Dr Dave Johnson

The Role of the Holy Spirit in Missions

2012-02-21T23:19:00.000-08:00

The Role of the Holy Spirit in Missions

Scripture Text: Acts 1:8;2:1-37

Over the last century, there has been a renewed emphasis on the Holy Spirit in the Body of Christ, especially through the Pentecostal and Charismatic movements. This includes the area of evangelism and missions. Here, the role of the Holy Spirit is expressed in several ways, first in the lives of unbelievers, and then in the lives of followers of Christ.

The first role of the Holy Spirit is that He brings conviction of sin (Acts 2:26-37). Under the power of the Spirit, those who listened to Peter were convicted of their sin. Since sin separates us from God, sin must be dealt with in order to come to Christ. The Holy Spirit, then, is the midwife of the new birth (cf. John 3:3-8), and is also the one who goes before the evangelist or missionary, preparing the hearts of the people to receive God’s Word.

Second, the Holy Spirit commissions and empowers believers for service (Acts 1:8). Spirit empowered people can overcome their natural insecurities and fears about witnessing. Peter, for example, vacillated regarding his faith, confessing Christ as Lord on the one hand (Matthew 16:18-20), and denying he ever knew him on the other (cf. Luke 22:54-62). On the Day of Pentecost, however, Peter was a transformed man, preaching both with confidence in his message and under the power of the Holy Spirit.

Third, the Holy Spirit endorses testimony, whether it is preaching as Peter did in Acts 2, or ministering one on one as Philip did with the eunuch (Acts 8:26-40), that points people to Jesus Christ. Peter preached Christ and three thousand people were added to the Kingdom of God. The same Spirit was also at work with Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch when Philip shared Christ with him.

Fourth, the Holy Spirit sends people to the ends of the earth to proclaim the Gospel. Acts 1:8 reveals the geographical and cultural progression of the Church. In Jerusalem, the disciples were familiar with the language and culture of the people. In Samaria, the language is the same but the culture was somewhat different. There was also deep racial hatred between Jews and Samaritans, posing a barrier to the Gospel that could only be overcome by work of the Spirit. As the Church expanded and became more Gentile in nature, important cultural issues such as circumcision needed to be faced and overcome. While the original apostles may or may not have had to grapple with learning new languages, modern missionaries must successfully cross this barrier, which is possible through the aid of the Holy Spirit.

Application and Prayer: Let us seek to be sensitive to the moving of the Holy Spirit in our own lives and in the corporate life of the Church.

The Fire Bible and The Fishing Net

2012-02-12T21:09:00.001-08:00

The First Bible and The Fishing Net

By Dr. Dave Johnson

Assemblies of God Missionary to the

Philippines

http://www.daveanddebbiejohnson.com/

www.drdavejohnson.blogspot.com

More than twenty years ago Donald Stamps, an Assemblies of God missionary to Brazil, had a vision to create a study Bible that would provide Brazilian pastors, most of whom did not have the financial resources to invest in a personal library, with a one volume theological goldmine of biblical truth. Shortly after completing the notes, he went to be with the Lord. But the vision lived on. Not only was his work, at first known as the Full Life Study Bible, known better today as the Fire Bible or, in English, the Life in the Spirit Study Bible, translated into Portuguese, the language of Brazil, it has also been translated into thirty-seven other languages, including Tagalog, the national language of the Philippines, where Debbie and I live and serve. In just a few months, the Fire Bible will be rolling off the presses in Cebuano, another major language of the Philippines. As with Tagalog, I am the managing editor of the Cebuano edition.

These Bibles don’t just appear overnight. A lot of work must be done both in the States and on the field. In the States, funds must be raised. When the Tagalog edition came out in 2004, the price tag was about $162,000. The Cebuano edition, at the time of this writing, will cost about $318,000, most of which has still not been raised (if you would like to help, please visit http://www.lifepublishers.org/). On the field, a managing editor, normally an AGWM missionary must be chosen and contracts must be signed with the local Bible Society for rights to their Bible translations. Then translators and editors must be selected and trained. In time, secretaries, copy editors, readers, and other people need to be added. This phase of the project alone normally takes about two and one half years.

As the various notes and articles are completed, they are sent, normally over the Internet, to LIFE Publishers, the publishing arm of the Assemblies of God World Missions, who oversees the projects. Thanks to modern technology, their superb staff does the layout in languages they cannot even read. As the layout is completed, the files are sent back to the field for further proofreading and correction. When the translation phase is finished, LIFE Publishers outsources the printing and binding all over the world, always looking for the best quality at a reasonable price. For example, the Tagalog edition was printed in Japan and bound in Indonesia before being sent back to the Philippines. The Cebuano edition will be printed and bound in Belarus (White Russia) and will then sent to the Philippines for marketing and distribution in about August or September of this year. Needless to say, we are excited about its arrival!

But what does all this have to do with a fishing net?

The answer is, well, rather simple. Several years ago God gave my wife a prophetic word that he was going to send an unprecedented revival to the

Philippines

, a land that has seen wonderful seasons of refreshing in the past. God also commanded us to “get ready, get ready, get ready.” How does one prepare for revival? By making a fishing net. Not the kind that comes from a pole with a short scoop on the end but the kind that is staked out in the ocean at night, tied to huge hawser ropes at least two hundred feet in length, and takes entire fishing village to haul in to shore in the morning. Like any good fishing net there are many interlocking strands that must be woven in for the net to be strong.

The fishing net is a metaphor for training workers in accordance with 2 Timothy 2:2 where Paul instructed young Timothy “And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others” (NIV 1984). In order for the harvest to be conserved, thousands of trained workers, both clergy and especially laypeople, are needed. In our part of the Philippines, our vision is to plant a church within walking distance of every Filipino, meaning we need an unbelievable number of trained workers to do the job in just our part of the land.

In our part of the Philippines, the major strands of our net are three fold. The first is to train them through Evangel Bible College, our local Bible school. Although our school is small, we have consistently graduated young men and women who have become fine pastors and lay leaders. But not all are called to be church planters. Second, seeing the need for more churches and believing the prophetic word from God included mobilizing and training laypeople, my wife began a program in 2007 that called for training ordinary church members to plant house churches in their communities. These churches, in turn, are being challenged to plant more house churches. We began with three church planting schools strategically placed throughout our district and have since expanded to fourteen. To date, 184 people have graduated from this program, with more than a hundred more slated to graduate next month. So far, at least 207 house churches have been planted, and more are on the way to meet the staggering need for bringing the gospel to the Filipinos in our region. The third strand is a leadership enhancement program, which I have been asked to create, and is currently under development. This program will seek to develop and strengthen those already in ministry and will most likely include an ongoing personal mentoring program.

These three strands neatly intersect with other inner strands that are designed to strengthen our fishing net. The Fire Bible is one of those inner strands. For several years in a row, we were able to give a copy of the Fire Bible to each graduate from the Bible School—helping them to both study and teach sound, Pentecostal doctrine in their churches. We have also placed copies of the Fire Bible in the school’s library for the use of the students and faculty. Nationwide, many other pastors purchased a Fire Bible in book stores. In total, more than 8,000 copies have been sold, including several dozen by pastors in our region through a payment installment program that we offered for a time. We have almost exhausted the 10,000 copies printed for us by LIFE Publishers and are looking at reprinting in the next year. If you can help us with the costs of reprinting, please visit http://www.lifepublishers.org/.

To date, the house church planting program has used other inner strands by employing materials, partially financed through the American Assemblies of God’s Boys and Girls Missionary Challenge (BGMC) fund, which were created specifically for planting house churches. As the number of churches expands, hopefully exponentially, house church leaders are calling for additional training. In the coming months, we will be taking a look at the Fire Bible, as well as other materials, to see how it might be used in this program. The same will be true for the leadership enhancement program currently under development. Like a good fishing net, we need a variety of strands for catching and keeping the “fish.”

To reach the lost and gather the harvest, a large, strong, fishing net must be constructed and maintained in order to bring in the harvest that God is sending and, we believe, will be sending in ever increasing number. The fishing net is comprised of trained laborers, using the Fire Bible and other tools, to plant and grow more churches. May God help us to make the net strong!

CPS/leadership---looking for ways to integrate the Fire Bible

To multiply the number of churches we will be adding another level of training that calls for more closely mentoring those involved in house church planting.

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Church Planting in the Bicol Region of the Philippines

2012-01-27T00:23:00.001-08:00

Stimulating and Nurturing a Church Planting Movement in the Bicol Region of the Philippines Part II

By Dr. Dave Johnson

Assemblies of God Missionary to the

Philippines

http://www.daveanddebbiejohnson.com/

www.drdavejohnson.blogspot.com

In the first blog I asked the following questions: What is a Church Planting Movement (CPM)? Do we have one in the Assemblies of God in the Bicol region of the

Philippines

? If not, how to we start one? If so, how do we nurture it? These questions came to me as I studied the book entitled Stimulating and Nurturing Church Planting Movements (2001), published by the International Missions Board of the Southern Baptist Convention. This book to the subject of a CPM, and its contents form the outline of these two blogs. I use this as a framework of discussion as to whether we have, at least in my opinion, a CPM among the Assemblies of God churches in the Bicol Region of the Philippines where Debbie and I serve.

The authors define a CPM as “a rapid and exponential increase of indigenous churches planting churches with a given people group or population segment.” They then list ten essential elements that they feel are critical to experiencing a CPM anywhere in the world. To begin to answer the questions I posed, I reflected on the first six elements in part one of this article, which can be read and downloaded from www.drdavejohnson.blogspot.com. Let’s move on to number seven.

7. Cell or House Churches

In 2007, after much prayer and reading, the Holy Spirit led my wife to launch a house church planting program. She wrote out a basic plan, which we shared with the district leadership, who had a passion for church planting, but the lacked the manpower and financial resources to accomplish their vision. Debbie’s plan directly addressed those two issues by issuing a challenge to mobilize and train laymen to plant churches in homes in their communities. These churches, like the cells in a human body, would then reproduce themselves.

The plan was to open church planting schools strategically located throughout the region so that no one would have to travel far to attend. The training would be held two days a month for ten months. The focus of the house churches would not be on traditional preaching, but on interactive inductive Bible studies that the trained leader would facilitate. We started with three schools and twenty four students. Since then we have grown to fourteen schools with dozens of graduates and 143 students currently enrolled. We have planted 207 house churches in just four years to go with the 208 traditional churches we already have. We define traditional church as one that has a pastor, program, and meeting place, most of the laymen who have planted a house church have come out of our traditional churches. Many, if not most, of the house churches are connected to a traditional church for relational oversight, but those who attend the house churches, in most cases from what we can tell, do not attend the traditional church.

We thank God for what he has done, but we also acknowledge that there are some staggering challenges. First, the unfinished task. Only 2-3 percent of the 5,000,000 people in our region are born again and most of them are either unwilling or unable to travel far to go to church. Our vision is to plant a house or traditional church within walking distance of every person in our region. Ten or twelve members is about the best size for a house churches. The simple math, then, reveals a need to plant more than 416,000 churches! To date, we have only 415 in the Assemblies of God. Obviously, we need a sustained, Spirit empowered CPM!!

Second, our research on the house church planting program revealed that we have not given sufficient oversight to the workers. One of the signs of this is that only about 25% of the house churches planted have reproduced another house church and the number that have planted a third, fourth, or fifth generation house church is even less, meaning that if the training schools stopped today, the movement would eventually come to a half.

Third, our research revealed that many house church workers feel the need for further training. Since most have jobs and families to support, enrolling in our Bible school is out of the question for most. The district leadership is currently taking some positive steps to address these issues, and I believe that the future of house church planting is bright indeed!

8. Churches Planting Churches

The mother-daughter church planting method has been, by far, the most fruitful method used over the years by our churches in Bicol. Also, as far as I can tell, nearly all of the house church planters, to date, have come out of the traditional churches and remain a part of them as well as the house churches they oversee, meaning that there is a link between the traditional and many, though certainly not all, of our house churches. In my assessment we have done well with the concept of churches planting churches.

9. Rapid Reproduction (of Churches)

As stated above, the authors believe that a rapid reproduction of churches is necessary to have a CPM. My first reaction to the idea of rapid and exponential was that it seemed a bit forced, as if we were telling the Lord of the Harvest how he should conduct his affairs. Apparently I am not alone in raising this question because the authors note that others have raised similar objections. On further reflection, however, I have changed my mind. One, I am convinced that a rapid reproduction is in fact the will of God for every nation! Second, rapidity is necessary, as the authors contend, to maintain the momentum of a CPM. Whether we have one or not in Bicol, in my opinion, will be dealt with below.

10. Healthy Churches

It should saying that healthy churches are needed to have a CPM. The authors contend that a healthy church is one that has the following five components: worship, missionary and evangelistic outreach, education and discipleship, and fellowship. I agree with their contention that if these are actively functioning in a church, growth will be automatic and natural.

Whether the Assemblies of God churches in Bicol are healthy is a fair and open question. The average traditional church here has about 30-50 adult attendees, most of who are members, on any given Sunday. We have also shared in the pain of churches that have suffered splits—we’ve probably planted more churches in this way that we would care to admit! We have also watched some pastors deal with personal issues in an unhealthy manner and take their churches out of the Assemblies of God as a result. Most churches also struggle financially in a perpetually economically distressed part of the country.

On these bases alone, it is tempting to think that most of our churches are weak but, to me anyway, the issue is not that simple for the following reasons:

1. No formal assessment of the health of our churches have ever been ever been conducted to the best of my knowledge. The researcher and missiologist in me leads me to the conviction that, for this reason, making a summary judgment is inappropriate.

2. Most of our churches in Bicol are in smaller, rural communities, where the population base is not large, so one should not necessarily expect to find a large church.

3. Many of our churches have given birth to daughter traditional churches or house churches at some point in their history, which is a sign of health and vitality.

4. I do not know what the attrition rate is of churches that die or leave the Assemblies of God.

My answer to the question as to whether our churches are healthy is that I simply do not know. I believe that this question can only be fairly answered when a comprehensive, formal assessment has been done of the majority of our churches, including answering the question as to why some close or leave the denomination.

Answering the Questions

We have now come full circle and can answer the questions posed at the beginning. Do we have a CPM in the Bicol region? The first traditional church was planted here around 1960, and we currently have 208, meaning that our average growth rate is about four per year. If this were the only measurement, we would have to admit that we do not have a CPM. However, the fact that we have started 207 house churches in only five years may lead to a different conclusion. However, the multiplication rate of house churches planting house churches is far below the average needed to maintain the rapid growth. If this is not successfully addressed, the house church movement will not fulfill its immense potential. So my answer to the question as to whether we have a CPM is “maybe,” or, to put it more positively, we are at the beginning of one, and I am certainly optimistic about the future.

The second question, “if not, how do we start one,” should be recast as “how do we start one among traditional churches.” I am not a house church purist. I believe that we need different kinds of churches in different situations, and I am firmly committed to continuing to plant and nurture traditional churches. How, then, do we start a CPM among our traditional churches? Setting aside the fact that that our traditional churches have given birth to the house church movement and, thus, are participating in it, I believe that a thorough assessment, using any number of the tools already available, must be undertaken to determine the current health of our traditional churches. We should then respond according to the needs revealed in the research with the conviction that healthy churches will naturally grow and reproduce new, healthy churches. The third question, “how do we nurture a CPM,” has already partially been answered. Nurturing takes place when actual needs are met. One solution not yet mentioned is that we need (and are in the beginning stages of creating) a leadership development program designed to meet the needs of our existing pastors and lay church planters. Whatever we may do, the CPM must be nurtured with prayer, fasting, and seeking the Lord of the Harvest for continued revival and renewal. Maranatha!

*All Scripture references are from the New King James Version unless otherwise noted.

Church Planting in the Bicol Region of the Philippines

2012-01-12T22:26:00.000-08:00

Stimulating and Nurturing a Church Planting Movement in the Bicol Region of the Philippines Part I

By Dr. Dave Johnson

Assemblies of God Missionary to the Philippines

http://www.daveanddebbiejohnson.com/

www.drdavejohnson.blogspot.com

What is a Church Planting Movement (CPM)? Do we have one in the Assemblies of God in the Bicol region of the Philippines? If not, how to we start one? If so, how do we nurture it? Some of these questions have been on my mind as I’ve studied a book by the International Missions Board of the Southern Baptist Convention entitled Stimulating and Nurturing Church Planting Movements (2001) that deals expressly with this subject, and its contents form the outline of this article. As I study, I am also reflecting on the current situation of the Assemblies of God churches in the Bicol Region of the Philippines where my wife, Debbie, and I have served since the year 2000. The assessment written below represents only my personal opinion.

Let’s begin by defining, according to the authors of this book, what a CPM is. They contend that a CPM “is a rapid and exponential increase of indigenous churches planting churches with a given people group or population segment.” Generally speaking, I agree with their definition, but I have some questions about the idea of being rapid. I will deal with this in Part II.

Before I attempt to answer the questions raised in the opening paragraph, walk with me through the ten essential elements of a CPM that the authors list as important. I will cover six of them here and the rest in Part II, which will also include an overall assessment as well as suggesting where we might want to go from here.

1. Prayer

Prayer must be an important element in all aspects. We simply cannot live without it. I cannot measure, at this point, the prayer life in our churches so I will only state that I am challenged to grow in my own walk with God.

2. Abundant Gospel Sowing

In our own ministry, we have conducted about 700 Good News Rallies over seventeen years in the Philippines, with more than 475 of them being in the Bicol region. In conjunction with these rallies, we have also spoken in some high schools and colleges, participated in Book of Hope distributions, passed out hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of tracts, have given away thousands of Bibles (mostly New Testaments) funded almost entirely by Light-for-the-Lost, and other forms outreach, including disaster relief. Many of our churches are faithful with their own evangelistic efforts, especially evangelistic Bible studies, and mothering new churches. We thank God for every bit of seed that anyone has sown for Christ in our region. Yet many, if not most, of the 5 million people in our region have still not come to Christ. I am also reminded that any seed that we have sown that is not faithful to the Word of God and glorifying to him will not bear the fruit we wish to see. We must continue diligently sowing if we expect an abundant harvest, and we must ensure that the seed we plant is the Word of God shared in a manner and timing that he chooses. He is, after all, the Lord of the Harvest.

3. Intentional Church Planting

According to the authors of the book I am reading, Stimulating and Nurturing Church Planting Movements, as well as simple logic, planting churches intentionally must precede a church planting movement. The first AG church was planted in the Bicol region around 1960. Through the years pastors, with help from a few missionaries, have faithfully planted and nurtured and today we have 208 churches in the region. Probably most of them have been planted through the mother/daughter church planting concept, and we have been heavily involved in assisting them here. Many pastors have a wonderful vision for church planting, but many do not. And, like all evangelical groups, we lose some churches that die or leave the denomination. I have no idea what our attrition rate is, but I believe that if we could cut that rate in half and couple it with aggressive church planting, the number of churches would rise dramatically. While we thank God for every person in every church, the question of whether we have a CPM, as defined above, cannot be answered yet.

4. Scriptural Authority

The authors contend that participative Bible study and Chronological Bible Storytelling are two of the methods mentioned. Both have the advantage of getting everyone involved, but one evangelical missionary mentioned that the Chronological Bible Storytelling, to date, has not been effective in Bicol. Most pastors are quite adept at leading Bible studies that appear to be quite interactive. In our house church planting program an interactive Bible study is done in place of a sermon. I will explain the nature of this program and the reason for doing a Bible study in Part II. These valid methods, however, do not negate the value of traditional preaching—a biblical hallmark of Protestantism that God has used mightily in the Assemblies of God. But whatever method used, the Bible, and only the Scriptures, must be our authority.

5. Local Leadership

The authors contend that local preachers, not missionaries, must lead the way in planting churches. Thank God for this biblical missiology that he gave to our forefathers long before my generation came on the scene. Out of the more than 4,000 AG churches in the Philippines, only one is pastored by a missionary—and this is a special church dedicated to children. But even here his Filipino staff does a lot of the speaking. Our role is to come alongside as evangelists, mentors, teachers, and role models. Do I do this well? Only God can answer that question but in my own estimation there is a lot of room for improvement! Our goal must be, in the words of the late J. Philip Hogan, to mother, not smother the national church.

6. Lay Leaders

The authors contend, and I agree, that training lay leaders is an important key to church multiplication. Ideally, they should be drawn from the same social group as the target for a new church plant and should live in that community. Full time pastors may arise from this group, but the majority will be bi-vocational lay church planters (I Corinthians 1:26-29). From where I sit the AG in general, and that includes us in the Bicol region, have not done this well in the past. But we must focus on this in order to have a CPM. The current General Superintendent of the Assemblies of God in the

Philippines

, Rev. Rey Calusay, has stated that the day of the expert is over and that the future of church planting is in the hands of the laity. The reason is simple. The number of laity is much, much greater than that of the credentialed clergy. The AG as a whole is a clergy driven movement, and this must be modified if we are to have a CPM. The leadership of the AG in the Bicol region has taken notice of this and begun to act. I will share the details in my next post.

Summary of Part I

Do we have a CPM? While we still cannot answer this question, but we can summarize what we have covered thus far. The level of prayer among the churches in the Bicol region has never been assessed, but it seems fair to say that we must continue to grow in this area. Have we sown the gospel abundantly? To the extent that we have sown the Word of God, I believe the answer to the question is yes, although, again, we must continue to sow. Are we intentional about church planting? We cannot answer this question just yet but a tentative answer would be that some churches are and some are not. Are we grounded in Scriptural authority? I believe that we have done well here. Some have gone into error, but the vast majority of our pastors (and hopefully the missionaries that currently serve them) faithfully declare the Word of God. Are we using local leadership? Again, I think it’s fair to say we have done well here. Have we mobilized the laity? In the past, I believe that we have not given this sufficient focus and have suffered for it. However, the future might be different. This issue, as well as dealing with the four final essential elements stated by the authors, as well as some assessment and plans for the future will be the subject of Part II in my next blog. Stayed tuned.

Winter Newsletter 2011-12

2011-12-23T20:35:00.000-08:00

Winter Newsletter 2011 - 2012

Dear Friends,

It’s almost the end of the year, so I’d better get this out quick! Before I forget, Debbie and I would like to wish all of you a blessed Christmas and Jesus filled New Year. He is the reason for any season and is worthy of all glory, honor, and praise. Blessed be His wonderful name!

We’ve been busy since the last time you heard from us by official newsletter. We arrived in Manila on September 30 and spent about 10 days in Manila before heading down to Legaspi City, our adopted hometown. We found a new house right away, thanks to Alan, our evangelistic team leader, who had been house hunting for us. It took us about a month to get unpacked and have some modifications made to the house, such as cutting holes in walls for air conditioners, which make life more comfortable for us in a tropical climate.

Once we got settled, the next step in our transition process was to reconnect with pastors throughout the Bicol region. We also believe that God has spoken to us about reevaluating our entire ministry here with the intent of discovering areas that needed improvement. Dave devised a couple of questionnaires that would accomplish this task and, over the last couple of months, has been travelling throughout the region to various minister’s meetings accomplish all of these goals. We anticipate completing this process by the end of January. We have also taken some preaching engagements along the way.

One highlights of our preaching times was Spiritual Emphasis Week at Evangel Bible College. What a joy to minister on the baptism, the joy, and the historical waves of the Holy Spirit and to see the hunger in the students and faculty. One lady student began speaking in tongues and was unable to stop for several days! This reminded us of the story of Agnes Ozman, a Bible School student who received the baptism in the Holy Spirit in 1901 in Topeka, Kansas. She spoke Chinese for three days straight and was also unable to speak her native tongue. The testimony afterwards of our Bible School student was that she drew so much closer to the Lord during the days she could only speak with Him in the language of the Spirit. Praise His Name.

Another glorious moment for us was a recent celebration service to rejoice in the results of our combined evangelistic outreach and Church Planting School ministry in one church. The building was packed full of people, mostly children, whom the church was now ministering to in various locations as a result of these ministries. Four Church Planting School graduates stood up and testified to the grace of God now in operation in their lives and new ministires as a result of their training. We are rejoicing in the Lord.

One of our areas of research has been these Church Planting Schools that Debbie helped pioneer back in 2007. The goal has been to mobilize lay people to plant house churches. Our research has confirmed that we now have around 208 house churches and continue to grow at a healthy rate. Added to the 200 or so traditional churches in the region, we now have around 400 churches altogether. We praise God for each and every one of them, but we also cry out for more. We need tens of thousands of them to achieve the goal of planting a church within walking distance of every person in our region.

Thank you for the prayers and financial support that make all of this possible.

As we close the year, we are still about $400 a month short in monthly support. If you can help us with a monthly pledge or even a one time, end of the year gift, we would deeply appreciate it. You can give through our website, http://www.daveanddebbiejohnson.com/ or send your check to AGWM 1445 Boonville Ave. Springfield MO 65802, marked for acct number 225600 Dave and Debbie Johnson—Philippines. Thank you so much.

Prayer Points

1. Wisdom from God to understand the challenges facing us.

2. Open ears to hear what the Holy Spirit is saying.

3. For God to release the financial resources we need to carry on the work.

May the Lord give you His peace and joy and a great anticipation of His coming Kingdom, whatever 2012 brings us. We so appreciate you all and we close this year with our love,

Dave and Debbie Johnson

New Facebook Group

2011-11-10T00:28:00.000-08:00

Dear Friends,

I just started a new Facebook group for posting my sermons and devotionals in Tagalog for the spiritual benefit and use of any who would like them. Please feel free to pass this on to anyone who would benefit from it. The link is www.facebook.com/davejohnson, then click on "Mga Mensahe sa Wikang Tagalog" and send a request to join.

Thanks for your help,

Dave

A Biblical Perspective on the Filipino Celebration of All-Saint's Day

2011-10-28T17:50:00.000-07:00

A Biblical Perspective on All-Saint’s Day

By Dr. Dave Johnson

Assemblies of God Missionary to the

Philippines

http://www.daveanddebbiejohnson.com/

www.drdavejohnson.blogspot.com

On November 1, millions of Filipinos, most of them nominal Roman Catholics, will go to the cemeteries to visit the graves of their departed loved ones. They believe that on this day every year the spirits of the dead return to the gravesite. In this sense, the dead remain alive in the consciousness of their families and are what anthropologists have aptly called the “living dead.” My purpose here is to offer a biblical perspective on both the conviction that the spirits return to the gravesites and the worldview that fosters this belief.

While at the gravesite, the family will clean the graves, have a family reunion, light candles, and leave offerings for the dead. Some also offer prayers for the dead, presumably to get them out of Purgatory and into Heaven. The need to clean the graves is obvious and the opportunity for a family reunion is certainly understandable but, in order to understand the need for candles and offerings, we need to probe a little deeper into the Filipino psyche. After all, few people do things for no reason, so what’s the point?

The point, simply stated, is that Filipinos have a deep awareness and fear of the spirit world. The Filipino worldview abounds with spirit beings that are either benevolent, malevolent, or both. Filipinos also believe that these spirits can and must be controlled through candles and offerings. They believe that if the ancestors are not appeased, they can wreak havoc on the living by causing misfortune. If, however, the ancestors are happy, they will at least not bother the living and may even bring them a blessing through success in business, a wonderful marriage, or general good luck. Keeping the ancestors happy, then, is believed to be an important task.

Three important observations can be made here. First, this is one of many examples that could be given where Catholicism and Filipino traditional religious practices intermix. Second, these traditional religious practices are self centered. The goal is to get the spirits of the ancestors to either leave the living alone or bring them good luck. In other words, people leave offerings for the dead for the ultimate benefit of the living, not the dead. Man, then, is the center of the universe, not God or even the spirits. Third, underlying all of this is a deep fear of what the spirits might do if not appeased. It may be that this fear, more than any other motive, is what drives Filipinos to the graveyards every year.

What does the Bible say about all this? In a word, plenty! First, from Genesis to Revelation, God is the focus of the universe. He stands uncreated and without equal. He alone is the Creator and Sustainer of all things, and He alone rules the universe with his almighty hand.

Second, the Bible affirms the existence of the spirit world, suggesting that the Filipino worldview, which is shared by other cultures in varying forms throughout the world, is much closer to the biblical worldview than is the worldview of those of us from Western nations. The New Testament and, to a lesser extent, the Old Testament, is replete with examples of spirit beings known as angels, Satan himself, and demons. A critical difference, however, between the biblical and Filipino worldviews, is that in the Filipino mindset, God is not totally in control. If he were, the ancestors would not need to be appeased. The Bible, however, shows a God who is in complete control of his creation. While numerous passages could be given, Philippians 2:9-11 will suffice here. The name of Jesus is superior to every other name. He outranks all others. Verse 10 is clear that every knee will bow to him whether they are in heaven, on earth, or under the earth—which could be a reference either to dead people or demons, and all shall acknowledge his lordship.

Not only is God in complete control, his character, love, and trustworthiness, is absolutely consistent. His is not only able to keep spirit beings from harming humans; he is also willing to do so. Psalm 91 is an excellent example of God’s willingness to keep those who trust in him from spiritual predators. Therefore, we do not need to fear the ancestors or any other spirit! Offerings to them are not necessary because, in biblical perspective, they can neither harm nor bless us. All of the blessings we need come from God and even the adversities in life that God allows have purpose. This is great news to Filipinos!

But the question must still be answered as to whether the dead can return to earth. Most Christians would likely say no, but the biblical evidence is not that simple. Hebrews 9:27 does clearly imply that when people die, they are finished with life on earth. The apostle Paul also hints at this in 2 Corinthians 5:8 when he writes that, for the believer, to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. Therefore, we can conclude that, generally speaking, the dead do not return to earth. There are, however, a few striking exceptions. Four examples will suffice. In 1 Samuel 28, the witch at Endor did succeed in bringing Samuel up from the dead but, in reality, it was God sending him to deliver a message to King Saul. In the New Testament, Jesus raised many from the dead, the story of Lazarus in John 11:38-44 being only one example. Jesus did these things and commanded his disciples to do likewise as a declaration that the Kingdom of God had come (Matthew 10:8). Another example was the Transfiguration (Matthew 17:1-13 and Luke 9:28-36) where both Moses and Elijah appeared to Jesus to discuss his upcoming crucifixion. The Transfiguration, which occurred at about the midpoint of Jesus’ ministry, was a watershed. From that time on, he prepared his disciples for his departure. And obviously, the ultimate return from the dead was Christ’s own resurrection.

A couple of observations can be made from these examples. First, these events were random. The dead did not return en masse yearly on a specific date, nor did they do so of their own volition. Second, in all cases God was in control of what happened. Third, in each situation the dead returned as a part of God’s purpose, not their own or, as in the case of Saul at Endor, the will of the one who summoned them.

The Bible does affirm the existence of the spirit world and the existence of spirit beings, known as Satan and his demons, who would wish to harm people. Therefore, the Filipino’s fear of the spirits is understandable. The good news, however, is that God is in control of the spirit world, and he alone is worthy of our offerings, praise, worship, and adoration. He alone is trustworthy and can liberate us from all of our fears.

*All Scripture references are from the New King James Version unless otherwise noted.

October Update

2011-10-26T23:16:00.000-07:00

October Update

By Dr. Dave Johnson

Assemblies of God Missionary to the

Philippines

http://www.daveanddebbiejohnson.com/

www.drdavejohnson.blogspot.com

Dear Friends,

I just wanted to provide you with a quick update on our situation here.

We have nearly completed the moving in process. It took longer than I had hoped but we had a lot to do to get the house the way we need it, and we have both been sick. Fortunately, we made the decision not to accept ministry invitations until after we are settled. This has really helped to keep the stress manageable. The price for overworking last term, among other things, was depression, burnout, and a year long sabbatical from the ministry to deal with it. We learned our lesson and do not wish to walk that road again.

The next phase of our transition back into ministry here is to reconnect with friends, colleagues, and the district leadership team, and reestablish our relationships after being in the States for 27 months. This has already begun. As we reconnect, we will also be re-evaluating our ministry here to see where we fit and where we don’t. Since Filipinos have a face-to-face culture, such things are better done in person than by other forms of communication such as email or even telephone.

For example, the Church Planting Schools that Debbie was instrumental in launching four years ago were ably led by the Filipinos themselves while we were gone. Since our goal is to empower them and see this ministry expand, we want to be very careful about how we get involved. Getting their input is critical—and we expect this to happen as we reconnect with them. We will also evaluate the effectiveness of our evangelistic team and make changes as the Lord leads.

Also, over the next couple of weeks, for the first time ever, I will be writing my philosophy of ministry, reflecting both on becoming the man of God that he wants me to become and the work which he has called us to do. I will then write some short and long term goals. I believe that God has spoken to us to be slow, deliberate, and intentional about what we are doing on this time. We are not at all timid or afraid of the future, just cautious. We are, in fact, quite excited about what the Lord is doing in our hearts and lives.

I start preaching again on November 6 at an anniversary celebration for a church pastored by our district treasurer. This is consistent with our goal of reconnecting with the district leadership. At some point in November I will rejoin the evangelistic team for some of the outreaches. Other events will be scheduled according to the priorities I have listed above, but we will keep light in order to do the writing mentioned.

Prayer Points

1. Please pray for our continued transition. I’d prefer to let the Holy Spirit guide you regarding the details.

2. Also, we are still about $350.00 a month short in our pledges. Please pray for this and, if possible, let us hear from you. A pledge form can be downloaded at http://www.daveanddebbiejohnson.com/.

Many thanks,

Dave

Thrills and Spills of Moving Into a House in the Philippines

2011-10-14T07:44:00.000-07:00

Healing Through Pain

2011-10-07T16:14:00.001-07:00

Healing Through Pain

By Dr. Dave Johnson

Assemblies of God Missionary to the Philippines

http://www.daveanddebbiejohnson.com/

www.drdavejohnson.blogspot.com

We argued for four hours. For months my wife, Debbie, had been saying that we needed counseling, but I disagreed. Denial is a dangerous word with potentially dire consequences. We had just returned home from our third term of missionary service in the Philippines and were attending a series of missionary renewal services sponsored by our mission sending agency, the Assemblies of God World Missions (AGWM). While there, we had been invited to attend a caregiver’s seminar immediately following the meetings. Thinking it might help us, Debbie wanted to stay. I did not. The argument was intense. I won the skirmish but, in retrospect, nearly lost the war.

The upshot of the argument was that I finally realized that Debbie was right. We needed help and began to search for a place to go. Within a couple of months the Lord led us to the Missionary Renewal Asia Pacific (MRAP) ministry, also known as Ministry Resources International, an Assemblies of God missionary care ministry in Kirkland, Washington. AGWM graciously granted us a three month sabbatical, and we packed our bags. Three months ultimately became a year. Had we not dealt with the issues when we did, I am convinced that within a short time we would have emotionally crashed and perhaps have been permanently been lost to the ministry.

At MRAP, our counselors, under the direction of the Holy Spirit, began to push and probe into the issues that brought us there. A physiatrist that works in partnership with them diagnosed me as depressed, and Debbie was dealing with a more moderate case of depression but also had burned out. Not surprisingly, we had some marriage issues as well. Dealing with these kinds of things, some of which required deep repentance on my part, is like peeling an onion. The problems we faced, which were far too many to enumerate here, had multiple levels that had to be exposed and dealt with in order to be healed. Like peeling onions, they also provoked a lot of tears, and I experienced more personal pain than I have ever known. I had to make a choice of facing my pain or running from it. Facing pain is hard, but it is the path to healing. God chose to heal me through the pain, not from it.

For me, some of my issues stemmed from my mother, a wonderful Christian lady who suffered from being manic-depressive. Over the course of 31 years I estimate that she was hospitalized in mental institutions at least fifty times, lasting anywhere from two weeks to ten months at a time. I had no idea at the time how deeply this affected me. Somehow my family managed to cope. Under Spirit led counseling during the sabbatical, however, I discovered that the disruption to our lives caused by her absence bred in me a subconscious sense of abandonment since we never knew if Mom would be there when we needed her. This fear led to a felt need to control circumstances and people around me—an understandable but unhealthy emotional defense mechanism. For years Debbie and I have known that I have had an anger problem and prayed that God would reveal its source and bring healing. While it would be far too simplistic to say that my fear of abandonment was the sole cause of my anger, I do believe that the roots of the problem stem from there. As God has healed my emotions, the level of my anger and my sense of abandonment has been greatly reduced. We’re still praying for the completion of my healing!!

As God brought healing to Debbie and me as individuals, he also began to heal our marriage. As a Christian, I have hope. 2 Corinthians 5:17 is clear that my past doesn’t have to define my future. I cannot change what has happened, but I also needn’t be enslaved to the past—especially the things regarding my mom, over which I had no control. As the Holy Spirit, my counselors, and I confronted the issues (so did Debbie, but her story is not mine to tell), God began to heal my inner being. It didn’t happen overnight, and it still isn’t complete. After a year of full time counseling, Debbie and I were able to return to missionary service, which in this case meant visiting our supporting churches in the States. We still maintain regular contact with MRAP and made two return visits. God has continued to heal us even as we have now just returned to the

Philippines

. We still have our disagreements as a couple and are still people in process, but God has brought much healing through our pain. Glory to his name!!

*All Scripture references are from the New King James Version unless otherwise noted.

Struggling With Failure

2011-09-22T16:15:00.000-07:00

Struggling with Failure

By Debbie Johnson

“You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Matthew 5:48).

My inability to accomplish all I think I should right now reminds me of these words of Jesus. “You therefore must be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect,” (Matt 5:48).

One of the most obvious things about Jesus teaching is that He expected His followers to live a righteous life, right in God’s eyes. His statement commanding us to be perfect or complete came near the end of the Sermon on the Mount . Perfection, according to Jesus, included power to avoid saying or doing anything in anger against another person, freedom from looking at anyone with lust, ability to stay in marriage, to keep our word, to turn the cheek at evil, to give to those who want to take from us, to truly love everyone, including our enemies (Matthew 5). This perfection went way beyond the letter of the Old Testament laws. In short, being perfect or complete is being like God “who makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust” (v. 45).

During my teenage years I read this chapter and was tempted to give up on being a Christian. If this is what following Christ is all about, I have no hope,” I thought. I fell far too short of the glory, the standard, the righteousness of God. As the apostle Paul said in Romans 3:23, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” But if I had studied this verse in context, it could have helped me then:

“But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it—the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. Whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. That was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus” (Romans 3:21-26).

In other words, God’s righteousness is revealed in His mercy and love when He freely rescues people from the consequences of their sin by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross. There is no distinction between those who try to keep all the rules, those who try to keep all the Old Testament laws, and those do not. We are all sinners, all deserve death under God’s law, but God in His righteousness offers us all life. God justifies us all, makes us all righteous, when we put all our faith in Jesus, not our good works, for our righteousness. We don’t deserve to live forever with God. But it is a free gift. That is the wonder of the message of Christ. He, the only righteous person who ever lived, died for us, so that we could be made righteous before God.

Two years ago Dave and I had been back at our missionary itineration for three months when I realized that we were falling apart. Dave was quite depressed and I was in burnout. Being full of uncertainty during this dark time, I really wasn’t sure God had too much use for us. But I forgot something so important. God made us loved and accepted and forgiven and in right standing with Him, not because of our performance, but because of our faith in what Jesus did for us. Yes, Dave and I had our struggles to work through, and we stayed at it for a full year. But because of God’s great love, our standing with the Lord never changed. He cherished us even though we felt we weren’t much good to Him at the time. He simply loved us. We were always right with Him, complete and accepted because of the testimony of the blood of Jesus Christ on our behalf.

It is so easy to look at our own incompleteness or that of others and judge. We see the same struggles in the disciples. Peter boasted that He would die with Christ and then denied His master before the Romans. The disciples fought over who would be greatest in the kingdom. James and John wanted to kill people with fire from heaven.

But everything changed in Acts 2 when the Holy Spirit was poured out on the disciples. Peter stood boldly before great crowds and preached about the resurrected Jesus. We no longer see the apostles fighting and John became the apostle of love.

This outpouring of the Holy Spirit is the key that helps me now. Yes, Jesus wants us to be perfect, complete, lacking nothing as He said in Matthew chapter 5. His vision for His followers is much greater than we have for ourselves. But He never intended we would do it in our own strength. Jesus promised us another “Helper,” the Spirit of Truth to be with us forever who would live with us and be in us and teach us and help us to remember all that Jesus taught (John 14:16-17, 28). The Holy Spirit, the gift of the Father, is the Helper who transforms our lives to be more and more like Jesus’ life.

Where I get caught is when I view the difference between my life what Jesus taught and despair because I know I can’t do it. On one hand, I forget that I am absolutely loved, accepted, forgiven and cleansed by the blood of Jesus’ sacrifice for me and therefore I am right before God, regardless of my performance. On the other hand, since I know God wants His people to be holy I get frustrated, forgetting that God never meant me to become like Jesus on my own. He gave us the Holy Spirit, our constant Companion and Teacher, to give us the grace to live like Christ.

I know what I need to do. I need to humble myself, and instead of taxing my own small resources to the limit, I am slowly learning to depend on the Holy Spirit for guidance, strength and transformation in my work and the details of my life. The Holy Spirit works in me by His love and wisdom so that while I am in this sometimes messy process of becoming complete, I remain in perfect right standing before God because of Jesus’ sacrifice. What amazing grace the Lord offers us every single day!

The Holy Spirit now is my counselor at the beginning of my tasks and my teacher at the end, the One who never leaves me alone to my own resources. If I will only ask Him, He will help me with people, projects, work and even the things I do to enjoy this life He has given me.

I am His new creation, (2 Corinthians 5:17), and as I continue to cooperate with His guidance, He continues sculpting me into His vision for me--someone beautiful for His glory.

Leaving, Grieving, and Embracing

2011-09-19T14:44:00.000-07:00

Leaving, Grieving, and Embracing

By Dr. Dave Johnson

Assemblies of God Missionary to the Philippines

http://www.daveanddebbiejohnson.com/

http://www.drdavejohnson/.blogspot.com

Saying goodbye again. It began a couple of weeks ago when we invited a few friends out for lunch. Other occasions with more friends and relatives followed. Finally, we had a tearful farewell at the airport a couple of hours ago. Goodbyes. As much as I dislike them, they are a part of life, especially for missionaries.

I used to be naïve enough to think that leaving would get easier as the years passed, but the thought of possibly losing aging parents makes it increasingly difficult. Leaving means grieving, not only for those who leave but for those who remain. But the positive side of these emotions is that we have people that we love and that love us. It’s the kind of love that only deepens through the years.

I’m writing this from a Frontier Airlines flight from Grand Rapids, Michigan, to Denver, where we will connect to a flight to Seattle, Debbie’s home area. We will spend about two weeks with Debbie’s family, going through the same leaving and grieving process all over again before going on to the Philippines to begin our fourth term of missionary service with the Assemblies of God World Missions. With Debbie’s family, the grieving is accentuated by the fact that Debbie’s mom has Alzheimer’s and there is no assurance that she will remember us the next time we come home. Hard times like these give us a wonderful opportunity to reflect on the beautiful relationships we have with family and friends in America. We cherish all of them and carry the memories with us back to the Philippines. Even while we are overseas these relationships remain a vital part of our lives, and the advent of Internet communications allows us to remain in close touch.

In our case, leaving and grieving also mean embracing. First, it means embracing our pain. We have a choice to acknowledge our pain of loss or deny it and bury it deep inside—an unhealthy but all too common response. Embracing our pain means understanding that this is simply a part of following Jesus. In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus had the choice to endure the pain of the crucifixion in following his Father’s will or walk away from it all. Fortunately for us, he chose to own his pain and take the path of the cross. While our pain is far less dramatic, it is, nevertheless, just as real. Like Jesus, I have to choose to acknowledge my pain and deal with it, or try to ignore it although, unlike Jesus, I cannot really escape it. Putting these thoughts in writing has helped me deal with my grief in a positive way, and gives you an open window in the soul of a missionary. I also have the assurance that if I will face my pain, He will walk with me through the difficult moments.

Leaving, grieving, and the pain they cause is much easier to endure if there is a purpose. In our case, leaving family and friends also gives us an opportunity to embrace the future. We look forward to being reunited with a host of friends and co-workers, missionaries and Filipinos alike, in our beloved adopted country. We look forward to again engaging the ministries that we left behind when we came home for itineration. We eagerly anticipate the new doors that God has waiting for us as we continue to walk with Jesus in a land that has increasingly become our own. Whether at home or abroad, following Jesus can be a great adventure, and we’re looking forward to what God is going to do in our lives. The future is indeed as bright as the promises of God.

Leaving, grieving, and embracing call for engaging a variety of emotions on many levels, and these emotions are real. But so is the opportunity experience God as he walks through the trials of life with us and takes us into the great future that He has planned.

*All Scripture references are from the New King James Version unless otherwise noted.

Reflections on a Visit to a 9/11 Memorial

2011-09-12T14:19:00.001-07:00

Reflections From a Visit to a 9/11 Memorial

By Dr. Dave Johnson

Assemblies of God Missionary to the Philippines

http://www.daveanddebbiejohnson.com/

www.drdavejohnson.blogspot.com

What would they have written about me? Or you? On the evening of September 11, 2011, the 10^th anniversary of the 9/11 tragedy, my nephew, Tim, and I visited a memorial of that horrible day at the Cannonsburg Ski Area, just north of Grand Rapids, Michigan, my hometown. The skiing hill hosted 3,200 American flags, one for every person killed on that disaster. As we walked among the flags, we noticed that many of them had a card attached, giving the name and bio-data of someone who was killed on that day. The bio-data also included where they worked, things about which they were passionate, or, if they were young, what they looked forward to in the future.

Those cards reminded me that those who died were real people, with real jobs, real interests, and real dreams. They were just ordinary people going about life. Lives that were cut short like a movie that breaks in the middle of the plot leaving only a freeze frame of the last scene on the screen. Theirs were lives that, humanly speaking, were unfinished. Naturally questions arose in my mind of how a good God could allow such unspeakable horror, an issue that even the Reverend Billy Graham mentioned in his remarks at the memorial service at the National Cathedral just a few days later. He didn’t have the answer, and neither do I.

But the memorial did cause me to stop and ponder the reality that no one knows how long they will live. We may live a full life, but we may not. And Hebrews 9:27 is clear that we don’t get a second chance. What we do have, however, is the opportunity to live today. From my perspective, the question that must be raised is how should we live? Many would answer this question by saying, like the old beer commercial, “You only go around once in life, go for the gusto.” While I certainly agree that life should be lived to the fullest, the question then, is, for whom do I live or to what goal or purpose? The answer to this question depends on one’s worldview. If I have only one life to live and no guarantee as to how long that life will be, the thought of living only for me leaves me feeling cold.

I have two choices that I can make everyday. Will I live for myself or for God? Will I be hell bent or heaven bound? Will I be selfish or selfless? Will it be my path or God’s way? My dreams or his? And if I should suddenly die or be killed, what will others write about me? Or you?

Daniel in the Palace Part I Overview

2011-09-09T06:09:00.000-07:00

Daniel in the Palace Part I Overview

By Dr. Dave Johnson

Assemblies of God Missionary to the

Philippines

http://www.daveanddebbiejohnson.com/

www.drdavejohnson.blogspot.com

[This blog is the first in a series of blogs that will examine the book of Daniel. At the outset, I am uncertain as to whether I will cover the entire book or only the first six chapters.]

The book of Daniel is rich in history and cannot be understood apart from the cross currents of the events of his day. Daniel, the statesman-prophet, the author of the book that bears his name, was born circa 622 B.C., in the latter days of the southern kingdom. Palestine lies along the major trade routes of the Middle East. Not only did merchants travel along these routes, so did kings with their armies—and some that did so deeply affected the children of Israel.

Not only is the book of Daniel rich in history, it comes in time in which Israel had at least four other writing prophets, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Habakkuk, and Haggai. On the broader world scene, Daniel was also a contemporary of three other significant religious figures Confucius, Buddha, and Zoroaster, the Persian religious reformer, although it is not likely that, with the possible exception of Zoroaster, Daniel would have been familiar with them.

The book of Daniel must also be understood within a certain theological framework. At this point in history, the Old Testament canon was not yet complete. Daniel was obviously familiar with the Pentateuch—the first five books of the Bible penned by Moses, the historical books of Joshua, Judges, Ruth, I and II Samuel and probably I and II Kings, the Wisdom Literature (Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and the Song of Solomon), and some of the prophets. Isaiah predated Daniel by about a century. Daniel quotes from the book of Jeremiah and was probably also familiar with Lamentations. Since Ezekiel was a contemporary who lived among the exiles in Babylon, Daniel would surely have been familiar with his work. Among the “minor” prophets, he would have known of Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Zephaniah, and Habakkuk. Since Nahum may have been written late in the 7^th century B.C, he was mostly acquainted with it. Haggai was a younger contemporary of Daniel’s and his prophecy was recorded during the second year of Darius the Mede’s reign. Since it was recorded in Judah and Daniel, by this time, was an old man, there is a small possibility that he may not have known Haggai’s work, but since there was an obvious free flow of communication between Judah and Babylon, it is more likely that he did know it. He would not have known the books Esther, I and II Chronicles, Ezra, and Nehemiah, Zechariah, Malachi, as these were not written until after his death.

Seismic shifts also took place in the children of Israel’s religious practices during this time. By Nebuchadnezzar’s order, Solomon’s Temple was destroyed. Sacrifices and the Levitical priesthood were abolished. Even the Ark of the Covenant disappeared from the pages of history, most likely destroyed along with the temple. All of these were iconic aspects of Jewish worship. The beginnings of the synagogue can be traced to the time of the captivity as well as the birth of the Pharisees—the evangelical preachers of the day, who appear to have been a far cry from the Pharisees of Jesus’ day in terms of their attitudes. A positive result of the Babylonian exile was that the Israelites were forever cured of idol worship.

With this broad overview in place, we now proceed to a review a more detailed historical backdrop of Daniel’s day in the next post.

*All Scripture references are from the New King James Version unless otherwise noted.

News From Dave and Debbie Johnson

2011-09-08T11:06:00.001-07:00

Dave and Debbie Johnson

Assemblies of God Missionaries to the Philippines

www.daveanddebbiejohnson.com

http://www.drdavejohnson.blogspot.com/

dave.johnson@agmd.org

News from Dave and Debbie

Fall 2011 Edition

Packing and Parting

Our offices have been in chaos. Dave’s is worse than usual, if you can believe it. Why? It’s that time again as we are preparing for yet another move to the other side of the world. We’ve already shipped six huge boxes, and we will send another one or two before we leave. We will leave Grand Rapids in mid September and spend a couple of weeks with Debbie’s family in the Seattle area. Then, we will continue on to the

Philippines

near the end of the month.

Our first order of business in Legaspi will be to find a house and reestablish our relationships with our Filipino brothers and sisters. We will also take some time to assess our role the ministries we have left behind and get some direction from the Lord regarding where we fit in. These ministries have been handled well by Filipino leaders while we have been gone, so we want to approach our reintegration with great sensitivity and appreciation for the great leadership they have given. The evangelistic team continues to be ably led by Pastor Alan Esplana, a Filipino that has been working with Dave for fifteen years. The house church planting program that Debbie and the Filipino district leadership launched in 2007 has grown to fifteen church planting schools and at least 191 house churches! Praise the Lord!

While we are excited about being reunited with people we love in the Philippines, we dread leaving friends and family, especially our aging parents, here in America. In times like these, we just have to draw closer to Jesus.

Knee Benders

1. Please pray for both us and our families as we separate after more than two years at home.

2. Please pray for our reintegration to life in

the Philippines.

3. At the time of this writing, we still need $456.32 in monthly support and would appreciate your prayers. If you can help us please let us know. A pledge form can be downloaded from our website, www.daveanddebbiejohnson.com. Thank you!

Reflections on Itineration

Over fifteen months of itineration, we have visited around 150 churches and met with numerous pastors over lunch or coffee. Here are a few observations:

1. We are blessed to be part of such a wonderful fellowship with a deep commitment to missions for which we are grateful.

2. In 28 years of ministry, I (Dave) have never seen more bi-vocational pastors. The recession has affected our pastors deeply, but I never heard one complaint. Some have even taken jobs in order to avoid cutting their churches’ missions budget. This has humbled and touched us deeply.

3. We share the heartfelt burden of many of our churches that are on a plateau or in decline. On the other hand, we have seen some great revitalization of churches. The concept of a strong mother church sponsoring the renewal work seems to work quite well.

4. We have seen a great increase in the number of churches doing need oriented community evangelism, and we believe that this is a key to the growth in our churches in this generation. We also believe that is one antidote to the marginalization that Christianity has experienced in American culture.

5. In the last few months we have been in some new church plants in Michigan or met with pioneering pastors over lunch, and we are excited with what we have seen. In almost every case, the pastor was under forty years old and doing non-traditional things that are working!! I hope those of us “older” folks will make plenty of room for this younger generation to express the creative gifts that God has given them. They are the future.

Dave’s Blog

God has been doing some refreshing work in Dave’s life as a result of the healing God brought while we were on sabbatical. One of the results is fresh spiritual insights from a renewed passion for studying the word of God. He has been sharing many of them through blogging. He has done a series of blogs on Moses and the gods of Egypt, God and Abraham, the Tower of Babel and, most recently, the Inauguration of Jesus’ Ministry in Luke 4:16-30. His next series will be on understanding the book of Daniel in its historical context, and he is really excited about it.

If you are reading this by email, you are most likely receiving these blogs. You can ensure that you will continue to receive these even if you change email addresses if you will go to www.drdavejohnson.blogspot.com and click on “to follow.” If you are not receiving them and want to do so, you should do the same.

Thank you with all our hearts for all your prayers and support. We could never do this without you!

In His grace,

Dave and Debbie Johnson

The Inauguration of Jesus' Ministry Part VI The Resistance

2011-08-30T14:05:00.000-07:00

The Inauguration of Jesus’ Ministry Part VI The Resistance

(Luke 4:16-30)

By Dr. Dave Johnson

Assemblies of God Missionary to the Philippines

http://www.daveanddebbiejohnson.com/

www.drdavejohnson.blogspot.com

[To read the previous blogs in this series, please go to www.drdavejohnson.blogspot.com.]

“Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing” intoned Jesus in Luke 4:21. A more provocative statement and audacious claim has never been made and, as Jesus well understood, the proof was in the pudding. As Jesus surely expected, his hearers were not receptive to this statement. The question is what was it that so deeply irritated them? Was it that he claimed to be the Christ? Was it the way that he handled the passage from Isaiah?

To understand their response we need to remember that Nazareth in Jesus’ day was a hotbed of Jewish nationalism. They were looking for a Messiah who would lead a revolt against Rome, establish the kingdom of God on earth, and execute justice against their enemies. In their estimation, the son of a local carpenter, whose family they knew well, did not quite fill the bill, but this may not have been the deepest cause of their irritation? Kenneth Bailey (Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes, 162ff) takes issue with the translation of Luke 4:22, saying that the people bore witness against Jesus, not for him. While Bailey’s thoughts fit the context well because they did turn against him, his implication that the Bible translators made such an egregious error is a bit difficult to swallow. But even if they were for him in the beginning, they quickly turned against him.

But what was it that rubbed them the wrong way? In Luke 4:19, Jesus quoted Isaiah 61:2 about proclaiming the acceptable year of the Lord, but does not go on to complete the parallelism by stating that the day of God’s vengeance had also come. Bailey is excellent on this point. Instead of calling for rebellion against Rome, Jesus advocates compassion and mercy and cites the widow of Zarephath and Naaman, who were both foreigners, one of them being a sworn enemy of the Israelites. He is saying that if they would follow him as the Christ, they would need to love the Romans, not hate the—an announcement that didn’t exactly thrill his audience. This is one of many examples of how countercultural the gospel message really is. But there is more.

According to Bailey, the Jews of Jesus’ day believed that the Isaiah 61 passage from which Jesus quote promised material blessings to those who were believers. Jesus turns this expectation on its head in the verses that follow with the stories of Elijah and the widow at Zarephath and Elisha and Naaman. As Bailey notes, both the widow and Naaman responded in faith and that faith, not ancestry, was the key to following the Messiah. He would not be the Messiah for the Jews alone, but for whosoever believes in him. To the nationalists sitting before him, these statements were outrageous and blasphemous. With their anger at a fever pitch, they rioted and tried to throw him over a nearby cliff, but he eluded them.

But the question as to whether Jesus of Nazareth did in fact fulfill the claims of the Isaiah passage remains to be answered. For this we turn to a story in Matthew 11:1-6. John the Baptist, by now sitting in a Roman jail for labeling Herod as an adulterer, had some doubts about Jesus and sent some of his disciples to verify if Jesus really was the promised Christ or if they should wait for someone else. When John’s disciples asked Jesus about his Messianic claims, he replied in vv. 5-6: Go and tell John the things which you hear and see: The blind see and the lame walk; the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear; the dead are raised up and the poor have the gospel preached to them. And blessed is he who is not offended because of Me. Sound familiar? In other words, Jesus was telling John that he had, in both word and deed, fulfilled the claims of the Messiah outlined in Isaiah 61:1-2.

*All Scripture references are from the New King James Version unless otherwise noted.

Monday Morning

2011-08-29T06:05:00.000-07:00

Friends,

Yesterday we had our last missionary service at Central Family Worship Center in Coopersville, MI. We are looking forward to wrapping up itineration once our fundraising is complete. We still need $448.32 in monthly support and more in cash. We are praying that all of the pledges will be in by this Wednesday, our formal deadline, even though we can continue raising funds by phone and email after this date.

Today, I'm planning to pack a couple of large boxes for shipment to the Philippines. We don't leave Grand Rapids until September 15, but we are trying to avoid waiting until the last minute to get everything done. The harder we work now, the less we have to do in the last few days before departure. We will be in the Pacific Northwest (Bellevue, WA, with a few days in British Columbia) before leaving for Manila on September 29.

Talk to you soon!

Dave

Update

2011-08-24T07:07:00.001-07:00

Dear Friends,

I'm writing from Bloomington, IN, where I have been spending the last few days. Tonight is our next-to-the last missionary service before wrapping up itineration in Coopersville, MI, this Sunday. Debbie is working in our home office in Grand Rapids to help pave the way for a smooth transition back to the Philippines.

God has been moving and another $115.00 a month has been pledged since I wrote last. Only $686.32/month to go. We are confident that God will take care of this. If you can be a part of this miracle by picking us up for support or increasing your pledge, we would certainly be grateful. A pledge form can be dowloaded from our website, http://www.daveanddebbiejohnson.com/. It would help if you can act now.

Many thanks,

Dave and Debbie

Assemblies of God Missionaries to the Philippines

PS If you are interested in theology, missions, and spirituality, please check out http://www.drdavejohnson.blogspot.com/.

For a free chapter of my book, "Led By the Spirit: The History of the American Assemblies of God Missionaries in the Philippines," please visit http://www.daveanddebbiejohnson.com/ to read online or download.

The Inauguration of Jesus' Ministry Part V: The Year of God's Favor (Luke 4:16-30)

2011-08-18T15:34:00.000-07:00

The Inauguration of Jesus’ Ministry Part V: The Year of God’s Favor (Luke 4:16-30)

By Dr. Dave Johnson

Assemblies of God Missionary to the Philippines

http://www.daveanddebbiejohnson.com/

www.drdavejohnson.blogspot.com

[This blog is the fifth in its series. To read the first four, please visit www.drdavejohnson.blogspot.com.]

In this blog, we move to the fourth parallelism that Jesus quoted in Luke 4:19 from Isaiah 61:2, “to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord. Isaiah’s parallelism, however, does not end there. He goes on to say “And the day of vengeance of our God.” That Jesus did not quote this is significant.

The “acceptable” year of the Lord can also be translated as the year of the Lord’s favor. This phrase was understood by the Jews as a reference to the Year of Jubilee, which was set in place by God through Moses in Leviticus 25 and was to be held once every fifty years. Consistent with the theme of liberation that runs through the passage we are considering, the year of Jubilee called for rest, relief and release that had both economic and social implications. There were four requirements:

1. The land was to lie fallow for one year, giving the land a Sabbath rest. (Leviticus 25:11-12)

2. All debts were cancelled (Leviticus 25:31, 40-41, 54)

3. Any Israelite who had become an indentured servant to another Israelite was freed (Leviticus 25:40-41).

4. Ancestral lands that had been sold were returned to the original owner, serving as a reminder that the land was ultimately God’s (Leviticus 25:27-28) (m/gospel-jubilee-luke-4-19-bible-commentary-for-the-new-baptist-covenant-cms, accessed 15 August 2011.)

Practicing this would bring two positive results. One, poverty would be greatly alleviated, if not eliminated altogether as no family would lose their most valuable asset—their land. Two, all Israelites would live on approximately the same economic level, with no one having the economic leverage to oppress others. Like the other commands that God had given to the children of Israel, the Year of Jubilee had been forgotten or ignored over the years. Jesus’ statement in Luke 4:21 that this passage was being fulfilled strongly suggests that he was unilaterally instigating a Year of Jubilee as he spoke.

But what kind of Jubilee would it be? Jesus’ hearers certainly would have expected it to be a Jubilee much like the ones in the past of which they had heard. In order to enact a Jubilee, they would first have to get rid of the Romans and establish their government. That Jesus never lifted even a finger against Rome’s rule suggests he had another kind of Jubilee in mind.

The Jubilee Jesus had in mind involved the cancellation of sin’s penalty and power. Mankind would indeed be released from slavery—the slavery to sin. At the Cross, as the old hymn goes, “mercy there was great and grace was free, pardon there was multiplied to me.” By finishing the reading of the text here, he was emphasizing what the focus of his ministry would be. But there is a deeper reason why he did not finish the parallelism.

In I Peter 1:9-12, we learn that while the Old Testament prophets did understand part of their prophecies, they did not know the time or manner in which they would be fulfilled. This is especially true in regards to Messianic prophecies where the prophet could not tell the difference between the first coming of Christ and his second advent and would often mix the two in one prophecy. They saw the two advents of Christ like mountain peaks. From a distance the peaks appeared to be right next to each other. From the prophet’s vantage point, they could not see that there was a wide valley in between them.

The implications of this for all of Jesus’ followers in our generation should be abundantly clear. We are still living in the Jubilee, the time of God’s favor. Now is the season or day of salvation. Now is the time to redouble our efforts in taking the gospel to the ends of the earth. What we must do, we must do quickly, because judgment is coming. When Christ returns he will come as King of Kings and Judge over all the earth. Just as sure as he can the first time, he shall remain.

The fact that Jesus did not include the last part of this parallelism was undoubtedly part of what irked his listeners. Ardent nationalists that they were, they longed for the Messiah to come and throw off Rome’s oppressive rule. But this part of the story, as well as a summation of Jesus’ claim to be the expected Messiah, are still ahead of us.

*All Scripture references are from the New King James Version unless otherwise noted.

An Appeal For Partners

2011-08-18T10:50:00.000-07:00

Dave and Debbie Johnson

Assemblies of God Missionaries to the Philippines

http://www.daveanddebbiejohnson.com/

www.drdavejohnson.blogspot.com

(616) 558-1889

August 18, 2011

Dear Friends,

For many years now Debbie and I have been serving with the Assemblies of God World Missions in the Philippines. For some time now, we have been home itinerating and plan to return to the

Philippines

in late September 2011. Our vision is to share the gospel with all of the four to five million Filipinos in the Bicol region of the Philippines where we live and plant a church within walking distance of every one of them. Raising up and training Filipinos to accomplish this vision is at the core of our strategy. For more information on our ministry, please visit http://www.daveanddebbiejohnson.com/. Among other things, you can download a copy of our latest ministry video and get a copy of our bio-data.

Our vision is two pronged.

First, direct evangelism. Over the last 17 years we have conducted approximately 700 evangelistic crusades in conjunction with local churches. Many new churches have been planted and others have seen increased attendance at either church services or Bible studies. We conduct about 45-50 outreaches every year, each crusade lasting three nights. Except for Debbie and me, all members of the team are Filipinos, as are all of the pastors with whom we work. While the Filipino churches do partner with us in sharing the expenses of this ministry by shouldering the expenses over the dollar figure given above, the nature of this type of work is finance intensive and more help is needed.

Second, in 2007 God gave Debbie a vision to plant house churches. Working hand-in-hand with Filipino church leaders in our region and one other missionary couple from another organization, three house church planting schools were started and about 12 house churches were started. Today, this movement has grown to include 15 house church planting schools and at least 191 house churches have been started. The possibilities for expansion are almost limitless. God’s blessing on this effort is obvious, and we are anxious to see this movement grow. We foresee the need for expanding the level of training and are excited about participating in it.

I am writing today to ask for your help. First, your prayers. I have taken the liberty to add your name to our email list, which we use for sending out prayer requests. If you do not wish to receive it, please let me know. Second, we also send prayer requests over Facebook, Twitter, and Linkedin, and you can easily find me there.

Second, we need financial support. Our deadline is August 31, 2011. Here are the details of what we still need:

Monthly Support Still Needed: $801.32

Cash Still Needed:

General Cash Budget: Completed!

Evangelistic Crusades: $28,000.00

House Church Planting: $5,000.00

Cash Reserve Fund: $8,011.00

If you can commit to monthly support, you can download a pledge for from our website, http://www.daveanddebbiejohnson.com/, fill it out, and follow the instructions given for sending it in. Your CASH offerings can be sent to AGWM

1445 Boonville Ave. Springfield, MO, 65802

, designated for Dave and Debbie Johnson,

Philippines

, acct 2256006, or you can donate online at http://www.daveanddebbiejohnson.com/.

If you have any questions, please feel free to call on my cellphone at (616) 558-1889.

Thanks considering partnering with us,

Dave and Debbie Johnson

The Inauguration of Jesus' Ministry Part IV: Healing (Luke 4:16-30)

2011-08-09T05:55:00.000-07:00

The Inauguration of Jesus’ Ministry Part IV:

Healing (Luke 4:16-30)

By Dr. Dave Johnson

Assemblies of God Missionary to the Philippines

http://www.daveanddebbiejohnson.com/

www.drdavejohnson.blogspot.com

[This blog is the fourth in this series. To read the first three blogs, please visit www.drdavejohnson.blogspot.com.]

Jesus continued to read the Messianic prophecy in Isaiah 61:1-2. His listeners, knowing that the text included poetry where the second line reinforced the meaning of the first line, listened intently. He came to the third parallelism which began with, “To proclaim liberty to the captives.”

The phrase “liberty to the captives” must be understood within Israel’s historical context. The Jewish nation had been forged in the bondage of slavery in Egypt and had been liberated only through God’s miraculous intervention. The theme of deliverance from Egypt runs throughout the Old Testament. Also, by Jesus’ time, the remnant of Jews had returned home from Babylonian exile. As Bailey notes, this phrase carries the idea of captives longing to return home. Since I have lived outside of the

United States

for most of the last seventeen years, albeit voluntarily, I understand something of this desire. On many days, I have longed for home.

When Jesus spoke these words, the Jews were under the authority of Rome—an oppressive master. While they were in their own homeland, they were not free. The common understanding of the Messiah in Jesus’ day was rife with political overtones, especially that the Christ would lead a revolt against Rome. This led Jesus to avoid the use of the term among the Jews, although he had no qualms about it among the Samaritans (John 4:26). I agree with Kenneth Bailey (Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes)here that to interpret this passage solely in spiritual terms is to ignore history. And there will certainly come a day when the Messiah will establish his Kingdom on earth, a Kingdom of righteousness and justice and to which there shall be no end (Isaiah 9:6).

At the same time, the spiritual connotations cannot be denied. From Genesis to Revelation the Bible speaks of mankind being enslaved to sin. As one of my theology professors once said, “sin is so terrible only God can deal with it.” Jesus announced here that the day of God’s salvation was at hand. This was the essence of the Good News that he preached—a message that would be sealed in his own blood on a Roman cross.

The second part of this parallelism reads “To set at liberty those who are oppressed,” which carries the same meaning as the first part of the parallelism that we have already considered. But before reading this phrase Jesus inserted the words “And recovery of sight to the blind.” This phrase does not appear in Isaiah 61:1-2 but is drawn from Isaiah 42:7, another Messianic prophecy. Jesus’ inclusion of another passage here posed no ethical problem for his hearers. According to Bailey, adding in bits of other passages to the synagogue readings was a commonly accepted practice. But why did he do so? Bailey goes on to note that the Qumran community, a sect of Judaism known as the Essenes that lived near the Dead Sea, believed that the coming Messiah would heal the blind, suggesting that this expectation may have been common in Jesus’ day. But this reason alone would not have been sufficient for Jesus as he was not trying to win a popularity contest.

Isaiah’s reference to healing in 42:7 is similar to that of another well known Messianic prophecy which also flowed from his pen, Isaiah 53:5 “And by His stripes we are healed.” Isaiah and Luke both well understood that sickness entered the world through the Fall of Adam and Eve, making a connection between sin and sickness. In both Messianic prophecies here, Isaiah also makes the connection between forgiveness and healing. In this case, both forgiveness and healing are alluded to in the same parallelism here. Liberty to captives comes from forgiveness and is consistent with Isaiah’s theology of forgiveness through vicarious suffering.

While the passage comes from the prophet Isaiah, one cannot help but wonder if Luke included it here because, as a medical doctor, he had a deep interest in medical issues and mentions them throughout his gospel. Blindness was a common malady in first century Judea. In some cases, it seems to have been carried by flies, although there were also cases of congenital blindness (i.e. John 9) (Blindness in the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia accessed 4 August 2011). Because blindness was common, it can be seen as representative of all illness and, therefore, indicates that the Messiah would heal all manner of disease. Additionally, the term is used as a figure of speech to carry the connotation of spiritual blindness.

The hermeneutical question that needs to be addressed here is how Luke, the author of the account, intended for this reference to be understood. Also, how did Jesus himself understand it? At first glance, the concept of spiritual blindness would appear to be in view because it fits the immediate context well. Reflecting deeper, however, it is clear that Jesus himself understood this passage to refer to all manner of physical healing (Matthew 11:1-6). On a broader theological plane, the concepts of healing from both sin and sickness are linked throughout Scripture. It seems clear, then, all three shades of meaning of the term are in view here, with the strongest interpretation being general physical healing because that this way Jesus himself understood this text.

The implications of this parallelism and the phrase inserted by Jesus are astounding in what the Messiah would do. Surely he would have a ministry like no other before him. Whether Jesus of Nazareth fulfilled this prophecy is a question not yet totally answered. But before this question can be dealt with as well as the reaction of his hearers to his claim to be the Messiah can be considered, there is one more parallelism that needs to be taken into account. This and the reason that Jesus only quotes half of it will be the subject of the next blog.

*All Scripture references are from the New King James Version unless otherwise noted.

Update on Our Situation

2011-08-08T16:35:00.000-07:00

Hello Friends,

As the days countdown to our August 31 deadline, I just wanted to let you know that we have received some more pledges and the need for monthly support now stands at around $860/per month. If you can help us, please get a pledge form from http://www.daveanddebbiejohnson.com/, fill it out and send it in.

We did ask our mission leadership if they felt that we should stay longer to raise more funds, but they did not feel the Lord's leading that way and asked that the August 31 deadline that they had given us to remain in place, and we received their direction gladly. We believe that divine order means submitting to godly leadership, so we are certain that it is God's time for us to return to the Philippines and trust him to bring in the remainder of the budget which, after all, is His problem because its His Kingdom!

We recently shipped over 500 pounds of personal effects to the Philippines and purchased our tickets to leave Grand Rapids on September 15 for Seattle to take care of some personal matters and spend time with Debbie's family before leaving for the Philippines on September 29.

We are looking forward to getting back to our labor of love for Jesus in our adopted homeland.

Remember that all giving should be channeled through your local church.

Again, if you have already informed us of your decision regarding support, please just take this as an appeal only for prayer.

May God give you his best today!

Dave and Debbie Johnson

Assemblies of God Missionaries to the Philippines

The Inauguration of Jesus' Ministry Part III: Proclaiming (Luke 4:16-30)

2011-07-30T06:48:00.000-07:00

The Inauguration of Jesus’ Ministry Part III: Proclaiming (Luke 4:16-30)

By Dr. Dave Johnson

http://www.daveanddebbiejohnson.com/

www.drdavejohnson.blogspot.com

[This blog is the third in its series. To read the other two blogs, please visit www.drdavejohnson.blogspot.com.]

Jesus continued to read Isaiah 61:1-2 while his hearers listened intently, wondering what this carpenter’s son and lay Torah scholar would have to say about this majestic Messianic prophecy set in Hebrew poetry—a text potent with meaning, especially the claim of being empowered and anointed by the Holy Spirit, which served as the basis of the claims made here.

Jesus claimed that the Holy Spirit had sent him to “. . .preach the gospel to the poor. . .” What does this mean? The term “gospel” literally means “God’s good news.” The good news, in this specific context, is that the Messiah has come to liberate his people from their oppression. While his hearers understood this to be the political oppression of their Roman masters, Jesus was dealing with spiritual oppression. Sin always takes you further than you wanted to go and exacts a price higher than you wish to pay. But while sin enslaves, grace redeems. God intervened in history to save us from the effects of our own sin as well as that of others. But we are getting ahead of ourselves.

To preach, here, is to proclaim or tell. In this case, it took the form of a homily or sermon in a Jewish synagogue. The focus here is on the content of the message, not the context in which it is delivered. This is true with probably every reference to preaching or proclaiming in the New Testament. Delivery styles change over time and vary from one context to another, but the message never changes. Here, Jesus announces his messianic claim in a distinctly Jewish context. In John 4:1-26, he is in a Samaritan context and speaks in a way that a Samaritan peasant woman would understand. But in both cases, the message is the same that Jesus is the long awaited Christ. The gospel message is focused on who Jesus is and what he has done. To argue that Jesus is any less than God in human flesh is to dilute the Gospel message and strip it of his power.

To the poor (v18) is rather enigmatic, at least to me. Kenneth Bailey, in his fine book Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes, provides some clarification (see p. 158ff). Bailey holds that Isaiah used the words poor and meek interchangeably. He also contends that this is the way in which the Qumran Community, a religious order known as the Essenes that lived near the Dead Sea in Jesus’ day, understood the concept—suggesting the likelihood that Jesus’ hearers would also understand this in approximately the same way. Bailey goes on to say that the early church and later writings by Jewish believers reflect the same meaning. For Bailey, to define the concept of being poor only in political or economic terms is to ignore history.

Now that we have defined the term poor as being meek or humble, what are we to make of it? The idea of being meek can be juxtaposed to that of being arrogant or self-assured. Those who are such do not likely feel the need for God, but the meek and humble have no such barriers. In the ministry of Jesus it was the self-righteous Pharisees who gave him problems. The common people heard him gladly. They seemed much more open to the idea that they were sinners and in need of a Savior. Jesus spent much of his time and drew most of his disciples from the lower classes of Jewish society.

The meaning of the second line of the parallelism echoes the first. He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted. Being broken in life is part of being human and is one of the many consequences of sin. Life can be hard and harsh. People die unexpectedly, widowing spouses and orphaning children. Unexpected sickness comes and ravages bodies and drains bank accounts. The economy tanks or the stock market goes haywire and jobs and homes are lost. Some go through divorce or discover that their spouse has been unfaithful. The trials of life are endless. But to all who have been broken by life, Jesus offers good news of rest, recompense, and reconciliation in him. He is Immanuel, God with us. And if God is with us, then life, while the trials still come, has purpose, hope, and destiny. We are not cosmic accidents who crawled out the primeval slime as some would have us believe; we children of God upon whom his favor rests. And that’s not all.

*All Scripture references are from the New King James Version unless otherwise noted.

The Inauguration of Jesus' Ministry Part II: His First Sermon

2011-07-20T12:21:00.000-07:00

The Inauguration of Jesus’ Ministry Part II: His First Sermon (Luke 4:16-30)*

By Dr. Dave Johnson

http://www.daveanddebbiejohnson.com/

www.drdavejohnson.blogspot.com

[This is the second in a series of blogs on The Inauguration of Jesus’ Ministry. The first blog can be read at www.drdavejohnson.blogspot.com.]

The crowd in the synagogue sat quietly as Jesus stood to read the well known Messianic passage in Isaiah 61:1-2 beginning with the words “the Spirit of the Lord is upon me” (Luke 4:18ff). In recording this soon after penning the words in Luke 4:1, Luke drew a connection between Jesus’ baptism (Luke 3:16-22), his experience in the desert, and the launching of his public ministry. The baptism revealed God the Father’s seal of approval upon his Son. But anyone whom God approves, especially for ministry, he also tests. It seems that the greater the ministry, the greater the testing. In Jesus’ case the testing came before the beginning of his ministry as part of his preparation. After his wilderness experience, the ministry was unveiled. The thread that ties these three experiences together is that the Holy Spirit was involved in each of them. In short, Jesus was endorsed, tested, and then anointed to begin public ministry. Many who feel a call to ministry want to short circuit this process, but that is not wise. Like the butterfly who struggles to get free of the cocoon, we need the testing to develop our character through which ministry gifts can flow.

Many in the crowd that day nodded as he continued reading “Because he has anointed me. . . .” The term anointing has been so bandied about by Pentecostals and Charismatics that the word seems to have lost much of its rich potency. Fortunately, however, Jesus’ listeners had no such problem. Their concept of the anointing was based on its Old Testament definition. Roger Cotton explains:

The specific practice of anointing by pouring oil on the head was used as a

symbolic act for officially, designating and setting apart a person for a certain public,

leadership function in the community. It was a one-time event much like an inauguration

or ordination. Things could also be sanctified or dedicated to a special purpose for God

by anointing (Exo. 29:36). The three kinds of leaders anointed for their ministries in the

Old Testament were: priests, Exo. 28:41; kings, 1 Sam. 10:1; and prophets, 1 Ki. 19:16.

A major difference between Israel and the other nations was that when God had someone

anointed or authorized for leadership He also provided the empowering of the Holy Spirit

to do the job (1 Sam. 16:13; Isa. 61:1). http://www.agts.edu/faculty/faculty_publications/articles/cotton_anointing.pdf

While Jesus goes beyond Cotton’s definition by claiming to be the Messiah or, in Greek, the Christos or Christ, which means the Anointed One, the meaning here does retain its Old Testament function and purpose. Here, Jesus is claiming that the Holy Spirit had anointed—or commissioned and empowered him, to perform a number of functions.

In order to more fully grasp the functions for which the Holy Spirit empowered Jesus, we need to understand the style of writing Isaiah originally employed here. Here, Isaiah used a form of Hebrew poetry known as a parallelism where the meaning of the first line is repeated in the second. The first parallelism is The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, Because He has anointed Me. . . . In Biblical imagery, the Holy Spirit coming upon, anointing, or empowering someone (i.e. Acts 1:8) expresses the same idea. In the Old Testament, the Holy Spirit regularly empowered people to prophesy or do exploits for God. Here, that Jesus was claiming the Spirit’s anointing or empowering serves as the basis for what follows. In the next blog, we will look at the three parallelisms that follow and whether Jesus did indeed fulfill them.

*Unless noted otherwise noted, all Scripture references are from the New King James Version of the Bible.

PLEASE NOTE: Permission is hereby given to forward, print, and post this blog as long as it is done as a complete blog, and its authorship is acknowledged. Thank you for your cooperation. For automatic notification of future blogs please visit, www.drdavejohnson.blogspot.com and click on “follow.”

The Transcendence of God

2011-07-19T04:37:00.000-07:00

Theological Definition of Transcendence

By Dr. Dave Johnson

www.daveanddebbiejohnson.com.

When someone says that God is transcendent, it means that he exists outside of his created order, such as the concepts of time and space, but regularly crosses the line and is active within what he has created. The best example of transcendence is the Incarnation of Jesus Christ, where God entered our world as a baby and lived as a first century Jew (Galatians 4:4).

Another example of transcendence comes from the modern space race. A number of years ago, some Russian cosmonauts went on a spacewalk and later stated that they did not see God. Had they read Moses rather than Marx, they would have known not to have expected to see him, although his handiwork in the heavens should have been obvious. In responding to those remarks the late Baptist preacher, Dr. W.A. Criswell, stated that had they taken off their space suits while walking in space, they would have met God immediately. Heaven, the throne room of God, exists outside of our understanding of space and time. That is transcendence.

The Inauguration of Jesus' Ministry Part I: Setting the Stage

2011-07-12T14:29:00.000-07:00

The Inauguration of Jesus’ Ministry Part I: Setting the Stage

By Dr. Dave Johnson

http://www.daveanddebbiejohnson.com/

www.drdavejohnson.blogspot.com

Nazareth was hardly a thriving metropolis. It was small hick town in the lower hills of rural Galilee. The townspeople, like everybody in Galilee, spoke the local lingo with a distinct dialect and were regarded by their countrymen as country bumpkins. When Nathaniel asked if anything good could come out of Nazareth (John 1:46), no one who heard him, not even Jesus, wondered why he would ask such a thing. Kenneth Bailey, in his wonderful book Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes: Cultural Studies in the Gospels (Downer’s Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2008, 147-169) gives some excellent backdrop on the inauguration of Jesus’ ministry. According to Bailey, Nazareth came into existence sometime in the second century B.C. Aristobulus the Maccadean intentionally settled Jews in Nazareth and elsewhere in Galilee to ensure that the area would remain loyal to him. Such settler communities, according to Bailey, tended to produce citizens that are politically nationalistic, which may partially explain what happened the day that Jesus spoke in the synagogue.

When the Romans came, one trusted source stated that they established an army outpost in Nazareth—complete with all the vice normally associated with military towns, which contributed to Nazareth’s poor reputation. In all, it was a small town on the backside of nowhere. Of all the desirable places for launching a global ministry to save the world, Nazareth was not on anyone’s list.

Except one.

Our story begins in Luke 4:16-30. Jesus had waited approximately thirty years for this moment. For three decades, under the tutelage of the Holy Spirit, he had prepared for public ministry. With a common name and growing up in the obscurity of a carpenter’s workshop with parents who had deep roots in the community, Jesus was thought of as an ordinary lad. He was just one of them, or so they thought.

Bailey notes that around this time a lay movement of pious Jews known as the habarim sprung up in towns like Nazareth where laymen gathered to discuss the Old Testament, the Bible of the day, and how to apply it to their lives. They likely also discussed the writings of the various well known rabbis. These groups nurtured a rabbinic style of debate or discussion and we can be certain, based on Jesus’ knowledge of the law and his familiarity with the rules of rabbinical debate, that he was an active participant. Becoming known as a lay scholar maybe what gave him the opportunity to speak in his hometown synagogue.

By the time Jesus rose to speak in the synagogue, he had gone to Judea and had been baptized by John the Baptist, been driven into the wilderness by the Holy Spirit to be tested by the Devil, returned to Judea where he picked up his first few disciples, Andrew, Peter, and perhaps John and his brother, James, traveled through Samaria and encountered the woman at the well (John 4), performed some miracles in Capernaum, and returned home.

Since it was the custom of the Jews to allow any man in good standing in the community to address those gathered at the synagogue, Jesus had no problem gaining an audience. According to Bailey, the text he read, Isaiah 61:1-2, could have been the assigned reading for the day, or Jesus could have arranged it in advance with the attendant. Jesus’ intentional declaration that the text, which everyone understood to be a prophecy of the coming Messiah, was fulfilled that day suggests that he may have done the latter. Bailey also notes that the phrase “bore witness to him,” (4:22 NKJV) could also been “bore witness against him.” The confusion comes from the fact that the Greek pronoun used here could be translated either way. This would mean that the crowd was against him from the beginning rather than turning on him as he continued to speak.

A careful analysis of the text reveals that Jesus did some editing, something that was common practice in the public reading in the synagogue, according to Bailey, and similar to what modern preachers do when reading some verses from a given text and not others. It may be that the editing was done by Luke, the author of the account. For reasons that will be obvious as we continue in this study, I believe that Jesus himself did the editing.

Bailey also contends that the average villager did not understand Hebrew, the language of most of the Old Testament, as Aramaic had become the common language in Israel after the Babylonian exile, and that an interpreter was used to translate what was said. Other scholars, however, believe that Hebrew, as well as Aramaic and Greek, which came into Palestine with the Romans, were understood by the masses. That Jesus, a nearly life long resident of Nazareth, spoke Hebrew indicates that the latter was probably the case.

Why Jesus selected Isaiah 61:1-2, how he edited it to suit his purposes, what exactly it was that so irritated his listeners that they wanted to murder him, and how he fulfilled the claims in the text will be dealt with in the blogs that follow.

PLEASE NOTE: Permission is hereby given to forward, print, and post this blog as long as it is done as a complete blog, and its authorship is acknowledged. Thank you for your cooperation. For automatic notification of future blogs please visit, www.drdavejohnson.blogspot.com and click on “follow.”

The Curse and the Cure: The Tower of Babel Part II

2011-07-05T16:16:00.001-07:00

The Curse and The Cure: The Tower of Babel Part II

Dr. Dave Johnson

Assemblies of God Missionary to the Philippines

http://www.daveanddebbiejohnson.com/

[This is the second in a series of blogs on The Tower of Babel. To read the first blog, as well as other blogs on theology, missions, and Christian spirituality, please visit www.drdavejohnson.blogspot.com.]

In the first blog we studied the historical backdrop to the Tower of Babel. In this blog we will take a look at the fruit of the rebellion that was sown there as well as the redemptive purpose that God had in mind when he judged the people scattered them all over the earth.

The Plain of Shinar was well watered, situated in Mesopotamia (the site of modern Iraq), along the banks of the Euphrates river. When Noah’s descendents discovered this plain, they decided to abandon their nomadic lifestyle and build a permanent community. Settling into a permanent home, in and of itself, presented no problem to the plan of God, as God did not command them to be nomads. Presumably, they could have started permanent communities all over the earth. The problem was that they did not wish to be separated, despite God’s clear command to scatter and exercise dominion over the earth. This, in a word, was rebellion. Their defiance to the expressed will of God led to rebellious action—the fruit of which, as we shall see, continues to impact the world today.

The tower that Nimrod constructed was most likely an early form of a ziggurat, which was a large, religious shrine that became common throughout Babylon and Assyria and was used for occultic rituals. It was a terraced, pyramid-like structure, with external stairs that led to the top. One writer claimed that the signs of the Zodiac, which originated from Babylon, were actually inscribed on the Tower of Babel itself, although there does not seem to be solid evidence for this. What is clear from Genesis 11:4, however, is that they built the tower in defiance of God, in order to make a name for themselves. It was this allegiance to their own desires rather than God’s purposes that brought down his wrath.

Probably not all of humanity left Babel after God’s judgment as the city of Babylon was later built on that very spot and became an important center of early civilization. Archaeologists note that Babylon became known as a center for mathematics, astronomy, religion, and various forms of witchcraft and astrology. One writer claims that all false religions came out this city as well. Since Buddhism and Hinduism came from India, Islam from Saudi Arabia, and Christianity from Palestine, this claim, per se, is not valid. However, there is a kernel of truth here. Man has always been a religious being and since all of mankind at this point lived at Babel, it is only natural to trace the root of religion here. But this is not all.

Astrology, witchcraft, and divination are some of the many expressions of a religious system known as folk religion or animism. In America, the most common expression of this is found in the New Age movement and in literature such as the Harry Potter books. Animism, a worldwide phenomenon, is also thoroughly imbedded in every major religion, including Christianity in some cases, but especially in Islam, Buddhism, and Hinduism.

On the surface, consulting tarot cards or going to a palm reader to determine the best date for a wedding or other major events in life, giving a love potion to someone to make them fall in love with you, or playing with an Ouija board seems like innocent child’s play. Witchdoctors in the Philippines are seen as philanthropists because they try to bring healing to people. Reality, however, is something else. One of the core tenets of animism is that there is supernatural power that can be harnessed and controlled by humans and can be used for either good or evil. In an animistic worldview, man, not God is the center of the universe. This is why the use of witchcraft, sorcery, and most forms of divination are repeatedly condemned throughout Scripture. As we have seen in the story of the Tower of Babel, God who will tolerate no rivals. The issue, then, is allegiance. One cannot practice animism and follow Jesus. When those who practice these things come to Jesus, they must renounce their practices (see Acts 19:17-19 for a beautiful example) and place their trust in Christ as their all-powerful healer, protector, and guarantor of their future.

But God’s judgment at Babel has a hidden silver lining found in the genealogy that follows in the rest of chapter in Genesis 11. From Adam to Nimrod, God had been reaching out to humanity as a whole. When he confused their languages, he divided them in to the various ethnic groups, tribes, and nations we see today. He did so in order that he to reach them one by one (Ralph Winter/Steven Hawthorne Perspectives in the World Christian Movement: A Reader Pasadena: William Carey Library). He began with a man named Abram, who later became Abraham, through whom God promised he would bless the nations (Genesis 12:1-3). First, Abraham became the father of the Hebrew nation who was called by God to be a “company of priests and a holy nation” (Exodus 19:6), living as God’s witnesses in a world of darkness. Second, Jesus Christ, the seed of Abraham (Galatians 3:16), would come as the hope of all mankind and Savior of all who call upon his name from every tribe and tongue.

PLEASE NOTE: Permission is hereby given to forward, print, and post this blog as long as it is done as a complete blog, and its authorship is acknowledged. Thank you for your cooperation. For automatic notification of future blogs please visit, www.drdavejohnson.blogspot.com and click on “follow.”

The Tower of Babel Part I: The Background

2011-06-11T06:08:00.001-07:00

The Tower of Babel Part I: The Background

By Dr. Dave Johnson, missionary to the Philippines

www.daveanddebbiejohnson.com

Slowly the mud dried as the waters receded. The flood had been catastrophic, wiping man and beast, flora and fauna, vegetation and crops from the face of the earth. The destruction had been complete. Only Noah, his family, and the animals he carried with him on the ark, had been spared. God was starting over, purging the earth of the fruit of Adam’s rebellion. But while God was giving mankind another chance, the seed of evil remained (Genesis 8:21).

From Genesis 8:17-9:17, God made a number of promises to Noah and gave several commands. God also specifically told Noah and his descendents to multiply, which may be the most cheerfully obeyed command that God ever gave! But along with the command to multiply came the expectation that they would fill the earth, a command which, as we shall see, was not joyfully obeyed.

In Genesis 10:8, the Bible records that Cush, one of the descendents of Ham, the son of Noah, had a son named Nimrod. From Noah to Nimrod human society was built around family clans, with the patriarch of the clan serving as the head and no one overall leader. This understanding of the social structure fits the arrangement of the genealogies in chapter 10, which follow the husband’s, or patriarchal lineage.

A word must be said about the chronology of Genesis 10 and 11. First, the genealogical list here, as well as others scattered throughout the Bible, must be seen through a different cultural lens. The Hebrew concept of fatherhood was different from that of modern western cultures. To the ancient Hebrews, the term father could also mean grandfather, great-grandfather, or even ancestor. This is why the Pharisees in John 8:39 could claim to be “children” of Abraham, even though they were many generations removed from him. A close comparison of the genealogical lists throughout the Bible reveal a number of gaps, which make the various lists appear inaccurate and contradictory unless this cultural viewpoint is understood. Second, different cultures view exact chronology with varying degrees of importance. Tracing the timing of where in the genealogy the events of Genesis 11 took place may not be entirely certain because one cannot be sure that doing so exactly was important to Moses, the writer of Genesis and master storyteller. What is important to Moses, for reasons that will be covered in the next blog, is to trace the ancestry of Abraham, the father of the Hebrew nation.

A cursory reading of Genesis 10:5, 20, 32 and 11:1 suggests that these verses may be contradictory, but a closer examination resolves the conundrum. In 10:6 Moses is giving the genealogy of Noah and his sons both before and after the Tower of Babel experience and, except for the genealogy of Shem, simply chooses not to break up the genealogical list to put in the story of Babel in the time frame where it took place. The point Moses is making in 10:5 is that when God did divide humanity, he did so along family, clan, and ethnic lines. In other words, families, both nuclear and extended, remained intact after the judgment at Babel.

Before moving on, two other observations must be about Genesis 10:5. Here, the word Gentile (NKJV) is used for the first time in the Bible. By doing so, Moses is preparing his readers to grasp the idea that the origin of the Israelites, God’s chosen people who were separated from among the other nations of the earth, was rooted in the Babel experience, an idea that will be explored more fully in the next blog. The second is the word nations, which appears in the New King James Version and other translations. The idea of the modern political nation states was unknown to the early citizens of the earth. To them, the idea of a nation was more akin to our understanding of ethnic groups.

Genesis 10:25 says that the earth was divided in the time of Peleg, a descendent of Shem, but it does not say what this means. It may mean that Peleg and his people settled in a land that was easy to plow, thereby dividing the earth into rows, for raising crops (Bible-History.com/isbe/peleg, accessed May 31, 2011). The most probable meaning, however, is that “the earth” refers to people, not land. It is likely that Peleg was a contemporary of Nimrod, and the phrase “dividing the earth” refers to dividing the people at Babel.

Nimrod was a descendent of Ham, the second son of Noah. Although we are not told how, he somehow managed to become the world’s first king. In verse nine he is described as a might hunter “before the Lord” (NKJV). Most scholars suggest that this phrase should be understood as describing Nimrod as being in rebellion against God—a description that fits the context of Genesis well.

Genesis 10:10-12 records that Nimrod presided over the world’s first known empire. What Genesis 10 does not say is whether his kingdom spread before or after the Tower of Babel experience. Genesis 11:1, however, suggests that his kingdom did not expand until after the judgment at Babel. We should also understand that Nimrod settled the areas mentioned in Genesis 10:10-12 rather than conquering them because there was most likely no one yet living in these areas after the Flood.

Genesis 11:1 tells us that all of humanity lived together in one large community. While they likely felt this was necessary for defending themselves against wild animals and the forces of nature, it was in direct disobedience to God’s specific command to populate and exercise dominion over the whole earth. The people were at least semi-nomadic, moving from place to place to find suitable living places for themselves and, most likely, their herds of animals. After the flood, the survivors and their offspring descended from the mountains of Ararat, which are in modern day Turkey, and migrated to the plain of Shinar, in modern day Iraq, not far from the Garden of Eden—the birthplace of humanity. The city of Babylon would later be built here; the implications of which will be studied in the next blog.

When they came to the land of Shinar, they decided to live there and cease their semi-nomadic lifestyle. Why they chose Shinar is not stated but can be rather easily deduced. Any civilization needs a water source, and the land of Shinar was in or near the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. Rivers provide for arable land, good for crops and grazing cattle, and it is fair to assume that the early inhabitants of the earth did both. Assuming that the plain of Shinar was well watered, it would have been an ideal place to build a permanent community.

Understanding 11:4 brings us to the heart of the matter. God had expressly ordered them to spread out and exercise dominion over the earth. By building a city, they intentionally disobeyed God’s command. The hint of humanity’s continued rebellion after the Flood that is found in Genesis 8:21 and that can be traced through the person and actions of Nimrod, now comes to full flower.

First, they would build a city. This is the second reference to building a city in the Bible. The first was by Cain in Genesis 4:16-17. Both references indicate that these cities were led by men in opposition to God. Things haven’t changed much. Among other things, today our cities today are filled with crime, self-indulgence, greed, graft, corruption, and the breakdown of families. Rebellion against God remains at the heart of the issue. But not only would Nimrod’s followers build a city, they would erect a tower “whose top is in the heavens.” They were not thinking of an early model of the Empire State Building.

What they intended was a large ziggurat, an ancient altar found throughout the Middle East, that was the center of occultic practices. As will be explored in the next blog, their intent was to “reach into the heavens” through practices such as astrology and divination. Those involved in such things attempt to tap into supernatural power that is not submitted to God.

The motive for building both the city and a ziggurat is clearly revealed in verse 4. Rather than submit to the will of God, they would stand against him. Rather than seeking his glory, they would honor their own name. Rather than seek his best, they would be abased. Again, things haven’t changed much. Both the full fruit of their rebellion and the God’s judgment, which must be seek as an act of redemption more so than punishment, will be the subjects of the next blog.

PLEASE NOTE: Permission is hereby given to forward, print, and post this blog as long as it is done as a complete blog, and its authorship is acknowledged. Thank you for your cooperation. For automatic notification of future blogs please visit, www.drdavejohnson.blogspot.com and click on “follow.”

Spring-Summer 2011 Newsletter

2011-06-03T13:40:00.000-07:00

Dave and Debbie Johnson

Assemblies of God Missionaries to the

Philippines

PH:(616) 558-1889

Website: www.daveanddebbiejohnson.com

Spring-Summer 2011 Newsletter

Hello Friends,

Itineration

As we have traveled from church to church, we sometimes sing hymns and songs together, expressing grateful hearts to the Lord who died and rose again for us. He made us His children and gave us a place in this great end time harvest, along with friends and churches that so lovingly support us in prayer and giving. We are so grateful to Him for so many open doors to share our ministry. During the past months we have spoken in churches throughout the Great Lakes region as well as California, Washington, and Pennsylvania. We have been encouraged to see how the Holy Spirit is moving His church to reach out, plant churches, and seek His presence with a whole heart. We have seen that God is raising up many church members and equipping them to be a great army to accomplish His purposes in these days. It is also a joy to talk to people who love the Lord so much and are seeking His face and His presence. There is no greater association on earth than the church of our Lord Jesus Christ.

We have been humbled and so touched by the loving sacrifice of pastors and their families who minister and give to us in a time of financial difficulty. And we are touched by our church family members who do the same. How very grateful we are for God’s great goodness that we experience through the churches. We can only say with all our hearts, thank you and God bless you. Despite the generosity of churches and individuals, however, we still have a ways to go before we can leave.

Budget Needs

Our target departure date for the Philippines is September. In order for us to go, our cash and monthly pledge budget must be raised—the greatest challenge being our monthly pledge support.

Monthly Pledges: $1,937.32 still needed

Cash: $43,818.03 ($28,000.00 of this is for our evangelistic outreaches)

There are several ways to help. First, and most importantly, please pray that this need will be met. We are in recession, but God is not!

Two, if you are a member of an Assemblies of God church, please channel your support through your church, designated for Dave and Debbie Johnson,

Philippines

, AGWM Acct. No. 2256006.

Third, for others, you may send your offering to AGWM

1445 Boonville Ave. Springfield MO 65802

designated the same as above, or you can give online at www.daveanddebbiejohnson.com.

Fourth, if you would like to make a monthly pledge (for four years as the Lord enables), you may fill out the enclosed pledge form or download one at www.daveanddebbiejohnson.com (a pledge form will be attached to the email edition of this newsletter). Again, if you are a member of an Assemblies of God church, please do this in consultation with your church’s leadership team.

Our Evangelistic Team

Our evangelistic team in the

Philippines

has been working hard while we have been gone. Almost every week they are holding outreaches in basketball courts and various outdoor public places in the towns and barrios around the Bicol region of the Philippines. People are hungry for the Word. God is drawing hungry hearts to Himself. We are so very thankful for what the Lord is doing.

It is harvest time and we believe that the greatest harvest, the greatest days for the church are yet to come. “And it shall come to pass afterward that I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy. Your old men shall dream dreams. Your young men shall see visions. And also on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days” (Joel 2:28-29 NKJV). This scripture has been from Acts 2 to the present.

House Churches

There have been many prophecies regarding a great revival to come to the

Philippines

. The cry that has been on our heart has been the cry to “GET READY!” It was a prayer for wisdom from God to get ready for this harvest that took Debbie on a journey last term that led to the establishment of 15 church planting schools to train church members to plant house churches around our region. We can only estimate, but we believe that the Lord and these house church planting students have planted between 100-200 house churches. We are looking for hundreds more because the harvest is so great. Pray with us for laborers. The harvest is white.

When we return we believe the Lord would have us study what is happening and strengthen the teachers and students in order to prepare for a much greater harvest. God has a strategy. We believe He is building a net to harvest an abundant catch of fish for His glory. Please pray with us that God will raise up many more laborers to work in His harvest in the Philippines and that the Lord will pour out His Spirit on them.

We thank you so much for standing with us in prayer and giving.

Dave and Debbie Johnson

The Apex of the Plagues: Moses and the Gods of Egypt Part V

2011-05-19T19:29:00.000-07:00

The Apex of the Plagues: Moses and the Gods of Egypt Part V

By Dr. Dave Johnson

Egypt

lay in ruins from the effects of the first eight plagues. Rotting carcasses of dead animals were strewn

across fields vacant for want of crops to harvest. Depression and defeat permeated the country. Yet

Pharaoh remained unbowed. By contrast, the atmosphere in Goshen, where the Israelites lived, was bright

and cheery. Fattened livestock fed on rich pasture land, and the people lived in exuberant expectation of

imminent deliverance. While pessimism reigned in Egypt, optimism pervaded Goshen.

We read of the ninth plague in Exodus 10:21-29. No man or beast died during this plague, but they probably wished they could have. The darkness was so thick that they could feel it and so thorough that they couldn’t move. They could not tell night from day because sundials don’t glow in the dark. They did not know when or if they would ever see the sun again. Surely many Egyptians spent that time pondering the meaning of life—especially as the demonstrations of the power of God repeatedly challenged their animistic worldview assumptions.

Ra (or Re) was the sun-god of Egypt and father of creation who was widely worshiped throughout the ancient Near East. He was at or near the pinnacle of the Egyptian pantheon. He was believed to ride across the heavens in his chariot during the day and travel through the underworld at night, thus explaining the how and why of the sunrise and sunset in the minds of the people. Ra’s importance can hardly be overstated. He was regarded as the creator of the universe and father of some of the Egyptian gods. While he was also seen as old and reclusive, not active in the daily lives of the people, he was still a powerful force and was not to be ignored. That the God of the Hebrews did defeat Ra by sending darkness was an undeniable fact. In the power match between God and the gods of Egypt, the score was now nine to nothing in Yahweh’s favor.

Again, Pharaoh tried to negotiate without actually setting the people free. By now he knew he was in deep trouble and wanted to appease the God of the Hebrews, but he also didn’t want to lose his control over the Israelites. He knew that if the cattle and livestock were left behind the Israelites would have to return for them or be set free with nothing to sustain them in the wilderness. But Moses would have none of it and rejected Pharaoh’s offer. In response, Pharaoh threatened Moses with death if he should appear before him again. Indeed, death would come, but it would not be Moses who would die.

Exodus 11-12 tells the tale of the final and most devastating plague—the death of the firstborn. The impact on Egypt, when it came, would be incalculable. Future years might erase or at least ease the memory of the first nine plagues, but the tenth they would remember forever. The foundation of any civilization is the nuclear and extended family. This plague would rock the foundation of the most powerful nation in the Ancient Near East.

It was through this plague in particular that God said he would execute judgment against all the gods of

Egypt

. In Exodus 12:12, the gods of Egypt are juxtaposed against the Lord himself. Here, the Hebrew word for God is Yahweh, meaning the eternal, self-sufficient, all-powerful, covenant keeping God. In this act of death and destruction, God would reveal the full extent of his power against the gods of Egypt—the power over life and death. At the same time, he would also demonstrate to the Israelites his ability and willingness to keep his covenant made with Abraham more than 400 years before by setting them free. Both would be accomplished in one dreadful night.

God had protected the Israelites from the effects of most of the plagues and promised to do so again this time but, in this case, his protection would be conditional. If the conditions were not met, they would suffer the same fate as the Egyptians. Thankfully, by now, the Israelites were convinced that God kept his promises and made good on his threats. The conditions God set, found in Exodus 12:1-11, were both simple and symbolic. The lamb had to be a yearling without blemish. Its blood was to be sprinkled over the door and on the doorposts. The Passover meal was to be prepared and eaten in haste, anticipating the hour of their redemption. The rich symbolism of this event would not be properly understood until 1,500 years later when the sacrificial Lamb of God himself would die on the cross on the very day the Passover lamb was killed. In both cases, the innocent died on behalf of the guilty.

The point in setting the conditions was that God wanted to create an object lesson that would be perpetuated from one generation of Israelites to another with the hope that they would never forget what God had done for them. Through the reenactment of the Passover, the patriarch of the family would recount for the younger generations the story of God’s great deliverance. Creating such memorials is important to any society, but especially in ones with a high degree of illiteracy—which was likely the case of the Israelites during this time.

While the Israelites prepared and waited, the death angel swept over Egypt, bringing death and indescribable anguish to the Egyptians. Apart from the flood in the days of Noah and the predictions of future judgment, no outpouring of the wrath of God in the biblical record was harsher than this. Multiplied thousands of people died. No household, not even Pharaoh’s, was spared from the slaughter.

In striking the house of Pharaoh, God altered the dynastic line of descent, killing the son born to be the next Pharaoh. Attacking the royal lineage, which was no doubt the epicenter of Egyptian culture, struck a blow at the heart of the Egyptian pantheon of gods. No deity had a more direct impact on the people’s daily lives than Pharaoh. While Ra was remote and not active among the people, Pharaoh dictated their every move. He was considered nearly omnipotent, and his rule was absolute. When God killed Pharaoh’s son, he exposed the lie of Pharaoh’s acclaimed divinity, revealing him as nothing more than a mere mortal. Perhaps nothing undermined the worldview of the Egyptians more than this. Pharaoh had been checkmated by the God of the people he had enslaved. Later, Solomon would write in Proverbs 16:18 that “Pride goes before destruction, And a haughty spirit before a fall” (NKJV)—and Pharaoh was an outstanding example. Finally, Pharaoh caved and set the people free, not only letting them go but forcing them out.

The main lesson that we should draw from these two plagues and, indeed from all of the plagues is that, in both blessing and cursing, God keeps his promises. Every plague that he promised would come came exactly as Moses said it would. But God also remembered and kept his promise made to Abraham more than 400 years before that his progeny, now a nation, would be delivered from

Egypt

and returned to the promised land. But God could only keep his promises because he is who he claims to be: eternal, self-sufficient, all-knowing, and all-powerful. All of these characteristics were revealed in the plagues as he executed judgment on the gods of

Egypt

. If he can keep his promises to Abraham, Moses, and the children of Israel, he can keep them to you.

PLEASE NOTE: Permission is hereby given to forward, print, and post this blog as long as it is done as a complete blog, and its authorship is acknowledged. Thank you for your cooperation. For automatic notification of future blogs please visit, www.drdavejohnson.blogspot.com and click on “follow.”

Soles For Salvation!!

2011-05-13T16:20:00.001-07:00

Friends,

I just received a report that four new churches were planted and existing churches were able to impact their communities through our evangelistic efforts this past year in the Philippines.

Thank you to those who have prayed and given.

But with four to five million people in our part of the Philippines, there is still much to be done.

That’s why I’m participating what we have dubbed the “Soles for Salvation” 5K Walkathon, and it’s why we need folks like you to sponsor me (Debbie was planning to walk but had to back out at the last minute). If you do not already support us or could give an additional offering, we are asking that you would sponsor me for $1, $10, or more per kilometer. The walk is tomorrow but you can pledge at any point. We would like to raise $5,000.00 through this event. We thank God for those who have responded, but we are still well short of the goal.

Anything you can do will help.

If you can help us, please let us know by return email. If you are a member of an Assemblies of God church, please send your gift through your church designated for “Dave and Debbie Johnson, AGWM acct. # 2256006. If you are not a member of an Assemblies of God church, just make your check out to me and send it to us at

1515 Blanchard ST SW Grand Rapids MI 49509

. You can also give online at www.daveanddebbiejohnson.com.

Thank you for considering this request.

Blessings,

Dave Johnson

AGWM Missionary to the

Philippines

Update on Our Financial Needs

2011-04-29T07:31:00.001-07:00

Dave and Debbie Johnson

Assemblies of God Missionaries to the Philippines

1515 Blanchard ST SW

Grand Rapids MI 49509

(616) 558-1889

April 29, 2011

Dear Friends,

As we have traveled, many have asked how much we need to raise before completing itineration at the end of August, 2011. As you look at these numbers, please bear in mind that our vision is to share the gospel with all of the four to five million Filipinos within the Bicol region of the Philippines and plant a church within walking distance of every one of them. Raising up and training Filipinos to accomplish this vision is at the core of our strategy.

Our vision is two pronged.

One, direct evangelism. Over the last 17 years we have conducted approximately 700 evangelistic crusades in conjunction with local churches. Many churches have been planted. Each crusade costs about $350.00, and we conducted about 45-50 per year, each crusade lasting three nights. Except for Debbie and me, all members of the team are Filipinos, as are all of the pastors with whom we work. While the Filipino churches do partner with us in sharing the expenses of this ministry by shouldering the expenses over the dollar figure given above, the nature of this type of work is finance intensive and more help is needed.

Second, in 2007 God gave Debbie a vision to plant house churches. Working hand-in-hand with Filipino church leaders in our region and one other missionary couple from another organization, three house church planting schools were started and about 12 house churches were started. Today, this movement has grown to include 15 house church planting schools and as many as 200 house churches have been started. The possibilities for expansion are almost limitless. God’s blessing on this effort is obvious, and we are anxious to see this movement grow. We foresee the need for expanding the level of training and are excited about participating in it.

Here, then, are the details of what we still need to raise as of April 14, 2011:

Monthly pledges We are still $1,718.12 short of where we need to be by August 31, 2011. If you are willing to make a commitment to support us over the next four years of our term, you can download a pledge form at http://www.daveanddebbiejohnson.com/.

Monthly Support Amout Needed Pledges Committed Still Needed

$9,177.00 $7,458.22 $1,718.48

Cash

Funds Needed Amount in Hand Still Needed

General Cash Budget $13,974.00 $10,694.36 $3,309.64

Evangelistic Crusades $30,000.00 $290.00 $29,710.00

House Church Planting $5,000.00 0 $5,000.00

If you have any questions, please feel free to call on my cellphone at (616) 558-1889.

Your offering can be sent to AGWM

1445 Boonville Ave. Springfield, MO, 65802

, designated for Dave and Debbie Johnson,

Philippines

, acct 2256006, or you can donate online at http://www.daveanddebbiejohnson.com/.

Please note: if you are a member of an Assemblies of God church, please support your church’s missions program by channeling your support, designated for us, through your church.

Thanks for partnering with us,

Dave Johnson

The Plagues Continue: Moses and the Gods of Egypt Part IV

2011-04-29T06:47:00.001-07:00

The Plagues Continue: Moses and the Gods of Egypt Part IV

By Dr. Dave Johnson

This is the fourth in a series of blogs regarding God’s confrontation with the gods of Egypt. While the primary purpose was to execute God’s wrath against those that were not gods, what happened in the supernatural was reflected in the natural in order that Pharaoh and the Egyptian people might understand what was happening. The first four plagues were a nuisance and inconvenience to the Egyptian people, but they suffered no permanent damage. The fifth plague, however, brought economic havoc when God slaughtered their cattle.

The sixth plague, recorded in Exodus 9:8-21, is the first plague to directly affect the people themselves. The International Bible Encyclopedia identifies the types of boils that broke out on the people and draws a probably connection to the previous plague:

This plague in the order of its coming, immediately after the murrain [plague on the cattle], and in the description given of it and in the significant warning of the "pestilence" yet to come (Ex 9:15), appears most likely to have been pestis minor, the milder form of bubonic plague. Virulent rinder-pest among cattle in the East is regarded as the precursor of plague among men and is believed to be of the same nature. It may well be, as has been thought by some, that the great aversion of the ancient Egyptians to the contamination of the soil by decaying animals was from the danger thereby of starting an epidemic of plague among men (Dr. Merrins, Biblical Sacra, 1908, 422-23). (www.bible-history.com/isbe/plagues of

Egypt

, accessed 9 April 2011).

This was significant since not only could the magicians not replicate this plague but they were unable to heal even themselves (IBID). Even Pharaoh himself was likely afflicted. But why did the Lord tell Moses to throw soot (or ashes) in the air to begin the plague? One commentator noted that the use of soot to cause boils overrode the Egyptians perception of nature, as soot was actually used to cure boils. If this is the case, then this is another way that God challenged the Egyptians worldview. Thoth, the Egyptian god of medicine, was unable to affect a cure (www.mazornet.com/holidays/passover/plagues/boils.htm, accessed 12 April 2011).

In Exodus 9:12 there is a subtle but real shift in the story. In each of the first five plagues, the Bible says that Pharaoh hardened his heart or, to use the passive voice, that his heart became hardened. Here, for the first time, the text records that God hardened Pharaoh’s heart. How could Pharaoh harden his own heart and God also harden his heart? Is this a contradiction? I will leave the broader discussion on predestination and the Calvinist/Armenian debate to others, but I can state conclusively that there is no contradiction. I believe that Pharaoh, as a free moral agent had both the ability and responsibility for choosing between good and evil, made the choice to rebel against God’s power and authority. God, then, simply gave him over to the wickedness and deceitfulness of his own heart. This line of thinking is consistent with Paul’s own teaching about moral choices and God’s judgment in Romans 1:20-25. Essentially, God caused Pharaoh to live with the moral consequences of the choices he had made.

Then, in Exodus 9:13-21, God proceeds to give Moses a message for Pharaoh. The message contains fourth elements. One, Pharaoh must let the people go. This statement would make no sense if Pharaoh did not have the moral capacity to make the choice of liberating the people or not. Second, in verse 14, God warned Pharaoh that things were going to get worse. Third, In verses 15-21, God informs Pharaoh that, much to Pharaoh’s surprise and chagrin, he is not a descendent of the sun-god, Re, and he is not the master of the universe. He was a mere mortal that the God of the slaves, who, as it turns out, is the maker and ruler of all things, raised up to suit his purposes! How ironic and incomprehensible this was to Pharaoh! That the God of oppressed was greater than the mighty Pharaoh was an outrageous insult to Egypt. God literally turned the worldview of the Egyptians upside down!

The fourth component of God’s message to Pharaoh was the threat of the seventh plague, recorded in Exodus 9:22-29. In his mercy, God gave Pharaoh and the Egyptians an opportunity to get the remaining livestock, which had been seriously depleted in the fifth plague, into shelter so as not to be killed by the hail. Incredibly, some still did not believe and left both servants and livestock in the field.

One Jewish commentator described the scene well:

The biblical text refers to this plague has “all my plagues,” thus equating it to all the others combined. There are differing rabbinical explanations trying to clarify the reason for this. One commentator, the Ohr Hachayim explains that up until this plague the Egyptian magicians believed that Moses and Aaron were magicians who were able to bring forth the plagues utilizing either black magic or demon work. The reason that they were able to create what others couldn’t was due to their superior abilities and advanced knowledge. The plague of Barad convinced both Pharaoh and the magicians that it was God’s hand since the phenomenon could not be achieved by mortal magicians. Since it was the same God who came to him previously, Pharaoh had to accept that all the plagues were God created.

Why hail?
This plague was the most awesome and most devastating to hit Egypt. It also displayed God's power and superiority to any deity worshipped by the Egyptians, one of which was the god of the sky, "Nut." The power of God was magnified given that the hail consisted of fire and ice, a surreal happening, as fire and ice, which normally do no [sic] coexist, worked hand in hand to wreak havoc. (http://www.mazornet.com/holidays/passover/plagues/hail.htm, accessed 14 April 2011)

The broadness of destruction caused by this plague is difficult, if not impossible, to overstate. People were killed and massive numbers of livestock, as well as crops and vegetation throughout the land of Egypt were destroyed. Nut, the Egyptian god of the sky, was powerless to stop it. By far, this was the worse of the plagues to this point. No one had ever seen anything like this. Again, nothing in Goshen, where the Israelites lived, was harmed, sending a clear message that the plague was sent by the God of the Hebrews. Even Pharaoh was unnerved by the hail and called Moses in for another meeting, promising to let the people go.

The way in which Moses replied to Pharaoh in verse 29 underscores the point God was making to Pharaoh that God, not Nut or any other Egyptian deity, controlled the weather, and he concluded his point with an exclamation point by stopping the hail and lightening at the precise moment that Moses lifted his hands. There is no reasonable way that Pharaoh could have misunderstood the lesson intended and, therefore, no excuse for his continued arrogance and hardness of heart. His rebellion was intentional.

The eighth plague, that of the locusts, followed the hail and the tale is told in Exodus 10:1-20. Verse two is a reminder that the lessons God intended to teach were not only for the Egyptians but also for the Israelites—specifically the generations that would follow. The goal was that God’s name might be exalted in all the earth. In verses 4-6, Moses and Aaron presented God’s ultimatum to Pharaoh. Pharaoh’s immediate response is not recorded but apparently he was not open to the idea.

Verse seven records a kind of conversation that would not have been common in Pharaoh’s court. Disagreeing with Pharaoh could have cost them their lives. That his servants would argue with him suggests that the situation had become desperate. That they accused him of being out of touch with how the plagues were impacting the people only accentuates how bad the situation must have been. At this point, Pharaoh became duly alarmed and, again, tried to negotiate without losing control of the Israelites. His offer to allow the men to go fell short of God’s demand, and the plague came.

A number of Egyptian gods, going by various names, appear to have been the target of this plague. None were strong enough to withstand the wrath of the one true God. The result was an unmitigated economic disaster as the locusts, who may not have been known in

Egypt

, swept in and destroyed the crops that had not been affected by other plagues.

There are two lessons that reverberate throughout the story of the plagues. On the one hand, the Hebrews were getting the message of God’s ability to deliver them from slavery. No one else had been able to save them. Their God, indeed, was mighty and willing to save them even though they were not worthy. On the other side of the coin, God’s attitude towards sin should be abundantly clear. It has not changed in the three and a half millennia since that time. If God would judge Pharaoh and the Egyptian nation, he will surely judge us. Because of Pharaoh’s arrogance, the entire population now had no food until the end of the next crop growing cycle. And the worst was yet to come.

PLEASE NOTE: Permission is hereby given to forward, print, and post this blog as long as it is done as a complete blog and its authorship is acknowledged. Thank you for your cooperation. For automatic notification of future blogs please visit, www.drdavejohnson.blogspot.com and click on “follow.”

Support Status

2011-04-14T09:05:00.000-07:00

Dave and Debbie Johnson

Assemblies of God Missionaries to the Philippines

1515 Blanchard ST SW

Grand Rapids MI 49509

(616) 558-1889

April 14, 2011

Dear Friends,

Our vision is two pronged.

Second, in 2007 God gave Debbie a vision to plant house churches. Working hand-in-hand with Filipino church leaders in our region and one other missionary couple from another organization, three house church planting schools were started and about 12 house churches were started. Today, this movement has grown to include 15 house church planting schools and about 200 house churches have been started. The possibilities for expansion are almost limitless. God’s blessing on this effort is obvious, and we are anxious to see this movement grow. We foresee the need for expanding the level of training and are excited about participating in it.

Here, then, are the details of what we still need to raise as of April 14, 2011:

Monthly pledges We are still $1,776.00 short of where we need to be by August 31, 2011. If you are willing to make a commitment to support us over the next four years of our term, you can download a pledge form at http://www.daveanddebbiejohnson.com/.

Monthly Support Amout Needed Pledges Committed Still Needed

$9,177.00 $7,453.22 $1,723.48

Cash

Funds Needed Amount in Hand Still Needed

General Cash Budget $13,974.00 $10,694.36 $3,309.64

Evangelistic Outreaches $30,000.00 $290.00 $29,710.00

House Church Planting $5,000.00 0 $5,000.00

If you have any questions, please feel free to call on my cellphone at (616) 558-1889.

Your offering can be sent to AGWM

1445 Boonville Ave. Springfield, MO, 65802

, designated for Dave and Debbie Johnson,

Philippines

, acct 2256006, or you can donate online at http://www.daveanddebbiejohnson.com/.

Please note: if you are a member of an Assemblies of God church, please support your church’s missions program by channeling your support, designated for us, through your church.

Thanks for partnering with us,

Dave Johnson

The Plagues Turn Serious: Moses and the Gods of Egypt Part III

2011-04-06T07:53:00.001-07:00

The Plagues Turn Serious: Moses and the Gods of Egypt Part III

In the first two blogs, I discussed some of the basic tenets of animism in order that we might understand the ten plagues as Moses, Pharaoh, and the peoples they led would have understood them. At its core, animism is a religion of power—and the ten plagues, along with the resultant exodus from Egypt, are the most powerful example of, and most referred to, power encounter in the entire Old Testament. That Moses should devote so much narrative to them is indicative of their importance.

We pick up the story again in Exodus 8:22-23, the description of the fourth plague. Here, Moses records a significant change in the way God sent the plagues. From this point on, the children of Israel would not be affected. Since the first three plagues impacted everybody, one could make the case that these were general natural disasters that, in the minds of the Egyptians, could have been caused by other deities. Sparing the Israelites, however, would send a clear message to the Egyptian people that something of a different order was happening, and that God was identifying himself as the God of Israel, giving the Egyptians a crystal clear understanding of who was calling the shots—a message even the hard hearted Pharaoh was able to grasp.

The god of the flies was most likely Beelzebub. One writer contends that these flies were actually scarab beetles rather than flies, but this view does not appear to be common (www.khouse.org/articles/2000/263/). V24 records an interesting statement that the land “was corrupted” the flies. The flies fed off animal dung, which may have been the source of defilement, although they would not likely have known then that dung was unsanitary. This being said, however, the meaning of this phrase remains a bit unclear, at least to me.

Again, the impact of the plague was not serious. Apparently no one died or even became sick, although flies feeding from the manure piles would have carried terrible germs. But, no doubt noting the absence of flies among the Hebrews, Pharaoh noticed that this plague was somehow different and, in verse 25, for the first time, he began to negotiate--offering the children of Israel some time off for sacrificing to the Lord—but he wanted them to stay in Egypt where he could control them. In other words, he wanted to appease the Lord to get him to lay off the plagues and leave

Egypt

alone.

Why Pharaoh began to negotiate here is admittedly speculative, but there may have been something going on that would not be obvious to Western readers. Animistic religions are based on getting, controlling, and maintaining supernatural power. In the Egyptian worldview, Pharaoh, as a descendent of the sun-god, was believed to be very powerful. In early 1998, Debbie and I made a ministry trip to

Indonesia

. One day, as I was teaching on the plagues to a group of villagers living in a remote area near the equator in the Indonesian rain forest, one older man observed that perhaps Pharaoh was negotiating because he sensed that his power was waning, and he wanted to maintain it at all costs. Therefore, appeasing the God of the Hebrews was called for in order to maintain the supernatural status quo. I believe the villager was right. Pharaoh was correct that his power was indeed waning as the God of the Hebrews was making his point that he, not Pharaoh, was the one who controlled the universe.

When Pharaoh offered to let the Israelites go and sacrifice within the land of Egypt, Moses, being very polite, in an indirect manner, told Pharaoh “no deal.” Notice, too, that when Moses said that they would go a three days’ journey into the wilderness, he never promised that they would return. Moses did not lie or deceive Pharaoh in any way. He simply felt no obligation to tell him the whole plan. Although he did not say that they were planning to leave permanently, Pharaoh, who initially agreed to let them go, well understood what was happening and, once again, hardened his heart once the flies were gone and did not keep his promise.

While the first four plagues presented just inconveniences to the Egyptians, the fifth (Exodus 9:1-7) began to have a major economic impact. In verse 3, Moses warned Pharaoh that the consequence of further arrogance would be severe and stated that, once again, the cattle belonging to the children of

Israel

would not be affected.

Some of the gods of Egypt were more popular than others. The gods represented by the animals mentioned here appear to have been of some importance.

One writer noted:

The fifth plague was against the domestic animals of Egypt, and thus Apis, the bull god, and the cow-headed Hathor, goddess of the deserts. These were so widespread that even the children of

Israel

had become tainted by their worship, which led to the fiasco of the golden calf in the image of Apis . ⁷

The plague was a "murrain," a contagious disease among the cattle, and even the sacred bulls in the temple died (www.khouse.org/articles/2000/263/).

The economic impact must have been catastrophic and livelihoods of many Egyptians wiped out…literally overnight. Even the sacred bulls were killed, so the Egyptians could not sacrifice to these gods to appeal for help. If they thought that their own gods were doing this to them, they had nothing with witch to appease them. No outcry from the people was yet recorded, but they must have been getting restless by now. Surprising, Pharaoh himself is not moved by the impact of this plague, although he did sent someone to check on the herds of the Israelites to see if God had kept Moses’ promise that they would not be affected.

Again, there is clear evidence that the God of the Hebrews is the Lord of the universe. He was more than willing to disturb the natural order in order to display his power and, in this case, his wrath against Pharaoh and the other gods of

Egypt

. Like a piece of wood in a vise grip, God was increasing the pressure he was putting on the Egyptian worldview—both challenging the Egyptians convictions about his sovereignty and establishing the reality of his power and love to the children of Israel. So far, the impact on bodies of the Egyptians people had been minimal. This would soon change. God was upping the ante.

PLEASE NOTE: Permission is hereby given to forward, print, and post this blog as long as it is done as a complete blog, and its authorship is acknowledged. Thank you for your cooperation. For automatic notification of future blogs please visit, www.drdavejohnson.blogspot.com and click on “follow.”

The Plagues Begin: Moses and the Gods of Egypt Part II

2011-03-10T16:03:00.000-08:00

The Plagues Begin: Moses and the Gods of Egypt Part II

By Dr. Dave Johnson

In the first blog, we explored Moses’ experience with God on Mt. Horeb. Here, we will begin to delve into the Ten Plagues, all of which were intended to be power encounters with the various gods of Egypt. The key verse for this series is Exodus 12:13 where God told Moses “…and against all the gods of Egypt will I execute judgment: I am the LORD.” While this verse specifically deals with Pharaoh himself, who was believed to be the descendent of the sun-god, it broadly applies, as we shall see, to all of the plagues. But in order to understand the mindset of the participants, a brief explanation of their worldview must first be given.

The ancient Egyptians, like most of the world today, were animists. They believed that the supernatural pervaded all of life and that gods, goddesses, ancestors, and spirits abounded and had the power to bless or curse the living. Sacrifices were offered and rituals were performed to appease or manipulate them to do man’s bidding. Amulets and charms were among the paraphernalia used for this purpose. All of life was seen through the lens of the supernatural, especially as it related to cause and effect. For example, when someone was sick, diviners were consulted to determine the cause of the sickness. If the cause was supernatural, a supernatural cure had to be sought. The same held true for things like natural disasters and many other aspects in life. It is impossible to overstate the impact of the supernatural on the worldview of an animist. Dealing with all of these issues called for gaining, harnessing, and relying on supernatural power. The most allegiance and attention was given to the god or spirit that displayed the most power.

Exodus 5:2 is critical to our understanding here. Pharaoh claims not to know the God of the Hebrews. Why should he pay any attention to weak deity who was unable to prevent his people from being enslaved? What Pharaoh did not understand, at least at first, was that the God of the Hebrews was challenging Pharaoh to a power contest of the first magnitude. In short, he was picking a fight. It would prove to be a ten round bout, the stakes getting higher with each round, and the outcome was already predetermined.

When Moses first presented God’s demand to let his people go, Pharaoh responded by refusing and becoming more oppressive, not less. He did not realize that God was setting him up for a fall, and even the children of Israel thought Pharaoh held the upper hand (Exodus 5-6). Exodus 7:1-13 reveals the warm-up in the match between God and Pharaoh. That Pharaoh’s magicians could replicate what God did with Aaron’s rod seems to have surprised noone, but when Aaron’s snake swallowed up those of the magicians, the final outcome of the match is foreshadowed to the glory of God.

Before proceeding further, the issue of the power of pagan witchcraft must be mentioned. Although dealing with it in any complete manner is well beyond the scope of this article, it is obvious from this story that pagan witchcraft practitioners have power and the question is, from where does the power ultimately come? The obvious answer is Satan but from where, then, does Satan draw his power? If Satan has power independent from God then we cannot say that God is all-powerful. Therefore, we must conclude that their power comes indirectly from God. The question must then be raised as to whether God is responsible for evil and for deceiving people. I believe that the answer is no because the Bible says Satan chose to use God’s power to rebel against God. People, then, have the power to choose which they will follow and are morally responsible for those choices. These answers are admitting overly simple but will have to suffice here. Now, back to our story.

Round one of the contest took place beside the Nile river. It would be impossible to overstate the importance of the Nile in the life of the people. They regarded the Nile as the source of life and since the ancient Egyptians saw all of life through a supernatural paradigm, they believed that the god Hapi, controlled the waters of the Nile.

As a water god, Hapi was a deity of fertility - he provided water, food and the yearly inundation of the Nile. . . .During the inundation flood, the Egyptians would throw offerings, amulets and other sacrifices into the Nile at certain places, sacred to Hapi. Hapi was thought to come with the inundation (the 'Arrival of Hapi') with a retinue of crocodile gods and frog goddesses, and the sacrifices were given in the hopes that the flood would not be too high, nor too low. If the inundation was too high, many homes would be destroyed (the Egyptians built their homes and even palaces out of mud brick, which was easily washed away in a large flood). On the other hand, if the flood was too low, there would not be enough water for the fields and cattle - Egypt would be in drought. During inundation, statues of Hapi were carried about through the towns and villages so that the people could honor and pray to him - it was a solemn occasion. http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/hapi.htm, accessed March 1, 2011

When God turned the water in the Nile (and every other body of water in Egypt) into blood, he was demonstrating his power over Hapi (Exodus 7:14-24). Why God allowed the magicians to do the same is open to conjecture, but my opinion is that God was baiting Pharaoh to walk deeper into the trap he was setting for him. While the people were likely shocked at what happened, they simply dug around the banks of the river and found potable water, meaning that they were merely inconvenienced. For his part, however, Pharaoh took the bait and hardened his heart. The first round, by God’s design, was a draw.

Round two (Exodus 8:1-15), involved God’s judgment over Heket (also Heget or Heqet), the Egyptian goddess of the frogs. Because frogs are amphibian and must live near water, they abounded around the Nile, especially at floodtide. Since the Nile was held to be the source of life, the Heket was seen to be the goddess of fertility, an important role in ancient

Egypt

, since, like many of their neighbors, the Egyptians would have abhorred barrenness. Amulets and charms were worn to ensure safe delivery of babies.

In both of the first two plagues, God is revealing his power against the Nile and the fruit of the Nile, frogs. Since this river was believed by the Egyptians to be the very source of life and fertility, God is exposing the very heart of their worldview and challenging their very beliefs about who really holds the power of life and death. That Pharaoh asked Moses to entreat God to remove the frogs (Exodus 8:8-12) is perfectly consistent with an animist’s worldview that the one who caused the calamity can also cure it, and does not in any way imply that he acknowledged God’s sovereignty over the earth or his superior nature.

Pharaoh’s witchdoctors also replicated this miracle. Again, we are not told why, but I believe God allowed them to do it in order for Pharaoh to walk deeper into the trap of his own delusion. Again, Pharaoh bought the lie that Yahweh was a weak tribal deity and hardened his heart. At the conclusion of round two the power match was still a draw, but the Lord of the Hebrews was just warming up.

In round three (Exodus 8:16-19), God executed judgment against Geb, the Egyptian god of earth, vegetation, and the underworld and may have, in the view of the Egyptians, been instrumental in creating the world. He was also regarded as the father of Osiris and father-in-law of Isis, other Egyptians gods who are better known.

Since sowing and reaping crops were critical to maintaining life, appeasing the god of the earth and imploring him to give an abundant harvest was important to the people. Again, God is attacking the heart of their worldview, raising again the question of who really causes the universe to function. This must be balanced, however, with the thought that pestilence was not uncommon in the ancient Near East and like the first two plagues, the plague of lice was not life threatening, so the people were not yet seriously challenged and may have been rethinking their presuppositions about life too deeply yet.

In this round, however, a clear change in the trajectory of the confrontation takes place. In vv. 18-19, God turned off the power of the Egyptian magicians, and they could not replicate this curse. To their credit, they admitted that they were checkmated and retired from the scene, admitting that the God of the Hebrews was stronger than they were. Pharaoh, however, continued his arrogant defiance and would not be cowed into submission, at least not yet. The power encounter was no longer a draw.

In looking at the first three judgments, some thoughts can be drawn. First, God was beginning to keep his promise to Moses that he would set his people free. He was beginning to move, although there was no evidence yet as to when and how their deliverance would be accomplished, nor did it anyone, including Moses, yet know how thorough God’s judgment against the gods of Egypt would be.

Second, all of these judgments begin to call into question the Egyptians view of who ran the universe. They also served to underscore to the Hebrews, who also were affected by these three plagues, that it was their God, not the deities of the Egyptians, who was in charge. God was beginning to reaffirm to his people that their faith in him was well founded.

Third, none of these judgments affected the people in any permanent manner. At most, they were a temporary nuisance that resulted in some inconvenience but, as yet there was no permanent damage. The Egyptian people do not seem to have paid much attention to what was going on, and Pharaoh remained unbowed. Only the witchdoctors had noticed that the God of the Hebrews was stronger than they. They alone appeared to have any inkling of the tsunami that was coming. In round four, where my next blog begins, God ratchets up the pressure, separates the Israelites from the Egyptians, and begins to get Pharaoh’s and the people’s attention.

PLEASE NOTE: Permission is hereby given to forward, print, and post this blog as long as it is done as a complete blog, and its authorship is acknowledged. Thank you for your cooperation. For automatic notification of future blogs please visit, www.drdavejohnson.blogspot.com and click on “follow.”

March 2011 Newsletter

2011-02-28T08:11:00.000-08:00

News From Dave and Debbie
March 2011

Dear Friends

Itineration Time has been flying since we returned to itineration last October. We have been in Michigan most of the time, with other services in Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, California, and Washington state. Aside from services, we’ve been doing lunches and coffee with pastors and attending sectional and district meetings as the opportunities arise.

One such opportunity was the annual minister’s conference in Michigan which, as usual, took place at the lovely Grand Traverse Resort in Acme, MI, near Traverse City. The Holy Spirit blessed us with his presence in each of the services and fellowshipping with friends over food was wonderful. The fitness center even had weight lifting equipment, so Dave was thrilled to have the opportunity to keep up his strength-building routine!

In March we will focus on Michigan and northern Ohio. We will join the sectional council tour in Michigan and expect to connect with many of you during that time. Thankfully, the Michigan district has condensed twelve sections into six meetings so we don’t have quite so many places to go as in the past, but it will still be a full schedule! Our dear friend and former pastor, Wayne Benson, will be our speaker, and we are really looking forward to seeing him again.

On this itineration we have enjoyed quite a variety of formats, more than what we remember from the past. For example, in October, we participated in a sectional, round robin missions convention in northern Michigan. In addition to the preaching services, we spoke in a number of home groups. In other places we have done preaching (Dave’s first love in ministry), Q and A, and missionary windows. All have been fruitful, and we deeply appreciate these opportunities to share our passion for Jesus and Filipinos.

We still have a few openings for services and tons of personal appointment times available. If you would like to schedule us for either a service or appointment, please call Dave right away at (616) 558-1889. We hope to return to the field in June or July.

Budget Mountain We still need to raise thousands of dollars in cash for evangelistic outreaches and church planting, as well as about $2,000.00 in monthly pledges. If you can help us, visit www.daveanddebbiejohnson.com for a pledge form or to give online (one will be attached in the online edition of this newsletter). You can also send your offerings to AGWM

1445 Boonville Ave. Springfield MO 65802

, designated for Dave and Debbie Johnson, account 225600. If you are a member of an Assemblies of God church, please support us through giving to your church’s missions program. We cannot leave for the field until these funds are raised.

Vision For The Next Term Over the last term, we were involved in evangelism, church planting, and Bible school and mission field leadership. For the next four years, we intend to focus on evangelism and church planting—especially house churches. We have received word that the house church planting movement that Debbie helped to start in Bicol is continuing to grow and needs our attention. We estimate that 50-100 house churches have been planted, and we expect the numbers to dramatically increase as the potential for growth is nearly unlimited! We have been told that the movement has grown to the point that it may either explode or implode, and that we need to hurry back. Obviously, we are praying for an explosion! To God be the glory!

Writing God has laid it on Dave’s heart to do more writing in the areas of theology, missions, and spirituality. His articles are available online at www.drdavejohnson.blogspot.com. When you visit his blogspot, you can receive automatic notifications of new posts by simply signing up to be a follower. If you would like to be placed on mailing list and receive them directly, please contact Dave directly at dave.johnson@agmd.org.

Internet Connections We are pleased to offer more ways to connect. You can now also reach us at:

www.facebook.com/davejohnson

www.facebook.com/daveanddebbiejohnson

www.twitter.com/drdavejohnson

www.linkedin.com/davejohnson

Prayer Requests (Our urgent prayer requests are posted on Facebook)

1. More of Jesus!

2. Continued personal renewal.

3. That God will minister to the needs of the members of Dave’s evangelistic team as they carry on the work.

4. That God would raise up more prayer and financial partners in our work.

In His Grip,

Dave and Debbie Johnson

At the Burning Bush: Moses and the Gods of Egypt Part I

2011-02-24T13:12:00.000-08:00

At the Burning Bush: Moses and the Gods of Egypt Part I

By Dr. Dave Johnson

This is the first in a series of blogs that deal with Moses and his confrontation with the gods of Egypt. Again, comprehending the polytheistic and animistic religious context is critical to the background and understanding of our story. As we did in the story of Abraham, we shall again see that God spoke powerfully and clearly to Moses, Pharaoh, and the peoples they served within their cultural context. But in order to better understand the impact of Moses’ confrontation with the gods of Egypt through the ten plagues we need to look first at Moses’ own encounter with God on Mount Horeb in the Sinai desert.

A brief sketch of Moses’ early years is given in Exodus 1-2. Born a son of Abraham, a Levite by lineage, at a time when Pharaoh had ordered the practice of infanticide, a forerunner of the current abortion practices, Moses was set adrift by his mother in a basket in the Nile river where he was picked up and adopted by an Egyptian princess. He was reared in the palace and given the best education in his day (Acts 7:22)—an education steeped in the idolatry and witchcraft that is part of polytheism. After killing an Egyptian, he fled into the wilderness, where he married Zipporah and tended his father in law’s sheep for forty years. Where and how Moses became aware of the God of his ancestors is a tale we are not told. At the burning bush, God introduced himself.

A closer look at the burning bush episode reveals some interesting insights. In Exodus 3:4, God calls Moses by name, and Moses answers, giving no hint of surprise that a voice was coming from the burning bush. Messages from the otherworld were fairly common as the ancient Near Eastern religions were steeped in divination, and Moses may have assumed that something like that was happening to him.

In 3:5, God tells Moses to take off his sandals. To Moses, the ground surrounding the bush was nothing more than desert dirt and the unconsumed bush a heretofore unseen phenomenon that had aroused his curiosity. God’s command to remove his sandals focused Moses’ attention immediately on this supernatural situation. Removing one’s sandals when entering a holy place was a Near Eastern practice that preceded Moses and continues today in Islam, again demonstrating God’s willingness to communicate with man within familiar cultural norms.

In verse 6, the Lord introduces himself as the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, Moses’ forebears. It is not difficult to understand Moses’ fear. Standing in the presence of the Holy One of Israel must have filled him with dread. In every other case in the Bible were God revealed himself to someone, the reaction was much the same. But did Moses really know who God was at the time? In verse 13, he asks for God’s name. One writer suggested that this may mean that Moses thought he was one of the gods of the Egyptians, and he wanted to know which one (Gailyn Van Rheenen, Missions: Biblical Foundations and Contemporary Strategies: Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1996, 13). While this is by no means certain, the possibility cannot be easily dismissed given Moses upbringing in the palace—Pharaoh himself being regarded as descended from the sun-god.

God’s response in verses 14-15 is telling and is one case where the English language, nay, probably any human tongue, fails to carry the impact the impact of word meanings. Here, God reveals his personal name, spelled YHWH in the original Hebrew, and known in theology as the Tetragrammaton. In time, orthodox Jews came to see the name as so holy that they would not say it, fearing that any usage of the name would violate the third commandment and bring God’s condemnation. YHWH is normally spelled Yahweh, but the correct spelling is not exactly certain because vowels were not written in the original Hebrew. Older English versions such as the KJV render it Jehovah, following the Latin tradition. Modern translations such as the NKJV and NASB usually render it as LORD, placing it in all capital letters to separate it from other names for God that also call for the use of the English word lord.

In Moses’ day, names were given that described one’s character, and the names of God are no exception. In short, YHWH means the one who is eternal, self-existent, all-powerful, and one who keeps his covenants. The idea of God keeping his covenant, as we shall see in a moment, is the focal point of God revealing it to Moses at this point in time. The other attributes of God described in his name here also relate to his covenant keeping ability. In order to keep his covenants, God has to be eternal. If he were not, how could he keep a covenant made with Abraham more than four hundred years earlier? The idea of being self-existent means that God needs nothing outside of himself to maintain his own existence. If this were not so, how could he be eternal? And if he were not all-powerful, how could he guarantee that he could keep his covenants? That he did deliver Israel from Egypt is evidence that he is who he claimed to be.

Moses’ response is recorded in 4:1. He asked for evidence that YHWH had spoken to and was guiding him. God’s reply in 4:2-9 again reveals his ability and willingness to communicate within the worldview of humans. While the animistic worldview of the Egyptians and, to some extent, the Israelites, will be explained more fully in the next blog, the role of supernatural power must be noted here. Gaining and maintaining supernatural power was and is the name of the game to the animist. This is quite foreign to the rationalistic thinking that predominates Western cultures. To demonstrate proof of his existence and concern for his people, God did not use rational arguments and evidence because these were not valued by the people. Evidence of his power, however, would certainly get their attention and give Moses a hearing with them.

In the first sign, God displayed his power over nature by turning Moses’ rod into a snake. Much of the animistic religion of the Egyptians revolved around the worship of animals, and God was teaching Moses who the master of the universe really was. In the second, turning Moses temporarily into a leper, God revealed his power to curse and restore human beings, a slightly different type of miracle. God would do a similar thing in the ten plagues by smiting the Egyptians with boils and killing the firstborn of every household.

Verse 10 suggests that Moses got the point and had no more questions about God’s power. He moved on to another in his litany of excuses but eventually went to

Egypt

. The Israelites believed Moses, at least initially, but Pharaoh was a bit harder to convince, and the stage was set for the greatest power confrontation recorded in the Old Testament.

What lessons might be learned from Moses’ encounter with God? First, God revealed himself. It’s the only way that he can be known. Second, he is both willing to and capable of keeping his promises. If he could keep his promise to Abraham by brining his descendents back to the promised land, he can keep his promises to us. Third, he is all powerful and perfectly capable of setting his people free. Fourth, his motivation was his love for his people. But in order to accomplish his goal, God had to deal with Pharaoh. And to that story, we turn next.

The Seed--God and Abraham Part IV

2011-02-18T16:23:00.000-08:00

The Seed: God and Abraham Part IV

This is the fourth and final blog in the series of God and Abraham. In the first blog, I attempted to describe how Abraham would have understood God in the polytheistic context in which he lived. In the following blogs, I described how Abraham likely understood and responded to the promises of God in Genesis 12:1-3 that relate to the land that God would give him and the progeny that God would send through Sarah. In every case, we have examined how Abraham would have understood God’s promises within his cultural context—which is the only way any of us can understand God’s word. In this blog, we examine the meaning of the phrase found in Genesis 12:3 that in Abraham “all the families of the earth will be blessed” (NKJV). We will try to learn, if possible, how Abraham would have understood this phrase but, in this case, because the Messiahship of Christ is rooted in the idea that he was a son of Abraham, we will also go beyond Abraham and look at how Paul understood God’s blessing through Abraham’s seed, particularly in his exposition of the Abrahamic Covenant in Galatians 3:6-16.

Abraham’s understanding of this phrase would have been deeply rooted in the overlapping concepts of family, lineage, and inheritance. Abraham’s concept of family, like the other clans and nations of his time as well as much of the world today, meant his extended family or clan. All cultures have what anthropologists call kinship systems that explain how the families in any given culture relate to one another as well. Most kinship systems are either patrilineal—meaning that the family bloodline runs through the males and the family relates primarily to the man’s family, matrilineal—meaning that the bloodline flows through the mother’s side of the family, or bi-lateral, where the bloodline flows through both sides—American culture being a good example.

A quick look at Abraham’s family tree in Genesis 11:10-29 reveals that it was patriarchal. Few women are even mentioned. Abraham, like Terah, his father, and his other male ancestors, was the head of his clan. In our day, it is common to look on the genealogies in the Bible, such as the one recorded in Genesis 11:10-19, and wonder why it was necessary to include them in the Scriptures. We must remember that the Bible was written for people of all ages, not just us. Abraham would have grasped its importance immediately. Being listed in the genealogy meant one was part of a family and, therefore, had a place in history.

That Abraham valued his family tree is clear from the fact that he did not separate from his family until he was 75 years old, and then only because God directly ordered him to do so (Genesis 12:1-5). He even kept his nephew, Lot, with him as long as possible, even though by this time, Lot was a grown man. Had Terah and Nahor, Abraham’s brother, expressed a desire to accompany him, as they had originally planned to migrate to Canaan, it is inconceivable to think that Abraham would have refused them. When it came time for Isaac to marry, Abraham sent a trusted servant to his family in Haran to find a wife for him (Genesis 24).

Because Abraham’s culture, no doubt stemming from Ur, was patrilineal, the rights of inheritance, birthright, and blessings, normally flowed through the first born son, although there were some notable exceptions such as Jacob and Esau (Genesis 24:33), Reuben and Levi and Judah (Genesis 49:1; Numbers 3:12, 13: 8:18; 1 Chronicles 5:1), and Ephraim and Manasseh (Genesis 48:8-20). The eldest son became the priest of the family, was allotted a double portion of the father’s inheritance, and, at least in the case of the kings, was granted judicial authority (2 Chronicles 21:3) (http://www.bible-history.com/eastons/B/Birthright/accessed%2007%20February%202011). The eldest son also had considerable authority within the family. In Genesis 24, Abraham’s servant negotiates for Rebekah’s with her eldest brother, Laban, who was apparently responsible for her in the absence of their father, Bethuel.

However, whether the privileges of the first born applied to Ishmael is not clear since Hagar was a concubine, not a wife. Genesis 21:10 implies that Ishmael had at least some of the rights of the firstborn, and Sarah wanted to make sure that he had no opportunity to exercise them. While God make clear to Abraham that Ishmael was not the one through whom his promises would be fulfilled, he did promise to bless him and make a nation from his progeny (Genesis 21:13) because his was also the son of Abraham. In this sense, Ishmael also participated in the fulfillment of Genesis 12:2.

With all of this in mind, we move on to Paul’s comment in Galatians 3:16 that the promise of God to Abraham referred to one seed—Jesus Christ. Abraham most likely never understood this part of the promise. There is no hint in the Genesis record that Abraham ever knew that one of his seed would be the Messiah. In no way, however, does this invalidate Paul’s statement.

For Christ to be the seed of Abraham meant that he had have an established lineage as one of Abraham’s descendents. The genealogical lists of Matthew 1:1-18 and Luke 3:23-38 are critical to Paul’s argument. The Matthew list traces the lineage of Mary, Jesus’ biological mother. The second gives that of Joseph who, though not Jesus’ literal father, was his legal one.

Paul’s statement that Christ was the seed of Abraham must be seen in the context of his argument of justification by faith rather than through the law (the Ten Commandments) in Galatians 3:1-4:7. His point is that the covenant that God had made with Abraham could not be nullified under any circumstances. The purpose of the Ten Commandments was to reveal our sin. God’s purpose in Christ, according to Paul, was to reveal God’s mercy and forgiveness. Throughout the ages, multiplied millions of people, representing many ethnic backgrounds from all over the world, have believed in Christ—the Seed of Abraham and received God’s blessing. God’s promises to Abraham have been fulfilled.

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The Promise of a Progeny: God and Abraham Part III

2011-02-03T11:20:00.000-08:00

The Promise of a Progeny: God and Abraham

Part III

By Dr. Dave Johnson

This is the third in a series of blogs regarding the relationship between God and Abraham. We have already covered the stark contrast between Abraham’s monotheism and the polytheism prevalent in the tribes that surrounded him, and from which he, himself, came. We have also covered God’s promise to Abraham that his descendents would inherit the land of Canaan.

In this blog, we will examine Abraham’s understanding of the promise that God would give him descendents that would outnumber the stars in the sky and the sand on the seashore. When God first promised his descendents, he was already seventy-five years old, and Sarah was sixty-five. Given the life-span of the people of his time, having children at this age was quite normal. But the promise was not fulfilled until after another twenty-five years, when they were both no longer fertile. The Genesis record does show that on a few occasions the Lord reminded Abraham of the promise, but a quarter of a century is a long time to wait, and we may not assume that God continually repeated his promises, which is one of the reasons that the Bible accords great faith to Abraham.

While the biblical text records only five occasions in this time period when God reminded Abraham of his promise (Genesis 12:7; 13:13-18; 15:1-6; 17:1-27, and 18:1-19), each one of them is significant. In Genesis 12:7, God repeated the promise when Abraham first arrived in Canaan. This is the first time that the promise of a progeny is directly tied to the land that Abraham would inherit. In 13:13-18, the promise is repeated after Abraham divided the land with Lot. The significance of repeating the promise here is to give Abraham the assurance that his future descendants, not Lot’s, would inherit the land.

The third occasion, recorded in Genesis 15, came after Abraham’s coalition had rescued Lot and others from the Chedorloaomer, the king of Elam, and his friends, who had raided south eastern Canaan and taken plunder and hostages, including his nephew, Lot. In this raid, it became obvious to Abraham that the promised land was vulnerable to outsiders. The loose federations of clans, tribal groups, which included Abraham’s household of 318 persons, and city-states that populated Canaan was not strong enough to withstand attack from the outside. God’s reassurance here must have bolstered Abraham’s faith.

The dialogue between God and Abraham in Genesis 15 is quite revealing. First, God tells Abraham not to fear for God himself would be Abraham’s protector and rewarder. Abraham responded essentially that there wasn’t much worth protecting since God had not given him an heir. But God patiently repeated the promise, and Abraham believed.

But believing does not mean that there are no questions. In v. 8, Abraham simply asks “how?” God responds in a manner that seems odd to Westerners but was quite natural to Abraham. What transpires in the following verses takes the form of a Hittite suzerainty treaty, a common type of treaty between two parties, undoubtedly quite familiar to Abraham—again reflecting God’s willingness to communicate with mankind through human cultures.

A suzerainty treaty, however, was not a treaty among equals, but one between a superior lord and a vassal. Abraham clearly understood who played what role. What is different from a normal suzerainty treaty here is that God not only laid out the terms of the treaty, he alone would be the one to execute it. In the normal treaty procedure, both parties would walk between the slain animals. But in this case, God, symbolized by the smoking pot and burning torch, walked alone, signifying that he was both the originator and the guarantor of the covenant. Only he would be bound by it. Abraham would do nothing to fulfill the covenant beyond having sexual relations with Sarah and rearing the child. He could either accept or reject the terms but could not change them. There were no negotiations. Abraham accepted.

How did Abraham and Sarah deal with this promise? In Genesis 16:1-2, Sarah, who by now was probably nearing the end of childbearing age, reminded Abraham that she was barren. This account must clearly be seen in conjunction with the events of chapter 15. Sarah’s offered her maid in an honest effort to see the promise of God fulfilled. But there may be more in view here than doing the will of God. Cultural mandates and peer pressure cannot be ignored. Barrenness was a major social disgrace because continuing the family tree was considered very important. Sarah may have been desperate and was surely at least partially motivated by a desire to remove this social stigma. Having an heir would assure Abraham’s place in history and establish his legacy.

There were at least two ways that ancient Near Eastern cultures dealt with infertility. One was by appealing to the gods for help by performing religious rituals, including prostitution. (http://www.biblicalstudies.org.uk/pdf/eq/mandrake_harrison.pdf). The other was by using a servant as a surrogate mother. While the first would have been reprehensible to Abraham, the second did not present any issues of conscience for him. We must remember here that Abraham had no knowledge of the Ten Commandments as they had not yet been given. Consequently, while God did not condone his action, he also never rebukes Abraham for having a sexual relationship with Hagar or holds him responsible for what has happened between the descendents of Ishmael and Isaac.

For thirteen years Abraham and Sarah thought that God’s covenant would be fulfilled through Ishmael. In Genesis 17, God again appeared to Abraham and revealed that, in her old age, Sarah herself would indeed bear a child. At this point, God did two things. First, he changes their names from Abram and Sarai to the plural forms Abraham and Sarah, conveying the promise that they would be the progenitors of a multitude—even though, as yet, they had no child between them. Why God did this now and not before is not explained, but it may have been to give Abraham and Sarah confidence that he would enact his will and fulfill his promise through Sarah, not Hagar. Since names were given to describe a person’s character, the neighbors likely mocked them, reminding them that the “father of a multitude” had only one son, and that by a concubine.

The second thing that God did here was to institute the sign of the covenant, circumcision, as the seal of his agreement that the descendents of Abraham’s coming child would be God’s forever. Circumcision was commonly practiced among the nations of Canaan, although the Philistines were an exception. While the exact purpose of circumcision among other groups cannot be established for certain, it was most likely religious since marking one’s body was common in Canaanite religious practices. It should be noted that while Ishmael was required to be circumcised and God would bless him because of Abraham, Ishmael was not considered a son of the covenant (17:19-20) and would not participate in the covenant blessings. What set Abraham apart from his neighbors was the intent of the circumcision as a sign of his special relationship with God. By becoming circumcised, Abraham signified his ratification of the covenant.

Genesis 21:1-21 records both a blessing and a tragedy. The blessing was that God finally kept his promise and gave Isaac to Abraham and Sarah. What a joy his birth must have been to their old hearts. In his birth, they saw the beginning of the fulfillment of God’s covenant promises. But the arrival of Isaac also drove the final nail in the coffin of Sarah’s relationship with Hagar and Ishmael, and she demanded that Abraham throw them out. Reluctantly, he did so, with a promise from God that he would also bless Ishmael.

Blessings from God also come with tests, and the blessing of a son from a covenant keeping God was no exception (Genesis 22:1-19). One day God called Abraham to take his son to Mount Moriah. While some scholars hold that the land Moriah was the same as Mt. Gerizim, in northern Israel, most hold that it was within the area of Mt. Zion, which was in Jerusalem, the site where David later pitched his tabernacle and placed the Ark of the Covenant, and the place where Solomon’s temple was later built. At the time, Abraham was living in Beersheba on the southern border of modern

Israel

, so the necessity of a three day journey is not surprising.

We are not told why God chose the land of Moriah. Its, choice, moreover, does not appear to have surprised Abraham. From time immemorial and the world over, mankind has seen mountains as viable places of worship. While Abraham was surely appalled at the idea of sacrificing his son, human sacrifice in general, though rare, was known in Mesopotamia and possibly Egypt at the time. In most cases it appears to have had religious connotations or some connection to the afterlife. That God would ask Abraham to sacrifice any human, and especially the son through whom the covenant would be fulfilled, is revolting. While the Bible is filled with God executing his justice through war and destruction, there is no other record in Scripture of God ever calling anyone to sacrifice a human life, save for giving his own Son on the cross. Whatever Abraham may have felt, the point is that he responded in obedience, apparently without hesitation.

Why God would test Abraham is not clear from the text, but why God would test him in this manner can be easily discerned. Isaac was not just any child, he was the one through whom God’s promises to Abraham would be fulfilled. Abraham and Sarah had waited all of their married lives for this boy. If he honored God’s command to kill the promised son, how would God fulfill his promise? Was Abraham strong enough in his faith in God to withstand the test? Was his allegiance to the one, true God whole and complete? The writer to the Hebrews answers the first question by stating that Abraham believed that Isaac would be resurrected (Hebrews 11:19). Abraham’s confidence that he would not have to go through with the dastardly deed is hinted at in Genesis 22:9-10, although he may simply have answered Isaac in this manner in order to avoid telling him the truth as long as possible. Thank God that Abraham passed the test and, after he had done so, God again reiterated the covenant (vv.15-19).

There are several lessons that we might learn from Abraham’s life as he awaited the fulfillment of God’s promise. First, God honors his promise on his timetable, not ours, and he does so for his own glory. Had Sarah given birth to Isaac during her childbearing years, it would have seemed less than a miracle. As it was, God’s hand giving her a child at the age of ninety was unmistakable. Second, we should see Abraham as a great example of a godly man who waited patiently for God to fulfill his word.

Third, God keeps his promises in his own manner. Again, it is tempting to say that Abraham and Sarah took matters into their own hands when Abraham had sex with Hagar, but the text gives no hint of this. God never condemned them for what they did because they did not have the Ten Commandments. At the same time, however, God made it clear that Isaac, not Ishmael (Genesis 17:17-21) was the son of the promise, even though Ishmael was required to be circumcised since he was a male member of Abraham’s household. The achievement of God’s purposes was neither derailed nor delayed by what Abraham, Sarah, and Hagar did.

Fourth, living out God’s promises may not be understood by those around us, as when God changed the names of Abraham and Sarah prior to Isaac’s birth, and may lead to ridicule and even persecution. In such cases, we are called to choose whether we prefer the honor of God or that of men.

Fifth, our faith in God will be tested. While this is not a new idea to anyone in Christ, we tend to ascribe the blame for our trials and temptations on the Devil. Scripture, however, does not allow for such a narrow view. In this passage, the trial is clearly from God. When the trials from God come our way, the proper response is to seek to understand what message he is trying to give us or what he is trying to do in our lives. Debbie and I recently passed through a major time of testing from the Lord that caused us much private pain but has led to much inner healing and liberation from a number of things that were holding back our spiritual growth. These times can be richly rewarding if we will go through them trusting in God for the outcome. Again, Abraham is a great example. He may not have known what the outcome of his trip to the land of Moriah would bring, but he acted in obedience, trusting in God that all would be well in the end.

Sixth, the fruit of Abraham’s life continues to this day. Indeed, the number of his descendents, both literally and spiritually, cannot be counted. Three major religions, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam honor his name. If we will be faithful to walk out the will of God for our lives, both being the people he has called us to be and doing what he has called us to do, he will bless us and we will leave a great legacy to those who follow in our footsteps.

In looking at every text where God restated his promise to Abraham regarding a progeny, we can now see his hand at work because we are seeing it in hindsight. Abraham had no such vantage point, making his faith truly admirable. But while Abraham did not live to see the number of his descendents become a multitude, he did live to see Jacob and Esau, who were fifteen years old when he died. He may have also seen Ishmael’s descendents as they apparently lived nearby and became traders with merchants of Egypt, which required passing through Canaan. He had a number of children with his second wife, Keturah, and may have seen their offspring. One of his descendents, whose parentage came from the line of Isaac, was the seed who would bless the nations. How Abraham would have understood that part of the promise and its fulfillment is the subject of the next blog.