Month: February 2022

Baptism Proclaims Resurrection

On By TimIn 1 Peter 03, Baptism, Spiritual WarfareLeave a comment

For Christ also has once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but made alive by the Spirit, by whom He also went and preached to the spirits in prison, who in times past were disobedient, when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight souls, were saved through water.

1 Peter 3:18–20 — Modern English Version (Thinline Edition.; Lake Mary, FL: Passio, 2014)

Peter is writing on the merits of suffering for doing good things. In it, there is the idea to not fear. He says earlier “Do not be afraid of their terror, do not be troubled.” He is paraphrasing something from Isaiah 8.

Jesus likewise also suffered for doing good. And like Jesus, a believer has died to themselves and already been made alive in Him. This is why Peter is saying to not be afraid of their terror. It has no real power.

Peter is going to continue to connect this to the floodwaters of Noah. Jesus goes to have words with spirits in Sheol. The latter idea is not without controversy.

It is my understanding that humanity’s genetics had been corrupted before the flood. Lots of the bodies that perished were of corrupted flesh that was the progeny of certain fallen angels. There is much to explain there and perhaps in future weeks, I may elaborate on that. Suffice it to say, the dead spirits of those progeny were disobedient as well as humans that perished. Their eternity is certain. This is why demons tremble.

What Peter is doing is pointing out that those who went into the water of Noah’s flood… Died. There was no hope for them because of their disobedience. There is no rescue after death.

Peter then uses that idea of the flood and those perishing to connect as anti-type to baptism and the eternal security of the salvation Jesus gives.

Figuratively this is like baptism, which also saves us now. It is not washing off the dirt from the body, but a response to God from a good conscience through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels and authorities and powers being made subject to Him.

1 Peter 3:21–22 — Modern English Version (Thinline Edition.; Lake Mary, FL: Passio, 2014)

Jesus passed into the grave but rose again, ascending to His place with God in heaven. All powers and authorities are subject to Him. What a terrifying thought to those spirits that perished. There is no help for them.

Baptism isn’t like the floodwaters. A believer goes into the water not to be made clean. That has already been done. The believer goes into the water to demonstrate there is no claim death can have on them, whether past, present, or future. This is proclaimed as the believer is raised up out of the water. It is a sure demonstration that the watery grave, or any grave for that matter, has no power whatsoever over the believer.

Don’t fear their terror.

Every single time a soul is baptized it is a public announcement that another soul is set aside for resurrection. The grave has no business with that one.

For me, I explain baptism with a similar metaphor. An athlete may sign a contract to play for a team. The moment he agrees, he is part of that team. A public proclamation may be made to celebrate that signing. But it is real when that athlete dons the identity of that team, putting on the uniform and walking on the field of play.

That is baptism for a believer!

He has already been saved by belief and confession. We rightly celebrate such things when they happen. At baptism, the believer dons the uniform, that is he takes on the identity of the team. in this case, it’s the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. For all intents and purposes, when a believer comes out of the water, he is on the field of play!

Hallelujah! It is serious!

Just as death has no claim on Jesus, death has no claim on a believer!

Those that went into the water of Noah’s flood perished. They did not come out of it. It bears repeating. Baptism proclaims Jesus’ victory over death in showing an already saved person is set aside for resurrection and is brought into and then out of the water.

God Set Them in Place

On By TimIn Creation, Genesis 01Leave a comment

Then God set them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth,

Genesis 1:17 — Modern English Version (Thinline Edition.; Lake Mary, FL: Passio, 2014)

God set or placed them in the expanse. This is the Hebrew word yitten. The meaning of the word conveys something that is given but can also be used as something loaned with an expectation of interest.

This speaks to the anthropic principle of creation. Things are made just so for human existence. This includes the sun, moon, and stars. They are set, just so, in place.

Furthermore, the possible idea of these being loaned is intriguing. We know there will be no more use for the sun, not as it seems to be purposed for.

The city has no need of sun or moon to shine in it, for the glory of God is its light, and its lamp is the Lamb.

Revelation 21:23 — Modern English Version (Thinline Edition.; Lake Mary, FL: Passio, 2014)

The purpose of the sun is temporary much like a loan. It is also expected to give interest. This it does, serving as the main energy source for the plants that would be the food for humans and other creatures.

In this way, the creation is giving us an agrarian typology of planting for harvest. We’ve read the texts that a seed is expected to produce more than it is when planted. In the same way, the sun is expected to be the impetus to produce a harvest of souls.

I looked. And there was a white cloud, and on the cloud sat One like a Son of Man, having on his head a golden crown, and in His hand a sharp sickle. Then another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to Him who sat on the cloud, “Thrust in Your sickle and reap. The time has come for You to reap, for the harvest of the earth is ripe.” So He who sat on the cloud thrust His sickle on the earth, and the earth was harvested.

Revelation 14:14–16 — Modern English Version (Thinline Edition.; Lake Mary, FL: Passio, 2014)

God Made the Expanse Separating the Waters

On By TimIn Creation, Genesis 011 Comment

Then God said, “Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.” So God made the expanse and separated the waters which were under the expanse from the waters which were above the expanse. And it was so. God called the expanse Heaven. So the evening and the morning were the second day.

Genesis 1:6–8 — Modern English Version (Thinline Edition.; Lake Mary, FL: Passio, 2014)

The word translated to English expanse is the Hebrew word raqia. Much is said about the word, and what it means. I have something, too.

The word raqia is used as the barrier between waters above and waters below. The word raqia is relatively rare in the Old Testament. It means something firm which is why it is translated to the firmament in some versions and heavens in others. My preferred uses expanse.

Now with that in mind, I am going to speculate a bit. My speculations will be about the meanings conveyed by the words translated as water and expanse (firmament, heavens.) The science is real and conveyed as best I understand it.

I like to think of the word waters as a description of something like a fluid of super-plasmas. Plasmas are an ordered superheated state of matter that consists of ions (nuclei) and electrons. In this state, electrons are free of their orbits around the atom. Plasmas are superabundant in the universe and comprise almost all visible matter.

All four (known) fundamental states of matter are found in the expanse. Even now, I cannot help but to speak of an unsettling aspect of plasmas that may clue us to something fantastic. Every particle in plasmas ‘knows’ what every other particle is doing. It is like ‘something’ (wink-wink) is in control. With that, perhaps waters describe a super state of plasmas that is non-local and has a closer interface to eternity. Perhaps this idea of waters is a super-dimensional reality just beyond our perception.

And as I sit pondering this, it may be that the idea of firmament is not a hard dome as is often asserted. Perhaps it is a domain where matter is cooled to a ‘firmer’ (harder) and ‘timier’ states like gas, liquid and solid. Matter takes on the physical (four-dimensional spacetime) properties of our universe. It is an expanse where electromagnetic matter interactions can happen.

What I mean by matter interactions are the things we can experience such as our three dimensional bodies moving around a four-dimensional spacetime. Couple that with the senses we use to interact; sight, touch, hearing, for example.

As plasmas cool, the electrons resume orbit around the nucleus of the atom. It means they become more ordered.

For some perspective on the forces that come to bear on ‘cooled’ plasmas that become lower fundamental states of matter, you will need a correct idea of an atom. The one you learned in school is quaint and wholly insufficient. Take the simplest atom hydrogen. It has one proton and one electron. To make the model easy enough to understand, let’s say the nucleus is the size of the pinhead. The electron that orbits the nucleus is about 100 yards away. Think of the forces needed to keep two pinheads interacting separated by a football field.

What that entails is that our perception of solid matter like a block of wood has far more empty space than actual particles. The solidity we perceive is due primarily to electrical forces.

Which leads some to say that our reality is more like a simulation.

It is satisfying to ponder. I hope I made the science easy enough to grasp. I thank you for your indulgence in my feeling free enough to post like this. How presumptive of me to expect you to read this far. Seriously… Thank you. My goal is to get you to not be afraid of trying to understand science.

The latest science seems to parallel the things in Genesis. There is a Creator just beyond our perception. It seems like a plausible, even reasonable explanation of greater domains where He is more perceptible.

God bless you.

One Day is Day One

On By TimIn Creation, Genesis 01Leave a comment

God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night. So the evening and the morning were the first day.

Genesis 1:5 — Modern English Version (Thinline Edition.; Lake Mary, FL: Passio, 2014)

It occurs to me that there are many foundational ideas present in Genesis, as there are even in this verse. I hate to use the word first, but it is probably best suited.

This is the first mention of the naming of the light period of the day as day, and the dark period of the day as night. The Hebrew word for the day is yom. It is used twice in the verse as is reflected in the English.

Two other words are introduced, erev and boker, the Hebrew words for evening and morning. These have another intriguing usage. Erev generally reflects the idea of mixing, when things become less discernible just as in twilight. Boker connotes the idea of dawn when things become more discernible. Boker also means a splitting of the day. In the Biblical reckoning, dawn is midday.

God is teaching us that these things combined make one day. That is what the Hebrew literally says, one day. It is misleading to think the Bible calls it the first day.

When we read Genesis, most of us are familiar with the idea that there is the first day of creation followed by a short series of more creation days. Consider the idea of reading this without any prior assumptions, like another day following. Also think that there was not a day before, either. What God has done is show us the defining characteristics of one day… Dark and light… Evening and morning. These are the first occurrences of each, and the pair makes one day.

The Hebrew word that is translated as first is echad. It is a cardinal number. It also can serve as an ordinal number. One and two are considered cardinal numbers. First and second are ordinal numbers. Interestingly, echad can be translated one and it can be translated first. It is a seeming peculiarity this one day is day one and the first day.

One day as day one, as there is no second day yet to make this a first day. It is just one day as day one. It is only when the second day comes that the word can mean first.

Therefore a man will leave his father and his mother and be joined to his wife, and they will become one flesh.

Genesis 2:24 — Modern English Version (Thinline Edition.; Lake Mary, FL: Passio, 2014)

As we venture forward, the idea introduced earlier is reinforced.

God draws the woman from the man. He takes a part of the man to fashion the helpmate. In this verse are also the first mentions of the words father and mother as well as spouse. The man and wife become one flesh.

There is that Hebrew word echad again. And it is used to again to unify a plurality. Just as evening and morning make one (day,) man and wife make one (flesh.)

And we will roll backward just a bit.

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

Genesis 1:1 — Modern English Version (Thinline Edition.; Lake Mary, FL: Passio, 2014)

This is fascinating. God introduces Himself. But underlying the proper English grammar here is Hebrew that doesn’t follow grammar.

The word translated to God is elohim in Hebrew. It is a plural word used as a singular. Hebrew plurals are different. There are two types of plural, the dual plural which uses a suffix of -ayim, and the more-than-two plural which uses the suffix -im.

The singular is eloha.

The dual-plural is elohayim.

The more-than-two plural is elohim.

There is already this idea of a plurality being one. We clearly see the usage of the word echad to convey a unity of parts.

Hear, O Israel: The Lord is our God. The Lord is one!

Deuteronomy 6:4 — Modern English Version (Thinline Edition.; Lake Mary, FL: Passio, 2014)

This is the Shema. It is the central affirmation of faith for Israelis. It is also a spoken affirmation of God.

This will show the blazing truth.

Note back to the Shema, let’s substitute some Hebrew words for the English.

Hear, O Israel: YHWH is our Elohim. YHWH is Echad!

When Were Angels Created?

On By TimIn Angels, Creation, Genesis 012 Comments

When it comes to when angels were created… The questions arise. I think it is easy to trust that the Bible can provide evidence.

Suddenly there was with the angel a company of the heavenly host praising God and saying,

Luke 2:13 — Modern English Version (Thinline Edition.; Lake Mary, FL: Passio, 2014)

See that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I say to you that in heaven their angels always see the face of My Father who is in heaven.

Matthew 18:10 — Modern English Version (Thinline Edition.; Lake Mary, FL: Passio, 2014)

For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like the angels of God in heaven.

Matthew 22:30 — Modern English Version (Thinline Edition.; Lake Mary, FL: Passio, 2014)

His tail drew a third of the stars of heaven, and threw them to the earth. The dragon stood before the woman who was ready to give birth, to devour her Child as soon as He was born.

Revelation 12:4 — Modern English Version (Thinline Edition.; Lake Mary, FL: Passio, 2014)

I think that is more than sufficient evidence as to where the abode of angels is. Their abode is in heaven. That is their domain.

Then God said, “Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.” So God made the expanse and separated the waters which were under the expanse from the waters which were above the expanse. And it was so. God called the expanse Heaven. So the evening and the morning were the second day.

Genesis 1:6–8 — Modern English Version (Thinline Edition.; Lake Mary, FL: Passio, 2014)

The domain for angels didn’t exist until the second day of creation.

Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth?
Declare, if you have understanding. Who has determined its measurements, if you know?
Or who has stretched the line upon it?
To what are its foundations fastened?
Or who laid its cornerstone when the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?

Job 38:4–7 — Modern English Version (Thinline Edition.; Lake Mary, FL: Passio, 2014)

The angels were in existence before the foundations of the earth were laid.

Then God said, “Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear.” And it was so. God called the dry land Earth, and the gathering together of the waters He called Seas. Then God saw that it was good.

Genesis 1:9–10 — Modern English Version (Thinline Edition.; Lake Mary, FL: Passio, 2014)

There is more than sufficient evidence to satisfy the question.

What say you?