Abba, Father

In my reading of Galatians 4 this morning I was reminded of this previous truth:
"But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship. Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father.” So you are no longer a slave, but God’s child; and since you are his child, God has made you also an heir." (Galatians 4:4-7)

The main point about the Book of Galatians is that Paul wrote this book to deal with the problem of circumcision and Jewish legalism toward Gentile believers (see BibleHub). The Jews were God's chosen people. But before Jesus came, they were like underage heir to God's inheritance. Underage heir is no different from slaves (verse 1). Although they own God's estate, they are subject to guardians and trustees until the time set by God the Father (verse 2). Moreover, the underage will have the tendency to give way to (or be enslaved by) the elemental spiritual forces of the world (verse 3). So when Jesus came, he changed everything. It's like the underage has come of age! Now being the son of the living God comes with lots of privileges we can enjoy NOW!

This is an important point for the Galatians (as well as for us) when it comes to whether to obey everything in the Jewish laws or be freed from them. The laws were written so that the underage would know what not to do, like parents setting rules to protect them from harm. But now that they are of age, they can trust that the lessons learned as a child and the new power given to them through the Holy Spirit would be sufficient to live the godly life intended for them. The old ritual of circumcision has given way to the new "circumcision of the heart". It is no longer needed, not just for the Jews, but also for the gentiles.

The gift of "the Spirit of his Son (Jesus)" works like a seal to prove that we are God's children. So we are free to call God "Abba, Father".

I once learned this prayer which has become a great short prayer for every situation: "Abba Father, I belong to you.". I teach others to pray this prayer whenever they run into difficult situations. I sometimes even refer my patients to watch this video by Brennan Manning called "The ABBA Experience" or "Brennan Manning's classic sermon Abba Father"(each is an hour long) which some have found helpful. I hope it is helpful to you too.

Is Proverbs a stereotype of women

I remember when I visited my daughter at the house where she shared with a few girls from university. I saw this on her wall in her bedroom:
Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting;
    but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.
(Proverbs 31:30)
I was very proud of her as she was living with a group of girls who were not believers. She was willing to stand out in a culture which would not espouse this type of stereotype towards women.

When I read Proverbs 31 this morning. I was reminded of the section where this verse was taken from. The title of this section is "Epilogue: The Wife of Noble Character". It's interesting that King Solomon did not write this chapter. It is written by a rather obscure king named King Lemuel. Jewish legend identifies him as Solomon, taking this advice from his mother Bathsheba; but there is no clear evidence for that. The widely used Strong's concordance, states that Lemuel in Hebrew means "(belonging) to God; Lemuel or Lemoel, a symbolic name of Solomon: -Lemuel." Other Bible commentators concur with Strong's: Easton's Bible Dictionary, Hitchcock's Bible Names, Smith's Bible Dictionary and Nave's Topical Bible.

So assuming this is true, it is interesting that Solomon wrapped up this entire Book of Wisdom describing the "ideal wife". Solomon had numerous wives and concubines. The mother of Solomon was Bathsheba making her the author of this section of Proverbs if Lemuel is King Solomon. Many commentators typically divide Chapter 31 of Proverbs into two distinct, unrelated sections. Verses 1-9 are directly directed to King Lemuel while Proverbs 31:10-29 describe the virtuous wife:



'A wife of noble character who can find?
    She is worth far more than rubies.

Her husband has full confidence in her
    and lacks nothing of value.
She brings him good, not harm,
    all the days of her life.She selects wool and flax
    and works with eager hands.
She is like the merchant ships,
    bringing her food from afar.
She gets up while it is still night;
    she provides food for her family
    and portions for her female servants.
She considers a field and buys it;
    out of her earnings she plants a vineyard.
She sets about her work vigorously;
    her arms are strong for her tasks.
She sees that her trading is profitable,
    and her lamp does not go out at night.
In her hand she holds the distaff
    and grasps the spindle with her fingers.
She opens her arms to the poor
    and extends her hands to the needy.
When it snows, she has no fear for her household;
    for all of them are clothed in scarlet.
She makes coverings for her bed;
    she is clothed in fine linen and purple.
Her husband is respected at the city gate,
    where he takes his seat among the elders of the land.
She makes linen garments and sells them,
    and supplies the merchants with sashes.
She is clothed with strength and dignity;
    she can laugh at the days to come.
She speaks with wisdom,
    and faithful instruction is on her tongue.
She watches over the affairs of her household
    and does not eat the bread of idleness.
Her children arise and call her blessed;
    her husband also, and he praises her:
“Many women do noble things,
    but you surpass them all.”'

The verse which is quoted the most is verse 30 (which my daughter put on her wall as a reminder):
Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting;
    but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.

I read an interesting post: Killing the Proverbs 31 Stereotype. I quote this from the post:
"Many focus on what the Proverbs 31 Woman does, rather than who she is. It seems utterly impossible to be able to do all those things, and that is what catches our attention, but it makes us miss the point of the scripture. Virtue; strength; dignity; wisdom; compassion; diligence; elegance; goodness; faithfulness; modesty…can you do all those things? No. You cannot, because Proverbs 31 is not so much about the woman’s perfect deeds and impeccable home-making skills, but more about the characteristics that she represents. When, at the very core of who we are, we live out these things, we will automatically bear the fruits. It is not about fulfilling a task list or ticking off stuff from our “perfect woman” checklist. That is not who we were created to be – at all. Looking at scripture from this perspective only binds us in more chains as women, and Jesus wants us to be free – absolutely free. We are placing unnecessary pressure and unrealistic expectations upon ourselves, and that is not the handiwork of God or the Bible... how does she manage to be who she is? This is very simple. True, genuine goodness, as it is represented in Proverbs 31, can only come from one Source: God. When your dependency on Jesus is so genuine and unshakable that you are completely surrendered to Him, you are giving Him the opportunity to change your heart and mind through the Holy Spirit. When you spend regular time in His Word, it does a work in you and renews your mind. He changes you from the inside-out, transforming you into a complete representation of Him – into a virtuous woman. "

From that point of view this chapter applies to men; it applies to me!

“We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith.” (Hebrews 12:2)

King Solomon's wisdom on the righteous and the unrighteous

Today's reading is from Proverbs 10-12 and 2 Corinthians 4. 2 Corinthians 4 is definitely one of my favorite chapters in the bible but I will save it for later. The Book of Proverbs is part of the "Biblical Wisdom Literature" along with the Book of Job, Psalms, Ecclesiastes, and the Song of Songs. King Solomon is the principal author for this book of wise sayings. Charles Swindoll of Insight for Living explains why the book is important:
"Proverbs accomplishes something no other biblical book does: it simply compiles numerous short instructions for living an effective life on earth. While other books articulate profound theological truths, lengthy narratives of triumph and failure, or prophetic preaching to a disobedient people, Proverbs concerns itself completely with instructing people in the path of wisdom. The writers of the book recognized the varied circumstances of a person’s life and provided principles to apply in a variety of situations rather than instructions to follow in only a few specific instances."

So when I read through Proverbs 10-12, I keep this in mind: Solomon isn't saying that there are two kinds of people - the righteous and the unrighteous, or the good and the bad people. He is simply making a list of situations we will find ourselves in, and we will have to make good or bad choices with the intended consequences. I will try to summarize chapter 10 here. It's a useful exercise to get a little more understanding into these sayings which appear rather randomly.

Bible Ref	Situation	Good/Wise Choice	Bad/Foolish Choice	Consequences
10:1	Relationship with parents	Be wise	Be foolish	Will bring joy to them or will bring grief to them
10:2-3	Regarding treasures	Earn it properly	Cheat	Will be kept safe vs won't really enjoy any of it
10:4-5	Regarding work	Be diligent	Be lazy	Wealth vs poverty
10:6-10	Describing his character	Walk and talk in integrity	Take shortcut and make "chatter" talk	Blessings and security vs insecurity and ruin
10:12	Towards our enemies	Love them	Hate them	Peace vs conflict
10:17	Discipline and Correction	Heed discipline	Ignore correction	Fulfillment vs leading others astray
10:18-21	Regarding our speech	Being prudent and does not excuse wrong	Slandering and denial	Will be highly valued vs inconsequential
10:27-30	Our relationship towards God	Fear God and obey Him	Disobey Him	Live longer, joyful & secure vs Life cut short and bear no fruit
11:1	Business practice	Honest	Dishonest	Find God's favor vs finding his wrath

Back to 2 Corinthians 4. Here I find Paul going through major difficulties in life and his reaction to them is amazing. He is demonstrating what a person in Christ is like in the face of hardship. Listen to his words:
"But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that his life may also be revealed in our mortal body. So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you." (2 Corinthians 4:7-12)

What is speaking in tongues and should women really be silent in church?

For a man who has never spoken in tongues, I read 1 Corinthians 14 with much interests this morning. Two questions came to mind:
(1) What really is speaking in tongues?
(2) Is the Apostle Paul really telling women to be silent in church services?

Before this morning I believed that some Christians were blessed with the gift of speaking in tongues, which I assumed was unintelligible mumbling, often musical, and often in the context of praying. At one point in my life I even specifically asked the Lord to bless me with such a gift - as a form of validation of the Lord's presence in my life. I was going through what I now think was a depression. The Lord never blessed me with that gift but instead blessed me with something even better, which I will save for another occasion. I also thought that the gift of tongues was often very important to some Christians and had the effect of keeping them strong in the faith. I also thought that there were a lot of copy-cats out there, who needed to put themselves in higher "spiritual" status.

What Paul was addressing in 1 Corinthians 14 may have been specific to a particular problem in the Corinthians church. But there are clearly several important teaching about speaking in tongues.
Grace to You has written a nice article about this. It contains a number of points which are new to me:

1. "Tongues" were real languages - this is a real surprise to me. The author Phil Johnson put forth a good argument about this but this is a really good point: "if someone is authentically speaking in tongues, the utterance contains a message, and the message must be translated for those who hear. Even if the tongues-speaker is praying alone and no one else is around to hear, he is to pray that he may interpret." So tongues may not be a known foreign language as we know it - it is nevertheless a translatable language. I wonder if someone has ever documented what that language is. Can you help, Wycliffe Translators?
2.  Speaking in tongues is not supposed to be a mystical exercise that bypasses the mind - I am in total agreement about the importance of the mind in our faith but I must admit that I did until today, believe that the "mystical" experience of speaking in tongues seems to go beyond the mind. Johnson explained: "Go through this passage and notice how many times the apostle uses terms like understanding, edification, and the mind. A lot of Christians in the post-charismatic era have the utterly false notion that true spirituality is something that bypasses the intellect and operates mysteriously in the soul. That opinion has more in common with Hinduism than with true Christianity. Genuine Christianity is not anti-intellectual. We do not believe that the mind is a detriment to spirituality. In fact, we believe true spirituality involves being transformed by the renewing of our minds (Romans 12:2). We are sanctified by the truth, and truth is something we apprehend primarily with our minds." Also "When we have a message for the assembly of God’s people, the sound must be distinct. The message, not the language, is the key to the gift of tongues. The Holy Spirit does not gift people with languages just to make interesting noises. There’s a message to be conveyed, just like on Pentecost, when the wonderful works of God were proclaimed in the hearer’s native tongues. And notice this carefully: Regardless of your position on the charismatic movement, you must ultimately confess that Scripture demands that tongues-speakers remain silent, unless the message they have to convey is going to be understood be the people who are present to hear. Verse 28: 'If there is no one to interpret, let each of them keep silent.'"
3. It is wrong to allow the church service to become chaotic - my experience with charismatic churches and gatherings were typically quite unpleasant. When people started speaking in tongues they did so all together and were very chaotic. I was never included in what was happening. In fact, I remember being on a mission trip while attending a prayer meeting in which many prayed in tongues the only sentence I could hear and understand was "let those who have ears hear"! If I was confused I can't imagine what a non-christian would feel. Again Johnson explained, "Can God possibly be behind such phenomena (chaotic worship)? The Bible answers that question with a definitive no. Verse 33 says, “God is not a God of confusion.” Such chaotic displays in the churches must not be attributed to Him. The Word of God speaks with the utmost clarity on this. In more familiar King James terminology, “God is not the author of confusion.” He is neither glorified nor pleased where chaos and confusion reign."
4. Tongues are a sign to unbelievers - this point spoke to me so much more clearly this morning from the reading of 1 Corinthians 14. I really appreciate what Johnson wrote and I summarize it here: "In verse 22, Paul writes, “Tongues are a sign not for believers but for unbelievers.” Here he contrasts tongues with prophecy, which he says is meant for believers. What is his point? Simple: Prophecy involved a message from God in a language everyone understood. The message conveyed in tongues was intelligible only to those who understood the language. Remember, all the languages a tongues-speaker used were Gentile languages. Hebrew was the Jewish language, and Aramaic was a first-century variation of Hebrew. All other tongues were Gentile languages... The gift of tongues changed all that. For the first time ever, inspired truth was revealed by God in languages other than Hebrew. This in and of itself was a remarkable sign, not only to the unbelieving Gentile hearers, but also to the unbelieving Jews And for the unbelieving Jews, it was a sign of judgment to come. Isaiah 28:11 contains this promise about the Messiah: “By people of strange lips and with a foreign tongue the Lord will speak to this people.” The apostle Paul paraphrases that verse in 1 Corinthians 14:21, just before saying that tongues are a sign to unbelievers. His primary meaning, then, is that tongues are a sign of judgment against the unbelieving Israelites and a token of divine grace to the Gentile unbelievers who hear the message in their own tongues...That was the primary significance of the gift of tongues. It was never intended to be a Babel of noise that no one, including the speaker, understood."

What about the question "Is the Apostle Paul really telling women to be silent in church services?".
Doesn't the bible say "Women should remain silent in the churches. They are not allowed to speak, but must be in submission, as the law says. If they want to inquire about something, they should ask their own husbands at home; for it is disgraceful for a woman to speak in the church." (1 Corinthians 14:34-35)?
I always believed that these verses addressed a particular problem in the Corinthians church and after reading around a bit this morning I have not changed my view on the matter. The main points are:

• Women were allowed to speak in church (1 Corinthians 11:5, Titus 2:4)
• The Corinthians church was known to be chaotic and lacking order in worship (1 Corinthians 14:26-33)
• Apparently, certain women in the Corinthian church were also out of order in disruptively asking questions during the already chaotic services. The context of "women should remain silent" points to those disruptive women who was prophesying and speaking in tongues

 1 Corinthians 14 does not deal with the whole question of women's role in church ministries. This issue will have to be dealt with in other places in scripture.