Seven Days in Port

A data point we all might want to consider about the seven-day stay in Troas, in Acts 20:7, is that Paul and his company were not in control of the schedule of the ship upon which he sailed; the ship did not set sail according to Paul's schedule, but rather Paul set sail according to the ship's schedule.

And interestingly enough, we find that the next time the ship stays in port for any length of time, to "unload her cargo", the stay was seven days, just as it was in Troas:

Acts 21:3-5 (WEB) When we had come in sight of Cyprus, leaving it on the left hand, we sailed to Syria and landed at Tyre, for the ship was there to unload her cargo. Having found disciples, we stayed there seven days. These said to Paul through the Spirit that he should not go up to Jerusalem. When those days were over, we departed and went on our journey. They all, with wives and children, brought us on our way until we were out of the city. Kneeling down on the beach, we prayed.

And again, later in the trip, the ship seemingly stays in port for seven days:

Acts 28:13-14 (WEB) From there we circled around and arrived at Rhegium. After one day, a south wind sprang up, and on the second day we came to Puteoli, where we found brothers, and were entreated to stay with them for seven days. So we came to Rome.

It's unlikely that the Roman centurion, tasked with taking several prisoners (Acts 27:1; 28:16) to Rome, would waste a week's worth of his employer's resources (food and lodging for enough soldiers (Acts 27:31) to keep 270 people in-line when the sailors were trying to abandon ship (Acts 27:30, 37), just waiting on one of his prisoners to enjoy a get-together with his friends. It's much more likely that the centurion was at the mercy of the ship's schedule.

Here's a possibility: Knowing that it takes about a week to do unloading, and presumably loading, of the ship, the captain plans accordingly, scheduling a seven-day stay in port for that process. The ship obviously kept a planned schedule, or Paul could not have made plans to rejoin the ship after separating from it after Troas:

Acts 20:13 (WEB) But we, going ahead to the ship, set sail for Assos, intending to take Paul aboard there; for he had so arranged, intending himself to go by land.

At any rate, Paul's hurry to be in Jerusalem for Pentecost didn't prevent him from staying seven days at this other port town.

And it's likely that Paul had supper with them every night in Tyre, just as he probably had done back in Troas, but without a young man falling from a third-story window, there was no reason for Luke to say much about this stay.

It's unlikely Paul and company stayed seven days in Troas or in Tyre to stick around for "worship day"; it's more likely they stayed seven days because that's when their ship was leaving port.

Born of Water and the Spirit

John 3:5-10 (WEB) Jesus answered, “Most certainly I tell you, unless one is born of water and spirit, he can’t enter into God’s Kingdom. That which is born of the flesh is flesh. That which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Don’t marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born anew.’ The wind blows where it wants to, and you hear its sound, but don’t know where it comes from and where it is going. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

Nicodemus answered him, “How can these things be?”
Jesus answered him, “Are you the teacher of Israel, and don’t understand these things?

When I read this exchange between Jesus and the Teacher of Israel, I can't help but think of Ezekiel.  

In chapter 16, Ezekiel prophesies of Jerusalem, speaking of Jerusalem being born like a baby in filth and poverty, neglected: 

Ezekiel 16:4 (WEB) As for your birth, in the day you were born your navel was not cut. You weren’t washed in water to cleanse you. You weren’t salted at all, nor wrapped in blankets at all.

The prophecy goes on to say how God took pity on this baby and washed her and cared for her, and raised her to be his bride, but then she took pride in her royal estate, and became a prostitute:

Ezekiel 16:9-15 (WEB) “‘“Then washed I you with water. Yes, I thoroughly washed away your blood from you, and I anointed you with oil. I clothed you also with embroidered work, and put sealskin sandals on you. I dressed you with fine linen and covered you with silk. I decked you with ornaments, put bracelets on your hands, and put a chain on your neck. I put a ring on your nose, and earrings in your ears, and a beautiful crown on your head. Thus you were decked with gold and silver. Your clothing was of fine linen, silk, and embroidered work. You ate fine flour, honey, and oil. You were exceedingly beautiful, and you prospered to royal estate. Your renown went out among the nations for your beauty; for it was perfect, through my majesty which I had put on you,” says the Lord Yahweh.

“‘“But you trusted in your beauty, and played the prostitute because of your renown, and poured out your prostitution on everyone who passed by. It was his.

The next 16 chapters are filled with the curses resulting from her prostitution, as well as the punishments meted out against those who abuse her. All the while that she is prostituting herself, God pleads:

Ezekiel 18:31 (WEB) Cast away from you all your transgressions, in which you have transgressed; and make yourself a new heart and a new spirit: for why will you die, house of Israel?

And then finally, in chapter 36, the transformation happens:

Ezekiel 36:25-27 (WEB) I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean. I will cleanse you from all your filthiness, and from all your idols. I will also give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit within you. I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh. I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes. You will keep my ordinances and do them.

In this long passage, which Nicodemus should know, being the Teacher of Israel (John 3:10), Israel is born anew of both water and the spirit, both the flesh and the spirit.

I can't say definitively that Jesus was making an allusion to this long passage in Ezekiel, but it sure seems likely to me.

You want to bathe the prostitute before being cooped up in an enclosed space with her or taking her out in public, but more than that, you want her to have a new spirit that is clean.

The First Writing

The first mention of symbolic writing is the so-called "mark of Cain", some sign that had a meaning of "do not kill this man or worse will befall you".

WEB Gen 4:15 Yahweh said to him, “Therefore whoever slays Cain, vengeance will be taken on him sevenfold.” Yahweh appointed a sign for Cain, so that anyone finding him would not strike him.

The first mention of a book is the book of Adam's family history, to which Moses apparently had access as source material for his compilation of the genesis of all things:

WEB Gen 5:1 This is the book of the generations of Adam. In the day that God created man, he made him in God’s likeness.

Physi-Spirituality

The physical bodies of Jesus, Enoch, and Elijah were taken into heaven.

We are told that Enoch's body was "translated".

We're told that Jesus' body is no longer subject to death, and that it was able to change form, pop out of existence here and into existence there through closed doors, have scars, cook breakfast, holler, be hugged, and ascend into the sky, and will return in like manner (and that he is the firstfruits of those who will be resurrected after him).

We are told that Moses' body was buried (and argued about by Michael the archangel and the devil), yet he, and Elijah (whose body went into heaven), both appeared with Jesus, with all three manifesting as beings of light. (Moses' face also glowed for a while, while living on Earth, whenever he talked with God.)

Putting all this together, it seems that in heaven/the next life, there is not the sharp division between physical and spiritual that we think there is. We are told that our physical bodies will be changed; we are not told they will be left behind.

Yes, it is the spirit that gives life. But it gives life to the physical. This is the way Adam was created to be - living in a physical body forever, that could not die, just as Jesus was raised in a physical body that can now no longer die.

Something to ponder....

Breaking the Second Commandment

 

Yahweh said:

WEB Ex 20:4 “You shall not make for yourselves an idol, nor any image of anything that is in the heavens above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: 5 you shall not bow yourself down to them, nor serve them, for I, Yahweh your God, am a jealous God....

A Gentile came to believe in Yahweh, and vowed:

2 Kings 5:17 Naaman said, “If not, then, please let two mules’ burden of earth be given to your servant; for your servant will from now on offer neither burnt offering nor sacrifice to other gods, but to Yahweh.

But his job, his livelihood, perhaps his very life, depended on making his boss happy, so he added one little addendum:

18 In this thing may Yahweh pardon your servant: when my master goes into the house of Rimmon to worship there, and he leans on my hand, and I bow myself in the house of Rimmon. When I bow myself in the house of Rimmon, may Yahweh pardon your servant in this thing.”

And Yahweh's prophet, Elisha, answered him:

19 He said to him, “Go in peace.”

Worshiping Wrongly

The nation of Israel had failed, for a long time, to keep the Passover "according to the way it was written". When King Hezekiah tried to turn the nation back to God, he hosted a Passover party like hadn't been seen in years.

 

However, because "the thing was done suddenly", there weren't enough sanctified priests to serve the need, because they were lax in sanctifying themselves, so their brothers helped them.

WEB 2 Chron 29:34 But the priests were too few, so that they could not skin all the burnt offerings. Therefore their brothers the Levites helped them, until the work was ended, and until the priests had sanctified themselves; for the Levites were more upright in heart to sanctify themselves than the priests.

Also, the Passover was to be kept in the first month of the year, but because they weren't ready, they made their own decision to keep it in the second month.

2 Chron 30:2 For the king had taken counsel with his princes and all the assembly in Jerusalem to keep the Passover in the second month. 3 For they could not keep it at that time, because the priests had not sanctified themselves in sufficient number, and the people had not gathered themselves together to Jerusalem. 4 The thing was right in the eyes of the king and of all the assembly. 5 So they established a decree to make proclamation throughout all Israel, from Beersheba even to Dan, that they should come to keep the Passover to Yahweh, the God of Israel, at Jerusalem, for they had not kept it in great numbers in the way it is written.

And third, the people themselves were not properly sanctified for the festivities:

2 Chron 30:17 For there were many in the assembly who had not sanctified themselves: therefore the Levites were in charge of killing the Passovers for everyone who was not clean, to sanctify them to Yahweh. 18 For a multitude of the people, even many of Ephraim, Manasseh, Issachar, and Zebulun, had not cleansed themselves,

And yet, the priests were ashamed of their failure, and the people who came humbled themselves:

2 Chron 30:11 Nevertheless some men of Asher, Manasseh, and Zebulun humbled themselves, and came to Jerusalem. ... 15 Then they killed the Passover on the fourteenth day of the second month. The priests and the Levites were ashamed, and sanctified themselves, and brought burnt offerings into Yahweh’s house.

And King Hezekiah prayed for the people, even though they didn't do things in the right way:

2 Chron 30:18 For a multitude of the people, even many of Ephraim, Manasseh, Issachar, and Zebulun, had not cleansed themselves, yet they ate the Passover other than the way it is written. For Hezekiah had prayed for them, saying, “May the good Yahweh pardon everyone 19 who sets his heart to seek God, Yahweh, the God of his fathers, even if they aren’t clean according to the purification of the sanctuary.”

And the result?

2 Chron 30:20 Yahweh listened to Hezekiah, and healed the people. ... 27 Then the Levitical priests arose and blessed the people. Their voice was heard, and their prayer came up to his holy habitation, even to heaven.

An Old Testament Connection

 

WEB Matt 18:2 Jesus called a little child to himself, and set him in the middle of them 3 and said, “Most certainly I tell you, unless you turn and become as little children, you will in no way enter into the Kingdom of Heaven. 4 Whoever therefore humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven.

I wonder if, when he said this, Jesus had in mind, and expected his hearers to have in mind, one of the greatest in the Kingdom of David, who humbled himself:

1 Kings 3:6 Solomon said, “You have shown to your servant David my father great loving kindness, because he walked before you in truth, in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart with you. You have kept for him this great loving kindness, that you have given him a son to sit on his throne, as it is today. 7 Now, Yahweh my God, you have made your servant king instead of David my father. I am just a little child. I don’t know how to go out or come in. 8 Your servant is among your people which you have chosen, a great people, that can’t be numbered or counted for multitude. 9 Give your servant therefore an understanding heart to judge your people, that I may discern between good and evil; for who is able to judge this great people of yours?”

If we aren't familiar with "the Old Testament" as were Jesus and his hearers, is it any wonder we miss these types of connections?

Foolish Solomon

 

Did you know ...

that in his later years, the very wise King Solomon became very foolish, and as a result, the United Kingdom that David had built was ripped into two, forming the kingdoms of Israel and Judah?

WEB 1 Kings 11:4 When Solomon was old, his wives turned away his heart after other gods; and his heart was not perfect with Yahweh his God, as the heart of David his father was. 5 For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites. 6 Solomon did that which was evil in Yahweh’s sight, and didn’t go fully after Yahweh, as David his father did. 7 Then Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the abomination of Moab, on the mountain that is before Jerusalem, and for Molech the abomination of the children of Ammon. 8 So he did for all his foreign wives, who burned incense and sacrificed to their gods. 9 Yahweh was angry with Solomon, because his heart was turned away from Yahweh, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice, 10 and had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not go after other gods; but he didn’t keep that which Yahweh commanded. 11 Therefore Yahweh said to Solomon, “Because this is done by you, and you have not kept my covenant and my statutes, which I have commanded you, I will surely tear the kingdom from you, and will give it to your servant. 12 Nevertheless, I will not do it in your days, for David your father’s sake; but I will tear it out of your son’s hand. 13 However I will not tear away all the kingdom; but I will give one tribe to your son, for David my servant’s sake, and for Jerusalem’s sake which I have chosen.”

Fishers of Men

 

WEB Matt 4:18 Walking by the sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers: Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew, his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. 19 He said to them, “Come after me, and I will make you fishers for men.”

If we knew "the Old Testament" scriptures the way Jesus knew them, we would recognize the above allusion.

Jer 16:14 “Therefore behold, the days come,” says Yahweh, “that it will no more be said, ‘As Yahweh lives, who brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt;’ 15 but, ‘As Yahweh lives, who brought up the children of Israel from the land of the north, and from all the countries where he had driven them.’ I will bring them again into their land that I gave to their fathers.

16 “Behold, I will send for many fishermen,” says Yahweh, “and they will fish them up. Afterward I will send for many hunters, and they will hunt them from every mountain, from every hill, and out of the clefts of the rocks.

A Look at "proskuneo"

Jesus was told to bow before Satan. This is the action of "proskuneo", translated "worship" in most English Bibles.

It's the same word Jesus uses in John 4. The "action of worship" here is bowing. It is not singing. It is not praying. It is not sacrificing a ram or burning incense. It is bowing/prostrating.

Jesus answered, "You shall bow before ('proskuneo') Yahweh your God, and serve ('latreia') him only."

You can proskuneo before the porcelain throne, but that is not the proskuneo which God wants. He wants your spirit to proskuneo before him, in truth, regardless of the prostrating your body might be doing. If your body is proskuneo-ing before the porcelain throne because of food poisoning, while your spirit is truthfully proskuneo-ing before God, thankful for his incredible design of the human body, he is pleased about your spirit's truthful proskuneo-ing.

It's not the outside of the cup that is all important. It's the inside of the cup. Get the inside clean, and the outside will be clean also. Proskuneo-ing before God is not about tithing on pennies, or long prayers, or wearing the right garments, or saying the correct phrases, or prostrating your body in this temple or that one, on this holy day instead of that one, while eating this food but not that one, while doing this ritual this way not that ritual that way. Adultery is not just about the act; it's about the heart. It's not what you put into your mouth that defiles you, or a failure to first ritually wash your hands; it's what comes out of your heart.

Don't you get it? "Worship" is not about externals - "don't touch, don't taste, don't handle, do this ritual not that one". God wants your "essence", not your ability to properly interpret and follow rules: a robot can do that. He wants your free-will-given Self. That's a 24-7 thing, not a 2-hours-on-Sunday-morning thing.

In John 4, Jesus is not saying that God no longer wants ritual service according to Moses, but he does want ritual service according to Jesus. That's not the message there. That's not the message we should be teaching from there.

Six Words in the New Testament Rendered as "worship"

• proskuneo - bow before, kiss towards (John 4:24)
• letriea - serve (Rom 12:1)
• leitourgia - liturgy, church rituals (Heb 9:21)
• eusebeó - show piety towards (Acts 17:23)
• sebó - reverence, adore (Matt 15:9)
• threskia - religion (Col 2:18; James 1:27)

God Dwells Bodily Even Now

Col 2:9 For in him all the fullness of the Deity dwells bodily,

"dwells", present-tense.

Never noticed that before....

The story of 1 Cor 16:1-2

Here's the story of 1 Cor 16:1-2.

There was going to be a famine in Judea. Paul was asked to get the Gentile churches to send famine-relief, from any disciples that had plenty. Paul was happy to do so. Paul got the Macedonians to save up a collection and he told the Corinthians to do the same thing. A year later he urged them to complete their gifting, so he could pick up the funds and take them to Judea, with a chaperone/accountant/watchdog. He sent some brothers to personally spur them on. He and Barnabas completed that famine-relief mission by taking the funds to Jerusalem.

Here are the scriptures:

WEB Gal 2:9 and when they perceived the grace that was given to me, James and Cephas and John, those who were reputed to be pillars, gave to Barnabas and me the right hand of fellowship, that we should go to the Gentiles, and they to the circumcision. 10 They only asked us to remember the poor—which very thing I was also zealous to do.

Acts 11:27 Now in these days, prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch. 28 One of them named Agabus stood up, and indicated by the Spirit that there should be a great famine all over the world, which also happened in the days of Claudius. 29 As any of the disciples had plenty, each determined to send relief to the brothers who lived in Judea; 30 which they also did, sending it to the elders by the hands of Barnabas and Saul.

1 Cor 16:1 Now concerning the collection for the saints, as I commanded the assemblies of Galatia, you do likewise. 2 On the first day of every week, let each one of you save, as he may prosper, that no collections are made when I come. 3 When I arrive, I will send whoever you approve with letters to carry your gracious gift to Jerusalem. 4 If it is appropriate for me to go also, they will go with me.

2 Cor 8:8 I speak not by way of commandment, but as proving through the earnestness of others the sincerity also of your love. ... 10 I give a judgment in this: for this is expedient for you who were the first to start a year ago, not only to do, but also to be willing. 11 But now complete the doing also, that as there was the readiness to be willing, so there may be the completion also out of your ability. ... 19 Not only so, but he was also appointed by the assemblies to travel with us in this grace, which is served by us to the glory of the Lord himself, and to show our readiness. 20 We are avoiding this, that any man should blame us concerning this abundance which is administered by us.

2 Cor 9: 2 for I know your readiness, of which I boast on your behalf to those of Macedonia, that Achaia has been prepared for the past year. Your zeal has stirred up very many of them. 3 But I have sent the brothers that our boasting on your behalf may not be in vain in this respect, that, just as I said, you may be prepared, 4 lest by any means, if anyone from Macedonia comes there with me and finds you unprepared, we (to say nothing of you) would be disappointed in this confident boasting. 5 I thought it necessary therefore to entreat the brothers that they would go before to you and arrange ahead of time the generous gift that you promised before, that the same might be ready as a matter of generosity, and not of greediness.

Acts 24:17 Now after some years, I came to bring gifts for the needy to my nation, and offerings;

Old Liturgies not Sinful

When you say "worship", what do you mean by the word "worship"? That English word is very plastic, and means different things to different people, sometimes meaning different things between two uses of it within the same sentence.

I suspect you mean "liturgy", the actions performed, usually in a corporate gathering, to honor God.

If that's what you mean by "worship", and you believe that "old testament worship" is now sinful, I remind you that in the beginning of the book of Acts, the disciples were praising God in the Jewish temple on a daily basis, as Jews (they are stunned to discover, years later, that Gentiles can be Christians), right in the middle of the choirs and the instruments and the incense-burning and the animal sacrifices and all other of the "old testament" things of "worship". And the Apostles do not say a word against any of this, nor do they move their new congregation away from it.

I remind you also that nearer the end of the book of Acts, the Apostle-trained elders of the very first church of Christ speak approvingly of the tens of thousands of Jesus believers who remain zealous for the law of Moses and their Jewish customs, and they urge Paul to prove he is one of them by "worshiping" according to the "old testament", which he is glad to do, so that they can see that he is not teaching them to forsake the"old testament", but that he too "walks according to the law". He then proceeds to "worship" according to the "old testament", which included undergoing temple purification rituals and making animal sacrifices to end a voluntary "old testament" vow (which Paul had taken two chapters earlier).

In another place Paul writes that faith does not nullify law, but rather that he establishes law, which he says is holy and righteous and good.

It is absolutely correct to point out that the new covenant is better than the old, but that does not magically make the old covenant sinful, the way we have often been taught. The Jewish Christians continued to observe those "old testament" ways of "worship" after the coming of the new covenant, and they did so with God's approval. God never said that those "old covenant" ways of "worship" were now unclean; what God has cleansed, we should not call "unclean".

The Man Who Was More

A man appeared to Samson's mom before Samson was conceived. He appeared a second time, and mom went and fetched dad. The man's face was "like the face of the angel of God, very awesome", at least the first time he appeared to mom.

The man apparently seemed to be "just" a man, a human, albeit an awesome one. The text plainly says that Dad didn't know he was Yahweh's angel. Mom & Dad offered him a meal, which he turned down, saying that any food offering they made should be made to Yahweh.

So Dad prepared the meal, and then offered it to Yahweh as a burnt offering. While the meal burned, the visitor amazed Mom & Dad by ascending into heaven within the flame of the burning food offering, which is when Dad realized this was Yahweh's angel.

-- Judges 13

Technical vs General "Apostles"

The "technical" vs "generic" usage of the word "Apostle"

WEB Acts 14:14 But when the apostles, Barnabas and Paul, heard of it, they tore their clothes, and sprang into the multitude, crying out,

Inspired scripture declares both Barnabas and Paul to be "apostles". Did Paul fit the requirement for "the Twelve"?

 

No. One of those requirements was that he had to "have accompanied us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, beginning from the baptism of John, to the day that he was received up from us" (Acts 1:21). Paul did not fit that criteria (and Barnabas almost certainly did not, but we're not sure).

 

Paul did not fit the criteria for being an Apostle in the technical (perhaps "specific" is a more palatable word for many) sense, but he was definitely specifically sent on a mission by Jesus (Acts 13:2), so he did fit the criteria for being an apostle in the generic sense.

Andronicus and Junia may also have been apostles; the Greek is not quite clear what is meant in Rom 16:7.

 

Before Paul arrived in Corinth to collect the savings for the poor saints back in Jerusalem, which the Corinthians had been setting aside for the past year, he decided to send some brothers ahead of him to remind them to get those savings in order, so Paul could pick them up. He writes:

2 Cor 9:3 But I have sent the brothers that our boasting on your behalf may not be in vain in this respect, that, just as I said, you may be prepared, 4 lest by any means, if anyone from Macedonia comes there with me and finds you unprepared, we (to say nothing of you) would be disappointed in this confident boasting. 5 I thought it necessary therefore to entreat the brothers that they would go before to you and arrange ahead of time the generous gift that you promised before, that the same might be ready as a matter of generosity, and not of greediness.

In introducing these brothers, he called them "apostles":

2 Cor 8:23 As for Titus, he is my partner and fellow worker for you. As for our brothers, they are the apostles of the assemblies, the glory of Christ.

These apostles were almost certainly not of "the Twelve". They were "apostles" in the generic sense.

 

James, the brother of Jesus, was not one of the original twelve, nor was he the one who replaced Judas, but Paul calls him an "apostle":

Gal 1:19 But of the other apostles I saw no one except James, the Lord’s brother.

Epaphroditus (a Greek name, indicating that he was probably not Jewish), certainly not one of "the Twelve", is stated point-blank to be an apostle:

Phil 2:25 But I counted it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus, my brother, fellow worker, fellow soldier, and your apostle and servant of my need,

Hopefully you can now see what is meant when referring to a "technical" usage and a "generic" usage of the word "apostle". In its technical use, it refers to the original Twelve and any replacements of that group; in its generic use, it simply refers to someone sent on a task, a "missionary" or "ambassador".

 

Today, no human qualifies to be an Apostle in the technical sense; all of us, however, could theoretically become an apostle in the generic sense.

Your Job as a Christian

If you are a follower of Jesus, this is your function:

1 Peter 2:5 (WEB) You also, as living stones, are built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

Romans 12:1 Therefore I urge you, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service.

"Pastors" and other Labels

"pastor" is the Latin version of the Greek word "poimen". They both mean "shepherd".

Use the word "shepherd", and the issue of "pastors" goes away. Why are we using Latin in our "church language"?

Appointed "elders" are overseers ("bishops", another word we need to lose, from Old English (more antiquated than KJV English, which is early modern English), from the Latin "episcopus") and shepherds of the flock.

There are no such things as "pastors" or "bishops" unless we bring in Latin or Old English into our discussions; there are:

• shepherds ("poimen"), and
• watchers/overseers ("episcopos"), and
• elders ("presbuteros").

The Jews Liked the Very First Church of Christ

It was "the high priest, the captain of the temple, and the chief priests" (Acts 5:24) who were against the Apostles in the earliest days of the church of Christ.

The common Jew looked favorably upon the Apostles and their disciples (Acts 2:47; 5:13), so much so that the captain who went to summon the Apostles to court handled them gently, "for they were afraid that the people might stone them" (Acts 5:26).

Does this sound to you like the very first church of Christ was offensive in any way to the common Jews who were praising God alongside the disciples there in the Jewish temple? Or was it instead that the church was only offensive to the corrupt Jewish leaders?

That Jewish First Church of Christ

Did you know that the eleven Apostles, joined by over a hundred other believers, were continually in the temple, praising God for the few days before the Acts 2 Day of Pentecost.

Luke 24:52-53 (WEB) They worshiped him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and were continually in the temple, praising and blessing God. Amen.

And did you know that after that day of Pentecost, that congregation of believers continued praising God in the temple on a daily basis?

Acts 2:46-47 (WEB) Day by day, continuing steadfastly with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread at home, they took their food with gladness and singleness of heart, praising God, and having favor with all the people. The Lord added to the assembly day by day those who were being saved.

And did you know that a lot of other Jews wanted to join their assembly there in the temple, but were afraid of the Jewish authorities?

Acts 5:12-13 (WEB) By the hands of the apostles many signs and wonders were done among the people. They were all with one accord in Solomon’s porch. None of the rest dared to join them, however the people honored them.

Did you know this about the book of Lamentations?

 

Did you know...

... the book of Lamentations has five chapters. Chapters 1, 2, 4, and 5 each have 22 verses. In chapters 1, 2, and 4, each verse begins with a letter of the Hebrew alphabet. The fifth chapter, although having twenty verses, does not follow this alphabet ("alef-bet", more accurately) pattern.

 

Chapter 3 has 66 verses, and retains the Hebrew alphabet pattern, except there's three verses per letter instead of just one.

 

In addition, there's a specific poetic pattern (three stresses followed by two) which the first four chapters follow; the fifth chapter does not have this pattern.

 

Few English Bible translations make either of these points clear to the reader. The Holman Christian Standard Bible, among a few others, does reveal the acrostic pattern, as you can see at Biblegateway.com .

Jesus Has Sisters

 

Some folks might not know that Jesus had sisters...

WEB Matt 13:55 Isn’t this the carpenter’s son? Isn’t his mother called Mary, and his brothers James, Joses, Simon, and Judas? 56 Aren’t all of his sisters with us? Where then did this man get all of these things?” 57 They were offended by him.

Has the Holy Spirit revealed that the old law was nailed to the cross?

Has the Holy Spirit revealed that the old law was nailed to the cross?

ESV Col 2:14 by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.

"The record of debt" doesn't sound much like "the old law".

Prefer a different version?

CEV God wiped out the charges that were against us for disobeying the Law of Moses. He took them away and nailed them to the cross.

HSCB He erased the certificate of debt, with its obligations, that was against us and opposed to us, and has taken it out of the way by nailing it to the cross.

LSB Having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us which was hostile to us, He also has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.

MOUNCE (a Biblical Greek expert) Having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us which was hostile to us, He also has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.

NASB having canceled the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.

NIV having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross.

RSV having canceled the bond which stood against us with its legal demands; this he set aside, nailing it to the cross.

VOICE eliminated the massive debt we incurred by the law that stood against us. He took it all away; He nailed it to the cross.

This text evokes the idea of a criminal's charges being nailed above the criminal's head while he hangs on the cross. We see this exampled in the case of Jesus:

WEB Matt 27:37 They set up over his head the accusation against him written, “THIS IS JESUS, THE KING OF THE JEWS.”

WEB Mark 15:26 The superscription of his accusation was written over him, “THE KING OF THE JEWS.”

It is this record of charges against us that Col 2:14 is speaking about. Our charges were nailed to the cross upon which Jesus hung, so that our charges became his charges. As Peter states...

WEB 1 Pet 2:24 24 He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live to righteousness. You were healed by his wounds.

It is true that the Holy Spirit has revealed that we are no longer to serve the letter of the law, but rather the spirit. Paul says this at least three times:

WEB Rom 7:6 But now we have been discharged from the law, having died to that in which we were held; so that we serve in newness of the spirit, and not in oldness of the letter.

Rom 2:29 but he is a Jew who is one inwardly, and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit not in the letter; whose praise is not from men, but from God.

2 Cor 3:6 who also made us sufficient as servants of a new covenant, not of the letter, but of the Spirit. For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.

That's the essence of what Jesus taught: "Keep the commandments, the ones that teach you to love your neighbor as yourself; this is what the law and prophets teach, and it's what I teach, and it's what I want you to teach."

It's what Paul teaches:

WEB Rom 13:9 For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not covet,” and whatever other commandments there are, are all summed up in this saying, namely, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

Gal 5:14 For the whole law is fulfilled in one word, in this: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

And it's what James teaches:

WEB James 2:8 However, if you fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you do well.

Jesus teaches the law of Moses, but he teaches the spirit of the law, not the letter. And he tells his Apostles to teach what he taught them.

False Teachers

The term "false teacher" occurs one time in the New Testament:

WEB 2 Peter 2:1 But false prophets also arose among the people, as false teachers will also be among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, denying even the Master who bought them, bringing on themselves swift destruction. Many will follow their immoral ways, and as a result, the way of the truth will be maligned. In covetousness they will exploit you with deceptive words: whose sentence now from of old doesn’t linger, and their destruction will not slumber. ...

and here the term does not refer to a teacher who mistakenly believes and teaches false things; it refers to teachers who are not genuine.

 

The phrase refers to teachers who are false, not to teachings that are false.

 

If we're going to use Biblical phrases in Biblical ways, we should be aware of this distinction.

True Bowing

The English word "worship" is too plastic to be meaningful; we should try to avoid it.

In a recent article posted on Facebook, "worship" is used in both John 4:24 and in Matt 15:9, as if they are the same word, meaning the same thing, in the underlying Greek. They are not. The first is "bow submissively" (much as the article defines it via Vine - "as in the New Testament, kneeling or prostration, to do homage or make obeisance"), and the second one is "reverence or esteem". The first one is a physical display; the second a "feeling".

We can't do a good job discussing the issue if we continue using a word that can shift meaning mid-sentence, depending on who is speaking or hearing and what they're thinking in that moment. We need to be more precise with our language.

What Jesus taught about bowing is that it is no longer a matter of going "over yonder" anymore, to that temple on that mountain or this church building on this hill. Yet when we use the unBiblical phrase "worship service", that's exactly what we're referring to - "going over yonder into that there church building". According to Jesus, that's no longer "worship". Stop referring to it as such.

"Worship", or more accurately "bowing", as in the second commandment - "you shall not bow to idols, nor serve them" - is done in the spirit, truthfully. It's not about doing the correct rituals - sing two songs, have a prayer, then the Lord's Supper at breakfast time, etc". It's about bowing in your spirit before God, truthfully.

God no longer lives in a temple made with hands, where you must go X times in a year in order to bow before him in true nose-to-the-ground fashion for Y amount of time; your body is now his temple, full-time, and it is in your spirit that you must bow before him, truthfully, full-time.

Jesus spoke about what's happening on the inside, not on the outside. The outside can be a great looking mausoleum, but inside be full of dead men's bones. The outside of the cup is not what's important to be clean; it's the inside. It's not what you do in bed that is adultery; it's what you do in your heart before you get to the bedroom. Circumcision is no longer a matter of the outer flesh, but of the inner spirit. "Worship" (bowing) is not about what actions you do in a "worship service" three hours a week; it's about what your spirit is truly doing before God throughout your life. God wants your spirit, not your liturgy (another word that is sometimes regretfully rendered as "worship", adding to the confusion about the issue). Jesus was not telling the woman at the well, "Your worship service is all wrong." He was telling her that God is not concerned about where you bow your body on holy days; he's concerned about your spirit being in submission.

The Worshiping Outsider

Josias walked into the synagogue, half-expecting to see the members of this new sect called "Christians" eating human meat. Instead, he found them chanting in unison, hands raised to God, the psalms he had grown up chanting himself.

Then the chanting stopped, and an elderly man stood up among the people, and with a deep but somewhat gravely voice, spoke the words, "Brethren, we are to love one another. We are to build up one another. We are to use our gifts which the Holy Spirit has granted us, to make one another stronger, better, more loving, more serving. In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, love one another!"

In one great and loud chorus, the congregants shouted, "Amen! Blessed be the Lord God and his Son our Savior, Jesus Christ!"

Josias thought to himself, "Well, except for thinking a dead man is the Messiah, who has been crucified and then raised from the dead, these folks aren't too terribly horrible, I suppose. Just nuts. Obviously not of God."

Then the woman standing next to him turned to him and spoke: "I have heard from God's Spirit that you need to apologize to your wife. You should not have broken her spirit with your speech this morning."

Josias was taken aback on several levels. A woman! Speaking to him! As if she was an equal to him! And accusing him of hurting his wife!

And then the realization dawned. How did she know I spoke harshly to my wife this morning?
But before he could open his mouth to challenge her speaking to him, the man on the other side spoke to him. "God has revealed to me that you want to live righteously. He is pleased with this. But he is not pleased with your secret - the one concerning the girl in the market. It is time for you to repent of your thoughts that violate your marriage; you need to find a different place to shop."

Josias was stunned. No one but he knew his mind wandered to this young woman. No one but he and ... God!

Josias was disturbed. Who were these people? Who were they to be speaking so intimately to him, so authoritatively, so accurately?

But again, before he could open his mouth, the whole congregation turned his way, some smiling sadly, some looking somewhat stern. For a few moments, a cacophony came his way, and he heard just snippets -- "God loves you, but...", and "your sin separates" and "choose life", when he heard one louder voice: "Brethren, one at a time, please. God is a God of order, not chaos."

Josias felt a light touch on his arm. It was the first woman who had spoken to him. He felt acceptance from her, which disturbed him, and not just a tiny bit. Another woman next to her, who could have been the first woman's sister, or cousin, or even aunt, spoke: "God loves you. He knows you can be a powerhouse for his kingdom. But you must be honest with your scales. You can no longer cheat your customers with dishonest weights. And you must do right by your wife. And you must do right by the girl you've entertained in your mind. God demands that you repent."

And Josias knew. He knew these people knew. He knew how these people knew. And he fell to his knees, and cried out, "Oh God! My God!" And then he fell forward with his face to the ground, and speaking into the floor tiles, declared, "God is indeed among you people! I am a sinner. He has revealed my heart to you, and you know my secrets, and have reproved me. How can I live before God, unclean?"

And the first woman, kneeling next to him, spoke again. "Your unclean-ness is taken by the Lord. He was wounded for your transgressions, bruised for your sins. In Jesus, there is forgiveness."

And from that moment, Josias' life, and those of his wife and children and customers, would never be the same again.

The Golden Rule

Do we still teach young kids "the Golden Rule"? I remember hearing about it a lot when I was a kid, but I'm not sure I've heard anyone refer to it in years.

Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.

The essence of:

NASB Matt 7:12 In everything, therefore, treat people the same way you want them to treat you, for this is the Law and the Prophets.

A Private Little Communion

The thought that's been niggling at the back of my mind recently is that our (traditional USA-based Church of Christ from early 1900s "our") observance has typically been very individualistic - Let me shrink into my little shell, tuning out and excluding all others around me, so that I may be inward- and upward-focused.

I'm just not confident that's what Jesus intended.

The Coming Judgment

Matt 25:41 Then he will say also to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire which is prepared for the devil and his angels; 42 for I was hungry, and you didn’t believe in baptism; I was thirsty, and you sang with instruments; 43 I was a stranger, and you taught a thousand-year reign; naked, and you called your preacher, "Pastor"; sick, and in prison, and you let a woman serve food in the assembly.’

 

There it is in black-and-white; the consequences of not being academically correct on doctrines (also known as "gnosticism").

But seriously; Jesus said his disciples would be known by their love for one another, not by their doctrine. He said the separation above would be based on how we treat one another, not on what doctrinal beliefs we have. His forerunner told three different groups of people how to show fruit consistent with repentance, and that fruit was not "go to church more often" or "study the Bible harder" or "pray more sincerely", but was in each case, "treat each other as you would want to be treated", which, Jesus said, was the essence of the law and the prophets. His judgment will be based on how we love one another, not on our scores on a theological academic final exam.