Bible Study on Romans 1, verses 1 to 7, part 2, the nature of God

 

God is composed of three parts, as man and woman are; a body, a soul, and a spirit.

1Thessalonians 5:23  And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

God has a soul, the seat of self-identity and will.

Psalm 11:5  The LORD trieth the righteous: but the wicked and him that loveth violence his soul hateth.

This is God the Father, sometimes referred to just as God in the New Testament. He is invisible to us. As John says in John 1:18 and in 1John 4:12 no one has seen God, presumably God the Father, at any time. Every act of God’s will originates with Him.

God has a Spirit, how He moves throughout creation and acts on it and in it.

Genesis 1:2  And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.

Romans 8:9  But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you.

This Spirit is called the Holy Ghost, the Comforter.

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

John 14:16  And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; 17  Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you…26  But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.

The Holy Spirit in its function, the Holy Ghost in His identity, is the mind of God and also God.

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.

 

God not only has a soul and a mind but has a body, His person, whom man can see, and has even touched, is God in the flesh, called the Son of God.

Hebrews 1:1 ¶  God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, 2  Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds; 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;

Colossians 1: 13  Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son:14  In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins: 15  Who is the image of the invisible God…

Of course, an image is the likeness of someone, what he looks like.

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.

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:

Exodus 20:4  Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth:

(Refer back to these verses when someone insists that the image of God is man’s ability to discern between good and evil, which is nonsense, as Adam was made in the image of God but did not taste of the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil until he fell).

Jesus Christ is also the Word by which all things were created. Read the first 18 verses of the Gospel According to John. God’s mind formed creation and God’s Word spoke it into existence, bringing forth the light, which He is.

Genesis 1:3 ¶  And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.

One stark difference between man and God is that God’s three parts can act independently of each other and still be one God.

Deuteronomy 6:4  Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD:

Mark 12:29  And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord:

Matthew 28:19  Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:

2Corinthians 13:14  The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all. Amen.

1John 5:7  For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.

Bible Study on Exodus 27, verses 9 to 21, an eternal flame

 

Exodus 27:9 ¶  And thou shalt make the court of the tabernacle: for the south side southward there shall be hangings for the court of fine twined linen of an hundred cubits long for one side: 10  And the twenty pillars thereof and their twenty sockets shall be of brass; the hooks of the pillars and their fillets shall be of silver. 11  And likewise for the north side in length there shall be hangings of an hundred cubits long, and his twenty pillars and their twenty sockets of brass; the hooks of the pillars and their fillets of silver. 12  And for the breadth of the court on the west side shall be hangings of fifty cubits: their pillars ten, and their sockets ten. 13  And the breadth of the court on the east side eastward shall be fifty cubits. 14  The hangings of one side of the gate shall be fifteen cubits: their pillars three, and their sockets three. 15  And on the other side shall be hangings fifteen cubits: their pillars three, and their sockets three. 16  And for the gate of the court shall be an hanging of twenty cubits, of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen, wrought with needlework: and their pillars shall be four, and their sockets four. 17  All the pillars round about the court shall be filleted with silver; their hooks shall be of silver, and their sockets of brass. 18  The length of the court shall be an hundred cubits, and the breadth fifty every where, and the height five cubits of fine twined linen, and their sockets of brass. 19  All the vessels of the tabernacle in all the service thereof, and all the pins thereof, and all the pins of the court, shall be of brass.

 Exodus 27:20 ¶  And thou shalt command the children of Israel, that they bring thee pure oil olive beaten for the light, to cause the lamp to burn always. 21  In the tabernacle of the congregation without the vail, which is before the testimony, Aaron and his sons shall order it from evening to morning before the LORD: it shall be a statute for ever unto their generations on the behalf of the children of Israel.

Of the many things that can be discussed about this passage I want to focus on the olive oil for the flame that is never to go out. This is the origin of the eternal flame in everything from ancient Persian religion down to the flame at a tomb or memorial in modern times. For the Christian the oil represents the Holy Spirit, in type, and the light it gives. We have the ability to quench the light the Holy Spirit gives us although not our salvation.

1Thessalonians 5:19  Quench not the Spirit.

We do this by sin, by our love of the world and our embracing of its standards, and by not focusing on God. There are several verses in the Old and New Testaments that are important to this idea. These are some but certainly not all.

We must keep our minds focused on God.

Isaiah 26:3  Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.

 

Philippians 4:6  Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. 7  And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

 

We must not adopt the world’s standards.

 

Luke 16:15  And he said unto them, Ye are they which justify yourselves before men; but God knoweth your hearts: for that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God.

 

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.

 

Much of our sorrow comes from misplaced loyalties, idolatry, and covetousness.

 

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.

 

We, too, have a flame that must be kept burning in the tabernacle of our hearts. We can let it be quenched by not focusing on God and by loving things other than Him. We are still saved because it was He who did the saving and not we who saved ourselves. But, we can walk around blindly in darkness without the light of the Holy Spirit’s guidance. Of course, typology always breaks down at some point and while it is good to use types as a way of learning a principle in the Bible it is not good to ride that horse to death. We do not provide the fuel for the fire. God provides it. We choose by our actions to allow the flame to lead us or we by our actions choose to quench it. It is still there but we are of all people most miserable when it is not our guide.

Bible Study on Romans 1, verses 1 to 7, part 1, Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ

 

Traditionally this is called The Epistle (defined as a letter in 2Corinthians 7:8) of St. Paul the Apostle to the Romans. The postscript in the King James Bible says that Paul wrote it from Corinth and it was sent to the Romans by way of Phebe the servant (deaconess) of the church of Cenchrea, something we will discuss when we get to that part where she is mentioned.

Romans, chapter 1

Romans 1:1 ¶  Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God, 2  (Which he had promised afore by his prophets in the holy scriptures,) 3  Concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh; 4  And declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead: 5  By whom we have received grace and apostleship, for obedience to the faith among all nations, for his name: 6  Among whom are ye also the called of Jesus Christ: 7  To all that be in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ.

 

An apostle, from verse 1, is separated for the gospel of God. He is called, ordained, and appointed to be a preacher of the gospel. He is a preacher and a teacher;

 

1Timothy 2:7  Whereunto I am ordained a preacher, and an apostle, (I speak the truth in Christ, and lie not;) a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and verity.

 

2Timothy 1:11  Whereunto I am appointed a preacher, and an apostle, and a teacher of the Gentiles.

 

The apostles were chosen by Jesus Himself;

 

Luke 6:13  And when it was day, he called unto him his disciples: and of them he chose twelve, whom also he named apostles; 14  Simon, (whom he also named Peter,) and Andrew his brother, James and John, Philip and Bartholomew, 15  Matthew and Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon called Zelotes, 16  And Judas the brother of James, and Judas Iscariot, which also was the traitor.

 

Acts 9:10 ¶  And there was a certain disciple at Damascus, named Ananias; and to him said the Lord in a vision, Ananias. And he said, Behold, I am here, Lord. 11  And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the street which is called Straight, and enquire in the house of Judas for one called Saul, of Tarsus: for, behold, he prayeth, 12  And hath seen in a vision a man named Ananias coming in, and putting his hand on him, that he might receive his sight. 13  Then Ananias answered, Lord, I have heard by many of this man, how much evil he hath done to thy saints at Jerusalem: 14  And here he hath authority from the chief priests to bind all that

call on thy name. 15  But the Lord said unto him, Go thy way: for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel: 16  For I will shew him how great things he must suffer for my name’s sake.

 

They were sent out for the purpose of spreading the gospel;

 

Matthew 28:18  And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. 19  Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: 20  Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.

 

In verse 3 is a phrase that has caused many Christian groups to insist that God and Christ are two distinct persons with individual wills, one being subordinate to the other. It has also led Mohammed of Islam to call Christians idolaters, worshipping multiple gods. Concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord does not mean that God had a son in the way that it means we might have a son.

 

Luke 1:35  And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee,  and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.

 

Gabriel, the angel in this passage, announces to Mary what she is going to be a part of. This will be the basis of the phrase only begotten Son of God in John. Even though Alexander the Great had himself declared the son of god or the gods and Roman Emperor Augustus even signed his decrees ‘deus fide’ or son of god, God only came to live on earth as a man one time, in the form of Jesus of Nazareth, not a king appointed by man or an emperor by virtue of his military conquests, but a poor Jewish carpenter’s step-son from a backwater of the Roman Empire who was the Son of God at the same time in that He was God in human flesh.

 

It is important to understand the meaning of sonship in the ancient world. The Jews understood that for Jesus to be declared the Son of God meant He was equal with God, invested with God’s authority.

 

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.

 

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

 

We believe and have faith that Jesus Christ was God walking in human flesh.

 

John 1:1 ¶  In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2  The same was in the beginning with God. 3  All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.

Bible Study on Exodus 27, verses 1 to 8, the altar

 

Exodus 27:1 ¶  And thou shalt make an altar of shittim wood, five cubits long, and five cubits broad; the altar shall be foursquare: and the height thereof shall be three cubits. 2  And thou shalt make the horns of it upon the four corners thereof: his horns shall be of the same: and thou shalt overlay it with brass. 3  And thou shalt make his pans to receive his ashes, and his shovels, and his basons, and his fleshhooks, and his firepans: all the vessels thereof thou shalt make of brass. 4  And thou shalt make for it a grate of network of brass; and upon the net shalt thou make four brasen rings in the four corners thereof. 5  And thou shalt put it under the compass of the altar beneath, that the net may be even to the midst of the altar. 6  And thou shalt make staves for the altar, staves of shittim wood, and overlay them with brass. 7  And the staves shall be put into the rings, and the staves shall be upon the two sides of the altar, to bear it. 8  Hollow with boards shalt thou make it: as it was shewed thee in the mount, so shall they make it.

Cubits as units of measurement came in different lengths. Some authorities say they went from 18 to 22 inches. It is clear that there were different types of cubits mentioned in the Bible. Besides a regular cubit there was a great cubit.

Ezekiel 41:8  I saw also the height of the house round about: the foundations of the side chambers were a full reed of six great cubits.

There must have been a standard they went by as a measuring reed is mentioned several times in Ezekiel. So, I would doubt that every man was just going by the distance from his elbow to the tip of his middle finger as there could be some variation in that which would make building tricky.

Remember, Solomon’s temple was a modular building, or as some today call modular buildings a systems-built structure, where all the parts were formed offsite by a plan and then brought to the site and put together. You could not do that without exacting measurements.

1Kings 6:7  And the house, when it was in building, was built of stone made ready before it was brought thither: so that there was neither hammer nor axe nor any tool of iron heard in the house, while it was in building.

The ability of ancient peoples to make use of exact measurements is astounding when you consider the precision of the Pyramids of Egypt to the buildings the Incas and the cultures before them left behind in what is now Peru in South America.

The horns of the altar were a place people would run to for sanctuary and protection from other contexts. But committing murder and running to God’s altar for protection would not save someone from punishment.

Exodus 21:14  But if a man come presumptuously upon his neighbour, to slay him with guile; thou shalt take him from mine altar, that he may die.

1Kings 2:29  And it was told king Solomon that Joab was fled unto the tabernacle of the LORD; and, behold, he is by the altar. Then Solomon sent Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, saying, Go, fall upon him. 30  And Benaiah came to the tabernacle of the LORD, and said unto him, Thus saith the king, Come forth. And he said, Nay; but I will die here. And Benaiah brought the king word again, saying, Thus said Joab, and thus he answered me. 31  And the king said unto him, Do as he hath said, and fall upon him, and bury him; that thou mayest take away the innocent blood, which Joab shed, from me, and from the house of my father. 32  And the LORD shall return his blood upon his own head, who fell upon two men more righteous and better than he, and slew them with the sword, my father David not knowing thereof, to wit, Abner the son of Ner, captain of the host of Israel, and Amasa the son of Jether, captain of the host of Judah. 33  Their blood shall therefore return upon the head of Joab, and upon the head of his seed for ever: but upon David, and upon his seed, and upon his house, and upon his throne, shall there be peace for ever from the LORD. 34  So Benaiah the son of Jehoiada went up, and fell upon him, and slew him: and he was buried in his own house in the wilderness.

There are words here in these passages that are not used in the same way today as they were in early modern English. But, there are many studies you can access online that go into great detail on how these items looked.

Bible Study on Acts 28, verses 11 to 31, the conclusion of Acts

 

Acts 28:11 ¶  And after three months we departed in a ship of Alexandria, which had wintered in the isle, whose sign was Castor and Pollux. 12  And landing at Syracuse, we tarried there three days. 13  And from thence we fetched a compass, and came to Rhegium: and after one day the south wind blew, and we came the next day to Puteoli: 14  Where we found brethren, and were desired to tarry with them seven days: and so we went toward Rome. 15  And from thence, when the brethren heard of us, they came to meet us as far as Appii forum, and The three taverns: whom when Paul saw, he thanked God, and took courage. 16  And when we came to Rome, the centurion delivered the prisoners to the captain of the guard: but Paul was suffered to dwell by himself with a soldier that kept him.

 

Syracuse is on the southeast coast of Sicily. Rhegium is modern day Reggio Calabria on the toe of the boot of Italy. Puteoli is further up on the Italian mainland on the way to Rome. The Appii form was one days journey from Rome according to the Latin poet, Horace, on the famous Appian Way, a Roman road that still exists. They made things to last.

 

So, Paul had to live in a rented house probably, with a Roman soldier as a guard. This must have cost him a pretty penny as people were responsible for their own upkeep. The Praetorian Guard who guarded the emperor also, I have read, were responsible for guarding prisoners from the provinces who came to Rome. The Holy Spirit, through Paul, will give us much important Christian doctrine, hope, and joy through letters written by Paul or an amanuensis, a secretary, and distributed to the churches.

 

The traditional ending of Galatians says it was written from Rome and Paul says he wrote it. Tychicus wrote Ephesians at Paul’s dictation from Rome. Epaphroditus penned Philippians. Tychicus and Onesimus wrote Colossians from Rome. The Second Letter to Timothy was supposed to have been written from Rome and the letter to the Hebrews by Timothy. We are truly blessed by Paul’s imprisonment at Rome.

 

Acts 28:17 ¶  And it came to pass, that after three days Paul called the chief of the Jews together: and when they were come together, he said unto them, Men and brethren, though I have committed nothing against the people, or customs of our fathers, yet was I delivered prisoner from Jerusalem into the hands of the Romans. 18  Who, when they had examined me, would have let me go, because there was no cause of death in me. 19  But when the Jews spake against it, I was constrained to appeal unto Caesar; not that I had ought to accuse my nation of. 20  For this cause therefore have I called for you, to see you, and to speak with you: because that for the hope of Israel I am bound with this chain. 21  And they said unto him, We neither received letters out of Judaea concerning thee, neither any of the brethren that came shewed or spake any harm of thee. 22  But we desire to hear of thee what thou thinkest: for as concerning this sect, we know that every where it is spoken against.

 

    23 ¶  And when they had appointed him a day, there came many to him into his lodging; to whom he expounded and testified the kingdom of God, persuading them concerning Jesus, both out of the law of Moses, and out of the prophets, from morning till evening. 24  And some believed the things which were spoken, and some believed not. 25  And when they agreed not among themselves, they departed, after that Paul had spoken one word, Well spake the Holy Ghost by Esaias the prophet unto our fathers, 26  Saying, Go unto this people, and say, Hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and not perceive: 27  For the heart of this people is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes have they closed; lest they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them. 28  Be it known therefore unto you, that the salvation of God is sent unto the Gentiles, and that they will hear it. 29  And when he had said these words, the Jews departed, and had great reasoning among themselves.

 

    30 ¶  And Paul dwelt two whole years in his own hired house, and received all that came in unto him, 31  Preaching the kingdom of God, and teaching those things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ, with all confidence, no man forbidding him.

 

Tradition has Paul beheaded in Rome during the reign of the Emperor Nero. So, the beginning of the historical Christian church is recorded for us to read and to be edified by. History and tradition tell us that early Christianity will take two divergent paths. One will be when governments and rulers co-opt it as a justification for their own power and control and the other will be many different groups, often with wrong doctrine and many errors, but always, throughout history, trying to return in the best way they can imagine to the primitive church, to the simplicity that is in Christ, a reference to 2Corinthians 11:3.

Bible Study on Exodus 26, verses 7 to 37, instructions for the tabernacle

 

Exodus 26:7 ¶  And thou shalt make curtains of goats’ hair to be a covering upon the tabernacle: eleven curtains shalt thou make. 8  The length of one curtain shall be thirty cubits, and the breadth of one curtain four cubits: and the eleven curtains shall be all of one measure. 9  And thou shalt couple five curtains by themselves, and six curtains by themselves, and shalt double the sixth curtain in the forefront of the tabernacle. 10  And thou shalt make fifty loops on the edge of the one curtain that is outmost in the coupling, and fifty loops in the edge of the curtain which coupleth the second. 11  And thou shalt make fifty taches of brass, and put the taches into the loops, and couple the tent together, that it may be one. 12  And the remnant that remaineth of the curtains of the tent, the half curtain that remaineth, shall hang over the backside of the tabernacle. 13  And a cubit on the one side, and a cubit on the other side of that which remaineth in the length of the curtains of the tent, it shall hang over the sides of the tabernacle on this side and on that side, to cover it. 14  And thou shalt make a covering for the tent of rams’ skins dyed red, and a covering above of badgers’ skins.

 

While there is most certainly spiritual significance to the specific numbers listed in the measurements of the parts of the tabernacle I want to stick with what is clear and apparent for now.

 

Exodus 26:15 ¶  And thou shalt make boards for the tabernacle of shittim wood standing up. 16  Ten cubits shall be the length of a board, and a cubit and a half shall be the breadth of one board. 17  Two tenons shall there be in one board, set in order one against another: thus shalt thou make for all the boards of the tabernacle. 18  And thou shalt make the boards for the tabernacle, twenty boards on the south side southward. 19  And thou shalt make forty sockets of silver under the twenty boards; two sockets under one board for his two tenons, and two sockets under another board for his two tenons. 20  And for the second side of the tabernacle on the north side there shall be twenty boards: 21  And their forty sockets of silver; two sockets under one board, and two sockets under another board. 22  And for the sides of the tabernacle westward thou shalt make six boards. 23  And two boards shalt thou make for the corners of the tabernacle in the two sides. 24  And they shall be coupled together beneath, and they shall be coupled together above the head of it unto one ring: thus shall it be for them both; they shall be for the two corners. 25  And they shall be eight boards, and their sockets of silver, sixteen sockets; two sockets under one board, and two sockets under another board. 26  And thou shalt make bars of shittim wood; five for the boards of the one side of the tabernacle, 27  And five bars for the boards of the other side of the tabernacle, and five bars for the boards of the side of the tabernacle, for the two sides westward. 28  And the middle bar in the midst of the boards shall reach from end to end. 29  And thou shalt overlay the boards with gold, and make their rings of gold for places for the bars: and thou shalt overlay the bars with gold. 30  And thou shalt rear up the tabernacle according to the fashion thereof which was shewed thee in the mount.

  

Exodus 26:31 ¶  And thou shalt make a vail of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen of cunning work: with cherubims shall it be made: 32  And thou shalt hang it upon four pillars of shittim wood overlaid with gold: their hooks shall be of gold, upon the four sockets of silver. 33  And thou shalt hang up the vail under the taches, that thou mayest bring in thither within the vail the ark of the testimony: and the vail shall divide unto you between the holy place and the most holy. 34  And thou shalt put the mercy seat upon the ark of the testimony in the most holy place. 35  And thou shalt set the table without the vail, and the candlestick over against the table on the side of the tabernacle toward the south: and thou shalt put the table on the north side. 36  And thou shalt make an hanging for the door of the tent, of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen, wrought with needlework. 37  And thou shalt make for the hanging five pillars of shittim wood, and overlay them with gold, and their hooks shall be of gold: and thou shalt cast five sockets of brass for them.

 

There is a veil, and vail and veil are two spellings of the same word, to be placed between the holy place and the most holy place where the ark of the testimony was kept.

This is a division between God and man.

1Timothy 6:13 ¶  I give thee charge in the sight of God, who quickeneth all things, and before Christ Jesus, who before Pontius Pilate witnessed a good confession; 14  That thou keep this commandment without spot, unrebukeable, until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ: 15  Which in his times he shall shew, who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords; 16  Who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see: to whom be honour and power everlasting. Amen.  

When God in the form of man, Jesus Christ, died for mankind’s sins on the Cross, the veil in Herod’s version of the temple was ripped.

Matthew 27:51  And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent;

 

Mark 15:38  And the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom.

 

Luke 23:45  And the sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was rent in the midst.

 

This veil also symbolizes the division between Jews and the Gentiles who did not know the God who created them.

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

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

So, there is this division between God and mankind as symbolized by the veil between the holy and most holy. This division was torn by Christ’s sacrifice on the Cross.

Another interesting phrase that is used repeatedly in the Bible is over against. It appears to mean not only near but next to and across from based on the context.

Genesis 21:16  And she went, and sat her down over against him a good way off, as it were a bowshot: for she said, Let me not see the death of the child. And she sat over against him, and lift up her voice, and wept.

Exodus 25:27  Over against the border shall the rings be for places of the staves to bear the table.

1Kings 20:29  And they pitched one over against the other seven days. And so it was, that in the seventh day the battle was joined: and the children of Israel slew of the Syrians an hundred thousand footmen in one day.

Certainly, you can find more interesting and significant meanings and analogies in these passages than I have. Let me know what you find.

Bible Study on Acts 28, verses 1 to 10, the island of Melita

 

Acts 28:1 ¶  And when they were escaped, then they knew that the island was called Melita. 2  And the barbarous people shewed us no little kindness: for they kindled a fire, and received us every one, because of the present rain,  and because of the cold. 3  And when Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks, and laid them on the fire, there came a viper out of the heat, and fastened on his hand. 4  And when the barbarians saw the venomous beast hang on his hand, they said among themselves, No doubt this man is a murderer, whom, though he hath escaped the sea, yet vengeance suffereth not to live. 5  And he shook off the beast into the fire, and felt no harm. 6  Howbeit they looked when he should have swollen, or fallen down dead suddenly: but after they had looked a great while, and saw no harm come to him, they changed their minds, and said that he was a god. 7  In the same quarters were possessions of the chief man of the island, whose name was Publius; who received us, and lodged us three days courteously. 8  And it came to pass, that the father of Publius lay sick of a fever and of a bloody flux: to whom Paul entered in, and prayed, and laid his hands on him, and healed him. 9  So when this was done, others also, which had diseases in the island, came, and were healed: 10  Who also honoured us with many honours; and when we departed, they laded us with such things as were necessary.

 

Melita is usually considered to be modern-day Malta, about 60 miles south of Sicily in the Mediterranean. You know Sicily as the large island the boot-shaped Italy appears to be kicking on the map. It was a blessed thing to be treated with such kindness as shipwrecked and helpless sea voyagers. There were some cultures that robbed and murdered shipwrecked sailors. I am reminded of the Cornish wreckers of England who would direct ships to the rocks and then pillage them or the Outer Banks of North Carolina where some sources, but not all, indicate that Nag’s Head got its name from the practice of hanging a lantern around a horse’s neck to mislead sailors. But no misadventure will happen here except Paul being bitten by a venomous serpent.

 

A venomous serpent? There are no venomous serpents on Malta. Never have been. Is there something we are missing from the text? Now, go back to 27:27.

 

27  But when the fourteenth night was come, as we were driven up and down in Adria, about midnight the shipmen deemed that they drew near to some country;

 

The Adria is the Adriatic Sea between Italy and the former Yugoslavia and Albania. A 2014 article in the Times of Malta directs the reader to the island of Meleda or Mljet off the coast of modern-day Croatia.[1] Mljet has been said to be infested with poisonous snakes although I read in a travel guide that they tried to quell the problem by introducing the Indian Mongoose in 1910 but were unsuccessful. On May 22, 1943 it is said that British Commandos carried out Operation Farrier, a raid on the Yugoslavian island of Mljet.

 

So, once again, a literal reading of the Bible goes against the accepted view put in place by centuries of agenda-driven myth-making. Pliny the Elder called the island off the coast of present day Croatia, Melita, as it is written here. Sorry to you, Roman Catholic Church. It wasn’t Malta.

 

On top of that first century writers speak of the wealth of the Maltese and their fine buildings. They were hardly barbarous people. Melita, however, was a stop that Greek shippers made on the way to Adriatic settlements and they stayed there in bad weather.

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[1] Stephan Mifsud, “Which Viper bit St. Paul in Malta?” Times of Malta, (Feb. 18, 2014), https://timesofmalta.com/articles/view/Which-viper-bit-St-Paul-in-Malta-.507396.