The Puzzle Came into View

The history of mankind can be likened to a puzzle being pieced together by the Lord. After the sin of Adam and Eve, mankind witnessed the connection of the first few pieces of the puzzle. In this story, looking back, it can be understood that the fig leaves did not cover the first couple’s new sinful nature. Instead, the Lord shed the blood of some animals and clothed His wayward creatures with the hides of those animals. Those alive at the time could not conceive of what is now clearly understood—that God would one day send His “only begotten Son” (John 1:18) to die and shed His own blood to bare “the sins of the whole world” (1 John 2:2) “in his own body on the tree” (1 Peter 2:24). That revelation, along with many others throughout history, is progressive.

Doing Satan's Work

Adam and Eve’s faith in Satan’s attack of God’s word placed them outside of the garden and outside of God’s will. The application of this truth is twofold and has far-reaching consequences. First, any man (no matter how scholarly) who questions, changes, or denies God’s word is doing Satan’s work. Second, any man who places confidence in these assaults places himself outside of the will of God.

Jesus and the Religious Establishment

God the Son took upon Himself the form of man and lived a life completely free of sin. Though He adorned a body of flesh, He remained God. One would think the Pharisees (religious leaders) most familiar with scripture would have humbly yielded to Christ’s authority. Yet, they repeatedly sought to trap the Lord in His words. After all, the identity of the Lord Jesus and His presence upon the earth exposed the Pharisees’ hypocrisy. This is why they desired to cast doubt upon the identity of Jesus’ Father to which Jesus replied that had they known the Father, they would have certainly known and recognized the Son also.

Jealousy Is Not Envy

Over thirty of the fifty-four references to jealousy in the Bible ascribe this virtue as belonging to God. Several other references are attributed to men of God (in a godly sense). In fact, it appears that there are only two references in the Bible that could be construed as an inappropriate jealousy. The confusion concerning jealousy occurs when people think of jealousy in the same fashion that they think of envy.

The Pride of False Humility

Though despicable in the eyes of God, humility can be feigned or faked. Colossians 2:18 touches on this principle. The saints were admonished against demonstrating a “voluntary humility” while being “vainly puffed up” by their fleshly minds. Humility and being “puffed up” are at opposite ends of the spectrum. Yet, these believers pretended to be humble, while they were, in reality, puffed up. Colossians 2:23 reveals a second clear proof that humility can be false. Here the Bible speaks of things having “a shew” of “humility.” In other words, people can “shew” humility while being overtaken with pride. False humility can sometimes convince and satisfy others, but rest assured that God clearly knows the difference.

Every Story Has Three Sides

Anybody who has ever counselled, parented, or managed people understands all too well that there is more than one side to any story. While the common saying is, "there are TWO sides to every story," the more accurate truth is that THREE sides exist for every story:

(1) one party's perspective;
(2) the other party's perspective;
(3) and the truth, or God's perspective.

Perhaps this truth is communicated nowhere more clearly than in 1 Kings 3:16-28. Two women appeared before newly crowned king Solomon, each claiming to have had her baby stolen by the other. No doubt, both ladies presented themselves as responsible and respectable women who had newly become loving mothers. At the same time, each lady presented the other lady as a horrible mother and the villain of all villains. Had Solomon made a ruling based solely upon the perspective of either of these ladies, it would have been uninformed, at best, and quite possibly devastatingly erroneous.

In a world where we are constantly bombarded by information and opinions, we must be cautious in the taking of sides. Solomon had sought and found God's wisdom and therefore was able to discern the third side of the story—the truth. Before weighing in with our opinions, we too ought to appeal to God's wisdom and understand that any one person's perspective is likely tainted by biases and inaccuracies whether purposeful or simply the shortfalls offered by a matter of perspective.

What Does that Word Mean?

The English language is unique in its whole, but in its parts it borrows words from various languages. The study of the history of words and how they came into the language is called Etymology. When studying Bible words, it can help to study the history of the word—both how it came into the English language and how it has been historically used within the English language. Keep in mind that the manner in which a word is used in the Bible more than likely will match its historical usage rather than its modern usage. This is a common problem associated with any living language compounded by the fact that man continues to warp the once rich English language.