january/february 2009s3.amazonaws.com/cggpdf/4rnr1801.pdf · duce a pattern of life that results in...

22222 JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2009

january/february 2009volume 18, number 1

3PERSONAL PERSONAL PERSONAL PERSONAL PERSONAL frfrfrfrfrom John Wom John Wom John Wom John Wom John W. Ritenbaugh. Ritenbaugh. Ritenbaugh. Ritenbaugh. RitenbaughThe Fifth Commandment

6READY ANSWERREADY ANSWERREADY ANSWERREADY ANSWERREADY ANSWERWill Christ Find Faith?BY JOHN REID

8WORLDWAWORLDWAWORLDWAWORLDWAWORLDWATTTTTCHCHCHCHCHSo Much for Global WarmingBY RICHARD T. RITENBAUGH

10PROPHECY WAPROPHECY WAPROPHECY WAPROPHECY WAPROPHECY WATTTTTCHCHCHCHCHThe Marriage of the LambBY JOHN H. PLUNKETT

16BIBLE STUDYBIBLE STUDYBIBLE STUDYBIBLE STUDYBIBLE STUDYThe Miracles of Jesus Christ:Healing a Centurion’s Servant (Part Two)BY MARTIN G. COLLINS

forerunnerE D I T O RE D I T O RE D I T O RE D I T O RE D I T O R -IN-CHIEF-IN-CHIEF-IN-CHIEF-IN-CHIEF-IN-CHIEFJOHN W. RITENBAUGH

MANAGING EDITORMANAGING EDITORMANAGING EDITORMANAGING EDITORMANAGING EDITORRICHARD T. RITENBAUGH

ASSOCIATE EDITORASSOCIATE EDITORASSOCIATE EDITORASSOCIATE EDITORASSOCIATE EDITORMARTIN G. COLLINS

DESIGN EDITORDESIGN EDITORDESIGN EDITORDESIGN EDITORDESIGN EDITORKRISTEN M. COLLINS

NEWS EDITORNEWS EDITORNEWS EDITORNEWS EDITORNEWS EDITORDAVID C. GRABBE

C I R C U L A T I O NC I R C U L A T I O NC I R C U L A T I O NC I R C U L A T I O NC I R C U L A T I O NDIANE R. MCIVER

P R O O F R E A D E R SP R O O F R E A D E R SP R O O F R E A D E R SP R O O F R E A D E R SP R O O F R E A D E R SPHYLLIS FORDCINDY HINDSDIANE MCIVERJOHN PLUNKETT

CONTR IBUT ING WR ITERSCONTR IBUT ING WR ITERSCONTR IBUT ING WR ITERSCONTR IBUT ING WR ITERSCONTR IBUT ING WR ITERSMARK BAKERJAMES BEAUBELLEJOSEPH BOWLINGTED E. BOWLINGBILL CHERRYCARL CHILDSDAN ELMORECLYDE FINKLEAMIKE FORDRONNY H. GRAHAMWILLIAM GRAYPAT HIGGINS

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coverThe family has been an enduringinstitution throughout history. In fact,God ordained the family at creation withthe marriage of Adam and Eve in theGarden of Eden, and it has been a hallmarkof the rise of great civilizations eversince. Conversely, when families crumble,so does society. Is that why God createdfamilies? Or is there more to it? What isGod’s purpose for the family? The answersare found in studying the principles of thefifth commandment.i S tockpho toiS tockpho toiS tockpho toiS tockpho toiS tockpho to

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personal from John W. Ritenbaugh

Moses writes in Deuteronomy 4:39-40:

Therefore know this day, and consider it inyour heart, that the LORD Himself is God inheaven above and on the earth beneath; thereis no other. You shall therefore keep Hisstatutes and His commandments which I com-mand you today, that it may go well with youand with your children after you, and that youmay prolong your days in the land which theLORD your God is giving you for all time.

Among this world’s versions of what is com-monly called “Christianity,” keeping God’s com-mandments is considered with varying degrees ofsuspicion, at the least, all the way to some beingoutright hostile, almost as if keeping them weresome kind of a curse. Yet, God Himself urges Hischildren to keep them “that it may go well with[them].” He does not say that keeping them willproduce spiritual salvation, but that they will pro-duce a pattern of life that results in stability, safety,and enjoyment in personal and community life.

This series on the Ten Commandments beganwith the statement that the commandments seemto be arranged in an order, beginning with the mostimportant. That is, they start with the one that, ifbroken, will inevitably lead to breaking the others,resulting in chaos in a person’s worship of God.

The FifthCommandment

The first commandment presents God as thesovereign Creator and Ruler of His creation. Hewill not allow the worship and honor due to Him tobe given to others because it would only result inmisdirection of life’s purpose, frustration, emo-tional and physical pain, and ultimately death tothose who worship any but Him. It therefore dealswith what we worship. Most of the time, the“god” who gets between the true God and us is theself. We are to worship the Creator, the Author ofa way of life that will produce right relationships.This commandment demands that we make Himthe source of our values and practices.

The second commandment teaches that Hewants no one to be concerned about what Helooks like. He has purposefully hidden this knowl-edge except to tell us that we generally look likeHim. However, we do not know specifics. He hasdone this because physical attributes can be mis-leading about character. In our relationship withHim, He wants us to emphasize the spiritual—Hischaracter, the qualities of His spiritual attributes,and His purpose. The second commandment,then, involves the way we are to worship Him—in spirit and in truth, always aware that man doesnot live by bread alone.

The third commandment emphasizes the holyquality of His character and offices as identifiedby His names. His names reveal what He is. It is


personal The Fifth Commandment

the Christian’s responsibility to adorn and uphold thereputation and glory of all that those names imply. Whenwe were begotten, His Family name—God—becameour Family name! We were baptized by the Spirit of Godinto that name. The third commandment therefore cov-ers the quality of our witness in bearing that name.

The fourth commandment provides the means bywhich His Family members can guard and maintainthings pertaining to His purpose, keeping them alignedwith His creative purpose. The Sabbath provides a moreformal environment for coming to know more clearlythe truth regarding God’s plan, His purpose, His charac-ter and personality, and the right and true goals towardwhich we are to expend time and energy. His Wordshows that when Israel failed to keep the Sabbath, theylost track of the wholesome qualities of His purpose.Sabbath-breaking and idolatry go hand in hand.

The first four commandments define our relationshipwith God. They encompass the magnitude of God’spower and name, and they exhort us to focus our timeand energies on His purpose, plan, character, andpromises, as well as on our vital part in the completionof His creation in us as individuals. He is our all in all.

The Second Tablet BeginsThe fifth commandment begins the second section ofthe ten. It is placed, as the first commandment is towardGod, first among those commands that govern ourrelationships with other men. The effect that keeping orfailing to keep the fifth commandment has on thoserelationships is huge. Not only is it chief in importancein this regard, but it also acts as a bridge between theCommandment’s two sections. This is vital because,when the fifth commandment is properly kept, itleads to reverence for and obedience to God Himself,the ultimate Parent.

As we begin we need to define three importantwords. The commandment as written in Exodus 20:12states, “Honor your father and your mother, that yourdays may be long upon the land which the LORD yourGod is giving you.” The Hebrew word underlying “honor”suggests heaviness, weightiness, severity, and richness,all in a long-lasting, continuing sense. It implies animportant or significant, lifelong responsibility, thus it isused in the sense of honoring, glorifying, imposing, orbeing weighty. As an adjective, it magnifies the implica-tions of a noun. In English, honor means “to give highregard, respect, and esteem to; give special recognitionto; to bring or give respect or credit to; an outwardtoken, sign or act that manifests high regard for.”

Two English synonyms help to focus the implicationsof this commandment. Respect means “to have defer-ential regard for; to treat with propriety and consider-ation; to regard as inviolable.” Reverence indicates “to

show deferential respect.” It is respect turned a notchhigher because it is combined with adoration or awe, ina good sense, or great shame, in a bad one.

It is helpful further to understand that, though thiscommandment is primarily aimed at the function ofparenting, it is certainly not limited to it. The keeping ofthis law also includes within its spirit the honor andrespect that should be given to civil and teaching figures.

Why does God want a person to honor his parents andother authority figures? First, the family is the basicbuilding block of society. The stability of the family isessential to the stability of the community. The morerespectful each family member is of other family mem-bers, especially of parents, the greater the degree ofrespect that will carry beyond the immediate family andinto strengthening the community.

The family is also the basic building block of govern-ment. The lessons and principles learned from honoring,respecting, and submitting to one’s parents result in asociety stable enough to promote the development of thewhole person.

Seeds of a Dysfunctional CommunityIsaiah 3:1-5, 12 provides us this record:

For behold, the Lord, the LORD of hosts, takesaway from Jerusalem and from Judah the stockand the store, the whole supply of bread and thewhole supply of water; the mighty man and theman of war, the judge and the prophet, and thediviner and the elder; the captain of fifty and thehonorable man, the counselor and the skillful arti-san, and the expert enchanter. “I will give childrento be their princes, and babes shall rule over them.The people will be oppressed, everyone by anotherand every one by his neighbor; the child will beinsolent toward the elder, and the base toward thehonorable. . . . As for My people, children are theiroppressors, and women rule over them. O Mypeople! Those who lead you cause you to err, anddestroy the way of your paths.”

The issue in this context concerns adults in positionsof authority, but these adults never truly matured. Whendishonoring parents is taken to an extreme, it producesan anarchy that will reach out to infect the communityas well. “Anarchy” describes an absence of govern-ment; it defines general disorder, a time when eachperson does what is right in his own eyes (Judges 21:25).

Those trained in the home to dishonor parents willresist authority on every front, whether civic authorities,supervisors on the job, teachers in school, or coaches ofa team. Self-centeredness stands at the foundation ofthis action. Those so created will pay little attention to


honoring community standards because they do notrespect them. Thus, they will not discipline themselvesto submit to them. They always think they know what isbest for them and for everybody else too. They willfollow whatever impulse drives them, regardless of howit affects others.

This rebellious liberalism first produces an irritatedgrumbling in others, but it can soon build into generaldisorder and confusion. Ultimately, if unchecked, chaosresults. In due course, a whole culture’s energies areexpended merely to survive, effectively destroying thedevelopment of spiritual, creative, and intellectual quali-ties essential to an individual’s and to society’s well-being. This is the very path America is following.

Immaturity is a direct result of not honoring parents.People of this mindset have a hard time cooperatingbecause their minds are filled with insecurities, they feelthey are being taken advantage of, or they feel driven tocompete in everything. As they age, they feel put upon,and thus become quite defensive. Because such chil-dren are not made to respect their parents’ advice, theygrow up not understanding what truly works, so theylack wisdom. This failure reveals itself in self-will andself-indulgence that can be taken to the point of sheerrebellion. It condemns children to learning the lessons oflife through the hard, harsh experiences of personalwarfare.

Why the Family?The second reason God wants us to learn to honor ourparents is that the family is also the basic building blockof the Kingdom of God. The godly principles learnedand the character built within the human family unit istransferable into the spiritual family relationship of theKingdom of God. God expects a transference fromparents to Him of the character and manner of livingderived from keeping this commandment.

Parents are His representatives, His agents, to beginpreparations for the Kingdom of God. Thus the creativemajesty and power of God is honored and revered in theparents when children obey them. The prophet writes inMalachi 2:10-16:

Have we not all one Father? Has not one Godcreated us? Why do we deal treacherously withone another by profaning the covenant of thefathers? Judah has dealt treacherously, and anabomination has been committed in Israel and inJerusalem, for Judah has profaned the LORD’S holyinstitution which He loves: He has married thedaughter of a foreign god. May the LORD cut offfrom the tents of Jacob the man who does this,being awake and aware, yet who brings an offer-ing to the LORD of hosts!

And this is the second thing you do: You cover thealtar of the LORD with tears, with weeping and

crying; so He does not regard the offering any-more, nor receive it with goodwill from your hands.Yet you say, ‘For what reason?’ Because theLORD has been witness between you and the wifeof your youth, with whom you have dealt treach-erously; yet she is your companion and your wifeby covenant. But did He not make them one,having a remnant of the Spirit? And why one? Heseeks godly offspring. Therefore take heed toyour spirit, and let none deal treacherously withthe wife of his youth. “For the LORD God of Israelsays that He hates divorce, for it covers one’sgarment with violence,” says the LORD of hosts.“Therefore take heed to your spirit, that you do notdeal treacherously.”

This passage is directed toward Judah generally andtoward the priests specifically at a time when theinstitution of marriage was under attack. Idolatrousmarriages with foreign women were common, as wasdivorce. Today, marriage is under attack generally, butspecifically from perverse same-sex unions. The Jewsof Malachi’s day wondered why, despite giving theirofferings to God, they were receiving no blessings fromHim. His answer: their idolatrous marriages and cov-enant-breaking divorces. He specifically states that apurpose of marriage is that He wants godly children tobe produced. These marriages were not producinggodly children.

The Hebrew word that is translated as “godly” iselohim, used here as an adjective. It means “filled withreverence and love for God; devout, pious; belonging toor emanating from God.” Godliness and holiness are notspecifically the same: Godliness is a respectful, rever-ential attitude, while holiness indicates living as Goddoes. As attributes, as qualities of character, they areabsolutely inseparable.

The conclusion is inescapable. After creating Adamand Eve and announcing that He had created them inHis image, God immediately establishes the familythrough marriage. Marriage, therefore, plays an impor-tant role in God’s overall purpose of creating man in Hisimage. This fact provides the fifth commandment withits greatest degree of significance.

Child Training and HolinessNotice the beginnings of two very important chaptersregarding family relationships in the Book of Holiness,Leviticus. The entire book of Leviticus provides spe-cific instruction pertaining directly to the subject ofholiness. Of course, the whole Bible deals with holiness,but no specific section so directly focuses on it regard-ing family and community relations as Leviticus 18-20.

Holiness suggests separation, of being specificallydifferent from others because one is living much as Goddoes. Hebrews 12:14 clearly states its importance:

(continued on page 13)


Will Christ Find Faith?

“Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?”

—Luke 18:8

“Be ready always to give an answer . . .” I Peter 3:15

Luke 18:1-8 contains the Parable of the PersistentWidow. Luke prefaces Jesus’ narration of thestory of the widow’s pestering of the unjust judge

with the comment that our Lord gave this parable specifi-cally to encourage people “to pray and not lose heart.” Thebasic subject of this passage of Scripture deals with thequestion: Will a person ultimately cave in, downcast anddiscouraged, because of the difficulties and trials he facesthroughout his Christian life, forsaking all the truth andopportunities God has given him?

As we approach the Passover, the Days of UnleavenedBread, and the tough times ahead, this should be a focalpoint of our continued examination of ourselves (IICorinthians 13:5). The apostle Paul exhorts us to availourselves of this yearly exercise to verify “whether [we]are in the faith”! He goes on to say that it is good to re-proveto ourselves that Christ is indeed dwelling in us. We shouldcome out of this examination encouraged and thankful,determined to press on despite the troubles before us.

Christ’s parable teaches us that we are to continue topray and not falter or become dejected if our prayers do notseem to be answered right away. We are to come tounderstand that if a request is not granted immediately,God may be testing us, teaching us patience, or working outa purpose we cannot see. We must understand that Heworks on His timetable—not ours—and that He alwaysworks out what is best for us and for our particular situation(Romans 8:28). Our job, then, is to persevere in our faith inGod, always trusting Him in what we ask of Him.

In the parable, we see the widow coming before theunrighteous judge with her complaint, though Christ neverinforms us about its specifics. We do not need to know the

ready answer

details; it could be any grievance. The callous judge has nopity in him, but the widow is so persistent that the judgereasons within himself that he had better avenge her lestshe wear him out with her incessant visits. The phrase“weary me” literally implies striking blows and giving therecipient a pair of black eyes! This was one persistentwoman!

God Will ActIf a reader of this parable is not careful, he could judge Godas being comparable to the unjust judge, that is, that He willnot answer our requests promptly unless we bother Himwith constant pleas for help. Actually, Jesus is contrast-ing the faithfulness of our loving God to the cynical, self-serving, unrighteous judge. The latter is not in any way agood man, but a godless one who is just trying to shieldhimself from being annoyed.

Jesus is trying to get us to realize God’s never-endinglove and faithfulness to His children. We are to see that allthat God is, the judge is not. God is always willing to hearus and to answer our prayers if according to His will. Healways hears the cries of His own elect or chosen ones.Indeed, God will avenge or vindicate His people.

The point is that, if the unjust judge—who could not havecared less for the widow—at length responded to her crymerely to rid himself of her aggravating requests, then shallnot God—who loves His chosen people and gave His Son forus—answer our prayers when we are under trial or in need?

Jesus ends verse 7 with the phrase “though He bearslong with them.” This seems to imply that God bears longwith His people’s cries for help. But this is not the sense.


The pronoun “them” refers, not to God’s elect, but to theiroppressors, whom God endures far longer than we do. TheJamieson, Fausset, and Brown Commentary states:“[T]he meaning is, that although He tolerates these op-pressions for a long time, He will at length interpose inbehalf of His own elect.”

Then, Jesus states emphatically in verse 8, “I tell youthat He will avenge them speedily”! “Speedily” is probablyanother poor choice of words; it is better rendered “sud-denly” or “unexpectedly.” When God’s tolerance of theseoppressors has run its course, He will promptly act at theright time—“out of the blue,” as it were—to deliver Hispeople.

A Question of FaithThen at the end of verse 8 comes the question that pertainsto each one of us now, today, in this season. Based on theabove parable promising God’s faithfulness, Jesus asksthe question, “Nevertheless, when the Son of man comes,will He really find faith on the earth?”

The implication seems to be that very few will have thestrength of faith that Jesus is talking about. As the God ofthe Old Testament, Jesus, having looked into man’s heartfrom Creation and seeing humanity’s trajectory to our day,had every reason to ask if there would be faith at the endtime! Even the Jews of His lifetime, full of Messianicfervor, did not have the faith He is seeking! Would evenHis chosen people—Christians, the followers of Christ—have saving faith?

Do we have this faith? What, then, is the evidence Jesusis looking for that will establish that we have the faith Heis looking for? Some might view this “faith” as a powerfulindividual faith to move mountains or to perform someother great miracle. Yet, what Jesus is looking for arethose who completely trust Him as God, and based on thattrust, are living by faith according to God’s revealed truthdespite all of the pulls and pressures from the world.

In Luke 4:4, Jesus tells the Devil, in response to the firstof his temptations, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live bybread alone, but by every word of God.’” This is not somegeneral statement that allows us to choose what we willand will not obey, but a requirement for each of us, to thebest of our ability, to follow every word of God in living ourlives before Him. To do this takes real faith.

As we examine ourselves during this season of the year,we tend to look at individual sins and flaws that we see inourselves, and that of itself is not at all wrong. We shouldbe recognizing all manner of sin in us and striving toovercome it. However, in asking this question in Luke 18:8,Jesus is giving us a much larger picture to consider in ourexamination. In short, God has given us “the way ofrighteousness,” a revelation this world just cannot compre-hend, and He is looking for evidence that we not onlyassent to it but are also living it.

This is the season when all of us should deeply considerthe evidence that we present to God and to the world thatshows that we belong to Him. For some, just coming to

church weekly, keeping the holy days, and tithing wouldseem to be all that is needed. For others, their understand-ing of God’s plan can make them feel secure that they areon the right track.

Though these things are important, it is the works ofobedience that change us, that reflect that we are strivingto live as God lives. This is what God counts as properevidence of our faith. In James 2:17, 20, 26, the apostleinforms us that, without works, our faith is dead, and theseworks are defined as putting into practice the instructionsof God in our lives, just as Abraham did on Mount Moriah(Genesis 22:2-12).

When God saw Abraham’s obedience to His instruc-tions, He said, “Now I know that you fear Me!” As hardas it is for us to measure up to what Abraham did in beingwilling to sacrifice his only son in obedience to God’scommand, God should be able to say this about each oneof us. Do we have the faith to live by every word of God?

Humbling ourselves in obedience—especially when ithurts—makes a powerful statement to God.

Works and FruitThis leads to another question: What works, evidences, orproofs must we exhibit so that we will be pleasing to JesusChrist at His return?

Even though everyone has the same commandmentsand teachings to obey, because of the variety of peopleGod calls into His church, each of us will have ourindividual challenges. Not only that, we are all at differentlevels of understanding and ability. Nevertheless, Godknows both our weaknesses and what we need to over-come them.

For some, overcoming a particular lust of the flesh willseem like climbing Mount Everest in a driving snowstorm.For others, truly forgiving another person will seem animpossible task, even though God warns us that, if we willnot forgive another, He will not forgive us (Matthew 18:21-35; 6:12, 14-15). Keeping the Sabbath and holy days in theface of losing a job can be a real trial. Faithfully tithing toGod when there does not seem to be enough to go aroundcan test us right in the pocketbook.

Learning to be kind and patient with others when doingso does not come naturally. Trying to raise our children “inthe training and admonition of the Lord” (Ephesians 6:4),striving to love each other as God commands over andover, watching what comes out of our mouths, learning toconduct ourselves in wisdom, etc.—all of these and manymore can be high hurdles to cross. Yet, every one of us hasour peculiar areas of difficulty to overcome; none of us isperfect.

The churches of this world generally teach that all aperson has to do is to believe on Jesus Christ. Unfortu-nately, intellectual and even emotional beliefs on their ownproduce the static, idle faith that James speaks about—dead faith. However, in one who is truly called by God—an individual who has living faith—his belief galvanizesinto a conviction that will produce righteous works. These

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So MucIf nothing else, it would be great theater towatch Al Gore and all the other apostles of globalwarming have to explain before Congress why Americashould spend billions of dollars on “green” initiatives like“cap and trade” when the data show the earth has notexperienced overall warming since 2001. Of course, thiswill never happen because, as Gore and the mainstreammedia have already stated, the debate is over. Globalwarming, caused by human activity, is a fact and here tostay, whether we like it or not and all facts to the contrarynotwithstanding.

Other than this “debate is over” statement being anout-and-out lie, it is audacious and tyrannical in itsdismissal of the opposing viewpoint and its adherents.The idea of imminent and catastrophic climate changehas become so politically correct that any naysaying issummarily condemned as heresy—and the naysayer, behe genius or merely commonsensical, is hystericallytagged as a “climate-change skeptic,” a label that will killany of his hopes for promotion, grant money, or mediaattention, should he desire it.

But the rest of us, the average Joe and Jane Public, havenoticed that the weather patterns over the past few yearshave not supported all the hot air coming from the globalwarming crowd. In fact, Lord Christopher Monckton,who once advised British Prime Minister MargaretThatcher, reported in his keynote address to the 2009International Conference on Climate Change that tem-peratures “have been plummeting at a rate equivalent to11 Fahrenheit degrees per century throughout the fouryears since Gore launched his mawkish, sci-fi comedyhorror B-movie [An Inconvenient Truth].”1 In otherwords, the earth is cooling faster than it was warming!

How has this happened? Clearly, despite humanity’stendency to pollute and corrupt various areas on theplanet—a tendency God promises to punish mankind for(Revelation 11:18)—the ability of man to effect drastic,catastrophic climate change, short of a nuclear ex-change, is nominal. While many scientists claim thatroutine human activities like driving automobiles andmowing lawns cause global warming, they have so farbeen unable to marshal the facts to support this asser-tion. Even adding bovine flatulence to the mix—anaction gaining support among greens worldwide—can-not account for climate change.

David mused, though admittedly on another subject,“What is man?” (Psalm 8:4). Next to the great processes

works ultimately produce the “much fruit” that willglorify God the Father (John 15:8).

Just what is the faith that Jesus Christ is lookingfor? It is a faith far greater than we might imagine.It is faith, not just in individual truths or doctrines, butin an entire way of life—the righteous, holy way thatGod Himself lives. God wants us to accept andfollow the whole package of Christian living that Hereveals in His Word.

Granted, it is very hard to do. We live in one of themost sinful, evil, corrupt, self-centered societies ofall times, and our patience and conversion are beingseverely tested. The world wants us to come out ofthe narrow way that protects us, teaches us, andprepares us for our future. It is pushing and enticingus to accept the broad way that will pull us down tofailure and destruction (Matthew 7:13-14).

But the life that God has called us to is trulyawesome! In John 17:3, Jesus declares the kind oflife we have been chosen to live by faith: “And thisis eternal life, that they may know You, the only trueGod, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.” Livingthis eternal life gives us the ability to know God: howHe thinks, makes decisions, shows His love, feels forothers, extends mercy and forgives, etc. In otherwords, living God’s way now allows us—as much asis humanly possible—to know the mind and ways ofGod. It is in God and His incredible way that we musthave faith.

Because our calling and potential are so tremen-dous, God gives us a warning to consider in II Peter2:20-21:

For if, after they have escaped the pollutions ofthe world through the knowledge of the Lordand Savior Jesus Christ, they are again en-tangled in them and overcome, the latter end isworse for them than the beginning. For it wouldhave been better for them not to have knownthe way of righteousness, than having known it,to turn from the holy commandment deliveredto them.

Once we start down this road, we have committedourselves to following it to the very end.

For this reason, Paul challenges us in II Corinthians13:5 to examine ourselves as to whether we are inthe faith. He tells us to test ourselves to prove thatChrist lives in us. We will not fail the test if we drawclose to Him and truly work to make the changes weneed to make as individuals to take on the verynature and life of God.

Then, when the question arises, “When the Son ofman comes, will He really find faith on the earth?”the answer will be a resounding, “Yes!”

—John Reid


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ch for Global Warmingof nature that God designed and that we still do notunderstand or appreciate, mankind stands puny andweak. It would take a force of far greater energy andmagnitude to produce sudden, global climate change.That colossal force is our own sun.

Recent observations of the sun, compared to histori-cal records of sunspot activity, tell us what is actuallyhappening. John L. Casey, Director of the Space andScience Research Center, states in a January 1, 2009,letter to then-President-elect Barack Obama’s nomi-nated science adviser, Dr. John Holdren, and nominatedNOAA administrator, Dr. Jane Lubchenco: “[G]lobalwarming is over; a new cold climate has arrived.”

Casey’s letter explains that our instruments are de-tecting no significant sunspot or solar flare activity. Solaractivity is a measure of the sun’s overall power output,which varies in cycles of 11 years. Yet, in this cycle, thesun has been alarmingly quiet—so quiet that somescientists wonder if we are entering a new MaunderMinimum, a climate event that signals frigid winters andcold summers and that can last as long as a century.Writes Casey:

According to national and international sourcesthat monitor the Sun, what is happening on and inthe Sun is nothing short of record setting, as-tounding, and at the same time worrisome. Thesolar wind is at its lowest level in fifty years. Thesurface movement on the Sun has slowed to recordrates and according to NASA’s previous announce-ments is “off the bottom of the charts.” Most tellingis the current prolonged lack of sunspots betweenthe normal 11 year solar cycles 23 and 24 which isabout to set a one hundred year record for timewithout sunspots. NASA also has long since fore-cast that cycle 25 will be “one of the weakest incenturies.” All of these events in combinationleave little doubt that a “solar hibernation” lastingseveral decades delivering the coldest weather inover two centuries has in fact arrived.2

The unfortunate—and perhaps ultimately tragic—reality is that these scientific facts make no difference tothose pushing the global warming agenda. The reasonfor this political shrug of the shoulders is that for a longtime the environmental movement has been less inter-ested in nature than in money and control. Its adherents

have rather used nature to their advantage to extortmoney from both the public and private sectors and towrest political control to force draconian changes ongovernments, particularly the United States. That natureis not cooperating by cooling instead of warming hasforced the environmental movement cynically to changeits focus from “global warming” to “climate change.”

This means that its aims to legislate “cap and trade”rules will move forward. Its insistence on often unreli-able3 compact fluorescent light bulbs—which due tocontaining five milligrams of mercury are themselveshazardous if broken, and thus they cannot simply bethrown away4—will continue. Though on-site measure-ments show the opposite, its hysterical claims that sealevels are rising and that various Pacific islands such asthe Maldives and Tuvalu will succumb to the waves willstill be brought forward as “proof” of catastrophicclimate change.5 And most famously, pictures of polarbears on supposedly shrinking icebergs will still be usedto tug at our heartstrings (of course, data that the polarbear population is actually holding steady or even risingslightly will go unmentioned).6

In the meantime, we might do well to buy a good coat.—Richard T. Ritenbaugh

Endnotes1 Lord Christopher Monckton, “Great Is Truth, and MightyAbove All Things,” Telegraph.co.uk, March 12, 2009 (http://www.heartland.org/full/24881/Great_Is_Truth_and_Mighty_Above_All_Things.html).2 John L. Casey, Space and Science Research CenterPress Release, January 8, 2009 (http://www.spaceandscience.net/s i tebui ldercontent/s i tebui lderf i les/ssrcpressrelease12009.doc).3 Leora Broydo Vestel, “Do New Bulbs Save Energy if TheyDon’t Work?” NYTimes.com, March 27, 2009 (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/28/business/energy-environment/28bulbs.html?_r=2&hp).4 Joseph Farah, “Consumers in dark over risks of new lightbulbs,” WND.com, March 16, 2007 (http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=55213).5 Christopher Booker, “Rise of sea levels is ‘the greatest lieever told,’” Telegraph.co.uk, March 28, 2009 (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/columnists/christopherbooker/5067351/Rise-of-sea-levels-is-the-greatest-l ie-ever-told.html).6 Juliet O’Neill, “Canada not holding back on polar bearprotection: Prentice,” Canwest News Service, March 19,2009(http://www.canada.com/Technology/story.html?id=1406966).


THE MARRIAGEOF THE LAMB

Pprophecy watch

Many “marriage” scriptures ranthrough my mind as our daughters’weddings were coming together. Oneof them—a somewhat sombre one,considering the subject—was Mat-thew 24:37-39:

But as the days of Noah were, soalso will the coming of the Son ofMan be. For as in the days beforethe flood, they were eating anddrinking, marrying and giving inmarriage, until the day that Noahentered the ark, and did not knowuntil the flood came and tookthem all away, so also will thecoming of the Son of Man be.

Two major questions arise fromthese verses. The first is this: Whatwas wrong with marrying and givingin marriage (as well as eating anddrinking) in the days that precededthe Deluge?

ing) in the days that will precede thecoming of the Son of Man?

Of course, there is nothing intrinsi-cally wrong with marriage, giving inmarriage, or of wedding preparation.Marriage is a wonderful institution,a great and meaningful blessinggiven to man by God. As the writerof the book of Hebrews confirms,“Marriage is honorable among all,and the bed undefiled; but fornica-tors and adulterers God will judge”(Hebrews 13:4).

A wedding should be a well-planned, joyous occasion, especiallybetween two converted people. Ev-ery physical benefit of marriage Godhas given us pictures something spiri-tual of His. The spiritual symbolism ofmarriage is indeed astonishing whenone first hears and understands it.How flabbergasted we all were whenwe first learned of this symbolism inHerbert Armstrong’s books, GodSpeaks Out on the New Moralityand The Missing Dimension in Sex.

But, like so much in today’s money-grabbing world, with all the pushingand prodding and chiding from thecommercial sector, our weddings can

Three of our four daughters have been marriedover the past few years. We think the world of ourthree sons-in-law and are now eagerly lookingforward to a fourth! All three weddings were verylovely and, as is usual, took lots of planning.

Jesus could be implying that theremay have been some people whomight have been listening seriously toGod’s warning message through Noahbut were diverted from doing any-thing about it. Perhaps they believed—falsely—that God’s intervention inhuman affairs was not imminent.Maybe they were putting much oftheir precious time into arrangingmarriages instead of joining Noah inhis preparation for God’s interven-tion. They were eating and drinking—feasting—instead of participating insolemn fasts, which would havehelped them to humble themselvesbefore God.

MARRYING AND

GIVING IN MARRIAGE

The second question is this: What willbe wrong with marrying and giving inmarriage (as well as eating and drink-


be overdone: “You gotta have tux-edos, you gotta have a candle cer-emony, you gotta have a cake-cuttingceremony, you gotta have multipleshowers for the bride, you gottahave a bachelors’ night out for thegroom, you gotta have limousines,you gotta have a rehearsal dinner,you gotta have a lavish honeymoon,”and so on! Modern weddings cansoon run into the tens of thousands ofdollars!

Of course, there is nothing wrongwith any of these things of them-selves, but if the couple and theirfamilies try to cram too much into tooshort a time, the happy occasion canturn into a fiasco. Pressure to includetoo many confusing details can causethe wedding day and preceding daysto be exceedingly stressful to all con-cerned.

The big question for God’s people,however, is this: Are we—collec-tively the Bride of Jesus Christ—putting the same time, thought,preparation, effort, and detail into ourpreparations for our marriage to Himas we put into our own family wed-dings? I am sorry to have to admit thatmy prayer and study time sufferedduring the hectic days immediatelyleading up to our daughters’ wed-dings. Other family members havetold me the same story. We should beputting more—nay, much more—preparation into our marriage to theLamb, of which all other weddingsand marriages, no matter how beauti-ful, are mere physical symbols!

END-TIME PRIORITIES

This question of marriage at the veryend of the end times is one of logicalpriorities:

To everything there is a season,a time for every purpose underheaven: . . . A time to weep, anda time to laugh; a time to mourn,and a time to dance; . . . a timeto embrace, and a time to refrainfrom embracing; . . . a time tolove, and a time to hate; a timeof war, and a time of peace.(Ecclesiastes 3:1, 4-5, 8)

The last decade’s terrorist attacks

here and abroad have given us anominous foretaste that the days,weeks, and months immediately pre-ceding the return of Jesus Christ willbe no time to laugh. Nor will it be atime to dance. It will not even be atime for marital love and embracing.And it will certainly not be a time ofpeace.

In the first chapter of Job, we readof the feasting of Job’s children, whichwas so excessive, inappropriate, anduntimely that Job felt that he neededto atone for it:

And his sons would go and feastin their houses, each on his ap-pointed day, and would send andinvite their three sisters to eatand drink with them. So it was,when the days of feasting hadrun their course, that Job wouldsend and sanctify them, and hewould rise early in the morningand offer burnt offerings ac-cording to the number of themall. For Job said, “It may be thatmy sons have sinned and cursedGod in their hearts.” Thus Jobdid regularly. . . . Now therewas a day when his sons anddaughters were eating and drink-ing wine in their oldest brother’shouse. . . . While he was stillspeaking, another [servant] alsocame and said, “Your sons anddaughters were eating anddrinking wine in their oldestbrother’s house, and suddenlya great wind came from acrossthe wilderness and struck thefour corners of the house, and itfell on the young people, andthey are dead; and I alone haveescaped to tell you!” (Job 1:4-5,13, 18-19)

Likewise, the days immediatelybefore the return of Jesus Christ willnot be an appropriate time for prepa-ration for physical weddings. Despitethe recent major downturn of theworld’s economies, we still cannot betotally sure how close we are to theend of this age. This being the case,how will we know the cut-off timewhen marriages and feasting are toend? God’s Word reveals that He

will make the time clear to Hispeople—to those who are watchingand praying:

Then I will cause to cease fromthe cities of Judah and from thestreets of Jerusalem the voice ofmirth and the voice of gladness,the voice of the bridegroomand the voice of the bride. Forthe land shall be desolate.(Jeremiah 7:34)

For thus says the LORD of hosts,the God of Israel: “Behold, I willcause to cease from this place,before your eyes and in yourdays, the voice of mirth and thevoice of gladness, the voice ofthe bridegroom and the voice ofthe bride.” (Jeremiah 16:9)

At that solemn hour, absolutelynothing should be taking our valuabletime and our minds off our prepara-tion for the most important weddingever: the marriage of the Lamb to HisBride, the church.

THE MARRIAGE

OF THE LAMB

Let us take a closer look at the mar-riage supper of the Lamb. The Brideof Christ is mentioned in Revelation21:2, 9 and 22:17, but the main de-scription of the marriage itself is to befound in Revelation 19:7-9. Theapostle John writes that he heard agreat multitude saying: “Let us beglad and rejoice and give Him glory,for the marriage of the Lamb hascome, and His wife has made herselfready” (Revelation 19:7).

When the time of the marriage ofJesus Christ to His Bride has arrived,then will be the time for the resump-tion of gladness and rejoicing. Notforgetting that it will also be a timefor giving additional glory and honorto the great God, this gladness andrejoicing—shared with God the Fa-ther, His Son, and all the angelichost of heaven—will exceed any-thing that we have ever experienced.It is very important to note thatChrist’s Bride will have “made her-self ready” for the wedding. She will


Pprophecy watch The Marriage of the Lamb

not have allowed anything to side-track her from her preparation for thismost wonderful occasion.

John then informs us, “And to her itwas granted that she should be ar-rayed in fine linen, clean and white:for the fine linen is the righteous actsof saints” (verse 8). At this wonderfulceremony, the Bride will be given avery special privilege—that of beingable to wear fine, clean, white linen.This raiment is so much more beauti-ful, important, and meaningful thaneven the loveliest of today’s physicalwedding gowns.

A study of fine, clean, white linenin the Bible reveals that this fabric(or more correctly, a spiritual versionof it) is the material worn by angels.It was also worn by royalty and byGod’s priests, and it was also usedextensively in the construction ofthe Tabernacle. At the marriage ofthe Lamb the children of God whomake up His Bride will becomeworthy to wear this fine, clean, whitelinen because, as well as becominglike angels (as Jesus describes theirstate in Matthew 22:30), they willbecome kings, priests, and pillars inGod’s Temple. Here in Revelation19:8, fine linen is described as sym-bolic of “the righteous acts of thesaints.”

After this, John writes, “Then [theangel] said to me, ‘Write: “Blessedare those who are called to the mar-riage supper of the Lamb!”’ And hesaid to me, ‘These are the true say-ings of God’” (verse 9). It will be oneof eternity’s supreme blessings to becalled to this Marriage Supper. Butwho are these blessed ones? Who willbe called to the Marriage Supper ofthe Lamb? Who will be there?

Of course, God the Father andJesus Christ will be there. They willbe doing the inviting—the calling.God’s angels, archangels, twenty-fourelders, and four living creatures willall be there. And it cannot be a wed-ding without a bride—the Bride ofChrist will be there, collectively madeup of the resurrected and changedmembers of God’s true church from

throughout the generations.But who will not be there? The

church members who make up thefive foolish virgins will not be there,because they will have not adequatelyprepared (Matthew 25:1-13). Satanand his demons will not be there.They will have been banned fromeven visiting heaven, as they had beenable to do before (Revelation 12:8).

WHERE AND WHEN?

Banned from visiting heaven?Heaven? Will the wedding ceremonyand the Marriage Supper really takeplace in heaven? A careful study ofthe timing of the book of Revelationstrongly suggests that it will. How-ever, this in no way implies that heavenis the eternal reward or dwelling placeof God’s people.

The first five verses of Revelation14 tell us of a time following the firstresurrection and the meeting of Christand His Bride, but preceding theirdescent to earth, when God’s 144,000firstfruits will stand with the Lamb onMount Zion. This is not referring tothe earthly Mount Zion in Jerusalem,but the one in heaven where God’sTemple is (verse 17). These firstfruitsare pictured as standing before thethrone of God (verses 3, 5) and ashaving already been redeemed fromthe earth and from among men(verses 3-4). In Revelation 15:2,they are seen standing on the sea ofglass, which is before God’s throne(Revelation 4:6).

God’s heavenly Temple will thenbe briefly opened to allow the sevenangels to leave on their mission topour out the seven last plagues uponthe earth (Revelation 15:5-6, alsocalled the vials or bowls of God’swrath). It will then be closed again(verse 8). It appears that the 144,000will remain in heaven during the pour-ing out of the seven last plagues andduring the suppression of the greatwhore (Satan’s counterfeit bride, oth-erwise known as Babylon the Great)and the Beast, which are described inRevelation 16-18. Then, in Revelation

19:7-9, as we have seen, we read ofthe wedding and the Marriage Supperof the Lamb.

Immediately after the MarriageSupper, heaven will be opened onceagain (Revelation 19:11). The Bride-groom—His garment dipped inblood—and His Bride and His an-gels—clothed in fine, white, cleanlinen—will then descend to earth(verses 12-16).

But how long will the wedding andthe Marriage Supper take? How longwill the interval be between the firstresurrection and the descent of Christand His armies? Have we not alwaysunderstood that the first resurrectionand the return of Christ both takeplace on the same day in fulfillment ofthe Feast of Trumpets?

We must remember that JesusChrist is not bound by human concep-tions of time. Neither will His Bridebe, once we are resurrected orchanged to be like He is. We canspeculate that, if one earthly day canbe to Him as a thousand years (IIPeter 3:8), then one of His days—Hiswedding day—may be a thousandthof one of our days, that is, 86.4 sec-onds. Perhaps He can fit the magnifi-cent celebrations of a whole 24-hourwedding day into less than two min-utes of earthly time!

The timing and the location of themarriage of the Lamb are interestingdetails to study and ponder and specu-late upon, but the main point for us toremember is that, if we wish to beincluded in this most wonderful ofweddings as part of the Bride ofChrist, we must be diligently prepar-ing for it right now. We must notallow Satan to divert us from ourpreparation.

Just think of it! We are engaged tobe married in a ceremony so marvel-ous that it will pale even the mostfabulous royal weddings of Europeinto insignificance. We must be spend-ing as much time as we possibly canwith our glorious Fiancé every singleday, and even more as we see thewedding day approaching.

—John Plunkett


(continued from page 5)


“Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without whichno one will see the Lord.” If we are not separated from theworld by our conduct, we will not be in God’s Kingdom.

Leviticus 18:1-5 declares:

Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to thechildren of Israel, and say to them: ‘I am the LORD

your God. According to the doings of the land ofEgypt, where you dwelt, you shall not do; and accord-ing to the doing of the land of Canaan, where I ambringing you, you shall not do; nor shall you walk intheir ordinances. You shall observe My judgmentsand keep My ordinances, to walk in them: I am theLORD your God. You shall therefore keep My statutesand My judgments, which if a man does, he shall liveby them: I am the LORD.’”

Notice that in this five-verse prelude God emphasizes,“Don’t copy the people of those nations outside of Israel.Be different by keeping My laws.” It becomes clear whenthis introduction is read along with the laws that follow inthis and the next two chapters that God intends thatseparation from the world begin in the home at the veryearliest point in time possible. It should begin in a child’sinfancy with a right example from the parents combinedwith their positive instruction. Leviticus 19:2-4 adds:

Speak to all the congregation of the children of Israel,and say to them: “You shall be holy, for I the LORD

your God am holy. Every one of you shall revere hismother and father, and keep My Sabbaths: I am theLORD your God. Do not turn to idols, nor make foryourselves molded gods: I am the LORD your God.”

These introductory verses provide the starting point formore specific commands. It is as though God is saying,“This is the foundation of good family and communityrelationships. Aim to be holy, to be different from othernations, to be clean in My eyes through your conduct ofobeying My laws. This will separate you.”

Note an interesting feature. God draws attention to thefifth, the fourth, and to the first and second commandmentsas His keys to accomplishing the activation and growth ofholiness, first in a family setting and then its spread into thecommunity. This indicates that in God’s eyes—in terms ofholiness and good family and community relationships—keeping these commands are the major guides and regula-tors, actually necessities, toward producing family andcommunity success. They provide a foundation for regulat-ing social relationships within both family and community.

Of special interest is the order God sets them in. Bothhonoring parents—and most specifically the mother, asshe is mentioned first—and Sabbath-keeping are men-tioned before idolatry. In terms of good family relation-

ships, this is the order the child is introduced to them. In aninfant or young child’s life, mother is primary. Do not forget,God gives all of this instruction with one common goal inmind: to produce holiness and good family relationships.

Why does God say, “You shall be holy, for I the LORD

your God am holy”? It is His way of pointing out to us, Hisconverted children, that He Himself is the Model, theStandard, we are to follow in our child-training practices. AsHis children, He is the One we are to imitate.

The Importance of ParentsHow important to God’s purpose are the parents in thismix? God records in Exodus 21:15, 17, “And he who strikeshis father or his mother shall surely be put to death. . . . Andhe who curses his father or his mother shall surely be putto death.” To modern child psychologists, these are shock-ing statements. At the very least, they ought to give uspause to realize the seriousness of being constantly con-cerned about our child-training responsibilities!

These verses do not in any way imply a child is to bebeaten into submission. They do mean that it is a tremen-dously serious responsibility to produce a godly child whoglorifies God. Our responsibility is to follow God’s patternsin child-training. He is patient and generous with Hisaffections and mercies, yet He also gives correction in dueseason and in right measure.

Deuteronomy 21:18-21 adds:

If a man has a stubborn and rebellious son who willnot obey the voice of his father or the voice of hismother, and who, when they have chastened him, willnot heed them, then his father and his mother shalltake hold of him and bring him out to the elders of hiscity, to the gate of his city. And they shall say to theelders of his city. “This son of ours is stubborn andrebellious; he will not obey our voice; he is a glutton anda drunkard.” Then all the men of his city shall stonehim to death with stones; so you shall put away theevil from among you, and all Israel shall hear and fear.

Here, the laws given in Exodus 21 are expanded on as theIsraelites are about to enter the Land of Promise. If a childwere unmanageable and stubbornly disobedient, the judgeshad a responsibility to back up the parents. However, theright to kill was not given to the parents. This passageindicates a process of evaluation by people not directly, andthus less emotionally, involved. Interestingly, the addictions inthe child are directly named. One is a drug addiction, a majorproblem in our time.

Does it offend us that God’s standard is so stern? Do wepass it off as being of little consequence or significance? Weshould perhaps rethink this. Consider what poor child-trainingis causing in Britain and America! Does not God prophesyagainst “the drunkards of Ephraim” (Isaiah 28:1, 3)?


God adds in Deuteronomy 27:16, “Cursed is the one whotreats his father or his mother with contempt.” Ephraim(Israel) is under divine punishment, cursed, becauseparenting and parents are considered to be so unimportant.Why is God so concerned? Notice this comment concern-ing Exodus 21:12-17 in the Keil and Delitzsch Commen-tary on the Old Testament:

Maltreatment of a father and mother through striking(v. 15), man-stealing (v. 16), and cursing parents (v.17, cf. Lev 20:9), were all to be placed on a par withmurder, and punished in the same way. By the“smiting” (hikaah) of parents we are not to under-stand smiting to death, for in that case waameetwould be added as in v. 12, but any kind of maltreat-ment. The murder of parents is not mentioned at all,as not likely to occur and hardly conceivable. Thecursing (qaleel as in Gen 12:3) of parents is placed ona par with smiting, because it proceeds from the samedisposition; and both were to be punished with death,because the majesty of God was violated in thepersons of the parents (cf. Ex 20:12). (Vol. 1, p. 133.)

Therein lies a major reason for keeping this command-ment. The relationship God intends within the family is anexact type of the Christian’s spiritual relationship with Godthe Father and the church as mother. In the eyes of Godand in the eyes of a small child, a parent stands in the placeof God Himself. In the physical sense, the parents are thechild’s creator, provider, lawgiver, teacher, and protector.A child’s response to this relationship will in large measuredetermine his later response to broader relationships insociety and beyond that to God Himself.

By direct implication, then, if as parents we representGod, it becomes our obligation to live lives worthy of honorto Him. Ultimately, the responsibility for keeping thiscommandment falls on the child. However, by carrying outtheir responsibilities, the parents clearly lay the foundationfor the child keeping the commandment.

Parental ExampleThe apostle Paul writes in Ephesians 6:1, 4: “Children, obeyyour parents in the Lord, for this is right. . . . And youfathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bringthem up in the training and admonition of the Lord.” Thecontext obviously addresses children and parents. Paulmakes it clear that children have a responsibility beforeGod and that keeping the commandment has definitebenefits for them to anticipate receiving. This is in agreementwith Deuteronomy 4:39-40, with which this article began.

One of the benefits he mentions is the prospect of longlife, which also contains an implication of prosperity. Notthe least of the additional benefits is the gradual develop-ment of understanding and wisdom garnered from the

parents, which themselves help to produce long life andprosperity. Thus, in an overall sense, he is remindingchildren that obedience to truth has its rewards.

Is there an age at which or a circumstance under whichthe child’s responsibility to honor his parents undergoes achange? The answer is both “Yes” and “No,” which iswhy Paul qualifies his charge to children. His qualificationis contained within the phrase “in the Lord.” It connoteswhat is within the boundaries of the Lord’s way. In allcases, the responsibility to honor one’s parents diminisheswhen a child marries, and his first attention must be givento the spouse. Cleaving to the spouse trumps the honoringof parents. Paul qualifies this a step further by implyingthat, if the parents demand submission beyond the boundsof Christian conduct, that is, not “in the Lord”—such ascommanding a child to give up the Sabbath, lie in theirbehalf, steal for them, or bow down to an idol—in suchcases the child’s choice should be to submit to Christrather than to his parents. Submitting to God’s commandstrumps submitting to parent’s commands that are beyondwhat God commands us to do in order to stay “in the Lord.”

In Ephesians 6:4, Paul directly addresses fathers. Con-necting it to Colossians 3:21 will give us a broader view ofwhat Paul is addressing: “Fathers, do not provoke yourchildren, lest they become discouraged.” Mothers canalso have this problem, but fathers are by nature farmore likely to commit this child-training error. Thisverse is more clearly rendered, “Do not embitter orexasperate your children lest they become discouraged.”The words “to anger,” as in the King James Version, arenot in the Greek text. The apostle is encouraging parentsnot to do things to their children like being overbearing,constantly finding fault, and nagging. The final phraseindicates, “. . . for fear that the child will become listless,moody, or sullen.”

Paul appeals to parents to train their children thought-fully, so that their children’s characters and personalitiesare formed without self-esteem being destroyed. He al-lows for correction, but at the same time he urges patiencewith the children’s inexperience. Correction should neverbe revenge. It must be given for the child’s good butalways within measure to the infraction.

His directive in Ephesians 6:4 is stronger; it could easilybe translated, “Do not enrage your children to anger.”Discouragement, growing from exasperation, tends to leada person to give up. By contrast, enraging inclines a personto fight back stubbornly. Neither is good, but the anger isthe worse of the two.

The words translated as “provoke” and “wrath” areexactly the same word in Greek. The verse can legitimatelybe rendered as, “Do not enrage your children to enragement.”We might say, “Do not arouse your children to rage.”Overall, Paul is teaching us not to promote an angry moodor disposition in our children. Doing so may boomerang onus because children will eventually reflect the disposition



of the parents. Firmness in correction is fine, but men,especially, must be careful about their temperament whenthey give correction. Paul is talking about injustice, favor-itism, over-correction, neglect, and physical cruelty incorrection.

Nurture and AdmonitionThe English word “nurture” indicates caring for andproviding supportive instruction. The underlying Greekword more specifically involves educational feeding orinstruction, as if in school or for the purpose of learninga discipline. The word thus covers verbal instruction,chastening, and the use of drills needed to produceChristian character. It does not at all indicate that anyof these approaches is even harsh, let alone cruel. How-ever, it suggests that parents follow an organized andconsistent plan.

The term “admonition” means a warning, drawing spe-cific attention to verbal instruction. In summary, Paultouches on three areas vital to child training so that childrenkeep the fifth commandment properly. “In the Lord”touches on the standard or quality one is to strive for.“Nurture” indicates what is physically done to and with thechild in terms of consistent, regimented training, includingdiscipline. “Admonition” draws attention to what is saidand how it is said to the child.

Taken together, then, Paul clearly teaches that child-training is something that can neither be left to chance norsloughed off with a careless, resigned attitude, as if it weremerely a necessary evil. The parents’ vision must be long-range. From parents applying right principles consistentlywill come the gradual development of understanding andwisdom in the children. These are precursors that helpproduce the promised long life and prosperity in the com-mandment.

In I Thessalonians 2:7-8, Paul uses himself and hisrelationship with the Thessalonian congregation as anexample:

But we were gentle among you, just as a nursingmother cherishes her own children. So, affection-ately longing for you, we were well pleased to impartto you not only the gospel of God, but also our ownlives, because you had become dear to us.

He says he treated them with the tender affection of anursing mother, striving hard so that no one could honestlycharge him with taking anything from them. They person-ally witnessed how gently and consistently he dealt withthem as a father does his children by appealing and encour-aging them to live their lives to glorify God in their conduct.

Ephesians 6:2 states that the fifth commandment is thefirst commandment with promise. The second command-ment contains a very general promise loosely tied tokeeping all the commandments. The promise in the fifthcommandment is not general but specifically tied to meet-ing a specific responsibility—honoring parents.

Notice that the commandment does not say, “Obey yourfather and your mother.” This is because honoring not onlyincludes obedience but also goes beyond it. Honoringsuggests adding to, glorifying, embellishing, and decoratingits object. Obedience can be given in a resentful manner,but honoring requires admiration, respect, even reverence.This quality must be within one’s heart, and it is acquired andbuilt upon through thoughtful consideration, even meditation,on the sacrifices and gifts the parents give to the child.

Honoring is something that usually does not happen inthe child until adulthood, when the child has his ownexperiences as a parent to draw upon to appreciate hisparent’s loving labors. This fact shows us that it is not toolate to grow in honoring our parents, and that God is aware,noticing and rewarding with the blessing of long life.Obedience to parents as a child gets one started in the rightdirection and produces its own rewards.

Yet, the honoring of parents greatly increases theappreciation for them. The real rewards lie in the practiceof honoring itself, rewards that affect our place in theKingdom of God because we have transferred givinghonor to our physical parents to giving spiritual and moralhonor to God, our spiritual Parent.

Deuteronomy 6:4-9 declares this commandment’s seri-ousness to us:

Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one!You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart,with all your soul, and with all your strength. Andthese words which I command you today shall be inyour heart. You shall teach them diligently to yourchildren, and shall talk of them when you sit in yourhouse, when you walk by the way, when you lie down,and when you rise up. You shall bind them as a signon your hand, and they shall be as frontlets betweenyour eyes. You shall write them on doorposts of yourhouse and on your gates.

Notice that child-training is directly linked with the firstand great commandment. The fifth commandment is aimeddirectly at parental responsibility. If children grow up nothonoring God, the blame largely falls on the parents’shoulders. God intends this vital child-training responsibil-ity to lead children to honoring Him.

That is its goal. It requires consistent and devotedattention. It cannot be accomplished by absent parents. Ifthe parents do not know God, or if their knowledge of Himis shallow, and they are not practicing what they do know,what will they pass on to their children? Worldliness. Bothparents must be dedicated and deeply involved in honoringGod in their own lives, if their children are going to beprepared to perform the much more rewarding practice ofhonoring God.

In Christian love,

1. What good character traits does the centurion exhibit?COMMENT: There are several discernible character traits inthe centurion as described by Matthew and Luke:

First, he cares for and is concerned about his servant.Although the servant is a slave, he does not treat him as one.In fact, he is dear to the centurion, and so his sufferingmoves the centurion to compassion.

Second, he is humble and sees himself as unworthy as aGentile to approach the Jew Jesus, whether personally orthrough the intercession of others. Luke describes thishumility more vividly than Matthew does. Christ respectsthe humble and acts accordingly. The centurion’s humilityis seen in his consciousness of his own sins and therecognition of Jesus’ holiness and excellence.

Third, he has obvious faith in Christ’s ability to heal. Heknows not to expect a “magical” cure—rubbing an idol ortouching a charm. Nor does he ask for a sign that a miraclewould be performed.2. How is the centurion’s humility exceptional?COMMENT: His humility shows his out-going concern foranother human being, and it is outstanding because of hisrank—people with status are rarely humble. When peopleare given even a low position or title, they often becomeinflated with pride, valuing themselves of more importanceand worth than is realistic.

The centurion’s humility is also unusual due to hisethnicity. Roman soldiers were trained to think of them-selves as superior to those whom they conquered andpresided over, especially in regard to the Jews, whom theyscorned. However, the centurion humbles himself signifi-cantly before the Jewish rabbi, Jesus, giving Him greathonor by abasing himself to the point that he says he is notworthy even of being in His presence.

The centurion’s humility teaches us that the most faith-ful people frequently consider themselves the most unwor-thy before God. In contrast, the weakest of people often

Capernaum is the scene of the healing of the centurion’s servant (Matthew 8:5-13; Luke 7:1-10), as it is for one-third of the 33 recorded miracles that Christ performed. This one, performed shortly after the Sermon on the

Mount, is one of only two miracles that He did in the presence of and for Gentiles.

Because of the centurion’s faith, humility, and love, the Jews who were acquainted with him are supportiveof his efforts to plead with Christ for his dying servant’s healing. The centurion’s action helps to break down

the barrier between Jew and Gentile there—for a short time at least.

As soon as Christ hears of the servant’s serious condition and discerns the centurion’s humility, He prom-ises to come and heal him. Upon observing the centurion’s faith, Jesus says, “Go your way; and as you havebelieved, so let it be done for you.” The healing was not slow; it did not take months or weeks or days—noteven hours. Matthew writes, “His servant was healed that same hour” (Matthew 8:13). As soon as Christ ac-cepts the centurion’s humility and faith, He gives the command, and the servant is completely healed. This

miracle shows that humility and faith go hand in hand and are closely connected with healing.

Healing a Centurion’s Servant (Part Two)

The Miracles of Jesus Christ

• • • • • • •

Bible Study

deem themselves the most worthy. Likewise, a righteousperson will readily admit his sinfulness, but the sinner willjustify himself.3. Why does Jesus consider the faith of this Gentile to be sogreat?COMMENT: Jesus calls the centurion’s act of faith “great”because he does not ask for any sign but believes in Christ’sspiritual, supernatural ability. He does not expect anythingvisible. Jesus twice refers to a person having “great faith,”and in both cases, the person is a Gentile: this Romancenturion and the Canaanite woman who appeals for herdaughter’s healing (Matthew 15:28). These two miraclesshow that faith transcends such things as race and birthprivileges.

Since the centurion is a Gentile, he has no promise bycovenant of God’s mercy, as do the Israelites. Thus, for himto have this kind of faith is a rare and great thing. His faithsees Christ’s power, and he declares His holiness as awitness to other Gentiles. His faith shows his acceptanceand respect of Christ as Savior and his submission to Hiswill. He even believes that no direct contact is necessary forJesus to perform the miracle! The centurion sees no restric-tions on Christ’s power and ability to heal his servant. Heunderstands that nothing limits God.

It is interesting that Christ marvels over the magnitudeof the centurion’s faith. He understands the difficultywith which humans struggle with faith—that we are visu-ally oriented, seeing the physical first and the spiritualsecond. Indeed, with most, the physical is more real thanthe spiritual. Yet, the reality is that true power, glory, andlove are spiritual. These spiritual things are more realthan the physical world that we see and hear. Thismaterial world will one day pass away, but the spiritualKingdom of God will last forever and ever (Luke 21:33; IIPeter 3:10; Daniel 7:18).

—Martin G. Collins

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