Bible Study on Acts 5, verses 1 to 11, the sad case of Ananias and Sapphira

 

Acts 5:1 ¶  But a certain man named Ananias, with Sapphira his wife, sold a possession, 2  And kept back part of the price, his wife also being privy to it, and brought a certain part, and laid it at the apostles’ feet. 3  But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost, and to keep back part of the price of the land? 4  Whiles it remained, was it not thine own? and after it was sold, was it not in thine own power? why hast thou conceived this thing in thine heart? thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God. 5  And Ananias hearing these words fell down, and gave up the ghost: and great fear came on all them that heard these things. 6  And the young men arose, wound him up, and carried him out, and buried him. 7  And it was about the space of three hours after, when his wife, not knowing what was done, came in. 8  And Peter answered unto her, Tell me whether ye sold the land for so much? And she said, Yea, for so much. 9  Then Peter said unto her, How is it that ye have agreed together to tempt the Spirit of the Lord? behold, the feet of them which have buried thy husband are at the door, and shall carry thee out. 10  Then fell she down straightway at his feet, and yielded up the ghost: and the young men came in, and found her dead, and, carrying her forth, buried her by her husband. 11  And great fear came upon all the church, and upon as many as heard these things.

 

The crime Ananias and Sapphira committed was to lie to the Holy Ghost. The penalty was death. I don’t think this is typically going to happen after this unique beginning to the Christian church. So, don’t be fearful when you put your offering in the plate. What it reinforces is that God is more focused on your intentions than on actions alone. God is not the pragmatist. He not only wants you to give of the blessing He has bestowed on you willingly and joyfully but He wants truth. See here what Paul says in the context of giving to other churches in need (not to funding your church’s basketball court.)

 

2Corinthians 9:6 ¶  But this I say, He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully. 7  Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver.

 

And this heart in which you purpose things such as giving God knows. The spirit of man is the mind, heart, talents, even the intentions and ideas of a person. For contexts where the Spirit of God or the spirit of man can be synonymous with mind please see the following;

 

Romans 8:27  And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.

 

1Corinthians 2:16  For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.

 

Ephesians 4:23  And be renewed in the spirit of your mind;

 

Philippians 1:27  Only let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ: that whether I come and see you, or else be absent, I may hear of your affairs, that ye stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel;

 

2Timothy 1:7  For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.

 

Our spirit is our mind, as shown before, but it is more than that as it is our also our heart, emotions, without which no rational mind can function, and our talents and inclinations given to us by God or tarnished by the fall of man.

 

Deuteronomy 2:30  But Sihon king of Heshbon would not let us pass by him: for the LORD thy God hardened his spirit, and made his heart obstinate, that he might deliver him into thy hand, as appeareth this day.

 

Psalm 34:18  The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit.

 

The phrase the comes after a colon often helps define what went before it.

 

Psalm 51:17  The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.

 

As for talent and skills given by God through things like practice, apprenticeship, and learning unless you believe that Bezaleel woke up one day and suddenly knew how to do marvelous works.

 

Exodus 31:1 ¶  And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 2  See, I have called by name Bezaleel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah: 3  And I have filled him with the spirit of God, in wisdom, and in understanding, and in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship, 4  To devise cunning works, to work in gold, and in silver, and in brass, 5  And in cutting of

stones, to set them, and in carving of timber, to work in all manner of workmanship. 6  And I, behold, I have given with him Aholiab, the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan: and in

the hearts of all that are wise hearted I have put wisdom, that they may make all that I have commanded thee;

 

If you want to be wise hearted get to work. Wise hearted first, then wisdom from God. God searches man and woman’s mind, heart, inclinations, sin-nature, and all of the things that make up what we are.

 

Proverbs 20:27  The spirit of man is the candle of the LORD, searching all the inward parts of the belly.

 

As God reads our spirit there is nothing, no thought, that is hid from God.

 

Psalm 139:23  Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: 24  And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.

 

Isaiah 66:18  For I know their works and their thoughts

 

Hebrews 4:12  For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

 

And the intentions behind your actions for God will be judged in the end but you will be spared in eternity if you are saved by Him through the Cross.

 

1Corinthians 3:11 ¶  For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12  Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; 13  Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is. 14  If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. 15  If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.

 

Do not promise or swear something you cannot or will not or have no true intention to come through on.

 

Ecclesiastes 5:4  When thou vowest a vow unto God, defer not to pay it; for he hath no pleasure in fools: pay that which thou hast vowed.

 

What this episode teaches us is that it is more important to be sincere than it is to try to impress others with empty, vain words and promises.  When you try to impress others with your giving or promises of service but secretly hold back from what you promised you are lying to God. Set expectations truthfully. I cannot overstate this. There is much hypocrisy in religion because many professing Christians’ god is Self rather than the God of the Bible. They think that if they look and sound like Christians they can be villains in their hearts although they would not characterize themselves as anything but well-intended followers of Christ.

 

This passage also is against the concept that these early Christians were communists in the modern sense. The property belonged to the man or woman and it is acknowledged that they were free to do with their property as they so chose, only they could not lie to God.

A Psalm for Sunday, Psalm 74, verses 12 to 23, thou hast prepared the light and the sun

 

Psalm 74:12 ¶  For God is my King of old, working salvation in the midst of the earth. 13  Thou didst divide the sea by thy strength: thou brakest the heads of the dragons in the waters. 14  Thou brakest the heads of leviathan in pieces, and gavest him to be meat to the people inhabiting the wilderness. 15  Thou didst cleave the fountain and the flood: thou driedst up mighty rivers. 16  The day is thine, the night also is thine: thou hast prepared the light and the sun. 17  Thou hast set all the borders of the earth: thou hast made summer and winter.

 

This salvation is not, in context, referring to eternal salvation as presented by Christ. This, like 95% of the times the word salvation is used in the Bible refers to something temporal. God here provided salvation for the Hebrews in the wilderness. This is a very interesting passage in what it suggests regarding verse 14.

 

Exodus 16:13 ¶  And it came to pass, that at even the quails came up, and covered the camp: and in the morning the dew lay round about the host. 14  And when the dew that lay was gone up, behold, upon the face of the wilderness there lay a small round thing, as small as the hoar frost on the ground. 15  And when the children of Israel saw it, they said one to another, It is manna: for they wist not what it was. And Moses said unto them, This is the bread which the LORD hath given you to eat. 16  This is the thing which the LORD hath commanded, Gather of it every man according to his eating, an omer for every man, according to the number of your persons; take ye every man for them which are in his tents. 17  And the children of Israel did so, and gathered, some more, some less. 18  And when they did mete it with an omer, he that gathered much had nothing over, and he that gathered little had no lack; they gathered every man according to his eating. 19  And Moses said, Let no man leave of it till the morning. 20  Notwithstanding they hearkened not unto Moses; but some of them left of it until the morning, and it bred worms, and stank: and Moses was wroth with them. 21  And they gathered it every morning, every man according to his eating: and when the sun waxed hot, it melted.

The small, round piece of food that is left after the dew is called Manna, which Strong’s says means, “What is it?” which is also evident from the passage.

It is later called angel’s food.

Psalm 78:24  And had rained down manna upon them to eat, and had given them of the corn of heaven. 25  Man did eat angels’ food: he sent them meat to the full.

But it is also a reference to some event in the realm of the invisible world that we can hardly understand here in verse 14.

14  Thou brakest the heads of leviathan in pieces, and gavest him to be meat to the people inhabiting the wilderness.

Some commentators say that dragons and leviathan are symbolic references to the Pharaoh, his army, and the Egyptian gods. There is a veiled reference to God’s Red Sea miracle here as well or perhaps the Jordan River crossing.

Finally, there is the acknowledgement of God’s sovereignty over every process of our universe from the sun to the seasons.

Notice how the Psalmist makes his complaint and plea and then acknowledges what God has done as well as His sovereign power.

 

The important thing I want to impress is that these may be references in this passage to spiritual events that accompany physical events. This suggests to us that in everything we experience in our reality there is something going on behind the scenes, so to speak, in the unseen spiritual world.

 

Psalm 74:18 ¶  Remember this, that the enemy hath reproached, O LORD, and that the foolish people have blasphemed thy name. 19  O deliver not the soul of thy turtledove unto the multitude of the wicked: forget not the congregation of thy poor for ever. 20  Have respect unto the covenant: for the dark places of the earth are full of the habitations of cruelty. 21  O let not the oppressed return ashamed: let the poor and needy praise thy name. 22  Arise, O God, plead thine own cause: remember how the foolish man reproacheth thee daily. 23  Forget not the voice of thine enemies: the tumult of those that rise up against thee increaseth continually.

 

The Psalmist now returns to the enemy’s wicked works.  He continues His plea for God to deliver His people. I am reminding of the Tribulation here, the Jews who flee to the wilderness chased by Satan.

 

Revelation 12:15  And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood. 16  And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth.

 

Wicked and profane men and women, scoffers of faith, blasphemers of God, walk after their own ungodly lusts and oppress God’s people. The Psalmist pleas for action by God.

 

The turtledove, from a prophetic viewpoint, can be the church. See Song of Solomon 2:14.

 

 We can see the persecution that takes place around the world in countries where a cruel and hateful god rules, in places where mankind is his own god, and even in places where a church rules with the government. It was difficult for Jews in history to live in countries where a state church dominated and since they had their own faith distinct from that church they were considered not even as citizens but as sojourners who could be run out of town for any reason or no reason at all.

 

Christians are treated that way, as well, now in many countries.

Bible Study on Acts 4, verses 32 to 37, one heart and one soul

 

Acts 4:32 ¶  And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul: neither said any of them that ought of the things which he possessed was his own; but they had all things common. 33  And with great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus: and great grace was upon them all. 34  Neither was there any among them that lacked: for as many as were possessors of lands or houses sold them, and brought the prices of the things that were sold, 35  And laid them down at the apostles’ feet: and distribution was made unto every man according as he had need. 36  And Joses, who by the apostles was surnamed Barnabas, (which is, being interpreted, The son of consolation,) a Levite, and of the country of Cyprus, 37  Having land, sold it, and brought the money, and laid it at the apostles’ feet.

 

Unity of vision and purpose, of heart and soul were characteristics of the early church. This is what God wants for His people. One with God, one with Christ, one with each other in faith. This is not about being of the same political party, racial group, or country of birth but about unity with God and with one’s fellow believers in belief that Christ is that bridge between man and God that other religions do not offer, that He is the only way across that chasm of sin that separates man from God, that He is God Himself, our Creator and our Saviour.

 

John 17:11 ¶  And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are…21  That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. 22  And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one: 23  I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.

 

Acts 1:14  These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brethren.

 

Acts 2:1 ¶  And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.

 

1Corinthians 1:10 ¶  Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.

 

As these believers joined together in Jerusalem they formed a sort of commune where they surrendered their property in a kind of Christian communism, not Marx’s label whose tenets he stole from the Bible with even the wording of his idea of utopia the same. Let me revisit some earlier comments.

 

The early Christian church in Jerusalem was predominantly Jewish and lived communally sharing all things in common. The standard in this community was that people received things from the collective based on their need. Karl Marx would later appropriate this language as part of a slogan of Communism in the 1870s. We know, as God does, that a human’s sin nature would not permit such a utopia to stand for long. We must also consider that Christ had said that these people were to be witnesses for him throughout the world. So, while this church, this called-out assembly, was being formed and nurtured and strengthened it was only a matter of time before it would have to be ruptured and its members driven apart. We know from history that this would be complete at the Fall of Jerusalem in AD 70 because Christians supposedly fled the disaster of the Romans taking the city after the disaster of various factions of Jews murdering each other in it.

But, let’s remember their zeal and devotion to God. Later counterfeits would try to emulate this situation in monastic communities but they were a false profession of what God demanded, that we live in the world while not being of the world. Your communes and compounds containing a cult patterning themselves on the early church are not of God but of man’s own imaginings, fantasies, and all too often desire for control of others.

The preaching of Christ’s Resurrection was powerfully made and God’s grace was upon all of the believers. Here, Joses Barnabas, the son of consolation, is introduced. He will play an important part in Paul’s ministry and go off on his own. He is an important figure in the early church. There is even a phony Gospel of Barnabas and the non-canonical Letter or Epistle of Barnabas.

 

Bible Study on Isaiah 4, verses 1 to 6, part 2, prophecies of the reign of Christ

 

For verses 3 & 4, which say, 3  And it shall come to pass, that he that is left in Zion, and he that remaineth in Jerusalem, shall be called holy, even every one that is written among the living in Jerusalem: 4  When the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion, and shall have purged the blood of Jerusalem from the midst thereof by the spirit of judgment, and by the spirit of burning.

 

We see a future promise of purification that I believe matches up well with prophecies of Christ’s millennial reign and these other prophecies in the Old Testament.

 

Consider these verses;

 

Zechariah 14:20  In that day shall there be upon the bells of the horses, HOLINESS UNTO THE LORD; and the pots in the LORD’S house shall be like the bowls before the altar. 21  Yea, every pot in Jerusalem and in Judah shall be holiness unto the LORD of hosts: and all they that sacrifice shall come and take of them, and seethe therein: and in that day there shall be no more the Canaanite in the house of the LORD of hosts.

 

Isaiah 35:8  And an highway shall be there, and a way, and it shall be called The way of holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it; but it shall be for those: the wayfaring men, though fools, shall not err therein.

 

Isaiah 60:21  Thy people also shall be all righteous: they shall inherit the land for ever, the branch of my planting, the work of my hands, that I may be glorified.

 

Joel 3:17  So shall ye know that I am the LORD your God dwelling in Zion, my holy mountain: then shall Jerusalem be holy, and there shall no strangers pass through her any more.

 

Verses 5 and 6; 5  And the LORD will create upon every dwelling place of mount Zion, and upon her assemblies, a cloud and smoke by day, and the shining of a flaming fire by night: for upon all the glory shall be a defence. 6  And there shall be a tabernacle for a shadow in the daytime from the heat, and for a place of refuge, and for a covert from storm

and from rain.

 

Christian commentators have pushed verse 5 forward to suggest that it can apply to every church that is truly Christ’s. He will establish His church by His glory.

 

Ephesians 2:21  In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord: 22  In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit.

 

The people of God who are truly His will be sure dwellings for the Holy Ghost, the very mind of God through His very words.

 

1Corinthians 6:19  What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?

 

1Corinthians 3:16 ¶  Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?

 

These commentators, like John Gill, will say that the invisible church is called Zion.

 

Hebrews 12:22  But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, 23  To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, 24  And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel.

 

So, particular churches are called assemblies.

 

Ecclesiastes 12:11  The words of the wise are as goads, and as nails fastened by the masters of assemblies, which are given from one shepherd.

 

James 2:2  For if there come unto your assembly a man with a gold ring, in goodly apparel, and there come in also a poor man in vile raiment;

 

Imagine the reference here to the glory manifested by God in the Exodus to the power present from God within the true churches of God. A church that is truly faithful to God, our Creator, is most certainly a refuge in the storms that we face as Christians.

 

Remember this is a reference to future events, a future that the Israelites would not have understood unless it were couched in terms with which they were familiar. When the times get really bad toward the end, before the church is translated, or raptured in common parlance, we will draw even closer together as the church.

 

Hebrews 10:24  And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: 25  Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.

 

Isaiah 4 promises blessings for those who are faithful to Christ. This chapter of Isaiah also outlines Christ’s millennial reign.

 

Compare Isaiah, chapter 4, to Numbers.

 

Isaiah 4:4  When the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion, and shall have purged the blood of Jerusalem from the midst thereof by the spirit of judgment, and by the spirit of burning.

 

Numbers 11:1 ¶  And when the people complained, it displeased the LORD: and the LORD heard it; and his anger was kindled; and the fire of the LORD burnt among them, and consumed them that were in the uttermost parts of the camp.

 

Isaiah 4:5  And the LORD will create upon every dwelling place of mount Zion, and upon her assemblies, a cloud and smoke by day, and the shining of a flaming fire by night: for upon all the glory shall be a defence.

 

Numbers 9:16  So it was alway: the cloud covered it by day, and the appearance of fire by night.

Bible Study on Acts 4, verses 23 to 31, they spake the word of God with boldness

 

Acts 4:23 ¶  And being let go, they went to their own company, and reported all that the chief priests and elders had said unto them. 24  And when they heard that, they lifted up their voice to God with one accord, and said, Lord, thou art God, which hast made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all that in them is: 25  Who by the mouth of thy servant David hast said, Why did the heathen rage, and the people imagine vain things? 26  The kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord, and against his Christ. 27  For of a truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel, were gathered together, 28  For to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done. 29  And now, Lord, behold their threatenings: and grant unto thy servants, that with all boldness they may speak thy word, 30  By stretching forth thine hand to heal; and that signs and wonders may be done by the name of thy holy child Jesus. 31  And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the word of God with boldness.

 

Verse 24 is a wonderful acknowledgement about God creating all things confirmed in other places than Genesis, chapter one. God’s creation of the universe is not only confirmed by Moses, writing Genesis under the inspiration of God, but also Isaiah.

Isaiah 42:5  Thus saith God the LORD, he that created the heavens, and stretched them out; he that spread forth the earth, and that which cometh out of it; he that giveth breath unto the people upon it, and spirit to them that walk therein:

Isaiah 45:18  For thus saith the LORD that created the heavens; God himself that formed the earth and made it; he hath established it, he created it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited: I am the LORD; and there is none else.

King David;

Psalm 33:6  By the word of the LORD were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth.

And the Lord Jesus Christ Himself.

Mark 13:19  For in those days shall be affliction, such as was not from the beginning of the creation which God created unto this time, neither shall be.

Verses 25 and 26 quote the great Psalm that most of us understand prophetically to be about the millennial reign of Christ although like Peter’s use of the prophecy in Joel talked about in Acts 2 all prophetic statements may have a past, present, and future fulfillment. Peter uses it here to underscore how futile man’s rules against proclaiming Christ are to be. Those who do not believe in a physical, millennial reign of Christ on earth will say that this Psalm was fulfilled here and that’s that although to say that denies the implications of its message from verse 7 onward.

 

Psalm 2:1 ¶  Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing? 2  The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD, and against his

anointed, saying, 3  Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us. 4  He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision. 5  Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath, and vex them in his sore displeasure. 6  Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion.

 

7 ¶  I will declare the decree: the LORD hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee. 8  Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and

the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession. 9  Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.

 

10 ¶  Be wise now therefore, O ye kings: be instructed, ye judges of the earth. 11  Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling. 12  Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish

from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him.

 

There are many prophecies in the Bible that have more than one application, an immediate and a future, as we have seen. Verses in Psalm 2 show that its ultimate fulfillment will come at the end of the millennial reign of Christ, as we will see more clearly in Revelation. The prophecy quoted here in Acts will be used again in chapter 13.

 

With verse 31 I want to restate something said earlier. Commands were given to the Apostles whom Jesus showed Himself to for forty days after His resurrection. The disciples were ordered to assemble together at Jerusalem and to wait for the Holy Ghost to be given to them. Jesus had already given the Holy Ghost to the core Apostles

 

John 20:22  And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost:

 

The presence of the Holy Spirit, the Holy Ghost, in the believer, it seems can be renewed.

 

Titus 3:5  Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; 6  Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour; 7  That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

 

The question I have to ask is if while we are sealed and secure with the indwelling of the Holy Spirit does God renew it in us as we are sanctified for Him in life? Could that be what the following mean more fully?

 

Ephesians 5:18  And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit;

 

We are saved once and indwelt with the Spirit as Paul relates the absurdity of being saved and lost again and again in Hebrews 6:1-6. In the following passage Paul shows that if you could lose your salvation you could not get saved again. It appears he is trying to get Christians to move beyond salvation to our sanctification.

 

Hebrews 6:1 ¶  Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God, 2  Of the doctrine of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment. 3  And this will we do, if God permit. 4  For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, 5  And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come,

6  If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame.

 

So, the question would be, are we praying to be filled with the Holy Spirit, to be renewed in the power and mind of God over sin and self? Or are we satisfied and complacent about this unspeakable gift?

Bible Study on Exodus 12, verses 29 to 36, the LORD smote all the firstborn

 

Exodus 12:29 ¶  And it came to pass, that at midnight the LORD smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh that sat on his throne unto the firstborn of the captive that was in the dungeon; and all the firstborn of cattle. 30  And Pharaoh rose up in the night, he, and all his servants, and all the Egyptians; and there was a great cry in Egypt; for there was not a house where there was not one dead. 31  And he called for Moses and Aaron by night, and said, Rise up, and get you forth from among my people, both ye and the children of Israel; and go, serve the LORD, as ye have said. 32  Also take your flocks and your herds, as ye have said, and be gone; and bless me also. 33  And the Egyptians were urgent upon the people, that they might send them out of the land in haste; for they said, We be all dead men. 34  And the people took their dough before it was leavened, their kneadingtroughs being bound up in their clothes upon their shoulders. 35  And the children of Israel did according to the word of Moses; and they borrowed of the Egyptians jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment: 36  And the LORD gave the people favour in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they lent unto them such things as they required. And they spoiled the Egyptians.

So, now God kills the firstborn from the highest to the lowest to the cattle. There was no one higher than Pharaoh or lower than a prisoner in his dungeons. Even the cattle were affected that the state and the populace depended on so for food. Cattle includes several different animals that mankind was dependent on.

Genesis 47:17  And they brought their cattle unto Joseph: and Joseph gave them bread in exchange for horses, and for the flocks, and for the cattle of the herds, and for the asses: and he fed them with bread for all their cattle for that year.

Exodus 9:3  Behold, the hand of the LORD is upon thy cattle which is in the field, upon the horses, upon the asses, upon the camels, upon the oxen, and upon the sheep: there shall be a very grievous murrain.

Exodus 34:19  All that openeth the matrix is mine; and every firstling among thy cattle, whether ox or sheep, that is male.

Why this seemingly symbolic death among the firstborn of the cattle? What was the significance of this? First remember God’s possession.

Psalm 50:10  For every beast of the forest is mine, and the cattle upon a thousand hills.

Exodus 13:2  Sanctify unto me all the firstborn, whatsoever openeth the womb among the children of Israel, both of man and of beast: it is mine.

No one owns property and no one owns an animal. All property and all life belongs to God, who created it. Under Capitalism everything belongs to an individual; presumably the hardest working, most ambitious, the most clever, or the strongest and well-born. Under Socialism everything belongs to the people through the government which then consists of  ambitious, clever, strong, and ruthless individuals. Both are blasphemous lies. All things belong to God and He will give all things to His people in time.

1Corinthians 3:21 ¶  Therefore let no man glory in men. For all things are yours; 22  Whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are yours; 23  And ye are Christ’s; and Christ is God’s.

Man is a steward of God’s possession and the Christian must remember that. We have dominion under authority of God. Dominion is power over something as defined in Ephesians 1:21 and Jude, verse 25.

Exodus 19:5  Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine:

Psalm 50:12  If I were hungry, I would not tell thee: for the world is mine, and the fulness thereof.

The firstborn of man and beast was to be set apart or sanctified for God’s purpose. This plague foretold what God would require of the Hebrews.

In typology man is born like a wild ass’s colt and can only be redeemed with a lamb, who is Christ.

Job 11:12  For vain man would be wise, though man be born like a wild ass’s colt.

Exodus 13:13  And every firstling of an ass thou shalt redeem with a lamb; and if thou wilt not redeem it, then thou shalt break his neck: and all the firstborn of man among thy children shalt thou redeem.

1Peter 1:18  Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; 19  But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot: 20  Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you, 21  Who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God.

Every household in Egypt suffered under this judgment. If you believe in the world of spirit, that is, if you believe in the Bible, there is a seamless flow from this physical world of flesh and blood into the world of spirit where an entirely different type of life, which we hardly can begin to understand, exists. As the physical universe represents less than 5% of what must be, as even atheistic scientists believe, the world of spirit is far greater than anything we can imagine. So, little babies and innocent beasts did not simply cease to exist or began suffering in some kind of manufactured place like Limbo but take their place in that world.

The Pharaoh is now ready to drive the Hebrews from the land. This is a terrible tragedy. The firstborn among men was to inherit and all of the heritage of a man passed through his all-important firstborn. The firstborn among beast was to be set apart for God and we will see this in Exodus 13:2. Keep in mind that all beasts belong to God but the firstborn among the Egyptian and later the Hebrew beasts were His for a special purpose.

            The Hebrews are ready to leave Egypt and the Egyptians weigh them down with abundant necessities for the trip and much treasure. Good riddance, I can imagine they thought. Just go away lest we all die.