Sodom, True Believers, and End-Time Models

Sex and violence are the secret of success in any modern medium of entertainment. The long time best seller, the Holy Bible, has its fair share of both. The awkward problem for the faithful is to explain it all away. Surely when Jewish scribes were compiling various documents into their Bible they could have edited out the unsavoury or unflattering passages they inherited from their oral traditions.

All other nations, both past and present, seem to make sure their own version of events is appropriately favourable. But the Jews seemed to have no problem dishing it out to themselves. The sins and omissions of kings like David and Solomon are faithfully chronicled. Those who believe most of the Hebrew Bible is fiction need to explain away this negativity since it could be seen as evidence that God inspired the Bible for His own inscrutable purposes.

A Jewish hero called Lot was the patriarch Abraham's nephew. His behaviour as described in Genesis chapter 19 is generally considered absolutely appalling, yet he is called a righteous man in the New Testament. (2 Peter 2:7) He lived in Sodom, where morality wasn't a priority.

God sent two angels in the form of men to assess the people of Sodom with a view to destroying the city if necessary. As it happened Lot met the men at the city gate and, being very hospitable, invited them to his home for the night despite their willingness to sleep on the street. Lot evidently thought that was not a bright idea.

During the evening a crowd gathered outside Lot's house yelling to him to bring the men out "so that we can have sex with them". (v 5 NIV) The details of the story need not concern us but Lot eventually and shockingly offered to send out his two virgin daughters instead of the men. It is hard to find any commentator who defends Lot for this shocking behaviour. Clarke's Commentary claims traditional Eastern hospitality required a host to defend a stranger in his home even at the expense of his own life; but in this case Lot didn't put his own life on the line but his daughters' virginity.

Nothing is said about the daughters' willingness to participate in this game but seemingly they were willing to do their "duty" -- Lot would have had some trouble getting the two out if they didn't want to go. They probably knew many of the men in any case.

The angelic guests decided that Sodom had to be destroyed and told Lot and his wife to get ready with their extended family to leave the city first thing in the morning. The obedient daughters were willing to go but not the guys they were engaged to. (v 14 NIV) It says something for the commitment of these girls to God that they were prepared to leave the luxury of Sodom and head into an unknown future without their partners.

The family duly set off next morning to leave Sodom for good. Their angelic guides cautioned them not to look behind as burning sulphur was about to rain down on the city. But the mother's heart was evidently still in Sodom and she couldn't help but look back. The record says she was turned into a pillar of salt. The obedient daughters steadfastly plodded on with dad, who the previous night had offered them up to the wolves.

Lot and his daughters lived in a small town called Zoar for a time but seem to have found it to be much like Sodom, so moved on, settling finally in a cave in the mountains. Quite a come-down from the luxury of Sodom!

The story doesn't end there. Eventually the older daughter, presumably considering the men of Zoar quite unsuitable and too far away, suggested to her sister that they do their noble duty and preserve their dad's family line by getting pregnant through him. Realizing that he might not like the idea, they got him drunk two nights in a row, and first the elder daughter and then the younger "lay with him", and both became pregnant. You'd have to agree that the sex education available in Sodom must have been up to the very best of modern porn standards for these two virgins to organize impregnation by a drunken dad.

The two sons conceived in this most unusual way both later headed tribes (Moabites and Ammonites) that were thorns in the flesh of the Hebrew people. But one of the descendants, Ruth, became an ancestor of Jesus Christ.

You might think that Jesus would never dare to mention the name of His infamous ancestor, Lot, because Jewish scribes might challenge Him to explain away Lot's offer of his daughters as sex sops. But you'd be wrong. Jesus used the character and fate of Sodom as a picture of the time preceding His Second Coming. He warned the faithful in the predicted chaotic end times of this world to be ready to jump and run at a minute's notice. (Luke 17:28-32) For a wrenching experience like that Lot and his daughters set a worthy example in leaving prosperous Sodom.

Like everybody else the daughters may have shown faulty judgment at times, but when the chips were down they were true believers. Likewise their dad!

Corrie ten Boom - The Roots of the Jerusalem Prayer Team   Unspectacularly Supernatural   Walking After Emptiness   

Special 'Delivery'

So, here's some Good News: You're delivered!!! Oh, really?! And, just what, pray tell, am I delivered from? Allow me to answer that question by asking another: What do you need deliverance from? In other words, whatever you need, you've been delivered from it. Everything!

Now, I want you to take particular notice of something I said and something I didn't say, because the contrast important. If you've spent any time in church you've probably heard that deliverance is available through Jesus Christ; and, praise His name, that's certainly the truth. It's real, it's precious, it's an amazing blessing... and, if you read carefully, you saw that it's not what I said.

You see, 'availability' denotes something which might be close by and/or obtainable, but not necessarily in one's current possession. If you're in Christ Jesus, my message to you today is not that deliverance is available through Him, but that you've already been delivered. You already have it!

There's a difference.

Well, it sure doesn't look or feel like I'm delivered from [living paycheck-to-paycheck, sickness, drugs, smoking, drinking, lying, stealing, pornography, dog-kicking, cat-smuggling, mouseketeering - whatever you want to put there is up to you]!Judging by appearances, are we? Therein lies the problem - and, as it turns out, it happens to be a major one (2 Corinthians 10:7).

I'll show you what I mean: Consider a destitute, homeless person. He lives under a bridge - uses a cardboard box to keep the wind away as best he can. He forages through the garbage of others to try to salvage some of the things he needs to survive, including a few mouthfuls of food... and no one seems to care. No one wants him or anything to do with him.

Or so he thinks. Actually, he's been 'wanted' for the last five years, ever since his long-lost twice-removed uncle died, leaving his entire estate - a $100,000,000 estate(!) - to him. So, then, here's a question to ponder: Is this homeless man actually poor, or is he rich?

I suppose the answer to that question pretty much depends on who you ask. But, the only two opinions that actually matter - that carry any real weight - are those of "the Law" and of the man himself. If you approached him and asked (without supplying any other information), "Excuse me, Sir; are you poor?" - well, after performing a patented Three-Stooges 'boinking' to both your eyeballs, he'd probably walk away in extreme indignation. But, if you asked the executor of the estate what he thought about it, his response would probably be something closer to, "Yeah, that guy's stinking, alright - stinkin' rich! By law, it's already his."

The difference - the only difference - between these two points of view? Knowledge.

Well, of course it's 'knowledge.' If the man doesn't know what he has, how can he ever do anything about it?!"Point taken. Nevertheless, just because the man doesn't know about what he owns, it doesn't negate the fact that he owns it. The question itself points this out: "... he doesn't know what he has!" It's all his. It's been his ever since somebody died and left it to him. All he needed to do was (drum roll)... find out about it, and then claim it!

You're healed already (1 Peter 2:24). You're rich already (1 Timothy 6:17; Revelation 2:9). You're delivered already (Luke 4:18). You're free already (2 Corinthians 3:17). You're whole, with nothing missing and nothing broken - already! (2 Corinthians 6:2) Everything that has anything to do with your life has already been given to you in the inheritance left for us by the Lord Jesus Christ (2 Peter 1:3). So, find out about what's included, and start claiming it by faith.

Don't worry; it's yours. Jesus is not only the Testator, He's the Executor of the Estate - and He's faithful to you as an heir of God and joint-heir with Him of the whole world (Romans 4:13, 8:17; Hebrews 3:1, 6; 9:16). You are already delivered! So, stop judging by what you see or feel and start judging your condition by the Will and Testament that's been left you. That's how you appropriate it (Mark 11:22-24).

Corrie ten Boom - The Roots of the Jerusalem Prayer Team   Unspectacularly Supernatural   Walking After Emptiness   

The Generous Life

It's amazing the way revelation works. Over the years, you can read a particular verse or passage in the Scriptures time and again. You can become so familiar with it that you could literally recite it by memory from beginning to end; and even get so 'comfortable' with its words that you begin to think to yourself, "Yeah, yeah... I know all about that (verse). No need to go over it again or hear it preached anymore. I got it; I understand it - nothing more for me to learn there." Yeah, right.

But then you do read or hear it again, and you see something you never quite saw or thought about before. It could be something really, really deep and profound... or something really, really simple - you know, that "as-plain-as-the-nose-on-your-face" kind of simple and utterly profound; so much so that it leaves you sitting there wondering how you could have missed it all this time. And it alters your thinking and outlook from then on.

Well, I got smacked with the 'really simple and profound' one recently. I just happened to be looking at Matthew 9:18, where Jairus, the ruler of the synagogue, arrived to ask Jesus to come home with him and heal his daughter. Jesus' response to the request was that He "arose, and followed [Jairus]" (verse 19). Okay, fine, straightforward... read it a hundred times... yeah, He went with him. Then, a thought flashed through my cerebral cortex: "He [Jesus] always went!" I was then prompted to back up a few verses to get the feel of the setting that they were in. As it turns out, they were right in the middle of dinner, or some meal - the point is, they were eating.

Jesus interrupted His meal, not to just go across the room, but to leave the building and go with this man all the way over to his house - while His lasagna sat there, destined to get cold. (If that doesn't resonate with you, just think about the times you may have been a little less than 'warm and inviting' when someone needed your help while you were in the middle of throwin' down at the dinner table. I ask you to consider... because at the moment I'd just as soon not think about my own past actions, thank you very much... but I digress.)

Now, Jairus was a person of considerable standing in the community. He was one of the synagogue rulers. And, back in the day, that was a really big deal. This man wasn't treated like we treat some of our pastors and men of God today. Anyway, he asked something of Jesus, and Jesus didn't say a word; He just got up and went with him.

While they were on the way, some woman had the nerve to come up to Jesus - well, she actually had the nerve to fight her way up to Him. Apparently, she'd had enough of things as they were and decided she was not going to be denied what she needed (Mark 5:25-28). I say that because in her then-present condition (this is, of course, the woman with the issue of blood; and being out in public with an issue of blood made one unclean according to Jewish Law [Leviticus 15:25]), she risked being stoned just for being around other people. In fact, Jairus, the one whose time she was ultimately taking up, could have been the one to put her on the program. Nevertheless, she got what she went there for; and Jesus didn't stop, rebuke or condemn her - in fact, He blessed her! (Mark 5:34) And, Jairus, fortunately (for his daughter), didn't say a word - though it's pretty likely he was standing there twiddling him thumbs with a great deal of force while waiting on them to finish up. But, I'm sure he was well aware of the 'irony' that would have been present in his asking for mercy for his own daughter while spitting out judgment upon someone else (Psalm 18:25-26).

Can you see it what I'm getting at? Jesus was open, willing and generous toward everybody that came to Him, from the ruler of the people all the way down to a despised woman who was an eyelash away from being hit by a bunch of (substantially) large rocks. He never turned anyone down. Whenever someone asked of Him, He always gave them what they had need of. Always! I don't think the word 'No' was in His vocabulary.

Jesus is the perfect picture of God's heart toward us (Hebrews 1:3). Indeed, 'No' isn't in God's vocabulary toward His children - only for matters pertaining to Satan or the curse or things which simply are not for our good. He's said so: all His promises are 'Yes!' to us through Christ Jesus when we respond to Him by saying, "Amen!" - that is, "I agree; So be it!" (2 Corinthians 1:20). It's also why Jesus said, "Give to [all] those who ask, and don't turn away from those who want to borrow;" because Love gives (Matthew 5:42 NLT; John 3:16). Such a simple and yet utterly profound mindset. He's telling us to be just like Him, and live the 'generous' life (1 John 4:17) - even when it's right in the middle of your dinner.

Corrie ten Boom - The Roots of the Jerusalem Prayer Team   Unspectacularly Supernatural   Walking After Emptiness   

Overcoming the Inner Darkness of the Heart

Our secret inner darkness keeps us from growing into the great spiritual man or woman God desires us to be. When we harbor dark secrets within our hearts toward ourselves, our family and friends and even our enemies we are not only displeasing God but we are destroying our own lives. We are preventing the joy of the Lord from regenerating our soul and spirit.

Inner Struggle

Purifying ourselves of inner darkness must be our top priority. If we allow it to remain and grow within our hearts, we will live defeated lives and will not prosper in pleasing God or represent the kingdom of heaven within us. Pleasing God demands integrity and honesty of heart. When a believer lacks these qualities he is struggling with inner darkness.

The Confrontation

Our own thoughts, habits and routines must be released if we are to purify our inner being of evil intentions. We must make a sincere effort to confront what inside us. Ignoring it will only strengthen its hold on our heart and soul. When this happens we will not be able to rise above the negative conditions and circumstances that will surely come our way.

Purification & Patience

Getting rid of our inner darkness will take time. Purification doesn't happen overnight. Sometimes it is a slow gradual process of falling down and getting back up again as long as it takes. Understanding the nature of the process will prevent a believer form becoming discouraged when the same old aspect of inner darkness keeps repeating itself in our lives. The bottle line is to persevere toward inner purification.

Changing for the Sake of Growth

Overcoming inner darkness requires a sincere heart. A believer must be willing to change for the sake of growth. She must be ready to release negative friends and family members who tend to lead her into temptations. When we hang with those who are full of darkness, our own consciousness takes on that sense of darkness. We are then d trapped into the activities of their nature, whether it is dishonesty, abuse, gossip, un-forgiveness or hatred toward some other cultures.

The Eternal Truth & Meditation

In order to purify our heart of inner darkness, we must read and meditate upon as much truth as we positively can. Filling our hearts and minds with eternal truth cleanses our hearts so that peace and joy can prevail. Deep meditation upon the word of God burns the heart with a divine fire. This is certainly no ordinary fire. Instead it is the anointing of God penetrating the very depths of man's heart and cleanses it of all impurities.

Divine Connections in the local Church

However, a believer must not attempt to overcome her inner darkness alone. She must connect herself with others of the body of Christ who can pray for her and encourage her when things fall apart. These are divine connections. Others who are on the road to inner purification can inspire and strengthen us to go all the way. Joining and attending a spiritually dynamic local church will go a long way in helping us to complete the journey of purifying our hearts.

Corrie ten Boom - The Roots of the Jerusalem Prayer Team   Unspectacularly Supernatural   Walking After Emptiness   

How to Vote Like a Christian

With election day bearing down on us, I thought it would be appropriate to discuss how Christians should vote. I'm not talking about which party or candidate to vote for, but about the qualities that God requires in those who will govern over us. Yes, the Bible really does set forth criteria for civil leaders and those of us who seek to honor God would do well to observe it. It is found in Exodus 18:21.

"Moreover thou shalt provide out of all the people able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness; and place such over them, to be rulers of thousands, and rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens:"

We have a bad habit of glossing over things that we've heard before and just saying "yeah, yeah, I've heard that before, it's in the Bible" and moving on to the next topic without pondering the depth of the meaning and its application in our lives. So let's take a closer look at each of the four criteria contained in that verse and get a clearer picture of exactly what kind of civil leaders God is instructing us to choose.

Able Men

This is more than just someone with a degree behind their name, or someone who has climbed the political ladder, has experience in government and "knows the system." It's more than just having made some money, knowing how to smile for the camera and being called "electable." A man can have all that and still be called a fool in God's book.

This is talking about selecting leaders who have proven themselves in making right, wise and honorable decisions in life that have tended toward success and who have produced the kind of fruit in their own life and house that we should want in our corporate house of a community, state or the nation. We can see this same principle at work in 1 Tim 3:4-5 with regard to the selection of leaders within the church. What a man produces by being the head over his marriage, family, business or whatever other affairs of life he has had responsibility in, is the same fruit that he will produce if we make him the head over our corporate household.

This is someone who, if need be, you would entrust your business affairs to, or give guardianship over your children knowing that they would raise them to be Godly, respectable and successful members of society like themselves. In reality, this is exactly what we do every time we cast our ballot, we turn over a portion of the authority to govern our own life, household, business and that of our neighbor as well, to someone who hopefully will be "able" in governing our affairs in a manner that will tend toward our corporate success.

Such as Fear God

Fearing God is not to be confused with mere church attendance or someone saying of a candidate "I hear they're a Christian," or some equally inane idea that the church in America appears to have substituted for "The Fear of The LORD."

According to Vine's Complete Expository Dictionary of Old Testament Words, the word translated "fear" (Hebrew - yare') means "standing in awe... reverence, whereby an individual recognizes the power and position of the individual revered and renders him proper respect. In this sense, the word may imply submission to a proper ethical relationship to God."

So a person who "fears God" would stand in awe of his Creator, recognizing His position of authority as the God of Heaven and Earth - the sovereign to whom both men and nations owe their allegiance.

Like America's founders, a civil leader who posses, and is possessed by, the fear of God, would understand that God is the sovereign; that all civil law must comport with His revealed will; that any law that does not comply with the law of the sovereign is no law at all. A candidate for public office who does not demonstrate nor articulate this understanding, either lacks the fear of God or has grown forgetful that the sovereignty of the Creator extends to His creation and have had their understanding so darkened as to believe the satanic lie that the laws of the Creator have no place in governing his creation.

Men of Truth

Truth is much more than the absence of a lie. The Hebrew word translated "truth" in this passage carries the ideas of firmness, faithfulness, sureness, stability, continuance and reliableness. Adam Clark's commentary on this passage describes men of truth as "Honest and true in their own hearts and lives; speaking the truth, and judging according to the truth."

This has much more to do with character, integrity and honor than it does with simply making factual statements. This is what a previous generation referred to as "a man or his word" and sometimes described such a man by saying "his word is his bond." This is a man whose word and a handshake are a much greater surety than any legal contract executed by a dozen lawyers. This is the man spoken of in Psalm 15:4 that "sweareth to his own hurt, and changeth not."

A man of truth is a statesman who represents himself to be exactly what he is and who, while in office, does exactly what he said he would do. In this, I can have more respect for a lot of liberals who represent themselves to be the liberals that they are than what I can for many who run as conservatives, then once elected, raise taxes, increase the national debt and bailout Wall Street.

Hating Covetousness

Some translations render this as hating "unjust gain." Now we all know that covetousness, greed, avarice, lusting for money, position or power is wrong, but notice, this verse is not merely saying that civil leaders ought not have covetousness in themselves, it says they are to "Hate" it both in themselves and others.

We obviously ought not give our vote to greedy grabbers who are just looking to climb the political ladder. However, this passage would actually instruct us not to give our vote to anyone who tolerates covetousness in those around them or who has anything less than utter contempt for every manner of exploitative unjust gain.

I am by no means talking about implementing so called "social justice" where government tries to "make" everyone equal. I'm talking about Godly justice where government "treats" everyone equal and protects the weak from exploitation by the rich, the powerful, the mega corporations and the Wall Street banksters. Believe it or not, the Bible actually has a lot to say about justice. We would do well to read it sometime.

The U.S. Constitution

Now I realize that the U.S. Constitution isn't actually mentioned in the passage that we're studying, or anywhere in the Bible for that matter. However, those who we elect to public office will swear an oath to uphold the Constitution - the supreme law of our land. So how can one be called a "man of truth" if he does not fulfill his oath by strictly adhering to the highest law of the land?

To be a man of truth and exercise true fidelity to our nation's founding documents (Declaration of Independence, Constitution, Bill of Rights), a person is going to have to comprehend the actual meaning of the documents and the original intent of their framers. To do this, they are going to have to study the documents themselves, then study those who drafted and/or signed them, then study the philosophies and principles upon which those documents were established. Only after this will a person be capable of implementing the actual intent of the documents and of administering Constitutional governance and protecting the God given rights to life, liberty and property as America's founders intended.

While the qualities described in Exodus 18:21 are more spiritual in nature and are matters of character that can be harder to assess, especially without personal acquaintance with the candidate, adherence to the principles of the U.S. Constitution can be easier to detect. It will require that we, the Christian voter, study our nation's Constitution and be acquainted with the founding principles. However, it shouldn't take long before you find yourself able to detect statements, actions, votes in Congress and policies proposed by candidates that conflict with the clear text of the document or the rights to life, liberty and property.

Choose the Blessing

Choosing to be blessed is as simple as obeying God and walking in His ways.

... Blessed is the man that feareth the LORD, that delighteth greatly in his commandments. (Psalm 112:1) Blessed is every one that feareth the LORD; that walketh in his ways. (Plasm 128:1) Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly... But his delight is in the law of the LORD. (Psalm 1:1-2)

This isn't about earning blessing by being good enough. This is about keeping ourselves in the safe place, the blessed place that God has provided for us, by following all of His instructions - instructions that have been given for our benefit to lead us and guide us to the place where the blessing is.

God wants America blessed - He wants all the nations of the earth to be blessed. He has given us plain and simple instructions as to what kind of civil leaders to select in order to be blessed. So why would we be so foolish as to depart from His loving counsels designed for our protection and venture outside of the safe place, outside of the blessed place?

Let's choose to bless ourselves and our land by choosing God's way - the blessed way.

Corrie ten Boom - The Roots of the Jerusalem Prayer Team   Unspectacularly Supernatural   Walking After Emptiness   

It's Our Initiative

What moves God is our reaction to Him evidenced by our faith. For Christians to be affective in fulfilling their calling, a vertical relationship must be established. Many Believers attempt to impress God with their horizontal outreach, which many times are void of faith. Christians are not the only ones who feed the poor or find a need and meet it. There are many non-Christians who are touching the lives of people with just as great an efficiency as the Church itself. What brings the Church into a Godly perspective is when we establish a relationship with God. When we walk with God we establish a personal and living "inner life" with the Creator of all existence. Noah walked with God (Gen. 6: 9) and Enoch walked with God. (Gen. 5: 22, 24) Amos stated, "Can two walk together, except they be agreed?" (Amos 3: 1) To fully understand God's directives, there must be a connection with Him. How can we expect spiritual satisfaction without a living and growing relationship with God? It is not knowing about God, rather it is knowing God. It is not about "our Father which art in Heaven," rather it is about our Father which abides within us. (John 14: 23) It is not the "bless this food" and the "now I lay me down to sleep," it is rather an ongoing sharing with the One who cares so much for us.

How do we get into that relationship with God that will transcend all our human desires and interests? So many times we wait for God to take the initiative in establishing a relationship with us. What we don't realize is that God is waiting for us to initiate an "open door policy" in which He can enter our lives and have a living relationship with us. Without learning His desire, we substitute works for relationship. We become so involved in horizontal ministry that the vertical relationship is taken for granted. God is not impressed with our works; rather He is moved by our faith. (Heb. 11: 6) Works without a faithful relationship is nothing more than secular humanism. Filling the stomach and clothing the body, while neglecting the spirit and soul of the needy, is to evidence a strained relationship with God. The Christian needs to come into harmony with God through Jesus Christ. When that interaction becomes prioritized, the power of God will be released through the Believing individual to a horizontal ministry that will affect the body, soul, and spirit of others.

God is not impressed with our "weakly" attendance on Sunday. What pleases Him is to see the strength of our daily commitment. Communication is essential to the success of marriages. When couples don't communicate their relationship is strained. Lacking verbal expressions, each travels their own road in pursuit of self gratification. Very seldom is there an evidence of contentment. It is the same way in the Christian walk. Without interaction with God a lack of spiritual contentment develops. Works become the road of Spiritual fulfillment. Many of these efforts are self initiated and result in substitutionary commitment. In other words "works" become our faith.

When the two men on the road to Emmaus encountered Jesus they were at first unaware of who He was. But as they journeyed and heard Him expound the Word, something began to happen within them. When Jesus left them later that evening, they realized who He was and said to each other, "Did not our heart burn within us, while he talked with us by the way, and while he opened to us the Scripture?" (Luke 24: 32) As we develop that relationship with Him, our hearts will "burn within us" as He opens to us the understanding, not only of His Word, but of the things of the Kingdom.

Corrie ten Boom - The Roots of the Jerusalem Prayer Team   Unspectacularly Supernatural   Walking After Emptiness