How Often And Why Should We Do This In Remembrance Of Him?

Yesterday morning my little sister in Alabama, Pat Lovell, posted the graphic below depicting the Lord's Supper.  And, as was intended, it made me think.  Why, How, and When - do we partake in the Lord's Supper?

We are reminded in Luke 22:19, "And He took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, 'This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me' "

We should consider the question, "How Often Should We Do This In Remembrance Of Him?"

I suppose the answer would be, "How often are YOU grateful for what He has done for YOU?"

The apostle Paul explains in more detail:

1 Corinthians 11:23-26, "For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you: that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread; and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, 'Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me.'  In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, 'This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.'   For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death till He comes."

Various churches have different views and beliefs regarding the Lord's Supper and when, why, and how it should be celebrated.  The Roman Catholic church celebrates the Lord's Supper, which they call the Eucharist, daily at mass.

According to the Pew Research Center:  In Communion, Catholics receive bread and wine.  The church teaches that when the bread and wine are consecrated by an ordained priest, they become the actual body and blood of the risen Christ; a theological explanation for this process, known as Transubstantiation, has been supported by official church teaching since the 16th century.  The church recommends that Catholics receive Communion every time they attend Mass - and considers it a Sacrament.

Lutheran churches practice Consubstantiation, the view that the bread and wine of Communion or Lord's Supper are "spiritually" the flesh and blood of Jesus - but not the actual body and blood.  In their theology, the bread and wine are still actually only bread and wine - but represent the "spiritual" aspect of Christ. 

In this way, it is different from transubstantiation, in which the bread and the wine are believed to actually become the body and blood of Jesus.  This theology was first formally and publicly confessed in the Wittenberg Concord in 1536.   This Lutheran doctrine of the "Real Presence" but not the Real Body is also is also considered a Sacrament.

In Reformed theology (most Reformed and Presbyterian churches), the Lord's Supper or Eucharist is similar to the Lutheran's theology of Consubstantiation.  To them it is a "spiritual" Sacrament    The outward or physical action of the sacrament is eating bread and drinking wine.  Reformed confessions, which are official statements of the beliefs of Reformed churches, teach that Christ's body and blood are really present, i.e., the "Real Presence," in the sacrament, but that this presence is communicated in a spiritual manner rather than by his body being physically eaten. The Reformed doctrine of Real Presence is sometimes called "Mystical Real Presence" or "Spiritual Real Presence" (from Wikipedia).

In Baptist churches, as well as most other mainstream Protestant churches, we celebrate the Lord's Supper as a Remembrance Of Him and His "paid in full" atoning sacrifice on the cross to offer eternal life to all who will believe and receive His precious gift of life.

In churches which celebrate the Lord's Supper/Communion as a Remembrance, we believe that Christ left us two Ordinances:  Baptism and Communion.

As you have seen above, the Roman Catholic church, Lutheran church, and most other liturgical churches view the Lord's Supper/Communion/Eucharist as a Sacrament.

What is the difference between a Sacrament and an Ordinance?

Sacraments:   The Liturgical churches typically teach Sacraments - which includes all or most of the following: baptism, confirmation, holy communion, confession, marriage, holy orders, anointing of the sick - as means of attaining saving grace.   According to their teachings, these Sacraments are necessary for salvation, for they convey the grace through which people are saved.

Yet in the Bible we find that we are saved through faith in Jesus Christ alone - not through Sacraments, any works, or any church:

John 3:16, "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life."

John 10:27-28, "My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.  And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand."

Ephesians 1:13, "In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the Gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise."

Ephesians 2:8-9, "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast."

Ordinances:  Baptists and other Protestants and Evangelicals view the two Ordinances (Baptism and Communion) as acts of obedience we do in recognition of the Gospel message - that Christ lived, died, was raised from the dead, ascended to heaven where He is our Mediator before the Father, and He will one day return in Glory. 

Rather than these Ordinances being requirements for salvation, they are spiritual acts of obedience which help us better follow Christ and acknowledge what Jesus Christ accomplished for us in His redemptive work on the cross.

Ordinances are determined by three factors: (1) They were instituted by Christ, (2) They were taught by the apostles, (3) They were practiced by the early church.

Since baptism and communion are the only practices which qualify under these three criteria, there can be only be these two ordinances - neither of which are requirements for salvation.  Both are acts of obedience which are the result of our salvation, not the reason for our salvation.

Note that the Roman Catholic doctrine of Transubstantiation was instituted at the Council of Trent, held between 1545 and 1563.

The Lutheran / Reformed church doctrine of Consubstantiation was instituted at the Wittenberg Concord in 1536.

Neither of these meet the three requirements which determine Ordinances and nowhere in the Bible are we told that we are saved through Sacraments.

A final note on the Why and How - It is obvious that in John 6, when Jesus tells us that He is the Bread of Life, He is speaking metaphorically:

John 6:48-51, "I am the bread of life.  Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and are dead.  This is the bread which comes down from heaven, that one may eat of it and not die.  I am the living bread which came down from heaven.  If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world."

So far we have discussed the Why and How of celebrating the Lord's Supper.  Now let's take a look as WHEN do we celebrate the Lord's Supper.

Since we take the Lord’s Supper in Remembrance of Him and His Redemptive Work on the cross - it would seem that we should take it fairly often.  Since becoming a believer in 1987, I have been in different Filipino-American Baptist churches in Southern California -  and we have always celebrated the Lord's Supper once a month, as part of our regular worship service.  Typically, at the end of a normal worship service once a month we will close that service by having the elders pass the elements to the congregation and our pastor will review and share Scripture relating to the Lord's Supper:

1 Corinthians 11:23-26, "For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you: that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread; and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, 'Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me.' In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, 'This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.' For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death till He comes."

Our pastor will explain that the Lord's Supper is a time for all believers to do a spiritual examination of himself or herself, that it is a time to for all believers to renew our focus on Christ, our Christian walk, and our Christian obedience.  Then our pastor will remind the congregation present in our worship service that day that the Lord's Supper is only for those who have believed and received Him as Lord and Savior. 

We will not look down upon anyone who is not yet a believer and cannot partake of the celebration.  But we will, in love, try to help all non-believers understand why each individual should seriously consider what Christ has done to provide eternal life for all people.  And in Godly love, we will encourage those who have not yet believed, to allow the Holy Spirit to guide them, to move them to better understand the Gospel story - then to love, enter and seal them as believers.  That we will do because we love each non-believer as Christ loves them.

While there are churches which teach that only members of that local church fellowship can partake of the celebration - I personally believe that when our Lord told us in Luke 22:19, "do this in remembrance of Me" - He was speaking to ALL believers, not just a local fellowship.

So, how often does YOUR church fellowship "Do this in remembrance of Him"? 

Daily, weekly, monthly, once a year?  Once again, my personal feelings are that it should be done frequently enough to stay in faith with His teaching, yet not be so frequent that it becomes a ritual and loses its flavor.  Taking Communion every day or every week, for me, would bring it into the realm of being a ritual. 

Yet only partaking of the Lord's Supper every six months or once a year - gives me the feeling that we place no real value on His "do this in remembrance of Me."   Again it is a personal view and belief, but I believe that the Lord's Supper should be celebrated on a monthly basis in every church - and that ALL believers present that day should participate.  Food for thought?  I pray this has given you sincere Christian food for thought.

God bless, have a wonderful, blessed day,

Bill 

Click on the image to enlarge:

Baptism Under Fire At Berkeley!

Recently I started reading the book "Creation & Evolution 101,  A Guide to Science and the Bible in Plain Language" by Bruce Bickel and Stan Jantz.  In chapter one they write of going to the University of California Berkeley to interview three professors for information to put into their book. 

They tongue in cheek tell us, "It was a bright and beautiful morning, and there we were touring the campus of the University of California at Berkeley, just across the bay from San Francisco.  It didn't take us long to figure out that we were probably the dumbest guys walking through Sather Gate on this particular day.  We knew this because, when it comes to academics, Cal (as it is known by locals and students alike) just happens to be the number one public university in the country.  And it is one of the leading universities in the world when it comes to science."

A few pages later the authors tell us, "We went to the second professor's office, which is located in the Lawrence Berkeley Lab (trust us, this is a very impressive building because of what goes on inside).  This particular guy, who is an astrophysicist, was the leader of a science project that measured the beginning of the universe (this was a very big science project, not like your sixth grade science-fair entry that measured mold on a block of cheese."

Those two excerpts triggered a really big Flash Back - all the way back to about 1968.  I had spent the past 10 years as a Field Engineer working in the technical side of the computer world - and now I had accepted a job with Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) and was switching over to the sales side as a Sales Engineer.  For the first few months I worked as an Application Engineer before moving into the sales position and one of my tasks was to give Digital Computer Logic Seminars to prospective clients.  DEC was very strong in the university and education market.  So my first seminar was to be at University of California at Berkeley.

This was not to be an introductory seminar of an hour or so.  No, this was to be an all day seminar.  Some knowledgeable soul at DEC headquarters in Boston had written a booklet which was about 25-30 pages long and was basically the meat of the all day seminar.

Just to give you a bit of background.  Digital Equipment Corporation had been founded in 1957 by Ken Olsen (ex MIT Lincoln Lab engineer), Harlan Anderson (ex MIT Lincoln Lab engineer), and Stan Olsen (brother of Ken Olsen).  It quickly became the number 2 computer company in America, behind behemoth IBM.

Ken Olsen and Harlan Anderson were the engineering geniuses behind DEC and its computer products.  Since the computers were built from digital logic modules which were plugged into a backplane to create the different computers - those same logic modules could be used to create a number of other digital products.  Stan Olsen was given his own department within the company tasked with selling the DEC digital logic modules as a separate product line.  Although the computer side of the company took off like a rocket and quickly became a major player in the mini-computer and main frame market - the Logic Module side of the house was dragging its feet.

A bright sales manager in Canada decided to start presenting Digital Logic Module Seminars - and his sales took off.  Encouraged by that, Stan Olsen mandated that all DEC sales offices would begin to offer Digital Logic Module Seminars to help prospective clients learn how to design their products using DEC Digital Logic Modules.  This is where my background fit nicely in their plans.  I had years of experience as a computer field engineer - I had taught classes on computer logic, troubleshooting, and repair - and in my last several companies I had been the "go to" guy when other field engineers could not solve a problem.

So the DEC regional manager in Palo Alto, California, hired me to be a Sales Engineer responsible for presenting Digital Logic Module Seminars.  And I was told that my first seminar assignment was at the University of California Berkeley.  Little did I know what lay ahead.

The seminar was to be in a local hotel conference room in Berkeley.  And I should have recognized the first omen when I drove into their subterranean parking lot.  I was driving my prime 1965 Chevy Malibu SS convertible, in cherry condition - and as I was pulling into the very narrow parking spot, I scratched my car against a parking lot post. 

And to make matter even worse, two of the hotel housekeepers were walking by as my accident happened.  They smiled, maybe more of a sneer, and said (I will never forget their smiling words), "You scratched your pretty car."  The only thing which prevented me from replying with a caustic remark - was my deeply ingrained Southern teaching that a man does not say those things to a woman.

I go upstairs to the conference room and neatly lay a writing pad, a pencil, and the DEC Digital Logic Module Seminar book at each position on the tables.  I had studied the Digital Logic Module Seminar book for two weeks in preparation for presenting this seminar.  Shortly the very first participant, Tom Taussig, came into the room.  He picked up the Seminar Book, flipped through it, and said, "Pretty simple.  What are we going to talk about today?"  Omen number two!

When the room filled with participants, I quickly found that I had a room full of professors and scientists, mostly all Ph.d.s, from UC Berkeley and from Lawrence Berkeley Lab, the Atomic Energy Department arm of UC Berkeley.  And I had to teach them - ALL day!

Surprisingly, the morning went pretty well.  Then just before lunch we were discussing a specific logic module and in bold letters in the seminar book, it told us that if an input on the module was not connected to a source - it had to be connected to ground. 

One gentleman in the back of the room raised his hand and asked, "Is that because .  .  .  .  ?  That was the part of his question I could understand.  Then he went on asking something about thermodynamics and a few other big words that flew over my head.  His question must have gone on for about ten minutes and when he finished, thank God it was time for lunch, I told him, "I don't know the reason - but since we are breaking for lunch, I will call the engineer who designed the module back in Boston and get you an answer."

As they go off to lunch, I go to the phone and placed a call to the design engineer at DEC headquarters in Boston.   I asked him the same question, but in my more real world understanding, "Why do we have to ground the empty input ports?"   The answer the design engineer, the man who had designed that module, gave me was, "We don't know!  We just know that if the input is not grounded weird things happen."

And that is exactly what I went back into the conference room after lunch and told that room full of Ph.d.s from UC Berkeley and Lawrence Berkeley Lab.  Believe it or not, they accepted that answer and we finished the day with no more glitches.  Bill Gray's "baptism under fire" at the University of California Berkeley was, and I was surprised, considered a success.

After that I continued giving Digital Logic Module Seminars in northern California and, when the company needed a seminar giving computer salesman in Huntsville - and it was close to my home in Alabama - I moved to Huntsville where I was faced with all the NASA Ph.d.s and engineers.  After a while I began to get bored and started adding more computer logic, design, and trouble shooting information to the seminars, all across Alabama, Mississippi, and Tennessee.

So, my advise - be careful what books you read, for they can trigger massive Flash-Backs.  All I have to say is, "Thank you, Lord, for the memories!"

God bless, have a wonderful, blessed day,

Bill 

Click on the image to enlarge:

Racial Prejudice Is Learned - Not In Our DNA!

Yesterday I posted a new blog titled "My Testimony Of Growing Up In The South In The 1940S/50S!"  In a recent blog I mentioned that even though I may come to my computer with an idea for a new blog all thought out and ready to write - often God, or a Friend whom God has chosen, will put that plan on the back burner and send me off in a new direction.  Well, that happened today.

A long time Friend and Christian sister, Norma, responded to my Friends Ministry eNewsletter today sharing her childhood experiences with racial bias.  Norma wrote:

Another great article writing about your life’s experiences!  Your writing is very descriptive.  You brought back 40/50’s memories from 1948.  My family and I were not allowed into a swimming pool because we were Mexicans.   Now we are not very dark, light almost white skinned - but because of our name, nope!  This was in Phoenix Arizona in either 48/49.  I was 10 years old

Norma's childhood experiences brings several bittersweet memories.  As a young man in the Air Force stationed at Lowry AFB in Denver, I met and married a beautiful Hispanic lady, Betty.  She had three young daughters - 4, 3, and 18 months old.  And I could not have loved any child any more than I loved, and still love, those three adorable little girls.  They are all grandmothers now.

After we were married, I was sent to Osan, Korea, for a year.  When I came home to Denver with a 30 day leave, we traveled to Alabama so that everyone could meet my family.  Mom came to visit us in Denver before I left for Korea, but  the rest of my family had not met them yet.  During the weeks we were in Alabama, a new movie, Giant, had just been released starring Rock Hudson, Elizabeth Taylor, and James Dean. 

While the story was about oil in Texas and the men it made wealthy - the main undercurrent in the movie was racial prejudice - against all Hispanics.  In the movie, James Dean was the protagonist who hated all Mexicans - while Rock Hudson and Elizabeth had a grandchild which was mixed Caucasian and Mexican.

Betty and I went to see the movie in my local hometown Shoals theater.  After the movie, we were standing outside when a local man walked up, smiling, and said to me, "Better not let James Dean see her."  Before I could decide if he was just being friendly or was being nasty, he had walked away.  At that time in Alabama there were few, in any, Hispanic people - and sadly, no Mexican food restaurants yet.  So neither of us were bothered by his comment.

After my leave, I traveled to my next station at Bergstrom AFB in Austin, Texas.  I found a nice two bedroom apartment for my family and started getting it ready for their arrival.  Our new home was to be at 808 Baylor Street, which was about a mile west of downtown Austin.  On our block were a row of large older homes which had been converted to apartments.  Downstairs was one large apartment and upstairs was divided into two separate apartments.  Since I was only an Air Force enlisted man on a limited budget, our apartment was one of the less expensive upstairs units.

In the row of converted old homes, all the larger downstairs apartments were occupied by older families.  Our downstairs apartment was home to a Mr. & Mrs. Potts and their teenage daughter.  All the upstairs apartments were occupied by younger Air Force families, college students, and in our building, a University of Texas-Austin professor from Egypt, Fouad Tawfik, who was also working on his Ph.d. at the university.

For several weeks I was working in my spare time getting my apartment ready for my family, and the Potts family below could not have been friendlier.  After all, I was a Southern boy who still had my Alabama accent, y'all.  So we were immediate friends.  With my family arriving on Saturday and, not having a car, I would have to take a taxi to the train station.  Mr. Potts would have none of that for a good Southern boy.  He volunteered to drive me to pick up my family.

My wife, Betty, and all three of my girls were more fair skinned, seemingly more Spanish looking.  But the Saturday they arrived was in August - and, besides being Mexican, they stepped off the train with a good suntan.  I thought old man Potts was going to have a heart attack on the spot.  He drove us home and was cordial - but he was far from friendly.  Later I learned that he had told his teenage daughter that she could not babysit with those Mexican kids.

Even though I came from the South, Alabama, where I knew there was racial discrimination during those years - I had no idea that the prejudice in Texas against Mexicans, and all Hispanics, was even greater than the black and white schism in the rest of the South. 

In our two buildings, the upstairs apartments next door was home to a couple from San Jose, California, Rick & Jeri, who were there for Rick to study Psychiatry at the university - and n the same building a young Air Force couple, Larry & Barbara.  In our building we had Fouad Tawfik, professor and Ph.d. candidate from Egypt and his roommate, a university student from Egypt.  No prejudice whatsoever in the upstairs units.

In the downstairs units we had the Potts and in the next door building another older couple - and both downstairs apartments reeked with racial hatred.  Not for blacks, but for any flavor of Hispanic.

What Betty never told me until we were out of the Air Force and living in California - was that old man Potts, who hated Mexicans, came knocking on our door when I was at work.  But he picked on the wrong Mexican lady.  She would not tell me when we were still living in Austin, for she did not want to get me in trouble for slugging an old man - which most certainly would have happened.

I have often had people say to me, "Bill, how can you understand racial prejudice?  You are white, Caucasian, and no one has ever mistreated you over your skin color."

That is true.  But when people you love are the target of such racial hatred, that is even worse.  I would much rather have the hatred aimed at me - instead of my wife and children.  Especially when they were truly beautiful people.  So, yes, I truly do know the hurt that comes from racial prejudice, I know it very personally.

Fast forward to the late 1960s and I was living in Southern California.  My friend, Patricia, and I were close friends with a lady from India, Cynthia Kalakadina, who worked with Pat at the TWA Regional Reservation Offices in downtown Los Angeles.  Cynthia and her mother were from India - but her step-father was a Caucasian executive who worked for TWA.  In the early 1950s, when Cynthia was a young girl, they spent a Sunday afternoon driving around Los Angeles.

In San Pedro, they stopped for lunch at a small cafe.  The owner refused to serve them, telling them, "I don't serve N- - - - - s here!"   Cynthia's step-father told him, "My wife and daughter are from India."   The owner replied, "I don't care where they are from, to me they are still N- - - - - s!"

That scene could have been taken directly from the movie Giant.  In the movie Rock Hudson and Elizabeth Taylor are a wealthy oil family.  They are traveling by car from an oil convention - and in the car with them was their Mexican daughter-in-law and their granddaughter.  Just like in Cynthia's case, the family stopped at a small cafe for lunch and the owner came over telling Rock Hudson, "We don't serve Mexicans in here!"

Rock Hudson told him, "This is my family and you will serve them."  To make a long story a wee bit shorter - Rock Hudson and this very big Redneck had a rollicking good fight all over the cafe.  But, alas, the bad guy won.  That does happen sometimes.

As I have long said, racial prejudice is a learned trait.  It is not in our DNA.  No one is born to hate, hatred of any flavor must be taught.  I pray for the day when we are all color blind, just as God is color blind.  Let us look into the heart and soul of those we meet - not at their skin color, accent, or culture.  Keep in mind that we are just as foreign to them as they are to us.

One last story and I will shut up.  In the mid-1990s I worked for a Pakistani own computer company, CMS Enhancements, in Orange County, California.  The company had about 300 employees - and in that group of 300 you could find every flavor of Eastern, Middle Eastern, Asian, and a few of we pale skinned Caucasians.  One day I was walking down the hallway toward Shipping & Receiving when another tall, blonde Caucasian man, carrying a box, walked past me coming from that department.  When I walked into Shipping & Receiving, a Chinese man ran up to me and excitedly demanded, "Where the box?  Where the box?"

At first I was confused, but then I remembered the man I had passed in the hallway - a tall, blonde Caucasian carrying a box.  I smiled and said to the Chinese man, "What's the matter?  Do we all look the same to you?"   I wasn't being facetious.  It is obvious to me that to a person from another race and culture - all Caucasians of similar build and coloring probably do look the same to him.

Okay, one last story - for real.  In 1956-57 I was stationed in the Air Force at Osan Air Base in Korea.  Twice we went on 2-month TDY (Temporary Duty) to a Nationalist Chinese Air Base at Tainan, Formosa (Taiwan).  On this base, the Chinese soldiers stood guard duty around the flight line and our planes.  One day a Chinese soldier came to me, with a rifle over his shoulder and a Chinese/English dictionary in his hands.  "Hey, GI, what this word?"   "That word is IF."   "What it mean?"   DUH!  How could I explain the meaning of "IF" to a Chinese man just learning English?

Yes, those things sometimes do make it hard to communicate.  But if we truly want to have fellowship with our fellowman - we can get past those small hurdles.  After all, there is really only one race, the Human Race - and God loves us all.

God bless, have a wonderful, blessed day,

Bill 

Click on image to enlarge: 

Theophanies In The Old Testament: The Creator At Work In His World

Is Jesus Christ found in the Old Testament?  You bet He is, for the Old Testament is looking forward to the cross - and the New Testament is looking at His finished work on the cross.   In Genesis 1:1 we read, "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth."   Right there in Genesis 1:1 Jesus Christ was active.  If you question that, please note that the Hebrew word for God is 'Elohiym which is plural for El, i.e., God.  The Hebrew language uses a plural noun, but always in a singular noun construct, to define God.  Singular God, plural Persons in the Godhead.  

Genesis 1:1-2, "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.  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."   Here we find God the Architect, Jesus Christ the Contractor, and the Builder is the Holy Spirit.

And for further verification, John 1:3 tells us, "All things came into being by Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being."   That "Him" mentioned in John 1:3 is the Word, Logos, Jesus Christ.   The entire Bible is about Jesus Christ and His finished work on the cross, providing eternal life to all who will believe and receive His "paid in full" gift of life.

Christ tells the Pharisees in John 5:45-46, "Do not think that I shall accuse you to the Father; there is one who accuses you - Moses, in whom you trust.  For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me; for he wrote about Me."   This is Jesus Christ declaring that the first five books of the Bible, the Torah, the books of Moses (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy) speak of Him. 

In the Old Testament Jesus Christ appeared a number of times, not incarnate, but in different manifestations prior to His earthly ministry as our God Incarnate.  In Hebrews 2:17 He tells us that Jesus Christ took on human form to be our High Priest in all things.  "Therefore, in all things He had to be made like His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people."

The Old Testament appearances of the preincarnate Christ are called "theophanies" and can be in visible, audible, or appear in a dream.

The recent April 2019 issue of Acts & Facts, the magazine of the Institute For Creation Research, has a great article describing seven of the best known visible manifestations which represent physical encounters, theopanies, with the pre-incarnate Christ.

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Theophanies In The Old Testament: The Creator At Work In His World
Friday, March 29, 2019
https://www.icr.org/article/11252

https://www.icr.org/article/theophanies-old-testament-creator/

As Easter approaches, we tend to focus our reflections on the life, death, and glorious resurrection of Christ.  We even mark the timeline of history by whether events happened before (BC) or after (AD) Christ’s birth.  But Christ’s existence didn’t begin with His time on Earth.  The apostle John emphasizes this when he begins his gospel account.

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  He was in the beginning with God.  All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made." (John 1:1-3)

The apostle Paul also affirms this truth in the book of Colossians.

"He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.  For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible….  And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist." (Colossians 1:15-17)

The Lord Jesus Christ was present at the beginning of creation.  He was and is our Creator.  His pre-existence is further affirmed by His many appearances documented throughout the Old Testament.  Theophany is a theological term that refers to an encounter with God prior to Christ’s incarnation.  There are over 50 possible theophanies recorded throughout the Old Testament, primarily concentrated in Genesis, in the Exodus and conquest events, in Judges, and in the prophets.

Jesus Christ existed before His birth in Bethlehem - He is our Creator.

Generally speaking, theophanies take three primary forms:

1. Visible manifestations most often involve the Angel of the Lord appearing in human form, but could also include other visible encounters such as the fire and smoke on Mount Sinai.

2. Auditory manifestations are indicated by the many “and the LORD said unto...” statements found throughout the Old Testament, but also include unique encounters like the “still small voice” that spoke to Elijah in the cave (1 Kings 19:12).

3. Visions and dreams also exhibit theophany characteristics, such as Jacob’s ladder dream (Genesis 28:12), Daniel’s man in linen vision (Daniel 10–12), and Zechariah’s man among the myrtle trees vision (Zechariah 1:7-17).  However, whether or not visions and dreams should be considered theophanies is controversial among scholars since they involve a metaphysical or spiritual presence rather than a physical one.

John 1:18 tells us that “no one has seen God at any time.”  Does this contradict the many visible manifestations mentioned throughout the Old Testament?  Not at all, for John also explains in the same verse that “the only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him.”  In other words, whenever the omnipresent, invisible God has chosen to appear to people, He has done so in the person of His Son, Jesus Christ.

Let’s take a moment to review seven visible manifestations that clearly represent physical encounters with the pre-incarnate Christ.  As you reflect on these miraculous events, you’ll notice that theophanies documented in the Bible share five similar characteristics:

1.  A God-initiated encounter
2.  Declarations of deity
3.  Miraculous actions and knowledge
4.  Comforting statements
5.  Worship of God as a result of the encounter

The Lord Appears to Abraham (Genesis 18:1-15)

In this passage, it says that “the LORD appeared to [Abraham] by the terebinth trees.”  Note Abraham’s immediate reaction.  He looked and saw three men standing near him.  He “ran… to meet them, and bowed himself to the ground” (vv. 1-2).  It seems plausible that Abraham may have recognized the pre-incarnate Lord Jesus Christ from previous encounters in Genesis 12:7 and 14:18-20.

Only one of these men - the Lord Jesus - spoke with authority.  Not only does He prophesy that Sarah will have a son in her old age (v. 10) but He knows that Sarah privately laughed in her tent when she overheard the news.  He responds by asking, “Why did Sarah laugh?… Is anything too hard for the LORD?” (vv. 13-14).

The Man Wrestles with Jacob (Genesis 32:24-30)
 
Jacob spent the night alone as he was waiting to meet his estranged brother, Esau.  The passage says “a Man wrestled with him until the breaking of day” (v. 24).  When Jacob continued fighting after long hours of struggle, the Man touched the socket of Jacob’s hip and instantly maimed him (v. 25).  Still, Jacob refused to release Him, even while experiencing excruciating pain.  Jacob cried out, “I will not let You go unless You bless me!” (v. 26).

The Man said, “Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel; for you have struggled with God and with men, and have prevailed” (v. 28).  And Jacob, recognizing the divinity of Christ, the Man with whom he wrestled, responded with a bold proclamation: “For I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved” (v. 30).

The Angel of the Lord Speaks from a Burning Bush (Exodus 3:2-10)

Moses, a fugitive from Egypt, was tending to his father-in-law’s flock when the “Angel of the LORD appeared to him in a flame of fire from the midst of a bush…. The bush was burning with fire, but the bush was not consumed” (v. 2).  God called to Moses from the bush, telling him, “Do not draw near this place.  Take your sandals off your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground” (v. 5).

We know this was no ordinary angel because He clearly revealed His identity to Moses: “I am the God of your father - the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.”  The passage tells us that Moses “was afraid to look upon God” as the Lord called him to lead the Israelites out of Egypt (vv. 6-10).

Many artistic interpretations of this event depict the flaming bush that did not burn, but the text clearly states that the Angel of the Lord was visible to Moses.  It is possible that the shekinah glory of God emanating from the Angel - the pre-incarnate Christ - standing in the midst of the bush gave the appearance of fire.

The Angel of the Lord Confronts Balaam (Numbers 22:22-35)

When Balaam saddled his donkey and headed to Moab with instructions from King Balak to curse Israel, the Bible tells us that the “Angel of the LORD took His stand in the way as an adversary against him” (v. 22).  Balaam’s donkey did everything she could to avoid crossing paths with the Lord Jesus Christ, who planned to kill Balaam as he passed by.  The donkey crossed over into a field, pushed herself against a wall, and even lay down in the middle of the road.

Balaam, unaware of the Lord’s presence, struck the donkey for her disobedience to his commands.  Then, “the LORD opened the mouth of the donkey, and she said to Balaam, ‘What have I done to you, that you have struck me these three times?... Am I not your donkey on which you have ridden, ever since I became yours, to this day?  Was I ever disposed to do this to you?’” (vv. 28-30).¹  Animals’ mouths, tongue muscles, and brains are not designed for human speech, so supernatural intervention was absolutely necessary for this to happen.

“The LORD opened Balaam’s eyes, and he saw the Angel of the LORD standing in the way with His drawn sword in His hand; and he bowed his head and fell flat on his face” (v. 31).  God has the power to use whatever means necessary to accomplish His will.  In this case, the Lord used a wicked and perverse false-prophet-for-hire (v. 32) to bless and protect His chosen people.

Commander of the Lord’s Army Appears to Joshua (Joshua 5:13-15)
 
After the Israelites were delivered out of Egypt and had wandered in the wilderness for 40 years, God charged Joshua to lead the next generation to conquer Canaan.  When Joshua was near Jericho, he “lifted his eyes and looked, and behold, a Man stood opposite him with His sword drawn in His hand.”  Joshua approached the Man and asked, “Are You for us or for our adversaries?” (v. 13).

“So [the Man] said, ‘No, but as Commander of the army of the LORD I have now come.’  And Joshua fell on his face to the earth and worshiped” (v. 14).

The Man, the Lord Jesus Christ, let Joshua know exactly who was and is in charge.  “Then the Commander of the LORD’s army said to Joshua, ‘Take your sandal off your foot, for the place where you stand is holy.’  And Joshua did so” (v. 15).  Joshua’s encounter with Christ encouraged him to begin the conquest of Canaan and fulfill God’s promise to Abraham (Genesis 12:7).

The Angel of the Lord Visits Manoah and His Wife (Judges 13)

The Lord Jesus Christ appeared again in the time of the Judges during a 40-year period when Israel was oppressed by the Philistines.  He visited an unnamed woman who had been unable to bear children for many years: - “Indeed now, you are barren and have borne no children, but you shall conceive and bear a son…. and no razor shall come upon his head, for the child shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb; and he shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines” (vv. 3-5).  This prophecy foretold the life of Samson.

When the woman told her husband, Manoah, about the encounter, Manoah prayed that the “Man of God” would come again and teach them what to do (v. 8).  The Lord Jesus visited and spoke with both of them.  Manoah offered to feed his guest.  “The Angel of the LORD said to Manoah, ‘Though you detain Me, I will not eat your food.  But if you offer a burnt offering, you must offer it to the LORD.’ (For Manoah did not know He was the Angel of the LORD)” (v. 16).

“So Manoah took the young goat with the grain offering, and offered it upon the rock to the LORD.  And He did a wondrous thing while Manoah and his wife looked on - it happened as the flame went up toward heaven from the altar - the Angel of the LORD ascended in the flame of the altar!” (vv. 19-20).

Manoah and his wife fell on their faces to the ground.  “When the Angel of the LORD appeared no more to Manoah and his wife, then Manoah knew that He was the Angel of the LORD.  And Manoah said to his wife, ‘We shall surely die, because we have seen God!’” (vv. 21-22).  But she contended that God would not have accepted their burnt offering or foretold Samson’s birth had He intended to kill them.

“So the woman bore a son and called his name Samson; and the child grew, and the LORD blessed him” (v. 24).

The Fourth Man in the Fire (Daniel 3:16-28)

King Nebuchadnezzar commanded the people of Babylon to bow down to his idol at the trumpet’s sound.  Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, exiles from Israel, refused to worship anyone but the Lord.  Their refusal angered the king and he commanded they be thrown into a fiery furnace, a seemingly unlikely place for a glorious theophany.

“Then King Nebuchadnezzar was astonished… ‘Did we not cast three men bound into the midst of the fire?...  Look!...  I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire; and they are not hurt, and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God’” (vv. 24-25).  The king called the men to come out of the fire and discovered that “the hair of their head was not singed nor were their garments affected, and the smell of fire was not on them” (v. 27).

Scholars debate whether the fourth man in the fire was the pre-incarnate Christ or one of God’s mighty angels.  Nebuchadnezzar described the man as one “like a son of the gods” [literal translation] and later calls him “His Angel.”  But the dramatic imagery of this event, followed by praise for God by a pagan king, is undeniable.

“Nebuchadnezzar spoke, saying, ‘Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, who sent His Angel and delivered His servants who trusted in Him, and they have frustrated the king’s word, and yielded their bodies, that they should not serve nor worship any god except their own God’” (v. 28).

When God enacts a miracle, He supernaturally controls all details so that His power is unmistakable, and there is no other explanation!

Old Testament Theophanies in the Discovery Center

The Creator has been at work in His creation throughout Earth’s history.  In these seven theophanies, we see the Lord Jesus Christ visiting people during significant times in their lives, meeting their needs, revealing His character, and intervening in a personal way.

These events will be featured in the ICR Discovery Center for Science and Earth History.  The goal of this center is to glorify and reveal our Creator.  So after the main exhibits displaying the scientific evidence for God’s creation, visitors will be introduced to the Creator Himself.  The scenes of the Old Testament theophanies will precede a dramatic hologram-based exhibit of the life of Christ, who revealed Himself as never before when He was born in the flesh and walked this earth for 33 years.  His perfect, sinless life culminated in a horrific death on the cross.  He paid the penalty for our sins, so that we could become children of God.

Just as Christ’s existence didn’t begin with His earthly birth, neither did it end with His earthly death.  After three days He rose from the grave, ascended to heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God, where He ever lives to intercede for us (Mark 16:19; Hebrews 1:3; 7:25).  God’s presence now lives in each believer through the Holy Spirit.  What a joy it is to know that the Holy Spirit of God is always with us (John 14:16-17; 16:7-14).

The God who has appeared throughout all of history, whose work we see in creation, and whose sacrifice assured our salvation will appear again one day before our eyes.  In that day, the whole world will respond in worship and praise to Him (Philippians 2:9-11).  What a day that will be!

Reference

1. In his study Bible notes, Dr. Henry Morris commented that Balaam’s apparent lack of surprise at hearing the donkey speak “was probably due both to his direct encounter with God the previous night (Numbers 22:20) and also his unthinking rage, accompanied by physical pain, caused by the stubbornness of the animal.”  Morris, H. M. 2012.  The Henry Morris Study Bible. Green Forest, AR: Master Books, 278.

Portions of this article were adapted from Sunday school materials prepared by Henry M. Morris IV, ICR Director of Operations.

Cite this article: anonymous. 2019.  Theophanies in the Old Testament: The Creator at Work in His World. Acts & Facts. 48 (4).

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I pray this article confirmed your Biblical knowledge, encouraged you to dig deeper into the Word of God, and for Friends who are not yet believers - I pray this discussion motivates you to seek more knowledge and a saving relationship with God who created all things and who, like a loving Father, is waiting to welcome YOU into His eternal family.

God bless, have a wonderful, blessed day,

Bill

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My Testimony Of Growing Up In The South In The 1940s/50s!

Yesterday I watched an interesting video from PragerU.  It began briefly with Candace Owens addressing the issue of the political parties in the South during the first half of the 20th Century (1901-1960) and the myth that the Republican party was the villain responsible for slavery and segregation in the South.

Then Carol Swain, Professor of Political Science and Law at Vanderbilt University explains the true nature of segregation, racism, and Jim Crow Law in the South following the Civil War and into the first half of the 20th century.  The villain:  the Democratic Party.

This was the spark which led me to share "My Testimony Of Growing Up In The South In The 1940s/50s!"  During that time being Southern was almost synonymous with being Democrat.  During those years the South was predominately Democrat and segregation was a given.  In the public schools there was the policy of "separate but equal."  However, the "equal" part never came to fruition for the black schools.

In my home in Sheffield, Alabama, when I was a youth and a young teen - I am proud to say that I never saw nor heard any segregationism, racism, or other such negative thoughts or words in my home.  Maybe it was because we were poor and could relate to other folks, such as blacks, who were also poor.

Yes, I saw the signs of racism and segregation all around me in our city and community during those years - separate schools, white and black drinking fountains, bathrooms, waiting rooms.  Even separate sections of our local theaters.  Segregation was all around me and I just accepted it as "this is the way the whole world is structured."  

What used to amaze me was that whites would not eat in a cafe or restaurant with blacks - but saw no problem with blacks preparing and serving their food.  I am, and always have been, convinced that prejudice is a learned trait, it is not in our DNA.  And it is most often passed down from older generations who inherited it from their elders.

We see that same kind of racial/religious discrimination in the Muslim world today.  How often have we seen young Muslim children who were taught from birth to hate Jews, Americans, and all non-Muslims.  Those children are not born with that hatred, it is taught to them by their parents and elders.

Yet when I went into the Air Force in June 1955, our Basic Training Flight of 60 young men was a good mixture of whites and blacks, from Alabama and Florida.  After Basic Training I went to the Air Force Radar/Electronics Tech School in Denver.  That was the first time for me to walk in a city where the facilities were not labeled "White and Black" - and I was thrilled to see this.  My initial thought was, "Wow, the whole world is not divided black and white!"

In my Air Force Tech School class the friend with whom I competed to be top grade in our class - was a black guy from Chicago, Albert Hawkins.  Albert stayed ahead of me because I went dancing at the USO every evening - and he stayed in the barracks and studied.  At the end of our six months training, Albert was number one in the class and I was number two.  He deserved it.

During our six months of training, I tried to get him to go to the USO with me.  Not so that I could beat him in class standing, but because I liked him as a friend and wanted to share that fun with him.  When he told me he could not dance, I told him, "No way, there is no such thing as a black man who cannot dance!"  Was I being racist when I said that?  Of course not, he was a friend - and I honestly had never met a black person who could not dance - even today, except Albert.

After Tech School, I was sent to Korea and there my best friend was Bob White, a very talented black guitarist.  We had bunks side by side and shared his record player to listen to music.  He taught me to love jazz, Ella Fitzgerald, and the scat singing she popularized.  Scat singing was the "rap music" of the 40's/50s/60s and is still popular in jazz circles today.  Bob formed a Jazz Trio and played on the Osan Air Base radio station. 

In the evening I would go with Bob and his trio to the music room in the back of the Enlisted Men's Service Club while they practiced.  Picture this - a black guitar player, a black bass player, a black piano player - and their total audience was one skinny white kid from Alabama.  I loved those evenings.

And I have to admit that when we were leaving Korea and being transferred to Bergstrom AFB in Austin, Texas - it never dawned on me that we could not continue to be friends.  At the base terminal when we were waiting for our plane to Japan to meet our ship home, Bob told me, "You do realize that when we get back to the states, we cannot run around together." 

That hit me like a ton of bricks.  Why?  I was angry, not at Bob - but at the situation in America in 1957 which said that Bob and I could not be friends when we came home from Korea.  Just imagine, I was a white guy from Alabama, it was 1957, and it never dawned on me that we could not be friends at home.  It took a black friend from from Detroit to bring me back to the reality of America in the 1950s.  After the Air Force when MoTown Records hit the music market, Bob was one of the founding members of their inhouse band, the Funk Brothers.

All of this is to say that I grew up Southern, and by default Democrat in the 1940s/50s - but was not raised to be prejudiced, nor have I ever been prejudiced against anyone because of their skin color.  I may not like a person because he is a jerk - but it has nothing to do with his skin color.  I even voted for John Kennedy in 1960.  But when the Democratic Party nominated Lyndon Johnson for president in 1964 - that very day I went out and re-registered Republican.  And I have been a registered Republican since that day.

Have I always voted party-line Republican?  No, for in the 1960s/70s and into the 1980s - both the parties, Republican and Democrat, consisted of Liberals, Moderates, and Conservatives.  At that time I voted for the person and issues, not the party-line.   And I have to admit, but with a red face, that I even voted for Bill Clinton in 1992 - mainly because I felt that Bush, Sr. was not a strong leader.  However, I can proudly say that in the next presidential election I did NOT vote for Clinton.

Today the two parties are clearly divided.  Democrats are Liberal and most are Liberal Socialists.  And Republicans tend to be Conservative.  Today I vote strict party-line Conservative - all the way.

I stand strongly with Carol Swain, Professor of Political Science and Law, Vanderbilt University - and proudly call her a kindred spirit.  I like the way she thinks and strongly urge all my Friends to view this video - and then share it with all your FRANs (Friends, Relatives, Associates, Neighbors). 

Why Did The Democratic South Become Republican? https://www.facebook.com/prageru/videos/798693920529964/

God bless, have a wonderful, blessed day,

Bill 

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Happy Birthday, Pastor Sam Lacanienta!

One of the first things we learn as new Christian believers is that we do not worship pastors, we only worship God.  But that said, we still can and should have great respect for those men who have committed their lives to serving God - and in serving God, to serve and support us in our spiritual life and needs.

And we all will have a special place in our hearts for that one pastor who took us by the hand and guided us to the cross.  That man becomes our spiritual father.  I consider myself very fortunate that God placed Pastor Sam Lacanienta in my life in 1987.  My wife, Dory, had been praying for me to be saved for ten years.  For ten years she gently nudged me toward Christ.  But it was when we met Pastor Sam & Ida Lacanienta that Dory's prayers began to be answered.  In 1987, after six months of Godly love in worship services, Sunday School, and Family Bible Studies - I became a believer with Pastor Sam as my spiritual mentor and father.

So when Qhuelly Ruaya Reyes, a young Filipina in the church he now pastors in the Philippines -Talakag Church On The Solid Rock (COTSR), a sister church to the COTSR which Pastor Sam planted in Aliso Viejo, California - asked me to send a birthday message for Pastor Sam -  it seemed a good time to reminiscence and share my many thoughts and memories of the impact which Pastor Sam & Ida Lacanienta have had in my life since I met them in 1987

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Qhuelly Ruaya Reyes wrote:

Hi Sir Bill Gray!  Can I request for a birthday message for Pastor Sam through video?  We are planning to show it this coming Sunday.  You can send it through my gmail account.

Hi Qhuelly,

I have made two versions of my "HAPPY BIRTHDAY, PASTOR SAM!" video.  The only difference is how long each frame stays on the screen.  One version is 4.30 minutes long, the other is 2.16 minutes long.  The reason for the time difference is that some frames have text and I give folks more time to read it.

Video 1  ~  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5_3VmwIgSx0    (10 seconds per frame - 4 minutes, 30 seconds long)

Video 2  ~  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vo1JAiTl9d4   (5 seconds per frame - 2 minutes, 16 seconds long)

Thank you for including me in your celebration of Pastor Sam's birthday.   Give him a really big hug for Dory and me.  He and Ida truly changed our lives for the better.   Please let me know if you have any problems with the video.  God bless, Bill

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Because YOU, my Friend, are also very special to me, I want to share these memories of Pastor Sam with you.

God bless, have a wonderful, blessed day,

Bill 

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