Paul the Apostle (4) – Discrepancies

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

Paul the Apostle (3) – Missteps

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

Polygyny – Lawful in God’s Eyes? (1)

This is a subject related to Biblical morality that most Christians and Western churches haven’t examined in-depth.  Before proceeding with it, please be advised…the subject is very controversial!  

This topic examines Christ’s Old Testament (OT) regulations concerning plural wives & concubines.  You may be shocked to read lesser-known marriage laws of Christ from the OT!  The topic may be hard to hear for those living in modern Western culture.

Our English term polygamy (from ca 1600 AD) includes polygyny (1780 AD), one man cohabiting with plural wives; polyandry (1780), one woman cohabiting with plural husbands.  Are these lawful options in God’s eyes?  The terms are derived from the Greek poly/many, gamos/marriage, gyne/wife.  Some today don’t differentiate between polygamy and polygyny, as if they’re interchangeable terms.

Our modern society is decadent.  Illicit sex, licentiousness, abortion, divorce are rampant.  Divorce & remarriage is a form of serial monogamy, called consecutive polygyny and consecutive polyandry.  

Greco-Roman society was monogamous on the surface.  Yet it had widespread prostitution, pederasty, sexual perversion, divorce, as we today.  A. Isaksson wrote, “In Rome divorces were so numerous, they constituted a serious social problem.”  The divorce problem wasn’t quite as bad in 1^st century Palestine.

Anciently, concubinage was a recognized arrangement; it loosely compares to a ‘mistress staying in the house’.  Concubinage was also present in the Mediterranean world, especially within the military.  S.M. Baugh Marriage and Family in Ancient Greek Society “Concubinage was widespread and commonly accepted among the Greeks and Romans.”  But it wasn’t legally fully marriage in Roman society.  Wikipedia: Concubinage “Concubinage was an institution of quási-marriage between Roman citizens who for various reasons did not want to enter into a full marriage.”

Roman Empire law didn’t include all the OT guidelines for marriage that Christ had revealed to His people ancient Israel.  However, 1^st century Jews (and Persians?) were allowed by Rome to continue practicing the OT laws & principles of their traditional marriages.  The Jewish historian Josephus (37-100 AD) wrote, Wars of the Jews 1:24:2, “It being of old permitted to the Jews to marry many wives”.

But regardless of cultural influences, God defines true morality.  He defines what is and isn’t sexual sin.  Laws of human governments and customs of nations may or may not reflect God’s morality! 

First, a blanket statement…scripture indicates that irresponsible casual sex isn’t God’s way.

Christ commanded in Ex.20:14 and Mt.5:27, “You shall not commit adultery”.  It’s a form of sexual sin.  Adultery is committed when a man has sex with a woman who is married or betrothed to another man.  Betrothal was a legal commitment, prior to consummation.  The adulterous man can be married or single; his marital status isn’t a factor.  Her marital status is the key!  The scriptures reveal that adultery always involves a wife or betrothed woman who broke wedlock; another man stole her, in a sense.  Moody Bible Institute Professor of Theology William F. Luck The Morality of Biblical Polygyny, p.14 “Adultery was always defined by the woman’s marital status, never the man’s.”  Thus it was impossible for an OT widow, divorcee, or otherwise single woman to commit adultery!

We’ll see that a man lawfully could live with plural wives.  It is authorized in scripture (if practiced responsibly).  That is, if he didn’t steal a wife from her husband.  Ex.20:15 “You shall not steal.”

Ex.20:17 LXX “You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, you shall not covet your neighbor’s house, nor his field, his servant, his maid, his cattle…nor whatever belongs to your neighbor.”  Wrong coveting can occur regarding another’s wife, his male and female servants, etc.  But nothing is said about singles coveting another’s husband!  A man was allowed simultaneous wives in Christ’s theocracy.  So a single woman could rightly desire a married man.  (This indulgence is strange to our Western minds.)

Going back even prior to ancient Israel…Ge.20 King Abimélech of Gerár had a (free) wife and maid concubine wives (v.17).  v.2-3 then he took Sarah from Abraham her husband, thinking she was only his “sister”.  But God quickly revealed to him in a dream that she’s married.  v.4-ff Abimelech said, “Lord…in the integrity of my heart and innocence of my hands I have done this thing.’ God said, ‘I know that in the integrity of your heart you have done this. Therefore I did not let you touch her. Restore the man’s wife.”  Abimelech had acted with integrity.  His sin wasn’t him having plural wives.  His sin was…the woman he took, Sarah, was another man’s wife.  Abraham and Abimelech both were gentiles/non-Jews.  (Note: Later, 1450 BC Núzi tablets found in northern Iraq evidence a man’s wife legally could be considered his sister.  Ge.13:8 also Abrám had called his nephew Lot his “brother”.)

Ge.12:10-20 the gentile/non-Jew Pharaoh of Egypt too mistakenly took Sarah for ritual purification, so she could become his wife.  After the Lord caused him to realize his mistake, Pharaoh even blessed Abram (Sarah’s husband) with livestock and male & female servants/maids!

Ge.16:1-9 the Egyptian maid Hagár became wife to Abram (v.3).  Their tie constituted marriage.  She was his concubine or secondary wife.  That isn’t immoral.  But strife arose…Sarah treated Hagar harshly, v.6; Ishmaél (son of Abraham-Hagar) lacked proper respect for Isaac (son of Abraham-Sarah), Ge.21:9-10.  Lack of respect resulted in…divorce (garásh Strongs h1644, Hebrew) the bondwoman wife!  (ref divorce/drive out h1644 in: Pr.22:10, Nu.30:9, Le.21:7, 22:13, Ezk.44:22, Ga.4:30.)

Ge.25:1-2 Abraham also took a concubine wife named Keturáh (1Ch.1:32), who bore him six sons.  Ge.25:6 “To the sons of his concubines, Abraham gave gifts while he was still living.”  Concubinage isn’t sin.  And according to the apostle Paul, Abraham is the father of the faithful (Ro.4:16; cf. He.11:8, 13).  Also Abraham’s brother Nahór had a concubine named Reumáh (Ge.22:23-24).

The OT Hebrew loan word translated concubine is peléhgesh h6370, occurring 37 times.  The Aramaic is h3904 (Da.5:2, 3, 23).  The corresponding term in the OT Greek LXX, g3825.1, occurs 41 times.

Jb.1:8 God said His servant Job (a gentile) was a blameless, upright man.  Yet in his trials, Job’s wife and surviving offspring didn’t console him.  Jb.19:17-18 LXX Job lamented, “I besought my wife, and earnestly entreated the sons of my concubines. But they rejected me.”  Righteous Job had concubines.

The earlier (gentile) Lámech, the first man in scripture with two wives, killed a man (Ge.4:19-24).  Therefore, some presume that all polygyny is wrong.  Tom Shipley Man and Woman in Biblical Law “The fact that Lamech was evil does not, and cannot, prove that his polygamy was evil, as well. The above syllogism [premise] is ‘reductio ad absurdum.”  (Good men too, in scripture, were polygynous.)

Ge.30:1-24 Israel’s 12 tribes descended from the patriarch Jacob and his four wives.  Leah & Rachel were his free wives, Bilháh & Zilpah his ‘secondary’ bond wives.  v.4 “Rachel gave Jacob her maid Bilhah as a wife.”  Jacob, whose name God changed (Ge.32:28) to “Israel”, wasn’t an adulterer! (cf. De.23:2)  Cohabiting with four wives, he was ‘one flesh’ with each.  The OT people Christ loved above all others, the 12 tribes of ancient Israel, weren’t illegitimately fathered by an adulterer!  (Note: A wife’s maid being given to the wife’s husband is also evident in the ancient Code of Hammurabi #146.)

So far, we see that having plural wives was morally acceptable to gentiles/non-Jews and Jacob/Israel!  Godly and ungodly men of the Bible had plural wives.  Later, during Moses’ time, Christ gave codified laws/regulations to His theocratic nation Israel.  (see the topic “Jesus Was The Old Testament God”.)  His laws define marriage in God’s sight, adultery, and prescribe consequences for violations.

De.22:22-27 shows the joint penalty for adultery, consensual sex with a woman married or betrothed to another man.  If the offender raped her, only he is guilty.  Le.19:20 the penalty for having sex with a bondmaid acquired for another man was less than that for a free woman.  (Less station & limited loyalty effected less penalty/fine for the bondmaid, not yet fully espoused.)  If a man, single or married, had sex with a virgin residing with her father, he’s to marry her, De.22:28-29 & Ex.22:16-17…not ignore her.

De.21:15-17 “If a man has two wives…”  Polygyny wasn’t unlawful.  This passage shows that (among free wives) the double-portion inheritance right of the eldest son was protected.  Pulpit Commentary De.21:15 “He mustn’t allow his love for the other [wife] to prejudice the right of the son.”  De.17:15-17 though plural wives & horses wasn’t sin, the king wasn’t to multiply to himself horses or pagan wives.  (Horses were used mostly for war.)  No large pagan harems!  Solomon later violated this, 1Ki.11:1-4.

But Christ/God forbad incestual polygyny.  Le.18:7-8 a man mustn’t have sex with his mother, nor with any other of his father’s wives (Ge.35:22, 49:4; 1Co.5:1).  Nor with his own daughter (Le.18:17, 20:14).

Jesus the Man didn’t repeat all these His commands.  Yet they still define His morality.  He said, “It is written!” Mt.4:4, 7, 10.  Polygyny is authorized, but polyandry is adultery.  Married prostitutes too are adulteresses.  (The topic “Sexual Sins, Harlotry, Rape” examines sexual immorality more in-depth.)

Ex.21:7-11 describes God’s law of concubines.  “If a man takes another wife, he must not reduce the food, clothing or conjugal dues of his first wife.”  Ellicott Commentary Ex.21:10 “Polygamy is viewed as lawful in this passage.”  That is, polygyny; it isn’t immoral in Christ’s theocracy.  Cambridge Bible Ex.21:10 “The case contemplated is that of a well-to-do Israelite who could have several concubines.”

Is.4:1 this prophecy too shows that polygyny isn’t adultery. “Seven women will take hold of one man in that day, saying, ‘We will eat our own food and wear our own clothes, only let us be called by your name; take away our reproach.”  Many men had died in warfare, Is.3:25 (cf. Je.15:8).  Is.4:1 women were even willing to relinquish two of the supports the Lord designated in Ex.21:10, so long as her husband gives her conjugal dues!  JFB Commentary Is.4:1 “Foregoing the privileges, which the law (Ex.21:10) gives to wives, when a man has more than one. ‘Reproach’ – being unmarried and childless.”  An unmarried and childless woman later might lack sustenance in her old age.    

De.21:10-15 describes God’s law of war brides, so-called. “When you go to war against your enemies and God delivers them into your hands, and you see among the captives a beautiful woman, and would take her as a wife for yourself….If a man has two wives….”  A war bride wasn’t to be raped.  The Israelite was to bring her to his house; she must renounce her heathen customs, and be allowed to mourn her mother & father for a month.  The month delay would reveal if she was already pregnant before her capture.  Only after the month would she become the Israelite’s concubine wife, and sexual relations then ensue.  Married into God’s theocracy, she could learn the ways of the true God.  If the man wasn’t pleased with her, she was to be given her complete freedom; he wasn’t to sell his concubine for money.     

Nu.31:18-ff virgins were among the spoils taken from the slaughter of God’s vengeance against Midián.  The Lord said in v.18, “All the girls who have never had sexual relations, keep for yourselves”.  v.27, 32-47 the total of virgins taken was divided into two halves, for the Israelite warriors and non-warriors.  A small % of the girls (0.2%) were for the priests, v.40.  (But the high priest could only marry a virgin Israelitess, not foreigners, Le.21:10-14.)  Gill Exposition Le.21:13 “Polygamy [polygyny] was practiced by the Israelites, even by the common priests.”  Christ’s OT Levitical priests weren’t celibate!

De.25:5-10 was Christ’s levirate law, so-called.  A brother-in-law or near relative, even if he’s already married, was to marry a deceased Israelite’s widow who had no son.  The Latin word levir meant ‘husband’s brother’.  Without children, a man’s family name was “blotted out of Israel”.  Widowhood could result in poverty for an aging woman with no son to help provide for her!  Maurice Nelson The Monogamy Lie! “Levirate marriage could be seen as a type of Life Insurance for a widow.”

Ruth’s Jewish husband had died.  Ru.4:1-10 Bóaz and the closer relative possibly were both married.  William Luck op. cit., p.21 “Polygyny was not immoral, per se; widow-neglect based on commitment to monogamy was.”  A widow was even authorized to spit in the face of a brother-in-law, single or married, who refused to marry her (De.25:9)!  Boaz married Ruth, and fathered a son for her (Ru.4:13).

Several godly men of faith had plural wives/concubines.  Joshua & Caleb were the two faithful spies, and survived into the Promised Land.  They were guided by the Holy Spirit (Nu.14:24, 30, 27:18; Jsh.14:13).  1Ch.2:46-49 Caleb had two concubines.  (Caleb’s daughter was Áchsah, cf. Jsh.15:16.)

Manásseh was the firstborn son of Joseph, and grandson of Jacob.  Of the 12 tribes, God allotted his tribe the largest area in the Land! (cf. Jsh.17.)  1Ch.7:14 Manasseh had an Aramean/Syrian concubine.

Wikipedia: Concubinage “Among the Israelites, men commonly acknowledged their concubines, and such women enjoyed the same rights in the house as legitimate wives.  2Sm.3:7 NASB footnote “A concubine was much more than a mistress. In a sense, she was a ‘secondary wife’ (Ex.21:8-10, De.21:11-13). She was considered a member of the household, by an official ceremony of appointment, and she had the rights of a married woman. Concubines were usually acquired by purchase or were captives taken in war. She could be ‘divorced’ summarily, but never as a slave.”  2Sm.3:7 King Saul had a concubine named Rízpah (and other wives – 1Sm.14:50, 2Sm.12:7-8).  A concubine lead-servant was to courteously submit to the first (free) wife, so she wouldn’t be jealous.

Most men were monogamous, having one wife in marriage (at a time).  Yet concubinage was a respected marital option in the OT and ancient world.  It resembles heterosexual civil union, as done in some nations today.  Our English word concubine comes from the Latin word concubina, meaning ‘to lie together’.  But our word concubine means more than that.  The meanings and customary practice of concubinage in various nations may differ from what God authorized millennia ago in scripture.

Jg.8:30-32 “Gideon had 70 sons, for he had many wives. His concubine in Shechém also bore him a son, Abimélech. Gideon died at a good old age.”  (The concubine is called his “maidservant” in Jg.9:18.)  Gill Exposition Jg.8:31 “His concubine, a secondary or half wife; generally taken from handmaids.”  Concubinage & plural wives isn’t adultery…Gideon wasn’t living in sin!  The warrior-judge Gideon was chosen and empowered by God to save Israel out of Midianite oppression (Jg.6:14, 34).  Gideon, who had “many wives”, is listed in He.11:32-33 among the faithful.  The Christian association Gideon’s International, which freely distributes Bibles, is named after this polygynist.

1Sm.1:1-3 Samuel’s father Elkanáh cohabited with two wives, Peninnáh and Hannáh.  Every year he took his family to sacrifice at the Lord’s tabernacle, at Shilóh.  Elkanah was a devout man; he wasn’t living in sin!  Samuel was the eldest son of Elkanah’s second wife Hannah.  Samuel was then fostered by Eli the high priest (1Sm.1:28, 2:11), and became a renowned prophet-judge.  Samuel was born in lawful wedlock, he wasn’t illegitimate!  De.23:2 none illegitimate shall enter the assembly of the Lord.

King Joásh of Judah had two wives.  2Ch.24:1-3 “Joash did what was right in the eyes of the Lord all the days of Jehoiadá the priest. And Jehoiada took two wives for him, and he had sons and daughters.”  The chief priest selected two wives for Joash!  Joash’s cohabitation with two wives didn’t contradict his doing “right in the eyes of the Lord”.  v.15-16 and Jehoiada the priest did well to Israel and to God; he was buried with honor.  Jehoiada hadn’t sinned by giving two wives to the king.

The scriptures reveal that monogamy and polygyny are both lawful marital options, according to Christ’s morality, in His theocracy.  Where He set the rules & regulations.  And Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever! (He.13:8)  He’s not fickle and His moral principles don’t flip-flop!

Lauren Heiligenthal writes in her book Evaluating Western Christianity’s Interpretation of Biblical Polygamy, p.17 “While scholars and missiologists [studiers of missions] may suggest that monogamy is God’s ideal, Scripture is neither forthcoming with this claim nor does it prohibit polygamy.”

Later, polygamy was legal throughout the Persian Empire (559–331 BC) of the Intertestamental Period.

But when Jesus the man incarnated, He didn’t set the rules in Roman Empire provinces of the 1^st century AD.  His followers too were and are subject to the (marital) laws of our various nations.  So normally God’s moral option of polygyny isn’t advised in nations where it’s disallowed legally.

Other polygynists are seen in the Bible.  But little is in view in the pagan Greco-Roman culture of the New Testament epistles, where most gentiles legally were to be monogamous.

This topic is continued and concluded in “Polygyny – Lawful in God’s Eyes? (2)”.

 

Ark of the Testimony – Journeys (2)

This Part 2 is the continuation and conclusion to “Ark of the Testimony – Journeys (1)”.

The “Ark of the Testimony” (seen in Ex.25:16, Jsh.4:16, e.g.) was the most revered object in God’s portable tabernacle, constructed by Moses/Israelites.  The Hebrew term for “ark” is aróne, Strongs h727.  The term for “testimony” is aydúth h5715.  The Ark was also known as the “Ark of the Covenant” (h1285, Nu.10:33, e.g.), the “Ark of the Lord” (h3068, Jsh.3:13), the “Ark of God” (h430, 1Sm.3:3).  This Ark wasn’t the floating vessel ‘Noah’s ark’ so-called, seen earlier in the Flood account of Ge.6–8.

Christ was the God and good Shepherd of ancient Israel.  His glory ‘dwelt’ above the Ark, upon the mercy seat between the cherubim (cf. Ex.25:22, Ps.80:1, Jn.10:11.  see the topic “Jesus Was the Old Testament God”.)  The Ark represented the Lord’s Presence and Name!  2Sm.6:2 “The ark of God which is called by the Name, the very name of the Lord of hosts who is enthroned above the cherubim.”

Using Dr. Martin Anstey’s The Romance of Bible Chronology, v.2, Israel’s exodus from Egypt occurred circa (c) 1612 BC and the sacred tabernacle tent & sanctuary was erected c 1611 BC.

“Ark of the Testimony – Journeys (1)” covered the time from the Ark’s construction in the aftermath of Israel’s exodus from Egypt…until the capture of the Ark by the enemy Philistines, c 1102 BC.

The Ark, a gilded rectangular chest, resided in the Holy of Holies innermost room (Ex.26:34) of Moses’ tabernacle for 500 years!  From c 1611 BC – c 1102 BC (except when it was in transport or taken into battle).  But after c 1102 BC, the Ark would never return to Moses’ tabernacle!

Now in Part 2, we’ll continue the account of the Ark’s journeys from when the Philistines’ captured it.

In the latter years of Eli the high priest & judge, Israel had become very backslidden.  The tabernacle of Moses and the Ark was at Shilóh, in the tribal territory of Ephráim.  1Sm.4:1-5 the Ark is carried into the battle of Ebenézer against the Philistines.  v.17-18 the Philistines sack Shiloh, and capture the Ark.  Eli dies when he hears the news.  v.22 “The glory is departed from Israel, for the ark of God is taken.”

1Sm.5:1-7 the heathen Philistines took the captured Ark of God from Ebenezer to their city of Ashdód, into the temple of their pagan god Dagón.  But the idol of Dagon was then found fallen down before the Ark…and broken!  The Lord afflicted the Ashdodites with tumors and mice (LXX).  v.8-9 so the Philistines took the Ark to their city of Gath.  The Lord afflicted them there with tumors.  v.10-12 so they took the Ark to Ekrón.  The hand of God was heavy upon them in Ekron; many men died or were smitten with tumors.  At that point the Philistines didn’t know what to do with the Ark!

1Sm.6:1-12 after the Philistines had possession of the Ark for 7 months (c 1101 BC), they called for their heathen priests & diviners, to learn what should be done with the Ark.  It was decided the Ark should be sent away on a cart hitched to two milk cows.  Lo and behold…the cows didn’t go towards their calves in Philistia…on their own, the cows carted the Ark straightway to Bethshémesh in Israel!

1Sm.6:13-19 the Ark arrived in Bethshemesh.  It was back in Israel.  But the Lord struck down men there because, without authorization, “they looked into the Ark of the Lord”.  (Nu.4:4-5 in transport, the Ark was to be covered by the inner veil; the Kohaththites in charge of holy articles weren’t to touch the Ark or see into it.)  1Sm.6:20-21 so they wanted it taken from Bethshemesh to Kiriáth-jearím in Judah.

1Sm.7:1-3 the men of Kiriath-jearim brought the Ark to the house of Abinadáb in Kiriath-jearim.

Although Israel repented after 20 years, the Ark remained in the house of Abinadab for approximately 70 years (c 1101 BC – 1030 BC).  JFB Commentary 1Sm.7:2 “20 years….the Israelites began to revive from their sad state of religious decline.”  Les McFall The Chronology of Saul and David “The actual time from the death of Eli to the deposition of the ark in Jerusalem by David was 68 years.”  The Ark remained at Abinadab’s house during the judgeship of Samuel and the entire reign of Saul.

When David was running from King Saul, Moses’ tabernacle (minus the Ark) was at the town of Nob.  Saul later had the residents of Nob killed, ref 1Sm.21–22.  Cambridge Bible 1Sm.1:3 “The tabernacle was removed to Nob (1Samuel 21), and the once holy place was utterly desecrated.”  After Nob, Gibeón became the site of Moses’ tabernacle, ref 1Ch.16:39-40 & 2Ch.1:3 (until Solomon’s time).

After David became king and subdued the Philistines, he wanted the Ark brought up to Jerusalem (c 1030 BC) in the tribal territory of Judah.  1Ch.15:1 “In the city of David [on Mt Zión] he prepared a place for the ark of God and pitched a tent for it.”  (That Hebrew term for “tent” is óhel h168.)

2Sm.6:2-11 David brought the Ark from Abinadab’s house to Obéd-edóm’s house, where it remained for 3 months.  v.12-17 David then brought the Ark from Obed-edom’s house to the “tent of David” on Mt Zion in Jerusalem.  (see the topics, “Tent/Tabernacle of David” and “Zion in the Bible”.)

Jesuswalk.com/david “David can’t very well return the ark to the tabernacle at Shiloh. Shiloh had been destroyed! The tabernacle had been moved to the priestly city of Nob, but the ark had never been there and Saul had slaughtered the town’s priests and their families. The ancient tabernacle is now to be found at ‘the high place at Gibeon’ (1Ch.16:39-40, 21:29; 2Ch.1:3, 13; 1Ki.3:4), in a Levitical city where personnel continued sacrifices. David wants the center of Yahweh worship to be in the capital at Jerusalem, not in some priestly town. So he sets up a tent for the ark in Jerusalem, in hopes of eventually building a proper temple to house it.”  His son Solomon would later build the Temple there.

King David brought only the Ark into the tent.  The Ark still contained God’s law of the Decalogue or Ten Commandments (even during Solomon’s reign, 2Ch.5:1-2, 10).  See Part 1.  But absent (since c 1102 BC?) from Moses’ Holy of Holies at Gibeon was Aaron’s rod that budded (Nu.17:10) and the memorial jar of manna (Ex.16:32-34).

1Ch.17:16 David sat before the Ark!  2Sm.11:11 the Ark was again taken into battle.

2Sm.15:24-29 Zadók the priest took the Ark with David as he fled from Absalóm…but Zadok then returned it to Jerusalem.  Poole Commentary 2Sm.15:25 to “the tabernacle David had lately built for it.”

The Ark of God resided in the tent at David’s palace on Zion for 40 years (though he died c 1002 BC).  The only item in the Ark then was God’s eternal law (later seen in heavenly Mt Zion, Re.11:19 & 14:1).

After David’s death, King Solomon completed the temple c 991 BC.  1Ki.7:51 – 8:1-21 the original Ark (1Ki.8:9) was moved from David’s tent on Mt Zion into Solomon’s stationary temple “house of the Lord” on Mt Moriáh (2Ch.3:1).  1Ki.8:10-11 at the occasion, the temple was filled with the glory cloud of the Lord!  The Ark had been at a personal residence or palace for c 110 years (c 1101 BC – 991 BC)!

1Ki.8:8 KJV the projection of the poles/staves, by which the descendants of Koháth had carried the Ark during Israel’s journeys, was changed in Solomon’s temple.  Barnes Notes 1Ki.8:8 “A sign that the ark had reached ‘the place of its rest’, and was not to be borne about anymore.”  1Ki.8:4 the old tabernacle of Moses with its holy utensils was brought from Gibeon into the temple.  The journeying of Moses’ Ark (and portable tabernacle) was ended.

More than 300 years after Solomon, c 622 BC King Josiah made sanctuary repairs to Solomon’s temple, 2Ch.34:8-10.  The Ark was removed for those repairs, and was then put back.  Josiah said to the Levites in 2Ch.35:3, “Put the holy ark in the house which Solomon the son of David king of Israel built”.  The Ark then was either Moses’ original Ark, or else a copy that had been made (since Solomon, 1Ki.8:9).

2Ch.35:3 is the last occurrence in the Old Testament (OT) where we read of the Ark in the temple.

The final OT reference to the Ark of God is Je.3:16. “Declares the Lord, They shall say no more ‘The ark of the covenant’. It shall not come to mind, nor shall they remember it, nor shall they miss it, nor shall it be made again.”  God said the Ark of the Testimony/Ark of the Covenant, their most important object, reflecting His Presence…would no more be remembered or reproduced (or noted in the OT).

The Ark is later mentioned in the Apocrypha.  The book of 2 Maccabees was written in Greek c 124 BC.  God had warned Jeremiah to hide the Ark in the mountain from which Moses had viewed the Promised Land (Mt Nebó, De.34:1).  2Mac.2:4-8 KJV 1611 edition “When Jeremiah came thither, he found a hollow cave wherein he laid the Tabernacle, the Ark, the altar of incense, and stopped the door. Some of those that followed him came to mark the way, but they could not find it. Jeremiah blamed them, saying, ‘That place shall be unknown.”  Jeremiah hid that Ark in an unknown cave, prior to 587 BC when Nebuchadnézzar carried off other holy vessels from Solomon’s temple (2Ch.36:7-10).  Since Jeremiah was told to hide the Ark, he knew it couldn’t be seen and its memory would fade (Je.3:16).

1Esdras 1:54 KJV 1611 edition “They [Babylonians] took all the holy vessels of the Lord, both great and small, with the vessels of the ark of God, and the king’s treasures, and carried them away into Babylon.”  ref Je.52:17-23 for more item detail.  However, these passages don’t say they took the Ark itself.  (But 2Esdras 10:22 KJV 1611 edition “The Ark of our covenant is spoiled.”  The original Ark?)

Ezr.1:5-11 the Ark isn’t listed among the articles of Solomon’s temple which the Jewish returnees brought back from Babylon into the temple of Zerubbabél/Ezra, the 2^nd temple.  (see the topic “Temple of Zerubbabel”.)  2Ch.35:3 NASB footnote: “No reference is made to the ark by Ezra, Nehemiah, or even Josephus after the captivity.”

Later, neither was the Ark in Herod’s temple in the 1^st century AD.  Josephus Wars of the Jews 5:5:5 “The inmost part of the Temple…in this there was nothing at all…it was called the Holy of Holies.”  Nor was the Lord Christ ‘seated’ in the Holy of Holies chamber of Herod’s temple…Jesus was out walking the Land in His human body in the 1^st century AD!

The (physical) Ark chest disappeared from Israel’s history.  There are speculations today about the whereabouts of the Ark.  Some think the Ark ended up with the Jews in Elephántine, Egypt.  Or the original Ark possibly disappeared way back in the days of Solomon & the Queen of Sheba…and now remains in the possession of an Orthodox church in Ethiopia.  (If so, then the Ark hidden by Jeremiah wasn’t the original.)  I won’t elaborate on these speculations here.  (Many articles about the ancient Ark’s disappearance are available on the internet.  You might read Dean Smith’s What Happened To The Jewish Ark of the Covenant? and The Queen Of Sheba And The Jewish Ark.)

There are only two New Testament references to the “ark” (kibotós g2787, Greek) of the covenant.  He.9:1-7 briefly summarizes Moses’ tabernacle, its furnishings and service.  v.4 “…the ark of the covenant, covered on all sides with gold, in which was a golden jar holding the manna, and Aaron’s rod which budded, and the tables of the covenant.”

He.9–10 shows the efficacious atonement of Christ’s blood for Christians…sprinkling animal blood at the Ark’s mercy seat on each annual Day of Atonement by the Aaronic high priest is no longer needed.  Nor do Christian ‘soldiers’ (figurative) follow a physical ark into battle against nations of this world.

John envisioned in Re.11:19, “The temple of God which is in heaven was opened; and the ark of His covenant appeared in His temple”.  A heavenly Ark endures, not an earthly.  Again, the only thing in the Ark in the tent/tabernacle of David was God’s eternal law tablets.  God’s laws are now figuratively being written by the indwelling Holy Spirit on the minds & hearts of New Covenant Israelites (He.8:8-13) and gentiles grafted-in.  see “Two Covenants – Heart of the Matter”.  An earthly Ark is unnecessary.

As the Lord said in Je.3:16, the ancient physical Ark made for Israel need not be missed or made again.

 

Tent/Tabernacle of David (1)

At the Jerusalem Council of around 49 AD, in Ac.15:13-18 the apostle James quoted an Old Testament (OT) prophecy of God. “After these things I [God] will return, and I will rebuild the tent of David, which is fallen….”  What was the tent of David?  This is about the tent or tabernacle of David.

Two ‘tabernacles’ existed simultaneously in ancient Israel for around 40 years, from circa (c) 1030 BC to c 991 BC.  (cf. 1Ch.15:1, 1Ch.16:37-40.)  The tabernacle of Moses was at Gibeón, and the tabernacle or tent of David was at the “city of David” in Jerusalem during that time.

The tent enclosure David pitched in Jerusalem provided a home for the ark of God for those 40 years.  Until his son Solomon completed the temple (c 991 BC), and the ark was brought into it (1Ki.7:51–8:1).

The ark of God was the most important object in God’s tabernacle Moses had built.  Christ, the God and good Shepherd of Israel, ‘dwelt’ above the ark between the cherubim (cf. Ex.25:22, Ps.80:1, Jn.10:11).  The ark resided in the Holy of Holies innermost room (Ex.26:34) of Moses’ tabernacle for 500 years.  From c 1611 BC – c 1102 BC (except when the Israelites took the ark with them into battle).

Then in the final days of Eli the high priest of Israel, c 1102 BC, the Philistines captured the ark of God (in battle) from Moses’ tabernacle at Shilóh, 1Sm.4:10-13, 18.  It would never return to Moses’ tabernacle!  The ark resided elsewhere, apart from Moses’ tabernacle, for 110 years (until c 991 BC).  During those 110 years, the Holy of Holies compartment of Moses’ tabernacle was entirely empty!

After King David subdued the Philistines, he wanted God’s ark brought up to Jerusalem (c 1030 BC).  1Ch.15:1 “In the city of David [on Mt Zión] he prepared a place for the ark of God and pitched a tent for it.”  That Hebrew term for “tent” is óhel, Strongs h168.  The Greek Septúagint term is skené g4633.

Unlike Moses’ tabernacle, the tent of David wasn’t a structure.  So the tent of David is never referred to as a mishkán h4908, Hebrew, in the OT.  David’s enclosure was just a tent.  Whereas Moses’ tabernacle was a mishkan wooden frame structure (with curtains and a tent roof).

2Sm.6:17 “They brought the ark of the Lord and set it in the tent [h168, Septuagint g4633] David had pitched for it; and David offered burnt and peace offerings before the Lord.”  Voluntarily.  Other than these dedicatory offerings, David didn’t sacrifice animals at his tent on Mt Zion.  No recurring animal sacrifices were done at David’s tent!  Moses’ tabernacle was for animal sacrifice, 1Ch.16:39-40.  Later, King Solomon did a one-time sacrifice at the tent of David and fed the people, 1Ki.3:15.  No more there.  (Solomon sacrificed at Moses’ tabernacle in Gibeon, and the Lord appeared to him, 1Ki.3:4-5.)

Ps.76:2 “His [God’s] abode [den/shelter h5520 soke] is in Salem, His dwelling place in Zion.”  While David reigned in Jeru-Salem, Christ’s “abode” was above the cherubim of the ark in David’s tent on Mt Zion.  David built his palace on Mt Zion.  (see the topic, “Zion in the Bible”.)  The ark represented the presence of God!  However, for all of David’s reign, God’s tabernacle (mishkan) of Moses and its furnishings was at Gibeon, not Zion.  (Note: Ps.76:2 may also apply to Mt Zion of the heavenly Jerusalem, cf. He.12:22 & Ga.4:26.  And Ps.76:2 “Salem” can tie back to Melchisedek in Ge.14:18.)

In the tabernacle Moses erected, the innermost Holy of Holies place (behind the second veil) early-on contained three items: #1 the ark with the Decalogue law, God’s testimony on tablets, inside (Ex.25:21, Ex.31:18, De.4:13); #2 Aaron’s rod that budded (Nu.17:10); #3 a memorial jar of manna (Ex.16:32-34).  ref He.9:1-5.  Later, the Book of the Law was also placed beside the ark (De.31:26, 2Ch.34:14-15).

But David brought only the ark into the tent.  The ark still contained God’s law of the Decalogue or Ten Commandments…even during Solomon’s reign (1Ki.8:1, 9; 2Ch.5:10)!  But gone from Moses’ Holy of Holies in Gibeon was Aaron’s rod that budded; it signified priestly Aaronide eminence in the Levitical order of ancient Israel.  Gone was the memorial jar of manna from their wilderness experience.  We may presume that Aaron’s rod and the jar of manna were lost when the Philistines captured the ark.

(Whenever…Christians are now God’s priesthood in the order of Melchisedek.  Aaronite priests are obsolete.  And Christ is our living bread of life.  The church eats of the “hidden manna”, Re.2:17.)

Les McFall The Chronology of Saul and David “The actual time from the death of Eli to the deposition of the ark in Jerusalem by David was 68 years.”  After the Philistines sent back the ark (1Sm.6:21–7:1), it sat in Abinadáb’s house at Kiriáth-jearím for near 70 years (c 1101 – c 1030 BC).  Until 1Ch.13:5-7.

David & Uzzáh attempted to retrieve the ark of God from Abinadab’s house.  That attempt was aborted because the ark wasn’t transported in the manner the Lord had prescribed (2Sm.6:1-12, 1Ch.15:11-15).  Then the ark resided in Obéd-edóm’s house for 3 months.  The Lord blessed Obed-edom’s household while the ark was there, before David brought it up to Jerusalem (1030 BC)!  The concept of God’s ark being at a person’s home wasn’t new with David.  (also see the topic “Ark of the Testimony – Journeys”.)

Why didn’t David just return the ark to God’s tabernacle at Gibeon, rather than bringing it to his palace on Mt Zion?  Zadók the priest served at Moses’ tabernacle in Gibeon (1Ch.16:39); but the ark upon which to sprinkle blood on the annual Day of Atonement was gone.  Yet David and the leaders of Israel all agreed to bring the ark up to the “city of David” at Jerusalem (1Ch.13:1-4, 12-13), not to Gibeon.

Following are 8 possible reasons why King David set up the “tent of David” at his palace on Zion:

#1 The priesthood had become corrupt in the days of Eli the high priest & his sons (1Sm.2:12-17, 22-26, 4:10-22), when Moses’ tabernacle was at Shiloh in the territory of the tribe of Ephráim, c 1102 BC.  David wanted the ark of God and His Presence in Jerusalem, but without the priestly corruption which had existed at Moses’ tabernacle in Shiloh (back when Samuel the prophet was in his 30s).

#2 David wanted to safeguard the ark by locating it farther away from Philistine territory.  Abinadab’s town of Kiriath-jearim or Baaláh (Jsh.15:9) was west of Jerusalem, on the border of Judah, near the tribal areas allotted to Benjamin & Dan.  Dr. Ralph Wilson David Brings the Ark to Jerusalem “Another reason may have been that since the Israelites had destroyed the Philistines’ idols [2Sm.5:21-22], David wanted to protect the ark, lodged only a few miles from their territory, from a reprisal.”

#3 Prior to Gibeon (but after Shiloh), Moses’ tabernacle had been at the priestly town of Nob…before David became king, when King Saul was chasing him.  David escaped to Nob (and ate of the priests’ showbread from the Holy Place), 1Sm.21–22.  Saul later had the residents of Nob killed!  1Sm.22:22 David felt responsible or guilty for their deaths, and avoided more association with Moses’ tabernacle.

#4 David wanted to increase knowledge of God in the Land among the people.  So he allowed for two sets of priests at two places of worship…at Moses’ tabernacle in Gibeon and at the tent/ark in Jerusalem.

#5 Again, the ark had recently been in a personal dwelling (for 70 years!), not in Moses’ tabernacle.  During the lifetime of David, the ark had never been with Moses’ tabernacle!  David wanted the blessing that had come to the household of Obed-edom to come to him and the people in Jerusalem!

#6 The Lord had had David build a sacrificial altar on Mt Moriáh at the threshing floor of Ornán (or Araunáh) the Jebusite (1Ch.21:18, 26-30; 2Ch.3:1).  Since God accepted David’s burnt offerings at that altar and ended the pestilence, David felt no need to go to the great altar at Gibeon to seek the Lord.

#7 God told David that his son Solomon would build a temple/house for God (1Ch.22:5-10).  David received the revelation of the pattern for Solomon’s temple (1Ch.28:11-21, 29:1-25), and began the preparations.  But the Lord didn’t permit David to construct the temple (1Ch.22:5-10).  Since Solomon would erect a stationary building for the ark (on nearby Mt Moriah, 2Ch.3:1), David saw no need to temporarily return the ark to Moses’ portable tabernacle at Gibeon.  (ref the internet article, “The Movement of the Ark and the Tent of God”.)

#8 After Saul’s demise, David as king saw it necessary to further unite the 12 tribes of Israel.  The ark of God was the most revered object from the days of Moses.  Bringing the ark to David’s palace on Mt Zion would make Jerusalem both the government capital and the religious center of the Holy Land.

{Sidelight: Some Bible readers speculate that David’s birth was illegitimate, that he wasn’t authorized to fully participate at Moses’ tabernacle.  So David didn’t want the ark in Gibeon.  Verses they use as backup: 1Sm.16:1-11 Jesse omitted his son David from Samuel’s important sacrifice; De.23:2-3 none illegitimate nor Ammonites could enter the assembly of the Lord; Jg.11:1-2 Jephtháh; 1Ch.2:13-17 & 2Sm.17:25 David’s two sisters had an Ammonite father, Nahásh (not Jesse); Ps.51:5 “In sin did my mother conceive me”; Ps.22:6-10, Ps.69:7-8, 19-20 his reproach was possibly due to his mother’s sin.

I won’t detail this line of thinking, but refer you to the following articles: What About David’s Mother; Ryan Johnson Overcoming An Illegitimate Identity; Professor Who Was King David An Illegitimate Son Of Jesse?; bjorkbloggen King David Said In Sin Did My Mother Conceive Me; Dean Smith King David’s Big Dark Secret and Why Did King David Set Up the Tabernacle of David?

However, David did enter Moses’ tabernacle at Nob!  And in hunger he and his men ate the priests’ showbread which had been in the Holy Place (1Sm.21:1-6).  So it seems David didn’t consider himself forbidden, at least not from the premises of Moses’ tabernacle.  Jesus said of David in Mt.12:3-4, “He entered the house [tabernacle] of God, and they ate the consecrated bread which wasn’t lawful for him to eat, nor for those with him”.  Interpret the questionable view of David’s illegitimate birth as you will.}

Above are 8 (or 9) possible reasons why David pitched a tent on Mt Zion for the ark of God.  Perhaps several are applicable.  It was in David’s heart to later build a permanent structure in Jerusalem for the ark (1Ch.17:1-ff).  However, the Lord said Solomon would build the temple (in Jerusalem, 2Ch.3:1).

But was it God’s will for David to first pitch a tent for the ark in Jerusalem?  David had consulted with all the leaders about bringing the ark from Kiriath-jearim.  1Ch.13:1-3 “David said to all the assembly of Israel. ‘If it seems good to you, and if it is from the Lord our God, let us bring back the ark of our God to us, for we didn’t seek it in the days of Saul.”  R. Wilson op. cit. “Bringing back the ark becomes a national event.”  But was the “tent of David” idea “from the Lord”?

Ps.78:68 “He [the Lord] chose the tribe of Judah, Mount Zion which He [the Lord] loved.”  This Psalm 78 was written by Asáph, who ministered before the ark at David’s tent on Mt Zion (1Ch.16:4-5, 37).  Mt Zion and the tent/tabernacle of David on it was God’s choice!  Pulpit Commentary Ps.78:68 “God, no doubt, inspired David with the thought of fixing his residence in ‘the stronghold of Zion’ (2Sam 5:9), and of bringing up the ark of the covenant into it (2Sam 6:12-17).”

The physical tent David pitched disappeared from history (after 991 BC).  David’s united kingdom of Israel was eventually divided, in the days of Solomon’s son Rehoboám.  The two nations of Israel and Judah would later both go into captivity, to Assyria and Babylon respectively.  But before captivity….

Approximately 240 years after Solomon moved the ark from David’s tent (and moved Moses’ tabernacle from Gibeon, 2Ch.5:5) into the finished temple of Solomon on Mt Moriah (c 991 BC)…the Lord gave Amos a remarkable prophecy to the house of Israel.

Am.9:11-12 Septuagint/LXX “In that day I [the Lord] will raise up the tent [skene g4633] of David that is fallen, and will rebuild it.”  (Here the Hebrew text term is sukkáh h5521, booth.  A booth was a temporary dwelling, not intended for reuse in other locations.)  The Lord said the day would come when He would again raise-up a “tent of David”, which David’s physical tent foreshadowed.

The tent David pitched for the ark…the Lord associated it with the future.  So David’s special tent, housing the ark with the mercy seat (2Sm.6:2) and the Decalogue, must have been according to God’s will!  The Lord approved.  (That is, as long as they transported the ark to the tent in God’s rightful manner.  Again, 2Sm.6:3-11 is the account of David’s initial failed attempt, transporting it incorrectly.)

Furthermore, not long after Amos, Isaiah also prophesied about the tent of David.  Is.16:5 LXX “A throne will be established in loving kindness. One will sit on it in truth, in the tent [skene g4633] of David, judging, seeking justice, and swift to do righteousness.”  (The Hebrew here for “tent” is ohel h168.)

This verse too applied to the future…to Christ and His church and His government!  Benson Commentary Is.16:5 “He [Isaiah] was carried forward to a contemplation of the kingdom of Christ.”  JFB Commentary “Language so divinely framed as to apply to ‘the latter days’ under King Messiah.”  Gill Exposition “This was typical of the church of God, where Christ sits and reigns as King, see Amos 9:11.”  Bob Sorge Why Sion Is So Important “Jesus is the rightful heir to the throne of Zion.”  The typological tent of David was pitched on Zion.

This topic is continued and concluded in “Tent/Tabernacle of David (2)”.  There we’ll look in the New Testament at the realization of the OT type.

Holy Spirit-Filled (1) – Self-Will Submits

This topic discusses a type of non-physical death, and the new birth/new life in the Spirit for Christians.  The life of the apostle Paul, as recorded in the New Testament (NT), is used as an example.

Before Paul became converted, he was known as Saul (Ac.13:9).  Saul terrorized Jewish Christians.  Ac.8:1-3 “Saul was consenting to his death [Stephen’s, Ac.7:58-60]….Saul began ravaging the church, entering house after house; and dragging off men and women, he put them in prison.”  House churches were springing up then, around 34 AD.  In Ac.22:4, Saul/Paul later said of his past, “I persecuted the Way [followers of Christ, Jn.14:6] to the death, binding and putting both men and women into prisons”.

But in Acts 9, Saul had a dramatic conversion experience!  Ac.9:1-2 “Saul was breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord [Jesus].”  Authorized by the high priest, he left for Damascus in search of Jewish Christians to bring them bound to Jerusalem.  v.3-9 as Saul neared Damascus, he was blinded (for 3 days) by a light from heaven…and the voice of Jesus spoke to him!  v.10-22 Ananias said, “Saul…you may be filled with the Holy Spirit”.  v.17 Saul was filled with the Holy Spirit (HS), his sight returned, all his past sins were ‘washed away’ via water baptism in Jesus’ Name (Ac.22:16).

Saul/Paul was never the same after that encounter!  Paul wrote in Ga.1:12-14, “I received it [the gospel] by revelation from Jesus Christ. You have heard of my former manner of life in Judaism, how I used to persecute the church and tried to destroy it. I was advancing in Judaism beyond my peers, being very zealous for my ancestral traditions.”  Religious Pharisaism highly valued Jewish oral law traditions.  Saul was a devoted Pharisee (Ac.23:6)…and then he saw the Light that day on the Damascus road.

We understand Paul received mercy & forgiveness from Father God.  And yet God is also just; we reap what we sow, as Paul wrote (Ga.6:7).  Ac.9:16 the Lord told Ananías that Paul would suffer (for His Name’s sake).  Saul had caused many to suffer.  2Co.11:24-27 Paul’s own sufferings.  A murderer sentenced to death, who becomes converted in prison, may still die physically in the electric chair.

Subsequently Paul wrote in 2Ti.1:3, “I thank God whom I serve with a pure conscience”.  Maybe it seems strange that a man who was party to the murder of Jewish Christians could claim a pure conscience?  Paul acknowledged in 1Ti.1:13, “I was formerly a blasphemer and a persecutor. Yet I was shown mercy because I acted ignorantly in unbelief.”  He mistakenly had thought the Lord Jesus was just a dead man who was worshiped as a false god.  Saul had zealously sought to eradicate that which he viewed as idolatry (as per De.13:6-9, 17:2-7. also see “Stephen’s Stoning in Acts”.)  Yet murder was murder.  Saul/Paul repented, changed, was forgiven, his conscience was cleansed.

The NT reflects a connected level of meaning.  It has to do with submission, the symbolic death of Paul’s old man/old self (Saul), the old “body of sin” (Ro.6:6), begun through Christ’s work on the cross.

Paul wrote figuratively in Ga.2:20. “I have been crucified with Christ; and it’s no longer I who live; but Christ lives in me.”  Christ’s HS and word indwelt the new Paul.  This enabled Paul to subdue his self-will and live a life of submission and obedience to God, as Christ did.  Ellicott Commentary Ga.2:20 “It is through the power of the cross…that the Christian is enabled to mortify the promptings of sin within him. Death upon one side of my nature does not prevent me from having life on the other side.”  Benson Commentary Ga.2:20 “The apostle proceeds in describing how he was freed from the dominion as well as the guilt of sin.”  But it’s not a pain-free process.

Crucifixion by the Romans was usually a slow, lingering, painful death!  (see “Jesus’ Death – The Physical Cause”.)

Quitting old wrong practices and beliefs can involve mental turmoil/pain, and isn’t instantaneous.  Expositor’s Greek Testament Ga.2:20 “A real crucifixion of heart and will. By this figure he [Paul] describes the intense agony of spiritual conflict.”  Saul’s old self, ways, self-desires didn’t want to ‘die’.

The first verse where Saul is called Paul is Ac.13:9. “Saul, also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit….”  He wasn’t referred to as “Paul” prior to his becoming Spirit-filled in Acts 9.  Saul was a persecutor…but Paul is the Roman name of an apostle to the nations.  The Lord Jesus told Ananias in Ac.9:15, “He [Saul/Paul] is a chosen vessel of Mine, to bear My name before the gentiles”.

The old Saul ‘died’ with Christ, as he (Paul) later put it.  The man Saul who’d persecuted the Way…himself became a follower of the Way.  Paul later said of his new way of life in Ac.24:14, “I admit to you, that according to the Way which they call a sect do I serve the God of our fathers, believing everything written in the Law and the Prophets”.  The man Saul, regenerated, became the new Paul.

The Latin name Paul/Paulus (Strongs g3972, Greek) meant ‘small’ or ‘little’.  His physical appearance wasn’t impressive (2Co.10:10).  According to tradition, Paul stood only 5 feet tall.  John Chrýsostom (347-407 AD) Homily On Romans “The apostle Paul was short in stature, modest (?), bald on the head, bow-legged…pale colored, well-bearded, sensible…full of grace, inspired by the Holy Spirit.”  (For an exposition of Paul’s doctrine/ideology, see the series “Paul the Apostle”.)

Saul/Paul was from the Israelite tribe of Benjamin (Php.3:5).  Benjamites had assimilated with the tribe of Judah (the Jews) when God divided the united kingdom of Israel after Solomon died (1Ki.12:23-24).

Of note…ca 1050 BC Israel’s first king, Saul the son of Kish , was also from the tribe of Benjamin.  But King Saul was a very tall man (1Sm.9:1-2), who had initially been small/humble in his own eyes (1Sm.9:21, 15:17).  However, he changed for the worse.  This Old Testament Benjamite Saul became a persecutor, wanting to put David to death (1Sm.19)!  Whereas the NT Benjamite Saul/Paul the ‘little’ was a persecutor who changed for the better…the reverse of King Saul.

At his repentance and conversion, Paul became a new creature, born from above (Jn.3:3-ff).  2Co.5:17 “If any man is in Christ, he is a new creature; old things have passed away, they are become new.”  The NT Saul’s old deceitful heart (Je.17:9), his past self/old man, was figuratively crucified.

The Lord had foretold in Ezk.36:26, “I will give you a new heart and put a new Spirit within you; I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh”.  God gave the HS, and a metaphorical new heart (called “Paul”), to Saul’s physical body.  Again, Paul wrote in Ga.2:20, “It’s no longer I [Saul] who live….”

Paul’s persecutions (as Saul) became obsolete.  Saul had figuratively died!  The new, submissive Paul didn’t persecute Christians.  So Paul’s conscience was clear when he wrote to Timothy in the 60s AD – and the new changed Paul could make the claim of having a clear conscience (2Ti.1:3).

Paul wrote in Ro.6:6-7, “Knowing this, that our old man [self] was crucified with Christ, so that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin. For he who has died is freed from sin.”  Here Paul includes all Christians…our old nature to be rendered inactive.  This concept may be hard to comprehend or seem like Christian mysticism.  But Paul writes with absolute assurance – “Knowing”.

Cambridge Bible Ro.6:6 “This knowledge is to be a working motive in the new life.”  JFB Commentary Ro.6:6 “Our old selves’ – all that we were in our old unregenerate condition, before union with Christ.”

Paul to the church at Colossae in Col.3:3, “For you died, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God”.  Our own way of following our unsubmissive, selfish inclinations perishes.  Expositor’s Greek Testament Col.3:3 “For you died’, that is to their old life, at the time of their conversion.”

2Co.5:15 “He [Christ] died for all, that they who live should no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died for their sakes and rose again.”  Cambridge Bible 2Co.5:15 “And thus made obedience possible for us…freeing us from our bondage to sin.”  Our attitude and service should now be, “Thy will be done” (Mt.6:10)…not…my will be done.  We’re to submit to the HS.

Paul wrote further in 2Ti.2:11, “If we died with Him [Christ], we shall also live with Him”.  For some believers the realization of this self-death may begin with intellectual agreement, after reading Paul’s letters.  Others may understand this operation of death to sin and regeneration to Life through revelation from the HS.  I feel no death within my body; we can’t explain this new birth miracle by the five senses.  But we can have faith in the operation of God; and believe the above verses were inspired.

We’re not aware of an exact time of death for a Christian’s old man or old self, as he/she/we undergo the waters of baptism.  But as Jesus was dead prior to His burial, the Christian was already dead, symbolically, before his baptismal burial.  (also see the topic “Baptisms and Washings”.)

This baptismal burial isn’t what killed us – in cultures of the world people are not customarily buried alive!  It is only after a person dies that he/she is buried.  The previous verses indicate that we died to sin (on a cross, metaphorically), being crucified as was Jesus.  And then only after this death were we buried (immersed in baptism) with Him.  This burial is also a public testimony of the (prior) death of our ‘old man’, according to the faith we had in Jesus when we first believed (before baptism).

Ro.6:3-5 “We have been buried with Him through baptism unto death, in order that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have been in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall be in the likeness of His resurrection.”  Our baptism under water symbolizes this burial, and our surfacing the regeneration/rebirth to real Life via the Spirit.

Yet Christians still maintain in our souls most learning, abilities and muscle memory patterns that date from the years/decades of our ‘old man’.  Some sinful responses were also learned and internalized.  So we still have wrong desires, and will sin occasionally (or too often).  Paul sinned occasionally too (cf. Ro.7:23).  We have a (daily) battle against lapsing into sin.  He wrote, 1Co.15:31 “I die daily”.  Paul died daily…to keep his flesh crucified (and from enemy threats).  see “Repentance from Sin”.

Daily repentance and asking God that the blood of Jesus be applied to any recurring sins…will result in our being continually forgiven and our consciences cleansed.  He.9:14 “The blood of Christ…will cleanse our conscience from dead works to serve the living God.”  Jesus’ sacrifice is fully efficacious.

As we yield to the HS, our (old) self-will should become less and less operative or dominant.  Webster’s Dictionary: Self-Will “The persistent carrying out of one’s own will or wishes.”  Collins Dictionary: Self-Will “The stubborn adherence to one’s own will, desires, etc.”  Rather…God’s will be done.

We’ve been baptized in/by the HS.  The HS leads us into doing the will of God.  1Co.12:13 “By one Spirit we were all baptized into one body.”  There’s no baptism into another, ref Ep.4:5.  (Note: Humans cannot baptize one another into the HS, e.g. Mk.1:8…but Jesus can.)

Few Christians undergo a name change from their former life, as Saul became known as Paul.  Yet as Christians, we too should say (Ga.2:20), “It’s no longer I who live; but Christ lives in me”.  We ‘died’ in Christ, and He has become our life too, as we submit to God.

I keep one nail spike in my key tray on the bedroom dresser.  So in the morning when I dress and reach to the tray…I see the spike.  I’m reminded that the old me ‘died’, figuratively ‘crucified with Christ’; and that new day I am to let Jesus live inside via the HS.

But 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”.

This topic is continued and concluded in “Holy Spirit-Filled (2) – Be Refilled”.

Chronology: Samuel to Rehoboam

In this topic, Bible chronology is traced from the judgeship of Samuel to the kingship of Solomon’s son Rehoboam.  Previous chronology is addressed in “Chronology: the Exodus to Samuel”, “Chronology: Abraham to the Exodus”, “Chronology: Septuagint versus Masoretic Text”.  My basic position is the so-called maximalist view, that Bible history is correct unless archaeology clearly proves it wrong.

Exact dating cannot be done for the time of Samuel’s judgeship in ancient Israel.  And there’s no consensus among Bible historians as to the dates when Saul, David, Solomon, Rehoboám were kings.  Their years cannot be pinpointed by dates from ancient histories.  (There’s no ‘BC’ or ‘BCE’ dates written in scripture.)  The dates in this topic are approximate.

Following is the timing detail from the birth of the prophet-judge Samuel until King Rehoboam.  All scriptures referenced are from the book of 1Samuel, unless otherwise specified.

Elí the high priest preceded Samuel as judge in Israel.  Eli was born around (circa or c) 1200 BC, and he lived for 98 years (1Sm.4:15).  His judgeship began c 1142 BC.

1Sm.1:9-11, 17 Hannáh was childless, and prayed at the tabernacle in Shilóh for a son.  v.20 God heard her prayer, and she birthed Samuel c 1140 BC.  Samuel means ‘heard of God’.  v.21-28 when Samuel was weaned, she dedicated him to God as a Nazarite, and gave him to serve Eli c 1137 BC.  Samuel was fostered or adopted by Eli.  (2:20-21 later Hannah also gave birth to 2 sons and 3 daughters.)

2:22-26 Eli is too old for priestly service (Nu.8:25), near age 72 (cf. 2Sm.19:32), c 1128 BC.  1Sm.2:26 Samuel is near age 12.  Eli’s natural sons were promiscuous and disrespected the Lord’s offerings.

3:1-18 God calls the boy Samuel, age 12.  At 72, Eli’s eyes are starting to dim.  Josephus Antiquities of the Jews 5:10:4 “When Samuel was 12 years old he began to prophesy; and once when he was asleep God called to him by his name.”  v.19-21 Samuel grew, and the Lord confirmed him as a prophet.

4:1 Samuel is now around age 38, c 1102 BC.  v.10-14 Eli’s 2 sons, Hophní & Phineás, die during the battle at Ebenezer when the ark of God is taken by the Philistines.

4:15-18 Eli is blind.  Eli dies then too at age 98, having judged 40 years, c 1142 BC – c 1102 BC.  4:19-22 Phineas’ son Ichabód (Eli’s grandson) is born prematurely at the death of Phineas & Eli.

Samuel, near age 38, begins his judgeship c 1102 BC, after Eli died.  Adam Clarke Commentary 1Sm.7:15 “Samuel is supposed to have lived 100 years; he did not begin to judge Israel till he was about 40 years of age.”

5:1–6:21 the Philistines kept the ark of God for 7 months (6:1).  Then it was carted back to Israel.

1Sm.7:1 the ark was brought to Kiriáth-jearím (to Abinadáb’s house).  There it will remain for close to 70 years …from c 1102 BC – 1031 BC, when David is ruling in Jerusalem (ref 2Sm.6:2-ff, 1Ch.13:3-7).  Leslie McFall The Chronology of Saul and David “The actual time from the death of Eli to the deposition of the ark in Jerusalem by David was 68 years.”

1Sm.7:2 HCSB “Time went by until 20 years had passed since the ark had been taken to Kiriath-jearim. Then the whole house of Israel began to seek the LORD.”  JFB Commentary 1Sm.7:2 “20 years….that length of time had passed when the Israelites began to revive from their sad state of religious decline.”  Cambridge Bible “20 years was not…the whole duration of the Ark’s sojourn at Kirjath-jearim, but the time that elapsed before the reformation now to be recorded….they were vassals of the Philistines.”

After the 20 years…1Sm.7:3 “Then Samuel spoke to all the house of Israel, ‘If you will return to the Lord with all your heart…and serve Him alone, then He will deliver you from the Philistines.”  Samuel is now around age 58.  He’s been judge for all the elapsed time.  Barnes Notes 1Sm.7:3 “20 years of Samuel’s life had passed away since the last mention of him in 1Sm.4:1. Now he appears in the threefold character of prophet, Judge, and the acknowledged leader of the whole people.”

7:4-14 Israel repents.  The Lord helps them defeat the Philistines at Mizpáh, c 1083 or 1082 BC.  A tenuous peace ensues.

7:13-15 “Samuel judged Israel all the days of his life.”  Scripture doesn’t clearly say how many years Samuel judged…he later also advised/instructed King Saul for years.  Philip Mauro The Wonders of Bible Chronology, p.50 “20 years Samuel’s judgeship (1Sm.7:2).”  Ellicott Commentary 1Sm.7:15 “Probably for at least 20 years after the decisive battle of Ebenezer [1Sm.4:1].”  Martin Anstey The Romance of Bible Chronology, v.2, p.20 “Samuel judgeship 20 years.”  Benson Commentary 1Sm.7:15 “For though Saul was king in Samuel’s last days, yet Samuel did not cease to be a judge.”  Institute For Creation Research “Samuel must have judged Israel almost 60 years.”  Haydock’s Catholic Bible Commentary 1Sm.7:15 “As sole judge for 20 years, and conjointly with Saul till he died, almost 100 years old, a year or two before the unfortunate king. Saul put him on a level with himself (1Sm.11:7); and he continued to be regarded as the oracle of Israel ever since he was about 40 years old.”

1Sm.8:1-3 Samuel is getting old at age 58, and appointed his sons to assist him.  Pulpit Commentary 1Sm.8:1 “He was probably not more than 60.”  Samuel had judged solely for 20 years, c 1102 BC – c 1082 BC.  But his sons took bribes and perverted justice.  v.4-5 “The elders said to him, ‘Your sons do not walk in your ways. Now appoint a king for us to judge us like all the nations.”

Israel doesn’t want Samuel’s dishonest sons to judge…Israel wants a king.  1Sm.9:1-2 Saul appears on the scene.  Speaker’s Commentary 1Sm.9:1 “The sacred historian now tracks another stream of events which were to concur in working out God’s providential purpose of giving a king to Israel.”

10:1–12:1-2 Saul is around age 36 when Samuel anoints him as king, c 1082 BC.  Saul’s eldest son Jonathán is 18 or so.  Abinadab (Ishví?) and Malchishúa are 2 other sons (1Sm.31:2).  Saul’s 4^th son Ishbósheth/Eshbáal is born this year (cf. 2Sm.2:10).  Saul will rule 40 years, c 1082 BC – c 1042 BC.

Paul later wrote in Ac.13:2, “God gave them Saul…a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for 40 years”.  Gill Exposition 1Sm.13:1 “There were no less than 3 high priests in his [Saul’s] reign.” (Ahitúb, Ahijáh, Abiathár 1Sm.22:20.)

1Sm.13:1 translations of this verse differ.  The verse isn’t in the Septúagint/LXX.  Saul is around age 36 (some translations say age 30, NASB and ASV say age 40).  James B. Jordan The Problem of Saul’s Reign “Saul was anointed king by Samuel, led the people in a victory over the Ammonites, and was crowned king of Israel…his first year of reign….Saul was probably around 40, since he had a grown son.”  Pulpit Commentary 1Sm.13:1 “He [Saul] must have been at least 35, and perhaps even more.”  Samuel is around age 58.  Eli has been dead for 20 years (so Eli’s grandson Ichabod is age 20).

13:2-3 Saul has reigned 2 years when Jonathan attacks the Philistine garrison.  Saul is 38, Jonathan is 20 (Nu.1:3, 26:2 Israelites must be at least age 20 to go to war).  Saul’s son Ishbosheth is 2.  Samuel is 60.

1Sm.14:3 Ichabod’s nephew Ahijah is priest at this time.  Gill Exposition 1Sm.14:3 “He [Ichabod], it seems, had an elder brother called Ahitub, who died young, and Ahijah was the son of him.”  (Another son of Ahitub was Ahimélech the priest.  Later, Saul had Doég kill Ahimelech and the priests, 1Sm.22.)

David is born c 1072 BC.  Samuel was then 68, Saul was 46, Jonathan 28, Ishbosheth 10, Ichabod 30.

1Sm.14:46-52 many years pass during these verses.  v.49 Meráb is Saul’s older daughter, Michál his younger.  Saul was perhaps 47 at Merab’s birth, and 49 when Michal is born?  Again, Ishbosheth/Eshbaal is Saul’s youngest son, 1Ch.9:39.  (He will later become king of Israel, 2Sm.2:8-10.)

1Sm.15:1-35 after Saul ruled 28 years (he’s now 64) he fails in the Amalekites ordeal and is rejected by God, c 1054 BC.  Samuel will never see Saul again (v.35).  Samuel, age 86, will live 10 more years.

1Sm.16:11-13, 18 Samuel anoints David, “a mighty man of valor” (v.18), to be king, c 1052 BC.  David is around age 20.  Gill Exposition 1Sm.16:11 “He hardly exceeded more than 20.”  Samuel is 88, Saul is 66, Jonathan is 48, Ishbosheth is 30.  Eli has been dead for 50 years (Ichabod would be 50).

17:33-ff David, a youth of 20, kills Goliath.  John Wesley’s Notes 1Sm.17:33 “Not above 20 years old.”    Matthew Poole Commentary “[David] being now not much above 20 years old, as is supposed.”

18:5 “Saul set him [David] over the men of war.”  v.13-16 David at age 21 is a national hero.  v.17-30 he marries Saul’s younger daughter Michal, perhaps age 19.  But father-in-law Saul becomes his enemy.

19:18-ff David (age 22) flees to Samuel (age 90), c 1050 BC.  David will run from Saul for 7–8 years.

25:1 after 6 years, Samuel dies at age 96, c 1044 BC.  Tradition says Samuel died at a very advanced age.  bible.ca/archaeology/ “Samuel died at 90.”  Orthodox Church in America “The prophet Samuel died in extreme old age.” (as did Eli.)  Saul is now around age 74, Jonathan is 56, Ishbosheth is 38.  David, age 28, flees to the wilderness.

27:7-ff David went from the wilderness to the land of the Philistines for 2 years… until age 30.

28:1-25 Samuel has been dead around 2 years.  Saul visits the medium at Endór, wanting her to consult Samuel’s spirit.  Saul hears of his fate.  He and his sons will battle the Philistines…they die the next day.

31:1-2, 6 Saul is killed at age 76, after a 40-year reign (Ac.13:21)…c 1082 BC – c 1042 BC.  His sons Jonathan (age 58), Abinadab, Malchishua die with him at Mt. Gilboa.  J.B. Jordan op. cit. “Saul…died at about 80.”  Greg Hamm How Long Did Saul Reign? “That would make him 78 when he is killed.” bible.ca/archaeology/ “Saul died at 72, Jonathan dies at 57.”  Jonathan’s son Mephibósheth is age 5 (cf. 2Sm.4:4), born when Jonathan was about 53.  Ishbosheth is 40.  David is 30.

2Sm.2:1-7 Saul is dead.  David, age 30, is made king of Judah in Hebrón, c 1042 BC.  v.8-10 Saul’s son Isbosheth/Eshbaal (age 40?) is made king in Israel by Saul’s cousin, general Abnér (1Sm.14:50-51).  v.11 David will reign 7 ½ years at Hebron in Judah, c 1042 BC – c 1035 BC, from age 30 to 37-38.

2Sm.3:1 “Now there was long war between the house of Saul and the house of David.”  5 years.  JFB Commentary 2Sm.3:1 “For 5 years longer; it is probable Ishbosheth was made king upon Saul’s death.”

2Sm.3:26-ff Joáb murders Abner.  2Sm.4:1-12 also King Ishbosheth, Saul’s youngest son, is murdered.

2Sm.5:3-5 “They anointed David king over Israel. David was 30 years old when he became king and he reigned 40 years. At Hebron he reigned over Judah 7 ½ years and in Jerusalem he reigned 33 years over all Israel and Judah.”  David ruled 40 years total, from age 30 to 70, c 1042 BC – c 1002 BC.  He moved from Hebron to Jerusalem c 1035 BC, at age 37.  1Ki.2:10-11 David later dies at age 70.

1Ki.2:12 Solomon (age not specified in scripture) succeeds his father David as king.  1Ki.11:42-43 Solomon also reigned 40 years, c 1002 BC – c 962 BC.  1Ki.4:29-31 God gave Solomon great wisdom.

1Ki.6:1 “In the 480^th [LXX 440^th] year after the sons of Israel came out of the land of Egypt, in the 4^th year of Solomon’s reign over Israel…he began to build the house of the Lord.”  Solomon began to build the temple of God in his 4^th year as king, c 999 BC.

However, the Biblical timeline from the exodus to Solomon reflects more than 480 (LXX 440) elapsed years.  Barnes Notes 1Ki.6:1 “The interval between the exodus and Solomon, a period considerably exceeding 480 years.”  Some think that 1Ki.6:1 isn’t counting the approximately 111 years of oppressions during the period of the judges…480 + 111 = 591 years…is closer to the record in Joshua–Judges.  (ref “Chronology: the Exodus to Samuel”.)  And some commentaries view the 480 years (LXX 440) of 1Ki.6:1 as being at variance with Paul in Ac.13:18-20.  But the 480 years of 1Ki.6:1 may not be literal.

ESV Study Bible 1Ki.6:1 “In understanding the 480-year figure (e.g. supposing it to result from 12 generations, with a generation taken symbolically to be 40 years…).”  Wikipedia: Biblical Literalist Chronology “Many numbers in the Bible are figurative, especially ’40’ and its multiples – thus, 480 years before the 4th year of the reign of Solomon (12 × 40 years = 480 years) is not necessarily regarded by them as a literal number having historical value.”

Earlier periods and reigns from Israel’s history may be close approximations, not exact…such as: the wilderness 40 years, Joshua and the elders 40 years, Othniél 40, Ehúd 80, Barák/Deboráh 40, Gideon 40, Eli 40, Saul 40, David 40, then Solomon 40.  In scripture, the number ‘40’ occurs often or typically.  So the 480 (or 440 LXX) years may well be symbolic.

1Ki.11:43 after Solomon, his son Rehoboam reigned as king, but only in Judah.  Rehoboam, age 41, ruled for 17 years (1Ki.14:21) until age 58, c 962 BC – c 945 BC.  He burdened the people (1Ki.12:11).

1Ki.12:16-24 in the 1^st year of Rehoboam, God divided the united monarchy of Israel, c 962 BC.  Thereafter the northern kingdom (ruled by Jeroboám, v.20), consisting of 10 tribes, retained the name Israel.  The southern kingdom of Judah (ruled by Rehoboam), consisting of the other 2–3 tribes, became known as the Jews.  The tribal territory of Benjamin (and most of the Levites) was given to Judah.  Israel and the Jews/Judah became separate nations.  (see “Israelites Identification”.)

To conclude with a digression or overview which spans approximately 1,300 years of Bible history….

Josephus wrote in the latter 1^st century AD.  Antiquities of the Jews 8:3:1 “Solomon began to build the Temple in the 4^th year of his reign, 592 years after the exodus out of Egypt, but 1,020 years from Abraham’s coming out of Mesopotámia into Canáan.”  However, Josephus’ dating isn’t all correct.

In Antiquities chapter 20, Josephus revised/corrected his time period – op. cit. 20:10:1 “The number of years…from the days when our fathers departed out of Egypt… until the building of that temple which king Solomon erected at Jerusalem, was 612.”  The elapsed time was revised from 592 to 612 years.  Later, Josephus again has the revised years in Against Apion 2:2. “Solomon himself built that temple 612 years after the Jews came out of Egypt.”  Calculating from the scriptures, 612 years fits better.

Meyer’s NT Commentary Ac.13:20 “In Antt. xx. 10, c. Ap. ii. 2, he [Josephus] reckons 612 years for the same period, this 20 years more [than 592], which comes still nearer to the statement of time in our passage.”  This commentary indicates that Paul’s timeline (Ac.13:17-ff) may generally agree with Josephus’.

If Solomon began to build the temple c 999 BC, an exodus which occurred 612 years (592 + 20) earlier would have been c 1611 BC.  If we likewise add 20 years to Josephus’ 1,020 years of Antiq. 8:3:1 to arrive at the date Abraham came to Canaan at age 75…that’s 1,040 years prior to c 999 BC…c 2039 BC.

The topic “Chronology: Abraham to the Exodus” used Dr. Martin Anstey’s chart date of 1612 BC for the exodus and 2042 BC for Abraham’s move to Canaan (Anstey op. cit., p. 8).  Those dates match almost exactly Josephus’ (revised) time period of years!

The northern kingdom of Israel was eventually removed by Assyria.  (see “Israelite Deportations by Assyria”.)  2Ki.17:19-24 “Israel was carried away into exile from their own Land to Assyria until this day.”  v.6 “In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria settled them in Haláh and Habór, on the river of Gozán, and in cities of the Medes.”  The date accepted by historians is 722-721 BC.

The destruction of Jerusalem by Babylon in 587-586 BC is a historically confirmed date.  So is the date when Ashurbánipal the Assyrian king sacked Thebes in Egypt, 664-663 BC.

V.C. Lewis The Mystery of Old Testament Chronology Revealed, p. ix (2005) “Nearly all scholars are in agreement today, we have three dates which can be considered accurate both scripturally and historically. These are the dates of 722-721 BC for the captivity of the northern kingdom of Israel, the date of 587 BC for the captivity of Judah, and the date of 606 BC for when Nebuchadnézzar began to reign in Babylon.”  So a date of 721 BC for the exile of Israel’s 10 tribes is also considered reliable.

Josephus Antiquities 9:14:1 “The 10 tribes of the Israelites were removed…800 years after Joshua had been their leader, and…240 years, 7 months, 7 days after they had revolted from Rehoboam.”  Josephus’ time period rounds to 241 years.

The 10 tribes of Israel under Jeroboam revolted from King Rehoboam (of Judah) c 962 BC.  According to Josephus, it was 241 years later when the northern Israel was removed into captivity.  That was…962 BC – 241 = 721 BC…the date confirmed by historians today!  (Also, Joshua and the elders had died by c 1547 BC – c 1532 BC.  That was approximately 800 years before Israel was removed to Assyria in 721 BC.)

The Bible record is the word of God!  Again, exact dates for Abraham and Israel’s most ancient history cannot be confirmed (prior to 721 BC).  The dates in this chronology are approximate, based upon the Old Testament timeline.

Stephen’s Stoning in Acts

A martyr is a person who chooses to suffer death rather than renounce his/her religious beliefs.  Justin (110-165 AD) was a Samaritan Christian given the honorary title ‘Martyr’ for not renouncing his faith that Jesus is Lord.  Following Jesus’ crucifixion, resurrection and ascension, the first recorded (Jewish) Christian martyr was Stephen.  Stephen didn’t renounce Jesus.  The account is in Acts 6–7.

The initial Jerusalem church grew rapidly in the 30s AD (Ac.5:14).  Ac.6:1-7 Stephen was a Hellenist or Greek-speaking deacon there.  At this time, an estimated 10–20% of Jerusalem spoke Greek (rather than Aramaic, cf. Ac.1:19).  They used the Greek Old Testament, which became the Septúagint/LXX.  The early church was then composed of Jewish Christians only, no Samaritans, no gentiles yet.  Ac.6:5 Stephen was one of seven men chosen by the church to distribute food & alms to Hellenist widows (cf. Ja.1:27).  Ac.6:8 God worked miracles through Stephen, who was filled with the Holy Spirit (HS).

Ac.6:9-10 many in the Freedmen synagogue were emancipated captive or slave Jews & proselytes.  Also persons who’d come from Alexandria, Cilicía, and elsewhere.  Saul/Paul was from Tarsús in Cilicia (Ac.21:39), and likely he attended this Jerusalem synagogue.  Most weren’t (Jewish) Christians, and they began to argue with Stephen.  But the HS gave Stephen wisdom they couldn’t withstand.

Their arguments failed.  Ac.6:11 “So they secretly induced some men to say, ‘We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and God.”  These claimed they heard Stephen blaspheme; that is, to revile God or sacred things.  v.12 “They stirred up the people, the elders and the scribes; they seized him and brought him before the Sanhédrin.”  For trial by the great court, sitting at Jerusalem.

They then hired lying witnesses to testify against Stephen.  Ac.6:13-14 “And they set up false witnesses who said, ‘This man incessantly speaks evil against this holy place and the Law. For we’ve heard him say that Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and alter the customs Moses handed down to us.”

Ac.6:15 “All who were sitting in the Sanhedrin looked intently at Stephen, and saw his face was like the face of an angel.”  This is reminiscent of Ex.34:29, where Moses’ face shined from God’s Presence.

Stephen was accused of speaking blasphemy against: God, Moses, the temple, the Law (Ac.6:11-13).  He’d probably taught that the days of God’s temple worship and sacrifices, based on ceremonial law given to Moses, would come to an end.  Disbelieving Jews in his synagogue wrongly viewed that as blasphemy.

They also claimed that Stephen said Jesus would destroy their temple and alter their customs (v.14).  600 years earlier Daniel had prophesied.  Da.9:26-27 LXX “The Christ will be cut off, and He will destroy the city and the sanctuary with the prince who is coming. And on the temple will be an abomination of desolation.”  Mk.13:1-2, 14 Jesus confirmed regarding their temple, “Not one stone shall be left upon another which shall not be torn down. When you see the abomination of desolation.”  Jn.2:19-21 Jesus also said to Jewish leaders in regards to His own body they would crucify, “Destroy this sanctuary, and in three days I will raise it up”. (cf. 2Co.5:1)  Yet in Mk.14:56-59, false witnesses testified against Jesus, saying He would destroy their temple.  But their testimony was inconsistent.

The accused in Israel had a right to a fair trial before sentencing.  De.17:2-7 “If in any of your towns a man or woman does what is evil, has served other gods or worshiped them; you shall investigate it thoroughly. If so, stone them to death. On the testimony of 2 or 3 witnesses shall he worthy of death be executed. The hand of the witnesses shall be first against him.”  If the case was too difficult for the local appellate court, it was taken to the central court/Sanhedrin.  v.8-10 “If any case is too difficult to decide, then you shall go to the place the Lord your God chooses. The Levitical priest or judge will declare the verdict.”  And the high priest is present (Caiáphas?, Mt.26:3) with the court at this trial, Ac.7:1.

The penalty for serving/worshiping pagan gods was death.  De.13:6-8 said to not join in service to other gods of even a relative!  If a guilty verdict is delivered at his trial, execute him.  v.9-11 “You shall stone him to death because he sought to lead you away from the Lord your God.”  A less relevant incident is Le.24:11-16. “The son of an Israelite blasphemed the Name and cursed. The Lord spoke to Moses, ‘Let all the congregation stone him. The alien as well as the native who blasphemes the Name shall be put to death.”  This applied to both Israelites and aliens in the Land.  (Note: Judaism forbad uttering the Name YHVH in common speech; so speaking the Name was discontinued, due to an extreme interpretation of this Le.24 passage combined with Ex.20:7.)

Also there was a rebel beating custom for cases which were perceived to be so obvious…an actual trial was thought unnecessary.  Nu.25:1-5 reflects Moses’ decision against Israelite leaders who joined in heathen worship (v.4-5).  Moses as judge authorized the execution of those guilty.  v.6-8 yet Phineás the priest’s act of slaying two who were engaged in a form of religious prostitution later became the prototype to vindicate the rebel beating practice.  That is, sentence or execution without an official verdict.  They would take the law into their own hands to administer ‘justice’ in their eyes.  To ref this practice unto death, see Jn.10:31-32 (below), and Lk.4:29 where Jesus’ opposers in the synagogue tried to throw Him over a cliff.  Also, Paul was the intended victim of a rebel beating in Ac.21:30-31.

Jesus said in Jn.10:30-33, “I and the Father are one’. The Jews took up stones to stone Him. The Jews answered Him, ‘We don’t stone you for a good work, but for blasphemy, because you make yourself out to be God.”  Those Jews understood Jesus’ implication.  In Jn.19:5-7 the Jewish leaders cried out to Pilate against Jesus, “Crucify Him! We have a law, by which He ought to die because He made Himself out to be the Son of God”.  To their understanding, Jesus had declared Himself to be (a false) God!

Lk.23:4-7 the Jewish leaders brought the accused Jesus before Pilate the Procurator (manager) in the province of Judea.  Pilate learned He was from Galilee (not a resident of Judea), in Herod’s jurisdiction.  So Pilate sent Him to Herod.  In Jn.18:31, the Jewish leaders in Judea claimed they weren’t permitted to put anyone to death.  Historical sources conflict regarding the extent of Sanhedrin power to execute in the 30s AD.  The right to execute convicted criminals in Roman provinces was held by the Governor (Pilate here).  Emil Schurer said a death sentence then must be ratified by the Procurator.  It’s also said the Sanhedrin was allowed to execute persons who violated the sanctity of the Jerusalem temple in Judea (destroyed 70 AD).  Jesus was from the province of Galilee, whereas Stephen lived in Jerusalem.

With that background, let’s return to Stephen’s case.  His trial will be for blasphemy and serving another god, according to disbelieving Jews there.  All of Acts 7 is Stephen’s lengthy discourse or justification as his defense.  In it, he relates scripture history about: the patriarchs, Moses, Israel’s disobedience to God, the temple would come to an end.

Then Stephen takes the offensive in Ac.7:51-53. “You men are stubborn and resist the Holy Spirit as your ancestors did. Which of the prophets did your ancestors not persecute? They killed those who had previously announced the coming of the Righteous One, whom you have now betrayed and murdered!”

The same Greek terminology is in Is.53:11 LXX. “The Righteous One shall bear their sins.”  Isaiah prophesied of Jesus.  (The traditional Martyrdom of Isaiah says Isaiah himself was sawn in half by Jewish leaders, cf. He.11:37.)  Also, after Saul/Paul had a vision of the ascended Jesus, Ac.22:14 Ananías said God had appointed Saul to see and hear the Righteous One.

Ac.7:54-56 “When the Sanhedrin heard this, they were enraged. But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and said, ‘Behold, I see the heavens open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!”  (This reflects the tri-unity of God.)  The prophet Daniel had referred to the Son of Man to come in Da.7:13-14.  Jesus called Himself the Son of Man more than 70 times in the New Testament, e.g. Mt.26:64.  He.12:2 & Col.3:1 says Christ is seated at the right hand of God.  Yet in Ac.7:56, Jesus is standing at God’s right hand, perhaps in honor of Stephen’s testimony of Him!

In the opinion of the Sanhedrin/disbelieving Jews, Jesus was a dead man.  But here Stephen is indicating to them that the man supposedly dead is really…a live God!  They think Stephen is violating De.17 & 13 publically; that he’s putting forth the Son of Man Jesus as a false god!  With their own ears they heard/witnessed Stephen utter his vision, which they construed as blasphemy.

Ac.7:57-58 “They shouted loudly, covered their ears, and rushed upon him with one accord. And when they’d dragged him outside the city, they began to stone him. The witnesses left their coats with a young man named Saul.”  Taking Stephen outside the city, witnesses who heard him began to stone him…as per De.17:5-7 (& Le.24:14).  JFB Commentary Ac.7:58 “Saul, having perhaps already a seat in the Sanhedrin, some 30 years of age.”  Possibly Saul/Paul (of Stephen’s synagogue) was then married and recently become a member of the great Sanhedrin (ref Ac.9:1-2, 26:10-11, Ga.1:14); and he attested to the public slaying.  David Stern Jewish New Testament Commentary, conjectures “Shaúl was a member of the Sanhedrin.”

Ac.7:59-60 “They continued to stone Stephen while he prayed, ‘Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.’ Then he knelt down and said loudly, ‘Lord, impute not this sin to their charge.’ And having said this, he fell asleep.”  Just before Stephen’s body died or “fell asleep”, he asked the Lord to receive his spirit (ref Ec.12:7, Mt.27:50, He.12:23) and not hold against them their sin of stoning an innocent man to death.

In Mt.23:33-34 Jesus had called the leading scribes & Pharisees, who hated Him and wanted Him dead, vipers doomed to Gehenna.  Yet in Lk.23:33-34, Jesus asked Father God to forgive the Romans who ignorantly crucified Him!  (They will repent in the future.)  Jesus said to Governor Pilate, Jn.19:10-11 “He who delivered me over to you has the greater sin”.  The Jewish leaders’ sin of delivering Jesus to death was greater than the sin of Pilate…they knowingly framed & murdered the Son of God!

Stephen was a mere man, and he asked that his Jewish murderers be forgiven for martyring him.

It seems that Stephen’s case was a Sanhedrin trial which ended abruptly with a rebel beating unto death.  Jewish Christian Alfred Edersheim’s The Temple, ch. 3 “When the Lord Jesus and His martyr Stephen were before the Sanhedrin, in each case the sitting terminated in the rebels’ beating.”

Ac.8:1 “Saul was in hearty agreement with putting him [Stephen] to death.”  Saul/Paul and the Sanhedrin thought they’d judged and executed a blasphemy case.  They heard or witnessed the words about Jesus from Stephen’s own lips!  In their opinion, Jesus was a dead man and a false god.

Some of the proceedings at Stephen’s trial do seem to be in accordance with God’s Old Testament law.  After his conversion, in Php.3:5-6 Saul/Paul wrote of his earlier unconverted life. “As to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to the righteousness of the Law, found blameless.”  And Paul’s own later self-defense in Ac.22:3, “I am a Jew born in Tarsus of Cilicia, brought up in Jerusalem at the feet of Gamaliél strictly according to the law of our fathers, being zealous for God”.

It’s unwonted that Saul the Pharisee (Ac.23:6) agreed with the hardline view of the Sadducean high priest (Ac.5:17, 8:1-3).  Saul’s esteemed teacher Gamaliel was a Pharisee with a tolerant approach toward Jewish Christian leaders, Ac.5:33-40!  If Saul had followed the precedent of his famous teacher, he wouldn’t have become their murderer!  Although the Sanhedrin & Saul/Paul perhaps thought they were upholding God’s injunctions in the judgment…their verdict was wrong.  Stephen wasn’t proclaiming a false god.  Christ was the God of Israel!  (see “Jesus Was The Old Testament God”.)

It seems the court ignored the Je.23:5-6 passage, where Messiah was prophesied to be both a descendant of David…and YHVH!  The Son of Man and Son of God!  And misinterpreted Ps.2:7. “The Lord said to Me, ‘You are My Son. Today I have begotten Thee.”  (Jesse, not the Lord, begat David, Ru.4:22.)

That was the Sanhedrin’s big mistake (aside from the false testimony of witnesses).  Stephen was really innocent of the blasphemy charge.  Jesus/Yeshúa isn’t a false god!  Actually it was the Sanhedrin who (indirectly) blasphemed in a sense…by denying that Jesus is the Son of the Most High God (Lk.1:32)!

Stephen died following his testimony about the living Christ.  Ac.8:2 “Devout men buried Stephen, and mourned deeply for him.”  He’d asked the Lord Jesus to receive his spirit (Ac.7:59).  In He.12:22-24 it is written of those who “have come to the heavenly Jerusalem, to myriads of angels, to the festal assembly of the church of the firstborn enrolled in heaven, to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of righteous men made perfect, and to Jesus”.  Stephen asked that he too would be among the righteous with the Lord Jesus.  (see “Life and Death – for Saints” and “Spirits – Made by God in Light”.)

After Paul was converted, he must have been deeply affected in retrospect by his part in the stoning of Stephen.  Even Paul’s sermon as recorded in Ac.13:14-42, which includes some of Israel’s history, is somewhat reminiscent of Stephen’s final address in Acts 7.  And years later Paul himself would also be brought before the Sanhedrin (Ac.22:30–23:5)…according to the law (Ac.23:3).

Tradition says Paul was eventually martyred in Rome by Nero.  Around 66–67 AD, Paul wrote 2Ti.4:6 (perhaps the final chapter of all Paul’s epistles). “I am being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come.”  v.17 previously he’d been delivered out of the “mouth of the lion”.  Rome is the composite fourth beast…Da.7:4, 7 and Re.13:1-2, “Its mouth was the mouth of a lion”.

Tradition says Peter was crucified upside-down, judging himself unworthy to die in the same manner Jesus had died.  ref Jn.21:18-19, 2Pe.1:14.  According to He.11:35-38, untold saints of Old Testament times suffered martyrdom; not renouncing their faith.  (also ref Foxe’s Book Of Martyrs.)

But for many of us Christians today, we’re called in our places of residence to live quiet and peaceable lives.  This is also good in God’s eyes.  Paul wrote in 1Ti.2:1-3, “That we may lead a tranquil and quiet life, in all godliness and dignity. This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior.”  (Jesus the Savior is God.)  Also 1Th.4:11 “Aspire to lead a quiet life, minding your own business.”

Some are called to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ in dangerous areas of the world, where they’ve suffered martyrdom.  Whatever our individual calling, the Lord will direct us in His will unto His Kingdom.  Paul concluded in 2Ti.4:18, “The Lord will deliver me from every evil work and will save me for His heavenly Kingdom; to whom be the glory to the ages of the ages! Amen.”