Author: GCI Media

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

In Psalm 113:5-6, the psalmist asks: “Who is like the Lord our God, the One who sits enthroned on high, who stoops down to look on the heavens and the earth?”

We still are asking that question.

The self-help sections of bookstores and online catalogs offer seemingly countless books addressing ways to know God from Christian, quasi-Christian and other religious perspectives. Some of these books teach universalism; others teach pantheism or panentheism. Those with a New Age perspective inevitably promise keys to finding secret knowledge concerning God.

It seems that many people are seeking to know God or at least to connect with some sort of “higher power.” That should not surprise us since God created humans in his image, giving us a “spiritual appetite.” Theologian and philosopher Blaise Pascal is credited with saying that within each person there is a “God-shaped hole looking to be filled” [see footnote (1) for his actual words, translated into English]. That being so, one would hope that a person sincerely seeking to know God would receive clear direction from all Christian churches. Sadly, that is not always the case, as illustrated in this cartoon:

Given our limited minds, we humans are unable to fully comprehend all there is to know about God. Paul put it this way: “Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out!” (Romans 11:33). Though God lives in “unapproachable light” (1 Timothy 6:16), he has not left us completely in the dark. Note Jesus’ remarkable statement in Matthew 11:27: “All things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.” I love how the second-century Christian teacher Irenaeus explained this verse in Against Heresies:

No one can know the Father apart from God’s Word, that is, unless the Son reveals him, and no one can know the Son unless the Father so wills. Now the Son fulfills the Father’s good pleasure: the Father sends, the Son is sent, and he comes. The Father is beyond our sight and comprehension; but he is known by his Word, who tells us of him who surpasses all telling. In turn, the Father alone has knowledge of his Word. And the Lord has revealed both truths. Therefore, the Son reveals the knowledge of the Father by his revelation of himself. Knowledge of the Father consists in the self-revelation of the Son, for all is revealed through the Word.

This means that no one can know God unless and until God reveals himself. And he has chosen to reveal himself through Jesus. The word reveal comes from the Greek word apokalupto meaning to take off the cover—to disclose or reveal. It is the opposite of kalupto, which means to cover up; hide. The Old Testament speaks of the Shekinah glory of God, present within the innermost part of the Tabernacle behind the veil. No one was allowed beyond that veil except the high priest, and then only once a year. For most of the time, God remained hidden behind the veil. So when Jesus said he had come to reveal the Father, his followers were understandably intrigued.

When Philip asked Jesus to show the disciples the Father, Jesus replied: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father” (John 14:9). God sent his Son to “pull back the covers” and reveal who he is through his Son. We must be careful not to let preconceptions of what God is like determine our thinking and behavior toward God. Only Jesus has perfect and complete knowledge of God. And he shares that knowledge with us.

Through the life and ministry of Jesus, we get the best look at what God is like this side of our resurrection in glory. Jesus alone is one with the Father and the Holy Spirit. He alone brings “insider knowledge” of the whole of God as the eternal Son of God. He alone is God’s self-revelation in time and space, flesh and blood. In Jesus, God has come to us in person, meeting us face-to-face so that we may know him truly and personally.

Jesus shared himself and what he knew with his disciples, whom he called his friends. And he commissioned them, and those who follow them, to go into the world and make that knowledge known—not through books and programs offering esoteric, “hidden knowledge” or esoteric, private experiences. And certainly not through a complex web of philosophical arguments and counter-arguments. Jesus told his followers that they could come to know God through relationships, including relationships with each other and with those outside the Christian community. He said that the clearest sign that would point others to him would be the love that his followers have for each other—a love reflecting God’s own love for all people.

Your brother in Christ,

Joseph Tkach

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Last week the world breathed a sigh of relief as the US Congress voted at the last minute to raise the debt limit, narrowly averting what could have become a global economic crisis. The crisis has only been postponed. It looks like we will have to face it again in the new year.

Sadly, our world has become a suffering, complicated mess. Even rich and powerful nations struggle to govern themselves—a reality that highlights the need for the human race—all of us—to accept the friendship and helping hand of our Creator who made us for better things. I am grateful that God has allowed us to see through the murk and despair to realize that there is a way to live that leads to joy and hope, in loving partnership with God through Jesus. That is the true message of the Bible.

Sadly, some use Scripture to preach a message of impending doom.

In some of my recent visits to churches, I have been asked about the book The Harbinger by Jonathan Cahn who pastors a large Messianic Jewish church in New Jersey. His book, which was published in 2011, is a work of fiction. However, Cahn based it on Bible prophecies (Isaiah 9:8-21 in particular) that he interprets as predicting a series of calamities he says God is bringing on the US. In his interpretive scheme, Cahn draws parallels between the last days of ancient Israel and current events in America since 9/11. He sees nine signs (he calls them “harbingers”) hidden in Isaiah’s prophecies, showing how God is progressively judging America for its sins.

Gripping stuff, I suppose, if you like that sort of thing. Personally I don’t. I found the book hard to read. That, of course, is my personal reaction and I wouldn’t bother to write about it if The Harbinger was intended only as fiction. What we read for entertainment is a personal matter and my opinion of Cahn’s book would matter only as much as my opinion of a book like Winnie the Pooh. However, Cahn has a more serious agenda than mere entertainment. As he writes in the beginning of his book, “What you are about to read is presented in the form of a story, but what is contained within the story is real.” He intends that The Harbinger be taken as a serious call for national repentance.

Cahn’s theme is based on the idea that the US is in a special covenant relationship with God. Starting with that premise, it is only a small step to apply prophecies given to ancient Israel to the present situation in the US. Isaiah 9:10, for example, becomes a prophecy of the destruction of the World Trade Center then 9/11. Cahn’s approach reminds me of the central premise of British-Israelism, which we learned is not the secret that unlocks Bible prophecy, nor is it the proper lens through which to interpret Scripture.

Sadly, biblical prophecy can be a rich vein for exploitation in the hands of alarmist preachers. We should not be surprised when people who read The Harbinger ask, “Is there something to it?” While we can applaud the theme of calling for repentance and a return to godliness, misusing prophecy is not the way to do it. Appeals to biblical authority should be based on a correct exegesis of Scripture.

In claiming that the nine harbingers are God’s warnings specifically to America before he passes judgment on the country, Cahn is taking an Old Testament concept out of context. America is not Israel. Israel’s calling and mission culminated in Jesus Christ.

There was a time when God sent prophets to warn a particular person or country. But that was then and this is now. Hebrews 1:1-2 succinctly sums up how God speaks to us today:

In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe.

God’s message to America, and indeed to all the world, is found in the life and ministry of Jesus Christ. That message is a loving call to repentance and an invitation to fellowship—not a threat of terrible punishment upon any one particular nation. So whatever merits The Harbinger has as a novel, it has no special insights for those who value biblical truth. Personally, I would rather read Winnie the Pooh.

Your brother in Christ,

Joseph Tkach