Day 1480 – You Can Do It – Wisdom Unplugged

September 22, 2020 by H. Guthrie Chamberlain, III Leave a Comment

Welcome to Day 1480 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.

This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom

You Can Do It – Wisdom Unplugged

Today’s quote is from Charles G. Finney, and it is: If God commands something, that is the highest evidence that we can do it.

You Can Do It

It is so easy to make excuses for actions not taken, or decisions not made. It is easy to make excuses or blame someone else for failures in our lives. In most cases though, our excuses are quite pathetic and flimsy. In many cases, excuses are made for not completing something we can achieve; therefore, we are not fulfilling our God-given abilities. Achievement is especially true of God’s precepts for living. These precepts are already written in God’s Word. My next statement may sound controversial at first, but it is Biblically based. There are many situations or circumstances in life that you don’t need to pray about. Most guidelines for living for God are already told to us in the pages of His Word. God has already given us everything we need to live a Godly life. You don’t have to pray about them. That being said, ask yourself, why am I making excuses? If God commands us, he also equips us. Free yourself and your mindset from making excuses. Instead, speak words of affirmation which are based on God’s Word. Based on the wisdom and truths available to us, I have something to tell you. Are you listening? Will you believe it when I tell you? Here is the secret: You Can Do It!

2 Peter 1:3

By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence.

That’s a wrap for today’s Wisdom Unplugged quote. If you would like free access to my database of over 11,000 inspirational quotes, the link is available on the main page of Wisdom-Trek.com. Just as you enjoy these nuggets of wisdom, encourage your friends and family to join us and then come along tomorrow for another day of ‘Wisdom-Trek, Creating a Legacy.’ If you would like to listen to any of our past 1479 treks or read the Wisdom Journal, they are available at Wisdom-Trek.com. I encourage you to subscribe to Wisdom-Trek on your favorite podcast player so that each day’s trek will be downloaded automatically.

Thank you for allowing me to be your guide, mentor, and most importantly, I am your friend as I serve you in through this Wisdom-Trek podcast and journal each day.

As we take this Trek of life together, let us always:

Live Abundantly (Fully)
Love Unconditionally
Listen Intentionally
Learn Continuously
Lend to others Generously
Lead with Integrity
Leave a Living Legacy Each Day

I am Guthrie Chamberlain….reminding you to ’Keep Moving Forward,’ ‘Enjoy your Journey,’ and ‘Create a Great Day…Everyday’! See you tomorrow for Worldview Wednesday!

Day 1479 – Bible Study – God Desires Us to Learn and Understand – Meditation Monday

September 21, 2020 by H. Guthrie Chamberlain, III Leave a Comment

Welcome to Day 1479 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.

This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom

Bible Study – God Desires Us To Learn and Understand – Meditation Monday

We are continuing our series this week on Meditation Monday as we focus on Mastering Bible Study through a series of brief insights from Hebrew Scholar, Dr. Michael S. Heiser. Our current insights are focusing on study habits to build a strong foundation. Today let us meditate on:

Bible Study – God Desires Us To Learn and Understand

· Insight Twenty-One: Believe That God Will Help You

God wants us to understand Scripture. It stands to reason, then, that he’s perfectly willing to help us do that. I’m not talking about including a formulaic prayer for assistance when you begin your Bible study. I’m not recommending a specific prayer at all, though that’s appropriate. I’m suggesting that you go into Bible study expecting God to help you with something he already wants you to do.

This is how Dr. Heiser explains it. “I learned this lesson in some startling ways in graduate school. I chose a controversial topic for my dissertation. Granted, every dissertation is supposed to blaze a new path, but mine had an element of risk. I was bucking consensus opinions because I thought I’d noticed something unaddressed in centuries (really, millennia) of scholarship about the Hebrew Bible. In grad school, it isn’t enough to say; I don’t think the way everyone else does. You have to offer something coherent and defend it adequately to please a room full of top-tier scholars.

One day I walked into the library absorbed with a particularly vexing problem that I couldn’t unravel in my mind. I was there because I’d come across a reference to an essay in a book that sounded like it might be useful. I went to the stacks to get the volume, and, inexplicably, it wasn’t there. The computer catalog said it had not been checked out, but all I saw on the shelf was a rectangular hole. I had to get to work, so I turned around to leave. My eye fell on a random book whose title I’d never seen. Something told me to open it. I did. To my astonishment, there was an essay in the Table of Contents on precisely what I was struggling with.

I hadn’t prayed before that first incident, but I knew God was looking out for me. I’d do my research and go to the library and tell God I needed direction. I was honest. There were times I felt lost with my topic.

God helped me. The experience I described above was repeated a half-dozen times while writing my dissertation. It got to the point where I wouldn’t leave the library without checking the books on either side of one I’d come for. I always check the shelf behind me, too

· Insight Twenty-Two: Believing What the Bible Says In Not Bible Study

Not all of the obstacles to studying the Bible are negative such as, not having enough time, not being sure you’ll do it right, not feeling smart enough, not knowing where to start, among other excuses. Sometimes it’s what we affirm or agree with that gets in the way.

I’ve been a Christian for over fifty years. I’ve been to several churches, talked to many people, and taught many adult and youth group Bible lessons. I’ve taught dozens of students in Bible classes over the years. I’m sympathetic to people whose fears impede their progress in Bible study. I’ve been there, so none of those uncertainties irritate me. But one excuse I’ve heard over the years bothers me. It is: I already believe what’s in the Bible, so why do I need to study it? This doesn’t settle with me.

Think about what such a statement says:

What I know and believe is the important stuff.
My faith is based on something someone told me.
I believe what I can t necessarily explain and might not understand.

It may sound harsh, but the presumption that our faith exempts us from thinking clearly about what we believe reveals both a lack of faith and personal insecurity. We fear our beliefs cannot stand scrutiny or that we don’t have the mental muscle to probe Scripture deeply. Frankly, we’ve been conditioned to embrace such flawed conclusions by our Christian communities. Churches are filled with people who are sincere about their faith. They aren’t waffling about the basics of the faith. If every sermon goes back to the simple gospel message, it’s reasonable for them to conclude it makes little sense to study what they already embrace.

That may have “worked” in times past, but we’re living in a different world today. Parents and pastors are no longer the gatekeepers of information and truth. Google and YouTube are. The next generation, and many in our generation, aren’t listening to only Christian voices.

I’m not suggesting that evangelism or the health of the church in the next generation depends on being able to win debates, though losing them will certainly not help. People indeed turn from the Bible despite having access to sound thinking. Immaturity, worldliness, and rebellion are all factors. What I’m saying is what we read in 1 Peter 3:15 Instead, you must worship Christ as Lord of your life. And if someone asks about your hope as a believer, always be ready to explain it. You can’t rely on what your parents or your pastor told you alone. You must study the Scriptures for yourself. Otherwise, your voice will be no more credible than anyone else whose beliefs are just hand-me-downs.

Joshua 1:8

Study this Book of Instruction continually. Meditate on it day and night so you will be sure to obey everything written in it. Only then will you prosper and succeed in all you do.

That is a wrap for today’s Meditation. Next week we will continue our trek on Meditation Monday as we take time to reflect on what is most important in creating our living legacy. On tomorrow’s trek, we will explore another wisdom quote. This 3-minute wisdom supplement will assist you in becoming healthy, wealthy, and wise each day. Thank you for joining me on this trek called life. Encourage your friends and family to join us and then come along tomorrow for another day of ‘Wisdom-Trek, Creating a Legacy.’

If you would like to listen to any of the past 1478 daily treks or read the daily Journal, they are available at Wisdom-Trek.com. I encourage you to subscribe to Wisdom-Trek on your favorite podcast player so that each day will be downloaded to you automatically.

Thank you for allowing me to be your guide, mentor, and most importantly, I am your friend as I serve you through this Wisdom-Trek podcast and Journal.

As we take this Trek of life together, let us always:

Live Abundantly (Fully)
Love Unconditionally
Listen Intentionally
Learn Continuously
Lend to others Generously
Lead with Integrity
Leave a Living Legacy Each Day

I am Guthrie Chamberlain….reminding you to ’Keep Moving Forward,’ ‘Enjoy your Journey,’ and ‘Create a Great Day…Everyday’! See you tomorrow!

Day 1478 – Faster Transportation – Ask Gramps

September 18, 2020 by H. Guthrie Chamberlain, III Leave a Comment

Welcome to Day 1478 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.

This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom

Faster Transportation – Ask Gramps

To keep with our theme of “Ask Gramps,” I will put our weekly topics in the form of a question to get us on track. This week’s question is, Hey Gramps, In addition to autonomous and flying vehicles, what are some other modes of transportation that will be part of our future?

Faster Transporation

Last week we learned how AI, Robots, and Drones could assist during natural or human-made disasters. This week our focus will be on super-fast transportation. I am using some of the information mentioned in Peter Diamandis’s blogs and book “The Future is Faster Than You Think.”

What’s faster than autonomous vehicles and flying cars?

Try Hyperloop, rocket travel, and robotic avatars.

Hyperloop is currently working towards 670 mph (1080 kph)passenger pods, capable of zipping us from Los Angeles to downtown Las Vegas in under 30 minutes.

Low Orbit Rocket Travel (think SpaceX’s Starship) promises to deliver you almost anywhere on the planet in under an hour. Think New York to Shanghai in 39 minutes.

But wait, it gets even better…

As 5G connectivity, hyper-realistic VR, and next-gen robotics continue their exponential progress, the emergence of “Robotic Avatars” will all but nullify the concept of distance, replacing human travel with immediate remote telepresence.

Let’s dive in.

Hyperloop One: Los Angeles to San Francisco in 35 Minutes

Did you know that Hyperloop was the brainchild of Elon Musk? It is just one in a series of transportation innovations from a man determined to leave his mark on the industry.

In 2013, in an attempt to shorten the long commute between Los Angeles and San Francisco, the California state legislature proposed a $68 billion budget allocation for what appeared to be the slowest and most expensive bullet train in history.

Musk was outraged. The cost was too high, the train too sluggish. Teaming up with a group of engineers from Tesla and SpaceX, he published a 58-page concept paper for “The Hyperloop,” a high-speed transportation network that used magnetic levitation to propel passenger pods down vacuum tubes at speeds of up to 670 mph.

If successful, it would zip you across California in 35 minutes—just enough time to watch your favorite sitcom. In January 2013, venture capitalist Shervin Pishevar, with Musk’s blessing, started Hyperloop One with Peter Diamandis, Jim Messina (former White House Deputy Chief of Staff for President Obama), and tech entrepreneurs Joe Lonsdale and David Sacks, as founding board members.

A couple of years after that, the Virgin Group invested in this idea, Richard Branson was elected chairman, and Virgin Hyperloop One was born.

Josh Giegel, co-founder and chief technology officer of Hyperloop One, says, “The Hyperloop exists, because of the rapid acceleration of power electronics, computational modeling, material sciences, and 3D printing.”

Thanks to these convergences, there are now ten major Hyperloop One projects—in various stages of development—spread across the globe. Chicago to DC in 35 minutes. Pune to Mumbai in 25 minutes.

According to Giegel: “Hyperloop is targeting certification in 2023. By 2025, the company plans to have multiple projects under construction and running initial passenger testing.”

So think about this timetable: Autonomous car rollouts by 2020: hyperloop certification and aerial ride-sharing by 2023. By 2025— going on vacation might have a totally different meaning. Going to work most definitely will.

On September 15^th, just three days ago, Elon Musk announced that the Loop Tunnel under Las Vegas is nearly complete. This experimental, novel tunnel will carry 16 passengers maximum, up to 155 MPH along its underground tunnels. This prototype is just the beginning.

But what’s faster than Hyperloop?

Rocket Travel

As if autonomous vehicles, flying cars, and Hyperloop weren’t enough, a couple of years ago, while speaking at the International Astronautical Congress in Adelaide, Australia, Musk promised that for the price of an economy airline ticket, his rockets will fly you “anywhere on Earth in under an hour.”

Musk wants to use SpaceX’s mega-rocket, Starship, which was designed to take humans to Mars, for terrestrial passenger delivery. The Starship travels at 17,500 mph. It’s an order of magnitude faster than the supersonic jet Concorde.

Think about what this actually means: New York to Shanghai in thirty-nine minutes. London to Dubai in twenty-nine minutes. Hong Kong to Singapore in twenty-two minutes.

So how real is the Starship?

“We could probably demonstrate this [technology] before the end of this decade,” Musk explained, “but it’s going to take a while to get the safety right. It’s a high bar. Aviation is incredibly safe. You’re safer on an airplane than you are at home.”That demonstration is proceeding as planned. Musk announced his intentions to retire his current rocket fleet, both the Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy, and replace them with the Starships in the 2020s.

LA mayor Eric Garcetti tweeted that SpaceX was planning to break ground on an eighteen-acre rocket production facility near the Port of Los Angeles. April of last year marked an even more significant milestone: the very first test flights of the Starship rocket. The fact is, sometime in the next decade or so, “off to Europe for lunch” may become a standard part of our lexicon.

Avatars

Wait, wait, there’s one more thing.

While Technologies such as self-driving and flying cars and Hyperloop and low orbit rockets will radically change the traditional transportation industry, there’s something on the horizon that will disrupt travel itself.

What if, to get from A to B, you didn’t have to move your body? What if you could quote Captain Kirk and just say: “Beam me up, Scotty.” Well, shy of the Star Trek transporter, there’s the world of avatars.

An avatar is a second self, typically in one of two forms. The digital version has been around for a couple of decades. It emerged from the video game industry and was popularized by virtual world sites like Second Life and books-turned-blockbusters like Ready Player One.

A VR headset teleports your eyes and ears to another location, while a set of haptic sensors shifts your sense of touch. Suddenly, you’re inside an avatar inside a virtual world. As you move in the real world, your avatar moves in the virtual.

Use this technology to give a lecture, and you can do it from the comfort of your living room, skipping the trip to the airport, the cross-country flight, and the ride to the conference center. The Covid-19 pandemic will accelerate this by several years.

Robots are the second form of avatars. Imagine a humanoid robot that you can occupy at will. Maybe, in a city far from home, you’ve rented the bot by the minute—via a different kind of ride-sharing company—or perhaps you have spare robot avatars located around the country.

Either way, put on VR goggles and a haptic suit, and you can teleport your senses into that robot. This allows you to walk around, shake hands, and take action without leaving your home. Like the rest of the tech we’ve been talking about, even this future isn’t far away.

In 2018, entrepreneur Dr. Harry Kloor recommended to All Nippon Airways (ANA), Japan’s largest airline, the design of an Avatar XPRIZE. ANA then funded this vision to the tune of $10 million to speed the development of robotic avatars. Why? Because ANA knows this is one of the technologies likely to disrupt their own airline industry, and they want to be ready.

ANA recently announced its “newme” robot that humans can use to explore new places virtually. The colorful robots have Roomba-like wheeled bases and cameras mounted around eye-level, which capture surroundings viewable through VR headsets.

If the robot was stationed in your parents’ home, you could cruise around the rooms and chat with your family at any time of day. After revealing the technology at Tokyo’s Combined Exhibition of Advanced Technologies in October, ANA plans to deploy 1,000 newme’s by 2021. With virtual avatars like “newme,” geography, distance, and cost will no longer limit our travel choices.

From attractions like the Eiffel Tower, or the pyramids of Egypt, to unreachable destinations like the Moon or deep sea, we will be able to transcend our own physical limits, explore the world and outer space, and access nearly any experience imaginable.

Final Thoughts About Transportation

Individual car ownership has enjoyed over a century of ascendency and dominance. The first real threat it faced—today’s ride-sharing model—only showed up in the last decade. But that ride-sharing model won’t even get ten years to dominate.

Already, it’s on the brink of autonomous car displacement, which is on the brink of flying car disruption, which is on the brink of Hyperloop and rockets-to-anywhere decimation. Then there is the morphing of avatars. The most important part: All of this change will happen over the next ten to fifteen years.

Welcome to a future of human presence where the only constant is rapid change.

Imagine how all of this technology will also allow us to rapidly spread the Good News of Jesus Christ and facilitate the building of God’s Kingdom on earth, as it is in heaven. As more people all over the world become hyper-connected, there will be no limit to our reach. I have to admit, I do get excited when I dream of the potential that emerging technology will provide to us in the next few decades.

Mark 16:15

And then he told them, “Go into all the world and preach the Good News to everyone.

That is a wrap for today’s question. Join us again next Futuristic Friday as we look at another exciting exponential technology area on our ‘Ask Gramps’ episode. Our next trek is Meditation Monday, where we will help you reflect on what is most important in life. So encourage your friends and family to join us and then come along on Monday for another day of ‘Wisdom-Trek, Creating a Legacy.’ If you would like to listen to any of the past 1477 daily treks or read the associated journals, they are available at Wisdom-Trek.com. I encourage you to subscribe to Wisdom-Trek on your favorite podcast player so that each day will be downloaded to you automatically.

Thank you for allowing me to be your guide, mentor, but most importantly, I am your friend as I serve you in through this Wisdom-Trek podcast and journal.

As we take this Trek of life together, let us always:

Live Abundantly (Fully)
Love Unconditionally
Listen Intentionally
Learn Continuously
Lend to others Generously
Lead with Integrity
Leave a Living Legacy Each Day

I am Guthrie Chamberlain….reminding you to ’Keep Moving Forward,’ ‘Enjoy your Journey,’ and ‘Create a Great Day…Everyday’! See you on Monday!

Day 1477 – Watch What You Say – Humor Unplugged

September 17, 2020 by H. Guthrie Chamberlain, III Leave a Comment

Welcome to Day 1477 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.

This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom

Watch What You Say – Humor Unplugged

Wisdom – the final frontier to true knowledge. Welcome to Wisdom-Trek where our mission is to create a legacy of wisdom, to seek out discernment and insights, and to boldly grow where few have chosen to grow before.

Hello, my friend, I am Guthrie Chamberlain, your Captain on our journey to increase wisdom and create a living legacy. Thank you for joining us today as we explore wisdom on our 2nd millennium of podcasts. This is Day 1477 of our trek, and it is time for our 3-minute mini-trek called Humor Unplugged. Our Thursday podcast will provide a short and clean funny story to help you lighten up and live a rich and satisfying life – something to cheer you and give a bit a levity in your life.

We are told in Proverbs 15:30, “A cheerful look brings joy to the heart; good news makes for good health.” We are also encouraged in Proverbs 17:22, “A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a broken spirit saps a person’s strength.” Consider this your vitamin supplement of cheer for today. So let’s jump right in with today’s funny which is titled…

Watch What You Say

Miss Jones, the first-grade teacher at Walnut Hill Elementary School was so excited for the start of her first year of teaching. On the first day of class, she stood proudly by her classroom door and greeted each child. As each of the children passed her, she stooped down, introduced herself, and asked them their name.

Once all the children were seated she asked them all to turn to lesson one in their math book. From the back of the room, she overhead little Johnny let out a string of bad words. Not quite sure that she believed what she heard, she said, “Johnny, what did you just say?” So Johnny piped up and proudly repeated it.

Miss Jones was astonished that any first grader would use such language. She sternly said, “Little Johnny, don’t you ever use language like that again, not near me, not ever! Where on earth did you learn that?” Looking a bit bewildered, Johnny replied, “I learned it from my dad, Miss Jones.”

Indignant, Miss Jones said, “Well, your daddy should be ashamed. I hope you don’t know what all that even means?” Johnny shrugged his shoulders and said, “Oh, but I do; it means the car won’t start.”

I hope that brought a smile to your face today. If it did, pass your smile on to someone else; we all could use a kind smile each day. Our Thursday thought is, “Children seldom misquote. In fact, they usually repeat word for word what you should not have said.”

Here is our verse for today.

Proverbs 15:28

The heart of the godly thinks carefully before speaking; the mouth of the wicked overflows with evil words.

As you enjoy these nuggets of humor, please encourage your friends and family to join us and then come along tomorrow for another day of our Wisdom-Trek, Creating a Legacy.

If you would like to listen to any of our past 1476 treks or read the Wisdom Journal, they are all available at Wisdom-Trek.com. I encourage you to subscribe to Wisdom-Trek on your favorite podcast player so that each day will be downloaded to you automatically.

Thank you for allowing me to be your guide, mentor, and, most of all, your friend as I serve you through this Wisdom-Trek podcast and journal.

As we take this trek together, let us always:

Live Abundantly (Fully)
Love Unconditionally
Listen Intentionally
Learn Continuously
Lend to others Generously
Lead with Integrity
Leave a Living Legacy Each Day

I am Guthrie Chamberlain reminding you to Keep Moving Forward, Enjoy Your Journey, and Create a Great Day Everyday! See you tomorrow for Futuristic Friday!

Day 1476 – None Beside Me, and The Only Begotten Son – Worldview Wednesday

September 16, 2020 by H. Guthrie Chamberlain, III Leave a Comment

Welcome to Day 1476 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.

I am Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom

None Beside Me, and The Only Begotten Son – Worldview Wednesday

Wisdom – the final frontier to true knowledge. Welcome to Wisdom-Trek! Where our mission is to create a legacy of wisdom, to seek out discernment and insights, to boldly grow where few have chosen to grow before. Hello, my friend, I am Guthrie Chamberlain, your captain on our journey to increase Wisdom and Create a Living Legacy. Thank you for joining us today as we explore wisdom on our 2nd millennium of podcasts. Today is Day 1476 of our Trek, and it is Worldview Wednesday. Creating a Biblical Worldview is essential to have a proper perspective on today’s current events. To establish a Biblical Worldview, you must have a proper understanding of God and His Word. This week, on our Worldview Wednesday episode, we will continue with our study based on a course I recently completed taught by Dr. Michael Heiser. Our study is titled “Sons and Daughters of God: The Believer’s Identity, Calling, and Destiny” Throughout this multi-week course, we will demonstrate that, in the Old Testament, “sons of God” and “holy ones” refers to supernatural beings whose Father is God and who work with God to carry out His will and that this divine family was present before humanity. By fully engaging with biblical texts such as Psalm 82; Psalm 89, and Deuteronomy 32:8–9, our study will show that this divine family functions as a template for God’s human family. God desires of humans, as His imagers, to participate in His council. This study addresses issues such as polytheism, the nature of the (little ‘g’) “gods,” and the uniqueness of Yahweh. Within this study, we will apply insights to the New Testament texts and shows how the metaphor of being in God’s family informs our sense of identity and mission as believers.

None Beside Me, and The Only Begotten Son

· Segment 18: “None Beside Me” (Part 3)

Incomparability Claim of Cities

As we continue on the topic of “None Beside Me,” there is one last thing I want to say about the so-called denial statements. There are other places in the Hebrew Bible where these are used. That is the same statements in situations or contexts that make it very obvious that denial of existence cannot be in the picture. For instance, in Isaiah 47:1, 8, 10, and Zepheniah 2:13, 15, in these passages respectively, the city of Babylon in the Isaiah reference and the city of Nineveh in the Zephaniah reference both claim, both say, “There is none beside me.”

Now, are we really going to believe that Babylon and Nineveh respectively actually thought, or wanted us to think, or the writer wanted us to think, that there was no other city than Babylon in existence, there was no other city but Nineveh in existence at the time of Zephaniah? Well, of course not. That would be absurd. There are hundreds and thousands of other cities in existence.

The point of the phrase “there is none beside me” is very clearly a claim of incomparability. Babylon is boasting, “There is nobody as good as me. There is nobody like me. No city measures up.” For the Assyrians, that’s how they thought about Nineveh: “Nineveh is the best. Nineveh is incomparable.”

Summary

So we have the same phrases used in contexts where, very obviously, a denial of existence just cannot work in any coherent way. That’s how we need to think about the denial phrases. When they are used in passages that seem to, on the one hand, deny the existence of the other elohim, but then you have all these other passages and sometimes even the same passage saying, “No, the elohim are real, and they are dangerous; they need to be dealt with. They are hostile to God. God is greater than them.” We can’t, on the one hand, affirm that they don’t exist and then have these other ideas (God’s incomparability to them, God’s greatness) mean anything.

The only way to do that is to say, “Yes, they are real.” The biblical writers thought they were real, and relatively speaking, they were nothing compared to the God of Israel.

· Segment 19: Jesus, the “Only Begotten” Son?

Introduction

The remaining question is: What do we do with Jesus? If you remember when we listed the questions that extend from all these “sons of God” languages in the Old Testament, we asked, “How do we align what the New Testament says about Jesus to all of this Old Testament material?” What we meant there was, in particular, New Testament verses (like John 3:16), we have Jesus described as the “only begotten Son.” But now, we’ve got all this Old Testament material with lots of “sons of God” in the picture. How do we bring these two things together? Is there a contradiction? What do we do here?

Meaning of Monogenēs

Well, the key here is to think correctly about monogenēs. That’s a Greek term—the one that gets translated “only begotten” in verses like John 3:16: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten son [monogenēs].”

So, what do we do with that? And why bring it up? Scholars used to think well into the late nineteenth century, spilling into the twentieth century that monogenēs was a combination of two Greek words: monos, which means “only,” and genaō. This verb means “to beget,” “to have children.” So, you put those things together, and you get “only begotten.” That’s typically the way monogenēs got translated in English Bibles.

More recent discoveries, though, in the Greek language and really Greek literature widely that matched and aligned itself very well with biblical material revealed that that was a mistaken notion. Monogenēs was not from monos and genaō; it was from monos, which means again “only,” and genē, which means “kind.” So monogenēs really means “one of a kind” or “unique.” That actually clears up the matter pretty well.

Jesus Is Yahweh Incarnate

We can have Jesus being the monogenēs son of God, the unique son of God, and still have other sons of God, other divine beings in the Old Testament, in the picture. There is something that made Jesus unique. What is that? Well, He is God incarnate; He’s Yahweh. The other sons of God, which we talked about at length in previous weeks, are not Yahweh; they are lesser.

Isaac Monogenēs but Not “Only Begotten”

So there’s really not a contradiction or a problem here. It’s really deriving from the English translation that the confusion comes. Now, the real proof of this is Hebrews 11:17. In that verse, we have Isaac, Abraham’s son, referred to as monogenēs. Now, here’s the question: Was Isaac Abraham’s only son that he gave birth to, had as a father biologically? No, he wasn’t. In fact, he wasn’t even the firstborn. Ishmael was also the son of Abraham.

So if we looked at monogenēs as being “only-begotten,” we’d have a real problem here because Isaac was not the only son that Abraham ever had. If we look at monogenēs as being “unique,” Isaac is the unique son of Abraham. Why? Because he was the son born of the promise. He was the son born from Sarah, who was barren.

Summary

So it’s an excellent illustration of how monogenēs really refers to uniqueness. So Jesus is the unique Son of God. Again, the reason He is unique is that He is God, and that furthermore clarifies for us the relationship between this language and sons of God in the Old Testament.^[1]

That will finish our study for this week’s Worldview Wednesday. Next week we will begin a new section covering “Human Family As Imagers.” Tomorrow we will enjoy our 3-minute Humor nugget that will provide you with a bit of cheer, which will help you to lighten up and live a rich and satisfying life. So encourage your friends and family to join us and then come along with us tomorrow for another day of ‘Wisdom-Trek, Creating a Legacy.’ If you would like to listen to any of our past 1475 treks or read the Wisdom Journal, they are available at Wisdom-Trek.com. I encourage you to subscribe to Wisdom-Trek on your favorite podcast player so that each day’s trek will be downloaded automatically.

Thank you so much for allowing me to be your guide, mentor, and, most of all, your friend as I serve you in through this Wisdom-Trek podcast and journal.

As we take this Trek together, let us always:

Live Abundantly (Fully)
Love Unconditionally
Listen Intentionally
Learn Continuously
Lend to others Generously
Lead with Integrity
Leave a Living Legacy Each Day

I am Guthrie Chamberlain….reminding you to ’Keep Moving Forward,’ ‘Enjoy your Journey,’ and ‘Create a Great Day…Everyday’! See you Tomorrow!

^[1] Heiser, M. S. (2019). Sons and Daughters of God: The Believer’s Identity, Calling, and Destiny. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.

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