In Between, part 4 - Divisive Factions

Introduction
God’s 400-year official silence in between the Old and New Testaments was a pause that prepared the world for the most important Word God would ever speak—the Word made flesh, Jesus the Christ.  John 1:14, “So the Word became human and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father’s one and only Son.” 

We will celebrate the birth of that precious Word, Jesus, this week at Christmas.  But we have one more Sunday of Advent to go.  And so today, we will look at the last 100 years of the intertestamental period and consider the various factions that developed before Christ was born—factions that we read about in the Gospels that bitterly divided God’s people—and we will contemplate the bitter divisions in our own times as we wait for Christ to come fix our divided world.

 Isaiah 49:5-7

⁵ And now the Lord speaks—
    the one who formed me in my mother’s womb to be his servant,
    who commissioned me to bring Israel back to him.
The Lord has honored me,
    and my God has given me strength.
⁶ He says, “You will do more than restore the people of Israel to me.
    I will make you a light to the Gentiles,
    and you will bring my salvation to the ends of the earth.”

⁷ The Lord, the Redeemer
    and Holy One of Israel,
says to the one who is despised and rejected by the nations,
    to the one who is the servant of rulers:
“Kings will stand at attention when you pass by.
    Princes will also bow low
because of the Lord, the faithful one,
    the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen you.”

God's Chosen People
Israel is often called God's chosen people.  Some think this goes back Moses, because God sent Moses to deliver Israel from slavery in Egypt and lead them to the Promised Land.

God’s choice of Israel goes back even further to Abraham, because God chose Abraham and said, "Leave your homeland and go to a lad I will show you and I will make you the father of a great nation.  You won't even begin to count all your descendants.  And you will be a blessing to all the nations of the earth.  God chose Abraham because he was a man of faith who believed God, even when it seemed impossible. 

But really, God's choice goes all the way back to creation.  God chose to create people.  He didn't need people, but He chose to make people so they could enjoy the beautiful world He created and experience God's love and love Him too.    

God loves all people. He doesn't create some for destruction and some for salvation.  God created all people in hopes of sharing love.  And so, in this sense, God chose all people to be HIs people, but we are so stubborn and sinful we urn away from Him.

But God chose Abraham, because he was a man of faith, to be a blessing to all the nations and help people everywhere repent of sin and come back into a love relationship with God.  

And from Abraham, came Israel, a people who were to be a blessing. Israel was to be a kingdom of priest who brought all people back to God.  Unfortunately, Israel became puffed up by their status and blessings as God's people. They became proud and only wanted to satisfy their own selfish ambitions and build their own kingdom instead of seeing to God's mission to bring the whole world back to God.

Israel began to suffer the consequences of their selfishness and idolatry.  little by little, their kingdom eroded away until they oppressed and conquered by foreign empires.  And in their distress, they cried out for a Messiah to save them.  God said in Isaiah 49:6, I "will do more than restore the people of Israel to me.  I will make you a light to the Gentiles, and you will bring my salvation to the ends of the earth.”

America seems more divided today than it ever has been. We could learn a lot from the history of Israel's mistakes during the intertestamental period.  If ever there were a divided people, it was Israel by the time Jesus was born. 

Israel Between the Old and New Testaments
From the 500s BC until the birth of Christ, Jerusalem was ruled by a succession of foreign empires.  First, the Persia ruled Israel and allowed the Jews to rebuild Jerusalem and the Temple.  Then, Alexander the Great lead Greek Empire to conquer Persia and take control of Israel.  However, Alexander the Great died unexpectedly and his empire shattered into four smaller kingdoms--Macedonia, Pergamum, Ptolemaic Egypt, and Seleucid Syria. And so Israel was then ruled by Greek Egypt followed by Greek Syria.  Then the Maccabees revolted against Syria and a brutal revolution led to a brief period of independence when the corrupt Hasmonean kings ruled Israel.  Then, in 63 BC, the Roman Empire from the west marched into Jerusalem and took over. 

All these wars and devastations and instabilities gave rise to many different political and religious groups in Israel—each one believing they knew what was needed to make Israel great again.  Let's look at these various groups.

The Pharisee and the Sadducees
The Pharisees and Sadducees were both active political parties—backing different leaders and giving allegiance to various different foreign influencers through the intertestamental period.

Because the Greek Empire had been so successful in the Mediterranean world, people everywhere realized the Greeks had some really good ideas.  Therefore, people in many different countries adopted Greek ideas about government, military, philosophy, and even religion.  This process of becoming more Greek was called Hellenization.

Most people realized, if you wanted to get ahead in life and the global world, you needed to be more Greek.  The Sadducees welcomed Hellenization in Jerusalem and it helped them rise in social status.  However, the Pharisees wanted Jews to remain pure.  They didn't want any foreign cultural or religious influences seeping into Judaism.  The Pharisees were the scribes who copied the Torah.  They believed the Bible faithfulness to the Law of Moses was the way to make Israel great again.  So they set about teaching the Law on the streets and encouraged everyone to follow it perfectly.

While the Pharisees were loyal to the Torah, the Sadducees were loyal to the Temple.  They believed what everyone needed was to worship God with sacrifices in the Temple.  They were the priestly class who controlled the coveted and lucrative positions of the Temple order, including the position of High Priest.

The Pharisees believed in ressurection in the afterlife.  The Sadducees were "sad you see" because they didn't believe in ressurection.  They believed there was no life after death; this life is all you get.  So, they wanted to make the most of this life--earn all you can, gain as much power and influence, and enjoy the comforts of this life--because it's all you get.  The Pharisees, on the other hand, believed you should be willing to sacrifice your life for the sake of faithfulness to the Torah because God would reward you in the next life.

The Pharisees were seen as the party of the people, because they could be seen out in the streets teaching the Law to the common person.  On the other hand, the Sadducees the elite upper crust of society, wealthy, holding high positions, and were always in the exclusive temple.

Pharisees were very pious, trying to follow God's law perfectly.  For example, they refused to work on the Sabbath and even forbid people to have too many tacks in their sandals on the Sabbath because walk around with too many takes might be considered carrying a heavy load, which would be work.  The Sadducees, on the other hand, saw religion as a mean to get ahead.  They were often quit corrupt, using their political and religious positions for gain, selling appointments for bribes, cheating people with unfair exchanges in the temple, and getting rich off the people's tithes and offerings.

The Herodians and the Zealots
Another bitter division was between the Herodians and the Zealots.  When Rome marched into Jerusalem in 63 AD, they installed Antipater as their puppet king in Jerusalem.  When Antipater died, his son, Herod the Great, became king in 40 BC.  Herod was a ruthless and savvy king.  He murdered all his Jewish rivals including his sons, his wife, her 2 sons, her brother, her grandfather, and her mother.  This is the same Herod the Wisemen visited in Matthew chapter 2 when they were looking for the infant Jesus, which led Herod to order the murder of every baby in Bethlehem under 2 years old. 

Most people loathed Herod, but he was a savvy political leader who skillfully walked the fine line between being the political leader of Judea and a puppet king for Rome.  Herod’s rule divided Judea further between two opposing groups—the Herodians and the Zealots.

The Herodians supported Herod's rule.  Herod was not of the line of David, Israel's royal line from of old.  However, the Herodians supported Herod's dynasty as the new royal line of Israel.  They also sought to preserve Israel's autonomy by cooperating with the Roman's.  They believed rebellion against Rome was futile and would lead to Jerusalem's destruction.

The Zealots were a militant political party that opposed the Herodians.  The Zealots passion for the national and religious life of the Jewish people led them to despise Rome and even Jews who sought peace through cooperation with the Roman authorities.  The Zealots fiery nationalism meant they hated the Herodians.  They wanted to fight violently for Jewish independence.  They were even willing to resort to terrorist attacks, assassination, and killing their own people to restore David’s Kingdom, which they saw as God’s Kingdom. 

The Essenes
With all the division and strife in Israel’s broken world before Christ, many had given up on this world altogether.  Have you ever felt like that?  Have you ever felt:  "This world is just too dark, too evil.  I don’t even know how to live in this place.  I just wish I could run away to a lonely mountain and live as a hermit."  Or maybe you think, "I'm too social to be a lonely hermit.  I’ll join a commune with a bunch of other truly good people, and we’ll turn our backs on this evil world and start over and make our own good world, where there will be peace and love and happiness.” 

That was how the Essenes felt before Jesus came.  

The Essenes were the “preppers” of the ancient world.  They wanted to leave this world behind.  They realized the systems of this world were so broken, there was no hope for the world to be found in kingdoms and empires and political factions.  Even the established religious systems seemed broken beyond repair.  They rejected the Temple in Jerusalem as corrupt as well.  So they abandoned it all and moved away out into the wilderness.  They wanted to learn how to farm the land and be self-sufficient so they didn't have to depend upon markets and systems and governments of this evil world. 

We have the Essenes to thank for the preservation of the Dead Sea Scrolls.  While they were caching away food for their communities in caves in the Judean wilderness, they also saved the Holy Scriptures.  One day in 1947, a shepherd was wandering through the Judean hills.  He picked up a rock and through it into the mouth of a cave and heard something inside smash.  When he investigated, he found a clay pot with and ancient scroll inside.  It was an ancient copy of the Prophet Isaiah.  People often wonder, "How do we know if the BIble we have today hasn't changed from what was ordinally written?"  Well, in the Dead Sea Scrolls, we see many of the ancient biblical texts, over 2,000 years old, and they are the same as the texts we read in our Bible's today.  Thank you Essenes!

Many scholars also believe John the Baptist was either an Essene or deeply influenced by their religious movement.  And it seems very plausible.  John the Baptist lived in the wilderness, ate locusts and wild honey, and dress in animal skins (many similarities to the Essene's ascetic lifestyles as monks).  The 

The Essenes wanted to forget about the world.  The world could go to hell; the Essenes wanted to start over from scratch.  But by retreating from the world, the Essenes abandoned God's mission for Israel to be a light to other nations.  God doesn't want the world to go to hell.  God wants to save the world.  God did not send His Son to condemn the world, but to save it (see John 3:17).

Conclusion
This was the broken and divided world into which Jesus was born.  He came to bring light into the darkness and to show God came to save ALL people.

God’s Kingdom is not just for Jews or Jerusalem or Israel.  God’s Kingdom is for ALL nations.

And God’s Kingdom is not of this world. In other words, it doesn’t operate by the politics and principles of worldly Kingdoms.  It is not won by political maneuverings or by the might of a sword.  God’s King is a baby born in a manger and His Kingdom is won by a cross. 

It breaks my heart to look around at our broken world—divided between so many factions.  And everyone thinks their way is the only way.  And I feel great kinship with the Essenes, sometimes, and those who want to leave it all behind and move to a remote cabin in the wilderness and just forget about this broken world.  

However, God’s call for His people today is the same as it was in Isaiah 49:6,  “I will make you a light to the Gentiles, and you will bring my salvation to the ends of the earth.”  And Jesus said in Matthew 28:19 – “Go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.” 

I believe Christ is coming again, just as He came 2,000 years ago. But when Jesus comes again in final glory, our Messiah will finally bring His Kingdom on Earth and all that is wrong will be made right.  In the meantime, in the waiting, I will do His work on earth.  I will take up my cross and follow Him.

And I hope you will too.

Is the Bible Ever Wrong?

Is the Bible ever wrong?  In other words, is the Bible Inerrant or does the Bible ever make mistakes?

This blog is part of a series where I try to answer your questions about Christian faith. I’m Pastor Chris.  I’ve been a pastor for 2 decades--thinking about the mysteries of God, the Bible, and the Christian faith.  So in this series, I’ll do my best to answer your questions and share something that will help you grow and be fruitful. Comment and ask me your questions and I’ll try to answer them in upcoming videos.

In this blog, I want to answer the question:  Is the Bible inerrant?  So let’s get into it.

The word inerrant means “incapable of being wrong” and inerrancy means “without error”. As a Bible believing Christian, I believe the Bible is the written Word of God, that everything in the Old and New Testament was inspired and preserved by God and contains everything we need to know for salvation and to live as faithful followers of Christ. I believe God speaks to His people primarily through the Bible and the Bible must be the foundation for all faithful Christian teaching and living.

Though the Bible was inspired by an infallible God, it was written down by very fallible people. God speaks through these fallible authors, using their mixed up cultural ideas and shaping their broken words into His written Word that speaks His timeless truths.  For these reasons, you cannot read the Bible the same way you would read a history book or a science book. 

To hear God’s Word in the Bible, you must submit yourself to God while you listen to His conversations with people through the ages.  To get the most from the Bible, you need to understand the historical contexts of the people who wrote under God’s inspiration and you must allow the Holy Spirit to inspire you anew today.

The Bible is God’s inspired Truth. However, there are clear examples of errors and inaccuracies in the Bible. For example, Jesus said in Matthew 13:32 that the mustard seed is the smallest of all seeds. Now the mustard seed is a small seed, but it’s not the absolute smallest seed in the world. That distinction belongs to tropical orchids–20 times smaller than a mustard seed. So Jesus’ statement about mustard seeds is factually incorrect.  But that doesn’t mean the meaning of His statement is untrue.  The Truth Jesus illustrates with the mustard seed is about how a tiny amount of faith is all you need to do incredible things.  Maybe Jesus’ disciples didn’t know about orchid seeds.  This inaccuracy doesn’t affect the Truth of the Bible’s deeper spiritual meaning.  

There are also minor copying errors that inevitably occur when any text is copied by human hands.  These don’t affect the truthfulness of the texts, but they do show the imperfect nature of a book recorded by imperfect people.  

We must also take into consideration the cultural contexts of the authors of biblical passages. Just because someone helped write the Bible doesn’t mean their way of life was without fault.  In fact, quite often, their cultural ideas were even judged by God to be wrong.  God meets people where they are and works through them–even their broken culture.  So we shouldn’t just accept what the Bible says uncritically.  We must approach the Bible holistically asking: what is the overarching message of the Bible?  And: how does what we know today from Christian tradition, reason, and human experience help us understand what God is saying to us today in the Bible?

Questions about Biblical inerrancy can be very loaded questions. These questions didn’t really come up as much until the late 1800s.

As society grew more interested in scientific discovery, Biblical Inerrancy got tangled up with American religious and political debates of the 20th century.  Events like the “Snopes Monkey Trial” of 1925 pitted evolutionary science against religion.  Many Bible believing Americans felt their faith under attack by more liberal-minded thinkers who taught modern science is more important than Scripture. Conservative Christian leaders often overreacted defensively to protect the Bible and Christian faith from liberal attacks.  

In 1978, a group of evangelical leaders issued the Chicago Statement proclaiming the Bible "is without error or fault in all its teaching" or, at least, that "Scripture in the original manuscripts does not affirm anything that is contrary to fact".  Suddenly Christians across America found themselves pressured to choose sides.  “Are you a true Christian who believes the Bible is absolutely inerrant and infallible or are you one of those evil, anti-Bible, anti-Jesus, anti-American liberals who wants to destroy the church and replace God with science!?!?”

Why does the truth have to be either the Bible or science?  Can’t truth be found in both? The Bible was never intended to be a science book (or even a collection of historical facts).  The Bible teaches spiritual Truth that runs deeper than scientific or historical inquiry. Yet because of increasingly divisive American politics over the last century, many have felt forced to pick one side or the other–science or religion.  It’s sad, really, and it does nothing to help us grow closer to God or find Truth.

I knew of a Southern Baptist minister who moved his whole family down from Kentucky to pastor a church in Middle Georgia.  After only a month on the job, one of the congregants who disliked the new pastor stood up in the middle of a church service and demanded an answer: “Do you believe in the inerrancy of Scripture?”

The minister tried to reason with the man and explain the truthfulness and reliability of Scripture. The disgruntled congregant would have none of it and demanded: “I just want a simple answer.  Do you believe the Bible is absolutely without error? Yes or no?”

When the minister finally said “No,” the congregation immediately voted to fire him.

So, to answer the question:  The Bible does sometimes make mistakes.  It has a few minor errors–factual or textual.  However, these do not significantly detract from the Bible’s purpose as God’s inspired Word.  The Bible is the most reliable source of spiritual Truth available to mankind.  It is the best way to learn about God.  It is the foundation of all orthodox Christian faith and practice.  And the Bible–including the Old and New Testaments–contain everything you need to know for salvation.  

Furthermore, the Bible keeps us anchored to true Christianity so we don’t drift off into heresy.  2,000 years of history shows the world always suffers terribly when the Christian Church disregards the clear teachings of Scripture in favor of human traditions and cultural norms.  It is incredibly arrogant and dangerous to assume what people believe in our own time and culture must be right and the timeless truths of the Bible must be outdated.  You better have overwhelming evidence and absolutely pure motives if you’re going to claim we know better than the written Scriptures authorized to speak as God’s word that have been upheld for 2,000 years.

My calling from God is to serve as a minister of biblically faithful Christianity. I will always seek to lead my congregation and everyone I can influence to trust the Bible as God’s inspired written Word. 

I encourage you to take advantage of the incredible biblical resources so readily at your disposal.  Read the Bible.  Study it.  Memorize it.  Most importantly, grow closer and closer to God as you live the principles revealed in the Holy Bible, God’ written Word.

4 Tips to Help You Pray Out Loud

This blog is part of a series where I try to answer your questions about the God, the Bible, and the Christian faith.  Ask me your question in the comments section and I’ll try to answer it in an upcoming blog.

Recently I was asked, “Why is it so hard to pray out loud?” Some people don’t mind praying out loud.  It terrifies others!  They'd rather die!  Don’t feel bad if you struggle to pray out loud.  It’s a very common struggle, even for deeply committed Christians.  I’ve known pastors who struggled to pray out loud–especially at the beginning of their ministries.  Some avoided becoming pastors because of their fear of praying outloud. 

So if you are a pastor or church leader, you should always check with people before you put them on the spot and ask them to pray out loud at a meeting.  Even if you think you know someone, check with them first if you’ve never heard them pray aloud. 

Now, let me give some tips to help if you struggle to pray out loud. 

Tip Number 1 - Practice
Practice praying out loud when you’re alone. It may surprise you, but most people aren’t used to hearing the sound of their own voice.  And hearing your voice when everyone else in the room is completely silent can really weird you out.  So, practice praying out loud at home when you’re all alone.  God will love it and no one else will know.  Practice makes perfect. 

Tip Number 2 - Pray for Dinner
Start by praying for dinner while alone or with your family.  This is how I learned how to pray out loud when I was a kid.  My parents prayed for the meal and sometimes they asked the kids to pray.  We simply copied them and prayed something like: “God is great!  God is good!  Let us thank Him for our food! By His hands, we all are fed.  Give us, Lord, our daily bread.  Amen.” 

A simple meal blessing like this is easy to remember.  From this, I became accustomed to praying out loud and it was easy to progress to prayers for other occasions as I grew older.  This is a great way to train your own kids to pray and it can help you too.  Start a family habit of praying before your meals, even when you go out to eat in a restaurant.  It’s a good spiritual practice for your family.  Let your kids in on the fun while they’re young.  It will bless your family in so many ways and help you and your kids learn to pray out loud.  There's quite as sweet as hearing your kids or grandkids say the blessing. 

Tip Number 3 - Just Talk to God
You don’t have to pray like the preacher at church. Just be yourself.  God isn’t looking for fancy language.  He just wants you to be you.  Some of the best prayers I’ve heard were plain language that sounded like a friend talking to a friend.  So just be yourself. 

Tip Number 4 - Keep it short.  Keep it simple. 
Trust me, no one is going to complain your prayer was too short.  People like short prayers!   (God does too!)  Don’t try to go on and on.  Just say what you need to say and be done.  In fact, it’s perfectly OK to memorize a short standard prayer you can use.  Start with a standard basic prayer and add anything specific you need to pray. 

When I was growing up, I had a basic prayer that went like this: “Dear God, thank you for everything You’ve given me and done for me.  Please heal anyone who is sick, comfort those who are grieving, and forgive our sins.  In Jesus Name. Amen.” 

So you can pray something simple like this and if you think of anything specific, just add that in too.  

Praying out loud can be hard when you first start, but the more you practice and the more you pray, the easier it will be.  So, let’s pray right now: “Jesus, help everyone reading this to learn to pray out loud.  Amen.”

In Between, part 3

Introduction
This series examines what happened during the intertestamental period of Christian history.  The 400 year period of God’s silence between the completion of the Old Testament and the birth of Christ was a pause that punctuated the greatest Word God ever spoke:  Luke 2:10-11, “I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people. The Savior—yes, the Messiah, the Lord—has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David!” 

Jesus came in peace, offering God’s grace and mercy and forgiveness.  However, many in Israel were hoping for and expecting a military leader who would violently conquer God’s enemies and drive them from the Holy Land.  What accounts for this dramatic difference between God's plan and the hopes of so many? 

Part of the reason they expected and hoped for a mighty conqueror instead of a suffering savior has much to do with the history of Israel during the 4 centuries between the Old and New Testaments.  I want to explore more of that history today.  In particular, I want to focus on the Maccabean Revolt, which is the inspiration for the modern Jewish holiday Hanukkah. 

Malachi, the last book of the Old Testament, was written around 475 BC.  God spoke through the prophet. 

Malachi 3:1-5

“Look! I am sending my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. Then the Lord you are seeking will suddenly come to his Temple. The messenger of the covenant, whom you look for so eagerly, is surely coming,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.

² “But who will be able to endure it when he comes? Who will be able to stand and face him when he appears? For he will be like a blazing fire that refines metal, or like a strong soap that bleaches clothes. ³ He will sit like a refiner of silver, burning away the dross. He will purify the Levites, refining them like gold and silver, so that they may once again offer acceptable sacrifices to the Lord. ⁴ Then once more the Lord will accept the offerings brought to him by the people of Judah and Jerusalem, as he did in the past.

⁵ “At that time I will put you on trial. I am eager to witness against all sorcerers and adulterers and liars. I will speak against those who cheat employees of their wages, who oppress widows and orphans, or who deprive the foreigners living among you of justice, for these people do not fear me,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.

Briefly Explain Passage
Judgment is certainly a theme of this passage.  God says, the “Lord” the people were seeking would judge sinners (and this refers to Jesus, the Messiah).  God says, the Messiah will come to the Temple and purify like a refiner’s fire.  And God also says there will be a trial and judgment against evil doers—in particular against:  sorcerers, adulterers, liars, people who cheat their employees, people who oppress widows and orphans, and people who deprive foreigners of justice.  What many in Israel didn't understand, is that much of that judgment would be of the Israelites, for they continually failed to fulfill their role as God's people. 

What Happened Between the Old and New Testaments?
After Malachi spoke, no other prophet’s words were preserved in the Bible.  Israel was ruled by the Persian Empire.  Then, Alexander the Great of Greece conquered most of the known world—including Persia.  Israel was ruled by Greece for 13 years, and the Greek Empire changed the world.  Greek became the universal language almost everyone could speak.  But when Alexander the Great died unexpectedly, His empire broke into 4 smaller, less powerful Kingdoms—Macedonia, Ptolemaic Egypt, Seleucid Syria, and Pergamum. 

The first little Greek kingdom to rise to prominence and rule Israel for 125 years were the Greek Egyptians.  They allowed Israel a certain amount of autonomy, but they encouraged the Israelites to adopt many elements of Greek religion, culture, and language. 

Many Israelites among the upper crust of society accepted these new Greek ideas.  You had to “Hellenize” (become more Greek) if you wanted to succeed and move up the social ladder.  To resist or reject Greek influence was to be seen as backwards, outdated, ignorant, and irrelevant.  

To be sure, there were many positive elements of Greek culture—systems of reason and logic, mathematics, architecture.  If you enjoy using an umbrella or a map, you can thank the Greeks who brought these things to prominence.  However, along with many good things, also came expectations to worship Greek gods and demigods like Zeus, Hercules, Pan, and others.  A rift formed in Israelite society between those who accepted Greek culture in order to move up and those who remained “pure” and faithful only to Yahweh, the God of Israel. 

The second “little Greek” kingdom to rule over Israel were the Greek Syrians.  When they took over from the Egyptians in 198 BC, they started playing hardball with Israel. The Syrians were tired of the stubborn, rebellious Israelites clinging to their Jewish culture and religion.  All the other conquered peoples of the Greek world had welcomed Greek religion.  The Jews were the main hold outs.  The Syrians made it a goal to rid Israel of Judaism and replace it with Greek culture and religion. 

The Syrians tried to transformed the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem into a temple to worship the Greek gods.  Jewish sacrifices, circumcision, observance of the Sabbath, and Jewish feasts were forbidden.  Jewish sacrifice in the Holy Temple were replaced with sacrifices to Zeus and included unclean animals, like pigs, that were offensive to Jews.  

One priest in Modiʿim, a small town outside Jerusalem, had had enough.  When a Syrian official tried to enforce heathen sacrifice in his town, Mattathias Maccabeus murdered the Syrian official. He and his sons, the Maccabees, fled into the Judean wilderness and began a 32-year revolt.  They fought against the Syrians and also raided Jewish towns and killed any Jews that sacrificed to Greek gods or who collaborated with the “Hellenists”.  

Little by little, the Maccabee’s guerrilla warfare wore down the Greek Syrian kingdom. The Maccabees recaptured and cleansed the Jerusalem Temple in 165 BC.  Many believed this was the fulfillment of Malachi’s prophesy in Malachi 3:1, where it said, “The Lord you are seeking will suddenly come to his Temple…”

The Jews gained independence in 142 BC.  Jewish kings once again rule in Jerusalem. The Hasmoneans dynasty were ruthless kings who were not of the royal line of David.  In 128 BC, they raided the northern territory of Samaria and demanded the Samaritans convert to Judaism.  When the Samaritans refused, the Jews destroyed the Samaritan’s temple in Shechem. This and other events like it led to the bitter animosity between Jews and Samarians we read about in the New Testament. 

The Hasmonean rulers of Jerusalem served as both kings and high priests.  They were not pure or holy or even good and they were not of the royal line of David.  A politically savvy group known as the Sadducees, said it didn’t matter.  The Sadducees preferred terrible Jewish rulers to good pagan rulers.  The Pharisees said a true king must be of the line of David and never accepted the Hasmonean royal line.  This became a bitter dispute that divided the Pharisees (who wanted a return to pure Judaism) and the Sadducees (who were willing to compromise for political expediency).  That division persisted into the New Testament where we read about Christian's interactions with both the Pharisees and Sadducees. 

The reconstituted, independent Israel was not a kingdom to be proud of.  There was no justice.  There was no peace.  Violence and chaos was the order of the day.  Leaders said they worshiped God, but their religion was a lie.  They embodied the sins Malachi 3:5 rebukes--people "who cheat employees of their wages, who oppress widows and orphans, or who deprive the foreigners living among you of justice, for these people do not fear me."

In 63 AD, a new and more powerful empire marched it's legions into Jerusalem and took over.  The Roman Empire’s rule of Jerusalem had begun and the people still yearned for a Messiah to come save them from oppression and finally bring God's Kingdom on earth.  Would this Messiah be like Mattathias Maccabeus—a priest who murdered oppressive officials, waged war on God’s enemies, and violently cleansed the Temple in Jerusalem?  

Many believed and hoped the Messiah would be like the Maccabees, but God had a much better plan.  He foretold the Messiah’s who would be called: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. (Isaiah 9:6).  The true Messiah’s plan is foretold in Isaiah 61:1, where it says, “The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is upon me, for the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to comfort the brokenhearted and to proclaim that captives will be released and prisoners will be freed.”

And Jesus came and read these very words from the scroll of Isaiah and said in Luke 4:18, “The Scripture you’ve just heard has been fulfilled this very day!” 

Conclusion
As we wait for Christmas, we still don’t know how long we need to wait for Jesus to finally return to judge the living and the dead and right all the wrongs of our broken world.

Waiting is hard.

While we wait, it is tempting to skip ahead and put our hope in people we admire.  We might think, "Perhaps this religious leader is the one we can trust." Or we say, "Maybe that celebrity is someone we can truly admire."  Or we hope, "Maybe the next president will be the one who puts our country back on the right track."

Why do we think our help will come from one of these worldly solutions  and not from Jesus, the true Messiah?  

And while we wait, it is so easy to waiver back and forth between compromising important core values we should never compromise for the sake of practicality or being militant idealists who are incapable of any compromise at all.   

Perhaps the best course of action while we wait is to allow Jesus to fulfill Malachi’s words in us:
To allow Jesus to purify us,
refining us like gold and silver,
burning away all the impurities in us.  

Perhaps it is best, while we wait, that we truly live for God in Christ 
by not cheating employees of their wages,
by no oppressing widows and orphans,
by not depriving the foreigners living among us of justice. 

Perhaps, while we wait, we should be about fulfilling Jesus’ mission when he quoted Isaiah 61:1,
The Lord has anointed me to:
bring good news to the poor
comfort the brokenhearted and
proclaim that captives will be released,
and prisoners will be freed.

Waiting is hard.

But sometimes, God Himself is the One who tells us to wait and be faithful.
And while we wait, we should worship and serve God and God alone
by living out the principles and mission of Jesus Christ.

Are There Any BIG, BAD, SINS That Keep You Out Of Heaven?

 Are there any particular sins that are so bad they will without a doubt keep you out of heaven?

This blog is part of a series where I try to answer your questions about the Christian faith. I’m Pastor Chris Mullis.  I’ve been a pastor for 2 decades--thinking about the mysteries of God, the Bible, and the Christian faith.

So in this series, I’ll do my best to answer your questions and share something that will help you grow and be fruitful.

Post your questions in the comments and I’ll try to answer them in an upcoming blog.

You can also click this link to my YouTube channel if you want to watch a video about this.

In this blog, I want to answer the question:  Are there any particular sins that are so bad they will definitely keep you out of heaven?  So let’s get into it.

I get asked questions like this a lot. And recently, I was asked:  “Do you think practicing homosexuals are going to Heaven?”  It’s a sincere question from a person I know to be very caring.  But the real question is much broader. Why limited the sin to gays and lesbians?

What about people who sin in other ways? What about: Murders? People who commit suicide? Blasphemers? Is there any sin that is so bad it will exclude you from Heaven forever? 

The truth is, all sins exclude you from the Kingdom of Heaven. Even seemingly small sins.  Have you ever lied?  Have you ever said to your wife or girlfriend, “No, honey!  Those pants do not make your butt look big.” when they actually do?  Have you ever taken a pen or paperclip that didn’t really belong to you? That’s stealing. And even tiny infractions like these are sins big enough compared to God’s gloriously perfect standard to disqualify you from the Kingdom of Heaven.

The Word of God tells us in Romans 3:23, “For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard.”  And James 2:10 says, “For the person who keeps all of the laws except one is as guilty as a person who has broken all of God’s laws.” And Romans 6:23 says, “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.”

So what we find in the Bible is that absolutely no one is able to go to heaven unless God somehow graciously overlooks their sin through Jesus Christ.

1 Corinthians 6:9-11 says, “9 Don’t you realize that those who do wrong will not inherit the Kingdom of God? Don’t fool yourselves. Those who indulge in sexual sin, or who worship idols, or commit adultery, or are male prostitutes, or practice homosexuality, 10 or are thieves, or greedy people, or drunkards, or are abusive, or cheat people—none of these will inherit the Kingdom of God. 11 Some of you were once like that. But you were cleansed; you were made holy; you were made right with God by calling on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.”

Any sin can keep you out of Heaven. But God can cleanse you of any sin and make you holy.  We are made right with God when we repent of our sin and seek to live a new life by the power of the Holy Spirit. Romans 6:15 says, “Since God’s grace has set us free from the law, does that mean we can go on sinning? Of course not! Don’t you realize that you become the slave of whatever you choose to obey? You can be a slave to sin, which leads to death, or you can choose to obey God, which leads to righteous living.”  

We shouldn’t keep living in sin after we repent and start  following Jesus. God’s Holy Spirit empowers us to live a new and holy life. We need to respond to the Spirit’s power and choose to live in ways that honor God. We need to repent of our sin and live right the best we can according to the Holy Spirit’s enabling power. 

But wait! Doesn’t the Bible say there’s an unforgivable sin?

There is no unforgivable sin except this: Rejecting Jesus Christ.  That is the only sin that cannot be forgiven. And even if you rejected Christ last year, but this year realize it was a mistake, you can put your faith in Jesus today and be saved.

And so, no mater what you’ve done, even if no one else can forgive, God can and He will if you trust Jesus and follow Him as Lord.

But wait a minute! What about people who persist in sinning even after Jesus saves them?  What about the gay person who contiues to practice homosexuality? What about the alcoholic that keeps drinking? What about the adulterer who keeps cheating? What about....

Ok.  Here’s my advice. It is very dangerous to continue to sin after you repent and follow Jesus as Lord doing stuff you know you shouldn’t. It abuses the mercy and grace of God. It damages the reputation of God and His people and can even keep others from following Jesus. Willful sin destroys our world, hurts people, damages your community, and sometimes abuses the people you care about most. Furthermore,  continuing to sin when you know better keeps you enslaved when God wants you to be free. 

As to whether and to what degree a person’s willful sin may keep them out of the Kingdom of Heaven: Only God can be the final judge. God knows and understands things in a sinner's heart we can’t imagine. So who am I to say what will be the final destination of a person’s soul? I don’t know and neither does anyone else. I do know that the power of some sins can be notoriously difficult to break. Alcoholics and addicts sometimes struggle their whole lives with very limited success staying sober, but that doesn’t disqualify them from heaven. God knows their struggles in ways I will never understand. And God is a righteous Judge Who always knows when to dispense justice and when to show mercy.

I do know this.  There’s no better place for a sinner to be than in a church where people come to encounter Jesus, the Savior who came to save sinners. So I’ll leave you with this  inspirational post I found on Facebook last week:

 You got hammered at the bar on Saturday but came to church on Sunday…. You can sit with me, you’re right where you need to be.

You’re a drug addict but came to church on Sunday…. You can sit with me, you’re right where you need to be. 

You’re divorced and the last church you attended condemned you for it…. You can sit me, you’re right where you need to be.

You’ve had an abortion and it’s slowly eating away at your heart but you came to church on Sunday…. You can sit with me, you’re right where you need to be. 

You’ve been unfaithful to your spouse but came to church on Sunday…. You can sit with me, you’re right where you need to be.

 So you gay and your struggling and wonder if God still loves you… He does.  And so do I. Come to church and sit with me.

People don’t come to church for you to judge them because you feel you’re better than them. People come to church because in their deepest, darkest, most painful moments, they heard a man named Jesus could save their soul and they’d like to know him.

 The man who snorted cocaine off his kitchen table  isn’t a bigger sinner than you who told your boss a lie on Monday so you could leave work early.

 The woman that had an abortion 10 years ago isn’t a bigger sinner than you when you flipped a man off in traffic last week. 

The drunk who slept in bar isn’t a bigger sinner than you who occasionally has too much to drink at home in private.

The woman who got caught cheating on her husband isn’t a bigger sinner than you who had sex with your now husband before you were married.

The lesbian who’s been rejected by her family for her choices isn’t a bigger sinner than you who indulged in a bit of gossip at church yesterday.  

There isn’t a person in this world too bad, too broken, too mean, or too damaged for Jesus to save. Romans 10:13 says, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

That’s what I believe.  How about you?

Post your thoughts in the comments. And ask any other questions you have about the Christian faith.