Running with Her Back to the Lord

His family ran to the mountains for safety. He had been warned by God’s angels that Sodom was to be destroyed almost immediately. His two married daughters were with him; both husbands stayed behind. His name was lot and his wife was also with him...sort of. She was physically moving in the right direction, just as the Lord directed. Yet her heart was still in Sodom.

Perhaps she longed for friendships left behind, her neighborhood, or the shops in the town’s marketplace. Perhaps she longed for her house or the creature comforts she was forced to abandon. Perhaps she thought about their family’s wealth in money, animals, grain, and other belongings that would be forfeited.

Is it possible that she felt a degree of anger? 

Having been uprooted so abruptly and being forced to leave her life behind, she may have been angry at Lot, or even God. Whatever she felt, it was more than she could bear...she turned and looked back.

We remember Lot’s wife...pillar of salt.

When a person turns toward one thing, he must turn away from another. For Lot’s wife, turning toward Sodom meant turning away from her family, from safety, but more importantly, turning away from God himself.

Some Christians walk like Lot’s wife. They think they walk with the Lord. They intend to walk with the Lord. They appear to walk with the Lord. They appear to love fellow Christians. They do religious things and speak religious words. Yet, their hearts are facing a different direction. As a result they naturally walk with their backs to the Lord while facing their heart’s desire, their own personal Sodom.

Lot’s wife may illustrate people in general. A person’s head can turn this way or that, yet eventually, every individual will turn to face the object that is of greatest value in their life. It will become evident in the way that a person spends his time and money, in his conversation, in the places he goes, in his entertainment choices, and in the choices that influence the overall direction of his life. Ultimately, every individual will square his body and turn to directly face his god/God.

A Christian may reflect on his life by looking back from time to time. However, the one whose face is forever turned to Christ turns back only to reflect; only to learn, never to yearn.

To remain faithful to God we must individually make a conscious decision each day to set our gaze on Jesus. We do this by listening to the voice of our God in the scriptures. We do this by talking with Him in prayer, leaving our worries and weaknesses at His feet, and by asking for his assistance to fill the voids in our lives. We do this by associating with His people. We do this by keeping our future expectation (hope) in the forefront of our mind.

Facing our God, our simple and willful cry…

“I surrender all.”

Mark Stinnett
November 12, 2023

(Read the biblical account of Lot and his family and the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah in Genesis 19.)

Which Way Should They Go?

Our Hebrew teacher entered the classroom and said something that stung our minds. We had learned enough Hebrew to work through a passage, though not read it fluently. He seemed confident that we could open our Hebrew text and verify what he said.

Our teacher turned to one of the most well-known verses on discipline in the Bible, the often quoted Proverbs 22:6. He went on to tell us that the translators of the King James Version (KJV) had not provided a literal translation, but a logical conclusion. In the KJV the verse reads:

Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.

I had heard this verse quoted many times in my youth and applied in a rather harsh and judgmental way. It was always interpreted as a virtual guarantee for training children: Train your children right, according to God’s way, and they will always remain faithful.

Whenever this verse came up in a Bible class you could be sure to hear an objection. Someone would give a personal testimony about a family that he/she knew who had brought up their children in the Lord’s way; and yet, one or more of the children were unfaithful to God.

At that point the class went one of two directions. The teacher would either toy with the verse until he had changed its meaning, or he would staunchly inform the person with the testimonial that they were probably not correct in their assessment of the family.

In the end, the verse became a judgmental indictment against all parents who had a child that had turned away from the Lord. Clearly the child had not been trained up in the way he should go. As a result, many parents have felt guilt over a child who is not faithful to God.

My Hebrew teacher suggested something different. So, my classmates and I dove into the text to see what nugget of wisdom lay there.

The word translated 'train' is not the usual Hebrew term for training. In fact, at its root, it meant to 'start out' or 'dedicate.' It was used in the dedication of a house and also the Lord’s temple built by Solomon.

The next phrase of interest is “in the way he should go.” Many modern translations show the literal translation in a footnote: “according to his way,” with the pronoun his referring back to the child. One modern translation, the Christian Standard Bible, reflects the literal translation: 

Start out a youth on his way; even when he grows old he will not depart from it.

Two other proverbs support this translation:

The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, But a wise man is he who listens to counsel. 

—Proverbs 12:15

The rod and reproof give wisdom, But a child who gets his own way brings shame to his mother. 

—Proverbs 29:15

Solomon was not issuing a guarantee that a good upbringing will assure faithfulness to God. Rather, he was sounding a strong warning. A child who 'starts out in life going his own way' will continue in that way for life. For that reason parents must be alert to this call for discipline. We must not instill in our children to chase their dreams or follow their hearts. Rather we must instruct, correct, rebuke and discipline according to the Lord’s way.

As long as our children are in our care we must turn them from their own way. Discipline will be our friend and give hope to our children.

Mark Stinnett

February 19, 2023

Why Some Believers Hate God

Who in their right mind would be filled with rage against God?

The atheist would not rage against God; he doesn’t believe in God. So, this question must be directed to those who claim some degree of faith in or acceptance of God. So, who in their right mind would be filled with rage against God?

Isn’t it God who created the world?
Isn’t it God who created mankind?
Isn’t it God who breathed life into living things?
Isn’t it God who makes the sun shine and the rain fall on all men?

Who would rage against God . . . ?

   The foolishness of man subverts his way,
   And his heart rages against the LORD.
   --Proverbs 19:3

Here are a few important words in this proverb:

Foolishness - This describes the way of the fool first seen in Proverbs 1:7 who lacks understanding and discernment. He does not consider the consequences of his choices.

Subvert - means to twist or pervert.

His way - refers to one’s “way of life”; how a person thinks and conducts himself in general.

Rage - This anger word refers to an ongoing anger that affects one’s disposition (not just a flash of anger); vexation.

The proverb describes believers of our day who are filled with anger when they hear that God does not approve of their way of life. They are the sexually immoral who insist that the Bible does not condemn their lifestyle. They are the individuals who stand against anyone who would have the audacity to speak against their behavior. “Do not judge me,” they cry. They are the ones who cannot allow for biblical truth to contradict their established conclusions about life.

They are people who want to claim a belief in God, yet they discredit the simple teachings of the Bible. There seems to be something about God that appeals to them (perhaps, mercy and grace), however they have no intention of changing their thinking and behavior from their current way of life.

Because they lack understanding and discernment they have twisted the path of life on which they walk. They lack true knowledge of God. So, when they are confronted with the glaring reality of God’s unchangeable holiness, they refuse to accept the reality of their sin. Then, as a result, they lash out in rage against God.

It would seem that Solomon wrote this proverb for our day. It gives us insight into the mind of many in our society today who claim to be religious, even claim to believe in Christ, yet refuse God's divine revelation of scripture.

Be on guard. Do not let the foolishness of our age twist your way. Do not be influenced by those who rage against God!

Be wise.