' this match in the same way that we use the word 'won.' If there was a referee there, I do NOT believe that the ref would have held up Jacob's hand and said, "Ladies and gentlemen, here is your winner!" I think that this being had power that dwarfed the strength and tenacity of Jacob, and yet He was obviously impressed with Jacob's perseverance. This will be a theme we see repeated in the Bible too - spiritually and otherwise - God appears to be moved by perseverance. Jacob 'prevailed' in that he displayed remarkable courage and refusal to quit. God/the Angel of the Lord, could have ended this match in a nano-second (as we will soon see in other appearances of the Angel of the Lord), but I believe that this text shows, in the same way a father enjoys 'wrestling' with His toddler, that God/the Angel of the Lord, might also enjoy wrestling with His children.

Callback to a previous episode: What is the blasphemy of the Spirit A.K.A. the unforgivable sin?

Addendum: For those who are curious - does the view above indicate that I believe the Hebrews practiced some sort of polytheism? Not in the least! Here's Dr. Michael Heiser with a detailed answer to that question:

The biblical writers refer to a half-dozen different entities with the word elohim. By any religious accounting, the attributes of those entities are not equal.

•Yahweh, the God of Israel (thousands of times—e.g., Gen 2:4–5; Deut 4:35) •The members of Yahweh's council (Psa 82:1, 6) •Gods and goddesses of other nations (Judg 11:24; 1 Kgs 11:33) •Demons (Hebrew: shedim—Deut 32:17)3 •The deceased Samuel (1 Sam 28:13) •Angels or the Angel of Yahweh4 (Gen 35:7)

The importance of this list can be summarized with one question: Would any Israelite, especially a biblical writer, really believe that the deceased human dead and demons are on the same level as Yahweh? No. The usage of the term elohim by biblical writers tells us very clearly that the term is not about a set of attributes. Even though when we see "G-o-d" we think of a unique set of attributes, when a biblical writer wrote elohim, he wasn't thinking that way. If he were, he'd never have used the term elohim to describe anything but Yahweh.

Consequently, there is no warrant for concluding that plural elohim produces a pantheon of interchangeable deities. There is no basis for concluding that the biblical writers would have viewed Yahweh as no better than another elohim. A biblical writer would not have presumed that Yahweh could be defeated on any given day by another elohim, or that another elohim (why not any of them?) had the same set of attributes.

The Unseen Realm, Dr. Michael Heiser

Today's Bible passages feature the incredible absurdities of Jacob (and his sneaky wife Rachel!) in Genesis 31, some very satisfying comeuppance for the antisemite Haman in Esther 7, and Jesus healing, forgiving, and calling a seemingly ignoble tax-collector to His team of disciples in Mark 2. Romans 2 is our focus passage of the day, and it is all about hypocrisy and its dangers. Even though the word 'hypocrite' is not found in the chapter at all, Romans 2 contains one of the most detailed - almost poetic - descriptions of hypocrisy in the Bible. Today we will change our format up ever so slightly by first reading Romans 2, and discussing how hypocrisy can blaspheme God's name, then we will read Esther 7, and cover the one big (and grisly) Bible mystery in that passage. Shout-out to my friend and Valley Baptist church-goer Dan Blair who suggested the topic for today's podcast (because he was reading ahead into Romans) and also shout out to the people that attacked one of our church Facebook posts this week for being an excellent demonstration that hypocrisy is not just something that Christians do, but that anybody can engage in hypocrisy!

Let's jump right into Romans 2, and come back for a deep discussion of hypocrisy!

Hypocrisy is a big, big deal. If you Google the word to come up with a concise and easy to understand definition (as I did), you will find this gem presented to you from the Oxford dictionary, "[hypocrisy is] the practice of claiming to have moral standards or beliefs to which one's own behavior does not conform; pretense." Of all the definitions I read, and there are many, I believe that this one correlates most closely to the behavior that Jesus seeks to challenge and condemn so many times. Interestingly, Google also serves up a picture to go along with hypocrisy, and it is a challenge to those of us, like myself, who are pro-life.

In most modern versions of the Bible, the word 'hypocrite' and its cognates appear about 30 or so times in most translations of the Bible. Of those appearances, about 75 percent of them are referenced by Jesus, and it is clear that this is an issue that is exceedingly important to Him. Consider just these four passages to get an idea of how Jesus feels about hypocrisy: (I note here that passage #1 gives a crystal clear definition of hypocrisy by Jesus.)

27 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which appear beautiful on the outside, but inside are full of the bones of the dead and every kind of impurity. 28 In the same way, on the outside you seem righteous to people, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.

Matthew 23:27-28

5 "Whenever you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites, because they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by people. Truly I tell you, they have their reward. 6 But when you pray, go into your private room, shut your door, and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

Matthew 6:5-6'

He answered them, "Isaiah prophesied correctly about you hypocrites, as it is written: This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me.

Mark 7:6

Or how can you say to your brother, 'Brother, let me take out the splinter that is in your eye,' when you yourself don't see the beam of wood in your eye? Hypocrite! First take the beam of wood out of your eye, and then you will see clearly to take out the splinter in your brother's eye.

Luke 6:42

So, according to Jesus, hypocrisy is appearing to be religious on the outside, but being dead and wicked on the inside/in secret. Hypocrisy is doing gaudy religious behavior so that you appear to be righteous. Hypocrisy is honoring God with our words (and social media posts) but being distant from Him in our hearts, and hypocrisy is judging other people for minor sins when we ourselves are engaging in major sins. In case you can't tell from what Jesus and Paul said, this behavior is incredibly dangerous to our own souls. It is also remarkably confusing to people who are NOT Christians. And, as Paul has shown us, this leads to them blaspheming (aggressively insulting and speaking against) the name of God.

When we Christians claim to believe the truths of the Bible, and strongly expound them on social media, and yet don't live up to the words of our mouths and the words of our posts, we are engaging in hypocrisy and increasing the level of blaspheme against the name of God. When we Christians claim to believe the teachings of the Bible, and then lionize and support people who live in opposite ways to the Word of God, then we are confusing non-believers, and engaging in the kind of hypocrisy that increases the level of blasphemy of God's name in the world. When we Christians come out against the immoral behavior of non-Christians and condemn that behavior, and then are later caught doing that same thing - or worse!- then we are engaging in the kind of hypocrisy that raises the level of blasphemy in the world and causes the world to view the teachings of the Bible with extreme skepticism. Our behavior and beliefs must correlate with our actions, and both must be governed by the Word of God and the leadership of the Holy Spirit. There is no justification - pragmatic, political, philosophical or otherwise - for any of those kinds of hypocrisy. We MUST flee from behavior that is hypocritical, lest we run afoul of our Master Jesus, or increase the level of blasphemy in the world.

When you see a man with a great deal of religion displayed in his shop window, you may depend upon it he keeps a very small stock of it within.

Charles Spurgeon

He that puts on a religious habit abroad to gain himself a great name among men, and at the same time lives like an atheist at home, shall at the last be uncovered by God and presented before all the world for a most outrageous hypocrite.

Thomas Brooks, The Privie Key of Heaven (1665).

We ought to read the psalms that curse the oppressor; read them with fear. Who knows what imprecations of the same sort have been uttered against ourselves? What prayers have Red men, and Black, and Brown and Yellow, sent up against us to their gods or sometimes to God Himself? All over the earth the White Man's offence 'smells to heaven': massacres, broken treaties, theft, kidnappings, enslavement, deportation, floggings, lynchings, beatings-up, rape, insult, mockery, and odious hypocrisy make up that smell.

C. S. Lewis, Christian Reflections, ed. Walter Hooper, EPub Edition. (HarperOne, 2014), 119. NOTE: This was written more than ten years before the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.

He talks about prayer, of repentance, of faith, and of the new birth; but he only knows how to talk about them. I have visited his family and have observed him both at home and abroad, and I know what I say is the truth. His house is as empty of religion as the white of an egg is devoid of flavor. There is no prayer offered in his house, nor any sign of repentance for sin. Yes, even an animal serves God far better than Talkative."To all who know him, he is the very stain, reproach, and shame of religion. Because of his reputation, the neighborhood in which he lives hardly has a good word to say about him. The common people who really know him say, 'A saint abroad and a devil at home.'

John Bunyan, Description of 'Talkative' a hypocrite who poses as a Christian in Pilgrim's Progress.

A hypocrite is the picture of a saint; but his paint shall be washed off, and he shall appear in his own colors.

Reverend John Mason

COALS of fire cannot be concealed beneath the most sumptuous apparel, they will betray themselves with smoke and flame; nor can darling sins be long hidden beneath the most ostentatious profession, they will sooner or later discover themselves, and burn sad holes in the man's reputation. Sin needs quenching in the Saviour's blood, not concealing under the garb of religion.

C. H. Spurgeon, Feathers for Arrows (London: Passmore & Alabaster, 1870), 115.

O, what may man within him hide, Though angel on the outward side!

William Shakespeare, Measure for Measure

Hypocrisy leads a man to pretend to be what he is not. His only hope lies in not being discovered; but, as Christ declares that "there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; neither hid, that shall not be known;" hypocrisy becomes insanity as well as iniquity. Therefore, keep clear of it in every shape and form.

C. H. Spurgeon, "God's Glory Our Reward," in The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit Sermons, vol. 53 (London: Passmore & Alabaster, 1907), 104.

Hypocrisy is hateful to God and humanity. It does not bring a reward, and it is utterly useless for the salvation of the soul. It is rather the cause of its damnation. Although sometimes it may escape detection for a little while, before long, it is sure to be uncovered and bring disgrace on them.

Cyril of Alexandria 300s-400s AD Arthur A. Just, ed., Luke, Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2005), 203–204.

If a man preaches but does not practice what he preaches, he is like a well of water where everyone can quench their thirst and wash their dirt, but which cannot clean away the filth and dung that is around it.

Poeman, A Christian monk from the 300s-400s AD Elliot Ritzema, 300 Quotations for Preachers from the Early Church, Pastorum Series (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2013).

As to the issue of Haman, almost certainly, he was not hanged on a the version of the gallows that most of us would be familiar with. The Hebrew verbiage is a bit ambiguous here, but it could be read to indicate the Haman was impaled on a pole/tree/spike, or that he was hung (as in, attached) to a pole and left to die. Probably not dropped through the gallows as we think of it.

In the work of the Greek historian Herodotus, impalement is regularly presented as a Persian punishment (see The Histories, 1.128, 3,132, 3.159, 6.30 as examples). Given the setting of Esther, it thus seems likely that the manner of punishment for Haman was in fact impalement. In other words, the fifty-cubit "tree" built by Haman was intended to display Mordecai's body impaled in such a way that no one could avoid seeing it. As it turned out, however, it was Haman, whose death (and the folly leading to it) was put on display for the entire population. This view is also confirmed by both recent commentaries (by Jon Levenson, for example) and by older commentaries (Keil and Delitzsch). In this case, I think the TNIV and the NLT to be more correct in their translation than the ESV or the NASB.

https://www.ligonier.org/blog/was-haman-hanged-or-impaled/

So I got an interesting letter this week from a friend of the podcast, and boy oh boy, is he in a mess! Let me read it to you, and see if you might have any ideas how to help my friend:

Dear random podcast host,

My name is Yacov Ben Yiṣḥāq, and I have a problem I'm hoping that you can help me with. It is fairly complicated, but it all started when I stole the blessing of the firstborn from my mean-tempered, smelly, hairy and unreasonable brother Hesau. He would have wasted it anyway, but when he found out, that lunk-head decided to kill me. Fortunately, I ran away from home and went far away to my uncle's compound, where I promptly fell in love with my cousin, Ra-hel. Yeah, I know you Americans kind of find that icky, but it was mostly ok where I come from and Ra-hel is so hot that I literally cried the first time I saw her. No, I'm not emo. Anyway, so, I asked my uncle if I could marry Ra-hel, and he said yes, and we had a marriage and everything, and it was great. Maybe I celebrated a little too hard, if you get my drift, but it was my wedding, and most people only get one of those. So anyway, after the big wedding, me and the wife went to the tent for the woo-hoo (let the reader understand) and in the morning I woke up not to Ra-hel but to her way less hot sister Leah!! SO, as any nephew would do in this situation, I went to my uncle and demanded an explanation. He said that I shouldn't worry, that he would give me Ra-hel AND Leah, and that all I had to do was work for him FOURTEEN years. FOURTEEN! That is a long time. But, you know - Ra-hel being so beautiful she made me cry and all, I agreed to it. Well, fast forward a few years. And, believe it or not, being married to a couple of sisters (and their servants...don't ask, long story!) is complicated. I've had a bunch of kids by Ra-hel, and Leah, and their servants, and now my wives all fight over me, and over getting pregnant, and everything, and one of them appears to be a thief, and honestly, I sometimes think maybe it would have been easier if I had just let Hesau knock my block off. What do I do?!

Signed, Harassed and Hopeless in Haran

Well, Harassed and Hopeless, never having married sisters before, and never having married a first cousin before, and never having married any concubines or servants of my wife before, I am honestly at a loss for how to help you. Let me think about that for a minute as we read Genesis 30, our first Bible passage of the day.

So - Jacob is in a mess, and SPOILER ALERT - things are going to get messier before they get better. Before we get back to answering the letter from our friend seeking advice, let's take a look at one interesting detail here: The whole spotted/speckled goat thing. What in the world is going on here?! Honestly, your guess is as good as mine. There are two main theories here, and both of them could be true with a high view of the Bible.

Theory #1 - Jacob's putting peeled branches in the watering troughs of the sheep was silly superstition and had absolutely NOTHING to do with the health of those sheep and how they multiplied. Jacob thought he was doing something clever, but what he was doing was the equivalent of ancient hocus-pocus (old wives' tales) and it was actually God who supernaturally increased Jacob's flocks. This theory is put forward quite well by Gotquestions.org:

The biblical answer to the mystery of how Jacob's peeled poles resulted in speckled sheep is found in the next chapter: Jacob says to Rachel, "I've worked for your father with all my strength, yet your father has cheated me by changing my wages ten times. However, God has not allowed him to harm me. . . . So God has taken away your father's livestock and has given them to me. In breeding season I once had a dream in which I looked up and saw that the male goats mating with the flock were streaked, speckled or spotted. The angel of God said to me in the dream, . . . 'Look up and see that all the male goats mating with the flock are streaked, speckled or spotted, for I have seen all that Laban has been doing to you'" (Genesis 31:6–12). The Bible does not teach the validity of visual, prenatal influence over genetics. Whatever superstitious, nonsensical ideas were behind Jacob's placement of the branches in the troughs, it was God who caused the increase in the speckled sheep and goats. All of Jacob's work had been for naught. Peeling the branches and setting them out in front of the flocks was really a lack of faith on his part. Jacob's schemes to increase his flock were unnecessary, because God had already determined to enrich him. God graciously worked, not because of Jacob's streaked branches, but in spite of them.

https://www.gotquestions.org/Jacob-speckled-spotted.html

Theory #2, Suggested by Answers in Genesis, is that Jacob's putting of these peeled branches in the water troughs was, among other things, actually giving these flocks some vitamins and minerals and helpful things that caused them to be healthier and reproduce with more vigor:

Several sources claim the poplar and almond trees have medicinal properties for both humans and livestock. There are several scientific journal papers that mention that the particular trees from which Jacob peeled sticks supposedly cure urogenital problems, reduce fevers, work as anti-inflammatories and aid in reducing reproductive disorders. All of these would make an animal healthier, and more likely to produce healthy offspring. Several studies have been done on poplar and almond tree bark, leaves, nuts, and twigs (small diameter branches, or what Scripture called "sticks"), and they mentioned that sheep would eat these and that ewes especially benefited from them. Also, many of the chemical compounds would still be beneficial even by simply steeping in water. Some of those benefits are highlighted below.

https://answersingenesis.org/genetics/animal-genetics/jacobs-odd-breeding-program-genesis-30/

I gotta say, that Answers in Genesis article is pretty darn impressive. If you've got about 25 minutes, go read it. They make a very thorough and well documented scientific case that Jacob might just have been onto something with those sticks in the water. Why are they so concerned with vindicating Jacob's methods? Because some people have used this passage to undermine the credibility of the Bible, as AIG says:

Genesis 30:37–31:16 is a section of Scripture often held up to ridicule by skeptics, and even some of those committed to biblical inerrancy and authority struggle with understanding and explaining to others. So many questions have been raised: Does Jacob's "peeled bark" practice have any bearing on how sheep and goats breed? Does it offer any health or reproductive value? Did God instruct Jacob in this practice? Was it his intention, and if so was it deceitful for Jacob to seek to appropriate the flocks of Laban, his father-in-law? Was this an entirely natural phenomenon, or was there a large dose of providential direction involved?

https://answersingenesis.org/genetics/animal-genetics/jacobs-odd-breeding-program-genesis-30/

Honestly, I lean towards the Gotquestions.org explanation, but I won't be surprised either way. I do NOT believe that this is an issue that undermines the inerrancy of the Bible in any way, shape or form. Why is that? Because NOT EVERYTHING IN THE BIBLE IS TRUE! Whoa, whoa, whoa - sound the liberal alarm, ring the heretic bell...no, hang on. I am absolutely, positively, with all my heart and soul committed to biblical inerrancy as it has been held by the giants of the faith for centuries. But there are times when sinful humans in the Bible affirm wrong things. Let's take our chapter here, for instance. Consider this passage:

3 Then she said, "Here is my maid Bilhah. Go sleep with her, and she'll bear children for me so that through her I too can build a family." 4 So Rachel gave her slave Bilhah to Jacob as a wife, and he slept with her. 5 Bilhah conceived and bore Jacob a son. 6 Rachel said, "God has vindicated me; yes, he has heard me and given me a son," so she named him Dan.

Genesis 30:3-6

Rachel was frustrated that she was not getting pregnant and having babies by Jacob. Her solution? To give her servant Bilhah to her husband so that he could make babies with her. When that plan worked, Rachel concluded that God had vindicated her and given her a son. IS THIS TRUE? Did God vindicate Rachel by this plan working? Honestly, I don't think so...I think Rachel is WRONG here and justifying herself. Was Sarah doing the right thing when she gave her servant Hagar to her husband? The context of the Bible shows quite conclusively that this was a wrong thing to do. Here are a couple of other examples:

Job's friend Bildad, trying to explain why Job's children were tragically killed, tells Job in no uncertain terms that it was their sin that killed them:

"If your children have sinned against him, he has delivered them into the hand of their transgression"

Job 8:4

Later, God takes Job's friends to task and rebukes them for their lousy council and wrong statements to Job. Thus we can't look at any of the statements of Job's friends as being truthful, because God Himself tells us in the book of Job, "After the Lord had finished speaking to Job, He said to Eliphaz the Temanite: "I am angry with you and your two friends, for you have not spoken the truth about Me, as My servant Job has" (Job 42:7)

Or, consider the powerful and encouraging words of the prophet Zedekiah and his friends, "March up and succeed!" (You could almost see that on a t-shirt, or an inspirational calendar, right?)

9 Now the king of Israel and King Jehoshaphat of Judah, clothed in royal attire, were each sitting on his own throne. They were sitting on the threshing floor at the entrance to Samaria's gate, and all the prophets were prophesying in front of them. 10 Then Zedekiah son of Chenaanah made iron horns and said, "This is what the Lord says: 'You will gore the Arameans with these until they are finished off.'" 11 And all the prophets were prophesying the same, saying, "March up to Ramoth-gilead and succeed, for the Lord will hand it over to the king."

2 Chronicles 18:9-11

The only problem? EVERY ONE OF THOSE PROPHETS WERE FALSE PROPHETS and their prophecies were worth as much as slightly used toilet paper.

What about the New Testament? Surely we can trust the disciples James and John to say things that are 100 percent trustworthy, right?

52 He sent messengers ahead of Him, and on the way they entered a village of the Samaritans to make preparations for Him. 53 But they did not welcome Him, because He determined to journey to Jerusalem.54 When the disciples James and John saw this, they said, "Lord, do You want us to call down fire from heaven to consume them?"

Luke 9:52-54

SHOULD WE call down fire from Heaven on people who don't receive Jesus? The unsurprising answer is NO, which is revealed to us in the next two verses when Jesus rebukes James and John for their silliness.

So, considering the above, we can see that Sarah's example is not showing us that a good way to have kids is to give your husband another woman. Job's friends do not teach us how to encourage those who are going through tragedy, and we can learn nothing from Zedekiah son of Chenaanah about prophesying accurately. And that also means that Jacob's actions aren't infallible, and his interpretations aren't infallible, and his stick in the water trough trick may not actually have been all that effective. We don't know one way or the other because the Bible doesn't tell us one way or the other, and that is okay. We don't need to speculate in the absence of clear Scripture.

What's the point? The Bible is ABSOLUTELY AND UNQUESTIONABLY true in all that it affirms. But it is crucial that we make sure that we are latching onto something the Bible affirms. Imagine a scenario where somebody does exactly what Jacob did, and their flocks don't multiply at a ridiculous rate. Does that mean the Bible was wrong? Of course not! The Bible never affirms or denies that Jacob's stick trick was effective or not. It doesn't tell us whether or not Rachel's contention that God vindicated her was correct, and it never directly says that polygamy is a sin, but sure shows how complicated it is over and over again!

There are times that the behavior and words of key characters in the Bible are suspect and unbiblical (in that they go against God's commands) and thus, by context and interpreting Scripture with Scripture, we understand and follow God's Words. For more, you can read the Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy, which I completely agree with and hold to. CLICK HERE)

Oh yeah - and Jacob, son of Isaac, old buddy - I wish I knew what to tell you about your situation. It is one of the trickiest I've ever heard of, and it sounds like you caused a lot of the problems. Next time maybe get a good look at your wife before you actually consummate that marriage. That seems like good advice to me. Trust God, and I'm sure He will be found faithful.

Oh, and don't let go until He blesses you.

Welcome into episode 28 - we are now four weeks into doing a daily Bible podcast. Thank you to those who have been here since the beginning all those many days ago and welcome aboard to any newcomers. As a reminder - our goal is to be in God's Word daily and encourage others to do the same. No need to go back and read yesterday's readings, unless you just have the time to do that and want to. Please share the show with friends and family!

My son recently asked me what my favorite episodes were so far, and I thought that was a good question. Here are five I particularly enjoyed reading about, writing about, and recording the episode (not in a particular order):

Sunday's Episode about the devotion of Mary of Bethany and how she exemplifies the first and greatest commandment is a recent favorite.

The Nephilim episode, number 6, was a favorite because is a fun topic to discuss and research. For awhile it was the most popular episode in terms of downloads.

Are Christians bound to follow the Old Testament AND the New Testament is a very important question that most Christians don't think about enough from a scriptural perspective.

Last week's episode on the Last Days/End Times emphasizes that the WHEN is not the most important thing, but our readiness for the return of Jesus the King.

Finally, Judging is a very misunderstood teaching in the Bible. Some people judge others way too much, while others believe the Bible forbids every type of judgment. The biblical answer is somewhere between those two extremes.

Today's episode is focused on what I believe is the central event of Christianity and our great hope - the resurrection, AKA the victory of Jesus over death. Interestingly, the Bible speaks of death as an enemy, and anybody who has lost a loved one can testify that death does indeed come like an enemy and causes tremendous heartache and pain.

25 For He must reign until He puts all His enemies under His feet. 26 The last enemy to be abolished is death.

1 Corinthians 15:25-26

Three days after His grisly death on the cross (See yesterday's episode on the crucifixion...), Jesus walked out of the tomb alive again, having handed death its first permanent defeat. Often, when I talk about the resurrection, I seek to give people reasons to believe that the resurrection of Jesus was a REAL historical event that factually happened. The second book I wrote, Easter: Fact or Fiction, has twenty of those reasons to believe in the resurrection, and it is probably my favorite book of those I've written. If you interested in apologetics, it might be worth checking out. Rather than take an apologetics/reasons to believe approach today, I would rather simply focus on the HOPE that comes from the factual and historical resurrection of Jesus. Paul talks twice about that hope in the famous resurrection chapter (1 Corinthians 15):

If I fought wild animals in Ephesus with only human hope,what good did that do me? If the dead are not raised, Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.

1 Corinthians 15: 32

16 For if the dead are not raised, Christ has not been raised. 17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins. 18 Therefore, those who have fallen asleep in Christ have also perished. 19 If we have put our hope in Christ for this life only, we should be pitied more than anyone.

1 Corinthians 15:16-19

In the first quote above, Paul talks about some of his harrowing adventures sharing the gospel in and around Ephesus, and is saying how worthless those brushes with death would have been if Paul and his team only had human hopes - if there is no resurrection, he is saying, go live a life of partying and pleasure, because you're just going to die suddenly one day. In the second passage, Paul is saying that there is no hope for Christians, and Christianity is the most pitiful religion and philosophy in the world if the resurrection isn't real and factual. BUT IT IS REAL AND FACTUAL. Jesus has overcame death, and therefore He will overcome death in us:

20 But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. 21 For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead also comes through a man. 22 For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive.

1 Corinthians 15:20-22

Because of this - we have hope, and I want to close with a meditation on hope I wrote a short while ago:

"Be strong and courageous, all you who put your hope in the Lord." Psalm 31:24

Hope is one of my favorite things in all of the world, and I spend a lot of my time hoping for things. Often I hope for very rational things. I hope that my kids will be healthy this month. I hope that my wife and I will be good parents, good spouses, and good friends. I hope that our monthly income will be enough to cover our monthly outflow...that sort of thing. Other times, my hopes can be a little more colorful, which is a polite way to say extremely unrealistic.

As a young teenager, I desperately hoped to be able to one day have adamantium claws and a healing factor, so that I could be more like my childhood hero Wolverine. I later hoped to become a professional baseball player who would be a power pitcher AND a good hitter. Somebody who would hit at least a 300, with a few dozen homers to boot. Yeah...neither of those hopes have been even remotely fulfilled, and certainly never will. Alas. That's the thing about hope - it is only as good and valuable as its object. Hoping that something will happen, does NOT make it more likely to happen, does it? That's just not how hope works. The amount of hope we have in something does not correlate with the likelihood of that thing happening. Therefore, in order for hope to be a positive and valuable thing, the object of hope - the thing that is hoped for - must be solid and secure, or the only thing that will result from hope is disappointment.

The Bible doesn't really talk about hope the way that most people do today. We might say, "I hope it rains." or "I hope that Alabama wins the football game Saturday," meaning that we have a desire for something to happen that is uncertain. We use the word 'hope' in a way that is synonymous with our desires - we might as well say, "I WANT it to rain." or "I WANT Alabama to win Saturday." That's how most English speaking people use the word 'hope.' Biblical hope is not focused on something that is wished for...but something that is a certainty.

Consider 1 Corinthians 15:19, 32- "If we have put our hope in Christ for this life only, we should be pitied more than anyone….32 If I fought wild animals in Ephesus with only human hope, what good did that do me? If the dead are not raised, Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die." What Paul means by that passage, which clearly contrasts human hope and biblical hope, is that the resurrection of Jesus from the dead is the source and object of biblical hope. If that hope is a false hope - if Jesus didn't really/genuinely/historically rise from the dead - then Christians are the most pitiful fools and time-wasters in the entire world. The focus of biblical hope is the resurrection of Jesus, and it is a sure hope and anchor, according to Hebrews 6 - a certain and historical fact that is worthy of people putting the entirety of their confidence in. The Bible urges Christians to put their hope in certain things (like the resurrection) and warns Christians against putting their hope in uncertain things, like seemingly powerful armies/technology/human sources of power, etc. ("The horse is a false hope for safety; it provides no escape by its great power." Psalm 33:17)

This biblical hope is intensely practical, and it informs everything about the Christian life. Consider these five hope-focused Scripture passages, and the practical implications they mention that are reality because of biblical hope:

1. Biblical hope impacts the way we view death - the way we behave at funerals. Yes! Christians grieve in the face of death...but not as those who are of the world. "We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, concerning those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve like the rest, who have no hope." 1 Thessalonians 4:13
2. Biblical hope is transformative - it changes our very nature, and makes us like Jesus. "Dear friends, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet been revealed. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him because we will see Him as He is. 3 And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself just as He is pure." 1 John 3:2-4
3. Biblical hope results in powerful and practical confidence. Not self-confidence, but God-confidence. "Therefore, having such a hope, we use great boldness. We are not like Moses, who used to put a veil over his face so that the Israelites could not stare at the the end of what was fading away." Hebrews 3:12-13
4. Biblical hope is a defining characteristic of the Christian life - it is absolutely essential. Those who do not possess a sure hope in the resurrection of Jesus are not actually Christians. "But Christ was faithful as a Son over His household. And we are that household if we hold on to the courage and the confidence of our hope." Hebrews 3:6
5. Biblical hope is protective, and the Bible compares it to armor. When our hope and focus is on the solid foundation of Jesus overcoming death, then we are protected from doubt and any other attacks from the enemy. "But since we belong to the day, we must be serious and put the armor of faith and love on our chests, and put on a helmet of the hope of salvation." 1 Thessalonians 5:8

Hope is a beautiful thing, and it is a centerpiece and essential component of Christianity. We are defined by hope, and we should overflow with hope. (Romans 15:13) Because of hope, we should be bold and confident witnesses to a world full of wishers and dreamers. They are looking for something to place their hope in, but so many things have disappointed and failed them. Biblical hope will not. No matter what you are facing now, no matter how much your life or family has been devastated by the effects of the fall, no matter how hopeless you might feel, know that the fact is that Jesus is returning to redeem those who are His own. He is returning to make things right. He is returning to crush death, end sickness, and wipe away every tear. He is coming. It is a certain guarantee. Rest in that. Hope in that. Rejoice in that! Look to Him and live forever in realized hope.

"Let us strive to know the Lord. His appearance is as sure as the dawn. He will come to us like the rain, like the spring showers that water the land." Hosea 6:3

"History ends with the resurrection. Resurrection is complete restoration, but only after death and destruction. This avoids the unbalanced optimism of modernity but also the hopelessness of dystopianism. On the final day of history, we know that our Redeemer will stand upon the earth, and that in our new resurrected bodies we will see God (Job 19:25-26) In the words of the poet Seamus Heaney "The longed-for tidal wave of justice can rise up — and hope and history rhyme." - Tim Keller.

https://www.redeemer.com/redeemer-report/article/when_hope_and_history_rhyme