The Carpenter's Journal

The Revelation given to the apostle John is very specific about who it’s written to.

Yet, many who claim to belong to Jesus Christ are taught that this prophecy can be readily interpreted and applied to their lives merely on the basis of their affiliation with a particular congregation or religious doctrine.

But the first sentence confirms the intended audience: “The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show to His bond-servants, the things which must soon take place…” [Rev. 1:1, NASB Translation] [my emphasis]

[δοῦλος: (doo-lôs) noun; meaning as a slave]

I like the NASB Translation’s use of the word “bond-servant” here, since the term “slave” can have different contexts. But to get a true understanding of the New Testament authors’ vision of what it actually meant to be a slave [or bondservant] to the Lord, I might want to look closely at the first ordinance that He gave to His people through Moses at Mt. Sinai:

“If you buy a Hebrew slave, he shall serve for six years; but on the seventh he shall go out as a free man without payment. If he comes alone, he shall go out alone; if he is the husband of a wife, then his wife shall go out with him. If his master gives him a wife, and she bears him sons or daughters, the wife and her children shall belong to her master, and he shall go out alone.

But if the slave plainly says, ‘I love my master, my wife and my children; I will not go out as a free man,’ then his master shall bring him to God, then he shall bring him to the door or the doorpost. And his master shall pierce his ear with an awl; and he shall serve him as a slave permanently into the age [often translated as ‘forever‘].” [Ex. 21:2-6] [my emphasis]

This phrase, “serve him as a slave,” is actually a verb derived from the same cognate noun “δοῦλος” noted above which is also recorded in the Septuagint and throughout the rest of the Greek New Testament. There were plenty of other terms to define slavery and servitude that are used in either of the original languages of the Bible.

But in the mind of every New Testament author, a δοῦλος was a special kind of servant. He wasn’t bound against his will in the service of debt, or a child who waited upon his elders. He brought his bondage upon himself.

He was driven by his love for his master and he was all in.

Are you?

Empty spaces always trigger unnatural responses.

We proved this in a High School science lab experiment. Having sealed a two-foot glass tube on either end with cork and electrodes, and then creating a vacuum inside the tube, a visible current of electricity could jump from one end of the tube to the other because of the electrons ability to flow unimpeded in that environment.

I’ve never forgotten this phenomenon. In fact, I’ve witnessed the same principle unfold repeatedly over the years, especially from a Biblical perspective.

Leadership is a role reserved for and best discharged by men and fathers. Groups consisting of women exclusively or that include children would be the exception, of course. Men simply cannot lead as effectively as women in those situations.

Yet women are appointed to lead young men in the Boy Scouts. Females have been designated to lead soldiers in various capacities of the armed forces. Women are welcomed into the ranks of municipal compliance positions, some even elected as sheriffs. Many corporations [municipal and private] seek the diversity of female CEO’s while wives and attractive young ladies are elected to serve as the peoples’ voice at every level of jurisdiction and legislation. Even young females are sought to fill the roles of pastors and elders in our congregations.

So why is this happening?

Because, by their absence, men are creating a vacuum that must otherwise be filled for things to function as our Creator intended, and women are being encouraged to step up and take the baton as a result. And it’s often a situation where they have no choice.

So it’s hardly a feminine scheme to turn the tables of tradition.

Vacuums don’t just happen. More often than not, they’re concocted as a means for dismantling the Creator’s design of sexual distinction. My science experiment was the result of a lot of planning and manipulation.

These attempts would be ineffective for the most part if they met ample resistance. Many men inherently seek and assume the Biblical leadership role, but have unwittingly been conditioned to help facilitate a destructive global agenda over the decades.

As a result, the Lord’s creation mandate has been subverted. [Gen. 2:15-17]

What will it take to get the tube opened again?

My brother in Christ reminded me that too many men have lost their thumbs.

He then shared with me how the ancient Israelites capitalized on this same messy predicament.

After a battle during which the Lord God gave them victory in Canaan following Joshua’s death, they captured a ruler there and issued him a dose of his own medicine:

“But Adoni-bezek fled, and they pursued him and caught him and cut off his thumbs and big toes. Adoni-bezek said, ‘Seventy kings with their thumbs and their big toes cut off used to gather up scraps under my table. As I have done, so God has repaid me…’” [Judges 1:7]

Have you ever considered the consequences of such a thing?

Losing this shortest appendage on the hand would be a real game changer, especially if I need to effectively wield a weapon. If I can’t do that, I’m not much use as a defense mechanism. But faithful disciples of Jesus Christ need guard their spiritual thumbs if they intend to stay in the battle and be able to convey truth and encouragement to His Body.

And make no mistake, whether enemies of the cross or fools acting in ignorance, there’s no shortage of warriors out to annihilate the power of Jesus Christ’s good news about the coming kingdom and resurrection by seeking to sever the thumbs of every man so acting or speaking about them.

The evidence of lopsided battles are littered throughout our communities at every level of public enterprise or jurisdiction. Sadly, our homes and congregations are also packed with thumbless men who lack enough knowledge, training and backbone to persevere as serious disciples of Christ.

However, it’s not too late.

The good news is that the Bible holds the key to showing me how to retain every part of me necessary to run with endurance the race that lies before me. [Heb. 12:1-2]

Because I can’t defend anything without everything intact.

A king’s authority is always granted by his subjects.

That’s because we’ve always chosen who we want to rule over us—whether directly or indirectly. Some would suggest choice isn’t always an option, that tyrants seize power by force. Of course they do. But history also confirms that a peoples’ sovereignty is ultimately surrendered by its own consent.

The Scriptures illustrate how that happens.

The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob established a perfect form of monarchial rule after He led His people out of Egypt. While in Egypt, they were only a people because they had no land. When He gave them land in Canaan, they became a nation and a sovereign people.

Then, as a nation, He gave them His laws. As sovereigns, they had the authority to make choices.

And they made some bad ones.

Because God wanted them to live under His jurisdiction as King even though He gave them the authority to rule themselves. But they wouldn’t have it. They wanted that authority to come from one of their own. The texts of the Old Testament reveal just how well that worked out for them. Some of their kings ruled justly at times, others, not so much.

But what He allowed to happen over the centuries to follow was no Plan B.

Because He came to live among those whom He chose to be His people, providing them with yet another opportunity to decide for themselves who could actually handle the job.

But even to this day, some who claim to have submitted to the jurisdiction of Jesus Christ the King are willing to place His jurisdiction under those created by men. Perhaps they’d do well to remember that, whoever’s authority they ultimately surrender their sovereignty to, then they’re likely to be judged by his actions rather than their own! [see: 1Sam. 8; 2Chr. 28:19]

Today, many who profess to be part of Christ’s ἐκκλησία [assembly] assume authority in His name, but have, in fact, submitted to the jurisdiction of the State. Perhaps they seek a 501(c)(3) tax status for their congregation. Or maybe they’re willing to comply with some ridiculous public health care mandate every time it’s dispensed.

But Jesus Himself said that no one can serve two masters—or jurisdictions. [Matt. 6:24; Lk. 16:13]

My decision to live exclusively under Christ’s authority in this age confirms His redemptive assurance that my identity won’t be questioned when I sit on His judgement seat—only my works.

But I might wanna’ keep an eye on who I vote for.

Because if I’ve placed myself under the jurisdiction of the State exclusively, it would seem that I’m still under a curse! [see: Gal. 3:1-14]

Where’s your “church?”

Tradition provides that we might worship together in specific locations, having different congregations to choose from. And indeed, those different congregations are a license for us to agree to disagree about what the Bible says.

But what does the Bible actually teach us about our “churches?”

First of all, that Jesus Christ was never on record referring to His disciples as the “church,” but rather as His ἐκκλησία [ê-klā-see’-uh]. This word is defined in the Greek lexicons as a congregation, assembly, or a gathering of religious, political, or unofficial groups. It’s a derivative of the Greek preposition ἐκ [êk], meaning “from, or from out of,” and  κλῆσις [klā’-sîs], a noun which means “a calling.”

In a general sense, ἐκκλησία can simply mean a gathered group. But the context in which Jesus used it was very specific. He spoke of it in a way that leaves the reader no semantical latitude. When He said ἐκκλησία, He defined a group He calls out from the world, that is, those He expects to set themselves apart from it.

He said to Simon, the son of John:

“I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I shall build My assembly [ἐκκλησία], and the gates of the grave shall not overpower it.” [Matt. 16:18] [my emphasis]

Many of the Greek lexicons have added the word “church” to the list of meanings of ἐκκλησία over the centuries, which explains why the two words are used interchangeably today. But I think it’s important to understand that the English word “church” originated with the Greek adjective κυριακός [cûr-î-ô-kôs’], and means “belonging to a lord [or a master].” And if you care to trace this word’s Germanic and Gothic morphology over the past two millennia, you can recognize its generic nuance and why it’s not synonymous with Jesus Christ’s ἐκκλησία. It’s used only twice in the New Testament: [1Cor. 11:20 and Rev. 1:10] and refers to our Lord’s “supper” and “day,” respectively—not an assembly.

So, κυριακός could describe the condition of belonging to any “lord” or master regardless of the presence or type of any religious affiliation.

What’s also remarkable though is that the realm of civil authority is another dimension that the term ἐκκλησία carries with it according to the Scriptures. Read Ac. 19:35-41. The speaker, the town clerk of Ephesus, used the same word twice to describe a legislative body.

So Christ’s ἐκκλησία is called out not just to sanctify itself, but also to govern in His behalf!.

“For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us, and the government will rest on His shoulders.” [Isa. 9:6a]

Men are always fighting wars.

But they didn’t invent them. God did. And I think the Bible explains why.

The first man, Adam, allowed himself to be overcome by the sin of disobedience. His wife, Eve, was deceived first, then he followed suit. Nevertheless, it was him God told not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil before the first woman even existed. [Gen. 2:15-17]

So it happened on his watch, not her’s.

As a result, God charged Adam and his male descendants with the responsibility of waging war against every form of evil imaginable over the last 6000 years. He let it happen, so God dropped the task of dealing with it back in his lap.

Perhaps the first indication of the Lord’s mandate for men to make war against evil occurred when He told Cain that his toughest battle was gonna be conquering his own wicked heart:

“…sin is crouching at the door, and its desire is for you, but you must master it.” [Gen. 4:7]

So when we consider the role of a righteous warrior, we should regard him a savior as well. And Jesus Christ is our paradigm:

“…the one who practices sin is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. The Son of God appeared for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil.” [1Jn. 3:8] [my emphasis]

[σωτήρ: (sō-tair’) savior, redeemer, deliverer]

But the godly warrior’s battles aren’t limited to dispensing justice on foreign soil or defending territory. By reflecting the character of Jesus Himself, he puts on the whole armor of God, and wields his most lethal weapon in the face of evil—that is, his sword of the Spirit delivered by the power of the written Word. [Heb. 4:12-13] Not only that, his constant prayers are administered as a standing line of defense surrounding his stronghold in the midst of the fray.

Combat training is essential. Biblical literacy is his weapon of choice, and he never goes to war without it.

His toughest battle isn’t to liberate and protect the weak of the world around him. It’s the same one Cain failed to accomplish. He can’t save the world if he can’t save himself.

A wise man once noted that the godly savior both slays the lion with his hands and cradles the lamb in his arms. The ungodly warrior is often a thug, having no such capacity to demonstrate Christ’s character.

The righteous savior is confident in the outcome of God’s war. He fears nothing or no one.

But he fights with his tongue first, then his sword.

My forehead’s important. So’s yours.

Not because it keeps my brains from falling out. It’s also a billboard in a prime location. It can either remind me about something or proclaim to the world who or what I am or who I belong to.

But don’t take my word for it.

The Lord God instructed to His firstborn Israel exactly how they should remember what He told them:

“These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontals on your forehead.” [Deut. 6:6-8] [my emphasis]

What’s interesting here is that the ancient Greek Bible translation known as the Septuagint actually records this noun “frontals” [which means head band in Hebrew] as the phrase “ἔσται ἀσάλευτον πρὸ ὀφθαλμῶν σου.”

Literally, it means: “it shall be immovable before your eyes.”

In the days of old, a forehead was integral to the memory of God’s people. But, in the future, it will surely define me more than remind me.

In the apostle John’s Revelation from the Lord’s messenger, He testifies to hearing a list read of those bondservants of God having already been “sealed” with His name upon their foreheads. [Rev. 7:4-8] But later on in the text, he describes an horrendous vision revealed to him at the sounding of the fifth messenger’s trumpet:

“Then out of the smoke [coming out of the bottomless pit] came locusts upon the earth, and power was given [to] them, [the same way] as the scorpions of the earth have power. They were told not to do harm to the grass of the earth, nor any green thing, nor any tree, but only to the men who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads. [Yet] they were not permitted to kill anyone, but to torment for five months; and their torment was like the torment of a scorpion when it stings a man. And in those days men will seek death and will not find it. They will long to die, but death flees from them.” [Rev. 9:3-6] [my emphasis]

This passage forces me to consider what it actually means for me to be “sealed” with the Holy Spirit of promise. The apostle Paul assures those having believed the message of truth to be sealed in Christ, suggesting them to be a form of proprietary possession in His behalf. [see: Eph. 1:13-14]

[σφραγίζω: (sfrâ-gî’-zō) to seal, secure with a seal, mark with a seal, set apart by a seal, affix to be true, acknowledge, prove; Strong’s #5381: to put a mark on an object to show possession, authority, identity, or security]

Where, then, am I wearing that seal—that is, His proof of ownership?

Does the world see it clearly now demonstrated through my words and actions? Is it immovable?

Will the locusts be able to see it when they start flying?

We’re always looking for the red horns and trident.

The problem is, wickedness commonly reveals itself incrementally, disguised in innocence, and concealed behind a neutral pretense. As a result, the Great Deceiver is able to methodically obscure the focus of many of Jesus Christ’s disciples in their daily battle to resist his tactics.

But we don’t have to fall for it.

In his letter to the church of God which [was] at Corinth with all the saints who [were] throughout Achaia, the apostle Paul confirmed just how diverse Satan’s techniques can be:

“For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but powerful in God for the destruction of strongholds [so that] arguments are being dismantled along with every lofty [thing] raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive [in order] to maintain the obedience of Christ…” [2Cor. 10:3-5] [my emphasis]

[ὕψωμα: (hoop-sō-mâ) height; stronghold or proud obstacle]

The list of things being raised up against the knowledge of God today is endless. But Satan would have me believe that the important conflicts are limited to what he’s made very evident to the world. However, these obvious struggles seem to serve as distractions, able to help conceal a more crucial battle being fought on another front.

And that battle, the battle of relevance, is supreme in it’s ability to render Jesus Christ’s disciples weak and fruitless.

Because the goal of “lofty” knowledge is to somehow convince me that striving to live in obedience to Christ’s commands isn’t actually necessary at all, but instead irrelevant to being His disciple. Yet Jesus told His disciples, “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.” [Jn. 14:15]

[Why I should be concerned about being obedient to Christ’s commands: Steering Clear of ‘That Place.’]

So if I can be pursuaded that, because I’m living under His grace and therefore shouldn’t really be expected to obey His commandments, then the deception of irrelevance has prevailed. My captive thoughts would be insignificant, no longer needing to be contained and analyzed from a true Biblical perspective.

Yeah, but I’d still be a Christian. Right?

Voila! says the Evil One.

“For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.” [Eph. 6:12]

Feeling left out normally isn’t a pleasant experience.

But maturity tends to soften the blow by providing a more realistic perspective of a situation. Exclusion isn’t only something we learn to deal with. It often just becomes irrelevant.

But one thing is certain, the relationships we do choose to develop are sustained by reciprocity.

If they’re not, then they usually go south at some point, because the ground rules of healthy relationships are commonly established at their beginnings. For example, Jesus Christ insisted that His disciples help perfect the mutual nature of their relationship with Him. He said to them:

“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter into the kingdom of the heavens, but the one who is doing the will of My Father who is in the heavens [shall enter]. Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ And then I shall confess to them, ‘I never knew you. Depart from Me—you who are practicing lawlessness’” [Matt. 7: 21-23] [my emphasis]

γινώσκω: (gî-nōse-kō), have knowledge of, find out, learn, understand, perceive, discern, to have knowledge acknowledge, recognize, be very certain, remember

ἀνομία: (â’-nô-mîâ) wickedness, lawlessness, sin

Jesus demanded that my walk with Him take place on the same path that He’s on.

I can claim to know Christ, proclaiming everything He said. It might sound credible to the world, but if my words and actions don’t resonate with the Spirit Himself [see: Rom. 8:16], then perhaps I shouldn’t be surprised “on that day.”

If I didn’t practice what I preached, He’s gonna know about it.

He’s gonna know all about me for sure.

But He’s not gonna know me.

“Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock.” [Matt. 7:24]