Category Archives: Introduction

Romans, Part 48

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I want to continue with the next item in Paul’s list of the different gifts (χαρίσματα, a form of χάρισμα) we have according to the grace given to us.[2]  If [the gift] is leadership (προϊστάμενος, a form of προΐστημι), he must do so with diligence (σπουδῇ)…[4]

I want προϊστάμενος to mean προηγούμενοι (a form of προηγέομαι), go first and leave a trail.  That’s what the Holy Spirit says to me about leadership.  Follow me, Jesus said.  Paul wrote, Be devoted to one another with mutual love, showing eagerness (προηγούμενοι, a form of προηγέομαι) in honoring one another.[6]  So when Paul used προηγούμενοι he wanted me to “lead the way” in honoring others.  When he wrote about leadership he used the word προϊστάμενος (a form of προΐστημι), which seems to imply a less itinerant existence, the good shepherd who lays down his life for the sheep by living among them and protecting them rather than dying for them.

To overcome my own bias I’ll start with things Paul didn’t mean about προϊστάμενος (leadership).  He certainly didn’t mean πλανάω, “to lead astray.”  Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God?  Paul asked rhetorically.  Do not be deceived (πλανᾶσθε, a form of πλανάω)!  The sexually immoral, idolaters, adulterers, passive homosexual partners, practicing homosexuals, thieves, the greedy, drunkards, the verbally abusive, and swindlers will not[7] inherit the kingdom of God.[8]  And the implication is that some claiming the gift of leadership were teaching these very things.

I don’t want this to come down disproportionately hard on those who favor the “Side A” position discussed on the Gay Christian Network website.[9]  My reasons can wait for another essay.  For now I will simply quote Paul’s own words (1 Corinthians 6:11 NET):

Some of you once lived this way.  But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

In other words, despite his assertion that such sinners will not inherit the kingdom of God, Paul did not dispute that God called, sanctified, and justified them in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.  The most anyone can assert about this passage is the Apostle’s fervent belief that sinners who were washed…sanctified and justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God would not continue in sin.

Do not be deceived (πλανᾶσθε, a form of πλανάω): “Bad company corrupts good morals.”  Sober up as you should, and stop sinning!  For some have no knowledge of God – I say this to your shame![10]  Do not be deceived (πλανᾶσθε, a form of πλανάω).  God will not be made a fool.  For a person will reap what he sows, because the person who sows to his own flesh will reap corruption from the flesh, but the one who sows to the Spirit will reap eternal life from the Spirit.[11]  But evil people and charlatans will go from bad to worse, deceiving (πλανῶντες, another form of πλανάω) others and being deceived (πλανώμενοι, another form of πλανάω) themselves.[12]

Still, for Paul it was not a simple matter of “we” the good guys versus “they” the evil deceivers leading themselves and others astray:  For we too were once foolish, disobedient, misled (πλανώμενοι, another form of πλανάω), enslaved to various passions and desires, spending our lives (διάγοντες, a form of διάγω) in evil and envy, hateful and hating one another.[14]  Here we are introduced to ἄγω, the primary verb to lead.  I’ll look at that after I finish with πλανάω.

The difference between Paul in his past as Saul along with others who were led astray, and Paul in his present as an Apostle of Christ, was the Father’s call through the resurrected Jesus and the indwelling Holy Spirit, God, in a word and not something intrinsic in Paul himself.  For the appeal we make does not come from error (πλάνης, a form of πλάνη) or impurity or with deceit, but just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we declare it, not to please people but God, who examines our hearts.[17]

For Paul the word πλάνη (one led astray) not only described his former life but the natural state of all humanity.   Hear, for instance, how he described God’s wrath[18] on those who worshiped and served the creation rather than the Creator:[19] God gave them over to dishonorable passions.  For their women exchanged the natural sexual relations for unnatural ones, and likewise the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed in their passions for one another.  Men committed shameless acts with men and received in themselves the due penalty for their error (πλάνης, a form of πλάνη) [Table].[20]

But in Christ we are all empowered to overcome our natural state: So we are no longer to be children, tossed back and forth by waves and carried about by every wind of teaching by the trickery of people who craftily carry out their deceitful schemes (μεθοδείαν τῆς πλάνης).[22]  While there is nothing particularly wrong with translating πλάνης error or deceitful, it implies awareness and ill-purpose.  And we might be led astray by the earnest sincerity of one led astray, one who does not know that his method or way leads others astray, one who wasn’t gifted with leadership (προϊστάμενος, a form of προΐστημι).

Paul also wrote (2 Corinthians 2:4-11 NET Table1 Table2):

For out of great distress and anguish of heart I wrote to you with many tears, not to make you sad, but to let you know the love (ἀγάπην, a form of ἀγάπη) that I have especially for you.  But if anyone has caused sadness, he has not saddened me alone, but to some extent (not to exaggerate) he has saddened all of you as well.  This punishment on such an individual by the majority is enough for him, so that now instead you should rather forgive (χαρίσασθαι, a form of χαρίζομαι) and comfort (παρακαλέσαι, a form of παρακαλέω) him.  This will keep him from being overwhelmed by excessive grief to the point of despair.  Therefore I urge (παρακαλῶ, a form of παρακαλέω) you to reaffirm your love (ἀγάπην, a form of ἀγάπη) for him.  For this reason also I wrote you: to test you to see if you are obedient in everything.  If you forgive (χαρίζεσθε, a form of χαρίζομαι) anyone for anything, I also forgive him – for indeed what I have forgiven (κεχάρισμαι, a form of χαρίζομαι) (if I have forgiven [κεχάρισμαι, a form of χαρίζομαι] anything) I did so for you in the presence of Christ, so that we may not be exploited by Satan (for we are not ignorant of his schemes [νοήματα, a form of νόημα]).

I can’t help but think that the forgiveness, comfort and love that played such an important role in keeping the Corinthians from being exploited by Satan’s schemes might be key as well to thwarting people’s methods or ways that lead astray (μεθοδείαν τῆς πλάνης).

As I turn here to ἄγω it is possible to glean what the gift of leadership (προϊστάμενος, a form of προΐστημι) is like.  God’s kindness leads (ἄγει, a form of ἄγω) you to repentance.[27]  It is not too much to expect one with the gift of leadership to exhibit God’s kindness, forbearance, and patience.  The gifted leader exhorts us with: all who are led (ἄγονται, a form of ἄγω) by the Spirit of God are the sons of God,[28] and teaches us: if you are led (ἄγεσθε, a form of ἄγω) by the Spirit, you are not under the law.[29]  The gifted leader is not overly interested in money.  For the love of money is the root of all evils.  Some people in reaching for it have strayed (ἀπεπλανήθησαν, a form of ἀποπλανάω) from the faith and stabbed themselves with many pains.[31]

Now we ask you, brothers and sisters, Paul wrote the Thessalonians, to acknowledge those who labor among you and preside over (προϊσταμένους, another form of προΐστημι) you in the Lord and admonish you, and to esteem them most highly in love because of their work.[32]  [The overseer] must manage (προϊστάμενον, another form of προΐστημι) his own household well and keep his children in control without losing his dignity.[33]  Though the overseer may be an itinerant position, one must exhibit that lay-down-his-life leadership at home first with his family.

Paul’s exhortation, Do not lag (σπουδῇ) in zeal, be enthusiastic in spirit, serve the Lord,[34] gives me a picture of the diligence (σπουδῇ) one should demonstrate in the exercise of God’s gift of leadership.   It is translated eagerness in, But as you excel in everything – in faith, in speech, in knowledge, and in all eagerness (σπουδῇ) and in the love from us that is in you – make sure that you excel in this act of kindness too.[35]

Romans, Part 49

Back to My Reasons and My Reason, Part 1

[2] Romans 12:6a (NET)

[4] Romans 12:8 (NET)

[6] Romans 12:10 (NET)

[7] The Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had οὐ here.  The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 did not.

[8] 1 Corinthians 6:9, 10 (NET) Table

[10] 1 Corinthians 15:33, 34 (NET)

[11] Galatians 6:7, 8 (NET)

[12] 2 Timothy 3:13 (NET)

[14] Titus 3:3 (NET)

[17] 1 Thessalonians 2:3, 4 (NET)

[18] Romans 1:18 (NET)

[19] Romans 1:25 (NET)

[20] Romans 1:26, 27 (NET)

[22] Ephesians 4:14 (NET)

[27] Romans 2:4b (NET)

[28] Romans 8:14 (NET)

[29] Galatians 5:18 (NET)

[31] 1 Timothy 6:10 (NET)

[32] 1 Thessalonians 5:12, 13 (NET)

[33] 1 Timothy 3:4 (NET)

[34] Romans 12:11 (NET) Table

[35] 2 Corinthians 8:7 (NET)

The Righteousness of God

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A Pharisee named Simon invited Jesus to dinner.  A woman of that town, who was a sinner, learned that Jesus was dining at the Pharisee’s house, and she brought an alabaster jar of perfumed oil.[1]  The men reclined on cushions on the floor at a low table.  As she stood (στᾶσα, a form of ἵστημι)[2] behind [Jesus] at his feet, weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears.  She wiped them with her hair, kissed them, and anointed them with the perfumed oil.[3]

The translators have assumed that στᾶσα is a form of ἵστημι (to stand).  But it may have been a form στάζω (drop, let fall).[4]  As she [collapsed] behind him at his feet, weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears.  She wiped them with her hair, kissed them, and anointed them with the perfumed oil…makes more dramatic and practical sense.

This scene became the image of ἐγκράτεια[5] for me (erroneously translated self-control), the word at the end of the list Paul called the fruit of the Spirit.[6]  (It was translated temperance before Carrie Nation[7] picked up a hatchet.)  I took it for granted that Jesus’ thirty-something body worked perfectly well, that He had an erection, but that He loved this woman rather than dragging her onto the cushions and fucking[8] her.  I talked about this with a friend once.  He couldn’t believe that Jesus had an erection because that would be a sin.

I might have said that only the young and vigorous could mistake erectile dysfunction for holiness.  As it turned out I didn’t say much at all.  The fourteenth chapter of Romans came to mind:  I know and am convinced in the Lord Jesus that there is nothing unclean in itself; still, it is unclean to the one who considers it unclean.  For if your brother or sister is distressed because of what you eat, you are no longer walking in love.  Do not destroy by your food someone for whom Christ died.[9]  For better or worse the Scripture the Holy Spirit brings to my mind in the moment is what I take to be the leading of the Spirit.

Personally, I think that a woman kissing my feet, wiping them with her hair and rubbing scented oil on them as she weeps would be a complicated issue for my penis to work out.  At my age it is more prudent to be appreciative when it takes the initiative and demonstrates that kind of rough-and-ready-better-safe-than-sorry attitude.  In fact, if I were inclined to criticize my penis for an erection it would be about the one every morning when I need to urinate.  And though my assessment may be mistaken due to the urgency of the moment, it seems to be more persistent and stubborn, when it is pointed in a direction that no toilet will accommodate, than it ever was when my wife and I might have appreciated such persistence and stubbornness.

As I revisit this scene, however, after over a year and a half of considering the differences between the mind of Christ and the ordinary religious mind, I see so much more here.  It is not just that Jesus exhibited ἐγκράτεια and love.  He rejoiced over this woman.  He was at peace in a social situation I would find incredibly awkward.  He was patient with Simon.  His kindness, his goodness, his faithfulness and his gentleness are all apparent in a scene my religious mind rejects completely.  So now rather than being about ἐγκράτεια alone, this essay is about the righteousness of God.

I’m going to put myself in the scene playing Jesus.  I’ve played Simon often enough in the past.  This will be a new experience for me, just to see how far I can follow Him into God’s righteousness.  Obviously, I have more cultural baggage to deal with than He did.  But I’m going to assume for the sake of argument that I grew up in his culture, a small boy kept back by the women, still sneaking a peek, longing for the day when I would come of an age that I, too, could hang out with the guys, reclining on cushions at the table, barefoot, in a dress.

I’ll start calling the woman by name, rather than a woman of that town, who was a sinner.  John informed us that it was Mary [the sister of Martha and Lazarus] who anointed the Lord with perfumed oil and wiped his feet dry with her hair.[10]  And I’ll assume that the Holy Spirit took control, filled me with ἐγκράτεια and I didn’t act on the impulse of my penis to take Mary right then and there.  So I didn’t sin.  But not sinning is still a long way from God’s righteousness.

Truth be told, I’m not all that likely to fuck Mary in a room full of guys, no matter how bawdy the conversation or bold the invitation was.  I’m far more likely to pull my feet up under my dress, pretend that her ministrations tickled, and make some face-saving joke at her expense.  But that doesn’t seem like any kind of righteousness at all.  Kicking Mary in the face and telling her to keep her wicked lips and hands off of me is a kind of “righteousness” I’ve heard about, but it’s not really me.  Sitting up, taking her hands in mine, looking into her eyes and saying something like, “Please, whatever this is, this isn’t the time or place for it,” is about all the righteousness I could muster on my own in a room full of guys.

Jesus lay there and let Mary do what she would to his feet, long enough to make Simon very uncomfortable.  Somehow Jesus knew that Mary needed to do this.  I shouldn’t pretend that I don’t know how.  It’s axiomatic to me that Jesus didn’t utilize his own godliness, but trusted the Holy Spirit that descended like a dove from heaven, and…remained on him.[11]  Otherwise, Jesus’ invitation and command, Follow me,[12] is little more than a cruel joke.  But even with the Holy Spirit I can still be dumb as a post when it comes to reading women I know, much less a stranger off the street.

Still, I will say for the sake of argument that the Holy Spirit was able to communicate to me what kind of woman this is who is touching [me], that she is a sinner, and beyond that, that her tears, her kisses, her caresses and scented oil were her way of both confessing, and repenting of, that sin.  Given all of that, I have taken my first step following Jesus into the righteousness of God.  There is no way I could do this on my own, apart from the Holy Spirit.  There are no laws, rules, precepts or guidelines that could possibly help me here.  There are no twelve, five, seven, three, or four steps to a better me that would ever get me here.  So?  Now what?

I’m pretty tired right now, exhausted even, but Jesus turned his attention to Simon.  If I were so deep into the Holy Spirit that I grasped this knowledge of Mary and shared this intimate moment with her, my consciousness, upon returning to Simon and a room full of guys, would be a shock to say the least.  I would probably start making excuses, or try to explain the ineffable.  Jesus, in the kindest and most ingenious way, began to grapple with the judgments of Simon’s religious mind: “If this man were a prophet,” Simon said to himself, “he would know who and what kind of woman this is who is touching him, that she is a sinner.”[13]  How could I possibly follow Him here?

I am skipping over the fact that Jesus knew what Simon was thinking.  Maybe that was the Holy Spirit.  Maybe it was just growing up around religious people.  We’re not very subtle in our disapproval.  Sometimes I think our disapproval is the main way we distinguish ourselves from others.  And, unfortunately, it can become the main way we demonstrate “our righteousness.”  So I think Jesus may have known what Simon was thinking with or without the Holy Spirit.

“Simon, I have something to say to you,” Jesus said.  “Say it, Teacher,” [14] Simon replied.  It’s a small thing, perhaps, but I know me.  Even if the Holy Spirit gave me this wonderful story in the moment, I’m not convinced I would have addressed it directly to Simon.  I probably would have made it more general and aphoristic, even though I see now that it would fall flat and have less meaning for everyone present.

A certain creditor had two debtors; Jesus continued, one owed him five hundred silver coins, and the other fifty.  When they could not pay, he canceled the debts of both.  Now which of them will love (ἀγαπήσει, a form of ἀγαπάω)[15] him more?[16]  I doubt that Simon had any clue what the Spirit of God would reveal through Paul about how this greater love (ἀγάπη)[17] is the fulfillment of the law,[18] or the connection between this greater love and the confession that Jesus is the Son of God through John (1 John 4:15, 16a NET):

If anyone confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God resides in him and he in God.  And we have come to know and to believe the love (ἀγάπην, another form of ἀγάπη) that God has in us [Table].

I’m not even sure whether Simon had a clue what Jesus would say next.  I suppose the one who had the bigger debt canceled, Simon offered.  You have judged rightly,[19] Jesus said.  And then He turned his attention back to Mary who was apparently still doing her thing on his feet.  I just throw up my hands at this point.  How do I follow Him into this righteousness?  There’s just too much going on all at the same time.

Do you see this woman? Jesus said to Simon, as if he could pry his eyes off of her.  I entered your house, Jesus continued, speaking to Simon, but looking at Mary.  You gave me no water for my feet, but she has wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair.[20]  Brilliant!  Absolutely brilliant!  He didn’t even try to justify Himself before this Pharisee.  He justified Mary instead.  And I am weeping.

Jesus continued to make his point three times clear.  You gave me no kiss of greeting, but from the time I entered she has not stopped kissing my feet.  You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with perfumed oil.[21]  I’m done, if there was ever any hope that I would make it this far following Jesus into the righteousness of God.  But Jesus continued on.

Therefore I tell you, her sins, which were many, are forgiven, thus she loved much…  Surely, now He has finished.  No, not Jesus.  …but the one who is forgiven little loves little,[22] He concluded, calling the entire theory of childrearing we religious people adhere to “religiously” into question.

For who among us hasn’t wished, hoped, prayed, taught, argued, lectured and punished our children in order that they would sin as little as is humanly possible, without ever even considering whether we were condemning them to being forgiven as little as is humanly possible, and knowing as little love as is humanly possible?  And who among us, when our children have sinned, have gotten down on our knees and thanked God for his infinite wisdom, so much greater than our shortsightedness?

Jesus wasn’t finished yet.  He said to Mary, Your sins are forgiven,[23] and, Your faith has saved you; go in peace.[24]  I can only imagine what it was like for Mary to become conscious of her surroundings again, the staring eyes, the erections she never actually intended to inspire.  Jesus gave her an exit, and as far as I can tell stayed to face the guys alone—with the Holy Spirit.  Whatever reproaches they may have intended for her then fell upon Him, if they dared.

I would have great difficulty writing this scene as fiction.  To act it extemporaneously is truly beyond my imagining.  Follow me, Jesus said.  Those are some giant steps to follow in.  But the story doesn’t end here.

Mary did it again, with a more sympathetic audience, perhaps, but no grievous sin for cover.  At home with her brother Lazarus, whom Jesus raised from the dead, her sister Martha, and Jesus’ disciples Mary took three quarters of a pound of expensive aromatic oil from pure nard and anointed the feet of Jesus.  She then wiped his feet dry with her hair. (Now the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfumed oil.)[25]  I like that little detail the elder John recalled from his youth.

No Pharisee was present who dared to question Jesus’ righteousness.  Jesus’ disciples had seen it all before.  On an earlier visit, while Mary sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to what he said,[26] Martha had struggled alone to get a meal on the table for Jesus and his disciples.  She had complained to Jesus that her sister [had] left [her] to do all the work alone.  “Tell her to help me.”[27]  But Jesus said, Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things, but one thing is needed.  Mary has chosen the best part; it will not be taken away from her.[28]  Martha wasn’t about to criticize Jesus or her sister Mary.  And I like to imagine that Lazarus could only sit and watch and love and admire his sister for having the presence and liberty to do what he should do.

Only Judas Iscariot protested, because he was a thief, according to John.  As keeper of the money box, he used to steal what was put into it.[29]  Why wasn’t this oil sold for three hundred silver coins and the money given to the poor?[30]

Leave her alone, Jesus said to Judas.  She has kept it for the day of my burial.[31]  I shouldn’t discount Jesus’ reason here.  Mary had sat at his feet, actually listening to Him.  She may have understood that He would die for her sins a few days later.  For you will always have the poor with you, Jesus said to Judas, but you will not always have me,[32] He said to Mary.  This double-dipping was so scandalous to the religious minds who wrote the gnostic gospels that they forced Jesus into a shotgun wedding.  And Dan Brown[33] entertained us with suspicions that the Bible and the Church are hiding some terrible secret for their own nefarious purposes.

I don’t think it’s any secret that had Jesus asked, Mary would have been his wife.  In fact, I think if Jesus had asked, Mary would have been his whore, gladly, without doubts, no questions asked.  That’s what I love and admire about her.  She came to Jesus without rules or many delusions about her own righteousness.  But I don’t think it makes her a goddess.  I also think that it’s no secret that Jesus didn’t ask Mary to be his wife or his whore, but his disciple.  He did let her express her devotion in an intimate way that was special to them both, and others as well, a beautiful part of the righteousness of God.  Who would want to keep this a secret?

Only someone with a religious mind.

[1] Luke 7:37 (NET)

[3] Luke 7:38 (NET)

[9] Romans 14:14, 15 (NET)

[10] John 11:2 (NET)

[11] John 1:32 (NET)

[13] Luke 7:39 (NET)

[14] Luke 7:40 (NET)

[16] Luke 7:41, 42 (NET)

[18] Romans 13:10 (NET)

[19] Luke 7:43 (NET)

[20] Luke 7:44 (NET)

[21] Luke 7:45, 46 (NET)

[22] Luke 7:47 (NET)

[23] Luke 7:48 (NET)

[24] Luke 7:50 (NET)

[25] John 12:3 (NET)

[26] Luke 10:39 (NET)

[27] Luke 10:40 (NET)

[28] Luke 10:41, 42 (NET)

[29] John 12:6 (NET)

[30] John 12:5 (NET)

[31] John 12:7 (NET)

[32] John 12:8 (NET)

Fear – Exodus, Part 8

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Yahweh told Moses (Exodus 34:10 NET):

See, I am going to make a covenant before all your people.  I will do wonders such as have not been done in all the earth, nor in any nation.  All the people among whom you live will see the work of the Lord, for it is a fearful (yârêʼ)[1] thing that I am doing with you.

The Rabbis who translated the Septuagint chose θαυμαστά here.  In John’s vision on Patmos[2] [those who had conquered the beast and his image and the number of his name[3]] sang the song of Moses the servant of God and the song of the Lamb: “Great and astounding (θαυμαστά, a form of θαυμαστός)[4] are your deeds, Lord God, the All-Powerful!  Just and true are your ways, King over the nations!”[5] It is not that θαυμαστά is all positive spin, any more than φοβέω is all negative.  John also used θαυμαστόν (another form of θαυμαστός) to describe the seven angels who have seven final plagues as a great and astounding (θαυμαστόν) sign in heaven.[6]  But I think I can feel why the Rabbis chose θαυμαστά for the revised covenant over a form φοβέω.[7]

How tragic that the once-faithful city has become a prostitute (Septuagint, πόρνη),[8] reads part of the message about Judah and Jerusalem that was revealed to Isaiah son of Amoz during the time when Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah reigned over Judah.[9]  She was once a center of justice, fairness resided in her, but now only murderers.[10]  Your officials are rebels, they associate with thieves.  All of them love bribery, and look for payoffs.  They do not take up the cause of the orphan, or defend the rights of the widow.[11]

The sovereign Lord who commands armies, the powerful ruler of Israel, had a plan to rectify this situation.  But it was not a plan to redeem Israel’s officials and fill them by his Spirit with the love that is the fulfillment of the law[12]—not yet anyway.  It was a plan to remove them by death or exile in a foreign land.  “Ah, I will seek vengeance against my adversaries, He said, “I will take revenge against my enemies.  I will attack you; I will purify your metal with flux.  I will remove all your slag.  I will reestablish honest judges as in former times, wise advisers as in earlier days.  Then you will be called, ‘The Just City, Faithful Town.’”[13]

All the people among whom you live will see the work of the Lord, for it is a fearful thing that I am doing with you,[14] He had said to Moses.

Most prophets were sent with dire warnings of impending doom in the hope that the people to whom they were sent would hear, believe and repent.  Not so with Isaiah.  His was truly a ministry that produced condemnation and death.[15]  “Go and tell these people,” Isaiah heard the sovereign master say,[16] “‘Listen continually, but don’t understand!  Look continually, but don’t perceive!’  Make the hearts of these people calloused; make their ears deaf and their eyes blind!  Otherwise they might see with their eyes and hear with their ears, their hearts might understand and they might repent and be healed.”[17]

“How long, sovereign master?”[18] Isaiah replied.

“Until cities are in ruins and unpopulated, and houses are uninhabited, and the land is ruined and devastated, and the Lord has sent the people off to a distant place, and the very heart of the land is completely abandoned.  Even if only a tenth of the people remain in the land, it will again be destroyed, like one of the large sacred trees or an Asherah pole, when a sacred pillar on a high place is thrown down.”[19]  This devastation happened as it was written.

But Isaiah also prophesied about another time: “Comfort, comfort my people,” says your God.  “Speak kindly to Jerusalem, and tell her that her time of warfare is over, that her punishment is completed.  For the Lord has made her pay double for all her sins.”[20]  And Jeremiah had prophesied, The Lord God of Israel who rules over all says, “I will restore the people of Judah to their land and to their towns.  When I do, they will again say of Jerusalem, ‘May the Lord bless you, you holy mountain, the place where righteousness dwells.’”[21] 

“Indeed, a time is coming,” says the Lord, “when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and Judah.  It will not be like the old covenant that I made with their ancestors when I delivered them from Egypt.  For they violated that covenant, even though I was like a faithful husband to them,” says the Lord.  “But I will make a new covenant with the whole nation of Israel after I plant them back in the land,” says the Lord.  “I will put my law within them and write it on their hearts and minds.  I will be their God and they will be my people.

“People will no longer need to teach their neighbors and relatives to know me.  For all of them, from the least important to the most important, will know me,” says the Lord.  “For I will forgive their sin and will no longer call to mind the wrong they have done.”[22]

The quotation of this passage in the letter to the Hebrews reads, “And there will be no need at all for each one to teach his countryman or each one to teach his brother saying, ‘Know (γνῶθι, a form of γινώσκω)[23] the Lord,’ since they will all know (εἰδήσουσιν, a form of εἴδω)[24] me, from the least to the greatest.  For I will be merciful toward their evil deeds, and their sins I will remember no longer.”[25]

To Know the Lord is how Jesus defined eternal life: Now this is eternal life – that they know (γινώσκωσιν, another form of γινώσκω) you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you sent.[26]  When Jesus asked Thomas, “Have you believed because you have seen (ἑώρακας, a form of ὁράω)[27] me?” He pronounced a blessing on those who believed without seeing: “Blessed are the people who have not seen (ἰδόντες, another form of εἴδω) and yet have believed.”[28]  But He did not indicate that Thomas or anyone who knew Him by seeing, knew Him any the less for seeing Him: they will all know (εἰδήσουσιν, a form of εἴδω)[29] me, from the least to the greatest.

The prophet Daniel had received and recorded this message from Gabriel: Seventy weeks have been determined concerning your people and your holy city to put an end to rebellion, to bring sin to completion, to atone for iniquity, to bring in perpetual righteousness, to seal up the prophetic vision, and to anoint a most holy place.  So know and understand: From the issuing of the command to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until an anointed one, a prince arrives, there will be a period of seven weeks and sixty-two weeks.[30]

If Daniel’s seventy weeks meant literal weeks then that time had long passed with no apparent fulfillment.  But if it meant seventy times seven years, that hope was still future to the rabbis who translated the Septuagint.  They lived in interesting times, after the people of Judah had been restored to their land and to their towns as The Lord God of Israel had promised.  It would be natural for them to assume, that [Jerusalem’s] time of warfare is over, that her punishment is completed, and that they looked forward to a new covenant and the coming of an anointed one.  It is not too difficult to see why the Rabbis saw that fearful thing the Lord was doing as θαυμαστά rather than φοβηθεῖσα or some other form of φοβέω.

But when the Anointed One appeared, speaking in parables, continuing Isaiah’s ministry of condemnation and death even as He inaugurated the New Covenant by his own death and resurrection, most in Israel did not pivot quickly in faith.  They didn’t recognize that their time of punishment was not yet complete, or that Jerusalem was about to be destroyed again, to pay double for all her sins.  And I don’t write this to blame them for it, but to learn from their mistakes.

I, too, didn’t understand faith[31] as “listening attentively”[32] to the Holy Spirit, remaining open and flexible and conformable to his teaching.  I thought faith was a kind of rigidity, an unwillingness to be persuaded by anything I hadn’t heard before.  And as far as I can tell, the word before meant some arbitrary time in an individual’s past or, worse, a particular period in church history.  (And I say worse because it indicates that one never even tried to “listen attentively” to the living God but only to the opinions of dead men.)

Jesus told the chief priests and the Pharisees[33] a parable about a landowner who planted a vineyard and leased it to tenant farmers.[34]  When the landowner sent his slaves to collect his fruit[35] (καρποὺς[36] αὐτοῦ[37]) from his vineyard, the tenants beat and killed them.  Finally he sent his son to them, saying, “They will respect my son.”  But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, “This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him and get his inheritance!”  So they seized him, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him.[38]

Jesus asked them what they thought the landowner would do with those tenants.  They said to him, “He will utterly destroy those evil men!  Then he will lease the vineyard to other tenants who will give him”[39] this fruit (τοὺς[40] καρποὺς).  Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the scriptures: ‘The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. This is from the Lord, and it is marvelous (θαυμαστὴ, a form of θαυμαστός, also in the Septuagint) in our eyes’?”[41]

For this reason I tell you, Jesus continued, that the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit (καρποὺς αὐτῆς).[42]  When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they realized that he was speaking about them.  They wanted to arrest him, but they were afraid of the crowds, because the crowds regarded him as a prophet.[43]  All the people among whom you live will see the work of the Lord, for it is a fearful thing that I am doing with you, He promised Moses.

Still, I must consider that Jesus’ expectation for the Gentile churches was that they would be that people who will produce the fruit of the kingdom of God, the fruit of his Spirit, because if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, this person does not belong to him.[44]  But in the definition of καρποὺς in the NET online Bible the fruit of the Spirit is not even mentioned, except perhaps obliquely: “2) that which originates or comes from something, an effect, result.”

What is specified however is this: “is used in fig. discourse of those who by their labours have fitted souls to obtain eternal life.” So while there is no direct mention of Jesus’ stated reason for taking the kingdom of God away from the chief priests and Pharisees to give it to another people, “those who by their labours have fitted souls to obtain eternal life” is spelled out in detail and attached to the word καρποὺς (fruit).  But if the fruit of the kingdom of God is nothing more than the works of “those who by their labours have fitted souls to obtain eternal life” there was no cause to seek another people.  The chief priests and Pharisees were already far more advanced down that road than any others.

I am the Lord!  That is my name!  I will not share my glory with anyone else,[45] He told Isaiah.  All the people among whom you live will see the work of the Lord, for it is a fearful thing that I am doing with you, He said to Moses.  Paul preached the Gospel in the power of the Spirit of God.  And he watched with a profound gratitude mixed with great sorrow and unceasing anguish[46] as—The sexually immoral, idolaters, adulterers, passive homosexual partners, practicing homosexuals, thieves, the greedy, drunkards, the verbally abusive, and swindlers[47]—heard his message and entered the kingdom of God while his own people judged themselves unworthy of eternal life[48] (καὶ οὐκ ἀξίους κρίνετε ἑαυτοὺς τῆς αἰωνίου ζωῆς) in Paul’s words.  After he had wrestled with these things he wrote (Romans 11:20-22, 25-36 NET):

They were broken off because of their unbelief, but you stand by faith.  Do not be arrogant, but fear (φοβοῦ, a form of φοβέω)!  For if God did not spare the natural branches, perhaps he will not spare you.  Notice therefore the kindness and harshness of God – harshness toward those who have fallen, but God’s kindness toward you, provided you continue in his kindness; otherwise you also will be cut off.

For I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers and sisters, so that you may not be conceited: A partial hardening has happened to Israel until the full number of the Gentiles has come in.  And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written: “The Deliverer will come out of Zion; he will remove ungodliness from Jacob.   And this is my covenant with them, when I take away their sins.”

In regard to the gospel they are enemies for your sake, but in regard to election they are dearly loved for the sake of the fathers.  For the gifts and the call of God are irrevocable.  Just as you were formerly disobedient to God, but have now received mercy due to their disobedience, so they too have now been disobedient in order that, by the mercy shown to you, they too may now receive mercy.  For God has consigned all people to disobedience so that he may show mercy to them all.

Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God!  How unsearchable are his judgments and how fathomless his ways!  For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor?  Or who has first given to God, that God needs to repay him?  For from him and through him and to him are all things.  To him be glory forever!  Amen.

Fear – Exodus, Part 9

Back to Romans, Part 70

[3] Revelation 15:2 (NET)

[5] Revelation 15:3 (NET)

[6] Revelation 15:1 (NET)

[8] Isaiah 1:21a (NET)

[9] Isaiah 1:1 (NET)

[10] Isaiah 1:21b (NET)

[11] Isaiah 1:23 (NET)

[12] Romans 13:10 (NET)

[13] Isaiah 1:24-26 (NET)

[14] Exodus 34:10b (NET)

[16] Isaiah 6:8 (NET)

[17] Isaiah 6:9, 10 (NET)

[18] Isaiah 6:11a (NET)

[19] Isaiah 6:11b-13a (NET)

[20] Isaiah 40:1, 2 (NET)

[21] Jeremiah 31:23 (NET)

[22] Jeremiah 31:31-34 (NET)

[25] Hebrews 8:11, 12 (NET)

[26] John 17:3 (NET)

[28] John 20:29 (NET)

[33] Matthew 21:45 (NET)

[34] Matthew 21:33 (NET)

[38] Matthew 21:37-39 (NET)

[39] Matthew 21:41 (NET)

[41] Matthew 21:42 (NET)

[42] Matthew 21:43 (NET)

[43] Matthew 21:45, 46 (NET)

[44] Romans 8:9b (NET)

[45] Isaiah 42:8a (NET)

[46] Romans 9:2 (NET)

[47] 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 (NET)

The Two Covenants

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After the incident with the golden calf, after Yahweh relented over the evil that he had said he would do to his people[1] honoring the covenant they violated, after He spoke his long name to Moses, He revealed a revised covenant.  It was similar to the original covenant that ended with the worship of the golden calf, when the people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play.[2]  But it was different, too, in some remarkable ways.  What I have called the preamble to the two covenants is contrasted below.

The Two Covenants

Preamble

Before the Golden Calf

After the Golden Calf
Moses went up to God, and the Lord called to him from the mountain, “Thus you will tell the house of Jacob, and declare to the people of Israel: ‘You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt and how I lifted you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself.

Exodus 19:3, 4 (NET)

 Moses quickly bowed to the ground and worshiped and said, “If now I have found favor in your sight, O Lord, let my Lord go among us, for we are a stiff-necked people; pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for your inheritance.”

Exodus 34:8, 9 (NET)
‘And now, if you will diligently listen to me and keep my covenant, then you will be my special possession out of all the nations, for all the earth is mine, and you will be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’  These are the words that you will speak to the Israelites.”

Exodus 19:5, 6 (NET)

 [The Lord] said, “See, I am going to make a covenant before all your people.  I will do wonders such as have not been done in all the earth, nor in any nation.  All the people among whom you live will see the work of the Lord, for it is a fearful thing that I am doing with you.

Exodus 34:10 (NET)

Before the golden calf Moses went up to God like a victor receiving a crown.  You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt, the Lord instructed him to say to the Israelites, and how I lifted you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself.  After the golden calf Moses quickly bowed to the ground and worshiped and said, “If now I have found favor in your sight, O Lord, let my Lord go among us, for we are a stiff-necked people; pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for your inheritance.”  How reminiscent this is of the righteous prayer: God, be merciful to me, sinner that I am![3]

Before the golden calf the covenant was expressed conditionally, if you will diligently listen to me and keep my covenant, then you will be my special possession out of all the nations, for all the earth is mine, and you will be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.  But afterward it is simply a unilateral declaration: I am going to make a covenant before all your people.  I will do wonders such as have not been done in all the earth, nor in any nation.  All the people among whom you live will see the work of the Lord, for it is a fearful (yârêʼ) thing that I am doing with you.

The Ten Commandments were part of both covenants.  It was part of the first covenant because Exodus 20 is after the preamble in Exodus 19 and before the inauguration of the covenant in Exodus 24.  Moses came and told the people all the Lord’s words and all the decisions.  All the people answered together, “We are willing to do all the words (dabar, הדברים) that the Lord has said,” and Moses wrote down all the words of the Lord.[4]  So Moses took the blood and splashed it on the people and said, “This is the blood of the covenant that the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words (dabar, as above).”[5]  They were part of the next covenant because, The Lord said to Moses, “Write down these words (dabar, הדברים), for in accordance with these words (dabar, הדברים) I have made a covenant with you and with Israel….”  He wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant, the ten commandments (dabar, as above).[6]

I borrowed the subject headings from the NET to list the sections of law that were removed from the revised covenant.

The Two Covenants

Before the Golden Calf

After the Golden Calf
Hebrew Servants: Exodus 21:2-11
Personal Injuries: Exodus 21:12-27
Laws About Animals: Exodus 21:28-36
Laws About Property: Exodus 22:1-15
Justice: Exodus 23:1-9

They were still law.  They still offer knowledge of sin.  That sin however did not jeopardize the covenant.  Perhaps the most significant omission for the purposes of this essay was in the section labeled “Moral and Ceremonial Laws,” Whoever sacrifices to a god other than the Lord alone must be utterly destroyed.[7]  I think all of this will become clearer with its revision at the end of the section labeled “The Angel of the Presence.”

The Two Covenants

The Angel of the Presence

Before the Golden Calf

After the Golden Calf
“I am going to send an angel before you to protect you as you journey and to bring you into the place that I have prepared.  Take heed because of him, and obey his voice; do not rebel against him, for he will not pardon your transgressions, for my name is in him.

Exodus 23:20, 21 (NET)

There is no mention in the revised covenant of an angel who will not pardon [their] transgressions.

The Two Covenants

The Angel of the Presence

Before the Golden Calf

After the Golden Calf
“But if you diligently obey [the angel] and do all that I command, then I will be an enemy to your enemies, and I will be an adversary to your adversaries.

Exodus 23:22 (NET)

 “Obey what I am commanding you this day.

Exodus 34:11a (NET)
“For my angel will go before you and bring you to the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Canaanites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, and I will destroy them completely.

Exodus 23:23 (NET)

 “I am going to drive out before you the Amorite, the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite.

Exodus 34:11b (NET)

The contingent statement—if you diligently obey the angel [who will not pardon your transgressions] and do all that I command, then I will be an enemy to your enemies, and I will be an adversary to your adversaries—was replaced by a simple imperative—Obey what I am commanding you this day.  The sense of this becomes clearer in the next statement where the typical covenant language, “if you do this I will do that,” was replaced by a unilateral declarative, I am going to drive out before you the Amorite, the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite.

The Two Covenants

The Angel of the Presence

Before the Golden Calf

After the Golden Calf
“You must not bow down to their gods; you must not serve them or do according to their practices.  Instead you must completely overthrow them and smash their standing stones to pieces.

Exodus 23:24 (NET) Table

 “Be careful not to make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land where you are going, lest it become a snare among you.  Rather you must destroy their altars, smash their images, and cut down their Asherah poles.

Exodus 34:12, 13 (NET)

Knowing what they would do beforehand, the Lord amended—You must not bow down to their gods; you must not serve them or do according to their practices—to read—Be careful not to make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land where you are going, lest it become a snare among you.  The provision to destroy their altars, smash their images, and cut down their Asherah poles, though more explicit, was left essentially intact.

The Two Covenants

The Angel of the Presence

Before the Golden Calf

After the Golden Calf
You must serve the Lord your God, and he will bless your bread and your water, and I will remove sickness from your midst.  No woman will miscarry her young or be barren in your land.  I will fulfill the number of your days.I will send my terror before you, and I will destroy all the people whom you encounter; I will make all your enemies turn their backs to you.  I will send hornets before you that will drive out the Hivite, the Canaanite, and the Hittite before you.  I will not drive them out before you in one year, lest the land become desolate and the wild animals multiply against you.  Little by little I will drive them out before you, until you become fruitful and inherit the land.  I will set your boundaries from the Red Sea   to the sea of the Philistines, and from the desert to the River, for I will deliver the inhabitants of the land into your hand, and you will drive them out before you.

Exodus 23:25-31 (NET)

 For you must not worship any other god, for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God.

Exodus 34:14 (NET)

Here, You must serve the Lord your God and the list of contingent blessings was revised to read, For you must not worship any other god, for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God.

The Two Covenants

The Angel of the Presence

Before the Golden Calf

After the Golden Calf
“You must make no covenant with them or with their gods.  They must not live in your land, lest they make you sin against me, for if you serve their gods, it will surely be a snare to you.”

Exodus 23:32, 33 (NET)

 “Be careful not to make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, for when they prostitute themselves to their gods and sacrifice to their gods, and someone invites you, you will eat from his sacrifice; and you then take his daughters for your sons, and when his daughters prostitute themselves to their gods, they will make your sons prostitute themselves to their gods as well.  You must not make yourselves molten gods.

Exodus 34:15-17 (NET)

The revised language of this new covenant is startlingly similar to the Lord’s words to Peter:  I tell you, Peter, the rooster will not crow today until you have denied three times that you know me.[8]  [W]hen they prostitute themselves to their gods and sacrifice to their gods, and someone invites you, you will eat from his sacrifice; and you then take his daughters for your sons, and when his daughters prostitute themselves to their gods, they will make your sons prostitute themselves to their gods as well.  And once you see all of this, it is as if He had said, when you see that it happens as I have said, When you have turned back, strengthen your brothers,[9] or, You must not make yourselves molten gods.

And while I think it is perfectly clear that this language is a revision of Exodus 23:32 and 33, it also seems clear that it is the only language that comes close to replacing the covenant-ending—Whoever sacrifices to a god other than the Lord alone must be utterly destroyed—which, as I said previously, was left out of the revised covenant.

The Two Covenants

Moral and Ceremonial Laws

Before the Golden Calf

After the Golden Calf
“If a man seduces a virgin who is not engaged and has sexual relations with her, he must surely endow her to be his wife.  If her father refuses to give her to him, he must pay money for the bride price of virgins.“You must not allow a sorceress to live.

“Whoever has sexual relations with a beast must surely be put to death.

“Whoever sacrifices to a god other than the Lord alone must be utterly destroyed.

“You must not wrong a foreigner nor oppress him, for you were foreigners in the land of Egypt.

“You must not afflict any widow or orphan.  If you afflict them in any way and they cry to me, I will surely hear their cry, and my anger will burn and I will kill you with the sword, and your wives will be widows and your children will be fatherless.

“If you lend money to any of my people who are needy among you, do not be like a moneylender to him; do not charge him interest.  If you do take the garment of your neighbor in pledge, you must return it to him by the time the sun goes down, for it is his only covering – it is his garment for his body. What else can he sleep in?  And when he cries out to me, I will hear, for I am gracious.

“You must not blaspheme God or curse the ruler of your people.

“Do not hold back offerings from your granaries or your vats.

Exodus 22:16-29a (NET)

It is perhaps worth noting that in the revised covenant (below) it is made explicit that firstborn sons are to be redeemed and not sacrificed to the Lord.

The Two Covenants

Moral and Ceremonial Laws

Before the Golden Calf

After the Golden Calf
“You must give me the firstborn of your sons.  You must also do this for your oxen and for your sheep; seven days they may remain with their mothers, but give them to me on the eighth day.

Exodus 22:29b, 30 (NET)

 “Every firstborn of the womb belongs to me, even every firstborn of your cattle that is a male, whether ox or sheep.  Now the firstling of a donkey you may redeem with a lamb, but if you do not redeem it, then break its neck.  You must redeem all the firstborn of your sons.

Exodus 34:19, 20a (NET)
“You will be holy people to me; you must not eat any meat torn by animals in the field. You must throw it to the dogs.

Exodus 22:31 (NET)

I’ll let the rest of these contrasts stand without comment.

The Two Covenants

Sabbaths and Feasts

Before the Golden Calf

After the Golden Calf
“For six years you are to sow your land and gather in its produce.  But in the seventh year you must let it lie fallow and leave it alone so that the poor of your people may eat, and what they leave any animal in the field may eat; you must do likewise with your vineyard and your olive grove.

Exodus 23:10, 11 (NET)
“For six days you are to do your work, but on the seventh day you must cease, in order that your ox and your donkey may rest and that your female servant’s son and any hired help may refresh themselves.

Exodus 23:12 (NET)

 “On six days you may labor, but on the seventh day you must rest; even at the time of plowing and of harvest you are to rest.

Exodus 34:21 (NET)
“Pay attention to do everything I have told you, and do not even mention the names of other gods – do not let them be heard on your lips.

Exodus 23:13 (NET)
“Three times in the year you must make a pilgrim feast to me.  You are to observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread; seven days you must eat bread made without yeast, as I commanded you, at the appointed time of the month of Abib, for at that time you came out of Egypt.  No one may appear before me empty-handed.

“You are also to observe the Feast of Harvest, the firstfruits of your labors that you have sown in the field, and the Feast of Ingathering at the end of the year when you have gathered in your harvest out of the field.  At three times in the year all your males will appear before the Lord God.

Exodus 23:14-17 (NET)

 “You must keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread.  For seven days you must eat bread made without yeast, as   I commanded you; do this at the appointed time of the month Abib, for in the month Abib you came out of Egypt.

Exodus 34:18 (NET)

“No one will appear before me empty-handed.

Exodus 34”20b (NET)

“You must observe the Feast of Weeks – the firstfruits of the harvest of wheat – and the Feast of Ingathering at the end of the year.  At three times in the year all your men must appear before the Lord God, the God of Israel.  For I will drive out the nations before you and enlarge your borders; no one will covet your land when you go up to appear before the Lord your God three times in the year.

Exodus 34:22-24 (NET)
“You must not offer the blood of my sacrifice with bread containing yeast; the fat of my festal sacrifice must not remain until morning.  The first of the firstfruits of your soil you must bring to the house of the Lord your God.

“You must not cook a young goat in its mother’s milk.

Exodus 23:18, 19 (NET)

 “You must not offer the blood of my sacrifice with yeast; the sacrifice from the feast of Passover must not remain until the following morning.

“The first of the firstfruits of your soil you must bring to the house of the Lord your God.  You must not cook a young goat in its mother’s milk.”

Exodus 34:25, 26 (NET)

[1] Exodus 32:14 (NET)

[2] 1 Corinthians 10:7 (NET)

[3] Luke 18:13 (NET)

[4] Exodus 24:3, 4a (NET)

[5] Exodus 24:8 (NET)

[6] Exodus 34:27, 28 (NET)

[7] Exodus 22:20 (NET)

[8] Luke 22:34 (NET) Table

[9] Luke 22:32 (NET) Table

Throwing Their Weight Around

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While studying the gift of contributing I came across something in 1 Thessalonians that troubled me.  I had to look into it further.  The translation—although we could have imposed our weight as apostles of Christ; instead we became little children among you[1]—seemed oddly religious to me.  It implied that ordinarily the apostles of Christ threw their weight around, but Paul and his associates behaved out of the ordinary in Thessalonica by becoming little children.  Truly, then as now, religious leaders throw their weight around at times.  But if Paul thought that δυνάμενοι ἐν βάρει εἶναι ὡς Χριστοῦ ἀπόστολοι (having power [or, able] in weight [or, burden] we are as Christ’s apostles) meant that he was empowered by Christ to throw his weight around, he was clearly wrong.

Jesus warned us to be wary of such people (Mark 12:38, 39 NET).

Watch out for the experts in the law.  They like walking around in long robes and elaborate greetings in the marketplaces, and the best seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at banquets.

And again (Luke 20:46 NET):

Beware of the experts in the law.  They like walking around in long robes, and they love (φιλούντων, a form of φιλέω)[2] elaborate greetings in the marketplaces and the best seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at banquets.

Paul seemed aware of this when he characterized the behavior of the false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ:[3]  For you put up with it if someone makes slaves of you, he wrote, if someone exploits you, if someone takes advantage of you, if someone behaves arrogantly toward you, if someone strikes you in the face. (To my disgrace, he wrote facetiously, I must say that we were too weak [ἠσθενήκαμεν, a form of ἀσθενέω][4] for that!)[5]  Paul’s facetious use of ἠσθενήκαμεν here referred back to what some in Corinth were saying about him: His letters are weighty and forceful, but his physical presence is weak (ἀσθενὴς)[6] and his speech is of no account.[7]  Apparently they mistook love, patience and kindness for weakness.

Apostles were empowered however by the word of Christ to receive their necessary provisions, presumably from God through the gift of contributing to one or more of the people to whom they ministered; the worker deserves his provisions, the Lord said (Matthew 10:8-11 NET):

Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, cast out demons.  Freely you received, freely give.  Do not take gold, silver, or copper in your belts, no bag for the journey, or an extra tunic, or sandals or staff, for the worker deserves his provisions.  Whenever you enter a town or village, find out who is worthy there and stay with them until you leave.

The word translated weight in although we could have imposed our weight as apostles of Christ is βάρει, a form of βάρος.[8]  βάρει was only used once.  βάρος, and another form βάρη, and their translations in the NET are listed below.

These last fellows worked one hour, and you have made them equal to us who bore the hardship (βάρος) and burning heat of the day.

Matthew 20:12 (NET)
For it seemed best to the Holy Spirit and to us not to place any greater burden (βάρος) on you than these necessary rules…

Acts 15:28 (NET) Table
For our momentary, light suffering is producing for us an eternal weight (βάρος) of glory far beyond all comparison…

2 Corinthians 4:17 (NET)
Carry one another’s burdens (βάρη, another form of βάρος), and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.

Galatians 6:2 (NET)
But to the rest of you in Thyatira, all who do not hold to this teaching (who have not learned the so-called “deep secrets of Satan”), to you I say: I do not put any additional burden (βάρος) on you.

Revelation 2:24 (NET)

Had the word been translated hardship or burden it would have hearkened back to Paul’s more sarcastic and facetious remarks to the Corinthians (2 Corinthians 12:13-15a NET):

For how were you treated worse than the other churches, except that I myself was not a burden (κατενάρκησα, a form of καταναρκάω)[9] to you?  Forgive me this injustice!  Look, for the third time I am ready to come to you, and I will not be a burden (καταναρκήσω, another form of καταναρκάω) to you, because I do not want your possessions, but you.  For children should not have to save up for their parents, but parents for their children.  Now I will most gladly spend and be spent for your lives!

Though the words are different, the concepts are quite similar.  To the Corinthians Paul and his associates were parents who save up and spend for their children (τέκνοις, a form of τέκνον).[10]  To the Thessalonians they were like a nursing mother caring for her own children (τέκνα, another form of τέκνον), with such affection for you we were happy to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own lives, because you had become dear to us.[11]  They treated the Thessalonians as a father treats his own children (τέκνα, another form of τέκνον).[12]

I have not burdened (κατεβάρησα, a form of καταβαρέω)[13] you, Paul continued to address the Corinthians in his second letter.  Yet because I was a crafty person, he wrote facetiously, I took you in by deceit!  I have not taken advantage of you through anyone I have sent to you, have I? he invited them to contradict him.  I urged Titus to visit you and I sent our brother along with him.  Titus did not take advantage of you, did he?  Did we not conduct ourselves in the same spirit?  Did we not behave in the same way?[14]

For you recall, brothers and sisters, Paul continued to address the Thessalonians in his first letter, our toil and drudgery: By working night and day so as not to impose a burden (ἐπιβαρῆσαι, a form of ἐπιβαρέω)[15] on any of you, we preached to you the gospel of God.  You are witnesses, and so is God, as to how holy and righteous and blameless our conduct was toward you who believe.[16]

Earlier Paul had written the Corinthians (1 Corinthians 9:4, 7-12 NET)

Do we not have the right to financial support?…Who ever serves in the army at his own expense?  Who plants a vineyard and does not eat its fruit?  Who tends a flock and does not consume its milk?  Am I saying these things only on the basis of common sense, or does the law not say this as well?  For it is written in the law of Moses, “Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain.”  God is not concerned here about oxen, is he?  Or is he not surely speaking for our benefit?  It was written for us, because the one plowing and threshing ought to work in hope of enjoying the harvest.  If we sowed spiritual blessings among you, is it too much to reap material things from you?  If others receive this right from you, are we not more deserving?  But we have not made use of this right.  Instead we endure everything so that we may not be a hindrance to the gospel of Christ.

The translators of the NET probably know all of this as well, if not better, than I do.  The problem comes, I think, from translating the conjunction ἀλλὰ as instead in this instance, contrasting the two clauses:  although we could have imposed our weight as apostles of Christ; instead (ἀλλὰ)[17] we became little children among you.  What possible contrast could we became little children among you provide to being a burden financially?

Such a contrast makes little sense whether the disputed word νήπιοι (a form of νήπιος)[18] (little children, infants) or ἤπιοι (a form of ἤπιος;[19] gentle) is selected.  I do think the NET translators were right to prefer νήπιοι.[20]  And the mere possibility that one might tease the apostles throwing their weight around out of the Greek here sounds like double entendre.  It alerts my ear to Paul’s facetiousness and hyperbole.  So I consider ἀλλὰ to be magnifying or amplifying the prior clause (yea, moreover) rather than setting up a contrast.

In 2 Corinthians 7:11 (NET), for instance, the Net translators either left ἀλλὰ out of this kind of amplification or translated it what: For see what this very thing, this sadness as God intended, has produced in you: what eagerness, (ἀλλὰ) what defense of yourselves, (ἀλλὰ) what indignation, (ἀλλὰ) what alarm, (ἀλλὰ) what longing, (ἀλλὰ) what deep concern, (ἀλλὰ) what punishment!  If I apply something similar to 1 Thessalonians 2:7 I get a translation like, “Empowered to be burdensome as Christ’s apostles, yea, we became infants[21] in your midst!”

The actual contrast came next, not unlike the rebuttal of 2 Corinthians 12:16b—Yet (ἀλλὰ) because I was a crafty person, I took you in by deceit!—in verse 17—I have not taken advantage of you through anyone I have sent to you….  Paul and his associates did not become infants suckling at the breast of the Thessalonian church; they were the nursing mother suckling the church, not because believers in Thessalonica were a burden, but because with such affection for you we were happy to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own lives, because you had become dear to us.[22]

Understood this way, the ordinary situation of the apostles of Christ is that the worker deserves his provisions, as Jesus put it, or to be a burden (κατενάρκησα, a form of καταβαρέω) on the church financially, as Paul implied.[23]  The extraordinary circumstance by contrast was to preach the gospel free of charge (1 Corinthians 9:13-18 NET)

Don’t you know that those who serve in the temple eat food from the temple, and those who serve at the altar receive a part of the offerings?  In the same way the Lord commanded those who proclaim the gospel to receive their living by the gospel.  But I have not used any of these rights.  And I am not writing these things so that something will be done for me.  In fact, it would be better for me to die than – no one will deprive me of my reason for boasting!  For if I preach the gospel, I have no reason for boasting, because I am compelled to do this.  Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel!  For if I do this voluntarily, I have a reward (μισθὸν, a form of μισθός)[24].  But if I do it unwillingly, I am entrusted with a responsibility.  What then is my reward (μισθός)?  That when I preach the gospel I may offer the gospel free of charge, and so not make full use of my rights in the gospel.

Another consequence of viewing it this way, however, is that Paul might have taken another little gibe at Peter and James (implying that they were like suckling infants) similar to the gibe he took in his first letter to the Corinthians (though not so whiny):  Do we not have the right to the company of a believing wife, like the other apostles and the Lord’s brothers and Cephas?  Or do only Barnabas and I lack the right not to work?[25]

Back to Fear – Numbers, Part 1

[1] 1 Thessalonians 2:7a (NET)

[3] 2 Corinthians 11:13 (NET)

[5] 2 Corinthians 11:20, 21a (NET)

[7] 2 Corinthians 10:10 (NET)

[11] 1 Thessalonians 2:7b, 8 (NET)

[12] 1 Thessalonians 2:11b (NET)

[14] 2 Corinthians 12:16-18 (NET)

[16] 1 Thessalonians 2:9, 10 (NET)

[19] And the Lord’s slave must not engage in heated disputes but be kind (ἤπιον, another form of ἤπιος) toward all, an apt teacher, patient, correcting opponents with gentleness. (2 Timothy 2:24, 25a NET)

[20] Note from NET: “The variant ἤπιοι (hpioi, ‘gentle’) has fair support (א2 A C2 D2 Ψc 0278 33 1739 1881 Ï), but νήπιοι (nhpioi, ‘little children’) has significantly stronger backing (Ì65 א* B C* D* F G I Ψ* pc it bo). It is not insignificant that the earliest Alexandrian and Western witnesses in support of ἤπιοι are actually not Alexandrian or Western; they are the second correctors of Alexandrian and Western mss. Such correctors generally follow a Byzantine Vorlage. The reading νήπιοι is thus superior externally. Further, νήπιοι is much harder in this context, for Paul mixes his metaphors (“we became little children in your midst…Like a nursing mother…”). Thus, the scribes would naturally alter this reading to the softer ἤπιοι (‘we became gentle…’). Paul is not known for his consistency of figures, however (cf., e.g., Gal 4:19); hence, the intrinsic evidence points to νήπιοι as original. On the other hand, it is possible that νήπιοι was caused by dittography with the preceding -μεν (-men). It is even possible that νήπιοι was caused by an error of hearing right from the beginning: The amanuensis could have heard the apostle incorrectly. But such a supposition cuts both ways; further, Paul would no doubt have corrected the reading in the ms before it was sent out. If so, one would surely have expected both earlier witnesses on the side of ἤπιοι and perhaps a few first correctors to have this reading. The reading ‘little children’ thus stands as most probably original. (For an extended discussion of this problem, see J. A. D. Weima, ‘“But We Became Infants Among You”: The Case for NHPIOI in 1 Thess 2.7,’ NTS 46 [2000]: 547-64; T. B. Sailors, ‘Wedding Textual and Rhetorical Criticism to Understand the Text of 1 Thessalonians 2.7,’ JSNT 80 [2000]: 81-98.)”

[21] νήπιοι, the same word as, I could not speak to you as spiritual people, but instead as people of the flesh,  as infants (νηπίοις) in Christ (1 Corinthians 3:1 NET).

[22] 1 Thessalonians 2:8 (NET)

[23] 2 Corinthians 12:13 (NET)

[25] 1 Corinthians 9:5, 6 (NET)

Condemnation or Judgment? – Part 2

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I am no more accustomed to taking Jesus’ criteria of judgment between the sheep and the goats in Matthew 25 ‎literally than anyone else socialized into my religion.  My first doubt appeared in the form of a “rational” conclusion: “Then it would make more sense to pursue the lesser path—to give food, drink and clothing to Jesus’ brothers and sisters, to show them hospitality, visit them when sick or in prison—rather than the greater path—to hear Jesus’ message and believe the One who sent Him.”[1]  The unstated assumption of that conclusion is that my goal is to escape[2] an eternity in hell rather than to know[3] God and glorify Him.

Of course, who is to say that the person who believed Jesus’ teaching enough today to start giving food, drink and clothing to his brothers and sisters, to show them hospitality, or visit them when sick or in prison, wouldn’t begin to hear his message and believe the One who sent Him tomorrow?  A question followed:  If I take the criteria of judgment between the sheep and the goats in Matthew 25 literally, what is all the hell talk in the Bible about?  I don’t know the answer to that but it’s something I can study along with the other instances of κρίσεως.

“Do not go to Gentile regions and do not enter any Samaritan town,” Jesus told Simon (called Peter), and Andrew his brother; James son of Zebedee and John his brother; Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; Simon the Zealot and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.[4]  “Go instead to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.  As you go, preach this message: ‘The kingdom of heaven is near!’  Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, cast out demons.  Freely you received, freely give.”[5]

And if anyone will not welcome you or listen to your message, Jesus continued, shake the dust off your feet as you leave that house or that town.  I tell you the truth, it will be more bearable for the region of Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment (ἐν[6] ἡμέρᾳ[7] κρίσεως[8]) than for that town![9]

When I thought of justice as essentially the equitable distribution of punishment for sin I assumed that more bearable meant less condemned, a more bearable place in hell, less heat, less torture or something.  Romans 11 and Ezekiel 16[10] have given me cause to consider that God’s sense of justice goes well beyond the equitable distribution of punishment for sin (Matthew 10:40-42 NET).

Whoever receives you receives me, and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me.  Whoever receives a prophet in the name of a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward (μισθὸν, a form of μισθός).[11] Whoever receives a righteous person in the name of a righteous person will receive a righteous person’s reward (μισθὸν, a form of μισθός).  And whoever gives only a cup of cold water to one of these little ones in the name of a disciple, I tell you the truth, he will never lose his reward (μισθὸν, a form of μισθός).

I’m not sure what a prophet’s or a righteous person’s reward is.  The same word is used in Revelation, the time has come to give to your servants, the prophets, their reward (μισθὸν, a form of μισθός), as well as to the saints and to those who revere your name, both small and great…[12]  Can this μισθὸν (a form of μισθός) be received by those who receive a prophet in the name of a prophet, or those who receive a righteous person in the name of a righteous person, or those who give a cup of cold water to one of these little ones in the name of a disciple, in hell?  I don’t know.

The first mention of hell in the New Testament came not from the mouth of Jesus but from his cousin John the Baptist, when he saw many Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, “You offspring of vipers!  Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?[13]  I imagine this manner of address shocked men who liked walking around in long robes and elaborate greetings in the marketplaces, and the best seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at banquets.[14]

I didn’t understand this anger at Jewish religious leaders as a special circumstance.  I thought Jesus changed the rules on them, tightened up adultery and divorce, and loosened restrictions on ham and shellfish.  Yes, they were slow to adopt the new rules.  But I related to his anger in the sense that Peter expressed:  For it is time for judgment to begin, starting with the house of God.  And if it starts with us, what will be the fate of those who are disobedient to the gospel of God?  And if the righteous are barely saved, what will become of the ungodly and sinners?[15]

I assumed that if God had been angry like this with, and abusive to, Jewish religious leaders He was only that much more angry with me, though the abusive part didn’t always work out in practice, which was confusing.  But I knew even from English classes in public school that we were all “Sinner’s in the Hands of an Angry God,”[16] (if one were to believe in that sort of thing).  It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God,[17] the writer of Hebrews agreed.

Therefore produce fruit that proves your repentance, John the Baptist continued, and don’t think you can say to yourselves, “We have Abraham as our father.”  For I tell you that God can raise up children for Abraham from these stones![18]

I saw the relationship between Israel descended from Abraham and believers “born again” of Jesus Christ.  I made the connection between producing fruit and the fruit of the Spirit.  I had no intention of saying to myself, I have Jesus Christ for my father.  I knew God could raise up children for Jesus from stones.  I was ready to prove what I could do for God, first by keeping the law and later by producing the fruit of the Spirit.

I didn’t understand for many years that the fruit of the Spirit belonged to the Spirit, part of the glory of God.  I thought the “fruits” of the Spirit were things I did that the Spirit of God would approve of, or be pleased with.  For all practical purposes I became one of the Pharisees, not that I was ever any good at it.  I was never blameless according to the righteousness stipulated in the law. [19]

Even now the ax is laid at the root of the trees, John warned, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire. [20]

For years I prayed in Sunday worship services, For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever,[21] while I worked to rob God of his glory, striving (and failing) to achieve the fruit of his Spirit as if it were my own religious works.  And for years He worked to dissuade me of this error, while I persistently refused to believe Him.  Or I simply walked away in frustration, persuaded that “this whole religious thing was” futile (though I used a more scatological adjective than futile).  The primary reason I know that Love is patient and that love is kind, [22] is not Paul’s written words, but the way they resonated with the Lord’s patient labor to get through to me, and his kind persistence calling me back from my frustration.

I baptize you with water, for repentance, John the Baptist continued, but the one coming after me is more powerful than I am – I am not worthy to carry his sandals.  He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.[23]

Everything about my religion says to me that He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit or fire.  “Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ or burn in hell for all eternity.”  Yet I’ve heard no one with the courage to change or retranslate this particular conjunction καὶ.[24]  John the Baptist continued (Matthew 3:12 NET):

His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clean out his threshing floor and will gather his wheat into the storehouse, but the chaff he will burn up with inextinguishable fire.

Part of the original question read: “I don’t really like these verses because it’s like the verses about the sheep and the goats and the wheat and the tares.  It makes it seem like some people are going to be saved and others aren’t.  HOWEVER, couple it with Romans 7:14-20 and it seems to mean something else.  In Romans 7:20 ‘Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.’  Now that verse seems like a real cop out!  I’ve never understood it very well.  But it seems to be saying that that part of the person doing ‘evil’ is separate from the person himself or herself (maybe as far as east is from the west??).  So maybe John 5:28 and 29 can be talking about all us dead being raised and our ‘old selves’ get condemned and our ‘new selves’ live eternally with the Lord.”

I don’t know that I see that in John 5:28 and 29, but here in Matthew 3:11 and 12 it sounds more plausible.  What is the chaff after all but the body that housed the kernel of grain until it matured?  I’m not sure that it proves that Jesus will baptize [us] with the Holy Spirit and[25] fire but I will certainly remember it as an interesting interpretive theory.

“‘Tis everlasting wrath,” Jonathan Edwards wrote in his sermon, “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God.”[26]

It would be dreadful to suffer this fierceness and wrath of Almighty God one moment; but you must suffer it to all eternity: there will be no end to this exquisite horrible misery: When you look forward, you shall see a long forever, a boundless duration before you, which will swallow up your thoughts, and amaze your soul; and you will absolutely despair of ever having any deliverance, any end, any mitigation, any rest at all; you will know certainly that you must wear out long ages, millions of millions of ages, in wrestling and conflicting with this almighty merciless vengeance; and then when you have so done, when so many ages have actually been spent by you in this manner, you will know that all is but a point to what remains. So that your punishment will indeed be infinite.

Is this knowledge of God?  Or is it human conjecture?

“If it were only the wrath of man, tho’ it were of the most potent prince, it would be comparatively little to be regarded,” reads one of Edward’s arguments.  “The wrath of kings is very much dreaded, especially of absolute monarchs, that have the possessions and lives of their subjects wholly in their power, to be disposed of at their meer will….The subject that very much enrages an arbitrary prince, is liable to suffer the most extreme torments, that human art can invent or human power can inflict.  But the greatest earthly potentates, in their greatest majesty and strength, and when clothed in their greatest terrors, are but feeble despicable worms of the dust, in comparison of the great and almighty creator and king of heaven and earth…”

In other words, if an absolute monarch or arbitrary prince became a great torturer of the subjects who angered him, imagine how much greater God must be at devising and inflicting torture.  He quoted Jesus to bolster this argument: “And I say unto you my friends, be not afraid of them that kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do: But I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear; fear him, which after he hath killed, hath power to cast into hell; yea I say unto you, fear him.”

It seems fairly obvious to me, however, that Jesus’ point was not that God (or Jesus Himself[27]) is the superlative torturer, but that those friends who believed Him and lived and spoke in his name should not be afraid of the beatings, imprisonments and deaths they would face at the hands of earthly potentates, absolute monarchs or arbitrary princes (Luke 12:4-7 NET):

I tell you, my friends, do not be afraid (φοβηθῆτε, a form of φοβέω)[28] of those who kill the body, and after that have nothing more they can do.  But I will warn you whom you should fear (φοβηθῆτε, a form of φοβέω): Fear (φοβήθητε, another form of φοβέω) the one who, after the killing, has authority to throw you into hell.  Yes, I tell you, fear (φοβήθητε, another form of φοβέω) him!  Aren’t five sparrows sold for two pennies?  Yet not one of them is forgotten before God.  In fact, even the hairs on your head are all numbered.  Do not be afraid (φοβεῖσθε, another form of φοβέω); you are more valuable than many sparrows.

It is as if He said, take all your fear of man, compare it to your fear of God’s wrath and see that it is nothing, then do not be afraid because God cares for you: you are more valuable than many sparrows.  To Jonathan Edwards argument I contrast the knowledge of God revealed in Jesus’ command (Matthew 5:43-48 NET):

You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor’ and ‘hate your enemy.’  But I say to you, love your enemy and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be like your Father in heaven, since he causes the sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.  For if you love those who love you, what reward (μισθὸν, a form of μισθός) do you have?  Even the tax collectors do the same, don’t they?  And if you only greet your brothers, what more do you do?  Even the Gentiles do the same, don’t they?  So then, be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect [loving his enemies].

“God is a great deal more angry with great numbers that are now on earth, yea doubtless with many that are now in this congregation…than he is with many of those that are now in the flames of hell,” Jonathan Edward’s told religious-minded folk trusting in their own religion and good works.  But Jesus’ attitude was a bit different toward the same sort of people (Matthew 11:27-30 NET):

All things have been handed over to me by my Father.  No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son decides to reveal him.  Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke on you and learn from me, because I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy to bear, and my load is not hard to carry.

As a matter of thoroughness I want to include a comparison of Peter’s quotation from Proverbs 11:31 with the Septuagint.  The translation from contemporary Hebrew reads: If the righteous are recompensed on earth, how much more the wicked sinner![29]

Peter Blue Letter Bible (Septuagint) NET Bible (Greek parallel text)
if the righteous are barely saved, what will become of the ungodly and sinners?

1 Peter 4:18 (NET)

 εἰ ὁ μὲν[30] δίκαιος μόλις σῴζεται ὁ ἀσεβὴς καὶ ἁμαρτωλὸς ποῦ φανεῖται

Proverbs 11:31

 εἰ ὁ δίκαιος μόλις σῴζεται, ὁ ἀσεβὴς καὶ ἁμαρτωλὸς ποῦ φανεῖται

1 Peter 4:18

 

Addendum (7/19/2015): Jim Searcy has published that the Septuagint is a hoax written by Origen and Eusebius 200 hundred years after Christ.  “In fact, the Septuagint ‘quotes’ from the New Testament and not vice versa…”  His contention is that the “King James Version is the infallible Word of God.”  So, I’ll re-examine the quotations above with the KJV.

Peter KJV NET Bible (Greek parallel text)
And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?

1 Peter 4:18 (KJV)

 Behold, the righteous shall be recompensed in the earth: much more the wicked and the sinner.

Proverbs 11:31

 εἰ ὁ δίκαιος μόλις σῴζεται, ὁ ἀσεβὴς καὶ ἁμαρτωλὸς ποῦ φανεῖται

1 Peter 4:18

If the “King James Version is the infallible Word of God,” Peter interjected the idea of salvation (σῴζεται, a form of σώζω) into the Old Testament idea of earthly recompense.

[1] John 5:24 (NET)

[2] https://religiousmind.net/2013/02/09/you-must-be-gentle-part-3/

[3] https://religiousmind.net/2012/06/23/who-am-i-part-3/

[4] Matthew 10:2-4 (NET)

[5] Matthew 10:5-8 (NET)

[9] Matthew 10:14, 15 (NET)

[10] https://religiousmind.net/2013/05/02/romans-part-43/

[12] Revelation 11:18 (NET)

[13] Matthew 3:7 (NET)

[14] Mark 12:38b, 39 (NET)

[15] 1 Peter 4:17, 18 (NET)

[16] Jonathan Edwards, July 8, 1741  http://voicesofdemocracy.umd.edu/edwards-sinners-in-the-hands-speech-text/

[17] Hebrews 10:31 (NET)

[18] Matthew 3:8, 9 (NET)

[19] Philippians 3:6b (NET)

[20] Matthew 3:10 (NET)

[21] Matthew 6:13b (NKJV)  This has been removed from the NET: “Most mss (L W Θ 0233 Ë13 33 Ï sy sa Didache) read (though some with slight variation) ὅτι σοῦ ἐστιν ἡ βασιλεία καὶ ἡ δύναμις καὶ ἡ δόξα εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας, ἀμήν (‘for yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever, amen’) here. The reading without this sentence, though, is attested by generally better witnesses (א B D Z 0170 Ë1 pc lat mae Or). The phrase was probably composed for the liturgy of the early church and most likely was based on 1 Chr 29:11-13; a scribe probably added the phrase at this point in the text for use in public scripture reading (see TCGNT 13-14). Both external and internal evidence argue for the shorter reading.”

[22] 1 Corinthians 13:4a (NET)

[23] Matthew 3:11 (NET)

[25] NET note: “With the Holy Spirit and fire. There are differing interpretations for this phrase regarding the number of baptisms and their nature. (1) Some see one baptism here, and this can be divided further into two options. (a) The baptism of the Holy Spirit and fire could refer to the cleansing, purifying work of the Spirit in the individual believer through salvation and sanctification, or (b) it could refer to two different results of Christ’s ministry: Some accept Christ and are baptized with the Holy Spirit, but some reject him and receive judgment. (2) Other interpreters see two baptisms here: The baptism of the Holy Spirit refers to the salvation Jesus brings at his first advent, in which believers receive the Holy Spirit, and the baptism of fire refers to the judgment Jesus will bring upon the world at his second coming. One must take into account both the image of fire and whether individual or corporate baptism is in view. A decision is not easy on either issue. The image of fire is used to refer to both eternal judgment (e.g., Matt 25:41) and the power of the Lord’s presence to purge and cleanse his people (e.g., Isa 4:4-5). The pouring out of the Spirit at Pentecost, a fulfillment of this prophecy no matter which interpretation is taken, had both individual and corporate dimensions. It is possible that since Holy Spirit and fire are governed by a single preposition in Greek, the one-baptism view may be more likely, but this is not certain. Simply put, there is no consensus view in scholarship at this time on the best interpretation of this passage.”

[26] http://voicesofdemocracy.umd.edu/edwards-sinners-in-the-hands-speech-text/

[27] Furthermore, the Father does not judge anyone, but has assigned all judgment to the Son, so that all people will honor the Son just as they honor the Father.  The one who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him (John 5:22, 23 NET).

[29] Proverbs 11:31 (NET)

Romans, Part 47

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If [the gift] is contributing (μεταδιδοὺς, a form of μεταδίδωμι),[1] Paul continued to list the different gifts (χαρίσματα, a form of χάρισμα) we have according to the grace given to us,[2] he must do so with sincerity (ἁπλότητι, a form of ἁπλότης).[3]  In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar,[4] Luke recounted in his Gospel narrative, the word of God came to John the son of Zechariah in the wilderness.  He went into all the region around the Jordan River, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.[5]  He included what seems like a sample of John’s preaching to the crowds that came out to be baptized by him[6] (Luke 3:7-9 NET):

“You offspring of vipers!  Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?  Therefore produce fruit that proves your repentance, and don’t begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’  For I tell you that God can raise up children for Abraham from these stones!  Even now the ax is laid at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.”

In Mathew’s Gospel account however this tirade was ignited when John saw many Pharisees[7] and Sadducees[8] coming to his baptism,[9] the religious and political leaders at the time Jesus began his earthly ministry.  For I can testify that they are zealous for God, Paul wrote of at least his fellow Pharisees, but their zeal is not in line with the truth.  For ignoring the righteousness that comes from God, and seeking instead to establish their own righteousness, they did not submit to God’s righteousness.  For Christ is the end of the law, with the result that there is righteousness for everyone who believes.[10]

So the crowds were asking, Luke’s Gospel narrative continued, “What then should we do?”  John answered them, “The person who has two tunics must share (μεταδότω, another form of μεταδίδωμι) with the person who has none, and the person who has food must do likewise.”[11]  It is a beautiful contrast.  Those who ignored the righteousness that comes from God and sought instead to establish their own righteousness were given a rule and an ultimatum, “Share or be cut down and thrown into the fire!”  Those who receive the Lord Jesus, the righteousness that comes from God, are given a gift of contributing, to make Israel jealous.[12]

The one who steals must steal no longer, Paul wrote the church at Ephesus, rather he must labor, doing good with his own hands, so that he may have something to share (μεταδιδόναι, another form of μεταδίδωμι) with the one who has need.[13]  There is an implicit assumption here that the believing thief in Ephesus would have the gift of contributing, and that he should acquire something to satisfy that God-given desire to share by doing good with his own hands rather than stealing from others.  That this gift of contributing comes from God was very important to Paul (1 Thessalonians 2:3-5 NET).

For the appeal (παράκλησις)[14] we make does not come from error or impurity or with deceit, but just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we declare it, not to please people but God, who examines our hearts.  For we never appeared with flattering speech, as you know, nor with a pretext for greed – God is our witness…

This appeal Paul mentioned (literally, exhortation) is nothing less than the ministry of reconciliation: all these things are from God, Paul wrote the Corinthians, who reconciled us to himself through Christ, and who has given us the ministry of reconciliation.  In other words, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting people’s trespasses against them, and he has given us the message of reconciliation.  Therefore we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making His plea through us.  We plead with you on Christ’s behalf, “Be reconciled to God!”[15]

For Paul to accept financial support (even food and shelter) from anyone, he needed to know that that gift came from God through the gift of contributing.  There could be no suspicion that the giver was attempting to pay, or felt obligated to pay, Paul for salvation, reconciliation to God through Christ.  This idea of a man standing before a congregation saying, “Give money to me and God will give money to you,” is a pyramid scam, a crime and a lie that has no place in the ministry of reconciliation, all “success stories” notwithstanding.  In fact, the “success stories” shill for the scam artist not for God, and bring equal shame to the ministry.  But I suspect that those who fall for such things also care more for money than they do for reconciliation with God.

Jesus said, “don’t worry saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear?’  For the unconverted pursue these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.  But above all pursue his kingdom and righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”[16]  I notice that Jesus did not say above all pursue his kingdom and righteousness and give money to a religious scam artist and all these things will be given to you as well.  So I trust Jesus rather than religious scam artists.

My point is certainly not that all clergy are scam artists or that all giving is a religious work to be assiduously avoided.  So it’s probably only fair to comment how I decide to give.  How do I distinguish between a desire to pay, or payback, and the gift of contributing?  First, I pay for many things.  That is much more on the path of righteousness than stealing them, for instance.  And I pay back many things.  If a coworker takes me to lunch I pick up the check next time.  But I don’t consider these activities as giving or contributing.  I don’t even consider giving to causes or ministries contributing in this sense.  I care about certain things, I give money to those things I care about.  It is a matter of self-interest.  The real issue for me was alms-giving.

I travel quite a bit into urban areas where there are many people seeking alms.  (I’m using this archaic term deliberately because beggar has such a nasty derogatory connotation.)  Actually, the problem became more acute when I moved into an urban area.  I carry cash for tips when I travel but generally do not at home.  I quickly learned to carry some but often faced the very same people on the same corner of the street.

Give to the one who asks you, and do not reject the one who wants to borrow from you,[17] Jesus said.  Given all we’d been through together, I didn’t want to turn that into a law I obeyed without thought or spiritual input.  But neither did I want to become one of the judges with evil motives[18] James warned about.  Paul’s attitude helped me out here.  The gift of contributing is apparently not limited to financial giving.  Like a nursing mother caring for her own children, with such affection for you we were happy to share (μεταδοῦναι, another form of μεταδίδωμι) with you not only the gospel of God but also our own lives, because you had become dear to us.[19]

Though here Paul was happy to share…the gospel of God with the Thessalonians, I was familiar with a different take on this subject that I related to the gift of contributing:  For if I preach the gospel, I have no reason for boasting, because I am compelled to do this.[20]  So, if I can walk by someone on the street without giving alms, I do so.  If I can’t, I give.  If I have a moment’s doubt about it, I err on the side of giving.  Maybe I just bought someone more drugs or alcohol, but if I passed by without contributing I might have deprived someone (or their child) of a meal.  And more often than not the recipient—no matter how shabbily dressed, dirty or smelly—has prayed aloud that God would bless me for the relative pittance I handed him or her.

For I long to see you, Paul wrote the Romans before he had been to Rome, so that I may impart (μεταδῶ, another form of μεταδίδωμι) to you some spiritual gift (χάρισμα) to strengthen you…[21] I included this because it shocked me at first, as if Paul were claiming authority to give χάρισμα to people.  But he went on to explain, that is, that we may be mutually comforted (συμπαρακληθῆναι, a form of συμπαρακαλέω)[22] by one another’s faith, both yours and mine.[23]  So I saw it as a further expansion of the meaning of the gift of contributing.  Even that desire to be with others of faith, to encourage them and be encouraged by them, comes from God’s χάρισμα.

Through the evidence of this service (διακονίας, a form of διακονία),[24] Paul wrote the Corinthians, they will glorify God because of your obedience to your confession in the gospel of Christ and the generosity (ἁπλότητι, a form of ἁπλότης) of your sharing with them and with everyone.[25]  I included this to begin to look at ἁπλότητι, translated sincerity in—if [the gift] is contributing, he must do so with sincerity[26]—and generosity here.  At first I wondered why ἁπλότητι wasn’t translated generosity in Romans, but as I studied the ninth chapter of 2 Corinthians that question reversed.

For it is not necessary for me to write you about this service (διακονίας, another form of διακονία) to the saints,[27] Paul began this portion of his letter to the Corinthians.  And, the service (διακονία) of this ministry (λειτουργίας, a form of λειτουργία,[28] literally “a public office which a citizen undertakes to administer at his own expense”) is not only providing for the needs of the saints but is also overflowing with many thanks to God.[29]  Three times (in 2 Corinthians 9:1, 12, 13 NET) he described the gift of contributing as a ministry not unlike the ministry (διακονίαν, another form of διακονία) of reconciliation.[30]  In other words, it should be taken seriously.

I know your eagerness to help (προθυμίαν, a form of προθυμία),[31] he wrote again about that inner compulsion from God.  Paul had boasted about them to the Macedonians, and your zeal to participate (ζῆλος)[32] has stirred up most of them.[33]  But he was concerned if some from Macedonia accompanied him to Corinth whether the boast would prove to be true.  Therefore I thought it necessary to urge these brothers to go to you in advance and to arrange ahead of time the generous contribution (εὐλογίαν, a form of εὐλογία)[34] you had promised, so this may be ready as a generous gift (εὐλογίαν, a form of εὐλογία) and not as something you feel forced to do (πλεονεξίαν, a form of πλεονεξία).[35]

The Greek word εὐλογίαν was translated generous contribution and generous gift.  Paul was surely talking about the money the Corinthians were gathering, or wanted to gather, to contribute to others.   But he used a word that meant praise, commendation or adoration.  It is the root of our word eulogy.  He said this because his eye was fixed on the thanksgiving to God (v. 11) resulting from their promised gift, which was overflowing with many thanks to God (v. 12), and through which they will glorify God because of your obedience to your confession in the gospel of Christ (v. 13).  Even with that in view, especially with that in view, he desired that their giving flowed out from God’s gift of contributing rather than a sense of greediness (πλεονεξίαν, a form of πλεονεξία), not the greediness of others nor their own.

My point is this, Paul continued, The person who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and the person who sows generously (εὐλογίαις, another form of εὐλογία) will also reap generously (εὐλογίαις, another form of εὐλογία).[36]  In other words, one who sows with a view toward the praise, commendation or adoration of God will reap the same from God.  Each one of you should give just as he has decided in his heart [as compelled by the gift of contributing], not reluctantly (λύπης, a form of λύπη)[37] or under compulsion (ἀνάγκης, a form of ἀναγκή),[38] because God loves a cheerful giver.  And God is able to make all grace overflow to you so that because you have enough of everything in every way at all times, you will overflow in every good work.[39]

So giving out of that inner compulsion from the Holy Spirit, the gift of contributing, is good.  But giving out of the compulsion of “1) necessity, imposed either by the circumstances, or by law of duty regarding to one’s advantage, custom, argument 2) calamity, distress, straits” with “sorrow, pain, grief, or annoyance” was not what Paul was seeking from the Corinthians.  The latter would be merely money.  Perhaps it would provide for some of the needs of the saints, but it would never be the obedience to your confession in the gospel of Christ and the generosity (ἁπλότητι, a form of ἁπλότης) of your sharing with them and with everyone that would glorify God.  So, I now think sincerity would have been a better translation here as well.  For it is that sincerity of giving out of God’s gift of contributing that secures the promise (2 Corinthians 9:10 NET):

Now God who provides seed for the sower and bread for food will provide and multiply your supply of seed and will cause the harvest of your righteousness to grow.

[2] Romans 12:6 (NET)

[3] Romans 12:8 (NET)

[4] Luke 3:1 (NET)

[5] Luke 3:2, 3 (NET)

[6] Luke 3:7 (NET)

[7] NET note 10: “Pharisees were members of one of the most important and influential religious and political parties of Judaism in the time of Jesus. There were more Pharisees than Sadducees (according to Josephus, Ant. 17.2.4 [17.42] there were more than 6,000 Pharisees at about this time). Pharisees differed with Sadducees on certain doctrines and patterns of behavior. The Pharisees were strict and zealous adherents to the laws of the OT and to numerous additional traditions such as angels and bodily resurrection.”

[8] NET note 11: “The Sadducees controlled the official political structures of Judaism at this time, being the majority members of the Sanhedrin. They were known as extremely strict on law and order issues (Josephus, J. W. 2.8.2 [2.119], 2.8.14 [2.164-166]; Ant. 13.5.9 [13.171-173], 13.10.6 [13.293-298], 18.1.2 [18.11], 18.1.4 [18.16-17], 20.9.1 [20.199]; Life 2 [10-11]). See also Matt 16:1-12; 22:23-34; Mark 12:18-27; Luke 20:27-38; Acts 5:17; 23:6-8.”

[9] Matthew 3:7 (NET)

[10] Romans 10:2-4 (NET)

[11] Luke 3:10, 11 (NET)

[13] Ephesians 4:28 (NET)

[15] 2 Corinthians 5:18-20 (NET)

[16] Matthew 6:31-33 (NET)

[17] Matthew 5:42 (NET) Table

[19] 1 Thessalonians 2:7b, 8 (NET)

[20] 1 Corinthians 9:16a (NET)

[21] Romans 1:11 (NET)

[23] Romans 1:12 (NET)

[25] 2 Corinthians 9:13 (NET)

[26] Romans 12:8 (NET)

[27] 2 Corinthians 9:1 (NET)

[29] 2 Corinthians 9:12 (NET)

[30] 2 Corinthians 5:18 (NET)

[31] 2 Corinthians 9:2a (NET)

[33] 2 Corinthians 9:2b (NET)

[35] 2 Corinthians 9:5 (NET)

[36] 2 Corinthians 9:6 (NET)

[39] 2 Corinthians 9:7, 8 (NET)

Condemnation or Judgment? – Part 1

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I received the following question in a personal email:

John 5: 28 and 29  “Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice and come out —  Those who have done good will rise to live, and those who have done evil will rise to be condemned.”

OK.  I don’t really like these verses because it’s like the verses about the sheep and the goats and the wheat and the tares.  It makes it seem like some people are going to be saved and others aren’t.

HOWEVER, couple it with Romans 7:14-20 and it seems to mean something else.  In Romans 7:20 “Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.”

Now that verse seems like a real cop out!  I’ve never understood it very well.  But it seems to be saying that that part of the person doing “evil” is separate from the person himself or herself (maybe as far as east is from the west??).

So maybe John 5:28 and 29 can be talking about all us dead being raised and our “old selves” get condemned and our “new selves” live eternally with the Lord.  After all, the one on the white throne in Revelation said he was going to make all things new.

I hope the whole point is God’s going to save everybody!  Am I nuts???

Do not be amazed at this, Jesus said, because a time is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and will come out – the ones who have done what is good to the resurrection resulting in life, and the ones who have done what is evil to the resurrection resulting in condemnation (κρίσεως, a form of κρίσις).[1]  The first two things I noticed were, 1) the phrase do not be amazed at this invited me to look earlier in the passage for Jesus’ meaning, and 2) κρίσις (κρίσεως), judgment, was translated as if it were κατάκρισις[2] (κατακρίσεως),[3] a judgment against, condemnation.

In context, Jesus was answering Jewish leaders who wanted to kill him because not only was he breaking the Sabbath [by healing a man through the words, “Stand up!  Pick up your mat and walk”[4]], but he was also calling God his own Father, thus making himself equal with God.[5]  For the Father loves the Son, Jesus continued, and shows him everything he does, and will show him greater deeds than these, so that you will be amazed.[6]  Then He specified two of these greater deeds:

Greater Deeds…so that you will be amazed…
For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whomever he wishes (θέλει, a form of θέλω).[7]

John 5:21 (NET)

 Furthermore, the Father does not judge (κρίνει, a form of κρίνω)[8] anyone, but has assigned all judgment (κρίσιν, another form of κρίσις) to the Son…

John 5:22 (NET)

And He did this so that all people will honor the Son just as they honor the Father.  The one who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him.[9]

So the themes of Jesus’ discourse are that the Son gives life to whomever he wishes, and the Father…has assigned all judgment to the Son.  These themes were repeated, just in case I missed them: For just as the Father has life in himself, thus he has granted the Son to have life in himself, and he has granted the Son authority to execute (ποιεῖν, a form of ποιέω)[10] judgment (κρίσιν, another form of κρίσις), because he is the Son of Man.[11]  So I wondered what prompted the translators to make such an abrupt change to Jesus’ stated themes (John 5:24, 25 NET):

I tell you the solemn truth, the one who hears my message and believes the one who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned (εἰς κρίσιν οὐκ ἔρχεται; literally, “into judgment will not come” [or “go”]), but has crossed over from death to life.  I tell you the solemn truth, a time is coming – and is now here – when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live.

A note in the NET acknowledged the more literal meaning: “Grk ‘and does not come into judgment.’”  There is a significant difference between not coming into judgment at all, and coming into judgment but not being condemned.  Consider Jesus’ words recorded by Matthew (25:31, 32 NET Table):

When the Son of Man comes in his glory and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne.  All the nations (ἔθνη, a form of ἔθνος)[12] will be assembled before him, and he will separate people one from another like a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.

If the one who hears [Jesus’] message and believes the one who sent Him “does not come into judgment,” that one would not be present at this event as a participant.  It makes some sense, since the stated criteria for separating the “sheep” from the “goats” is not hearing Jesus’ message and believing the one who sent Him, but something else entirely (Matthew 25:35, 36, 40 NET).

For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me…I tell you the truth, just as you did it for one of the least of these brothers or sisters of mine, you did it for me.

Conversely, the only people who would not hear the words, Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world,[13] are those who managed to live their entire lives without showing a single human kindness to one of the Lord’s brothers or sisters.  I, too, was socialized into essentially the same religion as the translators of the NET.  I can feel how this alone might give them cause to translate the phrase εἰς κρίσιν οὐκ ἔρχεται as will not be condemned (making the one who hears [Jesus’] message and believes the one who sent Him the “sheep” Jesus spoke about in Matthew’s Gospel).  But consider Peter’s response to the Jewish leaders who questioned him (Acts 4:8-12 NET):

Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, replied, “Rulers of the people and elders, if we are being examined today for a good deed done to a sick man – by what means this man was healed – let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, this man stands before you healthy.  This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, that has become the cornerstone.  And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among people by which we must be saved.”

We have taken this to mean that the only way to be saved is to hear [Jesus’] message and believe the One who sent Him.  And we have added to it, more or less, say a sinner’s prayer, get baptized, go to my church, like me, and tell me how good and wise I am to have understood this before you.  But if Jesus, who may give life to whomever he wishes, who has been granted the…authority to execute judgment, decides that not only those who hear his message and believe the One who sent Him, but those who show them kindness, are worthy of the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world, who am I to dispute Him?  Are they saved by some other name when it is Jesus who sits on the throne, judges them worthy and grants them life?  Am I not permitted to do what I want with what belongs to me? He asked in a parable.  Or are you envious because I am generous (ἀγαθός)?[14]

Do not be amazed at this, Jesus continued his discourse with the Jewish leaders who wanted to kill Him, because a time is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and will come out – the ones who have done what is good (ἀγαθὰ [another form of ἀγαθός] ποιήσαντες [a form of ποιέω]) to the resurrection resulting in life (εἰς[15] ἀνάστασιν[16] ζωῆς[17]), and the ones who have done what is evil (φαῦλα[18] πράξαντες[19]) to the resurrection resulting in condemnation (εἰς ἀνάστασιν κρίσεως).[20]  Viewed as I’ve been suggesting here one can’t arbitrarily assume that everyone who comes into judgment will be condemned.  Some, if not many, if not most, will hear the Lord say, Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.

So it seems more appropriate to me to translate the verse more literally: the ones who have done what is good, that is the ones who heard Jesus’ message and believed the One who sent Him, hear his voice and will come out [of their tombs]…to the resurrection resulting in life [they have eternal life[21]]; while those who have done [literally, practiced] what is evil (φαῦλα) [that is anything that kept them from hearing Jesus’ message and believing the One who sent Him] will come out [of their tombs]…to the resurrection resulting in judgment (as opposed to condemnation).

I can do nothing on my own initiative, Jesus concluded.  Just as I hear, I judge (κρίνω), and my judgment (κρίσις) is just, because I do not seek my own will, but the will of the one who sent me.[22]

[1] John 5:28, 29 (NET)

[3] 2 Corinthians 3:9

[5] John 5:18 (NET)

[6] John 5:20 (NET)

[9] John 5:23 (NET)

[11] John 5:26, 27 (NET)

[13] Matthew 25:34 (NET)

[14] Matthew 20:15 (NET)

[20] John 5:28, 29 (NET)

[22] John 5:30 (NET)

Fear – Exodus, Part 7

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When he approached the camp and saw the calf and the dancing, Moses became extremely angry.  He threw the tablets [of the law] from his hands and broke them to pieces at the bottom of the mountain.[1]  Moses saw that the people were running wild, for Aaron had let them get completely out of control, causing derision from their enemies.[2]

King James’ translators painted a more vivid picture of how out of control the people were running wild.  Moses saw that the people were naked; (for Aaron had made them naked unto their shame among their enemies).[3]  Even in this translation Aaron’s role seems potentially passive.  By conceding to their demands for a golden calf Aaron made them naked (euphemistically speaking) unto their shame among their enemies.  John Nelson Darby[4] gave this verse a different twist in his translation: Moses saw the people how they were stripped; for Aaron had stripped them to [their] shame before their adversaries.  This sounds more like Aaron as officiating priest commanded the people to strip for πορνεία,[5] the ritualized sexual worship they had practiced in Egypt.[6]

The translators of the NET do not believe that the Israelites engaged in such worship[7] in Exodus 32 (nor that the Greek word πορνεία[8] refers to it, as far as I can tell).  The note on the word translated running wild and completely out of control reads: “The word is difficult to interpret. There does not seem to be enough evidence to justify the KJV’s translation ‘naked.’ It appears to mean something like ‘let loose’ or ‘lack restraint’ (Prov 29:18). The idea seems to be that the people had broken loose, were undisciplined, and were completely given over to their desires.”  In 1 Corinthians 10:7, however, Paul’s quotation of Exodus 32:6—The people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play—the note reads: “The term ‘play’ may refer to idolatrous, sexual play here, although that is determined by the context rather than the meaning of the word itself (cf. BDAG 750 s.v. παίζω).”

Whoever is for the Lord, come to me, Moses said.  All the Levites gathered around him, and he said to them, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘Each man fasten his sword on his side, and go back and forth from entrance to entrance throughout the camp, and each one kill his brother, his friend, and his neighbor.’”[9]

I have seen this people, the Lord had said to Moses on the mountain.  Look what a stiff-necked people they are [Table]!  So now, leave me alone so that my anger can burn against them and I can destroy them [Table]…[10]  With these words in his mind, though he had pleaded with the Lord to turn from your burning anger, and relent of this evil against your people,[11] when he saw their sin with his own eyes Moses formed an ad hoc militia or national guard.  Here I can see the ministry that produced death (θανάτου, a form of θάνατος)[12] – carved in letters on stone tablets[13] functioning as the ministry that produced condemnation (κατακρίσεως, a form of κατάκρισις).[14]

Though I have considered whether Moses had a change of heart, I think it was the same Spirit, who through Moses’ words caused the Lord to relent over the evil that he had said he would do to his people,[15] who spoke the words through him, Each man fasten his sword on his side, and go back and forth from entrance to entrance throughout the camp, and each one kill his brother, his friend, and his neighbor.  And He did this for the very same reason, to spare most of the people of Israel, to remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel your servants, to whom you swore by yourself and told them, “I will multiply your descendants like the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have spoken about I will give to your descendants, and they will inherit it forever.”[16]

The Levites did what Moses ordered, and that day about three thousand men of the people died.[17]  The Levites were not included in the census of males twenty years old or older who could serve in the army.[18]  Whether their number was comparable to the other clans (50,000) or half the size of the smallest clan (16,000), their campaign was not exceptionally ruthless.  Apparently these deaths served no other purpose than to restore order, to bring a halt to the people’s play.

The deaths of three thousand men had provided no atonement (Exodus 32:30-32 NET).

The next day Moses said to the people, “You have committed a very serious sin, but now I will go up to the Lord – perhaps I can make atonement on behalf of your sin.”  So Moses returned to the Lord and said, “Alas, this people has committed a very serious sin, and they have made for themselves gods of gold [Table].  But now, if you will forgive their sin…, but if not, wipe me out from your book that you have written” [Table].

In fact, Moses was unable to make atonement for those who sinned.  And the deaths of three thousand men were not sufficient punishment (Exodus 32:33-35 NET).

The Lord said to Moses, “Whoever has sinned against me – that person I will wipe out of my book.  So now go, lead the people to the place I have spoken to you about.  See, my angel will go before you.  But on the day that I punish, I will indeed punish them for their sin.” And the Lord sent a plague on the people because they had made the calf – the one Aaron made.

This is law.  This is fear-based righteousness.  It is not the fear of witnessing the catastrophic destruction of the Egyptian army.  It is not the fear of hearing a voice from something like a volcano in full ash eruption.  It is the fear of leaders (Moses and the Levites) using lethal force to uphold the law, and the fear of God as a potential enemy.

The Lord said to Moses, “Go up from here, you and the people whom you brought up out of the land of Egypt, to the land I promised on oath to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, saying, ‘I will give it to your descendants.’  I will send an angel before you, and I will drive out the Canaanite, the Amorite, the Hittite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite.  Go up to a land flowing with milk and honey.”[19]

It sounds wonderful.  The Lord will lead and guide them into a land of plenty.  But the fear must be ever present.  But I will not go up among you, the Lord continued, for you are a stiff-necked people, and I might destroy you on the way.[20]

Moses took the tent and pitched it outside the camp, at a good distance from the camp, and he called it the tent of meeting.  Anyone seeking the Lord would go out to the tent of meeting that was outside the camp.

And when Moses went out to the tent, all the people would get up and stand at the entrance to their tents and watch Moses until he entered the tent.  And whenever Moses entered the tent, the pillar of cloud would descend and stand at the entrance of the tent, and the Lord would speak with Moses.  When all the people would see the pillar of cloud standing at the entrance of the tent, all the people, each one at the entrance of his own tent, would rise and worship.  The Lord would speak to Moses face to face, the way a person speaks to a friend.[21]

It may not have occurred to Moses to consider his exalted position the ministry that produced death or the ministry that produced condemnation, though he seemed to recognize it in respect to the Levites who followed him.  “You have been consecrated today for the Lord,” he said to them, “for each of you was against his son or against his brother, so he has given a blessing to you today.”[22]  But it did occur to him to seek something more from God, something we might call a ministry of the Spirit[23] or a ministry that produces righteousness.[24]

Moses said to the Lord, “See, you have been saying to me, ‘Bring this people up,’ but you have not let me know whom you will send with me.  But you said, ‘I know you by name, and also you have found favor in my sight.’  Now if I have found favor in your sight, show me your way, that I may know you, that I may continue to find favor in your sight.  And see that this nation is your people.”[25]

“All things have been given to me by my Father,” Jesus said.  “No one knows who the Son is except the Father, or who the Father is except the Son and anyone to whom the Son decides to reveal him.”  Then Jesus turned to his disciples and said privately, “Blessed are the eyes that see what you see!  For I tell you that many prophets and kings longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.”[26]

And the Lord said [to Moses], “My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.”  And Moses said to him, “If your presence does not go with us, do not take us up from here.  For how will it be known then that I have found favor in your sight, I and your people?  Is it not by your going with us, so that we will be distinguished, I and your people, from all the people who are on the face of the earth?”[27]

[1] Exodus 32:19 (NET)

[2] Exodus 32:25 (NET)

[3] Exodus 32:25 (KJV)

[7] Note 22

[9] Exodus 32:26, 27 (NET)

[10] Exodus 32:9, 10a (NET)

[11] Exodus 32:12b (NET) Table

[13] 2 Corinthians 3:7 (NET)

[14] 2 Corinthians 3:9 (NET)

[15] Exodus 32:14b (NET)

[16] Exodus 32:13 (NET) Table

[17] Exodus 32:28 (NET)

[19] Exodus 33:1-3a (NET)

[20] Exodus 33:3b (NET)

[21] Exodus 33:7-11a (NET)

[22] Exodus 32:29 (NET)

[23] 2 Corinthians 3:8 (NET)

[24] 2 Corinthians 3:9 (NET)

[25] Exodus 33:12, 13 (NET)

[26] Luke 10:22-24 (NET)

[27] Exodus 33:14-16 (NET)

Saving Demons, Part 2

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While studying the different gifts of the Spirit I came across the following (2 Corinthians 3:7-9 NET):

But if the ministry (διακονία)[1] that produced death – carved in letters on stone tablets – came with glory, so that the Israelites could not keep their eyes fixed on the face of Moses because of the glory of his face (a glory which was made ineffective), how much more glorious will the ministry (διακονία) of the Spirit be?  For if there was glory in the ministry (διακονίᾳ) that produced condemnation, how much more does the ministry (διακονία) that produces righteousness excel in glory!

I can’t help but ask, what if the glory of the ministry (διακονίᾳ) that produces righteousness is made ineffective (καταργουμένην, a form of καταργέω)[2] by the religious mind?  The note on made ineffective in the NET reads: “Or ‘which was transitory.’ Traditionally this phrase is translated as ‘which was fading away.’ The verb καταργέω in the corpus Paulinum uniformly has the meaning ‘to render inoperative, ineffective’; the same nuance is appropriate here. The glory of Moses’ face was rendered ineffective by the veil Moses wore. For discussion of the meaning of this verb in this context, see S. J. Hafemann, Paul, Moses, and the History of Israel (WUNT 81), 301-13. A similar translation has been adopted in the two other occurrences of the verb in this paragraph in vv. 11 and 13.”

So, if verse 7 means that the “glory of Moses’ face was rendered ineffective by the veil Moses wore,” Paul expanded that meaning in verse 10: For indeed, what had been glorious [the ministry that produced condemnation] now has no glory because of the tremendously greater glory of what replaced it[3] [the ministry that produces righteousness].  Paul continued (2 Corinthians 3:11, 12 NET):

For if what was made ineffective (καταργούμενον, another form of καταργέω) came with glory, how much more has what remains (μένον, a form of μένω)[4] come in glory!  Therefore, since we have such a hope, we behave with great boldness, and not like Moses who used to put a veil over his face to keep the Israelites from staring at the result of the glory that was made ineffective (καταργουμένου, another form of καταργέω).

The Greek word translated remains is μένον a form of μένω, as is μένει in, And now these three remain (μένει, another form of μένω): faith, hope, and love.  But the greatest of these is love.[5]  It is easy to see why some translators related the forms of καταργέω in 2 Corinthians 3 to those in 1 Corinthians 13 (vv. 8, 10, 11; set aside, NET) and rendered them as passing away.  But the word μένον is also found in, The one on whom you see the Spirit descending and remaining (μένον) – this is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.[6]

So it is also easy to see why other translators related what Paul said about the law, the ministry that produced condemnation, and the ministry of the Spirit, the ministry that produces righteousness, to Romans:  For God achieved what the law could not do because it was weakened (ἠσθένει, a form of ἀσθενέω)[7] through the flesh.  By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and concerning sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, so that the righteous requirement of the law may be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.[8]

It also makes sense then to relate this weakness through the flesh to the forms of καταργέω in 2 Corinthians 3 and render them as made ineffective (the law was weakened through the flesh to the point that it was made ineffective as far as righteousness is concerned).  This makes even more sense if the writing of 2 Corinthians followed the writing of Romans sequentially rather than directly after 1 Corinthians.

Moses…put a veil over his face to keep the Israelites from staring at the result (τέλος)[9] of the glory that was made ineffective,[10] Paul wrote.  In one sense he referred to the basic facts of Exodus 34:29-33 (NET):

Now when Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of the testimony in his hand – when he came down from the mountain, Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone while he talked with him.  When Aaron and all the Israelites saw Moses, the skin of his face shone; and they were afraid to approach him.  But Moses called to them, so Aaron and all the leaders of the community came back to him, and Moses spoke to them.  After this all the Israelites approached, and he commanded them all that the Lord had spoken to him on Mount Sinai.  When Moses finished speaking with them, he would put a veil on his face.

So the result that the Israelites were kept from staring at was the glowing skin of Moses’ face.  There was another meaning to Paul’s metaphor as well.  But their minds were closed, He continued.  For to this very day, the same veil remains when they hear the old covenant read.[11] Here, the result or end that the veil keeps people from staring intently at is the fact that the law is the ministry that produced condemnation.  For the law brings wrath…[12]  For no one is declared righteous before him by the works of the law, for through the law comes the knowledge of sin.[13]  [The veil] has not been removed because only in Christ is it taken away (καταργεῖται, another form of καταργέω).[14]  My mind was also closed when I tried to pass myself off as in Christ (ἐν Χριστῷ) while striving to make myself righteous by keeping the law.

But until this very day, Paul continued, whenever Moses is read, a veil lies over their minds, but when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed.  Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is present, there is freedom.  And we all, with unveiled faces reflecting the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another, which is from the Lord, who is the Spirit.[15]

In my case the Lord was faithful even when I was not; If we are unfaithful, he remains faithful, since he cannot deny himself.[16]  And perhaps I should let it go at that.  But I still wonder, if I had remained faithless, or while I persisted in my faithlessness, did I give Him cause to show mercy to demons or fallen angels, since He was and remains faithful to me?

Notice therefore the kindness and harshness of God – harshness toward those who have fallen, but God’s kindness toward you, provided you continue in his kindness; otherwise you also will be cut off.  And even they – if they do not continue in their unbelief – will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again.  For if you were cut off from what is by nature a wild olive tree, and grafted, contrary to nature, into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these natural branches be grafted back into their own olive tree?[17]

For the gifts and the call of God are irrevocable.  Just as you were formerly disobedient to God, but have now received mercy due to their disobedience, so they too have now been disobedient in order that, by the mercy shown to you, they too may now receive mercy.  For God has consigned all people [the qualifier “people” is not literally in the text though “these” (τοὺς) is] to disobedience so that he may show mercy to them all.[18]

Back to Fear – Exodus, Part 7

[3] 2 Corinthians 3:10 (NET)

[5] 1 Corinthians 13:13 (NET)

[6] John 1:33b (NET)

[8] Romans 8:3, 4 (NET)

[10] 2 Corinthians 3:13 (NET)

[11] 2 Corinthians 3:14a (NET)

[12] Romans 4:15 (NET)

[13] Romans 3:20 (NET)

[14] 2 Corinthians 3:14b (NET)

[15] 2 Corinthians 3:15-18 (NET)

[16] 2 Timothy 2:13 (NET)

[17] Romans 11:22-24 (NET)

[18] Romans 11:29-32 (NET)