Bible Study on 1John 4, verses 4 to 6, greater is he that is in you

 

1John 4:4 ¶  Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world. 5  They are of the world: therefore speak they of the world, and the world heareth them. 6  We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error.

Again, John uses the phrase little children which, as I said previously, may be a reference to how new the converts are or simply an affectionate title for the disciples of Christ and students of John, under his care.

We have the Holy Spirit indwelling each of us, the very power that raised Christ from the dead. The world system is not stronger than He, the Holy Ghost, the very mind of God who is also God. Note what Paul said.

Romans 8:37  Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.

Romans 8:11  But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.

We should have this confidence when we are facing the world system, its oppressions, and its temptations. God is stronger than all. I am also reminded of this Psalm.

Psalm 124:1 ¶  «A Song of degrees of David.» If it had not been the LORD who was on our side, now may Israel say; 2  If it had not been the LORD who was on our side, when men rose up against us: 3  Then they had swallowed us up quick, when their wrath was kindled against us: 4  Then the waters had overwhelmed us, the stream had gone over our soul: 5  Then the proud waters had gone over our soul. 6 ¶  Blessed be the LORD, who hath not given us as a prey to their teeth. 7  Our soul is escaped as a bird out of the snare of the fowlers: the snare is broken, and we are escaped. 8  Our help is in the name of the LORD, who made heaven and earth.

Those who are antichrist are of the world and cannot and do not know the God who created them. There are a bunch of verses that would applicable to this sentiment but here are some that stand out to me as an inspiration.

1Corinthians 2:12  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.

James 4:4  Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.

John 14:17  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.

Those who hear and believe the doctrines put forth by Christ and His apostles know the truth and those who reject the truth are in error and as an old time preacher once said, “It is impossible to pursue righteousness when one is zealously clinging to error.”

John 17:14  I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.

Bible Study on Genesis 25, verses 11 to 28, part 1, of Ishmael and Isaac

 

Genesis 25:11 ¶  And it came to pass after the death of Abraham, that God blessed his son Isaac; and Isaac dwelt by the well Lahairoi. 12  Now these are the generations of Ishmael, Abraham’s son, whom Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah’s handmaid, bare unto Abraham: 13  And these are the names of the sons of Ishmael, by their names, according to their generations: the firstborn of Ishmael, Nebajoth; and Kedar, and Adbeel, and Mibsam, 14  And Mishma, and Dumah, and Massa, 15  Hadar, and Tema, Jetur, Naphish, and Kedemah: 16  These are the sons of Ishmael, and these are their names, by their towns, and by their castles; twelve princes according to their nations. 17  And these are the years of the life of Ishmael, an hundred and thirty and seven years: and he gave up the ghost and died; and was gathered unto his people. 18  And they dwelt from Havilah unto Shur, that is before Egypt, as thou goest toward Assyria: and he died in the presence of all his brethren.

Genesis 25:19 ¶  And these are the generations of Isaac, Abraham’s son: Abraham begat Isaac: 20  And Isaac was forty years old when he took Rebekah to wife, the daughter of Bethuel the Syrian of Padanaram, the sister to Laban the Syrian. 21  And Isaac intreated the LORD for his wife, because she was barren: and the LORD was intreated of him, and Rebekah his wife conceived. 22  And the children struggled together within her; and she said, If it be so, why am I thus? And she went to enquire of the LORD. 23  And the LORD said unto her, Two nations are in thy womb, and two manner of people shall be separated from thy bowels; and the one people shall be stronger than the other people; and the elder shall serve the younger. 24  And when her days to be delivered were fulfilled, behold, there were twins in her womb. 25  And the first came out red, all over like an hairy garment; and they called his name Esau. 26  And after that came his brother out, and his hand took hold on Esau’s heel; and his name was called Jacob: and Isaac was threescore years old when she bare them. 27  And the boys grew: and Esau was a cunning hunter, a man of the field; and Jacob was a plain man, dwelling in tents. 28  And Isaac loved Esau, because he did eat of his venison: but Rebekah loved Jacob.

This passage of Scripture starts off with an account of Ishmael’s death and of his progeny who grew to great numbers and occupied what has come to be known as Arabia. Then, an account is given of the birth of Esau and Jacob. Esau was his father’s favorite while Jacob was his mother’s favorite. Esau was an outdoors kind of guy who liked to hunt and Jacob hung around the house or tent. He was probably a big help to his mother and a “momma’s boy.” As we will see though, he was not a wimp or a “simpering milquetoast.” The elder shall serve the younger is a prophecy of Esau playing second fiddle to Jacob. He will be willing to give up his birthright for a bowl of stew and Isaac will be tricked into giving his blessing to Jacob.

Esau will lend his name to Edom which eventually will be known as Idumea.

Genesis 36:1  Now these are the generations of Esau, who is Edom…8  Thus dwelt Esau in mount Seir: Esau is Edom.

Ezekiel 35:15  As thou didst rejoice at the inheritance of the house of Israel, because it was desolate, so will I do unto thee: thou shalt be desolate, O mount Seir, and all Idumea, even all of it: and they shall know that I am the LORD.

The kingdom of Edom no longer exists but its geography lies within the southern reaches of the country known as Jordan. Some commentators believe that it is the location of the wilderness where the survivors of the Beast of Revelation’s final fight against the Jews will flee in Revelation 12. There lies the famous rock city of Petra. Esau’s legacy then runs throughout history and Jacob and Esau will be united in a manner of speaking in the end, if this is correct.

Bible Study on 1John 4, verses 1 to 3, that spirit of antichrist

 

1John 4:1 ¶  Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world. 2  Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God: 3  And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.

Here is an argument for the discernment of Christians. John is arguing against the heresy of Gnosticism. Gnostic, from gnosis meaning knowledge of spiritual mysteries, was an ancient belief that included many different things over time and through cultures. But the essence of it was an elite possessed of a secret or arcane knowledge. In this belief generally, mankind was perfectable and would become a god. It has come down to us in the form of Communism, a religion disguised as a political ideology. In Communism man is perfected after much death and destruction and becomes his own god, the socialist man. He goes back to the garden of Eden only without the God who created him, which the Communist denies exists. People are tricked and deceived into it by being told that it is the only compassionate philosophy, an ideology where people get what they need to survive. What is not said is that results from a dictatorship where an elite determines what you need and will withhold it if it suits their will and murder you if you don’t go along with them. All efforts at Communism have resulted in mass murder.

The Gnosticism that John objected to held that the God of the Old Testament wasn’t really the Creator but Satan, although they typically don’t use that or Lucifer to describe him, the Demiurge, who holds mankind in a deception where the physical world is an illusion. That God is evil and Jesus Christ came to free us from Him. Think in terms of the movie The Matrix. People are freed from the illusion in Christ. But Christ was not God in the flesh because since all matter, and hence flesh, is part of the illusion and therefore evil, God would not actually come in the flesh. Christian Gnosticism was the mixture of many Judaic, Egyptian, Roman, and others’ ideologies and philosophies and was a great enemy of the truth of the gospel in the early years of the church. This is the spirit of the Antichrist.

If a religion acknowledges that Jesus Christ existed but denies that Christ was God in the flesh, or denies that He died on the Cross, even saying it was an illusion, and denies that He rose from the dead, then that religion is a form of Gnosticism.  

This is the spirit of antichrist, which will feature so prominently in Revelation’s end times prophecy although the term is not used in that book. However, we typically call the Beast of Revelation, the Antichrist.

Bible Study on Genesis 25, verses 1 to 10, Abraham gave up the ghost

 

Genesis 25:1 ¶  Then again Abraham took a wife, and her name was Keturah. 2  And she bare him Zimran, and Jokshan, and Medan, and Midian, and Ishbak, and Shuah. 3  And Jokshan begat Sheba, and Dedan. And the sons of Dedan were Asshurim, and Letushim, and Leummim. 4  And the sons of Midian; Ephah, and Epher, and Hanoch, and Abida, and Eldaah. All these were the children of Keturah. 5  And Abraham gave all that he had unto Isaac. 6  But unto the sons of the concubines, which Abraham had, Abraham gave gifts, and sent them away from Isaac his son, while he yet lived, eastward, unto the east country. 7  And these are the days of the years of Abraham’s life which he lived, an hundred threescore and fifteen years. 8  Then Abraham gave up the ghost, and died in a good old age, an old man, and full of years; and was gathered to his people. 9  And his sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of Machpelah, in the field of Ephron the son of Zohar the Hittite, which is before Mamre; 10  The field which Abraham purchased of the sons of Heth: there was Abraham buried, and Sarah his wife.

Abraham’s second wife, or third, if you count Hagar, (concubines are a type of lesser wife, a cultural phenomenon not ordered by God) is named Keturah and she gives him Midian, the father of a tribe who will later be a problem for the Israelites trying to get into Canaan and once they are in the Promised Land. But, a priest of this tribe will provide a wife for Moses and be his sanctuary in the wilderness after he flees from Egypt.

But keep in mind that, like we do, people give names to their children that are often known and already existing, in use by others. For instance, Cush had grandsons named Sheba and Dedan in Genesis 10:7. There is a man named Sheba who rebelled against King David in 2Samuel 20. In modern times we have examples where a former Rock and Roll performer and wannabe politician named himself Jello Biafra after a secessionist Nigerian state, Biafra. On a soberer note there are many children named after famous places like London, Brooklyn, Paris, and even India. So, while naming customs were more based on religious reasons in the ancient world and for reasons of already having an ancestor with that name we must be careful about making genealogical links as a matter of fact between two people or a person and a tribe bearing the same name in the Bible.

Still, Keturah most likely was a Canaanite who had Sheba and Dedan as part of her own heritage and passed these respected names down through her son, with Abraham’s supposed blessing and involvement, of course.

It must be remembered, as stated in verse 5, that all of Abraham’s inheritance goes to Isaac so that it is the Jews, not the Arabs, who were given the land of Canaan. As stated before all of these promises are in Christ so that the fulfillment of that promise of land will not be complete until Christ physically returns. The political Israel of today is a puny representative of this enormous grant of land from the border of Egypt to the Euphrates. See previous comments on this subject.

Abraham’s wives other than Sarah are called concubines. Abraham lived 175 years and gave up the ghost which is his spirit (see Luke 23:46) and was gathered to his people. Gave up the ghost is a reference to dying that is used later for Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob, Jesus, Ananias, and Herod.  Gathered to his people is referenced again for Ishmael and Jacob at their deaths.

Abraham is said to be eminent in Paradise, the garden of God, when it was in the heart of the earth, separated from Hell, and called Abraham’s bosom (see Luke 16.) Paradise comes from a Persian word meaning a walled garden or a hunting preserve. The garden of God, called Eden, was once on the earth but, after Adam’s fall, was hidden by cherubim (see Genesis chapters 2&3, Ezekiel 28:13, 14; 31:8,9). Jesus went to the heart of the earth, to Paradise, Abraham’s bosom, the garden of God, to preach after the Cross. (see Luke 23:43; Matthew 12:40; 1Peter 3:19; 4:6). Paradise was separated from Hell and is now taken up into Heaven because of Christ (Revelation 2:7) which we can see because Paul went “up” there as stated in 2Corinthians 12:4.

Why is Paradise called Abraham’s bosom? Because Abraham represents all of those who believe God. Salvation is predicated upon believing what God said. It is as clear as a bell.

The Greeks, flowering as an intellectual culture much later around the 5^th century BC, had great contact with the Ancient Near East as mercenaries, traders, and settlers before that and derived their concept of Hades from the Hebrews. Greek philosophers stated that they did not know the origin of their mythology but the first mention of Hades is in Homer, writing perhaps in the 9^th century BC, nearly a thousand years after Abraham’s life and three hundred to four hundred after Moses’ put the account in writing. The 9^th century BC is also the time when most scholars believe that the Greeks derived their alphabet from the Phoenicians who we will see derived it from the Hebrews who got it from God at Mount Sinai. Before then, picture writing was used by the cultures of the world, from the Sumerians on the plain of Shinar, called Cuneiform, to the Egyptians, called Hieroglyphics, to China, and even down to the civilizations of South and Central America over two thousand years later.

As an example of Greek involvement in the Near East, when Nebuchadnezzar and Pharaoh Necho’s armies fought at Carchemish (Jeremiah 46) both sides used Greek mercenaries extensively.  In addition, a prophet lamented how Hebrew children had been taken as slaves to Greece. (Joel 3:6). There were Greek cultural influences in the Near East and Greek language influences as well. However, the Greeks who wrote about Hades wrote after this period of time and were influenced by what they learned from the Hebrews as they were by what they learned about other cultures’ practices and beliefs. The Greeks themselves even admitted they learned a great deal in Egypt and the Near East. In the later Greek myth, Hades was a place for not only the wicked but the good persons’ souls to abide after death while Tartarus was where their supreme god, Zeus, cast the Titans, giants, and there were different places for enjoyment and punishment based on a person’s behavior in life as well as their relationship to the gods. In the Ancient world, then, it was understood that the abode of the dead, good or bad, was in one location.

Isaac and Ishmael bury Abraham with Sarah. It is probably the last time the Jew and the Arab will cooperate in much of anything.

God’s ministry of reconciliation, of reconciling mankind to Himself, was carried on in a dramatic way through Abraham. Abraham remains an important figure in human history. Abraham believed what God said. Do we?

James 2:23  And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God.

Bible Study on 1John 3, verses 23 and 24, by the Spirit which he hath given us

 

1John 3:23 ¶  And this is his commandment, That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment. 24  And he that keepeth his commandments dwelleth in him, and he in him. And hereby we know that he abideth in us, by the Spirit which he hath given us.

Here are fundamentals of the Christian faith, what it means to be a Christian. We believe on the name of Christ and we love our brothers and sisters in Christ. Keeping the commandments of Christ, the Word of God, show that we have His Spirit, His very mind, inside of us.

We believe Jesus was who He said He was.

John 3:36  He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.

John 14:6  Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. 7  If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him. 8  Philip saith unto him, Lord, shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us. 9  Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father?

When we believe in Him the Spirit, the very mind of God, indwells us.

John 14:23  Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.

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. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.

And there are outward proofs, evidence that we have that very mind of God indwelling us.

Galatians 5:22  But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, 23  Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. 24  And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.

John 13:34  A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. 35  By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.

Matthew 22:35  Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him, and saying, 36  Master, which is the great commandment in the law? 37  Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. 38  This is the first and great commandment. 39  And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. 40  On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

A Psalm for Sunday, Psalm 61, verses 1 to 8, lead me to the rock that is higher than I

 

Psalm 61:1 ¶  «To the chief Musician upon Neginah, A Psalm of David.» Hear my cry, O God; attend unto my prayer. 2  From the end of the earth will I cry unto thee, when my heart is overwhelmed: lead me to the rock that is higher than I. 3  For thou hast been a shelter for me, and a strong tower from the enemy. 4  I will abide in thy tabernacle for ever: I will trust in the covert of thy wings. Selah.

 

David’s praise here of God is truly remarkable and it is a prayer we can use almost in its entirety with few changes.

 

Bible students, Rabbis, and commentators are unsure if a Neginah was a musical instrument, a note, or a tune. It is the singular of Neginoth found in Psalm 4:1’s introduction.

 

The metaphor of wings in this Psalm is used elsewhere as one would expect if one person were behind most of writing. We’ve already talked about the use of wings to represent God’s deliverance.

 

We cry out when our hearts are overwhelmed with fear or grief or even regret and plead for God to lead us to a safe place above all our enemies. God is our strong tower, a castle’s keep. We will trust in God forever and abide with Him for eternity. He indwells each believer through His Spirit, His mind working in us. We should trust in that deliverance.  

 

Christ is that rock that is higher than I, our shelter in life’s storm, a strong tower against our enemies.

 

Psalm 61:5 ¶  For thou, O God, hast heard my vows: thou hast given me the heritage of those that fear thy name. 6  Thou wilt prolong the king’s life: and his years as many generations. 7  He shall abide before God for ever: O prepare mercy and truth, which may preserve him. 8  So will I sing praise unto thy name for ever, that I may daily perform my vows.

 

In verse 5 David says that God has heard him in the vows he made pleading for deliverance.

 

Verse 1 said, Hear my cry, O God; attend unto my prayer.

 

God has given David and we ourselves an everlasting inheritance. That is the heritage of those that fear thy name.

 

Some might say though that from an immediate perspective David is talking about the faithful of Israel of his day. The large application of the verse is appropriate, too, I believe.

 

David says that God will add days to his life and years to his posterity. As a reference to Christ we can see that of his kingdom there will be no end.

 

Isaiah 9:6  For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. 7  Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.

 

David affirms that he will abide with God for ever which is also a reflection of the Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ.

 

Psalm 41:12  And as for me, thou upholdest me in mine integrity, and settest me before thy face for ever.

 

David declares that he will sing praise to God for ever, which is what he must have vowed in his distress.

 

Psalm 30:12  To the end that my glory may sing praise to thee, and not be silent. O LORD my God, I will give thanks unto thee for ever.

Bible Study on 1John 3, verses 20 to 22, God is greater than our heart

 

1John 3:20 ¶  For if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things. 21  Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God. 22  And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight.

We may not be able to accept ourselves, and dwell heavily on our unworthiness before God but God is greater than our self-loathing, our fears, and our self-anger. What He knows is greater than all we could have done in the past. On the other hand, if we are willing to accept His forgiveness then our trust in Him is real and evident in a way that the Christian who is filled with self-contempt cannot understand. Either of those people just mentioned wants to do right by God, by His standards and stated expectations, and our prayers are answered because we are His, if what we ask is according to His will.

Matthew 7:7 ¶  Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: 8  For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. 9  Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone? 10  Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent?

If what we ask is according to His will. Understand that God sees all events from the perspective of them having already happened. If it is His will that some believer die to go on to be with Him for eternity or that some unbeliever has had all the time they will have and God knows their heart will never let them come to Him then that’s what is going to happen. We cannot change God’s eternal decrees. What the fervent prayer of a righteous person who seeks to please God does is to change them, making them more accepting of God’s will in every circumstance, even as they themselves do what is right and work toward a good outcome. We should pray in all things that God’s will be done. This is a hard thing to accept and another reason for faith to sometimes fail. No one is willing to bury their child or face a shortened life due to a dread disease. No one wants failure and loss, pain and suffering. But if we are His there is something from Him in our most dire or tragic circumstances and in our pain and through our tears we can and should see it. The world cannot understand this. Most of us can’t either. But He knows all things.

Bible Study on Genesis 24, verses 62 to 67, Rebekah meets Isaac

 

Genesis 24:62 ¶  And Isaac came from the way of the well Lahairoi; for he dwelt in the south country. 63  And Isaac went out to meditate in the field at the eventide: and he lifted up his eyes, and saw, and, behold, the camels were coming. 64  And Rebekah lifted up her eyes, and when she saw Isaac, she lighted off the camel. 65  For she had said unto the servant, What man is this that walketh in the field to meet us? And the servant had said, It is my master: therefore she took a vail, and covered herself. 66  And the servant told Isaac all things that he had done. 67  And Isaac brought her into his mother Sarah’s tent, and took Rebekah, and she became his wife; and he loved her: and Isaac was comforted after his mother’s death.

According to Strong’s dictionary Lahairoi is the well of the “Living One seeing me.” Isaac spent time in the evening in meditation. Now, meditation is not that of emptying one’s mind in this sense but filling it. He is meditating on something. It is good for us to meditate on the Bible.

Joshua 1:8  This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.

Covering one’s face with a veil is mentioned outside of the Bible later than this incident, in around 1300BC, as scholars guess. It is found in an Assyrian legal text that restricts its use to noble women and forbids prostitutes and common women from using it, although noble women were not punished for not wearing a veil while prostitutes and common women were punished for wearing one.[1] This reference, of course, in the Bible, comes from a few hundred years before that, in the time of the patriarchs, before the Hebrews entry into Egypt.

There is no mention here made of the wedding feast that we see later with Jacob. One possible sermon that could be made out of the literal events is how the servant, representing the Holy Ghost, brings the bride to Christ, and I am sure there are many more possibilities from this.

Finally, becoming a wife or a husband is a matter of intent and commitment before God, not of ritual. The ritual wedding celebration of any country is meaningless if there is no intention to unite as one for life. It becomes simply another party to celebrate in one’s life and there may be several such celebrations without God having anything to do with them.

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[1] David Graeber, Debt: The First 5000 Years (New York: Melville House Publishing, 2011), 184.

 

Bible Study on 1John 3, verses 14 to 19, love in deed and in truth

 

1John 3:14 ¶  We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death. 15  Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him. 16  Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. 17  But whoso hath this world’s good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him? 18  My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth. 19  And hereby we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before him.

John speaks of one evidence that we have passed from death to life, and I might add, everlasting life, our love for our brothers and sisters in Christ. This is a fundamental doctrine of Christ-centered Christianity. Hatred is a type of murder, showing contempt for another’s very life. Christ showed us the importance of that love by dying for us and John says we should be willing to die for each other.

Friendship and love in Imperial Rome were all about the usefulness of a person to you. Friendships could enhance your social standing, provide support in times of need, and reveal the complex interdependence between public and private life. As they are today, friendship and love are complicated social arrangements. However, the love that Christ calls for is not like human love, predicated on tolerance and conditional on the actions of the beloved. Christ died for all of humanity, even for those who did not know Him as well as for those who hated Him. His love is inclusionary not exclusionary. It doesn’t require an object who is our same skin color, social rank, gender, or ethnicity.

Galatians 3:28  There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.

It doesn’t even require an object who is kind to us. It is a standard we Christians rarely grasp.

Matthew 5:44  But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; 45  That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.

 

If there is anything that should cause you to abandon your faith and walk away from Christ this would be it. To love the unloveable, even the malicious, is unimaginable to us. Again…

 

Matthew 5:45  That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.

 

John reinforces a statement made by James in his letter.

 

James 2:14 ¶  What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him? 15  If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food,

16  And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit? 17  Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone. 18  Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works.

 

John, like James, demands that we prove who we belong to by our selfless love for our brothers and sisters in Christ rather than the mercenary exploitation and power dynamics that characterize so much of what passes for love in the world. It’s not just talk and it is a height I have never attained in my own life. There are people and types of people who set my teeth on edge and whom I detest for their behavior and words, some even in churches I’ve attended who are deserving of my prayers much moreso than my contempt and that because of what Christ, the Word of God, the Son of God, did for me.

 

This isn’t about tolerating or approving of someone’s sin. This is about, in spite of their sin, not denying the things which they need to live and it is about praying for them to be convicted and changed. It is possible for our protection and for the protection of innocent others that they be removed from our midst but never mistreated and always prayed for sincerely. Our love for our brothers and sisters is not suicidal empathy and we must be clear on that. It is not about inviting someone into our home who has sworn to kill us. But it is about a genuine love for our brothers and sisters in Christ, in all of our imperfections.

 

But would you give your life for a brother or sister in Christ who can do nothing for you in return, who is weaker than you, perhaps powerless to reward your sacrifice? There are many questions we have to contemplate in our walk with Christ.

Bible Study on Genesis 24, verses 33 to 61, part 2, billions of descendants

 

PART TWO Understand that a generation can be a class, a distinct group of people in history, and not just a group of individuals physically being born and physically dying in a specific time frame issuing from a biological father and mother. This will help us understand the following words of Christ.

First, this generation as a group of people living and dying in a timeframe, of the same or similar ethnicity and culture. This is a reference to the destruction of the temple by the Romans in 70AD, with generation including the religious leaders of Christ’s day.

Matthew 23:13 ¶  But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in. 14  Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye devour widows’ houses, and for a pretence make long prayer: therefore ye shall receive the greater

damnation. 15  Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves. 16  Woe unto you, ye blind guides, which say, Whosoever shall swear by the temple, it is nothing; but whosoever shall swear by the gold of the temple, he is a debtor! 17  Ye fools and blind: for whether is greater, the gold, or the temple that sanctifieth the gold? 18  And, Whosoever shall swear by the altar, it is nothing; but whosoever sweareth by the gift that is upon it, he is guilty. 19  Ye fools and blind: for whether is greater, the gift, or the altar that sanctifieth the gift? 20  Whoso therefore shall swear by the altar, sweareth by it, and by all things thereon. 21  And whoso shall swear by the temple, sweareth by it, and by him that dwelleth therein. 22  And he that shall swear by heaven, sweareth by the throne of God, and by him that sitteth thereon. 23  Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone. 24  Ye blind guides, which

strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel. 25  Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of

extortion and excess. 26  Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also. 27  Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men’s bones, and of all uncleanness. 28  Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity. 29  Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye build the tombs of the prophets, and garnish the sepulchres of the righteous, 30  And say, If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets. 31  Wherefore ye be witnesses unto yourselves, that ye are the children of them which killed the prophets. 32  Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers. 33  Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?

 

    34 ¶  Wherefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: and some of them ye shall kill and crucify; and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city: 35  That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar. 36  Verily I say unto you, All these things shall come upon this generation. 37  O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not! 38  Behold, your house is left unto you desolate. 39  For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.

 

    24:1 ¶  And Jesus went out, and departed from the temple: and his disciples came to him for to shew him the buildings of the temple. 2  And Jesus said unto them, See ye not all these things? verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down. 3  And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world? 4 ¶  And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you. 5  For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many. 6  And ye

shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. 7  For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. 8  All these are the beginning of sorrows. 9  Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name’s sake. 10  And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another. 11  And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many. 12  And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. 13  But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.

 

Then, Jesus goes on to the end of history in Revelation unless you believe He returned physically in 70AD, which would be a disturbing thought and, I believe, an error.

 

24:14  And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come. 15  When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:) 16  Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains: 17  Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house: 18  Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes. 19  And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days! 20  But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day: 21  For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. 22  And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened. 23  Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not. 24  For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. 25  Behold, I have told you before. 26  Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not. 27  For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. 28  For wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together. 29  Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: 30  And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. 31  And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

Then comes a reference to a generation that must refer to the Elect of God.

32 ¶  Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh: 33  So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors. 34  Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled. 35  Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away. 36  But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only. 37  But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. 38  For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, 39  And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. 40  Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left. 41  Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left. 42  Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth

come. 43  But know this, that if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up. 44  Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh. 45  Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season? 46  Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing. 47  Verily I say unto you, That he shall make him ruler over all his goods. 48  But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming; 49  And shall begin to smite his fellowservants, and to eat and drink with the drunken; 50  The lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of, 51  And shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

 

One might ask, why in Matthew 23 and 24 would there be two different definitions of generation? Well, Christ had already done that with two definitions of Master in one passage.

 

Matthew 23:8  But be not ye called Rabbi: for one is your Master, even Christ; and all ye are brethren. 9  And call no man your father upon the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven. 10  Neither be ye called masters: for one is your Master, even Christ. 11  But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant. 12  And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be

abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted.

 

One definition of Master in this same passage is Rabbi or teacher. (see a contrast between teacher and student in Malachi 2:12) The other definition is lord or superior in the context.

 

As far as objections to a split prophecy in the same passage regarding events thousands of years apart starting in Matthew 24:14 from the time before that verse, Jesus already did this in Luke 4:18-21 where he quoted Isaiah 61:1,2 with a gap between acceptable year of the LORD, and and of at least two thousand years.

 

Isaiah 61:1 ¶  The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; 2  To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn;

 

Luke 4:17  And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Esaias. And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written, 18  The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, 19  To preach the acceptable year of the Lord. 20  And he closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him. 21  And he began to say unto them, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears.

Regardless of interpretation, spiritual or physical, Rebekah’s offspring, as a group, will now play an important role in God’s ministry of reconciliation for mankind and will not be forgotten by God no matter what their failings.

Her spiritual descendants will stand before God in Heaven.

Revelation 7:9  After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands; 10  And cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb.

 

Bible Study on 1John 3, verses 11 to 13, Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hate you

 

1John 3:11 ¶  For this is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one another. 12  Not as Cain, who was of that wicked one, and slew his brother. And wherefore slew he him? Because his own works were evil, and his brother’s righteous. 13  Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hate you.

John reinforces what he reported in his gospel about what Jesus said regarding this.

John 13:34  A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. 35  By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.

John 15:12  This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.13  Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends… 17  These things I command you, that ye love one another.

This is in sharp contrast to Cain’s lack of love for his own flesh and blood brother. Cain was doing the work of Satan as the first-century Judean Jews who persecuted these early Jewish Christians did.

John 16:2  They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service.

Why did they do that? Because their own works were evil and because...

John 8:44  Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.

The disciples of Christ should not be amazed that the world hates them.

John 15:18 ¶  If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. 19  If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you. 20  Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also. 21  But all these things will they do unto you for my name’s sake, because they know not him that sent me. 22  If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin: but now they have no cloke for their sin. 23  He that hateth me hateth my Father also.

Think of this. The Jews had interpreted the Bible knowing that God was manifest in the Father, in the Word of God, and in the Skekinah, His glory, which some commentators interpret as the Holy Ghost in the Old Testament. So, there is the Trinity, a word coined by the early church father, Tertullian, who lived from 165AD to 220AD, to describe the threefold nature of the Godhead. The living Word of God had been right in front of them; teaching in depth and wisdom and authority, raising the dead, controlling natural events, casting out demons, and then defying all understood reality of life by rising from the dead Himself after letting them execute Him at the hands of the Romans. You might say, well why didn’t He do something like part the Red Sea? Remember, though, that didn’t make the Israelites obey God or even love Him. And these things Jesus did were personal, individual miracles that would impact their lives right then. And still the religious leadership valued their political positions more than the truth, more than salvation, so they killed Him.

John 1:11  He came unto his own, and his own received him not.