The sound of the lowing of cattle and braying of sheep could be heard from around a great pile of goods next to the crowd of women and children behind Abram.
It had been a long night, and Abram still had blood stains on his hands and clothes from the skirmish with Chedorlaomer.
Lot, his nephew had separated himself from Abram some time ago and went to live with the Canaanite kings of Sodom and Gomorrah. The cities were attacked and he was taken captive by the assailants along with the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah.
Abram was alerted about it and with his trained servants pursued. They found Chedorlaomer and the three other kings allied with him in Hobah and ambushed them by night, rescuing Lot along with the people of Sodom and Gomorrah.
They had traveled back and Melchizedek the king of the city of Salem had come out to meet them.
Most of the kings of Canaan were wicked and worshipers of pagan gods but this king was different.
"Welcome, Abram," said Melchizedek, "You are weary from your night pursuit. Come, drink, eat and be refreshed."
"Thank you, sir," replied Abram.
“Blessed be Abram by El Elyon (the Canaanite name meaning 'God Most High'), Possessor of heaven and earth; and blessed be El Elyon, who has delivered your enemies into your hand!”
Abram stared at Melchizedek who had just blessed him in the name of El Elyon.
It had been a while since Abram, a Chaldean, had heard Yahweh call him and tell him to move from his land telling him that he would be blessed and be a blessing to nations.
He was now being blessed in the name of El Elyon by a Canaanite priest. A priest of God's general revelation, which was older and greater than Abram's specific revelation. God's general revelation encompassed all mankind."Thank you, Melchizedek. I would like to give you a tenth all the spoil that we have taken," said Abraham.
Just then Bera king of Sodom stepped up to Abram and said, “Give me the persons, but take the goods for yourself.”
Abram turned to Bera. Abram knew the king of Sodom was evil and of a different type altogether than Melchizedek.
So Abram said, “I have lifted my hand to the Yahweh, El Elyon, Possessor of heaven and earth, that I would not take a thread or a sandal strap or anything that is yours, lest you should say, ‘I have made Abram rich.’
Abraham's descendants multiplied and God blessed them like He said He would. Over the generations Israel's dealings with other nations varied. There was a Melchizedek factor and a Sodom factor, the former meaning that nations and foreigners blessed Israel and Israel blessed them in turn.Then there was the latter factor meaning nations that Israel was told to destroy and not intermingle with.
~~~~~~
The statues of god after god towered over Paul's head as he strolled through Athens, a city known for it's countless gods. There were almost more god's than men in this city.
Paul was a devout Jew who had been taught since childhood that there was only one God in heaven and all others were in violation to Him. It must have vexed his soul to see all those idols. He had gone to the synagogue and had been talking in the marketplace with the people there telling them about the good news of Jesus, but they seemed to think he was just bring another deity to them. The Athenians didn't need another god added to their un-containable list.
Suddenly Paul stopped at a monument. This one was different than the others, it had no graven image on it but was simply an altar with only the words 'To the unknown god' inscribed on it.
"Interesting," thought Paul.
Now Paul probably knew the story that went with that monument.
About Six centuries prior, Athens was smitten with the plague because of king Magacles' treachery against the followers of Cylon. It seemed as though none of their sacrifices to the many gods was working. From an oracle they learned that there was still a god that had not been appeased. They sent for a man named Epimenides from Crete in order to tell them what to do. Epimenides instructed them to have a healthy, hungry flock of sheep released on Mars Hill the next morning. Some of the sheep instead of grazing like any hungry sheep would do, miraculously laid down and rested. It was on those spots that they built altars. The Athenians asked Epimenides what name to inscribe on the altars but Epimenides told them that since this god had done this miraculous thing already for them in their ignorance it would be best not to risk offending him by guessing a name for him so he told them to inscribe agnosto theo - to the unknown god-. On the altars they sacrificed the sheep. The next day the plague was lifted and Athens rejoiced. However over time the Athenians forgot and neglected the altars until eventually there was only one left.
Six centuries later Paul stood on that same Mars Hill before the Athenians.
As a Jew who detested the pagan gods Paul could have gone straight into a denouncement of the Athenians' idolatry but instead restrains himself and goes on to say, “Men of Athens, I perceive that in every way you are very religious-"
Instead of Paul going for the obvious issue of their idolatry and 'tuning them from darkness to light' like Jesus commanded, he goes for the prerequisite of 'open their eyes' first.
"-For as I passed along and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription,‘To the unknown god.’ What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you..."
Could God have been at work in the nations of the world even as he was at work in the history of Israel? In different ways, yes I believe He has been at work.
~~~~~~
The statues of god after god towered over Paul's head as he strolled through Athens, a city known for it's countless gods. There were almost more god's than men in this city.
Paul was a devout Jew who had been taught since childhood that there was only one God in heaven and all others were in violation to Him. It must have vexed his soul to see all those idols. He had gone to the synagogue and had been talking in the marketplace with the people there telling them about the good news of Jesus, but they seemed to think he was just bring another deity to them. The Athenians didn't need another god added to their un-containable list.
Suddenly Paul stopped at a monument. This one was different than the others, it had no graven image on it but was simply an altar with only the words 'To the unknown god' inscribed on it.
"Interesting," thought Paul.
Now Paul probably knew the story that went with that monument.
About Six centuries prior, Athens was smitten with the plague because of king Magacles' treachery against the followers of Cylon. It seemed as though none of their sacrifices to the many gods was working. From an oracle they learned that there was still a god that had not been appeased. They sent for a man named Epimenides from Crete in order to tell them what to do. Epimenides instructed them to have a healthy, hungry flock of sheep released on Mars Hill the next morning. Some of the sheep instead of grazing like any hungry sheep would do, miraculously laid down and rested. It was on those spots that they built altars. The Athenians asked Epimenides what name to inscribe on the altars but Epimenides told them that since this god had done this miraculous thing already for them in their ignorance it would be best not to risk offending him by guessing a name for him so he told them to inscribe agnosto theo - to the unknown god-. On the altars they sacrificed the sheep. The next day the plague was lifted and Athens rejoiced. However over time the Athenians forgot and neglected the altars until eventually there was only one left.
Six centuries later Paul stood on that same Mars Hill before the Athenians.
As a Jew who detested the pagan gods Paul could have gone straight into a denouncement of the Athenians' idolatry but instead restrains himself and goes on to say, “Men of Athens, I perceive that in every way you are very religious-"
Instead of Paul going for the obvious issue of their idolatry and 'tuning them from darkness to light' like Jesus commanded, he goes for the prerequisite of 'open their eyes' first.
"-For as I passed along and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription,‘To the unknown god.’ What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you..."
Could God have been at work in the nations of the world even as he was at work in the history of Israel? In different ways, yes I believe He has been at work.
~~~~~
In the mountains of Southeast Asia a people group called the Karen waited expectantly for the fulfilment of a prophecy spoken long ago.
According to their traditions Y'wa made Tha-nai and Ee-u and put them in a garden with seven different kinds of trees, one of which they were not supposed to eat from. But then Ma-kaw-lee tempted Tha-nai and Ee-u and they ate of it. Y'wa cursed them and said that they would now get old, sick, and die.
One of Tha-nai and Ee-u's children got sick and they asked Ma-kaw-lee to help them.
Ma-kaw-lee said to them, "You did not obey your Father, the Lord Y'wa. You listened to me. Now that you have obeyed me once, obey me to the end."
In the mountains of Southeast Asia a people group called the Karen waited expectantly for the fulfilment of a prophecy spoken long ago.
According to their traditions Y'wa made Tha-nai and Ee-u and put them in a garden with seven different kinds of trees, one of which they were not supposed to eat from. But then Ma-kaw-lee tempted Tha-nai and Ee-u and they ate of it. Y'wa cursed them and said that they would now get old, sick, and die.
One of Tha-nai and Ee-u's children got sick and they asked Ma-kaw-lee to help them.
Ma-kaw-lee said to them, "You did not obey your Father, the Lord Y'wa. You listened to me. Now that you have obeyed me once, obey me to the end."
Then Ma-kaw-lee showed them offerings to be made to the nats [demons] who presided over certain diseases and accidents.
Ever since then the Karen people had been in bondage to the nats, but they waited expectantly for as their prophesy from time immemorable said that a white man would one day come with a book to show them the right way.
They even sang songs of hope about the coming of Y'wa saying;
There also seems to be no evidence that they had any exposure to Jewish or Christian influence, since they never seem to mention Abraham or any of the Patriarchs in their verse or any incarnation or redeemer dying for sins which would have been highlighted by any Jewish or Christian influencers. So that means these traditions have their origin before the time of Abraham!
One day in 1795 an English diplomat, who had come to see if Burma should be made part of the British empire, met the Karen people while with a Burmese guide.
The Karen people crowded around the diplomate wondering if he could be the one they had waited so long for.
With bated breath, they asked the diplomat if he had brought them a book their forefathers had lost long ago.
The diplomat guffawed at them wondering what author could write a book to charm these illiterate people.
The Burmese guide told the British diplomat that the book was written by Y'wa and that the white brother who brought it would thereby free them from all who oppress them. The Burmese guide was now nervous that the Karen people were unknowingly inviting the British to come take over Burma.
The diplomat noticing the Burmese displeasure and not wanting the Burmese to attack the innocent Karen people. Told the Karen that they were mistaken and that he had no acquaintance with this god called Y'wa or that he had any idea who their 'white brother' might be.
The Karen felt dejected but still held onto the prophecy. Other prophecies might not come to pass but that one would
There were actually ten total people groups in that part of their world with varying but similar legends and traditions, 3,000,000 people incredibly equipped to receive a gospel they barely knew of.
All the while Y'wa's people in other lands let century after century pass by.
~~~~~
In South America in the A.D 1400's a king named Pachauti ruled the Incas. Pachauti brought the Inca empire to it's flowering. He built a temple to the sun with palaces, fortresses and a "fabulous golden precinct" a building of "magnificence rivaling even Solomon's Temple in Jerusalem." He also built a line of fortresses protecting the eastern frontiers of his empire from invasion by the tribes of the Amazon basin. One of those fortresses is Machu Picchu.
Pachacuti also was a spiritual explorer who questioned the validity of the sun god Inti that he had built such a magnificent temple for. Pachacuti pointed out that the luminary always follows a set path, performs definite tasks, and keeps certain hours as does a laborer. If Inti is God then why doesn't he do anything creative?
Also, the path of the sun could be covered and dimmed by a passing cloud. If Inti were God his light couldn't be dimmed by a mere created thing.
Pachacuti looked back at his own culture's near-extinct memory of a figure named Varacocha the Lord and omnipotent Creator of all things.
Pachacuti's father Hatan Tupac had claimed to receive a dream from Varacocha reminding him that He was the Creator of all things.
Varacocha-like figures have been known throughout Indian cultures from North and South America, more so than a sun god figure so the latter was a departure from the former.
Pachacuti realised that the Inti-as-god-thing had gone on long enough, and he figured that the Creator not the created needed to be worshiped. So he called together the priests of the sun and reminded them of Varacocha. "He [Varacocha] is ancient, remote, supreme and uncreated. Nor does he need the gross satisfaction of a consort. he manifests himself as a trinity when he wishes... otherwise only heavenly warriors and archangels surround his loneliness. He created all peoples by his 'word', as well as all huacas [spirits]..."
Ever since then the Karen people had been in bondage to the nats, but they waited expectantly for as their prophesy from time immemorable said that a white man would one day come with a book to show them the right way.
They even sang songs of hope about the coming of Y'wa saying;
At the appointed season Y'wa will come.
...Dead trees will blossom and flower...
Mouldering trees will blossom and bloom again.
Y'wa will come and bring the great Thau-thee
["Thau-thee" seems to be the name of a sacred mountain.]
Let us ascend and worship.
Oh children and grandchildren! Do not worship idols or priests!
If you worship them, you obtain no advantage thereby,
While you increasing your sins exceedingly.
One day in 1795 an English diplomat, who had come to see if Burma should be made part of the British empire, met the Karen people while with a Burmese guide.
The Karen people crowded around the diplomate wondering if he could be the one they had waited so long for.
With bated breath, they asked the diplomat if he had brought them a book their forefathers had lost long ago.
The diplomat guffawed at them wondering what author could write a book to charm these illiterate people.
The Burmese guide told the British diplomat that the book was written by Y'wa and that the white brother who brought it would thereby free them from all who oppress them. The Burmese guide was now nervous that the Karen people were unknowingly inviting the British to come take over Burma.
The diplomat noticing the Burmese displeasure and not wanting the Burmese to attack the innocent Karen people. Told the Karen that they were mistaken and that he had no acquaintance with this god called Y'wa or that he had any idea who their 'white brother' might be.
The Karen felt dejected but still held onto the prophecy. Other prophecies might not come to pass but that one would
There were actually ten total people groups in that part of their world with varying but similar legends and traditions, 3,000,000 people incredibly equipped to receive a gospel they barely knew of.
All the while Y'wa's people in other lands let century after century pass by.
~~~~~
In South America in the A.D 1400's a king named Pachauti ruled the Incas. Pachauti brought the Inca empire to it's flowering. He built a temple to the sun with palaces, fortresses and a "fabulous golden precinct" a building of "magnificence rivaling even Solomon's Temple in Jerusalem." He also built a line of fortresses protecting the eastern frontiers of his empire from invasion by the tribes of the Amazon basin. One of those fortresses is Machu Picchu.
Also, the path of the sun could be covered and dimmed by a passing cloud. If Inti were God his light couldn't be dimmed by a mere created thing.
Pachacuti looked back at his own culture's near-extinct memory of a figure named Varacocha the Lord and omnipotent Creator of all things.
Pachacuti's father Hatan Tupac had claimed to receive a dream from Varacocha reminding him that He was the Creator of all things.
Varacocha-like figures have been known throughout Indian cultures from North and South America, more so than a sun god figure so the latter was a departure from the former.
Pachacuti realised that the Inti-as-god-thing had gone on long enough, and he figured that the Creator not the created needed to be worshiped. So he called together the priests of the sun and reminded them of Varacocha. "He [Varacocha] is ancient, remote, supreme and uncreated. Nor does he need the gross satisfaction of a consort. he manifests himself as a trinity when he wishes... otherwise only heavenly warriors and archangels surround his loneliness. He created all peoples by his 'word', as well as all huacas [spirits]..."
This was from a king in South America before any influence of Judaism or Christianity!
The revival and turning back to Viracocha was kept to only the upper class as they feared what the common people would do when they learned that they had been lied to all along. It was to their own spiritual detriment though.
Imagine if humble and compassionate followers of Christ had came at this time and seized the opportunity to show these people the rest of the Gospel!
The Incas even had a prophecy that Viracocha would bring them a blessing from the west i.e., by sea.
Unfortunately this was not the case. Instead the church defaulted and in their place came a political conqueror named Pizarro, acting in the name of God he wiped out the Inca empire targeting it's upper class. In their quest to purge the land of idolatry ironically they destroyed the special key to this people and instead tried to force Catholicism on a uninformed lower class which in turn accepted some of it but then mixed it with idolatry.
~~~~~~
From the time of Abraham, God's mission was to all peoples, and in that, he did not leave himself without links and advocates in those people groups. He has made himself known to even them.
Great harm is done when missionaries go in arrogance, not humbly seeking to discover the bridge that God has placed in a people group already.
The revival and turning back to Viracocha was kept to only the upper class as they feared what the common people would do when they learned that they had been lied to all along. It was to their own spiritual detriment though.
Imagine if humble and compassionate followers of Christ had came at this time and seized the opportunity to show these people the rest of the Gospel!
The Incas even had a prophecy that Viracocha would bring them a blessing from the west i.e., by sea.
Unfortunately this was not the case. Instead the church defaulted and in their place came a political conqueror named Pizarro, acting in the name of God he wiped out the Inca empire targeting it's upper class. In their quest to purge the land of idolatry ironically they destroyed the special key to this people and instead tried to force Catholicism on a uninformed lower class which in turn accepted some of it but then mixed it with idolatry.
~~~~~~
From the time of Abraham, God's mission was to all peoples, and in that, he did not leave himself without links and advocates in those people groups. He has made himself known to even them.
Great harm is done when missionaries go in arrogance, not humbly seeking to discover the bridge that God has placed in a people group already.
But great harm is also done when we do not go either.
Jesus was almost always trying to get his disciples who had been trained to think ethnocentrically from childhood to think globally and see the bigger picture.
From Jesus' birth wise men from the east were some of the first to greet him. Simeon proclaimed over the baby Jesus, saying, "My eyes have seen your salvation which you have prepared in the sight of all peoples, A light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel."
In the face of his disciples' disgust Jesus talked to a Samaritan woman, had compassion for a Roman centurion, healed a Syrophoenician woman's daughter, a Samaritan leper, and a Gadarene demoniac.
There were stories in the Old Testament of Nineveh and God trying to get the message through to a prophet that he cared for all people not just the Jews.
God healed Naaman a Syrian general and the Syrians were not always friends with Israel.
God sent Elijah to a widow of Zarephath instead of an Israelite. It was when Jesus mentioned this in a synagogue that it nearly got him pushed off a cliff by the infuriated Jews.
When Jesus went to the Temple and overturned the tables of the money changers it was in the court of the Gentiles. It was a place meant for the Gentiles to come and worship but the Jews had turned it into a place to make money. In Mark 11:17 it says. And as he taught them, he said, "Is it not written: 'My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations'? But you have made it 'a den of robbers.'"
Jesus was almost always trying to get his disciples who had been trained to think ethnocentrically from childhood to think globally and see the bigger picture.
From Jesus' birth wise men from the east were some of the first to greet him. Simeon proclaimed over the baby Jesus, saying, "My eyes have seen your salvation which you have prepared in the sight of all peoples, A light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel."
In the face of his disciples' disgust Jesus talked to a Samaritan woman, had compassion for a Roman centurion, healed a Syrophoenician woman's daughter, a Samaritan leper, and a Gadarene demoniac.
There were stories in the Old Testament of Nineveh and God trying to get the message through to a prophet that he cared for all people not just the Jews.
God healed Naaman a Syrian general and the Syrians were not always friends with Israel.
God sent Elijah to a widow of Zarephath instead of an Israelite. It was when Jesus mentioned this in a synagogue that it nearly got him pushed off a cliff by the infuriated Jews.
When Jesus went to the Temple and overturned the tables of the money changers it was in the court of the Gentiles. It was a place meant for the Gentiles to come and worship but the Jews had turned it into a place to make money. In Mark 11:17 it says. And as he taught them, he said, "Is it not written: 'My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations'? But you have made it 'a den of robbers.'"
With all the stories in the Old Testament and all of Jesus acts of kindness and concern toward Gentiles during his ministry you would think that when Jesus told them before going to heaven to be his witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and the ends of the earth that they would understand.
If all that wasn't enough he orchestrated the timing of Pentecost at just the right time when people from all over the world were in Jerusalem, and what gift did he give to His desciples? The gift of tongues in order for them to know that the Gospel was for all peoples.
After all this the apostles and church hunkered down in Jerusalem and would have stayed there for a long time, if God had not sent persecution to get them out. Even then the Apostles stayed on in Jerusalem instead of leading the way.
Just like the Abrahamic Covenant, in the Great Commision they were much more concerned with the first part of the blessing and command "I will bless you and make you a great nation," "You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and all Judea..." but they didn't seem to be making any plans to fulfill the second part, "All the families of the earth shall be blessed by you." "and Samaria and to the ends of the earth."
It was the works of a simple layman named Philip preaching amongst the Samaritans that broke the ice for two of the disciples Peter and John to go to their long-time enemies and enjoy the revival that God was bring to those people. The excitement for missions caught them and they even went to other Samaritan villages preaching the Gospel.
Meanwhile the Holy Spirit whisked the spunky layman, cross-cultural, green beret, Philip off to bring the Good News to an Ethiopian.
God saved the encounter with Cornelius, a Roman Centurian, for Peter the Apostle and by it God slowly melted Peter's prejudice.
Then the story shifts from the twelve stuck in Jerusalem to Paul who is actually doing the second part of the Commission.
The book of Acts I used to think was a book about how the church fulfilled the great commission, but even back then in the beginning stages of the church, when so much was happening, things moved grudgingly slow when it involved getting people to go to the ends of the earth like Christ commissioned them.
I think there is hinted message in Acts that Luke, a gentile, is trying to give to those apostles in Jerusalem.
I think there is hinted message in Acts that Luke, a gentile, is trying to give to those apostles in Jerusalem.
Over time the Apostles started to branch out and go to other lands. They started to understand that as it says in Matthew 24:14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.
~~~~~
In 1817 a devout American Baptist missionary named Adoniram Judson with Bible tucked under his arm and without the slightest inkling of what was to meet him, disembarked near Rangoon, Burma.
He preached to the Burmese gaining only one convert. Despite the discouragement he pressed on in translating the Bible into Burmese. Then one day a former robber and violent man named Ko Thah-byu who was estimated to have killed 30 men and was now looking for work to pay of debt, came to the door.
Judson arranged for employment and gradually Judson and others of the household introduced Ko Thah-byu to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. At first the Karen man didn't seem to grasp the message but then suddenly he began to ask about the origins of the message and of the white strangers who had brought this book from the west. The pieces fell into place for Ko Thah-byu and he received the love of Jesus. He attended a school for illiterate converts and was determined to read the Burmese Bible as fast as Judsen could translate it.
It had dawned upon Ko Thah-byu that he was the very first to learn that "the lost book" had actually arrived in Burma!
Ko Thah-byu was baptised and then set off into the hills to the Karen villages and his message was met with awe and wonder by most of listeners who then flocked down from the hills to see this "white brother" who had after centuries upon centuries had finally come with the lost book!
~~~~~~
You don't need God to tell you to go overseas, He has already told us to go to the ends of the earth, so pray and ask God if He has given you an exemption card with a legitimate reason to stay.
You don't need God to tell you to go overseas, He has already told us to go to the ends of the earth, so pray and ask God if He has given you an exemption card with a legitimate reason to stay.
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| “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”
This was a book review on the excellent and essential book called Eternity In Their Hearts_by Don Richardson. It has many more amazing stories of God's work in the lives of people and cultures around the world and what His heart has been from the first.
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