Paul the Apostle (4) – Discrepancies

This is the series continuation of “Paul the Apostle (1) – Law and Works”, “Paul the Apostle (2) – The Chameleon?”, “Paul the Apostle (3) – Missteps”.  The material in those three Parts isn’t repeated here.  Those should be read first.  Although I’ve defended Paul in this series, my intent is to show an objective impartial view of his writings.  Here we’ll focus on Paul’s scriptural discrepancies and contradictions.

Ga.4:21-29 Paul’s allegory is flawed.  Allegories convey symbolic or further meanings, without nullifying or distorting the literal plain sense.  But Paul reverses the Old Testament (OT) lineage seen in both the Hebrew Masorétic text and the Greek Septúagint/LXX.  In scripture, Hagar was Sarah’s Egyptian maid.  Hagar and her son Ishmaél (Ge.16:1, 15) clearly weren’t the ancestors of Moses/Israel, to whom the Lord centuries later gave His covenant law at Mt Sinai.  The lineage of Moses, recipient of the law, was: Sarah – Isaac – Jacob/Israel – Levi – Koháth – Amrám – Moses.  Connect Ge.21:3, 25:26, 29:21, 34, 46:11, Ex.6:18-20, 19:20-ff.  God told Abraham the covenant wouldn’t be through Hagar – Ishmael, Ge.17:18-21.  But in Ga.4:24-25, Paul wrote that Hagar represents “Mt Sinai in Arabia”.  He contrasts Sarah & her son Isaac to Hagar.  Yet Sarah & Isaac were the literal ancestral predecessors of God’s Mt Sinai law, not Hagar & Ishmael!  Paul, being advanced in Judaism (Ga.1:14), would’ve known OT Genesis lineages.  Moses the lawgiver descended from Sarah, not Hagar!

David A. Brondos The Parting of the Gods, p.43 “Paul associates the Sinai covenant and the present Jerusalem with slavery and the sending away of Hagar. It is difficult to imagine other Jews in antiquity associating the covenant given at Sinai with a life of slavery.”  Ishmael wasn’t Jewish, nor would he be a slave.  Ishmael the ‘gentile’ would be as a “wild donkey” (Ge.16:11-12), roaming free.  Dr. Steve Moyise Paul and Scripture, p.45 “His [Paul’s] identification of those [Jews] insisting on circumcision with Ishmael must have been shocking.”  The Lord freed ancient Israel from slavery in Egypt; they were free at Mt Sinai and then in the Promised Land.  Ga.4:24 but Paul indicates the Sinai covenant begets/engenders (gennáo Strongs g1080, Greek), causes, bondage!  Paul’s take is noted in Meyer’s NT Commentary Ga.4:24. “This covenant…a state of bondage, namely through subjection to the Mosaic law.”  Paul’s (allegorized) view of the Sinai law is contrary to the OT.

Paul’s reversed allegory perhaps swayed pagan gentile converts in Galatia; many or most weren’t well-versed in the OT.  But today we have access to complete Bibles and the lineages therein.  We can verify whether or not New Testament (NT) writers, like Paul, were at variance with the (OT) scriptures.

Paul misquoted the OT in Ro.3:10. “As it is written, There is none righteous [díkayos g1342], not even one.”  But there were/are righteous men!  e.g. Noah, Abraham, Job, Daniel, John the Baptizer (Mk.6:20), Joseph of Arimathéa (Lk.23:50).  For Ro.3, Paul used the Greek OT (now our LXX).  Pulpit Commentary “Verse 10-18 [Ro.3] quoted from the LXX, though not all accurately.”  Cambridge Bible Ro.3:10 “The [quoted] words of Ro.3:10 are not found in the OT.”  Yet Ec.7:20 LXX “There is not a righteous [g1342] man in the earth who will do good and not sin.”  If Paul had written, Ro.3:10 ‘There is none sinless’ or ‘There is no righteous man who is sinless’, that would’ve echoed Ec.7:20.  But he didn’t.  Also in Ro.3:9-12, “There is none who does good [g5554]”.  Likely Paul had in mind Ps.14:1 LXX. “The fool has said in his heart, ‘There is no God’. There is none who does good [g5544].”  However, Ps.14 is about wicked infidel fools who don’t call on God and devour His people Israel (v.4).  Cambridge Bible “foreign oppressors” too.  If Paul was using Ps.14 as a basis to argue for ‘universal depravity’, he disregarded that it’s pointedly about anti-theists (atheists).  Whereas Ps.14:5 “God is with…the righteous [g1342]”!  Ps.14:1-5 doesn’t back Paul’s inclusion of every man, all mono-theist Jews too (and Greeks, Ro.3:9).  Nor does it back his assertion that there is “none righteous”.

Paul often misquoted or misapplied OT passages.  NT Professor Moyise op. cit., p.126 “Of 23 Isaiah quotations in Paul, only 4 can be said to be literal translations (no italics). About a dozen others have either additional words or significantly different words, while in 6 the meaning of the whole verse is different.”  Paul sometimes bent the scriptures.

Paul wrote in 2Co.13:1, “This is the 3^rd time I am coming to you. In the mouth of 2 or 3 witnesses shall every word be established.”  Here Paul quoted De.19:15 LXX.  But De.19:15 means 2 or 3 separate individuals as witnesses!  In Mt.18:15-17 and Jn.8:16-18, Jesus’ reference to 2 or 3 witnesses meant testimonies of 2 or 3 different persons.  Not the same one person witnessing on 2 or 3 occasions!  But Paul equated his own 3 visits as 3 witnesses.  Gill Exposition 2Co.13:1 “They were to look upon his [Paul’s] several comings as so many witnesses.”  Pulpit Commentary “St Paul is representing his separate visits as separate attestations….”  At times, Paul slanted OT meanings.

David Woodington Paul’s Use of the Law of Witnesses in 2 Corinthians 13:1 “His subsequent visit will act as the 3^rd and final witness against their wrongdoing…validating the testimony of a single witness on three occasions. Paul employs the well-known principle of De.19:15 in a new way [rabbinic]. ‘Every other incidence of this principle in action involves multiple witnesses, but Paul thinks that he alone is sufficient to accomplish this (Dr. Margaret Thrall The Second Epistle).’ After all, we see him taking similar liberties elsewhere in his writings. He is often imaginative in his reading of the Scriptures. This extends even to the laws of the Torah. 1Cor.9:8-12 If Paul can adapt a statute concerning muzzling oxen into a lesson about the material support of an apostle, surely it would be little problem for him to turn human witnesses into his own visits.”  Paul wasn’t always forthright.  (Jacob neither, Ge.27:19.)

Parts of Romans 7 are incoherent.  Ro.7:1-6 “We have been released from the law, so that we serve in the newness of the spirit, not in the oldness of the letter.”  Ellicott Commentary Ro.7:4 “The argument can hardly be said to have a logical cogency.”  NT Professor Heikki Raisanen Paul and the Law, p.46, 61 “Rom 7:1-6…a rather tortured allegory, the application of which is lost in internal contradictions….The allegory is simply confusing; it suits neither the opening statement (v.1) nor the conclusion (v.4).”  Then Ro.7:12-14 “The law is holy, and the commandment is holy, just and good. The law is spiritual.”  It seems also Paul contradicts himself regarding ‘spirit’ and ‘spiritual’, v.6 and v.14.  (Aside: The temple, with its Mosaic regulations, is still standing when Paul wrote Romans ca 57 AD.)

In the gospels, zero red-letter words of Jesus are rendered ‘grace’!  (In Lk.6:32-34, 17:9 the Greek term cháris g5485 is rendered “thank, credit, favor”.)   Many Bible historians think Paul’s gospel promoted a new ‘law vs grace’ dichotomy, as Jews/Israel vs gentiles.  Yet God rescuing His people from slavery in Egypt was an act of unmerited grace…in the OT (ref De.4:7-8).  The Lord didn’t rescue Israel from Egyptian bondage to then sadistically subject them to a (misperceived) ‘bondage’ of His holy law!

Moyise op. cit., p.61 “In the Old Testament the law was viewed as a gift from God. Ps.19:7-9 ‘The law of the Lord is perfect’…He [Paul] is quite happy to live like a Jew in order to reach Jews, and live like a Gentile in order to reach Gentiles (1Cor.9:20-22).”  Did Paul customarily do what he basically rebuked Peter for doing in Ga.2:11-14, both trying to be “all things to all men”?  see “Paul the Apostle (3)”.

Paul wrote in Ga.3:11, “The just shall live by faith”.  He was quoting Hab.2:4, “The just shall live by his faith”.  Paul goes on to say in Ga.3:12, “The law is not of faith”.  However Ps.119:86 “All Thy commandments [mitzvót h4687, Hebrew] are faithfulness.”  The Lord’s commandments are integral with true faith!  Pulpit Commentary Ps.119:86 “They are an expression of the character of God.”  Poole Commentary Ps.119:86 “They are in themselves most just and true, and require justice and faithfulness from men.”  Paul’s opinion that God’s law isn’t of faith contradicts the OT.  Also Paul wrote in Ga.2:21, “If righteousness [g1343] is by the law, then Christ died in vain”.  But Ps.119:172 LXX “All Your commandments are righteousness [g1343].”  Gill Exposition Ps.119:172 “Being just and equitable in the highest sense.”  Barnes Notes “I must praise Thee for them.”  Therefore if Paul was referring to God’s written law, then his concern that Christ ‘died in vain’ is incongruous.

{Note: I won’t juxtapose Ro.3:28–4:3 against Ja.2:21-24, whether a man is justified by faith or works.  It is thought Paul had in mind the DSS 4QMMT ‘érgon nómou’ sectarian works.  see Paul (1).}

Had the unconverted murderer Saul/Paul himself been a past ‘child of the devil’?  While at Páphos on Cyprus, Barnábas & Saul encountered Elýmas the sorcerer.  Ac.13:6-11 “Saul, who also is Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, said…‘You child of the devil…the hand of the Lord is upon you and you shall be blind, not seeing the sun for a time.’ Immediately there fell on him a mist and a darkness; and he went about seeking some to lead him by the hand.”  Blindness had happened to Saul too (near Damascus)!

Saul’s conversion experience is in Acts 9.  v.8-9 “Saul got up from the ground; though his eyes were open, he could see nothing. And leading him by the hand, they brought him into Damascus. He was 3 days without sight, and neither ate nor drank.”  The murderer Saul and the sorcerer both were blinded.

2Co.12:7-9 Paul was “given” [?] a continual angel/agent of Satan to afflict him.  (cf. Jb.2:7, Lk.13:16.)  To humble him?  Paul begged the Lord 3 times that it would leave him, to no avail.  But in the gospels, Jesus rescued from evil spirits and healed all who came beseeching Him!  Jesus didn’t say ‘No’ to their requests!  In the NT, of all those who besought the Lord for healing or deliverance…the only person named who Jesus denied was Paul!  Yet Lk.11:9-12 “Ask and it shall be given you….If a son shall ask bread from any of you who are fathers, will he give him a stone? Or if the son asks for a fish will he give him a serpent?”  Paul asked thrice, but still the messenger of that “old serpent called the devil and Satan” (Re.12:9) remained with him! (cf. Ja.4:6 “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”)

There are some today who believe in Jesus, but think Paul was a false apostle!  Noting Le.21:16-21, an OT priest having certain physical defects/deformities or was blind wasn’t to enter the Lord’s sanctuary.

Ephesus (g2181) was located in the Roman province of Asia (g773), W Turkey today.  Ac.19:1-10 Paul spent 2 ¼ years at Ephesus (ca 54-56 AD).  Then Ac.20:16 “Paul decided to sail past Ephesus, so he wouldn’t have to spend [more] time in Asia.”  He returned to Jerusalem in 57 AD.  At the temple, Jews from Asia accused Paul.  Ac.21:27-31 “This is the man who teaches all men everywhere against our people, and the Law, and this temple. For they had seen with him in the city Tróphimus the Ephesian.”

Later, in the 60s AD Paul wrote to Timothy.  2Ti.1:15 “This you know, all those in Asia turned away from me.”  It seems that Paul had lost his following in Asia!  Perhaps elsewhere too?  2Ti.4:16 “At my first verbal defense, no man stood by me, but all forsook me.”  That’s unsettling.  We may surmise what factors led to Paul coming into such disfavor in Asia.  Jesus spoke to the apostle John in vision, Re.2:1-2 “To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: ‘I know your works…you have tested those who call themselves apostles and are not, and have found them false”.  Is that why believers in Ephesus/Asia turned away from Paul?  People today who view Paul as a false apostle tie-in the above verses.  Yet late in life Paul positively linked to Ephesus in 2Ti.4:12. “I have sent Tychicús to Ephesus.”

I like to believe that Paul’s sometime traveling companion Dr. Luke (Col.4:14) accurately recorded what he saw & heard (from Paul, et al.).  In the NT, no apostle personally advocates Paul’s gospel!

Raisanen op. cit., p.14 “For better or for worse, Paul has become a theological authority.”  But over the centuries, Paul has had many critics.  Following is a sampling among well-known writers:

Thomas Jefferson, writer of the Declaration of Independence, early-on was in the Church of England.  He was baptized & went to Episcopal services.  In 1803 he wrote to Benjamin Rush, “I am a Christian”.  In 1813 Jefferson wrote to John Adams, “The very words only of Jesus, the most sublime and benevolent code of morals which have ever been offered to man”!  He wrote to Adams of the Creator “God whom you and I both acknowledge and adore” (1823).  monticello.org/jeffersons-religious-beliefs “Jefferson was a devout Theist.”  But he opposed orthodox Christianity (and Calvinism).  Jefferson wrote to Ambassador William Short in 1820, “Paul was the first corrupter of the doctrines of Jesus”!

Historian Will Durant Caesar and Christ (1944). “In essentials the synoptic gospels agree remarkably well, and form a consistent picture of Christ. Paul created a theology of which none but the vaguest warrants can be found in the words of Christ. Paul replaced conduct with creed as a test of virtue.”

Jewish philosopher Martin Buber Two Types of Faith (1951), publisher’s Summary. “He [Buber] offers a sincere and reverent view of Christ and of the unique and decisive character of His message to Jew and gentile.”  Buber wrote, “Not merely the Old Testament belief and the living faith of post-Biblical Judaism are opposed to Paul, but also the Jesus of the Sermon on the Mount [too reflects opposition].”

Danish theologian/philosopher Soren Kierkegaard The Journals (1849-1855). “When Jesus Christ lived, He was indeed the prototype. Imitate Christ, become a disciple. Not Christ, but Paul…threw Christianity away, turning it upside down.”

Leo Tolstoy My Religion, chap. 11 (1884). “The doctrine of Jesus is to bring the kingdom of God upon earth. Paul, who knew but imperfectly the ethical doctrine set forth in the Gospel of Matthew, preached a metaphysico-cabalistic [hidden/occult] theory foreign to the doctrine of Jesus.”

Lutheran Professor Brondos wrote of how some view Paul’s doctrine.  Op. cit., p.2 “Paul had regarded life under the Jewish law as ‘loss’ and ‘rubbish’ [Php.3:4-9]. Believers in Christ had been redeemed from their slavery and subjection to the law, which only brought death and condemnation. Any who rejected Paul’s gospel and insisted on clinging to the law were denying God’s grace and remained under His wrath & curse [Ro.4:15 & Ga.3:10]. How easily these negative portrayals fed into the conclusion that Jews should be eradicated, as the Nazi regime sought to do. Martin Luther [German theologian] had advocated violence toward the Jews of his day based on the same type of portrayal of Judaism.”

Paul wrote in 1Th.2:14-16, “The Jews…are not pleasing to God, and are hostile to all people. But God’s utmost wrath is come upon them.”  Noted evangelical scholar F.F. Bruce saw Paul’s passage as “an indiscriminate anti-Jewish polemic”.  (However, Paul’s tone re Jews sounds much different a few years later in Ro.9:1-3.)  Christian poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge wrote, “How dearly Martin Luther loved St Paul. How dearly St Paul would have loved Martin Luther!”  Martin Luther On the Jews and Their Lies “Venomous beasts, disgusting scum, devils incarnate….We are at fault for not slaying them.”

Patrick Gray Paul as a Problem in History and Culture, p.123-4 “It is more common to hear him [Paul] described as a renegade Jew. ‘Jesus was a good guy, Paul was a bad goy’ expresses a view widely held. The Nazi horrors led many to find Christianity complicit in the murder of Jews. For many Christians as well as Jews, Paul’s comments about the law of Moses deserve the blame for centuries of anti-Semitism that came to fruition in Auschwitz & Buchenwald.”  Others tie back the Inquisitions too to Paul’s letters.

Brondos op. cit., p.41 “In Jewish thought, the [written] law didn’t kill people [2Co.3:6] or hold them under a curse. Nor did it restrict people as a disciplinarian kept a child under restraint [Ga.3:23-25], increase trespasses [Ro.5:20], or place those committed to living in conformity to it under God’s wrath. On the contrary, the law promised life to those who kept it [De.30:14-20]. Yet Paul repeatedly states this is precisely what the law did not and cannot do.”  Lutheran Pastor Raisanen op. cit., p.269 “Paul didn’t [?] realize that Scripture was not on his side.”  Zero NT verses show apostles preaching ‘Paul’!

Gray op.cit., p.203 “Exasperating is his [Paul’s] inconsistency between his words and his deeds. His chameleon-like flexibility in becoming ‘all things to all men’ (1Cor.9:22) which results in egregious instances of hypocrisy is not excused by his critics on the grounds that he thereby saves some of his listeners.”  Yet Gray’s bottom line, p.123 “Without Paul, history might have taken a turn for the worse”.  Yes, overall a world without Paul’s letters could conceivably be worse.

The old Greek version of the OT (now our LXX) was completed by 132 BC.  The scriptures were known in Paul’s homeland of Cilicía (Ac.22:3), SE of Galatia.  Possibly the epistles bearing Paul’s name did quote the OT accurately, but decades later a corrupt monopolistic church altered some words of his epistles?  At this point, that’s merely speculation, unproven.  However, centuries earlier Jeremiah wrote, “the lying pen of scribes has produced falsehood” (Je.8:8).

Dionýsius bishop of Corinth Letter to the Romans (ca 180 AD). “I wrote [my] letters when the brethren requested me to write. These letters the apostles of the devil have filled with tares, taking away some things and adding others, for whom a woe is in store. It is, then, not to be wondered at, if some have attempted to adulterate the Lord’s [NT] writings.”  Dionysius thought some NT verses had been altered.

Origen (185-253 AD) Commentary On Matthew, Book 15.14 “It is clear that many differences in the copies [NT manuscripts] have come about either from the lazy indifferences of certain scribes, or the misguided daring of some of the correction of the things written, who…added or subtracted those things according to their own opinions.”  Copyists had played loose with some original NT verses.

Judging from those statements by early church ‘fathers’, possibly Paul’s letters too contain alterations made by others?

In the NT, 13 epistles bear Paul’s name.  However, today NT scholars & critics attribute only 7 to him – Romans, 1Corinthians, 2Corinthians, Galatians, Philippians, 1Thessalonians, Philemon.  They think Ephesians, Colossians, 2Thessalonians, 1Timothy, 2Timothy, Titus, Hebrews weren’t written by Paul.  If that’s the case, then some variances & discrepancies (vis-á-vis the OT) aren’t from Paul’s pen.  I still go by the assumption that 13 epistles were written by Paul, until they’re definitely proven otherwise.

The quandary remains regarding some of Paul’s views & teachings…in our Bible canon there’s no ‘2^nd or 3^rd witness’ validating them or his theology!  Which contradictions are we to believe, and which disbelieve?  The opinions of NT readers & Christians vary.  We may also ponder, ‘What separate 2^nd or 3^rd witnesses validated some of the tenets of Joseph Smith (Mormonism), Mary Baker Eddy, or Sun Myung Moon’?  Zero witnesses!  Or of dubious televangelists?  Paul’s writings aren’t infallible.  He acknowledged, not all early Christians were in the ‘church of Paul’, so to speak.  1Co.1:12 they were saying “I am of Paul’, and ‘I of Apollos’, and ‘I of Cephás”.  Yet a slanted ‘Paulinism’ is popular today.

Some evangelical Christians see several inconsistencies in Paul’s writings.  Gregory Robbins Paul On Trial “Paul was by his own admission all things to all men [1Co.9:20-22]. In his epistles, you can find a very large variety of doctrines, many of which contradict each other. Sinless perfection? It is there. Not yet perfect? It is also there. Free from the law? You will find it. You will also find that Paul both quoted & commanded verses from the law. Works not necessary? You will find it. Works ARE necessary? You will find that too. Eternal salvation? Yes, it’s there. You can lose your salvation? Yes, it’s also there. Paul was all over the map on his doctrine, and his actions.”  It can be perplexing for Bible readers.

Yet our faith is in God, not in Paul or in the vicissitudes of his writings!  Raisanen op. cit., p.268 & 228 “Paul gets involved in self-contradictions. In sum, I am not able to find any conception of the law which involves such inconsistencies or arbitrariness as does Paul’s.”  Paul the ‘chameleon’; see Paul (2).

Perhaps Paul was somewhat confused in his own mind, as he proceeded on his journey with the Lord?  Maybe the “angel” of Satan which tormented or harassed him (2Co.12:7) garbled his thinking to an extent?  It’s been conjectured that Paul possibly suffered from mood or bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, epilepsy, or even psychopathy.  1Ti.1:15 Paul, a past murderer, later said he’s the “foremost of sinners”.

We’re all imperfect, including Paul (Peter too).  I think the good Paul did and the good that has resulted from him outweighs the bad via his flaws & missteps.  e.g. Ga.5:22-23 Paul’s pen lists the figurative fruit of the Spirit!  Conceivably, he compromised or doctored actual meanings of OT passages so that his mission would sound more attractive to pagans.  The Bible is gradually being translated into all dialects.  Though Paul has caused skepticism and division too, the church at large has surely grown.

Many readers feel inspired by chapters of Paul’s writings.  I especially like Ro.8, Ro.12, Ro.16, 1Co.2, 1Co.12–13, 2Co.5, 2Co.10, Col.3–4, the books of Ephesians & Philippians!  I feel that the positive admonitions and instructions in Paul’s letters outweigh the discrepancies and contradictions which cause head-scratching among NT readers and Christian brethren.

 

Paul the Apostle (3) – Missteps

This is the continuation of “Paul the Apostle (1) – Law and Works” and “Paul the Apostle (2) – The Chameleon?”.  I encourage you to read Parts 1 and 2 first; the material won’t be repeated here.

The Bible New Testament (NT) says that only Jesus the God-man was sinless (1Pe.2:21-22).  We humans all make mistakes and sin.  A few Old Testament (OT) and NT incidents: Jacob deceived his father Isaac; Moses struck the rock the Lord told him to speak to; David committed adultery; Peter denied Jesus three times; Thomas doubted Jesus’ resurrection.

I’ve been defending Paul, in Paul (1) and Paul (2).  But Paul/Saul (Ac.13:9) too had his faults and made mistakes.  The Pauline epistles show that his understanding of scripture and of Jesus was incomplete.  Yet Paul and the letters attributed to him have had a huge impact on religion!  Wikipedia: Paul the Apostle “From Antioch [Ac.11:19-26] the mission to the Gentiles started, which would fundamentally change the character of the early Christian movement, eventually turning it into a new, Gentile religion.”

Let’s assess Paul’s character and actions.  Saul/Paul said he studied in Jerusalem “at the feet of” the famous Gamaliél (Ac.22:3).  Gamaliel was the first teacher given the title rabban (above rabbi).  Saul was an apt student, and surpassed his peers (Ga.1:13-14).  The unconverted Pharisee Gamaliel advised tolerance toward Jewish Christians (Ac.5:38)!  But the unconverted Pharisee Saul (Ac.23:6) ravaged and imprisoned Jewish Christians (Ac.8:1-3).  He threatened and murdered them (Ac.9:1).  Saul even sided with the rival Sadducee high priest (Ac.5:17, 7:1, 58-59, 9:1), in stoning Stephen!  What all were Saul’s motives, in that he didn’t follow the tolerant advice of his esteemed teacher, a fellow Pharisee?  It’s unclear.  Nevertheless Mic.6:8 “What does the Lord require of you, but to do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with your God.”  (Mt.23:23 Jesus noted justice, mercy and faith, alluding to Mic.6:8.)  Gamaliel’s good advice also reflected mercy, but the actions of Saul didn’t.  It seems Saul/Paul disregarded his acclaimed tutor.  Though later Paul dropped Gamaliel’s name when defending himself as a believer in Jesus (Ac.22:1-3)!

Was Paul distantly related to Herod; further motivation?  Paul’s father was a Benjamite (Php.3:5).  Paul wrote in Ro.16:11, “Greet Herodíon [Strongs g2267, Greek], my kinsman”.  Paul was Herodion’s relative, who was perhaps kin to Herod’s family.  The Iduméan Herod 1 the Great was raised as a Jew.  Dr. Taylor Marshall Was St Paul Related To Herod? “Saul/Paul favored the theology of the Pharisees before his conversion, but his family connections relate him to the inner circle of Herod Agríppa. In the first century, Hebrews with Roman privilege were linked to the Roman appointed rulers of Palestine – the Herod’s. Saul/Paul gained his Roman citizenship by birth. The Pharisees and the Herodiáns worked together!”  Mk.3:6 “The Pharisees went and immediately began conspiring with the Herodians [g2265] against Jesus.”

The Jerusalem church leaders sent Barnábas to lead the early church at Antioch in Syria (Ac.11:22-26).  As it grew, Barnabas went to Tarsús in Cilicía to get the now converted Paul (ref Ac.9:1-22) whom he’d mentored (Ac.9:27), to assist him in Antioch.  Ac.14:12 the pagans at Lýstra called “Barnabas Zeus, and Paul Hermés”.  Zeus was the chief pagan deity; whereas Hermes was Zeus’ son, lesser.  Dr. Heikki Raisanen Paul and the Law, p.253 “For quite a long time Paul worked as junior partner of Barnabas.”

Paul considered both Barnabas & himself apostles, 1Co.9:5-6.  However, Paul didn’t witness Jesus’ resurrection.  1Cor.15:8-9 Paul acknowleged, “I am as one untimely born, the least of the apostles”.  He’s been called Jesus’ ‘after-taught’.  (Though elsewhere Paul said he reckoned he “isn’t inferior to the chiefest of the apostles”, 2Co.11:5.)  There’s no indication that Saul knew Jesus prior to Jesus’ ascension.

Due to Paul’s misunderstanding of eschatological timing, ca 55 AD he advised Christians in Greece not to marry, 1Co.7:24-31.  What?!  Paul wrongly presumed time was “short….the present form of this world is passing away”.  (cf. Php.4:5, Ro.13:11-12.)  Dr. Tony Garland Paul and the Imminent Return of Jesus “The apostle thought that the 2^nd advent of the Lord would take place in his time. He seemed so sure about it. He goes on to even dissuade marriages among Christians (provided they can exercise self-control).”  How could Paul, who asserted he was taught by Jesus in visions (Ga.1:12, 2Co.12:1), make a mistake so life-altering?

Unlike Jesus’ original apostles, Paul didn’t audibly hear Jesus’ Olivet prophecy, about “this generation shall not pass” (Mk.13, Mt.24).  We Christians believe Jesus is/tells the truth!  But Paul misunderstood the region & the scope, so Europeans best not marry.  Jesus’ relative James wrote ca 50 AD.  Ja.5:9 “The Judge [Jesus] is standing at the door.”  (Good News Translation “The Judge is near, ready to appear.”)  James, leader of the Jerusalem church; he understood.  JFB Commentary Ja.5:9 “The Lord coming to destroy Jerusalem is primarily referred to.”  Jesus ‘came’ as Judge against those Jews in Judea who opposed Him.

Dr. S.G. Wilson The Gentiles and the Gentile Mission, p.71-76 “What did Mark mean in 13:12-ff? It appears that he saw the destruction of Jerusalem as connected to the End. Lk.13:1-9, an impending judgment on Israel. He [Luke] could have meant the destruction of Jerusalem, prophesied elsewhere. This was probably Jesus’ meaning, an integral part of End events.”  Jerusalem/Judea and the temple would be destroyed in 70 AD.  But the “present form of this world” wasn’t passing away then.  Paul erred.

Jesus had told His disciples (Peter, James & John, Andrew) of the temple’s destruction back in Mk.13:1-4, 14, 30. “When you see the abomination of desolation, let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. I say to you, ‘This generation shall not pass until all these things take place.”  Jews living then.  In the parallel Mt.24:1-3, 15-20, Jesus told them to pray their flight from Judea wouldn’t be on the Sabbath day.  Also Lk.21:5-7, 20-22 “When you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, recognize her desolation is at hand. Let those in Judea flee to the mountains. For these are the days of vengeance.”  Vengeance is the Lord’s (De.32:41), coming as Judge against antagonistic disbelieving Jews in Judea.

The ‘mountains’ they fled to (east of the Jordan River) weren’t to be destroyed.  Greece wasn’t destroyed.  Wikipedia: History of Jews in Greece “The Jews of Greece didn’t participate in the First Jewish-Roman War [66-73 AD] or later conflicts.”  Paul could have sought counsel from Peter, John, or Barnabas’ relative Mark who wrote the gospel account.  They knew Jesus’ Olivet prophecy.  But there’s no indication Paul asked them.  His mistaken advice to Corinth against marrying wasn’t good.  In that, Paul contradicted God’s word of Ge.2:18 “It is not good for the man to be alone” and Gen.1:28 “Be fruitful and multiply”.  (All this isn’t to imply that Jesus won’t come again, e.g. Ac.1:9-11, 3:19-21. see “The Last Days” topic.)

Maybe Paul, in his mind, misapplied Je.16:1-4.  The Lord had told Jeremiah to “not take a wife” in Judea, prior to Nebuchadnézzar’s horrific siege of Jerusalem in 587 BC (Je.38:23, 39:1)!  cf. Ezk.24:18-21.  The Lord then told the Jewish exiles in Babylon to “take wives and beget sons and daughters” (Je.29:4-6).  And Paul was writing to Greece…not to Jerusalem/Judea which Rome would destroy in 70 AD.  (Paul’s outlook in 1Co.7:1, 26-27 also contradicts his allowance in 1Co.7:2.)  1Co.7:26-ff his advice may have caused a moral nightmare for church leaders in Greece, pertaining to unmarried sex!  And there’d be no family, no sons or daughters, as descendants for those Christians!  No son to help provide for those aging (social security didn’t pay much back then).  Paul gave them unwarranted bad advice!  Surely Jesus didn’t tell him to disfavor wedlock in Greece.  Yet Paul tried to reinforce his notion, v.40 “I think I have the Spirit of God”.

Paul’s advice wasn’t ‘inspired by God’.  De.18:22 “If his prediction doesn’t happen, the prophet has spoken it presumptuously. You shall not revere him [Aramaic Bible].”  Over the centuries, numerous Christian leaders have set wrong dates for Christ’s ‘return’.  But few of them erred as drastically as Paul; most all who thought ‘time was short’ didn’t advise their followers to stay single.  If a church leader today tells his followers not to marry, presuming ‘the end’ is near, he’d risk being labeled a wacky cult leader!

baptistnews.com Problems With Second Coming Theology “The apostle Paul was apparently convinced that Christ’s coming/parousía would happen soon. He told the unmarried in the church at Corinth it would be best if they stayed unmarried because the world as they knew it was about to end (1Cor.7:25-31)….And here we are two millennia later.”  Paul’s understanding was flawed.  Yet later in the 60s AD, in 1Ti.5:14 Paul advised “that the younger widows marry, bear children”.  Paul’s expectation changed?

Re.21:10, 14 the apostle John envisioned the wall of the city New Jerusalem having “12 foundation stones, on which were the names of the 12 apostles of the Lamb”.  Jesus’ original disciples (11 men) plus Matthias, Judas’ replacement.  Cambridge Bible Re.21:14 “St Paul being excluded.”  Jn.15:27, Ac.1:21-26 the 12 walked with Jesus and witnessed His resurrection.  Mt.19:28 Jesus said, “When the Son of Man sits on the throne of His glory, you shall sit on 12 thrones, judging the 12 tribes of Israel”.  Paul isn’t included in either scenario!  The 12 apostles would judge Paul’s tribe of Benjamin.  (Ge.49:27 “Benjamin is a ravenous wolf.”)  Ep.2:20 Paul himself said the church is “built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets”.  Ellicott Commentary Ep.2:20 “As in Rev.21:14, ‘the foundations’ bear ‘the names of the 12 apostles of the Lamb.”  The 12 knew Jesus prior to His ascension, heard His ‘Sermon on the Mount’, etc.!  Saul/Paul didn’t.

Yet Paul wrote in Ga.2:6-10, “Those who were highly esteemed added in conference nothing to me. James, Peter, and John, who were reputed to be pillars, gave to me and Barnabas the right hands of fellowship.”  Bible historians say Paul wrote Galatians 15–20 years after his conversion.  By then Paul should’ve known the gospel & doctrine of the 3 lead apostles, ‘pillars’ in the church (the eschatological figurative ‘temple’).  And from their broad experience of having walked & talked with Jesus, they could’ve added much understanding to Paul, the self-proclaimed “least of the apostles”!

Jesus had given the “keys of the Kingdom” to Peter (Mt.16:18-19), and James was Jesus’ relative (Ga.1:19); they both spent years with Jesus in the Land!  ref 1Co.15:4-9.  Peter, James, Barnabas were Paul’s seniors in the faith from the lead church, in Jerusalem (Ac.15:7, 13, 19).  Paul faults them.  In Ga.2 Paul substantiates his ministry; he accuses in regards to a past apostolic contention at Antioch.  Who was (more) at fault?

Paul rebuked Peter for racial Judaizing.  Ga.2:11-14 “When Cephás [Peter] came to Antioch [Ac.12:17?], I opposed him to his face, for he stood condemned. Prior to the coming of certain men from James, he used to eat with the gentiles; but he began to withdraw, holding himself aloof, fearing the circumcision party. The rest of the Jewish Christians joined him in hypocrisy. Even Barnabas was swept along with them.”  But Peter had had his own experience, Ac.10, when uncircumcised gentile Godfearers at Caesárea received the Holy Spirit (HS).  Maybe some racism or superiority complex still existed in the psyche of Paul-Peter from Jewish oral law?  cf. Ga.2:15 Paul wrote, “We who are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners”.

In the 1^st century, some non-Godfearer gentiles customarily ate meat from idol temples and set a place at the table for a pagan god.  Paganism was the norm at Lystra in Galatia; they sacrificed to idols (Ac.14:11-13).  Ga.4:8 “When you did not know God you were slaves to those who are no gods.”  learnreligions.com “In terms of morality, Antioch was deeply corrupt. The famous pleasure grounds of Daphne were located on the outskirts of the city, including a temple dedicated to the Greek god Apollo.”  Robertson Commentary Ac.11:20 “These Greeks in Antioch were in part pure heathen, not Godfearers like Cornelius [Ac.10:22].”  Bengel Gnomen Ac.11:20 “Cornelius had been a devout gentile, but these converts [Antioch] were Greeks, idolators.”  Ac.15:7 the first apostle God sent to gentiles was Peter (not Paul).  Peter had said in Ac.10:35, “Every person who fears Him [Godfearers] and does righteousness is accepted by Him”.  Raisanen op. cit., p.41 “Many Godfearers observe the sabbath and the food regulations.”  Peter ate with Cornelius, and boldly defended his action (Ac.10–11).  Peter hadn’t ‘feared’ the believing Jerusalem Jews who’d at first opposed his eating with Godfearers in Caesarea.

Possibly some Antiochian non-Godfearer converts were eating blood and meat sacrificed to idols?  The churches in Pérgamos (Re.2:12-14) & Thyátira (Re.2:18-20) ate sacrifices to idols.  Jews feared committing a form of ‘second-hand idolatry’; they didn’t know if leftover food had gone to the marketplace from pagan rites.  see the topics “Acts 15 – Four Prohibitions” and “Sacrifices To Idols and Romans 14”.

The “men from James” (from Jerusalem) would object to eating with such!  Peter & Barnabas quit eating with gentile converts.  Paul himself wrote in Ro.14:3, “Let not him who eats regard with contempt him who doesn’t eat”.  v.23 “Whoever has doubts, yet still eats, is condemned, because his eating isn’t from faith; whatever is not from faith is sin.”  The non-eaters in Antioch were Peter, Barnabas and all Jewish Christians!

It appears a difficult choice had to be made in Antioch!  Peter didn’t want to risk offending James’ “men”.  Paul didn’t want the converts of he & Barnabas to be offended or misled.  But Barnabas agreed with Peter.  And Paul also wrote in 1Co.10:32, “Give no offense, either to Jews or to Greeks or to the church of God”.

Paul went on in Ga.2:16, “Knowing that a man isn’t justified by works of the law [érgon nómos], but by the faith of Jesus Christ”.  Besides Galatians & Romans, “works of the law” is found elsewhere only in the Dead Sea Scrolls 4QMMT.  They were selected purity rituals, cooking pots, etc.  ref “Paul (1)”.  Possibly Jewish converts in Antioch & Galatia and “men from James” had concerns about impurity resulting from practices of/contact with those who hadn’t been Godfearers.  (cf. Jn.18:28 Jerusalem Jews didn’t enter the gentile Roman Praetorium for fear of becoming defiled for the Passover Chagigáh.)  If sectarian purity rites were the concern…then Paul’s objection seems valid.  Ac.15:9 God “purified their hearts by faith”.

However, eating with past pagans who didn’t do washings/míkvehs for personal hygiene and commonly ate creatures containing parasites would put group health at risk.  General life expectancy in the 1^st century Roman Empire was only 40-45 years!  And James urged purifications, Ja.4:8, Ac.21:24-26 Paul did so.

Thomas Aquinas Summa Theologica 1-2, Q.103, Art.4, Reply Obj.2 “According to Jerome, Peter withdrew himself from the Gentiles by pretense, in order to avoid giving scandal to the Jews, of whom he was the Apostle. Hence he did not sin at all in acting thus. On the other hand, Paul in like manner made a pretense of blaming him, in order to avoid scandalizing the Gentiles, whose Apostle he was.”  Furthermore, Paul even claimed in 1Co.9:19-21, “to the Jews I became as a Jew”.  Peter did so at Antioch (Ga.2:11-12).

J. Christiaan Beker Paul the Apostle, p.295 “In Galatia, Paul is charged with distorting the ‘Jerusalem gospel’, because his law-free gospel is attributed to his deviance from the gospel of the mother church in Jerusalem….Although he claims to be an accredited apostle, he cannot be called a personal disciple of Jesus.”  Peter, James, John, Barnabas represented the ‘Jerusalem gospel’.  Dr. Raisanen op. cit., p.216 “The conflict over the law; Luke’s account [Luke-Acts] serves to underline that it is Paul who is the odd man out in early [NT] Christianity.”  Benson Commentary Ga.2:14 “Paul is single against Peter and all the Jews.”  It’s Paul vs 2 or 3 apostles et al.  Peter was an elder (1Pe.5:1).  1Ti.5:1, 19-20 Paul later told Timothy to not rebuke or accuse an elder without 2–3 supporting witnesses.  Yet solely Paul accused Peter (not privately, cf. Mt.18:15) in Antioch; the ‘witnesses’ backed Peter!  Paul himself counteracted what he’d instruct Timothy.

Wikipedia: Incident at Antioch “The outcome of the incident remains uncertain.”  It’s not in Luke’s history of Acts.  He’s generally for harmony.  Only Paul felt the need to relate it.  What did Paul want to achieve by telling churches in provincial or ethnic Galatia of Peter’s action in Syria?  Dr. L. Michael White From Jesus to Christianity “The blowup with Peter was a failure of political bravado.”  Did Paul consider Peter a rival?

Zero original apostles adopted Paul’s ‘version’ of Jesus’ gospel.  Raisanen op. cit., p.198-200 “Paul is alone in setting up a contrast between the Toráh with its demands on the one hand and God’s grace or man’s faith in Christ on the other. No one else [in NT] shares Paul’s radical association of the law with sin [e.g. Ro.5:20a].”  Some Bible scholars see Paul’s writings as antinomian, or partially so.

Barnabas and his assistant/co-apostle Paul also had a sharp disagreement about Mark, and separated, Ac.15:35-39.  Maybe the issue at Antioch factored in?  Ellicott Commentary Ga.2:13 “Antioch…The beginning of the breach which would soon afterwards lead to the definite separation of the two apostles seems to be traceable here.”  Lightfoot NT Commentary Ga.2:13 “A temporary feeling of distrust [at Antioch] may have prepared the way for the dissension between Paul and Barnabas.”  Barnabas and Mark then sailed to Cyprus.  It seems that Paul was wrong regarding Barnabas’ relative John Mark (Ac.12:11-12, 13:5, 13, Col.4:10).  Perhaps a young Mark had even met Jesus (Mk.14:50-52)?  2Ti.4:11 Paul later told Timothy, “Only Luke is with me. Pick up Mark and bring him with you, for he is useful to me in the ministry.”  Paul had a change of heart regarding Mark’s service value, or they both repented of the schism.

Luke (an eyewitness) indicated in Acts that Paul’s going to Jerusalem ca 57 AD disobeyed the Holy Spirit (HS).  Ac.20:22-24 the HS kept warning that bonds and afflictions awaited Paul if he went to Jerusalem.  But Paul was determined to go, regardless.  Ac.21:3-4 Christians at Tyre told Paul “through the Spirit that he should not go up to Jerusalem”.  v.8-15 then at Philip’s house in Caesarea the prophet Ágabus bound his own hands & feet with Paul’s belt, telling him “Thus says the Holy Spirit, ‘So shall the Jews at Jerusalem bind the man who owns this belt”.  Luke and the others besought Paul with tears not to go!

But Paul wouldn’t be dissuaded.  2020scripturalvision.com “God graciously warns him. God said no but Paul said go….a sin of omission.”  A martyr complex?  sermons.logos Paul Is Warned “Could our hesitancy to assign blame to Paul be an indication of our holding him in too high regard? Even Paul was capable of acting apart from God’s will.”  Ac.21:31-33 and at Jerusalem, the Roman chíliarch did bind Paul.

Pastor Ray Stedman Paul’s Mistake “Even Paul’s close associates recognized the voice of the Spirit, to which the apostle seemed strangely deaf. He refused to listen. Here we see what can happen to a man of God when he is misled by an urgent hunger to accomplish a goal which God has not given him to do.”  The afflictions Paul was to suffer (Ac.9:16) needn’t have included chains in Jerusalem.  Cambridge Bible Ac.26:17 “The mission to the Gentiles seems to have been made clear to Saul from the very first.”  Ac.22:17-21 in defending himself, Paul recounted how the Lord years ago had told him to “Make haste and get out of Jerusalem; they won’t accept your testimony concerning Me. Go! I will send you far away to the gentiles.”  That was still Jesus’ will.  Paul wasn’t to prove Christ to Jews in Jerusalem!

Paul’s disregarding the HS had grave repercussions!  According to the church historian Eusebius, Paul’s presence then in Jerusalem even factored into those Jews slaying Jesus’ relative James a few years later!

Eusebius (265-340 AD) Ecclesiastical History 2:23:1-2, The Martyrdom of James “After Paul, in consequence of his appeal to Caesar [Ac.25:11-12], had been sent to Rome by Festus [Procurator in Judea, succeeding Felix], the Jews, being frustrated in their hope of entrapping him [Paul]…turned against James, the brother of the Lord. They demanded that he [James] renounce his faith in Christ. He, before the whole multitude confessed that our Lord and Savior Jesus is the Son of God. But they were unable to bear the testimony of the man [James] who was esteemed by all as the most just of men, and consequently they slew him.”  Jesus had told Paul to go to gentiles (Ep.3:8), not to Jerusalem ca 57 AD.

Paul reminded Timothy in 2Ti.3:15-16, “From a child you have known the holy scriptures. All scripture inspired by God is useful.”  The scriptures Timothy had as a child was the OT.  Not Paul’s letters.  Zero OT books themselves are letters!  1^st century AD writers of epistles, such as Paul, wouldn’t have considered their epistles ‘holy scripture’.  (Paul’s letters are longer than most 1^st century letters, though not Rev.)  Tim Hegg The Letter Writer, p.157 “It is hardly possible that he [Paul] thought his own writings to be on the same canonical level as the books of Moses.”  Jesus’ red-letter spoken words were likely regarded as ‘scripture’, cf. 1Ti.5:18 & Lk.10:7.

2Pe.3:15-17 Peter said Paul’s letters are “hard to understand”.  Was Peter really raising them to the level of ‘God’s written word’!?  Paul acknowledged that some of his writing was just his own opinion (at times plainly mistaken, e.g. 1Co.7:26-31), not God-breathed.  ref 1Co.7:6, 12, 2Co.8:8.  Yet the elderly apostle Peter in 2Pe.3:15 spoke graciously of Paul as a “brother”, though not as an “apostle”.  christianquestions.com/doctrine “There is no written record of either God or Jesus confirming Paul’s apostleship [?]. We only have Paul himself saying he is an apostle, along with a claim by his friend Luke in Acts [14:14].”  In the NT text, Jesus’ original apostles don’t refer to Paul specifically as an “apostle”.  Ga.2:9 they did recognize Paul and previously Barnabas (Ac.11:22-24) as fellow-laborers.

2Pe.3:18 Peter went on to say that Christians are to “grow in the grace and knowledge” of Jesus.  Paul, and Peter too, ‘grew’ over the years.  While learning to walk with the Lord in His will, Paul, and we too, have misstepped; we’ve made mistakes.

But God is compassionate.  Ps.103:8, 12 KJV “The Lord is merciful and gracious. As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.”  Upon repentance, He forgives the mistakes and sins of Paul, of Peter, and of us.  Thanks be to God!

This topic is continued in “Paul the Apostle (4) – Discrepancies”.  There, are cited several scriptural discrepancies & contradictions found in the epistles that bear Paul’s name.

 

Heavenly Host Authorities and Powers (2)

This topic is the continuation and conclusion to “Heavenly Host Authorities and Powers (1)”.  For additional related background about God’s created angels and other spirit beings, see the topics: “Spirits – Made by God in Light”, “Watchers and Gen. 6 ‘Sons Of God”, “Names & Titles of God in Scripture”, “Jesus Was the Old Testament God”, “Michael in the Bible”.

Little of the material covered in “Heavenly Host Authorities and Powers (1)” is repeated here.  Part 1 noted Bible verses which show that God is supreme among His host (tsabáw Strongs h6635, Hebrew) of celestial beings.  Transliterated Lord of “sabaóth” in New Testament Greek, Ro.9:29 & Ja.5:4.  In the Old Testament (OT), there are lesser spirit beings called “sons of God” (béne ha Élohim h1121 h430).

Some members of God’s celestial host were given a measure of authority over nations.  Wikipedia: Origins of Judaism – Iron Age Yahwism “The various national gods were more or less equal, reflecting the fact that the kingdoms themselves were more or less equal.”  De.32:8-9 Septúagint/LXX “When the Most High divided the nations, He set the bounds of the nations according to the number of the angels of God. His people Jacob became the portion of the Lord [Kúrios Strongs g2962, Greek], Israel.”  Book of Jubilees 15:32 “Over Israel He did not appoint any angel or spirit, for He alone is their ruler.”  Israel belonged to the Lord.  Ex.20:3 Israel shall have no other gods before/besides YHVH [h3068]!

Some of the “sons of God”, ‘junior elohím’ (h430) or ‘godlings’, weren’t loyal & obedient to God; they didn’t follow His guidelines!  Jb.4:18 “His angels He charged with folly.”  Jb.15:15 “He puts no trust in His holy ones; the heavens are not pure in His sight.”  Poole Commentary Jb.15:15 “i.e. angels.”

Ancient Israel desired to disobediently worship those gods/elohim of the pagans.  De.32:17 “Israel sacrificed to demons [LXX daimónia g1140], and not to God [Elóah h433], to gods [elohim] whom their fathers knew not.”  Wikipedia: Daímon “Ancient Greek; originally referred to a lesser deity or guiding spirit.”  1Co.10:20 “The things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to demons [daimonia], and not to God [Théos g2316].”  1Ki.11:33 Israel forsook its God YHVH; and worshiped Astóreth goddess of the Sidoníans, Chemósh god of the Moabites, Milcóm god of the Ammonites.  De.29:26 “They [Israel] went and served other elohim, and worshiped them; gods whom He [YHVH] had not given to them.”  Ps.106:37 LXX the Lord’s people even sacrificed their sons and daughters to daimonia/demons.

De.4:19 “When you [Israel] see the sun, moon or stars, all the host of heaven, don’t worship them which the Lord your God has apportioned to all nations under heaven.”  Pulpit Commentary “Egyptians worshiped the sun as Ra, the moon as Ísis, and the stars as symbols of deities.”  The heavenly bodies represented the heavenly host of spirit beings.  cf. Jg.5:20 (symbolically) “The stars in their courses fought against Siserá [Canaaníte captain].”  De.17:3 no Israelite was to serve or worship other gods/elohim, and not the sun or moon; none of the host of heaven.  No idolatry.

But ancient Israel spurned their God YHVH; they wanted to worship the gods of the heathens instead or too.  So…Ac.7:42 “God turned, and gave them up to worship the host [stratía g4756, Greek] of heaven.”

Following are excerpts from theologians about God’s heavenly host, “sons of God”, celestial “powers”, and God’s ‘council’:

G.B. Caird Principalities and Powers: p.2 “The inferior gods are to recognize the supremacy of Yahweh [YHVH].”  p.3 “These supernatural beings are conceived as forming a heavenly council around the throne of God.”  Ps.89:6-7 see Part 1.  p.4 “In the Old Testament the ‘host of heaven’ usually denotes the sun, moon, and stars; but sometimes it denotes the heavenly court of Yahweh.”  New Bible Dictionary “The two meanings ‘celestial bodies’ and ‘angelic beings’ are inextricably intertwined.”  Ps.96:5 LXX “All the gods of the nations are demons [daimonia].”  In classical Greek, a daimónion was a divine being, bad or good.  ‘To the Greeks it denoted any heavenly mediator between God and man.’

Caird op. cit.: p.12-13 Plato had spoken of daimonia as guardians of cities [Laws.4:713c, 5:738d]….The stars as ‘visible and created gods’, who derived their divinity from the one God, the Démiurge [Timáeus 40d].”  p.15 “According to Philo [On The Change Of Names 4], God performs some of His providential actions personally, and others through the agency of incorporeal powers.”  p.74 “The deities of the pagan state were responsible for the maintenance of law and had been identified with the astrological gods who represented the reign of natural law.”  p.23 “Pagan nations could be represented either by their angelic governors or by their earthly rulers. Any derivative authority which sets itself up as an absolute authority takes on a demonic [daimonion] character.”

Michael S. Heiser The Unseen Realm: p.325 “The New Testament is silent on the origin of demons [daimonia]. There is no passage that describes a primeval rebellion before Eden where angels fell from grace and became demons.”  p.171 “Yahweh chose to disinherit nations at Babel [Ge.11]. Lesser elohim He had placed over [nations].”  p.127 “(De.32:8-9) Yahweh placed the nations under the governance of junior elohim – sons of God of His divine council.”  p.322 “Lesser elohim had governed corruptly and not maintained loyalty to the Most High. Instead, they embraced the worship that should have gone only to Yahweh (De.17:3, 29:26) [Israel especially].”  p.29 “What the ancient idol worshipers believed was that the objects they made were inhabited by their gods. This is why they performed ceremonies to ‘open the mouth’ of the statue.”

Heiser op. cit.: p.324 “The Hebrew text of Ps.8:5 has humanity being ‘a little lower than elohim.”  p.36 “Jesus is indeed identified with Yahweh and is therefore with Yahweh, unique [monogenés g3439, Jn.1:1, 14, 18] among the elohim that serve God.”

Brian Godawa When Giants Were Upon the Earth: p.45 “Yahweh is incomparably THE Elohim of elohim (Deut.10:17).”  Ps.95:3 “YHVH is a great El [h410 God], above all elohim.” (Though other gods exist; cf. De.32:39 & Is.47:5-7 with Zep.2:13-15 Assyria.)  Ps.96:5 LXX “The gods of the nations are daimonia, but the Lord made the heavens.”  p.46 “The physical objects [idols] were without deity, they could not ‘see or hear or walk’; but the gods behind those objects were real beings with evil intent.”

Godawa op. cit.: p.48 “As punishment for man’s repeated spurning of His authority in primordial times (Gen.3–11), God deprived mankind at large of true knowledge of Himself.”  (see the topic “Kingdom of God”.)  Traditionally, 70 ‘nations’ are indicated (Ge.10) prior to Babel.  The (supposed) Book of Jasher 9:32, “God said to the 70 angels who stood foremost before Him, ‘Let us descend and confuse their tongues”.  p.275 “God divided the 70 nations…the sons of God became the ‘princes’ [cf. Da.10:13, 20] or ‘gods’ of those pagan nations, rulers of those geographical territories.”  p.49 “God then allots the people [Israelites] for Himself, through Abraham. But God’s people fall away from Him and worship these other gods and are judged for their apostasy.”

Godawa op.cit.: p.53 “In the Bible, the concept of ‘god’ (elohim) was about a plane of existence, not necessarily a ‘being’ of existence. There were many gods [1Co.8:5] who existed on that supernatural plane, yet only one God of gods.”  Henothéism.  p.54 “Physical idols (images) are ‘nothing’ and ‘have no real existence’ in that they are the representatives of the deities and not the deities themselves. But the deities behind those idols are real demonic beings, the gods of the nations who are not THE God. Monólatry [henotheism? see Part 1] maintains Yahweh as being of a different substance, essence, or species than the other gods.”  p.56 “A heavenly host of thousands of sons of God called gods, watchers, and holy ones who surround God’s throne as an assembly, who counsel with God and worship Him, and some of whom were given rule over human nations in the past, but have lost that privilege.”  p.53 “Jesus is the species-unique [monogenes] Son of God, the ‘visible Yahweh’ co-regent over the divine council. (Da.7:13-14).”

Ac.17:26 “From one man, God made every nation to live on all the earth; He determined their appointed times, and the boundaries of their habitation.”  Godawa op.cit.: p.197 “At Babel, God dispersed the peoples, placing them under the sons of God as their deities. God ‘gave them over’ to their wickedness. With the arrival of Messiah, the gospel liberates those gentile nations from their bondage to be united as one in Christ through faith.”  p.276 “After the death, resurrection, and ascension of Christ, these spiritual powers have been overthrown, at least legally losing their hegemony (Eph.1:20-23). The fallen angelic powers are still around, but have been defanged with the inauguration of the Messianic kingdom of God.”  p.282-3 “Jesus said His ministry of casting out demons [spirit non-principalities?] was a binding of the satan [ha satán h7854]. With the advent of Christ, the satan/Accuser has been exiled from the divine council of Yahweh [Jn.12:31].”

Brian Godawa When Watchers Ruled The Nations: p.19 “Yahweh gave the host of heaven to all the peoples as their gods because they were already idolators.”  p.20 “We have no historical or biblical evidence of a period of righteous spiritual rulers or worship of Yahweh [by gentile nations] after Babel.”  p.27 “Stars were equated with gods and gods were equated with stars. This explains the development of astrology as the stars determining our destiny; because the ancient mind thought of the stars as gods, and the gods controlled their lives….[gods] represented in the sun, moon and stars that were worshiped by pagans (Da.8:10-11, Ps.148:2-3).”  also ref Part 1.

Walter Wink Naming the Powers “Much tradition identified Satan as the angel of Rome. Since Rome had conquered the entire Mediterranean region and much else besides, its angel-prince had become lord of all other angel-princes of the vanquished nations.”  The ‘Watcher of Rome’, the national “beast” of Re.13:1-8.  Other theologians view the satan in the OT as the label for an adversary or prosecutor.

Caird op. cit.: p.32 “The Satan. He is one of the sons of Elohim [Job 1:6] and has the right of access to the heavenly court. He acts as public prosecutor (Ps.109:6); his duty is to indict sinners before the bar of divine justice.”  (Da.7:9-10 a view of God’s heavenly court.)  p.16 “It is obvious that the principalities, authorities, and powers which are being reduced to impotence by the regnal Christ are spiritual beings [1Co.15:24].”  p.17 “Paul discerned the existence of angelic rulers who shared with their human agents the responsibility for the crucifixion [1Co.2:6-8].”  p.29 “Men and angels alike have been reconciled to God through the Cross [Col.1:16-20].”  Caird includes even disobedient angels.  p.30 “The state itself may be brought progressively more and more within the Christian dispensation.”  p.46 “In Col [1:20] Paul emphatically asserts that the powers are created beings… destined through Christ to be reconciled to God.”  p.56 “The sphere of Yahweh’s sovereignty was steadily extended until it became commensurate with the universe.”  p.83 “The powers could be reconciled to God only when they had been deprived of their evil potentiality and made subject to Christ.”  p.91 “Thus in putting Christ to death the powers were not asserting their control over Him, they were losing the only chance of control they ever had.”  p.101 “The powers of evil have been defeated by the obedience of Christ.”  p.69 “The world empires of the past are to give place to the saints of the Most High [Da.7:27].”

He.2:5 “He [God] did not subject to angels the world [inhabited earth] to come.”  Cambridge Bible He.2:5 “Things in their pre-Christian condition had been subjected to angels.”  Now there’s no legal angelic dominion.  Col.2:18 ESV “Let no one disqualify you, insisting on asceticism and the worship of angels.”  Angels aren’t to be worshiped (ref Re.19:10, 22:8-9, Lk.4:6-8).  Rather….

Ps.97:7 “Worship [shakáw h7812] Him [YHVH], all you gods [elohim h430, LXX angels].”  2Ki.5:14-18 Syrians worshiped (h7812) the god Rimmón (Remphán Ac.7:43); the healed Syrian Naamán took back to Syria some Israel soil to make an altar on which he’d sacrifice to YHVH.  Zep.2:11 YHVH the Lord of hosts will famish all the elohim of the earth, and eventually all people will worship (h7812) Him.  Barnes Notes Zep.2:11 “One universal worship shall ascend to God from all everywhere.”  Jesus asserted that His heavenly Father is the “only true God”, Jn.17:3.

Paul wrote that Christians become adopted sons (and daughters, 2Co.6:18) of God!  Ro.8:15 “You have received the Spirit of divine adoption as sons, by whom we cry out, ‘Abbáh, Father.”  also see Ro.8:23, Ep.1:5.  Humanity, made in God’s image & likeness, will share in the God Family!  Heiser op. cit., p.353 “Humanity will become divine [2Pe.1:4?] and displace the lesser elohim over the nations under the authority of the unique divine Son.”  According to Paul, we saints will even judge angels (1Co.6:3).

Again, for more about God’s spirit creation, see Part 1 and the topics: “Spirits – Made by God in Light”, “Watchers and Gen. 6 ‘Sons Of God”, “Names & Titles of God in Scripture”, “Michael in the Bible”.

 

Heavenly Host Authorities and Powers (1)

This topic is about God’s heavenly host.  It expands on the material and Bible verses presented in the topics “Spirits – Made by God in Light”, “Watchers and Gen. 6 ‘Sons Of God”, “Names & Titles of God in Scripture”, “Jesus Was The Old Testament God”, “Michael in the Bible”.  Reference those topics for more background.

To begin, from the topic “Spirits – Made By God in Light”: After Light was brought forth on the 1^st day (Ge.1:3), God made spirit beings lesser than Himself.  Ps.104:2-4 Septúagint/LXX “Who makes His angels spirits”.  The angelic order is composed of spirit beings.  God’s heavenly host (tsabáw Strongs h6635, Hebrew) includes angels.  Ne.9:6 “You are the Lord [YHVH h3068], who has made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host. The host of heaven worships You.”  Cambridge Bible Ne.9:6 “Most probably means the created spirits.”  Benson Commentary “All the inhabitants of heaven.”  Gill Exposition “Angels were made by him, Heb.1:7; and, as the Jewish writers say, on the 2^nd day of the creation, though some say on the 5^th.”  Col.1:16 “By Him [Christ the Son] all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible.”  The Lord Christ shared in the Creation.  It includes the heavenly host of beings, normally not visible to human eyes.  JFB Commentary Col.1:16 “Invisible – the world of spirits.”  Barnes Notes “The angels we cannot see. Inhabitants of distant worlds.”  Benson Commentary “The different orders of angels, both those that stood and those that afterward fell.”

Jn.1:14 Jesus was the primordial “Word” (lógos g3056, Greek) of God.  Jn.1:1-3 “The Word was God. All things came into being through Him [Christ the Word].”  “All things” may include lesser spirit beings.  Expositor’s Greek Testament Jn.1:3 “In 1Cor.8:6 Paul distinguishes between the Father as the primal source of all things and the Son as the actual Creator.”  Christ as Executive Creator.  He.12:9 God is the “Father of spirits”.  Meyer’s New Testament Commentary “God, who is Father in regard to the higher spiritual domain of life.”  Barnes Notes He.12:9 “God is Himself a Spirit [Jn.4:24]. Angels and human souls [or spirits] may be represented as especially His offspring.”  JFB Commentary “God is…the Creator of spirits like Himself, in contrast to men who are flesh.”  Pulpit Commentary “It isn’t human spirits only that are here in view. God is the Father of all ‘the spirits.”

In the Old Testament (OT), some lesser spirit beings are referred to as “sons of God”, béne ha Élohim (h1121 h430).  Jb.38:7 at Creation “the morning stars sang together, and the sons of God [bene Elohim] shouted for joy.”  v.7 LXX (Greek) “When the stars were made, all My angels praised Me with a loud voice.”  Da.3:25 “Like a son of Elaáh [bar Elahin h1247 h426, Aramaic].”  Ps.89:6-7 “Who in heaven can be compared to YHVH? Who among the sons of El [bene Elim h1121 h410] can be likened to YHVH? El is greatly to be feared in the council [sode h5475] of the holy ones, to be had in reverence of all those around Him.”  Poole Commentary Ps.89:7 “The whole society of angels.”  Ps.97:9 “You, YHVH are exalted far above all gods [elohim].”  Ex.15:11 LXX “Who is like You among the gods [théos g2316], O Lord [Kúrios g2962].”  Ps.29:1 “O you sons of El [bene Elim], give unto YHVH glory and strength.”  Barnes Notes Ps.29:1 “The psalmist calls upon the angels.”  Ps.96:9 LXX “Worship the Lord [Kurios] in His holy court.”  YHVH the Lord is superior to others.

Da.4:35 the Most High does according to His will in the army of heaven.  JFB Commentary Da.4:17 “A solemn council of the heavenly ones is supposed (cf. Job 1:6, 2:1), over which God presides supreme.”  Jb.1:6, 2:1 “There was a day when the sons of God [bene ha elohim] came to appear before YHVH.”

1Ki.22:19-23 LXX NETS “I saw the Lord God of Israel sitting on His throne, and all the host (stratía g4756) of heaven stood near on His right and on His left.”  Here one of the Lord’s host offered to be a lying spirit to deceive king Aháb!  In the New Testament (NT), Lk.2:13 “Suddenly a vast heavenly host [stratia] appeared, praising God”.  Is.6:1-3 “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord [YHVH] of hosts.”

Ps.82:1-2 “Elohim stands in the assembly of El; He judges among the elohim. How long will you judge unjustly?”  v.6 “I have said, ‘You are elohim’; all of you are sons of the Most High [bene Elyón h1121 h5945].”  However, v.7 “But you shall die like men” may indicate physical judges (not celestial)?  Ps.8:5 Humans are created a little lower than the heavenly beings (elohim h430; LXX “angels”, He.2:7).  ref the topic “Watchers and Gen. 6 ‘Sons of God” for Bible commentaries regarding God’s council.

Yet some celestial beings weren’t loyal or obedient to God; they didn’t follow His guidelines!  Jb.4:18 “His angels (maláwk h4397) He charged with folly.”  Barnes Notes “The idea is that of foolishness.”  Jb.15:15 “He puts no trust in His holy ones; the heavens are not pure in His sight.”  Poole Commentary “i.e., angels.”  Jb.25:5 “The stars are not pure in His sight.”  JFB Commentary “Angels, of which stars are emblems.”

In the NT, some beings in God’s celestial host are called “authorities”, “powers”, “principalities”.  Our Bible translations use English words to describe or identify (ruling) members/groups of God’s spirit creation, the heavenly host.  But some translations use the same English word to represent various terms of the Greek text source manuscripts.  That unspecific practice may confuse.  For consistency, I’ll use the following English words for the associated Greek NT & OT LXX terms:

Authority exousía g1849: Col.1:13 “The Father has rescued us from the authority of darkness.”

Authority g1849 and Powers dúnamis g1411: 1Pe.3:22 “Angels and authorities and powers having been subjected to Him [Christ].”  Cambridge Bible “Including the whole hierarchy of heaven.”  Pulpit Commentary “The evil angels also…against their will.”  Re.13:2 “The dragon gave the beast [a human rule] his power and authority.”  (cf. Lk.4:36, 9:1 regarding the power of Jesus given to His disciples.)

Principality arché g746 and Powers g1411: Ro.8:38 “Neither death, nor life, nor angels, principalities or powers…shall separate us from the love of God.”

Principalities g746 and Authorities g1849: Ep.3:10 “That there be made known to the principalities and authorities in the heavenly places the wisdom of God.”  Ep.6:12 “We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but with principalities and authorities, against spiritual authority in heavenly places.”  Col.1:16 “In Him [Christ the Son] were all things created, those visible and invisible; whether thrones, lordships, principalities or authorities; all things by Him and for Him.”  Col.2:10 “You are made full in Him [Christ], who is the head of all principality and authority.”  Col.2:15 “Having stripped the principalities and authorities, He made a show of them openly, having triumphed over them.”  (cf. Lk.12:11 & 20:20 & Tit.3:1, which relate to human rule.)

Principalities g746 and Authority g1849 and Powers g1411: Ep.1:20-21 “He [Father God] set Christ at His own right hand in the heavens, far above every principality, authority and power.”  Gill Exposition “Far above…good angels and bad angels, and civil magistrates.”  1Co.15:24 “Then comes the end…when He has put down all principality and authority and power.”  JFB Commentary “Whether openly opposed powers, as Satan [a seraph dragon? cf. Is.6:2] and his angels, or kings & angelic principalities.”

Ruler/Prince árchon g758: Da.12:1 LXX Michael the archangel is the great (mégas g3173) ruler/prince.  (cf. Da.10:13, 20-21, Jude 9.)  Jn.12:31 Jesus said, “Now will the prince of this world [kósmos g2889] be cast out”.  Ellicott Commentary “Prince of this world’ was the regular rabbinic title for Satan, as ruler of the gentiles. Jews as well as gentiles have been subjects of the prince of this world (Jn.8:44).”  Re.12:9 “The great dragon was thrown down, the serpent of old who is called the devil and satan.”  Robert Henderson Operating in the Courts of Heaven, p.173 “Fallen seraphim are now principalities.”

Ruler g758 and Authority g1849: Ep.2:2 “In time past you lived according to the eon [aión g165] of this world [kosmos], according to the ruler of the authority of the air, the spirit that now works in the sons of disobedience.”

Thrones thrónos g2362: Col.1:16 again.  Re.11:16 “The 24 elders [who wear crowns, Re.4:10], sitting on their thrones before God, fell on their faces and worshiped God.”  also cf. Re.20:4, Mt.19:28.

Most of the occurrences of the above NT terms relating to the heavenly host come from Paul’s writings.

What of those celestial beings/“sons of God” and their human rulers who weren’t loyal or obedient to God?  Is.24:21 “In that day the Lord will punish the host of high ones on high, and the kings of the earth on earth.”  Ellicott Commentary “The ‘principalities and powers in heavenly places.”  Je.46:25 “YHVH of hosts, the God of Israel says, ‘I will punish Amon the god of Thebes [capitol of S. Egypt], Egypt, its gods [elohim] and its kings.”  cf. 1Co.6:3 “Don’t you know that we will judge angels?”

Da.10:13 LXX NETS “The ruler [archon g758] of the kingdom of Persia withstood me 21 days. Michael, one of the chief rulers [g758], came to help me; and I left Him there with the ruler of the Persians.”  G.B. Caird Principalities and Powers, p.6 “These princes are not to be identified with Alexander the Great and Darius 3. They are the angelic guardians of the two nations (Da.10:13, 20, Da.12:1).”  Ibid., p.11 “The Septuagint. It is here we find the terms powers (dunamis g1411), authorities (exousia g1849), principalities (arche g746)…applied for the first time to angelic beings (Ps.148:2, 103:21).”

Members of God’s heavenly host had a measure of authority over their nations.  De.32:8-9 LXX “When the Most High divided the nations, He set the bounds of the nations according to the number of the angels of God. His people Jacob became the portion of the Lord, Israel.”  Wisdom of Sírach 17:17 “In the division of the nations, the Lord set a [celestial] ruler over every people, but Israel is the Lord’s.”  Book of Jubilees 15:32 “Over Israel He did not appoint any angel or spirit, for He alone is their ruler.”

Wikipedia: Origins of Judaism – Iron Age Yahwism “The various national gods were more or less equal, reflecting the fact that kingdoms themselves were more or less equal, and within each kingdom a divine couple, made up of the national god and his consort – Yahweh [YHVH] and the goddess Asheráh in Israel and Judah – headed a pantheon of lesser gods.”  The “sons of God” [bene ha Elohim] were lesser.

Ex.20:3 Israel shall have no other elohim before/besides YHVH!  Claude Mariottini Other Gods Mentioned in the Old Testament “The 2^nd commandment declares that in Israel no other god should be worshiped in addition to YHVH…the words of the commandment do not deny the existence of other gods…Monothéism, that there was no other god besides YHVH, came into existence late in Israel.”

Wikipedia: Monotheism “The belief that there is only one deity, an all-supreme being that is universally referred to as God.”  Wikipedia: Polythéism “The belief in multiple deities, usually a pantheon of gods and goddesses.”  Wikipedia: Henothéism “The worship of a single supreme God that does not deny the existence or possible existence of other deities.”  Wikipedia: Monólatry “The belief in the existence of many gods, but with the consistent worship of only one [selected] deity.”  Monolatry and henotheism are similar, but henotheists worship only the God they view as the greatest.

Paul wrote in 1Co.8:5-6, “There be many gods and many lords. But for us there is one God, the Father…and one Lord, Jesus Christ.”  Jesus spoke of His heavenly Father in Jn.17:3. “This is life eternal, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.”

This topic is continued and concluded in “Heavenly Host Authorities and Powers (2)”.  Part 2 includes additional views of theologians and commentaries about God’s host.

Mountaintop Experiences With God

Though God is with us Christians down in the figurative valleys of our lives, we long for those rarefied mountaintop experiences with Him.  Those days, hours or minutes when the Lord’s Presence seems so real, so close to us!  This topic is a revelation from October 2022.

In the pages of the Bible, we read of literal mountaintop experiences that saints of old had with God.

Let’s begin with Noah.  As the Noachian Flood subsided, Ge.8:4 the ark settled “on the mountains [har Strongs h2022, Hebrew] of Ararát” in old Armenia.  After exiting the ark, Noah worshiped God on the mountain.  Ge.8:20-21 “Noah built an altar to the Lord [YHVH h3068], he took of every clean animal and clean bird, and offered burnt offerings on the altar.”  Ge.9:1-ff God blessed Noah, and then hung His unstrung bow in the clouds, rainbow covenanting He would never again bring such a Flood.

Abraham had more than one literal mountaintop encounter with God.  When Abrám came into the land of Canáan, he surveyed the Land.  Ge.12:8 “He proceeded from there to the mountain on the east of Bethél and pitched his tent…there he built an altar to YHVH and called upon the name of YHVH.”  Abram worshiped there.  ‘Bethel’ means ‘House of God’.  It was situated 10 miles N of Jerusalem in the territory that’d later be allotted to the Israelite tribe of Ephráim (Jsh.16:1, 5).  After Abram’s sojourn in Egypt, he returned to the sanctuary near Bethel and again worshiped the Lord at the altar (Ge.13:1-4).

In Ge.22:1-18, Abraham is on Mt Moriáh (v.2, 14).  There the Lord promised him, v.17-18 “I will greatly bless you, and I will greatly multiply your seed as the stars of heaven. And in your seed [or offspring] all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.”  YHVH so blessed Abraham on Mt Moriah!  In Ga.3:16, the apostle Paul tied that “seed/offspring” to Jesus Christ.

Moses had a mountaintop experience with God at the burning bush in Ex.3:1-6. “Moses was pasturing the flock of his father-in-law Jethró, the priest of Midián. Moses led the flock and came to Horéb, the mountain of God.”  Midian was S of Israel, in the NW Arabian peninsula E of the Gulf of Áqaba.  There YHVH made Himself known to Moses!  Barnes Notes Ex.3:1 “Horeb, a name given to the northern part of the Sináitic range.”  Bible historians think Horeb and Mt Sinai: were two names for the same sacred mountain (cf. Ex.3:1, 12, 19:18, De.4:15, Ex.31:18, 1Ki.8:9); or they were twin peaks in the same range; or one was the name of the entire range and the other was one peak in it.

Following the exodus of Israel from Egypt, Moses returned to Mt Sinai.  Ex.19:18-20 “Mt Sinai was covered with smoke, because YHVH descended upon it in fire; the whole mountain quaked violently. The Lord called Moses to the top of the mountain, and Moses went up.”  This was the great encounter where the Lord Christ told Moses His Ten Commandments/Decalogue/Testimony for His people!  We can only imagine how Moses must have felt atop the mountain!  Perhaps a minor earthquake occurred to signify that awesome event and the Presence of God to the people below.

Moses would again go up Mt Sinai, Ex.33:18-23.  Then YHVH said in Ex.34:1-8, “Come up in the morning to Mt Sinai and present yourself to Me on the top of the mountain”.  Ex.34:27-30 “The skin of Moses’ face shone because of his speaking with Him.”  After fasting for 40 days on the mountain in the Lord’s Presence, Moses’ face had become so radiant that the people then feared to come near him!

In Jsh.8:30-35, Moses’ successor Joshua was at Mt Ebál in the Promised Land. “Joshua built an altar to YHVH the God of Israel, in Mt Ebal. They offered burnt offerings to YHVH and sacrificed peace offerings. And he wrote there on stones a copy of the law of Moses.”  Joshua’s actions fulfilled the instructions of De.27:1-8.  There on stones in the Land, the Lord’s precepts could be read & understood.

Some Bible historians think only the Ten Commandments were inscribed on those plastered memorial stones.  Others think the inscription consisted of only the blessings & curses that are contained in the Law; not the entire Toráh/Péntateuch.  However, a copy of the earlier 1750 BC Code of Hammurábi’s 282 laws contains 4,130 lines of Akkádian cúneiform text all engraved on a 7-ft tall basalt stéle.

Mt Zión too is called God’s mountain.  Ps.48:1-2 “Great is the Lord. In the city [Jerusalem] of our God, His holy mountain; is Mt Zion.”  Later in Israel’s history, the tabernacle of David was pitched on Mt Zion.  The Lord said in Ps.2:6, “I have installed my king on Mt Zion, My holy mountain”.  There near his palace, king David worshiped the Lord and wrote many Psalms.  He actually sat before the holy Ark of God in the sacred tent on Mt Zion, in His Presence!  1Ch.17:16 “David the king went and sat before YHVH.”  (see “Tent/Tabernacle of David” and “Zion in the Bible”.)  Ps.125:1-2 “They that trust in the Lord shall be as Mt Zion; which cannot be moved, but abides forever.”  Barnes Notes “The mountain which David fortified.”  Gill Exposition “Mount Zion is immovable, and continually abides.”

David later sacrificed burnt & peace offerings to the Lord at his altar on adjacent Mt Moriah, at the then site of Ornán/Araunáh’s threshing floor (2Chr.3:1).  1Ch.21:18, 26 “David called to YHVH and He answered him with fire from heaven on the altar.” (see “Fire From Heaven!”)  There at that mountain!

The Lord’s temple was constructed by Solomon on Mt Moriah.  2Chr.3:1 “Solomon began to build the house of YHVH in Jerusalem on Mt Moriah, where YHVH had appeared to his father David.”  At the temple dedication, the priests, Levitical singers and instrumental musicians praised the Lord.  God’s glorious Presence became so great that the priests couldn’t stand up!  2Ch.5:12-14 “The priests couldn’t stand to minister because of the cloud, for the glory of the Lord filled the house of God.”  Awesome!

2Ch.7:1-3 “Now when Solomon finished praying, fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices; and the glory of YHVH filled the house. And the priests couldn’t enter in because the glory of YHVH filled YHVH’s house. And all the sons of Israel bowed down on the pavement with their faces to the ground, and worshiped and gave praise to YHVH!”  Praise the Lord!

1Ki.18:19-ff is the account of the prophet Elijáh versus the priests of Baál at Mt Carmél in N Israel.  v.30-37 Elijah built an altar there, made a trench around it, pieced an ox on it, and prayed a 30-second prayer.  v.38-39 “Then the fire of YHVH fell and consumed the burnt offering and the wood and stones and dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench. And when the people saw it they fell on their faces and said, ‘The Lord, He is God; the Lord, He is God.”  God showed up with fire!  (Baal didn’t.)

1Ki.19:7-10 in the aftermath of the phenomenon at Mt Carmel, the Messenger of YHVH told Elijah to eat prior to his journey to Horeb, the mountain of God.  The place where Moses had the burning bush experience (Ex.3:1-ff).  Elijah then lodged in a cave at Mt Horeb.  YHVH told him in 1Ki.19:11, “Go out and stand on the mountain before the Lord’. And behold, the Lord was passing by.”  v.12-21 in a soft whisper, YHVH gave him His instructions.  Elijah left Mt Horeb and anointed Elishá as prophet.

Later Isaiah prophesied in Is.2:1-3. “In the last days, the mountain of the house of YHVH will be established as chief of the mountains, and all nations will flow into it. Many peoples will say, ‘Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord. That He may teach us His ways, and that we may walk in His paths.’ For the law will go forth from Zion.”  (cf. Mic.4:1-2.)  The time would come when Jews and gentiles will universally seek YHVH.  Benson Commentary Is.2:2 “The times of the Messiah, which are always spoken of by the prophets as the last days.”  More about this in the New Testament (NT).

The scene of Ezekiel’s grandest vision (approximately 572 BC) was on a high mountain!  The prophet Ezekiel was exiled to the river Chebár in Babylonia (not the 2Ki.17:6 Khabór in Assyria).  Ezk.40:1-2 “In the visions of God, He brought me into the land of Israel and set me on a very high mountain. And on it to the south was a structure like a city.”  It is thought the mountain could be Moriah.  Ezk.43:12 “This is the law of the house [temple]. On the top of the mountain the whole border around it shall be most holy.”  Ezekiel’s mountaintop vision comprises all of his book’s final chapters, Ezk.40–48.

Mountaintops on earth were the points (symbolically) nearest to God Most High in heaven!  Wikipedia: Sacred Mountains “The most symbolic aspect of a mountain is the peak because it was believed that it is closest to heaven or other religious realms.”  And majestic mountain scenery can naturally inspire a sense of awe!  Ps.121:1-2 “I lifted up my eyes to the mountains, from whence my help shall come. My help comes from the Lord, maker of heaven and earth.”  YHVH dwelt ‘above’ the most elevated topography of earth, the mountains.  In that sense, mountain summits approached the heavenly realm.  Bengel’s Gnomen Mt.5:1 “A mountain, as being a lofty part of the earth, and thereby nearer to heaven, is best suited for the most holy actions.”  Atop mountains, heaven and earth seemed to overlap or merge.

In the NT, Jesus, the Son of the Most High (Lk.1:31-32), communed with Father God on mountains and hills.  Just prior to selecting His twelve disciples/apostles, Jesus prayed at a mountain.  Lk.6:12-13 “He went out into a mountain [óros Strongs g3735, Greek] to pray, and spent the whole night in prayer to God. When daylight came, He called His disciples and chose twelve from them, whom He also named apostles.”  JFB Commentary Lk.6:12 “Here we find the Lord Himself in prolonged communion with His Father in preparation for the solemn appointment of those men.”  Perhaps Jesus spent close to 12 hours (cf. Jn.11:9-10) in prayer that night in the mountainside, praying one hour about each of the 12 disciples selected?

Most Christians know of Jesus’ famous ‘Sermon on the Mount’, when He spoke eight ‘Beatitudes’ or ‘Blessed Attitudes’.  Mt.5:1-10 “Seeing the multitudes, He [Jesus] went up into a mountain; and after He sat down, His disciples came to Him. He taught them, saying….”  Jesus spoke to them from a “level place” (Lk.6:17-22) in the mountainside.  That specific mountain is thought to be near the N shore of the Sea of Galilee, but to date it hasn’t been identified.  Barnes Notes Mt.5:1 “This mountain, or hill, was somewhere in the vicinity of Capernaúm, but where precisely is not mentioned.”

After He fed the 5,000, Jesus sent His disciples on ahead of Him in a boat to Bethsaidá on the other side of the Sea.  Mk.6:44-51 “After bidding them farewell, He went away to the mountain to pray. The wind was against them [in the boat]; at the fourth watch of the night [3-6 AM] He came to them, walking on the sea.”  They were frightened and amazed.  But when Jesus got in the boat with them, the wind & waves ceased!  This amazing event was immediately preceded by Jesus praying on a mountain.

Jesus’ ‘Transfiguration’ occurred traditionally either on Mt Tábor (Lower Galilee) or else Mt Hermon (Lebanon), according to Bible scholars.  Mt.17:1-5 “Jesus took with Him Peter and James and John his brother, and brought them up to a high mountain by themselves. He was transfigured before them; and His face shone like the sun and His garments became as white as light. And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking to Him. And a voice out of the cloud, saying ‘This is My beloved Son [Jesus], with Whom I am well-pleased.”  That incredible encounter occurred on a mountain!  Later, Peter wrote, 2Pe.1:18 “We were with Him on the holy mount.”  There they actually heard God’s audible voice!

{Sidelight: In scripture, only three persons fasted for 40 days and 40 nights.  Moses on Mt Sinai, Elijah while enroute to Mt Horeb, and Jesus in the wilderness at the beginning of His ministry.  ref Ex.34:27-28, 1Ki.19:8-9, Mt.4:1-2.  It’s more than coincidental that the same three were seen together on a “high mountain” in the ‘Transfiguration’ account!  Moses represented the ‘Law’, Elijah the ‘Prophets’, and Jesus has been called the ‘Living Word’ (tying the sections of scripture).}

Another of Jesus’s famous teachings is His ‘Olivet Discourse’.  It is seen in all three synoptic gospels – Matthew, Mark, Luke.  Wikipedia: Mount of Olives “A mountain ridge east of and adjacent to Jerusalem’s Old City. Several key events in the life of Jesus, as related in the Gospels, took place on the Mt of Olives.”  The Mt of Olives is one of the ‘Seven Hills of Jerusalem’.  Mk.13:3-4 “As Jesus was sitting on the Mt of Olives opposite the temple, Peter and James and John and Andrew asked Him privately, ‘Tell us, what is the sign that these things are about to be accomplished?”  Also Jesus would later ascend to heaven from the Mt of Olives (Ac.1:9-12).

After His resurrection, Jesus met with His disciples again on a mountain.  Mt.28:16-18 “The eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain Jesus had designated. When they saw Him, they worshiped Him.”  This may have been a mountain familiar to them together with Jesus.  Pulpit Commentary Mt.28:16 “Some have fixed [Mt] Tabor as the scene of this revelation, others the Mt of the Beatitudes.”

Our Bible ends with John’s vision of Revelation, given by God (Re.1:1).  At the end of the book, an angel showed John a future city.  Re.21:9-11 “He carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the holy city Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, having the glory of God.”  The final vision of scripture was set on a high mountain!  (succeeding Ezk.40:2-ff.)  There John viewed the Bride of the Lamb, the Church triumphant!  The antitypic heavenly Mt Zion/Sión (He.12:22-24).  also see the topic “God Tabernacles With Humans”.

It may have come as a surprise to you that so many notable events in the Bible occurred on mountains.

We too may feel closer to the Lord when we’re up on a physical mountain, in quiet.  e.g. There’s a Mt Zion in Clallam County of Washington state.  Its 4,278-ft peak is a hike in the Olympic National Forest.

If we will continue to obey the Lord and follow His ways, He blesses & guides us His people to live our lives on the figurative high places!  De.32:13 “He made him ride on the high places of the earth.”  We’re watched over by God Most High.  Ps.121:8 NIV “The Lord keeps watch over your coming and going, both now and forevermore.”

Perhaps you too have had a rarefied mountaintop experience(s).  We’d like those special times with the Lord’s Presence to recur in our lives often.  But we don’t have it that way now.  Yet we can cherish the memory of those precious occasions when God was so near, so real!  And seek to draw close again.

I’m reminded of the Don Potter song (also sung by Paul Wilbur) Show Me Your Face: “Moses stood on a mountain, waiting for You to pass by. You placed Your hand over his face, in Your Presence he wouldn’t die. All Israel saw the glory, and it shines down through the age. Now You’ve called us to boldly, seek Your face. Show me Your face Lord, show me Your face. Then gird up my legs, that I might stand in this holy place. Show me Your face Lord, Your power and Your grace. I could make it through the end, if I can just…see Your face.”

Someday we will all see Jesus’ glorious face!  1Jn.3:2 “We will see Him as He is.”

By the grace of God, by His Son, and the lead of the Holy Spirit…may we remain faithful, unto the end.

 

Saved, Sealed, Preserved

{Hi.  My name is Tim Kincaid.  This essay is my sermon of 6/5/2022, Pentecost.  My dad added verses & Strongs numbers in the end ‘Translational Notes’ while editing it for his Bible Topic Exposition site.}

Smucker’s good!  “With a name like ‘Smucker’s’, it HAS to be good!”

Did you ever see the Smucker’s ‘Happy Birthday’ greetings on TV?  Smucker’s recently was wishing a happy 105^th birthday to some really old person.

Smucker’s, as many of you know, is a brand of preserves or jam.  A TV show is used by Smucker’s preserves to congratulate centenarians, because those folks have been well-preserved through time.  Like the Smucker’s jarred fruit.

We children of God are the same way, in a sense.  We’ve been sealed, and are being saved and preserved for a future long existence into eternity!

Today I’d like to talk a little bit about birthdays, birthday gifts, and birthday presents/Presence.  God made His own Presence available to the church!

After Jesus died and rose again, around 30 AD or so, the upcoming Pentecost marked the birthday of the church.  Act 2:1-4 “When the day of Pentecost had come…they were all filled with the Holy Spirit.”  At that event, Jesus’ original disciples received gifts of the Holy Spirit (HS).  Then Act 2:41 “There were added that day about 3,000 souls.”  And many more also would be added to their number.

The birthday gifts we give to others are sealed in wrappings to keep them looking new or from being damaged.  The true image is hidden from others who just see its outer package.  The gift has been concealed and sealed away inside wrappings.  This makes it more special.

Spiritual gifts from God are similar.  The new person we’re becoming isn’t immediately apparent to others.  We too are sealed.  And Rom 11:29 “God’s gifts and calling are irrevocable.”

The HS seals us until the redemption of our body (Ro.8:23), from sin’s consequences.  Eph 4:30 “Don’t grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.”  Rev 7:3 “Do not harm the earth, the sea or the trees until we have sealed the servants of our God upon their foreheads.”

We’re preserved for a future time.  Psa 116:6 “The Lord preserves the simple. I was brought low, and He saved me.”  Salvation involves preservation.  We’re saved from the power or consequences of sin and God’s wrath.  Also He rescues, delivers or saves us from difficulties during this life.

Salvation is past…present…future.

Past: Eph 2:8 you have been saved.   2Ti 1:9 God has saved us.  Tit 3:5 God saved us.  In the past.

Present: 1Co 1:18 us who are being saved.  2Co 2:15 those who are being saved.  1Pe 4:18 if the righteous person is saved with difficulty.  In the present.

Future: Mrk 16:16 whoever believes and is baptized shall be saved.  Act 16:31 believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved.  Rom 5:9-10 “We shall be saved from wrath through Him [Jesus]. We shall be saved by His life.”  In the future.

“Preserve” in Old Testament (OT) verses: Jsh 24:17 “The Lord our God brought us and our fathers out of the land of Egypt, and preserved us in all the way we journeyed.”  Psa 37:28 “For the Lord loves justice, and doesn’t forsake His saints. They are preserved forever.”  David supplicated to God against his enemies in Psa 86:2. “Preserve my life, for I am a godly man. You are my God.”  Psa 97:10 “The Lord preserves the souls of His saints.”  Psa 145:20 “The Lord preserves all who love Him.”  Pro 4:6 “Do not forsake wisdom, and she shall preserve you.”

“Preserve” in New Testament (NT) verses: 2Pe 2:5 “God did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah.”  1Th 5:23 Youngs Literal Translation “May your whole spirit, soul and body be preserved unblameably in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ.”  Jude 1 KJV “Jude, to them that are sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ.”

What is involved in sealing and preserving a jar of Smucker’s Jam?  There’s just a few simple steps: #1 Add salt & sugar to the fruit.  #2 Combine those ingredients with water; heat & bring to a boil.  #3 Transfer the fruit mixture to a new clean jar; as it cools, the lid seals; store it.

Taking a closer look at this process, we see similarities to the work God does in the Christian life.

#1 Add salt & sugar to the fruit.  Believers are seasoned with salt, a preservative.  Mrk 9:50 “Salt is good; but if the salt should lose its flavor, how can you make it salty? Have salt in yourselves.”  The apostle Paul wrote in 2Co 2:15, “We are unto God a sweet savor of Christ, in those who are being saved and among those who are perishing”.

#2 Combine the ingredients with water; heat & bring to a boil.  The apostle Peter said in Act 2:38, “Repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit”.  Believers are immersed in water at baptism.  Act 8:38 “Both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water, and he [Philip] baptized him.”

After combining with water, the fruit mixture must be heated or tried.  Mrk 9:49 “Everyone will be salted with fire, and every sacrifice will be seasoned with salt.”  John the Baptist had said in Mat 3:11, “I baptize you with water for repentance, but He [Jesus] who is coming after me is mightier than I. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.”

Fire can be symbolic of personal trials.  Peter wrote to scattered Christians in 1Pe 4:11-12. “Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you. Rather be glad that you are sharing Christ’s sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may rejoice with exceeding joy.”  Trials can be for our ultimate good!

#3 Transfer the ingredients to a new, clean jar; let it cool & seal; then store it.  Jesus stated in Mat 9:17, “Neither is new wine put into old wineskins. If it is, the skins burst, the wine is spilled, and the skins are ruined. Instead, store new wine in new wineskins so that both are preserved.”  We’re becoming like new.

Paul wrote in 2Co 1:22, “God, who also has sealed us and given us the down payment of the Spirit in our hearts”.  And Eph 1:13 “In Him [Christ], you also, having heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, in Whom also having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise.”

Eph 2:20 Christ’s church is built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Himself being the chief cornerstone.  2Ti 2:19 “The foundation of God stands firm, having this seal, ‘The Lord knows those who are His.”  God knows His elect.

Once God sets a seal on something or someone, only God/Jesus can open or break that seal.  Rev 5:2 “I saw a mighty angel proclaiming with a loud voice, ‘Who is worthy to open the book, and to break its seals?”  v.5 “Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has prevailed.”  v.9 “You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals. For You were slain and with Your blood did purchase for God persons from every tongue, people, and nation.”  None but the Lord can break His seal.

Eph 2:7-8 “In order that in the ages to come He [God] might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you are saved through faith, and this not of yourselves; it is the gift of God.”  The faith to believe in Him is a gift from God (1Co 12:9).

So who has a preference; which jam or jelly is the best?  Do you have a favorite fruit preserve?  Grape, strawberry, peach, etc.  God has created so many varieties…all are good in their own way.

In Joh 15:1-11, Jesus said He is the vine and we are the (figurative) branches.  His Father prunes us branches so we can continue to bear fruit.  v.2 “He prunes it, that it may bear more fruit.”

All converts receive the same Holy Spirit, and we are to bear the fruit of the Spirit (ref Gal 5:22-23).  1Co 12:13 “By one Spirit we are all baptized into one body, and all were made to drink that one Spirit.”

The God-given gifts of the Spirit perform a variety of different functions, as we bear fruit for the Lord.  Again, there are different varieties of fruit in Smucker’s Jam.

In his letters, Paul listed several gifts of the Spirit.  1Co 12:8-11 “To one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit, to another faith, to another gifts of healing, to another works of power [miracles], to another prophecy, to another the discerning of spirits, to another kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. There is only one Spirit who does all these things by giving what God wants to give to each person.”  God, not we ourselves, determines which gifts and functions are given to whom.

Continuing in 1Co 12:28-30. “God has appointed in the church: 1^st apostles, 2^nd prophets, 3^rd teachers, then miracles, gifts of healings, helps, administrations, various tongues. All are not apostles, are they? All are not prophets…aren’t teachers, aren’t workers of miracles. All don’t have gifts of healings…all don’t speak with tongues, or interpret.”  Christians are talented, having received diversified gifts.

Paul listed more spiritual gifts in Rom 12:4-8, 13. “Just as we have many members in one body and all the members don’t have the same function, so we, who are many, are one body in Christ. We have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us.”  Here Paul includes serving, exhorting, giving, contributing to others’ needs, hospitality, etc.  (see my dad’s topic, “Spiritual Gifts and ‘Tongues”.)

Jesus gifted His apostles/disciples.  But earlier they’d argued about who among them was best.  Mrk 9:34-35 “On the journey they’d disputed one with another about which of them was the greatest.”  Jesus sat down with His disciples and taught them a lesson in humility; that true greatness is through service/ministering to others.

It’s not that one person is any better than another.  1Co 12:12-27 “The eye cannot say to the hand ‘I have no need of you’. Or the head say to the feet, ‘I have no need of you.”  What if the body began to argue with itself about which bodyparts are greater?  No, not that.  Rather, we’re to appreciate one another.

What’s important is that we thankfully receive God’s gift(s) for us.

And we’re sealed with His Spirit.  After that Passover when Jesus died and arose, His disciples waited and waited…for 50 days.  They waited to receive His promise of the Spirit (Luk 24:49; Act 1:4, 8).

In our life, we too wait on the Lord.  With God, gratification isn’t always instant.  Also, receiving our desires from God can be a process that takes time.  Patience too, is a fruit of the Spirit (Gal 5:22).

But what’s a few months or years when He’s sealed you and is preserving you for an eternity that lasts forever?!  That’s going to be a wonderful time, though we don’t really know yet what it will be like.

We now see through a glass (‘jar’) dimly, 1Co 13:12.  Yet we can be confidant!  We who are in Christ, who’ve been baptized, received His Holy Spirit, and sealed…for us it’s going to be really good!  Smucker’s good.

Until then, we too can take heart from 2Ti 4:18 KJV. “The Lord shall deliver me from every evil work and save [preserve KJV] me for His heavenly kingdom. To Him be glory forever and ever. Amen!”

{{Translational Notes: The OT Greek Septúagint/LXX and NT term for “saved” is sózo Strongs g4982.  ref Psa 116:6; Eph 2:8; 2Ti 1:9, 4:18; Tit 3:5; 1Co 1:18; 2Co 2:15; 1Pe 4:18; Mrk 16:16; Act 16:31; Rom 5:9-10.  The Greek verb rendered “sealed” is sphragízo g4972.  It occurs 27 times in the NT.  ref 2Co 1:22; Eph 1:13, 4:30; Rev 7:3.  The Greek term rendered “seal” is the noun sphragís g4973.  ref 2Ti 2:19; Rev 5:2, 5, 9.  The OT Hebrew term rendered “preserve” is shamár h8104.  ref Jsh 24:17; Psa 37:28, 86:2, 97:10, 145:20; Pro 4:6.  The Greek term rendered “preserved” in 2Pe 2:5 is phulásso g5442.  The term rendered “preserved” in 1Th 5:23 & Jude 1 KJV is tereotarého g5083 (or “kept”).  The Greek term rendered “gift” is chárisma g5486.  ref Rom 11:29, 12:6; 1Co 12:4, 9, 28-31. – BTE}}

Levites and the Exodus Multitude (2)

This Part 2 is the continuation and conclusion of “Levites and the Exodus Multitude (1)”.  Part 1 should be read first.  Little of the background material in (1) will be repeated here in (2).

In Part 1, three questions were posed:

#1. How did the lineage branch of Levi’s son Koháth (Jacob’s grandson), reckoned from that 1 man, become 8,600 male descendants early in the wilderness…after only 4 generations?!  Nu.3:27-28 “Of Kohath…the numbering of all the males from one month old and upwards, was 8,600.”  That’s an astounding increase in so few generations!  cf. 1Ch.6:1-3.  The lineage was traced in (1).

Levi and his 3 sons Kohath, Gershón, Merarí and their families moved with Jacob/Israel from the Land of Canáan to Egypt (Ge.46:6, 11) circa/c 1827 BC.

#2. How did the tribe of Levi, grown from his 3 sons, become 22,000 or 22,300 males from age one month and up…during that same period (215 years)?!  Nu.3:39 “All the numbered men of the Levites, from a month old and upward, were 22,000.”  An astounding increase!

Furthermore, during that same period, the initial 75-85 males (Ge.46:27 Septúagint/LXX) with Jacob & Joseph in Egypt increased to 603,550 non-Levite warriors age 20 and up, early in the wilderness (Nu.1:45-47)!  Exiting Egypt, Ex.12:37-38 “The sons of Israel journeyed…600,000 men on foot. And a mixed multitude went with them.”  Josephus Antiquities of the Jews 2:15:1 “The entire multitude of those who went out, including the women and children, that were of a fit age for war, were 600,000.”  Philo On the Life of Moses 1:27:147 “The men of age to bear arms were more than 600,000 men.”

#3. How did the 75-85 males become 600,000 after only 4 generations?!  Another astounding increase in only 215 years!  (ref Part 1 for the timeline.)  Could near 600,000 be accurate?  also see the topics “Chronology: Abraham to the Exodus” and “Israelites Identification”.

Following Jacob’s move into Egypt, Ge.47:27 “Israel settled in the land of Egypt, in the Góshen region, and became very numerous”.  Egypt’s Pharaoh said in Ex.1:7-9, “The people of the sons of Israel are more and mightier than we”.  ref Ps.105:23-24.  Perhaps they really did outnumber the Egyptians!?  Ex.1:22 so Pharaoh commanded for all Hebrew male babies to be cast into the Nile River.  Ex.2:2-3, 10 when Moses was three months old, his mother placed him in a basket and put him in the Nile.  Ac.7:19-21 confirms the infants were put out to die.  (Infanticide reduced somewhat the Hebrew population.)

Ex.18:21 Moses, early on the way to the Promised Land, was advised by his father-in-law Jethró  to divide all the departees according to thousands of people, or clans.

Yet in Ex.23:29-30 the Lord told Moses that He would drive out the wicked inhabitants of the Land of Canaan little by little, so the Land wouldn’t become desolate and wild animals be too numerous.  Apparently the approximately 2 million people (including women & children) coming in from Egypt to replace the wicked occupants wouldn’t fill the Land area.  Comparatively, in 2020 AD the population of modern Israel was 8.5 million…6 million more than the total exodus population approaching that Land.  Though ‘Hebrews’ had outnumbered Egyptians, the Canaanites outnumbered the exodus population.

Prior to entering the Land, in De.11:23 Moses told the next two generations, “The Lord will drive out all these nations from before you, and you will dispossess nations greater and mightier than you”.  In those days, a force of 600,000 men would itself be a great army!  But others had greater renown.  The combined armies/peoples of the seven “nations” were greater (De.7:1).  Nu.13:31 the Israelite spies said, “We can’t attack those people, for they are stronger than we”.  So they feared the Land occupants.

In Nu.20:17 & 21:22, it seems unrealistic that 2 million people (including women & children) could’ve traveled on the King’s Highway en masse.  Even if they walked on the road plain in ‘rows’ of seventy, the line of people would have stretched for miles!

Nu.3:16-20, Ex.6:16-25 and 1Ch.6:1-4 attest to the same number of few Levite generations, beginning with Levi.  There’s no indication that any generations were omitted/skipped.  see Part 1.

So, in light of the above passages (and those referenced in Part 1)…were there really 600,000 Israelite warriors, 22,000 Levite and 8,600 Kohathite males early in the wilderness?  That many?!  It is somewhat disconcerting that to date little or no evidence of a mass exodus totaling 2 million people in the wilderness has been found.  Perhaps continued archaeological efforts will unearth more evidence?

Following are three possible explanations for the large population numbers in the exodus/wilderness:

1.) Biblical numbers could’ve been misread or misunderstood by translators.  If so, there weren’t really as many as 8,600 Kohathites, 22,000 Levites, plus 600,000 soldiers then.  The Hebrew term for thousand is éleph (Strongs h505).  Eleph is also translated family in Jg.6:15 KJV.  But Jg.6:15 LXX, “Gideon said to Him, ‘My thousand [family KJV] is weakened in Manasseh”.  Did eleph really refer to a troop/family (instead of 1,000)?  For detailed analyses of this possibility, ref: John W. Wenham Large Numbers in the Old Testament, Colin J. Humphreys The Number of People in the Exodus From Egypt, Jim Snapp The Quest for the Historical Census, Clark Morledge Did An Army of 600,000 Israelites Conquer the Land of Canaan?, David M. Fouts A Defense of the Hyperbolic Interpretation of Numbers in the Old Testament, Ben-Zion Katz Recounting the Census.  It’s possible the numbers 600,000, 22,000, 8,600 were mistakes in translation from the ancient Hebrew.  However, 2,000 years ago the Jewish historians Josephus & Philo both said the number of exodus soldiers was 600,000.

2.) There were brothers or half-brothers in the generations, not listed by Moses in the Péntateuch.  For example, the later 1Ch.23:20 listing of Issiáh as a son of Moses’ uncle Uzziél may indicate that was the case.  Ge.5:3-30 said the ancient antediluvians had other unidentified sons & daughters.  Abraham had at least 6 additional identified sons not born to Sarah (Ge.25:1-2).  Some Bible historians and yeshíva teaching think the large population in the exodus resulted from polygyny.  e.g. c 1300 BC, Jg.8:30-32 “Gideon had seventy sons, for he had many wives. His concubine in Shechém also bore him a son, Abimélech. Gideon died at a good old age.”  (see “Polygyny – Lawful in God’s Eyes?”.)

3.) There were others besides Israelites in the exodus.  Included with the approximately 600,000 fighting men leaving Egypt (Nu.11:21) was a mixed multitude of people.  Adding women & children would’ve brought the total to 2,000,000 or so!  Nu.1:45-47 “All the numbered men were 603,550. The Levites weren’t numbered among them.”  Who all comprised this mixed multitude?

Ex.12:37-38 “A mixed multitude of people went up with them, along with flocks and herds.”  Others also left Egypt with biological Israelites.  JFB Commentary Ex.12:38 “A great rabble’ (see also Nu 11:4; De 29:11); slaves, persons in the lowest grades of society, partly natives and partly foreigners, bound close to them as companions in misery, and gladly availing themselves of the opportunity to escape.”  Ellicott Commentary “Some may have been Egyptians, impressed by the recent miracles; some foreigners held to servitude, like the Israelites, and glad to escape their masters.”  LXX NETS “A great mixed crowd went up with them.”  So many non-Israelites also left Egypt in the exodus.

Cambridge Bible Note “Non-Israelites of various kinds are meant; e.g. Egyptians who had intermarried with Israelites.”  Since Israelite newborn males were thrown into the Nile River, there’d be a surplus of Israelite females to marry Egyptians or others.  In Le.24:10, Moses wrote of a man in the camp whose mother was an Israelite but whose father was an Egyptian.  So, Egyptian blood was present in Israelites.

The Bible uses patrilineal reckoning from the fathers (not the traditional Jewish matrilineal reckoning from mothers).  Nu.1:18 “They registered by ancestry in their families, by their father’s households, according to the number of names.”  Not according to the mothers.  Philo op.cit. “Among the mixed multitude were those born to Hebrew fathers by Egyptian mothers, who were enrolled as members of their father’s race. And some, also, who had come over to them by reason of the magnitude of the incessant punishments which had been inflicted on their own countrymen [Egyptians].”

Also, we read of intermarriage by Joseph c 1837 BC, 225 years prior to the exodus.  Ge.41:45 Pharaoh had given Joseph an Egyptian wife named Asenáth, the daughter of the priest of On (LXX Heliópolis).  So Joseph’s sons Ephráim & Manasséh were both half Egyptian (Ge.46:20).

Did Ephraim & Manasseh likewise take Egyptian wives?  If so, then Joseph’s grandchildren had mostly Egyptian blood!  (Ephraim & Manasseh were first cousins of Kohath, the son of Levi.)  Ge.46:27 LXX says Joseph had nine sons.  Jacob prophesied that the names of Joseph’s other (half-Egyptian) sons would be attached to the inheritances of Ephraim & Manasseh (Ge.48:5-6).  Early in the wilderness, the soldiers of Ephraim & Manasseh numbered 72,700 men (Nu.2:18-21).  Although they became two of the twelve tribes of Israel in the Land of Canaan, there was (much) Egyptian blood in their ancestry.

Note: Ge.50:23 Manasseh’s son was Machír.  Machir’s son Gilead (Joseph’s great-grandson) was of the same generation as Moses & Aaron.  Nun, the father of Joshua, was the same generation as Gilead.  Zelophehád (son of Hépher) was Gilead’s grandson. (see 1Ch.7:14-27, Nu.26:28-37, 27:1, Jsh.17:3.)

Ex.30:11-16 Moses was to levy a poll tax on the men of military age.  (This became the basis for the later temple tax.  cf. Mt.17:24-27.)   Ex.38:25-26 “The silver from those of the community who were numbered was 100 talents and 1,775 shekels. A half-shekel a head for those who were numbered from age 20 and up, for 603,550 men.”  This half-shekel tax for the tabernacle was taken from all non-Levite soldiers. (A shekel weighed approximately ½ ounce.)  Barnes Notes “The talent contained 3,000 shekels.”  So 100 talents of silver = 300,000 shekels.  Add the 1,775 shekels, and the total = 301,775 shekels.  This amount is exactly 603,550 half-shekels (békahs)!  It matches the population figure of Nu.1:45-47.  The amount of silver taken as tax appears to confirm the number of Israelite/mixed multitude fighting men.

{Sidelight: However, the 1,000,000 talents in 1Ch.22:14 would equal 3 billion shekels (at the rate used in Ex.38:25-26)!  But 1½ billion ounces of silver is unrealistic…it would be enough to build Solomon’s temple of solid silver!  Also, the 10,000 talents of silver in Est.3:8-9 would equal 30 million shekels!  That’s 15 million ounces or nearly 1 million lbs. of silver personally owned by Hamán!  An unrealistic amount.  It’s likely the weight of the shekel or talent had changed since Moses wrote Exodus.}

Early in the wilderness is Nu.3:39-43. “All the Levites from one month old and upward were 22,000….All the firstborn males from one month old and up were 22,273.”  The difference was only 273 males.  v.44-45 “The Lord spoke to Moses saying, ‘Take the Levites instead of the firstborn among the sons of Israel.”  The firstborn, who had belonged to the Lord (Ex.13:1-2), were redeemed…replaced by the 22,000 Levites.

But Nu.1:46 says there were 603,550 warriors from their tribes, age 20 and up.  If only 22,273 out of the more than 603,550 were firstborns…those were huge families!  603,550 ÷ 22,273 = 27.  Did each family average more than 27 sons?  Add an equal number of daughters, and that’s over 50 children per family!  But… most of those 603,550 weren’t ‘purely’ Israelites.

In the wilderness 39 years later is Nu.26:57-62. “These are those who were numbered of the Levites….23,000.”  So during 39 years, the number of Levite males increased from an approximate 22,000 to 23,000.  That’s an increase of only 1,000 in that generation.

Note: The male Israelites/mixed multitude age 20 and up (born in Egypt) died in the wilderness, except for Joshua & Caleb (Nu.14:27-30).  Excluded were Levites (Nu.1:47), males under age 20, and women.  Aaron’s grandson Phineás, in the 4^th generation of Kohathites after Kohath, was probably born around the time of the exodus.  Phineas’ bold intervention in Nu.25:7 didn’t occur until the 40^th year of their wanderings.  Phineas’ father Eleazár (Aaron’s son), the high priest, even outlived Joshua in the Land (cf. Nu.20:28 & Jsh.24:29-33).

What about past servants among the mixed multitude in the exodus?  Going back several generations….

In Ge.12:5, 16, 20:14, Abrám had many servants.  Ge.14:14 in Abram’s household (before the birth of Ishmaél) were 318 fighting men.  Plus he had other ‘house’ servants and those watching the livestock!

Ellicott Commentary Ge.14:14 “This large number of servants born in his house…added to the older men left to defend and take care of the cattle, proves that Abram was the chieftain of a powerful tribe.”  Barnes Notes “Abram had now a company of 318 trained men, born in his own house; which implies a following of more than 1,000 men, women and children.”  Pulpit Commentary “The children of his own patriarchal family, neither purchased nor taken in war, 318, implied a household of probably more than 1,000 souls.”  Abraham’s household was very large!  Ge.17:26-27 all the males were circumcised.

Ge.26:12-14 Isaac’s great substance.  Cambridge Bible Ge.26:14 “A large number of slaves and attendants.”  Ge.32:5-6 Jacob’s large household.  (Ge.34:13-15 indicates they’re circumcised.)  Ge.36:7 Jacob and Esau’s property was too great for them to dwell together.  Barnes Notes Ge.36:7 “What remained in the hands of Isaac was virtually Jacob’s, though he had not yet entered into formal possession of it.”

Ge.45:9-10 & 46:5-7, 26 “All the direct descendants of Jacob who went to Egypt with him were 66 in number; this does not include the wives of Jacob’s sons.”  Gill Exposition Ge.46:7 “No mention is made of servants, though no doubt many came along with him.”  James B. Jordan The Moses Connection “Abraham had 318 trained fighting men in his sheikdom. Estimates range up to 3,000 or more for his complete household. These servants multiplied and became those of Isaac and Jacob. It might have been 10,000 people who moved to Goshen.”  So…numerous servants also went to Egypt c 1827 BC.

Francis Peloubet Select Notes, v.27, p.319 “Also the servants, ‘Who were reckoned as part of the household, and were admitted to the covenant [of circumcision, Ac.7:8], and recognized as Israelites.”

William R. Harper The Old Testament Student, v.6, p.248 “Jacob took to Egypt the whole body of his servants and retainers. These dependents…were all included in the covenant of circumcision, gradually blended while in Egypt, with the blood-kindred of Jacob, so that all alike were reckoned Israelites.”

Jacob’s entire household, including circumcised descendants and servants, had numbered perhaps 7,000 to 10,000 souls.  They too went with Jacob to his son Joseph in Egypt (Ge.47:11-12) c 1827 BC.  There they intermarried with Egyptians & other peoples, and “multiplied exceedingly” (Ge.47:27 KJV).

Jacob died 17 years after moving to Egypt (see Part 1 timeline).  A great funeral cavalcade, including Egyptian dignitaries, then traveled 300 miles to bury him east of the Jordan River (Ge.50:7-10).

The people multiplied in Egypt (Ex.1:5-9, 12, 20).  They became a great mixed nation (De.26:5).  The exodus “nation” of ancient Israel/mixed multitude was comprised of a motley group of people, not one pure race.  They’d increased to 603,550 soldiers, excluding Levites, early in the wilderness (Nu.1:46).

As for question #3 posed at the beginning: With mixed marriages, the assimilation of servants, concubines to bear children, Egyptians and others who left Egypt in the exodus…the 603,550 number of males early in the wilderness seems feasible.

The apostle Paul wrote in 1Co.10:1-5, “All were baptized into Moses in the cloud and the sea”.  The entire mixed multitude, and their children, were symbolically “baptized” in the Reed Sea.  They ate the manna in the wilderness.  (Nu.11:4 is the last direct reference in the Pentateuch to the mixed group.)

There were 601,730 males 39 years later (Nu.26:51), after those over age 20 had died in the wilderness.

That younger generation of motley peoples (children of the mixed multitude) born during the 40 years in the wilderness, weren’t circumcised.  So after crossing the Jordan River, Joshua had all the males circumcised at Gilgál (Jsh.5:2-8).  Whatever their ancestry, the 601,730 males all became circumcised!  cf. Ge.17:26-27 Abraham’s large household of servants, etc., not of his ancestry, had all become circumcised.  (see the topic “Circumcision in the Bible”.)

The children of the circumcised mixed multitude then received tribal territory when Joshua apportioned the Land of Canaan for the tribes of Israel (Jsh.13–19).  There, more intermarriage ensued among tribes.

As for questions #2 and #1 about the number of Levites and Kohathites: With past servants and other peoples having been assimilated into Levite and Kohathite households (in Egypt)…it seems feasible the males among them could total approximately 22,000 and 8,600 respectively (Nu.3:27-28, 39).

In the Land of Canaan, the Levites/Kohathites (including Aaronide priests) would live within the various tribal areas (Jsh.21).  There, Levites intermarried with those tribes.  Samuel was a Kohathite (fostered or ‘adopted’ by the high priest Eli) who lived in Ephraim c 1100 BC (1Sm.1:1, 25-28, 1Ch.6:22, 26-28).  When the Lord split the united monarchy (1Ki.12:20-24) in the 900s BC, most Levites joined with Judah & Benjamin as the southern kingdom of Judah…the Jews.

Ro.3:29-30 Paul said that God is the God of both Jews and gentiles, circumcised and uncircumcised.  Again, Israel with the mixed multitude were all “baptized” in the Sea, and they all ate the manna (1Co.10:1-3).  The Lord didn’t discriminate in that regard.  Ga.3:27-29 “There is neither Jew nor Greek…you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you be Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed.”

Today Jewish Christians and gentile Christians are to be as one, all baptized in the name of Jesus.

As was the large ancestral mixture of peoples who exited Egypt, Christians today are a racial mixture. (see “Gentiles in the Bible”.)  And our numbers are increasing.

Re.7:9-12 “I looked, and behold, a great multitude, which no one could count, from every nation, and tribe, people and tongue, standing before the throne and before the Lamb.”  A mixed multitude from all nations cries out loudly, “Salvation to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb. Amen.”

The mixed multitude with ancient Israel was a historical type of the great mixed multitude of humanity to whom our God is giving salvation.  Praise God!

Aramaic in the Bible (2) – New Testament

This Part 2 is the continuation and conclusion to “Aramaic in the Bible (1) – Old Testament”.  Material covered in (1) won’t be repeated here in (2); I suggest you read Part 1 first.

Prior to being taken captive by Assyria (721 BC) and Babylon (586 BC), Israelites & Jews had spoken Old Hebrew or Judahite (Jehudíth Strongs h3066) in the Land of Canáan.  But when Jews returned to the Land from captivity in the days of Zerubabbél (530s BC), and with Ezra & Nehemiah (c 450 BC), they spoke the Aramáic language.  They’d learned it in the East, during the time of the Neo-Assyrian, Neo-Babylonian (Chaldéan), and Persian empires.  Aramaic was the língua fránca of those empires.

Most Israelites & Jews no longer spoke Judahite ‘Hebrew’, the old “lip of Canaan”.  Ne.13:24 “As for their children…none of them was able to speak in the language of Judah [Jehudith h3066].”  Benson Commentary Ne.13:24 “The language which the [common] Jews then spoke was Cháldee; this language they learned in their captivity, and after their return never assumed their ancient Hebrew tongue.” 

The returnees and their descendants spoke Aramaic.  Some of the later chapters in the Old Testament (OT) timeline were written in Aramaic: Da.2:4b–7:28, Ezr.4:8–6:18, 7:12-26.  see Part 1.

Then Greek became the language of commerce for the Grecian and Roman empires.  Most historians say that at the New Testament (NT) time of Jesus/Yeshúa, Aramaic (also called Chaldee and Sýriac) was still the language spoken by the majority of common Jews in Judea.  In most Judean synagogues, the OT scriptures were read from Hebrew scrolls, and interpreters (meturganim) translated them into Aramaic for the hearers.  cf. Ne.8:8.  But there was no Aramaic text of the entire OT (there was an old Greek text).  So the Aramaic Tárgums were written. 

The Targums are OT paraphrases.  They were written in Aramaic, beginning in the 1^st century AD.  With them, Aramaic-speaking people could understand the OT text.  The Targum of Ónkelos (the Law) and the Targum of Jonathán (the Prophets) were composed prior to 200 AD.  They are official.  Another Targum of the Law/Torah/Péntateuch is the Jerusalem Targum (also known as the Targum Pseudo-Jonathan).  There’s also the Targum Neofití, for the Pentateuch.  And a few others.

Perhaps the Aramaic Targums wouldn’t have been necessary if most Jews still knew Hebrew.  But most no longer knew Hebrew.  They spoke Aramaic or Greek.  Bruce Metzger The Jewish Targums “Such versions were needed when Hebrew ceased to be the normal medium of communication among Jews.”

Whenever the Targums came to passages where YHVH was anthropomorphized or seen (appearing human), or where plural YHVHs are indicated…Targums substituted the “Word of YHVH” for “YHVH”!  The Aramaic term for “Word” is Mémra.  In Greek, “Word” is Lógos g3056, e.g. Jn.1:1.  The Targum Neofiti was written in Palestine before 200 AD.  Targ Neofiti Ge.1:1 “From the beginning with Wisdom the Memra [Word] of the Lord created and perfected the heavens and the earth.”  (Of note also is Targ Jonathan Is.52:13, “Behold My Servant the Messiah…!”  Disbelieving medieval rabbis claim “My Servant” here was the nation of Israel…but this earlier Targum indicated Is.52–53 refers to the Messiah an individual.) 

Again, a few chapters of the OT were written in Aramaic.  Ezr.5 is in Aramaic.  Ezr.5:2 “Yeshúa the son of Jozadák.”  Yeshua (a common male name) is also Messiah Jesus’ name in Aramaic.

The gospel writers record Jesus speaking Aramaic in red-letter text of our Bible, and they record places in Judea with Aramaic names.  Following are some of the Aramaic words in the NT:

Jesus called the brothers in Mk.3:17, “Boanergés, that is, ‘Sons of Thunder”.  Expositor’s Greek Testament “As pronounced by Galileans, in Syrian.”  Jesus said to the dead girl in Mk.5:41, “Taleetháh koómee (which translated means ‘Little girl, arise!’)”.  JFB Commentary “The words are Aramaic, or Syro-Chaldáic, the then language of Palestine.”  Jesus said to the deaf man in Mk.7:34, “Éffathah!’, that is, ‘Be opened!”  Cambridge Bible “The actual Aramaic word used by our Lord.”  Jesus prayed in Mk.14:36, “Abbáh! Father!”  Geneva Study Bible “The word Abba is a Syrian word.”  (The Hebrew word for Father is Awb h1, the Aramaic is Ab h2, also Abbah g5.)  Abbah is also seen in Ro.8:15 and Ga.4:6 of Paul’s epistles.  The above verses reflect (Western) Aramaic words.

Luke wrote, Ac.1:19 “In their own language that field was called Hakeldamáh, the Field of Blood.”  Luke recorded the Aramaic name of the field at Jerusalem purchased by Judas…“in their language”!  Poole Commentary Ac.1:19 “The Syriac language then in use after the Babylonish captivity.”

The Jewish historian Josephus (37-100 AD) was a priest born in Jerusalem.  His language was Aramaic.  Wikipedia: Language of Jesus “Josephus differentiated Hebrew from his language and that of 1^st century Israel. Josephus refers to Hebrew words as belonging to ‘the Hebrew tongue’ but refers to Aramaic words as belonging to ‘our tongue’ or ‘our language’ or ‘the language of our country.”

John recorded places at Jerusalem with Aramaic/Syriac names.  Jn.5:2 Bethesdáh.  Ellicott Commentary “Bethesda means ‘house of mercy’. The ‘Hebrew tongue’ is…what we ordinarily call Aramaic, or Syro-Chaldaic.”  Jn.19:13 ESV “A place called the Stone Pavement, which in Aramaic [Hebraistí g1447 adverb] is Gabbatháh.”  Gill Exposition “The Jews, who at this time spoke Syriac.”  Jn.19:17 CSB “The Place of the Skull, which in Aramaic is called Golgotháh.”  The NASB center margin notes the (bold) above terms as “Jewish Aramaic”…not Hebrew.  Strong’s Dictionary of terms, and the commentaries quoted above, say these NT words are Aramaic/Syriac/Chaldaic…not Hebrew.

Wikipedia: Aramaic “The Christian New Testament uses the Koine Greek phrase Ἑβραϊστί Hebraïstí to denote ‘Aramaic’, as Aramaic was at that time the language commonly spoken by the Jews.”

Jesus said to Peter, “Blessed are you Simon BarJonáh” (Mt.16:17).  Bar-Jonah means ‘son of Jonah’.  Cambridge Bible “Bar is Aramaic for ‘son.”  bar h1247.  But the Hebrew term for “son” is ben h1121.  So here Matthew records Jesus speaking Aramaic, not Hebrew.  The Aramaic BarAbbás = son of Abbáh (Mt.27:16).  Wikipedia op. cit. “Barabbas is a Hellenization of the Aramaic Bar Abba, literally ‘son of the father.”  Also: BarTholomew = son of Tolmai/Ptolemy (Lk.6:14); BarTimaeus = son of Timaeus (Mk.10:46); BarSabas = son of Sabas (Ac.1:23 & 15:22 – two men); Barnabas = son of encouragement (Ac.4:36); Barjesus = son of Yeshua (Ac.13:6).  Wikipedia ibid “The most prominent feature in Aramaic names is bar, meaning ‘son of’. Its Hebrew equivalent, ben, is conspicuous by its absence.”  Those NT personal names are strong internal evidence that Aramaic language use was predominant!

Aramaic too is a language used by God!  Stephen Missick The Language of Jesus, p.60 “Jesus is God incarnate and He spoke Aramaic.”  The hand from God wrote in Aramaic the “handwriting on the wall” in 539 BC…‘MÉNE, MÉNE, TÉKEL, UPHÁRSIN’ (Da.5:24-28)!

{Sidelight: We don’t know what language Jesus wrote at the scene of the woman taken in adultery, writing on the ground with His finger (Jn.8:6).  Jesus could’ve written in the common Aramaic, or perhaps He quoted the OT Hebrew or old Greek version.  Jn.8:6 “Jesus with His finger wrote on the ground.”  Maybe Jesus quoted or referred to Je.17:13 as He wrote the names of her accusers?  Je.17:13 “Those who depart from Me shall be written in the dirt.”}

Jesus and 11 of His 12 disciples were from Galilee (Judas Iscariót likely was from Keriot in Judea).  Galileans had a noticeable accent in their Aramaic dialect.  ccaugusta.org “Jesus principally spoke a Galilean dialect of Aramaic.”  A dialect of regional Western Aramaic.  aramaicnt.com “Early Galilean Aramaic, the mother tongue of Jesus.”  Ac.2:7 “Are not all these which speak Galileans?”  Pulpit Commentary Ac.2:7 “The Galilean accent was peculiar and well known.”  It is thought that their accent was more guttural or the gutterals (throat articulations) were blurred.  One of the bystanders said to Peter in Mt.26:73 NET, “You really are one of them; even your accent gives you away”.  Meyer NT Commentary Mt.26:73 “The natives were unable to distinguish especially the gutterals properly.”

Jn.11:1 the NT name Lázarus was Eleázar in Hebrew and Alázar in Aramaic.  The ‘A’ was dropped and the Latin declension ‘us’ was added, resulting in Lazarus in our NT.  Comparably, Englishmen today pronounce ‘Henry’ as ‘Enry’ (dropping the ‘H’).  An older occasion of pronunciation difference in Israel is in Jg.12:6, where the Ephraimites said sibbóleth, but couldn’t say shibbóleth (with the ‘h’).

Aramaic is called a metallic-sounding language.  The Lord’s Prayer in Aramaic (Mt.6:9-13):

“Abwoon d’Bwashmaya, Neet Kah Schmaakh

Teh Teh Malkutah, Neyweh Tzevyanah Aikhanah,

d’Bwashmayah Aph Buh Arh Ah Howlahn Lakhmah d’Soonkhanan Yaow Manah,

Wash Boh Klahn Kaow Behn, Wahktahehn,

Aikhanah Daph Knanahn Soobwoh-Khan Lahkhai Ah-Ben                                   

Welah Tahlah Le Nesyunah, Elah Patzan Min Bishah                                                 

Metohl Delakhih Malkutah, Whyallah Wateshbuktah, Lah-Allam, Allmin.”

It is said that Jesus’ red-letter words in the gospel accounts are powerful when they’re retroverted from Greek manuscripts into Aramaic!  But that they don’t back-translate as well into Hebrew.  John’s gospel is thought to have the strongest Aramaic flavor or substratum (underlying layer) of any gospel account, especially Jesus’ sayings.

In the gospel quotes above, Jesus spoke Aramaic words.  Also He likely spoke Greek in “Galilee of the gentiles” (Mt.4:15), and with Greek-speaking business clients there.  In the Nazareth synagogue (Lk.4:16-21), Jesus read from the scroll of Isaiah, either from the Hebrew OT or the old Greek version.  

Ac.21:40-ff Paul, in making his own defense, chose to address the crowd of Jews in Jerusalem in Aramaic (not Greek).  The NASB center margin notes the language Paul spoke here as “Jewish Aramaic” (Hebraís g1446 noun).  Robertson’s NT Word Pictures Ac.21:40 “The Araméan which the people in Jerusalem knew better than the Greek.”  

Interestingly, the OT never refers to the ancient language of the Israelites or Jews as the ‘Hebrew language’!  Rather, in the OT their tongue was called the “language of Canaan” (Is.19:18) or Judahite (Jehudíth: 2Ki.18:26-28, Is.36:11-13, 2Ch.32:18, Ne.13:24).  see Part 1.

Wikipedia op. cit. “A small minority believes that most of the New Testament was originally written in Aramaic.”  The Aramaic Primacy view.  At this point, that is speculation.

The Tálmud of rabbinic Judaism was written in Aramaic (200–500 AD).  Yehuda Shurpin Why is the Talmud in Aramaic? “The Western Aramaic languages were used largely in the area that was under Roman (and later Byzantine) rule. The Jerusalem Talmud, composed in Israel, is written in a Western Aramaic dialect. The Eastern Aramaic languages flourished in the Persian Empire, and as a result the Babylonian Talmud, written in Persian-dominated Babylon, is in Eastern Aramaic. The Talmud was written in Aramaic, the language of the masses, so that it would be accessible to all. ”

Aside from the sectarian Dead Sea Scrolls (DSS) religious community, to date most surviving inscriptions of Jesus’ period on artifacts, tombs (Caiáphas’ tomb too), ossuáries/bone boxes, etc. in the Holy Land…are in Aramaic or Greek.  Some are in Hebrew.  Pieter van der Horst Jewish Funerary Inscriptions “In Jerusalem itself about 40 percent of the Jewish inscriptions from the first-century period (before 70 CE) are in Greek.”  (cf. Ac.6:1-5 Stephen was a Greek-speaking Jew in Jerusalem.)

Breakdown of DSS text scripts: Old/Paleo Hebrew 1%, Hebrew/Áshuri square 78%, Aramaic square 17%, Greek 3%, other 1%.  Historians say that some Hebrew language usage was redeveloping in Christ’s day in pocket areas (e.g. the DSS at Qumrán).  Some was known by the educated and priests.  Shurpin op. cit. “Hebrew was used for ‘holy’ matters, such as prayer, and not for ordinary activities.”      

Wikipedia: Language of Jesus “According to DSS archaeologist Yigael Yadin, Aramaic was the language of Hebrews until Simon Bar-Kókhba’s revolt [132-135 AD in Judea]. Yadin noticed the shift from Aramaic to Hebrew in the documents which had been written during the time of the revolt. Yadin said, ‘It seems that this change came as a result of the order that was given by Bar Kokhba, who wanted to revive the Hebrew language and make it the official language of the state’. Yadin points out that Aramaic was the lingua franca [common language] at the time.” 

Both Aramaic and Hebrew are classed as NW Semític Áfro-Asiátic languages; Hebrew is sub-classed a Canaanite language.  Much later, c 800 AD, vowel points were added to the Hebrew language.

Prior to 1948, (Ashkenázi) Yíddish was the language of most Jews.  The national language in modern Israel today is called ‘Hebrew’.  It’d been near 2,500 years since Judahite/Hebrew was the language of common people (am-harétz) in the Land!  But Modern Hebrew (Ivrít) has been influenced by Yiddish.  Yiddish is classed a Germanic Indo-European language, not a Semitic.  The tongue spoken today in Israel isn’t the ancient Canaanite/Hebrew “language of Canaan” (Is.19:18).  Amir Zeldes wrote, “Modern Hebrew is a hybrid language. Modern Hebrew never was exactly Biblical Hebrew, and in many ways it has been a very different language for as long as it has existed.”  Jewish Agency Jewish Languages “Only a minority of the Jewish people today can speak Hebrew…It is more common to use English.”

Aramaic was gradually superceded by the Semitic sister language Arabic during the Moslem conquest (c 700–1300 AD).  Arabic is the liturgical language of Íslam. 

Very few Aramaic dialects are spoken today.  It is an endangered language.  Some Christian groups in areas of Iraq, Syria, Iran, SE Turkey, speak an Aramaic dialect called Syriac.  Churches in the East still use Aramaic as their liturgical language.  Some refer to themselves as Assyrians or Chaldeans.

The prophecy of Zep.3:9 NASB, “I will give to the peoples purified lips [h8193], that all of them may call on the name of the Lord. From beyond the rivers.”  Including heathens too, outside the Holy Land.  Ge.11:9 the penalty for the sin at Babel was the confusion of the language/lip/shore (h8193).  But eventually there’ll be no more ‘idol’ tongues speaking idolatry.  Zec.14:9 “The Lord will be King over all the earth in that day.”  

In the tongues miracle of Ac.2:1-11, pilgrim visitors at Jerusalem heard them speaking in their own languages.  In many dialects.  v.11 “We hear them speaking the mighty deeds of God.”  In a sense, this heals the breach which occurred back in Ge.11!  The penalty is removed.  Words may be spoken from a pure heart/lips in any language.  Ps.22:27 “All the ends of the earth will turn to the Lord. All the kindreds of the nations will worship before Thee.”  Praise the Lord!  

 

Genesis Principles Predate Moses

Several years ago I asked the Lord…How can we know which of His principles/laws apply to us today?

God impressed on me to look in His word prior to Moses to see which principles of God are evident that far back.  In the book of Genesis.  Before there was the nation of ancient Israel.  Before there was any Old Covenant (OC) or New Covenant (NC).  The name “Moses” doesn’t appear until Ex.2:10.

So I searched Genesis for (timeless) righteous principles of God…which we see carried-over into the OC in Exodus, and also apply to us Christians today and eventually to all mankind.

Predating Moses…God’s righteous standards for mankind and the Kingdom of God, and even glimpses of Christ’s gospel, are seen in the book of Genesis.  As we read between the lines of narrative, Genesis reflects examples of how to honor God and love our neighbor; how to live our lives, and how not to.  Lessons that apply to Christian living.

Reformed Church theologian Albertus Pieters’ Notes On Genesis “Whoever has learned the Genesis stories has learned all the chief things that can be known about God (apart from the incarnation of God in Christ)…of permanent institutions for the well-being of mankind; we have here the institution of the Sabbath, marriage, government, and worship.”  There’s much revealed between the lines of Genesis!

Genesis was written/compiled by Moses, inspired by the Holy Spirit (2Ti.3:16).  It tells of ancient gentiles.  Some of them applied God’s ways, while others violated principles of God and His Kingdom.

The Lord said of the gentile Abraham in Ge.26:5, “Abraham obeyed Me and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws”.  Also Wisdom of Sirach 44:20 KJV 1611 edition “Abraham kept the law of the Most High.”  Abraham was obedient to the Lord.  To be so consecrated in obedience, he surely had much faith/belief in God!  Jesus said to Jews who opposed Him in Jn.8:39, “If you were Abraham’s children, you would do the works of Abraham”.  Abraham the non-Jew applied God’s principles & laws, present in Genesis.  Long before Moses (400 years)!  Also ref the topic “Abraham Obeyed Which Commandments?”.

James Bruckner Implied Law in the Abraham Narrative, p.67 “Genesis is embedded with law.”

Later, God had Moses define, describe, elaborate on, and add to those godly moral principles/laws via codified injunctions.  Moses did so in the books of Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy.

The Old Covenant for Israel/Jews contained God’s moral precepts & laws existing in Genesis, which Abraham obeyed.  But added for Israel were pilgrim feasts, tabernacle/temple rituals, sin & guilt offerings, etc.  (see “Added in the Old Covenant”.)  We read of no regularly recurring animal sacrifices prior to Moses/Israel.

However, in Genesis there’s no nation of Israel!  The first Jew (Judah) isn’t even born until Ge.29:35!

So the acts we read the gentiles in Genesis doing/not doing relate to principles of conduct for mankind in general (not solely for Jews)…predating by centuries the Old Covenant Law of Moses for Israel.

Doug Ward The Law of God in the Book of Genesis “This beginning portion of the Bible has quite a lot to say about legal matters. However, it often addresses these matters indirectly rather than in the form of explicit commands.”  There are laws of God present in Genesis between the lines.  cf. Ro.4:15, 5:12-13.

Here I’ll go through the book of Genesis, noting God’s principles revealed in it.  Again, Genesis reflects the Lord’s guidelines for man before there was a nation of Israel.  As we read Genesis, we’ll see actions, both good and bad, righteous and unrighteous…done by those ancient gentiles and non-Jews.

(As an exercise or for reference, you might divide a sheet of paper into two columns.  On the left side, list things/actions to AVOID.  On the right side, list things/actions that are scripturally right to DO.)

Ge.1:11-12 “Plants and trees bearing seed after their kind.”  From creation, kind is to produce kind in biogenesis (cf. v.21, 24).  Vegetation which may be eaten.  Hybrid crops weren’t authorized, nor are GMOs.  Genetically Modified Organisms pose yet unknown health risks; they may also affect allergies.

Ge.1:29 “I have given you every seed-bearing plant that is on the surface of the earth, and every tree which has fruit with seeds. It shall be food for you.”  Seed-bearing land crops are for food.  These do photosynthesis.  These aren’t funguses or algae/seaweed.  Mushrooms are a fungus e.g.; they live on rot.  Some mushrooms are carcinogenic.

Ge.1:27-28 “Be fruitful and multiply, fill the earth, and subdue it. Have dominion.”  God gives to man the mandate to beget children (if physically able), and maintain the environment of the earth.

Ge.2:2-3 “God ceased [or rested, shabáth Hebrew] on the 7^th day from all His work. God blessed the 7^th day and sanctified it.”  It’s the first thing God made holy!  The sabbath is created for man, Mk.2:27.  Sabbath day rest is the recurring weekly sign which identifies that God/Christ is the Creator.  see the series “Sabbath 7^th Day”.

Ge.2:17 “The tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat. For in the day you eat it you shall surely die.”  To disobey God will result in death (cf. 3:6, 24).  God is to be obeyed.  see “Life and Death – for Saints” and “Tree Symbolism in Scripture”.

Ge.2:24-25 “A man shall join to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. They were both naked, the man and his wife.”  Marriage and sex between male & female is ordained.

Ge.4:4 “Abel offered the firstborn of his flock and their fat portions.”  This righteous gentile Abel (He.11:4) didn’t eat the fat portions.  Fat (and organ meats) wasn’t authorized for human consumption (ref Le.3:3-5, 17).  Eating fat is unhealthy.  see “Unclean verses Clean Food”.

Ge.4:8 “Cain killed his brother Abel.”  Murder is a crime.  We all know that.  Here, long prior to Mt Sinai and the codified law given to Moses/Israel.  (also see “War & Killing and the Bible Christian”.)

Ge.4:14-15 “The Lord said, ‘Whoever kills Cain, will suffer vengeance sevenfold’. The Lord set a sign for Cain, lest any finding him should smite him.”  Personal vengeance isn’t allowed (legal authorities determine who executes God’s vengeance, e.g. Ge.9:6 & De.17:6-11.  see “Governmental Loyalty for Christians”.)

Ge.5:22 “Enoch walked with God.”  The faithful (non-Jew) Enoch’s life pleased God, He.11:5.

Ge.7:1-3 “Take with you seven pairs of every kind of clean animal, a male and his mate; one pair of every kind of unclean animal, a male and his mate.”  The gentile Noah knew clean & unclean creatures differed.  God didn’t approve the unclean for sacrifice or as food; some are carcinogenic.  (Clean wild animals weren’t used for godly sacrifices…the six extra pairs of clean wild animals were for food!)  Ge.8:20-21 thanksgiving worship towards the Lord is done by Noah (through sacrifice).

Ge.9:3 “Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you, as the green plants.”  However, as some green plants are poisonous, some moving creatures are unclean/harmful.  The only creatures for “food” are (clean) moving/live creatures, properly bled.  Not creatures which die of themselves (“strangled”, Ac.15:29 KJV), not carrion or road kill, which attract parasites.  see “Acts 15 – Four Prohibitions”.

Ge.9:4 “You shall not eat the flesh with the life, the blood.”  God forbad blood as “food” (cf. Le.3:17, Ac.15:29).  “The life of the flesh is in the blood.” (Le.17:11)  Blood transmits disease.  Drinking blood is toxic to our system.

Ge.9:5-6 “Whoever sheds man’s blood, by man his blood shall be shed.”  A human justice system with governing law courts, even to include capital punishment, God authorized. (ref De.17:6-11, Ro.13:1-4.)

Ge.9:20-23 “Noah began farming and planted a vineyard. He became drunk.”  Farming and vineyards are fine.  But drunkenness/intoxication has bad consequences (cf. Pr.20:1).

Ge.9:24-26 “When Noah awoke from his wine, he knew what his youngest son had done to him.”  Dishonoring a parent or grandparent is wrong.

Ge.12:14-20 Pharoah.  Adultery is very wrong (cf. 20:1-18).  Adultery occurs when a married/betrothed woman has sexual relations with a man not her husband/fiancée.  see “Sexual Sins, Harlotry, Rape”.

Ge.13:13 “The men of Sodom were wicked, sinners against the Lord.”  Wicked sinners?!  Without law, there is no transgression/sin (Ro.4:15).  Evidently there was law and the transgression of it in Genesis!

Ge.14:18 “Melchisedek king of Salem brought out bread & wine; he was priest of the Most High God.”  Both king and priest.  This indicates there is no complete separation between state and church.  Here also is bread & wine, the forerunner of communion with Jesus.  (ref He.7:17 Jesus is priest forever in the order of Melchizedek.)  see “Melchisedek Order Priesthood” and “Bread and Wine in the Church”.

Ge.14:20 “Abram gave him [Melchisedek] a tenth of all.”  Tithing to God’s representative of church and state is done by the gentile Abram, the father of the faithful, Ro.4:16.  (cf. Ge.28:22 God hadn’t raised taxes in Jacob’s day; His rate is still just 10%.)  see “Tithe to Church and State”.

Ge.15:16 “The iniquity of the Amorites isn’t yet full.”  But if God didn’t have moral law in Genesis, they wouldn’t be guilty of iniquity.  Paul wrote, “Without law there’s no transgression”, Ro.5:12-13.

Ge.19:4-11 the men of Sodom said to Lot, “Where are the men [angels] who came to visit you tonight? Send them out so we can have sex with them’….Lot said to them, ‘Please don’t act so wickedly.”  Same-sex intercourse is wickedness (as is beastiality, sex with a different kind)!

Ge.20:7, 17-18 “Abraham prayed to God.”  Ge.25:21 so did Isaac.  Ge.24:63 Isaac meditated.  Prayer and meditation to God are good practices.

Ge.21:9-10, 14 Abraham sent away Hagár his wife (ref Ge.16:3) and their son Ishmaél.  Divorce may be done for just cause, as when continual disrespect/mockery or physical abuse is present. (cf. De.24:1)

Ge.25:8-10 “His sons buried him [Abraham].”  Isaac & Ishmael.  This reflects proper burial for the deceased.  Also seen in this passage is sons honoring their parents (ref Ex.20:12, Ep.6:2).

Ge.27:11-13, 19 Jacob lied to Isaac.  Lying is usually wrong; so is deception and notably false witness.  (cf. 27:34-36, 37:31-33, 39:14, 20, Ex.20:16, Col.3:9, Ac.5:1-11.)  see “Lying – Ananias & Sapphira”.

Ge.30:1-13 lists the four wives of Jacob (v.4), and their offspring.  Having plural wives simultaneously isn’t morally wrong, if they’re adequately provided for.  Jacob/Israel wasn’t an adulterer!  (see “Polygyny – Lawful in God’s Eyes?”.)

Ge.31:33 Jacob’s four wives had separate tents.  (However, having plural wives in most of today’s western world isn’t customary and isn’t recommended.)  Sexual orgies aren’t God’s way.

Ge.31:19 “Rachel stole the household idols that were her father’s.”  Stealing is wrong.  We know that.  Also, idolatry and having other gods is wrong (cf. Jsh.24:2)!

Ge.31:34-35 Labán wouldn’t search the saddlebags upon which Rachel sat during her period.  Again, blood transmits disease.  Contact with human uncleanness and sex during menstruation is to be avoided (ref Le.15:20, 20:18, Ac.21:25).  Menstrual sex can cause tubal pregnancy and cervical cancer.

Ge.31:32 “Anyone you find your gods with shall not live.”  Jacob was talking to Laban, Rachel’s father.  Speaking curses upon someone can have dire consequences…Rachel died young (Ge.35:16-19).

Ge.31:42 “The God of Abraham, the God of my father.”  The true God is noted here by Jacob.

Ge.34:1-2, 24-26, 30 Dinah.  Rape/seduction (not mutual consent or elopement) is wrong; violations may be a capital offense.  (see “Sexual Sins, Harlotry, Rape”.)  v.15-30 covenant-breaking is wrong.  (Here by Jacob’s sons; Shechemites did become physically circumcised.)

Ge.35:22 “Reuben lay with Bilháh his father’s concubine.”  She’s a secondary wife of Jacob, Ge.30:4.  Dishonoring your father is sin.  Sex with father’s wife is a wrong form of incest, Le.18:8 & 1Co.5:1.

{Sidelight: Yet lesser incest such as marrying your sister wasn’t disallowed.  Kindred endogamy was necessary for reproduction and environmental caretaking, as per Ge.1:28 & Ge.9:1.  However, it’s said that when Abrám married Sarah (his niece or half-sister), Ge.20:11-12, the gene pool was still deep and the risk of birth defects was less.  (Later, when the risk became greater, this too is prohibited, Le.18:9.)}

Ge.37:5-9 “Joseph had another dream.” (fulfilled in Ge.42:6.)  This shows that God gives valid dreams.

Ge.37:27-28 Joseph’s brothers sold him to traders.  Kidnapping is very wrong (cf. Ex.21:16).  Also, selling one into slavery against his will was evil (cf. Ge.50:20).

Ge.38:7-10 refusing to father a son for a deceased brother’s widow was a form of cruelty to women (the weaker sex).  A son would care for his mother in her old age.  Also seen here is wrong coveting.

Ge.39:7-12 adultery is a “great evil” (v.9).  Again, God’s moral laws existed in Genesis.  In this passage, a married woman tried to rape Joseph.  He knew adultery was sin (prior to the law of Moses).

Ge.45:4-15 Joseph and his brothers reconcile.  Forgiveness is seen; also respect and love of family.

Ge.48:5-6 from Jacob’s example, we see that inheritances for children/grandchildren are good.

Ge.50:21 “I will provide for you and your little ones.”  Joseph takes into account the welfare of others.

Ge.50:24-26 reflects honoring the memory of the deceased (Joseph, fulfilled in Jsh.24:32).

Even hints & prophecies of the Savior and the gospel predate Moses.  Ge.3:15 indicates the seed of the woman (not of the man) eventually would crush the serpent’s head…the future virgin birth of Christ the Lord is implied.  Also Ge.22:8, the Lord Himself to be the lamb/sacrifice.  That will be Jesus.

Also, 1Pe.3:20-21 relates baptism for Christian converts to the Genesis Flood (Ge.6–8).  By means of flood waters, Noah was saved from the evil so prevalent around him.  Peter ties this to the water of baptism saving believers, in the sense of figuratively cleansing their conscience.

Bruckner op. cit., p. 205 wrote, seen in Genesis is “…a full range of law implied and functioning from the beginning”.  Indicative of this are the three dozen godly principles I’ve noted in this topic survey.

These principles/laws are universal from Creation regarding gentiles; they predate Moses, the OC and the NC!  Since they are universal…Christians of all nations should ordinarily adhere to most today!

In Genesis we read of Godfearers who obeyed the Lord…non-Jewish men such as Abraham (Ge.22:12) and Joseph (Ge.42:18).  Job too was a Godfearer (Jb.1:8).  That was prior to the OC law for Israel, later codified in Exodus.  (also cf. Ac.10:1-2 Cornelius the gentile Godfearer.)

However, absent from Genesis (but part of the Levitical OC for Israel) were tabernacle procedures & ceremonies: e.g. sin/guilt offerings, pilgrim feasts, various washings.  Any such rituals aren’t seen or recorded by Moses in Genesis regarding righteous gentiles and non-Jews of old.

Yet God had moral laws from the beginning, in Genesis.  1Jn.3:8 “The devil sins from the beginning.”

This concludes our survey of God’s moral principles/laws seen in the book of Genesis.  The principles predate Moses’ later codification and they transcend the OC.

The topic “Ten Commandments in Genesis & Job” focuses specifically on the Decalogue/Testimony, as seen prior to Moses and the Old Covenant for Israel.

John Wrote Five Bible Books?

Did the apostle John write the Gospel of John (the 4^th gospel, 4G), the letters 1 John, 2 John, 3 John, Revelation…the five Johánnine books so-called?  All four New Testament (NT) gospels are written anonymously.  This topic focuses on the 4^th gospel’s author, and the other NT books attributed to him.

The apostle John (Yochanán) and his older brother James (Jacob) were two of Jesus’ original 12 disciples.  They were also His 1^st cousins.  These two (and their partner Simon Peter, Lk.5:10) were the closest to Jesus.  ref Mt.17:1, 26:37, Mk.5:37, 9:2, 14:33, Lk.8:51, 9:28.

James & John were the sons of Jesus’ aunt Salóme and uncle Zébedee.  The three other women with Jesus’ Mary at His cross were: #1 Mary Magdalene; #2 another Mary who was the wife of Clopás and mother of James the Less & Josés; #3 Mt.27:56 the mother of the sons of Zebedee, Mk.15:40 Salome, Jn.19:25 Jesus’ mother’s sister (biological sisters wouldn’t both be named Mary).  Jesus’ Mary and Salome were two daughters of Eli/Heli (Lk.3:23).  also see the topic “Jesus’ Genealogy”.

Easton Bible Dictionary: Salome “The wife of Zebedee and mother of James & John, and probably the sister of Mary, the mother of our Lord.”  Gill Exposition Jn.1:1 “The author of this Gospel is John, the son of Zebedee and Salome, the brother of James the Greater; he outlived the rest of the disciples.”

James & John wanted their mother, Jesus’ aunt Salome, to convey to Him their desire to sit immediately to His left and His right in His future kingdom glory (Mt.20:20-24, Mk.10:35-41).  Salome had known her nephew Jesus from His childhood.  Maybe she was His favorite aunt?  So she had boldness to make such a request.  Jesus called his cousins James & John the “sons of thunder”, Mk.3:17. (cf. Lk.9:54.)

Ac.12:1-2 Herod Agríppa had John’s brother James put to death by the sword, ca 43 AD.  Perhaps this “son of thunder” was quite outspoken!?  However, tradition says brother John lived a long life.

The three gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke are called the synoptic gospels.  In the three synoptics, the names James (Strongs g2385, Greek) and John (g2491) occur together in 17 verses.  But never in 4G, the 4^th gospel!  Jn.21:2 does call the sons of Zebedee “disciples”, but doesn’t give their names.  John doesn’t refer to his mother Salome by name, but refers to her as Jesus’ mother’s sister in Jn.19:25.

Moreover, in 4G the name John occurs only when John the Baptizer is meant, never John the disciple/apostle!  The name John doesn’t occur in any of the three epistles of John.  Inspecting all five Johannine writings, the name John (when John the Baptizer isn’t meant) occurs only in Revelation – Re.1:1, 4, 9, 21:2, 22:8.

Jn.1:14 “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory.”  This verse indicates the writer of 4G was in the group of close disciples who personally saw & knew Jesus the Word.

Of Jesus’ original 12 disciples/apostles, 4G mentions 9 of them.  Simon Peter, Peter’s brother Andrew, Philip, Nathaniel (Bartholomew), Thomas (Dídymus Judas), Jude (Thaddeus/Lebbaeus), Judas Iscariót, the sons of Zebedee (Jn.21:2).  also see the topic “Jesus’ Twelve Apostles”.

Not referred to at all in 4G are the 3 disciples Matthew, Simon Zealotés, James the Less (of Alphaeus).

The apostle who Jesus loved, the ‘Beloved Disciple’ so-called, is seen in Jn.13:23, 19:26, 20:2, 21:7, 20-24.  Most Bible commentaries think this person was John himself (one of the two sons of Zebedee).  At Jesus’ Last Supper, Jn.13:23 “One of the disciples, the one whom Jesus loved, was sitting next to Jesus”.  He was “leaning against Jesus’ breast”, WEB translation.  Barnes Notes “This was doubtless John himself.”  JFB Commentary “Thus modestly does our Evangelist denote himself.”  Meyer NT Commentary “He [John] was Jesus’ nearest table companion.”  Cambridge Bible “John was on our Lord’s right.”  Bengel’s Gnomen “John avoids with great care express mention of himself.”  Most readers think Jesus’ beloved disciple was John (Jesus’ 1^st cousin).

Irenáeus (130-202 AD) Against Heresies 3:1:1 “John, the disciple of the Lord, who had leaned upon His breast, did himself publish a Gospel during his residence at Ephesus.”  Wikipedia: Authorship of the Johannine Works “The phrase ‘the disciple who Jesus loved’ or, in John 20:2, ‘the disciple beloved of Jesus’ is used six times in the Gospel of John, but in no other New Testament accounts of Jesus. John 21:24 states that the Gospel of John is based on the written testimony of this disciple.”

Jn.19:25-27 Jesus gave this beloved disciple, His cousin John, responsibility of caring for Mary.  She would’ve first been the responsibility of a living: husband (Joseph), then her son (Jesus), then a brother.  Joseph likely was deceased, Jesus is dying on the cross, and Mary had no (living) biological brother.  Her sister Salome’s sons James & John were in line for the care of Mary.

In Jn.21:2, 4G referred to 7 of the 12 disciples. “There were together Simon Peter, and Thomas called Didymus, and Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, and the sons of Zebedee [James & John], and two other of His disciples.”  These other two were probably Peter’s brother Andrew, and Philip their close associate.  Gill Exposition Jn.21:2 “Two other of his disciples; are thought to be Andrew and Philip; which is very likely, since they were both of Bethsaidá.”  Bethsaida was a Galilean fishing village.

The synoptic gospels list the first 4 disciples called by Jesus as…Peter & Andrew, James & John.  Next listed are Philip and Bartholomew.  Mt.10:2-4, Mk.3:16-19, Lk.6:13-16.  also ref Mt.4:18-22, Mk.1:16-20, Lk.5:3, 10 (Andrew fished in Peter’s boat), Ac.1:13, Mk.13:3.  But in the 4G Jn.1:35-50, the earliest disciples named are Andrew, Peter, Philip, Nathaniel.  (4G doesn’t refer to Nathaniel as Bar-Tholomew, the son of Tholmai, unlike the synoptics.)  4G omits specifically naming James & John as disciples.  What an omission!  Likewise, 4G omits naming the two sons of Zebedee.  It seems John humbly didn’t want to draw attention to himself.  Furthermore, “James” doesn’t occur in any of the five Johannines!

Let’s now examine internal vocabular evidence of authorship within the five Johannine books.

Most readers think the three Johannine books of 1Jn, 2Jn, 3Jn were written by the same person/Elder (at an advanced age).  2Jn.1:1 “The elder to the elect lady and her children, whom I love [g25] in the truth [g225].”  3Jn.1:1 “The elder to the beloved Gaius, whom I love in the truth.”  1Jn.3:18 “My little children, let us not love merely in word or in tongue, but in action and in truth.”  Notice the similarity.

The closing wording, “having many things to write to you” with “I hope to see you face to face”, occurs at the end of both 2Jn and 3Jn; 2Jn.1:12 and 3Jn.1:13-14.  In no other NT book.

The phrase “that you have heard [g191] from the beginning [g746]” occurs only in John’s epistles; 1Jn.2:7, 24, 3:11, 2Jn.1:6.  Nowhere else in the NT.  The three letters were written by the same person.

In the NT, the phrase “Jesus Christ is come in the flesh” occurs in 1Jn.4:2-3, 2Jn.1:7.  Nowhere else.

The Greek term antíchristos (g500), antichrist, occurs only in 1Jn.2:18, 22, 4:3, 2Jn.1:7.  Nowhere else.

The Elder who wrote John’s epistles seems to assume that the readers of his epistles also know 4G.

Now let’s link John’s epistles to 4G, the 4^th gospel, the Gospel of John.

The NT expression “new commandment” (g2537 g1785) occurs only in John’s writings; 1Jn.2:7-8, 2Jn.1:5.  Also Jn.13:34, “A new (g2537) commandment (g1785) I give unto you.”  This expression ties John’s epistles to 4G, but doesn’t occur in any non-Johannine book.

The phrase “that your/our joy [g5479] may be full [g4137]” is seen only in 1Jn.1:4, 2Jn.1:12, Jn.15:11, 16:24.  Nowhere but in John’s writings.

The expression “take away sins” (g142 g266) occurs only in 1Jn.3:5, Jn.1:29.  In no other NT writings.

The expression “walk/s [g4043] in darkness” occurs in 1Jn.1:6, 2:11, Jn.8:12, 12:35.  Nowhere else.

The expression “the world hates you” (g2889 g3404 g5209) occurs only in 1Jn.3:13, Jn.15:18-19.

The expression, God’s “only begotten Son” (g3439 g5207) occurs only in 1Jn.4:9, Jn.3:16, 18.

The following four verses relate to men having “seen” (g3708) or discerned Father God’s or Jesus’ divine character/nature.  (It didn’t mean seen visibly with physical eyes).  1Jn.3:6 “Whoever sins has not seen Him, neither known Him.”  3Jn.1:11 “He that does evil has not seen God.”  Jn.14:7 Jesus said to His disciples, “You know Him and have seen Him.”  Jn.14: 9 “He who has seen Me has seen the Father.”  However, no non-Johannine book uses the expression “seen God/Him” in the same verse.

3Jn.1:12 “We also bear witness [g3140], and you know that our testimony is true [g227].”  Jn.19:35 “The one having seen bears witness, and his testimony is true.”  Jn.21:24 “This is the disciple bearing witness, and we know that his testimony is true.”  This language only occurs in John’s writings.  also ref Jn.5:31-32, 8:13-14.

The above passages link John’s three epistles to 4G.  Now we’ll link Revelation to other Johannine books.

Re.1:1, 4, 9 “I, John, your brother and fellow partaker in the tribulation…was on the island of Pátmos on account of the word of God and my testimony about Jesus.”  In Revelation, the writer John includes his own name.  Wikipedia: Patmos “Early Christian tradition identified this writer John of Patmos as John the Apostle.”  Pulpit Commentary Re.1:9 “St. John’s ‘coming to be in Patmos’ was caused by suffering for the Word of God.”  Vincent’s Word Studies “Persecution for Christ’s sake.”

Jesus as the Word/Lógos (g3056) occurs only in Johannine books!  Jn.1:1 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God.”  v.14 “The Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, we beheld His glory.”  1Jn.1:1 “What we have seen with our eyes, what we beheld and our hands handled, concerning the Word of Life.”  Re.19:13 “He is clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called the Word of God.”  No other NT writer clearly refers to Jesus as “the Word”!

Barnes Notes Lk.1:2 “The term ‘word’ here means the ‘gospel’. Luke never uses it, as John does, to denote the second Person of the Trinity.”  Ti.1:3 “God…in due time manifested His word through preaching.”  Cambridge Bible Ti.1:2-3 “In understanding this directly of Christ ‘manifested His Word’; such usage has no proper support in Paul.”  Paul never refers to Christ as the Word/Logos.

He.4:12 “The word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword.”  Young’s Literal Translation has “The reckoning of God.”  Meyers NT Commentary He.4:12 “The majority understand ‘the word of God’ as proclaimed and as preserved in Scripture.”  Of all the other NT writers, perhaps Peter (1Pe.1:23 & 1Pe.2:8) comes nearest to referring to Christ’s Person as the Word/Logos.

The Greek term rendered “pierced” (g1574) occurs in Jn.19:37 and Re.1:7.  Nowhere else in the NT.

The admonition to “keep My/His word/sayings” (g5083 g3056) occurs only in Johannine books; Jn.8:51-52, 55, 14:23-24, 15:20, 17:6, 1Jn.2:5, Re.3:8, 10, 22:7, 9.  In no non-Johannine book.

The invitation to observe for yourself, to “Come and see” (g2064 g2532 g1492/g991), occurs only in Jn.1:39, 46, 11:34, Re.6:1-7.  These invitations are given in two Johannine books, but nowhere else in the NT!  (Php.1:27 means to come & visit, else remain absent, CEV “Whether I visit you or not”.)

The two Greek terms rendered “come” (g2064) and “quickly” (g5035) both occur in the same verse in Re.2:5, 16, 3:11, 11:14, 22:7, 12, 20…“Come quickly”.  In no other NT book, except Jn.11:29, “She heard, rises up quickly, and doth come to Him”. (Young’s Literal Translation)

So we’ve seen from all the above citations that there are expressions/terms which occur together in 4G, 1Jn, 2Jn, 3Jn, Revelation…but in no other NT books.  This shows the Johannines have the same author.

However, Bible linguists recognize the Greek language quality of Revelation is less than that of the other four Johannines.  If the author is the same, why was Revelation written in a lesser quality Greek?

John’s native language was Aramaic (ref Aramaic words imbedded in 4G).  He also knew Greek, but was less fluent in it.  Ac.4:13 Peter & John were unlearned and ordinary men.  They weren’t educated as were Jewish scribes.  Perhaps an amanuénsis (copyist) was available to help John write 4G in a better quality Greek?  ref Jn.21:24 “the disciple” (John) is in 3^rd person, yet “we” is 1^st person.  “We” includes John’s secretary?  4G wasn’t written during John’s exile on Patmos, where Revelation was written.

When John was exiled to Patmos (Re.1:9), where he wrote Revelation in Greek, apparently there was no ‘literary secretary’ made available for John to dictate his vision to.  cf. Ro.16:22 Tértius served as Paul’s amanuensis or secretary in writing the book of Romans.  Whereas Paul wrote Galatians with his “own hand” (Ga.6:11).  John wrote Revelation, seemingly with his own hand, without a secretary.

Wikipedia: John the Evangelist “John the Evangelist is the name traditionally given to the author of the Gospel of John [4G]….John the Apostle….the ‘Beloved Disciple’ in the Gospel of John.”  But some scholars disagree that ‘John the Evangelist’ is the apostle John.  Was the apostle John an evangelist?

In Ac.5:40-42, Jesus’ apostles “preached the gospel” (euaggelízo g2097); they evangelized.  John, Peter, and the others were gospel preachers too.  Ellicott Commentary Ac.5:42 “The word for ‘preach’ is literally to ‘evangelize.”  In so doing, John was an evangelist.  Ac.8:14, 25, Peter and John evangelized (g2097) in Samaria, on their way back to Jerusalem.  JFB Commentary Ac.8:25 “And they’ – Peter and John.”  Ac.14:7 the apostles Paul & Barnábas evangelized in Galatian cities.  Ep.4:11 some are apostles, other saints are prophets, evangelists, shepherds, teachers.  Yet an apostle may perform other (lesser) functions too, as John did.  So John may also accurately be called ‘John the Evangelist’.

The Aramaic-speaking Church in the East, the Syriac church, is considered by many to have precedence over the (later) Latin-speaking Roman Catholic Church.  The 2^nd century Syriac version of the NT indicates Revelation was written ca 67 AD.  Its preface to Revelation reads, “The Revelation which was made by God to John the Evangelist in the island of Patmos to which he was banished by Nero the Emperor”.  The apostle John was also known as ‘John the Evangelist’.  JFB Jn.13:23 “Modestly does our Evangelist denote himself, as reclining next to Jesus at the table.”

John, the Beloved Disciple, himself had much to say about “love”.  Of the 7,958 total verses in the NT, the five Johannines contain 1,416 of them.  That’s only 18%.  The Greek verb for love is agapáo g25.  The Greek noun for love is agápe g26.  These two terms occur 258 times in the NT.  Of these 258 occurrences, 105 are in the five Johannines…a remarkable 40%!  (also see “Love – Godly Love”.)

Conclusion: Evidence indicates that the disciple/apostle/evangelist John, the brother of James, was the author of all five Johannine books.  Not only in the view of Bible commentaries and traditional writings (which hasn’t been my focus here), but even more significant is…the large amount of internal vocabular evidence.  The language within the five books is too similar to be merely coincidental!