The Listeners

The Bible describes Heaven. Some people may only think of the Book of Revelation. But heaven is presented in the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 5. Every characteristic of the blessed Ones in the Beatitudes is described in Revelation as happening to those who were to inhabit Heaven.

Those who purified themselves saw God face-to-face.Those who mourned had every tear wiped away. Those who thirsted after righteousness were filled. Those who suffered persecution were healed. And so on. Jesus promised Heaven on earth to all who trusted him. Early in his ministry Jesus promised a taste of Heaven to those who accepted him on earth. Theologians call this the “already but not yet” aspect of our Christian faith. Already we have the gift of the Holy Spirit and the new life in Christ but we have not yet experienced his Heavenly presence and total freedom from all Satan’s attacks and evils. So now in our “Already” our only task is to witness and look for his return.

The very first time Israel tried to take the Promised Land they were defeated. “God has promised us this land! It is ours!” they cried as they charged ahead in full confidence. They were defeated. Not only were they defeated. But God also punished them with an extra forty years of desert wandering.

Why?

The reason should have been seen by Israel and by modern Christian readers of the Biblical account as well. Israel had disobeyed God. The promised land was tied to the covenant. Israel had refused to believe God, and had thus broken the covenant by choosing another leader beside Moses to take them back to Egypt (Numbers 14).

Israel did not own the Land. God did. God gave it to the believing descendants of Abraham for worship and fellowship with him. Do we believers desire God’s gifts more than the Giver, God himself?

Ever watch an infant trying to take first steps? He or she falls down more often than she or he stands up. That is you.

Walking is a complex activity. Every step you take requires you to shift your entire body weight from one leg to the other in order to place one foot in front of the other. So you are briefly unbalanced, only able to avoid falling flat by putting the trailing foot down and repeating the sequence with the other foot. Every time you walk you spend a significant part of that time
unbalanced. You can only walk by being unbalanced part of the
time. But walking is the way you get from one place to
another.

So walk with God; He will help you.

As a pastor I once served as a chaplain in a mental hospital. I became acquainted with all kinds of mental disorders. I even met one schizophrenic who at certain times could beat me in chess. Of course, he was brilliant, but sick.

Schizophrenics are people. So are all people who are subject to mental disorders. So here is a puzzle for you (normal?) folks out there. Imagine two people brought to trial in two different courts. The facts in each case are similar and not in dispute; each person on trial killed someone. One killed out of sheer evil, the other killed because in schizophrenic confusion he heard voices telling him to kill.

Schizophrenia is a disease like other diseases such as pneumonia or cancer. It is a tool of Satan, as are all evils, sorrows, or pains. It may require temporarily restraining its victims to prevent them from harming others or themselves, but it also requires medical treatment. Schizophrenia does not require exorcism any more than say, cancer patients.

Take care of schizophrenics even or especially if one is in your family. Remember; they are people. Above all; remember they are persons and need appropriate medicine and treatment.

The English word “bedlam” is a corruption of the word “Bethlehem” because in the Middle Ages in England there was a group of nuns named “Sisters of Bethlehem” who took care of the mentally ill, so outsiders who did not know the origin of the phrase would say of someone “he is ready for bedlam.”

Sinners need a cure specific for their infirmity. Do you have that cure?

Abraham Lincoln was a tall man for his day and times. Once, a man trying to make a joke of that asked him “How long should a man’s legs be?”

Lincoln replied “They should be long enough to reach the ground.”

At five feet, four inches I am a short man, but my legs reach the ground. That is all that matters. My teenage grandsons are in the neighborhood of six feet and are still growing, but they each have what is needed.

What about my lifespan? How long should it be? As I write this I have passed my 80^th birthday. My father died when he was 48. Was that “too soon”? We won’t know God’s plan until we meet in Heaven. Then we will see “who serves God and who does not serve him” (Malachi 3: 18). That is all that matters.

 

Canaan as occupied by Israel was entirely different from any nation, ancient or modern. As such, it has no relevance for the political justification of war. We will list Israel’s occupation of Canaan here, then discuss each one separately in successive blogs.

1. The promised land was a gift from God.
2. The promised land was bound with the covenant.
3. The promised land was for the purpose of God.
4. The promised land was obtained by God’s power.
5. The promised land was protected only by God.
6. The promised.land was only for God’s people.
7. The promised land was not God’s final destiny.

Regarding point 1. above: Yes, I am aware that land was only for God’s people. We humans are often pressured to give gifts. This did not happen with God, creator and owner of the universe. God promised the land to Abraham and his faithful descendants; God repeated that promise many times despite Israel’s faithlessness. The Land was a gift from the heart of the loving Owner, not a privilege or right by the landless Israelites who did not even exist when the land was promised by God.

We will mention other feature of the promised land in future blogs.

I was an Army bandsman in the late 1950’s shipped to Berlin, Germany, to hold back the Communists with my French horn. One summer day around the year 1958 I was walking down an old cobblestone street. The late afternoon was turning to dusk as the street turned to the right, circling a small park. This residential area was far from any industrial target, so it still had some old prewar apartments.

Then I realized the park was recently planted. A church had once been there. Rubble had been cleared away, but part of the old stone front was left. Over the Gothic arch of what had been the main entrance were these words: “Himmel und erde werden vergehen, aber meine worte werden nicht vergehen” “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away”

The church building had been destroyed but the words of Christ remained. The congregation had scattered but Christ still spoke. Buildings can be built and congregations organized by humans who are born, live and die, but the words of our living Lord still speak to us today.

Coleman Lewis Coates is a retired minister who has explored the question of Christian ideas for over 30 years.

Author of The Listeners, published by Redemption Press

God planted a garden. That garden in Eden was the first recorded act of God after he created humans. It was a place of peace, comfort, and food. Above all, it was the place where Adam and Eve met with God. When they told God “We don’t want you anymore!” God drove them out of his garden. In that rebellion we lost more than a place of comfort and food.

We lost God.

We can’t find God, but he has found us. This blog will follow that story from Genesis to Revelation.

After many generations, empires like Assyria and Babylon rose and fell in the fertile whcrescent north of Israel. The term “Fertile Crescent” has a certain irony; the soil was very rich, but water was often scarce and always precious.

Therefore irrigation was needed even in earliest times. Rich and powerful people often built walls around irrigated areas where precious plants could be carefully tended. These gardens were places of peace, serenity, and rest. The Persian word for garden was sometimes used: Paradise.

Paradise, the garden of God, was promised by Isaiah (51: 3). The word “Paradise” which included the presence of God was promised by Jesus on the Cross when he said to the Penitent Thief “Today you will be with me in Paradise.” (Luke 23: 42) and the Tree of Life, forbidden to humans in the Garden of Eden, is finally given to believers by Christ in Heaven (Revelation 2: 7). God used a garden to symbolize restoration to fellowship and eternal life to all who heed his word; the Listeners.