word of God

February 20, 2019

A true family member hears and does the word (Lk 8:21-8:21)

“But Jesus said to them.

‘My mother

And my brothers

Are those

Who hear the word

Of God

And do it.’”

 

ὁ δὲ ἀποκριθεὶς εἶπεν πρὸς αὐτούς Μήτηρ μου καὶ ἀδελφοί μου οὗτοί εἰσιν οἱ τὸν λόγον τοῦ Θεοῦ ἀκούοντες καὶ ποιοῦντες.

 

Luke indicated that Jesus replied to them (ὁ δὲ ἀποκριθεὶς εἶπεν πρὸς αὐτούς) that his mother (Μήτηρ μου) and his brothers (καὶ ἀδελφοί μου) were those who heard (οὗτοί εἰσιν οἱ…ἀκούοντες) the word of God (τὸν λόγον τοῦ Θεοῦ) and did it (καὶ ποιοῦντες).  Mark, chapter 3:33-35, and Matthew, chapter 12:48-50, have something similar, but Matthew was closer to Mark.  Luke had this simple concluding statement that sounded like a repudiation of his biological family.  Mark said that Jesus made a distinction between his biological family and his new spiritual family, as he replied to the person who told him about his relatives.  He asked him who his mother was and who were his brothers?  He looked at those who were sitting around him in a circle.  Then he said that they were his mother and his brothers.  Anyone who did the will of God, would be his brother, his sister, and his mother.  Matthew also said that Jesus asked them who his mother was and who his brothers were?  He stretched out his hand pointing to his disciples and said that they were his mother and his brothers.  Anyone who did the will of his Father in heaven would be his brother, his sister, and his mother.  This idea of a new faith family was common among many religious groups, since their fellow believers were now their new family.  No longer was a biological family important, because there was now a new spiritual family of Jesus believers.  How important is your biological family to you?

January 21, 2019

Gennesaret (Lk 5:1-5:1)

“Once while Jesus

Was standing beside

The lake of Gennesaret,

The crowd

Was pressing in

On him

To hear

The word of God.”

 

Ἐγένετο δὲ ἐν τῷ τὸν ὄχλον ἐπικεῖσθαι αὐτῷ καὶ ἀκούειν τὸν λόγον τοῦ Θεοῦ, καὶ αὐτὸς ἦν ἑστὼς παρὰ τὴν λίμνην Γεννησαρέτ,

 

This verse of Luke is unique but not inconsistent with the other gospel stories.  Luke said that Jesus was standing beside the lake of Gennesaret (καὶ αὐτὸς ἦν ἑστὼς παρὰ τὴν λίμνην Γεννησαρέτ).  Gennesaret was another name for the Sea of Galilee or Lake Tiberias.  Then the crowd was pressing in on him (Ἐγένετο δὲ ἐν τῷ τὸν ὄχλον ἐπικεῖσθαι αὐτῷ) to hear the word of God (καὶ ἀκούειν τὸν λόγον τοῦ Θεοῦ).  Jesus was standing there as a crowd gathered around him.  They wanted to hear the word of God, as if Jesus were somehow qualified to present this word of God.

December 29, 2018

The call of John (Lk 3:2-3:2)

“The word of God

Came to John,

The son of Zechariah,

In the wilderness.”

 

ἐγένετο ῥῆμα Θεοῦ ἐπὶ Ἰωάνην τὸν Ζαχαρίου υἱὸν ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ.

 

Luke presented John like a prophet who was called like the other Israelite prophets.  The word of God came or happened to John (ἐγένετο ῥῆμα Θεοῦ ἐπὶ Ἰωάνην), the son of Zechariah (τὸν Ζαχαρίου υἱὸν), in the wilderness or desert (ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ), just like it had come to many other ancient Jewish prophets.  There should be no confusion about whom this John is because he was the son of Zechariah that was described in chapter 1.  There is something similar, but not quite the same in all 4 gospel stories.  In Mark, chapter 1:4, John appeared on the scene immediately after a citation from the prophet Isaiah.  Matthew, chapter 3:1-2, seemed to follow Mark, since Mark began his gospel with this story.  Matthew had John the Baptizer preaching in the wilderness or desert in Judea, southeast of Jerusalem and west of the Dead Sea.  John, chapter 1:19, also introduced John the Baptist immediately after his prologue.  Only Matthew and Luke have the infancy narratives before the introduction of John, who was central to the work of Jesus.

 

February 16, 2018

Limitations of the Bible

The difficulty with all these interpretations hangs on the question whether this is the word of God or man’s word?  Every reading of the Bible is an interpretation.  Who decided which books belong in the bible?  This was not decided until over 300 hundred years after Christ.  Many of the Christian churches have different books in the Old Testament.  How can you have justification from the texts themselves?  There have many weird interpretations of the Bible.  The Bible has had a history under the influence of God’s Spirit.  The Bible should not be watered down.

February 1, 2018

What is the Bible?

The Bible is the most published book of all time.  A Latin Vulgate copy of the Bible was one of the first books printed on the original German Guttenberg Press in the fifteenth century in 1440.  The Bible has been translated into virtually every human language.  What a strange great literary work, or more precisely a series of books, that has had a profound effect on the world.  In fact, most of the great works of Western European civilization assume some biblical knowledge.  The Bible serves as the source book or “Word of God” for over two billion people living today.  Thus, the Bible is often considered “the book of books”.

June 24, 2017

Against Gog (Ezek 38:1-38:2)

“The word of Yahweh

Came to me.

‘Son of man!

Set your face

Toward Gog,

Of the land of Magog.

The chief prince

Of Meshech

With Tubal.

Prophesy against him!’”

This section represents an example of apocalyptic literature. The emphasis in this type of literature is on a future that would be better compared to the sufferings of the present time. This thinking predominated in Second Temple Judaism after the return from the exile. This Messianic hope prefigured a future victory of good over evil. The prophet Daniel and the Book of Revelation or the Apocalypse are better examples of this apocalyptic literature. As usual, the word of God came to Ezekiel, the son of man. However, this time he was to prophesize against Gog. Who is this Gog? This is the first mention of Gog in the biblical literature, who clearly was an enemy of Yahweh. There appears to be no historical basis for this Gog from Magog. According to Genesis, chapter 10, Magog was descended from Japheth, the son of Noah. Here Gog is a person and Magog is the land where he comes from. However, in later literature they were usually combined into ‘Gog and Magog,’ perhaps due to the Septuagint Greek translation. Magog might have been a code name for Babylon. There were also other legends about Gog and Magog in the later Greek and Roman times. Both are mentioned in later Jewish and Muslim writings. Meshech and Tubal were 7th century BCE kingdoms in Asia Minor or present day Turkey. Gog appears to be the chief prince of these two kingdoms also.

February 25, 2015

The value of the prophets (Tob 14:3-14:4)

“When he was about to die, he called his son Tobias and the seven sons of Tobias. He gave them his command.

‘My son, take your children and hurry off to Media.

I believe the word of God that Nahum spoke about Nineveh.

All these things will take place and overtake Assyria and Nineveh.

Everything that was spoken by the prophets of Israel,

Whom God sent,

Will occur.

None of their words will fail.

All will come true at their appointed times.

It will be safer in Media than in Assyria and Babylon.

I know and believe that whatever God has said

Will be fulfilled

And will come true.

Not a single word of the prophecies will fail.

All our kindred,

Inhabitants of the land of Israel,

Will be scattered.

They will be taken as captives from the good land.

The whole land of Israel,

Even Samaria and Jerusalem,

Will be desolate.

The temple of God in it will be burned to the ground.

It will be desolate for a while.’”

As Tobit was about to die, he called his son Tobias and his 7 grandchildren. See the number 7 again. He told them to go to Media because there was going to be trouble in Nineveh. Tobit believed in all prophets and how valuable their prophecies were. He was a strong believer in the prophets proclaiming the word of God. He even said that not a single word of the prophecies would fail. Nahum was considered a minor prophet of the 7th century that he would have known. Nahum saw the destruction of Jerusalem by the Assyrians, but he predicted the downfall of Nineveh, which of course led to the ascent of the Persians. Tobit here also predicted the ruin of both the north and south in Israel, including Jerusalem and also the Temple itself. There would be desolation.


April 24, 2014

Return from the exile and conversion (Deut 30:1-30:14)

“When all these things have happened to you, the blessings and the curses that I have set before you, Yahweh will be with you. If you call them to mind among all the nations where Yahweh your God has driven you, and you then return to Yahweh your God, you and your children obey his voice with all your heart and with all your soul, just as I am commanding you today. Then Yahweh your God will restore your fortunes. Yahweh your God will have compassion on you. He will gather you again from all the peoples among whom Yahweh your God has scattered you. Even if you are exiled to the ends of the world, from there Yahweh your God will gather you. From there he will bring you back. Yahweh your God will bring you into the land that your ancestors possessed. You will possess it again. He will make you more prosperous and numerous than your ancestors.”

This assumes that there was an exile to different countries. However, they are to return to their Promise Land. Yahweh has the power to scatter you and then to gather you back. If you obey the commandments of Yahweh, he will gather you back to possess the land of your ancestors.

“Moreover, Yahweh your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your descendants, so that you will love Yahweh your God with all your heart and with all your soul, in order that you may live. Yahweh your God will put all these curses on your enemies and on the adversaries who took advantage of you. Then you shall again obey Yahweh, observing all his commandments that I am commanding you today. Yahweh your God will make you abundantly prosperous in all your undertakings, in the fruit of your body, and in the fruit of your livestock, and in the fruit of your soil. For Yahweh will again take delight in prospering you, just as he delighted in prospering your ancestors. When you obey Yahweh your God by observing his commandments and decrees that are written in this book of the law, you are turning to Yahweh your God with all your heart and with all your soul.”

You must love Yahweh with all your heart and all your soul so that you might live. This is not a legalistic approach to Yahweh. Circumcision of the heart seems to be more important than the legal physical circumcision. Yahweh delights in making you prosperous. However, you must obey his commandments and decrees with your whole heart and soul.

“Surely, this commandment that I am commanding you today is not too hard for you, nor is it too far away. It is not in heaven, that you should say, ‘who will go up to heaven for us, and get it for us so that we may hear it and observe it?’ Neither is it beyond the sea, that you should say, ‘who will cross to the other side of the sea for us, and get it for us, so that we may hear it and observe it?’ No, the word is very near to you. It is in your mouth and in your heart for you to observe.”

These are not impractical laws, but something everyone can follow. These words are very near you, within you. They are not that hard. They are not in heaven or some faraway place in the sea. These words are in your mouth and your heart. In a certain sense they resemble the ‘natural law’ of the scholastics. The use of ‘the word’ or the Greek logos will become very important after its use in John’s gospel. This logos was applied to Jesus, who is the word of God, just as the commandments of Moses are the word of God. Here it applies to the word of God that was written by Moses, the Mosaic law that is available to you.