Nathan Moats

Here is another Life’s Toughest Question asked by College Life Orlando

Does God change his mind? Refer to the Old Testament.

The first passage is found in Genesis 18. God tells Abraham that He is going to destroy the wicked city of Sodom and Gomorrah. Abraham dialogues with God. He asks if God is willing to kill the righteous along with the wicked. He then enters into an exchange with God. He asks if there are 50 righteous people if he will relent from destroying. God says he would relent for them. He than humbly responds that if 45 were found if God would relent. God agrees. He asks if 40 would be worth sparing. God says He would spare Sodom for 40. Abraham then asks if he would spare 20. God agrees. Then he boldly asks for the sake of ten and God agrees. Yet God does not find 10 and the city is destroyed.

The second passage we can look at comes in the book of Exodus. The Exodus is the story of how God rescued the Israelite people from the Egyptian overlords. God takes these people from Egypt and leads them to the Promise Land, which would later be called Israel. On the way Moses would go up on Mount Sinai to personally interact with God. This is how the Ten Commandments came to us. On one trip Moses was up on the mountain for a very long time. The people thought he was dead and commanded that Aaron make a Golden Calf idol. In Exodus 32 it describes God’s reaction. God tells Moses that he is going to destroy all the Israelites and start a new nation through Moses. Moses responds and interacts with God stating that He should not do this least Egypt see that God has rescued a people only to destroy them. He also implores the covenant that God had made with Abraham. God in turn relents.

The last example is with Jonah. God tells Jonah to tell Nineveh that God is going to destroy them in 40 days. Eventually Jonah goes to Nineveh and tells the city that God is going to destroy them in 40 days due to their wickedness. The people repent and God decides to relent from destroying them. This makes Jonah mad of course.

The point is that each of these narratives seems to say that God does indeed change His mind. But how can God change His mind if He knows everything that is going to happen? God in fact does not change His mind. As God He knows how everything will turn out. God is outside of time. Humans, however, are finite and constrained to time. God of the Bible is different than any other religion due to the fact that God interacts throughout human history. He comes along side humanity. Does God know how something will turn out? Sure, but He interacts with humans who are constrained to a certain time. In all three cases God says He is going to do something and each time it involves a human response. It happened so that humanity could interact with the Divine. Abraham, Moses, Jonah, and Ninevah each have a part to play in God’s history. God could simply let what happen as He knows it is going to go, but He speaks and gives a course of action to allow humanity to be a part of it. Abraham, Moses, Jonah, and Ninevah could easily have said that God said it so oh well, but they each choose to enter into the discussion with God. God knows that He is going to destroy or save, but He lets humans speak with Him. This is unprecedented in any other religion because God is about interacting and loving His creation. He is a personal God.

Let me know what you think…Wrestle with it…Engage in it…

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I’m a part of an amazing ministry called “College Life Orlando”. It’s the college ministry of First Baptist Church of Orlando. In the college ministry we have a “Life’s Toughest Question Box”. It’s a box that allows students to write down anonymous questions about philosophy, theology, relationships, science, and whatever else catches their fancy. These questions aren’t just random questions, but one’s that are difficult to answer. John Alexander, Tom Beaton, and I have been given the task of answering these tough questions. This is the first installment of my response to a student’s question. Let me know what you think!

What should you do when you know you should follow God, but you just don’t have the desire to?

This question really answers itself. What should you do when you know you should follow God? Well…Follow God. God has created in such a way that we are emotionally beings. There is nothing wrong with emotions, but sometimes they tend to get in the way. Anytime your emotion leads you away from following God than something is out of whack. Your emotion has gone to an extreme that God didn’t create you for.

There are people who say you shouldn’t read your Bible, pray, go to Church, etc if you don’t feel like it otherwise you are just acting in a ritualistic manner. I would disagree with this however. Greg Stowell has said many times, “God honors obedience”. If we rely on how we feel we have made ourselves a “god” type figure. Now on the other hand, it is important not to just go through the motions. We need to bring God an authentic heart. For He “desires loving-kindness not sacrifice” (Mt 9:13).

We are constantly being influenced every day by outside factors. What are you allowing to influence you? Maybe one day you don’t feel like reading your Bible. Then that feeling returns and slowly you let the influence of Truth be absent in your life. You will than lose sensitivity and never feel like following God. The reason we obey despite feelings is that it creates in us a discipline to follow God in the good, bad, and the ugly.

The Bible is full of people who didn’t feel like following God. Their emotion led them in a destructive direction. Ex: Jonah fled. David committed adultery. Moses struck the rock in anger. Samson killed people and was around the wrong kind of women. These narratives exist to show us what happens when we let emotions lead us.

The Bible also contains stories of people who acted in obedience despite their emotions or feelings. Ex: Abraham was willing to sacrifice his one and only son to obey God. Moses decided to lead the Jewish people despite feelings of inadequacy. David worshipped God immediately after his son died. These narrative exist to show us that there regardless of our situation and experience God is still worthy to be followed and worshipped.

So what can we do? Be honest as David was in the Psalms. Don’t just hold it in. Pray or write to God to change your heart. The best thing you can do when you don’t feel like obeying is to go to God. Let God in on your life.

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So why is my blog called “Keepin’ it Kosher?” Good question. I picked it because it sounded pretty catchy. I also chose it due to my love of my Jewish studies. If you know me than you know that I truly love the Jewish history and Old Testament. It all started when my friend Jon told me to take Dr. Hanson at UCF for Jewish classes. I was upset at the time because Bible College didn’t work out so I decided to be a Religious Studies major at UCF. I also decided to take some Jewish courses at UCF because my friend raved about him and it also seemed like a good idea. UCF doesn’t offer many Christian focused courses so I felt that this was at least halfway. I decided that I would minor in Jewish studies and I have loved it. I think its going look great on my seminary application

I have taken all my Jewish classes thus far from Dr. Hanson. He is the best professor I have ever had. It truly challenges and makes his students wrestle with biblical issues. He has been so nice to me as well. I’ve often asked him many Christian questions and he has been kind enough to discuss it with me. I also love history so the Jewish studies dive deep into biblical history.

The reason I love the Jewish studies so much is because Christianity is founded on its principles. If you read the New Testament only than you’re missing out on so much of the story. The story and message of Jesus was so powerful to the original Jewish audience because they had so many years of history (Old Testament) prior to the coming of Jesus. The Old Testament anticipates the Messiah and the New Testament reveals Him. The sacrifice of Jesus without the Old Testament background is still important and many people hear it without the background, but you don’t get the full effect of what is going on. The Jews had a very tedious sacrificial system and when Jesus died it was the final sacrifice for sin. The Jews would have such a great appreciation for the sacrifice of Jesus than people who didn’t understand what they had to go through to constantly atone for their sins. I, however, believe that through studying the Old Testament we can gain a greater insight into the New Testament and appreciation of the Christian faith.

The word “kosher” means “proper”. So when I say keep it kosher. I’m not referring to it in the literal sense of abstain from certain foods. Orthodox Jews can’t eat skittles for example because they aren’t kosher. I’m simply using it as a slang term like “keep it real”. Keep it kosher=Keep it proper… And the way we keep it proper is by following in the way of Jesus. I hope that this blog challenges and helps people grow in their faith with Jesus Christ.

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This is my first blog so let’s see where this goes. I’m currently involved in an amazing men’s Bible Study. It’s truly awesome.  Sometime ago I decided to start reading “Every Young Man’s Battle”. What a challenging and honest approach to men’s biggest struggles. My friends decided to read it as well. Caleb (Co-leader of the Bible study) did a lesson on sexual purity using the Bible and the book EYMB. I then decided I would plan a three-week series to look into the lives of Biblical characters to see how they approached the battle of sexual purity. The first week will be on Samson. I plan on writing summaries and thoughts about these different characters on my new blog. It should be interesting. I hope to wrestle with the narratives in such a way as to gain greater understanding.

Samson is quite the complicated character so my evaluation of his story will be broken up in many parts. I’ve always grown up hearing that Samson was the strongest man who was tricked by woman. I heard the story of Samson in Sunday school, but didn’t realize how crazy his life really was. Samson’s story is uncensored. The Bible is so honest in its description of humanity. It’s a testimony of it authenticity. So now the story of Samson…

Part 1: Separated and Chosen by God

The beginning of Samson’s story is found in the book of Judges chapter 13. Let’s get some historical background before we evaluate Samson. What kind of context was this Biblical character in? Israel didn’t have a king during this period. God led the people, however, the people of Israel didn’t always follow God so closely. In fact the entire Old Testament describes the people of Israel as falling short of their calling. Yet God loves His chosen people and longs to be their God. He constantly tries to get their attention and remind them of their holy calling. Due to their evil, God had given them over to the the Philistine people. The book of Judges focuses on leaders that God raises up to redeem His people from foreign oppression. God has a person specifically in mind to deal with the Philistines. The story begins with a man named Manoah from the tribe of Dan. He has a wife, but tragically she cannot have children. In the ancient world this was a disgrace and one of the greatest tragedies that a couple could face. God, however, chooses Manoah’s wife as the mother of Israel’s next deliverer. God’s sovereignty is seen throughout this entire narrative. God has his hand over Samson’s life before he is even conceived.

An angel of the Lord then appears to give Manoah’s wife the news and also some instructions. She is told to keep kosher and abstain from alcohol, as she is about to become pregnant. The son that she will bear will be a deliverer of Israel. God’s choice of Samson before conception is proof of His sovereignty. So if you ever wonder if God’s sovereignty is Biblical than you can look to this narrative as an example.

The angel also tells Manoah’s wife that her son is to be separated to God. He tells her that Samson will be a Nazarite. A Nazarite was one who had taken a special vow, which consisted of three parts. As a Nazarite one couldn’t touch anything that was dead. You also had to abstain from anything of the vine (grape juice, wine, etc). The last part of the vow kept one from cutting their hair. Samson was chosen to be something special. He wasn’t like everyone else. He was to be set apart to accomplish his God-given purpose. As Christians we also have God given purposes. The challenge is figuring out what that is. To be a Christian we must commit ourselves to the way of Jesus. We must remember that we were chosen for a purpose. We can’t live like everyone else. There are things we can’t do and there are things we must abstain from. Why? It’s because those things can get in the way of our commitment to God and ultimately God calls us to give up things that will harm us in the end. God designed life so He knows the best way to live. Samson thus takes this vow to accomplish God’s purpose.

Manoah’s wife tells her husband about the angel and he prays for him to return. The angel does and repeats the same message to Manoah and his wife. Manoah then offers a sacrifice to the Lord. The chapter ends with the birth of Samson. The Bible states that he grew and was blessed by the Lord (Jg 13:24). It also states that the Spirit began to move in him (Jg 13:25). The wild and tragic journey of Samson is just about to begin.

So this is the beginning of Samson’s story. You may be wondering what this ancient story has to do with us today. The theologian Rhome Dyck once said that we often approach the Bible with the mindset of “what can we learn about ourselves?”  But the greater question is “what can we learn about God?” God is shown as having a specific purpose and ordaining people for special tasks. God is shown as accomplishing His great purpose through His divine sovereignty. What can we learn about ourselves? We learn that in order to fulfill our purpose we may be called to give up things for God. We should look different than the world around us.

I’m going to end this by asking some questions that I hope you will pray about and wrestle with. Do you know what God’s purpose or ministry for your life is? Are you willing to sacrifice to fulfill God’s will in your life? Do you look like everybody else or are you committed to God in such a way that people see a difference? Are you staying committed to the things God has called you to abstain from?

How will Samson deal with his God given purpose and commitments? Stay tuned and keep it kosher…

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