Testing at Stanford

It has been a while since I have posted anything. We have been busy with travel for this whole past week. A lot has been happening, and I have a few days to stay home now, so expect a lot of posts over the next 3-4 days. Our travels began last Tuesday the 26th with a trip to Stanford. This was really the beginning of the transplant process. We went down Tuesday evening because I had an early morning PET scan on Wednesday. It was actually the most pleasant drive that we have had in this process. There was very little traffic and we made the trip in a little over two hours. We had some time to relax at the Budget Inn where we stayed and had a nice Mexican dinner. We also had a nice Facebook video chat with Mike, Samantha and the kids and were able to wish Titus and Arie a Happy Birthday.

The first test was the PET scan on Wednesday morning. This was a critical test because we needed scan to be clear of lymphoma so that the transplant process could continue. If there were still lymphoma lesions in my body I would need to have another session of immuno-chemotherapy which would delay the process at least one month. The scan went well and we were told the next day that it was clear. Thus, the process could continue as scheduled. I know many people were praying for that and we appreciate it very much.

The tests began again on Wednesday morning. The first test was an echocardiogram (left)which would determine if my heart was healthy enough for the transplant process. I had one of these back in March. My heart was healthy then and the doctor determined that my heart was a go for this next procedure as well. We walked down the hall in the hospital for the second test- the pulmonary exam. This was basically a test to see if my lungs would hold up through the transplant process. I had to blow into a tube which measured my lung power. (right) I passed that one as well. For those of you who have thought I was a bit of a blowhard, your opinion is confirmed. Again we are thankful that my body has come through chemo very well so far.

The final test was the bone marrow biopsy. We headed over to the cancer center for that one. This was the one I was not looking forward to, but it went quicker and less painfully than I anticipated. The bottom line on all the testing was that the stem cell transplant can proceed. We were able to get back to Shingle Springs before the traffic got heavy which was an extra blessing. Thank you for praying. So far so good.

Reading The Unseen Realm by Michael Heiser #7

I am continuing to read through The Unseen Realm: Recovering the Supernatural Worldview of the Bible, by Michael S. Heiser. While the elements of this book are not entirely new, I don’t think anyone has put it together into a biblical theology quite like this book does. It has certainly helped me put together some passages that have caused me some difficulty in the past.  I have been posting quotes from the book on my Facebook page on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday (NT is Mon-Wed-Fri) and we can discuss comments and questions about the passage there. As usual my comments are in black and quotes from the commentary are in blue below. I am using the Kindle version of the book.…

Chapter 16, Abraham’s Word, picks up the story in Genesis 12 as God restarts His kingdom program through Abraham and his descendants. Heiser's main point in this chapter is that the "word of God" came to Abraham (and other Old Testament people) in a personal, visual and embodied form. That is God comes to Abraham in a way that "helps Abraham process him as a person." (127) The normal way that YHWH's word came to the patriarchs and prophets was in a visual, human, embodied form. In John 8 Jesus claims that appearance to Abraham  was Him. The implication here would be that, even in the Old Testament, there were "whispers" of a Godhead, that would lead to the Christian Trinitarian view of God.

Since the Word is clearly equated with and identified as Yahweh in Genesis 12 and 15, when the New Testament has Jesus saying “that was me,” he is claiming to be the Word of the Old Testament, who was the visible Yahweh. John 8.56-58, 130 
 
How is it that, if this Word was Yahweh, and the Word was visible and embodied, Jews of Jesus’ day could tolerate the notion that Jesus was Yahweh incarnate on earth— while Yahweh was still in heaven? After all, Jesus prayed to the Father and spoke of the Father, Yahweh of Israel, in the third person. How could a Jew accommodate this “binitarian” idea— that, essentially, there were two Yahwehs, one invisible and in heaven, the other on earth in visible form? Heiser, 132-133

Chapter 17, Yahweh Visible and Invisible, makes the point that the Old Testament teaches that there are two YHWH's; one invisible and one visible. The patriarchal stories do this by progressively fusing YHWH with the angel of YHWH. The angel of YHWH speaks to Abraham of God in the 3rd person and as God in the 1st person (Gen. 22). Jacob sees God at Bethel (28.13-19) and then the angel of the LORD explicitly identifies himself as the God of Bethel (31.11-13) and Jacob "wrestles" with a bodily elohim in the next chapter. Later Jacob (Gen. 48.15-16) and Hosea (Hos. 12.3-4) identify this angel as YHWH Himself. Heiser's conclusion: "The God of Israel is God, but in more than one person." (140)

Long before Jesus and the New Testament, careful readers of the Old Testament would not have been troubled by the notion of, essentially, two Yahwehs— one invisible and in heaven, the other manifest on earth in a variety of visible forms, including that of a man. In some instances the two Yahweh figures are found together in the same scene. 134

The patriarchal stories create an astonishing picture for us. If there is only one God— one Yahweh— then why does the writer fuse Yahweh and the angel in some passages, but have the angel refer to God in the third person in others? Why blur the distinction between Yahweh and this angel and yet keep them distinct? 140

In Chapter 18, What’s in a Name?, Heiser gives more examples of the visible and invisible YHWH from the Old Testament. The text continues to blur the distinctions between YHWH and the angel of YHWH but describes them as two personalities in the stories of the burning bush, the pillar of fire and cloud in the exodus, the concept of the "Name" of YHWH, and when the "commander of God's Army" meets with Joshua. The conversation of YHWH with Gideon is especially remarkable because both the invisible and visible YHWHs are in the scene at the same time and then the Angel of the LORD leaves and YHWH continues to talk with Gideon. The point is that, even in the OT, there is more than a hint of the Godhead with One essence but plural personalities. 

When God told Moses that his name was in this angel, he was saying that he was in this angel— his very presence or essence. The I AM of the burning bush would accompany Moses and the Israelites to the promised land and fight for them. Only he could defeat the gods of the nations and the descendants of the Nephilim whom Moses and Joshua would find there. Exodus 23.20-22, 143

There are two Yahweh figures in Old Testament thinking— one invisible, the other visible and human in form. Judaism before the first century, the time of Jesus, knew this teaching. That’s why ancient Jewish theology once embraced two Yahweh figures (the “two powers”). But once this teaching came to involve the risen Jesus of Nazareth, Judaism could no longer tolerate it. Judges 6.11-24, 148

Overwhelmed With Blessing

We have moved into our new/old house. We are now living in the parsonage at Gold Country Baptist Church and will be here, at least through the end of the year. Actually it is a bit of deja vu for us because we lived in this house when we were preparing to come out to Guam in 1992-3. We are blessed to have such a nice place to stay and we, especially Joyce, are thankful to have “our own place” again. Thank you so much to the people at GCBC for taking care of us above and beyond our expectations. We have watched a steady parade of people bringing furniture, dishes, tools and other needed items over the last couple weeks. We are truly overwhelmed with blessing.

To be honest, it does put a bit of a pin in the balloon of our pride. Joyce said to me the other night, “This is hard in a way, because I am the one who always brought people furniture and met people’s needs. When it is going in the other direction it is very humbling.” It is more blessed to give than receive, but sometimes it is harder on our self-image to receive. But we are in a position where we have no choice. It is a tremendous blessing to see the church in action the way it is supposed to be. This church and several others that sent us out to the mission field and are helping us now are obeying John’s instruction in 3 John 6-8, “They have told the church about your love. Please send them on their way in a manner that honors God. It was for the sake of the Name that they went out, receiving no help from the pagans. We ought therefore to show hospitality to such people so that we may work together for the truth.” Thank you and God bless!

More Friends Come By

I have mentioned that we love having people come by and see us. This is especially true now since, once I get into the transplant process in a week or two, I will not be allowed to have people come over because my immune system will be compromised. On Saturday Dan and Renee Newton came by, spent the afternoon and had dinner with us. Dan and I were high school and church youth group friends. We played a lot of sports together in high school. Renee and I started teaching at Baymonte Christian School in the same year: Fall of 1980. Dan and Renee also have been faithful supporters of our ministry since we first went out to Micronesia. We had a great time talking about old times, family and their recent mission trip to Belgium. I saw them when I was in Chicago a couple years ago, but Joyce had not seen them probably for 30 years. Joyce and I are really bummed that we forgot to take pictures when Dan and Renee were with us. So I snatched a picture from their Facebook page and another of Dan and I with our high school baseball team. That is me front row left and Dan is first row 2nd from the right.

Then on Monday our long time friends from Guam, Tony and May Vigil came by. Tony and May were among the first people we met on Guam. They greeted us when we arrived on the plane in February of 1993. They served with us in ministry at Yigo Baptist Church and May was office manager and receptionist for many years at PIU. Their two boys and our three kids pretty much grew up together. We consider them part of our family. Thus, it was very encouraging to see them, hear about how well their boys are doing and get caught up on their lives.

It was a real blessing to us to see both of these couples and we pray God’s blessing on them.

Reading The Unseen Realm by Michael Heiser #6

I am continuing to read through The Unseen Realm: Recovering the Supernatural Worldview of the Bible, by Michael S. Heiser. I have to say that this book has given me a lot to think about. While I would have some argument with some of his exegesis, I think his main point, “the Divine Council view,” is accurate and provides a good way to put the OT story together.  I have been posting quotes from the book on my Facebook page on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday (NT is Mon-Wed-Fri) and we can discuss comments and questions about the passage there. As usual my comments are in black and quotes from the commentary are in blue below. I am using the Kindle version of the book.…

In Chapter 12, Divine Transgression, Heiser discusses the different views of the rebellion that takes place in Genesis 6.1-4 and prompts Noah's flood. The sin is intermarriage of the "sons of God" and the "daughters of men." Heiser, and I would agree here, takes the supernatural view that the "sons of God" are supernatural beings who break God's boundaries and have sexual relations with human women and give birth to the "nephilim." This certainly appears to be the view of Jude and 2 Peter in the New Testament and the view of early Jewish interpreters. Later views, such as the Sethite view and "Divinized human rulers view," have too many exegetical problems. The point would be that this rebellion inserted an evil supernatural element into the human race that had to be dealt with. The spiritual heritage of this is that the human race is divided into two camps: the children of God and the children of the devil.    

This passage (1 John 3:8–12) describes people whose lives are characterized by wickedness as “children of the devil,” a contrast to the spiritual “children of God.” This is a spiritual lineage, since the children of God have “God’s seed” abiding in them, a reference to the Holy Spirit. Peter echoes the same thought in 1 Peter 1: 23, where he describes those born again (literally, born “from above”) as being born not as mortal offspring or seed, but of “imperishable seed,” through the word of God. The language, then, points toward the spiritual— following Yahweh or following the example of the original rebel, the nachash. 92-93

Biblical theology does not derive from the church fathers. It derives from the biblical text, framed in its own context...For the person who considers the Old and New Testament to be equally inspired, interpreting Genesis 6:1–4 “in context” means analyzing it in light of its Mesopotamian background as well as 2 Peter and Jude, whose content utilizes supernatural interpretations from Jewish theology of their own day. 99-100

Chapter 13, The Bad Seed, continues the explanation of Genesis 6.1-4 and especially focuses on the offspring of the rebellious union of the supernatural and human; the nephilim. Heiser sees this passage as a polemic against the ancient Mesopotamian view that these divine-human hybrids provided wisdom and skills to humanity. In the Babylonian view these "Watchers" (note the same term is used for God's "Holy Ones" in Daniel 4) came down from heaven to form the Babylonian civilization. They fell prey to sexual temptation and were confined to the underworld, but their offspring, the nephilim, were the great heroes of old. Heiser sees the word nephilim as meaning "giant" rather than "fallen one" based on the way the word is translated in the LXX. Genesis 1-11 counters this idea. Instead, the "watchers" and the "nephilim" were rebels who opposed the plan of God as sons of the nachash. This idea of the "sons of the nachash" versus the "seed of the woman" will provide the frame for understanding the rest of the OT.

Genesis 6:1–4 is a polemic; it is a literary and theological effort to undermine the credibility of Mesopotamian gods and other aspects of that culture’s worldview. Biblical writers do this frequently. The strategy often involves borrowing lines and motifs from the literature of the target civilization to articulate correct theology about Yahweh and to show contempt for other gods. Genesis 6:1–4 is a case study in this technique. 102

Genesis 6:1–4 is far from being peripheral in importance. It furthers the theme of conflict between divine rebels (the “seed of the nachash”) and humanity that will impede the progress of Eden’s restoration. It is one of two passages in the Old Testament that fundamentally frame the history of Israel as a people and a land. 109

In Chapter 14, Divine Allotment, Heiser comes to the center of his "Divine Council view" of the Old Testament. In this chapter he links the supernatural rebellions in Genesis 3 and 6 with another rebellion at the tower of Babel in Genesis 10-11. The Genesis 6 rebellion continues in the table of nations as the rebel Nimrod founds Assyria and Babylon (10.6-12), the great enemies of God's people throughout the OT narrative. The tower of Babel is where the people tried to "make a name" for themselves by substituting the gods of Babel for YHWH. God punishes the people by handing them over to the rebellious "sons of God" (Deut 32.8-9, Dead Sea scroll reading as in ESV) and allowing these beings to be the gods of the 70 nations named in Genesis 10 (Deut. 4.19-20). God will then make His covenant with Abraham through whom will come Israel and Messiah to bless and save these rebellious nations.

Deuteronomy 4:19–20 is the other side of God’s punitive coin. Whereas in Deuteronomy 32:8–9 God apportioned or handed out the nations to the sons of God, here we are told God “allotted” the gods to those nations. God decreed, in the wake of Babel, that the other nations he had forsaken would have other gods besides himself to worship. It is as though God was saying, “If you don’t want to obey me, I’m not interested in being your god—I’ll match you up with some other god.” 114

Humanity had shunned Yahweh and his plan to restore Eden through them, so he would shun them and start again. While the decision was harsh, the other nations are not completely forsaken. Yahweh disinherited the nations, and in the very next chapter of Genesis, he calls Abram out of— you guessed it— Mesopotamia. Again, this is not accidental. Yahweh would take a man from the heart of the rebellion and make a new nation, Israel. 115

Chapter 15, Cosmic Geography, ends section three's description of the "divine transgressions" that form the framework and worldview of the OT. Heiser gives several examples of how seeing the OT this way makes sense, including David's concern that leaving Israel would constitute being "driven from YHWH's inheritance (1 Sam. 26.17-19), Naaman's needing dirt from Israel to worship YHWH (2 Kings 5.15-19), Daniel's vision of the archangel Michael's battles with the "kings" of Persia and Javan (Dan. 10.20-21) and Paul's description of the supernatural world rulers (Eph. 1.20-21, 3.10, 6.12, Col. 2.15). God had given over the nations to rule by these corrupt supernatural beings, but He would battle these powers and redeem these nations through Israel, Israel's Messiah and His kingdom.

The Old Testament therefore describes a world where cosmic-geographical lines have been drawn. Israel was holy ground because it was Yahweh’s “inheritance,” in the language of Deuteronomy 32:8–9. The territory of other nations belonged to other elohim because Yahweh had decreed it. 116

Paul’s rationale for his own ministry to the Gentiles was that it was God’s intention to reclaim the nations to restore the original Edenic vision. 120

Contentment and Happy Fall (or is it Merry Autumn?)

I have learned the secret of being content in whatever situation I am in. Umm, that is not me speaking. That is Paul in Philippians. I would need to change the tense to a progressive present: I am learning to be content in whatever situation I find myself. Joyce and I were having one of those late night talks a couple nights ago where you share the things you are really thinking or concerned about. I was talking about my fears and concerns about the upcoming medical issues we will be facing and my big concern that I might not be taking full advantage of the situation I am in by learning what God is trying to teach me through this situation. (Theological point: I don’t blame God for my cancer. It happened because we live in a fallen world. But God walks with us through these situations and uses them to grow us into His image.) I asked her what she thinks I am learning. She laughed and said, “you are learning to be content. I thought you’d be a terrible patient and mad at your situation, but you have done very well.” I thought, “well there’s not much I can do about it, so I just had to trust God through the process.” Then I thought, “but that is contentment. Wow, I have learned something.” I have a long way to go. I have been able to trust God through most of the cancer adventure, but I still find myself, weirdly, getting unreasonably angry when my reading glasses slide off the top of my head because I don’t have enough hair up there to hold them any more.

I listened to a sermon on contentment by Tim Keller a while back. One of his big points was that contentment must be learned by going through adversity and responding well to it. It is not a spiritual gift or talent. It is gained through experience. When we experience adversity we must respond in 3 ways: Think, Thank and Love. First, we have to think through the real cosmic situation which includes the biblical worldview, God’s promises to be with us and the truth that this life is preparation for the next one. This enables us to thank God that He is working through the situation. Finally, as we go through these experiences we learn to love God, because we also experience His presence. This is something that I have found to be true. Through cancer I have experienced God in ways I never I have before. I have also had a few dark nights of the soul, but those seem to go together with the former. I, definitely, cannot say “I have learned” like Paul, but I am learning and have been able to praise and thank God in the midst of it. Honestly, I am hoping to Iearn what I need to and can get off the bench and back into the game soon, but I know I need to keep living and ministering in the present, where I am right now.

So, Happy Fall and Merry Autumn! One side benefit of all this is the time I have had for family relationships. I am blessed to have my daughter Missy and granddaughter Leila living with us. We have some fun together and I enjoy being close to them. Seeing the world through the eyes of a very energetic five year old can be quite enlightening. These pictures were taken as Leila was getting ready to go to Placerville’s Oktoberfest. Yes, Placerville had their Oktoberfest in September. But it did include a wiener dog race. May God grant you contentment in His presence. Blessings!

Reading Through the Gospel of Matthew #3 (8-10)

I am continuing reading through the Gospel of Matthew accompanied by Matthew, vol. 1, The IVP New Testament Commentary Series, by Craig S. Keener. In chapters 8-9 Jesus begins His kingdom ministry of signs, healing and teaching. In chapter 10 he sends the 12 apostles out to do kingdom ministry to Israel in His name as an example of the way the church is to do ministry worldwide. I am posting from my reading in the New Testament accompanied by various commentaries on Monday, Wednesday and Friday and welcome comments and discussion on my Facebook page. I am using the Logos version (for some reason I cannot make the page numbers come up in the quotes) of the book. As usual my comments are in black and quotes from the book are in blue.

Chapter 8 begins a section recording Jesus' miracles. The miracles are an indication of Jesus' identity as creator and Messiah and that the promised kingdom has arrived, though not in its full and final expression. Matthew portrays Jesus' healings as a sign that the atonement of the kingdom predicted by Isaiah has arrived and sin and its effects (death, disease) are dealt with. Jesus provides access to God for the leper and prefigures the mission to the Gentiles in healing the centurion's servant. I agree with Keener that we have allowed modern rationalism to influence our thinking too much and we miss the healing that is available to us in the atonement now. We want to avoid having too much "already" in the "not yet" of the kingdom, but it is also important not to have too little "already" and miss out on what God has promised. The miracles at the end of the chapter, stilling the storm and exorcism, show Jesus as the Creator with power over nature and the ruler over the unseen realm of supernatural beings. In the middle of this chapter is the application. If Jesus is who his miracles suggest, then we owe him the highest allegiance and must make following Him the highest priority.

Jesus demonstrated his feeling toward our infirmities by bearing them with us and for us (8:17) and by healing all who sought his help (8:16). Matthew hardly expects us to suppose that Jesus has lost any of his power (28:18) or compassion since the resurrection. Unfortunately, many of us Western Christians today feel more at home with the Enlightenment rationalism in which we were trained than we do with the desperate faith of Christians who dare to believe God for miracles. Those in desperate need cannot afford to rationalize away God’s power and compassion. Matthew 8:1-17

Jesus does insist on honoring parents (Mt 15:4–6), yet he demands a greater affection toward himself. Jesus scandalously claims the supreme position of attention in his followers’ lives. If we devote ourselves to anyone or anything more than to him, our claim to be his followers becomes hollow, no matter how many “disciples” around us live the same way. Matthew 8:18-22

Just as Jesus demands that we express our love for God by trusting him for material provision (Mt 6:25–34), he demands that we trust him for safety. Our heavenly Father may not always protect us from earthly ills, but he will do with our lives what is best for us (10:29–31). Matthew 8:23-27

Chapter 9 continues the narrative about Jesus' miracles with an emphasis on his authority over sickness and death, and his ability to bring the outcast, the unclean and the gentile into the presence of God through forgiveness and cleansing. Jesus' ability to heal paralysis, bleeding, blindness and even death is evidence for his ability to overcome evil, sin and separation from God. This was something new which the religious establishment was not willing to accept. The one that the scriptures spoke about, who would take on the pain of the curse and defeat it, was there and it was time to embrace Him and leave behind unbiblical tradition and that which was no longer relevant. The king was there and true disciples would listen to and obey Him.

Although physical healing is secondary to forgiveness, such healing is often crucial not only for compassionately meeting some of our most pressing human needs (9:36) and empowering us for greater service to the Lord (20:34) but also for drawing attention to Jesus’ power to do other works. People who reason today that Jesus can heal either physically or spiritually but not both are like the radical critics who debate whether Jesus was a wisdom teacher or a prophet, a messiah or a healer. The question is forced-choice logic; why can he not be both, as the text teaches us? Matthew 9:1-8

Jesus came to call sinners—to invite them to God’s final banquet (Mt 22:3, 14), a foretaste of which the present table fellowship with them may have represented...That Jesus’ opponents agreed with his principle in theory yet invited his reprimand should force us who acknowledge his doctrine to survey our practice as well...some apparently worshipful and Bible-centered churches do not welcome such persons—suggesting that ultimately Jesus who ate with sinners might not truly be welcome there either. Matthew, 9:9-13

It is too easy, even for Christians, to use charlatans as an excuse to ignore the real workings of God. One can understand the sentiments of religious people in Jesus’ day; after all, they may have reasoned, if God were still doing miracles like those he had done through Elijah and Elisha, surely he would have been doing it through them. They, after all, were sure that they were the ones with correct doctrine. When we become so sure of our theological system that we cannot listen to anyone else no matter how cogent their evidence, we may risk repeating the kind of mistake many of Jesus’ contemporaries made. Matthew 9:27-38

Now, in chapter 10 Jesus sends out the 12 disciples, as His agents, to announce the coming of the kingdom to the nation of Israel. Keener emphasizes that both Matthew and Mark tailor their presentation of Jesus' instructions to their own audience showing that these instructions apply to our situation as we announce the kingdom today. First, Jesus calls his agents to live simply, trust God to supply their needs and devote their resources to kingdom work. They should expect opposition and persecution even from those closest to them, that could be lethal, but they should fear God alone and be willing to give their lives for the kingdom. Jesus assures the disciples that the rewards for this commitment and sacrifice are eternal and worth it. There is even great reward for those Christians who provide support and resources for those who are on the front lines of the kingdom. We, as a church, need to take these instructions more seriously and get out of our comfortable church buildings and take Jesus' kingdom actions and message out to those who need it. The effectiveness of a church should be evaluated by how they serve the needy of their own community and by how much of their resources go into sending missionaries out to make disciples of all nations.   

Both Jesus’ proclamation and practical acts of compassion go beyond what many Christians call ministry today. Our communities are ravaged by demonic forces, violence, injustice and all kinds of human pain, while the church often remains irrelevant except to the few who venture through our doors. To follow Jesus’ model of ministry, more Christians must stop simply going to church and learn rather to become the church among our communities in evangelism and ministry to social needs. Matthew, 10:1-4

The message of this text summons us to radically value our mission above all possessions and to live as simply as necessary to devote our resources to evangelism. Those who strive to “witness” to their neighbors by demonstrating that Christ can “bless” them with abundant possessions may unwittingly witness for a false gospel...Non-Christians often have the spiritual sense to recognize what much of the church ignores: tacking Jesus’ name onto worldly values does not sanctify those values, it just profanes Jesus’ name. Matthew 10:5-15

As people treat God’s prophet, so they treat the God who sent the prophet (1 Sam 8:7). Matthew repeatedly emphasizes that disciples as Jesus’ agents are his righteous ones and prophets, even greater than the prophets of old...Receiving Jesus’ representatives with a cup of cold water probably refers to accepting into one’s home missionaries who have abandoned their own homes and security to bring Christ’s message. Matthew 10:40-42

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