January 22, 2019 by bibletopicexpo

Doctrinal Disunity Impacts Evangelism (2)

This Part 2 is the continuation and conclusion to “Doctrinal Disunity Impacts Evangelism (1)”. Part 1 should be read first.

There are presently more than 2.2 billion Christians worldwide. But they are divided into more than 40,000 denominations, sects, or groups! Disunity within Christendom not only divides the body of Christ, but the perception of Christian disunity also hinders evangelism both here and abroad.

Answers.com How Many Christian Denominations Are There? “Different people have different beliefs in Christianity. Unfortunately, those differences lead to divisions. God requires unity. Jesus’ last prayer was for His disciples to remain united (John 17). The Lord never intended for His church to be divided into competing groups teaching different doctrines. The Lord is not the Lord of confusion. Much of Christianity has been polluted by other false pagan religions, which has led to differing beliefs and unscriptural practices which has caused them to break apart.” Unscriptural practices cause division!

The apostle Paul exhorted Titus in Ti.2:7, “Be an example of good works, with soundness in doctrine”.

The question was posed: What if all Christian beliefs and practices were based on scriptural doctrine, with no pagan or contradicting unscriptural practices based on man’s traditions that cause disunity?

Most Christian churches make the claim that their beliefs, teachings and practices are based on the Holy Bible. The late Dr. Myles Munroe wrote in 2008, “The Bible is the Constitution of the Kingdom of God”. Pastor Benny Hinn says, “The Holy Spirit authored the Bible”. That’s the written scriptures.

The inspired word of God, the holy scriptures of the Bible, is the true standard for our faith! 1Ti.4:13 Paul told Timothy to do public reading of Old Testament (OT) scriptures in church. The written word of God is the basis, the foundation, of true knowledge…unlike various dogmatic traditions of men.

Our topic is addressing four points of Bible doctrine which impact Christian unity and evangelism. Part 1 addressed two causes of disunity…controversy concerning #1) Clean vs Unclean and #2) Blood. (also see the topics “Unclean versus Clean Food” and “Acts 15 – Four Prohibitions”.) Now in Part 2, we’ll address two other causes of disunity, #3) and #4), also pertaining to doctrine.

#3) 7^th DAY SABBATH rest: There’s been much controversy in the church over whether Christians should keep the 7^th day sabbath of scripture, or the Roman Catholic Church (RCC) and Protestant Sunday of tradition, or neither. Let’s see what the scriptures reveal.

The 7^th day sabbath has its beginnings at Creation. The Holy Spirit and Christ, the Spirit and the Word, are the Creators (ref Ge.1:1-2, 26; Jb.33:4; Jn.1:1-3; Col.1:16), being the divine agents of Father God.

When Creation was finished, Christ ceased (shabáth Strongs h7673, Hebrew verb) or rested. Ge.2:1-3 “By the 7^th day God finished His work which He had done, and He ceased on the 7^th day. Then God blessed the 7^th day and sanctified it, because in it He ceased from all His work which He had created and made.” Although the first six days were all good, only the 7^th Day did Christ bless and sanctify or make holy! This is the great prototype of the weekly 7^th day sabbath, an intermission dedicated to God.

The 7^th day sabbath is a sign which identifies God as the Creator of all. No other day of the week so reflects God as Creator. By resting on the 7^th day, the believer shows that his God is the Creator. We may choose to rest or worship God on other days too. But as Lord of the 7^th day sabbath, Christ ordained at creation (when there were no Jews!) the 7^th day as holy or sanctified…and no other day of the week. And throughout the Bible, Christ nowhere rescinded His 7^th day as holy time!

“Sabbath” is a holy day/period of cessation from certain activities. JFB Commentary Ge.2:3 “The institution of the Sabbath is as old as creation.” Benson Commentary Ge.2:3 “God blessed the seventh day’. He…separated it from common use…that it should be spent in His worship. It appears evidently by this, that the observation of the sabbath was not first enjoined when the law [Mosaic] was given, but it was an ordinance of God from the creation of the world.”

Theóphilus, bishop of Antioch (175 AD) To Autolýcus 2:12 “The 7^th day, which all men acknowledge.” The 7^th day rest time is universal, from Ge.2:3. Not Sunday, not any other day of the week is holy.

RCC Archbishop James Gibbons wrote in The Faith of Our Fathers, 1876, p.89 “You may read the Bible from Genesis to Revelation, and you will not find a single line authorizing the sanctification of Sunday. The Scriptures enforce the religious observance of Saturday, a day which we never sanctify.”

Irish RCC Father Stephen Keenan, A Doctrinal Catechism, 1851, p.174 “She [RCC] substituted the observance of Sunday the 1^st day of the week, for the observance of Saturday the 7^th day, a change for which there is no Scriptural authority.” The RCC admits the RCC made the change! Christ didn’t.

Jesuit Father Martin J. Scott, Things Catholics Are Asked About, 1927, p.136 “Nowhere in the Bible is it stated that worship should be changed from Saturday to Sunday. The Church…instituted, by God’s authority, Sunday as the day of worship.” These RCC admissions are surprising!? Also non-RCC:

Evangelist Dwight L. Moody, Weighed and Wanting, p.47 “The Sabbath was binding in Eden, and it has been in force ever since. This 4^th commandment begins with the word ‘remember’, showing that the Sabbath already existed when God wrote the law on the tables of stone at Sinai. How can men claim that this one commandment has been done away when they will admit the other nine are still binding?”

Methodist theologian Harris F. Rall Christian Advocate, 1942, p.26 “The matter of Sunday…There are indications in the New Testament [NT] how the church came to keep the first day of the week as its day, but there is no passage telling Christians to keep that day, or transfer the Jewish Sabbath to that day.”

Pulpit Commentary 1Co.16:2 “This verse can hardly be said to imply any religious observance of the Sunday.” Cambridge Bible Ga.4:10 “There is clearly no exemption here from the obligation of the observance of ‘the 7^th day’. The law of the Sabbath…is as old as the Creation.”

Adam Clark Commentary Co.2:16 “There is no intimation here that the Sabbath was done away, or that its moral use was superseded, by the introduction of Christianity. ‘Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy’, is a command of perpetual obligation.” JFB Commentary Col.2:16 “The weekly sabbath rests on a more permanent foundation, having been instituted in Paradise to commemorate the completion of Creation in six days.” And Jesus Himself, the Creator in the flesh, observed the sabbath day (Lk.4:16).

Lutheran August Neander, The History of the Christian Religion and Church, p.186 “The festival of Sunday, was always only a human ordinance, and it was far from the intentions of the apostles to establish a Divine command in this respect…to transfer the laws of the Sabbath to Sunday.” Jesus’ apostles didn’t try to change the 7^th day sabbath. The NT never says Sunday is the church or gentiles’ sabbath, in the manner that Saturday is sabbath holy time. It shouldn’t be about gentiles vs Jews racism!

Anglican priest and scholar Joseph Bingham, Antiquities of the Christian Church “The ancient Christians were very careful in the observation of Saturday, or the 7^th day. It is plain that all the Oriental churches, and the greatest part of the world, observed the Sabbath as a festival. Epíphanius says the same.” (v.2, b.20, ch.3, sec 1, 66) “Athanásius says: They met on the Sabbath, not because they were infected with Judaism, but to worship Jesus, the Lord of the sabbath.” (b.13, ch.9, sec 3.) The 7^th day sabbath and its observance long predates Judaism.

Many other reputable theologians say the 7^th day sabbath is holy time, unchanged by God since Creation. (see “Sabbath 7^th Day” series, and “Sabbath Day Became Sunday in Rome” for man’s steps of change.)

Christ said in Ex.20:8, “Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy”. Since it was holy at Creation.

The customary practice of setting aside Sunday as the day of Christian worship is man’s tradition. But some Christians have rightly viewed God’s word, not the traditions of men, as the true authority! Church traditions have divided Christ’s body. Jesus accused the Pharisees in Mk.7:8-9, “Neglecting the commandment of God, you hold to the tradition of men”. The Pharisees were popular. Yet Jesus was against their wrong traditional dogmatic views (and their burdensome minutiae of sabbath observance).

The RCC Sunday tradition is a form of Phariseeism. And most Christians ignore Christ’s holy time that has come & gone every 7^th day since Creation…to keep the RCC (and ensuing Protestant) tradition. Dr. Dave Miller Unbelief and a Divided Christendom “When people introduce personal creeds, human interpretations, and religious additions to God’s doctrine, disunity inevitably results.”

Sabbath is cessation, rest. Even most of those who customarily attend church on Sunday don’t really rest on that day. We want Jews to be converted to Christ. But mainstream Christianity appears false to them. Christians eat the unclean (unlike Jews and many Muslims), and don’t fully rest (on Sunday) as religious Jews rest on Saturday. Christian efforts at evangelism are thereby hindered.

There’s a health benefit too in sabbath rest. The need for rest every 7 days is built into our human bodies, as Christ created us. Wikipedia: Circaseptan “A circaseptan rhythm is a cycle consisting of 7 days in which many biological processes of life evolve.” Several of our bodily processes and defenses reset approximately every 7 days. For example: Immune response to infections, blood & urine chemicals, blood pressure, heartbeat, coping hormones. (ref Erhard Haus Chronobiology in the Endocrine System.)

Mankind’s body clock is ticking to the ‘beat of 7’…we can’t annul it! But we can violate it by not resting every 7 days. Jesus said in Mk.2:27-28, “The sabbath was made for man”. He’s the Creator of it; and He knows our physical and spiritual needs. (I’m not Seventh Day Adventist.)

#4) FEASTS observance: Some minority groups today think Christians should observe the OT pilgrim feasts which the Lord gave to ancient Israel…Passover, Péntecost/Shavúot, Booths/Tabernacles/Sukkót.

Scriptural guidelines regarding #1) Clean vs unclean, #2) Blood, #3) 7^thDay Sabbath rest…are seen in Genesis before there was ever a nation of Israel or Jews or the Mosaic Law. But not so with the Feasts. Unlike the weekly sabbath rest day of Ge.2:1-3, there were no pilgrim feasts prior to Moses.

The three pilgrim feasts of Israel were to be kept only at the location where God placed His Name, the site of the physical tabernacle/temple sanctuary. De.16:5-6 “You are not allowed to sacrifice the Passover in any of the towns which the Lord your God is giving you, but at the place where the Lord chooses to establish His name.” ref also De.12:5, 14, 17-18, 26, 14:23-25, 16:1-2, 10-11, 15-16, concerning keeping pilgrim feasts in that one place only. God’s one place was in the Holy Land, not elsewhere in other nations! The timing of the feasts was based on the agricultural cycle in Israel.

God’s people were to keep the feasts solely at the city where the sanctuary was, never at two or more locations simultaneously! (see the topics “Feasts of the Lord and the Jews” and “Ark of the Testimony – Journeys”.)

Neither in the OT nor in the NT do we read of people, with or without the Holy Spirit, keeping pilgrim feasts in a town away from the environs of the central sanctuary in Israel where God had put His Name! All NT passages about pilgrim feasts show them being kept only at Jerusalem, where the temple was.

Another of God’s requirements for keeping the ceremonial feasts was physical circumcision. ref Ex.12:48, Ezk.44:9, Lam.1:10, Ac.21:28-29. Uncircumcised gentiles weren’t allowed in the temple where the Passover and other pilgrim feasts were kept by circumcised Israelites/Jews & Jewish proselytes! Outsiders could come no closer than the Court of the Gentiles. (Note: Physical circumcision isn’t necessary for salvation. see “Circumcision in the Bible” and “Passover and Peace Offerings”.)

G.J. Goldberg wrote, “With the destruction of the Temple, the pilgrimage festivals could no longer be observed in their prescribed forms.” It’s impossible to really keep a scriptural pilgrim feast today! For nearly 2,000 years, the required singular earthly sanctuary where God’s Name was…hasn’t existed!

Jews today do a ritual seder (‘order’) for a traditional retelling of ancient Israel’s exodus from Egypt. But the seder isn’t an actual Passover feast (and isn’t meant to be), as the scriptures define Passover. And 90% of Jews normally work during the pilgrim feast days of Sukkot/Booths and Shavuot/Pentecost. Also, Muslims don’t keep these feasts. (I’m not Jewish or Muslim.)

And in scripture, pilgrim feasts weren’t authorized to be kept just anywhere by people whose bodies are the temple of God via the Holy Spirit (1Co.3:16). Without that one place available (Jerusalem temple), there was no lawful pilgrim feast! Other simultaneous sites would be counterfeit pseudo-feasts.

In Ro.10:2, Paul wrote of those who “have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge”. Although there are well-meaning ‘Hebrew roots’ groups and Christians who think they’re observing pilgrim feasts in other cities simultaneously…scripturally, such practice isn’t to be done (cf. 1Ki.12:32–13:5).

Christian groups who traditionally promote pilgrim feast-keeping today may pharisaically cause other Christians, who don’t claim to be observing pilgrim feasts, to feel less righteous or perhaps lacking in Bible understanding. This harms the body of Christ and causes division. And disunity is further caused by calendar differences even among the groups trying to promote and pinpoint the exact when for their pseudo-feast observances. It is confusion. (also see “Days Israel Observed – God-Ordained”.)

Concluding: The four scriptural points of doctrine addressed in Part 1 and Part 2…most (mainstream) churches rarely examine in-depth. Yet these points contribute to our living a harmonious healthy life in Christ (Jn.10:10). Perks of His Kingdom! Jn.17:17 “Thy word is truth.” That’s all the written scripture of the OT too. Again, ref “Doctrinal Disunity Impacts Evangelism (1)”. (for more on early evangelism, see the topic “Evangelism in the Apostolic Church”.)

I like to believe that, as time goes on, more of the church at large will honor these four points. This will increase unity in Christendom. A fractured Christianity has hindered evangelism. Dr. Dave Miller op. cit. “Disunity confuses and discourages honest searchers of truth.” Jn.17:11 Jesus prayed that His disciples would be unified, as one. And this unity should contribute to furthering our evangelistic success…making Christians, Jews and Muslims more like-minded in these truths of God’s word.

As we and mankind learns the Lord’s principles of life (De.30:14-16), the church as a whole will benefit from less disunity and better (table) fellowship. And when our days are fulfilled, we’ll live with Jesus in eternity! Praise the Lord!

January 1, 2019 by bibletopicexpo

Doctrinal Disunity Impacts Evangelism (1)

Disunity within Christendom has had far-reaching negative effects. Dr. Joel R. Beeke wrote in The Church’s Unity, “Disunity affects the whole church, including the work of evangelism”.

The success of evangelism, here in the USA and worldwide, has been hindered by a perceived disunity existent in Christendom. Also, disunity inhibits fellowship among already believing Christians.

The factors which cause disunity in the church are many. Doctrinal controversy is a significant factor. The apostle Paul exhorted Titus in Ti.2:1, “Speak the things which are fitting for sound doctrine”.

From Does Our Focus On Sound Doctrine Detract From Biblical Evangelism? “Doctrinal purity is extremely important. Biblical love never minimizes the importance of God’s truth…from Genesis to Revelation. A healthy focus upon truth and sound doctrine is essential for God’s honoring evangelism.”

This topic deals with unity in doctrine, and table fellowship which contributes to unity. There’s the old adage, ‘Those who eat together stay together’, and ‘The family that eats together stays together’.

Jesus said there is one “way” (Jn.14:6). Jesus is the way. Some of His earliest followers were known as “the Way” (ref Ac.9:2, 24:14). Yet in the 50s AD, Paul asked the rhetorical question in 1Co.1:11-13, “Each one of you is saying, ‘I am of Paul,’ and ‘I of Apollos,’ and ‘I of Peter,’ and ‘I of Christ.’ Has Christ been divided?” Disunity and division was happening even then in Corinth.

There are presently more than 2.2 billion people in the worldwide Christian family. But they are divided into more than 40,000 denominations, sects, or groups! Why is that?

But what if all Christian beliefs and practices were based on scripture…with no pagan or contradictory unscriptural dogma based on traditions that cause disunity, dividing brothers & sisters in the faith!?

The inspired word of God is the true standard for our faith! We learn the word/Bible over the years by various means…reading, study, sermons, etc. We learn of our salvation, available via Jesus’ sacrifice!

1Ti.4:13 Paul told Timothy to do public reading of Old Testament (OT) scriptures in the church. Barnes Notes 1Ti.4:13 “The then written portions of the sacred volume, the Old Testament, are doubtless specially intended here.” The written word of God is the basis, the foundation, of true knowledge…unlike the traditions of men.

In addressing various Bible topics on this site, some verses I’ve quoted or referenced are verses which, unfortunately, are ignored by much of mainstream Christianity.

Wikipedia: Mainstream “Mainstream Christianity’ is a term used to collectively refer to the common views of major denominations of Christianity (such as Orthodox Christianity, Roman Catholicism, Anglicanism, and Protestantism) as opposed to the particular tenets of other Christian denominations. The context is dependent on the particular issues addressed, but usually contrasts an orthodox majority view against a heterodox minority view.”

Heterodox minority groups may be disregarded as lacking overall credibility. But, the orthodox majority may emphasize its traditions; also the orthodox churches themselves disagree among themselves.

There are principles found in scripture, valid for all humankind (Christians too)…that mainstream omits. Sadly, these points of scripture limit or divide fellowship between various Christian sects/groups.

Missiologist Dr. Ed Stetzer Tribalism Outside the Church. And In “Of the many negative impacts that spring from church disunity, perhaps most troubling is the damage it does to our gospel witness.”

Gavin Reid OBE Doctrine Matters “Doctrine in evangelism is not so much what converts, but what establishes the new believer. Evangelism and doctrine are inseparable.”

In this two-part topic, I’ll focus on four significant points of doctrine that impact Christian unity and (table) fellowship, but which much of mainstream ignores. Yet these points are scriptural, and can help us improve our rapport with other peoples we hope to evangelize. They’ll also benefit our own lives.

There is a cause for every effect in our life! These doctrinal points teach us how to better live blessed and healthy lives! They are practices found in scripture…for Christ’s people OT Israel, and even for gentiles prior to when Christ spoke His Decalogue to Israel on Mt. Sinai (Ex.20)!

#1) CLEAN/UNCLEAN creatures: If I were to list only one important practice that mainstream ignores, I might well choose this one! The neglect of this principle hinders unity and table fellowship among Christian brethren; and it limits the success of our evangelistic efforts in Middle East nations.

The pre-incarnate Christ was the Creator and executive God of the OT (Jn.1:1-3, 14). He was the God of ancient Israel…according to Peter, John, Paul. see the topic “Jesus Was the Old Testament God”.

Christ wasn’t like a harsh heathen god who may subject his people to bondage. Christ freed Israel from Egyptian bondage. Then He gave commands and principles to Moses/Israel for their benefit. Christ wasn’t overly restrictive or selfish, and didn’t Lord it over them to flaunt His authority. He loved them.

As Creator, Christ knows which creatures are compatible with the human digestive system, and which aren’t. And which creatures will typically carry parasites or can even be carcinogenic. Christ instructed ancient Israel in His guidelines of clean and unclean…out of love! Moses told them in De.7:6-15, “You are a holy people; the Lord your God has chosen you. The Lord loved you.” Christ the Lord gave Israel His dietary laws for their well-being…to bless, not burden, them! see “Unclean versus Clean Food”.

But even centuries before Christ conveyed His dietary standards to ancient Israel, the gentile Noah knew the difference between clean and unclean animals. Ge.7:1-2 “The Lord said to Noah, ‘Take with you seven pairs of every kind of clean animal, male and female; and one pair of every kind of unclean animal, male and female.” Had they eaten of an unclean pair, that genus could have there ceased!

Noah wasn’t Jewish. There was no Jews or Old Covenant (OC) in Noah’s day; his right understanding predated the OC! Clean vs unclean creatures (ref Le.11 & De.14:1-21 for detail) were known by that gentile prior to Christ’s OC law for Israelites/Jews! Perhaps such knowledge had been passed down from Christ’s instructions in Eden, or from Adam & Eve’s experience, or righteous Enoch had taught it, or by revelation from God to Noah. (also see “Added in the Old Covenant”.)

The Lord spelled out in Le.11:2-ff, “These are the creatures which you may eat from all the animals that are on the earth”. Benson Commentary Le.11:2 “For the preservation of their health.”

Unclean creatures carry micro-organisms which cause disease. Eating them harms all races of mankind. Not just Jews. (Whereas properly fed clean animals don’t normally carry those disease-causing organisms.) Feeding or serving unclean flesh to our neighbor…isn’t loving our neighbor!

Humanity (Christians too) consumes numerous unclean scavengers, created by God to clean up earth’s refuse and thereby limit disease. Wikipedia: Scavenger “Scavengers play a fundamental role in the environment through the removal of decaying organisms, serving as a natural sanitation service.”

Reducing the populations of these ‘creature janitors’ can increase global disease due to excess decaying matter extant. Eating scavengers is self-indulgence, perhaps done under the guise of dietary freedom. But removing scavengers from their created purpose of sanitation/clean-up…isn’t loving our neighbor.

The makeup of animals, such as unclean swine (a scavenger), didn’t change at the cross! Scientists say the AIDS virus was transmitted to humans by slaughtering and eating monkeys. Monkeys are unclean. How tragic! The scourge of AIDS has nearly wiped out entire peoples! It’s a result of disobeying or ignoring Christ’s food laws! False teaching or lack of teaching has led to this great calamity.

The internet is full of medical articles which explain the dangers of eating pathogenic unclean creatures. Literate affluent societies can easily learn their dangerous effects, and stop eating the unclean.

This table fellowship issue of clean vs unclean divides church groups. More than that…Christian evangelism to Jews and Muslims is impeded by Christians eating prohibited creatures. It can offend those Abrahamic peoples! Yet the scriptures about this are on their side. It is a shame for Christ’s church that these other two religions are showing more love for their neighbor (Le.19:18b) in this regard!

Count Zinzendorf (1700-1760), leader of the Moravian church (Czechoslovakia/America) in 1738 wrote of himself. “I have during my lifetime not eaten the foods which were formerly forbidden them….that I have done without design, in simplicity of heart.” (Budingsche Sammlung, 1742, sec.8, p.224.)

#2) BLOOD abstention: Abstaining from blood is a health issue, related to clean vs unclean. Two of the four restrictions of Acts 15 for the New Testament (NT) church…are dietary. God wants us to be in good health (3Jn.1:2), and He gave us guidelines in scripture which contribute to good health.

Ac.15:28-29 “It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay on you no greater burden than you abstain from things sacrificed to idols, from blood, from things dying of itself [strangled], and from sexual immorality.” However, this directive wasn’t something new in the book of Acts.

Christ previously had decreed these same four restrictions in the OT! Abstention from blood and from eating things dying of itself or strangled are dietary laws involving clean animals only…for Israelites and aliens. Le.17:13-16 “When any man from Israel or aliens among them catches a beast or bird which may be eaten, he shall pour out its blood.” Unclean creatures may not be eaten (Le.11). The carcass of an unbled or unslaughtered clean animal is defiled as food and was forbidden, for aliens too. Neither will gentile Muslims eat it. It is very risky health-wise. Pulpit Commentary Le.11:2 “There is something loathsome in the idea of eating such flesh.” (see the topic “Acts 15 – Four Prohibitions”.)

God forbad the consumption of blood. He commanded the non-Jew Noah in Ge.9:4, “You shall not eat flesh with its life, its blood”. This principle applies to everyone…gentiles, Israelites, aliens.

Christ said in Le.17:10-12, “If any man from the house of Israel, or from the aliens among them, eats any blood, I will set My face against that person who eats blood and will cut him off”. That’s serious! v.11 “The life of the flesh is in the blood.” Blood is the principle carrier of life…and of disease.

Sickness and even death can result from consuming blood…and also from contacting blood.

Ge.31:33-35 shows that incidental contact with blood was avoided. If bleeding is detected on a player during today’s NBA games, e.g., the officials immediately stop play, and he must have it attended to.

Le.18 identifies acts of sexual immorality/porneia. (Sexual immorality is prohibited also in Ac.15:29.) Le.18:19 “Do not have sexual intercourse with a woman during her monthly period.” also ref Le.20:18; Ezk.18:5-6, 22:10. Having sexual relations with a menstruating woman can put her at risk for vaginal infection, cervical cancer, and possible tubal pregnancy. Doing so isn’t loving our neighbor/wife!

Dr. (Ms) De Souza Dangers of Sex During Menstruation “Irritation and an introduction to infection are major risks. Any wound or bleeding is a gateway to infection. The cervix is slightly opened during menstruation to let out blood. This heightens the risk of infection, not being limited only to the vagina, but additionally to the uterus. ‘Engaging in sex during menses is associated with the development of STDs such as chlamýdia, gonorrhéa and HIV infection, which in turn are associated with cervical cancer’ (Ben-Noun, 2003:101).” Ac.15:29 commands the church to abstain from blood.

Cycle Harmony: Potential Side Effects of Having Sex During Period “It can cause blood stasis and lead to amenorrhéa (no period or scanty period), dysmenorrhéa (painful period), menorrhágia (heavy and prolonged period), or irregular periods.” Dr. Elaine Loh Sex During Menstruation “Studies have shown that immunity is decreased during menstruation. Momentary pleasure versus risky health – you be the judge.” Christ had warned in the OT that menstrual sex must be avoided.

To this day, religious Jews avoid menstrual sex. Judaism 101: Kosher Sex “According to the Torah, a man is forbidden from having sexual intercourse with a niddáh, that is, a menstruating woman. The law of niddah is the only law of ritual purity that continues to be observed today; all the other laws applied to when the Temple was in existence, but aren’t applicable today.” That one is relevant today.

Woman’s anatomy and her monthly cycle didn’t change at the cross or when the Temple fell in 70 AD! Menstrual intercourse is still risky. Abstention from sex during her period is mostly for her sake.

Neither do (most) Muslims engage in menstrual intercourse. Quranic Path “The only prohibition in the Quran during menstruation is sexual intercourse.” Yahoo Answers: Why is Sex While the Wife is Menstruating Not Allowed in Islam? “To protect women from infection and disease.”

I’m not Jewish or Muslim. But this issue regarding blood has had a negative effect on evangelizing Jews and Muslims, two Abrahamic peoples. Yet scripture about this too is on their side. Also, menstrual sex causes conflict in the American home between some Christian husbands and their wives.

Christian neglect to practice doctrinal points #1) and #2) limits the credibility of our evangelism in the eyes of Jews and Muslims. Yet the war-torn Middle East so desperately needs the Spirit of the Prince of Peace! Benson Commentary Le.11:2 “When men cannot eat together, they have little inclination to enter into any close intercourse with one another.” If we could all eat together in like-minded table fellowship…the opportunity and believability of our gospel witness would be enhanced!

Jesus’ principles and His morality is “The same yesterday, today and forever” (He.13:8). No man could compel Him to reiterate His many beneficial principles over & over again, or in the NT too. Christ said, “It is written”. He didn’t err in commanding these two good-sense principles. Love was His motive.

This topic is continued and concluded in “Doctrinal Disunity Impacts Evangelism (2)”.

February 2, 2018 by bibletopicexpo

‘Thousand (Years)’ in the Bible – (2)

This topic is Part 2 to “Thousand (Years)’ in the Bible – (1)”. Most of the many verses quoted in (1) won’t be repeated here in (2). I suggest you read Part 1 before continuing.

We’ve been examining Bible verses & terms that reflect “thousand” and “thousand years”.

From Part 1…The New Testament (NT) passage that prompted the topic is Re.20:1-5. The apostle John wrote: “I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding in his hand the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain. And he seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil and satan, and bound him for a thousand years, and threw him into the pit, and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he might not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were ended. After that he must be released for a little while. Then I saw thrones, and seated on them were those to whom authority to judge was given. Also I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus and for the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended. This is the first resurrection.”

In the extended passage of Re.20:1-7, “thousand years” appears 6 times. Is the thousand years meant literally or approximately or as a rounded number? Or is the 1,000 years figurative or representative?

Figurative language is…using a word or phrase to picture something other than the literal or natural meaning. We normally interpret literally, actually,…unless the literal sense implies untruth, absurdity, impossibility, contradiction of other verses. In that case…the meaning is figurative, metaphorical, symbolic, allegorical, hyperbolic, a simile, parable, idiom, a personification…not interpreted literally.

Words can be representative…to denote, signify, portray, or indicate something (else).

In the Re.20:1-7 passage, the NT Greek term for “thousand” is chílioi, Strongs g5507. Our English word kilo (multiplication by 1,000) is derived from this term chilioi.

In the Greek Old Testament (OT) LXX and Greek NT, chilioi g5507 is the term translated “thousand”. It can be the precise number one thousand/1,000. There are 11 NT occurrences: 2Pe.3:8; Re.11:3, 12:6, 14:20, 20:2-7. Chilioi g5507 can be a precise symbolic, representative, rounded, or literal 1,000.

The term chiliás g5505 is used in plural thousands. There are 23 NT occurrences: Lk.14:31; Ac.4:4; 1Co.10:8; Re.5:11, 7:4-8, 11:13, 14:1, 3, 21:16. In the NT, chilias g5505 is never used for the precise number one thousand/1,000.

However, Hebrew had only one term for “thousand”…éleph h505. It occurs 500 times in the OT. Eleph is used: for the precise number one thousand/1,000, in numbers exceeding one thousand/1,000 (usually, e.g. 22,273 in Nu.3:43), and for plural “thousands”. There’s no distinction in the term itself.

In Part 1, we began a lengthy survey of many verses to see how “thousand” was meant in scripture. Only a couple verses were found (so far) where one thousand/1,000 is clearly literal.

We’ll now continue this in-depth survey and conclude the topic. I’ve been mostly referencing the LXX for the OT; the Greek LXX language better compares to our Greek NT.

Jb.9:3 “He [man] can’t answer Him [God] one time in 1,000 [g5507] times.” Benson Commentary “One accusation against 1,000 which God might produce against him.” But man couldn’t answer charge 1,001 from God either! Here, 1,000 basically denotes a large number.

Jb.33:23 “If there is beside him an angel [or messenger], an intercessor, one among a thousand, to show to man what is right for him.” Here too, “a thousand” denotes a large number.

Ec.7:28 he found one upright man out of 1,000 (g5507), but not one woman. JFB Commentary Ec.7:28 “Solomon, in the word ‘thousand’, alludes to his 300 wives and 700 concubines [1Ki.11:3].” Perhaps the approximate total of women in his harem was 1,000; many became negative experiences.

Ps.105:8 “God has remembered His covenant forever…to 1,000 [g5507] generations.” If a generation is 20 years, then 1,000 generations spans 20,000 years. 40-year generations would span 40,000 years! After 20,000–40,000 years…at generation 1,001 God wouldn’t fail to keep His covenant! Here, 1,000 denotes a large number.

Ps.50:10 God says, “Every animal of the forest is Mine, the cattle on 1,000 hills.” (v.10b isn’t in the LXX.) If God owns the cattle on only 1,000 hills, then who owns the cattle on hill 1,001 and all the other hills!? Mathew Henry Commentary “Even the cattle which feed upon innumerable hills.” Here, 1,000 clearly represents an unknown immeasurable number.

Da.5:1 “Belshazzár the king held a feast for 1,000 [h506 Aramaic, g5507 LXX] of his nobles.” Perhaps 965 or 1,035 nobles were there, or more? Barnes Notes Da.5:1 “The term 1,000 here is doubtless used to denote a very large number.” A version of the LXX reads “2,000 lords” (Pulpit Commentary).

Da.7:10 “A thousand thousands (g5505) attended Him, 10,000 times 10,000 stood before Him.” This verse reflects 1,000 (h506 Aramaic) & 10,000 multiplied. 1,000,000 & 100,000,000! Gill Exposition Da.7:10 “An innumerable company of angels.” Thousand is symbolic. cf. Re.5:11 (g5505).

In the above instances…the number 1,000 would allow for 975, or 999, or 1,001, 1,025, or more. God owns the cattle on the 1,026^th hill too! Ps.24:1 “The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it.”

Ezk.40-48 is Ezekiel’s grand allegorical vision. Ezk.47:3-5 records four measurements, each of 1,000 (g5507) cubits, in the water that became a river. Symbolic 1,000s. cf. Jn.7:38-39 where Jesus spoke of “rivers of living water” of the Spirit.

In Part 1 and Part 2, so far we’ve examined verses where “one thousand/1,000” refers to people or things. The Meaning of Numbers: the Number 1,000 “In scripture, the term ‘thousand’, when in reference to time, is always used symbolically. It represents any predetermined time that God chooses. In other cases, it is always used symbolically for a large number of people or things.” That is, referring to the precise number one thousand/1,000. Now the verses where “one thousand/1,000” relates to time:

In Da.12:11-12 are the 1,290 days and 1,335 days. Not a precise 1,000 days. Both periods are g5507 in the LXX. Many commentaries relate the two periods to the rule of Antíochus Epíphanes, ca 164 BC. However, there isn’t complete agreement for conclusively tying the two periods of days to specific months then. Others relate the two periods to Titus’ siege of Jerusalem leading up to 70 AD.

The 1,260 (g5507) days of Re.11:3, 12:6, (13:5)…also aren’t a precise 1,000. The various interpretations won’t be discussed here. Bible historians have tied this period of days to 66–70 AD, ending with the destruction of Jerusalem by Rome. (For comprehensive detail, see Josephus’ Wars of the Jews.)

Ps.84:10 KJV “A day in Thy courts is better than a thousand [elsewhere]. I’d rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God.” (LXX has plural “thousands”, g5505.) “Thousand” represents countless days.

Now for the verses where the precise number “1,000” refers to years (not “days”). The expression “thousand years” is found only in Ec.6:6; Ps.90:4; 2Pe.3:8; Re.20:2-7.

Ec.6:3-6 “If a man begets 100 children and lives many years….Even if the man lives 1,000 [g5507] years twice over and does not enjoy good things….” Pulpit Commentary Ec.6:6 “What has been said would still be true even if the man lived 2,000 years.” It’s true even if he lived 980 or 1,020 or 2,020 years…or if he begat 90 or 110 or more children. The 1,000 years (and the 100 children) are symbolic.

Ps.90:4 LXX “1,000 [g5507] years in Your [God’s] sight are as yesterday which is past.” Cambridge Bible “The longest span of human life is but a day in Thy sight, though a man should outlive the years of Methuselah.” The 969 years Methuselah lived (Ge.5:27)…or 1,039 or 1,069 years…are also as yesterday. As one day. 1,000 years are symbolically as one day.

2Pe.3:8 KJV “Beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as 1,000 [g5507] years, and 1,000 [g5507] years as one day.” The usage of “1,000 years” in this verse is somewhat similar to Ps.90:4. Benson Commentary 2Pe.3:8 “A thousand years, yea, the longest time, is no more delay to the eternal God than one day is to us.” Matthew Poole Commentary 2Pe.3:8 “By a synécdoche, 1,000 years is put for any, even the longest revolution of time.” Bengel’s Gnomen 2Pe.3:8 “He [God] wonderfully exceeds all measure of time.” In this verse too, “1,000 years” is figurative.

Returning now to our beginning passage of Re.20:1-ff…Re.20:2 “He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil and satan, and bound him 1,000 [g5507] years.” Barnes Notes Re.20:2 “The notion of a millennium as such is found in this passage alone [Re.20:1-6].” Millennialism is also known as chiliásm (from the Greek term g5505 for “thousand”). No other passage shows millennium!

JFB Commentary Re.20:2 “A thousand implies perfection. Thousand symbolizes that the world is perfectly leavened and pervaded by the divine.” Matthew Poole Commentary Re.20:2 “It is probable that it signifies an uncertain, indefinite time.” Pulpit Commentary Re.20:2 “The best interpretation seems to be that this phrase expresses a quality, and does not express a period of time. ‘1,000’ signifies completeness.” Ellicott Commentary Re.20:3 “The same applies to the duration of the imprisonment; it is not to be understood literally.” Kenneth L. Gentry He Shall Have Dominion, p.347 “The thousand is no more literal here than that which affirms God’s ownership of the cattle on 1,000 hills (Ps.50:10).” Anthony A. Hoekema The Bible and the Future, p.226 “The book of Revelation is full of symbolic numbers. The number ‘thousand’ in this passage ought not to be interpreted in a strictly literal sense.”

In the Bible, “one thousand/1,000 years” refers to a large period of time. Interpreting the years as an approximation is even a stretch.

The precise number 10,000 (see Part 1) represented a large indeterminate amount. So did the precise number 1,000 (to a lesser degree or less emphatically). Spiritual Meaning of Thousand “In the Word, a thousand signifies much and countless.” Andrew of Caesárea Commentary on the Apocalypse, p. 206 “By the number 1,000 years by no means is it reasonable to understand so many years. For neither concerning such things of which David said, ‘The word which he commanded for 1,000 generations’ (Psalm 105:8) are we able to count these things as 10 times 100; rather they mean many generations.”

Yet there are others who did/do interpret the “1,000 years” of Re.20:1-ff literally. As the date 1000 AD neared, all over Europe there was needless terror and alarm, because they supposed that satan would be loosed 1,000 years after Jesus’ birth! (ref Mosheim’s Institutes of Ecclesiastical History, p.340.)

{Sidelight: In 1071 AD the Seljúk Empire of Sunni-Muslim Turks & Persians took Judea and Jerusalem. This led to the First Crusade. (see Wikipedia: Seljuk Empire.) History.com “Christians in Jerusalem were increasingly persecuted by the city’s Islamic rulers, especially when control of the holy city passed from the relatively tolerant Egyptians to the Seljuk Turks in 1071. In 1095 Pope Urban publically called for a crusade to aid Eastern Christians and recover the holy lands.”

The date 1071 AD was 1,001 years after the 70 AD destruction of Jerusalem. Some Bible readers literally relate Re.20:7-8 to the hostile Seljuk control of Jerusalem. Re.20:7-9 “When the 1,000 years are completed, satan will be loosed…and will deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, and gather them for war…And they surrounded the beloved city.” Turkey has been tied to the historical Gog and Magog. Later Ottoman Turks controlled Jerusalem until 1917 AD. But after 1,000 years of restraint, a next period of 846 years, from 1071–1917 AD, isn’t a “little while” comparatively (Re.20:3)…it’s near to another 1,000-year period! So this view as fulfillment is doubtful.}

Interestingly, an ancient Greek & Roman belief was…the spirits of the dead dwelt in Hades for 1,000 years, and then were reincarnated or resurrected to earthly life. (for Hades: ref Lk.16:23; Re.1:18, 20:13-14.)

The Roman poet Virgil wrote ca 20 BC Aenéid, lines 735-751 “The dead are disciplined in purgatory….Each of us finds in the next world his own level….All these souls, when they have finished their 1,000–year cycle, God sends for…They may revisit the earth above and begin to wish to be reborn again.” Ancient Greek Mythology For Kids “The River Ácheron carried the good souls from the Underworld [Hades] that were sent back to earth after 1,000 years to be reincarnated as mortals.”

Wikipedia: Millennialism “The concept of a utopian millennium, and much of the imagery used by Jews and early Christians to describe this time period, was most likely influenced by Persian culture. Zoroástrianism describes history as occurring in successive thousand-year periods, each of which will end in a cataclysm of heresy and destruction. These epochs will culminate in the final destruction of evil by a triumphant messianic figure.”

Job said in Jb.29:18 JPS Tanakh, “I thought I would end my days with my nest [family], and be as long-lived as the phoenix”. The Tanakh is the Jewish (OT) scriptures. Bereshith Rabba Traditionally, only one bird, of all creatures, didn’t eat from the tree of forbidden fruit in the garden of Eden. Barnes Notes Jb.29:18 “Herder observes that the phoenix is obviously intended here….Jannai adds that ‘this bird lives 1,000 years, and in the end of the thousand years, a fire goes forth from its nest, and burns it up. But there remains an egg, from which again the members grow, and it rises to life.” 1,000-year symbolism. Also ref 1Clement 12:2-6 (25:2-ff in some translations) regarding the phoenix. (cf. Ec.6:6.) also see the topic “Rebirth to Physical Life (1)”.

Belief in a 1,000-year period had also existed in ancient Egypt. The Works of Voltaire, v.3 “The belief …in this period [1,000 years] was also in great credit among the Gentiles. The souls of the Egyptians returned to their bodies at the end of 1,000 years.”

The apostle John and readers/hearers of Revelation in Asia Minor likely would have known of existent beliefs about Hades and 1,000-year periods. It seems that Re.20:1-ff superimposes upon those ancient beliefs the true reign of messiah Jesus with His saints in the Kingdom of God. (see the topic “Kingdom of God”.) While the mustard seed of the Kingdom grows & progresses (Mt.13:31-33), some think satan is being progressively bound and is only effective in a decreasing percentage of humanity. (Someone in bonds and restrained may still have an effect to a degree, as Paul did have, e.g. Phm.1:10.)

Over the centuries there have been churches which make dogma with definite time limitations, and prognosticators make (false) predictions or so-called prophecies…based on the “1,000 years” of Re.20.

John Whiteford If Satan Is Alive, Why Not Millennialism? “We’ve seen similar heresies with millennialist eschatology in more recent times, with the Jehovah’s Witnesses, 7^th Day Adventists, Mormonism, the Jim Jones cult, and Branch Davidians.”

The purpose of this topic isn’t to analyze or criticize church groups. Or eschatologies…e.g. historicist, futurist, amillennial, premillennial, postmillennial, preterist, partial preterist, etc. For more on timing in the Bible, see “The Last Days”, “Babylon the Great’ in Revelation”, “Two Witnesses in the Bible”.

The scriptures we examined indicate that “1,000 (years)” meant a large number or a long undefined time.

Postmillennialist Kenneth L. Gentry The Beast of Revelation, p.133 “The number ‘1,000’ is frequently used in scripture as an indefinite, yet significantly large, number (Pss.90:4, Dan.7:10, 2Pet.3:8).”

OT scholar Erhard Gerstenberger, “For ancient Israelites, the numbers 1,000 and 10,000 were regarded as immense and immeasurable”.

Conclusion: In Part 1 and Part 2, the precise number “one thousand/1,000” people or things was seen in several verses as an approximation or a rounding. But very few verses were found where “one thousand/1,000”…no more, no less…was meant to be taken completely literally. Of all the verses surveyed in Part 1 and Part 2…the precise number “one thousand/1,000” appears clearly literal only in Ge.20:16 and SS.8:11-12. Possibly 1,000 is literal in 1Ki.3:4 and Nu.31:4-6 (see Part 1).

We began by quoting the “1,000 years” of Re.20:1-ff. The other 3 verses where “1,000 years” appears in the Bible, Ec.6:6; Ps.90:4; 2Pe.3:8…aren’t to be taken literally. If the “1,000 years” of Re.20:1-ff is to be taken completely literally…it would be one sole canonical witness, standing alone. Our Bibles don’t contain two or three passages as witnesses to a “millennium”.

January 11, 2018 by bibletopicexpo

‘Thousand (Years)’ in the Bible – (1)

This topic will examine Bible verses & terms that reflect “thousand” and “thousand years”.

The New Testament (NT) passage that prompted the topic is Re.20:1-5. The apostle John wrote: “Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding in his hand the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain. And he seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil and satan, and bound him for a thousand years, and threw him into the pit, and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he might not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were ended. After that he must be released for a little while. Then I saw thrones, and seated on them were those to whom authority to judge was given. Also I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus and for the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended. This is the first resurrection.”

Figurative language is…using a word or phrase to picture something other than the literal or natural meaning. We normally interpret literally, actually,…unless the literal sense implies untruth, absurdity, impossibility, contradiction of other verses. In that case…the meaning is figurative, metaphorical, symbolic, allegorical, hyperbole, a simile, parable, idiom, a personification…not interpreted literally.

Words can be representative…to denote, signify, portray, or indicate something (else).

In the Re.20:1-7 passage, the NT Greek term for “thousand” is chílioi, Strongs g5507. Our English word kilo (multiplication by 1,000) is derived from this term chilioi.

A chilí-ar-kos g5506 was a commander/captain of 1,000 men. (A centurion was leader of 100 men.) e.g. in 1Sm.18:13 LXX, Saul appointed David “captain of 1,000 [g5506].” (A military commission under general Abner.) cf. 1Ch.12:14 LXX commanders of 100 (g1540) and of 1,000 (g5507) men.

The term múr-e-oi g3463 means “ten thousand/10,000”. There are 3 NT occurrences: Mt.18:24; 1Co.14:19. 1Co.4:15 “Though you have 10,000 instructors in Christ.”

The term mur-é-as g3461 is plural 10,000s; also it’s rendered an innumerable multitude. There are 9 NT occurrences: Lk.12:1; Ac.19:19, 21:20; He.12:22; Jde.1:14; Re.5:11, 9:16.

However, Hebrew had only one term for “thousand”…éleph h505. It occurs 500 times in the OT. Eleph is used: for the precise number one thousand/1,000, in numbers exceeding one thousand/1,000 (most often, e.g. 22,273 in Nu.3:43), and for plural “thousands”. There’s no distinction in the term itself.

Let’s survey many verses to see how “thousand” was meant in scripture. I’ll mostly reference the LXX for the OT; the Greek LXX language better compares to our Greek NT. First, numbers exceeding 1,000:

Nu.3:43 LXX “All the male firstborn, from a month old and upwards…were 22,273 [g5505 is within].” In this verse, “thousand” is a numeral which is part of a precise larger literal number.

Ezr.2:7 the children of Elám who returned from Babylonian captivity were 1,254 (g5507 is within). v.14 of Bigvái 2,056 (dis-chilioi, g1367) . v.35 of Senaáh 3,630 (tris-chilioi, g5153) v.39 of Harím 1,017 (g5507 within). v.65 there were 7,337 (eptakis-chilioi, g2035) male & female servants. In these verses, “thousand” is a numeral which is part of a precise larger literal number. Not an approximation.

Nu.1:46 All that were numbered were “603,550” (g5505 within). That’s the literal precise number of warriors age 20 and up. In Ex.12:37 & Nu.11:21, “600,000” (g5505 within) men is a close rounding.

Ex.38:26 the half-shekel tax in silver for each of the 603,550 men totaled 100 talents plus 1,775 (g5507 within) shekels. Here, 1,775 shekels is a literal amount. (100 talents @3,000 shekels each = 300,000).

Nu.31:32-40 the numbers in thousands (g5505 within) of animals and persons taken as booty are all roundings: 675,000, 72,000, 61,000, 32,000, 337,500, 36,000, 30,500, 16,000.

Jsh.8:25 LXX “They that fell in that day were 12,000 (dodeka chilias g5505) men and women; all the inhabitants of Aí.” Here, 12,000 is an approximation or a rounding.

The 5,000 in Ac.4:4, 23,000 in 1Co.10:8, 7,000 in Re.11:13…(g5505) are roundings or approximations.

2Ch.13:17 Judah slew of Israel 500,000 chosen men. Here, thousand the numeral is g5505. Ellicott Commentary “A numerical expression…that Jeroboám [Israel’s king] lost more than half his warriors.”

{Sidelight: This topic won’t discuss interpretations of the 144,000 (g5505) persons in Re.7:4-8, 14:1-3. Commentaries view 144,000 as a symbolic number. Pulpit Commentary Re.7:4 “No one has ever said that the number should be taken literally.” Vincent Word Studies Re.7:4: “Not literally, but the number symbolical of completion.” Barnes Notes Re.7:4 “The whole scene is symbolical.” cf. Re.21:16-17.}

In the above examples are numbers exceeding 1,000. Following are many verses which show the precise number 1,000:

Ge.20:16 “Abimélech told Sarah, “I have given your brother 1,000 [g5507] pieces of silver.” This precise number 1,000 is thought to be a literal amount. (cf. 1,100 pieces of silver in Jg.17:2.)

SS.8:11-12 Solomon leased out his vineyard to tenant farmers. Each paid “1,000 [g5507] pieces of silver” in exchange for its fruit. Perhaps it had around 1,000 vines? 1,000 pieces may be the literal fee.

Ezr.1:9-10 the number of holy vessels was “30 gold dishes, 1,000 [g5507] silver dishes, 29 knives, 30 gold bowls, 410 silver bowls, 1,000 other vessels.” A (near) literal inventory of items?

1Ch.29:21 LXX “David sacrificed to the Lord…1,000 [g5507] calves, 1,000 rams, and 1,000 lambs….” At this momentous occasion, perhaps such large precise numbers are literal. Or approximate?

2Ch.30:24 “Hezekiáh gave the congregation 1,000 [g5507] calves…and the rulers gave 1,000 calves.” For the reinstitution of Passover, perhaps these precise numbers too are literal, or approximate.

1Ki.3:4 LXX “Solomon offered a whole burnt offering of 1,000 victims on the altar in Gibeón.” Such a large number may be literal; else approximate, perhaps indicative of special respect for the site.

Nu.31:4-6 “So 1,000 [g5507] were recruited from each Israelite tribe…12,000 armed for war.” This precise number 1,000 may be near literal. JFB Commentary Nu.31:5 “An equal amount from each tribe, to prevent mutual jealousy or strife.” Gill Exposition Nu.31:5 “A small number to go against so considerable a nation; but this was done to show that the war was of the Lord.” However, in 2Sm.10:6, “Ammonites hired 20,000 Aramean foot soldiers…the king of Maacáh with 1,000 [g5507] men, and 12,000 men of Tob.” Here, the 12,000 and 1,000 (and 20,000) warriors are approximations.

1Sm.13:2 “Saul chose 3,000 men of Israel; 2,000 were with Saul and 1,000 (g5507) with Jonathán.” These precise numbers are roundings or approximate. Same with 2Sm.19:17, 1,000 men of Benjamin.

1Sm.25:2 Nabál owned 3,000 sheep and 1,000 (g5507) goats. A man’s substance was described by the general size of his flocks and herds. The precise 3,000 and 1,000 both are rounded or ballpark numbers.

Jb.42:12 “14,000 sheep, 6,000 camels, 1,000 oxen, 1,000 female donkeys.” Approximate doublings of the numbers of Job’s livestock in Jb.1:3.

Jg.9:49 “All in the tower of Shechém died, about 1,000 (g5507) men and women.” Approximately.

In Jg.15:16, Samson killed 1,000 (g5507) men with a donkey’s jawbone. Possibly Samson killed an even 1,000 (not 985 or 1,015). But, more likely, 1,000 indicates ‘about 1,000’, approximately.

De.1:11 “May the Lord increase you 1,000 [g5507.1] times and bless you.” Starting 40 years after the exodus, to increase the population of OT Israel a thousand-fold. The Greek LXX term is an old form of chilioi g5507; a number literal, figurative, or representative. Here, 1,000 represents a large multiple.

De.7:9 “God keeps covenant with those who do His commandments to 1,000 [g5507] generations.” Or, “to the 1,000^th generation”. If a generation is 20 years, then 1,000 generations spans 20,000 years. 40-year generations would span 40,000 years! After 20,000–40,000 years, at generation 1,001 God wouldn’t fail to keep His covenant, would He?! Here, 1,000 basically denotes a large number.

1Ch.16:15 “Be always mindful of His covenant which He commanded to 1,000 [g5507] generations.” This reminder was given several generations later (since De.7:9). Again, 1,000 denotes a large number.

De.32:30 “How could one [enemy] chase 1,000 [Israelites] and two rout 10,000?” The LXX terms are g5507 for 1,000 and g3461 for 10,000. The numbers are figurative. One might chase 990…or 1,010+!

Jg.1:4 the men of Judah slew 10,000 (deka chilias g5505) men. Cambridge Bible Jg.1:4 “10,000 – a common round number.” In Jg.3:29, “about 10,000” (hosei deka chilias g5505) men of Moab were slain. In both verses, 10,000 is an approximation or indicative of a large number. cf. Lk.14:31.

Jsh.23:10 “One of you [Israelites] chased 1,000 [g5507]; the Lord fought for you.” A figurative 1,000.

Is.30:17 “1,000 [g5507] shall flee at the threat of one man.” 1,000 is figurative/representative here too.

In the above three verses with 1,000…Moses, Joshua, Isaiah all were using representative or figurative language. Barnes Notes Is.30:17 “The number ‘1,000’ is for a large indefinite number.” Ellicott Commentary Is.30:17 “The hyperbole is natural and common enough.” cf. 1,000 (g5507) in Am.5:3.

Ps.91:7 LXX “1,000 [g5505 copyist error?] shall fall at your side, and 10,000 at your right hand; but it shall not come near you.” This is hyperbole. If 1,001 or 10,001 were to fall, would you then fall too?

2Sm.18:12 “Even if I had 1,000 [g5507] pieces of silver in my hand, I would not raise my hand against the king’s son….” Here, 1,000 is hyperbolic.

This survey of verses which reflect “one thousand/1,000” is rather detailed. So far, only a couple verses have been referenced where one thousand/1,000 is clearly literal.

This topic is continued and concluded in “Thousand (Years)’ in the Bible – (2)”.

January 30, 2017 by bibletopicexpo

Chronology: Abraham to the Exodus

Knowing the time when Biblical events occurred and the chronology of Bible characters helps us see the word of God in its historical context. Also we learn the time frame of His ancient people in their generations. My basic position is the so-called maximalist view, that Bible history is correct unless archaeology clearly proves it wrong. This topic traces Bible chronology from Abraham to the exodus of ancient Israel from Egypt. (For pre-Abraham, see “Chronology: Septuagint versus Masoretic Text”.)

Exact dates for the births and deaths of the Bible patriarchs are unknown. The dates for the birth of Abrám/Abraham and the exodus from Egypt are taken in part from Martin Anstey’s The Romance of Bible Chronology, v.2. His chart placed the birth of Abram in 2117 BC, the exodus in 1612 BC.

If Abram was born in 2117 BC, he moved from Harrán to Canáan at age 75 (Ge.12:4-5) in 2042 BC. Ex.12:40 LXX “The children of Israel sojourned in the land of Egypt and the land of Canaan for 430 years.” The Masorétic text omits “and the land of Canaan”. But the accounts in the Samaritan Péntateuch, the Talmud and Josephus agree with the LXX. Josephus Antiquities of the Jews 2:15:2 “They left Egypt 430 years after Abraham came into Canaan, but 215 years only after Jacob removed into Egypt. It was the 80^th year of Moses.” They stayed 215 years in Canaan and 215 years in Egypt.

John Gill Exposition “Certain it is, that Israel did not dwell in Egypt 430 years.” JFB Commentary “The period of sojourn in Egypt did not exceed 215 years.” Philip Mauro The Wonders of Bible Chronology, p.34 “The 430 years began with God’s promise to Abram, made at the time he entered into Canaan at the age of 75 (Gen.12:1-4).” And the apostle Paul confirms a period of 430 years (Ga.3:16-17).

A date of 1612 BC for the exodus…that’s 430 years after 2042 BC (when Abram was age 75).

He.11:8-9 “By faith he [Abraham] sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country.” Ge.15:1-7 after Abram had sojourned in Canaan for around 10 years to age 85, God promised him a son, Isaac.

But before Isaac, Abram’s son Ishmaél was born when Abram was 86 (Ge.16:16), around 2031 BC.

Ge.17:24-25 around (circa or c) 2018 BC, Abraham is circumcised at age 99, Ishmael at age 13.

Ge.21:5 Abraham is 100 years old when his promised son Isaac is born, c 2017 BC. Ge.17:17 Isaac’s mother Sarah is 90 (born c 2107 BC). Ishmael is 14.

The Lord said to Abram in Ge.15:13, “Your seed will be sojourners in a land not their own; and they shall afflict them 400 years”. Ge.21:8-9 after Isaac was weaned, he was mocked by Ishmael. If Isaac was around 5 years old at the time of the mocking, it’s 2012 BC (Ishmael was 19). The exodus from bondage in Egypt was 400 years later, c 1612 BC. Benson Commentary Ge.15:13 “This persecution began with mocking, when Ishmael, the son of an Egyptian [Hagár, Ge.16:3], persecuted Isaac.”

This 400–year period doesn’t contradict the 430 years of Ex.12:40.

Again, if Abram was born c 2117 BC, he arrived in Canaan at age 75 in 2042 BC. Isaac was born when Abraham was 100, c 2017 BC. At age 60, Isaac fathered the twins Jacob & Esau (Ge.25:26) c 1957 BC. Then when Jacob was age 130 (Ge.47:9), he and his moved from Canaan to Egypt c 1827 BC.

Abram’s sojourn in Canaan (c 2042 BC) until Jacob’s move from Canaan (c 1827 BC) = 215 years in Canaan. And Jacob’s move to Egypt (c 1827 BC) until the exodus (c 1612 BC) = 215 years in Egypt. The total of both = 430 years…2042–1612 BC. As per the LXX/Septúagint, Josephus, Eusebius, etc.

Following is the chronology from Abraham and the persecution of Isaac (c 2012 BC), in more detail:

Ge.23:1-2 Abraham’s wife Sarah dies c 1980 BC at age 127. Abraham is 137, Isaac is 37, Ishmael 51.

Ge.25:20 Isaac marries his cousin Rebekah c 1977 BC. Isaac is 40, Abraham is 140, Ishmael 54.

Ge.25:25-26 Isaac is 60 when his sons Jacob & Esau are born c 1957 BC. Abraham is 160, Ishmael 74.

Ge.25:7 Abraham dies at age 175, c 1942 BC. Ishmael is 89, Isaac is 75, Jacob & Esau are 15.

Ge.26:34 Esau marries two Hittite wives c 1917 BC. He and Jacob are age 40, Isaac is 100.

Ge.25:17 Ishmael died at age 137, c 1894 BC. Isaac was age 123, Jacob & Esau were 63.

Ge.28:5 Isaac sends Jacob to Padán-Arám in Mesopotámia, to escape from Jacob’s twin brother Esau. This was sometime around 1886 BC. Jacob & Esau are age 70 or 71, Isaac is 131.

It is uncertain at exactly what age Jacob left the land of Canaan for Padan-Aram, fleeing from Esau. There, Jacob would marry his first cousins Leáh & Rachél, daughters of his uncle Labán (Rebekah’s brother). Jacob served Laban for at least 20 years (Ge.31:38-41), part of which was the bride price for Leah & Rachel (Ge.29:16-ff). Initially, Jacob contracted to work only 7 years…for Rachel (Ge.29:18).

Jacob worked for Laban for 7 years, and in return was given…Leah, not Rachel! Jacob then agreed to work 7 more years for Rachel. Ancient sources differ in regards to when Rachel actually became his wife. Josephus op. cit. 1:19:7, Philo The Works of Philo p.211, the Orthodox Bible LXX Ge.29:27 Note…they indicate that Rachel became Jacob’s wife after he’d worked the entire second 7-year period. But the more recent Hebrew Masoretic text Ge.29:27-28, the (supposed) Book of Jasher 31:12-13, the traditional Book of Jubilees (Jub) 28:8-9…they indicate that Rachel became Jacob’s wife only one week following Leah, before he worked the second 7-year period. The historical sources differ.

Jacob fathered 12 sons (11 born in Padan-Aram), Ge.35:23-26. Their descendants would become the 12 tribes of Israel. God changed Jacob’s name to Israel (Ge.32:28).

Ge.29:31-35 Jacob/Israel’s first 4 sons…Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah…were born to Leah. see the topic “Levites and the Exodus Multitude (1)” for the lineage chronology of Jacob’s 3^rd son Levi.

Ge.30:4-8 Dan and Naphtalí are born to Rachel’s maidservant Bilháh (Jacob’s concubine wife).

Ge.30:9-13 Gad and Ashér are then born to Leah’s maidservant Zilpah (Jacob’s other concubine wife).

Ge.30:16-20 Leah resumes childbearing; she gives birth to Issachár, then Zebulún.

Ge.30:21 a daughter, Dinah, was also born to Leah. Some think Zebulun and Dinah were twins (the scripture doesn’t say Leah ‘conceived’ for Dinah’s birth). Written c 150 BC, Jub.28:23 “She [Leah] conceived, and bare two children, a son and a daughter. Zebulun and Dinah in the 7^th of the 7^th month.”

Ge.30:22-24 Rachel finally gives birth to her first child, Joseph, c 1867 BC. Jacob (and Esau) was 90, Isaac 150. Joseph is called the son of Jacob’s old age (Ge.37:3), and Jacob loved him the most.

Ge.30:25, 31:20-21 Jacob & family flee Laban/Padan-Aram, having been there 20 years or more.

Ge.33:1-16 while returning to Canaan, Jacob meets his twin Esau en route. They’re in their early 90s. Isaac is over 150. v.17-20 Jacob journeys to Succóth, and afterwards settles in the town of Shechém.

Ge.34:1-31 Dinah, near age 12 (ref Jub.30:3), is taken by Shechém the son of Hamór. Her brothers Levi, age 18 (ref Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs (T12P) Levi 12:5), and Simeon, age 20, kill every male in the town and loot it. Jacob is near age 100.

Ge.35:1-15 as a result, Jacob must then depart Shechem. He goes to Bethél and elsewhere.

The time frame in which Jacob’s 13 children were born (12 in Padan-Aram) is a narrow fit. Having returned to Canaan c 1865 BC, Jacob’s daughter Dinah wasn’t taken at age 3 or 4! Enough years must have elapsed for her to be at least 10–12. And her brothers Levi & Simeon weren’t only age 8 or 10 when they killed the men of Shechem!

Ge.35:16-20 Rachel dies near Ephráth (Bethlehem) while giving birth to Jacob’s 12^th son, Benjamin, c 1857 BC. Jacob is 100 or so, his son Judah is 16, Joseph is close to 10, Isaac is near 160.

Ge.37:1-2, 26-36 Joseph’s older brothers sell him into slavery at age 17, c 1850 BC. Joseph is taken to Egypt. Judah is near age 23, Jacob age 107, Isaac 167.

Ge.35:28-29 Isaac will die at age 180, c 1837 BC. Jacob & Esau are 120, Judah is 36, Joseph 30.

Ge.38:1-30 after Jacob had returned to Canaan c 1865 BC, Judah at age 20 married Shúa c 1853 BC. (ref T12P Judah 7:10, 8:1-2, 9:1-3.) Judah fathered 3 sons – Er, Onán, Sheláh. Er and Onan (successively) married Tamár, and each died shortly thereafter. Then Judah fathered the twins Pérez & Zérah (v.29-30) by his daughter-in-law Tamar. Ge.46:12 Perez later fathered Hezrón & Hamúl, probably in Egypt, near 1827 BC. Barnes Notes Ge.46:12 “Hezron and Hamul may have been born at the arrival of Jacob’s household in Egypt.” Poole Commentary “Hezron and Hamul seem to have born in Egypt.” Jacob and his descendants go to Egypt c 1827 BC.

Only 40 years elapsed from the birth of Judah’s brother Joseph (Jacob’s 11^th son) in Padan-Aram, c 1867 BC, until Judah went to Egypt with Jacob c 1827 BC. Judah must have been close to 6 years older than Joseph. And Jacob had fathered 3 sons prior to Judah (in Padan-Aram)! Benson Commentary Ge.38:1 “This chapter must here be placed out of the order of time.” JFB Commentary Ge.38:1-30 “Judah was married some years before the selling of Joseph. Judah was now about 20 years old when he married, and the 3 first years he hath 3 sons, Er, Onan, and Shelah. The two first marry each when they were about 17 years old. Three years after both their deaths, and when Shelah had been marriageable a year or two, and was not [levirate marriage] given to Tamar, Judah lies with Tamar and begets upon her Pharez.” T12P Judah 12:1 she conceived Pharez two years after she became a widow.

Ge.41:38-46 in the year Isaac died, c 1837 BC, Pharaoh made Joseph prime minister of Egypt at age 30 (cf. Jub.40:12).

Ge.41:47 for the first 7 years that Joseph was prime minister, Egypt experienced great abundance. This period would be followed by 7 years of famine (Ge.41:29-30). Ge.45:6 by this time, 2 years of famine had elapsed. Joseph is now age 39, Jacob is 129.

Ge.47:9 then Jacob/Israel, at age 130, goes to Egypt to join Joseph c 1827 BC. Levi was age 48 (T12P Levi 12:5), Judah age 46 (T12P Judah 12:11-12). Ge.41:46-47 & 45:6 Joseph was age 39 or 40. That places Joseph’s birth c 1867 BC, when Jacob (and Esau) was age 90 or 91.

Jacob’s move to Egypt culminates the 215 years he and his ancestors spent in the Land of Canaan.

Recap: Ge.12:4 Abram is age 75; Ge.21:5 he’s age 100 when Isaac is born…25 years had elapsed. Ge.25:26 Isaac is age 60 when Jacob and Esau are born…60 years more. Ge.47:1, 9 Jacob is age 130 when he and the family all went to Egypt…130 years more. 25 + 60 + 130 = 215 years in Canaan.

Now follows the 215-year period during which the Israelites dwelt in Egypt, until the exodus:

Again, when Jacob moved to Egypt at age 130, c 1827 BC, Joseph is 40 (Ge.41:46-47, 45:6, 47:1, 9).

Ge.46:1-34 lists Jacob’s seed who went with him to Egypt. v.8-12 Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah are age 46–51. Levi’s son Koháth (Jacob’s grandson) had been born. (Kohath is Moses’ grandfather!) v.21-22 Benjamin must be at least 30 (John Gill “10 sons are in his loins”). All go to join Joseph in Egypt.

Ge.47:28 Jacob lived 17 years in Egypt. Jacob dies in Egypt at age 147, c 1810 BC. Joseph is age 57.

Twin Esau was slain in Canaan at the time of Jacob’s burial there, traditionally (Jasher 57:64-66)!

Amrám, the son of Kohath and the father of Moses & Aaron, is born in Egypt sometime between c 1827 and c 1757 BC (1Ch.6:1-3); perhaps around 1811 BC. cf. Ex.6:18-20.

Ge.50:26 Joseph dies in Egypt at age 110, c 1757 BC, 70 years after Jacob & family moved to Egypt.

Ex.1:8 “A new king [pharaoh] arose who didn’t know Joseph.” Joseph had been dead for some years.

Aaron, the son of Amram and elder brother of Moses (Nu.26:57-59), is born in Egypt c 1695 BC.

Moses is born c 1692 BC. P.J. Wiseman Ancient Records and the Structure of Genesis, p.99 “He was born 64 years after Joseph had died.” Moses is the son of Amram and grandson of Kohath (young Kohath had gone to Egypt with Jacob). Amram was born in Egypt, while Joseph was still alive!

Moses fled to Midian (at age 40, c 1652 BC; ref Ex.2:15, Ac.7:23-29). Josephus ibid 2:10-11 adds an account of Moses as general of the Egyptian army against Ethiopia/Cush, and his marriage to a Cushite princess. Jasher 73:1-2 traditionally says that Moses even then reigned for a few decades in Cush.

Caleb was born in Egypt c 1651 BC…cf. Nu.13:26-30 (the 2^nd year of the exodus) with Josh.14:7-10.

Moses is age 80 when he returns to Egypt from Midian, c 1612 BC. The exodus from Egypt occurs then. Ex.7:7 “Moses was 80 years old, and Aaron 83, at the time they spoke to Pharaoh.”

Ex.12:40 LXX “The children of Israel, while they sojourned in the land of Egypt and the land of Canaan, was 430 years.” Breakdown of the 430 years: 215 years in Canaan til Jacob’s move (with Moses’ grandfather Kohath) to Egypt, 70 years til Joseph’s death, Moses’ age of 80 at the exodus…65 years remain. So Moses was born nearly 65 years after Joseph died. Mauro op. cit., p.40, “The interval between the death of Joseph and the birth of Moses was 64 years.” 70 + 65 + 80 = 215 years in Egypt.

{Sidelight: The original Ípuwer Papýrus recorded calamities that were occurring in ancient Egypt. In it, Ipuwer was speaking to the Lord of All, ‘a term used for the king and the creator god’. Free-online-bible-study.org “The Ipuwer Papyrus is a single papyrus holding an ancient Egyptian poem, called The Admonitions of Ipuwer. It describes the affliction of Egypt by natural disasters and by a state of chaos in which the poor have become rich, and the rich poor; violence, famine and death are everywhere. A symptom of this chaos is the lament that servants are leaving their servitude and acting rebelliously. The probable date of the composition of the Papyrus, 1850 BCE and 1600 BCE.” Egyptology.org.uk “The date for the Ipuwer Papyrus is not certain. Van Seeter dated it to around the end of the Middle Kingdom (c 1600 BCE). Most scholars generally agree to this dating.”

The enormous Minoan volcano eruption of Thera (now called Santorini) anciently happened 120 miles SE of Greece in the southern Aegean Sea. Some geologists think it was the most powerful explosion on earth. It altered the course of the Mediterranean Sea. Wikipedia “Radiocarbon dates, including analysis of an olive branch buried beneath a lava flow from the volcano gave a date between 1627 BCE and 1600 BCE (95% confidence interval).” Live Science: How the Eruption of Thera Changed the World “The eruption has also been loosely linked with the Biblical story of Moses and the exodus from Egypt. The effects of Thera’s eruption could have explained many of the plagues described in the Old Testament, including the days of darkness and polluting of the rivers, according to some theories.”

Whether or not the Ipuwer Papyrus and the Santorini eruption do directly relate to Israel’s exodus from Egypt, is beyond the scope here.}

Eusébius (265–340 AD) was a bishop and church historian. Chronicle [30] “All versions agree that 505 years transpired from Abraham until Moses and the exodus of the Jews from Egypt. It is calculated as follows. When Abraham was 75 years of age, God appeared to him and said that He would give the promised land to his descendants. For it is written [Ge.12:4-5]: ‘Abraham was 75 years old when he departed from Harran.’ In the same passage, further on [Ge.12:7] it states: ‘Then the Lord appeared to Abraham and said, ‘To your descendants I will give this land.’ Thus 75 years of Abraham plus 430 years [from God’s promise] until the exodus of the Jews from Egypt. The Apostle Paul confirms this [Ga.3.17-18]: ‘The law, which came 430 years afterward, does not annul a covenant previously ratified by God, so as to make the promise void.’ Then he adds: ‘God gave it to Abraham by a promise.’ When Abraham was 100 years of age his son Isaac was born, 25 years after God’s promise. 405 years transpired from that event until the exodus from Egypt. Consequently, from the promise [until the exodus] 430 years elapsed.” 75 + 430 = 505 years.

Placing the birth of Abram in 2117 BC…505 years later is 1612 BC for the exodus from Egypt.

In this topic, the ages of the patriarchs and the sequence of their lives are according to scripture. The chronological dates are approximate. Exact dates cannot be proven as of now.

My other topics about the timeline are “Chronology: the Exodus to Samuel”, “Chronology: Samuel to Rehoboam”, “Chronology: Septuagint versus Masoretic Text”.

Bible Topic Exposition

Searching the Scriptures about various Bible topics

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