Thoughts on life's experiences and God's nature by Robby Hyche…

Someone asked me this question recently.  They have a family member who made this statement and it is indeed a good question.  If God is “sovereign” then why do you pray?  First let’s take apart what is really being said with that statement.  What we’re saying here is “if God is ‘sovereign’ or he is all-powerful and knows everything and is in control of everything and will make everything happen the way HE wants it then why do we pray for something ELSE to happen?”

Perhaps the question is statement too negatively.  But really it is a simple matter of theology.  Before I continue remember that whatever formulation we make of God is going to be crude.  I don’t care how brilliant someone believes himself to be, our attempt to describe God is much like my dog’s attempt to describe me.  It simply cannot be done.  His simple way of communicating through barks, sniffs, scratching, pawing, and the like make him seem “smart” on some level.  He has his routine and he definitely knows what he wants.  But there is no way that he can articulate to any satisfaction for anyone how the human mind works.  That is our situation with God.  We are sufficiently intelligent for our own purposes here on earth.  We can read and write and offer a reply to someone’s question.  But in reality how can I comprehend the mind of God?  Isaiah 40:13 says “Who has understood the mind of the LORD, or instructed him as his counselor?”

However, we do know some things about God from Scripture.  We make this our starting point and our anchor.  We also know some things about praying from Scripture.  We must use these as our guide.  During this discussion I must warn you about the two sides of this coin: God’s nature and Prayer to God are very different.  Keep those two things separate for the moment then we’ll get at reconciling them shortly.

My first point will seem almost silly but it’s important.  We need to pray.  We are commanded to pray.  Jesus gave us an example of prayer.  In Matthew 6:1-15, Jesus gives us some directives about prayer so he definitely intended for us to pray.  In several places (in particular Mark 6), Jesus himself prayed.  In Mark 14:38, Jesus told the disciple to pray so that they would not fall into temptation.  Really?  But if God is “sovereign” how can a believer like a Peter, James, or John fall into temptation?  They did and Peter failed.  You may know the story (if not, keep reading in Mark).  Peter failed and denied Jesus.  Was that part of Jesus’ plan?  I don’t know but it happened, didn’t it?  Scriptures on prayer and its necessity fills the pages of scripture, but in particular 1 Thessalonians 5:17 simply says, “Pray continually.”

So God intends for us to pray.  If He commands us to pray then there must be a purpose or reason for our prayer.  What are those reasons?

1. For salvation.  Acts 4
2. To combat temptation.  We’ve already seen one.  Acts 8:17-24 has an interesting example of this.  But there are many others in scripture.
3. For personal rescue or help.  Many scriptures in Psalms.  See Romans 15:31 for an example.  Paul wants prayer cover as he is going into Judea against unbelievers.
4. For open doors to the gospel.  Col 4:3
5. For healing.  1 John 5:16
6. For enlightenment. Eph 1:18
7. For the Spirit’s filling.  Acts 4:31

There are many other things I could list here but you get the idea.  I included these things because each of these involves some sort of change to the cosmos.   When a person gets saved, when a door is opened to the gospel, or when a person resists temptation that signals a change in something somewhere.

James summarizes this prayer-thing pretty well James 5:13-20

Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray. Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise.  Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord.  And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven.  Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.  Elijah was a man just like us. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years.  Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops.  My brothers, if one of you should wander from the truth and someone should bring him back,  remember this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of his way will save him from death and cover over a multitude of sins.

Now let’s backup to the Old Testament.  In one key situation, God is completely put out with the people of Israel.  They are in rebellion against him and Moses doesn’t know what to do.  God decides that he is going to destroy Israel and make Moses and his offspring into a great nation.  In a very moving prayer, Moses tells God (and I do mean “tells”) that He cannot do it.  Basically he says, “What would the nations around us think?  They would think that you brought us out here to die.  God, you will not be honored in that way!”  Moses was direct, forceful and unequivocal in his prayer.  If that’s not startling enough, what happens next is even more astounding.  God relented and did not destroy Israel.  In a sense, God changed his mind.  You can read this in Exodus 32.

That’s right.  The immutable God, the God who said to Balaam in Numbers 23:19-20, “God is not a man, that he should lie, nor a son of man, that he should change his mind” is the same God who changed his mind that day before Moses.

Slow down for a second and let this sink in.  God’s nature does not change.  His purposes, his “mind” does not change.  But apparently God can change direction.  His ultimate purposes will not change.  In Moses’ case, he intended to bring a people of his own choosing into the Promised Land.  He promised to bring a ruler out of the loins of Abraham through whom all the world would be blessed (Genesis 12) and through Moses God could still establish that.  This may sound crass, but God did not need the entire nation of Israel to fulfill his purpose.  He needed only one faithful family and he had that in Moses.  However, Moses intervened on behalf of the people of Israel and God heard his prayer and “relented” – held back – and did not bring disaster upon the people.

Here is part of the point with this thing of God’s sovereignty.  God’s sovereignty will not be abated because of our whining and whimpering at Him for what we want.  In the final analysis, He will have his way in the cosmos.  All that happens in this fallen world and in the chaos we call “life,” God will swallow up all that happens and construct reality as he wants it.  He can do this because he is YAHWEH.

I don’t have time to detail this any further, and honestly I need to think more about this and further describe it.  But Paul does a wonderful job in Romans talking about the “wisdom and knowledge of God” (duh – he’s Paul and it’s scripture).  I think those are code words for Paul’s understanding of our word for “sovereignty” – “the wisdom and knowledge of God.”  It is related to an old and fallen-out-of-use word: “providence.”  We need God’s providence: his making all things new.

There are two sides to the coin I said: God’s nature and prayer.  Don’t confuse the two.  God is sovereign.  He will have his due.  But God has also told us to pray for what we desire (Matthew 7:7-11).  We need wisdom to decide if what we’re praying for is in God’s will and not.  But even if it’s not, God wants us to pray.  He wants us to engage him and ask him for help.  In doing that there is a change that occurs.  Most often that change is in US – not him.  Perhaps he’ll relent.  Perhaps.  But most of the time, I will.

Romans 8 helps me when I am confused about why I don’t get what I pray for.  Verse 26 says we don’t know what or how to pray for ourselves but the Spirit makes intercession for us and groans with us and for us.  He is our advocate with the father and argues for our case – much like Moses did.  Besides, Paul says, if God gave us Jesus won’t he freely give us everything else?  He’s given you Jesus.  He is all-powerful and can deliver you.  Trust him to give you everything that will be good for you.

Desire.  Pray.  Hope.  Ask.  Knock.  Relent…

Desire.  Pray.  Hope.  Ask.  Knock.  Relent…

Desire.  Pray.  Hope.  Ask.  Knock.  Relent…

When I first saw the title “Boundaries” I thought it seemed a bit negative.  Of course the subtitle “When to say ‘Yes,’ how to say ‘No’…” helped me a little bit.  The good doctors, Cloud and Townsend, do what only good counselors do – they make you think.  But they make us think within a Biblical framework and direct us to setting our minds and hearts in a Godly orientation.  Perhaps that sounds too basic, but as in sports, life is not about “feeling” the right away about the game.  The hard work is done in blocking, tackling, and kicking.  It’s so simple that it’s hard.  And only the very best teams do all those well.  The same is true in our personal lives.  We must give ourselves to learning how to “block, tackle, and kick” in life.  This book sets us on a path to do just that.

Whether you own a Mac or a PC, your computer is bound to lock up (yes, even Mac’s lock up every now and then).  When this happens, you have to press “reset” or perhaps unplug it.  The book, Boundaries, asks us to press the reset button in our hearts and come back to the basics of living.  When we reorient our thinking – and doing – around God-given principles, our own giftedness, and our heart-felt passion then we can begin to say “yes” to those things God has prepared in advance for us.  But in order to say “yes” to something good, we have to say “no” to something else.  That something else might also be a good thing.  But of course as you know, the enemy of the “great” is the “good.”

Too many people have said “yes” to church programs, stale religion, and the dreams of others.  It’s time for the people of God to get God’s vision for them and say, “YES” to that!

This seems like a funny, inspiring, and convicting movie.  I just may try to check it out… http://lordsaveusthemovie.com/behind-scenes.html#pictures .

You can also look at http://michaelhyatt.com/ for a review of the movie.

Several months ago I posted some thoughts about Barak Obama. Seems more stuff is circulating and since I am a minister I get asked about these things. I

There is a video being circulated about Barak. This is crazy stuff. View it if you like at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXMAnlMmEPw .

You can also look at http://www.snopes.com/politics/obama/antichrist.asp for more information on this video and their take on it.

First of all, there are problems in his translation and use of the Hebrew language.

The video says that Aramaic is older than Hebrew. They are heavily related. However, both Aramaic and Hebrew (and several other languages) are called “Semitic” languages. That is, they all came from Shem originally. They all derive from a common “proto-Semitic” language. So it is rather loose and irresponsible to say that Aramaic is older than Hebrew. I am not convinced we know which is older. It isn’t important really for the points he is making.

It could be that Aramaic came from Aram, now Syria. Abraham would have predated the other folks who settled Aram. Both are very old, but language does not work the way they tried to show it in the video. Perhaps for one reason why they think that Aramaic is older than Hebrew is because Aramaic became the dominant language of the region. There were simply more “gentiles” than “Hebrews.” As a result, Hebrew was heavily influenced by Aramaic (and at least half of Daniel is written in Aramaic).

But again, we can’t take an Aramaic word, such as Barak, find the Hebrew word and assume they are the same thing. Here is a classic example from http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/ten-most-unfortunate-car-names/ . The Chevrolet Nova – Perhaps the most famous poorly named automobiles, meaning “doesn’t go” in Spanish. That’s poor marketing but even worse in language. It would be the same idea in Aramaic/Hebrew translation. You cannot transliterate something from one language to another AND across time and expect the two to be coherent. This person is either ignorant or malicious or both. This is NOT reporting the facts as he claimed.

One funny thing is that he “trilled” his “R’s” in the video. That’s not how to pronounce an R in Hebrew. It’s just like ours – just “rrr”. It’s great Spanish but not great Hebrew. That’s a big clue to how much the producer of the film knows about Hebrew. I am considered a novice in Hebrew and I have had four semesters of it!

Here is a list of the “barak” type words in the Hebrew Bible. Please notice that there are actually four words that could be grouped with the “barak” pronunciation. But also notice that they chose the last one. Actually, Barak Obama spells his name with a “K” which is how the first three words are transliterated from Hebrew. The last one uses a “Q” which is how they spell it in the video. The funny thing is that “barak” in Hebrew means “to bless” or “blessed.” It seems to me that they chose a translation that they needed to make their point. There is actually someone named Barak in the Old Testament. Again, it would mean “someone who blesses” or “someone who is blessed.” Well, this is a good name for a child if you’re a Hebrew or Muslim either one! The name does mean the same in both languages (in this situation).

Ër”B; (H1384) Ër”B; (barak I), kneel (H1384), denom. vb. < Ër
Ër”B; (H1385) Ër”B; (barak II), q. [only pass. part., ËWrB;, BAram ËyrIB]] blessed, praised be; blessed, praised is); pi. bless, praise; greet; pu. blessed, praised, adored; ni. be blessed; bless oneself; hitp. be blessed; bless oneself (H1385); BAram (H10122); hk;r:B] (berakâ I), blessing (H1388).
Ër”B; (H1385 a) Ër”B; (barak II), pi. bless (euph. for curse) (H1385 a).
qr”B; (H1397) qr”B; (baraq), q. flash lightning (H1397); qr:B; (baraq I), nom. lightning (H1398); ˆqor“B’ (barqon), thorn (H1402); qz:B; (bazaq), sparks (H1027).

This seems suspicious to me when we look at the evidence of just his first name. What about Obama?

Again, I think they are doing some manipulation here to arrive at this. It is not proper exegesis (or how we “do” Biblical interpretation) to take a word, find something out of context and then make a ruling on what it means. It also doesn’t work for prophetical purposes either.

The video does get the meaning of “bah-ma” correct. It does mean “heights” or “high place.” But we have to be careful with this. Take my name, “Rob” for example. A transliteration into Hebrew means “much seed.” Or, “successful” or “many children.” Well, Tracey and I have not been able to conceive children. We adopted our kids. HA! That’s funny to me. So what does that mean to me? It’s meaningless! Here’s another one: What about someone whose name is “Myra”? I have a friend named Myra and she is a pretty, pleasant person. But her name means “bitter.” Do you see what I mean? We cannot make inferences on people based on these sorts of linguistic gymnastics.

Second, they make the statement that Jesus probably spoke Aramaic and the Bible was written in Greek. True enough. But then they go to the trouble to translate Luke 10:18 back into Hebrew. That’s nuts. That is not how you do exegesis (or Biblical interpretation). These guys are telling me that in order for me to know God’s will for my life, I need to know Aramaic, Greek, and Hebrew and be able to translate them back and forth! Really!? No, I don’t think so.

Again, this is poor exegesis and even poorer linguistics. We do not need to take Greek back into Hebrew (or even Hebrew into Greek) in order to arrive at a conclusion about the interpretation of the passage. That’s really what we’re talking about here. What is Jesus’ point of the passage? We must look at the context to discern that. And part of the context could be Isaiah, Revelation, etc. when we’re looking at the Anti-Christ and the end times. That topic is too big for this essay. But I will say we are not going to know exactly who it is.

Conclusion one: We cannot do this sort of work on scripture to arrive at an answer for who the Anti-Christ is. These things are interesting and maybe even weird but like with my own name it doesn’t work.

Conclusion two: If Barak Obama (or anyone else for that matter) tells you to put a number on your head then you can probably be worried.

Conclusion three: We may not like his politics but did Paul like Nero’s politics? Nero was certainly MUCH WORSE than anyone we’ve seen in our lifetimes (he burned Christians, persecuted people, killed his brother, etc.) but Paul wrote in Romans 13 that we are to submit to the governing authorities. Nero was who he was talking about in that passage.

The issue here is not whether or not Obama is the Anti-Christ. The issue is: will we submit to our governing authority? Are we going to pray for him? Are we going to do all we can to live a peaceable and Godly life as Paul instructs us in Romans 14? I would suggest the reader look carefully and prayerfully at chapters 12-14 of Romans. Paul deals with this sort of rabble rousing in those chapters.

Final Conclusion: This video does not lead us to Godly living, peace with all men, or promotion of Jesus Christ. This video violates everything I know about translation and good exegesis. Therefore, I think this video is heresy. I am only here to report the facts. Do with them what you want.