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

All about the hope that comes from the fact that Jesus defeated death and rose from the grave!

Today's passages are quite heavy in many ways. In Genesis 28, Jacob is sent away from his family (and his elder brother who, understandably, wants to kill him) to go find a wife and raise a family. Esther 4 sees Queen Esther contemplating risking her life by approaching the King and asking for him to somehow stop the slaughter of the Jews that he has already sanctioned. In Acts 27, Paul is bound for Rome as a prisoner aboard a sturdy ship with almost 300 other people. That ship is beset by a terrible storm that ends up grounding the ship and causing its destruction. And, darkest and heaviest of all, Matthew 27 is focused on the terrible suffering of Jesus on the cross at Golgotha.

It's Monday - not normally most people's favorite day of the week. And our topic for the day is heavy. But, let me assure you and encourage you: When you fully understand the depth of the pain and suffering of the crucifixion, I think your final emotion will be relief, rather than heaviness. Relief that you were spared (or could be spared) from such a fate by the eternal love of the Father and His Son. Let's read Matthew 27 and then dig in!

If you will recall, before Jesus was arrested, He was praying in the Garden, anticipating what was coming, and asking God to deliver Him with great drops of bloody sweat coming off of Him. The prayer of Jesus here was intense beyond any sort of level that most of us can understand, and He almost was overcome just in the act of praying. Consider what Tim Keller says:

"If the anticipation of these sufferings, if the very taste of these sufferings sent the Son of God into shock, what must it have been to drink them to the bottom?"

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

The Scourging - metal balls that injure the organs. Pieces of metal that sink in and rip the flesh 3rd century - EUSABIOUS "their bodies were frightfully lacerated - their veins were laid bare, and the inner muscles, sinews, even entrails, were exposed." By His stripes we were healed. Not mainly about physical healing - but about the deeper healing of a person from their sins.

The Crossbar - Chest contusion onto marble - 100 pounds drove his chest into the ground.

Crucifixion - We get the word "excruciating" from there. The Roman statesman Cicero called it "the most cruel and disgusting penalty" The Jewish historian Josephus, "the most wretched of deaths."

The Sponge - Roman toilet paper. Got sick, learned to dip it in Gall/Vinegar to clean it.

The Spear: Pierce me in the side and heart, blood will come out. Blood and water for Jesus because either his heart was literally torn from the crossbar, or hypovolemic shock from the scourging.

Despite all of what you just heard about the sufferings of Jesus - the depth of the sufferings of Jesus for us and the love that is shown can only be seen in His taking on of the wrath of God for us. In the Garden - take this cup from me. What cup? Five times in the Bible - the cup of God's Wrath. Jesus drank the cup of wrath in our place - every spanking that we deserved..every discipline...NOT HIS PHYSICAL SUFFERINGS. Ponder this - an infinite God can suffer infinitely. Yes He died in our place, but more than that, He suffered wrath for us. The punishment that was due to be paid for our sins was instead poured out on the perfect Jesus.

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 transgressions, 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 53:4-6

"Some have inquired, what was the occasion of that distress and agony [in the Garden of Gethsemane], and there have been many speculations about it, but the account which the Scripture itself gives us is sufficiently full in this matter, and does not leave room for speculation or doubt. The thing that Christ's mind was so full of at that time was, without doubt, the same with that which his mouth was so full of: it was the dread which his feeble human nature had of that dreadful cup, which was vastly more terrible than Nebuchadnezzar's fiery furnace. He had then a near view of that furnace of wrath, into which he was to be cast; he was brought to the mouth of the furnace that he might look into it, and stand and view its raging flames, and see the glowings of its heat, that he might know where he was going and what he was about to suffer. This was the thing that filled his soul with sorrow and darkness, this terrible sight as it were overwhelmed him. For what was that human nature of Christ to such mighty wrath as this?

Jonathan Edwards, The Works of Jonathan Edwards, vol. 2 (Banner of Truth Trust, 1974), 867–868. Slightly modernized

God's Wrath is real - It is mentioned around 600 times in the Old Testament. God's Wrath is personal - just like His love. God's wrath is necessary- It is Justice for those who commit spousal abuse, child abuse, murder, Hitler - evil in the world must be met with righteous wrath and unbiased punishment. GOD IS JUST AND LOVING. Our sins have justly earned us punishment and because God is perfectly just, He can't just wave away our sins - there must be a price paid for them. However, if we had to pay that price - if I had to pay that price, and if you had to pay the price for your sins - it would utterly annihilate us. It is literally a debt that we are unable to pay. So - God can't wave away the debt of our sin, because He is perfectly just, and He won't force us to pay the debt of our sin because He is perfectly love - and that is why Jesus paid it all.

The pain of the cross was not merely the physical aspects of being crucified. Hundreds of thousands of people were crucified in the ancient world. Many have suffered that fate. It's horrible, but the crucifixion wasn't unique. What was unique is that Jesus was crucified and, in the midst of being crucified, the entire punishment that was due all of the sins of humanity was poured out on Him. A mere mortal would have been ground to powder instantly, but it could be said that an infinite God can suffer infinitely. Jesus was fully God and fully man. He suffered and died of His wounds in crucifixion but He also suffered a vast amount more as the punishment that bought us peace was cast down upon Jesus. That, I believe, is the true torture and the true brilliance of the Cross. If Jesus had merely died on the cross and overcame death - that would be great and all, but that wouldn't help us much. After all, how much payment can one death on the cross cover? I guess one capital punishment can cover one person's heinous crimes. One life to save a life...but this isn't what happened with Jesus. Not only did He die a sinner's death - HE DIED MILLIONS UPON MILLIONS OF SINNER'S DEATHS. And thus, in His death and suffering we have peace.

Tonight at a wonderful prayer gathering, we sang a song that I love every part of, except the last line, which implies that Jesus, while hanging on the cross, thought of ME most of all. How that could be true for everybody singing the song, I'm not sure, but if that song makes people think that Jesus died on the cross smiling and happily thinking that He was glad to give His life for us, then I think that is inaccurate. I believe that Jesus DID think of me (and you!) while on the cross...but not in a happy, whimsical way...but He thought of me when He was paying the terrible price of my sins. His thoughts of me were likely agonizing. And yet He endured, and paid the price, and overcame death, and offers all who believe in Him eternal life. And that is far better, to me, than the silly thought that Jesus was suffering to the highest extent possible for a being to suffer while on the cross, and while doing so was happily thinking about me with a silly grin on His face.

I rejoice at the crucifixion. We should weep for the price that it cost our savior to redeem us. But those tears should be tears of joy and gratitude, not the bitter tears of somebody facing a terrible punishment. The resurrection and crucifixion stand at the literal center - the crux - of Christianity. Without the crucifixion, we are lost in our sins and still owe the righteous price that a 100 percent just God demands. Without the resurrection, there is no hope for a future life enjoying the paradise that the crucifixion bought for us - we are here one day, and gone the next. But, because of the crucifixion, all those who look to Jesus in wholehearted faith, believing that He died in your place, and following Him - they will be saved from the punishment due their wrongdoing, but not merely that. They will also be viewed by God the Father as fully righteous, because perfection has covered their wrongs.

Each of you says, "I'm with Paul," or "I'm with Apollos," or "I'm with Cephas," or "I'm with Christ." 13 Is Christ divided?Was it Paul who was crucified for you? Or were you baptized in Paul's name? 14 I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius, 15 so that no one can say you were baptized in my name. 16 I did, in fact, baptize the household of Stephanas; beyond that, I don't know if I baptized anyone else. 17 For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to evangelize—not with clever words, so that the cross of Christ will not be emptied of its effect.18 For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but it is God's power to us who are being saved. 19 For it is written: I will destroy the wisdom of the wise,and I will set aside the understanding of the experts.20 Where is the philosopher? Where is the scholar? Where is the debater of this age? Hasn't God made the world's wisdom foolish? 21 For since, in God's wisdom, the world did not know God through wisdom, God was pleased to save those who believe through the foolishness of the message preached. 22 For the Jews ask for signs and the Greeks seek wisdom, 23 but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to the Jews and foolishness to the Gentiles. 24 Yet to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ is God's power and God's wisdom, 25 because God's foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God's weakness is stronger than human strength.

1 Corinthians 1:12-25

Jesus suffered horrific physical torture on the day of His crucifixion - more than most people realize. However, the greatest pain and suffering of the crucifixion did not come from the physical attacks of the Romans, or the rigors of being crucified, but from a very surprising place.

Welcome to episode #26 of the Bible Reading podcast! We've made it through 25 episodes, which I think is a bit of a milestone. I hope this pod is an encouragement to you, and that it helps to drive you towards daily Bible reading. One of my motivations for continuing to do the show is your comments, reviews on iTunes, emails, and when you share the show on social media. As a podcaster, that is very exciting and it kind of propels you forward - and that's true for any podcast, but especially true for a daily podcast. Another motivation for continuing is the very interesting fact that a few of my kids regularly listen to the podcast, because our whole family is going through the Bible together this year. (I think I'm safe to mention this today, because we have church tomorrow/Sunday, when this episode comes out, and they will probably be too busy to listen on Sunday. Anyway, its a big encouragement, and that it seems to sometimes spur them on towards wanting to be in the Word of God more and understand it. And that is our goal on this show - to urge people on in God's Word - deeper in reading it, deeper in understanding it, and deeper in following it. Onward and upward!

Our focus today is an unsung woman in the Bible who is one of my heroes, and her name is Mary of Bethany. We learn about Mary in all four Gospels, and every time we see her, she manages to be at the feet of Jesus. A few episodes ago, we read through Matthew 22 together, and we heard the best question I think anybody ever asked Jesus: What is the first/greatest (i.e. MOST IMPORTANT) commandment? And His answer was that the greatest and most important commandment in life was to love God with all of our heart, mind, soul and strength. I believe that Mary of Bethany, whom we encounter today in Matthew 26, is perhaps the best example of a first commandment life in the entire Bible. Let's read about her!

Mary of Bethany anoints the feet of Jesus with incredibly expensive perfume.

Now the Matthew passage we read doesn't identify the woman who did this incredible act of worship, but John 12 does:

Six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany where Lazarus was, the one Jesus had raised from the dead. 2 So they gave a dinner for Him there; Martha was serving them, and Lazarus was one of those reclining at the table with Him. 3 Then Mary took a pound of fragrant oil—pure and expensive nard—anointed Jesus' feet, and wiped His feet with her hair. So the house was filled with the fragrance of the oil.4 Then one of His disciples, Judas Iscariot (who was about to betray Him), said, 5 "Why wasn't this fragrant oil sold for 300 denarii and given to the poor?" 6 He didn't say this because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief. He was in charge of the money-bag and would steal part of what was put in it.7 Jesus answered, "Leave her alone; she has kept it for the day of My burial. 8 For you always have the poor with you, but you do not always have Me."

John 12:1-8

If the Lord enables it, I plan on doing this daily podcast all year - not missing a single day. If that happens, we will encounter Mary of Bethany in our reading several times, and each time I hope to point to her as a great example of somebody who "gets it" - the most important commandment! Hope you don't mind me talking about her too much!

You see, one of the great dangers of our Christian walk is that we will overemphasize the trivial and under-emphasize the critically important. Indeed, Satan himself often works to keep Christians from focusing on the greatest commandment, and tries very hard to deceive us into spending all of our time and energy on comparatively minor activities:

I am afraid, lest as the serpent [Satan] deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds should be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ.

2 Corinthians 11:3

The enemy's attack is designed to lead us away from pure, sincere, simple devotion to Jesus. Spiritual Warfare. Is it succeeding?

When we first encounter Mary, we see her in Luke 10:39: "Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet and listened to his teaching. 40 But Martha was distracted with much serving. And she went up to him and said, "Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me." 41 But the Lord answered her, "Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, 42 but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her."

Martha was distracted with much serving. Scripture calls us to serve much and to help to meet humanitarian needs in a practical way BUT NOT FIRST. Distracted: (Greek word: Perispao) - Drawn away, busy.. With what? Much Serving the word there means Deaconing/Ministry. It is possible to be distracted by overmuch serving, and under sitting at the feet of Jesus in worship and the intake of His Word.

J Jesus Himself here tells Martha that Mary made the best choice possible - she chose the good thing in sitting at the feet of Jesus, feasting on His words in adoration. Serving is good - but if we serve/minister overmuch and worship and feast on the Word of God too little, we will have a catastrophic failure. The first commandment (loving God) must come first - it is the first priority.

Consider her WASTE- she blew her life savings in five minutes. WHAT A WASTE, the disciples say. I say - WHAT AN INVESTMENT. She made this investment 2 thousand years ago, and it thunderstruck the creator of the world and the redeemer of mankind. Others saw her as wasting her life, but She live her life in the greatest way possible. We know more about her than all but 10 of the Apostles, and many other heroes of the Bible.

What she has done will be remembered - Something provocative: I believe that every pope will be behind Mary of Bethany in the Kingdom of Heaven. Most pastors, church leaders, missionaries too.

Consider this: Often people criticize the Bible as backwards in its relationship to women. In truth, however, it is amazing how many female heroines are praised in the Bible. Mary of Bethany, Mary Magdalane, Syro-Phoenician Woman, Deborah, The women who traveled with Jesus and took care of them.

Mary understood what Jesus meant about His death - she likely understood when the disciples were still clueless, because she was preparing Him for His burial. Think of all the people Jesus could have invested in before His death. Nicodemus, Joseph of Arimathea, Silas, Barnabas, etc. Jesus went to Mary, Martha and Lazarus.

Jesus taught that the first and most important commandment was to love God with all of our heart, mind, soul and strength. Mary of Bethany, a woman who poured our her life savings and anointed Jesus' head and feet with expensive perfume, was perhaps the greatest example in the Bible of a life lived that prioritized the first and greatest commandment.

Hello everybody! We now have a FACEBOOK PAGE! Please 'Like' and 'Share' it, so that I can make millions of dollars podcasting, and become a dark Jedi quadrillionaire, or something like that. Today's reading is in Genesis 26 (Isaac and Rebekah), Esther 2 (Esther becomes the Persian Queen), Acts 25 (Paul, still on trial, appeals to Caesar), and Matthew 25 - Jesus' call to the least of these.

I believe one of the most important parts of being a father is to help your kids avoid your biggest mistakes. For instance, when I was 8, I picked up an electric cable lying across the road (in the rain) and it nearly electrocuted me. Shout out to my friend Beau Armistead, who actually saved my life that day - by kicking me until I let go of the wire. My kids know that story backwards and forwards. Why? A. Because I repeat my stories too much and B. Because I DON'T want them to grab a live electric cable! The hospital said I should have died. I don't want to judge Abraham too much on this podcast, but I can't help it today. I feel like he should have sat Isaac down a few dozen times and told him: NEVER TELL PEOPLE YOUR WIFE IS YOUR SISTER!!

I guess things were different back in Abraham's day. My family moved from Alabama to California in 2018 to pastor Valley Baptist Church in Salinas. I feel like God has blessed me with a beautiful wife, and I love her very much. That said, I never once thought that I'd better tell the men of Salinas that she was my sister in order to avoid their killing of me. Maybe I'm just naive and somebody will come along pretty soon and kill me and take my wife, or maybe there is a better way to handle things when you think your wife is super-hot. Maybe learn martial arts or something, I don't know.

Since the last two podcasts ran long, and since our goal is to keep each podcast in the 30 minute range (give or take a few minutes), today's episode is not going to represent a deep dive into what is a critically important question. Instead, we are going to (mostly) let the Word of God do the talking, and instead just dip our feet in the water of this discussion, knowing that throughout the year, we will keep returning to this important question. Is Social justice biblical? That is our big question today, and the answer is...yes and no. I suspect roughly zero of you are satisfied with such an answer, but before we unpack it too much, let's go ahead and read Matthew 25

So, I hope the impact of Jesus' words there has shaken you. It should. Here He is saying, quite clearly and unmistakably, that those who DO NOT TAKE CARE OF THE LEAST OF THESE WILL BE BANISHED TO HELL. And those who DO take care of the least of these will inherit the eternal Kingdom of God. "What about the gospel?" I hear you saying?! "We aren't saved by works," I hear you shouting! And you are absolutely right. Those who hear the gospel and follow Jesus in wholehearted faith will be saved, and that salvation will be by grace, and not by works. Remember Ephesians 2:8-9:

For you are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God's gift— 9 not from works, so that no one can boast.

Ephesians 2:8-9

So - how can Matthew 25 AND Ephesians 2:8-9 BOTH be true? And the answer is that if you are truly saved by grace through wholehearted faith in Jesus, you WILL minister to Him by taking care of the least of these, because God will give you a new heart. This ministry is INDISPENSABLE to a Christian. Taking the Words of Jesus here seriously and literally (as we should), all Christians must be engaged in the ministry of seeing to the needs of the least. No exceptions. So, that probably means that I believe that social justice is biblical, right? And the answer is, of course, that it depends on what you mean by 'social justice.' If you mean by that phrase that Christians and the church should take care of the needs of the least of these, then you and I are in wholehearted agreement. We take care of them by feeding them, clothing them, showing hospitality to them and serving them with the same love and respect that we would show to Jesus the King of Kings Himself, because, according to Him, when we are ministering to the least of these, we are ministering to Him.

It should be noted, however, that the term 'social justice,' is quite loaded, and means different things to different people. It is NOT a term found in the Bible. It is a fairly new term in the English language, and has become quite the buzz word in the past few decades. I can find one use of the term dating back to the 1700s, and a smattering of usage in the 1800s, but the concept of social justice didn't really begin to take shape until the 1900s. If by 'social justice,' it is meant that the church and Christians should accept and celebrate behavior that is clearly unbiblical, then the answer is then that social justice is NOT biblical.

The Bible is absolutely opposed to any form of racism, and especially racism against races in a particular society that might be considered among the 'least of these.' Absolutely, all lives matter, but in a majority white society, I am comfortable with the message that black lives matter, especially considering that this country (and many churches) proclaimed the opposite of that for centuries. All lives matter in Canada, but French-Canadians and first nations people matter in particular - not because they are better or superior to other Canadians, but because they are closer to being the least of these that Jesus has called his people to minister to and reach out to. All lives matter in my city and your city, but we are called by Jesus to a particular ministry and focus on the lives who are hungry, in prison, strangers/foreigners and those without basic possessions like clothing. (And let me be clear - 'least' is not a statement of value, or worth, or dignity, or beauty, or anything like that, but a statement of privilege. Privilege is not merely about skin color, but is also about wealth, and ability vs. disability, and many other complex things.)

I was reading through a Twitter thread earlier in which many people who have various physical disabilities were broken-hearted because they weren't being understood well in their longing to have equal access to Uber rides and that sort of thing. We in the church should be at the forefront in terms of compassion for these kind of issues and more - serving those who are differently-abled sacrificially and joyfully. We would do well to remember passages like this one:

Kindness to the poor is a loan to the Lord, and he will give a reward to the lender.

Proverbs 19:17

While also remembering that God does not call us to favor the poor over the rich or the rich over the poor:

"Do not act unjustly when deciding a case. Do not be partial to the poor or give preference to the rich; judge your neighbor fairly.

Leviticus 19:15

So - is social justice biblical? When it lines up with the commands of the Word of God - it is! When it deviates from the commands of the Word of God, it is not. Social justice is not the gospel, and feeding the hungry - though commanded by God in Scripture - will not save anybody's eternal soul. We must be people of the Word of God, that takes the Good News of Jesus to the World. As we go, we must be people who take care of the least of these, because this we are commanded to do, and those who are in real need are close in a special way, to Jesus.

I need to tell you that two of the most important Bible-related events in my life were concerned with the theme of taking care of the least of these, identified by Jesus in Matthew 25:31-46 as those who are hungry, those who are thirsty, those who are without clothing, those who are sick, those who are in prison, and those who are foreigners and strangers. My first sermon ever delivered in 'big church,' came in 1995 - 25 years ago - and was out of this passage. I still remember 'finding it' as a young minister, certain that I'd heard it before, but having never felt the full brunt of Jesus' call to the least of these, and I was so bursting with conviction over this passage, that I just had to teach on it! The second instance was a New Years Eve in the early 2000s. My wife and I, unusually, found ourselves home early, and she got in bed to go to sleep, and crashed at about 11:45. I was in bed with her, but reading the Bible. As the clock struck the New Year, I was reading Isaiah 58, and the words were washing over me like a torrent of truth:

Isn't this the fast I choose: To break the chains of wickedness, to untie the ropes of the yoke, to set the oppressed free, and to tear off every yoke? 7 Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, to bring the poor and homeless into your house, to clothe the naked when you see him, and not to ignore your own flesh and blood? 8 Then your light will appear like the dawn, and your recovery will come quickly. Your righteousness will go before you, and the Lord's glory will be your rear guard. 9 At that time, when you call, the Lord will answer; when you cry out, he will say, 'Here I am.' If you get rid of the yoke among you, the finger-pointing and malicious speaking, 10 and if you offer yourself to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted one, then your light will shine in the darkness, and your night will be like noonday. 11 The Lord will always lead you, satisfy you in a parched land, and strengthen your bones. You will be like a watered garden and like a spring whose water never runs dry.

Isaiah 58:6-11

When you combine both of those passages, and dozens and dozens of others, you see God's heart for the poor and the least of these emerge from the Scripture. This is only the beginning of our discussion on God's call to the least of these - to the oppressed, poor, homeless, and afflicted. We will go deeper, Lord willing.

Social Justice is a popular and highly debated concept currently in the church. Some churches seem to think that social justice is the chief mandate of the Bible, while other churches seem to reject entirely the concept of taking care of the least of these. What does the Bible call us to in terms of social justice? Must that be our chief focus? How important is ministry to the poor and marginalized?

Good news! Today's episode has no discussion of dung or thighs, or anything at all untoward. Bad news! Today's topic - Eschatology/The End Times/The Last Days might just be more controversial! Our focus passage today is Matthew 24, and I consider this to be the longest and clearest teaching in the Bible on eschatology and the return of Jesus. Most people want to begin with Revelation when discussing the last days, but Revelation is tricky and difficult for a variety of reasons. Don't get me wrong - Revelation is one of my favorite books, and I love it, but it is anything but crystal clear and basic. Matthew 24, on the other hand, is quite a bit more clear, even though there is still great debate about many aspects of the chapter. Probably the most important debate concerns timing. Is Jesus talking about a far distant future in Matthew 24, or is He discussing something that will happen in the lifespan of His disciples? We will also be reading Genesis 25, which tells us about Abraham's second wife, and also the birth of his grandchildren Jacob and Esau. Acts 24 has Paul standing trial before governor Felix, proclaiming his belief in the resurrection of the dead.

And that gets us to Esther - a brand new book, which means we have finished our second book together, and we have begun a tradition on this podcast that when we finish a book, we summarize it, so here is a summary of Nehemiah: Chronologically, the book of Nehemiah is the last historical book of the Old Testament - though Esther occurs in most Bibles after Nehemiah, the events of Esther happened prior to the events of Nehemiah (Somewhere roughly in the neighborhood of the timeline of Ezra 6-7.) Nehemiah was a contemporary of the prophet Malachi, the titular character of the last book of the Old Testament. Nehemiah, a descendant of Jewish people, was the cup-bearer to King Artaxerxes, the Persian King. Upon hearing about distressing conditions in his homeland, Nehemiah appeals to the king for permission to come back, which is granted. Nehemiah returns to Jerusalem, and finds the city defenseless and under scrutiny by several nearby enemies and critics. Nehemiah organizes both the rebuilding and defense of Jerusalem, and also reinstates the biblical festival of booths/tabernacles, which is a joyful celebration. Nehemiah was a mighty man of prayer (see Nehemiah 1 and 9) and was uncompromising in his call to holiness, physically attacking some Jewish men who disobeyed God's laws. Nehemiah successfully completed the walls around Jerusalem and enabled that city and its people to begin to reclaim their identity and some measurement of prosperity.

Shoutouts today to Michelle Haffner, from Florida who left an encouraging comment on Biblereadingpodcast.com and also Bible Scholar Og Keep, who had an interesting observation on yesterday's pod about Abraham's servant, "An interesting point about this mission… if this trusted servant were Eleazar of Damascus (Genesis 15) then seeking a wife for Abraham's son is an action against self-interest. It shows that his love for Abraham exceeded his own ambitions. " We also have some reader feedback. This is from Mr. Tubberville in Auburn, Alabama. "Dear sir: We object to the use of the word 'titular' yesterday in your podcast when talking about Nehemiah. Surely a better (and more understandable) word could have been chosen?!" Well, Tommy, you make a great point! I think "eponymous" would have been a much better choice. My apologies. And now, let's read Matthew 24 together!

In discussing Matthew 24, let me draw your attention to one very frustrating aspect of this chapter. The disciple's question was so imprecise, that it has left many scholars confused and debating for hundreds of years. "Tell us, when will these things happen? And what is the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?" (Matthew 24:3) With hindsight, we can see that these are two totally different questions. Question #1 asks when the temple will be destroyed. We now know that 70 AD is the historical answer. Question #2 is the more significant one for us: What is the sign of the return of Jesus and the end of the age? I am way of over-simplifying, but there are 5 main viewpoints that attempt to answer this question, and dozens of sub-viewpoints that fall under these. (The graphic below only captures 4 of those viewpoints.)

Christian Millennial Views (Somewhat incomplete)

Here is a summary of the Five Major Viewpoints on the Return of Jesus and the End Times:

1. Historic Premillennialism/Post-Tribulational Premillennialism. This view believes that Jesus will return to the earth prior to the "Millennial Reign," or "Millennium," (a 1000 year reign of Jesus on the earth in the Heavenly City called 'New Jerusalem') and AFTER a 7 year period of great wrath, judgment, trouble and punishment called 'The Great Tribulation." Some historic premillennialists believe in a rapture, which is a 'catching up' of God's people into the air with a returning Jesus. In this view, the New Testament church is the fulfillment of God's promises to Israel.

2. Dispensational Premillennialism. (I.E. The 'Left Behind' View) This view believes that Jesus will return to earth before a time of trouble known as 'The Great Tribulation.' He will rapture (or catch up) His church - all faithful believers living and dead, and then return with them to Heaven. After seven years of wrath, tribulation and judgment, Jesus will return again with His people and reign for 1000 years from His holy city on earth, along with all of the saints who left with Him, and perhaps some who have been saved during the seven year Great Tribulation. This view is called premillenial as it places the return of Christ before the thousand year millennium and it is called dispensational because it is founded in the beliefs of dispensationalism. (Google that for more details) The key belief here is that this view believes that Jesus will spare the church from God's wrath and tribulation by rapturing them from the earth BEFORE the Great Tribulation. This viewpoint sees the Second Coming happening in TWO stages - a first Second Coming FOR the church, and a second Second Coming WITH the church. In this view, Israel and the church are two distinct entities, and God has two distinct redemption plans for them.

3. The Postmillennial view usually does not view the 'millennium' as being a literal thousand year period, but more of an extended lengthy period of time. In this view, Jesus reigns on the earth (spiritually, from Heaven) and His followers increase His influence all across the globe. The good news of Jesus goes forth, and the Kingdom of Jesus and His fame gradually grows on earth, until such a time as Jesus returns and immediately initiates the judgment of the wicked and the eternal state. This view is called 'postmillennial,' because Jesus returns after the millennium, which is not a 1000 year literal reign of Jesus on the earth, but an increase of His influence on earth that culminates in His return.

4. Amillennialism or nunc-millennialism holds that the Kingdom of God on earth began with the resurrection of Jesus, and that Jesus now reigns at the right hand of the Father over the church. This viewpoint does not see the millennial reign as being a literal, thousand year reign in the future, but more of a spiritual and somewhat symbolic reign of Jesus that is happening NOW (nunc means 'now') Most amillennialists believe that Jesus will physically return at the end of this church-age (or now-millennium) and inaugurate the eternal state. The amillennial view sees the victory of Jesus and the establishment of His Kingdom as a two-stage event. Stage 1 was begun in the first century with the resurrection of Jesus and the establishment of His church on Pentecost. Stage two will be when Jesus physically returns. The between state is living in the 'already, but not yet' victory of Jesus spiritually by faith, which will soon become a present and tangible victory of Jesus that will be apprehended by sight.

5. Preterist (partial-preterist) The preterist viewpoint believes that some events foretold by the Bible have already happened (partial-preterism) or ALL events foretold by the Bible, including the return of Jesus, have already happened (full preterism.) The full preterist view holds that the return of Jesus, the final judgment, and all things prophesied in the New Testament were fulfilled in A.D. 70 when the Temple in Jerusalem was destroyed. It is rare to find an evangelical scholar who is a full preterist, but many are partial preterists, holding that the destruction of the temple in 70 AD fulfilled some major parts of prophetic Scripture, but that the Final Judgment and full Return of Jesus has not happened yet.

So - are you dizzy yet? I imagine some will be surprised at the number of views of the last days that people have! Please know that many will believe that I have over-simplified things, and left significant viewpoints out, which is likely true. Consider this - the church has long been unclear about when the second coming of Jesus would occur, and for good reason! When Jesus was here, He told His disciples that ONLY HIS FATHER knew the time and date of His Second coming - not even Jesus knew!

Now concerning that day and hour no one knows—neither the angels of heaven nor the Son —except the Father alone.

Matthew 24:36

I am going to make the assumption that the Father did not reveal those dates to the other writers of Scripture either, which means that any attempt to find the exact date of the return of Jesus in the Scripture is absolutely silly. You might be thinking - well, the Word of God was written by people under the influence of the Holy Spirit - and you are exactly right! But, going on what Jesus said - the Holy Spirit did NOT know the time and date of Jesus' return either - ONLY THE FATHER. I note here with some amusement that even in the 100s AD, there was quite a bit of difference of opinion among Godly Christians as to the time and date of the return of Jesus, as evidenced by the dialog between Christian Justin Martyr and Trypho the Jew:

"I and many others are of this opinion [premillennialism], and [believe] that such will take place, as you assuredly are aware; but, on the other hand, I signified to you that many who belong to the pure and pious faith, and are true Christians, think otherwise."

Justin Martyr - Dialog with Trypho the Jew, 160 A.D.

Lifeway research in 2016 did a survey of 1000 Protestant American pastors to ask them what views of the end-times they held to, and the results were interesting. Links to the full study (and screenshots) can be found at our website, but here is a taste of what was discovered:

http://lifewayresearch.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Pastor-Views-on-the-End-Times-January-2016.pdf

Source: http://lifewayresearch.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Pastor-Views-on-the-End-Times-January-2016.pdf

PRIMARY REASON I BELIEVE THE POST TRIBULATION VIEWPOINT:

1. Matthew 24: 29 "Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 30 Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. 31 And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

2. Mark 13: Mark 13:24 "But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, 25 and the stars will be falling from heaven, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken. 26 And then they will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory. 27 And then he will send out the angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven.

3. Luke 21: 25 "And there will be signs in sun and moon and stars, and on the earth distress of nations in perplexity because of the roaring of the sea and the waves, 26 people fainting with fear and with foreboding of what is coming on the world. For the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 27 And then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. 28 Now when these things begin to take place, straighten up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near."

(I don't see TWO second comings in those passages - one before the rapture and one after the rapture) As we go through the Bible, we will get to other passages - some of which are used by Pretribulation people as foundational, some by partial preterists, some by amillennialists and some by historic premillinnialists like myself. WHEN Jesus returns is NOT the important thing, despite the fact that all of us focus on it and debate the timing the most. If it was important for us to know precisely, I suppose we would know. The WHEN is not important though. What is the key, most important thing about the teaching of the last days? The answer is readiness. Here is a short summation of the entire last day's teaching of Jesus in this passage: Matthew 24:44 - TWENTY WORDS. 44 Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect. Regardless of your view, the command is: BE READY!! Whether you are Amillenial, Pre-Trib or Post Trib, or even Preterist. Ultimately, it doesn't matter a huge amount...IF YOU ARE TRULY READY!!

What does that look like?

A. Luke 12: 35 "Stay dressed for action and keep your lamps burning, 36 and be like men who are waiting for their master to come home from the wedding feast, so that they may open the door to him at once when he comes and knocks. 37 Blessed are those servants whom the master finds awake when he comes. Truly, I say to you, he will dress himself for service and have them recline at table, and he will come and serve them. 38 If he comes in the second watch, or in the third, and finds them awake, blessed are those servants! 39 But know this, that if the master of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have left his house to be broken into. 40 You also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect."

Whew! That was a long episode. Two long ones in a row. I plan on making up for it with two SHORT episodes in a row. Stay tuned to see if it is possible to hold to that plan. The problem with the Bible is that it is just so deep and interesting that there is always something fascinating to explore!

When will Jesus come back? A deep dive into issues of eschatology (The Last Days) and a discussion of the hucksters who might think they can pinpoint the return of Jesus. Where do you fit on the end-times spectrum? Will Jesus return before or after The Great Tribulation?

Today we are reading through Genesis 24, Nehemiah 13, Matthew 23 and Acts 23. Yesterday's discussion topic included dung, and today's discussion topic is also a little questionable, but the prayer part is going to have some great encouragements from lots of people, including our old friend Charles Spurgeon, so stick around for that. Maybe tomorrow's reading won't have anything in it that would make my wife blush. You just never know about Genesis, though - there is always something interesting going on in Genesis! Speaking of...in today's Genesis chapter, we see Abraham preparing to die, and sending his servant out to find a wife for Isaac. Interestingly, Abraham makes his servant swear an oath in a most unusual (to us!) way. Then Nehemiah 13 sees our titular character go WWE style crazy on some of his fellow Israelites who have disobeyed God's commands. He beats them, curses them, and pulls out some of their hair. This is an interesting form of pastoral discipline that is rarely practiced today in most places. At least, I rarely practice it. (Though one time I picked up another pastor and threatened to power bomb him, but I think he deserved it. Or maybe not - it was all in good fun.) Matthew 23 shows Jesus as an emotional and passionate powerhouse, displaying all of the energy and vigor of Nehemiah, but doing it in a tender and broken-hearted way as He confronts the Scribes and Pharisees. Finally, Acts 23 sees Paul before the Sanhedrin - the Jewish ruling council - charged with disregarding the law of Moses and bringing a non Jewish person into the Temple. There is not a single chapter in the Bible that is not God's Word, nor devoid of application to the Believer, but these four chapters are even more full than normal - today is a day of rich Scriptures to meditate on and ponder throughout the day!

Shoutouts to Todd Hitt from Arkansas for leaving an encouraging comment on the website, www.Biblereadingpodcast.com and to Pastor Brian Branam in Georgia for leaving a very kind review on iTunes! Thank you both so much. When you are doing a daily podcast, It is a great encouragement to hear from people, and I am very grateful for you. On to Genesis.

So - question number 1: WHY did Abraham require his servant to swear an oath in such an unusual way? It is worth remembering here that modern Americans, at least, often swear an oath with uplifted hand, or a hand on the Bible, or a hand on our heart. It is also worth remembering that New Testament Christians are to be people of such absolute integrity that we don't swear oaths at all. When we give our word on something, it is as if we have sworn an oath - there is to be no flippant lack of integrity in followers of Christ!

12 Above all, my brothers and sisters, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or with any other oath. But let your "yes" mean "yes," and your "no" mean "no," so that you won't fall under judgment.

James 5:12

It was different in Abraham's time - they were under the Old Covenant, and Abraham wasn't sinning by requiring this oath from his servant, nor was Jacob sinning when he required a similar oath - in the exact same 'hand under thigh' manner - with his son Joseph. So -what gives here? Well, the first thing you should know here (and this is mildly PG) is that it is very possible -perhaps even likely, that the word 'thigh' here is a euphemism for the reproductive organs. Consider this claim from Drs. Freeman and Chadwick:

The word thigh—Hebrew, yarek—is a euphemism; that is, a mild or indirect word that is substituted for one that is considered too harsh, blunt, or offensive. Without question, the servant's hand was placed beneath Abraham's procreative organs (these words are also euphemisms). Whether the placement of the hand had to do with the act of circumcision instituted by God, and thus gave a covenant solemnity to the oath, is not known. It has been said by some that it had reference to the long-range effects that the servant's mission would have upon Abraham's descendants, or that it symbolized that even his yet unborn children would avenge any violation of the act. But neither of these explanations seem to fit Israel's request to his son Joseph to take his body out of Egypt and bury it where his fathers are buried, when the same manner of swearing an oath was used (see Genesis 47:29).

James M. Freeman and Harold J. Chadwick, Manners & Customs of the Bible (North Brunswick, NJ: Bridge-Logos Publishers, 1998), page 34

In elaborating on this viewpoint, the excellent website Gotquestions.org explains things a little further:

"The thigh was considered the source of posterity in the ancient world. Or, more properly, the "loins" or the testicles. The phrase "under the thigh" could be a euphemism for "on the loins." There are two reasons why someone would take an oath in this manner: 1) Abraham had been promised a "seed" by God, and this covenantal blessing was passed on to his son and grandson. Abraham made his trusted servant swear "on the seed of Abraham" that he would find a wife for Isaac. 2) Abraham had received circumcision as the sign of the covenant (Genesis 17:10). Our custom is to swear on a Bible; the Hebrew custom was to swear on circumcision, the mark of God's covenant. The idea of swearing on one's loins is found in other cultures, as well. The English word testify is directly related to the word testicles."

https://www.gotquestions.org/hand-under-thigh.html

So, this oath was made under delicate circumstances to say the least. We swear oaths on our hearts, or on our Bibles, and Abraham and His offspring, by doing this action, were swearing oaths on the promise/covenant of God to make Abraham into a great nation. One caveat: While Freeman and Chadwick seem overwhelmingly convinced that the Hebrew word for 'thigh' here is absolutely a reference to the loins/reproductive organs, I would just say that the grammatical evidence is not so convincing. While we certainly have passages were yarek is used for loins:

26 All the persons who are coming to Jacob to Egypt, coming out of his thigh, apart from the wives of Jacob's sons, all the persons [are] sixty and six.

Genesis 46:26 Young's Literal Translation

You'll note there that I had to go to Young's Literal Translation because almost every other modern translation - even the NASB - translates this passage as 'Jacob's descendent's rather than persons coming out of Jacob's yarek, which is the more word for word translation. Obviously here yarek doesn't denote 'thigh,' but rather loins/reproductive organs. But there are other Scriptures where yarek obviously does refer to the thigh, and not the reproductive organs:

21 Ehud reached with his left hand, took the sword from his right thigh, and plunged it into Eglon's belly

Judges 3:21

25 When the man saw that he could not defeat him, he struck Jacob's hip socket as they wrestled and dislocated his hip.

Genesis 32:25

Ehud had his sword strapped to his yarek - obviously his thigh/hip and the Angel of the Lord dislocated Jacob's yarek or thigh/hip and not his reproductive organs, which wouldn't make sense in that context. So - we have some ambiguity here, and that's okay. We can't be definitive and say for 100 percent certain where Abraham's servant put his hand on Abraham, or what that meant exactly. What we do know, and what is the important part, is the fact that this was obviously an intimate and extremely important pledge that was made and honored by the servant. I'm glad we do it differently today!

Of more importance to us spiritually, I invite you to notice what the servant did when God clearly and unmistakably answered his prayer:

26 Then the man knelt low, worshiped the Lord, 27 and said, "Blessed be the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, who has not withheld his kindness and faithfulness from my master. As for me, the Lord has led me on the journey to the house of my master's relatives."

Genesis 24:26-27

This is a great reminder to me personally. Sometimes I have been guilty of praying hard for something and when God has answered my prayer abundantly - I don't always thank Him with the same vigor that I sought His favor. But Abraham's servant did. His response was not merely a thankful sentence or two uttered in haste, but a whole-body act of worship, submission and prayer! We talked about this passage tonight at our church's prayer meeting and was reminded of the time that Jesus healed 10 lepers in Luke 17. 9 of the lepers, upon discovering that they were healed miraculously, went on their merry way and lived their life, but the other leper sought Jesus ought and loudly thanked Him. We must be like the one Samaritan leper and Abraham's servant, who both gave of themselves to offer to God a real thanksgiving for His divine work on their behalf, and not like the ungrateful 9 lepers.

Here's a few great quotes on thankfulness to help us:

1. "A sensible thanksgiving for mercies received is a mighty prayer in the Spirit of God. It prevails with Him unspeakably." –John Bunyan

   2. "Be thankful. God has commanded it—for our good and for His glory. God's command to be thankful is not the threatening demand of a tyrant. Rather, it is the invitation of a lifetime—the opportunity to draw near to Him at any moment of the day." –Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth

   3. "No duty is more urgent than that of returning thanks." Ambrose of Milan

   4. "If you search the world around, among all choice spices you shall scarcely meet with the frankincense of gratitude. It ought to be as common as the dew-drops that hang upon the hedges in the morning; but, alas, the world is dry of thankfulness to God!....I put it in another shape to you who are God's people—most of us pray more than we praise. You pray little enough, I fear; but praise, where is that? At our family altars we always pray, but seldom praise. In our closets we constantly pray, but do we frequently praise? Prayer is not so heavenly an exercise as praise; prayer is for time, but praise is for eternity. Praise therefore deserves the first and highest place; does it not? Let us commence the employment which occupies the celestials. Prayer is for a beggar; but methinks he is a poor beggar who does not also give praise when he receives an alms. Praise ought to follow naturally upon the heels of prayer, even when it does not, by divine grace, go before it. If you are afflicted, if you lose money, if you fall into poverty, if your child is ill, if chastisement visits you in any form, you begin to pray, and I do not blame you for it; but should it be all praying and no praising? Should our life have so much salt, and so little sweet in it? Should we get for ourselves so often a draught from the rock of blessing, and so seldom pour out a drink-offering unto the Lord Most High? Come, let us chide ourselves as we acknowledge that we offer so much more prayer than praise!" - Charles Spurgeon

   5. "If there was ever a secret for unleashing God's powerful peace in a situation, it's developing a heart of true thanksgiving." –Lysa Terkeurst

Matthew 23 word for word as portrayed in the Matthew Video (The Visual Bible):

https://youtu.be/PmK9Mvsyfqs?t=10913