News broke Thursday that the Israeli military has killed Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar in a southern Gaza raid. Sinwar was the mastermind of the October 7 attacks and had served as the driver of Hamas’ position in the largely fruitless cease-fire talks that followed.

Israeli and American officials had been hunting for Sinwar since those attacks and had gotten close to capturing or killing him on multiple occasions prior to this week. In January, they missed him by a matter of days after raiding a tunnel where he’d been hiding. Though he escaped, they still came away with key documents and roughly $1 million worth of Israeli shekels that Sinwar was forced to leave behind.

Given the magnitude of Sinwar’s death, Israeli officials took quite a while to confirm that the Hamas leader had, in fact, been killed. They took his body back to a laboratory in Israel to compare DNA samples, along with fingerprints and dental records, with their records from when Sinwar was their prisoner for more than two decades. He’d previously been released while serving four life sentences as part of a prisoner exchange in 2011.

Given that Sinwar had largely insisted upon conditions that were beyond the pale of Israeli consideration in any cease-fire negotiations, his death has raised hopes among some that an end to the war could be possible. Most seem skeptical of that outcome—and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Israelies, “The war, my dear ones, is not over yet”—but there are fewer obstacles to peace now than at the start of the week. And, given the reports of rapidly deteriorating conditions in Gaza, a quick end could indeed prove to be a blessing.

Will the US continue to support Israel?

Earlier this week, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Secretary of State Antony Blinken sent a letter to Yoav Gallant—Israel’s Minister of Defense—in which they threatened to cut off future military aid unless Israel allowed more humanitarian aid into Gaza in the next thirty days. They defined “more aid” as:

• At least 350 aid trucks per day through all four major crossings.
• The opening of a fifth additional crossing.
• Allowing people in the humanitarian zone on the coast to move inland before winter.
• Humanitarian pauses across Gaza to allow for greater access to vaccinations and medical treatments.
• A new channel of communication between Israel and the US to “raise and discuss civilian harm incidents.”

While aid shipments improved earlier this year, the latest reports claim that they have fallen by more than 50 percent from their peak. The UN humanitarian office claims that only one of its 54 efforts to get into Northern Gaza were approved earlier this month, and current projections are that nine in ten Gazans will face “acute food scarcity” in the coming months unless something changes.

For their part, COGAT—Israel’s Coordination of Government Activities and Territories task force—denied that any border crossings in the north have been closed and countered by noting that they have allowed the international community to bring 1,064,820 tons of humanitarian aid through its crossings since the start of the war, including roughly 824,078 tons of food. And much of that aid has been seized by Hamas rather than going to the Palestinian people.

Still, the present food crisis in Gaza is less about what Israel has done than what it is doing at the moment. And, in that regard, there is a dire need for improvement.

After all, no matter how you feel about the Gazan people, their response to Hamas, or the litany of other lenses through which this war can be seen, we must never forget that God loves them and calls us to do the same.

Serving Christ by serving others

In one of Christ’s final teachings before the crucifixion, he told his followers a parable about sheep, goats, and the final judgment (Matthew 25:31–46). His primary point in the story is that when God gathers all nations before his throne, how he will see us will hinge—at least in part—on how we had treated the “least of these.” Jesus goes so far as to say that the care we rendered to the poor, sick, and strangers in our midst was rendered to him as well.

As Russell Moore recently pointed out, our job in responding to this passage is not to parse out who belongs to the least of these but, rather, to simply serve the people God puts in our lives to serve. That responsibility should impact not only how we treat people but also how we see them.

While few of us will likely have the chance to serve those suffering in Gaza, knowing that Jesus would want us to care for them if we did should inform the way we see their suffering.

That doesn’t mean we should justify the actions of those who have sided with Hamas in their atrocities or that we should forget why this war started in the first place. But it does mean that we should not allow any such questions to block out the fact that every single individual fighting over bread or wondering if their home will be the next one destroyed as collateral damage is made in the image of God and loved by our heavenly Father.

And the same is true for the least of these whom the Lord has given you an opportunity to help.

So, when those chances come, what will you do?

How you answer will reveal quite a bit about where you stand with God today.

Friday news to know:

• US plans to target Iranian ghost fleets used to avoid sanctions
• Liam Payne, former member of One Direction, dies after falling from his third-story hotel room
• US Sanctions two Chinese companies for supplying weapons to Russia
• Robot vacuums in multiple cities hacked, start shouting obscenities and racial slurs
• On this day in 1867: US purchases Alaska from Russia for $7.2 million

*Denison Forum does not necessarily endorse the views expressed in these stories.

Quote of the day:

“Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.” — Jesus (Matthew 25:40)

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Embracing four often-overlooked biblical principles

Last night’s Hunter Moon was the brightest supermoon we’ll see all year. It comes at the same time a comet discovered only last year is visible after sunset. Meanwhile, strong storms on our Sun may temporarily disrupt power and communications on our planet and spacecraft in orbit.

From above us to below us: Scientists have discovered animals beneath the ocean floor. Since only 26.1 percent of the global seafloor has been mapped, who knows what else lies down there?

For those with eyes to see and minds to think, every dimension of our universe demonstrates our Creator’s magnificence and humanity’s finitude. Consider a few examples:

• Around ten billion trillion people could fit inside the Earth.
• Around 1,300,000 Earths could fit inside the Sun. (Our planet is about the size of an average sunspot.)
• Our Sun is just one of two hundred billion trillion stars in the observable universe.
• End to end, the blood vessels in your body would stretch more than twice the distance around the world.
• One trillion atoms could fit into the period at the end of this sentence.

I could go on. And our God made all of that.

As we’re exploring the significance and urgency of biblical truth this week, consider this amazing fact: The omnipotent Creator of the universe wrote a book. And just as amazing: He wants us to be empowered and transformed by its truth.

What does this mean in practical terms? Consider four often-overlooked, interrelated principles.

The word leads to the Word

When I taught biblical interpretation as a seminary professor, I emphasized the “Christocentric” principle: The word of God ultimately exists to lead us to the Son of God. For example, John wrote his Gospel “so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name” (John 20:31).

If we read, teach, and preach the Bible as an end rather than as a means, we frustrate the Spirit’s purpose behind its inspiration, illumination, and application today. St. Ignatius, the second-century bishop of Antioch, wrote a letter in which he warned: “Be deaf when anyone preaches to you without mentioning Jesus Christ. … Flee from these preachers, these wicked offshoots that bear deadly fruit, one taste of which is fatal.”

If you do not experience Christ whenever you read the Bible, you have not fully read the Bible.

What happens to us must happen through us

For a variety of reasons, I believe the Bible to be the true, trustworthy, and authoritative word, as I explain here. But there’s a caveat: You and I must act biblically for the Bible to fulfill its transforming purpose in our lives.

The fifth-century Gallic monk Vincent of Lérins compared our spiritual growth to our physical growth: as our bodies mature, they are still our bodies. If they become something else, “the whole body would necessarily perish or become grotesque or at least be enfeebled.”

In the same way, he urged, “We should reap true doctrine from the growth of true teaching.” When we do, this doctrine changes our lives and our world.

The Bible is unique among the world’s books in that its intended purpose is only fully accomplished in us if it is accomplished through us. The person who hears God’s word “and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing” (James 1:25).

Will you be blessed in your “doing” today?

Breathe out to breathe in

A vital way to obey God’s word is by leading others to obey God’s word.

St. Gregory the Great, who served as pope from 590 to his death in 604, lamented that “compelled by the urgency of these barbarous times,” he and other Christian leaders “accept the duties of office, but by our actions, we show that we are attentive to other things.” For example, “Those who have been entrusted to us abandon God, and we are silent. They fall into sin, and we do not extend a hand of rebuke.”

Gregory then asks, “How can we who neglect ourselves be able to correct someone else? We are wrapped up in worldly concerns, and the more we devote ourselves to external things, the more insensitive we become in spirit.”

Obedience to Scripture requires us to help others obey Scripture (2 Timothy 3:16–17). We must breathe out to breathe in.

Light a candle that “shall never be put out”

In unbiblical times, biblical fidelity is dangerous (cf. John 15:20). In our post-Christian and even anti-Christian culture, we can measure the depth of our obedience to Scripture by its cost in our personal and public lives.

Yesterday marked the anniversary of the martyrdoms of Nicholas Ridley and Hugh Latimer. The Church of England bishops were burned at the stake in 1555 for refusing to renounce their commitment to the absolute authority of the Bible.

A third Protestant leader, Thomas Cranmer, recanted his faith, only to disavow his recantation and reaffirm his belief in the supremacy of Scripture. When he went to his death in 1556, he first held the hand with which he signed his false recantations into the flame until it was consumed.

I will always remember my first visit to the Martyrs’ Memorial at Oxford University, where its three statues depict Ridley, Latimer, and Cranmer near the place of their deaths. Here I recalled Bishop Latimer’s last words:

“Be of good comfort, Master Ridley, and play the man. We shall this day light such a candle, by God’s grace, in England, as I trust shall never be put out.”

When last did it cost you something significant to “light such a candle”?

What price will you pay to light another today?

Thursday news to know:

• Harris’ interview with Fox News is marked by testy exchanges over immigration and more
• US warns Israel of military aid cut if Gazans don’t get more supplies
• US B-2 bombers strike Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen
• Archdiocese of Los Angeles agrees to pay $880 million to settle sex abuse claims
• On this day in 1989: Oakland–San Francisco World Series game postponed because of earthquake

*Denison Forum does not necessarily endorse the views expressed in these stories.

Quote for the day:

“Many people do not want absolutes in doctrine and ethics, simply because absolute truths and standards demand absolute acceptance and obedience.” —John MacArthur

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Why this issue is foundational to our cultural future

In what Reuters is calling “a highly unusual development,” the US is sending an advanced anti-missile system to Israel along with American troops to operate it. Meanwhile, a man arrested near a Donald Trump rally is facing gun charges. The county sheriff said, “If you’re asking me right now, I probably did have deputies that prevented the third assassination attempt.” Why, then, am I taking time to discuss the first transgender Star Wars stormtrooper?

The character, named Sister, appears in the new book, Star Wars: The Secrets of the Clone Troopers. Some applauded the move, while others were grieved, myself among them. This is not only a religious liberty and election issue; as John Stonestreet noted yesterday, fourteen thousand children have been “forever harmed” by transgender surgeries, puberty blockers, and cross-sex hormone injections.

But the story points to an even more fundamental disconnect that threatens our cultural future.

We have fought wars in the past and will likely fight them again in the future. But if we cannot agree on what constitutes an ally and an enemy, how can we defend the former from the latter?

Similarly, if we cannot agree on foundational social constructs such as gender and marriage, how can a participatory democracy that depends on consensual morality flourish?

No law and no science?

Yesterday I stated my belief that the Bible is objectively true and should be the stack pole against which we measure human beliefs and opinions. For example, Scripture teaches that life begins at conception (cf. Psalm 139:13–16) and marriage is intended for one man and one woman (cf. Genesis 2:20–25), which is why I am pro-life and for biblical marriage.

However, I can hear someone saying, “That’s just your interpretation of the Bible.” How would I respond?

Let’s begin with some analogies.

The American legal system stands on the belief that our laws can be objectively interpreted. If someone being prosecuted for a crime can successfully argue that the charges are “just the prosecutor’s interpretation of the law,” there can be no law.

Scientists similarly utilize the scientific method to guide their investigations. When they publish findings, if critics can successfully argue that these results are “just the researcher’s interpretation of the data,” there can be no science.

Of course, human subjectivity and error enter the equation. This is why we have courts to weigh legal opinions and judge according to accepted jurisprudence. It is why we have peer review of scientific research. And both legal and scientific positions can change as more information comes to light.

But in neither case do we believe that the enterprise itself is subjective and thus untrustworthy. The same mindset should prevail with regard to biblical study.

When it doesn’t, we should ask whether the skeptic is working on the basis of objective reasoning or rejecting truth claims they don’t happen to appreciate personally. For example, every religious leader I know who changed their stance on the Bible to become an LGBTQ advocate had a personal agenda at work—they either identified as LGBTQ themselves, had family members who were, or had other personal issues related to their new stance.

A seminary course in four steps

How, then, can we interpret the Bible objectively and without bias?

What follows is my brief condensation of content I taught in semester-long seminary courses and published in book-length form. My point is not to be exhaustive but illustrative: it is possible—and, in fact, necessary—to interpret and apply Scripture objectively.

Biblical hermeneutics (the art and science of biblical interpretation and application) follows a four-step method:

• Grammatical: What do the words say? What do word and grammar studies tell us about the author’s intended meaning?
• Historical: What is the larger context of the text? What cultural, political, religious, and environmental factors help us identify the intended meaning?
• Theological: What does the text intend to tell us about God, humanity, and other theological subjects?
• Practical: What practical applications does the author intend us to make today?

Again, interpreters can obviously differ in applying this method, which is why biblical hermeneutics is such a rich and exciting scholarly discipline. But they agree that the method is itself objective and that, used properly, yields objective results.

“The very image of Christ”

Let’s close with one other factor: God intends for us to understand his word. To this end, the same Spirit who inspired the Scriptures (2 Peter 1:21) now interprets their truth to us (John 16:13) as we study God’s word objectively and carefully (2 Timothy 2:15).

When we do so, we meet God in his living word. Unlike any other book ever written, the word of God leads us to the God of the word (John 1:1). We do not just learn truth—we experience the One who is the Truth (John 14:6).

In the preface to his monumentally important edition of the Greek New Testament (1516), the great scholar Erasmus wrote:

These sacred words give you the very image of Christ speaking, healing, dying, rising again and make him so present, that were he before your eyes you would not more truly see him.

When last did you “see” Jesus in the Bible?

Why not today?

Tuesday news to know:

• Hurricane Milton could have an impact on Florida in the long term
• Nobel economics prize goes to inequality researchers Acemoglu, Johnson and Robinson
• China ends war games around Taiwan, but leaves door open to more
• SpaceX catches giant Starship booster in fifth flight test
• On this day in 1991: Clarence Thomas confirmed to the Supreme Court

*Denison Forum does not necessarily endorse the views expressed in these stories.

Quote for the day:

“When you open your Bible, God opens his mouth.” —Mark Batterson

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