Words of Truth

Exodus 4:1-3 says “Then Moses answered, “But behold, they will not believe me or listen to my voice, for they will say, ‘The LORD did not appear to you.’” The LORD said to him, “What is that in your hand?” He said, “A staff.” And he said, “Throw it on the ground.” So he threw it on the ground, and it became a serpent, and Moses ran from it.“

Moses ran from it.

Think about that. I have often wondered why Moses thought so little of the Hebrews that he assumed they would reject him out of hand. But I think I understand now.

Moses ran from it.

That’s the key. God was telling Moses that he was God’s man. Moses was being asked to trust in God’s leading, and it made no sense to him. He struggled to trust. There he stands in the wilderness next to a bush burning with a supernatural fire that did not consume. The disembodied voice of God that accompanied the sign of the miraculous fire gave promises to Moses and told him “they will listen to your voice” which means “they will believe you.” God promised that Moses would lead the Hebrews out of Egypt after the plagues, and they would even be given valuables on their way out. And Moses stood there hearing God speak to him directly, promising all these things. And Moses’ response was “what if they don’t believe me?” God responded by miraculously turning Moses’ stick into a snake.

And Moses ran from it. In other words, God made a snake, and Moses did not believe that God could protect him from the snake. And here’s the key:

Moses didn’t think the people would believe that God had sent him because HE didn’t believe that God was sending him. But then God told him to pick up the snake, and he did. So Moses had faith, but his faith needed to grow.

We all can echo the words of the father of a demon-possessed son in Mark 9, “I believe; help my unbelief.” Lord, help our faith in You to grow each day!

I dunk my cookies in milk. 

That is a statement and it means something. 

If you watched a video of me “dunking” a cookie, and in the video I simply sprinkle some milk on the cookie, you would rightly say that I did not dunk my cookie. 

If you watched a video of me “dunking” a cookie, and in the video I pour milk over the cookie, you would rightly say that I did not dunk my cookie.

Or if you watched a video of me “dunking a cookie”, and in the video I sprinkled some milk on some cookie dough, you would rightly say that I did not “dunk my cookie.” Even if I submerged the dough, it’s still not “Dunking a cookie” because dough isn’t a cookie yet.

Only when I take a baked cookie and submerge it in milk is it truly “dunked.” 

Baptism is the same thing.  The word “baptize” comes from the Greek word “baptizo” which means “to dip, to immerse, to submerge.”  The Enhanced Strong’s Lexicon says “The clearest example that shows the meaning of baptizo is a text from the Greek poet and physician Nicander, who lived about 200 B.C. It is a recipe for making pickles and is helpful because it uses both words. Nicander says that in order to make a pickle, the vegetable should first be ‘dipped’ (bapto) into boiling water and then ‘baptised’ (baptizo) in the vinegar solution. Both verbs concern the immersing of vegetables in a solution. But the first is temporary. The second, the act of baptising the vegetable, produces a permanent change.” 

And just like how dunking cookie dough isn’t “dunking a cookie”, putting water to a person who is not a believer does not “baptize” them.  Even if they were immersed. In a church. By a pastor. It doesn’t matter how young they are or how old they are.  It doesn’t matter, because biblical baptism is the act when a believer is immersed in water as a public demonstration of their professed faith in Christ.

Anything else? You’re just getting wet.

There’s a lie making the rounds again in the pro-abortion camp that says not only does the Bible NOT condemn abortion, but that God actually condones it. There are various passages they use in which God passes judgment and babies die (which is a horrible argument for abortion since God is the one doing the killing, which is His right), but the worst proof text they use is Numbers 5:11-31.

This passage details what the nation of Israel was supposed to do when a man suspected that his wife had committed adultery. There is a test that she has to take that basically consists of her drinking water with dirt from the tabernacle floor in it, and recite a statement that she has not committed adultery. There’s other details but this is the basic part.

And here’s where the confusion starts. The passage says that if she is guilty, the water will 1. Bring a curse, 2. Cause bitterness in her, 3. Cause her thigh to waste away, 4. Cause her belly to swell, and 5. Make her barren.

Of all the English versions I could find, every one of them translates the phrase “yarek n’pil” in some variant of “thigh waste away (or rot)”. With one exception. The New International Version translators, for some reason, decided that everybody else is wrong, and the words for “thigh waste away” should be translated as “womb miscarries.”

Not only is this a stretch linguistically, but it makes no sense logically, because if the woman is guilty, then this thing happens and she’s barren, but if she is NOT guilty, verse 28 says that she will then “conceive children.” Which wouldn’t make any sense if she was ALREADY PREGNANT, as the pro-abortion people (and the NIV translators) think with their interpretation of this verse.

So the next time someone tells you that Numbers 5 shows that God approves of abortion, you can tell them that the passage has absolutely nothing to do with abortion, and stop reading the NIV.

I firmly believe that the elective abortion of a baby growing in the uterus should be 100% illegal in every instance. It should never be legal to end the life of an innocent human to improve another human’s life.

I also firmly believe that a woman should be able to decide what to do with her own body, and I emphasize, HER OWN BODY (not someone else’s body growing inside her). That means that if an 18 year old woman wants to be permanently sterilized, she should have the right to do this. I can understand if some doctors think that she shouldn’t do it, and they are free to refuse to do that surgery, but you can’t tell me that this world has hundreds of medical practitioners willing to kill babies but zero medical practitioners willing to do elective tubal ligations. That’s nonsense.

SCOTUS reversed Roe v Wade yesterday. This is a good thing, but there are too many people right now thinking, “yaay! Abortion is illegal now!” or “Oh no! They’ve ended my right to get an abortion!” Both are equally false. This SCOTUS decision only returned the issue to the states where it will now be just like the marijuana issue: legal some places, illegal in others, with varying and diverse regulations and rules.

As far as the cost goes, if it cost $500 to get an abortion in Texas, I would imagine that it would be slightly more involved to buy a plane ticket (bus ticket, whatever) to Illinois, California, Las Vegas, or wherever to get the abortion.

This decision did not end abortion in our country, it just changed it a little. I hope one day we look back on abortion in the same way we currently view slavery: a horrific act that used to be legal but is now thankfully rejected by all good people. I pray for that almost every day.