TRANSCRIPT
Announcer: Hello and welcome to the Taco Tuesday Theology Show with your host, Danny Powell! For many of us, going through life in an increasingly secular world is proving a challenge to navigate. Each week, we take your questions about modern life and answer them using the lessons revealed in the scriptures. Now, grab yourself a taco, and let’s get to this week’s question!
Question: There are many who claim to believe in God, but if they really do, why don’t they obey Him as He commanded? Why do they substitute their ideas, desires, etc., for His commands? Isn’t this usurping God’s place?
Danny: Solomon wrote in Ecclesiastes 1:9,
That which has been is that which shall be; and that which has been done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun. (Ecclesiastes 1:9 WEB)
Replacing God’s way with one’s own ideas and desires predates the fall of mankind. Somewhere between Genesis 1:1, In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth, and Genesis chapter 3, the cherub Lucifer became Satan the accuser. In Ezekiel, chapter 28, verses 13-17, the fall of Satan is described:
Scripture Reading (Rachel): “You were in Eden, the garden of God. Every precious stone adorned you: ruby, topaz, emerald, chrysolite, onyx, jasper, sapphire, turquoise, and beryl. Goldwork of tambourines and of pipes was in you. They were prepared in the day that you were created. You were the anointed cherub who covers. Then I set you up on the holy mountain of God. You have walked up and down in the middle of the stones of fire. You were perfect in your ways from the day that you were created, until unrighteousness was found in you. By the abundance of your commerce, your insides were filled with violence, and you have sinned. Therefore I have cast you as profane out of God’s mountain. I have destroyed you, covering cherub, from the middle of the stones of fire. Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty. You have corrupted your wisdom by reason of your splendor. I have cast you to the ground. I have laid you before kings, that they may see you.” (Ezekiel 28:13-17, WEB)
Danny: Jesus describes Satan being cast out in Luke, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. The sin of Satan was his wanting to be a god. The prophet Isaiah describes this:
Scripture Reading (Rachel): “How you have fallen from heaven, shining one, son of the dawn! How you are cut down to the ground, who laid the nations low! You said in your heart, “I will ascend into heaven! I will exalt my throne above the stars of God! I will sit on the mountain of assembly, in the far north! I will ascend above the heights of the clouds! I will make myself like the Most High!”” (Isaiah 14:12-14, WEB)
Danny: In the last episode of the Taco Tuesday Theology Podcast I discussed the lies told to Eve in chapter 3. I’ll link to that episode in the transcript for this podcast at our website, tacotuesdaytheology.com That said, the primary temptation is that Satan told Eve that she would become like God if she ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. God had commanded Adam and Eve not to eat from the tree. What Satan tempted Eve with was the very sin he is guilty of, wanting to take the place of God. The result of Adam and Eve eating the forbidden fruit is sin entered the world. In Romans, we read,
“Therefore as sin entered into the world through one man, and death through sin; so death passed to all men because all sinned.” (Romans 5:12, WEB)
Jesus was teaching a group of Jews, people who claimed to believe in God, and he declared in John 8:44 to them:
“You are of your father, the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and doesn’t stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks on his own; for he is a liar, and the father of lies.” (John 8:44, WEB)
Even men that claim to believe in God still want the same thing that has tempted him since the beginning. In the second chapter of James, he writes,
You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder!
(James 2:19 WEB)
BELIEF in God is not enough. A man believes the posted speed limit is the law and also that a state trooper will give him a speeding ticket for going over the speed limit, but how often when you are driving on the highway at the posted speed limit are you being passed on both sides of the road? Those drivers believe what the signs show the posted speed limit to be, but yet the law is broken. It isn’t until someone spots a state trooper that suddenly the observance of the speed limit is tantamount to good driving. Such is the state of mankind. Even with a belief in God, we hear the whispers of Satan telling us that we are the arbiters of good and evil and many of us believe him.
What is missing is the FEAR of the Lord. We read in Proverbs 1:7
“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.” And in
Proverbs 8:13 (ESV),
The fear of the Lord is hatred of evil. Pride and arrogance and the way of evil and perverted speech I hate.
That word, fear, is interesting in that there seems to be debate as to what it means.
As a noun, the primary definition according to dictionary.com is this:
• an unpleasant emotion caused by the belief that someone or something is dangerous, likely to cause pain, or a threat.
• a feeling of anxiety concerning the outcome of something or the safety and well-being of someone.
• the likelihood of something unwelcome happening.
This is how the word “fear” is used in our modern usage. However, there is a fourth listing in the dictionary for the archaic definition:
• a mixed feeling of dread and reverence.
Since our translations of the Old Testament are well over 2,000 years old, we probably should consider that the archaic definition is the correct one to use when discussing the fear of the Lord.
Robert B. Strimple, Professor Emeritus of Systematic Theology at Westminster Seminary, says this about the “fear of the Lord”, “There is the convergence of awe, reverence, adoration, honor, worship, confidence, thankfulness, love, and, yes, fear.”
Anglican C. S. Lewis references the term in many of his writings, but specifically describes it in his book The Problem of Pain and states that fear of the Lord is not a fear that one feels for a tiger, or even a ghost. Rather, the fear of the Lord, is one filled with awe, in which you “feel wonder and a certain shrinking” or “a sense of inadequacy to cope with such a visitant of or prostration before it”. It is a fear that comes forth out of love for the Lord.
While the “fear of the Lord” certainly consists of awe and wonderment and a feeling of inadequacy, Jesus throws some of the actual modern “fear” into the mix. Here are Jesus’ words:
Don’t be afraid of those who kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul. Rather, fear him who is able to destroy both soul and body in Gehenna. {Matthew 10:28 WEB}
The reason why the devil’s lies are so convincing is that they appeal to our fleshly desires and the consequences are not immediately observed. As long as we don’t see the state trooper it’s okay to exceed the speed limit, right? The same happens with God’s commandments. When we don’t see the immediate consequences of breaking His rules, we are easily deceived into thinking there isn’t a cost to our disobedience.
Scripture teaches us that there are most certainly eternal consequences for breaking God’s commandments. Romans 6:23, the wages of sin are death. That is the same thing God told Adam in the garden,
“but you shall not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil; for in the day that you eat of it, you will surely die.”” (Genesis 2:17, WEB)
The devil’s lie, “You surely will not die” is believable because Eve didn’t drop dead physically immediately upon eating the forbidden fruit. The error was compounded when Adam likewise did not physically die the instant, he tasted the fruit. However, this is one of those instances where the Hebrew doesn’t translate into English perfectly. Genesis 2:17 translated word for word without regard to syntax or context is
Tree knowledge good evil eat day eat dying die”
The Hebrew is, literally, die-die muwth-muwth with two different verb tenses, dying and die, which can be translated as “surely die” or “dying you shall die.” This indicates the beginning of dying.
At that point, Adam and Eve began to physically die. If they were meant to die right then, the text should have used muwth only once, which means “dead, died, or die” and not beginning to die or surely die.
That is the physical consequence of sin, the body decays until it physically dies, but there’s more to death than the physical body. Ultimately, death is separation from God. This happens immediately in the Garden of Eden right after sin enters the world when God banishes Mankind from the Garden of Eden and thus from Himself.
Jesus tells this story:
Scripture reading (Rachel): ““Now there was a certain rich man, and he was clothed in purple and fine linen, living in luxury every day. A certain beggar, named Lazarus, was taken to his gate, full of sores, and desiring to be fed with the crumbs that fell from the rich man’s table. Yes, even the dogs came and licked his sores. The beggar died, and he was carried away by the angels to Abraham’s bosom. The rich man also died, and was buried. In Hades, he lifted up his eyes, being in torment, and saw Abraham far off, and Lazarus at his bosom. He cried and said, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue! For I am in anguish in this flame.’ “But Abraham said, ‘Son, remember that you, in your lifetime, received your good things, and Lazarus, in the same way, bad things. But here he is now comforted, and you are in anguish. Besides all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed, that those who want to pass from here to you are not able, and that no one may cross over from there to us.’ “He said, ‘I ask you therefore, father, that you would send him to my father’s house; for I have five brothers, that he may testify to them, so they won’t also come into this place of torment.’ “But Abraham said to him, ‘They have Moses and the prophets. Let them listen to them.’ “He said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if one goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’ “He said to him, ‘If they don’t listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded if one rises from the dead.’”” (Luke 16:19-31, WEB)
Danny: Here Jesus is talking about being separated from God for eternity. That is the ultimate cost of our disobeying God’s commandments. Unfortunately, no one other than God Himself can totally obey His commandments. The entire purpose of the Law of Moses was to demonstrate this fact to mankind. Paul refers to the Law as a tutor or schoolmaster depending upon translation:
Scripture reading (Rachel): “But before faith came, we were kept in custody under the law, confined for the faith which should afterwards be revealed. So that the law has become our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor. For you are all children of God, through faith in Christ Jesus.” (Galatians 3:23-26, WEB)
Danny: Interesting is the word translated tutor, or “schoolmaster” in some translations. It’s from the Greek word, paidago The word more precisely refers to the slave that was responsible for taking the master’s children to school from age 6 or 7 till puberty. This is striking imagery of how the Law was primarily given for a certain purpose as an attendant to lead us to Jesus, who is the real teacher. The Law taught Mankind that we just can’t live up to the expectations of a Holy God.
God is not interested in your believing in Him, He is interested in your putting your faith in Him. He provided the way through His Son, Jesus Christ. The result of your faith being in Him will be a love towards Him and obedience to His commands. Jesus said this to those who would follow Him,
“If you love me, keep my commandments.” (John 14:15, WEB)
Announcer: Thank you for listening to this episode of Taco Tuesday Theology. If you have a question, you’d like us to answer from a Biblical world view, please go to our website, www.tacotuesdaytheology.com and click on the “Send Message” button. You can send the message right from your smartphone or computer. Maybe next week, we’ll answer your question. New episodes post every Tuesday afternoon. Until next time, keep praying and pass the guacamole!