Welcome to Day 1416 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.
I am Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom
Mastering the Bible – Intolerant Apostles and Cryptic Revelations – 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 1416 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. Our focus for the next several months on Worldview Wednesday is Mastering the Bible, through a series of brief insights. These insights are extracted from a book of the same title from one of today’s most prominent Hebrew Scholars, Dr. Micheal S. Heiser. This book is a collection of insights designed to help you understand the Bible better. When we let the Bible be what it is, we can understand it as the original readers did, and as its writers intended. Each week we will explore two insights.
Mastering The Bible – Intolerant Apostles and Cryptic Revelations
Insight Seventy-Five: The Apostles Didn’t Tolerate Aberrant Teaching about the Gospel
Both testaments of the Bible bear witness to the problem of competing religious ideas that were contrary to biblical faith and theology. In the Old Testament period, the polytheistic religious systems of the surrounding nations were a persistent threat to Israel’s exclusive loyalty to Yahweh as the true God. That loyalty was the core of Israel’s faith and the basis for salvation in the Old Testament. Deuteronomy 6:4 Listen, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord alone.
In the New Testament period, idolatry and the danger of worshipping a lesser god was still a target of apostolic teaching and writing. Paul admonished the Corinthians to be careful about eating meat sacrificed to idols, warning them that, in doing so, they were at risk of committing idolatry and fellowshipping with demons (1 Corinthians 10:14-22). Since Paul elsewhere permits eating such meat (1 Corinthians 8:4, 7-9), advising believers not to make a fuss about offerings that were sold in the marketplace (1 Corinthians 10:25), the issue for Paul must have been avoiding any sort of activity that either was participation in the ritual or could be construed that way.
The more significant problem of false teaching, however, seems to involve teachers that professed to follow Jesus but whose teachings altered the simplicity of the Gospel— that salvation was only by grace through faith (Ephesians 2:8-9) and was available to Jews and gentiles alike.
Paul and the other apostles repeatedly had to deal with “Judaizers,” who argued that gentiles had to conform to specific points of the Mosaic law to be in right standing before God. Paul referred to those who taught such things as “the circumcision party” and famously confronted Peter for his failure to oppose their teaching (Galatians 2:11-14). Peter knew better but was afraid to speak against Judaizing at Antioch. Paul referred to his behavior as “hypocrisy” that was “out of step with the gospel” (Galatians 2:13-14). The Judaizing seems to have been focused on circumcision (and therefore Jewish identity) since Paul later accuses the Judaizers themselves of being lawbreakers (Galatians 6:13). The point is that they had focused on outward conformity to Jewish identity and not the heart. They presumed that being Jewish meant superior status with God.
Peter himself would later have a problem with false teaching. He, along with Jude, had to confront self-proclaimed prophets who rejected moral authority (Jude 4, 8-10). These false teachers were apparently professing Christians since they participated in the Lord’s Supper (Jude 12). Jude rejected their profession, charging that they didn’t have the Holy Spirit (Jude 19).
As the Epistles show us, we shouldn’t tolerate teaching that alters the Gospel or encourages a life devoid of biblical morals. When it comes to false teaching, tolerance is no virtue.
Insight Seventy-Six: Revelation Is Hard to Interpret Because Apocalyptic Prophecy Isn’t Designed to Be Clear
Even though there’s a lot in the Bible that is difficult to understand, most of it was written for clarity. That isn’t the case with Revelation. The last book of the New Testament is a classic example of what scholars call the apocalyptic genre. The Greek name of the book. John’s apokalypsis (“Apocalypse”) makes that clear.
Revelation is just one of many apocalyptic texts that have survived from antiquity. The normative features of apocalyptic literature are well known, and Revelation has them in abundance. Apocalyptic books aim to reveal the future, specifically of the end of human history, in a cryptic fashion. Apocalyptic secrets are heavenly and not of earth. For that reason, the genre communicates its message in visions and uses angelic mediators to convey its secrets. John’s book derives from visions he saw in heaven (e.g., Revelation 4:1-6; 9:17; 10:8; 12:10; 14:2; 19:11). Angels appear in Revelation over fifty times, and in many cases, they give John insight into those heavenly visions (Revelation 1:1; 17:7, 15; 19:9; 22:1, 6). Despite this help, the content of the book is called a mystery several times (e.g., Revelation. 10:7; 17:5, 7).
Unsurprisingly, the book is riddled with symbolic language: unidentified “elders,” spirits, living creatures full of eyes (Revelation 4-5); scrolls with seals, celestial signs (sun, moon, stars; Revelation 6, 9); angels with trumpets (Revelation 9, 11); a great fiery Abyss from which emerge locusts (Revelation 9); a dragon (Revelation 12): beasts emerging from the sea and the earth (Revelation 13): and the great prostitute (Revelation 17).
Basically all of this imagery comes from the Old Testament. Unfortunately for us, the imagery was symbolic to begin with, and Revelation at times changes the contexts and nature of the images. But our real disadvantage is that we come from another time and culture. While ancient readers would have instantly understood particular symbols, our understanding is anything but intuitive since we don’t share their Worldview. A deliberately cryptic book, therefore, becomes even more obtuse. To have any hope of understanding the book, we need to first understand the meaning of the metaphors and symbols in the Old Testament and then read carefully for how John uses the Old Testament.
If that sounds like work, it is. And it gets worse. A lot hinges on discerning when the book was written, which in large part depends on one passage in the book that is difficult to interpret. On top of that, it’s unclear whether we should read the book as a chronological sequence of events or as a series of repeating cycles. The choice of reading strategy leads to dramatically different conclusions about the book’s meaning. The dismaying truth is that Revelation isn’t easy to understand because it wasn’t meant to be easy to understand. For that reason, be very suspicious of anyone who tells you they’ve figured it out.
That will conclude this week’s lesson on another two insights from Dr. Heiser’s book “Mastering The Bible.” Next Worldview Wednesday, we will continue with two additional insights. I believe you will find each Worldview Wednesday an interesting topic to consider as we build our Biblical Worldview.
Tomorrow we will continue with 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 1415 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!
In what areas of your life do you allow God to permeate? Are you shutting God out of certain areas? God is to be integrated into every aspect of our lives. Jesus Christ reiterated the Old Testament command from God when He declared that the entire teachings of the law and prophets were summed up in these two principles found in 
If you would like to listen to any of our past 1414 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.
The apostle Paul spoke the truth about God, the Father, Son, and Spirit. Paul wrote about God’s desire for a new covenant people where we are all equal and united in God. 
Significant prejudice is undoubtedly not a new issue. It has been with humanity since the beginning of creation. Let’s look back in the first century, shortly after the time of Christ. Almost everyone in the earliest days of the church was Jewish. Prejudice was a significant problem. Sometimes that prejudice manifested itself toward non-Jews who were coming to Christ and being added to the church, which was the dominant problem addressed in Acts chapters 10-15. However, prejudice was also an issue between sub-groups within the Jewish community. Grecian Jews who were in Jerusalem, and who had become disciples of Christ, made an accusation of discrimination. Their widows who did not speak the native language in Jerusalem were being overlooked and were going hungry while the native-speaking widows were receiving better care and more ample provision as the early Christians shared their possessions. Sharing of provisions is found in 
Meditate on these ten principles of great leadership and congregational problem-solving that are listed above. These are great principles to put into practice among Christians today. All of society would benefit from them. Every problem has the potential for disaster or development. Led by the Holy Spirit, the apostles turned this potentially crippling problem into an opportunity for the development and growth of Christ disciples.
Our analysis so far has been overall Jobs in Manufacturing, Brick-and-Mortar Retail, Restaurant Industry/Future Dining, Commercial Real Estate/Offices, and Education. As I mentioned in the past five weeks, I do not have a crystal ball nor a prophetic message about life after Covid-19. That being said, I do have over 40 years of business and nearly 64 years of life experience, which helps me to see what others may not.
(1) Continued increase in global abundance: The number of individuals in extreme poverty continues to drop, as the middle-income population continues to rise. This metatrend is driven by the convergence of high-bandwidth and low-cost communication, ubiquitous AI on the cloud, growing access to AI-aided education and AI-driven healthcare. Everyday goods and services (finance, insurance, education, and entertainment) are being digitized and becoming fully demonetized, available to the rising billion on mobile devices…
(6) Everything is smart, embedded with intelligence: The price of specialized machine learning chips is dropping rapidly with a rise in global demand. Combined with the explosion of low-cost microscopic sensors and the deployment of high-bandwidth networks, we’re heading into a decade wherein every device becomes intelligent. Your child’s toy remembers her face and name. Your kids’ drone safely and diligently follows and videos all the children at the birthday party. Appliances respond to voice commands and anticipate your needs…
(11) The insurance industry transforms from “recovery after risk” to “prevention of risk:” Today, fire insurance pays you after your house burns down; life insurance pays your next-of-kin after you die; and health insurance (which is really sick insurance) pays only after you get sick. This next decade, a new generation of insurance providers will leverage the convergence of machine learning, ubiquitous sensors, low-cost genome sequencing, and robotics to detect risk, prevent disaster, and guarantee safety before any costs are incurred…
(16) Cellular agriculture moves from the lab into inner cities, providing high-quality protein that is cheaper and healthier: This next decade will witness the birth of the most ethical, nutritious, and environmentally sustainable protein production system devised by humankind. Stem cell-based ‘cellular agriculture’ will allow the production of beef, chicken and fish anywhere, on-demand, with far higher nutritional content, and a vastly lower environmental footprint than traditional livestock options. This metatrend is enabled by the convergence of: biotechnology, materials science, machine learning, and AgTech…
I hope that you have enjoyed my analysis and predictions for this next decade. Even with Covid19’s impact, it is projected to be considered the roaring 20s
If you would like to listen to any of the past 1412 daily treks or read the associated journals, 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.
Our friends John and Suzy headed out early one morning for a road trip. The first couple of days went off without a hitch. The weather was great, and they were making good time. On the third day towards evening, John pulls into a gas station to fill up the car for the next day. He paid for the gas and headed on down the road. About 30 minutes later he smacked himself on the forehead and told Suzy; I think I forgot to put the gas cap back on. So John pulls off the side of the road, and sure enough, the gas cap was missing. John pondered for a few minutes then said to himself, “other people must have done the same thing, I’ll look by the side of the road since even if find my own gas cap, I might be able to find one that fits.” John walked about 50 yards up the road, and sure enough, after only a short time of searching, John found a gas cap. He carefully wiped it off and slipped it into place with a satisfying click.
I hope that brought a smile to your face today. If it did pass your smile onto some else, we all could use a kind smile each day. Our Thursday thought is, “The bad news: There is no key to happiness. The Good News: It isn’t locked!” 
If you would like to listen to any of our past 1411 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.