Deus Ex Machina

Trump has done and said more than a few things this time around that I wish he hadn't. I'm on the fence about the Iran thing, honestly. We can't let them have a nuclear weapon. We should have Israel's back, always. So, for the moment, I'm just gonna wait and see how it all plays out.

I think the Bible has a lot of content meant to be taken literally, and some that's meant to be symbolic. The general rule of thumb is to take it literally unless there's something in the context of the passage you're reading that suggests a figurative or symbolic meaning.

Examples: Exodus 20:13, and Deuteronomy 5:17 both say "You shall not murder." There's no figurative meaning here. The text says what it means and means what it says. The vast majority of Scripture is like this.

Daniel 7:2-8 reads, "2 Daniel declared, “I saw in my vision by night, and behold, the four winds of heaven were stirring up the great sea. 3 And four great beasts came up out of the sea, different from one another. 4 The first was like a lion and had eagles' wings. Then as I looked its wings were plucked off, and it was lifted up from the ground and made to stand on two feet like a man, and the mind of a man was given to it. 5 And behold, another beast, a second one, like a bear. It was raised up on one side. It had three ribs in its mouth between its teeth; and it was told, ‘Arise, devour much flesh.’ 6 After this I looked, and behold, another, like a leopard, with four wings of a bird on its back. And the beast had four heads, and dominion was given to it. 7 After this I saw in the night visions, and behold, a fourth beast, terrifying and dreadful and exceedingly strong. It had great iron teeth; it devoured and broke in pieces and stamped what was left with its feet. It was different from all the beasts that were before it, and it had ten horns. 8 I considered the horns, and behold, there came up among them another horn, a little one, before which three of the first horns were plucked up by the roots. And behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of a man, and a mouth speaking great things."

This isn't literal. Daniel isn't seeing actual kaiju coming up out of the ocean. How do we know that? From the context. The first clue is Daniel 7:1, the verse that precedes the bit I quoted, where the text states that this is a dream. Dreams are often symbolic. But there's more than just that. If we continue reading down to verses 15-18, we read that an angel tells Daniel what the beasts in his dream are. V. 17 reads, "These four great beasts are four kings who shall arise out of the earth."

When a Biblical text is meant to be taken figuratively or symbolically, the text will tell you. Either it will say it plainly, like in Daniel 7:17 quoted above, or other context clues will give it away. The type or genre of the text in question plays a part, too. Dreams, visions, songs, and poetry can all be figurative. The Psalms, which are all songs, often contain hyperbole, exaggeration to make a point, like when David says that God makes his feet like the feet of a deer (Psalm 18:33), or says that he floods his bed with his tears (Psalm 6:6).

So, generally speaking, take the Bible literally unless the context says otherwise. And if you come across something specific you're unsure about, you should definitely study it out. And if you're not sure how to do that, you can ask me, or your pastor or another teacher at your church, or ministries like GotQuestions.

"After the arrest of John the Baptist, “Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel’” (Mark 1:14–15, ESV). Jesus’ exhortation for His listeners to repent indicated that they needed to change their minds. That He told them to believe in the gospel indicated how they needed to change their minds. Mark refers to Jesus’ message as “the gospel of God” (verse 14, ESV) or “the good news of God.” It was good news that the kingdom was at hand, and Jesus was preparing His listeners for how to be part of that kingdom.

"Many in Jesus’ audience thought they were already righteous and would gain entrance to the kingdom of God because of their connection to Abraham and Moses and because they were keeping the laws God had given to Israel through Moses. Matthew 5—7 records Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, in which Jesus taught that His listeners should change their minds about how they could be part of His kingdom. Their connection to Abraham and Moses wasn’t enough, and their supposedly righteous deeds were not enough. Those things are not what God requires as the standard of righteousness. Instead, Jesus explained that they needed to have a true, internal righteousness, and they did not yet have that. It wasn’t just a king that they needed—they needed a savior. Sadly, only a few would recognize that need.

"Jesus proclaimed that the people needed to repent and believe in the gospel because the kingdom of God was at hand. God’s eternal kingdom is currently based in heaven. But, in passages like 2 Samuel 7 and Revelation 19—20, God promises that His kingdom will at some point in the future come to earth in a physical form. The kingdom was at hand, or near, because Jesus the King had come to earth, presenting the kingdom and the good news about that kingdom and how one can be part of it—by believing in the gospel. Unfortunately, Jesus’ audience wasn’t yet prepared for the kingdom, because they hadn’t yet recognized that they needed the Messiah to make them righteous, and that Jesus was the Messiah.

"Jesus’ message was truly good news, and the people needed to change their minds from unbelief to belief. They needed to believe in the Lord—as Abraham had done many years prior (Genesis 15:6)—to gain the righteousness that would allow them to be part of God’s kingdom. They needed to repent (change their minds about how they could enter the kingdom) and believe in the gospel now, because the kingdom of God was close at hand. Of course, some did change their minds about how they could be righteous, and they believed in Jesus, but most of the leaders and the nation as a whole did not believe (Mark 3:22–30). Because of that rejection, Jesus delayed the kingdom and shifted His focus and ministry to providing the sacrifice to pay for the sins of the people.

"One day Jesus will return to the earth as King (Revelation 19—20), and, because of what the Bible tells us about the future, we know that we also need to “repent and believe in the gospel for the kingdom of God is at hand.” We need to change our minds from unbelief to belief and recognize that we are saved by grace through faith and not by our own works (Ephesians 2:8–9). When we believe in Christ, we are already transferred to His kingdom (Colossians 1:13), and, because His kingdom isn’t on earth yet, we ought to set our mind on the things above where He is, rather than on the things of earth (Colossians 3:1–4)."

We're moving back to New Hampshire. After 4.5 years in Florida, the door opened for us to go back and we decided to take it. We prayed seriously about it and talked it over with older Christians we trust beforehand. At this point, we're taking the years of struggle and hardship in Florida as God's discipline/training.

God provided the means for us to buy a home (that in itself feels like a miracle), and God gave me my old job back, so we're making plenty of money. The kids are going to finish up the school year in Florida (about another week), then everyone is moving up in early June.

I want to thank all of you for your help and your prayers. The last 4.5 years have been a very humbling and enlightening experience for me. I'm so thankful to God for all of you.

I'm going to resume my exegetical series on Romans in the near future, and God willing, I'll be more consistent with my posts.