Will we Reign with Christ?

Q. Who are the ones that will reign with Christ? Would we be among them? It appears we won’t be as it’s unlikely that we will be tribulation martyrs as recorded in Rev. 20.

A. Several groups have been identified in the NT who will reign with Christ:

1 Those who have been faithful in small things:
* Lk 19:17 ‘Well done, my good servant!’ his master replied. ‘Because you have been trustworthy in a very small matter, take charge of ten cities.’
* Lk 19:19 His master answered, ‘You take charge of five cities.’

2 The saints:
* 1 Co 6:2-3 Do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if you are to judge the world, are you not competent to judge trivial cases? Do you not know that we will judge angels? How much more the things of this life!

3 Those who endure:
* 2 Tim 2:12 if we endure, we will also reign with him.

4 Those whom Jesus redeemed:
* Rev 5:9-10 And they sang a new song: “You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased men for God from every tribe and language and people and nation. You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign on the earth.

5 Those martyrs who had not worshiped the beast nor received his mark:
* Rev 20:4-6 I saw thrones on which were seated those who had been given authority to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony for Jesus and because of the word of God. They had not worshiped the beast or his image and had not received his mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand years. (The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended.) This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy are those who have part in the first resurrection. The second death has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with him for a thousand years.

6 God’s servants with His name on their foreheads:
* Rev 22:3-5 No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him. They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever.

Taken together, I conclude that Christians who had been faithful and endured, not just those who had been beheaded during the great tribulation, will reign with Christ. There will be degrees of reward and responsibility depending on their degrees of faithfulness. Even though all the redeemed will enjoy blessedness, they will have different capacities of blessedness based on their faithfulness on earth.

Ephod

Q. What’s an ephod? What is it used for? What does it look like?

A. The word “ephod” occurs 51 times in 41 verses in the NASB, and refers to the sacred outer garment worn by the high priest, made of gold, blue, purple and scarlet yarn (colors of royalty), to which the breastpiece was attached, and worn over a blue robe. On its shoulder pieces were two onyx stones engraved with the names of the twelve tribes of Israel, symbolizing that he carries the people of God on his shoulders and is responsible for them:

* Ex 28:4 These are the garments they are to make: a breastpiece, an ephod, a robe, a woven tunic, a turban and a sash. They are to make these sacred garments for your brother Aaron and his sons, so they may serve me as priests.
* Ex 28:6 “Make the ephod of gold, and of blue, purple and scarlet yarn, and of finely twisted linen–the work of a skilled craftsman.
* Ex 28:12 and fasten them on the shoulder pieces of the ephod as memorial stones for the sons of Israel. Aaron is to bear the names on his shoulders as a memorial before the LORD.
* Ex 28:15 “Fashion a breastpiece for making decisions–the work of a skilled craftsman. Make it like the ephod: of gold, and of blue, purple and scarlet yarn, and of finely twisted linen.
* Ex 28:31 “Make the robe of the ephod entirely of blue cloth

Subsequently a linen ephod, without the ornaments of gems and gold, was worn by ordinary priests and others:

* 1 Sam 22:18 The king then ordered Doeg, “You turn and strike down the priests.” So Doeg the Edomite turned and struck them down. That day he killed eighty-five men who wore the linen ephod.
* 1 Sam 2:18 But Samuel was ministering before the LORD–a boy wearing a linen ephod.
* 2 Sam 6:14 David, wearing a linen ephod, danced before the LORD with all his might

The word ephod is also used as a covering of gold overlying a statue (Judges 8:27, 17:5, 18:14, 17, 18, 20). This was an idolatrous practice and has nothing to do with the original ephod.

Urim and Thummin

Q. What are the Urim and the Thummim and what is their significance? What about the ephod? What do they look like?

A. The term “Urim and Thummim” appears only 7 times in the Bible:

1. Ex 28:30 Also put the Urim and the Thummim in the breastpiece, so they may be over Aaron’s heart whenever he enters the presence of the LORD. Thus Aaron will always bear the means of making decisions for the Israelites over his heart before the LORD.
2. Lev 8:8 He placed the breastpiece on him and put the Urim and Thummim in the breastpiece.
3. Num 27:21 He is to stand before Eleazar the priest, who will obtain decisions for him by inquiring of the Urim before the LORD. At his command he and the entire community of the Israelites will go out, and at his command they will come in.”
4. Deut 33:8 About Levi he said: “Your Thummim and Urim belong to the man you favored. You tested him at Massah; you contended with him at the waters of Meribah.
5. 1 Sam 28:6 He inquired of the LORD, but the LORD did not answer him by dreams or Urim or prophets.
6. Ezra 2:63 The governor ordered them not to eat any of the most sacred food until there was a priest ministering with the Urim and Thummim.
7. Neh 7:65 The governor, therefore, ordered them not to eat any of the most sacred food until there should be a priest ministering with the Urim and Thummim.

As you can see, about the only things we know for sure is that they are means used by the priest to obtain decisions from the Lord, who sometimes refuses to answer. We don’t know from Scripture what they look like, or exactly how the decision is conveyed to the priest. Neither is there any clue from Jewish literature.

Some scholars guessed that since the root word for Urim means “light”, they are two stones, one light and one dark, that are used to indicate “yes” and “no”. It is assumed that they are kept in a pouch which was shaken, and whichever one comes out first indicates God’s answer to the query. In this sense they act like casting lots, but there is no proof of that, only a reasonable conjecture.

Their significance is that they are one of the means (prophets, priests, dreams) the Israelites used to get direction or guidance from God. There is no mention of them after the Exile. Nowadays we depend on the leading of the Holy Spirit.

(To be continued)

Our Cancun Trip

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Pictures show:
* View of 9-hole golf course from our room. Also great view of sunset.
* Beach – looking east; beautiful fine, white sand.
* Beach – looking west
* Beach – looking from one of the restaurants. On windy days waves are actually big enough for beginner surfing, but there were no surfers.
* Golf course, relatively easy with a few water traps.
* Outdoors shopping mall; have all the name-brands but also quite pricey.

A few surprises:
* We hear more French than English or Spanish. Cancun is very popular among Quebecers.
* There are many groups of single guys and single girls, mostly early twenty-somethings, presumably college students taking extended Christmas breaks.
* We did not expect much from Mexican food, as I did not enjoy tacos and re-fried beans, but surprisingly the a la carte Mexican restaurant turned out to be the best among the restaurant choices. Proof that we only lose if we are biased.

When You Travel

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Pictures show:
* Travel insurance
* Smartphones
* Registration of Canadians Abroad

My wife took early retirement at the end of last year after 40 years in the workforce. To celebrate, we took a one-week vacation to Mexico where it’s sunny and warm. One little incident reminded us to be alert and always ready. On the second day of our trip, on a beautiful golf course, at the very first hole, she was struck on her temple by a golf ball hit by a young girl in the next foursome who didn’t wait for us to get off the green. Normally it would not be a big thing, as the hit was not very hard, but the doctor at the resort advised us to take a CT scan to be on the safe side, since there had been baseball players who got beaned, felt alright initially, but collapsed two hours later due to brain hemorrhage.

If it were in Toronto, it would have been a simple matter to drive to the nearly hospital emergency department and get treated. But when you are out-of-the-country, even a small thing can become a major obstacle. First, a CT scan including neurosurgeon consultation costs 14,000 pesos, about US$1,050, and you need prior approval from your insurance company. The resort’s client services was very helpful in tracking down my wife’s Canadian group health insurer’s number to call, but the reception of the long-distance call over land-lines was so poor that we could hardly hear what they were saying. The voice was breaking up to such an extent that we heard only every other syllable! In desperation, they asked to call us on our Blackberry, which saved the day as the voice was as clear as a local call. So advice #1: Besides your provincial health card (OHIP), if your employer provides you with group health benefits, carry your benefits card when you travel. You’ll need the 1-800 #, as well as your policy #, certificate #, and ID.

What if you do not have employee health benefits? There are other options. For example, if you have a Gold VISA card, you will receive up to 31 days automatic out-of-province travel medical insurance for cardholders age 64 and under, $500,000 common carrier accident Insurance, and auto rental collision/loss damage insurance. I assume Gold MasterCard benefits to be similar. If you do not have a Gold VISA card, you can buy travel insurance from companies like Blue Cross or one of the banks’ insurance subsidiaries. The premiums would depend on the number of people travelling, their age, the length of the trip, the destination (as health care costs vary), whether you want trip cancellation or interruption benefit, and the total cost of the trip. I know the insurance adds to the cost of your trip, but I also know of families saved from financial disaster because they have travel medical insurance.

Advice #2: If you have a Blackberry, an iPhone or a smart phone, bring it along, with all the critical phone numbers such as person to contact in case of emergency, insurer, family doctor etc. stored in memory. Subject to costs, get a data plan from your phone company. It is best to get an unlocked phone where you can buy a local SIM card for local use. When we travelled to Panama the iPhone also became our GPS and saved us a lot of headache.

Advice #3: Whether you’re planning a short vacation or a long-term stay abroad, sign up with Registration of Canadians Abroad. This is a free, confidential service offered by Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada to keep you connected to Canada in case of an emergency abroad, such as an earthquake or civil unrest, or informed about an emergency at home. You can do this easily online at: https://www.voyage2.gc.ca/Registration_inscription/Register_Inscrire/Login_ouvrir-une-session-eng.aspx?fwd=true&hash=p0V4sJhYtXNnDsAOImpW8w6161

Bon voyage!

When There is No Cure

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Pictures show:
* Care & cure
* Even when there is no cure, there is still care.

We heard this powerful testimony early last month, but delayed putting up this post until two relatives’ health stabilized so as not to send the wrong message. Both underwent serious trials but have since improved.

A young couple in their 30s had been enjoying life, living in 15 different countries in the first 15 years of their marriage, as the husband is a career diplomat and has to be assigned to a different location each year. They have 3 children, when 8 years ago out of the blue the middle daughter, then aged 10, was unable to walk and suffered acute pain. After exhaustive tests she was diagnosed as have metachromatic leukodystrophy (MLD), a rare genetic disorder caused by the deficiency of a particular enzyme. Without this enzyme, chemicals build up in many tissues of the body, eventually destroying the sheath of the nervous system (similar to the insulation covering our electrical wiring). Without this sheath, the nerves in the brain and the nerves controlling mobility cease to function properly, paralyzing the patient’s ability to talk and move.

It was a very frightening experience for the child and the family. She was at the top of her class when she was 8 and in grade 2. Two years later when she returned to Canada for tests, she had to be transported in a wheel chair and assigned to a class for children with special needs. First there was muscle wasting and weakness, followed by rigidity, impaired school performance, convulsions, mental deterioration, paralysis, and then dementia. What’s more, there is no cure for MLD, and no known treatment. It is a terminal illness. To the family it was a death sentence. Initially she was diagnosed as having three more years to live, but it’s been 8 years now and the family is hanging on by the grace of God.

Besides facing the terrible suffering of their beloved child, both parents faced difficult choices. The government policy is to rotate diplomats to different countries, but no country will take in their daughter with the intensive demand on their medical system. The father was faced with having to retire young, in his forties, or being assigned to posts no one would want: Pakistan, Afghanistan, or Iraq, all high risk political hot spots. He left it up to his supervisor to decide, and was assigned to Iraq to oversee the withdrawal of US troops. The mother spent full-time looking after her daughter, waking several times each night just to check whether something is obstructing her breathing, since she cannot move to help herself. You can imagine the pain both felt as they walked alongside their daughter. Only the well of Scripture stored in their hearts, and the presence of God as they walked through the shadow of the valley of death kept them going.

But it is also in the darkest hour that the presence of God is most keenly felt. The daughter’s will to survive affected even the doctor who looked after her. At the ground-breaking ceremony of the palliative children’s hospice named after her (Emily’s House), the doctor shared, “I had never wanted to become a palliative doctor, but she taught me something. When they say, ‘There is no cure and no treatment, there’s nothing more we can do for you’, that’s not true. When there is no cure, there is still care. We can still comfort. We can still support. That’s what I learned from her.”

This is something we as Christians must learn too. As a pastor often I work with troubled families. Sometimes I would be called upon to visit members’ loved ones in hospital as they travel the last leg of their earthly journey; other times I would intervene in family disputes as husband and wife pour out their grievances as to what’s wrong with their spouse. By God’s grace sometimes the family members recover, or the couple was able to reconcile and there was a happy ending. But sometimes there is no happy ending. Even after fervent prayer, the loved one still passed on, or despite much counseling, the couple still broke up. Then what? Where there is no cure, there is still care. Even though for reasons known only to God He does not grant healing or reconciliation, life can still go on with love and caring. Earth is not our home, only where we spend our pilgrimage. We can still care and wait with hope for the glory to come, because we know Christ. Think about that when we face trials.

“180” Movie

Once in a while I come across good videos which are worth sharing for its contents or methodology. This documentary starts off with the holocaust, then transitions into abortion, and finally ends with the gospel. It crystallizes the type of thinking many secular people hold without critically examining it for themselves. Their website
http://180movie.com/ invites embedding their video in blogs so I’m doing it here. They sell the DVD in bulk for US$1 each so that people can give it away. It’s an excellent evangelistic tool.

Ray Comfort teaches evangelism using the 10 commandments, in a course called “The Way of the Master”, which is thoroughly biblical. He is best known for his street preaching and evangelism. I often hear people say they do not believe in Evangelism Explosion or other forms of direct witnessing, but I like this way of sharing with boldness than the critics’ way of not sharing. It may not be your style, but he is worth listening to. I’ve learned a lot from his ministry.

Grandkids Learning to Talk

Our grandkids have moved into a new phase of their development – talking.

KSP learning her ABCs:

SEL looking for her parents:

Both are more attached to their moms. Dads get only a tiny fraction of the attention!

The Devil is in the Details (Enuma Elish 3)

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Pictures show:
* Enuma Elish (EE)
* Babylonian gods family tree
* Apsu, Tiamat and Marduk
* Tiamat
* Marduk

We wrap up by examining what’s on the 7 tablets:
1. In the beginning was uncreated matter, personified by a male Apsu, the fresh water god, and a female Tiamat, the salt water goddess. Their union produced other gods, who resided in Tiamat’s body. The young gods were so noisy that Apsu decided to kill his offsprings, but was killed by his great-grandson Ea (water god, god of wisdom) instead.
2. Tiamat was enraged and took on a new husband Kingu to avenge Apsu. Ea confronted her but failed.
3. Then her grandson Anu (sky god) challenged Tiamat but also failed.
4. Ea’s son, Marduk (god of Babylon), was selected to fight Tiamat, who appointed Kingu as her commander. Marduk killed Tiamat and cut her body in two. He used 1/2 to create the sky, and the other 1/2 to form the earth.
5. Marduk placed the sun, moon and stars in the sky to establish days, months and years.
6. Marduk killed Kingu and used his blood to create man to serve the gods.
7. Marduk was elevated from god of Babylon to head of all gods, who then rested.

The devil is in the details. You can observe that the Babylonian creation account is:
* Materialistic – matter is eternal, which is scientifically wrong. In fact, every creation account outside of the Bible, whether from the Ancient Near East, Far East or Western tradition, begins with the existence of matter.
* Polytheistic – many gods, who are brought into existence by other gods, and can be evil. In pagan religions, the natural world represented different deities e.g. water, fire, earth, sky, air etc. The cosmos always had the status of deity. In the Bible the universe is mere creation. Only God is God.
* Full of myths and superstitions – e.g. monster body becoming the sky and the earth.

All of the above are diametrically opposite to what the Bible teaches. To say that the Bible borrowed from Enuma Elish, simply because of a superficial similarity in the order of creation, makes as much sense as saying that man evolved from apes, simply because both are primates. There is no support for Moses altering EE to fit his beliefs. Critics believe that religion “evolved” from polytheism to monotheism, when in fact sound scholarship demonstrated the opposite to be true. Religion has “devolved” from monotheism to polytheism. The Genesis account was a polemic against paganism, but over time simple accounts like the Genesis record had been corrupted to more embellished versions like EE.

By the way, Babylon is first mentioned in the Bible in Gen. 10:10, “The first centers of his kingdom were Babylon, Erech, Akkad and Calneh, in Shinar.” “His” referred to Nimrod, grandson of Ham, great-grandson of Noah. The Jewish people are descended from Abraham, who descended from Shem, Ham’s brother. So the Babylonians are related but not ancestors of the Jews. I presume they heard the same creation and Flood accounts from their forefathers Shem and Ham, but without revelation directly from God as in Genesis, the Babylonian account got corrupted to myths and legends. Don’t worry about the Babylonian or other creation accounts, which are all corruptions of the truth. Only the Bible is trustworthy.

Enuma Elish 2

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Pictures show:
* Torah scroll
* The 5 Books of Moses
* Enuma Elish (EE)

Yesterday we dispelled the late date of Genesis proposed by liberal scholars. Today we continue to trace Genesis’ date of writing. Although Genesis does not directly name Moses as its author, the whole of Scripture and church history are unified in their adherence to the Mosaic authorship of Genesis. The OT is replete with both direct and indirect testimonies to the Mosaic authorship of the entire Pentateuch e.g.

* Ex. 17:14 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Write this on a scroll …”
* Num. 33:2 At the LORD’s command Moses recorded the stages in their journey.
* 1 Kings 2:3 …his laws and requirements, as written in the Law of Moses,
* 2 Kings 14:6 … in accordance with what is written in the Book of the Law of Moses
* Ezra 6:18 … according to what is written in the Book of Moses.
* Neh. 13:1 On that day the Book of Moses was read aloud in the hearing of the people
* Dan 9:11, 13 Therefore the curses and sworn judgments written in the Law of Moses, … Just as it is written in the Law of Moses, …

The NT also contains numerous testimonies, e.g.
* Mk. 12:26 Now about the dead rising–have you not read in the book of Moses, …
* 1 Co. 9:9 For it is written in the Law of Moses: …
* 2 Co. 3:15 Even to this day when Moses is read, a veil covers their hearts.

The Early Church openly held to the Mosaic authorship, as does the first century Jewish historian Josephus. The Jerusalem Talmud also supports Moses as author. So the next question is, “When did Moses write his books?”

1 Kings 6:1 gives us a clue, “In the four hundred and eightieth year after the Israelites had come out of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon’s reign over Israel, in the month of Ziv, the second month, he began to build the temple of the LORD.” The 4th year of Solomon’s reign is the same as the 480th year after the Exodus. Since the former was 966 BC, the Exodus must be 1446 BC. The 40 year period of Israel’s wanderings in the desert, which lasted from 1446 to 1406 BC, would have been the most likely time for Moses to write the bulk of the Pentateuch. So Genesis predates the generally accepted date of EE by about 300 years.

But what about some critics’ claim that EE dates all the way back to the Kassite era (16th century BCE) or even to Hammurabi (18th century BCE)? First of all, to claim is one thing, to prove is another. The authorship of EE is unknown, so its date of writing cannot be determined definitively. But regardless of who the author might be, he could not have been there at the beginning. So neither Moses nor the unknown author of EE could be an eye-witness and had to rely on secondary sources. In the case of Moses, God revealed the beginning to him, and God was there as the primary source. So the Bible is accurate and reliable. In EE’s case, in the absence of claims and proofs to divine inspiration, the most likely source in ancient days is oral tradition, which is subject to embellishment as time progresses. What we need to do is to examine the text itself as to who borrowed from whom. Let’s see what’s on the 7 clay tablets.

(To be continued)