The Godly in Christ Will Be Persecuted!

II Timothy 3 Part 3

New King James Version 10. But you have carefully followed my doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, longsuffering, love, perseverance,

The Resultant Version 10. But you have fully known my teaching, my manner of life, my purpose, my faith, my forbearance, my love, my patience,

Though men in the last days might have the kind of character described in the first nine verses of the chapter, Paul does not. Remember that we have already learned that there were many in Ephesus who were rejecting the truth. Some of these were doubtless slandering Paul’s character, even to Timothy himself. They no doubt tried to get across the idea that Paul’s dispensation of grace teaching after Acts 28:28 was corrupted somehow, that Paul had gone off the deep end, that he had gone contrary to the truth, and that he and his new teaching could not be trusted. They probably approached Timothy with accusations along these lines.

Yet Paul reminds Timothy that he knows the truth. He cannot be deceived regarding these things. Timothy has been with Paul, both in the Acts period and afterward. He co-wrote some of those dispensation of grace books with Paul that his detractors took such exception to. He knew that this was the truth of God, not a deception worked by Paul or worked on Paul. No, Timothy knew these things. He knew Paul’s teaching. The word is didaskalia, and here no doubt means not just what he taught but from Whom he had this teaching. He knew Paul’s manner of life. This is one Greek word agoge which occurs only here. It is related to ago, meaning leading, and has to do with what one has been taught and led to believe and do, an upbringing, and therefore a resulting manner of life. Paul did have a manner of life he lived, and that manner of life had been taught to him by the most trustworthy of all sources: the Lord Jesus Christ Himself.

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No Invisible Church?

I received the following question:

INSTITUTIONS COMMONLY CALLED CHURCH – SELLERS

This fact, that the “churches” we see today and the ecclesias of the New Testament are not in any way the same thing, is a truth that very few want to consider for fear that it may shout at them still louder. I seriously doubt if any actual objective study of the Greek word ekklesia has ever been made by them. If it were, it would be found that the institutions commonly called “churches” cannot be identified with and have no connection with the ecclesia of the New Testament. Many who recognize this try to resolve the difficulty by appealing for a distinction between “the visible church” and “an invisible church,” but all who do this must remember that these ideas are foreign to the New Testament.
Otis Q. Sellers (1901-1992)
Christian Individualism: A Way of Life for the Active Believer in Jesus Christ

I checked out many of the passages and would like to know why Mr. Sellers had difficulty with the term “invisible church”?????????

Having studied out the occurrences of both qahal in the Hebrew and ekklesia in the Greek, I can say that I agree fully with Mr. Sellers that the distinction between a “visible church” and an “invisible church” is not a Biblical one. The point of being ekklesia is that you are marked or positioned out. More often than not it refers to a governmental, representative positioning. Israel’s governmental rulers were their ekklesia, their qahal.

The Deaths of Er and Onan

I received the following question:

Genesis 38:7. But Er, Judah’s firstborn, was wicked in the sight of the LORD, and the LORD killed him.

Genesis 38:10. And the thing which he did displeased the LORD; therefore He killed him also.

Do we see this often in the O.T. that the Lord just kills because wicked? Or is this because they were Canaanites (part Nephilim) which would’ve stopped the seed being born?

We certainly see it in the case of the flood, or in the case of Sodom and Gomorrah, that the LORD kills men because they are wicked. God destroyed the Egyptians in the Red Sea. He helped Israel destroy the Canaanites. He helped Israel time and again against their enemies. Even in the book of Acts He struck Herod dead for taking the glory that belongs to God alone. Yet we might doubt that this activity continued to the same extent throughout Old Testament times. Once God’s focus was on Israel He may have done this less outside of Israel unless men came in contact with Israel. Yet that is not to say He didn’t do it at all. It is only in the dispensation of grace that we can say with certainty that God does not kill the wicked.

Lot Bargains His Daughters

I received the following question:

Genesis 19:8. “See now, I have two daughters who have not known a man; please, let me bring them out to you, and you may do to them as you wish; only do nothing to these men, since this is the reason they have come under the shadow of my roof.”

Why would Lot give/offer his two daughters like this so disgusting and degrading?

This is a truly vile act that we marvel that any father could do. I would note that he offered it but did not actually follow through with it. Of course, he may not have had a chance to, so we cannot say if he would have or not. The old man in Judges 19:24 makes this offer with his daughter, but he never follows through on it. Instead, the despicable Levite of the story throws his concubine out alone for them to rape. So we do not know that Lot would have actually done this any more than the old man did.

Abraham’s Concubines

I received the following question:

Genesis 25:1. Abraham again took a wife, and her name was Keturah.

Was Keturah Abraham’s wife before Sarah died or after? Did he have other concubines than Hagar and Keturah?

I would say that he married Keturah only after Sarah’s death. That seems to be the implication in the start of the verse, “Then again.” That is, he remarried after Sarah’s death. I do not think he would have taken Hagar as a concubine before Sarah’s death if Sarah had not requested it and given her to him. Abraham seemed quite satisfied with Sarah. I think he only looked for another wife after she was dead. He seems to be a clear Biblical example of a man who truly loved his wife. By the way, since Abraham had apparently lost it before Isaac was born, it was clear that the Lord’s gift of regeneration of his powers was not just for the birth of Isaac but permanent.

Is Bethel the Gate of Heaven?

I received the following question:

Genesis 28:10-22. Now Jacob went out from Beersheba and went toward Haran. 11. So he came to a certain place and stayed there all night, because the sun had set. And he took one of the stones of that place and put it at his head, and he lay down in that place to sleep. 12. Then he dreamed, and behold, a ladder was set up on the earth, and its top reached to heaven; and there the angels of God were ascending and descending on it.
13. And behold, the LORD stood above it and said: “I am the LORD God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie I will give to you and your descendants. 14. Also your descendants shall be as the dust of the earth; you shall spread abroad to the west and the east, to the north and the south; and in you and in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed. 15. Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have spoken to you.”
16. Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, “Surely the LORD is in this place, and I did not know it.” 17. And he was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven!”
18. Then Jacob rose early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put at his head, set it up as a pillar, and poured oil on top of it. 19. And he called the name of that place Bethel; but the name of that city had been Luz previously. 20. Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “If God will be with me, and keep me in this way that I am going, and give me bread to eat and clothing to put on, 21. so that I come back to my father’s house in peace, then the LORD shall be my God. 22. And this stone which I have set as a pillar shall be God’s house, and of all that You give me I will surely give a tenth to You.”

Is Jacob’s interpretation of ladder with angles ascending/descending correct? “House of God” “Gate of heaven”

That is a great question and something I cannot really give an informed answer to.

Rachel the Shepherdess?

I receive the following question:

Genesis 29:9 Now while he was still speaking with them, Rachel came with her father’s sheep, for she was a shepherdess. How old is Rachel when Jacob first sees/meets her? Were women shepherdesses common? How’d they dress/act differently than “normal” woman or shepherds?

Sarah is actually the only woman in the whole Bible whose age is mentioned by number…of course Ruth is younger than Boaz, but that doesn’t tell us how old she is, etc. Our guess can only be based on typical marriage ages. Yet in these early days, when the lifespan was still dropping and had not yet stabilized, it is really hard to say how old a woman typically was when she got married. It does appear that during the dropping ages after the flood that women’s ages might have dropped slightly faster than men’s did, at least from our sampling from Scripture. But that does not tell us when they married.

Stopped in Their Tracks!

II Timothy 3 Part 2

New King James Version 4. traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God,

The Resultant Version 4. Traitors, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God;

Symptom 16. Traitors. This word may be understood when we realize that it is used to describe Judas Iscariot in Luke 6:16, “Judas Iscariot who also became a traitor.” Stephan also uses it of the Sanhedrin in their actions towards Christ in Acts 7:52, “Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who foretold the coming of the Just One, of whom you now have become the betrayers and murderers.” The word prodotes or “traitors” has reference to all those who would betray the Lord, His Word, and His work.

Symptoms of the Last Days

II Timothy 3

New King James Version 1. But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come:

The Resultant Version 1. Be aware of this also that in the concluding days dangerously violent times shall come.

The Holy Spirit through Paul now goes on to speak to us of something that will take place in the last days. The word “last” here is the Greek word eschatos. This word does not necessarily mean the last one, as I might speak of my “last dollar.” We can see this clearly from the use of eschatos in Matthew 12:45.

45. Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter and dwell there; and the last state of that man is worse than the first. So shall it also be with this wicked generation.

The Lord Jesus is speaking here of a man who had an evil spirit cast out of him. However, nothing has been brought in to take the spirit’s place, and so when it tires of wandering without a home and returns to the man, it finds its old home ready for it. Upon finding this happy condition of its old home, it goes to gather seven other spirits and then to return and enter the man with them. That is what results in the sad condition of the man the Lord mentions here.

Correcting Opposers

II Timothy 2 Part 5

New King James Version 22. Flee also youthful lusts; but pursue righteousness, faith, love, peace with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.

The Resultant Version 22. Flee also youthful desires: but pursue righteousness, faith, love, peace with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart.

Paul urges Timothy also to flee youthful lusts. We have specialized this word “lust” to mean just sexual desire, yet that is clearly not what the Greek word epithumia means. We can see this clearly in Galatians 5:17, where the corresponding verb epithumeo is used to state, “For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh.” Clearly this is a different idea than sexual desire. The word just means any strong desire, craving, or longing. It can be for things forbidden, but that is not necessarily so.