Judges.
The entire book---
What is missing?
Where is the tabernacle?
"Everyone does what is right in his own eyes (21:25)."
Tribe after tribe is represented by a champion who fights on the side of the Lord.
How many of them go to the tabernacle?
None.
The tabernacle was supposed to make the circuit throughout the tribes. Month after month, they were each to be visited: culminating in the feast of booths or tabernacles (Deuteronomy 16:13, Nehemiah 8:17, John 7:12). 12 tribes in 12 months equals year one. Year 2---3---4---.
Instead, year after year, the tabernacle remains in the same place until someone builds a roof over it and they begin to call it Beth-el, the house of God (20:18). No longer a tent to be transported, it is a place to be visited -- like the pagan temples.
Meanwhile, the priests and Levites behave as though they are entitled to special treatment. They believe that they deserve goodness and fatness and whatever they want in life. Slowly, they build roofs over their heads and act as though they, too, should own land and have substance. Eventually, Israel's spiritual welfare has no meaning to them. Nearly 500 years of their constant ritual dependence on the relationship that Moses had with God gave way to idolatry and the wickedness of their pagan neighbors. There was no king to watch over these priests and force them to forsake laziness and visit the tribes who needed the truth in word and symbol.
As bad as false religions are, there are Christian churches that refuse to abandon bad doctrine and practices because they are linked to some exalted person 500 years in the past. The unbiblical ideas of Calvin have been synthesized and made to be more important than the truth spoken by Jesus (Jesus IS God!). The official position of Calvinists is that the power of predestination is in the hands of their preachers. A person may be made right with God if the preacher performs the proper ritual over him or her. Those who are unlucky enough to have no availibility to their idea of the fountain of grace are automatically reject/reprobate.
The ancient tabernacle belonged to all peoples (Acts 15:13-18...notice that God knows all from the beginning - not Calvin). The ancient tabernacle represents Jesus and anyone who visited in the past could be given a vision of the cross by the Holy Spirit.
God did not entrust His saving work to the whims of humans who would be inclined to talk loudly of grace while enslaving people to a system of works and special interest. God established salvation in Himself and predestined Himself (Jesus is GOD) to accomplish the work. He did this at the cross. Anyone who wants to be in on the predestination of Jesus can meet Him at the cross. He will camp out with you until it is time to go home.
Come to the cross.
Saturday, August 25, 2012
Saturday, August 18, 2012
Who is Lord? ... Joshua
"Joshua made war for a long time..." (Joshua 11:18) probably about 5 years. In that time, he took the thirty-one cities that were occupied by those who worshipped Baal. Joshua had orders to kill every person - no matter how old. When you first consider that order, you try not to picture the issue of children. How could these men go from city to city, killing women and children?
Baal (or Bel, Beel) is the generic name for "lord" among the Canaanites. So, if you translate Daniel's Babylonian name, Belteshazzar, you get "the one who leads the lord" – which he certainly did as he led the pagan kings. Beelzebub (Matthew 10:25, 12:24, etc.) is translated as "lord of the flies" and is understood by the 1st century Jews as the lord of the demons. Baal, in the Old Testament, is often a term for the pagan god(s). The Philistines, being the Sea People (Mycenaean Pirates), worshipped many gods but their principle god was Dagon, the fish god (1 Samuel 5). The Amorite and other kings that were slaughtered by Joshua (chapter 12) worshipped Baal but their specific god was Molech (or Moloch). The worship of Molech involved the ritual rape of children and babies, followed by their sacrificing, burning or both. There's no idiotic Hollywood/Disney picture of noble sacrifice here: just satanic hatred and molestation of humanity. When Joshua and his men arrived, the children were already dead or mutilated. Who wouldn't destroy the adults?
Joshua 11:20 describes the attitude of the Lord (Jehovah - Hebrew = YaHWeH) toward the 31 doomed, Molech loving kings. "For it was of the Lord to harden their hearts, that they should come against Israel in battle, that He (the Lord...implicit is that Israel Israel Israel
Calvinists like to explain that God, in His inscrutable (Calvin must have skipped over Amos 3:7 when he made up his nonsense about God's secrets...) sovereignty, hardens the hearts of people just because He wants to and gets them to do cruel, ugly things because He can. This simple minded approach to the truth of the Word is foolish and dangerous. As noted above, the Canaanite kings were hideous and it was a mercy from God to annihilate them all. For God to harden their resolve was to fix them in the condition they had chosen and practiced for years. They personally chose "that hideous strength" -- like Hitler -- like Klansmen -- like Idi Amin.
Calvinistic oversimplifications lead to stupid conclusions. The unbiblical notion that God has reprobated most people in advance gives the Calvinist an unconscious sense of superiority. Left unchecked, where does the notion of pride and superiority always go? Following Jesus? Gotta deal with that "cross" clause first...
God Himself (Jesus is God) set aside superiority that was truly His (Philippians 2:6-8) and served humans who were/are all sinners - none of whom had been blotted out before they came into existence. Jesus offered a redemption based on love beyond all reason. He gave Himself on the cross.
Come to the cross.
Friday, August 10, 2012
Careful where you camp ... Deuteronomy
First day of school.
A teacher enters a classroom with 25 students seated in their desks. She smiles at them and sits down at her desk for a moment. Suddenly, she jumps up and walks quickly to the principal's office. She is joined by all of the other teachers in the school. Each of them has a similar issue. The computer printout of the class roll that our teacher holds has 10 names on it that are interspersed with 15 blackened spaces. 15 names have been blotted out. All of the teachers begin asking the obvious questions: How are we supposed to deal with the students without names? (Reply = They are not students) How are we supposed to keep them from misbehaving and causing problems for the "students"? (Reply = That is part of the classroom environment to which the students are pre-destined) How do we address the children without names? (Reply = Technically, they are not children but it really doesn't matter what you call them) How do we contact their parents??? (How should we know...there is no record of their names...)
Here is a picture of the doctrine of Reprobation that Calvin teaches his followers. According to Calvin, blotting happens "before the foundation of the world" and there is nothing that can be done about it. Never mind that the Bible clearly teaches that any blotting that is done will happen after the Lord has explored the facts about an individual (Calvin wants Reprobation to be a class action by God) and has given His divine judgment (de jure...) on what that person deserves (Deuteronomy 29:19-20). Reprobation happens in time or after time...not in advance. If you Calvinists want to quote chapter and verse of the Institutes to justify the stupidity of the system of reprobation, then you do so with Scripture and the character of God slapping your bigoted faces.
Imagine our scene above in the year 1966 and the blotted out names all correspond to 5th grade children in Alabama...and all the blotted ones are African-American. Suppose one of them knows that her name is Condoleezza Rice and she has learned the pain of her race in relation to the Constitution of the United States that proclaimed her as a 3/5 (three fifths) person (Article 1, Section 2, Paragraph 3). The 3/5 rule can be properly expressed in another way: for every five African-Americans counted, two of them are blotted out. Expendable. Worthless.
Now what do you Calvinists want to say about your reprobation system?
God has provided a place where all of us can unburden ourselves of the foolishness of our pride and superiority. No one has a special hall pass and an empty backpack; the burden of sin gets packed up in time for humans who are accountable for themselves. If God Himself (Jesus) will stoop low to get beneath our burden of sin so that He can become sin for us on the cross (2 Corinthians 5:21), then who are we that we should be anything other than on our knees in the presence of the cross.
Come to the cross.
A teacher enters a classroom with 25 students seated in their desks. She smiles at them and sits down at her desk for a moment. Suddenly, she jumps up and walks quickly to the principal's office. She is joined by all of the other teachers in the school. Each of them has a similar issue. The computer printout of the class roll that our teacher holds has 10 names on it that are interspersed with 15 blackened spaces. 15 names have been blotted out. All of the teachers begin asking the obvious questions: How are we supposed to deal with the students without names? (Reply = They are not students) How are we supposed to keep them from misbehaving and causing problems for the "students"? (Reply = That is part of the classroom environment to which the students are pre-destined) How do we address the children without names? (Reply = Technically, they are not children but it really doesn't matter what you call them) How do we contact their parents??? (How should we know...there is no record of their names...)
Here is a picture of the doctrine of Reprobation that Calvin teaches his followers. According to Calvin, blotting happens "before the foundation of the world" and there is nothing that can be done about it. Never mind that the Bible clearly teaches that any blotting that is done will happen after the Lord has explored the facts about an individual (Calvin wants Reprobation to be a class action by God) and has given His divine judgment (de jure...) on what that person deserves (Deuteronomy 29:19-20). Reprobation happens in time or after time...not in advance. If you Calvinists want to quote chapter and verse of the Institutes to justify the stupidity of the system of reprobation, then you do so with Scripture and the character of God slapping your bigoted faces.
Imagine our scene above in the year 1966 and the blotted out names all correspond to 5th grade children in Alabama...and all the blotted ones are African-American. Suppose one of them knows that her name is Condoleezza Rice and she has learned the pain of her race in relation to the Constitution of the United States that proclaimed her as a 3/5 (three fifths) person (Article 1, Section 2, Paragraph 3). The 3/5 rule can be properly expressed in another way: for every five African-Americans counted, two of them are blotted out. Expendable. Worthless.
Now what do you Calvinists want to say about your reprobation system?
God has provided a place where all of us can unburden ourselves of the foolishness of our pride and superiority. No one has a special hall pass and an empty backpack; the burden of sin gets packed up in time for humans who are accountable for themselves. If God Himself (Jesus) will stoop low to get beneath our burden of sin so that He can become sin for us on the cross (2 Corinthians 5:21), then who are we that we should be anything other than on our knees in the presence of the cross.
Come to the cross.
Saturday, August 4, 2012
Unhallowed ground ... Numbers
Majority rules!
Supposedly the wisdom of democracy is imbedded in its people. When they get together and vote, the correct path should open up in front of the majority and all must submit to that wisdom.
Supposedly.
Shammua, Shaphat, Igal, Palti, Gaddiel, Gaddi, Ammiel, Sethur, Nahbi and Geuel are ten names that are famous for one thing (Numbers 13:4-16). They all stood against Joshua and Caleb and opened a path of destruction as they voted against the Lord.
Numbers 14 shows the indignant response of the Lord as He curses the people who are 21 and older (14:29-34), proclaiming that they will all die in the 40 wilderness years ahead. All except Joshua and Caleb, the faithful minority. The people foolishly try to move into the land and are chased out by the Amalekites and Canaanites because, as Moses had said, "...the Lord is not AMONG you" (14:42).
Some time later, a Levite named Korah (Numbers 16) had gotten together his own congregation to whom he had been preaching lies. His first sermon series was "We are as Holy as Moses." His second series was "There are many lands of Milk and Honey." (He had Oprah on his talk show that month...) When he preached his Biggie sermon, " The Lord really is AMONG us," the senate and representatives (16:1-2) showed up to vote the blasphemy of the majority -- similar to the abomination of desolation.
Korah was trying to reverse the curse of the Lord against himself and his elder assembly. (It is appropriate that he is linked to Cain in Jude 11 since Cain had worked to reverse the the curse on the earth by using innocent blood as fertilizer. See post on July 14, 2012, "Fruits of Cain.") Korah's preached perspective was that Moses had exalted himself and was ignoring the intrinsic holiness of all the people (like imbedded wisdom...). The Lord made Moses understand (16:9-11) that Korah was covetous of God's choice of servants and desired the office of High Priest. He wanted to be exalted instead of humble, as were Moses and Aaron.
The showdown commenced and Moses, the Lord's prophet, could envision the demonic diggers of Tophet (the pit -- see Isaiah 30:33) which had been told by God to dig uphill for a change -- under the camp of Korah. The one who desired a high pulpit would find the bowels of the earth as his new home. Moses pronounces a new thing; a path by which humans can enter the realm of hell without going by way of death. Korah and his crew are devoured by the pit while still alive as the Lord vetoes the majority vote against Aaron.
The Bible makes clear that "elect" is inextricably linked to "servant." (Isaiah 42:4, etc.) Any attempt to make "elect" mean "mastery" of "rule" or, being powerful to declare, as a mere human, "who are his and who is holy" (16:5), will be met with Tophet. The unbiblical notions of reprobation (who are damned and who are unholy) that Calvin inflicted upon his followers are a smoke screen for declaring that "elect" should be redefined as "master." Moses makes a clear case that God alone can declare and demonstrate "who are His and who are holy."
The blessing that God has given to all of mankind is that sinners who would be servants may stand upon the firm ground at the foot of the cross of Jesus. The cross is the new path that God has provided for sinners to enter His eternal realm through the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Come to the cross.
Supposedly the wisdom of democracy is imbedded in its people. When they get together and vote, the correct path should open up in front of the majority and all must submit to that wisdom.
Supposedly.
Shammua, Shaphat, Igal, Palti, Gaddiel, Gaddi, Ammiel, Sethur, Nahbi and Geuel are ten names that are famous for one thing (Numbers 13:4-16). They all stood against Joshua and Caleb and opened a path of destruction as they voted against the Lord.
Numbers 14 shows the indignant response of the Lord as He curses the people who are 21 and older (14:29-34), proclaiming that they will all die in the 40 wilderness years ahead. All except Joshua and Caleb, the faithful minority. The people foolishly try to move into the land and are chased out by the Amalekites and Canaanites because, as Moses had said, "...the Lord is not AMONG you" (14:42).
Some time later, a Levite named Korah (Numbers 16) had gotten together his own congregation to whom he had been preaching lies. His first sermon series was "We are as Holy as Moses." His second series was "There are many lands of Milk and Honey." (He had Oprah on his talk show that month...) When he preached his Biggie sermon, " The Lord really is AMONG us," the senate and representatives (16:1-2) showed up to vote the blasphemy of the majority -- similar to the abomination of desolation.
Korah was trying to reverse the curse of the Lord against himself and his elder assembly. (It is appropriate that he is linked to Cain in Jude 11 since Cain had worked to reverse the the curse on the earth by using innocent blood as fertilizer. See post on July 14, 2012, "Fruits of Cain.") Korah's preached perspective was that Moses had exalted himself and was ignoring the intrinsic holiness of all the people (like imbedded wisdom...). The Lord made Moses understand (16:9-11) that Korah was covetous of God's choice of servants and desired the office of High Priest. He wanted to be exalted instead of humble, as were Moses and Aaron.
The showdown commenced and Moses, the Lord's prophet, could envision the demonic diggers of Tophet (the pit -- see Isaiah 30:33) which had been told by God to dig uphill for a change -- under the camp of Korah. The one who desired a high pulpit would find the bowels of the earth as his new home. Moses pronounces a new thing; a path by which humans can enter the realm of hell without going by way of death. Korah and his crew are devoured by the pit while still alive as the Lord vetoes the majority vote against Aaron.
The Bible makes clear that "elect" is inextricably linked to "servant." (Isaiah 42:4, etc.) Any attempt to make "elect" mean "mastery" of "rule" or, being powerful to declare, as a mere human, "who are his and who is holy" (16:5), will be met with Tophet. The unbiblical notions of reprobation (who are damned and who are unholy) that Calvin inflicted upon his followers are a smoke screen for declaring that "elect" should be redefined as "master." Moses makes a clear case that God alone can declare and demonstrate "who are His and who are holy."
The blessing that God has given to all of mankind is that sinners who would be servants may stand upon the firm ground at the foot of the cross of Jesus. The cross is the new path that God has provided for sinners to enter His eternal realm through the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Come to the cross.
Saturday, July 28, 2012
Tent meeting time ... Leviticus
And the Lord called unto Moses and spoke with him from the Tabernacle of the congregation. Leviticus 1:1
The Lord walked in the garden with Adam and was present physically with His creation. The Lord chose a physical platform to explain His plan to destroy the world with a flood. God visited Abram/Abraham and had lunch with him. They discussed the destiny of the world. Moses hung out at a burning bush and then met God on the mountain where he received the stone tablets (he had to carve his own set for the rewrite). God was constantly showing up in His own handiwork and having discussions with people about what He wanted. Meanwhile, the Lord begins an entirely new program of communication when He ordains the Tabernacle and validates it with His own presence there. The trajectory of the Tabernacle is the Throne of David, the Temple, the Exile (largely because the Tabernacle was cast aside as an embarrasment to the Israelites), the Cross and the Resurrection. God communicates to His people by being among them and, ultimately, being human (not a dog as Calvin thinks is ok), He lives a real human life and dies a real death.
It is difficult to understand how Calvinists can picture God as being pristine and distant like a cosmic fireball of energy. The idea that God's involvement in the lives of people is carried on from some ethereal laboratory setting where He is constantly viewing everything that is happening in all of creation and can never escape from His own omniscience is not supported in the Bible (If He knows everything, why does he need angelic reports Job 1:6... If He is sovereign de facto**, then why can't He choose to not know what He doesn't wish to know?). When all the bad pictures that you Calvinists come up with are processed, it amounts to the same thing...you favor a unitarian perspective of God and you subordinate Jesus to a position of semi-divine at best. Whatever your confessions and whatever your loud squawks about being committed to biblical revelation, when you make up unbiblical nonsense about God's preselection process where something you call God chooses to send babies and other people to hell just because he can and wants to, your theology does not agree with the apostles.
Jesus is God!
Did you get that?
Jesus is God.
Your ideas that put salvation in the clean room of pre-creation heaven and all of you the lucky recipients of a Holy lottery serve to exclude Jesus in action (sweaty, bloody, dirty...spitting to produce sight for the blind, weeping to produce tears for those who hurt as He hurt) on earth to provide salvation for those who trade their death for His life.
Jesus is God and He defines His glory as the cross (Luke 24:26,1 Peter 1:11). To glorify God means to live the cross, preach the cross, raise up the cross, honor the cross, cling to the cross, recognize the cross as the beginning place of salvation that only happens in time. You cannot prove anything about predestination...you can prove the power of the cross by living it.
Come to the cross.
**I am thoroughly indebted to C.S. Lewis for explaining the tension between Sovereign de facto and Sovereign de jure and his extensive explanation of the part that Calvin played in destroying de jure and setting up the modern world to accept liberalism. It is my opinion that Calvin was the spiritual grandfather of Darwin and Nietzsche who launched the modern myth of nihilistic developmentalism as good. Calvin pushed the boundaries and derived the sense that "power is venerable when stripped of all good." (Lewis).
The Lord walked in the garden with Adam and was present physically with His creation. The Lord chose a physical platform to explain His plan to destroy the world with a flood. God visited Abram/Abraham and had lunch with him. They discussed the destiny of the world. Moses hung out at a burning bush and then met God on the mountain where he received the stone tablets (he had to carve his own set for the rewrite). God was constantly showing up in His own handiwork and having discussions with people about what He wanted. Meanwhile, the Lord begins an entirely new program of communication when He ordains the Tabernacle and validates it with His own presence there. The trajectory of the Tabernacle is the Throne of David, the Temple, the Exile (largely because the Tabernacle was cast aside as an embarrasment to the Israelites), the Cross and the Resurrection. God communicates to His people by being among them and, ultimately, being human (not a dog as Calvin thinks is ok), He lives a real human life and dies a real death.
It is difficult to understand how Calvinists can picture God as being pristine and distant like a cosmic fireball of energy. The idea that God's involvement in the lives of people is carried on from some ethereal laboratory setting where He is constantly viewing everything that is happening in all of creation and can never escape from His own omniscience is not supported in the Bible (If He knows everything, why does he need angelic reports Job 1:6... If He is sovereign de facto**, then why can't He choose to not know what He doesn't wish to know?). When all the bad pictures that you Calvinists come up with are processed, it amounts to the same thing...you favor a unitarian perspective of God and you subordinate Jesus to a position of semi-divine at best. Whatever your confessions and whatever your loud squawks about being committed to biblical revelation, when you make up unbiblical nonsense about God's preselection process where something you call God chooses to send babies and other people to hell just because he can and wants to, your theology does not agree with the apostles.
Jesus is God!
Did you get that?
Jesus is God.
Your ideas that put salvation in the clean room of pre-creation heaven and all of you the lucky recipients of a Holy lottery serve to exclude Jesus in action (sweaty, bloody, dirty...spitting to produce sight for the blind, weeping to produce tears for those who hurt as He hurt) on earth to provide salvation for those who trade their death for His life.
Jesus is God and He defines His glory as the cross (Luke 24:26,1 Peter 1:11). To glorify God means to live the cross, preach the cross, raise up the cross, honor the cross, cling to the cross, recognize the cross as the beginning place of salvation that only happens in time. You cannot prove anything about predestination...you can prove the power of the cross by living it.
Come to the cross.
**I am thoroughly indebted to C.S. Lewis for explaining the tension between Sovereign de facto and Sovereign de jure and his extensive explanation of the part that Calvin played in destroying de jure and setting up the modern world to accept liberalism. It is my opinion that Calvin was the spiritual grandfather of Darwin and Nietzsche who launched the modern myth of nihilistic developmentalism as good. Calvin pushed the boundaries and derived the sense that "power is venerable when stripped of all good." (Lewis).
Saturday, July 21, 2012
Don't spill the ink! ... Exodus
Blots.
Ink blots.
Professionals in the field of psychology try to establish unconscious mental patterns based on pre-determined inkblots. It's a bit like children staring at images in the clouds on a lazy summer afternoon... except that the predetermined part is left out for the children.
Moses offers a deal to the Living God (Exodus 32:30-35) who is of a mind to withhold mercy from His chosen people, the idolatrous children of Israel.
Moses: Blot me out of your book and not them, O Lord!
LORD: Blotting is reserved for those who sin against Me. (Implied --- "You are not qualified to atone for sin, Moses." (Nor is the law, by the way.))
Apparently, God had not consulted with Calvin as to how He was supposed to order the universe. In a present tense (in Time...not in Eternity) conversation with Moses, God had failed to perform according to the calvinistic predestination system of reprobating (blotting) in eternity past. It appears that God does His blotting in Time - at some time after the resurrection (John 3:17...Jesus is under orders to NOT bring condemnation!). Calvin's system is some ridiculous notion that he dreamed up while staring for too long at his ink blotter.
You Calvinists have sold your understanding to a liar and a fool (Psalm 14) whose reprobation imagination is like a mean pre-teen who calls someone to tell him he is not invited to your party. Reprobation (as well as salvation) is based on a person's relationship with Jesus and the cross that He established as the key to human history---established in Time, that is. You have no record of what is in His book other than names. He has not consulted with Calvin or any of you to tell Him when to write in names or when to blot them out (and they weren't blotted out before the foundation of the world!). Quit wasting your time telling yourselves about a salvation (or reprobation...) you think was handed out before the cross. Salvation is available at the cross.
Come to the cross.
Ink blots.
Professionals in the field of psychology try to establish unconscious mental patterns based on pre-determined inkblots. It's a bit like children staring at images in the clouds on a lazy summer afternoon... except that the predetermined part is left out for the children.
Moses offers a deal to the Living God (Exodus 32:30-35) who is of a mind to withhold mercy from His chosen people, the idolatrous children of Israel.
Moses: Blot me out of your book and not them, O Lord!
LORD: Blotting is reserved for those who sin against Me. (Implied --- "You are not qualified to atone for sin, Moses." (Nor is the law, by the way.))
Apparently, God had not consulted with Calvin as to how He was supposed to order the universe. In a present tense (in Time...not in Eternity) conversation with Moses, God had failed to perform according to the calvinistic predestination system of reprobating (blotting) in eternity past. It appears that God does His blotting in Time - at some time after the resurrection (John 3:17...Jesus is under orders to NOT bring condemnation!). Calvin's system is some ridiculous notion that he dreamed up while staring for too long at his ink blotter.
You Calvinists have sold your understanding to a liar and a fool (Psalm 14) whose reprobation imagination is like a mean pre-teen who calls someone to tell him he is not invited to your party. Reprobation (as well as salvation) is based on a person's relationship with Jesus and the cross that He established as the key to human history---established in Time, that is. You have no record of what is in His book other than names. He has not consulted with Calvin or any of you to tell Him when to write in names or when to blot them out (and they weren't blotted out before the foundation of the world!). Quit wasting your time telling yourselves about a salvation (or reprobation...) you think was handed out before the cross. Salvation is available at the cross.
Come to the cross.
Saturday, July 14, 2012
Fruits of Cain ... Genesis
Genesis 4:12 "When you till the ground, it shall no longer yield its strength to you..." (New KJV). These words, spoken to Cain by the Lord, are the final verdict on the person he has become as a result of sacrificing his own brother. When the translators use the word "till" in this verse, they have interpreted instead of translating. The correct word to use would have been "serve." Cain has become a servant of the earth (and, possibly, of his father, Adam since the Hebrew word for earth is Adamah -- similar to red clay). This idea may seem to make no sense until we back up in time enough to be reminded of the last thing God has said about the earth. "Cursed is the ground for your sake..." (speaking to Adam...Genesis 3:17). Cain has managed to find a way around the curse.
There are Calvinists who think that the rejection of Cain's offering of fruit to God is proof of His divine prerogative to accept or reject whatever He likes. Looking at the Bible through a grid of God's total (de facto) sovereignty, the Calvinist comes up with the untenable position that God is arbitrary in His dealings with mankind instead of dealing with all of His creation through the basis of righteousness (sovereignty de jure). Ironically, it is this position of righteousness that God has established before the foundation of the world (Proverbs 3:19...one might easily make the case that "before the foundation of the world" is a biblical euphemism for "wisdom.") and to which He commits Himself exclusively. Therefore, the Calvinist idea of sovereignty de facto was one of the reformer's foolish (godless...Psalm 14) inventions and not an accurate picture of the Living God.
Meanwhile, back at Cain's plantation where he is enslaved to the curse of the earth. There is only one way that Cain could overcome the curse. Remember that all the original animals of creation are available to him and that they are innocent in their original constitution. Cain used their blood as fertilizer, reversing the curse so that the ground would "yield its strength" to him. God's rejection of his offering is just (de jure) because Cain has done so in the face of God's own pronouncement against Adam. Cain's attempt to gain ultimate control over the ground and its curse leads him to murder his brother and mock God when He asks about the hideous sacrifice.
Of course, there is only one innocent person whose blood can cleanse the curse upon the earth from which we are made and the sin that is resident in our flesh. Jesus made this blood available at the cross and whosoever will may receive its cleansing power (Acts 10:43).
Come to the cross.
There are Calvinists who think that the rejection of Cain's offering of fruit to God is proof of His divine prerogative to accept or reject whatever He likes. Looking at the Bible through a grid of God's total (de facto) sovereignty, the Calvinist comes up with the untenable position that God is arbitrary in His dealings with mankind instead of dealing with all of His creation through the basis of righteousness (sovereignty de jure). Ironically, it is this position of righteousness that God has established before the foundation of the world (Proverbs 3:19...one might easily make the case that "before the foundation of the world" is a biblical euphemism for "wisdom.") and to which He commits Himself exclusively. Therefore, the Calvinist idea of sovereignty de facto was one of the reformer's foolish (godless...Psalm 14) inventions and not an accurate picture of the Living God.
Meanwhile, back at Cain's plantation where he is enslaved to the curse of the earth. There is only one way that Cain could overcome the curse. Remember that all the original animals of creation are available to him and that they are innocent in their original constitution. Cain used their blood as fertilizer, reversing the curse so that the ground would "yield its strength" to him. God's rejection of his offering is just (de jure) because Cain has done so in the face of God's own pronouncement against Adam. Cain's attempt to gain ultimate control over the ground and its curse leads him to murder his brother and mock God when He asks about the hideous sacrifice.
Of course, there is only one innocent person whose blood can cleanse the curse upon the earth from which we are made and the sin that is resident in our flesh. Jesus made this blood available at the cross and whosoever will may receive its cleansing power (Acts 10:43).
Come to the cross.
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