Desolate and Blessed

Yes, that's me with the enormous belt buckle.

I don't know what it's like to have adopted siblings.  In my family, there were only three of us growing up - me, the oldest; Richmond, the second; Shelby, the third.  My wife's family, by contrast, consists of eight children, but they all came from the same mother (God bless her, and no thank you!).  Especially now that my little brother is well on his way to a Bachelor's in Psychology and my baby sister is almost a legal adult, it would be especially awkward for my parents to adopt another child into the family.  It would be a tremendous adjustment, perhaps even seem unfair to those of us who grew up as a closed unit.  Ironically, that's exactly what God has done with His family.  And furthermore, for the vast majority of those of us who comprise the church global today, we are that adopted family member.

Revelation 7 contains what may be perhaps one of the most moving depictions of corporate worship in the Bible.  Beginning in verse 9, John records, "After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, 'Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!'"  The absolute wonder of this scene is breathtaking: the children of God gathered in countless masses, all differences of opinion and sinful plights removed, giving wholehearted and unanimous adoration to the One who is worthy of all honor, glory, and praise.

Matthew Henry's commentary (one of my favorite resources, especially when studying complex passages of Scripture) includes the observation that "God will have a greater harvest of souls among the Gentiles than he had among the Jews."  Immediately prior to this scene, the 144,000 Jews to be rescued from the Tribulation are numbered according to their tribes.  This tangible number seems so small in comparison to the innumerable masses gathered before the throne, and yet it is not insignificant because God's grace is specific.  We think about words like "sufficient" or "satisfactory" with negative connotations, largely due to the grading systems of our schools: work that is "satisfactory" is not as good as work that "exceeds expectations."  However, these words applied to God's grace mean that it was perfect to meet the need.  Exactly this much grace was needed; exactly this much grace was expended.  The comparison John makes in Revelation 7 is in no way a statement as to the superior righteousness of the Gentile nations, nor does it contain the implication that God favors them more than the Jews: it is simply a matter of the sufficiency of God's grace to cover the needs of both peoples, both of which have become parts of His family - certainly equal despite the difference in numbers, but also different from one another.

What really struck me about this passage, however, came through the lens of another of Henry's statements pertaining to this idea.

Throughout the Scriptures, one of God's primary concerns is for the poor, the underprivileged, the outsider.  God made provisions in the law He gave to Moses for outsiders - people whom the Jews were to treat with hospitality, love, and prayer.  In the New Testament, James describes true religion as ministry from the heart to widows and orphans in affliction, while at the same time remaining unstained by worldly influence.  God hates hands that shed innocent blood, and He is angered when individuals with means offer no assistance to those in need.  All of this contributes to our understanding of God as the merciful judge, the One who punishes sin but delights to show compassion upon the repentant.  His mercy is richest in the lives of the downtrodden, the weary who have come to Him for rest.

Another figure to whom this idea of mercy applies is the barren woman.  This plight is viewed even in Scripture as an unnatural injustice.  Any woman unable to bear children is a victim of the fallen world in which we live.  God makes almost as much special mention of the childless woman as He does the widow and the orphan.  Time and again, He supernaturally blessed barren women with offspring: Sarai, Abram's wife, who became the mother of Isaac well past the child-bearing age; Rachel, Jacob's wife, who - although the desired wife of her husband - remained envious of her sister Leah, who had child after child while Rachel could have none; Hannah, the mother of Samuel, who beseeched the Lord bitterly for a son, and then dedicated him to temple service as a sign of her gratitude; and Elizabeth, the mother of John the Baptist, who was also past the age for becoming pregnant.  In fact, God even blessed a virgin who had never slept with a man - a young woman named Mary who, although not barren, would bear and raise the Savior of the world through the supernatural interaction of the Holy Spirit.

Henry's statement, drawing from Isaiah 54.1: "More are the children of the desolate than of the married woman."

In other words, the offspring of the underprivileged, abandoned, and impoverished woman (the Gentile) will be more plentiful than those of the woman married to the Prince (the Jew).  Here's the point.  As Gentiles, we are the children of that desolate woman.  We are the descendants of spiritually dead nations, children brought into the fold and adopted into heirdom with Christ.  It's not a perfect metaphor, obviously, because each of us is individually responsible for the sins we've committed, but the idea is simply that God has opened the doors and continues to add to His family from outside of the fold.  Regardless of where we've been or what we've done, His grace remains sufficient to cover our debt and bring us into the blessings of His Kingdom.

Reading Henry's simple statement suddenly cast the following passage from Psalm 113 and others like it in a new light: "He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap, to make them sit with princes, with the princes of his people. He gives the barren woman a home, making her the joyous mother of children."  This is so much more than a statement of God's provision for individual women of faith, and yet it is certainly not less.  God has adopted entire nations into His family.  He has given new life to a world that was dead in its trespasses.  Until this age ends and Christ returns, He has offered hope to all future generations.

Spiritual Warfare and Our Responsibilities

Two things happened recently that prompted me this post. The first was a discussion which took place in my English Seminar II concerning the Devil and his role in various faiths, and the second was an offhanded opportunity I had to watch a documentary called Return of the Nephilim, a production by Chuck Missler and Koinonia House ministries (khouse.org). The close conjunction of these too seemingly inconsequential events sparked the meditation which led me to write this piece.

Event No. 1

"If you really think about it," my professor, a former Catholic and a self-proclaimed atheist, told our class, "the Devil plays a very minor role in the Bible. He was really more of a product of the Middle Ages."

For a moment, I found myself agreeing. Halfway between a swig of coffee and a yawn, with a textbook open in my lap, I thought about the predominance of man's sinfulness in the Scriptures, the beatitudes, the concepts of righteous living in the epistles and spiritual gifts, all of which pertain to Christian living. Besides, just about anyone has at least heard of the ridiculous witch trials of the Middle Ages and the prominent mystical beliefs, melded with pagan traditions of the time period. Such superstitions, so deviant from real Biblical truth, certainly reinforced the Devil as a mortal enemy of both mankind and God Himself.

But then I remembered God's prophetic statement to the serpent in the Garden of Eden, that one day the Seed of the woman would crush the deceiver's head, despite the fact that the serpent would bruise his heel (Gen 3.15). I remembered the direct role Satan played in the temptations of Job and Jesus Himself, and the fact that the Messiah spent more time warning about hell than teaching on heaven. I remembered the frequent New Testament demon possessions, Paul's constant discussions of spiritual warfare in his epistles, and – last but not least – Satan's final defeat in the book of Revelation. Unquestionably, he is more than just a bookend character. Satan is the antithesis to the entire story of redemption, and therefore integral to its plot and conclusion.

It was one of those moments where I wanted to raise my hand and offer an alternative point of view, but organizing my thoughts had taken too long and the class had already moved on to another topic.

Event No. 2

A good friend of mine acquired a DVD copy of Chuck Missler's Return of the Nephilim and suggested, with a wry grin, that we watch it. To be perfectly honest, I think both of us sat down expecting to make sarcastic comments about the holes in Missler's theory, but instead we came away with more to ponder than either of us expected.

There are a couple fairly obvious reasons for our preconceived notions. First of all, the premise of Missler's Nephilim lecture is that U.F.O.s are potentially real and directly connected to the Bible. Yes, you read that correctly. Like many of you, realists or Christians or both, I've spent years denying the veracity of theories on alien life. In fact, I have a family member who is obsessed with alien movies, U.F.O. sightings, and government conspiracies. We've butted heads many times over these issues of paranormality, and I've done my best to offer rational Biblical explanations for these otherwise inexplicable phenomena. The second reason for my skepticism was that Missler and the K-house organization staunchly hold the pre-tribulation (Left Behind) view of Revelation, and although that is also my general perspective on eschatology, I'm very cautious about fire and brimstone preachers and organizations which I fear are far too obsessed with current events and far too disinterested with rationality.

In his presentation (which is available in its entirety for viewing on YouTube -- part one can be found here), Missler spent a lot of time debunking popular objections to some of the more renowned conspiracy theories, and presented a surprising amount of additional evidence of extra-terrestrial activity. The vast majority of this material is clearly intended to shake viewers (AKA skeptical Christians) loose of their stony rejection of the possibility of real U.F.O.s, and Missler certainly made a very compelling argument for their existence.

That was largely the preamble, however. What was more fascinating about his theory was the connection he drew between modern-day U.F.O. sightings and the Biblical record of a hybrid race of men and angels called the Nephilim. I won't get into all the research, because you can watch the presentation for yourself, but some of the specific Biblical references for study are Genesis 6.4, Numbers 13.33, Jude 6, and 2 Peter 2.4-10. Not unlike the diverse interpretations of Revelation, the Nephilim are also subject to various opinions - namely the early church view, in which the text is interpreted literally, and the popular theory taught by most seminaries today, that "sons of God" and "daughters of man" merely refer to unions between the lines of Seth and Cain respectively. Close investigation of the Hebrew and Greek words in these texts, however, would point more toward the literal interpretation than the latter – that "sons of God," or fallen angels, mated with "daughters of man" to create a race of giants (the literal translation of "nephilim") which were worshipped and feared during their existence on earth (possibly the origin of the Greek demigods). This is the key principle behind Missler's theory: the very real interactions of demons with mankind, and the elaborate attempt of Satan to deter man from worshipping God alone.

As I said to my friend after turning off the TV, "So the takeaway is that U.F.O.s, provable or otherwise, are just another means of demons trying to distract humans from the truth." Whether or not you can call U.FO.s Nephilim or not, Missler's real point was that we as believers in Christ need to be constantly alert in order to spot the trickery of the Devil. Satan is neither a myth of the Middle Ages nor a devious little man with a tail and a pitchfork. By replacing the knowledge of Satan and his minions for theories of extra-terrestrial invasion or hauntings, man effectively swallows the lie Satan wants him to buy: that there is no such thing as evil.

So what do we do with all this information?

What I don't want you to do is worry about Chuck Missler's research. His documentary is definitely worth watching, but I don't want you to get caught up in proving or disproving the theory. The Nephilim might be an interesting point of study, but they are not the main point of this discussion. What we need to do is this: acknowledge the very real spiritual warfare in which we engage every day. That includes the demonic oppression which, felt or otherwise, does surround us; and yes, the activities of Satan himself.

It is no coincidence that Peter, in discussing the fallen angels and their interactions with mankind, also warns the recipients of his epistle to be constantly alert and vigilant, for our adversary the Devil “prowls about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour” (1 Peter 5.8). Too often, I've encountered Christians who assume the mantle of East Coast (AKA Easy-Comfy) theology and consider Satan and his minions to be mere metaphors of the trials of this world. I too have been guilty of the “I'm my own worst enemy” thought process, which is only true to a certain degree. Yes, we were once dead in our trespasses and enemies of God, and yes our adulterous pursuit of the lusts of the flesh is the result of the "sin which dwells within" (Rom 7.20). However, just as Paul warned the Ephesians, our struggle is not simply with our own mentality or spiritual deficiencies, but ultimately against the "cosmic powers over this present darkness" and the "spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places” (6.12). Don't discount Satan just because you don't see demon possession happening around you like you're Anthony Hopkins. Don't let your guard down just because the hair on the back of your neck doesn't stand up around the practice of unseen evil.

Let me be very clear. This is not intended to be a “demons behind every bush” type of discussion. You don't need to toss salt over your shoulder, because Satan won't literally be hovering there. However, I know for a fact that we as E C Christians take demonology and mysticism far too lightly, as though they are things which died out in the days of the early church. “East Coast” theology, by the way, is not a scientific term (or a term at all, for that matter, but you're welcome to steal it from me) but I think it's appropriate for describing a business-as-usual type of faith.  The U.S. East Coast is esteemed to be the epitome of normalcy, unlike the vast stretch of country beyond the Appalachians.  There's a reason why rock stars sing about Hollywood, California and not Raleigh, North Carolina.  Throughout history and literature, Americans dreamed of the west and its mysterious, unknown qualities.  It was glorified by the Western, and remains a place of wonder to those of us who make our homes in the most densely populated sections of the East Coast ("What?  They have space?!").  However, the west is also a place where some of the limitations we impose upon the spiritual realm are stripped away, simply by interaction with more obviously godless living than we encounter back home.  Here, we simply see blandness and misery; out there, we see real evil.

My wife (long before she was my wife) went on a missions trip with our church out west in New Mexico to work on a Navajo reservation, partnering with a mission that is managed by a family affiliated with our church. In preparing for the trip, the head missionary from the reserve warned the group about the level of spiritual oppression they would encounter. This was not just the type of rejection you would face trying to hand out tracts at the Ocean City boardwalk in New Jersey – this was a type of oppression in which the local shamans would attempt to put curses on you if they heard you say the name of Jesus. This is a place where too much illness, misfortune, and even death occurs to be simply the result of bad luck. Though many of us Easy-Comfy thinkers discount such practices as trickery or superstition, my wife and the others who went on the trip can attest to the very real demonic activity in which the Navajo people engage. What they call “spirit worship” is really interacting with the “present darkness” that Paul speaks of, or forces that stand in opposition to God.

Although those of us who are literary-minded (okay, maybe just me) don't like our heroes and villains in novels and movies to simply be binary opposites, the either-or dichotomy does exist in our world, even if it is sometimes hard to distinguish the defining line. It's not a popular opinion, but the truth is that any alternative faith is against God if it does not confess the name of Christ as the only name “under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4.12). As a side note, although we do want to embrace all people regardless of their religious beliefs and love them the way Jesus does, any notion of coexisting (as the bumper stickers encourage) is contrary to the message of Christ and ultimately sinful for those of us who call Him savior to follow. That type of live-and-let-live mentality is what led the Israelites into idolatry, and it has the same adverse effect upon modern-day Christians as well.

The point is this: spiritual warfare isn't a relic of the Dark Ages, and it isn't reserved for under–developed countries. Although we don't typically see it on the East Coast, it is very real, it is unquestionably among us, and it is Satan's principle objective to distract us from his doings. He wants to create lazy, unobservant Christians who worry more about how many times they read their Bible this week and whether or not they should go to church this coming Sunday than truly live for the Kingdom of God. Satan wants us to be comfortable, and I believe that is one of the primary reasons why God allows trials and sufferings to dominate our lives here on earth – not for our misery, but to keep us alert, and to keep us constantly dependent upon Him.

So be sober, and be vigilant. Actively resist Satan's temptations and seek righteousness, and he will flee from you (Jas 4.7). To the one who earnestly seeks Him, God will be a capable and available help in all times of weakness, uncertainty, and fear (Psa 46.1).

ADDENDUM:

An intriguing account of demonic presence in contemporary times and a practical discussion of what our attitude/approach toward it should be (esp. 6:00ff): Healing and Exorcism - desiringgod.org/blog