Commentary on Exodus

Most of us are probably fairly familiar with the individual stories within this book, known as the second book of Moses, such as ‘Moses in the Bulrushes’, ‘The Burning Bush’, and probably the most famous of all, the giving of ‘The Ten Commandments’ in Exodus 20. Although these individual stories are good to know and digest, they must be understood as simply a part of the greater story, the meta-narrative, which includes all of Scripture, not just the book of Exodus.

 The authorship might well be attributed to Moses himself, though this may be questioned by some modern scholars. Speaking of modern scholarship, it has been questioned whether the book of Exodus would be better touted as theology, rather than history. Archeologists have not, according to some reports, found any evidence of this mass ‘exodus’, and the astounding logistics alone seem to deny the probability of this being an actual historical account. Whether or not it is an actual historical account (‘exact’, may be a better way of putting it ), or simply, as is believed about certain other parts of Scripture, an allegorical story, one that is related in such a way as to portray a deeper spiritual truth; it is certain that God did deliver, through a man named Moses, His people from the bondage of slavery in Egypt.

One of these spiritual truths, indeed THE spiritual Truth that all Scriptural types pointed to, was Jesus the Christ, the Son of God! It does not take much searching, if one is at all familiar with the Story of the people of God, to notice quite a few blatant parallels between the life of Moses and the life of Jesus! Starting in verse 15 of the first chapter, we see a parallel between the two; whereas Herod had all the male children under a certain age killed, so the Pharaoh tried to have all the male children killed. Now granted, the stories do not run exactly parallel, but the main storyline is the same. Herod had the children killed a millennia or so after this part of the story, to try to rid himself of any contenders for his throne, while the Pharaoh tried to have the Hebrew children killed in order to prevent the nation from growing too strong and overthrowing, through whatever means, his throne; when you think about it, there’s not a lot of difference there.

After Moses is saved from perishing ( along with countless others? ) by the Hebrew midwives, and is adopted by the Pharaoh’s daughter; we aren’t given any information about him until roughly 40 years  have passed, and again, it isn’t long before he is in danger again, and this time flees to the land of Midian ( more parallels? ), and remains there, in the wilderness, for another 40 years. While Moses is residing in the wilderness of Midian, he has been busy tending the sheep ( more parallels ) of his father-in-law. Another parallel that we can’t miss here, in the wilderness sojourn of Moses, is the fact that he  drew water from the well for many, in opposition to those who stood in the way ( see related story  in John 4 )! The day finally comes, though, when God reveals Himself to Moses in a very frightening and personal way; the famous burning bush! After a good deal of whining and complaining on Moses’ part, he finally agreed to return to Egypt to free his brethren, but only after God told him that his brother Aaron would be pleased to go with him, and yet another parallel; God told him, much as He told Joseph about 12-1500 years later, as recorded in Matthew 2:20, ‘Go, return ……………for all the men who sought your life are dead.’

Reading this story; one may notice the parallels, as well, to Jesus’ reception among His people. When Moses and Aaron appeared in the land of Egypt with the accompanying signs and the blessing of God, or YHWH, they were received, as Jesus was at first, with much joy, and praise, but when persecution began to arise because of opposition to the freedom that was preached, God’s people began to complain and even to turn against their Promised Savior!

Beginning in chapter 6, and verses 14-25, the author once again seemingly interrupts the story to give yet another short account of the Levitical lineage of Moses and Aaron, much as he had given a short account of those who came into Egypt with their father, Israel, or Jacob. Why is it important that we understand, at this point in the story, that both Moses and Aaron were of the line of Levi? As the story unfolds, and God begins to reveal His Law to His people, we will begin to see why it is important that Moses and Aaron belonged to the tribe of Levi. It is interesting to note, however, that as the author begins to relate the lineage of Israel, he begins, as at the beginning of the book, with Reuben, and so on, but when he gets to Levi, he does something different; first, he gives Levi’s age, and he begins to recount the progeny of Levi, including the birth of Aaron and Moses, and the marriage of Aaron,, and ending with the heads of the tribe of Levi. Yet another interesting fact that we might note here, is that, not unlike Matthew’s Gospel  account of the lineage of Jesus, concerning the notable reference to the background of certain of the women in His ancestry, the author makes clear that the mother of them both was technically their great-aunt, since their father married his own fathers sister, seemingly in direct opposition to the Law as recorded in Leviticus 18:12, ‘You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father’s sister: she is your father’s near kinswoman’. Even so, the age of their father is recorded as being equal to that of Levi!

As we move quickly through this book; we should note, as we come upon the plagues that were visited upon the land of Egypt, that these plagues, for the most part, serve as harbingers of those unveiled in the book of Revelation. It is against the enemies of His people that God brings plagues like these, destruction and annihilation!

As Moses and Aaron begin their ministry to the children of Israel in earnest, and perform before the Pharaoh the signs that God had given to Moses; as promised, the Pharaoh’s heart is hardened towards them and their pleas, and so God begins to bring upon him and his people, his land, the plagues that He had kept in store for those who oppose Him, His people and His purpose!

The order of the plagues should be noted here, the first being in the water, which, as is clear, is of necessity to sustain life. Interestingly enough, though, the magicians of the Pharaoh’s court are able to duplicate this sign and the people of Egypt are able to bypass this plague by simply digging next to the river. This in itself could engender some interesting questions!

The second plague involved the bringing up from this very river, which had apparently been healed after seven days, a multitude of frogs, which, as we can tell from The Revelation of Jesus Christ, chapter 16, verse 13, are indicative, in the prophetic Scriptures, of evil spirits. The magicians again, though not surprisingly, were able to follow this miracle with their own loosing of evil spirits, or frogs. You may note here, though, that the magicians were not able to rescind this curse ( 8:8 ), nor were the people able to bypass it, as with the waters of life. The Pharaoh, though his heart remains hard, is beginning to realize that here is something beyond his power, or even that of his magicians.

Yahweh ( YHWH ) now begins to affect a curse of the fruit of the ground, the first miracle that the magicians are not able to duplicate. This plague, which affected both man and beast upon the land, involved ‘lice’, which, as we are familiar with, are scavengers and disease-laden insects.

In the midst of this plague, which by all accounts is never removed, Yahweh looses yet another plague upon the land; this plague, though related to the previous one, with hordes of flies, yet another harbinger of disease, is the first one where God began to set His people apart, making clear to the Pharaoh that ‘I will put a division between my people and your people’. It is after this realization that the Pharaoh seems to have learned his lesson, for he says ‘Go, sacrifice to your God in the land!’. This, however, was not quite what Yahweh had commanded, and so the plagues must continue.

Moses now reveals to the Pharaoh that ‘the hand of Yahweh is on your livestock which are in the field, on the horses, on the donkeys, on the camels, on the herds, and on the flocks with a very grievous pestilence’, again making a saving distinction between His people and those of the rebellious Pharaoh. Interesting to note here, is the fact that it is recorded in the next few verses that ‘all the livestock of Egypt died’, even though the next plague affects, once again, both man and animal. More reason, you might say, to view this as something more than just a historical account!

The next plague, though, seems to come directly from ‘heaven’ itself; ashes, a universal sign of mourning, are scattered into the air, and become boils, breaking out on both man and animal, although we may safely assume that, yet again, God’s own people, the children of Israel were spared from the effects of this plague!

Because the Pharaoh refused, once again, to soften his heart, and to spare his own people further decimation; Yahweh unleashed yet another curse directly from ‘heaven’! This time, judgment came in the form of a grievous hail, a hail which would again destroy ‘man and animal’ ( 9:19 ). This time however; Yahweh offered the Pharaoh and his suffering people an ‘out’: whoever would heed the Voice of the Lord, and bring their livestock under shelter would be saved from the effects of this plague. Some of the people were beginning to receive the Message, gathered their livestock in, and thus were spared! Now, it is revealed that, not only would this affect all in whom was ‘the breath of life’ ( Genesis 6:17 ); this time even ‘every herb of the field’, or the food supply, would be cut short!

After Yahweh’s famous revelation to the Pharaoh that ‘for this cause I have made you stand: to show you my power, and that my name may be declared throughout all the earth’ ( Referenced in Romans 9:17 ), and because of his refusal to heed the Word of the Lord; this plague came upon his land, and he seemed to soften his heart ( at least, for the moment ), for he told Moses, ‘I will let you go, and you shall stay no longer’! Yet again, though, after Yahweh had lifted the curse of the hail, as He had promised, the Pharaoh hardened his heart, and refusing to humble himself before the Almighty, disdained to let the people go!

As we have progressed through these plagues, you may have noticed that these plagues, for the most part, are almost exactly repeated in the book of Revelation. The next plague visited upon the Egyptians is nothing different, for now the Lord released one of the most devastating plagues yet, a horde of consuming locusts. These locusts proceeded to eat whatever the hail had left ( which probably wasn’t much ); ‘There remained nothing green, either tree or herb of the field, through all the land of Egypt’; Egypt was desolate, and again the Pharaoh was seemingly brought to his knees, but when God took away the plague of locusts, his heart was hardened, and he refused to let the people go.

Though the Pharaoh had previously been given a chance ( a warning ) prior to all the other plagues, he received no such warning this time; the lights went out! As with certain of the other plagues, though, God’s people were spared this inconvenience, for ‘all the children of Israel had light in their dwellings’. I believe that the Pharaoh must have been receiving the message loud and clear by this time, but because of the stubbornness of his own sinful heart, every time God took away the plague, his heart was hardened.

Through the hardness of the Pharaoh’s heart; God would unleash one more prophetic plague on the land, and this plague would be the deadliest of all; in this plague, God promised to kill every firstborn in the land, both man and animal would die. After repeating this prophecy, a prophecy which would boomerang on this same people a millennia and a half ( give or take ) later, Moses leaves the presence of the Pharaoh, and the author gives the people of God a set of instructions on how they are to act to preserve their own lives, and the Passover feast that they are to observe yearly, as a memorial to the way that Yahweh had passed over their homes when He struck the firstborn of all Egypt.

Thus we see the actual Exodus begin, with the story of how the children of Israel ‘despoiled the Egyptians’ ( plundered them ), and how Yahweh led them by way of the wilderness, ‘Lest perhaps the people change their minds when they see war, and they return to Egypt’ and how He became to them ‘a pillar of cloud’ by day, and ‘a pillar of fire’ by night, in order to lead them safely through the wilderness.

As we move through this book, on the way to the giving of the Law at Sinai, we begin to see a pattern emerge, a pattern which would lead to the final revelation of the True ‘Israel of God’, the destruction of the false people of God, and the fulfillment, in the True Firstborn, of all the types that were given under this Sinai, or Mosaic covenant.

This pattern, really one of self-destruction, was a lack of trust. Though they had seen the great and awesome works of Yahweh, as soon as they encountered opposition, they began to complain and bewail their comfortable servitude, and to forget about the freedom that had been promised and given. This eventually led, through many captivities, and much tribulation, to the complete annihilation of their descendants as the special people of God, and their downfall as a nation, in the wasting of their land, and the destruction of their City and Temple in AD70!

With Yahweh’s mighty deliverance of His people, and the now-famous ‘Song of Moses’ ringing in their ears, the wilderness journey of the children of Israel was underway.  Their first trial in the wilderness, interestingly enough, involved water.  When they finally came upon some water, after three days of travel; it was so bitter that they could not drink it, and when they complained about it, Yahweh, through Moses, showed them a certain tree that they could throw into the water, upon which they were able to drink, for the water was made sweet, and palatable.

After Yahweh had tested them thus with the waters of Marah, He reiterated His promise to them, saying, ‘If you will diligently listen to the voice of Yahweh your God, and will do that which is right in his eyes, and will pay attention to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you, which I have put on the Egyptians; for I am Yahweh who heals you’, and brought them to an oasis, which symbolized the fulfillment of His promises to them: it had twelve springs of water, one for every tribe of Israel, and had seventy palm trees, offering shelter, shade, and picturing His perfect rest!

It was after they left this oasis of perfect rest, and entered into the wilderness of Sin, that they again encountered temptation, for, becoming hungry, they again complained, and God graciously rained ‘bread from the sky’ for them. On top of that, He also provided meat for them to eat, though this came only in the evenings, while the bread, which they called manna, appeared on the ground with the morning dew.

A note we might make here, and a most important one at that, is that, whereas the meat, in the form of quail, was delivered to them every evening, the manna, which was white ( Revelation 2:17 ) like ‘coriander seed’, appeared ‘morning by morning’ ( 16:21 ( Lamentations 3:22 ). This distinction that is made between the evenings and the mornings is significant of the blessings of the old and new covenants, and as the author here focuses mostly on the manna, which came from the sky, or ‘heaven’, and mentions only once the quail which was provided in the evening, he shows, even here, how the new is better than the old, and the second than the first!

The author also makes another important note at this juncture, how the children of Israel wandered this deserted land for a symbolic and prophetic forty years, fed by this bread from heaven!

Now we come to another most interesting occurrence, the place where Moses was commanded to ‘strike the rock’. The same rod with which Moses had turned the waters of the Nile into blood, and with which had parted the waters of the sea so that the children of Israel crossed on dry land, Yahweh now used to bring water from the rock to give drink to His thirsty sheep!

Beginning at chapter 17, and verse 8; we now read how the children of Israel came into contact with the first form of armed resistance that they had faced thus far. After deliverance from the Amalekites through divinely appointed means, it should have been clear to Israel that their God was the True and Living God, but how quick they were to forget His Promise, and to turn to their own ways, as we shall see!

Sometime after the battle with Amalek, in which Yahweh had told Moses ‘I will utterly blot out the memory of Amalek from under the sky’; Moses’ father-in-law, Jethro, the priest of Midian , showed up at the Israelite encampment with Moses estranged wife and two sons, both of whom bear significant names, Gershom, which means ‘a sojourner there’ and Eliezer, which means ‘God is my help’. Jethro, when he heard of the way that God had delivered the children of Israel; gave praise to Yahweh as the One True God, and advised Moses on how to better judge His people.

We now come to ‘to the mountain that may be touched, and that burned with fire’ ( Hebrews 12:18 ), to Mount Sinai, the terrible and awesome site where God came down to speak to His people. Reading through this text, you may note the ‘third day’ reference, and the fact that they were to remain at a distance; they were not to touch the mountain lest they die. They were also to purify themselves in preparation for meeting their God.

The Ten Commandments

The giving of the Law on Mount Sinai is likely one of the most well-known, or at least revered, and possibly most misunderstood passages in the Hebrew Scriptures.  This Law, and we’ll not go into a lot of commentary on it, pointed to the coming Messiah, as Paul later wrote concerning it, ‘the law was our schoolmaster to bring us to Christ’ ( Galatians 3:24 ). There is much commentary going around today, among a growing number of Christians, in regards to the keeping, in a very literal way almost, of these Ten Commandments, and while Yahweh did give them to His people to be kept, there are several things we must keep in mind, the first being the words of the Son of God Himself, Jesus, the Christ. He, when asked what the great commandment of the Law was, summed it up perfectly, precisely, and concisely: He said ‘You will love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with your entire mind. This is the first and great commandment’, and a second, which is like it, ‘You will love your neighbor as yourself’; on these two commandments, He said, ‘hang all the law and the prophets’. Following these two commandments, we do keep God’s Law. By truly loving God, we do not worship idols, by loving God, we do keep His Sabbath, which is fulfilled in Jesus, and by loving our neighbor as ourselves, we will not murder them, by loving our neighbor as ourselves, we will not commit adultery against or steal from them; as Paul again said ‘love is the fulfilling of the law’.

When the people saw the lightning, heard the thunder, and felt the earthquake that were indicative of the terrible and awesome Presence of God, they cried to Moses, ‘Speak with us yourself, and we will listen; but don’t let God speak with us, lest we die’. Fear was a great factor, physical fear, anyway, not fear of a Godly sort, played a big role in the events that would transpire over the next millennia or so!

After the most famous and familiar giving of the Law on Sinai, Yahweh, through Moses, gave further instruction to the children of Israel, most of which is seen to be specific to the Israelites, although most of these further commandments should be seen as pointing to a greater spiritual truth, and applicable in some way, to all the people of God in all ages.

It is important to note here too, that after the giving of the Law to His people; God revealed Himself to them, for the author next records that ‘They saw God, and ate and drank’, ‘they’ being Moses, Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel.

The Temple of God

                       

We now come to another very important and prophetic text in the book, that of the instructions for building the tabernacle. First, we read a lengthy and detailed description of the furnishings of this temporary sanctuary, beginning with the ark of the Presence, then the table for the Bread of the Presence, with which to symbolically feed His people, and finally, the lamp stand, with seven lamps ( note the number of completeness, or perfection ), to shine a Light for His people!

Beginning in chapter 26, we read another lengthy and very precise set of instructions on how, and with what materials this tabernacle, or temporary dwelling of God, is to be constructed. After these basic instructions on the construction of the tabernacle; Yahweh gave Moses instruction on how a veil is to be made and hung in a certain way so as to make a divider between two rooms, ‘the veil shall separate the holy place from the most holy for you’ ( 26:33 ). This veil, typical, as well, of the Messiah, would appear in the later construction of the Temple, and would eventually be torn apart, signifying that the way into the Holiest, or the Presence of God, was now open; no more dividing curtain!

The altar of burnt offering was ordered next, then the hangings for the court of the tabernacle, and the olive oil for the lamps, which the children of Israel were to beat from the olives, and to keep the lamps continually shining its Light!

Now for the Image of God that was to minister within His new Temple! Yahweh next commanded Moses to bring Aaron and his sons before Him, to sanctify them for the service of the tabernacle. First, with great pains, the author describes the clothing that would be worn by the priests, with special garments and other accoutrements for the high priest alone. He was to bear on his shoulders two stones which were engraved with the names of the twelve tribes of Israel, for, ‘Aaron shall bear their names before Yahweh on his two shoulders for a memorial’. As the true High Priest, which Aaron now prefigured, Jesus the Christ would bear, not just the names, but the sins of His people, as He made the one final sacrifice!

When the tabernacle, the priests, and the sacrifices were all prepared; Yahweh then gave Moses very explicit instructions on how the offerings were to be presented, and when. All these instructions were given to Moses during his forty day and forty night sojourn on the mountain, at the end of which he was delivered the tablets of testimony, upon which these commandments and instructions were written by the finger of God.

While Moses was up on the mountain with God, the people were not idle. Because he had remained out of their sight for this long time, the children of Israel complained, this time to Aaron, who seemed to have a more ready ear. When he had done their bidding, and made an idol for them, he announced, ‘These are your gods, Israel, which brought you up out of the land of Egypt’. When Yahweh saw this, He was ready to destroy them and to raise up in their place a people for His name from the loins of Moses, but Moses pleaded with God; ‘Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants, to whom you swore by your own self, and said to them, ‘I will multiply your seed as the stars of the sky, and all this land that I have spoken of I will give to your seed, and they shall inherit it forever’. Upon hearing these bold words, and heeding the pleas of His servant Moses; Yahweh relented, and promised to spare them at that time, but, He said, ‘in the day when I punish, I will punish them for their sin’. This day finally came, when in AD70; He destroyed them from His Covenant in AD70, with the destruction of Jerusalem, their holy city, and the Temple.

After the episode of ‘The Golden Calf’; even though Yahweh relented from destroying His people at that time, He refused to go the rest of the way with them on their wilderness journey, lest, He said, ‘I consume you in the way’ ( Hebrews 10:29 ). It is significant that at this time, and from Sinai onward, the people wore their jewelry no more!

At this point, the author finds it necessary to introduce us to the fact that Moses would set the tabernacle of meeting, or the Tent, outside the camp. As Moses reasons with God, face to face, as with a friend, we find that Yahweh prophesies the true Rest that He gives; He promised Moses, ‘My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest’. It is at this time that Yahweh reveals His true glory to Moses, but only a small part of it, for, Yahweh said, ‘man may not see me and live’. After Moses had received a glimpse of the glory of God, he was called up to the mountain of God once again, to receive the ten commandments of Israel’s God, but this time, he was to prepare the tablets himself and carry them up to Yahweh on the mountain.

When Moses had received these ten commandments written in stone, which Yahweh had reiterated to him on the mountain, he descended once again to the people, after a symbolic and prophetic forty days and forty nights, with a face that shone so the people were not able to bear it!

Moses finally relayed the Law that Yahweh had given him on the mountain, along with the instructions for the construction of the tabernacle, the furnishings for it, and the priestly garments for the service of it, all of which pointed forward  to the true Temple, the True Priest, and the true service of God!

The book of Exodus, as discussed earlier, is more than just a story of how Yahweh delivered, through Moses, His people from the bondage and servitude of Egypt, though it is that and more! The story of the Exodus is a story of the deliverance of the people of God from bondage to sin and death, through the ministration of the New Moses, or as Paul puts it, ‘the last Adam’ ( I Corinthians 15:48 ). As we read this story with the understanding that it does not stand alone, but is merely a part of the Greatest Story Ever Told, we may realize how, no matter what the case may be about the date, authorship, or historicity of the account, that it was given I such a way as to reveal a most important truth!

In His Service,

Charles Haddon Shank

God in a Box?

Many Christians today seem to have 'taken the tack' that God is here, but not there, pertinent to this area of life, but not that, ruling and reigning, up there, in that realm, but not here, in this one. We seem to have swallowed 'hook, line and sinker', the notion ( usually unspoken ) that the Presence of God is limited, on this earth, anyway, to the four walls of a church-house ( I don't say 'building', but 'house', because it is not always a 'building' which 'houses' the Church of God )!

Those Christians that act like the realm of God ( 'Heaven' ) is present on earth only when and where His people are gathered for worship, and/or to partake of 'The Lord's Supper', have, in essence confined their Creator ( as far as they're concerned ) to the four walls of any given church building ( as long as the right denomination meets there ), or proclaimed that the Presence of God dwells between the pages of the 'Holy Bible' ( usually KJV )!

With this notion as their basis many Christians have become functionally atheistic and well-nigh useless as the Body of Christ on earth!

The main reason that our country is in the shape she is in, is because Christians of all eras have relegated God ( as if He can be relegated ) to this area of life, but not that. Take the civil realm, for instance, what is commonly referred to as 'the political realm': 'Politics', and 'politicians' have come to be dirty words, and while politics is sometimes a 'dirty business', it is so only because Christians, for as long as we can remember, have abdicated their position as 'rulers with God' ( Israel ), and, voting for 'the lesser of two evils', have engendered a change of what should be 'sacred', to what is now known as 'secular'.

From the beginning, this was not so, and really is still not so, even though the enemies of God and His people have done their best, sometimes with the  unwitting help of God's people, to make it look and feel like it is, and should be. Should there be a 'separation of church and state'? Well, yes and no; without going into a long history of the battles that have been waged, and the wars that have been lost, both over the lack of this separation, or because of this separation, it is certain that any man-driven religion, such as Roman Catholicism or Calvinism, for that matter, should not have absolute authority over the affairs of ( any ) state. On the other hand, the Body of Christ, which spans the globe, and is not confined to any specific country, or boundary, SHOULD be bringing their authority to bear, not only in the 'civil realm', but  in all areas of life!

To be fair; there have been as many, or more Christians in the past, and are even now, who, acting contrary almost, to their theology and doctrines, have done their utmost for His highest! Even with a false eschatology, and often a weak ( at best ) theology, many foreign missionaries, both at home and abroad, have done much for the advancement of His Kingdom on earth, and have been blessed by God! As many more though, particularly in this county, but mostly as a result of interaction, both directly and indirectly, with other nations, have taken the tack listed above, that of limiting God's interaction with His own Creation, and thus His power and authority over said creation.

Most Christians would probably look at you with much aghast if you were to accuse them of this, and would quickly defend their beliefs with a lot of 'mush-gush', or even a fairly strong theology, but then return, as soon as you walked away, to their life, with God in this box over here, politics and the civil realm over here, their personal life over here, and so on and so forth.

Praises be to God our Father; more and more Christians are waking up from their slumber, and realizing where a theology and doctrine such as that outlined above often leads!

With the knowledge and realization that there should be no difference between 'sacred' and 'secular', no separation of Church and state, no religious realm versus political realm, we must, as the people of God, and rulers with Him, begin, once more, to act upon this knowledge and belief, and take back what rightfully belongs to us; 'This is Our Father's World', and we are His children, though hopefully, no longer children!

Actively praying and believing,
Charles Haddon Shank

The Covenant Family ( Birds & Bees ) Revised and Expanded

A covenant, as defined in most any modern dictionary, is 'an agreement between two or more persons'. Most people, Christians, even, are very familiar with this definition, and so for years, a covenant has been defined as such. Our forefathers made covenants of this sort, compacting together, agreeing to do one thing, and to not do another. Marriage unions are formed this way. Whether the vows are spoken before a Justice of the Peace, or before a congregation of God's holy people; there is an agreement made between a man and a woman, and a covenant formed before the God of the universe!

As you may have heard before, 'covenant relationship, to one extent or another, is essential to all of life'! Physically ( biologically ), a simple example can be taken from the human fetus, that new life which is formed through the covenantal union ( sexual ) of the aforementioned man and woman, now husband and wife. We all know the story of 'the birds & the bees', so we won't go into all the beautiful ( but x-rated ) details here, but when the sperm enters the egg, and the new child begins to form in the womb of the mother, the necessary elements must be present for that child to grow and thrive. This is covenant, and although some might prefer to use the word relational, or relationship, this simple truth holds for all of life. Without the necessary nutrients, any form of life, as is witnessed everyday, will shrivel up and blow away.

In society today, even Christian society, you may hear covenant described as 'a type of contract; an agreement between two or more persons to do or not do something specified.' As we are used to thinking, especially in modern-day America, and even earlier, from the founding fathers, a covenant is 'a solemn agreement between the members of a body politic to act together in harmony with the precepts of the gospel.', but biblically speaking, a covenant, while it does include sanctions, and subsequent blessings or cursings, is not so much an agreement to be kept, as a life to be lived!

A family, while it can be entered into legally, aside from birth, and usually by agreement, is formed by the union of a husband and wife, and any children who come from that union. An outsider, one not actually born into that family, may become a part of that family through the process of adoption, usually by the agreement of the child's legal guardians or birth-parents. Although not a part of that family by birth, the adopted child legally becomes one of the family, and subject to the covenant, or laws, of that family.

The Removal of the Curse

You may have heard it said, 'eschatology matters'; well, it does! We are used to hearing, most often, and even reading, that the covenant God made at Sinai with the children of Israel, was indicative of an agreement between Him and His people, whereby He would do certain things if they did certain others. From this point point of view, that is true: Deuteronomy 28 famously describes what would occur if God's Law was obeyed or disobeyed. If it was obeyed, kept and followed, they would receive blessings, and if they disobeyed, they would receive cursings. Through the Revelation of Jesus Christ, and The New Covenant, we see things somewhat differently; because of the removal of the curse, we no longer must fear the curse when we fail to obey every jot and tittle, as those children did under the first covenant ( Hebrews 8:7 ). If we continually disobey, as many of them did, and fell in the wilderness ( Hebrews 3:17 ), we will reap the consequences of what we sow, whether it be a stubbed toe or a failed marriage, even physical harm. If we do not continue in disobedience to that Covenant, but turn in repentance, and live in obedience to that Covenant into which we were born, we will enjoy the benefits of the blessed Presence of our Creator!

Blessed Union 

It is much the same in our earthly families; when we obey our father and mother, our progenitors, we reap the benefits and blessings of that most holy union, but when we fail to obey the covenant of our home, we reap what we sow, in that we will not enjoy the blessings of our relationship, or covenant. We must realize, even though, that just like our heavenly Father, they still love us in spite of our failings, and will continue to show familial, though maybe strained ( or is that 'pained '? ) love toward us, in hopes of bringing us back into a blessed relationship with them!


When a man and women covenant together, whether it is simply a contractual agreement, or truly a covenant to become one, the result of that union, as God has blessed it, is children; children who then grow into men and women themselves. The child, however, having no part, in actuality, in this agreement, this covenant, reaps the benefits of the relationship with the parents, and as the child grows, through the choices that child makes, will either enjoy the blessings of obedience, or the consequences of disobedience. As with our heavenly Father, we know that, even when we fail to obey our family covenant ( 'yes, Virginia; I said 'family covenant' ), our parents still love us, even though it becomes necessary either to teach us the right way through the board of education applied to the seat of knowledge, or whether, as the child grows older, the parents simply exercise tough love by allowing their child to reap what they have sowed!

Our Father in Heaven deals with His errant children in much the same way. Although the curse has been reversed, and we now approach our Creator by a new and living way, the cursings and blessings of Deuteronomy 28 hold true as well today as yesterday! Yes, having been born into The New Covenant, and thus members by birth of the family of God, we still undergo discipline, suffering the consequences of our actions, reaping what we sow when we fail to keep the Covenant of our Family. When we live according to that Covenant, maintaining a good relationship with our Creator, we are blessed with all the constituent elements ( all that is needed ) for Life!

The Covenant Family then, whether it is blood related, or Blood related ( by natural birth or spiritual birth ), must adhere to some sort of covenant or it will not survive. I realize that we all fail ( as a human being myself, I can attest to that fact ), but when we do, if we do not founder in our failure, or continue in the same direction, but repent and return to the right path, we may, once again, enjoy the benefits of blessed relationship with our Family. If, however, we continue in our disobedience, and founder in our failure, we will continue to reap the adverse consequences of our action, will become separated from our Family, and will no longer enjoy the blessed Presence of our God and Father!

So as not to end on a bad note; let us always enjoy the covenant Life that we have been blessed with, by maintaining a good relationship with each other as fellow members of the covenant family, and with our Creator, from Whom all life comes!

Charles Haddon Shank

Blowin' in the Wind......................

No, this is not a doctrinal statement; this is a statement, however, and inextricably linked to doctrine: God is awesome!

I know I've written before on this subject, and have been accused of walking around, metaphorically, with my head in the clouds, and to a large extent, and looming larger all the time, this is true; right or wrong, I have lately turned ( my eyes have always been drawn toward the beauty in the 'heavens' ) back to enjoying and greatly appreciating the beauteous canvas that our Creator has spread for us in that vast expanse that we call the sky!

Clouds, throughout the prophetic Scriptures, have been indicative of the judgment of God, whether for good or evil. Clouds indicate then, more concisely and precisely, the Presence of God, the glory cloud, as is seen throughout Scripture, and much talked about in theological circles.

I have mentioned before, the fact that I enjoy gazing at and photographing the clouds, 'God's handiwork', because 'clouds don't talk back': in one sense this is true, but on the other hand; clouds speak volumes. When you stop and think about it, the way that God has spread this ever-changing canvas is an amazing sermon on the way that God has ordered His Kingdom; we like to think that we are on this planet, in this world, doing our own thing, and even if we are working for the glory of God, and striving to advance His Kingdom; we often get the idea that we are not blowing in the wind, that we know better than what God may have in store for us!

The Answer, My Friend.......

One thing that I enjoy ( and actually, truthfully, get a little perturbed by, sometimes ) about that most lovely and almost mesmerizing of God's creations, is that they are forever changing! Not to get too scientific about it; clouds, like something else we could mention, are but a vapor; it doesn't take much, relatively speaking, to change their whole demeanor, or pattern, from something beautiful, into something even breath-taking!

The Presence of God is also indicated in Scripture by the wind, although this is maybe a less familiar theme than the cloud. The first example, of course, is the divine wind, or Spirit of God, that hovered over the face-less waters of the deep, in the creation account of Genesis 1. In Ezekiel's vision of the resurrection of Israel, the wind is very active, being called upon to bring life to those who were dead.

This life is much like the clouds, when it comes right down to it: we go through this life, to one extent or the other, taking the bull by the horns, or staunchly and simply riding the storm out, but no matter how we choose to face it; the outcome is ultimately in God's capable and infinitely mysterious hands! As much as we like to think 'I can do this', or, 'we can handle this', it is God that has determined the outcome ( for our good ) and who blows us into the pattern, and onto the course that we eventually take. We have a choice, don't get me wrong, but we must remember that we are 'blowin' in the wind'; it is how we face that Wind that determines how we enjoy this life, and whether we are always open to change to the new shape or location, even dissipation, that God has in store for us!

Thankfully,
Charles Haddon Shank

Paulbots? ( the resurrection of common sense )

First off; what IS a Paulbot? To plagiaristically quote a certain funnyman, 'if you love liberty more than the cold comfort of slavery, you might be a Paulbot'! Is the younger generation acting like a bunch of robots, following the teachings of Dr. Paul because 'it's the cool thing to do', or are they dissatisfied with the way things are, and have latched onto 'Ronbo' because they see some relief in what he proposes?

Ron Paul did not originate the ideas that have begun to seep back into this nation of sheep, which has been so comfortable under the rod of tyranny and oppression for so long, but for those few who have labored with their blood, sweat, and tears, under the persecution of the God-hating 'statists'; Ron Paul is indeed, 'a breath of fresh air'. For those under the age of 30; he is simply the anastasis, or resurrection, of  'common sense'.

After receiving several wake-up calls, and being startled from my comfort zone, I have begun, as a good Christian should do, to involve myself more and more in the realm of politics, not only ( but especially ) of the state/local area in which I reside, but of this nation as well. I have often said, particularly in the past year or so, that the great thing about Ron Paul, is that it is not just Ron Paul; it is an idea, an ideal, to be more precise, and one which is the closest that we have gotten in quite some time, to the ideals which our forefathers espoused, and for which they fought ( and won ) with their 'blood, sweat, and tears'. These freedoms, some of which we still enjoy, have been, to a large extent, either completely lost, are drastically altered as to be almost unrecognizable as such!!

To call these brave young people, who seem to be almost fanatical, at times, 'Paulbots', basically saying they're mindless robots, following 'Dr. No's' lead, is tantamount to saying that some of our founding fathers ( not much older, if any ) were 'Benbots', or Thombots'! No, they were lovers of liberty, just like many of our young people today, who have taken up the reins of liberty, where their fathers and grandfathers dropped the ball! I will admit that there are some of this crowd ( okay, a good many ) who have not built their doctrine of liberty on the foundation of our liberty in Christ, and even those who have, are steeped in a futurist, almost a defeatist eschatology, but I believe that as these young people begin to seriously study the narrow avenue of liberty, this too will be resolved. As for those who have simply latched on to the freedoms that we have, for the most part, begun to take for granted, and hence have lost, without building their doctrine on the foundation of our God-given liberty; it is up to us, as the Body of Christ, and heirs of that true freedom, to gently show them a better way!

Ron Paul's motives, as well as those of his so-called 'Paulbots', may be called into question, although, to be fair, the motives of any one of us may be questioned, and that concerning any subject, not just politics. I will be the first to admit that Ron Paul is not perfect, but as a follower of Jesus Christ; I believe that of all the choices out there; he is best qualified to lead this country back to where she should be, that of being a light to the nations.

Thoughtfully,
Charles Haddon Shank

A Model of Prayer

Our Father in heaven,
Hallowed be Your name.
Your kingdom come.
Your will be done
On earth as [ it is ] in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts,
As we forgive our debtors.
And do not lead us into temptation,
But deliver us from the evil one.
For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.

When Jesus, at the request of His disciples, told them, 'In this manner, therefore, pray', it should be clearly evident that He was not saying that they must pray these exact words, but that they should look for, and therefore work for, His will to be done, and His Kingdom to come 'On earth as [ it is ] in heaven'.

Eschatologically speaking; Jesus was speaking directly to those present, in reference to the 'heavens and earth' of the Jewish, or Old Covenant ( 'first covenant'-Hebrews 8:7 ) economy, for it was in the fall of Jerusalem and the Temple, and the demise of that sacrificial system that the last vestiges of the first covenant were destroyed forever and the Kingdom of Jesus the Christ was fully implemented. This Kingdom, prophesied in places like Daniel 2, was to be a progressive Kingdom, gradually filling the entire creation. 

Although the above is true; we can still model our prayers accordingly, realizing that though His Kingdom has come 'On earth as.......in heaven, and He has forgiven the sin of His people, we are His servants, His ambassadors, you might say, to bring His Kingdom to bear, through bearing the same fruit in our own lives, acting as He taught us!


As we implement these principles, first in our own life, then the life of our family and the larger covenant community, the Church, and through all of the above, in the realm of civil government, or politics, then, and only then, will we see the blessings for which Jesus taught us to pray. This is not to say that 'Heaven' has not been brought to earth, for this happened at the Advent and Revelation of Jesus, the Son of God; as God revealed to Nebuchadnezzar through Daniel ( 2:35b ), 'the stone that struck the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth': this is/was God's doing, but it is through us, 'living stones' ( I Peter 2:4-6 ) and 'a kingdom of priests' ( Exodus 19:6 ( Revelation 5:10 ) that He has chose to advance His Kingdom!

Forgiveness=Love, Love=Forgiveness


Jesus began to teach them how they ( we ) should pray, by telling them first of all, that we should give Him due reverence ( 'Hallowed be Your name' ), then most holy and humble deference ( 'Your kingdom come.
Your will be done' ), then allows for petition, both for necessary sustenance, and necessary protection.

Forgiveness is an integral part of love, as you may have heard, and from a human standpoint especially, this is true; if we cannot forgive those whom we are to love, we will not truly love them, even if our actions toward them show a 'kind' of love.The Love that God showed us, however, WAS Forgiveness itself! It was through His forgiveness of the sins of His people that God showed His Love for us, and through His Love that He showed His forgiveness. 'We love Him^[b] because He first loved us' ( I John 4:19 ); it was because of this Love, embodied in Jesus the Christ, and the forgiveness of our sins, that we are enabled to forgive, and thus to love!

We then acknowledge why we revere Him, and acknowledge that it is His Kingdom, His alone the power, His alone the glory. Through our forgiveness of our brother ( sister, father, mother ), we show the Love that He showed us, and thus His Kingdom is advanced!

Let us continually seek the glory of His Kingdom, acknowledging that it is only through His Love, His Forgiveness, and His power, that we can work to do this. Let us forget our own glory, our power, our own strength, for aside from His; we have none!  

In His Name,
Charles Haddon Shank

God is Love!

We are all quite familiar, if not with the exact reference ( I John 4:8; I had to look it up too ), at least with this very revealing phrase, but what exactly, does it mean?

Like many other such phrases, we 'bandy' those three words, 'I love you' about, often without really thinking about what they truly mean. Many often mistake the feeling, whether a companionable, warm feeling, or one more akin to a lustful feeling, emanating ( rising ) from some sexual urge, and most usually, rising to the occasion and creating a big mess! While true love can result, and should result in the first of these feelings, and often, depending on many different circumstances, in the second; love, first and foremost, is an action. James said, as I've been known to quote before, 'faith without works is dead': he goes on later to say 'show me your faith without ( doing ) works, and I will show you my faith by ( doing ) my works'. As faith without works is dead, so love without action is useless, and dead; this is where the choice comes in: there comes ( 'trust me, I'm a doctor' ) a time in every relationship where we don't feel love, anymore, for our mate, or spouse, in my case, the wife of my youth. When this happens, we have a choice before us! Do we go with our feelings, which by this time, may have turned to feelings of distrust, dislike, disgust, or even hate, or do we, because God loved ( us ), choose, because of our commitment, and love for God, continue to actively love that person?

I have said before, maybe in other words, and at other times, 'if you tell your wife every day that you love her ( I know, I can cry 'mea culpa' here ), how can she trust your words unless you show, by doing things for her, with her, etc., that you truly mean what you say, that you love her?' How is she to know, unless she sees it with her own eyes, feels your gentle touch with her own body, that you love her? Here is where the kinship between feelings and an active love comes in; a truly active love, depending, again, on circumstances, like to whom it is directed, will, as it should, most often result in the release of those sexual urges, while, in other cases, it is more akin to a brotherly ( or  sisterly ) affection, which again, if true, will result in action ( of a different sort )!

'God is love'; okay, we get it, but do we really? Try looking at it this way; 'God is Love, Love is God': while love may seem to be just another aspect of the nature of God ( and it is that, an aspect of His nature ), it is so much more than that! Many have asserted the proposition, or position that, because we have become one with God, and God is Love, we therefore, are Love as well. To some extent, this is true; we have become one with our Creator, through marriage to His Son, and thus with God Himself, but we are not God, and only love finitely, whereas He IS Love, infinitely! God, in His very essence, along with many other attributes, is Love itself! If we do not have a right relationship with Love itself, how can we truly love others? The apostle John put it this way; 'If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can^[c] he love God whom he has not seen?' ( I John 4:20 ) I believe that this cuts both ways; if one does not love, or know true Love, how can he truly love another? God is Love, therefore, without God, there is no love, except what is often mistaken for love, and more often masquerades, sometimes quite successfully as love, feelings! To paraphrase a certain Scripture, 'feelings fade, but the Love of God lives ( abides ) forever'!

The way we feel toward a person, whether that person is our father, mother, brother, sister, spouse, can change, usually on a mere whim, and sometimes from day to day ( 'I don't like you today; go away!' Ever hear that? ), but the Love of God, and thus Love Itself, never changes!

'In' Love, being loved, and loving,
Charles Haddon Shank

Rabid Evangelicalism ( individualism )

In society at large today, there is a growing number of Christians who are seemingly swallowing the separation of church and state 'hook, line, and sinker'. Thankfully, there is also a growing number who are beginning to see the utter vanity, indeed the danger of this proposition. It is God's Church, after all, of which He is in full and total control!

Many Christians seem to be afraid to venture into certain areas of discussion, even ( maybe 'especially' ) with other believers, for the sake of unity.  A question, though, that needs to be asked; 'can there be true Christian unity, when there is no unity of faith ( as opposed to mere, simple belief )? A good friend of mine recently posed this question, 'How can one who lives honestly and who despises covetousness have any "unity" with one who presses the civil authority to plunder, lie and steal?' Can we agree to disagree on such a matter? I think an honest interpretation of Scriptural principles would tell us that we cannot! There is right and there is wrong, and right can only be right, while wrong can only be wrong. As we often tell our children, when faced with a situation of, 'well, he/she did it first'; 'two wrongs don't make a right'! Our Lord's brother put it this way, 'Does a spring send forth fresh water and bitter from the same opening? Can a fig tree, my brethren, bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Thus no spring yields both salt water and fresh.^[b]' We are commanded to bring every thought ( this would include 'word and action' ) into captivity to God ( II Corinthians 10:5 ), so how can we say, 'that's a different realm, we have no authority there'? 'I mean, doesn't Revelation 22;11 say 'He who is unjust, let him be unjust still; he who is filthy, let him be filthy still; he who is righteous, let him be righteous still; he who is holy, let him be holy still'?' Well, sure; it does say that, but, aside from pulling that statement out of its historical context, to apply this statement to our situation today, and use it as an excuse to stay out of the 'political' realm, so as not to dirty our hands ( so to speak ); flies in the face of Jesus' commands!

The apostle Paul asked the question, 'what communion has light with darkness?' ( II Corinthians 6:15b ), and tells us, 'have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose [ them ]' ( Ephesians 5:11 ). How are we to have true unity if one believes that we can, on one hand, collaborate with 'the darkness' and on the other, claim to be the 'light of the world'? Some believe that we can straddle this fence. It seems that they think that just by being there and shaking our head and rolling our eyes at their silliness, we can make a difference. Better not voice too much disapproval though, or we might lose our favored 501 ( c ) 3 status!

Much of today's church, what might be called 'that inhabited by a rabid evangelicalism', has become such because of bad theology, or a wrong understanding of God and Who He is, based on a faulty interpretation of the revelation of His Word.  One simple example of this is our foreign policy, which, for the most part, and again, because of a faulty interpretation of certain Scriptures, is fully supported by many evangelical leaders. Much of the reason, I won't say all, for this unfailingly blind support, at least for the war in the Middle East involving the nation/state of Israel, in the ancient land of Palestine, is based on the belief that the promises of God given to Abram and his descendants were of a physical, rather than a spiritual nature. The apostle Paul, in numerous letters to the Church, clearly states that the promises made to Abraham were of a spiritual, rather than a physical nature ( although these promises, the land promises, in particular, can be shown to have seen their fulfillment to that 'generation' ). Several examples where Paul clearly states this are Romans 2:28 & 29, where he wrote, 'he is not a Jew who [ is one ] outwardly, nor [ is ] circumcision that which [ is ] outward in the flesh', and 'circumcision [ is that ] of the heart, in the Spirit, not in the letter'. Later on in this letter ( 9:8 ), he wrote, 'those who [ are ] the children of the flesh, these [ are ] not the children of God; but the children of the promise are counted as the seed'. In his letter to the Galatians: the apostle, at the inspiration of the Holy Spirit of God, implied strongly that the physical signs and seals given under the old covenant, were simply shadows, or pictures, previews, if you will, of the greater spiritual realities of the New Covenant in Christ. He wrote ( 3:29 ), 'if you [ are ] Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise' ( see also 3:7 ). Later, in Galatians 4:24-26; we read that, 'these are the^[d] two covenants: the one from Mount Sinai which gives birth to bondage, which is Hagar-for this Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia, and corresponds to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children-but the Jerusalem above is free, which is the mother of us all'. In his letter to the Ephesians ( 3:16 ), Paul prayed 'that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man', 'the mystery', he wrote, 'which in other ages was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to His holy apostles and prophets'.

'Isn't it a bit harsh to call modern evangelicals 'rabid?'

First of all; I did not say that all modern evangelicals are 'rabid', or even that evangelicals at all, in part or in whole, are 'rabid' ( ie, just because one is evangelical, does not mean that one is 'rabid' )! The rabidness depends, in large part, on the nature of the individual. Many seem to have the notion that, if you don't believe exactly the way they do, ascribe to their doctrinal 'stance', or even attend the same church they do, then you may not be headed for 'heaven' and are likely not even worth their time. There are many evangelicals out there who practice their faith, relying, not so much on what one believes, but on what one does ( 'You will know them by their fruits' ( Matthew 7:15-20 ) as to whether one is 'in the faith' or not. Although these most often have a somewhat misguided doctrine in some areas, eschatology, for instance, they are true to their evangelical 'faith', working to bring God's Kingdom 'on earth as [ it is ] in heaven' ( Luke 11:2c ). Others have taken the bait, and have latched onto an individualistic interpretation of Scripture, one which is even harder to avoid with an almost full-scale worship of statism. This individualism, I believe, as opposed to a covenantal approach, is largely at fault for a misunderstanding of many Scriptures, and the adoption of the idea that it is more important what you believe than what you do, at least, outside the four walls of the church ( building )! While it is important that one believes certain things, in that one usually acts according to one's beliefs, it is of utmost importance that one do the right thing, else, as James said, 'Show me your faith without your^[d] works, and I will show you my faith by my^[e] works' ( James 2:18b ). 'Even the demons believe', James said, so if one simply believes, but does not act accordingly, 'this one’s religion is useless' ( James 1:26 ).

Individuality, don't get me wrong, is a good thing, and something to be celebrated, but individualism is not a good thing, and must be avoided at all costs! As individual members of the Body of Christ, we are, in that sense, One ( corporate ) Body, but, while we retain our individuality, we must realize that it is not about individual human beings; it is about the Body of Christ: it was not individual human beings, random persons who would accept Him, for whom Christ died, and shed His precious blood, it was for His people that God sent of Himself and 'bore our sins in His own body on the tree'( I Peter 2:24a ).

Thus, I am not, by any means, saying that our individuality should go out the window since we, 'being many, are one body' ( although certain aspects of it should ). The marriage bond, at its basis, is identical to the covenant between us and God, for as God said in Genesis 2:24, 'they shall become one flesh'. Now we know that when a man and a woman are joined in marriage, they do not actually become one body, or one person. They are both individuals, one a male and one a female, with different ( and inter-locking ), but complimentary parts. But this is the analogy that Paul uses of Christ and the Church in Ephesians 5:32. Though we have become One with Christ, having joined Him in the spiritual marriage covenant, we are still individuals. We all have differing gifts, different parts, and when we work together as One Body, which we are, regardless, it is a beautiful thing; God is glorified, and we experience heaven on earth!

The Danger of Individualism!

I recently heard a saying, and you may have heard this before too; 'the only good 'ism' is a prism'! Evangelicals, as I said earlier, are not a bad thing; we are to evangelize ( spread the good news ), whether by sharing our thoughts, words, or deeds ( mostly, hopefully, by our deeds! ), but when the point of the whole operation comes down to 'being saved', or 'pulling them out of the fire' ( Jude 1:23 ), it becomes pointless, having become 'evangelicalism'. As discussed before, the difference between individuality and individualism is quite marked; one is a product of God, one is a doctrine of demons, er, man! There are many other 'isms' that could be mentioned here, and when you really think about it, add 'ism' to any doctrine, or theology, and it is proven to be, not only man-based, but man-centered!

Individualism is dangerous for several different reasons: first, it puts the focus more on the individual 'getting saved', etc., than on the salvation that Jesus wrought for His people ( Matthew 1:21 ), and secondly, it tends to focus more on what the individual MUST do, rather than on what Jesus ( God ) did! This is not, again, to say that the individual has no choice, or responsibility in the matter, but the fact is; if indeed Christ died for a certain people ( 'His People' ), and gave them 'a new heart and...........a new spirit' ( Ezekiel 36:25-27 ), then, because of the redeeming work of the Holy Spirit ( God ), they WILL make that choice, having been given, not only individually, but as we read about in  the following chapter ( 37 ), corporately, as a Body, the Body of Israel, 'a heart of flesh', not one of stone, which is not mold-able or pliable, but can be broken when trying to shape.

Individuality, again, and even the celebration of it, is a good thing; we are all different people ( thank God )! We each have a part to play; that's the way God has designed it, I believe, each one doing his part to make one perfect ( completed ) whole. Think of Henry Ford's success with the assembly line.When we live in communion, as One Body in Christ ( as the Body of Christ, more precisely ), even though we all have differing gifts, and may even have our own ( individual ) little 'quirks', then the Body of Christ functions as it should, honoring it's Head! When we do do not act in communion as we should; errors abound, not least of which is the abomination known as 'divorce'!

Prayerfully,
Charles Haddon Shank

Statement of Belief

I believe

1. I believe and trust in the One, True, Eternal God, the great I AM; Who always has been, and always will be.

1a. I believe; although I am not willing to be divisive about it, that the Father and Son together, make One holy Spirit!

( Genesis 1:1 & 2, John 1:1-3, Genesis 6:3, Exodus 31:3, Numbers 11:25, Deuteronomy 34:9 ( Proverbs 1:20 ) II Samuel 23:2, I Chronicles 12:18, Nehemiah 9:20, Job 26:13 ( 33:4 ), Psalm 51:11 ( 104:30 ), Psalm 139:7, Proverbs 1:23, Isaiah 11:2 ( Luke 4:18 ), Isaiah 32:15 ( Joel 2:28, Isaiah 44:3, Ezekiel 39:29, Zechariah 12:14, Matthew 12:18, Acts 8:17 ( Acts 10:45 ), Ezekiel 3:12-14, Ezekiel 36:24-28 ( 11:19 ), Daniel 4:8 ( 5:11 ), Micah 2:7 ( 3:8 ), Haggai 2:5, Zechariah 4:6, Malachi 2:15, Matthew 1:18, 3:16, 10:18-20 ( Mark 13:11 ), 12:28, Luke 1:15 ( 1:35 ), 3:22, 10:21, John 1:33 ( 3:5 ), 4:24 ( 6:63, Genesis 2:7 ), 14:17 ( 14:23 ), 20:22 ( Genesis 2:7, Romans 8:2, Galatians 5:25 ), Acts 2:4 ( 2:17, Joel 2:28 ), 8:39, Romans 2:29, 7:6, 8:9-11, 15:13, I Corinthians 2:10, 6:19 ( John 14:23, Ephesians 2:22 ), 10:4, 12:1-13, II Corinthians 1:21 &; 22 ( 5:5, Galatians 5:5, Ephesians 1:15, 4:30 ), 3:17, 13:14, Galatians 3:3, 4:6 ( 4:29 ), Ephesians 1:17, 2:18, Philippians 1:19, I Thessalonians 4:8, I Timothy 3:16, Titus 3:5, Hebrews 3:7 ( Psalm 95:7 ), 10:29, James 4:5 ( Ezekiel 39:25, 36:5 & 6 ), I Peter 1:11, 3:18, I John 4:2, 5:6-8, Revelation 2:7, 22:17 )


2. I believe that this One, True God created the worlds*, and that nothing in His creation happens without His all-powerful Hand.

( Genesis 1:1-2, Job 1:6-12, Isaiah 45:7, Romans 9:1-29, 11:32-36, Galatians 4:4, John 1:1-3 )



3. I believe that the Father sent His only begotten Son to the earth, when, as prophesied in Holy Scripture, the Holy Spirit came upon the virgin, Mary, who bore, of her own flesh and body, our Lord Jesus Christ.

3a. I believe, though again, I am not willing to make it a point of division, that God sent of Himself, to become human, to dwell among us, as a foreshadow of His  Presence ( John 14:23 ). He Himself impregnated a virgin to produce an 'Immaculate Conception', in order to consummate, in a type, the marriage of heaven and earth..

( Genesis 3:15, Isaiah 7:14, 9:6, 61:1 ( Jeremiah 31 ), Luke 1:26-39, John 1:14, Hebrews 2:17, Revelation 14:4 )



4. I believe that this Seed, Jesus Christ, born according to the flesh, suffered a normal* human existence, until He was sacrificed as the propitiation for the sins of His people, who had broken covenant relationship with Him.

( Isaiah 53:2-6, Luke 2:21-51, John 11:49-50, I John 4:9 & 10, Daniel 9:4-19,  Hebrews 4:15, Hosea 2:5, Judges 10:13, Jeremiah 2:13 )



4a. I believe that, in God's Eternal Covenant, this once-for-all sacrifice of His Son, Jesus Christ, was ordained before the worlds were formed.

( Genesis 1:26, John 1:1-3, Genesis 3:15, Revelation 13:8, Isaiah 53:10, I Peter 1:20 )



5. I believe that this one, final sacrifice was sufficient to cleanse His people from all blood-guiltiness, and to bring His people into the Kingdom of Heaven, and back into relationship with Him..

( Isaiah 53:4-12, Psalm 51:7-12, II Corinthians 12:9, Hebrews 7:25-27, II Thessalonians 1:5, I Peter 2:9 )




5a. I believe that the Holy Spirit of God must first open our 'eyes' to the fact that He has made us a 'new creation' in Him, before we will acknowledge Him and His redemptive work as fulfilled in His people.

( Romans 10:10-15, Philippians 3:8-11, Psalm 51, Ezekiel 36:25-27, 11:19 & 20, Colossians 1:9, Titus 3:5, Genesis 3* )



6. I believe that the Christ died, that He was forsaken by the Father, that His physical body was buried in the grave, and that after three days, He rose again, in His physical body* along with many of the saints who had fallen asleep, and ascended, in a cloud, to the glory He had forsaken for a time, at which time He began His reign, which according to Scripture*, will last forever!

( Matthew 27:46, Psalm 22, Luke 23:50-55, 11:51, Psalm 16:10, John 2:19-22, Matthew 27:52 & 53, Acts 1:9-11, Daniel 7:13 & 14, Revelation 20:4, 22:1-5, Hebrews 8:8-12, Isa. 60:19 & 20, II Peter 1:11 )



7. I believe He returned to that same wicked generation, as the Scriptures prophesied, to judge apostate* Israel, and to open the way for the new and better covenant, through the destruction of the Jewish Temple and the changing of the covenant economy.

( Matthew 10:23, 16:28, Matthew 24, 26:64, Luke 17:20-37, Isaiah 1:25,26, 5:24, John 4:19-24, Hebrews 7:18-22, 8:1 & 2 )



8. I believe in one baptism; that of and by the Holy Spirit, and with fire*.

( Ephesians 4:5, John 1:26-33, Luke 3:16, Psalm 66:11 & 12, I Samuel 16:13, Psalm 104:30, 143:10, Proverbs 1:23, Isaiah 42:5 ( 44:3 ), 59:21, Ezekiel 36:26 & 27, 37:14, Joel 2:28 & 29, Micah 3:8, Zechariah 12:10, Matthew 1:18-20, 3:11, Mark 12:36 ( Psalm 1:10:1 ), Mark 13:11, Luke 1:15, 3:16, 10:21, John 1:32, 3:5, 6:63, 16:13, 20:22 ( Genesis 2:7 )



9. I believe in a spiritual communion of the saints ( the Body of Christ ), by means of fellowship and worship of the One, True God, in Spirit and in Truth.

( Matthew 18:20, Acts 20:7, Romans 14:17-21, Leviticus 26:12, John 4:23 & 24, I Corinthians 2:14, I Peter 2:5 )



10. I believe that, as time goes by, sanctified ( Spirit-led ) man will will be awakened to knowledge of the One, True God, and in His righteousness, and that, finally, all knees will bow before God, and acknowledge Him as Lord and Creator.

( II Corinthians 9:10, Isaiah 9:7, Colossians 1:9,10, Philippians 2:10, Isaiah 45:23, Revelation 13:8 )



by God's Grace

Charles Shank



1*. questionable, this portion not found in certain older texts.

2*. universe

4* common to all human beings.

6*. His human body, I believe was reanimated when He rose from the tomb, but shed when He ascended to the Father.* Luke 19:12-27

7*. their rejection of Christ was the final "straw" ( read Josephus' "Antiquities" for more info ).

8*. trials, tribulation.

The Sons of God and the Son of God

Both of these phrases should be very familiar to my readers, in the first case, traditionally referring to those who were brought into covenant with their Creator through the formation of the heavens and earth as recorded in Genesis 1 & 2 ( Genesis 5, Deuteronomy 7:14 ), and then to those who were adopted into the family of God through the Revelation of His Son, the true Covenant ( Romans 11, Galatians 4:5, Ephesians 1:5 ) , and in the second case, the phrase 'Son of God' refers traditionally to that very Covenant ( Isaiah 42:6 & 49:8 ), to Jesus, who was the Christ, the Anointed One who became flesh in order to save His people from the sin and the death of Adam.

The first direct reference to these 'sons of God' that we find in the Hebrew Scriptures ( Genesis 6:2 ), is where we find that these 'sons of God' had union and pro-created with those 'daughters of men', the women of the surrounding nations who had no knowledge of their Creator. Some have speculated in the past, and I believe there is still the misguided notion in some circles, that these 'sons of God' referred to male spirit beings who impregnated female human beings. This is a ridiculous notion, and should be discarded 'out of hand'! In reference to this speculation, and related to it, or most likely the cause of it, is where in Job 1:6, this phrase is used to refer to those 'sons of God' ( 'Satan' among them ( ? ) who presented themselves before God on some regular basis.

In the New Testament, or Greek Scriptures, this phrase referred to those who had entered into covenant with God by virtue of their adoption, or by their creation as 'the sons of God' ( II Corinthians 5:17 ). Jesus, in His 'Sermon on the Mount', as recorded in Matthew 5:9, said 'Blessed [ are ] the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God'. When confronted by the Sadducees about a question concerning the resurrection ( which they didn't even believe in ); Jesus told them that 'those who are counted worthy to attain that age', as opposed to the present age, the age in which they were living, 'are equal to the angels and are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection' ( Luke 20:34-36 ). In the 8th chapter of the book of Romans, verses 14 &19, Paul wrote in much the same manner, saying that 'as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God', and furthermore, that 'the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God'. These 'sons of God' were about to be ( Greek, 'mello' ) revealed in the first century, with the final Revelation of the True Covenant, the Son of God!

Throughout, in particular, the apostle Paul's letters, we find numerous references to the fact that we are 'the Body of Christ'. I do not believe that this is just Paul's way of saying that we have metaphorically become 'a dwelling place of God in the Spirit' ( Ephesians 2:22 ), or even that we are subservient to Him, as He is 'the head of the body' ( Colossians 1:18 ( Ephesians 5:23 ), although these are both glorious facts; I believe that Paul is saying, along with the whole record of Scripture, that, as the Body of Christ, we ARE the veritable 'Son of God', and in that sense divine, though not divinity in the sense that He is the Creator and we the creature, or created ones!

Old Testament Reference to 'the Son of God'

Most famous, probably, is Hosea 11:1; 'When Israel [ was ] a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called My son', and when Matthew quoted this passage in his Gospel ( 2:15 ) concerning the escape of the child Jesus from the murderous Herod, we can see that, while Hosea is looking back to the escape of the children of Israel from the bondage and slavery of Egypt, Matthew correctly read this as a prophecy of the true Son of God, who would lead His people out of the true bondage and slavery,that of the sin and the death of Adam.

Although the above is most likely the clearest reference to 'the Israel of God' ( Galatians 6:16 ) being 'one' ( Genesis 2:24 ) with 'the Son of God'; we see Adam ( the first Adam ( I Corinthians 15:45 ), in Luke's genealogy ( chapter 3 ) referenced as '[ the son ] of God'. Now granted; the words found in brackets may not be in the original Greek manuscripts, but the idea is there, that as all the others listed were the natural sons ( begotten ) of those listed after them, so the First Adam was truly 'the son of God'! The First Adam, as a historical figure, was a type of the Last, or True Adam, He who would be revealed as the true 'Son of God, the Head of 'the Israel of God'!

 We've already seen most of the Old Testament references to 'the sons of God', but as I've mentioned in the past, I believe; I find it rather interesting that one these 'sons of God', Ezekiel by name, was often called by the name that Jesus 'adopted', calling Himself the 'Son of Man'..

I am not trying to argue here, or make the case that, as certain sects would say, we become gods ( although Jesus does quote from the Psalms ( 82:6 ), 'I said, “You [ are ] gods, and all of you [ are ] children of the Most High', in John 10:34. As I said earlier, 'He is the Creator and we the creature'; we do not become the Creator, although we do have union with Him, and in that sense, become One!

New Testament Reference to the Sons of God

The Apostle Paul, being the most prolific writer in what became the Greek, or New Testament Scriptures, had therefore, much to say about 'the sons of God'. Speaking of the 'age to come', wherein the people of God would once again enjoy union with Him, and the sweet fellowship of His Living Presence; Paul wrote to the followers of Christ in Rome, 'And it shall come to pass in the place where it was said to them, ‘You [ are ] not My people,’ there they shall be called sons of the living God', quoting Hosea 1:10.

Paul further wrote, in Galatians 3:26, 'For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus'. Although we are not, in this sense, as the Creed says, 'begotten of the Father before all worlds', and as John 1:18, 3:16 & 18 ( Hebrews 11:17 ), and I John 4:9 say, His 'only begotten Son'; we are yet, in a very similar, yet very different sense, begotten of God. As sons of God by adoption, you might say, and the apostle says as much, we have, as Jesus told Nicodemus on that most memorable night long ago, in a place far from here ( and yet near, at the same time ), entered His Kingdom, having been 'born of........the Spirit' . In John 3:5, Jesus told Nicodemus, 'Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God'. Nicodemus thought that by virtue of his natural birth, as did most, if not all Jews, that one was a son of the Living God, and therefore able to enter His Kingdom, but Jesus set the record straight, telling him, in other words, 'Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit' ( Zechariah 4:6 ). It is only though His power, and not through any vain planning of our own that we became 'the sons of God'!

The Myth of Individuality

Especially in the modern church, but pervading today's society and culture as well, is this notion of individuality, as some have put it, 'me and Jesus', or 'my faith is between me and my God'; 'it's personal'! While all of this is certainly true, in a sense, ( God is a personal ( maybe 'personable' would be a better term? ), and it is true that we are individuals, and that each of us must make the choice of whether to follow the leading of the Spirit or to live in 'Hades'; it was not individual sinners, in that sense, that the Son of God came to save! Some of my readers have no doubt heard this before, or rather seen in my writings, but Matthew 1:21 tells us that Jesus came to 'save His people from their sins'. True; as 'His people' is constituted of individuals, even those who have not yet known, or reconciled with their Father; as the apostle Paul again wrote, 'we, [ being ] many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another' ( Romans 12:5 ). Although we are individuals, and each one of us makes our own individual choices; it is not just 'me and Jesus': as part of the Body of Christ, our faith is not a private matter 'between me and my God'. We are accountable, not only to God, and to Jesus Christ as our Head, but we must remember that as 'members of one another', we are accountable to each other as well! If we claim, individualistically, that we are accountable to God alone, and that only He can judge us, not only will His 'judgment' fall hardest on us, but our life will not be blessed by the communion of the Body of Christ, because we will have basically become our own god, deciding ( interpreting ) for ourselves what is right and what is wrong!

I have mentioned this before, but John 3:16 is probably one of the most famous, as well as most misinterpreted and misunderstood passages ( especially when it comes to soteriology ).

First of all; we must realize that Jesus was nearing the end of His conversation with Nicodemus, in which He had been addressing a specific problem that Nicodemus, as a representative of the Jewish school of thought, had presented. Without rehashing much of the ground that we have already trod, let me just say that Nicodemus was also coming at the problem from an individualistic point of view; 'How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?' This tells us, among other things, that even though he was very familiar with the prophecies of the new birth, or resurrection of Israel, he truly did not understand what Jesus was saying; Jesus was simply stating, in other words, what prophets, like Ezekiel in Ezekiel 37, had spoken of.. Neither Jesus, nor the apostles, were saying anything new, but only what had been concealed in the Hebrew Scriptures, writings which the leaders of that rebellious generation were very familiar with!

Secondly; we must understand, as I just hinted at, that the 'world', of which Jesus spoke in this famous verse, was not the 'world' that we are used to thinking of! God does, no doubt, love His entire created 'order', and while that 'created order' is made up of individuals; Jesus was addressing a specific problem in this conversation, and was referring, in that context, to the 'created order', the 'world' of Nicodemus, and the Jewish economy, for as we saw, Jesus came to 'save His people from their sins'!

Thirdly, and finally; we must look at this passage, or verse, from the covenantal point of view, which is necessary to a correct understanding of all of Scripture. Note that 'God so loved the world', in the first part of this wonderful, but often misleading statement, which is later qualified with 'whoever believes'. This again ties in with what I wrote earlier, about keeping in mind passages like Ezekiel 37, where, although individual bones came together, making up individual bodies, it was the Body of Israel that was signified as being raised from the dead, or born again; as Paul, again, said in I Corinthians 15:36, 'what you sow is not made alive unless it dies'.


The Scriptures are a 'covenant document' from Genesis to Revelation, and so, I believe, must be read with this in mind, if we are to correctly understand them! Proof-texting is yet another problem that is and has been prevalent in the Church, as regards this individualistic way of thinking. No Scripture can be correctly interpreted without examining other like Scriptures: another way of saying this is, 'no Scripture stands on its own'! Like Solomon the Preacher said, '[ there is ] nothing new under the sun'. It's all been said and done before; what God did in the New Covenant ( Jesus ), was to renew His original creation, not make a whole new one!


'For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.'

Read individualistically, we are presented here with a potentially omnipotent ( but closer to impotent ) God who, because of His great love for every individual in the world, sent His Son to die for that world, all the while wringing His hands, hoping against hope...................oh wait, He has foreknowledge too, so He knows that not all will believe.............hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm............. 


From a covenantal point of view, though; we see an omnipotently sovereign God who, because of His love for His people, sent His Son to die for their ( yes, our ) sins, that, yes, whoever, as part of His Body, or People believe in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. Through covenant lenses; we also see things like the fact that it is not simply belief in Him that brings us into communion with Him ( everlasting life 
): 'No', James said, 'Even the demons believe' ( James 2:19 ). It is only when we act rightly, according to that belief, that we have communion with our Creator and enjoy His Presence forevermore!


We are thus presented with a choice; as 'sons of God', will we live individualistically, bumbling through this drama that we call life, trying to make sure that everyone for whom Christ died ( 'the world' ) believes in Him, and thus 'holding His hand', so to speak; or will we live covenantally, bringing every aspect of life ( our life ) in subjection to Him, not just existing, but participating in His Kingdom, which has been brought from heaven to earth, knowing that He has, through His Advent ( life, death, and resurrection ) completed His work of salvation, and now dwells with in and through His people!


Let us, as 'sons of God', so conduct ourselves in His Kingdom, as to present the 'Son of God' ( with Whom we have Union ) before those who have not yet entered the City, and to build up the Body in which we partake!


A 'Son of God',
Charles Haddon Shank

The Sanctity of Marriage

Some people out there, not necessarily any of my regular readers, might be thinking, 'yeah, you really shouldn't be spouting about the sanctity of marriage'! Well, maybe I have no business doing so, but after hearing this morning about the people of North Carolina passing a constitutional amendment banning same-sex unions, or 'marriages'. I decided to 'jump on the bandwagon'!

Did you know that '4 out of 5 'Christian' divorcees hate homosexuals for ruining the sanctity of marriage'? Being one of those divorced persons myself; I can say that I must be the 1 out of 5 that doesn't hold that against homosexuals! Now, please don't get me wrong; I'm not saying that I love the things homosexuals do ( although sometimes, I think they act more Christ-like than many 'Christians' ); on the contrary, I abhor that death-style, and believe that they are flagrantly 'thumbing their noses' at God and His institution of marriage ( union ) between a man and a woman. One way to put it is, 'God brought Eve to Adam, not Steve to Adam'.

Following somewhat of a rabbit-trail here, viewing some of VP Biden's remarks this morning on this subject, I read, 'I just think that the good news is that as more and more Americans come to understand what this is all about, it is a simple proposition: Who do you love? Who do you love? And will you be loyal to the person who love?' There is much talk from those who are either homosexual, or at least pro-homosexual ( or pro-choice ) about 'love'. What is love? I have asked that question in several articles that I have written on the subject, and I have come to the conclusion that, as Scripture says, 'love [ is ] the fulfillment of the law' ( Romans 13:10 ). Just prior to this startling ( to some ) statement, Paul stated that 'Love does no harm to a neighbor'. Love, as I have discussed in the aforementioned articles, is an action, and not so much a feeling. Although most of us naturally and usually act on our feelings, those actions are not always right, because our feelings are not always correct. If we, however, act according to what God has revealed to us through His Word, then we are truly acting in love, and not just having warm feelings for our brother one day, and giving him the 'cold shoulder' the next, based on our 'roller-coaster feelings'!

In other news, and the most recent addition to our subject, the restaurant chain 'Chick-fil-a' has recently come into the headlines for their admittedly admirable stand for traditional marriage, and against same-sex 'union' ( what 'union' can there be between two people of the same sex; surely not physical: more later.... )! How many managers/employees of Chick-fil-a, do you suppose, have ruined the sanctity of marriage by divorcing their spouse for an unbiblical, even wanton reason?

Back to the subject now; you must see the irony in any 'Christian' who denounces anyone else, homosexual or not, for 'ruining the sanctity of marriage' ( being divorced myself, as I said; I can say this, pointing at least four fingers at myself ). What is the 'sanctity of marriage', except, as Paul wrote, a picture, or example ( earthly ) of  'Christ and the church' ( Ephesians 5:32 ). When we, as Christians, base our marriages and, God forbid, divorces, on our feelings, and not on the Word of God, then we make a mockery of this institution!

Many have come out, in defense almost, of those who feel free to pursue this, or other 'death-styles', saying things like, 'well, one sin is no worse than another, so we shouldn't condemn'! In a sense, they're right; we shouldn't condemn homosexuality over divorce, when it comes to 'the sanctity of marriage'. As Scripture does give allowance for divorce, though ( Matthew 19:1-10 ), although He still hates it ( Malachi 2:16 ); nowhere does Scripture make allowance for homosexuality, or more correctly, 'sodomy'! The practice of homosexuality runs in direct opposition to God's Revealed Will, and therefore should be opposed, itself, at every turn, but is it truly homosexuals and their push of the recognition of same-sex unions that are ruining 'the sanctity of marriage', or is it those of us who divorce 'for [ just ] any reason', Christian or not, who are turning the picture of  'Christ and the church' into a laughable ideal?

Writing to myself more than anybody else,
Charles Haddon Shank