Bible study with Fred, #662: 2Corinthians chapter 7:1-4; Paul was joyful...

Bible study with Fred, #661: 2Corinthians chapter 6; having nothing, yet...

Bible study with Fred, #660; 2Corinthians chapter 5:12-21; a new creature

1Samuel 24 comments

 

1Samuel 24:1 ¶  And it came to pass, when Saul was returned from following the Philistines, that it was told him, saying, Behold, David is in the wilderness of Engedi. 2  Then Saul took three thousand chosen men out of all Israel, and went to seek David and his men upon the rocks of the wild goats. 3  And he came to the sheepcotes by the way, where was a cave; and Saul went in to cover his feet: and David and his men remained in the sides of the cave. 4  And the men of David said unto him, Behold the day of which the LORD said unto thee, Behold, I will deliver thine enemy into thine hand, that thou mayest do to him as it shall seem good unto thee. Then David arose, and cut off the skirt of Saul’s robe privily. 5  And it came to pass afterward, that David’s heart smote him, because he had cut off Saul’s skirt. 6  And he said unto his men, The LORD forbid that I should do this thing unto my master, the LORD’S anointed, to stretch forth mine hand against him, seeing he is the anointed of the LORD. 7  So David stayed his servants with these words, and suffered them not to rise against Saul. But Saul rose up out of the cave, and went on his way. 8  David also arose afterward, and went out of the cave, and cried after Saul, saying, My lord the king. And when Saul looked behind him, David stooped with his face to the earth, and bowed himself.

Saul has no lack of informers who help him locate David and his men. With three thousand handpicked men he goes on a search and destroy mission to eliminate David and his men in the wilderness of Engedi.

A cave would have been a cool place where Saul felt comfortable relieving himself which is what went in to cover his feet means and this was apparently a very large cave. An ancient historian speaks of a large cave in Egypt where a thousand horses could be lined up in battle array and others speak of caves in Arabia so deep they could conceal thousands of men. Some old commentators said that this also included him taking a nap in the coolness of the cave which is why it was possible to cut something from his garment. David was stricken with a guilty conscience for anything that would be done to a man that God had anointed and prevented his men from going further and assassination Saul.

David then confronts Saul with the fact that when Saul was most vulnerable David did not take matters into his own hands and become Saul’s murderer.

1Samuel 24:9 ¶  And David said to Saul, Wherefore hearest thou men’s words, saying, Behold, David seeketh thy hurt? 10  Behold, this day thine eyes have seen how that the LORD had delivered thee to day into mine hand in the cave: and some bade me kill thee: but mine eye spared thee; and I said, I will not put forth mine hand against my lord; for he is the LORD’S anointed. 11  Moreover, my father, see, yea, see the skirt of thy robe in my hand: for in that I cut off the skirt of thy robe, and killed thee not, know thou and see that there is neither evil nor transgression in mine hand, and I have not sinned against thee; yet thou huntest my soul to take it. 12  The LORD judge between me and thee, and the LORD avenge me of thee: but mine hand shall not be upon thee. 13  As saith the proverb of the ancients, Wickedness proceedeth from the wicked: but mine hand shall not be upon thee. 14  After whom is the king of Israel come out? after whom dost thou pursue? after a dead dog, after a flea. 15  The LORD therefore be judge, and judge between me and thee, and see, and plead my cause, and deliver me out of thine hand.

David pleads his case before Saul making the obvious clear, that it was in David’s power to kill him just a short time previous. He holds up the part of the garment he cut off as proof. He then declares that he will never hurt the king.

Here is one of those rare instances in the Bible when a non-Biblical saying is referred to in Wickedness proceedeth from the wicked. Paul will quote pagan poets, playwrights, a commonly used saying of his time, and the words of a heathen prophet. I discussed some of these in my comments on the book of Acts.

David uses this saying to underscore the fact that he has no intention to do harm to King Saul. In this passage, then, David is declaring his innocence and his insignificance compared to Saul.

1Samuel 24:16 ¶  And it came to pass, when David had made an end of speaking these words unto Saul, that Saul said, Is this thy voice, my son David? And Saul lifted up his voice, and wept. 17  And he said to David, Thou art more righteous than I: for thou hast rewarded me good, whereas I have rewarded thee evil. 18  And thou hast shewed this day how that thou hast dealt well with me: forasmuch as when the LORD had delivered me into thine hand, thou killedst me not. 19  For if a man find his enemy, will he let him go well away? wherefore the LORD reward thee good for that thou hast done unto me this day. 20  And now, behold, I know well that thou shalt surely be king, and that the kingdom of Israel shall be established in thine hand. 21  Swear now therefore unto me by the LORD, that thou wilt not cut off my seed after me, and that thou wilt not destroy my name out of my father’s house. 22  And David sware unto Saul. And Saul went home; but David and his men gat them up unto the hold.

Saul expresses repentance for his behavior toward David. Is it genuine? Perhaps, at this time, but a double-minded man is unstable in all his ways, as James 1:8 says. This is not the end of Saul trying to capture or kill David we will see. A troubled and often irrational Saul pleads with David to not destroy Saul’s offspring and descendants when David becomes king, as Saul now acknowledges that he will. We will see later, though, that David returns to the wilderness of Ziph and Saul will follow him there with malicious intent. But we will also see that David will keep his word.   

Bible study with Fred, #659; 2Corinthians chapter 5:1-11; the judgment s...

Bible study with Fred, #658; 2Corinthians chapter 4:8-18: we faint not

Matthew, chapter 27, comments

 

Matthew 27:1 ¶  When the morning was come, all the chief priests and elders of the people took counsel against Jesus to put him to death: 2  And when they had bound him, they led him away, and delivered him to Pontius Pilate the governor. 3  Then Judas, which had betrayed him, when he saw that he was condemned, repented himself, and brought again the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, 4  Saying, I have sinned in that I have betrayed the innocent blood. And they said, What is that to us? see thou to that. 5  And he cast down the pieces of silver in the temple, and departed, and went and hanged himself. 6  And the chief priests took the silver pieces, and said, It is not lawful for to put them into the treasury, because it is the price of blood. 7  And they took counsel, and bought with them the potter’s field, to bury strangers in. 8  Wherefore that field was called, The field of blood, unto this day. 9  Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremy the prophet, saying, And they took the thirty pieces of silver, the price of him that was valued, whom they of the children of Israel did value; 10  And gave them for the potter’s field, as the Lord appointed me.

 

Notice for verse 4 an interesting cross-reference;

 

Psalm 94:21  They gather themselves together against the soul of the righteous, and condemn the innocent blood.

 

Judas, in his self-disgust and realization of what he has done but clearly not fully understanding or caring for repentance took his own life realizing that this stain of betrayal was on him.

 

Acts 1:16  Men and brethren, this scripture must needs have been fulfilled, which the Holy Ghost by the mouth of David spake before concerning Judas, which was guide to them that took Jesus.

17  For he was numbered with us, and had obtained part of this ministry. 18  Now this man purchased a field with the reward of iniquity; and falling headlong, he burst asunder in the midst, and all his bowels gushed out. 19  And it was known unto all the dwellers at Jerusalem; insomuch as that field is called in their proper tongue, Aceldama, that is to say, The field of blood. 20  For it is written in the book of Psalms, Let his habitation be desolate, and let no man dwell therein: and his bishoprick let another take.

 

Verse 9 is difficult for us because the prophecy seems to be in Zechariah, as I have said before. See the prophecy of this betrayal in Zechariah.

 

Zechariah 11:12  And I said unto them, If ye think good, give me my price; and if not, forbear. So they weighed for my price thirty pieces of silver. 13  And the LORD said unto me, Cast it unto the potter: a goodly price that I was prised at of them. And I took the thirty pieces of silver, and cast them to the potter in the house of the LORD.

 

Some say the reason that Jeremiah and not Zechariah will be mentioned later is the way the scrolls of the Hebrew Bible were put together and read at that time with the section on The Prophets beginning with Jeremiah so it would natural to refer to that scroll as Jeremiah.

 

 

 

Matthew 27:11 ¶  And Jesus stood before the governor: and the governor asked him, saying, Art thou the King of the Jews? And Jesus said unto him, Thou sayest. 12  And when he was accused of the chief priests and elders, he answered nothing. 13  Then said Pilate unto him, Hearest thou not how many things they witness against thee? 14  And he answered him to never a word; insomuch that the governor marvelled greatly. 15  Now at that feast the governor was wont to release unto the people a prisoner, whom they would. 16  And they had then a notable prisoner, called Barabbas. 17  Therefore when they were gathered together, Pilate said unto them, Whom will ye that I release unto you? Barabbas, or Jesus which is called Christ? 18  For he knew that for envy they had delivered him. 19  When he was set down on the judgment seat, his wife sent unto him, saying, Have thou nothing to do with that just man: for I have suffered many things this day in a dream because of him. 20  But the chief priests and elders persuaded the multitude that they should ask Barabbas, and destroy Jesus. 21  The governor answered and said unto them, Whether of the twain will ye that I release unto you? They said, Barabbas. 22  Pilate saith unto them, What shall I do then with Jesus which is called Christ? They all say unto him, Let him be crucified. 23  And the governor said, Why, what evil hath he done? But they cried out the more, saying, Let him be crucified. 24  When Pilate saw that he could prevail nothing, but that rather a tumult was made, he took water, and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, I am innocent of the blood of this just person: see ye to it. 25  Then answered all the people, and said, His blood be on us, and on our children.

 

Pontius Pilate asks a pointed question of Jesus, similar to the question posed to him in 26:63. Again Jesus turns this political question back on Pilate as He did the spiritual question back on the High Priest. Whereas before He was asked if He was the Messiah now He is asked if He is the King of the Jews. Again he turns it back on them. “You said it.” This is a confirmation. But he did not respond to the accusations made by the Jews. Jesus’ spiritual authority is already established at the Cross and the Empty Tomb as the Saviour of all mankind but His political authority will be realized when He returns to rule from Jerusalem.

 

As you read this it is clear that Pilate does the political thing he must do to appease the Jews and their condemnation, the outright rejection of their Messiah, and the demand that a murderer be released instead of Jesus and that Jesus be crucified weighs on their own heads and the heads of their children for two thousand years.

 

Pilate, like any cowardly politician, washes his hands of the matter. However, Ethiopian and Coptic Christian tradition says that Pilate, too, perhaps I think from the influence of his wife, becomes a Christian and he is a saint and a martyr in their churches.

 

Pilate knew that Christ was being condemned for envy. The religious high mucketymucks despised His popularity among the common people and we know;

 

Proverbs 27:4  Wrath is cruel, and anger is outrageous; but who is able to stand before envy?

 

Matthew 27:26 ¶  Then released he Barabbas unto them: and when he had scourged Jesus, he delivered him to be crucified. 27  Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the common hall, and gathered unto him the whole band of soldiers. 28  And they stripped him, and put on him a scarlet robe. 29  And when they had platted a crown of thorns, they put it upon his head, and a reed in his right hand: and they bowed the knee before him, and mocked him, saying, Hail, King of the Jews! 30  And they spit upon him, and took the reed, and smote him on the head. 31  And after that they had mocked him, they took the robe off from him, and put his own raiment on him, and led him away to crucify him. 32  And as they came out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name: him they compelled to bear his cross.

 

Barabbas, representative of us all, is released while Jesus receives the punishment Barabbas so richly deserved.

 

Scourging, if you didn’t already know, was a pretty brutal whipping. A scourge is said to have been composed of several lengths of leather and had bits of bone and metal balls and spikes intertwined.

 

Isaiah 52:14  As many were astonied at thee; his visage was so marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men:

 

Physically mangled in this way Jesus is humiliatingly stripped in front of a band of soldiers and, mockingly, a scarlet robe symbolizing royalty and the sins of our blood is placed on Him along with a crown of what we are told by some commentators are particularly long and sharp thorns. Then they spat on Him.

 

Isaiah 50:6  I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair: I hid not my face from shame and spitting.

 

Then they replaced His former clothing and took Him away to crucify Him. The cross bar which He would have carried, according to commentators, would have been the bar parallel to the ground. Simon of Cyrene will go down in history as a man compelled to carry that cross beam.

 

Matthew 27:33 ¶  And when they were come unto a place called Golgotha, that is to say, a place of a skull, 34  They gave him vinegar to drink mingled with gall: and when he had tasted thereof, he would not drink. 35  And they crucified him, and parted his garments, casting lots: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, They parted my garments among them, and upon my vesture did they cast lots. 36  And sitting down they watched him there; 37  And set up over his head his accusation written, THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS. 38  Then were there two thieves crucified with him, one on the right hand, and another on the left. 39  And they that passed by reviled him, wagging their heads, 40  And saying, Thou that destroyest the temple, and buildest it in three days, save thyself. If thou be the Son of God, come down from the cross. 41  Likewise also the chief priests mocking him, with the scribes and elders, said, 42  He saved others; himself he cannot save. If he be the King of Israel, let him now come down from the cross, and wewill believe him. 43  He trusted in God; let him deliver him now, if he will have him: for he said, I am the Son of God. 44  The thieves also, which were crucified with him, cast the same in his teeth. 45  Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land unto the ninth hour. 46  And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? 47  Some of them that stood there, when they heard that, said, This man calleth for Elias. 48  And straightway one of them ran, and took a spunge, and filled it with vinegar, and put it on a reed, and gave him to drink. 49  The rest said, Let be, let us see whether Elias will come to save him.

 

An ancient tradition that has no foundation in any historical document was that Adam’s skull was found at Golgotha, hence its name. However, the more likely explanation is that with people being executed and left to decompose bones, including skulls, would have been prominently displayed.

 

Vinegar was part of a Roman soldier’s allowance so was readily available some say. It had been used as a condiment and preservative for a thousand years or more.

 

Ruth 2:14  And Boaz said unto her, At mealtime come thou hither, and eat of the bread, and dip thy morsel in the vinegar. And she sat beside the reapers: and he reached her parched corn, and she did eat, and was sufficed, and left.

 

It is also said by some that it was thought to prolong the life of men sentenced to die to make them suffer more. Some say that vinegar mixed with gall would have been very bitter.

 

Psalm 22 is a Psalm that foretells Christ and His sufferings.

 

Psalm 22:16  For dogs have compassed me: the assembly of the wicked have inclosed me: they pierced my hands and my feet…18  They part my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture.

 

See what Pilate has done to rub this in the face of the Jews, labelling Jesus as their king?

 

In verse 40 the former accusation is repeated showing that the misunderstanding of Jesus’ earlier comment was common. See Matthew 26:61 and then John 2:19-21.

 

There is a lot of information found in the other gospels that Matthew doesn’t discuss because he probably wasn’t privy to certain conversations. For instance he doesn’t mention the thief on the Cross who speaks with Jesus in Luke 23. As I have said repeatedly I did not want to make my study of Matthew a harmonization of the gospels but present Matthew’s experience and his recollections prompted and given by inspiration by the Holy Spirit.

 

 

 

In verse 46 Jesus directs us to Psalm 22 by quoting the first verse aloud in Aramaic which confuses the hearers as it confuses many Christians today. Here is that Psalm about Christ which I will discuss in detail in my comments on the Psalms.

 

Psalm 22:1 ¶  «To the chief Musician upon Aijeleth Shahar, A Psalm of David.» My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? why art thou so far from helping me, and from the words of my roaring? 2  O my God, I cry in the daytime, but thou hearest not; and in the night season, and am not silent. 3  But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel. 4  Our fathers trusted in thee: they trusted, and thou didst deliver them. 5  They cried unto thee, and were delivered: they trusted in thee, and were not confounded. 6  But I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised of the people. 7  All they that see me laugh me to scorn: they shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying, 8  He trusted on the LORD that he would deliver him: let him deliver him, seeing he delighted in him. 9  But thou art he that took me out of

the womb: thou didst make me hope when I was upon my mother’s breasts. 10  I was cast upon thee from the womb: thou art my God from my mother’s belly.

 

    11 ¶  Be not far from me; for trouble is near; for there is none to help. 12  Many bulls have compassed me: strong bulls of Bashan have beset me round. 13  They gaped upon me with their mouths, as a ravening and a roaring lion. 14  I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint: my heart is like wax; it is melted in the midst of my bowels. 15  My strength is dried up like a potsherd; and my tongue cleaveth to my jaws; and thou hast brought me into the dust of death. 16  For dogs have compassed me: the assembly of the wicked have inclosed me: they pierced my hands and my feet. 17  I may tell all my bones: they look and stare upon me. 18  They part my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture. 19  But be not thou far from me, O LORD: O my strength, haste thee to help me. 20  Deliver my soul from the sword; my darling from the power of the dog. 21  Save me from the lion’s mouth: for thou hast heard me from the horns of the unicorns.

 

    22 ¶  I will declare thy name unto my brethren: in the midst of the congregation will I praise thee. 23  Ye that fear the LORD, praise him; all ye the seed of Jacob, glorify him; and fear him, all ye the seed of Israel. 24  For he hath not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted; neither hath he hid his face from him; but when he cried unto him, he heard. 25  My praise shall be of thee in the great congregation: I will pay my vows before them that fear him. 26  The meek shall eat and be satisfied: they shall praise the LORD that seek him: your heart shall live for ever. 27  All the ends of the world shall remember and turn unto the LORD: and all the

kindreds of the nations shall worship before thee. 28  For the kingdom is the LORD’S: and he is the governor among the nations. 29  All they that be fat upon earth shall eat and worship: all they that go down to the dust shall bow before him: and none can keep alive his own soul. 30  A seed shall serve him; it shall be accounted to the Lord for a generation. 31  They shall come, and shall declare his righteousness unto a people that shall be born, that he hath done this.

 

From noon to three there was a darkness over the land and then Jesus died. I believe this was a miraculous event like the fish/whale God prepared just for Jonah. We will be frustrated in trying to find an eclipse on record.

 

John 9:4  I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work. 5  As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.

 

Matthew 27:50 ¶  Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost. 51  And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent; 52  And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose, 53  And came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many. 54  Now when the centurion, and they that were with him, watching Jesus, saw the earthquake, and those things that were done, they feared greatly, saying, Truly this was the Son of God. 55  And many women were there beholding afar off, which followed Jesus from Galilee, ministering unto him: 56  Among which was Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James and Joses, and the mother of Zebedee’s children.

 

As the body of Jesus died He cries out and then gives up His human spirit, ghost, lowercase g. For ghost and spirit as synonyms see;

 

Luke 4:1  And Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost returned from Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness,

 

Luke 23:46  And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said thus, he gave up the ghost.

 

John 1:33  And I knew him not: but he that sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me, Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and remaining on him, the same is he which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost.

 

John 7:39  (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.)

 

Acts 2:4  And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.

 

1Corinthians 12:3  Wherefore I give you to understand, that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed: and that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost.

 

It is no wonder both English words are typically translated from the same Greek word, pneuma, from which we get pneumonia.

 

The veil of the temple separating the profane from the holy is then torn from top to bottom indicating a work not of man but of God, from Heaven downward to earth. The significance of this action is referred to by Paul in Ephesians, chapter 2.

 

Ephesians 2:11 ¶  Wherefore remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands; 12  That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world: 13  But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.

 

    14 ¶  For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us; 15  Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace; 16  And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby: 17  And came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh. 18  For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father.

 

An earthquake accompanies His death on the Cross according to Matthew. Then some of God’s anointed ones rise up and are seen in Jerusalem in a prophetic event preparing the way for Christ’s resurrection. Are these Old Testament prophets? Would they be recognized? What if they are followers of Christ who died during His ministry? These are questions we ask ourselves when we read this passage like what happened to these people? Like Lazarus we must assume that they would die again as they would need resurrection bodies to live forever and we would have seen or known of them if they were alive today, movies and fantasy books notwithstanding.

 

The centurion in command of the crucifixion acknowledges that Jesus is God in the flesh, the Son of God, and one would presume that saves him and he will be seen by us in eternity. Women who ministered to Jesus witness this single-most important event after creation itself. There are so many good preaching points in this passage but I’ll leave them for another time and move forward.

 

Matthew 27:57 ¶  When the even was come, there came a rich man of Arimathaea, named Joseph, who also himself was Jesus’ disciple: 58  He went to Pilate, and begged the body of Jesus. Then Pilate commanded the body to be delivered. 59  And when Joseph had taken the body, he wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, 60  And laid it in his own new tomb, which he had hewn out in the rock: and he rolled a great stone to the door of the sepulchre, and departed. 61  And there was Mary Magdalene, and the other Mary, sitting over against the sepulchre. 62  Now the next day, that followed the day of the preparation, the chief priests and Pharisees came together unto Pilate, 63  Saying, Sir, we remember that that deceiver said, while he was yet alive, After three days I will rise again. 64  Command therefore that the sepulchre be made sure until the third day, lest his disciples come by night, and steal him away, and say unto the people, He is risen from the dead: so the last error shall be worse than the first. 65  Pilate said unto them, Ye have a watch: go your way, make it as sure as ye can. 66  So they went, and made the sepulchre sure, sealing the stone, and setting a watch.

 

Joseph of Arimathea plays an important part in Western European lore and legend. First, from the Bible, we have the prophecy of the Messiah being buried in a rich man’s tomb.

 

Isaiah 53:9a  And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death;

 

Then, there is mention made of this man in a non-biblical text, the apocryphal 5^th or 6^th century work called, since the Middle Ages, The Gospel of Nicodemus, but called at first The Acts of Pilate. In this it is recorded how angry the Jews were at Nicodemus, mentioned in John, at providing the burial place for Jesus.

 

Joseph of Arimathea is mentioned in the works of several early church fathers like Irenaeus, Tertullian, and Eusebius where they spread traditions that had formed around him. Much later in the Middle Ages writers created legends about Joseph being buried at Glastonbury Abbey, having brought the Holy Grail of King Arthur legend to Britain, and how his miraculous walking stick grew into the tree that still exists from cuttings and is called the Glastonbury Thorn.

 

A great stone is rolled in front of the opening to Christ’s burial place. Women who followed Jesus witnessed his burial, three prominently named. The Jews the next day come to Pilate and repeat what Jesus had said in the face of Scribes of the Pharisees;

 

Matthew 12:40  For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

 

They are concerned about Jesus’ body being stolen but Pilate seems to be suggesting they use the temple watch to guard the tomb. They set a seal on the stone and placed their watch. A seal could have been something as simple as a piece of string or it could have been the governor’s seal of which it would be under pain of death to break. Later, apocryphal texts such as The Gospel of Peter, The Report of Pilate to the Emperor Claudius, and the aforementioned Gospel of Nicodemus suggest that there was either only Roman guards or a mixture of Roman and Temple guards at the tomb. There are, though, some things in the text that suggest a Roman guard rather than just a Temple watch, arguments which I am not going to go into here as they don’t really matter or change what is about to happen unless you’re making a movie.

 

Bible study with Fred, #657; 2Corinthians chapter 4:1-7: the god of this...

Bible study with Fred, #656; 2Corinthians chapter 3:12-18: their minds w...

Bible study with Fred, #655; 2Corinthians chapter 3:1-11: an able minist...

Bible study with Fred, #654; 2Corinthians chapter 2: a tone of reconcil...

Bible study with Fred, #653; 2Corinthians 1:12-24: sealed

Bible study with Fred, #652; 2Corinthians 1:7-11: Paul relates the dange...

Psalm 50 comments

 

Psalm 50:1 ¶  «A Psalm of Asaph.» The mighty God, even the LORD, hath spoken, and called the earth from the rising of the sun unto the going down thereof.  2  Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God hath shined. 3  Our God shall come, and shall not keep silence: a fire shall devour before him, and it shall be very tempestuous round about him. 4  He shall call to the heavens from above, and to the earth, that he may judge his people. 5  Gather my saints together unto me; those that have made a covenant with me by sacrifice. 6  And the heavens shall declare his righteousness: for God is judge himself. Selah.

 

1Chronicles 16:4  And he appointed certain of the Levites to minister before the ark of the LORD, and to record, and to thank and praise the LORD God of Israel: 5  Asaph the chief, and next to him Zechariah, Jeiel, and Shemiramoth, and Jehiel, and Mattithiah, and Eliab, and Benaiah, and Obededom: and Jeiel with psalteries and with harps; but Asaph made a sound with cymbals; 6  Benaiah also and Jahaziel the priests with trumpets continually before the ark of the covenant of God. 7 ¶  Then on that day David delivered first this psalm to thank the LORD into the hand of Asaph and his brethren.

 

So, we have Asaph mentioned in conjunction with David and the Psalms.

 

This Psalm opens with one of the great declarations of the Bible worthy to be repeated in prayer praising God. Here is another.

 

Psalm 145:3  Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised; and his greatness is unsearchable.

 

And another that underscores that Christ is the visible image of the mighty God.

 

Isaiah 9:6  For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.

 

And we have this from the New Testament;

 

Titus 2:13  Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;

 

God’s glory shone from Jerusalem.

 

Isaiah 12:6  Cry out and shout, thou inhabitant of Zion: for great is the Holy One of Israel in the midst of thee.

 

God’s presence preceded by a devouring fire;

 

Psalm 97:3  A fire goeth before him, and burneth up his enemies round about.

 

Daniel 7:10  A fiery stream issued and came forth from before him: thousand thousands ministered unto him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him: the judgment was set, and the books were opened.

 

Here is prophesied that God will call and then judge His people. Although there are many verses regarding this in the Old and New Testaments and in Revelation I am reminded of these when we are gathered to Him.

 

2Corinthians 5:10  For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.

 

Matthew 24:31  And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

 

1Thessalonians 4:16  For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: 17  Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

 

Verse 6 is repeated later;

 

Psalm 97:6  The heavens declare his righteousness, and all the people see his glory.

 

Psalm 50:7 ¶  Hear, O my people, and I will speak; O Israel, and I will testify against thee: I am God, even thy God. 8  I will not reprove thee for thy sacrifices or thy burnt offerings, to have been continually before me. 9  I will take no bullock out of thy house, nor he goats out of thy folds. 10  For every beast of the forest is mine, and the cattle upon a thousand hills. 11  I know all the fowls of the mountains: and the wild beasts of the field are mine. 12  If I were hungry, I would not tell thee: for the world is mine, and the fulness thereof. 13  Will I eat the flesh of bulls, or drink the blood of goats? 14  Offer unto God thanksgiving; and pay thy vows unto the most High: 15  And call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me.

 

The Psalmist established God’s glory and sovereignty and then leads to a fundamental of the faith; our need to be thankful and to glorify God. God, the God of the Bible, is their God, for whom they have their reason for being as a people separate from other people.

 

Psalm 81:8 ¶  Hear, O my people, and I will testify unto thee: O Israel, if thou wilt hearken unto me;

 

Isaiah 1:18  Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.

God does not need their sacrifices for we know that our obedience to God involves placing ourselves in the right relationship with the one who created us, not in any physical benefit to Him.

 

Psalm 24:1 ¶  «A Psalm of David.» The earth is the LORD’S, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein.

 

In any event every wild beast and every domesticated animal belongs to Him anyway. We are fooled by this notion of property when all of life is His. He knows the flying things, fowls, personally.

 

As Luke writes;

 

Luke 12:6  Are not five sparrows sold for two farthings, and not one of them is forgotten before God?

 

Or as Matthew noted;

 

Matthew 10:29  Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father.

 

What we are called to do is seek Him humbly, to seek His mercy in time of distress, to glorify Him for His mercy and help. We are to walk with our Lord humbly.

 

Micah 6:8  He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?

 

Reality, the world, the universe, belongs to God. It is His property.

 

In verse 14 thanksgiving is a sacrifice.

 

Psalm 69:30 ¶  I will praise the name of God with a song, and will magnify him with thanksgiving. 31  This also shall please the LORD better than an ox or bullock that hath horns and hoofs.

 

Psalm 107:22  And let them sacrifice the sacrifices of thanksgiving, and declare his works with rejoicing.

 

Hebrews 13:15  By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name.

 

Psalm 50:16 ¶  But unto the wicked God saith, What hast thou to do to declare my statutes, or that thou shouldest take my covenant in thy mouth? 17  Seeing thou hatest instruction, and castest my words behind thee. 18  When thou sawest a thief, then thou consentedst with him, and hast been partaker with adulterers. 19  Thou givest thy mouth to evil, and thy tongue frameth deceit. 20  Thou sittest and speakest against thy brother; thou slanderest thine own mother’s son. 21  These things hast thou done, and I kept silence; thou thoughtest that I was altogether such an one as thyself: but I will reprove thee, and set them in order before thine eyes. 22  Now consider this, ye that forget God, lest I tear you in

pieces, and there be none to deliver. 23  Whoso offereth praise glorifieth me: and to him that ordereth his conversation aright will I shew the salvation of God.

 

Here God condemns the phoniness, the hypocrisy, of those who will not obey Him but who use His words to justify their wickedness or simply disobey Him while proclaiming that they are His. There are many Christians today and through history who honored God with their lips but denied Him with their actions.

 

God here is judging hypocrisy. We should be warned. God’s judgment is a terrible and frightening thing. But those who praise Him and live according to His word will see His salvation. This denies the concept of what some call, “easy-believism.” There is a balance in the Bible in that we are not justified by the Law and works and yet, without works, faith is a dead thing and without acknowledging God’s standard in at least the Ten Commandments our protestation of our relationship with God is a phony thing.

 

See here in the following passages from Jesus Himself and from Paul’s letters how He underscores what we must do while he all the while speaks of how we are not justified by the Law.

 

First, the easy part;

 

John 6:28 ¶  Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God? 29  Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.

 

Galatians 3:24  Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. 25  But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster.

 

Ephesians 2:8  For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9  Not of works, lest any man should boast.

 

So the Law does not justify us or save us but that doesn’t mean the Law, at the very least the moral Law, is not God’s standard of righteousness. First for the verse after Ephesians 2:9.

 

Ephesians 2:10  For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

 

And then from Paul again focusing on our behavior, or our conversation;

 

Romans 13:8  Owe no man any thing, but to love one another; for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law.9  For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. 10  Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.

 

As Christ Himself focused on the whole point of the Law;

 

Matthew 22:35  Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him, and saying, 36  Master, which is the great commandment in the law? 37  Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. 38  This is the first and great commandment. 39  And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. 40  On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

 

But with James really sticking it to us.

 

James 2:14 ¶  What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him? 15  If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food, 16  And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit? 17  Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone. 18  Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works. 19  Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.

20  But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead? 21  Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar? 22  Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect? 23  And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God. 24  Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only. 25  Likewise also was not Rahab the harlot justified by works, when she had received the messengers, and had sent them out another way? 26  For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.

 

Clearly, a balanced view of the divide between works and grace must be taken or we run into all sorts of errors.

 

In conclusion this is a great Psalm for us to pray over for understanding. God is so clear about what He calls for if we take in the whole counsel of His word.