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.

 

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!

Wedding Pattern in Bible Holydays (2)

This Part 2 is the continuation and conclusion to “Wedding Pattern in Bible Holydays (1)”.  Part 1 should be read first.  Most of the symbolic material in Part 1 won’t be repeated here in Part 2.

This two-part topic is tying ancient Israel’s traditional wedding pattern for betrothal & marriage to the sequence of the Lord’s Old Testament (OT) holydays, and to New Testament (NT) writings.  We’re discussing their wedding customs, and typing them to Christ and His church.   

In the NT, Jesus portrays Himself figuratively as a Groom or bridegroom (Mk.2:20), and the church is His Bride.  In 2Co.11:2, Paul the apostle figuratively betroths the church/Bride to Christ.  (I’ll capitalize the words Groom and Bride when they refer to Christ marrying His church.)

There were seven annual God-ordained holy occasions for Israel.  Here’s a list of the Lord’s annual days and the time of year in which they occurred, from Leviticus 23:

Their sacred year began near the spring equinox of March 20.  Le.23:5 Passover was 14 days later, in early April.  v.6 Passover began the seven Days of Unleavened Bread.  v.15-16, 21 Pentecost/Shavúot occurred 50 days later, near June 1.  v.24 the Day of Trumpets/Shouting, Rosh Hashánah (“Beginning of the [civil] Year”, Ezk.40:1a), occurs near the autumnal equinox of September 21.  v.26-28 the Day of Atonement or Yom Kíppur fast is ten days later, around October 1.  v.33-36a the 7-day Feast of Tabernacles (FOT)/Sukkót/Booths began in October, five days after Yom Kippur.  v.36b the Last Great Day 8, called Shémini Atzerét, culminated the FOT.  (also see the topics “Days Israel Observed – God-Ordained” and “Feasts of the Lord and the Jews”.)

So far, in Part 1 we tied the traditional Jewish wedding pattern only to the OT sequence of Passover, Days of Unleavened Bread, Pentecost/Shavuot.  A shared cup of wine, to seal the betrothal or érusin, linked to Passover.  After the prospective groom went away to “prepare a place” for his betrothed at or near his father’s house (Jn.14:1-3), she would begin purifying herself.  That loosely ties to the Days of Unleavened Bread.  While the groom was away, he would send gifts to her.  That custom is reflected in Pentecost, when the gift of the Holy Spirit (HS) was given to the church/Bride, Ac.2:38 etc.  see Part 1.   

However, the betrothed groom & bride didn’t know the date of the actual wedding or nisúin.  It was for the father of the groom to decide when his son had the wedding chamber (húppah Strongs h2646, Hebrew) and house sufficiently prepared for her.  Only the father knows the time for his son/groom to come back for her!  Jesus said of His return in Mk.13:26, 32 “No one knows the day or hour, but My Father only”. 

{Sidelight: Paul said he was taught by Christ’s revelation (Ga.1:12).  Did Paul ever ask or wonder, ‘When are you coming back, Lord’?  If Paul did, he wasn’t told the date.  For that matter, none of the apostles knew the date.  Though in 2Pe.1:14, Peter knew he himself would soon die.  Mk.13:32 Jesus Himself didn’t know an exact date for His return; only Father God knows!  After Jesus’ resurrection, He told His disciples in Ac.1:5-7…it’s in His Father’s authority.  Those verses indicate that the date of Jesus’ coming was something He did not then know.  Israelites and saints, such as Peter, have kept fulfilling the number of their given days on earth, Ex.23:26b.  (However, as Jesus prophesied in Mk.13, Jerusalem & the temple were destroyed in 70 AD when Jesus ‘came’ as Judge, Ja.5:9b.)}

The betrothed Jewish bride would wait in faith that her groom will return and take her to the place he’d prepared.  He.11:1 “Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the evidence of things unseen.”  Though he was absent, she trusted that he would come for her!  We in the church too must maintain faith.

It’s said that ‘absence makes the heart grow fonder’.  She may not have known him all that well.  Peter wrote of Jesus in 1Pe.1:8. “Though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you don’t see Him now, you believe in Him.”  The betrothed bride believed her groom would return to take her away.

Customarily the groom came at midnight!  Mt.25:1, 5-6 “In the middle of the night there was a shout, ‘Behold the groom! Come out to meet him.”  The shout would identify that her groom wasn’t a real thief stealthily intruding.  Mt.25:10-13 “Watch therefore, for you do not know the day or the hour.”  Lk.12:40 “Be you also ready, for the Son of Man comes at an hour when you think not.”  The groom usually would return at a late night-time hour.  But leading up to his return….

As the months elapsed with the groom absent, the bride would lie awake watching for him night after night.  Then she’d fall asleep!  Paul wrote the church in 1Th.5:1-2, 10 “You know the day of the Lord comes as a thief in the night. That whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with Him.”

At last…her groom would come and ‘steal’ her away!  She’d been veiled since betrothal.

At betrothal, customarily the marriage contract or ketúbah was signed by two witnesses. cf. Re.11:3.  John the Baptizer was a witness for the Groom, Jesus (Jn.1:6-7, 15, 32).  Jn.3:26-29 John called himself the “friend of the Groom [bridegroom]”.  At the groom’s return, one of the two witnesses or the groom himself would shout (Mt.25:6).  Her family then knew he’s not a real thief on her father’s property!

1Th.4:16 “The Lord Himself [Jesus] will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and the dead in Christ shall rise first.”  v.15 the saints who are alive shall not precede those who had “fallen asleep”.  That is, the saints who’d died precede those who will read Paul’s letter.  Jesus said in Jn.5:25, “An hour is coming and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear shall live”.  Deceased saints, “fallen asleep”, are taken away by Jesus the Groom.

This coming of the groom was typed by the Day of Trumpets/Shouting.  Le.23:24 Yom Téruah.  This holyday occurs on the 1^st day/new moon of the sacred 7^th month, 1 Tíshri.  They knew the season, but didn’t know whether the moon’s first visible crescent to mark the new month would appear on the 29^th or 30^th day of the old month.  Our Ancient Days: Yom Teruah “The day and the hour that no man knows.”  Jesus said in Mk.13:32, “But of that day and hour no one knows”.  Only the Groom’s Father.

Ancient Israel would watch…then a new moon sighting traditionally had to be confirmed by two witnesses.  The new moon is almost entirely dark.  It’s just a thin sliver.  cf. Mt.24:29-31 “…The moon will not give its light. Then they will see the Son of Man [Jesus] coming.”  The Day of Trumpets/Shouting was also known as the ‘Day of the Concealed Moon’, Yom Kéhseh, the ‘hidden day’.

Mal.4:2 “For you who fear My name, the Sun of righteousness [Christ] will arise with healing in His wings, and you will go forth.”  Jesus is here depicted by the Sun, and the moon’s first visible crescent too reflects the light of the Sun/Son!  Benson Commentary Mal.4:2 “Christ, who is fitly compared to the sun. The church is described as ‘clothed with the sun’, Re.12:1, adorned with graces communicated to her from Christ.”  Again, the groom while absent would send gifts to his betrothed bride.  (see Part 1.) 

{{Sidelight: The 1^st day of the 7^th month, Rosh HaShanah, was also known as the ‘Day of Remembrance’, Yom HaZíkaron (Le.23:24 memorial/zikarón h2146), as birthday of the world.  And as Yom HaDín, the ‘Day of Judgment’.  The sealing/execution of the judgment was then signified by Yom Kippur, ‘Day of Atonement’, occurring ten days later.  see the topic “Day of Atonement (2)”.  (Note: Also there are plural layers of meaning within the concept of Jesus’ Coming.)}}

It’s dark when the saints close their eyes in sleep or death!  A symbolic Day of Trumpets/Shouting is typed in 1Co.15:51-52. “We will not all sleep…for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible.”  Although it wasn’t known exactly when the first sliver of the moon will be visible, the very ill and those advanced in age know that death is near.  (ref 2Pe.1:14 Peter, 2Ti.4:6 Paul.)

Again, the Groom comes in the night for His Bride.  Then she will no longer reside in her father’s house.  Ps.45:10-11 Septúagint “Hear, daughter. Forget your people and your father’s house. Because the King has desired your beauty.”  When the Father of the Groom decided, He would send His Son to take the Bride from her childhood home (earth).  Paul the aged said of himself in Php.1:23, “To depart and be with Christ is much better”.  SSol.2:10 “Arise, My darling, come away with Me.”  She is veiled. 

With a procession, the bride was taken to the huppah bridal canopy, at/near his father’s house.  The ketubah marriage contract was read at a night ceremony.  Customarily included in the reading was Ps.118:26 (Mt.21:9). “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.”  The contract was given to the bride by the groom or by the two witnesses.  (see Joel 2:16 for more groom/bride/huppah language.) 

Is.61:10 the groom decks himself with ornaments and the bride is adorned with jewels.  Gill Exposition Is.61:10 “A bridegroom puts on the best clothes he has on his wedding day.” 

Now her veil is removed.  At the wedding nisuin…the bride and groom finally stand face-to-face! 

Ge.32:24, 29-30 “Jacob said, ‘I have seen God face to face, yet I am still alive.”  Traditionally, Jacob saw the face of Christ the Messenger of YHVH on Yom Kipper.  ltradio.org “Face-to-face’ is an idiom for the Day of Atonement.”  Only once a year, on the Day of Atonement, did Israel’s High Priest dimly come face-to-face with the mercy seat of Christ (Le.16:2), amid smoke in the Most Holy Place.    

The typological Day of Atonement (At-One-ment) holyday was the 10^th day of the 7^th month, 10 Tishri.  (It follows Rosh HaShanah.)  Ge.2:24 a husband and wife become one flesh; they become figuratively as one.  Paul wrote of the espoused church/Bride in 1Co.13:12, “Now we see dimly, as in a mirror, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I will know fully, as I am fully known.”  When the Bride is face-to-face with Jesus, she then really gets to know the Groom!   

David wrote in Ps.17:15, “I shall behold Thy face in righteousness”.  Behold the face of the Lord.  The disciple John wrote in 1Jn.3:2b, “We will see Him as He really is”.  The Groom/Son of God.  SSol.6:3 “I am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine.”  v.3-9 represents a type of Christ and His gifted Bride(s).

After the wedding, the bride and groom would spend 7 days in the wedding chamber or booth.  Only then was the marriage consummated!  (They’d been apart from the betrothal date until he came for her.)  Laban spoke of his daughter to his son-in-law Jacob in Ge.29:27, “Complete the week of this one”.  Jdg.14:17 Samson was with his new bride for 7 days. 

Weddings were often held either in June or near the 7-day Feast of Booths in the 7^th month, after the Day of Atonement.  The 7 days in the canopied huppah or chamber is typed by the FOT/Booths. 

A wedding was a big celebration!  Mt.22:9-11 guests were expected to wear attire customarily suitable.  A wedding feast was held (cf. Ge.29:21-22, Jdg.14:12).    

The marriage feast for Jesus and His Bride(s) culminates at His Father’s house in heaven.  Re.19:1, 7-9 “I heard a loud voice of a multitude in heaven. The marriage of the Lamb [Jesus] has come and His Bride has made herself ready. Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.”  

After the celebratory wedding feast, the couple would go to their new home, usually built at/near the house of the groom’s father.  They hope to live ‘happily ever after’.

The 8th Day Shemini Atzeret was the next day (22 Tishri), immediately following the FOT.  That ends God’s sacred holydays for the year.  That day is thought to foreshadow the new heaven and the new earth.  (Note: There were some traditional variations in wedding custom details and typologies.)

After Christ’s marriage feast of Re.19…Re.21:1 “I saw a new heaven and a new earth.”  The Bride(s) will live forever with her/(their) Husband, the Lord Christ.  (see “Polygyny – Lawful in God’s Eyes?”.)

And for those presently alive on this earth, Re.22:17 “The Spirit and the Bride say come”.  All should believe in Jesus for salvation!

Few of us know in advance the total number of our days/years.  But elderly saints and the terminally ill are closer to completing their days here.  Then they, and eventually we too, will close our eyes for the last time, as have all the saints who went before. 

We anticipate then becoming part of that great cloud of witnesses who preceded us!  He.12:1, 22-24 “We have a great cloud of witnesses. The general assembly and church of the firstborn enrolled in heaven, the spirits of righteous men made perfect, and Jesus.”  cf. Ec.12:7.  (1Co.15:44 we too will have a spiritual body.  see “Life and Death – for Saints” and “Rebirth to Physical Life”.)

In OT times, the Lord was the figurative Husband of ancient Israel, Je.3:14.  (see “Jesus Was the Old Testament God”.)  His name YHVH was engraved upon the mitre plate on the high priest’s forehead, Ex.28:36-38.  Re.22:4 then we shall see His face and His name shall be in our foreheads.  A bride is given the name of her husband.    

The ancient wedding typology presents a beautiful and meaningful picture!  Only Father God knows when to say to His Son, ‘The hour has come, go get your Bride’.  At the time we take our final breath, may each of us be ready.

 

Spiritual Gifts and ‘Tongues’

The Lord gives gifts of the Spirit to New Testament (NT) Christians, which enable them to accomplish God’s will and purposes.  This topic surveys the various gifts of the Holy Spirit (HS).

In Christian conversion we’re introduced to godly life via the Bible, the HS, and the church.  Peter said in Ac.2:38, “Repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit”.  Freely.  The HS will indwell the repentant Christian.

Christians are the allegorical branches which bear the fruit of the HS.  (Jesus is the vine, Jn.15:5.)  Jn.15:16 Jesus exhorted His disciples, “You should bear fruit, and your fruit should remain”.  Kinds of fruit of the Spirit are seen in Paul’s writings.  e.g. Ga.5:22-23 “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, [etc.].”  The topic “Living Water Produces Spiritual Fruit” identifies 12 fruit of the HS in the NT.

The HS reflects God’s character.  Attributes of the HS are seen in Is.11:2 LXX. “The Spirit of God…the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and strength, the spirit of knowledge [Strongs g1108 gnósis, Greek] and godliness…the spirit of the fear of God.”  These seven attributes of the indwelling (sevenfold) HS are imparted to Christians.  JFB Commentary Is.11:2 “Compare ‘the seven Spirits’ (Re.1:4, 4:5), the Holy Ghost in perfect fullness; seven being the sacred number.”

Attributes of the HS are also reflected in Pr.8:12-14. “I, wisdom, dwell with prudence, I find knowledge and discretion. The fear of the Lord. Counsel is Mine. I AM understanding, strength is mine.”  (The identity & characteristics of the HS are addressed in the topic “Holy Spirit Personification”.)

Holy Spirit indwelling imparts boldness, power, and gifts for Christians.  (see also “Holy Spirit-Filled”.)

1Co.12 is about gifts of the Spirit.  The HS distributes various gifts to the church according to God’s choosing.  Paul wrote in 1Co.12:1, “Concerning various spiritual gifts, I don’t want you to be unaware”.  v.4-7 “There are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit….for the common good.”  For mutual edification.

1Co.12:8-11 “To one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge [g1108] by the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts [g5486 chárisma] of healing, to another workings of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the discerning of spirits, to another kinds of tongues [g1100], 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 man, determines which gifts and functions are given to whom.  We don’t prescribe our gift(s).

Bible teachers divide the above nine gifts into three groups.  Word of wisdom, word of knowledge, discerning of spirits are revelatory gifts.  Faith, healings, miracles are called power gifts.  Prophecy, tongues, interpretation of tongues are vocal gifts.  (Miracles and healings, e.g. Ja.5:14-16, are ongoing.)

In the Old Testament (OT), the patriarch Joseph was given a lengthy word of wisdom plan for the sustenance of Egypt during seven years of famine (Ge.41:33-ff).  Samuel was given the word of knowledge that Saul’s donkeys had been lost three days ago (1Sm.9:3, 20).

Paul lists and orders other giftings of the Spirit 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, are they?…not teachers, not workers of miracles? All don’t have gifts of healings…all don’t speak with tongues…all don’t interpret [tongues]? But earnestly desire the greater gifts.”  Paul asked rhetorical questions.

Ministry giftings of the HS are apostles, prophets, teachers…in that order.  Deacons/ministerial servants (g1249 diákonos) and others perform “helps”.  Shepherds, overseers, elders do “administrations” and counseling, and may prophesy.  Ep.4:11-13 “He gave some apostles, and prophets, evangelists, shepherds [poimén g4166], and teachers; for equipping the saints for service, to the building up of the body of Christ.”  Evangelists and missionaries spread the gospel.  Interestingly, Spiritual Gifts: Evangelist, Pastor and Teaching/Teacher notes, “The church office of ‘pastor’ wasn’t an official title during the 1^st century church”.  (Though shepherds ‘pasture’ the sheep.)  It is understood that the Lord Jesus is our ultimate Shepherd & Bishop/overseer (g1985 epískopos)…ref Jn.10:14, He.13:20, 1Pe.2:25.

Paul also wrote about gifts in Ro.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.”  In this passage, Paul includes serving, exhorting, giving, contributing to the needs of others, hospitality, etc.  (also see “Church Structure and Member Functions”.)  The HS provides multi-faceted gifts to build up God’s church and disseminate the gospel.

What do “prophets” (g4396) do, or what constitutes the gift of prophecy in scripture (1Co.12:10, 28)?  Prophets “prophesy” (g4395) and may foretell the future.  Ac.11:27-28 “Some prophets [g4396] came down from Jerusalem to Antioch. Ágabus began to indicate by the Spirit that there would be a great famine throughout the Roman world. This took place during the reign of Claudius [41-54 AD].”

NT prophets may resemble the OT seer or ‘see-er’ who ‘saw’ God’s will and God’s acts into the future (1Sm.9:9-11, 2Sm.24:11-ff), sometimes via visions (Nu.12:6, 2Ch.9:29).  Lk.24:44 Jesus spoke of the tripartite division of the OT into “the Law and the Prophets” (g4396), and the Psalms/Writings.

But NT prophets may not foretell future events.  In Ac.15:32, two prophets exhorted and strengthened the church brethren with a lengthy message.  Paul wrote in 1Co.14:1-3, “Especially desire to prophesy. One who prophesies [g4395] speaks to people for edification, encouragement and consolation.”  Greek Bible scholar Dr. Spiros Zódiates: Prophesy “To declare truths through the inspiration of God’s Holy Spirit, whether by prediction or not.”  Paul stated concerning church meetings in 1Co.14:29, “Let two or three prophets speak”.  Merriam-Webster defines Prophecy (g4394) as “The inspired declaration of divine will and purpose”.  It may or may not involve predicting future events.

What are NT “tongues” and the glossolália (tongue-talking) phenomenon?  The Greek term for tongues is g1100 glossá singular, glossái plural; occurring 50 times in the NT.  The term can refer to the bodily organ of speech in the mouth, 18 times: Mk.7:33, 35; Lk.1:64, 16:24; Ac.2:3, 26; Ro.3:13, 14:11; 1Co.14:9; Php.2:11; Ja.1:26, 3:5-6 (3), 8; 1Pe.3:10; 1Jn.3:18; Re.16:10.  Also, it refers to a distinct language/dialect and ecstatic utterances, 32 times (the citations are below).

In the baptism of the HS, recipients of the gift of tongues were enabled to speak dialects/languages they hadn’t learned.  Ac.2:4 Jesus’ disciples in Jerusalem “were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak with other tongues [glossai g1100] as the Spirit gave them utterance”.  These tongues were mostly unlearned ethnic dialects of other nations (not the Aramaic or Greek spoken locally).  The gift of ethnic tongues would help the apostles effectively communicate to the nations in spreading the gospel.

But not all tongues via the HS were ethnic dialects.  Some tongues were ecstatic utterances, not dialects spoken in nations.  In reading the NT “tongues” passages, how can we distinguish which was which?

Dr. Zodiates explains that the NT Greek grammar shows the distinction. “When the word glossai is used in the plural with a singular pronoun, reference is made to ethnic languages. When the word ‘tongue’ is used in the singular glossa with a singular personal pronoun, it refers to the Corinthian ecstatic utterance.”  The Greek g1100 noun form is the key!  Is it plural or singular?  Plural glossai = ethnic dialects.  Singular glossa = ecstatic utterances.  Following is the breakdown of verses:

Tongues as ethnic dialects (g1100 glossai plural) occur 24 times: Mk.16:17; Ac.2:4, 11, 10:46, 19:6; 1Co.12:10 (2), 28, 30, 13:1, 8, 1Co.14:5 (2), 6, 18, 22, 39; Re.5:9, 7:9, 10:11, 11:9, 13:7, 14:6, 17:15.

Tongues as ecstatic utterances (g1100 glossa singular) occur 7 times: 1Co.14:2, 4, 13-14, 19, 26-27.  These 7 occurrences are found only in 1Co.14…nowhere else in the NT.

To aid reader understanding, the KJV, Young’s Literal Translation, and others inserted the English word “unknown” in 6 of the 7 preceding 1Co.14 verses…to show that those tongues referred to ecstatic utterances.  (1Co.14:26 KJV “unknown” wasn’t added; yet v.26 CEV has “an unknown language”.)  Possibly the old KJV translators, Robert Young, and others understood the grammatical significance?!

Dr. Zodiates also says that the word tongue (g1100) refers to the ecstatic utterance when it’s used “in the plural with a plural pronoun [1Co.14:23]”.  1Co.14:23 CEV (the 8^th occurrence), “Suppose everyone in your worship service started speaking unknown languages [g1100], and some outsiders or unbelievers come in. Won’t they think you are crazy?”  cf. Ac.2:13 at Pentecost when the tongues miracle first occurred. “Others made fun of the Lord’s followers and said, ‘They are drunk.”  Perhaps Jesus’ disciples also uttered ecstatic syllables on that occasion?

In Ac.2, Jews and proselytes from all over the Roman world had come to Jerusalem.  Ac.2:6 they each heard Jesus’ disciples speaking in the “language” (diálektos g1258, occurs 6 times, all in Acts) of their own nation; actual languages heard & understood by the many pilgrims visiting Jerusalem at Pentecost.  Some varieties of dialektos and glossai: Aramaic was Eastern (Babylon) and Western (Judea); Greek was Attic, Doric, Aeólic, Ionic, Koiné.  (Linguists debate whether the root class is dialektos or glossai.)

Jewish meturganim were skilled language interpreters.  These would stand beside the reader of Hebrew (or Greek?) OT verses and interpret/render the teaching into the language of the listeners.  ref Ne.8:8.

Paul claimed in 1Co.14:18 KJV, “I speak with tongues [g1100] more than you all”.  Paul was well-educated and well-traveled; he could speak a variety of dialects.

1Co.13:1 “Though I speak with the tongues [g1100] of men and of angels.”  Paul also may have spoken non-human languages or ecstatic utterances.  Benson Commentary 1Co.13:1 “The apostle doubtless meant…a much more excellent language than any that is spoken by men.”  Bengel’s Gnomen “Angels excel men, and the tongue or tongues of the former excel those of the latter.”  JFB Commentary “Speaking a more exalted language.”  Expositor’s Greek Testament “Ecstatic and inarticulate forms of speech…‘tongues of angels’ describes this mystic utterance at its highest.”

Are tongues passé today?  Paul wrote in 1Co. 13:8, “Whether there are prophecies [g4394], they shall be done away; whether tongues [g1100], they shall cease; whether knowledge [g1108], it shall be done away”.  Some churchgoers think the gift of tongues is obsolete.  But McLaren Expositions 1Co.13:8 disagrees, “It is not what Paul means here”.  Benson Commentary “When God is ‘all in all’ [1Co.15:28] …tongues shall cease.”  God is not yet “all in all”; that time is still future.  Barnes Notes “In the light and glory of the world above….the future life.”  Matthew Poole Commentary “Another world…where there will be no prophesying, no speaking with diverse tongues.”

Paul wrote of the “word of knowledge” (g1108) as a spiritual gift in the prior chapter, 1Co.12:8.  Knowledge (g1108) is an attribute of the HS, Is.11:2 LXX.  (HS intuitive knowledge isn’t the arrogant carnal knowledge so-called in 1Co.8:1.)  The knowledge had by the HS isn’t done away!  For Paul to be consistent, the gifts of prophecy and tongues also aren’t obsolete in the present world.

How many dialects are there on earth?  Christian Lingua (2018) “According to Ethnologue, there are 7,097 known languages in the world. At least part of the Bible has been translated into 3,312 of the 7,097 languages.”  The Bible has been translated into only 47% of the world’s languages!  “Tongues” are still needed to spread God’s word into many remote little-known dialects.

Lastly, Paul recognized the spiritual gift of the “interpretation of tongues” (1Co.12:10, 1Co.14:26).  This gift is used in conjunction with the gift of tongues.

1Co.14:27-28 “If someone speaks in a tongue [g1100], let two, or at the most three speak in turn, and someone must interpret what was said. But if there’s no interpreter, let him keep silent in the church, and speak to himself and to God.”  Paul indicates that tongues may be spoken in church meetings only if there’s an interpretation present.

Else just speak ecstatically as a prayer language to God privately at home, and edify the self.  1Co.14:4 “One who speaks in a tongue edifies himself.”  Paul continues in 1Co.14:14-15, “For if I pray in a (unknown) tongue, my spirit prays, but my understanding is unfruitful. What shall I do? I will pray/sing with the spirit and I will pray/sing with understanding also.”  Paul differentiated praying in the spirit from praying with one’s understanding mind.  Gill Exposition 1Co.14:15 “In an unknown language.”  Vincent Word Studies 1Co.14:15 “Songs improvised under the spiritual ecstasy.”

Compare Jude 1:20 “You, beloved, building yourselves up in your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit.”  Cambridge Bible Jude 1:20 “The ecstatic outpouring of prayer.”  (perhaps also Ro.8:26 & Ep.6:18?)  Although ecstatic tongues/groanings/intercessions were specifically addressed only in Corinth (1Co.14), it seems they were uttered in other NT church areas too.  And by Paul himself.

According to Paul, unknown tongues aren’t to be spoken in the church meeting unless they’re also interpreted into the vernacular or local language.  If there’s no interpreter, speaking in tongues could result in confusion not of God (cf. 1Co.14:33).  An interpretation isn’t necessarily a word-for-word translation.  The inspired interpretation of a tongue may itself resemble a prophecy.

Paul said in 1Co.14:5 ISV, referring to ethnic dialects, “I wish that all of you could speak in foreign languages [tongues g1100 glossai], but especially that you could prophesy”.  Assuredly Paul valued the gift of tongues…but he valued more the gift of prophecy, a greater gift (1Co.12:1, 28-31).

{Sidelight: Pastor Don Finto (b. 4/30/1930): “I got baptized in the HS by faith in December of 1969, when I was 39 years of age. I didn’t speak in tongues. You can be baptized in the HS and not speak in tongues.” [cf. 1Co.12:30] “Tongues may come; and if it does, praise God!” [His tongues-speaking began in 1971.] “In those two years when I didn’t have it, I didn’t feel like a 2^nd class citizen. I had words of knowledge, and words of wisdom, and I’d start praying for somebody and they’d fall out in the Spirit. I knew God was working in me, but I didn’t speak in tongues yet….1Co.14:1 desire gifts of the Spirit, ‘especially prophecy’.  It didn’t say, ‘especially tongues.”}

All real gifts of the Spirit are God-given, to accomplish God’s purposes.  1Co.14:1 “Pursue love, yet earnestly desire spiritual gifts.”  Paul said the church is to desire spiritual gifts…earnestly!  Christ’s church should reflect both love and spiritual gifts, not love without the others.

If we’re unsure of what our spiritual gift(s) is, we can ask God to reveal it to us.  Peter wrote in 1Pe.4:10, “As each one has received a special gift [g5486], employ it in serving one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God”.  And Paul in 1Co.7:7, “Each has his own gift from God”.

Every Christian has been given at least one spiritual gift.  May our gifts and talents be used to benefit the church and humanity as a whole…to God’s glory.

Holy Spirit-Filled (2) – Be Refilled

This topic was begun in “Holy Spirit-Filled (1) – Death to Self-Will”.  It discussed the symbolic death of the old self/old nature, using the life and writings of the apostle Paul as an example.  Part 1 should be read first.  In this Part 2, we’ll tie-in the life of the apostle Peter also.

Part 1 ended with the question…How much time do we live filled with, or aware of, the Holy Spirit?  Paul exhorted the church in Ep.5:18, “Be filled with the Spirit”.

In the Old Testament (OT), the Holy Spirit (HS) wasn’t universally available to all.  OT saints weren’t baptized into the Body of Christ.  He hadn’t yet incarnated as Jesus.  Some were (occasionally) Spirit-filled to do God’s purpose.  To name a few: Bezalel Ex.31:1-3, elders of Israel Nu.11:25, Caleb Nu.14:24, Gideón Jg.6:34, Samson Jg.15:14, David Ps.51:11, Micah Mic.3:8, other prophets.

Later, John the Baptizer was Spirit-filled; Lk.1:13-15 “He will be filled with the Holy Spirit even from his mother’s womb”.

Christians are enjoined to be Spirit-filled…or refilled!  Pastor Don Finto “The Presence of God should differentiate us from all other people on earth.”  A personal awareness of the HS or God’s Presence.

Jesus was so aware!  Jn.3:34 “He [Jesus] whom God has sent speaks the words of God; for God gives Him the Spirit without limit.”  Jesus was continually Spirit-filled!  And the spiritual believer should be Spirit-filled.  HS infilling brings boldness (for testimony) and fellowship with God.

After Jesus’ resurrection, in Ac.1:5 He promised His disciples would soon be filled with the Spirit.  This infilling occurred in Ac.2:4. “They were all filled with the Holy Spirit.”  Their baptism in the HS and filling with the HS was simultaneous.  Peter was one of those (Ac.2:14).

Peter was emboldened by the HS to take his stand and speak with confidence (Ac.2:29, 36).  The now Spirit-filled Peter isn’t fearfully denying Jesus, as he’d done earlier 3 times (ref Jn.13:38, Jn.18:12-27)!  Throughout Ac.3, Peter continued to boldly proclaim Jesus the Christ publically, while exhorting Jews in Jerusalem to repent of their wicked ways.  He healed a lame man in the name of Jesus (Ac.3:6-10).

We read that Peter is still Spirit-filled the next day.  Ac.4:8 “Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit….”  Then v.31 “When they prayed, the place where they’d gathered was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak the word of God with boldness.”  Peter and other Jewish Christians in that meeting place were filled or refilled.  (Note: Ron Phillips Awakened by the Spirit, p.117 “This manifestation gave early American Quakers their name.”)

HS indwelling provides spiritual power and gifts for Christians.  But we can subsequently become unfilled or less filled by: sin in our life, not spending time with God, not yielding to God’s will.

Paul wrote Galatians c 50 AD.  Ga.2:11-14 “But when Peter came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, for he was to be blamed. The Jewish Christians joined him in hypocrisy. Barnábas was swept along with them.”  This dispute (noted only by Paul, not Luke) indicates that the apostles Peter & Barnabas, or Paul himself, wasn’t then filled with the HS.  Being in error, someone(s) had become unfilled or less filled.

Later their falling out was mended.  cf. 2Pe.3:14-16.  Peter as an old man went on to write two epistles included in our Bibles.  And in Paul’s subsequent letters, Paul recognized Barnabas (1Co.9:6, Col.4:10).

The Spirit can be rekindled.  2Ti.1:6 “I remind you to rekindle the gift of God which is in you.”  Barnes Notes 2Ti.1:6 “What was the ‘gift of God’? Paul specifies in the next verse, 2Ti.1:7, ‘the Spirit of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.”  Paul exhorted Timothy to stir up, or be refilled with, the HS.  When the fire gets low, stir the coals or add more coals.

If the sense of HS fullness has waned in us, we heed Paul’s exhortation to be (re)filled, Ep.5:18.

There were periods when Paul felt unfilled.  He admitted in Ro.7:19, “I don’t do the good I desire to do. Instead, I practice the very evil that I don’t want to do.”  v.24 “O wretched man that I am!”  It seems Paul wasn’t sufficiently filled at that time, to victoriously combat old wrong tendencies.  JFB Commentary Ro.7:19 “The conflict here…cannot be the conflict between passion and struggles in the unregenerate, because of this description given to ‘the desire to do good.”  Here he’s the regenerate, converted Paul.  Barnes Notes Ro.7:24 “This frequent subjection to sinful propensities.”  There were times when HS influence was neglected or unsought for Paul (and Peter) to obediently mind God.

An unfilled worldly Christian may feel wretched, miserable; he’s not yielded away from his self-will, and is controlled by his old self or ‘flesh’.  (ref Part 1.)  Having lost (close) contact with God, he may feel fruitless and defeated…depending on self-effort to try to live the Christian life, rather than living by the indwelling HS.  This can result in frustration or confusion, living by emotional feeling & self-desire, rather than by active faith and HS guidance.  We are to trust, obey, and follow the Lord via the Spirit.

Alfred H. Pohl said, “Every Christian has the HS in his life as Resident, but the Spirit-filled (controlled) Christian has Him as President!”  (The Godhead is one in essence.  Jesus is Lord!)  West Colonial Hills Baptist Church “Where the Baptism of the Spirit makes the Spirit resident of our lives, the Filling makes the Spirit president of our lives. The Filling of the Spirit happens to those who obey, submit and surrender to the Spirit.”  But we can become complacent or lackadaisical in submitting to the HS.

CBN The Filling of the Holy Spirit “D.L. Moody was asked why he continually needed to be filled with the Holy Spirit. He replied, ‘Because I leak’. Like Moody, we all run out of gas and need the power of the Holy Spirit to recharge our lives. Scripture says we must be continually filled, not just once or twice.”  Friends Review, vol.28 “Baptized once for all, there is need to be refilled for every service.”  The HS is likened to living water (Jn.7:38-39).  We too leak, become spiritually dry or empty.

If we feel spiritually weak or that our growth is stunted, or that the HS may have been grieved or quenched…we need refilling or renewal!  Ep.4:22-24 “Lay aside the old self…and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new self.”  Refilling, renewal, rekindle, stir up the Spirit…these are comparable expressions.

What may we do to be refilled or rekindle the HS?  Php.2:5 “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus.”  Again, Jesus was continually Spirit-filled (He was conceived by the HS, Mt.1:20)!

First, we should examine our lives.  Paul wrote in 2Co.13:5, “Examine yourselves to see whether you are still in the Christian faith”.  Then quit any (recurring) sin that becomes evident.  Is.59:2 “Your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He will not hear you.”  Sin separates us from the Lord’s Presence.  (So does neglect and self-absorption.)  We’re to confess any new sin and repent of it, and then God will forgive, 1Jn.1:9.

Ja.4:7-8 “Submit to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.”  He.4:16 “Let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace.”  How do we draw near?  There are spiritual tools we can implement that will bring us closer to God:

We can devote more time to God and the things of God.  Every day set aside some quiet time.  David wrote in Ps.63:1 KJV, “Thou art my God; early will I seek Thee”.  Seek His Presence in the morning to start the day right.  The HS of wisdom says in Pr.8:17, “I love those who love me, and those who seek me diligently shall find me”.  God knows when we’re in earnest.  The Lord promised in Je.29:13, “You will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart”.  Heartfelt seeking.

Spend more time praying.  Paul said in1Th.5:17, “Pray without ceasing”.  As we pray, listen for God impressing or speaking to us in our spirit.  Ep.6:18 “Pray at all times in the Spirit.”  Throughout the day.

Do daily Bible reading or Bible study.  Following a program of reading the entire Bible-in-a-year will give us a broad overview of the scriptures.  Let the written words, inspired by the HS, soak in.  1Ti.4:13 Paul exhorted Timothy at Ephesus to “Give attention to the public reading of scripture”.  That was primarily the OT scriptures, the Law and the Prophets (and the Psalms/Writings).

Meditate on the Lord, on scriptures, and the wonders of God’s creation.  Ps.119:15 “I will meditate on Your precepts and regard Your ways.”  This will help us remain mindful of God.  Ps.111:2 “Great are the works of the Lord. They are studied by all who delight in them.”  Ps.77:12 “Muse on all Thy deeds.”

Occasional fasting too is beneficial.  Jesus said, Mt.6:16-18 “When you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, so that your fasting will not be noticed by men, but by your Father in secret. And your Father which sees in the hidden place will reward you openly.”  Fasting isn’t for religious show.  It’s for seeking God (and for health).  Those who hunger and thirst for righteousness will be blessed (Mt.5:6).

Worship/fellowship with other Christians.  We can edify each other.  Pr.27:17 “As iron sharpens iron, so a man sharpens the countenance of his friend.”  Spend time praising the Lord (Ps.111:1), corporately and also privately as we go about our day.  David wrote in Ps.22:3, “You are holy, You who inhabits the praises of Israel”.  Offer-up the “sacrifice of praise” and give thanks (He.13:15)…God shows up.

Exercise your spiritual gift(s).  For example, if God has given you the gift of tongues, don’t let it lie dormant.  (also see the topic, “Spiritual Gifts and Tongues”.)  Speak in tongues privately to God in your prayer closet or secret place.  That will build you up spiritually.  Paul wrote in 1Co.14:4 KJV, “He that speaks in an unknown tongue edifies himself”.

Also, reading Christian books about communing with God can inspire and motivate us.  God’s Presence is our best environment (regardless of our church background)!  I recommend Brother Lawrence’s The Practice of the Presence of God.  Living in the 1600s, Brother Lawrence experienced God’s Presence as a way of life daily, hour by hour!  Other such Christian books you may find helpful are: The Joy of Full Surrender and The Sacrament of the Present Moment, both by Jean-Pierre de Caussade; Frank C. Laubach Letters by a Modern Mystic; Gregory A. Boyd Present Perfect – Finding God in the Now.  The desire of those writers was to sense God’s Presence habitually.

A HS refilling may seem like a brand new experience to us, especially if we’ve regressed away from God.  But we’re still in the Body of Christ.  It’s now about us getting right or staying right with God, surrendering the self, personal consecration, trusting and allowing His HS to guide us.  In daily situations we encounter, ask ourself…‘What would Jesus do (WWJD) if He were in my shoes today?’

We can still be living as if in the day of Pentecost (Ac.2:1-4)…living a Spirit-led life!  God wants us to present ourselves to Him as available empty vessels or jars of clay…to be filled by the HS.  cf. 2Ki.4:1-7 the Lord caused the widow’s empty jars of clay to be miraculously filled with oil in Elisha’s day.

We should seek to be Spirit-empowered, Spirit-influenced, Spirit-guided; Spirit-controlled in a sense.  Jesus said in Jn.4:24, “God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth”.

Although we won’t achieve complete perfection in this life…life is much more satisfying walking in the Spirit!  (e.g. Enoch walked with God, Ge.5:22.)

Our bodies are the temple of God.  Paul wrote in 1Co.6:19 KJV, “Your body is a temple of the Holy Ghost [Spirit], which is in you”.  We host the Holy Ghost!  It’s a great privilege we’ve been given…God desires to actually indwell Christians!

Col.3:1 “If then you have been raised up [cf. Col.2:12] with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ sits at the right hand of God.”  Strive to keep our mind & intent fixed on right things of God.  Col.3:4 “And when Christ, who gives meaning to our life, appears, then you too will appear with Him in glory.”  The glorious goal of our converted Life will then be reality.  To God be the glory!

Church Structure and Member Functions

Many Christians try to attend church every week or two.  Others attend only occasionally or just at Easter and Christmas.  Some are so turned-off with religion and churchianity…they just stay home.

Many atheists, Jewish anti-missionaries, Muslims, and other non-believers are opposed to people becoming believers in Jesus as Savior.  The institution of church and our assembling together provides a measure of protection for our belief in God and the truths of the Bible.  This topic is about church fundamentals and believer functions, from the New Testament (NT).

The saints of the early church assembled together.  Originally the NT church was a gathering of people…not the building where they met!  The Greek term for church is ekklésia, Strongs g1577, occurring 118 times in the NT.

Lk.4:16 it was Jesus’ custom to attend the formal style of service of His day at synagogue (g4864) on the sabbath (g4521).  This custom resulted from the instruction God gave to Moses/Israel in Le.23:3. “On the 7^th day there is a sabbath of complete rest, a holy convocation. It is a sabbath to the Lord in all your dwellings.”  Jewish synagogues were lay institutions with unpaid elders (h2205 zaqén, Hebrew).  see the topic “Synagogue Influence on the Church”.

Mt.18:15-20 Jesus authorized His own future assemblies or messianic Beit Din (‘House of Judgment’) with zaqen/elders overseeing decisions…to “bind and loose” (forbid and permit), Mt.16:19.  Two or three local elders helped resolve internal disputes and made legal decisions for each local congregation (ref Mt.18:15-18, 1Co.6:1-5).

But Jesus said church leaders aren’t to be lords (Mt.20:25-28).  Jesus is Lord (Ro.10:9).  He is the only Head of the church (Ep.5:23)!  He died and rose again…and His church was launched in Acts 2, ca 30 AD.

In the early church of the 1^st century, a group of believers usually met in a large room or courtyard of a believer’s house.  See Ro.16:5, Col.4:15, Philemon 1:2, 2Jn.1:10 for evidence of house churches.

The apostle Paul planted churches on his missionary journeys.  The churches Paul started were structured (similar to the synagogue pattern).  As Paul departed a city on his journey, a few local elders would emerge to lead & guide that new church group.

In Ac.20:17, 28 Paul instructed the elders [g4245 presbúteros] of Ephesus, “Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers [g1985 epískopos, bishops], to shepherd the church of God.”  Church overseers/bishops care for the figurative ‘sheep’.  Often one elder was the householder where that church met.

Ti.1:5 Paul instructed the church planter Titus to appoint elders who’d emerged in cities on the island of Crete.  After a period of time, Paul or another church planter (e.g. Peter, Timothy, Titus) would revisit the local group.  Churches grew & spread as believers shared the gospel with family, friends, associates.

Apostles/church planters had spiritual authority.  The Holy Spirit (HS) confirmed them.

Paul wrote to the Corinthian church in 1Co.4:21. “Shall I come to you with a rod, or with love and a spirit of gentleness?”  Later in 2Co.7:13-16, “He [Titus] remembers your obedience, how you received him [Titus] with fear and trembling”.  Also ref Philemon 1:8-9 and 1Ti.5:19-21 regarding authority.

By the time the 1Timothy letter was written, ca 63 AD, many churches were being established throughout the Roman Empire.

Guidelines were to be observed for each local NT assembly.  Although leading men should be honorable, the NT doesn’t indicate that local elders were imbued with the same degree of spiritual authority the apostles/church planters had.

Ti.1:5-9 and 1Ti.3:1-7 distinguish the characteristics of elders & overseers.  1Ti.3:8-13 distinguishes the characteristics of deacons (g1249 diákonos).  Dr. Spiros Zódiates “Deacons in this sense were helpers or servants of the bishops or elders.”  Php.1:1 Paul addressed this letter to the saints, overseers/bishops (plural) and deacons at Phílippi.

It appears the NT church government was more like an oligarchy, not a hierarchy.  Ga.2:7-9 Paul indicated that Peter, John, James apostled mostly physically circumcised Jews; whereas Barnábas & Paul went more to uncircumcised gentiles.

There was no Pope!  The HS is the ‘vicar of Christ’, so to speak.  The apostolic church wasn’t an immoral, indolent, corrupt monopoly.

The Lord gave Jewish and gentile Christians various spiritual gifts & functions via the HS.  Ep.4:11-13 “He gave some apostles, and prophets, and evangelists, and shepherds/pastors, and teachers; for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ. ‘Til we all come into the unity of the faith.”  Many of the functions indicated in Ep.4:11-13 are performed by elders.

In addition to the NT model eldership structure, the HS has also blessed and gifted the church.  Anointing with oil while praying for the sick to be healed is an example of a local function done by elders, Ja.5:14-16.

Yet, in a sense, all Christians are priests in God’s holy royal priesthood (1Pe.2:5, 9)!

Several believer functions are listed in 1Co.12:27-31.  These functions and gifts are distributed by the HS among the saints (in local areas).  1Co.12:27-31 “God has appointed in the church, first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then workers of miracles, gifts of healings, admins, tongues.”  Yes, miracles & healings are for the church (Ja.5:14-16).  see “Spiritual Gifts and ‘Tongues”.

Also Ro.12:4-8, 13 is in regards to believer functions. “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 the needs of others, hospitality, etc.  also see “Female Roles in the Early Church.”

1Co.12:29-30 not all Christians are apostles, or prophets, or teachers, etc.; all aren’t pastors; all don’t speak in tongues.  All haven’t been given evangelistic gifts or talk about Jesus well one-on-one.  Those who don’t speak in tongues or evangelize well, for example, shouldn’t be made to feel inadequate.

Paul’s summation in 1Co.14:1, “Pursue love, yet desire spiritual gifts”.  It’s not one or the other.  It’s spiritual gifts and love…both.  The various gifts and love from the HS enables those so gifted to spread the gospel and knit the church together in godly love.  Personal evangelism (by those who have that gift) is key to a living and growing church.  Of note, it wasn’t the apostles who evangelized in Ac.8:1-4.  also see “Evangelism in the Apostolic Church”.

Gentile peoples come from backgrounds of different cultures, customs and beliefs.  Even the Jews had their own sects.  (see “Jewish Sects of the 1^st Century”.)  As the gospel went to the nations, the result was a much diverse group coming into the church at large.  And differing customs can cause some disunity.  Also see “Doctrinal Disunity Impacts Evangelism”.

Jesus prayed there would be unity.  Jn.17:11 “Holy Father, keep them in Your name, that they may be one.”  Continuing in Jn.17:22-23, “That they may be one, just as We are one, that they may be perfected in unity”.  Jesus prayed that all Christians would become unified, as one in Spirit with God.

Paul didn’t charge money for the gospel.  Nor did he cause division for the church in regards to points of Levitical ceremonial laws or Judaism’s oral traditions from his background.  1Co.9:18-23 “When I preach the gospel I offer the gospel without charge. To the Jews I became as a Jew, though not being myself under [man-made oral?] law; to those [gentiles] without law as without [oral?] law, though not being without the [written] law of God….that I may by all means save some.”  Paul was willing to set aside Jewish oral traditions (but not the Lord’s written principles) to help grow God’s Kingdom.

Our Christian journey is a process of personal growth and learning.  There were big differences and some problems, for example, among the seven churches of western Turkey (Rev.2–3)!  Yet they were all still Christ’s churches (Rev.1:13, 20), though some desperately needed to repent more fully.

All Christian churches today lay claim to the Bible as the written word of God.  This written word, as inspired by the HS, is the universal standard and unifying instruction guide for the Body of Christ.  As Jesus & Paul affirmed when referring to the Old Testament…“It is written!” (e.g. Mt.4:4, Ro.3:10.)

But to fully obey God’s word, we must be willing to lay aside traditional (and nationalistic) differences which contradict His word.  see “Governmental Loyalty for Christians”.  Also we should be willing to de-emphasize any differences regarding non-salvation issues so-called, and speculations.

Jesus said in Jn.13:34-35, “By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love one for another”.  What is godly love?  1Jn.5:3 provides a definition of true godly love. “This is the love of God, that you keep His commandments.”  As we obey God while loving each other, and do our part to spread the gospel…the Kingdom of God will be expressed more and more.  The church has been called the Kingdom of God in miniature.  (see “Kingdom of God” and “Love – Godly Love”.)

Although there are apostles, elders, etc., the bottom line is…all believers are necessary parts of the Body of Christ…whether they’re an eye or a hand or a part less noticeable (1Co.12:20-25).  As our body parts come to the aid and defense of our physical body; the church provides protection from false teaching, and from those who reject Jesus as Savior.  Our local assembly is part of our spiritual immune system.

God’s people are exhorted to maintain the habit of gathering together regularly in an approved manner, based upon what we see in the NT.  Individually a believing member may be a figurative hand, or finger, foot, toe, ear, lung, etc., of the Body of Christ.  (Christ is the Head.)  But no body part can exist alone!  Each group or congregation is a local body where believers are to function in sync with each other.

The writer to the Hebrews urged believers to meet & commune together.  He.10:24-25 “Let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good works, not forsaking our own assembling together.”

We’re to share in a unified local body.  Through the HS within us, we can be living examples of God’s written principles in our thoughts, words, actions, conduct and habits.  Then our purpose and destiny will be…we ourselves unified together with God for all eternity!  What a glorious future we have!

So let’s look to spread the gospel as the opportunity arises…and carry-on the church practice of meeting together, as did the New Testament saints who went before us.

Jesus’ Twelve Apostles

Jesus’ original twelve apostles and their work are evident throughout the New Testament (NT).  There are different names associated with His apostles.  My main purpose here is to identify who they were.

An apostle is one sent out, an envoy or an ambassador.  Jesus commissioned His disciples (followers or devotees) as apostles and authorized them to act as His representatives.  Mt.10:1 “He gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every kind of disease and sickness.”

They were eyewitnesses of His resurrection (Lk.24:33-43, Jn.20:26-28).  He instructed them to go out to the world, preach the gospel, teach the nations, and baptize believers (Mt.28:19, Mk.16:15-16).  Jesus told them in Ac.1:8, “You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth”.  His apostles and prophets are the foundation of God’s church, with Christ Himself the Chief Cornerstone (Ep.2:19-20).

The twelve apostles are listed in Mt.10:2-4, Mk.3:14-19, Lk.6:13-16.  After Jesus’ ascension, eleven of them are seen in the upper room of Ac.1:13.  All twelve were Jews.

Mt.10:2-4 “The names of the twelve are these: Simon who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; James (the son) of Zebedée, and John his brother; Philip and Bar-tholomew, Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James (the son) of Alpháeus, and Thaddáeus [Lebbáeus]; Simon the Cananéan [zealot], and Judas Iscariót who betrayed Him.”  (Mk.3:14-19 shows the same twelve names.)

In the above, Matthew included surnames or nicknames and names of relatives to further identify and distinguish apostles from one another.  I’ll refer to Simon the Cananean/zealot as Simon, and to Simon Peter as Peter.  Jn.1:42 “Jesus looked at him and said, ‘You are Simon the son of Joannes, you shall be called Cephás (which is translated Peter).”  The English name Peter is from the Greek pétros (Strongs g4074, Greek), which means stone.  Cephas (g2786) is the Aramaic equivalent for stone.  Paul referred to Simon Peter as Cephas (1Co.1:12, 15:5, Ga.2:9, e.g.).

The name James in English comes from the Hebrew name Jacob.  I’ll use the name James, not Jacob.

The Aramaic “Bar-tholomew” means “son of Tholmai”.  In Aramaic, “bar” means “son”.  And the Greek name for his father “Tholmai” is Ptolemy.  What was the name of this apostle who was the son of Tholmai/Ptolemy?  Most think Tholmai’s son is the Nathanael of Jn.1:45-49 & 21:2.  John never mentions a Bar-tholomew.  Whereas in Matthew, Mark and Luke we don’t see the name Nathanael.  He is the Bar-tholomew of Mt.10:3, Mk.3:18, Lk.6:14, Ac.1:13.  Tholmai’s son the apostle was Nathanael.

All twelve were from Galilee, except probably Judas Iscariot.  Keriót was a town in Judea (Jsh.15:25).  Judas Iscariot was the traitor who betrayed Jesus (Lk.22:3-6, 47-48), and then hung himself (Mt.27:1-5).

The first six disciples called by Jesus were: the brothers Andrew & Peter, the brothers James & John, Philip, Nathanael/Bar-tholomew (Mat.4:18-22, Jn.1:37-51).  Andrew had been a disciple of John the Baptizer (Jn.1:40).  Andrew and Philip are Greek names…Andréas and Phílippos.  Andrew and Philip were Hellenists, Greek-speaking Jews from “Galilee of the gentiles”, Mt.4:15.  (The first Jewish Christian martyr was the Hellenist Stephen in Jerusalem, Ac.6:1-5.)  Jn.12:20-22 “Certain Greeks said to Philip, ‘Sir, we would like to see Jesus.’ Philip told Andrew; then Andrew and Philip told Jesus.”  They could speak Greek.

James & John, the sons of Zebedee, were called the “Sons of Thunder” by Jesus (Mk.3:17).  James & John were the sons of Salóme.  Identifying her at the crucifixion: Mt.27:56 the mother of the sons of Zebedee; Mk.15:40 (and 16:1) Salome; Jn.19:25 Jesus’ mother’s sister.  Regarding Salome’s identity, see Meyer NT Commentary, Cambridge Bible Note, Ellicott Commentary, Expositor’s Greek Testament, Pulpit Commentary, for Jn.19:25.  Salome was the sister of Jesus’ mother Mary.  (Biological sisters wouldn’t both be named “Mary”.)  Salome was Jesus’ aunt, making Zebedee His uncle.  Zebedee’s sons, James & John, were Jesus’ first cousins.  Salome, being Jesus’ aunt, was bold to request that her two sons receive preferential treatment in the Kingdom (Mt.20:20-24).  Jesus was closest to James & John, and Peter (ref Mt.17:1-9 Transfiguration, Mt.26:37, Mk.5:37).

In Mt.10:2-4, the first seven apostles were probably fishermen: the brothers Peter & Andrew, the brothers James & John, Philip, Bar-tholomew/Nathanael, Thomas.  Jn.21:2 “There were together Simon Peter, and Thomas called Dídymus, and Nathanael of Caná in Galilee, and the sons of Zebedee, and two other of His disciples.”  The other two were probably Peter’s brother Andrew and their close associate Philip.  Jn.1:44 “Philip was from Bethsaidá, the town of Andrew and Peter.”  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 Bethsaida.”  Bethsaida was a fishing village near the shore of the Sea of Galilee.

In Jn.2:1-12, the groom of the wedding at Cana in Galilee is thought to have been either Nathanael or Simon the Cananean/zealot.  The Greek term is zelotés (g2208).  Jacobus de Voragine The Golden Legend “Zelotes is the equivalent of Cana, because cana means zeal.”  St. Athanasius Orthodox Church literature: “According to tradition, Simon the Zealot was born in Cana of Galilee, just like Nathanael (Jn.21:2), and was the bridegroom at the wedding feast at Cana. Mary’s prominence at his wedding suggests that they may have been distantly related.”  The New Theological Movement “St. Simon, ‘the Canaanite’ not from Canaan and ‘the Zealot’ who was no Zealot [1st century Jewish Nationalist political party]. Indeed, the name ‘Canaanite’ is closely related to the Hebrew word for ‘zealous.”  The so-called ‘commandment of Mary’ spoken in Jn.2:3-5 indicates that Jesus’ mother Mary and the groom could have been related.

It is assumed the apostle Thomas was from Galilee.  The Aramaic name Taumá/Thomas means “twin”.  Its counterpart in Greek is Didymus, meaning “twin”.  Jn.11:16 RSV “Thomas, called the Twin [Didymus g1324], said to his fellow disciples….”  The identity of Thomas’ twin is uncertain.

Eusebius (265–340 AD), church historian and bishop of Caesárea, “After the ascension of Jesus, Judas, who is also called Thomas, sent to him Thaddaeus, an apostle”.  Eusebius said that Thomas was a man named Judas, who was called Thomas/Didymus/twin.  The non-canonical Gospel of Thomas (of 200 AD?) begins with, “These are the secret sayings which the living Jesus spoke, and which Didymus Judas Thomas wrote down”.  If Eusebius and Syriac tradition are correct, this apostle’s name was Judas, and his surname or nickname was Thomas/Didymus (twin).  see “Jesus Wasn’t Thomas’ Twin”.

Matthew was a tax collector in Capernaúm (cf. Mt.4:13, 9:1, 9), located on the NW shore of the Sea of Galilee.  He was the “Levi, sitting in the tax office”.  cf. Mk.2:14 & Mt.9:9, Lk.5:27-29.  Since he was called Levi, it is thought Matthew was a Levite.  Descendants of Aaron among the Levites were priests.  So Matthew may have even been of priestly lineage.  He was (the son) of Alphaeus.  Tax collectors or customs agents were wealthy.  Customs and road tolls were collected at his customs post.  Tax collectors were often dishonest and disliked by the populace (e.g. Mt.21:31, Lk.19:1-8).  In his position, Matthew would have spoken both Aramaic and Greek.  The book of Matthew often quotes from the Old Greek version (became the Septúagint/LXX) of the Old Testament.

From Mt.10:2-4, there are two more apostles to identify.  They are James (the son) of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus/Lebbaeus.  It is uncertain whether or not Mathew/Levi and this James were sons of the same Alphaeus.  To distinguish this James from the James & John who were sons of Zebedee, this James is often identified as James (the son) of Alphaeus (in Mt.10:3, Mk.3:18, Lk.6:15, Ac.1:13).  At the cross, Mark also refers to this James as “James the Less” in Mk.15:40. “There were also women looking on from a distance among whom were Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James the Less and Josés, and Salome.”  In Mk.16:1, the same three women brought spices to Jesus’ tomb.  Matthew refers to the mother of James (the son) of Alphaeus, James the Less, as the “other Mary” in Mt.27:61 & 28:1.  (No gospel writer shows Jesus’ mother Mary at His tomb.)  James of Alphaeus is James the Less.

Thaddaeus/Lebbaeus is named in Mt.10:3 and Mk.3:18.  However, Luke doesn’t include Thaddaeus among the apostles in Lk.6:13-16 or Ac.1:13.  Instead, Luke includes Judas of James.  In Lk.6:14-16, Luke lists “Simon Peter & Andrew, James & John, Philip, Bar-tholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James of Alphaeus, Simon the zealot, Judas of James, Judas Iscariot.  Luke lists the same names in Ac.1:13. “Peter, John, James, Andrew, Philip, Thomas, Bar-tholomew, Matthew, James (the son) of Alphaeus, Simon the zealot, Judas of James.”  (Missing is Judas Iscariot, who’d committed suicide.)

Comparing Mt.10:2-4, Mk.3:14-19, Lk.6:13-16, Ac.1:13…it appears that Thaddaeus/Lebbaeus (means ‘large-hearted’) and Judas of James are the same apostle.  Judas/Thaddaeus was the brother (or son) of James of Alphaeus/James the Less.  Pulpit Commentary Lk.6:16 “There is no doubt that Lebbaeus and Thaddaeus were surnames by which James’s Jude, or Judas, was known generally in the Church.”  Matthew Poole Commentary Lk.6:13 “Judas the brother of James, by Luke; (this was the penman of the Epistle of Jude).”

In Jn.14:22, John referred to this Judas as “Judas (not Iscariot)”.  Barnes Notes Jn.14:22 “This was the same as Lebbeus or Thaddeus. See Mat 10:3. He was the brother of James, and the author of the Epistle of Jude.”  Pulpit Commentary Jn.14:22 “The Lebbaeus, or Thaddaeus, of Mk.3:18 and Mt.10:3; the Judas brother of James of Lk.6:16 and Ac.1:13.”  (John refers to Thomas as Thomas.)

So there were three apostles named Judas.  Thaddaeus the brother of James, Thomas, Iscariot.  Ac.1:13 & Lk.6:14-16 show that Thomas and Judas/Thaddeus and Judas Iscariot were three different people.  Traditionally, Thomas and Judas/Thaddeus and Judas Iscariot died in three different countries.  All occurrences of the name “Judas” in the NT are Strongs g2455.  All occurrences of “James” are g2385.

Jude 1:1 “Jude [Judas g2455], a servant of Jesus Christ and brother of James.”  Jude/Judas identifies himself as the brother of James.  Gill Exposition Jude 1:1 “Jude, the servant of Jesus Christ….The author of this epistle is the same who is elsewhere called Judas, Lk.6:16, who was one of the twelve apostles of Christ, whose name was also Lebbaeus, and whose surname was Thaddaeus. Brother of James; not the son of Zebedee, but of Alphaeus, Mt.10:2.”  JFB Commentary Jude 1:1 “Jude. He was also called Lebbaeus and Thaddaeus (Mt.10:3), probably to distinguish him from Judas Iscariot.”

Let’s look more closely at this James, the brother of Jude/Judas (not Iscariot).  He can be traced by the order seen in Luke’s gospel & Acts.  In Lk.5:10, Luke first mentions a James, and links him with John as the sons of Zebedee.  In Lk.6:14-16, Luke again mentions James & John, and then a James of Alphaeus (and a Judas of James, distinguished from Judas Iscariot).  So James of Alphaeus is a second James.  In Lk.8:51, 9:28, 54 we see the brothers James & John again.  In Lk.24:10, Luke mentions Mary (the mother) of James, but there’s no John here.  So this Mary relates to the James who Luke identified as James of Alphaeus, not John’s brother James.  Continuing with Luke’s book of Acts….

In Ac.1:13, Luke distinguishes James & John from James of Alphaeus.  So far, Luke’s writings have identified only two apostles named James.  Then in Ac.12:2, Herod had James the brother of John killed.  Several verses later, in Ac.12:17, Peter said, “Go show these things to James and the brethren”.  In v.17, Peter isn’t referring to James the brother of John…that James had died back in v.2.  The only other James identified by Luke in his gospel and Acts is…James of Alphaeus.  So Luke just calls him “James” from Ac.12:17 on.  This James was very well-known.  Ac.15:13 “After they held their peace, James answered.”  James of Alphaeus remains.  Ac.21:18 “Paul went in with us to James, and all the elders were present.”  James of Alphaeus.  Luke identified only two named James, not three.

This James of Alphaeus (James the Less) was related to…the apostle “Judas of James” (Lk.6:16, Ac.1:13, Jude 1:1), a brother Joses/Joseph (Mt.27:56, Mk.15:40, 47), his mother Mary of James/Mary of Clopás (Lk.24:10, Jn.19:25).  She’s the “other Mary” (Mt.27:61, 28:1).  Pulpit Commentary Mk.15:40 “The mother of our Lord had been there until the time when, having with St. John crept as near the cross of Jesus as she might venture, she was consigned by our Lord to St. John’s care, and taken away by him.”  (Again, Jesus’ mother Mary wasn’t at His tomb.)  This esteemed James was related to the Judas who wrote the epistle of Jude 1:1. “Jude, brother of James.”  Ellicott Commentary Jude 1:1 “James the Just…first bishop of Jerusalem.”    

Hippólytus (170–235 AD) On the Twelve Apostles of Christ “And James the son of Alphaeus, when preaching in Jerusalem was stoned to death by the Jews, and was buried there beside the temple.”

Papias of Hierópolis (70–160 AD) Exposition of the Sayings of the Lord, Fragment X “(1) Mary the mother of the Lord; (2) Mary the wife of Cleophas or Alphaeus, who was the mother of James the bishop and apostle, and of Simon and Thaddeus [Judas/Jude], and of one Joses; (3) ….Salome, wife of Zebedee, mother of John & James; (4) Mary Magdalene. These four are found in the Gospel.”

The sons of Zebedee/Salome, James & John, were Jesus’ cousins.  Mark and Matthew made reference to other of Jesus’ relatives.  Mk.6:3 “James and Joses and Judas and Simon.”  Mt.13:55-56 James, Joseph, Simon, Judas.  Joses/Joseph is also linked to James the Less in Mk.15:40, 47.  And it’s more than coincidental that three of Jesus’ twelve apostles were: James (the Less, of Alphaeus), Judas (of James, called Thaddaeus), Simon (the Cananean/zealot)!

Jacobus de Voragine op. cit. “Simon the Cananean and Jude, also called Thaddeus, were brothers of James the Less and sons of Mary of Cleopas, who was married to Alpheus.”  Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America “Some say that James was a nephew of Joseph, and the son of his brother Cleopas, who was also called Alphaeus and Mary his wife….But he was still called, according to the idiom of the scriptures, the Lord’s brother because of their kinship.”  (Cleopas & Mary in Lk.24:13-30?)  Eusebius Church History 3:11 “Hegésippus records that Clopas was a brother of Joseph.”  Gill Exposition Lk.24:18 “Cleophas or Alphaeus, for it is the same name; he was one of the 70 disciples, and father of the Apostles James and Jude, and brother to Joseph, the husband of Mary, the mother of Christ.”  In that case, the “other Mary”, Mary of Alphaeus/Clopas, was sister-in-law to Jesus’ mother Mary.

It’s speculated that Alphaeus or Clopas was the deceased brother of Jesus’ (legal) father Joseph.  That Joseph had levirate married Alphaeus’ widow, the “other Mary”, to provide legacy & support (De.25:5-6).  If so, then James the Less, Judas, Simon, Joses…were Jesus’ cousins and step-brothers both.

Lastly, in Ac.1:21-26, two men were nominated to replace Judas Iscariot as an apostolic eyewitness of Jesus’ resurrection.  Matthías was chosen by lot.  The name of the other nominee was Joseph.  Matthew Poole Commentary Ac.1:23 “Joseph, or Joses, the same name called.”  Barnes Notes Ac.1:23 “Lightfoot supposes that he [Joseph] was the son of Alpheus and brother of James the Less.”  Joses the relative?

After the replacement of Judas Iscariot in Ac.1:26, the twelve apostles were: Simon Peter & Andrew, James & John (sons of Zebedee), Philip, Bar-tholomew/Nathanael, Thomas/Didymus/(Judas), Matthew/Levi, James of Alphaeus called James the Less or just James, Thaddaeus/Lebbaeus/Judas of James, Simon the Cananean/zealot, Matthias.  Their witness?  It is true…the Lord Jesus lives (Re.1:18)!

Unclean versus Clean Food (2)

Foundational scriptures for this topic were addressed in “Unclean versus Clean Food (1)”.  This Part 2 is the sequel to the material covered in Part 1.  The verses noted in Part 1 are essential to Part 2.

In Part 1, we looked at the scriptural concept of “unclean” in general.  We saw Christ’s basic guidelines in Le.11/De.14:2-20 about edible and inedible creatures (especially unclean swine).  We read in Ge.7:2 where the gentile Noah differentiated between clean and unclean creatures…prior to the Old Covenant!  Without recapping Part 1, here we’ll examine other passages, mostly from the New Testament (NT).

In NT times, Pharisees were overly concerned about self-righteous ritual washings.  The rabbis wrongly assumed hands could defile, even when no Tanakh ritual uncleanness applied.  Pharisees taught that hands must be washed before eating to avoid conveying some ‘uncleanness’ to the food they touched, supposedly resulting in unclean food.  (Also some thought evil spirits were washed away at the fingertips.)

Mt.15:1-2 “Pharisees and scribes came to Jesus from Jerusalem asking, ‘Why do Your disciples violate the tradition of the elders? They don’t wash their hands before they eat bread [ártos Strongs g740, Greek].”  The issue of cleanliness here specifically pertained to unwashed hands when eating bread, not to eating the flesh of unclean creatures!  The controversy had to do with oral law tradition, not with the Lord’s written Old Testament commands.  Jesus’ disciples and those Jewish Pharisees weren’t eating unclean flesh at meals!  Had Jesus done so, He would’ve sinned…and then we’d have no Savior!

The Pharisees self-righteously misapplied Ex.30:19-21. “Aaron and his sons shall wash their hands and feet when they burn an offering by fire to the Lord.”  Ritual washing of the priests was required before they sacrificed, and then ate the holy meal of various (peace) offerings.  But that handwashing applied to priests.  (Foot-washing of guests was customary in the culture, cf. Jn.13:5.)  But there was no command in scripture/Tanakh requiring a layman to wash his hands before a common meal.  The Mt.15 passage reflects the Pharisees wrongly valuing their oral law above the written word of God.  So Jesus replied to them in Mt.15:3. “Why do you invalidate the word of God by your tradition?”

Jesus continued in Mt.15:10-20, “Everything that goes into the mouth passes into the stomach and is eliminated”.  But parasites, viruses, bacteria (e.g. salmonella) transmitted from unclean meat aren’t simply eliminated (see Part 1)!  Rather, Jesus is addressing eating bread with unwashed hands, not eating unclean animals.  v.15 “Peter said to Him, ‘Explain the parable to us.”  Note that it’s Peter who asks.  Jesus’ bottom line conclusion in v.20, “To eat with unwashed hands doesn’t defile the man”.

Mk.7:1-23 is a parallel account.  The Mk.7:19b phrase in some Bibles, “Jesus declared all foods clean”, isn’t in the earliest manuscripts or the KJV.  It’s a later addition.  Nonetheless, if it’s ‘food’, in scripture it’s innately clean (though it could become defiled or contaminated).  Contrary to the Pharisees, Jesus told them that laymen’s common bread remained clean and wasn’t defiled ceremonially when touched by unwashed hands.  (ref David H. Stern Jewish New Testament Commentary, p.93.)  In Luke’s shorter account (Lk.11:37-41), the Pharisee who asked Jesus to dine with him is surprised that Jesus didn’t wash before eating.

Unclean meat wasn’t mentioned in the accounts of Matthew, Mark, Luke.

Le.20:22-26 clean versus unclean creatures also had typified a distinction Christ made between His holy nation Israel (and aliens among them, v.2)…from heathen nations with their abominable practices.  Da.7:1–6 gentile empires of Babylon, Persia, Greece were symbolized by unclean wild animals.  But since all humans, Israelites and gentiles, are unclean to eat…it’s an analogy only, and will end.  This analogy doesn’t restrict Jews from associating with most gentiles.  (Ge.8:20 early post-Flood, when there was no Israel or clear separation of peoples, God required only clean creatures be sacrificed by the gentile Noah…also later by gentiles in Jb.42:8.  Those earlier gentiles weren’t unclean by analogy.)

Ac.10:9-17 Peter’s vision regarding gentiles occurred 5+ years after the Mt.15/Mk.7 unwashed hands incident.  When Peter saw in vision the mix of sheep, cows, snakes, spiders, bats, pigs, mice, cats, dogs, etc., most were unclean to him.  (Nigel Barber 2011 Psychology Today “In China, India, and other countries, dogs are commonly eaten.”)  Ac.10:13-15 “A voice came to him, ‘Arise, Peter, kill and eat.’ But Peter said, ‘No, Lord. I have never eaten anything defiled or unclean.’ The voice came to him again, ‘What God has cleansed, no longer consider defiled.”  Peter, knowing Christ’s commandments of Le.11, even said “No” to the heavenly voice!  Jesus hadn’t said unclean creatures were now fit to eat.  Rather, those envisioned unclean creatures symbolized the gentile world comprised of various peoples.

Jesus had told Peter and the disciples in Jn.14:26, “The Holy Spirit will remind you of all things I said to you”.  We recall that it was Peter specifically to whom Jesus gave the clarification in Mt.15:15-20; Jesus said eating with unwashed hands doesn’t defile a man.  In Mt.15/Mk.7 Jesus didn’t make any change to His food laws for the Holy Spirit to later remind Peter of in Ac.10!  Ac.10:14, 11:8 are NT verses later saying Peter still didn’t eat anything unclean (akáthartos g169).  Christ’s principles are consistent!  1Co.3:16-17 we’re not to destroy the ‘temple of God’ by eating toxic creatures He forbad.

By Ac.10:28, Peter understood the meaning of his vision. “God has shown me that I shouldn’t call any man defiled or unclean.”  Contrary to Pharisee oral law, Christian gentiles weren’t to be shunned and racially treated as unclean compared to Jews.  Unclean donkeys & horses belonging to Jews were touched/ridden and cared for (but not eaten)!  Humanity is all of one blood, Ac.17:26 KJV.  No peoples are unclean due to race.  (Though all humans are omnivores…Noah & gentiles, Jews too…unclean to eat!)  Ac.15:7-9 & 1Jn.1:9 believing gentiles too are cleansed from unrighteousness.  The Le.20:22-26 distinction of men especially isn’t applicable to those cleansed by Christ’s blood and given the Spirit.

Christ had given Peter the keys to the Kingdom (Mt.16:17-19).  Peter wrote to scattered Christians (1Pe.4:16) 25 years after his Acts 10 vision (which debunked the Pharisee oral law that Jews mustn’t associate with gentiles, Ac.10:28).  In 1Pe.1:15-17, Peter quoted God saying “Be you holy, for I Am holy”.  Here Peter referenced the Le.11 passage about clean & unclean creatures (his quote is repeated in Le.20:25-26).  Le.11:43-47 “Be you holy, for I Am holy. This is the law regarding all creatures, to make a distinction between the clean and the unclean, between the edible and the inedible.”  That was God’s word on clean/unclean which related to sanctification or set apart or holy.  Even as an old man, Peter still tied holiness to Christ’s commands of Le.11!  Peter knew Jesus hadn’t flip-flopped on this.

2Ti.3:15-16 Paul said Timothy had known the sacred scriptures from childhood, i.e. the Old Testament (OT).  Paul said they’re inspired.  1Ti.4:1-5 Paul also said there’s “Men who advocate abstaining from foods which God created to be shared by those who believe and know the truth. For everything created by God is good and nothing to be rejected, for it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer”.  What is that truth?  Ps.119:160 “Thy word is true from the beginning.”  Jesus said in Jn.17:17, “Sanctify them by the truth; Thy word is truth”.

Where in God’s written word (known by Timothy) do we read the truth about sanctified meats?  Even unclean creatures were created for a good purpose (Ge.1:21, 25).  But they’re not sanctified as food fit for humans, according to the truth of God’s word!  ref Le.11 & De.14:2-20 (see Part 1).  Paul went on to tell Timothy in 1Ti.4:13 to even read the OT to the church!  In the Bible, no unclean creature is identified or sanctified as ‘food’.  (Though we needn’t be vegetarians.)

Jesus stated in His parable of the fishing dragnet that was cast into the sea, Mt.13:47-50. “They gather the good into vessels, but the bad they throw away.”  Van d Brink Commentary “The bad, unacceptable fishes are all unclean fishes (Le.11:9-12), i.e. all fishes without scales and fins, and all inedible water creatures.”  Pulpit Commentary “This would include the legally unclean.”  Jesus made the distinction.

We still see unclean in the book of Revelation, written decades after the cross.  Re.16:13 mentions “three unclean spirits like frogs”.  Frogs and all amphibians are unclean.  In Re.18:2, Babylon the Great is “a hold of every unclean and hateful bird”.  Many birds are unclean.  Unclean creatures are still unfit for human consumption & health.  God loves all people, beyond the 144,000 of Israel (Re.7:4-10).

Ezekiel wrote futuristically in his latter chapters.  In Ezk.44, God spoke of the Prince, and priests.  v.23 “They shall teach My people the difference between the holy and the unholy, and to discern between the unclean and the clean.”  Barnes Notes “The directions in the new order represent the necessity for holiness in all Christians.”  Matthew Henry Commentary “This chapter contains ordinances relative to the true priests.”  Again, Peter quoted Le.11:44, which is dietary, “Be you holy, for I Am holy”.

God says in Is.66:4-5, “They did evil in My sight. Hear the word of the Lord.”  v.15-18 “The Lord will come in fire and render His anger. The Lord will execute judgment on all flesh, and those slain by the Lord will be many. Those who eat swine’s flesh, abominable things, and mice, shall come to an end,’ declares the Lord.”  In Isaiah’s futuristic prophecy, God’s punishment for willfully eating swine & mice pertains to “all flesh”!  Barnes Notes “He will execute His vengeance on all the human race. The small field mouse was regarded as a great delicacy by the Romans.”  Here God gave a stern warning!

In Ro.14, 1Co.8, 1Co.10, Paul dealt with the related issue of food sacrificed to idols…a prohibition of the Acts 15 Jerusalem council.  (for that issue, see “Sacrifices To Idols and Romans 14”.)

Ro.2:9-11 there is now no difference between Jews and Greeks/gentiles.  God is no respecter of persons.  And regarding dietary and the human digestive system…whatever harms the Jew, harms the gentile.  The whole church is to abide by the four prohibitions of Ac.15, some are dietary. (see “Acts 15 – Four Prohibitions”.)  Eating unclean (parasitic) creatures harms all the races of mankind.

Scientists say the AIDS virus was transmitted to humans by slaughtering & eating monkeys.  Monkeys are unclean.  How tragic…this scourge has nearly wiped out entire peoples!  It’s a result of disobeying the guidelines of Christ’s food laws!  False teaching or lack of teaching has led to this great calamity!

There are some who are willing to teach the scriptural truth about this issue.  Joel Osteen, pastor of the largest church in America, is one who teaches that unclean creatures aren’t to be eaten.  Dr. Don Colbert (author of What Would Jesus Eat?) is on Christian TV…he says pork is dangerous & prohibited, and he calls shellfish the ‘cockroaches of the sea’.  Pastor Benny Hinn has commented on Ge.7:2, where the gentile Noah differentiated between clean and unclean creatures.  Benny Hinn said clean creatures are ‘the ones we’re allowed to eat’.  Hinn is a gentile, as was Noah.  Ex.15:26 Christ said He won’t put sickness on those who obey His commandments and statutes.

In the 1300s AD, European Jews were even accused of instigating plague disease epidemics, because they themselves were less affected by those epidemics!  Yair Davídiy Bible Studies and Historical Researches “Contemporary evidence does indicate that proportionately less Jews than Gentiles died from the Black Death.”  Jewish History.org The Black Death “Christians claimed that the Jews died at only half the rate.”  Why weren’t Jews as affected?  Many of those Jews practiced Biblical food laws and sanitation…they didn’t eat or touch unclean rodents which had the yersínia péstis bacteria (and carried infected parasitic fleas/lice; the rat flea is xenopsýlla cheópis.)

George Lamsa was a Syriac Christian who translated the Aramaic Péshitta into English in the 1930s.  Reportedly he claimed that in the Near East neither Jews, nor Moslems, nor Christians, were eating creatures prohibited by Mosaic Law.

Again, eating unclean (parasitic/carcinogenic) creatures harms all races of mankind.  Feeding or serving unclean flesh to our neighbor…isn’t loving our neighbor!

A Christian brother I know visited the nation of Jordan in 1989.  He told me there was no unclean pepperoni pizza in those restaurants.

Christian evangelistic efforts to Jews & Muslims are hindered by Christians eating unclean creatures…it offends those peoples!  cf. 1Co.9:19-23 for Paul’s approach.  (see “Doctrinal Disunity Impacts Evangelism”.)

Before concluding, here’s a few additional passages which relate to eating/health:  Le.3:17 Christ said, “You shall not eat any fat or any blood”.  v.3-4 organ meats, which cleanse the body of impurities, weren’t eaten.  Fat, intestines, kidneys, liver, blood isn’t to be eaten!  Blood carries disease.

Ge.1:29 “God said, ‘I have given you every plant yielding seed on the surface of the earth; it shall be food for you.”  Unlike green plants, funguses aren’t seed-bearing.  They don’t do photosynthesis.  Funguses live on rot!  The most common commercial mushroom is said to be carcinogenic!  Neither do algae (e.g. spirulína) bear seed.  Seaweed isn’t a green plant.  (Carragéenan is a seaweed form of algae.)

After the Flood, Christ said in Ge.9:3, “Every moving thing that is alive shall be food for you, as I gave the green plant”…a parallel.  An unslaughtered carcass which had strangled/died of itself wasn’t a moving thing.  It’s not to be eaten.  We read some creatures are unclean & unfit to eat, as some green plants are poisonous & unfit to eat…e.g. African violet, philodendron, azalea, carnivorous plants (Venus flytrap), etc.  From Ge.9:3, vegetarians abstaining from meat are accepted (Ro.14:2).  However, most vegetable food lacks vitamin B12.  1Ti.4:1-3 Paul said, a doctrine of demons is to religiously advocate the abstention from (clean) meat.

Ge.1:11-12 at the Creation, “God said, ‘Let the earth sprout plants yielding seed and fruit trees bearing fruit after their kind”.  Christ ordained reproduction “kind after kind”.  No GMOs! (ref De.22:9.)  All the dangers of GMOs are yet to be determined.  There are those who engage in the business of genetically modifying organisms for the sake of profit.  Ps.59:2 “Deliver me from those who do iniquity.”  We can pray for protection from the effects of gene-splicing.

To conclude…naturopath Dr. Jordan Rubin’s The Maker’s Diet was a New York Times bestseller for a year.  He strongly believes unclean creatures such as swine, shrimp, lobster, shouldn’t be eaten.

Personally, God has shown me for 45 years the health benefits resulting from Divine healing and not eating the unclean!  (see “Healing Our Bodies”.)  God’s health guidelines haven’t been bondage for us…whereas visits to the doctor & waiting rooms and medical costs may seem like bondage to many.

Jesus and Paul said of the OT authority, “It is written!”  God loves us and wants us to enjoy healthy lives.  In Le.11/De.14 Christ gave knowledge of health principles the average person won’t obtain apart from the Bible.  Yet the findings of medical science increasingly provide data which validates the health benefits of God’s teachings.  Jesus Christ was/is Lord!

Paul the Apostle (1) – Law and Works

There are many Bible readers who view the apostle Paul’s epistles as unclear or controversial.  Some Christians who believe in Jesus even think Paul was a false apostle!  Did Paul mean it is necessary to maintain good works and obey God’s commandments/laws…or it isn’t necessary?

As Christians, our belief in Jesus, in salvation, in the veracity of scripture, etc., is to a large extent based upon the testimony of (eye) witnesses.  For example, the four gospels testify of Jesus.  Books of the Bible were composed by God’s servants, inspired by the Holy Spirit (HS).  2Ti.3:16 Paul wrote “All scripture is inspired by God, and is profitable for teaching, reproof, correction, and instruction in righteousness”.  And according to Ps.119:172, “All Thy commandments are righteousness”.

Our Bibles, both Testaments, contain numerous righteous commandments/laws of God.  Ps.119:142 “Thy law is truth.”  Yet Christians today reading Paul come to varying opinions about the continuing validity of God’s laws & commandments seen in scripture.  The true moral laws & principles God gave to ancient Israel…are they applicable today?  Should they be obeyed by Christians, by mankind?

Let’s fabricate, make believe, a trial to simulate how a court would ‘rule’ on this issue.  We’ll use the holy scriptures or their writers as the witnesses.  We won’t use the historical Roman Catholic Church or other denominations, or opinions of church ‘fathers’, theologians or other people.  A court ‘verdict’ can be delivered only after the witnesses have been heard.  Let’s now call the Bible witnesses.

Ge.26:5 “Abraham obeyed Me, kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, My laws.”  All that!  That indicates Divine laws were known by gentiles well before God’s codified law was given to Moses & Israel.  (see “Abraham Obeyed Which Commandments?” and “Genesis Principles Predate Moses”.)

Moses wrote in De.11:1, “Love the Lord your God, and always keep His charge, His statutes, His judgments, and His commandments”.  Also De.4:8 “What great nation is there that has statutes and judgments as righteous as this whole Law?”  Israel had such just laws, blessed beyond other peoples!

Joshua wrote of the Lord’s exhortation to him in Jsh.1:7-8. “Be careful to do according to all the law which Moses my servant commanded you. For then you will make your way prosperous and have good success.”  Obeying the laws God made known to ancient Israel would result in prosperity and success!

David was a man after God’s own heart (ref 1Ki.11:4, 34, 15:5; Ac.13:22).  David wrote in Ps.19:7-9, “The law of the Lord is perfect. His judgments are true, righteous altogether.”  That’s high acclaim!

The Preacher (Ec.12:9) taught in Ec.12:13, “The conclusion, when all has been heard: Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is the duty of all mankind”.  After we’ve tried other things or other lifestyles, when all is said & done…obeying God’s commandments is the bottom line for right living!

Isaiah wrote in Is.8:20, “To the law and to the testimony! If they don’t speak according to this word, it is because they have no light.”  Anyone not speaking according to the Lord’s commandments/testimony is in some darkness, whether they realize it or not.

Josiah said in 2Ch.34:14-15, 19, 21, “Great is the wrath of the Lord because our fathers haven’t observed the word of the Lord, to do all that is written in this book”.  This king was grieved to find God’s book of the law had been disobeyed.  Josiah instituted reforms.

Jeremiah prophesied that eventually the Lord would even write His laws on peoples’ very hearts!  Je.31:31-33 “I will make a New Covenant. I will put My law within them, and on their heart I will write it.”  God’s living principles would thereby become internalized in man.

Ezekiel prophesied in Ezk.36:26-27, “I will put My Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in My statutes and observe My judgments”.  The day would come when the HS would enable people to live according to God’s statutes & justice.  (This passage resembles Je.31:33 above, regarding the New Covenant.)

Daniel lamented in Da.9:10-11, “All Israel has transgressed Thy law and turned aside, so the curse has been poured out on us”.  Wise Daniel understood that curses can result from violating God’s laws.

Malachi wrote the Lord’s warning in Mal.4:4-6. “Remember the law of Moses My servant, the statutes and judgments I commanded him. Lest I come and smite the Land with a ban of destruction.”  In the final verses of the Old Testament, future generations are exhorted & warned to remember God’s laws.

Jesus the Lord confirmed in Jn.14:21, “He who has My commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves Me”.  God had promised Moses/Israel in Ex.20:6, “I, the Lord your God…showing mercy to thousands who love Me and keep My commandments.”  Jesus linked real love of God to obeying His commandments.  Jesus castigated those Pharisees & scribes who rejected His commandments in favor of Judaism’s oral law.  Mk.7:8-11 “You set aside the commandment of God in order to keep your tradition.”  Jesus attacked the rules & regulations of men, but never the written commandments of God, including those which He’d spoken to Moses/Israel.  Jesus wouldn’t contradict the Lord Himself!

Peter said in Ac.5:29, 32, “We must obey God rather than men…The Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey Him.”  Rather than fearing man, obedience to God is necessary and is a key to being Spirit-filled. (see “Governmental Loyalty for Christians”.)  God commanded in Le.11:44-47 e.g., “I am the Lord your God. Be holy for I am holy. This is the law to make a distinction between the clean and the unclean.”  Peter said in Ac.10:14, “I have never eaten anything common or unclean.”  Later as an old man, Peter still advocates holiness, which pertained to the Lord’s command (Le.11:45) regarding clean/unclean, “It is written, Be holy for I am holy” (1Pe.1:16).  also see “Unclean versus Clean Food”.

James wrote in Ja.4:12, “There is One Lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy”.  Jesus’ relative recognized God as the one and only genuine Lawgiver.  God’s laws & standards are intrinsically right!

John reiterated Jesus’ words about loving Him (Jn.14:21) in 1Jn.5:3. “This is the love of God, that you keep His commandments.”  The elderly apostle defined real love as keeping God’s commandments!  John wrote in Re.12:17, “The dragon was enraged and went off to make war with those who keep the commandments of God and hold the testimony of Jesus”.  Satan hates commandment-keepers!  And John also warned in 1Jn.2:3-4, “The one who says ‘I know Him’, and doesn’t keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him”.  Those opposed to Divine law may just pay lip-service to Jesus.

To inherit eternal life, in Lk.10:25-28 Jesus acknowledged a person should: (1) Love God…De.6:5 “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul [life], with all your might.”  (2) Love your neighbor…Le.19:18 “You shall love your neighbor as yourself; I am the Lord.”  (see “Love – Godly Love”.)  The Lord had told these principles to Moses many centuries earlier.  They didn’t originate with Jesus in the 1^st century!  God’s laws all generally come within these two broad headings…love God and love your neighbor.  187 chapters of the Bible are attributed to Moses, many of them containing God’s commands & precepts.

Jesus again, at the very end of our Bible, Re.22:14 KJV “Blessed are they who do His commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life”.  Eternal life for both Jews and gentiles (e.g. the non-Jew Abraham in Ge.26:5) who do God’s commandments.

We’ve quoted and examined the Bible testimony/evidence of 15 witnesses.  Witnesses from Genesis to Revelation attest to the laws of God!  De.19:15 “A single witness shall not rise up…on the evidence of 2 or 3 witnesses a matter shall be confirmed.”  A minimum of two witnesses is necessary.  Jn.8:16-18 Jesus confirmed, “The testimony of two men is true”.  Jesus applied De.19:15 to disputes between church brothers in Mt.18:16. “By the mouth of 2 or 3 witnesses.”  (It’s not limited to murder cases.)

1Ti.5:19 Paul instructed Timothy, “Don’t receive an accusation against an elder except on the basis of 2 or 3 witnesses”.  He.10:28 “Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without pity on the testimony of 2 or 3 witnesses.”  Even God has His unique 2 witnesses!  Re.11:3 “I will grant authority to My 2 witnesses.”  So we see in both Testaments…at least 2 or 3 witnesses are necessary as evidence.

So again, we’ve read 15 witnesses who are in agreement about God’s laws, etc.  But, what if another single witness arises who disagrees or seems to disagree with the above 15 witnesses of scripture…whether he’s a Bible character, a church ‘father’, a modern ‘prophet’, whoever?  Or what if a single witness seems to agree with those 15 witnesses part of the time, and seems to disagree part of the time?

That’s how many Bible readers view the apostle Paul.  What many see in Paul’s writings is…he’s vacillating between obedience to God’s commandments/laws and indifference or laxity.

Let’s look at the question of whether or not good works (érgon Strongs g2041, Greek) are necessary for Christians.  Jesus said in Mt.5:16, “Let your light shine before men that they may see your good works [g2041]”.  Jesus says in Re.2:1-2, 18-19, 3:1, “I know your works [g2041]”.  Jesus rebuked and urged them to repent of dead works (also ref He.6:1).  James wrote in Ja.2:18, 26, “I’ll show you my faith by my works [g2041]….faith without works [g2041] is dead.”  Peter wrote in 1Pe.1:17, “The Father, who without respect of persons judges according to every man’s work [g2041]”.  Paul wrote in Ti.3:8, “Be thoughtful to be leading in good works [g2041]”.  Paul in Col.1:10, “That you might walk worthy of the Lord, being fruitful in every good work [g2041]”.  And Paul in Ro.2:5-6, “The righteous judgment of God, who will render to every man according to his works [g2041]”.  Confirming the need to maintain good works, here we’ve read 4 ‘witnesses’…Jesus, James, Peter, and Paul himself.

But Paul in Ro.4:6 (seemingly conversely against Ro.2:5-6) wrote of “the man to whom God reckons righteousness apart from works [g2041]”.  Also Ep.2:8-9 “By grace you have been saved through faith, not as a result of works [g2041].”  What?!  Taking these two passages at face value, Paul contradicts not only himself…but Peter, James, and even Jesus too!  Our wayward human nature may favor the Paul of Ro.4:6 & Ep.2:8-9…and dismiss the Paul of Ti.3:8, Col.1:10 & Ro.2:5-6, and the above words of Peter, James and Jesus!  But Peter warned of lawless men who twist Paul’s writings.  2Pe.3:15-17 “Our beloved brother Paul, in all his letters are some things which are hard to understand; which the unstable distort as they do also the rest of the scriptures, carried away by the error of lawless men.”  Peter indicated the lawless dislike God’s laws/commandments, and use Paul’s epistles to excuse themselves.

The phrase “works of the law” appears 7 times in Paul’s writings.  e.g.: Ro.3:20 “By the works [ergon g2041] of the law [nómos g3551] no flesh shall be justified in His sight.”  Ro.3:28 “A man is justified by faith, apart from works of the law.”  Ga.2:16 “A man isn’t justified by the works of the law.”  Ga.3:5 “Does He who gives you the Spirit and works miracles among you, do it by the works of the law or the hearing of faith?” (also Ro.9:32, Ga.3:2, 3:10.)  What was this “works of the law”?

The concept “works of the law”, which Paul was against, is found as Esséne rituals in the Dead Sea Scrolls 4QMMT.  This related to their sectarian solar calendar, purity regulations & cooking utensils & ceremony, the intermarriage of priests with commoners, etc.  (Essene law concepts weren’t continued in rabbinic Judaism.  Neither’s oral law applies to Christians…they aren’t God’s commands.)

Dr. John Bergsma Dead Sea Scrolls: Paul and Works of the Law “4QMMT is a letter from the Essenes to the Pharisees about ritual purity. In 4QMMT, it’s the only use of the phrase ‘works of the law’ in ancient literature outside of Paul. These aren’t issues of eternal, moral principles; these are all issues of cultic purity. Not a reference to good works in general.”  They were ritualistic works.

Martin Abegg 4QMMT, Paul, and Works of the Law “Works of the law’ in 4QMMT are extant precepts concerning acts which trespass the boundaries between the pure and the impure. Paul consciously reflected the term ‘works of the law’ which was used by the author of 4QMMT and, I would suggest, by Paul’s opponents in Galatians. MMT is couched in the exact language of what Paul was rebutting in his letter. It appears highly likely that Paul was reacting to the kind of theology espoused in 4QMMT, that a person was reckoned righteous by keeping ‘works of the law.”  Via purity regulations.

4QMMT C31 ending “It will be reckoned for you as righteousness, when you perform what is right and good [regulations herein] before Him, for your own good and for that of Israel.”  Ro.4:22 Paul wrote, “It was reckoned to him [Abraham] as righteousness”.  A likeness of expression to 4QMMT.

Barry F. Parker ‘Works of the Law’ and the Jewish Settlement in Asia Minor “It is not a case of Paul attacking the law in Galatians. Rather, he is attacking a particular understanding of the law. His assault is not on the law but on certain ‘works of the law’. There is no place whatsoever for a random selection of works of the law. 4QMMT’s ‘works of the law’ is the linguistic equivalent of Paul’s ‘erga nomou’ (e.g. Rom 3:20, 28; Gal 2:16; 3:2, 5, 10). Indeed, it seems to be the only extant equivalent. As such, it is crucial in the understanding of Paul’s use of the phrase ‘works of the law’. Rom.3:20-22, Paul makes the point that Christ adhered to the law in its entirety and not selectively. Paul’s opponents in Galatians have twisted the purpose of the law almost beyond recognition, and Paul has no tolerance for their view. Notably, he condemns their emphasis on ‘selective works of the law’ [MMT Miqsat Ma’ase ha-Toráh]. The more disparaging language concerning law in Galatians doesn’t refer to the Torah [written] per se, but to a perversion of it. The use of ‘works of the law’ there confirms both that Paul is in (indirect) dialogue with those familiar with Essene terminology and that selectivity is in view. Although he speaks to a different audience about a different problem regarding the law in Romans, when Paul uses the phrase ‘erga nomou’ in Romans 3, the immediate context is quite similar to what he addresses in Galatians.”  4QMMT promoted sectarian selected practices (non-scriptural).

‘Works of the law’ (ergon nomou) also related to temple sacrifices.  As per Le.6:1-7 – After confession, restitution, pay the fine, do animal sacrifice at the temple…for forgiveness, atonement, justification…only then did the offender become reconciled to God again.  This process for Old Covenant Israel was justification by works of the Torah.  And it was work!  Philo The Special Laws1, p.556 re Le.6:1-7: “Pardon shall be given to such a man, who shows the truth of his repentance, not by promises, but by works. Restoring the deposit he’d received, giving up what he’d stolen or found, paying in addition 1/5 of the value as an atonement for the evil he’d done. Also go to the temple and sacrifice a ram.”  The now obsolete system of ritually killing animals for expiation also was a “ministry of death” (2Co.3:7).

A closer look at the ‘inconsistent’ Paul of Ro.4:6 and Ep.2:8-9, Ferrar Fenton 1903 translation: Ro.4:6 “The man to whom God grants righteousness apart from rituals.”  Ep.2:8-9 “You are saved by a gift through faith, not from rituals.”  Paul here had in mind ritualistic works, not good deeds or morality.  Which makes sense, because Paul went on to say in v.10, “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works”.  Would Paul contradict himself in consecutive verses; that works aren’t done in v.9, and yet the same works should be done in v.10?  Rather, Christians needn’t do rituals, but should do good deeds and moral obedience.  Thus, Paul in these two passages doesn’t contradict the Paul of Ti.3:8, Col.1:10 or Ro.2:5-6…nor does Paul contradict Peter, James, or Jesus regarding works.

Sacrificial & ritualistic works were not the Decalogue/10 Commandments, nor were they God’s dietary laws for health.  Obviously it requires no work to: rest on the sabbath day, refrain from murder or theft, refrain from eating pigs, mice, bats, cats, dogs, or from drinking blood!  A person can refrain from violations of those written principles even by staying in bed…no ‘works’ are involved whatsoever!

How did Paul view the written moral laws/commandments of God?  Paul wrote in Ro.3:31, “Do we nullify the Law through faith? By no means! On the contrary, we establish the law.”  Then in Ro.7:12-14, “The Law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good. For we know the Law is spiritual.”  (The Holy Spirit had given the Law to Moses.)   Paul goes on to say in v.22-25, “I joyfully concur with the law of God in the inner man…I myself with my mind am serving the law of God.”  It seems God was writing His laws upon the heart/mind of Paul too.  As Jeremiah prophesied.  Paul told gentile converts in Ep.6:2, “Honor your father and mother”, quoting the very Law of Ex.20:12, De.5:16.

The above verses are examples of Paul’s testimony not contradicting what the HS inspired the other 15 witnesses.  That is the true Paul.  Again, 2Ti.3:16 Paul himself wrote, “All scripture is inspired by God”.  Paul even says in Ro.8:7, “The carnal mind is hostile toward God, for it doesn’t subject itself to the Law of God, it is unable to do so”.  Folks may sit in church on Sunday morning, yet are unable to subject themselves to God’s laws.  According to Paul, that’s indicative of a carnal mind, unable to really obey God’s spiritual law.  Some may call Jesus “Lord, Lord” (Lk.6:46), but not really obey the Lord.

We ‘called the witnesses’ in our simulated trial…Gentile, Israelites, Jews…Prophets, Priests, Kings.  From Genesis to the final chapter of Revelation!  Jesus had said in Jn.17:17, “Thy word is truth”.  Since our Bibles include 13 letters (87 chapters) bearing the name of Paul, we tend to overlook the fact that he is solely just one witness!  And although Paul’s epistles aren’t essential for us to inherit eternal life, Christians would prefer a clear, consistent understanding of Paul.

Would a sound-minded judge throw out the testimony of 15 separate witnesses to side with 1 whose testimony seems inconsistent?  Needless to say, a just judge would side with 15 righteous witnesses, and disregard any (supposed) contrary testimony of merely 1 witness!  And we saw where Paul too acknowledged the need for 2 or 3 witnesses; and read where he agreed with the 15 Bible witnesses.

Also we saw verses where Paul exhorted good works.  And Paul’s reference to “works of the law” related to Jewish sectarianism/Éssenism which Paul opposed, and to sacrifices.

Finally, the writer to the Hebrews quoted Jeremiah in He.8:8-10. “Behold, I make a new covenant. I will put My laws in their minds and will write them upon their hearts.”  Here a final ‘witness’ confirms that God writes His laws within New Covenant believers.  The moral principles & laws which the Lord gave ancient Israel, the people He loved (e.g. De.7:7-8), are being written on yielded hearts. (also see “Two Covenants – Heart of the Matter”.)

We’ve heard/read the ‘witnesses’ of scripture.  Ladies and gentlemen of the jury…how will you decide?  As for me, I believe the verdict is…God’s moral laws/commandments and good works are valid for Israel, gentiles, Christians, all mankind!  Praise God, our Lawgiver (Ja.4:12)!

This series about Paul is continued in “Paul the Apostle (2) – The Chameleon?”.

The Last Days

There are various eschatologies, interpretations and theories extant regarding the time of the “last days” referred to in the Bible.  And the time of the “last days” is also closely related to the Biblical “end of the age” (not the ‘end of the world/globe’) and the “coming” of Christ.

As we examine this topic…can we trust the Bible scriptures as being God-breathed?  2Ti.3:16 Paul wrote regarding the Old Testament (OT), “All scripture is inspired by God”.  God’s Holy Spirit (HS) doesn’t make mistakes.  But there are those who think not all scripture or Bible books are inspired by God.

Let’s look at New Testament (NT) writings about the last days, the end of the age, and Jesus’ coming.

Ac.2:16-17 “What you see was spoken by the prophet Joel, ‘It shall be in the last days.”  Circa (ca) 30 AD at Pentecost in Jerusalem, the apostle Peter indicated the HS outpouring they were seeing there was happening in the last days.

Ja.5:3 “In the last days you have stored-up your treasure.”  Writing in the 50s AD, Jesus’ relative James referred to that time as the last days.

He.1:1-2 “God in these last days has spoken to us by His Son.”  The writer to the Hebrews in the 60s AD called that time the last days.

He.9:26 “Now once in the end of the age [aión Strongs g165, Greek] has He [Christ] appeared.”  Christ’s 1^st century sacrifice (ca 30 AD) occurred in the end of the age.  (But which “age” or eon?)

1Co.10:11 “…things written for our admonition, upon whom the end of the age are come.”  Writing to the Corinthian church in the 50s AD, the apostle Paul thought that time was the end of an age.

Ja.5:8-9 “The coming of the Lord draws near; the Judge is standing right at the door.”  In the 50s AD, James said the Lord was even at the door…His coming in judgment was near!

He.10:37 “Yet a little while and He that shall come will come, and will not tarry.”  In the 60s AD, Jesus’ coming will occur in only a little while, and won’t delay.

Re.1:1 “To show things which must soon [táchos g5034, noun] come to pass.” KJV “shortly”.  Thayer’s Greek Lexicon says this term meant “quickness, speed”.  The same term was used in Ac.22:18 when Paul recounted how the Lord had urged him. “Hurry and go out in haste [g5034] from Jerusalem, for they will not receive your testimony about Me”.  Needless to say, Paul didn’t stay in Jerusalem for centuries…he departed soon (ref Ac.9:28-30)!

1Jn.2:18 “Children, it is the last hour [hóra g5610]; even now many antichrists have arisen; from this we know that it is the last hour.”  At the time John wrote that epistle, he and others knew it was then the final hour, so to speak!  It was then the last hour of the last day of the last days!  An end was very near.

This same Greek term is translated “hour” 89 times in the KJV.  For example, in John’s gospel.  Jn.1:39 “It was about the tenth hour [g5610].”  Jn.11:9 “Are there not twelve hours [g5610] in the day?”

Also of note, there were already many antichrists on the scene while the apostle John was still alive to write his epistles!  ref 1Jn.2:18, 22, 4:3; 2Jn.1:7.  (also see the topic “John Wrote Five Bible Books?”.)

Let’s pause here.  Again, the Holy Spirit doesn’t err.  Do we believe the HS spoke through John, Peter, the epistle to the Hebrews, James, Paul?  For that matter, do we believe the OT…what God said to Moses and the prophets?  Do we believe their prophecies about a Messiah?  Do we believe John and the other gospels about Jesus as Messiah?  If the NT writers quoted above regarding the last days, etc. were wrong, then what other portions or books of our Bible might also be untrustworthy?

John wrote in Re.1:3, “For the time is at hand [engús g1451, adverb]”.  Thayer’s engus “Near in time or position”.  Prophesied events were soon to begin.  Most Bible historians think the same John wrote Revelation and John’s gospel.  John used the identical Greek term in Jn.2:13. “The Jews’ Passover was at hand [g1451], and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.”  The time of that Passover was near, not centuries distant.  Mk.13:28 “When the branch of the fig tree puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near [g1451].”  And He.8:13 “The first covenant is growing old and near [g1451] to vanishing.”  The temple would soon be destroyed, and the Old Covenant ritualistic system vanished then (not 2,000 years later).

Time was short when John wrote Revelation.  The latter 2^nd century Muratorian Canon list indicates Revelation was written during the reign of Nero (54–68 AD).  The Syriac version Preface to the book of Revelation reads, “The Revelation which was made by God to John the evangelist in the island of Patmos, where he was placed by Nero Caesar”.  Historians say that after Nero died in June 68 AD, exiles would’ve been released.  The temple was still standing in 68-69 AD.  When Nero died, John would’ve left Pátmos.  So John wrote Revelation on Patmos ca 68 AD.  No NT book, not even Revelation, indicates the destruction of Jerusalem and its temple was a past event.  Re.11:1-2 the temple court (and Jerusalem, Lk.21:24) would be trampled by gentiles.  Accordingly, the temple was destroyed in 70 AD.

Re.22:10 “Don’t seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is near/at hand [g1451].”   John again uses the same Greek term as in Re.1:3.  And in contrast to what God had told Daniel for his prophecy, John was instructed to not seal the book of Revelation…it’s a revealing, not a concealing!

God had instructed Daniel in Da.12:4-9, 13. “Go your way Daniel, for these words are concealed and sealed up until the time of the end.”  As Da.8:26, the fulfillment was to be kept secret and delayed until the distant future.  Da.12:7 “At the completion of shattering the power of the holy people, these events will be finished.”  Until God’s people/Daniel’s people, the Jews, are crushed.  To be delayed until Re.10:6. “There be delay no longer.”  The fulfillment of Daniel’s prophecy is recorded in Revelation!

The 600 years from Daniel until John wrote Revelation is indicated as distant future.  So 2,000 years from John until now wouldn’t be termed…“at hand”!  The Lord doesn’t purposely confuse.  In the Bible, time is almost always denoted in man’s calendar terms of months, years, eras, etc.  And we saw in John’s gospel the manner in which John uses the koiné Greek term which meant “near/at hand”.

Jesus said in Re.22:7, “I AM coming quickly [tachú g5035, adverb]”.  In Jn.11:29, we see how John elsewhere used “quickly” g5035 (it’s not an idiom). “When Mary heard it, she arose quickly [g5035] and was coming to Him.”  It didn’t take her 2,000 years!  Also Mt.28:7 “Go quickly [g5035] and tell His disciples that He has risen from the dead.”  As John concluded Revelation’s final chapter…Jesus was then coming soon!  This Greek adverb g5035 occurs 13 times in the NT…it meant quickly.

Mt.24:1-3 Jesus told His disciples privately that the temple would be destroyed.  “Not one stone here shall be left upon another.”  The disciples asked Jesus, “When will these things be, and what will be the sign of Your coming and of the end of the age?”  When will the destruction occur and the age end?

The parallel account in Mk.13 identified four disciples present; Peter, James, John, Andrew (Mk.13:1-4).  This identity of who Jesus was speaking to largely affects the understanding of Mk.13!

Again, He.9:26 & 1Co.10:11 (ref the top) indicated the 50s–60s AD were at the end of the age.  Mk.13:5 Jesus told Peter, James, John, Andrew, “See to it that no one misleads you. Many will come in My name. But when you hear rumors of wars, the end is not yet.”  Jesus cautioned Peter, James, John, Andrew not to be misled by rumors.  Mk.13:14 “But when you see the abomination of desolation, then let those in Judea flee to the mountains.”  Jesus is addressing Peter, James, John, Andrew…they’re the “you”.  Some or all of them in earshot would still be alive at the time of the abomination of desolation!

Josephus recorded the words of high priest Anánus (murdered in 68 AD) in Wars of the Jews 4:3:10. “I had seen the house of God full of so many abominations, filled with the feet of the blood-shedding villains.”  Also Josephus wrote of Roman general Titus in 70 AD.  ibid. 6:4:7 “He went into the holy place of the temple with his commanders, and saw what was in it.”  That was an act of abomination!

Mk.13:18-19 Jesus instructed Peter, James, John, Andrew to “Pray that it may not happen in winter, for those days will be a time of tribulation”.  v.23 “Take heed; I have told you everything in advance.”  Peter, James, John, Andrew were informed in advance that the abomination of desolation, Jesus’ coming and the end of the age would occur during their lifespan.  Again, Jesus is specifically talking to them.  (A careful reading or rereading of Mk.13 should make this apparent.)

Mk.13:29-30 is key!  Jesus continued telling Peter, James, John, Andrew, “Even so, you too, when you see these things happening, know that He is near [g1451], right at the door. Truly I say to you, this generation won’t pass away until all these things take place.”  The generation of Peter, James, John, Andrew, to whom Jesus was speaking!  And when Jesus’ relative James wrote in the 50s AD, he knew Jesus was standing right at the door then, to come in judgment as Judge (Ja.5:9 quoted near the top).  Jesus concluded His Mk.13 discourse by telling Peter, James, John, Andrew, “What I say to you I say to all, ‘Be alert!”  To Peter, James, John, Andrew and all that generation in Judea…you be alert!

Mt.23:13-ff Jesus pronounced seven woes against those leading scribes & Pharisees who opposed Him.  v.33-36 “You serpents, you brood of vipers. Truly I say to you, all these things shall come upon this generation [geneá g1074, noun].”  The generation of those who opposed Him!  Jesus told His disciples in Lk.17:25 that “He must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation”.  Pulpit Commentary Lk.17:25 “The generation then living.”  Greek Bible scholar Spiros Zódiates on the meaning of the term geneá (g1074) here: “A multitude of contemporaries. Genea literally means a space of time. Jesus was telling them that this generation would not pass until all these things occurred, which has proven to be true. He was prophesying the destruction of their nation.”  Here genea didn’t refer to race, nativity.

The NT writers (quoted near the top) believed Jesus’ words…“generation” related to a space of time!  What would happen?  Jesus would come in judgment as Judge.  Mk.13:24-26 “The sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light. The stars will be falling from heaven and the powers will be shaken. Then they will see the Son of Man coming in the clouds.”  Such language to the ancient Hebrews meant the Lord’s judgment.

In OT times there were other such ‘day(s) of the Lord’, His comings in judgment.  Is.13:1, 9-10, 13, 17 described a previous “day of the Lord” (v.9), when He came in judgment against Babylon.  v.10 “The stars of heaven will not flash forth their light; the sun will be dark, and the moon will not shed its light.”  Subsequently, Babylon (v.1) fell to the Medes (v.17) in 539 BC.  Notice the language similarity of the heavenly signs in Mk.13:24-26 above!

Also, apocalyptic language was used in Is.34:4-6 to describe the Lord’s judgment upon Edom.  Edom fell to Babylon in 583 BC.  Je.27:6 Nebuchadnézzar of Babylon was God’s servant.  God used human armies with human nature to perform His judgment upon peoples.

Also Ezk.32:2, 7-12 “Take up a lament over Pharaoh, king of Egypt. When I extinguish you, I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon shall not give its light. All the shining lights in the heavens I will darken over you.”  Accordingly, Egypt fell to Babylon in the 580s BC.

Also ref Am.8:8-11, 14 about the doom/captivity of Samaria in 722 BC.  Also in Je.21:7 God said Judea would be besieged/destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar.  Je.4:16 “Besiegers come from a far country…against the cities of Judah.”  v.27-28 “I looked and the heavens had no light, the mountains were quaking, and the heavens above are dark.”  The first temple, built by Solomon, was destroyed in 586 BC.

Also Jg.5:1, 4-5, 20 “The mountains quaked at the presence of the Lord. The stars fought from heaven against Siserá.”  Sisera and the Canaanítes were defeated.

Even Ps.18:6-17, when David was saved from his enemy Saul by God’s hand. “The earth shook and quaked. He bowed the heavens. Hailstones and coals of fire. The foundations of the world were laid bare. He delivered me from my strong enemy.”

That’s enough examples to illustrate the point.  In the above passages, the language of apocalyptic hyperbole with heavenly signs and earth upheaval indicated such judgments/overthrow wasn’t of man’s devising.  Since mankind doesn’t have control over the heavenly bodies or earth shakings, such language showed the judgments were God’s doing (also using human agents/armies).  Those historical occurrences, as recorded in scripture and by historians…didn’t mean the end of the globe or of time!

In Revelation, John used apocalyptic language similar to that in the above OT passages.  John’s 4^th gospel doesn’t contain an account of Jesus’ Olivet prophecy (found in Mt.24, Mk.13, Lk.17 & 21 of the three synoptics).  John’s book of Revelation is like the Olivet Prophecy expanded extensively; about the destruction of Jerusalem and the end of that age.  (also see “Babylon The Great’ in Revelation”.)

Murdering the Son of God has been called history’s worst crime!  Between the 40-year generation of 30–70 AD, two covenants existed simultaneously in the Land…both the Old and the New.  It was the last days of the Old Covenant/Levitical priesthood/temple age.  It was the end of the age pertaining to God’s theocracy that had existed for 1,600 years!  It ended in 70 AD with the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple.  Le.26:14-46, De. 28 recorded the end of the Old Covenant age, 1,600 years in advance.

The Jewish Alfred Edersheim’s The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah, pp.444-5: “Judgment on their city and state, this destruction of their polity, was the ‘Coming of the Son of Man’ in judgment. The second appearance would be invisible but real. There were those standing there who would not taste death, till they had seen the destruction of the city and state. ‘This generation should not pass away.”

In Mt.16:27-28, Jesus told His disciples that He would come with His angels.  “There are some of those standing here who shall not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming.”  Some disciples would see His coming before they died, others would die prior to His coming.  Pulpit Commentary Mt.16:28 “This advent is doubtless the destruction of Jerusalem.”  Cambridge Bible “The fall of Jerusalem…best fits the conditions of interpretation.”  (If Jesus had in mind His Transfiguration which took place only a week later, Mt.17:1-8, it’d be senseless to contrast that some of His disciples wouldn’t die before then!)

In Jn.21:20-23, Jesus indicated to Peter that John might still be alive when He comes. “If I want him [John] to remain until I come, what is that to you?”  (Peter wouldn’t remain, v.17-19, 2Pe.1:14-15.)  Gill Exposition Jn.21:22 “Till He should come and take vengeance on the Jewish nation, in the destruction of their city and temple by the Romans…till which time John did live.”  Bengel’s Gnomen “The time of the Lord’s coming succeeds immediately after the destruction of Jerusalem…which advent John obtained the privilege of describing in the Apocalypse [Revelation].”  Also, Re.1:7 indicated that some who “pierced Him” (put Jesus to death) will still be alive at His “coming”.

Note: Paul didn’t walk with Jesus; Paul came along later (1Co.15:8).  It seems Paul wrongly thought that in his lifetime Jesus would return to earth in glory to fully rule and change the kósmos (g2889).  So Paul even advised saints in Greece not to marry!  What!?  Because Paul thought time was “short….the form of this world is passing away” (1Co.7:27-31).

Some Bible prophecies are open-ended concerning the time of their fulfillment.  Some prophecy and scenes of Revelation extend far into the future (e.g. Re.20-22).  But others do give time constraints.  Many books of the Bible were someone else’s mail, written to them specifically.  Revelation made imminent sense for seven churches of that era (Re.2-3).

Jesus warned one of those seven churches, Ephesus, in Re.2:5 KJV. “Repent, or I will come to you quickly [tachu g5035], and will remove your candlestick out of its place.”  The same Greek adverb tachu was examined above.  Today the site of Ephesus is abandoned ruins.  Jesus came to judge Ephesus many centuries ago.  He removed it!  The vanishing of the Ephesian church is mute testimony to the meaning of tachu/“quickly” in the book of Revelation!

Although moral principles of scripture do have universal application, not all prophecies pertain to all nations in all ages.  Prophecy concerning the age-ending destruction of the temple/Jerusalem, with Jesus coming in judgment against them…happened.  (By the way, I’m not a ‘full/hyper preterist’!)

Again, did the original apostles who spent 3 years with Jesus misinform the early church by saying the 1^st century AD was the last days and the end of an age?  Did the indwelling HS inspire their words?

In regards to the coming of Christ, a present-day church leader said, “We can forgive the disciples for thinking this was an event that would come in their lifetime”.  That man thought the disciples erred!

Scholars & intellectuals, such as Bertrand Russell, Albert Schweitzer, and others, understood the NT grammar did clearly reflect Jesus saying He would return during His disciples’ generation!  Those skeptics weren’t Christians; they just thought Jesus was a false prophet and NT writers had erred.

But Jesus wasn’t a false prophet.  He did as He said!  Jesus’ final red-letter words in our Bible are at the end of Revelation.  Re.22:20 “Surely I AM coming quickly [g5035].”  He came quickly, just as He said!  Jesus’ coming, in the sense understood by the apostles who walked with Jesus in the Land, who heard His Olivet prophecy…happened, as written.  1Jn.2:18 John wrote, it was then even the “last hour” (of the Old Covenant age).  John was correct.  That 11^th hour came and went nearly 2,000 years ago.

Theologian R.C. Sproul isn’t a full preterist.  The Last Days According to Jesus, p.169, 30 “…What is at stake here is the authority of Jesus, and we must be consumed with maintaining His authority. I am convinced that the substance of the Olivet Discourse was fulfilled in 70AD and that the bulk of Revelation was likewise fulfilled in that time-frame….No matter what view of eschatology we embrace, we must take seriously the redemptive-historical importance of Jerusalem’s destruction in 70AD.”

God’s judgment on Jerusalem/Judea and the destruction of the temple in 70 AD, as foretold by Jesus in the gospels…is proof that Jesus was a true prophet!  Jesus and primitive Christianity are for real!

Many churches and teachers could at least modify their eschatology, so they don’t make it seem that Jesus or His original apostles or the HS were in error.  Surely, God doesn’t make mistakes.  We can have trust and confidence that the written words inspired by the HS are true!

However, all the above (e.g. God’s judgment) isn’t to say that history can’t repeat itself, or that Jesus won’t come again (Jn.14:3, Ac.1:9-11, 3:19-21).  And we believe our God is a just Judge, and He is merciful!  Praise God!