Debunking Greater by Steven Furtick - Dig Ditches

Allegorizing 2 Kings 3 and the “Dig Ditches” Claim

Stephen Furtick update. Well, Stephen Furtick has been preaching through his book, Greater, and he's up to the story in 2 Kings chapter 3 of digging ditches, and what he's doing is allegorizing the text, and the narcissistically is a cheating as if somehow the story of Elisha is giving us steps that we need to follow into in order to ignite God's vision for our life.

Let me kill this music. All right, sorry, distracted there. Yeah. All right. So but they see, here's the thing. Second Kings chapter three in the story of Elisha nowhere in any other parts of the scripture does it say that these are the steps that you and I must follow in order to ignite God's vision or plan for our particular lives.

Like not at all. See, that's the thing. All of these guys are trying to figure out the secret to how it is that Elisha did this, or Elijah did that, or Moses did this, or Jonah did that. You see, that's not the point of the Old Testament.

You somehow backwards engineer, oh, so that's how they did it. Hello, the way they did it is that God did it. It wasn't them, it was God. You get what I'm saying? So as a result of it, we've in our coverage of this particular book, over and again, over and again, we just keep pointing out the fact that what Stephen Furtick is doing here is hijacking these biblical texts, and basically teaching something that they don't teach.

Textual Dispute Over the Hebrew and the Septuagint in 2 Kings 3

Now, before I get to it, I actually want to point something out to you, kind of a unique little feature of this particular passage. In fact, let me open up my Bible. Second Kings chapter three, I'm using the, by the way, just upgraded to Accordance 10.

Really nice interface. Wow. Like it a lot. Okay. Let me read to you from Second Kings chapter three. And so, in fact, I'll start at verse nine, so that you can kind of get the story. But I want to point something out to you from the ESV, which I think is a unique thing that needs to be discussed here.

And that's this. In fact, it was a listener who pointed this out to me on my Facebook wall. But let me read to you Second Kings chapter three, verse nine. So the King of Israel went with the King of Judah and the King of Edom.

And when they had made a circuitous march of seven days, there was no water for the army or for the animals that followed them. Then the King of Israel said, Alas, the Lord has called these three kings to give them to the hand of Moab.

Yeah. See, Moab is invaded. And Jehoshaphat said, Is there no prophet of the Lord here through whom we may inquire of the Lord? So then one of the King of Israel's servants answered, Well, Elisha, the son of Shaphat is here, who poured water on the hands of Elijah.

So then Jehoshaphat said, So the word of the Lord is with him. So the King of Israel and Jehoshaphat and the King of Edom went down to him. And Elisha said to the King of Israel, What have I to do with you?

The idolater, by the way, go to the prophets of your father and the prophets of your mother. Right. Yeah. It's like, yeah, listen, we yeah. Yeah. The King of Israel, an idolater. Okay. But the King of Israel said to him, No, it is the Lord who has called these three kings to give them.

Has the Lord called these three things to give him the hand of Moab? So Elijah said, As the Lord of hosts lives before whom I stand, were it not that were it not that I have regard for Jehoshaphat, the King of Judah, I would neither look at you nor see you.

Right. Because the issue here is the King of Israel, the idolater is in their presence. So but now bring me a musician. And when the musician played, the hand of the Lord came upon him. And he said, Thus says the Lord, I will make this dry dry stream bed full of pools for thus says the Lord, you shall not see wind or rain, but you shall drink you and your livestock and your animals.

This this is a light thing in the sight of the Lord. He will also give the Moabites into your hand and you shall attack the very fortified city and every choice city and shall fell every good tree and stop up all the springs of water and ruin every good piece of land with stones.

Okay, so here's the deal. When you read this in the ESV, you will notice a very interesting thing. And that is, is that when Elisha prophesies, he doesn't say dig ditches. In fact, this is kind of interesting, is that the Hebrew on this, you can kind of go either way with it.

Now, it's important to note that the ESV is breaking ranks with a traditional interpretation of this passage that goes all the way back to the Septuagint. The Septuagint agrees with the NIV where Elisha says, you know, make this valley full of ditches, whereas the ESV, you know, looks at the Hebrew and says, well, that's not exactly what's going on here.

If we translate the verb here this way, then it's clear that what God is talking about here is not saying go and dig ditches, but God is promising all on his own to fill the stream bed. And that's kind of the point there, is that in the text it says, I will make this dry stream bed full of ditches.

Well, the word there that the NIV translated as valley, you know, make this valley full of ditches, it's actually the word that is used for a brook. It's not really a valley. And so I think the ESV has a better translation, and what happens is God's not commanding them to dig ditches at all.

In fact, the ESV says nothing about commanding them to dig ditches. God's saying, I'm going to make this stream bed full of pools, because this is a natural occurring feature within these wadis, these dry stream beds within Israel.

So God's not telling them to dig ditches within the wadi. It already has these naturally occurring, you know, little, you know, cistern-like pools that are there as a natural feature of the stream bed itself, and God's saying, I'm going to do it.

So I'm pointing all of this out to you because what the point that Stephen Furtick is about to make regarding, you know, God's promising something, but you've got to dig ditches, there's dispute on this passage as to whether or not that's really what it's even saying.

And the ESV picks it up, so I just wanted to point that out. So the ESV doesn't translate it the way he's going to read it, and so there's a dispute as to how to properly understand this biblical text.

Stephen Furtick’s “Inspiration” Versus Participation in God’s Purpose

So with that in mind, here is Stephen Furtick talking about the importance of digging ditches. Yeah, here we go. Inspiration is a wonderful thing. When you come to this church, I hope if nothing else, you may not like my stupid jacket that clashes with the red background, you may not like my jokes, you may not like my hollering, and you may not like a lot of the little side things, the sarcasm, but I hope that you get inspired to believe God for greater things when you come to church here.

Inspiration is awesome. Inspiration is fantastic, but a lot of people don't know the difference between inspiration and participation in God's purpose. Here's the thing. Elisha starts prophesying, and the harpist is playing, and while the harpist is playing, the hand of the Lord came upon Elisha, verse 16, and he said, "'This is what the Lord says. Make this valley full of ditches.'".

Stop there. What I would have wanted to hear is if my troops are dying of thirst in the desert and they're already dehydrated. Maybe the kings wanted God to give them a shortcut to getting their water supply turned back on.

They wanted the water bill paid in heaven, and maybe the kings thought that Elisha would give them a shortcut to the miracle. God is not your shortcut. God is your only solution. God is not a shortcut to your solution.

God is indeed himself the solution. If all we want from God is greater things, that's not faith. That's idolatry. That's worshiping created things above the Creator. So, if the first thing I want from God is a thing he can give, I don't get it yet.

And if I think that God is going to do a miracle in my life like a magic trick, I'm going to be sorely disappointed. Here's why. Miracles aren't magic tricks, and faith is not a lottery ticket. And this text doesn't promise you that God's going to work a miracle in your life.

This isn't a promise of that, and Elisha chapter 3 was not... not Elisha chapter... Second Kings chapter 3 in the story of Elisha wasn't written so that you can unlock the secrets to igniting God's vision for your life.

You see, you didn't go far enough there, Steve. Faith is a work order. Faith is a work order. I think you're confusing law and gospel there. You want to see some rain? Dig a ditch. Hmm. You want to see some rain?

Dig a ditch. Now again, I pointed out that there's some dispute regarding what that text really says in the Hebrew. But you want to see some rain? Dig a ditch. That's weird. Ever since I was a kid, I didn't have to dig any ditches.

In fact, we're going to get rain today, and I didn't dig any ditches for the rain to come. God just gave it. Huh. So, if you want to see some rain, you need to dig a ditch. That's not what this text is saying.

You want God to bless your life financially? Put him first. Hmm. Yeah. See, God will only bless you if you earn it. Be generous. Get you a budget. Yeah. Let me provide a counter to that. The book of Galatians chapter 3, verse 1.

O foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you? It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified. So, let me ask you only this. Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith?

Answer, by hearing with faith, by the way. Are you so foolish, having begun by the Spirit? Are you now being perfected by the flesh? Did you suffer so many things in vain, if indeed it was in vain? Does he who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you?

See, this is a perfect counterpoint, because Paul asked the question, does the one who supplies the Spirit to you and work miracles among you do so by works of the law? You want a financial miracle? Put God first.

You want a financial miracle? Get a budget. You want a financial miracle? Then you need to be more generous. Okay. Paul addresses this. Watch this. Does he who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you do so by works of the law or by hearing with faith?

Just as Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness. So, know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham. Weird, because here Galatians 3 is a direct contradiction to what Stephen Furtick is saying here, that faith is a work order.

And if you want a miracle, you pretty much got to earn it. A budget. I believe you're going to supply all my needs. You know, the harpist is playing, you're in church. It's like, you know, God wants to give you a miracle in your family.

I believe our families are going to serve the Lord. And I believe God's going to raise up your kids to be world changers for the glory of God. And then stop. You go home and your kids aren't on the same page with the inspiration that you just received.

When the harpist stops playing and when the inspiration isn't quite flowing, then that's where faith begins. Not just to ask God for rain, but to be willing to dig a ditch. Yes, that's this ditch theology here.

Kind of reminds me of this.

You got to go and dig those holes with broken hands and withered souls emancipated from all you know. You got to go dig those holes. Gertrude is fighting for the faith. Musical interlude.

Yeah, that's from the movie holes, by the way. Dig it. Yeah, the tent boys. Anyway, back to that sounds about as exciting as digging holes in the Texas deserts. In preparation for the rain before you ever see the first cloud in the sky.

Yeah, they're all clapping because this sounds like a biblical teaching, but it's not. Again, show me from the text that this is a step. Basically, all you got to do is follow these same steps in your life.

And you can ignite God's vision and miracle for you. See, you just got to believe God's going to give you a miracle. So go dig some holes. And what exactly does it mean, by the way, to go dig some holes, dig some ditches?

You know, you got to go dig ditches, get to it. And what does that exactly look like? Again, what are we talking about? Which miracle am I supposedly preparing for? Yes, because that's the issue here.

Where do you and I go to get a direct promise from God regarding something, right? Has God specifically given you a unique promise that your children are going to be world changers? Where'd you get that from?

Does it say that in the Bible? Yeah, no, it doesn't. Nope, doesn't say that in the Bible. So we're talking about extra biblical revelation, some kind of promise that you're supposed to prepare for because you believe somewhere in your heart that God's sort of kind of in a mystical kind of fuzzy, not so definable kind of way spoken to your heart, a particular promise, particular, you know, but yeah, right.

By the way, the Bible does have very good promises for you and for me. And that has to do with us being forgiven by God because of what Christ has done for us on the cross. By the way, Jesus himself, by the way, it's funny where he's promised us persecution.

I mean, why aren't these guys embracing Jesus's promise that we will be persecuted for our faith? Those aren't the promises, you know, so how do you dig ditches in preparation for your persecution? Why aren't they doing that?

It'd be awesome, man. If like, if Eric and elevation worship could follow you around all week, you know, you know, you could just in the middle of, in the middle of that, that meeting that's so boring and you're trying to get through it and keep an attitude that's positive.

And you know, if you could call for a harpist anytime, wouldn't that be cool? You know, like you're sitting through that thing, bring me a harpist. And you know, what if Eric followed you around, you know, you're washing the dishes and he's like, you know, and I'm standing there preaching, scrub it, scrub it, scrub it, scrub it.

Misusing James 2:26 and the Relationship Between Faith and Works

Like, but stop. When the music's over, you got to get a bandana and pick up a shovel. Faith without works is dead. Out of context, out of context. Yeah, we Lutherans, very familiar with the book of James, because misunderstanding James is one of the primary threats to understanding salvation by grace alone, through faith alone, by Christ's work alone.

And so we Lutherans have made a careful study of the book of James to make sure that we get what it says correctly. In fact, a good book, if you would like to read about this, just a fantastic book by, you know, just a top drawer, a top shelf Lutheran scholar, David Scare.

The name of the book, by the way, is entitled James, the Apostle of Faith. James, the Apostle of Faith. You need to read this book. But anyway, the verse that he's quoting out of context is from the epistle of James, verse 26, for as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead.

The point that James is making, okay, James is fighting antinomians, okay, who are basically saying, listen, I'm saved by grace through faith. I don't have to do any good works. Yeah, that's not what the Bible teaches.

Paul himself makes a point in Ephesians chapter 2, verse 10, verses 8 and 9 says, for we are saved by grace through faith, not from works that no man may boast, right? It is a gift from God, so no man may boast, and we are saved to do good works.

That's kind of the point of verse 10. So we're saved to do good works. And so James is not fighting what the Apostle Paul kept running into, the Judaizing heresy. James was actually fighting antinomians, so he's kind of got the flip side of the flip era that he's going after.

And the Greek here is so clear. It says, for just as the body that is not breathing is dead, so faith without works is dead. How do you know faith is alive? Faith does good works, okay? You can't separate faith and good works.

But the point is that James here is not talking about doing works in order to receive a miracle from God. At this point, Furtick is engaging in a very nasty, flat-out satanic twisting of God's Word. Just quoting James 2 .26 out of context, faith without works is dead, in the context of, well, you need to dig ditches in order for God to give you a miracle.

That's above and beyond the pale of what is acceptable and true regarding properly handling God's Word. So he's taking James out of context, and so this is not good. But again, if you really want to study this, I strongly recommend David Scare's book, James the Apostle of Faith.

You can get it on Amazon .com. This is a fantastic book, and it's short, too. You can read it fairly quickly. But back to Stephen Furtick. I want you to repeat this after me so you can hear yourself say it.

Closing Rebuke of the “Dig a Ditch” Teaching

Oh, no. Say, only God can make it rain, but he wants me to dig a ditch. Turn to your neighbor and tell him. No, he doesn't. I mean, that's just not true. That's not what this text says at all. Nowhere in the text does it say, God wants you to dig a ditch.

And that was this week's installment of Bible Twisting by Stephen Furtick. All right, we're up on our second break. If you'd like to email me regarding anything you've heard on this edition or any previous editions of Fighting for the Faith, my email address, TalkBackAtFightingfortheFaith .com, or you can ask to be my friend on Facebook, Facebook .com forward slash PirateChristian.

Click on the subscribe button or follow me on Twitter, my name there, at PirateChristian. We'll be right back with two good sermons. You're listening to Fighting for the Faith.