Worthy of Salvation

Newsletter article for April 2002

© 2002 by Rev. Paul A. Wolff

Who is worthy of Salvation?

There once was a king who had a very special daughter. She was his only child and the king loved her very much. When the girl reached maturity the king was determined to find a husband for her who would love her with his whole heart and would be a good and wise ruler over the kingdom. The king issued a decree that he was looking for a man who would be the most worthy to be the king’s son-in-law and heir.

This news was greeted with great joy and hope and anticipation. The princess was very beautiful and kind, and her father was extremely wealthy and powerful. Whoever was chosen to marry the princess would not only get the most desirable woman in the kingdom, but would also inherit the richest kingdom in the world.

The king was very protective of his daughter and would only settle for the best for her. In order to ensure that he would find the most worthy prince to be his heir the king had a magic sword called the Sword of Truth. If anyone told a lie in the presence of this sword it would immediately kill him. This way the king would be sure that the man who married his daughter would be most worthy of her.

After a time the king held court in the great hall in order to interview all of the potential suitors for his daughter. The first man to stand before him was the son of a very wealthy nobleman. He was handsome and charming and well-liked by all who knew him. As he stood before the king he was sweating a little as the king asked him, “What makes you worthy to marry my daughter, the princess?” The young man hesitated and then said, “I love your daughter and I only want what is best for the kingdom.” Apparently none of this was true because before he drew his next breath the sword of truth flew out of the hands of the king and impaled the man right through his heart.

The next young man chose his words very carefully. “I choose your daughter to be my wife,” he told the king.

The king was furious. “Don’t make fun of me!”

“I’m not.” The man replied. “I believe I am worthy because I choose your daughter to be my wife.”

Despite his foolish words he was telling the truth because the sword of truth made no move in his direction. However the king was indignant. “You must think I am a fool, and I would be if I considered you worthy simply because you chose my daughter. Open your eyes! Every man in the kingdom would choose my daughter if they could. Look behind you, many of them are here now! She is the most desirable woman in the world because of her beauty, her wealth, her power, and her loving heart.” At this the king sent the man home until he would come to his senses.

The next suitor came and with a humble and sincere bow he declared to the king, “I would give your daughter everything I have.”

The king was beginning to get tired of this nonsense, so he laughed. “Do you have any idea who I am? I am the ruler of the richest kingdom in the world. I could buy you and sell you hundreds of times. Do you consider my daughter some sort of beggar who can be bought for a pittance?” With these words the king sent the man to prison until he would repent of his arrogance.

And so it continued for quite some time. The finest men in the kingdom all came and made their claim as to why they were worthy to wed the king’s daughter, but each plea was rejected by the king. In addition many came who were not nearly the finest men in all the kingdom, trying to trick their way to winning the greatest prize in the kingdom. These were either slain by the Sword of Truth, or imprisoned or banished by the king.

Finally, a man came before the king dressed as a common laborer. He didn’t appear to be wealthy, nor of noble birth or heritage. The king looked down on this poor man and asked in a stern voice, “Do you think you are worthy to be my son-in-law and heir?”

The poor man trembled. “Have mercy on me, lord. Forgive my simple clothing, but it is the best that I have. I am not a rich man. I do not intend to insult your majesty or your lovely daughter by my appearance here. It is true that I am not worthy of such a fine woman as your daughter. I cannot give her the fine things that she deserves. My language isn’t as refined as that of a nobleman, and I suppose I appear to you to be vulgar. There is absolutely no reason why you should give me your daughter to be my wife, and I would completely understand if you quickly send me on my way. I can only say that if you choose me by your grace and kindness then I would love your daughter and treasure her and make her know that she is the most valuable thing in the world to me, because she is.

The king looked at this humble man. He had hardly looked up at the king the whole time he was in the great hall. Then the king spoke. “You are right to say that you are not worthy of my daughter. And of all the noble men who have come seeking my daughter’s hand, you are the first to admit that you are not worthy, but they were not worthy either. You were wise to appeal to my grace and kindness because it is by reason of my good grace that I accept your petition to marry my daughter. You are not worthy of my daughter, but I will make you worthy. You will be a good husband to my daughter, a good son-in-law to me, and a good ruler of my kingdom when the time comes. I will see to it myself.”

And this is how it happened that the poor man became the king’s heir. It wasn’t because he was worthy, but because of the king’s kindness and grace.

The Promise of the Rainbow

Newsletter article for August 2000

© 2000 by Rev. Paul A. Wolff

In these late summer days if you go outside after a rainstorm there is a chance that you will see a rainbow in the sky. I believe that the rainbow is truly one of the wonders of God’s creation. I believe that with their brilliant spectrum of colors, rainbows are some of the most beautiful things on earth, and I still take as much delight in seeing a rainbow as I did when I was a child.

Rainbows are special, even if you discount the myth of finding a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. I discovered the truth about this myth once during a plane trip to California. We were flying over the clouds and the sun was overhead and I looked down on the clouds and saw a complete rainbow. It wasn’t shaped like a bow, it was a complete, perfect circle. So if anyone hopes to find a pot of gold they will always be disappointed, because rainbows don’t have an end.

It is funny that I never thought about the origin of the word “rainbow” until I began to learn Hebrew. In the course of my studies I was reading the story of Noah and the aftermath of the great flood in Genesis 9:12-17 and I came across the Hebrew word qesheth. When I found the word in the lexicon it described a bow, which is a weapon that hunters or warriors use with arrows. Until this point I had never associated a rainbow with a weapon, but I could see how it made sense. The rainbow is curved just like a warrior’s bow, and since it comes after the rain, there you have a simple and ancient history of the origin of the term.

If you think about it, this helps us to understand the significance of the promise that God attached to the rainbow in Genesis 9. You may wish to read Genesis 6-9 if you are unfamiliar with the details of the story of the great flood. God, Himself, was acting as the great, righteous warrior in sending the flood to kill all His wicked enemies. The bow would be a symbol of God’s mighty vengeance on His enemies. God showed his wrath when He destroyed all the people on earth, but God also showed the power of His mercy when he saved Noah, his family, and the pairs of animals in the ark. But because God is primarily a merciful God, who prefers salvation and forgiveness to destruction, He used the rainbow as a sign of His promise never to destroy all life on earth as He did in the days of Noah. Destruction is always a last resort with God, only undertaken after all else has failed.

God tells us in Genesis 9:13, “I have set my bow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth.” The symbolism there is that God is hanging up his weapon in a place for all to see, so that all who see it will know that God is not our enemy. An unarmed God is a reassuring symbol for sinful people whom God wants to love Him. God’s pacific nature is shown in Isaiah’s prophesy (Isa. 42:3) where he prophesies about Jesus, “A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out.” Jesus himself reinforces this peaceful, forgiving attitude when He says in John 3:17, “For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him.”

Look for rainbows this month, and if you see one remember God’s promise to Noah. Remember that God is a merciful and loving God, and the rainbow is a sign that God loves us.