CHURCH GOVERNMENT-- WOMEN??? #3

 

Women in the Church? #3

Answers to various arguments

WOMEN'S ROLE IN THE CHURCH SERVICE......CONTINUED, PART THREE The Way: Have you ever been in an audience somewhere before a program begins, and on all sides of you is the sound of talking from the people around you, but you can't really tell what anyone is saying? All you hear is the hum of people talking. That's a good way of describing laleo. It's not necessarily intelligible speech - it's just the sound of the human voice. That's what Paul is talking about in 1 Corinthians 14. If you have received the gift of speaking in another language, but it's a language no one else in the room understands, trying to address the group in that language is pointless -- no one will understand what you are saying! All they will hear is the sound of your voice! That's the "speaking" (laleo) in tongues (glossa, languages) Paul is referring to in this chapter. What many people have missed is that Paul is not speaking about tongues, and then about women. The Greek shows us the unifying factor: Paul is discussing the subject of laleo, of useless or non-edifying application of the human voice during services! What Paul said was that women are not allowed to laleo, and it is disgraceful for a woman to laleo in the church. In this passage, Paul is not addressing women preachers at all! COMMENT: Wooww! Just wait a minute! Yes, Paul is speaking about tongues that do not profit anyone if there is no interpreter. BUT he is also speaking about a whole lot MORE than that. He is speaking about "prophets" and "prophesying" - about speaking to edify and instruct. His whole theme in this chapter was that of clear instructional edification for everyone. In verse 26, he acknowledges that everyone there had something they could contribute, so was the magnitude of the gifts of the Spirit in their congregation. He then sets about giving them instructions on how order should be within their assembly during the service. He even lays out for them that only SO MANY (with the gift of tongues and those who could prophesy - speak the words of the Lord) could speak and that IN TURN. He tells them there is no such thing as "well I just could not help but speak, for the Spirit made me do it" as the spirit of the prophet is subject to the prophet. The Spirit does not force anyone to speak, it does not just "take over" a person like a demon sometimes does that enters an individual, and where that person then has no control of what and when and how they do things. Paul instructs them God and His Spirit do not function that way, where confusion is the end result. You will notice the LAST thing, before introducing his instructions concerning women, that he talks about is NOT tongues but it is the PROPHETS and prophesy. Those who can speak the words of the Lord either by direct revelation on the spot, or instruct and teach the revelation of God from the Scriptures. So if we want to argue any "nearest" context in the Greek, for our "women keep silence" issue, then it is not tongues but prophesy that they are to be silent on. The full truth of the matter is the WHOLE chapter context, that I have already given above in earlier comments. But a repeat is worthwhile. Paul knew most of the congregation at Corinth had some gift of the Spirit, including the women. They did not control those gifts, they did not have order in the service, they were all just letting it hang out as they say, anytime they felt like it. Paul corrected them on their misuse of the gift of tongues and how such a gift in the assembly should be used. He instructs them on some order they should have in their service and even limits certain gifts to two or three. He understands even the women had some of these gifts, and knows the question will arise (especially among the Jews there) about whether they are allowed to use that vocal gifts in edifying and instructing the congregation during the time when the church comers together into one place. It is at the END of all his correcting and instructions he gave to them that he answers that question, as it would then cover ALL that he has given instructions on. Paul answers the question of all women with any gift of being able to teach, instruct, preach, the words of the Lord, by saying, THEY are to be SILENT in that regard, even to the point of asking questions. If they have any questions they are to ask their husbands at home (a general statement, without going into the exceptions of those who are not married, divorced or widows). The Way: In fact, Paul's instructions in 1 Corinthians 11:4-5, regarding men and women praying and prophesying with their heads covered or uncovered, strongly implies that the women were able to take part in worship, in praying, and perhaps even in teaching (one of the definitions of prophesying) in the assembly. COMMENT: We have already show and proved that this section of Scripture in 1 Cor. 11 has nothing to do with "when the church comes together into one place" but it does concern every man and woman in the body of Christ on an every day basis outside of the church coming together. The Way: Notice this footnote to 1 Corinthians 14:33-40 in the Key Study Bible: "... it was not an instruction to all the men in general not to permit any woman to speak in church, but to husbands to guide and teach their own wives lest they produce confusion and disturbance in a meeting. ..." COMMENT: Now let's use some logic and some common sense as to how Paul wrote and the before context he wrote in. He had just gone through expounding and explaining and correcting the errors of speech the members of the congregation were practicing in the church coming together at Corinth. He had made it clear there was not only confusion in their services, but people speaking who could not be understood by anyone. He then instructs them what church services should be for - edification for all, and he further lays down certain rules of how many can speak who have certain gifts of the Spirit. This he tells them is in order NOT to have confusion, for, under inspiration of the Spirit he says, God is not the author of confusion. Plainly, he is telling them that their confusion in services is from somewhere else other than God, I think they would have understood where he was telling them it was from, without naming any names of those in opposition to the Lord, and who are part of the unseen world of the created spirits. If Paul, after saying all this, was now wanting the husbands to make sure their wives were not part of this confusion, he could have easily said after verse 33, something like this: "Husbands, make sure you teach and train your wives at home, so they will not bring any confusion in speech as they participate in the teaching and preaching when the church comes together." That's all he would have needed to say, for IF, and for the sake of argument we shall say it was so, women were already fully participating in the teaching, preaching, expounding of the word, in the Church of God services everywhere, then a simple short paragraph such as I have given above would have been all that Paul would have needed to say after verse 33 of chapter 14, to the husbands and the wives. There would have been no need to have said anything about "the law" or about "learning" or about "asking their husbands at home" for everyone would have known women were on par with men in the teaching and preaching during services. If there was any problem with wives bringing in confusion during the teaching service then a short sentence like above would have been all that Paul needed to say. Then such an idea that it was the women who were mainly responsible for the confusion is a real slap in the face for them. To think that bringing in talk confusion in the teaching part of the church service is only a problem that women have, and need some extra instruction at home under their husbands, to control and overcome it, is not only a slap in the face towards women but is a close-minded and blinded view to the fact that MEN can have just as much a problem with confusion in talk when they start going at each other and disagreeing over what the word says or means. Men are just as likely to interrupt each other in speaking, disagree over the meaning of a verse or verses, get all emotional, and cause confusion in an open forum (as the Corinthians obviously were practicing before Paul instructed them about "order") as women are! So who were going to teach the men lest they produce confusion and disturbance in a meeting? Then why would anyone want to teach another in the homes not to cause confusion and a disturbance in the church meetings when Paul had JUST NOW instructed them in the ORDER of things, so there would be no confusion? He had just given them what he said were the COMMANDS of the Lord. He had just instructed them in no uncertain way about those who would give edification talks to the congregation. He had instructed them HOW NOT TO BE IN CONFUSION! To think that the women still needed further instruction on the matter, makes out the women and wives to be either not listening, not able to read, or just plain slow and dumb. Again, it would be another insult and slap in the face for women. Paul had a number of women that were workers with him in the gospel. He wrote and spoke highly of them in not a few of his epistles. To understand Paul as teaching and saying what Zodhiates, the Key Study Bible, and the authors of this article want you to accept and believe, is not only not understanding Paul and his theology, but is also filled with much il-logic. The Way: "The word 'speak' should be taken to mean 'uttering sounds that are incoherent and not understood by others.' Paul says that instead it is better to have silence. Paul uses the same word 'keep silent' to admonish a man [any person, actually] who speaks in an unknown tongue without an interpreter (vv. 28, 30). " COMMENT: So "keep silent" then does mean to "keep silent." Those who could speak in a tongue were not to speak - keep silent - not utter sounds of speech, IF they had no interpreter, or could not interpret for themselves. So Paul said what he meant and meant what he said. If the tongues speaker was to be silent, not to speak (which is admitted to mean just that - not say any words in edification, teaching, preaching, expounding, and prophesy from the Lord) unless there was an interpreter, then Paul also meant what he said and said what he meant, when he said women were to keep silent and that it was not permitted unto them to speak. The context as we have seen is edification, teaching, expounding, revelations, instruction from the Lord, not the mere fact of saying "hello" to someone, or telling the children to stop making a noise. Paul then clearly tells us that women are to "keep silent" in teaching during services where instruction and edification for the whole congregation is the purpose of coming together into one place. The Way: "What Paul is saying is that only one man [person] must speak at a time, for if two speak at once, there will be confusion. ... The issue is not men versus women, but it is confusion versus order. In God's sight, it makes no difference who causes the confusion. It is a shame for any woman to bring confusion into the local church (v.35), even as it is for any man to do so." COMMENT: The issue up to verse 33 is first to correct and instruct about the prevailing confusion that was present in the church service, and to lay down rules for order. Then he addresses after all that, the issue of whether women can use the gifts of the Spirit they may have, in teaching, preaching, edifying the congregation from the word or revelations of the Lord, during that part of the service devoted to that purpose - teaching and edifying from the Lord to the congregation, which he had just finished addressing and laying down instruction. The Way: And again, as mentioned previously, the word gunaikes (Strong's #1135, a derivative of gune) in verse 34 should not be translated "women," but as "wives." COMMENT: Not so, it should be as nearly all Greek and English translation give - women. Paul was meaning all women as shown in 1 Tim. 2, where the instruction on dress and outward appearance for women applies to all women, not just the married, and where the instruction in verses 11,12 applies to all women not only to the married. The Way: Once again, the point of the verse is that wives should submit to their husbands. Paul isn't teaching the subjection of women to men in general, but rather that husbands and wives fit into the family unit ordained by God. Zodhiates writes that "the duty of the husbands is to restrain their own wives from out-bursts during the worship service. Whenever Paul speaks of submissiveness by a woman, it is always on the part of a wife to her own husband." COMMENT: Wow! Read that again where they quote from Zodhiates. Yes, I guess he wrote it, they quote it. Now, in a world where many nations had kept their women as practical slaves, and where they were not permitted to go on to higher education, where they were often looked upon as part of the "possessions" of a man. Where the Jews could cast them aside with the stroke of a pen, and go on to another one, or two, or three (polygamy was still allowed in Jewish life), it would seem if we adopt the suppositions of Zodhiates in what Paul was teaching under the sections we are concerned with in this study, that there were some pretty wild and powerful and emancipated wives in the Churches of God, who would really "go to town" as they say, during the church come togethers. It would seem they would rant and scream and put on quite the out-bursts during worship service, so they needed to be restrained in some fashion (maybe holding, maybe standing between their wife and the person their wife was going to cat-claw, maybe putting a rope around them and tying them down, maybe some other type of restraining like a straight jacket) during services. This was so bad that Paul even had to tell the husbands to teach them restraint and to teach them to be under the husband's authority, at home, somehow, in some manner. Now, how would you do this at home, away from the situation of many others coming together and where arguments could take place if there was no order or an open forum was practiced? Would you get the kids to confront their mother so she was close to an out-burst, and then teach her to restrain? Would you call in the neighbors and have them niggle your wife unto she was ready to explode in vocal vociferousness, and then teach her to restrain? Would you deliberately pick a fight with her to then teach her to restrain from throwing the cooking pot at you? I speak of course with tongue in cheek. For the sake of the argument, we shall go along with the supposition and theory of Zodhiates. By the time Paul wrote his epistles it was just common practice within all the Churches of God, that women were teaching, preaching, expounding the word of the Lord in church services just as much as the men were. But they were getting out of hand, just causing far too much confusion, bringing too many out-bursts into the worship service, and so Paul found it needful to tell the husbands to do some teaching at home, so their wives would be more restrained and come under their authority and be subject to them, not usurping their husband's authority. How would he tell her she had gone too far and was now usurping it over him? Would it be if she spoke too often, or spoke too fast, or too slow, or too continuously without a break for three minutes? Would it be if he thought she was smiling too much at the other men in the congregation? Or maybe, if she did not smile at him enough times in any five minute period? Perhaps he would deem she had gone beyond his authority if she did not allow him to speak, once every ten minutes at least. Maybe he would have to restrain her somehow if she laughed too many times, or got a little emotional over a verse or point of doctrine or someone else commenting on something. I can see the people and couples and ministers of the church spending large amounts of time trying to figure out how to establish and practice this type of family instruction we are to believe Paul was teaching to the husbands. Perhaps, when Paul was alive he wrote it out for them in fine detail, but it got lost along the way, and we today are left in the dark and left to fend for ourselves, and figure it all out for ourselves. Oh, the many hours of wrangling, disputing, arguing, fretting, and confusion it would take and produce, to probably get nowhere in a slow hurry. It would probably end up making as much sense as the words "slow hurry." The Way: A DIFFERENT SET-UP IN THOSE DAYS But why should there be any extraneous talking such as this? In our modern congregations, families sit together, and we all sit respectfully and listen to what is taking place. In ancient times, however, the seating arrangement with which we are familiar was probably not what people were using. Note this passage from the Jewish New Testament commentary in reference to 1 Corinthians 14: "Sha'ul [Paul] is answering a question (7:1) the Corinthians asked about wives discussing with their husbands what is being said while it is being said. This would disturb decorum even if the wife were sitting next to her husband; but if the universal Jewish practice of the time (and of Orthodox congregations today) was followed, wherein women and men are seated separately in the synagogue, it would obviously be intolerable to have wives and husbands yelling at each other across the m 'chitzah (dividing wall)." COMMENT: Yes, of course it would be distracting and end in confusion if many wives were asking their husbands questions about what was being said, while it was still being said, while the speaker was still teaching and expounding the word of the Lord. So Paul, knowing that, also made sure his readers understood that his directive for women to keep silent while the teaching part of the service was under way, included even keeping silent concerning questions their wives may have as the teaching service was under way. They were to note their questions and ask their husbands for answers when they were at home. And as I have already pointed out, Paul was thus upholding the family structure by honoring the husbands to answer their wive's questions and not the Eldership. I would suppose if the husband did not know the answer he would go to the Eldership for it, and then instruct his wife. The Way: EDUCATIONAL DIFFERENCES Another possible explanation for Paul's instructions to husbands about their wives "speaking out" in the assembly is this: During Paul's time most women were not very well educated. Men were the ones that delved deeply into the issues of the day, especially the issues relating to theology. Imagine a doctrinal message being given in Corinth that requires a foundational understanding of the topic. In order for individuals to contribute to the edification of the assembly, they would need a deeper understanding of the topic. There may well have been great differences in the educational levels among the men and women of the Corinthian congregation, which led to confusion at times. As it was written on another occasion, "We have much to say, and it is difficult to explain, for you have become sluggish in hearing. Although you should be teachers by this time, you need to have someone teach you again the basic elements of the utterances of God. You need milk, (and) not solid food" (Hebrews 5:11-12, The New American Bible). COMMENT: The fault with this reasoning is that it forgets again the context of the chapter and the context of the church in Corinth. Here was a congregation blessed with more GIFTS OF THE SPIRIT than probably any other congregation in the Churches of God at that time. The gifts of the Spirit are given to all (including women) as the Spirit distributes. What lack of formal education some of the women in the church had, having a gift of the Spirit would nullify, and when it would come to teaching and preaching and expounding the word of the Lord, many a man and woman would excel if filled with not only the Spirit of the Lord but also a gift from that Spirit. The Way: Imagine that we are the Corinthian congregation. Someone's wife abruptly interrupts the meeting, on a fairly regular basis, by asking a question in the middle of the discussion. It may be a very good question. Yet, it would require such a digression back into the fundamental levels of the topic that it takes away from the edification intended for the whole group. To answer and explain her question would not allow the topic to move forward. Of course, there's nothing wrong with that, and occasional review is good for everyone. The problem arises when this happens week alter week. Some of the members have expressed feelings of frustration over this situation. Because we, in Corinth, wish to resolve this problem, and a number of other problems we are currently experiencing in our local fellowship, one of the leaders of the congregation sends a letter to Paul in order to see how he would want us to handle these situations. Paul sends us the letter that would later be known as the book of 1 Corinthians. In the section of his letter giving instructions about how our assemblies should be conducted, he addresses the problem of handling interruptions by wives asking questions of their husbands during the meeting, a process that slows down the learning in the assembly. He tells us, "Let your wives be at peace and in control of themselves in the assembly, for it is not permitted for them to be continuously speaking out and causing a disturbance. They are to be subordinate to their husbands as we are instructed in the scriptures. If they want to learn more about what is being discussed, they should ask their husbands later, for it is totally inappropriate for wives to speak out and disturb the edification process in the assembly" (authors' paraphrase). This way, husbands and wives can prepare together, ahead of time, and discuss the background of a discussion topic, so they can both be prepared to contribute and learn. This discussion, and the instructions about husbands and wives given in 1 Timothy, should help us better to understand the group dynamics that were taking place at Corinth in the middle of the first century and how Paul instructed them to properly conduct their meetings. COMMENT: Interesting scenario, but Paul's language is not what the authors paraphrase. He could have used words like "peace" and "self-control" and "continually speaking out." He could have used words like "I hear your women are causing a disturbance when the church comes together" and words such as, "I hear the wives in your assembly are prone to out-bursts" or "as for the wives asking questions while the prophet speaks." He could have used words to say, "I hear the wives are speaking out and edification is hindered." The Greek language had words for all the above. Paul could have used them and written very similar to what the authors give us in their paraphrase. BUT HE DID NOT! And for one simple reason. That was not the problem as such, and it was not the thought Paul was answering. He was answering the logical question from all the talk on the gifts of the Spirit that preceded (and all the instruction of when, and how, and who could speak to edify, and some order given in the number and control to be exhibited) up to verse 33, and that question would be: Can the women use their gifts of the Spirit in the teaching/preaching/expounding of the word to edification, part of the church service? And Paul's answer was "no" - they are to remain silent in this, even to the point of asking no questions to their husbands about what is expounded, but to save their questions and ask their husbands at home. The Way: WHAT LAW IS REFERRED TO? Next we need to consider the enigmatic phrase, "as the Law says" (verse 34). What law does Paul mean? The King James Version really gives womanhood a connotation of slavery in its translation of verse 34: "Let your women (gune, wife] keep silence in the churches: for it is not permitted unto them to speak; but they are commanded to be under obedience, as also saith the law." Notice how the KJV translators have added the italicized phrase, "they are commanded." In the KJV there is definitely a strong, domineering bias showing through in this verse by the translators. Then, adding the phrase about "the law" to back up what Paul was saying could make it sound like the law, Paul, and churchmen in general were down on women. COMMENT: The KJV is under attack once more, made out to be the murderer of women. The words "they are commanded" are in italicized words in the KJV, which the KJV tells you at the beginning are not in the original Hebrew and Greek manuscripts. I would find it much more of a plot and clandestine plan if the scholars of the KJV had not italicized these words but put them in matching letters to the rest of the words that are in the Greek. I see no deliberate bias here on the part of the KJV translators. Paul was after all backing up his stand on this matter with "the law." His authority to be so dogmatic on what he had just stated was not from himself per se, not his idea at all. He had authority to state what he did concerning women being silent and not using their spiritual gifts in the teaching/expounding the word of the Lord, part of the church service, from "the law." It is interesting that the Greek word Paul chose to use for the word "permitted" in the KJV carries the overtone of "command" within it. See the Greek lexicons. The Way: But what we are reading is the result of men translating these verses while harboring the mental concept toward women that we saw earlier! Yet, what this verse appears to say (in the KJV) is not fully consistent with what we know of the love of God that created these relation- ships. COMMENT: Was there some terrible mental hate being exhibited by the KJV translators towards women when they translated verse 34 of 1 Cor. 14 ? Oh, they added some words but told you by putting them in italics that they are not technically in the Greek. Yet, we have seen the word "permitted" in the Greek carries the overtone of "command." The KJV translators were Greek scholars. How do the modern Greek/English translators Green and Berry, translate this verse? "Let the women of you in the churches be silent, not for it is allowed to them to speak, but let them be subject, as also the law says......a shame for it is for women in church to speak" verses 34,35, as rendered into English by Jay P. Green, Sr. "Women yours in the assembly let them be silent, for it is not allowed to them to speak; but to be in subjection, according as also the law says.......for a shame it is for women in assembly to speak" verses 34, 35, as rendered by George Berry. As you see not that much different from the KJV. Are Berry and Green biased towards women? If you are a Greek scholar and you give a literal translation from the Greek into English as close as possible going from one language to another, then you translate as Green and Berry did, and as the KJV translators did. All three very close to translating with the same English words. Of course you may want to say all three had bias towards women. And I could say look up these verses in dozens of other translations and you will find many more scholars of Greek with bias towards women. God is love, and He personally took a rib from Adam and made from it a women. He looked at all He had created and made and said it was "good." He has no bias towards women, He is perfect righteousness, and it was He who inspired these words in verses 34 and 35 of 1 Cor. 14. In His love for men and women He also created basic roles for them, outside the church service and inside the church, when it comes together into one place. The Way: Let's understand what "the law" means. "Law" is translated from the Greek word nomos (Strong's #3551), which is always translated "law" in the KJV. However, nomos can refer to any number of things: the Ten Commandments, the Torah, Jewish customs and traditions, or even an agreed-upon procedure. There is, in reality, no clear-cut law in scripture authorizing men to subjugate women and treat them like children! COMMENT: Now we see a psychological mind move here. If you are not agreeing with the authors' reasoning and teachings on this matter, and are still agreeing say with me, then you are not understanding the Scriptures and still following the clandestine plot supposedly planted in the KJV by the scholars who translated for King James - and that plot was to subjugate and treat women like children. I have read the KJV from the age of six years, that is nearly 50 years ago now, and I have never once found any passage in it that was teaching anyone to treat women like children. So if the KJV scholars were trying to put forth that instruction in some of their translations of the Hebrew and Greek into English, they surely did a lousy job of it. The Way: Paul may have been thinking of Genesis 3:16: "To the woman he said, I will greatly increase your pains in childbearing; with pain you will give birth to children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you." There is another translation of this verse, which also needs to be given consideration. It is found in a footnote of Genesis 3:16 in The New Living Translation: "Then he said to the woman, "You will bear children with intense pain and suffering. And though you may desire to control your husband, he will be your master" [Or, "he will have dominion over you."]. According to this footnote, the thrust of the verse implies that the wife may have a desire to be in control of her husband, and thus the family. But, the instruction from our Father is that the husband would have the dominant role in the God-ordained family. This is more in line with the instructions from a loving Father of how the marital relationship should be -- the husband and father of the family having dominion and lovingly guiding and leading the family. This lends a much better understanding of this verse than the master/slave connotation the KJV gives. Why would a wife "desire to control [her] husband"? The reason is that she has rejected God's revealed knowledge of proper marital relations. Was Paul referring to Genesis 3:16 when he said, "as the law says" in I Corinthians 14:34? Perhaps. However, it's also quite likely that Paul was actually making a non-specific reference to the God-ordained set of family dynamics, as if to say, "You are well aware of how the family should be run, so please apply that knowledge in this situation." COMMENT: The KJV in Gen.3:16 is not a good translation in some ways, but the NLT given above is also not good in other ways. First of all many women in the world do NOT have any "pain" in childbirth, that this verse has taught many to believe. For generations many have assumed it was natural and God's intent here to make sure all women have physical pain when giving birth. Such is not the case at all, and there are thousands upon thousands of women who have delivered their babies naturally without any physical pain. The Hebrew words here do not mean physical pain, but that is a whole new subject. Granty Dick Reid in his ground-breaking book "Childbirth Without Fear" goes into all this in great detail. The last part of this verse the NLT has done a much better job in translating than the KJV, or should I say understanding the meaning and intent of the Hebrew. Jay Green gives the literal translation of this verse this way: "to the woman He said, greatly I will increase your sorrow and your conception, in sorrow you shall bear sons, and your husband your desire shall be, and he shall rule over you." So once more we see that the KJV scholars did a pretty accurate translation of the Hebrew into English, if we go with the literal translation and not a paraphrase or interpretive translation. Looking at all the Bible, and then understanding or interpreting this verse, I agree with what the authors say above. For an in-depth study of this I recommend the book before mentioned called "Man and Woman in Biblical Perspective" by James Hurley. As some Bible commentators state, when Paul said "the law" here, he may not have been thinking about any one particular passage of OT Scripture at all. He may simply have been stating that the whole general teaching of the OT was that women were never given the role by God to teach, preach, instruct, expound the word of the Lord in official congregational gatherings when the church came together into one place. The general reading of the OT will clearly show forth that truth and give the reader that instruction. No woman was ever a part of the official priesthood of Israel that did all the praying and teaching on the holy convocations - when the church (Israel was the church in the wilderness - Acts 7:38) came together into one place. The Way: "IN THE CHURCH"? As we saw above, Paul wrote: "Let your women keep silence in the churches." What did he mean by this? Turning to Paul's letter to Titus, we read this: "Likewise, teach the older women to he reverent in the way they live, not to be slanderers or addicted to much wine, but to teach what is good. Then they can train the younger women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands, so that no one will malign the word of God" (Titus 2:3-5, NIV). Paul is instructing Titus to teach the older women to teach the younger women! Women are to teach! "Yes," some will say, "but this means at home, not during services." Remember, though, that the scripture quoted earlier doesn't say that a woman isn't to "speak during church services," but rather that it is disgraceful for a woman to laleo in the church. Yet, here we see that Titus is to instruct older women in the church to instruct younger women in the church! While the first instance may be construed to mean that people should not laleo "during church services," or "during the assembly," this passage in Titus is clearly talking about women "in the church" -- members of the Body of Christ -- teaching other women who are also "in the church"! COMMENT: Of course they are going to say Paul was just saying in 1 Cor. 14 women should not "chit-chat" or be "asking questions" to their husbands or others while some teaching is being presented, as it causes distraction and hence confusion. But we have more than just 1 Cor. 14 we also have 1 Tim. 2 on this matter. And as I have tried to show, the problem was not "chit-chat" from women or speaking in tongues no one could understand, for Paul had already talked about that problem and instructed as what to do about it. If it was confusing chit-chat from the women he then wanted to correct, he could have easily used language like: "I hear the women are talking to each other and asking questions to their husbands while someone is expounding the word of the Lord. Tell them to stop this talk as it brings confusion to the assembly." Now to Titus. Please read carefully chapter two, read chapter one also if you like. Can you find the word "church" in those chapters? Can you find the words "when you come together into one place"? Can you find the words "when the church comes together"? No! Such words and phrases are just not there. Paul is instructing Titus about certain things that he should instruct others to do or not to do. He was to instruct the older men. He was to instruct the younger men. He was to instruct servants. And he was to instruct the older women. Yes, he was to tell the older women they should instruct the younger women in certain areas of their living. How would Titus do this instruction? Well it certainly could be in sermons, but it certainly could also be in private conversations he would have with the older and younger women, anywhere - after services as they fellowshipped on the Sabbath, in their homes as he visited them during the week, and at other convenient times. There is nothing in Titus to tell us when the older women should teach the younger women these things mentioned. 1 Cor. 14 and 1 Tim. 2 would rule out that it would be during official church services of teaching and expounding the word of the Lord, where the whole church has come together with men present. And that is what we need to understand, it is when men are present and it is an official whole church coming together into one place to be instructed and edified in the expounding of the word of the Lord, that women are to remain silent in the teaching and expounding of the word section of the service. And if they have any questions about what is taught they are to ask their husbands at home. The older women would not then be teaching the younger women during this part of the service. Now if it was a woman's "retreat" week-end and only women were there (as many churches do hold such week-ends - they also have men only retreat week-ends) then women would teach women. And older women could teach younger women at such retreats. The Lord gives no instructions in His word that prohibits women only retreats for one or more days. Women would then teach women at these times. The most natural times for older women to teach the younger women what Paul wanted them to teach, is of course during more natural times - everyday times - everyday living as the older and younger women of the church would meet and fellowship during the week, outside of the 2 hours or so a week that the church comes together into one place. Remember the phrase "church coming together" is not found in Titus chapter two. The Way: Here is a classic example of a phrase that may have more than one meaning. The only way to really understand what is meant by "in the church" (Greek: en ekklesia) is to look at the context and the sentence structure, and note other occurrences of the phrase. COMMENT: I agree, but remember, the phrase "in the church" is not found in Titus chapter two. The Way: Notice these other examples of "en ekklesia": Acts 7:38: "He (Moses) was in the assembly in the desert, with the angel who spoke to him on Mount Sinai, and with our fathers; and he received living words to pass on to us." I Corinthians 6:4: "There-fore, if you have disputes about such matters, appoint as judges even men of little account in the church!" 1 Corinthians 11:18: "In the first place, I hear that when you come together as a church, there are divisions among you, and to some extent I believe it." 1 Corinthians 12:28: "And in the church God has appointed first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then workers of miracles, also those having gifts of healing, those able to help others, those with gifts of administration, and those speaking in different kinds of tongues." I Corinthians 14:19: "But in the church I would rather speak five intelligible words to instruct others than ten thousand words in a tongue." I Corinthians 14:28: "If there is no interpreter, the speaker should keep quiet in the church and speak to himself and God." 1 Corinthians 14:35: "If they want to enquire about something, they should ask their own husbands at home; for it is disgraceful for a woman to speak in the church." Ephesians 3:21: "to him (God) be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen." Colossians 4:16: "After this letter has been read to you, see that it is also read in the church of the Laodiceans and that you in turn read the letter from Leodicea." As you can see, it's sometimes clear what is meant by this phrase, but at other times you can't really be sure if it's referring to the church people or the church gathering -- or both! COMMENT: I agree. It is often the CONTEXT that must tell us how a word is being used and not the mere "lexicon" meaning. But with that said, I submit the context of 1 Cor. 14 tells us plainly how Paul was using the phrase "in the church" or "when you come together into one place." In fact the last phrase is the interpretation of how Paul was viewing "in the church" in his discord correction and instruction he was given them from verse 17 of chapter 11 to the end of chapter 14. Certainly in chapter 12 and 13 there is a broader aspect to include the whole body of believers in Christ everywhere, but there can be no mistaking the much narrower aspect of the local Corinthian assembly when they came together into one place, when we read Paul's instructions and corrections in chapter 11:17-34 and chapter 14. Chapter 11:17-34 is dealing with that local congregation in the city of Corinth meeting to observe the memorial of the death of Christ, on one particular evening of the year at one particular location, as they came together into one place (verse 20). Chapter 14 likewise. Various wordings like that of verse 23, 24, 26-31, make it obvious that Paul was talking about the things that were going on in their individual church assembly at Corinth, when they met as a whole church, when they came into one place. TO BE CONTINUED

HEBREWS CHAP. #8, #9

 

 

Chapter One-hundred-five:

Epistle to Hebrews #12

Chapters 8 and 9 CHAPTER 8 The last half of this chapter is the key-note. And this chapter in a nut=shell is about the TWO COVENANTS - the first, but more importantly the second or as it is put "a BETTER covenant." Paul sums up what he has so far spoken, and that is that we have a High Priest, who is set down on the right hand of God, by His throne, the Majesty in the heavens. It is again worth noting that Jesus sits NOT on top of the Majesty on High, not inside of Him, not taking His throne for himself, BUT Christ sits on the RIGHT HAND of the Majesty on High. This verse alone (without dozens and dozens of others in the Bible and in the New testament particularly) PROVES that Jesus Christ and God the Father (the Majesty on high) are TWO SEPARATE BEING!! Both have their own FORM and SHAPE, both sitting next to each other, not inside of each other, or being each other at certain times. The idea of a Trinity of the Godhead, and specifically a Trinity on ONE being (which such teachers say you cannot understand, see, or give literal spirit dimensions to) that manifests itself in the form of the Father, at one time, the Son at another time, and the Holy Spirit, at yet another time, or I guess they maybe teach, all three beings at a time if the ONE being so decides. This teaching is so silly and frankly a stupid mind bending theological idea, that truly only some psychologically mixed up minds can come up with such a teaching. A little child reading the Bible will NEVER come up with such theology as the Trinity idea above. I know I was there as a child, reading my Bible from age 6, in a Church of England school, a Sunday school, and in the quiet nights of my bedroom before falling asleep. NEVER did I get the picture that God the Father and Jesus are some part of a mystic vague, not understandable, form of a Trinity idea that some hold. This Jesus is the minister of the true sanctuary and tabernacle, which was not made and pitched by human hands. Paul will have much more to say about this true tabernacle in the next chapter. A high priest does offer gifts and sacrifices, that is part of his calling and part of his service in a physical tabernacle such as the Jews had in Jerusalem at the time this epistle was written. So also, this High Priest of the true tabernacle, made without human hands, had gifts and service to offer to the Most High God. It was not that he was High Priest while on earth, as a flesh and blood human, for there were already high priests in the physical temple in Jerusalem. And those physical high priests in a physical temple on a literal physical part of the earth, were in reality just a SHADOW, of the much more important office of the real spiritual High Priest that was to come in the heavenly Temple. Paul reminds them of the truth that Moses was to build a tabernacle PATTERNED AFTER the heavenly tabernacle (verses 1-5). A BETTER NEW COVENANT This Jesus the Christ has obtained a BETTER AND MORE EXCELLENT ministry, more excellent than any high priest could ever imagine or obtain, serving in a physical tabernacle in the city of Jerusalem. Hence Jesus is the MEDIATOR (the go-between, the arbitrator, of two entering a covenant relationship) of a BETTER covenant or TESTAMENT, which is established upon BETTER promises. One of the weaknesses of the first covenant was that the Holy Spirit of power and nature of God, was not promises to the Israelites as an automatic part of that covenant. This truth can bee seen by reading Numbers chapter eleven. And hence together with that covenant fact, the people were weak, they had the fault, that made that covenant very poor in comparison with the better covenant, with better promises, that was to come. If the first covenant had been perfect, then no place would have been found for a second. There is no need to re-vamp a perfect covenant. but the first covenant was far from perfect, so a second could be given and could be promised to come. Yes, the basic fault with the first covenant was a fault with the people. Not having automatic access to the Holy Spirit, through the first covenant, the people could not have the power and strength and even the mind-set, to follow and serve all the laws and commandments of the first covenant given through Moses. All that was going to be corrected through the better covenant or testament. Paul once more uses the Scriptures, the word of God that the Hebrew Jews were well acquainted with, to prove that it was promised and written, that a NEW covenant, or Testament, was going to come to the people. He quotes from Jeremiah 31:31. That covenant was going to make sure that the LAWS of God could be written in the hearts of the people entering that covenant relationship with God. There could now be, under the new covenant, a PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP with God the Father. Those under the new covenant could have their sins forgiven, and have access to the very mind and nature of God the Father. All of this truth Paul expounds upon in his other epistles to other churches and people. All of those other epistles we have covered already in this New Testament Bible Story. Then I have also expounded myself the truth of the matter concerning REPENTANCE, GRACE, SALVATION, FAITH, BAPTISM, LIVING TO SERVE GOD, in many in-depth studies on this Website. The apostle Paul here just sums it all up in a few sentences, as he finishes his thoughts contained in chapter 8. The promise of a new covenant makes the first covenant old, and that which has become old and starting to decay, is read to vanish away. In Paul's day of writing this epistle, the physical Temple in Jerusalem, still stood there, and that tabernacle's high priest still functioned, and all the rites and offerings and sacrifices of that tabernacle were still being performed. It had not YET come to and end, not yet vanished away, but the day was fast approaching when it would all vanish away. But that being the fact, the NEW TESTAMENT, the new covenant was ALREADY IN PLACE. Jesus the Messiah had come, had died for the sins of the people, had been resurrected to glory, had been made High Priest after the order of Melchisedec, had ascended to heaven to sit on the right hand of the Majesty on High. The NEW COVENANT was already in effect, for whomsoever will may come, may come and enter that new covenant relationship with God Almighty through Jesus Christ, as Savior and High Priest on the right hand of the Majesty of heaven, in the Tabernacle above made without human hands. This NEW covenant was NOW functioning, the old covenant was soon to come to a full and complete stop, to indeed vanish away (verses 6-13). CHAPTER 9 Paul now goes into some details of the physical tabernacle and service under that first covenant. The service was of divine origin, yes, it was God who told Moses to build such a physical tabernacle and institute the Aaronic priesthood and all that such a line of priests with a body of tabernacle servers from the tribe of Levi, were to perform. That tabernacle contained within its first section, the candlestick, the table, the shewbread. The second section behind a veil or curtain, called the Holiest of all, or Holy of Holiest, contained: the golden censer, the ark of the covenant, in which was the golden pot that had manna. There was Aaron's rod that budded, and the tables of the covenant. On top was the mercy seat and the Cherubims of glory shadowing the mercy seat. For detailed information on this tabernacle the reader is pointed to the many pictorial Bible Dictionaries readily available in some Public Libraries, from Bible Books Stores, or on the Internet. The high priest of the first tabernacle covenant went into the first section of that tabernacle on a daily basis to do the daily service of worship for the people towards God. But he could only go in to the Most Holy place ONLY ONCE a year, on the Feast day of Atonement. He went into this Holy of Holiest with BLOOD, for himself and the people, he and they were mere human being with sins. Paul said, through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, that this once a year entry into the Holiest place behind the curtain, signified that the way to God the father in the Holy place of heaven was not possible for the vast majority of the people, only for the select few. The high priest would represent the FEW under the old covenant that were allowed to have the Holy Spirit and access to God the Father. These relatively few would include people like Abraham, Moses, David and others of faith that are mentioned in Hebrews 11. All of this past service in the old tabernacle under the old covenant, was a TYPE, a FIGURE, for a deeper spiritual truth and meaning. Those gifts offered under the old covenant in the tabernacle, would not make him that did the service PERFECT. No real spiritual cleansing and personal connection with God could come about by offering physical meat and drink offerings, in a physical tabernacle. Yet this outward physical service was to be done under the old covenant, it was IMPOSED, ordained, commanded to be performed by the people of ancient Israel, UNTIL, ONLY UNTIL, THE TIME OF REFORMATION! There was to come a time of REFORM, a much deeper SPIRITUAL REFORM, a time when the physical was to pass away, vanish away, and a NEW covenant, a NEW TESTAMENT, was to be introduced to the people, to whomsoever would come. To whomsoever would take Christ Jesus as God's Son, as Savior, as High Priest of that new covenant. It is Christ who has become the High Priest of good things to come, in a greater and more perfect tabernacle, made not with human hands, neither by the blood of goats and sheep, BUT through His OWN BLOOD, death on the cross, He was found worthy to bear the sins of the world, and enter into the Holy of Holiest, thus having obtained eternal redemption for US! There was a type of reconciling ancient Israel to God, under the old covenant and rites of the tabernacle. There was a sanctifying of the flesh so to speak, under the old covenant. By having a tabernacle and all its physical service through physical animals and grain and bread offerings, there would be at least a somewhat sanctifying of the flesh - the people of Israel would continue to live, they would continue to reap blessings from God, be His people, be used to glorify God to the rest of the world. As long as their hearts were right in performing this outward and physical service to God, as long as it gave them a mind somewhat with God in the centre, it would preserve their physical flesh. All the rites of the physical did have some good towards their flesh. Yet in a perfect spiritual way ..... ah, well as Paul went on to say: "How MUCH MORE shall the BLOOD of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without fault (without sin) to God, PURGE your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?" (verses 1-13). Jesus is therefore the MEDIATOR (the High Priest for us towards God the Father) of the NEW TESTAMENT. Now Paul gets to the real reality of it all, this is not just a "covenant" (an agreement between two parties) - it is MORE than that, it is a TESTAMENT. Like a "last will and testament," that people leave to be executed or performed AFTER they DIE! And in verse 15, is the answer to the question about those under the old testament, called of God, given the Holy Spirit, and will they be SAVED, and HOW will they be saved. Will they be saved in a different way from us under the New Testament? NO, NOT AT ALL! They will be saved, yes indeed, that is seen clearly from chapter 11 and many other parts of the Bible. They will be saved as WE ARE SAVED .... by GRACE, through faith, in the sacrifice and BLOOD of Jesus Christ. Those called under the old testament LOOKED AHEAD to the blood of Christ, they had faith in what was promised to come. We today, look back in faith, to what did come to pass .... Jesus dies to save sinners. God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whoever believes in Him, should not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16). Salvation is the SAME for all people, young or old, those who lived thousands of years ago and those who will yet live in the future. There is name other name under heaven whereby you can be saved. All must look to God in faith, through the blood of Christ, for the forgiveness of sins. God is no respecter of persons. Salvation for all people has always been the same and will forever be the same. Jesus is Lord and Savior, past, present, and future. Verses 16-22, give the proof that this New Covenant is MUCH MORE than a covenant, it is a TESTAMENT! A Testament is in force AFTER the death of the testator. Where there is a testament there needs to be the death of the testator. While the person lives the last will and testament is not in force. It only comes into effect AFTER the death of the one who is the testator of the testament. Paul, as the great scholar he was of the word of God, nails it down, shows the proof of all this. He takes his readers, the Hebrew Jews, Hebrew Israelites, back to the very beginning of the forming and ratifying, sealing, the first testament. It is found in Exodus 24:1-11. There it is in CLEAR black and white - the first testament was ratified WITH BLOOD, with DEATH! He says that in law of the Lord just about all things are purged with BLOOD. And WITHOUT THE SHEDDING OF BLOOD THERE IS NO REMISSION! It is the way the Lord has decreed it. It is the way He planned it to be before the world was. I suppose we could argue that God could have done it this way or that way. It makes no difference as to what we may think about how the Almighty could have reconciled the world to Himself, could have forgiven sins, and could have made it possible for human kind to be saved and have eternal life. It is the way that God decided to do it, that is the end of the matter, that is the "Thus says the Lord" on the subject. He decided BEFORE the foundation of the world that a member of the very Godhead would need to come to earth, as a human person, live a perfect life, and shed His blood, to cleanse all sins from all people, be resurrected to life and then be seated on the right hand of the Majesty oh High, as High Priest, for interceding work between the Father and His children. The pattern of the heavenly needed a greater sacrifice than that of earthy things. Jesus needed to offer himself just ONCE in the heavenly Holy of Holiest. Jesus did not enter the physical Holy Place in some physical tabernacle in a physical city on a physical earth. He entered the heavenly place, not made with human hands, to appear in the presence of God FOR US. He did not need to offer Himself many times, as the old covenant high priest had to do, every year going into the Most Holy place on the Day of Atonement. He needed to die and offer Himself just ONCE, or otherwise He would needs have to die over and over again. He came ONCE in the end of the age (in passing - note the "end of the age" is used - that was two thousand years ago - so the phrase "end of the age" can have a broader meaning at times than just before Christ will return) to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. As is the basic true saying that it is appointed unto men to die once, and after that the judgment day, so Christ was ONCE offered to bear the sins of many, and unto them that look for Him shall He appear the second time, without sin unto salvation (verses 23-28). What glorious truths and salvation we are reading about. What LOVE both the Father and His Son have for us. You need to read and re-read and continue to read the New Testament Bible Story as contained in the Gospels and all the rest of the New Testament. In it was the words of LIFE, the only way you can be saved, be glorified, inherit eternal life in the very family Kingdom of God. Let the words of the New Testament be written in your heart. ................. Written January 2007

HEBREWS-- CHAP. #7

 

 

Chapter One-hundred-three:

Epistle to Hebrews - chap.7 - Melchisedec

Epistle to Hebrews #10 CHAPTER SEVEN The priest Melchisedec is claimed by some to have been an ordinary human man, just like a priest today in the Roman Catholic church, only this Melchisedec was a priest of the Most High God. This teaching claims that the phrase "without father, without mother" is just simply stating that his physical pedigree was lost or unknown, that there is no "record" of it found anywhere. This to me seems a little far-out when you consider other pedigrees recorded and preserved in and among the people of God. And if this Melchisedec was so famous and so great a priest of the Most high God, then surely some record of from who he was would have been preserved, even if only a few generations of his pedigree before or after. This famous priest of old also had "neither beginning of days nor end of life." I guess those who believe this priest was from no divine Godhead, who probably argue that this phrase is repeating the previous idea of the previous phrase - physical pedigree records were lost or not recorded or handed down to anyone. Once more I contend that happening would have been VERY UNLIKELY considering the importance that Paul gives to this man in connection with Jesus the Christ, and the connection given in a prophecy of the OT that connects this Melchisedec with Christ (Psalm 110:4). Then I maintain that reading the Bible with the mind of a child (remember Jesus saying that unless you become like a child you will not enter the Kingdom of God), the phrase "neither beginning of days nor end of life" is pretty simple to understand. It does not take a degree in theology, or some fancy PhD interpretation - the words in English or Greek, are very clear - no beginning of days nor end of life, is telling you that this man, this priest of the Most High God, was ETERNAL!! Now, there were ALL KINDS of words in the Greek language, the language was not reduced to just a mere few - limited - or lacking vocabulary. If Paul was wanting us to understand that this priest Melchisedec was merely like any other human priest of the past thousands of years, then he could have very easily have written with words "his pedigree is lost or not recorded" or "the record of who his mother and father were have not been handed down to us." I maintain the very words and phrases used by Paul are a clear instruction to us that Paul was meaning to inform us that this Melchisedec was NOT from any human flesh and blood mother and father, but that this priest of the Most High God was himself ETERNAL, from the very Godhead of eternity. The ancient Priest was KING of RIGHTEOUSNESS and KING of PEACE! Can any mere human priest of human parents, be qualified to carry such titles. You read about the perfect Job, and all his righteousness, yet he is never given the title "King of Righteousness" by God. The Almighty does speak very well indeed of him, the first few chapters of Job, make this clear, yet no title of "King of Righteousness" is granted to perfect Job. Then we need to put together two phrases - one in verse one and the other in verse three. "For this Melchisedec, king of peace, priest of the Most High God....made like until the Son of God, abideth a priest continually." Notice Daniel 7:13. "I saw in the night vision, and, behold, one like unto the Son of man came with clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of Days..." Like unto the Son of man ... Like unto the Son of God. The next verse in Daniel makes it clear that this "like unto the Son of man" is none other than the Christ who will rule all nations. The one who Daniel saw coming to the Ancient of Days was and is Jesus the Christ. The Melchisedec of old, whom Abraham met and gave a tithe to, was made like unto the Son of God. In other words this SAME person LATER became the one whom we call Jesus Christ. Paul is telling us that this great priest of Salem - King of Peace, this King of righteousness - who had no mother or father, who had no beginning of days nor end of life, this eternal one, WAS LATER MADE LIKE UNTO THE SON OF GOD, who now lives as High Priest in heaven above, sitting on the right hand of the Most High God, the Father. Abraham, whom the Hebrews looked upon as one of their great fathers of old, was NOTHING in comparison to this Melchisedec priest of the Most High God. So there was no need to boast about or get all vain in mind, towards being some physical person descended from a physical man called Abraham, when Abraham, was MUCH less than Melchisedec, and to whom Abraham gave honor and homage and a tithe. Then this Melchisedec who was eternal, a part of the very eternal Godhead, later became the very Jesus the Christ, the Savior of the world, the REALLY great one, whom the Hebrews needed to give first place in their lives, give their lives, mind, and heart, to Him, who STILL lives (as he always did) and is today the Priest above priests, who is the High Priest of all and any high priest. If this Melchisedec was only a mere human priest just as Aaron was, and any priest in Israel since Aaron, and just one priest of a line of physical human priests that lived before and after Melchisedec, WHY connect Melchisedec? Why not connect Aaron? Or some other priest of the Most High God. Why connect this Melchisedec, unless it is simply to show Abraham giving a tithe to him, which Paul does connect later with Aaron and a change in the priesthood and the law. I contend the very words used by Paul in connecting Melchisedec with the Son of God, is to show the Hebrews that ONE much greater than Abraham existed in Abraham's day, and that that greater one was eternal, and later that one became the very person of Jesus Christ, who now lives and is a Priest forever for us humans interceding for us, between us and the Father. I believe this is Paul's argument to the Hebrews. His thought to them is - get your minds off any physical high priest and physical Aaron priesthood, and get it on the ONE who was THE GREAT Priest of the Most High in Abraham's day and is STILL the High Priest for us humans today - Jesus the Christ. For Melchisedec and Christ were and are the ONE SAME PERSON! The question has arisen, "Why did an eternal being, a member of the Godhead, come to earth in Abraham's day (who knows possibly before and after Abraham) and live on earth as Priest to the Most High God? The answer is not given in Scripture in any clear precise way. One thing we can know though is, God can do whatever He desires to do, for whatever reasons He knows. Some times He tells us the reasons, sometimes He tells us not. Some things are hidden from us, some things are revealed to us. There are mysteries of God hidden from our eyes and understanding, and there are mysteries of God revealed to us. The apostle Paul makes this clear in many passages in his epistles. Then he adds in one that even today in the Gospel age (where so much has been revealed to us) we often look through a glass darkly. But one day we shall know even as we are known. We shall continue with the thoughts and teachings of Paul on the old Israel priesthood and the commandment to take tithes, as it was connected to Abraham and Melchisedec, and as it is still connected to the priesthood of Christ who was made after the order of Melchisedec. We shall continue with all that in the next chapter of this New Testament Bible Story. ................. Written January 200   Chapter One-hundred-four: Epistle to Hebrews #11 Epistle to Hebrews #11 Chapter 7 continued THE LEVITICAL PRIESTHOOD AND TITHING Paul has spoken about the great man Abraham, yet great as he was to the Hebrews, he was not as great as the King of Righteousness - the eternal Priest of the Most High God - Melchisedec. Abraham gave this Priest a tithe - a tenth of the spoils he had taken as he freed Lot from captivity. Then we come to the time of Levi - a tribe of Israel. Two of the very greatest institutions in ancient Israel was the LEVITICAL PRIESTHOOD and TITHING to that priesthood. Paul is arguing that there was a GREATER Priest BEFORE Levi - and that TITHING was also before Levi. He proves his point by showing the Hebrews the fact of Abraham tithing to Melchisedec, way before the days of Moses and the tribes of Israel. As the days were fast approaching when the Temple in Jerusalem would be destroyed, when the Levitical Priesthood would come to an end, when all the rituals in the Temple system would stop, when tithing to that Levi priesthood would stop per se; the question needed to be asked and answered: "When the Levi Priesthood and tithing to them would come to a stop, did that mean there was NO more Priesthood and no more Tithing?" Paul argues that such being the case of no more Levi Priesthood and tithing to them, does NOT automatically mean NO MORE Priesthood and NO MORE tithing. Tithing Paul argues was way before Levi, in fact Levi through the loins of Abraham, payed tithes, by tithing to Melchisedec. And this Priest Paul has demonstrated was ETERNAL - a member of the eternal GODHEAD, and that individual eventually became the Jesus Christ of the New Testament, as was foretold in the prophecy of Psalm 110. Paul argues that IF perfection should have come about through Levi and that Priesthood, then why was there a prophecy that ANOTHER would arise AFTER the order of Melchisedec, and not after the order of Aaron and Levi? Here he proves that the Levi Priesthood was INFERIOR to the GREAT Melchisedec Priesthood, and that it was prophesied that there would come a CHANGE of Priesthood - from Levi to Melchisedec. And so BEING A CHANGE in the PRIESTHOOD, there is a change in the LAW also! What law is Paul in the context of his argument, talking about? Why the LAW of TITHING! And also the law of High Priest and the NT Priesthood. Whom it was prophesied about, was NOT FROM Levi, but from JUDAH, which tribe never under the Old Covenant served at the altar in the Tabernacle or Temple. The LORD who was to take the order of Melchisedec was from Judah! And the order that the Lord Jesus would take was not an order of carnal physical corrupt man, but the order of the power of an endless life (verse 16). Yes, the Priest Melchisedec was ETERNAL - an order of no physical human life. That same individual who was functioning for a time on this earth as the Priest of the Most High God, was to become the Godhead being who was to be made flesh and blood, die for the sins of the world, be the Savior of mankind, be raised from the dead, and be given the eternal Priesthood of the order of Melchisedec. There was to be a disannulling of the WEAK commandment of the Levi Priesthood, which in reality could save no one to eternal life through its carnal ordinances and physical institutions of animal sacrifices. The Old Covenant per se did not have eternal life promised in its laws. There was always to be a BETTER WAY, a better HOPE, by which we draw nigh to God, by which we can be reconciled and justified, be forgiven sins and be saved. Throughout the New Testament and the writings of Paul, we are told over and over again, what that NEW HOPE WAS - it was justification and salvation through the blood of Jesus the Christ - the High Priest after the order of Melchisedec. There was ALWAYS to be a CHANGE of Priesthood and tithing - it was ALWAYS prophesied - the entire Old Testament FORETOLD IT! The Old Covenant with the tribe of Levi as Priesthood and tithing to that system, was NEVER the way to perfection or eternal life. Jesus the Christ was to take control of the New Testament, the New Covenant PRIESTHOOD, there was to be a CHANGE IN THE LAW of priesthood and tithing! Neither the Priesthood or Tithing was EVER to be "abolished" or "done away with" - it was to be CHANGED - from Levi to Judah, and more specific to Jesus Christ - His Priesthood. As the old Priesthood was instituted by an oath, so God Himself swore by Himself that Jesus would receive the order of Priesthood from that of Melchisedec (verse 21). Jesus was to be made the security of a BETTER TESTAMENT! The old human Priests DIED, they could not continue because death would remove them. But Jesus LIVES FOREVER, and hence His Priesthood does not pass from one human person to another, but continues forever more. And so Paul exclaims, because Christ has an eternal Priesthood He is able to save those who come to God through Him, for He can INTERCEDE for them, plead their cause, obtain mercy and forgiveness from the Father, and save them to the uttermost. That High Priest on High became one of us, came as human flesh and blood, went through life knowing what it was like to be human, to be tempted in all points as we are, yet remain sinless. This GREATEST High Priest does not have to offer up daily sacrifices as the Priests of Levi did, first for themselves and then for others. Jesus after the order of the Melchisedec Priesthood, offered Himself ONCE for sins. The Old Covenant law made imperfect men as Priests, but the word of the promise and oath of the Most High God, made the Son of God, THE High Priest forever (verse 28). The Priesthood and Tithing to that Priesthood has NOT been abolished, it has been CHANGED - from Levi to Judah - from the line of Aaron to the line of Christ, and His Priesthood. As long as the Temple stood in Jerusalem, as long as the Levitical Priesthood stood, then tithing to that Priesthood was in effect, and people then had the right, even NT Christians, to tithe to that Levi Priesthood. But Paul is arguing that there is anotherBETTER Priesthood in force - the eternal Melchisedec Priest - the one Jesus Christ was made after the order of. Tithing to that Priesthood was also in effect, if Christians wanted to tithe to that Priesthood. Paul's argument is that WHEN the Levi Priesthood and the Temple would come to an end, tithing to the eternal Melchisedec/ Christ Priesthood would NOT END! ................. Written January 2007

HEBREWS-- CHAP. #5, #6

 

 

Chapter One-hundred-two:

Epistle to Hebrews - Chapters Five and Six

Epistle to Hebrews #9 CHAPTER FIVE The duty of the High Priest in religion is to offer both gifts and sacrifices - of course we are speaking in times past before the New Covenant age of Christianity. A High Priest being human, can also have compassion on those who are not perfect, who sin, and who miss the mark of holiness. The Priest being not perfect either, must also give offerings for his sins. Under the Old Covenant in Israel, the High Priest was appointed by God as Aaron was, the calling not being men's ideas, but the calling and service was from God. The Hebrews knew all this truth, hence Paul leads into the same arguments of truth for Jesus Christ. It was not some fancy vain idea of Christ to become a High Priest for mankind towards God the Father. It was the Father's will and plan and desire to have Jesus born through the Holy Spirit into a human man. Hence the Scriptures can say, "You art my Son this day I have begotten you" (Psalm 2:7). And also the Scripture says, "You are a Priest after the order of Melchizedek" (Psalm 110:6). We shall come back with Paul later, to a more detailed connection and typology with Christ and Melchizedek, in chapter 7. Jesus was human as well as divine. Yes fully human and fully divine. Jesus needed to be close to the Father in prayers and supplications, with at times strong crying and even tears, unto Him that was able to save Him from sin and death. And the Father was indeed well pleased and did hear and did provide Jesus with the Holy Spirit without measure, we are told in the Gospels. Jesus needed mighty strength and power to withstand the temptations and power of the Devil, and the pull of human nature. Together with those factors and the factor of living in a society that was sinful in many ways, it is mighty difficult to remain sinless. Think about it. You may at times be close enough to God to have no wrong thought, no wrong word, no wrong action. Maybe you can be like that for an hour, maybe a few hours, maybe a half day, possibility even a whole day. But think about having to try and live like that day after day, week after week, month after month, year after year! Surely living perfect and holy all your life, would take MUCH prayer, MUCH supplication, many heart-felt TEARS at times. It was no easy cake walk for Jesus to remain sinless, why just one sin from Him, and it would have been all over, and mankind would or could never be saved to eternal glory in the family of God. Jesus had to put forth great personal effort of mind to be always so close to the Father, that with the help of the power of the Holy Spirit, He could remain sinless. Yes, he was the Son of God in a miraculous way, but He learned day after day just what it meant to be OBEDIENT. Jesus learnt from the daily situations of life that we encounter and which can effect our thinking and our words and our actions, what it was like and what was needed to continually be obedient to the will and way of the Father. Then when it was all finished for Him in this physical flesh and blood life, He was glorified to eternal PERFECTION, where sin could never again even be a temptation. Paul tells us also an important truth here. Jesus was the AUTHOR - the one to write the book so to speak - for eternal salvation. It is a truth that clearly tells us that NO OTHER physical person who has EVER lived, has EVER gained as yet, eternal salvation in glorious perfection. No, not Enoch, no not, Moses, no not Elijah - NO ONE except Christ has been glorified to eternal perfection of salvation. Elsewhere in the writings of Paul he tells us that Christ Jesus has PRE-EMINENCE in ALL things. And here in Hebrews, part of that pre-eminence is being the AUTHOR or salvation. Jesus has written the book on how physical people can obtain and inherit eternal salvation. Enoch, Moses, and Elijah, are NOT in heaven, they are STILL dead, in their graves, and await the resurrection of the dead. Paul also again clearly tells us this is so at the end of Hebrews chapter 11. If we OBEY Christ we can also inherit eternal salvation in glorious perfection. Christ Jesus was called of God, and He was called to be a High Priest AFTER THE ORDER of "Melchizedek." Paul said he could say many things about this truth, but it would be hard to utter these things to them, because they had dulled their ears to hearing such wonders and truths. Paul got into some straight talk, shoot from the hip words, at times, with people who had closed their ears and mind to wonderful truths of God. Paul told them that THEY, those Hebrews should by now have become TEACHERS of these truths, yet they themselves needed to be taught AGAIN, the FIRST principles of God. They needed the MILK of the word of truth, and could not digest strong meat. What a sad state in the life of a Christian to be at the point of not hearing God's word speak to you, revealing to you deep and deeper things of the meat of the Father's truths. It is something we need to be watchful with all of our lives, to never be dull of hearing, complacent, having a "oh hum, ain't interested in exploring deeper into God's word" attitude. We are told by the apostle Peter to "grow in grace and knowledge" - we can not do that if we are not "thinking" - "reading" - studying" - "meditating" - "searching" - and always open to let the Holy Spirit lead us into all truths. It's the attitude of having an open mind, yet at the same time not so open that our brains fall out, and then being pushed around with every wind of doctrine, tossed here and there. It is having a fine balance between the two. It can be done. It is not easy, and many have not learned HOW to be balanced, and many have made shipwreck their eternal salvation. But with God all things are possible. I personally have experienced the wonder of it all, as God has led me, via His Holy Spirit into all truths, certainly all truths that are required for salvation, and many truths that are just great to know, and open up and bring to life the power, and majesty, and plan of the Almighty, as He works His work on this earth here below. Paul says that STRONG MEAT belongs to those who have MATURED in spirituality, who have been exercised by God's word, who use it daily to exercise their spiritual muscles and build up their strength of correct senses to discern both that which is evil and that which is good (verses 1-14). CHAPTER SIX Paul urges his readers to now leave the basic principles and truths of God and move on to greater perfection. Yes, the basic truths we need to clearly know, but after knowing them, we do not stand still, we do not "tread water" but we SWIM on! The foundational, tread the water truths of God, are now listed for us. They are: REPENTANCE from dead works, FAITH towards God, the teachings of BAPTISMS, the LAYING ON OF HANDS, the RESURRECTION of the dead, and eternal PUNISHMENT. All these foundational truths are FULLY explored in the form of IN-DEPTH studies. Paul gives a grave and sober truth here. Those two have been called and chosen, who have truly been partakers of the heavenly gift, who have been enlightened, who have had the Holy Spirit, and who have indeed tasted the good word of God and the very power of the age to come. IF THEY SHALL FALL AWAY, TO RENEW THEM AGAIN TO REPENTANCE, as they have crucified the Son of God once more, and so have put Him to open shame. What words to meditate upon! What soberness they contain! What seriousness is in them! They are there in the holy word of God. How many have lived and died being a part of this company that cannot be renewed to repentance, only the resurrection will tell. The illustration of the physical earth is now given. The water from God comes on the earth, without partiality in the general terms of it all, and some lands dressed and cared for by men, bring forth foods fit for eating, but some parts of the land bring forth thorns and briers, which are rejected, and even cursed sometimes, whose end is to be gathered and burned in the fire. As we read through the Gospels and the rest of the New Testament, such illustrations of the good and bad, the wheat and tares, the sheep and goats, are repeated often times. The bad, the thorns and the briers, are one day to be gathered together and cast into the furnace of fire, to be burned up, in the second death that is spoken about in Revelation 21. Paul does not want to leave them in utter despair and downcast, as if he is telling them that THEY are in a hopeless position, and can only face the fire of destruction. No, he does NOT believe they are beyond all hope of salvation. In fact he knows they have done well in the past, have had good works, labor of love, showing it in the way they have served God and served the saints, even ARE STILL serving the saints. He wants them to CONTINUE to show the same DILIGENCE, to the full assurance of the hope, unto THE END! He wants them to not be SLOTHFUL, lazy, sleepy, in their spirituality, but to be followers of those who through FAITH and PATIENCE (living and practicing what is right in the sight of God) will INHERIT the promises pertaining to salvation. He gives them the example of one of their great old fathers - Abraham. He was faithful, he believed God, he obeyed God, he served the Almighty. God had promised that his very descendants in the flesh would be multiplied as the stars of heaven. Abraham patiently endured, walking with God, serving Him, obeying Him, and he finally received the son of promise. The Eternal had first PROMISED to Abraham, then God SWORE by Himself, to Abraham that this would be so. There is none greater than God, hence God swore by Himself. Men can make contracts with each other, swear by this or that, to give some kind of assurance to other men, that it will be so. But God has no greater to swear by, so he swore on Himself, and it is written God cannot lie. The AMPLIFIED BIBLE gives the sense of the last verses of this chapter. "Accordingly God also, in His desire to show more convincingly and beyond doubt to those who were to inherit the promise, the unchangeableness of His purpose and plan, intervened (mediated) with an oath. This was so that, by two changeable things (His promise and His oath) in which it is impossible for God ever to prove false or deceive us, we who have fled (to Him) for refuge, might have mighty indwelling strength and strong encouragement to grasp and hold fast the hope appointed for us and set before (us). (Now) we have this (hope) as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul (it cannot slip and it cannot break down under whoever steps out upon it - a hope) that reaches farther and enters into (the very certainty of the Presence) within the veil (Lev. 16:2). Where Jesus has entered in for us (in advance), a Forerunner having become a High Priest forever after the order (with the rank) of Melchizedek (Psalm 110:4)." (verses 1-20). Paul again ends his thought by bringing his readers back to Jesus as being HIGH PRIEST in heaven above. The very High Priest of the rank of the famous Melchizedek to whom their great father Abraham gave homage. Paul will now go on in chapter 7, with the important connection between Melchizedek and Jesus Christ. The connection is far greater than any spirituality that could be given to Aaron and the Levitical Priesthood or any High Priest coming from that line of Aaron and Levi. .................. Written December 2006

HEBREWS CHAPTER #1, #2, #3, #4

 

 

Chapter One Hundred:

Hebrews - Chapter One

Epistle to Hebrews #7 CHAPTER ONE God had spoken in various past times and in different ways to the ancient Israelites, by the prophets of old. As we read through the Old Testament, we can clearly see the truth of what Paul stated in the opening verse of the epistle to the Hebrews. The many and diverse ways God's spoke to the Israelites gives us the clear picture that the Almighty does work in different and wonderful ways His work on this earth, as He carries out His overall plan of salvation for the world and for the peoples of Israel. Then in verse two Paul says God "Hath, in THESE LAST DAYS, spoken unto US, by His Son....." Did you catch it? "These LAST DAYS." Jesus had come in "these last days" and spoken the words of God the Father. Ah, so the phrase "last days" or "end times" CAN mean the last 2,000 years since the time Jesus walked this earth in the flesh, and preached the good news of the gospel. In 1 JOHN 2:18, we can also see that John understood "the last time" to mean the very time he was living in. There is a broader span of time that can be meant by the phrase "last time" or "end time" than JUST the last few years of this age before Jesus returns to earth to set up the Kingdom of God on earth. With this in mind, we need to be careful about narrowing down the phrase "last time" or "end time" - people often today say, "We are living in the end time." Well, true enough, but "end time" or "last days" can mean the last 2,000 years. Hence we really do NOT have much idea as to when Jesus will return. It could still be decades away or even a hundred years or so. All we can do is watch the signs of the times .... WATCH, as Jesus said we were to do. Time for God is not anywhere near time for us. What seems like a long time to us, is but a blink of the eye to God. How long the Father will allow the events of prophecy to manifest themselves and come to pass, is entirely up to Him. He can lengthen them out or shorten them up, as He sees fit. Certainly there is MUCH in prophecy to yet take place, so we watch, and we watch. And through it all we must remember that Christ's coming is as close for us as our death. Will He return in the life time of you who are reading these studies? Maybe, but it is a maybe, for it maybe not. I'm sure many of the apostles of the first century Church of God, thought Jesus' return would never be at least 2,000 years away. The "last days" can be way longer than many would like to think it is. The main thing is to remain faithful to the way of the Lord, to grow in grace and knowledge, and to endure to the end of whatever physical life has been, or will be given to us. God has spoken to us through His Son in these last days, and the Son was appointed heir of all things.  Paul plainly tells us that it was the Son who MADE THE WORLDS. He also told us the same truth in his epistle to the Colossians, chapter 1, verses 15-18. Jesus, was the CREATOR of all that IS, in this physical world and in the unseen "spirit" world. Jesus was also the very brightness of God's glory. No doubt a double meaning here. He was the brightness of God's character and nature, and He is in the very literal brightness today in glory as we can see from the vision the apostle John had, as recorded in the first chapter of the book of Revelation, where we are given the picture of what Jesus looks like today in the heaven of God's throne. Jesus was the EXPRESS IMAGE of the Father's person. You may remember that one of the twelve asked Jesus to show them all, plainly, the Father. Jesus replied that they who had seen Him had seen the Father also. Jesus also upholds ALL THINGS by the very power of His word. He and the Father are indeed ONE! They are two individual persons, but in ALL respects they are the same. The only difference is that, after Jesus had purged our sins on the cross, he went back to heaven and is sitting on the Father's RIGHT HAND. He is not sitting on top of the Father. He did not push the Father off the heavenly throne, and take His place. The NT Scriptures make it very clear that Jesus is AT the Father's RIGHT HAND. The images of the throne room as given in the book of Revelation, show the Father to be on the heavenly throne, and Jesus at His RIGHT HAND. The Father is the MAJESTY ON HIGH. The Father is SUPREME in AUTHORITY. The Father is HEAD of Christ. That truth is given in 1 Corinthians 11:3. I maintain that a child reading the NT will come to see very clearly that the Father is head of Christ. I came to see this when I was about 9 years old. I came to see, just by reading the NT, that there is no such doctrine as the "Trinity." God is NOT three in one, or one in three. The Trinity doctrine is very complicated by the way some teach it, so much so that many just throw up their hands and say, "It's just not possible to understand God." It is a mystery they will tell you. Nothing could be further from the TRUTH!! God has over and over again made it clear in His word, concerning Himself and His Son. WHAT THEY ARE LIKE IS REVEALED TO US. Jesus sits at the RIGHT HAND of the Father, the Majesty on High (verses 1-3). Paul now goes on to prove that the Son of God is way, way more superior than the angels. He has first of all inherited and obtained a more excellent name than what angels have. Jesus has the name of SON of God. From Psalm 2:7 we learn that God had foretold, "You are my SON, this day I have begotten you." No angel was ever called the begotten son of God. Certainly not in the way it was fulfilled in Christ Jesus. Jesus was UNIQUE in birth. It was a MIRACULOUS and mind-numbing event, that no angel has ever come close to having duplicated on themselves. Paul then takes a verse from 2 Samuel 7:14, and applies it to the nature of the birth of Jesus the Christ. "I will be unto him a Father, and He shall be to me a Son." Very interesting, in the nature of prophecy, is this example. The context of it not suggesting at all that this would be a prophecy of the relationship of the heavenly Father to His Son Christ Jesus. The context of 2 Samuel 7 is the context of David, the King of Israel. But as given here in Hebrews it is applied to God the Father having a Son, in a very special way, which none of the angels were ever destined to have happen to them. And once more, using the Greek Septuagint version, Paul renders Deut.32:43, as a prophecy of the first begotten of the Father (Jesus the Christ) coming into the world and for the angels of God to WORSHIP Him! Amazing, so it will be to some. Deut.32:43 in the Hebrew and hence in the KJV is not close to the rendition of the LXX or Greek Septuagint. The reader is asked to study the study on this Website called, "Paul's Use of the Old Testament." That study is a truth that will shock most of you, the truth of how the Greek translations of the Old Testament were used, especially by the apostle Paul, the mighty Hebrew scholar, taught at the feet of the famous Gamaliel of Judea, and then by Christ Himself (as Paul tells us in the letter to the Galatians). The angels were to WORSHIP Christ, the Son of God the Father. Now, angels do not worship each other, and worship is only towards God. No other creature is worthy or holy enough to be worshipped, only God is worthy and righteous and holy enough to be WORSHIPPED. Jesus was worthy and holy enough, perfect enough, godly enough, to be worshipped. Only He was of the Godhead, made into flesh and blood. But yet called Immanuel, by the prophet Isaiah, which means, God with us. He was part of the Godhead from eternity past. He did not grasp as being in the Godhead, but emptied Himself, humbled Himself, put aside being in the very Godhead, and came to earth as flesh and blood (all this Paul has taught before in Philippians 2:5-11). We shall see very shortly that Jesus is called "God" - He has a name with the title and very name "God" attached to it - He is Jesus Christ God. He is God the Son. The Father is God the Father. Both bear the name "God." One is God the Father, the other is God the Son. It was written of the angels that they were angel spirits, and servants who could be like a flame fire (Psalm 104:4). A flame of fire is nothing compared to the SUN. In Revelation chapter one, Jesus EYES are like a flame of fire, but His countenance is like the SUN in its full strength. No angel is anywhere near being like God in appearance or in anything that God IS! (verses 4-7). JESUS IS CALLED "GOD" Verses 8 and 9, of Hebrews one, makes it as clear as the sun shining in a cloudless day, that Jesus bears the name "God"! He is then God the Son, or as stated before, Jesus Christ God. The word "God" is used in various ways in the NT. It is used as a "personal name" for God the Father, in some contexts. It is used as a name of Jesus in some contexts. It is used as a "sur- name" for all in the Godhead or in the very Family of God. Hence Jesus can be rightfully called Jesus Christ God. The Father is God, and the Son is God, both in the Godhead. Both being separate individual persons, with spirit bodies, so God the Son can sit at the right hand of God the Father, in the heavenly throne room. It is quite simple really. The Godhead consists as of today, TWO BEINGS, both bearing the name "God." The Godhead is NOT a Trinity, in any way that Trinitarians like to teach. The Godhead is TWO beings, personal beings, with their own personal spirit bodies. One is the being we call God the Father, and the other is the one that sits on His right hand, we call the Son of God, or Jesus Christ God. We have Paul proving from the very Scriptures of God the Father, that Jesus, has the name "God." He quotes from Psalm 46:6,7, "Thy throne, O GOD, is for ever and ever, a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy Kingdom. You have loved righteousness, and hated iniquity, therefore GOD, even thy God has anointed you with oil of gladness above your fellows." Jesus is here called "God" and yet we also see that Jesus has a "God" who has appointed and anointed Him in such a way (for His love of and loyalty to righteousness) that is ABOVE any other anywhere in the whole created universe. The rest of the NT proves beyond any doubt that of all human flesh and blood people, of all the angels and created beings in the unseen world, Jesus inherited from physical life a position of glory ABOVE any one, and is seated at the right hand of the Majesty on High. The NT declares that Jesus existed from eternity, that he was God and was WITH God (John chapter one), that He put aside that position in the very Godhead, to become a physical man, so He could conquer sin and Satan, be a perfect sacrifice through His shed blood on the cross, and so redeem mankind, and make their salvation possible. He was so faithful and righteous (never having any sin, no not one) to His offering Himself as the atoning sacrifice for any and all people, that in His resurrection, He was made again part of the very Godhead, with the glory of the Father, and with the very name once more of "God." Paul's mind now returns to the Scriptures that tell us that Jesus (before He came to earth as Jesus the Christ) was the very person who LAID THE FOUNDATION OF THE EARTH, and the HEAVENS are the very works of His hands. Jesus was the one who did the creating of all things. It was the Father, the Majesty on High, who desired it, and the one who became Jesus, did the actual creating! (Psalm 102:25). The next quote is taken from Isaiah 34:4. One day the physical world will perish, so also the heavens in some way, they wax old as a garment, they are running down so to speak, they will need TO BE CHANGED! Other verses in the Scriptures also tell us that one day there will be a new heaven and earth, and maybe much of a new universe. BUT, in contrast to all that Jesus is and remains the SAME, and He will never grow old. He is eternal. His glory as given in a fashion to us in the first chapter of the book of Revelation, will NEVER dim, and His divine character of perfection and holiness and righteousness, will always be the SAME, forever. Paul ends his teaching on this matter by once more showing from the Scriptures that the ANGELS of God, were NEVER to be in such a high exalted position as sitting on the right hand of the God the Father, and having their enemies made to be their foot- stool (Psalm 110:1). From Psalm 103:20, the angels were created to be "serving spirits" - and to mainly serve those who would be heirs of salvation. In simple terms, the angels were created to have the important, yes, job of serving human flesh and blood people, whom would be heirs of God the Father, in the plan of salvation. The angels do many mighty things in the universe at large, this we can see from reading the book of Daniel, as well as other parts of Scripture, that show us what some of the jobs are that angels do. But here Paul makes it clear that the MAIN function for them is to serve at various (often unknown and unseen ways) times, US humans who are heirs of God, through Jesus Christ. We shall see in Hebrews chapter two, that we humans, were created to RISE ABOVE the angels and be the actual and literal bothers and sisters of Jesus. Paul in Romans 8, says we are co-inheritors with Jesus of the SAME glory He inherited when He was resurrected from death. Again, many parts of the NT prove that God the Father is REPRODUCING Himself, that He will have MANY SONS born to Him. Jesus will always be the greatest in authority, always be at the Father's right hand, always the greatest next to the Majesty on High. The Godhead will expand, that is what the Father desires, but God the Father will always be supreme in authority, with Jesus His Son next in authority. Who will be on Christ's right and left hand? You will remember two of the twelve wanted those positions, Jesus said it was NOT for Him to give or decide, but the Father would give those high positions to whomsoever He willed and decided. WHAT A WONDERFUL CHAPTER OF THE BIBLE!!   So much great and magnificent truths proclaimed in such relatively few verses. Meditate on them, be inspired, be lifted up, be humbled, and constantly PRAISE the Father for His LOVE and His wanting to share what He IS, with us humans who can be His very children (verses 8- 14). ................... November 2006   Chapter One Hundred-one: Epistle to Hebrews #8 CHAPTER TWO After all that was stated in the first chapter it was indeed that we should not let anything slip away. The word of angels was in times past, solid and steadfast, and those who did not heed even angels received a just recompense for their folly. If that being so, as it was, then how can we Christians escape a just punishment, IF we neglect so great a salvation, which was proclaimed by the Lord, and afterwards by those who heard Him proclaim it. It was all backed up by God performing miracles, wonders, signs, and by the gifts of the Holy Spirit, as God willed (verses 1-4). Paul now once more affirms the GREAT and MIGHTY calling, and what it all means for those who ARE the children of God, and the very brothers and sisters of Christ. The "age to come" that Paul and other apostles spoke about, as part of the Gospel message, was not going to be ruled by angels, as they being in charge and being the main beings over that new age, that the prophets of old have spoken about in so much of their writings. It is MAN, human kind, that is going to be the chief ones in the new age of things. God the Father's plan in creating mankind, was it have them as part of His family, above the angels in authority and power, and it was human kind that was to be given the whole universe to rule and help govern under the Father and His first begotten and first born Son - Christ Jesus. Paul quotes from Psalm 8, that asks the question of "What is man that you are mindful of him? You did make mankind lower than the angels, but you in your plan have crowned him with glory and honor, and have determined to set him over the works of your hands." Paul was then inspired to tell us that when God had determined to put mankind over His works, it did mean ALL His works of creation, the entire universe. All things was eventually to be in subjection to man. And there was NOTHING that was not to be under the rulership of mankind. But as of yet, the present, this was not the reality, all things are not yet under the rulership of human kind (that was created as God tells us in Genesis, after the God kind, "after OUR image" - God said). But, there is one fact, we do see Jesus, who was also for a short while made into flesh and blood, a little lower than the angels, for the purpose of suffering death (and so making salvation possible for sinful mankind), NOW crowned with GLORY and HONOR!! The Father had pre-determined to have MANY sons born to Him, in the plan of salvation. Jesus, was the CAPTAIN, or LEADER, the one to guide the way to the Father, was now made FULLY PERFECT, in glory, and all that is perfection as God, and it was all done through Him, Christ, suffering the life of being a human, knowing all about what it is like to be flesh and blood. As Jesus had said in the real "Lord's prayer" of John 17, that the Father, and Him, and all those who would belong to Christ, were ONE. Jesus prayed to the Father that they would all be ONE. Paul re-affirms here that it is so, and is the will of the Father that Christ, and humans through salvation in Christ, would be ALL ONE. Hence Jesus, is NOT ashamed to call His followers BROTHERS! Here the Greek word does indeed mean "brothers" - just as we think of brothers that come from the same parents - very kin, very family. So, as the NT teaches over and over again, God is a FAMILY, there is God the Father, and God the Son, and all who are Christ's ARE HIS BROTHERS - they are part of the VERY FAMILY CALLED GOD! It is like the Father and Christ working a work whereby they have between themselves PRODUCED "children" - of THEIR KIND, not angel kind, or any other kind, but the very KIND that is God KIND! So, as children of parents partake of flesh and blood, so Jesus partook of flesh and blood, in order to redeem and make a way of salvation possible for the Father to have more children born of Him. Jesus, through His death on the cross, was able to destroy the works of Satan, and the power of death that the Devil held over mankind. Jesus, was by living a perfect human life, not sinning even once, deliver us from the fear and bondage of eternal death because of sins we had done. All that wonderful truth Paul had fully examined in his epistle to the Romans. Jesus, did not step down to the angel level, like some "superman" that was not really quite human, but He came as from the seed of Abraham, very flesh and blood. He needed to be like His BROTHERS, Paul states, so He could then be a MERCIFUL and FAITHFUL High Priest in all things pertaining to God, and to be able to make reconciliation for the sins of the people. In that He went through the trials, tests, and faced all the same kinds of temptations, we humans face, He is able to kindly help and understand us who are tempted by sin and by the Devil. The work of Christ TODAY, sitting on the right hand of the Majesty on High, as our High Priest, is often overlooked by far too many ministers and people of the Christian religion and faith. Paul will, in other chapters, amplify in this epistle to the Hebrews, the OFFICE and function of Jesus as High Priest. Such a function by Christ in heaven, is absolutely essential for OUR salvation. Paul made it very clear in writing to the Romans, that we are SAVED not only by the DEATH of Christ, but also by His LIFE! Both the death and life, resurrected life, of Jesus are paramount and vital to our salvation, and entering into the eternal family of God (verses 5-18). The great truth of the DESTINY of Christians is given in a full study of the subject on this Website, called "A Christian's Destiny." CHAPTER THREE Introducing Jesus as our High Priest, Paul says, we indeed need to consider Him. It is He that is THE High Priest and THE Apostle, not some human man. He was faithful to God the Father who appointed Him to the work needed for our salvation, just as Moses was faithful to his house, family of Israelites, and his calling. Jesus, was counted with more glory than Moses, as the builder of the house has more glory than the house itself. Paul is showing that Jesus surpasses the man Moses. Showing to the Hebrews that Moses, while a fine man, was inferior to the one who became Jesus the Christ. Jesus has a house-hold, being us Christians, if we hold fast to the end, rejoicing in the hope of our salvation. We are to LISTEN to Him, to listen and obey God. We are not to be like the Israelites of old, who did not listen, and who most of the time, did NOT obey and follow the way of God. After a while the Lord said that those rebellious Israelites would not enter into the promised land of rest. We are to TAKE HEED, lest their be in us an evil heart of unbelief, which leads to departing from the living God. Is it possible then for Christians to "depart from God"? Are Christians "once saved always saved"? From this verse and many other verses in the NT, it IS possible to fall from grace and depart from God. The words of the NT teach no such doctrine as once saved always saved. Jesus plainly said in the Gospels, "He that endures to the end, shall be saved." We are to exhort each other, encourage each other, so there will NOT be a heart in us that becomes hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. We are made partakers of Christ, IF we HOLD the beginning of our Christian confidence STEADFAST TO THE END!! (verses 1-14). The example of the Israelites coming out of Egypt is given to us. The generation of those 20 and older were all disobedient, except a few. All had a wrong heart, all would die in the wilderness over a forty year period, and they would not enter into God's rest. They could not enter because of their unbelief, which in plain language means, unfaithfulness, a departing from the Lord's heart, a mind-set that would not believe in God, which translated into an attitude of mind that would NOT OBEY God (verses 15-19). CHAPTER FOUR Paul now ties into TYPOLOGY, with God's salvation rest, the rest of the promised land to Israelites of old, and the SEVENTH DAY rest of the fourth commandment of the great Ten Commandments. We are to take heed and fear lest the promise of eternal rest for us, many of us should fall short of entering into it. The goods news was preached to us as it was to the Israelites of old. They did not profit from it because of their disobedient heart. We today which have the good news are entering into God's rest. The Greek is in the present continuous tense. We are God's children now, hence we are now on the road to eternal rest, as Paul has said, IF we remain steadfast to the end. The works of God were finished as we see in the first chapter of Genesis, which included sanctifying the SEVENTH day of the week. Yet, in God's plan, not all was fully competed, the rest of eternal life, was to be entered into by His children, who would obey His will and who would remain faithful to the end. God did rest on that seventh day of creation week, but that rest was a type of the rest of the promised land to the Israelites under Moses, and it was a type of the eternal rest of salvation to those who are God's children in the spiritual salvation plan. God is still calling people to hear His voice, to listen to Him, to OBEY Him, to enter His rest. The Old and New Testaments prove that the rest of the promised land of Palestine, the seventh day rest, and the eternal rest of salvation are ALL tied together in perfect typology. The child of God will inherit not only the promised land of Palestine in the future, but the whole earth, and indeed the whole universe, together with the eternal rest of perfection and glory, as being a part of the very family of God. Joshua, in bringing the Israelites into the Holy Land of Palestine, did not fully fill up the complete rest of God. Neither did David exhaust the fullness of this rest in its completeness when he talked about "Today, if you will hear His voice, harden not your heart." There is MORE to this REST than in Joshua's day or David's day, more than just the promised land or the seventh day of the week. There is an eternal aspect of God's rest. Yet, with all that said, Paul goes on to state that "There REMAINETH (present continuous tense in the Greek) a keeping of a sabbath (margin KJV) to the people of God. Paul uses here a once in all the NT word - Sabbatismos - which literally means, a keeping of the Sabbath. And he who has entered God's rest, now in the spiritual sense, will cease from his own works, AS God did from His. Sure there is the spiritual side to all this "works" talk - believing God, obeying, following His will. But there is the literal work of God resting on that literal seventh day of creation week. So also the child of God will do - stop his own work on the seventh day, keep the Sabbath of the fourth commandment. The typology all fits like hand and glove. Seventh day from creation, God rested, the promised land of Palestine, promised to the Israelites who would believe (trust) and obey, a rest of peace for them, and the rest of eternal glory in the family of God. Palestine still exists today, and will during the 1,000 year reign of Christ on earth. The Sabbath is still here, the seventh day of the week still exists, and will exist during the 1,000 year Kingdom of God on earth (Isaiah 66). So TODAY, we are to NOT follow the unbelieving hearts of the old Israelites. We are to OBEY God; do His will; His Ten Commandments still are for today, still need to be obeyed by God's children, hence the fourth commandment of keeping holy the seventh day, the Sabbath day, is STILL for the people of God to obey. As God's children, we will stop our own carnal works of sin, when we become a child of the Majesty on High, and we shall, as He did, stop OUR works on the Sabbath day, or seventh day of the week. We shall labour therefore to enter into the rest, of all that the typology claims is God's rest, LEST any person FALL after the same example (of the Israelites) of DIS-obedience (margin KJV). Dr.Samuele Bacchiocchi has in his books on the Sabbath, given full and indepth examination to Hebrews chapter four. The reader is pointed to his books as well as many other fine books on the Sabbath keeping topic (verses 1-11). We next have one of those often quoted and so somewhat famous verses of the Bible, especially when it was used by the old powerful speaking Evangelists of the 18th and 19th centuries. "For the word of God is QUICK, and POWERFUL, and SHARPER than any two edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of the soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart" (verse 12). The next verses is to be expected after a verse like the above. There is no creature that is not open in all ways before His sight, so for us also, we are pretty naked to Him, if He desires to strip us down and wants to see us for what we really are. This is the God and our Father that we deal with, so we need to walk accordingly. Paul, then returns to the thought that in all of the truth of the previous two verses, we still have a High Priest in heaven, Jesus, the Son of God, so we can be encouraged to HOLD FAST our profession of Christianity. For this High Priest is not an aloof person, never knowing what it is like to be human, but was flesh and blood for a while, and knows very well what human temptations are all about. He was tempted Himself (remember in the Gospels those famous temptations by the Devil after Jesus had fasted for forty days), but never gave in to those temptations, He remained sinless all His days as a human being. We can, with such a High Priest on our side, come BOLDLY to the throne of grace, and obtain mercy, and find grace to help us in the time of need. What wonderful re-assuring words to end a passage that is a grave warning for us to not neglect the grace and salvation of God. Comforting words indeed, that serve to encourage us to keep walking in the ways of the Majesty on High, to remain faithful and so inherit the eternal rest of God. ................           TO BE CONTINUED Written November 2006