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Context Matters: For Everything There is a Season

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Perhaps you’ve heard that there is a season for everything, and a time for every matter under heaven (Eccl 3:1-8). Perhaps this idea has inspired you to try new things, to make a change, or to find contentment in your situation. Maybe the idea even comes along with fond memories of the 60s—or at least affection for some of its iconic music. But what did the Preacher of Ecclesiastes wish to provoke with this glorious poem? And how ought we to read it in light of the book’s argument?

Context matters. When we learn to read the Bible properly—and not merely as a collection of quotable quotes or inspiring poems—we’ll find that some of our most familiar sayings are more provocative than we at first believed.

Let this song play in the background while you read the post.

The Quest

I refer you to another post where I explore the meaning of “vanity” in Ecclesiastes. To summarize:

  • The Preacher undertakes a quest to discover what we can possibly get out of life (Eccl 1:3).
  • The answer is that all we can get out of life is vanity (Eccl 1:2).
  • He then illustrates what exactly he means by “vanity” with a series of images and propositions (Eccl 1:4-18). By vanity he refers to the unsatisfying, endless repetition of old things that nobody will remember; nothing you do will last, and at the end you die. And you can’t fix it.
  • In short, all we have to gain from life is a puzzling frustration. We simply cannot figure out what God is up to in our daily lives.

This context drives the argument of the book. We should expect the Preacher to show us why life is so frustrating.

The Educational Paradigm

But the end of the book also provides relevant context to help us understand the poem of chapter 3. In chapter 12, we’re told not only about the Preacher’s conclusion, but also about his instructional methods. How has he gone about making his case?

Besides being wise, the Preacher also taught the people knowledge, weighing and studying and arranging many proverbs with great care. The Preacher sought to find words of delight, and uprightly he wrote words of truth. The words of the wise are like goads, and like nails firmly fixed are the collected sayings; they are given by one Shepherd. (Eccl 12:9-11)

So the Preacher took great care in both studying his material and arranging it. He sought words of delight, not words of doom and gloom. And he wrote words of truth. But observe how he seeks to employ that truth: as goads and as nails.

As goads, his words are meant to poke us. To stimulate us to action. To provoke us, bother us, and disturb us.

As nails, his words are meant to stabilize us. To affix us to God’s reality. To ground us, establish us, and root us in something solid.

So how does this affect the way we ought to read chapter 3? With this poem, the Preacher seeks to draw us in and delight us. He does that so he can nail truth into our minds and disturb and shock us into action. He doesn’t want to lull us into a sense of placid sentimentality. He seeks to inject us with 1.21 gigawatts of electrifying truth so we might be shaken up and moved toward greater delight.

The context of the book’s beginning and the context of the book’s ending should both shape our reading of the text. But there is another context we ought to consider as well.

The Theological Ecosystem

The Preacher does not write his book in a historical or theological vacuum. He names himself “Son of David” (Eccl 1:1), which puts him squarely in the context of God’s covenant with the King of Israel. In this context, he’s constantly alluding back to what God has done for his people, and he hangs on to the hope of what God will yet do for his people.

For example, as the Preacher describes his first particular test—that of seeking gain from pleasure—he cannot do this without evoking images from Genesis (Eccl 2:1-8). Building things, planting things (Eccl 2:4). Gardens, parks, and fruit trees (Eccl 2:5). Pools of water to irrigate the trees (Eccl 2:6). Even silver, gold, and sexual delight (Eccl 2:8). These things hearken back to Eden and the state of affairs before the fall of humanity into sin. The Preacher is trying to reinvent Eden that he might somehow rediscover paradise on earth.

Later, the book will speak regularly of the king, the house of God, wisdom and righteousness, the land and the holy place. The argument all throughout is neither abstract nor broadly philosophical. It is closely connected to the covenantal context of Israel in relationship with her God.

So in chapter 3, we’re not presuming too much to expect more of the same.

The Text

Arriving finally at the text of chapter 3, and keeping all this context in mind, what do we see?

We see (Eccl 3:1) a time for every matter under heaven. These concepts of timing and “under heaven” (i.e. on earth) are reminiscent of God’s work in creation in Genesis 1.

Then we see a glorious poem of 14 lines (Eccl 3:2-8). Each line has a pair of opposites or contrasts. Born/die, plant/pluck, kill/heal, break/build, etc.

But looking even more closely, we ought to see that the 14 lines come in 7 pairs of 2 lines. Born/die fit together with plant/pluck (saying the same thing with respect to the animal world and the plant world). Kill/heal fits with break/build, relating the natural world to the manufactured world. It’s not hard to see how weep/laugh and mourn/dance fit together. And so on, all the way to the final couplet of love/hate and war/peace.

So what we’ve really got is 7 couplets describing contrasting pairs of related activities in various spheres of earthly existence. The beauty of the poetry and its structure shows us that the Preacher has in mind all of earthly existence. He’s covered every base in a sevenfold manner, echoing the seven days of creation. Here is all of created existence in both its glory and its agony.

But what is his point? Why is he giving us a poetically comprehensive picture of all of created existence? What does he mean that “there is a season” or “there is a time” for every one of these activities?

Following the poem comes his commentary (Eccl 3:9-15). He makes an observation (to poke us) before delivering two pieces of knowledge (to nail us to reality).

  • Eccl 3:9-11: An observation (“I have seen”): God has made everything beautiful in its time, and eternity in our hearts, so that we cannot find what God has done. Don’t let the poem lull you into sentimentality. Let it provoke you to realize that you have no idea whether love or hate, killing or healing, building or breaking lie in store for you today, tomorrow, or the next day.
  • Eccl 3:12-13: Fact #1 (“I perceived”): Nothing is better than to be joyful and do good.
  • Eccl 3:14-15: Fact #2 (“I perceived”): God has done it this way so people would fear him.

Conclusion

So when you read the poem, or hear the song, be careful not to deceive yourself. Don’t treat it like a food coma after Thanksgiving dinner, with contented lethargy and sentimental complacency taking over. Instead, treat it like a wild bull or a bucking bronco. You don’t know which way it will kick at you next, so you’d better remain fully alert. Not only love, peace, and embracing are part of this life, but also war, hatred, and rejection.

And if you are willing to allow the nails of truth to drive into you, meditate on the outrageous fact that God made the world to work this way. He did it with every intention. So that you might fear him.

The buckingest bronco of all is not this world in which you live, but the God you claim to worship. Therefore, let us find our greatest joy in him and do the good he commands of us.

Context matters.

The idea for this post came out of a few conversations with David Helm, Chairman of the Charles Simeon Trust. The best and most provocative ideas here came from him; any errors in developing them are my own.

For more examples of why context matters, click here. 

Unbelief, and Not Busyness, is What Keeps You from the Word

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Please do check out this piece by Rachel Jankovic on “Lies That Keep Women from the Word.” Nobody neglects to take a shower, eat a meal, or put on underwear because they are too busy to do so. Such things never fail, because we assume that we must do them, like it or not. They are part of life.

So why does “busyness” become an excuse for not devouring the words of eternal life?

Imagine if you thought that in order for a green bean to nourish you, you had to eat it in a calm place with nice lighting and no kids. What if a shower cleaned you only when you had a journal on hand to write about it? Or what if toothpaste worked only in Instagrammable moments?

Many Christian women do without the word of God. We have set our standards so unbiblically high for the moments in which we will read the Bible that we have devalued the word itself. The value of the Bible is not in the accessories we bring to it. It is not in study guides and long talks with friends. The nourishment of the word is not found in our organization, or in our self-discipline, or in our achievement of any kind. The word has priceless value without us — and we are invited to partake of it all the time.

At its heart this issue is not an issue of whether we will make time for God’s word. It is an issue of what we believe God’s word to be and do.

If you have recognized yourself in any of this, I would like to invite you to make a change. Not a change of increased intentionality or thoughtfulness. A change to start believing in faith that the Bible really is what it says it is. We call ourselves Christians — and Christ himself said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God’” (Matthew 4:4).

As Ryan has written, you have enough time to study the Bible. We always do what we want to do. And Jankovic will help you to address the underlying beliefs that get in the way.

Check it out!

Why 2 Chronicles is the Most Underrated Book in the Bible

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Andrew Wilson has a thought-provoking piece at the Gospel Coalition on “Why 2 Chronicles is the Most Underrated Book in the Bible.”

Second Chronicles is the most underrated book in Scripture.

Partly this is because its prequel gets off to a slow start. The lengthy genealogy of 1 Chronicles 1–9 is extremely boring for most modern readers, even though it plays a crucial role in the author’s overall project. The final chapters of 1 Chronicles also go into extensive detail on priestly and musical responsibilities, which take a fairly committed theologian or animated worship leader to get enthusiastic about. So by the time people reach 2 Chronicles, they are ready to regard the chronicler as a pedantic, laborious bean-counter who cannot seem to get out of the weeds.

And partly it’s because it seems to repeat the content of 1 and 2 Kings, but with Elijah and Elisha taken out. (Elijah does make a brief appearance in 2 Chronicles, but there is no Mount Carmel, no still small voices or miraculous meals or stolen vineyards or fiery chariots ascending into the sky.) The temple building is still there, and the ups and downs of good and bad kings are still there, but the action heroes have been edited out. A dismissive reader could think the chronicler is trying to make life difficult for us.

This setup explains why 2 Chronicles is easy to overlook, but Wilson goes on to explain the glorious themes of redemption through priest, king, and prophet woven masterfully through the book. For example:

Priests lead the people spiritually by leading them in worship, through music, song, praise, and prayer. And they guard the presence of God as gatekeepers, preventing people from unauthorized entry to the sanctuary, whether to offer sacrifice (like Uzziah) or to pilfer the gold to buy off their enemies (like Ahaz). Elders have a lot to learn from the way priests carry out their duties, and from what happens when they don’t.

There is much here worthy of your consideration.

Check it out!

5 Ways to Read More of the Bible

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J.A. Medders has some terrific advice to help you read more of the Bible. At its core, his essential counsel cannot be improved on: Just read the Bible. But we have so many expectations regarding what Bible reading time should look like, that we often fail to read simply because we can’t meet our accumulated expectations!

So Medders offers 2 rejections and 3 practices to encourage you to just read.

  1. Reject needing the Instagrammable scenario (you don’t need an undistracted 30 minutes or a perfect cup of coffee; just read).
  2. Reject the checkbox (you don’t need to wait for enough time to complete a predetermined selection of text; just read).
  3. Read on your phone (make use of technology and downtime; it is no less valuable or spiritual).
  4. Read without study speed bumps (just keep going and don’t feel like the time is wasted if you don’t look into every curiosity).
  5. Read in community (“teamwork makes the dream work”).

This is great and encouraging advice. Just keep reading, and God will use it.

Check it out!

Announcing Our 2020 90-Day Bible Reading Challenge

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We’re giving away a copy of the ESV Reader’s Bible, Six-Volume Set: With Chapter and Verse Numbers and a one-volume reader’s Bible. To win one of these prizes, you simply have to prove you’d know what to do with it.

If you’ve been with us for the last few years, you’ve probably been expecting this post. Here I come, like the sun rising, going down, and once again hastening to its place to rise again. Like the wind blowing round and round, north, then south, and back again. Like streams running to the sea, and yet the sea is still not full. What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done, and there is nothing new under the sun.

If you’re new to the blog, you’ll be delighted to know we do a reading challenge here annually. And we try to get the best prizes we can think of to reward your toil at which you toil under the sun.

In our former days, most excellent Theophilus, we issued a 90-day Bible-reading challenge that had to begin on January 1 and end by March 31. But many folks have told us they would like to be able to get started over the holidays. While many are eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, or chasing a spirit of stupor, we hear that you—the readers of this blog, the champions of the covenant, the heroes who shine like stars in the midst of a present evil age—would prefer to redeem the time when you already find yourself away from your usual responsibilities.

And though there were some kinks to work out with this new format last year, we’re happy to grant what you wish—only up to half our kingdom, mind you—for the second year in a row. This year’s Bible reading challenge may commence immediately. In fact, perhaps it already commenced for you, and you’re just now realizing it.

Here are the rules:

  1. You must have a continental United States mailing address to win one of the stated prizes. Residents of other countries will receive a $35 (US) Amazon gift card via email.
  2. You must read (not scan or skim) all 66 books of the Protestant Bible. You may choose the translation and reading plan (canonical, chronological, etc.). You don’t have to stop and meditate on every detail, but we’re trusting you to be honest about reading and not skimming. Listening to an unabridged audio Bible is acceptable. You may also use any combination of audio and visual reading, as long as you’ve read or listened to the entire Bible within the allotted time period.
  3. You must read the entire Bible within a 90-day period.
  4. The last day of that 90-day period must be between today and March 31, 2020. If you’d like to understand why we recommend such fast-paced reading, see our Bible reading plan for readers.
  5. To enter the drawing, you must fill out the survey below, letting us know the dates you read and what you thought of the speed-reading process. Your thoughts do not have to be glowing, but they should be honest; you’ll still be entered into the drawing if you didn’t enjoy your speed-read.
  6. Any submissions to the form below that don’t meet the requirements or have the appearance of being fabricated will be deleted. For example: multiple entries with different data, date of completion not between November 15, 2019 and March 31, 2020, “What I thought about the experience” has nothing to do with Bible reading, or date of completion is later than the date of entry submission (please don’t try to enter the drawing if you plan to read the Bible; only enter once you have completed reading it).
  7. In the first week of April 2020, we will randomly select 2 winners from those who have submitted the form. We will email the winners to get their shipping addresses. If a winner does not respond to our request for a shipping address within 1 week, a new winner will be selected in their place.
  8. The first prize winner (if US) will get their choice of the ESV Reader’s Bible, Six-Volume Set: With Chapter and Verse Numbers or a one-volume reader’s Bible in the translation of their choice. (While these are not your only options, we have reviews the following: ESV, CSB, NIV.) The second prize winner (if US) will get whichever option the first prize winner didn’t choose. Any winner outside the continental US will receive a $35 Amazon gift card via email.
  9. Unfortunately, missionaries with DiscipleMakers are not eligible to win the drawing.

We will occasionally post links to the submission form on the blog between now and March 31. But you might also want to bookmark this page for easy access when you’re ready to submit your entry.

If you’d like a checklist to help you stay on pace, here are three. I won’t bother to update the dates, as I don’t know which day you plan to start. But the checkboxes can provide signals to make sure you’re on track to finish on time.

  1. Canonical Order
  2. Chronological Order
  3. NIV Sola Scriptura Order

Or here is an iOS app that can help you track your plan.

We are grateful for the generosity of Crossway in providing the grand prize for this year’s giveaway. You may now begin any time, and may this be the ride of your life.

Preaching the Work of the Holy Spirit

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The campus ministry I serve, DiscipleMakers, recently held its annual Fall Conference in Harrisburg, PA. Our topic this year was the Trinity, and our keynote sessions worked their way through Ephesians 1.

Of particular note was the talk on Eph 1:13-14 on the work of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is often either the most forgotten or the most misunderstood member of the Trinity. And my colleague Dave Royes did an exceptional job explaining the person and work of the Spirit from this text in Ephesians.

This talk is exceptional for a number of reasons. David’s presentation, of course, is compelling. And his handling of the text (his skill in Bible study) is both expert and imitable. You can, in fact, try this at home in your own Bible study:

  • He observes the grammar and structure of the passage, landing the weight of his interpretation where the author places weight.
  • He takes his observations and interrogates them with insightful interpretive questions to figure out the meaning.
  • He correlates the text with many other Scriptures, particularly following the organic connections signaled by allusion or echo.
  • He applies the text quite personally and specifically to head, heart, and hands.

Here is world-class Bible study, which I eagerly commend to you for both nourishment and imitation.

You can find more audio and video from the conference here. Check it out!

New and Old Garments

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There are parts of the Bible I’ve read so many times that I’m prone to mistake familiarity with them for understanding of them. But once in a while, when I set my familiarity aside, I can take a look at what’s actually there. This happened to me recently in a study of Luke 5.

Image by Mabel Amber, still incognito… from Pixabay

At the end of the chapter, the Pharisees get upset with Jesus and his disciples for not fasting like either John or the Pharisees themselves. Part of Jesus’ response is a straightforward parable:

He also told them a parable: “No one tears a piece from a new garment and puts it on an old garment. If he does, he will tear the new, and the piece from the new will not match the old. (Luke 5:36)

The issue (the problem with my familiarity) is that I’ve spent years of my life studying Mark’s version of this story. This is the first time I’ve taken a close enough look at Luke’s account to realize that Luke is saying something quite different from Mark. Check out Mark’s version:

No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. If he does, the patch tears away from it, the new from the old, and a worse tear is made. (Mark 2:21)

And just for the sake of completeness, here is Matthew’s version:

No one puts a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch tears away from the garment, and a worse tear is made. (Matt 9:16)

Observe the Difference

Matthew and Mark are very similar. They talk about cutting an “unshrunk” garment to make a patch for an old garment. The problem is that the new patch will subsequently shrink and tear away from the torn garment, making the original tear far worse.

But Luke is using the same cast of characters to tell a completely different story. He speaks of ripping up a new garment to fix an old one. The problem here is twofold: 1) You’ve ruined a perfectly good (and new) garment, and 2) the fix won’t even match the original.

Why does this matter? What really is the difference between them?

Matthew and Mark are concerned with the damage to the old garment, while Luke is more concerned with the damage to the new garment.

Why Does This Matter?

The epiphany for me was simply to realize I was assuming Luke was telling the same parable as Mark. I needed a jolt to actually look at the text and observe the bare facts of Luke’s presentation. It is so easy to assume I know what a story says. And the unfortunate result of that assumption is that I stop looking!

As for how this affects interpretation: I’m not exactly sure yet, but perhaps you have some ideas. It’s surely related to the extra line Luke adds, which is not found in any other gospel: “And no one after drinking old wine desires new, for he says, ‘The old is good.’ (Luke 5:39).” The problem here is that the new thing is damaged to the point of being perceived as undesirable in comparison to the old thing. And this is a little different from the way Matthew and Mark present the situation.

Perhaps you’re already more familiar with Luke’s version, and it’s difficult for you to see what Mark/Matthew has to say. Either way, it’s another example of the danger of hasty harmonization. Let’s make sure to grasp the particular point each author seeks to make, and not lump them together, presuming they’re communicating the same thing!

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The Importance of Isaiah’s Servant Songs

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J. Nicholas Reid presents a compelling devotional of Isaiah’s Servant Songs, where he first zooms in to observe each of the four songs before zooming out to consider their impact on the New Testament.

Some of the most memorable questions in the New Testament are answered in relation to the Servant Songs. Whether it is the eunuch asking Phillip if the fourth song is about Isaiah or someone else (Acts 8), or John the Baptist sending his disciples to ask Jesus, “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?” (Luke 7:20), the significance of these songs cannot be overstated. “Phillip opened his mouth, and beginning with this Scripture he told him the good news about Jesus” (Acts 8:35).

Here is much worth considering. Check it out!

How an Overview of Luke Helps You to Grasp a Particular Passage

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I proposed a few weeks ago that if you fail to grasp the big picture of a book of the Bible (in this case, Luke), you’re in danger of getting the pieces wrong. Let me now give an example.

Let’s say you’re ready to begin studying the Gospel of Luke, and you come to the first episode (after the prologue). How does the work you spent in overviewing the book help you?

Structure of Luke 1:5-25

After some careful observation of literary clues, you’ll see that the passage breaks clearly into sections based on the narration and dialogue:

  • Narrative setting – 5-7
  • Narrative introduction of conflict – 8-12
  • Angel speaks – 13-17
  • Zechariah responds – 18
  • Angel speaks – 19-20
  • Narrative climax and resolution – 21-23
  • Narrative new setting – 24-25

And as you look even more closely at the details, you’ll see that these sections are actually arranged concentrically (as a chiasm). Even the narrative sequence of events supports the structure (mention of Zechariah the priest, and the people praying in reverse order in 8-12 and 21-23).

  • Setting: An elderly couple’s reproach – 5-7
    • Tension introduced: Priest chosen for incense duty – 8-9
      • Rising action: People outside praying – 10
        • Rising action: Angel appears with words from God – 11-17
          • Zechariah: “How will I know? I’m old!” – 18
        • Rising action: Angel decrees silence until word fulfilled – 19-20
      • Rising action: People waiting outside and wondering -21
    • Climax/resolution: Priestly service ends in silence and signs – 22-23
  • New setting: The wife speaks of her reproach being taken away – 24-25

So the narrative conflict revolves around the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for this elderly, reproached priest to offer incense. How will he do? Will he prove faithful? Will his disgraced, childless status affect his ability to serve as priest in any way?

The word of God comes to him, but he does not believe (Luke 1:20)—not even when the most important, chief angel is the one to deliver the message. Whoops! So the passage hinges on Zechariah’s response in Luke 1:18.

The resolution of the tension is actually an anti-resolution: He emerges successful from his service of offering incense, but unable to speak. Since he will not listen to God’s words through the angel Gabriel, he will have no words of his own to speak.

Photo by Cosmin Gurau on Unsplash

Help from the Big Picture

So what are we to make of this? We could draw significant lessons simply from observing and interpreting the text itself. How does the book’s big picture help at all?

First, we must remember that Luke’s stated purpose to his primary audience (Theophilus) is “that you may have certainty concerning the things you have been taught” (Luke 1:4). Paul is on trial for his life, and Luke wants to give Theophilus all the facts of this Christian movement.

Then the very first scene of the book hinges on the question “How shall I know this?” (Luke 1:18). Luke opens his book with a man asking the very question Theophilus would have regarding Christianity and Paul’s defense.

Second, when we consider that the Jewish priests are the chief accusers of Paul (Acts 24:1-8), we realize it’s no accident that Luke opens his book with the story of a Jewish priest. A priest serving in the temple — the very place Paul was accused of having profaned (Acts 24:6). And that priest’s service in the temple doesn’t prevent him from being characterized by unbelief (Luke 1:20). It’s as though Luke wants Theophilus to see from the beginning that you can’t really trust what Jewish priests say. Even when they serve in the temple. Even when they get a message directly from God by the hand of the most famous angel.

Now, of course we see Zechariah come around by the end of his story, believing the promises of God (Luke 1:62-64, 67-79). But that doesn’t change the fact that he clearly does not believe God’s word at first. And this only highlights Luke’s purpose for his secondary audience — that the Jews might repent and believe.

The Main Point of Luke 1:5-25

So Gabriel says some remarkable things in Luke 1:13-17. And it’s all there for a purpose. But we should note that the prophecy about John, his role like Elijah, his presumed Nazirite lifestyle, and his effect on the hearts of his generation are all supportive of the main point. These things certainly make up part of the message we must believe. But if we come away from this passage armed with only the theology of John’s role in God’s plan, we have missed the main thing.

The main point is: How do we know? Can we really trust any of these reports? Can we trust an account about an encounter with a supernatural being?

Luke wants Theophilus, along with the rest of us, to know that we can have certainty regarding what we’ve heard about Christianity — just possibly not from a first century Jewish priest. And those who will not listen to the word from God will have nothing useful to say.

Application

Having seen Luke’s main idea, we’re ready to consider application.

We all tend to know what ails us. We are aware of the reproach and shame we feel.

And we can know God’s rescue plan. We can know God’s intentions to turn our hearts back to him. We can know joy and gladness once again, in the Lord’s plan of salvation.

But listening to the wrong voices (those with the greatest authority and the largest following in our culture) won’t get us any closer to the truth. Those who won’t listen to God’s plan for the world’s salvation will have nothing of value to say.

Therefore, we can trust God’s plan to rescue us from our worst ailment. This passage doesn’t say anything about Jesus yet, but it sets us up to be ready for him.

And we don’t need to fear the bluster of those who won’t believe. They may have all kinds of accusations against the faithful. But we can know that their accusations will fall to the ground. They will one day be silenced.

When “Literal” Interpretation is Not as Straightforward as it Seems

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Michael Heiser makes a helpful point in his article on “How to (Mis)Interpret Prophecy”:

“There’s no shortage of advice on how to interpret the Bible. One maxim … advises, “When the plain sense makes sense, seek no other sense.” I’ve heard it quoted when it comes to biblical prophecy—encouraging people to interpret literally, at face value. Although that sounds like good advice, some New Testament writers didn’t get the memo.

Heiser then analyzes James’s use of Amos 9 in the Jerusalem council, recorded in Acts 15, where James (and Luke, the narrator) appears to take a non-literal approach to the fulfillment of Amos’s prophecy.

There are textual and translation issues involved as well, which Heiser briefly sorts out. But Heiser does well with this example to show us that “Interpreting biblical prophecy cannot be distilled to a simple maxim, and everything cannot be taken literally. The New Testament shows us otherwise.”

Check it out!