Wisdom-Trek © - Archive 4

Thank you for joining us for our five days per week wisdom and legacy building podcast. We are broadcasting from our studio at The Big House in Marietta, Ohio. Today is Day 996 of our trek, and it is Wisdom Wednesday.

Creating a Biblical Worldview is important to have a proper perspective on today’s current events. To establish a Biblical Worldview, you must also have a proper understanding of God’s Word. Especially in our western cultures, we do not fully understand the Scriptures from the mindset and culture of the authors. In order to help us all have a better understanding of some of the more obscure passages in God’s Word, we are investing Wisdom Wednesday reviewing a series of essays from one of today’s most prominent Hebrew Scholars Dr. Micheal S. Heiser. He has compiled these essays into a book titled I Dare You Not to Bore Me with the Bible.

Most of us are aware that the original and most copies of the scriptures did not have chapter and verse references because they were added much later. We have certainly come to depend on them in today’s culture to locate the passages we are interested in. But there are occasions where there are verses missing.

Today’s essay will look at one of those instances and find out…

Most of us have read John 5:1-10, the story of the blind, paralyzed man at the pool of Bethesda, many times, but I’ll bet there’s something that escaped your attention. While I usually remove the verse numbers, I will leave them in the passage for today.

1Afterward Jesus returned to Jerusalem for one of the Jewish holy days. 2 Inside the city, near the Sheep Gate, was the pool of Bethesda,[a]with five covered porches. 3 Crowds of sick people—blind, lame, or paralyzed—lay on the porches.[b] 5 One of the men lying there had been sick for thirty-eight years. 6 When Jesus saw him and knew he had been ill for a long time, he asked him, “Would you like to get well?”

7 “I can’t, sir,” the sick man said, “for I have no one to put me into the pool when the water bubbles up. Someone else always gets there ahead of me.”

8 Jesus told him, “Stand up, pick up your mat, and walk!”

9 Instantly, the man was healed! He rolled up his sleeping mat and began walking! But this miracle happened on the Sabbath, 10 so the Jewish leaders objected. They said to the man who was cured, “You can’t work on the Sabbath! The law doesn’t allow you to carry that sleeping mat!”

If you read closely, you’ll notice that verse 4 is missing! Start at verse one, and you will realize that verse four is not there.

Verse 4, which is included in some versions like the NASB, tells us, “for an angel of the Lord went down at certain seasons into the pool and stirred up the water; whoever then first, after the stirring up of the water, stepped in was made well from whatever disease with which he was afflicted.”

The verse is not just missing in the NLT; the situation is the same in the NIV, ESV, NRSV, CEV, and the NET Bible. If you use the NASB or NCV, you will see the verse, but it’s been placed inside brackets, whereas the KJV and the NKJV contain verse 4 without any notation or demarcation. So what’s going on here? Who took John 5:4 out of certain versions of the Bible and why?

If you’re using a study Bible that doesn’t have verse 4, you will likely see a note at the end of verse 3 or the beginning of verse 5 explaining why it isn’t there. This is a textbook case of a disagreement between manuscripts of the Greek New Testament.

The reason that the last part of John 5:3 and all of verse 4 is missing in many versions is that they are not found in any of the earliest and most accurate manuscripts of the Gospel of John. Scholars who make a career of comparing manuscripts (“textual critics” and “paleographers”) have discovered that in roughly two dozen manuscripts scribes put asterisk marks at the verse to warn the next scribe who would copy the manuscript that the verse was likely not original. To top it all off, four of the last five Greek words of what would be John 5:4 aren’t found anywhere else in John’s writings. This suggests that John 5:4 does not belong in the New Testament, which explains why many modem Bible translations have omitted it.

After 1900, translators used new manuscript discoveries from the 1800s, which revealed that the verse was likely not original. This is why verse 4 is listed in the pre-1900 in the KJV “as is” without brackets (the NKJV followed the KJV in this regard). More recent Bible translations either omitted it completely or retained the verse with brackets. This gives us a clearer picture of what the original product of inspiration looked like.

Why would verse four have not been included in the original New Testament? It is not because of the angel in the story. The Bible has no problem with angels; they’re all over the place, doing all sorts of things. But, like today, there was a great deal of folklore and superstition about them. The idea that an angel stirred the waters at a given time during the year was one such superstition. John 5:7 mentions the stirring or bubbling up of the water but does not mention the angel.

It’s likely that John knew of the belief about the waters of Bethesda but chose to leave it out for a specific reason. Perhaps he does not wish to endorse that an angel was stirring the water. By excluding the popular belief about the angel, John focuses his readers on the healer who was indeed present, which was Jesus.

There are some lessons for us all in “the case of the missing verse.  First, we need to train ourselves to read the Bible closely. If we missed something like the normal order of numbering in John 5, what else are we overlooking? Second, it pays to compare Bible versions. Even scholars who read Greek and Hebrew actively compare manuscript traditions. The work of another scribe (or Bible translator) can often direct our attention to something important. Third, we need to be sure the content of our preaching and teaching has a secure footing in the text. God moved people to invest their lives transmitting the biblical text; the least we can do is pay close attention.

That will conclude our essay for this week. Next Wisdom Wednesday we will continue in the New Testament as we look at Dr. Heiser’s next essay titled “What Walking on the Water Really Means.” I believe you will find this another interesting topic to consider as we build our Biblical worldview.

Tomorrow we will continue with our 3-minute humor nugget that will provide you with a bit of cheer and help you to lighten up and live a rich and satisfying life. So encourage your friends and family to join us and then come along with us tomorrow for another day of our Wisdom-Trek, Creating a Legacy.

If you would like to listen to any of our past 995 treks or read the Wisdom Journal, they are available at Wisdom-Trek.com. I encourage you to subscribe to Apple Podcast or Google Play so that each day’s trek will be downloaded automatically.

Thank you so much for allowing me to be your guide, mentor, and most of all your friend as I serve you through the Wisdom-Trek podcast and journal.

As we take this trek together, let us always:

I am Guthrie Chamberlain reminding you to Keep Moving Forward, Enjoy Your Journey, and Create a Great Day Everyday! See you tomorrow!

Thank you for joining us for our five days per week wisdom and legacy building podcast. This is Day 995 of our trek, and it is time for our 3-minute mini-trek called Wisdom Unplugged. Thank you for joining me on this trek called life. This short nugget of wisdom includes an inspirational quote with a little bit of additional content for today’s trek. Consider this your vitamin supplement of wisdom for today. So let’s jump right in with today’s nugget.

Today’s quote is from Helen Keller, and it is, “Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, ambition inspired and success achieved.”

While all of us desire to achieve success with ease, this is not possible. Success can only be achieved through ambition, strength, and development of character.  Development of that character comes through experiences which are difficult. The trials and sufferings of life should strengthen our soul, refresh our resolve, and give us the inspiration and ambition to keep moving forward.

It is through these times that we must learn the lessons that life is teaching us and also learn to enjoy our journey, regardless of how difficult it may appear at the moment. If you truly desire success, then you will be willing to accept the trials and sufferings that are part of the very path to success.

If Helen Keller, who was blind, could not hear, and was barely able to speak audibly, realized these truths then each of us must resolve to persevere toward success, regardless of the limitations that we may have personally. It is possible to achieve success if we are willing to traverse the difficult path that lies ahead of us each day.

This lesson is also taught to us in James 1:2-5, “Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing. If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking.”

That’s a wrap for today’s Wisdom Unplugged quote. If you would like free access to my database of over 10,000 inspirational quotes, the link is available on the main page of Wisdom-Trek.com. As you enjoy these nuggets of wisdom, encourage your friends and family to join us and then come along tomorrow for another day of our Wisdom-Trek, Creating a Legacy.

If you would like to listen to any of our past 994 treks or read the Wisdom Journal, they are available at Wisdom-Trek.com. I encourage you to subscribe to Apple Podcast or Google Podcast so that each day’s trek will be downloaded automatically.

Thank you for allowing me to be your guide, mentor, and most importantly your friend as I serve you through the Wisdom-Trek podcast and journal each day.

As we take this trek together, let us always:

I am Guthrie Chamberlain reminding you to Keep Moving Forward, Enjoy Your Journey, and Create a Great Day Everyday! See you tomorrow for Wisdom Wednesday!

Thank you for joining us today for our five days per week wisdom and legacy building podcast. This is Day 994 of our trek, and it is time for Meditation Monday. Taking time to relax, refocus, and reprioritize our lives is crucial in order to create a living legacy.

For you, it may just be time alone for quiet reflection. You may utilize structured meditation practices. In my life meditation includes reading and reflecting on God’s Word and praying. It is a time to renew my mind, refocus on what is most important, and make sure that I am nurturing my soul, mind, and body. As you come along with me on our trek each Meditation Monday, it is my hope and prayer that you too will experience a time for reflection and renewing of your mind. 

Life is difficult at times, and we feel that pressure is so much that we are unable to continue. We may question ourselves, our relationships, and even our God. Jesus came to dwell among us – to be one of us, His creation. Jesus also understands us fully, especially when we are too weak to carry on under our own power. In our Meditation Monday today, I want us to reflect on…

I bet all of us have wondered whether God really cares for us. Does He understand what we are going through? How could He? That is one reason that God sent His one and only son, Jesus, to become one of us. Hebrews 4:15 tells us, “This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same testings we do, yet he did not sin.” He also became one of us to bring us salvation and freedom from eternal death.

Does this promise matter? If you ever wonder if God understands you, it does. If you ever wonder if God listens, it does. If you ever wonder if the Uncreated Creator can, in a million years, comprehend the challenges you face, then ponder long and hard the promise of the incarnation. Jesus is “able to understand our weaknesses.”  How can He? “Because He faced all of the same trials as we do.” 

The One who hears your prayers understands your pain. He never shrugs or scoffs or dismisses spiritual, emotional, and physical struggles. He had a human body. He had a human mind. He was intimately spiritual.

Are you troubled in spirit? Jesus was too. John 12:27 reads, “Now my soul is deeply troubled. Should I pray, ‘Father, save me from this hour?’ But this is the very reason I came!”

Are you so anxious you could die? Jesus was too as he shared with his closest friends in Matthew 26:38, “He told them, ‘My soul is crushed with grief to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.'”

Have you ever prayed with loud cries and tears? Jesus did too. Hebrews 5:7 says, “While Jesus was here on earth, he offered prayers and pleadings, with a loud cry and tears, to the one who could rescue him from death. And God heard his prayers because of his deep reverence for God.”

God knows what you are going through. God grieves with you. When you are at the bottom, look up to Jesus “for he faced all of the same testings we do, yet he did not sin.” Call out to Him and allow the Holy Spirit to strengthen and encourage you. God knows, understands, and provides. Trust in Him.

That is a wrap for today’s meditation. Next week we will continue our trek on Meditation Monday as we take time to reflect on what is most important in creating our living legacy. On tomorrow’s trek, we will explore another wisdom quote. This 3-minute wisdom supplement will assist you in becoming healthy, wealthy, and wise each day. Thank you for joining me on this trek called life. Encourage your friends and family to join us and then come along tomorrow for another day of our Wisdom-Trek, Creating a Legacy.

If you would like to listen to any of the past 993 daily treks or read the daily journal, they are available at Wisdom-Trek.com. I encourage you to subscribe to Apple Podcast and Google Play so that each day’s trek will be downloaded automatically. Thank you for allowing me to be your guide, mentor, and most importantly your friend as I serve you through this Wisdom-Trek podcast and journal.

As we take this trek together, let us always:

I am Guthrie Chamberlain reminding you to Keep Moving Forward, Enjoy Your Journey, and Create a Great Day Everyday! See you tomorrow!

Thank you for joining us for our five days per week wisdom and legacy building podcast. We are broadcasting from our studio at The Big House in Marietta, Ohio. This is Day 993 of our trek, and it is time for our Philosophy Friday series. Each Friday we will ponder some of the basic truths and mysteries of life and how they can impact us in creating our living legacy.

As we continue on this trek called life, sometimes we have questions about life, so our Friday trek is a time when we can “Ask Gramps.” Gramps will answer questions that you would like to ask your dad or granddad, but for whatever reason are unable to. No matter how old we are, I know that all of us would like the opportunity to ask Dad or Gramps questions about life in many areas.

Today is the sixteenth episode in our series delving into what makes each of us respond differently to life situations and circumstances. Understanding ourselves and how others may interpret life through their paradigm will allow us to interact with each other with more love and compassion.   This empathy can be achieved by utilizing a profound tool called “The Enneagram.” If you have missed any of our past thirteen Friday series, I would recommend going back and listening to them or reading the Wisdom Journals.

As a review, the tool that we refer to as the Enneagram (Any-a-Gram) is a circle with nine interconnected points (Ennea refers to 9, and Gram refers to a drawing). Check out today’s or a prior week’s Wisdom Journal for a representation of it. I have also included a copy of “The Enneagram At-A-Glance,” which was compiled by Suzanne H. Eller in today’s Wisdom Journal. If you would like a PDF copy, click on the link in today’s Wisdom Journal located on our website Wisdom-Trek.com.

I would also recommend the book The Road Back to You written by Ian Morgan Cron and Suzanne Stabile.  It is an excellent book about an enneagram journey to self-discovery from a Christian perspective.

In the first seven episodes, we explored how The Enneagram System works and then presented an overview of all nine personality types. So far we have taken a deep dive into “The Reformer,” “The Helper,” “The Achiever,” “The Individualist,” “The Investigator,” “The Loyalist,”  “The Enthusiast,” and “The Challenger.”  This week we will explore the final type Number Nine “The Peacemaker.” Next week we begin a series of episodes on Type Combinations and what the potential relationship benefits and issues are with each combination.

Since we are exploring the Enneagram in detail, I would also recommend reading the Wisdom Journal for each Friday to see the diagrams presented each week. As helpful as the Enneagram is, keep in mind, it is still only a tool, and cannot replace or usurp the precepts that are found in God’s Word. All decisions and actions that we make in life must be in harmony with God’s precepts.

So the questions for the next several months will be…

“Hey, Gramps, why do people act and react to situations and circumstances in life differently?  How can I gain wisdom to better understand myself and others so that I can love, serve, and minister to them on a deeper level?”

The Easygoing, Self-Effacing Type: Receptive, Reassuring Agreeable, and Complacent

Nines are accepting, trusting, and stable. They are usually creative, optimistic, and supportive, but can also be too willing to go along with others to keep the peace. They want everything to go smoothly and be without conflict, but they can also tend to be complacent, simplifying problems and minimizing anything upsetting. They typically have problems with inertia and stubbornness.

At their Best: indomitable and all-embracing, they are able to bring people together and heal conflicts.

Basic Fear: Of loss and separation

Basic Desire: To have inner stability “peace of mind”

Enneagram Nine with an Eight-Wing: “The Referee”

Enneagram Nine with a One-Wing: “The Dreamer”

Key Motivations: Want to create harmony in their environment, to avoid conflicts and tension, to preserve things as they are, to resist whatever would upset or disturb them.

The Meaning of the Arrows (in brief)

When moving in their Direction of Disintegration (stress), complacent Nines suddenly become anxious and worried like unhealthy Sixes. However, when moving in their Direction of Integration (growth), slothful, self-neglecting Nines become more self-developing and energetic, like healthy Threes.

We have called personality type Nine “The Peacemaker” because no type is more devoted to the quest for internal and external peace for themselves and others. They are typically “spiritual seekers” who have a great yearning for connection with the cosmos, as well as with other people. They work to maintain their peace of mind just as they work to establish peace and harmony in their world. The issues encountered in the Nine are fundamental to all psychological and spiritual work—being awake versus falling asleep to our true nature; presence versus entrancement, openness versus blockage, tension versus relaxation, peace versus pain, union versus separation…

Ironically, for a type so oriented to the spiritual world, Nine is the center of the Instinctive Center and is the type that is potentially most grounded in the physical world and in their own bodies. The contradiction is resolved when we realize that Nines are either in touch with their instinctive qualities and have tremendous elemental power and personal magnetism, or they are cut off from their instinctual strengths and can be disengaged and remote, even lightweight.

To compensate for being out of touch with their instinctual energies, Nines also retreat into their minds and their emotional fantasies. (This is why Nines can sometimes misidentify themselves as Fives and Sevens, “head types,” or as Twos and Fours, “feeling types.”) Furthermore, when their instinctive energies are out of balance, Nines use these very energies against themselves, damming up their own power so that everything in their psyches becomes static and inert. When their energy is not used, it stagnates like a spring-fed lake that becomes so full that its own weight dams up the springs that feed it. When Nines are in balance with their Instinctive Center and its energy, however, they are like a great river, carrying everything along with it effortlessly.

We have sometimes called the Nine the crown of the Enneagram because it is at the top of the symbol and because it seems to include the whole of it. Nines can have the strength of Eights, the sense of fun and adventure of Sevens, the dutifulness of Sixes, the intellectualism of Fives, the creativity of Fours, the attractiveness of Threes, the generosity of Twos, and the idealism of Ones. However, what they generally do not have is a sense of really inhabiting themselves—a strong sense of their own identity.

Ironically, therefore, the only type the Nine is not like is the Nine itself. Being a separate self, an individual who must assert herself against others, is terrifying to Nines. They would rather melt into someone else or quietly follow their idyllic daydreams.

Reed, a nationally known business consultant, comments on this tendency.

“I am aware of focusing on other people, wondering what they are like, how and where they live, etc. In a relationship with others, I often give up my own agenda in favor of the other person’s. I have to be on guard about giving in to other’s demands and discounting my own legitimate needs.”

Nines demonstrate the universal temptation to ignore the disturbing aspects of life and to seek some degree of peace and comfort by “numbing out.” They respond to pain and suffering by attempting to live in a state of premature peacefulness, whether it is in a state of false spiritual attainment or in more gross denial. More than any other type, Nines demonstrate the tendency to run away from the paradoxes and tensions of life by attempting to transcend them or by seeking to find simple and painless solutions to their problems.

To emphasize the pleasant in life is not a bad thing, of course—it is simply a limited and limiting approach to life. If Nines see the silver lining in every cloud as a way of protecting themselves from the cold and rain, other types have their distorting viewpoints, too. For example, Fours focus on their own wounded-ness and victimization, Ones on what is wrong with how things are, and so forth. By contrast, Nines tend to focus on the “bright side of life” so that their peace of mind will not be shaken. But rather than deny the dark side of life, what Nines must understand is that all of the perspectives presented by the other types are true, too. Nines must resist the urge to escape into “premature Buddhahood” or the “white light” of the Divine and away from the mundane world. They must remember that “the only way out is through.”

Healthy Levels

Level 1 (At Their Best): Become self-possessed, feeling autonomous and fulfilled: have great equanimity and contentment because they are present to themselves. Paradoxically, at one with self, and thus able to form more profound relationships. Intensely alive, fully connected to self and others.

Level 2: Deeply receptive, accepting, unselfconscious, emotionally stable, and serene. Trusting of self and others, at ease with self and life, innocent and simple. Patient, unpretentious, good-natured, genuinely nice people.

Level 3: Optimistic, reassuring, and supportive: have a healing and calming influence—harmonizing groups, bringing people together: a good mediator, synthesizer, and communicator.

Average Levels

Level 4: Fear conflicts, so become self-effacing and accommodating, idealizing others and “going along” with their wishes, saying “yes” to things they do not really want to do. Fall into conventional roles and expectations. Use philosophies and stock sayings to deflect others.

Level 5: Active, but disengaged, unreflective, and inattentive. Do not want to be affected, so become unresponsive and complacent, walking away from problems, and “sweeping them under the rug.” Thinking becomes hazy and ruminative, mostly comforting fantasies, as they begin to “tune out” reality, becoming oblivious. Emotionally indolent, unwillingness to exert self or to focus on problems: indifference.

Level 6: Begin to minimize problems, to appease others and to have “peace at any price.” Stubborn, fatalistic, and resigned, as if nothing could be done to change anything. Into wishful thinking, and magical solutions. Others are frustrated and angry by their procrastination and unresponsiveness.

Unhealthy Levels

Level 7: Can be highly repressed, undeveloped, and ineffectual. Feel incapable of facing problems: become obstinate, dissociating self from all conflicts. Neglectful and dangerous to others.

Level 8: Wanting to block out of awareness anything that could affect them, they dissociate so much that they eventually cannot function: numb, depersonalized.

Level 9: They finally become severely disoriented and catatonic, abandoning themselves, turning into shattered shells. Multiple personalities are possible. Generally corresponds to the Schizoid and Dependent personality disorders.

That will conclude our focus on personality type number Nine – The Peacemaker. You are important in God’s Kingdom; live to your fill God-Given potential. A word of encouragement from God’s Word for those of you who are Enneagram type number Nine is found in Ephesians 2:10,“For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.”

Join us again next Friday as we further explore the Enneagram on our Ask Gramps episode. We will begin exploring type combinations and how best to maintain meaningful and productive relationships with each other. The information that we explore will allow you to unlock who you are as we travel on our trek of life and discover more about yourself and others as you impact God’s kingdom. I know you will find these insights interesting, practical, and profitable in living a rich and satisfying life.

Our next trek is Mediation Monday where we will help you reflect on what is most important in life. So encourage your friends and family to join us and then come along on Monday for another day of our Wisdom-Trek, Creating a Legacy.

Thank you for joining us for our five days per week wisdom and legacy building podcast. This is Day 992 of our trek, and it is time for our 3-minute mini-trek called Humor Unplugged. Our Thursday podcast will provide a short and clean funny story to help you lighten up and live a rich and satisfying life – something to cheer you and provide a bit a levity in your life.

We are told in  Proverbs 15:30, “A cheerful look brings joy to the heart; good news makes for good health.” We are also encouraged in Proverbs 17:22, “A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a broken spirit saps a person’s strength.” Consider this your vitamin supplement of cheer for today. So let’s jump right in with today’s funny, which is titled…

Little Susie was sitting on Gramps’ lap as he read her a bedtime story from the Bible about God’s creation. From time to time, she would take her eyes off the book and reach up to touch his wrinkled cheek. At the same time, she would stroke her own cheek. Gramps loved little Susie and enjoyed their time together. Finally, Susie spoke up, “Gramps, did God make you?”

“Yes, sweetheart,” he answered, “God made me a long time ago.”

“Oh,” she paused, “Gramps, did God make me too?”

“Yes, indeed, honey,” he said, “God made you just a little while ago.”

Feeling their respective faces again, she observed, “God’s getting better at his creation isn’t he?”

Well, I hope that brought a smile to your face today. Our Thursday Thought is from Romans 8:20-22,“Against its will, all creation was subjected to God’s curse. But with eager hope,  the creation looks forward to the day when it will join God’s children in glorious freedom from death and decay. For we know that all creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time.”

Just as you enjoy these nuggets of humor, please encourage your friends and family to join us and then come along tomorrow for another day of our Wisdom-Trek, Creating a Legacy.

If you would like to listen to any of our past 991 treks or read the Wisdom Journal, they are available at Wisdom-Trek.com. I encourage you to subscribe to Wisdom-Trek on Apple Podcast or Google Play so each day will be downloaded to you automatically.

Thank you for allowing me to be your guide, mentor, and most of all your friend as I serve you through the Wisdom-Trek podcast and journal.

As we take this trek together, let us always:

I am Guthrie Chamberlain reminding you to Keep Moving Forward, Enjoy Your Journey, and Create a Great Day Everyday! See you tomorrow for Philosophy Friday!

Thank you for joining us for our five days per week wisdom and legacy building podcast. We are broadcasting from our studio at The Big House in Marietta, Ohio. Today is Day 991 of our trek, and it is Wisdom Wednesday.

Creating a Biblical worldview is important to have a proper perspective on today’s current events. To establish a Biblical worldview, you must also have a proper understanding of God’s word. Especially in our western cultures, we do not fully understand the Scriptures from the mindset and culture of the authors. In order to help us all have a better understanding of some of the more obscure passages in God’s word, we are investing Wisdom Wednesday reviewing a series of essays from one of today’s most prominent Hebrew Scholars Dr. Micheal S. Heiser. He has compiled these essays into a book titled I Dare You Not to Bore Me With the Bible.

Just like the modern day medical symbol with snakes wrapped around the pole, both Greek Mythology and Old Testament references are tied to this symbol.

Today’s essay will explore…

Many people can recite John 3:16, but how many know what John 3:14-15 says? Jesus words in these two verses have generated confusion and controversy. Here is what is written, “And as Moses lifted up the bronze snake on a pole in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in him will have eternal life. ‘For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.'”

John [3:15] presents no problem; it declares the gospel—that Jesus, the “Son of Man” in this passage, is the true object of faith for all who would have eternal life. The difficulty lies in verse 14, where Jesus compares His destiny on the cross to a serpent “lifted up” in the wilderness.

In this analogy, Jesus draws on Numbers 21:4-9, one of many incidents in which the Israelites complained about their circumstances on their journey to the Promised Land. God punished their impatience and lack of faith by sending venomous “poisonous snakes” into the camp. After many fatalities, the people begged Moses to intercede with God on their behalf. God relented and instructed Moses to make a bronze serpent and set it on a pole. Anyone bitten by a serpent would be healed by gazing at the bronze serpent.

Although the parallel between the serpent on the pole and Jesus on the cross is apparent, the incident raises questions. Why didn’t God heal the people directly? Was the bronze serpent an idol, and thus a violation of the second commandment? Wouldn’t the Israelites have recoiled at the association of healing with a serpent?

We might incorrectly link the serpent on the pole in Numbers 21 and the serpent found in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3), but the only similarity between these two passages is the word “serpent,” Hebrew word nachash. The nachash of Genesis 3 is a figure acting independently of—and in opposition to—the will of God. In Numbers 21 the biting serpents are God’s instrument of judgment for sin, and the nachash on the pole is God’s instrument of healing for those punished for sin.

In part the answer to “why a serpent?” is found in the ancient practice of sympathetic magic, the idea that a person afflicted by an object can be cured or delivered by an image of that same object. In the absence of sophisticated medical knowledge, ancient cultures sought cures for physical ailments or perceived curses by such means. We can find several examples of this ancient medical approach in other places in the Old Testament.

For example, the Philistines fashioned five golden objects that corresponded to an affliction Yahweh sent upon their cities (1 Samuel 6:5-18). Both Moses and Elisha purified drinking water by using elements that would otherwise taint it—wood in Exodus [15:25] and salt in 2 Kings [2:21].  Elisha received no instruction from God to proceed as he did, and so he apparently believed God would empower the gesture. In Numbers 21, God makes use of this familiar cultural idea to communicate an offer of divine deliverance to the Israelites.

God’s use of serpent symbolism for healing was appropriate for other reasons. Israelites, like other Semitic peoples, associated serpents with life and healing. Snakes were thought to have regenerative healing powers because they shed their skin. Serpent images were a common motif in ancient Near Eastern art. Storage jars often included serpent imagery—perhaps to ward off theft or spoilage. The Greek god of healing, Asclepius, was depicted as a snake. The rod of Asclepius, a staff entwined by a snake, is still a symbol for medicine and healing today.  Here, Yahweh uses this imagery to proclaim His sovereignty over other gods.

Aside from their association with healing, serpents were familiar symbols of protection. Consider ancient Egypt, where the snake is an ever-present symbol. The uraeus serpent on the crown of the pharaoh was thought to render him immune from harm and enable him to heal. Other serpent icons served as divine guardians. The confrontation between Moses and Pharaoh, in which the serpent of God devoured the Egyptians’ serpents, sent a powerful theological message about the superiority of Yahweh found in Exodus 7:8-13. Yahweh, not Pharaoh, had power over the natural and divine worlds and the authority to dispense or withhold judgment or mercy. He was truly God: Pharaoh was an amateur magician.

Some of these messages are conveyed in both Numbers 21 and John [3:14]-15. First, Yahweh was not a God with which to trifle. He could punish faithlessness by commanding the forces of nature, sending poisonous snakes against the Israelites. He also had the power to reverse the effects, offering His divine healing through a bronze serpent. Healing came with one condition: the Israelites had to exercise faith in the offer.

Jesus’ use of this test of the “obedience of faith” creates a fitting analog to His own destiny. Death, the natural world’s most consuming force, would be reversed for all who looked to Jesus, raised up on the pole of the cross, if only the afflicted would believe.

That will conclude our essay for this week. Next Wisdom Wednesday we will continue in the New Testament as we look at Dr. Heiser’s next essay titled “Who Took Verse 4 Out of My Bible?” I believe you will find this another interesting topic to consider as we build our Biblical worldview.

Tomorrow we will continue with our 3-minute humor nugget that will provide you with a bit of cheer and help you to lighten up and live a rich and satisfying life. So encourage your friends and family to join us and then come along with us tomorrow for another day of our Wisdom-Trek, Creating a Legacy.

If you would like to listen to any of our past 990 treks or read the Wisdom Journal, they are available at Wisdom-Trek.com. I encourage you to subscribe to Apple Podcast or Google Play so that each day’s trek will be downloaded automatically.

Thank you for allowing me to be your guide, mentor, and most of all your friend as I serve you through the Wisdom-Trek podcast and journal.

As we take this trek together, let us always:

I am Guthrie Chamberlain reminding you to Keep Moving Forward, Enjoy Your Journey, and Create a Great Day Everyday! See you tomorrow!

Thank you for joining us for our five days per week wisdom and legacy building podcast. This is Day 990 of our trek, and it is time for a 3-minute mini-trek called Wisdom Unplugged. Thank you for joining me on this trek called life. This short nugget of wisdom includes an inspirational quote with a little bit of additional content for today’s trek. Consider this your vitamin supplement of wisdom for today. So let’s jump right in with today’s nugget.

Today’s quote is from Guy Kawasaki, and it is, “Building a successful business is a marathon, not a sprint, but even a marathon begins with a few steps.”

In order to be successful in any area of life – whether it be in business, family, ministry, or your personal life – you must understand that success is achieved with taking small incremental steps towards that success. You can never prepare for, or run in a marathon, without taking those first crucial steps. As in a marathon, you have to slowly and gradually prepare for each race by first walking and then running much shorter distances. Once you have achieved those small milestones, then you will add to that each week and month until you are able to reach the finish line of success.

If you push too hard at that beginning, you will never prepare properly to finish the race completely. With every decision that you make each day, if you make it wisely, you will lay a solid path from which you can advance. You are responsible for each decision that you make and  the lessons that you learn as a result of those decisions.

While we can and should learn from our past, we must not dwell there, but continue on toward that finish line of success in that endeavor or season of life. Press on one step at a time. Make it a habit of making wise decisions which are based on the precepts that are found in God’s Word, and then you will achieve success in business, family, ministry, and indeed all areas of life.  Realize, though, that as we achieve success in an area of life, or for a season of life, ultimately our race is not over until we cross that finish line to invest eternity with God.

Philippians 3:12-14 – I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection. But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me. No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead,   I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.

That’s a wrap for today’s Wisdom Unplugged quote. If you would like free access to my database of over 10,000 inspirational quotes, the link is available on the main page of Wisdom-Trek.com. As you enjoy these nuggets of wisdom, encourage your friends and family to join us and then come along tomorrow for another day of our Wisdom-Trek, Creating a Legacy.

If you would like to listen to any of our past 989 treks or read the Wisdom Journal, they are available at Wisdom-Trek.com. I encourage you to subscribe to Apple Podcast or Google Play so that each day’s trek will be downloaded automatically.

Thank you for allowing me to be your guide, mentor, and most importantly your friend as I serve you through the Wisdom-Trek podcast and journal each day.

As we take this trek together, let us always:

I am Guthrie Chamberlain reminding you to Keep Moving Forward, Enjoy Your Journey, and Create a Great Day Everyday! See you tomorrow for Wisdom Wednesday!

Thank you for joining us today for our five days per week wisdom and legacy building podcast. This is Day 989 of our trek, and it is time for Meditation Monday. Taking time to relax, refocus, and reprioritize our lives is crucial in order to create a living legacy.

For you, it may just be time alone for quiet reflection. You may utilize structured meditation practices. In my life meditation includes reading and reflecting on God’s Word and praying. It is a time to renew my mind, refocus on what is most important, and make sure that I am nurturing my soul, mind, and body. As you come along with me on our trek each Meditation Monday, it is my hope and prayer that you too will experience a time for reflection and renewing of your mind. 

We all have a tendency to wander away, either in our minds avoiding important obligations, or with our lives physically wandering away from our God-given responsibilities. Like sheep, we need a faithful shepherd to keep us in the fold. In our Meditation Monday today I want us to reflect on…

We must realize and understand that sheep aren’t smart. They tend to wander into running creeks for water, then their wool grows heavy, and they drown. They have no sense of direction. They need a shepherd to lead them to calm water. So do we! We, like sheep, tend to be swept away by waters we should have avoided. We have no defense against the evil lion who prowls about seeking whom he might devour. Peter warns us in 1 Peter 5:8, “Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.”

Also, we are reminded in Isaiah 53:6, “All of us, like sheep, have strayed away. We have left God’s paths to follow our own. Yet the Lord laid on him the sins of us all.”

We need a shepherd to care for us and to guide us. Jesus is that Good Shepherd. The Shepherd who lays down his life for the sheep. The Shepherd who protects, provides, and possesses his sheep. The Good Shepherd is described in…

Psalm 23

A Psalm of David.

The Lord is my shepherd;

He renews my strength.

Even when I walk

 You prepare a feast for me

The imagery is carried over to the New Testament as Jesus is called the good shepherd of the sheep in John 10:14-15, “I am the good shepherd; I know my own sheep, and they know me,  just as my Father knows me and I know the Father. So I sacrifice my life for the sheep.”

Each day, let us listen for the shepherd’s voice and follow Him. He will take care of us and protect us.

That is a wrap for today’s meditation. Next week we will continue our trek on Meditation Monday as we take time to reflect on what is most important in creating our living legacy. On tomorrow’s trek, we will explore another wisdom quote. This 3-minute wisdom supplement will assist you in becoming healthy, wealthy, and wise each day. Thank you for joining me on this trek called life. Encourage your friends and family to join us and then come along tomorrow for another day of our Wisdom-Trek, Creating a Legacy.

If you would like to listen to any of the past 988 daily treks or read the daily journal, they are available at Wisdom-Trek.com. I encourage you to subscribe to Apple Podcast and Google Podcast so that each day’s trek will be downloaded automatically.

Thank you for allowing me to be your guide, mentor, and most of all your friend as I serve you through the Wisdom-Trek podcast and journal.

As we take this trek together, let us always:

I am Guthrie Chamberlain reminding you to Keep Moving Forward, Enjoy Your Journey, and Create a Great Day Everyday! See you tomorrow!

Thank you for joining us for our five days per week wisdom and legacy building podcast. We are broadcasting from our studio at The Big House in Marietta, Ohio. This is Day 988 of our trek, and it is time for our Philosophy Friday series. Each Friday we will ponder some of the basic truths and mysteries of life and how they can impact us in creating our living legacy.

As we continue on this trek called life, sometimes we have questions about life, so our Friday trek is a time when we can “Ask Gramps.” Gramps will answer questions that you would like to ask your dad or granddad, but for whatever reason are unable to. No matter how old we are, I know that all of us would like the opportunity to ask Dad or Gramps questions about life in many areas.

Today is the fifteenth episode in our series delving into what makes each of us respond differently to life situations and circumstances. Understanding ourselves and how others may interpret life through their paradigm will allow us to interact with each other with more love and compassion.   This empathy can be achieved by utilizing a profound tool called “The Enneagram.” If you have missed any of our past thirteen Friday series, I would recommend going back and listening to them or reading the Wisdom Journals.

As a review, the tool that we refer to as the Enneagram (Any-a-Gram) is a circle with nine interconnected points (Ennea refers to 9, and Gram refers to a drawing). Check out today’s or a prior week’s Wisdom Journal for a representation of it. I have also included a copy of “The Enneagram At-A-Glance,” which was compiled by Suzanne H. Eller in today’s Wisdom Journal. If you would like a PDF copy, click on the link in today’s Wisdom Journal located on our website Wisdom-Trek.com.

I would also recommend the book The Road Back to You written by Ian Morgan Cron and Suzanne Stabile.  It is an excellent book about an enneagram journey to self-discovery from a Christian perspective.

In the first seven episodes, we explored how The Enneagram System works and then presented an overview of all nine personality types. So far we have taken a deep dive into “The Reformer,” “The Helper,” “The Achiever,” “The Individualist,” “The Investigator,” “The Loyalist,” and “The Enthusiast.” This week we will explore type Number Eight “The Challenger.”  Next week we will focus on the final type number Nine “The Peacemaker.”

Since we are exploring the Enneagram in detail, I would also recommend reading the Wisdom Journal for each Friday to see the diagrams presented each week. As helpful as the Enneagram is, keep in mind, it is still only a tool, and cannot replace or usurp the precepts that are found in God’s Word. All decisions and actions that we make in life must be in harmony with God’s precepts.

So the questions for the next several months will be…

“Hey, Gramps, why do people act and react to situations and circumstances in life differently?  How can I gain wisdom to better understand myself and others so that I can love, serve, and minister to them on a deeper level?”

The Powerful, Dominating Type: Self-Confident, Decisive, Willful, and Confrontational

Eights are self-confident, strong, and assertive. Protective, resourceful, straight-talking, and decisive, but can also be ego-centric and domineering. Eights feel they must control their environment, especially people, sometimes becoming confrontational and intimidating. Eights typically have problems with their tempers and with allowing themselves to be vulnerable. At their best: self-mastering, they use their strength to improve others’ lives, becoming heroic, magnanimous, and inspiring.

Basic Fear: Of being harmed or controlled by others

Basic Desire: To protect themselves (to be in control of their own life and destiny)

Enneagram Eight with a Seven-Wing: “The Maverick”

Enneagram Eight with a Nine-Wing: “The Bear”

Key Motivations: Want to be self-reliant, to prove their strength and resist weakness, to be important in their world, to dominate the environment, and to stay in control of their situation.

When moving in their Direction of Disintegration (stress), self-confident Eights suddenly become secretive and fearful like an unhealthy Five. However, when moving in their Direction of Integration (growth), lustful, controlling Eights become more open-hearted and caring, like healthy Twos.

We have named personality type Eight “The Challenger” because of all the types, Eights enjoy taking on challenges themselves as well as giving others opportunities that challenge them to exceed themselves in some way. Eights are charismatic and have the physical and psychological capacities to persuade others to follow them into all kinds of endeavors—from starting a company to rebuilding a city, to running a household, to waging war, to making peace.

Eights have enormous willpower and vitality, and they feel most alive when they are exercising these capacities in the world. They use their abundant energy to effect changes in their environment—to “leave their mark” on it—but also to keep the environment, and especially other people, from hurting them and those they care about. At an early age, Eights understand that this requires strength, will, persistence, and endurance—qualities that they develop in themselves and that they look for in others.

Here is our first example. Thayer is a stockbroker who has worked intensively on understanding her type Eight personality. She recounts a childhood incident in which she could clearly see the development of this pattern.

“Much of my tenacity and toughness comes from my Dad. He always told me not to ‘let anybody push you around.’ It was not okay to cry. I learned to master my weaker side early on. At the tender age of eight, a huge horse ran away with me. When an adult caught the horse, I resolutely dismounted without a tear. I could tell my father was proud.”

Eights do not want to be controlled or to allow others to have power over them (their Basic Fear), whether the power is psychological, sexual, social, or financial. Much of their behavior is involved with making sure that they retain and increase whatever power they have for as long as possible. An Eight may be a general or a gardener, a small businessman or a mogul, the mother of a family or the superior of a religious community. No matter, being “in charge” and leaving their imprint on their sphere is uniquely characteristic of them.

Eights are the true “rugged individualists” of the Enneagram. More than any other type, they stand alone. They want to be independent and resist being indebted to anyone. They often refuse to “give in” to social convention, and they can defy fear, shame, and concern about the consequences of their actions. Although they are usually aware of what people think of them, they do not let the opinions of others sway them. They go about their business with a steely determination that can be awe-inspiring, even intimidating to others.

Although, to some extent, Eights fear physical harm, far more important is their fear of being disempowered or controlled in some way. Eights are extraordinarily tough and can absorb a great deal of physical punishment without complaint—a double-edged blessing since they often take their health and stamina for granted and overlook the health and well-being of others as well. Yet they are desperately afraid of being hurt emotionally and will use their physical strength to protect their feelings and keep others at a safe emotional distance. Beneath the tough façade is a vulnerability, although it has been covered over by a layer of emotional armor.

Thus, Eights are often extremely industrious, but at the price of losing emotional contact with many of the people in their lives. Those close to them may become increasingly dissatisfied with this state of affairs, which confounds Eights. A common example for Eights would sound like this…“I don’t understand what my family is complaining about. I bust my hump to provide for them. Why are they disappointed with me?”

When this happens, Eights feel misunderstood and may distance themselves further. In fact, beneath their imposing exterior, Eights often feel hurt and rejected, although this is something they seldom talk about because they have trouble admitting their vulnerability to themselves, let alone to anyone else. Because they fear that they will be rejected (i.e., divorced, humiliated, criticized, fired, or harmed in some way), Eights attempt to defend themselves by rejecting others first. The result is that average Eights become blocked in their ability to connect with people or to love since love gives the other power over them, reawakening their Basic Fear.

The more Eights build up their egos in order to protect themselves, the more sensitive they become to any real or imaginary slight to their self-respect, authority, or preeminence. The more they attempt to make themselves impervious to hurt or pain (whether physical or emotional), the more they “shut down” emotionally to become hardened and rock-like.

When Eights are emotionally healthy, however, they have a resourceful, “can-do” attitude as well as a steady inner drive. They take the initiative and make things happen with a great passion for life. They are honorable and authoritative—natural leaders who have a solid, commanding presence. Their grounded-ness gives them abundant “common sense” as well as the ability to be decisive. Eights are willing to “take the heat,” knowing that any decision cannot please everyone. But as much as possible, they want to look after the interests of the people in their charge without playing favorites. They use their talents and fortitude to construct a better world for everyone in their lives.

Healthy Levels

Level 1 (At Their Best): Assimilate experiences in depth, making them deeply grateful and appreciative for what they have. Become awed by the simple wonders of life: joyous and ecstatic. Intimations of spiritual reality, of the boundless goodness of life.

Level 2: Highly responsive, excitable, and enthusiastic about sensation and experience. Most extroverted type: stimuli bring immediate responses—they find everything invigorating. Lively, vivacious, eager, spontaneous, resilient, cheerful.

Level 3: Easily become accomplished achievers, generalists who do many different things well: multi-talented. Practical, productive, usually prolific, cross-fertilizing areas of interest.

Average Levels

Level 4: As restlessness increases, want to have more options and choices available to them. Become adventurous and “worldly wise,” but less focused, constantly seeking new things and experiences: the sophisticated, connoisseur, and consumer. Money, variety, keeping up with the latest trends…are important.

Level 5: Unable to discriminate what they really need, become hyperactive, unable to say “no” to themselves, throwing self into constant activity. Uninhibited, doing and saying whatever comes to mind: storytelling, flamboyant exaggerations, witty wise-cracking, performing…Fear being bored: in perpetual motion, but do too many things—many ideas but little follow through.

Level 6: Get into conspicuous consumption and all forms of excess. Self-centered, materialistic, and greedy, never feeling that they have enough. Demanding and pushy, yet unsatisfied and jaded. Addictive, hardened, and insensitive.

Unhealthy Levels

Level 7: Desperate to quell their anxieties, can be impulsive and infantile: do not know when to stop. Addictions and excess take their toll: debauched, depraved, dissipated escapists, offensive and abusive.

Level 8: In flight from self, acting out impulses rather than dealing with anxiety or frustrations: go out of control into erratic mood swings and compulsive actions (manias).

Level 9: Finally, their energy and health are completely expended: become claustrophobic and panic-stricken. Often give up on themselves and life: deep depression and despair, self-destructive overdoses, impulsive suicide. Generally corresponds to Bipolar disorder and Histrionic personality disorder.

That will conclude our focus on personality type number Eight – The Challenger.  A word of encouragement from God’s Word for those of you who are Enneagram type number Eight is found in 

Thank you for joining us for our five days per week wisdom and legacy building podcast. This is Day 987 of our trek, and it is time for our 3-minute mini-trek called Humor Unplugged. Our Thursday podcast will provide a short and clean funny story to help you lighten up and live a rich and satisfying life – something to cheer you and provide a bit a levity in your life.

We are told in  Proverbs 15:30, “A cheerful look brings joy to the heart; good news makes for good health.” We are also encouraged in Proverbs 17:22, “A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a broken spirit saps a person’s strength.” Consider this your vitamin supplement of cheer for today. So let’s jump right in with today’s funny which is titled…

Frank was driving through the Sahara desert by himself when out in the middle of nowhere his jeep broke down. Thinking that he would not be out for long, he failed to bring any water. As the noon-day sun became increasingly intense, Frank became desperate for water. He started out on foot toward what he thought might be a good direction. After walking a couple of miles when he saw something, far off in the distance. Hoping to find water, he walked toward the image, which now appeared to be a tent. When he reached the tent, he found a little old lady sitting at a card table with a bunch of neckties laid out on it.

Desperately Frank begged, “Please, I’m dying of thirst, can I have some water?”

The woman replied “I don’t have any water, but why don’t you buy a tie? Here’s one that goes nicely with your outfit.”

Frank shouted, “I don’t want a tie lady. I need water!”

Calmly she replied, “Okay, don’t buy a tie. But to show you what a nice person I am, I’ll tell you that over that hill there, about four miles, is a nice restaurant. Walk that way, they’ll give you all the water you want.”

The dehydrated Frank thanked the woman and walked away toward the hill and eventually disappeared.

Three hours later he returned crawling back to the tent where the old lady was still sitting behind her card table full of beautiful ties.

The lady asked,  “I told you, about four miles over that hill. Couldn’t you find it?”

Frank rasped from his parched throat, “I found it all right. They wouldn’t let me in without a tie.”

Well, I hope that brought a smile to your face today. Our Thursday Thought is from Psalms 107:8-9, “Let them praise the Lord for his great love and for the wonderful things he has done for them.  For he satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things.”

As you enjoy these nuggets of humor, please encourage your friends and family to join us and then come along tomorrow for another day of our Wisdom-Trek, Creating a Legacy.

If you would like to listen to any of our past 986 treks or read the Wisdom Journal, they are available at Wisdom-Trek.com. I encourage you to subscribe to Wisdom-Trek on Apple Podcast or Google Play so each day will be downloaded to you automatically.

Thank you for allowing me to be your guide, mentor, and most importantly, your friend as I serve you through the Wisdom-Trek podcast and journal.

As we take this trek together, let us always:

I am Guthrie Chamberlain reminding you to Keep Moving Forward, Enjoy Your Journey, and Create a Great Day Everyday! See you tomorrow for Philosophy Friday!