In this Darkness, there is Hope

In 2 Timothy 3 Paul says that men will act certain ways in the last days (which is now).  He then goes on to list certain characteristics that these men and women will have and in verse 3 Paul says they will be “malicious gossips”. This is an unfortunate translation from greek into english.  In the greek Paul actually says this, men will be “diaboloi”, which if translated as it stands means, “devils”.  I can understand why they translated it into “malicious gossips” because that is included in the word “devils” because Satan and his children are slanderer’s by nature.  Even though this is true, “malicious gossips” does not use the full force of what Paul was actually trying to say.  ”Devils” has much more to say than “malicious gossips”.

The meaning here is plain is it not?  ”In these last days men will be devils”, means two things:

a)  Men will look like their father in the last days.  Men will be devils, not that they themselves are devils, but they will highly resemble their father, the devil.  Just as believers are growing into the image of God as they grow, so too Satan tries to mature and increase the image of himself in the lives of his own children.  This is not hard for him to do because he is the ‘god of this world…’ (2 Cor. 4:4).  The verse which points me to this is John 8:44, “You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father.  He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him.  Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies.”

From this I draw:  If men in these last days are going to be devils, they will be:

1) Little images of their father, making sin a lifestyle. (1 John 3:8)

2) Do the desires of their father. (John 8:44)

3) Murderers and every evil thing.  Just as a Christian grows into the likeness of ALL of Christ, so too the lost person slowly grows into the likeness of ALL of Satan. (Any verse that shows an attribute of Satan would be appropriate here, since all of Satan’s attributes will shown to varying degree’s in his children: Rev. 12:9, Gen. 3:4, 1 John 3:8, 2 Cor. 4:4)

4) Not in the truth because there is no truth in them (as their father).

5) Untrustworthy, because whenever they speak, you can know for sure that somewhere in there, they are lying.  Their father only speaks lies, because his nature is to lie as the father of lies.  Thus, lies will be all over the speech of his children, because that is their nature as well and therefore they ought to be called, the children of lies.

Next…

b) The second thing in this thought we should see is that we not only will see these things in the men around us or just in those people who do not know Jesus, we will see these attributes in ourselves as well, because of our sin and corruption.  But believers will recognize them as what they are, evil passions that must be hated and warred against.  The lost will not recognize them because that is the only thing they’ve known.

Feeling a little like the world just got a little bit darker?  I have for sure.  Is there hope in such a dark world where millions of people are walking around as “devils”?  Yes, there is hope!  How?  God is in the business of reversing the blindness Satan puts on his children.  Satan may blind us (2 Cor. 4:4), but when God chooses to say “LET THERE BE LIGHT!” in our hearts as He did in creation (Genesis 1), we will see the “glory of God in the face Jesus Christ” and be saved, treasuring Him above all things!  In this darkness, there is hope, cling to it, and pray that God would shine this light through you.

My Master Greek Participle Chart

As promised, here is a master Greek participle chart that I have made.  Just as I taped the previous chart into the inside front cover of my Greek New Testament, I have taped this participle chart into the inside back cover.  That way when I have a question, I either simply filp to the front or the back to find the proper translation.  You’ll notice two small sections describing Genitive Absolutes and Periphrastic Constructions; because of the length of these charts I could not include a full description of them.  To get more infomation on these, or to get more information on anything regarding Biblical Greek, get Basics of Biblical Greek by William Mounce & Greek Grammar: Beyond the Basics by Daniel Wallace.  Sorry for the awkward fit, but again if you right click and save, it’ll be great for you.  Enjoy!

My Master Greek Chart

I made this Greek Chart today, and it is now taped to the inside front cover of my Greek New Testament.  For those of you who have studied Biblical Greek, for those who are currently studying it, or those who want to, this will help you.  It is a big help to me.  Sorry for the awkward fit on the page, if you right click on it and save, it should be okay.  I know that I have not included Participles here, that chart is coming soon!  (For my inside back cover)

Miles Van Pelt On Cheerleading

Miles Van Pelt, the author of my Hebrew textbook, has some very encouraging words for all those laboring to learn Biblical langauges.  This post was from his own blog.

At Reformed Theological Seminary in Jackson, Mississippi I have the distinct privilege of teaching all three biblical languages – Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek. My students might tell you that I am a bit of a zealot when it comes to teachings these languages. True enough! In fact, one of my primary goals is to implant this same zeal in those I teach. It is not enough that my students simply learn the languages. I want them to share in my passion for knowing them.

Motivation, therefore, becomes an important factor in teaching. And let’s be honest, students entering a degree program requiring the languages often dread this prospect. Because of this I frequently admit to my colleagues that teaching the actual language represents less than half of my job in the classroom. My primary role is one of cheerleading.

This cheerleading takes on a number of different forms in the classroom but one of my favorites is to elicit the help of those who have gone before us. Over the past few years I have collected a number of helpful quotes, some serious and others more humorous. If you are a student and the furnace of your linguistic passion has become a smoldering ember, perhaps a few of these quotes will help. Print them out and put them somewhere on your desk or inside your grammar text. If you are a teacher and your students are crying out under the weight of their grammatical burden, help them!

The main point is, with all and above all, study the Greek and Hebrew Bible, and the love of Christ.  –John Wesley

Feel ‘poured out’ over a great many interests with intense desire to do but so little power and time to accomplish . . . Hebrew: I can think of nothing I’d like better than to be able to pick up a page of the Hebrew Old Testament and read it at sight. Greek loses a lot of its challenge when one gets to know a little. – Jim Elliot, College Journals

For the devil smelled a rat, and perceived that if the [biblical] languages were revived a hole would be knocked in his kingdom which he could not easily stop up again. Since he found he could not prevent their revival, he now aims to keep them on such slender rations that they will of themselves decline and pass away. They are not a welcome guest in his house, so he plans to offer them such meager entertainment that they will not prolong their stay. Very few of us, my dear sirs see through this evil design of the devil. —Martin Luther, 1524

In all sciences, the ablest professors are they who have thoroughly mastered the texts. A man, to be a good jurisconsult, should have every text of the law at his fingers’ ends; but in our time, the attention is applied rather to glosses and commentaries. When I was young, I read the Bible over and over and over again, and was so perfectly acquainted with it, that I could, in an instant, have pointed to any verse that might have been mentioned. I then read the commentators, but I soon threw them aside, for I found therein many things my conscience could not approve, as being contrary to the sacred text. ‘Tis always better to see with one’s own eyes than with those of other people. – Martin Luther, Table Talk 33

I now studied much, about 12 hours a day, chiefly Hebrew . . . [and] committed portions of the Hebrew Old Testament to memory; and this I did with prayer, often falling on my knees . . . I looked up to the Lord even whilst turning over the leaves of my Hebrew dictionary. – George Mueller, 1829 (twenty-four years old)

The more a theologian detaches himself from the basic Hebrew and Greek text of Holy Scripture, the more he detaches himself from the source of real theology! And real theology is the foundation of a fruitful and blessed ministry.” – Heinrich Bitzer, Light on the Path

In those days I also saw that the Jews had married women from Ashdod, Ammon, and Moab. As for their children, half spoke in the language of Ashdod, and none of them was able to speak the language of Judah (Hebrew), but the language of his own people. So I contended with them and cursed them and struck some of them and pulled out their hair . . . —Nehemiah 13:23-25

No second hand knowledge of the revelation of God for the salvation of a ruined world can suffice the needs of a ministry whose function it is to convey this revelation to men, commend it to their acceptance and apply it in detail to their needs–to all their needs, from the moment they are called into participation in the grace of God, until the moment when they stand perfect in God’s sight, built up by his Spirit into new men. For such a ministry as this the most complete knowledge of the wisdom of the world supplies no equipment; the most fervid enthusiasm of service leaves without furnishing. Nothing will suffice for it but to know; to know the book; to know it at first hand; and to know it through and through. And what is required first of all for training men for such a ministry is that the book should be given them in its very words [Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek] as it has come from God’s hand and in the fullness of its meaning, as that meaning has been ascertained by the labors of generations of men of God who have brought to bear upon it all the resources of sanctified scholarship and consecrated thought. —B. B. Warfield