Currently, SASA, the Christian arts group I belong to, is embarking on this reading and writing project we call the Psalmic Expressions. In this project, we read the Psalms each weekday and create art (write poems and songs, design artworks, etc.). based on inspiration from the Psalms. Currently, we are in the late 20s of the Psalms. We have 120+ more Psalms to read, so I invite you to join this project. The songs and poems that are coming out of it are phenomenal and I am not exaggerating when I say God is moving tremendously in our lives. I was also inspired to work on this Bible Data Story because of the Psalmic Expressions project. 

This write-up takes a cursory glance at the Psalms. It is not a deep analysis of their central themes and messages but a look at the structure, a summary of the authorship, and other minor details. Perhaps, later, we can do a deep dive into it but for now, let’s just flick through the Psalms. 

Authorship:

One of the main points I want to make with this post is that David is not the sole writer of the book of Psalms. The Psalms are a collection of Jewish poetry and songs that were recited and sung by the Jews. David wrote 73 out of the 150 Psalms accounting for about 49% of the book. For some interesting reason, the Psalms are almost always synonymous with David perhaps because of the number of Psalms attributed to him. Another interesting fact is that 50 Psalms are not directly attributed to anyone. 

The other writers are Asaph, the Sons of Korah, Moses, Solomon, Ethan the Ezrahite and Heman the Ezrahite. Asaph was a prominent Psalmist and musician during the reign of King David. He played the cymbal and was appointed by David to lead worship before the Ark of the Covenant in 1st Chronicles 16:4. Throughout the Old Testament, his descendants were known to be worshippers and musicians. It is said of the sons of Asaph that they prophesied with lyres, harps, and cymbals in 1st Chronicles 25:1. One of the Sons of Korah (Heman, not Heman the Ezrahite) was also mentioned in 1st Chronicles 6 as one of the men David put in charge of the service of songs in the house of the LORD. 

According to 1 King 4:31, Ethan and Heman the Ezrahites were wise men during Solomon’s reign as king of Israel. The passage under discussion now (1 Kings 4:29-34) illustrated the magnificence of Solomon’s wisdom; it was stated that Solomon was found to be wiser than a list of supposed wise men including Ethan and Heman. The next verse is also quite related to the topic under discussion. In verse 32, we are told that Solomon spoke 3000 proverbs and his songs were 1005. Yet only 2 of the 150 Psalms are attributed to Solomon. I assumed that based on this information, perhaps the other writers too had 100s of poems and songs that didn’t make it into the book of Psalms. Especially, David, who was largely known as a harpist and Psalmist. Moses too wrote other songs, for example, the song of Moses recorded in Deuteronomy 32 and another one in Revelation 15 (also attributed to him). Yet only one Psalm in the book of Psalms is attributed to him (Psalm 90).

NB: Psalm 88 is attributed to different authors: the sons of Korah and Heman the Ezrahite. But in this data story, I chose to attribute it to Heman alone just to avoid confusion and double counting. 

Structure:

The Psalms are broken into 5 major books or collections of Psalms. For example, in the ESV Bible, it is boldly indicated on top which book you are about to read. Find the breakdown below:

And there are other categorizations of the Psalms as well. Theologians break down the book according to themes such as laments, praise, etc. First, I would like to talk about the Hallel Psalms. These Psalms are regarded as a Jewish prayer: a verbatim recital of Psalms 113-118 on special Jewish festivals and occasions as an act of praise and thanksgiving. All six Psalms of the Hallel are recited as a unit on the following joyous Jewish occasions: Passover, Shavuot, Sukkot, Hanukkah, and Rosh Chodesh.

Also, I would like to highlight a specific collection of the Psalms referred to as the songs of ascent and how I came to know them. I often speak about how worship music has helped me go through the toughest times of my life.  Just as I run to read my favorite Psalms when I am in distress, I also binge on worship songs when I am facing a hard time. One such song, for which I wrote an explication, is Highlands by Hillsong. I wrote an entire article based on that song elaborating on the lines and what they meant generally and then to me. One line of that song got me thinking and led me to do a little research. The songwriter, Benjamin Hasting, said “And if ever I walk through the valley of death / I’ll sing through the shadows my song of ascent”. This got me wondering what the songs of ascent were. The songs of ascent are a collection of 15 Psalms from Psalm 120 to 134. “The songs were sung possibly by Hebrew pilgrims on their way to Jerusalem or while ascending Mount Zion or by the Levite singers while ascending the 15 steps of the temple in Jerusalem to minister”. These are Psalms recited or sung while the Jews were ascending either a hill or steps. It is even more intriguing when you look at how some of them start:

• Psalm 121:1 – I will lift up my eyes to the HILLS. From where does my help come?
• Psalm 122:1-2 – I was glad when they said to me, let us go to the house of the LORD! Our feet have been standing within your gates, O Jerusalem!
• Psalm 125:1-2 – Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion, which cannot be moved, but abides forever. As the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the Lord surrounds his people, from this time forth and forevermore.

The imagery of the ascent of Hebrew pilgrims can be sensed strongly in these verses. One can also sense a pilgrimage, especially in the passage in Psalm 122 quoted above. The Psalms were meticulously written, carefully collected, and curated into one big book for our edification, consolation, and exhortation. I urge you to read them regularly and follow the instructions at the end of some Psalms: Selah. Which is an instruction for readers or listeners to pause and soberly reflect on them. Ponder over the Psalms, it will do you a lot of good. 

The visualization:

This data visualization is known as a bubble chart. In this instance, there are 150 bubbles representing each Psalm in the Bible hence the numbers you see on the bubbles are the chapter numbers. Some of the bubbles are so small the chapter numbers did not fit on them so they are blank. Each color represents a different author and the bigger the bubble the more verses there are in that Psalm. For example, the biggest bubble represents Psalm 119 because that is the longest Psalm with 176 verses. The shortest Psalm is Psalm 117, it is also represented by the smallest bubble because it has only 2 verses. The bar chart at the bottom right corner of the bubble chart represents each author and how many Psalms they wrote. 

Below is an interactive version of the visualization more easily accessed and interacted with if you are reading this article on your laptop/pc. You can hover over the bubbles and additional information regarding each Psalm will pop up. Since the legend in the top right corner is interactive, once you click on the writer’s name it will highlight all the Psalms they wrote in the bubble chart.

For an optimized experience of the visualization above, follow this link to interact with it on my online Tableau Public account on your laptop/PC.

It is already established from the previous article who the father of lies is. In this one, we will explore, from the biblical perspective, how Satan employs all manner of devices to spread lies. 

At the center of the Christian faith is the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Paul says in 1st Corinthians 15:16, “And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins.” Furthermore, belief in the resurrection differentiates Christianity from other faiths and world views. The historicity of Jesus Christ is not often disputed. In Islam, he is seen as a Prophet and Messenger of God and according to renowned secular (read agnostic-atheist) New Testament historian Bart Ehrman, Jesus did exist. Often, the bone of contention between Christianity and other worldviews or faiths is the resurrection of Jesus from the grave. According to scripture, as early as the very day Jesus was resurrected, the father of lies attempted to employ his greatest weapon to cover up the resurrection. This scheme of Satan, aimed at the very heart of Christianity, would have ended the spread of the gospel in the ancient world. According to the account in Matthew 28:11-15, the resurrection was indeed reported to the Chief Priests of the Jews by the soldiers guarding the tomb. But what was their reaction to this news?:

And when they had assembled with the elders and taken counsel, they gave a sufficient sum of money to the soldiers and said, “Tell people, ‘His disciples came by night and stole him away while we were asleep.’ And if this comes to the governor’s ears, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble.

The devout religious leaders and elders of the land took counsel to bury the truth of Jesus’ resurrection by silencing eyewitnesses with money and binding themselves with the commitment to defend them before the governor. All of this constitutes the hatching of the plan to spread a lie instead of the truth having its free course. But was it successful? To an extent, yes, it was! According to Matthew in verse 15 of the chapter under consideration, the soldiers did take the money “and this story has been spread among the Jews to this day”.  The phrase “… to this day” implies that the false story was still circulating when Matthew was penning his gospel.  Historians differ in their estimations of the dates the gospels were written. However, it is widely believed that Matthew was written around AD 80. Some scholars estimate a later date. Now, whatever the case may be, it points to the fact that the lie that Jesus’ body was stolen by his disciples was spread for 80+ years. Even though there were eyewitnesses of the resurrected Christ, the lie still traveled for 80+ years. Even to date, some people still believe this lie; it is called the stolen body hypothesis.

One thing you should always remember about lies is that they spread! Indeed they spread swiftly like wild fire. Lies spread by the agency of people; I call them agents of falsehood. Of course, the father of lies is at the helm of affairs. Remember from the previous article that Jesus referred to the Jews as children of the devil because of their opposition to the truth. In this case, the Jews served as Satan’s agents of untruth and the spread of lies. Agents of falsehood often disseminate a lie or oppose the truth so that lies spread. We must endeavour to know them, expose them, and do everything possible not to imitate them. 

Below I have characterized the agents of falsehood according to their intentions and flaws. 

• Evil-intentioned people – these are individuals who either spread lies by themselves or facilitate the spread of lies to fulfill the will of the father of lies. Sometimes, their greatest contribution to the spread of lies is to oppose the truth. People who fall into this category spread falsehood to promote the agenda of Satan and this is what makes them evil. In the context of this series, a typical example would be the Jews and religious leaders of Jesus’ day. In John 8, Jesus describes them as children of the devil because of their murderous intent towards him and the fact that they don’t stand in the truth. Again, from the resurrection story discussed earlier, the Chief Priests and the elders of the Jews fall under this category as well, especially because of their strong opposition to the truth of the resurrection. They bribed the guards at the tomb and even fed them with a contrary story to spread. From my earlier estimation, this story was passed on for nearly a century. The impact of this lie, probably, is that some people heard it, accepted it, and denied the resurrection based on it. That is evil!
• Ignorant and lazy people – these are people who hold to the poor work ethic of not fact-checking the information they receive. They tend to spread lies without doing the necessary due diligence. They spread lies with no evil intent only that they lack the discipline of fact-checking the information they receive before spreading it. Other times, such people are way too confident about the assumptions and conclusions they draw about others. They tend to observe a person and draw heavy conclusions based on very little evidence. This kind of agents of falsehood can be seen in the story of Demetrius (Acts 19) and how he influenced people in the city of Ephesus to oppose the truth of the gospel. What fascinates me about this story is the fact that Demetrius’ influence caused a riot in Ephesus and the bible says in Acts 19:32 that most of the people involved in the riot, chanting “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians”, did not even know why they were there. Simply put, they joined in the chorus to oppose the truth of the gospel and spread the lie of the worship of Artemis but they didn’t bother to find out why the riot was happening and to what end. At some point, the bible says the riots continued for 2 hours (Acts 19:34). These are lazy and ignorant people who will not do due diligence before contributing to opposing the truth or spreading a lie. 
• Greedy People – these are people who stand to gain a lot when lies spread. In most cases, they either start the fire of deception themselves or support its spread. A typical example of this is Demetrius. Paul’s ministry was influencing people in the city of Ephesus to desist from idolatry. This was affecting Demetrius’ business as a silversmith who made silver shrines of the goddess Artemis. He opposed the truth of God’s word for selfish gains. He started the riots by joining forces with the craftsmen of Ephesus to oppose the truth of God’s word because his business was being affected by the spread of the gospel in Ephesus.  
• Fearful people – these are individuals who happen to either know the truth or doubt the lie however, they spread the lie anyway because they are afraid of the repercussions of doing otherwise. Sometimes they do not spread lies intentionally, but fear grips them causing them to disassociate themselves from the truth. This facilitates the spread of lies. A biblical example of this category is the story of Peter and the number of times he denied knowing Jesus. Interestingly, Jesus had already told Peter this would happen. However, Peter still failed to uphold the truth or defend his association with the truth even before a little girl, the servant of the High Priest, according to Mark 14:66. In a situation where it felt like there was a mob running on the energy of the lie that Jesus was blasphemous and deserved to die, anybody who was found associated with him or defending him would have faced a similar punishment. Hence, Peter, and we can include the rest of the Apostles except John, did not associate himself publicly with the truth because of the fear of losing his life. 

I have found that, on a personal level, you will encounter people who fall into any of the groups listed above or a combination of two or more of them. These individuals might be your friends or close family members and relations who will facilitate the spread of lies about you either by their actions or inactions. Again, at the helm of affairs is the father of lies but he needs human agents to facilitate his schemes. And at any given time he can use anybody who avails himself to him. Anytime I hear complete falsehoods being propagated about someone to tarnish their image or for whatever purpose, I almost always attribute it to the father of lies. Yes, the individuals involved must be held responsible for spreading untruths, half-truths and fake news, but behind the scenes is the great liar. In such cases, I have found that prayer is a more potent attempt at saving your reputation than actually trying to employ PR tactics. Sometimes, the extent to which the lies are spread is beyond your reach hence there is very little you can do. You can explain yourself over and over again but it will not suffice. I suggest you spend time praying about it and trusting God to allow the truth to come out so you can be vindicated. It is not easy to seek to nullify the impact of a viral lie about you with the truth. But God is able to do all things.

Looking back at the analogy I made about lies and truth in the opening paragraph, I will say that although lies spread faster, the truth is more majestic, hence its seemingly slow pace in catching up with the lie. But when it eventually does, it disintegrates the lie into nothingness. God has a way of exposing the folly of lies and liars by introducing or confirming the majesty of the truth. There is no hope for the lie when the truth catches up. Liars and agents of falsehood often suffer bigger dents to their credibility and reputation than the subjects of their lies. If you find yourself battling the spread of lies about you, no matter the virality or coverage the lie seems to have received, take it to the LORD in prayer. He will vindicate you and redeem your image because you are his child.

There is a story in John 8 that details an extended interaction Jesus had with the Jews. His audience was a mixed crowd of Pharisees, Scribes, and the Jews who believed in him. Typical of Jesus’ conversations with this group of people, it was quite confrontational and argumentative as they pressed him regarding a few statements he had made earlier in his submission. Specifically, Jesus had referred to himself as “the light of the world…” and this rubbed them off in the wrong way. During this confrontational interaction, Jesus did an extensive characterization of his audience and their “master”, Satan. He referred to the Jews as children of Satan and then to Satan as “… the father of lies”. 

If we are going to learn anything about the devil, we must prioritize what Jesus says about him. This is the crux of this series: to shed light on Satan’s operations and that of the people he influences. 

The text in John 8:44 is the anchor verse for this entire article so I will take time to do a breakdown of how Jesus described Satan, his character, his mission, and his relationship with the Jews:

1. Satan is the father of the Jews – Jesus said this because he could tell that the people had purposed in their hearts to kill him. Their murderous intent directly linked them to the devil because Jesus described him as “… a murderer from the beginning”. It was clear Satan had a strong influence over the people hence their willingness to do his bidding. This is similar to the kind of influence a father has over his children. The Jews opposed the truth claims Jesus made about himself, therefore they were behaving like real offsprings of the devil because there is no truth in him either. In summary, the father-child relationship between the Jews and Satan can be established on 2 main premises: 1. The murderous intent of the Jews towards Jesus and 2. their opposition to the truth. 
2. He was a murderer from the beginning – this refers to the fact that Satan tempted Adam and Eve to sin which introduced death, separation from God, and corruption into the world. It could also refer to the actual first murder case ever recorded and the fact that Satan was instrumental in it (the murder of Abel by Cain).
3. Satan does not stand in the truth –  He has no relationship with the truth, no history with the truth, and doesn’t intend to tell the truth anytime soon because there is no iota of truth in him.
4. When he lies he speaks out of his own character – this description is quite interesting because it points to the fact that lies and deception are the essence of Satan’s character. Hence, it would be hypocritical on his part to tell the truth or a denial of his nature to tell the truth. Honestly, I don’t think anybody should have anything to do with somebody whose very nature and character is lies and deception. 
5. He is a liar and the father of lies – this implies he is the inventor, originator, and progenitor of deception. No lie was ever told or recorded before Satan deceived the angels of God to rebel in heaven. 

This is who the devil we are fighting is. He is not described as powerful but a liar and murderer; we must treat him as such.

The nature of Satan’s lies: 

To the Christian, a lie is not just misinformation or disinformation, it is any information that is contrary to the word of God. Contrariness doesn’t mean the information should always be the direct opposite of what God said. Sometimes, the lies of Satan are even deadlier when they are only slightly different from what God said. He twists the truth by introducing a little falsehood which, if adhered to, will eventually lead the believer on a path of destruction.

Here are some ways the devil presents his lies: 

• False information – as seen in the temptation of Eve in Genesis 3. She informed the devil that God instructed them never to eat the fruit of the tree amid the garden lest they die. Satan’s response to this was in direct opposition to what God said. He said, “You will not surely die” and that’s an outright lie. That is false information from Satan because it was in direct contradiction to what God had said.
• Exaggerations – again, as seen in the temptation of Eve in Genesis 3:5 the devil told Eve that the day they eat of the fruit, their eyes will be open and they shall become like God, knowing good and evil. This is an exaggeration of the actual effect of their actions. Satan promised them way more than their sin could deliver.  The eyes of Adam and Eve did open, but it opened to their nakedness, shame, and guilt; they didn’t become like God afterward either. The opposite happened and they lost their place with God in the garden instead. 
• Truth wrongly applied – this refers to the times when Satan wrongly applies the word of God as a way of deceiving people. A typical example is seen in the temptation of Jesus when the devil asked Jesus to jump off the pinnacle of the temple if he truly was the son of God. He said this on the premise that the word of God says in Psalm 91 that “he will give his angels charge over you…”. The quotation is true but it is wrongly applied in the temptation of Jesus when Satan implies that Jesus should recklessly throw himself off a temple to prove he is the Son of God. God’s promises are true and call for responsible conduct in the believer, not a reckless abandonment of sound behavior to actualize them. 

The devil’s approach has not changed since the first temptation recorded in the book of Genesis. He will always seek to distort the word of God either drastically or slightly. This was the approach he took in the temptation of Eve in the Garden. He asked a question that was aimed at engendering doubts in the woman. It is also the first ever question recorded in scripture. Satan asked, “Did God actually say…?”. Today, he is still asking this question to get believers to doubt the word of God.  In some circles, strong philosophical positions and scientific theories have been developed to debunk the truth of God’s word. There can only be one person behind all of this – that old serpent, the devil. When Satan attacks our theology or the true interpretation of God’s word, it is an attack on the nature of God and how we view him. It has implications for our Christian walk and our trust in his word. The effects are more far-reaching than we can ever imagine. 

Sometimes, this attack affects us by casting doubts in our hearts regarding who the word of God says we are. A typical example is the condemnation most Christians feel after they sin. Indeed, the bible doesn’t mince words in painting a grim picture of sin and its impact. However, a more impactful picture is painted of how Jesus redeemed all who have faith in him by taking their place and receiving in his body the punishment for their sins. Therefore, none of them should stand condemned in any way because of their sins. This is why the bible employs us to come boldly before God. This truth of God’s word is often attacked by Satan because he presents to us a lie. He often elevates our sins way above the mercy of God to condemn us. He is the accuser of the brethren and will accuse us all day. 

Another example of the devil’s deceptive attack on the believer is the kind of lie that makes you feel isolated. Satan has a way of exaggerating your predicament while highlighting everyone else’s seemingly perfect life. This creates a sense of isolation and abandonment. It makes you feel like you are the only one in the whole wide world going through a hard time when in actual fact everyone else is battling something. This approach is evil because it stirs up discouragement, anxiety, and even depression in the believer. It is also in direct contradiction with God’s word. Peter said:

Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world. 1 Peter 5:8-9

You are not alone. Your case may be unique but it is not the first of its kind or you are not the only one going through something like this. Everybody else is dealing with one thing or the other. I say this to encourage somebody because a trial would feel twice as devastating if coupled with the idea that you are the only one going through anything close to it. Peter said the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by other believers all over the world.  This is not a case of “misery loves company” but the truth of God’s word. He didn’t say the exact same suffering, but the “same kinds” which implies that the issues may not be identical in detail but they are similar in magnitude. Hence, we need to understand we are not the only ones burdened with trials and tribulations because nobody around us seems to be going through “our kind” of problems.

How then can we counter the devil’s lies?

• Immerse yourself in the truth of God’s word: know what God says about himself and what he says about you.
• Resist him: use the word of God to resist the devil just as the passage from 1 Peter posted above suggests. 

We must pay Satan no heed or even entertain him in any way. I repeat, if we are going to learn anything about Satan, we need to prioritize what Jesus says about him. Jesus said he is the father of lies and a murderer from the beginning, you don’t need to be convinced to stay away from such an entity. Resist him when he comes at you mentally, psychologically, spiritually, and physically. He shall flee!

As you may already know, the Bible begins with the description of a formless, empty, and dark earth. Then, we are systematically taken through the creation of the earth and everything that dwells in it. We will not go into details regarding creation but rather God’s sustainability plan for the planet. This is seen in two concepts that we are introduced to in the opening passages of the Bible. 

These are:

• The concept of Goodness: “Good” literally means anything that is desired or approved. It also means anything that possesses required qualities or meets a particular moral standard. The concept of goodness therefore encapsulates all these definitions and illustrations of “good”. This concept is first seen in Genesis when God was so pleased with his own creation that he called it good! This is the first time anything is described as good according to scripture and it was based on God’s assessment. This simply makes him the originator and definer of goodness. Hence, it is important that we consistently check back with him to ensure our definition of goodness aligns with his. This proves the point that God remains the objective point of reference for morality as well. He is the supreme assessor and the originator of the concept of goodness. Nothing was said to be good until he said so; nothing will ever be good outside of his assessment and stamp or approval.

• The concept of Stewardship: Stewardship refers to the careful and responsible management of something. Hence, the concept of stewardship in this context refers to the charge God gave man to keep the earth and to be good stewards of his creation. The Bible states categorically that every good and perfect gift comes from the Lord (James 1:17). God handed the earth to man (as a good and perfect gift) to keep, to have dominion over it and subdue it. This presupposes two things:
  • The earth doesn’t belong to man; the earth is the LORD’s
  • God has given the earth to man to keep it. 

God didn’t command man to let the earth be as it is. He said in Genesis 1:28 that man should subdue the earth. To subdue anything implies to bring it under control. It also implies, in this context, that the earth or nature has the propensity to go rogue, hence there is the need for special attention and the development of specific capacities that can help humans work to keep the earth in its pure state. This is the idea that has necessitated such professions and fields of study as environmental science, environmental conservation, natural resource management, etc. To subdue the earth doesn’t imply that man has the right to treat nature in whatever way pleases him. Especially, since God declared creation “good” then it means that our sole duty as stewards of the good gift that creation is to us is to preserve and conserve it so that the Master will still find it to be good. It is a lot of work to keep nature in its purest state. No wonder some professionals have dedicated their lives to keeping the earth. Every human being, so long as they live on this earth, must contribute to the sustainability and preservation of nature. Why? Because “the LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it” (Genesis 2:15). This is God’s charge to the human race concerning the earth: to work it and keep it. 

Therefore any human activity that degrades nature and our environment is diabolic and against the will of God. This is why I spent considerable time and space explaining the two concepts above, they go hand in hand and if adhered to, the purity of nature will be preserved and conserved, first to the glory of God then for the benefit of mankind and nature itself. The concept of stewardship refers to the command to subdue the earth. Adhering to this alone without understanding that God has declared creation good and requires it to remain good could spell doom for us all. Without an understanding of the concept of goodness, it seems man is given the sole responsibility of keeping the earth without an objective point of reference as to how to keep it and what the benchmark for a well-kept earth is. But once we combine the two concepts (goodness and stewardship), we have both the charge to keep the earth and the standard we have to maintain in doing so. In this case, the standard is “goodness according to the LORD” and the charge is to work and keep the earth.

God assessed and declared creation “good” 6 times in the creation story alone, when he appears here on earth today will he still find it “good”?

From the Christian perspective, God is deeply concerned about what happens on and to the earth. Some people believe that God set things in motion and left the earth to its fate; they are called Deists. Deism is a philosophical belief in the existence of a supreme being, specifically of a creator who does not intervene in the universe. Jehovah, the God of the Bible, cannot be equated to the Deist god because throughout scripture he shows us that he cares about how humans live and what they do on and to the earth. Here is proof; a few environmental laws the LORD gave in the Old Testament: 

1. Sabbath for the Land (Leviticus 25:1-7): Every seventh year, the land was to be given rest from cultivation. This practice allowed the soil to recover and prevented over-exploitation.
2. Preservation of Fruit Trees (Deuteronomy 20:19-20): When besieging a city, the Israelites were forbidden from destroying fruit trees. This law promoted the preservation of valuable resources.
3. Waste Management (Deuteronomy 23:12-14): Specific instructions were given about designating areas outside the camp of Israel for human waste and covering it, maintaining cleanliness, and preventing disease. In verse 14, we are told that the reason for this particular instruction is that “the LORD your God walks in the midst of your camp…”. This presupposes that the Israelites previously disposed of human waste within their camp and it wasn’t pleasing to the LORD. 

God used to walk in the midst of the camp of Israel, I believe he is still doing that today: walking in the midst of his people. My concern is, if he walks throughout the country of Ghana, will he be pleased with how we have kept the land, water bodies, plant and animal life, etc? The idea of establishing a natural ecosystem where different living things rely on each other for survival is God’s original plan. From the creation story, we are told there was a river that flowed through the garden of Eden to water it (Genesis 2:10). This depicts the dependency of plant life on water bodies. The flourishing of plants is highly dependent on proximity to sources of water. This reality is even used as a metaphor to illustrate the state of a godly man who delights himself in the LORD in Psalm 1:3. The Bible describes such a man as “a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither”. 

It is also interesting to note that there was a river in Eden called Pishon which flowed around the land of Havilah, where there was a lot of gold. The gold in Havilah is described as good. It is as if the creation story in Genesis is trying to emphasize the fact that a land that has a lot of gold in it can (or should) coexist with rivers in their purest state. The point is that rivers don’t have to be polluted because there is gold in the land. Unfortunately, we cannot say this about Ghana. Illegal small-scale mining, popularly known as Galamsey, has destroyed the vegetation of most mining communities in the country and polluted the rivers in those same communities. 

One thing about water is that it flows; it flows with the pollutants and the impurities in it. Hence, the pollution is fast spreading into other water bodies all over the country. I saw this for the first time while on a flight to Cote d’Ivoire in 2019. I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw the extent of degradation and the fact that it was visible even on a flight got me concerned more. Guess what, on my flight to Ghana from Senegal a few days ago, I took the pictures below. I heard the pilot mumble a few words but I wasn’t paying attention till I heard the phrase “… we have entered the Ghana air space…”. Just to be sure, I looked out of the window and there it was; proof that we had entered the Ghana air space.

Ironically, I was returning from a Climate Change workshop. According to the Ghana National Climate Change Policy 2013, illegal mining and even other forms of mining are key challenges this country faces in the “Management and Resilience of Terrestrial, Aquatic and Marine Ecosystems”. This is to say that mining activities, whether legal or illegal, could have negative implications on nature – be it life underwater or on land. 

We are facing a major challenge with this menace. It is the commercialization of environmental degradation and since the effects on the general populace are not readily visible, the advocacy against it will always appear irrelevant to perpetrators. There is a lot of advocacy going on online and through protests in Accra, some other parts of the country, and even in the UK. One thing is for sure, people are concerned and worried sick of this menace. We rather find a certain level of reluctance or unwillingness on the part of the authorities in charge to nip this issue in the bud. I will not make assumptions here, but if it is the case that we found out that there is illegal mining being done 200 meters away from a Police Station in Anyinam and the police are yet to make an arrest, what kind of conclusions do you expect us to draw from this?

All of this is embarrassing and those in charge should bow their heads in shame. In a proper jurisdiction where the laws work and policies are implemented, all involved parties would be facing some jail time or some other punishment due to their actions and inactions. 

If you walk away from this post remembering nothing at all, I need you to remember that the earth is the LORD’s and he assessed it and found it to be good. Have we done a good job at working and keeping the earth? Will God be pleased with the state of our environment? I have no biblical basis to assume that we have been good stewards of the good gift that the earth is to us. Again, the earth is the LORD’s and he has given it to the children of man (Psalm 115:16). We haven’t been good stewards of the LORD’s good gift. 

(Feature image taken at Twifo Praso by Mawuli Adjabeng in 2019)

Basically, we should be content with our salvation regardless of what accompanied it and what we had to go through to get saved. Just like Paul said, in our struggle against sin we have not resisted to the point of shedding blood (Hebrews 12:4). This simply means that, no matter what we go through either before getting saved or while working out our salvation, we have not suffered like Jesus did. No salvation story, no matter how gory or messy it is,  can outweigh what Jesus did on the cross. He shed his blood for all mankind, although he was holy, he was treated like the worst of us. We stand to benefit from this and not necessarily repeat this sacrifice exactly. However, we are expected to carry the essence of this sacrifice in our body on a daily basis so that the life of Jesus will be manifested in us (2 Corinthians 4:10). That is, we are expected to live a God-glorifying, self-denying and sacrificial life that is able to further God’s agenda here on earth. 

Let’s take the story of Paul’s conversion as a case study. Paul persecuted the early church and even gave approval of and oversaw the stoning of Stephen. He was renowned for his zeal against the church, the bible describes him in Acts 9:1 as “… breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord…”. However, his encounter on the road to Damascus was one that changed, not only the trajectory of that particular journey, but his entire life and mission. He was on his way to persecute more churches yet he met the Lord Jesus Christ and heard him speak to him so audibly that the people travelling with him also heard the voice. Jesus asked him, “why are you persecuting me?”. (As a little side note, Christians have to understand that persecution of the church or the children of God is actually persecution of Jesus). Anyway, Paul became blind for 3 days; he didn’t eat or drink during this period. One may ask, was it necessary that he became blind for 3 days? I cannot particularly tell. But the point I want to make with this post is that, it doesn’t matter. All that matters is the fact that he was saved although the road to his salvation was not pretty. Paul probably would have preferred a different kind of experience leading to salvation. But nobody is given the right to customize their journey to salvation or their salvation story. You cannot choose how you should be saved. 

After one is saved, there is a lot of work to be done too. People expect a rosy Christian life with zero level of effort from their end. But this is not what the bible teaches. We are expected to work out our salvation with fear and trembling and do everything possible to ensure that we stay in the will of God. Of course, all of this is powered by the grace of God and the leading of the Spirit who is the seal and assurance of our salvation. Therefore, the road to heaven (which I call the culmination of our salvation story) is also not always pretty. During the sermon on the mount in Matthew 5:29-30, Jesus made these 2 statements regarding the level of effort Christians need to put into maintaining their salvation until we enter heaven. He said:

• If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. 
• If your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. 

He ended both statements by saying that it is better to lose your members than for the whole body to be thrown into hell. What does this mean? In the literal sense, it means God would prefer it if you entered heaven with one eye and one arm instead of your entire body thrown into hell. And if this is the case, we too should prefer this level of sacrifice, pain and suffering if it means through these we can enter into heaven. Of course, the bible isn’t insisting that we literally gouge out our eyes or cut off our arms anytime we are tempted or led to sin by them. But this comes as an example of the kind of extreme measures we are expected to take just to stay away from sin and to make it into heaven. Even if it takes losing something or someone that is as important to us as an eye ball or a right arm, we are admonished to do so. The road to eternal salvation is not always pretty. 

Lastly, in Paul’s first epistle to the church in Corinth, he addressed the issue of sexual immorality in the church. He highlighted a single story and pronounced judgement on the perpetrator. In 1 Corinthians 5, Paul refers to a man who was in the church and known to be sleeping with his step mother. The apostle made two recommendations regarding how this individual should be treated. He stated categorically in verse 2 that “Let him who has done this be removed from among you”. This man was to be excommunicated or restricted from fellowshipping with the larger group of believers according to Paul. This seems like a pretty harsh judgment for the sins of a Christian brother but it aligns with what Jesus said during the sermon on the mount, captured in the previous paragraph. For the church of Corinth, this brother was probably that eye ball or right arm they were expected to remove from their midst to ensure that there was sanctity, the fear of God and a literal hatred for sin amongst them. The Apostle spends the remaining parts of this passage, instructing the church on the necessity of excommunicating some of its members who fall into a certain category of sins. He ends it all by saying in verse 13 “purge the evil person from among you”. Sin is a cancer that spreads rapidly; either multiplying itself or engendering other sins. Hence, sometimes to prevent the spread of sin, the perpetrator must be removed from the group. This is the essence of the Apostle’s instruction and it very much aligns with the theme of this post.

My main focus however, is in his second recommendation. Paul gave the instruction that this man should be delivered to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord. Regarding the man being delivered to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, I have written about it in an article you can find in this link, do check it out. My main focus, in this instance, is the fact that Paul believes the perpetrator being delivered to Satan and having his flesh destroyed will lead to his salvation in the day of the Lord. It is as if Paul is implying that, if this measure is not taken, this individual would continue in sin and will miss heaven on the day of judgement. But the discomfort and pain that will come with the destruction of his flesh, will actually ensure that he will be saved in the day of the Lord. 

Again, the road to salvation is not always pretty. Sometimes, you will be forced to inflict pain and misery on yourself just to ensure that you are saved on the last day. Other times, the pain and misery will be inflicted on you to ensure that you don’t miss heaven. And if that time comes, I pray you choose:

1. Salvation over comfort
2. Communion with the Holy God over union with family, friends and relations
3. The reproach of Christ over the pleasures/treasures of Egypt/the world (Hebrews 11:26). 

Because salvation, in and of itself, is valuable regardless of any accompanying conditions.

If there is anything I expect you to walk away with from this short series, it is the fact that no salvation story should be underrated or undermined. Salvation is God’s rescue mission. A rescue mission is still a rescue mission regardless of how long it took, how many boulders were lifted to get to the victim(s) or even what sacrifice had to take place for the victim(s) to be saved. This takes me all the way back to cross. 

I have heard world renowned atheists like Richard Dawkins belittle what happened at calvary and suggesting that the all-knowing God who created the heavens and the earth could have thought of a better way to save the world than to die on the cross. This will appear logical until we deeply interrogate what sin really is and its remedy. One would have expected the all-powerful God to just snap his finger and immediately zap away all that is wrong with the world and start a new one devoid of sin. Well God is not Thanos. This is the real world; we are not stuck in a Marvel comic either. 

First of all, sin is consequential both in the spiritual realm and the physical. I dare say it is more consequential spiritually than otherwise. The bible states categorically that the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23). This death is not a physical one, but a spiritual death which is characterised by a separation from God. In the New Testament, Jesus illustrates this same concept of spiritual death with an agricultural metaphor when he says in John 15:5 that, “I am the vine, ye are the branches … for without me you can do nothing”. When  a branch of a tree is broken off, it is dead because it is has been separated from its source of nourishment. This is what it means to be spiritually dead. 

Adam and Eve were instructed to refrain from eating from the tree of knowledge of good and evil because the consequences of doing so was death (Genesis 2:17). From the story, we can tell that they didn’t die a physical death when they disobeyed God, but a spiritual one which was characterised by separation from God and a spread of decay through generations of the human race. Hence, to deal with sin and its consequences with a physical approach and not deal with its spiritual roots is an exercise in futility. Take for example Jesus’ description of the Pharisees and their attitude towards righteousness. We see this clearly in his chastisement of the Pharisees in Matthew 23, popularly known as the “7 woes to the Scribes and Pharisees”. From verse 25 to 28, Jesus referred to the Pharisees as hypocrites because of their approach to righteousness. His chastisements are summarised as follows:

• Jesus accused them of cleaning the outside of cups and plates while there is greed and self-indulgence inside. 
• Jesus described them as whitewashed tombs that are clean on the outside but are full of dead people’s bones and all uncleanness
• Jesus accused them of outwardly appearing righteous to others but being filled with hypocrisy and lawlessness. 

This is how God sees the Pharisees who followed the very laws he had given to the Israelites. It goes to show that it takes a lot more than dressing the outside of a vessel for God to consider it clean. It takes a rebirth of your spirit, a transformation of the heart, for you to be truly saved. If you expect God to snap his finger for all of this to happen then you are expecting him to go against the laws he has made himself. 

This brings me to my second point: without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sin (Hebrews 9:22). The debt we owed God while we dwelt in sin is not cancelled unless blood is shed. Hence, all the sacrifices in the Old Testament only serve as a foreshadow to the great sacrifice on calvary. To save us, God intended to do a thorough job. He didn’t set out to do a lazyman’s work of merely washing the outside of the vessels we possess. He intended to create in us a new spirit that is united with his Spirit. This is no joke. It had to take the shedding of precious divine blood. In Hebrews 10:10, we are told that we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once and for all. Which means, the sacrifice of Jesus doesn’t need to be repeated (contrary to what happened in the Old Testament when animals were sacrificed). Jesus’ sacrifice is good enough to deal with all our sins and for all time. This is the essence of God’s approach to saving humanity. He intended for Jesus to be sacrificed to fulfil the law regarding remission of sins and also to offer us salvation that is good enough to save all of humanity and at any point in human history after the cross. 

God’s rescue mission was not all pretty and flowery, but it was effective and that’s just what we should focus on. Christians the world over sing songs about the cross and speak flamboyantly about its essence to the body of Christ, however, the cross is basically a symbol of death. In our world today, it could be synonymous to an electric chair. When we sing songs of adoration for the cross, we are not praising it for the instrument of death that it is, but for the life that came out of that one cross on calvary. At the center of our salvation story is an instrument of death. From the perspective of our Saviour, I can boldly state that salvation can be messy but completely worth it. The agony of Christ on the road to calvary and the pain he felt while hanging on the cross should tell us that our salvation caused him a lot of pain and cost him his life. 

In Hebrews 12:2, we are told that Christ endured the pain of the cross and despised the shame because of the joy that was awaiting him. This affirms the fact that God’s rescue mission of the whole of mankind didn’t come on a sliver platter. However, the Saviour was not perturbed or discouraged by the enormity of the task at hand, neither did he abandon the mission because of the excruciating pain. Rather, he endured the pain and disregarded the shame that came with being executed like a sinner all because of the joy that was set before him. Perhaps, we should also concern ourselves more with the joy of salvation rather than the manner in which salvation comes to us. I know there is exceeding joy in being saved, but today I came to remind you that the road to salvation is not always pretty and maybe we need to appreciate salvation a little more because of this.

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.  Romans 12:1

The Apostle Paul makes a solemn appeal to the brethren in the church at Rome to present their bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God. In doing so, he beseeches them by the mercies of God to signify the gravity of what he is about to communicate and the fact he expects the brethren to take his words seriously. 

I will attempt to unpack these 3 terminologies the apostle used in this verse:

1. Living sacrifice – A sacrifice is a sacrifice because it is dead. In the Old Testament, animals that were sacrificed to God were first killed and then burnt. Burning a live animal on the altar could result in all kinds of unpleasant and chaotic experiences. The animal, even if tied, could scatter the altar once set ablaze. Therefore, it is best practice to slaughter the animal first before burning it on the altar. Again, sacrifices are sacrifices because they are dead. Case in point, the instructions God gave to Moses regarding how burnt sacrifices should be offered in Leviticus 1:3-9. God instructed him to slaughter the animal, shed its blood, skin it and chop it up into pieces. This is what it means to offer a sacrifice to God. Hence, when Paul beseeches the brethren to present their bodies as a living sacrifice, he presents us with a grand antithetic idea. It seems he expects the brethren to live as though dead. The apostle expects life and death to dwell together in the same being at the same time. In 2 Corinthians 4:10, Paul presents this same idea in a different way. He said, “we always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body”. This basically means that believers are expected to live their lives observing and  practising the essence of the sacrifice of Jesus. The essence of Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross is captured in a statement he made in Gethsemane. While praying in Gethsemane, he battled with God to fulfil his purpose on this earth. But eventually, Christ said, “if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt”. Here we see Jesus, though alive, yet dying to his own will. This is what it means to be a living sacrifice: to be alive yet dead to your own desires, will and expectations. It is wrong is to allow our will and desires to prevail over the divine and ultimate will of God for us and humankind. To live as a living sacrifice is to be dead to yourself and alive to God. It means to deny yourself because you have to say yes to him. For us to fully actualize the life of Jesus in our body, we must carry in our bodies the reality of the death of Jesus. Which is the fact that he could have refused to die on the cross and he could have saved himself from the cross. But he didn’t! He was not pursuing his will while on earth, he was fulfilling the will of the father. Jesus in the flesh, was the ultimate living sacrifice. No wonder he calls us to live like he did. In carrying in our bodies the essence of the death of Christ, his very life will be revealed in us. He was treated like a sheep being led to the slaughter, not resisting arrest nor fighting back. In fact, he rebuked Peter for attacking one of the Roman soldiers who came to arrest him in Gethsemane. This is the height of a life that was lived as a sacrifice.

2. Holy – This means that the lives we present to God must be uncommon among men. We cannot flow with the tide of the day and expect to live holy lives. There is a saying that goes like this, “only a dead fish goes with the tide”. We have been called to be living sacrifices alright, however we are expected to live to God and die to the desires of our own hearts and the pervading philosophies and ideas of our world. Therefore, a life worth presenting to God should be a life that is set apart for him. That is a life that is lived according to the leading of the Spirit. A holy life. One that has no pleasure in sin and finds no reason to over-indulge in the mundane and wallow in the profane. 

3. Acceptable to God – Because you present something to God doesn’t mean he will accept it. Some sacrifices in the bible were rejected by God. Case in point, Cain’s sacrifice was rejected by God in Genesis 4:1-7. For anything to be regarded by God, it has to be honourable, of good quality and carefully selected or presented. We must be intentional about the way we present ourselves to God. The content of our lives are of immense interest to God. What we indulge in repeatedly forms the content of our lives. Therefore, if you are to present yourself to God at a time in your life when the mundane and the profane preoccupy your entire life, chances are that this sacrifice may not be acceptable to God. I need to reiterate the point that God indeed rejects sacrifices. The notion that anything at all presented to God should be acceptable to him is a warped one. He is the King of Kings and clearly requires the best of things as well. God deserves to receive the best from our lives, including what we do with it. Some people are of the view that they will use their youthful years to pursue sinful pleasures and turn to the LORD in their old age. While God is merciful to accept people who turn to him, yet we are emphatically admonished in Ecclesiastes 12:1 to remember our Creator in the days of our youth. God deserves the best years of our lives too. God shouldn’t be treated as an afterthought neither should we present to him the years of our lives in which our strength is weak and our reasoning is dim. We must present an acceptable sacrifice to him like Abel did. Practically, we can do this by valuing the life he gave us, adding value to it and presenting it back to him. 

Paul goes on to explain that, presenting our bodies in this manner is our “…reasonable act of worship”. The ESV bible puts it this way “… your spiritual worship”. I find it interesting to know that how we present our bodies to God has spiritual implications. This presupposes that the way to worship God spiritually, is to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to him. What I do with my body has implications on how spiritual my worship is. Paul curiously quizzes the Corinthian church in 1st Corinthians 6:19: 

Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own

Our bodies are the holy dwelling place of the Holy Spirit who came to reside in us at the new birth. Therefore, we must treat it as such. We must be very careful not to desecrate the holy habitation of the King of the universe. We must not sling mud and filth where the Holy Spirit dwells. He is called the Holy Spirit for a reason. After Paul asked this question quoted in the verse above, he goes on to say in the next verse, “ … for you were bought with a price. Therefore, glorify God in your body”. What we do with our bodies must continually and consistently bring glory to God. Sexual sin is known to be the only sin that negatively impacts the human body. It is an audacious desecration of the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit and it doesn’t bring glory to God. Let us pursue a holy and sinless lifestyle, flee from sexual sin so we can continue to present our bodies to God as holy and acceptable to the King of all kings.

One of the topics I am very interested in is the status of the gifts of the Holy Spirit in the church today: whether the gifts have ceased or whether they continue to exist. The body of Christ is divided on this subject; there are cessationists who believe the gifts have ceased since the death of the apostles in the New Testament and continuationists who believe that believers can still operate in the gifts even today. The gifts here specifically refer to the charismatic gifts: prophecy, speaking and interpreting tongues, healing, working miracles, word of knowledge etc. The term “charismatic” comes from the Greek word “charisma,” which means “gift of grace” or “gift of God’s grace”. I am a firm believer that these gifts continue to exist in the body of Christ today for a number of reasons. I won’t go into much details today. This is a topic that I wish to take my time to address extensively as time goes on, so you can call this my initial thoughts on the topic and not a conclusive one. 

Admittedly, it is very appalling to see how these gifts have been abused and used to exploit people in the church. Charlatans have crept into the church, distorted the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ and led many astray because they parade themselves as prophets, healers and deliverance ministers. It is understandable and actually necessary for us to be alarmed about how the gifts of the Holy Spirit are abused in the church today. I have often said that there is not a single good gift, that the Lord gives, that human beings haven’t abused. I believe, as the scripture says, that all good and perfect gifts come from above (James 1:17). In my study of the bible, I see how human beings or the children of God (both in the old and the new testaments) have abused every good gift God gives. Kings and judges have abused the authority and power given to them; prophets have abused the anointing God gave them etc. It is almost as if the abuse of good gifts is inevitable. However, I think our attitude towards the abuse of God’s gifts should align with God’s. So long as the LORD hasn’t ceased giving gifts to men, we dare not cease believing there are genuinely and divinely gifted people out there who have a specific assignment in this generation. In any case, the bone of contention regarding this topic is if the LORD still gives charismatic gifts, isn’t it? I will tackle this question from one angle: the universality and timelessness of the words spoken by Jesus and confirmed by his apostles. 

The opening verses of the book of John tell us that Jesus is the Word of God and this same Jesus is God. This idea presupposes that Jesus in himself is the eternal Word of God and is at the same time the message God wants to communicate to this world and especially to believers. In fact, nothing was created without the Word of God, hence our entire existence and experience on this earth is made possible by the eternal Word of God. For this reason, I am very particular about Jesus’ words dotted all over the New Testament. I believe he came to live a life that is exemplary and compelling for all Christians in whatever stage in human history to emulate. I also believe his message is a universal and timeless one, which means he came to speak to all people and for all time. Did Christ ever deliver a message to a specific group of people that was ONLY relevant to them in that time in human history? Certainly! However, even those statements have existential and eternal value for all people and for all time. Let’s take a close look at what Jesus said in Matthew 11:21 to understand this issue, he said:

Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes

In this story, Jesus was addressing the unrepentant people in the cities of Chorazin and Bethsaida who had been witnesses to many mighty miracles he had done. Despite the fact that Jesus wrought mighty works amongst them, they still didn’t believe in him. Therefore, he rebuked them and stated that people living in other cities (Tyre and Sidon) would have repented if they had been witnesses of those mighty works. Here, we can clearly say that Jesus was speaking to a specific people at a specific time in human history. The people of Chorazin and Bethsaida being the primary recipients are also the main subject of this message: their unrepentant hearts  was the reason Jesus said what he said. However, what Jesus said has some serious value and application even in our world today on a collective level and on an individual level as well. Meaning, this portion of scripture can be applied to individuals and groups of people who have witnessed many mighty works of Christ yet refuse to repent. 

On the other hand, there are statements that Jesus made that are for all people and for all time. We will look at one of such statements recorded in Mark 16:17-18:

And these signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up serpents with their hands; and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover.

Coincidentally, prior to this passage, Jesus had rebuked the apostles for their unbelief and the hardness of their heart. Similar to what he told the people of Chorazin and Bethsaida. 

Although the primary recipients of this message are the apostles, Jesus opens this message up for all people and for all time by using the phrase “those who believe”. “Those who believe” are not a specific group of people trapped in a specific time in human history. These are individuals who believe in Jesus Christ as the saviour of the world and have accepted him as their LORD regardless of what point in human history they exist in. These individuals are the target group of God’s rescue mission executed by Jesus on the cross and finalized in his resurrection. The statement of Jesus in the passage under discussion is a portion of what Christians call the Great Commission which is Jesus’ instructions to his disciples, after his resurrection and before his ascension, to propagate the gospel globally. The apostles are dead and gone, however, the Great Commission is still being carried out today. Although the apostles were the primary recipients of the message, Jesus was saying these things to the hearing of all people and for all time. Therefore, we need to take the words of Jesus seriously even in this day and age – as  seriously as the apostles did.

The reason why I have stressed this point is that two of the signs that Jesus mentioned will follow “those who believe…” are spiritual gifts: speaking in tongues and healing the sick. If this is so, then how did our brothers and sisters come to the conclusion that the gifts of the Spirit were for a specific group of people for a specific time in the ancient world? “Those who believe…”  as a universal and timeless statement reminds me of the “whosoever…” in John 3:16. This verse in John is arguably the most popular bible verse. I doubt the right interpretation of the verse is “God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten son. That whosoever believes in him in the ancient world, will not perish but have everlasting life”. It is erroneous to read John 3:16 with this understanding. Jesus spoke to all people and for all time in both John 3:16 and Mark 16:17-18. Jesus stated categorically in the latter passage that two of the signs that shall follow all who believe in him are speaking in tongues and healing. For this reason I do not subscribe to the cessationist doctrine. I believe strongly in what Jesus said and its implications to the world and the body of Christ today. 

On the day of Pentecost, Peter addressed all who had gathered after hearing the 120 in the upper room speaking in tongues. The bulk of Peter’s message was a prophecy recorded in Joel 2. In fact, he didn’t just quote the passage but he explained to his audience that the coming of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost is actually a fulfilment of what the Prophet Joel prophesied:

And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh

and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams; even on my male servants and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit, and they shall prophesy. 

Acts 2:16-18

God has said he will pour out his Spirit on all flesh. “All flesh” here signifies that the outpouring of the Spirit of God will not be the reserve of any special group of people, for God does not discriminate. The outpouring of the Spirit of God will not be limited to a specific gender, age bracket, race, social class etc. What we do know is that the prophecy was expected to be fulfilled within a specific time in human history called “the last days”. The last days, span from the day of Pentecost until Christ comes. It is a term that is widely used in scripture. Often in the New Testament, a lot of signs and global events are stated that will characterize these last days. This is the conclusion I drew from Peter’s address: if Peter claims the day of Pentecost is a fulfilment or the beginning of the fulfilment of Joel’s prophecy, then since we are still in the last days, we should expect that the same manifestations of the Spirit will be seen in the body of Christ. Since the outpouring of the Spirit is characterised by prophecy, then it isn’t consistent with the timelines of Joel’s prophecy when we say the gift of prophecy ceased at some earlier point in human history. So long as the last days remain, we will still see the outpouring of the Holy Spirit characterised by the signs prophesied by Joel, which includes spiritual gifts. 

The Apostle Paul also made a lot of statements that communicated at least the universality of spiritual gifts to a certain degree. “Universality” here refers to the fact that the gifts are not reserved for a special group of people: which is exactly what Joel prophesied and Peter confirmed on the day of Pentecost. In writing to the church of Corinth, Paul said in 1st Corinthians 14:5 that “now I want you ALL to speak in tongues, but even more to prophesy…”. Paul expresses his desire for every single member of a church, regardless of their background, to speak in tongues, better yet, to prophesy as well. “ALL” means all; no one left behind and no one excluded. Paul expected the entire church of Corinth to manifest the gifts of the Spirit, especially speaking in tongues and prophecy. Later in the same chapter, while instructing the church of Corinth on the need for orderly worship, Paul again stated in verse 31 that “For you can ALL prophesy one by one…”. Again, “ALL” means all. Everybody in a single church can prophesy and it shouldn’t be described  as “charismania” but it should be seen as the fulfilment of biblical prophecy and the practising of sound doctrine.  

Cessationists have coined the term “charismania” to describe individuals, movements and denominations that emphasize the widespread use of the gifts of the Spirit. I have also coined the term “Pharismania” to describe the excessive scepticism of those who constantly deny, disapprove, misjduge, doubt and question the existence and use of spiritual gifts in the body of Christ today. This is because their actions remind me of the Pharisees in John 9 when Jesus healed a man who was born blind.The Pharisees, instead of rejoicing at the news of this miracle, rather commenced an investigation to be sure, not for good reasons, that the man was indeed born blind. They interviewed his friends, family and the man himself in the process. All that mattered that day was that a blind man was healed. But the sceptics concerned themselves more with the non-issue of the day than the miracle. This is the level of scepticism that cessationism brings to the table. It is sad to say that cessationism is adorned with the same level of hyper-scepticism that the Pharisees opposed Jesus’ ministry with. Hyper-scepticism is not a sign of maturity. Hyper-scepticism is not discernment. Hyper-scepticism is a sign that you lack faith in the word of God and the person of Jesus.

But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today”, that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin – Hebrews 3:13

Glad to have you here once again to read my blog. I read Hebrews 3:13 some time ago and was intrigued by the phrase the deceitfulness of sin. This blog post is basically a summary of my thoughts on the phrase . It is my prayer that as you read this post, you come to the realization that sin is deceitful and will never fulfil its meagre promises.

• Deceitfulness refers to the quality of misleading and giving the wrong impression. It is the tendency to be deceptive and dishonest. 
• Sin is said to possess the quality of deceitfulness. This implies that it doesn’t deliver on the promises it makes to you. 
• Sin is alluring, tempting and attractive for a number of reasons including the following:
  • It promises long lasting pleasure. 
  • It promises relief
  • It promises secrecy
  • It promises security 
  • It promises independence and freedom
  • It promises happiness
  • It promises painlessness
  • It promises everlasting excitement
  • It promises peace / peace of mind
  • It promises to serve you rather than to be served
• The consequences of sin are its secret promises. The seeming promises of sin are actually fake marketing campaigns. It’s like the screen saver of a computer and the appearance of the desktop. Once you touch your mouse or the touchpad, the screen saver disappears and gives way for the appearance of the desktop background. This is the relationship between the promises sin makes you and the actual consequences of sin. 
• According to the verse under discussion, sin has consistently proven to fail at delivering on any of its promises. The deceitfulness of sin points to sin’s lack of integrity; it cannot keep its word even if it tried. 
• Time and time again, we all fall for the allure of sin and just give in to its demands. In our hearts, we sort of harbour a slight hope that sin could be miraculously truthful or honest to us and grant us our wishes or the things it promises. 
• The reason why we are so tempted by sin is that we confer on sin God-qualities. One of which is “goodness”. But sin is not good. 
• Sin is consequential; every single sin is consequential. 
• Some of the consequences of sin include:
  • Physical death
  • Eternal death
  • Open and secret shame
  • Guilt 
  • Sickness
  • Depression, anxiety, sadness etc. 
  • Servitude to the flesh and sin
  • Loss of glory and favour with God and man
  • Hardness of heart
  • Rebellion (especially against God)
• Sin hardens you or hardens your heart by rendering you insensitive to the promptings of the Holy Spirit and the word of God. Pursuing the ephemeral pleasures of sin will render the individual numb to the nudge of the Mighty Holy Spirit therefore resulting in either “backsliddenness” or a falling away from the faith. 
• Sin is costly. It is so costly that dealing with it required divine, holy and eternal blood. Jesus had to come and die for the sins of the world (past, present and future). That’s how costly sin is. 
• Sin has the most bitter after-taste. However, its allure is as strong, hence it is able to imprison people and subject them to a repeated cycle between chokehold and slight relief we like to call addiction. 
• Enslavement to sin starts as a willful action. The chains of sin are light when you decide to put them around your neck, wrists or feet. But soon enough you will realise how heavy they are to shake off or even cast off. 
• Therefore, we shouldn’t joke with sin especially because it has eternal consequences. 
• Sin is not a thing to be toyed with because it is capable of ruining lives and leading people out of the presence of God and straight to hell. 
• Sin must be avoided like a plague. Because, to put it mildly, it is a plague or even worse than a plague. For whereas plagues may have no eternal consequences, sin does.

In the book of John, we see Jesus admonish his followers two times to believe in him because of the works he does. I believe “the works” stands for the miracles he did. Specifically, in John 10:38, he said “… even though you do not believe me, believe the works…”. Then in John 14:11, he said again, “believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else believe on the account of the works themselves”. Jesus expects his followers to believe in him either because of the words (the message) he spoke to them or on the account of the works (the miracles) that he did. This is the reason why we see the gospel writers detail so many of these supernatural acts of Jesus in their epistles. They did this to help the reader or believer build their faith in Jesus because of the numerous supernatural acts that he did that validate his calling. That is why John said:

Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. – John 20:30-31

John also said: 

Now there are also many other things that Jesus did. Were every one of them to be written, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written. – John 21:25

Jesus’ miracles and wondrous signs were recorded to help boost your faith in him. The believer is not called to a life of blind faith. God expects us to believe in Jesus after a careful consideration of his ministry – which is a combination of his message, miracles and mission. This is why a careful study of the miracles of Jesus is a vital exercise every believer must undertake to know him and his power and to believe in Jesus as the messiah.

In the visualization above, we have a summary of the supernatural acts of Jesus. The bible mentions that Jesus did many miraculous things that were not written. However, the ones that were written with accompanying details have been visualized above. In the book of Luke alone, there is a record of 3 different instances that Jesus healed an unstated number of people in 3 separate meetings. In Luke 4:40 it is written that he laid his hands on a number of people and healed them of all their diseases and sicknesses. The setting of this narrative gives us the impression that it wasn’t a great number of people: Jesus had visited Simon Peter at home to heal his mother-in-law then at sun set the people in the vicinity started bringing in their sick relatives and friends for healing. However, in the second instance in Luke 6:19, Jesus was in the midst of a great multitude. The term “great multitude” is tautological because a multitude is a large number of people hence for the Bible to describe the crowd as such indicates the size of the gathering and perhaps that the number of people there was uncountable. In this case, since the number of people gathered was huge, Jesus didn’t lay hands on them. The Bible says “…power came out of him and healed them all”. It could have been 200 people who were healed that day; it could have been 700 or even a thousand. We cannot tell. All we know is that Jesus had the power to heal every sick person at a meeting that attracted a “great multitude” of people. Finally, we are told in Luke 7:21 that “In that hour he healed many people of diseases and plagues and evil spirits, and on many who were blind he bestowed sight”. Again, we see that Jesus healed an unstated number of people in this gathering. The bible referred to all those who were present at this gathering as “crowds” (Luke 7:24), this gives us a fair idea of how large the gathering was and perhaps the number of people affected by the miraculous ministry of Jesus that day, because the text did say he healed “many” of them.

I say this in agreement with what John said in John 21:25, that Jesus did many awesome miracles that were not captured in the gospels;  it would have probably taken a library of books to record them all. Just to reiterate, the visualization above looks at the supernatural acts of Jesus that were recorded with accompanying details in scripture. Three times we read in the gospels that Jesus raised the dead. Two times we are told that he fed thousands of people with very little food. In reference to casting out demons, it occurs in the gospels specifically two times and on all these two occasions the act was not linked to sicknesses. But as you may already know, it was the custom of Jesus to heal sick people by rebuking and casting out demons from them (eg. in Matthew 9:32). Those instances I have included to the data on the “healings” that Jesus did. 

From the visualization above, it is also clear that healing tops all the recorded supernatural acts of Jesus. It is closely followed by what I have termed “miraculous acts”. This term refers to the many wondrous acts of Jesus that do not necessarily border on ministering to people directly but are supernatural nonetheless. Examples of such acts are turning water into wine, walking on water, calming the raging seas etc. These acts had an indirect impact on people but they weren’t directed at them. 

Below is another visualization that looks at the breakdown of the supernatural acts of Jesus according to how many times they are recorded in the gospels. Matthew and Luke recorded the highest number of miracles amongst the 4 gospels. Although John recorded the least number of miracles, he was careful to give us a picture of the enormity of Jesus’ supernatural ministry. Perhaps he adopted hyperbole in his description of Jesus’ supernatural ministry when he said that the whole world could not contain the books that would have been written detailing all of Jesus’ miracles. John walked closely with Jesus and so was privy to the many miracles that he did from a front-row perspective. I have no cause to doubt him or any of the gospel writers on their accounts of the works of Jesus.

We have already discussed the purpose for the recording of Jesus’ miracles, but allow me to reiterate. The miracles of Jesus were recorded so that we may believe that Jesus is the Christ and the son of the living God (John 20:30-31). This Bible Data Story was written with the aim of shedding some light on the miracles of Jesus from the perspective of a data storyteller. The end goal is so that you will believe that Jesus is the Christ and the son of the living God. If he is the same yesterday, today and forever, then we can believe that he is still in the business of healing as many people as he did in one meeting when he ministered to a great multititude. And he is more than able and willing to perform miracles in and with our lives. It is my hope that your faith will be stirred up to believe in him as the son of God and then as the mighty healer and miracle worker that is proven beyond reasonable doubt in the gospels.

Find the dataset on my GitHub account here.