The Little Children

I was reading 1 John (KJV) and noticed that the author addresses multiple audiences:

• My little children (my dear children in the NIV)
• Brethren and my brethren (dear friends in the NIV)
• Fathers, young men, and children (The IVP Bible Background says this represents different stages of faith; fathers held positions of honor and authority; young men had strength and vigor, but were still vulnerable to temptation; children were still learning)
• Beloved (Rabbi Meir says beloved is Israel) 

I created a table so I could look at the passages side-by-side and noticed that the Greek word for little children was different in just one verse.

1 John 2:1	Tekníon
1 John 2:12	Tekníon
1 John 2:18	Paidíon
1 John 2:28	Tekníon
1 John 3:7	Tekníon
1 John 3:18	Tekníon
1 John 4:4	Tekníon
1 John 5:21	Tekníon

1 John 2:18: Little children, it is the last time; and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come even now are there many antichrists whereby we know that it is the last time. (KJV)

I looked up the Greek words using the Complete Word Study Bible:

• Tekníon: Child, a little child.  Used only figuratively and always in the plural.  A term of affection by a teacher to his disciples

• Paidíon: Child, a little child, either male or female. A child recently born, a baby, an infant.  Metaphorically in 1 Cor 14:20, “be not children in understanding,” meaning weak, ignorant, childish.  As an endearing appellation for the followers in Christ

In Matthew 18:3, Jesus says: Verily I say unto you Except ye be converted and become as little children [paidíon] ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven (KJV, notation added)

The late pastor John White preached that it is the little children [paidíon] who are entering the kingdom. They are submissive to the Lord.  He also refers to little children as "a body of believers taken out of the body” who will be great in the kingdom.  

Little children are also the sons and the brethren or brothers of Christ, who are those who are seeking to enter the kingdom by doing the will of the Father (Matthew 5:20, Matthew 7:21; 18:3; 19:23-24, Mark 9:47; 10:23-25; Luke 18:24-25; John 3:5; Acts 14:22). 

Scripture tells us that some will only see the kingdom and not everyone will enter the kingdom:

John 3:3: Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.

Matthew 7:21: Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.

If we are striving to be little children and enter the kingdom, how do we know what the will of the Father is? White says we discover it by studying the Bible.

The Real Story About Noah

When human beings began to increase in number on the earth and daughters were born to them, the sons of God saw that the daughters of humans were beautiful, and they married any of them they chose. Then the Lord said, “My Spirit will not contend with humans forever, for they are mortal; their days will be a hundred and twenty years.”

The Nephilim were on the earth in those days—and also afterward—when the sons of God went to the daughters of humans and had children by them. They were the heroes of old, men of renown.

The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time. The Lord regretted that he had made human beings on the earth, and his heart was deeply troubled. So the Lord said, “I will wipe from the face of the earth the human race I have created—and with them the animals, the birds and the creatures that move along the ground—for I regret that I have made them.” But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord.  (Genesis 6:1-8, KJV)

Years ago — while volunteering at my former church’s Sunday school — I remember watching the horror come over the faces of the five-year-olds as the teacher told them the story of Noah and the flood. I admit, I questioned God’s actions. It didn’t make sense to me that God would wipe out the human race because the thoughts of their hearts were evil, only to later send His Son to die for sinners who believed in Him, no matter what evils they had committed.  But it was a time and place when I was more interested in what the latest best-selling Christian book had to say than the Bible, so I never pursued it.

Years later, a faithful sister in Christ explained to me that the Nephilim were the giant offspring of fallen angels who had mated with women.  It sounded like something you would see on a television program like the X-Files. I was highly intrigued and incredibly skeptical, which led me to dive into Scripture to determine the truth for myself. For that alone, I will always be grateful.

I found the Nephilim again in Numbers 13:33:

There we saw the Nephilim [or giants], the sons of Anak, who come from the giants; and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight. (Amplified Bible).

This confirmed that the Nephilim were not like normal human beings.  I searched several commentaries and found an explanation that the “sons of God” were the faithful family of Seth and the “daughters of men” were the descendants of apostate Cain (Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown).  But it begged the question: How did a line of giants result from human beings intermarrying with other human beings?  They are referred to in Genesis 6:4 as “the heroes of old, men of renown” and Rob Skiba offers an excellent presentation on Greek mythology and its relationship to the Nephilim, which is worth viewing.

I did a word search on “sons of God” and it only appears two times in the NIV (Genesis 6:2 and Genesis 6:4). In the Amplified Bible, however, I found several passages:

Again there was a day when the sons of God [the angels] came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan (the adversary and the accuser) came also among them to present himself before the Lord.  (Job 2:1)

Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind and said, Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge? Gird up now your loins like a man, and I will demand of you, and you declare to Me. Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Declare to Me, if you have and know understanding. Who determined the measures of the earth, if you know? Or who stretched the measuring line upon it? Upon what were the foundations of it fastened, or who laid its cornerstone, When the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy? (Job:38:1-7)

Using Scripture to interpret Scripture led me to believe that in the Old Testament, the term “sons of God” refers to angels. In the New Testament, it appears to refer to both angels (Luke 20:36) and believers (Matthew 5:9, Romans 8:14, and Galatians 3:26), depending upon which translation you use.

That still left another important question: could angels have children with women? We know that angels appeared on earth and talked to Hagar (Genesis 16:7-11, Genesis 19:21), ate with Lot (Genesis 19:1-3), pulled Lot into the house (Genesis 19:10), seized Lot, his wife and two daughters by the hand (Genesis 19:16), touched Gideon’s staff, meat, and unleavened cakes (Judges 6:21), touched and spoke to Jezebel (1 Kings 19:5), went into a pool and stirred up the water (John 5:4), opened prison doors (Acts 5:19), and gently struck Peter on his side (Acts 12:7).  Clearly, angels are able to physically interact with humans in this dimension.  And if you do a word search, they appear to always be men.

As I searched further, I found author Doug Hamp and others, who opened my eyes to believe that these fallen angels had indeed mated with women to pollute the human gene pool and prevent the Messiah from being born!  Or in the words of Scofield, “Whichever view is held, it is obvious that Satan attempted so to corrupt the race that the Messiah could not come to redeem man.”

Studies into ancient (nonbiblical) texts like the Book of Enoch suggest that these fallen angels also procreated with animals to create new species. Now it begins to make sense why God not only wiped out all of humankind (save for Noah and his family), but also according to Genesis 6:7, “the animals, the birds and the creatures that move along the ground.”  

As Hollywood prepares to launch its blockbuster Noah movie this month, I doubt that most viewers — whether they are believers or non-believers — will truly understand why God caused the flood. 

We should also remember that Genesis 6:4 tells us that the Nephilim appeared before and after the flood. That’s a huge concern for Kingdom believers who are living in what I believe are the last days of this age and those who will be left behind during the Tribulation.  But I will have to save that for next time.

A Consuming Fire

For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad. 

(2 Corinthians 5:10, KJV)

¹² Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble;¹³ Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is.¹⁴ If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward.¹⁵ If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire. (1 Corinthians 3:12-15, KJV, emphasis mine)

I have been trying to picture what it will be like when I stand before the Lord at the judgment seat of Christ. The Complete Word Study Bible tells us that bema is “by implication any elevated place to which the ascent is by steps.”

I imagine myself as being very small as I climb those majestic steps with my head hung down, feeling nothing except the overwhelming awe, power, and glory of the Lord.

I have been using this mental picture when I pray and worship because it transforms me to a state of complete humility and total obedience.

It also reminds me that any works that I do of my own accord will be burned up as wood, hay, and stubble at the judgment seat of Christ. I will either be rewarded or suffer loss based upon everything I have done in the body, which should be a sobering thought for all believers.

Unfortunately, however, the importance of the judgment seat of Christ has either been shut up completely or reduced to a school-like “report card” with no staggering consequences.

There will be a great deal of shock and surprise beyond the rapture for many believers, which is the apt title of the late Pastor Gary Whipple’s book. He teaches that:

• Wood represents works that are done through the world and its influences
• Hay is works that are done through our flesh or old nature, apart from the Holy Spirit
• Stubble (straw) are the works of Satan in our lives

On the flip side:

• Gold represents works related to the Kingdom doctrines
• Silver represents redemption and the three parts of man (body, spirit, and soul)
• Precious stones represent the Holy Spirit working in our lives

I have also been studying how fire is associated with the Lord. Scripture tells us that:

• The Lord our God is a consuming fire (Deuteronomy 4:24, Hebrews 12:29)
• The sight of the glory of the Lord was like a devouring fire (Exodus 24:17)
• A devouring fire came out of His mouth (2 Samuel 22:9, Psalm 18:8)
• Fire came down from Him (2 Chronicles 7:3)
• He was a wall of fire around Jerusalem (Zechariah 2:5)
• He is like a refiner’s fire (Malachi 3:2)
• Our works will be revealed by fire (1 Corinthians 3:13)
• His eyes were as a flame of fire (Revelation 1:14)

Now as I picture the judgment seat of Christ, I am beginning to wonder if Christ is literally the fire that will either burn up or refine our works? 

What’s in a Name?

When I read genealogies in Scripture, I often have to remind myself that every word of Scripture is there for a reason.  So I thought it would be interesting to see what genealogies may tell us. 

I started with the genealogy in Genesis 5:1-31, which describes the line descending from Adam to Noah.  I consulted two sources for my exercise: the NET Bible and Hitchcock’s Bible Names Dictionary. 

I was surprised to learn that some of the names listed in the King James Version have different spellings in the New International Version (the alternates are in parentheses). 

Adam: Earthy, red, the first man

Seth (Sheth): Put, who puts, fixed, compensation

Enos (Enosh): Man, mortal man, sick, despaired of, forgetful

Cainan (Kenan): Possessor, possession, purchaser, buyer, owner

Mahalaleel (Mahalalel): Praise of God, praising God

Jared (Jered): descent, a ruling, commanding, coming down

Enoch: Dedicated, disciplined

Methuselah (Mathusala): He has sent his death, man of the dart

Lamech: Poor, made low, powerful

Noah: Repose, consolation, rest

Chuck Missler has written that this Genesis genealogy describes the first advent of Jesus Christ.  The references he used are different from mine, but I think we do get this picture.

 

I then chose the genealogy from Matthew 1:1-20, since it marks the beginning of the New Testament. Once again, I found it interesting that many of the names of the ancestors of Jesus also tell us about some the attributes of our Lord. 

But when you break the list up into separate blocks as I’ve done below, you might argue that it results in several “mini-stories,” that allude to the first or second advents of Christ Jesus.

Abraham: Father of a great multitude

Isaac: Laughter

Jacob: Heel-catcher or supplanter

Judas (Judah): The praise of the Lord, confession

Phares (Perez): A breach

Zara (Zerah): A rising as the sun

Esrom (Hezron): Enclosed, dart of joy, division of son

Aram (Ram): Elevated, high

Aminadab (Amminadab): One of the prince’s people, my people is liberal

Naashon (Nahshon): Enchanter; that foretells, conjectures

Salmon: A raiment; a garment, peaceful, he who rewards

Booz (Boaz): In him is strength

Obed: Serving, a servant; a workman

Jesse: A gift, oblation, wealth

David: Well beloved, dear

Solomon: Peaceful, perfect, one who recompenses

Roboam (Rehoboam): Enlarger of the people, who sets people at liberty

Abia (Abijah): The Lord is my father

Asa: Physician, cure

Josaphat (Jehoshaphat): Whom Jehovah judges, the Lord is judge

Joram (Jehoram): Whom Jehovah has exalted, exaltation of the Lord

Ozias (Uzziah): Strength of Jehovah, strength of the Lord

Jotham (Joatham): Jehovah is upright, perfection of the Lord

Achaz (Ahaz): Possessor, one that takes or possesses

Ezekais (Hezekiah): Might of Jehovah, strength of the Lord

Manasseh (Manasses): Forgetting, he that is forgotten

Amon: Faithful, true, builder

Josiah (Josias): Whom Jehovah heals, the Lord burns, the fire of the Lord

Jechoniah (Jechonias, Jehoiachin): Whom Jehovah establishes, preparation or strength of the Lord

Shealtiel (Salathiel): I have asked of God, or lent of God

Zerubbabel (Zorobabel): Born at Babel, a stranger at Babylon, dispersion of confusion

Abiud (Abihud): My father is majesty, father of praise

Eliakim: Raising up by God, resurrection of God

Azor: Helper, a court

Zadok (Sadoc): Just, righteous

Achim: The Lord will establish, preparing, revenging, confirming

Eliud: God is my praise

Eleazar: Help of God, court of God

Matthan (Mattan): Gift

Jacob: Heel-catcher or supplanter

Joseph: Let him add, increase, addition

Jesus: Jehovah is salvation, savior, deliverer