Randy J. Elstrott

Pluck Out Your Eye

Have you ever read a scripture that got stuck in your craw? You just couldn’t swallow it the way it was written. A few that have always gotten me are Matthew 5:29 and its companion verses Matthew 18:9 and Mark 9:45. In each case Jesus said we should “pluck out” an eye or “cut off” a hand if they cause us to sin, but what’s worse is he goes on to say it’s better to “enter life” with one eye or one hand than to be “thrown into hell” with both eyes and both hands.

Now, here’s my issue. Do we really believe our physical bodies with all the scars, wrinkles, and maladies we gained on Earth will enter Heaven? Doesn’t this physical body die and turn to dust? Won’t we have a new, resurrected and flawless body in Heaven? The only way this makes any sense, is if Jesus is talking about the fate of our physical bodies on this side of the grave!

So, when Jesus mentions “entering life” or being “thrown into hell,” he’s actually talking about something that happens on this side of the grave—to our physical bodies. To understand this, let’s consider the Greek word that Matthew chose; “Zoe.” It means ‘Godly life.’ It only refers to ‘eternal Godly life’ when its preceded by the word ‘anion’ which it is not in these verses. So, here, it simply means ‘entering into a God-quality life on Earth.’

Now, the next statement, “thrown into hell,” is also referring to an event in this world—not the next. You see, Jesus never said the word ‘hell.’ That is a relatively new English word which was derived from the name of the Norse goddess of the underworld, Hela. The Greek word used in our Bibles is Gehenna. According to Josephus (a Jewish historian of the first century) Gehenna was a literal garbage dump outside the city of Jerusalem which burned day and night. Josephus told us the Roman soldiers of Jesus’ day would heap the dead bodies of crucified criminals into Gehenna for expedience and as a deterrent to other would-be rebels.

In short, we can understand Jesus’ words this way:
“It’s better to enter a God-quality life with one eye or one hand than to have your dead body thrown into the worm-infested, ever-burning Garbage heap of Gehenna with Both eyes and hands.”

You see, Jesus words here were a warning about what sin could lead to in this life. Many of Jesus’ sayings about life on Earth have been wrongly interpreted as dealing with the hereafter. An honest assessment of the book of Matthew shows us that 92% of Jesus’ statements had to do with life this side of the grave. He was apparently far more concerned
about who we are in this life than than what will come of us in the next.

Once you’ve seen, you can’t unsee:

“Imagine Peter stepping through the doorway of that Roman’s house for the first time. Everything in his upbringing told him that he would be jeopardizing his standing with God to do that, and yet he’s now seeing something new. “

“And once you’ve seen, you can’t unsee. “

“Perhaps you were handed a way of seeing the world and reading the Bible that doesn’t work for you anymore, and yet that previous way of understanding still has a strange power over you. Maybe it’s the people who taught you that, or raised you to think like, that or told you that was the only way to see it, and if you reject that one understanding, you would suffer. “

“Or maybe you were marinating in a calm, cool, rational world of evidence and data in which the only things that can be trusted are the facts. You refer to yourself as a logical, rational type who doesn’t go for fairytales. But the truth is, you’ve had experiences that don’t fit into any of your nice, neat, modern categories. You might even use the word divine – but not in front of certain friends or family or colleagues. “

“Wherever you’re coming from, don’t deny the disruptions”

“Don’t panic when the room spins, because you’ve seen something real and life-giving and beautiful and good and hopeful that doesn’t fit in any of your boxes it’s OK. You’re not the first. That’s how it works. That’s how we grow.”

—-Rob Bell

Lesson from The Adulteress:

Do you remember the story of the woman caught in the act of adultery? The religious leaders drug her before Jesus, threw her on the ground and asked him, “Do we stone her?” Why did they do this? They were testing his loyalty to a law of Moses (the way they understood it). You see, in Leviticus the law of Moses literally demands that adulterers be condemned to death by stoning. Now, do you remember what Jesus did? He refused to condemn her, he wouldn’t allow anyone else to condemn her, and he sent her home—free and forgiven.

So, here’s the big question: did Jesus break the law? NO. HE DID NOT!!! You see, Jesus invoked a higher law. A law that trumps the death penalty. He invoked a law that says, “do unto others as you’d have them do to you,” and “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Jesus said these are the highest laws. They sum-up all of the “laws and prophets.” No one wants to be stoned to death. We all want mercy, so Jesus showed mercy. The mercy law trumps the stoning law.

In this simple story, Jesus made it clear that one law can override another. Also, one scripture can override another. This doesn’t mean all scripture is not God-breathed. It means some God-breathed passages must be taken literally while others must be understood differently. But how should we understand a God-breathed passage that demands the merciless killing of another? We look for a trope. This is a word or phrase that says one thing and means another. For instance, when a bookmaker tells a betting client to “bring the dough,” he’s not talking about unbaked bread. He’s talking about money. The word ‘dough’ becomes a trope for ‘money.’

Perhaps when Jesus read the adultery law in Leviticus, he discovered a trope that turned the command to destroy the sinner into a command to destroy the sinner’s guilt and shame and set them free to a new life. This would be consistent with his actions. When we think deeply about the way Jesus responded to various laws and scriptures, it becomes evident that he understood them far differently than the flat-text way we’ve been taught to understand our Bibles. Perhaps it’s time to adjust our Bible-reading to match Jesus’.

Putting The Cart Before The Horse:

You’ve heard the expression: Don’t put the cart before the horse. It means don’t use the cargo to pull the vehicle. For instance when starting a business (despite the initial expense of start-up costs) your focus must be attaining and growing a customer base. Customers are your source of revenue. They will keep your business healthy and expanding. They are your priority. If you spend all your time gathering equipment and other assets, you’ll quickly run out of money.

There is however, one situation in which it is right to put the cart before the horse. This is in our Bible reading. Typically, we think of the cargo as the message the Spirit is trying to convey to his readers and the vehicle is the meanings of the words we’re reading. But perhaps we’re supposed put the message first and the meanings of the words second. Perhaps we’re supposed to find the meanings of the words by first knowing the message.

You see, the message of the Bible is expressed most succinctly in the four Gospels. These four independently written books are not identical, but they tell the same story and carry the same announcement—1 John 1:5, “This is the message we have heard from him and announce to you: that God is light and in him is no darkness.”

1st John 3:11 goes on to say, “This is the message you have heard from the beginning: We should love one another.”

So, we know from the Gospels a two pronged declaration: 1.) God is light without darkness and 2.) we are to love one another. Now that we know the message, we can work backwards to decipher the meanings of the words we’re reading. Commands from the voice of God to mercilessly slaughter innocent children no longer threaten me because I know the true meanings of the words are tied to the message that God is light and in him is no darkness. Those commands don’t mean what they seem to say. Likewise, orders from God to act out of vengeance or hatred have no effect on me because I know the true meanings of the words are to love one another.

Hence, putting the cart before the horse in business may lead to poor professional practices, but in our understanding of Scripture, it makes for good and accurate Bible reading.

Consensus On The Veil

My friends, please allow me a moment to bare my heart. For over a year my posts have stressed the importance of recognizing the VEIL and the harm it brings to our spirituality. It does this by distorting our understanding of God’s character. I want you to know I’m not alone in this.

A good friend recently asked what evidence there is that the veil is as important a subject as I believe. Here is my answer:

Hebrews 6:1 admonishes us to leave the elementary teachings and move on to maturity. Eight verses later, the author begins a long discourse of many of the mature subjects. In his discourse, he speaks of our “hope” and in verse 19 we are told our “hope” follows Jesus “behind the veil.” Again, in chapter 10 verse 20 we are told Jesus opened a “new and living way”… “through the veil that is his body.” The author here includes the veil in his monologue about the mature subjects of our faith. He describes Jesus taking us past the veil to see and experience the true character of our Father, then he equates the destruction of Jesus’ body with the destruction of the veil.

When we see the God-man give his life fully and freely to and for humanity, we understand (perhaps for the first time) how truly good our God is. His act of self-sacrifice destroys the veil that hides his good nature.

To re-enforce the importance of this subject, I list below a few quotes from leaders of our faith, both old and new:

Origen,
“Origen often depicts the “letter” of scripture as a veil that covers the spiritual meaning of the text.”…Origen constructs a hermeneutic theory that privileges a rational, spiritual and ‘unveiled’ interpretation of the text.”
American Society Of Church History volume 83, Issue 4, December 2014

Philo Judaeus
He understood that the more important “spiritual meaning” of scripture is “unjustly hidden” under the “shadow” (veil) of its literal meaning.
De Vita Moses, 1.4

Thomas Aquinas,
The greatest theologian of the medieval age; he understood there to be spiritual sense to scripture which is hidden by its literal sense.

A.W. Tozer,
“The church waits for the tender voice of the saint who has penetrated the veil and has gazed with inward eye upon the wonder that is God….What is it? What but the presence of a veil in our hearts? A veil not taken away as the first veil was, but remains there still shutting out the light and hiding the face of God from us.” Pursuit Of God, pg 40-41

Matthew Bates,
“The Old Testament becomes for…Paul a book of divine mysteries that can only be unlocked by the Spirit of Christ, who is the exegetical key alone capable of endowing the interpreter with the ability to pull back the veil.” Hermeneutics Of The Apostolic Proclamation, pg 16

C.S. Cowles,
“(By redacting an important phrase as he read Isaiah 61:1-3) Jesus would ‘lift the veil’ that had prevented his generation from comprehending the magnanimous scope of God’s love disclosed in their scriptures.” Who Is God, pg 44

C.S. Cowles,
“Jesus pulls aside the curtain that had for so long veiled the full extent of God’s loving heart.” Who Is God, pg 64

John Mark Comer,
“God himself has to reveal to us what he’s like. He has to pull back the curtain of the universe and let you and me look inside…So when God reveals himself, its almost always different from what we expect.” God Has A Name, pg 29

Greg Boyd,
“Paul reflects this conviction when he teaches that the degree to which our lives will be transformed “from one degree of glory to another” is completely dependent on the spirit removing the “veil” over our “minds” (2 Cor 3:12-16). Crucifixion Of The Warrior God Volume One, pg 19

Greg Boyd,
“…this seemingly guilty crucified criminal becomes the definitive revelation of God only when the spirit removes the “veil” over our minds (2 Cor 3:16) and we are empowered to see what the natural mind could never see by itself—namely, ‘the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ’” Crucifixion Of The Warrior God Volume One, pg 495

From Pastor Fred Young:

Father, thank you for loving us with a passion/a tenacity that doesn't ever give up.
A love that doesn't ever abandon me, even when I abandon you.
A love that won't settle for nothing but the very best for me.
A love that doesn't ignore me even when I am ignoring you.
A love that never changes.
A love that always forgives.
A love that is always good.
A love in which there is no darkness at all.
A love that is the giver of every good and perfect thing.
A love that welcomes me and accepts me with all of my wounds and scars and brokenness.
A love that I see a beautiful sunsets and sunrises and rainbows and beaches and mountains, in the rain and snow and gentle breeze.
A love that I see in the smile of my wife.
A love that I see in the wonder, and curiosity, and play, and laughter of my grandchildren.
A love that I discovered when I became a dad and held my newborn sons, and I realized in that moment that I had loved them before they were ever born. Just like you loved me. Before they ever could say a word, or do a chore that I asked.
Before they could obey me, when they were helpless, I love them just like you, as our Father, love me.
A love that I see in the eyes of my loving puppy who can’t wait to greet me each time I walk through the door.
A love that all allows me the freedom to choose.
A love that still loves me when my choices, like that of the prodigal son, lead me away from the safety of home, and into a hell of my own making.
A love that patiently waits for me when I’m making a mess of my life.
A love that is bigger than my failures.
A love that is present with me in the times of great sadness.
A love that is so very patient, that you love me when I doubted you, when I didn’t believe you, and I blamed you and accused you of not caring.
A love that I see most clearly in the person of Jesus.
A love that has united yourself with me, exalted me in Christ to share, forever, in the love that you have shared with Jesus and the Holy Spirit since before time.
A love that last forever
Help me to always remember that whatever I do or do not do, cannot change, validate, or nullify your love.
Help me to grow into knowing that you are always good, and I pray that I would be rooted and established in this love that we would be able to comprehend how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ.
And that I wouldn’t all be filled to the measure of the fullness of God.
Although I know this will take all of eternity to experience.
Help me to live loved.

Moving On To Maturity:

There are a few subjects in Christendom that draw a lot of attention from teachers and pastors. They are regular topics in Bible studies, Sunday morning sermons, and even in recent decades—Christian entertainment. It’s easy to camp out on these issues because they are popular. Hebrews 6:2 calls these “elementary teachings” and we’re admonished to “move beyond” these subjects to “maturity.”

There is a doctrine however, that is well represented in the Scriptures and in church history, yet it gets little to no mention in our modern church culture and it is hardly known by church-going folks. It is the VEIL. Scripture tells us a veil hides the true nature of God in the circumstances of our lives, in nature, and in the Bible itself. It is not a literal veil—as if an opaque clothe obstructs our view to God. The word ‘veil’ is a metaphor for any circumstance or any scripture passage that fails to display the good and Christ-like nature of God.

Paul said, “anyone who reads the Old Testament,” will find this veil. He spent a chapter and a half (in 1 Corinthians 3-4) describing its effects. Jesus revealed the veil when he told the people of Jerusalem that his true identity had been “hidden from your eyes.” Isaiah said the veil is “stretched over all nations,” and John the elder recognized the veil by naming his book, “The Unveiling Of Jesus Christ,” (the original name of the book of Revelation).

Not only was the veil confronted directly in these passages and others, but there are dozens of instances in which the veil was indirectly addressed. Here is one:

Psalm 68:18 says, God ascended on high and “received gifts from men.” The word “received” is the Hebrew word, Laqach. It means to take or confiscate. For instance, the Creator TOOK (Laqach) a rib from Adam. The rib was not received as if it had been offered. It was taken. The word, GIFTS is the Hebrew word Mattonowt. It literally means a sacraficial offering. So, the Psalm is telling us God confiscated sacrifices from men.

Paul found the veil in this notion of God taking sacrificial offerings. He knew God was kinder than that. He doesn’t take—he gives. So Paul re-wrote the passage in Ephesians 4:8 to say God “gave” sacrificial gifts to men. Paul changed one word and turned the meaning 180 degrees. Although the word ‘veil’ is not mentioned in this interplay of words between the Old and New Testaments, the presence of the veil over the Psalm is implied by the change Paul makes to the text.

This is one small example of many dozens of instances in which the veil is acted upon by writers and characters of the scriptures. It is clearly a subject that is worthy of much more attention by pastors and teachers.

As you read through the scriptures, please keep a sharp eye out for the veil. You’ll know you’ve encountered it any time the Father looks different than the son and if you are a pastor, teacher or hold any position which enables you to transfer knowledge to other believers, don’t forget to talk about the veil. It is one of the “mature” subjects we’re supposed to move onto.

Leaving The Lake Of Fire:

The beauty of the Book of Revelation is that so many golden nuggets are hidden in a vast seashore of dreary sand. One has to dig to find them. Here is one that peaked my interest:

Revelation 21:8 tells us the sexually immoral were thrown into the lake of fire. It’s easy to assume that this is an eternal fate. But watch!

In Revelation 18:3 we are told that the “kings of the Earth” committed adultery (sexual immorality) with the great city of Babylon and again in Revelation 18:23 we are told all “the nations” were led astray by Babylon.

Now, according to the passage we read earlier which confined all participants of sexual immorality to the lake of fire, we must understand that the “kings of the Earth” and all “the nations” have been sent there, particularly since “the Beast” which represents seven “Kings of the Earth” was explicitly cast there in Revelation 19:20.

So, what message is being communicated a few chapters later when we find in Revelation 21:24 that the “kings of the Earth” and their “nations” are celebrated participants (with all of their honor and glory) in the Heavenly Jerusalem?

Did they exit the Lake Of Fire at some point? Apparently, they did. It was not their eternal fate. It was something they had to pass through to reach their eternal fate.

Notice that their “honor” and “glory” are on display as they traverse the landscape of the Heavenly Jerusalem. No longer do we see wicked “kings of the Earth” and rebellious “nations” who commit adultery with Babylon. They are clean now. Paul described the process they underwent as the burning away of their “wood, hay, and stubble” so their “gold, silver, and costly stones” might shine forth (1 Corinthians 3:12-15). These gems survived the fire and now adorn the kings and nations.

Jesus said it this way: the farmer separated the tares from the wheat. The tares were bundled and burned. The wheat has been brought into the farmer’s storehouse (Matt 13:30).

God is the great farmer who doesn’t waste his precious wheat—not a single king, not a single nation. He leaves the ninety-nine to go after the one.

The Anonymous Elder Of The Book Of Revelation:

He was a nameless figure who made a cameo appearance in the Book of Revelation. He was one of the twenty-four elders. This body of elders represented the combination of the twelve tribes of Israel and the twelve apostles (twelve plus twelve equals twenty-four). Collectively, these elders mirrored the nation of Israel and the church—the two bodies through which God has reached out to estranged humanity over time. We could say the elders represent God’s efforts to engage humanity and humanity’s response.

So, when we find one of the elders speaking out unilaterally and independently from the others, we have to understand this as a cross section of humanity speaking out. He’s not a segment—as if he was 1/24th or 4% of the people of the human race. He’s a cross section. He represents a small part of everyone who will ever live. He represents that part of every human that looks for God.

He found God in Revelation 5:5 and proclaimed to John, “See, the Lion…” The elder looked for God, and when he found him he saw him as a lion. All of humanity, all through history has always looked for God and found him to be a lion. A lion is ferocious and frightening and loud and devastating. This is how humanity has always viewed God. From the southern tip of Africa to the Aleutian Islands of Alaska and all points in between, the people of the Earth have imagined all sorts of treacherous and lion-like gods, goddesses, and demi-gods. These gods ravaged crops, accosted communities with deadly weather events, earthquakes and volcanoes, and they even demanded child sacrifices from their worshippers. These were the only gods the people of the Earth ever knew.

It was not until the unveiling of the slain little lamb at the center of the throne that one human (John) saw God for who and what he really is—a lamb (Revelation 5:6). John was able to perceive the lamb-ness of God because God had taken him “up here” (Revelation 4:1) to God’s level so he could see all things from God’s perspective.

Once John recognized the lamb-ness of God, the elder who had once seen God as a lion perceived the lamb also, and with the other twenty-three elders he fell down in worship of the lamb (Revelation 5:7).

A.W. Tozer once said, “What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.” So, what comes into your mind when you think about God? John, the author of Revelation gave us only two options: lion or lamb. We don’t have the right to look for something in between—something less hostile than a lion, but more aggressive than a lamb. There are only the two, and you and I must decide which will come to our minds when we think about God. It is the most important thing about us because it determines which we will become.

Dark Humor Of John The Elder:

“There is a lot of humor to be found in sarcasm and darkness. You talk to any paramedic, they survive by developing a pretty off-kilter sense of humor.” Nicolas Cage

The author of the Book Of Revelation, John the Elder, was writing to an early church in the throes of a bloody and diabolical persecution by the Roman government. The purpose of his book was to encourage them to remain faithful and I believe, to provide a view to their circumstances through which they could sustain a good belly-laugh.

You see, it is a book loaded with oxymorons. The word ‘oxymoron’ literally means sharp-dull. It is when you describe a thing by two opposing adjectives such as a short, tall person, or a funny, sad movie.

The Book of Revelation is packed with such images as: a man looking to see a sound, a solid green rainbow, seals so tightly locked that the strongest angel cannot break them open—but a little lamb can, an angel who stands on land and sea simultaneously, and a scroll with writing on both sides. The list of these sharp-dull images goes on.

One that I’m sure incited laughter is Revelation 22:18. In it, John placed a curse on anyone who would add anything “to the words of the prophecy of this scroll (the Book of Revelation).” Now, in Greek, the words ‘add to’ are ‘epithet ep.’ It means to ‘place upon’ or ‘give in addition,’ or ‘impose on.’

So, here’s the funny part: this book is an apocalyptic book filled with symbolism from the Old Testament. You can’t begin to understand it without imposing Old Testament imagery on to it. Scholars have found 800 allusions to Old Testament passages in the 440 verses of this book. That’s nearly two references per verse. These references are there for a reason, and if we fail to recognize them, we miss the meanings of the verses.

Now, do we have a completely symbolic (apocalyptic) book of which we are not allowed to recognize the symbolism? No! That is the biggest oxymoron yet and I believe it was John’s sarcastic way of reminding his readers how to understand the book—do exactly what he said not to do—apply the symbols. Hence the belly-laughs.

The entire Book of Revelation is an upside-down, inside-out, worms-eye-view of a God who is “meek and lowly and humble in heart,” and in whom we can “find rest for our souls.” But we see only a wrathful, vindictive God until we recognize the sarcasm and join in the laughter.

Is There A God?
That’s a question I’ve asked multiple times throughout my life (I’m ashamed to say) even as a Christ-follower. I’ve learned there are two ways to believe: from the heart and from the head. My heart has always been pretty certain. That’s not where the questions were coming from. The problem was with my head. I thought too much.

When I looked around, I didn’t see any trace of the kind God I believed in from my heart. You see, Romans 1:19-20 tells us we should see God’s “divine nature…in the things that have been made.” I knew Jesus showed us God’s nature more succinctly than anything else we might view. He showed us that “God is meek and lowly in heart,” and in him we find “rest for our souls.” He told us that God loved the whole world, but to my dismay, I didn’t find meekness, humility, a place to rest my soul, or love when I looked to creation.

Nature is a perpetually moving machine that is fueled by violence, struggle, fear and death. Animals day by day, and minute by minute fight for survival. The strong one defeats the weak one who dies a grisly death in the jaws of a predator. In many ways, creation is the exact opposite of how Jesus described God. Where is the “divine nature” I wondered and why don’t I see him in the things he has made?

These thoughts plagued me until I read The Mirror Study Bible (translated by Francois du Toit). In it, Romans 1:19 says, “whatever can be known of God is manifest in man.” In other words, the corner of creation that displays the “divine nature” is humanity. Only in humanity do I see meekness, humility and love. In his notes du Toit tells us, “every time we encounter love, encounter joy, or experience beauty, a hint of the nature of our maker reflects within us; even in the experience of the unbeliever.”

So, to see God in the things he has made we must look for the right things. Look for meekness, humility, joy, beauty and love. You’ll find these most often in people—a testament to the truth that we are made in the image of our Creator.

Undoubtedly you’ll find other things as well—traits that do not belong to our maker such as malice, hatred, greed and indifference. Even such characteristics as these testify to the reality of our God because it was he that told us our world had undergone a great fall and now, both good and evil can be gotten from the same tree.

It is now clear to me that both, light and darkness—Love and hate display, in one way or another, the reality of our God.

Divine Comedy:

In April 2000, SNL aired their skit, “More Cowbell.” It featured Will Ferrell as a cowbell player in a band which was recording ‘Don’t Fear The Reaper’ by Blue Oyster Cult. The band manager (Christopher Walken) continually required the band to start over because he wanted “more cowbell.” The sheer silliness of the scene reduced people to tears of laughter. Watching actors take a scenario beyond the boundaries of reality makes us laugh.

I think God laughs too. He has a sense of humor. I know this because he made me and millions of others who like to laugh and see people laugh.

In the same way SNL used silliness to make the world laugh, I believe God used silliness to bring comic relief (laughter) to a first century church enduring unimaginable persecution. Here is his punch-line:

“And they said to the mountains and the rocks, ‘Fall on us and hide us from the face of the one seated on the throne, and from the WRATH OF THE LAMB.’” Revelation 6:16

Now, here’s the silly part: imagine grown men running and hiding from a being described as a “slain, little lamb”—not just any lamb, but a wounded, baby lamb. Do you we see anything to flee from here? No, we don’t. That is a punch-line meant to induce laughter.

There is a reason John used the image of a wounded little lamb to describe God on his throne. It’s because there is nothing to fear in a lamb—much less a wounded baby lamb. The first century church knew this. They laughed at the prospect of their persecutors one day running in fear from a baby lamb—not because there is anything inherently frightening about the animal, but because the persecutors have a perception problem. They see God wrongly. Where the church perceived life and light, they saw wrath and death—yet even in their deluded, post mortem state, 1 Peter 3:19 tells us Jesus still reaches out to remove their veil and reveal his lamb-ness. And Paul assured us that one day “every knee will bow” to the lamb—even the knees that once ran in fear.