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EPISODE 47: Q&A

Date: 09/16/2020

Questions

I had always heard and in personal reading saw that God is not mentioned in the book of Esther. Recently I read that Esther means “something hidden” and in fact God is mentioned at least 5 times in the book of Esther through acrostics in the Hebrew. Curious if you’ve ever heard this and do you agree with it?

  1. Bible Project (goes pretty in depth in its videos) doesn’t mention the acrostics.
  2. I found some commentaries that briefly mention the acrostics, but I don’t know if a big deal should be made about this. It feels a bit like the Bible Code books where you can find JFK and Hitler in the Bible if you take the first letter of every 37th word or something. 
  3. The Hebrew word Esther, at least in the 10 Bible dictionaries I looked at, don’t have the word meaning “something hidden.” Other than the name, Esther, the word can mean “star.”

    I have a question about a discrepancy in a story that is told in two different passages in the Bible. In both 2 Samuel 24 and 1 Chronicles 21 we read of God punishing Israel because David sinfully took a census of the tribes. Things get a little funky because in 2 Sam. it says God incited David to do this because he was already angry at the Israelites. However in 1 Chron. it says that Satan incited David to take the census. What do you make of this? Is it just two different narrators interpreting history differently or is there something else going on? And if 2 Sam. is the “right version”, why would God use a census as a reason to punish the Israelites?

    1. Progressive revelation
      1. As the Bible moves chronologically, God’s people understand more of who He is, who we are, how things work, etc…
      2. This doesn’t mean that earlier authors were wrong. They just didn’t have as full of a view of things as later authors did.
      3. E.g. – The 12 disciples pre-Jesus’ crucifixion and the same disciples post his resurrection. Their revelation (understanding) had progressed after the resurrection on who Jesus is and what his death accomplished.
      4. 1/2 Chronicles were the last OT books written. Probably around 450-400 BC. 2 Samuel was written anywhere between 150-200 years earlier.
    2. Given progressive revelation and that Chronicles was written hundreds of years after Samuel, most likely the author of Chronicles is showing us how the understanding of theology had progressed. That, similar to what we see in the book of Job, though God is ultimately in control of all things, God uses Satan in David’s life just like he did in Job’s life. Interestingly, just like in Job, Satan is mentioned briefly and then not mentioned again in this story from David’s life. 

      In Genesis 32, Jacob wrestled with a man. Was the man God or an angel?  Jacob receives a blessing from him and afterward Jacob says “I have seen God face to face,” but if it was God why didn’t God overpower Jacob? And why does the man give Jacob a limp?

      1. First off, Jacob was 97 years old when he did this wrestling match!
      2. His life, up to this point, has been one of living up to his name (Jacob = liar and deceiver)
      3. From one of my commentaries: The opponent is blandly identified as “a man”. There’s no explanation provided for the attack. The word “wrestled” (wayyēʾābēk) is a play on “Jabbok” (yabbōk). As a play also on Jacob’s name (yaʿăqōb), it is a prelude to the name change he receives by virtue of outdueling the “man.” The passage heightens the name “Jacob,” for it conveyed as much as anything the selfish character he exhibited until his transformation at the Jabbok…Physical strength characterized Jacob’s life: at birth grasping the heel of Esau (25:26), moving the stone to water Rachel’s sheep (29:10), and working Laban’s herds for twenty years in difficult conditions (31:38–40). Here he vigorously clinches the “man,” who in what appears to be desperation, injures the patriarch in a failed attempt to free himself. The irony is that Jacob’s physical weakness will recall the transformation of his moral strength. (NAC)
      4. As his name becomes Israel — which means “struggles with God” or “God fights.” 
      5. The point of the story. No longer look to your past — Jacob, you’re a liar and a cheat — but look to your future and your offsprings’ future. The Israelites were people who God both fought with and for.

        Revelation chapter 20 describes the millennium of Christ’s rule. I’ve recently wondered what Gateway’s stance is on the description of the 1,000 year reign of Christ described in Chap 20. Do we as a church body support and preach a certain way around this topic (Premillennialism, Amillennialism, or Postmillennialism)?

        1. Gateway and the EPC don’t have an official position or stance on the millennium. We believe this to be a non-essential matter.
        2. I (Josh) personally hold to an Amillennial view (though historic premillennialism has a lot going for it).
        3. I do have a resource doc on End Times that may be helpful. We’ll add a link to it.

          Revelation 22:2 references the leaves of the ‘tree of life’ having healing properties for the people. Verse 22:2 has been highlighted in my bible for a long time and I’ve never been able to understand the purpose of the tree of life during the millennium. Do the nations of people live hundreds of years with the aid of the tree of life, but still die a natural death?

          1. Revelation 22 isn’t the millenium; it’s eternity. 
          2. So why would we need a tree that has healing properties if Revelation 22 is eternity — the New Heavens and New Earth? Does being without sin (“perfect”) mean we won’t ever trip and skin our knee? 
          3. I’ve recommended this book before, but Heaven by Randy Alcorn gets into this some. Go check it out.

            In reference to the 4th commandment, it seems that lately our weekends bustle less with the typical travel, events, business and other secular activities. In the Bible Jesus would spend his Sabbath in the Temple reading. Although it’s not always easy, we should strive to find rest, delighting ourselves in the finished work of the living Word of God, Jesus Christ. Can you help shed some light on how we can pursue this commandment deeper?

            1. Ultimately, this commandment — like all others — find its fulfillment in Christ. He is the Lord of the Sabbath and he is our Sabbath rest. In fact, a catechism question asks, “What is faith in Jesus Christ?” The answer, “Receiving and resting on him alone for salvation as he is offered to us in the gospel.” 
            2. Does resting in Christ lead us to a less busy lifestyle? Depends on what you’re busy doing. But for many of us (most of us?), we can probably do ourselves some good and slow down. We’re not making the world spin. For example, if you have kids, I guarantee they’d rather do something with mom and dad than do something for mom and dad (like a sport or hobby). 
            3. Like Andrew Brunson said, “God has many servants, but few lovers.” I feel like our busyness leads us to be less lovers of God.

              [referring to heaven…] I know we will get new bodies. But, what about our mind and heart once we are with the Lord for eternity? We are going through the sanctification process now, but will it somehow be completed when we make that transition into heaven? My concern is the present battle to keep my thinking right, and I wonder what it will be like in heaven. You talked about the tongue also and the Bible says out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. In Jeremiah 17:9 it says the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. I know at times my heart is not right.  Bottom line, what will my thinking and heart be like once I’m in heaven with the Lord.

              1. We will be fully human when we’re resurrected. That would include our body, soul, mind, and spirit. So all of who we are — not just our physical bodies — will be purified and redeemed and part of who we are in eternity.

                Pastor Josh, I’m sure a lot of people probably think you just work on Sundays. But the truth is we know your weeks vary – consisting of sermon prep, leadership meetings, counseling, events and correspondents. Compared to early 2020, how has your work as a pastor changed in the midst of the pandemic? Have certain focus areas consumed more of your time while others now actually take up less?

                  1. Shaun/Laura – what changes have you experienced and what have you seen different in what I’ve been doing this year compared to previous years?
                  2. Preaching/teaching
                    1. I preached more during the first half of this year than I have in previous years. I think I preached 17 out of the first 19 weekends. I started to balance this out once we realized the pandemic wasn’t going away any time soon, but I’m still probably going to preach more this year than in previous years.
                    2. We shifted to recording sermons on Wednesday, which threw off my sermon prep schedule. Then it became my new normal. Then we reopened and my sermon prep schedule changed again.
                    3. When other Gateway folks preach, I spend quite a bit of time reviewing their sermon, giving them feedback, have them do a rehearsal of it, etc…It almost takes as much time for me when someone else is preaching than when I preach in preparation.
                    4. I’ve participated in extra conversations and discussions in our community due to the racial tension. Both our conversation on race and a local community discussion on diversity.
                    5. We restarted the podcast which added back into my schedule something else to prep for.
                  3. Leading
                    1. This has been the biggest shift for me, the elders, and staff. 
                    2. Our elder meetings have been the longest they’ve ever been since I’ve been at Gateway during the pandemic.
                    3. Helping staff negotiate working at Gateway during all of this. Giving them priorities. Trying to check in and see how they’re doing (we’re humans too and are just as affected by all of the changes like everyone else is).
                    4. You’ve got finances that we’ve been watching.
                    5. Closing down the church. Reopening back up. Listening to all of the people who think their plan would’ve been better than ours. 
                    6. There’s unfortunately been an increased sense of competition between churches. “Who’s going to be the first to reopen because folks are going to flock there. Will you require masks — like the governor has mandated — or not.” Because folks are choosing to worship based on whether masks are required or not instead of things that should be more important to them (like the theology of the church). I told the elders that the first church to restart kid’s ministry was going to have a huge advantage because folks are going to flock there. It’s felt like a grand conclusion to the experiment known as consumeristic Christianity that we’ve had in the US for a few decades. We used to choose which church we’d attend based on the music, or youth ministry, or kid’s programming. For the past few months, it’s been masks or no masks, social distancing, getting to sit where you want, etc…which is all pretty sad to me quite honestly. 
                  4. Shepherding
                    1. I’ve had more lengthy (hour or longer) phone calls with folks either because of concerns they have, comments they’ve made on social media, etc…This whole shut down and pandemic has caused all of us to be mentally exhausted and so there’ve been more unfiltered criticisms by folks. And I’ve found that giving the person a phone call, even though it will take up some time, the calls usually help to bring some sort of understanding.
                    2. We still have marriages with significant struggles, people with illnesses, families with births and deaths, and I try to follow up with many of these folks. Again, since we’ve been more isolated, a quick call or text can go a long way (especially when I’m not seeing everyone on the weekend which is when I used to do a lot of follow up).
                    3. For example, I was out of the house before 7am yesterday to check in on one of our senior saints whose health is deteriorating and the family had asked if I could stop by as they weren’t sure how much longer their relative had to live. 
                    4. I’m meeting with a young man who lives in our community later this afternoon, who is gay and has heard that Gateway hates gay people. That’s what I guess his gay friends have told him. So I’m having more conversations around these kinds of topics as people are much more open to spiritual conversations than they were pre-pandemic.