What is a Pastor.

    When I was growing up there was this cliche that my grandfather told me many of times. It went like this - Preachers come a dime a dozen, but a Pastor is hard to come by. That saying became popular because people recognized a truth. There is a difference in Preaching and Pastoring. Preaching can be taught in a classroom situation but Pastoring can not be taught that way. Pastoring comes from mentorship and having a heart for people. 

    The New Testament talks about several things that get combined in most people's definitions of Pastor, so it only right to start there in talking about being a Pastor. It talks about teaching, and being a teacher or Rabbi is important, but that is different from being a Pastor.  As we look for someone to lead the congregation, it is important to bbe able to teach and to teach, one must study continuously. That means to finding time to dig into the word with the Holy Spirit and go deep into the text to see what it is really saying and not using text to make it say what you want it to say - but, that is not Pastoring.  

     It also talks about evangelizing,  but that is also different from Pastoring. Evangelizing is telling someone who Jesus is and why that is important and what that means to us. This is something that all Christians should do by the way that they live, and Church Leaders should be an example of that - but, that is not Pastoring either.

    The Bible also talks about being an Overseer (Bishop) and being an Elder. All of these are very important, as these are the people who seek out the direction that God wants to church to go, and leads the church in that direction - but, these traits are not Pastoring either. 

    Although everyone looks for all of these qualities in a Pastor, None of these traits define the act of Pastoring. In order for us to understand what Pastoring means, we must go back to the Latin Vulgate. The Latin Bible translated for the Catholic by Saint Jerome way back in the day. That is because the word Pastor is taken directly from Latin word Pastore. It means to shepherd. Latin uses the word Pastor to mean shepherding sheep and shepherding people. The Greek Bible does not separate leading sheep from leading people either. When the English translators translated to Bible into English they used shepherd to mean shepherding sheep and Pastor to shepherding people. I'm not saying that they missed translated, but I'm just diving into the text to understand it better.

    To get a clear picture of what a Pastor is and what is Biblically meant by Pastoring. Go into the New Testament and when you read shepherds or shepherding, replace that word with Pastor or Pastoring and you will get a clear picture. For example, Luke 2:8 becomes - 

    And in the same region there were Pastors out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.   

`    John 10:12 -He who is a hired hand and not a Pastor, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them.

    Hebrews 13:20 -Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great Pastor of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant,

And I could go own. Pastoring means to look after all the sheep and if any of them has a problem, you tend to them to help them. To do this, you must invest the time it takes to know your sheep. A lot of Pastors have no ideal who is a part of their congregation and who is not. Others are so tied up in doing other things that they don't have time to be there for people. I'm not saying these leaders are bad, I'm just saying that is not Pastoring.

Knowledge, Sex, and Pentecost.

 I have recently been studying the "Sermon On The Mount" that is found in Matthew chapters 5-7. It is probably the most famous sermon ever preached and Jesus gave this sermon towards the start of his ministry. 

As I studied it this time, I noticed how much Jesus really blasted the Pharisees. Israel at that time was really fractured in their beliefs. You had the Essenes, the Zealots, the Sadducees, the Herodians, not to mention the Hellenistic Jews ( Jewish people who had adopted many of teh Greek/Roman beliefs and practices of that day). but probably the most respected group of all of them were the Pharisees.  The Pharisees had dedicated themselves to the study of what we call the Old Testament and all of its laws. As I look at what they believed and practiced, I notice that their theology was better theology than all of the other groups. They also so practiced obeying the law to the extent that Jesus himself admitted that they appeared to be blameless. 

 So seeing how Jesus blasted the Pharisees in this sermon really stood out to me this time through the passage. Jesus tells the people that the righteousness of the Pharisees (the people who dedicated themselves to the law and appeared as being perfect) wasn't good enough to get into the Kingdom of God. Jesus would go on and say that the Pharisees taught certain actions, but Jesus declares that a person with a desire to do those actions is guilty even if they do not commit those actions. Jesus then tells how the Pharisees missed it on their theology of divorce. oaths,retaliation, loving enemies, as well as doing charity, and praying, and fasting to be seen - as opposed to honoring God,  as well as judging others. 

However there is one section that really stood out to me. Actually there was this one word of this section that stood out to me The section is verses 21-23 of Matthew chapter 7. This is what it says:  "21 "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven."22 "Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?'"23 "Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'"

The word that stood out to me is the word "knew". The word "knew" here is not knowledge of a person. It is to know that person intimately and completely. That word is also used to describe sexual intercourse. 

So now I have told about the connection between the first two words in my title and now I will try to connect them to the third word.  When the Bible says that a man "knew" a woman, he was spreading his essence  within that woman. So when Genesis tells us that God told Adam and Eve to to be fruitful and multiply, he was telling them to have sex and by having sex, they had a symbolic foreshadowing of what God would do at Pentecost when He poured out His Spirit to fill up Christians. From that day of Pentecost, Salvation was no longer based on circumcision, but on whether or not you had received the gift of the Holy Spirit. 

This is why I do not see sex as just a physical act, but an act that carries spiritual connotations.  

He wasn't a victim

 I am writing this on Friday April 18, 2025 Good Friday. These past few weeks, I have been restudying the events of that first Easter weekend, from Thursday night through the resurrection and what John and Paul say that this means to all of us. One thing that stood out to me this time around is something that I have noticed before but it didn't stand out as it did this time. The thing that stood out to me is that Jesus suffered many things, but he was never a victim. 

Going back over my 67+ years of reading, hearing, and studying the events of that weekend, I have realized that many times (although I have no doubt that it was unintentional) Jesus has been portrayed as a victim on Thursday night and Friday. What I hope to show is that the Bible shows that Jesus was never a victim, he was not only in control, he kept the show going when I looked like it might not happen. Let's begin.

Let's start with Thursday night. The Last Supper has taken place, Jesus is in the garden where he has just finished praying 3 times to God the Father about the cup that he is about to partake. The guard shows up with Judas and John tells us this exchange.

John 18:3-6

3 So Judas came to the garden, guiding a detachment of soldiers and some officials from the chief priests and the Pharisees. They were carrying torches, lanterns and weapons.

4 Jesus, knowing all that was going to happen to him, went out and asked them, “Who is it you want?”

5 “Jesus of Nazareth,” they replied. “I am he,” Jesus said. (And Judas the traitor was standing there with them.)

6 When Jesus said, “I am he,” they drew back and fell to the ground.

Jesus meets the guard and ask them who do you want and hearing their answer Jesus says, "I am" he. It is one of the times that Jesus declares himself as I am, which is the name God gave Moses telling him who God was. 

Do you see the response? Just that verbal declaration forces the soldiers backwards and they go down.  With that one statement Jesus shows his power and sees to it that none of the people with Jesus are taken into custody.  After this one of Jesus' disciples draws a sword cuts the ear off one of them and now see Jesus' reaction from Luke 22:50-51

And when those who were around him saw what would follow, they said, “Lord, shall we strike with the sword?”And one of them struck the servant of the high priest and cut off his right ear.But Jesus said, “No more of this!” And he touched his ear and healed him.

Jesus rebuked his disciples and healed the man's ear. Again Jesus was in control.

Now we come to the mock trial. Even then look at what Mark says happened. Mark 14:55-59

55 Now the chief priests and the whole council were seeking testimony against Jesus to put him to death, but they found none. 56 For many bore false witness against him, but their testimony did not agree. 57 And some stood up and bore false witness against him, saying, 58 “We heard him say, ‘I will destroy this temple that is made with hands, and in three days I will build another, not made with hands.’” 59 Yet even about this their testimony did not agree.

jesus was on trial right where the chief priests wanted him but yet, they couldn't find anything to charge him with. so they asked Jesus directly and if Jesus remained silent like he had been doing this whole time, they had nothing, but instead Jesus spoke up and said this  Mark 14:61b-65

Again the high priest asked him, “Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?” 62 And Jesus said, “I am, and you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven.” 63 And the high priest tore his garments and said, “What further witnesses do we need? 64 You have heard his blasphemy. What is your decision?” And they all condemned him as deserving death. 65 And some began to spit on him and to cover his face and to strike him, saying to him, “Prophesy!” And the guards received him with blows.

So instead of Jesus staying silent, Jesus answers with a phrase declaring himself to be the Son of Man. A title from Daniel 7 that declared him as being God. And with that the trial had done its job and the physical abuse kicked into high gear.

Then the Chief Priests take him to the Roman ruler, Pontius Pilate and notice the frank exchange that Jesus has with Pilate. Jesus talks frankly and not as someone who is on trial.  John 18:33-37

33 Pilate then went back inside the palace, summoned Jesus and asked him, “Are you the king of the Jews?”34 “Is that your own idea,” Jesus asked, “or did others talk to you about me?”35 “Am I a Jew?” Pilate replied. “Your own people and chief priests handed you over to me. What is it you have done?”36 Jesus said, “My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jewish leaders. But now my kingdom is from another place.”37 “You are a king, then!” said Pilate. Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. In fact, the reason I was born and came into the world is to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.”

Then we come to his death. Here we see that before the Romans started breaking the legs of the men being crucified, Jesus declared that it was finished. in Greek the word is Tetelesti. It means paid in full. our sinful debts had been paid and now Jesus died on his own terms and not as others thought.  John 19:30.

30 When he had received the drink, Jesus said, “It is finished.” With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

I hope that you see that through all of this Jesus was in control. That doesn't diminish the pain and suffering that he went through, but I think it gives the story more gravitas. 

Now after reading these things think of what Paul declared in Philippians 3:10

10 I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11 and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead.

and agian in 1 Corinthians 15:20-23.

20 But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. 21 For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. 22 For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. 23 But each in turn: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him. 

I could go on but and I hope that whoever reading this will do just that. just remember that it was no accident that Jesus took our punishment upon him so that we could be with him and to know him.

"It was almost like a song_"..... except in this case it was a Psalm.

Have you heard anyone say a line from a song and immediately your mind keeps the song going. Maybe when reading this title, you thought of Ronnie Milsap's song titled "It was almost like a song, but much too sad to write". I believe that most if not all of us have done that and that is not new to our generation. They did that back in Bible times.   

During that day that we often refer to as Good Friday, Jesus did just that while hanging on the cross. The book of Psalms is really a book of songs and every boy would have learned that back in his youth from school and every family would have taught them to all their kids at home.

So when Jesus said "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" and so the people there would have automatically remembered the lyrics from Psalm 22. The text even reveals that this happened through the way that the chief priests, scribes, and elders mocked him by saying - "He trusts in God, let God deliver him now, For he said, "I am the Son of God" (Matthew 27:43) and compare that to Psalm 22:8 - "He trusts in the Lord, let him rescue him, for he delights in him.

Psalm 22 was written by the Israelite king David. The verses of that song describes the pain of the crucifixion that Jesus endured. The images that they portray are very powerful. They are so powerful that the 70's rock band, The Guess Who added a few of those verses to the end of their song "Hang on to your life" Here is a YouTube link to their song. They quote verses 13-15. Those are not the only intense verses from this song.

As I close this post, I will leave you with the song as translated by the ESV Bible. They go like this:

Psalm 22

To the choirmaster: according to The Doe of the Dawn. A Psalm of David.

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?

Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning?

2 O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer,

and by night, but I find no rest.

3 Yet you are holy,

enthroned on the praises of Israel.

4 In you our fathers trusted;

they trusted, and you delivered them.

5 To you they cried and were rescued;

in you they trusted and were not put to shame.

6 But I am a worm and not a man,

scorned by mankind and despised by the people.

7 All who see me mock me;

they make mouths at me; they wag their heads;

8 He trusts in the Lord; let him deliver him;

let him rescue him, for he delights in him!

9 Yet you are he who took me from the womb;

you made me trust you at my mother's breasts.

10 On you was I cast from my birth,

and from my mother's womb you have been my God.

11 Be not far from me,

for trouble is near,

and there is none to help.

12 Many bulls encompass me;

strong bulls of Bashan surround me;

13 they open wide their mouths at me,

like a ravening and roaring lion.

14 I am poured out like water,

and all my bones are out of joint;

my heart is like wax;

it is melted within my breast;

15 my strength is dried up like a potsherd,

and my tongue sticks to my jaws;

you lay me in the dust of death.

16 For dogs encompass me;

a company of evildoers encircles me;

they have pierced my hands and feet—

17 I can count all my bones—

they stare and gloat over me;

18 they divide my garments among them,

and for my clothing they cast lots.

19 But you, O Lord, do not be far off!

O you my help, come quickly to my aid!

20 Deliver my soul from the sword,

my precious life from the power of the dog!

21 Save me from the mouth of the lion!

You have rescued me from the horns of the wild oxen!

22 I will tell of your name to my brothers;

in the midst of the congregation I will praise you:

23 You who fear the Lord, praise him!

All you offspring of Jacob, glorify him,

and stand in awe of him, all you offspring of Israel!

24 For he has not despised or abhorred

the affliction of the afflicted,

and he has not hidden his face from him,

but has heard, when he cried to him.

25 From you comes my praise in the great congregation;

my vows I will perform before those who fear him.

26 The afflicted shall eat and be satisfied;

those who seek him shall praise the Lord!

May your hearts live forever!

27 All the ends of the earth shall remember

and turn to the Lord,

and all the families of the nations

shall worship before you.

28 For kingship belongs to the Lord,

and he rules over the nations.

29 All the prosperous of the earth eat and worship;

before him shall bow all who go down to the dust,

even the one who could not keep himself alive.

30 Posterity shall serve him;

it shall be told of the Lord to the coming generation;

31 they shall come and proclaim his righteousness to a people yet unborn,

that he has done it.

The washing of feet - trues and truth.

 I did not turn on the Super Bowl until the end of the 4th quarter this year (2024), so I did not see the surprise commercial  about Jesus washing feet, but I did see the reactions to it. As I read the reactions and then watched the commercial online, I noticed that every one had something true about Jesus washing feet and none of them told the truth. It has been on my heart these past few weeks to try and write about Jesus washing the disciples feet.

First this event is recorded one time in the Gospels and that is in John 13. Verse one sets the stage for the event. It is at the Passover Supper. Jesus' time has come to an end and in just a matter of hours or minutes, He would be arrested, tortured, mocked, had several Kangaroo court trials, and crucified until death. He also loved those who was following Him and this was one last time to be with them, one last time to teach them, one last time to warn them.

Now John does not go into detail about what the topic of conversation was at this time, but Luke tells us in his account found Luke 22:24. They were arguing about which one of them would be the greatest in Jesus' kingdom. So John 13:4-5) tells us that Jesus got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist.  After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him.

I think that the significance of this action is lost on us today, but it wasn't on Peter. Peter who once said to Jesus to "go away from me for I am a sinful man"; & "You are the Christ the Son of the living God". Foot washing was one of the most menial tasks that a solve would do. Peter saw Jesus for who Jesus really was and that He was/is God. Jesus is the anointed King that will rule the world. This person whom Peter worshipped was coming to him as the lowest of slaves doing the most menail of tasks and Peter objected to that. But Jesus was teaching through these actions. It is not about who is greatest, but who serves others. 

Now when Jesus was through, he explained this to them in verses 12-17. "12 When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. “Do you understand what I have done for you?” he asked them. 13 “You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am. 14 Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. 15 I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. 16 Very truly I tell you, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. 17 Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them."

Luke adds this thing that Jesus taught them that night and it really ties in with what John tells us. Luke 22:25-27.  25 Jesus said to them, “The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and those who exercise authority over them call themselves Benefactors. 26 But you are not to be like that. Instead, the greatest among you should be like the youngest, and the one who rules like the one who serves. 27 For who is greater, the one who is at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one who is at the table? But I am among you as one who serves. "

Now I want to point out that Judas was one of them at this point. John had pointed that out in verses      10-11.  So Jesus did wash the feet of someone who betrayed Jesus. the verses that i skipped over also point out that Judas was not clean (saved) as the rest of the disciples were.Jesus was teaching that following Him is about serving others. 

Now there is one more thing that I read about where people were condemning the cost of the commercial and I found that to be both humorous and tragic. It reminded me of another incident in scriptures. John 12:1-8.   "Six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus lived, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. 2 Here a dinner was given in Jesus’ honor. Martha served, while Lazarus was among those reclining at the table with him. 3 Then Mary took about a pint[a] of pure nard, an expensive perfume; she poured it on Jesus’ feet and wiped his feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.4 But one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, who was later to betray him, objected, 5 “Why wasn’t this perfume sold and the money given to the poor? It was worth a year’s wages." 6 He did not say this because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief; as keeper of the money bag, he used to help himself to what was put into it.7 “Leave her alone,” Jesus replied. “It was intended that she should save this perfume for the day of my burial. 8 You will always have the poor among you,[c] but you will not always have me.”

I don't write this to tell you what to believe, but to aid and spur you on to learn for yourselves about Jesus the Christ, & the Son of the Living God.

Note: all scripture quoted in this blog post comes from the NIV Bible.

 The Rich Man and Lazarus - A Bible story whose message is often missed or misinterpreted. 

The Rich Man and Lazarus is a story found in Luke chapter 16, verses 19-31. It has become controversial in recent years as people debate the meaning of these verses. The main problem that both sides of this debate is that both sides come to this parable looking at it through 21st century eyes instead of 1st century eyes. In doing so, both sides sermons have become lacking or so it seems to me. This is my attempt to briefly show what I see in these verses.

To see the message here, you must first go back to Luke 15:1 and see who is here at this time. When looking at this verse, you see that along with Jesus and His disciples, there were Tax Collectors, Sinners (A word that is used to describe Jewish people whom the Pharisees and and Experts in the Biblical Law condemned because of their unholy lifestyle.), along with Pharisees and Experts in the law. The rest of chapter 15 is devoted to Jesus telling parables (fictional stories that teach Biblical Truths) that defend Jesus' association with the Tax Collectors and Sinners and describe what His mission is to them. 

At the start of chapter 16 Jesus turns to His disciples and tells them the parable of a dishonest steward.  This is a parable that teaches - "make friends for yourselves by how you use worldly wealth, so that when it runs out, you will be welcomed into the eternal homes."

This offends the Pharisees.  This brings us to verse 14 and 15 which is key to understanding the upcoming parable. These verses say  - "14 The Pharisees (who loved money) heard all this and ridiculed him. 15 But Jesus said to them, “You are the ones who justify yourselves in men’s eyes, but God knows your hearts. For what is highly prized among men is utterly detestable in God’s sight." You might want to reread verse 15 because this is key to the upcoming verses.

Going from verse 15 we skip down to the text for this post.

"19 “There was a rich man who dressed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. 20 But at his gate lay a poor man named Lazarus whose body was covered with sores, 21 who longed to eat what fell from the rich man’s table. In addition, the dogs came and licked his sores.

22 “Now the poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried. 23 And in Hades, as he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far off with Lazarus at his side. 24 So he called out, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue because I am in anguish in this fire.’ 25 But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things and Lazarus likewise bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in anguish. 26 Besides all this, a great chasm has been fixed between us, so that those who want to cross over from here to you cannot do so, and no one can cross from there to us.’ 27 So the rich man said, ‘Then I beg you, father—send Lazarus to my father’s house 28 (for I have five brothers) to warn them so that they don’t come into this place of torment.’ 29 But Abraham said, ‘They have Moses and the prophets; they must respond to them.’ 30 Then the rich man said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’ 31 He replied to him, ‘If they do not respond to Moses and the prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.’”

Now the first thing that I want to discuss is the question of whether or not this is a parable or a true story.  Both sides make valid points to their case, but in the end by making their point, they miss the truth that this teaching brings. The first thing that I want to point out is that this story is in the form of a parable. The starting words, "There was a" is much like "Once upon a time" in the American dialect, which means that this is a fable or more truthfully a parable. However, in the upcoming verses, one of the characters is named Lazarus. That is rare in parables and many believe that shows that this is a true story that Jesus is telling. People who argue these viewpoints do so because of how they want to interpet verses 22-31. More on that later.

The first thing that I want to look at is "the rich man". Who is this man. The first thing that is very oblivious.  He has wealth. He dresses in the finest clothes. He not only eats everyday, but his everyday meals are feasts, much like our Thanksgiving feasts.  What is often left out in sermons is that this is a man whom the Pharisees would praise and honor.  That means that the rich man is a good Jewish man. He does all the right things. He goes to and participates in the Jewish festivals.  He would demonstrate his spiritual cleanliness by going into a Mikveh and then into Synagogue or the Temple. 

Now the second main character in this story is Lazarus. He is on the other end of the spectrum. He is very poor. His body was covered in sores, which would make him spiritually unclean  and unable to gather and/or worship with others. He was reduced to having to beg for food and found himself sitting at the gate of this rich man's house. Now someting that is often missed in the telling of this story is the meaning of the name Lazarus. His name means "whom God helps". The meaning of this name would not be lost on Jesus' audience and adds to the meaning of the story.  Now the main desire of Lazarus is for table scraps from the rich man's table. These would be the crumbs that were often ate by the animals. ( It is tempting for me to go a goose chase to Mark 7:28, but I will not do so here).

Now we get to their deaths and again we see the extreme differences in how this is carried out. The Rich Man died and was buried. His funeral would have been a royal one full of mourners and a large procession going to his burial where he was sealed inside a tomb. The poor man also died. What the story doesn't say and that would have been understood by the original audience is that Lazarus' body would have been casted in a burning garbage pit in a place called Gehenna. A place full of maggots, and fire.  

Nest we get to see the other worldly destinations of the two main characters. The rich man is in an eternal Gehenna with fire and worms and Lazarus (whose name means "whom God helps") is carried to Abraham's side or bosom. 

Now we meet a third character in this story. Father Abraham. This term of God points out that both of these men were descendants of Abraham. They were both Jewish men, but now in the ultimate role reversal -  the one (who was highly praised in life) is in torment and the one (who was highly despised in life) is by the side of God and God is holding him like one would a child or someone when you are comforting them in their grief. And we see here what Jesus was talking about in verse 15 ( For what is highly prized among men is utterly detestable in God’s sight.).  The rich man is now the beggar (desiring a drop of water from Lazarus) and Lazarus is now in wealth.  We could end the post right here because that is the main point. The difference between the values we put on people and what God values. However if we did that we would miss the dueling viewpoints and their arguments over verses 23 - 31. The people who generally want this to be a parable do so because they want to dismiss this description of Hell or Judgement. However even if they are right about this as a parable, they miss that God gave His judgement in the afterlife and not this life. Also from what I have noticed is that this viewpoint waters down Jesus words - "utterly detestable" to the point where they do not carry any meaning or consequence. 

 Now the other side of this debate is the literalists who take this as a literal place of judgement. (Those who know me know that I come from this side of the debate). However many of these people miss what these verses teach.  This teaching comes from verses 27-31.  (27 So the rich man said, ‘Then I beg you, father—send Lazarus to my father’s house 28 (for I have five brothers) to warn them so that they don’t come into this place of torment.’ 29 But Abraham said, ‘They have Moses and the prophets; they must respond to them.’ 30 Then the rich man said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’ 31 He replied to him, ‘If they do not respond to Moses and the prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.’). 

 The rich man's request for someone to rise from the dead points out to him wanting someone to go and describe this place of torment to his family who is still alive. In other words, the rich man was wanting someone to go back and speak with authority about judgement, and thee fire and brimstone of Hell.  This is the message of a lot of evangelists, preachers, teachers, and pastors of today. Now the danger of this is that they all miss what Jesus is teaching in the next verse. They have Moses and the Prophets. Moses is referring to the first five books of what we call the Old Testament, the first major division of that Testament. The Prophets refer to the last 17 books of teh Old Testament and the last major division (Sometimes this division is further divided into Major Prophets and Minor Prophets). This phrase Moses and the Prophets is a synonym for the scriptures. Jesus would demonstrate the worthlessness of this teaching by literally raiseing people from the dead and no where in scripture does it say that anyone became a disciple of Jesus from these men. You see people who preach these sermons do so to produce converts, but Jesus isn't looking for converts. He is wanting disciples.   A convert may say the sinner prayer, but seldom has the works coming from their hearts that show love and faith. As James would later say in his letter - their faith is dead. a disciple who commits his life to the following of Jesus. They learn what Jesus says and they strive daily to become more like him so that when someone sees them they see Jesus through them.  

So the proverbial question here is - where do you find yourself in this narrative? 

Righteous Lot and the story of Sodom

 I have felt the need lately to go back and look at the story of Lot.  The man who was Abraham's nephew and will forever be known for living in Sodom.  This is a familiar story, but I want to look at the whole study and see what the Bible really says about it.  As we head into this story, we do so knowing that Lot was a Righteous man as recorded in 2 Peter 2. 

We first hear of Lot in Genesis 11 in the genealogy of Shem who was the son of Noah (The man who is linked to an ark (boat) and the flood). We get down to Terah who was the Father of Abram and Haran.  Haran was the father of Lot.  Then Haran dies, and Terah takes his son Abram, Abram's wife - Sarai (who was also his half-sister), and his grandson Lot and they head out to Canaan. While they  had reached a place called Charan (Most translation say Haran which is confusing since this is also the name of Abram's dead brother). while they were there, Terah dies. That leaves Abram, Sarai, and Lot. Then The Lord tells Abram to go to the land of Canaan and they all go.

Now when a famine comes upon the land, they escape to the land of Egypt. While there  They tell Pharaoh that Sarai is Abram's sister and not his wife and Pharoah takes Sarai to be his wife.  God then starts causes bad things to happen and Pharaoh discovers that Abram and Sarai are actually married and he kicks the whole bunch out of Egypt. Lot was a part of all of this. So they left Egypt and head for the wilderness of the Negeb. 

At that time, both Abram and Lot were successful ranchers who had both stock and herds of animals and the land there could not support both men's livestock and fighting would break out because of that. So Abram gets together with Lot and they decide to go different ways as way for them to maintain their relationship with each other. And so Lot decides to go to the Eden-like setting of the Jordan Valley where the city kingdoms of Sodom and Gomorrah existed. and Abram heads further into the land of Canaan. 

While Lot was living in that land, a war broke out and a number of kings invaded and made war with Sodom, Gomorrah and the region and won the war.  They also captured Lot and Lots possessions and went on their way. When this news reached Abram, Abram raised an army and went after these kings and won the victory and took back everything that this kings had took including Lot and Lot's possessions. Abram then headed back to meet up with the king of Sodom and there he also met the priest king of Salem named Melchizedek. Abram gave Melchizedek a tenth of all the spoils of victory and then he returned everything to the king of Sodom minus the offerings to Melchizedek and also a part to the men who helped Abram.

At this point we skip forward a few chapters and we find that Abram is now Abraham and Sarai is now Sarah.  Abraham has a son named Ishmael with Sarah's handmaid - Hagar.  Also the ritual of circumcision has begun.

Abraham is resting during the heat of the day when 3 men appear before him. Now these men must have had an otherworldly appearance. I say that by Abraham's reaction and in a few verses we see a similar reaction from Lot. Now it is revealed that one of these men was the Lord Jehovah and the other two were angels. Here we see among other things the reveal that Sodom, Gomorrah and the whole region would be destroyed. Abraham then intercedes for Sodom and The Lord tells Abraham that if there are 10 righteous men in the city, the city would be spared.

So what was the people in this region doing that was so evil? The verses that I've been suminizing have already said that they were guilty of living for sensual pleasure. Ezekiel 16:49-50 tells us that their sin was that they had arrogance, abundant food, prosperous ease of living, did not aid the poor and needy, did abominations   (sexual sins from having sex with anyone who is not your spouse, (including other family members) same sex relationships, and bestiality - Jude also hints at them doing bestiality).  But now let's get back to the story. These two angels approach the city gates of Sodom and that is where Lot is at.  It is interesting that since the rescue of the people of Sodom by Abraham (Lot's Uncle) that he now sits at the city gates which is a place of influence and honor. Lot has a similar reaction to Abraham when he sees these otherworldly people and talks them into coming to his house, getting their feet washed, eating and spending the night. The Angels agree to this and after they have finished eating, all the men of the city had gathered outside of Lot's house. These men had gathered to gangrape these angels.  Now, many people teach that this was a homosexual act, but it wasn't. Homosexuality is congenial, and this was not. this was forced. This style of rape is about destroying a person, with their penis as their weapon. Lot offers to sacrifice his two youngest daughters to save the otherworldly men. The response of the mob shows us that Lot was trying to use his influence for good, when they cry out against Lot saying that he came that he came there as a guest and now has become a judge over them. So the mob decide to do to Lot what they wanted to do to the strangers plus more. The otherworldly men or angels pull Lot inside and tell him to gather his kin. Lot goes to his two son in laws but they treat Lot like he was like Don Quixote.  The angels then tells Lot to take his wife and two remaining daughters and leave the city. They then pretty much have to take them by the hand and drag them out of the city and tell them to leave the area and to not look back. Lot's wife does look back and becomes a pillar of salt. Sodom and Gomorrah and the whole region was destroyed by fire and sulfur raining down on the region, but Lot had interceded for the town of Zoar and at first went there and then he went on further into a cave where his daughters thought that they were the last ones standing. They get their father drunk and have sex with him and bear him sons. I included this because when God delivered Israel out of Egypt later on, He tells them to leave the incestuous descendants of Lot alone and let them dwell in the land.

It is important that we as Christians get this story right, because God uses this story as how it will be in the end times and how God can and will deliver His people out of destruction.