Setting up stones

Joshua 4:6 … What mean ye by these stones? (Read Joshua Chapter 4.)

Joshua chapters 3 and 4 recount the Israelites passing over the Jordan River into the promised land. A momentous and meaningful lesson flows from the account of a simple act of removing twelve stones from the Jordan River. God opened up the Jordan River as he had done with the Red Sea (4:23; 3:16). The water coming down the river stood up in a heap. The waters flowing downstream separated from the standing water and passed on to the Salt Sea. The Israelites passed over Jordan into Canaan on dry ground (3:17). Joshua, as commanded by the LORD, chose one man from each of the twelve tribes to bring twelve stones out of Jordan (4:2-5, 8).[i]

These stones abided as a memorial of testimony (4:7). Joshua “pitched” the stones where they “pitched” for the night, at Gilgal (4:19-20).[ii] The memorial magnified Joshua’s leadership (4:14). Moses is dead (1:2). The power of God rests on Joshua (1:9). The people following God must follow Joshua (1:16-17).

The memorial marked the site of their first encampment (4:19). In Gilgal they set up these stones.[iii] In Gilgal they camped; they observed the Passover (5:10), they ate the old corn of the land (5:11), and they saw the disappearance of the manna (5:12). Joshua continued to camp there.[iv]

The memorial marked God’s marvelous miracle (4:22). They arrived in the land by means of God’s sovereign might (4:24). What the Canaanites have heard (and will hear) strikes fear in their hearts (2:11; 5:1; 9:24; 10:2). Now they will hear more! “…when all the kings … heard that the Lord had dried up the waters of Jordan … their heart melted…”

These stones provided a motivation to testify. The “oddly placed” stones would incite questions (4:6, 21).[v] Later, children, grandchildren, and descendants would arrive on the scene who had not experienced the crossing of Jordan – had not seen the stones being placed. They would see the stones and ask, “What mean these stones?” The “oddly placed” stones would invite answers (4:7, 22). “I’m glad you asked…Let me tell you…Those stones came out of the Jordan River when God dried it up!” “Oh, by the way, that was not the first time God did something like that. Let me tell you about when Moses brought the children of Israel out of Egypt…God revealed his power then, too!”

These stones suggest the value of providing means of testimony. When our children do not remember or know an experience in which the Lord worked in a marvelous way, some “stones” we have set up might cause them to ask, “What does that mean?” When we forget to keep narrating the wonderful experiences God has brought up through, some “stones” we have set up might cause us to need to relate it again. What tangible reminders do we have around the house, in our yards, in our lives?

Are we “setting up stones” that will generate curiosity in our children, our grandchildren, our churches, our communities? Or are we forgetting to provide a lasting testimony?[vi] Are we providing answers to those who ask up about “the stones” we have set up? May God help us.

• Joel 1:3 Tell ye your children of it, and let your children tell their children, and their children another generation.
• 2 Timothy 2:2 And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also.

---

[i] There seems to have been stones set up in Jordan as well, 4:9. “…there was a double monument to perpetually commemorate Israel’s passing through the place of judgment: the one in the midst of the Jordan, the other in their new camping-ground at Gilgal. What anointed eye can fail to see in them the two signs and memorials which Christ has instituted to symbolize that, as the result of their faith in His atoning death, His people have not only passed through death and judgment, but are now united to a risen Christ and are ‘alive unto God’! .... ‘Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into His death’ ... Christian baptism is designed to symbolize the believer’s union with Christ in His death, burial, and resurrection, as well as being his personal profession that he is dead to the world and has resolved to walk in newness of life. … The Lord’s Supper also, while it celebrates our passage with Christ through death, yet it is with the added blessedness and triumph of being now on the resurrection side of judgment.” (Arthur W. Pink, Gleanings in Joshua, 1945).
[ii] To erect or set up (a tent or camp, for example); to set in a fixed or definite place or position.
[iii] Gilgal means a rolling or rolling away. “And the Lord said unto Joshua, This day have I rolled away the reproach of Egypt from off you. Wherefore the name of the place is called Gilgal unto this day.” Joshua 5:9
[iv] For example, Joshua 9:6; 10:6, 43; 14:6.
[v] By “oddly placed” I mean something that is different and far enough from what they generally expect so as to raise the level of curiosity. “Well-placed” might be a better term. The stones were in an advantageous position. They made the descendants of Israel wonder.

[vi] Some of the testimonies can outlive us! Hebrews 11:4 By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaketh.

An appeal to Jehovah’s Witnesses

“Brethren, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for [Jehovah’s Witnesses] is, that they might be saved.”

Ever since I was in Junior High school with a friend who was a Jehovah’s Witness, I have had an interest in their teachings and the people. (By interest in the teachings, I mean intrigued by them, not that I favor them in any way.) I still have the green-back New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures that Bruce gave me way back when.

Of the many things believed by Jehovah’s Witnesses, perhaps the most egregious is that they deny the deity of Jesus Christ. They say they believe that by exercising faith in Jesus (and good works) they gain everlasting life. They also say “we do not worship Jesus, as we do not believe that he is Almighty God.” Jehovah’s Witnesses are not Christians in the generally understood meaning of that term.

Though the deity of Christ is somewhat obscured by the New World Translation and its commentary, the teaching can be found in many places. Please consider these examples directly from your own version, the New World Translation. I present it with very little commentary so that you may solemnly and diligently examine it yourself. These are some of many verses that could be presented.

Conclusions about Jesus based on the New World Translation (follow link for online version).

Salvation is from God, Jehovah.

• Psalm 62:1-2  Indeed, I wait silently for God. My salvation comes from him. Indeed, he is my rock and my salvation, my secure refuge; I will never be greatly shaken.
• Jonah 2:9  But as for me, with the voice of thanksgiving I will sacrifice to you. What I have vowed, I will pay. Salvation is from Jehovah.”

Salvation is from Jesus.

• Acts 4:12  Furthermore, there is no salvation in anyone else, for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must get saved.”
• Titus 3:4-7  However, when the kindness of our Savior, God, and his love for mankind were manifested (not because of any righteous works we had done, but because of his own mercy), he saved us by means of the bath that brought us to life and by making us new by holy spirit. He poured this spirit out richly on us through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that after being declared righteous through the undeserved kindness of that one, we might become heirs according to a hope of everlasting life.

Conclusion: Jesus is God.

Jesus, the Word, created all things.

• John 1:3  All things came into existence through him, and apart from him not even one thing came into existence.

God created all things.

• Ephesians 3:9  and should make everyone see the administration of the sacred secret that has been hidden through the ages in God, who created all things.

Conclusion: Jesus is God.

The Son (Jesus) laid foundations of the earth.

• Hebrews 1:8-12  But about the Son, he says: “God is your throne forever and ever, and the scepter of your Kingdom is the scepter of uprightness. You loved righteousness, and you hated lawlessness. That is why God, your God, anointed your with the oil of exultation more than your companions.” And: “At the beginning, O Lord, you laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the works of your hands. They will perish, but you will remain; and just like a garment, they will all wear out, and you will wrap them up just as a cloak, as a garment, and they will be changed. But you are the same, and your years will never come to an end.”

God laid the foundations of the earth.

• Psalm 102:24-26  I said: “O my God, Do not do away with me in the middle of my life, You whose years span all generations. Long ago you laid the foundations of the earth, And the heavens are the work of your hands.  They will perish, but you will remain; Just like a garment they will all wear out. Just like clothing you will replace them, and they will pass away.

Conclusion: Jesus is God.

John refers this testimony of glory to Jesus.

• John 12:37-41  Although he had performed so many signs before them, they were not putting faith in him, so that the word of Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled, who said: “Jehovah, who has put faith in the thing heard from us? And as for the arm of Jehovah, to whom has it been revealed?”  The reason why they were not able to believe is that again Isaiah said: “He has blinded their eyes and has made their hearts hard, so that they would not see with their eyes and understand with their hearts and turn around and I heal them.”  Isaiah said these things because he saw his glory, and he spoke about him. (Saw whose glory? Jehovah’s: Isaiah 6:1)

Isaiah refers this testimony of glory to Jehovah.

• Isaiah 6: 9-11  And he replied, “Go, and say to this people: ‘You will hear again and again, But you will not understand; You will see again and again, But you will not get any knowledge.’  Make the heart of this people unreceptive, Make their ears unresponsive, And paste their eyes together, So that they may not see with their eyes And hear with their ears, So that their heart may not understand And they may not turn back and be healed.” At this I said: “How long, O Jehovah?” …

Conclusion: Jesus is Jehovah.

Jesus received the praise “Save” out of the mouth of children and infants, fulfilling Psalm 8:2.

• Matthew 21:15-16  When the chief priests and the scribes saw the marvelous things he did and the boys who were shouting in the temple, “Save, we pray, the Son of David!” they became indignant and said to him: “Do you hear what these are saying?” Jesus said to them: “Yes. Did you never read this, ‘Out of the mouth of children and infants, you have brought forth praise’?”

The praise out of the mouth of children and infants in Psalm 8:2 was for Jehovah.

• Psalm 8:1-2  O Jehovah our Lord, how majestic your name is throughout the earth; You have set your splendor even higher than the heavens! Out of the mouth of children and infants you have established strength On account of your adversaries, To silence the enemy and the avenger.

Conclusion: Jesus is Jehovah.

Jehovah God is the first and last.

• Isaiah 44:6  This is what Jehovah says, The King of Israel and his Repurchaser, Jehovah of armies: ‘I am the first and I am the last. There is no God but me.
• Isaiah 48:12  Listen to me, O Jacob, and Israel, whom I have called. I am the same One. I am the first; I am also the last.
• Revelation 1:8  “I am the Alʹpha and the O·meʹga,” says Jehovah* God, “the One who is and who was and who is coming, the Almighty.”

Jesus is the first and last.

• Revelation 1:17-18  When I saw him, I fell as dead at his feet. And he laid his right hand on me and said: “Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last, and the living one, and I became dead, but look! I am living forever and ever, and I have the keys of death and of the Grave.
• Revelation 2:8  “And to the angel of the congregation in Smyrʹna write: These are the things that he says, ‘the First and the Last,’ who became dead and came to life again:
• Revelation 22:13  I am the Alʹpha and the O·meʹga, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.

Conclusion: Jesus is Jehovah God.

Please prayerfully consider the testimony of Jesus that remains in the New World Translation, even though the translators themselves did not believe it.

• John 5:39  “You are searching the Scriptures because you think that you will have everlasting life by means of them; and these are the very ones that bear witness about me [i.e., Jesus].
• 2 Timothy 2:9  ...the word of God is not bound.

KJV to "UNV" to KJVO: a Journey

As I noted Tuesday, I have written a fair amount regarding the King James Bible. Many people probably assume us “older folks” just grew up with the King James and are therefore predisposed to use it. I suppose there is some truth in that, but it doesn’t reflect the whole story.

My first Bible was a King James Version. For the most part, my memories go back to the early 1960s. Back then in “our” churches everyone used the King James Bible, but there was little talk or teaching about it.[i] Folks just believed their Bible was trustworthy and were skeptical of the new Revised Standard Version. Seems most Baptists in the South warned against the RSV.[ii] The New American Standard Bible was once mentioned in our pulpit by a young visiting preacher. His idea of it was that the NASB was just the KJV with some newer, more up-to-date words (“you” for “thou” type stuff). I think everyone took his statement at face value and there was no action or reaction about it.[iii]

I own several print versions of the Bible, from a first edition facsimile reproduction of the 1611 King James Bible to a New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures published by the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of the Jehovah’s Witnesses – even a few foreign language Bibles thrown in for good measure (whether I can read them or not!). I don’t I think ever carried a different version of the Bible to use in church, but I was not committed to the sole use of the King James Bible. In Sunday School when I was a nearly-grown teenager I would read from the King James Bible and “translate” it into modern English as I was read (changing pronouns and verbs and such like). I think I had a Living Bible back when those were popular. Most older people used and trusted the King James Bible, but I don’t remember any specific talk or discussion of “King James Only” in our circles.

In the fall after I surrendered to preach, I enrolled in a Bible College – against the better judgment of some and at the urging of others. “The story you are about to hear is true. The names have been changed to protect the innocent” (though no names are mentioned and no one was innocent). The Bible College was generally conservative but somewhat progressive. They took the position on the Bible that only the original autographs were inspired. Its current doctrinal statement on the subject affirms, “The Holy Scriptures, which we call, ‘The Bible,’ in their original expression, are the Words of God; they are verbally inspired and the author of them is God.” It was here I began my journey back to the King James Bible.

This Bible College was covertly “anti-King James.” They did not appear so outwardly to the churches, but were so within the four walls of their sanctum. I was “UNV” – unaligned and largely unaware of the versions debate. It was the school’s mixed message which eventually caused me to study the subject of Bible versions and decide I preferred the King James Bible. I read books such as Which Bible by David Otis Fuller (pro) and The King James Version Debate by D. A. Carson (con), as well as The Men Behind the King James Version by Gustavus S. Paine (about the translators).[iv]

Most of the instructors at the Bible College were also pastors. Most were from generations that grew up using the King James Bible, and they preached from the King James Bible in their churches.[v] Though they took the position that only the autographs were inspired and that other versions – particularly the NASB – were better than the KJV, they always recommended the student preachers to use the King James Bible when they visited and filled in at churches. In the classroom they spoke plainly about their opinions of the King James Bible. In the pulpit – not so much! One leading professor emphatically exclaimed to his class (which I was in), “I had just as soon use a Catholic Bible as an Anglican Bible.”[vi] In my second year one of the instructors began a chapel series on one of the letters of Peter.[vii] The lesson began with his translation from the Greek (UBS/Nestle-Aland) and proceeded with a litany of what was wrong with the King James translation of this or that. After several weeks I had more of this than I could take and quit going to chapel. I can only assume that the series continued in the anti-KJV rhetoric with which it began. At the end of the year I concluded that higher-learning experience and did not return. The quest of learning about the Bible continued as part of my larger journey of learning about the church.

So there you have it. A journey. An outwardly neutral anti-KJV school took an unaligned student and turned him toward a KJV-Only supporter. It doesn’t make me right or wrong, but it is my journey. It is not what many people might suppose about (so-called) “older” King James Bible supporters. It is not just a default position.

---

[i] For example, the Sunday School material used the King James Bible, but a writer might comment on a Greek or Hebrew word and suggest “a better translation.” Back then I don’t suppose any of our people had ever even heard of “KJVO.”

[ii] I believe the American Baptist Association, Baptist Missionary Association, and Southern Baptist Convention all made resolutions against it.

[iii] His idea was incorrect, though he may have believed what he said.

[iv] These are a sample of where I started my search.

[v] There was one exception of which I was aware. He used the NASB.

[vi] But he didn’t use the Catholic Bible – and he did use the Anglican Bible.

[vii] I forget whether it was First or Second Peter. I think it was First and that he eventually went through both.

Testimony of Joel Hume

TESTIMONY OF JOEL HUME (a Regular Baptist Elder)

The following Christian experience was related by Joel Hume (Regular Baptist) during a debate with Benoni Stinson (General Baptist) on the atonement. The debate was held in 1863 in the state of Indiana. The remarks were occasioned by Hume misunderstanding Stinson’s position on the Christian experience. Stinson later stated that the misunderstanding had brought forth a wonderful testimony, and that he had no disagreement with Hume on the experience of salvation. Whatever differences Regular and General Baptists had in 1863, they both held that salvation was a definite heartfelt experience with God.

"If I know anything about Christian experience, I will say that there was a time when I cared no more about my own soul than if I had had none. I had no desire to go to church, nor to read the Bible; I had no desire to hear any talk on that subject. I was not seeking the Saviour: I was running away from God—sinning against Him with a high hand and an outstretched arm; but I shall never forget, while I am allowed a place upon God’s footstool, the first serious thought that crossed my mind upon the subject of Christianity. I have heard men talk about agencies and instrumentalities in this grand work, but if there was any agency In my awakening to my condition as a sinner, it was the abominable practice of blaspheming the name of God. At that time I was working as a hand upon a steamboat. There I heard the most blasphemous oaths that ever disgraced humanity, and the thought occurred to my mind, what an awful wicked set of beings you are; and the next thought was, you are as bad as they. These men pour out all that is in them. while you conceal it up as filth. I ask you, friends, was I choosing—was I desiring? Surely not. But from that hour till the day I trusted in God, I was unable to see how God could be just and save sinners. I chose holiness and despised sin, and never shall I forget the last afternoon of the deep agony of my soul; it was in a paw-paw thicket, in the east end of this state. My soul feels deep interested when think upon that dark and gloomy evening. I left the spot with this conviction: hell is my portion; I am doomed and there is no mercy for such a rebel as you. I went to the little cabin in which I was living, and leaned against the wall and closed my eyes. O, Christian friends! if my tongue had been taken out by the roots, every breath would have gone up to God in prayer. Till then I was not seeking Christ, but he sought me and found me. Christ revealed Himself to me. I would say to every sinner, I care not what your names, if you live as Christians, have not these been some of your exercises?"

As printed in The Baptist Waymark, Vol. IV, No. 2, Mar-Apr 1996, p. 3 (Originally found in A Debate on the Doctrine of Atonement, Between Rev. Joel Hume...and Rev. Benoni Stinson, Cincinnati, OH: E. Morgan and Co., 1863, pp. 139-141)

Morrell sounds warning bell

Z. N. Morrell* (1803—1883) was one of the early Baptist preachers in Texas. He came from Tennessee to Texas in 1835 at the age of 32. An excerpt from a memorial sermon by M. V. Smith portrays what our Texas Baptist forebears believed.

"He (Morrell) condemned surface work in the revival meeting, deplored laxiness in receiving members, and insisted on purging our churches, as far as possible, of unregenerate material. He believed that if the heart was changed, an applicant for membership could, in some way, make it known; and he was opposed to the increasing practice of asking leading questions of applicants for baptism. He said, ‘If they know anything of conviction for sin, penitence, faith in Christ, and the joys of salvation, they can tell it.’" 

From Flowers and Fruits, as quoted in The Baptist Waymark, August 1986, Vol. 1 No. 3, p. 3

* Morrell was born on January 17, 1803, in South Carolina and died in Kyle, Texas on December 19, 1883. His given names are in dispute, variously called Zachariah, Zacharius, and Zenos, with some claiming the name Nehemiah for his middle name.

Glorying Only In The Cross

“God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,” Galatians 6:14

"I cannot, and, God helping me, I will not, while the Lord gives me strength to open my poor mouth, but speak well of love in God and the Holy Spirit, for it was He that laid hold of me in my mad career of sin, put a cry into my heart to cry unto God, and stopped me from going about to establish a righteousness of my own. His invisible hand kept me from being my own murderer. He revealed in my heart pardoning blood and IMPUTED RIGHTEOUSNESS; and some scores of times, when the enemy has come into my poor soul with such a tremendous flood of awful blasphemies against the Holy Trinity, especially against the Holy Spirit, that I have been sunk so low that at times I could see no more hope that God would ever appear in love and mercy for me than He would appear for devils, He has, bless His dear Name, lifted up again a glorious standard, and brought me up again out the horrible pit, and set my feet again upon the Rock of ages."

John Warburton (1776–1857), English Baptist, as quoted in Shreveport Grace Church Bulletin - August 16, 2009