Daily Scripture Insight
Daily Scripture Insight will return mid-December
Due to my health issues, I am not up to posting on a daily basis, so the DSI is being discontinued for now. I intend to resume on 19 December 2010, the first posting for the book of Exodus. My apologies to everyone who was looking forward to these daily insights.
Monday, October 4, 2010
Until Heaven & Earth Pass Away
Readings: Genesis 8:18-22; Matthew 5:13-20
Does God mean what He says?
In our Genesis reading today, God makes a significant promise:"I will never again curse the ground on account of man, for the intent of man's heart is evil from his youth; and I will never again destroy every living thing, as I have done. While the earth remains, Seedtime and harvest, And cold and heat, And summer and winter, And day and night Shall not cease."
Very few Believers have a problem taking this declaration at face value. Oddly enough, most Believers have a problem taking the declaration in today's Matthew reading at face value: "For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished. Whoever then annuls one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever keeps and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven."
The declarations are very similarly worded... and yet the general belief is that the Matthew one... well, that must be a metaphor or something...
So, again, I ask... Does God mean what He says?
Readings: Genesis 8:18-22; Matthew 5:13-20
Does God mean what He says?
In our Genesis reading today, God makes a significant promise:"I will never again curse the ground on account of man, for the intent of man's heart is evil from his youth; and I will never again destroy every living thing, as I have done. While the earth remains, Seedtime and harvest, And cold and heat, And summer and winter, And day and night Shall not cease."
Very few Believers have a problem taking this declaration at face value. Oddly enough, most Believers have a problem taking the declaration in today's Matthew reading at face value: "For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished. Whoever then annuls one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever keeps and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven."
The declarations are very similarly worded... and yet the general belief is that the Matthew one... well, that must be a metaphor or something...
So, again, I ask... Does God mean what He says?
HTML Comment Box is loading comments...
Sunday, October 3, 2010
Myths My Sunday School Teacher Taught Me
READINGS: Genesis 7:1-16; Isaiah 55:1-5
When I was young, my family attended a non-denominational church and I attended a normal Christian Sunday School there. While there, I learned a lot about the Bible... a lot wrong. One of the things I learned was that Noah took two of every animal into the Ark. In fact, Noah took fourteen of some animals and four of others, as we read:
Genesis 7:1-3, 8-9
Then the LORD said to Noah, "Enter the ark, you and all your household, for you alone I have seen to be righteous before Me in this time. You shall take with you of every clean animal by sevens, a male and his female; and of the animals that are not clean two, a male and his female; also of the birds of the sky, by sevens, male and female, to keep offspring alive on the face of all the earth. ... Of clean animals and animals that are not clean and birds and everything that creeps on the ground, there went into the ark to Noah by twos, male and female, as God had commanded Noah.
The standard interpretation by those who acknowledge the two classes of animal here are treated differently are that Noah took seven of every clean animal and two of every unclean animal. But that makes absolutely no sense in context. The command to Noah said every clean animal by sevens (plural), a male and his female. In other words, an even number of males and females... if you only have seven animals, you cannot have an even number of males and females! In verse nine it confirms this, because it says they went into the Ark by twos, by pairs. The Hebrew word here is shenayim, implying a plural, and thus "by twos" or "by pairs." The word is used the same way when speaking of the unclean animals, and thus there must have been two breeding pairs of each unclean animal... which makes sense, because with only one pair, you stand a good chance of wiping out an entire species by the mere possibility of losing one animal! So, we are left with the conclusion that it was fourteen (seven pairs) of every clean animal and four (two pairs) of every unclean animal.
So what, you may be asking. What does it matter to us today? The question is, how many myths have we been taught by our Sunday School teachers, our pastors, etc., because they taught a tradition and not the word of the Bible? Let us consider this Isaiah passage:
Isaiah 55:1-5
"Ho! Every one who thirsts, come to the waters; and you who have no money come, buy and eat. Come, buy wine and milk Without money and without cost. Why do you spend money for what is not bread, And your wages for what does not satisfy? Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good, And delight yourself in abundance. Incline your ear and come to Me. Listen, that you may live; And I will make an everlasting covenant with you, According to the faithful mercies shown to David. Behold, I have made him a witness to the peoples, A leader and commander for the peoples. Behold, you will call a nation you do not know, And a nation which knows you not will run to you, Because of the LORD your God, even the Holy One of Israel; For He has glorified you."
I heard this explained in Sunday School as referring to God's grace through Jesus in saving us without any cost on our part... and that's all. Instead, what we see is that God is calling those outside Israel into Israel, into the Covenant... and the terms of that Covenant is that He asks His Covenant People to keep His commandments as recorded faithfully in Torah! That was certainly never taught in the Sunday School I attended as a youth!
READINGS: Genesis 7:1-16; Isaiah 55:1-5
When I was young, my family attended a non-denominational church and I attended a normal Christian Sunday School there. While there, I learned a lot about the Bible... a lot wrong. One of the things I learned was that Noah took two of every animal into the Ark. In fact, Noah took fourteen of some animals and four of others, as we read:
Genesis 7:1-3, 8-9
Then the LORD said to Noah, "Enter the ark, you and all your household, for you alone I have seen to be righteous before Me in this time. You shall take with you of every clean animal by sevens, a male and his female; and of the animals that are not clean two, a male and his female; also of the birds of the sky, by sevens, male and female, to keep offspring alive on the face of all the earth. ... Of clean animals and animals that are not clean and birds and everything that creeps on the ground, there went into the ark to Noah by twos, male and female, as God had commanded Noah.
The standard interpretation by those who acknowledge the two classes of animal here are treated differently are that Noah took seven of every clean animal and two of every unclean animal. But that makes absolutely no sense in context. The command to Noah said every clean animal by sevens (plural), a male and his female. In other words, an even number of males and females... if you only have seven animals, you cannot have an even number of males and females! In verse nine it confirms this, because it says they went into the Ark by twos, by pairs. The Hebrew word here is shenayim, implying a plural, and thus "by twos" or "by pairs." The word is used the same way when speaking of the unclean animals, and thus there must have been two breeding pairs of each unclean animal... which makes sense, because with only one pair, you stand a good chance of wiping out an entire species by the mere possibility of losing one animal! So, we are left with the conclusion that it was fourteen (seven pairs) of every clean animal and four (two pairs) of every unclean animal.
So what, you may be asking. What does it matter to us today? The question is, how many myths have we been taught by our Sunday School teachers, our pastors, etc., because they taught a tradition and not the word of the Bible? Let us consider this Isaiah passage:
Isaiah 55:1-5
"Ho! Every one who thirsts, come to the waters; and you who have no money come, buy and eat. Come, buy wine and milk Without money and without cost. Why do you spend money for what is not bread, And your wages for what does not satisfy? Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good, And delight yourself in abundance. Incline your ear and come to Me. Listen, that you may live; And I will make an everlasting covenant with you, According to the faithful mercies shown to David. Behold, I have made him a witness to the peoples, A leader and commander for the peoples. Behold, you will call a nation you do not know, And a nation which knows you not will run to you, Because of the LORD your God, even the Holy One of Israel; For He has glorified you."
I heard this explained in Sunday School as referring to God's grace through Jesus in saving us without any cost on our part... and that's all. Instead, what we see is that God is calling those outside Israel into Israel, into the Covenant... and the terms of that Covenant is that He asks His Covenant People to keep His commandments as recorded faithfully in Torah! That was certainly never taught in the Sunday School I attended as a youth!
HTML Comment Box is loading comments...
