November 1 – National Elections

       Daniel 4:25b - "...Seven times will pass by for you until you acknowledge that the Most High is sovereign over the kingdoms of men and gives them to anyone he wishes."

       There is always much hype and many conflicting campaign promises surrounding a national election, whether it be for president, prime minister, senators, representatives, and the like. Most folks are opinionated regarding who will be leading their country and who will have the most authority in crafting legislation. After all, things like financial stability, health, morality, freedoms (or the lack of the aforementioned) may be at stake in the outcome of an election. However, the Bible has some different thoughts regarding our elected representatives. The leading scripture above, outright states that God is in control over the authorities of this earth, as most societies had monarchies for the authorities. However, don't think that humanity could outsmart God, by changing their ruling structure to a body of representatives, who sometimes are elected by millions of people voting them into office. He can even use the corporate voice of a nation in his overarching purposes. Psalm 33:10, 11 state that "Yahweh foils the plans of the nations; he thwarts the purposes of the peoples. But the plans of Yahweh stand firm forever, the purposes of his heart through all generations." Nothing surprises or alarms God when we find that the most ungodly candidate has won the election.

        One has to remember that believers in Jesus are aliens and strangers on this earth (1 Peter 2:11). Our kingdom and citizenship are in another dimension (Philippians 3:20; John 18:36), and we eagerly await our savior (and ultimate leader and ruler) from heaven. Therefore, we should not lose hope whenever "our candidate" is not elected. Psalm 118:8,9 tell us that it is "better to take refuge in Yahweh, than to trust in man....[or] in princes." Jesus knew that political power was not the answer for a better life on earth. He stated in John 18:36, "My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jews." Our fight is not ultimately a political one. Our fight is also "not with flesh and blood, but with....the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. [Ephesians 6:12]).

        On the contrary, we are told to pray for "....all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness." God wants "all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth" (1 Timothy 2:1-4). This requires us to put aside our feelings of disgust to purposefully intercede on behalf of wicked, mean, arrogant, self-seeking, rich politicians, who we sometimes can't stand to look at.

        The biggest fight, Father in heaven, is within our own sinful nature, which does not want to die to its petty selfishness. We need to ask for your intervention in our nation's people and leaders, as individuals who need your light.

March 5 - The Meaning of "Holy" 

Hebrews 7:26 – "Such a high priest meets our need – one who is holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens."

There are several words traditionally translated in several different translations of the Bible, whose meanings have always been elusive to me.  They are words that are only used in a religious sense, and have been bandied about, as if all commonsense folk surely knew what they meant.  The word "holy" is one of them, and there are several more that are covered in a different discussion.  Words can be argued about, but meanings carry weight.  So I want to know the full meaning of a word when I read it.  If we don't know the meaning of an English word, we find it in the dictionary to get its definition.  The word "redundant" is a good example of a common word, whose meaning is not what many people believe.  It does not mean "simply repetitive", as it even sounds (even though it can imply repetition).  It's meaning connotes something being not necessary, excessive (which is why repetition is included, since repetition is not always necessary to get one's point across).     

When I found out many years ago, that the Greek word for holy (hagios) meant "different" or "set apart, (for special use)", I started reading that definition into the scriptures as I would read the word "holy".  That definition made perfect sense to me.  In general, one could say that fine china is holy; it is only used on special dining occasions.  Or perhaps that antique tea set.  Or those dress shoes that one only wears to weddings and funerals.  Or those rubber boots one needs for working muddy jobs on the farm.  The list could go on and on.  "Hagios" connotes being "different for God's purposes".  

However, in the title verse above,  the former definition doesn't fit.  If it did, one would be saying "set apart" twice in this verse.  The Greek word here is "hosios", which means "in agreement with divine truth, and therefore deserving respect".  Jesus, our high priest, always walked in agreement with God's truth.  He even said that he IS truth (John 14:6).  Since he never sinned, he is worthy of the highest respect.  Another way of putting it might be that Jesus is the ultimate example of human godliness.  A short definition might be "pious", but then again, that word is also vague and rarely used in modern-day English.  

Strong's Greek concordance records the usage of "hosios" only eight times in the New Testament.  If there are short words or phrases, for which I could substitute for "holy", and understand their meanings properly, I will try it.  And whatever works for you in understanding God, and us, as "holy", please employ it in your reading and thinking.