Bible Study on Romans 1, verses 19 to 32, part 1, the existence of God

 

Romans 1:19 ¶  Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them. 20  For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse: 21  Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. 22  Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, 23  And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things. 24  Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves: 25  Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen. 26  For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature: 27  And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet. 28  And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient; 29  Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers, 30  Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, 31  Without understanding, covenantbreakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful: 32  Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.

 

Here is the religious history of mankind, what is important, not the endless wars, kings, queens, and dynasties, building projects, art, and literature that interests us. This is what concerns God.

 

God is revealed in creation, even without a Bible.

 

Psalm 19:1  «To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David.» The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork.

 

In today’s world of non-scientific science theory there are many seemingly intelligent people who live in a world of delusion. They will see;

 

In Genesis 1:3 God calls light into being.

Regarding light, scientists presume the existence of the basic particle of light, a photon. The universe is bathed in that light. For every estimated proton around the nucleus of an atom they say there are a billion photons.^[1] Of course, photons might not even exist except as theoretical entities to explain things that can be seen by mathematical constructs. But, even guessing at this, they deny the truth of what the Bible already said.

In fact, God’s existence is verifiable, among other ways, by logic alone. Here are some comments I made previously.

“There are things outside of our personal experience with God, a personal experience that no unbeliever can understand or accept unless God Himself touches their hearts.

Let’s take something as complex as life. The astronomer Sir Fred Hoyle was born in Yorkshire, England on June 24, 1915. He was conferred a master's degree from Cambridge in 1939 and then was elected Fellow, St. John's College, Cambridge in the same year. He worked his way to become a Professor of Astrophysics and Natural Philosophy in 1958. He was a leading contributor in the discovery of how the elements from lithium to iron are synthesized inside stars.

Professor N. Chandra Wickramasinghe was born in Colombo, Sri Lanka, on January 20, 1939, studied astrophysics at Cambridge, and was a student of Hoyle's. He received a Ph.D. in 1963 taught at Cambridge. He later became a Professor of Applied Mathematics and Astronomy at the University College, Cardiff, Wales. He is an expert in the use of infrared astronomy to study interstellar matter.

These are no lightweights although Wickramasinghe has gone a little bonkers in the last few years. But, they both came to the logical atheist conclusion that life came from outer space. Why? Because it was impossible for it to have happened by random chance on earth, not in 15 billion years or a hundred billion years. Let me read you a quote published recently by Dr. Wick…

‘Improbability of Life

The blueprint for all life from bacteria to plants to animals was discovered in the 1950s by Watson and Crick to reside in DNA – in particular in the precise arrangements of the nucleotides A,G,T,C that effectively code for proteins that in turn control cell function. In a series of books and articles published in collaboration with the late Sir Fred Hoyle, I have argued that highly specific arrangements needed for the operation of living cells cannot be understood as arising from random processes. For the simplest bacterium (Mycoplasma genitalium) the probability that its few hundred genes will be discovered by random shuffling of their amino acid components gives a figure of 1 in 10 to the 1000^th power or smaller. Hoyle and I have compared such horrendous improbabilities to the odds against a ‘tornado blowing through a junk yard leading to self-assembly of BOEING 707 airplane.’[2]

 

1 in 10 to the 1000^th? These types of scientists estimate there is only 10 to the 80^th power number of atoms in the universe. Saying that life came about by random processes is like me saying that I’m getting handsomer, wealthier, and smarter as I get older. You would just look at me and go, what? I’m joking, right? But, scientists who believe in spontaneous generation, I mean abiogenesis, or life by accident are serious.

So, proof that God exists, step one. Life could not have happened on earth by chance. It’s not mathematically conceivable, not by any stretch of your Star Wars, Battlestar Galactica, Star Trek, Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Dr. Who imagination. But, what about it coming from somewhere else? That’s called panspermia and that’s what Dr. Wick believes in.

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[1] Lee Smolin, The Trouble with Physics: The Rise of String Theory, and Fall of a Science, and What Comes Next (New York: Houghton Mifflin Co., 2006), 75.

 

[2] Chandra Wickramasinghe & Robert Bauval, Cosmic Womb: The Seeding of Planet Earth (Rochester, Vermont:Bear & Co., 2017), Kindle ed., chap. 1

Bible Study on Exodus 28, verses 6 to 30, the ephod

 

Exodus 28:6 ¶  And they shall make the ephod of gold, of blue, and of purple, of scarlet, and fine twined linen, with cunning work. 7  It shall have the two shoulderpieces thereof joined at the two edges thereof; and so it shall be joined together. 8  And the curious girdle of the ephod, which is upon it, shall be of the same, according to the work thereof; even of gold, of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen. 9  And thou shalt take two onyx stones, and grave on them the names of the children of Israel: 10  Six of their names on one stone, and the other six names of the rest on the other stone, according to their birth. 11  With the work of an engraver in stone, like the engravings of a signet, shalt thou engrave the two stones with the names of the children of Israel: thou shalt make them to be set in ouches of gold. 12  And thou shalt put the two stones upon the shoulders of the ephod for stones of memorial unto the children of Israel: and Aaron shall bear their names before the LORD upon his two shoulders for a memorial. 13  And thou shalt make ouches of gold; 14  And two chains of pure gold at the ends; of wreathen work shalt thou make them, and fasten the wreathen chains to the ouches.

Exodus 28:15 ¶  And thou shalt make the breastplate of judgment with cunning work; after the work of the ephod thou shalt make it; of gold, of blue, and of purple, and of scarlet, and of fine twined linen, shalt thou make it. 16  Foursquare it shall be beingdoubled; a span shall be the length thereof, and a span shall be the breadth thereof. 17  And thou shalt set in it settings of stones, even four rows of stones: the first row shall be a sardius, a topaz, and a carbuncle: this shall be the first row. 18  And the second row shall be an emerald, a sapphire, and a diamond. 19  And the third row a ligure, an agate, and an amethyst. 20  And the fourth row a beryl, and an onyx, and a jasper: they shall be set in gold in their inclosings. 21  And the stones shall be with the names of the children of Israel, twelve, according to their names, like the engravings of a signet; every one with his name shall they be according to the twelve tribes. 22  And thou shalt make upon the breastplate chains at the ends of wreathen work of pure gold. 23  And thou shalt make upon the breastplate two rings of gold, and shalt put the two rings on the two ends of the breastplate. 24  And thou shalt put the two wreathen chains of gold in the two rings which are on the ends of the breastplate. 25  And the other two ends of the two wreathen chains thou shalt fasten in the two ouches, and put them on the shoulderpieces of the ephod before it. 26  And thou shalt make two rings of gold, and thou shalt put them upon the two ends of the breastplate in the border thereof, which is in the side of the ephod inward. 27  And two other rings of gold thou shalt make, and shalt put them on the two sides of the ephod underneath, toward the forepart thereof, over against the other coupling thereof, above the curious girdle of the ephod. 28  And they shall bind the breastplate by the rings thereof unto the rings of the ephod with a lace of blue, that it may be above the curious girdle of the ephod, and that the breastplate be not loosed from the ephod. 29  And Aaron shall bear the names of the children of Israel in the breastplate of judgment upon his heart, when he goeth in unto the holy place, for a memorial before the LORD continually. 30  And thou shalt put in the breastplate of judgment the Urim and the Thummim; and they shall be upon Aaron’s heart, when he goeth in before the LORD: and Aaron shall bear the judgment of the children of Israel upon his heart before the LORD continually.

 

My wife, Beth, had this wonderful thought that I want to try to do justice to in regard to this description. The Urim and Thummim are one means by which communication is made from God.

Numbers 27:21  And he shall stand before Eleazar the priest, who shall ask counsel for him after the judgment of Urim before the LORD: at his word shall they go out, and at his word they shall come in, both he, and all the children of Israel with him, even all the congregation.

 

Without going into detail on the electrical conductivity properties of gold and how it is used in cellphones and other electronic devices or in the sound conductivity of stones what we may have here is a communication device for when the priests were away from the ark of the testimony. In fact, I have read commentators who speculated on this saying things like this was like an advanced walkie-talkie or using some other analogy. This brings to mind a peculiar statement that Jesus makes that on the surface just sounds like hyperbole but may have a much more profound meaning.

Luke 19:40  And he answered and said unto them, I tell you that, if these should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out.

 

I believe it was Peter Ruckman who speculated that stones were natural recording or transmitting devices. Whatever the case, this is very interesting to consider when the material elements are combined with the electrical impulses coming from Aaron’s heart who knows what we are talking about specifically? Like many other things in the Bible narrative, God’s revelation of His ministry of reconciling man to Himself, the Holy Spirit just breezes by these things without a concern for the detail we crave.

The breastplate of judgment has four rows of stones in it. This, surprisingly, may give us a clue as to the office that Satan held before he tempted man and woman to question God’s word. The Holy Spirit sometimes gives two descriptions in one by likening and comparing one subject to another so we have an understanding of the nature of both. Assuming that God is likening the king of Tyre to Satan in Ezekiel 28, giving us a description of Satan while comparing that king to him, we have these words;

Ezekiel 28:11b…Thus saith the Lord GOD; Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty. 13  Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created. 14  Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire. 15  Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee.

Was Satan, also known as Lucifer, God’s priest in Eden? Is that why Adam and Eve seemed to have no problem conversing with him in his form as a serpent, a dragon, reptilian but beautiful? He must have been a magnificent creature as we have other dual descriptions in Isaiah 14 with Satan as Lucifer, the Light-Bearer, the Shining One as per Strong’s dictionary, and in Job 41, the king over all the children of pride (Job 41:34).

For a dragon and a serpent being synonymous with each other and Satan based on context see;

Revelation 12:9  And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.

 

Another description that reminds you of this breastplate of judgment is of the walls of the New Jerusalem, the cubed city described in Revelation, chapter 21, that is probably even now on its way to earth.

Bible Study on Romans 1, verses 16 to 18, the just shall live by faith

 

Romans 1:16 ¶  For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. 17  For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith. 18  For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness;

 

Ashamed can mean embarrassed and disappointed at something you wish were not so. It also meant, though, bashful and modest at the time of the translation, something you held back. It confounded you, as in caused you shame.

 

Ezra 9:6  And said, O my God, I am ashamed and blush to lift up my face to thee, my God: for our iniquities are increased over our head, and our trespass is grown up unto the heavens.

 

Jeremiah 6:15  Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? nay, they were not at all ashamed, neither could they blush: therefore they shall fall among them that fall: at the time that I visit them they shall be cast down, saith the LORD.

 

Job 6:20  They were confounded because they had hoped; they came thither, and were ashamed.

 

Psalm 40:14  Let them be ashamed and confounded together that seek after my soul to destroy it; let them be driven backward and put to shame that wish me evil.

 

 Paul is not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, not embarrassed by it, not holding back, because IT is how God can save every man and woman who believes and trusts in it. The Jews were preached to first but also the Gentiles, which is what is meant by Greek as the dominant culture and language of the Gentiles among whom Paul moved. The just shall live by faith is an allusion to a verse in Habbakuk.

 

Habbakuk 2:4  Behold, his soul which is lifted up is not upright in him: but the just shall live by his faith.

 

He says this again in Galatians and Hebrews.

 

Galatians 3:11  But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, The just shall live by faith.

 

Hebrews 10:38  Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him.

 

An important statement is made in verse 18 for the upcoming religious history of mankind that is summarized. Man knows the truth, is willfully ignorant, and is judged based on holding the truth he knows in unrighteousness. Man knows in his heart there is a God, that he did not create himself or just happened out of nothing by accident. He also has a pretty good, if general, idea of right and wrong. But mankind, you and I included, usually choose to act as if God did not exist and that we had no clue what right and wrong were. Paul is beginning a great argument on justification or God’s declaration of our legal right to not suffer punishment for our sins because of Christ’s righteousness and sacrifice and resurrection, the commentators say, and this is His beginning, establishing the universal, debased condition of men and women and their guiltiness before a Holy God. God removes the guilt and the penalty for sin declaring the ungodly to be righteous based on Christ’s actions. It is most remarkable.

 

A Psalm for Sunday, Psalm 81, verses 1 to 7, remember the deliverance of God

 

Psalm 81:1 ¶  «To the chief Musician upon Gittith, A Psalm of Asaph.» Sing aloud unto God our strength: make a joyful noise unto the God of Jacob. 2  Take a psalm, and bring hither the timbrel, the pleasant harp with the psaltery. 3  Blow up the trumpet in the new moon, in the time appointed, on our solemn feast day. 4  For this was a statute for Israel, and a law of the God of Jacob. 5  This he ordained in Joseph for a testimony, when he went out through the land of Egypt: where I heard a language that I understood not. 6  I removed his shoulder from the burden: his hands were delivered from the pots. 7  Thou calledst in trouble, and I delivered thee; I answered thee in the secret place of thunder: I proved thee at the waters of Meribah. Selah.

 

John Gill wrote that Gittith, a musical instrument taken from the town of Gath. This Psalm, it is said, was written as a commemoration of Exodus in particular to be sung at solemn occasions.

 

God was the strength of Israel, as He is the Christian’s strength. We should rejoice in Him always.

 

Leviticus 23:24  Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, In the seventh month, in the first day of the month, shall ye have a sabbath, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, an holy convocation.

 

Although there are many different opinions on verse 5 perhaps this has to do with the fact that people had not heard God speak like He did to the Hebrews before in a new written language which I discussed in Exodus and through fire and the sound of a trumpet and many other ways. The languages that God used to lead the Hebrews was something unknown before that time.

 

He gave them their alphabet some have written. When Moses came down the mountain with the Ten Commandments that may be the beginning of the alphabet that we use, the precursor to it. God created the writing that contrasted with the pictograms of hieroglyphics and cuneiform writing that dominated the ancient world. From China, Sumeria, and Egypt to the civilizations of the ancient Americas pictures were used to convey ideas and history and as representations of things worshipped. The basic units of writing, the letters, become symbols for ideas rather than pictures representing things to be worshipped as idols. ‘A’, instead of a symbol for a bull or an ox, is Aleph in Hebrew and Alpha in Greek, and ‘A’ for modern purposes. A good study for this is Marc A. Ouaknin’s Mysteries of the Alphabet. This could be part of God drawing a people out of a world of idolatrous pictures to be adored and turning their writing into ideas to be expressed by symbols.

Exodus 20:18 ¶  And all the people saw the thunderings, and the lightnings, and the noise of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking: and when the people saw it, they removed, and stood afar off. 19  And they said unto Moses, Speak thou with us, and we will hear: but let not God speak with us, lest we die. 20  And Moses said unto the people, Fear not: for God is come to prove you, and that his fear may be before your faces, that ye sin not. 21  And the people stood afar off, and

Moses drew near unto the thick darkness where God was.

 

But God’s Law, given to Moses, was also a new language which while men may have known God’s standard from the beginning as Genesis and Job seem to suggest and we have discussed it was codified and “written in stone”. See my commentaries on Genesis and Job.

 

Pots in this context were the baskets where the bricks were put that the Hebrews had to make that they were forced to carry. For Meribah see;

 

Exodus 17:4  And Moses cried unto the LORD, saying, What shall I do unto this people? they be almost ready to stone me. 5  And the LORD said unto Moses, Go on before the people, and take with thee of the elders of Israel; and thy rod, wherewith thou smotest the river, take in thine hand, and go. 6  Behold, I will stand before thee there upon the rock in Horeb; and thou shalt smite the rock, and there shall come water out of it, that the people may drink. And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel. 7  And he called the name of the place Massah, and Meribah, because of the chiding of the children of Israel, and because they tempted the LORD, saying, Is the LORD among us, or not?

 

Bible Study on Romans 1, verses 8 to 15, For God is my witness

 

Romans 1:8 ¶  First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, that your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world. 9  For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I make mention of you always in my prayers; 10  Making request, if by any means now at length I might have a prosperous journey by the will of God to come unto you. 11  For I long to see you, that I may impart unto you some spiritual gift, to the end ye may be established; 12  That is, that I may be comforted together with you by the mutual faith both of you and me. 13  Now I would not have you ignorant, brethren, that oftentimes I purposed to come unto you, (but was let hitherto,) that I might have some fruit among you also, even as among other Gentiles. 14  I am debtor both to the Greeks, and to the Barbarians; both to the wise, and to the unwise. 15  So, as much as in me is, I am ready to preach the gospel to you that are at Rome also.

 

Here is an important point for Biblical understanding. When Paul says your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world in these early days of Christianity he cannot mean the entire earth as common sense tells us that Christ has not been preached in Tierra del Fuego or Lappland yet, at least not by human beings. When ancient Roman era writers writing in the Roman Empire and environs spoke of the whole world or earth they were referring to the world in which they existed and lived, the Mediterranean world. Keep this in mind when reading things like Revelation.

 

Paul serves God with his spirit, lowercase s.

 

The Spirit, uppercase S, is the mind and heart of God just as the spirit (lowercase s) of man includes the heart, reason, emotions, intellect, and talents. 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 2:9  But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. 10  But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. 11  For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God. 12  Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. 13  Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual. 14  But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. 15  But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man. 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.

 

Now for the heart, and we must understand that all of our decisions include our invisible minds and hearts. Here are just a couple of examples.

 

Exodus 35:21  And they came, every one whose heart stirred him up, and every one whom his spirit made willing, and they brought the LORD’S offering to the work of the tabernacle of the congregation, and for all his service, and for the holy garments.

 

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.

 

Our spirit includes the talents and abilities God has given us.

 

See 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; 7  The tabernacle of the congregation, and the ark of the testimony, and the mercy seat that is thereupon, and all the furniture of the tabernacle, 8  And the table and his furniture, and the pure candlestick with all his furniture, and the altar of incense, 9  And the altar of burnt offering with all his furniture, and the laver and his foot, 10  And the cloths of service, and the holy garments for Aaron the priest, and the garments of his sons, to minister in the priest’s office, 11  And the anointing oil, and sweet incense for the holy place: according to all that I have commanded thee shall they do.

 

In Old English there was no distinction between uppercase and lowercase. By Middle English whether to capitalize the first letter was inconsistent, I have read. By the time of the KJV, called Early Modern English, capitalization of proper names and nouns had become more standard. See Shakespeare’s use of capitalization. So, at the time of this translation uppercase and lowercase had begun to mean something. Notice here that the word spirit starts with a lowercase ‘s’. In a prophecy of Christ in Isaiah it is written;

 

Isaiah 11:1 ¶  And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots: 2  And the spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD; 3  And shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the LORD: and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears: 4  But with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth: and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked.

 

The spirit with the lowercase ‘s’ is a reference to a trait, a quality, a skill, an emotion, the foundation of an ability, or the spirit of man, the part of man that God uses to know our thoughts and the function of our bodies.

 

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

 

Verse 13 says;

 

13  Now I would not have you ignorant, brethren, that oftentimes I purposed to come unto you, (but was let hitherto,) that I might have some fruit among you also, even as among other Gentiles.

 

Let is an interesting word in Early Modern English. We think of let as giving permission, allowing, or permitting but the context can give it opposite meanings. One meaning of Let, from the Old English Lettan was to hinder, obstruct, or impede.

 

Here are the two different meanings in the context of the Bible. Verse 13 is prevented from. In the following it is also prevented or held back temporarily.

 

2Thessalonians 2:7  For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way.

 

And here to permit or allow;

 

1Timothy 3:12  Let the deacons be the husbands of one wife, ruling their children and their own houses well.

 

1Timothy 4:12  Let no man despise thy youth; but be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity.

 

In 1:14 Paul makes a comparison between Greek and non-Greek, every one of which not in the Greek culture or speaking the Greek language they called barbarian. He speaks also of the wise and the unwise. Paul is stating that his ministry to the Gentiles is a debt he owes, something he is compelled to perform and he is glad to do it. Not only to the groups he has mentioned but to those at Rome as well he will preach the gospel, if at all possible.

Bible Study on Isaiah 7, verses 17 to 25, a warning to King Ahaz about Assyria

 

Isaiah 7:17 ¶  The LORD shall bring upon thee, and upon thy people, and upon thy father’s house, days that have not come, from the day that Ephraim departed from Judah; even the king of Assyria. 18  And it shall come to pass in that day, that the LORD shall hiss for the fly that is in the uttermost part of the rivers of Egypt, and for the bee that is in the land of Assyria. 19  And they shall come, and shall rest all of them in the desolate valleys, and in the holes of the rocks, and upon all thorns, and upon all bushes. 20  In the same day shall the Lord shave with a razor that is hired, namely, by them beyond the river, by the king of Assyria, the head, and the hair of the feet: and it shall also consume the beard. 21  And it shall come to pass in that day, that a man shall nourish a young cow, and two sheep; 22  And it shall come to pass, for the abundance of milk that they shall give he shall eat butter: for butter and honey shall every one eat that is left in the land. 23  And it shall come to pass in that day, that every place shall be, where there were a thousand vines at a thousand silverlings, it shall even be for briers and thorns. 24  With arrows and with bows shall men come thither; because all the land shall become briers and thorns. 25  And on all hills that shall be digged with the mattock, there shall not come thither the fear of briers and thorns: but it shall be for the sending forth of oxen, and for the treading of lesser cattle.

 

This passage is filled with symbolism. Since Ahaz did not have the faith he should and was not willing to ask for a sign from the Lord trouble will come upon him and his house from another quarter, from Assyria, who will betray him.

 

2Chronicles 28:21  For Ahaz took away a portion out of the house of the LORD, and out of the house of the king, and of the princes, and gave it unto the king of Assyria: but he helped him not.

22  And in the time of his distress did he trespass yet more against the LORD: this is that king Ahaz.

 

So, in the reign of his son, Hezekiah, Sennacherib, king of Assyria invaded Judah and took all the cities.

 

2Kings 18:13  Now in the fourteenth year of king Hezekiah did Sennacherib king of Assyria come up against all the fenced cities of Judah, and took them. 14  And Hezekiah king of Judah sent to the king of Assyria to Lachish, saying, I have offended; return from me: that which thou puttest on me will I bear. And the king of Assyria appointed unto Hezekiah king of Judah three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold.

 

Since in the time of Rehoboam when the ten tribes of Israel rebelled against the house of David…

 

1Kings 12:16 ¶  So when all Israel saw that the king hearkened not unto them, the people answered the king, saying, What portion have we in David? neither have we inheritance in the son of Jesse: to your tents, O Israel: now see to thine own house, David. So Israel departed unto their tents. 17  But as for the children of Israel which dwelt in the cities of Judah, Rehoboam reigned over them.

 

…there has not been trouble as there will be in these perilous times.

 

Even the time of the great slaughter and captivity was not as bad as this time would be. Here is that previous episode that caused such distress but was not as terrible as what is coming.

 

2Chronicles 28: 1 ¶  Ahaz was twenty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem: but he did not that which was right in the sight of the LORD, like David his father: 2  For he walked in the ways of the kings of Israel, and made also molten images for Baalim. 3  Moreover he burnt incense in the valley of the son of Hinnom, and burnt his children in the fire, after the abominations of the heathen whom the LORD had cast out before the children of Israel. 4  He sacrificed also and burnt incense in the high places, and on the hills, and under every green tree.5  Wherefore the LORD his God delivered him into the hand of the king of Syria; and they smote him, and carried away a great multitude of them captives, and brought them to Damascus. And he was also delivered into the hand of the king of Israel, who smote him with a great slaughter.6 ¶  For Pekah the son of Remaliah slew in Judah an hundred and twenty thousand in one day, which were all valiant men; because they had forsaken the LORD God of their fathers. 7  And Zichri, a mighty man of Ephraim, slew Maaseiah the king’s son, and Azrikam the governor of the house, and Elkanah that was next to the king. 8  And the children of Israel carried away captive of their brethren two hundred thousand, women, sons, and daughters, and took also away much spoil from them, and brought the spoil to Samaria. 9  But a prophet of the LORD was there, whose name was Oded: and he went out before the host that came to Samaria, and said unto them, Behold, because the LORD God of your fathers was wroth with Judah, he hath delivered them into your hand, and ye have slain them in a rage that reacheth up unto heaven. 10  And now ye purpose to keep under the children of Judah and Jerusalem for bondmen and bondwomen unto you: but are there not with you, even with you, sins against the LORD your God? 11  Now hear me therefore, and deliver the captives again, which ye have taken captive of your brethren: for the fierce wrath of the LORD is upon you. 12  Then certain of the heads of the children of Ephraim, Azariah the son of Johanan, Berechiah the son of Meshillemoth, and Jehizkiah the son of Shallum, and Amasa the son of Hadlai, stood up against them that came from the war, 13  And said unto them, Ye shall not bring in the captives hither: for whereas we have offended against the LORD already, ye intend to add more to our sins and to our trespass: for our trespass is great, and there is fierce wrath against Israel. 14  So the armed men left the captives and the spoil before the princes and all the congregation. 15  And the men which were expressed by name rose up, and took the captives, and with the spoil clothed all that were naked among them, and arrayed them, and shod them, and gave them to eat and to drink, and anointed them, and carried all the feeble of them upon asses, and brought them to Jericho, the city of palm trees, to their brethren: then they returned to Samaria.

 

    16 ¶  At that time did king Ahaz send unto the kings of Assyria to help him. 17  For again the Edomites had come and smitten Judah, and carried away captives. 18  The Philistines also had invaded the cities of the low country, and of the south of Judah, and had taken Bethshemesh, and Ajalon, and Gederoth, and Shocho with the villages thereof, and Timnah with the villages thereof, Gimzo also and the villages thereof: and they dwelt there. 19  For the LORD brought Judah low because of Ahaz king of Israel; for he made Judah naked, and transgressed sore against the LORD. 20  And Tilgathpilneser king of Assyria came unto him, and distressed him, but strengthened him not. 21  For Ahaz took away a portion out of the house of the LORD, and out of the house of the king, and of the princes, and gave it unto the king of Assyria: but he helped him not. 22  And in the time of his distress did he trespass yet more against the LORD: this is that king Ahaz. 23  For he sacrificed unto the gods of Damascus, which smote him: and he

said, Because the gods of the kings of Syria help them, therefore will I sacrifice to them, that they may help me. But they were the ruin of him, and of all Israel. 24  And Ahaz gathered together the vessels of the house of God, and cut in pieces the vessels of the house of God, and shut up the doors of the house of the LORD, and he made him altars in every corner of Jerusalem. 25  And in every several city of Judah he made high places to burn incense unto other gods, and provoked to anger the LORD God of his fathers. 26  Now the rest of his acts and of all his ways, first and last, behold, they are written in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel. 27  And Ahaz slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city, even in Jerusalem: but they brought him not into the sepulchres of the kings of Israel: and Hezekiah his son reigned in his stead.

 

God calls Egypt and Assyria in His sovereign power and they will fill the land. There is no place safe from them. The Assyrian king whom Ahaz tried to hire will, like a sharp razor, cut off the beard, a sign of male power and masculinity and dignity. Head and feet the Assyrian king will cut and shave, signifying destruction of Judah.

 

Shaving the hair is a sign of reproach and shame, of domination.

 

2Samuel 10:4  Wherefore Hanun took David’s servants, and shaved off the one half of their beards, and cut off their garments in the middle, even to their buttocks, and sent them away.

5  When they told it unto David, he sent to meet them, because the men were greatly ashamed: and the king said, Tarry at Jericho until your beards be grown, and then return.

 

Verse 21 prophecies that there will be a scarcity of men AND cattle. In verse 15 the food of weaned infants is mentioned in the case of the kings who will die and now the prophecy is that the people will live off of what a baby eats, also underscoring the coming scarcity and want as I see it. The once good land will be overrun with briers and thorns and men will fight over it for their cattle to graze. The idea here is a time of want is coming. This is the prophecy that God is giving King Ahaz through Isaiah.

 

I think there is a curious thing in these accounts of the kings of Judah and Israel in that the writing assumes that the people who might read this in the immediate context would have a knowledge themselves of what happened so it is not written like it was trying to inform us in detail of events. It is a written summary with details left out that we, of course, would like to have. Ahaz is tormented by Israel and Syria who almost crush Judah and even speak of a confederacy to do so completely and place a puppet king on the throne of Judah but God says no. Still, because of Ahaz faithlessness the one he tries to buy for help, the king of Assyria, will turn on him and make things even worse than the depredations of Syria and Israel.