Quote:
Originally Posted by Nell
Question: Was Noah’s drunken and naked condition actually “covered”?
* According to the verses, at the time it happened, yes.
* However, there’s a problem: We know about it!
* If it was God’s intention that Noah’s drunken/naked condition be forever covered by Noah's 2 sons...why are we talking about it 2000+ years later?
Noah’s sin wasn’t covered…it was exposed to the ages. It was written up in the Bible! If Noah was a Deputy Authority and his sin was covered, we wouldn’t know about it.
Instead:
1 Timothy 5:20 (NIV)
20 But those elders who are sinning you are to reprove before everyone, so that the others may take warning.
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As a rule, we should learn from the OT judgments as Paul instructs us in I Corinthians 10.11, "
these things were written for our admonition."
Noah's story, at first reading, seems to be about his son Ham's disrespect and mockery. We are not told whether other factors drove Ham to act in such a way. Was he just a "punk kid," or was he retaliating for something prior? We have no way to know. What we do know was that Noah took it very serious, and proceeded to judge Canaan, which presents us with another problem: was Canaan his son, or just another name for Ham?
For me this story is similar to Elisha cursing the 42 lads in Bethel who mocked him at the beginning of his ministry. (2 kings 2.23-25)
The "Moses Model" of authority is also widely used by others to abuse.
My issues with the teaching of Deputy Authority:
- There is no direct NT counterpart to Noah, Moses, King David, King Solomon, Samuel, or any other notable OT person except for Jesus Christ Himself.
- Jesus Himself instructs us never to rule as the Gentiles. He never even hinted that Peter, or John, or James would one day rule the church.
- NT leadership is always a plurality. There is no justification whatsoever for a Pope, MOTA, the oracle, the acting god, etc.
- The concept that Paul, the senior worker, ruled all the other workers in "the work," is nothing more than a convenient circumvent to modern day popery.
- I Tim 5.20 stresses accountability by the elders who have "sinned" publicly for all to learn. Matthew 18 instructs us in some cases to tell "it to the church."
- The concept of "covering" is rife with dangers because "absolute power corrupts absolutely." When do we stop covering "nakedness," and start covering up serious "sins?"
- The concept that "God alone will deal with His deputy" has no basis in the scripture or in history -- just read up on the popes.