Bible Study on Matthew 17, verses 1 to 13, part 2, the Son of man, the Son of God

 

PART TWO In this passage Jesus is using the phrase Son of man as a reference to Himself as the Messiah. But we also have the use of the title Son of God. The importance of the phrase Son of God, whether it be uppercase S for Christ or lowercase s for spiritual beings, those transformed by God, or Adam himself representing the image of God in some respect is of vital importance. Here are the three parts of the Godhead speaking; Father, Son or Word (Logos), and Holy Ghost;

 

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

 

 

 

The Jews of the first century and before, in particular the Jews of the Second Temple Period, had interpretations of the Old Testament called Targums which were in Aramaic. They would read the verses in Aramaic, the language of the common man in a way that Hebrew was not, and change the text to match their interpretation. It is not authoritative but is a way of seeing what they believed before the resurrection of Christ.

 

John Gill, the great Baptist preacher who preached in Charles Haddon Spurgeon’s church a century before him, noted in his commentary that the Jerusalem Targum renders Genesis 1:1 as, “in wisdom God created.” We have this also then as a cross-reference in Proverbs.

 

Proverbs 3:19  The LORD by wisdom hath founded the earth; by understanding hath he established the heavens.

 

A source I studied said that one translation of the Targum Neofiti has two interpretations.

 

From the beginning by wisdom the son of the LORD created the heavens and the earth.

 

From the beginning by (the) wisdom the LORD created and formed the heavens and the earth.

The Targums, as a way to understand how the Jews of the first century and before interpreted the Old Testament, have the Word of God, an appellation used for Christ in John’s gospel and letters, as well as Revelation, was the second part of the Godhead, a second power in the heavens who was actually part of one God, equal to God the Father and the presence by which He personally interacted with human beings. I’ll discuss the Holy Ghost as the third part of the Trinity as presented in the Old Testament in a different context.

The Targums have the Word, the Memra or Hebrew version of John’s Logos, of God as a person, speaking the universe into existence in Genesis 1:3. We see from the very beginning a reference to what are two powers in the Heavens, who are both the same God, the invisible Father who is a Spirit and the Word of God, who has a physical form and yet they are both the same God.

Here is a reference to what He created;

 

Genesis 1:27  So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.

 

Luke 3:38b … which was the son of Adam, which was the son of God.

 

This appearance would deteriorate as man devolved with each passing generation in sin following in the likeness of the previous generation moving away from that perfection.

 

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

 

This was also important due to Gnostic cults of the time the New Testament and much later in European History like the Cathars, also called Albigensian, insisting that Jesus Christ had no physical body thereby contradicting the entire doctrine of the Son of God.

 

1 John 4:3  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.

 

This reference to the spirit of antichrist will be important to us later in our description of the Beast of Revelation which we often call The Antichrist, even though John doesn’t use that title in Revelation.

 

When Jesus tells them to tell no one about what they had seen until His, referring to Himself as the Messiah or the Son of Man, Resurrection.

 

They ask a question referencing this;

 

Malachi 4:5  Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD: 6  And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.

 

Now they understood that John the Baptist came in the spirit and power of Elijah.

 

Matthew 11:7 ¶  And as they departed, Jesus began to say unto the multitudes concerning John, What went ye out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken with the wind? 8  But what went ye out for to see? A man clothed in soft raiment? behold, they that wear soft clothing are in kings’ houses. 9  But what went ye out for to see? A prophet? yea, I say unto you, and more than a prophet. 10  For this is he, of whom it is written, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee. 11  Verily I say unto you, Among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist: notwithstanding he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. 12  And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force. 13  For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John. 14  And if ye will receive it, this is Elias, which was for to come. 15  He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.

 

Jesus here reinforces the importance of John the Baptist’s ministry and the value of this Old Testament prophet living in the New Testament. Verse 10 is a reference to;

 

Malachi 3:1 ¶  Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the LORD of hosts.

 

Jesus here states that John the Baptist was Elijah the prophet in type. This is not about the idea of reincarnation which is false.

 

An angel of the Lord told Zacharias, John the Baptist’s father, this very thing as referenced in;

 

Luke 1:17  And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.

 

Bible Study on Isaiah 1, verses 10 to 15, Jerusalem likened to Sodom and Gomorrah

 

Isaiah 1:10 ¶  Hear the word of the LORD, ye rulers of Sodom; give ear unto the law of our God, ye people of Gomorrah. 11  To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me? saith the LORD: I am full of the burnt offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts; and I delight not in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of he goats. 12  When ye come to appear before me, who hath required this at your hand, to tread my courts? 13  Bring no more vain oblations; incense is an abomination unto me; the new moons and sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot away with; it is iniquity, even the solemn meeting. 14  Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hateth: they are a trouble unto me; I am weary to bear them. 15  And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you: yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear: your hands are full of blood.

God is calling Jerusalem Sodom and Gomorrah for its sins. This is a profound insult, as you can imagine. Put your mind back in Genesis to the rain of ruin on Sodom and Gomorrah. God has likened Jerusalem to Sodom in other prophecies including one about the end of history.

Jeremiah 23:14  I have seen also in the prophets of Jerusalem an horrible thing: they commit adultery, and walk in lies: they strengthen also the hands of evildoers, that none doth return from his wickedness: they are all of them unto me as Sodom, and the inhabitants thereof as Gomorrah.

Ezekiel 16:46  And thine elder sister is Samaria, she and her daughters that dwell at thy left hand: and thy younger sister, that dwelleth at thy right hand, is Sodom and her daughters. 47  Yet hast thou not walked after their ways, nor done after their abominations: but, as if that were a very little thing, thou wast corrupted more than they in all thy ways. 48  As I live, saith the Lord GOD, Sodom thy sister hath not done, she nor her daughters, as thou hast done, thou and thy daughters.

Revelation 11:8  And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified.

They rejected the important matters of the Law given to Moses as the Scribes and Pharisees did in Jesus’ time.

Matthew 23:23  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.

But they focused on the strictly ceremonial aspects of the Law. But God had no need of those things such as sacrifices without the proper obedience. He already possesses, owns all creatures.

Psalm 50:10  For every beast of the forest is mine, and the cattle upon a thousand hills. 11  I know all the fowls of the mountains: and the wild beasts of the field are mine. 12  If I were hungry, I would not tell thee: for the world is mine, and the fulness thereof.

He’s done with the sacrifices made by an unrepentant people.

He told them what He wanted from them.

Deuteronomy 10:12  And now, Israel, what doth the LORD thy God require of thee, but to fear the LORD thy God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him, and to serve the LORD thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul,

Micah 6:8  He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?

The sacrifices He valued most were the sacrifices of obedience, mercy, praise, and thanksgiving.

1Samuel 15:22  And Samuel said, Hath the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams.

Hosea 6:6  For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.

Psalm 69:30 ¶  I will praise the name of God with a song, and will magnify him with thanksgiving. 31  This also shall please the LORD better than an ox or bullock that hath horns and hoofs.

God is telling the Israelites through Isaiah that their worship, their rituals, their holy days, and solemn occasions are all a fraud, a phony and hypocritical show of false worship that the God to whom these so-called acts of worship are directed to, despises. Imagine Cain’s false religion that God rejected and the Israelites false view of religion.

For verse 15 one can think of Cain killing Abel as well as the decree by God in Genesis 9:6.

Bible Study on Matthew 17, verses 1 to 13, part 1, the mount of transfiguration

 

Matthew 17:1 ¶  And after six days Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into an high mountain apart, 2  And was transfigured before them: and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light. 3  And, behold, there appeared unto them Moses and Elias talking with him. 4  Then answered Peter, and said unto Jesus, Lord, it is good for us to be here: if thou wilt, let us make here three tabernacles; one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias. 5  While he yet spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them: and behold a voice out of the cloud, which said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him. 6  And when the disciples heard it, they fell on their face, and were sore afraid. 7  And Jesus came and touched them, and said, Arise, and be not afraid. 8  And when they had lifted up their eyes, they saw no man, save Jesus only. 9  And as they came down from the mountain, Jesus charged them, saying, Tell the vision to no man, until the Son of man be risen again from the dead. 10  And his disciples asked him, saying, Why then say the scribes that Elias must first come? 11  And Jesus answered and said unto them, Elias truly shall first come, and restore all things. 12  But I say unto you, That Elias is come already, and they knew him not, but have done unto him whatsoever they listed. Likewise shall also the Son of man suffer of them. 13  Then the disciples understood that he spake unto them of John the Baptist.

 

I think logically this is a fulfillment of verse 28 of the last chapter. The Preterist would say that Christ returned within their lifetime to rule the world but that seems sort of insane considering the way history has gone since AD70. It just seems more likely that revealing Himself in His glory to these disciples was His intention by making that statement in the last verse of the last chapter.

 

Peter, one of the witnesses, confirms this;

 

2Peter 1:16 ¶  For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty.

 

Regarding verse 2 notice some other contexts.

 

Revelation 1:14  His head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire; 15  And his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and his voice as the sound of many waters.

Christ’s face glowed like the sun shining in its power. Notice the verses regarding Moses;

Exodus 34:29  And it came to pass, when Moses came down from mount Sinai with the two tables of testimony in Moses’ hand, when he came down from the mount, that Moses wist not that the skin of his face shone while he talked with him. 30  And when Aaron and all the children of Israel saw Moses, behold, the skin of his face shone; and they were afraid to come nigh him. …33  And till Moses had done speaking with them, he put a vail on his face…35  And the children of Israel saw the face of Moses, that the skin of Moses’ face shone: and Moses put the vail upon his face again, until he went in to speak with him.

2Corinthians 3:7  But if the ministration of death, written and engraven in stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not stedfastly behold the face of Moses for the glory of his countenance; which glory was to be done away:

Moses and Elijah are there which gives us evidence as to the two witnesses in Revelation.

 

Revelation 11:3 ¶  And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth.

 

Peter, who has been forgiven the error he made in the previous chapter, wants to build three tabernacles for Jesus, Moses, and Elijah and in this context he is referring to a tent or some other kind of structure like the boughs of trees for shelter.

 

Then, verse 5 reveals a declaration from a voice in the cloud declaring the Sonship of Christ, which terrified the Apostles present. With Jesus’ touch this also ended their vision.

 

The Old Testament alludes to the Messiah’s sonship in verses that refer in context to Israel itself and then prophetically looking forward to the Messiah to come;

 

Proverbs 30:4  Who hath ascended up into heaven, or descended? who hath gathered the wind in his fists? who hath bound the waters in a garment? who hath established all the ends of the earth? what is his name, and what is his son’s name, if thou canst tell?

 

Exodus 4:22  And thou shalt say unto Pharaoh, Thus saith the LORD, Israel is my son, even my firstborn:

 

Psalms 89:27  Also I will make him my firstborn, higher than the kings of the earth.

 

Hosea 11:1  When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and called my son out of Egypt.

 

This verse in Hosea is referenced in the gospels regarding Christ;

 

Matthew 2:15  And was there until the death of Herod: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Out of Egypt have I called my son.

 

As I explained in my comments on Genesis the son of a king in the ancient world, as evidenced in many sources, came in the name of the king and for all acts and purposes was considered in authority as the king he represented. This is just as the son in an ancient family would inherit the property as well as the religion of his father.

 

Indeed, the Jews understood that for Jesus to declare Himself the Son of God made Him equal with God the Father;

 

John 5:18  Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only had broken the sabbath, but said also that God was his Father, making himself equal with God.

 

Paul would confirm;

 

Philippians 2:6  Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:

 

The Son of God, uppercase S, then is a reference to God walking in human flesh, as well, as Jesus declared that He and His father were one;

 

John 10:30  I and my Father are one.

 

And to have seen Him was to have seen the Father;

 

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?

 

Indeed, Paul declares that Christ is the visible image of an invisible God.

 

Colossians 1:15  Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:

 

Hebrews 1:3  Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;

 

And remember He is said to be the true God as I interpret this verse;

 

1 John 5:20  And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life.

Bible Study on Genesis 47, verses 27 to 31, And Israel dwelt in the land of Egypt

 

Genesis 47:27 ¶  And Israel dwelt in the land of Egypt, in the country of Goshen; and they had possessions therein, and grew, and multiplied exceedingly. 28  And Jacob lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years: so the whole age of Jacob was an hundred forty and seven years. 29  And the time drew nigh that Israel must die: and he called his son Joseph, and said unto him, If now I have found grace in thy sight, put, I pray thee, thy hand under my thigh, and deal kindly and truly with me; bury me not, I pray thee, in Egypt: 30  But I will lie with my fathers, and thou shalt carry me out of Egypt, and bury me in their buryingplace. And he said, I will do as thou hast said. 31  And he said, Swear unto me. And he sware unto him. And Israel bowed himself upon the bed’s head.

We find another reference to the cultural practice of putting a hand under someone’s thigh to declare an oath. Abraham made his servant swear an oath that he would get Isaac a voluntary bride from his own people.

Genesis 24:2  And Abraham said unto his eldest servant of his house, that ruled over all that he had, Put, I pray thee, thy hand under my thigh…9  And the servant put his hand under the thigh of Abraham his master, and sware to him concerning that matter.

Now, I daresay that none of you who are of a sound mind regard this as a requirement for you to be holy that you place your hand under someone’s thigh to make a promise. If it is not in your cultural frame of reference you pass over this like you would a verse number or a word you don’t know and are too lazy to cross-reference or look up elsewhere. So, for cultural practices that we know have an historical reason, we are not required, as a matter of holiness, to practice. For instance, in 1Corinthians 11 Paul tells them to follow the instructions he has given them and adds a but to include a practice of their own. He agrees with them that their women should have long hair while at the end of the brief argument he admits that it is not required practice in churches elsewhere.

1Corinthians 11:1 ¶  Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ. 2  Now I praise you, brethren, that ye remember me in all things, and keep the ordinances, as I delivered them to you. 3  But I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God. 4  Every man praying or prophesying, having his head covered, dishonoureth his head. 5  But every woman that prayeth or prophesieth with her head uncovered dishonoureth her head: for that is even all one as if she were shaven. 6  For if the woman be not covered, let her also be shorn: but if it be a shame for a woman to be shorn or shaven, let her be covered. 7  For a man indeed ought not to cover his head, forasmuch as he is the image and glory of God: but the woman is the glory of the man. 8  For the man is not of the woman; but the woman of the man. 9  Neither was the man created for the woman; but the woman for the man. 10  For this cause ought the woman to have power on her head because of the angels. 11  Nevertheless neither is the man without the woman, neither the woman without the man, in the Lord. 12  For as the woman is of the man, even so is the man also by the woman; but all things of God. 13  Judge in yourselves: is it comely that a woman pray unto God uncovered? 14  Doth not even nature itself teach you, that, if a man have long hair, it is a shame unto him? 15  But if a woman have long hair, it is a glory to her: for her hair is given her for a covering. 16  But if any man seem to be contentious, we have no such custom, neither the churches of God. (Neither means roughly ‘not even’ in Paul’s letters.)

From history we know that at Acrocorinth, the acropolis of ancient Corinth, called Upper Corinth, stood the Temple of Aphrodite, the goddess of sexual love, among other related things. There were a thousand short-haired prostitutes working there that men would enjoy sexually being the devoutly religious people they were. That was sarcasm, by the way. There was even a school for prostitution there. It would not do, obviously, for a woman of Corinth’s church to be mistaken for a prostitute, a priestess of Aphrodite. So, you have a conviction that you should have long hair as I have a conviction that I should wear a suit when I teach Sunday School. Don’t impose it on others. Remember that the time you are honoring with your long hair, when you feel Christians were just and right, the late 1800s, they believed that not wearing it up, letting your hair hang down around your shoulders, was sexually suggestive and scandalous just as my business suit bought off the rack at a department store would have had a whole different meaning in the early church. They were laborers and slaves and would have worn their shabby work clothes to a meeting of the church and then gone off to work. We must be careful about cultural practices becoming dogma.

In the same regard the letters of Paul call for the members of the church to give each other a holy kiss. That is not something we do in our culture in America typically. Nor do we feel less close to God because we don’t. It is not our cultural practice and Paul commanding it of the Roman church, the Corinthian church, and the Thessalonian church and we not doing it doesn’t bother us one bit.

Be careful about standards that other people set for you or as a Christian recently lamented on Facebook, “Don’t judge me for not believing something the Bible did not say.” Cultural practices in the Bible are not moral requirements, funnymentalist insistence aside.

Bible Study on Matthew 16, verses 24 to 28, they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom

 

Matthew 16:24 ¶  Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. 25  For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it. 26  For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? 27  For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works. 28  Verily I say unto you, There be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom.

 

Christ then lays out, after rebuking Peter, the most basic demands made on His disciples. They were clearly looking at things from too temporal and too worldly a perspective. The true Christian must deny himself; his sin, his ungodliness, his worldliness, even his own righteousness.

 

1John 2:15  Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16  For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. 17  And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.

 

The Christian must not seek worldly wealth but focus on treasure in heaven.

 

Matthew 6:19 ¶  Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: 20  But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: 21  For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

 

The Encyclopedia Britannica online notes that crucifixion, the reference to the cross, was not used first by the Romans. But the Persians, the Carthaginians, and the Seleucids also used that horrific form of execution.[1] The point here is that the suffering and persecution Christ’s followers faced was something they should embrace as a badge of their obedience to Him, following their rejection of the demands that Self makes or rather putting God first over Self. The third step after denying one’s self and taking up one’s cross of persecution and suffering, is to openly follow Christ.

 

If a man or a woman tries to save themselves by pursuit of the approval of mankind, the pursuit of sin, the pursuit of worldliness, the exaltation of their self apart from God they will lose that life they hold most precious in eternity. But whomever dies in the service of Christ will ensure their life everlasting with Him in eternity.

 

Remember Matthew 10:38,39 as the disciples were sent out on a perilous mission?

 

Matthew 10:38  And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me. 39  He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it.

 

Consider this in Revelation.

 

Revelation 12:11  And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.

 

What good would it do us get everything this world had to offer; pleasure, success, wealth, and power and then lose our souls in eternity? What is something so valuable in this world, in this finite life that is receding from you every moment that is worth your eternal soul?

 

Verse 27 is one of those verses that gives a broad explanation of something that is described elsewhere in more detail. Notice how the following in Revelation depicts the end of history in general terms while the rest of Revelation is more specific as to events.

 

Revelation 11:18  And the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that thou shouldest give reward unto thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear thy name, small and great; and shouldest destroy them which destroy the earth.

 

Now notice these references later in Matthew;

 

Matthew 24:30  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.

 

Matthew 25:31 ¶  When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory:

 

Matthew 26:64  Jesus saith unto him, Thou hast said: nevertheless I say unto you, Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven.

 

Verse 27 speaks of Christ’s return in the glory of God the Father with His angels. Verse 28, though, speaks of those standing with Him who will see Him coming in His kingdom, which is clearly a reference to what happens in chapter 17. He says that He will return with His angels to judge the world and that, truthfully, there are disciples standing there who will see Him in His glorified state.

 

So, in chapter 16, Jesus begins at Caesarea Philippi with a question for His disciples. Who do men say that I, the Messiah, am? Then He expounds on His coming Crucifixion and Resurrection, which Peter objects to, and which requires a rebuke from Christ. Christ then goes on to explain the level of commitment a disciple of His will need in the coming years. He reveals His inevitable return to judge the world and then says that selected disciples will see Him as He is in His kingdom. This will happen next.

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[1] Encyclopedia Britannica online, “crucifixion; capital punishment,” https://www.britannica.com/topic/cross-religious-symbol (accessed 4.24.2023).

Bible Study on Genesis 47, verses 13 to 26, part two, government in place of God

 

It is a truth that humans will generally prefer security to liberty, however. The Hebrews will eventually want a king and, therefore, a government like the heathen around them. God will tell Samuel, who objects to their cry;

1Samuel 8:4 ¶  Then all the elders of Israel gathered themselves together, and came to Samuel unto Ramah, 5  And said unto him, Behold, thou art old, and thy sons walk not in thy ways: now make us a king to judge us like all the nations. 6  But the thing displeased Samuel, when they said, Give us a king to judge us. And Samuel prayed unto the LORD. 7  And the LORD said unto Samuel, Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee: for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them.

Then, gave them this prophetic warning of the evils and expectations of human government.

8  According to all the works which they have done since the day that I brought them up out of Egypt even unto this day, wherewith they have forsaken me, and served other gods, so do they also unto thee. 9  Now therefore hearken unto their voice: howbeit yet protest solemnly unto them, and shew them the manner of the king that shall reign over them. 10  And Samuel told all the words of the LORD unto the people that asked of him a king. 11  And he said, This will be the manner of the king that shall reign over you: He will take your sons, and appoint them for himself, for his chariots, and to be his horsemen; and some shall run before his chariots. 12  And he will appoint him captains over thousands, and captains over fifties; and will set them to ear his ground, and to reap his harvest, and to make his instruments of war, and instruments of his chariots. 13  And he will take your daughters to be confectionaries, and to be cooks, and to be bakers. 14  And he will take your fields, and your vineyards, and your oliveyards, even the best of them, and give them to his servants. 15  And he will take the tenth of your seed, and of your vineyards, and give to his officers, and to his servants. 16  And he will take your menservants, and your maidservants, and your goodliest young men, and your asses, and put them to his work. 17  He will take the tenth of your sheep: and ye shall be his servants. 18  And ye shall cry out in that day because of your king which ye shall have chosen you; and the LORD will not hear you in that day. 19  Nevertheless the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel; and they said, Nay; but we will have a king over us; 20  That we also may be like all the nations; and that our king may judge us, and go out before us, and fight our battles. 21  And Samuel heard all the words of the people, and he rehearsed them in the ears of the LORD. 22  And the LORD said to Samuel, Hearken unto their voice, and make them a king. And Samuel said unto the men of Israel, Go ye every man unto his city.

The Bible gives us a detailed treatise on human government if we regard the entire book and not just Romans 13 as an excuse for tyranny. Pray for your leaders. They are typically not good men. There is a famous quote in recent history that pertains to the men who have led people in government and war by the Englishman John Emerich Edward Dalberg Acton, known as Lord Acton.

“Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men, even when they exercise influence and not authority; still more when you superadd the tendency of the certainty of corruption by authority.”

The Holy Spirit reports through the Bible writers that God has placed over humans as rulers the worst sort of men…

Daniel 4:17  This matter is by the decree of the watchers, and the demand by the word of the holy ones: to the intent that the living may know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will, and setteth up over it the basest of men.

…and the governments of the world are under Satan’s authority.

Luke 4:5  And the devil, taking him up into an high mountain, shewed unto him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. 6  And the devil said unto him, All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it.

The lacking of men to rule generally in the right way is based on one major lacking even if they call themselves Christians.

2Samuel 23:3  The God of Israel said, the Rock of Israel spake to me, He that ruleth over men must be just, ruling in the fear of God.

Now, it must be said that even though a chief executive other than God Himself was not His direct will for Israel it fell under His permissive will, His permission, and He did bless kings and Israel when they were obedient or repentant, seeking forgiveness, for their lack of obedience. Do not make the mistake, though, that brought Western Civilization to World War One where most of the warring countries thought they were God’s chosen people and God’s chosen government each fighting evil personified in their opponents. Do not make the mistake of believing that what God allows mankind to do is what His good, and acceptable, and perfect will is rather than the lusts of our own hearts. In the end all the machinations of mankind cannot thwart God’s eventual plan for humanity nor do they help mankind escape the judgment that is being brought down.

Your government, whether it be the United States, China, Russia, England, or even Namibia is the enemy of your liberty in the Lord because you have rejected His leadership. This fact is part of His judgment.

Bible Study on Matthew 16, verses 21 to 23, Get thee behind me, Satan

 

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

 

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

We must keep in mind that the Bible says explicitly that the passage in Isaiah was talking about Christ.

Acts 8:26 ¶  And the angel of the Lord spake unto Philip, saying, Arise, and go toward the south unto the way that goeth down from Jerusalem unto Gaza, which is desert. 27  And he arose and went: and, behold, a man of Ethiopia, an eunuch of great authority under Candace queen of the Ethiopians, who had the charge of all her treasure, and had come to Jerusalem for to worship, 28  Was returning, and sitting in his chariot read Esaias the prophet. 29  Then the Spirit said unto Philip, Go near, and join thyself to this chariot. 30  And Philip ran thither to him, and heard him read the prophet Esaias, and said, Understandest thou what thou readest? 31  And he said, How can I, except some man should guide me? And he desired Philip that he would come up and sit with him. 32  The place of the scripture which he read was this, He was led as a sheep to the slaughter; and like a lamb dumb before his shearer, so opened he not his mouth: 33  In his humiliation his judgment was taken away: and who shall declare his generation? for his life is taken from the earth. 34  And the eunuch answered Philip, and said, I pray thee, of whom speaketh the prophet this? of himself, or of some other man? 35  Then Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same scripture, and preached unto him Jesus.

 

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

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

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

 

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

 

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

 

Jesus rebukes Peter for wishing what Satan did back in chapter 4 that He should not go to the Cross. Satan offered Him a crown to subvert His mission while Peter says this out of his love and respect for his rabbi.

 

Matthew 4:8  Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; 9  And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me. 10  Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.

 

An offence is a stumbling block, something in the way.

 

1 Peter 2:8  And a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence, even to them which stumble at the word, being disobedient: whereunto also they were appointed.