Daniel 12:1b-2 “The Blessing of Knowing”

Here’s my fairly literal translation of these verses:

…and in that time your people will be delivered, the all of a one being found written in the book. ²And many from ones sleeping of ground of dust will awake, some to lives of ages and some to reproaches, to abhorrences of ages.

There are some other thoughts I’d like to record before I move on from this passage. As I’ve read and listened over the years, people routinely make observations like that the idea of resurrection is mainly a New Testament concept. They will make statements such as, “In the Old Testament, there is not much written about resurrection,” and some will even go so far as to claim people really didn’t have much of a concept of an after-life. This particular passage, of course, draws out those objections and such people note this is, in the Bible, the first mention of the phrase, “eternal life.”

While it is true the words “eternal life” and even “resurrection” are much more common in the New Testament than the Old, there are a number of objections I’d like to raise to assert that, for us believers, nothing has changed.

First of all, we should all be reminded that, before Jesus came, far, far more was said than what got written down for us in the Scriptures. Isaiah, for example, is for us a huge book of 66 chapters. In spite of its size, does anyone really believe that’s all he ever said? Isaiah was a prophet. That was his life. I would suggest any thinking believer would have no trouble acknowledging that MUCH was said and taught, and perhaps even written, from Adam to the birth of Christ, and, by default, obviously most of it never got recorded as Scripture.

The Bible itself tells us, “These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the fulfillment of the ages has come” (I Cor. 10:13). Notice, “they were written down for us.” The Lord was very deliberate about what got written down to stand as an eternal record, especially (in my opinion) knowing eventually those Scriptures would leave that little patch of earth called Israel and be carried literally to “the ends of the earth.” The Jews have even their “traditions” which they’ve carried forward throughout their history. Us Gentiles would basically know nothing at all except that the Lord made sure a record got written down of the truths He knew we would need.

My point in all of this is that I think it foolish to read the Old Testament, and then act like what’s written down is all that was ever said, all that the prophets taught. I would suggest rather, we should realize that what we have recorded is a tiny fraction of all that was said and taught.

One example that jumps off the page for me is Job 19:25-27. The book of Job is one of the oldest books of the Bible, possibly written down as early as 2,000 BC, some 500 years before Moses was even born. In the passage, Job says, “I know that my Redeemer lives, and that He shall stand in the latter days upon the earth. And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh shall I see God; I myself will see Him with my own eyes – I and not another. How my heart yearns within me!”

How did Job know all of this? He knew he was waiting for the Redeemer! He knew the Redeemer would stand on this earth far into earth’s future. He believed in a literal, physical resurrection and was “yearning” for that day. His book opens with the Lord saying of him, “This man was blameless and upright; he feared God and shunned evil” (1:1). How did he even know how to be “blameless and upright”? Without Scriptures, how did he know of God at all and know Him well enough to “fear” Him? With essentially no Scriptures to read, obviously Job was taught by someone who was gifted to speak for the Lord.

Then, how many times does the Old Testament itself say of someone who died, “and he was gathered to his people”? David (1,000 BC) finished the 23^rd Psalm with the words, “And I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.” Saul went to the witch of Endor to ask her to raise Samuel. What made him think Samuel was somewhere and could be raised? Once again, my point is, for any thinking believer reading their Old Testament, it is obvious they knew and understood far, far more that can be attributed directly to what had been written down. For us, we have a completed Scripture with which we can be content, but they lived in a day when much of what was known was provided directly to them by their prophets and teachers…and not necessarily written down.

So, to say people in the Old Testament didn’t know much or think much about resurrection or eternity is just folly. Obviously, they did. There is one reason I would suggest why perhaps there is less mention of those things in the Old Testament than the New. That is the ministry of the Holy Spirit. Jesus said of the Spirit, “You know Him, for He lives with you and shall be in you” (John 14:17). In the Old Testament, the Spirit would “come upon” people, whereas in the New He actually dwells in us. Because of His ministry, it would make sense to me if faith back then was more “here and now,” but today can definitely have a more spiritual or eternal bent. That could explain why there is so much more emphasis on resurrection and eternity in the New Testament as compared to the Old. Today in the Church Age, we have the Holy Spirit dwelling in us, helping us think more about eternity while still living for God in the “here and now.” That makes sense to me anyway.

The bottom line, though, for us believers is that resurrection and eternal life are and always have been important. When the angel tells Daniel, “Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake, some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt,” he isn’t telling him something he never thought of before. Ever since the Garden of Eden, believers have been people of hope. As Adam and Eve stood there in their shame, it was our Lord who told them of “the Seed of the Woman” who would come and “crush the serpent’s head.”

Ecclesiastes 3:11 tells us, “He has set eternity in the hearts of men.” I rather suspect even the most determined atheist knows in his heart that death is not the end, that somehow he will live forever. What a blessing it is for us believers to say with Job, “For I know that my Redeemer lives…” What a blessing it is to know with Daniel that all people everywhere will one day be raised. What a blessing it is to know with the believers from all the ages that, because of that Redeemer, we can know our names are “written in His book.” We know that someday we will rise to live eternal life!

Daniel 12:1b-2 “Destinies”

Here’s my fairly literal translation of these verses:

…and in that time your people will be delivered, the all of a one being found written in the book. ²And many from ones sleeping of ground of dust will awake, some to lives of ages and some to reproaches, to abhorrences of ages.

The NIV translates this as: “…at that time your people – everyone whose name is found written in the book – will be delivered. Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake, some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt.”

As I’ve read this passage over and over, it strikes me how these few simple words ought to be literally bone-chilling to every thinking human being. Only a fool refuses to think about the fact that he will someday die. However, it is even greater folly to not seriously ask the question, “And what then?” You would think the entire human race would be consumed with investigating this very simple question, “What then?”

Of course, someone might say, “The whole world thinks about it – that’s why there are so many ‘religions.’” My answer to that would be, “Yes, but do they really think about it?” How many really make any effort to truly investigate, to think it through, to ask questions, to honestly try to come to a personal conclusion?” I’d ask, “Who would ever get on a plane without knowing where it’s going?” Yet, the vast majority of us humans seem to slip into eternity never having seriously considered, “Where am I going?”

Remember here, these are actually the words of an angel. Daniel wrote them down, but this is an angel speaking to him, the same angel that has been speaking since the beginning of chapter 10, For whatever it’s worth, they’re both standing there by the Tigris River, with Jesus standing above them, one foot on each bank. As Jesus stands there over them, He knows He will someday tell His disciples, “Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by My Father; take your inheritance’…Then He will say to those on His left, ‘Depart from Me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels’…Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life” (Matt. 25:34-46).

As a believer, Job said, “For I know that my Redeemer lives and that He shall stand in the latter day upon the earth, and, after my skin has been destroyed, yet will I see Him with my own eyes, I and not another. How my heart yearns within me!” Yet, Isaiah recorded the Lord’s warning to everyone else, “And they [the believers] will go out and look upon the dead bodies of those who rebelled against Me; their worm will not die, nor will their fire be quenched, and they will be loathsome to all mankind” (66:24).

The Bible makes it abundantly clear from cover to cover that we all have but one of two destinies: heaven or hell, eternal life or eternal death. Once again, let us all stop and ponder these are the words of an angel before us. We may not be able to see what lies beyond this world – but he does! I would say to any thinking human being, “If you want to believe anything else, what will it be? And what assurance do you have that what you choose to believe is true?”

Jesus said it very clearly, “He who believes in Me has everlasting life” (John 6:47), and “I tell you the truth, whoever hears My word and believes Him who sent Me has everlasting life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life” (John 5:24). God knows that you and I are born to die, born “dead in our trespasses and sins” (Eph. 2:1). We humans may delude ourselves and refuse to acknowledge our eternity, but the Lord is very aware of our peril. And what does He do? He takes upon Himself the form of a man, comes to earth, and goes to a Cross – dies our death – so we don’t have to!!! And why does He do that? Love. Pure, unadulterated, infinite, undying love. Jesus is love.

What other “religion” offers such a simple, straightforward understanding of our eternity? And what other “religion” offers a solution won at infinite cost by its God Himself – a solution of such amazing love?

If only all of us humans realized the peril we’re in, this verse in Daniel would (should) chill us to our bones! It is harrowing in its brevity and its simplicity. Only two paths – blunder on into an eternal hell, or turn our hearts to Jesus and live in heaven forever. As I personally think about it all, it makes me shudder. I’m confident now of my destiny, that my name is “written in His book,” but I am also keenly aware I had nothing to do with it. It was God Himself that day who suddenly turned on the lights in my heart and it is only because of Jesus that I can spend eternity in His heaven. I’m reminded of an old song I heard years ago and have never forgotten. It is so simple, so beautiful, and it so precisely expresses the heart of us who love our Savior Jesus:

My Plea

Words and Music by J. L. Baker, c. 20th Century

Should I at the gates of heaven appear

To answer the challenge “What claim hast thou here?

What hast thou to offer, yea, what is thy plea?”

With blessed assurance my answer would be:

“All that I have is Jesus! All that I claim is Jesus!

All that I want, all that I need, all that I plead is Jesus!”

 

Of all earthly treasures nothing I’ve brought,

No great deeds of merit have I ever wrought.

Tho’ vile and unworthy as mortal could be,

I’ve nothing to offer but this is my plea:

“All that I have is Jesus! All that I claim is Jesus!

All that I want, all that I need, all that I plead is Jesus!”

 

My sins, they are many; my virtues are few.

The blood of my Saviour will carry me through!

When Christ in my place died on Calvary’s tree,

Hallelujah! That opened God’s heaven to me!

“All that I have is Jesus! All that I claim is Jesus!

All that I want, all that I need, all that I plead is Jesus!”

 

Matthew 6:9–15 “Sailing”

 Here’s my fairly literal translation of these verses:

⁹Therefore, you (pl.), pray thus: Our Father who [is] in the heavens, may Your name be hallowed. ¹⁰Your kingdom come; Your desire be done on earth as also in heaven. ¹¹Give to us today our daily bread, ¹²and forgive to us our debts as we also forgive our debtors, ¹³and do not bring us into testing, but rescue us from the evil [one], because Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory into the ages. Amen. ¹⁴For, if you forgive the men their sins, your heavenly Father will also forgive you yours, ¹⁵but, if you do not forgive men their sins, neither will your Father forgive your sins. 

This has been, for me, another life-changing study. As I always seem to do, when I embarked on the study, in my heart of hearts, I was afraid I wouldn’t learn anything. I’ve known the Lord’s Prayer basically my entire life. A cursory glance at it sees nothing out of the ordinary and all very familiar. However, as always with the Bible, when I just stop and seriously consider any given passage, I find it true it is “alive and powerful!” It is alive and life-giving. As Jesus said, “When you know the truth, the truth shall make you free!”

If I could sum up what I’ve learned in just a few words, I would say I’m struck (floored, blown away) by seeing that the Lord’s Prayer sails on a sea of love. If we include the thoughts from vv. 14,15, Jesus both begins and ends with “Our Father…” As I noted earlier, it would seem our naturally legalistic hearts read it and pray it as if it started with “Your Honor…,” as if every line lays on us some obligation to fulfill, concluding with threats that He might withhold forgiveness from us.

It certainly can be read that way, and, if people would pray it that way, it is better than nothing if it moves them at all toward holiness. However, it does not begin and end with “Your Honor.” It begins and ends with “Our Father.” The very name, Father, calls us not to a court, but up into His big, loving lap. This entire prayer should be read and repeated sitting in that lap. It is a prayer of dearly loved children snuggling with their Father and pouring out their hearts to Him. It is ALL about love. It is ALL about a relationship of love. It sails on a sea of love.

I should inject here that I have my pastor to thank for my realization of all of this. As he has been preaching through this prayer, from the very beginning, what he said lit up my heart and opened my eyes to see it was no accident Jesus instructs us to address our prayers to “Our Father.”

Sail with me for a minute: We pray to “Our Father” and add “which art in Heaven.” Once again, I grew up with the enviable privilege of having wonderful, loving parents. Many don’t. However, He is not an earthly parent. He is our heavenly Father. He is the perfect parent, the perfect Father. He is perfect in wisdom to know what is best for us every second and perfect in love to always, always, always be doing for us what is for our absolute best. He is perfect in power to protect us and to answer our prayers in accordance with that perfect wisdom and love. And this very title – heavenly Father – reminds us that we children belong there – in His house – not here is this fallen, broken, sin-cursed world.

“Hallowed be Thy name.” Here on earth, my father was always my hero. I remember being a small tike, watching him build things and fix things and sincerely believing in my little heart he could do anything! If anyone had asked, I’d have been happy to tell them that my Dad was the best dad in the whole world! Now I look up to my heavenly Father and pray, “Hallowed by Thy name.” As a believer, I honestly wish the whole world could see how great my heavenly Father is! He can do anything! He is a hero truly worthy of our worship and I can’t help but long for everyone to know Him and praise Him!

“Thy kingdom come.” This obviously concerns His rule. He is the King. “The Most High rules in the nations of men.” Though we are born “children of disobedience,” our believing hearts actually love to hear that He rules. To us, that is not a threat. It is a comfort. That is part of why we pray (often), “Jesus, come!” We want Him to rule this world! We love Him. We know He loves us, and truly one of our greatest griefs is that we too often find ourselves struggling to accept His rule in the topsy-turvy, minute-by-minute struggles of our days. We not only love Him, we pray He’d help us love Him more, resist Him less.

“Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” This is, of course, an extension of “Thy kingdom come.” In a world that spits in His face and fights Him in every possible way, we His beloved children realize His way is best and long for a world where we all, like the good angels, just naturally live 100% in happy accordance with that will. I see it clearly enough in my own heart and life – when I get selfish and distrustful of Him, it brings only regret and heartache. When I let Him rule and sincerely try to do His will, the fruit really is love and joy and peace. Oh, that the whole world could know His kindness and the sweetness of living in His will! Our Father really does know best!

“Give us this day our daily bread. This, again, floors me, to realize Jesus goes here before even dealing with our need of forgiveness. “Amazing love – how can it be?” “As a father has compassion on his children, even so the Lord has compassion on those who fear Him, for He knows our frame, that we are but dust” (Ps. 103:13,14). He is not a harsh, stern father. He knows we are frail, that we get hungry and tired. I remember reading once of a swimming coach who would constantly be stopping his fellows to check their heart rates. He wanted to push them, to make them the best they could be, but he didn’t want to push them “too hard.” He could tell from their heart rates when any one of them had had enough and needed to call it a day. Our Coach, our Father, knows our “heart rates,” and deals with us, His children, in compassion. The love in all of that just floors me.

“And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.” As we observed earlier, this prayer needs to be read sitting in our Father’s lap. We’re not talking to “Your Honor.” We’re talking to our Father. It grieves me to know that I can sit in His lap and still sin in His face! Even as I pray, I can fondle sinful thoughts that He says are to Him an abomination! “An abomination!” That would be like looking down at your two year old in your lap and realizing he’s holding what must be some month-old road-killed rotting skunk carcass! That’s what our sins are like to our Father. Realizing how much it hurts Him, I want to ask His forgiveness. I want to tell Him I’m sorry, that I don’t want to grieve Him and disappoint Him. I love Him – and I know He loves me. In fact, when it comes to faults and sins and “debts,” I live in such a glow of grace, I want to forgive people who sin against me. What they do to me is nothing in comparison to what I do to my Father. Yet, He forgives me. As I think on that, I want to forgive them.

“And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.” Once again, that word “temptation” is not necessarily a negative word. It can mean simply the idea of “testing.” Our Father does not tempt us, but He does test us. Jesus instructed His disciples, “Pray that you enter not into temptation, for the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” As He faced the worst trial any human being will ever experience – the Cross – He Himself prayed, “If it be possible, let this cup pass from Me.” Jabez was “more honorable than his brothers,” and he prayed, “Keep me trouble, that it might not pain me,” and the Bible says, “The Lord granted his request.”

The plain, simple fact is it’s true. My spirit is willing, but my flesh is weak. My sinful heart can take any “testing” from the Lord and turn it into temptation – and when that happens, I’m afraid my track record is not good. There is, in every difficult situation, a really good chance I will fail. It is an expression of our loving Father’s compassion that He allows us to ask, “Let this cup pass from me.”

In Jesus’s case, it was the suffering itself He wished He could somehow avoid. For us, we too certainly don’t like pain, but we are also keenly aware we simply don’t do well in trouble. I don’t want to suffer and I don’t want to fail. I don’t like pain, but when it hits me (no matter what it is), I don’t want to be biting other people’s heads off or lying to somehow escape it. I don’t want to get fearful and doubt my Father. I am quite skillful at devising sinful “escape routes.” Just like Jesus, the Father is okay with me seeing it all and asking “Deliver us from evil!”

“For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory, forever and ever!” Having poured out our hearts to a Father who loves us and has compassion on our frail existence, I’m back to that old feeling of proper pride in my father. “He can do anything!” My Father is the BEST father in the whole world!” Once again, it is all about love – His love for me and mine for Him. Even this final doxology is sailing on a sea of love!

“For if you forgive men when they sin against you…” Jesus adds this thought, no doubt to emphasize one of our most likely failures – our refusal to forgive others, how prone we are to carry grudges, to let resentment fester in our hearts. When our Father has poured out so much love and compassion into our lives, we need to be reminded to share that with others. He is a God of grace to us and we should be becoming gracious people to others. As Jesus said, “By this shall all men know that you are My disciples, if you love one another.”

This Lord’s Prayer allows you and me to sail in this sea of God’s love. May we receive the blessing from His big heart and love Him in return. Then may His grace flowing through us invite others to come sail with us!

 

Matthew 6:9–15 “Rising Above”

Here’s my fairly literal translation of these verses:

⁹Therefore, you (pl.), pray thus: Our Father who [is] in the heavens, may Your name be hallowed. ¹⁰Your kingdom come; Your desire be done on earth as also in heaven. ¹¹Give to us today our daily bread, ¹²and forgive to us our debts as we also forgive our debtors, ¹³and do not bring us into testing, but rescue us from the evil [one], because Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory into the ages. Amen. ¹⁴For, if you forgive the men their sins, your heavenly Father will also forgive you yours, ¹⁵but, if you do not forgive men their sins, neither will your Father forgive your sins. 

Before I leave this study and go back to finish the book of Daniel, there are a couple more thoughts I’d like to record. Back to v.11, “Give us this day our daily bread” -- this one still completely floors me. This simple little verse exemplifies exactly why I study the Bible. The Lord says, “My thoughts are not your thoughts…” Paul warned us, “See that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition…rather than on Christ” (Col. 2:8). In my redeemed heart, I want to think God’s thoughts. I want to see this world through His eyes. However, I’m deeply disappointed to find almost constantly that I (and the modern church with me) are literally shot through with human traditions, doing exactly what Paul warned us not to do.

This verse is case in point. I think any of us would leave the praises of vv. 9,10 and go then straight to v.12, “Forgive us our debts…” We would all insist that first and foremost we should deal with our sins and our spiritual issues – certainly not to our “mere” physical needs! However, notice, that is not Jesus’s order. He goes straight from praise to our physical needs. If we’re paying close attention that seems out of order to us! I believe this seemingly simple little conundrum exposes what is in fact an underlying Gnosticism that infects our minds today. Sometimes it’s called “asceticism,” sometimes “dualism.” To see what I’m getting at, consider this quote:

“A philosophy that emphasizes spiritual matters while disregarding or devaluing the physical is most commonly known as "spiritual dualism" or simply "dualism," particularly as found in Platonic or Gnostic traditions. In these worldviews, the immaterial or spiritual realm is seen as more real or valuable than the physical, sometimes leading to neglect or negative views of the body and material existence. This approach has also historically manifested itself as "asceticism," where individuals practice severe self-discipline and abstention from bodily pleasures for spiritual purposes. Other related terms include "Platonism" (from Plato's philosophy) and "Gnosticism," especially when there is an outright belief that matter is evil or to be transcended.​ These philosophical tendencies are often critiqued for leading to an imbalanced view of human life, neglecting the interconnectedness and worth of both the physical and spiritual aspects of existence.”

I hope you see what I mean. Is that not exactly what our modern thinking would have you believe? Spiritual is important, but physical is always sort of a necessary evil that just gets “in the way” of what really matters. I once heard a pastor tell his poor congregation, “Your job is just the way you make money. The ministries of this church are what really matters.” How do you balance that with Titus 2:9,10, that says the way you work actually “adorns the doctrine of God our Savior,” or Col. 3:23 where we are instructed, “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord…” From the very beginning, the Lord put Adam in the Garden “to work it and to till it.” What is, in reality, man’s “Great Commission” is “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it…” (Gen. 1:28).

I maintain that the very order of the Lord’s Prayer ought to call us out of this unbiblical Gnosticism. Instead of disdaining the physical, the Bible tells us our Lord “knows our frame, that we are but dust.” Most of the Bible from cover to cover is people living their lives in this very real world, spending most of their time simply working. Practically every one of Jesus’s parables is provided in the setting of people’s simple everyday lives – sowing seed, searching for lost coins, dealing with prodigal children, etc. When Jesus commands us to “love God and love people,” He isn’t thinking we all need to jump on a plane and go somewhere halfway around the world to do “spiritual good.” There may be a time for that, but, for most of us, living this command to love begins right in our homes with our wives and children, with the people we work with all day every day, with our next-door neighbors. A HUGE part of that love ought to be happening right in our simple mundane workaday lives. And why don’t we see that? I’m suggesting it is because we’re infected with Gnosticism, this disdain for all things physical.

Jesus isn’t. Being our Creator, He is more than aware that we are physical beings. Without our bodies, we cannot even participate in this world. He goes so far as to tell us our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit. Good, solid Reformed theology teaches us to respect our bodies, to respect our work, our families, and our daily lives. Just like Jesus, it would teach us a Biblical philosophy of this physical/spiritual balance we are all called to live in.

Bread. Simple bread. Jesus would have us ask for that, even before we deal with issues of forgiveness! At absolute minimum, that ought to give us reason to pause and challenge our view of life. Am I really seeing life through God’s eyes, or is my mind infected with this incipient Gnosticism, this unbiblical disdain for the physical?

Early in my Christian life, I had to deal with this. I’ve been a runner since I was 15 years old. Suddenly I found myself a 20-something year old with a wife and children with a full-time job and very involved in my church. It seemed like I didn’t have time to run anymore, and I struggled with whether I even should. Then I realized, if I’m going to take care of my family, go to work every day, be active in church ministries, etc., I can do those things best if I’m healthy.

At that time, I probably couldn’t even pronounce “Gnosticism” or “asceticism,” but I think the Lord just kindly gave me the sense that, although I seemed to naturally think otherwise, the exercise was important. I’m glad I did stick to it. Now I’m almost 69 years old, still running, still not overweight, and still not on blood pressure medication. Over the years the Lord has put me in situations which were very physically demanding, yet I was able to rise to the occasions, whether they were church ministries or simply caring for my family. Running with other people, including my own children, has given me great opportunities to enjoy relationships. Visiting Dad in New Hampshire, with me in my 40’s, the kids said, “Hey, Dad! Let’s climb a mountain!” I was able to confidently say, “Sure! Let’s do it!” and we did. I am frequently able to converse with both guys and gals, both young and old, just because we’re all runners.

This incipient Gnosticism, this disdain for all things physical, would have left me just another couch potato and unable to enjoy any of those blessings. As we see here in the Lord’s Prayer, He knows you and I cannot serve Him without a body. Even Jesus Himself is saying to do your best to be healthy (“Give us this day our daily bread”), before we dive into the spiritual matters of our lives (“Forgive us our debts…). I personally do not believe it’s an “either/or” matter, it is a “both/and.” We need to do our best to be healthy both physically and spiritually. What I’m suggesting then is, while we all naturally would agree that spiritual issues are very important, we need to step back and make sure we aren’t then disdaining the physical. Jesus wants us to do both.

Lord, help us all. Help us see our lives through Your eyes. Help us order our lives according to Your priorities. Help us to give “the more earnest heed” to what our Bibles teach and deliver us from Bible-ignorant and damaging traditions. Help us to rise above it all and to see past those “human traditions,” to build our lives “on Christ!”  

Matthew 6:14,15 “A Challenge”

Here’s my fairly literal translation of these verses:

¹⁴For, if you forgive the men their sins, your heavenly Father will also forgive you yours, ¹⁵but, if you do not forgive men their sins, neither will your Father forgive your sins.

Hmmmm. What I want to say is different than anything I find in myriads of commentaries. That is scary to me, remembering John Eadie’s words, “Interpretations are generally false in proportion to their ingenuity.” When no one else seems to see what I think I see, it is certainly cause to hesitate and pray. However, having done so, I still can only build my life and my faith on what it seems to me the Lord has clearly shown me.

Here's where I must begin. The Bible is very clear that “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom” (Prov. 9:10). Certainly, if us humans obey God for no other reason than fear, we’re better off than not obeying Him at all. I fear that for most of the human race, that is the best they’ll ever do, the best we can hope for. It’s what Napoleon called every man’s “personal sheriff” – I do right simply because I fear to do wrong.

However, while the fear of the Lord may be the beginning of wisdom, it is not the end. And what is the end? “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God will all thine heart and with all thy soul and with all thy mind and with all thy strength and thy neighbor as thyself.” The end of wisdom is love – love to God and love to our fellow humans. Such a person will also do right, but not just out of fear, rather out of love. How can I sit warmly in my Father’s lap and sin in His face? As Paul often says, “Mai genoito! – May it never be!”

The person who obeys only out of fear sees the Lord as their Judge. For them, the whole Lord’s prayer should be addressed to “Our Judge who is in heaven…” or begin their prayers with “Your Honor…” As I said above, if we obey God for no other reason, it’s certainly infinitely better than not obeying Him at all, and, for us believers, there will always be times when that is true – especially when confronted with our most vulnerable temptations.

However, it is far better to keep the fear “in our back pocket,” so to speak, and move on to a real love relationship with this God whom Jesus teaches us to call “Our Father.” For us believers, I suppose part of our lives is this process of moving from that legal relationship with God deeper and deeper into the love relationship He truly desires. As I’ve related before, I have the wonderful privilege to have had very loving parents and have always felt I had no problem understanding this love relationship with my heavenly Father. Yet, just in this study of mine through the Lord’s prayer, and listening to my pastor (actually He’s doing a sermon series on the Prayer and I’m just following along), I feel like I’ve made a quantum leap forward in my understanding.

It really makes sense to me, even way more than ever before, why the Lord’s prayer is addressed from the very beginning to “Our Father, which art in heaven…” You see, even in this simple prayer, Jesus is calling us into that love relationship.

Now, read Matthew 6:14,15 again. I hope you already see what I see. While this passage appears very threatening, the forgiveness in view is not coming from your Judge, but rather from “your Father.” What is the difference? Relationship. Love. It is one thing to break the law and be arrested. It is entirely something different to disappoint my Father! If you want to read the passage standing before your Judge, go ahead. It’s better than sinning. If you read it that way, His withholding of forgiveness is a punishment. And it is certainly true, “Our God is a consuming fire.”

However, how much better to read it sitting in our Father’s lap, looking into His loving eyes? His withholding of forgiveness is not a punishment, it is a correction. Punishment is only about justice. Correction is what truly loving parents give their children. Lost people see no difference between a beating and a Biblical spanking. They apparently can’t see that a loving parent would rather sting a child’s bottom temporarily than let them grow up with bad habits that will wreck their lives. I wonder how many people there are in this country’s prisons who would not be there if only their parents had loved them enough to give them a good spanking when they needed it. The sting from the spanking would have been gone in a few minutes. How much better that than spending years rotting in a prison or overcoming addictions?

No. You don’t have to read this passage sitting in a docket. You can read it sitting in your Father’s lap. This doesn’t have to be about punishment. It’s about correction. We would all agree it is a very bad thing to be a believer and refuse to forgive those who wrong us. What does Eph. 4:32 admonish us? “Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God, for Christ’s sake, has forgiven you.” “Just as God has forgiven you.” How can we lounge in sunshine of grace, then refuse to extend it to others?

So there it is. If you’ve stumbled across my feeble scratchings, you can decide for yourself whether what I’m writing is a correct understanding of this passage. However, I am convinced it is true and would urge you to seriously consider your own relationship with God. Is He really just your Judge and you the guilty criminal, or have you moved on into a love relationship with your heavenly Father, to sit in His lap, to see that He only means to help you grow and to become the godly person you were meant to be – a Jesus-people – a person who deeply values their relationship with their Father and so, in turn, values relationships with people – someone who accepts your Father’s grace and so, in turn, can’t help but want to extend that grace to everyone around you?

This passage not only calls us to consider our forgiveness of others – it would even challenge us to seriously consider our relationship with God. How we read the passage my tell us a lot!

Matthew 6:13b “Doxology 2”

Here’s my fairly literal translation of these verses:

^13bbecause Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory into the ages. Amen.

As I said in my last post, this final line of the Lord’s prayer is of interest to study for two reasons. The first is the question of its authenticity, of which I am convinced is the case.  The second reason for study, as I stated there, is simply our insatiable desire to mine the treasures of God’s Word. That is the drive behind today’s post.

“For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever and ever. Amen.” At first pass, this may seem all very obvious and straightforward, but, with the Bible, it is always of great value to just stop and let ourselves nurse on its truth.

"Thine is the kingdom." It helps a LOT to stop every once in a while and remind ourselves this is God’s kingdom. Ever since the Garden, Satan has been “the prince of the power of the air,” however, let us never forget he is an usurper. He has no right to the throne of this world, and, as powerful as he may be, yet he cannot do anything unless the Lord allows. Our God is the King. And when He is ready, Daniel tells us exactly what will go on: “In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into His presence. He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all nations and peoples of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and His kingdom is one that will never be destroyed” (7:13,14).

Jesus is the rightful King of this earth, and as we all love to remember, the day will come when “every knee will bow, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Phil. 2:10,11). As Peter reminds us, “In your hearts, always set apart Jesus as Lord…” (I Peter 3:14). That comes right after he told us not to “fear what they fear.” And as Daniel told us again and again, “The Most High rules in the nations of men.”

Even as we finish our prayers, you and I have the wonderful blessing of knowing we are subjects of the true Kingdom, that our God is the true King, and that no matter how things may look today, He absolutely rules over it all. We can say it and mean it, “For Thine is the kingdom.”

“And the power.” Daniel said, “Wisdom and power are His” (2:20). Power. The ability to get things done and make things happen. That is precisely my problem – “I ain’t got it!” When we were young, we thought we had the world by the tail. We were quite sure we had what it takes “to succeed.” If we were honest, it shouldn’t have taken long before we began to realize that was a pipe-dream. I have virtually no control over anything that happens. I can’t keep people from dying. I can’t even keep them from getting sick. I may be quite sure I know how to solve a problem at work, but I cannot make the bosses agree to it. I can’t make the other people involved do their part. And, fact is, even if it all lines up, my idea may simply not work.

Our Lord doesn’t have that problem. “The Most High rules.” “Wisdom and power are His.” When we come to Him in prayer, may we all be reminded, we are speaking to the only One who actually has power. Pilate asked Jesus, “Don’t you know I have the power to give you life or death?” Jesus replied, “You would have no power over Me at all, if it were not granted to you from above.” You and I are surrounded by people and forces which seem to bear great power over us. We seem to have no power at all. But our God reigns!

The problem for us is, as Daniel said, “Wisdom and power are His.” He not only has power, He also has wisdom. Once again, “I ain’t got it.” The real truth is, I don’t know what needs to happen. I don’t know what is the best plan or the best solution. If I had the power, I’d make a mess of everything in a hurry! However, our God doesn’t have that problem either. His wisdom is infinite! He knows everything. “Father knows best.” That is the wonderful freedom of prayer for true believers – we come to the Throne of Grace “to find mercy and grace to help in time of need,” and can spill our foolish, hurting, fearful hearts into His big, loving ears, then have the comfort of knowing He will answer in perfect wisdom. And in that perfect wisdom, He knows what really needs to happen and He has absolute power to grant it. What a blessing to end our prayers acknowledging to Him, “Thine is the power!

“…and the glory.” Here it is worth pausing to remember that our God is God! He is not a man. Yes, Jesus took upon Himself “the form of a servant and was found in fashion as a man,” but let us remind ourselves even in that He is God. What does that mean? It means He is not a created thing. He is the Creator. He exists in what we can only call infinity – something utterly beyond our understanding. He had no beginning and will have no end. He does not exist in time or space. He created time and space for us (and the angels) to live in. As far as time, He exists in an eternal “now.” When He even speaks of past, present, and future, He is stooping to speak to us in our language. It means nothing to Him. And as far as space, we all acknowledge that He is Omnipresent – He fills all the universe with all of His being, and yet is totally present everywhere. He’s just as present at the far end of the galaxy as He is right here beside me as I type. He is just as infinitely present beside you as He is me, right at this minute. You have all of His attention, all of His concern. As parents, if we have two children, we can only focus on one at a time. Not so our God – because He is infinite.

Back to our previous praises, He is infinitely powerful. He is infinitely wise, infinitely holy, infinitely just, infinitely loving, infinitely kind…everything He is, He is infinite. He is God and there is no other. There can be no other. Just as the Greek and Roman “gods,” when people make up their “gods,” they are just super-powerful people. Their gods are really just Marvel’s “super-heroes” – very powerful men and women, but still really just people, subject to creation, death, passions, etc. Not so our God. He is God. Although we are made in His image, still, we are not like Him and He is not like us. He is the Creator and we the created.

Because of that, we can understand that He is perfect. He is infinitely everything He should be. That is why He is absolutely faithful to His promises. As the infinite God, He has the wisdom to make perfect promises, the power to keep them, the presence to know exactly what is happening in every second of each of our lives, and the love to guarantee that “All things work together for good to them that love God…”

In prayer, we come to worship this God of glory. Our lives we live to bring Him glory – and so we say, “Thine is the glory, forever and ever!”

We conclude with an “Amen.” That “Amen” is an ancient word. In fact, it is even spoken in heaven! (Rev. 7:11,12). “So, let it be.” “Such it is.” It’s like digging a post hole and dropping in a fence post, then pouring in concrete. As long as the concrete is still wet, the post can be moved all around, but come back tomorrow and what will you find? It's been “Amen-ed!” If you forget it’s there and walk right into it, you’ll understand what an “Amen” is. “So, let it be.”

 “Such it is,” and it is. “Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory, forever and ever. Amen.”

 

“All the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures. They fell down on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying,

‘Amen!

Praise and glory

and wisdom and thanks and honor

and power and strength

be to our God forever and ever.

Amen!’” (Rev. 7:11,12).

Matthew 6:13b “Doxology 1”

Here’s my fairly literal translation of these verses:

^13bbecause Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory into the ages. Amen.

This final line of the Lord’s prayer is of interest to study for two reasons. The first is the question of its authenticity, as any observant Bible student will notice it is left out of many modern Bible translations or at least questioned in their footnotes. The second reason for study is simply our insatiable desire to mine the treasures of God’s Word.

As far as the authenticity, I have my own resolved opinion on the matter. I’ve read the reasons “for and against” as recorded by many different authors. The main focus of debate is usually a matter of what is called “textual criticism.” There are literally thousands of copies of the Bible recorded in a myriad of languages and all down through the ages. Like any other document, when people copy things by hand, they invariably make mistakes and even sometimes deliberately alter the text for one reason or another. This was true not only of the Bible, but every other copied manuscript throughout history. Textual criticism has to be practiced even on Shakespeare’s writings!

Textual criticism is a science of gathering the evidence, analyzing it, then drawing conclusions based on those considerations. I am a graduate Civil Engineer and started working in the field fifty years ago next August (1976-2026). I love science. It is the foundation of everything we do as engineers – to take science, apply it to the issues people face, and, based on that knowledge, to try to do good to our fellow human beings.

All that said, as I turn to my Bible studies, I have, over the years paid very close attention to any issues of textual criticism which I encountered in the passages I’ve translated and studied. One of my conclusions from all of that is to observe that scientists make lousy theologians and theologians make lousy scientists. I would guess that most theologians would cheer my assertion that scientists make lousy theologians. The whole business of evolution is a prime example. Scientists created the theory specifically for the purpose of undermining theology, while in so doing they’ve created a “scientific” theory that is blatantly unscientific. Science can try as it might, but it cannot exclude the God who created and overrules it all.

Again, theologians may, at this point, be cheering all I’m saying. However, they won’t like it when I turn the tables and tell them that they make lousy scientists. Once again, textual criticism is, in itself, purely a science. It is a business of gathering facts, analyzing facts, and drawing conclusions based on those facts. One of the most obvious evidences that theologians make lousy scientists is their use of textual criticism itself. As you read through a study Bible, you’ll see many footnotes calling attention to places where there are, in fact, different wordings found in the ancient manuscripts. Those notes often say something like “the best and most reliable manuscripts do not include…”

“Best and most reliable.” I could lay out two dusty old manuscripts of any writing and ask you, “Which of these is ‘best’ and ‘most reliable’?” I hope you would look at them and say to me, “That is a ridiculous question. They are two old pieces of paper with ink on them. ‘Best’ and ‘most reliable’ are completely subjective terms. That is not science.” And you would be correct. This is just one of the many places where theologians have resorted to practicing science and in so doing, ended up making statements which are blatantly unscientific. Theologians make lousy scientists. Any good scientist will tell you that subjective evidence is no evidence at all.

I guess here is my rub on the whole matter: The Bible isn’t just another collection of old manuscripts to stretch out on a table and dissect like some formaldehyde-soaked frog. The Bible is God’s Word. It says itself it is “alive and powerful.” It says itself it is “God-breathed.” Peter observed that “prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit,” and that too many “ignorant and unstable” people handle the Scriptures and “distort” them “as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction” (II Peter 1:21 & 3:16).

Unbelievers will never understand this, and in fact they cannot. “The natural man cannot understand the things of God, for they are spiritually discerned” (I Cor. 2:14). When a person comes to God they must come first of all by faith. “And without faith, it is impossible to please God, for he that comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him” (Heb. 11:6).

Part of all this is that, again, us believers understand that the Bible is not just another book. It is the Word of God. Jesus Himself said, “Not one jot or tittle will pass away, until all be fulfilled.” The great God who gave us His Word is quite capable of preserving it for His people. When we read the Bible, we are (or should be) in our minds meeting with the Lord Himself. As someone once said, “To read your Bible is to look into the eyes of God.” Where all this leads is that we believers come to the Bible first of all in faith. Faith is not science. Faith is an intensely personal interaction with our Father. Real faith is a relationship. Relationships aren’t necessarily based on facts. You could show me all the evidence you wanted to prove that my wife is being unfaithful to me and I will tell you, “I’m sorry, but I know her and that isn’t even remotely possible.”

By now, it is probably obvious where I’m headed. Frankly, I don’t care what the evidence of textual criticism seems to say. I’ve been reading my Bible and knowing my Lord for all these years and my heart tells me our traditional reading is correct. My heart tells me the Lord’s Prayer does, in fact, end with exactly these words, “for Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever and ever. Amen.” And frankly that goes for all the other major passages which modern Bibles leave out or tell us, “The best and most reliable manuscripts do not include…”

As I try to study my Bible word for word and even Greek, Hebrew, or Aramaic letter for letter, I do take notice of points where there are “variants,” places where all of the thousands of old Bible copies don’t necessarily agree. I do consider the “evidence” of textual criticism. Sometimes I agree with the popular conclusions, and sometimes I don’t. Sometimes their conclusions are blatantly unscientific (remember, theologians make lousy scientists), but I do try to seriously consider what they present. However, I want to always be first and foremost a man of faith, not science. I want to be a man who studies his Bible looking into the eyes of God. We may be able to dissect Shakespeare’s writings like the formaldehyde- soaked frog, but the Bible is not dead. It is a living book, the words of the living God, spoken to His believing children. People who don’t belong to the family can take out their scalpels and slice the Bible all they want, but they’ll never really understand. They’re reading “someone else’s mail.” They’re more than welcome to join the family, but until they do, they’ll never “get it.”

So, there you go. These are the thoughts of a man who spends all day every day in a career based on science, yet who does it all enjoying the face of the God I cannot see – but know.

If you’re a believer, I hope my thoughts are encouraging to you. Your Bible is absolutely trustworthy and please be assured, those major passages that are supposedly “doubtful” are quite genuine and there for you to enjoy, sitting in your Father’s lap, wrapped in His loving arms. And what can we say but,

“For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever. Amen.”

Matthew 6:13 “An Honorable Prayer”

Here’s my fairly literal translation of these verses:

¹³and do not bring us into testing, but rescue us from the evil [one].

It is quite appropriate, after a serious consideration of our own need of forgiveness and our forgiving others, to turn immediately and plead for rescue! Truly born-again people inwardly mourn over their own sinfulness. We are all too aware of the pain we find struggling against our selfishness, against our horridly deceptive pride, and against our seemingly constant ignorance of even what is right. Sin is a horrible master. Our salvation freed us from it, yet sometimes it feels those old chains are still there, waiting for the smallest opportunity to wrap their icy links around us.

Then there is this whole issue of forgiving others. People may regularly hurt us, disappoint us, betray us, and just generally make our lives miserable. As if that were not bad enough, we then have to confront this whole business of our own sinfulness and our unwillingness to forgive them.

It is all a very painful process in our hearts and lives. No wonder the next line is “Rescue us!” The Apostle Paul came to this exact same place and exclaimed, “Who shall deliver me from this body of death? (Rom. 7:24). And what was his answer? “Thanks be to God, through our Lord Jesus Christ!” Just as we learn here in the Lord’s prayer, the answer to it all is to take it to that Throne of Grace, “that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (Heb.4:16).

And so, for us believers, keenly aware of how painful is this whole business of life in a fallen world, we go to our Lord and beg, “If it be possible, let this cup pass from me.” “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.”

All that said, I definitely want to take the time to think more deeply what this line of the Lord’s prayer is saying. Right off the bat, I have to admit that first line does give us all some trouble. “Lead us not into temptation…” Several thoughts I want to remember. First of all, as James tells us, “When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He tempt anyone; but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed” (1:13,14). That states very clearly what we are all quite sure of – that the Lord has nothing to do with evil or even the temptation to succumb to it.

Interestingly, the Greek verb behind “Lead us” is not actually a strict imperative, as it appears in our English translation. Instead it is what grammarians call a “subjunctive.” We really have no other way to translate it into English, but suffice it to say it is at best a very weak imperative. Also, the word doesn’t really mean “lead.” It might be better translated something like “bring,” but then that doesn’t translate well either. Bottom line is just to note this “lead” is a very weak imperative. Definitely more of a request, like Jesus’ words, “If it be possible…”

Also, the word translated “temptation” is actually a word for testing, with no natural positive or negative connotation. It is the same word for the kind of testing someone might do in a factory’s quality control lab. They bring in one out of so many products and “test” it. If it passes, that batch is assumed good. If not, something needs to be checked or changed.

We are all keenly aware that the Lord allows us to be “tested” in that sense. The problem is, since we are all sinners with wills of our own, every test becomes a temptation. For instance, as we pass through each day, we interact with all kinds of people. The Lord wants us to love each of them. Depending on how they treat us, we may be tempted to respond unkindly. Whether we’ll love each one is a test. It’s our pride and selfishness that tempts us not to.

So, perhaps we could translate this line as “Please don’t bring us into testing.” While that would certainly express the intent of the passage, it leads us to another problem. I’m thinking most of us would probably say to ourselves, “That doesn’t sound like something we should be praying – not to be put through trials or testing.” However, we have a number of very clear instances in the Bible where someone asked to be spared from testing. Above them all, we have those words of Jesus Himself, “If it be possible, let this cup pass from Me” Then we have the Apostle Paul with his “thorn in the flesh,” asking three times for the Lord to take it away (II Cor. 12:7-9). Then we have Jesus telling His disciples, “Watch and pray that you enter not into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak” (Matt. 26:41).

The real clincher for me is the prayer of Jabez. In I Chron. 4:9,10, we’re told, “Jabez was more honorable than his brothers…Jabez cried out to the God of Israel, ‘Oh, that You would bless me and enlarge my territory, and that Your hand would be with me, and that You would keep me from trouble, that I might be free from pain.’ And God granted his request.” Here, even deep in the Old Testament, we have a man praying, in essence, these exact words, “Lead me not into temptation, but deliver me from evil,” and the Lord Himself tells us he was an “honorable” man.

So, yes, this is a perfectly good prayer to pray. “Lord, deliver me from evil – spare me from trouble.” The fact is life in this fallen world is very hard and the Lord knows it. He knows our frame that we are but dust, so He allows us this grace of asking to be spared from trouble. Of course, Jesus added, “Nevertheless, not My will, but Thine be done,” and, when God’s answer to Paul was, “No, I won’t take it away,” he responded, “Most gladly will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me…”  

In a sense this circles back to the beginning of the prayer, acknowledging Him as our Father and praying His will be done. We can ask for almost anything, but always, always, always leaving the answer in His wise and good hands. If I could add one more thought to all of this, while I pray to be spared from testing and trouble, I realize I have a responsibility in it. In Psalm 32:8,9, we read, “Let Me instruct you and teach you in the way you should go. Let Me counsel you and watch over you. Do not be like the horse or the mule, which have no understanding, but must be controlled by bit and bridle, or they will not come to you.”

I take that to mean we have two options in life – we can just blunder on in our Christian life and make the Lord have to clobber us every time He wants to teach us anything, or we can sincerely strive to be teachable – to be often in the Word, listening intently in church, staying close to the Lord in prayer, and allowing Him to teach us without having to first clobber us. I would much rather have Him show me His will right out of the Word, than to have to resort to painful trials just to get my attention. Because I’m a sinner, there will always be things He can only teach me (burn out of me), by putting me through pain, but what I’m saying is, I believe we can minimize it all, just by very deliberately being teachable.

The last thing I want to record about this passage is in the final line, when we pray, “but deliver us from evil.” Some translations render it “but deliver us from the evil one.” Actually in Greek it can be either. Personally, I don’t think it matters. Evil is evil, whether it is Satan seeking to devour me or just my own evil heart, or the evil of this world we live in. We need to be delivered (lit. “rescued”) from it all!

So then let us pray prayers like this, “And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil,” knowing full well what we are asking for, and rising assured we’ve done right and that our wonderful Lord will answer according to His perfect wisdom and kindness.

That is an honorable prayer.