What the Bible says about Chaos
(From Forerunner Commentary)
God originally created the earth with such perfection and beauty that the angels shouted with joy! Our Creator does all things in an organized manner and completes all His works in exquisite splendor. But the earth had somehow become formless and chaotic so that God had to refashion it before man could be created.
Richard T. Ritenbaugh
Basic Doctrines: Satan's Origin and DestinyRelated Topics: Chaos | Creation | Creation of Earth | Creation, Physical | Recreation of Earth | Tohu and Bohu
What is the attraction of Halloween? Are people really into ghouls, spirits, devilry, and monsters? Are Americans really that attracted to the otherworldly theme of the holiday? No, probably not. Polls to the contrary, most Americans do not believe in demonic or even angelic spirits enough to think of Halloween as some kind of celebration of them. The answer lies in the donning of costumes and the consumption of alcohol: Halloween is the year's biggest escape from reality!
The ancient Celtic celebration of Samhain (November 1), from which All Saints' Day and All Hallows Eve derive, was a kind of New Years holiday. Along with the days immediately before and after, it was special because the Celts believed that the boundary between this world and the spirit world relaxed or lifted, allowing spirits to cross between them more easily. As this idea terrified superstitious people, they mollified the spirits by leaving out food and treats so that they would not curse them. Some practiced various forms of divination to contact departed loved ones. Druids thought this to be the best time to seek guidance from the dead, and the bards sought otherworldly inspiration for their poetry and song.
Another interesting aspect of Samhain's celebration is that the Celts considered it to take place in "no-time," that is, neither in the old year nor the new. Since this "no-time" was a time to itself, normal laws, order, strictures, and customs were held in abeyance for these three days of merriment. People thus did whatever they pleased.
So, the fool held court as the wise man. The baseborn acted as the noble. The servant became the master. Women dressed as men and vice versa. Farmers turned out their cattle, pigs, and sheep from their pens and pastures, allowing them to roam free. Some entered houses through windows rather than doors. No work was done because it was a time of total abandon: of revelry, feasting, drinking, taking dares, disguising oneself, and pretending to be something one was not. Those three strange days were "chaos time."
Our modern version, Halloween, is a "tame" descendant of this Celtic celebration, and its popularity is rising steadily. Revelers use the holiday as an excuse to escape their mundane, banal, yet stressful lives and "take a walk on the wild side." Laws, customs, mores, and order cease for a short time, as participants indulge themselves in whatever they desire.
Probably most consider it "blowing off steam" or "having a good time," but self-indulgence is sin. Instead of releasing the pressure by coming out of a world conducting its affairs apart from God (Revelation 18:4), celebrants compound their troubles by adding on sin and its destructive consequences.
We have been called to a different life, one in which we "put off" our former corrupt, lustful conduct and "put on" new habits and behaviors that reflect the righteous and holy life of Jesus Christ (Ephesians 4:22-24). Paul concludes in Ephesians 5:8-12, 15-16:
For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light (for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth), proving what is acceptable to the Lord. And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them. For it is shameful even to speak of those things which are done by them in secret. . . . See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil.
Richard T. Ritenbaugh
Halloween RisingRelated Topics: Alcohol Abuse | Celtic Origin of Halloween | Chaos | Darkness as a Metaphor for Evil | Druids | Halloween | Halloween, Celtic Origin of | Law Breaking | Putting off Carnal Characteristics | Putting on a New Self | Putting on the New Man | Samhain | Self Indulgence | Spirit of Divination | Superstition | Works of the Flesh
Only when we are still can we truly concentrate on knowing God. When our lives are upside-down, confusion and chaos reign, events and ideas rush by, and our attitudes and expectations are in flux. Under these conditions, the odds are against real spiritual growth. Often, we are just barely hanging on spiritually because circumstances have so distracted us and perhaps have even taken us down a side path that leads away from God. We may be trying to solve the problem—which is fine and right—but our minds are not straying very far from our own concerns. Like Job, we are failing to see the bigger picture of what God is doing.
In such times, we need to find that still place—a peaceful, quiet environment—where we can meditate on what God has done and is doing, and resolve to let Him work. Only in a setting of peace and calm do we have the opportunity to take stock and work on improving ourselves and our relationship with God.
Richard T. Ritenbaugh
Beating the Rat Race (Part Six)
The issue in this context concerns adults in positions of authority, but these adults never truly matured. When dishonoring parents is taken to an extreme, it produces an anarchy that will reach out to infect the community as well. "Anarchy" describes an absence of government; it defines general disorder, a time when each person does what is right in his own eyes (Judges 21:25).
Those trained in the home to dishonor parents will resist authority on every front, whether civic authorities, supervisors on the job, teachers in school, or coaches of a team. Self-centeredness stands at the foundation of this action. Those so created will pay little attention to honoring community standards because they do not respect them. Thus, they will not discipline themselves to submit to them. They always think that they know what is best for them—and for everybody else too. They will follow whatever impulse drives them, regardless of how it affects others.
This rebellious liberalism first produces an irritated grumbling in others, but it can soon build into general disorder and confusion. Ultimately, if unchecked, chaos results. In due course, a whole culture's energies are expended merely to survive, effectively destroying the development of spiritual, creative, and intellectual qualities essential to an individual's and to society's well-being. This is the very path America is following.
Immaturity is a direct result of not honoring parents. People of this mindset have a hard time cooperating because their minds are filled with insecurities, they feel they are being taken advantage of, or they feel driven to compete in everything. As they age, they feel put upon, and thus become quite defensive. Because such children are not made to respect their parents' advice, they grow up not understanding what truly works, so they lack wisdom. This failure reveals itself in self-will and self-indulgence that can be taken to the point of sheer rebellion. It condemns children to learning the lessons of life through the hard, harsh experiences of personal warfare.
John W. Ritenbaugh
The Fifth Commandment
In some areas, chaos and anarchy already approach the level of “lawlessness,” and the exasperation of many
“Lawlessness” is from the Greek word anomia, which denotes a condition of contempt and violation of law. With all the uprisings, crimes, and hostility continuously populating our newsfeeds, we are witnessing an abundance of this prophesied lawlessness nearly every day.
In this verse, the Greek word for love is agapē, godly love, the kind of love God expresses toward us and which we are to learn to express toward both Him and each other. Jesus is warning us that many of His called people—the only humans who can possess the love of God in their hearts because of the Holy Spirit in them (Romans 5:5)—are passively letting love grow stone-cold through feelings of frustration and hopelessness! The Contemporary English Version translates this verse, “Evil will spread and cause many people to stop loving others.”
Despite how we may feel, we cannot let anger at sin and sinners get in the way of our responsibility to continue loving our fellow man. Doing so is a sign of returning to the carnality of our pre-conversion lives when we allowed our emotions to cause us to react to difficult circumstances in ungodly ways. Our Savior set the proper example by loving His potential brothers and sisters so much that He gave His life for every one of us “while we were still sinners” (Romans 5:8)!
We must overcome these feelings of resentment and not let the pervasive spread of hatred and evil in this world derail us from our divinely assigned responsibilities. Jesus states in the next verse, “But he who endures to the end shall be saved” (Matthew 24:13). Only those who patiently continue to live according to Christ's teachings even amidst the most troubling times will enter God's Kingdom.
But enduring through chaos is not something God's people can do alone. This prophecy is a message to the church at the time of the end, to those who have the love of God because He has chosen to bestow His grace upon them. A Christian's responsibility is to reciprocate this love back to Him in obedience and out to others in acts of service. In this way, we strengthen our bonds between God and our brethren, giving us extra faith and unity to weather the stormy times.
We do not need to be too concerned with the fulfillment of prophecy, particularly about the when of Christ's return. We will never figure out the correct dates since they are under the Father's control (Matthew 24:36). We may not even be able to determine the right players beforehand! Trying to know these things beforehand is futile and time-wasting.
Instead, what the Bible teaches is to be ready. Jesus counsels His disciples in Matthew 24:44, “Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.” Being ready entails, in part, meeting life's daily challenges now to overcome our faults and grow in righteous character. That is job one: preparing ourselves to live like God in His Kingdom.
Despite its seeming pessimism, Matthew 24:12 actually provides some hope. It reads, “. . . the love of many will grow cold” (emphasis ours). Jesus says “many,” not “all.” Some people's love will not grow cold; some will remain faithful. What can we do to be part of the lesser number, keeping our godly love alive?
Most of all, we must keep our focus on Jesus Christ and His example of loving behavior and strive to imitate it. In this way, as Paul writes in II Timothy 1:6 (ESV), we will “fan into flame the gift of God” and keep it boiling hot. If we do these things, the pervasive spread of evil will not cause us to stop loving others.
John Reiss
Waxing ColdRelated Topics: Agape | Anarchy | Anomia | Chaos | Enemies, Loving | Lawlessness | Reciprocation | Resentment | Waxing Cold