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Introduction:
During this lesson, we will look to the Bible to answer
five questions that have been submitted by members of this
congregation. Please, remember that you can submit questions by
filling out a form by my office door and placing it in the
appropriate box outside my office. Discussion: I.
Question #1—If God commanded Israel not to kill, then why
did He allow, and, in fact, help them to physically destroy their
enemies? A.
According to Exodus
20:13, God, as one of the Ten Commandments, told the
Israelites that they were not allowed to kill. However, in
passages such as I Samuel
15:3, God helped Israel kill a multitude of people. Why this
seeming inconsistency? B.
In Exodus 21:12-16,
we learn that God was not condemning every possible form of
killing. In these verses, two forms of killing were allowed. One
was an accidental killing, which God provided for in Numbers
35. The second was putting someone to death as a punishment
for violating the law. This was not only allowed, but commanded. C.
If we go back to I
Samuel 15:2-3, we will note that the Israelites were not
attacking Amalek just out of a sense of enmity or hatred. Rather,
God was punishing Amalek for their sins against Him and His
people. When God used Israel to conquer a nation, it was always an
issue of punishment for sin. Remember Deuteronomy
32:35, “Vengeance is mine.” God, as the ultimate sovereign
of the universe, has the right to take vengeance and it is His
reserved right. At times, He used Israel as the tool of His
vengeance. At times, He used other nations as tools of His
vengeance against Israel. Whatever the case, when God takes
vengeance on sinners, it is not a violation of His law. II.
Question #2—Why was Satan with the angels in Job
1:6? A.
We must first note that “sons of God” in this passage
may not refer to angels. In Genesis
6:2, “the sons of God” took wives from among the daughters
of men. However, according to Matthew
22:30, the angels neither marry nor are given in marriage.
Therefore, in Genesis 6:2,
“sons of God” cannot refer to angels, but must refer to the
ones on earth who were followers of God, thus His children. It is
possible then that “sons of God” in Job
1:6, does not refer to angels but simply to worshippers like
Job. B.
Having said that, we also note Job
38:7, where “sons of God” almost certainly refers to
spiritual beings, probably angels, who were present at the
creation, since no men were present when God laid the foundation
of the earth. Thus, in the context of the book, this phrase may
well mean angels or other spiritual beings. C.
Typically, a person’s view on this passage will come back
to the idea of sin being allowed in heaven. We wonder, “If sin
is not allowed in heaven, then how could Satan present himself
before God in heaven?” However, notice that Job did not say
where this meeting took place. Further, when dealing with an
omnipresent God and spiritual beings, can we really ask
“where” in the same sense that we might ask where you and I
might meet for lunch. “Place” seems a little out of place when
speaking of spiritual beings. D.
About all we can determine for sure from this passage is
that in some way, God allows Satan to speak to Him. Why does God
allow it? We do not know. Yet, there it is. However, the great
thing we really learn from this context is that while Satan might
use these meetings as a means to separate us from God, God places
limits on Satan. As taught in other passages, He will not allow us
to be tempted beyond what we are able (I
Corinthians 10:13). Further, Satan cannot separate us from God
so long as we continue to love God and lean on Him (Romans
8:38-39). III.
Question #3—God said Job was a perfect and upright man, I
thought only Jesus was perfect? A.
The struggle here comes from translation. Some translations
say Job was “perfect.” One even says he was “without sin.”
Others say “blameless.” What exactly does this mean? According
to Strong’s Enhanced Lexicon the Hebrew word translated here
means, “complete; usually (morally) pious; specifically, gentle,
dear:--coupled together, perfect, plain, undefiled, upright.” It
is used only 13 times in the entire Old Testament, 7 of which are
found in Job. The Greek equivalent “amemptos” is used 5 times
in the New Testament. Interestingly, not one of these cases ever
refers to Jesus. B.
The above demonstrates the second issue. We struggle with
the passage because we carry with it our ideas about
“perfect.” Because we know only Jesus was sinless and,
therefore, perfect, anytime we see the word “perfect,” we
automatically think, “Jesus.” However, that is not what these
passages are talking about. C.
Instead, in this context and in other similar ones, I
believe we find an expression to demonstrate the difference
between those who faithfully served God versus those who did not.
For instance, Job 8:20;
9:22; Proverbs 29:10; Philippians 2:15. Job was clearly not
perfect in the sense that he never, ever sinned. But he was
perfect or blameless in the sense that he followed God’s will
faithfully. What sins he had committed, because of his service to
God, were cleansed by God’s grace. Consider what God does for us
through His grace as demonstrated in I
Thessalonians 3:13. IV.
In Genesis 1:2,
if the earth was without form and void, how did God move upon the
face of the waters? A.
The terms “formless and void” do not mean that nothing
was in existence. Something was in existence, the heavens and
earth that God had created in Genesis
1:1 were there. However, the earth had no form, that is, it
was not ordered into what we know now. It was void, that is, it
was empty of all that exists on the earth today. In the verses
that follow, God explained how he took the formless and void earth
and gave it order and filled it with life. But before the time
that He formed and filled the earth, God was still in existence
moving along the face of waters that He had created even before He
formed that creation into what now exists as our universe. B.
To understand this further look at Jeremiah
4:23. In a vision, Jeremiah saw the earth and he described it
using these same terms, “formless and void.” Yet his vision
had mountains and hills. Thus, we learn that the phrase does not
mean there is nothing in existence. Rather it simply means that
the order which we presently know is absent. In Jeremiah
4:23-26, it specifically referred to instability and
emptiness. In Genesis 1:2,
it simply means that God, while having created something, had not
made it into the universe in which we now live. V.
If a “good work” is only one sanctioned by the Bible,
does that make other works outside of the church sinful, for
instance, working at a homeless shelter, volunteering for the
March of Dimes, etc.? A.
This question has come out of the lessons and sermons we
have had lately on issues of authority. As we have consistently
pointed out from II Timothy 3:16-17, the Bible is written to equip us for good works.
Thus, a good work is something the Bible equips us to do. It is
not any work the Bible does not specifically condemn. From there,
we have reasoned that the church’s work is to hold up the truth
(I Timothy 3:15). It is
not a welfare society given to provide good works for every need
under the sun. The only exception can be seen by examples like Acts
11:27-30. In this passage, congregations used their treasury
to help other Christians in need. B.
Does that mean that Christians, as individuals, are not
authorized to participate in any endeavor other than teaching the
Gospel or providing benevolent aid to Christians? No. Consider Galatians
6:10. While the individual Christian has a special
responsibility to his brethren, he is still to do good for all
people. We need to understand that the issue of the church’s
work and the debates we have over that are not about whether
homeless shelters, food kitchens and welfare organizations are
good works. The question is whether or not the church should be
distracted from the work it was given to do those things. It
should not. But individuals are to do good to all people, as we
have opportunity. Conclusion: I hope these answers have helped. Please, do not take my word for any answers to any questions. Always go back to the Bible. Certainly, if you find something different in the Bible from what I have taught here, let’s get together and discuss it. If you would like to have a Bible question discussed during our sessions, please, fill out a form by my office and drop it in the box.
Glory
to God in the church by Christ Jesus
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