The Italian Memorandum

“If the God of my father, the God of Abraham and the fear of Isaac,
had not been on my side…”

(Genesis 31:42)

E. Stanley Jones sees in Genesis 31:42 a generational progression away from God. “The thing that has happened to this generation has happened to the three generations of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Jacob could say, “my father’s God, the God of Abraham, the Awe of Isaac” (Genesis 31:42, Moffatt). God was God to Abraham; he had ventured forth with him, his “Friend”; He was intimate firsthand and real. But in the next generation God was not “the God of Isaac,” but only the Awe of Isaac.” He had faded and become secondhand. Still Isaac stood in “Awe” of his father’s God. In the third generation—in Jacob—the result of this gradual fading of God began to shown in the decaying morals of Jacob; moral rottenness appeared. He stole his brother’s birthright. He was ready to take the main chance without regard to God.

Jones goes on to say that we also, like Jacob, often involve ourselves in a secondhand type of faith. “We have lost God…[but] Jacob met God on Jabbok’s banks in his midnight wrestle and emerged a new man. Unless we, like Jacob, find a moral renewal in finding God [afresh, RMH], we are done for” (“God Fading Out,” Abundant Living (New York: Abingdon Press, 1952), p. 3).

Still, God was on Jacob’s side. But, things were scary for a time. Will you yourself find God afresh in your own life? Can you say this is “the Lord my God”?

– Robert M. Housby

Three reasons may be assigned as to why man occupies a special status in the universe:

1. Creation –

“So God created man in his own image,

In the image of God he created him;

Male and female he created them”

(Genesis 1:27)

2. Chosen people (through whom would come Messiah) –

“Blessed be the LORD, the God of Shem…”

(Genesis 9:26; see also 1:22,28 and 14:19;Deuteronomy 7:6)

3. The Cross –

“In him we have redemption through his blood…making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth”

(Ephesians 1:7-10; John 3:16; Col. 1:20)

-Robert M. Housby

The Road Out of Eden

Leads to Your Back Door

Believing, as we do, that the book of Genesis holds extremely important information for Christian believers today, we are excited about our upcoming series: Genesis: The Road Out of Eden.

If you have never studied Genesis before, or have never understood the connectedness of these Hebrew stories, you are about to be blessed. We think that this Genesis study will bless you personally
(Hebrews 2:16).

-Robert M. Housby

Sometimes people in the hard sciences such as physics have said daring and even spiritually applicable things. Such is the case in the following observation-quote from the great German physicist, Albert Einstein.

Not everything that counts can be counted,
and not everything that can be counted counts.

We think that Einstein was making a statement here, not only about materially quantifiable data (including star-light), but also about a sociology of valuing people above things. As Christians, we trace our religion back to the patriarch Abraham (Romans 4:16). And, the promise of Genesis 22:17 inevitably comes to mind—“I will surely bless you, and I will surely multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven…” (see Hebrews 11:12).

The French mathematician Blaise Pascal also said something about the counting of the stars. In his Pensees, he wrote, On Man’s Disproportion to the Universe…
marvel at the fact that Earth is merely a tiny point compared to the stars which roll through the firmament. But if our gaze stops there…it will grow tired…For
finally, what is man in nature? He is nothing in comparison with the infinite, and everything in comparison with nothingness, a middle term between all and nothing…we are something, and we are not everything. Listen to Pascal’s breathtaking conclusion—“Man is but a reed, the most feeble thing in nature; but he is a thinking reed…the universe knows nothing of this.”

Yes, man is immensely disproportionate to the stars! But, man can comprehend the stars; the stars will never reciprocally ponder man! May we learn to count again—to learn; to live; to love—the things which truly matter (John 17:3).

– Robert M. Housby

“…God prepared a worm…”

(Jonah 4:7)

“But I am a worm and not a man”

(Psalm 22:6; Job 25:6)

In Henry Morris’ Bible and Science Series, Morris says of the scarlet worm (coccus ilicus)—“This is a scarlet worm and the reason it was called that was because it had the ability to secrete a scarlet fluid which was used in making scarlet dye that they used in ancient days…The worm was identified with the scarlet color. The life cycle of that worm is something like this: when the mother worm was ready to give birth to the baby worms, she would find the trunk of a tree, a post or a stick somewhere and then she would plant her body in that wood …so firmly in it that she could never leave it again. Then, the young would be brought forth and the mother would die, and in the process, the scarlet fluid would stain her body and the body of the young and the tree and so on…”

This we do know about Jesus the Christ and his New Covenant—

(1) Jesus identified, in a Messianic way, with the “worm” of Psalm 22:6; Isa. 41:14; Lk. 24:44
(2) Jesus was a sin-sacrifice of scarlet specifications (Isaiah 1:18; Numb. 19:6; Hebrews 9:13,14)
(3) The blood of the covenant also involved scarlet (Heb. 9:19)
(4) The Jesus of the gospel accounts appears in the role of fulfillment as a scarlet robed priest (purple=mixture of blue and scarlet Ex. 28:6,33; Matt. 27:28).

We thank God for the scarlet worm (see Gal. 3:27)!

Robert M. Housby

“…for the ways of the LORD are right…”

(Hosea 14:9)

Abraham’s servant bowed his head worshipfully and said—“…blessed be the LORD, the God of my master Abraham, who had led me by the right way…” (Genesis 24:48). Later, Moses, himself, would articulate a theology of the right way:

A. The right way is not based upon personally drawn conclusions (Deut. 12:8; 13:1-5; 18:19-22).

B. The right way is grounded in obedience to the documented word of the Lord (Bible) (Deut. 12:28; Ps. 33:4).

C. The right way is known through the commandments (mitvah) (Deut. 13:18).

The Major Post-Modern Assumptions Deserving Biblical Refutation:

1. All religions, churches, and philosophical systems are equally valid (Prov. 12:15; Matt. 15:9,13).
2. God is a purely arbitrary choice on the behalf of the individual (Prov. 16:25).
3. There is no historical/factual basis for Christianity (Lk. 3:1-2; Acts 26:26).
4. Human experience is the ultimate factor in determining truth (Deut. 12;8; Prov. 21:2).
5. There is no room for an exclusive approach to truth (Jn. 14:6; Deut. 12:29-32; Jude 3; Acts 13:10; 2 Pet. 2:15).
6. Sin is merely an outdated view of environmental and social injustices (1 Jn. 1:8).
7. Ultimate issues (origin of the universe; human meaning; salvation; etc.) have little or no bearing on the real world (Heb. 11:3,6).

– Robert Housby

“Holy and reverend is his name”

(Psalm 111:9)

We received a call recently, in which the caller voiced his opinion that Christians should not be people who live in fear. He went on to express how fear is a paralyzing force and quite detrimental. 1 John 4:18 was quoted to bolster his case—“perfect love casts out fear.” In our opinion, fear has not always been subject to a fair hearing. So, what is the proper theology of fear? May we suggest the following:

1. Fear and trembling have a sacred origin and endorsement in the Old Testament (Ps. 2:11;119:120).

2. Though, fear and trembling are not always from God (see Job 4:14; Ps. 55:5; Hab. 3:16). Biblical context determines which type of fear- experience is meant—useful or destructive.

3. But, one must not conclude prematurely that fear is either Old Testament based or destructive, for we encounter in the New Testament a complete theological development of fear (Phil. 2:13; Heb. 12:28-29; 1 Cor. 2:3; 2 Cor. 7:15).

The prophet Isaiah said, “But this is the one to whom I will look: he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word” (Isa. 66:2). Yes, there is a relevance of reverence among the Lord’s people (2 Tim. 2:19).

– Robert M. Housby

“Trust in the LORD forever, for the LORD God is an everlasting rock”

(Isaiah 26:4)

Augustus Montague Toplady (1740-1778) wrote that most popular of English hymns, Rock of Ages. It was this great hymn that echoed through Westminster Abbey during the funeral of Prime Minister William E. Gladstone. The history behind it is quite fascinating. The Christian lyrics arose from a theological debate. Especially important, in this regard, is the second stanza:

Could my tears forever flow, could my zeal no languor know,

these for sin could not atone-Thou must save and Thou alone.

It seems that Toplady was involved in a contention with John Wesley. Wesley was urging a seeking of salvation, while Toplady was denying the human role in salvation.
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The being behind the rock, in the text of Isaiah 26:4 is the LORD God. He is traceable to Deuteronomy 32:4, depicted as his people’s strength; refuge (Ps. 31:2-33); and, salvation Deut. 32:15; Ps. 89:26). In the New Testament, the Rock is identified with Christ (1 Cor. 10:4) from whom the Spirit flows (John 4:13-14); the foundation of the church (Matt. 16:18) and it’s corner-stone (Eph. 2:20).

Next time that you sing, Rock of Age, realize that there is indeed a being behind the belief.

– Robert M. Housby

“So the king took counsel and made two calves of gold”

(1 Kings 12:28)

The story of Jeroboam’s golden calves is contained in 1 Kings 12. The Bible says that he put one of the golden calves in Bethel, and the other in Dan. 1 Kings 12:30 states that the people then went to these places to worship. The respected Hebrew scholar, F. Furman Kearley asks—“Was Jeroboam’s religion as good as the religion of God as revealed through Moses?” This question is very timely because people today are saying that one religion is as good as another; or, that one church is as good as any other (Is One Religion as Good as Another? Gospel Advocate (May, 2003): 20-21.

Jeroboam led this rebellion against Rehoboam and thereby divided the kingdom. He feared that if the people continued to worship according to the law at Jerusalem, they would leave him and go back to Rehoboam. So, he simply started a new religious practice to satisfy his own feelings.

1. He rejected the law of the Lord (from Moses’ to his own).
2. He changed the manner of worship (from Yahweh to familiar calves of Egypt).
3. He changed the place of worship (from Jerusalem to Dan and Bethel)
4. He changed the time of worship (originally the 1st, 3rd and 7th mos. to the 8th mo.)
5. He changed the people authorized to offer worship (originally Levites).

There are many today who choose the golden calves of Bethel; leave Jerusalem, and go as far as Dan to worship in the glitter of Jeroboam. This was sin then, and it is sin today.

– Robert M. Housby

“When a man’s ways please the Lord,

he makes even his enemiesto be at peace with him”

(Proverbs 16:7)

“Now before he [Enoch] was taken he was commended as having pleased God”

(Hebrews 11:5)

Do your ways please God? The Bible is full of instances which depict: land pleasing man; woman pleasing man; man pleasing woman; servants pleasing kings; and, yes, man pleasing God (Gen. 49:15; Neh. 2:7; 1 Cor. 7:33,34; Heb. 11:5). We have noticed that there appears a rather definite theology of pleasing God in the book of Hebrews.

1. 10:6,8,38 – God determines what is pleasing, and what is not.
2. 11:5 – The example of Enoch.
3. 11:6 – The principle of faith as essential to pleasing God.
4. 12:28 – The exhortation to offer acceptable worship as pleasing.
5. 13:16 – The act of praise and doing good pleases God.
6. 13:21 – The clarification that doing his will is God pleasing when done through Jesus Christ.

Philippians 2:13 reads: “…for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.” Do your ways please the Lord?

– Robert M. Housby