Doubt - an Enemy?

Is doubt the enemy of faith?  I read a quote recently that made me think.

"The beginning of wisdom is found in doubting; 

by doubting we come to the question 

and by seeking 

we may come to the truth."

~ Peter Abelard

Doubting is not the opposite of faith, nor is it sin, if we do not hold onto doubt, if we do not sink into it, if we do not let it take away from what we know to be true. 

Doubt always begins with a question.  "Is that true?"  "How can that be?"   

But questions have a built-in invitation for the inquirer to seek the answer.  While a doubting question can threaten faith, finding the answer always strengthens faith. 

In my experience, I have  found that when people struggle with doubt in their understanding of God, it is often the result of not having all the pieces of the picture. 

 If something - a question -  makes us doubt God's word, or God's character then we need to be diligent in seeking the answer. 

Let me share an example. 

In Numbers 16 we have the story of the rebellion of Korah against Moses and Aaron. 

Korah, was a Levite, a leader in Israel, but he was ambitious and greedy for more. He allowed bitterness and jealousy toward Moses fester in his heart until he could no longer keep it hidden.

Not wanting to stand alone in his rebellion, he organized a revolt against Moses. Rebellion spreads quickly and soon 250 men , all respected leaders of the people, joined with Korah. They came in the unity of their complaint demanding that Moses answer to their charge. He had overstepped his authority, taking too much into his own hand. They declared that they were just as holy, just as qualified as he was and Moses had no right to claim his own exalted position and deny them equal standing before God and the people. 

If you read the story you will see that God's wrath came upon Korah, Dathan and Abiram and the men with them and God declared that He was going to destroy them for their rebellion against Him and the ones God had called. God commanded the Israelites to move away from the tents of these wicked men, least they be consumed with them.  In verse 27 we are told that Korah and Dathan and Abiram came out to stand at the door of their tents with their wives and their sons and their little children. Verses 30-33 describes God's judgment against them - how the earth opened up under them and swallowed them up, with all their goods and everyone with them. 

Doubt questions - "Is this the God we serve?  One who would  destroy the children for the sins of their fathers? Does God punish the innocent for the sins of the guilty? Would God punish me for what my parents did?"  

What do we know about the character of God?
We know God says ,"For I am the Lord, I do not change." ~ Malachi 3:6,  and we know that God is a righteous judge. "He shall judge the world in righteousness, And He shall administer judgment for the peoples in uprightness." ~ Psalm 9:8
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We also know what God commands regarding the sins of the fathers and the sins of the child.
He says in Deut. 30:16, "The father shall not be put to death for their children, nor shall the children be put to death for their fathers, a person shall be put to death for his own sin." 

And again in Ezekiel 18:20 we read ... "The soul who sins shall die. The son shall not bear the guilt of the father, nor the father bear the guilt of the son. The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself."

If God does not change and God is always righteous, then what do we do with this example in Numbers 16, where God seemingly does the opposite of what He declares in Deut. 30? Does God say one thing and 'sometimes' do another?   If He says that He will not punish the children for the sins of the fathers ... then how do we explain this story about Korah in Numbers 16?  Does this mean that we cannot fully trust God to be consistent in what He says and does?

Awwww....  of course not !  God is always the same, God is always true, God is always worthy of our trust and confidence in who He is !!!  

Let me show you the answer .... Turn to Numbers 26:9-11 and see that here is added a clarification, more detail added to the story as we find it in Numbers 16.  

While the men stood at the door of their tents with their wives and sons and little children ... it was only the men that were swallowed up, only the men that were burned - the children did not die. 

Trip Preparations for the Wrong Destination

We recently watched a very interesting documentary about the 1974 archaeological discovery of mass graves from before the time of Christ.   These mass graves were not of human bodies but life-size clay models of Chinese warriors. They were perfectly preserved for over 2000 years, except for the paint. From remaining paint fragments some of the clay statues have been repainted for display in the Museum of the Terracotta Warriors.

The clay warriors were commissioned - or, rather, commanded - by the first Emperor of China, Qin Shi Huang. The workers had to finish all 8,000 before the Emperor's death, which of course they did not know when it would happen.  From the time the order to create them was given to when the Emperor died was ten years, and we have the proof that the project was completed in time. With today's technology it takes one month to make one warrior. Because each warrior had to be uniquely different in form and feature, no molds for mass production could be used.   Each statue bears the name of its creator and there are eighty-seven names.  Each of these master craftsmen would have had their own support team of workers, therefore making it possible to complete the work in time.

At the Emperors' death, his concubines, his officers, his staff and men close to him were given poison to drink giving them the honor of being buried with him so they could continue to serve him in the next life. The Emperor's tomb, - a scale model of his palace-  is huge and elaborate with his coffin surrounded by the coffins of those buried with him.

The Chinese had a strong belief in an eternity that simply continued, after death, the life as it was lived on earth. Therefore, much thought and planning went into what they would need to take with them so they would not be deprived of the comforts and position they enjoyed in their earthly life.  The Emperor's plans began with a 20 square mile underground city that would house all the treasures he would take with him .  This city would be protected by the terracotta army of 8,000 warriors.

As I watched this documentary, I could not help but feel so sad for the people who planned so diligently for a destination they had completely wrong.  We would laugh at someone who planned a trip to Jamaica and packed snow suits, sweaters, boots, scarves and gloves thinking that they would enjoy a skiing vacation. How unprepared they would be when their plane landed and they stepped out into the blazing sun.
We who believe the Bible, know where we are going.  We know that this earthly life is for a very short time and yet how often are we guilty of focusing 99% of our time planning this life and 1% of our time thinking about the next. Someone said, "Imagine all the grains of sand in all the beaches of the world, then pick up one grain of sand and let it represent the time span of your earthly life. Then consider that each of all the other grains of sand represent the same amount of time, but in eternity.  Then ask yourself why we try to cram everything into the one little grain of sand, totally oblivious to how insignificant it is in light of all eternity." 

As believers in the salvation Jesus provided for us, we know our destination. We know that this life is our 'preparation' time, and while we can take nothing with us out of this life - our eternity does depend on what we do with our life here.  All the striving we do to lay up for ourselves the things that make this earthly life comfortable will be left for someone else to enjoy... only the things done with eternity in mind will make a difference. And it is interesting to note that the 'treasure' we store up in heaven cannot be 'stolen' ~Matt. 6:19.We need no terracotta warriors to guard it!

Though we will step over the threshold of death with nothing in hand but our faith - we will find our eternal home perfectly planned and waiting for us to enjoy it. Everything that we could ever wish for and beyond what we could ever imagine will make our new life so exciting that this earthly life will lose all its allure. And best of all, we will see God in all His glory and live in His love and presence for ever more!

  "For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; 

And the former shall not be remembered or come to mind". 

Isaiah 65:17

Genealogies, Anyone??

Yes...  I'll admit it ... I like to wander in cemeteries and I enjoy genealogies.  Not because I have a morbid fascination with death but because I value people's lives and feel a desire/need to honor someone who once lived, even if it is only to read their name on a gravestone or in a genealogy.
I don't find the genealogies in the bible boring - God has hidden some interesting details in what could be viewed as a boring list of names.  But God is not the author of 'boring' -  His creation and His word are equally beyond our limited ability to absorb all there is hidden therein.

 I was recently looking at the genealogies of Jesus.. the genealogy of Jesus through Mary, found in Matthew 1:1-17 and the genealogy  Luke records in Luke 3:23-38 that is Jesus 'legal' lineage through Joseph, his 'supposed' father.
 Both genealogies overlap from Abraham to David but then Mary's continues through Solomon and Joseph's continues through Nathan, - Solomon and Nathan both being sons of David.

In Jesus' lineage through Mary, we see from King David , a consecutive succession of kings - sixteen of them, while in contrast, Joseph's lineage contains no king after David.
We have Jacob's prophetic word over his son Judah recorded in Genesis 49:10 - "The sceptor shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet until Shiloh comes and to Him shall be the obedience of the people."   In plain English it is saying that "There will be a continuous line of kings from Judah ...  until the Messiah comes!"  And so we see it was ...  The continuous line of sixteen kings until the captivity to Babylon followed by the 400 years of silence - during which period there were no kings - until Jesus was born.

But there was another detail in Mary's genealogy that I found fascinating ....
As I studied this long list of Kings, I noticed something that caught my attention. Jeconiah is listed as 'the son of'  - not his father -  but his grandfather. I had to know why, and I found the answer  proved how the smallest detail of God's word does not return to Him void. When God speaks, we can always follow it with "and so it is already done!"

In Deuteronomy 29:18-20, God warns the Israelites  that if any man walked in rebellion and idolatry, turning away from the Lord God, that God's curses would come upon him and God would "blot out his name from under heaven!"

In Jeremiah 36:30,31, we read "Therefore says the Lord concerning Jehoiakim king of Judah 'He shall have no one to sit on the throne of David and his dead body shall be cast out to the heat of the day the front of the night .. and I will punish him ....all the doom that I have pronounced against them..."
Jehoiakim was cursed by God for all his iniquity....  and it is his name that is missing in the genealogy of Jesus - literally blotted out!  It should be listed between Josiah and Jeconiah..

I can't think of a greater disgrace than to be blotted out - disowned- and not recognized in your family tree or lineage.

I think of the words of Jesus when He said there would be those who cried out "Lord, Lord!" but would be barred from the kingdom of heaven by His words, "I never knew you, depart from me!" 
Oh ... let us make sure that we are not in that number but that we stand and sing with countless saints the refrain of  Daniel Whittle 's 1883 hymn... 

"I know Whom I have believed, 

And am persuaded that He is able

To keep that which I've committed, 

Unto Him against that day."

You Are What You Eat!

We have all joked about the saying, "You are what you eat!"
Are you a little nutty? do people smile and say you are sweet? or do you make people frown because you are a little sour around the edges?

We may joke about being what we eat, yet the truth is that what we eat does directly affect our physical health.  Making wise food choices to keep healthy bodies is something we all recognize as a worthy goal.  Adhering to healthy eating to preserve good health is followed diligently by most people.

I was thinking ...  while most everyone is aware and focused on healthy eating habits recognizing that what we eat will determine our well-being, we are not so diligently in what we feed our minds.

If we are what we put in our mouths, are we not also what we put into our minds?

Before my husband and I were married I had a 'pre-nup' of sorts.  I told him I really didn't care how how poor we were or what we had to do without, as long as we were never so poor that I could not buy books.  I can honestly say, my husband kept his part of the bargain!

But I have seen a radical change in the last 50 years... increasingly so in the last two decades. Books are no longer as sought after and treasured as they were.  People are too busy or too distracted to read much.   I talked to someone recently who had not read a book in the last several years.  Bookstores are closing.  Yes, there are the on-line e-books, and Amazon giving stiff competition to book stores, but there still seems to be a move away from reading books.

And that is where my post thoughts began ...  if people are no longer reading ... what is filling their minds?