Bible Study on Acts 20, verses 7 to 12, Paul preaches long and a young man falls asleep

 

Acts 20:7 ¶  And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them, ready to depart on the morrow; and continued his speech until midnight. 8  And there were many lights in the upper chamber, where they were gathered together. 9  And there sat in a window a certain young man named Eutychus, being fallen into a deep sleep: and as Paul was long preaching, he sunk down with sleep, and fell down from the third loft, and was taken up dead. 10  And Paul went down, and fell on him, and embracing him said, Trouble not yourselves; for his life is in him. 11  When he therefore was come up again, and had broken bread, and eaten, and talked a long while, even till break of day, so he departed. 12  And they brought the young man alive, and were not a little comforted.

 

Having taught and preached I have seen even the most dedicated Christians nodding off occasionally although most of us don’t fall out of a window. It does make you wonder what the Holy Spirit is teaching here.

 

First, though, it is apparent that Christians did come together to worship and hear preaching on the first day of the week. This was the time of Christ’s resurrection, so Christians celebrate the resurrection by fellowship and worship, here breaking bread.

 

Matthew 28:1  In the end of the sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulchre.

 

Mark 16:2  And very early in the morning the first day of the week, they came unto the sepulchre at the rising of the sun…9  Now when Jesus was risen early the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had cast seven devils.

 

Luke 24:1  Now upon the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they came unto the sepulchre, bringing the spices which they had prepared, and certain others with them.

 

John 20:1  The first day of the week cometh Mary Magdalene early, when it was yet dark, unto the sepulchre, and seeth the stone taken away from the sepulchre.

 

As the time of Christ’s return was always considered imminent and in the latter days as far as they were concerned uniting as the body of Christ to break bread, eat a meal together which is a bonding experience, and hear preaching was very necessary. Note Paul’s instructions to these early Jewish Christians.

 

Hebrews 10:19 ¶  Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, 20  By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh; 21  And having an high priest over the house of God; 22  Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water. 23  Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;) 24  And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: 25  Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.

 

And so, Christians have met, for the first two hundred years in private homes and then donated commercial settings, and finally in buildings set aside for the purpose. The apostles first visited these churches and sat in chairs. Some sources say that the raised platform or pulpitum (pulpit) was added in the third century and evolved into the lecture podium we have now, pews were added in the Middle Ages, offering plates in the Reformation, a rail often called an altar in the late 1700s, and the middle aisle dividing the pews first called “the old sawdust trail” at that time as well although all of these items had precursors, usually used for a different purpose than these mentioned are now. Our worship structure has changed but Christians in places like Africa will still walk for days to hear preaching on the gospel of Christ.

 

Bible Study on Exodus 23, verses 20 to 33, I send an Angel before thee

 

Exodus 23:20 ¶  Behold, I send an Angel before thee, to keep thee in the way, and to bring thee into the place which I have prepared. 21  Beware of him, and obey his voice, provoke him not; for he will not pardon your transgressions: for my name is in him. 22  But if thou shalt indeed obey his voice, and do all that I speak; then I will be an enemy unto thine enemies, and an adversary unto thine adversaries. 23  For mine Angel shall go before thee, and bring thee in unto the Amorites, and the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Canaanites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites: and I will cut them off. 24  Thou shalt not bow down to their gods, nor serve them, nor do after their works: but thou shalt utterly overthrow them, and quite break down their images. 25  And ye shall serve the LORD your God, and he shall bless thy bread, and thy water; and I will take sickness away from the midst of thee. 26  There shall nothing cast their young, nor be barren, in thy land: the number of thy days I will fulfil. 27  I will send my fear before thee, and will destroy all the people to whom thou shalt come, and I will make all thine enemies turn their backs unto thee. 28  And I will send hornets before thee, which shall drive out the Hivite, the Canaanite, and the Hittite, from before thee. 29  I will not drive them out from before thee in one year; lest the land become desolate, and the beast of the field multiply against thee. 30  By little and little I will drive them out from before thee, until thou be increased, and inherit the land. 31  And I will set thy bounds from the Red sea even unto the sea of the Philistines, and from the desert unto the river: for I will deliver the inhabitants of the land into your hand; and thou shalt drive them out before thee. 32  Thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor with their gods. 33  They shall not dwell in thy land, lest they make thee sin against me: for if thou serve their gods, it will surely be a snare unto thee.

Here is an important doctrine regarding what an angel is, a spiritual representative, the presence of someone, in this case God. God’s name is in the angel.

Isaiah 63:9  In all their affliction he was afflicted, and the angel of his presence saved them: in his love and in his pity he redeemed them; and he bare them, and carried them all the days of old.

Judges 2:1  And an angel of the LORD came up from Gilgal to Bochim, and said, I made you to go up out of Egypt, and have brought you unto the land which I sware unto your fathers; and I said, I will never break my covenant with you.

Verse 24 reinforces God’s disgust with worshipping gods, little g, and idols. They are either figments of man’s imagination or devils.

Deuteronomy 32:17  They sacrificed unto devils, not to God; to gods whom they knew not, to new gods that came newly up, whom your fathers feared not.

Do not think that because you don’t worship Thor or Kali that you are not worshipping a false god. Any time you think, “an education will make me successful,” or, “having that man or woman will make me happy,” or, just constantly wanting something other than what you have you are creating idols, not much differently than ancient people. You are one step away from giving your dependence on education, sex, or material possessions a name, an identity to worship.  Anything we place as more important than obedience to God and faithfulness to Him is an idol. We are to do right, to do our best, and to trust God only for our success and happiness. Education is a good thing, intimacy between a husband and wife is an honorable thing, and we need food and shelter but we must not depend on them rather than God.

For instance, in regard to wealth, Paul warns Christians;

1Timothy 6:6 ¶  But godliness with contentment is great gain. 7  For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. 8  And having food and raiment let us be therewith content. 9  But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition. 10  For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.

And Jesus admonished His disciples using the Syriac word for the personification of money.

Luke 16:13  No servant can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.

With regard to sex as an idol the ancients had goddesses like Ishtar, the goddess of immigrants and prostitutes, a version of which we have in the harbor of New York City also called the goddess Liberty, popular among the Enlightenment thinkers like James Madison, the so-called Father of the Constitution, along with Providence, a reference to a vague universal power but certainly not the God of the Bible. The Greeks and Romans of Paul’s time had Venus and Aphrodite, goddesses of sex, who were worshipped in temples like those of Acrocorinth in Greece with short-haired priestesses, the reason why the Corinthian Christians demanded that their women have long hair which Paul approved while stating that it was not an issue in other churches. See 1Corinthians 11.

Bible Study on Acts 20, verses 1 to 6, Paul and his companions

Acts 20:1 ¶  And after the uproar was ceased, Paul called unto him the disciples, and embraced them, and departed for to go into Macedonia. 2  And when he had gone over those parts, and had given  them much exhortation, he came into Greece, 3  And there abode three months. And when the Jews laid wait for him, as he was about to sail into Syria, he purposed to return through Macedonia. 4  And there accompanied him into Asia Sopater of Berea; and of the Thessalonians, Aristarchus and Secundus; and Gaius of Derbe, and Timotheus; and of Asia, Tychicus and Trophimus. 5  These going before tarried for us at Troas. 6  And we sailed away from Philippi after the days of unleavened bread, and came unto them to Troas in five days; where we abode seven days.

 

Aristarchus the Macedonian had been mentioned in verse 29 of chapter 19. He will be mentioned again as a fellow prisoner with Paul in Rome;

 

Acts 27:2  And entering into a ship of Adramyttium, we launched, meaning to sail by the coasts of Asia; one Aristarchus, a Macedonian of Thessalonica, being with us.

 

Colossians 4:10  Aristarchus my fellowprisoner saluteth you, and Marcus, sister’s son to Barnabas, (touching whom ye received commandments: if he come unto you, receive him;)

 

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

 

Due to the context in a few verses there appears to be more than one Gaius which may have been a fairly common name. There is Gaius and Aristarchus who are said to be men of Macedonia in Acts 19:29. Derbe was in Galatia where this Gaius was from. There is a Gaius from Corinth in 1Corinthians 1:14. Finally, Gaius was Paul’s host in Rome in Romans 16:23 where he awaited this fate before Caesar.

 

According to tradition Tychicus wrote Ephesians as Paul’s amanuensis or secretary. He also was co-writer of Colossians with Onesimus as per the postscript added to early King James Bibles. He is mentioned in the letters to the Ephesians, Colossians, and to Timothy.

 

Trophimus will be part of the scandal in the next chapter and in 2Timothy 4:20 he is left at Miletum, not far from Ephesus, sick.

 

Troas is mentioned twice before in Acts 16 and will be referred to again. Troas is also called Troad in its Anglicized version and means ‘The Land of Troy’ and is on the extreme west of the Asian mainland. The ruins of the ancient city of Troy, subject of Homer’s Illiad, the ancient Greek’s “Bible”, are in that region.

Bible Study on Exodus 23, verses 10 to 19, three feasts compared to the rapture of the church

 

Exodus 23:10 ¶  And six years thou shalt sow thy land, and shalt gather in the fruits thereof: 11  But the seventh year thou shalt let it rest and lie still; that the poor of thy people may eat: and what they leave the beasts of the field shall eat. In like manner thou shalt deal with thy vineyard, and with thy oliveyard. 12  Six days thou shalt do thy work, and on the seventh day thou shalt rest: that thine ox and thine ass may rest, and the son of thy handmaid, and the stranger, may be refreshed. 13  And in all things that I have said unto you be circumspect: and make no mention of the name of other gods, neither let it be heard out of thy mouth. 14  Three times thou shalt keep a feast unto me in the year. 15  Thou shalt keep the feast of unleavened bread: (thou shalt eat unleavened bread seven days, as I commanded thee, in the time appointed of the month Abib; for in it thou camest out from Egypt: and none shall appear before me empty:) 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. 17  Three times in the year all thy males shall appear before the Lord GOD. 18  Thou shalt not offer the blood of my sacrifice with leavened bread; neither shall the fat of my sacrifice remain until the morning. 19  The first of the firstfruits of thy land thou shalt bring into the house of the LORD thy God. Thou shalt not seethe a kid in his mother’s milk.

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

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

The sabbath of rest for the seventh day of the week is given: a day of rest also for animals, servants, and foreigners who worked for the Hebrews. It is interesting how Christians who bring forward the Ten Commandments and the Law given to Moses in general as applicable to Christians don’t also regard the Sabbath of rest, a day of the week given to man and beast to rest from their labors, as also applicable.

In a world filled with idol worship and devil worship and all under the pretense of worshipping gods, little g, the Hebrews were not to even mention their names.

There were three feasts they were to keep in a year; the feasts of unleavened bread, of harvests, and of ingathering. These three times in the year all males were to appear before God in a place appointed and to keep a feast.

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

Exodus 34:22a  And thou shalt observe the feast of weeks, of the firstfruits of wheat harvest…

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

And then two more times mentioned in Revelation of the pre-Tribulation saints and then of those who come to Christ during the Great Tribulation. However, we have enough to do with the clearer statements in the Bible regarding our relationship with God in His ministry of reconciling man to Himself, things that we are not doing, to spend time arguing about the more obscure doctrines of the Bible.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Early eighteenth century Bible commentator, Matthew Henry, reported, apparently from older Jewish authorities, that it was common for the Gentiles to boil (see Ezekiel 24:5 for seethe as to boil) a kid (goat) in its mother’s milk and sprinkle that over fields to ensure a good harvest in the future. God forbade such magical nonsense. What is important here is that God has set up three feasts for the Hebrews to remember events by, to commemorate what has happened.

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

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

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

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

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

Bible Study on Acts 19, verses 21 to 41, trouble in Ephesus

 

Acts 19:21 ¶  After these things were ended, Paul purposed in the spirit, when he had passed through Macedonia and Achaia, to go to Jerusalem, saying, After I have been there, I must also see Rome. 22  So he sent into Macedonia two of them that ministered unto him, Timotheus and Erastus; but he himself stayed in Asia for a season. 23  And the same time there arose no small stir about that way. 24  For a certain man named Demetrius, a silversmith, which made silver shrines for Diana, brought no small gain unto the craftsmen; 25  Whom he called together with the workmen of like occupation, and said, Sirs, ye know that by this craft we have our wealth. 26  Moreover ye see and hear, that not alone at Ephesus, but almost throughout all Asia, this Paul hath persuaded and turned away much people, saying that they be no gods, which are made with hands: 27  So that not only this our craft is in danger to be set at nought; but also that the temple of the great goddess Diana should be despised, and her magnificence should be destroyed, whom all Asia and the world worshippeth. 28  And when they heard these sayings, they were full of wrath, and cried out, saying, Great is Diana of the Ephesians. 29  And the whole city was filled with confusion: and having caught Gaius and Aristarchus, men of Macedonia, Paul’s companions in travel, they rushed with one accord into the theatre. 30  And when Paul would have entered in unto the people, the disciples suffered him not. 31  And certain of the chief of Asia, which were his friends, sent unto him, desiring him that he would not adventure himself into the theatre. 32  Some therefore cried one thing, and some another: for the assembly was confused; and the more part knew not wherefore they were come together. 33  And they drew Alexander out of the multitude, the Jews putting him forward. And Alexander beckoned with the hand, and would have made his defence unto the people. 34  But when they knew that he was a Jew, all with one voice about the space of two hours cried out, Great is Diana of the Ephesians. 35  And when the townclerk had appeased the people, he said, Ye men of Ephesus, what man is there that knoweth not how that the city of the Ephesians is a worshipper of the great goddess Diana, and of the image which fell down from Jupiter? 36  Seeing then that these things cannot be spoken against, ye ought to be quiet, and to do nothing rashly. 37  For ye have brought hither these men, which are neither robbers of churches, nor yet blasphemers of your goddess. 38  Wherefore if Demetrius, and the craftsmen which are with him, have a matter against any man, the law is open, and there are deputies: let them implead one another. 39  But if ye enquire any thing concerning other matters, it shall be determined in a lawful assembly. 40  For we are in danger to be called in question for this day’s uproar, there being no cause whereby we may give an account of this concourse. 41  And when he had thus spoken, he dismissed the assembly.

 

Paul now takes it upon himself to go to Rome via Jerusalem. There is some question as to whether or not it is in God’s perfect will for Paul to go to Jerusalem with the purpose he will state in a short while in the text. It is certainly within God’s permissive will as it does indeed happen. We will see what the Holy Spirit said about this later.

 

But, first he must deal with something in Ephesus. Declaring that Christ is the only way to heaven and that no other gods should be worshipped was a great threat to the commerce of Ephesus. Verse 27 says So that not only this our craft is in danger to be set at nought; but also that the temple of the great goddess Diana should be despised, and her magnificence should be destroyed, whom all Asia and the world worshippeth.

 

Diana was the Roman name for the Greek goddess Artemis whom I believe is just one of the manifestations of Ishtar around the world such as Amaterasu in Japan. Jupiter is the Roman name for the Greek Zeus, the head of the Greek pantheon of gods. Making gods of stone and wood was a great industry in the Roman empire of the first century, if not the most prosperous industry. Many gods were allowed as long as Rome’s patron gods and goddesses were appeased like Roma for the city of Rome. The Christians had not desecrated any temples or insulted any gods or goddesses but preaching that Jesus Christ was the Only Begotten Son of God put them on a confrontation course with the culture. Still, Alexander insisted that if charges were to be brought they should be done in an orderly fashion lest the Roman authorities come down on their heads.

Bible Study on Exodus 23, verses 1 to 9, keep far from a false matter

 

Exodus 23:1 ¶  Thou shalt not raise a false report: put not thine hand with the wicked to be an unrighteous witness. 2  Thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evil; neither shalt thou speak in a cause to decline after many to wrest judgment: 3  Neither shalt thou countenance a poor man in his cause. 4  If thou meet thine enemy’s ox or his ass going astray, thou shalt surely bring it back to him again. 5  If thou see the ass of him that hateth thee lying under his burden, and wouldest forbear to help him, thou shalt surely help with him. 6  Thou shalt not wrest the judgment of thy poor in his cause. 7  Keep thee far from a false matter; and the innocent and righteous slay thou not: for I will not justify the wicked. 8  And thou shalt take no gift: for the gift blindeth the wise, and perverteth the words of the righteous. 9  Also thou shalt not oppress a stranger: for ye know the heart of a stranger, seeing ye were strangers in the land of Egypt.

The context of this entire passage is about not mistreating the poor person or the foreigner, both politically powerless entities. Here begins with a warning not to bear false witness as stated in the list of ten earlier. Another admonition against following wicked and evil people follows. The book of Proverbs gives warnings against following the sinful ways of others. To wrest judgment is to pervert judgment, a corrupt thing to do. Here, in context it is referring to abusing the poor and backing the powerful in a way that perverts judgment.

James 2:6  But ye have despised the poor. Do not rich men oppress you, and draw you before the judgment seats?

Verse 3 is difficult because of the archaic use of the word countenance as a verb. It does not necessarily mean, ‘to favor,’ as some commentators insist, stating that you should not support a poor man just because he was poor. In Baret’s 1574 dictionary, referenced earlier, you can find one meaning as to deny, refuse, or forbid. Other dictionaries at the same general time frame, and you can verify this by accessing the early modern English website previously mentioned, also suggest the possibility of the false pretense of justice by putting a good face on it but the reality not being so. So here it is forbidden to refuse a poor man equitable judgment and put a false, hypocritical honest face on it. This is an archaic meaning of the verb but one that is readily accessible to anyone interested. This meaning fits well in the context here and in the context of other Biblical admonitions against abusing the poor. It is not the proverbial ‘rocket science.’ Just look for the meaning of a difficult word used rarely in a particular form in the Bible around the time that this Bible was translated. The information is there. Do you really want to know what the Bible says?

Verse 4 mandates kindness, as taking it on oneself to return another’s straying beast back to him. Verse 5 requires one to render assistance to a beast struggling with a load he is having a hard time supporting even if the owner of the beast is someone they know doesn’t like them and they probably don’t like. This calls for compassion for an animal regardless who owns it.

Verse 6 reinforces verse 3 and 7 verse 1. Clearly, the context of these judgments is a fair and equal treatment regardless of someone’s social status and an attitude of mercy and compassion regardless of your difficult relationship with others. Verse 8 denies bribery or oppressing the politically powerless or weak.

These are important principles that are often not followed. It may be helpful to offer examples that are easy to understand. If you do not get along with someone or even have a feud going and their dog escapes from their yard you would return the dog regardless of your feud as an act of righteousness. Although we use mechanical ‘beasts’ of burden now in that time if a Hebrew were to see another man’s donkey struggling under a burden he would be compelled to ease the burden of the poor animal. The fact that these are listed under the Law given to Moses for the Hebrews shows us that matters of personal responsibility were coded into the civil regulations. You could be held responsible for not being a good neighbor even to a neighbor you didn’t like.

Bribery was forbidden.

Deuteronomy 16:19  Thou shalt not wrest judgment; thou shalt not respect persons, neither take a gift: for a gift doth blind the eyes of the wise, and pervert the words of the righteous.

Proverbs 17:23 ¶  A wicked man taketh a gift out of the bosom to pervert the ways of judgment.

Our government is corrupt today because of lobbyists for even good causes who put money, desirable vacations, and even luxurious homes in front of our lawmakers to pervert judgment.

There is a tie-in here with doing right regardless of another’s social status and following the law regardless of your relationship with another person. There is an absolute standard here that rises above your petty selfishness. There is compassion for the weak that goes beyond your hatred or contempt. The righteous man does right regardless of the enticement to pervert judgment or ignore the suffering of another. From the point of view of God another person’s social status or your relationship with them should not be affected by your doing what is right in obedience to God and not doing what is wrong.

Bible Study on Acts 19, verses 13 to 20, the word of God prevailed

 

Acts 19:13 ¶  Then certain of the vagabond Jews, exorcists, took upon them to call over them which had evil spirits the name of the Lord Jesus, saying, We adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preacheth. 14  And there were seven sons of one Sceva, a Jew, and chief of the priests, which did so. 15  And the evil spirit answered and said, Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are ye? 16  And the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them, and overcame them, and prevailed against them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded. 17  And this was known to all the Jews and Greeks also dwelling at Ephesus; and fear fell on them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified. 18  And many that believed came, and confessed, and shewed their deeds. 19  Many of them also which used curious arts brought their books together, and burned them before all men: and they counted the price of them, and found it fifty thousand pieces of silver. 20  So mightily grew the word of God and prevailed.

 

These Jewish exorcists try to use Christ without having faith in Him and their paybacks are painful and embarrassing. This episode brings to mind some verses. First understand that workers of iniquity in the Old Testament are the wicked, unrighteous in several verses. Here are two examples.

 

Psalm 64:2  Hide me from the secret counsel of the wicked; from the insurrection of the workers of iniquity:

 

Psalm 92:7  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:

 

Now, let us move to Jesus’ sermon in Matthew 5-7.

 

Matthew 7:21 ¶  Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. 22  Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? 23  And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

 

There are probably people right now preaching, teaching, supposedly casting out evil spirits, supposedly speaking in the tongues of angels, ministering to the poor and sick who are tares, the phony hypocrites who will be burned in the oven on the last day. They make merchandise of the gospel and use Christ’s name without actual faith and belief. I don’t have to say any names because I personally cannot know one’s heart. But the seven sons of Sceva may represent them.

 

Matthew 13:24 ¶  Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field: 25  But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way. 26  But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also. 27  So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? from whence then hath it tares?

28  He said unto them, An enemy hath done this. The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up? 29  But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them. 30  Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn… 36  Then Jesus sent the multitude away, and went into the house: and his disciples came unto him, saying, Declare unto us the parable of the tares of the field. 37  He answered and said unto them, He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man;

38  The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one; 39  The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels. 40  As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world. 41  The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity;

42  And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.

43  Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.

 

Notice the response of an evil spirit when Jesus Himself ordered him out.

 

Mark 1:23 ¶  And there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit; and he cried out,

24  Saying, Let us alone; what have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth? art thou come to destroy us? I know thee who thou art, the Holy One of God. 25  And Jesus rebuked him, saying, Hold thy peace, and come out of him. 26  And when the unclean spirit had torn him, and cried with a loud voice, he came out of him.

 

Bible scholar H.C. Hoskier in his 1910 book entitled, Concerning the Genesis of the Versions of the New Testament, an incredibly important work for serious Bible students, talked about the prosperous book trade in the first century. The literate were avid readers and much translation work abounded. Verse 19 shows us that there was an enormous market in books on the occult and magic as the amount of books destroyed by the owners of those books exceeded a large sum of money. The curious arts, as you can imagine, refers to these occultic and wicked practices among a people wholly given to one religion or the other, worshipping and challenging nature and God Himself for power they coveted to have.