Bible Study with Fred, Matthew 7, verses 15 to 20, Beware of false prophets

 

Matthew 7:15 ¶  Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. 16  Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? 17  Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. 18  A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. 19  Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. 20  Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.

 

Prophets foretell things to come and teach as most commentators agree. Prophets teach about what God is going to do and what God has said. So, they are also teachers.  

 

We have another warning against false prophets and teachers in Peter’s letters.

 

2Peter 2:1 ¶  But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction. 2  And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of.

 

    3 ¶  And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you: whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not. 4  For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment; 5  And spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly; 6  And turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrha into ashes condemned them with an overthrow, making them an ensample unto those that after should live ungodly;

 

    7 ¶  And delivered just Lot, vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked: 8  (For that righteous man dwelling among them, in seeing and hearing, vexed his righteous soul from day to day with their unlawful deeds;) 9  The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished:

 

    10 ¶  But chiefly them that walk after the flesh in the lust of uncleanness, and despise government. Presumptuous are they, selfwilled, they are not afraid to speak evil of dignities. 11  Whereas angels, which are greater in power and might, bring not railing accusation against them before the Lord. 12  But these, as natural brute beasts, made to be taken and destroyed, speak evil of the things that they understand not; and shall utterly perish in their own corruption; 13  And shall receive the reward of unrighteousness, as they that count it pleasure to riot in the day time. Spots they are and blemishes, sporting themselves with their own deceivings while they feast with you; 14  Having eyes full of adultery, and that cannot cease from sin; beguiling unstable souls: an heart they have exercised with covetous practices; cursed children: 15  Which have forsaken the right way, and are gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Bosor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness; 16  But was rebuked for his iniquity: the dumb ass speaking with man’s voice forbad the madness of the prophet. 17  These are wells without water, clouds that are carried with a tempest; to whom the mist of darkness is reserved for ever. 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. 19  While they promise them liberty, they themselves are the servants of corruption: for of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage. 20  For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning. 21  For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them. 22  But it is happened unto them according to the true proverb, The dog is turned to his own vomit again; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire.

 

Matthew Henry links false prophets and teachers with false apostles warned about in Revelation.

 

Revelation 2:2  I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars:

 

Paul warns about these false workers.

 

2Corinthians 11:13  For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. 14  And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.

15  Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.

 

What are the fruits of what a prophet prophesies or a teacher teaches? Does their teaching draw you closer to the Bible and to God or does it cause you to doubt and have anxiety over God’s words and over His will and your salvation?

 

Does it deny God’s authority even or Christ’s incarnation?

 

Jude 1:4  For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.

 

1John 2:21  I have not written unto you because ye know not the truth, but because ye know it, and that no lie is of the truth. 22  Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son. 23  Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father: (but) he that acknowledgeth the Son hath the Father also.

 

This warning is continued in the next passage.

Psalm 68, part 1, verses 1 to 6, Let God arise

 

Psalm 68:1 ¶  «To the chief Musician, A Psalm or Song of David.» Let God arise, let his enemies be scattered: let them also that hate him flee before him. 2  As smoke is driven away, so drive them away: as wax melteth before the fire, so let the wicked perish at the presence of God. 3  But let the righteous be glad; let them rejoice before God: yea, let them exceedingly rejoice. 4  Sing unto God, sing praises to his name: extol him that rideth upon the heavens by his name JAH, and rejoice before him. 5  A father of the fatherless, and a judge of the widows, is God in his holy habitation. 6  God setteth the solitary in families: he bringeth out those which are bound with chains: but the rebellious dwell in a dry land.

 

These are words used by Moses when the ark moved forward.

 

Numbers 10:35  And it came to pass, when the ark set forward, that Moses said, Rise up, LORD, and let thine enemies be scattered; and let them that hate thee flee before thee.

 

Commentators like Gill noted that this was penned when David and his army brought the ark to the house of Abinadab.

 

2Samuel 6:1 ¶  Again, David gathered together all the chosen men of Israel, thirty thousand. 2  And David arose, and went with all the people that were with him from Baale of Judah, to bring up from thence the ark of God, whose name is called by the name of the LORD of hosts that dwelleth between the cherubims. 3  And they set the ark of God upon a new cart, and brought it out of the house of Abinadab that was in Gibeah: and Uzzah and Ahio, the sons of Abinadab, drave the new cart. 4  And they brought it out of the house of Abinadab which was at Gibeah, accompanying the ark of God: and Ahio went before the ark. 5  And David and all the house of Israel played before the LORD on all manner of instruments made of fir wood, even on harps, and on psalteries, and on timbrels, and on cornets, and on cymbals.

 

The first two verses of this Psalm are about God enacting retribution upon those who hate Him, who hold Him in contempt, and how powerless they are against Him. There are Psalms that show this thinking but the following verses popped out at me.

 

Proverbs 20:8  A king that sitteth in the throne of judgment scattereth away all evil with his eyes.

 

And see this for the end of history.

 

2Thessalonians 2:8  And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:

 

Even the greatest wickedness cannot stand before God if He does not permit it to do so. But those who are his should rejoice and sing praises to His name. Here is an abbreviated version of God’s name as JAH, a contraction of Jehovah, God’s name, with JAH translated as LORD, all capitals elsewhere Just as Jehovah is capitalized elsewhere as LORD, all caps, 6510 times as LORD, four as God, and four as Jehovah according to Strong’s. Jehovah, the LORD, all capitals, whom Strong’s translates as, “the existing one,” is greater than all spiritual beings and all things real or imagined by men and women.

 

Jehovah is a transliteration of a Hebrew word of which we are not sure of the pronunciation. There is disagreement over vowel points and how the word was originally pronounced. Modernists will use Yahweh as there was no J sound as we use it in either Hebrew or early English, or so I have read. However, the word Jehovah has come down to us as the English version of God’s name. Since we believe in the Holy Spirit’s hand in creating this Bible we accept Jehovah as reasonable without trying to quibble over a pronunciation that the so-called scholars cannot agree on and even if they could it would not help us understand the Bible.

 

God is a father to the fatherless.

 

Psalm 27:10  When my father and my mother forsake me, then the LORD will take me up.

 

Psalm 146:9  The LORD preserveth the strangers; he relieveth the fatherless and widow: but the way of the wicked he turneth upside down.

 

God will enact justice for the poor and the oppressed. Sometimes it happens in this life and sometimes recompense will be handed out in the future.

 

Ezekiel 34:16  I will seek that which was lost, and bring again that which was driven away, and will bind up that which was broken, and will strengthen that which was sick: but I will destroy the fat and the strong; I will feed them with judgment.

 

God is merciful to those who are suffering at the hands of others but He is also merciful to the repentant sinners who have had a change of heart. I want to read Psalm 107, an amazing Psalm.

 

Psalm 107:1 ¶  O give thanks unto the LORD, for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever. 2  Let the redeemed of the LORD say so, whom he hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy; 3 

And gathered them out of the lands, from the east, and from the west, from the north, and from the south. 4  They wandered in the wilderness in a solitary way; they found no city to

dwell in. 5  Hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted in them. 6  Then they cried unto the LORD in their trouble, and he delivered them out of their distresses. 7  And he led them forth by the right way, that they might go to a city of habitation. 8  Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men! 9  For he satisfieth the longing soul, and filleth the hungry soul with goodness.

 

    10 ¶  Such as sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, being bound in affliction and iron; 11  Because they rebelled against the words of God, and contemned the counsel of the most High: 12  Therefore he brought down their heart with labour; they fell down, and there was none to help. 13  Then they cried unto the LORD in their trouble, and he saved them out of their distresses. 14  He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death, and brake their bands in sunder. 15  Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men! 16  For he hath broken the gates of brass, and cut the bars of iron in sunder.

 

    17 ¶  Fools because of their transgression, and because of their iniquities, are afflicted. 18  Their soul abhorreth all manner of meat; and they draw near unto the gates of death. 19  Then they cry unto the LORD in their trouble, and he saveth them out of their distresses. 20  He sent his word, and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions. 21  Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men! 22  And let them sacrifice the sacrifices of thanksgiving, and declare his works with

rejoicing.

 

    23 ¶  They that go down to the sea in ships, that do business in great waters; 24  These see the works of the LORD, and his wonders in the deep. 25  For he commandeth, and raiseth the stormy wind, which lifteth up the waves thereof. 26  They mount up to the heaven, they go down again to the depths: their soul is melted because of trouble. 27  They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wits’ end. 28  Then they cry unto the LORD in their trouble, and he bringeth them out of their distresses. 29  He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still. 30  Then are they glad because they be quiet; so he bringeth them unto their desired haven. 31  Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men! 32  Let them exalt him also in the congregation of the people, and praise him in the assembly of the elders.

 

    33 ¶  He turneth rivers into a wilderness, and the watersprings into dry ground; 34  A fruitful land into barrenness, for the wickedness of them that dwell therein. 35  He turneth the wilderness into a standing water, and dry ground into watersprings. 36  And there he maketh the hungry to dwell, that they may prepare a city for habitation; 37  And sow the fields, and plant vineyards, which may yield fruits of increase. 38  He blesseth them also, so that they are multiplied greatly; and suffereth not their cattle to decrease. 39  Again, they are minished and brought low through oppression, affliction, and sorrow. 40  He poureth contempt upon princes, and causeth them to wander in the wilderness, where there is no way. 41  Yet setteth he the poor on high from affliction, and maketh him families like a flock. 42  The righteous shall see it, and rejoice: and all iniquity shall stop her mouth. 43  Whoso is wise, and will observe these things, even they shall understand the lovingkindness of the LORD.

 

Bible Study on Matthew 7, verses 12 to 14, few there be that find it

 

Matthew 7:12 ¶  Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets. 13  Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: 14  Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.

 

We use the word strait today as a narrow body of water or a straitjacket which confines a person so they cannot harm themselves or others. The contrast in the passage between strait and narrow versus broad and wide should define it for us.

 

Verse 12 gives us the famous Golden Rule as a summation of the Law and the Prophets. The modern businessperson might use something they created called the Platinum Rule saying that you should do unto others as they want you to but that is pure rubbish and an artefact of Cultural Marxism. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you is Godly and reasonable and doesn’t call for you to accept or encourage another’s sin like the Platinum Rule does.

 

Luke  6:31  And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise.

 

The popular version of this is “do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”

 

This is a fundamental expression of the emphasis of the Old Testament Law’s admonition to love one’s neighbor as oneself as we will see much later in Matthew.

 

Matthew 22:34 ¶  But when the Pharisees had heard that he had put the Sadducees to silence, they were gathered together. 35  Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him, and saying, 36  Master, which is the great commandment in the law? 37  Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. 38  This is the first and great commandment. 39  And the second is like unto it,

Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. 40  On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

 

Here also is a fact that few will choose the free offer of salvation that only the God of the Bible can give.

 

In different contexts the sentiment that many are called but few chosen will be used twice in Matthew later on. And here we see God’s perfect will even though His permissive will allows that not all will be saved.

 

1Timothy 2:4  Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.

 

The way to God is exclusionary only inasmuch as an individual adult must receive Christ as their Saviour believing in His Resurrection and trusting in His righteousness and not their own for salvation. It is a narrow path and the vast majority of those who saw the light of day and grew to an age whereby they could understand to receive Christ as their Saviour will willingly descend into Hell.

Bible Study on Genesis 37, verses 1 to 4, Joseph hated by his brothers

 

Genesis 37:1 ¶  And Jacob dwelt in the land wherein his father was a stranger, in the land of Canaan. 2  These are the generations of Jacob. Joseph, being seventeen years old, was feeding the flock with his brethren; and the lad was with the sons of Bilhah, and with the sons of Zilpah, his father’s wives: and Joseph brought unto his father their evil report. 3  Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the son of his old age: and he made him a coat of many colours. 4  And when his brethren saw that their father loved him more than all his brethren, they hated him, and could not speak peaceably unto him.

Having just given a list of Jacob’s sons, then an interlude where Esau’s brief genealogy is given, the narrative returns to Jacob and focuses on Joseph, who, in many particulars is a type of Christ. Joseph is his father’s favorite. Christ, as the Son of God, is the Father’s beloved, as well. Jacob made Joseph a coat of many colors. Note that this kind of clothing was considered very valuable. This is reflected in Deborah’s victory song in Judges 5.

Judges 5:28  The mother of Sisera looked out at a window, and cried through the lattice, Why is his chariot so long in coming? why tarry the wheels of his chariots? 29  Her wise ladies answered her, yea, she returned answer to herself, 30  Have they not sped? have they not divided the prey; to every man a damsel or two; to Sisera a prey of divers colours, a prey of divers colours of needlework, of divers colours of needlework on both sides, meet for the necks of them that take the spoil?

It is the type of coat worn by King David’s daughter.

2Samuel 13:18  And she had a garment of divers colours upon her: for with such robes were the king’s daughters that were virgins apparelled. Then his servant brought her out, and bolted the door after her.

I have read reports that there have been Egyptian tomb paintings showing traders from the area of Canaan wearing such clothing, probably made more valuable by the costly work of dyeing the fabric.

Because Joseph was his father’s favorite his brothers were envious. The Jewish leadership were envious of Christ, as well, because of His influence on the people.

Matthew 27:17  Therefore when they were gathered together, Pilate said unto them, Whom will ye that I release unto you? Barabbas, or Jesus which is called Christ? 18  For he knew that for envy they had delivered him.

Here we see that Joseph’s brothers hated him, which I showed before meant to hold him in contempt, to despise him. They are jealous of Jacob’s love for Joseph.

Joseph gave his father a report of his brother’s bad behavior. As Matthew Henry’s commentary says one of the reasons his brothers hated him was, “Because he informed his father of their wickedness.”

2Kings, chapter 4, comments

 

2Kings 4:1 ¶  Now there cried a certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets unto Elisha, saying, Thy servant my husband is dead; and thou knowest that thy servant did fear the LORD: and the creditor is come to take unto him my two sons to be bondmen. 2  And Elisha said unto her, What shall I do for thee? tell me, what hast thou in the house? And she said, Thine handmaid hath not any thing in the house, save a pot of oil. 3  Then he said, Go, borrow thee vessels abroad of all thy neighbours, even empty vessels; borrow not a few. 4  And when thou art come in, thou shalt shut the door upon thee and upon thy sons, and shalt pour out into all those vessels, and thou shalt set aside that which is full. 5  So she went from him, and shut the door upon her and upon her sons, who brought the vessels to her; and she poured out. 6  And it came to pass, when the vessels were full, that she said unto her son, Bring me yet a vessel. And he said unto her, There is not a vessel more. And the oil stayed. 7  Then she came and told the man of God. And he said, Go, sell the oil, and pay thy debt, and live thou and thy children of the rest.

In spite of what Elisha prophesied for those kings in the previous chapter there is no mention of him receiving some great honor from them or declared a national hero.

He does something remarkable for this widow of one of the sons of the prophets. He received the poor woman’s complaint, perhaps because he oversaw the prophets in his capacity and felt responsible to help or perhaps he was directed by God. She reminds Elisha of her late husband’s service for the LORD. But now, without her husband, she and her sons are financially in dire straits, and her sons may be taken as slaves to pay her debts as she has only a small amount of oil to live on and none to sell.

So, Elisha tells her to do what she must do to receive the bounty that God is about to bestow upon her. We, too, would be better off preparing to receive God’s miraculous blessings than spending our time telling God how He ought to help us. She is to collect as many vessels as she can. I can imagine the hopeful anticipation she must have felt after Elisha spoke. The pot of oil seemed endless and filled all of the vessels she had borrowed. When all is said and done she has enough oil to sell to pay off her debt and save her family and support her family.

Think of the five loaves and two fishes that Jesus made to feed a multitude of people. The supply did not end until the need was met with much left over.

Matthew 14:17  And they say unto him, We have here but five loaves, and two fishes. 18  He said, Bring them hither to me. 19  And he commanded the multitude to sit down on the grass, and took the five loaves, and the two fishes, and looking up to heaven, he blessed, and brake, and gave the loaves to his disciples, and the disciples to the multitude. 20  And they did all eat, and were filled: and they took up of the fragments that remained twelve baskets full. 21  And they that had eaten were about five thousand men, beside women and children.

2Kings 4:8 ¶  And it fell on a day, that Elisha passed to Shunem, where was a great woman; and she constrained him to eat bread. And so it was, that as oft as he passed by, he turned in thither to eat bread. 9  And she said unto her husband, Behold now, I perceive that this is an holy man of God, which passeth by us continually. 10  Let us make a little chamber, I pray thee, on the wall; and let us set for him there a bed, and a table, and a stool, and a candlestick: and it shall be, when he cometh to us, that he shall turn in thither. 11  And it fell on a day, that he came thither, and he turned into the chamber, and lay there. 12  And he said to Gehazi his servant, Call this Shunammite. And when he had called her, she stood before him. 13  And he said unto him, Say now unto her, Behold, thou hast been careful for us with all this care; what is to be done for thee? wouldest thou be spoken for to the king, or to the captain of the host? And she answered, I dwell among mine own people. 14  And he said, What then is to be done for her? And Gehazi answered, Verily she hath no child, and her husband is old. 15  And he said, Call her. And when he had called her, she stood in the door. 16  And he said, About this season, according to the time of life, thou shalt embrace a son. And she said, Nay, my lord, thou man of God, do not lie unto thine handmaid. 17  And the woman conceived, and bare a son at that season that Elisha had said unto her, according to the time of life.

According Gill and early Jewish authorities this woman of Shunem was great in wealth and in reputation as being a Godly person. At her invitation Elisha stops and refreshes himself at her place often. She and her husband made him a room to occupy on his visits. Elisha ponders what he can do for her in appreciation. She is without children and her husband is old. Elisha promises her that she will have a child, a blessing in most cultures at most times of history until recently in the western world. She seems doubtful but there is no conflict here mentioned about a lack of faith so it must have been a saying like we use, “don’t be pulling my leg.” She is blessed with a son.

2Kings 4:18 ¶  And when the child was grown, it fell on a day, that he went out to his father to the reapers. 19  And he said unto his father, My head, my head. And he said to a lad, Carry him to his mother. 20  And when he had taken him, and brought him to his mother, he sat on her knees till noon, and then died. 21  And she went up, and laid him on the bed of the man of God, and shut the door upon him, and went out. 22  And she called unto her husband, and said, Send me, I pray thee, one of the young men, and one of the asses, that I may run to the man of God, and come again. 23  And he said, Wherefore wilt thou go to him to day? it is neither new moon, nor sabbath. And she said, It shall be well. 24  Then she saddled an ass, and said to her servant, Drive, and go forward; slack not thy riding for me, except I bid thee. 25  So she went and came unto the man of God to mount Carmel. And it came to pass, when the man of God saw her afar off, that he said to Gehazi his servant, Behold, yonder is that Shunammite: 26  Run now, I pray thee, to meet her, and say unto her, Is it well with thee? is it well with thy husband? is it well with the child? And she answered, It is well. 27  And when she came to the man of God to the hill, she caught him by the feet: but Gehazi came near to thrust her away. And the man of God said, Let her alone; for her soul is vexed within her: and the LORD hath hid it from me, and hath not told me. 28  Then she said, Did I desire a son of my lord? did I not say, Do not deceive me? 29  Then he said to Gehazi, Gird up thy loins, and take my staff in thine hand, and go thy way: if thou meet any man, salute him not; and if any salute thee, answer him not again: and lay my staff upon the face of the child. 30  And the mother of the child said, As the LORD liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee. And he arose, and followed her. 31  And Gehazi passed on before them, and laid the staff upon the face of the child; but there was neither voice, nor hearing. Wherefore he went again to meet him, and told him, saying, The child is not awaked. 32  And when Elisha was come into the house, behold, the child was dead, and laid upon his bed. 33  He went in therefore, and shut the door upon them twain, and prayed unto the LORD. 34  And he went up, and lay upon the child, and put his mouth upon his mouth, and his eyes upon his eyes, and his hands upon his hands: and he stretched himself upon the child; and the flesh of the child waxed warm. 35  Then he returned, and walked in the house to and fro; and went up, and stretched himself upon him: and the child sneezed seven times, and the child opened his eyes. 36  And he called Gehazi, and said, Call this Shunammite. So he called her. And when she was come in unto him, he said, Take up thy son. 37  Then she went in, and fell at his feet, and bowed herself to the ground, and took up her son, and went out.

The promised child here dies, perhaps, of heat stroke or some brain seizure. Here is an example of great faith. The woman of Shunem believes that Elisha can and will revive her dead son. Here is another example of a son returning from the dead. This was done in type with Abraham and Isaac and will be done in real time with Christ’s resurrection.

Not even telling her husband she knows that God, through Elisha, will raise her child from the dead. The ritual that Elisha performed might seem bizarre but we know from whom the miracle of resurrection proceeded.

2Kings 4:38 ¶  And Elisha came again to Gilgal: and there was a dearth in the land; and the sons of the prophets were sitting before him: and he said unto his servant, Set on the great pot, and seethe pottage for the sons of the prophets. 39  And one went out into the field to gather herbs, and found a wild vine, and gathered thereof wild gourds his lap full, and came and shred them into the pot of pottage: for they knew them not. 40  So they poured out for the men to eat. And it came to pass, as they were eating of the pottage, that they cried out, and said, O thou man of God, there is death in the pot. And they could not eat thereof. 41  But he said, Then bring meal. And he cast it into the pot; and he said, Pour out for the people, that they may eat. And there was no harm in the pot. 42  And there came a man from Baalshalisha, and brought the man of God bread of the firstfruits, twenty loaves of barley, and full ears of corn in the husk thereof. And he said, Give unto the people, that they may eat. 43  And his servitor said, What, should I set this before an hundred men? He said again, Give the people, that they may eat: for thus saith the LORD, They shall eat, and shall leave thereof. 44  So he set it before them, and they did eat, and left thereof, according to the word of the LORD.

Gilgal was near where Elijah ascended in the chariot. See 2Kings 2:1. A dearth, according to John Gill, is a famine caused by a drought. Elisha commands that his servant, presumably Gehazi, to prepare some soup or stew for his disciples or maybe we might call them student prophets. In desperation and hunger they are gathering plants to put in the pot they know little about as to whether or not they are edible. The vine must have been very bitter and raised their alarm at what it might cause, that it might be poisonous.

Elisha’s command that they mix meal into the pot shouldn’t be mistaken for a cooking remedy to change the danger but as we have seen before, a requirement of faith and confidence in the prophet and, ultimately, God to heal the situation. Perhaps the meal neutralized the bitterness of the soup caused by the vine. In any event, it was safe to eat now.

Then, we have a miracle along the lines of Christ’s feeding of multitudes. Precious food is donated to the prophet and he dispenses it to his disciples but it seems as if it is hardly enough to feed them all. Still Elisha promises that there will be enough and leftovers as well and there is. This is the doings of God Himself and a forerunner of Christ’s miracles.

Bible Study on Matthew 7, verses 7 to 11, Ask and seek

 

Matthew 7:7 ¶  Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: 8  For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. 9  Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone? 10  Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent? 11  If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?

 

The context here is about wisdom and spiritual things, not a new chainsaw. Finding something and having something opened seems to suggest that directly from the context. Proverbs is filled with verses about the importance of seeking and gaining wisdom. We have but to humbly ask God as Solomon did in 1Kings, chapter 3.

 

This passage is sandwiched in between the one on righteous judgment and one on following a narrow path. It is imperative that we Christians seek wisdom from God through prayer and Bible reading. We cannot depend on or trust in our own narcissism, ego, and mental issues. God will give us wisdom to face the unique situation we are in, even though the situation is something we might share with many other Christians.

 

In any event, this is a great promise

 

James 1:5  If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. 6  But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.

 

God will also help us understand doctrine, dispensations, and end-time prophecy as we need to know it by our humble supplications and our faithful reading, studying, cross-referencing, and prayer. What we need to know will be given to us. There are things, though, that belong only to God.

 

Deuteronomy 29:29  The secret things belong unto the LORD our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law.

 

And prophecy is not given to swell our heads but for a specific purpose for us.

 

John 13:19  Now I tell you before it come, that, when it is come to pass, ye may believe that I am he.

 

John 14:29  And now I have told you before it come to pass, that, when it is come to pass, ye might believe.

 

 

John 16:4  But these things have I told you, that when the time shall come, ye may remember that I told you of them. And these things I said not unto you at the beginning, because I was with you.

Bible Study on Genesis 36, verses 9 to 43, the descendants of Esau

 

Genesis 36:9 ¶  And these are the generations of Esau the father of the Edomites in mount Seir: 10  These are the names of Esau’s sons; Eliphaz the son of Adah the wife of Esau, Reuel the son of Bashemath the wife of Esau. 11  And the sons of Eliphaz were Teman, Omar, Zepho, and Gatam, and Kenaz. 12  And Timna was concubine to Eliphaz Esau’s son; and she bare to Eliphaz Amalek: these were the sons of Adah Esau’s wife. 13  And these are the sons of Reuel; Nahath, and Zerah, Shammah, and Mizzah: these were the sons of Bashemath Esau’s wife. 14  And these were the sons of Aholibamah, the daughter of Anah the daughter of Zibeon, Esau’s wife: and she bare to Esau Jeush, and Jaalam, and Korah. 15  These were dukes of the sons of Esau: the sons of Eliphaz the firstborn son of Esau; duke Teman, duke Omar, duke Zepho, duke Kenaz, 16  Duke Korah, duke Gatam, and duke Amalek: these are the dukes that came of Eliphaz in the land of Edom; these were the sons of Adah. 17  And these are the sons of Reuel Esau’s son; duke Nahath, duke Zerah, duke Shammah, duke Mizzah: these are the dukes that came of Reuel in the land of Edom; these are the sons of Bashemath Esau’s wife. 18  And these are the sons of Aholibamah Esau’s wife; duke Jeush, duke Jaalam, duke Korah: these were the dukes that came of Aholibamah the daughter of Anah, Esau’s wife. 19  These are the sons of Esau, who is Edom, and these are their dukes.

Genesis 36:20 ¶  These are the sons of Seir the Horite, who inhabited the land; Lotan, and Shobal, and Zibeon, and Anah, 21  And Dishon, and Ezer, and Dishan: these are the dukes of the Horites, the children of Seir in the land of Edom. 22  And the children of Lotan were Hori and Hemam; and Lotan’s sister was Timna. 23  And the children of Shobal were these; Alvan, and Manahath, and Ebal, Shepho, and Onam. 24  And these are the children of Zibeon; both Ajah, and Anah: this was that Anah that found the mules in the wilderness, as he fed the asses of Zibeon his father. 25  And the children of Anah were these; Dishon, and Aholibamah the daughter of Anah. 26  And these are the children of Dishon; Hemdan, and Eshban, and Ithran, and Cheran. 27  The children of Ezer are these; Bilhan, and Zaavan, and Akan. 28  The children of Dishan are these; Uz, and Aran. 29  These are the dukes that came of the Horites; duke Lotan, duke Shobal, duke Zibeon, duke Anah, 30  Duke Dishon, duke Ezer, duke Dishan: these are the dukes that came of Hori, among their dukes in the land of Seir.

Genesis 36:31 ¶  And these are the kings that reigned in the land of Edom, before there reigned any king over the children of Israel. 32  And Bela the son of Beor reigned in Edom: and the name of his city was Dinhabah. 33  And Bela died, and Jobab the son of Zerah of Bozrah reigned in his stead. 34  And Jobab died, and Husham of the land of Temani reigned in his stead. 35  And Husham died, and Hadad the son of Bedad, who smote Midian in the field of Moab, reigned in his stead: and the name of his city was Avith. 36  And Hadad died, and Samlah of Masrekah reigned in his stead. 37  And Samlah died, and Saul of Rehoboth by the river reigned in his stead. 38  And Saul died, and Baalhanan the son of Achbor reigned in his stead. 39  And Baalhanan the son of Achbor died, and Hadar reigned in his stead: and the name of his city was Pau; and his wife’s name was Mehetabel, the daughter of Matred, the daughter of Mezahab. 40  And these are the names of the dukes that came of Esau, according to their families, after their places, by their names; duke Timnah, duke Alvah, duke Jetheth, 41  Duke Aholibamah, duke Elah, duke Pinon, 42  Duke Kenaz, duke Teman, duke Mibzar, 43  Duke Magdiel, duke Iram: these be the dukes of Edom, according to their habitations in the land of their possession: he is Esau the father of the Edomites.

What followed verse 8 was a brief history of the ancient kingdom of Edom, which flowered and decayed before Israel ever had a king, from the Horites who first possessed it through a few generations of Edomites. Edom, named after that red soup, symbolizes Esau’s foolish bargain. We have this memory forever emblazoned in the name of the Red Sea.

1Kings 9:26  And king Solomon made a navy of ships in Eziongeber, which is beside Eloth, on the shore of the Red sea, in the land of Edom.

Add this fact to the list of things that keep us from forgetting what God did in the past. We drive on fossil fuels, the remnant of the fabulous biomass that existed before the great Flood of Noah’s time. We are divided by ethnic, linguistic, and racial groupings that remind us of the dispersion of mankind at the Tower of Babel. We repeat in each generation the wicked sins of the flesh and the mind that prove that we are spiritually bankrupt without Christ and have no hope in ourselves. These things should remind us of what God has done but we choose to be willfully ignorant.

Even judgment against us escapes our feeble thought processes. A hundred years ago the nations of Europe and the United States, who thought they were so righteous and each special vessels of God, bashed themselves upon each other in a terrible bloodbath called The Great War or World War One. God judged the nations and finding them wanting judged them with a war and then a great plague of disease that killed more people than the war itself. They did not see that it was God’s judgment but only chose to blame the loser and punish thereby setting up the next war and, indeed, a century of war and the extinguishing of a hundred million lives and displacement of half that many again as refugees. Yet, mankind is blind to it, a doddering idiot, stumbling about in the dark unwilling to be enlightened.

So it is, when we look at the Bible events we see evidence of them in our landscape, our maps, our economic systems, our politics, and elsewhere. But, alas, the stumbling idiot stumbles from one judgment to the next waving his flags, singing his patriotic songs, worshipping his nation-states, as he proudly steers a course for Armageddon.

This curious verse for which we are given no explanation is worthy of note.

24  And these are the children of Zibeon; both Ajah, and Anah: this was that Anah that found the mules in the wilderness, as he fed the asses of Zibeon his father.

Such a seemingly unimportant detail but important enough to God to be included in the short history of a people who provided little to history but a pathetic example.