Bible Study on Acts 2, verses 14 to 36, Whom God hath raised up

 

Acts 2:14 ¶  But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice, and said unto them, Ye men of Judaea, and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem, be this known unto you, and hearken to my words: 15  For these are not drunken, as ye suppose, seeing it is but the third hour of the day. 16  But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel; 17  And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams: 18  And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy: 19  And I will shew wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke: 20  The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord come: 21  And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved. 22  Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know: 23  Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain: 24  Whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death: because it was not possible that he should be holden of it. 25  For David speaketh concerning him, I foresaw the Lord always before my face, for he is on my right hand, that I should not be moved: 26  Therefore did my heart rejoice, and my tongue was glad; moreover also my flesh shall rest in hope: 27  Because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption. 28  Thou hast made known to me the ways of life; thou shalt make me full of joy with thy countenance. 29  Men and brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his sepulchre is with us unto this day. 30  Therefore being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne; 31  He seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption. 32  This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses. 33  Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath shed forth this, which ye now see and hear. 34  For David is not ascended into the heavens: but he saith himself, The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, 35  Until I make thy foes thy footstool. 36  Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ.

 

Peter quotes the prophet Joel as the prediction of what just happened. He is, of course, speaking in Hebrew, translated into Greek, then into English for us at least. Scholars like H.C. Hoskier noted that manuscripts were translated from one language into another and then back again often.  The book of Joel clearly speaks to the end times but its prophetic importance is also satisfied here at Pentecost as all prophecy typically has a past, present, and future context. Peter and the believing Jews would have been reading the context of Joel and expecting, once again, the restoration of Israel’s former glory and its triumph over its enemies, a recurring theme, hope, and expectation to be imminent.

 

Joel 2:28 ¶  And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions: 29  And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my spirit. 30  And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke. 31  The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come. 32  And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the LORD shall be delivered: for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the LORD hath said, and in the remnant whom the LORD shall call.

 

Peter preaches about Jesus and in verse 25 he quotes David;

 

Psalm 16:8 ¶  I have set the LORD always before me: because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved. 9  Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoiceth: my flesh also shall rest in hope. 10  For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption. 11  Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right

hand there are pleasures for evermore.

 

Jesus had previously spoken about this Psalm.

 

Psalm 110:1 ¶  « A Psalm of David. » The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool.

 

Matthew 22:41 ¶  While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, 42  Saying, What think ye of Christ? whose son is he? They say unto him, The Son of David. 43  He saith unto them, How then doth David in spirit call him Lord, saying, 44  The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, till I make thine enemies thy footstool?45  If David then call him Lord, how is he his son? 46  And no man was able to answer him a word, neither durst any man from that day forth ask him any more questions.

 

The repentant sinner being saved by calling on the Lord in verse 21 will be contrasted against God’s calling of a person to salvation in the next passage in verse 39.  See what Paul says about salvation.

 

Romans 10:8 The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach; 9  That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. 10  For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. 11  For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.

 

    12 ¶  For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek [Paul calls Gentiles Greeks as that is the dominant culture]: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. 13  For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

 

In verse 34 Peter says that David did not ascend into the heavens as Christ did. Christ is the Messiah, David’s Lord. So, with Jesus as the son of David (see Matthew 1:1), the descendant of David, He is also David’s Lord as per Jehovah, LORD God. The Lord Jesus Christ is the Jewish Messiah, the Christ (see John 4:25, 26), the Word by which all things were created (see John 1:1-18), and the Saviour of the world (1John 4:14), the true God (1John 5:20), the visible, physical appearance of the invisible God the Father (Hebrews 1:3; John 14:9), who in which abides all power and authority in the universe.

 

Matthew 28:18  And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.

 

Verse 36 and the verse in Matthew 28 I just quoted bring up important points about Biblical interpretation. Some theologians have insisted that Jesus was not made the Son of God until He was baptized by God and, in fact, verse 36 says that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ. Does being made something or being given something mean in our strict usage something you weren’t before or didn’t have before? Does this indicate that Jesus was not the Christ before God made Him so or did not have all power before it was given to Him?

 

For something to be given, granted, or bestowed as a gift does not by necessity mean in a specific moment in time. In the same way for someone to be made someone can have the same meaning. It can refer to something one has always had or always been. As a result I put forward that this made and this given are from the beginning, announced to the world at a specific time, implying no sudden granting or bestowal or change of condition but a declaration of something that has always been so. As an example I can be the heir of my father’s fortune and that status may have always been so even if I do not receive the inheritance until my father dies or I come of age. Our Lord had to be born into the flesh as a man, a human being, to affirm His status as the Saviour of the world, God walking in the flesh on earth.

 

Isaiah 43:10  Ye are my witnesses, saith the LORD, and my servant whom I have chosen: that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am he: before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me. 11  I, even I, am the LORD; and beside me there is no saviour.

 

As He told Philip in John 14:9 to have seen Him is to have seen the Father and as Paul said in Hebrews 1:3 Jesus is the appearance of God. Jesus is that Messiah spoken of in Daniel 9:25, 26. He came into this world in a body of flesh and assumed the form of a man, and was and is fully God and fully man, the bridge between God and man.

 

Hebrew 10:5  Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me: 6  In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hast had no pleasure. 7 ¶  Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me,) to do thy will, O God. 8  Above when he said, Sacrifice and offering and burnt offerings and offering for sin thou wouldest not, neither hadst pleasure therein; which are offered by the law;

9  Then said he, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second. 10  By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

 

Peter is accusing the Jews, his own people, of crucifying Christ even though his listeners individually probably had nothing to do with it. He is accusing the Jews of rejecting the Messiah God sent but giving the people of God a way back into God’s good graces as the martyr Stephen will later do to the Jewish leadership.

Bible Study on Exodus 9, verses 8 to 12, a boil breaking forth with blains

 

Exodus 9:8 ¶  And the LORD said unto Moses and unto Aaron, Take to you handfuls of ashes of the furnace, and let Moses sprinkle it toward the heaven in the sight of Pharaoh. 9  And it shall become small dust in all the land of Egypt, and shall be a boil breaking forth with blains upon man, and upon beast, throughout all the land of Egypt. 10  And they took ashes of the furnace, and stood before Pharaoh; and Moses sprinkled it up toward heaven; and it became a boil breaking forth with blains upon man, and upon beast. 11  And the magicians could not stand before Moses because of the boils; for the boil was upon the magicians, and upon all the Egyptians. 12  And the LORD hardened the heart of Pharaoh, and he hearkened not unto them; as the LORD had spoken unto Moses.

Remember how when we considered Job that God gave Satan permission to give him boils all over his body?

Job 2:7 ¶  So went Satan forth from the presence of the LORD, and smote Job with sore boils from the sole of his foot unto his crown. 8  And he took him a potsherd to scrape himself withal; and he sat down among the ashes.

Here is a point, also, of defining words in the Bible. Verse 9 refers to a boil breaking forth with blains. Blains, an inflammatory swelling or sore, is how the boils were expressed as they filled with pus and were very painful, preventing the magicians from even appearing to try to combat Moses. So, again, we see the Harry Potter wannabes unable to deal with what God is doing. (For all of you fans of Rowling’s books and the movies, keep in mind that a ‘muggle’ used by God is capable of far more than any graduate of Hogwarts.)

The furnace from which the ashes come carries with it an interesting comparison. Egypt is likened to an iron furnace. Imagine a brick-kiln, a furnace where bricks are baked.

Deuteronomy 4:20  But the LORD hath taken you, and brought you forth out of the iron furnace, even out of Egypt, to be unto him a people of inheritance, as ye are this day.

1Kings 8:51  For they be thy people, and thine inheritance, which thou broughtest forth out of Egypt, from the midst of the furnace of iron:

Jeremiah 11:4  Which I commanded your fathers in the day that I brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, from the iron furnace, saying, Obey my voice, and do them, according to all which I command you: so shall ye be my people, and I will be your God:

Still, Pharaoh’s heart was hardened. A rod turned into a serpent, infestations of frogs, lice, and flies, a great plague among the Egyptian cattle, and now boils on the Egyptians themselves, but still this Pharaoh, that great type of Antichrist, refuses to yield to the God who created him and who gives him every moment of life. If you find this hard to believe remember how Germany and Japan’s leaders in World War Two kept ordering them to their destruction even when it was clear that all possibility of victory was gone and their homelands were on the verge of being invaded. Pride is a powerful drug.

Proverbs 16:18  Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.

Bible Study on Acts 2, verses 5 to 13, every man heard them speak in his own language

 

Acts 2:5 ¶  And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven. 6  Now when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together, and were confounded, because that every man heard them speak in his own language. 7  And they were all amazed and marvelled, saying one to another, Behold, are not all these which speak Galilaeans? 8  And how hear we every man in our own tongue, wherein we were born? 9  Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites, and the dwellers in Mesopotamia, and in Judaea, and Cappadocia, in Pontus, and Asia, 10  Phrygia, and Pamphylia, in Egypt, and in the parts of Libya about Cyrene, and strangers of Rome, Jews and proselytes, 11  Cretes and Arabians, we do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of God. 12  And they were all amazed, and were in doubt, saying one to another, What meaneth this? 13  Others mocking said, These men are full of new wine.

 

Every nation under heaven does not mean that every nation on earth was represented but that a wide variety of nations where Jews lived had representatives there. There was no distinction with regard to where Jews dwelt as we must remember that words like every and all in English can be without distinction or the more strict without exception. For instance,

 

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

 

…cannot mean all without exception or you can toss out free will and include universal salvation as a doctrine. Of course, this would contradict almost every other verse in the Bible on the subject of salvation. This is clearly all without distinction. Salvation is open to all people. It is God’s wish that all men be saved although they will not be because of their own choices.

 

We get the word nation here from the Greek ethnos from which we get our modern ethnicity or ethnic which denotes people-groups as opposed to what we think when we see nation, as modern nation-states. There are different places represented here whose people speak various languages, all having in common that they were Jews, perhaps by blood or by conversion. These are native speakers, born in the places mentioned. Proselytes, converts to Judaism, called by some commentators of the Jews, new creatures, are mentioned elsewhere.

 

Matthew 23:15  Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves.

 

Acts 6:5  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:

 

Acts 13:43  Now when the congregation was broken up, many of the Jews and religious proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas: who, speaking to them, persuaded them to continue in the grace of God.

 

As a note of interest, notice how the Holy Spirit appropriates the Jewish reference to the convert as a new creature.

 

2Corinthians 5:17  Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

 

Galatians 6:15  For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature.

 

These Jews and proselytes came from the area of present-day Iran and Iraq, Egypt, and North Africa, and in the area of modern-day Turkey. What tongues are is made very clear here by their relationship to the languages spoken.

 

The mocking in verse 13 is based on the fact that the term new wine is defined based on the context. In the following it would be newly pressed juice;

 

Isaiah 65:8  Thus saith the LORD, As the new wine is found in the cluster, and one saith, Destroy it not; for a blessing is in it: so will I do for my servants’ sakes, that I may not destroy them all.

 

Remembering that in the specific context of Joseph’s pharaoh it was indeed that, squeezed by a trusted servant’s hand into the pharaoh’s cup.

 

Genesis 40:11  And Pharaoh’s cup was in my hand: and I took the grapes, and pressed them into Pharaoh’s cup, and I gave the cup into Pharaoh’s hand.

 

However, in other contexts new wine is intoxicating and not just freshly squeezed grape juice.

 

Hosea 4:11  Whoredom and wine and new wine take away the heart.

 

Zechariah 9:17  For how great is his goodness, and how great is his beauty! corn shall make the young men cheerful, and new wine the maids.

 

And so, new wine here is in a mocking suggestion that the disciples are drunk which Peter will then deny saying it is only 9am, the third hour of the day, a bit early for a normal person to be making merry with wine.

A Psalm for Sunday, Psalm 73, thou didst set them in slippery places

 

Psalm 73:1 ¶  «A Psalm of Asaph.» Truly God is good to Israel, even to such as are of a clean heart. 2  But as for me, my feet were almost gone; my steps had well nigh slipped. 3  For I was envious at the foolish, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. 4  For there are no bands in their death: but their strength is firm. 5  They are not in trouble as other men; neither are they plagued like other men. 6  Therefore pride compasseth them about as a chain; violence covereth them as a garment. 7  Their eyes stand out with fatness: they have more than heart could wish. 8  They are corrupt, and speak wickedly concerning oppression: they speak loftily. 9  They set their mouth against the heavens, and their tongue walketh through the earth. 10  Therefore his people return hither: and waters of a full cup are wrung out to them. 11  And they say, How doth God know? and is there knowledge in the most High? 12  Behold, these are the ungodly, who prosper in the world; they increase in riches. 13  Verily I have cleansed my heart in vain, and washed my hands in innocency. 14  For all the day long have I been plagued, and chastened every morning.

 

God’s people have often felt this, seen it, and been dismayed by it, that wicked people seem to prosper in the world. They seem to succeed and even reach the heights of power. Some of them, many even, mock God and anyone who follows their Creator and yet seem to have no recompense brought down on them. Look at Job’s lament.

 

Job 21:7  Wherefore do the wicked live, become old, yea, are mighty in power? 8  Their seed is established in their sight with them, and their offspring before their eyes. 9  Their houses are safe from fear, neither is the rod of God upon them. 10  Their bull gendereth, and faileth not; their cow calveth, and casteth not her calf. 11  They send forth their little ones like a flock, and their children dance. 12  They take the timbrel and harp, and rejoice at the sound of the organ. 13  They spend their days in wealth, and in a moment go down to the grave. 14  Therefore they say unto God, Depart from us; for we desire not the knowledge of thy ways. 15  What is the Almighty, that we should serve him? and what profit should we have, if we pray unto him?

 

And Jeremiah’s complaint;

 

Jeremiah 12:1 ¶  Righteous art thou, O LORD, when I plead with thee: yet let me talk with thee of thy judgments: Wherefore [why] doth the way of the wicked prosper? wherefore are all they happy that deal very treacherously? 2  Thou hast planted them, yea, they have taken root: they grow, yea, they bring forth fruit: thou art near in their mouth, and far from their reins.

 

Usually, people trying to do right make the argument, why should I do right when others get away with almost anything and prosper and I’m struggling to survive? It’s almost that we envy the wicked but successful person which is a sad state of affairs.

 

Psalm 73:15 ¶  If I say, I will speak thus; behold, I should offend against the generation of thy children. 16  When I thought to know this, it was too painful for me; 17  Until I went into the sanctuary of God; then understood I their end. 18  Surely thou didst set them in slippery places: thou castedst them down into destruction. 19  How are they brought into desolation, as in a moment! they are utterly consumed with terrors. 20  As a dream when one awaketh; so, O Lord, when thou awakest, thou shalt despise their image.

 

The Psalmist didn’t want to say what he was thinking publicly for fear he would offend but it was very hard for him to take, having to reconcile the prosperity of the wicked with the suffering of God’s people. Then, he went to the sanctuary of God and God gave him wisdom and understanding and he realized what the fate of the wicked was. Jonathan Edwards will use 18 in his sermon Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God which I recommend you read or listen to it being read.

 

The destruction of the wicked on this earth can come in a moment of time, when it is unexpected. Their success vanishes like a dream when one wakes up. They will suffer, as well, in the existence to come in eternity. And God will bring their suffering on them, holding them in utter contempt.

 

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.

 

Psalm 73:21 ¶  Thus my heart was grieved, and I was pricked in my reins. 22  So foolish was I, and ignorant: I was as a beast before thee. 23  Nevertheless I am continually with thee: thou hast holden me by my right hand. 24  Thou shalt guide me with thy counsel, and afterward receive me to glory. 25  Whom have I in heaven but thee? and there is none upon earth that I desire beside thee. 26  My flesh and my heart faileth: but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever. 27  For, lo, they that are far from thee shall perish: thou hast destroyed all them that go a whoring from thee. 28  But it is good for me to draw near to God: I have put my trust in the Lord GOD, that I may declare all thy works.

 

The Psalmist is tormented at how foolish he had been. He acknowledges that God is holding him up and is his guide who will receive him into glory, one of the mentions of eternal life by the Hebrew writers. The Psalmist admits he has no one in heaven or earth but God. Even though his thoughts and his flesh die he will live by God’s power forever. He particularly condemns those who have chosen to follow other gods, to go a whoring from God. Finally, he admits that it is good for him to draw close to God, putting his trust in Him, and spreading abroad what God has done and is doing.

 

Just think of how things are for us. We lament that the wicked prosper, or seem to, and some comment often about how they wish God’s judgment would come down on those people in public life who flaunt their sin, their corruption, and their disdain of God. But, if we think about it we know that their fate is not a good one and their sorrow, grief, and eternal pain is hanging over their heads like the Greek Damocles’ sword. It is foolish to complain so and we show no more of an understanding than an animal when we do it. God’s ways are sure, it has been said, but they are tedious, meaning that it can take a lot longer than we’d like for the destruction of the wicked to come but when it does it can come swiftly like the Berlin Wall coming down in 1989. So shall their destruction come as revealed in the book of Revelation, swiftly and with much grief of heart and gnashing of teeth.

 

Psalm 92:5  O LORD, how great are thy works! and thy thoughts are very deep. 6  A brutish man knoweth not; neither doth a fool understand this.

 

7 ¶  When the wicked spring as the grass, and when all the workers of iniquity do flourish; it is that they shall be destroyed for ever: 8  But thou, LORD, art most high for evermore.

Bible Study on Acts 2, verses 1 to 4, with other tongues

 

Acts 2:1 ¶  And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. 2  And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. 3  And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. 4  And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.

 

Pentecost, or the fiftieth day, is the feast of harvest, the firstfruits, the second of the three great feasts under the Law celebrated at Jerusalem according to Strong. The Jews call it Shavout. It is the culmination, to modern Jews, of the entire Passover season and commemorates the giving of the Ten Commandments from Mount Sinai. It is a celebration of God’s covenant with the Jews and we find it here as fulfilled in Christ as Passover was fulfilled in Christ. The Jews are missing out on a great and wonderful thing here partly because of a hardened heart and partly because of the perfidy of Christians in history.

 

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.

 

There is; 1. Feast of Unleavened Bread or Passover. Hebrew Pesach or Greek Pascha. 2. Feast of Harvest or Pentecost. Hebrew Shavuot. 3. Feast of Ingathering or Feast of Booths or Tabernacles.

 

Leviticus 23:15 ¶  And ye shall count unto you from the morrow after the sabbath, from the day that ye brought the sheaf of the wave offering; seven sabbaths shall be complete: 16  Even unto the morrow after the seventh sabbath shall ye number fifty days; and ye shall offer a new meat offering unto the LORD.

 

It was the fiftieth day after the offering of firstfruits after Passover and it was indeed, at this time in Acts, quite a harvest. The disciples were visited by a sound like a powerful wind (a simile which uses like or as to make a comparison between two different things to aid in understanding), tongues like as of fire (a figure of speech called a simile, not tongues of actual fire, but like as of fire) landed on each of them, and they were filled with the Holy Ghost and began to speak in other languages, each as the Spirit gave them.

 

So, you have Passover, Christ the Passover Lamb, Pentecost, the harvest that creates the church, and Tabernacles, the gathering of the church at the end.

 

A tongue in verse 4, or glossae in Greek, is a distinct language or dialect spoken by a unique people. It is not gobbledygook. These figures of speech are similes, unlike things joined by as as in as of a rushing mighty wind and like as of fire as a physical description of the tongues that descended. Cloven tongues like as of fire is an expression of the appearance of the phenomenon in verse 3. Notice here how tongues is used from the same Greek word in two different ways, one for speech and one for how something looked. Think of ways we do that in our everyday speech. We can talk about our physical ceiling in a room and we can talk about the proverbial “glass ceiling” that we cannot pass through for promotion at work. We can even use both ceilings in a letter or email.

Bible Study on Isaiah 3, verses 16 to 26, because the daughters of Zion are haughty

 

Isaiah 3:16 ¶  Moreover the LORD saith, Because the daughters of Zion are haughty, and walk with stretched forth necks and wanton eyes, walking and mincing as they go, and making a tinkling with their feet: 17  Therefore the Lord will smite with a scab the crown of the head of the daughters of Zion, and the LORD will discover their secret parts. 18  In that day the Lord will take away the bravery of their tinkling ornaments about their feet, and their cauls, and their round tires like the moon, 19  The chains, and the bracelets, and the mufflers, 20  The bonnets, and the ornaments of the legs, and the headbands, and the tablets, and the earrings, 21  The rings, and nose jewels, 22  The changeable suits of apparel, and the mantles, and the wimples, and the crisping pins, 23  The glasses, and the fine linen, and the hoods, and the vails. 24  And it shall come to pass, that instead of sweet smell there shall be stink; and instead of a girdle a rent; and instead of well set hair baldness; and instead of a stomacher a girding of sackcloth; and burning instead of beauty. 25  Thy men shall fall by the sword, and thy mighty in the war. 26  And her gates shall lament and mourn; and she being desolate shall sit upon the ground.

 

The women of Jerusalem and Judah are accused of being haughty, arrogant and pretentious.

 

Note what Peter said about women adorning themselves with ornaments and jewelry and trendy hairstyles.

 

1Peter 3:1 ¶  Likewise, ye wives, be in subjection to your own husbands; that, if any obey not the word, they also may without the word be won by the conversation of the wives; 2  While they behold your chaste conversation coupled with fear. 3  Whose adorning let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel; 4  But let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price.

 

I considered detailing each of these various items of adornment for the upper-class women of Jerusalem and comparing them to Roman and Greek customs and items but thought that would just interfere with the point God is making through Isaiah. The point is that for all of the grand display these women put on to show the world it will mean nothing in the judgment that is coming and is here already. Everything they use to make themselves pretty and to show themselves as a superior class will be worthless and they will suffer a great deal.

 

Finally, the men who so valiantly protect them will die and Jerusalem and these high and mighty women will be brought low. Can you compare this with the items women in America wear today? From nose rings to hairstyles to jewelry there is much to compare and consider.

 

Compare Isaiah 3 to Leviticus.

 

Isaiah 3:1 ¶  For, behold, the Lord, the LORD of hosts, doth take away from Jerusalem and from Judah the stay and the staff, the whole stay of bread, and the whole stay of water,

 

Leviticus 26:26  And when I have broken the staff of your bread, ten women shall bake your bread in one oven, and they shall deliver you your bread again by weight: and ye shall eat, and not be satisfied.

 

Isaiah 3:14  The LORD will enter into judgment with the ancients of his people, and the princes thereof: for ye have eaten up the vineyard; the spoil of the poor is in your houses.

 

Leviticus 19:10  And thou shalt not glean thy vineyard, neither shalt thou gather every grape of thy vineyard; thou shalt leave them for the poor and stranger: I am the LORD your God.

 

Isaiah 3:26  And her gates shall lament and mourn; and she being desolate shall sit upon the ground.

 

Leviticus 26:43  The land also shall be left of them, and shall enjoy her sabbaths, while she lieth desolate without them: and they shall accept of the punishment of their iniquity: because, even because they despised my judgments, and because their soul abhorred my statutes.

 

Bible Study on Acts 1, verses 15 to 26, he was numbered with the eleven apostles

 

Acts 1:15 ¶  And in those days Peter stood up in the midst of the disciples, and said, (the number of names together were about an hundred and twenty,) 16  Men and brethren, this scripture must needs have been fulfilled, which the Holy Ghost by the mouth of David spake before concerning Judas, which was guide to them that took Jesus. 17  For he was numbered with us, and had obtained part of this ministry. 18  Now this man purchased a field with the reward of iniquity; and falling headlong, he burst asunder in the midst, and all his bowels gushed out. 19  And it was known unto all the dwellers at Jerusalem; insomuch as that field is called in their proper tongue, Aceldama, that is to say, The field of blood. 20  For it is written in the book of Psalms, Let his habitation be desolate, and let no man dwell therein: and his bishoprick let another take. 21  Wherefore of these men which have companied with us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, 22  Beginning from the baptism of John, unto that same day that he was taken up from us, must one be ordained to be a witness with us of his resurrection. 23  And they appointed two, Joseph called Barsabas, who was surnamed Justus, and Matthias. 24  And they prayed, and said, Thou, Lord, which knowest the hearts of all men, shew whether of these two thou hast chosen, 25  That he may take part of this ministry and apostleship, from which Judas by transgression fell, that he might go to his own place. 26  And they gave forth their lots; and the lot fell upon Matthias; and he was numbered with the eleven apostles.

So, the early Christian church begins with a few dozen people, a hundred and twenty as the text says. Peter is quoting or alluding to prophecy in the Old Testament, also teaching us how to view certain passages in their prophetic significance. Read Psalms 55:12-13 and 109. Read Matthew 27 about Judas’s physical end of life.

Peter, in verse 20, takes Psalm 69:25 and 109:8 combining them for a prophetic statement about Judas guided by the Holy Spirit. Word substitution between Old and New Testaments gives us the meaning of Bishoprick as the office held with Bishoprick being the office of a bishop, what we call a pastor today.

Psalm 69:25  Let their habitation be desolate; and let none dwell in their tents.

Psalm 109:8  Let his days be few; and let another take his office.

Now, Peter is trying to replace Judas as an Apostle. This is very interesting because we are only told about twelve Apostles, the women who supported them, plus an unspecified number of disciples throughout Jesus’ ministry but here Peter names two who were disciples all along. They cast lots for which one will replace Judas Iscariot, Joseph “Barsabas” Justus or Matthias. Acknowledging that God has sovereignty over chance and that there is no randomness in the universe they know that when they cast lots God controls the outcome. They may have used pebbles, a potsherd, or a piece of wood as we would today roll dice or flip over cards or flip a coin. They may have put names in a pot and drew them. But, the Bible teaches that the outcome of all such things is in the hand of God. That’s kind of tough for a modern person to wrap their minds around. Go ahead and flip a penny. The result is an act of God? It boggles the mind but just read the book of Job carefully.

God allowed the Israelites to cast lots in certain situations to determine His will. See Numbers 26:55; 33:54; 34:13; 36:2; Joshua 18:6-10; 1Chronicles 24:5, 31; 25:8,9; & 26:13,14. In addition, heathen also cast lots to determine the will of the gods. See Jonah 1:7.

What does this say about the ideas of chance and randomness in reality?  A person reading the Bible carefully could easily say there is no such thing as randomness or luck, as all events are from the hand of God either by His direct will or by His permission.

Judas is referred to by John 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.

Paul refers to the Antichrist, the Beast of Revelation, which are John’s terms, as the son of perdition. Some commentators imply that Judas will be resurrected in the form of the Beast.

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;

They will see this reference to his own place and suggest that he will be the Beast that ascends out of the bottomless pit in Revelation 11:7 and 17:8. We will not know if this is so until the end so there is no point in spending too much time on such speculation.