Prayer is more than just Words, Gimmicks, and Formulas

Prayer is not primarily about words. Ultimately, it’s about a genuine and honest relationship. Reciting a prayer formula is of little value. Formula is not the substance of relationship. Jesus warned that a mere repetition of words will not incline the Father to hear our prayers (Matthew 6:7). Then, what will? Instead, prayer must arise from a heart aligned with the Lord.

Consequently, the very nature of the person has a great bearing on whether or not God will respond. Proverbs teaches us that “the LORD detests the sacrifice of the wicked, but the prayer of the upright pleases him” (Proverbs 15:8), and that “if anyone turns a deaf ear to the law, even his prayers are detestable” (Proverbs 28:9). No prayer formulas would overcome this liability.

In contrast, Jesus was in perfect communication with His Father. At the rising of Lazarus, He prayed:

• "Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me…” (John 11:41-42)

Why did the Father always hear the Son? It had much to do with the nature of their relationship than with words:

• During the days of Jesus' life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission. (Hebrews 5:7) 

Instead of “reverent submission,” the King James Version translates “was heard in that he feared.” What does it mean to “fear” God? In either case, it means to put His will and Word above everything else (Mat. 6:33; John 14:21-24; Luke 22:42; Psalm 130:4; 34:11-14; Prov. 8:13; 29:25; 23:17-18; 10:27; 14:26-27), embracing and identifying with those things that the Father embraces.

We shouldn’t think of the “fear of God” as oppressive. Instead, for the Messiah, it was a “delight” (Isaiah 11:2-3) and a service of love:

• The world must learn that I love the Father and that I do exactly what my Father has commanded me. (John 14:31) 

His joy was a matter of serving the Father:

• "My food," said Jesus, "is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work. (John 4:34) 

How did Jesus do this? By abiding in His Word! All the testing that He endured involved one question - whether or not He would submit to the Word of the Father. When the Devil tempted Him to break ranks with the Father’s plan and change the stone into bread, Jesus responded:

• "It is written: 'Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.'" (Matthew 4:4)

God, the Son, could have answered with His own words. Instead, He submitted to the Words of the Father by quoting Deuteronomy 8:3. In doing so, He acknowledged that Scripture is God’s very Words and that life depended upon living according to these Words. Because life depended on “every word,” there could be no picking-and-choosing. Jesus didn’t place Himself above the Father’s Words but submitted to them all! Had He instead chosen the words He liked and rejected those He didn’t like, He would have made Himself lord over the Words of the Father. This wouldn’t have been “reverent submission” or the “fear of the Lord.” Instead, He would have been like Frank Sinatra – the captain of his own ship!

Then the Devil tested Jesus again. He quoted Psalm 91 and twisted it to suit his purposes:

• "If you are the Son of God," he said, "throw yourself down. For it is written: 'He will command his angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.'" (Matthew 4:6)

And once again, Jesus quoted the Father’s Words against the Devil:

• Jesus answered him, "It is also written: 'Do not put the Lord your God to the test.'" (Matthew 4:7, quoting Deut. 6:16)

Had Jesus thrown Himself from the mountain to prove that He is the Son of God, He would have sinned by forcing the hand of His Father. Instead, He demonstrated that His entire life was to be lived for the glory of His Father and not His own. This is love! And when we draw near the Father in this manner, He draws near us (James 4:8). Therefore, it is about the heart and not merely a recitation of words.

When the Devil offered Jesus all of the kingdoms of the world if He would worship Him, Jesus again answered with the Words of the Father:

• "Away from me, Satan! For it is written: 'Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.'" (Matthew 4:10, quoting Deut. 6:13) 

Jesus didn’t have to limit Himself to the Words of the Father. However, this demonstrated His “reverent submission” – what was in His heart. These quotations didn’t represent an attempt to manipulate the Father in order to get what He wanted. Instead, these words represented what Jesus is all about in the core of His Being. It was also the love for the Father that drove Him to the Cross to seek His glory (John 13:31-32):

• I will not speak with you much longer, for the prince of this world [Satan] is coming. He has no hold on me, but the world must learn that I love the Father and that I do exactly what my Father has commanded me.” (John 14:30-31)

When we too have humbled ourselves to our Savior to seek His will above everything else, we too will be heard for our “reverent submission” as opposed to mere lip-service:

• But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. (Matthew 6:33-34) 

Let me guess what you are thinking:

• I am just not capable of this kind of “submission.” I guess then that I can’t expect that my prayers will be answered.

 None of us are capable of this! Instead, our Lord will draw us near:

• When we were overwhelmed by sins, you forgave our transgressions. Blessed are those you choose and bring near to live in your courts! We are filled with the good things of your house, of your holy temple. (Psalm 65:3-4) 

Without Him, we can do nothing (John 15:5). He must do the heavy lifting. However, we must pray. We “have not because we ask not” (James 4:2). We have to cry out to Him (Psalm 62:8). Of course, this process is very painful. There is no way around it. How did Jesus learn “reverent submission?”

• During the days of Jesus' life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission. Although he was a son, he learned obedience from what he suffered. (Hebrews 5:7-8) 

According to Scripture, there is no way around suffering. If we want to be like Jesus, we have to suffer like Jesus:

• We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that his life may be revealed in our mortal body. (2 Corinthians 4:10-11)

In order to enjoy a more intimate relationship with the Savior, we have to become more like Him, and this will not happen without suffering. If Jesus had to learn obedience through the things He suffered, how can we expect otherwise!

What will suffering accomplish? Many things! For one thing, it will cause us to despair of the self. Only by learning to distrust ourselves can we begin to learn to trust in God – the most unnatural thing in the world. The Apostle Paul also needed to learn this lesson:

• We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about the hardships we suffered in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired even of life. Indeed, in our hearts we felt the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. (2 Corinthians 1:8-9) 

When given the choice, we will always choose self-trust. It’s just too comfortable – the ultimate drug! Therefore, the addiction to self-trust has to be burnt out of us. This can only happen through the most painful process – despair of self!

However, when we are humbled in this manner, prayer becomes more vital. It is no longer a necessary obligation. It becomes a life-line – our only hope. We can only become fervent in prayer when we see that prayer is our only hope.

Through suffering and the resulting self-despair, we learn that feeding on Scripture is a necessity. When we find that all of our thinking is wrong and sin-stained, we long for the pure milk of the Word so that we can grow.

Suffering is also like refining steel. The fire must melt the iron ore so that the impurities rise to the surface. There, they are skimmed off. The more refinement, the more the impurities rise to the surface! When this happens, we begin to see our impurities, the things we have hidden from sight, even from ourselves:

• Now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith--of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire--may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. (1 Peter 1:6-7) 

How can suffering produce praise? Suffering humbles us. The ugliness and unworthiness within comes to the surface, and we are appalled. We cry, “How can God love someone like me? I am totally unworthy of Him!” In desperation, we are driven to the Word to see if offers us anything that we can cling to in hope. Our Savior begins to show us that He is far more gracious than we had ever thought. Now that we understand that we need His mercy more than ever, we find that it is available and unlimited - that He has died for us, procuring for us a gift that we could never deserve or earn. He must first humble us so that He can exalt us.

This produces a gratefulness we would never had learned had we not been confronted with our utter unworthiness and His overwhelming love (Eph. 3:16-19). This is how suffering produces praise and gratefulness.

Only those who have humbled – even broken – by the sight of their unworthiness are ready to be exalted by the pure knowledge of the Gospel. We must first be humbled before we can be exalted, lest we boast (Eph. 2:9; 1 Cor. 1:29).

Joseph’s brother first had to be humbled before they too could be exalted. Joseph first had to test them to see if they were ready to receive the incredible blessings that he wanted to give them.

Out of jealousy, they had hated Joseph. Their father Jacob loved Joseph more than they and had given him a stunning robe of many colors. However, instead of killing him, they agree to sell him as a slave to a caravan heading into Egypt and lied to their father, claiming that Joseph had been killed by wild animals.

In Egypt, Joseph suffered many disappointments and years in jail. Finally, Pharaoh, the Egyptian king, elevated Joseph to his right-hand. God then revealed to Joseph a future seven year famine, and so Joseph made great preparations to store grain for the famine.

After enduring the famine for several years, Jacob sent his sons to Egypt to procure grain. It had been so many years, that the brothers didn’t recognize Joseph, and Joseph didn’t disclose himself to them. Instead, he imprisoned them, falsely accusing them of being spies. They protested that they weren’t, explaining that the father remained behind in Canaan with his now favorite and youngest son, Benjamin.

After three days, Joseph released them, keeping one brother in jail, and told them that if they didn’t return with their youngest brother - the one other son of Rachel, Jacob’s deceased beloved - they would never see Simeon again.

They returned to their father with the life-saving grain and explained that they would never be able to return for more without Benjamin. However, this famine persisted and Jacob relented, allowing Benjamin to accompany them. However, he warned that if Benjamin failed to return with them, he would surely die.

When they returned to Egypt, Joseph – his identity still remaining hidden – threw them a great banquet, while he remained distant from them. However, he purposely tried to incur their jealousy by giving Benjamin five times what he had given the brothers.

After they left with their packs filled with grain, Joseph’s servants caught up with them, accusing them of stealing Joseph’s silver goblet. They searched and found it in Benjamin’s pack. The servants therefore brought the brothers back before Joseph:

• Joseph said to them, "What is this you have done? Don't you know that a man like me can find things out by divination?"    "What can we say to my lord?" Judah replied. "What can we say? How can we prove our innocence? God has uncovered your servants' guilt. We are now my lord's slaves-- we ourselves and the one who was found to have the cup."  But Joseph said, "Far be it from me to do such a thing! Only the man who was found to have the cup will become my slave. The rest of you, go back to your father in peace." (Genesis 44:15-17) 

However, they knew that they couldn’t return home to their father without Benjamin. It would kill their father! Therefore, Judah pleaded:

• "Please let your servant remain here as my lord's slave in place of the boy, and let the boy return with his brothers. How can I go back to my father if the boy is not with me? No! Do not let me see the misery that would come upon my father." (Genesis 44:33-34) 

How different from the way they had treated Joseph many years before! They now were willing to sacrifice themselves for the favored son, Benjamin!

• Then Joseph could no longer control himself before all his attendants, and he cried out, "Have everyone leave my presence!" So there was no one with Joseph when he made himself known to his brothers. And he wept so loudly that the Egyptians heard him, and Pharaoh's household heard about it. (Genesis 45:1-2) 

Why hadn’t Joseph revealed himself earlier? He had wanted to. He had also wept on their first visit. He loved them and wanted to bring the entire family under his protection, but were they ready for receive such a blessing? Would they instead be consumed with jealousy as they had been before? If they weren’t ready, such a blessing would have been counter-productive. It would have enflamed their jealousy even more as they watched their beloved father fawning over Joseph.

However, they had now grown. They had learned “reverent submission” unto their father. Joseph had tried to inflame their jealousy over the favoritism he showed to Benjamin. However, this ploy failed to prevail over their devotion to their father.

When Joseph saw this, be broke down and revealed himself. However, he first had to send the Egyptians out of the room. They were not ready for such a revelation. Even then, the brothers were terrified.

Ask our Lord to provide for you a “reverent submission,” and He will grant it! It is His will to conform us into the image of His beloved Son. Just keep on asking!

Bible Interpretation: More than a Seminary Degree

For many reasons, Bible interpretation can be challenging. I was talking to bright lawyer about the Patriarchs. Although she doesn’t believe in the God of the Bible, she likes the Patriarchal accounts and appreciates the way that the Bible portrays Patriarchs and their wives as very morally flawed humans:

• Through revealing their moral lapses, the Bible is giving us permission to also cheat and lie. 

I protested, but she seemed to like this interpretation. She argued that through these accounts, God was also giving us the green light to act immorally.

I was horrified by this interpretation, but I could see that if we regard these Patriarchal accounts apart from the light of the rest of the Scriptures, it would be easy to make such a mistake. However, when we encounter the “thou shall nots” in Exodus through Deuteronomy, it becomes impossible to conclude that God is okay with cheating and lying.

What is the lesson here? Just as we have often heard it said – we must interpret Scripture by Scripture. This means that we have to have a command of the entire body of Scripture in order to be able to competently interpret. It helps us understand why God has given pastors and teachers to the church for its edification.

This doesn’t mean that we cannot understand a verse that tells us to love our neighbor as ourselves. However, as we grow into the entirety of Scripture, we will also grow in our understanding of the nature of love.

There is also another challenge to interpretation that was illuminated by this exchange. We often see what we want to see. If we want to start a revolution, we see Jesus as a revolutionary. If we want freedom to live our lives that way we want, we emphasize the point that Jesus received everyone who came to Him and leave out the repentance part.

This is the way I too had been. I wanted to find in Scripture those verses which would make me feel good about myself, and I therefore would avoid the uncomfortable verses. What ultimately made the difference? The Spirit, and it required many years! Through many painful circumstances, He taught me to read His Words with a different eye. Now that I just want His Word and understanding, I can see what I had been unable to see.

Jesus claimed that before we judge another, we first have to judge ourselves and remove the plank (blindness) from our eyes:

• "Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye. (Matthew 7:3-5)

What is this plank? It is our self-imposed blind spots. We can’t judge others, since we refuse to see, let alone judge, ourselves. And if we are so blind in regards to ourselves and others, we are also blind in regards to Scripture. We only see what we want to see, what fits into our purposes.

Well, what do we do about our all-controlling blindness? After admonishing us to not throw our wisdom before those who have no regard for it, Jesus then returns us to the Spirit:

• "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.” (Matthew 7:7-8)

Sound interpretation requires far more than a seminary degree. It requires the work of the Spirit. Without Him, we can do nothing (John 15:4-5)! Let our continual prayer be, “Lord, you teach me!”

One Reason why we Regard the Bible as God’s Words

When we think about how the Bible proves itself to be the Word of God, we usually think about the miracles and fulfilled prophecies of the Bible. We might also think in terms of the wisdom, unity and the power of the Bible to change lives. There is even a powerful case to be made for how biblical revelation had anticipated the findings of science and archeology. In addition to these evidences, the Bible contains much that would not have been written by the Israelites. In many respects, the Bible is a collection of writings that humans would not have been motivated to write. Let me try to present several examples:

1. THE PATRIARCHS: Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the forefathers of Judaism, were certainly not role-models. Instead, the Bible reveals that they were cowards, deceivers, liars and worse. We humans don’t create or select such role models, least of all those who we identify as the Fathers of our faith.

Instead, the human tendency is to fashion them into the saints with whom others would want to identify. This is exactly what the Talmud did with the Patriarchs. It sanitized the Bible’s depiction of them, and made them virtually sinless. In contrast, the Bible’s portraits sharply conflict with what we’d create – so much so, that we feel compelled to modify them.

For instance, the Bible gives us the portrait of a spineless Abraham who routinely passed off his beautiful wife Sarah as his sister so that no one would kill him in order to have her.

Similarly, the Bible presents Israel’s greatest King – David – as an adulterer and a murderer. However, an orthodox Jew informed me that the Talmud had so cleaned up David that his adultery with Bathsheba and the murder of her husband Uriah were both righteous acts. This is precisely how we humans write our religious books!

2. MOSES: Even the greatest of all Israelites had been forbidden entry into the Promised Land because he had sinned. Aaron also is presented as a humiliated sinner. What hope therefore could the average Israelite entertain about his own future welfare? Not much! Such a revelation could not have been the invention of humans who’d naturally want to maintain a zealous following.

In contrast, in ancient literature, no historian presents his king in a negative light lest he forego his life!

3. THE ISRAELITES: They are not portrayed as faithful to God, but as stubborn and unfaithful. On numerous occasions, Moses warned the Israelites to not think themselves better or more deserving than others. Meanwhile, the Talmud characterizes the Jewish people as spiritually superior, the very thing that the Bible warns against:

·         “After the LORD your God has driven them out before you, do not say to yourself, "The LORD has brought me here to take possession of this land because of my righteousness." No, it is on account of the wickedness of these nations that the LORD is going to drive them out before you. It is not because of your righteousness or your integrity that you are going in to take possession of their land; but on account of the wickedness of these nations, the LORD your God will drive them out before you, to accomplish what he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Understand, then, that it is not because of your righteousness that the LORD your God is giving you this good land to possess, for you are a stiff-necked people.” (Deut. 9:4-6)

In fact, we cannot find one verse in the Hebrew Scriptures that suggests that the Israelites were superior to or more deserving than others.

On the contrary, almost all the prophets denounce Israel, so much so that if we didn’t know better, we might conclude that these Scriptures represent the heights of anti-Semitism. Often, Israel is indicted more extensively than any other people. The first chapter of Isaiah is representative of what we find in the writings of the other Israelite prophets:

·         “I reared children and brought them up, but they have rebelled against me. The ox knows its master, the donkey its owner’s manger, but Israel does not know, my people do not understand. Woe to the sinful nation, a people whose guilt is great, a brood of evildoers, children given to corruption! They have forsaken the Lord; they have spurned the Holy One of Israel and turned their backs on him.” (Isa. 1:2-4)

We humans don’t characteristically write such disparaging things about ourselves and our people, especially if these writings form the core of our self-identity – our significance and reason-for-being. How is it that the Jewish people would canonize such thoroughly condemning writings? They must have been convinced that they had no other choice, lest they oppose God.

4. MOSAIC LAWS: While much of Moses’ commands resemble those of other legal systems from that period, notably Hammurabi’s Code, much of it is not characteristic of anything else we find in the ancient Near East. For instance:

·         The covenant was transacted with all the people, not just the king – an oddity in its day. Kings wrote the laws, and these laws reflected the fact that the king was morally and religiously above everyone else.

·         The king was required to read the Torah (the Five Books of Moses) to remind him that he was no better than other people (Deut. 17).

·         A day of rest was mandatory for even animals and foreigners (Exodus 20:10). Such concern does not come from the ruling class but from God who created all!

·         The Sabbath (7th) year required the cancellation of debts to protect the poor (Deut. 15:1, 4) – certainly not something that people who make the laws – the power elite - would tolerate!

·         The Jubilee (50th) year required that the land be returned to its original owners. In fact, this law was so radical – so counter to human economics - that there is no evidence that Israel ever obeyed it:

Then have the trumpet sounded everywhere on the tenth day of the seventh month; on the Day of Atonement sound the trumpet throughout your land.  Consecrate the fiftieth year and proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee for you; each of you is to return to your family property and to your own clan. The fiftieth year shall be a jubilee for you; do not sow and do not reap what grows of itself or harvest the untended vines. (Lev. 25:9-11)

It should be noted that such a law depended upon a supreme trust in God to provide in the absence of sowing.

·         The priestly caste was denied true wealth – land. Instead, God was to be their inheritance. What powerful caste would willingly place themselves in such a disadvantageous position!

·         The law granted soldiers permission to leave the army if they feared (Deut. 20). If any nation granted their soldiers such an out, it would loose its army. Therefore, it would be surprising to find such a law in any man-made legal code.

Similarly, there are many other laws that humans, especially from that period of time, would never tolerate. Therefore, it seems more likely that these laws must have come from above!

5. MOSAIC THREATS: The warnings for disobedience were severe and demanding. If an Israelite failed to keep the law in just one respect, he was under a curse (Deut. 27:26). We humans would not accept such a threatening religion. Nor would the Rabbis, who qualified this teaching in several ways. For instance, Gerald Sigal, The Jew and the Christian Missionary, wrote,

·         [Deuteronomy 27:26] does not refer to the breaking of the Law by an ordinary individual. It is, as the Rabbis explain, a reference to the authorities in power who fail to enforce the rule of the Law in the land of Israel (J.T. Sotah 7:4). The leadership of the nation is thus charged, under pain of the curse, to set the tone for the nation and make the Law the operative force in the life of the nation.

Instead, this verse and many others damn every Israelite. This is a state-of-affairs that no people would tolerate. We come to religion for its benefits and not its curses!

6. PROPHECIES: The Prophets uniformly prophesied Israel’s future failure (Deut. 29:4; Joshua 24:19). Moses even taught Israel a song that would serve to continually indict them. Israel would reject their God, and God would bring destruction upon them (Deut 32:15-35). No one would invent a religion foretelling such negative consequences for its own people. And who would follow such a religion!

Perhaps even more offensive to Israel, the Prophets also envisioned the hated Gentile nations enjoying in the end the abundant blessings with Israel. Perhaps the most poignant demonstration of the Israelite consternation to this Divine plan is exhibited by Jonah, who rebelled against God’s call to preach to Nineveh. This is because he feared that his preaching would serve as a vehicle for God to bless the Ninevites. Even Israel’s prophets are characterized as unworthy of their Master!

7. PENTATEUCHAL HOLIDAYS: Of the five prescribed holidays, only one of them is truly commemorative of an historical event – the Passover/Feast of Unleavened Bread. The other four seem to be prophetic. They look forward to God working events to their glorious culmination.

However, this is very unusual – something we humans don’t do! Holidays commemorate past events, like the birthdays or deaths of our significant people, military victories, and even great tragedies like Pearl Harbor Day. They make us remember events that are key to our national and religious identity.

Likewise, all of Israel’s non-divinely-ordained holidays are commemorative. Hanukkah commemorates the cleansing of the Temple and the Maccabean military victories. Purim commemorates the salvation of the Jewish people in Persia. T’sha b’Av commemorates the destruction of the Temple. Simchat Torah commemorates the giving of the Law on Sinai.

8. ASSIGNMENT OF DATES: We assign dates to occasions we want to remember. Not so the Torah (Pentateuch). There is no assignment of a date to the giving of the law, to any military victories or momentous triumphs over an enemy. There is no “Victory over Jericho” day or “Pharaoh’s Defeat in the Red Sea” day. Instead, the dates are those that are important to God. They certainly weren’t important to the Israelites! In fact, Israel was so dumbfounded about the purpose of some of these dates and prescribed holidays that they had to invent rationale for them.

For instance, the purpose for the “Feast of Trumpets” was never specified. Therefore, the Jewish people invented a meaning for it. They called the day “Rosh Hashanah” (the head of the year) or “New Years Day.” How strange not to know the significance of one’s holidays! Had they been humanly ordained, there never would have been any question!

This is only a mere outline of the ways that the Bible is humanly foreign and sometimes repugnant – not the type of thing that we would create if we had the choice. When we survey the Hebrew Bible, we do not find a human landscape with identifiable benchmarks. Instead, we encounter something entirely alien to our expectations and inclinations – something that doesn’t flatter the ego, but instead humbles us, if we are enabled to see this unearthly terrain through unbiased eyes. But it’s this humbling process that prepares us for a Divine encounter that will leave us unsatisfied with the world we had once inhabited.

The Bible is not Fundamentally the Word of Man but of God

The Bible is an un-natural and un-human book. This is because it doesn’t reflect the types of things that we humans would write. The Bible also makes a seemingly outlandish claim about itself - It cannot be properly understood without the assistance of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 2:10-16)! Let me try to illustrate this fact. An atheistic website provided a good example of this failure to understand the Bible:

·        From Genesis to Revelation prominent individuals abound. But are they really worthy of respect and admiration? Was their behavior such that you would want to awaken your children on Sunday morning to read about their exploits?

In many respects, not! The article confidently proceeds to line up all the misdeeds about these “prominent individuals” to prove that the Bible lacks virtuous role models and therefore its morality is seriously deficient and unworthy as a moral guide, let alone a divine revelation. For instance, the atheist writes that Abraham:

·        Told his wife to lie, debauched Hagar, his maidservant, sent his maidservant and her child into the wilderness, lied, and married his half-sister.

Although this is all true, it fails to prove that the Bible is unworthy of serious consideration. This atheistic interpretation confuses description with prescription – the description of Abraham’s life with a moral prescription for us. It fails to understand that Abraham’s life and the lives of the other Patriarchs were never intended to be models for moral behavior. Admittedly, they had done dastardly things.

The atheistic author even misses the real dirt about Abraham — that he pimped his wife Sarah on several occasions! However, this author misses far more — the grace of God for sinners like us! The article concludes, “Anyone approaching the Bible for goodness, decency, role models, and morality, enters at his own peril.” This, of course, is true! However, humankind fails to grasp that Christ is the actual role model and not the wretches He stoops to save.

Even the life of Israel’s greatest king, David, is also blemished by serious moral failures – polygamy, adultery, murder, and cover-up. However, even orthodox Jews will not face what is so clearly spelled out in Scripture. When I was explaining the mercy of God to King David, an orthodox Jew cut me off:

·        You don’t understand! The Talmud explains that David was entirely righteous in killing the evil husband Uriah and marrying his wife Bathsheba.

However, this Talmudic interpretation is totally at odds with the biblical account. It reveals that God was angry with David over these sins. Although He forgave David, He also punished Him severely for them:

·        Then David said to Nathan [the prophet who confronted David about his sins], "I have sinned against the Lord." Nathan replied, "The Lord has taken away your sin. You are not going to die. But because by doing this you have made the enemies of the Lord show utter contempt, the son born to you will die." (2 Samuel 12:13-14)

This isn’t an honest interpretive mistake. The Talmud, and orthodox Judaism, consistently rationalizes the very apparent sins of the their Patriarchs and heroes. Why? They are unwilling to see what is plainly written! Why? We humans want a religion – a belief system – that we can humanly understand. We cannot understand a religion where the founders of our faith acted in an embarrassing, undignified way. We want to feel that we are on the winning team characterized by elite and honorable people, not liars and pimps.

Throughout, in the Bible, the warts of God’s people are clearly evidenced. None of Israel’s kings get a clean bill of health. They were all seriously blemished. It makes us wonder how the writers of the Bible were able to get away with these disclosures with their lives. It also makes us wonder what had impelled them to write so honestly about their kings and also about the failures of Israel. Even more surprisingly, we have to wonder what had impelled Israel to canonize such derogatory writings.

Even more startling, are the denunciations of Israel by the Prophets of Israel! Often, they didn’t get away with these denunciations with their lives. However, despite the fact that they were hated – the light is always painful – their writings were nevertheless accepted as the Word of God. Why? I think that there is only one way to understand this phenomenon – It was undeniable that these Prophets spoke the Word of God, however offensive that it might have been!

There are so many counter-human aspects of Scripture. While the Koran assures the Muslim that he is the greatest, the Bible assures Israel that they are the least:

·        Do not say to yourself, "The Lord has brought me here to take possession of this land because of my righteousness." No, it is on account of the wickedness of these nations that the Lord is going to drive them out before you. It is not because of your righteousness or your integrity that you are going in to take possession of their land; but on account of the wickedness of these nations, the Lord your God will drive them out before you, to accomplish what he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. 6Understand, then, that it is not because of your righteousness that the Lord your God is giving you this good land to possess, for you are a stiff-necked people. Remember this and never forget how you provoked the Lord your God to anger in the desert. From the day you left Egypt until you arrived here, you have been rebellious against the Lord. (Deut. 9:4-7)

Moses never stroked Israel’s self-esteem, as anyone trying to gain a following would do. Instead, he repeatedly told Israel that they would fail to follow their God and that they would be consumed (Deut. 32:5-33). Despite these despairing messages, Israel received these insults as the Word of God. Why? They must have been convinced that these were God’s words!

This pattern – it’s all about God and His mercy and not about our worthiness - is maintained throughout the entire Bible. Jesus’ disciples were never complemented by their Master. Instead, the only two whose faith was praised were both of the detested Gentiles. Meanwhile, the disciples portrayed themselves as bumbling idiots. Why? If they wanted to influence others in favor of their Christ-centered faith, why would they portray themselves in such a negative way? Who would want to follow such ignoramuses! Evidently, for them, there was something more important than looking good – the truth of God!

We humans like to exalt our forefathers and, by doing so, we exalt ourselves. The Talmud and the religions of the world are all too human in this regard. As a new Christian, this too was my tendency. I was deeply disturbed to read about the blemishes of Abraham and David. These seemed to detract from my new-found religion. However, as God continued to reveal to me my own unworthiness along with His forgiveness, I learned to delight in the incredible love and patience He demonstrated to His Old Testament “saints.” But my eyes had to first be opened!

This is perhaps one of the great ironies — the more the skeptic battles against the Faith, the more he inevitably demonstrates its veracity. Scripture can only be truly understood through the inner working of the Spirit!

Why Does Our Lord Hide Himself from Us?

We struggle with doubts, confusion and instability. It seems that life would be so much easier if Jesus would just appear, hold our hand, and explain away all of our confusion. We fail to understand why He doesn’t do this. To make matters worse, the atheist taunts us:

• If your God is more than a fairy tale, why doesn’t He just appear and perform some great miracles. How can he expect anyone to believe in him if he doesn’t provide some solid evidence?

Scripture’s reassurance that God purposely keeps certain things secret (Deut. 29:29) provides little comfort. I think we need to be comforted with the understanding why He doesn’t reveal all.

Perhaps the best place to find this understanding is in the account of Joseph and his tumultuous relationship with his brothers. They had been jealous of his father Jacob’s preference of Joseph, who had been the first born of his favored, but now deceased wife, Rachel. They determined to kill him, but instead sold Joseph as a slave into Egypt where he suffered for many years in jail until Pharaoh elevated him as the #2 man over all Egypt.

God had revealed to Joseph a future seven year famine, and so Joseph made great preparations to store grain for the famine. After enduring starvation for several years, Jacob sent his sons to Egypt to procure grain.

It had been so many years, that the brothers didn’t recognize Joseph, and Joseph didn’t disclose himself to them. Instead, he imprisoned them, falsely accusing them of being spies. They protested that they weren’t, explaining that the father remained behind in Canaan with his favorite and youngest son, Benjamin.

After three days, Joseph released them, keeping one brother in jail, and told them that if they didn’t return with their youngest brother - the one other son of Rachel - they would never see Simeon again.

They returned to their father with the life-saving grain and explained that they would never be able to return for more without Benjamin. However, this famine persisted and Jacob relented, allowing Benjamin to accompany them. However, he warned that if Benjamin failed to return with them, he would surely die.

When they returned to Egypt, Joseph – his identity still remaining hidden – threw them a great banquet. However, he purposely tried to incur their jealousy by giving Benjamin five times what he had given the brothers.

After they left with their packs filled with grain, Joseph’s servants caught up with them, accusing them of stealing Joseph’s silver goblet. They searched and found it in Benjamin’s pack. The servants therefore brought the brothers back before Joseph:

• Joseph said to them, "What is this you have done? Don't you know that a man like me can find things out by divination?"    "What can we say to my lord?" Judah replied. "What can we say? How can we prove our innocence? God has uncovered your servants' guilt. We are now my lord's slaves--we ourselves and the one who was found to have the cup."     But Joseph said, "Far be it from me to do such a thing! Only the man who was found to have the cup will become my slave. The rest of you, go back to your father in peace." (Genesis 44:15-17)

However, they knew that they couldn’t return home to their father without Benjamin. It would kill their father! Therefore, Judah pleaded:

• "Please let your servant remain here as my lord's slave in place of the boy, and let the boy return with his brothers. How can I go back to my father if the boy is not with me? No! Do not let me see the misery that would come upon my father." (Genesis 44:33-34)

How different from the way they had treated Joseph many years before! They now were willing to sacrifice themselves for the favored son!

• Then Joseph could no longer control himself before all his attendants, and he cried out, "Have everyone leave my presence!" So there was no one with Joseph when he made himself known to his brothers. And he wept so loudly that the Egyptians heard him, and Pharaoh's household heard about it.  (Genesis 45:1-2)

Why hadn’t Joseph revealed himself earlier? He had wanted to. He had also wept on their first visit. He loved them and wanted to bring the entire family under his protection, but were they ready for receive such a blessing? Would they instead be consumed with jealousy as they had been before? If they weren’t ready, such a blessing would have been counter-productive. It would have enflamed their jealousy even more as they watched their beloved father fawning over Joseph.

However, they had now grown. Joseph had tried to inflame their jealousy over the favoritism he showed to Benjamin. However, this ploy failed to prevail over their commitment to their father.

When Joseph saw this, be broke and revealed himself. However, he first had to send the Egyptians out of the room. They were not ready for such a revelation. Even then, the brothers were terrified.

There are some revelations that we are unprepared to receive. Jesus had wanted to reveal more of Himself to His Apostles, but informed them that they were not yet ready. When I became a supervisor at the New York City Department of Probation, I naively thought that if I conducted myself in a transparent, just and concerned manner, my subordinates would reciprocate. Instead, they took kindness for weakness and tried to take unwarranted liberties. Consequently, I had to bring some of them up on charges. They therefore hated me, and I hated them. They proved themselves unable and unwilling to handle what I had revealed about myself, and I learned a painful lesson.

We are not ready to handle everything that our Lord would like to reveal about Himself. He feeds us with a miracle-lean diet, because this is the very diet we now need. He allows us to struggle with doubts and confusion, because, for now, we need this kind of weakness in order to grow into a trusting relationship with Him. However, we are promised that it will not always be this way.