Bible Study on Matthew 10, verses 1 to 4, part 5, James and Judas

 

James, the son of Alphaeus, is also identified as being James the less in Mark.

 

Mark 15:40  There were also women looking on afar off: among whom was Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James the less and of Joses, and Salome;

 

He is also identified by some as being an actual sibling of Jesus as per this verse keeping him separate from James, the brother of John.

 

Galatians 1:19  But other of the apostles saw I none, save James the Lord’s brother.

 

It is likely that this half-brother of Jesus wrote the letter of James sometime after Jesus revealed Himself to him post-resurrection.

 

1Corinthians 15:6  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.

 

Lebbaeus, whose surname was Thaddaeus, is according to Gill named after the town of Lebba, on the sea coast of Galilee. The surname Thaddeus is derived from the root of Jude or Judah according to Gill and some say he is Jude who writes the letter. I’m not going to go into all of the possibilities and opinions.

 

He is a patron saint, along with Bartholomew, of the Armenian church and there is a Saint Thaddeus Monastery in Northern Iran and a Saint Thaddeus Church in Armenia.

 

Simon the Canaanite is mentioned in another verse;

 

Mark 3:18  And Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus, and Simon the Canaanite,

 

…but also as Simon the Zealot.

 

Luke 6:15  Matthew and Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon called Zelotes,

 

Acts 1:13  And when they were come in, they went up into an upper room, where abode both Peter, and James, and John, and Andrew, Philip, and Thomas, Bartholomew, and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon Zelotes, and Judas the brother of James.

 

So, with the name of Zelotes this indicates he may have been one of that party of Zealots who were basically terrorists in First Century Judea. Some say, though, that this only refers to his zeal for Christ.

 

Traditions on his demise vary with him being sawn in half in Persia or crucified in Roman Britain. We won’t know until we reach Heaven what really happened to him.

 

Judas Iscariot, who betrayed Christ, has a name that means ‘man of Kerioth’. Kerioth is a town in the territory of Moab.

 

Jeremiah 48:24  And upon Kerioth, and upon Bozrah, and upon all the cities of the land of Moab, far or near.

 

He is referred to as the son of perdition.

 

John 17:12  While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled.

 

And so is the Antichrist at the end of history.

 

2Thessalonians 2:3  Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;

 

Does this mean, as one commentator said, that the Antichrist will be from the area of ancient Moab and be a Jew?

 

Matthew Henry’s comments on Judas are quite interesting and I want to quote them here from his readily available commentary online;

 

Judas Iscariot is always named last, and with that black brand upon his name, who also betrayed him; which intimates that from the first, Christ knew what a wretch he was, that he had a devil, and would prove a traitor; yet Christ took him among the apostles, that it might not be a surprise and discouragement to his church, if, at any time, the vilest scandals should break out in the best societies. Such spots there have been in our feasts of charity; tares among the wheat, wolves among the sheep; but there is a day of discovery and separation coming, where hypocrites shall be unmasked and discarded. Neither the apostleship, nor the rest of the apostles, were ever the worse for Judas's being one of the twelve, while his wickedness was concealed and did not break out.[1]

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[1] Matthew Henry, Matthew Henry Commentary on the Whole Bible, Matthew 10:4, https://www.biblestudytools.com/commentaries/matthew-henry-complete/matthew/10.html. (accessed 12.27.22).

Bible Study on Genesis 41, verses 17 to 32, Joseph interprets the dream of Pharaoh

 

Genesis 41:17 ¶  And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, In my dream, behold, I stood upon the bank of the river: 18  And, behold, there came up out of the river seven kine, fatfleshed and well favoured; and they fed in a meadow: 19  And, behold, seven other kine came up after them, poor and very ill favoured and leanfleshed, such as I never saw in all the land of Egypt for badness: 20  And the lean and the ill favoured kine did eat up the first seven fat kine: 21  And when they had eaten them up, it could not be known that they had eaten them; but they were still ill favoured, as at the beginning. So I awoke. 22  And I saw in my dream, and, behold, seven ears came up in one stalk, full and good: 23  And, behold, seven ears, withered, thin, and blasted with the east wind, sprung up after them: 24  And the thin ears devoured the seven good ears: and I told this unto the magicians; but there was none that could declare it to me. 25  And Joseph said unto Pharaoh, The dream of Pharaoh is one: God hath shewed Pharaoh what he is about to do. 26  The seven good kine are seven years; and the seven good ears are seven years: the dream is one. 27  And the seven thin and ill favoured kine that came up after them are seven years; and the seven empty ears blasted with the east wind shall be seven years of famine. 28  This is the thing which I have spoken unto Pharaoh: What God is about to do he sheweth unto Pharaoh. 29  Behold, there come seven years of great plenty throughout all the land of Egypt: 30  And there shall arise after them seven years of famine; and all the plenty shall be forgotten in the land of Egypt; and the famine shall consume the land; 31  And the plenty shall not be known in the land by reason of that famine following; for it shall be very grievous. 32  And for that the dream was doubled unto Pharaoh twice; it is because the thing is established by God, and God will shortly bring it to pass.

Pharaoh recounts his memory of the dream to Joseph. With a little embellishment and adding some emphasis, which is very human, he tells Joseph what was troubling him. There are very few people who do not read back their thoughts into previous experiences. Many Christians embellish upon the day they announced their belief on Christ by reading back into that experience things they think should have happened or wish had happened. We do the same thing with other events and moments in our lives but we are often not honest enough with ourselves to admit it.

These two dreams are actually one dream explaining how God intends to provide Egypt with seven years of plenty and then seven years of famine. The fact that God repeated this theme to Pharaoh twice establishes it as a definite prophecy of the soon-to-be future. This reminds you of how things are emphasized by God and in the Bible generally and established as definite and not merely, ‘if you or they do this then I (God) will do this,’ propositions. An example would be when Jesus says verily, verily from the word we also get amen from when He is telling Peter of Peter’s future martyrdom.

John 21:18  Verily, verily, I say unto thee, When thou wast young, thou girdedst thyself, and walkedst whither thou wouldest: but when thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another shall gird thee, and carry thee whither thou wouldest not.

It is questionable to make a doctrine out of one verse and can lead to error but when many verses comment on a thing you can be sure that God has established it as an eternal decree such as everlasting life, for instance, which is reflected clearly in many verses.

Bible Study on Matthew 10:1-4, part 4, Doubting Thomas, and Matthew

 

Thomas was also called “doubting Thomas” in popular culture because of his requiring proof that Christ was risen.

 

John 20: 24  But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came. 25  The other disciples therefore said unto him, We have seen the Lord. But he said unto them, Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe.26 ¶  And after eight days again his disciples were within, and Thomas with them: then came Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, Peace be unto you. 27  Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing. 28  And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God. 29  Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.

 

Thomas is not only a doubter and needs convincing. He is pessimistic, not believing there would be a good outcome if the company returned to Judea where the Jews had wanted to stone Jesus.

 

John 11:14  Then said Jesus unto them plainly, Lazarus is dead. 15  And I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, to the intent ye may believe; nevertheless let us go unto him.

16  Then said Thomas, which is called Didymus, unto his fellowdisciples, Let us also go, that we may die with him.

 

Notice that Thomas is also called Didymus. Thomas is from the Aramaic word for twin and Didymus the Greek. Didymus was not an uncommon name in the Greek world. There was a Stoic philosopher named Arias Didymus, a scholar and grammarian named Didymus Chalcenterus, Didymus the Blind, Didymus the Musician, etc. Maybe, though, Thomas just was a twin.

 

Tradition has it that he traveled to India and, in fact, he is the patron saint of many Indian Christians. Supposedly, he was killed by a spear.

 

Matthew the publican, or tax collector, is writing this gospel. We saw his calling back in chapter 9.

 

Mathew 9:9  And as Jesus passed forth from thence, he saw a man, named Matthew, sitting at the receipt of custom: and he saith unto him, Follow me. And he arose, and followed him.

 

According to many commentators he was also known as Levi.

 

Mark 2:14  And as he passed by, he saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the receipt of custom, and said unto him, Follow me. And he arose and followed him.

 

Luke 5:27  And after these things he went forth, and saw a publican, named Levi, sitting at the receipt of custom: and he said unto him, Follow me.

 

If that is so, we may surmise that there were more than two pairs of brothers among the Apostles, Simon Peter and Andrew being one pair and James and John, sons of Zebedee, the others mentioned earlier, along with Matthew and James, the son of Alphaeus, as Matthew is also said to be in Mark 2:14. However, as Matthew is not mentioned as James, the son of Alphaeus’, brother it is more likely that their fathers simply had the same name. It would not be uncommon for a company of men or women to have parents with the same name. Catholic tradition says they were not brothers while the Eastern Orthodox, which split from the Catholics in 1054 claims they were.

 

Various traditions have Matthew being crucified in Alexandria, Egypt or martyred in Ethiopia.

Bible Study on Genesis 41, verses 9 to 16, the butler remembers Joseph

 

Genesis 41:9 ¶  Then spake the chief butler unto Pharaoh, saying, I do remember my faults this day: 10  Pharaoh was wroth with his servants, and put me in ward in the captain of the guard’s house, both me and the chief baker: 11  And we dreamed a dream in one night, I and he; we dreamed each man according to the interpretation of his dream. 12  And there was there with us a young man, an Hebrew, servant to the captain of the guard; and we told him, and he interpreted to us our dreams; to each man according to his dream he did interpret. 13  And it came to pass, as he interpreted to us, so it was; me he restored unto mine office, and him he hanged. 14  Then Pharaoh sent and called Joseph, and they brought him hastily out of the dungeon: and he shaved himself, and changed his raiment, and came in unto Pharaoh. 15  And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, I have dreamed a dream, and there is none that can interpret it: and I have heard say of thee, that thou canst understand a dream to interpret it. 16  And Joseph answered Pharaoh, saying, It is not in me: God shall give Pharaoh an answer of peace.

Now, after two years, the butler remembers Joseph. The Pharaoh is desperate for an answer and ready to call this Hebrew prisoner to be brought before him. Joseph probably didn’t just shave his face in a bowl of water with a razor. There is evidence that Egyptians shaved the hair on their heads and face with razors and even some evidence that, at least the priests, shaving their entire bodies. Lice was something that was disgusting to ancient Egyptians, I have read, and this sanitary practice became a cultural practice for those who were not desperately poor. Wigs were very popular among both men and women and the Ebers Medical Papyrus gives us information about such details as how they made soap.[1]

Joseph’s answer to Pharaoh is significant in that he acknowledges that the interpretation of a dream is not in him but from God. God will put Pharaoh’s heart at rest regarding the meaning of the dream. See 1Chronicles 22:9 and Isaiah 62:1 for peace and rest and quietness as synonyms. Pharaoh’s troubled heart can only be calmed by God and Joseph says God will do it.

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[1] Numerous sources talk about this. Here is one website among other;  http://www.reshafim.org.il/ad/egypt/timelines/topics/hair.htm (accessed 4.4.2017).

 

Bible Study on Matthew 10, verses 1 to 4, part 3, Philip and Bartholomew

 

This Apostle Philip should not be confused with the other Christian, Philip.

 

Acts 6:2  Then the twelve called the multitude of the disciples unto them, and said, It is not reason that we should leave the word of God, and serve tables. 3  Wherefore, brethren, look ye out among you seven men of honest report, full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business. 4  But we will give ourselves continually to prayer, and to the ministry of the word. 5  And the saying pleased the whole multitude: and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Ghost, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolas a proselyte of Antioch: 6  Whom they set before the apostles: and when they had prayed, they laid their hands on them.

 

The Apostle Philip is the one to whom Christ revealed that He was indeed God the Father in the flesh.

 

John 14:8  Philip saith unto him, Lord, shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us. 9  Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father?

 

There is more than one tradition about Philip’s end with one having him crucified upside down and preaching from his cross and another has him beheaded. We simply don’t know anything at this moment that is not presented in the Bible.

 

Bartholomew’s name is perplexing as it is not mentioned very often in the Bible. However, it was accepted by many that this is the Anglicized version of Bartholmi, or the son of Tholmi, and that this is the same Apostle as Nathanael. In this, Strong’s dictionary, agrees. Most people have more than one name, for instance, Simon Peter. We know Simon and Peter are the same person based on the contexts in which those names are found.

 

John 1:45  Philip findeth Nathanael, and saith unto him, We have found him, of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets, did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.

 

Jesus revealed Bartholomew/Nathanael’s character and Nathanael acknowledged who Jesus was.

 

John 1:46  And Nathanael said unto him, Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth? Philip saith unto him, Come and see. 47  Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him, and saith of him, Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile! 48  Nathanael saith unto him, Whence knowest thou me? Jesus answered and said unto him, Before that Philip called thee, when thou wast under the fig tree, I saw thee. 49  Nathanael answered and saith unto him, Rabbi, thou art the Son of God; thou art the King of Israel.

 

Extrabiblical tradition says he went to India, founded Christianity in Armenia, and was finally martyred in what is called Azerbaijan today.

Bible Study on Genesis 41, verses 1 to 8, Pharaoh has frightening dreams

 

Genesis 41:1 ¶  And it came to pass at the end of two full years, that Pharaoh dreamed: and, behold, he stood by the river. 2  And, behold, there came up out of the river seven well favoured kine and fatfleshed; and they fed in a meadow. 3  And, behold, seven other kine came up after them out of the river, ill favoured and leanfleshed; and stood by the other kine upon the brink of the river. 4  And the ill favoured and leanfleshed kine did eat up the seven well favoured and fat kine. So Pharaoh awoke. 5  And he slept and dreamed the second time: and, behold, seven ears of corn came up upon one stalk, rank and good. 6  And, behold, seven thin ears and blasted with the east wind sprung up after them. 7  And the seven thin ears devoured the seven rank and full ears. And Pharaoh awoke, and, behold, it was a dream. 8  And it came to pass in the morning that his spirit was troubled; and he sent and called for all the magicians of Egypt, and all the wise men thereof: and Pharaoh told them his dream; but there was none that could interpret them unto Pharaoh.

Two complete years have gone by and Pharaoh has this dream. This reminds one of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream and his calling of all his wise men together to interpret it for him, although he insisted he couldn’t remember it, so they had to tell him the dream, as well.

Daniel 2:1 ¶  And in the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar Nebuchadnezzar dreamed dreams, wherewith his spirit was troubled, and his sleep brake from him. 2  Then the king commanded to call the magicians, and the astrologers, and the sorcerers, and the Chaldeans, for to shew the king his dreams. So they came and stood before the king. 3  And the king said unto them, I have dreamed a dream, and my spirit was troubled to know the dream. 4  Then spake the Chaldeans to the king in Syriack, O king, live for ever: tell thy servants the dream, and we will shew the interpretation. 5  The king answered and said to the Chaldeans, The thing is gone from me: if ye will not make known unto me the dream, with the interpretation thereof, ye shall be cut in pieces, and your houses shall be made a dunghill. 6  But if ye shew the dream, and the interpretation thereof, ye shall receive of me gifts and rewards and great honour: therefore shew me the dream, and the interpretation thereof.

Dreams are often disjointed things with actors and events that make no sense and seem like the extra stuff left over from what you thought about the day previous. It is almost as if the mind uses the film that lies on the proverbial cutting room floor in the old movie days and creates something surreal. The kind of sleep that allows you to dream is important for a successful sleep, we are told. But, occasionally, in cases mentioned in the Bible, some dreams are communications. These are communications from God and God also provides the interpreter of the dream. It is like the New Testament speaking in tongues, which are always foreign languages. If there is no one in the assembly who can translate the speech does it serve a purpose from God and can it be from God? Paul says no. It is nothing more than confusion and God is not the author of confusion.

So, we have a dream that means something and we have need of someone to interpret it.

Here we have the definition of well favoured and ill favoured in the text as they are contrasted with fatfleshed and leanfleshed. Kine are cows, as is evident from the twenty or so verses in the Bible where the word is used. Do a word search or use a concordance to see.

And again, for corn, understand that it is a reference to a head of wheat in British English as it can refer to any type of grain. For example, look up the English “Corn Laws.”

John 12:24  Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.

Bible Study on Matthew 10, verses 1 to 4, part 2, Andrew, James, and John

 

Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, is also a commercial fisherman. There is not a lot about him in the Bible but Greek Orthodox tradition says that the Apostolic successor to Andrew is the Patriarch of Constantinople. Some commentators of old say that he preached around the Black Sea and in what is Southern Russia today. Supposedly he was crucified in Greece. Legend has it, mostly from the Middle Ages, that he was crucified on an X shaped cross, called in folklore the Saint Andrew’s Cross. Beware of Roman Catholic and Greek Orthodox legends for which you can find no other historical evidence and is not backed up in the Bible, being a primary source of wisdom from the Holy Spirit of God, if you are a believer.

 

James is the Greek derivation of the Hebrew name Jacob. James, the son of Zebedee, is considered to be the patron saint of Spain among other things and is considered to be the first Apostle to be martyred.

 

Acts 12:1 ¶  Now about that time Herod the king stretched forth his hands to vex certain of the church. 2  And he killed James the brother of John with the sword.

 

John, the brother of James, is called John the beloved because of these verses;

 

John 13:23  Now there was leaning on Jesus’ bosom one of his disciples, whom Jesus loved.

 

John 19:26  When Jesus therefore saw his mother, and the disciple standing by, whom he loved, he saith unto his mother, Woman, behold thy son!

 

John 20:2  Then she runneth, and cometh to Simon Peter, and to the other disciple, whom Jesus loved, and saith unto them, They have taken away the Lord out of the sepulchre, and we know not where they have laid him.

 

John 21:7  Therefore that disciple whom Jesus loved saith unto Peter, It is the Lord. Now when Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he girt his fisher’s coat unto him, (for he was naked,) and did cast himself into the sea…20  Then Peter, turning about, seeth the disciple whom Jesus loved following; which also leaned on his breast at supper, and said, Lord, which is he that betrayeth thee?

 

Clearly, there was a special relationship between Jesus and John, who is thought to be the youngest of the Apostles, a relationship that is hard for us to understand today because of social issues we confront. Let’s remember David and Jonathan.

 

2Samuel 1:26  I am distressed for thee, my brother Jonathan: very pleasant hast thou been unto me: thy love to me was wonderful, passing the love of women.

 

We are uncomfortable in modern time with men who are not homosexuals showing affection and love for each other apart from combat, a case for which we make an exception. But let me remind you that in times past manly men, virile, masculine men did not have our fear of showing devotion to close friends or to young adult men they were mentoring. It can be quite disconcerting for us to read a letter from one of our heroes past. I was shocked when I read a letter that George Washington wrote to a friend and how it expressed a heartfelt love we would never dare utter for a person of the same sex today. This was particularly confusing as there was never any suggestion in his life of feelings toward a man. So, let’s put these verses in proper perspective and not color them with our own preconceptions.

 

Jesus took special care for John, the youngest and most vulnerable of the Apostles. John is also known as the author of a gospel, three letters and the book of Revelation. Tradition has it that in spite of attempts to kill him he lived to be an old age. Tradition also says he taught Polycarp, bishop of Smyrna, who taught Irenaeus. He is also thought to have taught Ignatius of Antioch.