The First Rock Star

September 27, 2021 at 1:53 pm | Posted in Biblical firsts, II Samuel | 6 Comments
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One of the interesting things to note in the thrilling, true, and historical accounts of the first earthly kings of Israel, Saul and David, in the Books of I and II Samuel, is the role of fame (and sometimes notoriety) as Israel takes on a real “national consciousness.” At first blush, it seems that Saul and David were, in some sense, the first “celebrities” of Israel.  This can be seen in the way the people made songs to highlight their exploits.  

And it came to pass as they came, when David was returned from the slaughter of the Philistine, that the women came out of all cities of Israel, singing and dancing, to meet king Saul, with tabrets, with joy, and with instruments of musick. And the women answered one another as they played, and said, Saul hath slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands.

I Samuel 18:6-7

However, closer inspection shows that, at least in the case of David, “hero,” might be a better description than “celebrity.” After all, David had done the great deeds the people ascribed to him by the power of God, and to the glory of God.

David’s son, Absalom, is another story. Absalom can be more properly described as a celebrity, for his reputation and popularity were more manufactured than earned. 

But in all Israel there was none to be so much praised as Absalom for his beauty: from the sole of his foot even to the crown of his head there was no blemish in him. And when he polled his head, (for it was at every year’s end that he polled it: because the hair was heavy on him, therefore he polled it:) he weighed the hair of his head at two hundred shekels after the king’s weight.

II Samuel 14:25-26

And Absalom rose up early, and stood beside the way of the gate: and it was so, that when any man that had a controversy came to the king for judgment, then Absalom called unto him, and said, Of what city art thou? And he said, Thy servant is of one of the tribes of Israel. And Absalom said unto him, See, thy matters are good and right; but there is no man deputed of the king to hear thee. Absalom said moreover, Oh that I were made judge in the land, that every man which hath any suit or cause might come unto me, and I would do him justice! And it was so, that when any man came nigh to him to do him obeisance, he put forth his hand, and took him, and kissed him. And on this manner did Absalom to all Israel that came to the king for judgment: so Absalom stole the hearts of the men of Israel.

II Samuel 15:2-6

In his sermon, “And the Mule Walked On,” Lester Roloff called Absalom the first “hippie,” because of his long (I Corinthians 11:14), luxuriant, red, and heavy hair, which he publicly combed out and trimmed once a year as the people admired and swooned. I think a better description of Absalom might be the first “rock star,” since his fame and popularity were based on vanity rather than substance.

When Absalom revolted and declared war on his father, King David, the Lord, in a classic case of “reaping what you sow” (or what you comb), arranged it so that Absalom’s hair got caught in the boughs of a tree as he rode underneath it on his mule. The mule kept going, and Absalom hanged there, helpless and ridiculous, until his enemies came and turned him into a human piñata, ending his life. 

Let us remember Absalom, and be careful of seeking the praise of men over the approval of the Lord.

The First Sunday School Class

August 5, 2020 at 12:59 pm | Posted in Biblical firsts, Luke | 4 Comments
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The first people to find that Jesus’s tomb was empty were women.

It was Mary Magdalene, and Joanna, and Mary the mother of James, and other women that were with them, which told these things unto the apostles.

Luke 24:10

Luke emphasized the role of women throughout his gospel and the Book of Acts. There are some modern scholars who use Luke 24:10 as a proof-text to support the modern trend of ordaining women pastrixes (despite I Timothy 2:12). They say that Mary Magdelene was an Apostle because she delivered the good news of the Resurrection. Of course, having first-hand news about Jesus that other people didn’t yet have did not qualify these women for Apostleship, but it did qualify them as being witnesses. It is very important to remember two things: (1) The Bible limits the church offices that women can hold; and (2) Women can’t be pastors or deacons, and they are not supposed to hold positions of authority over men in the church. Women can’t be those things, but they can and MUST be witnesses. That means sharing the Truth with people who need to hear it. Witnesses are people who tell the truth about what they have seen and heard – and what has happened to them. They tell people what Jesus has done and what He is doing. Women are not inferior. They are equal to men. They are loved by God. They are just as valuable to God as men are. Submission is not about worth. It is about order and obedience – things which please God. God loves loving, warranted submission.

Does it seem strange that God would arrange to have women be some of the first witnesses to the Resurrection?

And their words seemed to them as idle tales, and they believed them not.  Then arose Peter, and ran unto the sepulchre; and stooping down, he beheld the linen clothes laid by themselves, and departed, wondering in himself at that which was come to pass.

Luke 24:11-12

This is one of the pieces of solid evidence that the Resurrection is not a story made up years later as part of a conspiracy. Women weren’t even allowed to testify in court in those days. If Christians were making this up, there is no way they would have had women as the first eyewitnesses of the empty tomb. We might wonder if that’s one of the reasons Peter ran so fast: “Who’s going to believe the women??”

And, behold, two of them went that same day to a village called Emmaus, which was from Jerusalem about threescore furlongs. And they talked together of all these things which had happened. And it came to pass, that, while they communed together and reasoned, Jesus himself drew near, and went with them. But their eyes were holden that they should not know him. And he said unto them, What manner of communications are these that ye have one to another, as ye walk, and are sad? And the one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answering said unto him, Art thou only a stranger in Jerusalem, and hast not known the things which are come to pass there in these days? And he said unto them, What things? And they said unto him, Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, which was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people: And how the chief priests and our rulers delivered him to be condemned to death, and have crucified him. But we trusted that it had been he which should have redeemed Israel: and beside all this, to day is the third day since these things were done. Yea, and certain women also of our company made us astonished, which were early at the sepulchre; And when they found not his body, they came, saying, that they had also seen a vision of angels, which said that he was alive. And certain of them which were with us went to the sepulchre, and found it even so as the women had said: but him they saw not. Then he said unto them, O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken: Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory? And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself.

Luke 24:13-27

This is the first time we see Jesus in Luke after His death. He had just been through the worst torture, pain, and undeserved punishment of all time. He had just gone down into the grave and defeated death. He had spoiled principalities and powers and made a public spectacle of Satan and the powers of darkness. And what is the first thing He wanted to do after His Resurrection? Have a feast? A banquet?  A victory parade?  Give a speech to throngs of people? Take a vacation? No, He found two Christians, opened the Word of God, and taught a Bible lesson! Now, granted, it must have been the world’s best Bible lesson of all time – but still! Basically the first thing Jesus does is have Sunday School! In Sunday School we get together with a group of like-minded believers and we talk about the Bible.

Look at His teaching technique:

And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself.

Luke 24:27

That’s why, as long as I’m teaching Sunday School, I am going to teach the Bible as if the whole thing is about Jesus. Because that’s the way Jesus did it – and that’s the way it is. The Bible – from beginning to end – from cover to cover – is about the Lord Jesus. In the Old Testament there are types and shadows of Him, and there are events and laws and judgments and prophecies which point to Him. He even showed up personally a few times.  So when Genesis 3:15 says that a Redeemer is promised, that’s really about Jesus. When Moses parts the Red Sea and delivers the Israelites from bondage, that’s really about Jesus delivering us. When Abraham almost kills the son of promise – Isaac – and then spares him, that’s really about Jesus NOT getting spared when He takes our place. When the manna comes down from Heaven, that’s really about Jesus coming down from Heaven. When David kills Goliath, that’s really about Jesus defeating giants of sin and death and wrath. When Samson picks up the enormous city gates and carries them 30 miles away, that’s really about Jesus carrying our sins as far as the east from the west. When Jonah gets swallowed by a giant fish and goes down into the sea and then gets spit back up to go preach to the sinners in Nineveh, that’s really about Jesus going down into the grave and coming back up to preach the truth to sinners like you and me. When Noah and his family get into the ark to escape the worldwide flood of God’s wrath, that’s really about Jesus being our ark and the only safe place we can get into to avoid God’s wrath.

I can hardly read the Bible anymore without seeing the Lord Jesus on every page. When I teach lessons on marriage in adult Sunday School, they are not about buying flowers and writing love notes and getting romantic in front of the fireplace on a cold winter night to keep it fresh in your relationship (although those things may be helpful). No, they are about how marriage is really about Jesus and His Gospel – because it is! That’s what – that’s Who – the Bible is about! Jesus is the main character, the hero, the author, the finisher, and the reason for the whole thing!

Cleopas and his friend went to see the other disciples to tell them – with their hearts burning – that Jesus was alive, and:

And as they thus spake, Jesus himself stood in the midst of them, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you.

Luke 24:36

Jesus had a glorified body.

 But they were terrified and affrighted, and supposed that they had seen a spirit.

Luke 24:37

They didn’t believe that a real dead body could come back to life.

And he said unto them, Why are ye troubled? and why do thoughts arise in your hearts? Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have.

Luke 24:38-39

He set about proving that His body was a real physical body.

And when he had thus spoken, he shewed them his hands and his feet. And while they yet believed not for joy, and wondered, he said unto them, Have ye here any meat? And they gave him a piece of a broiled fish, and of an honeycomb.

Luke 24:40-42

The Gnostics would later try to promote the heresey of Jesus’s alleged “spiritual,” but not bodily, Resurrection. His hands and His feet showed the marks of His Crucifixion in the same body, and disembodied spirits don’t eat fish and honey.

And he took it, and did eat before them. And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me. Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures,

Luke 24:43-45

Then He did it again. He taught another Sunday School lesson – a lesson about Jesus in the Bible.

The Real “First Thanksgiving:” The Pilgrims Meet the Egyptians

May 6, 2011 at 10:27 am | Posted in Biblical firsts, Biblical Thanksgiving, Genesis | 22 Comments
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It’s fairly easy to pick up on the soteriological symbolism behind the true historical events of God calling His people out of the land of Egypt and into the promised land of Canaan, as they are recorded in the Bible. In the book of Exodus God uses Moses to get his people out of Egypt. Egypt is a picture of the “world.” During the first “Passover,” the people – by the application of blood – are set free from the bondage of the world, and come out of it. This is a picture of salvation through the blood of Jesus Christ. Then, God’s people pass through the Red Sea. This is a picture of baptism, God’s first step of obedience for every believer. Then comes the book of Leviticus, which is full of rules for helping God’s people stay clean in their freedom. In Exodus, God gets His people out of Egypt. In Leviticus, God gets Egypt out of His people.

As we approach the end of a series of posts on Genesis, it is interesting to see how God’s people – the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob – end up in Egypt in the first place. The answer lies in the adventures of Jacob’s son, Joseph. His brothers sold him into slavery, and he wound up a ruler in Egypt. Through God’s providence, he was able to relocate his family there in a time of famine, so that they would survive.

There are many metaphors for life: a contest; a war; a game; a race; a battle; a trap; a puzzle. You were probably taught in school that the first Thanksgiving occurred when the Pilgrims met the Indians. But when Joseph brought his father, Jacob, to meet the Pharaoh of Egypt, Jacob explained that he saw life as a pilgrimage.

And Jacob said unto Pharaoh, The days of the years of my pilgrimage are an hundred and thirty years: few and evil have the days of the years of my life been, and have not attained unto the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their pilgrimage.

Genesis 47:9

Christians truly are pilgrims in this life, for our ultimate home is not in this world. We are just passing through it on our way to our real home in Heaven. Vagabonds have no home. Fugitives are running away from home. Strangers are visiting someone else’s home. Pilgrims are on their way home. Are you living the pilgrim life today?

The First Interpreter

November 30, 2010 at 9:58 am | Posted in Biblical firsts, Genesis, Job | 10 Comments
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In Genesis’s account of the adventures of Joseph, we see yet another Biblical “first.” In Genesis Chapter 40, Joseph, the “dream expert” (Genesis 37:19) is in prison. The Pharaoh’s chief butler and chief baker happen to be imprisoned with him. They have some very odd dreams, and Joseph, realizing that God can help him, agrees to interpret their dreams. Thereby he becomes the first “interpreter” in the Bible.

An interpreter is a person who translates messages between people among whom there is some barrier to communication.

And they said unto him, We have dreamed a dream, and there is no interpreter of it. And Joseph said unto them, Do not interpretations belong to God? tell me them, I pray you.

Genesis 40:8

Of all the ways that Joseph reminds us of a type of Christ, here is one of the most poignant. For we, like the baker and the butler, were at one time separated from our King, and trapped in a prison of sin. We dreamed of ways to make peace with God. But our sinful condition kept Him from coming into forgiving fellowship with us. Then came a Man who could speak to both parties: King and prisoner; God and man. His name was similar to “Joseph,” but we know Him as Jesus. He was the only One Who could truly interpret our dreams of escaping prison. He brought the Good News from His King to us, and took our responsive message of repentance, and our cries for rescue, back to the King.

The word “interpreter” shows up again in the book of Job. Elihu is attempting to explain to Job the way God sometimes deals with those whose sins are bringing them into an eternal spiritual prison.

Yea, his soul draweth near unto the grave, and his life to the destroyers. If there be a messenger with him, an interpreter, one among a thousand, to shew unto man his uprightness: Then he is gracious unto him, and saith, Deliver him from going down to the pit: I have found a ransom.

Job 33:22-24

What a beautiful picture of Christ the Interpreter! Among all the angels of Heaven, One greater than an angel comes forward, One Who is unlike all the rest (“one among a thousand”). By His grace He imputes righteousness to lost sinners bound for the pit, offering Himself as their ransom.

Shove at First Sight

June 29, 2010 at 12:03 pm | Posted in Biblical firsts, Genesis | 3 Comments
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And Jacob rose up early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put for his pillows, and set it up for a pillar, and poured oil upon the top of it.

Genesis 28:18

Jacob’s pillow became a pillar. When you find yourself unable to sleep at night, when your pillow feels like a rock… then get up and kneel on it instead of lying on it – trade your bed for an altar. Trade your rock for The Rock.

In Genesis 29 Jacob continues on his journey.

And he looked, and behold a well in the field, and, lo, there were three flocks of sheep lying by it; for out of that well they watered the flocks: and a great stone was upon the well’s mouth.

Genesis 29:2

This may have been the same well where Abraham’s servant met Rebekah while searching out a bride for Isaac.

And he said unto them, Is he well? And they said, He is well: and, behold, Rachel his daughter cometh with the sheep.

Genesis 29:6

In a dramatic reading of this portion of Scripture this is probably the place where you would hear the romantic music strike up. Jacob would appear to forget his own name for a few moments – and then snap out of it.

And he said, Lo, it is yet high day, neither is it time that the cattle should be gathered together: water ye the sheep, and go and feed them.

Genesis 29:7

Jacob is obviously anxious to have a chance to interact with Rachel. “Whoo, boy! You fellas are burnin’ daylight out here! You had better get these sheep watered and rounded up!”

And they said, We cannot, until all the flocks be gathered together, and till they roll the stone from the well’s mouth; then we water the sheep.

Genesis 29:8

The stone would have been huge and heavy.

And while he yet spake with them, Rachel came with her father’s sheep: for she kept them. And it came to pass, when Jacob saw Rachel the daughter of Laban his mother’s brother, and the sheep of Laban his mother’s brother, that Jacob went near, and rolled the stone from the well’s mouth, and watered the flock of Laban his mother’s brother.

Genesis 29:9-10

Jacob: “Here, let me get this huge stone off the well. I’ll help you out here…” It’s fun to imagine Jacob heaving and shoving with all his might to improve his chances at impressing Rachel.

Then we meet Rachel’s father. To get an idea of Rachel’s father, here is typical Laban:

And it came to pass, when Laban heard the tidings of Jacob his sister’s son, that he ran to meet him, and embraced him, and kissed him, and brought him to his house. And he told Laban all these things. And Laban said to him, Surely thou art my bone and my flesh. And he abode with him the space of a month. And Laban said unto Jacob, Because thou art my brother, shouldest thou therefore serve me for nought? tell me, what shall thy wages be?

Genesis 29:13-15

Tune in next time to see what happens when Jacob the trickster meets his match in Laban the trickster.

The World’s First History Book

September 4, 2009 at 9:27 am | Posted in Biblical firsts, Genesis | 19 Comments
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And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good.

Genesis 1:21

God created everything in existence. He created the animals that live in the seas, and the animals that live on the land. God charged Adam with the naming of the animals.

And out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof.

Genesis 2:19

Adam, the first man, was not a brute, a savage, or a caveman. He was probably the smartest man in the history of the world, with an inherent intellect hardwired straight from the mind of God. I have read that most people today only use around 10% of their brains. Apparently there is some dispute about this, as neuroscientists are forced to admit they really still don’t know all that much about how the brain functions. But I have wondered if Adam, before he sinned, used 100% of his brain.

Some people get confused about Genesis 2:19. They say that it sounds like the land animals and the birds were created after Adam, but before Eve. Genesis 1:23–25 makes it clear that Adam and Eve were created after the animals. The solution is in understanding that Genesis 2:19 is giving a summary of what happened previously in Chapter 1. In modern English, we would probably say that God “had formed.”

These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens.

Genesis 2:4

The phrase, “these are the generations of,” in Genesis is a sign post identifying a break in the narrative. There is a similar phrase in Genesis 5:1. The word translated “generations” is the Hebrew word toledoth, which means “origin” or “record of the origin.” There are ten of these toledoth statements in Genesis. It is believed that the written records of Genesis were probably first kept on stone or clay tablets.

The events recorded in Genesis 1 were probably described by God to Adam. Genesis is a historical record, and many ancient historical records are written in a style of giving an overview of big events first, followed by more detailed accounts marked by summary statements from the overview. In Genesis 1, the events are generally in chronological order. In Chapter 2 they are not. These two chapters are not contradictory. The Lord Jesus Himself said:

Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female, And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh?

Matthew 19:4-5

Jesus referenced both Genesis 1:27 and Genesis 2:24 as though they were both part of the same consistent account.

Do not be deceived by the false teaching that there existed a civilization of human beings living on Earth before God created Adam and Eve.

Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created. Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire. Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee.

Ezekiel 28:13-15

Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.

Romans 5:12

For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth and all that in them is…

Exodus 20:11

Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? declare, if thou hast understanding. Who hath laid the measures thereof, if thou knowest? or who hath stretched the line upon it? Whereupon are the foundations thereof fastened? or who laid the corner stone thereof; When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy? Or who shut up the sea with doors, when it brake forth, as if it had issued out of the womb?

Job 38:4-8

And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.

Genesis 1:31

These verses refute the so-called “Gap Theory,” as popularized by the Dake study Bible, and used by many Charismatics and Pentecostals today. Jimmy Swaggart’s “Expositor’s Bible” also incorporates Dake’s false claims of a “pre-Adamic” race.


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