Home Economics is Stewardship (Money 4)

 

“Give an account of your stewardship.” (Luke 16:2 NKJV)

When I attended a small-town high school (in Easton, Illinois, population 350), virtually every female student in the school took courses in Home Economics, while virtually every male student took courses in Agriculture. My older brothers, Tim and Rod, and I studied “Ag, “while my older sisters, Marilyn and Barb, studied “Home Ec.” According to Wikipedia:

Much less common today, [Home Economics] was, and is, most commonly taught in high school. Home economics courses are offered around the world and across multiple educational levels. Historically, the purpose of these courses was to professionalize housework, to provide intellectual fulfillment for women, to emphasize the value of “women's work” in society, and to prepare them for the traditional roles of sexes.

Nevertheless, the phrase “Home Economics” itself is redundant. It is unnecessary to repeat the term “home.” The term “economics” is comprised of two Greek roots: OIKOS/eco- (which means “home”) and NOMOS/-nomics (which means “law”). Put them together and you have “the law of the home.” Another word for home is “household.” Today, the root “eco-” even carries the sense of “earth-as-our-home” as with the word “eco-logy.”

LOGOS/-logy means the study or logic of something (such as the earth). But “ecology” carries a slightly different connotation from the similar word “ge-ology” which also means the study or logic of the earth. The Greek word for Earth or land is GĒ/ge-, as in “ge-ography” in which we map (or graph) the Earth or land. The slightly different connotation between ecology and geology is involved with the concept of “stewardship.” Ecology pertains to “stewardship” of the Earth, just as Economy pertains to “stewardship” of the home or household.

Since there is so much discussion of “stewardship” among modern-day churches, it is surprising that only one of the four Gospel writers in the New Testament employs the OIKONOMOS/OIKONOMIA (=economist/economy) “stewardship” terminology: our friend Luke—the money management expert. The Apostle Paul (with whom Luke was well-acquainted) and the Apostle Peter (who, like Paul, used Silas [aka, Silvanus] as a secretary/amanuensis) also use the terminology. Peter’s only use, in 1 Peter 4:10 NKJV, commands: “As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.” In 1 Corinthians 9:17, Paul views the preaching of the Gospel as something he has been entrusted with—a “stewardship.” Likewise, in Ephesians 1:9-10 and 3:9 and Colossians 1:25, he views the “mystery” of God’s will which he has received as an OIKONOMIA/stewardship for which he is answerable. In 1 Corinthians 4:1-2, he refers to himself, Apollos, and Cephas all as “stewards” of the mystery of God, and states: “it is required in stewards that one be found faithful” (NKJV). In Ephesians 3:2, it is the OIKONOMIA of the grace of God. In 1 Timothy 1:4, Paul appears to pass the responsibility for stewardship of the word/OIKONOMIA along to Timothy. In Titus 1:7, Paul tells Titus to appoint elders in every city who will be God’s “stewards.” In a purely secular example, Paul states in Galatians 4:2 that children are not under their own authority and control, but are placed under “stewards.” In Paul’s only purely money-related use of the terminology, Romans 16:23 mentions Erastus, the treasurer (steward) of the city. In the “treasurer” sense, it is interesting that the role of treasurer among Jesus and his twelve disciples was given to Judas Iscariot (John 12:6 and 13:29)—undoubtedly, a poor steward, who even sold Jesus to the high priests for thirty pieces of silver.

The notion, however, that we must be good stewards of the money with which we have been entrusted by God is found in neither Paul nor Peter nor in the other New Testament writers—other than Luke. In my article in the KB Journal, “Burke, Perelman, and the Transmission of Values:  The Beatitudes as Epideictic Topoi,” I write:

Only Luke records two parables on stewardship.  In the parable of the steward who forgave many debts that were owed to his “rich” boss who was firing him, his boss commended him because he had [subsequently] done wisely. In the parable of the rich man and the poor beggar Lazarus, both die and the rich man finds himself in torment while the poor man is relaxing in Abraham’s bosom.  Abraham tells the rich man: “Son, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things, and Lazarus received evil things; but now here he is comforted and you are in anguish” (Luke 16:1-26).

Although the rich man and Lazarus parable does not specifically contain the terminology of stewardship (OIKONOMOS/OIKONOMIA), it follows shortly after Luke’s key parable of stewardship in chapter 16, and appears to be grouped by Luke along with the earlier parable about dealing with money, including the statement by Jesus in 16:13 (NKJV), also found in Matthew 6:24: “You cannot serve God and mammon.”

The other Lukan parable about stewardship is found in Luke 12:42-48 (NKJV):

“Who then is that faithful and wise steward, whom his master will make ruler over his household, to give them their portion of food in due season? Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing [having his waist girded and his lamp burning^, waiting for his master, when he returns from the wedding and knocks so that he may open to him immediately] when he comes. Truly, I say to you that he will make him ruler over all that he has. But if that servant says in his heart, ‘My master is delaying his coming,’ and begins to beat the male and female servants, and to eat and drink and be drunk, the master of that servant will come on a day when he is not looking for him, and at an hour when he is not aware, and will cut him in two and appoint him his portion with the unbelievers. … For everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required.”

Stewardship Principle #1: Do Not Waste

While the parable about a faithful and wise steward “appears” to pertain to the management of money (and home/household economics), its true significance, as Luke employs it, is directed towards being constantly prepared for Jesus’ return. Nevertheless, the comment about eating, drinking, and being drunk seems to equate to the Luke 16:1 accusation lodged against the steward that he had been “wasting” (DIASKORPIZŌ, literally “scattering”) his master’s goods. This is the same term Luke uses in the previous chapter (15:13) to describe how the Prodigal Son “wasted” his substance with riotous living. Seemingly, “wasting” one’s money on alcohol and riotous living is unacceptable “stewardship.”

On the other hand, giving away that money that belongs to one’s master is not necessarily poor stewardship. It seems counterintuitive that the steward in Luke 16 who was charged with “wasting” his master’s goods would be subsequently praised for forgiving various debts owed to his master. He went to each of his master’s debtors and forgave each a portion of their debt. Would this not constitute being further wasteful of his master’s goods? Not, if his master were a champion of debt forgiveness. Jesus taught us to pray, “Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors (Matt. 6:12).” (In Matt. 18:28-34, Jesus condemns an individual who refused to forgive a debt, after he had been forgiven an exponentially larger debt.) Furthermore, both the master and the previously wasteful steward in Luke understood an important public relations principle:

“[A] certain creditor … had two debtors. One owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty … he freely forgave them both. ... [W]hich of them will love him more?” … “I suppose the one whom he forgave more.” … “You have rightly judged.” (Luke 7:41-43 NKJV).  

Since the “wasteful” steward desired the good will of those whom he forgave debt, he was called “shrewd” by his master. Whether the courts end up agreeing or disagreeing with President Biden’s plan for America to forgive student loans, for instance, it is clear that the president’s intent is to purchase “goodwill” (in the form of votes) from those voters whose debts will have been forgiven. Even his “attempt” to proclaim forgiveness of student loans appears to have garnered some support from young voters in the 2022 midterm election. There is a clear public relations factor in debt forgiveness. Jesus’s example in Luke 7, however, was a parable pertaining to Jesus forgiving a sinful woman whose reputation was terrible. Jesus made the forgiveness parable, using debt forgiveness as a metaphor. He is offering an example of the good will that is generated by forgiving debts as well as sins. Nevertheless, forgiving debt is never condemned in Luke, or anywhere else in the New Testament. It is not “wasteful.” Often, in a public relations sense, it is excellent stewardship. At the very least, if one has been forgiven, it is incumbent upon that individual to forgive others.

Stewardship Principle #2: Do Not Abuse Those in Your Household

 

In the Luke 12:42-48 (NKJV) parable, Jesus states concerning the “faithful and wise steward, … his master will make [the steward] ruler over his household, to give them their portion of food in due season.” The wicked steward, however, “begins to beat the male and female servants.” Females from my generation will understand that this is a principle of Home Economics/Stewardship. While my dad engaged in a good-sized farming operation, my mom generally served as household steward of the profits he reaped. Don’t get me wrong. Dad still made the decisions about buying all of the farm machinery used to make his business go.  He negotiated the purchase of land, seed, fertilizer, fuel, pesticides, herbicides, etc. He made the car deals. But Mom managed all of the money for the household. She bought the groceries, the clothes, the furniture, the household items. I remember going on shopping trips with her to Springfield, Illinois, for clothing; to the grocery store in Havana, Illinois, for food. I loved shopping for items at the Havana bakery with her, because I would wind up with cream horns or “fudge squares.” I never asked my dad to purchase such things, because it was always understood that those matters fell under Mom’s stewardship. I didn’t always receive everything I asked for, but I always received my “portion of food in due season.” I received my fair share of spankings as a child, but my parents never “beat” me.

If one has received the “gift” of a household (spouse, children, grandchildren), one has an obligation (debt) “to give them their portion of food in due season,” to refrain from abusing them (though painful-but-not-harmful spankings may, occasionally, be required for small children). Even leaving an estate for one’s children at one’s death can be considered good stewardship. Paul, in 2 Corinthians 12:14 (NKJV) asserts: “the children ought not to lay up for the parents, but the parents for the children.” My parents did this. Prior to her death (and following my dad’s death), my mom sold their farm and divided the profits equally among my five siblings and me. That gift allowed me to pay cash for the home in which I now live. My wife and I have, ourselves, now saved up a fair-sized estate that we do not anticipate dissipating during the remaining years of our lives (Good Lord willing and the creek don’t rise!). I expect that my own children will be able to divide our estate equally to help them in their retirement years. While this teaching from 2 Corinthians allows me to justify my persuasive efforts when I was a financial consultant, it is just one matter pertaining to the next stewardship principle.

Stewardship Principle #3: Be Constantly Preparing to Give an Accounting (Luke 16:2)

Even if, as in the case of the Rich Young Ruler (Mark 10:17-22, Matthew 19:16-29, Luke 18:18-30), you never personally sold all of your possessions and gave the money to the poor … even if, as in the case of Barnabas and the early church in Jerusalem (Acts 2:44-45, 4:32-37), you never personally sold all of your possessions and laid all of the profits at the feet of the apostles, still, you do not “own” what are putatively considered your possessions and wealth. All you have belongs to God (Deuteronomy 10:14). You are only the steward. To view yourself in that way is to be “poor in spirit” (Matthew 5:3). As a steward, you are personally poor, but responsible for how you manage all of the things God has entrusted to you (money, health, skills, intellect, and the gospel). This past week, my family considered how even our vacations could provide opportunities to be stewards. What things do you do on vacation that advance God’s kingdom?

So long as you are not “wasting” what God has given you, you have been given considerable latitude as to how to invest His resources. Just be prepared to justify your investments. (There is a grey area between “justifying” and “rationalizing” one’s stewardship decisions.) If the criterion for successful stewardship is found in the parable of the Talents, where the good stewards were successful in doubling the wealth of the master, I have, at times, been a poor steward. When the Walt Disney Corporation took a stand against the State of Florida decision to prohibit woke sexual instruction in kindergarten through 3^rd grade schools, I established a website: NotWaltsFault.com (now available only by Googling “NotWaltsFault.com”) and produced hundreds of Tshirts, but with no profit. However, at least, I can offer an accounting. I did what I thought might advance the values system of the Bible and protect our children. In the past, I wrote and recorded some Christian music without profit. I also collaborated with a former music professor on two full-length Christian musicals without profit. Even the writing and publication of this blog has generated no financial return, but I have had hundreds of thousands of hits on various posts, so I can give an accounting. Some of my ventures have also been financially successful, but I think the accounting of being a steward is to be found in the motives of our stewardship, not in the financial results. Even the “wasteful” steward was applauded by his master for forgiving debts owed to the master!

My mother was quite good at home economics/stewardship (in addition to the stewardship of her biblical knowledge). She didn’t generate extra money for the family, except for those occasions in which she served as a substitute teacher, but she managed well the household funds that my dad generated. I don’t recall her ever having to give an account, but I’m sure that she could have easily done that. She didn’t waste. She didn’t abuse the household. She was faithful and trustworthy in her role. As Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 4:2: “it is required in stewards that one be found faithful” (NKJV). As Jesus asks in Luke 12:42 (NKJV): “Who then is that faithful and wise steward?” Do you and I meet the standard as stewards of God’s wealth?

Apocalyptic? #6: The Divorce of God (7 Seals)

Thus says the Lord: “Where is the bill of your mother’s divorcement, with which I have put her away?

 (Isaiah 50:1—See also Jeremiah 3:6-10)

                                                                                                                                              

Have world events caught your attention lately?  A world-wide COVID19 pandemic, the resulting shut down of the world’s economies, riots, looting, burning, and anarchy in the streets of American cities, the impeachment of an American president based on an interpretation of a phone call, earthquakes all over the globe, massively destructive hurricanes?  Even within the past century:  two World Wars, a genocidal holocaust, wars and rumors of wars surrounding the newly established State of Israel, the use of atomic weapons, 911, and other Islamic Terrorist Attacks? 

Catching the attention of the Egyptian pharaoh was the goal of the Ten Plagues brought by Moses.  God wanted to warn Egypt that He was taking Israel away to the Promised Land, to give the Pharaoh the chance to repent and let His people go.  Catching the attention of Israel was the goal of the Seven Seals of Revelation.  He wanted to warn Israel that she was in the process of being DIVORCED, to give her the chance to repent.  

J. Massyngberde Ford observes:

The Hebrew document which resembles the apocalyptic scroll most closely is the get mequssar, the tied (folded and sealed) deed.

. . . .

It is said that the folded get originated with priests who wished to divorce their wives, as in Baba Bathra 160b (Epstein):

What is the reason why the Rabbis instituted a folded (deed)?—They were [in] a place [inhabited] by priests, who were very hot-tempered and they divorced their wives (for the slightest provocation). Consequently the Rabbis made [this] provision, so that in the meantime they might cool down.

. . . . [T]he Lamb's biblion . . . might easily be a bill of divorce . . . .

Biblion is used for a bill of divorce in LXX Deut 24:1,3, Isa 50:1, Jer 3:8, Mark 10:4, Matt 19:7 . . . .  Although the Greek biblion is usually qualified by apostasion, the Semitic word get is often used without qualification when it means "bill of divorce." (J. Massyngberde Ford, Revelation, vol. 38 of The Anchor Bible [Garden City, New York:  Doubleday & Company, Inc., 1975], 92-94.)

In Deuteronomy 24:1 and 3, the very same term for “bill” of divorce (biblion) is used when God gave Israel the law concerning divorce as when in Isaiah 50:1 and Jeremiah 3:8 prophesied that God would divorce Israel—would give her a bill of divorcement.  The term biblion is the Greek word translated “scroll” in Revelation 5:1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 8, and 9.  The document actually resembled a pamphlet or brochure, rather than a scroll.  It was sealed at every fold.  Jesus (the Lamb) was the only Israelite deemed “worthy” to break the seals and open the biblion.  Jesus was the victim of Israel’s greatest sin—demanding his crucifixion.  Each time a seal was broken, there was an opportunity for God’s wife—Israel—to repent and be forgiven. 

Since we are “Reading Revelation through the Mirror” (See Apocalyptic? #2), John has now moved two steps away from the mirror, in the following steps:

1.      The church in dispersion (to whom John is writing) was informed largely through the “epistles” of Paul and others.  There, in Revelation 1-3, John began his book exactly where the church was at the time, sending “epistles/letters to the seven churches in Asia Minor.”

To:

2.      The Gospels’ presentation of a mortal Jesus, the servant of God, was updated with John’s picture of the exaltation of the Lamb in Heaven (Revelation 4-5).

To:

3.       The Jewish prophets (Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Hosea) presented Israel/Zion as the wife of God who played the “harlot” and who was, therefore, threatened with “divorce.” John precedes his “plagues” with the telos of this divorce threat--the “divorce” scroll with seven seals, as seen by J. Massyngberde Ford (Revelation 6-11).

With the number 7 operative in the divorce scroll, one is reminded of Jesus’ teaching on forgiveness-based-upon-repentance in Luke 17:3-4: “If your brother sins, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him.  And if he sins against you seven times . . . and turns again to you saying ‘I repent,’ you shall forgive him.”  Matthew 18:21-22 reports that Peter asked Jesus, “Lord how often shall my brother sin against me and I forgive him?  As many as seven times?”  Jesus answers: “Seventy times seven.”  What seems clear is that Jesus and God encourage forgiveness, so long as there is repentance.  In opening the seven seals of the divorce biblion in Revelation, God is trying to capture the attention of his wife, Israel, to give her the opportunity to repent.  The bottom line, however, is stated in Revelation 9:20-21: 

“And the rest of mankind, who were not killed with these plagues, repented not of the works of their hands, that they should not worship demons, and the idols of gold and of silver and of brass and of stone and of wood which can neither see nor hear nor walk, and they repented not of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts.”

So, what were the warnings that God gave to Israel?  What are the Seven Seals?

THE FOUR HORSEMEN OF THE APOCALYPSE:  The first four seals are described as horsemen.  Israel has seen these warnings for years.

Seal #1:  Conquest.  Beginning with the Jews being carried away into Babylon, Israel had been subdued by a constant progression of World Empires:  The Babylonian Empire, followed by the Medo-Persian Empire, followed by the Greek Empire, and now finally followed by the Roman Empire.  John, in Revelation, changes the meaning of “Conqueror” from its typical meaning of “one who kills and destroys” to the meaning of a martyr—"one who is willingly killed and destroyed.”  Jesus, who willingly allowed himself to be crucified, serves as the paradigm of a true Conqueror.  But in this passage, John reverts to the original, typical meaning.  The Jews were sent into captivity in Babylon to catch their attention—to enable them to repent and avoid Divorce.  In the 7 years from 66 to 73 AD, the Jews are facing the worst of the Roman conquest.  The Jewish state declared independence from Rome in 66, and Rome promptly responded, crushing-killing-enslaving the Jews, looting and burning the Temple, and destroying Jerusalem.  This “conquest” should, most surely, have caught the attention of Israel, right?

Seal #2:  War.  Beginning with the declaration of independence in 66 AD, the war began.  Josephus, the Jewish writer from that period, wrote the gory details in his book, The Wars of the Jews.  One of the most cruel tactics used by the Romans in this war is described by Josephus in War 5, Chapter 11:

So now Titus . . . sent a party of horsemen, and ordered they should lay ambushes for those that went out into the valleys to gather food. . . . [T]he greater part of them were poor people, who . . . could not hope to escape away, together with their wives and children. . . . [T]hey were first whipped, and then tormented with all sorts of tortures, before they died, and were then crucified before the wall of the city. . . . they caught every day five hundred Jews; nay, some days they caught more . . . .  So the soldiers, out of the wrath and hatred they bore the Jews, nailed those they caught, one after one way, and another after another, to the crosses, by way of jest, when their multitude was so great, that room was wanting for the crosses, and crosses wanting for the bodies.

This “war” should, most surely, have caught the attention of Israel, right?

Seal #3:  Famine.  “Those that went out into the valleys to gather food,” as described by Josephus, did so because “the severity of the famine made them bold in thus going out; so nothing remained but that . . . they should be taken by the enemy.”  The Romans had destroyed the crops as they invaded the land of Israel.  This “famine” should, most surely, have caught the attention of Israel, right?

Seal #4:  Death.  According to Wikipedia: 

Josephus claims that 1.1 million people were killed during the siege, of which a majority were Jewish. Josephus attributes this to the celebration of Passover which he uses as rationale for the vast number of people present among the death toll. Armed rebels, as well as the frail citizens, were put to death. All of Jerusalem's remaining citizens became Roman prisoners. After the Romans killed the armed and elder people, 97,000 were still enslaved . . . .  Of the 97,000, thousands were forced to become gladiators and eventually expired in the arena. Many others were forced to assist in the building of the Forum of Peace and the Colosseum. Those under 17 years of age were sold into servitude.  . . . Titus and his soldiers celebrated victory upon their return to Rome by parading the Menorah and Table of the Bread of God's Presence through the streets. Up until this parading, these items had only ever been seen by the high priest of the Temple. This event was memorialized in the Arch of Titus.

This number of “deaths” should, most surely, have caught the attention of Israel, right?

THE MARTYRS UNDER THE ALTAR:  The fifth seal is also something Israel has witnessed for years.

Seal #5:  Martyrs’ Prayers.  Revelation 6:9-11 (NIV) states: 

⁹ And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held:

¹⁰ And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the [land]?

¹¹ And white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellow servants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled.

Jesus was not the only one who was slain in Jerusalem for the word of God.  Matthew 23:7 (NIV) quotes Jesus as saying:  “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing” (See also Luke 13.34). Matthew 23:35 (NIV) expands:   ^“And so upon you [Jerusalem] will come all the righteous blood that has been shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Berekiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar” (See also Luke 11:51).  John the Baptist was beheaded by King Herod.  The deacon Stephen became the first Christian martyr, whose death-by-stoning was approved by Saul of Tarsus.  The Apostle James, the brother of the Apostle John, was the first Apostle to be martyred (Acts 12:2).  These “martyrs” should, most surely, have caught the attention of Israel, right?  Just as the police stood by silently while George Floyd was killed by a fellow police officer, would not the guilt of silently aiding and abetting in these killings have gripped their conscience?  It certainly gripped the conscience of Saul of Tarsus as he silently aided and abetted the killing of Stephen.  It caused him to REPENT.  Acts 22:20 (NIV) records his repentant confession: “And when the blood of your martyr Stephen was shed, I stood there giving my approval and guarding the clothes of those who were killing him.”  God accepts repentance.  On the first Christian Pentecost, Peter tells the Jerusalem crowds (Acts 2:36-38 NIV): 

“Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah.”

³⁷ When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?”

³⁸ Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. ³⁹ The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.”

Repentance is the proper response for being confronted with each seal in the divorce scroll.  Some of Israel actually DID REPENT, as Saul of Tarsus and the Jews at Pentecost did.  NOT ALL OF ISRAEL was to be divorced.  John the author of Revelation is a Jew, himself.  As mentioned in Apocalyptic? #5:

The part of Israel who is the HARLOT is the woman dressed in scarlet in Revelation 17, Mystery Babylon.  The part of the woman who is the remnant and represents true Israel is the 144,000 “VIRGINS” referred to in Revelation 14:4:  “These are they which were not defiled among women; for they are VIRGINS. These are they which follow the Lamb wherever he goes. These were redeemed from among men, being the firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb.”  Technically, the HARLOT is being divorced, but the VIRGINS are the bride of Christ in the [third] woman.

ASTROLOGICAL, METEOROLOGICAL, AND GEOLOGICAL EVENTS:  The sixth seal is also something Israel has witnessed for years.

Seal #6:  Earthquakes and Heavenly Signs.  Revelation 6:12-14 (NIV) states: 

¹² I watched as he opened the sixth seal. There was a great earthquake. The sun turned black like sackcloth made of goat hair, the whole moon turned blood red, ¹³ and the stars in the sky fell to earth, as figs drop from a fig tree when shaken by a strong wind. ¹⁴ The heavens receded like a scroll being rolled up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place.

In the enlightened age of the 21^st Century, do you ever stand in awe of astrological, meteorological, and geological events?  I was astounded by the vast devastation of Hurricane Michael, in 2018, as it came on shore in the vicinity of the Panama City Campus of Florida State University, where I teach.  It flattened virtually all of Mexico Beach, Florida, destroyed much of Panama City, itself, closed the campus for a semester, and made it impossible for me to return to the city from the shelter I had taken in—Orlando.  When I did make the trip, stretches of Interstate 10, fifty miles to the north, were closed because of forests snapped off like toothpicks and littering the roadway.  The devastation of Hurricane Maria in 2017 as it struck Puerto Rico and other islands also captured the attention of Americans, as did Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, slightly more than a decade earlier.  The San Francisco Earthquake (during the World Series of 1989) was astounding.  So, why would we be surprised that the Jews might have noticed the earthquake in Jerusalem as Jesus was being crucified, accompanied by the darkening of the skies.  Small wonder that Josephus noticed that, during the War for Jerusalem, “there broke out a prodigious storm in the night, with the utmost violence, and very strong winds, with the largest showers of rain, and continual lightnings, terrible thunderings, and amazing concussions and bellowings of the earth that were in an earthquake . . . that . . . forshewed some grand calamities that were coming” (Wars, IV,4,5).  Solar and lunar eclipses, and meteorite showers are common occurrences that were witnessed from time to time.

These “natural signs” should, most surely, have caught the attention of Israel, right?  So, did some repent?  Yes.  144,000 of them, to be exact.  But those 144,000 are the subject of my next post, as we approach the 7^th and final seal.  Meanwhile, do you think there is any tendency to repent on the minds of people in America in 2020, in light of the many “warnings” we have been receiving?