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Investigating the Bible: Words possess great power

By DAVID CARLSON PASTOR

The outspoken and sometimes outrageous daughter of President Teddy Roosevelt, Alice Roosevelt Longworth, said, “If you can’t say something good about someone, sit right here by me.” Criticizing others in their absence is common. The old children’s rhyme, “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me,” is quite untrue. The Bible teaches that words can harm or heal.

In the Old Testament, spoken promises, called oaths, were irrevocable. Rebekah, the wife of Isaac, carried twin sons in her womb. Esau was born first and he “… came out all red, all his body like a hairy cloak, so they called his name Esau. Afterward his brother came out with his hand holding Esau’s heel, so his name was called Jacob.” (Genesis 25:25,26; English Standard Version used throughout). Being the oldest by minutes, Esau would receive double the inheritance of all his father’s wealth. However, when Esau was a young man, he went out hunting for the day and returned famished. Jacob had delicious stew and bread already prepared. Before he would give his brother food, “Jacob said, ‘Sell me your birthright now.’ So he swore to him and sold his birthright to Jacob.” (Genesis 25: 31-33). Later Isaac was deceived by Rebekah and Jacob into also giving all the blessing due the firstborn son to Jacob (Genesis 27:5-29). Esau’s and Isaac’s oaths could not be revoked. Jacob inherited great wealth and his twelve sons became the nation Israel.

The Old Testament also teaches the healing power of words. “A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger. The tongue of the wise commends knowledge, but the mouths of fools pours out folly.” (Proverbs 15:1-2). Solomon was the son of David and famous for his wisdom. Once, two women came to him, each claiming to be the mother of an infant.

To settle the matter, Solomon said, “…’Bring me a sword.’ So a sword was brought before the king. And the king said, ‘Divide the living child in two, and give half to the one and half to the other.’” (1 Kings 3:24-25). The first woman told the king to stop and give the living child to the other woman. The other woman coldly said, “‘He shall be neither mine nor yours; divide him.’ Then the king answered and said, ‘Give the living child to the first woman, and by no means put him to death; she is his mother.’” (1 Kings 3:26-27).

We still have honest and fair judges. David Jeremiah wrote of a Michigan judge, Raymond Voet, who had a long-standing rule: cell phones off in his courtroom. Violators would be fined $25. When Judge Voet’s own cell phone rang loudly during a prosecutor’s closing argument, he paused the proceeding, found himself in contempt of court, and paid the $25 fine.

Words matter. They can harm. “A worthless man plots evil, and his speech is like a scorching fire. A dishonest man spreads strife, and a whisperer separates close friends. A man of violence entices his neighbor and leads him in a way that is not good.” (Proverbs 16:27-29).

Words can heal. “The heart of the wise makes his speech judicious and adds persuasiveness to his lips. Gracious words are like a honeycomb, sweetness to the soul and health to the body.” (Proverbs 16:23-24).

The New Testament counsels believers to watch their words. “Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time. Let your speech always be gracious seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.” (Colossians 4:5-6). Abraham Lincoln was the master of responding to personal attacks with grace and wit. In one of his debates, his fierce rival, Stephen A. Douglas called him two-faced. Lincoln turned to his audience and asked, “I’ll leave it to you. If I had another face, do you think I would wear this one?”

David Carlson Pastor (yes, that is his last name, not his profession) is a Polk County resident and graduate of Bethel Theological Seminary in Minnesota (M.Div., M.Th.).

Comments

Fiddler

“Outspoken” and “outrageous” are used because she’s female. Women didn’t even have the vote at the time, and were not allowed to work outside the home. They were baby factories only.

The author of this column uses sports when talking about men and children when talking about women. When he talks about ‘childless cat women” he says they’re outspoken and outrageous.

This is the Christian country MAGA wants. Project 2025 will take women back to when wives were property, like slaves, back to pre-1950s.

There’s no going back.

Fiddler

Was Jesus myth or fact?, cont.

Fishers of men. What does that mean, in fact?

In Matthew, Jesus threw a dragnet into the Sea of Galilee and said to Simon-Peter and his brother Andrew, to come with him and he’ll make them fishers of men. In Luke he said to Simon that he’d be ‘catching men’.

Also in Matthew there’s a warning to Chorazain, Bethsaida and Capernaum: woe to you who are exalted to heaven will be brought down to Hades.

Chorazain is another name for Gennesareth, where Jesus said to Simon-Peter and Andrew they’d be fishers of men. At this very spot, Titus’s brought woe to the Chorazains, and his soldiers followed him and fished men out of the water.

Josephus describes a sea battle, in the very same spot as Gennesareth, where Roman soldiers caught Jews like fish when Titus attacked a band of rebels led by a man named Jesus, a different Jesus than the one in the NT. The Jesus of the NT was dead by the time of the sea battle—he died in the 30s and this battle was in the 70s. The Romans pulled bodies out of the water like fish.

This is called satire, in this case Roman satire, or ‘black comedy’ because the prophecy became true, but in a tragic way. Instead of catching men and converting them to Christianity, Titus had the Jews killed and fished out of the sea.

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