There is a culture war going on all around us. Cultural warriors from all sides are pushing agendas in our schools, churches, on TV, in Movies, and even our commercials are loaded with forms of virtue signaling.
Our kids are forced to face ideologies that they may rarely, if ever seen, in generations past. Adrian Rogers said very well that “The sin that used to slink down back alleys now parades down Main Street.”
“The sin that used to slink down back alleys now parades down Main Street.”
One of the objections to a biblical understanding of cultural matters is the idea that “Jesus never addressed that.” People, wanting to justify their agendas, claim that the only thing that really matters are the things that Jesus said. The idea behind this is that the things Jesus said, maybe more specifically the red letters of the Gospels, are the most authoritative and binding parts of Scripture.
While I would agree that what Jesus said is of utmost importance…I think Scripture is clear that everything on the pages of Scripture is “what Jesus said.”
I think we can see this very clearly in Judges 6…
The Angel of the LORD
In Judges 6 “the Angel of the LORD” appears to Gideon to tell him to lead the nation of Israel against their oppressors, the MIdianites. The exchange between these two characters seems normal enough at first but it quickly changes.
In Scripture there is a big difference between “an angel of the LORD” and “the Angel of the LORD.” An angel fo the LORD is a messenger, exactly what we think of when we hear the term angel. But the Angel of the LORD is Jesus himself, the second member of the Trinity.
The Three in One
Jesus doesn’t just show up in Matthew 1 out of nowhere. From Genesis 1 to Revelation 22 Jesus is the central Character in Scripture. God has always existed as a Trinity, one God who is made up of 3 coequal and consubstantial persons.
So while Jesus takes on a body and becomes part of his own creation in Matthew…he had existed already from eternity past.
Lord vs LORD
In order to understand this passage as well we have to understand the difference between “Lord” and “LORD” in our English Bibles.
“Lord” is the translation of the Hebrew word “adonai” and is a term of respect used of someone with greater authority. Thus, just like in English, the word can be used of people in authority as well as for God himself.
“LORD” is the translation of the Hebrew word “Yahweh” and is the personal name of God. So while “lord” is a title, “LORD” is a name.
Interestingly the word Adonai occurs in the Old Testament 395 times when it refers to God, while Yahweh makes an appearance 6,828 times!
Back to the Angel of the LORD
Here is where all of this starts to matter. In Judges 6:13 when the Angel of the LORD first appears to Gideon the exchange seems very normal. Gideon says…
“Please, my lord (adonai), if the LORD (Yahweh) is with us...”
The Angel here simply appears to be a messenger sent from God to tell Gideon what to do. But everything changes in verses 14 and 16. In verse 14 the Angel says…
“...do not I send you?”
Here, the Angel of the LORD appears to be speaking of himself, in the first person, saying that he is sending Gideon. The question then emerges, is the Angel merely passing a message a long, in other words, is this just a quote? Or is he speaking as though he is God?
The question gets resolved for us in verse 16 when the text says, of the Angel of the LORD who is speaking to Gideon,…
“And the LORD (Yahweh) said to him (Gideon)...”
In this passage when the Angel speaks, Yahweh speaks. And conversely when Yahweh speaks, the Angel speaks. This is incredibly profound! Whatever the Bible says, God says. Whatever God says, Jesus says. Whatever Jesus says, God says because Jesus is God!!!
All Scripture is God Breathed
Paul said it well…
“All Scripture is God breathed...”
Jesus said everything in the Bible. The Bible is everything that Jesus says. No distinction can be made between the two.
Conclusion
The reality is that in Genesis 2 Jesus designs marriage. In Matthew 5 and 19 he defines it according to his design.
Jesus created people, marriage, gender, sex, etc. And his design has never changed.
From the fall of mankind we have been trying to define for ourselves who we are, what is good, and what our purpose is. But those are things that we can never define for ourselves. The imaginations and machinations of mankind will always try and invent ways to define us other than how God has designed us. But Jesus has addressed it all, and he has done so by showing us what the original design of his creation is.
Everything we need to live in a way that is pleasing to God and good for us in found in the Bible. All of it is God’s Word. All of it from Jesus, to us, for our good and His glory.