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Artifacts of Time

By on December 4, 2020 in Theology

Historical questions can arise concerning events immediately after what occurred as narrated within the book of Acts. Within the first century after the death and resurrection of Christ, Pentecost occurred to set in motion the growth and spread of Christianity. This post briefly touches on some of the further developments that took place along with a timeline to sketch out what relationships and patterns there were concerning the growth of Christianity and the eventual demise of the Roman empire.

The events narrated through the book of Acts provide the foundation and structure of a fledgling Church around the Mediterranean to include Samaria, upper Mesopotamia, coastal areas, Asia Minor, Macedonia, and Rome. The proclamation of the gospel to the Gentile nations made its way to numerous territories where the Church had grown through instruction, discipleship, and spiritual formation. The fellowship of believers continued to increase through the leadership of Paul, Peter, John, Timothy, Luke, and numerous other biblical figures who were appointed to serve in a similar capacity. So, it would appear that the work of the Holy Spirit was just merely beginning within the early Church. From Pentecost to decades later, the number and types of people reached and added to the Kingdom grew where fellowships became larger and more robust as theological, philosophical, and interpersonal disputes were sure to arise. Eventually, to an extent where a need for eligible and qualified leaders was necessary for selection and placement within the Church. People with suitable character having Spirit-filled and doctrinally sound qualities.

The travel the apostles underwent beyond Jerusalem and Samaria demonstrated their commitment to fulfill the interests of Jesus to reach the Gentiles. The farther they went, and the more people they engaged, the more people learned of their way to God through the gospel. Very many people turned to Christ and were converted to a life of faith. With the travels, status, and position entrusted to the apostles, they together took on individual and corporate responsibilities around the Church as a whole. This involved direct and secondary mentorship of people who would, in turn, guide others by way of doctrine, traditions, worship, instruction, and so forth. People developed Christ-centered relationships with one another who would carry out a living faith in love as a body of believers, the Church.

Inevitable internal strife and false teachings came about from within the Church. Physical and harmful persecutions were on the rise. Gnostic influences on top of pagan and Hellenistic cultural norms became further pronounced within the first century. Attempts to impose erroneous social and philosophical interests were unwanted and called out in Scripture as warnings directed to existing and susceptible believers. Errors and contradictions to the truth of earlier principal teachings accompanied sinful and corrupt lifestyles of antagonistic people who were addressed in Romans, the Prison letters, 1 John, 2 Peter, Jude, and elsewhere.

Over time, apostolic leadership rigorously defended the truth of Christ and His teachings. Specifically, contention and division that drew out Paul, Peter, and John’s attention were historically directed to some error and disunity within the Church. They specifically addressed incidents with warnings concerning specific matters of objection and the individuals or groups responsible. What earlier involved instruction, discipleship, and spiritual formation now involved a defense from people or ideas that ran counter to authoritative apostolic teachings for the Church’s growth and health.

For a broader perspective of what occurred overall from 30 AD to 100 AD (the first century since Pentecost), the following timeline presents a context by which the growth of the early Church occurred under the corrupt and evil Roman empire.

First Century Timeline

30 – 40 AD
Pentecost, 30 AD
Stephen Martyred & Diaspora, 32 AD
Paul Converted, 37 AD
Caiaphas, High Priest, 18-36 AD
Pontus Pilate, Governor of Judea, 26-36 AD
Caligula becomes Roman Emperor and declares himself god, 37 AD

40 – 50 AD
Gospel preached to the Gentiles Beginning, 40 AD
Centurion Cornelius Converted – 41 AD
Claudius becomes emperor – 41 AD
Herod Agrippa I, King of Judea – 41-44 AD
James the Apostle, brother of John, martyred – 44 AD
Peter Imprisoned – 44 AD
Antioch becomes center of Church activity – 46 AD
Paul travels to Jerusalem to confer with Peter – 47 AD
Paul’s first missionary journey with Barnabas – 47-49 AD
Jews, Pricilla, and Aquila were expelled from Rome – 49 AD
Council of Jerusalem held; Gentiles not required to follow Jewish law – 49 AD

50 – 60 AD
Paul’s second missionary journey– 49–51 AD
Felix becomes Governor of Judea – 52-57 AD
Paul’s third missionary journey – 52-57 AD
Roman Emperor Claudius’ wife poisons him – 54 AD
Nero becomes emperor – 54 AD
Letters to the Corinthians written by Paul – 56 AD
Paul visits Jerusalem the final time – 57 AD
Paul was arrested and imprisoned in Caesarea – 57 AD
Paul goes to Rome – 57 AD

60 – 65 AD
Apostle Paul imprisoned in Rome – 60 AD
Scripture gospels of Matthew and Luke written – 62 AD
James, brother of Jesus, martyred – 62 AD
Paul and Peter martyred in Rome – 64 AD
Rome burns, Nero blames Christians – 64 AD

65 – 70 AD
Emperor Nero commits suicide – 68 AD
Four emperors in one year (Galba, Otho, Villius, Vespasian 69-79 AD) – 69 AD
The Jewish revolt against Romans – 70 AD
Emperor Titus captures and destroys Jerusalem – 70 AD
Christians further scattered throughout the Roman empire – 70 AD
Antioch becomes center of Christianity – 70 AD

70 – 90 AD
Colosseum in Rome started by Vespasian – 72 AD
Colosseum in Rome finished by Titus – 80 AD
Christians thrown to beasts in Colosseum – 71-81 AD
Gospel according to John written – 85 AD
Writings of Church fathers (Barnabas, Clement of Rome, Ignatius, Polycarp) – 85-150 AD
Emperor Titus 79 – 81 AD
Emperor Domitian 81-96 AD

90 – 100 AD
Rise of Gnostic heresies within the Church – 90
Emperor Nerva 96-98 AD
Emperor Trajan 98-117AD
Death of John the Apostle – 100 AD

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The Instrument of Suffering

By on December 1, 2020 in Theology

Today I completed the book entitled “Illustrated Life of Paul.” It was required reading for a course about the early Church and the book of Acts. The book is a walkthrough of the life of Paul the Apostle. Specifically, around his background, early experiences, conversion, missionary journeys, and last years. The book was well-written, historical, and factual without much speculation about what occurred in Paul’s life. The text does not often equivocate or take license to elaborate with terms used such as “possible,” “maybe,” “might,” “may,” and so forth. Fanciful explanatory imagery around life events, trials, hardships, victories, and so on were not presented within this text, along with tidbit facts sprinkled in among other comparative texts that speculate about Paul’s life.

This book provides numerous reliable citations, and Scripture references are of modern translations without the author recasting their verbiage to fit how the book was written. The book is heavily researched to present a composite story about Paul’s life with Scripture (Acts, Romans, Prison Letters) as the underlying guide to support the confidence of its reader.

Highlights of the book are everywhere throughout the text. With intertextual references of biblical sources, considerable detail is covered from the era’s cultural influences. More specifically, Judaism, Hellenism, Roman, and Greek paganism were together the social environment that Paul operated within. With the cultural conditions and pressures upon society, the Roman empire and its laws intertwined with Jewish traditions and requirements of the Mosaic law that situated Paul within an environment by which the message of the gospel could get traction and thrive among many Jews and “God-fearers.”

But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is a chosen instrument of Mine, to bear My name before the Gentiles and kings and the sons of Israel; for I will show him how much he must suffer for My name’s sake.” – Jesus, Acts 9:15-16

With substantial background about Paul’s upbringing, family, training, and accomplishments, the book goes much farther to trace the developments of Paul. Sequentially indexed town by town, and city by city, the reader gets an in-depth look at what occurred along a timeline. From his dramatic conversion on the Damascus road to his time in Arabia, Jerusalem, Tarsus, and then Antioch, he gained his footing under the Holy Spirit’s power. To undertake his three successive missionary journeys, he would travel out and back to bring up churches from scratch and develop leaders to sustain them. From the first to the last, each trip grew progressively longer and more involved with new converts and a growing population that served as a network of sorts under the power of the Holy Spirit and authority of Christ.

The book is an excellent resource concerning what occurred in each town. With geographical maps with routes, archaeological descriptions, and illustrations, the reader is also exposed to ordinary everyday life artifacts. Implements, currencies, writing materials, navigation aids, art, living quarters, forms of entertainment, legal systems, and so forth are presented as well to piece together what life was like while the growth of the Church was underway.

The book’s geographical scope extends across the Mediterranean from the South, such as Alexandria, to the East, including Jerusalem and Antioch, to the further North such as Cicilia, Cappadocia, Galatia, and the rest of Asia-Minor. Moreover, in-depth coverage narrows in on European areas, including Macedonia, Thrace, Achaia, and Italy (Rome). Islands that were traversed, such as Sicily, Cypress, Crete, and Malta, were also important points of interest in the text.

This is an academic book and well worth the money spent and the time invested in reading through it. It is not for cursory or topical study, but it serves as a reference to stimulate added research and ground anyone’s thinking around what the life of Paul was about.

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The Unseen Realm

By on November 30, 2020 in Theology

Today I completed this book word-for-word, all 387-pages. It took a few months to get through it as I’m normally reading several books at a time due to coursework, but I read through it carefully and some chapters more than once. Every once in a while, a book comes along that completely calls into question your perspective on the way things are. Or about facts concerning what happened in a historical sense. Some books further deepen your theological understanding of Scripture and the meaning of essential principles among modern writers and our forebears in antiquity.

That is not this book.

This book entirely upends a reader’s biblical worldview. It is not only in terms of the text and its historical, theological, or cultural meaning but also in terms of the underlying spiritual reality and the way things are. It concerns why the world is the way it is, how the human condition came to be, what was done about it, and what follows. This book doesn’t merely align or crowbar your thinking in a certain way. The book simultaneously exposes sunlight to your way of thinking and then drives a wooden stake into your mind to get your attention. It raises awareness concerning present spiritual realities to alert you about what shapes the physical existence we live out.

The book goes quite far to reveal spiritual entities that exist in a realm of existence unlike our own, but in many ways that overlap with our plane of reality. There are angels, seraphim, cherubim, demons, disembodied dead, and elohim, with distinctions identified within Scripture to highlight their place, purpose, and function in numerous ways that get our attention. Their metaphysical properties extend beyond our notions of space and time to surface an awareness within us that we are not alone. You are watched, guided, directed, and influenced unawares as part of society within a tide of human inevitability either for good or evil. You have a say; you have decisions of consequence, and your eternal outcome concerning God’s plan of salvation or demise is certain.

The book is divided into eight sections. Each section successively builds upon the prior terms and rationale set with appropriate hermeneutical principles with significant ancient literary research that spans all chapters. Dr. Heiser rigorously applies intertextuality principles in the use of Scripture to demonstrate the biblical authors’ intended meaning. Moreover, the theological meaning stitched together reveals deeper truths that span across the canon over time as intended and inspired in its Authorship.

The sections of the book are titled:

  1. First Things
  2. The Households of God
  3. Divine Transgressions
  4. Yahweh and His Portion
  5. Conquest and Failure
  6. Thus Says the Lord
  7. The Kingdom Already
  8. The Kingdom Not Yet

These areas of the book’s organization are a very high-level view of its content. Somewhat a play on words to evoke a reader’s imagination about how the subject matter brings out the biblical text’s meaning. The pseudepigrapha and other intertestamental writings are referenced to bring into perspective first-century biblical writers’ views. Largely about familiar Old Testament and Judaic beliefs about the spiritual realm.

The territory this book covers is significant in terms of its substance concerning the work of Christ and what He recognized about spiritual realities that were in effect throughout humanity. From His arrival to His death and resurrection, the presence of dark spiritual beings was within the world He occupied and traveled. Within the New Testament, we read about numerous encounters where Jesus reveals supernatural activity by what He does. Within the Old Testament, we read prophecies foretold and fulfilled both across the entire canon. How they were fulfilled deeply involves spiritual entities that call attention to how events and circumstances are orchestrated for intended outcomes less evident to casual observers of history or people in their daily lives.

The book continuously refers to people, places, and things that concern the Lord’s order within physical and spiritual Creation. Overall, there is a critical literary analysis of the sacred texts to demonstrate an ancient and modern worldview that involves a divine council before the Most-High to fulfill and achieve his purposes. Christ, the incarnate and embodiment of God, is thoroughly immersed and situated in this reality, both seen and unseen. To bring awareness further that the heavenly realm exists and applies continuous pressure to physical realities within the Universe. Namely, all elements of the Earth and its occupants.

The book covers events of the Edenic garden, the great flood, the Nephilim, the Rephaim, and their background, the dispersal of peoples at Babel, numerous messianic references in the Psalms, the prophetic references to the watchers and enormous spiritual forces, the redemptive work of Christ as a spiritual conquest, the revelation of Jesus’s divine identity, humanity’s spiritual nature, and destiny, and some eschatological discussion.

The book is well-known and now read by many. Dr. Heiser has substantial support for the content of this book. He has written others such as Reversing Hermon, Angels, Demons, and others, all surrounding his work as an academic scholar in the field of biblical studies. For more information about Spiritual beings, the BibleProject people have put together a playlist of videos that cover a few topics to a limited extent. It is just a taste of what this book The Unseen Realm covers. Playlist: Spiritual Beings.

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The Message of a King

By on November 28, 2020 in Theology

In September of 2017, I began reading and studying this book with close interest. It is an elaborate walkthrough of all 50 of the demands spoken by Jesus. Verbatim from His spoken words within the English translation of Scripture, the book presents an up-close view of what Jesus said while He was present with His followers during His ministry. It is really a commentary from John Piper that offers his educated opinion about what it means to follow Jesus and fulfill written instructions to those who love Him.

All 50 demands are together a way to express what it is that Jesus requires of all that He has authority over. It is a well-written perspective concerning the meaning of what Jesus intended to say to His followers both then and now. Jesus demonstrated specific interest in the who, what, where, when, how, and why of God’s work was demonstrated in Him to those He loved and who were given to Him. From the individual to the church, the people of Israel, and the nations that formed, Jesus had presented Himself as the Way, the Truth, and the Life, and that eternal rest is found in Him. That those who love Him will keep his commandments or instructions (John 14:15).

It is over 3-years later, I have come to complete the careful and meticulous read-through of this text. I have spent many hours checking verses and researching specific biblical words in use from root languages. I compared many verses and found both joy and distress in their message. To complete the book is an arduous journey that takes time and space to absorb or gather its relevance. To ruminate on what Jesus said, what He meant, and how His words were actionable—carried out by His apostles, followers, and believers today to fulfill what He specified. Not as a set of hard fast rules of conduct and performance, but of guidance and instructions that were and are an expression of His love. A love of such depth and magnitude that is humanly impossible to express.

This blog has numerous posts that reference back to what was written and explained in this book. More importantly, about what it was that Jesus spoke about in Scripture. Returning to any one topic is beyond the scope of a single post, but it all must come down to love. Everything we do and want to do stems from the love we have for Him and for what He has done. This book is time well-spent, even if it is a casual read-through, unlike what I did. The subject matter provides for a long time reference of Piper’s work to get one man’s accurate and Scriptural perspective on what Jesus said.

Book Review

This is a book flip-through to get a look at the general depth and scope of the text. It is not an academic book. It is intended for anyone serious about knowing what Jesus said. About what it is to love Him by doing what He says.

List of What Jesus Demands

As written in Scripture, this is the table of all demands/instructions Jesus spoke. To expand all of what imperatives that Jesus said, select the “Show” entries (50) in the table below.

NumberCommand of ChristVerse (ESV)Reference
1Repent"From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."Matthew 4:17
2Let not your heart be troubled“Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?"John 14:27,
John 16:33, Matthew 6:25-26, Philippians 4:6-7
3Follow Me"And he said to them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” Matthew 4:19
4Rejoice“Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. ‎Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you. "Matthew 5:11–12
5Let Your Light Shine"In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven. "Matthew 5:16
6Honor God’s Law“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. "Matthew 5:17
7Be Reconciled"So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are going with him to court, lest your accuser hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you be put in prison. "Matthew 5:23–25
8Do Not Lust"But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell. ‎And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into hell. "Matthew 5:28–30
9Keep Your Word"Let what you say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything more than this comes from evil."Matthew 5:37
10Go the Second Mile "You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I say to you, Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. ‎And if anyone would sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. And if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. Give to the one who begs from you, and do not refuse the one who would borrow from you. "Matthew 5:38–42
11Love Your Enemies"But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, ‎so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. ‎For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? "Matthew 5:44–46
12Be Perfect"For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? ‎And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? ‎You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect."Matthew 5:46–48
13Practice Secret Disciplines “Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven."Matthew 6:1
14Lay up treasures in heaven“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, ‎but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. ‎For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. "Matthew 6:19–20
15Seek first the kingdom of God"But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you."Matthew 6:33
16Judge not“Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you. "Matthew 7:1-2
17Do not throw your pearls to pigs“Do not give dogs what is holy, and do not throw your pearls before pigs, lest they trample them underfoot and turn to attack you. "Matthew 7:6
18Ask, seek, and knock“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. "Matthew 7:7-8
19Do unto others“So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets."Matthew 7:12
20Choose the narrow way“Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few. "Matthew 7:13-14
21Beware of false prophets"Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. "Matthew 7:15
22Pray for those who spread the word"Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.” Matthew 9:37-38
23Be as shrewd as serpents“Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. "Matthew 10:16, Romans 16:19
24Fear God. Do not fear man"And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell."Matthew 10:28, Luke 12:4-5
25Listen to God’s voice"He who has ears to hear, let him hear."Matthew 11:15, 13:9,
13:43, Mark 4:23, Luke 14:35, 1 Kings 19:11-13
26Take my yoke"Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. ‎For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” Matthew 11:29-30
27Honor your parents"For God commanded, ‘Honor your father and your mother,’ and, ‘Whoever reviles father or mother must surely die.’ "Matthew 15:4
28Beware of false teaching"How is it that you fail to understand that I did not speak about bread? Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” ‎Then they understood that he did not tell them to beware of the leaven of bread, but of the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees. "Matthew 16:6, Matthew 16:11-12
29Deny yourself"And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. "Luke 9:23, Matthew 10:38, Mark 8:34
30Do not despise little ones“See that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I tell you that in heaven their angels always see the face of my Father who is in heaven. "Matthew 18:10
31Go to Christians who offend you“If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. "Matthew 18:15, Galatians 6:1
32Forgive offenders"Then Peter came up and said to him, “Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?” ‎Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you seven times, but seventy-seven times."Matthew 18:21-22, Proverbs 19:11
33Beware of covetousness"And he said to them, “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” Luke 12:15
34Honor marriage"So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.” Matthew 19:6, Matthew 19:9
35Lead by being a servant"It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, ‎and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Matthew 20:26-28
36Make the church a house of prayer for all nations"And he was teaching them and saying to them, “Is it not written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations’? But you have made it a den of robbers.” Mark 11:17
37Pray in faith"And Jesus answered them, “Truly, I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what has been done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ it will happen. ‎And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith.”Matthew 21:21-22, John 15:7
38Bring in the poor"He said also to the man who had invited him, “When you give a dinner or a banquet, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, lest they also invite you in return and you be repaid. But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the just.” Luke 14:12-14
39Render unto Caesar"Show me the coin for the tax.” And they brought him a denarius. ‎And Jesus said to them, “Whose likeness and inscription is this?” They said, “Caesar’s.” Then he said to them, “Therefore render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” Matthew 22:19-21
40Love the Lord"And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment"Matthew 22:37-38
41Love your neighbor"And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. "Matthew 22:39
42Be born again"Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’"John 3:7
43Await my return"Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. But know this, that if the master of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into. Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect. "Matthew 24:42-44
44Celebrate the Lord’s supper"Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is my body.” ‎And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, “Drink of it, all of you, "Matthew 26:26-27
45Watch and pray"Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” Matthew 26:41
46Keep my commandments"If you love me, you will keep my commandments. "John 14:15
47Feed my sheep"When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Feed my lambs.” He said to him a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Tend my sheep.” John 21:15-16
48Make and baptize disciples"Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, "Matthew 28:19
49Teach disciples to obey"teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” Matthew 28:20
50Receive God’s power"And behold, I am sending the promise of my Father upon you. But stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.” Luke 24:49

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The Fountain of Antiquity

By on November 26, 2020 in Theology

The Acts narrative presents a strategy involving the coverage of an area to reach new believers appointed to the Kingdom within the first century of developing Christendom throughout Asia-minor and Eastern Europe. At selected towns and routes, Paul would inform people of the gospel, proclaim its truth, and lead people to their life of faith through repentance, baptism, and continued discipleship. Along Paul’s travels, he remained outspoken to inform others of the gospel while teaching new believers. At times, the duration of his stay would be suitable for the local population’s conditions and their receptivity. Where and when appropriate, Barnabas, Silas, Lydia, Timothy, Aquilla, Priscilla, and others would remain behind or would be directed elsewhere to ensure the effective formation of churches and the emergence of their leaders. He coordinated the development of churches with collaborators he met and shepherded them along the way.

Paul relied upon his ministry collaborators to achieve synergies where the sum of their parts was greater than the whole. Yet he knew that the work in the hearts of people belonged with the Holy Spirit. Moreover, his steps were directed in terms of timing, territories visited, and the risks that were taken. In addition to the common use of synagogues, where suitable or appropriate, he would make effective use of public speaking places to get the attention and interest of townspeople. He would also leverage people of notoriety, who were in an official capacity, and some affluence. Merchants, proconsuls, court officials, magistrates, and others exerted influence over people, projecting or casting social leverage.

Paul’s resilience was a direct function of his confidence in Christ. The Spirit of Christ within him was the propelling source of endurance in suffering and hardship.

His message was to illuminate the life of Jesus. His identity, deity, status, arrival, death, and resurrection, including His redemptive work. This was his pronounced subject of irrefutable truth. Through the circular letter to the Corinthians (1 Cor 15:1-4), Paul wrote to the Church in Asia Minor, reinforcing his message with rigorous and persistent attention, emphasizing that they are saved from their sins through Christ. That if they repent and place their trust in Him, they would be saved and become reconciled to God, their Creator, who loves them. They would inherit the Kingdom of God, the Kingdom of Heaven, and what He has promised for them through the gospel.

Key to the retention of those added to the Kingdom was the Holy Spirit’s presence within His people. Where Paul and his companions would rejoice at what YHWH would accomplish among those the Apostles loved. The people of the growing Church would see salvation through reason, scripture, conviction, and truth, enabling them to understand and accept the gospel, regardless of the outcome. To reveal God’s provision of Jesus as the Messiah, Paul spoke in Athens within the context of pagan beliefs. In contrast, in Berea, he spoke from the depths and the proper interpretation of Scripture. In Corinth, he spoke publicly and privately outside the synagogue that rejected his message and teaching. His overall strategy was common, but his method varied depending on the conditions that developed at the time.

The healings, exorcisms, and other wonders performed were alarming. Events were occurring that ought not to have happened. To say people were astonished at what took place is a punctuated understatement. It can also not be overstated that the validated reputation and the impact of his miracles and wonders had on people receptive to the gospel. The potency of what occurred by the power of the Holy Spirit within him was impossible to ignore or dismiss. 

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The Faces of Opposition

By on November 21, 2020 in Theology

This post presents limited research concerning the impact the Greco-Roman era had on events and conditions within the Book of Acts in Scripture. Spanning a timeline of 30 to 65 A.D., numerous concurrent and sequential events had a substantial bearing upon the early Church and particularly Paul the Apostle’s ministry. The early Church, and to a significant extent, nations and territories comprising of the Roman empire underwent an epic injection of the gospel within a relatively short period. While there were numerous sources of opposition and animosity, the situational environment narrated within the Book of Acts imposes and illuminates a perilous and inexorable message of treachery and hope. This post stitches together a few examples concerning the conditions and pressures the Greco-Roman era placed upon the early Church as narrated within the Book of Acts.

Interwoven throughout the Book of Acts are historical facts concerning the people, places, and circumstances around the arrival of the Holy Spirit and His work through developing Christendom in Judea, Samaria, and the Gentile world to include the Mediterranean and upper Mesopotamian territories. There are numerous underlying circumstances in the text of Acts that describe how the early Church grew with thousands of new believers, yet with often adversarial encounters in opposition to what the Holy Spirit accomplished. Moreover, government, religious, and cultural objections were imposed with adversity from people who sought to protect self-interest within Judaism or their Greco-Roman way of life.

The backdrop of ongoing Jewish hostilities among synagogue and temple leaders was a continuing opposition to believers in Christ. Yet, while Roman authorities’ force and aggression were a source of Jewish leverage, the presence of Roman prosecution toward Christians pressed upon both experienced and new believers alike. While some may feel an obligation of sympathy as due toward Roman authorities, there are various examples throughout the Book of Acts to indicate a rationale to the contrary. As evangelism and an apologetic for Christianity to the Romans were advocated throughout Acts,1 there remains further in the text an unmistakable peace-keeping presence for its governing interests. Pax Romana was the forceful current of the time to assure order and security, while Christ himself appointed the gospel to spread. The expansion of the early Church was explosive due to several factors. Notwithstanding Holy Spirit emboldened apostles who brought the gospels to the nations, the acceptance of the Greek language, the building of the Roman roads, the removal of Mediterranean pirates, and the openness of secular thought and philosophical ideas were viewed as alternatives or replacements to Greek and Roman polytheism.2 Within the Greco-Roman world, the arrival of the gospel and the early Church’s work was at just the right time.

From reading through the Book of Acts at least a few times, a reader begins to see a pattern emerge concerning the havoc Jewish leaders repeatedly raise by using Roman authority as a means of leverage to oppose, silence, and eliminate believers obedient to Christ. From after the time of Pentecost (Acts 2:1-3) through the conversion of Paul (Acts 9:1-31), there are just a few apparent references to Roman or Greek influence on events within the text (Acts 2:9-11, Acts 4:27, Acts 6:9). However, in Acts chapter 10, the narrative begins to change with the introduction of the devout Roman Centurion Cornelius (Acts 10:1) in Caesarea, a predominately pagan city,3 about 40 miles Northwest of Jerusalem.

Jewish temple leaders, the Sanhedrin, and prominent synagogue members throughout Israel and Asia Minor effectively weaponized Greco-Roman interests to stop or subdue evangelistic and apologetic efforts among apostles and disciples who siphoned off adherents of Judaism, God-fearers from synagogues, and pagan worshipers from idolatrous practices. From Peter (Acts 11:8) and the Judaizers (Acts 15:1,5, Gal 6:12-13), it was inferred and concluded from the gospel that the Jews were no longer the exclusive people chosen by God.4  As such, Roman authorities often then became Jewish instruments of Christian persecution. Just as Jesus was tried and crucified by Roman authorities by means of Jewish persecution (Acts 13:28), apostles and believers within the early Church would face the same adversarial hostilities (John 15:20).

It was not enough for Jewish leadership to use Roman authorities against the spread of the gospel. On Paul’s missionary journeys, he and his companions visited synagogues, marketplaces, and public gathering locations to speak before people who were present to hear the gospel. In so doing at Thessalonica, for example, yet another group of Jewish leaders formed a mob to drag some disciples before “city authorities” (NASB) or “rulers of the city” (KJV), or πολιτάρχης, politarchēs in Acts 17:6. By “turning the world upside down,” the Jews make accusations against followers of Christ and their efforts among cities and towns. To infer a legal disturbance that damages the Roman empire’s peace and well-being in Thessalonica, a Roman capital district in Macedonia.5

As emperor worship and offerings became expected of inhabitants within the Roman district of Thessalonica during the time of emperor Caligula (37-41 A.D), to advocate ideas to the contrary would at a minimum point to disloyalty to the empire.6 For the Jewish population of  Thessalonians to hear Paul, his companions, and new followers proclaim and advocate a gospel that informs people of reconciliation to God without adherence to Jewish tradition and requirements would become reported and condemned. By “turning the world upside down” (Acts 17:6), further accusations of disruption to the policy of Pax Romana throughout the empire would become assailed. Thereby again rendering the Roman authorities a weapon of the Jewish leaders within the synagogues. Leaders who opposed Christ, His followers, and the gospel. With Greco-Roman idolatry the center of worship toward current and former emperors, Jewish leaders likely knew the risks of new believers who were to abstain from such practices. Speaking before city occupants, they spread a gospel that drew people away from their synagogues, and now from the temples of Greco-Roman gods.

Just as emperor Caligula declared himself a god (37 A.D.),7 there were cultural expectations that accompanied his divinity claim. As if he was an equivalent to Roman god Jupiter (Zeus in Greek mythology), he expected townspeople to recognize and honor him in accordance with what he believed. For people to act contrary either intentionally or unintentionally added weight of risk carried by believers as they knew of potential ramifications for disobedience. With the imperial religion permeating Roman society and local townspeople in Lystra,8 its evidence is recorded in Scripture (Acts 12:22, Acts 14:11-15) to highlight Jewish leaders’ exploitations of Roman culture and authority to stop the spread of the gospel and the growth of the Church.

Within the Book of Acts’ continued narrative, there were yet further trials that were framed by the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem to involve substantial Roman government and military resources that were a culmination of intensified and heightening tensions.9 As Jesus spoke to Ananias, “I will show him how much he must suffer for My name’s sake,” we have Paul’s later confirmation concerning what the Lord has said about his witness testimony to Rome. Paul had the confidence and guidance of the Holy Spirit and Christ Jesus (Acts 19:21, Acts 23:11) to travel to Jerusalem and Rome. It was to become a journey in which he would become captured and where the Jewish leadership will again produce false charges and hand him over to Roman authorities. Ultimately, after years of delay and further hardships, Paul the Apostle, our Lord’s faithful servant, was given over to Rome, where he became imprisoned (60 A.D.) and after that appeared before Caesar of Rome. Like Christ, Paul would face Roman execution as delivered from Jewish leaders to his death (64 A.D.).10

Citations

1 D.A Carson & Douglas J. Moo, An Introduction to the New Testament (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2005), 303.
2 Steven J. Lawson, Pillars of Grace(Orlando, FL: Reformation Trust, 2011), 48.
3 John P. Lange, A Commentary on the Holy Scriptures: Acts (New York, NY: Scribner, 1867), 191.
4 Don Garlington, An Exposition of Galatians: A Reading from the New Perspective, Third Edition. (Eugene, OR: Wipf and Stock Publishers, 2007), 379.
5 M. G. Easton, Easton’s Bible Dictionary: Thessalonica. (New York: Harper & Brothers, 1893).
6 Andrew R. Talbert, “Thessalonica,” ed. John D. Barry et al., The Lexham Bible Dictionary (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2016).
7 Walter A. Elwell and Barry J. Reitzel, “Caesars, The,” Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1988), 394.
8 John B. Polhill, “Acts,” in Holman Concise Bible Commentary, ed. David S. Dockery (Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1998), 516.
9 Patrick Schreiner, “Evaluating the Validity of the ‘Three Missionary Journeys’ Structuring Motif in Acts” Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society Vol. 63, No.3, (2020), 514.
10 Rose Publishing; Illustrated edition. Rose Book of Bible & Christian History Timelines. Peabody: Hendrickson Publishers, 2006.

Bibliography

Dockery, David S. Holman Concise Bible Commentary. Nashville: Holman Reference, 1998.
Easton, M.G. Easton’s Bible Dictionary. Logos Systems, Inc., 1893.
Elwell, Walter A. Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible. Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1988.
Garlington, Don. An Exposition of Galatians: A Reading from the New Perspective. Eugene: Wipf and Stock Publishers, 2007.
Lange, John Peter. “A Commentary on the Holy Scriptures: Acts.” In the Acts of the Apostles, An Exegetical and Doctrinal Commentary, by D.D. Gotthard V. Lechler, 480. New York: Charles Scribner & Co., 1867.
Lawson, Steven J. Pillars of Grace. Orlando: Reformation Trust, 2011.
The Lexham Bible Dictionary. Bellingham, 2016. Moo, D.A. Carson & Douglas J. An Introduction to the New Testament. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2005.
Rose Publishing; Illustrated edition. Rose Book of Bible & Christian History Timelines. Peabody: Hendrickson Publishers, 2006.
Schreiner, Patrick. “Evaluating the Validity of the “Three Missionary Journeys” Structuring Motif in Acts.” Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society, 2020: 505-516.

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The Path of Treasured Burden

By on November 17, 2020 in Theology

When considering how God prepared Paul for his work among both Jews and Gentiles during his life, there were very specific outcomes both favorable and unfavorable to many people. Especially concerning those who were in Jerusalem and well beyond that into Asia Minor and Macedonia.

After Jesus confronted Paul on the road to Damascus, the Holy Spirit entered Paul through Ananias’s appointed visit. Jesus had informed Ananias that Paul must carry His name before the Gentiles and that he would suffer for the sake of His name. So as Ananias prayed and placed his hands upon Paul, his sight was restored, and the Holy Spirit took up residence within Paul to begin the work that Jesus had set up for Paul to accomplish. As Paul was a fierce adversary of the Church, Jesus selected Paul and transformed that energy and drive into work for the Kingdom. Along the way, Paul’s hardened character would withstand numerous trials and abuses as a cost of proclaiming the gospel to people both receptive and hostile.  

Jesus chose an aggressive iron workhorse, so to speak, for the work of His Kingdom. His hardened constitution, intelligence, background, and grit oriented him to take the gospel to many Gentile peoples through the Holy Spirit’s guidance, care, protection, and inspiration. Moreover, his strong spirit was integral to the Holy Spirit’s work in the early church to resolve issues surrounding the integrity of the gospel among Judaizers and Jewish Church leaders who insisted on keeping Hebrew traditions and requirements. Peter, James, John, and others at the Jerusalem council rejected undue attachments to the gospel and supported both Paul and Barnabas in their missionary efforts and teaching. To the relief of God-fearers outside Judea and Samaria, Gentiles who attended synagogues to worship and honor Yahweh were overjoyed at the news of the gospel. Yet also of their acceptance and freedom to love and serve Him in truth.

Before Paul’s transformation, he witnessed the killing of Stephen. In fact, he indirectly and passively participated through his approval. Among the mob, he heard Stephen’s message to include the testimonies and pleadings of others he persecuted. Through violence, trauma, and social upheaval, Paul caused immense harm to the early Church. Thinking he was serving the interests of Judaism, its traditions, and the leadership in Jerusalem, the magnitude of his error was stratospheric. Yet while he was in full-speed motion in the wrong direction while carrying about in evil conduct against the Church, he pressed upon individuals one-by-one until he would bring them all to “justice.” Offended by betrayal against tradition and who the Messiah was to be, he became an outspoken critic and violent persecutor of people who were actually followers of Christ he would come to know. 

Jesus selected Paul as a qualified higher caliber Israelite with an impressive background to promptly and permanently refute attempts to dismiss his credibility, zeal, ethnicity, and righteousness. His experience, academics, hardships, dangers, persecutions, and sufferings were a testimony to the truth of his proclamations, teachings, and claims. His pedigree was potent enough to render accusations and criticisms against him as nonsense. There would be no room for indifference or dismissal of his messages from false perceptions surrounding an inferior background people might have assumed. As a Jewish and Roman citizen, he was a well-developed and resourceful individual, multilingual, and highly educated. He was highly qualified and well-formed to speak with influence and authority before his Hebrew contemporaries, the indigent, and distant Gentiles, about historical covenants, the law, and prophetic promises concerning their Messiah. Yet who prevailed upon Paul was Christ as witnessed by many. As everything else he achieved was counted as loss for the sake of his treasured possession in Jesus as Lord. 

References:

Acts Chapters 7-9; Acts 21:39-22:21; 2 Corinthians 11:22-28; Galatians 1:14-2:2; Philippians 3:4-6.

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The Seeds of Antioch

By on November 11, 2020 in Theology

To further understand the birth of the early Church, it is necessary to recognize what occurred at Antioch in ancient Syria.

After Stephen’s life was taken by people hostile to his testimony and faith in Christ, Jewish believers who were also at risk of mob violence and persecution fled to other regions beyond Judea and Samaria. As they traveled far off and sought refuge, it was by God’s sovereign intent that His church would form in Antioch at a nearby seaport where it could extend outward to new territories across the Gentile world. So, as a matter of course, Antioch became the fertile ground of Christianity after Stephen’s martyrdom. The city became the Holy Spirit’s center of emergent churches among Gentiles, where incursions into Asia Minor, Israel, and around the Mediterranean Sea took place. Said another way, Antioch’s early churches became the center of Gentile Christianity with a strong focus on missions, ministry, and discipleship. 

The leadership at Antioch included Barnabas, Simeon, Lucius, Manaen, and Paul. They all together in unison, stature, and notoriety was a mix of people with various backgrounds. They were people of multiple cultures, languages, and lifestyles who understood the geography, social makeup, cultural conditions, and false religious impediments before them. They, among other Jewish disciples in the area, were situated in pagan territory. They were deeply seated in a Hellenistic area with Greco-Roman conditions and pressures present at the time. Nevertheless, their positioning and the Holy Spirit’s work situated them for growth in Antioch and well beyond that to fulfill God’s instructions to take the gospel to the Gentiles.

From prayer and by the Holy Spirit’s instructions, Barnabas and Paul were set aside and dedicated in their missionary efforts concentrated toward Gentiles. They were to become pioneers of the gospel to Gentile territories as they charted their routes toward a network of churches between Antioch and Asia Minor, including Cyprus, Cyrene, Jerusalem, and well beyond that to Macedonia. Into the surrounding areas around the Mediterranean Sea, churches became further developed in time as they organically grew in population. Along with additional local outreach, there were several missionary journeys from Antioch to advance the gospel (Acts 12:25-13:1, 14:26, 15:36-40, 18:22-23). These were journeys that involved the harvesting of people hungry for valid spiritual meaning. Yet with personal hardships and uncertainties, they pressed ahead even with disputes and divisions that ran counter to what their missions required. With persistence, informed truth, and the power of the Holy Spirit, their overall pursuits cast a wide net to yield a significant return on their efforts chartered by the Antioch Church. 

Scriptural and historical records identify various missionaries including Silas, Judas, Paul, Barnabas, John Mark, and others. All of them to fulfill Christ’s instructions to reach the world beyond Jerusalem and Samaria. With successes, trials, and hardships, the Antiochene church commissioned its people to travel abroad to spread the gospel and cultivate the ongoing Christian movement among new churches throughout more Mediterranean territories.

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The Veil of Sacred Space

By on November 5, 2020 in Theology

The temple was a cultural and religious gathering location of people throughout Israel. Either daily or on occasion, in observance of festivals, people of Jerusalem, Judea, and beyond would gather at the temple to fellowship, worship, and present sacrificial offerings. The second temple represented the religious, traditional, and cultural center of the people to conduct affairs, meet with one another, and carry out their interests of spiritual, economic, and civic significance. Various people groups gathered at the temple, as written about in the gospels, including Pharisees, Sadducees, Scribes, Herodians, and others such as Gentiles, sojourners, soldiers, and philosophers. The temple was a center of social activity within Judea as its purpose was specifically and historically written about within the Torah. It provided the early Church efficient access to Jerusalem and Israel’s people for the gospel message concerning their Messiah’s work and what Yahweh of their temple was doing.

The second temple’s gathering location in Jerusalem served as a beginning place for the New Covenant message. Particularly to the “people of the land” (‘am ha-aretz) as the temple and the territory was ingrained into the Jewish people’s identity. While the temple was of significant value in terms of its meaning and cultural heritage, it also had historical significance extending back to the time of Solomon’s temple before its destruction in 586 BC.

Back when the glory of Yahweh inhabited Solomon’s temple, His presence represented the location of His sacred space. Even with His departure well before the second temple’s destruction in 70 AD, it was of enormous value to the people of the land. Specifically, they were the first people Jesus instructed the early Church to reach. Yahweh’s temple was a location of ongoing spiritual and physical significance. For example, the early Jerusalem church actively attended the temple and met at relevant gathering sites to fulfill Christ’s commission (Lk 24:47).

Moreover, they specifically met within the Solomon colonnade to teach and minister to temple visitors in the presence of rabbis, onlookers, and officials (Acts 5:12). While the apostles met at the temple as a platform of outreach, teaching, and ministry, people were added to the early Church and Kingdom of God. Many were healed at the temple and delivered from demonic inhabitation and oppression (Acts 5:14-16).

The temple of the living God also served as a model for a new kind of temple that emerged as Yahweh promised to put His Spirit within His people (Ezek 36:27). To include believers within the early Church and today, the Spirit of God rested no longer within the physical space of a structure; He instead became transferred within Jews and Gentiles by His Spirit’s indwelling among them as the body of believers. As the body of Jesus was the temple of the Word, the incarnate presence of Yahweh, He was the wisdom of God, the prototype embodiment of God’s temple to set in motion the inauguration (Heb 10:20) of the New Covenant through His sacrifice and resurrection.

The apostles recognized the enormous prophetic and theological meaning of this transition of promise. As we read in 1 Peter 2:4-5, Jesus was the living stone and precious cornerstone rejected by men, and Peter wrote to the early Church to be as “living stones” of a Temple acceptable to God as they were a spiritual house for a holy priesthood. They were corporately and individually, sacred space. The presence of Yahweh was now among them and within them, as it were. The early Church was the new temple that accompanies the New Covenant. Just as the writer of Hebrews wrote (Heb 10:19-25), the temple of the early Church now had a High Priest in Jesus Himself. By comparison, His worshipers, believers, and followers entered this new temple through a veil to appear in confidence before Yahweh. As it is written, this veil of His temple was and is, His flesh (Heb 10:20).

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The Words of Life

By on October 10, 2020 in Theology

Introduction

Both the Old and New Testaments were compiled over a period of about 1,500 years. From about 1400 B.C. to 90 A.D., God used over forty different writers to author the Scriptures under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. The compilation of these writings spans numerous genres or types of written text to communicate meaning about who God is, what He has done, what He is doing, and what He is going to do. The words of Scripture are meant to be understood and lived out in conformity to the will and interests of YHWH.

The recognized protestant canon of Scripture within both the Old and New Testaments are outlined in the tables below. Among both Roman Catholics and Eastern Orthodox believers, their canon of Scripture is different than what is outlined below. Here is a useful site to clearly understand the distinctions between them. In any regard, these listed below are of the common Protestant canon.

When one refers to the “biblical canon,” the term simply means that Scripture is a closed corpus of authoritative texts. For a more comprehensive paper I wrote concerning the canon, please check out this link: The Canonicity of Scripture.

Old Testament

The central figure of all the Bible is Jesus Christ. The entire Bible’s theme before and after His birth points to Him. By His direct involvement in creation, through His historical presence among the patriarchs, from the foreshadowing of the priests, and kings, to the predictive utterances of the prophets, we see Christ Jesus the Messiah as the central theme throughout Scripture.

HISTORY
(17 Books)		POETRY
(5 Books)		PROPHECY
(17 Books)
Law
Genesis
Exodus
Leviticus
Numbers
Deuteronomy

History and Government
Joshua
Judges
Ruth
1 Samuel
2 Samuel
1 Kings
2 Kings
1 Chronicles
2 Chronicles
Ezra
Nehemiah
Esther		Job
Psalms
Proverbs
Ecclesiastes
Song of Solomon		Major Prophets
Isaiah
Jeremiah
Lamentation
Ezekiel
Daniel

Minor Prophets
Hosea
Joel
Amos
Obadiah
Jonah
Micah
Nahum
Habakkuk
Zephaniah
Haggai
Zechariah
Malachi

As it is commonly read, “the New Testament is in the Old Testament concealed and the Old Testament is in the New Testament revealed,” we see the distinction between both the Old and New covenants to communicate meaning from YHWH to humanity, both Jew and Gentile.

New Testament

The Holy Bible consists of 66-books and each one has its specific place and purpose by sovereign intent. Namely to communicate both old and new covenants across dispensations that provide the means by which YHWH communicates with humanity, and each person individually.

HISTORY
(5 Books)		TEACHING
(21 Books)		PROPHECY
(1 Book)
Gospels
Matthew
Mark
Luke
John

The Early Church
Acts		Paul’s Letters
Romans
1 Corinthians
2 Corinthians
Galatians
Ephesians
Philippians
Colossians
1 Thessalonians
2 Thessalonians
1 Timothy
2 Timothy
Titus
Philemon

General Letters
Hebrews
James
1 Peter
2 Peter
1, 2, 3 John
Jude
Major Prophets
Isaiah
Jeremiah
Lamentation
Ezekiel
Daniel

Minor Prophets
Hosea
Joel
Amos
Obadiah
Jonah
Micah
Nahum
Habakkuk
Zephaniah
Haggai
Zechariah
Malachi

See and hear the words of Christ (Jn. 17:17):

“Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth.”

Understand what Jesus meant in His prayer to the Father. His followers were to be set apart (ἁγίασον), made Holy before YHWH and others to glorify the Father just as Christ glorified Him through the work YHWH gave Him to do. In His life, His forthcoming death, and His resurrection as prophesied (Isaiah 60:1-2, Psalm 16:10). This idea of sanctification is important to get clear about. The New Testament term in Greek (ἁγιάζω, hagiazō) it to make one dedicated to God; either in becoming more distinct, devoted, or morally pure. It is to sanctify or make holy (Matt 23:17, 19, Jn 10:36, 17:17, 19, Eph 5:26, 1 Thess 5:23, Heb 2:11, Heb 9:13, Heb 13:12, 1 Pet 3:15).

Sanctified by His Word

It is critical to not miss this. How are we sanctified? Through the inner workings of the Holy Spirit by the Word of God, the Bible (Eph 2:10). It is by Scripture, His inspired Word, that the Holy Spirit transforms our thoughts, desires, and actions. As Christ’s prayer before the Father is answered for His glory and good pleasure, we are made holy (qdš); through His Word by the Holy Spirit. Holy Spirit who began thousands of years ago caused His people to write His words that we would hear them and come to know and love God.

Have a look at this analysis of Psalm 19:7-11 (NASB):

7 – The law of the LORD is perfect, restoring the soul; The testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple.
8 – The precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; The commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes.
9 – The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever; The judgments of the LORD are true; they are righteous altogether.
10 – They are more desirable than gold, yes, than much fine gold; Sweeter also than honey and the drippings of the honeycomb.
11 – Moreover, by them Your servant is warned; In keeping them there is great reward.

When parsing the words across all verses to absorb and meditate on their meaning, we begin to see how the Word of YHWH is figuratively correlated to how it is recognized, by what it is, and by what it does. Searching the Scriptures, and drinking of all their life-giving words brings into you renewal and holiness that pleases God. You are made alive to love God by them.

VerseWhat the Bible is CalledIts CharacteristicsWhat It Will
Do For You
7lawperfectrefreshed spiritually
testimonyreliablegives wisdom
8preceptsrighteousbrings joy
commandmentpureenlightening
9fear of YHWHcleanendures forever
judgments of YHWHtrueprovide justice
10golddesirablespiritual wealth
honeysweetbrings pleasure
11warningkeptgreat reward

The Way of Escape

Consider the following verses concerning how the Bible helps us specifically. To recognize that it is by Christ we have eternal life, we are given promises, and we have His word to keep from sinning against God.

  1. John 5:39 1
    “You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me;”

    Christ speaking with Pharisees about the testimony of Scripture about the Messiah. That it is in Him that we have eternal life. The Scriptures concerning Him, through the Holy Spirit, sanctifies us in the truth as He is the Truth (Jn 14:6).

  2. 2 Peter 1:4 2
    “For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent apromises, so that by them you may become bpartakers of the divine nature, having cescaped the dcorruption that is in the world by lust.”

    a – 2 Pet 3:9, 13, b – Eph 4:13, 24; Heb 12:10, 1 John 3:2, c – 2 Pet 2:18, 20, d – 2 Pet 2:19

    For those having escaped the corruption of the world that comes by lust, we were granted promises whereby in them we escape from the corruption and enslavement of lusts and participate in the divine nature of YHWH.

    “By means of these He has bestowed on us His precious and exceedingly great promises, so that through them you may escape [by flight] from the moral decay (rottenness and corruption) that is in the world because of covetousness (lust and greed), and become sharers (partakers) of the divine nature.” – 2 Pet 1:4 Amplified

  3. 1 John 2:1 3
    “My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous;”

    The endearing words of John the Apostle, full of grace, speak to the reader of Scripture to give us confidence in Jesus our Messiah, our High Priest, to intercede before Father YHWH on our behalf.

1 – Jn 7:52, Rom 2:17, Mt 19:16-25, Jn 14:6, 2 Tim 3:15
2 – Jn 3:3, Jas 1:18, 1 Pet 1:23, Rom 8:1, Jn 14:17-23, Jn 1:12, Rom 8:9, Gal 2:20, Col 1:27
3 – 1 Jn 1:9, Rom 6:12-14, Rom 8:12-13, 1 Cor 15:34, Tit 2:11-12, 1 Pet 1:13-16, Jn 16:7, Rev 12:10, Heb 4:14-16

It is Written…

There are metaphors throughout Scripture that brings out meaning to regenerate people who are drawn to Christ, and to give sustenance to those who are in Christ. To approach Him, inquire, obey, and seek Him in all our efforts as He is of the utmost desire because of who He is, we have His Spirit and the Word by which we abide.

VerseObjectFunction
Jeremiah 23:29
“Is not My word like fire?” declares the LORD, “and like a hammer which shatters a rock?		Fire
Hammer		Shatters Rock
Matthew 4:4
But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘MAN SHALL NOT LIVE ON BREAD ALONE, BUT ON EVERY WORD THAT PROCEEDS OUT OF THE MOUTH OF GOD.’ ”		BreadSustenance
James 1:23-25
“For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror; for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was. But one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer, this man will be blessed in what he does.”		MirrorReveal’s True Self
Hebrews 4:12
“For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”		SwordJudges Thoughts and Intentions

We have in Matthew 4:4, Jesus Himself countering Satan that man shall not live only by basic sustenance, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. So during the encounter between Jesus and the devil, Jesus quoted Scripture there (Deut 8:3), and there it was that He was tempted by Satan and prevailed in obedience to the Word of God.

“It is written, ‘MAN SHALL NOT LIVE ON BREAD ALONE,
BUT ON EVERY WORD THAT PROCEEDS OUT OF THE MOUTH OF GOD.’ ”

Then by His example, how could we do any less? Even before trying times of temptation, our sanctification is grounded and has its growth in Scripture. We are to live in obedience to God just as Jesus, whom we love, has done so before us.

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Message of the Prophets

By on September 14, 2020 in Theology

This is an academic textbook about major and minor prophets authored throughout written Scripture. It is a comprehensive survey of each prophet in the Old Testament that provides a topical view from both pre-exilic and post-exilic periods. Structurally, the textbook approaches the biblical text from a conventional Christian perspective, but it does provoke questions and introduce comparative thoughts surrounding prophecy, eschatology, and justice issues that often arise as a matter of interpretation. The book is replete with suitable photographs, maps, highlights, tables, inset messages, written assignments, verbal assignments, and more.

The beginning of the textbook is introductory in terms of the genres found among the prophets. Namely, apocalyptic, poetic, and narrative literature across various authors are introduced among the historical, prophetic, and eschatological events that occurred over the many centuries across time.

The breakdown of the book spans all books in three major sections. First, concerning the big picture of the prophets and prophecies as they spoke and wrote from the word of YHWH. A historical overview throughout the Prophetic Era is presented to set an introductory backdrop for the further detailed reading ahead. To canvas the numerous prophets, their method of delivery by genre read chronological and as anthologies.

There isn’t any one specific event, nation, territory, or people group that the prophets engaged. Yet, the messages of the prophets surround Israel, Judah, and its surrounding nations in context to their covenant relationships with YHWH. As such, the messaging is both theologically and eschatologically relevant both then and now. Each prophet appears to have one or more themes or a designated purpose that reinforces the meaning and reason for their position in Scripture. While prophetic pronouncements can overlap from different perspectives among the major and minor prophets, there is no undue redundancy.

The second section concerns the Major Prophets, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel. The textbook provides a section-by-section breakdown of each chapter, book by book. The third major section entitled “The Book of the Twelve” takes the same approach among all sections, book by book. Every minor prophet is covered including Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Zechariah, Haggai, and Malachi.

The density of subject matter within this text is significant. So it serves as a lifetime handbook to draw upon as a companion to exegetical or topical studies that involve the prophets in some way.

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On Fertile Ground

By on August 29, 2020 in Theology

From a cursory understanding of Middle-Eastern history, it is apparent that the empires that formed were superseded to bring about the arrival of Christ on Earth. Conditions were sovereignly orchestrated as each empire rose to power and fell to usher in the fulfillment of Messianic prophecies that culminated at the beginning of Christendom. Both Scripture and early historical records give us the specifics about what occurred during the apostolic age to include the epic backdrop that preceded it.

Throughout the recorded biblical and apocryphal world before the arrival of Christ, the sequence of macro-historical events included the capture of the Northern Kingdom by Assyria in 722 BC., the capture of Jerusalem and Judea by Babylon in 586 BC, the fall of the Babylon empire to Persia in 539 BC, the fall of the Persian empire to Alexander the Great beginning in 480 BC, then finally the fall of the Greek empire to the Roman empire at about 146 BC. This historical sequence of upheaval was recorded by the prophet Daniel (chapters 2 and 7) to fulfill prophecies about kingdoms that would come and go to shape the forthcoming conditions for the arrival of Yahweh as incarnated through Jesus our Messiah.

During the rise and fall of empires across time, the development of the biblical world was underway. The direct and inferred meta-narrative of the preparation of Christ’s arrival and the spread of the gospel involved the infrastructure and social systems set in place to facilitate the dissemination of Yahweh’s good news. The great commission of Christ was not given to His apostles absent the conditions able to help propagate the good news.

Specifically, infrastructure and social systems included language, written communication, trade, local and distributed governments, merchant sea routes, roads, social classes, economies/currencies, transportation, agriculture, fisheries, and so forth. When the time was right, and just before the world’s population began its geometric growth, Christ arrived on the world stage to complete His work with the gospel He charged His followers to spread. Under the power of the Holy Spirit, Jesus’s teachings, Scripture, growing Church tradition, and apostolic instructions, the fertile ground was tilled to sow the seeds of the gospel for the growth of the Kingdom of God, for His glory, and the redemption of His people throughout humanity.

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