Bible Study on Acts 1, verses 6 to 11, But ye shall receive power

 

Acts 1:6 ¶  When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel? 7  And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power. 8  But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth. 9  And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight. 10  And while they looked stedfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel; 11  Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.

 

One of the common errors of Evangelical Protestantism and Fundamentalism is the belief that the Old Testament Jews were looking forward to the Cross as we look backward to it. It is clear, though, from reading the Bible in context that the Jews did not understand the suffering of their Messiah and knew nothing about the Cross at all.

 

Luke 1:74  That he would grant unto us, that we being delivered out of the hand of our enemies might serve him without fear,

 

Luke 1:74 shows that there was an expectation that Christ the Messiah would restore Israel and deliver it from Roman occupation. This expectation persisted even after Christ’s resurrection as shown here in Acts.

This shows how the Fundamentalist doctrine that in the Old Testament the Jews were looking forward to the Cross is wrong. They did not understand Isaiah 53. Their confusion persisted until an eleventh century rabbi nicknamed Rashi developed the idea previously only mentioned by a few that rather than being about a singular man the chapters in Isaiah about the Messiah were actually about the suffering Jewish people as a group thereby totally confusing the Jews with regard to Christ.

Jesus’ Jewish followers literally had no clue what He was talking about when He referred to His impending agony on the Cross or understood anything about His Resurrection.

Matthew 16:21 ¶  From that time forth began Jesus to shew unto his disciples, how that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day. 22  Then Peter took him, and began to rebuke him, saying, Be it far from thee, Lord: this shall not be unto thee. 23  But he turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men.

 

Mark 9:9  And as they came down from the mountain, he charged them that they should tell no man what things they had seen, till the Son of man were risen from the dead. 10  And they kept that saying with themselves, questioning one with another what the rising from the dead should mean…31  For he taught his disciples, and said unto them, The Son of man is delivered into the hands of men, and they shall kill him; and after that he is killed, he shall rise the third day. 32 

But they understood not that saying, and were afraid to ask him.

 

Luke 18:31 ¶  Then he took unto him the twelve, and said unto them, Behold, we go up to Jerusalem, and all things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of man shall be accomplished. 32  For he shall be delivered unto the Gentiles, and shall be mocked, and spitefully entreated, and spitted on: 33  And they shall scourge him, and put him to death: and the third day he shall rise again. 34  And they understood none of these things: and this saying was hid from them, neither knew they the things which were spoken.

 

John 20:9  For as yet they knew not the scripture, that he must rise again from the dead.

 

The Jews, even Christ’s followers, were expecting Him to restore Israel to its former glory. But, He makes it clear that this information is not for them, or us.

 

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

 

We understand prophecy and the future only in a limited way but we are given it for a reason. Perhaps, as Jesus told the Apostles;

 

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

 

In verse 8 He tells them what is going to happen in the immediate future and what they are to do.

 

Matthew 28:19  Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: 20  Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.

 

Mark 16:15  And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.

 

Note verses 9 and 10 and read Luke 24.

Bible Study on Exodus 8, verses 16 to 19, and it became lice in man

 

Exodus 8:16 ¶  And the LORD said unto Moses, Say unto Aaron, Stretch out thy rod, and smite the dust of the land, that it may become lice throughout all the land of Egypt. 17  And they did so; for Aaron stretched out his hand with his rod, and smote the dust of the earth, and it became lice in man, and in beast; all the dust of the land became lice throughout all the land of Egypt. 18  And the magicians did so with their enchantments to bring forth lice, but they could not: so there were lice upon man, and upon beast. 19  Then the magicians said unto Pharaoh, This is the finger of God: and Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he hearkened not unto them; as the LORD had said.

The court magicians could counterfeit the rod turning into a snake, the surface water turning into blood, and the frogs. However, they could not produce the lice. The Egyptians hated lice. Lice were a sort of personal horror to them. The remains of lice can even be found in Egyptian tombs. They were so sickened by the infestation of lice that normally Egyptian men and women shaved their heads and the hairstyles you see on statuary and tomb paintings represent wigs. The Ebers Papyrus, listing many medical remedies, contains remedies for lice as well.

This is very personal. I am reminded of the symbolic significance of the first wonders; the serpent, the blood, and the frogs. But, with lice I am reminded of the personal horror and nausea this entailed, much like the Philistine lords being afflicted with painful hemorrhoids in 1Samuel 5. The symbolic wonders that may have told a story of spiritual significance were able to be copied by the heathen magicians. But, this very personal pestilence was all God’s own. God even warns us now in our lives in many other ways, often, before afflicting us personally to turn us from our sin to Him.

Each of these plagues affect things that were worshipped as gods by the Egyptians. The earth the lice came from was no different. God is punishing not only the Egyptians, and the entire ancient world by example, but their devils, their gods.

Exodus 12:12  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.

In God’s ministry of reconciling man to Himself we have come to a critical point. As I pointed out in my comments on Genesis the ancient world had deteriorated spiritually to a point where idolatry was the norm, where gods were created who were gods of a particular city and family, and where the God who created mankind was ignored or forgotten. Political gods were part of a nation, a cultural entity’s sense of self-identity. A nation, an ethnic nationality, was justified by its political gods much like the Hindus and Muslims who battled at India’s independence from the British in the late 1940’s or the so-called Christian governments of Britain, Russia, and Germany during World War One or the fundamentalists of America who glorify the state with flags on the pulpit and celebrations at every national holiday and support any martial effort of this country no matter what the reason or consequence. It was all done to the glory of their gods, not the God of the Bible or creation. Yes, I am saying that many Christians in America today, Britain, Russia, and Germany in times past, and Hindus and Muslims worship false gods, devils, and not the God of the Bible. Their gods are wrapped in a flag, a political ideology, and a cultural chauvinism. That is why they hate each other so and why they kill each other so easily. But, even supposedly non-religious people will fight and die over secular gods whom they call ideals and ideologies thinking they have escaped the plague of religion. It is not so. Communists and other atheist ideologies are also bloody killers, trying to create a perfect kingdom out of millions of victims and great suffering they cause.

God is judging mankind here by proxy for its decay into the lunacy of national gods and cultural gods, as even the modern Christian merely worships a god who is a reflection of his own political beliefs, paranoia, and bigotry.

The magicians acknowledge that, because of their inability, they realize that this is proof of the God of the Hebrews involvement. This is not a saving acknowledgement however, as we see the Pharaoh, as a god-man, the only physical and living emblem of the gods on earth for the Egyptians, set his heart to oppose the God of the Hebrews, who, unknowing to him, is the God who created him and sustains him.

The Egyptian Pharaoh was the incarnation of gods on earth as he lived and when he died he was the representation of the god of the underworld. Pharaoh was a false god in the flesh. He, of course, possessed by devils, and filled with pride and exaltation, like the Beast of Revelation, sets his heart of stone against the God who created Him.

Some part of mankind will follow God through the only physical representation He has ever had, the incarnate God, the physical body of the invisible God, the Lord Jesus Christ, the Word of God by which all things were created and are sustained. But, it began with one man, Abraham, coming out of Ur of the Chaldees, and now this one group of people, the Hebrews, coming from Jacob, who was called Israel, who will depart from Egypt as Abraham departed from Ur and as the Christian looks forward to departing a judged world that is shrouded in darkness, a condition of which one proof is decay and death, the greatest temporal plague of all.

Bible Study on Acts 1, verses 1 to 5, part 3, the natures of Christ

 

God reveals Himself to special select people under the Law and to all believers under Grace.

Amos 3:7  Surely the Lord GOD will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets.

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.

(To deny this is to say that the so-called ‘Great Commission’ of the end of Matthew does not apply to every believer but only the Apostles).

The Lord Jesus Christ, while walking in biological flesh on the earth, also had a human spirit, a human will, being fully man and fully God. This spirit also manifested itself to us.

 

Luke 22:42  Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done.

 

There was a great argument in the Roman Empire’s church regarding whether Christ even had two natures. Some focused on His divinity while others His humanity. The issue was somewhat settled at the Council of Chalcedon in 451AD in Bithynia in Asia Minor, in what is the country of Turkey today. It was understood that Christ was one person with two natures, divine and human, God in the flesh. This does not mean that they just figured that out but that they declared the other ideas as incorrect.

 

It is said here that Christ gave commandments to the Apostles through the Holy Ghost, the very mind of God, His Spirit in its action, but the Holy Ghost, referred to as He, in His identity. The Bible seems to suggest, if I have this down correctly, that we have a soul, the “I” or sense of self-awareness, our consciousness. We and many animals exist and we and they know we exist, an absurdity if evolution were true. This self-awareness is limited to humans and creatures that are not merely driven by electro-chemical impulses or are biological machines but creatures that are aware that they are themselves and not another. It is the seat of our will, our will flowing from it.

 

For animals that have souls see;

 

Numbers 31:28  And levy a tribute unto the LORD of the men of war which went out to battle: one soul of five hundred, both of the persons, and of the beeves, and of the asses, and of the sheep:

 

Job 12:10  In whose hand is the soul of every living thing, and the breath of all mankind.

 

For the soul as the seat of our self-awareness, our consciousness, and our “I will” see that the soul does things. In Genesis 37:4 a soul is said to bless someone. In Genesis 42:21 a soul can experience anguish. In Leviticus 4:2 a soul can sin. The soul can do evil and experience tribulation and anguish as per Romans 2:9. My soul is basically what I am. It is the “I”. It can experience the death of the flesh and then suffering in Hell. See Psalm 49:15; 86:13; Ezekiel 18:4; Revelation 16:3; & Luke 16:19-31, Acts 2:27.

 

Our spirit is our mind, as shown before, but it is more than that as it is our also our heart, emotions, without which no rational mind can function, and our talents and inclinations given to us by God or tarnished by the fall of man.

 

Deuteronomy 2:30  But Sihon king of Heshbon would not let us pass by him: for the LORD thy God hardened his spirit, and made his heart obstinate, that he might deliver him into thy hand, as appeareth this day.

 

Psalm 34:18  The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit.

 

The phrase the comes after a colon often helps define what went before it.

 

Psalm 51:17  The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.

 

As for talent and skills given by God through things like practice, apprenticeship, and learning unless you believe that Bezaleel woke up one day and suddenly knew how to do marvelous works.

 

Exodus 31:1 ¶  And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 2  See, I have called by name Bezaleel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah: 3  And I have filled him with the spirit of God, in wisdom, and in understanding, and in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship, 4  To devise cunning works, to work in gold, and in silver, and in brass, 5  And in cutting of

stones, to set them, and in carving of timber, to work in all manner of workmanship. 6  And I, behold, I have given with him Aholiab, the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan: and in

the hearts of all that are wise hearted I have put wisdom, that they may make all that I have commanded thee;

 

If you want to be wise hearted get to work. Wise hearted first, then wisdom from God. God searches man and woman’s mind, heart, inclinations, sin-nature, and all of the things that make up what we are.

 

Proverbs 20:27  The spirit of man is the candle of the LORD, searching all the inward parts of the belly.

 

The Holy Ghost gave commands to the Apostles whom Jesus showed Himself to for forty days after His resurrection. The apostles were ordered to assemble together at Jerusalem and to wait for the Holy Ghost to be given to them. What do we say then to this passage in John?

 

John 20:22  And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost:

 

It appears then that, at least for the early believers in Christ, that the Holy Ghost could be given more than once, possibly for different reasons, renewed in them, filling them, like a little bit of water in a bottle can fill the bottle with water vapor when heated.

 

Titus 3:5  Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; 6  Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour; 7  That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

 

The question I have to ask is if while we are sealed and secure with the indwelling of the Holy Spirit does God renew it in us as we are sanctified for Him in life? Could that be what the following means more fully?

 

Ephesians 5:18  And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit;

 

We are saved once and indwelt with the Spirit as Paul relates the absurdity of being saved and lost again and again in Hebrews 6:1-6. In the following passage Paul shows that if you could lose your salvation you could not get saved again. It appears he is trying to get Christians to move beyond salvation to our sanctification.

 

Hebrews 6:1 ¶  Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God, 2  Of the doctrine of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment. 3  And this will we do, if God permit. 4  For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, 5  And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come,

6  If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame.

 

So, the question would be, are we praying to be filled with the Holy Spirit, to be renewed in the power and mind of God over sin and self? Or are we satisfied and complacent about this unspeakable gift?

 

Jesus walked among His disciples after His resurrection. Paul told us;

 

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.

 

The disciples were to stay in Jerusalem and wait for the Holy Ghost to be given to them.

Bible Study on Exodus 8, verses 1 to 15, frogs over the land

 

Exodus 8:1 ¶  And the LORD spake unto Moses, Go unto Pharaoh, and say unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Let my people go, that they may serve me. 2  And if thou refuse to let them go, behold, I will smite all thy borders with frogs: 3  And the river shall bring forth frogs abundantly, which shall go up and come into thine house, and into thy bedchamber, and upon thy bed, and into the house of thy servants, and upon thy people, and into thine ovens, and into thy kneadingtroughs: 4  And the frogs shall come up both on thee, and upon thy people, and upon all thy servants. 5  And the LORD spake unto Moses, Say unto Aaron, Stretch forth thine hand with thy rod over the streams, over the rivers, and over the ponds, and cause frogs to come up upon the land of Egypt. 6  And Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt; and the frogs came up, and covered the land of Egypt. 7  And the magicians did so with their enchantments, and brought up frogs upon the land of Egypt. 8  Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron, and said, Intreat the LORD, that he may take away the frogs from me, and from my people; and I will let the people go, that they may do sacrifice unto the LORD. 9  And Moses said unto Pharaoh, Glory over me: when shall I intreat for thee, and for thy servants, and for thy people, to destroy the frogs from thee and thy houses, that they may remain in the river only? 10  And he said, To morrow. And he said, Be it according to thy word: that thou mayest know that there is none like unto the LORD our God. 11  And the frogs shall depart from thee, and from thy houses, and from thy servants, and from thy people; they shall remain in the river only. 12  And Moses and Aaron went out from Pharaoh: and Moses cried unto the LORD because of the frogs which he had brought against Pharaoh. 13  And the LORD did according to the word of Moses; and the frogs died out of the houses, out of the villages, and out of the fields. 14  And they gathered them together upon heaps: and the land stank. 15  But when Pharaoh saw that there was respite, he hardened his heart, and hearkened not unto them; as the LORD had said.

We have the rod turned into a snake, the surface water turned to blood, and now, frogs unleashed on the land; three wonders that the heathen magicians are also permitted to copy.

Frogs, in a different context, represent unclean spirits.

Revelation 16:13  And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet.

Note: In the verse from Revelation the unclean spirits resemble frogs but are not frogs. Here are two more comparisons that we should examine and be careful of taking too literally of unlike things joined by like for a comparison. Remember, these things look or act like each other but are not the same thing as each other.

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

John 1:32  And John bare record, saying, I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode upon him.

Events in the physical world often seem to represent events in the spiritual world and the spiritual world is more real even than the limited, finite world of the senses we perceive. We are like people chained in a cave facing the wall with a fire behind us. We can only see shadows on the wall of what is going on behind us, out of our sight, where the greater reality, the real truth, exists. Some of us prefer the shadows but others long to turn and face the truth. Even heathen philosophers like Plato understood this in a limited way, as I took the cave allegory from him.

If there is a comparison to be made one might imagine the guiding rod of God’s instruction turned into the lying serpent by man’s choice of whom to believe in Eden, the surface water turned to blood as a representation of the will of God corrupted by man’s vain religion of the time from pure, life-giving water to a bloody mess, and the frogs covering the land of Egypt showing its infestation in every place by evil spirits. These three wonders are copied, counterfeited, if you will, by the heathen magicians. We might take this as a lesson for today, as well.

Pharaoh, for the first time, acknowledges the reality of Jehovah and asks Moses and Aaron to Intreat the LORD, that he may take away the frogs from me, and from my people; and I will let the people go, that they may do sacrifice unto the LORD (verse 8). But, when relieved, Pharaoh’s hardened heart will not permit them to leave.

Bible Study on Acts 1, verses 1 to 5, part 2, the trinity

 

Verse 2 is a very important theological statement and needs to be considered carefully. The three parts of the trinity that is God; the Father, the Word or Son, and the Holy Ghost operate together in unity but at the time of the gospels operated physically independently which God can do but we cannot. If our soul, body, and spirit are separated we are no longer biologically alive. It is valuable here to review what has been said before about the three parts of God that are one and yet can act independently although with one will and purpose.

 

God is composed of three parts, as man and woman are; a body, a soul, and a spirit.

1Thessalonians 5:23  And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

God has a soul, the seat of self-identity and will.

Psalm 11:5  The LORD trieth the righteous: but the wicked and him that loveth violence his soul hateth.

This is God the Father, sometimes referred to just as God in the New Testament. He is invisible to us. As John says in John 1:18 and in 1John 4:12 no one has seen God, presumably God the Father, at any time. Every act of God’s will originates with Him.

God has a Spirit, how He moves throughout creation and acts on it and in it.

Genesis 1:2  And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.

Romans 8:9  But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you.

This Spirit is called the Holy Ghost, the Comforter.

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.

John 14:16  And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; 17  Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you…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.

The Holy Spirit in its function, the Holy Ghost in His identity, is the mind of God and also God.

For contexts where the Spirit of God or the spirit of man can be synonymous with mind please see the following;

 

Romans 8:27  And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.

 

1Corinthians 2:16  For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.

 

Ephesians 4:23  And be renewed in the spirit of your mind;

 

Philippians 1:27  Only let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ: that whether I come and see you, or else be absent, I may hear of your affairs, that ye stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel;

 

2Timothy 1:7  For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.

 

God not only has a soul and a mind but has a body, His person, whom man can see, and has even touched, as God in the flesh, called the Son of God.

Hebrews 1:1 ¶  God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, 2  Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds; 3  Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;

Colossians 1: 13  Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son:14  In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins:15  Who is the image of the invisible God…

Of course, an image is the likeness of someone, what he looks like.

Genesis 1:26  And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.

Genesis 5:3  And Adam lived an hundred and thirty years, and begat a son in his own likeness, after his image; and called his name Seth:

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:

(Refer back to these verses when someone insists that the image of God is man’s ability to discern between good and evil, which is nonsense, as Adam was made in the image of God but did not taste of the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil until he fell).

Jesus Christ is also the Word by which all things were created. Read the first 18 verses of the Gospel According to John. God’s mind formed creation and God’s Word spoke it into existence, bringing forth the light, which He is.

Genesis 1:3 ¶  And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.

One stark difference between man and God is that God’s three parts can act independently of each other and still be one God.

Deuteronomy 6:4  Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD:

Mark 12:29  And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord:

Matthew 28:19  Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:

2Corinthians 13:14  The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all. Amen.

1John 5:7  For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.

Christ is then that bridge between God and man, fully God and fully man, without whom the believer in God would be in the same predicament as other religions where their god is so distant from man that there is no connection, no compassion for man’s suffering, no understanding of the human heart, fears, and affections.

Bible Study on Exodus 7, verses 14 to 25, the river turned into blood

 

Exodus 7:14 ¶  And the LORD said unto Moses, Pharaoh’s heart is hardened, he refuseth to let the people go. 15  Get thee unto Pharaoh in the morning; lo, he goeth out unto the water; and thou shalt stand by the river’s brink against he come; and the rod which was turned to a serpent shalt thou take in thine hand. 16  And thou shalt say unto him, The LORD God of the Hebrews hath sent me unto thee, saying, Let my people go, that they may serve me in the wilderness: and, behold, hitherto thou wouldest not hear. 17  Thus saith the LORD, In this thou shalt know that I am the LORD: behold, I will smite with the rod that is in mine hand upon the waters which are in the river, and they shall be turned to blood. 18  And the fish that is in the river shall die, and the river shall stink; and the Egyptians shall lothe to drink of the water of the river. 19  And the LORD spake unto Moses, Say unto Aaron, Take thy rod, and stretch out thine hand upon the waters of Egypt, upon their streams, upon their rivers, and upon their ponds, and upon all their pools of water, that they may become blood; and that there may be blood throughout all the land of Egypt, both in vessels of wood, and in vessels of stone. 20  And Moses and Aaron did so, as the LORD commanded; and he lifted up the rod, and smote the waters that were in the river, in the sight of Pharaoh, and in the sight of his servants; and all the waters that were in the river were turned to blood. 21  And the fish that was in the river died; and the river stank, and the Egyptians could not drink of the water of the river; and there was blood throughout all the land of Egypt. 22  And the magicians of Egypt did so with their enchantments: and Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, neither did he hearken unto them; as the LORD had said. 23  And Pharaoh turned and went into his house, neither did he set his heart to this also. 24  And all the Egyptians digged round about the river for water to drink; for they could not drink of the water of the river. 25  And seven days were fulfilled, after that the LORD had smitten the river.

It was apparently the custom to go down the all-important Nile in the morning for bathing and perhaps ritual in the morning. There they met the Pharaoh. Between Moses and Aaron all of the surface water in Egypt was turned into blood. The only drinkable water was found by digging. Fish died and the Nile River stunk. This second wonder the heathen magicians could also duplicate which did not support Moses’ and Aaron’s credibility. This went on for seven days.

Psalm 78:44  And had turned their rivers into blood; and their floods, that they could not drink.

Psalm 105:29  He turned their waters into blood, and slew their fish.

This sort of judgment will come again at the end of human history, perhaps referring to the Mediterranean Sea.

Revelation 8:8  And the second angel sounded, and as it were a great mountain burning with fire was cast into the sea: and the third part of the sea became blood; 9  And the third part of the creatures which were in the sea, and had life, died; and the third part of the ships were destroyed.

The Pharaoh’s heart is hardened and he will not listen to this warning. Later, after all of the  Israelites’ interactions with God and after so many of their distresses that arose from disobeying Him, it will be said;

Zechariah 7:12  Yea, they made their hearts as an adamant stone, lest they should hear the law, and the words which the LORD of hosts hath sent in his spirit by the former prophets: therefore came a great wrath from the LORD of hosts.

            As a side note, it is interesting how seven is used as a number of completion throughout the Bible. From seven days of creation onward it is a significant number worthy of your study.

Bible Study on Acts 1, verses 1 to 5, Luke introduces his account of the early church

 

The Acts of the Apostles chronicles the history of the early Christian church. With humble origins and a congregation consisting of the lowest members of society, even slaves and outcasts, the faith would be grown by the actions of the Spirit of God working through humble, and in Paul’s case, humbled men, and women. Sadly, Christianity would eventually adopt even more oppressive measures against other religions than the heathen ever dreamed of as unsaved people creeped into congregations and installed themselves in high positions. Institutional Christianity would become a tool of the state and in some cases, the state would become a tool of Christianity. But true Christian belief would always exist alongside the errors of the state-church whether those errors were expressed in the empires and kingdoms of Europe or as the de facto state church of the United States of America. Not conforming to the established institutional church governed by the tares of power-mad and self-righteous bishops, popes, patriarchs, pastors, and other high officials the humble church, the true body of Christ, would live and struggle throughout history to serve Christ and to obey in simplicity His commands. This is the story of the beginning of that church, the true church of God without even a building set aside specifically for church services until late in the second century, without a protector among the powerful, and without human power to grow and expand, completely dependent upon the Spirit of God to add such as would be saved to it. You and I will try to understand its foundational doctrines before Greek philosophy and Roman pragmatism coupled with superficial belief created two churches, those of the tares and the wheat.

 

Luke’s gospel ends with;

 

Luke 24:50 ¶  And he led them out as far as to Bethany, and he lifted up his hands, and blessed them. 51  And it came to pass, while he blessed them, he was parted from them, and carried up into heaven. 52  And they worshipped him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy: 53  And were continually in the temple, praising and blessing God. Amen.

 

The Acts of the Apostles, written by Luke the physician, begins with;

Acts, chapter 1

Acts 1:1 ¶  The former treatise have I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach, 2  Until the day in which he was taken up, after that he through the Holy Ghost had given commandments unto the apostles whom he had chosen: 3  To whom also he shewed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God: 4  And, being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me. 5  For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence.

 

Remember Luke’s introduction to the gospel he wrote to Theophilus?

 

Luke 1:1 ¶  Forasmuch as many have taken in hand to set forth in order a declaration of those things which are most surely believed among us, 2  Even as they delivered them unto us, which from the beginning were eyewitnesses, and ministers of the word; 3  It seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first, to write unto thee in order, most excellent Theophilus, 4  That thou mightest know the certainty of those things, wherein thou hast been instructed.

 

Who was Luke? He was the physician who accompanied Paul.

 

Colossians 4:14  Luke, the beloved physician, and Demas, greet you.

 

Luke and Lucas are the same person, being two different forms of the same name as Timotheus and Timothy.

 

Philemon 1:24  Marcus, Aristarchus, Demas, Lucas, my fellowlabourers.

 

Luke wrote in an educated style and did the work of an historian. When someone says they have studied, for instance, the American Civil War or the history of the Federal Reserve Board in our time they usually mean they’ve read other people’s opinions and accepted those opinions if they agree with them, rejecting those that don’t. But an historian regards eyewitness accounts, testimonies, and writings as paramount to getting at the truth, not just someone else’s opinion.

 

He or she collects many testimonies and sorts through them, considering what has been confirmed by other eyewitnesses. We believe that this was all done under the direction and guidance of the Holy Spirit, the wisdom given to Luke by God, to give us what God wants us to have.

 

The twin doctrines of inspiration and preservation are very important to our faith and are usually discounted by those who do not believe.

 

2Timothy 3:16  All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: 17  That the man of God may be perfect [for perfect as complete see 2Chronicles 8:16; Colossians 4:12; & James 1:4], throughly furnished unto all good works.

 

Psalm 12:6  The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times.7  Thou shalt keep them, O LORD, thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever.

 

First, God gave wisdom and understanding to the men who wrote our Bible and then to the churches that preserved those writings down through the centuries, filtering, eliminating, and consolidating what was written. Preservation means that the action of God was not limited to the original autographs like fundamentalists and evangelicals like to believe. In fact, God did not elevate the original autographs. When the king destroyed the originals of what Jeremiah wrote we have this;

 

Jeremiah 36:32  Then took Jeremiah another roll, and gave it to Baruch the scribe, the son of Neriah; who wrote therein from the mouth of Jeremiah all the words of the book which Jehoiakim king of Judah had burned in the fire: and there were added besides unto them many like words.

 

So, no one knows what those originals said and it’s really not important. What we have is what’s important.

 

First, the Bible is given by inspiration and just what is that? It is not word-for-word dictation.

 

Job 32:8  But there is a spirit in man: and the inspiration of the Almighty giveth them understanding.

 

What is understanding? Words linked by and are typically synonyms.

 

1Kings 4:29  And God gave Solomon wisdom and understanding exceeding much, and largeness of heart, even as the sand that is on the sea shore.

 

And so, inspiration is also wisdom.

 

2Peter 3:15  And account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you;

 

Often these words were written down by a third party, an amanuensis, as the giver of the words spoke them, moved by the Holy Ghost, the very mind of God.

 

2Peter 1:21  For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.

 

Now that Luke feels his understanding is perfect or complete (see Colossians 4:12 for a definition of perfect as complete) on the entire matter of what happened he writes to an acquaintance or friend named Theophilus.

 

Acts 1:1  The former treatise have I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach,

 

Theophilus is a name that means, “lover of God.” While Luke was writing, perhaps, to a Roman official who was a Christian by the use of the epithet most excellent the Holy Spirit was writing to all believers. This account is for you.