Bible Study on Romans 8, verses 17 to 25, part 2, a new body

 

See the following on the rapture or translation, the Biblical term, of the church;

 

1Thessalonians 4:13 ¶  But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. 14  For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. 15  For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. 16  For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: 17  Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. 18  Wherefore comfort one another with these words.

 

Our current flesh and blood cannot inherit eternal life. It is just not possible for it to do so. At this point I think a reading of 1Corinthians 15 is relevant.

 

1Corinthians 15:1 ¶  Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; 2  By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. 3  For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; 4  And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures: 5  And that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve: 6  After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep. 7  After that, he was seen of James; then of all the apostles. 8  And last of all he was seen of me also, as of one born out of due time. 9  For I am the least of the apostles, that am not meet to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. 10  But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me. 11  Therefore whether it were I or they, so we preach, and so ye believed.

 

    12 ¶  Now if Christ be preached that he rose from the dead, how say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead? 13  But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen: 14  And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain. 15  Yea, and we are found false witnesses of God; because we have testified of God that he raised up Christ: whom he raised not up, if so be that the dead rise not. 16  For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised: 17  And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins. 18  Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished. 19  If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.

 

    20 ¶  But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept. 21  For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. 22  For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. 23  But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming. 24  Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Fatherwhen he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power. 25  For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet. 26  The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death. 27  For he hath put all things under his feet. But when he saith all things are put under him, it is manifest that he is excepted, which did put all things under him. 28  And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all. 29  Else what shall they do which are baptized for the dead, if the dead rise not at all? why are they then baptized for the dead? 30  And why stand we in jeopardy every hour? 31  I protest by your rejoicing which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily. 32  If after the manner of men I have fought with beasts at Ephesus, what advantageth it me, if the dead rise not? let us eat and

drink; for to morrow we die. 33  Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners. 34  Awake to righteousness, and sin not; for some have not the knowledge of God: I speak this to your shame.

 

 

    35 ¶  But some man will say, How are the dead raised up? and with what body do they come? 36  Thou fool, that which thou sowest is not quickened, except it die: 37  And that which thou sowest, thou sowest not that body that shall be, but bare grain, it may chance of wheat, or of some other grain: 38  But God giveth it a body as it hath pleased him, and to every seed his own body. 39  All flesh is not the same flesh: but there is one kind of flesh of men, another flesh of beasts, another of fishes, and another of birds. 40  There are also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial: but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another. 41  Thereis one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars: for one star differeth from another star in glory. 42  So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption: 43  It is sown in dishonour; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power: 44  It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body. 45  And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit. 46  Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual. 47  The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven. 48  As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly. 49  And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly. 50  Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.

 

    51 ¶  Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 52  In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. 53  For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. 54  So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. 55  O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? 56  The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. 57  But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

 

    58 ¶  Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.

 

So, in order to live forever we must have a body different than one of mortal flesh and blood. We can be resurrected because inside each of us, if we have received Christ, the very Spirit of God dwells. Because of that we will be resurrected and with a different, spiritual body which we can enter into eternity with the LORD who created us.

 

This is our expectation and hope, the vital understanding of the meaning of Easter, the resurrection of Christ celebrated, whether it is worshipped once a year, every Sunday, or every day, as it should be. We will triumph over death by the One who resides in us. We have that hope.

Bible Study on Exodus 34, verses 18 to 27, part 2, appearing before God

 

Again, the seventh day as a day of rest is spoken of. I think it is worth repeating what I’ve said previously on this subject as it was mentioned before this back in chapter 23’s comments.

The Hebrews were also to have a sabbath for the land, not harvesting in the seventh year and permitting the poor and animals eat freely. This also applied to grapes and olives.

Leviticus 25:1 ¶  And the LORD spake unto Moses in mount Sinai, saying, 2  Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye come into the land which I give you, then shall the land keep a sabbath unto the LORD. 3  Six years thou shalt sow thy field, and six years thou shalt prune thy vineyard, and gather in the fruit thereof; 4  But in the seventh year shall be a sabbath of rest unto the land, a sabbath for the LORD: thou shalt neither sow thy field, nor prune thy vineyard. 5  That which groweth of its own accord of thy harvest thou shalt not reap, neither gather the grapes of thy vine undressed: for it is a year of rest unto the land. 6  And the sabbath of the land shall be meat for you; for thee, and for thy servant, and for thy maid, and for thy hired servant, and for thy stranger that sojourneth with thee, 7  And for thy cattle, and for the beast that are in thy land, shall all the increase thereof be meat.

The sabbath of rest for the seventh day of the week is a day of rest also for animals, servants, and foreigners who worked for the Hebrews, as well.

There were three important feasts they were to keep in a year; the feast of unleavened bread that ended in Passover, the feasts of weeks, of firstfruits of the wheat harvest, and of ingathering at year’s end. These three times in the year all males were to appear before God in a place appointed and to keep a feast.

The feast of weeks is also called the feast of harvest.

Exodus 23:16  And the feast of harvest, the firstfruits of thy labours, which thou hast sown in the field: and the feast of ingathering, which is in the end of the year, when thou hast gathered in thy labours out of the field.

The feast of ingathering, when everything is brought in, is also called the feast of tabernacles.

Deuteronomy 16:13  Thou shalt observe the feast of tabernacles seven days, after that thou hast gathered in thy corn and thy wine:

Deuteronomy 16:16  Three times in a year shall all thy males appear before the LORD thy God in the place which he shall choose; in the feast of unleavened bread, and in the feast of weeks, and in the feast of tabernacles: and they shall not appear before the LORD empty:

There are specific instructions given for these feasts. It is interesting to note the three feasts, the three times they were to come before the Lord. Three times in the Bible the phrase come up hither, meaning ‘come up here,’ is used in different contexts.

Proverbs 25:7  For better it is that it be said unto thee, Come up hither; than that thou shouldest be put lower in the presence of the prince whom thine eyes have seen.

Revelation 4:1  After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter.

Revelation 11:12  And they heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them, Come up hither. And they ascended up to heaven in a cloud; and their enemies beheld them.

Three times in one verse the pre-Flood patriarch, Enoch’s, translation from earth to God’s presence is mentioned.

Hebrews 11:5  By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God.

It is interesting to imagine that the translation of the church, popularly called ‘the rapture’, a word not found in the Bible, takes place in three steps with Christ and those who were resurrected at His resurrection being first.

Matthew 27:52  And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose,

And then two more times mentioned in Revelation of the pre-Tribulation saints and then of those who come to Christ during the Great Tribulation. Three resurrections of believers, three raptures, two in Revelation itself.

Several early church “fathers” like Hermas, Cyprian, Victorinus, and Ephraim the Syrian spoke of the church being removed before God’s wrath is poured out at the end of time.

Christians today who do not believe in the translation of the church, popularly called ‘the rapture,’ will say that preacher of the early 1800’s, John Nelson Darby, invented the doctrine. He did popularize it in opposition to a world that regarded evolutionary progress as truth and that mankind and Christians in particular were headed toward a ‘golden age’ of righteousness and peace.[1]

But, he obviously did not invent the doctrine, merely gave it his own twist. As John Reeve wrote  two centuries before Darby’s, in the 1600’s, “Then shall the Elect, by the Decree or Voice of Jesus Christ, the Archangel, first appear out of the Graves, and, in the twinkling of an Eye, with all the Elect that are then living, as one Man, with a glorious Shout, shall, with distinct immortal Bodies, like unto their God, ascend to meet the Lord in the Air, and with him and his mighty angels, as swift as Thought, enter into that vast new Heaven and new Earth above the Stars….[2]

My intent here is not to approve of any preacher’s particular doctrines or idiosyncrasies or even personal opinions or heresies but simply to show that the doctrine was not invented by Darby, as some would say. Only the timing of when it would happen, before the Great Tribulation mentioned in Matthew and Revelation, during, or at the end of it were in contention among those that believed in it. Although I have not read his work there is supposedly another pretribulation rapture commentator named Morgan Edwards from the century prior to Darby.

Other references to the idea of the church being physically removed are from such diverse preachers and commentators as Jesuit priest, Francisco Ribera, in 1590, Puritan Cotton Mather in the 1600s, and John Gill in the 1700s.[3]  In the first decade of the 1700s Matthew Henry even uses the phrase, “rapture in the clouds,” in his commentary on 1Thessalonians 4:17 which is so commonly free on the internet I don’t need to give you directions here.

Darby’s view was that what he called “the rapture” must take place before the return of Christ. The Bible says that then there is the thousand-year reign of Christ and the general judgment follows.

My point in bringing all of this up is to only say that a doctrine can exist in the Bible and either be misunderstood, not be known by most believers, or that those against it or for it may misrepresent it to justify their own beliefs. The Jews believed that Israel would be restored to its past greatness, not seeing the Cross or the Resurrection of their Messiah. Many Christians of the 1800s, the age of the so-called great revivals, were Postmillennialists and believed they would turn the world over to Christian principles and values without Christ present so, no rapture and Christ’s rule coming after we had perfected the world. We must always remember that our understanding is incomplete until we stand before our Saviour.

---

[1] J.N. Darby, “The Rapture of the Saints,” in The Heavenly Hope, or, What is the Hope of the Christian? What is the Hope of the Church? (Dublin: Dublin Tract Repository, 1844).

https://openlibrary.org/works/OL16305370W/The_Heavenly_hope_or_What_is_the_hope_of_the_Christian_What_is_the_hope_of_the_Church_A_letter_from_   

 

[2] John Reeve, “An Epistle to a Kinsman,” in Joyful News from Heaven (London: Francis Cosinet, 1658), 60.

https://openlibrary.org/works/OL245574W/Joyful_news_from_heaven_or_The_last_intelligence_from_our_glorified_Jesus_above_the_stars

 

[3] Mal Couch, ed., Dictionary of Premillennial Theology (Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Publications, 1996).

 

Bible Study on Romans 8, verses 17 to 25, part 1, the whole creation groans in pain

 

Romans 8:17 ¶  And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together. 18  For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. 19  For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God. 20  For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope, 21  Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. 22  For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. 23  And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body. 24  For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? 25  But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.

 

As children of God we are heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ of all things visible and invisible. This is our destiny. The question in verse 17 is one of suffering. Must we suffer the physical agony of persecution and death as Christ did to have that inheritance? This has confused some in the past.

 

It is absurd for us to think that every saved Christian has been martyred or murdered to assure their salvation. Certainly, there were martyrs in the past who looked at their violent death at the hands of others as a way to obtain eternal life. In fact, I have read that in some early persecutions there was altogether too much volunteering to die going on so that pastors had to tell people that was not necessary or even acceptable to ask to be killed. Persecution would come to them without them seeking martyrdom.

 

Still, we must understand the context in which this is said. The early Christian lived in a world that hated them and hated Christ as it hates us but in a way we cannot understand with our Constitution’s Bill of Rights which guarantees religious freedom or even the modern belief in more civilized societies that all religions should be respected and allowed to practice. See the commands and expectations to suffer persecution for Christ.

 

Let’s focus on the word suffer and its derivations when it means, not to permit or allow something as in some contexts, but to endure affliction, persecution, and tribulation. One of the cruelest demands made against Christians under torture was to renounce Christ then as it is now in countries around the world.

 

1Corinthians 4:12  And labour, working with our own hands: being reviled, we bless; being persecuted, we suffer it:

 

PhIlippians 1:29  For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake;

 

2Thessalonians 1:5  Which is a manifest token of the righteous judgment of God, that ye may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which ye also suffer:

 

1Timothy 4:10  For therefore we both labour and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Saviour of all men, specially of those that believe.

 

2Timothy 2:9  Wherein I suffer trouble, as an evil doer, even unto bonds; but the word of God is not bound…12  If we suffer, we shall also reign with him: if we deny him, he also will deny us:

 

2Timothy 3:12  Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.

 

If you live as a Christian it is sure that at some point in your life you will endure persecution for it, even if it is mild.

 

But, the context of verse 18 is the present time that Paul is living. You not being permitted to put up a scripture verse in your office cubicle hardly compares to what early Christians or Christians in Muslim or communist countries had and have to endure.

 

We wait selfishly for a good reason earnestly expecting and in the hope of the receiving of a resurrection body that will not suffer and die. All of our lives we are subject to the bondage of death, a death that is under the power of Satan, the Adversary.

 

Hebrews 2: 14 ¶  Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; 15  And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.

 

As verse 22 makes clear the entire creation groans in pain and suffering as a result of man’s sin.

 

Romans 5:12  Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:

 

But we wait expectantly in hope for a new body.

 

Job 14:14  If a man die, shall he live again? all the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change come.

 

See this verse also on a physical resurrection from Job, written between 1500 to 2000BC.

 

Job 19:25  For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: 26  And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God: 27  Whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another; though my reins be consumed within me.

 

And a thousand years later see this verse on a physical resurrection from Isaiah.

 

Isaiah 26:19  Thy dead men shall live, together with my dead body shall they arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust: for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead.

 

And then, a few hundred years later, as Daniel writes under the reigns of the last Babylonian emperors and the first Persian.

 

Daniel 12:2  And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.

 

Keeping this understanding of the ancient Jew and Gentile before the Jew came into being (Job) read the “dry bones” prophesy in Ezekiel 37.

 

Ezekiel 37:12  Therefore prophesy and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, O my people, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel.

Bible Study on Exodus 34, verses 18 to 27, part 1, the firstborn belonged to God

 

Exodus 34:18 ¶  The feast of unleavened bread shalt thou keep. Seven days thou shalt eat unleavened bread, as I commanded thee, in the time of the month Abib: for in the month Abib thou camest out from Egypt. 19  All that openeth the matrix is mine; and every firstling among thy cattle, whether ox or sheep, that is male. 20  But the firstling of an ass thou shalt redeem with a lamb: and if thou redeem him not, then shalt thou break his neck. All the firstborn of thy sons thou shalt redeem. And none shall appear before me empty. 21  Six days thou shalt work, but on the seventh day thou shalt rest: in earing time and in harvest thou shalt rest. 22  And thou shalt observe the feast of weeks, of the firstfruits of wheat harvest, and the feast of ingathering at the year’s end. 23  Thrice in the year shall all your men children appear before the Lord GOD, the God of Israel. 24  For I will cast out the nations before thee, and enlarge thy borders: neither shall any man desire thy land, when thou shalt go up to appear before the LORD thy God thrice in the year. 25  Thou shalt not offer the blood of my sacrifice with leaven; neither shall the sacrifice of the feast of the passover be left unto the morning. 26  The first of the firstfruits of thy land thou shalt bring unto the house of the LORD thy God. Thou shalt not seethe a kid in his mother’s milk. 27  And the LORD said unto Moses, Write thou these words: for after the tenor of these words I have made a covenant with thee and with Israel.

 

The Feast of Unleavened Bread with the Passover was explained earlier.

 

Exodus 12:1 ¶  And the LORD spake unto Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying, 2  This month shall be unto you the beginning of months: it shall be the first month of the year to you. 3  Speak ye unto all the congregation of Israel, saying, In the tenth day of this month they shall take to them every man a lamb, according to the house of their fathers, a lamb for an house: 4  And if the household be too little for the lamb, let him and his neighbour next unto his house take it according to the number of the souls; every man according to his eating shall make your count for the lamb. 5  Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year: ye shall take it out from the sheep, or from the goats: 6  And ye shall keep it up until the fourteenth day of the same month: and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening. 7  And they shall take of the blood, and strike it on the two side posts and on the upper door post of the houses, wherein they shall eat it. 8  And they shall eat the flesh in that night, roast with fire, and unleavened bread; and with bitter herbs they shall eat it. 9  Eat not of it raw, nor sodden at all with water, but roast with fire; his head with his legs, and with the purtenance thereof. 10  And ye shall let nothing of it remain until the morning; and that which remaineth of it until the morning ye shall burn with fire. 11  And thus shall ye eat it; with your loins girded, your shoes

on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and ye shall eat it in haste: it is the LORD’S passover. 12  For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night, and will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the LORD. 13  And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt. 14  And this day shall be unto you for a memorial; and ye shall keep it a feast to the LORD throughout your generations; ye shall keep it a feast by an ordinance for ever. 15  Seven days shall ye eat unleavened bread; even the first day ye shall put away leaven out of your houses: for whosoever eateth leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day, that soul shall be cut off from Israel. 16  And in the first day there shall be an

holy convocation, and in the seventh day there shall be an holy convocation to you; no manner of work shall be done in them, save that which every man must eat, that only may be done of you. 17  And ye shall observe the feast of unleavened bread; for in this selfsame day have I brought your armies out of the land of Egypt: therefore shall ye observe this day in your generations by an ordinance for ever. 18  In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at even, ye shall eat unleavened bread, until the one and twentieth day of the month at even. 19  Seven days

shall there be no leaven found in your houses: for whosoever eateth that which is leavened, even that soul shall be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether he be a stranger, or born in the land. 20  Ye shall eat nothing leavened; in all your habitations shall ye eat unleavened bread.

 

Luke 22:1  Now the feast of unleavened bread drew nigh, which is called the Passover.

 

The firstborn male of every animal and of people born of the Hebrews that came out of a womb, the matrix, belonged to God for this reason;

 

Numbers 3:13  Because all the firstborn are mine; for on the day that I smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt I hallowed unto me all the firstborn in Israel, both man and beast: mine shall they be: I am the LORD.

 

The domesticated ass, or donkey, was a vitally important method of transport in ancient times. An ass is likened to a man and can be redeemed by a lamb, as Christ, the Lamb of God, redeemed mankind.

 

Job 11:12  For vain man would be wise, though man be born like a wild ass’s colt.

 

The donkey must have a master to control it for it to be of any use. This animal plays its part in Christ’s first advent.

 

Matthew 21:1 ¶  And when they drew nigh unto Jerusalem, and were come to Bethphage, unto the mount of Olives, then sent Jesus two disciples, 2  Saying unto them, Go into the village over against you, and straightway ye shall find an ass tied, and a colt with her: loose them, and bring them unto me. 3  And if any man say ought unto you, ye shall say, The Lord hath need of them; and straightway he will send them. 4  All this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying, 5  Tell ye the daughter of Sion, Behold, thy King cometh unto thee, meek, and sitting upon an ass, and a colt the foal of an ass. (referring to Zechariah 9:9)

Bible Study on Romans 8, verses 10 to 16, we are the children of God

 

Romans 8:10 ¶  And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. 11  But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you. 12  Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh. 13  For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. 14  For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. 15  For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. 16  The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:

 

This is a call to salvation through Jesus Christ.

 

Again, as before, Paul makes it clear that you, Christian, are freed from the power of sin. By Christ’s resurrection by the One who created us we will be raised from the dead, given life, quickened. Our current flesh cannot please God and by the fact that we have the Spirit of God in us we can be raised. Here is evidence of the mechanism, why a Christian can be resurrected as they will be. Because the Spirit of God lives in us we will rise from the dead.

 

We are debtors to the Spirit that will raise us up and all men and women owe it to God to believe and trust in Christ, that is their duty, and God is angry at those who refuse. Think of what He did on the Cross at Calvary. We are the children of God because of the Spirit of God dwelling in us. We have received this Spirit of adoption. The adoption, as will be explained, is the redemption of our body, the purchased possession made anew in Christ and like Christ. Abba, Father, according to Strong’s was used often in prayer as we use Father even today. It was an Aramaic word that came to have a sacred meaning for the Jews of the Greek-speaking world regarding God.

 

Notice here that the Spirit is called it.  From the early Early Modern English period up until the 17th century, his was the possessive of the third-person neuter it as well as of the third-person masculine he. It and he are compatible. I used to think this was an important distinction but apparently it is not although I would suggest the following from our linguistic perspective.

The Spirit of God is one agency by which God works in His creation. There is named the Spirit of God in Genesis 1 and elsewhere as well as the Spirit of Christ.

1Peter 1:11  Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow.

This is the Holy Ghost as a person with the Spirit being Himself in operation.

Luke 4:1  And Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost returned from Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness,

John 1:33  And I knew him not: but he that sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me, Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and remaining on him, the same is he which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost.

John 7:39  (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.)

Acts 2:4  And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.

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.

When the Holy Spirit’s operative work is spoken of the impersonal pronoun it is used.

Romans 8:16  The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:..26  Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.

But as the third part of God the Holy Ghost is referred to as he.

John 14:26  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.

I’m going to repeat this information in a larger context in a little while.

Bible Study on Exodus 34, verses 10 to 17, Behold, I make a covenant

 

Exodus 34:10 ¶  And he said, Behold, I make a covenant: before all thy people I will do marvels, such as have not been done in all the earth, nor in any nation: and all the people among which thou art shall see the work of the LORD: for it is a terrible thing that I will do with thee. 11  Observe thou that which I command thee this day: behold, I drive out before thee the Amorite, and the Canaanite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, and the Hivite, and the Jebusite. 12  Take heed to thyself, lest thou make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land whither thou goest, lest it be for a snare in the midst of thee: 13  But ye shall destroy their altars, break their images, and cut down their groves: 14  For thou shalt worship no other god: for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God: 15  Lest thou make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, and they go a whoring after their gods, and do sacrifice unto their gods, and one call thee, and thou eat of his sacrifice; 16  And thou take of their daughters unto thy sons, and their daughters go a whoring after their gods, and make thy sons go a whoring after their gods. 17  Thou shalt make thee no molten gods.

 

There are some significant words in this passage that bear defining Biblically before you run off to some nineteenth century dictionary or a modern one and get confused.

A covenant, we will see upcoming, is an agreement between God and man. The Hebrew agrees to obey the ten commandments and that seals the agreement that God has written. In the following verse in Leviticus we can see the synonyms to a covenant, which are statutes, judgments, and commandments.

 

Leviticus 26:15  And if ye shall despise my statutes, or if your soul abhor my judgments, so that ye will not do all my commandments, but that ye break my covenant:

 

The agreement is pretty one-sided. God, typically, is the only one able to meet the demands of a covenant. Just as it is impossible for man to keep God’s commandments without the Holy Spirit’s involvement and it is impossible for man to offer up worship that is pleasing to God or even to pray without God’s help so the expression of this covenant of commandments will show that mankind is incapable of obedience without the Holy Spirit’s invisible hand on mankind’s heart.

 

God made a covenant with Noah to deliver him and his family from the destruction of life in the great Flood. This was something God did and required only Noah to receive it by obedience.

 

Genesis 6:17  And, behold, I, even I, do bring a flood of waters upon the earth, to destroy all flesh, wherein is the breath of life, from under heaven; and every thing that is in the earth shall die. 18  But with thee will I establish my covenant; and thou shalt come into the ark, thou, and thy sons, and thy wife, and thy sons’ wives with thee. 19  And of every living thing of all flesh, two of every sort shalt thou bring into the ark, to keep them alive with thee; they shall be male and female. 20  Of fowls after their kind, and of cattle after their kind, of every creeping thing of the earth after his kind, two of every sort shall come unto thee, to keep them alive. 21  And take thou unto thee of all food that is eaten, and thou shalt gather it to thee; and it shall be for food for thee, and for them.

 

    22 ¶  Thus did Noah; according to all that God commanded him, so did he.

 

God made a covenant with all flesh that there should be no more flood destroy life on earth.

 

Genesis 9:8 ¶  And God spake unto Noah, and to his sons with him, saying, 9  And I, behold, I establish my covenant with you, and with your seed after you; 10  And with every living creature that is with you, of the fowl, of the cattle, and of every beast of the earth with you; from all that go out of the ark, to every beast of the earth. 11  And I will establish my covenant with you; neither shall all flesh be cut off any more by the waters of a flood; neither shall there any more be a flood to destroy the earth.

 

12 ¶  And God said, This is the token of the covenant which I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations: 13  I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth. 14  And it shall

come to pass, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow shall be seen in the cloud: 15  And I will remember my covenant, which is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and the waters shall no more become a flood to destroy all flesh. 16  And the bow shall be in the cloud; and I will look upon it, that I may remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is upon the earth. 17  And God said unto Noah, This is the token of the covenant, which I have established between me and all flesh that is upon the earth.

 

God made a covenant with Abram to give his descendants a grant of land.

 

Genesis 15:18  In the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates:

 

So it is with eternal life. It is something God does that can only be received.

 

John 1:12  But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: 13  Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

 

This is an everlasting covenant.

 

Hebrews 13:20  Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, 21  Make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is wellpleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ; to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

 

It is again, something that God does and we receive by obedience in faith, to trust and declare that Christ rose from the dead, was God in the flesh, and by faith in those facts of history we have eternal life.

Marvels are something that one is amazed at, something that causes you to wonder. To marvel is to be amazed. Amazement is to be filled with wonder.

Acts 2:7  And they were all amazed and marvelled, saying one to another, Behold, are not all these which speak Galilaeans?

 

Acts 3:10  And they knew that it was he which sat for alms at the Beautiful gate of the temple: and they were filled with wonder and amazement at that which had happened unto him.

 

Terrible is another interesting word which carries with it the idea of something so great as to be frightening and overwhelming in its power, like God, of instance. Think of the word, terrifying.

Deuteronomy 7:21  Thou shalt not be affrighted at them: for the LORD thy God is among you, a mighty God and terrible.

 

Deuteronomy 10:21  He is thy praise, and he is thy God, that hath done for thee these great and terrible things, which thine eyes have seen.

 

Daniel 7:7  After this I saw in the night visions, and behold a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly; and it had great iron teeth: it devoured and brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with the feet of it: and it was diverse from all the beasts that were before it; and it had ten horns.

 

God warns them about making any agreement with the Canaanites. The danger is that they will become a snare to the Israelites if that is allowed. A snare is a trap.

Job 18:10  The snare is laid for him in the ground, and a trap for him in the way.

 

Psalm 124:7  Our soul is escaped as a bird out of the snare of the fowlers: the snare is broken, and we are escaped.

 

In verse 13 the Israelites are told to break down the altars, images, and groves of the people of the land they’ve been given. Images includes the renditions of birds and animals the Canaanites worshipped.

Numbers 33:52  Then ye shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you, and destroy all their pictures, and destroy all their molten images, and quite pluck down all their high places:

 

This is in keeping with the commandment.

 

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:

 

Sacred groves of trees and even particular types of trees were common in the ancient world’s religions as has been noted by several authors in history.

By calling Himself a jealous God the Lord makes it clear that He will tolerate no idolatry. The idolatry the ancient world was steeped in made mankind an enemy of God. The very God who causes our hearts to beat, our blood to flow, and our lungs to inhale and exhale is not glorified or understood when mankind attributes his well-being and even his life to an imaginary god, little g, or to a devil.

 

It is clear by the Biblical text that the Canaanites were immoral, child-sacrificing, bestiality-practicing, idolaters so the curse placed on Canaan at Ham’s disgrace was well-justified.