2Kings, chapter 5, comments

 

2Kings 5:1 ¶  Now Naaman, captain of the host of the king of Syria, was a great man with his master, and honourable, because by him the LORD had given deliverance unto Syria: he was also a mighty man in valour, but he was a leper. 2  And the Syrians had gone out by companies, and had brought away captive out of the land of Israel a little maid; and she waited on Naaman’s wife. 3  And she said unto her mistress, Would God my lord were with the prophet that is in Samaria! for he would recover him of his leprosy. 4  And one went in, and told his lord, saying, Thus and thus said the maid that is of the land of Israel. 5  And the king of Syria said, Go to, go, and I will send a letter unto the king of Israel. And he departed, and took with him ten talents of silver, and six thousand pieces of gold, and ten changes of raiment. 6  And he brought the letter to the king of Israel, saying, Now when this letter is come unto thee, behold, I have therewith sent Naaman my servant to thee, that thou mayest recover him of his leprosy. 7  And it came to pass, when the king of Israel had read the letter, that he rent his clothes, and said, Am I God, to kill and to make alive, that this man doth send unto me to recover a man of his leprosy? wherefore consider, I pray you, and see how he seeketh a quarrel against me. 8  And it was so, when Elisha the man of God had heard that the king of Israel had rent his clothes, that he sent to the king, saying, Wherefore hast thou rent thy clothes? let him come now to me, and he shall know that there is a prophet in Israel.

Naaman is the general in charge of Syria’s armies and held in very high esteem by his king, most likely Benhadad, because of his success in battle over Ahab, Jewish authorities believed, as per John Gill. See 1Kings, chapter 22.

Leprosy has been a bane to humanity since ancient times, reported in Ancient China, India, and Egypt. It is thought to be a skin disease when it is really a disease of the nervous system because the bacteria attacks the nerves. Sufferers’ features distort and their ability to feel pain is greatly diminished leading them to injure themselves. It was a life-changing disaster and was believed to be visited upon a person because of their sin. It has been called Hansen’s Disease since 1873 when the bacteria was identified. With the inability to feel pain and disfiguration was added the shunning of society. The word, leprosy, in the Bible covers a multitude of skin conditions, though, and not just the modern definition of the disease. It is, like sin, healed by Christ in the New Testament. This general, if not suffering the effects of Hansen’s Disease, clearly has some horrid skin disease that he is willing to go to Israel to get help for.

Please read my comments on Leviticus, chapter 13;

 

“Leprosy in early modern English, the language of the King James era, included many malignant skin diseases. Neither the Hebrews of 3,000 BC nor the translators of the King James era of 1600 would have restricted it to what it is called today, Hansen’s Disease, named after the Norwegian doctor, Gerhard Hansen, who identified the bacterial agent that causes it in 1873. But, don’t read that back into the Bible. Leprosy would have been a much broader umbrella in 1611 as well as in the millennia before that. In the 1600s even Elephantiasis, caused by a parasite, was regarded as a type of Leprosy.

 

So, modernists should stop criticizing the Bible by saying that this or that is not a symptom of Leprosy but of some other illness. Just think malignant, perhaps contagious, skin disease like they would have thought.

 

Matthew Henry, in his commentary on Leviticus 13, made two very interesting points. The first was, “Concerning the plague of leprosy we may observe in general, 1. That it was rather an uncleanness than a disease; or, at least, so the law considered it, and therefore employed not the physicians but the priests about it.” He also wrote about this Leprosy in the Bible as being different than what we consider Leprosy in modern times, “That it is a plague not now known in the world; what is commonly called the leprosy is of a quite different nature. This seems to have been reserved as a particular scourge for the sinners of those times and places.” 

 

The priests here are doing double-duty, as diviners of ritually clean and unclean as well as public health workers. Egypt, from whence the Hebrews had escaped, had priests who were also doctors mixing magic and medicine although certainly not all Egyptian priests were physicians. Many sources report that Leprosy is first mentioned in an Egyptian papyrus manuscript from around 1550BC. The Hebrews probably picked up the potential for Leprosy from their stay in Egypt.

 

Deuteronomy 28:27  The LORD will smite thee with the botch of Egypt, and with the emerods, and with the scab, and with the itch, whereof thou canst not be healed.

 

But, the potential for Leprosy, the presence of bacterium or parasites, does not mean that everyone will get it or everyone would. There is a reason why some contract a disease that many others were exposed to but didn’t contract. Was it a punishment for sin or was this, like Job’s affliction, allowed for reasons we cannot know in this life but simply must trust God in regard? This Leprosy underscores that there is a discrimination, a judgment between clean and unclean.”

 

The king of Israel is terrified that the king of Syria is trying to create an excuse to attack him as this request seems very extreme. But, Elisha states that he is going to use this incident to show, not his own power, but the power of the God of Israel, of whom he is a prophet. Some people mistake this as Elisha trumpeting himself rather than God.

 

2Kings 5:9 ¶  So Naaman came with his horses and with his chariot, and stood at the door of the house of Elisha. 10  And Elisha sent a messenger unto him, saying, Go and wash in Jordan seven times, and thy flesh shall come again to thee, and thou shalt be clean. 11  But Naaman was wroth, and went away, and said, Behold, I thought, He will surely come out to me, and stand, and call on the name of the LORD his God, and strike his hand over the place, and recover the leper. 12  Are not Abana and Pharpar, rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? may I not wash in them, and be clean? So he turned and went away in a rage. 13  And his servants came near, and spake unto him, and said, My father, if the prophet had bid thee do some great thing, wouldest thou not have done it? how much rather then, when he saith to thee, Wash, and be clean? 14  Then went he down, and dipped himself seven times in Jordan, according to the saying of the man of God: and his flesh came again like unto the flesh of a little child, and he was clean.

Like with many of us, Naaman’s pride almost kept him from a great blessing. He was offended that he should be told to baptize himself in the Jordan considering, in his mind, the superiority of the Syrian rivers. The Abana River is now known as the Barada. The Pharpar River might be the modern day Taura River, according to sources I read.

Naaman’s more moderate reasoning is appealed to by his servants in a like what’s the big deal sort of thing. Naaman must have been a good man with his servants expressing concern for him as they did, first with the slave girl, and then with these servants, or perhaps they too were afflicted by the shame that leprosy presented in their master and hoped for a miracle as well.

The power here wasn’t in the Jordan or in Elisha, but in God, as delivered to Naaman by his reluctant obedience, as it often is in our lives and in the pages of the Bible. Many characters in life today and in the Bible receive a blessing but only after they expressed doubt or reluctance. There is so much more to life we could have if we just believed and obeyed God.

2Kings 5:15 ¶  And he returned to the man of God, he and all his company, and came, and stood before him: and he said, Behold, now I know that there is no God in all the earth, but in Israel: now therefore, I pray thee, take a blessing of thy servant. 16  But he said, As the LORD liveth, before whom I stand, I will receive none. And he urged him to take it; but he refused. 17  And Naaman said, Shall there not then, I pray thee, be given to thy servant two mules’ burden of earth? for thy servant will henceforth offer neither burnt offering nor sacrifice unto other gods, but unto the LORD. 18  In this thing the LORD pardon thy servant, that when my master goeth into the house of Rimmon to worship there, and he leaneth on my hand, and I bow myself in the house of Rimmon: when I bow down myself in the house of Rimmon, the LORD pardon thy servant in this thing. 19  And he said unto him, Go in peace. So he departed from him a little way.

Naaman is grateful and wants to reward Elisha, who refuses compensation. Naaman pleads for some earth from Israel to make himself a sort of shrine to God. However, he is, like many of us, still going to live in the culture and the religion of his people to “go along to get along.” I witnessed to a woman once who trusted Christ as her Saviour but told me that she still was going to go to the church that had never taught her about salvation through faith in Christ because that’s where her family and friends went to church. She became a believer but was unwilling to walk away from everything she knew. Naaman is an important man in his country and to keep his position he feels he must make this compromise, in spite of what God has done for him. He will only worship God but will blend in with those idolaters of his own country who worship other gods. Elisha didn’t preach at him. It is what it is. Christ calls us to follow Him and sometimes that means leaving what is comfortable behind, including status and approval of others. Naaman is not that strong. It is a sad situation, I think. God has done wonderful things for us but we are afraid of the opinions of others and the consequences of being true to our faith in work, family, school, or in other environments.

Rimmon, I read, was a storm god in Syria and Assyria.

2Kings 5:20 ¶  But Gehazi, the servant of Elisha the man of God, said, Behold, my master hath spared Naaman this Syrian, in not receiving at his hands that which he brought: but, as the LORD liveth, I will run after him, and take somewhat of him. 21  So Gehazi followed after Naaman. And when Naaman saw him running after him, he lighted down from the chariot to meet him, and said, Is all well? 22  And he said, All is well. My master hath sent me, saying, Behold, even now there be come to me from mount Ephraim two young men of the sons of the prophets: give them, I pray thee, a talent of silver, and two changes of garments. 23  And Naaman said, Be content, take two talents. And he urged him, and bound two talents of silver in two bags, with two changes of garments, and laid them upon two of his servants; and they bare them before him. 24  And when he came to the tower, he took them from their hand, and bestowed them in the house: and he let the men go, and they departed. 25  But he went in, and stood before his master. And Elisha said unto him, Whence comest thou, Gehazi? And he said, Thy servant went no whither. 26  And he said unto him, Went not mine heart with thee, when the man turned again from his chariot to meet thee? Is it a time to receive money, and to receive garments, and oliveyards, and vineyards, and sheep, and oxen, and menservants, and maidservants? 27  The leprosy therefore of Naaman shall cleave unto thee, and unto thy seed for ever. And he went out from his presence a leper as white as snow.

Remarkably, Elisha’s servant, Gehazi, engages in a bit of corruption and dishonesty like a modern politician, take the reward from Naaman that Elisha refused. For his chicanery he is cursed with leprosy which hardly made the money and the fine clothing worth it. There have been sermons about being content with one’s wages and being honest in one’s dealings from this passage, among other things.

Bible Study on Matthew 14, verses 22 to 33, it is I, be not afraid

 

Matthew 14:22 ¶  And straightway Jesus constrained his disciples to get into a ship, and to go before him unto the other side, while he sent the multitudes away. 23  And when he had sent the multitudes away, he went up into a mountain apart to pray: and when the evening was come, he was there alone. 24  But the ship was now in the midst of the sea, tossed with waves: for the wind was contrary. 25  And in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went unto them, walking on the sea. 26  And when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, It is a spirit; and they cried out for fear. 27  But straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying, Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid. 28  And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water. 29  And he said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus. 30  But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me. 31  And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt? 32  And when they were come into the ship, the wind ceased. 33  Then they that were in the ship came and worshipped him, saying, Of a truth thou art the Son of God.

 

Immediately, the meaning of straightway, Jesus ordered His disciples to get into a boat and sail to the other side of the sea. See Matthew 13:1 for the general location of where they were as the seaside. He finally got His alone time to commune with God the Father. Between 3am and 6am in the morning while a storm was battering His disciples Jesus went to them, walking on the rough seas.

 

It is here that always questioning Peter asks that if the apparition is really Christ that Peter, too, can walk on the wind-tossed waves. He does, but with his faith wavering, he begins to sink. This is the way it is with our weak faith. We call upon God, if He is real, to save us, and then we doubt, no matter what miracles we’ve seen in our lives, and we begin to sink. But Christ will lift us up.

 

The declaration in verse 33 reminds me of verses in Psalms.

 

Psalm 89:9  Thou rulest the raging of the sea: when the waves thereof arise, thou stillest them.

 

Psalm 107:29  He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still.

 

Matthew 14:34 ¶  And when they were gone over, they came into the land of Gennesaret. 35  And when the men of that place had knowledge of him, they sent out into all that country round about, and brought unto him all that were diseased; 36  And besought him that they might only touch the hem of his garment: and as many as touched were made perfectly whole.

 

The land of Gennesaret is said by most sources to be on the northwest shore of the Sea of Galilee. Here, in this quiet and brief passage, it is noted that Jesus healed many sick people. In such a small statement is great power especially if you lived in a part of the world today where common sicknesses that are curable in modern countries can strike you down. I just can’t imagine what these people thought and felt as this man could just touch them or they might only touch a piece of His clothing and were healed.

Bible Study on Genesis 46, verses 1 to 4, God tells Jacob not to fear going to Egypt

 

Genesis 46:1 ¶  And Israel took his journey with all that he had, and came to Beersheba, and offered sacrifices unto the God of his father Isaac. 2  And God spake unto Israel in the visions of the night, and said, Jacob, Jacob. And he said, Here am I. 3  And he said, I am God, the God of thy father: fear not to go down into Egypt; for I will there make of thee a great nation: 4  I will go down with thee into Egypt; and I will also surely bring thee up again: and Joseph shall put his hand upon thine eyes.

There, at Beersheba, the scene of encounters between these patriarchs and God in the past, Jacob, Israel, honored God as did Abraham and Isaac.

Genesis 21:33  And Abraham planted a grove in Beersheba, and called there on the name of the LORD, the everlasting God.

Genesis 26:25  And he builded an altar there, and called upon the name of the LORD, and pitched his tent there: and there Isaac’s servants digged a well.

These were animal sacrifices. We have a different sacrifice in this dispensation. If you want to honor God, as a Christian, this is the prescription from Paul.

Romans 12:1 ¶  I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. 2  And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

No amount of ritual or animal sacrifice today does the worship of God justice nor is it what He requires. Even under the Law God made it ever so clear what He really wants from man.

Micah 6:7  Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, or with ten thousands of rivers of oil? shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? 8  He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?

God calms Jacob’s heart about going down into Egypt comforting him with the promise that God will be with him. He then promises to bring Jacob back from Egypt although there are two clear meanings there as we know today. One, Jacob will be returned for burial as God, in stating that Joseph shall put his hand upon thine eyes as a euphemism for death where someone covers the eyes of the dead person, tells him he will die there, and, two, his descendants will be brought back into the land that is promised.

Jacob’s response to God, Here am I, is used by people answering that they are ready to hear and obey God, most notably in 1Samuel 3 for the child, Samuel.

God reminds Jacob that it is promised that he will make of him a great nation. The word nation in the Bible is a reference to a people, not a modern nation-state, the likes of which did not really exist like we know it today beyond 500 years ago.

Bible Study on Matthew 14, verses 1 to 21, feeding a multitude

 

Matthew 14:1 ¶  At that time Herod the tetrarch heard of the fame of Jesus, 2  And said unto his servants, This is John the Baptist; he is risen from the dead; and therefore mighty works do shew forth themselves in him. 3  For Herod had laid hold on John, and bound him, and put him in prison for Herodias’ sake, his brother Philip’s wife. 4  For John said unto him, It is not lawful for thee to have her. 5  And when he would have put him to death, he feared the multitude, because they counted him as a prophet. 6  But when Herod’s birthday was kept, the daughter of Herodias danced before them, and pleased Herod. 7  Whereupon he promised with an oath to give her whatsoever she would ask. 8  And she, being before instructed of her mother, said, Give me here John Baptist’s head in a charger. 9  And the king was sorry: nevertheless for the oath’s sake, and them which sat with him at meat, he commanded it to be given her. 10  And he sent, and beheaded John in the prison. 11  And his head was brought in a charger, and given to the damsel: and she brought it to her mother. 12  And his disciples came, and took up the body, and buried it, and went and told Jesus.

 

Judaea was ruled by Herod the Great until his death at which time it was divided between three of his sons and his sister as a tetrarchy, with Judea as a Roman province until Rome assumed complete control later in the first century. This Herod was one of his sons.

 

Luke 3:1 ¶  Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judaea, and Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch of Ituraea and of the region of Trachonitis, and Lysanias the tetrarch of Abilene, 2  Annas and Caiaphas being the high priests, the word of God came unto John the son of Zacharias in the wilderness.

 

Here is the story of the death of John the Baptist. He was murdered, executed by a spineless, lascivious, and morally bankrupt Herod, son of the so-called Herod the Great, murderer of children. Remember his father’s slaughter of the innocents.

 

Matthew 14:13 ¶  When Jesus heard of it, he departed thence by ship into a desert place apart: and when the people had heard thereof, they followed him on foot out of the cities. 14  And Jesus went forth, and saw a great multitude, and was moved with compassion toward them, and he healed their sick. 15  And when it was evening, his disciples came to him, saying, This is a desert place, and the time is now past; send the multitude away, that they may go into the villages, and buy themselves victuals. 16  But Jesus said unto them, They need not depart; give ye them to eat. 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.

 

Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour, needed to get away by Himself when He heard of His cousin’s murder, the death of the one who directly foretold His arrival.

 

But the multitudes who followed Him moved Christ to compassion. Here is the feeding of the 5,000. We can’t help but ask ourselves if the 12 baskets represent the 12 tribes of Israel. There is so much symbology in these passages.

 

I am reminded of Sewall Smith’s sermon, “What are you going to do with YOUR 5 and 2?”

 

Jesus met immediate needs of healing and also fed those who followed after Him in a world that had neither insurance or government welfare and food stamps. These people were totally dependent upon themselves and their own efforts and in their poverty and in the uncertainty of living with few medical remedies compared to us today were blessed immensely by Jesus as their benefactor, healer, provider, and Saviour.

 

Bible Study on Genesis 45, verses 16 to 28, Pharaoh calls Jacob to Egypt

 

Genesis 45:16 ¶  And the fame thereof was heard in Pharaoh’s house, saying, Joseph’s brethren are come: and it pleased Pharaoh well, and his servants. 17  And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, Say unto thy brethren, This do ye; lade your beasts, and go, get you unto the land of Canaan; 18  And take your father and your households, and come unto me: and I will give you the good of the land of Egypt, and ye shall eat the fat of the land. 19  Now thou art commanded, this do ye; take you wagons out of the land of Egypt for your little ones, and for your wives, and bring your father, and come. 20  Also regard not your stuff; for the good of all the land of Egypt is yours. 21  And the children of Israel did so: and Joseph gave them wagons, according to the commandment of Pharaoh, and gave them provision for the way. 22  To all of them he gave each man changes of raiment; but to Benjamin he gave three hundred pieces of silver, and five changes of raiment. 23  And to his father he sent after this manner; ten asses laden with the good things of Egypt, and ten she asses laden with corn and bread and meat for his father by the way. 24  So he sent his brethren away, and they departed: and he said unto them, See that ye fall not out by the way.

Word of Joseph’s reunion with his brothers has now gotten around Pharaoh’s court. This Pharaoh, a type of God the Father, is pleased and so are his servants, probably his ministers, that this Saviour of the Egyptian people has been blessed with this reunion. Pharaoh opens up his arms to offer a place of abode for Joseph’s family. He orders Joseph to gather up his family in Canaan and bring them back to Egypt. Everything that the Egyptians have his family will have. It is a bold promise and one reason why I think this Pharaoh and his top officials ethnically represent the Hyksos dynasty rather than native Egyptian, being more sympathetic to foreigners from Canaan. So, now, a caravan heads back to Canaan to get Jacob and the rest.

Remember how when Rebekah watered Abraham’s servant’s ten camels and I talked about typology in 24:10-28. Let me review for a moment.

“For one example of prophetic interpretation, the phrase And God said is repeated ten times in the first chapter of Genesis. Perhaps, in symbolic, typology these ten camels, brought by a type of the Holy Ghost to a type of God’s church represent God’s word in Abraham, a type of God the Father, sending the Holy Ghost to gather His church for Christ, who in type is Isaac, already sacrificed in type and resurrected in type, based on how the church responds to the words of God. What is happening here is then telling us in shadow what has happened in the spiritual world since before creation.

Ephesians 1:4  According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:

The part played by the bride-to-be for Isaac, the church for Christ, is laid out by the servant of Abraham, or the Holy Ghost, as one who when approached by the Holy Ghost, responds. The Holy Ghost makes the truth of the gospel brought by the Holy Ghost on ten camels, in a manner of speaking, representing what God has said, apparent and the bride-to-be responds. The bride for Isaac waters the camels as the church glorifies the gospel of Christ by its response to that gospel, confirming that the church is indeed chosen, but chosen by her response. Below, Paul expresses his wish to present the church as pure to Christ as His bride.

2Corinthians 11:2  For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.

And this marriage will be complete at the end of human history.

Revelation 19:9  And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God.”

Back to this passage of Scripture, Ten represents many things, particularly God’s order and what He said, His words. Here, a type of Christ, Joseph, is sending by order of a type of God the Father, Pharaoh, provisions in numbers of ten to take back to nourish God’s people with the intent purpose of drawing them, bringing them to Egypt, which is here a type of Heaven. Heaven clearly is the end habitation of God’s people but He does not leave them without spiritual nourishment in the meantime in the period before their return. Of course, there are many much better sermons that can be taken from this one passage as with all.

Numbers like three hundred and five have great significance in the rest of the Bible and there are many opinions as to what they signify. But numerology is always a risky business and almost always a matter of opinion. You see a number and then start looking for its application in all sorts of ways, some clear from the text and others a total stretch. Be careful how you represent God and remember that Job’s three friends were criticized, not for lying in every particular as many of the things they said were true, but for misrepresenting God’s reasons and intentions, which they had no way of knowing.

Corn and bread and meat also might have a significance as three types of nourishment; one natural and raw, one prepared by human hands, and one as the general reference for food in the Bible. Could these refer to corn as God’s word in its raw form from the pages of the Bible, bread as God’s word interpreted by a human with the help of the Holy Spirit, and meat as the deepest and true doctrine that God’s word provides for us. I am sure there are other possibilities as well regarding the spiritual nourishment God’s food provides.

Job 34:3  For the ear trieth words, as the mouth tasteth meat.

Genesis 45:25 ¶  And they went up out of Egypt, and came into the land of Canaan unto Jacob their father, 26  And told him, saying, Joseph is yet alive, and he is governor over all the land of Egypt. And Jacob’s heart fainted, for he believed them not. 27  And they told him all the words of Joseph, which he had said unto them: and when he saw the wagons which Joseph had sent to carry him, the spirit of Jacob their father revived: 28  And Israel said, It is enough; Joseph my son is yet alive: I will go and see him before I die.

Jacob, who is Israel, remember, is astonished and skeptical of the news that not only is Joseph alive but is governor over Egypt. You would be, too. The caravan that Joseph sent helped him believe, though. Again, we have many potential sermons from this about the joy Israel will know in the Great Tribulation to come when Christ reveals Himself in a supernatural way to them. But, read the Book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ and consider these typologies as you do.

Bible Study on Matthew 13, verses 53 to 58, Whence hath this man this wisdom

 

Matthew 13:53 ¶  And it came to pass, that when Jesus had finished these parables, he departed thence. 54  And when he was come into his own country, he taught them in their synagogue, insomuch that they were astonished, and said, Whence hath this man this wisdom, and these mighty works? 55  Is not this the carpenter’s son? is not his mother called Mary? and his brethren, James, and Joses, and Simon, and Judas? 56  And his sisters, are they not all with us? Whence then hath this man all these things? 57  And they were offended in him. But Jesus said unto them, A prophet is not without honour, save in his own country, and in his own house. 58  And he did not many mighty works there because of their unbelief.

 

The people that saw Jesus, the man, grow up from a child are amazed. He was not trained as a scholar nor did He sit at the feet of the learned doctors at the temple. We did not see but one time that he was said to have been asking questions. It looks like it might have been a back and forth when he was only twelve years old as the verse seems to read.

 

Luke 2:46  And it came to pass, that after three days they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the doctors, both hearing them, and asking them questions.

 

The religious elite is often amazed at the depth of understanding of someone who is not respected as a scholar but thought of as a common person.

 

Acts 4:13  Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marvelled; and they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus.

 

Jesus doesn’t talk like the religious elite, parroting rules and interpretations they’ve been taught.

 

John 7:15  And the Jews marvelled, saying, How knoweth this man letters, having never learned?

 

Mark 6:2  And when the sabbath day was come, he began to teach in the synagogue: and many hearing him were astonished, saying, From whence hath this man these things? and what wisdom is this which is given unto him, that even such mighty works are wrought by his hands?

 

But, His own people, the Jews, generally did not receive Him or His authority.

 

John 1:11  He came unto his own, and his own received him not.

 

Christ chose not to bless them with His works because they would not believe. This in no way means that He could not because of their unbelief as we’ve seen many things He has done without even the recipient understanding who He was. But an unbelieving person has no reason to receive a blessing from God and he or she may descend further and further to a point where there is no more chance for them because they will neither accept His authority or even acknowledge who He is.

 

For an instance where a person was willing to be healed, and who would be, but did not know who Jesus even was, see;

 

John 5:13  And he that was healed wist not who it was: for Jesus had conveyed himself away, a multitude being in that place.

 

And see where God heals a man who is not even of the household of God, a heathen man; Naaman the Syrian in 2Kings 5.

 

Our unbelief in no way hinders God’s will if He is simply not responding to our unbelief but has some other purpose for blessing us with His mighty works. Clearly, Naaman wanted to be healed but first he demanded it of the king of Israel and then of Elisha.

Bible Study on Genesis 45, verses 1 to 15, God hath made me lord of all Egypt

 

Genesis 45:1 ¶  Then Joseph could not refrain himself before all them that stood by him; and he cried, Cause every man to go out from me. And there stood no man with him, while Joseph made himself known unto his brethren. 2  And he wept aloud: and the Egyptians and the house of Pharaoh heard. 3  And Joseph said unto his brethren, I am Joseph; doth my father yet live? And his brethren could not answer him; for they were troubled at his presence. 4  And Joseph said unto his brethren, Come near to me, I pray you. And they came near. And he said, I am Joseph your brother, whom ye sold into Egypt. 5  Now therefore be not grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that ye sold me hither: for God did send me before you to preserve life. 6  For these two years hath the famine been in the land: and yet there are five years, in the which there shall neither be earing nor harvest. 7  And God sent me before you to preserve you a posterity in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance. 8  So now it was not you that sent me hither, but God: and he hath made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt. 9  Haste ye, and go up to my father, and say unto him, Thus saith thy son Joseph, God hath made me lord of all Egypt: come down unto me, tarry not: 10  And thou shalt dwell in the land of Goshen, and thou shalt be near unto me, thou, and thy children, and thy children’s children, and thy flocks, and thy herds, and all that thou hast: 11  And there will I nourish thee; for yet there are five years of famine; lest thou, and thy household, and all that thou hast, come to poverty. 12  And, behold, your eyes see, and the eyes of my brother Benjamin, that it is my mouth that speaketh unto you. 13  And ye shall tell my father of all my glory in Egypt, and of all that ye have seen; and ye shall haste and bring down my father hither. 14  And he fell upon his brother Benjamin’s neck, and wept; and Benjamin wept upon his neck. 15  Moreover he kissed all his brethren, and wept upon them: and after that his brethren talked with him.

Joseph could no longer contain himself and he told his Egyptian staff to leave the room. But, they could hear his emotional outcry to his brothers. It takes him a bit to convince them that he is, indeed, Joseph their brother. The brothers are dumbfounded. What they meant maliciously God turned to good. He does that with human actions on a regular basis. People throughout history have done many wicked things, often for power and profit, which God has permitted to be done but used to put forth His own purpose such as Europe conquering the world and enslaving millions by their will for power and profit yet God used their evil desire to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ and today faith in Christ is growing at its greatest rate in the so-called third world with people of faith in every part of the world. This does not make slavery and conquest less evil and murderous but simply shows that, as with Joseph’s brothers actions God will not let it go without using it in some way for His purpose.

Joseph introduces himself to his brethren and could it be that the Jews in Israel in the end of history learn of who Jesus really was and is in the same time frame? Some preachers have noted that if there is a seven-year Tribulation at the end of history, of which that last 3 ½ years is called the Great Tribulation, that Jesus might make Himself known to the Jews in a special way 2 years into it. Who can say? Prophecy revealed is not set up for us to gloat over a pretense of smugly declaring how we know the future in detail but as a warning and for the following reason.

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

He has already planned for them to live in the land of Goshen, which some say was the area of northeastern Egypt where the Nile entered the Mediterranean Sea. It was lush and fertile land and a place separate from the rest of the Egypt. Of course, this is an assumption based on the conclusions of a 19^th century scholar, Henri Naville. We must be careful in accepting this. Goshen is a word transliteration from a Hebrew word which may or may not have originated from an Egyptian word. Goshen could be in northeastern Egypt or it could have been elsewhere and drawing conclusions on lack of evidence is the bane of scholarship. Let us say that it was a suitable place for herds and it is doubtful that the Pharaoh would have imagined how numerous the Hebrews would become.