Seeds For Thinking

Link: http://seedsforthinking.oldgleaner.com/

Scripture: David said, “The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer; The God of my strength, in whom I will trust; My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold and refuge . . . “ (2 Samuel 22:3a)

There are many scriptural references to horns, in both the Old and New Testaments. Animal horns, the “usually paired bony processes that arise from the head of many ungulates,” especially those of cattle (the ox) and sheep (ram’s horn) were used for musical instruments and as containers.
The shofar, a ram's-horn trumpet, was blown by the ancient Hebrews in battle and high religious observances and used in synagogues before and during Rosh Hashanah and at the conclusion of Yom Kippur.
A horn was used to hold oil for the sacred rite of anointment (see 1 Samuel 16:1-13, where the Lord instructs the prophet to anoint David as king.)
The altar used during the Exodus journey had ‘horns’ on the four corners, overlaid with bronze. (See Exodus 27:1-8) The Book of Ezekiel also mentions an altar with four horns extending upward from the hearth. Blood from the sacrifice was to be placed on the four horns as part of the ceremony. (Ezekiel, 43:15; 20)
The Jewish historian, Josephus, describes the temple of Jesus’ day in The Wars of the Jews, Book V, Chapter V. The altar, which stood in front of the temple, had “corners like horns.”
The criminal, when his crime was accidental, found an asylum by laying hold of the horns of the altar (1 Kings 1:50; 2:28).
The phrase ‘horn of my salvation’ is typical of many scriptural references, in both the Old and New Testaments where it is obvious that “horn” had significance beyond trumpets and anointing vessels.
. The Bible uses ‘horn’ as a metaphor for strength; its loss as dishonor.
Moses compares the tribe of Joseph with a firstborn bull, with horns like the horns of a wild ox, (Deut. 33:17) denoting strength.
Lamentations 2:2-3 describes how the Lord, in fierce anger, has cut off the horn of Israel (strength) and brought her kingdom down to the ground in dishonor. Job, also, laments that he has “defiled my horn in the dust.” (Job 16:15, KJV)
Horns are emblems of power, dominion, glory, and fierceness, as they are the chief means of attack and defense with the animals endowed with them. The books of Daniel and Revelation are rich in prophetic imagery of horns, signifying royal dignity and the might of kings, especially military power, (Jer 48:25; Zac 1:18; Dan 8:24). John saw beasts with horns in Rev. chapter 13, vss. 1 and 11.
Zacharias echoes David’s psalm of triumph in Luke 1:69, that the Lord has “raised up a horn of salvation for us,” in the Christ, the Messiah, of John 3:16. While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8)
Paul proclaimed that all things - of the world, of life, death, things present or things to come - “all are yours. And you are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s.” (1 Cor. 3:21-23)
February 4, 2007

Link: http://seedsforthinking.oldgleaner.com/

Scripture: “For, dear brothers, you have been given freedom: not freedom to do wrong, but freedom to love and serve each other.” Galations 5:13, Living Bible
Ah! Freedom: The quality or state of being free. The power to do as one pleases. Freedom from physical restraint, freedom from arbitrary or despotic control.
Yes, but also permission to go freely within specified limits. FREEDOM has a broad range of application from total absence of restraint to merely a sense of not being unduly hampered or frustrated. (Definitions: Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary)
Paul speaks often of freedom, especially freedom from Mosaic law, in his letter to the Romans, and to the Galations. However, Paul points out that freedom in Christ is not total absence of restraint; that is, lacking legal or moral restraints. (See above)
Rather, “having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness.” (Romans 6:18)
Some translations use the word “liberty” rather than freedom in Galations 5:13. Liberty suggests release from former restraint or compulsion, in this case, the restraint of the law and compulsions of the flesh.
I will admit that I have struggled with the concept of freedom from the law, as presented by Paul. After all, shouldn’t we try to keep the Ten Commandments? Aren’t we to obey ‘laws’?
Consider that the Rich Young Ruler had kept all the commandments from his youth, yet lacked the means to obtain eternal life. (Luke 18:18-27) Jesus is telling us, and Paul is affirming, that eternal life is not obtained through works, such as observing traditions, laws, or commandments. That is like earning a prize if you collect so many coupons. It is not that the laws are bad or sinful, it is just that human nature is to “talk the talk but not walk the walk.”
Part of the answer can be found in Jesus’ reply to the Scribes and Pharisees in Mark chapter 7 concerning charges that the disciples were breaking the “laws, i.e. transgressing the traditions of the elders. They were not following the ritual of washing their hands, pitchers and cups in a special way before eating. Is this a sin that will keep them from entering the kingdom of heaven?
Jesus answers that the Scribes and Pharisees are “teaching as doctrines the commandments of men,” quoting Isaiah 29:13, while rejecting the intent of God’s commandments. Many of their traditions were merely “lip service,” not true worship.
Jesus contrasts the commandment “Honor your father and mother” with the practice of making a “gift to God” (Corban) of money that should have gone to the parents, thus making the commandment of no effect. They didn’t ‘break’ the commandment, but they didn’t observe God’s intent of providing for parents, either.
Perhaps Peter had this in mind when he wrote of those who speak great swelling words of emptiness; “While they promise . . . liberty, they themselves are slaves of corruption.” (2 Peter 2:18-19)
Peter also wrote that it is the will of God to do good “to put to silence the ignorance of foolish men - as free, yet not using liberty as a cloak for vice, but as bondservants of God. “ (1 Peter 2:16)
Christ has set us free from “keeping lists” or “check off charts.” We don’t have to “collect coupons” to obtain eternal life. Jesus said, “The things which are impossible with men are possible with God.” (Luke 18:27)
Salvation is a gift, granted by the Grace of God to all who accept Jesus as the Christ; they shall not perish, but have everlasting life.
“For, dear brothers, you have been given freedom: not freedom to do wrong, but freedom to love and serve each other.” (Galations 5:13, Living Bible) July 1, 2007

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Scripture: So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then it shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory,” “O death, where is your sting? O hades, where is your victory?”

The most populous group of inhabitants of the earth undergo a most amazing transformation during their life cycle. Literally, a change- over in form, or metamorphosis. While the word can refer to any change in form, structure, or substance, including that of certain rocks under heat and pressure, we are more apt to observe the metamorphosis of insects. Or at least the results of that miraculous transformation from the pupa to adult stage.
I found a brown, fibrous cocoon in the woodpile and brought it inside to show my grandchildren. I forgot about it until it emerged as a large, pale green moth - a luna moth. Perhaps you have seen the animated version in a television commercial for a sleep-inducing medication.
I placed the moth on one of my amaryllis flowers near the window, and waited. It just remained there, clinging to that flower for several days. I was fortunate enough to see it finally take flight one evening, rising to a blade of the ceiling fan. Unlike the animated insect, which seems to float gracefully and sleepily through the air, the real moth moves with a very rapid beating of the wings. It clung there for some time, leaving only after depositing a number of eggs, the ultimate purpose in this brief phase of its life cycle.
I was reminded of the passage in Paul’s letter to the Corinthians about change, mysterious change, from our mortal to our immortal form.
We, like that moth, traverse this earth in our mortal form. Paul devotes several paragraphs of this letter to moral implications of Christ’s resurrection. He speaks of the grain, the seed, the form that God gives a body as He pleases. (vs. 38) Our human body is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body.
Paul compares the first man, Adam, to the second man, the Lord. We bear the image of the ‘man of dust.’ Those who are in Christ shall also bear the image of the Heavenly Man. That is Paul’s mystery - we shall make that transformation, that all-changing transformation, even as Christ was transformed. Our business is not to just be a speck of dust, to go from dust to dust, but to endeavor to leave behind us seeds (or eggs) that will metamorphose into new life in the spirit. Yes, we may leave behind us mortal seed, but flesh and blood does not - Paul says, “Cannot” - inherit the kingdom of God.
I found a reminder in that brief flight of that moth that I witnessed. We, too, must rise to that level of the form of the Heavenly Man, not just in anticipating the immortal form, but during this mortal phase also. That is, we must strive to attain the form of the Christ in the flesh, and, as Paul further writes, “Be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.”
April 29, 2007

Link: http://seedsforthinking.oldgleaner.com/

Seeds For Thinking
by Leland Hubbell

Become a "Sower" of God's Word.
Forward this "Seeds For Thinking" to your friends.
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Scripture: For Christ has not entered the holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us. (Hebrews 9:24, NKJV)

Welcome to Fluffy Cloud Heaven! Mess up a little bit in your earthly life, and when you get to heaven you will get:

A rusty old halo, skinny white cloud
Second hand wings full of patches
A rusty old halo, skinny white cloud
Robe that's so wooly it scratches.

This is the heaven often depicted in art, story, film and song. People become angels when they die, complete with wings. They wear a long, white robe, sport a halo, and float around on clouds. Entrance is via Pearly Gates, guarded by St. Peter. He will check his big book of naughty and nice records, and as noted in the song, “A Rusty Old Halo,” reward you accordingly. The rich and stingy have to travel “Coach” class.
However, if;

While you're on earth you should shine like a star
Brighten up the corner wherever you are
Doing each day the best you can do

then you receive “First Class” accommodations. Non-smoking section.
If you really mess up Big Time, then you are sent to the nether regions, “smoking,” of course, with flames and pitchforks. Well, not really a pitchfork, but an ancient weapon called a trident. Think Roman gladiators. Greek gods. Get the point?
When the first Soviet cosmonauts orbited the earth, the Soviets took the opportunity to score a point for atheism by declaring that there was neither God nor heaven to be seen. Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, the first man to orbit the earth, apparently never said such words; the phrase originated from Nikita Khrushchev's speech at the plenum of the Central Committee of the CPSU, where the anti-religious propaganda was discussed. Actually, they affirmed that a “Fluffy Cloud Heaven” doesn’t exist. God’s Eternal Kingdom lies beyond time and eternity, not over the rainbow nor in the clouds.
Author C. S. Lewis states in “Mere Christianity,” “All the scriptural imagery (harps, crowns, gold, etc.) is, of course, a merely symbolical attempt to express the inexpressible. . . . People who take these symbols literally might as well think that when Christ told us to be like doves, He meant that we were to lay eggs.”
(See Matthew 10:16)
What is the true heaven like? According to the scriptures, it will be filled with the glory of God. It will be inhabited by God, Christ, the Holy Spirit, angels, and the Just. There will be peace, joy, rest, and righteousness.
Nothing perishable will exist there. There will be no sorrow, no pain, no weeping or wicked people. People will neither marry, nor give in marriage. Night and death will not exist.
Heaven - God’s Heaven - is a place of everlasting bliss. “For Christ has not entered the holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us.”

Seeds for Thinking (©) 1996 - 2010 by Leland Hubbell

Link: http://seedsforthinking.oldgleaner.com/

Scripture: David said, "The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer; The God of my strength, in whom I will trust; My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold and refuge . . . " (2 Samuel 22:3a)

There are many scriptural references to horns, in both the Old and New Testaments. Animal horns, the "usually paired bony processes that arise from the head of many ungulates," especially those of cattle (the ox) and sheep (ram's horn) were used for musical instruments and as containers.
The shofar, a ram's-horn trumpet, was blown by the ancient Hebrews in battle and high religious observances and used in synagogues before and during Rosh Hashanah and at the conclusion of Yom Kippur.
A horn was used to hold oil for the sacred rite of anointment (see 1 Samuel 16:1-13, where the Lord instructs the prophet to anoint David as king.)
The altar used during the Exodus journey had 'horns' on the four corners, overlaid with bronze. (See Exodus 27:1-8) The Book of Ezekiel also mentions an altar with four horns extending upward from the hearth. Blood from the sacrifice was to be placed on the four horns as part of the ceremony. (Ezekiel, 43:15; 20)
The Jewish historian, Josephus, describes the temple of Jesus' day in The Wars of the Jews, Book V, Chapter V. The altar, which stood in front of the temple, had "corners like horns."
The criminal, when his crime was accidental, found an asylum by laying hold of the horns of the altar (1 Kings 1:50; 2:28).
The phrase 'horn of my salvation' is typical of many scriptural references, in both the Old and New Testaments where it is obvious that "horn" had significance beyond trumpets and anointing vessels.
. The Bible uses 'horn' as a metaphor for strength; its loss as dishonor.
Moses compares the tribe of Joseph with a firstborn bull, with horns like the horns of a wild ox, (Deut. 33:17) denoting strength.
Lamentations 2:2-3 describes how the Lord, in fierce anger, has cut off the horn of Israel (strength) and brought her kingdom down to the ground in dishonor. Job, also, laments that he has "defiled my horn in the dust." (Job 16:15, KJV)
Horns are emblems of power, dominion, glory, and fierceness, as they are the chief means of attack and defense with the animals endowed with them. The books of Daniel and Revelation are rich in prophetic imagery of horns, signifying royal dignity and the might of kings, especially military power, (Jer 48:25; Zac 1:18; Dan 8:24). John saw beasts with horns in Rev. chapter 13, vss. 1 and 11.
Zacharias echoes David's psalm of triumph in Luke 1:69, that the Lord has "raised up a horn of salvation for us," in the Christ, the Messiah, of John 3:16. While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8)
Paul proclaimed that all things - of the world, of life, death, things present or things to come - "all are yours. And you are Christ's, and Christ is God's." (1 Cor. 3:21-23)
February 4, 2007

Link: http://seedsforthinking.oldgleaner.com/

Scripture: " . . . His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness" . . .
(From 2 Peter 1:3, NKJV)

I've been thinking about the many times and ways that we form groups, cliques, or clans. We include some people, and exclude others.

They drew a circle that shut me out;
A rebel, a heretic, a thing to flout.
But love and I had the wit to win;
We drew a circle that took them in.

I got to wondering about the meaning of the word "clusion, as in, "We've got clusion." Hmmm . . .I couldn't find it in the dictionary, by itself, anyway. I guess that it belongs to that great family of things that are not complete standing alone, like a train of railroad cars without the engine.
Think of a family name, like Smith, or Jones. We need to know if it is Sam or Harry, Jim or Mary. I find that there is a 'family' name of sorts, the 'clude' family, coming from the Latin word, claudere, meaning 'to close.' We might say that some words are like a tractor-trailer rig, in the sense that the trailer carries the load (of meaning) but won't get anywhere without a power source of some kind - the tractor part. Putting it all together, we get in-clude, meaning to enclose, or to embrace. The opposite is to close out, or ex-clude. The act of 'closing' could be either close in (inclusion) or close out (exclusion.)
There is a lot of that going on - inclusion or exclusion, that is. Think about it . . .
Snippets of words, like 'clusion,' are not very useful standing alone; neither are we. God noted that, "It is not good that man should be alone," and created a helper comparable to him. (Genesis 2:18) Personal relationships receive the most emphasis of anything in the Bible. From Cain's cynical denial, "Am I my brother's keeper?" to Paul's summary of responsibilities to God, society and higher powers of Roman's chapter 12, it all comes down to how we draw the circles of 'clusion.
We need to periodically pause to critically examine our circles, pondering the community that we embrace, and especially the community that we bar from participation, consideration, or inclusion.
Who is our neighbor, our brother or sister? Jesus answered the question with the parable of the Good Samaritan. (Luke 10:29-37) We are to step outside of our enclosing circles, and to go and have compassion and show mercy to those we have otherwise excluded.
Circles of 'clusion are very powerful forces. Consider the many problems in the world that stem from those groups, cliques, or clans. We call it prejudice, and it may be based on ethnic, gender, age, national origin, or even religious grounds. Sports allegiances give power to the word Fan, from the word fanatic, "marked by excessive enthusiasm and often intense uncritical devotion."
Woe betide those who step outside the favored circle. That person risks becoming one of 'them' instead of one of 'us,' risking condemnation and exclusion.
Again, just as 'clusion is ambiguous without the empowerment phrase of 'in' or 'ex' to show whether we are including or excluding, keep in mind that the word Christian is like that also. A Christ -person, in the fullest sense, is empowered by Christ. Take Christ out of Christian, and it is like taking the battery out of a flashlight. The "Light of the World" can not shine on us, nor from us, without that empowerment.
Like it or not, we've got 'clusion. We are sort of like a semi trailer, sitting by the side of the road . . . waiting, waiting, going nowhere. We need a power source to get anywhere. Whether we are in Christ's circle or not is up to us. Are you IN-cluded?
January 28, 2007

Link: http://seedsforthinking.oldgleaner.com/

* Pheidippides
* Scripture: "But when the fulness of time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law. " Galations 4:4, NKJV

Many of the multitudes who participate in the activity created in his memory have no actual awareness of the historical significance connected with the original event. The real reason is perceived to be of minor importance now, and his name is seldom mentioned by the participants. Many suggest that the story is a mere myth or, more likely, a legend created long after the event took place.
His name is Pheidippides, a.k.a., Phidipides, and the event is the Battle of Marathon. This hero of Ancient Greece is the central figure in a myth which was the inspiration for the modern sporting event, the marathon long distance race.
The traditional story relates that Pheidippides, an Athenian herald, was sent to Sparta to request help when the Persians landed at Marathon. He ran 150 miles in two days. He then ran from the battlefield by the town of Marathon to Athens to announce the Greek victory over Persia in the Battle of Marathon (490 BC) with the words, "We were victorious!" and died on the spot.
No, you won't find either the name of Pheidippides or a recounting of the Battle of Marathon in Biblical accounts. There is, however, a connection with another name, that of Jesus, The Christ.
How? Think about this: The rulers of the Persian empire sought to expand their control further west by conquering Greece. They lost one of the earliest recorded major battles that shaped the history of the world - The Battle of Marathon. Had the Persians succeeded, we might all be speaking a dialect of modern day Iranian! For more on the Persian empire, read the books of Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther.
The Greek victory paved the way for the conquests of Alexander the Great, including the fall of the Persian empire, and brought more than three centuries of Greek dominance to the middle east, reaching even into Africa. Greek became the language of commerce, learning, and diplomacy. Even the Old Testament writings were translated into Greek. Many of the scriptural quotations cited in the New Testament are taken from the Septuagint, or LXX version. The earliest versions of the New Testament writings are in Greek. The early church disciples, evangelists, and missionaries were able to go to all the nations, even to the far reaches of the Roman Empire, and share the Good News (Mt. 28:19) - in Greek!
Think about the five centuries between the Battle of Marathon, and the birth, crucifixion, and resurrection of Christ. Slowly, bit by bit, like the making of a magnificent tapestry, the fulfillment of earlier prophecies came to pass. Everything came together at a unique time in the history of mankind, "and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us." (John 1:14)
Yes, God wove many threads into the warp and weft of history, "But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth His Son!!!"
December 24, 2006