Luke 5:27-39 comments: old wine

Luke 5:27 ¶  And after these things he went forth, and saw a publican, named Levi, sitting at the receipt of custom: and he said unto him, Follow me. 28  And he left all, rose up, and followed him. 29  And Levi made him a great feast in his own house: and there was a great company of publicans and of others that sat down with them. 30  But their scribes and Pharisees murmured against his disciples, saying, Why do ye eat and drink with publicans and sinners? 31  And Jesus answering said unto them, They that are whole need not a physician; but they that are sick. 32  I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. 33  And they said unto him, Why do the disciples of John fast often, and make prayers, and likewise the disciples of the Pharisees; but thine eat and drink? 34  And he said unto them, Can ye make the children of the bridechamber fast, while the bridegroom is with them? 35  But the days will come, when the bridegroom shall be taken away from them, and then shall they fast in those days. 36  And he spake also a parable unto them; No man putteth a piece of a new garment upon an old; if otherwise, then both the new maketh a rent, and the piece that was taken out of the new agreeth not with the old. 37  And no man putteth new wine into old bottles; else the new wine will burst the bottles, and be spilled, and the bottles shall perish. 38  But new wine must be put into new bottles; and both are preserved. 39  No man also having drunk old wine straightway desireth new: for he saith, The old is better.

Levi is understood to be the same person as Matthew based on the context in each of the gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke. He is a tax collector and therefore hated among the Jewish people with tax collectors or publicans being considered great sinners.

It is impossible to save people who don’t think they need to be saved. The self-righteous person, like the Pharisee, believes they are inherently good and God, basically, is lucky to have them on His side. The Pharisees fasted often but while Christ was with them His disciples were not expected to live such a stringent lifestyle as God’s very presence in the flesh should merit a time of rejoicing as at a joyous wedding feast.

Isaiah had written about solemn religious fasting that can be hypocrisy;

Isaiah 58:3 ¶  Wherefore have we fasted, say they, and thou seest not? wherefore have we afflicted our soul, and thou takest no knowledge? Behold, in the day of your fast ye find pleasure, and exact all your labours. 4  Behold, ye fast for strife and debate, and to smite with the fist

of wickedness: ye shall not fast as ye do this day, to make your voice to be heard on high. 5  Is it such a fast that I have chosen? a day for a man to afflict his soul? is it to bow down his head as a bulrush, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? wilt thou call this a fast, and an acceptable day to the LORD? 6  Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke? 7  Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh?

Then Zechariah wrote when Israel was in captivity.

Zechariah 7:4  Then came the word of the LORD of hosts unto me, saying, 5  Speak unto all the people of the land, and to the priests, saying, When ye fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh month, even those seventy years, did ye at all fast unto me, even to me? 6  And when ye did eat, and when ye did drink, did not ye eat for yourselves, and drink for yourselves?

There are a great deal of comparisons to a wedding feast in the Bible. First, the Lamb of God, the Lord Jesus Christ, will have a feast with His people when the Church is translated at the end of this age.

Revelation 19:9  And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God.

The Church, which is the body of Christ on earth acting on His behalf in the world…

Colossians 1:18  And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence…24  Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body’s sake, which is the church:

…made righteous by Christ not by any merit of our own,…

Romans 5:18  Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life.

Is the bride of Christ...

2Corinthians 11:2  For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.

Even the New Jerusalem, where His people will dwell in eternity, comes down out of Heaven adorned as a bride for her husband in a figure of speech called a simile where something is likened to something else which it is not by the use of as or like….

Revelation 21:2  And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

Jesus states that He is the bridegroom here and in another context John the Baptist, whose disciples still follow Jewish tradition in fastings and ritual, calls himself the friend of the bridegroom…

John 3:28  Ye yourselves bear me witness, that I said, I am not the Christ, but that I am sent before him. 29  He that hath the bride is the bridegroom: but the friend of the bridegroom, which standeth and heareth him, rejoiceth greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice: this my joy therefore is fulfilled.

There are many more things to be said about the wedding and marriage analogies, but we’ll move on for now.

Before we look at the parable Jesus relates it is important to understand that at the time the King James Bible was translated a bottle did not have to be just glass, as it is today, but any container that carried a liquid, such as a leather bag. This can be confirmed by going to Lexicons of Early Modern English online and doing a search by which you will find Thomas Cooper’s 1578 Thesaurus Linguae Romanae et Britannicae and Thomas Thomas’ 1587 Dictionarium Linguae Latinae et Anglicanae and several other sources that refer to a bottle as simply a vessel of some sort with glass bottle being used for that specific container material. (4)

 

 In the following a bottle can be rent or torn so common sense tells you these wily Canaanites were not just carrying around shards of broken glass.

Joshua 9:4  They did work wilily, and went and made as if they had been ambassadors, and took old sacks upon their asses, and wine bottles, old, and rent, and bound up;

The traditional interpretation of the parable that follows beginning in verse 36 is that the old garment and bottles represent Law and the Hebrew religion while the new represent Grace and Christianity.

There are problems with this interpretation as we know that Jesus did not come to overthrow the Law but to fulfill it.

Matthew 5:17  Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. 18  For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.

…and Christian doctrine is that the Law was fulfilled and is fulfilled in Him…

Romans 10:4  For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.

Notice verse 39 as well, with the preference for the old wine. Since the context in these chapters is about Christ’s ministry and His choosing of disciples to spread His message and the Pharisee’s objection to the way they handle religion it is also likely that this is a reference to something else. The institutionalized and strictly dogmatic religion of the Pharisees and their religious counterparts is to be replaced by common, uneducated men and women who will live for God rather than just go through the motions of ritual observance with no true friendship with God. Like a modern fundamentalist who has more faith in his faith than he does in God the religious elite of Jesus’ day put their faith in their rules and regulations they made up over years of tradition than on obedience to God.

Jesus in places condemns much of the whole body of religious teaching of that day as not of God.

Mark 7:1 ¶  Then came together unto him the Pharisees, and certain of the scribes, which came from Jerusalem. 2  And when they saw some of his disciples eat bread with defiled, that is to say, with unwashen, hands, they found fault. 3  For the Pharisees, and all the Jews, except they wash their hands oft, eat not, holding the tradition of the elders. 4  And when they come from the market, except they wash, they eat not. And many other things there be, which they have received to hold, as the washing of cups, and pots, brasen vessels, and of tables. 5  Then the Pharisees and scribes asked him, Why walk not thy disciples according to the tradition of the elders, but eat bread with unwashen hands? 6  He answered and said unto them, Well hath Esaias prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written, This people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. 7  Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. 8  For laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold the tradition of men, as the washing of pots and cups: and many other such like things ye do. 9  And he said unto them, Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition. 10  For Moses said, Honour thy father and thy mother; and, Whoso curseth father or mother, let him die the death: 11  But ye say, If a man shall say to his father or mother, It is Corban, that is to say, a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me; he shall be free. 12  And ye suffer him no more to do ought for his father or his mother; 13  Making the word of God of none effect through your tradition, which ye have delivered: and many such like things do ye. 14  And when he had called all the people unto him, he said unto them, Hearken unto me every one of you, and understand: 15  There is nothing from without a man, that entering into him can defile him: but the things which come out of him, those are they that defile the man. 16  If any man have ears to hear, let him hear. 17  And when he was entered into the house from the people, his disciples asked him concerning the parable. 18  And he saith unto them, Are ye so without understanding also? Do ye not perceive, that whatsoever thing from without entereth into the man, it cannot defile him; 19  Because it entereth not into his heart, but into the belly, and goeth out into the draught, purging all meats? 20  And he said, That which cometh out of the man, that defileth the man. 21  For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, 22  Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness: 23  All these evil things come from within, and defile the man.

Jesus will send His disciples out to restore the Israelites who’ve been taught these layers and layers of man-made rules and regulations as opposed to what God really wants from them.

Matthew 10:5 ¶  These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them, saying, Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not: 6  But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. 7  And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand. 8  Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give. 9  Provide neither gold, nor silver, nor brass in your purses, 10  Nor scrip for your journey, neither two coats, neither shoes, nor yet staves: for the workman is worthy of his meat. 11  And into whatsoever city or town ye shall enter, enquire who in it is worthy; and there abide till ye go thence. 12  And when ye come into an house, salute it. 13  And if the house be worthy, let your peace come upon it: but if it be not worthy, let your peace return to you. 14  And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear your words, when ye depart out of that house or city, shake off the dust of your feet. 15  Verily I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrha in the day of judgment, than for that city.

Jesus is not overthrowing the commandments of God. He is restoring the right worship of God, the Old Paths, the old wine.

Leviticus 19:18  Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself: I am the LORD.

Deuteronomy 6:5  And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.

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?

Matthew 22:34 ¶  But when the Pharisees had heard that he had put the Sadducees to silence, they were gathered together. 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.

(4) Lexicons of Early Modern English, University of Toronto,  https://leme.library.utoronto.ca/search/quick

Luke 5:12-16 comments: Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean

Luke 5:12 ¶  And it came to pass, when he was in a certain city, behold a man full of leprosy: who seeing Jesus fell on his face, and besought him, saying, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean. 13  And he put forth his hand, and touched him, saying, I will: be thou clean. And immediately the leprosy departed from him. 14  And he charged him to tell no man: but go, and shew thyself to the priest, and offer for thy cleansing, according as Moses commanded, for a testimony unto them. 15  But so much the more went there a fame abroad of him: and great multitudes came together to hear, and to be healed by him of their infirmities. 16  And he withdrew himself into the wilderness, and prayed.

The leprous man believed that Jesus could heal him and it was so. Many times a key to God giving us something is our willingness to receive and our belief it is within His power to give. Yes, there are many times also when we receive a blessing we were totally unexpecting. But, there is a clear Bible doctrine that believing God and humbling yourself before Him precedes receiving many blessings. I’m not talking about some ‘name it and claim it’ blasphemy about trying to order the Creator of the universe around like your own personal servant but about believing in God’s power and in His sovereignty. We will see twice upcoming in Luke 8 and 17 where Christ tells someone that their faith has made them whole.

Jesus orders the man to go to show himself to a priest, as in Leviticus 13 rather than pronounce this miracle to everyone else. Jesus has come to fulfill the Law not to overthrow it and demands that it be respected.

Still, many people heard about this miracle and Jesus’ fame grew. Again, as in other times, He goes apart to be alone and pray. It is good for us to have a private place and a private time to pray.

Matthew 6:6  But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.

To fall on one’s face is one act of worship.

Joshua 5:14  And he said, Nay; but as captain of the host of the LORD am I now come. And Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and did worship, and said unto him, What saith my lord unto his servant?

2Chronicles 20:18  And Jehoshaphat bowed his head with his face to the ground: and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell before the LORD, worshipping the LORD.

Luke 5:1-11 comments: Peter, James, and John called

Luke 5:1 ¶  And it came to pass, that, as the people pressed upon him to hear the word of God, he stood by the lake of Gennesaret, 2  And saw two ships standing by the lake: but the fishermen were gone out of them, and were washing their nets. 3  And he entered into one of the ships, which was Simon’s, and prayed him that he would thrust out a little from the land. And he sat down, and taught the people out of the ship. 4  Now when he had left speaking, he said unto Simon, Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught. 5  And Simon answering said unto him, Master, we have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing: nevertheless at thy word I will let down the net. 6  And when they had this done, they inclosed a great multitude of fishes: and their net brake. 7  And they beckoned unto their partners, which were in the other ship, that they should come and help them. And they came, and filled both the ships, so that they began to sink. 8  When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord. 9  For he was astonished, and all that were with him, at the draught of the fishes which they had taken: 10  And so was also James, and John, the sons of Zebedee, which were partners with Simon. And Jesus said unto Simon, Fear not; from henceforth thou shalt catch men. 11  And when they had brought their ships to land, they forsook all, and followed him.

It is impressive to hear how the people pressed upon Christ to hear Him preach the word of God, which at that time consisted only of what we call the Old Testament. I visited a church in Pensacola, Florida on several occasions where people would literally stand in line for an hour or more to get in to hear good preaching. It is not a usual occurrence in America in this era although I have heard of such things in Africa and Asia.

The word of God is very important to Him and should be to us.

Psalm 138:2  I will worship toward thy holy temple, and praise thy name for thy lovingkindness and for thy truth: for thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name.

John 17:17  Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.

Hebrews 4:12  For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

But, what is the word of God? Is a preacher’s opinion or political and social views the word of God? Or is it what is preserved for us in the text we have, in the context in which it is written, the word of God? Like the Bereans you should search the Scriptures to see if a thing you are told is true.

Acts 17:10 ¶  And the brethren immediately sent away Paul and Silas by night unto Berea: who coming thither went into the synagogue of the Jews. 11  These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.

God has selected these rough commercial fishermen for a purpose that He did not use princes, the wealthy, or the educated for. He teaches them a lesson about fishing for men as they are chosen to further His message to their people and to the world.

Habbakuk 1:14a  And makest men as the fishes of the sea,

They leave their fishing employment and follow Jesus. It is important to note that Christ’s immediate mission is to the lost sheep of the house of Israel as stated in Matthew 10:6 and 15:24 and context. The expansion of this mission to the world is a process revealed in Acts and in the rest of the New Testament.

Another thing that comes to mind about this passage is the parallel to our own efforts. We can work all night in a manner of speaking to win lost souls to Christ but it is only with His power and direction that we can be successful.

In the same vein we can toil in the night that came on the world when Christ, who is the Light of the world, left.

John 9:4  I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work.

Romans 13:12  The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light.

But, we await His return for all things to be completed and revealed.

Titus 2:13  Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;

Revelation 11:15  And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.

Luke 4:31-44 comments: teaching and healing

Luke 4:31 ¶  And came down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee, and taught them on the sabbath days. 32  And they were astonished at his doctrine: for his word was with power. 33  And in the synagogue there was a man, which had a spirit of an unclean devil, and cried out with a loud voice, 34  Saying, Let us alone; what have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth? art thou come to destroy us? I know thee who thou art; the Holy One of God. 35  And Jesus rebuked him, saying, Hold thy peace, and come out of him. And when the devil had thrown him in the midst, he came out of him, and hurt him not. 36  And they were all amazed, and spake among themselves, saying, What a word is this! for with authority and power he commandeth the unclean spirits, and they come out. 37  And the fame of him went out into every place of the country round about. 38  And he arose out of the synagogue, and entered into Simon’s house. And Simon’s wife’s mother was taken with a great fever; and they besought him for her. 39  And he stood over her, and rebuked the fever; and it left her: and immediately she arose and ministered unto them. 40  Now when the sun was setting, all they that had any sick with divers diseases brought them unto him; and he laid his hands on every one of them, and healed them. 41  And devils also came out of many, crying out, and saying, Thou art Christ the Son of God. And he rebuking them suffered them not to speak: for they knew that he was Christ. 42  And when it was day, he departed and went into a desert place: and the people sought him, and came unto him, and stayed him, that he should not depart from them. 43  And he said unto them, I must preach the kingdom of God to other cities also: for therefore am I sent. 44  And he preached in the synagogues of Galilee.

In Capernaum Jesus drives an unclean spirit out of a man. His teaching and miracle make him famous round about. Christ’s teaching is profound and powerful and many are edified and blessed by it, obviously.

Simon is another name for the apostle, Peter. See Luke 6:14.

We learn here that Jesus has the power, the authority, to command unclean spirits, to drive them out of a person. An unclean spirit clearly is an entity and not just a twisted mind in an individual. It is an entity that can have a negative impact on a person, taking control of part or all of his or her mental functions, reasoning ability, emotions, and will.

An unclean spirit would lead a person to depravity and moral decay as uncleanness is often referred to as sexual and moral license and depravity or even ritual pollution under the Law. An evil spirit is a reference to a spirit being that is malicious or bent on doing harm. Evil spirit refers to intent while unclean spirit refers to condition.

While most of what we do that is wrong, unclean, or evil comes from our own sin nature, our own twisted spirit of mind, it is clear that on occasion a person is afflicted by something from outside of them. However, there is no evidence that this can happen to a Christian filled with the Holy Ghost so blaming your wickedness on an evil spirit is rather a waste of time and dishonest. These spirits bent on driving human beings mad are also called devils, the objects of worship for religions throughout history as man devolved after the Flood and the dispersal at Babel.

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

1Corinthians 10:20  But I say, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils, and not to God: and I would not that ye should have fellowship with devils.

Jesus heals Simon’s mother-in-law and many others of diseases. He also drove these devils out of many. He commanded the devils not to announce that He was the Messiah, the Christ, which they knew to be true. Christ does not desire the testimony of devils which would be good preaching material about unbelieving people with an agenda furthering the Christian message because it fits some worldly agenda of theirs.

He tells the people who sought Him after He went to a desert place, which was often His practice for prayer and to be alone, that He must also go to other cities of the Jews as His mission required, Jesus then began preaching in the synagogues all over Galilee.

Bible class on 12.9.2018

Some scholarship has the Book of Job written between the 7^th and 4^th centuries before Christ. (1) Their reasons for doing this show two things; one is a rejection of God’s inspiration of the Bible in that they regard any similarity with later writings as proof that it was written later thereby denying that similarity is a natural consequence of God’s ultimate authorship of all books of the Bible. Two has to do with more of an arrogance that comes from drawing conclusions from insufficient information.

            There are good reasons to believe that the Book of Job was written before Moses wrote the first five books of the Bible starting with Genesis. It contains no reference to Hebrew culture, Job, the head of a family and possibly a prince or king, is offering sacrifices that the priests would have offered under the Mosaic Law, and Job’s lifespan indicate a much earlier age of writing than some modern scholars presume.(2) It is safe for a Christian to assume that it was written anywhere from 2000BC to 1500BC.

            There are many difficulties in trying to place Job in a known historical context. Most historical evidence lies buried in the dirt and all the spades and shovels of archaeology will never dig that evidence up. Scholars are left with what they have. Here is a primary source of history, written by a man who witnessed the events written about, with no countering documentation to argue that it was a fraud, a fantasy, or political propaganda. Those who deny its authenticity or the truth of its statements only have their own prejudices, assumptions, worldview, and unwillingness to accept any of the Bible as written by men who were guided by the Holy Spirit to go on.

            Having answered generally when it was written, let’s examine who wrote it. Internally, from the text. it is clear that Elihu, the son of Barachel, the Buzite wrote it. Beginning in chapter 32, he writes of himself in the third person and then in the first person, verse 16 giving us the needed clue as to the authorship of the book.

Job 32:16  When I had waited, (for they spake not, but stood still, and answered no more;)

            The Book of Job has a great deal to say about human suffering as well as science. It is unlike any other book of its time and very important for Christians to study and understand. Many of our deepest questions about life are answered in it, while for some questions we are explicitly told that we will never have an answer satisfactory to us in this life.

(1)   Robert Kugler & Patrick Hartin, An Introduction to the Bible (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing, 2009), 193.

(2)   Hugh Ross, Hidden Treasures in the Book of Job (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2011), 32.

1 ¶  There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job; and that man was perfect and upright, and one that feared God, and eschewed evil. 2  And there were born unto him seven sons and three daughters. 3  His substance also was seven thousand sheep, and three  thousand camels, and five hundred yoke of oxen, and five hundred she asses, and a very great household; so that this man was the greatest of all the men of the east.

The land of Uz is said to be in the region of the Biblical Edom. In Job 2:11, one of Job’s friends is said to be a Temanite, or descendant of Teman, a descendant of Esau and a duke of Edom. Teman, the location, was thought to be a place of wisdom as shown by this statement.

Jeremiah 49:7  Concerning Edom, thus saith the LORD of hosts; Is wisdom no more in Teman? is counsel perished from the prudent? is their wisdom vanished?

We are not given definite information on the lineage of the other friends.

The upright man keeps himself from iniquity and sin.

2Samuel 22:24  I was also upright before him, and have kept myself from mine iniquity.

Job is said to be, “perfect and upright.” In the Bible’s self-defining method when words are connected by “and” we see that, in this context, perfect and upright are synonyms. Three times in the first two chapters of Job, he is called perfect and upright, the last two times by God directly in speaking to Satan.

Also see;

Psalm 37:37  Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright: for the end of that man is peace.

Proverbs 2:21  For the upright shall dwell in the land, and the perfect shall remain in it.

At other times, perfect is said to be complete or finished.

2Chronicles 8:16  Now all the work of Solomon was prepared unto the day of the foundation of the house of the LORD, and until it was finished. So the house of the LORD was perfected.

Colossians 4:12  Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ, saluteth you, always labouring fervently for you in prayers, that ye may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God.

Noah was said to be a just man and perfect in his generations which would seem to say that of his lineage he was the most just man of his time with just and perfect in his generations standing as synonymous statements.

Genesis 6:9  These are the generations of Noah: Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God.

So, Job was perfect and upright, further defined in the text in that he feared God and eschewed evil. Eschew is not such an archaic word, although little used, as I have read it in news articles recently meaning to avoid or refrain from something. We learn what eschew means in the Bible by looking at it elsewhere, as it is not defined in the text here.

1Peter 3:10  For he that will love life, and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips that they speak no guile: 11  Let him eschew evil, and do good; let him seek peace, and ensue it.

In these verses you see that, “eschew,” is surrounded by, “let him,” and, “evil,” in verse 11. In verse 10, “let him,” and ,”evil,” surround, “refrain his tongue from,” giving us the definition.

We will see that Job not only feared God in the sense of awe and reverence…

Psalm 33:8  Let all the earth fear the LORD: let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him.

Hebrews 12:28  Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear:

But we will learn that Job was terrified of God with a dread-like fear.

Genesis 9:2  And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth…

Exodus 15:16  Fear and dread shall fall upon them…

Deuteronomy 2:25  This day will I begin to put the dread of thee and the fear of thee upon the nations…

Deuteronomy 11:25  There shall no man be able to stand before you: for the LORD your God shall lay the fear of you and the dread of you upon all the land that ye shall tread upon, as he hath said unto you.

Isaiah 8:13  Sanctify the LORD of hosts himself; and let him be your fear, and let him be your dread.

We also will learn that Job refrained his tongue from speaking evil about God, though his wife recommended it.

He is said to have had wealth in the form of a large family and in great substance, as wealth was recognized in his day. It is so much that he is said to be the greatest man of the east. Let’s assume Job is the wealthiest guy around. All eyes would be interested in what was going on with him. If he lived today he would be interviewed and photographed often, I assume. He was influential and important, as people of great wealth are.

    4 ¶  And his sons went and feasted in their houses, every one his day; and sent and called for their three sisters to eat and to drink with them. 5  And it was so, when the days of their feasting were gone about, that Job sent and sanctified them, and rose up early in the morning, and offered burnt offerings according to the number of them all: for Job said, It may be that my sons have sinned, and cursed God in their hearts. Thus did Job continually.

There are few Christian parents of grown children who have not known Job’s concern for his children. Those of us who pray daily for their children know his worry. These festivities, whether they were separate birthday feasts throughout the year or one long feast with different sons being appointed different days, were family celebrations as their sisters were included and Job gave them his blessing. They were joyous celebrations, not pagan orgies as portrayed in the following verses.

Exodus 32:6  And they rose up early on the morrow, and offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play…25  And when Moses saw that the people were naked; (for Aaron had made them naked unto their shame among their enemies:)

1Corinthians 10:7  Neither be ye idolaters, as were some of them; as it is written, The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play.

Job lives in a time before the Law was given to Moses and gives sacrifices to God as Noah did.

Genesis 8:20 ¶  And Noah builded an altar unto the LORD; and took of every clean beast, and of every clean fowl, and offered burnt offerings on the altar.

Job, who was approved for eschewing, or refraining his tongue from evil, against God (see verse 1), in his fear and dread of God’s wrath, was worried that his sons might have done that very thing, hence his motivation for offering burnt offerings on their behalf, a continual thing with Job.

Jonathan Edwards, a great preacher of the period in American history known as the Great Awakening, said in his sermon entitled, “The Justice of God in the Damnation of Sinners,” that;

There is a great deal of difference between a willingness not to be damned, and a being willing to receive Christ for your Savior. You have the former; there is no doubt of that: nobody supposes that you love misery so as to choose an eternity of it; and so doubtless you are willing to be saved from eternal misery. But that is a very different thing from being willing to come to Christ: persons very commonly mistake the one for the other, but they are quite two things. You may love the deliverance, but hate the deliverer. (3)

Job knew that it is entirely possible to claim the mercies and blessings of God and, yet, hold Him in contempt by your thoughts. Moses and the Lord Jesus Christ both taught us that;

Deuteronomy 6:5  And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.

Matthew 22:37  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.

How many Christians actually love God? Even those who claim they do will ascribe base motives to Him, making him the author of sin as some Hyper-Calvinists do in saying that God ordained Adam to sin and others suggesting that, even though He died on the Cross for them, that because life is taking a hard turn, He must hate them.

It is possible to obey every surface dictate of leadership and still hold that leadership in utter contempt. The Catholic can follow every ritual, partake of every sacrament, and still hold God in absolute disregard by not concerning himself with how his sin affects God. The Independent Baptist can attend all of the services his church offers, go to every revival meeting and hymn sing, and knock on doors and still show contempt for the one who purchased him with His own blood by ignoring the Lord’s words written in His Book.

In his sermon entitled, “The Almost Christian,” the famous preacher and founder of the Methodist church, John Wesley admitted of himself because he lacked a love for God, a love for his neighbor, and faith;

I did for many years, as many of this place can testify; using diligence to eschew all evil, and to have a conscience void of offence; redeeming the time; buying up every opportunity of doing all good to all men; constantly and carefully using all the public and private means of grace; endeavoring, after a steady seriousness of behavior, at all times, and in all places: and God is my record, before whom I stand, doing all this in sincerity; having a real design to serve God; a hearty desire to do His will in all things; to please Him who had called me to “fight the good fight,” and to “lay hold on eternal life.” Yet my own conscience bears me witness, in the Holy Ghost, that all this time I was but almost a Christian. (4)

One way of understanding verse 5 is that to willfully sin is to curse God in your heart while another way views willfully sinning and cursing God in your heart two separate actions. One thing that has been suggested by John Gill, who preached in Spurgeon’s church a hundred years before him, was that the young men, in Job’s mind, could have been foolishly giving themselves credit for their wealth rather than attributing their bounty to God’s hand. Of this, he was concerned. (5)

Deuteronomy 32:15 ¶  But Jeshurun waxed fat, and kicked: thou art waxen fat, thou art grown thick, thou art covered with fatness; then he forsook God which made him, and lightly esteemed the Rock of his salvation.

Proverbs 30:8  Remove far from me vanity and lies: give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with food convenient for me: 9  Lest I be full, and deny thee, and say, Who is the LORD?...

When a man or a woman is successful in life in some way and does not give credit to the Lord that is due or receives some bounty from their employer or government and does not acknowledge that it came from the Lord he or she has cursed God by holding Him in contempt and denying Him the credit for what He has done.

One question we might ask in reading Job is; was Job himself guilty of this when he reviewed his habits of life with his friends? When we hear someone talk about their work ethic, how they raised their children, how they handle their money, play their sport, or serve God in their church, home, work, or community do we not hear someone trumpeting their own righteousness without acknowledging that none of that would be true without God’s providential hand in their lives?

How many “good” Christians curse God in their hearts and sin by taking credit themselves for the good works they claim they do?

(3) Jonathan Edwards, “The Justice of God in the Damnation of Sinners,” www.jonathan-edwards.org, (accessed 7.16.2014).

(4) John Wesley, “The Almost Christian,” http://www.forerunner.com/forerunner/X0620_Wesley_-_Almost_Chri.html. (accessed 7.17.2014).

(5) John Gill, “Job 1:5,” http://www.biblestudytools.com/commentaries/gills-exposition-of-the-bible/job-1-5.html. (accessed 7.17.2014).

6 ¶  Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD,…  

We need to define Biblically who the individuals are in this scene in Heaven. The, “sons of God,” (with a lowercase ‘s’) are beings directly created by God and are not born of biological processes. The idea that there is life not resulting from biological processes is a difficult one to accept only because we are not aware of any day to day interaction with such beings we call, “spiritual.” The phrase, “Son of God,” (with an uppercase ‘S’) is a reference to God in the flesh, the visible appearance of God (Hebrews 1:3) in the normal, to us, physical world.

Luke 3:38  Which was the son of Enos, which was the son of Seth, which was the son of Adam, which was the son of God.

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.

After Adam’s cowardly rebellion mankind began to degenerate and Adam’s descendants were made in his image, lacking the perfection that God intended.

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:

From this scientific fact we can make a prediction. All humanity has and will experience genetic decay as long as we exist in this physical existence. I refer you to Alexey Kondrashov’s 1995 article in the Journal of Theoretical Biology entitled, “Contamination of the Genome by very Slightly Deleterious Mutations: Why Have We Not Died 100 Times Over?”(6) Another example is James F. Crow’s “The High Spontaneous Mutation Rate: Is it a Health Risk?” for the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science. (7) There has been nothing since these papers to indicate the opposite idea, that mankind is genetically improving.

That being said, the sons of God referred to in verse 6 are spiritual beings created directly by God. They pre-existed the physical universe that we know, as we are told in the Book of Job.

Job 38:4 ¶  Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? declare, if thou hast understanding. 5  Who hath laid the measures thereof, if thou knowest? or who hath stretched the line upon it? 6  Whereupon are the foundations thereof fastened? or who laid the corner stone thereof; 7  When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?

The Christian becomes one of these direct creations of God when he receives Christ and is indwelt by God’s Spirit in the new birth.

John 1:12  But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:

The sons of God are represented in this physical world by an angel, an appearance that has the ability to act on the physical world. Imagine a hologram with the power to act in the place of the individual it represents. (Isaiah 63:9 where the full name is, “the angel of his presence.)”

“Angels,” and, “sons of God,” can be used interchangeably based on the context and the action presented.

Every person is born biologically, called the “water birth.” Without the second birth in the Spirit every person is doomed.

John 3:3  Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. 4  Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb, and be born? 5  Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. 6  That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7  Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.

Perhaps the Christian is a replacement for the sons of God who chose to enter the physical world of existence. Who can say but God?

Genesis 6:2  That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose…4  There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown.

Jude 1:6  And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day.

Nevertheless, these beings presented themselves to God on some occasion.

(6) Alexey Kondrashov, “Contamination of the Genome by very Slightly Deleterious Mutations: Why Have We Not Died 100 Times Over?” Journal of Theoretical Biology 175 (1995): 583-594.

(7) James F. Crow, “The High Spontaneous Mutation Rate: Is it a Health Risk?” Proceedings of the National Academy of Science Vol. 94 (August 1997): 8380–8386.

6… and Satan came also among them.

Who is this Satan anyway? A lot of conclusions have been drawn from preaching over the centuries. What we know about Satan, from the text of the Bible here in its oldest book, is that Satan is an individual, not an idea or a force. We know he could come before God as evidenced here. We can assume that he can still make his will known to God from Revelation 12:10 where he is called, “the accuser of our brethren,” who, “accused them [God’s people – our brethren] before our God day and night.” He is our adversary.

1Peter 5:8  Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:

Satan is called that old Serpent, the Devil and the Dragon.

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.

These names are also linked through Isaiah and Job in likening Satan to a reptilian creature, a dragon being the name that predated the 19^th century word, dinosaur, to describe a large reptile, or a leviathan, which is a reference to a large creature like a whale or a dinosaur.

Isaiah 27:1 ¶  In that day the LORD with his sore and great and strong sword shall punish leviathan the piercing serpent, even leviathan that crooked serpent; and he shall slay the dragon that is in the sea.

This particular supernatural creature, described as we would think of a dinosaur or a dragon of mythologies around the world, has another distinction.

Job 41:34  He beholdeth all high things: he is a king over all the children of pride.

Although Satan is never said to be an angel himself he will lead angels in rebellion against God.

Revelation 12:3  And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads.4  And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born.

Although he can appear as an angel to us in order to deceive.

2Corinthians 11:14  And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. 15  Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.

By virtue of this reference to an, “angel of light,” we presume that Satan is also the same entity as Lucifer, a term used only once, which may or may not be a title rather than a name. It means, “light-bearer.”

Isaiah 14:12  How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!

Satan introduces the second set of supernaturally created creatures directly created by God in the spiritual world and not by any biological process. They are called cherubim and are animal-like creatures that surround God’s throne in Ezekiel, chapters 1 and 10, and in Revelation, chapter 4, perhaps prototypes for all non-human animal life on earth.

Ezekiel 10:15  And the cherubims were lifted up. This is the living creature that I saw by the river of Chebar.

While the, “sons of God,” and, “cherubims,” are both direct creations of God in another dimension of time and space to which we are not privy in our biological limitations they are not the same thing. One appears as a person while one has the appearance of an animal.

One of the unique ways the Bible is constructed is how it describes Satan. In the description of men who are like Satan, or types of Satan, like the kings of Babylon, Tyre, or the Pharaoh of Egypt, God reveals what Satan’s original position was, what he does now, and, perhaps, when he fell from grace and where his deceptions were first revealed.

Ezekiel 28:14  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.

As there are cherubims around God’s throne in Revelation, chapter four, perhaps Satan as Lucifer was the reptilian cherub who covered God’s throne from above.

We know he was also, as spiritual beings can exist in the physical world and the spiritual at the same time, in the Garden of Eden before he fell from grace. He was dressed similar to and perhaps was performing the duties of a priest (compare the following with Exodus 28).

Ezekiel 28:13  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.

It is here that iniquity was found in him.

Ezekiel 28:15  Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee.

What was that iniquity? Perhaps his part in implementing Adam and Eve’s rebellion against God in inspiring them to doubt what God said, as many of you still do.

Genesis 3:1  Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?

Satan’s realm is in the heavens below the Heaven we know of as the abode of God. He is called the Prince of the Power of the Air.

Ephesians 2:2  Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:

That place we call Outer Space is his domain.

Ephesians 6:12  For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

All human government and institutions on earth are under his operative control.

2Corinthians 4:4  In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.

But his demise and eventual fate are certain.

Luke 10:17 ¶  And the seventy returned again with joy, saying, Lord, even the devils are subject unto us through thy name.18  And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven.

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… 12 ¶  Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time.

It is clear from the Bible that Satan is not God’s equal, and in fact, is often permitted by God to unleash his fury against mankind as part of God’s judgment so that sometimes you are unable to discern whether or not God did something or whether or not Satan did it. As an example, see what prompted David to initiate a census of his kingdom. This is a great example of how our pride allows humanism, the elevation of man in the Renaissance sense and in the sense of the ancient Greeks, to take over our worship and our behavior. David wanted to count his subjects, the result of which would be to count his wealth and power as coming from what he had rather than from God.

2Samuel 24:1  And again the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel, and he moved David against them to say, Go, number Israel and Judah.

1Chronicles 21:1  And Satan stood up against Israel, and provoked David to number Israel.

As we will see in Job, Satan is given authority to do things to God’s people under the limitations set by God, much as evil men are permitted to operate in the world to reveal their wickedness and to bring judgment on their heads.

Satan will be bound in Hell a thousand years when Christ returns to rule in His millennial kingdom. He will be unleashed for a time to lead the final thrust of the world’s leaders against Christ at the end of that time, before final judgment and eternity begins. Satan will then be cast into the Lake of Fire.

Matthew 25:41  Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:

Revelation 20:1 ¶  And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. 2  And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, 3  And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season…7  And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, 8  And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea. 9  And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them. 10  And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.

Christ came to destroy the works of Satan, one of which is the death that resulted from Adam’s sin and, another, sin itself.

Hebrews 2:14  Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil;

1John 3:8  He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.

We are to resist him as he purposes to destroy whomever he can.

James 4:7  Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

1Peter 5:8  Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:

Those who oppose God are under his control.

2Timothy 2:26  And that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will.

Ephesians 2:1 ¶  And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; 2  Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: 3  Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.

Satan, a created being, reptilian in form, rebelled against God in his own heart before he led mankind in Adam away.

Isaiah 14:12  How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! 13  For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: 14  I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High. 15  Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit. [Hell is called a bottomless pit in Revelation because a circle, as in the center of the earth, has no bottom, only sides.]

And so, as we see here, while Satan lost his place over God’s throne, perhaps, he still has and will have great influence over events until the end of history, when his fate is sealed. He is the primary tormentor of God’s people, one of the unholy trinity that includes our dying flesh and a wicked world system, all of which we must resist.

Satan is about to question Job’s faithfulness to God to whom Job seems so devoted. Remember Satan, when you doubt a fellow Christian’s commitment to Christ without reason other than your own cynical skepticism and self-righteousness and their lack of commitment to your convictions..

Luke 4:14-30 comments: Jesus issues a challenge

Luke 4:14 ¶  And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee: and there went out a fame of him through all the region round about. 15  And he taught in their synagogues, being glorified of all. 16  And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up: and, as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and stood up for to read. 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. 22  And all bare him witness, and wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth. And they said, Is not this Joseph’s son? 23  And he said unto them, Ye will surely say unto me this proverb, Physician, heal thyself: whatsoever we have heard done in Capernaum, do also here in thy country. 24  And he said, Verily I say unto you, No prophet is accepted in his own country. 25  But I tell you of a truth, many widows were in Israel in the days of Elias, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, when great famine was throughout all the land; 26  But unto none of them was Elias sent, save unto Sarepta, a city of Sidon, unto a woman that was a widow. 27  And many lepers were in Israel in the time of Eliseus the prophet; and none of them was cleansed, saving Naaman the Syrian. 28  And all they in the synagogue, when they heard these things, were filled with wrath, 29  And rose up, and thrust him out of the city, and led him unto the brow of the hill whereon their city was built, that they might cast him down headlong. 30  But he passing through the midst of them went his way,

Jesus, the very image of the invisible God, filled with the mind of God, returns to Galilee and is known as being a very powerful teacher.

Matthew 7:28  And it came to pass, when Jesus had ended these sayings, the people were astonished at his doctrine: 29  For he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.

In Nazareth, in a synagogue, He reads from Isaiah 61.

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;

This is a very important passage for those Christians who believe, as I do, that the entire Bible was given by inspiration of God, which, as I have explained before, is wisdom and understanding from the Holy Ghost, the very mind of God.

Jesus stops reading after to preach the acceptable year of the Lord. In that comma following lies the two thousand years of church history. Jesus did not come at that time to enact judgment on the world but to save those who were willing. This gives you a key to interpreting prophecies of both His first and second arrivals, which can be separated by something as small as a comma in the text with thousands of years in between.

Notice also how by the use of word substitution the Holy Spirit defines words. By comparing the two passages, one in Isaiah and one in Luke we see synonyms like preach and proclaim, deliverance and liberty, gospel and good tidings, poor and meek. Experiment with that interpretation method and you will learn some amazing stuff throughout the Bible in quotes made in the New Testament from Greek with the Old Testament translated from Hebrew under the guiding hand of the Spirit of God and Christ.

He announced that the Scripture was fulfilled in their hearing. He quoted a proverb well-known in the Greek culture of the time and referred to hundreds of years before Christ. It appears that He is using the saying to say, if I can do great works abroad, why not do them here at home as in if a doctor can heal others why can’t he heal himself? Then, Christ explains because that His own people will not accept Him.

We might say, “familiarity breeds contempt,” and understand that it is hard for your own relatives or neighbors who watched you grow up and know you or think they do to accept some great wisdom you put forth. But Christ apparently did not reveal Himself in His early years but to His family by the suggestion of this passage. They were now accustomed to Him reading from the Scriptures, perhaps expounding on them, but He warned them they would not accept Him as the Messiah. There seems to be a lot of culturally understood communication here that we have to think about in relating it to our own times.

What made them furious was the suggestion that if they weren’t willing or able to hear Him and believe the Gentiles would, a prophecy of the coming Church Age.

Verse 25 refers to 1Kings 17 with Zarephath and Zidon as the Hebrew to English translations of Sarepta and Sidon. Verse 27 refers to events in 2Kings 5. This serves as sort of a warning. If you will not receive the truth of God the Gentiles will.

Matthew 8:11  And I say unto you, That many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven. 12  But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

They then tried to kill Him but, of course, they could not as this was not His time, the time prepared for His sacrifice of Himself for His people’s and the world’s sins.