Bumby Bible Questions 8

Introduction

Well, good morning. As you have heard and can see, it is the fourth Sunday of the month. We’re trying to train ourselves into expecting that time frame every fourth Sunday of the month. Now, Greg and I are responsible for confusing you on that a couple times, but we’re going to try to do better to keep the schedule as it is. Every fourth Sunday of the month at the 9 a.m. service to answer your question and answer period. And to that end, you can be helpful in a lot of ways, but particularly questions. Please continue to submit your questions. We’ve gone through several that you have submitted, and we appreciate those, been some very good and thoughtful questions. But please keep those questions coming. And Greg’s going to tell you how you can submit those questions to us.

There’s several different ways. The easiest one is to just find us. One of us is easier to find than the other. I’ll let you decide which one that is. And as you think about coming up to us, though, we don’t always have the best memory. So if you do come, please happily ask us your question, but then happily go and write it down for us and uh hand it to us as well, and that way uh we will put it into our document that lists the questions. Uh, there’s a a box right out there in the lobby that you can submit a written question without even having to talk to us, and that’s a huge bonus. And then even we have a Bumby email address, Bumby Bible Questions at gmail dot com.

1. Why Would Solomon Sacrifice on the High Places?

You can email us your questions at Bumby BibleQuestions at gmail dot com. So please send them in any way that it takes. We’re happy to get them all. If you’ll put your name to that question, if we have any follow-up questions, if we don’t understand it, or if we need some clarification, we’ll come back to you. But please know that on our PowerPoint or during this presentation, we won’t use your name. It’s never our intent to embarrass or call anybody out. So again, we appreciate the questions, but please keep them coming. So here’s the question number one, Greg. One of our first questions is why would Solomon, we think about the good, wise King Solomon, offer sacrifices on the high places when he knew doing that was displeasing to God.

Why would Solomon be offering sacrifices on the high places even when he knew it was displeasing to God? This question really has two tenets. One is why would Solomon do something he know is wrong? And secondly, what was so tempting about the high places to begin with? There’s some temptations that you read about in the old New Testament, you say, I understand why they would do that. But the high places question is one that’s not something that we really uh practice a lot. So we’re going to look into a little of what the appeal or allure of that would be as well. Okay. Let’s start with the idea of who Solomon was and why this otherwise good man would do this obviously bad thing. We remember Solomon, the son of David, the third and actually final king of the United Kingdom, uh known for, obviously, for his wealth and for his wisdom.

But as we look at the scriptures, we also realize that not only was he a wise man, but was a man who generally loved the Lord. In 1 Kings chapter 3, uh this is said of uh Solomon, actually said of Solomon by God Himself, 1 Kings 3, verse 11, then God said to him, that is Solomon, because you have asked this thing, and have not asked long life for yourself, nor have asked riches for yourself, nor have asked the life of your enemies, but have asked for yourself understanding to discern justice. Behold, I have done according to your words. See, I have given you a wise and understanding heart, so that there was not been anyone like you before you, nor shall any like you arise after you.

And I have given you that which you have asked have not asked, both riches and honor, so that there shall be shall not be anyone like you among the kings all your days. So if you walk in my ways, keep my statutes and my commandments, as your father David walked, then I will lengthen your days. So Solomon’s reign as a king begins on a good standpoint. He seems to be humble, seems to be loving God, asked for the right thing, and because of that God is going to give him wisdom. And so we can start with simply saying Solomon was a wise man, and at least initially in his life, loved the Lord and was committed to it. What better description could there be of somebody than a wise king who loves the Lord?

And that of course is the basis of the question: why would that wise loving king do such bad things? And one of those bad things that is both a cause and effect of some of the downfalls in Solomon’s life, is what we find in 1 Kings chapter 11, that Solomon not only acted selfishly in general, he loved many women. I emphasize the word many. If you look in 1 Kings chapter 11, you’ll find one of the most eye-popping numbers that the scripture has, particularly in verse 3. First Kings chapter 11, beginning in verse 1, though. Now King Solomon loved many foreign women, along with the daughter of Pharaoh, Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Sidonian, and Hittite women, from the nations concerning which the Lord had said to the people of Israel, you shall not enter into marriage with them, neither shall they with you, for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods.

Solomon clung to these in love. He had seven hundred wives who were his princesses, and three hundred concubines. And his wives turned away his heart. And verse four, for when Solomon was old, his wives turned away his heart after other gods, and his heart was not wholly true to the Lord his God, as was the heart of David, his father. I think in verse three, you see that eye-popping statistic, that’s seven hundred wives and three hundred concubines. Some quick math says that’s a thousand different women. And not only that, when you go back to verse two, as if that number in and of itself isn’t jarring, verse two, Solomon specifically married these women from groups or tribes or nationalities that God specifically said, do not do this.

And of course, why was it that God said not to do this? Verse 2, they will turn your heart from me. And here we come to verse 4, and even down in verse 7, 8, and 9. And you see that not only is Solomon’s heart actually turned, but this causes the Lord’s anger and frustration. So when you think about how could Solomon fall, even though he was so wise and loved the Lord, we’re going to see that part of this is, yes, he was wise, yes, he did love the Lord, but he was still in every aspect a man. He was simply a man who had the strengths and weaknesses as many of us do. So a couple keys, and then as Greg said, that the sheer number of those, seven hundred wives, not counting the concubines.

And you thought your Thanksgiving table was full. You imagine dinner at that house. But a thousand women it turned his heart away, and this wisdom that was given to him was in some sense an earthly wisdom, a wisdom to discern justice, and that’s a sign, a lesson for us that that kind of wisdom, though valuable, is not a guarantee against apostasy. And so Solomon did turn. Here’s the beginning of that is his allowing these foreign wives to influence his uh beliefs and practices. But another part of this question is this idea of the high places. The question was, why would Solomon, a wise man who uh otherwise loved and served the Lord, why would he uh worship on these high places? And let’s look just a little bit about what these high places were.

They were just what it sounds like, they were just high places. Now they weren’t necessarily always mountains, they could be a high place in a valley. It was just a place that was kind of raised or elevated, sometimes naturally so, uh sometimes by man-made causes, uh on which the foreigners worship their idols. If you look in first Kings chapter three, in verse three, now Solomon made a treaty with Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, and married Pharaoh’s daughter. Then he brought her to the city of David until he had finished building his own house, and the house of the Lord and the wall all around Jerusalem. Meanwhile, the people sacrificed at the high places, because there was no house built for the name of the Lord until those days.

And Solomon loved the Lord, walking in the statutes of his father David, except, there’s the key word, except that he sacrificed and burned incense at the high places. And so here is this foreign worship. The worship at the high places means, most of the time, most always means the idea of the idol worship at these places that were specified by God. And God had forbidden this back as early as the book of Deuteronomy. He said, You’ll not worship at the high places, you’ll worship where I tell you to worship. And this was not in accordance with the will of God. So here’s a wise man, man who otherwise loved the Lord, but failed, utterly failed in this regard. So when you start thinking about why, really, to kind of put a cap on it, the answer is somewhat obvious in the one sense, but difficult for us to wrap our minds around this phrase.

Solomon was incredibly wise, as even gifted by the Lord with wisdom in this same chapter. But he was also flawed. Even with his great wisdom, he was tempted, and he gave in to temptation to do what was easy, what was convenient, or what was just simply selfishly pleasing to him. And then when we think about that perspective, we say, hey, that sounds a lot like us. And so there is no amount of wisdom you can gain or amount of knowledge that you can accrue that says, Alright, well, I can no longer be tempted. Solomon knew, right? Solomon certainly knew wrong, and even as it comes to, like we read in 1 Kings chapter 11, that was flagrantly wrong. He didn’t make a one time marriage mistake.

He had seven hundred wives and three hundred concubines, many or all of which were from nations he wasn’t supposed to have a wife from to begin with. So we say, well, why would Solomon do that? Was it because he didn’t know? No, he knew what he was doing. He just acted selfishly rather than submitting to God, as God had told him. If you would do this, I will bless you. And as a result, Ken mentioned that Solomon was the third king of the United Kingdom. As a result of Solomon’s sin and his refusal to do what God says, the kingdom in chapter twelve is ripped from his son Rehoboam. There are consequences for not putting God first, and it can happen to any of us, like Solomon.

2. Can You Please Explain the Idea of the Trinity?

A greater, uh bigger picture point to make from this is that the Bible is honest with us about our heroes, whether it be Solomon or his father David, or Abraham, their forefather Moses, these men were flawed men. Uh were they good men? Did they try to serve the Lord? Yes. Some to varying degrees, more uh some more than others. But they were men. And like all men, they sinned and fall short of the glory of God. There’s a lot of lessons uh in that uh for us that God can use, look at the twelve apostles. God can use flawed people who will come to him seeking his grace. So good question. Appreciate that. The next question uh takes us a little deeper. That is, can you please explain the idea of the Trinity?

Now I’m sure you’re all aware of what is meant by the word Trinity. We we speak of God uh as the Trinity sometimes, three persons, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. And so it’ll be our task this morning to try the best that we can to help uh you to understand that concept. As you think about what this question entails, though, there’s a lot of depth to it. There’s several different ideas. The the obvious one is who is God the Father, but we’re not just focused on that. We’re going to try to in a very short way illustrate the idea of God in three separate, distinct persons. And so we’re going to look at what is and isn’t fair. The terminology.

The first one is the word that was contained in the question itself, and that’s the word Trinity. It really means just three, and in this concept, three in one. First, we admit this is a term not used in Scripture. You can look through that Old and New Testament and not find the word Trinity. Now that doesn’t mean that it’s a wrong word. If that concept is in the Bible, then we can use a word that maybe appropriately describes it. But it’s a term that’s not used in the scripture and might be a little confusing because of that, and further confusing because of the way sometimes it’s used in the religious world. Sometimes it’s used in a non scriptural way and can be therefore confusing. When you think about that usage, even biblical words like baptism and grace have sometimes been repurposed for causes that the original author, uh, whether you’re talking about an apostle or God himself intended it.

But especially when we make up our own word that’s not found in the Bible like Trinity, it’s going to be subject to some maybe wrong connotations. But one word found in the scripture that’s found at least three times is the word Godhead. Uh, we’re not going to read all of these, but if you look at Romans chapter one, I’ll give you one example and I’ll give you a fun way of why we have confusion on this. Uh, in Romans chapter 1, I’ll be reading from the English Standard Version. It might be beneficial to read from the New King James Version here, but Romans chapter 1 and verse 20, when Paul’s making a point about God, he says, for his invisible attributes, namely his eternal power and divine nature have been clearly perceived ever since the creation of the world and the things that have been made, so that they are without excuse.

Paul says you can look around and you can see two things in particular about God. The first one is his eternal power. And if you’re reading the New King James Version, what was that second descriptor? And the, or a Godhead. So that’s a script term that’s actually found in the Scripture. The English Standard Version translates the divine nature, that better or much greater nature or existence of being. So when we think about a word to use, it’s always safer to not only trust what the Bible says, but to even use Bible terminology. You don’t have as much negative baggage, although that’s still possible. So if we’re going to speak like those did in the first century as recorded in scripture, Godhead might be a better word for us to employ on a regular basis.

But as Greg pointed out there in Romans, actually all three times it’s used, it’s really referring to the attributes of God, not to membership into the Godhead. And so the word Godhead, as used in the scriptures, not speaking of some three-member board of which the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are members. It’s speaking of the attributes. What we might could also translate that the Godhood or the Godness, the attributes or qualities that make them God. And so even if we use this term, that doesn’t exactly clear it up because that’s not the way necessarily the term is used in the Bible. And so maybe the simplest word to use is the one that’s used in the Bible. And that’s just the word God. Rather than Trinity, rather than Godhood, just the word God.

It’s the simplest and most scriptural term to use. And so when we refer to these three beings who all have these attributes, let’s just call them what the Bible calls them: God, divine deity and beings. As we look at the kind of pros and cons of each of these labels, so to speak, the downside to using the simplest word God is the Bible says consistently there’s one God, and yet, as our question implies, we’re trying to understand three distinct persons. But first, let’s look at the Bible claims, because to understand and rationalize this, we have to see both sides of how the scripture talks about God or the Godhead, or even as our terminology in this century might be Trinity. Look at Deuteronomy chapter six. Might be pretty familiar with that passage with respect to parenting.

But in Deuteronomy chapter six, if you notice in verse 4, a pretty simple descriptor here: hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. That’s not uncommon for the scriptures, particularly in the Old Testament, to emphasize that God is one. And these scriptures become really important when speaking among other people with our Jehovah’s Witnesses, friends. Whether they’re pointing that out or we’d point that out to say, here’s an example of Jesus or the Holy Spirit being included. The Bible is very clear in using the terminology of there is one God. But Ken’s going to give the other hand. Yet at the same time, the Bible’s also very clear in saying that there are three beings, three persons who wear that title of God. Several passages of scripture, but let’s just look there in Genesis chapter 1, maybe the most apparent one.

It says in Genesis 1, verse 1, you could probably quote this, you don’t need to turn there. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The Hebrew word God there is actually the plural form of God, Elohim. So in the beginning, God, in the plural form created the heavens and the earth. Now look at verse 2. And the earth was without form and void, and darkness was on the face of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. And so there’s God in its plural form. Here is the Spirit mentioned. But skip down to verse 26, if we don’t really need any grammar help to understand the idea of plurality here. Because God said, verse 26 of Genesis 1, let us make man in our image.

So again, there’s plural. And we won’t turn over, but in John 1, verse 1 tells us Christ, who is the Word, was present and active in that creation scene. So we have the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit referred to in the plural form of God. So how do we reconcile this? That there’s one God, but yet there are three beings that wear the name God. Sometimes illustrations help, sometimes illustrations fall short. Understand that any illustration that Greg and I may come up with is going to fall short when pressed to its extreme. But we might think of the idea of think of this local church. How many South Bumby Church of Christ are there? But there’s just one. There’s just one of us. But there’s many members, aren’t there?

And so there’s the idea where we can have one, yet many a part of that one. We can speak emphatically and accurately in saying there’s just one Bumbi Church of Christ. But we can also say there’s many members who wear the name that we affectionately call each other Bumbiites. There’s many members of this. And so there’s the idea that one can contain many. And that’s a concept for some reason. We make it difficult when we talk about God as being three in one. But we can understand it very easily sometimes with these flawed human illustrations. I think a lot of times as we kind of put this question to bed, so to speak, at least for the sake of our presentation this morning, we take a question like the Trinity, or how can the Holy Spirit be God, Jesus be God, and the Father be God, and we forget sometimes that it is okay to trust that God’s will is greater than ours, that God’s existence, his entire being is on a plane and level that won’t fit into any box that we can construct, no matter how large or how wide we could make that box.

So sometimes while we need to search the scriptures for answers, it is okay to reach a point to say this is the best we can understand and trust God to help us understand the rest in the time that we need to understand it. And it may be that we get to heaven one day, and that’s the first time we understand this concept fully. But in our form, we’re trying to understand something greater than ours. And the bottom line is the Holy Spirit is God. Jesus, the Son is God, and God the Father, certainly, is God, and this is how the Scripture teaches those concepts. I hope we’ve helped that deep deep concept, and is what Greg said, one we’re not going to fully understand, but maybe a little bit clearer in our minds this morning.

3. Does 1 John Teach a True Christian Does Not Sin?

Third question is, does 1 John chapter 3 and 5 teach that a real or true Christian does not sin? Okay, now on the surface, you probably have one of two reactions to does 1 John 3 and 5 teach that a real or true Christian does not sin? One might be, they better. They better make mistakes and be able to confess that sin. On the other hand, you might have that question yourself. So let’s look in 1 John chapter 3 just quickly. In 1 John chapter 3, as we look at this question, there’s a reason for that in the text that this question will be brought up. In 1 John chapter 3, if you look, for example, at verse 4. See, everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness.

Sin is lawlessness. You know that he appeared in order to take away sins, and in him there is no sin. No one who abides in him keeps on sinning. No one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him. Then you look at verse 9. No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God’s seeds abides in him, and he cannot keep on sinning because he has been born of God. So as you think about that type of question, 1 John chapter 5 has similar language. We need to stop and say, in this pretty short letter, what does John actually teach about sin? Well, one of them is he writes that a child of God, we put the word in quotations, cannot sin.

I think the English Standard Version, albeit adding maybe something to the text here, actually has the right concept. When 1 John chapter 3 and 5 says, you know that he appeared in order to take away sin, in him there is no sin. And verse 6 continues, no one who abides in him keeps on sinning. I think we know what John means when he says keeps on sinning. But if you’re reading from a translation, for example, in verse 9, that says, No one born of God sins, then we have a problem. We say, okay, well, I’m a Christian, but I have sinned this week, maybe even yesterday. How do we understand what John’s getting at about sin in that case? It becomes more confusing when you look at other texts in 1 John.

Yeah, and that’s important, Greg’s point there, because reading from the New King James, it simply just says, does not sin, but it’s really that idea of practicing continuing in sin. But then he also writes that we must confess our sins. And so if here’s a Christian, a child of God, who never commits one single sin, then there’s no need for the idea of confession. But he does say in 1 John 1, verses 8, 9, and 10, if we say that we have no sin, let’s pause there. Here’s a Christian writing to other Christians saying, if we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. But if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us. Again, a Christian writing to other Christians saying, We will and do commit sin. The difference is, is that a momentary lapse of our Christianity, of our faithfulness, or is this this habitual practice of sin that Greg talked about there in 1 John chapter 3? That becomes important as a distinction, because when you look at the Trinity question, you read these passages that say there is one God, and you read other scriptures that imply there is a multiple presence of those who would fit under the descriptor God. And you say, okay, how does the scripture explain that? Then you look at 1 John 3, and John says, if you’re a Christian or a child of God, you don’t sin.

And then in chapter 1, he says, if you are a Christian and you sin, the good news is you can confess that sin and be forgiven. So we say, okay, what could John mean? I think the text in chapter 3 and what Ken said help us illustrate that point. When you look at 1 John chapter 1, though, while you’re still in this chapter, look at verse 5 and note what John is driving at. As he’s writing this to Christians, as he’s writing this to those who have committed themselves to God, he says in verse 5, this is the message we have heard from him and proclaimed to you that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.

But if we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his son cleanses us from all sin. And again in verse 8, if we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. So you see, John writes in verse 6 and 7, there’s essentially these two pathways. That sounds kind of like what Jesus said in Matthew chapter 7. He says, There is verse 6, this walking in darkness. And you can claim what you want, but if your deeds practice those things which are in the dark or sin, then it doesn’t matter what you claim, right? He says at the end of verse 6, we lie and do not practice the truth.

In verse 5, why does that matter? Well, because in God there is no darkness at all. So of course we want to choose the light path in verse 7. If we walk in the light, then we know we can have the blood of Jesus cleansing us from sin. The question is simply, can a Christian sin and be staying on that quote unquote light path? Sometimes there’s a fuzzy teaching of this, this idea that if you’re a Christian, you walk in verse 7, and the minute you sin, you’ve kind of just switched over to verse 6, that dark path. And that’s not necessarily the fullest extent of what John’s saying. Because let’s look at let’s give an example of what a Christian would do. He says in verse 8, if we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.

So it can’t be that literally black and white. So if you are a Christian, you have committed sin, what distinguishes that action from someone who practices sin? That answers in verse 9. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us of our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. A Christian, someone striving to walk in the light, doesn’t keep on sinning, to use the words of 1 John chapter 3. Doesn’t make a practice of sin or darkness, but stops, confesses that sin, and gains forgiveness of Jesus. And so with that in mind, when you look at 1 John chapter 3 and verse 4, all of a sudden the idea of what John’s saying makes a lot of sense. In verse 4, everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness.

Sin is lawlessness. And then, of course, in verse 9, no one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God’s seed abides in him. He cannot keep on sinning because he has been born of God. But if you look at verse 10, this really illustrates the difference. By this it is evident who are the children of God and who are the children of the devil. Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother. So is John saying one sin makes you diametrically opposed to God forevermore with no hope? No. Is he saying you’re some sort of fraudulent Christian or light walker? No. In verse 10, though, our actions define us. What is our, what is my practice?

To do what is right, and when I do what is wrong, to stop that sin, to repent, turn from it, and confess it? Or to keep on doing what I’m doing. Verse 10, John said there’s two ways. He says, you are either a child of God or the child of the devil. And that’s a strong pathway distinction. We need to make sure we’re with God on that pathway. One way to illustrate it is look at the other side, and John deals with that in some of the verses that Greg read is the idea of practicing righteousness. Walking in righteousness. Here’s an ungodly sinner. Are they going to do something good every once in a while? Sure. Take Hitler. Did Hitler ever do anything good? Well, maybe he saved a baby bird at some point.

Conclusion

You know, maybe he did something good. But that one good action would not in any way define him as walking in righteousness or walking in the light any more than a child of God who makes a practice of righteousness, messing up and committing that sin, sin that still needs to be confessed, still needs to be dealt with, and is not acceptable to God nor to us, but it’s not to say that that person is now practicing or walking in sin. That’s the distinction I think that John is making there. Absolutely. I I think as we wrap up this question, we’re uh pretty much at our time for today’s session. So again, just as a reminder, if you can submit a question to us in any of those ways, binding us, writing it down, emailing us, or putting it in the box in the lobby.

We appreciate the questions, uh, and we hope that everyone appreciates these times in study. Ken, would you mind leading us a word of prayer to dismiss us? Let us bow. Dear God and Father in heaven, we marvel at your majesty, at your power. As we’ve seen this morning, a person of power that we can’t even fully comprehend. We’re so thankful, Father, that your wisdom has been made known to us, that at some level we can understand you, know who you are, and know what you would have us to do. Humble us before you. Help us to be obedient and humble servants of yours. Bless us as a congregation here, that the work that we do in our studies and our labors would be well pleasing unto you, that in all things, your high and holy name would be magnified by our words, by our thoughts, and by our actions.

May we walk in righteousness. May we walk in the light, Father, and we confess our sins when we mess up, and we seek your forgiveness from the blood of your Son. Help us, Father, protect us, love us, guide us, and most of all, own us on that day of judgment. That’s our prayer in Christ’s name. Amen.