By Elizabeth Prata
Worms & Wildebeests: Identifying false teachers
By Elizabeth Prata
Dr. Joel James is a pastor on mission since 1995 in South Africa. He leads Grace Fellowship Pretoria. In his opening paragraphs, I came across his vivid metaphor for how false teachers operate in the church. I am big on discernment, so I continued to read his booklet .pdf on Identifying False Teachers, and found it solid and easy to understand. I am posting the introduction below, and linked to the full booklet at the end.
Jesus warned that the last days, or the end time, would be rife with falsity. False teachers will become so popular and introduce all types of false teaching to the true sheep of God’s flock. It’s important that we stay vigilant and know how to spot these wolves.
God’s word tells us we must practice this. We are not to lay back and wait for our pastor or some Media Personality to point them out. Each and every Christian has a duty to train up in discernment. Hebrews 5:14, But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to distinguish between good and evil. 1 Timothy 4:7 urges us to ‘train ourselves to be godly.’
Here is Dr. James on false teachers:
One of the most common animals in the game parks of Africa is the wildebeest. A guide once told me this bit of “game-ranger lore” regarding the naming of the wildebeest.
The sinus passages of the wildebeest are the favourite home of a certain parasitic worm. For healthy animals, this uninvited guest is not a problem. They are able to expel the parasite by snorting powerfully. An old, diseased animal, however, can’t do that. Eventually the worm grows, eating its way through the sinus passages into the wildebeest’s brain. In pain and terror, the animal runs heedlessly, falling, stumbling, and wildly crashing into trees. Seeing such behaviour, the early settlers called them “wild beasts.”
What those worms do to a wildebeest is an excellent illustration of what false teachers do to the church of Jesus Christ. False teachers worm their way into the “brain” of the church (i.e., her teaching and doctrine), spreading their lies and errors. As her brain is destroyed, the church runs wild.
In spite of their deceiving tactics—a cloak of sheep’s clothing—Jesus indicated that identifying false teachers would be easier than you might think. You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they? Matt 7:16.
Pastor James explained that “This booklet was written to help you know what to look for. As a bird enthusiast uses his bird book to distinguish between an eagle and a vulture, so this booklet will give you a biblical checklist for distinguishing between true and false teachers.” You can find it linked below in a .pdf.
Identifying False Teachers: A Biblical Checklist for Identifying False Teachers in the Church
Source Copyright © Joel James, 2001. Used by permission. Joel James is a graduate of The Master’s Seminary in Los Angeles, California and serves as the Pastor-teacher of Grace Fellowship, Pretoria.
Invented word: Pandemonium
By Elizabeth Prata
If you’ve ever been to a full-to-the brim animal shelter during puppy and kitten season, you know it can be a chaotic situation. After a winning football game with fans streaming onto the field, the first day of Pre-Kindergarten class, the courtroom when an unexpected verdict is announced…it’s pandemonium.
Merriam Webster defines the word pandemonium as: “a noun that refers to a wild uproar, tumultuous noise, or utter chaos and disorder. It typically describes a situation where people are confused, excited, angry, or frightened, resulting in loud, unmanageable bedlam.”
‘Unmanageable bedlam.’ I like that description.
Prior to 1667, the word pandemonium did not exist. John Milton invented it. He is the author of Paradise Lost, and his use of the word first occurs in Book 1 of the Epic Poem, line 756.
As with any Epic, the author begins the poem in the middle of the action, or in media res. Paradise Lost opens in the chronological middle of the plot, where Satan and his evil cohorts have been found to be sinners and tumbled from heaven into the deeps of hell. After recovering from the shock, Satan and his evil angels build a castle fortress in hell, and it is called “Pandemonium.”
Etymology Online describes the origin of the word:
“1667, Pandæmonium, in “Paradise Lost” the name of the palace built in the middle of Hell, “the high capital of Satan and all his peers,” and the abode of all the demons; coined by John Milton (1608-1674) from Greek-
–pan- “all”
-Late Latin daemonium “evil spirit,”
So…’pandemonium’ means ‘all demons’.
The meaning of the word by 1779 came to be understood as “place of uproar and disorder”. source.
In Rome, you might know of the building the Pantheon, you see the word ‘pan’ again. Pan means ‘all’ and theon meant gods. The word ‘panorama’ is pan meaning all and orama meaning ‘view’.
As I’ve mentioned before, words change. Our commonly understood vocabulary does not remain static, but changes over time. Old definitions drift away. New words come in. In fact, Shakespeare invented about 1700 words by changing nouns to adjectives and vice versa, combining words, and totally inventing new ones.
Words like accuse, courtship, blushing, dishearten, elbow…all from The Bard.
Pandemonium is such a good word to depict the author of Chaos’ evilly erected fortress out of the Lake of Fire. His Infernal Council as Milton terms it, when the unholy ones roused themselves after being cast out of heaven, the highest evil one situated atop his dastardly throne, debating war plans and strategizing from the fellow ‘gods’ such as Molech and Baal… contrasts with the peace of heaven’s throne, orderliness of God’s foreknowledge and perfectly unfolding plan for the universe, heaven, and humanity…
We know there are only two gates. There is pandemonium with the flesh of all pagans kicking against the goads… or peace with God and a stilled and forgiven soul for those who have repented to Jesus.
John Martin 1841, his interpretation of Pandemonium-
Above- “In Paradise Lost (Book I), Milton describes Pandemonium as a grand, opulent palace built by fallen angels under Satan’s command, rising from Hell’s fiery landscape with “stately height” and adorned like a temple. Martin captures this by portraying towering, temple-like structures with Babylonian and classical architectural influences, wreathed in flames and smoke. The painting’s monumental scale and intricate details show Milton’s vision of a city that rivals heavenly splendor, symbolizing the fallen angels’ pride and ambition.” Description source.
Below, Gustave Dore’s interpretation of Pandemonium and the engraving that is included in my edition:
Are you SURE you want “the first century church”?
How busy was the Temple?
By Elizabeth Prata
Reading through Chronicles in the Bible is eye-opening. In the sections where it is described about the complexity of Temple architecture and the complexity of worship, it’s astounding. But then again, it is all God’s due! He is worthy of the most beautiful Temple and the most precise worship. He wants and should receive exactly the kind of worship He desires.
John MacArthur: Luke gave another significant detail about Anna, who is usually mentioned at Christmas time:
“and then as a widow to the age of eighty-four. She did not leave the temple grounds, serving night and day with fasts and prayers“. (Luke 2:37).
“That’s an emphatic statement, which suggests that Luke meant it in a literal sense. Evidently, Anna lived right there on the temple grounds. There were some apartments in the outer courts (Nehemiah 13:7–9). These were modest chambers, probably used as temporary dwelling places for priests who lived on the temple grounds while doing their two weeks’ annual service.”
“Perhaps because of her long faithfulness, her obvious spiritual gifts, her steadfast devotion to the Lord, and her constant commitment to her ministry of prayer and fasting, temple officials had given her a small chamber. She was now too old to be employed as a caretaker, but perhaps she had once served in that capacity, and her living quarters had been given to her for life. In any case, it was ultimately the Lord who had graciously provided her a place in His house and sovereignly orchestrated whatever arrangement she might have had with the temple custodians. Source -sermon, Anna, the Aged Evangelist“. –end MacArthur quote
Interesting to think of sleeping cells in the Temple, but it makes sense.
In Alfred Edersheim’s 1898 book, The Temple—Its Ministry and Services, he explains about the apartments inside the Temple. Really, just sleeping chambers. Some were above the Court of the Gentiles, while bigger apartments were for the High Priest to spent the week before the Day of Atonement in study and meditation. Other apartments were for the Levite musicians. (1 Chronicles 9:33)
When we think of the Temple at the time of Jesus in 30AD, we know it was grand and large. Perhaps we think of a European cathedral, or a large church sanctuary in the US, where all is still and quiet. A hushed reverence hangs over the pews, dust motes swirling in the occasional sunbeam angling in through stained class, with people quietly praying or worshiping. Marble halls echo in stillness of shuffled footsteps as priests move about.
Below is a listing of all the Temple Ministries and Duties. Wow, that’s a lot. Source MacArthur Study Bible, Day June 30. Think of all the personnel it took to maintain it, thrive it, and protect it.
The Jerusalem Temple was not like that at all. It was hugely busy, loud, and active. Edersheim again:
In this court tradition places eating and sleeping apartments for the Levites, and a synagogue. But, despite pharisaic punctiliousness, the noise, especially on the eve of the Passover, must have been most disturbing. For there the oxen, sheep, and doves selected as fit for sacrifices were sold as in a market; and here were those tables of the money-changers which the Lord overthrew when He drove from His Father’s house them that bought and sold (Matt 21:12; John 2:14).
If Anna literally did not depart from the Temple, but that she actually lived on premises, she was probably given a sleeping chamber and was taken care of, since she was a widow, especially since her devotion to the LORD was known and noted.
I think of Paul’s admonition for single women, to be selflessly devoted to loving God with all our strength, heart, mind, and soul. The verse in 1 Corinthians about unmarried people being single-mindedly devoted to the Lord was not written yet at Anna’s lifetime, but she certainly fulfilled the spirit of that verse.
Imagine Anna’s life. Living in such a busy and loud place, apostasy all around, yet undeterred, Anna was constantly in devotion to God, vigilantly awaiting Israel’s Consolation. What a blessing the Lord gave her, to see the babe who would be King.
Amid the hustle of Temple business, the men and women coming and going, Priests at their tasks, lowing of the cattle, rattle of the money changers, Anna herself praying, in the crowd she spotted a couple with a baby. It must have been the Spirit that alerted her that this, of all the people entering the majestic Temple, this was the Babe she had been waiting for. What did she do?
And coming up at that very hour she began to give thanks to God and to speak of him to all who were waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem. (Luke 2:38).
We Christians on this side of the cross are no longer waiting for the redemption of our souls. We have been blessed to receive it by the Holy Spirit if we have repented of our sins. We now wait for the return of our Messiah. We long to see Him in person. Perhaps today will be the day He returns. If not, then another day. Meanwhile we can take up Anna’s example and give thanks to God, and speak of Him to all.
Rules Without Grace: Bill Gothard’s legacy lives on in Lori Alexander The Transformed Wife
By Elizabeth Prata
SYNOPSIS: IBLP founder Bill Gothard recently had a heart attack and is in a coma, which brought up his organization’s (false) teachings; discussed in the news and on social media. After Lori Alexander The Transformed Wife publicly defended Bill Gothard, this essay examines Gothard’s enduring influence, exposing the legalism, distorted authority structures, and works-based theology underlying his teachings and in his followers’.
How many names of Satan can Milton come up with? John Milton’s Mastery of Words
By Elizabeth Prata
This summer for my chosen classic to read, I picked Paradise Lost, first published in 1667. I had seen that a new edition was out in a gorgeous binding, with notes, AND Gustave Dore’s illustrations (even better, lightly edited to cover nudity.) I was immediately thrilled, and I bought the book. It’s the Paradise Lost Legacy Edition by Lithos Kids, in a fabulous binding and cover. It’s so beautiful. Here is what it looks like: photos from Lithos Kids-
Author John Milton’s use of language is genius. He can describe the celestial realms movingly and with just enough detail so the imagination catches its edges but vague enough because no one knows what the heavenly throne room looks like apart from the few glimpses in scripture. Milton’s descriptions of Eden contain enough detail to ground us but vague enough to evoke a pleasant and relaxing lushness… It’s a wonder how he maintains this balance.
It’s the same with his descriptions of the parallel in hell with satan mounting his throne there and evilly plotting with his fallen cohorts how to regain heaven. Milton’s speeches between the angels holy and unholy, God’s pronouncement of His Son as heir, Adam’s comfort to Eve all use words and evoke images that are either thrilling to the spirit, or incite dread (the hellish realms…). I’m just amazed.
As I go through the book, and I’m halfway now, on Book 6, Milton uses extremely inventive names for satan. Here are two I saw just from yesterday’s reading,
Seditious Angel, Proud Aspirer.
I have noticed the names as I’ve read along in Books 1-5, but I didn’t note them. However, this blogger did–
Author of All Ill
the Grisly King
Infernal Serpent
Arch Enemy
Apostate Angel
Arch Fiend
Satan
Lost Archangel
Superior Fiend
Author of All Ill
Matchless Chief
Antagonist of Heav’n
Hell’s Dread Emperor
Adversary of God and Man
Flying Fiend
Undaunted Fiend
Traitor Angel
False Fugitive
Hellish Pest
Subtle Fiend
Wary Fiend
Mighty Leading Angel
Adversary
Fiend
Devil
False Dissembler
Fraudulent Imposter Foul
Arch Felon
First Grand Thief
Grisly King
Prince of Hell
Sly Hypocrite
Lucifer
Grand Foe
Tempter
Prince of Darkness
Antagonist of Heav’n’s Almighty King
Adversary Serpent
Prince of Air.
Milton’s favorite name to call satan is Fiend. I love that word. I don’t think we use it enough. The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines it as “devil, demon, “a person of great wickedness or maliciousness”.
Prior to buying the Lithos Kids edition of Paradise Lost I also happened to own Leland Ryken’s study guide. Ryken has studied Milton for decades and is quite familiar with the genre of Epic that Paradise Lost is. The study guide is helpful. It is part of the Christian Guides to the Classics. It’s just 96 pages.
So, that is my reading update for the moment. I hope summertime affords you some time to read anything or everything from magazines to beach reads to strenuous classics, and everything in between. The point is, to read! Your Bible of course but other texts too. Enjoy!
Samuel retires as Judge of Israel: The lessons for us today
By Elizabeth Prata
SYNOPSIS: Samuel’s speech upon the occasion of his retirement is beautiful, and beyond that, also holds lessons for us New Testament believers.
Samuel had been a faithful man of God since his mother Hannah had presented him to Eli in the temple when Samuel was three years old. You might remember Hannah’s prayer. The LORD had closed her womb, and desperately Hannah wanted a child. She prayed in the temple, promising to deliver a child that the LORD gives her, back to Him for His glorious service. The LORD was pleased with this. He opened Hannah’s womb, and the child born was Samuel.
Samuel served for many years as Priest, Prophet and Judge.
The day came when Samuel was going to retire as their Judge. The People had clamored for a King instead, and God acceded to this. So Samuel gathered the People, and spoke to them in farewell.
And Samuel said to all Israel, “Behold, I have obeyed your voice in all that you have said to me and have made a king over you. And now, behold, the king walks before you, and I am old and gray; and behold, my sons are with you. I have walked before you from my youth until this day. Here I am; testify against me before the Lord and before his anointed. Whose ox have I taken? Or whose donkey have I taken? Or whom have I defrauded? Whom have I oppressed? Or from whose hand have I taken a bribe to blind my eyes with it? Testify against me and I will restore it to you.” They said, “You have not defrauded us or oppressed us or taken anything from any man’s hand.” And he said to them, “The Lord is witness against you, and his anointed is witness this day, that you have not found anything in my hand.” And they said, “He is witness.” (1 Samuel 12:1-5)
I find this profoundly beautiful.
When the LORD called little Samuel into service, you’ll remember the scene. Sadly, old Priest Eli was dim of eyesight, and as we’ll see, dim of hearing also. The visions to Israel were rare in those days. The LORD called to Samuel.
Then the Lord called Samuel, and he said, “Here I am!” and ran to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” But he said, “I did not call; lie down again.” So he went and lay down. (1 Samuel 3:4-5)
Three times the LORD called and three times Samuel answered “Here I am!” It took three times for Eli to figure out that it was God who was calling Samuel. Samuel opened his service to the LORD with those powerful three words, ‘Here I am’. As a parallel, when the LORD called Isaiah, Isaiah also responded with, “Here I am!” (Isaiah 6:8).
Samuel ended his service as their Judge with the same phrase he began service, “Here I am.” We know that when we are before the people of the Lord, we are before the Lord. (Acts 5:4, Acts 9:4).
Before Samuel spoke last words to prompt them to remember the LORD and all He had done for them, Samuel did something first. He checked his relationship with the People. He asked them if there was any blight in his behavior to cause a stumbling, to cause an offense, to have come between them and him. He would make amends. The People answered, “No”. Samuel had not defrauded, had not oppressed, had not cheated, had not bribed.
Samuel went on with his message, bringing all the Lord had done to the Israelites’ mind. Samuel closed with this-
“Only fear the Lord and serve him faithfully with all your heart. For consider what great things he has done for you. But if you still do wickedly, you shall be swept away, both you and your king.” (1 Samuel 12:24-25).
It is such a parallel to us today. Now, the Old Covenant and the New Covenant distinguishes us from the OT Israelites and the NT Christians. Further, there are not Priests, Kings, Judges, or Prophets of Israel anymore. However, the principles are the same. For example,
1. Samuel was a faithful servant of the LORD all his days. He was attuned to God’s will, he was diligent to follow His voice, and he was faithful to God’s people. Eli’s spiritual hearing had grown so dim, he failed to hear God calling to Samuel. Yet Samuel was attuned all his days. Are we attuned to the Lord? Are we available to perform service to Him? Do we diligently and actively comply when we do hear His voice (through the scriptures)?
2. Samuel lived a holy life before His people. We are called to do the same.
Living holy and blameless before the Lord means living holy and blameless lives before His people, too. I’d said a moment ago, ‘We know that when we are before the people of the Lord, we are before the Lord.’ (Acts 5:4, Acts 9:4). I’d used those two verses from Acts to show the truth of my axiom. When Ananias and Sapphira lied about the portion of money they had pledged to the church, they were not lying to Peter. They were lying to the Holy Spirit (who is IN Peter). When Saul/Paul was persecuting Christians, he was not just persecuting some people who happened to be living in the Middle East, he was persecuting the Messiah’s people. Our union with Jesus is so close it’s why Jesus said, “Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?”
3. Samuel’s call to charge him so he could make amends, before he got to the business of reminding them of what God had done, is similar to today’s New Testament charge to cleanse ourselves before we approach the Lord’s Table for communion. We are not only charged to cleanse ourselves before the Lord but to clear things with any of the brethren. If there are any outstanding sins, we must rectify them first.
Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord. Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself. (1 Corinthians 11:27-29)
It is a call to be reverent, holy, and mindful of all Who God is and what He has done. Attempting to be reverent about what Jesus has done for us through a filter of unconfessed sin or through the muck of grudges and bitterness against one in the Body, is not behaving in worthy manner. If we have a grudge against one person then we have a grudge against Jesus. Samuel cleared the decks first. We must do the same.
Old Testament or New Testament, we are called to live holy lives.
but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.” (1 Peter 1:15-16, cf Leviticus 11:44, Leviticus 19:2)
Samuel’s call to the people to charge him with any wrong he had performed so as to make amends was not only holy but humble. In that way, it was a beautiful moment.
God, grant me the humility and ability to live a holy life as Samuel did and as You call us to do.
Stealing our words
By Elizabeth Prata
SYNOPSIS: Are you confused at the dizzying pace in which commonly understood words are being re-defined? Has someone used a weaponized word against you? What IS ‘linguistic theft’ anyway? All this and more in today’s essay about the new Newspeak and Thoughtcrimes.
Continue reading “Stealing our words”Reading about Love Is Blind TV show, and then I remembered…
By Elizabeth Prata
SYNOPSIS: Struck by the similarities of living conditions described in a 1909 dystopian novella and the modern TV show Love Is Blind, I discuss the notion of the importance of physicality in relationships, as shown on the face, and if it’s true that ‘love is blind.’
the-end-time.org 