Bible Study on Matthew 17, verses 14 to 27, Because of your unbelief

 

Matthew 17:14 ¶  And when they were come to the multitude, there came to him a certain man, kneeling down to him, and saying, 15  Lord, have mercy on my son: for he is lunatick, and sore vexed: for ofttimes he falleth into the fire, and oft into the water. 16  And I brought him to thy disciples, and they could not cure him. 17  Then Jesus answered and said, O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer you? bring him hither to me. 18  And Jesus rebuked the devil; and he departed out of him: and the child was cured from that very hour. 19  Then came the disciples to Jesus apart, and said, Why could not we cast him out? 20  And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you. 21  Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting.

 

Luke 9:37 says that these events happened the day after the last ones. A lunatic can be a reference to a mental disease or some issue that causes seizures and fits. The Greeks recognized diseases that caused seizures including epilepsy but they understood little about it although Hippocrates suggested it’s origin was the brain. In this case the seizures were caused by a devil. Jesus rebukes the devil and the faithlessness of the disciples who could not deliver the child from the devil.

 

Verse 20 tells us that with sincere faith things that seem impossible are possible but it does not suggest that the Apostles had the capacity to move literal mountains around. Only a modernist assumes such a thing. Jesus thing tells them the “nuts and bolts” of this work; prayer and fasting. Check to make sure this verse is in the Bible you use.

 

Matthew 17:22 ¶  And while they abode in Galilee, Jesus said unto them, The Son of man shall be betrayed into the hands of men: 23  And they shall kill him, and the third day he shall be raised again. And they were exceeding sorry.

 

Again, the disciples did not understand that the Messiah had to die and be resurrected. This repeated prediction of what Jesus must face dismayed them.

 

Matthew 17:24 ¶  And when they were come to Capernaum, they that received tribute money came to Peter, and said, Doth not your master pay tribute? 25  He saith, Yes. And when he was come into the house, Jesus prevented him, saying, What thinkest thou, Simon? of whom do the kings of the earth take custom or tribute? of their own children, or of strangers? 26  Peter saith unto him, Of strangers. Jesus saith unto him, Then are the children free. 27  Notwithstanding, lest we should offend them, go thou to the sea, and cast an hook, and take up the fish that first cometh up; and when thou hast opened his mouth, thou shalt find a piece of money: that take, and give unto them for me and thee.

 

Here, Jesus provides the tax money that is required of them supernaturally, making a point to Peter. Indeed, it appears that there is no warrant to justify being rebellious against the laws of the land in which you live for the fruits or proof of your being a Christian outwardly cannot be legislated against.

 

Galatians 5:22  But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, 23  Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.

 

James 1:27  Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.

 

See what Paul and Peter also said;

 

Romans 13:1 ¶  Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God. 2  Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation. 3  For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same: 4  For he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil. 5  Wherefore ye must needs be subject, not only for wrath, but also for conscience sake. 6  For for this cause pay ye tribute also: for they are God’s ministers, attending continually upon this very thing. 7 ¶  Render therefore to all their dues: tribute to whom tribute is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honour to whom honour.

 

1Peter 4:15  But let none of you suffer as a murderer, or as a thief, or as an evildoer, or as a busybody in other men’s matters.16  Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf.

 

The exception appears only to be when the secular rulers demand that you disobey what God has called you to do in proclaiming Christ and His gospel to the world.

 

Acts 5:26 ¶  Then went the captain with the officers, and brought them without violence: for they feared the people, lest they should have been stoned. 27  And when they had brought them, they set them before the council: and the high priest asked them, 28  Saying, Did not we straitly command you that ye should not teach in this name? and, behold, ye have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine, and intend to bring this man’s blood upon us. 29  Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men.

 

Don’t use Christ as a justification for your seditious, rebellious heart. If you want to make a case for resistance against everything from a local zoning ordinance to the federal tax code then make it based on sound political arguments, moral arguments, or personal opinion or self-interest but don’t use the name of God to justify your unwillingness to do what lawful authority tells you to do.

 

This doesn’t mean we don’t fight and try to change unjust laws like the ones that permit and even encourage infanticide or encourage depraved behavior or try to limit the power and scope of government over our lives as citizens. It just means to be careful how you bring your Saviour into the argument. In the end all of the laws, institutions, and structures of your country will be burned up and in eternity be totally meaningless. Keep in mind that the government is not a fit substitute for God though Christians have made it so. The three branches of proper government are not found in Washington, D.C. but under God’s righteous authority.

 

Isaiah 33:22  For the LORD is our judge, the LORD is our lawgiver, the LORD is our king; he will save us.

 

Notice Isaiah said the LORD, not the Supreme Court, Congress, or the President.

A Psalm for Sunday, Psalm 69, verses 13 to 21, Hear me, O LORD

 

Psalm 69:13 ¶  But as for me, my prayer is unto thee, O LORD, in an acceptable time: O God, in the multitude of thy mercy hear me, in the truth of thy salvation. 14  Deliver me out of the mire, and let me not sink: let me be delivered from them that hate me, and out of the deep waters. 15  Let not the waterflood overflow me, neither let the deep swallow me up, and let not the pit shut her mouth upon me. 16  Hear me, O LORD; for thy lovingkindness is good: turn unto me according to the multitude of thy tender mercies. 17  And hide not thy face from thy servant; for I am in trouble: hear me speedily. 18  Draw nigh unto my soul, and redeem it: deliver me because of mine enemies. 19  Thou hast known my reproach, and my shame, and my dishonour: mine adversaries are all before thee. 20  Reproach hath broken my heart; and I am full of heaviness: and I looked for some to take pity, but there was none; and for comforters, but I found none. 21  They gave me also gall for my meat; and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.

 

David prayed regularly and was disciplined about it.

 

Psalm 55:17  Evening, and morning, and at noon, will I pray, and cry aloud: and he shall hear my voice.

 

He pleads with God to deliver him from the mire like quicksand in which he is held fast, as we can experience. Think about this for verse 14;

 

Psalm 40:2  He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings.

 

Imagine Jeremiah thrown into the pit in Jeremiah, chapter 38.

 

For verse 15 I am reminded of Jonah in chapter 2 of that book.

 

The sentiment in verse 16 is expressed elsewhere in Psalms.

 

Psalm 36:7  How excellent is thy lovingkindness, O God! therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of thy wings.

 

Psalm 63:3 ¶  Because thy lovingkindness is better than life, my lips shall praise thee.

 

Psalm 109:21 ¶  But do thou for me, O GOD the Lord, for thy name’s sake: because thy mercy is good, deliver thou me.

 

Can you hear yourself praying this? You need help, deliverance, and yet there is no one to help you. You call unto God for mercy and for the help only He can provide.

 

Also, do you see how this references Christ’s suffering.

 

Matthew 27:34  They gave him vinegar to drink mingled with gall: and when he had tasted thereof, he would not drink.

 

We can see the torment of Christ’s sufferings in this passage although we must always remember where such typology breaks down, as I’ve noted before. We can also easily see our own torment. If you have ever stood alone accused and with no one willing to help you, you can understand how this passage can apply to you. Every alcoholic and drug addict and any Christian addicted to anything knows what it means to stand alone and plead to God for mercy and help from the situation in which they are sinking.

Bible Study on Matthew 17, verses 1 to 13, part 2, the Son of man, the Son of God

 

PART TWO In this passage Jesus is using the phrase Son of man as a reference to Himself as the Messiah. But we also have the use of the title Son of God. The importance of the phrase Son of God, whether it be uppercase S for Christ or lowercase s for spiritual beings, those transformed by God, or Adam himself representing the image of God in some respect is of vital importance. Here are the three parts of the Godhead speaking; Father, Son or Word (Logos), and Holy Ghost;

 

Genesis 1:26  And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.

 

 

 

The Jews of the first century and before, in particular the Jews of the Second Temple Period, had interpretations of the Old Testament called Targums which were in Aramaic. They would read the verses in Aramaic, the language of the common man in a way that Hebrew was not, and change the text to match their interpretation. It is not authoritative but is a way of seeing what they believed before the resurrection of Christ.

 

John Gill, the great Baptist preacher who preached in Charles Haddon Spurgeon’s church a century before him, noted in his commentary that the Jerusalem Targum renders Genesis 1:1 as, “in wisdom God created.” We have this also then as a cross-reference in Proverbs.

 

Proverbs 3:19  The LORD by wisdom hath founded the earth; by understanding hath he established the heavens.

 

A source I studied said that one translation of the Targum Neofiti has two interpretations.

 

From the beginning by wisdom the son of the LORD created the heavens and the earth.

 

From the beginning by (the) wisdom the LORD created and formed the heavens and the earth.

The Targums, as a way to understand how the Jews of the first century and before interpreted the Old Testament, have the Word of God, an appellation used for Christ in John’s gospel and letters, as well as Revelation, was the second part of the Godhead, a second power in the heavens who was actually part of one God, equal to God the Father and the presence by which He personally interacted with human beings. I’ll discuss the Holy Ghost as the third part of the Trinity as presented in the Old Testament in a different context.

The Targums have the Word, the Memra or Hebrew version of John’s Logos, of God as a person, speaking the universe into existence in Genesis 1:3. We see from the very beginning a reference to what are two powers in the Heavens, who are both the same God, the invisible Father who is a Spirit and the Word of God, who has a physical form and yet they are both the same God.

Here is a reference to what He created;

 

Genesis 1:27  So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.

 

Luke 3:38b … which was the son of Adam, which was the son of God.

 

This appearance would deteriorate as man devolved with each passing generation in sin following in the likeness of the previous generation moving away from that perfection.

 

Genesis 5:3  And Adam lived an hundred and thirty years, and begat a son in his own likeness, after his image; and called his name Seth:

 

This was also important due to Gnostic cults of the time the New Testament and much later in European History like the Cathars, also called Albigensian, insisting that Jesus Christ had no physical body thereby contradicting the entire doctrine of the Son of God.

 

1 John 4:3  And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.

 

This reference to the spirit of antichrist will be important to us later in our description of the Beast of Revelation which we often call The Antichrist, even though John doesn’t use that title in Revelation.

 

When Jesus tells them to tell no one about what they had seen until His, referring to Himself as the Messiah or the Son of Man, Resurrection.

 

They ask a question referencing this;

 

Malachi 4:5  Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD: 6  And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.

 

Now they understood that John the Baptist came in the spirit and power of Elijah.

 

Matthew 11:7 ¶  And as they departed, Jesus began to say unto the multitudes concerning John, What went ye out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken with the wind? 8  But what went ye out for to see? A man clothed in soft raiment? behold, they that wear soft clothing are in kings’ houses. 9  But what went ye out for to see? A prophet? yea, I say unto you, and more than a prophet. 10  For this is he, of whom it is written, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee. 11  Verily I say unto you, Among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist: notwithstanding he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. 12  And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force. 13  For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John. 14  And if ye will receive it, this is Elias, which was for to come. 15  He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.

 

Jesus here reinforces the importance of John the Baptist’s ministry and the value of this Old Testament prophet living in the New Testament. Verse 10 is a reference to;

 

Malachi 3:1 ¶  Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the LORD of hosts.

 

Jesus here states that John the Baptist was Elijah the prophet in type. This is not about the idea of reincarnation which is false.

 

An angel of the Lord told Zacharias, John the Baptist’s father, this very thing as referenced in;

 

Luke 1:17  And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.

 

Bible Study on Isaiah 1, verses 10 to 15, Jerusalem likened to Sodom and Gomorrah

 

Isaiah 1:10 ¶  Hear the word of the LORD, ye rulers of Sodom; give ear unto the law of our God, ye people of Gomorrah. 11  To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me? saith the LORD: I am full of the burnt offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts; and I delight not in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of he goats. 12  When ye come to appear before me, who hath required this at your hand, to tread my courts? 13  Bring no more vain oblations; incense is an abomination unto me; the new moons and sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot away with; it is iniquity, even the solemn meeting. 14  Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hateth: they are a trouble unto me; I am weary to bear them. 15  And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you: yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear: your hands are full of blood.

God is calling Jerusalem Sodom and Gomorrah for its sins. This is a profound insult, as you can imagine. Put your mind back in Genesis to the rain of ruin on Sodom and Gomorrah. God has likened Jerusalem to Sodom in other prophecies including one about the end of history.

Jeremiah 23:14  I have seen also in the prophets of Jerusalem an horrible thing: they commit adultery, and walk in lies: they strengthen also the hands of evildoers, that none doth return from his wickedness: they are all of them unto me as Sodom, and the inhabitants thereof as Gomorrah.

Ezekiel 16:46  And thine elder sister is Samaria, she and her daughters that dwell at thy left hand: and thy younger sister, that dwelleth at thy right hand, is Sodom and her daughters. 47  Yet hast thou not walked after their ways, nor done after their abominations: but, as if that were a very little thing, thou wast corrupted more than they in all thy ways. 48  As I live, saith the Lord GOD, Sodom thy sister hath not done, she nor her daughters, as thou hast done, thou and thy daughters.

Revelation 11:8  And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified.

They rejected the important matters of the Law given to Moses as the Scribes and Pharisees did in Jesus’ time.

Matthew 23:23  Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.

But they focused on the strictly ceremonial aspects of the Law. But God had no need of those things such as sacrifices without the proper obedience. He already possesses, owns all creatures.

Psalm 50:10  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.

He’s done with the sacrifices made by an unrepentant people.

He told them what He wanted from them.

Deuteronomy 10:12  And now, Israel, what doth the LORD thy God require of thee, but to fear the LORD thy God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him, and to serve the LORD thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul,

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?

The sacrifices He valued most were the sacrifices of obedience, mercy, praise, and thanksgiving.

1Samuel 15:22  And Samuel said, Hath the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams.

Hosea 6:6  For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.

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.

God is telling the Israelites through Isaiah that their worship, their rituals, their holy days, and solemn occasions are all a fraud, a phony and hypocritical show of false worship that the God to whom these so-called acts of worship are directed to, despises. Imagine Cain’s false religion that God rejected and the Israelites false view of religion.

For verse 15 one can think of Cain killing Abel as well as the decree by God in Genesis 9:6.

Bible Study on Matthew 17, verses 1 to 13, part 1, the mount of transfiguration

 

Matthew 17:1 ¶  And after six days Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into an high mountain apart, 2  And was transfigured before them: and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light. 3  And, behold, there appeared unto them Moses and Elias talking with him. 4  Then answered Peter, and said unto Jesus, Lord, it is good for us to be here: if thou wilt, let us make here three tabernacles; one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias. 5  While he yet spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them: and behold a voice out of the cloud, which said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him. 6  And when the disciples heard it, they fell on their face, and were sore afraid. 7  And Jesus came and touched them, and said, Arise, and be not afraid. 8  And when they had lifted up their eyes, they saw no man, save Jesus only. 9  And as they came down from the mountain, Jesus charged them, saying, Tell the vision to no man, until the Son of man be risen again from the dead. 10  And his disciples asked him, saying, Why then say the scribes that Elias must first come? 11  And Jesus answered and said unto them, Elias truly shall first come, and restore all things. 12  But I say unto you, That Elias is come already, and they knew him not, but have done unto him whatsoever they listed. Likewise shall also the Son of man suffer of them. 13  Then the disciples understood that he spake unto them of John the Baptist.

 

I think logically this is a fulfillment of verse 28 of the last chapter. The Preterist would say that Christ returned within their lifetime to rule the world but that seems sort of insane considering the way history has gone since AD70. It just seems more likely that revealing Himself in His glory to these disciples was His intention by making that statement in the last verse of the last chapter.

 

Peter, one of the witnesses, confirms this;

 

2Peter 1:16 ¶  For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty.

 

Regarding verse 2 notice some other contexts.

 

Revelation 1:14  His head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire; 15  And his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and his voice as the sound of many waters.

Christ’s face glowed like the sun shining in its power. Notice the verses regarding Moses;

Exodus 34:29  And it came to pass, when Moses came down from mount Sinai with the two tables of testimony in Moses’ hand, when he came down from the mount, that Moses wist not that the skin of his face shone while he talked with him. 30  And when Aaron and all the children of Israel saw Moses, behold, the skin of his face shone; and they were afraid to come nigh him. …33  And till Moses had done speaking with them, he put a vail on his face…35  And the children of Israel saw the face of Moses, that the skin of Moses’ face shone: and Moses put the vail upon his face again, until he went in to speak with him.

2Corinthians 3:7  But if the ministration of death, written and engraven in stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not stedfastly behold the face of Moses for the glory of his countenance; which glory was to be done away:

Moses and Elijah are there which gives us evidence as to the two witnesses in Revelation.

 

Revelation 11:3 ¶  And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth.

 

Peter, who has been forgiven the error he made in the previous chapter, wants to build three tabernacles for Jesus, Moses, and Elijah and in this context he is referring to a tent or some other kind of structure like the boughs of trees for shelter.

 

Then, verse 5 reveals a declaration from a voice in the cloud declaring the Sonship of Christ, which terrified the Apostles present. With Jesus’ touch this also ended their vision.

 

The Old Testament alludes to the Messiah’s sonship in verses that refer in context to Israel itself and then prophetically looking forward to the Messiah to come;

 

Proverbs 30:4  Who hath ascended up into heaven, or descended? who hath gathered the wind in his fists? who hath bound the waters in a garment? who hath established all the ends of the earth? what is his name, and what is his son’s name, if thou canst tell?

 

Exodus 4:22  And thou shalt say unto Pharaoh, Thus saith the LORD, Israel is my son, even my firstborn:

 

Psalms 89:27  Also I will make him my firstborn, higher than the kings of the earth.

 

Hosea 11:1  When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and called my son out of Egypt.

 

This verse in Hosea is referenced in the gospels regarding Christ;

 

Matthew 2:15  And was there until the death of Herod: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Out of Egypt have I called my son.

 

As I explained in my comments on Genesis the son of a king in the ancient world, as evidenced in many sources, came in the name of the king and for all acts and purposes was considered in authority as the king he represented. This is just as the son in an ancient family would inherit the property as well as the religion of his father.

 

Indeed, the Jews understood that for Jesus to declare Himself the Son of God made Him equal with God the Father;

 

John 5:18  Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only had broken the sabbath, but said also that God was his Father, making himself equal with God.

 

Paul would confirm;

 

Philippians 2:6  Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:

 

The Son of God, uppercase S, then is a reference to God walking in human flesh, as well, as Jesus declared that He and His father were one;

 

John 10:30  I and my Father are one.

 

And to have seen Him was to have seen the Father;

 

John 14:6  Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.7  If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him.8  Philip saith unto him, Lord, shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us. 9  Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father?

 

Indeed, Paul declares that Christ is the visible image of an invisible God.

 

Colossians 1:15  Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:

 

Hebrews 1:3  Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;

 

And remember He is said to be the true God as I interpret this verse;

 

1 John 5:20  And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life.

Bible Study on Genesis 47, verses 27 to 31, And Israel dwelt in the land of Egypt

 

Genesis 47:27 ¶  And Israel dwelt in the land of Egypt, in the country of Goshen; and they had possessions therein, and grew, and multiplied exceedingly. 28  And Jacob lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years: so the whole age of Jacob was an hundred forty and seven years. 29  And the time drew nigh that Israel must die: and he called his son Joseph, and said unto him, If now I have found grace in thy sight, put, I pray thee, thy hand under my thigh, and deal kindly and truly with me; bury me not, I pray thee, in Egypt: 30  But I will lie with my fathers, and thou shalt carry me out of Egypt, and bury me in their buryingplace. And he said, I will do as thou hast said. 31  And he said, Swear unto me. And he sware unto him. And Israel bowed himself upon the bed’s head.

We find another reference to the cultural practice of putting a hand under someone’s thigh to declare an oath. Abraham made his servant swear an oath that he would get Isaac a voluntary bride from his own people.

Genesis 24:2  And Abraham said unto his eldest servant of his house, that ruled over all that he had, Put, I pray thee, thy hand under my thigh…9  And the servant put his hand under the thigh of Abraham his master, and sware to him concerning that matter.

Now, I daresay that none of you who are of a sound mind regard this as a requirement for you to be holy that you place your hand under someone’s thigh to make a promise. If it is not in your cultural frame of reference you pass over this like you would a verse number or a word you don’t know and are too lazy to cross-reference or look up elsewhere. So, for cultural practices that we know have an historical reason, we are not required, as a matter of holiness, to practice. For instance, in 1Corinthians 11 Paul tells them to follow the instructions he has given them and adds a but to include a practice of their own. He agrees with them that their women should have long hair while at the end of the brief argument he admits that it is not required practice in churches elsewhere.

1Corinthians 11:1 ¶  Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ. 2  Now I praise you, brethren, that ye remember me in all things, and keep the ordinances, as I delivered them to you. 3  But I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God. 4  Every man praying or prophesying, having his head covered, dishonoureth his head. 5  But every woman that prayeth or prophesieth with her head uncovered dishonoureth her head: for that is even all one as if she were shaven. 6  For if the woman be not covered, let her also be shorn: but if it be a shame for a woman to be shorn or shaven, let her be covered. 7  For a man indeed ought not to cover his head, forasmuch as he is the image and glory of God: but the woman is the glory of the man. 8  For the man is not of the woman; but the woman of the man. 9  Neither was the man created for the woman; but the woman for the man. 10  For this cause ought the woman to have power on her head because of the angels. 11  Nevertheless neither is the man without the woman, neither the woman without the man, in the Lord. 12  For as the woman is of the man, even so is the man also by the woman; but all things of God. 13  Judge in yourselves: is it comely that a woman pray unto God uncovered? 14  Doth not even nature itself teach you, that, if a man have long hair, it is a shame unto him? 15  But if a woman have long hair, it is a glory to her: for her hair is given her for a covering. 16  But if any man seem to be contentious, we have no such custom, neither the churches of God. (Neither means roughly ‘not even’ in Paul’s letters.)

From history we know that at Acrocorinth, the acropolis of ancient Corinth, called Upper Corinth, stood the Temple of Aphrodite, the goddess of sexual love, among other related things. There were a thousand short-haired prostitutes working there that men would enjoy sexually being the devoutly religious people they were. That was sarcasm, by the way. There was even a school for prostitution there. It would not do, obviously, for a woman of Corinth’s church to be mistaken for a prostitute, a priestess of Aphrodite. So, you have a conviction that you should have long hair as I have a conviction that I should wear a suit when I teach Sunday School. Don’t impose it on others. Remember that the time you are honoring with your long hair, when you feel Christians were just and right, the late 1800s, they believed that not wearing it up, letting your hair hang down around your shoulders, was sexually suggestive and scandalous just as my business suit bought off the rack at a department store would have had a whole different meaning in the early church. They were laborers and slaves and would have worn their shabby work clothes to a meeting of the church and then gone off to work. We must be careful about cultural practices becoming dogma.

In the same regard the letters of Paul call for the members of the church to give each other a holy kiss. That is not something we do in our culture in America typically. Nor do we feel less close to God because we don’t. It is not our cultural practice and Paul commanding it of the Roman church, the Corinthian church, and the Thessalonian church and we not doing it doesn’t bother us one bit.

Be careful about standards that other people set for you or as a Christian recently lamented on Facebook, “Don’t judge me for not believing something the Bible did not say.” Cultural practices in the Bible are not moral requirements, funnymentalist insistence aside.

Bible Study on Matthew 16, verses 24 to 28, they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom

 

Matthew 16:24 ¶  Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. 25  For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it. 26  For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? 27  For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works. 28  Verily I say unto you, There be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom.

 

Christ then lays out, after rebuking Peter, the most basic demands made on His disciples. They were clearly looking at things from too temporal and too worldly a perspective. The true Christian must deny himself; his sin, his ungodliness, his worldliness, even his own righteousness.

 

1John 2:15  Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16  For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. 17  And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.

 

The Christian must not seek worldly wealth but focus on treasure in heaven.

 

Matthew 6:19 ¶  Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: 20  But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: 21  For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

 

The Encyclopedia Britannica online notes that crucifixion, the reference to the cross, was not used first by the Romans. But the Persians, the Carthaginians, and the Seleucids also used that horrific form of execution.[1] The point here is that the suffering and persecution Christ’s followers faced was something they should embrace as a badge of their obedience to Him, following their rejection of the demands that Self makes or rather putting God first over Self. The third step after denying one’s self and taking up one’s cross of persecution and suffering, is to openly follow Christ.

 

If a man or a woman tries to save themselves by pursuit of the approval of mankind, the pursuit of sin, the pursuit of worldliness, the exaltation of their self apart from God they will lose that life they hold most precious in eternity. But whomever dies in the service of Christ will ensure their life everlasting with Him in eternity.

 

Remember Matthew 10:38,39 as the disciples were sent out on a perilous mission?

 

Matthew 10:38  And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me. 39  He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it.

 

Consider this in Revelation.

 

Revelation 12:11  And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.

 

What good would it do us get everything this world had to offer; pleasure, success, wealth, and power and then lose our souls in eternity? What is something so valuable in this world, in this finite life that is receding from you every moment that is worth your eternal soul?

 

Verse 27 is one of those verses that gives a broad explanation of something that is described elsewhere in more detail. Notice how the following in Revelation depicts the end of history in general terms while the rest of Revelation is more specific as to events.

 

Revelation 11:18  And the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that thou shouldest give reward unto thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear thy name, small and great; and shouldest destroy them which destroy the earth.

 

Now notice these references later in Matthew;

 

Matthew 24:30  And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.

 

Matthew 25:31 ¶  When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory:

 

Matthew 26:64  Jesus saith unto him, Thou hast said: nevertheless I say unto you, Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven.

 

Verse 27 speaks of Christ’s return in the glory of God the Father with His angels. Verse 28, though, speaks of those standing with Him who will see Him coming in His kingdom, which is clearly a reference to what happens in chapter 17. He says that He will return with His angels to judge the world and that, truthfully, there are disciples standing there who will see Him in His glorified state.

 

So, in chapter 16, Jesus begins at Caesarea Philippi with a question for His disciples. Who do men say that I, the Messiah, am? Then He expounds on His coming Crucifixion and Resurrection, which Peter objects to, and which requires a rebuke from Christ. Christ then goes on to explain the level of commitment a disciple of His will need in the coming years. He reveals His inevitable return to judge the world and then says that selected disciples will see Him as He is in His kingdom. This will happen next.

---

[1] Encyclopedia Britannica online, “crucifixion; capital punishment,” https://www.britannica.com/topic/cross-religious-symbol (accessed 4.24.2023).