WWUTT 1305 Q&A (Part 1) Can Women be Judges, Are We Just Puppets, Is the Word Homosexual Mistranslated?

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Did God elect Deborah to be the judge of Israel? If God has ordained all things, does that make us robots?

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And is the word homosexual mistranslated in the Bible? The answers to these questions when we understand the text.

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This is when we understand the text, a daily Bible commentary that we may be equipped for every good work in Jesus Christ our

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Lord. Please tell others about our ministry at www .utt .com.

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Here once again is Pastor Gabe. Thank you, Becky, who is not on the program with me today.

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In fact, her attendance is going to be hit or miss from now until about Thanksgiving. As you probably know, we are transitioning from Junction City, Kansas, where we have lived our whole marriage the last 10 years.

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And we're moving to Lindale, Texas, where we're going to become part of First Baptist Church there under the teaching of Dr.

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Tom Buck. So we're going through all this stuff. You have to go through with a move, getting a house ready to sell, securing a home to buy down in Lindale.

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We've got a garage sale coming up this weekend. Let's just say that energy is in short supply.

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So your prayers for us would be greatly appreciated. In order to get Becky on Friday, I may have to start recording the program earlier in the week.

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We'll see if we can't do that, because I know her presence is greatly appreciated on the

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Friday edition of the program. I know I love it, and I know you do too. This is

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Friday, and we take questions from the listeners, which you can submit via email to whenweunderstandthetext at gmail .com.

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We'll get to some of those questions here in just a moment. I want to mention the Cruciform Conference. I should be talking about this every

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Friday that we open up this program, and it just skips my mind. Shame on me. I am a terrible promoter, which is amazing to say, because I was in Christian radio for so long.

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That was my job there for the longest time, was promoting all kinds of things we had going on.

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Anyway, the Cruciform Conference is going to be in Indianapolis October 23rd and 24th.

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You can still get your tickets. I'm going to be there speaking, as well as Justin Peters, Anthony Methenia, Jeff Johnson.

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We've got Brandon Scalf, who is the guy that kind of puts this whole thing together. Jonathan Hayashi. I'm really looking forward to hearing

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Jonathan. I haven't heard him preach yet. Dwayne Atkinson of the Bar podcast is going to be there.

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Michelle Leslie will be there with the women's portion. We hope you can make it. The Cruciform Conference, October 23rd and 24th.

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You can find out more details just by typing in Cruciform Conference in Google. It'll take you straight to the event page, or you can go to Facebook .com

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slash CruciformCon. All the details are right there on their Facebook page.

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I have to get a video done, which I've promised Brandon for almost a month now that I would do.

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I am off social media for the rest of October, and yet I still have to get this video done and get it posted.

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Talking about holiness and plugging this conference, since that's going to be the theme. So look for it.

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I hope to get it up sometime today, sometime on Friday. Some of you know that I made a tweet earlier this week that went viral, a tweet concerning Breonna Taylor.

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I am going to respond to a couple of the comments that I received, but I don't want to dominate this whole program with that.

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So I'm going to save it more toward the end. I've already responded through a video, which is on the What Facebook page, the

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What EXT YouTube channel. And I also posted it to my Twitter and my

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Instagram. But I'm off social media for the rest of the month. God willing, I'll be back in November.

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It's just easier for us with all the time that we have consumed with moving and packing up a house and all that kind of stuff that I just stay off social media altogether, eliminates that distraction, frees up some time tremendously.

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But I do hope to be back, because after all, when we understand the text started on social media, that's through YouTube.

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That's kind of how this whole thing began. Our prayers go out to Joel Beeky. I don't know if you're familiar with Joel, but he wrote the book or one of the best systematic theology books that I've ever read,

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Reform Systematic Theology. Our men's group at our church went through this book. We started it in the summer of last year, and we did it all the way up until COVID -19 hit.

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And then with the lockdowns, we had to basically bring the study to an end. We got two thirds of the way through the book in that period of time.

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I made it all the way through the book and encouraged the rest of the guys to do so. Anyway, Joel and his wife,

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Mary, contracted COVID -19. And there were updates earlier this week talking about how Joel's condition was worsening.

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He was still coughing real bad, though he and his wife quarantined at home, were spending a lot more time outdoors, enjoying the fresh air.

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Anyway, we got an update just last night from Mary, Joel's wife, and she said, Joel is still tired but gaining strength.

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I feel all better. The nurse has told us that we are not contagious anymore. We thank

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God and thank you for all the love and care that we have received.

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And then she had a reference to Isaiah 41 .10. Anybody have that one memorized?

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Fear not, for I am with you. Be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you.

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I will help you. I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

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That is a good word I think we all need to be reminded of, especially in these tough and turbulent times.

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I had a pastor friend of mine text me last night and said, you picked a good time to be off social media. October right before the presidential election.

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I know, I know all kinds of madness going on on social media right now, especially after those especially after that horrid debate earlier this week.

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On that note though, pray for our president Donald Trump and his wife

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Melania. Last night he said on Twitter that they tested positive for COVID -19.

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So the president has contracted coronavirus. We pray for him.

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Talk about an October surprise. They always talk about like there's a big bomb that drops in October right before a major presidential election and yeah.

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Here we go. Highest profile case of coronavirus we've heard of so far. The president of the United States, didn't

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Boris Johnson have it? The prime minister of the UK. I was pretty sure he had it and it got real serious there for a little while, didn't it?

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He recovered. So God willing, the president will as well. We pray for our friend

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Bob and Becky and I have exchanged, have exchanged text messages with Bob. His mother just died of COVID -19 and I know they had a funeral for her recently.

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So yeah, it's still a devastating virus. We don't like the lockdowns and you know how

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I feel about wearing masks. But nevertheless, this is a serious virus that has claimed a lot of lives and we want to be sensitive to that matter and be prayerful and encouraging to one another in the midst of these times as well.

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All right. So being the Friday edition of the program, we take questions from the listeners and you can submit those questions via email.

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Can't do it via social media right now. I'm not on the the email address is when we understand the text at gmail .com.

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I'm going to start with a question. It's actually a response to something that Becky and I talked about last week concerning Deborah as judge over Israel.

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We said that we support the nomination of Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court of the United States, and we hope that she brings a value of life to the

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Supreme Court. That Roe v. Wade will be undone and that the rights that are guaranteed by the

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Constitution of the United States would be extended to every life from womb to tomb.

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We hope that that is the value that Mrs. Barrett will bring to the

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Supreme Court. At the same time, we recognize that God has appointed men to be in those positions of leadership.

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The highest job and privilege that a woman receives is as a mother.

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And so if if it were that this were a God fearing nation, then every office on the

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Supreme Court would be or every seat on the Supreme Court rather would be held by a man. Now, in response to that, a lot of people said, well,

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Deborah was judge of Israel, but Deborah is actually an example of God shaming the men who would not step up and lead.

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And so victory was given to women instead of the men because leadership was lacking in Israel.

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In response to us talking about that last week, Chris with a K wrote in and said, hi,

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Pastor Gabe. Good morning. I'm not sure if I would classify myself as reformed. And after the discussion on judges from the show on September the 25th,

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I have a few questions. Number one, is God's unhappiness with Deborah as judge and not a man, a demonstration of an abuse of freedom by the

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Israelites? Number two, if God preordained salvation, why didn't he elect a man as judge?

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Did God elect Deborah? Number three, how much control do we have in our salvation?

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If none, are we comparable to puppets? An argument I've heard from non -reformed

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Christians. Number four, finally, and this is where I am going with all of this. How much freedom do we have or is everything predetermined by God?

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For example, is God responsible for all our choices, including the sports, music, foods, clothes, etc.

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we like? Am I overthinking all of this or are these the kinds of questions that Christians should ponder?

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Thank you for your faithfulness to the ministry. We're praying for your family and the transition to Lyndale, Texas. Well, thank you for your email,

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Chris. And I'm going to answer your questions in order here. Number one, is God's unhappiness with Deborah as a judge and not a man, a demonstration of an abuse of freedom from the

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Israelites? We're not given any indication that God was unhappy with Deborah.

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In fact, everything that we read about Deborah in the book of Judges is that she was a godly woman who feared

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God and and taught Israel to do the same. God was unhappy with Israel.

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Judges four begins like this. And the people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the

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Lord. After Ehud died, Ehud was the was was judge a couple of judges before Deborah.

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So the Lord gave them into the hand of the king of Canaan. And as before, the people cried out for deliverance from their oppression.

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God gave them judges for deliverers that's mentioned in Judges two, 16, who so far in the story up until we get to Judges four, all of these judges have been men.

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Only three have been listed up until Deborah. In fact, in the entire Bible up to this point,

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Genesis through Judges four, no leader of God's people has ever been a woman.

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But on this particular occasion, the judge is Deborah. She's the the only judge who is a woman.

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And she's also the only judge who did not lead an army. That's significant.

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The military commander was Barak, who exemplifies Israel's weakness and unwillingness to obey

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God. One of the instructions that God had for Israel, even after Joshua died, was that they would continue to fill the land that he had given to them as an inheritance and that they would conquer those nations, those pagan nations, and drive them out.

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Well, they didn't. Judah was probably the one tribe that was the most militant in attempting to drive out some of those pagan peoples.

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But eventually, Judah even became lax in that. So God had instructed Israel that they would continue to drive out the pagan nations.

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And they didn't do it. So they became weak. And as kind of a mockery and even a judgment of their weakness,

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God gave them a woman to rule over them as judge for them to show that, hey, the men are not stepping up and leading.

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And so victory is going to go to a woman. And Deborah said to Barak, the military commander, who again exemplifies

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Israel's weakness here. She says, has not the Lord, the God of Israel, commanded you go gather your men at Mount Tabor, taking ten thousand from the people of Naphtali and the people of Zebulun?

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And I will draw out Sisera, the general of Jabin's army, to meet you by the river

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Kishon with his chariots and his troops, and I will give him into your hand.

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But in verse eight, it says, listen to Barak's response, Deborah has just told him, here's what

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God says for you to do. Go do this and victory will be yours because God is with you.

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What is what is Barak say? Barak said to her, if you will go with me, if the woman will go with me into battle like he needs mommy to take his hand and take him to war, if you will go with me,

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I will go. But if you will not go with me, I will not go. And she said,

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I will surely go with you. Nevertheless, the road on which you are going will not lead to your glory.

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For the Lord will sell Sisera into the hand of a woman. That was a judgment on Barak because he would not step up and lead as the man was supposed to do.

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Now, he did obey the word of the Lord and he did lead into battle and he was successful and he won.

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But ultimately, the victory, the glory of the of the victory of the battle went to a woman and it wasn't

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Deborah. It was J .L. J .L. dealt the final blow against Sisera, not

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Barak. So because of Barack's obedience and because he was successful against the army, he gets listed as one of the heroes of the faith in Hebrews chapter 11.

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But it's still a mockery upon him that he would not be man enough to go into battle that he had to ask a woman to take him by the hand to take him there.

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So a woman was placed as judge over Israel as a judgment upon the men who were not stepping up and leading.

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This is a woman calling out weak men. God through a woman is mocking wimpy people who will not trust in his might.

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And that is exactly how we are to understand her appointment. It's very clear that Deborah's appointment as judge is an anomaly.

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It is not the norm. So this is something that God had done to judge the men and mock them for their weakness.

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God mourns over his people when they subject themselves to the ruling authority of women.

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That's Isaiah 312. Becky and I referenced that passage last week. He also mocks men who lose the will to fight as becoming like women.

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See Jeremiah 50, 37 and 51, 30. This is no condemnation of women.

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And it is certainly no condemnation of Deborah, who, again, is only ever spoken of as a godly and principled woman.

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This is a condemnation upon a nation lacking godly, courageous men who will lead.

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Incidentally, every woman who ever forced herself into a position of authority over God's people, which

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Deborah did not do, he was she was appointed by God. Every woman who ever forced herself into authority that we read about in scripture is always regarded as evil.

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Just look up Jezebel and Mayaka. A couple of examples that that Becky and I gave.

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Your second question, Chris, if God preordained salvation, why didn't he elect a man as a judge?

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Well, I mean, one thing doesn't really have to do with another. Remember that God preordained the salvation of Israel out of slavery in Egypt.

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And who did he give Israel as a ruler? Pharaoh as as a persecutor so that they would see the glory of God demonstrated in Pharaoh and give glory to God because of that.

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So so even regarding Deborah, God answered the cry of Israel who asked for deliverance.

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And why did God subject them to the oppression that they were experiencing under Sisera? It was because they worshiped false gods.

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They did what was evil in the sight of God. And so he subjected them to oppression when they cried out to God.

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He said, OK, I'll deliver you, but I'm going to give you a woman to do it. So he was merciful and gracious.

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And yet there was still kind of a judgment there as a result of their sin. Chris, you also asked, did

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God elect Deborah? Yes, God did appoint Deborah to that position. Number three, how much control do we have in our salvation?

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If none, are we comparable to puppets, an argument that I've heard from non -reformed Christians? How much control do we have in our salvation?

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None. Ephesians two, eight and nine. It is by grace you have been saved through faith.

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And this is not your own doing. It is the gift of God, not a result of works.

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And as we've been studying in Romans nine for the past few weeks, verse 18 says he has mercy on whomever he wills and he hardens whomever he wills.

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Now, this does not mean that you are not accountable for your actions.

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You do not get to say to God, because the verse that comes right after that, verse 19, you do not get to say, why does he still find fault for who can resist his will?

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Who are you, oh man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, why have you made me like this?

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Charles Spurgeon has said the following, I think this was a quote that I quoted either this past week or the week before.

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He said, if I find taught in one part of the Bible that everything is for ordained, that is true.

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And if I find in another scripture that man is responsible for all his actions, that is also true.

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And it is only my folly that leads me to imagine that these two truths can ever contradict each other.

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And I mean, for more on this, you just need to go back and listen to what we've been studying as we've been going through Romans 9, and we'll look at finishing up this chapter this coming week,

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Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. The next question you asked, number four, finally, and this is where I'm going with all of this, how much freedom do we have, or is everything predetermined by God?

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For example, is God responsible for all our choices, including the sports, music, food, clothes, et cetera, that we like?

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In response to that question, I guess I kind of answered it with the previous question, is God responsible for your actions?

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No, you are. But is everything for ordained by God? Yes. And again, these two ideas are not in contradiction with one another.

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This is not about Calvinism versus Arminianism or freewillism or whatever you want to call it. It's simply what the

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Bible says, Lamentations 3, 37 through 38, who has spoken and it came to pass unless the

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Lord has commanded it. Is it not from the mouth of the Most High that good and bad come?

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And again, as we had referenced in Genesis, Genesis 50, 20, what Joseph said to his brothers who sold him into slavery in Egypt, you meant it for evil.

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God meant it for good. God was the one who sent him to Egypt.

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Joseph said that to his brothers. You did not send me here. God did. But you meant it for evil and God meant it for good.

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Romans 8, 28, all things work together for good for those who love God and are called according to his purpose.

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Lastly, Chris, I guess you had one other question in there. Number five, am I overthinking all of this or are these the kinds of questions

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Christians should ponder? I think it's always good to ask these kinds of things. So long as you are asking in faith and without doubting, as it says in James 1, 5 through 8, may the answers you seek come first and foremost from the word of God and therefore draw you closer to knowing him.

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This next question comes from Jason in North Carolina, one of my favorite parts of the world.

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That's where Becky and I honeymooned. I was born in South Carolina and in moving to Texas, I feel like I'm returning to my roots.

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I've spent most of my life in Kansas, but still a southern boy at heart. Anyway, Jason says, hello,

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Gabe and Becky. I will let her know. You said, hey, I really enjoy your what podcast and the interactions that I've had with both of you on Twitter.

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On to my question, a couple of times recently in other interactions on Twitter, I've seen people claim that the

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Bible's translation of homosexual is a mistranslation. I'm pretty sure that's incorrect.

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I trust the language scholars over the centuries more than some liberals online who think that they know more.

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But do you know what that is based on? Thank you and keep up the great work and have a safe move to Texas.

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Thank you, Jason. Well, yeah, of course, this is constantly debated, especially in the in the 90s, 2000s and today, the most prominent passage in the scripture, one of the most prominent passages that we have where the word homosexual appears is in First Corinthians, chapter six, verses nine through ten.

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Here's what we read. Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God?

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Do not be deceived. Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God going on into verse eleven.

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And such were some of you. But you were washed. You were sanctified.

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You were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the spirit of our

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God. So we have the word homosexual appear there. That's the English standard version, incidentally, that I was reading from.

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But most English translations have that word there. The only other place it appears is

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First Timothy one ten, where Paul is talking about the law is laid down for not for the just, but for the unjust, the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and sinners, for the holy and profane, for those who strike their fathers and mothers, for murderers, the sexually immoral men who practice homosexuality, enslavers, liars, perjurers and whatever else is contrary to sound doctrine.

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They will be judged under the law, and the law strictly condemns the practice of homosexuality, homoeroticism, the the act of a man having sex with another man.

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As it says in Leviticus 2013, if a man lies with a male as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination.

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They shall surely be put to death. Their blood is upon them. So even without that word homosexual, we can very clearly see that the act of homosexuality is condemned in Scripture and in fact is a sin even worthy of death.

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Nevertheless, we have this claim that the word homosexual is a mistranslation.

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Where does this come from? There are a number of different angles to this, but it basically comes down to this.

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The Greek word there, arsenokoite, that's the word that Paul uses in 1 Corinthians 6 and in 1

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Timothy 1 that is translated homosexual. The claim is that that word should not be translated homosexual.

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Some have even gone as far to say, hey, there are Bibles that are much older than the English Bibles that we use today, and they don't use the word homosexual.

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Well, that's true because that word homosexual is only about 100 years old.

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It hasn't been around in the English language that long. But if you go back to the

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Geneva Bible in 1599, here is how 1 Corinthians 6, 9 and 10 would have read in English over 400 years ago.

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Know ye that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God. Be not deceived, neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor wantons, nor buggerers, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor railers, nor extortioners shall inherit the kingdom of God.

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OK, obviously the word homosexual is not there because that word did not exist over 400 years ago.

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So we need to ask what a wanton is and what a buggerer is. And keep in mind, we have to understand these terms according to their usage in the generation that the text was translated, not according to how we might hear someone use those words today.

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To be wanton was to be driven by an insatiable sexual appetite. That's pretty self -explanatory.

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So what is a a buggerer? A buggerer is one who buggers.

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OK, well, what does that mean? I'm going to get a little explicit here. OK, here's here's literally what the word means.

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It meant a man who has anal sex with another man. The word bugger comes from the medieval

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Latin word Bulgarus, which meant a Bulgarian, the old English version of a sodomite.

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Apparently, the English had such contempt toward the Eastern Orthodox and their doctrine. They thought of them as low as men fornicating with other men.

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And bugger was the slang derogatory term for a heretic sodomite.

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Incidentally, the Greek word arson, OK, that we have in first Corinthians six and first Timothy one that is translated homosexual.

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That Greek word is the Greek word that was used for sodomite, a man who wants to have sex with another man.

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And of course, that word comes from Genesis Sodom. When you had

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God saying that he was going to destroy Sodom for its wickedness, he sent two angels to go and rescue

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Lot out of it. The men of Sodom came to Lot's house and wanted to have sex with his two visitors.

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And so therefore, that's where we come up with the word sodomite. Now, one of the most prominent persons in this attempt to try to retranslate the

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Bible or twist it to mean something that it doesn't actually say is Matthew Vines. He's kind of the foremost guy in the

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God and the gay Christian movement. And I did do a video in response to some of these things that Matthew Vines has been teaching.

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Here it is. And you will find it on YouTube under the title The Real Reason God Destroyed Sodom.

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Here we go. Minute and a half. What video? Matthew Vines is the founder of the

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Reformation Project, which has nothing to do with the Protestant Reformation. It's an attempt to reform church teaching on sexual orientation and gender identity.

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Vines authored a book entitled God and the Gay Christian, in which he attempts to argue that God is actually for homosexuality.

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In his reinvention of the text, he says that Sodom and Gomorrah were not destroyed because of same -sex fornication.

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The men of Sodom wanted to have sex with the two angels who came to rescue Lot from the wrath of God, but this was a threatened gang rape.

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Vines says the real reason Sodom was destroyed is given in Ezekiel 1649. Now, this was the sin of your sister

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Sodom. She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed, and unconcerned. They did not help the poor and needy.

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So even though Vines acknowledges the Sodomites wanted to rape visitors, he still insists Sodom was destroyed because they didn't invite the angels to dinner.

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Ezekiel 16 is one of the most shocking chapters of Scripture with its use of sexually explicit language. Jerusalem was unfaithful to God, who labeled the city a promiscuous whore.

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In addition to being prideful and uncharitable, God said Jerusalem was guilty of all Sodom's having at one point employed male prostitutes.

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So that passage really doesn't work in Vines' favor. He also ignores other passages, like in Jeremiah and Jude, that mention the sexual and unnatural desire of the infamous

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Sodomites. According to the Bible, homosexuality is a serious sin worthy of the wrath of God.

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But it's not an unforgivable sin. Those who repent are washed, sanctified, justified in the name of the

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Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God when we understand the text. In addition to Matthew Vines, false ministry, heresy, perversity, whatever it is you want to call it, there's also this false ministry called

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Forge. And the efforts of Forge have been to normalize

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LGBTQ behavior as being biblically permissible, like God made you gay.

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He wants you to be gay and it's OK. Anyway, that might be their motto. There's a book coming out from them entitled

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Forging a Sacred Weapon, How the Bible Became Anti -Gay. And it's this attempt to show there's been this conspiracy over the last hundred years to make the

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Bible anti -gay. I responded to the claims of those authors in an article entitled,

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Is There a Conspiracy to Make the Bible Anti -Gay? And Becky and I talked about this on the podcast earlier this year.

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The article was posted on April the 11th. So if you go to my blog, PastorGabe .com

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and look for that article, you'll find it there. Jason, in my response to you, I'll be sure to include a link.

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All right. Well, we're halfway through the program, and I got to be honest with you, I am really, really tired. I don't think

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I'm going to make it through the next 30 minutes, at least with enough brainpower to make any sense of the answers that I want to give, the responses that I want to make.

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So I'm going to cut this in half. This is going to be part one of the Friday Q &A, and I will try to record part two for Saturday later on in the day.

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So we'll see if that works out. Give me the chance to go to bed and sleep on it.

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I was working outside all day yesterday. And again, this was all in preparation to get the house ready to be sold.

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I am exhausted. I'm going to bed. I'll make a part two of this Q &A later. Let's conclude with prayer.

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Heavenly Father, we thank you for the guidance that you give to us. According to your word, we get to look into the mind of our creator

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God. Know what your will is, what is good, pleasing and perfect in your sight.

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May we live according to these things, not just desiring to understand the Bible, but even living according to this word that you have given to us.

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As you said, through the prophet Isaiah, this is the one to whom I will look. He who is humble and contrite in spirit and who trembles at my word.

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Our culture is in such a spiritual famine right now. May your word be proclaimed.

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May the people love it. May they desire to be as Christ, turning from sin and living upright and godly lives in this present age.

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And may we encourage others to live that way, to turn from sin and follow

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Jesus Christ. Never let us be ashamed of that truth, but speak it and encourage it all the more.

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We pray for the health of our president. We pray for the recovery of Joel Beakey and his wife and others who have been struggling with other health ailments, whether it's

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COVID -19 or otherwise. May these struggles that we go through in our bodies, in this world in which we live, draw our eyes all the more toward you and our hearts long for heaven, deliverance from this world that we may live forever with God in his heavenly kingdom.

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We ask these things in Jesus name. Amen. This is When We Understand the

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Text with Pastor Gabe Hughes. There are lots of great Bible teaching programs on the web, and we thank you for selecting ours, but this is no replacement for regular fellowship with a church family.

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Find a good, gospel -teaching, Christ -centered church to worship with this weekend, and join us again tomorrow as we continue our