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22222 SEPTEMBER-DECEMBER 2013

september-december 2013volume 22, number 5

3PERSONAL PERSONAL PERSONAL PERSONAL PERSONAL frfrfrfrfrom John Wom John Wom John Wom John Wom John W. Ritenbaugh. Ritenbaugh. Ritenbaugh. Ritenbaugh. RitenbaughEcclesiastes and Christian Living (Part Four):Other Gifts

8What Happened at En Dor?BY RICHARD T. RITENBAUGH

12PROPHECY WAPROPHECY WAPROPHECY WAPROPHECY WAPROPHECY WATTTTTCHCHCHCHCHThe Symmetry of History (Part Two)BY CHARLES F. WHITAKER

15READY ANSWERREADY ANSWERREADY ANSWERREADY ANSWERREADY ANSWERDo We See the Line?BY MIKE FORD

23WORLDWORLDWORLDWORLDWORLDWWWWWAAAAATTTTTCHCHCHCHCHComing: Dry Times in the U.S. and IsraelBY DAVID C. GRABBE

24BIBLE STUDYBIBLE STUDYBIBLE STUDYBIBLE STUDYBIBLE STUDYThe Miracles of Jesus Christ:Healing a Stooped Woman (Part Two)BY MARTIN G. COLLINS

forerunnerE D I T O RE D I T O RE D I T O RE D I T O RE D I T O R -IN-CHIEF-IN-CHIEF-IN-CHIEF-IN-CHIEF-IN-CHIEFJOHN W. RITENBAUGH

MANAGING EDITORMANAGING EDITORMANAGING EDITORMANAGING EDITORMANAGING EDITORRICHARD T. RITENBAUGH

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coverI Samuel 28 records the story of King Saul’sconsultation of a medium, often called theWitch of En Dor, to speak with the prophetSamuel, who had been dead for five years.Some people believe this is biblical proof oflife after death, but is it? Is the spirit that themedium sees really Samuel? A careful readingof the text reveals that it agrees with the restof Scripture.iStockphotoiStockphotoiStockphotoiStockphotoiStockphoto

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personal from John W. Ritenbaugh

Ecclesiastes 3 makes clear that God is sov-ereign over time as well as over the flow ofevents He is overseeing in the outworking

of His plan and purpose. God leaves no doubt thatHe is intimately involved in the lives of Hischildren to ensure that they fit within the frame-work of the body of believers that He is prepar-ing to rule over the earth under Jesus Christ atHis return.

His aim is not merely that we generally fit butthat we specifically fit, prepared for the responsi-bilities He assigns. We learn this principle fromobservations of God’s creation, as King Davidtestifies in Psalm 139:14, “I am fearfully andwonderfully made; marvelous are Your works,and that my soul knows very well.” Even as ourphysical bodies are marvelous creations, God’sspiritual preparations of us for His Kingdom asthe Bride of Christ is a more spectacular, fullyfunctioning achievement. Thus, His work ofcreation continues.

Solomon writes in Ecclesiastes 3:10-15:

I have seen the God-given task with whichthe sons of men are to be occupied. He hasmade everything beautiful in its time. AlsoHe has put eternity in their hearts, exceptthat no one can find out the work that Goddoes from beginning to end. I know that

nothing is better for them than to rejoiceand to do good in their lives, and also thatevery man should eat and drink and enjoythe good of all his labor—it is the gift ofGod. I know that whatever God does, itshall be forever. Nothing can be added to it,and nothing taken from it. God does it, thatmen should fear before Him. That which ishas already been, and what is to be hasalready been; and God requires an accountof what is past.

Among the mysteries that everybody must faceis “Who am I?” and “Why am I here?” Anotherversion of those questions is “Why was I born?”A partial but probably unsatisfying answer isthat, unless God calls and reveals Himself to aperson, he will never find the clear, detailed an-swer. Thus, Solomon states in verse 11, “No onecan find out the work that God does frombeginning to end.” So that the called, those towhom God has revealed Himself, are thoroughlyconvinced of the great gift God has given them, afuller version of this declaration appears inEcclesiastes 8:17:

Then I saw all the work of God, that a mancannot find out the work that is done underthe sun. For though a man labors to discover

Ecclesiastesand Christian Living

Part Four: Other Gifts


personal Ecclesiastes and Christian Living

it, yet he will not find it; moreover, though a wise manattempts to know it, he will not be able to find it.

God undoubtedly planned much of this blindness. Thisdoes not mean that people will never hear the answer to“Why was I born?” in their lifetimes. But unless God isdirectly involved in calling them for His purposes, theirhearing the simple and plain truth of it will not have thelife-changing impact needed to change the direction oftheir lives. A person must be gifted by His calling(Matthew 13:10-17).

Three Invaluable GiftsIn the previous article, we focused on two specific truthsregarding time and our trials: 1) God’s personal involve-ment in our lives and 2) the sense of eternity He has placedin our hearts. It began in the last three verses of chapter 2,which announce that God gives gifts. By means of someof those invaluable gifts, everyone born, called or not,can receive a measure of knowledge that can prove tobe helpful to their well-being.

Paul writes in Romans 1:18-20:

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven againstall ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, whosuppress the truth in unrighteousness, because thatwhich may be known of God is manifest in them, forGod has shown it to them. For since the creation ofthe world His invisible attributes are clearly seen,being understood by the things that are made, evenHis eternal power and Godhead, so that they arewithout excuse.

Clearly, mankind has been gifted with an awareness ofGod’s existence. Like most things in life, this awarenessmust be confirmed, developed, and lived by in greaterdetail, but the proofs of God’s existence are readily avail-able through an honest observation of the creation. Theevidence is so obvious that, in God’s judgment, it leaveshumanity without justification for not knowing of Hisexistence. What is really difficult is proving God doesnot exist! Most people merely accept His existence as afact, but few appear to make it foundational to their wayof life. On the other extreme are those who utterlyreject it because they have faith only in what they call“science.” That faith is an impossibility because theyhave no scientific answer to where life came from in the

first place.Romans 2:14-15 adds a second gift:

. . . for when the Gentiles, who do not have the law,by nature do the things in the law, these, although nothaving the law, are a law unto themselves, whoshow the work of the law written in their hearts, theirconscience also being witness, and between them-selves their thoughts accusing or else excusingthem. . . .

Similar to the fact of God’s existence, in that it needs to beexpanded upon and more precisely understood, is the truththat God has given mankind the basic elements of right andwrong to enable humanity to govern itself for the purposesof communal living.

Ecclesiastes 3:11 completes this trinity of invaluablegifts: “He has made everything beautiful in its time. AlsoHe has put eternity in their hearts, except that no onecan find out the work that God does from beginning toend.” God has given everyone a spirit and a sense ofeternity, enabling people to think both backward andforward in time.

Men innately know that there is more to life than whatthey experience physically. However, they do not graspthe precise connection between their awareness of eter-nity and their present physical lives. They do, however,vaguely grasp that somehow the immortality they envi-sion has some connection with what they are experi-encing in the present. Like the other gifts, this, too, isgreatly botched, and misunderstanding is universal. Themost common assumption is that we already possess it.But, if linked with revealed truth as God intended, it greatlyaids people in thinking about the past concerning God’screative powers, His purpose, His sovereignty over allthings, and how the individual fits into the present andfuture.

God has given these and more gifts to all humanity, butonly those called by Him are given more detailed and trueexplanations that will build their faith, enabling them to liveby it. Unless God gives the details, we are all much liketerribly near-sighted people who more or less feel theirway along. Until they are called, the grand design that Godis working out escapes their fuller comprehension, makingthe answer about who we are elusive.

The instruction in Ecclesiastes 3:10-15 encourages us tobe content and patient. It is a reflection on and a reminderof the importance of what He already said about gifts in

“I know that whatever God does it shall be forever. Nothing can be added to it,and nothing taken from it. God does it, that men should fear before Him.”

—Ecclesiastes 3:14


Ecclesiastes 2:24-26. We should be thankful and rejoice inwhat we already have because what we have is wonder-ful. Without directly stating a clear “why,” Solomon gentlyimplies that God will add understanding as we are able tomake good use of it.

Accepting That God Sets the TimesVerse 14 adds helpful encouragement to the point he ismaking: “I know that whatever God does it shall beforever. Nothing can be added to it, and nothing taken fromit. God does it, that men should fear before Him.” WhatGod is doing will add to our awe of Him, and the fear of Godis a great gift. There can be nothing negative about addingto our respect of God. Recall that Proverbs 1:7 states, “Thefear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge.” However,the fear of God is the also the beginning of wisdom,understanding, joy, peace, and much more because theseall flow from God as gifts to us because of our contact withHim after being called.

An earlier article covered contexts showing that God set

cause doing so is not beneficial to living by faith. When wedo that, we tend to do foolish things.

Regarding timing within God’s purposes as He workswith us, we cannot add to or take anything away from thepast. The past cannot be changed; it is over. By the sametoken, we cannot add to or take anything from the futureeither, as it has not yet occurred and because God has Hispurposes to work out. What God wants to do when Hewants to do it will invariably be done.

No human by his sheer effort can hope to alter thecourse of things. To seek to do that is evidence of pride.This is a major reason God sets the times even of our trials.He desires to remove every aspect of any argument wemight have that might lead us to choose some other way ofdoing things than His. Resisting Him produces no goodfruit.

This leads to the most helpful conclusion, which is alsothe secondary reason why we have covered the fact ofGod setting the timing of events. With God in control oftime, we, through our experiences, gradually become awareof our sheer helplessness; we cannot manipulate time

Whatever God does endures forever.He schedules and performs everything at exactly the right time.

Thus we must grow in trusting God’s timing on everything in our lives.

the times for many significant events, for example, whenJesus was born, when the gospel began to be preached,when He would be crucified, how long He was in thegrave, and when the Kingdom will be restored. A second-ary reason for this is that we must learn that the operationsand times that God sets are thoroughly reasoned, perma-nent, and unchangeable. Whatever God does enduresforever. He schedules and performs everything at exactlythe right time. Thus we must grow in trusting God’s timingon everything in our lives. It is that important to our spiritualwell-being.

Despite what events working out in our lives might seemlike to us from our position as very limited and impatientmortals, God is running a tight ship. We can expand thisconcept of running a tight ship to envelop the entireperiod of the past—to all His sovereign operationsbeginning with Adam and Eve, the calling of Abraham,Jacob having twelve sons, the formation of Israel, and soforth. Everything was done at the right time, and in away, doing so emphasizes His sovereignty and well-organized purpose.

God wants to impress on those living by faith that Hetruly wants us to know what He has done and what He isnow doing to the degree we can understand. For our good,though, He does not want us second-guessing Him be-

nor manage the times we live and operate in. This intenseunderstanding of our helplessness helps us grasp moredeeply how totally dependent we are on Him to work outHis purposes in our lives. The humility produced by thisawareness is of tremendous value.

We are involved in the ongoing spiritual creation, andthe Creator God is the Potter, fashioning us into Hisdesire. Humility before Him is an absolute necessity.Recall what Jesus says to His disciples in John 15:5, “Forwithout Me you can do nothing.” That is, we can donothing toward His purpose. Our responsibility is toyield to His purpose. The sovereign God can exercisecontrol of all things in the lives of His children, not justtime. Notice how Jesus illustrates an aspect of this inMatthew 10:29-31:

Are not two sparrows sold for a copper coin? And notone of them falls to the ground apart from yourFather’s will. But the very hairs of your head are allnumbered. Do not fear therefore; you are of morevalue than many sparrows.

His two illustrations show how penetrating and com-plete is God’s awareness of what is happening in Hiscreation. Here is the practical point for us: If He is aware



of a sparrow falling, and we are exceedingly more impor-tant than a mere bird, how can He not be aware of all thatis occurring in our lives?

With this understanding, we can appreciate that we canmove forward toward God’s Kingdom only at the speed Hedeems is correct for us. This gives us far more reason tolearn to be content because the speed that He moves us isperfectly good for us. God does nothing that is not in ourbest interests.

Has God Tossed Us a Crumb?Some commentators describe Ecclesiastes 3:12 as nega-tive because they understand the phrase, “there isnothing better,” as implying something “second-best.”They almost seem insulted that God has “tossed them acrumb.” But look again at what God has counseled thatwe should do! In verse 12, He advises us to rejoice and dogood in our lives, and in verse 13, to eat, drink, and enjoythe good of our labor because these things—the food, thedrink, and the ability to labor—are gifts of God.

If we reword these verses into the first-person voice,it reads, “There is nothing better than that I should bejoyful and do good as long as I live, and to eat and drinkand take pleasure in all my work—this is God’s gift tome.” How much good can be accomplished in a lifelived with the attitude that He counsels us to live with?What does God more specifically mean by “do good”?What He means should be taken in a moral and ethicalsense. To do good is to do good works, and that is ourassignment all the time! God is most certainly not tossingus a crumb.

Ephesians 2:10 tells us that doing good is the very reasonfor our calling! “For we are His workmanship, created inChrist Jesus for good works, which God prepared before-

representing God in all aspects of life possibly be acrumb?

Time’s Continous StreamEcclesiastes 3:15 is another illustration, showing from adifferent point of view the breadth and depth of God’ssovereignty over time and the events of life: “That whichis has already been, and what is to be has already been; andGod requires an account of what is past.” To picture thismore clearly, we have to perceive time as a moving reality.It is as though it is coming toward us and moving away fromus simultaneously.

Though time is involved in this statement, the emphasisis more on the events that happen within time rather thantime itself. We can perhaps understand this versebetter as saying that what is happening right now,already happened in the past, and what will happen hasalready happened. It is a way of saying that, in one sense,time cannot be broken into parts. Time and the eventshappening within it of and by themselves are a whole.Thus, Solomon is essentially saying, “Past, present, andfuture are bound together.”

In what way is this so? Time and the events happeningin it are parts of a continuous stream. Solomon’s point isagain that only God is in perfect control of both time and itsevents, and He can seek out and bring back into existencein the present what happened in the past. Thus, Solomon’scomment in Ecclesiastes 1:9 is a parallel: “What has beenis what will be, and what has been done is what will bedone, and there is nothing new under the sun” (ESV). Inplainer language, history repeats itself.

Names, personalities, ethnicities, locations, dates, lan-guages, clothing, and weapons change, but the core ofthe events is essentially the same. We can learn from

Regardless of a trial God may have specifically assigned us,doing good works is always our assignment, whether within that specific trial

or free from whatever particular discipline the trial might normally impose.

hand that we should walk in them.” Regardless of a trialGod may have specifically assigned us, doing good worksis always our assignment, whether within that specific trialor free from whatever particular discipline the trial mightnormally impose.

Thus, in Ecclesiastes 3:10-14, God is telling us to takejoy in His employment of us before the world in doinggood at home for those we live with, doing good workon the job, doing good in serving the brethren, and doinggood within our community as we have occasion, usingour spiritual gifts to the best of our abilities. How can

history what works and what does not. Thus, we havethe saying by George Santayana, “Those who cannotremember the past are condemned to repeat it.” Thismakes the Bible an even more valuable source of guidancein wisdom and right conduct because God gives trueaccounts of what happened, not ones embellished bymen’s prejudices.

One might wonder why God would essentially repeatwhat is said in Ecclesiastes 1:9 just two chapters later.The reason is that there is a major difference in thecontexts. In Ecclesiastes 1:9, the statement is used nega-


• The New International Version: “God will call thepast to account.”

• The Revised Standard Version: “God seeks whathas been driven away.”

• The American Standard Version: “God seeksagain that which is passed away.”

• The New English Bible: “God summons each eventback in its turn.”

• The Amplified Bible: “God seeks that which haspassed by.”

Though each translation is somewhat different, each hastwo elements in common: God is looking for something, andit involves time, an event that occurred in the past. Why isHe doing this? What instruction is there for us here?

We tend to think that former days are gone forever.However, we have seen in Ecclesiastes 3 that this conceptis not totally true because history keeps repeating itself.In fact, we are learning that God causes this repetition.Verse 15 confirms this fact once again, but it adds apositive twist to it. Why would God do this?

A prominent theme in Ecclesiastes is judgment. Thebook ends with the statement that God will bring everydeed into judgment (Ecclesiastes 12:14), pointing directlyto a reason why everything matters. It is obvious that God,who is in control, brings up the past for His purposes.God always does things with good purposes in mind. In thisverse, the language is quite positive: He does not bringthe past up for the purposes of condemnation but forredemption. Our Savior God is a Redeemer.

He is seeking to help those who have truly made a

from our messes.This is not to suggest that those messes will be

completely resolved, and everybody is happy, happy,happy! No, but He has the power to bring experiencesfrom our past to mind, facilitating us to sort throughthem with a great deal more clarity than we had whenthey originally happened. Thus, He helps us recall inci-dents with honesty that helps us learn what we shouldand should not have done or said, and resolve to conductourselves far better going forward. He helps us to graspwhether repentance should occur if a similar situationhappens again.

Should we forgive and forget? Should we be morepatient and kind? Should we sacrifice our pride? Shouldwe be firmer, insisting that godly actions be done touphold righteousness? He may reveal to us how anevent’s outcome could have been far more profitable forall concerned.

Our Lives Matter to GodConsidering the inspiring revelations given in this chap-ter, how can we ever consider our lives monotonousand vain? We have had revealed to us, not merely thatwe are made part of God’s eternal plan, but we have alsobeen given some important particulars of operationswithin that plan. We are not a mere insect crawlingfrom one annihilation to another. God personally knowsus, and He is in control, shaping our lives and charac-ters through our experiences with a glorious purpose atits end!

Our overall responsibility begins with a firm foundationof fearing Him, which provides us with solid footing forsubmission to Him. If we have given our lives to Jesus

(continued on page 20)

Moreover I saw under the sun: In the place of judgment, wickedness was there;and in the place of righteousness, iniquity was there.

I said in my heart, “God shall judge the righteous and the wicked, for there is a timefor every purpose and for every work.”

—Ecclesiastes 3:16-17

tively, suggesting life is nothing but repetitious vanity. InEcclesiastes 3:15, though, it is mentioned explicitly withinthe context of God’s sovereignty—He is in control, andHe makes positive use of history repeating itself formankind’s benefit.

Many alternative renderings of the last phrase of verse15, “God requires an account of what is past,” are quitehopeful:

mess of their past—that includes all of us. This verseprovides evidence that by His grace He is seeking torecover and restore what seems from our point of viewto be forever lost. Earlier, however, we learned that thework of God endures forever. This verse suggests that,since we are God’s work, He will use His powers to makesure that our labors are not in vain. He will make thingsbeautiful in His good time by enabling us to profit even


Human beings are a superstitiouslot, and those who claim

Christianity as their religion are noexception. Things that go bump inthe night scare Christians andpagans equally. Some branches ofChristianity seem to have a morbidfascination with the otherworldly,and this reality probably springsfrom the fact that the Bible doesnot hide the fact that Satan theDevil is alive and well and hashordes of demons ready to do hisbidding. The dominant churchthroughout medieval times—andeven some of its Protestantoffshoots—delighted in danglingbelievers over the fires of hell toforce conformity to its questionabledoctrines and practices. Works likeDante’s Inferno and Milton’sParadise Lost are still quite popularamong Christians.

Certainly, Satan and demons arereal—they even play significantroles in the gospels, tempting Jesusand being exorcised fromunfortunate demoniacs by Him. Thebook of Revelation is full ofreferences to evil and diabolicalforces arrayed against God and Hispeople, causing wars and plaguesand all manner of curses. Theapostle Paul warns us of ourspiritual struggle “againstprincipalities, against powers,against the rulers of the darkness ofthis age, against spiritual hosts of

wickedness in the heavenly places”(Ephesians 6:12). God’s Wordconstantly reminds us that we haveunseen enemies who want nothingmore than to deceive us into givingup our crowns of life.

Superstitions also persist on theequally ethereal subject of theafterlife, a doctrine about whichnominal Christians have differingideas. Catholics, for instance,believe the evil go to hell and thetruly good go to heaven, while themajority head to purgatory to workoff their heavy load of sin. MostProtestants keep heaven and hell,but drop the idea of purgatory. Ifthey are not nihilists, millions inthe secular Western world,influenced by latent Christianteaching, accept as truth that theyare bound for heaven or hell oncethey die.

These “Christian” doctrinalpositions derive in part from thebelief in the soul’s immortality—thatthe soul is the spiritual componentof humans that does not die with thebody but consciously existselsewhere after death. Thesebeliefs about the afterlife echo olderbeliefs—for example, the Greekidea of hades—that posited that thespirits of the dead go to a place,often the underworld, where theyexist in a state of agony, limbo, orbliss, depending on the life theylived (or until reincarnated).

The church of God, however,does not accept the Doctrine of theImmortality of the Soul, insteadbelieving God’s Word, which saysindisputably, “The soul who sinsshall die” (Ezekiel 18:4, 20). One ofthe very first things God taughtAdam in the Garden of Eden wasthe consequence of sin: “you shallsurely die” (Genesis 2:17), a truththe serpent hastened to contradict(Genesis 3:4).

In the New Testament, Jesusteaches in Matthew 10:28: “Do notfear those who kill the body butcannot kill the soul. But rather fearHim who is able to destroy bothsoul and body in hell [Gehenna, asymbol of the Lake of Fire (seeRevelation 20:11-15)].” Paul writes,“The wages of sin is death, butthe gift of God is eternal life inChrist Jesus our Lord” (Romans6:23). Humans are mortal, and Godmust give eternal life; we do nothave it inherently (see Romans2:7; I Corinthians 15:53-54; ITimothy 6:16).

We believe, then, that manindeed has a spirit (Job 32:8), “thebreath of the Almighty [that]gives him understanding,” but thatit is not his soul. When combinedwith a human brain, the humanspirit allows a person to have thepowers of mind. When he dies, thebody returns to the dust, but hisspirit returns to God (Ecclesiastes

What Happened at EN


12:7), who safeguards it as arecord of his life.

Solomon also informs us that “thedead know nothing” (Ecclesiastes9:5), and “there is no work ordevice or knowledge or wisdom inthe grave” (verse 10), meaning thatthere is no consciousness in death.The person knows nothing, learnsnothing, communicates nothing,does nothing—until the resurrectionfrom the dead when God will unitethat spirit with a new body, either aspiritual body or another physicalbody, depending on the resurrection(see Ezekiel 37:1-14; John 5:24-29;I Corinthians 15; I Thessalonians4:13-18; Revelation 2).

Can Mediums ConsultCan Mediums ConsultCan Mediums ConsultCan Mediums ConsultCan Mediums Consultthe Dead?the Dead?the Dead?the Dead?the Dead?

Against this, many bring up the OldTestament story of King Saulvisiting the “witch” at En Dor (ISamuel 28:3-25), in which sheseems to raise the spirit of theprophet Samuel to foretell Saul’sdemise. The narrative appears toshow that necromancy is not onlypossible but has been successfullypracticed, and that the disembodiedsouls or spirits of all who haveever lived are a medium’ssummons away.

If this reading of the story iscorrect, it clearly contradicts theteaching of the rest of the Bible.

Theologians down through thecenturies have had difficultyexplaining this passage because itappears so blatantly positive on thepowers of mediums to consult thedisembodied dead, despite the verynegative answer Saul received.Foolish and desperate people whosee this story in God’s Word needlittle further encouragement to seeka medium for answers.

So what really happened at EnDor? Did the woman truly haveotherworldly powers? Did Samuelreally appear to her? Was whatshe saw the prophet’s ghost? Arethe dead alive and aware of whatis happening here on earth? Or dopeople insert ideas into the storyfrom their own preconceptions thatare not warranted from what thetext actually says?

Perhaps a more insightfulquestion is, “Who is immediatelybehind all of the action in thischapter, God or Satan?”

Three Truths for ContextThree Truths for ContextThree Truths for ContextThree Truths for ContextThree Truths for ContextBefore looking at the details of ISamuel 28, we would be well-advised to review threefoundational, biblical truths toconstruct a necessary backgroundfor this story. If we try to evaluatewhat happened at En Dor withoutfitting it in its proper context, wewill reach wrong conclusions. With

these truths in mind, the true storywill be apparent.

First, the Bible is not in theleast ambiguous about what Godthinks on the subject of theoccult. It plainly condemns thepractice of witchcraft and similarsorceries. Notice Leviticus 19:31,for instance, which condemnsconsulting mediums: “Give noregard to mediums and familiarspirits; do not seek after them, tobe defiled by them: I am the LORDyour God.” A few verses later,God adds, “And the person whoturns to mediums and familiarspirits, to prostitute himself withthem, I will set My face againstthat person and cut him off fromhis people” (Leviticus 20:6). This isas good as a prophecy of Saul’sdemise. See also Deuteronomy18:9-14, which names practitionersof witchcraft, soothsayers,interpreters of omens, sorcerers,conjurors, mediums, spiritists,necromancers, and diviners asabominations to the LORD.

The New Testament is just ascondemnatory as the Old. However,instead of legislating against sorceryand the like—except where Paullists sorcery as a work of the flesh,mentioned between “idolatry” and“hatred” (Galatians 5:20; see ISamuel 15:23)—the writers recountexperiences of Jesus and theapostles battling against it. For

DOR?


instance, on the island of Paphos,the apostle Paul stood againstElymas the sorcerer, really a Jewishfalse prophet named Bar-Jesus,saying, “O full of all deceit and allfraud, you son of the devil, youenemy of all righteousness, will younot cease perverting the straightways of the Lord?” (Acts 13:10).The episode in Acts 16:16-18reveals that a slave girl diviner, whogreatly annoyed Paul by followinghim around for many days, was infact possessed by a demon, “a spiritof divination.” The second-to-lastchapter of Revelation states plainlythat sorcerers will be cast into theLake of Fire (Revelation 21:8; seealso 22:15).

This is sufficient proof that Godconsiders the practice of all formsof occultism to be a moral outrage.He is not by any means involved inthem and wants His people to avoidthem, forbidding them to consultthem or dabble in them in any way.This most important point indicatesthat God had nothing to do with theevents at En Dor, except to allowthem to move His purpose along,removing Saul to emplace David onIsrael’s throne.

Second, the Bible does nottypically portray practitioners of theoccult and the demons behind themin a particularly macabre way. Wemoderns have been conditioned toimagine Satan, his demons, and theirhuman minions as dark beings ofpure ugliness, bearing attributes ofhorror and death. We haveswallowed this deception from ourhistorical culture and from theimages presented by the media toentertain the masses and makemillions of dollars.

Yet, while God’s Word warnsus against Satanic deceptions, itdoes not provide the standardhorror movie images. In fact, itoften does just the opposite,cautioning us with the fact thatthe Devil and his demons do theirbest to appear as appealing to oursenses as they can be. From whatwe see in Genesis 3, the serpentdid not repulse Eve; to her in her

innocence, he was logical andquite convincing. In Ezekiel 28,the description of the king ofTyre, a type of Satan, lauds himas “the seal of perfection, full ofwisdom and perfect in beauty”(verse 12). It describes a creaturewhose beauty and magnificenceturned his heart proud and corrupt(verse 17).

Though he and his demons havebeen cast down, at least some oftheir beauty remains, for Paul tellsus in II Corinthians 11:14-15:“Satan himself transforms himselfinto an angel of light. Therefore itis no great thing if his ministers[servants] also transformthemselves into ministers ofrighteousness, whose end will beaccording to their works.” Demonsdo not always look like snakes,dragons, gargoyles, or goblins buthave the ability to appear good to uswhen it suits them. If accosted by aghoul, we would shrink in horrorand flee. Demons, though, are allabout deception, and appearing asgood and beautiful is far moresubversive. People are far morelikely to trust a physicallyappealing person than an old hag ortroll.

Thus, while the tone of I Samuel28 is at times stressed, suspicious,and fearful—as one would expectwhen encountering demonicpowers—there is nothing blatantlyhorrifying or even ugly in thenarrative. This tells us that ademon, being manipulative to theextreme, will appear to a person ina way that he thinks will work bestfor his purposes. A demon willstoop to whatever trick he deemsnecessary, even to appearing as aminister of righteousness.

Third, we must consider KingSaul’s state of mind. Early in hisreign, under the tutelage of Samuel,Saul had been the great championof Israel, pushing its enemiesback and making good progress inforging a nation out of the twelvetribes. Yet, just about the timeDavid came on the scene, he beganto display severe emotional

problems, exacerbated by “theSpirit of the LORD depart[ing] fromSaul” and “a distressing spirit fromthe LORD troubl[ing] him” (ISamuel 16:14). Evidently, Godallowed a demon to cause Sauldistress—perhaps severemelancholy and fits of sullennessand anger—and only David’splaying of his harp drove thedemon away (verse 23).

Once David had slain Goliath andbegun to receive acclaim from thepeople, Saul became murderouslyjealous of his young servant. Saul’sdistress soon warped into real anger(I Samuel 18:8) and suspicion(verse 9), and the next time Davidcame to play his harp for Saul, theking cast a spear at him, shouting,“I will pin David to the wall!”(verses 10-11). The younger manescaped, only to have the scenerepeated sometime later (I Samuel19:9-10). Not long thereafter, Davidhad to flee and hide in thewilderness.

We see, then, that Saul washighly susceptible to demonicinfluence and emotionally unstable.The distressing spirit that Godallowed to torment him had playedwith his emotions for years, and itis likely that as he aged, as Davideluded capture, and as thePhilistines grew in strength, Saulonly became more depressed andfearful. By the time he was campedon the slopes of Mount Gilboa,brooding over the advance of thePhilistine army into a camp on theopposite hillside, he was in a stateof severe misery and near-terror,knowing that no happy endingawaited him the next day.

These three factors provide thebackground for the story in ISamuel 28: God is always againstthose who practice sorcery; Satanand his demons can appear asministers of righteousness; andSaul himself, emotionallyunbalanced, was predisposed tothe sway of a demon. Knowingthese things makes all thedifference in how we understandthe events at En Dor.


Saul’s TerrorSaul’s TerrorSaul’s TerrorSaul’s TerrorSaul’s Terrorand Troubleand Troubleand Troubleand Troubleand Trouble

As the story opens in I Samuel 28:3,the author fills the reader in on acouple of background details vital tohis tale:

1. The prophet Samuel haddied, probably about five yearsbefore, when David was hidingin the wilderness from Saul.The king could not have seenthe real Samuel in the flesh, asit was well after the prophet’sdeath.

2. Sometime before, Saul hadgone to great lengths to ridIsrael of mediums andspiritists. Apparently, hisagents had not done athorough job, but his decreehad driven those practicesunderground, and theirpractitioners feared thepunishment of violating thelaw—death (I Samuel 28:9).

More than anything, these detailsprovide insight into Saul’s state ofmind.

The next verse puts the story onthe map. The Philistines encamp atShunem, a town that sits at thesouthern foot of the hill of Moreh atthe eastern end of the JezreelValley. At this location, not only hasthe Philistine army effectively cutthe northern tribes of Israel offfrom the southern ones, but if itcould defeat Saul’s forces, it wouldalso have easy access to theIsraelite highlands to the southalong the Ridge Route. For thisreason, Saul places his troops on thenorthern slopes of Mount Gilboa,directly opposite the Philistineforces. He probably hopes that therocky hillside will limit the famedchariots of his enemies and stop thePhilistine campaign in its tracks.

The two armies stare at eachother across the valley. “When Saulsaw the army of the Philistines, hewas afraid, and his heart trembledgreatly” (I Samuel 28:5). The king

fears so much because thePhilistine army seems invincible. Nocount of soldiers who took part inthe battle is recorded, but it seemsplausible that the Israelite forceswere greatly outnumbered, boreinferior weapons (see I Samuel13:18-22), and lacked horses andchariots to counter those of thePhilistines.

Adding to Saul’s ill-concealedterror is the fact that God hasrefused to answer any of hissupplications (I Samuel 28:6). Inearlier days, he had been able toinquire of Him through Samuel, butsince the prophet had been dead forfive years, all communication hadstopped. Saul has had no inspireddreams to guide him, and he hadgone to the Tabernacle to beseechthe high priest to use the Urim andThummin but to no avail. All otherprophets in the land had proventhemselves useless, giving him notone word from God.

So, Saul reasons absurdly, if Godhad spoken to him only throughSamuel, he would seek the prophet,dead or not. He would try to find amedium, if one were nearby, so shecould put him in touch with the deadprophet and receive an answer.Saul seems not to have realizedthat, if God would not speak to himin the approved ways, He wouldsurely not answer him through oneof the forbidden ways! His dementiaand fear are such that he can nolonger reason. He would act contraryto God’s and his own law to get ananswer to a question that his heartalready knows the answer to.

He asks his servants to find hima nearby medium (verse 7), andthey have what seems to be animmediate answer: “One is not toofar away, just in En Dor!” Howconvenient! How do his servantsknow about this nearby medium-in-hiding? Did they expect to be askedsuch a question? Were they in thehabit of consulting mediums? Couldthis be the reason such practitionershad not all been expelled fromIsrael, that they had high-levelprotection at court?

Whatever the case, En Dor is notas convenient as it appeared. Thevillage, about ten miles away, liesnorth and a little east of Shunem onthe other side of the hill of Moreh—that is, the Philistine army’s linesstretch between Saul on MountGilboa and the medium’s house.Going through the Philistine lines,even disguised (verse 8), is out ofthe question, and so, either walkingor riding in the dark of night, Sauland his two guards are forced totake a circuitous route around to theeast, probably doubling the distanceover the hilly terrain.

“Bring Up“Bring Up“Bring Up“Bring Up“Bring UpSamuel for Me”Samuel for Me”Samuel for Me”Samuel for Me”Samuel for Me”

When the three men arrive in EnDor and find the medium’s house,Saul immediately asks her toconduct a séance for him. One lookat the men tells the woman—who,by the way, is never called a“witch” in the account—that theyare Israelite soldiers. Israelitesoldiers fall under the command ofSaul, whom she knows is in thearea, and Saul is the one who hadbanned her livelihood. Sheperceives a trap. She crosses herarms and refuses, saying, inessence, “I’m not putting my headon the chopping block!”

Ironically, “Saul swore to her bythe LORD” (verse 10), promising thatno harm would come to her.Perhaps his authoritative voiceconvinces her that he means whathe says. Perhaps she sees that,despite his disguise, he is a man ofsome means and therefore able topay her well. Whatever it is thatpersuades her, she quickly agrees todo as he had asked. “Whom shall Ibring up for you?” she asks, and hereplies, “Bring up Samuel for me”(verse 11).

The narrative tells us nothingabout the procedure the womanwent through in conducting theséance for Saul. We might imaginethe classical setting of afortuneteller’s dark room, a few



The Symmetry demonstrate how different the Renaissance (andits aftermath) was from the Medieval Period justpreceding it, and 2) show how relatively unstablethe Renaissance (and its aftermath) was interms of governments.1

If this supposition of a Second Axial Period isvalid, and if this second era is about as long asJaspers’ Axial Period, then it will end about 600years after it started, or around the year AD 2050.That would place contemporary history—us—near the end of an Axial Period, on the cusp ofa new civilization.

DIFFERENT IDEASLet us first look at the topic of the transformationof ideas. The ideas that arose during and afterthe Renaissance were indeed vastly differentfrom the ideas that prevailed in later antiquity (inGreece and Rome), as well as from the notionsoperating in the Medieval Period. We will limitour discussion to the Medieval Period.2

Two defining characteristics of this time inhistory were its peoples’ 1) widespread alle-giance to the concept of authority, and related tothis allegiance, 2) their commitment to structurein virtually every milieu. If it was anything, theMedieval Period was a time of authority andstructure. Considering all its vast challenges (forexample, the seemingly unending pandemic ofthe Black Death, the economic suffocationbrought about by Catholicism, and the some-times overt threat of the invasion of Islam at thehands of the Ottomans), it was a remarkablystable period.

The people of the Medieval Period werealmost fixated on the idea of structure. They

Pprophecy watch

Last month, we looked at Karl Jasper’sconcept of an Axial Period in history,spanning roughly 800-200 BC. He viewed

it as an unstable age characterized by a seachange in ideas as people abandoned old, long-standing ideas in philosophy and religion, re-placing them with ideas that came to underpinthe culture of late antiquity, particularly theGrecian and Roman civilizations. This thor-ough-going substitution of old ideas with dif-ferent ones destabilized the period, leadingultimately to the death of even long-estab-lished empires like those of Egypt andBabylonia. For us, this period saw the fall anddeportation of the House of Israel and theforced exile of the Jews at the hands of theBabylonians, attendant with the destruction ofJerusalem and Solomon’s Temple.

If history repeats itself, we should find, some-where, sometime, a Second Axial Period, pre-sumably of about the same length and with amatrix of characteristics and ramifications cor-responding to the first one. That is, any SecondAxial Period should exhibit a transformation offoundational ideas and a consequent gross de-stabilization of governmental structures.

Is there such a period in history? Is there aSecond Axial Period, a reduplication of the first?

IT STARTED WITH THE RENAISSANCESuch a period did in fact begin in our era, aboutAD 1450, with the beginning of the Italian Renais-sance. To see the march of events after thattime as the Second Axial Period, we need to 1)

Part Two


perceived this structure in terms of varioushierarchical models. They had hierarchies foreverything—hierarchies within hierarchies. Anexample is their view of the cosmos, embodied inthe Harmony of the Spheres, a highly ordered—and, by that token, psychologically pleasing—conception of the interplay of sound, light, andgeometry.

Graphically, they depicted the order of theuniverse (which was based on a geocentricmodel of the solar system) as a hierarchy. At itsapex was God. Importantly, man was not thefocus or centerpiece of their universe. God was.Not the true God, we understand, but God any-way, as distinct from man. The focus of theMedieval universe was on another world, heaven.The period’s focus was not secular at all.

A hierarchical arrangement does not implyonly order and structure; it suggests authorityflowing from the top down. God is the highestauthority. The Medieval man was absolute rulerof his household. The Medieval king possessedwhat was called a divine right and was answer-able to no one except God. The Medieval popes,as vicars of Christ, were the final authority ineverything religious.3

All this began to change drastically during theRenaissance. As that era progressed, the con-cept of authority and structure at all levels fellunder attack. Man gradually replaced God ashumanists denied Him as the final Authority.4

That act of presumptuous usurpation put peoplein a bind: How, in the face of the fact that thereare lots of men, all with different ideas, talents,and ambitions, do you constitute a viable govern-ment?5 People living during and after the Re-naissance thrashed that question around for

decades and even centuries, positing different—and often conflicting—answers. The Constitu-tion of the United States is one answer. Marxlater had another answer.

The point is this: None of the answers man-kind put on the table came even close to theconcept of centralized authority and structure aspracticed in the Medieval Period. They weredifferent answers, different approaches. Thiswas true in every discipline, not just that ofpolitical philosophy.

It may be useful to state the breadth of thechange in ideas from the Medieval Period to theRenaissance in this way: The great works of theRenaissance and its aftermath could not havebeen created two centuries before the Renais-sance started, say, in AD 1250. As examples,Michelangelo’s statue of David, the music ofMozart, or the Universal Declaration of Hu-man Rights simply could not have been createdin 1250. The ideas that undergird these culturalartifacts had not been developed by 1250.Those ideas may have existed in isolation insomeone’s mind in 1250, but they lacked cur-rency then. They also lacked critical mass, thatis, the broad-based societal support needed topermit them to grow and flourish. Therefore,these ideas got nowhere until they began tograb traction after about 1450—not until theirtime had come.

Because of this sea-change in ideas thatstarted with the Renaissance, the Roman pa-pacy came to lose much of its authority. Kingscame to lose their authority with the rise of whatis properly called liberal democracy, and sotoday, few monarchs hold any real power. TheBible came to lose its authority with the ascent

OF HISTORY


of the so-called “higher criticism.” All this changetook place as a result of different ideas thatbecame current during and after the Renais-sance.6 In short, this Second Axial Period hasindeed been marked with huge changes in think-ing. The seminal minds of our time, Einstein,Marx, Darwin, and Freud, belonged to individu-als who deeply questioned traditional authorityand the value of a highly structured society.

Over time, Medieval ideas about religion,science, ethics, the individual, and society cameunder attack. They were knocked down oneafter another as ideas buttressing the brave newworld, ideas about secularism (which is reallyjust atheism), socialism, and communitarianism,grabbed traction. These three—secularism,socialism, communitarianism—are the three legsof the stool we call the New World Order, nowabuilding.

INSECURE EMPIRES APLENTYHow did this tsunami affect governments? Didthe fall of the idea of unquestioned authorityand of hierarchical structure destabilize theworld of business and commerce? Yes. Thismaelstrom of changing ideas transpired in acontext of unspeakable violence in the form ofvast wars, genocides, pogroms, and dislocations,from the hideous and protracted wars sparkedby the rise of Protestantism to the “Reign ofTerror” caused later by the French Revolution.Inarguably, the twentieth century was the mostviolent in post-Deluge history, considering thetwo World Wars and the loss of life andproperty caused by dictators of the ilk of Stalin,Hitler, and Mao.7

Here is a partial list of the empires that havefallen since the Renaissance, since about AD1450:

• The Byzantine Empire fell in 1453, as ifsignaling the start of the Italian Renais-sance. It had been around for some 1,200years, since the days of the later RomanEmperors.

• The Ottoman Empire (or Turkish Em-pire), which conquered the Byzantine Em-pire, itself fell in 1923, after strutting on theworld’s stage for some six centuries. Aperson living in Germany or France in the1400-1500’s would have been worriedabout being overrun by the Sunnis, the

branch of Islam that the Ottoman Empirehad forced on the Middle East and North-ern Africa. The Ottomans, rivals of theHapsburgs, penetrated central Europe, con-quering as far north as Hungary. TheEmpire’s two attempts to take Viennafailed, however. The French actually wereallied with the Ottomans for a time.

• The vast Spanish Empire spread throughmuch of South and Central America, withterritories in Florida and the Philippines. Itsfar-point in North America was the Presidioat the mouth of the San Francisco Bay.Through royal intermarriage with theHapsburgs in Austria-Germany, it becamea rival to the Ottoman Empire.

• The Russian Empire fell in 1917. It actuallyhad settlements in Hawaii. Its far-point inNorth America was Fort Ross, locatedonly 150 miles north of San Francisco.

• The Portuguese Empire, which includedBrazil and various holdings in Africa, wasthe longest-ruling European colonial em-pire, its last vestige becoming independentas recently as 2002.

• The Inca Empire.

• The Aztec Empire.

• The Mayan Empire.

• The Holy Roman Empire.

• The German Empire.

• The Italian Empire.

• The Prussian Empire.

• The Austria-Hungary Empire was one ofa number of empires that bit the dust as aresult of World War I.

• The British Empire, on which the sunsupposedly never set.

• The Japanese Empire fell in 1945, to theear-splitting sound of the detonation ofnuclear weapons.


Pprophecy watch


Do We See the Line?

“Be ready always to give an answer . . .” I Peter 3:15ready answer

“All things are lawful for me, but all things are not helpful.All things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any.”

—I Corinthians 6:12

Iam a fan of Western novels and movies, and one of the best of that genre isLonesome Dove. Originally written as a movie script by Larry McMurtry in

1972, it was to be directed by Peter Bogdanovich and would have starred JamesStewart as Gus McCrae, John Wayne as Woodrow Call, and Henry Fonda as JakeSpoon. Wouldn’t that have been something? Well, the story goes that John Wayneturned it down on the advice of John Ford, causing Jimmy Stewart to back out, andthe project was shelved.

Mr. McMurtry came back in the early 80s and reworked the script into a full-length novel. It won the 1986 Pulitzer Prize for fiction and then became aminiseries on television, winning seven Emmys.

The story is set in 1876 Texas, and Gus, Woodrow, and Jake are former TexasRangers. Gus and Woodrow run a small cattle ranch in south Texas and see lifeclearly in black and white. Jake, not so much. He does not really have a job; hejust likes to drink and gamble and carouse.

As the story opens, Jake shows up at the ranch after an absence of ten years.He had had a misunderstanding up in Arkansas over a game of cards and shot aman. Jake talks Gus and Woodrow into taking a herd of cattle to Montana, and hesays he will go along. But he soon decides that is too much work and runs offagain.

The story follows Gus, Woodrow, and their cowboys on the drive north, cuttingaway from time to time to follow Jake as he wanders. While gambling and drunk,Jake falls in with the three sadistic Suggs brothers and becomes a party to theirmurdering and stealing. He does not really participate in their crimes, but he ispresent when the crimes are committed.


ready answer Do We See the Line?

Even though they are no longer lawmen, Gus andWoodrow, still on their cattle drive, end up capturingJake and the Suggs brothers and decide to hang them.As the cowboys are throwing the ropes over the treelimbs in preparation for the hanging, Jake Spoon says,“Oh, you don’t need to tie me up, I didn’t kill anybody!I just fell in with these boys to get through theTerritory. I was gonna leave ’em first chance I got!”

Gus replies, “I wish you’d taken that chance a littleearlier, Jake. A man who’ll go along with five killings istakin’ his leave a little slow.” As they talk, Jake beginsto realize that his old friends are intent on hanging himalong with the outlaws. Finally, Gus says, “You knowhow it works, Jake. You ride with an outlaw, you diewith an outlaw. I’m sorry you crossed the line.”

Jake responds in a pleading voice, “I didn’t see noline, Gus!”

Gray Areas?We talk about “gray areas” in life, but where there is aline, there is no gray area. On one side is right, on theother is wrong. For a Christian, it is critical to see theline. It is possible for people to see that line in differentplaces, depending on their faith, depth of knowledge,experience, and so on. We all seem to be very good,experts in fact, in seeing where the lines should be forothers but not so much for ourselves.

The apostle Paul tells us in Romans 14:23,“Whatever is not from faith is sin.” This indicates thatthere is more to Christian living than merely followingrules. It is key for a Christian to understand theprinciples involved in God’s laws, not just the letter-of-the-law wording.

Those in the world argue that the law is done awayaltogether, and believing this, they find numerous grayareas. To support this belief they will use, for instance,I Corinthians 6:12, where the apostle Paul writes, “Allthings are lawful for me, but all things are not helpful.All things are lawful for me, but I will not be broughtunder the power of any.” However, just a few versesearlier, he seems to say something totally different!Notice verses 9-10:

Do you not know that the unrighteous will notinherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived.Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers,nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, norcovetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, norextortioners will inherit the kingdom of God.

Paul does not intend for this list to encompass everysin possible, but he does cover a lot of ground. Inaddition, he begins verse 9 with “the unrighteous will

not inherit the kingdom,” which casts a wide net. So iffornicators, idolaters, adulterers, homosexuals, thieves,the covetous, and drunkards will not enter the Kingdomof God, how then can all things be lawful?

Verse 12, we find, is a poor translation. Paul isparaphrasing what some people were saying—andstill say today. Notice that he repeats “all things arelawful for me, but . . .,” following each phrase withan objection. The Contemporary English Versionrenders verse 12 as, “Some of you say, ‘We can doanything we want to.’ But I tell you that not everythingis good for us. So I refuse to let anything have powerover me.” The New International Version is similar:“‘I have the right to do anything,’ you say—but noteverything is beneficial. ‘I have the right to doanything’—but I will not be mastered by anything.”Clearly, Paul is telling us what others have said andgiving his response.

We are free-moral agents, in other words. We canmake our own decisions. We can sin, if we wish to, butthere are consequences. This may seem to be off-point,as to “do we see the line,” but it really is not. Paul sayshe refuses to let “anything have power over me.” Heimplies that he keeps a close watch on his thoughts andactions.

Notice verse 9, again from the ContemporaryEnglish Version:

Don’t you know that evil people won’t have ashare in the blessings of God’s kingdom? Don’tfool yourselves! No one who is immoral orworships idols or is unfaithful in marriage or is apervert or behaves like a homosexual . . . .

Are there gray areas here? Not to God, but ourdefinition of “evil people” might be different. Certainly“immoral” is open to wide interpretation these days inthe world. To “worship idols” can be looked at indifferent ways. Is “unfaithful in marriage” just anaffair or is it more? Each of us knows exactly whatthese things mean to us, and that is as it should be. Wedo not need an exhaustive list, or we should not, of allthe possibilities of each category. We should know theprinciple involved.

This is one reason we do not see many lawyers asmembers of the church. They are taught to seeeverything as a gray area. “It depends on what themeaning of the word ‘is’ is,” as the lawyer Bill Clintononce said. It seems that, as we grow in the faith, grayareas disappear, and the line becomes clearer. Satanand his world, on the other hand, are busy blurring thelines, trying to make us feel guilty or prudish if wejudge something to be sin and choose not to participate.

I have known ministers who thought they were the


switch has a delay so that, when a Jew presses orturns it, nothing immediately happens, yet a fewseconds later something does happen, that is notconsidered work.

Since they do not drive on the Sabbath, OrthodoxJews live within walking distance of the synagogue, butthis still poses a problem for those Jews who havetrouble walking. We have all seen the scooters thathave become so popular for those with disabilities. Atleast one brand of scooter is now approved for Sabbathuse. Mike LaBrake, Director of Operations for AmigoMobility International, writes this about his company’skosher scooter:

There is a Shabbat/Normal switch on the Amigo.It is spring loaded and the toggle lever must belifted before it can be switched to a differentposition so the user cannot accidentally switch theAmigo back to Normal mode during the Shabbatperiod.

Once the switch is activated (and the key switchturned “on”), the software is designed so the startup signal goes through a timing circuit. The timingcircuit is where the Gramma [sic] principle of anindirect action comes into play, thus the user is notactivating the motor circuit directly. Once thetiming circuit is complete the Shabbat module willclose the motor circuit and the system isprogrammed so the Amigo “crawls” at a veryslow speed without the user touching the throttlelever. . . . During crawl speed the goal is to beable to stall the Amigo by turning the tiller all theway to the right or left. If the user feels that theyare in physical danger at anytime they candepress an emergency brake switch and theAmigo will come to an immediate stop.

Once the Amigo is in the crawl mode, if the userwants to go faster they pull on the throttle leverand the Amigo picks up speed just like normal.I’m told that this action is approved because theuser is not opening or closing a motor circuit, theyare just modifying the amount of current goingthrough it.

Other manufacturers have also installed “Sabbath”modes on their appliances. On some new refrigerators,unscrewing the light bulb is not so easy. So now, morethan 300 types of ovens, stoves, and refrigerators canbe set to “Sabbath” mode, which, when enabled, meanslights stay off, displays are blank, tones are silenced,fans are stilled, compressors slowed, etc. To quote

town sheriff and had to be in on all decisions in ourlives. Others, though, taught the principles involved andleft it to church members to make decisions forthemselves. Undoubtedly, there are still some MarshallDillons out there, but once our teachers have taught usGod’s way, the burden is on us, not them, to know rightfrom wrong. We must know where the lines are.

Thirty-Nine Sabbath RulesAn interesting example here is the way Orthodox Jewskeep the Sabbath and the 39 forbidden Sabbathactivities (melachot) that they have come up with.Rather than learn the principles involved in Sabbath-keeping, the attitude seems to be, “Let’s just have arule to cover every conceivable development.” Forinstance, ancient Israel was told, “You shall kindle nofire throughout your dwellings on the Sabbath day”(Exodus 35:3). This command directly follows acommand not to work on the Sabbath, so in saying notto kindle a fire, God was speaking of a fire employed inwork, such as one used by a smith to shape metal, nota home heating fire.

However, the Orthodox Jews take it to an extreme,teaching that it includes the modern analogy of movingelectricity through a circuit. If a person opens hisrefrigerator door on the Sabbath and the light insidecomes on, in their judgment, he has “kindled a fire.” So,the Orthodox Jewish solution is to unscrew the bulb inthe refrigerator on the Preparation Day so that no lightcomes on when the door is opened on the Sabbath.

On the Sabbath, a Jew cannot turn the lights on inthe house or the burner on the stove. To get aroundthis, Jews use timers. Note that they do these things to“get around” the law. To this end, their sages havecome up with the concept of grama, and this hasnothing to do with the nice older lady who gave youcookies as a child.

In Jewish law, there is a difference in direct andindirect action on the Sabbath. For instance, a Jewcannot intentionally extinguish a flame, but if he opensa window and the wind blows out the candle, he hasnot violated Sabbath law. Such an indirect action,whose result is not guaranteed, is called grama, whichcomes from the Hebrew root meaning “to cause[something to happen].” If a fire breaks out on theSabbath, a Jew cannot put it out, but he can fill waterjugs and place them in the path of the fire. When—orif—the heat bursts the jugs, the water may put the fireout. There are more subtleties to grama, but that is theshort explanation.

So, in this modern, technological world, the Jews usethe grama principle in numerous ways. Opening andclosing electrical circuits would be work. But if the (continued on page 21)


chairs around a table, a crystal ballsitting atop the table, and perhaps alone candle flickering off to theside. Saul’s séance was probablynothing like this. She may havepretended to scry in a bowl ofwater or maybe she gazed in thefire or perhaps she burned someincense in a censer and soughtimages in the smoke. She may nothave done any of these things, butsimply closed her eyes and felltheatrically into a trance.

All we really know is that, thistime, the woman really seessomething—Samuel, she thinks—and cries out at the sight (verse 12).Immediately, she turns to Saul andidentifies him by name, asking,“Why have you deceived me?” Thedetails of this verse confirm that thewoman is a fraud: She pretends tobe a medium, but she never reallycontacts the dead. Yet, this time isdifferent, and it scares her.

Her client, she guesses, must besomeone special, and who but Saulhas enough pull with God and theprophet Samuel to cause him toappear—to her!—so long after hisdeath? In addition, she suddenlyrealizes that, like the king, this manis tall—taller than any other manthat she had ever seen in Israel (ISamuel 9:1-2). She immediatelyfears again for her life, thinking thatSaul had tricked her into revealingherself as a medium.

That the woman is afraid of theapparition is a clue that she doesnot see a friendly spirit. Scripturecontains a number of instances ofpeople seeing angels, and in nearlyevery case, the angel speakspositive, soothing words (see, forexample, Judges 6:12; 13:3; Daniel9:22-23; 10:11-12; Luke 1:12-13, 29-30; 2:8-10; Revelation 1:17; etc.).On the other hand, when Job’sfriend, Eliphaz, has a demon-inspired dream and sees a spiritpass before his face, he feelsextreme fear and receives nocomfort (Job 4:12-21).

The text says that “the womansaw Samuel,” but upon further

The MacMillan Bible Atlas

(continued from page 11)


study, it is clear that she only thinksshe sees Samuel. She had called forSamuel at Saul’s request, and aspirit rose before her, so sheassumes that it is indeed Samuel.However, when Saul presses her,“What did you see?” she replies morevaguely, “I saw a spirit ascendingout of the earth” (I Samuel 28:13).Note that Saul sees nothing; he hasto ask her what she sees.

The fact that the spirit rises “outof the earth” is a telling detail. TheBible consistently indicates thatspirits that come from the earth arenot from God, as His messengerscome from Him in heaven (seeGalatians 1:8; Revelation 10:1; 14:6,17; 15:1; 18:1; 20:1; etc.). Spiritsassociated with the earth aredemons, who come from Satan, thegod of this world (II Corinthians4:4; see Job 1:6-7; 2:1-2; Luke 4:5-7;Revelation 12:9; 13:1-2, 11; 16:13-14).The writer of the book is indicatingthat this spirit is not Samuel but ademon impersonating him.

In Hebrew, the woman describesthis being as elohim. She may havemeant that the spirit was one of the“strong ones,” which is the meaningof its root, el, but that is unlikely.Here, the word is accompanied by aplural verb, so her actual words are,“I saw gods ascend out of theearth.” When elohim is paired witha plural verb, it is a scripturalindication of pagan gods (see Psalm96:5; 97:7). Most likely, severalspirits rose with the one she thoughtwas Samuel. Would not the greatprophet be accompanied by aretinue of angels?

Saul is not content with hervague answer, so he seeks moredetail. She replies that she sees “anold man . . . covered with a mantle”(I Samuel 28:14), and from thisscanty description, Saul perceivesthat the spirit is the dead prophetand prostrates himself. Why is herscant description so convincing?

Samuel had indeed been an oldman when he had died (perhaps asold as 92), a fact everyone knew.However, what sways the king isthe mention of a mantle, a loose

outer cloak (like an overcoat) that,it appears, had already becomeassociated with prophets. Less thantwo centuries later, in the days ofElijah and Elisha, a prophet passinghis mantle on to another wouldindicate the transferal of the office(see I Kings 19:16, 19). That Elishalater duplicates one of Elijah’smiracles with the mantle verifies hisstatus as prophet (II Kings 2:8, 14).Perhaps Samuel himself had begunthis tradition by wearing such amantle.

Whatever the case, Saul wantsthe apparition to be Samuel so thathe could get some answers. Thesetwo nebulous details prove to beenough to sell him on theidentification.

A Cruel AnswerA Cruel AnswerA Cruel AnswerA Cruel AnswerA Cruel AnswerThe internal evidence from thenarrative reveals a number ofsignificant details to conclude thatthe spirit the medium saw was notSamuel but a demon impersonatinghim. One of the most obvious cluesis that the text tells the readeroutright—twice!—that the Lordwould not answer Saul (I Samuel28:6, 15-16), and there is no waythat God would answer him througha lying spirit during an abominableséance! One of the points of thestory is to show what desperatepeople will do when they are cut offfrom God, in fear for their lives, andwithout hope.

Yet, this does not mean that thedemon does not give Saul a truthfulanswer. Acting as if it wereSamuel, the demon wounds the kingwith the cruelest words it can use,complaining about being disturbed inhis rest, mocking Saul for seekinghim, and rubbing it in that God hadleft him and become his enemy. Itreminds him of one of Samuel’sprophecies—given when Saul haddisobeyed God’s instruction aboutthe punishment of Amalek and itsking, Agag (see I Samuel 15)—foretelling that the kingdom wouldbe torn from him and given toanother, David (I Samuel 15:23, 26-

28). Finally, it predicts that both heand his sons would die in the nextday’s battle against the Philistines, areasonable assumption consideringhow overmatched Saul’s forceswere.

The demon’s words have thedesired effect: “Immediately, Saulfell full length on the ground, andwas dreadfully afraid because ofthe words of Samuel. And therewas no strength in him, for he hadeaten no food all day or all night”(I Samuel 28:20). Playing on Saul’sfears and weakness, the demonsucceeds in bringing the big manlow, destroying any remnant ofhope. Later, after finally eating andresting (verses 21-25), he leaves themedium’s house a completelybroken man.

So, what happened at En Dor?

1. At the end of his rope andhighly susceptible tosuggestion, Saul was ready toclutch at any straw of hope fora better outcome.

2. The medium was a fraud,bilking people of their moneyby preying on theirsuperstitions. The spirit’sappearance shocked her.

3. At most God allowed ademon to impersonate Samueland pronounce Saul’s doomto him, to give him the truthfrom the only source he hadever trusted to speak straightto him.

In the end, the story of Saul andthe medium at En Dor is a moralityplay of sorts, an object lesson toteach how dangerous it is to forsakeGod and turn to the counsels ofdemons through sorcery anddivination. It is a path of fear,despair, lies, curses, and death. Itrecords the sad and tragic end of aman who had shown such greatpotential but who had allowedjealousy and pride to bring him andhis house to ruin.

—Richard T. Ritenbaugh


(continued from page 7)Christ, these truths should provide virtually every in-centive to do everything in our power to submit towhatever responsibilities He lays out for us. Even so,life must be lived, and the road may be quite bumpy attimes. But if we firmly believe our Creator controls bothtime and events, we can endure the bumpy parts with hopeand confidence, knowing He is ever with us.

The term “moreover” beginning verse 16 signals asubject change away from God’s control of time and itsevents to earthier, more immediately serious, day-to-daysubjects that have frequent, negative effects on life.Solomon makes sure that we understand that the events heis about to describe are happening in an under-the-sunmanner. His description begins with a brief mention ofcorruption, especially in government.

Before tackling Ecclesiastes 3:16-17, we can get a briefoverview of where he is headed from Ecclesiastes 4:6:“Better a handful with quietness than both hands full,together with toil and grasping for the wind.” In this, hesummarizes how to avoid the influence of the corruption.The answer lies in rightly facing sinful drives that urgeus to follow the world in its evil quests. Those living byfaith will face the pulls of the corruption and endeavorto resist them as they strive to live above-the-sun livesby faith. They will value contentment over grasping formore.

Solomon writes in Ecclesiastes 3:16-17:

Moreover I saw under the sun: In the place ofjudgment, wickedness was there; and in the placeof righteousness, iniquity was there. I said in myheart, “God shall judge the righteous and the wicked,for there is a time for every purpose and for everywork.”

How can God be in control when the world contains somuch evil? How can God be in control with the evilprospering in their sins and the righteous suffering in theirobedience? Does that not seem backward from the waythat we would think of God operating things? How shoulda Christian react to this?

Certainly, Solomon was not the first to ask this question.As much as we might dislike having to deal with this, itis nonetheless a reality. In His wisdom, God chose to dealwith humanity in this way, and perhaps most especially, toallow His own children to face these same circumstances.

Solomon was comforted by two godly realities that wealso should understand and use. First, he assures us thatGod will judge. The timing of His judgment is in God’scapable hands. Therefore, we must remember thatnobody among humanity will get away with the evil thathe does. The wages of sin—death—is a reality (Ro-mans 6:23). We cannot allow ourselves to forget that Godis judging. It is a continuous process, and in many cases,we simply are not aware of present, unseen penalties thatthe evil person may already be paying.

Second, human nature naturally thinks that the wayGod handles things is unfair, a judgment that is the workof the spirit of this world (Ephesians 2:2-3). However,God’s perception of timing and judgment is a much broaderand more specific picture regarding each person thanwe can see. We are not walking in others’ shoes, norare we aware of what God is planning for them toexperience. Therefore, the thing that we must know andproperly utilize is the fact that, in a major way, other peopleare none of our business. That is God’s concern, and Hewill take care of things in His time.

Are Men Like Beasts?Ecclesiastes 3:18-22 expresses a conclusion when com-paring God’s wondrous instruction to this point with therealities lived in the world around us:

I said in my heart, “Concerning the condition of thesons of men, God tests them, that they may seethat they themselves are like animals.” For whathappens to the sons of men also happens to animals;one thing befalls them; as one dies, so dies theother. Surely, they all have one breath; man has noadvantage over animals, for all is vanity. All go toone place; all are from the dust, and all return todust. Who knows the spirit of the sons of men,which goes upward, and the spirit of the animal,which goes down to the earth? So I perceived thatnothing is better than that a man should rejoice in hisown works, for that is his heritage. For who canbring him to see what will happen after him?

Solomon certainly does not mean that men are beastsin terms of potential. He limits this expression to thefact that sinners will die in their sins, and without beingcalled at this time, it appears that they have gained


“So I perceived that there is nothing betterthan that a man should rejoice in his own works, for that is his heritage.

For who can bring him to see what will happen after him?”—Ecclesiastes 3:22


nothing truly valuable. Therefore, at least on the surface,they live and die on the same level as animals.

However, he also says that God tests men that theymay see that they are like animals. The most likely timethat they will grasp this is after they are resurrected,when their minds will be open to God and His truth. Onlythen will they be able to see that, morally and ethically,they had lived no better than animals. Therefore, he issuggesting that what is truly valuable in the lives ofmany people lies beyond the grave. In addition, if aperson is not living a life that is glorifying to God orpreparing himself for living in God’s Kingdom, then hehas gained nothing despite all the wealth and power hemight possess.

Thus, his conclusion is that our image of life must bemore penetrating and broader than that. The life of awealthy and powerful sinner, though it may seem attractiveon the surface, may be as vain, meaningless, and profitlessas a beast’s life.

Ecclesiastes 3:22 is penetrating advice because we all

tend to let our minds wander from God’s purpose intoenvy of those of this world who do not seem to have thedifficulties we face: “So I perceived that there is nothingbetter than that a man should rejoice in his own works,for that is his heritage. For who can bring him to seewhat will happen after him?”

We must learn to live each day by faith, contentedlyaccepting it as it comes. This is possible because afoundation of faith and understanding enables us toknow that we have been greatly blessed with knowledgefar more valuable than money. God has revealed Himselfto us; He knows us personally. He is overseeing ourlives, and we are growing in knowledge of Him and Hispurpose.

In Christian love,

WIRED magazine’s Michael Erard in “The Geek Guideto Kosher Machines”:

In a kosher fridge, there’s no light, no automaticicemaker, no cold-water dispenser, no warningalarm for spoiled food, no temperature readout.Basically, [Sabbath mode] converts your fancy—and expensive—appliance into the one your grandmabought after World War II.

The Law and Its SpiritIf we have to jump through these mental and physicalhoops to follow God’s laws, have we really learned theprinciples involved? During the Feast of UnleavenedBread, God draws a clear, physical line for us—do noteat leavening for seven days. We can make gray areasfor ourselves—what about baking soda in toothpaste?Or yeast in beer? and more as well—but these are notreally gray areas if we adhere to principle. We aretaught that leaven symbolizes sin. Leaven makes breadrise just as sin causes us to puff up through our pride.That line is fairly easy to see.

Anything questionable comes back to “whatever isnot of faith is sin” (Romans 14:23). This will vary a bitfor each of us. Just as the Feast of Unleavened Breadmakes us concentrate on everything we eat, and it ishoped, makes us concentrate on our daily actions as

ready answer Do We See the Line?

well, we must carry that attitude through the year. Wehave to make our judgments as simple as askingourselves on the last day of Unleavened Bread, “Can Ihave a doughnut today? No. Can I have one tomorrow?Yes.”

In Matthew 5:20, Christ says, “For I say to you thatunless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness ofthe scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enterthe kingdom of heaven.” As we saw from just one areaof the law, the Sabbath, the “scribes and Pharisees”have literally come up with a long list of dos and don’tsto keep from sinning. What does it mean that we haveto exceed their righteousness?

The rest of Matthew 5 is Christ explaining just howto do that. If we learn the principles behind the law—the spirit of the law—we will know just where the lineis. For example, if our “Yes” must be yes and our“No,” no, then adding a crude four-letter word in frontof or behind our answer is sin. Adultery is not just“cheating,” as we like to call it, but includes anythingthat causes a person to divert his or her love andattention from his/her mate. It is not enough to loveour friends; we must also not hate our enemies but dothem good.

We have been given the law and the principlesbehind the law so that none of us can stand before Godand say in the pleading voice of Jake Spoon, “I didn’tsee no line.”

—Mike Ford

(continued from page 17)


ENDNOTES1 In point of fact, Jaspers’ idea of an Axial Period ofhistory has caught the imagination of a number of laterwriters. For example, Karen Armstrong, a religioushistorian of some controversy, has argued that theAge of Enlightenment, starting about AD 1650, repre-sents the start of another axial period. Yves Lamberthas written less cogently on the matter.2 As an interesting and pertinent aside, it is noteworthythat European and North American weather patternschanged markedly about AD 1250, at which time theMedieval Warm Period (also called the Medieval Cli-mate Optimum and the Medieval Climate Anomaly)came to an end. Afterward, mean temperatures beganto decrease in Europe and North America, throwingboth areas into the Little Ice Age (AD 1500-1700). Inthe Medieval Period, the Vikings built agriculturalcolonies in Iceland, but by the late 1600s, the climatehad cooled so much that these colonies were drawndown, as it had become too cool to grow crops. ThePilgrims, arriving in what is now Massachusetts in latefall 1620, experienced an unusually cold winter asso-ciated with the Little Ice Age. Historical climatology,which studies historical changes in climate and theireffect on civilization, is a fascinating subject.3 Often, the Pope’s power superseded that of kings.Practically speaking, however, it needs to be said thatstrong popes, like Innocent III (1161-1216), weremore effective in enforcing their role as Vicar thanweak ones, as exampled by the seven successivepopes of the Avignon Papacy (1309-1378), all ofwhom resided in France rather than in Rome. Duringthis period, the French Crown progressively becameinfluential in papal matters. Because this period lasted(just short of) 70 years, it is sometimes termed theBabylonian Captivity of the Papacy.4 Finally, it came to the point that one philosopher,Bertrand Russell (1872-1970), told us, “God is dead.”5 Remember how Herbert Armstrong used to speakabout the fall of governments? This was one of thesigns of the times he recognized, a sign of the end.

Why does a government fall? Bottom line: It loses itsauthority in the eyes of the governed.6 For lack of space, this discussion has purposefullysidestepped the areas of science and technology.Yet, even in these areas, we see the fall of ancientauthority. Consider the case of Galen of Pergamon, anancient Greek doctor and anatomist whose workswere “required reading” by ancient and Medievalmedical students. Galen recognized that the imagefalling on the retina was inverted, so he mentally“manufactured” a device in the eye that turned theimage right-side-up again. Of course, no such deviceexisted (except in Galen’s “mind’s eye”), yet Galenwas the anatomical “authority” for centuries. Hun-dreds of medical students, dissecting human cadaversover the years, came to “see” this device in the eye,even though it was not there. It was left to Renais-sance medical men to debunk Galan’s fabrication. Thesame type of thing happened to the geocentricmodel of the solar system—a model that waspromulgated in the ancient world. The Catholic Churchfirmly subscribed to it. Only as the authority of theChurch “eclipsed” did the heliocentric model ad-vance, especially after the formulations of NicolausCopernicus around 1543.

There are many examples of science (so-called)butting heads with the authority of the Catholic Churchin the 1500s and following.7 There were other despots after them, more locally,leaders like Pol Pot and Idi Amin.8 As with the first Axial Period, it is hard to designatean actual pivot point in the Second Period, althoughsome might cogently argue that the founding of theAmerican Republic might be one. I prefer the tipping-point metaphor, positing two crucial tipping points inthe Second Axial Period: first, God’s removal of the2,520-year punishment on the House of Israel, aroundAD 1800, and second, His removal of the 2,520-yearpunishment on Judah and the concomitant founding ofthe State of Israel in 1948.

• The Soviet Empire fell a couple decadesago.

Additionally, the Quig Dynasty of China(established in AD 1644) gave way to the Repub-lic of China in 1912, which in turn gave way tothe Peoples’ Republic of China in 1949.

This seismic violence of the Second AxialPeriod8 will culminate in the establishment of

a New World Order. That order will be soabusive of the environment and so destructive ofhuman life that Christ will have to intervene toend it, lest there be none left alive, as ChristHimself pointed out in Matthew 24:22 (see alsoRevelation 11:18).

When that happens, the Second Axial Periodwill finally end. The World Tomorrow will havearrived.

—Charles F. Whitaker

(continued from page 14)Pprophecy watch


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Coming: Dry Times in the U.S. and IsraelWhen God instructed His covenant people, He specifiedthe tremendous blessings that He would give for obedi-ence, as well as the curses that He would bring to pass fordisobedience. Because of the agrarian nature of Israelitesociety, many of the blessings and cursings relate tonatural resources—water in particular. While the landpromised to Abraham and his descendants was “well-watered everywhere” (Genesis 13:10) and “a good land, aland of brooks of water, of fountains and springs, that flowout of valleys and hills” (Deuteronomy 8:7), such a blessingof water was conditioned on faithfulness to God. Unfaith-fulness, though, would result in national calamity, anddrought is a frequent example of what God does both topunish His disobedient children and to bring them back toHim (Leviticus 26:19-20; Deuteronomy 28:23-24; I Kings8:35; II Chronicles 6:26; Hosea 13:5; Jeremiah 14:1-6).

Today, both the United States and the state of Israel areon the cusp of significant water problems. America’s HighPlains Aquifer, for example, is being steadily depleted as aresult of drought and mismanagement. Located under por-tions of Wyoming, South Dakota, Nebraska, Colorado, Kan-sas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas, the High PlainsAquifer is crucial for irrigation in the central U.S., commonlyreferred to as the “breadbasket of America.” The grainproduction from this area not only feeds much of the country,but because the U.S. is the world’s largest wheat exporter, adecrease in grain production here would have reverberationsacross the globe. Kansas alone produces about 22% of U.S.wheat, and it exports nearly $2 billion of wheat and feed graineach year. Not surprisingly, roughly 75% of the groundwaterpumped in Kansas is used for irrigation.

The High Plains Aquifer is being depleted as a result ofextreme drought during the last 15 years, combined withgrowing populations and allocating more water from theaquifer than can be supported. Part of the increaseddemand for water is a consequence of the surge in theplanting of corn, which requires more water than mostother crops. In addition to normal demand, the price of cornhas tripled since 2002 because of financial speculation anda federal mandate to produce biofuels such as corn-basedethanol.

In parts of Kansas and Texas, groundwater pumping sincethe 1950s has brought aquifer levels down by almost 150 feet,and the rate of depletion is increasing rapidly. Already, thereare instances of water shortages reducing agricultural output.As wells must be dug deeper and more energy is required topump from deeper depths, water is becoming more expen-sive. A 2013 study by researchers at the Kansas StateUniversity reports that, at current usage rates, 69% of theaquifer will be depleted within 50 years. Once depleted, thestudy estimates it would take between 500 and 1,300 years ofrains to refill. While there is no immediate crisis, the overalltrend for the High Plains Aquifer shows a major predicament

down the road, as the rate of depletion continues to outpacethe rate of replenishment.

Further west, the Colorado River Basin is sufferingfrom legislated over-allocation of water. Like the HighPlains Aquifer, agriculture accounts for more water usagefrom the Colorado River than any other industry. TheColorado River irrigates approximately 15% of U.S. crops,and it provides water to major cities such as Los Angeles,Las Vegas, Phoenix, San Diego, and Tucson.

In 1922, the states in the Colorado River Basin—Arizona, California, Colorado, Utah, Nevada, New Mexico,and Wyoming—established a compact to govern the allo-cation of Colorado River water, including the amount thatwould be available for Mexico. At the time, the amountallocated was far above the amount being used, but it wasstill an unsustainable amount for the indefinite future.When the compact was made, the flow of the river wasabove normal, meaning the expected amount for allocationwas too high. The compact was based on an estimatedannual flow of 21 billion cubic meters per year, while thelong-term average is closer to 18 billion cubic meters peryear. Though the various parts of the Colorado RiverBasin are not yet using their full allotment, a 2012 study bythe U.S. Bureau of Reclamation projects a possible short-age of 3 billion cubic meters by the year 2035.

Nearly halfway around the world, Israel is faced with itsown water concerns. The United Nations defines “waterpoverty” as anything less than 1,000 cubic meters per personper year; Israel comes in with only 265. More than half ofIsrael’s 1.8 billion cubic meters of natural, renewable wateroriginates outside its borders, a situation that Israel sees as asecurity risk. The plummeting level of the Dead Sea—whichhas lost 14 cubic kilometers in the past thirty years—isindicative of both how much has been drawn off in recenttimes, as well as how little the Jordan River and othertributaries are able to replenish it after their own overuse. Inparticular, the salty Dead Sea water is used for the potashindustry, as well as municipal water and irrigation after thesalt is removed through desalination.

Israel has plans to increase its desalination capacity onthe shores of the Mediterranean and Red Seas so that asmuch desalinated water can be produced each year as isavailable from naturally occurring sources. Desalinating isenergy-intensive, but seems to be Israel’s only hope forwater security for the near future. Incidentally, desalina-tion has also been put forward as a possible remedy to thedepletion of the High Plains Aquifer.

Even though God promises to bless the food and waterof those who serve Him (Exodus 23:25), the moderndescendants of ancient Israel and Judah are choosing toreject God and seek their own solutions.

—David C. Grabbe

Luke 13:10-17 relates the story of Jesus’ healing of a deformed woman who had endured a debilitating infirmity foreighteen years. What began as a slightly bent posture developed into a stoop so profound that she could no

longer look up. Every year increased her suffering, and after all those years, her situation became extremely severe.In this, we see a parallel with sin. Its effects begin slowly and almost unnoticeably, but with the passing of time, itsinfluence increasingly corrupts the sinner. The longer the sinner continues in his sin, the more his heart hardens.While teaching in the synagogue, Jesus sees her in the audience and is immediately moved with compassion andgrace to heal her (Luke 13:10-12). She does not appeal to Him for help, but He takes it upon Himself to help her,

expressing His deep compassion. It is inherent in God’s character to take special notice of the needy.What He saw would certainly not have been attractive, but, unlike men, Christ does not aid just the beautiful but

those who truly need His help. Sinners sometimes feel they are too repugnant to God to be saved (Psalm 44:24-26),but Christ’s healing of this disfigured woman emphasizes that His ability to help is determined, not by the state ofthe needy person, but by the limitless power of God. Christ’s blood is able to wash away even the greatest of sins!

Healing a Stooped Woman (Part Two)

The Miracles of Jesus Christ

Bible Study

1. How important is it to follow God’s instruction carefully?Luke 13:10-13.COMMENT: Luke describes the woman as crippled by “a spiritof infirmity eighteen years” and “bound” (verse 16) by Satan.Without denying the historicity of the event, Luke’s placingthis miracle at this point in his narrative has obvious symbolicvalue. Jesus’ mission among the Jews was to “loose” themfrom crippling influences and bring them to uprightness. Thismiracle is a graphic example of Jesus making a literally crookedwoman upright.

Jesus healed her by His words and by touching her. Hecould have healed her by a word only, and as seen in othermiracles, He did not even need to be in the same place, city,or country. However, in laying His hands on her, He showseveryone the value of her obeying God and coming to Him.Had she refused, He could not have touched her. Nothinggood comes to those who disregard God’s Word (Romans2:8; II Thessalonians 1:8; I Peter 4:17).

People often pray for the “touch” of God upon their lives,which is not a bad prayer. Yet, if we want God to touch us,we must draw near to Him. We cannot keep our distancefrom Him in fellowship. We must walk closely with Him at alltimes if we want His influence upon our lives.2. Why do those present have such a contrast of attitudes?Luke 13:14, 17.COMMENT: While the woman and common people respond tothe miracle positively—she, with praise (she “glorified God”;Luke 13:13), and they, with pleasure (they “rejoiced”; verse17)—the ruler responds with provocation (he speaks with“indignation”; verse 14). He appeals to the crowd to reject themiracle. “Indignation” is a strong word, indicating the extremequality of the ruler’s wrath. His anger causes him to condemnJesus of having committed a great sin in healing the poorwoman. His attitude illustrates Jesus’ criticism about religiousleaders keeping others from entering the Kingdom (Luke 11:52).

Because evil hates good (Proverbs 29:27), it is not sur-prising that some become angry over good works. It is

Satan’s nature to oppose God, and the greater the work andthe more it glorifies God, the greater his opposition. Some ofthe most severe persecutions of Christians have come fromother “Christians” rising in indignation. Satan sends hisminions to infiltrate and corrupt churches to try to destroyGod’s people from within (see II Corinthians 11:13-15). ButChrist says, “I will build My church, and the gates of Hadesshall not prevail against it” (Matthew 16:18).3. Why do the gospels show so much conflict over theSabbath? Luke 13:15-17.COMMENT: This healing is one of seven performed on theSabbath. Jesus’ adversaries closely scrutinized Him on theSabbath in hopes of trapping Him in a breach of the law. Aperson’s Sabbath conduct was the Jewish religious leaders’litmus test of conformity. Their tests followed their burden-some and humanly reasoned Sabbath rules (I John 5:3). Whiletheir rules bound people to unyielding strictures, Christ loosedthe woman from Satan’s bond.

Their rules against healing on the Sabbath gave themammunition to attack despite His compassionate healings.Jesus later points out that a person is far more important thanan animal, and even His enemies see no wrong in helpingdistressed animals on the Sabbath (Luke 14:5). The hypoc-risy and foolishness of the religious leaders is obvious.

As a result, Jesus’ opponents are humiliated, but thecrowds are delighted. Having dishonored Christ and donethe people great disservice, “All His adversaries were put toshame” (Luke 13:17). Shame will always be the result of sin.If a person does not repent of his opposition to Christ,shame will be his reward.

When sin and its curses are dealt with properly, goodpeople rejoice. Dealing with sin in a lenient and lackadaisicalway does not bring true happiness. David writes, “Blessed is hewhose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessedis the man to whom the LORD does not impute iniquity” (Psalm32:1-2). When sin is forgiven and overcome, people find true joy.

—Martin G. Collins

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