Covid-19, Jeremiah 29:11, and These Hard Times

There is a promise from God in Jeremiah 29:11 that is often quoted by Christians but almost always misinterpreted.

Like any conversation you have with others, it's not enough to know what someone says, we must strive to understand what that person means.

The prophet Jeremiah speaks to the Hebrew people on behalf of God. The Lord speaks to His people, declaring:

"For I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not harm you, plans to give you hope and a future" (Jeremiah 29:11).

We misunderstand what God means if we pluck this verse out of its context. 

For example, if I claim Jeremiah 29:11 as a promise that God is about to change my circumstances for the better, then I have wrongly understood what God means.

Examine the context of this promise by asking several questions: 

When  was God's promise given? To whom was God speaking? What occurred to cause God to make this promise? 

When I ask and answer these questions of context, I'll discover that God is actually telling His people in Jeremiah 29:11 (and me) that He may NOT change my circumstances, but He says:

Though I may not take away your problems, I will give you the grace to bloom and prosper where I plant you.

I can personally thrive even during these crazy, chaotic, hard times.

That's the meaning of God's promise in Jeremiah 29:11.

"Bloom where you are planted" (Jeremiah 29:5) is an ancient biblical phrase that has its roots in the context God's promise to prosper His people in Jeremiah 29:11.

Let me show you.

Jeremiah was a prophet to God's people during a very difficult time. In 612 B.C. a wicked and brutal empire took control of the world. The Babylonians (sometimes called the Chaldeans in the Bible) defeated the ancient Assyrians and the Egyptians and took the stage as world conquerors.

Shortly after conquering the Assyrians, the evil Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon,  launched the first of his three attacks against Jerusalem and God's people (609/608 B.C. then 597 B.C. and finally 586 B.C.)

Each successive attack during this 21-year time period was more brutal than the previous one, ending in 586 B.C. with the destruction of the Jewish Temple and the desolation of the entire city of Jerusalem.

It was during Nebuchadnezzar's first aggressive move against Jerusalem (609/608 B.C.) that Daniel, his three friends (Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego), and other Jewish leaders were taken captive. A decade later (597 B.C.), Nebuchadnezzar came back to Jerusalem to get more Jewish artisans and craftsmen to help the Babylonian Empire build better roads, erect stronger walls, and create greater weapons. Nebuchadnezzar didn't take all the Jews into captivity.

More Jews remained in Jerusalem after 597 B.C. than were taken to Babylon as prisoners. One of those who remained in Jerusalem after 597 B.C. was the prophet, Jeremiah. The prophet began placing a yoke around his neck proclaiming to God's people that the Babylonian captivity would last "until the seventy years for Babylon have expired" (Jeremiah 29:10 NAS).

In 586 B.C. Nebuchadnezzar made his third and final advance on Jerusalem and destroyed the city and took the majority of God's people back to Babylon as captives. This is what the Bible calls "The Babylonian Exile."

Jeremiah the prophet kept telling God's people that their problems would continue until seven decades had passed. 

The seventy years of problems God's people had with the Babylonians began in 609  B.C. and would only come to an end in October 539 B.C. when the Persian King Cyrus invaded Babylon and conquered the Babylonians and freed the Jews.

Think about that for a moment. For 70 years the Jews would be subjugated by the wicked kings of Babylon.

That's a long time for God's people to be held in Babylonian captivity.

The United States war in Iraq has lasted for nearly 20 years. Can you imagine having your husband, son or other loved one in Iraq without having the ability to see him or hear from him for decades?

Or reverse the role. How would you like to be a young Jewish artisan or servant in the Babylonian Empire like Daniel and his friends, only to hear in a letter from Jeremiah that your captivity will only end after Babylon's 70-year world reign comes to an end?

More than a few Jews didn't like hearing Jeremiah's proclamations of long captivity (Jeremiah 25:1-14).

One such Jew was a priest and false prophet named Hananiah. He mocked Jeremiah's prophecy (see Jeremiah 28), ripped the wooden yoke off Jeremiah's neck, and told the people that "God told me the captivity would last just two more years" (Jeremiah 28:3).

The Jews in Jerusalem began believing the false promise that God would change their circumstances soon.

It was at this time that God had Jeremiah send "a letter" to the captives in Babylon. That letter is what we know as Jeremiah 29. God knew that the false hope of a quick release from their bad circumstances would make its way to His people held captive in Babylon. So God speaks to His people through the prophet Jeremiah in Jeremiah 29:4-10 and declares:

"Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon, ‘Build houses and live in them; and plant gardens and eat their produce (i.e. "bloom where you are planted").' 

Take wives and become the fathers of sons and daughters, and take wives for your sons and give your daughters to husbands, that they may bear sons and daughters; and multiply there and do not decrease. Seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf; for in its welfare you will have welfare. 

 For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, ‘Do not let your prophets who are in your midst and your diviners deceive you, and do not listen to the dreams which they dream. For they prophesy falsely to you in My name; I have not sent them,' declares the Lord. For thus says the Lord, ‘When seventy years have been completed for Babylon, I will visit you and fulfill My good word to you, to bring you back to this place (Jerusalem)."

God is telling His people that - contrary to the testimony of the Jewish false prophets - the captivity will NOT be short, but their problems as prisoners of war in Babylon will go on for a full 70 years. Go ahead and bloom where you are planted. Have prosperity in the midst of your problems.

It is only after God tells His people to rest where they are (Babylon), and to pray for their wicked masters, and to be at peace in the environment that God has placed them in, that God gives His people the Jeremiah 29:11 promise:

"For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope."

I'd like to ask you a question. Which prophecy inspires more hope? Is it Hananiah's false prophecy of captivity for less than two years? Or is it Jeremiah's prophecy to "bloom where you are planted" and experience a long captivity of 70 years?

False prophecies about quick changes in circumstances are much more compelling. We want God to take away our problems. But God always has a greater purpose, and His promise is that He will prosper us through our problems. 

Babylon would last as an empire for 70 years. Jeremiah knew this, for God told him (see both Jeremiah 25:1-14 and Jeremiah 29:10). That means when Jeremiah sent his letter to the Jews in Babylon in 597 B.C. the Jews still had an additional fifty-eight years of captivity left. 58 more years of captivity versus 2 more years of captivity.

Hananiah's false prophecy of problems going away quickly sounds better and makes everyone feel better. But God's promise for prosperity in Jeremiah 29:11 is about prospering in the midst of your problems because you know God has a greater purpose, and your problems are part of that purpose.

You exist for God's purposes, not your personal pleasures. And though God's purposes for our lives are always best and good for His greater purpose, they are not all the time comfortable and pleasurable for personal pleasure. Don't waste your sorrows. God is good, and He's told us to bloom where He's planted us, for His glory and for our good.

The common trap laid for us by our enemy is the one where we measure our personal prosperity by how quickly God changes our environment for the better. It would be wise for all of us to stop assessing God's favor in this manner.

God's purposes are much broader than our individual lives. That doesn't mean God doesn't care about me or you, for He does. He gave each of us His only Son.

To "bloom where you are planted," is to trust that God knows the bigger picture and is at work on a grander scale, fulfilling a greater purpose that we can't even understand right now.

So any measurement of my personal prosperity or God's favor for me must always be independent of my current circumstances. God is at work even when I can't see it.

And what God is doing is much grander, much more glorious.

One of the men who heeded Jeremiah's words to "bloom where you are planted" was the prophet, Daniel. We know that Daniel often read Jeremiah's letters while he was in Babylonian captivity (see Daniel 9:2).

Daniel listened and obeyed God's instructions in Jeremiah 29:11. He bloomed where God planted him. He prospered in the midst of problems.

Daniel built a house. He planted a garden for his produce. He prayed for the wicked kings of Babylon. He lived in peace. He was present at the king's palace during October 539 B.C. -- exactly 70 years after Babylon had become a world empire - when the hand of God wrote on the wall "Mene, mene, tekel upharsin."

That very night in October 539 B.C. God's justice was executed against the Babylonians and the Babylonian Empire came to an end.

God had led His servant Cyrus, King of Persia, to divert the Euphrates River and the Persian army crawled under the great walls of Babylon on a dry river bed and took the city as their own. God's purpose for Babylon was over.

Daniel never left Persia to go back to Jerusalem, even though Cyrus allowed the Jews to return and rebuild the Temple and their city.

Daniel's tomb is in Susa (Iran), the ancient capital of Persia (modern Iran). Because the Persians loved Daniel's ability to "foresee the future," they deemed him the greatest "magi" of all.

The Persians revered Daniel, kept his scrolls in Persia and studied them at their universities. The magi in the east came to understand through reading Daniel's scroll (the book of Daniel), that a great King - a King above all Kings - would be born among the Jews.

Five hundred years after Daniel's death, magi from the ancient Babylonian and Persian Empire lands (i.g. "magi from the east") came to Jerusalem and asked Herod:

"Where is He who is born King of the Jews" (Matthew 2:2) 

The magi eventually sought Jesus because Daniel bloomed where he was planted.

I propose that if you find yourself in a difficult situation that God seems in no hurry to change, and if you learn like the ancient Jews to "bloom where you are planted," there will come a day when those around you will come looking for your King.

That's your greater purpose.

Note: This article is an excerpt from Wade's book Radically New.

5 Reasons It's Great To Be Living in the Year 2020

2020 is turning out to be a good year!

The Corona Virus spreads, the stock market plunges, universities cancel class gatherings, major league sports suspend their seasons, the NCAA cancels all college championship tournaments, and people practice social distancing.

There are 5 reasons these unique events in 2020 make this year a great year to be alive.

1. We discover purpose is better than pleasure.

My friend Rick Warren has written a book entitled The Purpose Driven Life. When we feel good about life because we are surrounded by those things that give us pleasure, when the pleasures are gone, we are more likely to find our purpose. Rick says we were planned for God's pleasure, formed for God's family, created to become like Christ, shaped for serving God, and made for a mission. Worth thinking about when you can't find your favorite NBA game on television.

"When you have a sense of wholeness in God, everything comes together for good and will settle you down. It's wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of our lives."  Philippians 4:7 (The Message)

2. We learn character matters more than comfort.

John Wooden was a great basketball coach and an amazing encourager of young men. He was fond of telling his players: 

"The true test of a man's character is what he does when no one is watching."

Social distancing allows me to ask the question, "Who am I?" I am who I am when nobody is watching. Ask yourself in 2020, "What am I thinking of when I am alone?" or maybe even better "Is my life lived as a display of good character at all times or is my life lived in a desire for great comfort at all times?" 2020 allows me to ask the difficult questions surrounding my character.

"We rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope." (Romans 5:3-4)

3. We practice selflessness over self-absorption. 

The purpose of withdrawing from society is not so much to protect ourselves as it is to protect others -  the most vulnerable in our society - from the Corona Virus. In 1918, the Spanish Flu killed mostly young men and women n their 20s. In 2020, Covid 19 is mostly taking the lives of those older in years. There's something very refreshing in life when we begin thinking of others more than ourselves.

I have a close friend in Enid who's earned his Bachelors Degree in Chemistry and Physics, his Masters in Chemical Engineering, his Ph.D. in Molecular Engineering, and his M.D. in cancer treatments. He is now working on his MBA. My friend is curing lymphoma. Two patents he possesses will save lives as soon as they pass peer review and clinical testing. At lunch the other day, this man told me he didn't care if he made a dime off his discoveries. All he cares about is helping people who are dying. That's selflessness, and it trumps self-absorption every time.

"Do nothing out of selfish ambition or pride. Rather, in humility, value others above yourself." (Philippians 2:3) 

4. We contemplate the eternal as much as the temporal. 

The British Broadcasting Company reported in an investigative series fifteen years ago that "contemplating death changes how you think." It changes how you think for the better. 

What a great time to be alive. The entire world is thinking about death and mortality.  The British only discovered what the Bible has been telling us all along:

"Prepare to meet your God." (Amos 4:12)

One of the great blessings of the Corona Virus 2020 is that we learn to postpone our immediate gratification (assemblies in sports arenas) because of our future comprehension (a wide-spread virus that kills). The same principle of farsightedness is needed when it comes to preparation to meet our God. There's far greater benefit contemplating God these days than there is collecting toilet paper.

5. We awaken to gratefulness when we lose our settledness. 

Nobody likes disruption in life, but the old axiom, "absence makes the heart grow fonder" is true.

Rather than taking for granted our jobs, our families, our cities, our hobbies, our gatherings, and our lives, 2020 is teaching us gratefulness because we are in a season of loss.

"Giving thanks always and for everything". (Ephesians 5:20)

2020 is already turning out to be a great year.

The Moses Complex and Rulers Over God's People

Moses Strking the Rock at Meribah

There are two unbiblical practices in the present-day institutional church that foster the mistaken notion that there is an inherent authority in certain “offices of the church” that enable pastor/elders “being over other people” instead of “being the greatest servants of all the people.”

One of those false practices is the division between clergy and laity, where the former does all the work of ministry, and the latter pay the salaries of the former for doing the work.

I am not saying it is wrong to draw a salary for pastoring people, or for doing any other ministry in a local church for that matter. But I am saying that the division between clergy and laity is not a concept found in the text of scripture. 

All believers are called “ministers.” According to Jesus, there are to be no elevated positions of authority and power in His church (Matthew 20:25-28).

Sometimes people will be paid to do the work of the ministry because he [or she] is devoting full-time attention to the ministry. But that’s a far cry from being above - and ruling over - someone else in the fellowship.

The clearest example of what can result from elevating oneself over others in the congregation can be found, of all places, in the life of Moses and his leadership of Israel.

Who can forget the sad story in the Old Testament of Moses being forbidden by God to enter the Promised Land? THAT had been the greatest desire of his entire life.

But Moses made one fatal mistake that kept him from the Promised Land, and it was a doozy! What was the mistake that Moses made?

The usual reason theologians give is that Moses “struck the rock” with his staff at Meribah, instead of “speaking to the rock." That rock represented Christ. Paul tells us that the rock portrays Christ in 1 Corinthians 10. Moses striking the rock was a problem, but that does not paint the whole picture.

Early in the Exodus journey, Moses had been commanded to “strike the rock" at Meribah. He obeyed,  and when Moses struck the rock, water flowed from the rock! 

BUT, years later, coming a second time to the rock, according to the Numbers account, God commanded Moses this time to “speak to the rock." But Moses did not. Instead, in anger, Moses struck the rock again!

Water flowed anyway, but to see the whole picture of Moses' personal sin, which kept him from the Promised Land, we HAVE to understand Numbers 20:10-12 and what led Moses to strike the rock a second time, in opposition to God's command.

In verse 10 of Numbers 20, Moses stood in front of the people of Israel and chided them saying:

"Hear now, you rebels; [name calling deluxe] must WE [Aaron and I] fetch you water out of this rock?" [Temper on display.] Then, he struck the rock with his staff and abundant water came out for the people and their animals. [There is no clearer picture of the fact that the purposes of God are not thwarted by our silly acts of rebellion.]

But the next verse - v.12 actually holds the key to understanding the severity of this rebellious act. God said to Moses and Aaron:

"Because you believed Me not, [believed not what?] to SANCTIFY me in the eyes of the children of Israel, you shall not bring this congregation into the land which I have given them."

The word SANCTIFY is from the Hebrew word "qadash" which means to “dedicate, consecrate, purify or cause to be seen as pure.”

What does it mean that at Meribah, the second time, Moses did NOT trust God enough to "set apart God" before the people?

Answer: In all other instances of the people rebelling and murming against God, Moses had been very careful to NOT speak as if he were the peoples' authority (God) over them, but to ONLY BE God's spokesman to them and to intercede for them (See Exodus 32:30-34; Numbers 11; 12; 14:1-21; and Numbers 16 as examples.) Moses recognized his place as one WITH Israel and though he WAS their servant/leader, He knew he WASN’T their authority (God)! Only God was over Israel.

So, the sin of Moses at Meribah, the sin that kept him from the Promised Land,  was Moses' failure to set God apart from himself.

Moses definitely had feelings of his own in terms of his personal disappointment in the people; but his grave mistake was setting himself above the people as their judge, spiritual authority, and even worse, their god. 

Moses made God appear unclean and impure to the people by speaking to them out of his [Moses] own angry heart and setting himself and Aaron apart and above (sanctified) among the people:

 "Hear now, you rebels; must WE [Aaron and I] fetch you water out of this rock?" [Numbers 20:10.]

That kind of hierarchical approach servant leadership is an egregious sin, one that kept Moses from his dream of entering the Promised Land.

Any servant leader that takes for himself an incorrect, inappropriate, spiritual authoritative right to speak to people that produces fear instead of love, is anathema to God back in Moses' day, and it is anathema to God today in the New Covenant Body of Christ.

This is exactly what Jesus was referring to in Matthew 20:25-26 when He said:

"You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over people, and their great men exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant…” [NASV]

To make a difference between the clergy and the laity, as if the former has the spiritual authority and the latter has none, is the same category of mistake that Moses made, which caused him not to be permitted to move into the Promised land.

While in the New Covenant there is no loss of salvation when this "lording over others" happens, there is a loss of the blessings in the promised land (in a manner of speaking)

The Unbiblical Practice of Ruling Males in the Church

The other false practice that winds up elevating some people OVER others in the local church is when pastors, elders, or deacons are thought to be RULING LEADERS in the local church because of a supposed OFFICE of the pastor, elder, or deacon, that has a supposed “inherent authority” within the office. For this reason, some within a local fellowship will grant “authority” to the “pastor” [Southern Baptists have done this with the office of Deacon as well] because they believe God has given the pastor/elder [deacon] greater authority because of having that “office of” concept fostered by the KJV.

Neither of these concepts of authority over people has a textual basis in scripture and, thus, they lack a biblical foundation.

The constitution of an institutional [think 501c3 non-proft] church must grant “legal authority” to a group of trustees [or appointed people called "elders" or "deacons"], and may even call them "officers" of the 501c3 non-profit to operate within the guidelines of the state. But this is a cultural construct and practice and has no biblical basis at all.

Institutional churches may be closed by the state, but the gates of hell will not prevail against Christ's church.  "Legal authority” may be required by the state, but “legal authority” has nothing to do with “spiritual authority” in the church.

I will be taking BOTH the idea of “office of pastor” and “office of deacon” together to show the textual incorrectness of both.

I don’t deny that there were certain men set aside to serve the saints in a specific and practical way in the first century church. Acts 6 shows this as well as other passages. However, when New Testament believers used the Greek word diakonia (the KJV uses the word “deacon” the better word is “serving or servant”) to describe what was being done within that early congregation, they had in mind what had been seen in Jesus:

“Who made Himself of no reputation and took upon Him the form of a servant...[diakonos]” (Philippians 2:7).

What they had observed in Jesus, as illustrated in the washing of feet experience of John 13, His feeding the multitudes, His healing the sick, all being an example of one serving, can only be explained with the Greek word diakonia, which means “ministering or serving”. There was no hint in the minds of early disciples and authors of Scripture of any “inherent authority” in diakonia, nor was there any office of authority implied in that word either.

In fact, the general sense of the word “diakonia” throughout scripture is simply "to assist," which indicates not just to serve in general, but to work so as to benefit someone else. 

This servant spirit is in all things done for others, whether “the ministry (service) of tables” or“the ministry (service) of the Word”. Preaching truth is called a diakonea serving ministry in Acts 6:2-4. 

The ministry of serving tables through dishes and the ministry of serving truth through doctrine are both serving ministries without authority over anybody.

The Apostle Paul also uses the word “diakonos” to describe himself as a servant of the Lord (1 Corinthians 3:5), a servant of God (2 Corinthians 6:4), a servant of the new covenant (2 Corinthians 3:6), a servant of the gospel (Ephesians 3:7, Colossians 1:23) and a servant of the church (Colossians 1:25). All the passages above used the Greek word diakonos, but English translators often alternate between the English word "servant" and the English word "minister." Nothing wrong using both those English words when translating diakonos, for every follower of Jesus is to imitate Him, and He was a diakonos (Philippians Servants and ministers are the same things, and every Christian is a minister/servant. 

Paul noted that many of his co-workers were also servants. For example, the woman Phoebe is called a diakonos or minister/servant (see Romans 16:1).  

However, when King James and his translators in 1611 came across the word “diakonos” when describing Phoebe and other women (Priscilla, Lydia, etc.) they always used the English words helper or servant, and never the word "minister" as they often did when diakonos was used to describe men in Scripture.

For example, when King James and his men came across diakonis to describe Tychicus, (Ephesians 6:21, Colossians 4:7) Timothy, (1 Timothy 4:6) and Epaphras, it is always translated minister, and never “helper" or "servant."

As we have seen, the word diakonis in Scripture means "to assist" (help), "to serve" (servant), and "to minister" (minister). It is used in the Bible of both men and women. The English word "deacon" is only a transliteration of this word diakonis, not a translation of it. 

Why then, did King James and his translators call men "ministers" and "deacons" and women "helpers and servants" when the same Greek word (diakonos) describes them all? 

By 1611, the Church of England had a hierarchal structure of men who ruled over people in the church. They had  "deacons" and "ministers" (sometimes called bishops) who held spiritual authority over the laity. Could it be that English translators in the early 17th Century allowed cultural bias to creep into their translations of the Greek Scriptures to justify institutional church structure?

We do know that by the late 1500s, the Church of England had created the “Office of Deacon” and the "Office of Bishop" within the institutional Church of England, and wouldn't it be convenient if those offices could be shown in Scripture, with the Divine Right of the King to rule over everyone, wouldn't it King James? 

But let's not get on the Church of England too quickly for violating the Scriptures due to cultural bias without pointing our finger at we Southern Baptists who are doing the same thing. 

The Scriptures teach that all believers do the work of a deacon (diakonos) as servants of Christ and His people, servants of His message, and servants of one another, but one is hard-pressed to find “authority over” in that word, EVER!

Let me restate the problem with the word “office” in the English versions of the New Testament. It simply was NOT in the text of scripture! But, because the Church of England already had an “office of authority” called Deacon or Bishop, that cultural bias made its way into the King James Version. IT WAS ADDED! 

The Word OFFICE in the Bible Is Not There

Their concept of “church authority” is nowhere to be found in the TEXT of the sacred scriptures, but was a religious hierarchical system by 1611 that was carried over in the KJV translation. The translators practiced what is called eisegesis in their translation of the Greek into English, which means they read something into the text that is not there.

In fact, the word “office” occurs only three times in the King James Version of scripture, one time tied to the “office of deacon.” The other time it is tied to the “office of Bishop.” The final time in Romans 12:4 where the KJV says, “For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office.”

Let’s look at those 3 times.

In 1 Timothy 3:13 Paul says this: 

“For they that have used the “office of a deacon” [there it is] will purchase to themselves a good degree, and great boldness in the faith which is in Christ Jesus.”

The words, “have used the office of a deacon” were all used to define the ONE GREEK WORD, “diakoneo”, which is translated by A. H. Strong as: “To be a servant, attendant, domestic, to serve, to wait upon.” 

W.E. Vine, the marvelous Greek scholar of the last century, adds this about I Timothy 3:13:

 “The Revised Version rightly “omits office” and translates the verb “diakoneo” to mean simply to serve.”

The word “office” is an English addition to the text in I Timothy 3:13.

Throughout the entire New Testament, the word diakoneo is NEVER used to imply or show an office, and it certainly doesn’t imply “to rule”. It is the service done by one who is a servant to another person. The use of the words “have used the office of a deacon” was an attempt by the King James Version, as already stated, to identify an office that was already in operation at the time of translation.

But it isn’t just the incorrect inclusion of “Office of Deacon” in 1 Timothy 3:13 that leads the church astray. It is ALSO the erroneous concept of an “Office of Bishop” found in the King James Version rendering of 1 Timothy 3:1 where Paul said this about a bishop according to the KJV

“This is a true saying, If a man desire "the office of a bishop" [there it is again], he desires a good work.”

Again, the word “office” is NOT present in I Timothy 3:1. The word “bishop” is the single Greek word, episkopos which, as an aorist imperative, a noun used as a verb, means “to tend or to give oversight.” 

So, the word English word “office” was incorrectly placed in I Timothy 3:1, and the NOUN “bishop” was used to translate a VERB ("to tend, to oversee") because, as stated before, King James and his Church of England already had BISHOPS in 1611 who "ruled over people." It seems that King James and his boys wished to maintain their “hierarchical positions of authority” by adding to the Greek text words that were not found there at all. 

Adding to Scripture your cultural preference, and then demanding conformity to your preferences as if God's commanded them, is a dangerous practice indeed!

A proper translation of 1 Timothy 3:1 would simply be, 

“Whoever sets their heart on episcoping/bishoping (e.g. tending, serving, overseeing) others, desires an honorable task” 

There is no “office of bishop” at all in the text. It is just a person desiring a ministry of overseeing to which the Apostle is referring. 

The only other instance in the New Testament where the English word “office” is found is in Romans 12:4 where the KJV says:

 “For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office.”

The English word “office” in this verse DOES NOT properly translate the Greek word at all. The word being translated “office” is praxis, which means “a doing or deed or function.”

Praxis is the same word Greek word in Romans 8:13:

 “...for if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds (praxis) of the body, you will live.”

IN SUMMARY:

The “office of pastor/elder/bishop or deacon” as an office that conveys “inherent authority” in the institutional church does not exist in the text of the sacred Scriptures. 

If you declare that those Scriptures are your guide to faith and practice, then you look to the Scriptures of God, not the traditions of men, for your marching orders. 

That being so, it becomes clear that we must admit that there are cultural constructs and personal preferences that give rise to the mistaken notion of male (or female) hierarchal leadership in Christ's church. 

Leadership in Christ's church is by gifting, not gender; an offer to approach with favor, not an office of authority with fear; a humble spirit of service, not a haughty status of superiority.

(Source: The above article was written by my father, Paul Burleson. A few minor additions for clarity have been made by me. My father and I have put together a booklet entitled The Bible and Authority in the Church, which is available for a free download). 

Dr. Alfvén, Today's Heresy, Tomorrow's Orthodoxy

Hannes Alfvén in 1970

Hannes Alfvén (1908-1995) won the 1970 Nobel Prize for Physics for his work on magnetohydrodynamics.

Alfvén’s work was disputed for many years by the senior scientist in space physics, the British-American geophysicist Sydney Chapman. 

Alfvén’s and Chapman were at odds with each other in large part over the peer review system in academia that qualifies a person's work as scientific and sound prior to publication. 

Hannes Alfvén rarely benefited from the acceptance generally afforded senior scientists in scientific journals. 

For example, he once submitted a paper on the theory of magnetic storms and auroras to the American journal Terrestrial Magnetism and Atmospheric Electricity. His paper was rejected on the ground that it did not agree with the theoretical calculations of conventional physics of the time. 

Hannes Alfvén was regarded as a person with unorthodox opinions in the field by many physicists. Stephen G. Brush notes that 

“..Alfvén remained an embittered outsider, winning little respect from other scientists even after he received the Nobel Prize..” (Stephen G. Brush, Book Reviews (2006) Physics in Perspective Volume 8, No 1, March 2006, pp.105).

Hannes Alfvén was often forced to publish his papers in obscure journals; Alfvén recalls in his autobiography:

“When I describe the plasma phenomena according to this formulism most referees do not understand what I say and turn down my papers. With the referee system which rules US science today, this means that my papers are rarely accepted by the leading US journals." (Hannes Alfvén, “Memoirs of a Dissident Scientist”, American Scientist, May-June 1988, pp.249-251).

Yet, Hannes Alfvén was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1970. In 1988, Alfvén was awarded the Bowie Medal by the American Geophysical Union for his work on comets and plasmas in the solar system.

Alfvén was only a handful of scientists permitted to be a foreign member of both the U.S. and Soviet Academies of Sciences.

Why am I interested in Hannes Alfvén?

In reading his autobiography and realizing that plasma physics in the year 2020 is confirming that Alfvén's theories of electromagnetic fields of currents throughout the plasma of space account for the formation, dimensions, and shapes of galaxies I am reminded that "the heresy today becomes the orthodoxy of tomorrow."

Coronavirus and the Human Death Rate of 100% - "Knowing it all ends soon, what should I do today?"

Photo: Claudio Furlan, LaPresse, Courtesy Associated Press

The United States and people all over the world seem to be in a panic over the Coronavirus.

The death rate from the heretofore unknown virus is 2.3% overall. The death rate is at 8% for people in their 70s, and it stands at almost 15% for people in their 80s. But overall, just 2.3%.

That means, for every 100 people infected with Coronavirus, less than 3 people will die from it.

And the world is terrified.

That's just plain silly. 

The human race has an actual death rate of 100%.

"People are destined to die once, and after that to face judgment" (Hebrews 9:27 NIV)

If you're living your life differently today because the Coronavirus has a 2.3% mortality rate, you're not yet comprehending that everyone (which means "you") has a 100% death rate. 

Steve Jobs once said,

Death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because death is very likely the single best invention of life. Death is life’s change agent.

Death clears out the old to make way for the new. Right now, the new is you, but someday not too long from now you will gradually become the old and be cleared away. 

Sorry to be so dramatic, but it’s quite true. Your time is limited; so don’t waste it living someone else’s life.

Martin Luther King, Jr once declared:

"The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy."

The original Martin Luther, the one after whom Jr. was named, was once asked:

"If you knew that tomorrow the world would go to pieces, what would you do?"

Martin Luther responded:

"Even if I knew that tomorrow the world would go to pieces, I would still plant my apple tree."

Luther reveals that the person "at peace with God" has no need to change the course direction of his or her life.

If you're considering your mortality because of the Coronavirus, you've not yet learned what it means to live.

Nobody is truly living until they are comfortable with dying. Peace with God brings a person to the place of planting an apple true on the last day of one's life.

This peace with our Creator comes from trusting the truth that He in His love for you,  has done for you through His Son Jesus Christ what you could never accomplish for yourself.

Christ died that I might live.

Pardon me as I go plant my apple tree.

Remember Them Who Rule Over You and Submit!

Paul and Mary Burleson, Wade's parents

To those who are regular readers of Istoria Ministries, the article today is a doozy! 

It's written by my father, Paul Burleson, who is drawing close to "four score" years of age. 

In the 1970s, he served as pastor of a Southern Baptist church in Fort Worth, a church that the Convention recognized as "one of the largest and fastest-growing Southern Baptist churches in the nation."

I can remember hundreds of seminary students flocking to hear my father  speak every Sunday night when I was in high school. Administrators and professors of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary were members of  the church where my father taught, and many "big names" in the Southern Baptist Convention became very close to my mom and dad.

My mom, Mary Burleson, waited till the four kids were out of the home, and then she launched her career, becoming a highly sought-after professional editor of books and textbooks. 

When Paul retired from being a vocational pastor at the age of 57, he began traveling the country with Mary, and they held pastors and wives conferences. Paul still teaches regularly, and if you want someone to encourage your people - both old and young - send him an email at vtm@cox.net. 

This morning, I saw a Facebook post that my dad wrote.  I tried to share his post on Twitter, but the link broke. So, I decided to place what Paul Burleson wrote in html (with links) on Istoria.  

I have two thoughts on the article you are about to read: 

1. We should all have more friends like Paul Burleson on Facebook, for he accepts and cooperates with all who disagree.

2. We ought to "share the dickens" out of this post, because it shows a respectful disagreement to the traditional Southern Baptist view that pastors/elders have "authority over God's people."

Thanks, Dad, for your encouragement! And, thanks Mom, for your professional editing of my newest book The Face of Grace!

________________________________________________________________________

A WEEKEND WORD ABOUT A WEAK TRANSLATION OF THE WORD

Paul Burleson

It has happened again!

Wade, our son, who is involved in the current debate about women in ministry in the SBC, has been challenged about his view of authority in the local church with the challenger quoting the Hebrews 13 passage as absolute textual evidence that elders are suppose to rule and that men only are to be elders [think "pastors"].

The writer correcting Wade said this, “Has Pastor Burleson overlooked the verse in Hebrews 13:17 -

"Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account?” (Hebrews 13:17)

Bam!

Close the door on any argument at all. The biggest statement for the idea that elders (pastors) rule over God's people and we should submit to them has just slammed the door shut on any disagreement. Right?

Wrong!

Let’s look carefully at that Hebrews 13 passage.

There are three verses in Hebrews 13 that could, at first glance with a Western mind set, be used for "the right of elders/pastors" to be "in authority over others" within the church., and for this authority to reside in those who hold “the office of elder/pastor."

But let's look at these three verses carefully and see if they say what those who believe in male pastoral authority believe they say. The verses are Hebrews 13:7, 13:17, and 13:24. In the King James Version they read:

“Remember them [presumably elders they say] which have the rule over you, [presumably those who hold the office of elder/pastor] who have spoken unto you the word of God: whose faith follow, considering the end of their conversation.” (Hebrews 13:7, KJV)

“Obey them [presumably elders/pastors again] that have the rule over you [they think those who hold the office of elder/pastor again] and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief: for that is unprofitable for you.” (Hebrews 13:17, KJV)

“Salute (to draw to one’s self) all them that have the rule over you, and all the saints. They of Italy salute you.” (Hebrews 13:24, KJV)

There are several observations that need to be made about the above three verses:

(1) Notice that the word “elder” does not actually appear in these verses at all

I added the word “presumably” in the above translations to show where some people think that the word "they" should be read as elder/pastor. But the word “elder” or "pastor" is simply not there in the more accurate translations.

(2) The word “over” is not actually in any one of these three verses either. 

We will lay it aside as an unfortunate and an unwarranted addition to the text by translators. It simply is not there in the better English translations.

(3) It’s also worthy of note that the Hebrews 13:7 verse is written in the past tense though “incorrectly” translated by the KJV in the present tense.

So, Hebrews 13:7 is correctly translated this way:

“Remember them who were your guides (e.g. 'your pioneers, those who led the way'), whose faith you are [presently] to imitate, taking note of how they were faithful to the very end of life.”

In context, Hebrews 13:7 as a verse reminding the early Hebrew Christians of all those faithful "pioneers of the faith" mentioned in Hebrews chapter 11 and Hebrews chapter 12, many of whom died for their faith. 

It follows then, in terms of proper exegesis, that Hebrews 13:6 is a reminder not to fear what man can do to me, but follow the example of those who've gone before (the Hall of Faith). And that is exactly the conclusion the writer of Hebrews wishes us to have: 

...so that we confidently say,

“The Lord is my helper, I will not be afraid.
                          What will man do to me?” (Hebrews 13:6).

The entire passage in Hebrews 13 is a help for Christians to learn how not to fear man. 

The men and women of faith listed in Hebrews chapter 11 and Hebrews chapter 12 did not fear man. They gave their lives because of being fearless. It may even include the Apostles themselves. 

To make "them" in Hebrews 13:7 to mean “elders/pastor” is not an option in terms of proper biblical interpretation. 

Ironically, the "them" to whom the writer of Hebrews refers includes Rahab (Hebrews 11:31), women (Hebrews 11:35), and other unnamed women of faith "of whom the world is not worthy" (Hebrews 11:38). Please note that the English word "men" in Hebrews 11:38 is not in the original Greek text. The pioneers of faith, "them who are our guides" and "of whom the world is not worthy" includes men and women. 

 (4) In Hebrews 13:17 three words give us some trouble as translated in the King James Version or read with a Western preconceived idea of meanings. 

As mentioned above, the word “over” is not in the text, so we will drop it. The 3 words are: Obey, rule and submit. 

"Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief: for that is unprofitable for you." (Hebrews 13:17).

Obey - in the Greek it is peitho. This word means to persuade, to win over. When it is in the passive and middle voices, it means to be persuaded. In Acts 5:40, peitho is in the passive voice and is translated “they were persuaded."

The obedience suggested in the text is NOT by submission to any authority, but agreement resulting from persuasion (see W. E. Vine’s Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words).

So, according to Vine’s Dictionary, the word peitho (wrongly translated "obey") means to follow the pioneers because you "have been persuaded” by their testimony, their lives, and their faith to the end. 

The word  does not mean obedience the way the Western mind thinks of obedience at all. The “willingness to follow” of Hebrews 13:17 is due to an internal reasoning and agreement that results from persuasion, not an external conformity that is the result of authoritative control.

(Side note from Wade: "It is for this reason, if any pastor demands your submission, you must resist because you have not been persuaded.")

Rule - is the Greek word hegeomai. This word means “to lead, to go before, to be a leader”; it does not carry the connotation of ruling over, but of being out in front doing a particular task in a church (see Strong’s Word Studies).

So, what needs to be seen here is that the Greek word translated “rule” in this verse and verses like it, is not a translation but a redefinition of one Greek word. Hegeomai, which is translated "rule over you" by King James' translators in Hebrews 13:7 and 17 and 24 [Strong's #2233] which is normally translated “count,” “esteem,” “to lead” or “to go before.” 

"Them that have the rule over…” is a substitute redefinition by King James' translators. There is no connotation whatsoever of “ruling over.” Remember thaemthat go before you.

So, according to the Scriptures, true leadership is nothing more than going out in front.

Submit - is the Greek word hypeikete. This word is in the present imperative active tense, and it means “to choose to submit or to follow or to yield”. This is that word’s only appearance in the New Testament, and most likely should be translated “yield.”

There is a Greek word that means “to be subject to and obey”. That word is peitharcheo (peith-ar-KAY-o), one of the words built upon “arche” meaning “ruler”. It is found three times in the New Testament, twice in Acts (5:29 & 27:21) and once in Titus (3:1).

There, and in other writings outside the New Testament, it describes obedience to someone who is in civil authority or to God, but that word is not the word used here and it is not ever used for relationships in the local congregation in terms of members "obeying and submitting" to the authority of a pastor/elder. 

Even Paul counted himself as a fellow servant. He said in II Corinthians 1:24:

 “Not that we have dominion [archo] over your faith, but are fellow workers for your joy, for by faith you stand.”

(Note from Wade: Any man in a position of pastor/elder who seeks to "take dominion" over your faith, is violating the words of Jesus Christ and the Apostle Paul, and is guilty of spiritual abuse). 

(5) For a better understanding of Hebrews 13:24 see the above for Hebrews 13:7 and the meaning of the Greek word translated “rule”.

So, the better English translations of Hebrews 13:7; Hebrews 13:17; and Hebrews 13:24 would be:

“Remember them who have [past tense] been your guides, [think "the people of faith" in Hebrews 11 and 12] who led the way with the Word: whose faith imitate, considering the strong way they ended their life.” (Hebrews 13:7)

“Choose to yield to those who are out in front leading you because you are persuaded they are likewise being faithful in their task, knowing they will be held accountable.” (Hebrews 13:17)

“Embrace all those who are your guides or leaders, as well as all the Saints. They of Italy embrace you as well.”(Hebrews 13:24)

There is simply no concept in this entire Hebrews passage of anyone "lording over" or being "in authority over" someone else in the church. There is no biblical (textual) justification for an office of any kind in the New Testament local church that carries "inherent authority" vested in it.

This is not to say that there cannot be ministries that people can be called to vocationally (pastors), or volunteer ministries (deacons) within a local church, but the sacred text tells us that gifted men and women of faith, whose lives have been an example of perseverance in the faith, are those people we should allow to persuade us of the truth in Christ, yielding ourselves to what they have to say because of the example they've given us. They are our pioneers. 

The New Testament does not teach that there is some kind of "office of authority" in the church.

Though the establishment of “hierarchies of title, offices, and positions” with inherent "authority over people" is certainly a cultural concept, Jesus, the Apostle Paul, and the entire New Testament tells Kingdom disciples that "it is not to be this way among you."