Bible Study on Acts 15, verses 22 to 41, telling them to avoid the pollution of the pagan world

 

Acts 15:22 ¶  Then pleased it the apostles and elders, with the whole church, to send chosen men of their own company to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas; namely, Judas surnamed Barsabas, and Silas, chief men among the brethren: 23  And they wrote letters by them after this manner; The apostles and elders and brethren send greeting unto the brethren which are of the Gentiles in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia: 24  Forasmuch as we have heard, that certain which went out from us have troubled you with words, subverting your souls, saying, Ye must be circumcised, and keep the law: to whom we gave no such commandment: 25  It seemed good unto us, being assembled with one accord, to send chosen men unto you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, 26  Men that have hazarded their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. 27  We have sent therefore Judas and Silas, who shall also tell you the same things by mouth. 28  For it seemed good to the Holy Ghost, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things; 29  That ye abstain from meats offered to idols, and from blood, and from things strangled, and from fornication: from which if ye keep yourselves, ye shall do well. Fare ye well. 30  So when they were dismissed, they came to Antioch: and when they had gathered the multitude together, they delivered the epistle: 31  Which when they had read, they rejoiced for the consolation. 32  And Judas and Silas, being prophets also themselves, exhorted the brethren with many words, and confirmed them. 33  And after they had tarried there a space, they were let go in peace from the brethren unto the apostles. 34  Notwithstanding it pleased Silas to abide there still. 35  Paul also and Barnabas continued in Antioch, teaching and preaching the word of the Lord, with many others also.

 

The elders and the church are pleased and send letters by Paul, Barnabas, and Silas and Judas Barsabas to the churches in Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia. The burden is simple, to avoid the pollution that comes from worshipping the pagan gods of Greece, Rome, and the rest of the ancient world. Abstaining from food offered to idols, from blood, things strangled, and from the ritual fornication commonplace as explained previously. These tokens of worship in the Graeco-Roman world were to be avoided and, as I said, Paul will go in to much detail about why they should not do these things in the letters to the Corinthians.

 

Acts 15:36 ¶  And some days after Paul said unto Barnabas, Let us go again and visit our brethren in every city where we have preached the word of the Lord, and see how they do. 37  And Barnabas determined to take with them John, whose surname was Mark. 38  But Paul thought not good to take him with them, who departed from them from Pamphylia, and went not with them to the work. 39  And the contention was so sharp between them, that they departed asunder one from the other: and so Barnabas took Mark, and sailed unto Cyprus; 40  And Paul chose Silas, and departed, being recommended by the brethren unto the grace of God. 41  And he went through Syria and Cilicia, confirming the churches.

 

With these clarified directives from the apostles and elders at Jerusalem Paul wants Barnabas to go with him to revisit the churches they had established in every city to see the state of their affairs. One thing that struck me here is that we should not leave our children in the street. Christianity is not a hit-and-run effort. When you witness to someone and they have trusted in Christ you should have their name and a way to communicate with them. Discipling them is your responsibility or should be a consideration. Others might do the work as God often uses multiple people to work on one person’s salvation and sanctification you have not “done your job” by praying a prayer with someone and then leaving them to Satan’s devices. It is a good lesson for us.

 

Barnabas wanted to take John Mark but Paul would not have that due to John Mark leaving their journeys back in 13:13. This point of contention between the two pioneers of the gospel was very sharp as it says, so they split up. Paul took Silas and Barnabas took Mark. Paul the authoritarian and Barnabas, the son of consolation, reveal their character in this incident.

Bible Study on Exodus 20, verses 12 to 17, to want something that is not yours

 

Coveting something that belongs to someone else is the foundation of stealing. Coveting is also a type of idolatry.

Colossians 3:5  Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry:

We have built a very successful culture in America based on coveting. We are never to be satisfied with what we have but to always want more. It is not surprising that the “more” that people of weak or bad character want belongs to someone else. Paul warns us of the dangers.

1Timothy 6:6 ¶  But godliness with contentment is great gain. 7  For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. 8  And having food and raiment let us be therewith content. 9  But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition. 10  For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.

This links these commandments together in many ways. Coveting and stealing of the affections of another person’s spouse is theft. In this verse defraud is to rob in context when an employer doesn’t pay you that day for the work you did that day.

Leviticus 19:13  Thou shalt not defraud thy neighbour, neither rob him: the wages of him that is hired shall not abide with thee all night until the morning.

And here, in the following passage, it refers to adultery and fornication in defrauding someone.

1Thessalonians 4:1 ¶  Furthermore then we beseech you, brethren, and exhort you by the Lord Jesus, that as ye have received of us how ye ought to walk and to please God, so ye would abound more and more. 2  For ye know what commandments we gave you by the Lord Jesus. 3  For this is the will of God, even your sanctification, that ye should abstain from fornication: 4  That every one of you should know how to possess his vessel in sanctification and honour; 5  Not in the lust of concupiscence, even as the Gentiles which know not God: 6  That no man go beyond and defraud his brother in any matter: because that the Lord is the avenger of all such, as we also have forewarned you and testified. 7  For God hath not called us unto uncleanness, but unto holiness. 8  He therefore that despiseth, despiseth not man, but God, who hath also given unto us his holy Spirit.

Ethics are the standards we ascribe to if we are civilized and morals are our real and everyday actions. If our ethics are no higher than our morals we are a pretty sad lot. These commandments are God’s ethical standard for the Hebrew society, the culture, to live by. They are as true or even more true than any so-called laws of physics. The violation of these commandments almost invariably causes awful consequences. As if you deny that gravity applies to you may result in your breaking a leg of worse if you jump off the roof so stealing, lying, and sexual immorality lead to certain dismal consequences almost all of the time. Someone not being hurt jumping out of a tree does not make gravity a lie any more than someone committing adultery and no one finding out except God makes the commandment false. The damage done sometimes takes years to bear fruit. But you can be certain it will. As preachers say, sin will take you further than you want to go, make you stay longer than you want to stay, and make you pay more than you want to pay. And, to violate one of these commandments is to violate all of them.

James 2:10  For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.

The Ten Commandments are vitally important to understanding the history of Christian nations and terribly important for you to regard in your life. Of course, our inability to keep God’s law is one of the reasons we need Christ so badly and to depend on His righteousness and not our own. If you depended on your righteousness to gain eternal life with God you would be sorely disappointed in your failure.

Bible Study on Acts 15, verses 6 to 21, rules for the Gentile believers, part 2

 

Unlike modern fundamentalist preachers and the replacement theology of the Catholic and Protestant and Orthodox churches we Gentiles did not have many restrictions placed on us. What is given to the Gentile believers in this passage would probably be appalling to the modern preacher who likes to place burden after burden on the Christian to prove his or her spiritual state.

 

First, Gentile Christians were to avoid pollutions from idols. This is explained in the next passage as regarding eating things offered to idols. Paul goes into great detail about this in the first letter to the Corinthians, chapter 8. In the context we are talking about physical, literal idols. Although a modern preacher might talk about our idols as referring to our job, entertainment, or other things this is not about that. This is about the idols found in temples and a Christian mingling worship of God with worship of idols. I will go into more detail in my comments on the letters to the Corinthians.

 

Fornication here is not merely being sexually constant with a spouse although it does contain that meaning. There is the fornication that can occur with adultery and the fornication that can happen with temple prostitutes as in the temple of Aphrodite or Venus in Corinth. First, what is fornication. From the Greek word which gives us the English word pornography, fornication is linked synonymously with adultery.

 

Matthew 19:9  And I say unto you, Whosoever shall put away his wife, except it be for fornication, and shall marry another, committeth adultery: and whoso marrieth her which is put away doth commit adultery.

 

1Corinthians 5:1  It is reported commonly that there is fornication among you, and such fornication as is not so much as named among the Gentiles, that one should have his father’s wife.

 

1Corinthians 7:1 ¶  Now concerning the things whereof ye wrote unto me: It is good for a man not to touch a woman. 2  Nevertheless, to avoid fornication, let every man have his own wife, and let every woman have her own husband. 3  Let the husband render unto the wife due benevolence: and likewise also the wife unto the husband. 4  The wife hath not power of her own body, but the husband: and likewise also the husband hath not power of his own body, but the wife. 5  Defraud ye not one the other, except it be with consent for a time, that ye may give yourselves to fasting and prayer; and come together again, that Satan tempt you not for your incontinency.

 

This sexual sin extends to religious practices in the ancient world. This was a grave danger to Christians in the pagan world as I will discuss my comments on the Corinthian letters. Rising above Corinth was Acrocorinth, or Upper Corinth. It is the acropolis of ancient Corinth, a monolithic rock rising above.

 

Now the city of Corinth was known not only for the most expensive and skilled prostitutes in the Greek world but also the temple prostitution, common throughout the ancient world, of the cult of Aphrodite in her temple on Acrocorinth. Aphrodite, who was also Venus, Astarte, and Ishtar or the many other names listed in the Bible for her had, it is said, a thousand temple prostitutes with short hair or shaved heads servicing the devoutly religious pagan men of the city and pious visitors. We’ve already discussed how prevalent ritual prostitution, both hetero and homosexual, was in the ancient world. This is often disputed in scholarly circles with some saying that temple prostitution has been overemphasized. However, we have the context from the Old Testament of how prevalent the practice of ritual prostitution was.

 

Fornication, having sexual intercourse with someone who is not your lawful spouse in the eyes of the God of the Bible, is condemned by Him.

 

Aphrodite had her temple. I’ve read that the second most exalted temple in ancient Babylon to Ishtar, goddess of immigrants and prostitutes and freedom, who sits in New York Harbor under the guise of Lady Liberty, a statue patterned after one to the Egyptian version of Ishtar, Isis, was called the “White House” or “Shining House”.

 

Animals which were strangled would not have the blood properly removed from them, which is the interpretation used by most commentators. But consider the context. Pollution from idols, eating things offered to idols, is the first proscription. So, now we are in the realm of heathen worship. Then comes mention of fornication, which we do note as practiced in rites of certain goddesses. Keeping in the context of pagan worship we have things strangled and from writers like the Greek historian, Herodotus, we know that certain tribes practiced ritual strangulation in some of their ceremonies. We then come to the forbidding of eating blood which is banned before the Law;

 

Genesis 9:4  But flesh with the life thereof, which is the blood thereof, shall ye not eat.

 

Under the Law given to Moses;

 

Deuteronomy 12:23  Only be sure that thou eat not the blood: for the blood is the life; and thou mayest not eat the life with the flesh.

 

And, of course, here. Drinking blood was commonplace among many religions of the ancient world including Egypt just as it is a practice in witchcraft.

 

Psalm 16:4  Their sorrows shall be multiplied that hasten after another god: their drink offerings of blood will I not offer, nor take up their names into my lips.

 

So, taking these admonitions to the Gentiles in context it is at least arguable that they were from more a desire to keep Gentile Christians from the pollution of pagan worship than from a desire to make them a little Jewish. These forbidden practices defined ancient religion in its expression. Paul will go into more detail in Corinthians.

 

Matthew Henry wrote that verse 21 suggests that they would not try change the Jews who heard the Law read often and were used to its observance. There was liberty shown to the Gentiles and there was moderation in dealing with the observances of the Jews in honoring God.

A Psalm for Sunday, Psalm 78, verses 9 to 39, But he, being full of compassion, forgave their iniquity

 

Psalm 78:9 ¶  The children of Ephraim, being armed, and carrying bows, turned back in the day of battle. 10  They kept not the covenant of God, and refused to walk in his law; 11  And forgat his works, and his wonders that he had shewed them. 12  Marvellous things did he in the sight of their fathers, in the land of Egypt, in the field of Zoan. 13  He divided the sea, and caused them to pass through; and he made the waters to stand as an heap. 14  In the daytime also he led them with a cloud, and all the night with a light of fire. 15  He clave the rocks in the wilderness, and gave them drink as out of the great depths. 16  He brought streams also out of the rock, and caused waters to run down like rivers. 17  And they sinned yet more against him by provoking the most High in the wilderness. 18  And they tempted God in their heart by asking meat for their lust. 19  Yea, they spake against God; they said, Can God furnish a table in the wilderness? 20  Behold, he smote the rock, that the waters gushed out, and the streams overflowed; can he give bread also? can he provide flesh for his people? 21  Therefore the LORD heard this, and was wroth: so a fire was kindled against Jacob, and anger also came up against Israel; 22  Because they believed not in God, and trusted not in his salvation: 23  Though he had commanded the clouds from above, and opened the doors of heaven, 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. 26  He caused an east wind to blow in the heaven: and by his power he brought in the south wind. 27  He rained flesh also upon them as dust, and feathered fowls like as the sand of the sea: 28  And he let it fall in the midst of their camp, round about their habitations. 29  So they did eat, and were well filled: for he gave them their own desire; 30  They were not estranged from their lust. But while their meat was yet in their mouths, 31  The wrath of God came upon them, and slew the fattest of them, and smote down the chosen men of Israel. 32  For all this they sinned still, and believed not for his wondrous works. 33  Therefore their days did he consume in vanity, and their years in trouble. 34  When he slew them, then they sought him: and they returned and enquired early after God. 35  And they remembered that God was their rock, and the high God their redeemer. 36  Nevertheless they did flatter him with their mouth, and they lied unto him with their tongues. 37  For their heart was not right with him, neither were they stedfast in his covenant. 38  But he, being full of compassion, forgave their iniquity, and destroyed them not: yea, many a time turned he his anger away, and did not stir up all his wrath. 39  For he remembered that they were but flesh; a wind that passeth away, and cometh not again.

 

He now speaks about Israel’s unfaithfulness in his warning to this present generation. The reference to Ephraim retreating in the day of battle, according to some commentators, may refer to the time of the priest, Eli, and the loss of the Ark to the Philistines. See 1Samuel 4. Others say it was when Jephthah and the Gileadites fought against Ephraim. See Judges 12:1-6.

 

As Ephraim fled from battle so did the Israelites turn back from following the Laws of God. The amazing things that God did for Israel and to Israel as recounted in Exodus and further in the books of the law, in Joshua, and Judges are summarized here. Yet, in spite of their unfaithfulness God was merciful to them many times because He acknowledge that they were, after all, only weak flesh and blood creatures. This gives us one way of looking at God’s mercy on wicked humanity in general. He knows we are weak, stupid, fickle, and unsteady in our ways and that, as Jeremiah noted, our hearts are deceitful and wicked and we cannot direct our own steps.

 

Psalm 103:14  For he knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust. 15  As for man, his days are as grass: as a flower of the field, so he flourisheth. 16  For the wind passeth over it, and it is gone; and the place thereof shall know it no more.

 

If we older Christians are honest we too can remember the great things God has done for us in our lives, remember the times we doubted and were unfaithful, and remember God’s mercy on us, weak and double-minded as we can often be.

 

Manna’s spiritual nature here is reinforced by calling it angel’s food. There isn’t enough evidence for the conjecture that spiritual beings eat manna but it is an interesting thought. The implication can just be that it was supernatural food.

Bible Study on Acts 15, verses 6 to 21, rules for the Gentile believers

 

Acts 15:6 ¶  And the apostles and elders came together for to consider of this matter. 7  And when there had been much disputing, Peter rose up, and said unto them, Men and brethren, ye know how that a good while ago God made choice among us, that the Gentiles by my mouth should hear the word of the gospel, and believe. 8  And God, which knoweth the hearts, bare them witness, giving them the Holy Ghost, even as he did unto us; 9  And put no difference between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith. 10  Now therefore why tempt ye God, to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear? 11  But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved, even as they. 12  Then all the multitude kept silence, and gave audience to Barnabas and Paul, declaring what miracles and wonders God had wrought among the Gentiles by them. 13  And after they had held their peace, James answered, saying, Men and brethren, hearken unto me: 14  Simeon hath declared how God at the first did visit the Gentiles, to take out of them a people for his name. 15  And to this agree the words of the prophets; as it is written, 16  After this I will return, and will build again the tabernacle of David, which is fallen down; and I will build again the ruins thereof, and I will set it up: 17  That the residue of men might seek after the Lord, and all the Gentiles, upon whom my name is called, saith the Lord, who doeth all these things. 18  Known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the world. 19  Wherefore my sentence is, that we trouble not them, which from among the Gentiles are turned to God: 20  But that we write unto them, that they abstain from pollutions of idols, and from fornication, and from things strangled, and from blood. 21  For Moses of old time hath in every city them that preach him, being read in the synagogues every sabbath day.

 

Interestingly, Peter gives us the order of salvation which can be very confusing by events earlier in Acts as I previously noted. The Gentiles hear the word and believe and then God gives them the Holy Ghost. There is no mention made of baptism as a requirement for salvation. Of course, here Peter claims that he is the minister to the Gentiles. Paul also says this.

 

Romans 15:16  That I should be the minister of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles, ministering the gospel of God, that the offering up of the Gentiles might be acceptable, being sanctified by the Holy Ghost.

 

Galatians 2:7  But contrariwise, when they saw that the gospel of the uncircumcision was committed unto me, as the gospel of the circumcision was unto Peter; 8  (For he that wrought effectually in Peter to the apostleship of the circumcision, the same was mighty in me toward the Gentiles:)

 

And while Peter did experience a notable conversion of the Roman in Acts 10 he will go on to minister to the Jews in the ancient city of Babylon where Jews were plentiful.

 

1Peter 5:13  The church that is at Babylon, elected together with you, saluteth you; and so doth Marcus my son.

 

It is here that the Babylonian Talmud, the central text of Rabbinic Judaism, will come from around 200AD. It is a combination of writings and oral law that sets the stage for and is the foundation of Judaism from the 6^th century AD onwards.

 

Verse 9 shows the error of thinking that the Jews are saved differently than the Gentiles. There is no difference between us now.

 

Peter recommends a light load be placed on the Gentiles even though Paul will accuse him of hypocrisy later.

 

Galatians 2:11 ¶  But when Peter was come to Antioch, I withstood him to the face, because he was to be blamed. 12  For before that certain came from James, he did eat with the Gentiles: but when they were come, he withdrew and separated himself, fearing them which were of the circumcision. 13  And the other Jews dissembled likewise with him; insomuch that Barnabas also was carried away with their dissimulation. 14  But when I saw that they walked not uprightly according to the truth of  the gospel, I said unto Peter before them all, If thou, being a Jew, livest after the manner of Gentiles, and not as do the Jews, why compellest thou the Gentiles to live as do the Jews? 15  We who are Jews by nature, and not sinners of the Gentiles, 16  Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.

 

From the last two passages we can see how both Paul and Peter came to a greater understanding of the difference between the Jew before Christ and the Jew and Gentile after Christ.  

 

Contrast verse 10 regarding the weight of the law with Christ’s promise of the lightness of the burden we bear because of Him.

 

Matthew 11:29  Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.

 

If your Christian faith is an immense burden on you filling you with anger, bitterness, bigotry, hatred both of yourself and others, and a fear of never measuring up then it is not of Christ.

 

Verse 11 says that by the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we are saved. Paul notes elsewhere.

 

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.

 

Note in verse 14 James calls Simon Peter Simeon. Strong’s says the Greek version of the name Simeon is derived from Simon.

 

Verse 16 refers to the following from a different context;

 

Amos 9:11 ¶  In that day will I raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen, and close up the breaches thereof; and I will raise up his ruins, and I will build it as in the days of old:

 

With the thought in verse 17 being interesting as a residue is what is left over. So consider the end times as well in this passage. But there are several verses that contain a similar thought about the Gentiles seeking after the Lord. Here is an example. Look for others.

 

Psalm 22:27  All the ends of the world shall remember and turn unto the LORD: and all the kindreds of the nations shall worship before thee.

 

However, note the figurative message in this passage likening the gospel message to rebuilding the tabernacle of David, curious enough as David did not build the temple and there was a temple finished by Herod that stood at that time. So what can you and I take from this? There is a different kind of temple being taught here, a true temple of God within the heart of the believer.

 

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

 

Contrast that with Paul speaking of a physical temple in 2Thessalonians 2:4 which will exist at the end of history long after the one he knew was destroyed by the Romans and the physical temple in Revelation, chapter 11. This might lead Evangelical expositors to say that the reference here in Acts 15:16 is a prophecy of the temple to come, a millennial prophecy, but I don’t believe the text warrants that as easily as it does make reference our temple of the spirit being the rebuilt tabernacle of David.

 

As Paul’s writings make it clear that there will be another physical temple and also that our spirit is God’s temple now we can easily see that both interpretations are true based on their context. There will be another physical temple just as there already is a spiritual temple within the believer.

 

Bible Study on Isaiah 5, verses 18 to 30, Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil

 

Isaiah 5:18 ¶  Woe unto them that draw iniquity with cords of vanity, and sin as it were with a cart rope: 19  That say, Let him make speed, and hasten his work, that we may see it: and let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel draw nigh and come, that we may know it! 20  Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! 21  Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight! 22  Woe unto them that are mighty to drink wine, and men of strength to mingle strong drink: 23  Which justify the wicked for reward, and take away the righteousness of the righteous from him! 24  Therefore as the fire devoureth the stubble, and the flame consumeth the chaff, so their root shall be as rottenness, and their blossom shall go up as dust: because they have cast away the law of the LORD of hosts, and despised the word of the Holy One of Israel. 25  Therefore is the anger of the LORD kindled against his people, and he hath stretched forth his hand against them, and hath smitten them: and the hills did tremble, and their carcases were torn in the midst of the streets. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still. 26  And he will lift up an ensign to the nations from far, and will hiss unto them from the end of the earth: and, behold, they shall come with speed swiftly: 27  None shall be weary nor stumble among them; none shall slumber nor sleep; neither shall the girdle of their loins be loosed, nor the latchet of their shoes be broken: 28  Whose arrows are sharp, and all their bows bent, their horses’ hoofs shall be counted like flint, and their wheels like a whirlwind: 29  Their roaring shall be like a lion, they shall roar like young lions: yea, they shall roar, and lay hold of the prey, and shall carry it away safe, and none shall deliver it. 30  And in that day they shall roar against them like the roaring of the sea: and if one look unto the land, behold darkness and sorrow, and the light is darkened in the heavens thereof.

 

Continuing with his condemnation, Isaiah writes of the wicked pulling their burden of sin with ropes of vanity, their own self-presumption. It is deliberate, what they are doing, and not by accident. The picture is of someone pulling a cart filled with their iniquity which they have willingly placed in it. It is their own. They strain and pull as fast as they can and defy the God of Israel to judge them. They not only are perverse themselves but want to corrupt the righteous.

 

Romans 1:32  Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.

 

Because they hold God in contempt, He will judge them and destroy them. He will use other nations, Israel’s enemies, to do this work of judgment. It will be awful and they will be unstoppable.

 

Drunks and reprobates they are. They also call good evil and evil good and are self-righteous in their self-conceit, much like the present day supporter of communism, collectivism in Western nations who regards suicidal empathy as a virtue and care nothing for what the God who created them has ordained. All of their views of right and wrong are purely subjective and all ethics are situational. God is not a part of their decisions.

 

Malachi 2:17  Ye have wearied the LORD with your words. Yet ye say, Wherein have we wearied him? When ye say, Every one that doeth evil is good in the sight of the LORD, and he delighteth in them; or, Where is the God of judgment?

 

2Peter 2:18  For when they speak great swelling words of vanity, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through much wantonness, those that were clean escaped from them who live in error.

2Kings 13, brief comments

 

2Kings 13:1 ¶  In the three and twentieth year of Joash the son of Ahaziah king of Judah Jehoahaz the son of Jehu began to reign over Israel in Samaria, and reigned seventeen years. 2  And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, and followed the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, which made Israel to sin; he departed not therefrom. 3  And the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel, and he delivered them into the hand of Hazael king of Syria, and into the hand of Benhadad the son of Hazael, all their days. 4  And Jehoahaz besought the LORD, and the LORD hearkened unto him: for he saw the oppression of Israel, because the king of Syria oppressed them. 5  (And the LORD gave Israel a saviour, so that they went out from under the hand of the Syrians: and the children of Israel dwelt in their tents, as beforetime. 6  Nevertheless they departed not from the sins of the house of Jeroboam, who made Israel sin, but walked therein: and there remained the grove also in Samaria.) 7  Neither did he leave of the people to Jehoahaz but fifty horsemen, and ten chariots, and ten thousand footmen; for the king of Syria had destroyed them, and had made them like the dust by threshing. 8  Now the rest of the acts of Jehoahaz, and all that he did, and his might, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel? 9  And Jehoahaz slept with his fathers; and they buried him in Samaria: and Joash his son reigned in his stead.

 

Jehu’s son, Jehoahaz, begins to reign over Israel from Samaria. He was an evil king who continued the practices of Jeroboam in causing Israel to commit idolatry. As a result God allowed King Hazael of Syria through his son, Benhadad, to oppress and control them.

 

Jehoahaz pleaded for God’s deliverance and God sent them a saviour to deliver them from the Syrians giving Israel peace for a time. We’ll see in verse 25 that this saviour was Jehoahaz’s son, Jehoash aka Joash. But they did not stop their sins against God. God had reduced Jehoahaz’s strength to an amount so negligible that he was practically defenseless against his enemies.

 

2Kings 13:10 ¶  In the thirty and seventh year of Joash king of Judah began Jehoash the son of Jehoahaz to reign over Israel in Samaria, and reigned sixteen years. 11  And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD; he departed not from all the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel sin: but he walked therein. 12  And the rest of the acts of Joash, and all that he did, and his might wherewith he fought against Amaziah king of Judah, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel? 13  And Joash slept with his fathers; and Jeroboam sat upon his throne: and Joash was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel. 14  Now Elisha was fallen sick of his sickness whereof he died. And Joash the king of Israel came down unto him, and wept over his face, and said, O my father, my father, the chariot of Israel, and the horsemen thereof. 15  And Elisha said unto him, Take bow and arrows. And he took unto him bow and arrows. 16  And he said to the king of Israel, Put thine hand upon the bow. And he put his hand upon it: and Elisha put his hands upon the king’s hands. 17  And he said, Open the window eastward. And he opened it. Then Elisha said, Shoot. And he shot. And he said, The arrow of the LORD’S deliverance, and the arrow of deliverance from Syria: for thou shalt smite the Syrians in Aphek, till thou have consumed them. 18  And he said, Take the arrows. And he took them. And he said unto the king of Israel, Smite upon the ground. And he smote thrice, and stayed. 19  And the man of God was wroth with him, and said, Thou shouldest have smitten five or six times; then hadst thou smitten Syria till thou hadst consumed it: whereas now thou shalt smite Syria but thrice.

 

Jehoash/Joash, King of Israel, was a wicked king. He fought against Amaziah, King of Judah. We’ll discuss that in the comments on 2Chronicles 25.

 

What is important here is that Elisha is going to die and Joash’s lack of resolve is revealed in this incident and the incompleteness and insufficiency of his success against the King of Syria is foretold.

 

Elisha is sick and in spite of him being God’s man, His prophet, Elisha is going to go the way all of us will go.

 

2Kings 13:20 ¶  And Elisha died, and they buried him. And the bands of the Moabites invaded the land at the coming in of the year. 21  And it came to pass, as they were burying a man, that, behold, they spied a band of men; and they cast the man into the sepulchre of Elisha: and when the man was let down, and touched the bones of Elisha, he revived, and stood up on his feet. 22  But Hazael king of Syria oppressed Israel all the days of Jehoahaz. 23  And the LORD was gracious unto them, and had compassion on them, and had respect unto them, because of his covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and would not destroy them, neither cast he them from his presence as yet. 24  So Hazael king of Syria died; and Benhadad his son reigned in his stead. 25  And Jehoash the son of Jehoahaz took again out of the hand of Benhadad the son of Hazael the cities, which he had taken out of the hand of Jehoahaz his father by war. Three times did Joash beat him, and recovered the cities of Israel.

 

It is an interesting miracle here where God allows a man being buried to be resurrected from the dead even though he is probably not a Jew but a Moabite. This then is clearly God setting an example of blessing the bones of Elisha to further underscore his anointing as God’s man for future generations and readers to see how important Elisha was. Joash did defeat the Syrians three times as per the number of arrows he shot forth under Elisha’s direction. He could have been more victorious if he had had it in him to do so.