acts 11

Read Acts 11 at Bible Gateway.

In this chapter in Acts, the story is continued of the spread of the church, both geographically, and also, to Gentiles as well as Jews. When Peter returned to Jerusalem, all the brethren and the apostles in Jerusalem and Judea (all Jews remember) heard that the Gospel had gone to the Gentiles, but only those brethren who were "of the circumcision" contended with Peter or found fault with him about it.

The brethren who were of the circumcision party keep coming into the picture in Acts and Paul's epistles, so who are they? They believed that in order to receive salvation, someone had to be a Jew or a converted Jew. Circumcision was the sign of the covenant - not the covenant God made with Moses on Mt Sinai, but the covenant God made with Abraham 400 years before Moses. When someone was born as a Jew, of course they received circumcision if their family were of the Torah- keeping party.

Remember we had learned that at this time in history, there were two parties of Jews? They were the Torah- observant Jews, and the Hellenist Jews, who were culturally like Greeks since Greek culture had pervaded the ancient world from the time of Alexander the Great. The Hellenist Jews did not circumcise their children, as they lived like Greeks in all things. Some of the Jewish males, moreover, who had been circumcised as babies, wanting to be of the Hellenist party, even had surgery done so that when they were naked in Greek gymnasiums, they would not appear to be Jews but Greeks.

Now we can see why the issue of whether someone was circumcised or not was a big issue! For the first century believers, UNcircumcision was culturally a sign of rejecting YHVH from being God over you and embracing paganism and the world.

So the circumcision party believed that a Jew had to be circumcised and obey the Law of Moses IN ORDER to receive salvation. Now the early believers, all Jews, obeyed the Law of Moses. Being saved did not change that for them. We saw with Peter and the vision of the sheet in the last chapter in Acts, that when in the vision he was commanded to kill and eat, he replied, "Not so, I have never eaten anything unclean." He continued to obey the Law of Moses. So up until the time God sent Peter to Cornelius, everyone who was saved by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, was also a circumcised Jew who obeyed the Law of Moses.

Why the need for a circumcision party then, when every believer since the resurrection of Jesus was circumcised? The circumcision party had just made it a matter of doctrine that SALVATION in Jesus Christ was only open to those who were circumcised and obedient to the Law of Moses. In other words, it was a doctrine which EXCLUDED the Hellenist Jews from salvation. No one even considered that the Gentiles would ever be a part of the salvation question.

Don't you just love how God, by His great mercy and outstretched arm, overturns our pet doctrines when they get in the way of His Word and working out His purpose in the earth, LOL?

So Peter, explaining what happened, silenced the circumcision party, because clearly if the Holy Spirit fell on the Gentiles, that was not something that could be contrived. The baptism and working of the Holy Spirit, with His gifts and signs, is a major way that the Lord bears witness to others and the world that He has accepted those people as His people. No one can argue with it. :)

Now the Gospel had spread as far as Phoenicia - modern- day Lebanon - Cyprus - an island out in the Mediterranean Sea a distance from the Israel coast - and Antioch, which was the most important city in Asia Minor, which is modern- day Turkey. The disciples who had been scattered there from Jerusalem and Judea, because of the persecution Saul had brought against the Church, went about preaching to the Jews only. That is, the TORAH OBSERVANT Jews only. The Hellenist Jews as we have seen were not even considered Jews, or partakers of the covenant of promise, by the Torah- observant Jews, because they had not been circumcised.

But in Antioch, some of the believers went and preached to the Hellenists too, and many of those who were UNCIRCUMCISED Hellenist Jews believed and were saved. So the Church in Jerusalem, hearing what great things the Lord was doing in the Church in Antioch, sent Barnabas to them, and he, once he had found Saul, brought him with him and they stayed a whole year in Antioch, strengthening the Church there.

The famine was the occasion that the Church in Antioch had to send Barnabas and Saul back to Jerusalem, where I am sure, they gave a full account of all that the Lord was doing among the Jews and Hellenist Jews in Antioch, and probably, those Gentiles who were proselytes to Judaism and who were also meeting in the synagogues on Sabbath.

All this detail is important, because a clear understanding of Acts prevents us from making mistakes in interpretation when we get to the epistles, where this culture and history bears upon the issues addressed in the letters of Paul. :)

acts 10

Read Acts 10 at Bible Gateway.

This chapter always brings up the idea that God has "freed" the Jews - and everyone else - from having to obey the dietary restrictions in the Law. I have posted a separate topical study about clean and unclean foods and whether that is what THIS chapter of Scripture is teaching. I do not believe it is.

Furthermore, I do not agree that the Scriptures teach that the death of Jesus and His resurrection has "freed" us from obeying God or His commandments. Scripture makes it clear that as believers, we are to continue to obey God and His commandments (Jer 31:33, Eze 36:25-27, Joh 14:15, Rom 3:31, and many other places in the New Testament).

But His death and resurrection has freed us from earning our salvation by obedience to the Law (Gal 2:16). Praise God! The death and resurrection of Jesus has freed us from the penalty disobedience to the Law earns for us, which is death (Rom 2:12-13, 3:21-26). This is an important distinction, because a belief that Jesus has "freed" us from obedience to God's will as expressed in the Law (Mat 7:21-23, Rom 2:17-20, 1 Joh 3:4) has opened the door of acceptance in the Church for all manner of unrighteous behavior which is condemned in the Law.

So Peter then tells the household of Cornelius in this chapter in Acts, that the Lord showed him (using the vision of the great sheet) that He had cleansed all men (i.e., the Gentiles, Act 10:28), and that Peter was no longer to consider that any man unclean for a Jew to associate with. The vision did not mean that all animals were now fit to eat, but that all men were now clean in God's sight.

The Jews were forbidden to associate with Gentiles in Torah, because Gentiles were pagan idolaters, and God did not want His people learning idolatry. But now, God was extending salvation to the Gentiles. A saved Gentile is not a pagan idolater. :) We know this is the correct interpretation of the vision, because while Peter was preaching, even before he got to the altar call, the Holy Spirit fell on all the Gentiles present, and Peter knew it because they started speaking in tongues, as Peter and the rest of the disciples had on the Day of Pentecost in Acts 2.

This incident took place 3-1/2 years after the resurrection of Jesus Christ, and was an important incident in the fulfillment of prophecy in Dan 9:20-27. The Holy Spirit falling on the Gentiles, and salvation coming to the Gentiles, finishes the fulfillment of the prophecy of the 70th week of Daniel:

“Then he shall confirm a covenant with many for one week;
But in the middle of the week
He shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering.
And on the wing of abominations shall be one who makes desolate,
Even until the consummation, which is determined,
Is poured out on the desolate.” Dan 9:27

The "He" referred to is Christ Jesus. For one week of prophetic time, which is seven years of historic time, He shall confirm a covenant with many. The covenant He confirms is the covenant God has made with man through the nation of Israel at the giving of the Law on Mt Sinai - the covenant that says, the men of this ONE nation will take YHVH for their God, and God will take the men of this ONE nation who obey Him for His people.

Do we see in the making of the covenant at Sinai, the beginning of the undoing of the destruction which was wrought upon the earth at the Tower of Babel rebellion, when EVERY nation rebelled from having God be God over them? We have already seen that the new birth and the giving of the Spirit is to remake our hearts so that we can now obey the righteousness which the Law describes (which is to obey God's will) from a pure heart, not from compulsion or fear of punishment.

At the beginning of the seven years of this prophecy, Jesus was baptized, and received His anointing as Messiah (Mat 3). 3-1/2 years later, He was crucified and raised from the dead. He was cut off, but not for Himself (Dan 9:26). In the middle of the week, He brought an end to sacrifice and offering, since with the shedding of His blood, animal sacrifices which do not take away sin are no longer required (Heb 10:11-14). At the midpoint of the week, He confirmed the covenant with just the Jews, as we have been reading in Acts. But at the end of the week, after 3-1/2 more years, He extended the covenant to the Gentiles also, by sending Peter to Cornelius, and the Holy Spirit fell on the Gentiles also.

Now Jesus has confirmed a covenant with many! Now He has become a light to the Gentiles also! Now through Abraham, ALL the families on earth have been blessed! Now, the covenant applies, not just to ONE nation, but to ALL nations. Now ALL nations can take YHVH for their God, and God will take the men of ALL nations who obey Him for His people. :)

parashah vanephen (turned), deuteronomy 2:2-30

We study the Torah according to the triennial cycle every Sabbath. (Why?)

We must understand the paragraph divisions in Torah, which are inspired by the Spirit and preserved by Moses and the Jewish scribes (but discarded by the English translators), are key to help us understand what God is trying to tell us. He wants to be understood, and has provided these helps to aid us! We must also understand how the Spirit teaches through Torah by common theme.

Today is the 130th Sabbath of the triennial cycle: parashah (Torah portion) Vanephen / Turned, Deu 2:2-30. Read Deu 2:2-30 at Bible Gateway, or Deu 2 from the Hebrew Bible in English.

Deu 2:2-8 ends with a parsha stumah, a weak paragraph division.
Deu 2:9-16 ends with a stumah.
Deu 2:17-30 ends with a stumah.

Outlining this torah portion:

Deu 2:1-8 - passing by the possession of Esau; stumah (after Ezion Geber in vs. 8);
Deu 2:9 - pass by the possession of Moab;
Deu 2:10-12 - their former giants defeated by Esau and Moab;
Deu 2:13-16 - the unbelieving generation perished for YHVH's hand was against them; stumah;
Deu 2:17-19 - pass by the possession of Ammon;
Deu 2:20-23 - their former giants defeated by Ammon and the Caphtorim;
Deu 2:24-30 - the Amorites will perish for YHVH's hand is against them; stumah.

Notice the repeating pattern in the two paragraph stumahs that end this parashah. A common way the Spirit teaches through Torah is by repetition! There is another greater repeating pattern in this parashah:

pass by the possession of Esau;
pass by the possession of Moab;
pass by the possession of Ammon;
possess the possession of Sihon.

God has infused the Torah with repeating patterns, and then often breaks them, in order to make a point or teach a lesson. In this section, the pattern is that it is the Lord who had given Esau, Moab, and Ammon their land, so that even though giants formerly lived there, the giants were not able to withstand - not Esau, not Moab, not Ammon - but the Lord. Giants may be able to withstand Esau, Moab, or Ammon, and even you, but giants are not able to withstand YHVH!

This portion ends with the command to possess the land of the Amorites. The pattern of do not possess is broken. The lesson is that no one can withstand the Lord. He gives possessions to whom He gives possessions, and then those things are theirs, and they cannot be dispossessed unless the Lord Himself dispossesses them. Do not fear, Israel, as the unbelieving generation did, but be believing! YHVH is able to bring you in!

10/11/09 Update: As I went back through this parashah, to study out the greater paragraph from Deu 1:1-3:29, I discovered that this parashah forms a chiastic structure.

1A 2:2-5 - pass by the possession of Esau, YHVH will not give Israel their land;
  1B 2:6 - Israel bought food and water of Esau with money;
    1C 2:7-8a - YHVH has blessed Israel so that they lack nothing; stumah;
      1D 2:8b-9 - turn to Moab, pass by the possession of Moab;
        1E 2:10-12a - the giants formerly in Moab were destroyed before them;
          1F 2:12b - YHVH gave Israel the Land of their possession;
            1G 2:13 - cross over the Zered;
              --> X 2:14-16 - the hand of YHVH was against the unbelieving generation so that they perished; stumah;
            2G 2:17-18 - cross over the boundary of Moab;
          2F 2:19 - YHVH gave the descendants of Lot the land of their possession;
        2E 2:20-23 - the giants formerly in Ammon were destroyed before them;
      2D 2:24 - cross over the Arnon, go in and possess Sihon;
    2C 2:25 - YHVH will bless Israel so that the nations will be in dread of them;
  2B 2:26-29 - Israel will buy food and water of Sihon with money:
2A 2:30 - posses the possession of Sihon, YHVH will give Israel his land; stumah.

clean and unclean food, acts 10

Now the next place in the New Testament that is often used to show that all foods have now been declared clean, is Acts 10. I am not going to reproduce the whole chapter here, but everyone should go read it before we continue - the whole chapter, it won't take long!

Here are the pertinent verses. First while Peter was having his vision:

“In it were all kinds of four-footed animals of the earth, wild beasts, creeping things, and birds of the air. And a voice came to him, “Rise, Peter; kill and eat.” But Peter said, “Not so, Lord! For I have never eaten anything common or unclean.” And a voice spoke to him again the second time, “What God has cleansed you must not call common.” Act 10:12-15

First, I just want to point out, that this incident took place 3-1/2 years after Jesus rose from the dead. In those 3-1/2 years, Peter continued to obey the dietary laws. Notice he says that he has never eaten anything common or unclean? He is going by the definition of clean and unclean food, given in the Torah. The resurrection of Jesus did not change Peter's eating habits. If the theology is, now that Jesus has been crucified and raised from the dead, the Law has been done away with and Jesus has declared all foods clean, what was Peter doing still obeying the dietary laws for 3-1/2 years?

But, be that as it may, people read the voice's response, that what God has cleansed you must not call common, and conclude that God has now declared all foods clean (besides the times that Jesus was supposed to have declared all foods clean). But is that what the voice meant or that Peter understood?

“Now while Peter wondered within himself what this vision which he had seen meant, behold, the men who had been sent from Cornelius had made inquiry for Simon’s house, and stood before the gate.” Act 10:17

Whoa, hold up, hasn't it already been declared that we know what the vision meant - that God had now declared all FOODS clean. But Peter, for some reason, was wondering within himself what the vision meant. It appears he did NOT assume that what the vision meant, was that all FOODS were now clean. Now go ahead a little bit in the story, after Peter decides to accompany the men ...

“And the following day they entered Caesarea. Now Cornelius was waiting for them, and had called together his relatives and close friends. As Peter was coming in, Cornelius met him and fell down at his feet and worshiped him. But Peter lifted him up, saying, “Stand up; I myself am also a man.” And as he talked with him, he went in and found many who had come together. Then he said to them, “You know how unlawful it is for a Jewish man to keep company with or go to one of another nation. But God has shown me that I should not call any man common or unclean. Therefore I came without objection as soon as I was sent for. I ask, then, for what reason have you sent for me?” Act 10:24-29

Peter figured out what the vision meant! God was trying to show him, that He had cleansed the Gentiles, and that Peter was no longer to consider that any MAN is unclean for a Jew to associate with. We know this is the correct interpretation of the vision, because while Peter was preaching, even before he got to the altar call, the Holy Spirit fell on all the Gentiles, and Peter knew it because they started speaking in tongues, as Peter and the rest of the disciples had on the Day of Pentecost in Acts 2.

So far the Scriptures all agree - Jesus and Peter did not preach that all foods were now clean. But this is not the end of Acts or the Epistles! So we will keep going until we have unturned every instance where the issue of clean or unclean foods is called into question ...

acts 9

Read Acts 9 at Bible Gateway.

Last time we were learning about the spread of the Church. Damascus is today the capital of Syria, a separate nation from Israel, but in those days, Judea, Samaria, and Galilee were all provinces in the greater "country" of Syria. So the church had spread to Damascus by this time (the conversion of Saul happened about three years after the resurrection of Jesus Christ), but we learn that it is still meeting in the synagogues.

The believers in the Lord Jesus Christ did not consider themselves a separate religion from Judaism. In fact Judaism as it exists today did not exist then. There were the worshippers of the Most High God, YHVH; and the pagans. Those were the two categories. Jesus and His disciples and all Jews fell into the worshippers of the Most High category, who met in synagogues on Sabbath to hear the selection from the Law (Torah) and the selection from the Prophets read every week. A Psalm was sung every week also. There are 150 Psalms, 52 weeks in a year x 3 years = just slightly more than 150. It also took three years to read through the entire Torah on the Sabbaths, from beginning to end.

The apostles and disciples rested on the Sabbath, met in the synagogues on Sabbath, read Moses and the Prophets on the Sabbath, continued to eat according to the dietary laws that they had been raised with, and obeyed the other commandments, as we will see as we go through Acts. The notion of not obeying the Law of Moses had not entered their minds at this point -- they were not trying to separate themselves from their religion or the God of their fathers.

So Saul had letters from the high priest, to go to the synagogues of Damascus and see if he could "ferret out" any of the believers in Jesus there, to bring them in chains to Jerusalem. Jesus Himself took care of the persecution which Saul was bringing against the Church, by revealing Himself to him!

Now this is important - Saul was a Pharisee and zealous for the Lord. He did not realize that in persecuting the Church, we was acting against God instead of for Him. But Jesus is only recognizable as the long- awaited Messiah (before He appears in glory at the end of this age) if He reveals Himself to someone (Mat 16:13-17).

The Torah prophesies that this would be the case. Joseph is a type of Messiah in Torah, i.e. his life prophesies about the life and ministry of Messiah. Many of the patriarchs are types of Messiah; this is one way that Moses writes about Messiah (Joh 5:45-47) when he does not mention Him directly in any way. Joseph's life of suffering for the sins of his brothers, then being exalted to lordship over them, for the purpose of delivering their lives from destruction, mirrors the life and ministry of the Messiah (Joseph's story is recorded in Gen 37-50).

Anyway, when Joseph's brothers came to see him to get grain, they did not recognize him for who he was until he revealed himself to them (Gen 45:1-4). And this is a principle that is still in effect until the end of this age, when the Lord takes down the veil that has covered Judah's eyes, which keeps him from seeing Jesus as his Messiah (Rom 11:25-27 - the veil is already being removed, and the time is short, hallelujah!).

So in a way, it was the Lord exercising His sovereignty that Saul did not recognize Him until He revealed Himself to him at the time and place of His choosing. So why did the Lord blind him and all the rest of it? I mean, Jesus came to heal all those who had been oppressed by the devil. The Lord was humbling Saul, I believe. Saul was very great in his learning as a Pharisee, and very proud of his family's heritage as Pharisees (Php 3:4-6). He was confident in his knowledge as he had been taught under the greatest teacher in Jerusalem, Gamaliel, who proposed the wise counsel given in Acts 5:33-39.

So a little blindness, a little fasting for three days, did wonders for reminding Saul who was the omnipotent Creator of the universe and who was the man whose days are like grass, LOL.

Saul, because of his great knowledge of Torah -- an education which the disciples of Jesus as poor fishermen did not have -- soon became the greatest asset the Church had in showing from Torah and the Prophets that Jesus was the prophesied Messiah.

All the puzzle pieces were now in place ... and God allowed Dorcas to perish, in order to bring Peter to the town of Joppa, where she was raised to life again, and Peter's position as the greatest spiritual authority in the Church, operating under the greatest anointing of the Holy Spirit, was solidified. For beginning in Joppa, the next great drama in the life of the Church would unfold, right in accordance with prophecy ... stay tuned for tomorrow!

matthew 11

Read Matthew 11 at Bible Gateway.

Jesus tells us that John fulfills two prophecies concerning the coming of the Messiah. Interestingly enough, they are both from Malachi. Malachi, the last book of the Old Testament, was the final prophet to prophesy and to tell Israel, “Thus saith the LORD,” before the coming of the Messiah. In fact his book is about how to wait for the coming of Messiah.

The first prophecy concerning John is from Mal 3:1, and Jesus quotes it in Mat 11:10:

“Behold, I am going to send My messenger,
and he will clear the way before Me
And the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to His temple;
and the messenger of the covenant, in whom you delight, behold, He is coming,”
says the LORD of hosts.” Mal 3:1

“This is the one about whom it is written, 'BEHOLD, I SEND MY MESSENGER AHEAD OF YOU, WHO WILL PREPARE YOUR WAY BEFORE YOU.'” Mat 11:10

The second prophecy concerning John is from Mal 4:5, and Jesus alludes to it in Mat 11:14:

“Behold, I am going to send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of the LORD.” Mal 4:5

“And if you are willing to accept it, John himself is Elijah who was to come.” Mat 11:14

All of this matters to us, because it has been prophesied that Elijah would also precede His return. In Rev 11, two witnesses witness of the Lord, who are persecuted and killed by the beast. Then after 3-1/2 days, their dead bodies are raised from the dead, and they ascend to heaven. Then the next thing that happens, is the blowing of the 7th trumpet, with the proclamation that “the kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!” (Rev 11:15). The two witnesses are one who does the signs of Moses (turns water into blood and strikes the earth with plagues), and one who does the signs of Elijah (shuts up the heavens so that no rain falls).

It is interesting that Moses and Elijah appear with Jesus in another place in the New Testament, and that is when Jesus is transfigured. Moses represents the Law, and Elijah represents the Spirit. If you go back to the Old Testament and read the stories of these two men, you will see that this is so. Elijah was the first prophet whose ministry was characterized to the greatest degree by supernatural signs and wonders, or the operation of the Spirit with power. Elisha, his disciple, did the same, because he received the mantle of Elijah, and asked for the a double portion of Elijah's spirit (which was the Holy Spirit).

The prophecy of the transfiguration is: Jesus will appear in all His glory, and when He does, Moses will be at His right hand (the Law), and Elijah at His left (the Spirit). Jesus was not revealed in glory in His first coming, but will be in His second.

So all of this is to say, that I believe two things precede both comings of Jesus: obedience to the Law, with a revival or resurgence of the working of the Spirit with power, signs and wonders. In Malachi 4, in the verse right before the announcement of the coming of Elijah, the prophet says,

“Remember the Law of Moses, My servant,
Which I commanded him in Horeb for all Israel,
With the statutes and judgments.” Mal 4:4.

The reason the Law and the Spirit must be together, and both witnessing, as it were, is that the Law cannot be obeyed unless it is through a new Spirit from a transformed heart (Jer 31:33, Eze 36:24-27).

I believe it is no accident that Jesus ended His discourse about John, the Spirit, the messenger of His coming, and those who would not receive Him, with these words:

“Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” Mat 11:28-30.

What is the yoke of Jesus? What are we to learn from Him? When He taught the multitudes at the Sermon on the Mount (Mat 5), He taught them how to obey the Law with love from the heart, not grudgingly with obligation. This is why even saying “You fool!” in anger to a brother puts one in danger of breaking “Do not murder,” because love for God and one's neighbor (or lack of it) comes from the heart. His heart is gentle and lowly, and it is that love, that gentleness, that lowliness, that we are to put on as a yoke.

Obedience to the Law from the flesh, as a list of 613 statutes and judgments not to be transgressed, is laborious work which weighs us down with a heavy burden. But learning to walk in love, gentleness, and humility with the heart of Jesus, by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, gives us rest. We cannot forget that love is the fulfilling of the Law, and every one of the 613 is summed up by the 10, and the 10 are summed up by the 2 (Love God, and Love your neighbor), and the 2 are summed up by the one verb, LOVE.

This is the balance of what both testaments of Scripture are teaching. We are not to obey the Law from a self righteous spirit, from the flesh, with a stony heart, as the Pharisees did, who looked down their noses at everyone else because they did not measure up to tithing dill and mint and cumin -- that is the one extreme of the pendulum -- but we are to let the Law teach us what the definition of love means, and keep our feet walking in the way, not embracing every immorality or throwing off every restraint because of a mistaken idea that only the Spirit matters and the Law (the Word) has been abolished -- the other extreme of the pendulum.

acts 8

Read Acts 8 at Bible Gateway.

The theme of this chapter is the spread of the church. The first believers in Jesus had remained in Jerusalem after the giving of the Spirit on Pentecost, for Jesus' instruction to them had been, not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father (Act 1:4). But the purpose of the Promise of the Father, we saw, was to receive power to be witnesses to Jesus, first in Jerusalem, then in Judea and Samaria, and then in the ends of the earth (Act 1:8).

So the persecution which rose against the church at Jerusalem, which Saul was part of, served to scatter those first 10,000- 20,000 believers throughout Judea and Samaria, the apostles remaining in Jerusalem (Act 8:1, 4). And so we see the Lord Himself begin to implement His plan, of His disciples being witnesses, first in Jerusalem, then in Judea and Samaria. This would mean that the persecution itself was in the Lord's plan. Well, the persecution was the instrument the Lord used to get people out of their comfort zone and get to where He wanted them to be. :)

After the Flood, the Lord first asked the descendants of Noah to fill the earth (Gen 9:1). But people tend to stay where they are comfortable, where they have homes established and family and friends. So when the people declined to leave the plain of Shinar and fill the earth (Gen 11:4), the Lord used an opportunity created by man's rebellion to drive the people away from Shinar so that they spread out from there (Gen 11:9).

And I think something similar may have happened here. People, having established homes and family and businesses in Jerusalem, did not have the heart or means to leave the city and go elsewhere. But God used an opportunity created by Saul's rebellion - the persecution - to get people out of their comfort zone and go elsewhere. And where they went, they witnessed. We are lights shining on a hill, just by existing in this earth, the witness to Jesus Christ is going forward where we are.

About bad things happening: it would be bad to be stoned to death, or to be dragged from your house and put into prison, or, because of the fear of prison, have to leave everything behind and start over. But, rather than rail against these things, we ought to praise God in all things that happen, because God is able to accomplish His plan and His purpose even when bad things happen and we aren't living in our comfort zone. :)

So then, one of the deacons, Stephen, had just been killed, after witnessing to Jesus with power and wisdom and eloquence. Now another deacon, Philip, began witnessing with power and wisdom. The deacons did not back down, thinking that they might need to protect their lives now that the first believer had been killed for his faith. The result of Philip's boldness was that the entire city of Samaria received the gospel.

Up to this point, only Jews had been saved. The gospel was still being preached only within the borders of the Promised Land.

Now the Spirit led Philip to an Ethiopian traveling in the desert. The Ethiopian, a Jewish convert, had been in Jerusalem - perhaps for one of the feast days, when all Jewish males are commanded to present themselves before the Lord in Jerusalem - and was returning to Ethiopia, just south of Egypt. So he was traveling south through the desert to the Egyptian border.

Notice how Philip got to the Ethiopian. The Spirit told him, "Go to the desert." The desert was without water or civilization. There were no 7-11's there where Philip could go buy a bottle of water if he got thirsty. In order to obey, Philip had to first trust. For the Spirit did NOT tell him, "Go to the desert where you will meet an Ethiopian I want you to bear witness to." But Philip did trust, and went, and once Philip was in the desert, then the Spirit told him, "Overtake this chariot."

Our life as believers is a true faith walk. The Lord gives us the next instruction for the next footstep, but does not illuminate the path in front of us more than that. We have to first take that step, before the Lord will give us the next instruction for the next footstep.

Now then, Philip obeyed, the Ethiopian got saved - the faith had not gone beyond the Jews, but with the Ethiopian it left the borders of the Promised Land, on the first step of its journey to the ends of the earth - and then because Philip had done what the Spirit asked, the Spirit now took care of Philip's need for food, water and shelter in the desert - He miraculously transported him to the closest town which was about 20 miles away on the coast. Then Philip had to walk again, LOL. But he was at least in an area he knew with villages where he could get the things for the body that he needed. :)

Our lives in the Lord could be a grand adventure, if we would let it. It begins with taking the first step of faith, in obedience to the Holy Spirit, out of our comfort zone, trusting in Him that when we set our foot down, the Lord will be there with a plan, ready to show us the next step. :)

matthew 10

Read Matthew 10 at Bible Gateway.

Matthew 10 contains instructions for ministry. At this time the instructions were just for the twelve. But they are also valid for any disciple who leaves their daily work, and their family, to go out and preach "The kingdom of heaven is at hand."

So the message, "The kingdom of heaven is at hand," is a different one than most of us are used to hearing evangelists or preachers preach. Why that message, what did it mean to Jesus' Hebrew disciples and their Hebrew audience?

First a little background. Since the day of Adam's sin, the righteous line (Seth --> Noah --> Shem --> Abraham --> Israel) had believed that the promise of God was coming. And that promise was, the Seed of the woman will bruise Satan's head, and he shall bruise the Seed's heel (Gen 3:15). They were waiting for the coming of the One who would deliver them from Satan --> sin --> death, and all that he instigated in the earth (the Tower of Babel rebellion which dethroned Elohiym as God, and enthroned man, who established paganism (nature worship) as god, Gen 11:1-9). Remember Daniel and Nebuchadnezzar (Dan 2)? Babylon (Babel) is the head of gold; it is the philosophy and worldview of Babylon (Babel) which rules the kingdoms of this world, which is the kingdom of man.

Ever since, the righteous line has lived in subjection to the kingdom of Man, where men are king, where men decide what is right and wrong, where men establish their own law, and force others to bend to it. Where men rule their own hearts, lives, and nations.

To preserve the righteous line, through whom the Promised Seed would be born, which Satan was continually trying to harrass and kill (Sarah was barren. Then when she bore a son by a miracle, his wife Rebekah was barren for 20 years. Then when she bore sons in answer to prayer, the son who held the birthright and blessing -- through whom the Line would continue -- married Rachel, who was barren, and who only began having children when God intervened and opened her womb).

To preserve His people, God set apart one nation for Himself which would bring forth the Promised Seed. This nation was unique in that it was to be subject to King Elohiym rather than a fallen human king. It was to be a mirror or a visual, historical prophecy of the kingdom of heaven, where the two greatest laws were, Love God with all you are, and Love your Neighbor as yourself.

But the nation rebelled, and men ruled that kingdom in the same way that the kingdoms of the world were ruled. So for thousands of years, the Hebrews were looking for the Promised Seed who would establish the Kingdom of Heaven, who would rule as King from the sons of David, the shepherd- king. They were looking for the abolishment of Satan and his works, the abolishment of the rebellions of man against God, and the establishment of righteousness, or lawfulness, or torah-fulness instead of lawlessness. The establishment of the will of God being done in the earth, just as it is in heaven.

Jesus sent His disciples with the message, that the end of the rule of Satan and the rule of man was at hand, and the establishment of the kingdom of heaven -- where God reigns as sovereign and where His will is done on earth as it is in heaven -- was at hand.

When we hear the gospel, we usually hear the part about the destruction of the rule of the devil, as it pertains to our sins being forgiven. We hear that Jesus is our Savior. But we usually don't hear the second part of the message, about the establishment of the rule of heaven on earth. That Jesus is our Lord and King, and His word is (ought to be) our command.

2000 years later, we are still living under the kingdoms of this world. But that is the point. We have been freed from the world, and are no longer to live in subjection to it, but to God. We are in the world, but not of it. So when we obey God rather than men, because the kingdom of heaven has dawned within our hearts, within our households, we will get turned in, turned over, hauled before kings and governors (the kingdoms of this world), who will then hear the witness of the Spirit that their kingship is over. They may kill the body, but they will not be able to make the heart of that one they kill bow to them or serve them.

And soon, when the Lord returns, the physical reign of man and the world will come to an end, and will never be again forever. :)

acts 7

Read Acts 7 at Bible Gateway.

Stephen was charged with teaching that Jesus of Nazareth would destroy the Temple and Jerusalem and change the customs which Moses delivered to Israel (Act 6:14).

Stephen, in his defense, showed that God raised up Moses to deliver them and to judge them, and they rejected him. But God worked wonders through him, and delivered the people from their oppressors through him, and gave them the Law as delivered by angels through him. Yet even after these things, Israel turned to idols.

The point he was making was that it was not Moses who their fathers' rejected, but God from being God over them. And the Prophet like Moses whom God had promised to send - the Promised Seed (Deu 18:15)- God also raised up to be a deliverer and a judge, and the chief priests also rejected Him. But it was not Jesus they were rejecting, but God from being God over them.

He was making the point, that the Law and the Temple they venerated that day in the courtroom, was a hypocritical veneration, because they did not keep the Law or serve the God who gave them the Law, who could not be contained by temples made with hands.

He was making the point, that both the Law and the Temple, and Moses and Joshua - all their history - was a picture of the Prophet who was to come - the Promised Seed. Did Moses give Israel the Law written on tablets of stone? The Prophet whom the Lord would send, would write that same Law on the tablets of the human heart, by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit (Eze 36:25-27). The God who gave the Written Torah to Moses gave the Living Torah to mankind to bear the sins of the whole world. Did Moses give Israel the pattern to build the Tabernacle in the wilderness? The Prophet whom the Lord would send, would Himself build a Tabernacle out of living stones for the presence of the Lord to indwell (1 Pet 2:4-5, 1 Cor 6:19). We are the living stones, and the ekklesia is the Tabernacle!

Stephen was making the point, that we should not cling so tightly to the prophetic pictures, that we reject the living reality when it comes. As the chief priests were doing in resisting the Holy Spirit, even though the men, when they heard his testimony, were cut to the heart with the conviction of the truth of these things (vs. 54).

Now I want to clarify something. I believe we should obey the Torah, the instruction in God's ways of righteousness (which is the definition of torah in Hebrew), but I am not advocating that we cling to Moses and the Temple and shut our eyes to Jesus. Jesus the Messiah is the substance which casts the shadow of the written Torah and the Temple (Col 2:16-17). The substance and the shadow are not enemies! The written Torah is a FOREshadow of the Living Torah. The tablets of stone are FOREshadows of God's righteousness which was to be written on human hearts in time to come. The Temple is a FOREshadow, a visual aid, showing that God will dwell within the human heart (the holy of holies) which was encompassed by the soul (the holy place) which was contained in the physical body (the outer courts).

So why focus on the written Torah at all? Precisely because the Written Word and the Spirit of Messiah agree! We Gentiles who were not raised in Torah sometimes are ignorant of what righteous living before God looks like, and we need a little education. Torah provides that education. Many believers say, "Oh, Torah is obsolete," with the end result that they ignore the education in righteousness Torah is meant to provide. Yes, Torah is obsolete as a system of salvation - in fact, Moses teaches in Torah that salvation was never the purpose of obeying the Torah! (A fascinating study we can get into when we are done with this one). But Torah is not obsolete as a dictionary of righteousness and sin. How did Paul know what actions, as a matter of practice, prevented believers from inheriting the kingdom of God (1 Cor 6:9-10)? Because the Torah defined for him what actions God considered righteous and unrighteous.

So if Torah comes in my studies at all, it is because it is my heart to bring balance back to the center, of a far left teaching in the Church which threw Torah out in its entirety, in its eagerness to embrace salvation by grace through faith in Christ Jesus alone. We need to recognize and discern from the Scripture that God never intended that walking in His Holy ways would be discarded, by those claiming to be motivated by the HOLY Spirit. The Holy Spirit, is first and foremost in His character and motivation, HOLY, and those of us who follow Him, ought to walk in a manner worthy of Him, as Paul teaches throughout the New Testament.

acts 6

Read Acts 6 at Bible Gateway.

As the Church grew, a dispute arose between the Hebrews and the Hellenists. Now the Church has not left Jerusalem yet. The Hebrews and Hellenists were Jews. But there were two main parties of Jews. One party, the Hebrews, were Torah observant and maintained the separate way of life received from Moses (the Pharisees and Sadducees were both of the Hebrew party). Jesus and the apostles were of the Hebrews.

The Hellenists were Jews (not Greeks) who had relaxed a lot of the customs and laws of Moses in their daily lives, and lived more like Greeks. Herod and his family were Jews who were Hellenists. We have to remember that when Alexander the Great conquered the ancient world in 332 bc, Greek culture flourished everywhere. Even Rome was changed by it. And Judea was no exception.

The Hellenist Jews charged the Hebrewist Jews with wrongdoing, in neglecting their widows. This is a case of the party, who was always feeling a bit inferior because the Hebrewists were constantly charging them with unrighteous living, seeing a chance to get back a little bit and charge the Hebrewists with unrighteousness for a change. :) The fact is, the Church was growing so fast that it soon was beyond the ability of twelve men to administrate. So they established seven deacons, whose job it was to minister to the physical needs of the Church, leaving the apostles free for prayer and the study and teaching of the Word.

We have had several chapters where we saw how anointed by the Spirit the apostles were. Now we are seeing the deacons come into the same anointing, of wisdom, boldness, and working miracles with power. Why take care to bring this out? The point is to teach, I believe, that the Holy Spirit, the wisdom, the gifts, the anointing, and the miracles WAS NOT JUST FOR THE APOSTLES! The truth is, the work of the Church cannot go forward without new men constantly being raised up, who are filled with the Spirit, who can carry on in the same vein as the apostles. And that is what these next chapters in Acts are going to show us.

Note that Luke brings out the fact, in verse 7, that a great many of the priests were becoming obedient to the faith. It makes sense that the men, who were most familiar with the Word and the Law, would finally see in Jesus, the fulfillment of the Word and the Law. Nowhere does it say that the priests LEFT the service in the Temple or the Law of Moses. They continued as before. But now they were obedient to the faith, i.e., they believed Jesus to be the Messiah, whose death on the cross forgave them their sins once and for all. They did not start eating pork chops and shrimp scampi, work on the Sabbath, or have affairs with their neighbors' wives, just because they had come to faith in Jesus.

The opposition that arose against Stephen bears this out. They were not able to resist his wisdom, in showing that Jesus was the Messiah who had been raised from the dead. So they had to hire men to say lies about him, in order to get him arrested. The lies were: that he was speaking against Moses, against the Law, and against God. The lie was that Jesus would change the customs they had from Moses (eating kosher or resting on Sabbath or other points from the Law).

Dears, what the Church has taught for 1700 years, that the Torah has passed away because Jesus has done away with it, is the original LIE that was brought against the Church and the apostles by her enemies. The purpose of lies is to steal, kill, and destroy, for the enemy is the liar and the father of lies.

If this is a new realization for you - stick with me, every day we are showing that the Scriptures from Genesis to Revelation teach ONE God, ONE gospel, and ONE faith, that has remained consistent from beginning to end. God is unchanging, and His word is unchanging. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. We do not serve a schizophrenic God who suddenly changed horses in the middle of the stream of history, and discarded the Old Testament in favor of the New. The New explains the Old, and the Old explains the New. It is the nature of the eternal and living Word of God.

Now I have to go out of town, just for today only, but tomorrow I will put the links in this post for all the Scripture references just as I have done in all the posts up until now. Thank you for your patience. :) Please ask questions if you have them!

acts 5

Read Acts 5 at Bible Gateway.

The theme that spoke to me this chapter, is God Sanctifies His Church.

The big sin of Ananias and Sapphira, was pride. Follow: some of the disciples who, out of a pure love for God and the brethren, sold all and gave it with joy, were gaining renown (Acts 4:36-37). Ananias and Sapphira coveted that renown. Coveting -- one of the Commandments broken -- honor from men, but not from God -- another of the Commandments broken. The pure worship of God fears God above everything else, but desiring honor from men places the fear of men above the fear of God. Pure worship trusts God above everything else, and loves God above everything else.

They wanted to be known as somebody in the Church -- that was the secret sin. So they hatched the plan to keep back a portion of the proceeds but to let it be known that they had given 100% of the proceeds also. Why would they do this, if not because they wanted the fame which was accompanying the few disciples who were doing this?

So then they added to the Commandments already broken, lying to the Spirit. They thought they were lying to Peter, but in reality they were lying to the Spirit -- which I can only assume, they also possessed! Their hearts must have been crying out against this plan the whole time, but they hardened their hearts and went on.

Now why was God so harsh as to kill them? First of all, God was not harsh! His judgments are always just (Rev 16:7)!

I believe it was because, the church at Jerusalem was the first church of which Jesus is the Head. It is a spiritual principle that the first things belong to God. The firstborn, the tithe, the first part of our day in praise and thanksgiving to Him. Of course, all the Church belongs to God. But God was taking care to keep sin and a defiled heart from entering His first church and establishing a foothold. The result of their deaths, was that fear fell upon all. Both of the church - so that no one dreamed of treating God so flippantly again, or Peter His servant -- and of the world. The world held the Church in esteem after this, and kept themselves apart from them (vs. 13).

This is just like God keeping the Temple things pure by only allowing the priests to handle them, and when others forgot that, they also died (2 Sam 6). The ark represented God's Holy presence, and His authority in Israel, just as the Holy Spirit represented God's Holy presence, and Peter His authority in the Church. People have, at later times and in other places, lied, coveted, stolen, and even pastors used their position to abuse the flock and to line their own pockets, and they have done it without dropping down dead.

But that God sanctified His presence and His authority, and sanctified His first things, both in the Old and New Testaments, teaches and reminds us that it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God (Heb 10:31), and the wise will have regard for the holiness and greatness of God.

So by the purity of the apostles and the Church, the deaths of the transgressors, the healing of the sick, and the intervention of the angel in freeing the apostles from prison - by many and diverse ways, God was placing a flashing neon sign around the apostles which said, HERE ARE MY SERVANTS, LISTEN TO THEM! By just those ways, the Holy Spirit Himself was also witnessing (vs. 32) to everyone that Jesus had been raised up by God, and God had anointed Him both Messiah and Savior.

Is the Spirit bearing witness with us, that Jesus is both Messiah and Savior? It ought to be the normal state of the believer, and the normal state of the ekklesia! (the Greek word translated "church," meaning assembly of believers).

The sanctification of the church, is I believe, the first work of the Holy Spirit. Because the church in Jerusalem walked sanctified before God, the witness of the believers was accompanied by the witness of the Spirit in healings and other mighty acts, Church, if we would get on our face before God, and repent, and turn from our wicked ways -- we, us, His people -- then He would heal our land (2 Chr 7:14). Healing, health, and wholeness accompanies sanctification!

Let's start by repenting of not obeying the Ten Commandments!

parashah devarim (words), deuteronomy 1:1 - 2:1

We study the Torah according to the triennial cycle every Sabbath. (Why?)

We must understand the paragraph divisions in Torah, which are inspired by the Spirit and preserved by Moses and the Jewish scribes (but discarded by the English translators), are key to help us understand what God is trying to tell us. He wants to be understood, and has provided these helps to aid us! We must also understand how the Spirit teaches through Torah by common theme.

Today is the 129th Sabbath of the triennial cycle: parashah (Torah portion) Devarim / Words, Deu 1:1 - 2:1. Read Deu 1:1 - 2:1 at Bible Gateway, or Deu 1 and 2 from the Hebrew Bible in English.

Deu 1:1-2:1 ends in a parsha stumah, a weak paragraph division.
This means that this portion of Scripture begins teaching an overarching theme, but does not complete it.

The book of Deuteronomy is a series of five speeches given by Moses to the 2nd generation of Israel, after the completion of the wandering in the wilderness for forty years. The congregation is encamped in Moab on the other side of the Jordan, opposite Jericho (Deu 1:1). Moses is getting ready to die, and Joshua is getting ready to assume the leadership of the congregation and take Israel into the Land. These five speeches are Moses' final words to Israel before his death.

Anyone can go through the book of Deuteronomy themselves, even in English translations, and note that the entire book is in quotes, as it is a record of Moses' speeches, and can make note of the verses which indicate a cessation of one speech and the beginning of the next.

Speech one runs from chapters 1-4 (beginning in Deu 1:6), and is an introduction to his main topic. Speech two is the main speech; its purpose is to “explain this torah” (Deu 1:5), and runs from chapters 5-26 (beginning in Deu 5:1). Speech three runs from chapters 27-28 (beginning in Deu 27:1), and is the admonition to the congregation. Speech four runs from chapters 29-30 (beginning in Deu 29:2); its topic is repentance and restoration in the latter days. Speech five runs from chapters 31-32 (beginning in Deu 31:2); its topic is transferring the leadership to Joshua and the benediction.

Going back to Deu 1:1-2:1, outlining the parsha:

Deu 1:1-5 - introduction and setting;
Deu 1:6-8 - command to leave Sinai;
Deu 1:9-18 - establishing judges and justice for the 1st generation;
Deu 1:19-21 - arrival at the Promised Land;
Deu 1:22-33 - refusal to enter; sin, rebellion and unbelief;
Deu 1:34-2:1 - refusal to accept the Lord's judgment; sin and defeat.

The theme of this portion of Scripture, is the sin, unbelief, and failure of the 1st generation to enter the Promise which God had provided for them.

Now these things happened to them for our instruction, upon whom the end of the ages has come (1 Cor 10:11). Let us not fail to note, that the congregation had been redeemed from death by faith in the blood of the Lamb at Passover; they had been baptized into the Red Sea (1 Cor 10:2) and delivered from all Pharaoh's army; and they had received the Torah and entered into the covenant, the marriage covenant, with YHVH, before Moses begins his recital. Many of the people who were unbelievers had already perished in the golden calf incident. The people who refused to enter in were covenant believers!

This is the warning. God has a destination for us; let us not get so comfortable in the world (Egypt) or in the wilderness that we refuse to enter in to God's ultimate destination for us!

10/11/09 Update: As I went back through this parsha, to study out the greater paragraph from Deu 1:1-3:29, I discovered that this parsha forms a chiastic structure. Chiastic structures are a teaching tool the Spirit employs in Torah (and throughout Scripture; I have found them in Jesus' and Paul's teachings also) that points like an arrow to a central important message or event that is not to be forgotten. In a chiastic structure, the elements from the beginning of the passage are repeated at the end of the passage in reverse order, around the central axis, the central point or theme.

1A 1:1-2 - the journey from Sinai through the wilderness to Kadesh Barnea;
  1B 1:3-5 - this section of the structure itself forms a mini structure: Moses spoke YHVH's commandments (vs. 3) and explained His Torah (vs. 5) which mirrors and surrounds the defeat of the Amorites, the central axis (vs. 4);
    1C 1:6-7 - turn toward your Land;
      1D 1:8 - YHVH has set the Land before the 1st generation, go in and possess it;
        1E 1:9-18 - YHVH established judges and justice for the 1st generation;
          1F 1:19 - journey through the wilderness;
            1G 1:20-21 - YHVH has set the Land before the 1st generation, do not fear, believe and go in and possess it;
              1H 1:21 - Do not be discouraged;
                1I 1:22-24 - twelve men go up to the Land;
                  --> X 1:25 - The Land is good;
                2I 1:26-27 - the congregation will not go up to the Land;
              2H 1:28 - Our brothers have discouraged our hearts;
            2G 1:29-33 - YHVH has set the Land before the 1st generation, do not fear; unbelief and refusal to go in and possess it;
          2F 1:34 - the unbelievers will journey through the wilderness;
        2E 1:34-38 - YHVH established His judgment - the unbelievers will not go in, and Moses will not go in, but Caleb and Joshua will go in;
      2D 1:39 - YHVH has set the Land before the 2nd generation, who will go in to possess it;
    1C 1:40 - turn back toward the wilderness;
  2B 1:41-45 - rebellion against YHVH's commandment, and Israel is defeated BY the Amorites;
2A 1:46-2:1 - the journey from Kadesh Barnea through the wilderness to the Red Sea.

Do you see how even the form of the structure points like an arrow to the central theme? The Land is good! What the Lord gives us, is good! When He asks us to do something, it is for our good! It is not to destroy us, it is not to hurt us, it is not to keep us down, under, or behind! He is good, His gifts are good, and His commandments are good! They are to be obeyed for our good!

matthew 9

Read Matthew 9 at Bible Gateway.

Matthew continues relating the healing miracles of Jesus begun last chapter. But in each instance, Matthew brings out the faith or belief of the person being healed.

• The paralytic: “When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic ...” Mat 9:2.
• The dead daughter: “My daughter has just died, but come and lay Your hand on her and she will live,” Mat 9:18.
• The woman with the issue of blood: “Be of good cheer, daughter; your faith has made you well,” Mat 9:22.
• The two blind men: “According to your faith let it be to you,” Mat 9:29.
• The demon- possessed mute (Mat 9:32-34): there is no overt mention of faith on anyone's part, except perhaps the people who brought the mute man to Jesus. They would not have brought him, had they not believed that He would be able to do something about it.

Again in verse 35, the mention is made that Jesus healed every sickness and disease among the people - Not one disease, not one sickness, not one person, was left out. In this verse, there is no mention of faith. But by this time, His fame had spread abroad, and I believe people expected Him to be able to heal. So the Lord makes an issue of faith for a reason.

The reason is, it is a biblical principle that to receive what God has for us, we need to believe Him.

An Old Testament example, is that God brought the Israelites to the edge of the Promised Land, and told them to go in and possess it. They would not because they did not believe Him that He was able to give it to them (Num 13-14). The writer of Hebrews says they did not receive the promise because of their unbelief (Heb 3:16-19). In fact, Hebrews equates unbelief with rebellion, which is as we know, as the sin of witchcraft (1 Sam 15:23), or paganism and idolatry.

A New Testament example, is that Jesus died for the sins of the whole world (1 Joh 2:2), and it is God's will that no one perish (2 Pet 3:9), however, we must receive the free gift of eternal life through faith in Christ Jesus (Rom 6:23, Eph 2:8-9). Those who do not believe, will not receive.

So we have seen from the last two chapters that the Lord is willing and able to heal every disease of every person, and sometimes does without regard to faith. But in the normal course of things, it is the person that believes who receives, as a biblical principle. He wants His people to believe Him and to believe His Word, not only in His ability, but in His compassion and His willingness and His desire to alleviate suffering! For it is not only His desire to do good, it was His purpose in coming in the flesh:

“Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows;
Yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.
But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities;
The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed.
All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned, every one, to his own way;
And the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.” Isa 53:4-6

“The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon Me,
Because the LORD has anointed Me
To preach good tidings to the poor;
He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted,
To proclaim liberty to the captives,
And the opening of the prison to those who are bound;
To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD,
And the day of vengeance of our God;
To comfort all who mourn,
To console those who mourn in Zion,
To give them beauty for ashes,
The oil of joy for mourning,
The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness;
That they may be called trees of righteousness,
The planting of the LORD, that He may be glorified.” Isa 61:1-3

“Then Jesus answered and said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner.” Joh 5:19

“... how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him." Act 10:38

Now in the middle of this chapter, it seems there are two stories that do not fit the pattern: Matthew the tax collector (Mat 9:9-13), and the question about fasting (Mat 9:14-17). But I believe the Word of God to be deliberate, and there is no misplaced word. It is a literary device of Torah, to establish a pattern, and then break the pattern in order to draw attention to the break, in order to teach something. And as Jesus is the Living Torah (Joh 1:14), I believe the same study principles apply across God's Word.

In the story of Matthew the tax collector, when Jesus is questioned as to why He is eating with sinners, He answers, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.” Well, there is our theme again: Jesus is the Great Physician - but this time, the definition of “sick” has just been expanded to include those who are sinners, needing to be brought to repentance in order to have (spiritual) life restored to them.

It is so exciting to see wondrous things out of His Word!

So I would like to open a discussion about Mat 9:14-17, the paragraph concerning fasting and the wineskins. It seems truly out of place with the flow of the rest of the chapter, but in my experience, every time something in the Word of God jarrs out of sync like this, God has a connection to teach that is truly awesome. The fact that it comes on the heels of the revelation that sinners are spiritually sick and in need of the Great Physician, might have some bearing also.

What do you think? Leave comments!

leviticus

lev 11, clean and unclean food

clean and unclean food, luke 11

Luke does not record the same incident in the way Mark and Matthew recorded it. He records, instead, a similar incident in chapter 11, in which the dispute begins about clean or unclean hands, and ends with Jesus pronouncing His famous woes upon the Pharisees for being hypocrites. The cause of the dispute is so similar to the cause of the dispute we have already looked at in Mark and Matthew, that we ought to examine this one too.

“And as He spoke, a certain Pharisee asked Him to dine with him. So He went in and sat down to eat. When the Pharisee saw it, he marveled that He had not first washed before dinner.” Luk 11:37-38

The dispute, again, is over clean or unclean HANDS, not clean or unclean FOODS.

“Then the Lord said to him, “Now you Pharisees make the outside of the cup and dish clean, but your inward part is full of greed and wickedness. Foolish ones! Did not He who made the outside make the inside also? But rather give alms of such things as you have; then indeed all things are clean to you.” Luk 11:39-41

The comment is here attributed to Jesus that all things are now clean, and this verse is sometimes used to prove the dietary laws have passed away. The phrase, "give alms of such things as you have," is in Greek, didōmi eleēmosynē eneimi. It means, "to give mercy or charity out of the inward being." The mercy or charity is sometimes expressed in giving alms to the poor, but alms is not the primary meaning of the word eleemosyne. Now the next word is interesting: eneimi. This is the only time in the entire Greek New Testament that this word is used. It means, "to be in the soul, or what is within the soul," i.e., the heart or inner man.

Just reading the straight Greek, Jesus seems to be saying to give or have mercy from the heart. As He has said many other places in the Gospels when calling the Pharisees on the carpet, that it is love or mercy from the heart that is the core issue of the Law or obedience to God, not despising others because they have not kept every nit picky tradition of the elders.

Why on earth did they translate that phrase to say, "give alms of such things as you have?" I have no idea, it makes no sense to me.

Now Jesus does say, that if love or mercy is coming out from the heart, then all things will be clean. It does say that in the Greek. But we have to remember that the topic of discussion is clean or unclean HANDS, not clean or unclean FOODS. Taken together with the other Scriptures, and not out of context, He seems to be saying that if love is coming out of the heart, then the man is sanctified or clean. Well, doesn't that sound like another way of saying this that is recorded in Matthew 15:

“So Jesus said, “Are you also still without understanding? Do you not yet understand that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and is eliminated? But those things which proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and they defile a man. For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies. These are the things which defile a man, but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile a man.” Mat 15:16-20

In Luke, we are understanding Jesus as saying that if mercy is coming out of the heart, then the man is clean. In Matthew, Jesus is saying that if evil is coming out of the heart, then the man is defiled. He is in essence teaching the exact same principle, which has nothing to do with food.

I believe that this passage in Luke cannot be used as a Scriptural basis for maintaining that Jesus pronounced everything that has been created as clean to eat.

The other point to ponder is this: we learned that the purpose of obeying Torah was not to benefit God, it is to benefit us. Those who obey the commandments will have blessings that pertain to this life (Deu 28:1-14), and that includes health for the physical body. If pigs were unhealthy for humans to consume in 100 bc, how did the resurrection of Jesus change the nature of the pig so that they are now healthy for humans to consume in 100 ad and beyond?

A proper understanding of Scripture harmonizes its parts so that it flows logically and consistently, and undergirds its parts to make a coherent whole.

These passages in Mar 7, Mat 15, and Luk 11 are the three places in the Gospels that can possibly be construed to mean that Jesus declared all foods clean - our conclusion is that Jesus did not in fact declare all foods clean in these three places. Next we will look at Acts and the Apostolic Scriptures.

acts 4

Read Acts 4 at Bible Gateway.

So now, what happens when we begin to believe God, and allow the Spirit to do miracles through us, for the purpose of testifying and witnessing to Jesus, as we have seen so far in the first three chapters in Acts? Not only do you come to the attention of the crowd, which gives you a great opportunity to tell them about Jesus Christ, but you come to the attention of the high and mighty.

This time it was not the Pharisees who had Peter and John arrested - they are absent from the list recorded in Act 4:1. It was the Sadducees. The Sadducees don't believe in the resurrection from the dead (Mat 22:23). So the theology of Jesus that the disciples were preaching went against the theology of the religious leaders of the day. Peter and John were preaching the wrong doctrine, that is what got them in trouble! Have you ever been in trouble because the doctrine you preach, which is confirmed by the Scriptures, went against your denomination or your friends or your colleagues? Well, you are in good company.

It still amazes me that what the issue was for the religious leaders, was doctrine, and position - someone was getting a name and a following and it wasn't them - and the fact that a notable miracle had been done in the name of Jesus slid right by. They were so blinded by pride or power or religion, that they missed the hand of God pointing to something when it was in front of them. We are talking about the good folks here - the church goers. The experts. The megapastors or heads of mega ministries. It was not the atheists and the drug dealers that were missing the hand of God, but the paid church people.

The leaders' response to Peter's bold testimony, was to threaten them, and to charge them to teach no more in the name of Jesus. They were threatened by the good church men, by the leaders of the congregation, by the professional theologians. Peter was an uneducated fisherman, but he was speaking truth under the inspiration of the Spirit.

Listen, God uses the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, who think they are wise (1 Cor 1:27). Don't ever let a doctor of theology cow you into submission of the fear of man rather than the fear of God. There is nothing wrong with a profession in the church. But be on your guard, it seems they tend to go astray, doesn't it? Knowledge puffs up (1 Cor 8:1) and feeds pride, and the ones who go astray begin to feel secure in their knowledge and in the letters behind their name rather than in God, I think. If you have letters behind your name, keep love and lowliness as your sister, and keep pride far from you, and you will be okay.

So Peter and John, when they are released, go back to the church and pray for even greater boldness to preach and teach, and even greater miracles of healing to be performed, than what has already gotten them in trouble! Notice what they do not pray for - they do not pray for the opposition against them to end. They expected, because of the prophecy in Ps 2, to be opposed by kings and leaders. But they prayed that their own boldness and faith might not falter! And for even more and greater signs and wonders to be accomplished through them! And God was pleased with this prayer, as we can see, because the place where they were gathered was shaken with power.

Now let's back up to Peter's response to the religious and political leaders telling him not to teach or preach in the name of Jesus. He says, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you more than to God, you judge. For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard, (Act 4:19-20).”

I have heard it preached, based on Rom 13:1-2, "Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities," that whatever the government tells you to do, you must do. In fact this argument was given by many at the Nuremberg Trials, who obeyed the Nazis and persecuted the Jews, They argued that they were merely being obedient to their government as God commands believers to be. But how were Peter and John submitting themselves to the governing authorities, by telling those governing authorities who had commanded them to teach no more in this name, that they would obey God rather then men?

The Scriptural principle is, governing authorities were set up by God for a specific purpose - and that is to promote what is right, to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good (Rom 13:3). Evil and good as God defines it, not as man defines it. The authority is from God, after all (Rom 13:1), and it is His definition that is to be weighed in the balance. He defines sin and righteousness in the Torah, the first five books of Moses.

So when the governing authority is governing within its God- ordained boundaries, they will be a terror to evil works, but a praise to that which is good. By all means, let everyone be subject to the governing authorities in all that is RIGHT. But when a governing authority asks you to do something wrong, as they asked Peter and John to stop preaching and teaching in the name of Jesus, then they have stepped over their boundaries and asked you to do something God did not ordain them for, and it becomes our duty to do what is right, regardless of what the governing authority has told us to do or not do. This is the entire principle and argument of the founding fathers in pursuing the American Revolution against the British crown, and it is the entire judgment of the nations at Nuremberg in hanging the Nazi war criminals who were only obeying their governing authority. (A movie, Judgment at Nuremberg, was made of the Nuremberg Trials - anyone who has not seen it must see it!)

And since we are on the topic of politics, Act 4:32-37 is the Scriptural basis many use to promote the political philosophy of communism: from each according to his wealth, to each according to his need. I maintain that communism as a political philosophy is not only flawed but unscriptural and evil. How can I reconcile my belief with Scripture?

Communism, such as we read in the books of Acts, can only be administered by the Holy Spirit of God. When God leads you to sell your things, and lay their proceeds at the apostles' feet, then you are giving your possessions with a cheerful and free heart (no man is ever to give under compulsion, for then it is not giving, is it? -- God loves a cheerful giver, 2 Cor 9:7).

But a government agency is not the Holy Spirit. In communism in practice, a government agency forces you under threat to sell your possessions or give up your possessions. This is in opposition to Torah, which has sanctity of private property ownership built into its framework (Thou shalt not steal, Ex 20:15). Communism, administered by the fallen human nature, always turns bad, it always ends up building up a nobility class which oppresses the rest of society. In fact, every form of human government goes down that road. No matter how well a system begins, it ends up with a few gathering power to themselves over the many. This is why Thomas Jefferson said, "The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants." It requires a constant struggle to keep power from accumulating to the few.

Okay, that is enough of a soapbox for today, LOL.

matthew 8

Read Matthew 8 at Bible Gateway.

The last few chapters recorded the beginning of the teaching ministry of Jesus. Now this chapter begins recording the healing ministry of Jesus. We should keep in mind that most of the Gospel writers did not arrange their material in chronological order as it is common for us to do. Only Luke claimed to have put everything down "in order," (Luk 1:1-3). Matthew seems to have arranged his material around themes.

The very first healing recorded in the Gospels is the leper who comes to kneel before Jesus, and asks Him, "Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean." Boy, that is the 64,000 dollar question, isn't it? We all know that God is able to heal anyone of anything, but is He willing to do so?

"Willing" in Greek is thelo, and it means, "to will, have in mind, intend, as in, to be resolved or determined, to purpose, to desire, to wish, or even to love; to like to do a thing, be fond of doing; to take delight in, have pleasure in doing."

The leper is asking Jesus, in essence, "Do You want to heal me? Do You desire to heal me? Or is this something You might be doing begrudgingly, out of obligation or some sense of duty, but You could really care less whether I have leprosy or not?"

And Jesus answered him, "I am willing." -- I am resolved to heal you, I am determined to heal you, I want to heal you, and it even gives Me pleasure to do so. This is such a key to understanding the character of God!

Pter says of Jesus:

"... how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him." Act 10:38

It is in the Lord's nature to alleviate the suffering of others, to lift the oppression of the devil off of those who are afflicted, to make them clean and to set them free. That is the first thing we are to understand about Jesus as Matthew begins to reveal His healing ministry. So I believe it is no accident that this story of the leper is the first one Matthew chose to tell about Jesus. He wanted to lay the foundation right off the bat that it is the Lord's will to heal people.

We find from this chapter Jesus healing Jews and Romans, men and women, slaves and free, the clean and the unclean (leprosy was considered a disease indicating impurity or uncleanness as defined by Torah), diseases affecting the body, as well as afflictions affecting the mind or soul; temporary illnesses (fever) as well as permanent conditions (leprosy), those illnesses which were momentary inconveniences as well as those illnesses which led to death's doorstep.

In verse 16-17, it says that Jesus healed all who were sick, in fulfillment of prophecy in Isaiah 53.

"He took our infirmities, He bore our sicknesses," (vs. 17).

The Hebrew for "took" means "to take away completely, to lift off, to carry away, as well as to support, to sustain, and to endure." The fact of the matter is, in these days, some people get healed when they pray, and some don't. I cannot even begin to explain why. My own mother died of cancer, even though I prayed for her, while my son was completely and instantly healed of a life-threatening skull fracture and brain damage with absolutely no side effects whatsoever. For my son, Jesus took away completely his infirmity, and for my mother, He supported her and sustained her while she endured that illness. For both, He took their infirmity.

Now I tend to believe that it is the Lord's will to heal every sickness of every person. Why some people don't get healed is a puzzle that we talked about yesterday. I know the faith teachers teach that it is because the person did not have enough faith (suggested by verse 13), while the Calvinists teach it is all in the hands of a sovereign God. I tend to think the answers might be less trite.

If someone desires something from the Lord, and they have not received it yet, what should their response be? I think it should be, get on their face before God night and day and ask Him what is going on and what must be done. Daniel was a righteous man who began seeking God for something, and he fasted 21 days in tears before he received his answer (Dan 10). The reason it was not immediately given him did not having anything to do with God not wanting to answer him, or him not deserving an answer. It just required persistence on Daniel's part.

As Jesus taught us yesterday, "Ask and you will receive, seek and you will find, knock and the door shall be opened," (Mat 7:7). The Greek tense of those verbs (which does not come through in the English translation), is, ask and keep on asking, seek and keep on seeking, knock and keep on knocking. God wants to alleviate our suffering, so keep on seeking Him until we have an answer from Him!

clean and unclean food, leviticus 11

Read Lev 11 at Bible Gateway.

In Torah, God forbids His people from eating certain classes of animals as food, calling them unclean. Some of the health benefits that accompany eating the foods which God has declared clean in Lev 11, while avoiding the foods which God has declared unclean in Lev 11, are:

Animals that divide the hoof and chew the cud. These are primarily grass- eating livestock, such as cattle, deer, antelope, elk, sheep, goats. It has been found that the meat of this class of livestock which has been grass fed (not grain fed) is high in essential fatty acids, a class of fatty acid which is essential for the physical health and function of the human body, but which the body cannot make itself and must be supplied through diet. Disease conditions associated with an essential fatty acid deficiency are numerous. All manner of emotional and mental disorders, such as depression, bipolar, addictions, even schizophrenia have been shown to either present or worsen with an EFA deficiency (new research shows that EFAs might also affect Alzheimer's.) Pregnancy, birth, and lactation complications increase with an EFA deficiency. Obesity (here too), diabetes (here too), cancer, and heart disease increase with an EFA deficiency. Intestinal imbalances resulting in food allergies or IBS or other intestinal complications present or worsen with an EFA deficiency. Hormonal imbalance conditions present or worsen with an EFA deficiency. Skin conditions (and hair c0nditions) such as excema present or worsen with an EFA deficiency. Research is ongoing on EFAs and the human body, but the list of systems a deficiency impacts is enormous and growing.

Pig is unclean. This animal, at least, is not a grass eater but an omnivore, a trash eater. It does not contain sweat glands in the skin that the livestock mentioned above do, and as a result it retains a much higher percentage of toxins in its body and internal tissue. It is also prone to many different types of parasites, some of which even survive in the meat at very high temperatures. Its habits, moreover, are dirty.

Fish without fins and scales are unclean. The catfish is an example. The catfish also happens to thrive in dirty, sluggish water where it scavenges the bottom for food. Sharks do not have scales. Shark will eat a man if available. Shellfish do not have fins or scales. They are the garbage scows of the ocean. Are we beginning to see a pattern, LOL. Shellfish moreover are covered with a strain of cholera bacteria which helps break down the hard substance of the shell. Cholera can be a deadly disease for humans.

The unclean birds are all carrion eaters or birds of prey, the clean birds are vegetation or seed eaters. And on and on. I have articles saved about health reports and studies done on everything I have mentioned in this study, and I will link all them from here as soon as I am able.

The purpose of Torah obedience is NOT and never has been salvation, or life for the spiritual man. Moses specifically taught in Torah that its purpose is not righteousness unto salvation. Its purpose has always been, to bless us with happiness, health, wealth, and any other thing which is needful for life for the physical man. God was looking to promote our health in making the division of clean and unclean food, and I trust that as Creator of all, He is smarter than I am! He knows what He is talking about and what is good for me.